Chapter Text
Wu was meditating when Lloyd found him.
It was a habit that Lloyd got more and more annoyed with as time went on. Yeah, no, that's fine, it's not like he summoned Lloyd here or anything. Go right ahead, start meditating while knowing fully well Lloyd was on his way. Not like he’s busy, or anything.
Well, that was true, he wasn’t busy. Lloyd had zero extracurriculars, no clubs, and a social life as dead as the dragons. Homework was his only excuse to give about being busy, whether it be to avoid his uncle taking him on a five-hour long meditation or ‘inner-peace’ expedition that sometimes just felt like chores, or to avoid his mom realizing he’d ditched out the window to tinker with a giant dragon-mech he was slowly but surely using to fight super-crime in Ninjago City.
That excuse only worked so many times. Lloyd was seriously considering the extracurricular to add to his schedule. Or lying about one. It was slightly less agonizing than a club that would definitely never take him, and much less impossible than the social life.
Right, back on Wu. Being a massive time-waster for no good reason.
“Okay, is this, just, like, for dramatic flair?” Lloyd sighed, letting his bag slip from his shoulder and thunk on the ground, loosely holding the strap. “It’s a terrible dramatic flair. Boo, no dramatic flair, I hate it.”
“Patience, my nephew,” Wu hummed, hands half raised as they rested on his knees, facing away from him, “one cannot rush patience.”
“One cannot also rush homework if they want to sleep at a reasonable time.” Lloyd drawled, wondering how much trouble he’d be in if he slid his backpack over the ground to bump his uncle. “Can I please get home before seven PM? Mom said she was gonna make dinner, and it is so much better than microwave ramen again—”
“Patience!” Wu stood quickly, back still facing Lloyd. One arm crossed behind his back, the other raised with a single finger extended. “Is what will aid you in your success.”
Lloyd glanced around, shifting his back between both hands to fiddle with it. He straightened his shoulders, wondering if he should, like…salute? Stand at attention? What was the protocol for receiving stuff? This sounded like a mission. He hoped it was a mission far away from the supermarket or dry cleaning.
“But also,” Wu spun right on his heel, that finger lowering to point at Lloyd, “so will saving me a piece of dinner.”
“Yeah, sure thing, Uncle,” Lloyd slumped with a sigh, “look, I’ll mediate with you, but I can’t stay all afternoon—”
“It is time for your dependence.”
“For my wha?” Lloyd stuttered, double-taking.
“The time has come,” Wu folded both hands behind his back, head raised high, “for the most important journey you will ever undertake. This,” He said, snapping one hand back around with his staff (where in the world had he been hiding that?) and pointing the end on Lloyd’s chest, to which he looked down at, “will define your very life.”
“Oh,” Lloyd blinked down at the staff on his chest, then immediately dropped his bag to stiffen up as fast he could, “I’m—yeah!” He nodded quickly, an excited thump in his chest. “No, yeah, I’m all for super important missions! What are we learning, what—are we learning some like, uh, new fighting stuff?” He clapped his hands together, looking around. “Going on a trip? If we’re going on a trip, I do have to tell Mom before she thinks I got kidnapped again—”
“You have been alone for very long.” Wu began, drawing his staff back to his side, head raised to stare off at the high windows of the garage like he thought it was cool. “So very, very, very… very very long.”
“Uh, yeah, I—okay, thanks.” Lloyd deflated.
“But!” Wu turned his head back, this time staring over Lloyd’s head like he thought that was cool. “This will be no longer.”
He hit the end of his staff against the ground once, echoing throughout the garage. On cue, floodlights sprung up over the floors and ceilings, highlighting the dark corners, where Lloyd could now see five huge tarps draped in each corner.
Those tarps were tugged away, to reveal—
“New mechs?” Lloyd immediately bolted to the nearest one, a brilliantly red full-body mech, and even though it was suspended in the air by wires at the moment, he could tell it was tall. “This is—they’re beautiful!”
Sure, it was clear that none of them would be up and running just yet. Even the one he was standing right under, while red, certainly had a lot of chipping paint, and some of that redness might just be rust now that he was looking.
Looking around at the other mechs, one with a giant wheel instead of feet, one with four long legs, one that was just a jet, and another a massive tank, he could clearly tell they needed work. Some clearly had pieces that were unfinished, some pieces weren’t there at all, a number of gears and wires hanging out haphazardly, and maybe a few parts would have to just be taken out and remade entirely.
But, all in all? Gorgeous.
He could just envision what they were meant to be, as if what they were now wasn’t a sight to behold. His own dragon mech had been in way worse shape, barely even counting as a skeleton idea of what it was supposed to be, hardly any of the inner workings laid out before he started tinkering away at it.
These? He could see himself finishing these before he was done with the dragon mech. Ages before he was done with it. He could probably touch up that tank with solid, constant work for a week straight!
Lloyd reached a hand up, though the red mech was too far above head, as were the others, to be even close to reaching. He could still imagine it, opening it up and seeing just what that beauty could do.
Before a staff promptly whacked his hands down as if he’d been stealing from a cookie jar.
“Not for you.” Wu gruffed as Lloyd yipped, shrinking back and rubbing at his stinging hands. “They are for your missions.”
“Uh,” Lloyd offered a glare, rubbing at the back of his hand, “yeah? Surely I should be messing with them if they’re needed for my mis—wait, I’m sorry missions?” Lloyd whirled to his uncle, who was staring up at the mechs with squinted eyes. “As in plural?”
“Five of them.” Wu said, which was entirely unneeded, nodding sagely as he turned down to Lloyd. “My nephew, no longer will you be alone.” He said, stepping forward, and Lloyd looked down at the hand placed over his shoulder. “For a great warrior sacrifices themselves for their victory, if logic deems fit. But a great hero,” He gestured out his staff to the mechs above, looking up as he did so, “sacrifices their logic for dependence, to place their trust in the hands of others, no matter how dark the path may seem.”
“...cool.” Lloyd nodded slowly. “So, I don’t get to ride the super-awesome mechs?”
“No,” Wu sighed, all that grandeur immediately dropping for something exhausted, hand leaving Lloyd’s shoulder (no, he didn’t miss it, shut up), “you do not get to ride the super-awesome very-stolen bargain bin mechs.”
“The what?”
“Your task!” Wu boomed again. “Nephew,” He looked down, head unmoving, like a master before his student, “you must find…other ninja.”
Lloyd stared. Then, he blinked, slowly. Wu made no changes, still looking down his nose. The staring contest grew awkward about five seconds in, and unbearable at about eleven.
“Other huh?” Lloyd balked.
“Do I need to repeat?” Wu’s facade dropped instantly, blinking down in genuinity. “Apologies. I said: you must find—”
“Other ninja?” Lloyd outcried. “What the hell did I do wrong? I saved a whole skyscraper last week!” He gestured out with a wild hand. “Do you know how hard it is to save a skyscraper with minimal property damage? It’s really hard!”
“Easy, nephew,” Wu held out a hand, palm up, “you misunderstand your mission. This has nothing to do with your performance.” He said, then tilted his hand to the side. “Although you could use a little less quick turns that nick all of those buildings. And the breakneck speeds are hard on anyone being rescued under the age of thirty. But nevertheless!” He shook his head out. “No, I tell this to you because you have more than proven you are ready.”
“Ready?” Lloyd paused, tilting his head. “For—for other ninja?”
“The time has long-since been coming.” Wu said in his attempt at being sage. “For a ninja does not work alone.” He gestured back up to the mechs. “He must have allies, brothers-in-arms. This is how it has always been, and how it shall always be.”
“...you think I need help.” Lloyd finished, scoffing and taking a step back. “Okay, I see how it is.”
“It is not a matter of needing help, but desiring it.” Wu made a sweeping gesture with his staff. “Efficiency is doubled when in pairs that work as one. The Green Ninja is powerful, extremely so,” He leveled the staff with Lloyd’s face, “but he is not invincible. And soon, someday, there will be something that even he cannot face alone.”
“Okay, three problems with that.” Lloyd batted the staff away, counting off his fingers. “First of all, I’m, like, really good at plans, and I think I could handle anything that didn’t work the first time around, because I do not need help. Second of all, nobody likes me.” He gestured in one big grand gesture. “Am I supposed to get ‘help’ from people who just know me as the Green Ninja? Seems like a bad idea. And third of all,” He tried to not make a gesture like he wanted to strangle his uncle, “where would I even start looking for these ninja? Just put up fliers?”
“You will not look for these ninja, Lloyd,” Wu spoke, and Lloyd decided, fine, he’d pay attention if Wu was going to glare and use his first name like it was a scolding, “like moths to a flame, you will find.”
“Horribly cryptic, thanks.” Lloyd drawled, looking up to the windows to find the light had faded slightly. He pulled out his phone for a moment to check that it was nearly five PM, and he officially no longer cared. “Well, Mom’s gonna have dinner ready soon, so, good talk!” He nodded, pocketing his phone again. “I will definitely, uh, take this to heart! I will, er, internalize it.” He started backing up. “I feel like a ‘you should make more friends’ talk would be less confusing even if the effectiveness remains the same, but sure thing!”
“Nephew—”
“I will pinky promise not to touch those mechs,” Lloyd continued as he kept walking backwards, “untilyou'renotlooking,” He coughed under his breath, “and I will meditate the hell out of this wise wisdom!”
“Lloyd, your mission is—”
“Got it, thanks, good pep talk!” Lloyd slung his backpack up over his shoulder, offering a clumsy thumbs up as he slipped back out through the big garage doors. “See you later, and I’ll save you some leftovers!”
He booked it down the pier before he could get yelled at to come back here like the grouchy old man his uncle was. With all due respect, of course. Which was only so much.
Other ninja, right. As if Lloyd wasn’t handling Ninjago City perfectly fine on his own. The people finally decided he was a hero, not a problem-causing vigilante! His mech worked on the ground most of the time, with most of the current repairs being on how to make it fly, and he did not need help.
And even if he did, it’d never happen. He was Lloyd Garmadon (even if his surname was legally Montgomery no matter how many times elementary-school Lloyd kept reminding everyone), son of Lord Garmadon. Hated and-or feared by everyone who wasn’t his mom or uncle, and that was his life.
No one would ever think to work with him. To call it a pipe dream would imply it had the chance to be a dream in the first place.