From the moment Garmadon reached the Golden Peaks, my attention never wavered.
The forge burned brighter than any mundane flame, the four Golden Weapons hovering as Garmadon twisted them together with brute force and stolen knowledge. I watched through my scrying spell as reality itself strained, the weapons screaming in protest as they were reshaped into something new—something wrong.
The Mega Weapon was born.
I felt it the instant it stabilized. A pulse rippled across the magical currents of Ninjago, subtle enough that most would never notice, but to me it was like a bell ringing in my skull. Raw potential. Reality-bound authority. A tool that could impose will upon existence itself.
And Garmadon held it with no understanding of what he had truly made.
I observed in silence as he tested it—small, unfocused attempts. Sparks of warped causality, half-formed changes that fizzled out. He frowned, frustrated, turning the weapon over in his hands like a child trying to understand a relic far beyond them.
You don't even know what you're holding, I thought coldly.
Then came the wish.
Not for dominion.Not for invincibility.Not even for revenge.
He wished for the Pirates of the Destiny's Bounty.
I almost laughed.
The Mega Weapon answered instantly. Reality folded, obeying without question—and the cost came just as fast. I saw it drain him, greedily pulling energy from his very essence. Garmadon staggered, dropping to one knee, his body visibly weaker, his aura flickering like a dying flame.
"One wish," I murmured to myself. "And you've already crippled yourself."
As predicted, the pirates appeared—alive, restored, and immediately treacherous. They turned on their own summoner without hesitation, overwhelming Garmadon and throwing him into the brig of the very ship he had resurrected.
Poetic.
I shifted my attention briefly, letting my scrying spell split into multiple threads. The ninja were scrambling now, homeless and scattered, eventually finding their way into the Dojo of Dareth. I barely spared them a glance. Their struggles were predictable, their growth linear.
Still, Lloyd was… interesting.
I watched him train under Wu's guidance, stumbling through Spinjitzu at first, frustration clear on his face. But then—progress. Real progress. His movements smoothed out, his energy aligning in ways it hadn't before. He was finally beginning to grasp what it meant to be the Green Ninja.
Good, I thought. Grow stronger. You'll be more useful that way.
The pirates, meanwhile, proved to be exactly what they always were—short-sighted and greedy. The ninja fought them, adapting quickly despite their disadvantages. I observed their tactics clinically, noting improvements, weaknesses, emotional tells.
Eventually, the outcome became inevitable.
The pirates fell.
The ninja were victorious—but not triumphant. They were thrown from the ship soon after, cast aside like nuisances. And Garmadon, freed from the brig by circumstances rather than merit, reclaimed the Destiny's Bounty once more.
He stood on its deck, Mega Weapon in hand, breathing heavily, still weakened from his first wish.
And still ignorant.
I leaned back, dismissing one of my scrying threads, my focus sharpening entirely on him now.
"So," I said quietly, purple Oni flames briefly curling around my fingers, "you've learned the price… but not the lesson."
The Mega Weapon was everything I believed it to be—and more. The energy cost was immense, yes, but manageable with preparation. With time manipulation alone, I could negate most of its drawbacks. With my Oni resilience and magic reserves, I could wield it far more efficiently than Garmadon ever could.
He was a blunt instrument.
I was a surgeon.
For now, though, I would continue to wait.
If I took the Mega Weapon too soon, the ninja would notice. Wu would notice. Too many eyes, too many variables. But if I waited until Garmadon isolated himself further—until he relied on the weapon again and weakened himself even more—
Then it would be effortless.
I closed my scrying spell and rose, gazing out over my expanding territory, the Lava Lands glowing beneath the crimson sky.
"Enjoy it while you can, Lord Garmadon," I said softly. "Every mistake you make brings that weapon closer to me."
And somewhere far away, on a stolen ship under a restless sky, Garmadon tightened his grip on the Mega Weapon—completely unaware that he was already being hunted.