Enter The Ninjaverse

CHAPTER 43

"N-No! Get off of me! Y-You can't put that thing on me!" Harumi's cries filled Lloyd's ears, causing him to rouse from his slumber.

As Lloyd opened his eyes, he found himself hanging from something. He was in shackles, with his arms held out to his sides and suspended a few inches off the nearby ground. Beside him hung Lulloyd, and to his other side was Mage. Across the room from him was none other than Harumi, who was struggling against two Stone Swordsmen that were attempting to affix something around Harumi's neck.

Harumi swung her legs wildly, trying to knock the assailants away. Lloyd began to stir, trying to pull himself free from his binds. As he began to make noise from the clattering of his chains, one of the two Stone Swordsmen turned to look back at him.

"Don't put that on her!" Lloyd's voice was hoarse but loud, "She can't have that on her! Get off of her!"

The Stone Swordsman promptly ignored him, turning back to Harumi. He reached up and struck her right in the gut, causing her to wheeze in pain. The momentary pause was all the other needed to affix the Dark Matter collar around Harumi's neck. As soon as it was in place, Harumi's eyes widened. She began to thrash and kick in her binds all over again, but this was no longer in protest. Her breath was caught in her throat, and now it was a wild panic in her body as it reacted to having the Dark Matter directly on her.

"Stop it!" Lloyd shouted, thrashing in his bonds, "You'll kill her! Get, get that off her!" He tried to charge up a blast of power, but nothing happened. The chains were most likely vengestone. He didn't care, shouting again, "Get that off of her, NOW!"

"Oh?" The Emperor's voice rang out from the wall behind him, seemingly right in Lloyd's ear, "And why would that be?"

"She's..." Lloyd didn't have time to think, "She's the Green Ninja! Dark Matter won't corrupt her, it'll kill her! It'll kill me too! You can't put that on her! Look at her!"

Harumi was struggling to breathe. She was starting to go limp, her skin turning pale and her hands rapidly clenching and unclenching to try to find something to help herself with. The display went on for another few seconds, letting Lloyd watch her movements start to become slow and lethargic. Her eyes began to flutter, then shut.

"Release her," The Emperor sounded off, "Place a collar on the child instead. I have seen enough to know that this one is not lying."

Without hesitation, one of the Stone Swordsmen disconnected the collar from her neck. Lloyd didn't see her moving, making him worry that it was too late. After looking a bit more closely, however, he could see that she was still breathing, albeit faintly. Without checking her, the collar was swiftly delivered to a still unconscious Mage, affixed around his neck. It shrank rapidly until it was little more than a choker, but had no clear way to remove it. Thankfully, given the fact he didn't share their nature, he didn't have any reaction.

"Your friend will survive," The Emperor informed him, "You called her the Green Ninja. I suppose it is fair to say that you likely are as well, given your robes. This is most interesting."

Slowly, the others began to stir. Lulloyd lifted up his head and slowly groaned, trying to piece together the last things he remembered. Upon feeling the sudden rush of terror that came with having his head enveloped in something, he started to try to kick the Dark Matter off his face. When he realized it wasn't there, he rotated his head to look around, seeing the others there with him. The memory of being literally enveloped in Dark Matter was a sickening one he thankfully could barely recall.

"Lloyd...?" Lulloyd groaned out, "Wait... you, you came to rescue me!"

"Yeah..." Lloyd shook his head, "I don't think that worked out like we thought it would."