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“BANG! I WIN! Cue the music!” Garmadon shouted somewhere behind him.
Lloyd’s chest was tight. He stayed immobile, trying not to cry or sob or do anything that would reveal just how quickly everything had gone to shit. His dragon mech, broken and buried a million feet below in its own remains, stared back at him. He didn’t want to imagine what the other’s mechs looked like — First Master, he hoped they were okay—
A tall shadow came over him from behind. “What? Are you gonna cry, Green Ninja?”
“No,” Lloyd mumbled.
There was a different, unknown voice, sneering. “Aw, I bet he’s gonna cry.”
Round of villainous laughter.
“I’m NOT—“ Lloyd whipped around, wincing as his voice cracked. “I’m NOT GOING TO CRY!”
Lord Garmadon smiled viciously. “Oh yeah, sure Greenie. Because you’ve kept such a cool head up until now.”
Heat flared under his mask, though he didn’t know if it was from tearing up or flushing from embarrassment. Maybe both.
“Now, why don’t you run along, back to my brother, little ninja? There’s still more of the city to doom, y’know?” The warlord said flippantly, studying his clawtips in feigned disinterest.
That was it.
Lloyd yelled, launching himself straight at Lord Garmadon. He was weaponless, but it didn’t matter. He clenched his fists, and—
Two people, one on each side, caught him just as he was about to make impact. Growling, he strained against the forces holding his arms back, scrambling against the smooth flooring of the mayor’s office.
“WOAH! WOAH Green Ninja! Didn’t know you had it in you!” Garmadon smiled viciously. “I’m almost impressed! Loving the bloodthirstiness.”
Lloyd didn’t indulge him, instead staring back very professionally, definitely not focusing on not crying or saying anything that would make him, no—
The grip around one of his arms loosened ever so slightly. “Uh, boss?”
“Not now, General Fifty-Seven.”
“Fifty-Five,” He protested.
Garmadon loomed over the city’s final defender, red eyes gleaming. “Now. let’s all meet the man behind the mask, eh?”
Cold terror flushed through Lloyd. He started to pull back instead of forward, still struggling, growling and kicking, to no avail — the two generals holding him had grips like iron. Garmadon caught the fabric at Lloyd’s neck, tugged it off his head, and the Green Ninja flinched as his face met hot volcanic air—
“Oh. It’s just some kid.” One of the generals beside him commented.
Garmadon brought Lloyd’s chin up so they were face to face, studying the ninja’s features. “Masters Above, he is! Wu will just put anyone up to defeating me, hm? What happened to you, what’s YOUR sad tragic backstory, huh? Did your dad die in some freak accident or something?”
Lloyd wished he could look anywhere other than the warlord’s eyes. “I wish.” He muttered darkly.
“Hm?”
“I said, I WISH!” The teen snarled. “I REALLY DO WISH THAT I HAD ANY OTHER DAD — ANY DAD OTHER THAN YOU!”
Garmadon blinked. “Wh — I have a — you’re my — HUH?”
The two generals gasped as Lloyd finally tugged his hands free, elbowing one in the stomach sharply, kicking the other square across his octopus-masked face. He snatched his mask back from the dazed warlord and then turned tail — taking the great opportunity to kick the Ultimate Weapon off the tower before jumping off himself.
The weapon shattered into a million pieces as the Green Ninja slowly parachuted down to safety.
Up on the tower, Lord Garmadon blinked as he was handed a fruity drink and the DJ tried to kick the party back into high gear.
That was his kid?
The first thing Lloyd was occupied with was running, running, running — oh FIRST MASTER HE HAD DOOMED THE CITY — and OH YEAH! LORD FUCKING GARMADON knew who he was now and could HUNT HIM DOWN maybe or something EVEN WORSE and—
As he ran, he came upon the trail of broken mechs that the giant monster had left behind, shit, what if any of his teammates hadn’t made it out?
Cole’s mech was slammed into a too-small alleyway, its arms twisted at awkward angles and the fancy tinted glass shattered. His records hung off the table so carelessly, in a way that would’ve horrified the meticulous Earth Ninja.
There was no body, but what had he had to go through to get out, he could be horribly injured would he be—
Nya’s water strider was still for once, not skating across the water with purpose, now a disorganized heap of limbs flung too far away from the canals. She had spent so long on perfecting her mech, only for it to be twisted almost beyond recognition within seconds.
All of their hard work, all of the city’s protection, what were they going to do now without the ninja to—
The glass cover of Jay’s cockpit still hung open, luckily indicating a quick escape, and in good time too. The rest of the jet was crumpled nose-first, still hanging dangerously in the side of a wrecked building.
Everyone driven out, their way of life destroyed, all because of a stupid, impulsive, mistake—
Zane’s tank was, for lack of a better word, completely flattened. Away from the squished center, there was a tire here, a bit of ammo there, the entire front plate marring the pavement like a knife through butter.
It had all happened so quickly, how could they rebuild would they rebuild would there be anything left—
He couldn’t find Kai’s mech. He couldn’t find Kai’s mech.
It could be a good thing — maybe Kai carried the rest of the team to safety from the monster, so they could regroup another day. Or… it could be a bad thing — maybe the monster was still hunting Kai, crushing his mech beneath her impossibly huge claws, ripping it apart like cotton candy—
Wiping hot tears out of his eyes, he finally stumbled to a stop at the docks, at dock A16, where The Bounty always was, only to find it sunk.
His uncle’s ship was split down the middle mast, one half completely submerged, the other still in the process of going down: splitting into smaller chunks of wood and such. Undisturbed in the water, a single, wide-brimmed straw hat floated.
“Oh,” Lloyd choked out, raising his hands up to cover his mouth. “Oh no no no no, please — Uncle Wu!”
There was a shift in material behind him. Lloyd turned and—
“Oh, thank the First Master!” Lloyd cried, launching himself at Kai, who was the closest. “You guys are okay!”
There was an uncomfortable shuffling in the Secret Ninja Force in front of him and silence, before Nya looked up again to speak. “Well, just barely.”
“You used the Ultimate Weapon, didn’t you?” Cole added, frowning.
Lloyd sniffled, bringing his face out from Kai’s hug to scrub away his tears again, unsuccessfully. Impossibly hot, flaming tears rolled down his cheeks and splattered onto the waterlogged dock.
Kai released him, only so he didn’t accidentally get burned. “Dude, our mechs are totaled.” Then, even softer: “We can’t do anything against the monster now. The city…”
“I know, I know, I know,” Lloyd strained against his stopped up throat, trying to keep his breathing even and stop crying, stop crying, stop crying — “And I don’t even have it anymore, and Garmadon knows who I am now, and now MASTER WU IS DEAD—“
There was more shuffling in the rubble. “Hello, students.”
“Master Wu!” The Ninja cried in unison, their faces lighting up.
Lloyd laughed wetly, bringing up his sleeve to try and wipe his tears away again. “You’re okay!”
“Duh! I’m a ninja master. If I was going to die, it would be to teach you kids a lesson.” His brows then furrowed, turning to Lloyd with a more serious expression. “And… Lloyd.”
The Green Ninja flinched at the attention.
“You have awakened Meowthra.”
Beside him, Jay gasped. Kai and Cole both looked at each other, mouthing the unfamiliar name.
“Meowthra is not a registered name in my databases,” Zane said, frowning.
Wu nodded. “That’s because she is ancient, far older than me or this city. Once she left, only then could humanity thrive. With the presence of this six-toed, sandpaper-tongued, fluffy demon, she will stop at nothing until all of Ninjago is her personal litterbox.”
There was a quiet, uncomfortable shuffling at the mention of that. Even Ninjago City was too difficult to protect on their own sometimes, how the hell could they stand up against that for the whole country?
“There is only one hope to drive her away again: the Ultimate, Ultimate Weapon.”
“The Ultimate, Ultimate…?” Nya muttered, before looking up again. “Well, where is it?”
Wu dipped his head. “It is far, on the other side of the island. I WILL GO ALONE! It is too dangerous for you all.”
There was an immediate roar of protest, and the ninja all crowded around their master as he started to walk off.
“NONE OF YOU ARE WORTHY!” Wu interrupted, and the ninja all jumped back again. “It is through jungle and canyon and cliff, and into the Temple of Fragile Foundations. Only a true ninja master can reach it. None of you here are true ninja masters, therefore…” Wu started off again. “I go alone.”
Panic rose up in Lloyd’s throat, he was missing his chance to redeem himself, to do something to fix this — “UNCLE WU! PLEASE!”
He didn’t turn back. “That is Master Wu, thank you.”
“Master Wu,” Lloyd trailed after him, reaching a cautious hand out. “I let you down, I let the team down, I let the city down, but — I want to fix my mistake—“
Only then did Wu stop. “Do the rest of you forgive Lloyd?”
Silence.
Then—
“Well… uh… sorry, dude…”
“Do we have to answer that right now?”
“…Come back to me.”
“He did summon an ancient evil,”
“No.”
Lloyd sighed. He couldn’t blame them, could he? At any time, Lloyd could’ve stopped, could’ve stepped down and tried to work it out, tried to stop, and find a way that was less destructive. A way only a son of Garmadon would follow, his brain reminded him.
“You all will have to prepare then,” Finally, their master turned to face the six ninja, an unreadable gleam in his golden eyes. “It is a long way to unlock your potentials, to regain your friends’ trust. The way to the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon is just the place for it. Come along, ninja.”
As the rest of the ninja whooped and cheered, shouldering their weapons and bouncing after Wu, Lloyd couldn’t help but trail behind. He HAD to make it all work again, return everything back to the way it should be. Right?
Lloyd did not like how much free reign his father was getting.
Really, he didn’t think anybody did.
“C’mon kids,” Garmadon had coaxed from his cage. “You’re gonna need a guide through this jungle, and your best option just went careening over that bridge. He wears white. And he’s my brother. Your master, Wu, just—“
“Yeah, we get it, thanks—“ Lloyd tried to cut over him,
“—AND HAVE I GOT THE NINJA MASTER FOR YOU! It’s me.”
“Not to burst your evil bubble,” Zane spoke up from beside Lloyd. “But I do not think you would have any better chance at navigating this jungle than we would. Therefore, you would not be an apt guide.”
The warlord’s grin grew wider. “Yeah, well maybe not navigating. But surviving? I’ve got you babies beat. You need me!”
“Can you even do anything? Without your mech?” The Earth Ninja was next to ask.
“Pfft, of course I can!” Garmadon struck a pose full of fangs and claws, meant to strike terror in the hearts of the bravest fighters. None of the teens moved. “I might not look it, but I’m the Elemental Master of Destruction, baby! Fighting is my spec-ci-alit-tee.”
“You might want to get a better element. I’m sure destroying is something a lot of people are masters of.” Cole shot back, unimpressed.
“No — I’m an Elemental Master, not just a master!” He growled. “Y’see, there’s like these blades that I get, and this cool purple energy, it’s kinda hard to demonstrate right now but—“
“I think knife getting is more creation than destruction?” Jay shouted from the back.
Garmadon’s face turned into an ugly snarl and he surged against the bars. His claws eagerly gouged into the bamboo. “Ugh, nevermind, just LET ME OUT ALREADY!”
Everyone but Cole and Lloyd took a cautious step back, some more than others. Kai jumped, Zane flinched, and Nya tossed her arms across the rest of them, a near mombar. Jay let out a quiet eep and sunk back behind the rest of the ninja.
Lloyd glanced back for a second, frowning. “Okay, team meeting!” He called, and the ninja huddled together in a circle.
“Please, take as long as you need,” The warlord jeered from his cage. “The city’s got all the time in the world.”
“Okay. So,” Nya started, frowning. “Lord Garmadon. Yay or nay.”
Across from her, the Green Ninja startled. “Wait, do we even need to vote on this? No! He’s evil!”
“Dude. He might be evil, but he’s got a point.” Cole offered from Lloyd’s left. “He has better survival skills than us — last I checked, we’re still short a ninja master.”
“He did track us pretty quickly.” Kai added.
“But now he’s right with us! He could take care of us pretty easy, couldn’t he?” Lloyd worried back.
“But he won’t have the element of surprise.”
Jay nodded. “Nya has a point, do we want to leave him now and let him j-jump us later?”
“Additionally,” Zane said, breaking his silence. “If Lord Garmadon is also after the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon, as we are, it’s illogical for him to get rid of people who could very well assist him.”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Zane. But my father is anything but logical.”
As if on cue: “HEY NINJA! YOU DONE YET?”
“I don’t know,” Lloyd shook his head. “I just don’t think—“
“COME ON, LUH-LLOYD! LET OUT YOUR PAPA!”
The Green Ninja cringed under his mask, muttering. “Oh, now he wants to be my—“
“ONE! TWO! THR—“
“ALRIGHT!” Nya interrupted the two bickering Garmadons before they could bicker further. “WE’RE VOTING! BLUE?”
“Oh! Uhm. Sure.”
“GREEN?”
“Uh, no?”
“RED?”
“Yeah.”
“BLACK?”
“Sure.”
“WHITE?”
“Yay.”
“AND… I’m a vote for yes too.” Nya concluded, sighing.
“That means,” Lloyd frowned, turning around to face his father first. “We’re… taking him.”
Garmadon’s grin was unnervingly wide. “Fantastic.”
It was probably a given, but…
Walking Garmadon SUCKED. And it wasn’t just because they had to carry him. He was such an easy conversationalist too, and it was a long walk, so odds were…
“So uh,” Kai had started, maybe an hour and a half into it. Great restraint, on the talkative ninja’s part. “How… did you gain two arms?”
Jay, who was also walking beside Garmadon’s cage, winced. “Man, there’s gotta be a better way to phrase that.”
“I don’t know if there’s…” Nya shrugged, from Lloyd’s left.
“Well, he has four arms!” Kai protested.
“Correct!” Came Zane’s chime from the back.
“Y’know, a lot of people don’t ask me about it, so,” The caged warlord waved his hand flippantly. “I’m just glad he’s comfortable asking. Luh-Lloyd — WHOOPS, SORRY! I MEAN THE GREEN NINJA! He’s never asked me once. About the arms.”
Lloyd did not feel like dealing with the name, or the attempts to expose his identity, or the teasing, or— “They already know — look. Don’t. Talk to me.”
“But if you must know…” Garmadon continued on with the mystique, unfazed by Lloyd’s efforts. “I was bit by a snake.”
“No.”
“Yes, Red Ninja!”
“Fire Ninja.”
“…So the snake had a bunch of arms?” The Lightning Ninja said, tilting their head.
Zane shook his head. “No, snakes do not have arms.”
“Frosty’s right,” Kai agreed.
“Then, do you mean a spider?”
“Oh, no no no Blue Ninja Number Two.” Garmadon replied, ignoring Jay’s protest. He wasn’t good with names, was he. “I was bitten by a snake, which was bitten by a spider. Kinda a chain reaction thing…”
“Oh.”
Lloyd groaned. “Are you guys… actually buying any of this?”
“Well, how would you know, Luh-Lloyd? You weren’t even there.”
“And I thank the First Master every day for it.”
“H-hey. So, uh, Lord Garmadon?” Jay spoke up again, trying to continue the conversation. “Can I ask another question?”
“Oh, go ahead.”
The QnA/show and tell sesh went on for a little longer, first he was shaking his own hands, then… making out with two people? Then Garmadon expanded his range: double dabs and macarenas, elaborate shadow puppets, even some sort of hellishly complicated string tricks between his four claws.
Even Cole’s eyes were wide at attention. “Well. That’s certainly. Something.”
Lloyd couldn’t help a growl. “You know — y’know what? Maybe, we should be practicing silence right now.”
“What? The mighty Green Ninja? Jealous?” The warlord purred back.
“I’m not!” Lloyd snapped back. “And I think we’re getting off-topic? Just a little bit?”
He raised his voice to a falsetto, imitating Lloyd. “Just a little bit! Awe guys, why are we so off-topic! I’m Luh-Lloyd and I think we should keep talking only about how we should be following a—“
“OH WOW! LOOK AT THAT.” Zane interrupted, very, very loudly. “A FORK IN THE ROAD! WHAT CONFLICT!”
Never had Lloyd been so grateful for Zane’s ability to derail conversations like that.
“Hm.” Nya said, reading the sign. “The right path is quote unquote, ‘long, arduous, and enlightening.’ The left is…”
“A shortcut!” Garmadon finished, with glee.
Jay continued to read the sign. “And… ‘possible skeleton graveyard?’ Why would you say possible? They would know, r-right?”
“We should take the right path. Master Wu said we should stay on the right path.” Lloyd said.
Kai frowned. “Well, the right path, or the ‘right path?’ What if the right path is the left one?”
“What?”
“Come on!” Garmadon whined, rattling the bars of his cage petulantly. “You wanna listen to the guy who fell off a bridge, or the guy who didn’t?”
The Green Ninja was at the end of his rope. “You’re the one who made him fall off in the first place!”
“Okay.” Cole’s voice was quiet, but commanding enough that everyone else paused. “We’re a little short on time. So while I’d love for us to go down the right path, we should probably take the shortcut. The sooner we get to the temple…”
“We got Garmado-on! And this random ki-id! We are going to kill them!” Then, a little quieter. “Oops, we shouldn’t have said that!”
At least the Generals were having a good time, huh?
Garmadon was clinging to the bars, his tail lashing from side to side. “I command you to release me and my — the Green Ninja! That’s an order, generals!”
“I can’t hear you!” One of the general in front of them sang.
“I said, I command you—“
“Well maybe the reason Bob can’t hear you,” Another general, this one with a shark helmet, growled. “Is because his eardrums were ruptured! AFTER YOU SHOT HIM OUT OF A VOLCANO!”
“I can’t hear you!” Bob crowed again.
“What?” Garmadon turned back to Lloyd, who was edged on the other side of the cage, as far away as he could be from the warlord. “Can you believe what they’re saying? It’s like I’m being treated worse than anyone in the history of the world.”
“Oh no, how awful. Someone was mean to you once.” The teen muttered back.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, young man. Bullying is a serious issue.”
“OH. WOW! You’re being bullied?” Lloyd laughed, now suddenly animated. “I couldn’t possibly relate! Because nobody ever says mean things to me when my dad knocks over their Pilates studio. Or their waxing salon, or their kayak repair store, or that… that place that sells toner cartridges! When top hits are songs about how awful I am, because of you! And you better believe that no one ever makes fun of me for not being able to throw or catch a ball.”
The warlord stepped back ever so slightly. “Whoa, wait. That’s kind of funny, but what kind of jerk would make fun of you for that?”
For the first time, Lloyd looked his father in the eyes, his voice deadpan. “You’re kidding, right?”
“You gotta stand up for yourself!” Garmadon continued. “Maybe… shoot them out of a volcano! That’s how I roll. You gotta get yourself a volcano, kid.”
Lloyd sighed, crossing his arms and glaring out the side of the cage, all the fight drained out of him as quickly as it came. “Yeah. Just blow it up and never put it back together. That’s what you’re best at, isn’t it.”
The older Garmadon’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to retort, before realizing he had nothing to reply with. He frowned, turning back to face the front of the cage again.
Just then, the latest fired General One came swinging down, a wide grin on her face. “Well hello! Have we got the present for you.”
“Oh.” Garmadon replied, peering past Olivia. “An exact replica of my volcanic lair. Let me guess, you’re gonna fire us out of it?”
Olivia sneered. “Oh no! We’re going to fire you into it. The fifteen million Kelvin magma will melt your skin before you can even feel the heat!” Then she called to another general. “Omar! Take them to the top, will ya?”
“With pleasure!” He chirped back. Then the general whistled and a hook appeared promptly, attaching to the top of the cage.
As they started to rise, Garmadon began to pace restlessly. Lloyd only watched, his green eyes wide in terror.
It was a slow journey, but a tense one. Lloyd only hoped that the rest of the ninja would make it on without him — he might not have been able to redeem himself in the end, but they would make it to the Temple without him. He knew they could, they were all so talented, they had this potential — that’s why they were chosen first, after all. Would the Secret Ninja Force be better off without him, he wondered.
They crested the top of the faux mountain, chants of “FIRE HIM! FIRE HIM! FIRE HIM!” getting louder until it was almost deafening.
Then, the cage stopped moving upwards and started to move forward instead, closer and closer to the mouth of the volcano. The two Garmadons edged to the farthest corner of their cage, but there was only so much they could do.
Garmadon’s breath caught. “Luh-Lloyd.”
Lloyd supposed it didn’t matter now. “Yeah?”
“Um, I—“
Then the cage stopped, and shook as the generals around it were shoved aside. The two turned to face the new generals—
When they all took off their helmets. “Green!” All the ninja shouted at once.
“Guys!” Lloyd cried, his face lighting up.
“Oh, hey.” Garmadon said, blinking.
“Masters above, how did you all get up here?”
“Dude,” Kai said, as the rest of the ninja tried to figure out how to open the cage. “We did all that stuff you and Master Wu told us to do! Ninja style, bruh.”
Lloyd was ecstatic. “You did?!”
With a final heave, Nya and Cole were able to pull apart the bars wide enough for Lloyd and Garmadon to slip through. “Alright,” She started. “Let’s get out of here, and get to the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon.”
The warlord behind her grimaced. “That’s not going to be easy, Blue Ninja Number One. Because I fired a ridic amount of generals.”
Lo and behold, from their high viewpoint they could all see more generals regrouping, ready to charge and face off against the intruders.
“Alright, alright, I’ve got an idea.” Lloyd spoke up, already beginning to break the ground below him into bricks. “If we could hold the Generals off long enough, then we could build a way out of here!”
“Great idea.” Garmadon said, catching Lloyd by his arm before he could follow the rest of his fellow ninja. “You kids start building, Luh-Lloyd and I will throw you bricks.”
Admittedly, learning how to throw things to cheesy dad music wasn’t as awful as it sounded.
Being tackled by a former general with a hell of a grudge and a lot of bloodlust was as awful as it sounded.
And then there was an awful wrench in his shoulder and she was tossed aside and now everyone’s rushing towards him and now everyone’s asking if he’s okay, how many fingers are they holding up can he remember his name does he know what happened—
“Yeah, yeah, I think,” Lloyd mumbled, pushing himself up slowly. “I think it was my arm, is it — is it bad?”
He turned to show them his right shoulder, only to be met with wincing and shocked expressions and a loud “WHOA!” from Garmadon, which was. Helpful.
“O-oh First Master. Is it bad? I don’t want to look, I don’t want to look—“ Lloyd said.
For once, Garmadon looked uncertain, scared even. “Well, uh… uhm… It looks okay? I guess?”
“Scale of one to t-ten, how bad is it?”
“Oh, I’d say it’s about… a seven… point-arm-ripped-out?”
“My arm what? S-say that one more time, what happened to my—“
“Just. Don’t look down, don’t—“
“Don’t make that face, why are you making that face—“
“WOW!” Zane said, butting in between the two panicking Garmadons. “You two are awful in a medical emergency!”
The warlord scowled. “What is that supposed to mean—“
“Just give it to me straight, White.”
“You have dislocated your right arm.”
At the exact same time, almost if they had rehearsed it: “I’VE WHAT?!” “HE WHAT?”
Zane shook his head and sighed. “All it will take is taking the limb, and popping it back into your shoulder.”
“Oh. Ah, Okay, Uh,” Garmadon seemed to steel himself. “I’ll do it, just hold on,”
(“Actually, any of us can—“ Zane was cut off by an elbow from the Earth Ninja beside him.)
“Wait, wait, wait, it’s only gonna hurt for like a second, right? It’ll only—“
“It won’t—“
Garmadon was swift in cutting the Ice Ninja off. “‘For a second?’ No! It’s going to be complete agony! For a while! Who gave you that misinformation?”
(“Let them get each other worked up, Frosty, it’ll be fine.” Cole whispered.)
“Alright! Alright, just do it! Just do it!”
“Okay! On the count of twelve—“
“WHAT!” Lloyd shrunk back. “No, no, no, no no no, I don’t want to — I can’t do twelve, why don’t we do, uh, three?”
(“But that seems illogical—?”)
“Okay, uh, three?” Garmadon said, cautiously resting his claws on the other’s arm, lifting it up gently — before drawing them back quickly. “Ah, I wish your mom was here to do this, why don’t I just call her, and—?”
“Just do it! You’re killing me here, you gotta — just do it!”
(Cole chuckled. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but these two aren’t logical.”)
“ALRIGHT!” Garmadon shouted, as if being loud as hell would make it easier. He gripped Lloyd’s arm again, this time with more determination. “ONE! TWO! THREE—!”
“AH—“ There was an audible pop as his arm was relocated. “—Ah? Oh. Wow! It feels… pretty good!”
Garmadon slumped forward with relief, sighing.
Lloyd moved his right arm slowly, resting it out while his face started to brighten. “Yeah, it uh,” he laughed. “It feels great! You did that! Put my arm back in. Kinda — kinda like a real dad.”
“You,” The warlord paused, his red eyes going wide. “You called me dad!”
“Yeah.” Lloyd said, tilting his head to the side.
Garmadon smiled, his tail starting to wag. “Wow! Well, uh, I guess I started to step up there — in a dad kind of way,”
“Right?”
“Hey uh, sorry to interrupt your moment, but—“ Jay called, from over by their escape vehicle. “They’re almost here! So uh—“
Garmadon pulled his son up off the ground, as Lloyd called back. “We’re coming, Blue!”
The six ninja plus one warlord were able to pile into the getaway bus/helicopter just in time, right before another horde of generals reached them.
“I can’t believe that worked!” Nya breathed out from the edge.
Garmadon only grinned. “Temple, here we come!”
Lloyd tried to swerve to the best of his ability, but there was only so much he could do — the vehicle spun out of control, skidding across the ground with a terrible screeching sound.
Immediately everyone was able to scramble out and away from it, just as a section of the cliff started to crack and split off, taking their strange, hodgepodge vehicle with it.
“Is—“ Lloyd glanced around worriedly. “Is everyone okay?”
“Not really,” Jay grumbled, brushing himself off.
“Behold,” Garmadon said, drawing all of the teens’ attentions. “The Temple of Fragile Foundations.”
The ninja all appropriately oohed and ahhed at the elaborate temple, before jumping as the ground shook again.
“That helicopter crash destabilized the entire area. And I’m not gonna blame anyone, but if I see that goat again—“ the warlord continued, as he started towards the structure. “He and I are gonna have some words. And you can bet some of those words are going to have four letters — and I’m not talking about ‘goat!’”
“Give us the first letter?” Nya asked.
“No.”
Kai laughed. “We know what ‘fuck’ is, Mr. Garmadon, sir.”
“And ‘shit.’” Cole added.
“And uh—“ Jay paused. “Man, are there any other swear words that have four letters…?”
There was a beep from the Ice Ninja. “According to a quick online search, there are many more, starting with—“
“OKAY, THANK YOU KIDS!” Garmadon interrupted, just as they reached the top of the stairs. He began to reach under a, okay, why would a temple have a doormat—
“Have you, uh, been here before, Dad?” Lloyd asked, peering out from behind him.
“Of course I have.” He replied, showing off the writing on the doormat — The Garmadons — before pulling a key out from under it and starting to fiddle with the lock on one of the impressively tall doors. “Who isn’t familiar with their childhood home?”
This was immediately met with a roar of surprised exclamations and questions from the ninja behind him — apparently Wu wasn’t the only brother with a penchant for dramatics.
“Wait, how old is this temple then?”
“Does that make Master Wu’s name Wu Garmadon?”
“And it was always called the Temple of Fragile Foundations? Who moves there?”
“And neither of you grabbed the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon from here before now…?”
“Yeah,” Garmadon said importantly, seeming to choose Kai’s question. “This place was so unstable, I had to move to a volcano just to feel safe.”
The door clicked, and Garmadon pushed it open slowly and reverently. The warlord then began to creep in, the teens following him close behind in a single file line.
“Alright,” He said, unusually calm. “Stay close. I will lead you through this perilous — Blue Ninja Number Two!”
“What?” Came Jay’s voice through the darkness, before all of it was replaced with comfortable interior lighting. “There’s a light switch over here.”
“Masters Above, is that fresh fruit? Finally, something that isn’t rations!” Nya cried out, rushing forward.
“Blue Ninja Number One! That’s not—“
“OW!”
“Real. That’s plastic fruit.” Garmadon finished. “My parents had this weird thing for plastic fruit. And where is Bl—“
“Over here,” Cole called, at a wall to the left of them. “Check out these old photos.”
This summoned the rest of the party over, Garmadon muttering something about “unruly kids.”
“Ooh! Look at this one!” Kai said, pointing to a picture with two young children — a younger with shockingly pale blond hair and an older with darker hair. “They’re so cute!”
“I mean, Wu already looks like an old man.” Jay narrowed his eyes at it, peering closer.
“And this one, from later than the previous picture!” Zane chirped. “It shows Wu kicking Garmadon in the face!”
Cole chuckled, leaning on the taller ninja. “That it does, Frosty. Guess Wu always schooled Garmadon!”
“He looks even more like an old man there!” The Lightning Ninja protested.
“Sparks. That’s how aging works.” Kai replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Okay, I don’t need to hear anything from you anymore, Red—“
“Right.” Garmadon said, pulling away from them. “Well, we’ve got an Ultimate Ultimate Weapon to go find.”
“Of course,” Lloyd murmured, starting to follow his father and the rest of the ninja away from the wall. His eyes still traced the wall as he walked, before he spotted someone familiar in a picture with Garmadon — someone with sleek armor, flashing butterfly swords in both hands, and long, flaming orange hair. “Wait. Dad? That’s you, and uh, who’s that?”
“Oh!” Nya said, perking up immediately. “That’s the Lady Iron Dragon! My hero!”
“That is Lady Iron Dragon.” Garmadon confirmed, stepping up so he stood beside Lloyd. “And it is also Koko Garmadon. Your mother, Luh-Lloyd.”
Lloyd’s eyes widened. “What? Mom was a warrior?”
“Not just any warrior. She was The Warrior: one of the most awesome warriors I had ever seen…” His eyes turned glassy. “I can still remember the first time I laid eyes on her. It was a raging war, and I was…”
“And,” Garmadon sighed. “I never should’ve let you two go.”
They were both silent for a moment, then Lloyd reached up and slowly unmasked himself, turning over to his father with a small smile. “Well,” He started, reaching out with his hand. “Who says you can’t change now?”
The elder’s eyes were wide for a moment, before he reached over and took his son’s hand gently. Garmadon was silent for a moment, before opening his mouth and—
“HEY! GREEN!” Kai called from elsewhere in the house.
Lloyd paused, turning around and trying to listen for his teammates—
Then Kai came running in from the stairwell, all of the other ninja behind him. “HEY! GR — Lloyd? Hi?”
Zane popped out from behind him. “We think we have found something.”
“Oh, that’s great!” Lloyd tugged Garmadon’s claw with him, turning when the other let it fall out of his grasp. “Are you coming?”
Garmadon blinked at him for a second. “Yeah, of course… son.” Then he went and trailed behind the rest of the ninja as they retraced the steps up to the weapon.
While they kept on climbing, Cole tugged Lloyd aside.
Jay was first to speak. “We just wanted to congratulate you!”
“On what?”
The Earth Ninja beside him elbowed Lloyd playfully. “On getting along better with your dad! In the Sucky Dad Club, a win for one of us is a win for all of us.”
“Well, thank you,” Lloyd replied, laughing. “I mean, I think it’s going good, he told me this story about how he and my mom met and everything!”
“Now we just need to save the city, and this hilarious misadventure will be concluded impeccably!” Zane smiled, clapping his hands together.
Cole hummed. “Well, we can hope.”
“Okay, so here it is!” Nya announced to the group. “We found this chest that looks new — we thought we should wait to open it till everyone was here.”
“Oh,” Lloyd said, stepping forward and resting a nervous hand on the chest. It didn’t have the layer of dust everything else in the Temple had — a shiny gold with deep red accents.
The rest of the ninja pressed up against him as he started to open it, peering out from behind the Green Ninja and watching eagerly. It swug open easily, revealing—
“A bunch of elemental pieces.” Cole said, frowning.
“What a bunch of junk…!” Nya sang.
“Well, uh,” Jay drummed his hands on the edge of the chest. “Maybe there’s something more important underneath them?”
The Earth Ninja stepped forward, taking the heavy chest and unceremoniously dumping its contents on the floor behind them.
Kai huffed. “This is more like the Ultimate Ultimate Disappointment.”
“Correct!” Zane chimed in, ever the optimist.
Lloyd frowned. This couldn’t be it, could it? Was it. The magic of friendship or something. Was the real Ultimate Ultimate Weapon the friends they made along the way — ohh, they should’ve gone down the right path, Lloyd was right all along! Now all they had was just them, and Garmadon, and two, four, six, useless pieces—
“No, no, wait.” Lloyd said, darting to his feet. “That’s it!”
Everyone else turned to him again.
“There — there’s a piece here for each of our elements!” The Green Ninja darted forward, grabbing the closest one to him. “This red one — it’s fire!”
Once Kai took his fire piece in his hands, it began to glow, bright and red. “WOAH!”
“And this one—“ Lloyd grabbed another, tossing it for the Earth Ninja to catch. “It’s Earth!”
Cole’s glowed with a deep purple light. “This rocks!”
“And water!”
Nya’s spun with a blue-green energy. “H2-OH YEAH!”
“And ice.”
“Cool.” Zane’s was an even paler blue, almost white.
“Lighting!”
“Oh, time for me to make a cool pun — AH!” Jay fumbled with his piece, but he managed to catch it. One it was in his hands, it began to glow a deep blue. “Wow…!”
“And I’m—!” Lloyd held up his own, unappealing fern piece, waiting for nothing to happen. “Green. But! But I’m happy for the rest of you, all of your pieces are so cool—!”
“Hey, Lloyd it’s alright,” Nya said, stepping forward.
Jay nodded beside her. “You’re still an important part of our team. You’re the Green Ninja!”
“We would be lost without you.” Cole added.
“Right,” Lloyd said, heaving the chest up again. “Well, we should get going…”
As each of the ninja stepped up to redeposit their piece in the chest, Garmadon stepped forward again.
“So, Luh-Lloyd, after spending all this time with you, and seeing the amazing ninja warrior you’ve become…” He started.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve realized, that we don’t even need to fight each other anymore!” Garmadon smiled, red eyes bright. “We can fight, alongside each other!”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah! Luh-Lloyd, will you come back to Ninjago City with me as father… and General Number One?”
And suddenly, all of Lloyd’s excitement came to a grinding halt. He shut the chest with a click . “Your. General Number One.”
“Exactly!”
“But I thought you regretted letting me go.”
“And I’m not going to let you go now! We make an amazing team, and on the same side we wouldn’t be apart, or have to fight again,” Garmadon paused for a moment, before frowning. “Well, we’d be unstoppable! I — I think this is great, why do you look so—“
“Dad,” He shook his head. “Garmadon. I don’t… want to be your General Number One.”
The warlord’s eyes widened. “But… why? We’d rule Ninjago, together! No one would ever make fun of you again, be mean to you, because I won’t be attacking the city anymore! You — we’ll make up for all that lost time, you can learn how to tie a tie, ride a bike, conquer a city—!”
Garmadon reached out to take the chest from Lloyd, who bristled and moved it away. “No!”
It turned into a game of keep-away with the warlord. Lloyd eventually resorted to tossing the chest to Cole, who caught it and darted out of the room.
The rest of the ninja followed him, and making their way back to the foyer where they entered.
“And—!” Garmadon said, trying to catch it from Cole to Lloyd again. “If we leave now, we can unleash the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon on Meowthra, and conquer the city together!”
The Green Ninja tossed it to Zane next, who caught it with precision.
“Dad, please don’t—“
“No, you’ve made it clear, Luh-Lloyd.”
Kai and Nya snatched it from the Ice Ninja, just as he was pounced on.
“You — you could be a hero!”
Garmadon growled. “But that’s not who I am, Luh-Lloyd, people will never see me as a hero—!”
“You could still change, you have a chance now, it, it doesn’t have to be this way—“
Nya handed the chest to Jay, who immediately fumbled under its weight — Cole came by soon afterwards to pick up the Lightning Ninja’s slack, and toss it back to Lloyd.
And suddenly, Garmadon was in front of Lloyd, snatching the chest out of his hands and pushing the younger back. “I didn’t want it to be this way, but… here we are.”
Lloyd stumbled back, just as the rest of the ninja pounced on the warlord. “No, no no no no!”
“Ow!” And Cole was pushed aside, into an antique side table.
Zane went flying next, right beside him.
Nya launched herself at him with fury, but Garmadon met her in midair, kicking her back in the face.
“Hey! That’s my sister!” The other Smith growled, grappling Garmadon by the legs and slamming him down on the ground with a “BAM!” Still, Garmadon was able to recover and tossed Kai aside.
Jay took his chance and took up the dropped chest, starting to run — before his leg was caught by the warlord’s claw, and he tripped, the chest, the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon, was sent flying—
And Lloyd went to go catch it, but he ended up missing it by a good foot — and Garmadon was there suddenly, one foot holding Lloyd down gently, two sets of hands committed to keeping the chest in his possession, for good.
“Dad, please,” He pleaded, a last effort.
“Oh, Luh-Lloyd. I should’ve taught you how to catch,” He said, shaking his head. Then, standing, Lord Garmadon shot him one last look. “And. I’m going to fix this, I promise. So long, Green Ninja.”
And just like that. Garmadon was gone.
It really started to collapse soon after that.
The temple too.
The walls started to shake more aggressively, spurred on by their last fight, larger and larger chunks of ceiling started to come loose, falling down around them, the very ground beneath their feet started to split. It’s foundations weren’t called fragile for nothing.
The ninja yelped, and together they sought shelter under any furniture they could find.
Cole had his arms wrapped tightly around Kai and Zane in a bear hug, and they clung to him too, Kai around his middle, Zane tugging his arm closer. To their backs was a piece of the floor, pulled up as a wedge. The Ice Ninja was counting something.
Nya and Jay were huddled together too, underneath a split half of what might’ve once been a dining table. Nya looked like she might’ve been squeezing the daylights out of the Lightning Ninja, while Jay’s hands were shaking something fierce.
And Lloyd? Stayed exactly where he was, as the rest of the temple came down around him, barely just missing him over and over again. And it was okay, he thought. Sure, they’d all die, but they’d tried, didn’t they? And even though they’d never reach inner peace, like Master Wu told them—
Well, he’d also said that the power was inside them, but they seemed to be more active in those pieces than they’d ever been inside any member of the — hold on a second. Inner peace, inner piece. Inner piece, piece, peace, piece—
Looking at Cole, he could see the steadiness and stability of the Earth, holding the team together when they couldn’t on their own. Kai, who had enough passion and drive to keep the rest of them fueled. Zane, who kept a cool head and a clear perspective on what they faced up ahead. Nya, who stayed adaptable and strong enough to push through the tough times. Jay, who had that spark of ingenuity and creativity to help them find another way, a different solution to their problem.
“INNER PIECE!” Lloyd stood up, a wide grin on his face. “Guys! Guys! We don’t need those pieces! The Ultimate Ultimate Weapon is inside you!”
“WHAT?” Nya and Jay managed to shout at the same time.
“Yeah, you have the power! C’mon!” He said, slowly coaxing each ninja out of their hiding spots, before guiding them through the motions that Wu taught them in the forest, pinwheeling their arms at a specific angle, turning ever so slightly— “Look within! Harness what you already have inside and let it out! I believe in each of you! Nya, you can make water. Kai? You can make fire!”
“Yeah, yeah, okay!” Kai shouted, something sparking inside him, warm and excited. “Yeah, I can set a fire—“
“The power is inside each of you! Calm your mind, concentrate, build up your power!” Lloyd continued, then pointing at each of them. “Just think about Earth! Fire! Water! Ice! And you, Jay! Lightning, baby, do it! Jay, you got the power! Say, ‘I’ve got the power!’”
Jay grinned excitedly, as his hands began to spark with bright electricity. “I — I’ve got the power! Ha! I actually do!”
“That’s right!” Lloyd encouraged, imagining Jay’s own energy buzzing restlessly underneath his fingertips.
“Come on!” The Lightning Ninja shouted, before bursting forward with his element again, tossing the doors aside and clearing a way for them out of the temple.
As the ninja followed Jay onto the porch, there was a loud CRACK of a piece of the roof, heading straight towards them. “I got this,” Cole said, stepping forward, firm and steady. He held out his hands, and CAUGHT the piece of the roof, tossing it aside easily. “I’ve got the power!”
They continued, until the stair steps beneath them literally crumbled away, stopping them again.
“Hey, I’ve got the power!”
“I too, have the power.”
Nya and Zane stepped forward without much prompting, making a bridge with well-timed kicks of water and ice.
“C’mon, c’mon, hurry up!” Nya urged, as the rest of the ninja slid down their ice-slide.
Just in time too, because the lion-dog statues beside the temple come crashing down, unfortunately upon the fleeing ninja.
“Aw, come on!”
“Kai! Your turn!” Lloyd shouted.
“Got it,” The Fire Ninja shouted back, sparks of his element dancing across his palms, before shooting an impressive jet of fire at the statue head. “I’ve got the power!”
This did not stop the head’s advance at all, but it was on fire now.
“AH! I THINK I MADE IT WORSE?!” Kai yelped, as they jumped out of its way.
They were starting to run out of cliff when Lloyd heard Wu’s voice. “Jump, Lloyd! Jump!”
“Master Wu?” Then, to the rest of his team. “Guys, I think I can hear the dead! And Master Wu says… JUMP!”
“He says to WHAT?” Jay had asked, but by then everyone else had followed Lloyd’s lead, plummeting off the cliff and into the unknowns below, down down down… and safely onto the wooden deck of The Destiny’s Bounty .
“Good job, students!” Wu chirped, setting his megaphone down.
There was a gasp, and then another collective shout. “Master Wu!”
“You’re alive?” Lloyd asked.
“Of course! I am a ninja master, who loves life on the edge and cheats death at every turn.”
Jay’s eyes widened as he removed his mask. “Wow!”
“Really?” Nya joined in, taking her own off as well.
“No!” Wu frowned, stamping his staff on the deck. “I thought being dead would make you all listen to me more. And I was right!”
“Well, uh, Master Wu! We found our elemental powers!” The Fire Ninja said, bouncing on his heels.
“Yeah,” Cole chimed in. “All because Lloyd wouldn’t give up on us.”
“He saved us!” Nya added, stepping over and ruffling Lloyd’s hair.
Zane beeped. “He also decided your needlessly cryptic metaphors.”
Master Wu’s eyes turned soft, and Lloyd couldn’t help how his insides felt like putty. “Lloyd, I’m proud of you. You helped your team — your friends — truly become great. And that’s what makes you a great ninja master, and a great leader.” And his uncle pulled Lloyd close, into a gentle hug.
“Oh,” He laughed a little, choking up a lot. He was NOT going to cry, not this time. “Aha, wow… thanks—!”
“NOW!” Wu released him, turning to the whole group again. “Let’s go save the city from a giant kitty!”
Lloyd heard the crowd before he saw them.
“Hip, hip hooray! The cat ate Garmadon!”
Oh great. Now Meowthra was at the docks. Because they needed an audience, right?
“Now all we have to do is take care of the cat and Ninjago City is saved!”
And Garmadon — “Please! Someone help!”
Lloyd stopped. Everyone else did too, following his lead.
“Hey Green, you okay?” Kai said, shaking off extra embers from his gloves.
Cole stepped forward. “Do we need to take a bit, or—“
“No, no,” Lloyd shook his head again, trying to rid himself of his doubts, why couldn’t he. “Y’know, you guys just go ahead without me, I’ll catch up,”
“Y-you sure, dude?” The Lightning Ninja said, fiddling with the cuffs of his gi.
“Yeah. Yeah! I’ll, uh, be there. Just give me a second.” Lloyd smiled again, for them. “You all go ahead.”
They all shot him doubtful looks, but his team trusted him, and he trusted them. And the Secret Ninja Force flipped neatly onto the scene, met with cheers from the crowd. Lloyd peered out, seeing that the team had this handled, before slipping away quietly. It was just nerves. It was all just nerves.
The Green Ninja flipped neatly off the rooftop, landing firmly and into an alleyway.
And Lloyd Garmadon peered out, before slipping through the crowd and pushing his way to the front.
“—Could use my fire! But would that be too much?” Kai was saying.
“Ooh! Or I could blast her with my water! Cats hate water.” Nya suggested.
And Lloyd kept walking, breaking away from the crowd and making his way to the defensive line the ninja had made.
“LLOYD?” His mom cried, rushing forward too, only to be stopped gently by Master Wu. “Lloyd, sweetie, don’t—“
Lloyd glanced back, and smiled — a half crooked smile that he hoped felt like a comfort or an apology, just something that meant it would be okay — and continued on.
He didn’t see the worried glances his team shot him as he broke through their line, all the Green Ninja was focused on now was the tabby pelt of the giant monster.
“Here kitty, kitty, kitty.” He whispered, clicking his tongue and whistling. “C’mere.”
Meowthra padded forward slowly, her yellow eyes widening as she took in the boy in front of her.
“That’s a good kitty. You’re okay. Yeah, you’re okay.”
And she leaned forward and breathed out, blowing his blond hair back and making him laugh, just a bit.
“Yeah,” Lloyd murmured, unmoving as the giant cat moved in closer, even going to gently stroke her nose. “You’re a good kitty, just a sweet kitty, yeah? What a sweet, sweet kitty.”
The cat closed her eyes, beginning to purr as he continued.
“Everything’s going to be just fine. Hey, I know it! I know you didn’t mean to destroy everything.” The younger Garmadon sighed. “That when people look at you, all they see is a monster. But… I know that — that you just feel scared, and alone, and that you’re… sometimes you’re judged unfairly. And I know how that feels.
“And I just wanted to say… I forgive you. And — I’m sorry, for wishing you weren’t my father, what I should’ve—“ Lloyd cleared his throat, which was somehow becoming stopped up by its own accord. “What I should’ve said is that I wish we, we didn’t have to fight, we weren’t apart all the time! That I could’ve spent more time — real time with you, and you would see me for who I was. But you, uh, you weren’t there, and now I’m never — I just — I don’t — I, I miss my dad. I miss you.”
And they sat there for a moment, the beast and the son of the dark lord, Lloyd burying his face in Meowthra’s soft fur.
Then the cat drew back suddenly, beginning to cough and hack — until she eventually spat out a familiar looking warlord.
“Meowthra, are you — DAD?! You’re alive! Are you okay?”
Garmadon let himself be helped up, avoiding his son’s gaze. “Yeah — yeah. I’m fine. It’s just, son?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you, uh,” He glanced to the side nervously. “Did you mean all that stuff you said? To the cat?”
Lloyd laughed slightly. “Every word.”
The warlord sniffled loudly, fire pricking his eyes. “Well, well I know for a fact that the uh, cat feels the same way.”
“Dad, are you crying?”
“NO, SON.” Garmadon replied, obviously crying. He pulled Lloyd into a crushing hug. “I’M JUST ALLERGIC. TO THE CAT.”
Just as he was released from the first hug, Lloyd was tackled into another. “LLOYD!”
“Mom!”
“Let me — let me look at you. You’re alright? All in one piece?” Koko said, leaning back and squishing her son's cheeks. “Everything okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine! I’m good. I’m — really sorry, Mom. All you’ve done is support me, and I took that for granted.” He said, putting his hands over hers.
Koko smiled, before leaning in and pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. “It’s alright sweetie, it’s alright. Just — never, ever, EVER do that again, understand?”
“Will do.”
“Glad to see you took my advice.” Wu popped up, making Lloyd startle and jump away from his mom.
“Aha, well, I wasn’t a son of Garmadon any other way, huh?” Lloyd replied, chuckling slightly.
“I guess not,” The Master tilted his head. “You are a hero, nephew.”
“HAH! Guess my brother’s right, kid!” Garmadon leaned in to ruffle his son’s hair.
Lloyd beamed. “I’m just — I’m just glad my family’s whole again.”
There was a lot more after that.
First, Lloyd got a new pet, Ninjago City a new mascot. She wasn’t aggressive anymore, but it was a hassle trying to find a place that would fit her… until the topic of Garmadon’s former volcanic lair came up.
There was a lot of cleaning that up too. For one, Garmadon had just narrowly avoided outright jail time — in exchange for 24/7 monitoring and quite possibly the longest community service sentence issued on record.
Koko and Wu opened up a school for former generals, to help them reintegrate into society. Everyone volunteered, especially Nya, eager to get closer to her personal hero.
Their ninja-ing didn’t stop though. In Lord Garmadon’s void, numerous more villains moved in to fill the void, former Shark Army members unwilling to give up their lives of crime, or old syndicates long repressed, or even new criminals inspired by his might. It took constant vigilance, but now they had even more help — from Master Wu, sure, but now that Lady Iron Dragon and Lord Garmadon were there to support them, the Secret Ninja Force’s firepower increased dramatically.
Lloyd had a new dad too! And while he didn’t know how to be a son and Garmadon sure as hell didn’t know how to be a dad, they both made it work. Every Friday they had a “Boys Night!” where the two of them would hang out and make up on that father-son bonding time they needed — going to see a movie, or taking a trip to that cool martial arts museum, or, goddamnit, learning how to catch, FINALLY.
And while it didn’t become a dream overnight, there were still people that hated him, hated his dad, hated the Secret Ninja Force. It still wasn’t all that bad.
It was a lot of change, sure. But it was good change, change for the better.