Chapter Text
In his roughly 150 years since he ditched college to pursue his dream of being a conqueror, Garmadon had learned that the analogy of Fate being a cruel mistress was putting it lightly. Fate was a crazy, sadistic monster, sometimes so much more than Garmadon, which he respected greatly. That didn’t mean he liked Fate, however. Initially, he was fascinated by it, taking delight at how seemingly random events could come together to create senseless chaos and used that to start and win wars. Then Fate turned on him and began to kick him around, and very slowly, fascination turned to annoyance, then bitterness. Meeting Koko was one of the few times he thought Fate had finally given him break. When Lloyd was born, Garmadon actually praised for once in a long time. He should’ve known better.
Any happiness Fate gave was only given to make the pain of it kicking back again hurt tenfold, and it did. He closed his heart off the day Koko left him all alone. Sixteen years, he tried to carry that lesson with him: never hold on to happiness. He should’ve known it wouldn’t have been that easy. For even with veteran warlords, Fate always found a way to come in and mess everything up.
In this case it did so with the most classic evil; giving the old conqueror what he wanted.
In his arms, the Green Ninja, his arch-nemesis...his son, was shaking weakly, clutching a hole in his stomach as blood quickly poured from him and stained the ground beneath them. He was gasping weakly, complexion now paled, and likely wasn’t even aware of the fight exploding nearby as his ninja friends clashed against the General #1 army closing in.
Garmadon pressed against the wound, trying to help stop it too. He couldn’t believe he didn’t see whats-her-name sooner. If he had, or maybe called Lloyd sooner-
“D-Da...ad…?” Lloyd took a sharp breath. Garmadon shushed him, stroking his head like did when he was baby,
“Ssh! Don’t talk, Luh-Lloyd! Just save your strength!” He said, probably sounding optimistic but just from the amount of blood Garmadon could tell the injury was mortal. If would be different if they were near a hospital, then his son would have a chance, but they were miles away from Ninjago City, and that was ignoring how he had targeted hospitals in his recent invasion.
There was no doubt, Lloyd was a lost cause, and in a few minutes would be literal dead weight. Yet, to Garmadon’s own confusion, he could not accept that. Even though it was meaningless, he wrapped his cape around Lloyd’s waist and tied it to try in hopes it might lessen the bleeding -- in hopes that for once Fate would throw him a bone.
Fate’s answer was his son’s agonized scream when he tried to pick him up and carry him back to their incomplete copter, getting surprised, worried, and probably angry looks from the ninjas.
“What’s going on back there?!” The Red Ninja--Kai, yelled fiercely, mid-punch against one general.
“I’m working on, it okay?!” Garmadon snapped before going stroking his son’s head again to calm him. “Luh-Lloyd, I need you to take a deep breath. Or else I can’t carry you to the car-thing.”
But his son kept crying, futilely holding his stomach to ease the pain. “It hurts…!”
“Luh-Lloyd-”
“Please, Dad, you-” Lloyd breathing starts becoming heavier. Garmadon can tell how he’s trying to stay calm. His eyes briefly go to his friends behind and then to the car awaiting them feets away. He takes in one, unusually long breath. “You...have to get out..”
Garmadon feels his blood run cold. “What…?”
“Get out...with the others…” Lloyd gasps painfully. He’s still crying. “I’m not...gonna make it, am I?”
“Of course you will, Luh-Lloyd! I still gotta teach you how to catch! And if you die your mother would kill me!”
Lloyd chuckled, but his eyes didn’t waver. “Tell mom...I’m sorry. And I love her. She took such good care of me...I wasn’t a good enough son-!!”
A sudden violent cough interrupted Lloyd. Barely visible flecks of blood escaped him and landed on Garmadon’s chest.
Father and son looked at each other again, but with a sad smile now, one that on Garmadon’s part began fall. More so as Lloyd weakly lifted his hand and pushed it against his father’s shoulder.
“Dad...just go. You gotta…save Ninjago.” Lloyd coughed weakly. “Just leave me here...”
...since Garmadon was young, he had been trained by their hardened father to be a warrior. He trained day and night, mastered every weapon, war tactics...maybe not negotiations, but anything with combat he excelled in. Until he became a full-fledged warrior. As he looked on at his son, still smiling weakly and resigned to his fate, and then back at the Ninjas desperately fighting, and more importantly, losing, Garmadon felt something he had never felt before.
Conflict.
The warrior in him raged to do what was right, as did something else that spoke against it and to do was ‘right’ too. He rubbed his son’s head for what was likely the last time, and looked into his eyes. It was like Koko’s, so full of good, and likely encouraging him on the path of good. For what felt like a moment of peace, Garmadon, too, resigned to Fate’s cruel dictations.
“Luh-Lloyd...Son.” Garmadon says, getting a surprised look from Lloyd, likely at the addression. “I...I think I have a way to help you.”
“Y-You do?” Lloyd brightens. “You’re not gonna...give me your powers...or something, are you?”
Garmadon wished.
“No. But it’s something I’ve learned from experience. First, close your eyes.”
Lloyd looks at him, confused, but closes his eyes all the same, trusting his father. Garmadon carefully lays his son down on the dirt ground, moving on of his four hand over Lloyd’s eyes and firmly pressing against it. Then, after glancing back one more time to make sure that the ninjas were still occupied with fighting the generals, drew out a dagger from his belt and placed it just above Lloyd’s neck.
Once more, the hesitant voice cried out for mercy, so loud that Garmadon’s hand wavered. But Garmadon was a warrior. Still was a warrior...
He shut his eyes, feeling a sting in them as fire ran down his cheeks.
Then, he pressed the blade down against the flesh of his neck and drew it.
Lloyd’s body suddenly jerked underneath in response to the sudden pain, so much that his face slipped from beneath Garmadon’s hand, eyes flying open at him shock.
But that was it.
In the next instant, Lloyd stopped moving, the pained expression remaining frozen on his face as he went still.
His son was dead.
Garmadon felt his world still, everything going quiet. He couldn’t register one of the ninjas yelling at him and the sudden silence that followed, or how the army chasing them had also gone quiet in surprise at the sight before them. He did, however, register the sudden force tackling him off a good few feet away from his son’s body and the onslaught punches across his face.
“YOU BASTARD!!” Garmadon feels some crack in his jaw. “YOU KILLED HIM!! YOU’RE OWN SON!!”
He feels something wet drop on his face. He mistake it for blood, at first, only to realize that his attacker was crying. Garmadon returns to reality, seeing the Red Ninja furious, arms ablaze, swinging another punch to his face. “WHY?!”
“Kai…!!”
“Lloyd?! Lloyd, come on man!! This isn’t funny!! LLOYD!!”
“He’s dead. I do not sense his heartbeat…”
“No…”
Noise exploded all around Garmadon, too much together to make sense.
Once again, Garmadon had lost everything.
Your son is dead
Garmadon cries. Fire leaks to the ground.
You killed him
“I did what I must.”
Yes. You had no choice. They hurt him
The conqueror’s fists tighten. His blood screams.
KILL THEM ALL. AVENGE HIM
Fate was cruel. Fate was sadistic.
160 years ago, Garmadon was bitten by a snake that was bitten by a spider. Since then, evil literally flowed in his blood. For the years to follow, he tries to fight it. Even when he became conqueror, he vowed to never let it take over him.
That night, he broke his vow. The warrior in him won, as did the evil.
A young man -- a young, translucent, green, man looked out to the forest from atop a cliff. He could see the fire rage in the jungle’s night as clearly as he could sense the malice and chaos flowing out of there. It sent shivers down his non-existent spine.
“What the heck?”