Onyx and Rebooted

Built to Protect

The five ninja dashed over the rooftops of Ninjago, flanking Wu and Garmadon. "Feels like old times, doesn't it?" Wu asked. "Yes. It feels good!" Garmadon laughed. The seven slid to a halt as the shingles on a nearby roof flew off and formed themselves into the shape of a hand, swinging down at them. Onyx ducked and covered her head, expecting the worst, but instead of being crushed by the fist, it fell to pieces moments before pulverizing them, and the worst that happened was she got bonked on the head by a shingle.

"I don't believe it, the armor's working!" Cole cried. "Keep going! We have to take the heat off the Senseis!" Jay shouted, leading the ninja into the golden web the Overlord had woven throughout the city, hacking and slashing at the light. The strangest thing about it was that, whilst Onyx could still feel the darkness emanating from him, it had significantly lessened. Perhaps because of the power he'd stolen. "My powers! They aren't working! They won't stop coming!" The Overlord snarled as the ninja cleaved through his web.

The people on the streets below began to cheer, only for those cheers to turn to screams as the Overlord, realizing that he couldn't touch the ninja, began to target them instead. "We have to save the people!" Lloyd cried. "We can do that by getting the Senseis closer!" Kai shouted.  Lloyd gritted his teeth.

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from the streets below. "People of Ninjago, follow me!" Skales shouted, beckoning the people into the sewers. "The snakes are on our side? Great. Now I have seen it all," Jay remarked. "Lloyd, the serpentine are taking care of the people. We have to focus on the Overlord," Onyx said. Lloyd finally nodded, accepting what they had to do.

The ninja skidded to a halt on the edge of a building, staring at the true extent of the web the Overlord had created. "We'll never get close enough!" Kai cried. "We can't stop here! Not when we're so close!" Onyx shouted, determination blazing in her eyes. "You won't need to. Ready to thread the needle, brother?" Garmadon said, reaching into his robe for the pill. Wu nodded. "Let's show them what old timers can do," he said, spinning his staff and grasping it like a baseball bat. Garmadon grinned like a man a fraction of his age and threw the pill at Wu, who swung perfectly straight.

Onyx watched the pill spiral through the air, glimmering slightly as it caught the sunlight. Hope grew in Onyx's chest as it flew even closer to the Overlord's mouth. Once he was tiny, she'd love nothing more than to stamp him out of existence, like the annoying bug he was. And then, just as it was mere inches from the Overlord's mouth, Pythor came out of nowhere, catching the pill in his mouth and swallowing it. Borg hadn't been lying; soon the conniving snake was too small to see from this distance, and as much as Onyx would've loved to stomp him into a pulp, that wasn't the point. The point was that the cursed little reptile had destroyed the one chance they had of defeating the Overlord.

"That was it? That was all you've got?!" The Overlord's voice rang out over the city as his golden tentacles shot from nowhere, catching the ninja in his grasp.

All except for Zane.

Onyx gasped as the tentacle wrapped around her, tightening around her torso and sending bolts of pain through her ribcage. "The armor, why isn't it working?" Cole shouted, wriggling about in the Overlord's grip. "Because your time is over!" The entity snarled. "You'll have to be less cryptic!" Onyx screamed, fighting in vain against the tentacle around her.

Zane stood on the building, watching his friends be captured, one by one. A righteous anger swelled in his chest, and his eyes narrowed as he realized what he had to do. "Support me, friends, for one last time," he whispered softly.

Onyx froze as Zane leapt onto the Overlord's web, dashing towards the being. She struggled desperately to free an arm-to grab Zane as he fondly touched the top of her head as he ran by-but she couldn't. She couldn't do a single thing as her comrade, her friend, her brother in all but blood vaulted up towards the Overlord and grasped the points of his golden armour, pale hands wrapping around the fatal gold.