Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

News travels slowly between realms. Legends spread quickly within them.

The fall of a god, in and of itself, was a story worth telling. In Ninjago, they mainly told the story of the battle, of the clash of Creation and Destruction, of the storm from destiny and the bolt that sealed away the venom-corrupted oni. (They don’t talk about the dragon secluding himself in the monastery in his grief. They don’t talk about the human who left soon after for libraries and museums, clutching scrolls of prophecies about the green ninja, about Garmadon’s creation of his own downfall.) In the Underworld, they mainly told the story of the landing, of a swift conquest and a god stewing in his own hatred and resentment and hunger for vengeance. (They don’t talk about the sobs when he believes that he is alone.)

Some stories started in the Underworld, trickling up to Ninjago through natural rifts and rare invasions. Some spoke of Garmadon’s wrath, of the rage too large and too strong to be contained in a single being. They spoke of the dormant spark of Creation hidden in the First Master’s son being stirred by the most intense, pure emotion he had ever experienced. They spoke of his screams of anger spawning an echo. They spoke of another voice joining his. They spoke of a shadow that moved on its own, a rage congealing into physical form. Those above took that legend as more metaphorical than anything. 

When Garmadon left the Underworld for the Realm of Madness, and when something followed Wu back to sow chaos in its creator’s stead, they quickly learned what a mistake that was.

…

“On your left!” Cole shouted. Kai rolled to his right, a blast of dark energy slamming into the ground inches from his feet. The impact sent up a spray of snow, almost obscuring the shadowy figure vanishing into the ground. Kai’s own shadow began to stretch and distort as it surrounded him, a wicked cackle echoing from all directions as clawed limbs began to reach from the darkness. He grit his teeth and tightened his grip on the Sword of Fire, whirling around with the blade outstretched.

A plume of flame shot out from the weapon as he spun, the laughter turning into a screech as the light and heat cut through the darkness. It rapidly coalesced into a single figure, rising from the ground as it staggered back from Kai with a glowing slash in its chest. A shadowy copy of Garmadon, red eyes glowing like hellfire in the nothingness that formed it. It hissed, baring fangs at Kai before a bolt of lightning struck it in the back.

It howled, more enraged than hurt, as it spun around to lunge at Jay. The lightning ninja ducked to the side, not quite fast enough to dodge the claws swiping through his torso. He yelped, staggering. “Oh, come on! I basically just got this gi!” He whined, clutching blue tatters to his chest. The over-exaggerated annoyance in his voice couldn’t quite mask the pain, and Kai could see the red starting to leak past his hand. Garmadon’s shadow saw it too. The demon’s eyes sparked with sadistic delight as it wound up for another blow.

It was interrupted by a blast of ice. Shard spiraled down from the sky with a ferocious roar, stomping on and holding down the frozen-up-to-the-neck shadow as he landed. “The village has been evacuated!” Zane shouted from his perch on the dragon’s back. “Hurry, before-” Garmadon’s shadow melted away, the dragon’s claws crushing through the now-hollow ice. The other three dragons were swooping down now, with empty saddles and claws outstretched.

Kai sheathed his sword, sprinting towards his dragon. He saw Jay running alongside him, Cole limping slightly behind. Flame hit the ground with a heavy thud, wings still outstretched as Kai hurried onto his back. The fire dragon was taking off again the moment that his rider was secure on his back. Wisp and Jay were only a second behind. Kai’s heart sank as he looked down at the ground, seeing Cole and Rocky still there. With Cole’s leg hurt, he couldn’t climb on as fast, and the earth dragon was a weak flier anyways. As Cole struggled into the saddle, his shadow began to writhe.

“Cole!” Kai screamed, pushing Flame into a dive. He hardly noticed something beginning to slip out of his bag as he pressed himself against the dragon’s back. Claws outstretched, Flame snagged Cole and pulled him skyward just as Garmadon’s shadow leapt from the darkness. Rocky roared in pain and alarm as oni claws scraped his side, swinging his spiked tail around to strike the dark figure before hauling himself into the air.

Cole screamed in Flame’s claws, the sound spiking in volume as the dragon dropped him and cutting off with an oof as he landed on Rocky’s back. Kai sighed in relief as Cole scrambled to grab hold of Rocky’s reins, flattening himself against the dragon. He turned his gaze back towards the ground. As they flew away, Garmadon’s shadow was little more than a dark spot in the snow, head turned towards the fleeing ninja. Kai glared down at it. Even this far away, he could swear that he saw it sneer.

He only turned away once it was fully out of sight. The four ninja flew in close formation, the only sound the whistling of the wind and the flapping of dragon wings. Kai let out a quiet sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. These attacks were frequent; too frequent, given that they had training as well. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a full day to rest. His legs ached and burned, still too used to only the demands of a blacksmith’s daily life. That same lifestyle meant his arms fared a little better, but… still. Only a little.

Zane was first to break the silence. “That could have gone worse. All damage was limited to property, and the village was evacuated before anybody could be seriously injured.” Not like last time. Cole hummed a sound of acknowledgment, finally sitting up properly in the saddle.

“Speaking of serious injury. Is everybody alright?”

“I’m good, just sore.”

“I am uninjured.”

“Only bleeding out a little bit over here!”

“We’ll get you some bandages when we get back, Jay.” Cole said. “We’re… we’re getting better, guys. We protected a lot of people today." That was true. The constant attacks were forcing them to improve fast.

But the thing about a trial by fire was that you risked getting burned. 

They couldn’t keep this up forever. Kai sighed, readjusting his bag. He raised an eyebrow as he finally noticed the scroll sticking out of it. "Huh. I don't remember packing that…" 

Zane leaned to the side, Shard's flight path curving smoothly until they were right next to Kai and Flame. "It looks like you grabbed Wu's bag by mistake." Jay and Wisp shot up on Kai's other side. Jay barely waited for Wisp's flight to level off before he was trying to look over Kai's shoulder. 

"What is it?" Jay chirped curiously as Kai unrolled the scroll. Kai twisted to take it out of Jay's view. Flame roared in irritation, pushing Wisp away as their wings collided. 

"It’s a scroll, windbag." Kai scoffed as their dragons worked out a safer flying distance. 

"I know it’s a scroll, but what does it say? It just looks like chicken scratch to me."

"Not chicken scratch." Zane said. Shard had kept flying steady as Flame and Wisp bickered. "It is the ancient language of our ancestors."

"Huh. Can you read it?" Kai asked. He reached out to hand the scroll to Zane. The ice ninja took it gingerly, careful not to rip the aged paper. 

"I can try." He said. He looked over the scroll, brow furrowing as he scanned lines of ancient symbols. Reading the language of their ancestors was… a little more art than science, and he would readily admit that he wasn’t the best at understanding what others meant if there was any ambiguity. Especially since… “This symbol means prophecy.” 

“Oh, now I definitely want to hear the rest of it!” Jay shouted. He winced, putting a hand against his chest. He’d breathed too deeply, and had made the wound hurt more.

Zane frowned. “Prophecies are very complex beneath the surface. Metaphor, symbolism, puns, descriptions that could apply to several different people or events… one could devote a decade to the study of a single prophecy and still be blindsided by the outcome-”

“Okay, but can you translate it directly and just tell us what the prophecy literally says?”

“To an extent, yes.”

“Then read it!”

Zane sighed, staring down at the paper. His knowledge of ancient languages was admittedly somewhat patchwork. He could get the gist of common words and phrases, but the precise details were murky. The illustrations helped somewhat. The words curved around four figures in the corners, striking poses in familiarly colored gis, and encircled a central figure in green. “It speaks of a Green Ninja who will rise- who will ascend- above the others and defeat- trip- banish? Kill? The… the Dark Lord.” 

That certainly sparked interest from the others. Even Cole, who had been flying ahead of the rest of them, looked back curiously. Kai hummed with interest. “Dark Lord? That probably means Garmadon, right?”

“The specific phrase can have multiple different meanings depending on context, but yes, most are reasonable to apply to him.”

“And does it say who this Green Ninja is? And why it’s me?” Jay asked with a smug smile. Zane looked over the scroll again as Kai rolled his eyes.

“Hm. It does mention the Green Ninja being…” Zane frowned. “An oni’s tusk.”

“...Huh?”

“I did tell you that metaphor is a significant factor in interpretation.” Zane hummed thoughtfully. “If I remember correctly, the term refers to a tendency for evil to create its own downfall. Typically through their own actions stirring a need for vengeance in others. It’s a fairly common element of prophecies.”

Everybody sat with that for a couple of quiet moments. “So it’s obviously me, right?” Kai said. “I mean, Garmadon literally kidnapped my sister and gave me a reason to become a ninja. That’s evil creating its own downfall for sure.”

Jay spread his arms indignantly, showing off the claw marks on his chest. “His shadow just tried to kill me!”

“His shadow just tried to kill all of us! ”

“Well, you don’t know that this, specifically, won’t become a really cool scar that represents my desire for revenge-”

Zane held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Please do not fight. Bickering over how the prophecy will be fulfilled will not affect it, and you cannot judge the most likely outcome by what you have seen in books and shows.” He paused. “However, consider that I have a mysterious past unknown to even myself.”

“Oh, come on-” Jay groaned.

“There’s no way anything happened back then that outweighs the sister thing-” Kai argued.

“Can you all stop ?” Cole snapped. Everyone turned to look at him. He was clutching Rocky’s reins in a death grip as he glared back at them. He looked upset, and not the upset of someone losing; just upset that the competition was happening at all. “We’re a team . We weren’t supposed to see this, and probably for good reason.” He looked over the three of them. None of them would make eye contact. He… had a point, really. Cole sighed. "Let’s just get back to the monastery." He muttered, turning away.

Jay swooped away, silent for once as he turned his fleeting focus towards flying with Wisp. Zane handed the scroll back to Kai before turning away, settling back into formation with Shard. Kai rolled the scroll back up and put it back in the bag. He'd make sure to return it to Wu when they arrived. They didn’t have much time or energy to spare on deciphering a prophecy…

But still, Kai couldn't help but feel that he'd gotten a glimpse of his destiny.

…

“You’re leaving ?” Cole asked incredulously. Wu nodded. He’d brought all the ninja inside shortly after they got back to the monastery, having them all sit down with cups of tea. It had seemed clear to all of them that he had something important to say, but they never would have guessed this.

“You’ve all been doing very well in your training lately; and applying it to real danger when forced to.” Wu added with a sigh. “I trust that you can handle yourselves for at least a short while without me. In the meantime, I have to go speak to my brother about getting his shadow back under control.” He said it much more casually than that statement deserved. Everyone stared at him, processing.

“Sorry, what?” Kai asked. “Setting aside the whole traveling between realms thing, you want to go talk to your evil brother and just ask him to tell the manifestation of his dark powers to knock it off? What makes you think that’ll work?”

“This isn’t what he wants.” Wu said firmly. “...In one of the more recent attacks… Garmadon’s shadow injured someone who I know Garmadon would never, ever, want to see hurt. It isn’t something that he directly controls, and I am certain that he’d be willing to hold back a weapon that goes further than he would personally go. He may be the key to defeating it.”

“And then defeating him becomes the priority.” Jay added.

Wu sighed. “I would rather fight an evil with a mind and standards. As long as we both stand to lose from allowing his rage free rein, I must at least try to bring him back.” Nobody saw fit to argue with that. It still didn’t seem like a great option, but better than what was happening now.

“How long do you expect to be gone?” Zane asked.

“A few days at most. My brother and I rarely have difficulty finding each other.” That came from the skill of dragons for sniffing out oni; not that Wu saw fit to tell the ninja that. They had enough to worry about without him dropping the full story of his family’s origins on them. He took a sip of his own cup of tea, savoring it. He might pick up some ordinary tea as well while visiting Mystake, but he doubted he’d have the chance to sit down and enjoy any for a while. “I want you to be on your guard. I will be back as soon as possible, but I want you to be extra cautious when battling Garmadon’s shadow.”

The ninja all agreed. If Wu doubted that they would truly be more careful, he didn’t say it. He tried not to worry so much. They’d only rarely needed him as backup, and they had each other and Nya if one of them got hurt. They would likely be fine. 

If he saw the eyes watching from the shadows as he left, perhaps he would have been more worried.

…

Look, the ninja totally intended to keep training with their teacher gone. But they were teenagers, and only human, and completely exhausted. They’d managed to keep going like this for an impressively long time. Now, as soon as the coast was clear, their weapons were stowed away, the training course was shut down, and the four of them were all collapsed across the couch. The biggest concession to their duties was keeping the news on in case of an attack. None of them had the energy to even look at the TV, instead listening to the quiet sound as they stared up at the ceiling. Sounded like weather, mostly. Nothing to waste energy caring about.

“...Who’s making dinner tonight?” Cole asked, about half an hour into them all lying in silence. Further silence for a minute. Nobody wanted to even think about cooking right now.

“I’ll ask Nya if she’ll order pizza for us.” Kai muttered, pulling out his phone. Nya was in the courtyard immediately outside the room. 

Zane tilted his head. “You have your phone with you. Can you not order it yourself?” Kai gave him a look.

“I’m too tired to play video games right now. Do you think I want to bother with the whole process of ordering a pizza?”

“Three cheers for Nya.” Jay said tiredly, upside down with his head resting on the floor. Fresh bandages had been carefully wrapped around his chest.

“She says she’ll do it as long as we’re still paying for it.”

“Woohoo…!” 

More time passed in the comfortable quiet. As comfortable as they could be, anyways, still aching from the last fight. Kai yawned. There was something he’d been thinking about… what was it again…? Oh, right. “Do you think we should look more into that Green Ninja thing?” He asked.

Jay blinked, looking up at him. “Oh yeah, right. That thing that I totally am.” He said. His tone was lighter than in that debate in the sky, gently teasing. Kai rolled his eyes, kicking in Jay’s general direction as the lightning ninja squawked indignantly.

Cole sighed. “If it’s that important to you guys, then we’ll ask Wu about it once he gets back.” Zane blinked at him.

“I thought you said that there was likely a reason why we should not have known about it?”

“Well, I didn’t want us to get into a big stupid fight about it. As long as we’re not going to do that-” Cole gave the rest of them a warning look. “-then a prophecy is something worth hearing more about, in general.”

Kai groaned, throwing his head back over the end of the couch. “Don’t worry about that. I don’t want to fight anybody about anything right now.” The door behind them slid open. Kai blinked, tilting his head back a little further to look at the person entering the room. “Hi, Nya. Did the pizza get here?” She didn’t answer. She only smiled at him, and stepped closer. There was something wrong about her movements. That slow approach, the deliberateness in every silent footfall, the tension in her body as she kept unblinking eye contact; it wasn’t like his sister, and reminded Kai more than anything of a predator stalking prey. He tensed at the thought, instinct throwing up blaring alarms. Purple glinted in her eyes. 

He ducked and threw himself forward at the exact instant “Nya” pounced. He grabbed the other ninja, pulling them all to the floor with him as they cried out in alarm. With a swirl of darkness, Garmadon’s shadow returned to its usual shape. Its claws dug into the couch where Kai’s head had been a few seconds ago. Purple sparked around its hands, eating through the couch like acid. 

The ninja all scrambled to their feet. Behind Garmadon’s shadow, through the open door, Kai could see Nya sprawled motionless in the courtyard. His heart almost stopped at the sight, but… thank the FSM, it looked like his little sister was still breathing. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure if that would be true of all of them for very long. Garmadon’s shadow snarled, claws tearing through the couch as it ripped them out. Purple flared in its hands-

-And went out as Jay hurled a TV remote at it, smacking it right between the eyes. It howled, in alarm and anger more than pain, hands flying to the spot it had been hit. Cole grabbed Kai and Zane, pulling them towards the hallway. Jay didn’t hesitate to follow. “Come on, get our weapons!” Cole shouted. Kai balked for a fraction of a second- he didn’t want to leave Nya- but as Garmadon’s shadow snapped its head towards them, he quickly realized that it cared more about those still fighting back. He started running a lot faster as that sunk in.

The ninja tore down the hallway, the demon at their heels. Outrunning a shadow was as futile as it sounded, but it was staying relatively solid for this chase. Maybe because it needed to be solid in order to hurt them; and they were mere feet out of claw’s reach. Cole slammed his shoulder into the wall as they ran, the impact shaking through the boards and knocking over a console table. It flowed easily over the obstacle, but that still bought them a precious second or two of time. Just enough for them to duck to the side and roll into the room where they’d stored the Golden Weapons.

Maybe it was because they still needed more coordination as a group. Maybe it was because they were still too sore to roll as smoothly as they should. Maybe it was simply panic. But the ninja rolled into and over each other as they fell into the room, slamming in a confused, tangled heap into the wall. The Golden Weapons clattered to the ground, landing in a messy line between them and the entrance. The entrance that was filled with darkness now, two red eyes glowering down at them. 

The room was dark, and the light switch too close to the doorway for the ninja to reach quickly. That was already a huge advantage for the shadow. The weapons were far away enough, and the ninja disoriented enough, that the shadow could strike long before they managed to untangle themselves and get their hands on their weapons. And everyone knew it. A fanged grin split the darkness, a sadistic gleam filling those red eyes. Slowly, as if playing with its food, Garmadon’s shadow stepped forward.

A soft golden light began to fill the room.

The shadow paused, looking incredulously down. The ninja stared in shock at the Golden Weapons as their glow got steadily brighter and brighter. The weapons began to lift into the air, bolts of green lightning crackling between the four of them. They all watched as if mesmerized; including Garmadon’s shadow, whose red eyes were starting to shift into a bright green. Kai focused on its face. He’d only ever seen anger or a delighted bloodlust from it. But now he saw… confusion. Disbelief. A timid uncertainty that made it seem somehow smaller. 

Kai slowly stood. The shadow’s eyes flicked towards him. Kai made no move to grab his weapon, staring steadily back at the demon. Finally, he found words. “... You’re the Green Ninja?” He half-whispered. The shadow blinked back at him. Its expression filled suddenly with fear, and for a fraction of a second, it looked nothing like Garmadon to Kai.

It vanished. The weapons fell unceremoniously in a heap, their light fading as the darkness fled. Kai could imagine it zipping down the hallway, outside and down the mountain’s growing shadow. It would be impossible to follow, even if he was certain he wanted to. He could hear the others getting to their feet behind him, but he wasn’t paying much attention. He was rereading the prophecy again and again in his head, feeling like an idiot for thinking that it could have referred to him. Evil creating its own downfall. What could fill that role better than the manifestation of Garmadon’s rage?

They all lasted about a minute before completely freaking out.

Chapter Text

It couldn’t make the green in its eyes go away.

Garmadon’s shadow growled, pacing restlessly in its icy lair. (The frozen cave was one of the first places it found. It was cold, but so was the Underworld; even mere feet away from the searing heat of the lava, the stone was freezing. Exposed to other options in Ninjago, it was starting to realize that it didn’t like the cold. Still, beggars can’t be choosers.) It glared at its reflection, as if it could intimidate it into looking like it should. That damned green stared back. 

It looked away, gripping its arms. It had taken a different form than its natural one. There was no reason to, not when it was alone, but the form it had learned for better stealth was… comforting, somehow. Like a security blanket, however much it would scoff and deny the comparison being made aloud. It was smaller, the darkness that made it folded into a convincing illusion of a human. It had based the disguise on a picture it found of Garmadon before his fall, though it had tweaked a few details. It had made itself younger, lightened the hair color, tweaked a few of the facial features. Enough to avoid recognition. Less like a shadow, more like a son- it cut off that thought hurriedly. At least, it supposed in a halfhearted justification, it would avoid some suspicion if anybody stumbled across it.

Its mission was simple . So simple that it was a matter of instinct. No, not even instinct; deeper than that. An intrinsic sense of purpose, a knowledge of what it was and what it was for. To rage against the world in the absence of its creator, preemptively eliminating resistance and instilling fear. To serve him, to pave his way, to lash out when he couldn’t, to ultimately facilitate the triumph of darkness and destruction. 

Being the Green Ninja was. Um. Not that.

It didn't make any sense . It wasn't a person, after all. Not an individual person, at least. A shadow destined to kill the one that cast it; that wasn’t any more sensible when the shadow was a semi-solid shape-shifting mass of dark magic, was it? Yes, it had been acting increasingly independently since its creation, and yes, the connection between it and Garmadon had been near severed since they parted ways, and yes, it had stopped thinking of itself as Garmadon quite a while ago and-

Oh FSM, this was probably its fault. Or something like that. It let out a quiet whine of despair, leaning against the cave wall and sliding to the ground. It had gotten way too independent. If it had said or done something early enough, maybe it wouldn't have ended up in this situation. Could be worse though, maybe? At least the Green Ninja was something that didn't want to hurt Garmadon, and something that would be theoretically simple for Garmadon to destroy without hesitation.

…And that idea felt incredibly unpleasant to it as well. Cool. Love to experience a fear of death. It sighed, closing its eyes. Its eyes were more of a convenience anyways; they were made of the same stuff and structure as the rest of it. It could still sense everything around it just as well, but closing its eyes was still… it didn’t know how to put it. A very human gesture. And it didn't know how to feel about how naturally that came to it.

So. What now?

For once, it didn’t feel like going out and destroying anything. Its heart wouldn’t really be in it right now. Besides, indulging in fulfilling its purpose… probably wasn’t the best way to avoid thinking about how its purpose and supposed destiny clashed. But what else could it do? Genuinely, what other options did it actually have? Even its best disguises couldn’t pass for a flesh-and-blood human for long. It had nowhere to turn, nowhere else to find shelter. The one person that it trusted, that would want it, wasn’t even in the realm; and he was the person it was destined to fight as well.

It was stuck.

…

It took a while for the ninja to stop freaking out. Honestly, by the time Nya was awake, the pizza actually arrived, and they all found themselves sitting around a table watching the pizza get cold, they were all still freaking out. They'd just moved on from incoherent screaming to stunned silence at this point. Cole picked at the edges of his slice, somewhat lost in thought. "So… Garmadon’s shadow is the Green Ninja." He said, voicing aloud what none of them could stop thinking about.

"It really seems like a hero to me." Nya deadpanned, holding an ice pack against her head. The worst damage had been to her pride- she couldn’t believe she'd been taken by surprise like that- but being knocked unconscious by a demon still hurt. 

"Should we really be using 'it'?" Kai muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "I mean… I could see it in his eyes when the weapons reacted. He's definitely a person."

Zane frowned, tilting his head. "People use it/its pronouns sometimes. Referring to it that way isn't mutually exclusive with acknowledging it as a person." 

"Well, yeah, of course, but I wouldn't assume by default that he's comfortable with that. Feels kinda dehumanizing when we haven’t even asked, you know?" Kai said. “We… kinda have been using ‘it’ in the sense that we’d talk about a weapon.”

Jay put his head in his hands. "First Master, we haven’t even asked."

“Does he even talk…?”

"Look, we'll ask the next time we see it, him, them, whatever, okay?" Cole said. "Can we focus?" 

"Right. Let's focus on the Green Ninja wanting you guys dead." Nya said. Her tone was almost flippant, but worry glinted in her eyes. Kai frowned.

"I think… I think we can talk to him." He said quietly. He expected more resistance to the idea, but Zane at least nodded.

"It did choose to flee instead of taking advantage of our shock. That could have been because of its own shock, but we know that it isn't automatically, mindlessly hostile." Zane commented. "With a careful enough approach, we may be able to convince it to ally with us instead of fight."

Jay frowned. "And does Garmadon's shadow want to talk?" He gestured to his injuries. "Nya's got a point. Do we want to go and approach someone who's been trying to kill us and destroy everything, because one time they ran away instead?" Nya was silent, but pointedly tapped at her ice pack.

All eyes turned to Cole. The tiebreaker. He sighed, brow furrowing. He didn’t seem like he wanted to make the final decision on this. “If they’re really the Green Ninja, we’re going to want to be able to keep an eye on them. If they stop attacking, then they might be worth the risk of talking to them. And…” He took a deep breath. “Kai’s right. They’re a person, and they were terrified . Even with what they are, everything they’ve done, and what they could do… it doesn’t feel right to leave them alone out there.” 

“‘Leave them alone out there’...” Nya muttered. Her eyes widened. “Hang on, do you want to bring it back here?” 

Cole backpedaled quickly. “Maybe not! It depends. …If they don’t have anywhere else to go…” None of them really felt like leaving someone out in the cold. Not when they knew full well that they had nowhere to turn. Maybe if they were dealing with a human instead of a construct of dark magic and coalesced rage, they would assume that somebody else would take pity on them, but… that didn’t seem likely here. 

“We don’t even know where they are.” Jay said, after a moment of tense silence. 

Zane tilted his head.

“Actually, we should be able to determine that. All of the attacks so far have taken place in a relatively constrained area. Its ability to travel through shadow may complicate things, but in theory we should be able to find a shelter within a reasonable distance of each site.” He mused. 

“Sounds like that’ll take time, though.” Kai commented.

“It will. But on the bright side, it's probably for the best that we wait.” Zane said with a nod. “If this doesn’t change anything for Garmadon’s shadow, and it continues to destroy in the name of its creator… it would be better if we recognize that before we bring it into the monastery.” 

…

Garmadon watched coldly as his brother struggled in the mud. Wu was fighting to keep his head above the surface, trying to pull himself out of the thick sludge. Wu gasped as he slipped, the mud swallowing another chunk of his torso. The mud itself was hungry, pulling him further down every second. The Realm of Madness was nearly devoid of life, but Garmadon had seen enough things fall into these pits to know that nothing made it back out. His tail flicked. “You don’t belong here.” He hissed. “You should have known better than to try and stop me.” Wu shook his head.

“I didn’t come to stop you!” He shouted, wincing as another sharp tug pulled him deeper. “I came to ask for your help!” Garmadon almost laughed at that. Almost. 

He narrowed his eyes instead. “Really. Now, what do you possibly think I’d be willing to help you with? Better spit it out quick.” He teased, smirking. Wu’s head was tilted back to keep his face above the surface, one arm still pushing desperately against a solid chunk of something floating on the mud. 

“Your rage-” Wu sputtered. “Misako-” He yelped, and vanished, head tugged below. Garmadon’s eyes widened. He lunged, barely avoiding falling in himself as he reached for his brother’s hand. He grabbed him, all four hands finding a place on Wu’s arm to grasp. Clawed feet dug into the earth as he pulled with all his strength. He could feel the mud slowly, reluctantly, starting to lose its grip-

Reaching some invisible threshold, the mud released Wu. Garmadon went tumbling backwards with the force, sending both of them flying away from the pit. He’d barely landed before he was trying to stand back up again. He dragged his brother with him, patting Wu on the back as the dragon coughed and wheezed. “Come on, spit it out, we’re gods. You’re fine.” He said irritably. “Now, what was that about Misako? And my rage? What happened?”

“It attacked her.” Wu gasped. Garmadon froze. He stared in disbelief, searching Wu’s face for any sign of a lie. He saw nothing.

“No.” He said. Wu didn’t respond. “No, no- it couldn’t have! I wouldn’t have!”

“It isn’t you.” Wu said. There was a hint of that tone- sanctimonious and pitying, to Garmadon’s ears- that he used when talking about the venom’s influence. Sure enough… “The darkness within you, given its own form. Something made to bring yet more darkness and destruction. I doubt it even knows her. She was at a digsite a few miles from-”

“You can tell me the details later.” Garmadon interrupted. “Just tell me if she’s alive.”

“She is.” Wu said. He watched how Garmadon slumped in relief. “Injured, but… she will recover.”

“Good.” He muttered. “You want me to help destroy it, I assume.”

Wu nodded, watching the expression on his brother’s face. He looked almost reluctant. “It has to be done.” He said gently. Best to tread carefully here. “I… know it must be difficult for you to give up a weapon, but you cannot control it-” Wu cut himself off as Garmadon gave him a sharp look. He looked almost offended.

“It was all I had, aside from the skulkin, for a decade.” He hissed. “This is not the same as throwing out an old sword.”

Ah. Wu’s eyes widened in realization. “You got attached.” He said quietly. Garmadon looked away.

“I gave it orders. It fulfilled them. It just didn’t know …” He muttered, seemingly ignoring Wu’s statement. He had assumed that it would know. He didn’t see why it wouldn't. It was his shadow, after all. It was possible, he thought uneasily, that it had known and just not cared; but that somehow unsettled him less than the idea that it had no idea who Misako was. He took a deep breath. “I have been… less in control of it than I once was.” He confessed. Once, it had acted entirely off of his own will, the connection close and complete enough that he could sense what it sensed. He doesn’t know when he started to give it orders aloud, and when it started to respond aloud in turn, only that it felt more right. He doesn’t know when that became a necessity. 

He wants to say that he doesn’t know why he never saw that as a warning sign. He knows. 

He sighed. “I won’t destroy it,” He concluded, continuing quickly before Wu could respond. “But I will get it under control. And once I have it on a tight leash again, neither of us are going anywhere.” He snarled. He had no plans of being banished again. (And the idea of banishing his shadow didn’t sit right with him. Then again, did throwing out a weapon ever feel good?)

Wu frowned. “...I took no pleasure in banishing you, brother.”

“Good. So it shouldn’t be hard to agree to not do it again.”

Wu tensed very slightly. He wouldn’t look Garmadon in the eyes. That stung, but Garmadon kept quiet. He had the upper hand here, and he knew it; he just had to wait. “I will banish neither you nor your shadow to another realm, once we return to Ninjago.” Wu said eventually. He paused, choosing his words carefully. “But if either of you attack, I will defend myself however I must.”

That was fine. Garmadon didn’t expect Wu to just roll over and promise nonviolence forever, and for all the evil in his veins, he didn’t plan to start a fight with his brother. Not immediately. Not before he had a chance to reorient himself and gain a foothold in a realm that must have changed in his absence. Not unless Wu had something he really wanted. …He mostly didn’t plan to start a fight with his brother. “That will have to be good enough.” He said with a shrug. “How did you get here?”

“Traveler’s tea. But I used all that I had to get here.” Wu said. Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest idea to go, when he knew that he had no quick escape; but despite everything, he’d chosen to trust Garmadon that much. 

Garmadon didn’t look impressed. “Alright. There is only one way back that I know. There’s a portal atop the Mountain of Madness, but it’s a long and dangerous road.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Sure you wouldn’t.” Garmadon looked up at the sky. “We should leave. Before it really gets dark…”

…

It woke from the sound of whispering outside.

Garmadon’s shadow lifted its head, blinking wearily. It had curled up to sleep almost like a cat, half-melted into a puddle of darkness. The last few… days, it thinks… had been spent in a semi-solid, semi-aware state. Hiding from the cold, hiding from the dread of thinking about the prophecy, and literally hiding from the probably-large number of people who wanted revenge by now. It slowly pulled itself upright, listening.

“Are you sure that he’s in here?”

“No. But this is the only shelter for miles. If it requires rest in the same way that we do, then this is the best option available to it.”

…Shit, they were talking about it, weren’t they? The shadow quickly sunk into the darkness. Decentralizing, spreading out through the cave’s shadows, giving itself a million different points to coalesce from. Every inch of that darkness watched as Kai stepped into the cave.

Flames licked along the Sword of Fire, skittering and dancing over the surface. Kai held it close to his chest as he looked cautiously around. He was using it as a torch, clearly, but the shadow remembered how it could burn. It flinched back at the light, restrategizing. The cave wasn’t all that big. If Kai wanted to, he could light it all up at once and force the shadow out of hiding. The flame was barely low enough now to offer other options. There was enough darkness behind Kai for an ambush- but it had heard at least one ninja outside as backup. The shadows along the walls were a pathway towards the exit- but again, more ninja. 

It was trapped. (It wondered, briefly, if it felt so horrible to others when it had them cornered. It dismissed the thought. It knew the answer. It knew that it had tried damn hard to inflict the same dread that it felt now.) It was one thing to face the ninja when they interrupted one of its attacks, and ambushing them in their own monastery was fine, but being found when they weren’t actively looking for a fight? Nuh-uh. No way. They wanted out . 

“...Hello?” Kai called hesitantly. No answer. Garmadon’s shadow hadn’t left any physical trace of its presence, but Kai could still sense something . Maybe he was picking up on the shadows being just a bit too heavy, a bit too dark. Maybe it was a slight irregularity in the way they responded to the light, flickering just a fraction of a second out of sync. Maybe it was just the feeling of being watched. Kai swallowed. “I…I’m here to talk to you. You ran off pretty quickly after…” He trailed off. He coughed awkwardly. “After what happened.”

Garmadon’s shadow considered this. Running, fighting, and just staying hidden were all doomed to fail. Kai didn’t seem openly hostile, at least? This could be a trap, but it didn’t get the impression that the ninja would prefer lulling it into a false sense of security over just attacking when it was cornered. If Kai was offering to talk, there were probably worse ideas than talking him at face value. Cautiously, it began to emerge from the darkness.

It coalesced slowly, careful not to startle Kai, and careful to give itself the ability to change course quickly if needed. Kai’s grip on his sword tightened slightly, but he made no move to strike the forming shape. It rose from the ground a couple of feet ahead of him, making and keeping eye contact from the second the glow of its eyes sparked. It took its time, letting itself fully settle into the weight of solid mass before speaking. Giving itself time to think. 

“What is there to talk about?” It hissed. Kai had already been giving it a strange look, but now he blinked in surprise.

“Oh, you do talk.” He murmured. The shadow bristled. 

“Of course I do.” It huffed, crossing its arms. 

Kai winced apologetically. “Sorry.” They both stood there for a few moments of awkward silence. Whatever speech Kai had intended to give, coming up with it and saying it were two different matters. “What are your pronouns?” He blurted.

“Huh?”

“We never asked, so we’ve just kind of been guessing when talking about you? Which, I don’t want to keep doing that anymore, we’ve guessed he/him, we’ve guessed it/its, we’ve guessed they-”

“He/it.” The shadow said quickly, mostly just to make Kai stop talking so that it could think. (Although. It’s mentally referred to itself as “it” for as long as it can remember, and it’s perfectly happy to keep doing that, but thinking of itself as “him”... it-he- kind of likes that? It feels right. Hm. Something to think about later.) It tried to refocus. “You’ve been talking about me?”

“Well, yeah. It’s a pretty big deal. You being the green ninja and all.” Something unpleasant must have shown on its face, judging by the way Kai stopped and the look he gave it. Pitying? Was that pity? The idea of someone expressing that for it was bizarre. 

“And you think that changes anything?” The shadow snapped, crossing its arms. “I’m still the shadow of Garmadon. I’m still his harbinger. His weapon. A copy of him.” It sneered. Kai raised an eyebrow, silently looking over it. …Was Kai supposed to be taller than it? Trying not to draw attention, it quickly looked over itself.

It was not currently a copy of Garmadon. Not in appearance, anyways. It hadn’t realized, but as it manifested from the darkness, it had taken the other form that it had learned. Not a complete disguise, still visibly made out of solid shadow and dark magic, but very distinct in shape from its creator. It tensed and looked away. It was grateful that it hadn’t gone so far as to accidentally mimic real skin and blood; at least the ninja couldn’t see it flush with embarrassment. 

“Well, you haven’t attacked since.” Kai commented. He paused, looking around. “...Don’t you get cold here?”

It did. It really did. And the longer it spent like this- awake and solid and far too aware of its surroundings- the more it could feel it. It held back a miserable shiver. “Why do you care?” It hissed. Its tone wasn’t as harsh as it intended, and it knew that Kai noticed. 

“There’s enough room for you in the monastery.”

The shadow paused. It stared at Kai. The ninja stared back, not giving away any hint that he wasn’t serious. “...There’s a catch.” It said uneasily. Horribly, it found itself hoping that there wasn’t. To be someplace safe and warm while it awaited its fate… that had to be better than the alternative. 

“Well, kind of.” Kai said. Of course there was a catch. “We are going to have to kick you out if you try to attack us. So, try not to do that.”

…There had to be more than that. “But why ?” It insisted.

“You don’t have anywhere else to go, do you?”

“I’m waiting for Garmadon.” It said. That wasn’t quite an answer, and it didn’t know what would happen when its creator actually found it, but that was the most honest it was willing to be. Something shifted in Kai’s expression, but the shadow wasn’t sure how to read that.

“Do you have anywhere to go- anyone to go with- who is currently in the realm?” Kai clarified. The shadow’s silence said enough. Kai let out a slow breath as he thought, hesitating before putting down his sword and holding out his hand with a hopeful smile. “Wu left to go find Garmadon. They’ll be back soon, and staying with us has to be better than staying here. We’re not going to just leave you to freeze in the middle of nowhere, we’re not assholes.”

The shadow wasn’t stupid . There were definitely motives Kai wasn’t admitting to, or maybe wasn’t even fully aware of himself. Maybe he wanted to stop it from attacking people again as soon as it got over the shock of everything. Maybe he wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t run and force them all to track it down again once Wu and Garmadon arrived. Maybe he just wanted to keep the Green Ninja around, regardless of what the Green Ninja was.

But at the same time, Kai seemed to mean what he said. And the shadow felt this… pull. Something welling up from deep inside it, or reaching from somewhere very far away; like fate. Whispering to it to go with the ninja. It could just ignore it. The feeling wasn’t so strong that the shadow couldn’t choose to turn away. 

But it was cold.

It made up its mind and grabbed Kai’s hand. “Just until Garmadon gets back.” 

Kai nodded. “Yeah. In the meantime, welcome to the team, um…” The smile faded off of Kai’s face. “...Hey, what’s your name?”

“I don’t have one.” It said. It frowned at the dismayed expression on Kai’s face, feeling a strange pang of nervousness at the thought that it had upset the ninja before even getting to leave the cave. It was scared that Kai would change his mind, it realized. “I don’t need one.” It added hastily.

“We’ve got to call you something, though.” Kai mused, brow furrowing.

The shadow shrugged. “Make something up. I don’t care.” It did, a little. This suddenly felt like a very big thing to leave in Kai’s hands; it was definitely going to reject anything stupid Kai called it.

Kai seemed preoccupied with this now, muttering mostly to himself. He’d let go of its hand, rubbing his chin as he thought. “Shadow. No, that’s too obvious. Green- same problem. Man, what do you even call a clone of Lord Garmadon…” He paused. A smile tugged at his lips. “Ford Garmadon. Lloyd Garmadon.”

The shadow’s eyes brightened slightly. Oh, it liked that one, actually. Something about that clicked pleasantly with it, in almost the same way that saying its pronouns out loud did. “I could go with that.”

Kai blinked, snapping out of a mental search for more puns on lord. “What? Ford?”

Lloyd- ooh, it could get used to that- shook its head. “No. I like Lloyd, you can call me Lloyd.” It said, trying to keep its tone casual. It didn’t want to let on that it was liking the idea of having a name more than it thought it would.

Kai had been joking. He’d been joking, and now the shadowy copy of Lord Garmadon (not looking much like a copy now, though) was named Lloyd Garmadon . …But it seemed happy. It looked like it was trying to hide it, but Kai could see the hint of a smile on its face. It seemed softer, more genuine than the grin when it was about to attack. Even knowing that it could still attack at any moment, Kai couldn’t help but take this as hope that it wouldn’t.

“Alright. Welcome to the team, Lloyd.”

Chapter Text

Lloyd was not a good addition to the team.

This was fine, as far as it was concerned, because it didn’t want to be part of the team and it was sure that nobody else wanted it to be either. It was here because it was the Green Ninja, but… it wasn’t even a ninja. If it wasn’t for the prophecy, it never would have been invited into the monastery. It had tried to watch a training session once; partially for lack of anything else to do, partially out of the feeling that it should at least stay familiar with how the ninja fought if this all went wrong. That had been a disaster. They'd all been sending him far too many wary glances to keep an eye on what their actual sparring partners were doing. After about the fifth time someone got whacked in the face while staring at it, it left. (It’s pretty sure the only way that could have gone worse was if it tried to join in.)

It tried to stay out of the way. That should have been easier than it was, with its ability to melt into darkness. But the ninja got so jumpy whenever it stepped back out of the shadows. After maybe the third or fourth time it made someone scream when it just wanted to get a better look at something or ask a question, the lights started getting left on in more rooms. Aside from making it impossible for it to hide, that also just gave it a headache. It was just getting used to how much brighter everything was outside the Underworld, and now being indoors didn't even offer relief.

Thankfully, there was one thing that offset that and made the whole situation a net positive. (Aside from the fact that the alternative was freezing out in the wilderness waiting for its creator to find and destroy it… but it was trying very hard not to think about that.) The ninja had given it its own room. It had been set up hastily, and Lloyd expected that giving it its very own room had been a matter of debate up until it arrived. A spare room had been cleared of the worst of the dust. A futon had been rolled out onto the floor and piled with blankets with the tags still on. The room’s sole window had been covered up by thick curtains, and when Lloyd pulled them aside, it found that the window had actually been boarded up. The room was empty and dismal and eerily quiet when the door was closed.

It was all perfect. Lloyd was used to the chill of the Underworld’s darkness, and had started to enjoy the warmth that Ninjago’s blinding sun could bring. The realization that something could be dark and warm at the same time… he had spent much of that first day blissfully buried beneath the pile of blankets. So before long, he had resigned himself to just staying in that one room. He had no need to eat or drink unless he wanted to, so there was nothing really requiring it to leave. Seemed like a great solution, honestly. He could stay nice and comfortable, and the ninja didn’t need to be bothered by his presence. Win-win!

That lasted less than a week.

Lloyd stirred at the sound of knocking on his door. He was nestled into a cocoon of blankets, relaxed into a mostly-solid state where his edges faded and blurred into the surrounding darkness. Those edges became sharper, shadows curling back into skin, as Lloyd craned his neck to look towards the door.  “...Hello?” He asked, half-unsure that he had actually heard knocking. There was a pause.

“Lloyd?” Called a voice from the other side of the door. Cole, if it remembered right. “Are you…” Cole trailed off, as if he’d wanted to fill the silence before actually figuring out what he wanted to say. “Can I open the door?” He finally asked.

Lloyd blinked, silently noting that Cole hadn't actually asked to come in. "Um, sure?" It answered uncertainly. The doorknob turned slowly, and Cole nudged the door open with a foot. He was holding a plate of something in both hands. Lloyd tilted its head curiously, but it couldn't quite tell what it was from this angle.

Cole didn't step inside. He hovered in the doorway, staring down at Lloyd. The shadow held still, waiting for the ninja to make the first move. What could he possibly want with it? If he'd come to tell it that Garmadon had arrived early, there certainly would have been enough noise that Lloyd would have known something was up before now.

Instead of stepping inside, Cole sat down. “We haven’t seen you in a while.” He said gently. Lloyd narrowed its eyes, slipping out of the blankets so it could fully face the door. Where was this going? It didn’t respond to Cole, simply nodding.

Cole looked… almost disappointed. As if he’d been expecting more of an answer. He shook off the expression before Lloyd could think of how to react. "We were getting kind of worried." He tried.

Lloyd scoffed. It's mind was racing to try and figure out what Cole was trying to do. "There’s nothing here that can hurt me." It said dismissively. It didn’t realize the implied "including you" until it was already done speaking. Was it good or bad if Cole interpreted that as a threat? It might get him to back off whatever plan he had, but Lloyd really didn’t want to give him a reason to try and kick it out. A reason beyond who and what it was, anyways. "Why would any of you care anyways?" It asked bluntly.

Cole blinked. "We thought it might be a good idea to get to know you." He said. He went on, something about how Lloyd was staying with them for however long and not wanting everything to be so awkward, but Lloyd wasn't really listening. That was a lie. That was a lie. The ninja wanting to get to know it? The notion reeked of some kind of trap.

"Why?" It asked bluntly, cutting Cole off in the middle of a sentence.

Cole frowned. "Sorry?"

"Why? Why do you want to get to know me? Isn't everything working out fine with me just sitting in this room?"

Cole bit his lip. "I know you probably don't want to talk about the prophecy." He started. He was choosing his words carefully as he went off-script of his plans, but Lloyd was already tensing. "But even setting aside whatever comes after Garmadon gets here, you're still going to be here a while. I don’t like the idea of you spending all that time in self-imposed exile."

"I did pretty well in non-self-imposed exile." Lloyd pointed out, partially just for the fun of poking holes in an argument. Granted, it had been "born" in exile, hadn’t had much idea of what it was missing, pretty much always had someone to talk to if it wanted, had a clear sense of purpose for when the exile ended, didn't have any looming prophecies contradictory to everything it was made for to think about when it was silent…

Something must have shown in its face to cause Cole’s own expression to soften. "Look. Freaky shadow demon of solidified rage from the depths of the Underworld you may be, but you're still a person. And it's not really good for people to spend all of their time alone. Nobody’s expecting you to be everyone's best friend all of a sudden, but it would be nice for you to come hang out with us at least sometimes."

"You guys didn't seem so enthused whenever I did that." Lloyd deadpanned. To its surprise, that actually made Cole wince.

"We'll do better." Cole promised. He sounded genuinely apologetic. Hm. Lloyd didn’t answer, tilting its head. The silence stretched on just a little longer than Cole was comfortable with, judging by the awkward way he cleared his throat. "Anyways, I brought you this. To prove that I mean it." He said, gesturing down at the thing on the plate.

Lloyd squinted at the thick brown triangle. A coat of something glossy covered the outside and went between layers of something lighter brown with a fluffy texture. "...What is it?"

Cole blinked. "It’s cake? …You eat it?" He added after a few more seconds of silence.

The Underworld didn't have a large variety of food options. You could have the dusty, sparse meat of the spiders that wove webs across its ceiling, or you could scrape bitter moss out of the sides of pits that spurted burning gasses. Both rotted quickly. If Garmadon couldn’t finish what he gathered in one day, he found it better to ask his shadow to eat with him than bother trying to preserve it. Lloyd didn’t like the taste of any of it more than Garmadon did, and it didn't see any practical advantage to feeding it over just tossing the stuff in the lava, but… Garmadon seemed to enjoy having his meals with his shadow. If for whatever reason it gave his creator some comfort to eat together, Lloyd would put up with it.

If this was the olive branch the ninja were extending, Lloyd was willing to take it. Couldn’t be too much worse than spider legs. It melted into the shadows, and there was just enough time for Cole to furrow his brow in confusion before it reformed right in front of him. Lloyd winced as Cole flinched; scaring the ninja wasn't its intention. It silently reached out and took the plate. It picked up the fork, bracing itself as it brought a bite of cake to its mouth.

…Holy shit.

Cole watched Lloyd’s eyes light up- literally, the glow doubling in intensity- as it yanked the plate closer to itself, forgoing the fork and just shoveling in cake by the handful. The texture, the smell, that sweet flavor that was instantly a new favorite… it was so new and intense that it was almost overstimulating, but Lloyd had no intention of stopping. This was its first taste of the idea that food could be anything more than something to be tolerated.

It was licking the last of the frosting from its fingers when Cole spoke. "There’s more in the kitchen." Lloyd paused with its tongue still half-out. Cole smiled. "If you come hang out with us, I can save some for you."

Lloyd knew a bribe when he heard it. This was an offer he was hardly opposed to taking, and yet… "You all really want to spend time with me?" He questioned. He meant to sound scathing in its disbelief, to get Cole to reveal whatever hidden catch or trick came with that bizarre idea, but the words came out almost timidly. Cole nodded. Lloyd bit his lip, thinking it over. He didn’t understand why they would, but… he couldn't help but feel curious. He wanted to understand.

“Only if there’s cake.” It huffed proudly, sticking out its hand for a handshake to seal the deal. Cole took its hand, pulling it to its feet instead of shaking. Cole beamed as Lloyd gave him a startled stare. Lloyd tilted its head, making an attempt to copy the expression. It was close enough to make Cole’s smile widen a bit as he turned around, pulling Lloyd with him out the door. The other ninja must have been in the kitchen. The echoes of some loud, animated conversation bounced down the hallway towards them, the words indistinct but the joy clear.

Unseen, Lloyd’s smile turned genuine as it followed Cole towards the sound of laughter.

…

Training was still out of the question for Lloyd. He was trusted enough by now that the ninja would probably allow him to join them, but he wasn’t all that interested. Learning how to fight better held very little appeal, when the prophecy promised a battle in his future that he would rather not win. Besides, he had pointed out, he didn’t need any help becoming more dangerous. He had kicked the ninjas’ collective asses before. (They seemed pretty irritated at the reminder. But they hadn’t asked it to train since, so…)

It was probably a good thing that it had waited until Wu was gone for its whole ambush plan, Lloyd mused. Judging by the way they talked, never being around for training would mean never being around the ninja, period, with how much he made them do. (Garmadon had talked about Wu, sometimes, when he was feeling particularly nostalgic, or resentful, or both. Lloyd didn’t entirely trust the ninja or his creator to give an entirely objective description of Wu, but he’d certainly gotten the impression of someone who would be an agonizingly strict teacher.) Lloyd had to wonder if he would give in and train or die of boredom first.

Mercifully, Lloyd could instead waste time with Jay as he reorganized his comics. Lloyd hummed, lying on Jay’s bed and kicking its feet idly as it flipped through a stolen comic book. Jay was kneeling next to a bookshelf, a stack of comics next to him as he rearranged his collection with meticulous care. Aside from the aforementioned humming, they’d settled into a comfortable quiet.

Lloyd broke it with a quiet “What?” Jay turned to look at him. He’d said the same thing while reading comics before, but usually a little more enthusiastically than that. Lloyd just looked and sounded incredulous. Noticing Jay staring, he picked up the comic and waved it at him. “The big goop guy just turned off his sword.”

Jay took a moment to process that. “What?”

“He turned off his sword.” Lloyd repeated. When Jay continued to stare, Lloyd turned the comic book to face an open page towards Jay. It tapped a shadowy claw on a panel for emphasis.

“Yeah…?” Jay said after a few more seconds of silence. It was Lloyd’s turn to stare blankly.

“You normally can’t do that with swords.”

“Wha- with real swords, yeah, but an Illuma-Sword has to be able to turn off-”

“A what?”

Jay paused. “A- An Illuma-Sword, swords not made of lasers don’t glow-”

“Jay, I’ve seen a real sword glow-”

“Did you think the Imperial Sludge was holding the Sword of Fire-”

“HIS NAME IS THE IMPERIAL SLUDGE?” Lloyd’s mouth hung open, expression torn between amusement and confusion. Jay’s own expression was entirely confusion.

“How do you not know the name of the most famous villain in the series?” Jay marveled. Lloyd scowled.

“They haven’t said his name yet!” It said, like that was a reasonable excuse. Jay stood up, walking over and taking the book out of Lloyd’s claws. (And ignoring the indignant “Hey!” in response.)

“This is the twentieth issue in this run.” Jay said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s kind of assumed that you know what’s going on at this point?”

“It had the coolest-looking cover. Sue me.”

“But seriously, you don’t know what an Illumi-Sword is or who the Imperial Sludge is?” It’s not like Jay’s never met anybody who wasn’t a Starfarer fan, but the series had such a grip on pop culture that knowledge that basic was inescapable.

Lloyd looked away, shifting uncomfortably as if it wanted to just melt back into the shadows. “The Underworld didn’t really have a lot of comics.” …Oh. Well, now Jay just felt like an asshole. He bit his lip.

“No movies either?” He asked.

Lloyd snarled, shadows swirling around his mouth to form his fangs. “Yeah, weirdly enough, the skulkin actually love building movie theaters. They make sure to get the latest releases from across the realms so that I can stay up-to-date with Ninjago’s pop culture.” It sneered sarcastically.

“Well, do you want to watch the Starfarer movies with me?”

…Lloyd’s fangs dissipated. “Yeah, sure, I’ve got nothing else to do.” And it was growing to genuinely enjoy spending time with the ninja, but it would die before admitting that.

Jay grinned. “I’ll get the popcorn and the chart!” He said, rushing out of the room.

“What, already?” Lloyd asked.

“You said you had nothing else to do!” Jay shouted back. Lloyd snorted in amusement. Fair enough. It put down the comic book, stretching before vanishing into darkness. It flowed from shadow to shadow cast by the clutter in Jay’s room, popping back into solid form and stepping into the hallway in one fluid motion. He’d lately found himself moving through shadows for fun more than for transportation, preferring to walk through the halls of the monastery when he needed to get somewhere. There was a certain pleasant novelty to not having to sneak around everywhere. (He guessed that also wasn’t necessary back in the Underworld, but skulking through the darkness seemed like the expected thing to do there.)

It could hear popping coming from the kitchen already. Jay had that handled, so Lloyd went straight for the room with the TV. The ninja had put in heavy blackout curtains over the exit to the courtyard, hoping to make things a little more comfortable for Lloyd. It had grown to learn that it wasn’t light that bothered it so much as the absence of shadow. The light of the TV was the kind of light that seemed to accent the darkness more than destroy it, and Lloyd was growing to enjoy that glow. Especially since that light being on meant that one or more of the ninja was present and distracted. Lloyd entered, seeing Kai and Zane sitting on the couch. Kai was hunched over his controller, Zane’s eyes fixed unblinking on the screen. A slight smirk grew on Lloyd’s face. He padded silently forward.

“Hey.” He said, nonchalantly but quite loudly, as he leaned on the back of the couch and stuck his head between the two ninja. Kai screamed, practically flinging himself over the armrest as his limbs flailed into something vaguely resembling a fighting position. Zane twitched slightly. The momentary reversal of direction on the analog stick made his character miss a jump and plummet into a bottomless pit.

Lloyd snorted, dissolving into delighted cackling. A slight smile appeared on Zane’s face, and Kai relaxed, rearranging himself slightly to pass off his panicked defense as a meant-to-do-that casual pose. “Jeez. Y’know, sometimes you make it real easy to tell that you’re technically only ten.” Kai commented.

Lloyd stuck out its tongue, the perfect rebuttal. “You should wrap up. Jay wants to watch Starwalker with me.”

“Starfarer?”

“Whatever.”

“Does he have the chart?” Zane asked with mild curiosity.

“He did say something about getting a chart. Not sure what he meant by that.” Lloyd said. Zane nodded in understanding. Kai grimaced.

“Okay, that’s our cue to leave.” Kai said. He turned off the game, standing up and putting his controller next to the TV.

Lloyd blinked. “So is it bad if he gets out the chart?”

“Not really, but when we all met, him getting out the chart meant him explaining Starfarer lore to me for an hour. And I’ve seen enough of it to know what it’s called.”

“I didn’t mind it.” Zane hummed, though he also stood up and put away his controller.

“I didn’t really either, but I don’t want to sit through that twice!” Kai said as he walked with Zane out of the room. Lloyd rolled his eyes, flipping over the back of the couch and directly into a seated position. (Man, it wishes it had done that when Kai and Zane were still in the room. That must have looked so cool.)

Lloyd didn’t have to wait more than a minute before Jay rushed into the room. He had a giant bowl of popcorn in one hand, a rolled-up poster-sized sheet of paper tucked under the other arm. “Had to double back, sorry for the wait, forgot I actually still had the chart in my room.” Jay gasped. He plopped the bowl of popcorn onto the couch (spilling a few precious kernels onto the cushions, which Lloyd indignantly picked up), but didn’t sit down yet. He knelt on the floor in front of the couch, rolling out the sheet of paper. Lloyd could now see an elaborate flowchart, printed out and given handwritten annotations, color-coded lines intersecting and overlapping in chaotic patterns. Jay gestured proudly at it. “Okay, so, you’re going to love this…”

And with that, Jay launched into a massive lecture at lightning speed. Lloyd couldn’t quite track it, between a barrage of titles and names and timelines he didn’t know, and Jay’s incredible ability to jump from tangent to tangent without ever coming back to the main topic, but he got that Jay was trying to pick a movie for it to watch first. Lloyd understood from Kai and Zane’s reactions that Jay did this to everyone he could, but… it made something feel pleasantly warm in its chest, seeing Jay trying to make sure that its proper introduction to Starfarer was perfect. Seeing Jay feel comfortable chattering at it like this. Seeing Jay want to share something that mattered to him with it.

“So, which movie is your favorite?” Lloyd said, once he could find a moment between Jay’s words to say something. Jay paused, finger still resting on where one of the lines split into two.

“This one.” He said, dragging his finger back along the line to point at a title. “It’s kind of not the best for beginners though, it expects that you’ve watched some of the other movies and read one of the tie-in novels, and there’s a couple more to really fill out the backstories that you have to watch to really get the full impact of some of the scenes…”

“I adjust quickly.” Lloyd said. “I’ll pick up what’s going on. Besides, if I get lost, you can just explain it to me.” That seemed to be just the right thing to say. Jay’s face lit up. The lightning ninja grinned wildly, hands flapping for a few seconds before he seemed to get himself under control. 

“Okay, awesome, AWESOME, just let me get the remote...”

...

“So all that text is supposed to catch me up on what's going on?”

“More or less, yeah.”

”That's convenient.“

...

”Why are they setting their laser guns to stun?“

”I mean, heroes don't just go around blasting people-“

”People who are actively trying to kill them right now? I mean, I think that's time to start blasting. Unless the bad guy lasers are also set to stun.“

”They aren't, but it doesn't matter so much because their Illumi-swords can deflect the lasers anyways. Like that, watch.“

”Ah. ...Does anybody in this setting have like, a real gun? Can the swords deflect bullets?“

”I am SO GLAD you asked, just wait a couple more movies and I have a comic to show you.“

...

”So the insect people are the good guys?“

”Mm hm! They're super friendly. Not a lot of sci-fi stories really make the bug aliens nice, they're usually trying to eat the protagonists.“

”I mean, I kinda get it. One time in the Underworld a spider tried to eat me.“

”...Oh.“

”Didn't work out like it planned.“

...

At some point, Lloyd had ended up leaning against Jay. It was so invested in the movie that it barely noticed; and wouldn't have noticed for a while longer if Jay hadn't tensed up. Lloyd frowned, a pang of unease striking it as it looked up at Jay's face. ”Jay?“

Jay was staring right at the screen, slightly pale with his face frozen in an awkward grimace. ”Nothing, I just...“ He cleared his throat. ”Just remembered what this scene is. Might not be a great one for you.“ He added the last sentence under his breath.

Lloyd frowned, sitting up. He looked back at the screen. One of the heroes was walking cautiously into some darkened room, weapon drawn. The music had grown slow and ominous, overlaid with the sound of heavy breathing, bordering on hyperventilation. The acting had been all cocky grins and witty one-liners, and now Lloyd saw genuine tension and fear on the actor's face. (Later, Jay would tell him about how the actor had pushed for more serious scenes with his character while he could. This was the most he ever really got.)

”Father.“ He shakily called, and Lloyd's heart plummeted. ”Come and face me.“ The light of a red Illumi-sword filled the room. The scene suddenly began speeding past in a blur, and Lloyd turned to see Jay pointing the remote at the screen like getting it closer to the TV would make the fast-forward go quicker. He was almost falling off the couch.

Jay didn't relax until the scene was over, leaning back as the other protagonists ran through a hallway towards an escape pod. ”Sorry about that.“ He mumbled. ”I just figured you... wouldn't want to see that.“

It didn't need to, so it took Lloyd until now to realize that it had forgotten to breathe until the scene was over. ”It's... it's fine.“ It said. ”...Who won?“

Jay didn't make eye contact when answering. ”The Imperial Sludge did. That guy wasn't the MAIN protagonist, so I guess he was a little... disposable, to really show off his villainy. ...I'm sorry, if I had remembered that scene was in this movie-“

”It's fine.“ Lloyd repeated, tone just a bit harsher than he meant. Jay winced. “I appreciate the concern.” Lloyd amended. “Besides, I don't think I fall into the 'hero with an evil dad' archetype anyways.”

Jay paused. “Why not?”

“...” Lloyd looked away from Jay. “I'm not a hero, for one.” To its surprise, Jay frowned at that.

“I'm really not.” Lloyd emphasized before Jay could say anything.

Jay shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Well, maybe not a hero yet. But I don't think... I don't think it's fair for you to just dismiss yourself like that, you know? You're a good person. Or at least, uh, you could be if you wanted to.“

Lloyd stared. “Jay, I tried to kill you.” It had almost forgotten until it said it, and it was hit by a sharp pang of guilt. The slash in Jay's chest was barely healed, and it was definitely leaving a faint, but noticeable, scar.

“Do you still want to?”

“Bwuh- of COURSE NOT!“

”Yeah, you don't really sound like a villain-“

”Do you define bad people by whether or not they want to murder you specifically-“

“Lloyd.” Jay fixed it with an unimpressed look. “Can you just trust me when I say that I trust you?”

“...” Lloyd blinked, leaning back into the couch. It could feel an itch against its neck, meeting the clumsily-sewn borders of a patch where it had clawed through the couch. “...I don't think that I deserve that.”

Jay turned back to the TV. He hadn't remembered to pause during their short argument, and they were already nearing the movie's end. Neither of them had been paying attention, but Jay couldn't muster up the urge to rewind. It wasn't like the movie itself mattered so much. “Well. I'll just have to keep saying it until you believe me.”

Chapter Text

Lloyd had no intentions of ever admitting it, but he liked to help with the dishes.

It had taken a while- the ninja still seemed to worry about chasing it away or pissing it off- but it had eventually been forced into doing some of the monastery chores. It lived here now, after all, and was participating in normal human activities enough that it was generating at least some of the mess that continually built up. It had groaned and complained for a little while, but accepted being put on the chore rotation with a minimum of fuss. At least, a minimum of fuss compared to Jamanakai Village.

Zane did most of the cooking and most of the dish washing. Lloyd had absolutely no experience with either when it arrived. It was not allowed to cook (its one attempt had been enough) but it was welcomed for dish washing. It was one of the easiest chores to take responsibility for, which is what it would tell the other ninja, but it was also a nice chance to hang out with Zane. Lloyd had grown to love time with the rest of the ninja, but they were all so loud. It couldn't help but be overwhelmed sometimes. Zane could talk as much as the others when he wanted to, but he didn't seem to feel the need to fill the time with conversation whenever he was with Lloyd, and he was surprisingly good at telling whenever somebody was feeling burnt out. Doing the dishes with Zane was a nice breather, something to reenergize Lloyd that wasn't hiding away from the others all alone in its room.

Something was different about today, though.

Lloyd stared at Zane out of the corner of its eyes while it scrubbed at a stubborn splotch of sauce on a plate. Zane didn't seem to notice. He was staring down at a cleaned metal pot, standing there motionless instead of putting it on the drying rack. Zane was often quiet during the familiar routine of doing the dishes, yes, but this was a different kind of quiet. The kind of troubled quiet of someone thinking about things they don't know if they can or should say. Movement caused Lloyd's eyes to flicker to the window. He watched a falcon perch in the tree outside. The falcon looked back at him with a surprisingly intelligent gaze. 

Zane quietly sighed. Lloyd looked over to see that Zane was also looking at the falcon, a faint half-smile appearing on his face before fading away. Lloyd blinked. It rapped its nails (not claws, it was getting better at keeping claws away when it came to delicate tasks) against the plate, thinking of what to say. If it should say anything. It couldn't help the nagging feeling that it could only make things worse. Still... "Are you okay?" It asked.

Zane wasn't the type to give answers that he didn't mean. He kept staring out the window at the falcon as he thought, while Lloyd waited patiently. "I did have something I wanted to ask you." He said, almost hesitantly.

Probably something to do with Garmadon or his plans, Lloyd assumed. "Go for it." He said.

"You were not born so much as you were created." Zane said slowly. "Made for a specific purpose."

Lloyd stopped scrubbing at the plate. "...Yeah. I was." It was starting to feel a bit uneasy, a bit awkward.

Zane gave it an apologetic look. "I do not mean to pry or make you uncomfortable, but... what is it like?"

That wasn't where Lloyd was expecting this line of questioning to go. "Being someone's shadow?"

"Not exactly. I should be more specific. What is it like knowing what you are for? Knowing that you have a purpose, a concrete reason you were made alive?"

Lloyd bit its lip, feeling conscious that the texture and taste were false imitations of flesh. "Has that kind of thing been weighing on your mind lately?" It asked instead of answering.

Zane nodded. "I have been feeling..." He trailed off, as if he didn't know the right words. "Somewhat lost, in a metaphorical manner. ...I am not like the others, Lloyd."

"Well, I'm not exactly like the others either." Lloyd said with a grin, letting its habitual human disguise visibly melt into the solid shadow that it was. Zane didn't respond. Lloyd grimaced as it realized that the joke hadn't landed, recreating the illusion of skin.

"You adapt more easily than I do." Zane said. "We are all friends- at least I think we are- but..." Struggling for words again. Lloyd rarely saw Zane so hesitant. "They laugh at me." He finally said. "I do not always know how I am meant to act. I do not always know what I am meant to say or do. If I could say with confidence what I am for, perhaps that would make it easier-"

"You don't want that." Lloyd growled. Zane turned to it with a look of surprise. He hadn't heard such venom in its voice before. He reflexively glanced down at Lloyd's hands, seeing shadow solidifying into claws. Lloyd didn't seem to even notice. "It's not... a purpose isn't you, or at least isn't going to stay you."

"It's a starting point-"

"My purpose is to kill you." Lloyd interrupted. "Kill you, kill Kai, kill Cole, kill Jay, kill Nya. Wait here until Wu comes back. Kill him. If my creator comes along, then the next steps depend on what he wants me to do. It would probably be more killing. Oh, and there's a prophecy. So you can tack on killing Garmadon to my purpose, if that counts."

Zane was quiet for a few seconds. "I think that if I have a purpose," and he did, he could feel it bone-deep, some sense that there was something meant to drive him, the details agonizingly slipping through his fingers. "it probably does not involve any amount of murder."

Lloyd smiled dryly. "That sounds nice."

They returned to the dishes in silence. Zane put the pot down as Lloyd finished off that stubborn sauce stain, reaching for another plate. The falcon preened itself idly outside. Zane had never seen so much as a feather out of place on it, in the days since it had first appeared at the monastery. When it preened like this, it seemed to Zane to be more out of habit than necessity; was it for the pleasure of it, perhaps? Could a bird derive satisfaction or comfort from the familiar motions of cleaning itself? He'd grown hesitant about voicing such questions aloud. They were strange things to ask, he'd learned.

Still, he wondered. Zane looked up as Lloyd cleared his throat. "I'm sorry if I sounded kind of harsh." Lloyd murmured. It was staring down at the dishes as it spoke. "It's just... if you're looking for a purpose to define you, having one all set up for you and known from the start isn't that great. Especially if you choose not to follow it."

Zane didn't look any less troubled by that. "I do have something to say about that, and I sincerely hope that I do not offend you." He paused, as if waiting for Lloyd to say something.

"I've got a thick skin. Go ahead."

"Knowing what you were made for still informs who you are. You may not follow your purpose, but how much do you define yourself by your defiance of it? Having a destiny to reject is still some form of guidance. ...Lloyd?" The shadow had gone silent, and Zane felt a spark of fear at the thought that his words had hurt.

"...I don't know." Lloyd said, quickly and almost a whisper. He shook his head, looking up at Zane. "It's kind of a moot point anyways, as far as you're concerned. Humans aren't really made to do anything but exist."

Zane tilted his head. "Are you jealous?" He asked. It was a legitimate question; it seemed to him like a fair thing to ask, given the rest of the conversation.

Lloyd laughed, as if Zane was teasing. "Nah. I wouldn't want to be human."

"That isn't quite what I-"

"Just make sure you appreciate it, alright?" Lloyd interrupted, softly and sadly enough that Zane couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence.

"...Alright."

...

"Zane!? ZANE?" Kai cupped his hands around his mouth as he called for his teammate, trudging through the deep snow. The other ninja walked with him, shivering as they searched. Their gis were made to be practical in most environments, but this cold was harsh enough to make them all wish they'd come with matching winter coats. Kai turned to Lloyd with a furrowed brow. "Are you sure he came this way?"

Lloyd nodded firmly. He was the only one here who couldn't be truly hurt by the cold, but he was worried enough that he was starting to shake slightly anyways. "He told me he was going to follow the falcon. It was definitely flying in this direction before they got out of sight." But there was always the chance that it had gone in a different direction after Lloyd couldn't watch anymore. And it had been a few hours, long after Lloyd expected Zane to return, before it had gathered the others and told them that he was missing. It would be strange for the Master of Ice to freeze to death, but the resistance common to Elemental Masters didn't mean real immunity. And there were all kinds of other possible dangers in the Birchwood Forest, and the place was just so big, and they might be wandering this place for hours while Zane-

Lloyd forced itself to breathe. Dwelling on its fears wasn't going to help anybody. "I'm going to scout ahead some." It said. It could move faster than the others could.

"Stay safe." Kai warned. "I know you can't be hurt easily, but if something takes you by surprise..." He trailed off.

Lloyd nodded. "I know. I'll be careful." With that, it sunk into the shadow of a tree and disappeared. A snowy forest wasn't the best place for it to travel like this. The sunlight, dim as it was, reflected off the sparkling snow and killed most of the darkness. Lloyd was lucky that it was approaching evening by now. The long, thin shadows cast by the birch trees were barely enough to travel through, but shadows were shadows. He flew through them like an arrow, switching tracks where they overlapped and searching for any sign of Zane.

He slowed when something strange caught his eye. He reemerged at the base of a tree, staring curiously at what he saw ahead of him. A birch tree, like the one whose shadow he'd just emerged from, but so much wider than any others in the forest. There was some strange symbol carved into a circle on the front of the tree; it looked old and faded, snow collecting in its ridges. As Lloyd cautiously stepped closer, he realized something even weirder. The symbol was in the middle of a door in the tree, one left open by just a crack.

It stood there, staring at the door. It had no doubt that this was what Zane had been looking for... whatever it was. Zane was almost certainly inside right now. So why couldn't it bring itself to move? Zane didn't come back. It thought doubtfully. Either he got into trouble here, or...

Whatever he found made him not want to come back.

Lloyd took a deep breath, steeling itself, before opening the door a little wider and slipping inside. It was pleasantly surprised to find that the door didn't creak; it had been bracing itself for the noise to alert whoever was waiting inside, and was met only with silence. Whoever made the hinges had done an excellent job, if they worked so smoothly after... definitely years and years of neglect. Lloyd wrinkled its nose, trying to remind itself that a creation of solid shadow, rage, and dark magic had no need to sneeze. FSM, this place was dusty. It was standing on a small platform, a rusty set of staircases leading down to- Lloyd edged closer to the railing to look- a small room, mostly dominated by tools and workbenches with a small oven and bed tucked off to the side. Lloyd's eyes widened as it saw Zane sitting against the wall, curled up and hugging his knees against his chest.

It couldn't see anyone else in the room, or any visible injuries on Zane, but it still had to get down there now. It slid down the stairway, still careful to be silent in case of unseen danger. "Zane?" It called cautiously when it reached the bottom. The Ice Ninja didn't even look up. His top of his gi was undone and his undershirt removed, leaving his chest exposed. Lloyd frowned, walking up closer. It stopped only when it saw the piece of paper laid out flat in front of Zane. It looked like... a blueprint? Lloyd tilted its head, eyes widening as it realized what it was seeing. These were the blueprints for a robot- an android- the edges torn and the ink faded, but still recognizable. And the face in the diagrams...

Lloyd turned to the copy of that face. "Oh, Zane." It said quietly. "I'm so sorry." Zane didn't respond right away. He unfolded slightly, fingers brushing over his chest. They stopped by a thin line running vertically almost up to his shoulders and down to his hips, fine enough that Lloyd wouldn't have seen it if he wasn't looking. Fine enough that Zane must have not seen it, for however long it had been since he'd left this place.

"There is a panel I can open, right here." He said hollowly. He gestured with his free hand to a cutaway in the blueprint. "There should be switches inside. Settings." Lloyd took a sharp breath in.

"We can glue it shut." The thought that anybody could just reach in and change Zane... it made Lloyd shudder.

"I don't want to." Zane answered, quiet but firm. "But I... I am a little afraid to open it. One of the switches should be a memory switch. Lloyd, do you remember our conversation about purpose?"

"I do."

"I felt certain I have one. And now I know that I do. Just... not what it is yet."

"...Do you want me to go get the others?"

Chapter Text

It should have been a dark and stormy day when Garmadon returned to Ninjago.

It would have been fitting, for the realm itself to recognize him, to tremble in fear. For the weather to become an omen, warning all around of the danger reemerging... and he was quite glad that it hadn't, actually. All that time banished to the infinite caverns of the Underworld, followed immediately by the permanent gloom of the Realm of Madness, meant that he'd grown to miss the sun quite a bit. A warm and clear day with a light, pleasant breeze made a poor herald, but a welcome change of pace from what he's endured over the past decade. If he were both more sentimental and more foolish, it would almost feel like he was being welcomed back.

He wasn't. But he could savor the warmth anyways. At least while it's still enjoyable. He thought, looking up at the stairs to the monastery with a deep sigh of irritation. Wu, already up several steps, turned back to look at him. "It isn't that difficult of a climb." Wu said, tone tinted with exasperation. "We've just climbed a much longer mountain after a much longer hike leaving the Realm of Madness."

"Which is why I don't want to climb another mountain." Garmadon snapped. All the same, he began to follow Wu up the stairs. It unnerved him, more than he wanted to admit, that he couldn't sense anything from his shadow. He had hoped that the feeling of disconnection from it stemmed from their separation across realms; all he'd been able to sense in the Realm of Madness was a vague feeling of presence, a knowledge in the back of his mind that his shadow was still alive. Entering Ninjago, the only thing that had changed was an increase in the sensation so small that he wouldn't have noticed, if he hadn't been paying careful attention. He hadn't expected a full telepathic connection of the type they hadn't had in years, but he'd hoped for something more useful (and more reassuring) than being able to tell that his shadow was somewhere in the same realm.

He couldn't be sure what his shadow felt in return, but he had hoped that it would have started looking for him by now. Back in the Underworld, if he had to leave it for whatever reason, it had always rushed almost anxiously to his side when he returned. It had taken a few hours to get from where they emerged into Ninjago to the base of this mountain, and their connection might not be as useful and reliable a tracking system as it once was, and Ninjago was less straightforward to navigate than the Underworld, but despite all the reasons Garmadon could think of not to worry, he still expected some sign of his shadow by now. (The idea that it was willfully ignoring or avoiding him crossed his mind; it was clearly out of his control already, if it had really attacked Misako. Somehow, the idea of it defecting to spread chaos on its own whims didn't occur to him as quickly, or seem half as frightening, as the idea that something had happened to it.)

Garmadon shook his head, trying to dismiss his worries. Whether he was reining it in or putting it down, he would need a clear head to deal with his shadow. He glanced towards his brother. Wu looked anxious and lost in thought, staring up at the still-distant monastery. Maybe talking to him would distract Garmadon from his own fears. "Think your ninja are doing fine all by themselves?" Garmadon asked. He meant to sound casual. He couldn't quite help himself; a mocking edge crept into his tone, almost carrying an ominous threat, even as part of him cringed at it.

Thankfully, Wu didn't rise to the bait. "I'm sure that they are." He said calmly, giving no sign that Garmadon had struck a nerve. "They've been improving quickly in their training. They work together well, and as young and inexperienced as they are, I have great faith that they will grow to be incredible ninja." Warm pride filled Wu's voice as he talked about his students. Garmadon rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure they will." Garmadon paused, ears perking at the sound of voices from the monastery up ahead. "Sounds like they're training." He said quietly. Wu's shoulders slumped with relief. Seems like he hadn't been completely certain of the ninjas' safety after all. It sounded like most of them weren't even training, Garmadon noted as he and Wu cleared the last few steps to the gates. He couldn't make out the words, but none of them sounded out of breath and he got the impression that they were cheering someone on. Wu's brow was furrowed in confusion as he quietly pushed open the door.

Wu and Garmadon both froze at the sight of a figure in a green gi racing through the training course. The ninja were all gathered in a loose circle around the course, shouting encouragement as the Green Ninja dodged obstacles and smacked targets at a frantic pace, almost running on all fours at points. Garmadon scanned the group, baffled. All four of the ninja were already accounted for, even including that girl he'd kidnapped. Had they just found a Green Ninja while Wu was gone, like coming home to kids who had picked up a stray cat-

The Green Ninja yelped as a swinging beam caught it across the gut mid-air, causing tendrils of darkness to spike from its back in alarm. It fell down as the training course ground to a halt, landing on its feet. It took off its hood as its form settled back into a solid human disguise, and Garmadon's heart skipped a beat at the sight of a face that reminded him of his own. That face was set in a disappointed frown, though the eyes still sparked with excitement. "Okay, I know I can do better than that, start it up again and-"

The Green Ninja froze. It had seen Garmadon. It stared at him with wide eyes, as Garmadon stared back in equal shock. The other ninja had gone silent when they saw Wu and Garmadon in the gateway, and now they gathered behind the Green Ninja. Not blocking its view, not getting in its way, but definitely very protective, judging by the way they kept one hand on their weapons and glared warningly at Garmadon; with a few side glances at Wu, scanning his face for disapproval. The Green Ninja's shape flickered as it looked over Garmadon, half-instinctively copying the oni's new four-armed form for a few seconds before shrinking back into human shape. Garmadon's shadow took a deep breath.

"...Hi."