Chapter Text
There was a saying. Morro had never been sure when the first time he’d heard it was, or who said it to him, but it was as old as the legend of the Green Ninja. It was a saying that went like this: “You break it, you buy it.” And break it, they certainly had. The museum, especially the Hall of Villains that Morro hadn’t set foot in since that creep had shown it to them, was totalled. He wasn’t even entirely sure how that had happened. Had the villains Yang had summoned back into existence destroyed everything on their ways out?
Kai, Nya, Zane, and Morro were on organizing duty in the store room while Lloyd, Jay, and Cole were bringing the broken and damaged museum pieces in via wheelbarrow. No one was having any fun, but it was part of being a ninja… apparently. Lloyd thought so, at least. He was the one leading this clean up. None of them knew where Wu or Garmadon had disappeared to, though.
“This is exhausting,” Nya grunted, setting down the box she was carrying in its designated spot.
Morro agreed fully. He didn’t want to be here, and keeping an eye on the doctor wasn’t making it easier. (Most of the others seemed to think Dr. Saunders was fine, but Kai wasn’t letting the man be alone with Nya, so Morro knew he wasn’t the only one.)
“If I could go back in time,” she continued, “I would have told Dr. Saunders we were too busy to help.”
Zane set down what he was doing, turning to her. “Nya, the rest of us have time-traveled before. It can have devastating effects and should not be taken lightly.”
Morro’s lips twitched. Obviously, she hadn’t been serious.
His eyes drifted over to Kai, who was probably as hot as Morro was. Because a researcher or a guest of the museum could walk in at any time, both of them had opted to wear their hoods. Neither of them, it seemed, wanted to experience being ducked away from for just looking different more than they had to. Kai seemed more self conscious about his scar than Morro felt about his, though.
He’d asked Lloyd about it, once, in the privacy of his room. Lloyd had pressed his lips together, balling his fists and releasing them the way Morro did when something bothered him.
All he got from that conversation was that it was a sensitive topic.
Morro refocused on his task of stacking boxes, only to be distracted again.
“I… I don’t believe it,” Kai gasped, and Morro’s eyes once again went back to him, and his jaw dropped.
Kai and Nya were standing in front of a painting of their parents. They were discussing it in a hushed tone, Morro picking up on pieces as he got closer. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it, the forty years he’d spent dead suddenly feeling much more real. The two of them looked… so mature. They were standing in front of that old blacksmith’s shop Ray’s dad had left him, Ray’s arm around Maya, her hand resting on his shoulder.
“This dates to when I was, like, three years old,” Nya said as she checked the back. So, over a decade had passed since this had been painted.
That didn’t excuse how garbage it was. The expressions were poorly done. Ray’s face had always softened when looking at someone he loved, his usually harsh expression turning into the goo that reflected his heart. He looked stern here. They both did. Maya had been fun. Lighthearted and full of energy, like the rising tide. She didn’t look happy in this painting.
“Who painted it?” He asked, startling the two siblings.
Nya checked the back again. “It doesn’t say.”
“Whoah!” Cole gasped from where he was standing, grabbing everyone’s attention. Morro went over to him to see what was up, getting pulled into a sweaty sort of half hug. Since the other boy had forced his way back to the land of the living, he was significantly more friendly towards Morro. This instance where Cole was practically leaning on Morro was only one example of how contact-oriented the other former ghost had become in the eight months he’d been dead.
It was weird, but not in a bad way.
The thing that had grabbed Cole’s attention was a massive painting that was truly impressive. It depicted Wu and Garmadon, and a few of the other masters Morro had known (and some he hadn’t) in a battle. It looked like it was around the same time the Serpentine War had happened, which meant Morro had already been dead. He wasn’t sure he recognized who the Alliance were fighting, but they did seem familiar.
“Refreshing time!”
“Hey, Dr. Saunders,” Cole greeted. As the man came over to them with a tray full of cups, Kai shifted so that he was between him and Nya, and Morro tensed. He made to step back, but the doctor started talking in that ridiculously fake, goofy accent. He offered everyone drinks, which Morro wouldn’t have touched even if the idea of water didn’t make him nervous.
Morro did not trust this man. Kai didn’t let Nya take a drink, either.
“What battle is this?” Zane asked the doctor, gesturing to the painting. “My data shows no record of it.”
“Oh, that?” Dr. Saunders said, turning to the painting. Something flickered across his expression, gone as soon as it appeared, moving too quickly for Morro to parse it apart. “That’s just a minor skirmish, no historical significance.”
Morro seriously doubted that. No one did an oil painting over a minor skirmish, especially not one so big.
“It looks pretty significant to me,” Jay said, looking back at the painting. “This thing is huge.”
“Yes, a huge myth,” Dr. Saunders informed them. Morro raised an eyebrow. Why would someone have painted a myth about the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master?
“Even so,” Zane said, “who are these that Masters Wu and Garmadon are fighting? I have no data on them.”
Saunders sighed, the irritated kind that a museum curator being asked genuine questions about history had no business making. “The painting is of a legend. Twin brothers called the Hands of Time.”
Morro stared at him. That wasn’t a legend. They had been real, and Wu had been looking for them while forming the Elemental Alliance against the Serpentine. Which meant this supposed doctor was lying.
“The Hands of Time?” Kai asked, furrowing his eyebrows thoughtfully.
“They could, allegedly, manipulate time itself.” He chuckled. “See? Manipulate time?”
Say something, Morro tried convincing himself, but his voice died in his throat. Wind blew through the storage room in response to his frustration, and Lloyd gave him a concerned look.
Morro just shook his head, forcing himself to reign it back in. He was hot from working, and sweat was collecting across his shoulders and dripping down his neck. He pushed his mask back while the others continued asking the doctor questions about the painting.
“Oh, this handsome fella? The legend calls him-” His voice died, eyes going wide. He was staring at Morro.
“Dude,” Cole said, narrowing his eyes. “It’s rude to stare.”
The doctor blinked rapidly, shaking his head. “Terribly sorry. As I was saying, the legend calls him Krux. His brother is Acronix.”
Morro arched an eyebrow. Had this doctor… Had he just recognized Morro? From what? He made a point not to appear on screen, especially without his mask. Maybe from the past?
As the man hurried out of the room, Morro hummed.
“That was weird.”
“Definitely,” Lloyd agreed, crossing his arms. “He didn’t seem like he was staring at you because of your scars.”
“It looked like recognition,” Kai added.
Morro nodded. “That was exactly what I thought.”
“How would he have recognized you, though?” Jay wondered. “You never take off your mask.”
“That’s exactly why it’s weird,” Lloyd pointed out.
“Could be he knew me before I died,” Morro said. “I don’t know, though. He doesn’t… seem familiar.”
“Intriguing,” Zane stated.
“He’s also full of shit,” Morro continued. “The Hands of Time were completely real.”
He blinked, and they were on the Bounty. An alarm was going off, and everyone was confused. Jay was yelling, Cole was freaked, and Zane was trying to figure out what was happening, and there was too much noise. Morro’s hands went to his ears, a futile attempt to block out the shrieking. His back hit a wall, and he sank down it, his head whirring like Zane’s processor when it was trying to cool down.
He wanted to curl up in a hole.
Just as quickly as the noise had started, it cut off, and he dropped all the way to the floor in relief. Jay was right there with him.
“Thank you,” Jay told Kai, who had turned off the alarm. “Now that that’s not going off, Zane, what just happened?”