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Lloyd had gotten too comfortable, living two different lives.
He’d separated them in his head.
In one life, his classmates throw trash at his head in the cafeteria. In another, he throws down against Blue in a game of Monkey Mech on the trashy couch with their trashy controllers on the console that has wires sticking out of the side.
In one life, he’s required to meet with the principal every month to sign off on legal papers - ones that say he’s willing to serve in a juvenile detention center if he skips school unexcused or fights with a classmate. In another, he meets with his Uncle under the stars to practice the ancient art of spinjitzu with his teammates.
In one life, he lets his body control itself, because it’s too painful to go through everyday with the knowledge that the whole world is against him.
In his other life, he has friends who care enough to make it less so.
He’d thought, foolishly, that he could keep these lives separate. That he could be Lloyd Garmadon sometimes and the Green Ninja the rest of the time.
But really, the only thing separating his two lives was a mask.
He just never thought the mask would break.
~ ~ ~
“Cyan, Red, Blue, you three drive out the remaining forces. Black and White, I need you two to fortify that building! If you let it fall, I can’t evacuate them!”
Lloyd spouts out orders with practiced ease, that day. He doesn’t even need to hear their affirmative answers to know that they’re following his directions.
As the team splits to fulfill their duties, Lloyd dives off of one building and onto the side of another - one that’s practically falling apart. It’s an office building; Garmadon had targeted it seemingly at random, sending his forces to tear it apart brick by brick. It’s only still standing, now, because of Black and White’s efforts, stacking rocks and dirt as support and freezing them in place.
It’s Lloyd’s job, as usual, to evacuate the building.
He starts at the top, hooking a wire from the window sill to the stable building next door. He’d decided to leave his mech at the warehouse this time - it’s still in its first few stages, and certain things don’t work like they’re meant to.
He supervises as the first three civilians zipline to safety, just to make sure it’s stable, and then he continues down each floor, depositing a zipline on each floor.
He’s almost made it to the bottom when Red’s voice breaks his concentration.
“Green, watch ou-”
Lloyd has just enough time to see the projectile coming his way when it slams into his side, knocking him off the building. He lands haphazardly in a pile of debris, gasping for breath.
“Green! What happened,” he hears across the speakers in his ears, but he doesn’t have the breath to answer. His lungs feel crushed, and each gasp hurts like a hundred needles and takes in only enough air to keep him from passing out.
He manages to leverage himself onto his knees, one arm braced against the ground and the other clutching his chest protectively. His head rings, his vision’s blurry.
He thinks he might throw up.
And then - as if it couldn’t get any worse - he reaches up to feel his face for blood.
And there is blood, dripping down his nose.
But most worryingly, he doesn’t feel his mask.
The realization leaves him even more breathless than the fall, as he forces himself to his feet. He frantically searches for the mask in the debris, but with his vision as blurry as it is, it’s a fruitless endeavor from the start.
“Green, just wait, we’re on the way,” he hears Black say calmly.
“No,” he croaks. “No I’m fine, keep -” he gasps for breath. A sharp pain makes him wonder if he actually is fine. That’s never happened before. “Keep going!”
“The attackers are gone and the building is evacuated,” White explains, calm. “Once we find you, we can go back to base.”
Lloyd feels his stomach sink. He could never convince his team to leave without him, they’re too loyal. It’s the only time he hasn’t been grateful for that. All he can do now is - cover his face with his hands and wait.
So he does.
They arrive at the same time, strangely enough, as if they’d waited for each other before approaching him. They probably had, if Lloyd really thinks about it. All they know is that their leader was knocked off a building - they don’t know his state. It’s probably reassuring to have everyone there, for them.
Not so much for him.
It feels - irrationally, it feels like an ambush.
He can’t see them approach, with his hands pressing his eyes shut. But the silence is enough to tell him that they know something is amiss.
“Your hair…” Blue mumbles.
He knows Lloyd, from somewhere. Lloyd isn’t surprised, his face has been posted on Good Morning Ninjago ’s list of the cities most watched since he was two years old, everyone knows what he looks like, and his hair is a pretty uncommon shade of blond. But still, Blue hasn’t yet made the connection. Maybe it isn’t too late to fix this. He can come up with an excuse later, if he can just get them to leave him alone.
"Green?" Red approaches him first. Lloyd can sense the hand held out to him - he’s always been good when it came to spacial awareness. He jerks away from it.
"I'm fine," he says, muffled by his hands. He stumbles to his feet - ignoring the stab of pain in his side. His vision goes dark around the edges, throbbing menacingly. Cyan rushes to stabilize him, but again, Lloyd stumbles away.
“Listen, I - I lost my mask…obviously. I need you guys to just…go.”
They know each other's identities. They always have, Lloyd suspects, though he’s not supposed to know that they know. They don’t want him to feel left out, Lloyd had overheard the conversation the first few days of being their leader.
They don’t understand.
“We can’t leave you like this,” Black says, as if it’s obvious.
“I said, I’m fine!” Lloyd snaps. He can feel the tension rising in the way they begin to surround him, like he’s a wounded animal they need to save. He’s not an animal!
“You’re bleeding,” White adds. “If you let me see your face, I can see if anything is wrong.”
“No,” Lloyd protests, throwing himself backward as Red reaches out to pry his hands from his face. He trips on a piece of rubble from the building, landing painfully on his back. With his hands still grasping his face, there’s nothing to break his fall.
“You have to let us help,” Red says. “Your identity can’t be as important as your health.”
“Please, leave it alone-”
“No, you need help-”
He doesn’t need saving.
“I said stop,” Lloyd yells, pulling his hands away to shove at Red’s chest. Blue’s gasp is what makes him realize what he’s done.
He slaps his hands back on his face, fingers slightly splayed so he can see them now, but it’s too late. Blue has stumbled backwards. White and Cyan look betrayed. Black and Red have assumed defensive fighting stances.
They’re afraid of him.
Just like everyone else.
“I - I -” Lloyd gasps for breath as a sharp pain shoots through his side. He feels his cheeks heat in embarrassment - in shame. “I told you to leave it alone,” he yells, eyes squeezed shut, before sprinting away as fast as he can.
Away from the only people he can say may have actually liked him.
Towards the city that hates him.
He doesn’t take his hands away from his face until he’s safely locked in his room, the door slammed in his worried mother’s face.
What has he done?
~ ~ ~
Turns out, a fall like that can do some real damage.
“-ou told me he was with you, Wu-”
“-as-”
“-n bad shape, Ms. Misako.”
Lloyd wishes he could scream. Everyone is speaking too loud; his head feels as though one loud word could make his brain pop. Eventually, the voices quiet down. Lloyd can’t tell if it’s because they’ve left the room or if he’s fallen asleep.
That would imply he hadn’t been asleep before, which doesn’t seem right.
He imagines, in his dreams, his team members' voices.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“He’s Garmadon’s son, lyin’s what he does.”
“That isn’t fair, you can’t say that.”
“What else do you want me to think?”
“Just wake up, Green. You can’t leave it like that.”
He thinks that’s what does it. He doesn’t want to wake up, not really, not when he can spend the rest of his days in a bed, feeling nothing. But the thought of leaving his team - he has to face them first. Even if it means seeing the hatred on their faces, the betrayal, even if they kick the door in his face and call him evil and break him down to ash.
He has to face them, as himself, one time.
So he wakes up.
~ ~ ~
His wake isn’t graceful. It starts with a groan, the sound of beeping in his ear. He lifts his arm to tug at the hospital gown he's been dressed in, and his IV pinches with the strain. Then someone’s reaching out to hug him - his mom. No one else would. He wraps his arms around her too, because he may be fourteen but he needs some comfort.
“Lloyd, what happened,” she asks into his ear, and he doesn’t see her face, but now he doesn’t want to because she sounds devastated and he hates being the cause of that. It makes him feel worse than the pain in his side does.
“I - I don’t remember,” he says, because he hasn’t thought up a good excuse yet.
She holds him tighter, at that. It pinches Lloyd’s side, but he doesn’t mention it. He thinks she probably needs this more than him.
When she finally leans back, Lloyd can see the tears in her eyes. They compliment the bags under them nicely, he thinks sarcastically. “You have a concussion, and a broken rib. It punctured your lung, they had to do emergency surgery. You could’ve died, Lloyd.”
He doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything.
"Why didn't you tell me," she asks, voice breaking.
He can't answer that. He doesn’t know what she expects him to have told her.
"How long have I - been asleep," he asks instead, pretending he can't see the disappointment in his mother's eyes.
She breathes, stuttering, but with the breath she regains some semblance of control. "A day and a night. It's one in the morning."
"Do - do I have to go to school tomorrow?"
His mom chuckles at that, reaching a hand out to brush his hair out of his eyes. "No, honey. You should stay home for a week or so. I'll have it all figured out."
"I'm sorry," Lloyd whispers, because he is.
His mom just purses her lips, stroking his cheek in a way she hadn't since he was little. He wishes he could push her away - but now isn't the time.
There's only a moments pause before she looks at the door, sighing. "Your Uncle's been wanting to talk to you. He said as soon as you wake up, but I know it's late so I can tell him -"
"It's fine." Lloyd interrupts. "I can talk."
She nods, solemn. She walks to the door as if it pains her to be more than a foot away from him, glancing back all the way.
Lloyd raises his eyebrows. "I'm okay. I promise."
She nods. "I know…but I'm your mom. I’m allowed to worry."
With one last glance behind herself, she slips out the door.
And Wu steps in.
"Lloyd," he greets, serene. Everything the man does is serene, like a piece of bamboo unbroken by harsh weather.
Lloyd feels a bit like a rock. One that's been tumbling down a mountain for years and has just hit the bottom and broken in half from the impact. Or maybe a piece of gold melting from the heat of a forge.
"How are you feeling," his Uncle asks, as if nothing's wrong.
"I messed up," he answers, simply. "They know who I am, and they hate me now. I can't be the leader anymore."
Wu purses his lips, at that. He looks as if he'd been expecting this answer, and yet had still hoped for a different one. "How can you be so sure of their opinion of you?"
"Because I saw them! They were - they were terrified! Like everyone is!" He clenches his hands in the thick hospital blanket draped across his lap.
"A dragon cannot know what an eagle is thinking."
Lloyd rolls his eyes. "That doesn't even make sense, we're the same species, it doesn't apply."
Wu raises an eyebrow. "It's a metaphor, Lloyd," he states matter of factly.
Lloyd sighs, leaning his neck against the headboard. "I - I get it, okay. But they don't - they don't need me. Red could be a good leader, he's always wanted that anyways!"
Wu nods, defeated. Lloyd thinks, maybe, the way he looks - all decked out in hospital gear - has had an effect on his Uncle’s answer. Any other time, Lloyd’s sure he would’ve fought Lloyd’s answer. "Alright."
"Are you…" Lloyd averts his gaze. He can't stand his Uncle looking at him like that, like he's - like he's his father. "disappointed in me?"
Wu shakes his head, placing a rough hand on Lloyd's knee. "I will never be disappointed in you, my boy. I simply do not know how to tell them."
Lloyd closes his eyes, despaired.
"Tell them they’re better off without me."
~ ~ ~
He’s discharged from the hospital just a day later - he’s always been a remarkably fast healer. His Uncle claims it has something to do with his heritage, though he hadn’t explained much besides that.
His mom doesn’t let him out of bed for two more days, even though he feels fine enough his first day home.
He wishes he’d been hurt worse, though, when his mom asks if he feels fine enough to return to school the next day - he can’t lie to her face, not about this.
~ ~ ~
Apparently, missing school for four days is the equivalent of missing ten years of homework assignments. People stare at him as he limps through the halls, disappointed like they thought he'd finally died.
Lloyd wouldn't really mind death over this.
His backpack feels ten times heavier than normal, weighed down by all the homework he's missed. He'd had to meet with the principal in the morning to turn in the doctor's note, too, which had made him late to his first class and truly ticked off the teacher in charge of it.
It's just his luck, really.
Besides that…Chen the Cheerleader.
“Oof, Garmadork. I can’t tell if those bruises on your face make you look better or uglier.”
The two girls on his side giggle unrepentantly.
The teacher monitoring the hallway, of course, ignores the remarks. Lloyd has given up asking adults for help - they usually have something to say about his father in response.
Lloyd forces himself to laugh, awkward. “That’s really funny, Chen!”
Something in his tone must scare the boy away, because a moment later, Chen’s making a face and ushering his friends off to class.
At least they hadn’t stuck around for long.
By the time he's sitting at his desk in the last class of the day, he's almost hoping for another life threatening injury to put him out of school again. Especially with all the new eyes on him - people he hadn't known to be especially curious are drilling holes in the side of his head.
Namely, a kid in a sweater vest and polo with blue eyes that seem to glow.
"Welcome, class!" Ms. Laudita greets cheerfully.
It makes Lloyd feel tired.
"Next week, the plan is to work on the project we introduced yesterday. You'll have free range to work with your groups all class period. Before we start, was anyone absent when we picked groups?"
Lloyd gingerly raises his hand.
"Right," Ms. Laudita grimaces. "Does, uh. Does anyone volunteer to take Mr - Garmadon into their group?"
Lloyd curses in his head. No one would ever volunteer, she must know that! She only asks so that -
"He can join us."
Lloyd jerks to attention.
That's never happened before.
The kid holding his hand in the air - his name is Kai. Lloyd knows that because he'd practically announced it to the entire world on the first day of school, and because he remembers being curious when the loudmouth had come into class with a bandage on his eyebrow. It had left a pretty cool scar, and Lloyd still wonders what had happened.
But he'd never once spoken to him - or anyone in his group for that matter. So - what was his motive?
"Oh," Ms. Laudita huffs, most likely grateful that she hadn't had to assign him to a group like the last project they'd had. "That's great! Everyone, join up and get to work!"
Lloyd gathers his backpack as the group watches, slinking to their table of pushed - together desks like a cat suspicious of a bath. The only empty seat is in between a broad shouldered kid with jet black hair and a threatening looking girl with a leather jacket.
He's. He's trapped.
"So. Guessing you don't know what the project's about?" Kai asks forcefully. Lloyd shakes his head in answer, shoulders drawn up to his chin.
"Zane? You wanna explain?"
"I would love to," the kid - he'd been the one staring at Lloyd earlier, up close his eyes don’t glow so strangely - in the sweatervest answers, in a cheerfully monotone voice.
That's an oxymoron, Lloyd thinks.
"It's a history project. We are researching a historical figure or legend and compiling our research into twenty powerpoint slides. That is the only requirement, the rest of the project is at our discretion."
"I couldn't even write an autobiography that long," the kid in the orange scarf whines mournfully. Lloyd covers his mouth with one sleeved hand so no one can see his smile. He doesn't know how these people will react if he laughs at their jokes. He’s had mixed reactions, on that front.
"Nya was at the library -"
"'Cause she's a nerd," the kid with the black hair interrupts.
"Oh so if you care about your education you're a nerd? I'll keep that in mind," the girl, Nya, responds.
Zane continues as if the interruption never happened. "Nya was at the library and she found a very old legend from Ninjago City's history that we're sure no one else will be writing about."
"Apparently," Nya takes over. "There was this dude called the 'First Spinjitzu Master,' who like defended the city from ancient evils."
She eyes Lloyd, then. Gauging his reaction. When Lloyd scans the rest of the table, he finds each of his project members doing the same.
Now, he really does feel like a wounded animal, caught in a corner.
"Uh. I've never - heard of him before."
That's a lie, of course. He's very familiar with the legends, his mother used to put him to sleep with the stories. And his Uncle Wu used the First Master's teachings often with the team -
The team Lloyd is no longer affiliated with, but that he should never have been on in the first place.
So. Lies.
"That's fine," scarf kid says, but it doesn't sound fine. Lloyd gets the sense that he’d been expecting something. "That's the point of the project. I guess."
"Each of us should do three or four slides on a certain subject." Zane instructs, drawing a laptop from his backpack. "I have each subject right here."
"Can I make a playlist?" Black haired kid asks.
"That'd be sick," Kai answers genuinely.
"Each of you put your name next to the subject you'd like to work on," Zane persists. He seems to be a good leader, Lloyd thinks. For schoolwork at least.
He waits patiently as the laptop is passed around.
"Cooole, I wanted to do that one," scarf kid whines.
Black haired kid answers - he's Cole. "Dibs is law."
"Fine," scarf kid mutters, typing his name aggressively.
Lloyd is last, as he'd expected.
Alleged Powers - Cole
First Records - Zane
Effect: Past - Nya
Effect: Present - Jay
His name's Jay.
The Legend - Kai.
It's all very organized, more so than any other group Lloyd has ever worked with in school. That isn't saying much, admittedly, but these kids, they operate as if they've been friends for years. The only subject that's left unclaimed is Lineage . So Lloyd types his name next to that, already brainstorming what he may write.
How does he track the lineage of a legend?
"What's your number?"
Lloyd bites the fingernail of his ring finger, thinking. He could borrow any resources the others have already found, scour those.
"Garmadon!"
Lloyd's head snaps up. "Huh?"
Nya rolls her eyes, exasperated. She's got a phone held out towards him like an offering. "What's your Discordant handle? We need to keep in touch."
"Oh. Yeah." He scrambles to take the device, plugging his account in. He’s glad they’re going with a chat instead of personal numbers - he’s got an anonymous handle on Discordant. They’ll know who he is, but maybe the informal setting will make a difference. He holds the phone towards her gingerly. “Sorry. I don’t normally…”
He doesn’t finish the sentence. He doesn’t have to. They’ve all turned to their phones, typing furiously.
Lloyd gets the sense they’re talking about him.
But then, people always are.
~ ~ ~
That night, his phone buzzes with a message.
LadyIronDragon: Everyone put your names in the chat this is Nya
Fiyaaah: kai
Lloyd waits a few moments, hesitant to answer. He’s never texted anyone who knew who he was in real life, besides his mom which sounds like the lamest thing ever. Is he supposed to wait his turn? Surely he should wait until everyone else has answered, considering he’s the only one who actually needs the introductions. They must be doing this for him, because he’s sure they all have each other's numbers already.
But no more texts come. They might be asleep, for all he knows. It is late, after all.
greenoni5: Lloyd
JayIsBae: why are you all talking so late
JayIsBae: my moms gonna wonder why i’m up
Fiyaaah: nya wantwd to get this ovwr with
JayIsBae: oh
JayIsBae: fine
JayIsBae: my name’s in my handle but this is Jay
01111010: This is Zane.
enterdirtman: Yo
JayIsBae: you're supposed to put your name
enterdirtman: Yo it’s Cole
LadyIronDragon: We can chat more at school on monday this was just for later
enterdirtman: k
Fiyaaah: Byeeeee
With that, Lloyd is sent to sleep.
~ ~ ~
ninjas are cool and so are we
JayIsBae: what are we doing
JayIsBae: Kai why did you do that why did you volunteer in class
JayIsBae: i’m really starting to freak out it just sank in
Fiyaaah: chill iut dude its fine its just green
01111010: Kai, this is an unexpected change in attitude from when we visited him in the hospital.
01111010: Was it not you who called him a liar and implied he’s every bit as evil as his father is?
Fiyaaah: i was jusy angry
01111010: It was an uncalculated decision and I know what you’re doing. You’re using this to get to know him outside of his leadership, as Lloyd Garmadon, because you’ve realized you can’t judge him for his parents. Do you have a plan? When will we reveal ourselves?
LadyIronDragon: Should we
LadyIronDragon: Maybe this is an opportunity to show him he can trust us
LadyIronDragon: Not as ninjas but like as people
JayIsBae: we should actually be friends with him
01111010: That could be interesting.
enterdirtman: oh no now zanes in
enterdirtman: we shld tell him
Fiyaaah: after the project well tell him i promise
JayIsBae: do you guys think he drinks blood
LadyIronDragon: No Jay I don’t think he drinks blood
Fiyaaah: ya necer know
~ ~ ~
The next day is a nice sunny Saturday. The warm spring weather ensures that citizens are out and about, completing errands and shopping for fun. Street performers litter the sidewalks today, good ones if the saxophone music outside of Lloyd’s apartment is any indication. It makes good ambience music for him to study to.
What a perfect day for Garmadon to attack.
Lloyd thinks, if his mom hadn’t been with him, he might’ve cracked, might’ve rejoined the team. It’s too much to watch from a screen as they fight hard. But she’s there, forcing him to let her check the bandage wrapped around his torso (he tells her it doesn’t hurt, and he isn’t lying) as he does homework on the couch.
They’re not doing…well.
The performance they put on TV makes Lloyd cringe. They’re so disorganized it hurts. The robotic minions Garmadon has sent aren’t smart, they’re not AI, but they’re big and capable of crushing cars beneath their treads.
It’s an opportunity for Black’s strength, if Lloyd ever saw one. Instead, they’ve sent Red out to fight the main force off, with White at his side. Not only the wrong pair for this particular threat, but they’re also working against each other. Each bolt of ice White shoots is melted not long after by Red’s flames. If that was originally their plan, they would have sent Cyan out to use the melted ice for something.
Lloyd has to turn off the TV before he regrets his decision to leave. He can already hear his Uncle’s speech. ‘You should have been there, Lloyd, it’s your responsibility to watch over the city. Don’t you understand this?’
What is there to understand, he thinks at the theoretical Uncle in his psyche. You can lead if you’re so worried about it.
And then his phone buzzes.
01111010: Are you watching the news?
Lloyd’s stomach flips. Is Zane blaming him for the attack? It wouldn’t be the first time someone has, but he hadn’t thought…this group of kids had been surprisingly civil so far, especially for people his age. Teenagers are mean, and he’s not exactly exempt from that stereotype.
greenoni5: Yeah
01111010: Could I ask you a question?
greenoni5: sure..
01111010: If you were leading the ninjas, what strategy would you use?
Lloyd blinks at the question. Weird, but…
Oddly fitting, considering he’d just been thinking about that.
He taps his fingers on the back of his phone, considering. Should he risk sounding violent, or obsessed? After only a moment of thinking, he decides it probably won’t hurt to humor the idea. Maybe it’ll ease his guilt over not being there, to know what he would’ve done if he had been.
greenoni5: I’d send the strongest of them which I think is the black one to crush the main force, the lightning guy should corral the runners back towards the black one with little shocks they’re metal so that should work i might be wrong though
greenoni5: The other fighter would be the black and blue one, the girl, because the white a red ones are making a lot of water by melting the ice and waters her thing right, so shed switch places with them
greenoni5: the rest would evacuate people, push them further into the city and remind them of the bunkers in city hall
greenoni5: These attackers are robots, not people, so none of them should be able to escape because the ninjas don’t have to worry about accidentally killing one
greenoni5: Does that make sense
Lloyd waits for a reply, staring blankly at his phone screen, but he doesn’t receive one. He mentally shrugs off the strange question, returning to his homework. He’s got a lot to make up; the world might be falling apart but schools will never stop giving out homework, and he’s only halfway done with an essay due Monday.
He ignores the sound of fighting in the distance; he lives far enough into the city that the attacks only rarely ever reach him and his mom. He wonders if the other ninja live closer to the beach. Maybe White, he’s usually the first to know of an attack.
By the time his mom is finished making dinner, the fighting has come to an end. The sun is a mere orange streak on the horizon.
“How are you feeling, honey,” she asks over chicken and rice.
Lloyd shrugs. “I’m okay…lotta homework.”
“What do you think of those ninjas,” she asks, curious.
Lloyd coughs on a mouthful of food. “What - what do you mean?”
She smiles at his blunder fondly, after leaning forward to make sure he’s okay. “They’re doing a good thing out there, protecting the city. I just hope they’re okay.”
Lloyd doesn’t answer, so she continues.
“They’re all just people, as powerful as they seem. I hope they’ve got families to go back to at the end of the day.”
Lloyd nods. “They have to. I don’t think anyone does what they do unless they have someone to protect.” He says this, thinking of himself. He protects his mom, his Uncle… “Maybe they’re protecting each other,” he thinks aloud.
“I didn’t think of that,” she says, contemplative.
There’s a moment of silence, before Lloyd remembers - he’d been wanting to ask his mom about the project. “Do you remember those stories you used to tell me? About the First Spinjitzu Master?”
Her eyes widen, surprised. “...Yeah. I’d forgotten about those.”
Lloyd twirls his chopsticks around in his rice. “I’m doing a project, and I just wanted to know if you ever heard any stories about…where he came from. Like his parents?”
Koko hums. “To be honest I’d never thought about that. I’m sure he had parents, but the stories I heard never mentioned them, not directly.”
Lloyd purses his lips, disappointed.
“ But, he had two sons.”
Lloyd’s eyes widen. “Really?”
She nods, proud of herself. “He created Ninjago, and when he was finished, he fell in love and had two sons - half human, the other half oni and dragon. All three worlds of creatures combined. It’s a beautiful story.”
Lloyd blinks at his dinner. He wasn’t interested in the love stories as a kid, so she must’ve refrained from telling those ones.
When he looks up, her eyes are unfocused. There’s a bittersweet smile on her face.
“Your father told me those stories,” she mutters.
That night, Lloyd lays awake. His mind is running too fast for him to keep up with.
“Hey mom,” he calls softly from the door of his room. When she doesn’t answer, he listens closely.
Her snores are easy to hear through the thin walls.
With his mother asleep, it’s remarkably easy for him to slip his shoes on and escape the building. Instead of walking the dark midnight streets, he jumps from roof to roof, all the way to the pier.
The thump of his feet on the dock of Destiny’s Bounty is small enough to be negligible, and yet, his Uncle appears behind him just as soon as he lands. Knowing him, he probably felt the vibrations in the floor, or heard Lloyd moving through the air before he even landed, or something equally as outlandish.
“Lloyd. What can I do for you, nephew?”
Lloyd blinks. He’d thought he knew what he wanted to say. He’d been planning a speech on the way over - I’ll rejoin the team. They can’t do this without me, I need them, and I miss them, I can’t live without them - but the words don’t come.
They don’t feel adequate now.
Uncle Wu seems to get that. He doesn’t make Lloyd speak, instead pulling him inside the cabin to hand him a cup of lukewarm tea. He kneels on the floor mat, gesturing for Lloyd to do the same in front of him.
“How are your injuries, my boy?”
“They’re okay,” Lloyd starts. “I only wear the bandages because mom wants me too…How are you?”
His Uncle hums. “I am doing well. But I suspect a little chat with you uncle isn’t why you are here?”
Lloyd allows his posture to droop. “How - how is everyone doing?”
Wu tilts his head, curiously. “They have done better. It is difficult for them, without someone to follow.”
Lloyd winces. “I saw.”
Wu gets up, padding around the room. He lights a stick of incense, silently, before turning back to Lloyd peacefully. “You will have to face them eventually.”
Lloyd nods. “I - I know, I -”
“But,” Wu interrupts, “you can take it at your own pace. The best leaders never wish to lead. They will understand, in time.”
Lloyd stutters, surprised. "I - " he bows his head, staring at his tea. "Thank you."
With that, he’s sent on his way - after he gulps down the honey flavored liquid, of course. By the time he’s back in his bed at home, he feels marginally better - better enough to allow himself to feel tired.
Just as he’s laying down, his phone buzzes.
01111010: Thank you, Lloyd. That helped.
Lloyd scrunches his nose in confusion. What could Zane mean by that, he thinks momentarily.
But he’s too tired to think about that tonight.
~ ~ ~
Monday comes too soon for Lloyd’s liking, and yet, he feels better about attending school than he has since his first day ever. He still feels the eyes on the back of his skeleton-print hoodie, but he got good sleep the night before, without having to worry about any Garmadon attacks or midnight training sessions.
He wonders if this is how normal kids feel on Mondays. Only superficial sleepiness, and not the bone deep exhaustion Lloyd feels on most days.
“Oooh, I’ve been missing that ugly face!”
Lloyd sighs as a thin hand grasps his shoulder.
There’s the exhaustion.
Unlike Chen, whose taunts are derived from a deep seated desire to be popular, Brad Todabone is simply insane.
As a twelve year old, the only middle school that would accept Lloyd was Darkley’s School for Bad Boys, a boarding school for delinquent children that made most other kids cringe as they walked past. Most of the students there avoided Lloyd - a lot of them had parents who were generals in Garmadon’s army. But Brad Todabone didn’t have any of those qualms. He made it his personal mission to taunt Lloyd at every possible chance.
It isn’t as if Lloyd didn’t do his fair share of taunting back, to be fair.
But when he’d seen Brad’s face at Ninjago High School, it had been a bit of a shock. And though he manages to avoid Brad most of the time - they have no classes together - he occasionally manages to catch Lloyd in the hallway.
Brad seems to think the two of them have some sort of camaraderie - like they’re allies of a sort, just because both of them are social outcasts.
Lloyd isn’t that kind of social outcast.
“Hi, Brad.”
“What happened to your face?”
Lloyd sighs. He’d hoped no one would ask - the purple bruises had just begun to fade into ugly yellow-green, but they’re still there. His surgery scar had healed quicker than the bruises, weirdly. “Nothing,” he answers defensively.
He tries to make it look like he’s flipping his hood up for an unrelated reason, but Brad’s smirk suggests he doesn’t buy it.
“Well,” Brad begins slyly. His hands snake behind his own back, and he leans toward Lloyd suggestively. “I wouldn’t mind lending you a bruise kit, if you do something for me.”
Lloyd isn’t planning on taking the deal - he doesn’t need a bruise kit. But he’s always been too curious for his own good. “What?”
Brad huffs at Lloyd’s rudeness. “I just -” he looks side to side, as if searching for something. The halls are mostly thinned out by now - only a few students rush to their classes. “I need ten bucks.”
Lloyd shakes head. “For what?”
Brad smiles - but it’s shaky. “Does it matter?”
Lloyd nods. “I could get my own bruise kit online for three bucks. If it’s for a good cause, I might be willing to buy yours for more.”
The bell rings, shrill, but neither boy moves. Brad purses his lips angrily. “I’m only telling you this to get my ten bucks! I - took my mom’s scissors, she said if I didn’t pay her back for them she’d send me back to Darkley’s.”
Lloyd hums, staring at the ground.
“I can’t go back to that place, Garmadon. You should understand that.”
Lloyd does understand that, weary as it makes him to think about it. He sighs, already reaching into his backpack. “Were you gardening?” They may not have been friends, but everyone who knew Brad knew he had a strange knack for gardening and an even stranger love of plants themselves.
Brad grumbles angrily. “Someone wrapped those bushes in the park in wire, I was gonna cut it off!”
Lloyd slaps Brad’s hand with a twenty dollar bill - he hadn’t had a ten. “There.”
He’s shrugging his backpack back on when Brad stops him.
“Y’know -”
Lloyd turns around expectantly. Brad’s staring at the money with something that looks a little like regret.
“I was just gonna steal from you, at first. But then I remembered that time…when the headmaster locked us in the closet ‘cause detention wasn’t working. He turned down the AC to freeze us out, so he could punish us longer, and you gave me your uniform jacket even though you’re basically cold blooded. Do you remember that?”
Lloyd nods. “I do.”
Brad picks at the twenty dollar bill anxiously. “Do you think…we ever could have been friends?”
Lloyd sighs. “I think…we still could be. If you wanted.”
Brad smiles. It looks a bit like a smirk. “You’re a good guy, Lloyd. I don’t know how you did it back then and I dunno how you do it now. But…I really…thank you.”
With that, Brad turns, stiff, in the opposite direction.
Lloyd smiles. When he finally heads off in the direction of his classroom, later than he’s ever been in his life, he wonders if he’s imagining the way his backpack feels lighter than it had before he’d taken it off.
~ ~ ~
“How was your weekend?”
Lloyd, as always, is one of the first kids in his last class. But this time, Cole is there early as well. Lloyd isn’t sure that’s ever happened before. He wouldn’t know, though, Lloyd doesn’t often pay attention to his fellow classmates. It invites trouble.
In answer, Lloyd shrugs. “Dunno,” he mumbles awkwardly.
He isn’t used to conversation.
Cole hums - it quickly turns into actual humming, along with the song in his head. He doesn’t wear headphones. Lloyd furrows his eyebrows.
“Is that the Everything is Awesome remix?”
Cole’s eyes widen. “You know it?”
Lloyd shrugs. “Doesn’t everyone?”
Cole shakes his head. “No, not really. The remix was only released on one YouToo channel-”
“Earth Beatz.”
“-mine.”
Lloyd gasps. “You’re Earth Beatz?”
Cole huffs a laugh. “I didn’t think anyone really listened to my stuff.”
Lloyd places his hands on the table in front of him. “You liar…you’ve got like two thousand subscribers now. And they’re good! The remixes - they’re not too different from the original song, but they’re always better than the song originally was. I didn’t know that was you, that’s -” Lloyd pauses, searching for a word. “really cool.”
Cole doesn’t answer - but his cheeks are rosy and there’s a smile tugging at his mouth.
Lloyd wonders if destiny had a part to play in this. What are the chances?
And then he mentally kicks himself. He’s starting to sound like his uncle.
“Wassup,” Kai asks cooly as he slides into his own seat. Lloyd shoots him a smile - a close mouthed one that’s not so threatening.
Jay plops into his own seat as well, he and Kai had come in together. He leans into Cole tiredly.
“Why are you guys so quiet,” Kai complains. “‘S boring.”
Jay shoots up defensively. “I just failed a pre-calc test that I wasn’t able to study for, don’t tell me I’m too quiet!”
“Why didn’t you study,” Cole asks.
“How am I gonna find the time when G-” Jay cuts himself off abruptly, shooting a look at Lloyd.
Oh no.
“Nevermind,” Jay mumbles, once again letting his forehead drop onto his friend.
Lloyd gets the sense he’s missing something - he’s sure it has something to do with his father. It always has something to do with his father. Maybe Jay lives near the coast, where Garmadon’s attacks most often originate.
Nya and Zane come in with the rest of the students. They chat with their friends while Lloyd tries to pretend that he’s not interested in their conversation. When the bell rings, they each pull out a computer to begin working on the slideshow. It’s easy for Lloyd to pretend that he’s alone, relaying what his mother had told him onto his designated slides. He searches several library databases for more, but nothing much comes up - aside from the fact the guy is, in fact, a legend.
Which is very helpful, Lloyd thinks sarcastically.
Zane nudges his shoulder. “Where did you find that information? That is a detailed legend - I wasn’t able to find much.”
Lloyd feels his face heat under the gazes of his roommates. He knew they had access to his slides - they all did - but he hadn’t expected them to actually read it. Not now at least. “Uh - well, I don’t have…an official source. Yet.”
Nya raises an eyebrow. “So you know the story but you don’t know the source?”
“Didja make it up,” Kai asks.
Loyd shakes his head. “No! I just don’t have an official source. I heard these from my mom.”
“Where’d she hear ‘em from?” Nya asks again.
Lloyd thinks his face is probably as red as Kai’s jacket, now. “I don’t know,” he lies, staring blankly at his computer screen.
“Well,” Jay snaps, “if you figure it out please share. We should’ve chosen another subject, this guy is impossible to research! It’s like he never existed!”
Zane answers, even as he types quickly on his laptop. “Most legends are based on truth, so he must have existed in some capacity.”
Cole huffs, leaning his cheek on his arm on the table. “What if we came over?”
It takes Lloyd a second or two to realize that Cole was speaking to him. “Hm?”
Cole shrugs. “I mean if your mom knows something…we could all ask her. Plus I think we’ll need to work on this out of class.”
Lloyd feels his breath stutter, and it isn’t because of the bandages wrapped tightly around his torso - his mother had insisted. “You’re - I mean I don’t know if I should…”
“You should ask,” Nya suggests.
“Can we even go,” Kai asks her.
“We don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“Uh,” Lloyd pulls out his phone. “Okay.”
His mom answers quickly - she always does.
Mom: Of course! How many! I can make dinner! Do they have any allergies? What kind of dessert do they want?
Lloyd: You don’t have to make dinner mom
Mom: Hush >:)
Mom: Are they your friends?
Lloyd: I dunno
Mom: But they could be?
Lloyd: I guess
Mom: Then I’m making dinner.
Lloyd lifts his head to find all five classmates staring at him. He stumbles to gather his thoughts through the anxiety. “Uh - yeah she said that's okay.”
Zane grins wide. “Good! We will do that immediately after school.”
“I don’t know about immed-”
“No arguing,” Nya commands.
So Lloyd doesn’t.
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
They ride the public bus to Lloyd’s apartment. Kai feels almost - dirty, sitting next to Lloyd, and it’s not the bus. Even adults sneer at the blond as he walks by, Kai notices. But Lloyd doesn’t seem to care.
Kai jumps when his phone buzzes.
ninjas are cool and so are we
LadyIronDragon: This sucks
enterdirtman: i feel like im a criminal frfr
LadyIronDragon: I feel bad
LadyIronDragon: I don’t know if I can keep this secret anymore
Fiyaaah: we cant tell hom now
01111010: Why not?
Fiyaaah: were actully getting a look at how he is
Fiyaaah: plus i also feel bad anf i dont wanna tell him weve been spying on him
JayIsBae: that’s a good point
enterdirtman: after seein this it makes sense why he didnt want us to kno
Kai glances beside him at Lloyd. He’s staring at the ground, shoulders tense.
“You okay,” Kai asks quietly, drawing everyone else’s gaze.
Lloyd huffs. “I normally walk. Plus I’ve never had anyone over before. You could’ve guessed that,” he says, and it sounds like an accusation.
Kai glances at his phone as it buzzes once more.
LadyIronDragon: That sounded like green! Sassy
Kai huffs, disguising his laugh as a sigh. “I’m sorry. We probably should’ve planned this out.”
Jay leans over Nya to talk to Lloyd. “Is your mom nice,” he asks. Kai rolls his eyes. Jay’s really good at changing the subject - not because he does it on purpose, but because he’s usually thinking about fifteen different things at once.
Lloyd smiles. “Yeah. You guys should probably like her.”
There’s a beat of silence.
“She wants to make dinner for you guys.”
Cole immediately gets excited at the prospect. “You mean, like, there’ll be food?”
Lloyd chuckles. “Yeah. She’s excited.”
“More excited than you, apparently,” Nya teases, smiling.
Lloyd shrugs.
At the bus stop, Jay is the first one off, with Zane bringing up the rear. They follow Lloyd onto a street of apartment buildings and little home-run corner stores. He stops at a nice-looking building, and once inside, at a nice-looking door on the third floor. He slips his school shoes off and some traditional style slippers on.
“Should we,” Jay starts, letting his voice trail off.
Lloyd shrugs. “It doesn’t really matter. You can take your shoes off if you want, but we don’t have any extra slippers anyways.”
Zane and Kai opt to keep their shoes on, but everyone else slips theirs off. Lloyd takes a deep breath before opening the door. He holds it open for everyone else.
The apartment is small, simple, but decorated well. Kai isn’t an interior designer by any means, but he figures plants are a good thing.
“Hello everyone,” a cheery voice calls from the kitchen. A red haired woman appears in the doorway, a smile on her soft face. She has a tray of food in one hand and a tray of drinks in the other. “I’m Lloyd’s mom, it’s very nice to meet you guys!”
Jay waves shyly.
“Hello Mrs. Garmadon,” Zane greets, nodding his head once in a sort of bow.
Koko looks pleased at that, lifting her elbow in lieu of waving a hand. “Just call me Koko, please.”
Suddenly, she’s deposited the trays on a low table and is at Lloyd’s side in a flurry of movement. Her hands rest on his shoulders. Kai can’t remember the last time his own parents had done that - they kind of ignore each other now. Maybe they always had. “C’mon,” she says teasingly. “Introduce me!”
Lloyd clears his throat. He looks insanely awkward. Kai wonders if he’s going to faint. “Uh. This is Cole, Kai, Nya, Zane and Jay. They’re…doing that project with me.”
“We wanted to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind, maam.” Nya says politely. Kai smiles proudly at his younger sister.
"Oh, I don't mind at all," she exclaims. "Why don't we talk over dinner?"
Kai looks at Cole, then Zane, and then at Nya and Jay who are practically glued to each other's sides at the moment. Then he shrugs. "Alright."
Koko directs them all to the couch for dinner - the table is a traditional style one that wouldn't fit all seven of them - and deposits a paper plate of pizza on each of their laps. "Homemade," she brags, sitting next to her son on the floor to face the couch. “There’s more on the table if you’d like it.”
Cole doesn't even wait for everyone to be seated before he's shoving the food in his face and gasping in delight. "I've never had homemade pizza before but this is the best thing I've ever tasted!"
"I'm glad," Koko replies. That warm smile appears on her face again. "So, what questions did you have?"
"Well the project we're doing," Nya starts, mouth half full of pizza. She swallows before continuing. "Is a study on the First Spinjitzu Master. We've heard some of the legends, but none of them are very detailed and we can't find much on the internet. But Lloyd said you used to tell him stories, so we wondered if you knew anything else."
Koko hums. "Did you have any specific questions?"
"What kinda powers did he have," Cole asks.
Koko laughs. Kai almost feels offended on Cole’s behalf, until he realizes she must just be a cheerful person. The laugh lines around her eyes and the way she smiles suggests she does it alot.
She sets her plate of pizza on the ground, crossing her legs the way kindergartners do. “Well, he wielded something he called the golden power. It was like the power over life and death itself. He could also control the elements. And he was very wise, if you count that as a power. You should.”
Kai leans forward, interested. “Why’s he so important?”
“Well. He only created Ninjago.”
“He created Ninjago,” Jay asks wondrously.
Koko nods. “He did.”
“So why don’t we hear about him ever,” Nya asks confusedly.
“He was the offspring of an oni and a dragon, and when he first calmed the seas and tamed the wilds and created every creature we have on earth now, everything was very peaceful. But people don’t tend to stay peaceful. So they fought, and eventually they forgot about his teachings. And about him.”
Kai furrows his brows. “That’s upsetting,” he says. “He created Ninjago and he doesn’t get the credit?”
“It’s just a myth,” Cole placates.
Koko shakes her head. “It’s real. His sons are still alive to this day.”
Kai’s eyes widen. He imagines he looks much like a comic book character.
Zane asks what they’re all thinking. “Who are they?”
Koko smiles wistfully. “Well. You may not be glad to hear it, but Garmadon was one of them.”
Lloyd gasps audibly. He’s shot to his feet. Kai follows, because despite the fact that they haven’t fought together in a week, that’s his leader.
“You’re serious?” Lloyd asks, voice low.
Koko nods. “I am. He and your Uncle Wu are the sons of the First Master of Spinjitzu.”
“ Uncle Wu?” Jay exclaims. Kai can feel Nya’s warning glare, and he isn’t even the one being glared at.
The Garmadon’s turn to Jay confusedly. Lloyd nods. “Yeah?”
Jay’s face reddens. “I just meant - I didn’t know you had an uncle, or - Garmadon has a brother? Can’t imagine that at all…”
Lloyd huffs, reaching a hand up to rub at his face. “Why’d you have to drop this on me now ?”
“It never came up before,” Koko answers slyly. She pulls her son into a playful side hug, despite his glare.
Cole chuckles. “Looks like this is a bit more than a school project now.”
Lloyd’s glare sharpens.
~ ~ ~
The five visitors decide, to Lloyd’s obvious displeasure, to stay the night. They’re strongly encouraged by Lloyd’s mother, who places about five different types of dessert on the table for them to eat at their leisure and leaves them in the living room to do their own thing.
They’re halfway through a season of Honey, Where are My Pants? When Jay gets bored. He’s never been able to stick with one thing for long.
“Do you have Monkey Mech ,” he asks. Kai almost raises his eyebrows at his teammate - Jay knows Lloyd plays Monkey Mech , they’ve played it at the warehouse before.
“Uh, yeah,” Lloyd mutters distractedly. He kneels by the TV stand, setting up the game.
Kai watches as they play. Cole’s eyes are closed, but he’s listening to the banter as it transforms from awkward to amusing. Nya and Zane, on the other hand, are texting each other on their phones in a conversation the others aren’t partial to.
Kai thinks he’ll just steal her phone later.
“So,” Jay starts, as a lull in the game offers him the opportunity for chatter. “You’re kinda weird aren’t you?”
Cole snorts, garnering Zane’s attention for a split second. He’s back looking at his screen a moment later.
Lloyd just sighs. “You’re not wrong.”
“I don’t mean it in a bad way, I just mean. It must be hard. Having Garmadon as a dad.”
“‘S not like I ever knew him.”
“Really,” Kai asks, intrigued.
“Nah,” Lloyd answers. His voice is apathetic - Kai gets the sense that learning something so strange about his father’s history has worn him out. “He left when I was a baby. Which is, obviously, a good thing. But. Y’know. Most people assume I grew up around him, and I don’t even know how that would’ve worked.”
“Your mom’s had it hard, hasn’t she,” Jay states.
“Yeah.”
Jay sighs. “I never knew my parents. I’m adopted.”
“Oh?”
“I live in the city junkyard.”
Lloyd pauses. The next second, he’s squinting at Jay. “What?”
Kai barks a laugh at the response. He ignores the punch Jay lands on his arm - the delivery of Jay’s words were too funny not to laugh at.
Jay returns to his conversation as if Kai hadn’t interrupted. “My mom and dad work there. But they also like to dig through the trash and find parts to make stuff. They’re engineers. But my whole childhood, all I knew was that people said I ate trash and lived in a dump, so I hated them for working there.”
“Oh. But - you know now that they’re just making a living, right?”
“‘Course. And they loved me, which is more than most people can say. I have it good. I’ve got friends and a family and a place to live, even if all of them are weird. It just took me a while to realize that.”
“Hm.”
“What he’s trying to say,” Cole interprets, “Is that he thinks we should be friends.”
Cole’s always been the best Jay interpreter.
Lloyd scoffs. “You guys don’t want to be friends with me. You’ll be destroyed by everyone at school, and…I had friends. Sort of. But I ruined it with them.”
Kai knows who he’s talking about.
He hates it.
“I am sure they’ll understand,” Zane chimes in. Nya looks up confused - she must not have been listening to the conversation. Kai will fill her in later.
“I don’t know,” Lloyd mumbles. His character on screen is defeated by Jay’s for the third time that night - he hasn’t won once.
“Please,” Kai pleads. He uses his best begging eyes on their leader.
Lloyd sighs. “Alright, fine. But I can’t promise anything.”
~ ~ ~
Becoming official friends with Lloyd lifts a weight off of everyone’s shoulders. Kai knows that much, especially after the next day of school.
Walking to school with Lloyd is an experience of itself. For one, he lives in a different neighborhood than Kai, closer to the school and more nestled within little China. The atmosphere is completely different, even without many people out on the streets this early in the morning. With his hood pulled up, Lloyd doesn’t draw as much attention as he did on the bus, but he still draws attention. Kai isn’t used to being stared at as he walks past, especially in a city so full of people who have their own lives to live. But he’s certainly stared at as he walks with Lloyd.
Lloyd doesn’t seem to notice. Or if he does, he’s very good at ignoring it.
Which, Kai supposes, makes more sense.
Surprisingly enough, they get to school before the majority of other students.
“Woah. It’s so empty, ” Jay exclaims.
“This is cool,” Nya comments. “I could ride a bike through these halls. Maybe I will.”
Lloyd chuckles. “You’re telling me none of you have been to school early? Ever?”
Zane half raises his hand. “I have.”
“Nerd,” Kai exclaims, lifting a hand to cup his mouth like a megaphone.
Zane rolls his eyes. “I’m in the robotics club,” he says at Lloyd’s questioning stare. Lloyd nods in understanding.
Kai huffs. “Welp. Guess I’m off to the library.”
Everyone says their goodbyes. Kai smiles. He’s never arrived at school at the same time as all of them - they usually meet up after lunch, when they all have a free period. This little moment at the beginning of the day may just make it that much better.
“The library,” Lloyd asks. He hadn’t left with the others.
“Study hall first period.”
“Oh, same.”
“You should come with me.”
“You don’t even check in first?”
Kai shrugs in response, already walking. Lloyd’s light steps follow quickly behind - apparently that was enough answer for him. When they get to the library, each of them claims a bean bag chair. Kai pulls out his laptop.
“No books,” Lloyd asks, teasing.
“Not a big reader,” Kai responds. “Words are dumb when you have Zane-coded computer games anyways.”
“He codes?”
“He does everything. ”
“Hey,” Lloyd starts, leaning forward to meet Kai’s eyes. “I’ve always wondered…where did you get that scar?”
Kai forces himself to widen his eyes. “What scar?”
“Uh…”
Kai laughs at his own joke. “I’m just joking. My parents - they’re blacksmiths. I snuck into the forge at work and tried to make a sword. Piece of hot metal went flying right into my face - I thought I was gonna die, dude!”
“Pff,” Lloyd laughs.
“Nya called me dumb, but that was the day I realized I’m practically invincible.”
Lloyd hums. A moment’s pause, before he rises to his feet. “I’m gonna find something to read. I happen to like words.”
Kai sticks out his tongue in mock disgust, booting up Zane’s intense version of Solitaire.
He can’t really explain Zane’s version of the game all that well. It involves cards, yes, but also…mystery.
Yeah.
Lloyd returns after the bell rings with a thick graphic novel. Kai squints at the title. “Is that… starferer ?”
Lloyd grins. “You a fan?”
Kai scrunches his nose. “Heck no. But Jay is.”
“What do you mean ‘heck no?’ Starfarer is only the most amazing comic series in all of the universe’s history!”
Kai scoffs. “Alright, Garmadork.”
Lloyd goes silent, at that. His eyes avert, suddenly entranced by the library’s matted carpet. “You’re probably right,” he mutters, flipping the book to stare at its cover. “I guess it is kinda childish.”
Kai thinks he has whiplash from the change in atmosphere. He’s gotta fix this somehow, but…well, Green never liked to be called out on his behavior. “Wh - are you calling my fifth-best friend Jay childish? ‘Cause he is, but you can’t say that.”
Lloyd’s eyes widen. “No! That’s not at all - I just meant - I mean you said-”
Kai takes pity on the boy, turning back to his computer. “I was joking. You can read your comics, Lloyd.”
Lloyd pauses, then nods when Kai says nothing else.
The rest of the period is spent in comfortable silence. Kai glares at anyone who looks at them weirdly.
~ ~ ~
Several days pass with no incident. Kai’s starting to think this whole friends-with-their-former-leader-who-is-their-enemies-son thing is going pretty smoothly. It has been almost two full weeks, after all, since Green dipped.
It's Jay who informs them that, no, it really isn’t going so well.
They’re in uniform. Cole and Kai watch patiently as the other three work on one of their new mechs - they’d decided to build them out of boredom, before Green had left. But they’re coming along nicely, considering. It helps when you’ve got an android and two tech whizzes building them for you.
Jay, as always, blabs as he works. But the topic this time, instead of being about video game or comic book lore, strays back to their leader.
“I was walking him to his next class, ‘cause we just found out that between third and fourth period we cross in the hallways. I guess we never noticed ‘cause he walks with his hood up and surprisingly enough I’m not actually very noticeable, which is weird now that I think about it. But anyways, this big guy came up, he’s that guy from the cheer team.”
“Chen,” Nya asks, because she manages to simultaneously always know ‘of’ people and never actually talk to anyone ever.
“Yeah,” Jay responds. “He’s like, apparently super popular. But anyways, he just kinda called out to Lloyd in the hallway - ‘Wassup Garmadork!’” Jay does an absolutely atrocious impression of the boy.
“Wait, ‘Garmadork?’” Kai asks.
Jay nods. “Yeah. Rude, right?”
Kai nods, silent. He avoids Zane’s curious gaze.
“Anyways Lloyd just kinda rolled his eyes, which was super sassy by the way that kid knows how to look annoyed. And then he turned around and was all like ‘What?’ and Chen was like ‘Woah what’s with the attitude?’ It was really freaking awkward. But then Chen and his minions, like, snatched up Lloyd’s backpack and dumped everything out of it.”
Cole frowns. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Cole crosses his arms, looking utterly disappointed.
“Don’t look at me like that! All I could think of doing was roundhouse kicking him in the face, but I don’t wanna get suspended, my mom would be so disappointed!”
“Well, what happened next?” Nya prompts.
“Well, basically I just helped him pick up his stuff, and I asked him ‘Why didn’t you use your powers?’ and he looked super panicked, and then I got panicked ‘cause I’m not supposed to know he’s an awesome ninja with buried inner potential, so I was like ‘well, you’re the grandson of a God, right?’ and he kinda sighed and said ‘He’s just looking for attention.’ I asked him if his mom told him that, and he said yeah. So anyways, that’s why I invited Lloyd to the arcade, and none of you are coming ‘cause that’s my field trip with him.”
“So, what you’re telling me,” Cole recaps. “Is that you watched Lloyd get bullied, didn’t help, and almost revealed that we’ve been lying to him about who we are this whole time?”
Jay pauses in his twisting of a bolt, staring at Cole incredulously. “You jerk! Just ‘cause you say it like that doesn’t make it true!”
Zane’s muffled giggles prompt everyone into laughter, despite the situation.
~ ~ ~
ninjas are cool and so are we
01111010: Does anyone know Brad Todabone?
JayIsBae: who the feak is that?
JayIsBae: freak*
LadyIronDragon: I’ve heard his name
LadyIronDragon: @enterdirtman isn’t that the kid you met in detention
enterdirtman: which 1
LadyIronDragon: Black hair, boring face, looks like he’d murder someone for attention
enterdirtman: …
LadyIronDragon: You said he sounded like a hippie in disguise
enterdirtman: o ya
enterdirtman: wats zane need with him
01111010: I asked Lloyd if he wanted to join me in robotics tomorrow morning.
01111010: He said he would but ‘Brad’ invited him to gardening.
01111010: There are three Brads in the school, but the only one in gardening is Todabone.
JayIsBae: so we’re stalking lloyd now?
01111010: It isn’t stalking, it’s research.
01111010: Lloyd said he met Brad in middle school. Brad went to Darkleys.
LadyIronDragon: Omg that freaky school for insane kids?
enterdirtman: ya
01111010: I wouldn’t put it that way.
Fiyaaah: sp weve figured out that lloyd wrnt to middle school for freaks
Fiyaaah: so what
01111010: I didn’t mean anything by it.
01111010: I just wanted to make sure Lloyd doesn’t get himself into trouble.
01111010: He’s still our leader, and now he’s our friend. We have a responsibility to watch out for him.
enterdirtman: ur right
enterdirtman: well keep an eye on him
~ ~ ~
“What are we doing,” Nya asks Sunday night, when the lights are off and all that perseveres of the sounds of the city are the night buses zooming by.
Kai shifts in his bed to face hers. “You mean…spending half our time fighting an evil overlord as ninjas or manipulating the evil overlord’s son by not telling him that we’re those ninjas?”
Nya sighs. She throws an arm over her eyes. “Both.”
Kai sits up. “I don’t…I don’t really know. I think at this point…we can’t tell him.”
“I don’t think that’s right.”
Kai huffs. “Well I’m not telling. He hasn’t showed up as Green in like two weeks, maybe this is our only chance to be friends with him.”
Nya groans. “You really think that?”
Kai shoves himself out of bed. He pads over to Nya’s, tugging her out of hers. She’s limp in his arms when he pulls her into an enveloping hug. He pats her back comfortingly when she starts crying.
“It’s okay, Nya.”
She hiccups a sob. Kai walks backward until they’re both half sitting on his bed. Nya’s grip on him is almost bruising - considering her strength, he wouldn’t be surprised if it actually is.
“It’s not okay,” she says when she has the breath. “I just feel terrible. What did we do to make him feel like we ha-ated him?”
Kai closes his eyes. “It wasn’t us. It was how he’s been treated his whole life. He expected us to…react like anyone else would.”
Nya huffs a laugh. “You sound like Zane.”
Kai shifts. “Someone has to be the reasonable one when he’s not here…”
Kai pauses, listening to the sound of an empty apartment. He remembers when his parents were more active, when he could hear them walking around at night in excitement. He wonders why they never do that anymore. “What were you guys talking about? At the sleepover,” he asks, because he’d rather solve that mystery than the one of his absent parents.
Nya sighs. She pulls herself off of her brother, sitting next to him against the wall. “This. Everything. He wants to tell Lloyd. I do too.”
“So? Are you gonna?”
Nya nods. “Yeah. Zane said he’d tell Cole and Jay. We're gonna do it…probably tomorrow, I guess."
"Oh."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"It's fine."
"No it's not. Ninjas aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other."
"But siblings do."
Nya smiles. "Guess you're right."
"You know what that means?"
"We're gonna have to adopt Lloyd?"
"Yup."
"Yeah."
"Goodnight Ny."
"Night."
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
It’s Monday. Two full weeks since Lloyd left the team. Really, it feels like longer; like years have gone by and Lloyd’s lost touch with lifelong friends, despite the fact that he’d really only known them for a few months now.
He wonders, for about the millionth time, if he’s made the right decision.
Not just about the ninja, but about his new friends.
They’d finessed their way into his life, really. It hadn’t even been his choice, except maybe with Brad, but that’s still tentative, like a needy flower that needs the right conditions to grow. With the rest of them, it’s like…well, it’s like they’re the weeds to his sidewalk, forcing themselves into the cracks where something else used to be and growing even in conditions where it should be virtually impossible. One week, Lloyd thinks, can’t be enough time to have such a bond with these people and yet…
He feels like a part of something, for the second time in his life. But this time, he hadn’t had to hide himself to achieve it.
Lloyd starts as the high pitched alarms drill into his ears. The school had installed Garmadon alarms after the third attack on the city, and by now, they’re a staple of school life.
The sound rings in his ears painfully; he sees Cole and Jay flinch at it beside him. Most of the students do what they’re supposed to do - hide under the desks and wait for the authorities. But Lloyd pulls out his phone to check the news.
Though he can’t listen out loud - he wouldn’t want to alarm anyone - he can read the subtitles.
-as Garmadon attacks the city once more. He’s making fast progress up the coast, and he’s already made it about a mile on land.
Now, the question is - as we know, those ninjas have recently been clashing with Garmadon, and really we have yet to see the effect they have on him-
It seems to be helping though, don’t you think?
I don’t know, I’ve heard some people say they believe the ninjas bring more harm than good, but the question now is where are they this time?
Lloyd blinks. “The ninja…” he mutters.
He doesn’t see the way Kai shares a look with Nya, or the way Zane takes a step towards him, or the way Cole and Jay entwine their arms together nervously.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” Lloyd states before Zane can reach him.
“Me too!” A chorus of voices states. Lloyd turns confusedly to his classmates. Nya and Jay have their hands up. He turns back to the teacher - with this many people asking to go, there’s less of a chance she’d allow it. She really shouldn’t anyways, with the sirens going off, though Lloyd supposes he should be grateful for the opportunity to slip away in the chaos. The only question now is how he’ll get out of school in time to get to the attack if his groupmates are following him.
Ms. Laudita grumbles, something about how there’s no manual for this and she should’ve become a construction worker instead of a teacher. “Just - just go!”
Lloyd’s the first out the door. The rest of the group waits until they’re halfway down the hallway to corner him against the lockers.
“Okay,” Cole starts. “Stop.”
Lloyd does, though he’s itching to escape the school.
“We really have to tell you something.”
Lloyd crosses his arms, defensive. He feels nervous, for some reason. “Mm?”
Cole looks at Jay, who’s still standing next to him. “We -”
The black haired boy doesn’t have the liberty to finish his sentence, as a rumble runs through the ground.
The school, oddly enough, is pretty old for its location in the city. While most of the buildings surrounding it have been demolished and remodeled, the school was preserved for its history. They really should have updated the infrastructure, Lloyd thinks, as he watches a crack form in the ceiling.
“Oh sh-” Kai’s voice is drowned out as several pieces of the ceiling drop to the ground, separating Lloyd from the rest of the group. Another rumble shakes the floor tiles free from the ground, exposing the concrete underneath.
“We have to evacuate the school,” he yells, running on autopilot. “Everyone take a wing, go from door to door! Zane, get to the office and get on the loudspeakers! Tell everyone to head to the tech building on the south side of the school, they should have a bunker there!”
Lloyd’s already running toward the school’s exit as he’s finishing his sentence. He would stay to help, he tells himself, but no one would trust him if he ran to their door. He can’t risk his peers' lives because of the chance that they may not listen to him. And anyways, if the ninja haven’t shown up yet…
You will have to face them eventually. But, you can take it at your own pace.
He guesses it’s time.
He doesn’t waste that time heading home to grab his gi. Instead, he apologizes to an oblivious homeowner as he tugs a green scarf from a laundry line, ripping a hole for his eyes and tying it around his head even as his feet continue running. Must’ve been destiny, he muses wryly, that such an appropriately colored scarf was hanging out to dry.
He turns his sweatshirt inside out, so the familiar skeletal pattern is hidden. Once that’s done, he’s free to leap from building to building until he’s made it to the source of the tremors still wracking the ground.
For the first time in a while, it’s Garmadon himself who’s doing the attacking. His seat is in the head of a large metal scorpion, whose tail slams into the ground every few seconds.
That, Lloyd quickly and easily deduces as he perches on the flat roof of an apartment building, is the source of the tremors.
Without his teammates backing him - he’s not sure they’re really his teammates anymore anyways - he has to be stealthy about this. He can’t risk failing if there’s no one there to back him up.
So he watches, just long enough to realize that the robot has a blind spot, between the main body of the mech and the wildly swinging tail. If Lloyd can manage to get onto it, he may be able to find a way to dismantle the thing. Of course, without White there to scan the inside of the robot he can’t be sure where any main components are, so he’ll have to go with targeting anything that looks important, but Lloyd can do that.
He can.
He closes his eyes, letting himself breathe. He reminds himself, in the back of his head where no one can access his thoughts except himself, that his father doesn’t know who he is. He wouldn’t recognize him even if he did.
It’s fine.
And then he leaps.
The landing is louder than he would’ve liked it to be as he rolls a few feet towards a garbage can for cover, but with all the ruckus Garmadon is making - screaming threats, crushing the city streets - it hardly makes a difference.
From there, he waits until the robot is facing away from him. Unfortunately, this means it’s facing a hapless couple that’s trapped between Garmadon and a crumbling building behind them, but Lloyd thinks they should be able to get away if they just run right towards the robot and duck under its legs -
Which of course they wouldn’t do. Because normal people aren’t so fearless.
So Lloyd has to speed up his plan to save the civilians. That’s fine. Cyan could do it, she’s good at this winging it thing.
He runs towards the scorpion bot faster than he’d have liked to - it doesn’t allow him to calculate for any new factors or to be as quiet as he’d wanted - and leaps gracefully onto the scorpion's tail.
He takes the whiplash in stride as the tail spins wildly.
He hangs on tight, even as his arms ache, as the tail slams into the ground.
He tucks his emotions away as Garmadon taunts civilians somewhere above him.
And he crawls up the tail until he’s resting nicely in that blind spot.
And this is where the slowness would have been nice, he realizes, when the fact that he has no weapon with which to pry the metal casing open hits him full force.
He beats himself up mentally. Red would’ve reminded him - he always keeps a self defense knife on him, even in his daily life, that’s what he told Lloyd. He knows the importance of weapons, as threatening as that may sound.
As it is, Lloyd is left to scrabble at the scraps of his plan, eyes darting across the ground each time he gets close to it in case something enters his reach.
Nothing does, not really. But as the scorpion’s tail gnashes the ground once more, the young ninja notices a loose plate on the metal appendage.
He can use that.
He reaches as far he can towards it, his legs wrapped around the tail to keep him grounded on top of the creature. He jiggles the plate mercilessly, until his hands are at risk of bleeding.
Black would have been strong enough to pry the thing off.
Eventually; however, he manages to get it free.
With it, he pries a panel off the main body of the scorpion. The organized tangle of wires and metal inside looks indescribable to him, but he slashes away them with his makeshift weapon anyways.
He ignores the little shocks to his body as the electricity conducts right into him through it.
Blue would’ve been able to handle it.
Finally, with a hard smash to a ball of metal in the middle of a tangle of wires, the robot collapses. Lloyd hears Garmadon’s cries of confusion and swears of anger, but he doesn’t stick around to hear it, or to be found.
Instead, he leaps onto a building -
Only to fall flat on his face as something catches his feet.
A menacing laugh makes his blood run cold. The only comfort to him is that it’s not his fathers. Instead, as Lloyd rolls to face his attacker, it’s a general who’d strayed away from the main force. He smiles, crazed, and slams a foot onto Lloyd’s chest.
“What have we here? A little green ninja? What happened to your friends, hm?”
Lloyd refuses to answer the man. He scrabbled to push himself up. With the man’s body weight on top of him, it’s clear pretty soon that his struggling is useless. So he stops. “What are you gonna with me, huh?”
The general sneers. “What do you think? I’ll capture you, and when I present your body to our Lord Garmadon, he’ll award me!” The admiration in the general’s voice is clear.
Of course Lloyd would be caught by the one general who doesn’t fear Garmadon as much as he loves him.
The general lifts his foot from Lloyd’s chest, but before he has time to scrabble to his feet, a kick to the face sends his vision black.
“Get back,” he hears. It isn’t the general’s voice. It sounds like Jay - no Blue, Jay wouldn’t be here. He’s back at school.
The sounds of struggle round up quickly - the general screams, probably thrown off the building - as Lloyd struggles to open his eyes.
“Man, he gotchu good,” he hears Red - Kai - no, Red say, before he succumbs to the darkness.
~ ~ ~
Lloyd thinks there’s gotta be some kind of meaning to it. He was unconscious in much the same way exactly two weeks ago, on a Monday just like this one. He was hallucinating the ninja’s voices then, too.
Except, Lloyd thinks he’s awake. So this couldn’t be a hallucination.
And it’s not the ninja, he realizes when he blinks the sleep out of his eyes.
“Hey,” Nya whispers. Her face is about two inches away from his, and he would flinch back if he had the strength. As it is, he allows his face to scrunch up distastefully before closing his eyes again.
“Rude,” Nya teases. Lloyd’s mouth quirks up at the end. Then logic rushes back to him, and he bolts upright, ignoring the way his head swims.
“Lay down,” he hears an exasperated Zane say. He feels hands push him back onto the soft surface, staying there until his muscles relax. “We do not know if you’re seriously injured yet.”
The next time he opens his eyes - after a moment of regaining his breath and forcing down the nausea - he’s more aware. His classmates surround him - but they’re in the ninja’s lair, adorned in the ninja’s gi. The high ceiling offers enough space for them to store the work in progress mechs - which, Lloyd realizes, are a lot further along than when he last saw them.
It isn’t hard to put two and two together.
“You’re -” he exclaims, unable to even begin articulating his thoughts after that.
“Yup,” Kai grins. “Surprise!”
Lloyd glances around at his friends, bewildered. “So…that whole time, you knew I was the green ninja? That’s why you wanted to do that project with me?”
“You are taking this very well,” Zane states cheerfully.
“He’s always been tolerant,” Kai says. “Like with Jay.”
“Hey!”
Lloyd lets his head fall back against the pillow - he’s laying on their dirty couch, with Nya hugging his side. Jay’s perches at his feet, with the other three sitting on the floor just in front of them.
He tries not to cry, he does.
But he cries.
“Aw, don’t do that,” Cole placates.
“I’m - I’m so sorry,” Lloyd sobs. He’s thrown his arm over his eyes - he doesn’t want them to see his face, but more importantly, he doesn’t want to see theirs. “I - I left you, I didn’t mean to I just thought you didn’t want me -”
“Don’t be a dummy,” Jay huffs, laying a hand on Lloyd’s knee.
“And for the record,” Cole says. “We should say sorry too. We shouldn’t have kept our identities from you.”
“Yeah…that was my bad? I think,” Kai admits, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “I just…I wanted to get to know the real you. I had to do that as the real me.”
Lloyd laughs wetly. “I guess we’re even.”
“I don’t know about that,” Nya grumbles, half sitting up. “ You ran off and almost got yourself merced again. Making us worry so much, I think we deserve something from you.”
Lloyd takes his arm from his eyes. Nya’s face is solemn. “What,” he asks warily.
“ Stay, ” Kai answers for her.
“I don’t think we have to say out loud,” Cole says, “that we need you. As our leader, our friend…”
“Our brother,” Nya adds. “Me and Kai’s at least.”
Lloyd forces the next wave of tears away. He doesn’t need his emotions getting in the way. He sniffs, rubbing his face until he feels somewhat fresh.
“Yeah. I’ll stay.”