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To be fair, Morro did not expect for them to get this far.
It started off as a joke, really. Ever since he’d been resurrected on the Day of The Dead, Morro’s been trying his hardest to be truly good (he would also be the first to admit that his … questionable morals were not the best for his newfound direction in life).
It took everyone a while to readjust. The ninja were, at first, justifiably angry, then cautious, then – quite unfortunate for him – quick to taunt and tease him at every turn as they folded him into their strange little make-shift family.
It was Zane who first welcomed him warmly, always making sure Morro didn’t forget to eat or drink or do whatever else a normal human being needs to do and apparently refrain from doing. Which, frankly, he’s kind of a wet blanket for, because what do you mean no Morro, you can’t just jump off of the Bounty you have an actual human body with fragile bones and paper-thin skin you’re going to bleed out and die for the third time is something he actually needs to worry about?
It was Cole who helped him readjust to being human again, as they both slowly worked towards overcoming their fear of water and not being able to just pass through objects willy-nilly (like seriously, who uses doors?) and actually eating food that tastes like something and good god was Cole obsessed with cake.
It was Jay who helped introduce him to the modern world with all of its baffling technology and ever-evolving terminology and the like. Jay had practically exploded with joy when Morro expressed the slightest bit of interest in the Starfarer series (No literally, the Bounty was out of power for a solid two days afterwards).
It was Nya he found himself staying up with on the nights he couldn’t sleep while she worked on her latest invention. They didn’t tend to talk much, but her presence was steady, comforting. Way better than being alone with his thoughts and regrets. Also, she was currently building him his own motorcycle, so really, things were looking up.
It was Kai who he found himself sparring with the most. Kai – who was undoubtedly the most furious with his return, with his presence around the team, around Lloyd especially – and yet warmed up to Morro when he realized how close he himself had been to following the same path. That, and the fact that Morro still wasn’t used to his body yet, and that’s why you keep on winning, cheater.
He was even starting to - very, very, very, slowly starting to – rebuild his relationship with Dad Sensei Wu.
Despite all of these developments, the one he’s yet to actually make any progress with was Lloyd.
Sure, the green ninja says he holds no resentment or ill will towards Morro, but they both knew that this wasn’t true. And Morro couldn’t blame him for it, not after the whole possessing his body for months to bring about the end of Ninjago and making him almost kill his family multiple times situation
Honestly, Lloyd was being way more civil than Morro deserved.
Still, Morro knew that he needed to try to do something to make it up to him - even if nothing could fix what he had done.
That’s why, on his way back from a grocery run, when Morro sports a new candy store with a very familiar individual running it, inspiration strikes.
— — —
Arms overflowing with groceries – seriously, Zane needs to cut down on what he buys for everyone – Morro unceremoniously dumps everything onto the counter before making his way towards Lloyd’s room.
He pauses at the door, hand hovering over the knob for just a moment. He could just open the door normally. Or…
He takes a step back and kicks the door open. It swings open with a loud bang, causing Lloyd to yelp out in surprise.
Morro, unfortunately, had not accounted for momentum – stupid human body – and loses his balance, ending up face down on the floor.
He mutters out a curse (or a few, but really, who’s counting?) before pushing himself up and brushing himself off with as much dignity as he could muster.
Lloyd remains sprawled across his bed throughout the commotion, and only lifts his head slightly to raise an unimpressed eyebrow at Morro. “...yes?”
Morro takes a second to rummage through his pockets, fishing out a few slightly crumpled photographs “You’re unhealthily obsessed with candy, right?”
Lloyd stared at him “What gave it away? My whole crime spree that led to the Serpentine being released? The fact that I’m literally holding a giant bag of mints right now–”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Dumb question or whatever.” Morro waves him off before tossing the photos he was holding directly onto Lloyd’s face. “Guess who just opened a candy store in the city.”
Lloyd peels the photos off of his face and squints up at the images “Is that … is that Ronin? When did he get into the candy business – this is a front for his illegal side stuff, isn’t it”
“Oh, totally.” Morro says easily “That guy couldn’t go straight to save his life.” A pause. “Or, well. He literally didn’t.”
Lloyd snorts despite himself, shaking his head as he waves the photos in the air.
“Okay… sure. That’s great. Very on brand for him.” He narrows his eyes. “I guess that’s all interesting or whatever, but why are you showing me this?”
Morro grins “Because,” he drags the word out, far too pleased with himself - its his brilliant idea, after all, “who better to steal candy from than a criminal who definitely owes us a few favors?”
Lloyd stares at him, “... you’ve got to be kidding me.”
Morro throws his hands up, “Oh come on, this is a solid idea! Besides, we’re running low on candy anyway, and Zane didn’t let me buy any today. Apparently, he’s trying to wean us off the stuff”
That finally gets Lloyd moving.
He shoots straight out of bed. “WHAT?!” he screeches in disbelief
Morro raises an eyebrow, watching him expectantly.
“No”
— — —
Logically, Lloyd knows that this is a bad idea. It’s quite unfortunate that he’s actually quite known for entertaining bad ideas (a certain cultist-dictator-former-princess-resurrector-of-dead-dads comes to mind among many, many others).
Somehow, he and Morro end up outside of Ronin’s store, each dressed in black sweatshirts and matching pants. While Lloyd pulled his hood up and wore a black scarf on the lower half of his face to conceal his identity cause, you know, they were about to commit a crime, Morro left his down, letting his black-and-green hair flow dramatically in the wind.
Lloyd snickers at him, “You really had to use your powers to make yourself look cooler, huh?”
Morro doesn’t even look at him, “Shut up, I look fantastic.”
Lloyd feels that small, traitorious spark of excitement start to bubble in his chest in anticipation for what they were about to do. Could you really blame him? It’s been forever since he’s actually gone out to do something fun, something that didn’t require him to the morally upright, responsible and heroic Green Ninja. (Was robbing a candy store the best way to do that? Probably not… but since it is owned by Ronin that feels like a moot point.)
Lloyd exhales, then nods towards the building “So, what’s the plan? I’m assuming Ronin has some safety protocols in place. He’s not an idiot”
Morro smirks. “Sure he does …” Then he steps back, and just, kicks the door open. Again.
Lloyd freezes. “Oh FSM, what is your obsession with not using doors normally – ”
Of course, the alarms immediately start blaring. Lloyd stares at Morro in horror as the latter struts inside. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT” Lloyd screeches, rushing inside after Morro “WE’RE TRYING TO NOT GET CAUGHT”
“Relaaax” Morro draws out “I can disable the security system” At which point he goes up to a small computer near the corner of the store and smashes it. The glass shatters and scatter across the floor as the screen flickers out. The alarms, miraculously, stop blaring. He dusts off his hands with a smug smile. “See? Problem solved.”
Lloyd stares at the now-destroyed machine and resulting mess and groans “That – That’s not how technology works … You know what? No. I’m not doing this right now.” He grabs Morro by the sleeve and starts dragging him deeper into the store. “Let’s just grab the candy and get out, please.”
— — —
Back on the Bounty, Nya’s phone rings. She glances at the screen, raising a questioning eyebrow before answering the call.
“Hey Ronin, you don’t usually call. Is something wrong?”
On the other end, Ronin huffs. “Something’s wrong alright. You know that shop you had me set up a few days back? The one to monitor some suspicious activity ‘round the city?”
Nya straightens slightly. “Yeah…?”
“Well, some geniuses decided to break in tonight” A pause. “Didn’t even try to disable the alarm system, the idiots.”
Nya winces, getting a bad feeling about the situation “...right”
Ronin continues “You mind taking few of the others to check it out? I don’t need people going ‘round messing with the place”
Nya pinches the bridge of her nose with a sigh. “...yeah, we’ll be there in a bit. I think I know exactly who it is.”
— — —
If Morro had any doubts before if Lloyd was really descended from the First Spinjitzu Master himself or not, he certainly doesn’t now. There’s no way any normal, sane human being could put away that much candy (he gets a pass for doing the same – he’s already been to the dead and back. Twice. That had to count for something.)
They manage to stuff two massive bags bursting with sweets, with even more crammed into their sleeves and overflowing from their pockets.
Lloyd giggles with unbridled joy as he shoves another fistful of candy in his mouth. “This was the best idea ever”
Morro snorts, shoving another handful of candy into a bag and popping a piece into his own mouth. “Of course it was. You just didn’t trust my genius”
“Your genius turned on the security system the minute we got here”
“And yet” Morro gestures grandly to the mountains of sweets surrounding them “Candy.”
Lloyd grins, sugar-fueled and possibly a little feral “Fair enough.”
Morro hums as he grabs at the next candy – who keeps licorice in a candy store? – before tossing it aside.
Lloyd stares up at the ceiling “You know… we should do this more often.”
Morro blinks at him, before a small smile tugs at his lips “... I knew you’d come around.”
Just as Morro wrangles the second bag of stolen candy shut, a bright blue light covers the store.
They both freeze before turning around very, very slowly. Zane and Nya stood in the doorway. Nya has her arms crossed, a very faint smile threatening to emerge. Jay peeks out from behind her shoulder, phone raised – very clearly recording them and the mess overtaking the store, because of course he was.
Zane hums thoughtfully, tilting his head. “... This will be coming out of your allowances.”
Lloyd and Morro glance at each other, before matching, deeply concerning, chaotic grins spread across both of their faces.
“Run,” Lloyd whispers.
“RUN!” Morro shouts, pulling Lloyd behind him as they bolt towards the exit. Lloyd cackles in full, unhinged, demonic glee as they take off together.
— — —
Did they get caught almost immediately after making their escape?
… Maybe
(It wasn’t Morro’s fault – how was he supposed to know that Kai and Cole would be standing right there?)
Did they get to keep the spoils of their heist?
Unfortunately, no.
(Kai personally made them both hand everything back to Ronin. There were apologies. They were not sincere.)
Did they get grounded?
Yes.
(How one successfully grounds a former-ghost older than you is a question Morro is still asking.)
Was it worth it?
Absolutely.