Chapter Text
The battle at Oroborus had been so easy. Each of the ninja had taken out a good amount of snakes, barely any were left to attack them as they pursued Garmadon.
Speaking of, Garmadon had backed himself into a corner. Locked in a room with no escape. His only defense was the Megaweapon on his hand.
"No!" He cried, "I refuse to lose to these ninja, again! I refuse to believe they can beat me!"
The ninja were outside the door now, ready to break it down.
"It's over, father," Lloyd called from the other side.
Lloyd. His child had been forced to grow up. Literally and metaphorically. If the prophecy was true, Garmadon would be forced to fight his son, maybe even kill him.
Garmadon refused to believe it. He rejected destiny. He won't fight his son if he has any say in it.
Once he takes over, once the world is in his image, Lloyd will be safe, free to be a child again. And Garmadon might even be able to make it that way too, with the Megaweapon.
There will be no predetermined destinies. It will be his father's world no more. Garmadon will have control and with control, he'll keep Lloyd safe.
The door appeared to bend with each slam into it. The master of earth would have already broken it down if he had his full power.
"If only those cursed ninja weren't here!"
The ninja always got in his way, always foiled his plans. They even turned his own son against him. The ninja and his fool brother.
"I refuse to believe I will lose to them!" Garmadon took the Megaweapon into all of his hands, "I wish..." the banging on the door was getting stronger, it would be open any second now, "I wish to see the future, a future without the ninja, one were I am victorious!"
A dreary portal opened before him as the door slammed open. Garmadon turned, locked eyes with his son, and stepped through with a sinister smile.
Immediately after Garmadon's retreat, the portal began to flicker and shrink.
"Go, ninja!" Sensei Wu commanded, "You must not let him see the future, it could lead him to change the past."
The ninja didn't need to be told twice and they quickly kept through.
They landed in a dirty alley way, one filled with trash and debris.
"Awwwww... Way to stick the landing," Jay groaned.
Zane was the first to get up, not feeling any pain. "Does anyone see Lloyd?" he asked.
Kai sat up and frantically looked around, he couldn't find a trace of the green ninja. "He must not've made it in time," he sighed.
"We'll have to go without," Cole pulled himself up and readied his sythe, "Where's Garmadon?"
"There," Zane pointed ahead to the street. Garmadon was standing before a dozen kneeling bikers.
"Emperor Garmadon, what are you doing here?"
"Shit," Kai whispered and the four of them ducked out of sight, "We're completely out-numbered."
"I dunno," Jay replied, "If we each took three at a time, we could-"
"Did'ju forget that that's Garmadon with the Megaweapon over there, numbskull!" Cole popped him on the back of the head. "It's different when we're not in uncharted territory!"
"But Sensei Wu said Garmadon can't know about the future," Zane argued.
"Some stuffs out of our control," Cole said, as Garmadon rode off with the biker gang, "We're just going to have to deal with the consequences."
"Hey guys," Jay pointed across the street, "what is that?"
An electronic store stood before them with a wall of t.v.s in the window. All of them played the same thing.
Footage of a fight.
"Is that... Lloyd?" Kai said in disbelief.
It was, in fact, Lloyd in the middle of a nasty fight with a very angry, almost animalistic, Garmadon.
"He's getting his ass kicked," Cole murmured.
"Understatement of the century,"
Kai felt the air leave his lungs as Lloyd was sent flying through a wall. The footage cut too soon to know what happened next. All that was shown was a woman's painted face.
"Come out, come out wherever you are, Lloyd Garmadon!" she snarled, "Your father wants to finish what he started!" The woman cackled until the screen abruptly cut to black.
"What the fuck! Was that live!? Do you think he's okay!?" Kai panicked, "Shiiiit! What're we gonna do?! We don't even know where that is and-"
"It wasn't live, Kai," Zane placed a firm hand on his shoulder, "I'd even go as far to say, Lloyd is safe. At least, Garmadon doesn't know his location."
"Zane's right," Cole nodded, "Lloyd is safe for now and he probably needs some back up!"
"Okay... Okay..." Kai calmed himself down, "So we go find Lloyd?"
"Yeah, we'll find Lloyd and come up with a plan to take on Garmadon," Cole reassured him.
"And we could use some help from our future-selves, too. I bet we could all get the Megaweapon from our Garmadon!" Jay chimed in, "In every Starfarer comic I've read, going to the future is pretty okay, it's going to the past that gets messy." he paused a moment before adding, "Just maybe don't touch yourself. It could collapse the universe."
"Right... Let's just focus on one thing at a time," Cole said, "finding Lloyd."
"This Ninjago looks very different from our Ninjago," Zane commented, "How are we going to find him?"
"Uh... We'll figure it out,"
"Figure it out!?" Kai exclaimed, "C'mon! There's gotta be a better plan than that!"
"I'm working on it, Kai!" Cole retorted, "If you got any better ideas, please, share'em with the class!"
Kai opened his mouth to retort, but had nothing.
"Ninja?"
"Dareth?"
The group turned to find Dareth. Kai never felt so happy to see the self-proclaimed brown ninja before.
"How did yo... Where have... Are you..." Dareth cut himself off, "What am I saying, you guys are ninjas! You can disappear and reappear whenever you want!"
"What d'you mean by that?" Jay asked, but was ignored.
"Aw man, the others are gonna be so glad to see you!"
"Dareth, focus," Kai snapped, "Where is Lloyd?"
"Lloyd! Right, right!" He snapped to attention, "I'll take you right to-"
Dareth was interrupted by an oncoming battle cry.
"That was Ultra Violet!" Dareth started to back away, "Listen, I can't be seen with you guys. The others are really countin' on me to make these supply runs."
"Dareth, don't you dare try to leave us here!" Jay shouted.
"Go to the warehouses near the eastern docks," he commanded, "It's the sixth one from the water. Ask for X when you get there."
"Who's X?" Cole asked, taking a step toward the dojo master.
Another cry called out and Dareth took off.
"Dareth! Dareth!" Kai yelled as he chased after him, "Get your ass back here!"
But Dareth knew the city better than the ninja, who soon found themselves lost.
"We'll find him later, Kai," Cole said, "For now, let's find that warehouse."
"And not get caught in the process," Zane added, gesturing to the gang of bikers riding around.
The ninja found their way to the docks with ease. They hadn't changed much between their present and this future.
Come to think of it, they didn't even know how far into the future they were.
But that was a question for later.
"Dareth said the sixth one from the water, right?" Cole asked.
"Yes," Zane answered, "And to ask for 'X'."
"X?" Kai wondered aloud, "Like, Samurai X?"
Jay looked to him, "Nya?"
"Let's hope," he responded.
The four continued forward, until they heard a vaguely familiar voice.
"Kai?"
"Who's there?" he called, turning around.
That's when a grey blur tackled him to the ground and Kai was met with a spear in his face. A shuriken flew out, pinning Jay's shirt to the wall. Cole moved to attack, but was caught off guard and tripped by the blunt end of the spear. Zane was able to defend himself for a few moments, before his legs were kicked out from under him.
It was enough time for Kai to get back up, though, and he quickly moved to attack with a cry.
Their attacker was ready, parrying his sword with their spear, twisting it out of his hand. Kai was once again met with a spear in his face.
Jay, who had freed himself, was behind the attacker, num-chuks in hand. Sensing his presence, the grey-dressed figure stepped aside and making Jay hit Kai on accident. The two fell with an embarrassing thud.
The attacker pulled Jay off of Kai, holding the sharp end of their spear to his throat.
"Who are you?" their gaze was fixed on Kai, "And why do you look like my brother?"
"Wha-" Kai cocked his brow, "Nya?"
"Answer me!" she cried, pressing the spear closer to Jay's throat.
"Heeeeeeey, I bet we could work this all out and-" Jay babbled, before the attacker (Nya?) covered his mouth with her hand, "Moah, ore weeley smrong..." he mumbled.
"Nya..." Kai started slowly, carefully, "Let's not do anything crazy. I look like Kai because... I am Kai."
"Liar!" she snarled, shifting the spear and accidentally knicking Jay's throat, "Y'know this really takes the cake for the worst thing the SoG has done! You guys really had to pour salt in the wound didn't you!"
"Nya!" Cole shouted, "He's telling the truth!"
"Oh, yeah? Prove it!" she commanded and started backing away from them, Jay still firmly in her hold, "Why did Pixal say we were a perfect match?"
"We- What?!" Cole gaped at the implication.
"And you!" she turned to face Zane, "What's the first thing you said to me on Chen's island, huh?"
"I don't even know where that is..." Zane looked off, trying to recall an island he had never been to before.
"What about you," she now faced Kai, "What did our father leave for us under the shop?"
"He- Dad left us something?"
Nya let out a growl of frustration.
"And don't think I forgot about you," she threw Jay to the ground, keeping her spear trained on him, "What was your last wish, huh?
"Wish?"
"C'mon, Jay. That's something only you and I know."
But Jay didn't know. None of them did.
How far into the future were they?!?
"See, none of you know shit!" Nya growled, "You're all such lousy fakes!"
"Nya," Zane started, slowly getting up, "I need you to listen to me. We are the ninja. We've just come from the distant past."
"Like I'd believe that bullshit!"
"He's telling the truth!" Cole shouted, "There's two Garmadons out there right now! With the Megaweapon!"
Nya faltered for a second, "The... The Megaweapon! Are you fucking kidding me!"
"No, we're not... f-ing with you," Jay responded.
"Does that mean you've destroyed the Megaweapon then?" Zane asked, moving closer, much to Nya's aggression, "Sorry, your reaction seemed to imply that your Garmadon doesn't have it."
"No, he doesn't," she sneered before looking back to her brother, "So you're really telling the truth?"
"Yeah, Nya," Kai nodded, "I wouldn't lie to you."
"That's bullshit," Nya glared, "but if you are telling the truth, then I have no choice, but to trust you.
So you guys are here because of Megaweapon shenanigans?"
"Yes," Zane nodded, "We cornered Garmadon at Oroborus and he used time travel to escape."
"Oroborus, huh?" she looked over the team, "So how far along are you guys? Has Lloyd..."
"Grown up?" Kai answered, "Yeah."
Nya let out a sigh, "At least I don't have to break that to ya."
"Where is he?" Kai asked, "Can we see him?"
Nya only glared in response, still not fully trusting the ninja.
"Listen," Kai growled, "I just watched him nearly get beaten to death. And if I don't see that he's okay, then I'm gonna tear this place apart looking for him."
"Alright, I get it!" she snarled, "You made your point. But no funny business or I'M tearing YOU apart.
Follow me."
Nya led them to a past the last few warehouses, then ninja had been very close. Still, she kept looking over her shoulder, just to make sure there was no surprise attacks.
Kai, honestly, couldn't believe this was his little sister. She looked so much more mature and was now at least half a foot taller than him.
"Soooooo..." Jay started, "What happened to us? Because ever since we got here, people have been acting like we died or something."
Kai could imagine smoke coming out of Nya's ears as she shook with anger. "That's because you did."
That caught them all of guard. All of them... are dead?
"In case you missed the fuckin' goliath towering above the city," she gestured to the air, "Garmadon caught the Bounty, crushed all of you inside. And Wu."
"We don't even have a Wu here!?!"
"He wouldn't be much help if he was here," Nya murmured, Jay didn't seem to catch that one. No one did, but Kai.
"How far into the future are we?" Zane asked.
Nya looked at him long and hard. Like she was still figuring out her answer.
"If I were to quess... I'd say five years. Maybe six." Nya sighed, "It's hard to tell anymore."
Five years... They're all gonna die in five years?!?
Fuck that!
"So you're telling me, I have five years left and then I'm gonna die!" Kai was shaking, he's not ready for his life to be over. There's so much more he wants to do with his life. He isn't sure what, but he wants to do it.
"This is why Wu didn't want anyone to know about the future," Cole mumbled, "We all just heard something we didn't want to hear."
They were silent the rest of the way.
Nya led them to a door. There were no markings on it, no way to tell anyone used it.
She knocked rhythmically and it opened a crack.
"I'm not alone," she said, "Everyone is gonna have to prepare themselves for this."
"What's going on?" An unknown voice asked.
"You're just gonna have'ta see..."
The door slowly opened to let everyone in. A gasp let out as soon as the unknown voice saw them.
It was an older woman with grey hair pulled back into a braid.
"Kai?" Kai knew that voice.
"Jay! Zane! Cole!" Lloyd ran up to them in an instant, "Y-you're back! I don't get it, how did you guys survive?"
Nya put a hand on his shoulder, "It's not them Lloyd."
"What? What do you mean it's not them? They're... they're..." Lloyd seemed to realize the ninja looked much younger than he remembered them.
"C'mon," Nya called the ninja further inside the warehouse, "Tell them what you told me."
"We all time travelled because Garmadon used the Megaweapon to find a way to beat us! So now, we're all stuck here with two Garmadons and a Megaweapon! Also none of US have powers right now, so we're kinda useless and nowhere near as good as fighters as Nya is because she took us all down in a 4v1! So everything is kinda screwed!"
"I think that covers it, Jay," Kai glared.
"You're all from the past," Lloyd said dejectedly, "How far into the past?"
"You just took the tomorrow's tea." Zane replied.
"Do they know?" Lloyd asked Nya.
"Yeah..."
"It's not fair!" Lloyd shouted, "Everything's gone so wrong and it's-"
"It's not your fault, Lloyd," another unknown woman said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "It's the Sons of Garmadon and we'll take them down."
This woman was a fucking robot. Unlike Zane, you could instantly tell. White skin with purple markings and silver, literally silver, hair. Oh, and her eyes were bright green. Like, literally she had lights glowing behind them.
Kai had never seen anything like her before. And neither had Zane, who was staring... a lot.
She saw and furrowed her brow at him, making Zane duck his head in embarrassment.
"So what's the plan?" Cole asked, "You guys have to have something."
"Right now," Nya answered, "It's getting Lloyd back to a hundred percent. He's still recovering from... Garmadon."
"Don't remind me,"
"And I have NO idea where to go from there!" Nya she kicked a piece of trash that was near her, "Because there's another one out there with the Megaweapon!"
"The megaweapon was the four golden weapons forged together, correct?" The nindroid woman asked, "Which was then recovered from the moon to forge the golden armor. How did it get there in the first place?"
Nya and Lloyd looked at each other, faces scrunched in thought.
"That's a good question, Pix," Lloyd said, "I have no idea. Nya?"
"Nope,"
"Great!" Cole said, sarcastically.
"It was something to do with our ninja, but obviously, we can't ask them about it now." Nya grumbled.
"Guess we're going back to our plan," Jay said.
"Which was?"
"Figuring it out as we go!"
"Awesome..." Nya deadpanned.
"We might not have powers," Kai said, "But we can help Lloyd. Training him is pretty much what we were already doing anyways."
"It's a start," the older woman said.
"It'll have to do," Nya frowned, "Alright, we need to do some introductions and a bit of catch up."