Chapter Text
☯︎
The ninja have gathered on the Destiny's Bounty's deck, prepared for training. You sat off to the side in a dark room to observe them as they honed their elemental powers in a proper training session with their newly unlocked true potential.
You decided it was a good idea to watch them, seeing as how they were the ones to help you in keeping the Serpentine from creating a disaster that could befall upon Ninjago one thousand times worse than the Great Devourer.
“Earth!” Cole yelled out as he attacked first. His earth control was much more refined than it was in the beginning, now able to control less than a giant rock or boulder. The ability to also now control the speed and direction of even the tiniest speck of dirt was impressive.
“Lightning!” Jay shocks the opponent, his lightning seemingly out of control, but is incredibly precise. It was less wild than it was. Before he unlocked his potential, it ran free, jagged in every spot and a possible hazard to allies close by to him. And while it was still jagged, it stayed in one proper direction, along with the many other shocks he let out at the exact same time.
“Ice!” And Zane seemed to have the best progress this far, having unlocked his true potential first. His ice was as controlled as it was deadly, with sharp spikes shooting up like icicles growing in reverse. You shuddered as the chill enhanced, his ice having become more and more cold as the days passed by.
The sound of a crash and things clattering to the floor startled you, and the lights promptly turned on. You saw the fake Serpentine dummy on the floor in pieces, and three colour coded ninjas standing innocently to the side as if they hadn’t killed a dummy.
“Good training.” Nya praised, causing Jay to melt sheepishly. “Your powers are getting stronger. But where's Kai?”
You looked back to the trio, and indeed, Nya’s hotheaded brother was nowhere to be found.
He’s bright red! How did I not notice he left? Guess they really are decent ninjas…
Confused, you all decided to go searching for him. He wasn’t on the deck training, nor was he on the bridge looking at any Serpentine hints or even in his room.
Eventually, he was found in Sensei Wu’s room. You could hear his frustrating call upon his element from behind the door, and when the door opened, everyone laughed.
You moved your head to see, and what you saw made you feel more angry than you ever felt at these guys.
He really is still obsessed with being the Green Ninja. This guy!
“Very nice. Perhaps if you tried the phrase "Fire dork," maybe it might work.” The earth ninja taunted playfully.
Kai tore the mask off his face in panic. “How long have you all been watching?”
“Only a bit.” You replied curtly, letting your annoyed tone free. Kai shrunk under your gaze.
“The Green Ninja suit. That's awesome!” Jay said excitedly.
“Well, I was looking for some kind of clue from Sensei and then I found this.” The red ninja nervously explained.
You decided right then and there you didn’t like Kai in green. It just felt wrong…
Zane stepped forward. “But you know only he who is foretold to face Lord Garmadon is destined to be the Green Ninja, and only he should wear the Green Ninja outfit. So Sensei would most likely be very—.”
“I know, I know. But I thought if I just tried it on, it might help me see my True Potential. It's not fair that you guys have unlocked your cool powers and I still haven't. Besides, Sensei's gone and we don't know when he's coming back —.”
“Hello? I'm home.”
Speak of the master and he shall appear. That was impeccable timing, you’ll have to compliment Wu about that later.
“Sensei!” They all yell out and run out the room, except for Kai, who scrambles to change back into his red gi, practically ripping the green top off.
You decided to leave him in his privacy and reunite with Sensei Wu. While you knew he would be back, you didn’t know if he was uninjured or not.
You step onto the deck, and Sensei Wu is standing before his three other ninja students and samurai, all of whom were smiling and greeting him.
“Ah. It's so good to be home.” The sensei says, stroking his beard fondly.
“So glad you're back.” Zane replied back with a smile.
Cole stepped forward with a chuckle. “Did you bring us anything?”
On the other hand, Jay flapped his hands excitedly as he rambled. “Oh, Sensei, have you missed a lot. Zane's a Nindroid, Nya's the mysterious Samurai, Cole's a dancer—!”
Wu did a double take, looking at his excitable blue ninja flabbergasted. “Zane is a...what?”
Said Nindroid smiled nervously. “You've been gone for a while. We'll catch you up later. But you should know, all of us except for Kai have discovered our True Potential.”
The elder nodded in approval. “Have you now? Where is Kai?”
“Right here.” The red ninja, now finally back in his rightful colours, ran onto the deck, panting heavily. “So glad you're back safe.”
“Wu, I assume you’ve found who you were looking for?” You asked with a knowing smile. Wi’s eyebrows raised, but he nodded, stepping to the side ever so slightly to reveal the Dark Lord behind him.
“Aah! Sensei, behind you!” Kai yelled out before attacking Garmadon, while Zane dived to guard Wu. It all felt like it was in slow motion.
“Sensei!” You would have laughed at the situation if you weren’t already annoyed by Kai’s insistence he was the prophesied green ninja. Zane’s panicked face and voice as he went to protect Wu, only for said master to look at the situation with an expression that spoke so many volumes of ‘I’m so done with these people’.
“Ugh! He's got four arms.” Kai grunted as Garmadon held him back, one arm holding the red ninja up and away from reach, the fire elemental’s arms too short for his flailing fists to reach the Dark Lord.
It was like holding a cat by the scruff, and the comparison finally got a snicker out of you.
“So we meet again.” Garmadon spoke in a low voice, taunting and mischievous with a smug smirk on his face, showing off his sharp teeth.
You finally got a good look at Lloyd’s father, having only heard him and never seen what he looked like. He was ridiculously tall, with an inhumanly long torso to accommodate his double set of arms. He had onyx armour on, accompanied with a matching samurai helmet that had a bone on its front for decoration.
Presumably not any of his bones.
His red eyes narrowed at Kai, the crows feet wrinkled as his smirk also grew.
Why are you looking at him so much?
“He must've followed you, Sensei!” Kai’s fire flickered in his hands, and that’s when Sensei Wi finally stepped in.
“Kai, stop! He is the reason I left. For so long as Pythor has Lloyd, he will be our guest.” Wu explained.
“We have to live with this guy?!” The earth elemental yelled out in shock, looking at Wu like he also grew another set of arms.
The white ninja was equally as shocked. “But Sensei, he has four arms!”
“Uh, must I remind you ever since he turned evil, he's been trying to get our Golden Weapons?” The lightning ninja also added on.
“ENOUGH!” You yelped at Wu’s angered shout, almost falling over if Nya hadn’t held onto your arm, equally as startled. The ninja all fell silent, and Kai simply dangled in Garmadon’s hold, looking disgruntled, but he and the others obediently lowered their heads.
“Yes, Sensei.”
“This isn't about the weapons. It's about my son.” The new dark roommate growled as he placed Kai back down on his feet and walked over to his younger brother.
“From here on out, you will obey me and you will respect my brother.” Wu instructed sternly, and everyone nodded this time.
“Yes, Sensei.” They all said, except for you. Instead, you had a question on your mind.
“Now to the bridge. We must put our attention to more pressing matters.” The ninja and samurai all filter out onto the bridge, but you, however, stay at the back with Wu and Garmadon.
“Sensei Wu, may I ask a question?” You whispered. Wu looked at you curiously, and the slight turn of Garmadon’s head also indicated you caught his attention.
“I was meditating a lot while you were away, with the incense you gifted me. Does that incense do anything in particular? I know you have visions, so I was curious.” You ask.
Garmadon turned away with a huff and frown, clearly uninterested, but Wu stroked his beard whimsically.
“Does it do something? Or did it do something to help you?” He responded cryptically.
You blinked. “I— uh…” You trailed off as you thought of the next thing to say. Garmadon chuckled at your lost expression, which made you scoff. “Well, I certainly could never hear conversations from another realm before.”
The Dark Lord raised a brow, his lips upturned in amusement at your snarky remark. Wu was unaffected, merely humming in acknowledgment with a knowing look in his eyes.
Now on the bridge, Wu looked each of his students in the eyes before speaking. “So, where are we at with the four Fangblades?”
The rigid and unnerved ninja all slumped over with defeated sighs. “Oh, Pythor's managed to take the first two, but there's still two left.” Jay exclaimed helpfully.
“And we only need one in order to prevent him from unleashing the Great Devourer.” Cole added on, yet again seeing your upset expression. You wondered if he also knew that you felt guilty feeling like you just let Pythor get away with the first blade.
“Any luck finding their whereabouts?” The sensei then turned to Zane.
The white ninja shook his head. “No, but the Falcon is programmed to alert us if he sees any suspicious activity.”
Wu’s eyebrows raised questioningly, but he didn’t about the falcon, instead turning his attention to Kai and Nya. “Good. If we find the Fangblade, we find Lloyd. Kai and Nya, prepare the deck and double check the anchor. We need to be ready when we first get word of activity.”
“Yes, Sensei.” The two replied respectfully.
“And young blossom.” He turned to you. “We have much to discuss about the things that happened while I was gone.” You nod curtly.
With that, everyone was dismissed for the night. Wu kept you and Garmadon in the bridge as the others retired to their rooms and the siblings both went to the deck.
“I have my eye on you.” Kai threatened Garmadon with a glare to intimidate him, only to grunt as he hits his head on the frame. You shake your head in disapproval, Garmadon chuckles as Wu sighs. Nya grabs him and tries to drag him away, but he gets his wrist out of her hand and he points with two fingers to his eyes and jabs them at Garmadon to show that he's watching him.
You smiled seeing Nya’s hand reach out again to grab him by his hood and yank him out, now leaving you and the two brothers.
After a moment of awkward silence, Wu cleared his throat and turned to you. “Now, did Jay say the Falcon was...programmed?”
You nodded. The next hour was spent catching Sensei Wu up to speed on what he missed, all while sitting at the table on the bridge. From the pride he held when three of his four students found their true potential, to the shock that was Nya being the Samurai and Zane being a robot, or Nindroid as Jay had coined the term.
“I see… I leave for a week and all the excitement begins to happen. And Lloyd is still with Pythor?” You could see the Dark Lord bristle at the mention of his son being held captive by the Anacondrai, and you nodded.
“Yes. I don’t know about the boys, but I haven’t seen Lloyd at all since he was taken.” You look down sadly, guilt yet again eating away at you.
Garmadon was disgruntled at your uncertainty, and Wu’s brows creased with worry as he nodded slowly. “I see. And about that incense?”
“What about it?” You asked back. You asked your question about it and got a somewhat cryptic answer that you need to decipher.
“Did it help you?” Wu elaborated further and you tilted your head.
It helped you concentrate and keep calm during meditation unless someone loudly startled you out of it. “I guess…”
“So the visions, how were they?”
You blinked at the sudden question. “Oh, I uh, thought you meant if it helped me relax, um…” as you fumbled for a response, the two brothers laughed, Wu was more amused while Garmadon was more cruel like he was making fun of you.
“Well uh, I don’t have visions per se, I just… heard things? Like, I knew you were coming back cause every time I meditated, I could hear you two in the Realm of Madness and… yeah.” You explained nervously.
“If that were the case, can you not just hear my son?” Garmadon barked out with a venomous tone.
You looked at Wu, completely lost. The younger brother patted the elders shoulder before explaining to you the method behind Wu’s meditation madness.
“The incense I gave you was supposed to give you visions of the people you think of at the time before you fall into meditation. It appears to have an interesting effect on you to make you just hear their conversations…” Wu speculated.
“The people I last thought of?” You tilted your head.
That made sense actually. When you first meditated, it was just after Sensei Wu had left the Bounty to go retrieve Garmadon from the Realm of Madness, and every time after that, you meditated with the intent to clear your head and hear those conversations between the two again.
“Yes. If you haven’t used up all of that incense, I believe you can hear Lloyd to see if he is alright.” Garmadon seemed less agitated hearing his brother say that, and you nod.
“Some incense was wasted because I kicked it when I got startled once, but I should have some left.” You explain.
Wu seemed a bit miffed at you possibly kicking and damaging his incense burner, but he nodded. “Good. I believe you should try meditating in your room this time. You still have Lloyd’s plushies from the amusement park, so those might be able to help.”
You nodded in determination, and Wu dismissed you for the evening. You speed walked to the meditation room to grab a spare incense burner before rushing back to your room.
You set the incense burner down on the floor and grab your blanket to use as a mat to be comfortable. You grabbed the incense and Lloyd’s plushies before sitting down. You set the long white dragon down and made it into a small circle to put the incense burner in, and you placed the big green teddy bear in your lap.
I hope this works…
☯︎
It did work. It really did! Sure, you ended up falling asleep sitting up, but you could hear Lloyd!
Sure it wasn’t fun, you almost broke yourself out of meditation to cry after hearing his faint whines and sniffles as he tried not to cry in front of Pythor, but you know he’s at least alive!
You get ready for your day, getting changed out of your pyjamas and into your traditional robes. You passed by the bathroom on the way to the kitchen to make some tea, seeing the boys all awkwardly stare at Garmadon sharpening his teeth with a dagger.
You decided to ignore it and continue on to the kitchen to make some tea for yourself and Wu, deciding on having some regular black tea for breakfast.
Slowly but surely, the others began filing into the dining area. Zane was first, immediately going to set up food to make for breakfast, followed by Nya, who helped set the table. Sensei Wu then came and you both enjoyed the tea you made in silence, then the rest of the ninja came in and were promptly served breakfast by their brother in white.
Garmadon then joined with a plate full of some… interesting black substance on top. You looked at the plate with a mix of disgust and mild concern as the Dark Lord began eating it.
“What's he eating?” Cole whispered.
Kai snarled. “Condensed evil. Supposed to be low in fat.”
You watch with a cringe as a grub flies off Garmadon’s plate and towards Kai, who brushes it away with his fork in disgust.
So far the roommate situation has… not been good.
On your almost daily visit to Nya’s room, she complained about how her little movie date with Jay was interrupted when during a sad scene of a man leaving his love, Garmadon burst out into maniacal laughter.
Later in the day, a storm hit, and Kai was left in the bridge, trying to manoeuvre the uncontrollable ship.
“Where's Garmadon?” Zane asked.
Kai sighed in annoyance. “Sunbathing.”
You watched in concern as lightning struck the deck, almost hitting Garmadon directly.
Eventually the storm had passed and night time was upon Ninjago. While you were glad you weren’t rooming with the guys, you passed by the open door to see Garmadon using electricity powers to disturb them all. The others simply rolled over to ignore him, but Jay’s little pout almost got you to laugh. You closed the door before retreating to Sensei Wu’s room.
You knocked on the door. “Sensei Wu? I need to speak with you.” There was a hum from behind the door, so you gently opened it, seeing Wu sitting on the floor with two cups of tea, one in front of him, and one behind his teapot.
Of course he knew I was coming.
You walked in and gently shut the door before sitting in front of him, holding the lukewarm teacup in your hands. “Were you waiting long?”
The ninja master shook his head with a soft chuckle. “No, if anything, you’re right on time.”
You smiled in relief and took a sip from the cup. Despite its slightly cold temperature, it was delicious. “Did anything happen?” Sensei Wu asked before taking a sip from his own cup, not wanting to waste any time.
“I heard him. Lloyd’s at least alive, but I don’t know if he has any injuries. He’s… crying.” You explain sadly, holding the cup closer.
Wu looked especially worried, but he stayed silent. It was a bit awkward as the two of you just sat there in his room, no more words exchanged for what felt like forever, when in reality it was probably only about 5 minutes.
“I sense we are closer to him than we believe.” Wu spoke cryptically. Just as you were about to ask what he meant, the ninja sensei ushered you up and out of the room for you to go to bed.
Weird… what did he mean by that…
☯︎
The next day, Garmadon continued to mess with the ninja. They all sat in front of the tv as Jay was fixing up a quirk in the Bounty’s engine, watching as Garmadon played their video games with two controllers at once.
“He's not even playing the game right. He's just shooting and destroying things.” Kai complained with a deep frown on his face, unhappy about Garmadon just chilling in their home playing video games.
Zane turned to his fiery teammate. “I've noticed when he isn't so focused on trying to turn Ninjago into his own image, he's actually quite fascinating.” He said like he was inspecting some creature and not the literal Lord of Darkness.
The earth elemental shrugged. “Sure, the four arms are freakish, but all in all, he doesn't seem that bad of a guy.”
“He might be pulling the wool over all your eyes, but not mine. He's up to something. And I'm gonna be ready for it.” Kai storms off in a huff and you decide to quietly follow him to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.
Sure, you weren’t exactly too fond of this new change either, but the strange protective sibling feeling you have for Lloyd took priority over your suspicions of said boy’s evil father temporarily living in the Bounty with everyone to aid in saving him from Pythor.
“Garmadon, get ready to get Kai'd! Fire! Wham, bam, sorry to beat you, man!” You facepalmed as you heard Kai kicking and punching the air, and you hoped he wouldn’t go as far to set the wooden boat on fire.
“This way. Come, come.” You heard Wu’s voice faintly, and you peered around the corner to find Kai spying on him through a window that leads to Nya’s room. “I have come to understand that the mysterious Samurai is no longer a mystery.”
“Oh yeah, you heard about that. I guess I picked up a thing or two.” Nya’s voice was slightly louder, sounding nervous.
“It was foolish of me to think that a girl could not be the destined Green Ninja.” The sensei said, causing Kai to gasp.
“Nya's the Green Ninja?”
“When the four weapons are laid out before the destined one, the weapons will react, revealing the identity of the Green Ninja.”
“But, Sensei…”
“Approach the weapons.” Wu implored Nya, but she sounded unsure about it.
“What are you doing out here?” You jumped hearing Garmadon’s voice and you whipped your head around, but he wasn’t behind you. Instead, he was behind Kai, and he seemed greatly annoyed.
You zoned out their oncoming argument, Kai fell over, they taunted each other, they square up to start fighting, and before you decide that you should just zone back in and stop them, Nya and Wu hold them back.
With a sigh, you head back into the Bounty, passing by Jay who rambled out something to you, but all you caught was “falcon” and “bridge”, so you head there.
“Zane, is everything alright? I passed by Jay and all I heard was something about your falcon.” You ask, and the Nindroid nods, his eyes not leaving the screen.
“Yes, my falcon has found where the Serpentine have gone to next. Let’s wait for the rest to show up so we can all make a plan.
You nod in agreement, and it didn’t take long for everyone else to arrive inside. Nya immediately recognizes the location. “Looks like Pythor is at the Temple of Fire.” She exclaimed.
“That means the Fangblade is there.” Kai said.
“And Lloyd.” Garmadon added with a glare, making the red ninja scowl in return.
“That's the same Fire Temple where Kai and Lord Garmadon first faced off.” Jay gasped, and you had to stand there and process what he said for a second.
Kai and Garmadon have… already fought each other? So that’s why they’ve been so antagonistic towards each other.
“If my memory serves me correctly, I'd say one of us cheated back when we last fought.” The fire ninja growled.
“And I remember someone needing their Sensei to save them.” The Dark Lord taunted back with a sharp smirk.
Cole bravely stepped between the two. “Guys! For the sake of the Fangblade and Lloyd, can we please just get along?”
“Since the last time we've been there, it looks like the volcano has grown unstable. The place is a powder keg just waiting to blow up. This will be a highly combustible environment.” Nya stated, and you felt your worry rise up again.
An unstable volcano that is bound to erupt at any moment, and Lloyd is there? Alone ? Who knows what the Serpentine would do to him in there…
The lightning master groaned. “Oh, great. Just what I like. Fighting armed and deadly snakes in a highly combustible environment about to blow up!”
“We will do what we must.” Sensei Wu said with a determined look.
“Yes, Sensei. But where are our weapons?” Zane asked curiously. Kai looked over to where Zane was, who wasn’t being blocked by Garmadon anymore.
Actually, Garmadon was nowhere to be found.
“And why is Lord Garmadon not here?” Kai storms out of the bridge, ignoring Wu calling out to him. You run after him again, with everyone else following after you.
He slides down the stair railing to the lower deck and enters a room, and you speed around the corner and into the door just as you heard yelling and a crash.”Kai, cut this out–!” You yelped as Kai rudely cut you off by slamming the door in your face, bonking you in the nose.
“Are you okay?” Zane asked worriedly as you stumbled away from the door, holding your nose. It wasn’t bleeding, nor did it feel broken, which was good. You nodded and his shoulders relaxed, relieved.
“Kai? You in here?” Nya yells out, frowning deeper as Kai locks the door. “What are you doing?”
The door slammed out a bit, and Kai replied with, “Discovering my True Potential!”
“Unh! The door won't budge!” Jay huffed as he tried and failed to open the door.
“Kai thinks he'll unlock his power if he stands up to Lord Garmadon.” Nya exclaimed in exasperation, rolling her eyes.
“Why would he think that?!” Zane yelled out. You were also kind of surprised.
If he had fought Garmadon before, would he not have already overcome his fear? There’s something else blocking his True Potential.
The fiery sister makes the cuckoo gesture as she responds. “'Cause he thinks he's the Green Ninja!”
“Well, if we don't open this door soon, I think he's gonna be mincemeat! Stand back!” The earth elemental stepped forward, pushing everyone else back before activating his True Potential. With a shout, he breaks the door down, but Kai had already defeated Garmadon.
“I defeated him. I did it! Are my eyes glowing? Did I unlock my powers? Is this my True Potential? Argh! Why isn't it working?” The red ninja grumbled in frustration, making you facepalm tiredly.
“Because you cannot defeat someone who allowed himself to be defeated.” Wu said in a scolding tone as he walked up to Kai.
“I wasn't going to hurt you, boy. I was only fetching your weapons.” Garmadon explained, but the red ninja scowled at the Dark Lord and pointed an accusing finger at him.
“But you were trying to steal them!”
“I asked him to get them. Perhaps it is best you do not reach your True Potential, or else someone could get hurt.” The sensei said stoically as he turned away from Kai, making him huff in frustration.
“Way to go, hero.” Cole said sarcastically as he jabbed Kai in the ribs.
Nya helped Garmadon up gently. “Oh. Poor thing. Let me help you.”
“Yes. Poor thing.” He said that… way too sinisterly for your liking. His deep voice makes you cringe. From the corner of your eye you see Kai clenching his fists angrily. The ship suddenly stops, making every stumble.
“Sounds like we've finally reached our destination.” The earth elemental exclaimed, and everyone followed his lead to disembark the ship and observe the surrounding area.
“The Fire Temple.” The black ninja muttered, staring up at the active volcano that for sure had the Serpentine and Lloyd inside. You let out a shaky, anxiety ridden breath at that.
“The volcano seems to be on the verge of eruption, guys.” Nya said, her voice coming through the speaker of Zane’s falcon. “All recent indicators tell me that this place is becoming increasingly fragile. Even the smallest rupture can make the whole thing go off.”
Your shaking caught the attention of Garmadon, who put a reluctant, awkward hand on your head to pat it. It was less patting and more just him tapping your head like a button, but it helped ground you nonetheless.
Garmadon is weird… he loves Lloyd dearly, and clearly anyone who cares for his son is in his good graces, but he’s still evil due to the venom in his veins. You couldn’t tell if he was genuinely trying to comfort you or if there was an ulterior motive here, but you just let it happen.
“Then we must not use our weapons.” Wu deduced, and everyone listened and put their weapons away, except for Kai. You look at Kai with the most annoyed expression you could muster.
“Kai, put your weapon away.” Your voice was shaky and clearly you weren’t up for arguing. Thankfully the red ninja actually listened to you and sheaths his sword, all while rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. No Fire Sword. But only because I wouldn't want anything to prevent us from getting that Fangblade.” The hothead exclaimed.
“Or my son.” Garmadon added on, and you nodded.
“While the Fangblades are also important, there’s also only one after this. Our main priority should be Lloyd right now.” You explain, and just as Kai was about to retort, probably with his own biting remark that would have definitely made you lose it with your anxiety at an all time high, Wu interrupted before he could say anything.
“There. The Serpentine must be inside the inner core. From here on out, we travel by shadows.” The sensei exclaimed and you nodded, stepping away.
“I leave you all to it, stay safe.” The falcon moved from Zane’s arm to yours, also nodded to wish them all luck.
The group all ran off, hiding behind pillars and concealing themselves in the darkness to make a stealthy entry, all while you stayed back, praying to any Ninjagan god and goddess you can think of that they would come back safely, hopefully with Lloyd and the Fangblade in tow.
“This could either go really well, or really poorly.” Nya’s voice from the falcon made you jump in surprise.
“This is so weird.” You mutter, and her laughter resounded through the static, which made you laugh too. “It’s so surreal to hear your voice from the falcon.”
“Yeah, I bet. Head back to the Bounty, I’m sure Lloyd would want a familiar face and some familiar plushies when he gets back.” You nod at Nya and held your arm up so the falcon could fly off, course set for the Bounty with you trailing behind it.
☯︎
Your heart was not raised to deal with such high stress situations! You shook in complete panic, hands over your chest as the Bounty raised higher and higher into the sky and the volcano erupted and crumbled further and further into the ground.
“LLOYD!! LLOYD!!!!” Wu held Garmadon back to keep him from jumping overboard, and Nya cried out for her brother, since he and Lloyd were still in the volcano.
It seems that every prayer you whispered to any god you could think of was futile. Disaster still struck, lava still burst from the earth, and it was the end. All you could do now was clutch both of Lloyd’s plushies and cry.
You could barely hear what was happening around you as Nya clutched onto your arm, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. But you could still see, and something was coming. A ball of fire that shot out of the volcano. You braced for impact, but nothing came, instead the ball of fire gently lands on the deck of the Bounty and diminishes, and you’ve never been so happy to see any of these ninja before in your entire life.
“It's Kai! He's found his True Potential!” Jay cheered, and the flames completely fly away as Kai landed on his own two feet. The fire master removes his mask and gives a look of understanding to Wuand you before his power completely disappears and he passes out.
“Kai! Lloyd!” You yell out, and the young boy was more than happy to run up to you and cling to your leg like a koala. While you were happy that Lloyd was safe thanks to Kai, you were also worried about said red ninja, who you thankfully managed to catch him by the back of his gi just before he landed face first onto the wooden deck.
“Guys, a little help?” You grunted, and Cole was more than happy to sling Kai over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
You return to the bridge to properly reunite Lloyd with Garmadon, all while you pry him off your leg and give him his teddy bear and stuffed dragon, which he’s more than happy to be holding onto.
You could practically feel Garmadon staring holes into the back of your head as you led Lloyd to the deck, hand gently resting around the young boy’s shoulders. You could see Lloyd constantly looking back at Garmadon curiously.
It felt like forever, but it was really only a few minutes for them to get to the bridge and re-introduce Lloyd to his father, who wasted no time in hugging each other warmly.
“Dad? Is it really you?” Lloyd asked, voice hoarse and shaky from the volcano experience. You couldn’t blame him either, he must have been terrified.
Garmadon however, was nothing but comforting to his son. “It is, son.”
Disoriented, Lloyd asked, “Dad? Why do you have four arms?”
Cole sighed in relief. “He's gonna be okay.” Everyone cheers, and you sighed with a small smile, sitting down on the table to give your shaking legs a break.
“Thank you, Kai.” Garmadon said, sounding genuinely thankful, which clearly shocked Kai.
“But how did you survive? How did you discover the key to unlocking your powers?” Zane asked curiously, snapping the fiery ninja out of his stupor.
“I knew when I had to make a choice. I wanted the Fangblade so badly, to prove I was good enough to become the Green Ninja.” Kai admitted, looking down. “But then I figured it out. All of my training to become the best ninja wasn't in preparation to become the Green Ninja. It was... to protect him.” He looks at Lloyd, and it takes a minute, but everyone follows Kai’s line of sight, and the two dots connect in everyone’s minds.
You inwardly gasped, hand covering your mouth in shock and mild horror. Lloyd, small and young, ten year old Lloyd… Is prophesied to defeat, possibly even kill his own father for the sake of Ninjago.
“What? What is everybody looking at me for?” Lloyd asked, confused.
“That means…” Nya mutters, and she, Kai and Cole bring the weapons in front of Lloyd, and they react by levitating and emitting green lightning, confirming Kai’s statement.
Wu gasped. “Lloyd is the Green Ninja. I had thought it would be one of you, but it was him the whole time. It all makes sense. Not only have you four been chosen to protect the Golden Weapons, but also to protect the Chosen One.”
The weapons all clatter to the floor, and the ninja waste no time in picking them back up and putting them back on their gi’s. You look between a confused Lloyd and a heartbroken Garmadon, and you felt like you were going to cry again.
“That means…” A look of realisation dawned on the dark Lord’s face, and Wu nodded solemnly.
“The battle lines have been drawn, brother. Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother, and now, son versus father.” Sadness washes over the room as everyone looks at the father-son duo with pitying looks.
Garmadon looked down at Lloyd, looking like he was already destroyed, while Lloyd was obliviously confused, but also looked at his dad worriedly. His bright red eyes had specks of green in them, and for a kid who was raised in a school full of bad boys and even badder teachers, he looked so innocent just standing there, not fully aware of the responsibility placed on him.
You skillfully wiped your tears away to keep anyone from seeing you cry.
“Hehe, this is heavy and all, but whatever happened to the Fangblade!?” Jay interrupted the moment, which while it was unexpected, it changed the mood of the room to be less awkward and sad.
Everyone looked over to Kai, you included, and while you had Lloyd as your top priority from the start of this mission, the downcast look Kai had was all the answer you needed.
“You don’t have it, do you?” You ask, and the fire ninja shook his head.
“No, it was stuck in a rock and wouldn’t budge. My main worry was getting us out of there, so I left it.” He explained.
Pythor now has three of the four Fangblades, one blade away from being able to summon the Great Devourer and ruining Ninjago forever. Despite that, you nodded, it was much better to have an alive Kai and Lloyd with no blade rather than a dead Kai and Lloyd still with no blade.
“I’m glad you two are okay then.” You say, surprising Kai.
He probably thought you would get mad at him for not getting both Lloyd and the blade, but clearly you were just relieved they were okay.
With a small nod, you hand Lloyd his plushies back and bid everyone good night.
Please let me sleep and not worry about Ninjago possibly being devoured into smithereens…
☯︎