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When Lloyd was kidnapped (yes, kidnapped, and he won’t accept any other term for it) from his school by his uncle and his students, he thought Kai would be the one who’d accept him last. But surprisingly, it was Jay. It was strange, because when Lloyd spied on the ninja during his ‘villain arc’, it was Jay who seemed the most lighthearted, always cracking jokes or making stupid puns.
He recalled his first moments on the Destiny’s Bounty, his uncle’s flying ship. Jay had dragged him there, and thrown him on the floor. The other ninja had already suggested punishments, which Lloyd knew he deserved, but what really sent shivers down his spine is when Wu said ‘he knew exactly what to do’.
But instead, Wu’s eyes softened, and he held out his hand, helping Lloyd off the floor. “How are you, young nephew?” was his greeting to the boy.
Lloyd was taken aback by Wu’s ironic demeanour, but answered truthfully nevertheless. “I’m… I’m fine…”
Wu laid his hand on his nephew’s shoulder, and led him inside. Nya, Kai’s sister and the only girl on board, flew the ship away from Lloyd’s old boarding school, his home for most of his life. Not like he was going to miss it, though.
Wu looked at the white ninja, retaining the small smile on his face. “Zane, can you get one of those cookies you baked last night?”
The white ninja nodded, albeit looking a little frustrated, and walked away, returning a few minutes later with a tray of cookies in his hand. They must have been for the ninja, Lloyd told himself. Well, at least you stole food from them now, even though it’s not candy.
After having three cookies, Wu made him take a shower before having a proper meal, and that night he was given his very own room for the first time in his life. Granted, it was a temporary room, but he wasn’t sharing it with anybody.
A couple weeks passed, and Lloyd grew on the ninja, and they grew on him. Well, all the ninja except Jay.
He didn’t understand why the blue ninja hated him. He has to deal with the Serpentine just as much as the other three boys. Maybe he was sensitive?
He used to literally yell at the newest inhabitant of the Bounty every time he spoke to him, then slowly progressed into simply ignoring him. That’s fine by Lloyd. It reminded him how much of an asshole he was anyways.
But the curiosity continued gnawing at him, and one day it finally got the best of him. So when he saw Jay sitting in his bunk alone in the ninja’s shared room, he knocked on the door, and was met by a glare. Well, he didn’t say not to enter, so Lloyd technically was allowed to walk in.
“Hey, Jay?” No response.
“Jay?”
Upon realising that Jay was not in a speaking mood, Lloyd shuffled towards him and decided to ask the question.
“Why do you hate me, Jay?”
Jay showed no reaction, which signalled Lloyd to leave. Just as he stood by the door, however, the other boy in the room responded.
“Are you really that stupid, you little runt?”
Lloyd flinched at the last word, but turned back towards Jay sheepishly. “Uhhh… maybe?”
Jay groaned. “I know you’re only acting oblivious. But to make sure you can’t keep that façade any longer, I’ll tell you.” He slid down the bunk bed’s ladder and leaned down uncomfortably close to Lloyd. “You almost killed my parents.”
Oh.
Jay kicked Lloyd just hard enough to knock him off his feet. “Now scram. ”
Lloyd didn’t hesitate to follow Jay’s orders, scared of what he might do to him if the two were alone for too long. He ran back to his own room and sat on the mattress.
Maybe I deserve it. He's right; I did almost kill his parents.
Lloyd’s mind flashed back to the day in which he unleashed the Fangpyre tribe, and sent them to Ed and Edna’s Scrapyard. In his defence, he wasn’t after the elderly ( were they elderly? They looked pretty old, but then Jay wouldn’t have been just a teenager by now. But then again, Wu, who looks ancient, is younger than Garmadon, and he has a son even younger than Jay… life is confusing.) couple, but rather, what they owned. Junk. And the Fangpyre were going to make use of it. Who would want junk? You know what, Jay’s being overdramatic. Let’s forget this whole thing happened and just avoid him.
***
Ignoring Jay didn’t help Lloyd. In fact, his actions only came to bite him in the ass two weeks later.
His ear was pressed against the door that led outside his room, from where he could barely hear Jay and Nya’s conversation.
“...coming… minutes?…ready…”
Lloyd mentally scolded himself. Breathe quieter, you idiot. He sighed when he couldn’t hear either of the teenagers anymore, coming to a realisation that their conversation has ended and he hasn’t got any helpful information, like why Jay’s parents were paying a visit.
He would never admit to anyone besides himself that he was terrified. The worst part is, he was only informed of the Bounty’s guests this morning. Wu brought it up when Lloyd and the others were having breakfast, and he was somehow the only one who didn’t know. That’s what he got for staying away from Jay. It also caused him to avoid the others.
He already had a plan; pretend to be very ill, then stay locked in his room ‘on bedrest’. Then he’ll wait for time to pass, maybe eat some candies he’d have snuck in earlier, or–
He was thrown back from the impact of his face getting hit when Kai opened the door. The fire ninja grimaced when he saw what he had done to Lloyd.
“Sorry,” he started. “Should’ve knocked. Anyways, get yourself cleaned up, okay? Jay’s parents are gonna be visiting in less than half an hour.”
This was it. This was Lloyd’s cue to start his act. He moaned, shut his eyes, and pretended to shiver. “’m not feeling good…”
Kai rolled his eyes and gently put a hand on Lloyd’s forehead to prove him wrong. “No, you’re not. Now get up.”
Lloyd snapped his eyes open. “No way I’m going near his parents!” Kai raised an eyebrow, somehow oblivious to Lloyd’s reasoning.
“Why not?” he asked, earning an eyeroll from Lloyd.
“Cause I let the Fangpyre in their home!”
Kai’s eyes widened in remembrance. “Oh yeah…” he smirked. “And this is the perfect moment for you to apologise to them!”
Those words had never made Lloyd feel more betrayed in his life. He thought Kai had forgiven him for what he had done before being taken on the Bounty. “No way! They’re going to murder me before I can say anything!”
“Don’t worry, they’re understanding people. I’m sure they’ll forgive you.”
“Can’t I just pretend to be sick and stay in my room?”
Kai shrugged. “I wouldn’t advise it. It’s not like they’re never going to come back again, and the sooner you apologise, the better.”
Lloyd whined and grabbed Kai’s leg, staring at him with pleading eyes. “Please, Kai! I’ll do your laundry for a week! I won’t prank you for that time either!”
“That’s tempting… but unfortunately you’re gonna have to apologise to Jay’s parents. Tell you what. I’ll leave you in your room and give you time to think of how grave the situation you put them in was.” With that, Kai shook Lloyd off and left him alone in his room, leaving no room for argument.
***
He still didn’t see the need to say sorry.
It wasn’t like it was his fault he had no one to guide him. He got kicked out of Darkely’s onto the streets, and he was hungry, and what better thing was there to eat than candy? But he didn’t have any money at all, and threatening the village was just his survival instincts. That just happened to lead to the Serpentine being free, and ultimately, Jay’s parents almost dying. He didn’t ask the Fangpyre to do that anyways, it was just a mishap. And as far as he knew, they were unharmed once they turned back into humans.
Just what was the point of apologising after that?
He flinched as he heard the loud knock on his door, though he still preferred that over being slammed onto the floor. Since the person on the other side hadn’t barged in yet, he already knew who it was.
“Come in, Nya.”
The girl smiled as she entered Lloyd’s room, and kneeled down at his level. “Jay’s parents are here. Wanna say hi?”
Lloyd’s whole body tensed and his eyes bulged. “No!”
“Why not?”
“I’m not gonna apologise to them!”
“And why’s that?”
“Because there isn’t any reason to!”
Nya sighed. “Look, Lloyd, I know it can be hard to apologise for a mistake as big as what you did to Jay’s parents, but you have to own up to them. Would you like it if Jay almost killed Garmadon?”
“Yes, because my father would blast his head off immediately.”
Nya groaned. “That’s not the point…” She shook her head, and opened the door so she could leave. “Well, when you’re ready, come to the dining room.”
Left alone in his room, Lloyd expected blissful silence, but instead, there were voices chattering loud enough that he didn’t even need to go near the now closed door to understand what they were saying. It was Jay talking to his parents about none other than Lloyd, and an exaggerated story of how he came to the Bounty.
“...Pythor disappeared, so only Lloyd and I were left on the rooftop. He was glaring at me, ready to make his next attack, or maybe even push me off the building, but the kid didn’t scare me. I dashed towards him and pounced on him, getting him under control, and dragged his body on the ship, which had arrived just that moment. He was kicking and screaming but a couple of beatings had him compliant.”
Lloyd could practically hear Kai rolling his eyes. “Stop being dramatic, Jay.”
“So where is the boy now?” a woman’s voice– Edna’s– asked.
“In his room,” Nya replied.
“Well, he better come soon and apologise,” Jay sneered.
Lloyd didn’t want to hear any more. He locked the door and stayed in the room, deciding to stay there until Ed and Edna left. He lay down on the mattress and covered his ears with the pillow, blocking the conversation outside from his ears. For about twenty minutes, it worked, until there was another knock on the door, louder than the previous one.
“Lloyd? Open the door!” Jay’s voice was demanding, as if this was the hundredth time he was calling him. However, Lloyd didn’t give a response. There was no way he was apologising.
“Lloyd?” This time it was Kai, and his voice was much gentler. Still, Lloyd didn’t respond.
There were more bangs on the door, still met with no response.
“LLOYD!”
“Calm down, Jay!”
More bangs. No response.
Suddenly all the noise came to a halt, to Lloyd’s relief. Unfortunately, the door opened a minute later, by Jay, who was holding the keys to the room. Kai was standing behind him. The blue ninja was giving Lloyd a hard glare.
“Out. Now.”
Lloyd stood up, and looked Jay in the eye. “No.”
“Now.”
“No.”
Kai sighed, deciding to take matters into his own hands. “Lloyd, you’re gonna have to come anyway for dinner. If you’re late Cole would probably have already eaten any leftovers.”
Lloyd contemplated his choices for just a couple of seconds, but ultimately stuck to his initial plan. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not hungry.”
Kai frowned, noticing Lloyd’s act. “Lloyd. I’m gonna give you the count of three to get out of your room or I will drag you to the dining room, whether you apologise or not.”
The blond looked at Kai, silently begging him not to go through with his plan, but he had already made up his mind. “One.”
Lloyd stepped back.
“Two.”
Jay leaned against the wall and smirked in satisfaction, finally getting what he wanted.
“Three.”
Seeing that Lloyd wasn’t coming, Kai advanced towards the child, startling him. Lloyd tried escaping Kai’s wrath in vain, but only lasted a few seconds. In an instant, Kai had gotten hold of both of Lloyd’s legs, and was dragging him away from his room, the only place where he even felt safe at the moment.
“KAI! LET ME GO!”
But Kai paid no attention to Lloyd. It was over. He had to face Ed and Edna.
Lloyd covered his face as much as he could, trying to hide his humiliation from Kai and Jay. He thought of what to do once he reached the dining table. Should he apologise? Or just pretend they’re not there? Or make a run for it and lock himself in the bathroom with the key? Now he looked horrible too. Kai was dragging him across the floor like he was a mop, and he was catching dust on himself.
Finally, Kai had reached his destination, and he let go of Lloyd’s legs, while Jay blocked the doorway, the only escape path. Lloyd sat up and looked around himself, confirming that there was no way out of the dining room. On the table sat Nya, Cole, Zane, Wu… and Ed and Edna. All staring at him in silence.
He immediately avoided looking at them and walked over to the chair farthest away from Jay’s parents, next to Wu. Seeing everyone else was already halfway done with their food, Lloyd began eating from the plate left in front of him, when Wu nudged his shoulder.
“Greet Jay’s parents,” he whispered strictly.
Ah, shit.
“Oh. Uhhh…” he finally looked at the couple on the other side of the table, looking at him expectantly. He cleared his throat, then followed his uncle’s instructions. “Um… good… good evening…”
He did it. He interacted with Jay’s parents.
He expected them to lash out at him, to ask Wu how he even let such a horrible child on the Bounty, but instead, they smiled.
“Thank you, dear.” Edna replied cheerfully.
“Good evening to you too!” Ed’s tone was the same.
Lloyd was so shocked at their attitude he didn’t even thank them. Didn’t they know who he was?
Jay seemed to have the exact same thoughts. “You know he’s the kid who sent those snakes to your house, don’t you?”
“We do, son.”
“So… you’re supposed to be angry at him…”
“But Nya told us he didn’t have any proper guidance and went to a school for bad boys. It’s true, isn’t it?”
Jay was fuming. “Yes, I know. That still doesn’t give him an excuse to–”
“And she also told us that he’s been behaving himself ever since he came here, besides a few pranks…”
“That reminds me!” Edna said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a wooden train. “We got this for him. There’s a whole track in the car, we’ll give it after food.” She handed Lloyd the toy, and he hesitantly took it, wondering if this was a prank.
“Thank you.”
He didn’t even get a good look at it yet when Jay snatched it from him. “HE DIDN’T EVEN APOLOGISE!”
Lloyd took a deep breath, finally reaching the moment he dreaded the most. “I’m sorry I let the Serpentine into your house. It was foolish and inconsiderate of me. I’ll do anything to make up for what I did.”
Ed and Edna looked touched at the apology. “There’s nothing you need to do to show us you’re sorry. We believe you.”
“You didn’t know better,” Edna claimed.
But Jay wasn’t buying any of it. “THAT WAS CLEARLY SCRIPTED! HE ASKED THE INTERNET ON HOW TO APOLOGISE AND MEMORISED LIKE TWO SENTENCES!”
“Jay,” Ed warned.
Lloyd managed to stop a smirk from forming on his face. He managed to see Jay getting yelled at by his parents. Now he felt exactly how Lloyd did when he came on the Bounty. Jay treated him the worst, and now his own parents had turned against him.
(And yes, he copied that apology from the internet.)