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Lloyd lay on the dirty floor of Ronin’s store, panting heavily.
He didn’t regret what he did earlier that same day; if Morro had got hold of the Sword of Sanctuary Ninjago would have been toast. And it would have been entirely his fault. How could he have been so stupid that he let himself get possessed? He’d dealt with the Overlord before. Sure, it was with the help of the other ninja, but he was ultimately the one who destroyed the form of pure evil. Or maybe it was pathetic, because he came back a little over a year later and if Zane wasn’t a nindroid the ninja would have been mourning his loss forever.
You’re useless, Lloyd told himself. Can’t stop a stupid ghost that could have easily been defeated by water.
But right now he was experiencing the consequences of helping Kai. So far, all Morro had done to him was un-possess (is that a new word?) him, and throw his body on the floor. The ghost’s friends were watching, laughing and mocking the Green Ninja struggling to breathe on the floor.
Stop panicking, Lloyd, you stupid little boy.
“I’ve been wanting to see how… solid I can get for a while,” Morro said, more to the other ghosts than Lloyd. “But I couldn’t test it with actual opponents like the other ninja. Couldn’t risk myself ‘dying’ again.” He smirked as he slowly made his way to the boy curled up on the ground.
Lloyd was trying to keep his panic in check unsuccessfully. For the last week he had been starved, forced to drink alcohol, and given half a cup of water at best everyday. He knew he had lost a concerning amount of weight at this point, though it was the least important matter to him right now.
He shut his eyes and tried to think of better times, when Morro kicked him in the stomach. He gasped loudly and clutched it, before rolling on it to avoid it getting hit again.
Morro was satisfied by Lloyd’s reaction, just like the other ghosts, who were cheering. And he wanted more. “So I can make myself solid enough to land a hit, huh? Let’s see what the extent can be.”
He stepped on Lloyd’s back and smiled when he heard the groan coming from him. He slowly increased the pressure until he decided that doing any more would kill him.
“I’d finish you right now, but unfortunately I might still need you to complete my mission. But at least now I know what I’ll do in celebration of the Preeminent’s return.”
It was then that Lloyd had had enough. He was sick of being treated like a puppet by Morro and being helpless about it. He was going to fight back.
He used most of whatever energy he had left to sit up, and held his fist out. Morro gasped at the sudden action and almost stumbled backwards. Lloyd only understood what was happening when he tried to land a punch, only for his entire arm to sag to the ground.
Oh. He was mocking him.
And his theory was proven correctly when Morro and all the ghosts burst into loud laughter. The master of wind grabbed Lloyd’s neck and choked him.
“Who do you think you are, huh?” The ghost asked rhetorically, watching the blond gasp for air in vain. “I’ve looked through all your memories. You didn’t deserve to be the Green Ninja. It was all nepotism from your grandfather.”
Asphyxiating Lloyd gave Morro a new idea, which he displayed with a grin. He let go of the weak boy, letting him fall to the floor.
“I’m the master of wind. That means I can control where all the air in the room is going. Here’s something I never tried before.”
Lloyd suddenly noticed that he couldn’t breathe. It was like there was nothing to breathe at all.
Oh. He took the air away from him.
Lloyd tried to move somewhere else to get the vital oxygen, but he was far too weak. He thrashed in his spot, and tried to scream. But no sound came out. He was in a vacuum.
Morro circled around his victim, watching him suffer. “Maybe you should have thought before giving the sword to your friend. I’m sure you want to stay alive to see him again.”
Lloyd tried fighting, tried breathing, but this was yet another battle he had lost. Within seconds, his eyes shut and he went limp.
Morro let go of the air, letting it move freely around the room again. Staring at Lloyd’s pale, bruised face still gave him bursts of anger, though. He used to be Wu’s favourite student– and his favourite child. Now this pathetic piece of shit had stolen not only that position, but his dream role– the Green Ninja.
It made him see red– and even after everything he’d done to the kid today he’d decided he hadn’t suffered enough. So, he pounced on the slack body and started punching about every inch of his body, until his skin turned purple. His friends had stopped laughing too, now merely spectating there silently in shock.
But Morro wasn’t done. He got up and dragged Lloyd’s body with him by the hair, and threw him across the floor, like he was an angry toddler playing with his rag doll. The kid’s body hit a shelf and some random items nobody cared about fell on him.
Morro walked over to Lloyd again and pressed a couple fingers against his neck. There was still a pulse.
He kicked his chest, probably hard enough to break a rib by then, and just slumped over the shelf in exhaustion. That’s how long it took him to realise that his breathing was erratic too, except his was in rage.