Work Text:
The day was long and weary for the ninja as they lounged around their room in the Police Station in town, as they were asked to help out again only for very little to happen but the police were insistent that the ninja would be needed for something; they kept trying to ask for Zane's help in detective work, but they didn't quite want to elaborate unless they were alone with him. As a result the team were bored and a bit annoyed by all this seemingly for nothing.
"I still don't really get this" Kai sighed, "The hell is going on that they aren't telling us?!".
"It is very odd, especially since they're asking for my detective work" Zane said with a slight shake of his head, "I get that I can be a very elegant detective, but this is all very peculiar".
"They're nervous about something" Cole noted, "Not sure what though".
"Probably something weird" Jay sighed, "I'm bored though and there's nothing to do here!".
"I'm getting hungry too" Nya admitted, "I could go for anything right now".
"I might know a place" Lloyd muttered, "Some old friends of mine work there, a local restaurant nearby".
"What kind of food?" Cole asked.
"Eh just some usual stuff, nothing too out of the ordinary".
"Then by all means lead the way!" Kai pleaded.
"It would be better if I go alone though, I don't how my other friends are gonna react to you guys" Lloyd said shaking his head, "I don't want the place to get swamped by fans either, the owners worked real hard to get that restaurant open!".
"Other friends? Wow who would've thought" Jay thought aloud.
Nya lightly elbowed Jay as a result of his comment.
"But you're eyes will give you away will they not?" Zane asked.
"I have a solution for that, I never told you guys this but Pixal made something just for an occasion like this! I'll be right back!".
Lloyd walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later with one of his hands covering his eyes.
"Um bud? You okay?" Kai asked, "Why are you covering your eyes?".
"I figured it'd be a little surprise" Lloyd said before he let his hand rest at his side.
His eyes were no longer green, but a normal hazel color.
"WHAT THE" Jay spat.
"The hell?!" Nya muttered as she shrunk back into her seat for a moment.
"Oh fsm that is not bringing back good memories" Cole said quietly.
"Sorry, but Pixal pointed out the same thing months ago about my eye color giving me away; so she made these special contact lenses for me! It does mess with my vision a little, but I've been practicing with it. What do you guys want from the restaurant?".
"Are you sure these contacts will work though?" Kai asked, "There aren't many blonde teens either in Ninjago after all, and do you really want to go alone?".
"Are you suggesting I dye my hair just for this? And yeah I want to go alone so that way this will be quick and easy, and again I don't know how my friends are gonna react to all of you now! Now seriously what do you guys want? I do have a change of civilian clothes in my bag I will use for this, I'm not going in my gi".
Lloyd took note of what everyone wanted before he went to the bathroom with his bag to change, but when he came out Zane was waiting there for him.
"What's up?" Lloyd asked, "Did any of the others ask for anything else last minute?".
"I wanted to give you something, I have a bad feeling with why the police here are on edge" Zane explained, "Please take this and put it on".
Zane reached into his pocket and offered Lloyd a light green bracelet with a singular button on it.
"If you feel like you're in danger while off in the city like this, then press the button three times in quick succession, it will immediately transmit your position and will continue to do so for half an hour. This way we can rush to you if you ever need the help".
"Thank you Zane, hopefully I won't have to use this much".
Lloyd slipped the bracelet onto his wrist and set off for the restaurant, and it was maybe ten blocks away, but the contacts were working like a charm; nobody looked at him, noted him, nobody said anything, it was like a whole other world to him where he wasn't swamped with looks and paparazzi and he really enjoyed it. He easily found his way to the simple restaurant and found that it was a little busy inside, but he wasn't just here for the food after all as he walked up to the counter and was greeted by a familiar face; a young red-headed teen with glasses, freckles, and acne galore on his face.
"Why hello there Geney" Lloyd taunted.
"Oh god no of course its you" Gene sighed shaking his head although with a devious smile, "You better watch what you say, unless you want a fire ant in your drink! Or your seat!".
"Still up to your antics even now huh, how dare you. How you even gonna get a fire ant in there when you're in the middle of the city?".
"I have my ways skele-boy, do not question the all knowing!".
"Well does the all knowing know where I can sit for a to-go order then?".
"Yeah, behind me and to the right skele-boy where there's a sign over the wait area".
"Thanks four eyes".
"Your welcome skele-boy, you better see the Bradster!".
"Oh ho he's here too, great. And I will!".
Lloyd followed Gene's instructions and found Brad at the waiting area's counter by a computer, and when Brad saw him he smiled deviously.
"Woah ho now look who it is!" Brad gloated with his hair now a dark brown and having a few freckles here and there on his face, although somehow avoiding the acne Gene received.
"Yeah I'm back Bradster, what's been up with you?" Lloyd greeted with an equally devious smile.
"Not much, although I wasn't expecting your uh eyes to be different".
"Hey gotta keep the papazzari off somehow, I thought you hated big rushes".
"Oh fsm the rushes lately dude, I hate working here here during rushes! I get its a first job but damn".
"Yikes, at least you don't get your face kicked in by villains repeatedly".
"I might take it though, getting my face kicked in verbally by the karens dude".
"We both deal with different kinds of karens huh? You deal with the lower level ones, and I deal with the final boss karens".
"You said it blonde, now what do you want tonight?".
"I got a big order unfortunately, the others are hungry and were being held in the police station for some weird thing they wouldn't tell us about".
Brad's face drooped in dread for a moment before he shook his head.
"What's the order bucko?".
"What was that look just now?".
"How about you tell me your order first, less time to wait for the food and get out of here".
Lloyd didn't quite like that look, but he gave Brad the long order and waited by the counter for Brad to say something; the atmosphere in the restaurant was slightly on edge as some people looked around nervously.
"What in Ninjago is going on here" Lloyd wondered, "Something's up, and I don't like it".
"... Alright, something bad's going down in this side of town" Brad whispered in Lloyd's ear. "People are going missing and not coming back, disappearing into thin air! Some of our regulars have disappeared too".
"How long has this been going on for?" Lloyd whispered.
"Not sure, but the first regular I noticed going missing was about two weeks ago".
"Any idea what the reason could be? Any patterns you noticing?".
"No set sex is being targeted, but lots of pretty people are going missing. Anybody teen and up is fair game, and some people are saying its a serial killer dude!".
"Serial killer? Like a horror movie serial killer? Here in this city?".
"Dude you know just how messed up this city can get! Who knows what could be lurking in the shadows grabbing people!".
"... That might've been why the police were so nervous at the station, I think that this might be the city's first serial killer if that's the case. They don't know how to handle that".
"Exactly! I don't think you've dealt with any flat out dark crime shit like this though".
"No I don't honestly, but I'll tell the others just in case and then maybe we can get somewhere. Do a stakeout or something".
"You want a drink? On the house if you do".
"Can you even do that?".
"We're Darkleys OGs, we do the fuck we want! Those ninja really shook it out of ya huh?".
"Nah, not all of it".
"There's that look I'm looking for, now seriously what do you want".
"Eh not sure, what kind of soda do you have?".
"We do have your favorite from back in the day".
"Then that please".
"So what was that about the ninja not shaking all of Darkleys outta you?".
"Oh shush and give me the damn soda".
"Yeah yeah blonde, your order should be ready in about an hour by the way".
"Thanks mate".
Brad gave Lloyd his drink while Lloyd went to text the others what he had heard from his friends, but a man in a hoodie with the hood up bumped into his chair and knocked him forward.
"Oh sorry, I was distracted with my phone!" The man quickly said.
"That's alright" Lloyd said with a shrug, but he felt uneasy as the hooded man quickly walked away.
He took a sip of his drink and thought maybe it tasted a little off.
"Hey Brad, have you checked the container for the soda? This one tastes a little weird" Lloyd asked.
"Oh son of a, did that cheap motherfucker on the night shift forget to clean it again?!" Brad hissed, "Leave this shit to me to deal with and you get a customer sick with this shit!".
"I didn't think you were stickler for this kind of stuff".
"I wasn't until I started working here and had to deal with it!".
"Fair enough".
The hour wait went on and Lloyd felt a bit tired and droopy as he waited for the food, but he managed to stay awake while Brad brought up the takeout bags.
"You okay there blonde?"
"Yeah, I just feel a bit weird" Lloyd said as he shook his head, "Been worse, maybe the weather has me down".
"... Are you sure?".
"Yeah, and I may or may not have forgotten to eat earlier so maybe I need to eat to get my energy up".
"I can get you something in a second-".
"Nah Bradster, I'm fine. The others are waiting on the food and its a short walk".
"... You better take care of yourself dude, I'd walk you there but one the police would probably crack onto me in a heartbeat and two my boss would kill me along with Gene if I left during this rush".
"... So you did get into some trouble outside of school huh? Figures. I'll see you around bud!".
"Be careful blonde!".
"I will!".
Lloyd took off out of the restaurant with the food although this odd feeling got one hell of a grip on him, his limbs felt like they were drooping, his heart was beating quickly, and he was sweating?
"Oh hell no, something is very wrong" he thought in alarm, "Was it my drink?! Brad would never do me dirty like that, and Gene would've only switched my damn drink to something I hate if it was him! This was someone else! No way this could've just been a dirty soda machine's effects, nothing this bad could come from that could it?!".
He felt a pair of eyes coldly staring at him from behind, almost digging into the back of his head; he turned back to see nothing by the crowd behind him and unsure where this cold stare was coming from hidden from his sight, and he felt terrified of the threat he couldn't see as his vision started to get worse. Lloyd ducked to the side and pressed the button on the bracelet Zane had given him three times in quick succession as his vision worsened and his balance was starting to fail on him, his feet felt like fumbling weights, his heart was racing from fear and whatever else was in his blood at this point, he was sweating like a dog on a hot day, everything was wrong as he barely made it to the wall of the alleyway. He tried to use the wall as his support to move onward but his body slumped against it and he slid down to the ground spilling the food with him, his vision started fading to black as his world spun.
The last thing he saw was a man in a hoodie approaching him slowly from the street, the same man who had bumped into him at the restaurant, and the man chuckled as Lloyd fell unconscious.
"So Lloyd's saying he heard that there's a serial killer on the loose?" Jay asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, that's what he just said in the text" Nya muttered, "Apparently locals are going missing and not being found, including locals at the restaurant he's at that a worker noticed".
"I'm still not really sure about it" Cole admitted, "A serial killer in New Ninjago City? C'mon".
"Please don't jinx it" Kai pleaded, "That's the last thing we need right now!".
Zane was going over the missing person reports for the last half year to see if these rumors could be true, and unfortunately more than 10 people were reported missing in the last two and a half months alone, 11 to be exact. A serial killer merely needs three kills to be labelled a serial killer, but there was no previous serial killer alluded to or arrested in the history of New Ninjago City; this was different, dangerous even.
"People don't just disappear into thin air like this, this killer must have some specific method" Zane couldn't help but think, "11 people missing in less than three months is risky for any kind of killer, but even then if there is one then why lodge here in the city? More targets? Where would the killer hide the bodies?".
A notification appeared in a window of his vision that sent shivers down his titanium spine, as it was Lloyd's bracelet that Zane had just given him.
"I hate to interrupt this discussion, but Lloyd needs help" Zane chimed in, "I gave him a bracelet with an emergency help button on it, and he has activated it".
"Wait what?!" Kai spat.
"... Oh no" Jay muttered, "What if the rumor is right?!".
"Then let's not waste time, c'mon!" Nya urged as she jumped from her seat.
"I'm really hoping that he just pressed it on accident" Cole muttered as they began running, following Zane's lead. "He just went to get food, what the hell could've gone wrong?!".
The team quickly followed Zane through some back alleys to try to avoid the public's attention, but after a run Zane brought them to where the signal first came from in an alleyway. Kai's heart raced knowing deep down that something was wrong. Something was very very wrong.
"Hey there's the food on the ground!" Jay pointed out.
"Okay so he got jumped while getting the food back, but how?! I don't see any blood!" Kai spat.
"Maybe he got hit by one of those weird cloth things from the movies and drama shows?" Cole suggested, "Although with the food right here it would've been odd to do it. Was Lloyd facing the wall or something? The food doesn't look like its been tossed around a lot".
"Alright so he got jumped and grabbed here, where to Zane?" Nya quickly asked.
"This way, there's a storehouse nearby and that seems to be where the signal is coming from" Zane answered.
"Wait is it that closed storehouse nearby?" Kai asked "I thought I saw that it was closed down a few months back for safety or something in the newspaper".
"Yes".
Kai rushed off without a second thought as the others tried to run after him.
"KAI WAIT!" Jay yelled, "WHY DID YOU THINK ABOUT THAT BUILDING SPECIFICALLY!?".
"I THOUGHT SOMETHING ABOUT IT WAS SKETCHY!" Kai yelled back as he kept running, "I GOT A BAD VIBE FROM IT WHEN WE PASSED IT EARLIER!".
"Kid please just hang on!" Kai couldn't help but think, "Why did we let you go alone, why is it always you in danger like a toy of destiny it plays with?!".
Kai nearly slipped as he turned a corner in the alleyways and recognized a door from the newspaper he was reading earlier, and something about the made him think that something dark and sinister was on the other side, and that was exactly what he was looking for; with flames already forming in his hands he tackled the door breaking it off its hinges and nearly falling on the other side.
He looked up as he regained his balance and stance only to something right out of a horror movie before him; Lloyd was strapped down to a table of sorts with a man in a hoodie standing over him with an arm extended upwards, and in the man's hand was a meat cleaver. Anger and fury took over as Kai screamed and rushed the man, and the man tried to turn and swing his cleaver down at Kai; Kai proved to be too fast and saw this simple attack coming, so he ducked before he grabbed the man's wrist and set it aflame. The man screamed in agony with a crazed look of fear in his eyes, but Kai wasn't done even as the others rushed in through the broken door.
"GET LLOYD OUTTA HERE!" Kai hissed, "THIS DUDE WAS ABOUT TO CHOP HIM INTO PIECES!".
Nya and Cole went to go help Kai with pinning this man while Jay and Zane rushed over to Lloyd, finding him strapped down to the table tightly and having odd marked lines on his limbs and even neck.
"What the heck" Jay muttered as he pulled a knife from his pocket and started carefully cutting the straps. "This is right out of a horror show! He's not even conscious what happened?!".
"Don't think about that, we must get him out of here" Zane urged as he cut away at the straps and was trying to see if Lloyd was jabbed with a syringe or what could've been responsible for allowing this odd capture.
There was nothing, no jab site, no bleeding that could've pointed to this being a wound that knocked him out, and as Zane picked him up he noted how limp Lloyd was and how his breathing was a bit odd; something was wrong, this was likely something of a drug, but Zane had no idea what kind though and he feared that whatever Lloyd was afflicted with could be fatal. Zane silently called the police chief to get them to come and arrest this man, but not to raise the alarm that Lloyd was a victim; he didn't want anyone to know that Lloyd was supposedly targeted while he was vulnerable.
"Kai you've done enough!" Cole spat. "Calm down!"
"He's out, you've burned his arms, brother stop!" Nya urged.
Kai snapped out of his rage and Cole yanked him off the man while Nya sprayed the man down with water, and all the while Zane was checking Lloyd's pulse and looking at the lines all over his clothing and neck; these were dotted lines as if to mark somewhere precise...
"... Now he's unconscious at least" Cole sighed, "So no more trouble from this guy".
Zane didn't want to finish his line of thought thought, but Jay's scream interrupted his thinking.
"What?!" Kai hissed clearly still mad.
"UM" Jay whimpered as he backed away from a large freezer off to the side that he just opened, his skin pale as snow, shaking slightly as Nya walked up to his side to see what he needed.
Cole stayed by the man's side ready to restrain him if he woke up, but even he knew something was wrong as Kai walked over wearily and peeked into the freezer.
"FUCK NO!" he screamed as he jumped back, shaking and starting to breathe heavily, "DO. NOT. LOOK. Nya, I do not want you even going near that thing... GOD WHAT THE HELL?!".
Zane kept to Lloyd's side continuing to monitor his condition, but his curiosity was admittedly getting the better of him; Kai and Jay were beyond uncomfortable as they kept glancing at the freezer fearfully, but Kai kept glancing over to Lloyd with dread while Nya gently pulled Jay into a hug to comfort him.
"... What's in there?" Zane asked.
"... The missing people" Kai quietly answered.
The police barged in through the open door and spread out, most relieved seeing the ninja, and a few of them rushed over to Cole to detain the man; they began picking the place apart, placing yellow and black tape everywhere, marking everything and taking photos, and some dared to look into the freezer and jumping back in horror. The police commissioner quickly spotted the ninja and Lloyd and walked over to Zane to see if everyone was okay.
"Oh no, is Lloyd okay?" the commissioner asked.
"He seems to be drugged into consciousness, but is otherwise fine" Zane answered with a sigh of relief, "Thank you for coming".
"And we have you ninja to thank for catching this man, sorry for dancing around the question of asking you to help in the first place. We were a bit too antsy whenever we thought of any of getting involved, but we did really need the help to be honest...".
"... If you had said something sooner we could have avoided Lloyd being the target though, to think that the contact lenses made him look so normal he became a target for this monster of a man...".
"We will not say a word about your involvement to anyone, or about Lloyd. That being said, I can offer you a ride out of here before Gayle shows up".
"That would be perfect, thank you".
A low wind breezed by the Monastery as clear skies and daylight brought in a new day, the med bay was mostly quiet except for the echoes of a tv from the living room.
"The serial killer claimed 15 victims total, with one who would've been the 16th having been able to escape their captor despite being drugged and reporting the killer to the police last night. The escaping victim is unknown at this point in time due to privacy, but they were lucky to do so as a freezer was found full of the dismembered bodies of the previous victims. The killer is being held in jail now and is under lock and key until their coming trial-".
The noise made Lloyd stir as he slowly opened his eyes to find himself back in the med bay of his familiar home, and relief washed over him despite the grogginess he was feeling; he felt little smalls areas on his neck, limbs, and chest but he didn't want to really know what they meant.
"The bracelet worked" he thought in glee, "I might keep it on me from now on, thanks Zane".
As though the mere thought summoned him, Zane walked into the med bay and noticed that Lloyd was awake.
"Hello Lloyd" Zane greeted quietly, "Are you doing okay?".
"Better than passing out in an alleyway" Lloyd mumbled, "What happened?".
"... You may or may not have encountered that serial killer that your other friends were warning you about".
"Oh you gotta be kidding me, where's my phone?".
"Right beside you, I did put it on silent so you could rest though. I did remove your contacts too while I was at it".
"... I'm not gonna ask how you did that".
Lloyd slowly reached over to the small table beside him and grabbed his phone, and upon it turning on he saw a flurry of over twenty texts from Brad, Gene, and some of the other previous Darkley students; all of which asking him if he had heard about the caught serial killer, but Brad and Gene's texts were livid demanding to know if he was the escaped victim and if he was alright.
"... Oh hell no".
"What's wrong? Please take it easy, the drug's effects have only just worn off".
"The friends from last night caught on, and they probably guessed what happened".
"Oh dear, well you can tell them you're okay now. You're still recovering but tell them not to say a word please?".
"Oh they won't say anything publicly, but I am never gonna live that down".
"More than likely not, and then Kai probably won't let you go anywhere alone for a while".
"Oh you just had to remind me, he might put me on the damn child leash again".
Zane couldn't help but laugh at that comment from Lloyd, although he very quickly tried to stifle it as Lloyd softly glared at him; Kai and the others peeked in through the open door and smiled seeing Lloyd awake, they walked up to his bedside to welcome him back.
"You scared us kid" Kai cooed as he gently ruffled Lloyd's hair, "You doing okay now?".
"I might as well be a cockroach, I'll live" Lloyd huffed.
"We all are huh" Jay chimed in, "I believe you got that from yours truly!".
Everyone shook their heads mumbling that's not how it works.
Lloyd smiled knowing he was gonna be okay, and expecting a call from Brad and Gene later.
"I'll go pay them a visit after I'm well enough to get out of this bed, shouldn't be too long. They're gonna tear me a new one though" he couldn't help but think, "Eh, I can take it, just another day in Ninjago I guess".