Chapter Text
Lloyd has many fears. For example: the fear of people, snakes, skeletons, returning fathers, dragons, the average, run-of-the-mill, stuff. He was normally really good at facing them, especially when someone’s life (other than his own) was at stake.
Safe to say, that was not the case this time around.
Lloyd had been walking through the streets, meandering his way to the monastery when he heard gunshots. Instantly, his mind kicked into ninja-mode and he ducked into an alleyway to shed his normal attire and reveal his hidden gi. He pulled up the cowl and mask, easily finding his way to the source of the gunshots.
When he arrived, he assessed the situation. What looked about fifteen men in black tuxedos versus three men dodging bullets left and right, hiding behind dumpsters and boxes and other junk. Lloyd was struggling picking out the bad guys between the two sides, and did the next best thing.
“CUT IT OUT!” He yelled. Slowly, the firing trickled to a stop, and he deemed it safe enough to jump down. He landed in the no man’s land and kept a wall to his back.
“What is going on here?” He shouted. The men in suits didn't lower their guns. Lloyd’s stomach rolled in fear. One man emerged from the back of the larger group, presenting himself to Lloyd.
“Why, hello there, green ninja.” He greeted, voice ridiculously deep. Lloyd nodded once in acknowledgment, before restating his question.
“Would you like to explain why there are active firearms and shootings happening in an industrial district?” He snapped, hands on his hips, near his utility belt should the need arise.
“Oh, it's simple, really. These rats found out about… classified affairs. We were simply exterminating these rodents.” The man’s civil tone betrayed his cruel smirk and awful words. He could imagine what would have happened had he not stepped in. Lloyd slyly pressed the beacon of his wrist, calling for backup. He had a feeling this was going to get ugly, fast.
“And under what authority are you “exterminating” people?” He questioned. His hands were shaking where they were on his hips. He gripped himself tighter to hide it.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, boy.” Another man dressed in a suit, snarled at Lloyd.
“Yeah, actually. I would very much like to know who’s capable of ordering the deaths of these citizens legally.” Lloyd gritted out. It was a baited comment, but he needed more information.
“Legally. Who said anything about legally?” The first man laughed hysterically, bringing the rest of his buddies to do so as well. While they were distracted, he gestured to his side for the “rats” in question to escape, and he noticed they did so without hesitation. Now it’s just me, and them.
“I did. And if you aren’t attempting murder however-legally-murder-can-be, then I’m afraid I have no choice other than escorting you to the police for further investigation.” Lloyd was watching every. Single. Movement. With eyes sharper than a hawk’s. He positioned himself with his back to the exit where the three others left, his front facing the gang.
From the rooftop above, one of the three men from before shouted down.
“GREEN NINJA, THEY’RE LOAN SHARKS. THEY’RE WITH THE MAFIA. THEY SELL DRUGS AND WEAPONS IN THE UNDERGROUND MARKET IN CITY SQUARE!” Lloyd’s eyes narrowed at the information. The deep-voiced man tsked in disappointment.
“Well, green ninja. Now you know our secret. Looks like we’ll have to exterminate you, too.” With that, a bullet whizzed past his ear. Thanks to his reflexes, he dodged in time. A dozen or so other bullets were trained on his body and he moved fluidly to avoid them. He quickly closed the distance, uppercutting the closest enemy. Two of the men swarmed him once the first went down. He dropped low and swept their legs, sending them tumbling. Lloyd had never felt so invigorated with such mass amounts of adrenaline before.
He was onto a fourth guy when a searing pain bloomed in his right shoulder. He cried out and another shot landed in his left hip. Lloyd collapsed faster than a sack of bricks. His ears were ringing, vision was blurry with both tears and unconsciousness right on the verge. Everything dulled one second, and the next it all hurt intensely as if he were a live wire. A pinch on his neck helped further the darkness around his vision until his eyes shut and he couldn’t remember what happened next.
When Lloyd woke up to his shoulder and hip aching something fierce and his wrists frozen in place with what looked like vengestone handcuffs. He pushed himself up shakily, biting his lip through the pain. Lloyd noticed his non-fatal injuries hadn’t been patched up, and the pain was still very prevalent. What… what happened? Men in suits… three rogues… I GOT SHOT– he was pulled out of his messy train of thoughts by the slamming of a nearby door. Footsteps could be heard.
Lloyd looked around his environment. Metal bars trapped him in a dingy, dry cell with red floodlights. Eerie.
He tried to move and noticed his right foot was chained to the floor. Just lovely. Lloyd was able to situate himself to be leaning against the back wall, shifting his weight to his right leg.
It was then another door opened and in strolled a man in, yet again, a suit. Though, this man had an air around him that made Lloyd’s stomach roll.
“Glad to see you awake, green ninja. Or should I say, Lloyd Garmadon.” The man grinned and for a moment, the world spun to a stop. He reached to touch his face, feeling that his cowl and mask were gone. He fixed a nasty glare on the man.
“Can’t say I’m glad to be awake.” He snarked. He internally patted himself on the back for that one.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Well, no matter. I came here to propose a deal.” Lloyd's internal danger-alarm went off at the prospect of a deal with what seemed to be the devil incarnate himself.
“Yap away all you want, but nothing’ll make me listen to you.” Lloyd rolled his eyes and gently sunk to the floor, sitting carefully.
“You might just want to, little one. Unless… you don’t care about your friends.” The man hummed as he fiddled with his rings. That got Lloyd’s attention. Don’t tell me… no. No, that can't be.
“What about my friends?”
“Oh nothing, just that I tracked them down and now they're in my custody. But who am I kidding, you don't care about them. That’s why I can do this.” The man pulled out a remote and clicked a button, and all at once, sharp screams of his friends started at once. Panic seized Lloyd. Those are my friends. My brothers… What is he doing to them! He’s hurting them!
“Stop! Stop! I’ll listen, I’ll listen, just stop hurting them, please!” He cried, tears pricking his eyes. A new fear settled in his heart, in his bones. It wasn't fear of the man, no. Far from it. It was the screams of his family.
“Good. See? All you have to do is listen and everything will be just fine. Here’s the deal. You work for me in secret, as my personal assassin. And if you do, I’ll let your friends go. If you don’t… well. Lots of pain and suffering will head your way. Oh, and theirs too.” The man started cackling maniacally. It made Lloyd sick to his stomach. Lloyd tried to think this through logically. What would my friends choose in this situation? Cole would say no, same with Kai and Nya. Jay would probably teeter on the edge but end up saying no. Well. A unanimous vote then. No, it is.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to reject your deal. I’m not interested in killing people who haven't given you your money. The ninja are strong. We can handle ourselves.” Lloyd replied. He hoped to the First Spinjitsu Master he hadn't picked the wrong choice.
The man sighed, obviously frustrated.
“Then I’ll just have to convince you the hard way.” He said vaguely. He snapped his fingers twice and two henchmen scuttled in. The man, whom Lloyd had yet to learn the name of, pointed to him and the henchmen obeyed.
“Let’s start, yeah? You. Go get the hot iron and whip.” The latter part was addressed to a third henchman that was apparently standing in a spot Lloyd couldn't see. Though his current view was blocked by the two other goons who grabbed him roughly by his arms and dragged him into a new position. Lloyd didn't feel good about this.
He was forced onto his knees, his hip and shoulder still stinging. One of the men bore a knife and sliced off the top of his gi. Oh, Wu’s gonna be so mad when he has to order a new one.
The blonde shivered, being exposed in a weird basement-dungeon was cold. He was forced to bend forward as his cuffs attached to the floor. Lloyd tried yanking on them but it was futile. He was stuck with his back to his enemies. The thought sent hot spikes of fear down his spine. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He was broken out of his panic at the sound of the man’s voice.
“You’re in for a treat with this one, Lloyd. I can’t wait to see your reaction.” The words made Lloyd sick to his stomach. Either it was real sickness and his body temperature was rising, or the room was actually getting hotter. That’s when he felt it.
A scream like no other erupted from his throat. Tears shed faster than ever before, his body seized and his fists clenched. Lloyd’s body was on fire. It burns it burns it burnsitburnsitburnsitburnsitburns– was repeating in his mind in a mantra. The focal point was the whole of his mid back, the pain was white he could hardly feel it.
Lloyd's ears were ringing and his screaming stopped, only muffled cries as he bit his lip to the point it was bleeding. He felt helpless. It wouldn't stop.
Behind him, the man only watched in satisfaction at the blonde’s reaction. The henchman next to him took the branding tool from his hand and dunked it in cool water. The hiss was music to his ears. He stared at his masterpiece.
There, in the center of Lloyd’s back, was the symbol of the most powerful mafia branded onto his once flawless skin.
It was an average day for the ninja at the monastery. What was odd, though, was that Lloyd had yet to show up. They had been tossing back and forth ideas of where the blonde might have been, but Nya couldn’t shake the feeling something was seriously wrong.
So with that, she went to the bunker and checked on the beacons. Everything seemed to be normal, but something in her gut told her to check the logs of the beacons. Nya was right. On the screen, it read:
Lloyd requested back up in the Industrial District at 3:27 PM
Fear made her heart clench. That had been five hours ago. She turned and ran from the room, shouting at the top of her lungs.
“GUYS, GET GEARED UP! LLOYD NEEDS HELP. ASAP!” She repeated herself multiple times as she ran past the elevators to the hidden stairwell.
When she reached the monastery’s ground level, she tore through the hallway, yelling even more until her voice was hoarse.
“GET YOUR GEAR ON, LLOYD CALLED FOR BACKUP HOURS AGO!” She heard them scramble, their own panic evident at the idea of Lloyd being hurt (little did they know).
Thankfully, she’d made smart choices early on, and laced their gi with multiple tracking devices. Nya was able to pinpoint his location. She shared it to everyone's own internal GPS device inside their earpieces. Clad in their gi, they harnessed their dragons, soaring to their destination.
Zane, thinking ahead, shot a message to Morro, requesting the other for backup. Their nerves were visible through the shakiness of their dragons, their focus running thin.
When they reached the destination, they ducked onto a nearby rooftop they had spotted a green figure on.
“Morro. I am so glad you got my message. I thought you would like to be in on this.” Zane greeted. Morel's expression was grim.
“I’ve scoped out the area, it’s not looking good. This is the Mafia we’re dealing with. I haven't been able to spot Lloyd– so that means he might be underground. Zane, can you use your thermal vision to see if there are people on the bottom floors?” Morro stared at the building, body tense. Though the others could see the obvious worry in his stance and clenched fists.
“Activating now.” He turned on the filter and saw only four people on the bottom floor. One of which had Lloyd’s specific temperature signature. And the position of the body was mildly concerning.
“I have located him due to his signature I have recorded. Though the temperature on his back is much higher than usual. I wonder what that could mean. The position he is in suggests he is bound by something. Perhaps rope or chains.” Zane provided. The others’ faces screwed up in confusion and fear.
“Is there any entrance leading from the outside straight to the lower floors? Any fire exits or something?” Kai asked, twiddling his fingers in anxiousness.
“Yes, there seem to be two fire exits on the bottom floor that are unguarded. Perhaps these Mafia are not as bright as they say they are.”
Lloyd was in a world of hurt. His back was throbbing with so much pain, he felt incredibly dizzy.
“W-what… w-w-what did y-you do to-to me?” He panted out through gritted teeth. His chest was heaving shallow breaths in an attempt to not irritate the skin on his back.
“I simply branded you with the symbol of the most powerful Mafia syndicate in all of Ninjago. Permanently.” The man howled a barking laugh, letting the weight of his words sink in. Lloyd’s heart sunk, more emotional tears welled up. He felt like he was going to be sick. The mafia boss stepped forward, circling Lloyd before kneeling in front of Lloyd, lifting his chin with a single finger.
“Care to take the deal now? I can assure you, it’ll only get worse from here on out.” He crooned. Lloyd scrunched his nose in disgust, spitting at the man and watching his saliva drip down the older’s cheek. The man recoiled in displeasure.
“You brat!” A hard palm collided with Lloyd’s cheek, which caused his face to snap to the side, his rings cutting into the flesh. The blonde bit his tongue to hold back a sound.
“I-I’d r-rather die than take-take your d-deal!”
“Well that can certainly be arranged. Don't test me.” The man growled. The man reared his foot back, swinging it full force into Lloyd’s bare ribs. A sickening crack resounded. A punch to his solar plexus. A harsh tug on his hair. A kick to the stomach. Uppercut. Slap on the other cheek. Repeat. It went on for forever– Lloyd had lost track. His body was broken and bruised, abused.
A hand closed around his neck. The pressure increased, and his mind flooded with flashbacks.
Jay’s face scrunched in pain.
The sounds of whimpers and pain-filled gasps.
A freckled face turning shades unnatural and too colorful.
Lloyd couldn't breathe, and it wasn’t getting easier. The hand was crushing his windpipe, he felt like his eyes were bugging out of his skull. His face was easily cherry red and his tongue limp in his mouth.
The edges of his vision were fading to black, his eyes drooping, the ringing in his ears dulled to cotton in his mind. Everything was fading to black.
That was, until the hand suddenly released his neck due to a door slamming open.