With the ninja restored—and Lloyd now a teenager—their focus shifted completely.
Training intensified.
Through my scrying spell, I watched Wu refine Lloyd's movements with relentless precision. No wasted motion. No indulgence. Lloyd learned frighteningly fast, his body and mind adapting as if they had been waiting for this moment all along. Spinjitzu came naturally. Strategy followed. Power answered him when he called.
He was becoming dangerous.
Still not dangerous enough.
I turned my attention elsewhere—because the moment I had been waiting for finally arrived.
The Lost City of Ouroboros.
I felt it before I saw it: a violent distortion in time, crude and forceful, like a blade scraping against reality. Garmadon was attempting something truly foolish. He stood within the ruins, the Mega Weapon raised, its golden light tearing at the air as he tried to open a portal into the past.
Time screamed.
I did not hesitate.
Reality folded as I opened a portal directly into the city, stepping through as temporal energy surged around me. Garmadon barely had time to turn before my elemental power lashed out.
"Freeze."
Time obeyed.
The world around Garmadon locked in place instantly. His expression—twisted with ambition and rage—froze mid-snarl. Dust hung motionless in the air. Even the Mega Weapon's unstable energy stuttered, locked in a half-formed pulse.
I exhaled slowly.
"Trying to rewrite history already?" I said calmly, circling him. "You really don't understand time at all."
I could feel the Mega Weapon resisting me even from a distance. It was not passive. It pulled, hungry and volatile, its presence pressing against my senses like a star collapsing in on itself. Even with all my power—magic, Oni essence, elemental mastery—I knew one mistake would be catastrophic.
I extended a hand carefully and layered spells upon spells.
Levitation.Stabilization.Temporal insulation.Oni suppression sigils.
Only then did I let my magic touch it.
The Mega Weapon tore free from Garmadon's frozen grip, floating between us, its golden surface humming violently. My vision blurred for a moment as it tested me—probing, draining, searching for weakness.
I gritted my teeth.
"Easy," I muttered. "I'm not here to use you."
That seemed to calm it—slightly.
I was not arrogant enough to try to wield it here. Not in a place soaked with temporal instability. Not with Garmadon so close, even frozen. The weapon was too dangerous, too unpredictable.
Possession was enough.
I opened another portal immediately, anchoring it to my strongest spatial runes. The air warped, shadows bending inward as lava-lit stone and ancient magic bled through from my domain.
Before stepping through, I paused and looked at Garmadon one last time.
"You were never meant to hold this," I said quietly. "You lack patience. Restraint. Understanding."
I released the time-freeze.
Not fully—just enough.
Garmadon's eyes widened as motion returned to him for a fraction of a second, just long enough for him to realize what was happening.
Then I was gone.
The portal snapped shut behind me, sealing with a thunderous crack that rippled across the Lost City. The Mega Weapon floated beside me as I emerged within my castle's deepest vault, wards flaring instantly as they engaged.
I staggered slightly, blood trickling from the corner of my mouth.
Holding it—even passively—was already draining.
I lowered the Mega Weapon onto a prepared pedestal, layers of containment activating as the weapon's hum diminished to a low, dangerous thrum. The stone beneath it glowed faintly as it absorbed excess energy, preventing a feedback loop.
Only then did I allow myself to breathe.
I straightened slowly, wiping the blood away with the back of my hand, and laughed—softly, incredulously.
"…I actually did it."
The Mega Weapon was mine.
Not activated.Not wasted.Not abused.
Contained.
Somewhere far away, Garmadon would be furious. The ninja would soon realize the weapon was gone. Wu would sense the disturbance. Lloyd would feel something missing from the world.
But it didn't matter.
I had taken the most powerful artifact in Ninjago without a battle, without revealing myself, and without damaging the timeline.
Exactly as planned.
I looked down at the golden construct, eyes glowing faintly with purple Oni fire.
"One wish a day," I murmured. "Reality-altering. Energy-draining. Dangerous."
A slow smile spread across my face.
"Good thing I have time."