Chapter Text
The sun was high in the sky, sun beams radiating down and boiling the earth. But the dry climate did little to dissuade Morro’s excitement. He didn’t even bother to create a breeze; he just stood still, letting the sun bathe him in its golden light. He buzzed with anticipation, it was almost time. Soon, the town would be in ruins, and no one could stand in Morro’s way of his desires ever again.
All of the serpentine species had been released and united under Pythor. Some of the serpentine leaders warned against a second war, instead insisting on living in peace. Morro worried it would throw a wrench in his plan, but Pythor had proven to be rather useless. All it took was one fight, and Pythor had control over the Hypnobrai, which in turn gave him power over all of the serpentine.
The sun reflected off the vast army of snakes' shimmering scales, burning Morro’s but yet he couldn’t look away. He couldn’t shut his eyes for a single moment, for this would be a moment he’d want to remember forever.
Beside him, he could hear Lloyd’s “evil” laugh, which was pathetically bad. But despite all of Lloyd’s annoying characteristics, he’d proven his loyalty. He’d been the only person in Morro’s life to stick with him, to trust in him. And maybe he’d even been one of the only people who could understand Morro.
And although Morro would never admit it, he enjoyed Lloyd’s company. Sometimes.
“Today we’ll show this town they should never have deprived us,” Morro said aloud.
Lloyd grinned by his side.
“This is gonna be so much fun,” Lloyd exclaimed.
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“Guys, we gotta go!” Nya yelled, slamming the door to the apartment open. Her shoulders heaved up and down as she tried to gulp in some air and her bangs clung to her forehead. She ran here as fast as she could. She’d never necessarily been out of shape, but she wishes she had invested in a gym membership right about now.
“Woah, what’s the rush?” Cole asked from his spot on the couch, eyes laser-focused on the video game in front of him, while Jay sat beside him.
Cole smashed buttons on the controller frantically as Jay beamed in triumph.
Nya's face scrunched in anger, and she directed a strong blast of water straight at their faces. The blast was only intended for the two idiots who were ignoring her, but her unfocused wave also ended up soaking the couch and the floor. On the bright side, she’s pretty sure the rug already had some kind of mold on it.
The two yelled in shock, dropping the controllers on the floor. Jay started hacking up the water he had involuntarily swallowed while Cole tried to brush his thick hair out of his eyes.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?!” Cole yelled, jaw dropped in shock from the icy cold blast. Despite his best efforts, his overgrown, thick hair still stuck to his face, covering his eyes and making him resemble a sad, wet dog.
Nya watched as Jay presumably tried to yell at her as well, but only ended up spitting out more water.
“When I say we gotta go, what I mean is that there’s an army of snakes attacking Jamankai village and that we have to go!” Nya fumed, small drops of water still dripping from her fingers as a silent threat.
“Oh shit!” Cole cursed, stumbling over himself as he rushed to get off the soggy couch.
Jay yelped as Cole heaved him up by his shirt.
“I know, I know!” Jay hastily replied. The two bumped into one another as they both rushed to get changed into their vigilant outfits and warn the others.
Sure enough, Nya heard shouting and thumps as the guys raced to get ready. Nya too took off, assured that the boys were finally getting their act together.
Once dressed, the group scrambled out the door, hopping into the one broken-down truck they had. With no room for everybody, Cole and Kai had to settle for sitting in the trunk.
Zane tried to start the truck, but its tired old engine grumbled in defiance.
“Oh, come on! Work, you stupid thing!” Jay yelled from the passenger seat, banging the truck to motivate it. A small electric shock slipped from Jay’s fist, bringing the truck back to life.
“Yes! Lighting master for the win!” He yelled in victory, fist pumping in the air.
“Great, now let’s get moving!” Nya ushered from the back.
Zane stomped on the pedal, driving faster than he ever had before.
They pushed the rusty truck as fast as it could go, racing to the village. It wasn’t hard to guess if they had arrived at the correct destination. Serpentines that stood at least 8 feet tall ravaged the village, their smooth glides enabling them to move faster than the town’s people could run. A few of the snakes were a hypnotizing deep blue, while others were a burly orange, a bloody red, or a sickly green. But they all acted with a vengeance, moving around in a fit of rage.
Zane scanned the area, trying to determine the best course of action. He ran through different possibilities in his head, but none of them were desirable.
But each second he took trying to come up with the best course of action was more time for the serpents to destroy the village.
Cole took action, declaring the next steps to the group.
“Okay, guys, let’s focus on damage control first. Nya, Zane, I want you to get all of the townsfolk out of here. Kai and Jay, you guys get to help me fight off these overgrown pets.” He said.
Zane didn’t argue, he took off with Nya to start gathering people. He’d always appreciated planning, but in times like this, he was grateful for Cole’s quick thinking. Zane just hoped Cole hadn’t forgotten the thinking part.
Every corner revealed crying children and panicked parents, it was heartbreaking to see their anguish. Their homes had been destroyed, and for some, their entire lives had been uprooted. But for what purpose? As far as Zane could tell, all of this chaos seemed to be for the sake of it. No rhyme or reason that he could uncover.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a serpent looming over two scared children. Zane stomped on the ground, the grass freezing over from where he stood. Soon, the entire block was enveloped in ice, causing the slimy snake to lose its balance. Zane ran over the ice, unbothered by its slippery qualities; it felt as if the ice was allowing him to traverse it, like Zane was meant to.
He’d never had this much ease with his powers before, but in this moment, he felt at home as he ran through the frigid air. He snatched the two children, carrying them to safety. The poor kids clung on to him for dear life, their teeth chattering from his icy touch.
He deposited the kids with Nya, who was leading a massive group of people to a safe area. Zane observed as Nya led the villagers to safety, ensuring no one stood in their way.
But he couldn’t focus on them for too long, as a looming snake covered in shimmering deep red scales chased towards him, fangs hissing in a deadly warning. Zane had no combat training, very little prior experience, and quite frankly, he feared that his friends and his skills would not meet the occasion, but this was not something he could be a bystander to. He would fight by his brother’s side, no matter what.
The snake lunged at him, arms outstretched to try and grab his neck. Zane side-stepped him and flung his fist into the snake’s fist. Momentarily thrown off guard, the snake groaned in pain, allowing Zane to freeze the serpent's legs. The snake writhed and wriggled, screaming out in rage.
Zane fled the scene before the snake broke free and took out its rage on its entrapper. He ran through the streets, trying to find the others, until he heard booming laughter from the alleyway. Zane stilled. That voice, it was so familiar, but what business would Lloyd have being here? Zane ducked behind a garbage can, peering into the alleyway. Both Lloyd and Morro were standing there.
“Look at all of their faces! Oh man, we’re getting them good!” Lloyd boasted.
“And this is just the beginning. Pythor talked of four magical artifacts called the Golden Weapons, weapons of great power. We find them, and we won’t need these snakes anymore. Our sheer power will overwhelm anyone who stands in our way. But rumor has it that they are in high demand.” Morro explained to Lloyd. But Lloyd didn’t seem to fully grasp what it was that Morro was planning. This was a game to him.
Zane’s jaw dropped. Those weapons Morro spoke of… could they be the ones Garmadon’s been searching for? For a second, he felt exhilarated. This is the closest Zane’s been to figuring out this mystery. But then it dawned on him that the weapons Garmadon wanted were much more than a few swords; their true abilities were still unknown, but it sounded like they could bring destruction on an unimaginable scale. And this break in the case came at the cost of knowledge he wishes he did not know. Because somehow, Lloyd and Morro were involved in all of this carnage. The two boys Zane had gotten to know, had shared a home with did not possess the maliciousness they were showing here. But as it seems, maybe Zane did not know them after all.
“Ha! Well, who doesn’t like a little competition to keep things interesting?” Lloyd said. Zane remained quiet, muscles tense as he willed them to stay as still as possible. He did not wish to fight Morro or Lloyd.
Zane scanned the area, planning out his escape. While Lloyd and Morro were engrossed in their conversation, Zane stealthily made his way back into the chaos. He ran through town, the wind whipping his hair around, the cold air battling with the harsh sun. Each step pounded against the ground, his feet pushing him faster and faster. He needed to tell the others of his discovery. The race to the weapons had just gotten higher stakes. He threw himself around the street corner, horrified to find his friends surrounded by a giant mob of snakes. Nya must have made her way back to the others as she, too, was trapped. But given that the streets had been void of any townspeople, she had done her part well.
The serpents flanked his friends from every side, encircling them. They hissed and clawed as his friends did their best to fight them off.
“Zane, there you are! A little help here?” Cole called out from the circle. He swung his fist into the face of a black serpent who had gotten a little too close. The serpent cried out in pain, falling back and knocking down a few of the snakes behind him. Jay rapidly fired uncontrolled shocks of lightning, Nya blasted the snakes with water, and Cole was trying to barricade themselves in with rocks, but Kai wasn’t fighting; he was just… on the ground panicking?
“Of course! But if I may, what is wrong with Kai?” Zane asked.
Jay kicked a red snake back, yelling to Zane as he took a moment to catch his breath.
“No time! Just watch out, he thinks we’re all elves.”
“That makes no logical sense,” Zane replied, eyebrows raised as he watched Kai hyperventilate on the ground.
Nya punched a snake to her right and kicked another one in the gut on her left, shakily calling out to Zane to offer a better explanation.
“One of these stupid snakes spat venom in his eye, and now he’s hallucinating. We’d help him out, but if you couldn’t tell, we’re a little caught up right now.” She grunted.
A snake landed a punch on her, shoving her to the ground. The snake loomed over her, ready to land another hit, but Zane froze his face over with ice.
“Stop! Go Away!” Kai cried to an invisible figure.
It hurt to see his friend in pain, but Nya was right; they were certainly occupied at the time. Zane tried to think of something, but they were outnumbered and outskilled.
“Ugh, this isn’t working!” Jay yelled from the ground after a snake stopped his punch mid-air, latched onto his hand, and flipped Jay onto his back. Cole stomped on the ground, and a large, sharp rock burst from the earth, sending Jay’s attacker flying back.
“Well, if you've got any other ideas, I’d love to hear 'em!” Cole heaved. He wiped sweat from his brow, but it was quickly replaced by another puddle of sweat.
“I got it!” Jay exclaimed, his lightning glowing brighter in response.
“You do?!” Nya asked, flabbergasted.
“Cole, send us up into the air!” Jay demanded. Cole looked uncertain. Zane wasn’t sure if Cole had enough control over his powers to produce a rock large enough to fulfill Jay’s request, but he knelt to the ground regardless. He clamped his eyes shut and his brow furrowed in determination as he pounded his fist into the ground. Slowly, the ground started shaking, and the snakes around them stumbled as the shakes grew in strength. Even Zane found it difficult to keep his balance upon the trembling earth. The ground shook until its energy was released as a giant rock broke free from the ground, shooting Cole, Nya, and Jay high up into the sky.
“I actually did it!” Cole cheered, his muscles shaking with adrenaline.
“Okay, Nya, it's your turn. We need a tidal wave big enough to drown out this entire crowd.”
It was hard to hear the conversation from the ground, but Zane could roughly make out the words.
Nya nodded, acting confident despite the worry lines on her forehead.
She raised her hands in the sky, demanding streams of water to flow around her. She directed the currents into a giant ball of water above her head, grunting in focus as the ball grew in size. Eventually, she gave, releasing the wave onto the crowd below. Jay then shot electricity through the water, keeping the surge going as the wave washed through the crowd, electrocuting the mob. The serpents ran away in fear, trying to escape the electric ocean. All three of them collapsed onto the ground, laughing in triumph as the final snakes retreated.
“That was amazing!” Zane called up to them. Jay threw him a lazy thumbs-up from where he lay on the rock. But none of them seemed too inclined to figure out how to get down.
Judging from how high they were up in the air, they couldn’t exactly jump off. And it didn’t look like Cole had enough energy to bring them down. But Zane wondered…. He tried to focus his ice, creating a slide from the rock to the ground. One by one, all three of them slid safely to the ground.
“Appreciate the help, Zane, but ouch, that was cold!” Jay complained once, finally, on the ground. At least Zane knew he was okay if he was still enough of himself to whine and complain.
But in a flash, Jay froze in front of him before he took a fighting stance. Nya and Cole, too, looked ready to jump. Yet Zane did not know what he had done wrong.
“My, my, you guys have been busy, haven't you? Oh, I do love watching a group of underdogs come out on top!” A slimy voice called out from behind Zane. Zane whipped around, meeting the eyes of the tallest snake he’s seen yet. And beside him on both sides stood Morro and Lloyd.
“Oh, FSM, the elves have gotten smaller!” Kai yelled in fear, pointing wildly at Lloyd and Morro. Jay kicked him, trying to get him to shut up.
Cole, Nya, and Jay let out collective gasps. The kids they had been scouring the earth for were finally right in front of them. The first wave of relief washed out the person Lloud and Morro stood beside.
“Lloyd?! Morro?! We’ve been looking all over for you guys!” Nya cried out with joy. She rushed towards them but faltered when Lloyd thrusted his foot backwards, a venomous look on his face.
“What, so you can turn us in?! You can’t trick us anymore! We know why you really let us stay with you guys.” Lloyd screamed in rage. His eyes glowed a brilliant green, and Zane could feel the static in the air as the energy around Lloyd grew excited in response to his rage.
“What are you talking about?” Cole asked, genuinely baffled. Zane, too, was taken aback. Had they done something to make Lloyd and Morro feel unwelcome? How could it have been so heinous to have pushed them into crime? But maybe this was a good thing. If the group had wronged the kids, then they could make it right. This could be salvaged.
But a sharp gust of wind tore through the air, ripping through Zane’s hope.
“There’s no point in rehashing this. We haven’t come here for you.” Morro sneered. He glared at the group with a sense of hatred stronger than Zane had ever known. Underneath Morro’s gaze, Zane could feel how repulsed and disgusted the other was of him. It made Zane feel less than. Like a bug that needed squashing.
“Oh, do forgive Morro, he lacks manners. But he is not without truth. Leave now, and no one has to get their hands dirty.” The snake said.
A Cheshire smile spread across the serpent's face. It sent a clear message. Zane and his friends were not a threat to him. Just a minor inconvenience that needed to be dealt with.
“Look, Morro, Lloyd, we’re sorry about whatever we did, but there’s no need to get innocent people involved.” Jay reasoned, gesturing to the ruined homes and shops around them.
“Yeah, just tell us what we did wrong so we can make things right!” Cole bargained.
“This is way bigger than you!” Morro screamed in pent-up rage, a flash of his true, desperate self shining through. The group was stunned. Morro was not unfamiliar with anger, but there was anger and there was suffocating grief, hopelessness, a sadness so deep that it needed to be relieved through frustration. Morro knew he had slipped up and tried to amend his persona.
“Don’t think so highly of yourselves. What we want is not something you can give.” He said, voice stiff as he forced the words out through his vocal cords that only wanted to yell.
“The golden weapons. One of them is in this town. Isn’t it?” Zane said. It made the most sense. Morro wasn’t a psychopath, but he was willing to do whatever it took to reach his goals. He wouldn’t terrorize a town for fun, but he would do it to get what he wanted. What Lloyd had to do with anything, Zane was unsure.
The snake turned his glare to Lloyd and Morro.
“Now, how would he know about that?” The serpent asked.
“I didn’t say anything!” Lloyd yelped.
“How do you know that, Zane?” Nya asked, but Zane shook his head. He would tell everyone later, but now was not the time. This serpent didn’t seem to be as allied with Morro and Lloyd as Zane thought.
Curiously, instead of the serpent lashing out in rage, he started laughing. But Zane had never heard a laugh so cruel.
“Well, since the cat’s out of the bag, why don’t we show these overachievers what they’re up against if they do not surrender?”
The snake snapped his fingers, and at his call, two burly snakes dragged out a terrified man. The man’s hair clung to his face, covering his eyes and dripping sweat down his neck. His clothes were dirty and torn, revealing cuts and burns from his abuse.
Zane stiffened. Nya and he were not able to get everyone to safety after all. And this man was paying the price.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Lloyd nervously asked, stepping away from the snakes.
But the snakes ignored him and brought the man into the spotlight.
“Tell us, where is the golden weapon you keep?” The purple serpent demanded. His voice no longer tried to hide his malicious intent. He wanted everyone to see how dangerous he truly was.
“I’ve already told you I don’t know! M-my dad was the one who kept records about all that crap! I just work in his store!” The man cried. He whipped his head around, trying to get the snakes to see the begging in his eyes.
The purple serpent sneered.
“Not good enough. General?”
One of the snakes readjusted their grasp on the man, allowing the other snake to release its hold. The smaller of the two snakes pulled out a battering stick, face stone cold, and brought it down on the man’s back, slamming it into the man without mercy. And then he brought it down again, and again. Each strike was carried out with robotic efficiency, indifferent to the man’s cries of agony. A sickening smack echoed through the air with each hit.
“Hey! Stop! What are you doing?!” Lloyd yelled in horror. He tried to run towards the man, but Morro gripped his shoulder, fixing Lloyd with a harsh gaze.
“This is what must be done. Think of what you're fighting for, Lloyd. What the world has done to you.”
Morro’s words didn’t reach Lloyd; Lloyd was lost, staring at the bloody and bruised wounds on the man’s back.
The breath left Zane’s lungs as he watched the man write in pain. Zane shook himself of his shock, raising his hand to freeze the snake’s next advance. But before he could land his attack, more snakes emerged from the shadows, restraining him. Zane threw himself around, trying to shake the snakes, but they overpowered him. He heard yelping behind him and turned to find that his friends were in the same predicament, even Kai, who had been rendered useless from his hallucinations, had been restrained. Try as he might, he couldn’t summon his powers. He didn’t have enough control to use them with so much outside noise. His inexperience had finally caught up to him.
“Ah, Ah, ah, don’t want you missing the show.” The purple serpent tsked. It boiled Zane’s blood. He had never been quick to anger; he’d always been sensible, mind cold and sharp, much like his ice. But abusing one’s power to abuse another was pathetic, unjust. He was a protector, but now he had been reduced to another sick part of the snake’s game.
The snake bent down to the man’s level, sticking its face in front of the man’s tear-stained one.
“Let’s try again, yes?”
Zane continued to fight free, his efforts growing more desperate, looking for a weakness he could exploit. In his search, he saw Lloyd, looking increasingly panicked. Lloyd’s eyes were blown wide, horror written across his face. Lloyd could be reasoned with, he could see the truth of the serpent’s cruelty. Zane looked to Morro, trying to find the same humanity. But Morro had his head strictly turned towards the ground, unable to meet the face of his evil.
The man whimpered in fear, anticipating the next strike.
“Please! Please, just let me go! I don’t know where they are!”
“You just have to make this difficult.” The snake sighed. To him, this man’s suffering was just an inconvenience.
The general with the battering stick raised it high, ready to bring down its wrath on the man’s back one more time. However, Lloyd tore himself from Morro’s grasp, stumbling in front of the man.
“I command you to stop!” Lloyd cried, hand up in front of the general. The man’s eyes bore into Lloyd’s skull, clinging to the mercy Lloyd could give him.
Zane watched with nervous anticipation, praying the snake wouldn’t bring his wrath onto Lloyd next. Yet he also felt a fire of hope ignite in his chest. Maybe he hadn’t misjudged Lloyd; perhaps Lloyd was just misguided, hurt.
“Foolish child, get out of the way, otherwise you’re gonna be next! The general seethed.
“Lloyd, get out of the way! This man is a necessary casualty! He means nothing!” Morro raged from the sidelines.
Lloyd and Morro locked eyes, each seeing the other as they once were. If only Morro were the same as he once was.
“N-no, this isn’t right! I thought we were just gonna scare the villagers, not this!” Lloyd argued.
Morro’s eyes grew wild, desperation and yearning taking over his senses. Gusts of wind so strong that they stung Zane’s eyes and knocked over nearby garbage cans and started picking up, answering the call of their master.
Morro stormed over to Lloyd, his tall stature looming over Lloyd.
“This is how you get what you want! You want power?! Do you want respect?! This is the only way! People only listen to strength! You need to choose Lloyd! Are you going to be walked over, or are you going to show this world they should have never messed with Lloyd Garmadon?!”
Zane could hear Cole and Jay gasp, Lloyd’s lineage being revealed. Even after all of the possible outcomes Zane tried to discern, not even he had predicted this. As far as Zane knew, Garmadon didn’t have any children. And yet his child was standing right in front of Zane, defying what his father was, what Lloyd was supposed to be.
“Lloyd! Lloyd, please, you have to believe me when I say that we never wanted to hurt you! I knew you were Garmadon’s son, but I didn’t care! I see you for you, Lloyd! Don’t let anyone tell you who you’re supposed to be! Who are you going to be, Lloyd?” Nya called out to him. She spoke with power, passion emitting from every word. Zane hoped Lloyd could hear it too.
“Quiet! You know who you are, Lloyd! Remember where your loyalties lie!” Morro fought against Nya. The two each tried to reach Lloyd, calling out to his different selves.
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Lloyd stood hopelessly, the weight of his choice weighing on him. This is where he’d have to choose his path.
He looked at Nya, the plea in her eyes. Morro told him she wanted to use him, but she knew his identity, and yet, she was asking him who he was anyway.
Then there was the beaten man, lying in fear to await the choice that could save or doom him.
But there was also Morro, the only real family Lloyd’s ever had. Lloyd couldn’t leave Morro, the first person to not look down on him, to see something more than Garmadon’s failure of a son. But the crazy, enraged Morro that stood in front of him was not the Morro that taught him how to get better at pickpocketing, that saved him at the restaurant.
All Lloyd had ever wanted was to be feared so that he’d never be cast aside again. He wanted to prove himself as Garmadom’s son.
At first, it was fun, freeing. He’d finally fulfilled his wish. But when Lloyd looked at the broken man kneeling in front of the broken homes. He’d realized it didn’t feel as good as he thought it would.
All of this destruction… it couldn’t be what Lloyd’s been chasing after his whole life. This couldn’t be it. Because if it was, why did Lloyd feel so awful?
He….he didn’t want this.
“I’m sorry, Morro, but there has to be another way! We don’t need these stupid snakes anyway!”
Lloyd prayed that Morro would listen to him for once, that they could leave this mess behind. But Morro didn’t say anything. He just stared at Lloyd with his burning eyes, It sent shivers down Lloyd's spine. Having someone look into you, and only finding a person deserving of hate, a source of repulsion, wasn't something Lloyd thinks he could ever forget.
“I must thank you, Lloyd, I thought I’d have a harder time getting rid of you. General?” Pythor drew out.
The general started advancing towards Lloyd, a smile on his face.
Nya, Cole, Jay, and Zane, starting up their fighting again, recklessly trying to break free.
Lloyd stumbled back.
“Morro?” Lloyd asked, embarrassed by how meek his voice was. Sure, Morro was mad at him, but surely he wouldn’t leave him as snake food.
“You’ve chosen your side, Lloyd. I don’t have room for weakness.”
Tears welled in Lloyd’s eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Morro wasn’t different after all. He was just like everyone else, who only kept Lloyd around until they found out he wasn’t what they wanted. Well, l Lloyd was used to being abandoned. But he didn’t need Morro anyway.
Lloyd could feel the high waves of energy around him, yearning to be released. Well, wish granted.
Lloyd shot out a green blast of energy at the snakes that held Zane, throwing them back. Zane Glady seized the moment, rushing towards Jay and hacking through the snakes that held him. Lloyd got ready to summon another blast of energy but was thrown into a nearby garbage can by a gust of wind.
His head slammed into the metal, pain ricocheting through his skull. He fell to the ground, taking a moment for the pain to subside.
“C’mon, kid, we gotta go,” Jay said from beside him. Wait, when did Jay get here?
Jay pulled Lloyd up, grabbing his hand and leading him away. As Lloyd was being pulled away, he saw Zane carrying the man the snakes had. Soon enough, Zane caught up with Jay, and they continued running while Cole and Nya fought off a few snakes who tried to follow them.
They raced to.. Somewhere. Lloyd wasn’t even sure where he was going; he just knew that he couldn’t stop. His lungs ached and burned, and his calves throbbed inprotestt, but Jay’s steady grip on his hand kept him from slowing down.
They didn’t stop until a ragged old truck was in sight. Cole picked Lloyd up, much to Lloyd’s protest, and sat him in a seat on the back. Everyone else too took their place, gasping for air once they were finally able to rest. The truck drove off, taking Lloyd away. Away from Morro, away from the snakes. Away from Lloyd’s mistakes.
Lloyd stared out the window as they drove through the ghosts of what once were lively neighborhoods. Lloyd wanted to make things right, but he didn’t even know where to start. His entire life, he’d been chasing after a false dream, a dangerous one. And now Lloyd had nothing. Lloyd Garmadon didn’t even know who Lloyd was anymore.