Chapter Text
....
Considering how much Kai and the rest of the team knew about the things Lloyd had to deal with as the green ninja, it was honestly really no surprise that his elemental powers were to be one of them.
To say that Lloyd's powers were under control was sometimes.....incorrect.
There were mornings where he'd walk into the kitchen for breakfast, his hair messier than normal and his exhausted eyes glowing a brighter green than they usually were. Those mornings led to a day of darker bruises to all of them, including Lloyd himself, torn knuckles which shook as they got wrapped up and many many many broken training dummies completely destroyed-....
No.
.
.
....Disintegrated.
.
.
.
All by Lloyd's powers.
Those were days where if there was a call for the Ninja in New Ninjago city, they left behind a little bit more property damage than needed and the bad guys potentionally in hospital rather than behind bars. One of them needing to take the lead instead of their leader as he stood nearby, trying not to seem antsy as they all thought up a very well needed plan of attack instead of rushing in recklessly and carelessly, possibly endangering their lives or civilian lives.
Those were days where even if it was meant to be a well deserved rest for them all, Lloyd was always up and moving around, unable to sit still and relax. Similar to how Jay got when he needed to let some electricity out of his system before he blew out a lightbulb when he walked under it.
Except with Lloyd he very nearly crashed the Bounty just by being near the controls.
.
.
.
All of them remembered Lloyd locking himself in the cargohold after that happened and refused to come out until they had landed safely, even with Kai's words of encouragement.
Regardless of the events of the day, in the evenings they'd always find Lloyd in the hallway, or closed off in a room trying to breathe slowly and evenly as the energy and static in the air grew unstable from his powers spilling out of his body. Trying to meditate and ground himself like Master Wu had taught him when this first started happening.
Zane would leave food for him nearby, as Lloyd had missed dinner with them all yet again. Later on when Zane would check back to where he left it, the team soon learned whether or not if Lloyd had even touched any of the offered food was told by the worried expression across the Nindroid's face after he'd returned to kitchen with the meal.
After the team would bid their goodnight to eachother, the monestary would fall silent. Those who couldn't seem to get any sleep yet however would hear the sound of whimpering and shuffling, but never outside of the room that Lloyd would retreat into during these rough days, not usually.
But one night, Jay went into the kitchen for a glass of water and got the shock of his life when he saw Lloyd sitting at the kitchen table, eyes glowing bright green. Everyone in the house woke up that night then when they heard a loud bang from the kitchen table splintering and the nearby windows shattering in proximity from Lloyd's powers after reacting from the shock of Jay walking into the kitchen. The mess was a nightmare clean up and and both Lloyd and Jay had shattered glass and splinters lodged in their skin.
Lloyd had refused to let Zane look at his injuries until Jay was patched up, and even then it took until Kai forced him to sit him down in order to let himself get bandaged.
None of them talked about what had happened. None of them knew what to say aside from it was an accident.
They would rarely catch a glimpse of Lloyd after that until the sun rose in morning signalling a new day, when Lloyd would walk into the kitchen for breakfast and the state of his appearance would tell them all if he had slept at all the night before or if he was up nearly all crying.
.
.
.
Kai found out from Nya that it was usually the latter, based on the faint tear tracks Lloyd had when he had forgotten to wash his face that morning.
....
Even before the fateful incident with the Grundal and the Tomorrows Tea, they all knew Lloyd's budding powers had been noted to be developing at a pretty quick rate. Much faster than what the four boys had gone through. At one point it was theorized that this was due to training in close proximity to Kai, Cole, Zane and Jay initially and it gave his own powers a boost, due to its connection to all four elements.
There was also another theory that his powers had to develop quickly due to the prophecy of Lloyd as the Green Ninja having to face his father in combat.
Kai honestly hated that it kinda made sense even to him.
.
.
.
He hated it made sense....
Don't get Kai wrong, Lloyd's ability to use his powers with prestine precision and the skill he has in battle was amazing in itself. He truely was fit for the title of destiny even if it still kinda stung Kai a bit for....a few reasons, Kai tries hard not to dwell and refuses consistantly to let that still wiggling seed of envy plant itself and bloom into an ugly weed. Kai likes to think he's much older now and much less stupid than to let that sort of thing affect him and his bond to Lloyd again
.....He was still finding it hard to forgive himself for what happened during the Tournament of Masters afterall.
Still.....it doesn't help that he sometimes has this need to share the weight that Lloyd is having to carry.
It is no secret among the team that yeah, while Lloyd is physically the same age as them and has been for several years now, with him while also being treated as their equal battle, his mind never changed with his body originally and instead, had to quickly adapt to being much older than he actually was. There's still a strange melancholy sense in the group that never left after the tomorrow tea forced him into a role he was still too young to play. Made him big enough to wear that outfit. Made him powerful enough to face his father in combat and save the world from darklords, snake cults, ghosts, time traveling maniacs and a gang named after his own father that was wanting to murder him for just existing.
No one wants to confront it though, mostly because they know Lloyd doesn't want to think too much about the lost chances and missing opportunities.
His pathway was set in stone afterall and he said he accepted it as it was his duty and what he said to the ninja before throwing the tea was still something he knew was true.
"Fair? Fair isn't a word where I come from!"
Kai later learned from Jay and after reading Starfarer himself that Lloyd as a child in the moment had misremembered that line and Kai wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry about it considering the context.
Fair.
It was never "Fair" was it?
....
In hindsight, it had been a few weeks since Lloyd's powers broken something and things were slowly going back to the somewhat usual routine
In hindsight, Kai should know better than to assume that the problem somehow solved itself without the rest of them knowing.
They were cleaning up from breakfast, Lloyd was assisting Kai with clearing the breakfast dishes from the table as Zane had his hands deep in soapy water. Cole and Jay were in the next room over fiercely competing against eachother for the win in the latest fighting game the team had bought during their last trip down the mountain to the city. Nya from what Kai knew was working with Pixal on some maintenance for their Ninja vehicles after their last fight.
After hearing the loud groan of defeat, Kai left the kitchen to see Cole's character dead in a pit of spikes as Jay laughed next to victoriously. Cheery victory music blasting in the background as Jay once again stood victorious
"Whose the king of video games? Me! Me I tell you!"
"Gaaah, That's just dumb! That pit came out of nowhere! I almost had you!" Cole was sitting there, glaring at the screen that had offended him and pointedly ignoring Jay.
Jay snickers, a grin plaster on his face
"Sure Suuure, you keep telling yourself that. No one likes a sore loser Cole~"
Cole narrowed his eyes, fixing the lightning Ninja with a fierce glare. Oh it was on
The Earth Ninja reached over and promptly yanked the controller from Jay's hand, as Jay shouted attempting to get the controller back. Screeching like a banshee.
Cole using his size to his advantage kept the other held back with an arm as he took control of the game and the systems. Although...Kai suspected that he was cheating and actually using his super strength to hold him down.
"Thief! How dare you?? Give that back!"
"Nope. No can do Zappyboy."
Ladies and gentlemen, the elemental masters of Lightning and Earth
The screen went black as the game began again. Cole grinned and let Jay steal back the controller as he leaned back into the couch snickering.
"Let's see whose the sore loser after this match then." Cole said, hands on the controller ready to go.
"What did you do-....." Jay squints at the screen, before his eyes widen and gives Cole the most offended and horrified glare he could muster. Over a video game.
"Hey! The heck Cole?! I suck at this mode and you know that!" He yelped, elbowing Cole in the side.
Cole pretends to look shocked as he looks at Jay.
"Oh REALLY now? I thought you, Jay, Master of Lightning, were the KING of video games? Where's all that bravado you had before?"
It was a taunt, Kai knew that Jay was just as bad as Cole when it came to a challenge.
Jay splutters incredulously, before falling silent.
"I'm gonna make you eat those words. You're on." The lightning master uttered, one hell of a focused death glare writ across his features.
Predictable.
To be fair, they live together 24/7. They're practically family. Ain't nothing they don't know about eachother by now.
...Or so Kai wanted to hope at the time.
"Lloyd, could you grab that glass on the table?"
"O-oh. Sure thing Zane."
The Green Ninja looked over at the table and walked over, picking up the remaining glass on the table and carried it over for Zane to clean.
As Kai was returning back to the kitchen when he noticed that the air was humming, like it was full of energy. Lloyd had reached the sink and was handing over the glass Zane asked for
"Thank you" Zane said with a smile, taking it to wash up.
...Then it happened.
The glass shattered mid pass as both Lloyd and Zane were then thrown back from eachother as a green energy blinded all occupants.
Kai felt himself get knocked off balance briefly from the shockwave before reorientating himself with a grunt. The green light faded away as quick as it came and Kai assessed the room as soon as he could see.
The table had broken again, but only the legs this time and some of the recently washed plates and glasses were smashed on the floor. Zane was on the ground.
Kai looked at Zane.
He was sparking.
Oh no.
"Zane!"
Kai rushed over and crouched next to him, grunting as he pulled the Nindroid up with shaking hands as his friend sparked.
Oh no no no
Kai shook him, trying to ignore the sparks that came out of Zane.
"Zane. Zane! Can you hear me?! Zane!"
There was a moment of silence, but then Kai heard a familiar groan from the body and he breathed a sigh of relief as Zane's eyes opened.
"K-Kai?....What..." Zane's voice sounded tinny. But he was alive.
Kai let out a nervous but relieved laugh. Oh thank FSM.
"Ha...h-holy shit buddy, Don't scare me like that again. Ever!" Kai stressed, trying to keep his voice steady and certainly not high pitched like Jay's
"I....M-my apologies. I did not mean to worry you. I....I think i'll be fine." Zane said, as he began to sit up slowly while supported by Kai. He was still sparking with that strange green electricity, hopefully it hadn't fried anything important.
"Kai? Wh- Holy shit." Cole's voice was cut off as he entered and saw the room as Jay cursed loudly next to him. Kai looked up at the other two Ninja who had arrived, giving them a firm look.
"What.....what happened?!" Jay's voice had a panicky edge to it as he looked around the room. "Kai you were in here with Lloyd and Zane, what happened?!"
Kai fell silent, before slowly piecing together the events from before.
Lloyd was handing Zane a glass, and then...that green blast happened.
....
...Which had originated from their hands where Lloyd was giving Zane the glass.
...
"Kai?" Jay asked.
Lloyd.....He forgot about Lloyd.
Kai looked from where Zane was and saw the Green ninja, huddled a fair distance away from them. Lloyd's eyes starting straight at Zane barely being able to sit up unless being supported.
Oh FSM...
"Lloyd?"
Lloyds eyes, which were glowing a bright green and still were glowing.
It was his powers.
Kai stared slack jaw before Zane grunted and moved away from Kai's support to lean against the cabinet, giving a reassuring nod to Kai.
Right. Lloyd. Who looked as if he was ready to bolt.
"...Lloyd."
The Green Ninja twitched.
Slowly Kai shuffled forward, being mindful of the broken glass and plates as he moved towards the tense ninja.
Lloyd looked absolutely horrified. Staring at Kai like a deer in the headlights.
"Lloyd. Lloyd it's ok. Zane is fine."
He was still sparking and needed a check up. But he was alive.
"Are you okay?"
Kai was worried about Zane due to the sparks, but he should have made sure Lloyd was okay first in hindsight.
"Lloyd, are you hurt?"
Lloyd had been wearing a green hoodie over his Gi, the sleeves of that hoodie had been torn by the glass shattering......Wait were those burn marks on his hands?...
"What...Whatever is going on, I know you didn't mean to."
Kai knows Lloyd never meant to hurt anyone, its not in his nature.
"Lloyd....Lloyd please. Say something."
Lloyd who had been sitting there watching as Kai moved closer.
and closer.
and closer....
.
.
.
...Before suddenly snapping out of his trance and made a break for it through Kai's left.
"Lloyd wait-!" Kai yelled, turning around and reaching out to snag his wrist and make sure he didn't run away.
Until an energy forced Kai to let go with a grunt as he was pushed away from Lloyd and into the kitchen cabinets, while Lloyd went straight into the broken table again.
"Kai!" "Lloyd!"
Kai shook his head in an attempt to stop it from spinning and saw Lloyd shakily stand up using the even more broken table for some sort of support as his eyes flicked around the room before landing at a door.
Lloyd bolted, stumbling slightly as he dodge Cole's attempt to grab him and disappeared through the open door.
Kai growled in pain and frustration as he staggered up from the ground before finally stumbling and moving towards the door after Lloyd
"Lloyd wait!" He yelled after him, but only saw the boy disappear around the corner.
Fuck.
"Damnit!" Kai swore loudly as he went to go through the door, but paused to look back at the others three worried and concerned faces in the room. He had to go after Lloyd, but he didn't want to leave those three.
Zane really needed to be looked at.
"Guys-" Kai began to speak
Cole immediatly looked over at Zane and quickly moved over and crouched next to him, before turning his head to Jay. "Jay, run and find Nya and Pixal first, Tell them to get here now."
Jay nodded quickly, before bolting through the door in the direction of the lab.
Cole looked back to Kai as he began to lift Zane's arm over his shoulder and lifted the Nindroid up.
"Kai, go find Lloyd. We'll get Zane to Nya and Pixal, don't worry." Cole grunted and began to shuffle out of the room with Zane being supported.
Kai breathed a sigh of small relief and nodded, before running out the door.
He ran through the monestary halls, going against all rules that Master Wu had put in place as he searched every room in the place. Each of their bedrooms, the bathroom, the meditation lounge, the indoor training room, the spare guestroom. Kai checked the training yard and Koi ponds in the garden, feeling disappointed and a growing frustrated about not finding Lloyd
He even checked the room where Lloyd usually locked himself up in and was disappointed to see him not there.
"Lloyd! Where are you?! Lloyd!"
If anyone was questioning what was going on before, they would have known by now that something was wrong. Considering all you could here was Kai who had been running all over the monestary with a headache shouting for Lloyd.
Kai stopped momentarily at the entrance to catch his breath. It was then he saw the monestary gates were ajar and his heart stopped and his blood ran cold at the slowly sinking realization
"...Shit."