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Lloyd wasn't sure why he lost control.
Nothing that day had been bothering him - in fact, in his eyes it had been a pretty good day in general. Just hours prior he’d been chatting away with his family.
Kai and Jay were busy with a video game, with Cole watching and judging every move they took; Nya, Zane, and Pixal were preoccupied with installing a new fridge in the kitchen, an item that Lloyd had assured them wasn't a priority, but Zane always insisted on upgrading to the newest tech whenever he had the chance.
That left Lloyd wandering around like a lost sheep. The teen had discarded himself next to Cole, watching the game ahead of him and listening into the conversation. Any other day, Lloyd would’ve joined in. He was a kid - he adored video games - and yet for some unbeknownst reason, it was boring to him today.
“You suck, Jay!” Kai yelped, sticking his tongue out slightly as he abused his controller. Lloyd shuddered at the insult, not finding it funny.
What was wrong with him today?
Jay scowled, elbowing Kai, “I’m literally beating you, loser.”
“Shut up!” Kai sat up from his position, focusing even more on the screen than he was before.
Lloyd frowned at the bad mouthing. The blonde wasn’t one to reprimand his friends for the banter they exchanged. Most days he’d join in, throwing out remarks and stabbing at the other’s insecurities. The boys all knew each other well enough to not need a filter, every insult went through one ear and out the other and the majority of the time they were reused. Lloyd couldn’t count how many times he predicted ‘your mom’ jokes from Kai.
But today, today was different.
Watching as his friends finished up the game, the rest of the ninja gathered from the kitchen to watch the outcome. As the hearts drew lower, and the end was evidently close, Cole rose up from his seat.
Cole was a big man - big as in buff. He secured the muscles that the rest of the ninja could only dream of, and despite his naturally small waist, his muscles caused his size to double over the ninja. In no way was Cole fat . Cole worked out enough to not even be considered fat; he was just big.
Lloyd knew this, so why did he act when that word was said?
Cole stepped in front of Kai’s vision, blocking him from the TV screen as the game was drawing closer and closer.
Kai growled, “Cole, get out of the way of the screen, you fat idiot.”
Kai was in a bad temper. Naturally, he wouldn’t say such a thing, and naturally, nobody at all would care that Kai did say such a thing.
And nobody did.
Nobody, except Lloyd.
Lloyd saw red. His eyes turned from his ordinary green, to a dark purple, fuelling his anger and hatred which had appeared out of nowhere. He slowly rose up from his seat, turning his vision towards the assailant. Cole had leapt out of Kai’s view the moment he heard his name, unphased by the insult he just heard, but quickly diverted his attention to Lloyd - who was slowly approaching the brunette.
It looked as if Kai was also unphased by the words he just uttered, still intensely invested in finishing the game and beating Jay.
The blonde stood directly in front of Kai, looking down at him with disgust in his eye. Kai cried out again at the blocked view, oblivious to Lloyd’s fury.
Lloyd ripped the controller out of Kai’s hands, throwing it to the ground and stomping it into multiple pieces. A large, grey pause sign took over the screen holding the game as the room went deadly silent, only Lloyd’s unsteady breathing being heard in the cold atmosphere that had just swept over them.
“Lloyd, what the hell!” Kai exclaimed, rising from his seat in confusion.
“Yeah man, that was expensive!” Jay chimed in, also standing up.
Abruptly, Lloyd grabbed hold of the collar of Kai’s gi, spinning him around and slamming him against the wall next to the TV. A tense, fast fist raised into the air before slamming down onto the fire ninja’s cheek, before a second one did a similar motion to the other side.
Nya let out an audible shriek, jumping forward and attempting to drag the younger boy away. The rest of the ninja followed suit, pulling Lloyd a few feet away from the other as he thrashed in their arms.
“Hey, hey!” Nya shouted, waving a panicked hand in front of his face, “Lloyd, this isn’t you! You’re eyes- they’re..”
“Purple!” Jay shouted, stepping back in slight fear.
Unpredictably, Kai slumped down the wall to the floor, disorientated from the sudden attack that, to him, seemed unprovoked. Cole immediately darted to his side, attempting to comfort him despite the brunette seeming more confused than upset.
Lloyd’s purple eyes widened at the sight of the two boys interacting, and in an instant he went limp, collapsing in the arms of the ninja holding him back. Zane took full support of him, lifting the boy up into his arms.
“Hello?!” Jay raised his arms into the air, waving them about, “What was that?!”
Zane frowned, looking down at the blonde whose hands were slightly smoking, “I- I am unsure.”
“Did you guys see his eyes?” Nya added, “They were purple! Just as they were when he tried to unleash his-”
“His Oni form.” A small voice from the floor finished. All eyes turned to face Kai as he took Cole’s hand to raise from the ground. He stumbled slightly as he found his footing. “I think since he used it, he's been struggling to control it.”
“Lloyd would’ve told us though, right?” Pixal asked, stepping forward to check Kai over and noticing his cheek slowly swelling.
Nya laughed sarcastically, unable to show any real humour in the situation. “Lloyd? Telling us things? Remember when he broke his wrist and kept it from us for a week!”
All eyes turned towards the unconscious boy in Zane’s arms. Kai rubbed his cheek, frowning slightly at the sight of vulnerability on such a young face. “We’ll help him through it.”
Nya smiled, holding Kai’s arm, “Yeah, yeah. He’ll be okay.”