Chapter Text
To be fair, Lloyd didn’t expect his greatest enemy to be himself. He didn’t expect to be caught so offguard by that fact either. And, of course, he didn’t expect to lose the fight and fail his trial.
Well, he didn’t necessarily fail his trial. He won-- in a spiritual sense, in a modern sense. Traditionally, however, he definitely lost that trial. And if Lloyd always stuck to the old ways and upheld those beliefs over everything else, the universe probably would be destroyed right about now. But it isn’t because Lloyd gave up on sticking to the orthodox path.
He kinda had given up a long time ago. He doesn’t know when, though. It might’ve been when he ran away from Darkley’s in pursuit of being a different kind of evil, or when he threw that Tomorrow's Tea down and sped up his fate and his path, or more recently when he attempted to nurture Arin’s newfound talents with a kind of Spinjitzu never performed before.
“The keyword in that last one was attempted.”
Lloyd raised his head from his shoulders as he sat, perfectly calm. That voice was just unnecessary, he wasn’t stuck in the past of his mistakes. Instead, he focused on his surroundings, the new Monastery, the blossoms that came with the upcoming season, and the sun that was rising for the next day.
The future was looking bright. Lloyd knew that. His family had more members than ever before, and they were all with him at the Monastery-- excluding his uncle and father and mother, but he was coping with that just fine. He’d find them later with a heartwarming reunion.
“Are you really sure about that? You do remember I told you that Wu’s alive, but avoiding you, right?”
Lloyd was not going to give in and give that voice attention.
“As for your father, well… let’s leave it at that. I mean, he does have Christofern after all!”
There were so many other things to focus on. Like what life he could feel bustling in his home, sparkling and cold, but in the best way possible.
“Or maybe he has Harumi! Oh, wait, imagine this. Garmadon introduces Harumi to your mother as his daughter! HAHA!”
There was also that malicious, burning lifeform next to him. His energy was so close, and devoured his thoughts with fiery passion. It felt as if he was burning to the point that the raging fire turned into a blizzard against his body.
“Even better-- imagine Misako and Garmadon being together, but avoiding you! Now they’re in their own house, raising Harumi to mend their mistakes for how they treated you. But instead of raising you, they decide not to, since you’re too messed up for them to fix.”
Lloyd spun around, facing his foe dead in the eye. The burning blizzard only intensified at the sight of his enemy, who simpered victoriously. Lloyd’s foe pulled his sword out, leaning against it, as if he couldn’t get any more cocky with Lloyd. His greatest enemy kept smiling like a cheshire cat as he slowly approached Lloyd, his sword dragging on the ground to make small sparks.
“I didn’t know the Chosen One would be brave enough to actually face his problems.” His antagonist murmured, getting closer to Lloyd’s face. His entire existence taunted Lloyd, for losing his traditional trial, for the mistakes before that, and for the mistakes he will eventually make.
Lloyd kept his expression neutral, pressing his mouth into a straight line. Lloyd leaned away from his foe, eyes darting off to the side before maintaining eye contact with his enemy again. His adversary’s joyous grin suddenly turned into a frown.
“Did all your training go to synonyms for your dad?” His enemy huffed, putting the sword back into its handle. “Just call me Enemy at this point.” He declared as he jabbed Lloyd in the chest, then backed away.
Lloyd eyed his enemy before rolling his eyes. Enemy only scoffed, or maybe it was a short huff of laughter.
“It was both.” Enemy replied snidely, lifting his head up. It was as if he were towering over Lloyd with that look-- one made up of the living being to resent every single thing he’s done. To be fair, that wasn’t short of what Enemy was.
Lloyd groaned, pressing his face into his hands. “Can you STOP invading my thoughts? I can feel you in them.” Lloyd shuddered before adding, “I can feel everything.”
Enemy’s presence in his head was a clear contrast to everything else. He could feel the life around him, wrapping around his mind like gentle blankets. However, Enemy felt like a blistering chill that was either way too hot or way too cold to comprehend, sticking out like a sore thumb. What’s worse was that Lloyd felt those temperatures seep into other ones, ruining the feeling of the life surrounding him.
“You have to work those issues out, buddy.” Enemy mocked Lloyd, ruffling his hair. Lloyd immediately threw Enemy’s hand off of his head. Enemy paid no attention to the aggressiveness and looked off into the distance.
“Even with him.” Enemy murmured.
A grin grew on Enemy’s face, causing Lloyd to wince as a sharp feeling protruded through his brain. Lloyd stood up as he shook his head.
“I’m not dealing with my personal businesses with anyone right now. What we-- what I need to focus on is dealing with Ras’s next evil plan. Who knows what he’s plotting!” Lloyd threw his hands up into the air. “And we need to look into the past of the land. Every time we think we’ve won, something related to the culture of this new world always shakes us.”
Enemy raised an eyebrow. “Come on, you really don’t know what Ras could be plotting?” Enemy grumbled and tapped his head while looking at Lloyd. “All signs point to the Overlord. There’s no way you can look at Ras and deny the similarity of design to the ‘Crystal King’.” Enemy air quoted.
Lloyd avoided staring at Enemy for too long and shifted his attention to the unused obstacle course in front of him. It was likely that the Overlord was behind everything yet again. And with that potential threat, things would only go downhill.
Not only for Lloyd, but his family, too. Arin would witness the Overlord’s terror firsthand, after he heard the tales of his short-lived reign. Sora would learn about dragons' natural enemy and despise the Overlord. Wyldfyre would already have it in her blood to attack the Overlord on sight-- a funny scene to imagine, if he knew it wouldn’t end terribly.
“Well, technically speaking, it could be easy to push the Overlord back into the dark again.” Enemy said, shrugging. Lloyd’s focus couldn’t help but drift to Enemy. The frigid fire spread in Lloyd’s mind when staring at Enemy, expressionless.
Enemy sneered, knowing that he had Lloyd hooked. He fiddled with his fingers as Lloyd lifted his head slightly, as if asking Enemy to proceed.
“You have an ultimate weapon.” Enemy stated. With Lloyd focused on him, he began to alter his existence in Lloyd’s mind, changing it to overwhelm everything else. “Remember? You would’ve defeated the Overlord on your own if you hadn’t been such a wimp with the power.”
Lloyd’s brows furrowed, confused. “Are you talking about my golden powers? Because those were lost a long time ago.” He mumbled, a bit ashamed.
Enemy tutted and slowly walked over to Lloyd. “I’m talking about your oni side.” He whispered in Lloyd’s ear.
Lloyd immediately reacted, stepping back.
Lloyd held his gaze with Enemy, only feeling warmth consisting of anger in his system. Lloyd still hadn’t noticed that the feeling was Enemy’s influence. He sucked in a breath through his sharpened teeth.
“I’m not going to do that. I’m never going to do that again.” Lloyd asserted, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’ll find another way to stop the Overlord. For good this time.” Lloyd added. Enemy was unimpressed and slipped over to Lloyd’s side.
The overwhelming jumble of everything in Lloyd’s head began to grow more noticeable. The green ninja held his stomach, curling into himself while Enemy held onto Lloyd’s shoulder.
“I won’t make myself a monster. I’ve accepted that being part oni is essential to who I am, as how the First Spinjitzu Master did.” Lloyd assured himself. “I don’t need to prove it by transforming. I’m already occupied with transforming everyone into dragons, okay?” Lloyd pushed Enemy away. Lloyd didn’t want his help.
“So you think your dad is a monster?” Enemy taunted. “No wonder why you act like you do, you get it from him!”
Lloyd gritted his teeth and curled his fists. “Why does everything always go back to Garmadon? I already made up with him after the Crystal King incident!” Lloyd spat, his voice beginning to rise in volume and fury.
Like a reflection, Enemy wore the same anger that Lloyd had, though in a more cynical way. Enemy tightened his fists as he got in Lloyd’s face, bearing his sharp fangs at the green ninja. The dark green of Enemy’s eyes shifted ever so slightly to become a tint of purple.
“You know why it goes back to Garmadon.” Enemy whispered, his sentence feeling like a sharp dagger. “He’s the one who made us do everything in the first place. The reason why we became the green ninja…”
Flashes of Lloyd and his father’s fight forced its way into Lloyd’s brain. Love, abandonment, reunion, and guilt. Overwhelming guilt. Of a child who just wanted to be with his family.
Lloyd cringed, but kept up his intimidating facade against Enemy.
“The reason why we got rid of our own childhood…”
In a swirl of smoke, every opportunity to feel like a kid was gone. No matter how much his ninja family babies him, he’d never truly feel like the kid that physically was a baby.
“The reason why you lost so many…”
With the darkness was a sense of loss. The loss of Zane and Cole, that was temporary, but rang true when they were gone. And there was also the loss of his father, caused by his father, himself.
“And the reason we had to become what we hate.”
Even if the darkness was so cruel, it captivated him. It was inviting, always offering to help him feel better. He just had to stop caring about the things he loved and accept his love for chaos and havoc, the things that he loved when he was a child. But not anymore.
He couldn’t love those… vile things again.
He won’t.
“Oh we totally could.” Enemy remarked casually, backing away from Lloyd’s face. The darker green ninja sighed and shook his head disappointedly. “And we will.” Enemy said with such confidence that it ticked Lloyd off. “But I know we’ll only do it when the time is right. Y’know? When everyone is relying on us to defeat the darkness, but instead we join it.”
The rage within Lloyd only grew. Enemy tilted his head as his presence in the green ninja’s mind enhanced Lloyd’s hatred to become vicious.
“I would NEVER betray the ninja!” Lloyd’s brain overloaded with wrath. “They’re my family, you know this-- WE know this!”
“Then why did you encourage Arin to join Ras?” Enemy shot back. “Why did Kai try to sacrifice you to Chen? Not to mention how you almost failed to bring Zane back from the evil side! And how you failed to bring Jay back! And your father!”
Lloyd stared, desperate to combat Enemy’s words. He failed to grasp at any clapbacks. His mind spun with pure, unbridled rage and did the only thing he could think of to fight back.
Lloyd threw a punch at Enemy, who dodged it easily. Enemy whistled and raised his eyebrows. Everything Enemy did emitted something ranging from a grand villain’s malicious intent to a younger brother’s spiteful pettiness and it only heightened Lloyd’s urge to make Enemy shut up.
“All that happened in the past. I’m only learning from my mistakes and the ones others made!” Lloyd hissed, eyes narrowed. He raised his fists and green began to glow. Enemy returned the same gesture, though in the worst way possible.
Instead of green surrounding Enemy’s hands, it was purple.
“Then everyone must be a bad influence if they’ve made mistakes like that.” Enemy remarked, the purple dancing around his hands elegantly. As if it were natural that they were together. “And look at you, enabling this sort of behavior for Arin and the others. It’s really no wonder that Arin joined Ras for a bit!” Enemy added.
“That was MY fault, not Arin’s!” Lloyd yelled, blasting a green energy orb at Enemy. Enemy evaded it easily. The orb came into contact with one of the pillars of the Monastery, but it took no damage.
“And I understand that, too! All I can do now is learn from it. We’re ALL learning from it. From our mistakes, from our misguided decisions.” Lloyd continued, pointing at himself. “You should know that well enough to know that’s why I won’t use that power. Not now. Not ever.”
Enemy rolled his eyes and lowered his hands. The purple aura remained around them.
“You keep saying that, as if there’s not a chance that you’ll need those powers to defeat the next villain.” Enemy murmured.
“I know that-- I just--” Lloyd stammered. He shot another glare at Enemy. “Ok, I’ve had ENOUGH. Why won’t you just leave me alone? Do you SERIOUSLY--”
“Lloyd?”
Arin’s voice pierced through the tension. Lloyd immediately shut his mouth. Almost all the anger in Lloyd’s mind extinguished, forcing Enemy’s presence out. To that, Enemy scowled.
“Arin? Did I uh…” Lloyd’s eyes darted over to Enemy and back to Arin. Nervousness and a sting of guilt made its way to Lloyd. “Wake you?”
Arin looked from Lloyd to Enemy, and Enemy to Lloyd. Then, Arin pinched himself and yelped from the pain. After, Arin pinched himself one more time just for good measure.
“Ok, so this isn’t a dream.” Arin let out a long breath. He stepped over to Enemy and tapped him before going back near the Monastery doors. “Not an illusion either.” Arin hummed, crossing his arms. “Yeah, I don’t get it. Why are there two of you?” Arin questioned.
Enemy’s purple faded away as Lloyd stepped towards Arin. Arin didn’t seemed to pay much attention to the power that Enemy was using, much to Lloyd’s relief.
“So you know how I completed the Green Ninja trial?” Lloyd asked.
Arin nodded.
“Well… I didn’t really complete it in a traditional sense, more spiritually. And because I didn’t completely complete it…” Lloyd gestured over to Enemy. “My ‘greatest enemy’ is still around until I truly defeat him. At least, that’s what I’m guessing.” Lloyd shrugged.
“Your greatest enemy is yourself?” Arin muttered, genuinely surprised. Lloyd smiled sheepishly. Enemy let out a sharp bark of laughter.
“Who else?” Enemy said, wrapping his arm around Lloyd. Lloyd tried shoving him off, but failed as Enemy’s grip was stronger than he predicted.
Arin fiddled with his hands as he sensed tension between the two. “Well, I kinda thought that Garmadon would’ve been your greatest enemy.” Arin answered honestly. “Or the Crystal King. Or Pythor. Or maybe even Beatrix. Or-- well, you get it.” Arin scratched the back of his head.
Enemy snorted as if he thought Arin’s guesses were foolish. Arin sunk into himself. Lloyd pushed Enemy off of his back, successfully this time, strengthened by his anger.
“Come on, those are such basic answers!” Enemy remarked as he threw his hands up in surrender. Lloyd narrowed his eyes, his pupils becoming sharper.
“I guessed that, too.” Lloyd hissed.
“Yeah, exactly.” Enemy stated.
“ANYWAYS,” Arin blurted out, putting himself in between the two green ninjas. “Lloyd, well uh, darker Lloyd? What should we call you--?”
The darker green ninja sneered. “Enemy.” He declared.
Arin laughed nervously. “Well, Enemy, Lloyd really should be getting some sleep so, is it ok if you… also hit the deck?” Arin shifted like a startled cat when waiting for Enemy’s response. Lloyd pulled Arin closer.
“How considerate.” Enemy looked at Arin with an expression so vulnerable that it startled Lloyd. Suddenly, a shard of glass flew in front of Lloyd’s face. Lloyd was met with his own face, and realized the fragment was a mirror-- one of the mirrors he had been tormented with during his Green Ninja trial.
Lloyd blanched at the man in the mirror. He looked exhausted and worse for wear. His hair was tangled and his clothes ruffled.
“Do I really look that bad?” Lloyd whispered to Arin, who stiffened. Arin smiled nervously, giving the green ninja the smallest nods he’d ever seen.
“What’s on the inside shows on the outside.” Enemy commented.
“Well I can’t rest unless you leave me alone.” Lloyd shot back.
“Oh, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about how you’re messed up in more ways than one.” Enemy declared. Enemy eyed Lloyd up and down before flashing a smirk. Lloyd’s raised his shoulders unconsciously as Enemy stepped forward. Enemy turned to Arin. “Sorry you have to learn from this guy.”
Arin frowned, offended on Lloyd’s behalf. “Lloyd’s doing fine as a mentor, thanks. Yeah, we’ve had our problems, but we talked about it and learned from our mistakes.” Arin explained.
“Just Lloyd’s.” Enemy piped in.
Arin fidgeted and remained silent. Lloyd placed a hand on Arin’s shoulder, guiding him away from Enemy’s line of vision. The both of them were armorless, unlike Enemy, prepared for bed rather than battle. Enemy however, brandished his sword at Lloyd, as if Enemy were a prestigious royal showing a valuable to a poor man.
“Let’s just go to bed, Arin.” Lloyd muttered, his hand helping Arin to inside the Monastery. Enemy leaned against his sword as he watched Lloyd exit with Arin.
As Lloyd walked away, any remnants of anger drained from his system. Enemy’s presence slowly dissipated, fading into the back of his mind. Despite that, he still felt a sense of burning bleed into his head.
----
Lloyd thought he was free when he got away with Arin. He even felt free from Enemy’s grasp when he and Arin made some nice tea before going to bed after a lighthearted conversation. The tea was bitter as usual, but the talk was sweet.
Arin and Lloyd walked together under the moonlight that shone through the windows. The stars twinkled in the dark night, a sight that both ninja appreciated. Arin even pointed out the beauty of the view. The younger ninja confided that he wasn’t always able to see the stars so casually. Living in the Crossroads involved lots of bright lights that took over the presence of stars in the sky.
After, Arin was tucked in and Lloyd followed in pursuit. The green ninja, in the comfort of his room, expected to be met with a deep sleep.
He was unfortunately, and obviously wrong to assume that.
“You really were.” Enemy cackled, playfully punching Lloyd in the back. Lloyd stumbled forward. Enemy seemed disappointed in Lloyd’s lack of fighting back. Honestly, he was irritated that Arin had such good timing in preventing Lloyd from really losing it. “Why do you think I let you walk away?” Lloyd hunched over himself, trying to ignore the taunts.
At least in his dreams, the presence of life around him wasn’t as overwhelming. It just would’ve been better if he couldn’t feel Enemy’s influence trying to claw its way inside his mind.
“I know that you tried to trigger my oni side earlier.” Lloyd stated, neutral. Enemy raised his eyebrow as he looked at Lloyd. “I won’t let you do that again. Especially around the rest of the ninja.” Lloyd added, firm and determined. Enemy only shrugged off Lloyd’s passion like a fickle flame.
“Yeah, well, I know that you know.” Enemy remarked. The darker green ninja tapped his head like he was knocking on a door. “We’re the same. Remember?” Enemy pointed at Lloyd, then at himself.
Lloyd groaned, pushing his face into his hands. “Why can’t you just go away already? I already understand my element better!” Lloyd complained. His complaints weren’t heard very well, being muffled by his hands. Lloyd however, didn’t bother to lift his head up.
“Not until you truly beat your trial.” Enemy stated, sliding over to Lloyd. “The traditional way.”
Lloyd rolled his eyes and turned away from his enemy. “I don’t need to. I’ve already beaten you my way.” Lloyd paused, a thoughtful expression taking over. “But to be fair, you are that part of me that includes ‘ninja never quit’, right?” Lloyd said as he shrugged. Enemy huffed and a maddened grin formed on his face.
“Well, of course it is.” Enemy spat. “Just like how you could never quit disappointing everyone you love and cherish!”
“It’s hard to say I’ve disappointed them when we’ve all communicated about our losses and gotten over them.”
“But you know very well that people can hold grudges even after a thousand years and a thousand apologies.” Enemy’s eyes flashed purple.
Lloyd bit his tongue. He let out a long sigh and turned back to Enemy.
“Look, I’ll admit. I don’t know how to defeat you. And I’m too exhausted to defeat you right now, so could we wait until tomorrow to do this?” Lloyd pleaded. Silence filled the room as the two ninja stood on opposing sides. Enemy stared at Lloyd with disgust evident all over his face.
“And why did you think talking would work?” Enemy shouted at Lloyd. “As if that’s worked perfectly the last hundred times you’ve tried it!” He added, approaching Lloyd. Lloyd immediately stood up and backed away.
Lloyd let out a sound of frustration and forced himself awake. His senses were overloaded by the multiple presences of life surrounding him. Lloyd reached his thoughts to the outside world. According to the usual daylight cycle that the plants were informing him of, it would take 2 more hours until sunrise.
Out of nowhere, Enemy lifted Lloyd out of his bed and threw him at the wall. Lloyd managed to suppress his surprised yelp and landed on the wall, sliding down it. The green ninja made a break for the doors, to which Enemy followed.
Lloyd swiftly ran down the hallway and out into the yard. Enemy burst out of the door and pounced on Lloyd. Lloyd managed to get a grip on Enemy and threw him up into the air. As Enemy was taken by surprise, Lloyd transformed into his dragon form and flew at Enemy, striking him with his claws.
The swipe pierced through Enemy’s clothing, causing him to wince.
The darker green ninja’s eyes shifted to a purple hue as Enemy shot purple energy blasts at Lloyd. Lloyd maneuvered the orbs using his wings and threw his own at Enemy. It sent Enemy flying onto the roof, but the darker green ninja managed to land on his feet.
Lloyd flew towards Enemy, trying to barrel into him. However, Enemy sidestepped at the last second and grabbed Lloyd’s tail. Enemy swung Lloyd around before smashing him into the ceiling of the Monastery.
Lloyd quickly got up and away from Enemy, fists raised. “Hey, you’re gonna wake everyone up!” Lloyd exclaimed to Enemy. Enemy only frowned in response.
Before Enemy or Lloyd could throw another punch, the Monastery began to shake. No-- the world began to shake.
Lloyd looked over to where the sun would rise and felt it. There was something… something undoubtedly wrong. Suddenly, some kind of signal went piercing through Lloyd’s body and caused him to stagger, his heart and mind clenching at the feeling.
Lloyd grabbed his head and let out a pained yell. All he could hear was ringing and all he could feel was evil. It was just like Enemy’s presence-- nothing but pure, unbridled wrath.
Lloyd’s knees buckled and he began to slide over to the edge of the roof. He had just enough strength to prevent himself from falling, managing to keep his balance. Lloyd winced as the signal that sent him haywire began to dull and waver. The vibrations could still be felt all over his body and brain left a sense of looming dread.
Lloyd slowly regained his awareness and noticed Enemy staring a hole into the direction that the signal came from. The green ninja felt afraid to approach his foe as Enemy’s influence on Lloyd’s mind began to slither. It curled around in his brain like a shriveled rose before suddenly blossoming in multiple places at once.
Lloyd took a step back, caught off guard by the painful cold that pierced through his skull. If he could hear correctly, there was laughter. Enemy’s laughter.
Enemy cackled in front of Lloyd’s face, manic with glee.
“Looks like my performance of terrorizing you doesn’t have to be a solo act anymore!” Enemy declared. He sneered at Lloyd, getting in his face. “I want you to guess who’s back.” Enemy jabbed a finger at Lloyd’s chest. It left a stinging pain, and only worsened the many others that Enemy was causing.
“I…” Lloyd trailed off and swallowed. He avoided eye contact.
Enemy only continued to laugh as Lloyd drowned in his frigid thoughts.
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