Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Keep in mind, Lloyd never left the school for bad boys. Never released the serpentine, never got caught so Lord Garmadon was never brought back from the dark dimension. The Great Devourer was never revived, the Overlord never influenced Garmadon to fulfill his prophecy.. whatever it was, so he never took over Borg’s lab- Borg tower would’ve never been made if the city was never destroyed. The elemental masters never met on the island, because Zane never “died” or met Pixel. Morro was never released, so Nya never learned she was the elemental master of water. Nadakhan was never released, making all of Skybound (once again) nonexistent. The sons of Garmadon wouldn’t have been started is Harumi’s parents didn’t die from the Great Devourer.

So the closest, existing problem is the hands of time. As it happened before anything and the twins would come back no matter what. So, that is where our story starts.

Also I’m the present time of the story, Lloyd would be 16 most likely.
Cole- 23
Jay & Kai- 22
Nya- 21
Lloyd- 16
All I know is Zane is old
(Between Lloyd and Nya there’s a 6 year difference, plus one for Jay and Kai, plus 2 for Cole. Zane is just old)
These ages are all taken from wiki, they are the closest to accurate I could get

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/Lloyd’s POV/

I don’t remember my parents. I don’t know anything about them either.

Well, I do know that my father is the Dark Lord who caused a lot of suffering for a lot of people. But besides that, nothing really.

I’ve been at Darkley’s practically my whole life. Dropped off on their doorsteps and taken in to be taught the ways of evil.

I think I taught them more than they ever taught me though.

And I was happy staying there, until one day my uncle Wu came to me and told me he needed my help to stop these.. time lords, or something- I wasn’t fully paying attention if I’m being honest.

But I don’t want to start there. I wanna start at the beginning. /My/ beginning.

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/16 years ago/

“We don’t know what he’s capable of!”

“He’s just a baby! What’s the worst he would do?!”

“A lot! You know who his father is!”

“Yeah, and that’s why he’s the perfect student to have here! We teach kids how to be evil! What more do you fucking want?!”

A baby’s crying pulled them out of their arguments.

They turned their heads to look at the child in the basket on the table next to them.

“Fucking- fine! Let’s just get him out of this basket and into some real clothes and a real bed.”

//The teachers raised me. From the very beginning. No one else. I have them to thank for everything… but I don’t regret what we did to them.//

The teachers took care of the baby. Feeding him and clothing him. By the time he was sleeping it was pitch black out and the only sounds in the school were the mice squeaking around the halls.

One teacher stayed by his side, rocking in his chair and watching the blond baby sleep. He sighed and looked out the window.

“Oh, Lloyd… what are we gonna do with you?”

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As Lloyd grew at Darkley’s many people worried about what was to come from him being there. Would he turn out to be just another student like all his classmates, or would he grow up to be just like his father?

One thing was for certain, he was a handful to watch after.

“LLOYD! LLOYD MONTGOMERY GARMADON YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!” A teacher called after the boy, sliding and hitting a wall as she chased him.

Lloyd was five now; old enough to get into all kinds of trouble. Starting food fights in the cafeteria, cheating on all his tests, and climbing on the counters in the kitchen to reach cookie jars.

But he still didn’t know anything about his parents. Or family. How could he? None of the staff knew anything either.

Lloyd laughed and looked over his shoulder as he ran from his teacher. He was having so much fun he didn’t even notice the people in the middle of the hall.

“ACK!” He ran right into them, falling back and landing with a thud.

He looked up, seeing an unfamiliar face smiling at him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there- though you should be more careful where you run,” he said.

“Hmph. Not my fault you were in the way,” he muttered.

“Oh, Mr. Tudabone,” Lloyd's teacher said once she caught up to him. She was breathing heavily and trying to straighten out her shirt.

“I totally forgot about your visit today, I apologize. If you give me a moment to get Lloyd back to class I’ll be right with you. I’m sure you and Bradley are very excited to get a look around the school.”

Lloyd stood up and noticed the boy standing behind the man he ran into.

They made eye contact. The boy waved and Lloyd froze in place.

“Not a problem at all; I’m fine waiting.”

She smiled and looked down at Brad.

“Hello, Bradley, I’ll be your teacher. I’m very excited to have you in my class.”

Bradley smiled and nodded. He looked back at Lloyd who just kept staring.

“H- hi.. I’m Bradley.”

“Hey… I’m Lloyd.”

A bit of silence passed through the hall before Lloyd ran off back to the classroom.

“Oh! Well he never was good with new people was he,” his teacher said. “Let’s get to that tour shall we? And then start the final paperwork.”

-

Lloyd sat alone at lunch, again, and stared at his food, contemplating whether to throw it at someone or eat it for once.

“Hey.”

He looked up at the voice. It was Brad, holding a lunch tray and standing at the seat across from Lloyd.

“H.. hi.”

“You seem lonely. Can I sit with you?!”

“S.. sure. Yeah sure.”

Brad sat down and started eating. Lloyd ate his food, for once, as well. Looking at only the tray feeling very unfamiliar with the company.

“Hey, have you read the new Fritz Donegan comic? It’s really good but no one I know has read it yet,” Brad asked.

“Uhm.. no. I- I don’t know what that is.”

“What! You’ve never read Fritz?! Well you’re lucky I brought all my comics with me! I’ll show them to you, and we can read them and- and…”

Lloyd watched as Bradley talked about this new space series he would soon grow to love. Not realizing he also made one of the closest friends he’d ever have.

//Just because the school taught us to be evil doesn’t mean everyone was. That teacher, Bradley, his father; they all had a good side to them. They just happened to choose a side that made life harder.. or easier, depending on what you did. Bradley became one of my very best friends, but villains aren’t supposed to have friends. Then again, I never said I was one.//

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Over time, Lloyd and Brad became very close friends. Lloyd showed Brad all his secret hideouts and all the hidden passageways in the school. Brad helped Lloyd open up and meet other students. He even started doing better in his classes.

Lloyd was nine now, and had never really left the school grounds. It’s not that he wasn’t allowed to be just didn’t want to.

As he looked out the window of the library he wondered if it was worth the trouble.

“Lloyd! Lloyd Lloyd Lloyd!” Brad ran up to him and shook him aggressively.

“Ah, Brad, calm down! What’s going on!”

“Oh man, you’ll never believe this! So your DAD was out looking for these weapon things, and he almost got them too, but these four guys in colorful suits showed up and- and they beat him and sent him back to.. wherever he was. Isn’t that crazy?!”

Lloyd looked at his friend and just blinked.

“My.. dad? Was out looking for weapons, and fighting.. ninja?”

“Yeah! And they had these super cool powers and-“

“What- how do you know this?”

“Oh, it was on the news. This morning. You haven’t heard?”

Lloyd just stared at him.

“My dad was in Ninjago. Went looking for some weapons. Fought ninja. And didn’t think once to come look for me?”

“Oh.. I- well maybe he was going to after. I mean, from what I heard he wasn’t a solid matter… or something like that- look! I’m sure he would have a good excuse… if he wasn’t banished to some realm right now.”

Brad gave him a nervous smile but Lloyd wasn’t looking at him anymore. He looked stuck in his thoughts.

“Lloyd.. are you okay?” He put a hand on his shoulder.

Lloyd snapped out of his thoughts; jumping a little.

Instead of giving Brad a real response he ran off, leaving his friend worried and confused.

-

As years passed the ninja became more popular. Nothing huge just helping with basic crime around the city. I mean it’s not like a giant snake army was released. Or ghosts were wreaking havoc through the city. Or a demonic overlord taking over the minds of the innocent.

Nope, just simple city crime.

And as those years passed Lloyd grew more angry. With his classmates, teachers, and especially those ninja.

When Lloyd was ten he left the school for the first time. Going out into town and claiming to wreak havoc and cause much suffering if not given the one thing to appease his anger… candy.

That got their attention.

The ninja came down on their dragons and saw /Lloyd/- not Lord- Garmadon trying to scare the townspeople into giving him all their candy.

“Ugh, it’s just a stupid kid!” The blue one, master of lightning, said.

“I believe he is the son of Lord Garmadon. Making him Sensei Wu’s nephew,” the white one, master of ice, said.

“Well where the hell has he been that we’ve never met him before?! Seems like something Sensei would mention,” the red one, master of fire, grumbled.

“Doesn’t matter. We have to get him back to.. wherever he belongs,” the black one, master of earth, said and moved towards Lloyd.

“HAHAHA! Yes, give me all your candy!” He shouted, raising his arms in the air.

“Hey! What’re you doing, kid?” The black ninja called.

“Huh?” Lloyd turned around and saw the ninja. He felt something burn in his chest. Anger? Fear? Resentment? Whatever it was, he hated those ninjas, but he couldn’t afford to get caught right now.

He started running away, taking everything he had in his bag and booking it back to the school.

“Wh- HEY! Get back here!” The red ninja said.

“He seems to be going in the direction of the Bad Boys Boarding school,” White said.

“Well let’s go get him!” Blue said, already chasing him.

“Wait up!” Red called, following.

“Uhm, we promise to return with your stolen goods soon,” Black announced to the townspeople and followed his teammates.

-

Lloyd ran through the back alleys of the town, running as fast as he could back to the school.

He stopped for a minute to catch his breath. Leaning against an alley wall and breathing heavily.

He pulled a lollipop out of the bag and took the wrapper off, dropping the paper on the ground and popping the sweet in his mouth.

“You shouldn’t litter,” a voice said.

Lloyd jumped and looked around.

It was quiet for a moment before he started running again making his way through the alleys.

“And you shouldn’t run with anything in your mouth either,” another voice said, startling him again,” you could choke.”

“AHH! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Lloyd shouted and started running faster. He couldn’t see where they were but he knew they were around. Watching and following him.

Those ninjas. Even though they hadn’t been around very long he hated them. They took away his one chance to see his dad. He’d never get to know more about his dad, or mom, or any of his family!

He hated them! And it’d be better if they were never around in the first pla-

“Woah!” He tripped, almost landing face first on the pavement. Almost.

He opened his eyes and saw he was hovering just above the ground.

“Huh?”

“Careful there, Bud,” Black said, helping him stand up,” almost ate it there.”

Lloyd turned around and saw all four of them. They were younger than he thought they’d be.

The one in black seemed to take a leadership role, hands on his hips smiling down at Lloyd.

The red one stood behind him to his right, arms crossed and glaring at Lloyd. He seemed like a jerk.

The blue one stood to the black ones left, hands in his pockets, not really paying attention to Lloyd. Just kinda waiting for Black to give an order.

And the one in white stood behind Red, hands behind his back watching Lloyd. Probably waiting to see if he’d make a run for it. He seemed like the smartest.

“You can’t steal from town, okay? Can I have those back?” Black asked, reaching out a hand.

Lloyd looked at him and his hand, a little disgusted if he was being honest.

He didn’t want to give it back. It was his, rightfully stolen. His classmates would later praise his earnings and he’d share most of it with Brad and some of his friends. Well, Brad would share his cut. Lloyd would keep all of his.

“C’mon, kid, we don’t have all day,” Red said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“LLOYD! LLOYD! Are you out here?” A voice called.

Lloyd turned around and the ninja all looked up to see a woman, Lloyd’s teacher, coming out of the alley to where they all were.

“Oh, Lloyd, there you are. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She looked up and noticed the ninja standing there.

“Oh.. hello. Can I help you?”

“Your son here stole candy from the people in town. We were just trying to get it back. No harm has come to him,” Black said.

“Son? Hahaha, oh no Lloyd’s not my son! He’s my student. At Darkley’s.”

Lloyd quickly ran to her side and hid behind her.

“Darkley’s. So then I guess he was taught to steal from defenseless citizens?” Red said, still glaring at him.

“I mean.. yeah. But I’ve never seen him leave the school before. I’m not quite sure why he did.”

“Well he did, and he stole a lot of candy. So he can either hand it over, or someone can pay for all the candy. Your choice,” Red said, meeting the teacher's eyes.

She looked at them and then down at Lloyd who looked at her.

A moment of silence passed before they both sprinted away back to the school

“HEY! Get back here!”

“Let them go, Kai,” Black said, holding him back. “‘S not worth it.”

Kai grumbled something under his breath and turned around to go back to town.

“But now /we/ have to pay for the candy,” Blue said.

“Eh, it can’t be much. Just a few lollipops and some gum. It can't be more than a couple dollars.”

-

“$100 worth of candy- Lloyd, you’re amazing!” Brad said as Lloyd dumped the score on the table.

“I know,” he said and smiled at his friend. Seeing Brad’s shining, bright smile back at him made his brain glitch.

He looked away quickly.

“Uhm.. take what you want. I- it’s ours to share.”

“Really! Thank you!” Brad sighed in. Lloyd picking around as well.

//Giving to my friends felt good. I liked making them all happy. Being nice felt good. But I was never going to stoop to the ninja’s level. I resented them for taking my father and family from me. But still, the way Brad’s face looked was pretty cute.//

Chapter Text

Things were starting to get confusing for Lloyd. Why did being nice feel so good? Did he want to be good? He still hated the ninja and they were good! And why was Brad so cute?!

It didn’t make sense at all, so he went to his teacher for advice.

//Ms. Ackens practically raised me. She taught me everything I know. Almost everything. She was.. almost like a mother to me. She’s the only reason I regret what happened at that school.//

Lloyd knocked on his teacher's door.

“M- Ms. Ackens?” He called and walked in.

“Lloyd! Hi, how are you hun? What’s going on?” She asked and turned her attention away from the work she was doing.

“Uhm.. n- nothing much. Just wanted to ask you something,” he said and sat at one of the desks in the front row of the empty classroom.

“Of course, Lloyd, you can ask me anything!”

He searched his mind for the right way to say this.

“Can a person be evil.. and still want to be good?” He asked.

She looked at him and thought.

“Well.. we teach you all about being evil. Not being kind to others and taking what’s yours and ruling over those that ever wronged you, et cetera et cetera. But you can’t really integrate them both. I mean, you can’t really be an evil overlord and also give out favors and be kind to people. They just don’t add up.”

Lloyd had a disappointed look on his face. He wished there was a way they could both exist.

“Oh.. okay. Thanks Ms. A.” He left and went back to his room.

-

He looked to his bedside table and saw the Fritz Donegan comic Brad had lent him.

“Fritz is a hero.. does that mean I can’t like him either?” He asked himself. He opened one of the comics and flipped through the pages.

“Fritz doesn’t always make the best choices though.”

He looked at the scenes of Fritz taking from people and getting away after blowing up a building.

That didn’t seem very heroic!

But he stole to give to those that needed it. On one of the later pages he’s giving stolen money and food to people in need. That building must’ve belonged to some rich, evil corporation or something.

But a good guy wouldn’t blow up a building just for the sake of getting people what they need.

Maybe.. Fritz wasn’t as good as Lloyd thought he was.

“Lloyd!” Brad called, knocking on his door,” can I come in?”

Lloyd jumped at the sound of his name and closed the comic.

“Uh- uhm yeah, Brad. Come in.”

Brad came in and sat on Lloyd’s bed. He noticed something was bothering him.

“Lloyd, are you okay? Ever since that run in with the ninja you’ve seemed off. What’s going on?”

As a villain, Brad shouldn’t care about Lloyds feelings. But as his friend, he should always be there for him if he’s struggling.

“Ugh! I don’t know! I’m so confused about like.. if I wanna be evil and what the true meaning of being good is! Like- like I still wanna take what I want and- and kick things around, but I also wanna give to you and our friends and be nice to people who aren’t as fortunate. Is that weird?”

Brad blinked and stared at his friend with a shocked expression.

“Um.. wow. I thought maybe you’d just be struggling with class work again,” he said and laughed nervously.

“Never mind. It’s stupid, I know. We’ve been learning all about how to be evil since we were kids- your dad is some.. evil, robber guy with a lot of money and servants! Like, it’s not a question that I wanna be cool and have money and boss around people, but I wanna boss around people who have caused problems, not people who have problems.”

“Wow.. I- I never knew you felt like this,” Brad said.

“Yeah.. but I can’t do both. If I’m gonna be evil then I gotta be ruthless and mean! No friends or any kindness whatsoever.”

Brad thought for a minute.

“Oh, that’s a shame. Guess we can’t be friends, or share candy, or comics, and I can’t help with your homework anymore.”

Lloyd perked up and turned to his friend.

“WHAT! No! I need you as my best friend! We work so well together and- and I love sharing things with you a-”

He then realized how close he was to his face and quickly backed away. There was that feeling again.

“I just.. I can’t have both. Ms. Ackens said it doesn’t work that way.”

Brad thought for a moment. Then smiled and grabbed Lloyd’s shoulders.

“Then /we’ll/ run the school! We’ll- we’ll take over and teach everyone how to do things for themselves /and/ others! We can have everything we want /and/ give to those who need stuff!”

Lloyd was shocked at first but then laughed.

“That’s- that’s cute, but we can’t do that! We need teachers, and plans, and a way to have an income for the school- Brad it would never work,” he said.

Brad’s smile faded and he dropped his hands from Lloyd’s shoulders.

“Oh.. o- okay.”

Lloyd smiled.

“It would never work for someone else. I know we can do it,” he said and bumped Brad’s shoulder.

Brad smiled brightly and hugged his friend tight.

“YES! This is going to be great!” He said.

//I don’t regret what we did. It was good for us, for the other students, future students, and for those we helped. Those that got in our way paid what they owed, and we did our part. I don’t regret it. I just wish it didn’t have to happen how it did.//

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//Our plan took much longer than we wanted it to. Getting more kids on board who would then talk to others. We tried to not spread it around too much so the teachers wouldn’t find out. We also had to figure out how to continuously get funds from parents and get food to the school, which we did. We also had to figure out how to overturn the school to our favor. That was the key. That was the hardest part. For a lot of reasons.

I’m going to save you the boring parts of the story and skip right to the main point. I was 12 when we finally put the plan into action. Me, Brad, and half the school got together to get rid of the teachers. We banned together and fought to have the school for ourselves and learn the ways of good /and/ evil. But.. when the teachers fought back we didn’t think they’d be so.. violent.//

Lloyd stopped at the end of a hall and looked both ways before running with Brad behind him. They quietly ran through the halls making sure no teachers were left.

At least.. the alive ones.

Sure, the students started it.. but the teachers brought out the real weapons. The real fighting strategies. The real war.

Brad kept his eyes forward so as to not see the few they walked past on the floors.

It wasn’t many, really it wasn’t, but it still hurt knowing they were losing people. That wasn’t in Lloyd's plan.

Brad’s radio beeped and they stopped quickly.

“Lloyd, Brad, come in,” a voice said,” how’s it looking on your end?”

“All clear so far,” Lloyd said,” I think they’re all gone up here.”

“Same for down here. We’re doing one sweep through and then heading back to the auditorium to recover.”

“Sounds good. We’ll do the same and meet you th-“

A loud bang went off behind Lloyd and he and Brad quickly dropped to the floor.

“LLOYD! LLOYD ARE YOU THERE? Is everything okay?”

Lloyd quickly turned off the radio and he and Brad shuffled into the closest room.

Lloyd peeked his head out the door and head shoes clicking down the hall, and the clicking sound of someone reloading a weapon.

“Fuck.. I never wanted this to happen,” he said. “I just wanted everyone to have an equal chance at both sides. I never meant for this to happen I-“

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Brad said and grabbed his hand,” I know you never wanted this. I’m sorry it came to this, but you’ve done amazing at leading us through it. When this is all over.. maybe you could lead us all and teach us the way or whatever.”

Lloyd laughed.

“Yeah.. maybe.”

The steps stopped and they both froze. Lloyd tried to look out the door but quickly snapped his head back when he saw who it was.

“What’s wrong?” Brad asked.

“It’s.. it’s Ms. Ackens,” he said. “I- I can’t.. she.. I-“ he felt his breathing get faster and his chest tighter.

Brad looked at his friend and then to the door.

“Don’t worry Lloyd. I’ve got this,” he said.

“Wait- Brad no!”

But he was already running out with the swords he’d found in some supply closet hours ago.

Lloyd heard the yelling, the clanging of metal, and then the loud bang. Then the scream.

He quickly got up and ran out.

Brad was on the floor, holding his arm tight and shaking.

“Brad!” He said and went to run to him.

“Not another step!”

Lloyd stopped and looked at his teacher. Her gun raised to him with a straight face.

“Ms. Ackens please. D- don’t do this.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever have to,” she said. “I had such big dreams for you, Lloyd. Out of everyone here I always thought you’d do such amazing things and go on to rule the world! And here you are; trying to merge sides.”

“Because I know they can both exist!” He shouted. “I- I want to help people! I want to steal what I want if I want it! I want to take from those who have too much and give to those with too little.”

“Like Fritz,” Brad mumbled.

“Y- yeah! Sure, yeah!”

“That’s a stupid comic book, it’s not real!” She said,” there are only two sides, Lloyd, and they don’t merge.”

“Well I say they can!”

“Who the hell are you to play creator?” She said and tightened her grip on the rifle.

“Ms. Ackens.. please.. I know you have good in you. You raised me and helped me so much. I know you don’t really believe you have to choose one side.”

“I helped you because I thought maybe you’d spare me if you ever ruled over the world, you stupid brat! You were an annoying kid with dumb needs and bothered me with stupid questions and now here we are! Students and teachers dead over a comic!”

“It’s not just the comic, it’s about having the choice!”

“That’s enough!” She said,” I have had quite enough of you!” She said and aimed straight. “I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not much of a liar.”

She pulled the trigger and Lloyd closed his eyes tight.

If he’d died there then at least he’d made a point. He’d proven you could question the rules you’d been raised with and overcome anything. Maybe those on the lower floors could still get away and spread his ideas.

The trigger clicked. Nothing shot out.

“Huh? What the- no! No no no!” She continued to pull the trigger but it was no use.

She was out of ammo.

Lloyd saw his opportunity and took it. He took one of Brad’s swords and ran at her. Kicking the rifle out of her hands and pushing the blade through her chest.

The hall went quiet. Her eyes went wide and Lloyd stared in shock at what he’d done.

“L.. Lloyd,” She said.

He quickly backed away, letting go of the sword and tripping and falling back as he watched her.

She held out shaky hands as she looked at the sword impaled in her chest.

“I.. I would say I’m shocked but then again I had a feeling this day would always come,” she said and fell to her knees.

“I thought.. Maybe one day you’d take over the world and kill me as your first victim. I hoped you’d spare me maybe after everything I’d done. But I guess that doesn’t count for much.”

She coughed up some blood and laid on her side, holding the blade’s handle.

“Oh well.. At least I don’t have to live in a world with a disappointment like you. No parents, stupid, and alone. What a shame.”

“He’s not alone,” Brad said and struggled to crawl over to his friend. “He’s got more friends then you ever did.”

She laughed. “Hm.. I guess so. Goodbye, Lloyd. Thank you for a fair end.”

//And like that she was gone.

We buried the students and teachers behind the school. All having a proper send off. None of them deserved that. Not even Ms. A.

After we cleaned up the school we started the second part of the plan. Keeping the school up and running. We still advertised as a bad boys school, but when parents and sponsors showed up we never told them what the real deal was.

Sometimes, for lessons, we’d take students to Brad’s father's house and steal as much as we could without getting caught and then take it back to the village by the school and leave half of the amount in the banks, and take the other back to the school.

Like I said, I don’t regret taking over. It was good for us and the school's future. I just wish it had never happened like that. It is my biggest regret in life.//

Chapter Text

//Oh but Lloyd, what about you and Brad? What happened to Brad after he was shot? Lloyd, did you ever confess-

YEAH I KNOW.. I know you’re probably wondering.. if Brad was okay. And if I ever confessed my feelings or whatever- and that’s not really your business, but.. I might as well tell you something. And yes, he’s perfectly fine.//

Lloyd had the whole school figured out by 15. Everything from lesson plans and getting food to the school, to keeping the secret from anyone outside the school about their real motives.

One thing he hadn’t figured out was whatever his feelings for Brad were.

That weird, warm feeling he always got around him and always getting flustered from being too close to him.

He was standing in the old principal’s office, looking over maps and stacks of papers when he heard a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

Brad opened the door,” hey, Lloyd,” he said and went to stand by his friend. “Whatcha up to?”

“Looking over warehouses and raid spots. Trying to get in some easy stuff for new students and real stuff for you, me and the older students,” he said, not looking up from the spread out plans.

“I see.”

A moment of silence passed.

“There’s new graffiti on the third floor,” Brad said.

The third floor was covered in graffiti. Words, murals, and paint splatter. Lloyd loved that floor; it was a way for kids to get out creative energy and express whatever was on their mind.

Of course, the more violent urges were taken out on the top floor where they had all kinds of fighting dummies and stuff to throw and break for any.. excessive urges.

Lloyd also liked that floor.

“I’ll have to check it out later,” Lloyd said, flipping some papers over and then writing something on a map.

Brad sat down and watched his friend work.

Lloyd didn’t mind. They did that a lot. Enjoy the company and silence.

Lloyd looked up and caught Brad’s eyes, Brad smiling back.

“What?” Lloyd asked.

“Nothing. Just admiring.”

Lloyd’s face burned red.

“What.. the fuck.. are you talking about?” He said, very taken aback by the sudden comment.

“Oh! Sorry just your talent for planning and- and leadership.. sorry, I’ll shut up.”

Lloyd continued to look at Brad, very confused.

“Right.. uhm.. do me a favor and take my third block class. They’re just doing some easy defense stuff. Level two shit, you know how it goes,” he said, looking back down at the papers.

“Yeah. O- of course. I’ll take over yeah, anything for y- you.”

Lloyd flicked his eyes up at Brad, whose cheeks burned bright pink.

“Okay see you later, byeeee!” He left quickly, the door slamming on his way out.

Lloyd shook his head and continued on with his plans.

-

Some time passed, and so did Lloyd’s birthday. He was now 16, and the whole school was celebrating.

The party started early in the morning with chatting, games, and snacks, and now went late into the night with loud music and a paintball war.

Lloyd was sitting on the roof, admiring the stars and taking a break from the colorful battle in the school.

The door to the roof opened and Lloyd looked behind him to see Brad, who was carrying a poorly wrapped box with him.

“Hey,” he said and sat next to him.

“Hey. What’s that?” Lloyd said and nodded at the box.

“Oh, just a little gift I wanted to give you,” he said and tapped the box,” I was nervous about giving it to you this morning with everyone else’s gifts because I thought you wouldn’t like it so I held off, but I figured I should give it to you eventually so.. here.”

He handed Lloyd the box.

Lloyd took it and looked at the bad wrapping job.

“Not one for packaging are you?” He said and smirked.

“Shut the fuck up before I take it back.”

Lloyd laughed and opened the box.

It had some sweets and new blades in it, but at the bottom was something more fabric like.

A slightly beaten up jean jacket with a hood from a hoodie merged to it.

“Oh, Brad, this is so cool,” he said and put it on.

“That’s not all,” Brad said,” look.”

He tapped Lloyds chest on the upper left side.

A patch that read “Sensei Garmadon” was ironed onto the jacket.

Lloyd admired it in shock and then looked at his friend.

“I- I’m no Sensei, Brad! I don’t teach the kids proper fighting or weapon techniques, and I- I’m not even the oldest one here!” He said.

“I know, but.. you’re our leader and you’ve taught us so much. Figured you’d ought to have a proper title.”

Lloyd stared at him and then smiled, and pulled him close for a hug.

“Thank you,” he said and squeezed him tight.

Brad hugged him back and laughed.

“Yeah, no problem. Glad you like it.”

“I love it,” he said and pulled away a little.

Their faces were only a few inches apart.

Lloyd blushed. “I- I uh I’m sorry I- you- the jacket- it’s great I love it! I love.. uhm.. it’s.. uhm..”

“Hey,” Brad said, trying to get him to calm down,” I get it. You love it.” He put a hand on his cheek. “I’m glad you do. Took me a while to learn the proper embroidery.”

Lloyd laughed and looked down, trying to avoid his friends' eyes.

“Lloyd.” Brad tilted his chin up a little and Lloyd looked at him,” is there something else you want to tell me?”

“I.. uhhh I don’t uhm.. What do you mean? I’m fine! Everything’s fine!” He said and chuckled nervously.

“Lloyd,” Brad said and raised an eyebrow.

Lloyd sat there, trying to plan out his next move. He raised a shaky hand to hold Brad’s hand. He avoided eye contact for a bit longer before finally looking at his friend.

“I.. I’ve been meaning to tell you that I.. I li-“

That’s when the fireworks were launched.

They both jumped and Lloyd quickly pulled away and looked at the display in the sky above them.

Bright explosions of colors and some in shapes flashed above him.

“Wow.. that’s beautiful,” he said.

Brad watched too, but he knew the moment had been ruined and he would have to try this all over again.

“Wait a minute. Where are they setting those off from?” Lloyd asked.

“Oh! Uh probably the windows. Or the front field. Why?”

“Because none of them are trained to set those off- shit, someone’s gonna get hurt I gotta get down there.” He quickly got up and ran for the door.

He stopped for a moment and turned back to his friend.

“Brad.”

“Y- yeah?”

“Thank you.. f- for the jacket.”

“No problem.”

A moment of silence passed and then Lloyd ran out, going as fast as he could to make sure none of the students were hurt.

Brad sighed and held his knees close to him.

It was worth a shot.

-

From a distance, all the way on a tall hill sat a monastery. An old man with a long beard stood and watched the fireworks from far away.

He looked down at his watch, and then back up at the colorful display, folding his arm behind his back.

“It’s almost time,” he said. “I never got the courage to take you in or train you. I don’t know anything about you, and yet I know you’ll do such amazing things.”

He turned to his left and bent down to the lantern on the ground. He lit the small flame and carefully picked it up, and set it off into the air.

“Happy Birthday, my nephew.”

Chapter Text

Wu stood outside the monastery with the gates open behind him. He took a deep breath and checked his pocket watch.

Almost time.

A knock behind Wu made him turn around and smile at the leader of the ninja, the elemental master of earth.

“Cole, what can I do for you?”

“You wanted to see me, remember?” He asked and bowed as he took a step towards his Sensei.

“Yes. I need you to round up the ninja, and Nya, and I have something I need you all to do for me,” he said.

“Yes, Sensei. I’m on it,” he said. He bowed again and left.

Wu looked back out at what he could see on top of the mountain.

“I hope this works.”

-

“You want us to WHAT?!”

“I need you five to go to Darkley’s, get my nephew Lloyd, and bring him back here. It’s very important,” Wu said. “Please.”

“No way! Those kids are insane! And the last time we saw Lloyd he ran off and we paid his $100 tab!” The red ninja said.

“What Kai is trying to say,” Cole said,” is that those kids and their teachers don’t like us. They’re taught to do everything in their power to defeat us and I’m sure we won’t get very far trying to get in. But we will do our best to do as you ask.”

“What!”

“Thank you, Cole. I trust you five to complete your mission and report back with Lloyd as soon as possible.” Wu turned on his heel and left to go inside the monastery.

“This is ridiculous,” Kai said as the rest of them started to head inside. “That school is a hive mind of terror.”

“Sensei Wu tasked us with retrieving his nephew,” Cole said as they headed down to their vehicles,” so that’s what we’re going to do; even if it takes all day.”

“Fine. But Nya shouldn’t be coming.”

“What! I finally get to go on a mission and you don’t want me coming?”

She was the youngest of them all. Bright, stubborn and tough. The red ninjas’- Kai- younger sister.

“They’re just weird, and their teachers don’t hold back in their methods of defense,” Kai said, shrugging.

“I think Nya should come. It- it’ll be good for her to get some field time,” the blue ninja said.

“No one asked you, Jay.”

“Sensei Wu said the five of us, so it’s going to be the five of us,” said the white ninja.

“Exactly, thank you Zane. Now let’s get going. Weapons and bikes, let’s go,” Cole said.

“Should we bring the golden ones?” Jay asked, nodding his head at a case in the weapons room.

“No, I doubt it’ll be that severe,” Cole said.

They grabbed their respective weapons and went down to the garage to their vehicles.

The ninja used to have dragons, but they had gone away a long time ago, so Nya and Jay had built motorcycles for all of them.

“I’ll ride with Jay,” Nya said,” save gas.”

She smiled at him and he quickly looked away, blushing with a stupid grin.

Kai rolled his eyes and got on his bike. “Whatever you wanna tell yourself,” he said and started it up.

“Everyone set?” Cole asked, pulling his mask down.

Hearing sounds of approval behind him he revved his bike and they were off, going out of the underground garage and out through the mountain to Darkley’s.

-

Kai’s suspicions about Darkley’s weren’t one hundred percent wrong. They were tough and they did have high defenses, and the teachers didn’t hold back. But those aren’t the same teachers as before. And they aren’t taught the same thing as before. They’re not as hateful, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be scary.

Pulling up to the school and it being quiet was the first sign something felt off. The ninja parked their bikes outside the school, in front of the fence, and traveled up the path to the school.

“Something isn’t right,” Kai said, standing by Cole’s side.

“Don’t worry. If shit goes down I’m here,” he said and smiled down at Kai. Kai looked up at him and blushed a little, then looked back at the school and nodded.

Jay held Nya’s hand tight, nervous about what was ahead. She squeezed his hand and walked a little bit in front of him.

Zane looked around, analyzing everything. His eyes seemed to be like they were recording.. or scanning their surroundings.

“HEY!” They all stopped and looked up to see a kid sitting at the top of a watch tower holding a rifle of some kind. “State your name and business!”

“We’re the ninja, and we’re here to see Lloyd Garmadon,” Cole said.

“Dude, that kid is like ten. What is he doing watching guard,” Kai muttered.

The kid said something into his radio and turned back to them. “Wait here. They’ll be here shortly to bring you in.”

“Who’s ‘they’?” Cole asked, but the kid did not respond and instead continued to watch for any activity.

Then the doors to the school opened and a group of boys came out wearing defensive wear and different types of armor. They all held different weapons and some wore different masks too.

“The ninja,” the leading boy asked,” what a surprise. You wish to see Sensei Lloyd? Come on in.”

“Sensei?!” The ninja exclaimed in unison.

-

“Lloyd, there are people here to see you,” Brad said as he walked into Lloyd’s office.

“Who are they?” He asked, looking over different student grades and maps of Ninjago.

“It’s um.. it’s the Ninja.”

Lloyd slowly raised his head and put the papers down.

“What.. the fuck.. do they want?”

“J- just to talk, so it seems.”

Lloyd looked down at his desk and sighed. He took a minute to think.

“Are they already in the building?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Radio everyone and tell them to be on guard. Don’t tell them anything and ESPECIALLY.. don’t trust them. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“‘Kay. Thank you.”

Brad nodded and turned around to leave.

“Wait, come here.”

Brad turned around and walked over to Lloyd’s desk. Lloyd didn’t look up so Brad just looked down at the top of his head.

“About.. about what happened at my party,” he started. He was playing with one of the hoodie strings from the jacket he was gifted. “I.. I didn’t mean to run off, I just… I was going to.. I really wanted to.. I was going to tell you-“

“Lloyd.”

He looked up at his friend who was blushing like crazy but smiling. “I know. Trust me I do.”

Lloyd just stared at him for a moment before standing up and pulling him in by the collar from across the desk and kissing him rough.

Brad almost fell over but slammed his hands down on Lloyd's desk to ground himself.

They could’ve gone longer if a knock wasn’t heard from the door and Lloyd quickly pulled away.

“WHAT!”

The door opened and the leader of the group that had greeted the ninja stood with the multicolored hero’s behind him.

“Sensei Lloyd, the ninja wish to speak to you.”

“Clearly.”

The leader examined the current state Brad and Lloyd were in. Brad’s hands still on the desk and Lloyd still gripped his shirt, their faces very close.

“Is this a bad time?”

Lloyd looked at Brad and blushed before quickly pushing himself away and clearing his throat.

“No! Brad was just leaving.”

Brad nodded and left, going past the leader and the ninja.

Lloyd touched his fingers to his lips and smiled a little, before quickly shaking his head and turning to the group as they walked in. He sat at his desk and watched as the ninja sat in the chairs provided for them in front of his desk.

“‘S been a while, hasn’t it?” He said, arms crossed and leaning back in his chair. “What do you want?”

“Our Sensei has asked us to come retrieve you and bring you back to him,” Cole said.

“Hm, and how does your Sensei know me?”

“He’s.. your uncle. Wu, brother to Garmadon, your dad.”

Lloyd felt a wave of rage pass over him. He took a deep breath and chuckled.

“So.. not only did the five of you banish my father off this dimension, ruining my one chance at having a family, but I also happen to have an uncle who has never ONCE tried to get in contact with me?”

“It appears so,” Cole said after a moment of silence.

“Hm, okay, and now you want me to come back with you to fuck knows where so my supposed uncle can- what? Talk to me? Catch up?” He stood and put his hands down on his desk, glaring down at the ninja,” do you have any idea how fucking stupid you sound?”

They were in shock to say the least. Lloyd was younger than all of them, only a teenager, and here he was shouting at them and cursing.

“I can tell you’re upset,” Cole said,” but I’m sure whatever reasons Sensei Wu has for not seeing you are very valid and he’ll explain everything once we get to the monastery.”

“You don’t get it, do you? I’m not going with you.” He leaned in closer. “The fact you came here and even stepped foot on my school is ridiculous. I want your sorry asses off my campus. Now!”

The five didn’t move, a little frozen in place out of shock.

Jay stood first and went for the door.

“If you say so!”

“Sit down,” Kai said and grabbed his arm, pulling him down.

“Lloyd, we’re really sorry,” Nya said. “I didn’t have much of a part in what happened to your father.. in fact he kidnapped me as ransom- but my point is that I know it sucks to lose family, but all this hate and resentment doesn’t get you far.”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” he said. “It is not about losing family. I never had a family. I was dropped here as a baby by fuck knows who and raised by the teachers. I was taught to be evil, and when I learned you can do both- good and evil- I started a revolution at 12 years old and kicked out all the teachers to make sure these students could learn the way of taking and giving. Benefiting on both ends.

But the teacher fought back much more than we thought they would. We lost a lot of people that day- the woman who raised me as if her own tried to kill me! And you know what happened?”

They shook their heads.

Lloyd turned around and took a sword off its mantle on the wall and turned back to them. He placed it on the desk and then his hands right back where they were.

“I drew this sword right through her chest. Killing her. The woman I considered my mother.”

Lloyd sat back in his chair and crossed his arms again.

“So I’m sorry if I’m resentful and an asshole, but you banished my father, and my uncle has never existed until now, and I don’t even know what my mother looks like. So please, get the fuck out of my goddamn school.”

Cole didn’t break eye contact.

“I was sent here to retrieve you, and bring you back to your uncle; that is my mission, so I am going to complete it.”

Lloyd chuckled.

“Then I guess you’re going to be here a while.”

-

The ninja were brought to some empty boarding rooms.

“This is where you’ll sleep for as long as you’re delusional enough to be here,” said a boy with purple bangs and a pair of nunchucks hanging from his belt,” three rooms, three beds. Enjoy.”

He turned and left.

“Right. So how do we wanna do this?” Cole asked.

“Go home and quit,” Jay suggested.

“Not what I meant. Who’s rooming with who?”

“Me and Nya can room together,” Jay said. Kai glared daggers at him but he avoided it with all his strength.

“Alright, me and Kai will room then.” Kai felt his cheeks burn and turned to look up at his leader. “Are you okay with rooming alone, Zane?”

“I’ll be quite fine,” he said,” thank you.”

“If I’d known we were going to be sleeping here I would’ve brought a toothbrush,” Jay said as he and Nya went into their room.

Zane went into his room and closed the door; Nya and Jay doing the same.

Kai continued to keep staring at Cole until he looked down at the hot head and smiled.

“What? Something wrong?”

“N- no! No I- I’m fine!” He said and turned quickly to go into the room,” just peachy!”

Cole chuckled and followed him in.

-

Lloyd sat on the third floor, admiring a mural and the surrounding art, trying to stay calm and not take a trip to the top floor.

“Hey,” Brad said, coming out of the stairwell and walking over to Lloyd,” how ya doing?”

Lloyd looked up at him.

“I’m.. fine. I’ve been better.”

“I know.” Brad sat down and put his head on Lloyd’s shoulder, Lloyd putting his head on Brad’s.

“I’m just so pissed. I don’t understand why my uncle has never thought about coming to see me before!”

“Maybe he felt like it was too late. Maybe he thought you were better off without him.”

“Maybe. But why now? After all this time?”

“Maybe he needs your help with something.”

“Yeah.. maybe.”

A moment of silence passed and Brad laughed.

“So… you like me?”

Lloyd blushed pink and pulled away, covering his face with his hands.

“Fuck you,” he groaned. Brad laughed again and nudged him.

“No! No, it’s cute!” He said and leaned into him,” it’s not like I don’t like you back.”

Lloyd looked at Brad.

“You like me too?”

“Yeah! Isn’t it obvious?!”

“I mean.. I’m kinda oblivious-“

“Oh I know. That stunt you pulled at the party was kind of.. a stab right in the heart.”

“I’m sorry,” Lloyd said, wincing a little at the memory.

“It’s okay. I know you’re emotionally stunted from years of.. emotional stunting.”

They laughed. Lloyd looked at Brad and admired his face a little.

“If I leave with them.. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“I know. I can wait.”

“I know you can but /I/ can’t!”

Brad laughed and turned his body to face Lloyd; Lloyd turned to face Brad. Their bodies almost slotted together as they sat there, Brad looking at Lloyd who avoided eye contact out of embarrassment.

“Hey,” Brad said tilting Lloyd’s chin up,” it’s your choice. I know you’re worried about the school and if things go to shit, but I’m here, and I can help.”

“I know. You know my plans well enough; I know you have it under control. I just.. I just don’t wanna go with them, but something deep down is telling me I have to go and meet my uncle. Or else something is going to happen and everything is going to go to shit!”

“I understand,” Brad said. He brushed some of Lloyd’s hair behind his ear,” I trust you know what you have to do.” He kept his hand resting on Lloyd’s cheek.

Lloyd nodded and leaned in to kiss Brad’s forehead.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

Chapter Text

Lloyd woke up the next day before the sun had fully risen.

He went down to the kitchens and made himself some coffee, enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning.

He sighed, enjoying his brief peace before the day started.

“Morning!” Brad said in a sing-song sort of way as he came into the kitchen.

“Hmm,” Lloyd groaned back.

“So,” Brad started, pouring coffee into his own cup,” have you decided anything with the ninja’s offer yet?”

“Mm.. not really. It’s still early, and I’m so tired.”

“Hm, so does that mean today’s schedule isn’t changing?”

“Of course not! Same classes, same schedule- come on, Brad, you of all people should know I’d never let something like this bring me down.”

Brad sighed,” yeah yeah, I know.”

Brad looked over at Lloyd who was stuck in thought, leaning with his back against the counter. Brad smiled to himself and quickly gave Lloyd a kiss on the cheek, snapping Lloyd out of his thoughts, and running away.

“See you later then!” He called.

Lloyd held his cheek, shocked. He laughed and left to go get ready for the day.

-

Cole was up before the rest of his team, and went to Lloyd’s office to try and convince him some more.

As he was about to knock on the door, Lloyd stepped out; almost getting knocked on the head by Cole’s hand.

“Watch it!” Lloyd said, stumbling back a little.

“Oh, sorry!” Cole took a step back.

Lloyd took a second to right himself and made sure everything he was holding was still in his hands and then looked at Cole.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, I just figured we could talk some more and maybe I could convince you to-“

“I’m not going with you,” Lloyd said, cutting him off,” but if you’d like to give it another shot then you can follow me like a stray cat all day while I teach.”

“If you’re offering!”

Lloyd glared at him. “That wasn’t a real offer.” He pushed past him and walked to his first class.

“I’m gonna take it anyway!” Cole said and followed.

-

Lloyd watched his first class pour in; Cole standing in the back of the class watching them take their seats.

Some students noticed Cole and pointed and whispered things to each other as he just nodded and smiled at them.

“Please ignore the Black Ninja in the back of the room, he is only here to observe,” Lloyd said loudly so his students could hear him over their loud whispering. “Please take your seats and we’ll begin soon.”

The class settled down and turned their attention to Lloyd.

“So, yesterday we went on a small trip to Ninjago City. I’m proud of all of you, but some of you were sloppy. I figured we’d go to the top floor and practice a bit of footwork and basic skills. No weapons today though because I know some of you,” he set his eyes on a red head in the front who quickly looked away,” get pretty excited when we use them. Okay, let’s go; single file; you know what to do.”

The students filed out of the classroom and went up to the top floor. The training floor, and also the room students went to get their anger and destructive energy out.

The whole floor was practically an open area. Some places sectioned off for certain things and types of training.

Cole followed behind Lloyd as they walked upstairs.

“You’re a very good teacher,” he said.

Lloyd didn’t know how to take that. On one end, it was a compliment, but on the other a compliment from a ninja.

He said nothing and picked up his pace to follow closer behind his students.

Once they reached the top floor the students grouped together and waited for instructions from their teacher.

“Now, I want you all to get into pairs. Work on simple defense and basics. Please don’t get too out of hand like last time. Nick is still in the infirmary, but he is coming back hopefully this week.”

The students nodded and grabbed their partners, spread around the room and started doing as they were told.

Lloyd watched from his corner and occasionally moved around, watching his students and making sure their form was okay.

Cole followed behind him.

“Do you plan to do this the whole time you’re here?” Lloyd asked as he walked.

“Do what?”

“Follow me around like a fucking lost puppy,” Lloyd said, fixing a students foot placement with his own foot and nodded at them then continuing to walk.

“I’m just interested in your teaching. Is that wrong?” Cole asked and watched one student trip another to the floor and then help them up, switching sides so the other could do the same to their partner.

“No, but I know my teaching is sloppy. My students could have a better teacher, their form could be different- improved, and their coursework more detailed. But this is all I have,” he turned around and looked up at Cole,” I appreciate your interest, but you hovering over my shoulder all day pisses me off.”

“Noted.”

Lloyd turned back around and continued walking around the room. Cole stood in the back and observed.

-

At the end of the class Lloyd went back to his office and Cole went to see if his teammates were awake.

He found them in the school's kitchen in the cafeteria; messing around with the pots, pans, and food ingredients.

“What are you guys doing?”

“Zane was going to make food,” Jay said, sitting on a countertop holding Nya’s hand who was standing next to him.

Zane was going through the pantries and cupboards trying to make something presentable to his friends.

“How’d it go with Lloyd?” Kai asked. He was sitting on a different counter across from Jay. The kitchen was a decent size giving all five of them the space to be in there.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t talk to him much but I know I didn’t do very good in convincing him,” Cole said. He leaned back on the door he came in through.

“Well maybe he’s not worth convincing,” Nya said,” you heard him. He doesn’t wanna leave.”

“But Sensei Wu gave us a mission! And I intend to complete it!”

“Have fun with that,” Kai said,” whatcha making Zane?”

“Whatever the best excuse for pancakes is here,” he said and turned on the stove.

-

Lloyd sat in his office thinking. Hard.

Was he going to trust the ninja and leave with them? Or continue his resentment and stay with his school?

Leaving wasn’t permanent- he could come back! But he was still worried about the leaving part.

A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts.

“Come in!”

Brad slipped into the office and gave him a smile in an attempt to be comforting.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

Lloyd groaned and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm.

“I just don’t know what to do,” he said and rested his hands on his forehead, staring down at his lap.

Brad came over and ran his hand through Lloyd’s hair. Lloyd looked up at him and smiled a little.

“How are you doing?” Lloyd asked.

“I’m okay,” Brad said and continued to mess with Lloyd’s dirty blond hair. “Just.. worried about you.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be okay.”

A moment of silence passed. Brad continuing to play with Lloyd’s hair, and them just looking at each other. Brad’s eyes flicked to Lloyd’s lips, and then back to his eyes.

“I saw that.”

“Shut up, no you didn’t.”

Lloyd laughed and reached up to Brad’s face and pulled him in a little. Brad felt his cheeks heat up as he got closer.

Lloyd had him inches from his own face. Lloyd still sat in his chair and Brad leaning over to meet Lloyd’s face.

“Don’t /ever/ tell me to shut up again.. ‘Kay?”

“Y- yes- okay,” Brad stuttered out.

Lloyd pulled him in for a kiss and Brad quickly melted into it.

Lloyd continued to pull him closer, never getting enough, until he fell backwards with their combined weight and the desk chairs shit support, pulling Brad down with him.

They groaned in collective pain as Brad slowly shifted to get off Lloyd and help him out of the tumbled over chair.

“Sorry.. got carried away,” Lloyd said, not looking at Brad as they stood up.

“It’s okay, I’m not complaining,” he said and kissed Lloyd’s head. “I gotta go though.”

“Oh.. o- okay.”

“I’ll see you later- and don’t think too hard about the leaving thing. The answer will come eventually.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Brad left and Lloyd fixed his chair. He sighed and left his office to go find the Ninja.

It was time he got some real answers.

Chapter Text

The ninja sat in the kitchen eating Zane’s pancakes. Surprisingly good considering their lack of flavor.

Their peaceful breakfast was quickly interrupted though by Lloyd coming into the kitchen; almost smacking the door right into Cole if he hadn’t caught it right before it smashed into his face.

“Alright, I want answers,” Lloyd said, standing in the center of the kitchen with his arms crossed,” what does my ‘uncle’ want with me? Is there a real motive? Why are you even still here?!”

“Woah, woah, slow down,” Kai said,” one at a time. We know just as little as you, Kid, it was just our mission to bring you to your uncle. We didn’t think it’d take this damn long.”

“Kai, we’ve only been here a day,” Zane said.

“Much longer than I wanted to be,” Kai muttered.

“If you came with us you’d get all the answers you’re looking for, but we can’t force you to do anything,” Cole said,” but we’re not leaving without you.”

Lloyd looked around the room at the ninja. Those he’d hated for so long. Loathed for taking everything he’d ever wanted and more from him.

But he does have family, at their dojo, waiting to tell them everything if he would just get over himself and go with them!

But… could he really just drop his grudge just like that? Just so he could meet a man that /claims/ to be his uncle.

“Okay.”

“Really!” Cole said, shocked.

“Yes. I’ll go with you. But I need time. I need to talk to Brad about lesson planning, and let my students know I’ll be leaving for.. h- however long this is going to take-“

“Yeah! Yeah of course! Take all the time you need!” Cole said, just happy his mission would be complete soon.

“Yeah.. o- okay, we’ll leave at sunrise tomorrow,” Lloyd said,” until then, please don’t bother me.”

With that he left the kitchen.

“Yes! Mission success! We’ll leave at sunrise tomorrow and bring Lloyd to Sensei Wu! It’ll all work out!” Cole said, very proud of himself.

“Yeah, good job, Leader,” Kai said, rolling his eyes.

“What do we do until then?” Jay asked.

“Whatever I guess,” Cole shrugged,” as long as we’re not in Lloyd’s way.”

“I hear they have a training room on the top floor,” Nya said,” I’m gonna check it out.”

“I’ll come too!” Jay said, hopping off the counter.

Kai rolled his eyes.

“I think that’s a perfect way to pass the time; maybe we should all go,” Cole said.

Kai looked up at him, glaring.

“Just because we’re not at the monastery doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be training,” Cole said, looking down at the hot head.

“Whatever,” Kai said and looked away, crossing his arms and pouting.

-

Lloyd was planning in his office. Leaving things for his teachers and students and Brad who would be running things while he would be gone.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he leaned back in his chair taking a break.

“Fuck, this is crazy,” he said to himself.

A knock at his door caught his attention, making his head snap up.

“Come in.”

Brad walked in holding food for lunch. Sushi.

“Heyyy,” he said, lightly kicking the door closed behind him. He placed Lloyd’s food on the desk in front of him and then pulled up a seat to sit with him and eat.

“Hey..”

“How’s it going?”

“Fine I’m just.. I need to do this but I don’t want to. I don’t wanna leave the school- not that I don’t trust you because I do,” he said, looking up to meet Brad’s eyes for a minute,” I don’t want our students to think I’m leaving them behind. I just.. I just know this is important.”

“It’s okay, they’ll understand. And I won’t let you down,” he said.

Lloyd looked at him again and gave a weak smile.

“I know you won’t.”

Brad took a bite from a roll. “Y’know,” he said, mouth full,” you could always have something like a big school meeting or like a game or something for your going away. Like we did for your birthday.”

“Don’t talk with food in your mouth,” Lloyd said,” and yes, I have considered that. I didn’t want to just leave. I want my students and friends to know why I’m going, but I’d also like to have fun with it.”

“Any ideas?” Brad asked.

Lloyd smirked. “Yeah.. yeah I’ve got one.”

-

The ninja were practicing on the top floor; spinjitzu and all with elemental sparks flying around as they bounced off and shot blasts at each other.

A student came up the stairs, panting a little, and stopped when he saw the ninja training. Nya was reviewing punches and kicks on a bag in the corner.

“Wow.” He watched in awe for a minute before Kai noticed him and glared a little.

“Hey! What do you want?” He snapped.

The kid shook himself out of his trance and nervously spoke up.

“U- uhm Sensei Lloyd would like you guys to join us for a- an assembly soon.”

“An assembly?” Cole echoed, making sure he caught it right.

The student nodded.

“Hm.. okay, thank you.”

The student bowed to them and then rushed back downstairs.

“What do you think it’s about?” Kai asked, arms crossed and looking up at Cole.

“Probably just about Lloyd leaving. Making sure to give his students a good farewell,” Cole said, shrugging. “Let’s wrap up and head down.”

-

All of Darkley’s gathered in the auditorium. Lloyd paced backstage; still nervous about leaving.

“I think everyone’s here, Lloyd,” Brad said, peeking from the wings of the stage.

Lloyd stopped and looked up.

“Okay.. okay, I’ve got this.”

He took a deep breath and then quickly kissed Brad’s cheek.

“For good luck, or whatever,” he mumbled, blushing.

Brad blushed too and smiled.

“You’re so cheesy,” he said and nudged Lloyd.

“Pfft, says you,” Lloyd shot back as he walked on stage.

He stood in front of his peers; lights and all. He took another deep breath and let it all out.

“I’m going to cut right to the chase: I’m leaving.”

The crowd erupted; screaming, questions, cheering broke out amongst students and staff. The ninja were shocked at the behavior.

Lloyd gave a loud whistle and the crowd fell silent. “For fucks sake, let me finish! I will be leaving for an unknown amount of time. I am needed elsewhere and leave Brad Tudabone in charge.”

Brad walked out from the wings and stood by Lloyd’s side.

“I expect everything to run as it usually does. No funny business, no unruly behavior. I will also be prohibiting off campus missions for the time being.”

Groans and shout of protest came from the crowd but Lloyd simply whistled again and they stopped in seconds.

“As I was saying, I don’t expect any changes. Have as much respect for your teachers and peers as you usually do; in your time of need they will be who you turn to.”

A moment of silence passed before Lloyd pulled two pieces of cloth from his pocket.

“Now that all that boring shit is over with, how about a campus wide game of capture the flag!”

The crowd broke out into cheers and screams again.

“Did he just say capture the flag?” Kai growled, not enjoying all the children screaming.

“Come on,” Cole said, nudging him,” how bad could it be?”

Chapter Text

“Did he just say capture the flag?” Kai growled, not enjoying all the children screaming.

“Come on,” Cole said, nudging him,” how bad could it be?”

-

Lloyd and Brad were team captains. Brad on the top half of the school and Lloyd on the bottom. Nya, Jay and Cole were on Brad’s team and Kai and Zane on Lloyds. They watched the respective border lines of the teams.

The catch was that the students knew all the secret passages that they didn’t.

Kai paced at the border line, Zane sitting on the floor watching him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“We just haven’t seen like /any/ kids yet. I’m bored,” Kai said.

“Or are you scared they’re climbing in the vents and are going to jump us?” Zane asked, smirking a little.

Kai stopped and looked at him. “What the fuck is your issue?” Zane burst out laughing. “No! I’m serious, why would you say that?” Kai faked out a kick, and Zane pushed the foot away despite its lack of force.

Footsteps were heard and the two stopped laughing. Kai cantered himself in the hall. Zane watched, he wasn’t as into this as Kai.

A child appeared at the opposite end, holding a fake sword. Lloyd wouldn’t let them use the real weapons for this game.

“Heh, this’ll be easy,” Kai said.

Then another child ran to his side, both staring down Kai.

“O… Kay, I still got this!”

Then a third. A fourth. Fifth.

Zane sat up and looked at the kids in shock. “What the….”

Sixth. Seventh. Eighth. Ninth. Tenth.

Soon at least twenty kids stood in a group at the end of the hall.

“Oh shit.”

“ATTAAAAACK!” The first kid screamed.

The kids yelled and charged at the ninja.

“Oh shit!” Kai yelled.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck,” Zane repeated as he stumbled to stand.

They ran in the opposite direction, taking the kids into their side.

Their plan was working. The border was unguarded.

-

Lloyd spun around in the teachers chair at the front of the classroom where he was guarding the flag.

No kids had made it to the room yet.

“Guess those ninja are strong after all,” he said to himself.

He looked at the flag on the table and sighed.

“Bored?” A voice said.

Lloyd quickly stood up, on guard.

“Hahah, relax,” Brad fell from the ceiling on his feet in front of Lloyd,” it’s just me.”

Lloyd relaxed and smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Brad put his arms around Lloyd's neck,” fraternizing with the enemy… scandalous.”

Lloyd laughed,” /you/ came to /me/. You should be worrying about your side, not mine.”

“Yes, but you’re allowing it to happen.”

“Oh, so if I were to say,” he pushed his arms away then hooked his leg around Brad’s and made him fall on his ass; he got down and pinned his hands and legs down,” do that. You could say I’ve successfully trapped you, and you’d have to go to jail.”

Brad was breathless, a little pink too. “Y- yeah.. you could say that.”

Lloyd laughed and kissed his forehead. Brad then flipped them; Lloyd struggled a little but Brad pushed him down with more force.

“Now your flag is unguarded. What’re you gonna do?” Brad smirked.

Lloyd glared up at him. He then kissed him quickly, shocking Brad. “Guess I really am fraternizing, huh?”

Brad leaned in and kissed him, sitting down on his lap and put his hands on Lloyd’s waist. Lloyd wrapped his arms around his neck and brought him closer. .

Brad pulled away and kissed his cheek, then his jaw, then started kissing at his neck. Lloyd’s face burned red, and he turned his head the other way to give Brad more to work with.

“Brad.. B- Brad..”

The door then flew open and the boys quickly pushed each other away and stood up.

The first boy from earlier stood in the doorway.

“Finally! I made it.” Then he saw Brad and Lloyd. “Oh, a final showdown! I’m sorry to interrupt.” He bowed at his teachers.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhaaaaactually, Lloyd already tagged me,” Brad said, looking over at Lloyd who was burning red,” s- so I gotta go to jail. Yep, jail time for me!”

Brad walked towards the door and left; the student and Lloyd watched the whole way. When he was gone the student turned back to Lloyd and raised his “blade”.

He attacked, but Lloyd quickly blocked and pinned him down, kicking away the sword.

“Jail. Go.”

The student bowed and ran off.

Lloyd sighed and looked at the mirror across the room and fixed his hair. Then he noticed the marks on his neck and quickly dashed to the mirror to get a better look.

He put a hand to the small, faint marks and blushed again.

“Damnit, Brad.”

-

Lloyd’s team won the game. A student had made their way to the top floor and found where Brad had hidden the flag while he was away. On his way back down he’d passed the crowd of students torturing the ninja.

“GET OFF- STOP IT!” Jay shouted, repeatedly pushing students off him and trying to not drown in the sea of them.

After that the students dispersed amongst the school just to hang out and chill. Later into the night when everyone went to bed Lloyd went to Brad’s room and knocked on the door.

Brad opened it, already wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt. “Hey, what’s up?”

Lloyd was wearing shorts and a tank top, showing off the faint marks on his neck. He put a hand over them, pretending to rub his neck.

“Nothing much… could I sleep with you tonight?” Brad blushed,” I know that’s stupid. I just don’t wanna be alone on my last night here… I’m gonna miss y- MM!”

Brad pulled him in and smashed their lips together. When they parted he was smiling big.

“Yes, you can sleep with me tonight.”

Lloyd flushed pink for like the hundredth time that day. “Cool.”

“Just so we’re clear, when you say ‘sleep’ are we actually sleeping or continuing with what we started earli- Ow!” Lloyd punched his arm,” it’s a valid question!”

Lloyd rolled his eyes and pushed him into the room, closing the door behind them.

-

Lloyd tossed in his sleep, groaning and shivering.

Images flashed in his dreams. Not dreams- nightmares. Awful scenarios that seemed almost too real.

Losing a battle, losing the school, and at the center stood Brad, covered in his own blood. He seemed half dead.

“How could you do this?” He said, looking towards the school in flames,” how could you leave us? FOR THEM?! HOW COULD YOU!”

Lloyd stumbled back and fell.

“P- please.. Brad I’m sorry.. I didn’t mean to.. I would never-“

“SHUT UP!” Brad gripped a sword. Lloyd’s sword. /That/ sword. “I’ve had enough of you.” The blade was raised and came down at his chest.

“NO!” Lloyd shot up, breathing heavy with a cold sweat.

Brad stirred and rubbed his eyes. “Lloyd.. what’s wrong?”

Lloyd raised a shaky hand to his chest and gripped his shirt. He looked at Brad who was slowly waking up; a concerned look on his face.

He hugged him tight. “I’m sorry.” Silent tears slipped down his cheeks.

“Woah, woah, hang on. What’s wrong?”

Lloyd pulled away and Brad wiped away his tears, holding his face softly.

“I just.. I dreamt I’d failed.. I don’t know what I failed but I did. And I lost the school.. and you. And you were so angry with me… you killed me.” He looked at him, Brad was shocked.

“Lloyd.. Lloyd I would never. You haven’t done anything wrong- you haven’t even left yet.”

“I know, but what if it was a vision? That sounds stupid but.. what if?”

Brad pursed his lips and brushed his thumb over Lloyd cheek. “I’m sorry, I wish I had a better answer. I know this is eating you up inside, but I know you’re going to do amazing.” He kissed him softly,” you’re amazing.”

Lloyd sniffed and burried his head in Brad’s shoulder. Brad held him and played with his hair.

“Let’s go back to sleep, okay? I’m right here if anything happens.”

“Yeah.. o- okay.”

They laid back down, Brad holding Lloyd close. He kissed his forehead and continued to play with his hair until they both passed out.

Chapter Text

Lloyd slowly opened his eyes. He’d been laying in bed for a while now. The sun was fully up, and he knew he was late to leave with the ninja. He was sure they were all packed up and waiting on him. Luckily, he’d packed before going to Brad’s, so he just had to get dressed and he’d be ready.

He looked to his left to see Brad nuzzled into his side; arms wrapped around his middle. Lloyd’s arm trapped under his head, he bent it to play with his hair.

He sighed. “I have to do this.” He kissed Brad’s head which made the other boy stir.

He barely opened his eyes and smiled a little at him. “Hey,” he said with a hoarse morning voice.

“Hey,” Lloyd said, his voice lower in the morning.

Brad cuddled into him closer, hiding his face in Lloyd’s neck.

“You’re going to be fine,” he said, kissing his neck.

“I know.. but I’m still nervous.”

“I know.”

They laid for a bit longer until Lloyd felt Brad start biting him.

“Excuse you,” he said, pushing Brad away, but Brad clinged on and just kept lightly biting. “Haha- stoppit- hahah, Brad!”

Lloyd successfully got away and quickly got up out of the bed. Brad pouted at him.

“No! You already caused enough damage,” Lloyd said, pointing at the marks from the day before.

Brad laughed,” oh yeah. I did do that.”

Lloyd rolled his eyes. He went over to Brad’s side of the bed and kissed him. “I’ve gotta get ready.. but I’ll see you out front before we leave.”

“Yeah.”

They kissed again. Lloyd rested his forehead against Brad’s.

Not yet.

Please.

He pulled away and smiled at him. Then left the room to go get ready.

-

The ninja waited out front of the school by the fence where they parked; far from the school. Staff and students crowded around the front of the school waiting on their Sensei.

Finally, Lloyd came out the front doors with Brad behind him. He carried a bag with him and a sword.

Just in case.

He turned to his school, to his friends, and took a final look before speaking.

“I trust nothing to change. I trust you all to.. to be on your best behavior.” He looked at them all. Some of the younger students looked like they might cry. Even some of the older teachers.

He caved.

“For fucks sake- just give me a hug.”

The crowd gathered for a giant group hug; almost knocking Lloyd over at first.

Once they’d had enough they all parted. Lloyd turned to Brad and gave him one last hug. When they parted Brad smiled.

“I’m gonna..” he hesitated,” I promise to not burn down the school,” he said.

Lloyd rolled his eyes and kissed his cheek. Brad flushed pink and a collective gasp was heard.

“I’ll miss you too.”

He finally turned to leave; his students waving and saying their goodbyes. He waved back at them, walking backwards for a few paces and then turning back to the ninja.

When he finally got to the bottom of the hill all the joy he’d just felt left his body.

“Ready?” Cole asked.

Lloyd nodded.

“Fucking finally. I’ve been ready to leave since he fucking got here,” Kai said, swinging a leg over his motorcycle.

Cole got on his bike and patted the seat behind him. “You can ride with me.” Lloyd climbed on. “You’ll probably wanna put your arms around my waist.”

Lloyd glared at him. He knew it was safer, but that was way too close for his comfort.

Cole revved the bike and Lloyd quickly put his arms around him. He groaned as they drove away from the school.

-

The drive was long, and Lloyd was starting to get hungry. But he wouldn’t admit that. He didn’t want to stop, he needed to get to that monastery and see his uncle.

No stops.

“Hey guys, let’s hit Ninjago City for some food!” Jay called.

“Good idea,” Cole said. They took the next left.

What. The. Fuck.

When they got to Ninjago City, Lloyd was absolutely in awe of the whole place.

So many lights, so much color. He’d only ever seen it from afar. He didn’t bring the students here because it was much easier to get caught with all the police and such.

They pulled up to a restaurant: Master Chen’s Noodle House.

The ninja parked the bikes, and as Lloyd climbed off he noticed people point and stare and take photos of the group.

He was suddenly /very/ uncomfortable.

He put up the hood of his jacket and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Jay noticed him shrinking down and smiled a little.

“Not used to ‘city life’ huh?” Lloyd shook his head. “That’s okay. You won’t be seeing much of these guys; after this we’re going right to the monastery, promise.”

Lloyd looked at him. He never realized they were the same height. Jay gave him a smile and Lloyd gave a weak one back.

They walked in and the girl behind the host desk looked up from her phone.

“Welcome to Chen’s, how many?”

“Six,” Cole said.

They were seated at a big booth table. After looking at menus for a bit a girl with red hair came over with a girl with white hair following behind her.

“What’s up, guys,” she said.

“Skylor!” The ninja cheered. Lloyd jumped at the sudden noise.

“This is Harumi, she’s shadowing me today. Learning the ropes,” she said, popping the p. “We doing the usuals today or- oh, who’s this?” She said, finally noticing Lloyd.

Lloyd snapped his head up realizing she was probably talking about him and quickly pulled his hood off.

“Sky, this is Lloyd. He’s Wu’s nephew,” Nya said.

“Oh sweet. Nice to meet you, Lloyd, I’m Skylor. This is my dad’s noodle place, but I run this specific location. These guys are close friends, so if you ever want a discount on noodles, you know who to call.” She winked at him and he gave a small smile.

Then he noticed Harumi who was staring at him.. a lot. She finally broke the trance when she noticed him glaring back. She looked down at her shoes and blushed.

“So what can I get you, Lloyd?” Skylor asked.

“Uhhhhhh,” Lloyd quickly scanned the menu. He was really hungry but was blanking on what to get.

“How about I surprise you,” she said. He quickly nodded, not wanting to make a decision for himself. “Great, and I’ll get the usual for everyone else.”

She took their menus and left with Harumi, who snuck a quick glance at Lloyd before running off.

Kai was quick to pull out his phone and start playing a game. Jay had a pen with him and was playing tic-tac-toe with Nya on a napkin. Zane looked like he was spacing out; staring at the table and thinking hard. Lloyd felt like he heard a buzzing noise coming from him.

“So,” Cole said, catching Lloyd’s attention,” you nervous?”

“Uhm.. yeah. Very.”

“Makes sense, but you’ll be okay. And you’ll be back home as soon as possible. Promise.”

Lloyd nodded.

“So what’s up with that boyfriend of yours?” Kai asked, not taking his eyes off his game.

“E- excuse me?” Lloyd burned red.

“The boy you kissed before you left,” Kai looked at him for a second and then back at his phone,” you guys a thing or just.. helping each other o- OW!” He looked at Cole who had elbowed him.

“That’s none of your business,” Cole hissed at him. Kai glared back and then looked at Lloyd.

“I’m not judging. Just curious.”

Lloyd blinked. “Um.. he’s.. we…,” the ninja were all looking at him. They hadn’t seen much of Lloyd’s personality more than a strong leader with a lot of walls up and a shit ton of resentment. “We.. We've known each other almost our whole lives. He helped me lead the rebellion. He’s.. my best friend.”

Lloyd smiled to himself and rubbed his neck, a little embarrassed.

“So your ‘best friend’ gave you those hickies- OW, STOP THAT!”

Lloyd clamped a hand over the marks on his neck. “UM n- y- I mean-“

“Okay!” Harumi came over with a tray of food. She set it down on a little stand and huffed. “Uhm, Sky just gave me a list of names and food, but I don’t know who any of you are so…” she picked up a bowl and looked at the list,” Jay..”

“That’s me!” Jay took the bowl.

“Nya?”

“Thanks,” she said, taking the plate.

“Zane.”

“Thank you.”

“Kai.”

“Yep.”

“Cole.”

“Thank you.”

“And.. Lloyd.” She looked at the plate and then Lloyd. She blushed pink again. “Uhm- uh Sky put together a bunch of different sushi,” she said, handing him the plate.

“Tha-“

“Oh! And some miso soup!” She said, handing him a bowl.

“… thanks.”

She nodded and laughed nervously. Then she quickly grabbed the tray, the stand, and rushed off.

Jay choked on his own laugh and then burst out cackling.

“Jay! Stoppit!” Nya said, lightly kicking him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just her timing- and- and her face- haha!”

Lloyd kept his head down, blushing like crazy. Not because he found that girl pretty or anything. Because Jay’s laughter was drawing attention. Like they weren’t already being stared down ever since they walked in.

“Ignore them. They’re idiots,” Nya said.

“Are you talking about me too?” Kai said. Nya raised an eyebrow. “Okay.. ouch.”

Lloyd sank into the seat and covered his face with his hands. He just wanted to go to the monastery and see Wu. He just wanted to go home.

When they finished eating Cole paid and they said their goodbyes to Skylor before leaving.

“Nice seeing you guys,” she said, waving as they left.

Lloyd looked up at the right time to catch that girl staring at him again. He glared at her and hurried out the door.

They got back on the bikes and drove back to the monastery. Lloyd watched the sky change colors as the time passed. By the time they made it to the monastery the sky was pink and orange.

“Hey… how do you guys go up that mountain with these?” Lloyd said loudly so Cole could hear.

“You’ll see,” Cole said.

Lloyd cocked his head in confusion before he realized there was an entrance on the side of the mountain, slowly opening like a garage door.

“What the..”

The ninja drove into the cave and up the ramps. When they finally got to the garage Lloyd’s jaw dropped in surprise.

The bikes were parked, and as Lloyd slowly climbed off Cole’s bike he spun around looking at everything in awe.

“This is.. so cool,” he said.

“Thanks,” Nya said, climbing off Jay’s bike,” me, Zane and Jay do a lot down here.”

The elevator to the lair dinged and the ninja all turned, as if a trance had taken them over, and bowed as the doors opened.

“Hello, Sensei,” they all said in unison.

“Hello, my ninja,” Wu said.

Lloyd’s shoulders tensed and he stared at the old man in shock.

Wu stared back, less shocked and more.. relieved? Like a weight had been taken off his own shoulders.

“Hello.. Nephew.”

Lloyd swallowed dryly.

“H- hi…”

An awkward silence took over the room. Jay cleared his throat before speaking.

“SO, now that we’re home and you two have met can you PLEASE tell us why we went on this mission?”

Wu finally broke eye contact with Lloyd who was still staring.

“Yes, sorry. I guess there is something I.. haven’t told you yet.”

Chapter Text

“There is something I.. haven’t told you yet.”

“Yeah no shit,” Kai muttered.

“M- maybe this would be better over tea,” Wu said, turning back to the elevator.

“NO!”

Wu froze. The ninja all turned to look at him.

“You’re going to tell me right now why the hell I'm here. I have a life to get back to, so I want some answers now.”

Wu turned to face him and sighed.

“Yes.. alright. Jay, will you please go grab the golden weapons for me.”

Jay nodded and rushed to the elevator to go fetch them.

Wu focused back on Lloyd. “Lloyd, you have a destiny greater than you’ll ever know. Your father was a force of great evil, and had things been different you would have come into this life so much sooner.”

“What do you mean ‘had things been different’?” Lloyd said.

“I’ve seen the possibilities of what could’ve been. A life where you didn’t have to grow up in that school, a life where we all could’ve been together a lot sooner. Your destiny was foretold a long time ago, and your mother knew you’d be great, so she dropped you off at that terrible schoo-“

“THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!” Lloyd snapped.

“E- excuse me?”

“Why would my mom drop me off at a school for BAD BOYS if she knew I was going to be a force of great good- power- whatever! That doesn’t make sense!”

“Wh- uhm.. yes.. yes I guess so-“

“I should’ve been with you this whole time! Not that I would ever trade my students-“

“Students?” Wu muttered.

“- for a second! Just because that school was terrible doesn’t mean it’s not amazing now and it.. it’s my home. I would never trade it for some ‘glorious purpose’. Whatever it may be.”

The elevator dinged and Jay came back into the lair with the golden weapons.

“They’ve been shaking like crazy! I think they’re trying to tell us so- woah!”

The weapons flew out of Jay’s hands and flew across the room to be around Lloyd.

“Wh- what the fuck is this?!” Lloyd said, reaching for the sword on his back.

“Easy, Nephew, relax. This is what I was trying to tell you. Your glorious purpose. Y-“

“/HE’S/ the Green Ninja?!” Kai shouted.

“The what?” Lloyd said, holding his sword to the other weapons in case they shot out at him.

Wu sighed. “Lloyd, you are the Green Ninja. Your purpose /was/ to defeat your father had he been released again but that hasn’t happened and it won’t happen. But I need your help with an old evil that is resurfacing and we don’t have much time.”

Wu walked over to his nephew and lightly pushed Zane’s throwing stars out of the way and they floated to the side.

“We need to train so you can help me defeat Krux and Acronix.”

Lloyd looked at his uncle in shock.

“Who the fuck is that?! Look, this has been fun and all, but I’m not some all powerful ninja with a great destiny- whatever the fuck you said- so I’m leaving and going back to my school.”

He turned to the elevator, the weapons floating after him slowly. He turned back around and shooed them away before whipping back around and stomping off.

He spammed the call button for the elevator until it finally arrived and stepped in before the doors had even fully opened. He then spammed the up button until the doors closed.

“That went well,” Kai muttered. Cole nudged him in a subtle way to be quiet. “Just saying.”

Wu took a deep breath and walked to the elevator.

“Master Wu, what should we do?” Zane asked.

“Nothing for now. I will go talk to him,” Wu said, hitting the call button for the elevator.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Kai asked.

“What do you mean?” Wu asked, turning back to face him.

Kai scoffed and crossed his arms. “I mean, he just ran out of here away from /you/. Away from a life he clearly doesn’t want. There’s no point in chasing after him; especially you.”

The elevator opened.

“Might as well let him go.”

“But I need his help to defeat Krux and Acronix!”

“What the hell are we?! We’ve been here the whole time, and just because we don’t have the same powers as Lloyd has- sorry, is supposed to have- doesn’t mean we can’t help. And if you can’t see that then maybe… maybe you should get some new ninja.”

“Kai-“

“No, Cole. I don’t wanna hear it,” Kai snapped. He walked away from his team, into the elevator and hit the up button. “I quit.”

-

Lloyd was standing in the big, outside training area. It was dark out and the stars were just as bright here as they were at the school. No light pollution in the mountains.

“You really gonna walk all the way down that mountain?”

Lloyd jumped at the sudden voice and quickly spun around, reaching for his sword.

“Woah! Woah, you’re fine,” Kai said, putting his hands up to show he wasn’t a threat.

Lloyd sighed and sat on the ground, putting his face in his hands.

“What was I thinking,” he mumbled.

Kai held back a groan and sat next to him.

“You just wanted answers,” he said,” I get that.”

“It’s not the same.”

Kai looked down at Lloyd who still had his face covered. He then looked at the stars and sighed.

“When I was really young my parents disappeared. Just kinda.. vanished. I raised my sister on my own and kept my fathers business going when I was old enough.”

Lloyd looked at him.

“I know it’s not the same,” Kai shrugged,” but I know what it’s like to question what happened. What went wrong. Where you could’ve prevented something.”

“But you were just a kid,” Lloyd said.

“So are you.” He looked at the blond. “It’s not your responsibility to fight these guys, or to even lead all those kids at that school. You’re like 15-“

“16.”

“16, yeah. Shit, that’s about the age I was when I became a ninja.” Kai laughed a little. “A- anyways, this isn’t something you have to do. I’ll take you home right now if you want.”

Lloyd looked at the ground and then at the sky.

Kai was right, it wasn’t his responsibility. None of this. But he still had questions. He still needed answers.

“No.. I’ll stay. And I’ll train. For /me/. Not for him.”

Kai smiled a little.

“You’re alright,” he said,” for an overlords son.” He nudged him and Lloyd laughed.

“And you’re okay for a hot head.”

They laughed.

“Thanks, Kai.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it.”

-

“SO NOW WHAT?!” Jay screamed. “No Lloyd, no Kai- what’s next!” He threw his arms in the air.

“Calm down,” Nya said, taking one of his hands and holding it tight.

“I am sorry,” Wu said,” I didn’t think this would happen.”

“I’m going after Kai,” Cole said and made his way over to the elevator.

“What?!” Jay shouted.

“Cole, we need you here,” Zane said.

“I won’t be gone long.”

“We don’t have much time,” Wu said, almost sounding like he was panicking.

Cole whipped around to face his sensei. “Well maybe you shouldn’t thought about that before-“

The elevator dinged and the doors slowly opened revealing Kai with his hands in his pockets and Lloyd with his hands behind his back.

“Kai?” Cole said.

“KAI!” Jay cheered.

“Lloyd, you came back?” Wu said.

“Not for you,” Lloyd said and walked up to him. “I’m here for me. Got it?”

Wu nodded.

“‘Kay.. so where am I staying?”

“Oh, right, Nya, will you please show Lloyd the guest room.”

“Yes, Master Wu.” Nya and Lloyd got into the elevator as Kai stepped out.

Kai walked up to Wu. “You’re welcome.”

Wu looked at him in shock as he walked away to Cole.

“Hey-“

“We need to talk,” Cole hissed.

Chapter Text

“So this will be your room for however long you’ll be staying here,” Nya said as she slid the door open.

“A- and here’s your stuff!” Jay said, holding his bag. He’d chased after them with it when they were leaving the garage.

“Thanks,” Lloyd said and took it from him.

“Alright well.. good night-“

“Hey, Nya.”

Nya turned back to him. She was actually a little taller than him. Meaning she was taller than Jay. Lloyd looked at them side to side; he watched Jay’s hand twitch a little as his brain canceled out the command to hold Nya’s hand.

“Kai.. told me about your parents. I just.. I-“

“You don’t have to say anything,” she put a hand on his shoulder,” we’ve all got our baggage. Sometimes it looks similar to others but that doesn’t mean it’s ours. You don’t have to apologize for anything.” She squeezed his shoulder lightly and left with Jay.

“Good night, Lloyd,” she said.

“Night.”

-

Cole was silent the whole elevator ride upstairs. He kept his arms crossed and eyes looking at the door rather than at Kai next to him. Kai was probably half a foot shorter than him.

Cole was silent as they walked to his room; Kai walked behind him staring at the floor the whole walk.

Cole slid the door open and let Kai go in first before following and sliding the door with his back to Kai.

“Okay, we’re alone. Can you say something already!”

Cole took a deep breath and turned to look at Kai. He just stared at him. Arms crossed and blank expression.

“Cole, come on. I’m sorry! I should’ve told you about my plan I guess, I’m sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Cole didn’t say anything.

Kai crossed his arms and tapped his foot. “I can do this too. Staring with a- with a mean expression.” Kai furrowed his brows. “I can do that too.”

Cole walked over to stand in front of Kai. Kai looked up at his leader and swallowed down some fear.

Then Cole hugged him tight and let out a shaky breath, squeezing the other so tight he couldn’t move.

“C- Cole… Cole please. Oxygen.”

Cole finally let go, keeping his hands on Kai’s shoulders.

“You scared me!” He finally said.

“What?”

“I thought you were really leaving! You should’ve told me something, or at least signaled you were going to pull something like that!”

“I- I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Just… next time make sure you tell me what you’re planning before running off like that. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Cole hugged him again, not as tight this time. Kai hugged back.

Something burned in the back of his head. A thought. A bit of hope.

“Cole.”

“Hm.”

“What.. what are we?”

Silence passed. Neither pulled away.

“What do you mean?”

“Just.. this. The nudging and the looks. Rooming together at Darkley’s. Cole I…” he pulled back and looked up at Cole; arms still around him,” I like you. A lot.”

Cole felt his cheeks warm up.

“I- I li- like you too,” he stuttered out, embarrassed.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I know I’ve been sending a lot of mixed signals but I do.”

Kai looked at him for a moment before putting his arms around Cole’s neck and pulling him down lightly to be closer.

“Is this okay?”

“Y- yeah. Yeah yeah. Mhm.”

Kai closed the space and kissed him. It was much softer than Cole would’ve thought it to be.

Cole was about to take it a little further when he felt his face and hands start to get hot.

He pulled back, much to Kai’s disappointment, to see smoke coming off him.

“You’re smoking.”

“Oh! T- thanks, I mean I know I’m hot b- but smoking is another way to-“

“No, Kai, you’re physically smoking.”

“Wh- OH!” Kai pulled away and pat down his hair and arms. “I- I’m sorry. It ha- happens when I’m.. nervous or embarrassed.” He couldn’t look at Cole again, too ashamed to make eye contact.

Cole just laughed.

“Hey- hey it’s okay,” he stepped back into Kai’s space and pulled his hands away from patting himself down,” I think it’s cute.”

Kai’s face burned red, and smoke was coming off his shoulders.

“I’m going to open a window though,” Cole said and quickly rushed over to open one.

“oKaY.”

-

Wu sat in his office, looking over dozens of scrolls at his desk. They all related back to Lloyd’s destiny as the green ninja, but the story was all wrong.

Serpentine, Garmadon, the Overlord- Wu would never go out and seek to bring these things to Ninjago just to pull Lloyd’s powers out… but maybe there was another way.

“Yes, this has to work… is someone burning popcorn?”

Chapter Text

//You try sleeping somewhere new for the first time in 16 years//

Lloyd laid in bed staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep. The mattress was much softer than his, and it was a little too quiet.

He sat up and sighed. He rubbed his eyes and got out of the bed making his way over to his bag. He opened it and pulled out the jacket from Brad and some loose pants.

He quickly got changed and grabbed his shoes.

As quietly as possible he slid open his door and looked both ways down the hall before going out and sliding the door closed.

He walked down the hall where all the other ninja slept, listening for any movement towards their doors.

The first two rooms were quiet. Either sleeping or in another person's room.

The next he heard clicking. Maybe typing? Then a bird chirped.

“I know that’s what /you/ think, but I’m pretty sure I know what’s best,” Zane said.

‘Odd,’ Lloyd thought to himself.

He kept moving down the hall. The next room was quiet too. Probably sleeping.

The last room had a faint light coming from it. There were hushed voices speaking so Lloyd couldn’t really make out what they were saying.

‘Smells like smoke,’ he thought,’ didn’t know they were cool like that.’ He kept walking.

Turning down another hall he passed another room with a faint light coming from it. The voice behind the door was hushed, but quick. Muttering nonsense and silent curses. Llloyd heard papers rustling around as well.

‘Probably Wu.’

He moved on.

He made it back to the elevator and rode it down to the garage; putting his shoes on while it descended. He walked over to the bikes and considered taking one.

“I don’t know how to drive.”

He turned to walk away but saw a scrappy looking bike in the corner. It looked like a prototype, and hadn’t been painted yet.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t learn.”

-

The garage door opened slowly. Lloyd revved the bike and once he had enough space he shot out of the garage.

“TOO FAST!”

He pulled what he assumed to be the brake levers and the bike slowed. When it finally stopped he took a deep, shaky breath.

“Okay.. one more time.” He looked over all the buttons and things on the small dash bit. “This thing is weird.”

He tried out the speed and braking, backward and forward, and once he had the basics he drove in the direction he remembered Ninjago City being in.

The lights were much brighter at night, and there were more people for sure even this late at night.

Lloyd tried to remember where Chen’s Noodle House was. When it came to it he pulled over and asked someone in a wheelchair where he was and where he had to go.

“If you go back down this road and take two rights it’ll be in the middle of that road,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“I don’t recognize you; are you new?” The man asked, rolling forward a little.

“Yes, I’m.. visiting family from school,” Lloyd lied.

“Oh, well welcome to Ninjago City. I’m Cyrus Borg; I own a small tech center near the city hall with my assistant P. I. X. A. L.”

“I’m…” Lloyd was about to introduce himself when he remembered: his last name. Surely everyone here knew his father, and calling yourself a Garmadon in public isn’t a great way to stay hidden.

“I’m Lloyd Tudabone.” He felt his cheeks burn a little at the thought of his boyfriend. They burned more at thinking about calling him his “boyfriend”.

“Well it was nice meeting you, Mr. Tudabone.”

Lloyd nodded and revved the bike before turning it around and heading in the directions Cyrus had given him.

-

CW// forcing oneself onto another, non consensual touching

Lloyd pulled up to the noodle house and parked the bike in the same spots the others had only a few hours ago.

It was almost midnight, but he was praying they were still open.

He took a reassuring breath before opening the door and thanked everything he knew that it opened.

“Welcome to Chen’s Noodle House; what can I- Lloyd!” Skylor said, shocked to see the boy, but smiled non the less,” you’re up late. What brings you in?”

“Hey, uhm.. I just.. couldn’t sleep,” he sat at an empty booth. Actually the whole restaurant was empty. It was just them. “How come you’re open so late.”

“We’re always open this late. We close at 12, but I’ll make an exception for the new kid on the block.” She bumped his shoulder with her fist in a playful way before going out back to the kitchens.

“HARUMI! Lock that door for me, will ya!” She called.

“Harumi?” Lloyd muttered, almost groaning.

Harumi peeked her head out of a broom closet, her white hair up in a bun with a few loose strands here and there.

She walked from the closet to the host desk and picked up a small ring of keys, then went to the door and locked it. When she turned back around she finally looked at Lloyd.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey,” Lloyd said, not really appreciating the staring.

“Okay!” Skylor said as she came out of the kitchen holding a bowl. Harumi and Lloyd both jumped hearing her come in.

“Soba! You like soba right? It’s the simplest thing I can whip up right now.”

“Yeah, thank you.” Lloyd just kind of stared at the bowl for a minute before snapping back to reality and actually eating.

“You okay?” Skylor asked.

“Huh! Oh yeah.. just fine.”

Skylor crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side. “Lloyd.”

Lloyd sighed and dropped the chopsticks in the bowl and pushed it away. “I don’t fucking know anymore. I miss my school, and friends, and I never wanted to come here!”

Skylor sat down at the booth, Harumi stood by the host stand, listening along.

“So then why did you come?” Sky asked.

“So I could learn more about myself, and figure out what the fuck my uncle wanted with me. And I’m staying to understand more about this elemental master bullshit.”

“You’re an elemental master?” She asked.

“Yeah… I guess I’m the ‘green ninja’. Whatever that means.”

Skylor’s eyes lit up. “/The/ green ninja? Like the one from the legends?”

“Yeah.. I- I guess so- wait what do you know about it?” He asked. His interest suddenly peaked.

She smiled. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” She got up and ran out back towards the kitchens.

Lloyd sighed and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“The green ninja?” Harumi asked.

Lloyd jumped, forgetting she was there.

“Fuck, you’re so quiet.”

“S- sorry.” She came around the host stand and walked towards the booth,” but I’ve heard the legends.. the unspeakable power,” she sat across from him,” you’re something really special.”

Lloyd felt his shoulders untense. “Oh.. I- I don’t know about that.” He leaned forward, crossed arms on the table.

“I do.” She put a hand on his arm. Lloyd looked at her and she smiled.

“Uhhhhhhh,” Lloyd pulled away and stood up,” yea thanks, Harumi. That’s uhm.. yeah thanks.”

She chuckled a little, not catching onto his discomfort. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“It’s.. fine.” She stood up; they were a few feet apart. Her arms crossed; his at his side with his hands shaking.

“Can I ask you something?” He nodded. “This is weird but.. do you happen to have a girlfriend?”

Lloyd felt something twinge in his chest. Was this chick serious?

“No.. no I do not.” He took a few steps back. She walked forwards.

“Really? You’re so cute though. You probably go to an all boys school.”

“Y- yep yeah uhm,” he kept walking back until his back hit the wall next to the front doors,” I- I uhm,” he was so confused he didn’t even know what to say. This was so weird!

Harumi practically had him pinned to the wall. She reached out and took the shaking hand on his right. “You’ve probably never even kissed someone before, right?”

His mind went to Brad. How soft he was with Lloyd and comforting him through everything. He would never do something like this. This was fucking crazy!

Harumi held his hand and got closer,” I don’t bite.. promise.”

“S- s..” where was his voice? What the fuck was happening.

Harumi moved in closer.

“STOP!”

CRASH!

A brick shattered through the glass door, passing by their heads.

Lloyd, on instinct, pulled them both away from the door and behind the host desk.

“Wow.. you saved me,” Harumi said, looking at him with a flustered smile.

“Will you shut the fuck up!” He said, putting a hand over her mouth.

The doors opened and three guys walked in. They wore leather jackets and different masks to hide their faces.

“Hello! What kinda service is this?!” One guy, who carried himself like the leader, called into the restaurant. He had spiky, blue hair and a knife on his hip.

Skylor came running out of the kitchen holding some papers in her hand.

“WHAT THE SHIT!” She screamed.

“There’s our hostess,” the thug said,” can we sit anywhere or are you only taking reservations?”

“Oh you little,” she reached into a giant potted plant and pulled out a sword,” get the fuck out of my restaurant!” She shoved the papers in her back pocket.

“Woah woah, easy, Honey. We just wanted some food.”

“We’re closed. Get out.”

He laughed. “That’s a shame; I’m really hungry.” He pulled the knife from his holster and then another from his jacket pocket.

“There’s a mochi place the next block over,” Skylor took a few steps forward, slowly,” I’m not a huge fan, but I’m sure you’d love it.”

The thug took a few steps forward too, the other two fanned out, covering more ground and pulling knives from their holsters as well.

“Knives versus a sword. Not that good a fight I’d say.”

“Well it’s three against one, so.”

Lloyd took a dirty fork from the shelf of the host desk and creeped around the side.

“Wait,” Harumi whispered, grabbing his arm,” what’re you doing?!”

“Don’t touch me,” he hissed, pushing her off. He continued to inch forward.

One of the thugs was close by with his back turned to Lloyd. He had shaggy, red hair and his jacket was sleeveless, showing off scars in his arms and a tattoo of a bat on his forearm.

Lloyd scanned the scenario for a moment before jumping on the guy and stabbing the fork into his arm.

“AHHGG!” The thug screamed before taking Lloyd by the shoulders and throwing him off and into a table.

Lloyd groaned but got up, now holding one of the guy’s knives.

“I should’ve brought my sword,” he said to himself.

“Sneaky little shit.”

“Where’s Harumi?” Skylor asked, blocking an attack from the blue haired thug and kicking him away.

“She’s over there somewhere,” he said and sprang back at the red haired thug.

The third thug, with short brown hair and blue ripped jeans clashing with the others black jeans, looked at the host stand and made his way over.

“Harumi!” Skylor called, making a cut in the blue thugs arm and punching him in the face then sweeping out his legs.

She ran to the other thug and raised her sword before Lloyd threw his thug into the brown haired one. They crashed to the floor, not making a move to get up.

“Woah, strong move,” Skylor said, smiling at him.

Lloyd huffed, catching his breath and gave a weak thumbs up.

“Harumi?” Skylor rushed to the host desk and helped the girl stand,” are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks to you guys.” She smiled at her boss and then turned to Lloyd. Her smile dropped seeing his glare.

“I should get going,” he said and pocketed the knife.

“Okay, I’ll get these guys tied up and call the police. Oh!” She pulled the papers from earlier out of her pocket and handed them to Lloyd,” these will help with your… identity crisis,” she said.

“Thanks.” He took them and folded them before putting them in his jacket pocket.

“Thank you,” Skylor said, sticking her sword in the nearest plant; fixing the leaves to hide it.

Lloyd turned to leave and caught Harumi’s gaze. He sighed. “You should learn to keep your hands to yourself,” he said and walked towards the door, over the broken glass.

He paused. “And I have a boyfriend.” He left, getting on his bike and heading towards the monastery.

-

Lloyd stopped in front of the now closed garage door.

“One of these buttons has to open it.” He scanned the dash and hit a small green one.

That one sent a blast out the back of the bike and far into the endless darkness around him.

“Okay….” He hit a red one, which made blades pop out on the wheels. “Christ- ok.” Another popped the gas tank flap. “Mother-“ another button finally opened the door,” fucking finally.”

He slowly drove into the garage and closed it with the button again once inside.

He wheeled the bike back to where it’d been before. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“Fucking.. crazy ass city.” He walked to the elevator and pushed the call button. He took his shoes off while waiting.

The doors opened and as he was about to step in he was stopped by Nya. Her arms were crossed and her hair looked messy like she’d just woken up; wearing sweats, a tank top and what looked to be Jay’s slippers with lightning bolts on them.

“Shit.”

“What. The fuck. Are you doing?” She growled.

“I.. couldn’t sleep?”

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, firstly, don’t pull a stunt like this ever again, okay?” She looked at him.

“Yes.”

“Secondly, how did she drive?”

“F- fine.”

“Okay.. back to bed; come on.”

He stepped into the elevator with her and they rode up to the top floor.

“I’m.. sorry,” he finally muttered.

“It’s fine. I was just worried something might have happened. I heard a loud explosion outside and was going to jump on my bike to check it out, but when I checked our cameras and saw it was you I figured you’d just taken one of my bikes for a joyride.”

“Yeah..”

“I know this is tough for you,” she started,” but you’re not alone. The boys have all gone through ninja training. And.. I know what it’s like to be seen as the ‘outsider’ of the group.” She glanced down at him. “Just.. don’t think you’re alone in this, okay?”

He nodded. She looked back at the doors.

“And please don’t take my prototypes out without my permission.”

“Noted.

-

Lloyd collapsed into bed, tired from his night on the town. Tired from the crazy ass day he’d had. He put his sweats back on and noticed the papers in his jeans pocket.

He considered looking at them. Skylor had papers about /him/- well, the green ninja, but still. He was supposed to be this big hero for Ninjago.

He decided to look at them when he woke up. He needed to rest. He finally laid down and went to sleep.

//Was it stupid of me to take her bike? Yes. Did I have plenty of good reasons? Also yes. Do I still want to go home? Yes, of course. Would I run home at the first opportunity? I don’t know.

Chapter Text

All seemed calm and the sunlight started to pour through Lloyd's window. A bird chirped outside and Lloyd rolled over to squint at the window.

“It’s not too bad,” he grumbled, going back to sle-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Lloyd shot up in bed. He raced over to stuff, grabbed his sword and ran out of the room.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Lloyd ran down the hall, following the sound.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

He could hear shouting coming from the end of the hall.

“What’s going on!” He shouted, sword up ready to defend.

The ninja froze and looked at him as he came swinging into the kitchen.

BEEP! BEEP!

“I burnt eggs. Put the sword down,” Kai said, throwing some burnt eggs into the trash.

“Wh.. oh..” Lloyd lowered his sword and rubbed his eyes. The beeping from the smoke alarm had finally turned off.

“It’s okay, I made waffles and sausage as well,” Zane said, bringing empty plates over to the table and putting them in spots.

Wu came into the kitchen and took a mug offered to him from Nya.

“Thank you,” they bowed to each other,” good morning ninja. Nephew.” He smiled at Lloyd. Clearly his uncle was a morning person. He, on the other hand, was not.

Lloyd sat at the table and mumbled a greeting; he put the sword on the floor and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms.

A plate was placed in front of him and he looked up. Nya smiled at him and walked back to the kitchen. Kai came over and placed a glass with juice in it in front of him as well.

“Orange. Is that okay?” Lloyd nodded. “Okay.” He went back to the kitchen.

Lloyd noticed that they were all doing something. Zane was back to cooking, and Nya and Jay were putting the food onto big plates to bring over to the table. Kai was pouring drinks into cups and bringing them to the table and placing certain drinks at certain spots. Cole and Wu seemed to be talking about something but he couldn’t hear what.

“Is there something I can do?” He asked, raising his voice so he could be heard.

Everyone froze and looked at him.

“Oh, no, it’s okay. We’ve got it,” Nya said.

“But thanks for asking,” Jay said.

Lloyd slumped in his chair and tapped his feet. He felt weird doing nothing and waiting to eat. Usually he just made himself coffee in the morning and started teaching.

Finally, Zane finished cooking and took off his pink apron; hanging it on a hook by the stove. The food was brought over to the table and everyone sat.

Wu said a small prayer of some sort, not that Lloyd was paying attention, and everyone dug in putting whatever they liked on their plates.

Zane had made waffles, sausage, and eggs. There was fresh cut fruit on the table as well and syrup and whipped cream.

Lloyd took a waffle, some sausage, a scoop of eggs, and a handful of blueberries. He looked around the table to see everyone talking.

Wu sat at the head opposite of Lloyd. To Wu’s left was Cole who was talking to Wu about some training thing for later. Kai was next to Cole, eating and chatting with Zane about some video game; Lloyd couldn’t see but he was holding Cole’s hand out of sight of everyone under the table. Zane was across from Kai and to his left was Jay and then Nya who were talking about something in the garage that needed fixing. Nya was on Wu’s right.

They had it all figured out. One big, happy family.

He missed his school. He missed Brad.

He ate in silence and once he was done, much sooner than everyone else, he excused himself and stood. Everyone paused to watch him pick up his sword and dishes and walk to the kitchen. He set the plate and silverware in the sink and dumped the juice down the sink before tossing the cup in as well. Then he left to his room.

The ninja all looked at each other and then Wu.

Wu scanned their faces. He wasn’t sure what to do either.

Kai was getting real sick of this.

“I’ll go,” he said and stood up. He squeezed Cole’s hand and kissed his head before leaving and following Lloyd to his room.

Cole blushed and looked at all the stunned faces in the room.

“Uhhahah uhmm it’s.. we..'' he shoved food in his mouth and avoided any eye contact.

-

Kai stared at Lloyd's door. He sighed and knocked.

“Hey.. wanna talk?” He rolled his eyes at how stupid he sounded.

He heard movement in the room and saw a slight shadow under the sliding door. It didn’t open though.

“Look, I know this is getting annoying- trust me I know- but I don’t wanna see you separate yourself from everyone all the time.”

The shadow didn’t move.

Kai sighed and sat on the floor and put his face in his hands. “This is so stupid,” he muttered,” I’m used to Nya.. she was so.. ugh.”

Kai looked at the door. “Lloyd… I know you hate Wu. I used to hold the same resentment… sometimes I still do. He doesn’t understand you can’t just.. family doesn’t.. it’s not going to work the way he wants it to. I know you think everyone here is stupid and an asshole and just being nice to you because they have to, but that’s not true. This destiny, green ninja shit is bull, and I want you to know… you aren’t alone.”

A moment of silence.

“How so?” Lloyd finally said.

Kai felt a bit of relief that he was actually listening. Then he felt guilty. Should he really tell this kid all about his friends' secrets?

“I shouldn’t really tell you… it wouldn’t be fair, but.. Wu doesn't tell you much either. I’ll try to skip around the really important shit.”

The door slid open and Lloyd was sitting in front of Kai, ready to hear all about the other.

“Ah.. okay uhm, well you know about my parents. They up and vanished one day. Uhm, Jay grew up in a scrap yard with his parents. They’re really sweet though he won’t admit it.”

Lloyd smiled a little.

“Zane… doesn’t have anyone except his bird. No family- nothing. And Cole…” Kai looked down at his hands,” his mom.. died when he was really young. And his dad just never.. really got better. He tried to send Cole to some dance school but Cole thinks he can’t dance or sing for shit. He’s actually very good at it.”

Lloyd chuckled.

“No really, he’ll kick your ass at any dancing game. We’ll do a game night and just watch him. He’s a beast.”

Lloyd thought about a game night with the ninja.

“That.. would be fun.”

Kai smiled a little. “Like I said: you’re not alone. You’ve got a lot in common with us. You just don’t know how to trust people.”

“Okay, fuck you too,” Lloyd said and laughed. Kai laughed too.

“Whatever Wu hasn’t told you yet isn’t worth distancing yourself so much-“

“It’s not about that. I told you guys I resented you for banishing the only family I had. My father is gone but I don’t really care about him. I’m just pissed that there’s never been someone who gives enough of a shit about me. Except Brad.. and my students.”

Lloyd looked down at his hands. Kai hated how bad he felt for this kid.

“Lloyd… don’t push us away just yet okay?” Lloyd looked up. “We.. I wanna be your friend. And I’m sure the others do too.”

Lloyd smiled. “Okay.”

Kai nodded and stood up. “Alright, start getting ready. You don’t wanna be late.”

“For what?” Lloyd asked, also standing.

“Training.”

“Pff, I’m gonna whoop all your asses,” Lloyd said and waved a hand dismissively.

“Oh, not fight training. Elemental training.”

Lloyd’s smile dropped. “What?”

Kai barked out a laugh. He walked away, laughing to himself.

“Good luck,” he called.

“Shit.” Lloyd closed the door and started getting ready.

Chapter Text

Hey guys, sorry the next update is taking so long. I figured I’d at least apologize for that. If you rly want me to update go harass me on TikTok @leo_notthestar . Seeing comment about how much you guys like the story helps a lot. I’m going through the final stretches of senior year, an internship during April break, work, and then summer classes starting next month. So once again I’m so sorry I’m not updating. I have ideas, I’m just super busy. Go harass me on TT (comments, DM, whatever) or leave comments here. Seeing spam in my email from notifs on this fic makes me happy. Seeing your comments under this fic bring me so much serotonin, and I love that you guys love my writing. I’ll get the update in soon. But you can expect a new 4-5 chapter Cult of the Lamb fic coming soon, chapter one being poster maybeee within the next month idk. Anyways, thx for the support ily guys sm <33 mwah!!

Chapter Text

// It’s only my first day and I’m already doing elemental training?! //

Lloyd put on sweats and a green tank top, not realizing his mistake until he already had his shoes on and rushing out of his room.

He met Kai at the door to the courtyard.

“Ready?” He asked, arms crossed with a smirk.

“No,” Lloyd said, looking at the other ninja who were chatting outside.

“You’ll do fine. Stand next to me, come on.”

They walked outside, Lloyd a bit behind Kai with his hands in his pockets.

“Hey, Lloyd,” Nya said, smiling,” ready for training?”

// Don’t talk to me like I’m a child //

“Uhh, yeah.. yeah I guess.”

“Don’t be nervous. You’ll do fine,” Cole said, gravitating to stand next to Kai. “We weren’t all masters at first.”

// You don’t have giant magical destiny to live up to //

“Kai was actually the last one to reach his true potential,” Cole said, smiling down at the other.

Kai flushed the color of his gi. “First of all, fuck you. Secondly-“

“Ninja.”

The ninja formed a line, standing with their feet together and hands behind their back. Lloyd panicked and stood next to Kai, quickly copying.

“Lloyd.” Wu came outside and around to the front of the group. He smiled at his nephew. “I’m so happy to have you here.”

Lloyd nodded, looking forward and not making eye contact.

“Hm.. who trained you?” Wu asked, walking around to the back of the group.

“I’m.. self taught.”

“Clearly.” He pushed Lloyd’s foot into a better position.

“Today we shall focus on opening your elemental powers,” Wu said, still walking behind them. “As the green ninja, you have a stronger power than your team.”

// Team? //

“But you all must work together to be strong. That is important. That being said, Lloyd needs to unlock his true potential,” he rounded to the front of the group,” before that he needs to unlock his powers.”

Wu walked away to stand at the sidelines. Lloyd turned to look at him.

“I thought you were supposed to train me? Laps, forms, proper techniques. You’re just gonna stand by and let these guys train me?”

Wu sat on the step and crossed his legs. “Working as a team is important. I think your new teammates can… push you in the right direction.”

“What like.. sparring? I can do sp- ACK!” A foot struck Lloyd in the ribs, sending him across the yard.

“LLOYD!” Kai turned to see one of Jay’s training bots had come out from its hiding spot in the ground. “Jay!”

“I- I’m sorry! I forgot to turn down their strength levels!”

“You ninja will guide Lloyd, from the sidelines, on how to avoid and deliver hits in a proper fight,” Wu said. He looked at Kai and patted the step next to him,” come. Sit.”

Kai stammered a bit, not being able to find a voice. He looked at Lloyd curled up on the ground holding his side.

“Lloyd, are you okay?” He asked.

Lloyd struggled to sit up and coughed, then shakily got to his feet. Kai let out a breath he’d been holding. Cole took his hand, gently squeezing.

“Come on,” he said, pulling him over to the stairs.

Kai glared at his sensei. “You’re trying to pull it out of him by force. Are you fucking kidding me?” He hissed in the man’s face.

Wu gave his student a blank expression. “I simply want to see how he does in a fight. Feel free to call out some helpful advice.”

Kai bit his tongue and stood next to Cole who sat next to Wu’s right.

Lloyd watched as two other bots rose from the ground. He wasn’t feeling awesome after the brawl at Chen’s the night before, but he couldn’t afford to fail.

The first bot charged. Lloyd side stepped and dodged the first few punches thrown. He took the bots arm and judo flipped it.

“Nice, Lloyd!” Jay cheered.

Lloyd looked at the others, then to Wu. He tried to read his expression. Satisfaction? Amusement? Disappointment?

“Lloyd, behind you!” Kai called.

Lloyd snapped back to reality as a bot came up behind him and swung his legs out, making him fall on his back. He groaned and slowly got up again.

“Jay… raise the difficulty level,” Wu said.

“B- but Sensei, he’s not ready!” Jay said, looking at the man.

“He’s a teacher, so he claims. He claims to have all this experience. I want to see it. Raise the level.”

Jay looked to Nya. She held his hand and gave a nod. Jay reluctantly pulled a remote out of his pocket and turned up the level, from 7 to 8.

The bots became faster. They started throwing more punches and kicks. Lloyd avoided most of them, dodging and weaving, blocking punches when he could.

“At least give him a weapon,” Kai said. Wu sighed.

“Nya, will you go grab Lloyd’s sword from his room.”

Nya quickly rose to her feet and ran to grab the weapon.

“He’s very defensive,” Wu muttered,” I thought he’d throw at least a few punches.”

“He’s a little overwhelmed,” Kai growled,” kind of hard to throw punches when ur trying to save face.”

Nah came running back out to the courtyard, out of breath. “LLOYD!” She called and tossed the sword.

Lloyd caught the movement in the corner of his eye and jumped to catch the blade. He sliced off one bots arm, then hit another in the face with the butt of the sword.

“Yes, good Lloyd,” Wu said.

One of the bots picked up its siblings arm and used it as a sword, pushing to the front of the group and began dueling with Lloyd.

“Jay, what kind of robots are these?!” Kai said, looking at the blue ninja.

“I- I didn’t know they’d do something like that,” he said, bitting his nails nervously. Nya took his free hand and squeezed is reassuringly.

Meanwhile, the bot was becoming more aggressive. Lloyd did his best to try and get a stab or two in, but the robot was clearly more advanced than him.

// THIS is the first day of training? I don’t know how the others have survived this long //

The bot knocked Lloyd’s sword out of his hand in a moment of distracted thinking. He kicked it over to his friend with one arm.

“Jay, turn them off,” Kai said.

“Jay, turn up the difficulty,” Wu said.

“What?! You’re going to hurt him!” Kai said.

“He needs this,” Wu said, standing,” he’ll be fine. Jay, turn up the level.”

“Sensei-“

“Jay, I know you think this is too much, but I promise you this is for the greater good. If we want a fighting chance I want /all/ of you in top condition. So… I’m asking you to raise the level.”

Jay looked from Wu to Kai who looked like he might tackle Jay if he moved his hand.

Jay did as told.

Lloyd was not doing so hot.

Kai looked down at Cole who seemed to be analyzing with Wu. His elbows on his knees, muttering into his folded hands.

Kai looked back to Lloyd.

Lloyd dodged under a sword, blocked a punch, kicked away one bot in the chest, barely missed a punch, and swept the bot with one arm and his sword feet out from under him.

“Yes!” Kai cheered. Cole looked up at him, giving a small smile. “Shut up.”

Lloyd took the sword and looked down at the machine on the ground before driving it through its chest.

“My bot!” Jay cried.

Lloyd ripped out the blade and turned towards the other two bots. It’s now that Kai noticed a faint green glow around him.

Lloyd sparred with the arm wielding bot for a bit. He knocked the sword out of its hand and cut its arms off.

“Ohhh my bots,” Jay whined. Nya patted him on the back.

Lloyd turned to the final bot. He tossed the sword aside and tackled the bot.

“Woah!” Cole said.

The ninja watched as Lloyd rolled on the ground with the bot, throwing punches and scratching each other up.

“Lloyd,” Kai called, then turned to Jay,” turn it off, Jay, come on.”

Jay looked past Kai at Wu, who was still watching Lloyd.

“JAY!” Jay snapped to look at Kai, who was smoking at the shoulders.

The sound of metal crunching turned them all back to Lloyd who was bashing the bots head on the ground.

“Fucking hell- Lloyd!” Kai ran to Lloyd. He grabbed him under his arms and started pulling him away.

“LET ME GO! STOPPIT!” Lloyd shouted, kicking at Kai.

“Hey, Hey,” Kai wrapped his arms tight around the blond, waiting for him to calm down.

Lloyd thrashed around a bit more before realizing he wasn’t in any danger. His breathing slowed and he slumped back against Kai.

The others watched as Kai muttered something to Lloyd who nodded. Kai let him go slowly.

“Well,” Wu stood,” definitely a lot to improve on, but a lot of good too. I think if-“

“There’s no way in hell you expect me to learn anything from this!” Lloyd said,” this isn’t teaching- I’m not learning- I…”

Lloyd looked at the bot on the ground.

“I haven’t fought like this since…” he took a deep breath,” I can’t learn anything from you.”

“Lloyd,” Wu started.

“Cole,” Lloyd looked at the earth ninja,” I want to learn how to reach my full potential from you.”

“What?” Cole was shocked. He quickly stood up.

“But he’s not a sensei! O- or a master!” Wu said,” Lloyd, I know I was hard on you for your first day but it’s important that-“

“Cole,” Lloyd put his feet together and bowed, hands together and out,” please, help me. Teach me /your/ way.”

Cole looked at Kai who was smiling a little.

“Uhhh,” he looked at Wu. The sensei simply looked at the sky and then back at the ninja. He nodded. “Yes.. okay.” He bowed back.

-

Lloyd walked out of the bathroom, hair still wet from his shower. He walked down to his room, but stopped at Cole’s door.

He knocked lightly.

“Cole.. can we talk.”

There was some shuffling before Cole opened the door.

“What’s up?”

Lloyd put his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor.

“I… thank you.. for..”

Cole smiled a little. He put his hand on Lloyd shoulder making the blond look up.

“Look, Wu pushed you too far today. I understand we’re in a time crunch, but this isn’t the kind of thing you can force. I’m honored you chose me as your teacher.”

Lloyd flushed a little and nodded.

“How about after breakfast tomorrow you meet me outside, and we’ll start your training.”

“O- okay, sure.”

Cole squeezed his shoulder lightly before removing his hand. He looked up noticing some movement.

“Hey,” Kai said. He looked down at Lloyd and nodded.

“Hi,” Cole said.

Lloyd looked between the two of them. “Gross.”

“Yeah yeah,” he hip checked Lloyd out of the way and walked into Cole’s room,” eat something, get some rest. Leave us alone,” he said.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Lloyd said, rushing off towards the kitchen.

Cole followed the blond with his eyes then looked at Kai. “Really?”

He shrugged. “You’d rather we have an audience?”

Cole laughed and slid the door closed. “You’re so weird.”

Chapter Text

Brad took a deep breath before walking into Lloyd’s office. Well, technically it was now Brad’s for the time being. Brad was in charge for… who knows how long.

He looked over papers left on the desk before Lloyd had left. He’d never been very good about organization. A cold cup of days old coffee sat on the desk as well.

Brad tided the desk, and sat down at the much neater table. He sighed and looked around the room. Pictures of their friends and students, a few throwing stars in the wall Lloyd said he was going to take care of months ago. Brad turned around in the chair and looked at the wall mount for /the/ sword. Lloyd had taken it with him so now it was empty.

He thought back to how Lloyd had kissed his cheek before he’d left. In front of everyone. He hoped the students wouldn’t think less of them now. How could they though? What did they have to second guess? Brad was just getting in his own head… he missed Lloyd. They’d only gotten a few days together of finally being a couple before Lloyd had to leave. He hoped everything was going okay.

A knock at the door brought his attention back and he spun back around in the chair.

“Come in!”

A boy with short red hair, wearing cameo pants, a black tank top, and combat boots walked into the room.

“Mr. Tudabone,” he said, stepping into the room.

“Andrew, hi, what’s up?” Brad said, smiling.

The student sat in the chair in front of him. He twiddled his thumbs nervously.

“I uh… I was supposed to talk to Sensei Garmadon today, but he’s not here anymore so… I- I figured I could talk with you,” he said, looking down at his shoes.

“Of course, Andrew, but I do have a class soon, so I can’t talk super long okay?”

“O- okay.. uhm.. well I’ve been thinking a lot about… myself and how I feel. I love the school, I really do, and I don’t want to leave. But…”

“Andrew, do you not agree with the things we teach here?” He asked.

“No! I- I mean yes- I mean that’s not-“

A loud crash in the hall turned their attention towards the door.

“Dammit,” Brad stood up,” I’m sorry, Andrew, this’ll have to wait.” He hurried towards the door. When he stepped out he saw two boys sprawled on the floor and a shopping cart tipped on it side by the lockers.

“Lincoln! Chris! What is going on out here?!” Brad demanded.

Lincoln stood, slowly, first. He had curly brown hair, ripped jeans, a band tee and dirty sneakers. “Hey, Mr. Tudabone!”

Chris was taller and bigger. He had short, straight black hair, cargo shorts, a plain blue tee, and steel toed boots on. A scar ran up from his chin, across his nose, and to his forehead.

“What’s up?” He asked from the floor.

“What are you doing?” Brad said, crossing his arms. He looked more worried than upset.

“Well uhm,” Lincoln looked everywhere but Brad,” for our uhh science project, yeah, we had to uhh do something on movement… a- and velocity. So we made a bottle rocket with soda and mints and shot ourselves down the hall.”

“For science,” Chris added, unhelpfully.

“Uh huh, and when is your science class?” Brad asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Fifth period,” Lincoln muttered.

“Right, and it’s only first period. So, I’m going to look the other way, just this once, because it’s only the first day of Lloyd not being here. Please don’t make me have to actually acknowledge… whatever this is.”

“Yes sir,” they said.

Brad looked at the clock on the wall and quickly ran off to his first class.

-

The class only had a test that day, so it was silent most of the period.

Brad went through papers at the desk and looked up every so often to make sure everything was going okay.

“You have ten minutes,” Brad said, looking at the clock on the wall and then back at his own papers.

Students started turning in their tests and packing up before the bell. The last test was turned in just seconds before the bell.

“Have a good one, guys,” Brad said as the kids left.

He started packing up his own things but stopped when he noticed someone standing in front of the desk, waiting to talk with him.

“Andrew! Hey, sorry we got cut off earlier. I was going to find you later on so we could finish talking. Are you in this class?” Brad asked.

“N- no, I came here after class to talk with you. I…” he twiddled his thumbs again, not being able to finish whatever was eating at him.

“Andrew, if you’d rather talk about this in a more private place then we can go to Llo- my office,” Brad suggested.

“N- no, it’s okay. Uhm… I wanted to talk to you about… I’m not-“

“YEAH KICK HIS ASS!” Someone in the hall shouted.

“For fucks sake,” Brad groaned,” I’m so sorry Andrew. Just a moment.” He ran to the door and swung it open to stand in the hallway.

Two boys were fighting on the floor. Fists flying and bodies rolling.

“Micheal! Sean! What is going on!” Brad demanded. He was getting sick of having to run into halls and stop his students from hurting themselves.

“Yeah, Mike, get him!” Someone cheered.

“Fuck him up, Sean!” Someone else said.

“For the love of-“ Brad pushed through the crowd and grabbed onto Sean who was on top of Mike. He then pulled Micheal to a stand as well. “ENOUGH!”

The crowd stopped cheering and people started slowly walking away to hopefully be forgotten faster than Micheal and Sean.

“What the hell is going on?!” Brad snapped,” it’s only the first damn day and I’ve already got students in my office, kids doing bottle rockets in the halls, and now this! Fucking A, is this what Lloyd has to deal with on the daily?” He sighed and tightened his grip on the boy's shoulders. “Tell me what happened.”

Sean, a blond kid with a mullet in a muscle tee and ripped jeans spoke first. “He started it! He came up to me and said I stole something from him which isn’t true!”

“AS IF!” Micheal, who has curly brown hair, a red tank top and also ripped jeans cut in,” I know you stole my comics, and the candy Brian gave me, and copied my notes, AND broke my pencil the other day! You’re asking for me to kick your ass!” He spat in the other's face.

“Okay, okay!” Brad said, hoping that hadn’t forgotten about him already,” look, there seems to be a lot of tension between you two. I think you both need to talk about what’s going on and work through your issues.”

The boys side eyes each other.

“Now!” Brad snapped, pushing them shoulder to shoulder.

“Ow! Okay!” Sean sighed and looked at Micheal,” Micheal… I’m sorry I took your stuff… and I will return it tonight.”

Brad looked at Sean. “Go on!”

“Oh, okay um, I’m sorry I jumped you in the hall. That was.. probably too much.”

“Kiss!” Someone called in passing.

“Watch it!” Brad called after them. He sighed and looked at the boys. “Thank you. Please keep your promise, Sean. And let’s try to stay civil. I know it’s going to be hard without Lloyd, but the best we can do is stay together. Now go to class,” Brad said, finally letting go of their arms.

-

Brad groaned as he walked into Lloyd's office at the end of the day. He tossed his bag on the table and cracked his neck.

“Mr. Tudabone, sir,” Andrew squeaked out.

Brad yelled in a totally not high pitched way.

“Holy shit.. Andrew! What are you doing here?” He said, clutching his chest.

“We never finished our talk,” Andrew said.

“Right, okay.” Brad sat on the desk and rubbed his eyes,” go ahead… there’s nothing to get in the way this time.”

Andrew looked down at his shoes and took a deep breath.

“Mr. Tudabone… I love this school. I love my friends. I can’t imagine leaving now. But… something has come up that makes me wonder if I’ll be welcome here anymore,” he said.

“Andrew, whatever it is, I'm sure we can figure it out,” Brad said.

Andrew hesitated before continuing. “This is Darkley’s School for Bad /Boys/… but… I don’t feel like a… boy.”

Silence hung over them. Brad looked at his student and sighed.

“Way back when me and Lloyd fought for this school to be about good and evil. A mix in the middle for the better of our friends and future students. It’s not Darkley’s School for /Bad/ Boys anymore, so I think the Boys part is probably out the window at this point too,” Brad said.

Andrew looked at Brad, tears threatening to spill.

“So… what would you like me to call you?” Brad asked.

“Um… Andy, for now. A- and she/her pronouns,” she said, smiling a little.

“I can do that. If you want to tell your teachers, go ahead. And if anyone gives you any issues you come to me okay? Anything you need and I’m right here,” he said.

“O- okay. Thank you, Mr. Tudabone.”

“Anytime, Andy.”

-

Brad crawled into Lloyd’s bed and sighed. It’d been an eventful first day for sure, but not unsuccessful.

He turned the bedside table light off and laid down to sleep.

“Good night, Lloyd.”

-

Lloyd rubbed his side from a hard kick from morning training. He still couldn’t believe that had happened, and that now Cole would be his teacher!

As he crawled into bed he thought about Darkley’s, and Brad. Today would’ve been their first day without him. He hoped everything went okay.

“Good night, Brad,” my mumbled before passing out.