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“Only someone with Oni blood can take the mask.”
Sure, that made sense. Giant Oni temple, magic purple fire surrounding an Oni relic; of course they would have some kind of protection for their weapon to ensure it didn’t fall into enemy hands.
Lloyd just discovered that he was part Oni. He could probably take the mask.
But…how did Harumi know that?
She wasn’t there when Mystaké told Lloyd and Jay the story behind the First Spinjitzu Master and his origin. Lloyd certainly hadn’t told anyone besides the Ninja, and he doubted Jay did either. As much as his brother loved to ramble—Cole didn’t call him “motormouth” for nothing—he knew when to keep something close and not tell everyone. This was definitely one of those times.
By all accounts, Harumi shouldn’t know.
Lloyd felt cold settle over him, colder than the frigid temple air around him. Somehow, Harumi knew about something that only Jay and Lloyd were supposed to know. She knew exactly how to get the Oni mask.
And there was only one person desperately chasing the masks down.
“What’s wrong?” Harumi asked in a sickeningly sweet tone. “You look pale.”
Lloyd took a step away from the fire and the mask. His heart hammered in his chest and his throat felt tight. He didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t be true…it couldn’t. “You’re the Quiet One?” His voice came out soft as if his mind wasn’t raging with conflicting emotions, most prominently betrayal and heartbreak. He’d trusted her. He’d fallen for her. And she’d been the one behind all of it from the beginning?
Harumi’s expression morphed into one of surprise. She was good, he’ll give her that. If he wasn’t so sure of the conclusion he’d made, he’d be fooled by her wide eyes. “What? How could I be the evil mastermind behind this? How could you say that?”
Lloyd barely heard her. “‘The greatest villain is the one who got away’,” he quoted. “‘The one you never knew was there in the first place.’ You said that. You were talking about yourself.”
Harumi’s face twitched, and any last trace of doubt in Lloyd’s mind vanished. He was breaking through her mask. Too bad it was far too late to do anything about it. FSM he was such a fool for trusting her so blindly.
“You just needed me to get what you couldn’t,” Lloyd continued. The pieces fell into place in his mind, and he hated it. He hated how oblivious he’d been, how easily she’d controlled him. He hadn’t even questioned her, not once.
“I wouldn’t have needed you if your friends hadn’t stolen Wu from us.” Harumi’s voice suddenly turned cold and sharp, and her expression twisted into something cruel. Lloyd took another step back. “But I knew to keep you close, just in case things didn’t go to plan.”
Lloyd felt sick. “The baby is Wu?” He shook his head. That was a can of worms for later. He despised the way she said ‘keep you close,’ like he was some kind of obstacle and not a person. Not someone she truly cared about. “I won’t take the mask.”
Harumi approached him. Her smile made him freeze in place as if she casted a spell. “Yes, you will.”
He bit his lip and slowly lowered into a fighting stance. Harumi frowned and placed a hand on her hip. “No. Y-you can’t take it without me. I won’t let you use it.”
Harumi’s smile widened. “You’re not letting me do anything,” she replied sweetly. “I’m not asking.” She reached behind her, and when she brought her hand back, holding a knife, Lloyd paled. “My blade agrees.”
There were only three ways out of this: fight, talk, or submit. He didn’t plan on the third. As much as he missed his father, this was not the way to see him again. He refused to willingly take the mask for Harumi.
Then there was talk. He’d tried that. Harumi was dead-set on her plan and was not taking no for an answer. He could try to reason with her—what would her parents think? What if the Garmadon she brought back didn’t like her and cast her out, or worse? He didn’t think either of those would go over well.
Which left fighting.
He didn’t like his odds. Harumi had shaken him greatly and despite his best efforts, his mind was clouded with shock and hurt. His processing time had reduced significantly. He worried that he wouldn’t be able to see her attacks coming because a part of him refused to believe that she could hurt him. Plus, Harumi had a weapon, and he’d jumped off the Bounty without one. Not very smart of him. He really should keep a backup knife up his sleeve or something.
He wasn’t powerless, though. Energy thrummed in his fingers, ready to respond to his command. And if he could get the knife away from Harumi, then he’d be armed and not her.
So fighting it was.
He’d hoped that if he made the first move, he’d catch Harumi by surprise and start with a little advantage. But he’d taken longer to think than he realized. Harumi only grinned when he lunged at her with an enraged cry.
Then the battle was on.
Harumi swung her knife towards Lloyd. He held up his hand, alit with his powers, as a shield, then swung at her with his other hand. She ducked out of the way and stepped back. Lloyd followed, already in motion for another strike.
To his surprise, Harumi evaded the hit, then rounded on him with impressive speed and slashed the blade at his back. Lloyd hissed as it grazed his skin and left a thin cut in his skin. He only avoided worse by dropping straight down to the ground and sweeping his leg towards her ankles. She jumped away and out of range.
Still on the ground, Lloyd summoned spheres of energy and blasted them at the former princess. Harumi growled in annoyance and struggled to dodge. She used her knife to block some of the blasts. Half of them completely missed because of Lloyd’s whirling mind. His powers took concentration, which he painfully lacked.
When his attack faltered, Harumi rushed forward. Lloyd barely had time to roll backwards before her knife embedded in the stone floor where he’d just been. He leaped up with a green whirl of spinjitzu and spun towards her, standing between her and the mask. To his surprise, she didn’t back down, and instead sent him a terrified look.
Just before he reached her, Lloyd faltered. He couldn’t…he couldn’t hurt her. He loved her. His spinjitzu might send her over the edge and into the darkness below.
He stalled, staring at her with fear and confusion written all over his face. Harumi laughed wickedly and he flinched away. “You’re too easy,” she mocked. “The poor damsel in distress.”
Then she leaped at him.
Lloyd prepared to block her knife, but she didn’t use it. Instead, she barreled straight into him and sent them both flying backwards. He hit something hard and rolled over the top. For some reason, Harumi was forced away from him.
For a moment, the only thing he could feel was hatred.
Hate towards Harumi. Towards all of the Sons of Garmadon. Even towards his father.
Then his foot caught on something and he rolled off the pedestal with an ungraceful grunt. The Mask of Hatred clattered to the ground by his side.
Panting, Lloyd pushed himself to his knees. His eyes widened upon seeing the now-freed mask next to him. He snatched the mask off the ground and stared at it in horror.
It was out of the fire. Harumi could take it.
“Give me the mask!” Suddenly her knife was arcing towards his face. Lloyd saw the flash of metal and instinctively rolled backwards, clutching the mask to his chest. “How do you plan on keeping it from me forever?”
He hated that she had a point. Even if he made it out of the cave in one piece and with the mask, they’d always be on the run from Harumi and her gang until they got their hands on the Oni relic. But she forgot how stubborn he can be. “Ninja never quit” and all that.
“We’ll find a way!” Lloyd snapped. He held the mask in his left hand and summoned his powers in his right. “Anything to keep it from you!” He backed towards the edge of the platform and held the mask over the empty air. Harumi rushed forward but he held up his other hand and she stopped. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t just drop it!”
He should. He could just let go and end this. Letting Harumi talk was objectively a bad idea.
But he wasn’t thinking straight. Any other enemy and he’d realize his mistake. But this was Harumi. He knew her. At least he thought he did.
“I’ll give you too!” Harumi lowered her knife and took a step closer, now only three feet in front of him. “You want to see your father again—” it was true, he missed his father, but not like this “—and you love me.”
She could’ve just stabbed him and he wouldn’t know the difference. He pulled his hand to his chest and sent her a pained look. She laughed at his expression. “Ah, yes, your emotions. You can’t get rid of them. It’s hard to think, isn’t it?”
He hated how well she knew him. It was in fact quite difficult to think clearly with her betrayal fresh and raw and painful.
“I bet none of the other Ninja would’ve fallen for that trick,” Harumi added, twirling her knife and stepping forward again. Shaking, Lloyd tried to back away, but his heel met open air and he froze. “I think that means you’re a failure as a Ninja…and as a friend.”
“Stop,” Lloyd snapped. His heart pounded. Because that was true, wasn’t it? He’d trusted her and failed his team. If she managed to bring back his father, then Lloyd failed him too. And all of Ninjago with the destruction they had and will cause.
He forgot at the moment, but he’d later remember that Kai had immediately fallen for Skylor on Chen’s island, even though she was technically their enemy at the time. Or that the whole team had trusted Dr. Sanders—Krux—until it was almost too late.
At the moment, all he could think about was that he was a failure.
Not yet, his mind whispered. You still have the mask.
Right. Harumi didn’t have her prize yet; it was in his hand above nothingness. All he had to do was let go.
“No,” he hissed, glaring at Harumi. She frowned and her eyes flicked from his face to the mask. “I’m not.”
He let go.
Harumi shrieked in rage and, to his complete surprise, dove off the edge after the mask. He gasped and his gaze shot downwards, half-expecting to see her body on the ground—only to be met with the sight of her grinning wildly as she held the mask up to her face.
“Oh, no,” Lloyd whispered.
Failure, his mind taunted.
He backed away from the edge just as Harumi jumped back onto solid ground. Her whole body had turned slate gray with purple cracks shimmering with Oni energy. The mask had grown two black pigtails and, when Harumi spoke, her voice was deeper and echoing. “Thank you, Lloyd,” she purred. “You’ve been very helpful.”
The Ninja summoned his powers and launched at the former princess.
With inhuman speed, Harumi brought the knife up.
Stinging pain shot across the side of Lloyd’s face. He stumbled back and his hand immediately pressed over the wound. His other hand shot energy at Harumi.
She simply stood still as they blasted into her, ineffective.
“A taste of invincibility,” Harumi mused. “This isn’t a fair fight, Lloyd.”
He was too blinded by rage and pain to register her words as the Ninja once more leaped closer for an attack. Harumi kicked him away and it felt like getting punched by rocks. When he rolled to a stop, she pressed her foot on his chest to pin him in place.
“Let me go!” Lloyd yelled, clawing uselessly at Harumi’s foot. “You won’t get away with this!”
“Oh, Lloyd,” Harumi purred, reaching down to brush his hair out of his eyes. He flinched away hard but only succeeded in banging his head on the ground. “I already have.”
She brought the knife down on his arm. But Lloyd’s powers refused to take any more hits. It surfaced around his arm like a shield and the knife harmlessly deflected off.
He couldn’t see her face, but he knew she was grinning. “Goodbye, Lloyd,” she hummed.
Then she pushed off his chest to get a head-start running towards the entrance. Wheezing from the pressure, Lloyd rose to his feet much too slow. By the time he stood, Harumi was gone, and the temple shook violently, sending him to his knees once again.
Water flooded up around him and carried him to the ceiling. It eventually swept him away to safety—not after a good scare with drowning, he came really close—but in the darkness, all he could think was that he failed.