Chapter Text
The town of Stiix was crawling with ghosts. Wu was worried, his eyes going wide as he and Garmadon drove the mobile base disguised as a food truck over the bridge they were definitely going to have to destroy for the plan to work. The once-red lights that adorned the town in celebration for the New Year were glowing a ghostly green, and ghosts were running things. Three of them waited at the entrance to the town, and one recognized him on sight.
“Wu,” she hissed, floating up to confront him, and he stepped on the brakes. “A special delivery, I presume?”
The other two with her moved to check the inside of the truck, finding only food. The ninja were already in the town, unknown to the ghosts. Wu had to maintain that he and Morro were still fighting (as far as he was aware, they were), so he stepped out of the truck.
“Let me talk to my pupil,” he demanded of the ghost before him. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”
Morro seemed to take over the other ghost from wherever in town he was. He narrowed his eyes. “Sensei,” he greeted. “I was wondering when you were going to show up.”
Wu swallowed. Good dragons, he hoped Lloyd was right about this.
“Morro.”
“You think I’ll just let you walk right in?” His son asked him. His voice dropped to a scathing hatred Wu hoped was faked. “Your wisdom fails you in your old age.”
Ouch. “Last chance, Morro. You may no longer be my pupil-” Morro’s fingers curled into fists at that- “but I can still teach you a lesson. My ninja are well-trained, and they will defeat every last one of you. Give up now, or forever rest in peace.” He wished his son had managed that the first time.
“You think I’d ever allow your ninja in my town?” He waved a hand dismissively. “Take them to the cages.”
Wu was picked up by one of the ghosts, and Garmadon was hauled bodily out of the truck. As they were carried into the town, Wu could feel Morro’s eyes on him.
Wu could see some of the others covertly working the tables in the town, hidden from the ghosts, waiting until the Preeminent came out of the portal. He’d never thought his students were very good at undercover work, but Kai had proven to him that Wu often underestimated his own pupils. He had to trust in them. He knew this would work if they did it right. It was why he’d convinced the courts to let Kai out.
He was tossed unceremoniously into a cage next to Garmadon, one already packed with townsfolk. Was that… intentional? Was Morro trusting them to get these people out of here?
“Wu,” Garmadon whispered. “We’re going to need a distraction.”
Wu nodded. “Trust them,” he muttered back, eyes scanning every ghost that passed them. “They’ll get us that distraction when the time is right.”
He caught sight of Nya sneaking through the shadows, luring the ghosts to her. They were trying to wait for the Preeminent, but they needed to distract her ghosts, so Nya was wearing Lloyd’s gi, drawing as much attention as she could.
“She’s really only been a ninja for a week?” A voice asked from next to Wu, making him flinch. All of the citizens shrank back from it. He turned, finding Morro watching Nya, too. He had his arms crossed, a soft smirk on his face. “She’s good.”
“She started as a samurai, and she was raised by Master Chen,” Wu provided, eyes not leaving his son.
Morro hummed. “That explains it. Those guys are so dead.” He ran a hand through his hair, which was an action Wu had never seen him do, but was so fundamentally Lloyd. Had they really spent so much time together that they’d even adopted each other’s ticks?
“Morro, I…”
“I’m sorry,” Morro said, eyes going to the wood beneath his feet.
Wu reached through the bars of the cage, taking his son’s ghostly arm. Morro looked down at it, then, finally, up at Wu. His ghostly form had dark marks around his eyes, and Wu wondered what they were from. Had his son been severely injured before he died?
“I’m sorry,” Wu told him. “I let you leave, I didn’t even try to stop you. I’m so sorry, Morro.”
Morro opened his mouth to say something, but an earsplitting shriek interrupted him. The ghosts that hadn’t been lured to a watery death by Nya all covered their ears, including Morro.
“She’s coming,” Morro hissed, sounding genuinely terrified. Wu realized he’d never seen the boy scared before.
“We will stop her.”
Morro blinked as the shriek petered off. “She’s already pissed because of where we are.” He turned wide eyes to Wu. “You get the people out of here, okay? We’ve got the Preeminent.” He handed Wu the keys to the cages, and Wu handed them to Garmadon.
“If you think I’m leaving you again, then it is you whose wisdom is failing.”
Morro stared at him. “You didn’t-”
“I might as well have. Come on, we have a megalomaniac ghost to defeat.”
Garmadon opened the door, and Wu walked out, heading where he last saw Kai. He was acutely aware of Morro staring after him as he walked.
“Is he serious?” Morro asked Garmadon.
Garmadon huffed a laugh. “Better get moving, kiddo. Wu’s not going to let you fight this one without him.”
Morro finally got his butt in gear and hurried after Wu. He fell into step with him, and they walked towards the other ninja together. A car burst off of a newly-arrived ferry, and Jay took off down the docks. He waved as he passed. Garmadon was busy getting the civilians onto the boats, and then monster tentacles exploded out of one of the buildings. Glass flew everywhere, only missing Wu because Morro generated a wind tunnel.
Soul Archer noticed. “Traitor!” He cried, and they had to move.
As they ran, Morro talked. “Every time we take out a ghost, they can just come back through the portal. The only way to actually win this is to get the Preeminent out and close the portal.”
Wu nodded. “Okay.” He relaid the information into his comlink. “We close the portal as soon as she’s through.”
“Copy that, sensei,” Kai responded. “Nya and Lloyd are already headed for the crystal.”
Wu saw a spire of golden flame erupt over the tops of some of the houses, and he changed their direction to head that way. It was best to properly regroup before the Preeminent got all the way out of the portal.
The buildings started to shake, and the one the portal was in started lifting from the sheer power of it. Morro skidded to a stop, eyes wide.
“Uh, shit.”
“Language,” Wu said reflexively, earning himself an almost fond eyeroll.
“How are Lloyd and Nya going to get the portal closed if they can’t reach it?”
Kai landed next to them, breathing heavily. “A good plan,” he pointed out between breaths, “is adaptable. The endgame’s the same, we just need… Dragons.” He smacked himself in the forehead, opening back up his comlink. “Lloyd, you and Nya need to take your dragon up to the portal.”
Morro stared at the Master of Fire. “Right. Dragons and airjitsu.” He exhaled shakily. “We can do this.”
Just as he said it, the Preeminent burst into Ninjago. Wu stared at her, horror burrowing to his bones. She was massive. Her tentacles crushed the docks, her body mostly a giant eye that acted as an entrance to her realm. The sea was eating at her already, but not nearly fast enough since she was just so big.
“Garmadon,” Wu ordered. “Destroy the bridges now.” He wasn’t sure it would be enough, but they desperately needed it to be. Across the town, the sounds of detonating charges went off.
Another shriek ripped through the air, and Morro’s hands went back to his ears. His eyes slammed shut.
“No,” he hissed, and Wu reached out, stopping before he actually touched him.
“Morro?”
Morro’s eyes opened wide in terror. “She just ordered all the ghosts to her to act as armor against the water.”
Wu blinked, looking up to see the ghosts doing just that. They wrapped around her tentacles, flooding out from the house that she’d come through inside.
“That doesn’t change the plan,” he decided, turning back to his son. Morro was looking at his hands, something golden sparking in his now-green eyes.
“Lloyd was right,” he whispered.
“About?”
Morro floated up so he didn’t stand on wood that was cracking. “If she could actually control me, she wouldn’t need words.”
“What is she telling you to do?”
“Kill you,” Morro answered quietly. His voice got hard, the air around them flickering gold. “Which is not happening.”
Almost completely solid gold spun to life around them, the wind churning with a ferocity Wu hadn’t seen in a long time. The spinning swirl created a barrier that stopped the tentacles.
“Your creation comes from hope…” Kai breathed, hands catching fire as tentacles reached for him. One wrapped around his ankle, yanking him off the dock. His fire spread up his arms, and Wu knew Kai was going to wreck the Preeminent more than she could ever hope to hurt him.
“Hope,” Morro repeated, a chuckle escaping him.
Wu smiled, spinning his staff around him to knock aside more tentacles. They came back, slipping around Morro’s wind barrier, and the two of them stood back to back for the first time in decades. Wu dodged a tentacle, smacking it back and flashing a creation field around him. Morro covered him, and Wu could see him fighting off his own tentacles as the Preeminent tried to knock him out of the air. Wu tossed his staff up, hitting it with his own elemental power to transform it into a sword. He swung it at the tentacle that was trying to wrap around Morro, his son catching himself next to him in the air. Kai dropped next to them, followed by the stench of burning fish.
“Thanks,” Morro told Wu breathlessly.
“Of course.” Wu’s attention shifted as something green was tossed through the air. In the distance, on the other side of the Preeminent, he saw something that filled him with horror.
Lloyd was wrapped up in the Preeminent’s tentacles. She pulled him into her, her body lighting up electric green. Any headway they had managed to make healed, the tentacles they’d severed or burned away regrowing with a vengeance.
“Lloyd!” Kai called, eyes blowing wide. He took a handful of slightly green orange stones out of his pocket, sending them towards the Preeminent with bursts of fire. The stones acted as small explosives, detonating on impact and frying the tentacles around them. The damage healed again. This time, the green energy that did it rebounded, exploding out and into the ghosts flying around her.
Morro froze as that energy hit him, turning him more solid. His fingers curled and uncurled. “Life,” he whispered. “How is that…?”
What?
“What?” Kai asked.
“Life is a source,” Morro said, Wu nodding. He was as confused about what Morro was saying as Kai, but it was true. Life was a source of the elements, not an element herself.
Morro gave the both of them a disbelieving look. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “If life is a source, how the hell is Lloyd the Master of Life?”
“He's the Master of Energy," Kai corrected.
At the same time, Wu shook his head. “He's the Green Ninja.”
Morro scoffed. “Oh, you're both idiots.”
Offense stabbed through Wu.
“Hey-” Kai started.
“You know what?” Morro cut him off. “Now's not the time.” He turned to face the creature that had tortured him for four decades, the wind picking up around him. Wu realized what he was planning before Morro even said it, and he reached out to grab his boy’s wrist.
“You're going to save Lloyd.”
Morro glanced back at him. “Yeah. I gotta get him out of there or we won't be able to take her down.”
Wu swallowed. “I know. And I know you're the only one who can go. Before you do, I need you to know I'm proud of you.”
Morro’s eyes widened.
“I have always been proud of you, and I am so sorry I made you feel like you had to prove yourself.”
Morro took Wu’s hand. “Thanks, Wu. I… I think I’ve learned that I need to be proud of myself.” He squeezed Wu’s hand, a soft smile making his eyes crinkle. “I'll be back. With Lloyd.” With that, he phased through Wu’s grip, flying off without him.