Chapter Text
A pair of green eyes would scour the bustling city, a morning breeze ruffling his hair. A faint beam of sunlight glistening on Lloyd’s golden locks. Ninjago city was everything but quiet, from the constant honking and beeping which made up the roadways, and the chatter on the streets. In one fluid stroke, he would lower his green hood, and would leap across the rooftops.
Like a graceful robin he would make quick work of getting to his destination, an effortless morning jog, he would think to himself. Being greeted by a simple jewelry store. A confused look would find its place on his face, this didn’t seem like an establishment that the Mechanic would rob? It would usually be something that consisted of technology, or machine parts, not a store with shiny things in glass cases. However it would be a quick cash grab for the villain, and there were weirder places that he had to battle the cyborg in.
Lloyd would recall a time where the 6 had to ward off the felon from Jay’s “parents” junkyard. His heart sinking as he thought about all of the ninja’s parents, he and Cole seemed the luckiest out of them all.
Anyhow, only by a fraction, having parents that were somewhat in his life and still communicated with them. Cole’s being his father and Lloyd’s being Misako, which did send frequent letters about her journeys. Which wasn’t the best… but she was improving from sending him off to Darkly’s for ten years.
Both Kai’s and Nya’s were taken hostage by the Time Twins, and then Jay found out he was adopted as he told them about a letter he received in the mail. Zane didn’t even have a mother and his father had died two times in front of nindroid’s very own eyes.
Lloyd would remind himself why he was here, what the mission was, and not to dwell on the past but rather the future. He would press his hand to his right ear, activating the tiny black nub while making their way down to the ground. The red shingles tearing his new gi that Master Wu has distributed to the group.
Rubbing his eyes he would be surprised by the loud beep and would lose his grip, splatting down onto the sidewalk. He would groan slightly, the wind being knocked out of him. Did P.I.X.A.L add a new ringtone, maybe he should’ve read the manual. He would roll onto his side, getting back onto his feet, stumbling around like a pinwheel.
“P.I.X.A.L, you sure this is the place?”
“Affirmative, the Mechanic should be right inside.”
Lloyd would nod to himself, walking up to the door to find it partially cracked open, well that wasn’t sneaky. He would open the door, turning on lights, before a blaring alarm would activate, the lights turning a deep red. He would cover his ears, stumbling around before being tackled to the ground. Lloyd would dodge a metal fist, flipping over his enemy, preparing to knock them out until getting superhumanly kicked in the face.
He would get launched backwards, crashing into a glass display shelf, tiny shards covering him as he would get up. Feeling the tiny stings and cuts that were brought by the shards, a drop of blood dripping down from his face.
Lloyd would look around before hearing a snicker and ducking below the case of jewelry. His heart skipping a beat, as the bright flames illuminated the dim room. Man did the Mechanic level up his game. The stream of flames as abruptly ended as they had started, Lloyd leaping to his feat and facing him.
He would deliver a strong kick to their face, the partially humanoid villain tumbling to the floor, with a loud clunk. Lloyd would wait for another attack but it seemed that they would not be getting back up, which was truly a sight to see. He would start to inspect the room, before he heard a beep, swiftly turning around. Catching what was supposed to be the mechanic a patched up nindroid using an advanced cloaking mechanism. Making Lloyd wonder if the flames were truly real?
He would then look at the ticking clock on the chest of the nindroid it was a bomb, and then he heard the ringing of bells… the door! He would yell at the person to get out, his voice being gruff and tired, almost growling at them. A fearful expression covering his cut up face as he tells the shop owner to leave the shop, glancing at the timer, only 3 seconds left. With all the power he could muster, he would shoot a sphere of green energy making them tumble backwards.
Then his vision went blank, bright light blinding him as he was blasted backwards. His charred corpse flew through one of the store’s windows and skidded across the road, where he lay dead.
He would wake up, everyone in his body aching, feeling that he had been burned inside and out. Oh wait he just was . He could hear distant shrieks and screams, what was left of his eye brows furrowing. His mind was somewhat confused yet very intrigued and was practically lulled by them like a siren’s song. Although he shouldn't be believing in folklore and legends like that, Master Wu said to himself that humans with long fishtails and magical tridents didn’t exist. Lloyd though couldn’t be sure about that, a lot of things he thought was just something in story books came true. Anyways a window opened of guilt and terror at what he was becoming just laying there. The all-powerful green, previously gold, ninja, shouldn’t enjoy the sounds of people’s terror.
Before they would be able to finish their doomsday thoughts, he felt something kick him, and then again. Or maybe that was a different thing from the first. Then the shrieking stopped and he felt a large gust of wind blow in his face, feeling his hair brush up against his eyes, stinging him like tiny shards of glass. Lloyd would squirm a bit before getting another kick, one more powerful than the last two combined. His ribcage would start to ache and he could feel a bruise starting to form.
This was no way to treat the green ninja! Especially if he just saved someone from a bomb.
The string of thoughts ending quickly as he noticed what he was under was not pavement, and didn’t feel like the beaten up roads of Ninjago city. It was smooth and cool, almost feeling like a piece of obsidian that had landed on the bounty, when they were at Torch Fire Mountain to destroy the Fang Blades.
He would just sit there trying to concentrate on how he felt and well, what he felt to be exact. Besides the pain that covered his entire body like a hive of wasps, the atmosphere felt like a crisp autumn day in Ninjago. The fabricated scent of pumpkin filling his nostrils, making him feel warm and cozy. Almost as if he was snuggled up in a blanket by a fireplace, Cole letting the younger ninja rest their head on their broad shoulders.
Another kick would stop him from ignoring where he was currently though, which was a little inconvenient for him. Though he should be thankful this one was a bit more gentle this time, still causing a shiver to run up his spine, but not especially painful. Though the peaceful aura would soon grow to a more hideous monstrosity, the air became heavier and especially muggy. Every breath felt heavy and tiresome, as if he bore a child. Which Lloyd knew was never going to happen.
Then another kick. Whoever these people were, they sure knew how to ruin a person’s train of thoughts during the perfect times. Though he supposed he should get up soon, rather than just laying there like a fool. Plus he didn’t want to see if these people would turn into a more violent form of their intent to wake him up, or to see if he was alive and awake.
He could hear distant bickering as he would start to stand up, the words starting to become clearer until he would open his eyes to a void… and Harumi and Morro.
Blood would rush to his head, or whatever was left of it, as the two would stare at him, as if he was an abomination. Lloyd still feeling dizzy as he would smirk at the two, this wasn’t happening .Walking backwards before tripping on his own feet and landing back on the grunt.
“Was he like this for you!?”
“I told you he changed a lot Morro, you’ve been dead for a pretty long time.”
“I know, I know, you don’t need to rub the salt in the wound.”
He would try to listen in to the whispers, as he would drag himself across the ground. This just had to be a funny joke right? I mean it was his birthday in three months, it could be just an early birthday surprise, like a really early one…
Lloyd would not let himself believe that he was dead, he couldn’t be. He needed to protect Ninjago from whatever giant evil was waiting for ninja. He was too young to die, he was what? Fourteen or something like that without adding the years he had gained from Tomorrow's Tea.
“Lloyd get up.”
That must be Nya right? The voice was antagonistic and hostile, though it was feminine meaning he did have a chance for it to be P.I.X.A.L too. Though it didn’t sound as choppy as how the nindroid normally spoke.
It had to be one of the two of them… There was no way that he was in the departed realm, it simply was not possible in his mind. His friends couldn’t bear his death, being the runt of the litter didn’t mean he was simply ignored. As much as the ninja’s were friends they were also family. A tight-knit family that had dealt with too much death, too much death within this close circle.
“GET UP!”
Lloyd knew that voice, there was denying or lying to himself about this. It was the voice of a certain ghost that had possessed him. He would just open his eyes slowly, tears glistening as they rolled down his cheeks.
He would drag himself along the ground, seeing the sole’s of their shoes, promptly ignoring their demands. He didn’t want to see either of them, and seriously why did it have to be them too. Both of them had pretty much screwed with his like beyond belief, fucked up his morale standards for himself. With the side effect of locking himself in a bathroom, sobbing and looking at the mirror at himself.
“Get up!”
Lloyd would haul himself up to a sitting position, done with trying to deny what had happened. He was going to face his fears, and his two most hated nemesis’