Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

What had Wu put his students through?

This was the question the old master pondered to himself on a cold early morning, a cup of his favorite tea in his hand and his six chaotic students running around the courtyard.

They were all finally back together in one place. No longer were the halls of the monastery cold and dark, or the courtyard empty. There was noise and laughter again. He had missed his family.

It had been two months since they had defeated the Crystal King and his army. The city was slowly rebuilding itself. The monastery had been rebuilt, thanks to help from their allies and the citizens. The ninja could finally rest for a while.

The recent battles had taken their toll on the six ninja. They tried to conceal it, but Wu could see right through it.
Zane's systems occasionally malfunctioned without warning, and he could no longer trust his own body. His emotions were also a wreck due to being turned off for so long; he could be doing a completely ordinary task, and he would burst into tears for no reason.
Nya was still getting used to having a physical form again, and her powers were still acting up; not as badly as they had been pre-Wojira, but it would be nice to go one week without someone's bedroom being randomly flooded. Wu supposed spending a year merged with the sea would have a strong effect on her.
Cole's arms were covered in burns, and his mind often seemed distant. While his trauma was less visible than his teammates, he had been beat up and thrown around during the final battle just as much.
Jay's anxiety was a mess; he couldn't stand being without Nya for more than a few hours, and his depressive spirals would come out of nowhere. Perfectly energetic one moment, sobbing into someone's shoulder the next.
Kai channeled his emotions into fighting, trying to block out the memories of what had happened. That was typically the fiery ninja's way of coping, Wu had noticed. He had yet to meet a problem that couldn't be destroyed by a fireball or a punch to the face.
And who knew what Lloyd was going through? He seemed more anxious than he used to be, as though something had happened when he was fighting the Overlord on top of that tower. Wu's nephew was always nervous about something, but now he seemed more nervous about using his power around his teammates.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. After serious battles, the ninja would struggle with the strain on both their physical and mental health. From fighting skeletons in the Underworld to the Oni invasion at the monastery to the crystal zombies in the streets. Every enemy they fought had left trauma and scars.

Wu understood what they were going through. He had been haunted by the demons of his past for centuries. They followed him both in his sleep and in his daily life. He couldn't escape the visions of death and destruction, and the voices reminding him of all of his mistakes.

He wanted to help. After so many battles and so many years, these six had become family to him. He couldn't let them suffer any longer.

The only question was, how?

Sometimes, Wu would watch his students training. It was both entertaining and odd to watch. Their backgrounds and personalities were reflected in their fighting styles. Leaping across the obstacle course, flipping into Spinjitzu, laughing at each other's failures.

They were young adults now, but they had only been teenagers when the team had first come together. FSM, they'd been children. Kai, Jay and Cole hadn't turned 16 yet. Nya was barely 14. And Lloyd... he'd had his childhood stolen from him. Turned from 8 to 15 in seconds.
No. They'd all had their childhoods stolen. Zane lost his memories. Cole lost his mother. Kai and Nya lost their parents and their childhood innocence. Jay had grown up not knowing his true parents. Lloyd had been left at a school of cruelty and malice.

There was something that young boy had said to him, when they were in the thick of the battle against the Crystal King. The boy had asked him to go and help fight. Wu had refused, saying he would not send children into battle against great evil. And the boy had replied, "That never stopped you before."

How long had he been making them fight? How long had they been struggling? Why hadn't he done something before?

No. Something needed to be done. If he didn't address the deteriorating state of his students' mental health, they would crumble.

He got up off his seat and went to find PIXAL. She would most likely be working on one of the vehicles or mechs in the hanger. Surely, she could offer some advice about this.

This was going to be a difficult task.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Jay cried, his hands shaking nervously and tears welling up. Kai didn’t hear him, his face scrunched up and gripping his now bloody arm. Everyone else paused in their sparring to see what had happened.

The training session had started off fine. Jay against Kai, Nya against Zane and Cole against Lloyd. It was just another morning session, after a restless, nightmare-filled night.

The ninja had been doing this for years. They knew each other’s moves and techniques. Surely, it'd be fine.

But spending a year separate from each other grieving the loss of a teammate had an effect on the team. Not to mention they were all still dealing with the wounds and repercussions of the recent battle.

“Jay, what did you do?” Cole demanded, running to Kai. The others quickly hurried over, as Jay began to sob harder.

“We were sparring, then I thought he said something stupid-” Jay stammered.

“I didn’t say anything!” Kai called over his shoulder, allowing Cole to take him inside. Cole shushed him and led him down the hallway.

Blood was dripping everywhere.

“No, he said, ‘That does it!’, and then he tried to kill me, and…” Jay stopped as Nya gently wrapped her arms around her yin. “No. I was imagining things again, wasn’t I? It was…”

Lloyd and Zane glanced at each other. That fight was still clearly on Jay’s mind.

Look what you did, you… you clumsy…

Jay, I’m sorry, I-

Agh! OH, THAT DOES IT!

Ninja, please desist. Such showings are unbefitting a team.

THEN MAYBE WE SHOULDN’T EVEN BE A TEAM ANYMORE! 

FINE BY ME! CONSIDER THIS MY RESIGNATION LETTER!

It had seemed like such a small thing, but Jay and Kai’s emotions had been and still were a complete mess. They hadn't had any time to discuss it because of everything that happened afterwards - Nya coming back, them becoming fugitives, the Crystal army and trying to rebuild the city. Also, the ninja were pretty terrible at discussing emotions in general.

They stood like that for a moment; Jay sniffling, Nya gently comforting him, Lloyd and Zane unsure what to do. Then Master Wu appeared in the doorway, his expression unreadable, and ordered the ninja inside.

Jay had apologized about six times to Kai, who merely nodded and went to sit as far away from him as he could when they gathered in the living room. His arm was wrapped in bandages, and he seemed calmer now.

Once all six of them were seated, Master Wu looked at each of them in turn, then sighed.

“Ninja, a new issue has arisen.”

Everyone immediately tensed up.

"What's going on?" Kai asked, leaning forward. Jay squeezed Nya's hand, Lloyd groaned, Cole frowned, and Zane glanced at PIXAL, who was standing to the side and seemed to be thinking deeply. 

"We have received intelligence that there seems to be some kind of illegal trading organization taking place in the city." Wu explained, his hand tightening around his staff. "PIXAL has sent Zane the location..." Zane nodded, his eyes seeming to glow a brighter side of blue for a minute. "...and you will need to head there and shut down what they're doing."

"What are they doing?" Nya and Lloyd asked at the same time Cole and Jay asked, "Who's behind this?"

This prompted about ten more questions about what they were getting into, until Master Wu raised his hand, silencing them.

"You will find your answers when you arrive. Take the Bounty. It will not take long."

The ninja all glanced at each other, shrugged and jumped up. It would be a welcome break, beating up some random thugs after everything.

If only they knew what they were getting into.

Chapter Text

“Did Master Wu seem off to you?” Nya asked Zane.

While the others were hanging out on the deck, Zane was piloting – seeing as he was the only one knowing where they were going. Nya had grown bored of the boys wrestling and gone to join her nindroid teammate on the bridge.

Zane nodded, turning the wheel. “His vitals were odd, and his mind seemed distracted. But to be fair, all our minds have been distant lately.”

Nya sighed. Yes, it was good to be back and have the team back together, but everything was a bit of a mess right now. Nya herself was still struggling with having her physical body back, her powers being on and off and trying to push down a lot of guilt about what had happened.

No. Stop thinking about that. It wasn’t your fault that Aspheera got released and the ninja went to jail, and the Crystal council was able to be formed without any interference and then the entire city was invaded and almost destroyed…

“Are you alright, Nya?”

Her thoughts must have reflected onto her face. Zane was looking at her with concern.

She shrugged. “I don’t know anymore, Zane.” They flew past the desert and towards the city. “The crystal battle, having a human form again, the team trying to reconnect…”

Zane nodded as he turned the wheel. “I understand your concern, Nya. Perhaps, once we are done taking down this operation, we get the team together and… talk?”

Zane wasn’t the best at emotions, but he knew all about death and humanity (especially considering he'd died about four times). You could argue that he knew the most about it out of anyone on the team, and he didn’t have an ounce of human blood in his body. He was also an excellent listener.

Nya nodded as the Bounty flew past Borg tower. “Good plan. This fight should be easy, right?”

It took them about half an hour to arrive at the location, because they passed by Chen’s Noodle House and Kai insisted that they get food.

Zane stopped the ship mid-air, and the team debated what to do.

“We haven’t eaten anything today, and you can’t fight on an empty stomach!”

“Dude, we’re on a mission. We’ve agreed no snack breaks on missions! Remember what happened last time?”

“It’s not my fault that Jay thought he was about to get kidnapped because the waiter said his name!”

“Yeah, but then Lloyd actually did get kidnapped because we thought it was a good idea to stop for snacks!”

“Why haven’t you eaten today? I made pancakes for all of you! You were demanding pancakes last night, and then you didn’t even eat one?!”

“Lloyd’s always getting kidnapped, and since we had eaten, we were able to save him because we weren’t cranky!”

“Hey, I’m not always getting kidnapped!”

“Guys, in the time you’re spending arguing, we could have already gotten food!”

“You’re going to be cranky regardless of who we face, because your temper is as short as your-”

“OI! Don’t you even start on that!”

“Kai, just because you’re always hungry-”

“I ATE YOUR SERVING OF PANCAKES!”

“YOU WHAT?!”

“Oh my god…”

“I’M GOING TO MURDER YOU!”

“So, are we getting food or…”

You couldn’t tell who was saying what anymore. Kai and Cole started chasing each other around the deck, Zane and Lloyd were trying to calm them down, Jay was laughing his head off and Nya just stood and watched.

They were idiots. But Nya had missed these idiots. The mission banter, the stupid arguments, the insults they could throw at each other. Just like it had always been.

About ten minutes later and another two arguments about food, they’d pulled up to a small, abandoned building. It didn’t seem like the kind of place hiding a dangerous illegal operation, but then again, Nya thought, bad guys don’t typically advertise their services to the public.

The ninja gathered on the deck, weapons drawn.

“What’s our plan, team?” Lloyd asked.

“I say we just run in and beat ‘em all blue.” Cole said, swinging his hammer around with a bored expression.

Jay nodded. “It’s probably a bunch of random thugs dealing drugs again. We can deal with that easy peasy.”

“Jay, last time you fought drug dealers, we caught you smuggling some of their stash in your gi.” Nya reminded her yin.

Cole and Kai laughed, and Jay rolled his eyes. “It was just painkillers! My back was killing me!”

“We own painkillers. You just hate the taste of them.”

“Unimportant! Let’s focus!” Jay said, waving his hand. Cole and Kai were still laughing, and Lloyd was clearly hiding a smirk.

“We need to understand what they are planning first. We don’t know who’s behind this, or what they’re planning.” Zane reasoned. “It could be dangerous.”

“Zane’s right. We need to proceed with caution, guys.” Kai added, still smirking.

The anchor dropped, and the ninja made their way to the ground.

“Any chance it could be Ronin behind this, maybe?” Kai asked, as they swung around the chain.

“No one’s seen him since after the battle.” Cole said. “But you’d think he would have learned his lesson about illegal acts after being arrested about ten times in one year.”

“Well, we thought you’d have learnt your lesson about trying to cook, but you’ve burnt down the kitchen about a dozen times and still you keep trying.”

“Says the one who’s elemental power has destroyed the courtyard about twenty times!”

“Both of you, shut up!” Nya cried, as the ninja landed on the concrete and made their way to the building.

“Have we ever been to this part of the city?” Lloyd asked curiously. There were only a handful of cars, and no people around. The ninja typically preferred to stick to the city center – it had the arcade, all their favorite restaurants and the cinemas.

“No, we very rarely venture over here.” Zane replied, his eyes scanning the building. “This area is mainly warehouses and offices.”

“Ew.” Jay muttered.

They reached the door, and Lloyd put his ear to it. He turned to the others and shrugged. “I’m not hearing voices or anything. You sure this was the spot, Zane?”

Zane looked over the building, frowning as he nodded. “These are the coordinates PIXAL sent me. Perhaps she and Master Wu were wrong?”

Something was off. Nya’s gut was telling her that.

Lloyd took a step back, raised his foot and kicked the door in.

As it smashed to pieces, the ninja leapt inside, weapons drawn. And came upon… nothing.

Chapter Text

Jay was very underwhelmed at what he saw.

It was just a warehouse. He’d seen a bunch of them before. Shelves filled with dusty boxes. Random machinery and buttons everywhere. 

“Well…” Lloyd said, as the ninja all lowered their weapons and looked around. “That’s not what I was expecting.”

“I was all pumped to beat up some thugs! But no-one’s here!” Kai whined.

The ninja walked more into the building, sheathing their weapons and splitting off to look at everything.

“Looks like this is one of the old Borg warehouses.” Nya commented, stopping in front of a sign with the Borg logo and a image of a bunch of nindroids. 

“I thought they were all taken down after the Nindroid invasion?” Cole asked, following Kai towards a door.

Jay shuddered as he walked over to examine the poster. He hated thinking about that time. Between that stupid argument he and Cole were having, Lloyd losing his powers and the loss of Zane… they weren’t exactly his happiest memories.

Then again, it was simpler times (if you could consider going to space, fighting evil nindroids and travelling into the Digiverse simple). Their biggest concern had been a couple of robots and an evil virus. Dangerous and scary, sure, but nothing compared to what was coming.

FSM, they were barely adults back then. None of them had died yet. If his past self could see Jay right now… he’d be so disappointed. And confused.

“Jay?”

Nya. She was snapping her fingers at him. He shook his hand a little and tried to focus.

His mind was more messed up than Hiroshi’s Labyrinth. He forced himself to snap out of it and focus on his yang. The faint markings on her face from her time with the sea. The messy black hair that he loved playing with. The mole he had kissed so many times. The smile that always lit up his day.

“You okay?”

He grinned. “Yeah, fine. I just… got lost in thought.”

She smiled as they walked away from the poster. “You’ve got some weird thoughts, Jay.”

Wow, he loved her.

Lloyd and Zane were walking around the building, looking through the boxes.

“Doesn’t make any sense. Why would Master Wu and PIXAL send us here?” Lloyd asked, hunting through a box of cords. “Are you sure these are the coordinates, Zane?”

“I’m sure.” Zane replied, turning to face him and the others. “But you are correct – this is very strange. I wonder what…”

He was cut off by a loud cry of “HELP!”

The four ninja froze.

“Was that Cole’s voice?” Nya asked worriedly, as they all turned to look at the door that they had last seen Kai and Cole walk through.

A loud bang made Jay jump.

“What the heck?” Lloyd cried, as they quickly ran to the door. Zane had his hand on the doorknob when it suddenly opened, and Zane jumped back.

Three black-robed fighters suddenly leapt out of the doorway. The one on the right was wielding a silver shotgun, the one in the middle was carrying an unconscious Kai, and the one on the left carried Cole. 

“What the heck?” Jay cried, raising his fists. What had they done to his friends? Kai and Cole could usually take on a couple of masked fighters.

“Don’t let them get away!” Lloyd cried.

The four remaining ninja quickly leapt into action. Jay, Lloyd and Nya leapt at the ones holding their friends, while Zane threw himself at the one wielding the shotgun.

A fight quickly broke out. Kai and Cole were quickly dropped on the floor as Jay and the others started trying to land a hit. Whoever these guys were, they were clearly skilled fighters. Reminded Jay of when he was first training with Cole and Zane…

No! Focus! His eyes fell on Kai and Cole. No blood or obvious wounds. What had happened to them?

Lloyd was shooting green energy bursts at his opponent, while Nya was engaged in a fist fight with her opponent. Zane was trying to snatch the gun off his opponent and was failing miserably. Seizing the opportunity, Jay leapt over to where Kai and Cole had been dropped.

As he looked over Kai, he could hear Lloyd yelling at his opponent, “Who are you people? What did you do to our friends?”

A grunt from Nya, then she added, “You’re good. But I bet you’ve never tried this one before!” then he could hear the whoosh of her doing Spinjitzu. A thump, then a grunt from her opponent.

Jay was busy trying to rouse Cole awake. He wasn’t dead. He wasn’t dead. He’s fine. What the heck could he do? He heard Zane grunting, and glanced over to him.

Zane was struggling. His masked opponent was attempting to shoot Lloyd, but Zane was still trying to snatch the gun off him. It kind of looked like two little kids scuffling over a toy they both wanted. There were several small silver darts in his metal arm, which Zane ignored as though they were just natural.

Wait.

Jay looked back down at Cole’s unconscious form. There was something in the side of his neck. The same kind of silver dart. It was empty. A quick glance at Kai confirmed he had one as well.

Well, that explained why they were out - they'd been tranquilized (and Zane being a nindroid meant it clearly had no effect on him). But what did these people want with them?

A cry of shock from Zane and a loud bang.

Then a sudden pain hit Jay in the neck. He heard Nya cry out and felt a moan escape his lips, before sudden exhaustion took over his body and he was falling into the dark.

How many times had Jay watched his friends fall?

So many.

He had dragged Lloyd out of the way as the Dark Matter infected Cole.
He’d watched Zane sacrifice himself while he just crawled into a sewer. 
Felt his stomach drop as he clutched the Jade Blade and Cole fell down the trapdoor. 
Watched Lloyd’s body change from the kind-hearted kid he’d helped raise to a dangerous man hellbent on revenge.
Watching Nadakhan pick off his friends one by one, all because he was selfish and stupid. 
Clutched Nya in his arms, begging for her to take his hand.
Felt tears running down his cheeks as Lloyd fell by his father’s uncaring hand.
Cried out for Cole as he fell into the cloud. 
Watched Kai scream and shake as his elemental powers were snatched from his body.
Watched Zane push Master Wu out of harm’s way as Aspheera cackled. 
Unable to stop Kai and Cole from losing the race, or Lloyd from losing the match, or Nya from being killed off.
Seen Cole being pushed down by that ugly skull, unable to help.
Felt the water leave his lungs as Nya gave up her humanity to save him.
Cried out for his love as she leapt into the ocean.

Now he was the one falling.

The pitch blackness seemed to go on forever.

When Jay finally woke up, there was still darkness, but this kind was different. He could hear voices and feel things. He was sitting on some kind of couch. And his head felt like he'd just slammed into a wall.

“Jay? Is that you?”

He knew that voice.

“Kai? You’re okay?”

“Yeah. We’re all here.”

The other ninja all made noises. Jay breathed a sigh of relief. Thank FSM.

In the darkness, he could faintly make out their outlines. Zane’s tall figure, Cole’s buff figure, Kai and Nya’s athletic figures and Lloyd’s slightly smaller figure. Everyone but him seemed to be up and moving.

“Anyone know where we are?” Cole asked. Footsteps moving around. Jay didn’t want to stand – his legs were aching almost as much as his head.

“I’m feeling walls and boxes.” Lloyd said. “We must be in some sort of room or basement.”

"What happened? I remember something hitting my neck, then my mind..." Jay paused. He didn't want to tell them he had relived every time he'd struggled to help his friends.

"Have we been kidnapped?" Nya asked, slight concern in her voice.

"I cannot tell where we are." Zane chimed in, the whirring of his machinery faintly heard.

Jay could feel his heart beating faster. This was bad. Very bad. He needed to get out of here. 

"Who were those people in the black outfits?" Lloyd asked.

"Whoever they were, either they're very good at hiding illegal operations, or they were expecting us." Cole muttered.

The texture of the couch was weird. And at his feet, there was a box of... teddies?

His friends were still talking and moving around.

"Six against three? Pretty bad odds." Nya said.

"Well, they surprised us, then took out two of us and took the rest of you out one by one." Kai pointed out.

"But why? Why risk kidnapping six powerful ninja, even if we were surprised? What do they want with us?"

More scuffling. Then a new voice spoke up.

“So, I bet you’re wondering why you’re here.”

And then the light turned on.

Chapter Text

The light blinded them all for a second, and once their eyes adjusted, they could finally look at their surroundings.

It was a small room that looked like a therapy office. There was a large mirror on one wall, and posters with motivational words on all the other walls. The single door had a massive padlock.

There were two massive blue couches behind them, which had a variety of colorful soft blankets and pillows on them. In front of the couches, there were several boxes, full of teddies and what looked like fidget toys.

“What the hell?” Kai muttered.

The ninja all looked at each other, confused. They were still dressed in their fighting gis, but their weapons were gone.

The biggest surprise was where the voice had come from. Sitting on the other side of the room in a matching blue armchair was Dareth. He held a clipboard, wore his signature brown gi and was smiling.

“Hi, guys! Haven’t seen you in ages.” He spoke.

“Dareth?” Lloyd asked, frowning. “Did you get kidnapped too?”

“Who would kidnap him?” Jay whispered to Nya, who elbowed him.

Dareth laughed. “No, no. You haven’t been kidnapped.”

“What is this, then?” Cole demanded. He had moved over to the door and was trying to unlock it. “Why are we here?”

“I’m afraid that door won’t open for you, Cole.” Dareth said smugly, as Cole’s arms glowed and he tried his powers on it. “It’s made of Vengestone. We were able to find some saved after the whole Crystal situation. You won’t be leaving this room until we’re done.”

“Done with what?” Nya asked, as Cole kept punching the door.

“With your team therapy, of course!”

There was a moment of realization, before all six of the ninja started yelling at him, demanding answers.

“What do you mean therapy?”

“Why can’t we leave?”

“Why are you the therapist?”

“Who were those people?”

“Are you even qualified?”

“Let me out!”

“How did you even organize this? Where did you get all this stuff?”

“I thought we were dealing with some kind of illegal trading operation?”

“This isn’t fair!”

“We don’t need therapy!”

“How long is this going to take?”

Dareth didn’t say or do anything, just smirked and waited for the ninja to stop yelling.

They stopped yelling after about two minutes. When they did, he said, “Your Master Wu has become worried about you lot. He thinks something needs to be done about your mental health.”

“Master Wu did this?” Zane asked, glancing over at the mirror.

“What are you talking about? Our mental health is fine.” Lloyd told him, his face scrunching up.

Dareth pulled out a pen and said as he wrote, “In… denial… about… struggles.” He clicked the pen and looked up at the ninja, who were all displaying various stages of anger and confusion on their faces.

“So yeah, he’s organized all of this for you, him and PIXAL. He thought if you all sat down and talked about what’s going on, you’d feel better. I don’t know.”

“If we’re getting therapy, why are you doing it?” Kai asked. “Do you know anything about mental health?”

“No, but Master Wu thought it would be best if the person leading the session was someone you knew personally.” Dareth explained, muttering under his breath, “And I was also the only one who volunteered to do it.”

“This is ridiculous!” Kai cried. “You can’t keep us in here!”

“Actually, I can.” Dareth told them. “Might as well get comfortable, ninja. You’re going to be in this room for a while.”

The ninja huddled up in the middle, trying to ignore the smirking brown ninja in front of them.

“Okay, so this is bad.” Lloyd murmured.

“No kidding, dude.” Cole muttered, glaring angrily at the door like it had personally offended him. “We’re in therapy. I don’t want to do this.”

“Actually, extensive research shows that therapy can be extremely beneficial for individuals, especially individuals who have struggled with severe trauma and depression.” Zane explained.

“We’re not traumatized!” Jay whisper yelled. “This is insane.”

“I just don’t want to do this with Dareth.” Kai glanced at the ‘therapist’, who waved, before turning back to the others. “How are we supposed to talk about our trauma and issues with him?”

“We might as well play along, guys.” Nya said. “We don’t have our weapons, and if that door is really made of Vengestone, then our powers won’t make a dent.”

“What about Spinjitzu?” Cole asked, cracking his knuckles. “Surely that could do something?”

“No, Nya’s right. We’re clearly going to be in this room until they let us go, so we might as well talk.” Lloyd sighed, went to the couch, sat down and grabbed a fluffy green blanket. “Besides, it could be worse. We could be being tortured or beaten right now. At least we’re safe.”

As the other ninja shrugged and followed Lloyd’s lead, Dareth nodded. “Lloyd’s right, guys. This is a safe space. You can talk about whatever you like.”

Jay and Kai dug into the fidget toy boxes, Nya and Cole found fluffy blankets they liked and Zane found a simple grey teddy to hug. The ninja each found spots to sit on the couches - Kai, Cole and Zane on one, Nya, Jay and Lloyd on the other. They all looked uncomfortable and uncertain.

“So…” Dareth said, clapping his hands together. “Who wants to go first?”

Chapter Text

Kai had been in some terrifying situations. He’d watched over half his team die in front of him multiple times. He’d seen enormous monsters crush his home city into dust. He’d felt his own elemental powers be stolen from him like he was a toddler carrying a lollipop.

This situation though? This was in the top five.

First, he’d been injured by Jay of all people, because he had a breakdown about an old fight. Then he’d spent half an hour arguing about food (not his fault he was hungry, geez), before being knocked out and waking up in a strange room and being told they were in therapy.

And with Dareth as the therapist? FSM, Kai would much rather be fighting somebody right now.

He did like the fidget toy he’d found in the box though. It was one of those weird poppet things, and he liked the sounds it made. He sat beside Cole and Zane, who were looking as uncomfortable as Kai felt – Cole wrapped in a fluffy blanket, and Zane cuddling a cute grey teddy bear.

“So, I think we should start with your lives before you all became ninja.” Dareth announced, writing something on that stupid clipboard. Kai was about to snap it in half (and probably Dareth’s spine next). “Which of you joined the team first?”

Kai had no idea. He’d been fourth to join the team, and he’d hated it at first. Running around collecting weapons for an old man and a bunch of weirdo teenagers, when he could be saving his sister?

He glanced at Nya, who was wrapped in a grey fluffy blanket and cuddling with Jay. He remembered the feeling of not knowing if she was okay, or if she was even alive. She’d never talked about her time in the Underworld, but he knew it couldn’t have been fun.

And his life before becoming a ninja? He’d been running the old blacksmith shop, trying to forge halfway decent weapons so he and his sister could have food on the table. Every night, he’d hoped his parents might come home one day and take all the burdens off his barely-teenage shoulders.

Then an old man had walked into the shop and started rambling about ninja and ‘something special’.

His life had been changed completely that day.

To his surprise, Cole spoke up.

“I’m pretty sure it was me.” He wrapped himself tighter in the black and gold blanket he’d found and looked down at the floor. “First Master, I haven’t thought about it in years.”

Kai tried to remember what Cole had told him about his past. He’d lost his mother, his father was neglectful, and he’d run away from his old dance school. He’d also mentioned something about how testing his limits was how Master Wu found him.

“Yeah, umm, up until I was about nine or ten, my life seemed okay. I went to school, took dance lessons from my parents and tried to be a good kid. But then my mom got sick not long after I turned nine, and I…”

He went quiet, and his eyes went misty. Kai could understand the grief of losing parents so young, and he squeezed Cole’s shoulder. Zane gently patted Cole’s knee.

The earth ninja sniffed, before continuing, his voice sounding kind of pained.

“Uh yeah. You guys know the rest. Ran away from that stupid dance school my dad sent me to. Challenged myself to climb the highest mountain in Ninjago and found Master Wu waiting at the top with his tea.”

Kai looked over at Dareth to see him writing furiously, as though Cole’s childhood was something noteworthy. Kai rolled his eyes and squeezed Cole’s shoulder again.

“Why was he at the top?” Lloyd asked, his fingers absentmindedly playing with the threads on his blankets as he glanced at Cole.

“Well, we talked about grief and challenges, and when I asked why he’d climbed up here, he said it was to find me. He led me to the monastery, and we started training. It seemed fine, until that idiot…” Cole pointed at Jay, who had been zoned out until he heard his name, to which he looked offended. “… joined the team as well, followed by this tin can.” He then pointed at Zane, who smiled.

Dareth clicked his pen and looked at Jay, who was glaring at Cole.

“So, Cole was first, then Jay, then Zane. Jay, why don’t you go next?”

Jay shrugged and moved closer to Nya, playing with his weird little fidget cube as he started talking. “Not much to tell. I don’t really have a traumatic background like all of you. Grew up in a junkyard with my parents, went to school until I was about fourteen or fifteen and got into inventing.”

Something in the tone of Jay’s voice suggested there was something he was hiding. Or maybe Kai was overthinking it.

What he was saying sounded mostly accurate to what Kai remembered. Grown up with loving (albeit talkative and overprotective but also actually present and caring) parents in that junkyard, actually got to attend school (Kai couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous – he’d dropped out of school at eight to run the shop) and he was an inventing nerd.

“One day, I went into the city to test out a new invention – some handmade wings. Crashed into a sign and found Master Wu on the other side.”

Lloyd looked highly confused as he asked, “How did he…”

Nya nudged him and murmured, “Best not to overthink it.”

Jay continued as though he hadn’t been interrupted. “Yeah, um, we talked about dreams and inventing. He then told me he was gathering a team, and I went with him to the monastery. Started training with the others, thought it was nothing major.”

“I recall a lot of bruises, a lot of arguments and a lot of your chattering in the early days.” Cole muttered.

“Hey! I don’t chatter a lot!”

Kai and Cole exchanged a glance. They both had the same thought – if Jay wasn’t the biggest chatterbox on the team, then they were clearly talking to a completely different Jay. Nya chuckled as Jay continued fiddling with his fidget cube.

Dareth wrote a few sentences on that damn clipboard, then asked Jay, “So you weren’t bullied or anything? Your childhood was perfectly normal?”

Jay’s eyes went wide, and he glanced over at Zane, who was examining the button eyes on his teddy. “Zane, it’s your turn!” He said, his voice sounding a little too high-pitched and forcing a smile.

Zane looked up as Cole frowned at the lightning ninja.

“Jay, what are you not saying?” Kai asked, raising an eyebrow.

Everyone was now staring at Jay, who clearly was not enjoying the attention. He started shaking, and said firmly, “My turn is done. It’s Zane’s turn. Let’s move on.” Nya wrapped him in her blanket and hugged him tighter.

Kai looked down at his poppet. If Jay didn’t want to talk anymore, there was no point forcing him, and if they kept pressuring him, he would have a breakdown.

Thinking about it, Jay definitely seemed like the kind of kid to get bullied as a kid. Between growing up in a junkyard (oh First Master, that must be why he was always so defensive about it) and being… well, Jay, he must have been pushed around and teased a lot.

Kai hadn’t been to school much, but both he and Nya had dealt with asshole kids when they were younger. Kids who tried to steal from the shop, who made fun of them for having no parents and little money, who harassed Nya on her walk home from school and who picked fights with him whenever he occasionally went into town.

And if Kai, who’d learnt to build strong walls very young in order to protect himself and his sister, had struggled with bullies, what had Jay, who was incredibly trusting and talkative, been through?

Maybe he should go easier on the teasing.

Cole and Lloyd opened their mouths to speak, but Zane spoke before they could.

“I suppose it is my turn, then?”

Everyone looked over at the nindroid, who had looked down at his teddy again, his expression solemn.

Oh, First Master, Zane’s background. Kai hadn’t thought about it in years. He’d spent years not knowing who he was and where he came from. He hadn’t even known he was a robot until maybe a few weeks after he joined the ninja team. Kai couldn’t imagine going through that.

“As you all know, I was created by my father and inventor Dr Julien.” Zane explained, as Dareth clicked his pen and began writing. “We lived in his workshop in the Birchwood Forest. After a few years, he fell ill and turned my memories off in order to spare me the grief of losing him. I left my home not long after that.”

That stupid memory switch. Kai couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to lose his childhood memories and be left absolutely clueless about his family and his origins.

Cole shared a glance with him. They’d both been there when Zane first discovered what he truly was. The horror, the weird dancing, trying to comfort him, the realization helping to unlock his true potential.

“I wandered around for several years, trying to figure out where I was from. Something I observed was that unlike most people, I could survive in harsh conditions, complete tasks that most people struggled with. So, I began to test my limits. That was when I met Master Wu.”

That strange old man had brought together a neglected kid who climbed mountains to deal with grief, a bullied inventor kid who talked a lot and a nindroid with a lot of questions about his past to form the beginnings of the ninja. At first glance, none of them would have worked together well.

Kai remembered when he first met them. They’d clearly been fighting together for a while (Jay had mentioned that they weren’t expecting a fourth member, and Cole said they’d been a team for ages – they couldn’t take in another fighter), and they’d started fighting him. He’d found it ironic that the odds had been 3-1, and he’d been winning until Master Wu interrupted them.

Zane was still talking, but now he was looking up instead of down. Dareth was still writing.

“The three of us trained and lived together, but we weren’t entirely sure for what. Master Wu told us to be patient, and one day he sent us on a mission to a nearby village, telling us to expect a surprise when we returned. It took us several hours to get there and back, and when we finally returned to the monastery, we found a stranger walking around the monastery, dressed in red.”

Now everyone was looking at him.

“Kai?” Dareth asked, pen poised in the air.

Great, it was his turn.

Chapter Text

“I guess it started the day our parents went missing.” Kai said, sitting there and trying to dig through his memories. Dareth nodded and started writing on a fresh piece of paper.

First Master, he’d been what, five or six? Up until that day, his life had seemed so innocent and normal – playing with Nya, watching his father forge weapons, listening to his mother’s stories.

He could remember the day it all happened. He’d been running around the yard with Nya, chasing a yellow butterfly. He could hear the familiar sounds of his father working at the forge – metal clanging, fire crackling, low chatter. His mother sounded like she was chatting with a customer.

“We were just chasing this little butterfly, when there was some kind of noise.”

He could picture that damn butterfly so clearly - the spots, the colors, the way it flew around without a care. He’d been chuckling as it fluttered around, wondering what it would feel like to fly like that.

Then there’d been a loud clang.

“We ran into the shop, but we found nothing. Our parents were gone, but nothing else had changed. No blood or missing stuff. A few hours passed, and we realized they weren’t coming back. So… we had to figure stuff out ourselves.”

Nya sighed, glancing at her brother as she spoke. “I remember how stressful you would get, dude. Dropping out of school, trying to make weapons, sorting out money and food. I always felt bad, watching you work yourself to the bone just so we could make a living.”

“Nya, how old were you when they… left?” Zane asked. The rest of the team knew what had really happened to Kai and Nya’s parents, but it was always a difficult topic, especially after what had happened with Wojira and Nya’s powers.

“About three or four. I don’t really remember much about them, just little bits and pieces. Kai was always the one I went to for trouble, and he did his best.”

Kai smiled, before continuing. “Yeah. Life wasn’t easy, but we made it work. Then one day, when I was about fifteen, life changed completely. This strange, bearded man came into the shop, rambling about ninja and samurai and ‘something special’…” Kai made air quotes at the last two words.

“Then Kai basically told him to fuck off.” Nya interrupted, smirking.

“I did not!”

The others all laughed. Dareth was busy writing.

“You told him, and I quote, ‘The shop is called Four Weapons, not For Browsing. Either buy something or go pedal your insults somewhere else.’ He laughed, left and we were fine for about an hour, until those damn skeletons arrived.”

Kai told them how he’d tried to fight the skeletons, until they managed to get away with Nya and that damn map that had apparently been hidden in their blacksmith shop for years.

He remembered that horrible feeling in his stomach, the way that samurai amour felt too tight on his body and vaguely listening to Master Wu ramble about golden weapons, fire and how if someone named Lord Garmadon got them all first, the world as they knew it would fall. He had only been half-paying attention, trying to figure out how to get his sister back.

“Uh, yeah. Master Wu took me to the monastery and made me climb the entire thing. Rambling about patience and fire.”

Jay giggled. “First Master, I hated the climbing part. Got so mad when I realized there was stairs.”

“I had no problem with it.” Cole said, crossing his legs.

“Not everyone has climbed a bunch of mountains, Cole.” Zane reminded him, fiddling with one of the arms on his teddy.

“Anyways…” Kai said, “… we started training. He did that whole thing where he times us with tea, and it took me forever to figure out that damn training course. I’m sure my ribs are still bruised.”

Lloyd laughed. “I remember when he used to do that. Such a weird way to time your students. Not even a stopwatch or anything?”

Kai shrugged. “I figured it out eventually." He ignored Cole's snort as he continued. "Anyways, I settled in for the night, and as I was brushing my teeth, I’m suddenly attacked by these random guys in black gis.”

“Hey, we came home to find a stranger running around our home.” Jay protested. “We weren’t sure who you were. Wu hadn’t told us anything about a fourth.”

“We assumed you were some kind of enemy.” Cole added, looking slightly sheepish. “I think it was Jay’s idea to attack. I remember you using a toothbrush to defend yourself.”

“It was all I had! Whatever. I was winning the fight, and the fight ended up in the courtyard, when Wu shut it down. Gave us all new gis, introduced us to each other, and explained how we were going after the golden weapons tomorrow.”

“Gosh, I remember those days. Just us four, thinking our biggest problems were golden weapons and a bunch of skeleton knuckleheads.” Cole said, sighing fondly. “We’ve changed so much.”

“Shut up Cole, your turn is over.” Kai told him, before continuing. “Yeah. We went on those quests, found the first three weapons, and managed to not die. Then, when we went to sleep, I got woke up by what I thought was Nya.”

He glanced at his sister, who was staring at the floor. If there was one thing Nya hated, it was feeling like a damsel in distress. What had they done to her down there?

“So, that’s where you went!” Jay cried. “We’d woken up surrounded by skeletons and couldn’t find you or Master Wu.”

“I followed her to the Temple of Fire, but it turned out to be Garmadon, trying to make me take the Sword of Fire. At first, I refused, but then…”

“I almost got dropped in lava.” Nya snapped.

Everyone looked over at her, as she ran her fingers through Jay’s hair and continued staring at the floor like it had offended her.

“I was down there for about a week, maybe two. I don’t know, time is funny in the Underworld. Spent pretty much all of it in a cell, and all that really happened was I was occasionally given food. I remember the skeletons chattering about ninja and weapons. It was very dark, cold and uncomfortable. Then one day, they dragged me down the hall, wrapped a chain around me and shoved me off a ledge.”

Kai felt his stomach twist. Two weeks? Was that really how long it had taken them to find the first few weapons?

“But you saved her, right?” Cole asked, looking at Kai.

Kai nodded. “I then proceeded to fight a bunch of shadows, watched Master Wu fall down a lava waterfall and befriended the Fire Dragon.”

“Ah, I miss the dragons.” Jay sighed, his fidget cube now replaced by some kind of twisting rectangle thing. “They were awesome.”

“Uh… yeah. I guess that’s it. After we recovered the weapons, Nya and I moved into the monastery, and we started training. Things seemed fine, until this guy…” Kai pointed at Lloyd, who raised an eyebrow. “… started making trouble.”

Lloyd laughed. “I’ve grown out of that. Literally and figuratively. I was forced to grow up pretty quickly, don’t forget.”

“I remember you running around, demanding candy and laughing.” Jay told him, smirking. “That laugh was so bad, dude.”

“And that ugly ass haircut.” Kai added.

“Hey! I remember you guys hanging me off a roof! And taunting me!” Lloyd complained. “That wasn’t nice!”

Dareth finished writing and looked at Lloyd. “Well, now it’s your turn, Green Ninja. What happened in your childhood?”

Lloyd’s face fell.

-----------------------------------------------

Lloyd hated thinking about his childhood. He’d hated his parents for leaving him at that awful school. He hated remembering what had happened to that sweet, wide-eyed boy who had no idea what was coming.

“When I was about four, my mother left me at Darkley’s Boarding School. She told me she would write to me every week, and she’d come and get me once she was done with her expedition. Only…” Lloyd paused, wrapping his green blanket tighter around himself. “… she never came back.”

Lloyd could picture himself so clearly, sitting in that shitty little dorm room, watching the front lawn of Darkley’s, waiting for his mother. His father had already abandoned him, but he had been so desperate for her to come back. That school was terrifying.

There were no letters. No packages. Not even a postcard. He remembered the other boys at school taunting him, showing off their gifts and mail, asking where his stuff was. The fact that he was the son of Garmadon also somehow got revealed, and that was a whole other can of worms and bullying.

“You were four?” Nya said indignantly, staring at Lloyd. “Four years old when she left you?”

Lloyd knew the other ninja (particularly Kai and Nya) secretly detested Misako for the fact she’d left him alone at such a young age. The few times it had been brought up, he could see rage in their eyes. That was one reason he’d never outright stated the age he’d been.

He shrugged, trying to act like it was nothing. “I got used to it.” They were all staring at him now – even Dareth had stopped writing and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

They didn’t need to know.

Kai had that concerned big brother look on his face. “What do you mean, you got used to it? Lloyd… what…”

The memories of that place weren’t great. A tiny, uncomfortable dorm room, which was constantly vandalized and ruined by his classmates. Boring lessons about ‘embracing the darkness’ and ‘how to do an evil laugh’ (Lloyd had the lowest grade in the class). Teachers treating him like he was a contiguous piece of fungi. The stupid pranks the kids pulled. The skeletons in the closets (he’d never figured out whether they were real or not).

But so much had happened since he’d run away. He had tried to push that place to the back of his mind and focus on the present. He was fine.

Besides, his childhood was awful, but so were his teammates. Kai being forced to run a business and care for his sister. Zane was wandering alone for years, not knowing who he really was. Jay had been bullied and living with parents who weren’t his biological parents. And Cole had lost his mother and had to learn to take care of himself before he even turned ten.

He may have been the only one who was physically forced to grow older, but come to think of it… had any of them really been allowed to be children?

Okay, maybe they did need to be here.

“Alright, moving on!” Dareth said, furiously writing again. “So, what happens next? It was something to do with the Serpentine armies, wasn’t it? Those ugly old snakes?”

Oh, First Master, this wasn’t going to be good.

Chapter Text

“How much longer are we going to be in here?” Kai asked, digging through the fidget toys box.

Dareth shrugged as he continued writing. “I honestly don’t know, guys. How much trauma do we have to dig through?”

The ninja all glanced at each other, not saying anything. Cole was hugging a black pillow; Zane had found a new white teddy. Kai had slid onto the floor, leaning on the back of the couch and fiddling with some kind of squishy ball. Jay and Nya were still cuddling – Nya playing with Jay’s hair and Jay pressing buttons on his cube. Lloyd ran his fingers over the blanket’s soft fabric.

The Serpentine… he didn’t want to talk about that. He’d rather talk about almost anything else.

“Lots… more… trauma… to… dig… through…” Dareth said aloud as he paused writing and clicked his pen (Lloyd knew he wasn’t the only one who wanted to strange Dareth right now). “Noted. All right, so the five of you…” He pointed to everyone but Lloyd with his pen. “… were training and waiting for Lord Garmadon to return, and then Lloyd showed up.”

Lloyd looked at his feet. Everyone could feel the energy in the room shift.

“What happened precisely?”

About two minutes passed, and the only sound in the room was the fidget toys Jay and Kai had. Someone needed to say something – Lloyd didn’t want to be in this room any longer than they needed to, and they’d barely scratched the surface of what they’d been through.

“Fine.” Lloyd muttered, feeling annoyed. Everyone looked over at him in surprise. “No one else wants to start? I’ll go, since what happened with those damn snakes is my fault.”

He heard the sound of that pen clicking. He could feel a ball of frustration growing inside, and he fought to try and keep calm. The last thing he needed was tears (he could handle crying in front of his friends, but not Dareth).

“Lloyd…” Zane said quietly. “What happened was not your fault.”

“Really, Zane? I opened three of the tombs. I let the snakes run around. I encouraged them. I wanted people to fear me. It’s my fault that the Great Devourer was released, that the people of Ninjago were constantly attacked by snakes, that the monastery was destroyed, that you all almost died several times.”

“Yes, but…” Kai tried, before being interrupted by Lloyd, who could feel the blanket slipping off him as he continued his rant. He stared at the floor. He didn’t want to see his teammates’ concerned faces or see the posters around the room telling him to calm down, or see Dareth writing down every word he said, like he was giving a fascinating lecture.

“I chose to do that. No one forced me. And they all betrayed me and went rogue. The first friends I’d ever had, and they all stabbed me in the back.”

“Lloyd-”

“They held me captive for days, taunting me. I’m the reason they were set free, the reason they managed to get each of the Fangblades, and then –”

“LLOYD!”

He had never heard Zane yell so loudly. It startled him enough to stop ranting.

The nindroid was looking at him, shaking slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Lloyd could see Kai and Cole looking at Zane in surprise, Jay covering his ears and Nya looking at Lloyd.

Shit. He’d messed up again. He pulled the blanket back around his body, wishing he was anywhere but here. It felt like a tight hug.

Zane took a deep breath, then crossed his legs. The others calmed down slightly and waited.

“Lloyd, you might have made mistakes, but not everything that happened is your fault. You were eight, alone and neglected. And I suppose…” Zane looked at the others, guilt taking over his face. “… we were to blame as well. We saw a young boy needing help, and we bullied him, left him alone and let him fall into corruption.”

Kai, Cole and Jay were looking guilty now. Even Nya was avoiding looking at him.

Lloyd remembered how much he’d hated the ninja in the past – how they’d taunted him, pushed him around and always got in the way of his plans. They were almost worse than the kids at Darkley’s (emphasis on almost – at least they never put fire ants in his bed or almost broke his arm several times). Even after they had taken him in, it had taken a while for them all to warm up to each other.

Then it had been revealed that he was apparently the legendary Green Ninja, destined to save Ninjago and defeat the Dark Lord. Destiny really hated him.

He was eight. 

“I always hated those snakes.” Dareth said after an awkward pause. “How many types were there again? Four?”

“Five actually.” Jay said, as he moved away from Nya slightly to dig through the box of teddies. “Uhh, there was the Hypnobrai, who could control you with one look.”

Cole groaned. “Those guys sucked. They tried to turn me evil.”

The Hypnobrai had also been the first to betray him. That bastard Skales – he’d turned the General against him.

“Then there was the Vemomari – their spit could make you see weird things.”

“Like gingerbread men and elves.” Kai muttered, shuddering. “Oh, and Santa Claus, for some reason.”

Lloyd remembered that. Heh. He wished he’d gotten some of it on tape – Kai had spent several hours rambling about snakes, Christmas and weapons. It was one of the funniest things he’d ever seen.

“Ha! That was the first time I saved you guys as Samurai X!” Nya said smugly, laughing quietly. “When I saw Kai, I thought you guys were doing drugs – I was so concerned.”

Kai rolled his eyes, and the others cackled.

“Ooh, and the Constrictai – they could crush you in one bit.” Jay continued, his face scrunching up as he tried to find a teddy he liked.

“I remember facing them.” Cole commented, laughing. “I think that was the day Zane’s gi got dyed pink.” He elbowed Zane and muttered, “Pinky.”

Zane laughed.

Oh, First Master, that day was a mess. He’d been ordered to make some trouble onboard the Bounty, and it had involved taking over Kai’s high score, ruining Cole’s dish, damaging Jay’s robot and of course, turning Zane’s white gi pink. It had been absolutely hilarious.

(Honestly, with how dumb the six of them could be sometimes, he was surprised that it had only happened once.)

“And the Fangpyre – one bite could turn you into a snake.” Zane added, glancing at Jay.

Jay pulled out a soft blue teddy and settled back with Nya as he frowned. “Hated those guys. They tried to turn both me and my parents into snakes.”

“Didn’t you grow a tail?” Nya asked, hiding a smirk.

“Not my fault that I got pricked! Don’t you start – weren’t you stuck on a rollercoaster?”

“Yes, and then you suddenly became a lightning god and saved me.”

“Oh yeah.” Jay chuckled. “I guess I have them to thank for the fact that I unlocked my True Potential.”

“First Master, unlocking our True Potentials. I’d forgotten about that.” Kai said, crossing his legs and glancing up at his teammates. “Jay got his on that rollercoaster, I think Zane’s was in the forest after he realized he was a robot, Cole’s was saving his dad and mine was…”

He looked over at Lloyd, who could remember that day so clearly.

The snakes had left him to die. His father had been there and tried to save him, but now everyone was gone, and the volcano was minutes away from exploding.

He was on his hands and knees, trying to stay afloat on the tiny rock he’d ended up on. He didn’t want to die, but the lava was rising, and he was alone.

Wait. A familiar flash of red.

Kai.

He’d never been so happy to see the red ninja.

But he hadn’t noticed Lloyd. He was standing on the edge, more focused on…

The last Fangblade, dropped on a ledge, about to sink into the lava. He was talking to himself and didn’t seem to care that he could die. Yelling something about powers and unlocking.

Lloyd knew this was his only chance. If Kai didn’t see him or chose not to help him, he could just grab the blade and run. Would he even want to help, after all the trouble Lloyd had caused?

But he was desperate. He screamed as loudly as he could over the noise of the volcano:

“KAI! HELP ME!”

The red ninja finally looked over at him. His expression changed from annoyance to surprise, and then determination. He glanced at the Fangblade, which was now almost in the lava, then back at Lloyd.

Lloyd felt his stomach drop. Kai could be mean and cocky, but surely, he wouldn’t let him die. Surely?

Thank FSM, Kai did a flip over to him and lifted him into his arms.

“Let’s get out of here!” He shouted, looking around for a way out.

Over Kai’s shoulder, he watched the blade start sinking into the lava. If they lost that, he would definitely get kicked out for sure.

“But the Fangblade!” Lloyd cried.

“Forget it! This place is coming apart!”

As Kai jumped around from rock to rock, clutching Lloyd to his chest, a thought occurred to Lloyd – how the heck were they going to get out? The exits were all blocked.

Then Kai started glowing.

“… and then we slayed the Great Devourer!”

Lloyd snapped back into reality. He must’ve zoned out, because they had suddenly moved onto a whole new topic of conversation.

The others were laughing.

“Well, that certainly clears things up.” Dareth said, writing several more words and smirking. “Honestly, I hadn’t realized you six had been through so much.”

“Dude, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.” Jay told him. “We haven’t even talked about the Overlord or the Megaweapon or the freaking Dark Island. You're going to run out of ink."

Chapter Text

“So, the first thing I remember is when we were looking for somewhere to live.” Cole said. “You know, with both the monastery and the Bounty gone, we didn’t really have somewhere to live or to train Lloyd.”

“Ah yeah, I remember that.” Dareth chuckled as he flipped to a new page. “You lot almost tore apart my dojo when Greenie over here started learning to fight.”

Lloyd scratched the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. “Not my fault destiny decided to give the fate of the world to an eight-year-old who hadn’t even mastered their powers yet.”

“Heh.” Jay chuckled, looking up from his fidget cube. “Remember when we took those random odd jobs because we wanted to afford that fancy place?”

“Oh, First Master, I hated that.” Kai groaned, rolling his eyes to the sky. “I had to babysit a bunch of crazy kids. You guys got the easy jobs.”

“Hey! Delivering pizzas is hard, man!”

“Anyways…” Cole continued, as Jay and Kai continued bickering, poking each other. “… there was a lot going on during that time, with the Mega-weapon and Lord Garmadon and all.”

“I remember him resurrecting those pirates.” Zane said, frowning down at his teddy. “And uhhh… what else?”

Nya poked Jay, and he shook his head and looked up at Dareth, who was scribbling furiously. Kai rolled his eyes and shuffled away from Jay, closer to Cole.

“Oh yeah, and he created those evil clones! I hated those guys! Mine was a dickhead!” Jay cried.

“Not much difference there.” Kai muttered, crossing his legs. Jay made an offended sound as Kai added, “Oh yeah. He went back in time to try and stop me from becoming a ninja. He almost made us lose the dojo, and we had to compete in that Ninjaball race. He turned us into kids.”

“Ha! I remember that! You guys made adorable children!” Lloyd laughed, and Nya hid a smirk as the other four glared daggers at them.

“If I remember correctly, wasn’t that the day that…” Kai commented, squishing his fidget toy tightly. “… you went from like eight to thirteen or fourteen in a few seconds, right?”

Lloyd nodded, his smile fading. “It felt weird, kind of like shapeshifting, I guess. Whole new body, whole new voice, and it meant I was closer to the final battle.”

The final battle… FSM, they could recall how terrifying that whole situation had been. And Lloyd… he’d literally been handed all these powers, told he was destined to save everyone from his father and then dropped into a new body.

“Remember when we fought the giant stone guy at the museum?” Cole asked, fiddling with his blanket.

“Oh yeah, and Lloyd sent it down the bottomless pit!” Nya said. Lloyd’s smile returned.

“And then the whole thing on the Dark Island. We found your dad there Zane, remember?”

Zane’s face went blank. “Yes. I do recall this. I hadn’t known my father was even alive, let alone living in a lighthouse by himself. I haven’t visited it in years.”

Nya and Jay exchanged a glance – they’d swapped roles, and Nya was now resting her head on Jay’s shoulder, both of them wrapped in the same blanket.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

“What happened next? I think it was something to do with that army of stone dudes, right?” Dareth asked.

“First Master, those guys were annoying.” Kai groaned. “They were impossible to destroy. And they couldn’t even speak.”

“Yeah!” Jay cried. “They said weird words like bequeath! I still don’t know what that word means!”

“Actually Jay,” Zane said, putting up a finger, clearly about to do his ‘fancy explanation’ thing. “The term bequeath actually means-”

“Okay, that’s not important.” Lloyd interrupted. “The biggest thing that was going on at the time wasn’t the Stone Army or the Mega-weapon. It was the… Overlord.”

Everyone suddenly looked as though they’d been gutted. Zane’s breathing got heavier, and Lloyd had gone as pale as a vampire. Kai’s fists were clenched, Cole’s pillow looked in danger of being ripped in half and Nya and Jay were on the verge of tears.

Even Dareth stopped writing and frowned.

The Overlord.

How could two words be so simple yet so painful at the same time?

“That asshole… he tried to turn us all evil.” Cole muttered.

The Dark Matter seeping into his skin, corrupting his thoughts and making him want Lloyd dead.

“He destroyed the city about three times.” Jay whimpered, several tears falling onto the blanket he and Nya were wrapped in.

Watching the city they’d fought to defend for so many years, rebuilt and fixed dozens of times, fall like a row of dominos.

“He turned my father into a monster.” Lloyd whispered, seeming to get whiter with every word, wrapping his arms around himself.

His father, the man who’d saved him and protected him, turned into a beast that wanted to destroy everything and everyone he loved.

“He was the reason we lost Zane.” Nya said in a choked voice.

Sitting at the funeral for one of their closest friends, listening to Kai make a speech about power and brotherhood, sobbing her eyes out.

“He… he was…” Kai looked upset but looked up at the sound of scribbling.

Dareth was scribbling furiously again, avoiding looking up.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Kai hissed.

“Kai…” Zane said quietly, warning and pain in his voice.

“We’re sitting here, talking about one of our deepest traumas, and you’re sitting there, writing it all down? What are you going to do, publish a novel about our issues?”

“Kai…”

While his powers clearly weren’t working, the rest of the ninja knew when Kai was getting hot-tempered. Dareth was now looking guilty as Kai stood up and Cole tried to grab his wrist.

“Why are you even here, Dareth? The only reason you hang around us is because you wanted to be a ninja! Well, I got news for you, Brown Ninja. It’s horrible being a ninja! You get cool powers, and villains snatch it from you like it’s a toy! You fight super powerful villains; they destroy everyone and everything you love! You get attention and love, but people turn on you so quickly! I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been manipulated, tortured, captured and almost killed! And for what? What is it all even for? You have no clue how much we’ve been through, and you just sit there, taking notes? You mother-”

“STOP IT, KAI!”

Cole and Zane had jumped up, trying to hold Kai back, his eyes furious. Dareth was attempting to hide behind his clipboard, Lloyd had tears streaming down his cheeks, Jay was clutching Nya tightly and there was silence – the only sounds being Kai’s heavy breathing and Lloyd’s sobs.

Cole moved in front of Kai, blocking his view of Dareth (who had crawled behind the blue armchair) and looking in the fiery ninja’s eyes.

“Kai, Dareth is not your enemy. You’re okay.” The earth ninja gently put his hands on Kai’s shoulders as Kai continued to breathe heavily. “You’re safe. No one will hurt you.”

Jay and Nya were now comforting Lloyd as Kai unclenched his fists and tried to control his breathing.

Kai’s rage could be like an uncontrollable forest fire when he got really pissed. All six of them could be dangerous, but Kai had the most destructive element. Even now, without his powers, everyone kept their distance, as though he could go up in flames at any second.

“Breathe, Kai.” Zane whispered.

Dareth poked his head out from behind the armchair as Cole continued to whisper reassurances to Kai, who’s breathing was getting slower and steadier. Lloyd, Jay and Nya watched from their couch, all collectively holding their breath.

Several moments passed, before Kai shut his eyes as Cole and Zane let him go. Kai stepped back and slid down onto the floor.

Cole joined him on the floor, wrapping his arms around Kai, while Zane took Kai’s spot on the couch.

Lloyd wiped his tears, and Jay crossed his legs as Nya laid her head in his lap, the blanket wrapped around her.

Dareth emerged from behind the armchair, shakily taking a seat, still clutching his clipboard and pen. Everyone breathed deeply as he clicked his pen and said, “Alright. So, what happened next?”

Chapter Text

If he was being honest with himself, Zane wasn’t hating this experience.

Yes, it was hard to discuss their trauma. Yes, it was difficult not to start sobbing when he remembered how much he and his friends had been through. But not everything was painful – there had been laughter and jokes too.

First Master knew they needed plenty of those right now.

“After the final battle, we all took a break, and ending up becoming teachers when Darkley’s was rebuilt.” Zane said, crossing his legs on the couch.

“Yeah. Whose idea was that?” Jay asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to let you guys be charge of young children.” Nya joked.

“Hey! We raised Lloyd!” Kai protested. “And he came out perfectly fine!”

Everyone stared at Kai. There was a moment of realization, before they all started cackling.

The laughter lasted for around five minutes.

“Have you met me, dude?” Lloyd asked in between laughs. “I am the picture of childhood trauma!”

Zane felt like his systems were breaking into pieces, but in a good way. Kai and Lloyd were cackling the loudest, Jay was giggling like a little kid, Cole was laughing heartily and Nya’s laugh was high and cheerful.

“Alright, alright.” Dareth mumbled, as the ninja continued laughing. “Settle down, we gotta get back on track guys.”

Kai and Cole wiped their tears, and the ninja managed to calm down (Jay occasionally snorted, and Nya was still smirking).

“So, was this around the time that Ninjago City got that wicked tech upgrade?” Dareth asked.

“Yes.” Zane said. “The city lacked its ordinary resources, so they decided to try a different approach.”

“Oh man, that stuff was amazing.” Jay sighed. “So much cool tech and crazy stuff. Gosh, I loved seeing how crazy cool our city looked.”

“Yeah, it was all fun and games until all the tech turned on us dude.” Kai commented. Nya frowned and kicked her brother in the head.

“What? It’s the truth! We spent all of five minutes in New Ninjago City before we had to leave because the tech was attacking us!”

“Shut up.” Nya replied. “Anyways, yeah, as stupid as he is, Kai’s right.” Kai scoffed as Nya continued, explaining to Dareth the details of the Overlord’s second attempt at taking power, how a perfectly normal school excursion had turned into a wild goose chase, how the team travelled into the Digiverse, through Hiroshi’s Labyrinth and into space.

“Crazy times, huh tin can?” Cole murmured, elbowing Zane’s knee. Zane laughed.

“Yes indeed.” Zane said.

Dareth was furiously writing, muttering to himself. Jay and Lloyd chimed in from time to time, adding information they remembered.

“There was that whole thing where we snuck in on a circus train!”

“And when we visited my father’s monastery!”

As the team laughed about the chaos and the weirdness of the city blackout, Zane felt as though he was being slowly crushed in a compactor.

They were going to have to discuss it eventually.

“Hey Jay, remember that little bug you named Glowy?”

“The one that tried to eat through all our suits? Yeah, I remember it well, ha ha.”

“Still can’t believe we went to space. And that’s not even the craziest place we’ve ever been.”

His eyes drifted to the floor. A chill spread across his body.

How was he supposed to discuss the time he’d died?

“Yo, remember how we had to build our own spaceship to get back?”

“I have no idea how on earth that thing even flew, let alone made it back to earth.”

“Sheer will, I guess.”

“Well, then we were facing off against the Overlord, and we were losing, until…”

He wanted to rip the teddy bear in half. He knew they were all looking at him, waiting for his opinion on what had happened.

He was too powerful. Zane had no idea how they were still standing. The Overlord had the power of all four Golden Weapons on his side. What could five teenagers do against that?

His golden webbing was spreading across the city and captured his friends. They were struggling, and screams could be heard in the distance.

No. He couldn’t lose his family to this monster. He’d lost enough already – his memories, his home, his father.

He wouldn’t lose the only thing he had left.

But how could he defeat him? The Overlord’s laughter echoed across the city. They stood no chance.

Unless…

He was a nindroid. A powerful nindroid. Thanks to Lloyd, he’d gotten his ice element back. If he could channel enough energy, perhaps he could take down that monster.

But he risked destroying himself.

He took a deep breath and remembered his father’s words.

You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

“Support me, friends, for one last time.” He murmured.

He loved his brothers, his sister, his love and his master. They knew the importance of courage and sacrifice. They had protected him, supported him and loved him.

Now it was his turn to do the same.

Ninja never quit, after all.

“Zane?”

He hadn’t realized he was crying. Or that the teddy he’d been holding had fallen onto the ground.

The other ninja stood up and moved to sit around him. Nya and Lloyd sat on his left, Jay on his right, and Cole and Kai on the floor at his feet. Their eyes were full of tears as well as they all hugged him tightly.

He’d had many group hugs with them before, but never one like this.

“I’m sorry, I-” He tried to say.

“It’s not your fault, buddy.” Jay muttered.

“You were protecting us.” Cole whispered.

“We don’t have to talk about it.” Lloyd said gently.

“No, I…” He sniffed, “I want to talk about it.”

His teammates didn’t let him go as he looked up at Dareth, who for once seemed lost for words. His pen and clipboard had fallen onto the floor.

“That was the day I sacrificed my body in order to take down the Overlord. He was destroyed, but at the cost of my own self being demolished. Several months passed, and I woke up in a strange dungeon, with an unfamiliar voice offering comfort and knowledge.”

PIXAL. The only girl he’d ever loved, who he’d given half his heart to, who had been a part of him so long that he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

He remembered the feeling of the chains around his wrists, the faint sounds of footsteps and chattering from the guards, and a light in the cage next to him.

And a voice, reminding him who he was.

Zane, the Titanium Ninja.

Chapter Text

Several minutes passed, and none of the ninja broke out of the group hug. Zane was still crying. Jay hardly ever knew how to deal with emotions, but hugs were usually a good start.

Eventually, Dareth cleared his throat, and everyone looked up. A sniff from Zane.

“Sorry to ruin this lovely moment, but...” Dareth said, biting his lip.

The group hug still didn’t break, but it did loosen slightly – they weren’t hugging their nindroid teammate as tightly. Kai and Cole were leaning against his legs (Kai was cuddling a soft red teddy now, while Cole was still wrapped in the same fluffy orange blanket), Nya and Lloyd both had their heads resting on his shoulders and Jay had sprawled his body across Nya and Zane’s laps, looking up at the ceiling.

“Do you guys want a break, or…” The Brown Ninja asked quietly.

A break. First Master, when did they last have a proper break?

Wow, he sounded old.

“No.” Zane murmured. “Let’s keep going.” The others all looked surprised.

Was it a good idea to keep going? They’d only touched upon their childhoods and their first few adventures, and already most of them were in tears. Jay didn’t want to think about what else they’d have to dig into – Cole becoming a ghost, Nya dying twice (three times if you counted Prime Empire), Kai losing his powers, Jay accidentally causing an evil video game to take over the city, Lloyd being captured and manipulated and Zane becoming a genocidal dictator.

He particularly didn’t want to talk about what happened with a certain Djnn and his army of sky pirates in between Morro and the Time Twins. He and Nya had kept that secret for years.

“I think we went into the Tournament of Elements next.” Kai said. “You guys remember that?”

The sound of scribbling. First Master, did he have to write down everything?

Jay could remember it clearly. He remembered almost all of their adventures clearly. It scared him how well he could remember the details, as though his mind refused to let him forget everything he’d been through.

He could picture every time he’d watched someone he loved being tortured, hurt or killed as if it had happened yesterday.

“Lloyd brought the team back together – Cole was working as a lumberjack; Kai was doing underground fighting and Jay was the host of a game show.” Nya explained.

Lloyd snickered and Jay groaned. Sometimes the team would find old tapes of that damn show, play them all on repeat and tease him about it. Kai and Lloyd in particular found it hilarious, especially because of the fact he’d worn make-up (no matter how much he protested that concealer was a time-honored tool of a ninja).

How many times had he dabbed concealer onto his skin in order to cover up all the scars and marks so his friends wouldn’t ask questions?

“We got together and found a note telling us that Zane was alive. If we wanted to find him, we needed to travel to Chen’s Island and participate in the Tournament of Elements.” Cole continued. “So, we met up on a jetty with Lloyd’s father, and as we boarded the ship to the island, he explained how Elemental Powers worked.”

Jay could remember being confused with how it all worked. There were others out there, with powers like his, that he’d never known about? Speed, Nature, Metal, Smoke, Light, Form, Amber, Sound, Poison, Shade… it was enough to make his head spin.

And that wasn’t even all of them. Nya had been revealed as a Master of Water, they’d met the Masters of Wind and Time, and Wu had mentioned there were many more Elemental Powers out there they’d never seen.

“When we arrived, we were introduced to Master Chen, and he explained how it all worked – we would fight against the other Elemental Masters in different styles of combat every day. The winner would move on, and the loser fell down a trapdoor.”

“We found out later that it was all a ruse, and Chen was using the Tournament as a cover to steal our Elemental Powers, so he could do this whole ritual thing. The losers would be forced to work in his noodle factory once he took their powers.” Kai added.

“Mmmm, noodles.” Cole sighed. “Chen may have been a power-stealing douchebag, but he knew how to make good noodles.”

“You guys remember how annoying Chen was?” Jay asked. “He would cheat every chance he got. He literally rearranged the whole thing so that Cole and I would end up fighting each other.”

Oh, he still had never really apologized to Cole about that. He probably should, and soon, before they moved on to the whole thing with Morro.

“Wait.” Jay interrupted, sitting up. “I have something to say.”

His friends all raised their eyebrows, and Dareth leaned forward eagerly. Cole turned around to face him, his face concerned.

“Jay, if this is about that argument…”

“Look, I’m really sorry I attacked you for something so petty.” Jay said. Oh First Master, how was he supposed to put this? It had been so long. “I should have actually talked to you about what was happening, instead of fighting with you constantly. It was childish.”

“Sure was.” Kai muttered. Jay kicked the fire ninja in the head (earning him a “HEY!”), before continuing.

“That stupid argument almost ruined our friendship. It was the reason you got eliminated, and we barely had the chance to actually talk about it afterwards!”

“Jay…”

“And I know it was my fault, but I was too stubborn to admit that, and we both almost died multiple times, and I-”

“JAY!”

Jay almost jumped out of his seat at the sound of Cole’s yelling. Everyone was staring in shock.

“Sorry.” Cole said quietly. “I just… look, it’s been a long time since that fight, and I just… you don’t need to worry about it. We’ve all moved on. You ended up with Nya, and that’s fine. Besides, I’m not even sure I like girls.”

Jay was breathing heavily but paused when he heard the last sentence.

“WHAT?!”

“Can we get back on topic, please?” Zane asked, before Jay could freak out.

Damnit, he was stupid. He crossed his legs and tried to listen to Lloyd, ignoring the pain in his gut.

“I think the main reason Chen did all that cheating was because he didn’t want us to move on.” Lloyd explained, playing with one of the threads on his blanket. “Remember the roller derby race thing? He tried to rig it against us.”

“First Master, some of those fights were insane.” Kai murmured. “I remember fighting Ash in that volcano. And managing to beat Karloff for that Jade Blade.”

“I remember you crushing on Skylor for most of the Tournament.” Cole told him.

Kai went bright red, and everyone laughed.

Jay could recall how Kai had fallen head over heels for the red-head and panicked for a minute when he’d thought they might be related. To be fair, he’d had his share of cringy moments when he’d first developed his crush on Nya.

“Shut up. She was hot, okay?” Kai protested as the laughter died down. “Besides, that was before I discovered that she was Chen’s daughter.”

“Was this when Chen sent half the fighters after me because I stole that ritual page thing?” Nya asked, frowning.

“Yeah. We were trying to find you, but we came across a lake, and Skylor used ice to get across, and I realized that she must have seen Zane somehow, and then she betrayed me.” Kai explained.

“Welcome to the club.” Lloyd muttered. “Gotta love your first crush turning on you and lying to you.” Zane gently patted the Green Ninja’s head.

“Chen managed to get all our powers in the end, but we managed to stop him before he could complete the ritual, returning all the powers to their rightful owners.” Kai continued. “I managed to get the staff off Chen and shattered it. We thought we’d won. That was until Chen realized that he could just use his daughter to complete it, her being the Master of Amber and all.”

“Was this the ritual that turned all of Chen’s followers into snakes?” Dareth asked, not looking up from his clipboard as he continued to write furiously.

Jay had forgotten that Dareth had also been in the middle of all the chaos on Chen’s Island. Apparently, he’d stowed away in the truck Nya was using to sneak in, so they’d both ended up coming over.

“Yeah.” Lloyd replied. “Anyone bearing the mark of the Anacondrai was turned into a snake. That included my father, because he used to be one of Chen’s students, and Skylor as well.”

Jay chuckled as he said, “Turning into a snake sucks, and I speak from experience.” Kai poked his knee, and Jay slapped him back.

He could clearly remember the feeling of his skin being replaced by scales, his teeth lengthening and sharpening, and a tail popping out from his pants. First Master, he hated thinking about that. Oh, and the fact it happened on his first date with the most amazing girl in all the Sixteen Realms. That had made it even worse.

He couldn’t imagine how it had felt for Skylor and Lloyd’s father.

“That was before they realized that in order to make the change permanent, they needed a real Anacondrai, so they went and tracked down Pythor.” Nya said.

Lloyd shuddered at the mention of the snake who had betrayed him. They’d mentioned him earlier, but Lloyd clearly hadn’t been listening. He and that damn snake had a long, twisted backstory, and every time Jay thought about it, he wanted to tie Pythor’s long ass neck into a gazillion knots.

“Long story short, they managed to get ahold of Pythor, and we did our best to stop them, but we were losing. That was until Sensei Garmadon sacrificed himself and…” Zane trailed off, glancing at Lloyd, who was staring determinedly at the carpet, his green eyes looking close to tears.

“So, Chen and all his guys were defeated, right?” Dareth said, somehow managing to save the conversation. “You sent them to the Cursed Realm?”

“Yeah, it seemed like a happy ending, until Morro showed up.” Kai snapped.

The energy in the room changed instantly. Lloyd looked seconds away from puking. Jay’s insides seemed to tie themselves in way too many knots.

This wasn’t going to be fun (although what part of this had been fun so far?).

Chapter Text

He’d known it was coming. They were going to discuss it.

The amour’s nice, but it’s not the only thing I want to possess.

How could he talk about that?

I know you’re in there Lloyd. Fight him!

The voices? The nightmares? The torture of being unable to control his own body and actions?

How are we supposed to fight a friend?

“Lloyd?”

First Master, your friends are pathetic.

He was the reason that his friends had lost their powers, that Cole was turned into a ghost and the Cursed Realm was brought to Ninjago.

But not as pathetic as you.

He’d spent weeks questioning whether his body was truly his anymore, after being tainted by such a cruel man.

LLOYD! FIGHT HIM!

“Hey, earth to Lloyd!”

Your pleas are so useless. No one can hear you but me.

It had been a never-ending nightmare for weeks.

Did that hurt? Good. Maybe you’ll stop fighting back now.

His friends only knew half the story. He hadn’t had the time to tell them everything he’d been through.

Oh, you won’t be the Green Ninja for much longer. Save your strength, cause I’ll be needing it.

“Is he okay?”

How did the fate of Ninjago and all the Realms end up in YOUR hands?

Someone was touching him.

Leave them alone, please! I’ll do anything!

He couldn’t do anything. His body had gone numb. His hands were shaking.

You’re forgetting something, kid. I give the orders now, not you.

“He’s having a panic attack. Give him space.”

They have the Crystal. Your plan failed.

Several pairs of hands touching him.

Hmm yes, they have the Crystal, but I still have you.

“No, don’t touch him. He doesn’t like being touched when he’s scared.”

The cold water pulling him under. The sounds of his friends trying to save him. Morro’s high laughter…

“Lloyd?”

Kai’s voice snapped him back to reality.

The others were all watching, eyes filled with concern. His blanket had slipped off. He felt exposed.

The colours were so bright – the posters on the walls, the gis his teammates were wearing, the pillows and blankets he was surrounded by.

His breathing was fast. He needed to calm down. He had to say something.

“I’m fine.” He muttered.

“Lloyd, you’re not fine.” Nya said. She took his hand and squeezed it, her eyes as blue as the ocean she’d been merged with three months ago.

Her touch was gentle but firm. He squeezed back tightly, pressing his other hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat slowly slow down as he shut his eyes.

He was safe. He was free. He had his friends. Nothing could hurt him.

Several minutes passed, and he opened his eyes.

He realized his friends had all gathered around him now instead of Zane – Kai on his left, Nya and Zane on his right, Jay and Cole on the floor at his feet.

Kai picked up the green blanket and draped it around him like a cape.

“You’re safe, greenie. Don’t worry.” He murmured.

Lloyd took one last deep breath. Might as well tell them.

“It had been a perfectly normal mission.” Lloyd said, his voice strained.

That damn pen clicked, and the rustling of paper as Dareth continued writing on that notepad (how did he have any ink or paper left? It seemed he wrote a whole damn novel every time any of the ninja opened their mouths).

“The museum called, said they wanted the Green Ninja to come and investigate a break-in.”

“That was the day Wu wanted us to go into the city and promote the new tea shop!” Jay cried. “And you got out of it!”

Trust me Jay, if I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t have gone to that damn museum in the first place, Lloyd thought to himself.

“Oh yeah. Didn’t you guys say something about how you were using your powers to promote the tea shop? And then they disappeared, and you panicked?” Nya asked, still gripping Lloyd’s hand.

“Yeah. Master Wu told us not to, but we weren’t getting any attention, and we needed to get rid of those damn flyers, so…” Cole explained, looking up at him, looking sheepish.

The image of his teammates in those ugly-ass tea shop uniforms flashed into his head, and he smirked. He regretted not getting a photograph of it.

Honestly, he couldn’t blame them for panicking. Back then, his uncle had said that all four of their elemental powers were connected to Lloyd, so if their powers just mysteriously disappeared, it didn’t mean anything good.

“What happened at the museum, exactly?” Dareth asked, his brown eyes landing on Lloyd.

“I got there and got attacked by a ghost named… Morro.” Lloyd spat.

His name felt like tasting poison. A shiver ran up his spine, as though Morro had run his fingers down it. His ghostly hands were cold and uncomfortable.

“He attacked me, took this amour called the Allied Amour and then…”

He could recall the day so clearly. The watchman had turned on him, and then he’d been attacked by various objects in the room, before…

Lloyd shook his head slightly and tried to focus on the words his teammates were saying.

“A former student of Master Wu, and the Elemental Master of Wind.” Zane explained to Dareth. “Originally, Wu had believed that Morro might become the Green Ninja, but when the Golden Weapons rejected him, Morro became enraged and ran away, saying he rejected destiny. We later found out he’d died in the tomb of the First Spinjiztu Master.”

“But how did he come back?” Dareth asked, his eyes not leaving the paper.

“Must have been back when we opened the Cursed Realm to send Chen and his minions there.” Nya said. “He was from the Cursed Realm, remember? He must’ve slipped through the cracks somehow.”

“He wanted revenge against several things – Master Wu for ‘making him believe’…” Kai added finger quotes as he spoke. “… the current Green Ninja for taking his power… and against destiny for taking away ‘what he deserved.’ He complained a lot.” The fire ninja rolled his eyes.

“We arrived back at the tea shop, just in time for Lloyd – I mean Morro – to appear and attack us.” Jay continued. “We barely managed to get away, and once we were safe, Master Wu explained it all to us.”

Lloyd could picture the scene: his friends yelling at Morro to let him go, Master Wu urging them to leave, Nya in her Samurai X outfit helping the ninja hold him off.

“Hey Nya…” Lloyd said, turning to her. “Wasn’t this around the time you began your Water Ninja training?”

She smirked. “Yeah. In the middle of that mess, Master Wu thought that was the best time to drop the bombshell that I’d inherited my mother’s water abilities. I guess it made sense, with the whole thing that water is the biggest weakness of ghosts.”

“Was Wu super vague and gave you weird training techniques?” Cole asked, wrapping a silvery blanket around himself and raising an eyebrow at Nya.

“Oh don’t get me started. I don’t know what kind of drugs that old man was on.” She groaned. “I finally get why you guys used to complain about training so much.”

“Heck you mean ‘used to’?” Kai asked. “We still do!”

Lloyd felt himself chuckling. He wasn’t wrong – they couldn’t go a single training session without at least one person complaining.

“Anyways… Morro was on a quest to collect three powerful objects – the Sword of Sanctuary, which had the ability to show the future to the wielder, the Realm Crystal, which allowed a person to travel across the Sixteen Realms, and the Scroll of Airjitzu, an ancient martial art that would allow a fighter to temporarily fly.” Zane explained.

“Man, why don’t we do Airjitzu anymore?” Jay complained. “Such a cool weapon.”

“I think we kinda just… stopped doing it.” Kai shrugged. “I don’t know. Anyways, yeah. With that weird amour, Morro had the ability to summon other ghosts from the Cursed Realm.”

“First Master, I forgot how unhinged that whole adventure was.” Cole said. “Remember the Cloud Kingdom, with that weird monster thing? And all that crap with Ronin?”

“Ugh, don’t get me started on Ronin.” Nya muttered. “He was a pain in the ass.”

“He helped us a few times though, didn’t he?” Lloyd asked.

“He also betrayed us about four times.” Jay said. “Oh, you guys remember Yang’s Temple?”

There was heavy silence. Cole had gone pale.

Lloyd placed his hand on the earth ninja’s shoulder. Here he was, freaking out over being possessed by a ghost, and Cole had actually become one. He’d lost his humanity and his ability to feel touch.

While Lloyd didn’t know the full story, he remembered being surprised that Cole had suddenly gone from human to ghost in-between encounters. He could hear Morro’s voice in his head, pointing it out as they climbed the mountains.

Hey, why’s one of your friends green now? Aren’t you the green one?

What? What are you talking about?

The earth one. Cole, right? Yeah, he’s a ghost. I can see it from here.

WHAT? How did that happen?!

Well, didn’t they say something about old Yang’s temple?

So?!

Don’t you know what happens to people who are stuck in there at sunrise?

No… that isn’t possible. Cole’s smart, he wouldn’t have…

Ugh. You whine a lot.

“… then there was the whole thing when we went into the First Spinjitzu Master’s tomb.”

“Yeah, and we almost died about a dozen times, because you guys kept leaping into all the traps!”

“If I’m being honest, the only thing I really remember from that place is a lot of you screaming, Jay.”

“Isn’t that all our adventures, though?”

“HEY!”

“Guys, can we focus?”

“Fine. Down in that tomb, we managed to come across the Realm Crystal after barely evading Morro. But then we ran into a problem.”

“And what problem was this?” Dareth asked, crossing his legs.

“Uhhhh…” Kai glanced at Lloyd, who could feel that shiver running down his spine again.

He could barely stand up. There were wounds and bruises all over his body. Morro had finally left his body, but he still wasn’t free.

He could vaguely process that Morro held the Sword of Sanctuary to his throat, and his friends were down below, having found the Realm Crystal.

“ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES, NINJA! Give me the Crystal, or else I slit your friend’s throat!”

He knew his friends were stalling, hesitating. He wanted to tell them to run, but the only words he could manage were, “I’m… sorry. I… couldn’t stop him.”

Morro shoved him to his knees, and his wounds screamed in protest. Tears were brimming in his eyes.

Lloyd wanted to go home. He wanted Morro to go back to that damn Realm, for his friends to escape and to take a long nap. He couldn't take anymore of this.

“Last chance! Stop stalling!”

“We’re not stalling! We’re thinking!” Kai called out.

Lloyd felt Morro shove him forward, closer to the edge.

He didn’t want to die, but he knew his friends would sacrifice their own lives if it meant they could save him. He was helpless.

The next few minutes were a blur, but he was snapped back into reality when Morro cackled and sent a gust of wind flying at him, the Realm Crystal clutched in his hand. Before his friends could stop it, he'd fallen into the river below.

The water was so cold…

He was normally a decent swimmer. He could faintly remember Nya taking him to a lake once and teaching him different strokes. It was one of those times when the others had run off on one of their missions, leaving them behind again.

When he was still a little kid, and the Tea hadn't snatched his childhood yet.

He’d laughed as he splashed her and could recall memories of him and the others having days out at the beach.

Those were good memories. He'd done laps, dove under and grabbed Jay and Kai’s ankles, laughing as they squealed. He remembered tackling Cole into the water, riding on Zane’s tall shoulders and building a sandcastle with Nya.

Water was normally never a problem for him. 

Now? He could barely keep his head above water. His lungs were filling up, and he knew, in the back of his mind, he couldn’t save himself. The current was seconds away from pulling him under.

It was a rather pathetic ending. The all-powerful Green Ninja, drowned in the tomb of his grandfather.

He saw a flash of red and another flash of black. Kai and Cole. They were yelling at each other, and Lloyd could barely hear them over the rushing water and the sounds of a distant fight.

“How are we supposed to get to him? I can’t swim!”

“Well, I can’t touch water! What do we do?!”

“Oh, this is crazy! What am I doing?”

Then a splash, and arms wrapping around him…

“Lloyd? You good, pal?”

They were all looking at him again. Nya had let go of his hand and was gently squeezing his shoulder. Kai adjusted his blanket.

Damnit. He needed to focus.

“Sorry. Got lost in thought.” He said quietly.

“All good, dude.” Jay said, offering him a soft green dragon plush. Lloyd took it, grateful for the soft texture as a distraction. “We just finished explaining the whole Preeminent situation. Oh, and Nya unlocking her true potential.”

Nya blushed and poked her yang. “Stop it. I know it was impressive.”

“Impressive? Girl, you drowned an entire Realm in seconds! That pretty much defeats all of our True Potentials in absolute epicness!” Jay told her, laying his head in her lap.

Dareth had flipped to a new page and was still scribbling furiously. “Guys, I’m running out of ink. You can’t keep dropping bombshells on me!”

“You do know you don’t need to write down every little detail, right?” Cole asked, raising his eyebrows at the Brown Ninja.

“But how do I keep track of all this craziness if I don’t write it all down?! Besides, we’re not even halfway! Who’d you face next?” Dareth asked.

“I think it was the Time Twins, Acronix and Krux. They were the Masters of…” Kai started.

“No.”

Jay’s voice was low, and he was looking down determinedly at the carpet, his hands shaking.

“There was… something else.”

Everyone turned their glances to the lightning ninja. Nya ran her fingers through her hair and muttered, “Jay, you swore you’d never tell them. Besides, they don’t remember.”

“Don’t remember what?” Lloyd asked.

“Do you remember that day when we hid behind the billboard? On top of the building?” Nya asked.

“Oh yeah. That was the day you two finally got together, right?” Cole asked.

Lloyd could recall the day. It had been when they’d had their fifteen minutes of fame – interviews, crazy fans, lots of media and paparazzi. Jay and Nya had officially become a couple that day, but something had felt off.

Something had happened on that rooftop – something that only the Water and Lightning Ninjas could remember. And Lloyd wished he knew what.

Chapter Text

The hardest part wasn’t that Jay could recall everything that happened to him after he made that stupid wish.

It was that most of his team had no memory of it.

The last few adventures had been mostly easy to recount to Dareth – painful and funny, yes, but at least all six of them could clearly remember everything that happened. He knew if he couldn’t remember any significant details, or didn’t want to talk about something, one of his friends could talk about it instead. There was no major pressure to be the only one explaining.

This? Only he and Nya remembered most of it. And they’d gotten horrific trauma from it.

Struggling to handle being in the public eye constantly, always being watched and questioned.

Trying to make Nya fall in love with him over a stupid vision he’d seen in the tomb.

Being framed and imprisoned for crimes he hadn’t committed.

Making one wish that he’d regret for the rest of his life.

Holding in guilt and frustration about what he’d done.

Watching pieces of his city fly into the air.

Fighting with his friends about his mistakes.

Discovering he was adopted and that his biological parents had abandoned him for reasons he had still never figured out.

Almost being eaten by the biggest fucking spider on the planet.

Being kidnapped, starved, beaten and tortured for weeks, as Nadakhan tried so many different ways to break him and make his last wish.

Losing his friends one by one, first Kai, then Zane, then Cole and Lloyd and finally Nya. Knowing that it was all his fault.

Being alone, crying in his mother’s arms, wanting his friends, wanting to be safe and wanting to end his suffering.

Trying to save his friends trapped in the Soul Sword, hoping he wasn’t too late.

Clutching Nya’s body to his chest, crying like he’d never cried before, wanting to take it all back, wanting to be the one dying, because this was all his fault, why had he done this, he was so fucking stupid.

Watching Nya on the rooftop, his hand extended, praying, hoping, wishing that she would take his hand this time, and he hadn’t made the same mistake twice.

Looking in the mirror when he got home from the rooftop, realizing just how many scars he’d been left with, wearing long sleeves and concealer for weeks to hide the worst of them so his friends wouldn’t ask questions.

Trying to forget the feeling of being touched by that monster so harshly and intimately.

Comforting Nya after every nightmare, reminding her she wasn’t dead, she wasn’t on that damn ship and they were all safe.

Almost having a panic attack any time someone mentioned weddings, genies, pirates or wishes.

But they needed to know. Jay didn’t want to die and not have his best friends aware of what that damn Djnn had put him through.

First Master, how was he supposed to put this?

Fortunately, Nya started it off for him.

“You guys remember that we were trying to go on that mission and stop Clouse from finding something called the Teapot of Tyran?” She asked, looking close to tears.

“Vaguely.” Cole said. “Was this the day we went to the hospital and met that little boy Nelson? Made him an honorary ninja or something.”

“Awww, I remember him.” Lloyd said quietly, smiling.

He wasn’t pale or looking on the verge of a panic attack, which was good. Jay hadn’t known how to help, because Lloyd wasn’t a fan of people touching him when he was upset or panicked (Nya was usually the only exception, and sometimes Kai might be permitted), and the whole Morro chat had been rather distressing. But he was looking calmer now.

“He was the one who broke his legs, I think. We made him the Purple Ninja, and he helped us find a way out of the hospital when the fans tried to find us.” Lloyd continued.

“Which only happened because a certain hot-head thought that was the perfect moment to reply to a social media post.” Nya muttered, glaring at Kai, who flipped her off.

“Ahh yeah, I remember this day. You two lovebirds embracing on the rooftop. Got the whole thing on camera.” Dareth said, smiling.

If he had any idea what he and Nya had been through before that moment…

“Uhh, this is where it gets complicated. See, Jay and I…” Nya paused, tucking a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. “… we kinda erased an entire timeline. Where the events of that day went completely differently.”

The rest of the ninja all blinked in confusion. Dareth paused in his writing.

“What do you mean, erased a timeline? Is that even possible?” Kai asked.

She nodded. “This timeline… it ended with me dying, and the rest of you almost being killed. It was probably the first time the villain actually won. There was no happy ending, no victory.” She avoided looking at all of them, instead focusing on the carpet.

“You died?” Lloyd asked, fiddling with his green blanket. “How?”

Jay took his yang’s hand. Nya took a deep breath, her hands shaking slightly.

“We should start at the beginning.” Jay said, slightly surprised at how loud his voice was. “In this alternate universe, Nya and I were arguing, but we eventually managed to get away without being caught by the cameras, and then later, we saw on the news that someone who looked exactly like us was running around, committing crimes.”

“Uhhh… were we?” Cole asked, frowning.

“NO!” Jay and Nya said at the same time.

“Someone with the ability to shapeshift wanted us out of the picture, so they framed all of us for a bunch of different crimes.” Jay explained, crossing his legs and turning to face his friends, who all wore expressions of both confusion and curiosity.

“Who would do that?” Lloyd asked. “I mean, I know we have a bunch of powerful villains who would want us dead or imprisoned, but…”

“His name is Nadakhan.” Jay murmured, feeling his stomach twist into knots.

Nya’s hands were shaking harder, and she looked on the verge of throwing up.

“I remember that name.”

Everyone looked up in surprise at Zane, who had been rather quiet during most of the conversation.

“How?” Jay whispered. “None of you should remember anything, Zane. Only Nya and I remember what happened.”

“I understand that, but I’ve searched my database, and that name is associated with a corrupted file that my systems cannot delete.” Zane said.

“What do you mean corrupted file?” Kai asked. “What’s in it?”

“I cannot access the whole file unless I wanted to give myself a virus, but I can see glimpses of it. I see the six of us in prison uniforms, Jay badly wounded, Nya in a wedding dress and myself, playing a game of chess against… him.” Zane explained, his voice glitching slightly.

Jay had never considered that. Zane was a nindroid – his memories would work differently to Lloyd, Kai and Cole’s. Maybe his last wish hadn’t completely erased everyone's memories. Sure, they were only little bits, but…

“Okay, this is all very intriguing, but I’m still confused.” Kai said as he glanced at Jay. “Who is Nadakhan, and why did he frame us?”

Jay was now resisting the urge to vomit himself. How could he talk so calmly about that monster?

A thought tugged at the back of his mind, reminding him that Kai had the first of the ninja to fall by Nadakhan’s blade once he made his third wish.

The Fire Ninja had no clue what kind of awful things had happened to the rest of his team – he’d spent weeks trapped in that damn Soul Sword, before being brought out and abruptly thrown into battle, being turned into a statue and then watching his little sister die.

And then Jay had taken it all back.

Still, Jay was finding it difficult to not tackle Kai. He squeezed Nya’s hand tightly, trying to stay on topic while memories flooded his brain suddenly.

It may take several days, it may take weeks, but I swear, you will make your third wish. If you continue to refuse, I will break you so badly your friends will be unable to recognize you.

Perhaps another round of Scrap and Tap will remind you of your place.

Go on, beg, plead, cry. No one can hear you. You only have to make one little wish.

Uh uh. No food for you.

You missed a spot.

I can make the pain go away. I can make it all go away. You know what I want, Jay.

He could taste the vomit now. He fought to keep calm.

“He was a Djnn.” Nya answered. “Sort of like a genie, but more dangerous and far more powerful. He could grant three wishes for you.”

“Right…” Kai murmured. “And how is that a bad thing?”

Oh shit, oh no, oh fuck…

He barely had a chance to say anything before the pancakes he’d eaten that morning had ended up on the floor.

He heard his friends gasping and moving around as he tried to control himself.

Once it seemed done, he shuddered, the hand gripping Nya’s sweaty, breathing heavily, the taste in his mouth sour.

Shit. Shit. He was so stupid.

“Jay? You alright?”

Nya was sliding off the couch, careful not to land in the vomit, her hand on his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cole had scrambled onto the couch, the pants of his gi faintly stained with vomit. Kai, Lloyd and Zane were watching him, their faces both disgusted and concerned.

“I… I’m sorry.” Jay stuttered. “I… I didn’t mean…”

First Master, he hadn’t thrown up in ages. He looked like a child, and the smell of his own sick made him feel even more nauseous.

“Jay, it’s okay.” Nya whispered, her voice soothing as she grabbed a random soft blanket and placed it on top of the vomit. “Do you want to sit on one of the couches?”

He nodded, trying to slow down his breathing, slowly standing up with Nya’s assistance.

The ninja all shuffled around, finding new places to sit. As Jay sat in the middle next to Nya, he noticed that Dareth had moved his armchair farther away, possibly to avoid the smell, which was now overpowering. He wished they had a window, or a fan, or something. The smell wasn’t helping his stomach.

Once they had all settled (Kai, Cole and Lloyd on one couch, Nya, Jay and Zane on the other), all eyes turned back to Jay and Nya.

“So…” Kai said quietly, looking sheepish. “… this Djnn guy, why did he frame us again? Usually, people do that for a reason.”

Jay couldn’t think straight. Damnit, he wanted to lie in his bed. He wanted out of this damn therapy session. He wanted to beat some tact into Kai, to snap Dareth’s stupid clipboard, and for his friends to stop looking at him as if he was a ticking time bomb.

“Remember how we destroyed the Cursed Realm?” Nya asked.

“Yeah, but we didn’t have a choice.” Kai pointed out. “That thing was going to destroy all of us and the village of Stixx. Also, there was no ‘we’ in this.” He leaned over Lloyd to poke Nya. “You caused that thing to disintegrate, taking tons of ghosts with it. I just stood there and looked awesome.”

Nya slapped her brother, prompting Lloyd to poke them both.

“Cut it out, all of you.” Cole snapped, glaring at the three of them. “Nya, what were you saying about the Cursed Realm?”

“Well, since I destroyed one realm, another realm got taken down. It was called Djinjago, and Nadakhan…” She wrinkled her nose as she said his name. “… was a prince there. But after I destroyed the Cursed Realm, Djinjago began to crumble. After he sent us to prison and gathered his old pirate crew, he discovered that his home kingdom was all but gone.”

“Right.” Cole muttered, his brows furrowed. “So… a revenge situation. That makes sense. But… if we ended up in prison… how did we get out?”

Jay clutched his stomach, trying to keep what remained of his breakfast down his throat as Nya explained everything that had led to Nadakhan cornering him – breaking out of prison, Wu and Misako disappearing and Jay discovering the truth about his parents.

Oh yeah. He’d forgotten about that.

Losing his friends and watching his city start to break into pieces wasn’t enough. That damn Djinn decided to reveal that the man and woman who’d raised him and loved him his whole life weren’t even related to him.

When had he even last visited his parents? After he lost Nya, he couldn’t stand being around people. He’d taken up refuge in the same lighthouse where Nya had saved his life. Even after the final Crystal battle, he’d been trying to help his team with their wounds and with rebuilding the city. The little free time he’d had was spent either sleeping or training with his team.

Were they still in the junkyard, quietly waiting for the day that he’d visit? He made a mental note to ask to come over for dinner in the next few days.

He gripped Nya’s wrist, keeping one hand on his stomach, as his mind drifted back into the conversation.

“… and then he started taking us one by one.”

“With what? That weird soul sword you mentioned earlier?” Cole asked.

“Yeah. Once Nadakhan forced you to wish it all away, your soul would end up in the sword, and it would use your energy to start reforming Djinjago.” Nya explained, her face pale, her eyes looking down at the floor.

“First, he took Kai… then Zane.”

“Wait, why was I first?” Kai demanded. “What the hell?”

“Shut up.” Jay muttered, glaring at Kai. “Count yourself lucky. You have no idea what that monster would have done to you if you hadn’t made your last wish.”

Vicious laughter as the pirates continued to beat him until he was bruised and bleeding for hours.

Trying to ignore his stomach grumbling as he tried to sleep in the cramped cell they’d shoved him in.

His body sore and tired, burning under the sun as he mopped the enormous deck.

Not bothering to scream or keep track of the days anymore. He refused to say it out loud, but he was losing hope. His friends had abandoned him.

And he deserved all of this.

Kai finally shut up.

“There was another reason Nadakhan was so determined to hunt us down as well.” Nya said, her voice getting quieter.

“And what reason was this?” Zane asked, as he hugged his grey teddy tightly.

“Because I looked exactly like his dead wife, Delara. He became obsessed with me, and because of his Djinn heritage, if he married me, he’d have the ability to make unlimited wishes.”

No one really knew what to say to that. Lloyd still looked confused, Cole’s eyebrows were raised, Kai’s jaw had dropped and Zane’s face was blank.

“Unlimited wishes?” Dareth asked. Jay had forgotten he was here, but Dareth seemed genuinely confused. “Did he not have that already?”

“No.” Jay murmured. “He could grant the wishes of other people and manipulate them to do what he wanted, but he couldn’t make his own wishes.”

He felt the urge to vomit again every time he said the word wish.

“Honestly, the whole adventure was a mess. Our only advantage over him was the venom of this gigantic spider, and the only thing that could do was weaken him.” Jay continued. “And we barely managed to get any of the venom before he… captured me, trapping what remained of our team on the island.”

Should he tell them? What was the point? He could just say he was held prisoner on the ship and they hopefully would move on.

No. He couldn’t keep any more secrets. If he didn’t tell them, he’d just continue to feel awful about it.

“He held me prisoner on his ship, the Misfortune’s Keep. He tried so many ways to force me to make my last wish.” He shuddered at the memory. “Touchy bastard. He’s an asshole.”

“Who was left at that point? On the island, I mean.” Lloyd asked. “You said that some of us had ended up in the sword already, but the rest of us were on the island.”

“Me, you and Cole. We got off by building a raft and making a plan to sneak onto the ship to rescue Jay. But when we went to rescue him, you and Cole both ended up trapped in the sword. Jay and I barely got away.” Nya explained, her voice starting to shake as she looked at the Green Ninja.

Jay gently wrapped his arms around her. He thought he heard her sniffle, and the room was silent for a minute (except for Dareth’s pen, because of course he was getting all of this down).

“We took up shelter in the lighthouse where your father was held prisoner, Zane.” Jay murmured, glancing at his nindroid teammate, who looked lost in thought. “Thought we were safe there.”

“I haven’t visited that lighthouse in a long time, except that brief time when we were trying to regather the team.” Zane murmured.

Something occurred to Jay – or rather, someone.

“There was someone else there when we arrived. It was another nindroid, and we guessed he might have been made by your father. We called him Echo Zane.” He explained.

Zane’s eyes went wide. “Echo…” He said quietly.

Jay wondered in the back of his mind what had happened to that silly robot. Was he still at the lighthouse? But Jay had spent several months there and had never seen him. Zane looked horrified.

“What ended up happening to Nadakhan?” Dareth asked. “You said he won in the end.”

“They found us.” Nya explained, her head now resting on Jay’s shoulder. “Jay managed to get away with the help of some Traveler’s Tea, but Nadakhan captured me. He told me we would be wed tomorrow, and I had to trust that Jay would come up with a plan to stop it.”

“And did he?” Cole asked.

“I ended up landing in my parents’ junkyard, where they helped motivate me to come up with my next move. All I was armed with was a vial of venom, my third wish and sheer willpower.” Jay said. “So, I gathered a team to help me get the Soul Sword – Skylor, Echo Zane, Ronin, Soto, the Police Commissioner and… Dareth.”

“Wait, really?” Dareth’s eyes lit up. “I got to help?”

Jay nodded. “I found my way into the sword, got the other ninja, Misako and Master Wu out, and we recruited the help of several of Nadakhan’s crew members. One of them, this guy named Flintlocke, was a sharpshooter, who I asked to use the last bit of venom on Nadakhan. Our plan was for me to wish him to not be a Djnn, so that the venom would kill him and not just weaken him.”

“Weren’t you saying something about Nya getting married?” Kai asked.

Jay opened his mouth to explain but stopped when he felt his shoulder shake. And tears fall onto his sweaty, vomit-smelling gi.

Nya was crying.

-------------------------------------------------

Why was she crying? This whole session, she’d somehow managed to keep her cool. Even when talking about her childhood, or comforting Zane when he talked about the first time he’d died, she hadn’t broke down. Even when she was helping Lloyd through his panic attack, she'd stayed calm, ensuring her little brother knew he was safe and in his own body.

Her body was betraying her. Just as it had betrayed her after Nadakhan had forced her to marry him.

She remembered how Lloyd had described the feeling of being possessed – having another person control him like a puppet, taunting him and hurting his friends, while he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

She’d been possessed too.

It had been oh so brief but oh so painful. Delara looked exactly like her right down to the freckles on her nose, but her heart was cruel, and she didn’t care about anything but her love.

Nya could vaguely recall the sound of her sickening voice, taunting her as she watched her friends fall and Jay desperately try to beat the man who’d taken almost everything from her.

Your friends are pathetic. Look, another one gone. Your little canary cannot beat my king.

She faintly heard the sound of a gunshot and Nadakhan gasping in pain. The Tiger Widow venom? But how?

She’d been snapped back into reality when she realized she’d been hit too. Delara’s voice disappeared, and she could finally feel things again.

As she collapsed, her voice weak as she called out to Jay, her body was in more pain than she’d ever experienced.

Was this how it felt to die?

Jay had run over and stopped her from falling. She could see the others had come over too, their faces horrified. Zane said something about the venom being fatal.

No kidding. It was fatal, and it hurt. As though she’d been run through with a fiery sword.

Nadakhan’s silky voice came from somewhere, murmuring to Jay he was stuck in a dilemma – he could lose Nya, or let Nadakhan win. And he had only seconds to make his choice.

“Jay… you have to use your last wish. Please… don’t let him win.” She said, her voice fading as the venom made its way into her body.

“No! Not if it means losing you!”

First Master, he was an idiot.

“I never wanted to be part of your… boys club anyway.” She chuckled quietly.

She’d said something similar to Kai several years ago, when he’d discovered that she was the samurai he and the others had been trying to beat. His face was full of wonder and pride.

Now, Kai was watching his baby sister die in front of him, horrified and close to tears.

“Nya… don’t say that!” Jay begged, tears forming in his eyes.

This felt like an ending to one of those sappy romance movies she and Jay used to watch endlessly. The thought amused her.

“Guess it’s true – the greatest love stories… do always end in tragedy.” She murmured.

Her eyes closed.

“Is she alright?”

She looked up.

Right. Therapy. Damnit.

Her body was shaking. Everyone was looking at her. She lifted her head up and quickly wiped her tears.

Ugh, this was pathetic.

“Nya, it’s okay. I promise you’re safe.” Jay said gently, rubbing her back. “You’re not dead.”

Deep breath in… deep breath out. Zane placed a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, her mind cleared.

“I’m okay.” She said quietly. “Are we still going?”

“No, we finished the whole Nadakhan chat a few minutes ago. Jay explained his last wish.” Kai told her, his face full of frustration. “Also, if I ever come across that asshole…”

“No one ever found the teapot, dingbat.” Cole interrupted. “As much as I want to kill him too, Jay said his final wish was that no one ever found the teapot in the first place. We could search all of the Sixteen Realms and never find him.”

Nya felt a tiny bit of relief. If the First Master was truly a good soul, she would hopefully never come across another Djinn in her lifetime. Nadakhan would fade into the past, and so would the scars she got from her experience with him.

“Can we move on, please?” Jay asked, his arm wrapped around her. His touch was gentler than she’d ever felt.

“So, who’d you fight next?” Dareth asked, flipping to a new page.

“Hold on. Before we met the Time Twins, we had to deal with something else, remember?” Lloyd asked.

“And what was that?” Nya asked.

“The Day of the Departed battle. All our old enemies returned from the grave, and this was when Cole turned back into a human.”

The Earth Ninja’s face went pale.

Oh no.

Chapter Text

Cole had been hoping to avoid this conversation.

They’d moved on from the whole ghost issue. He’d been human for several years now. He didn’t want to talk about this.

“Ahh yeah, Day of the Departed.” Dareth muttered, flipping to a new page. “First Master, that was a year.”

Being forgotten. Being left alone. Knowing it was all his fault.

“Cole?”

He felt like his head was pounding, and the smell of vomit on the carpet wasn’t helping.

“Bud? You good?”

Kai was looking at him with that concerned big brother look (as he and the others had nicknamed it). He placed a hand on the earth ninja’s shoulder.

Cole knew the rest of his team was looking at him. He tried to clear his mind. Focus on Kai – messy spiked hair, about a dozen different scars and burns, the gentle smile.

He was fine. He was fine.

“I… I don’t want to talk about this.” He muttered, shaking his head.

“We don’t have to.” Lloyd assured him. Cole glanced at the Green Ninja, who smiled. “We… we can skip it.”

Dareth was clicking his pen repeatedly, clearly waiting impatiently to start writing.

He might as well. If Zane could talk about his sacrifice, and Lloyd could describe the time he’d been possessed, and Jay and Nya could explain the fact that they’d somehow erased an entire freaking timeline with a creepy asshole Djinn guy (ughh, Cole had felt all kinds of shitty listening to that conversation), then he could explain the time he’d become human again.

“It’s fine.” Cole said quietly. “I can do this.”

“You sure?” Nya asked. She lifted her head slightly from where she’d been leaning on Jay’s shoulder, her eyes still red and puffy.

He nodded, taking a deep breath.

I can do this. The sooner I get it done, the sooner we can move on.

“Before the Day of the Departed, I was still a ghost. The cons of that situation really outweighed the pros.” He started.

Dareth started writing, Kai squeezed his shoulder and Lloyd patted his knee. Cole began to think back to that time.

Honestly, what pros were there? He could possess things and turn invisible, but those powers were only really useful when they were mid-combat or had to avoid a villain.

The cons? Boy, where should he begin? He couldn’t touch water unless he wanted to evaporate instantly. He couldn’t touch his friends anymore – no more hugs or fist bumps or sparring. He’d lost his humanity.

And it had been all his fault.

“I… I was angry. At myself, at Master Yang and at destiny for letting this happen to me. That night… Yang made it seem like people were forgetting me or couldn’t see and hear me. He wanted me to go after him.”

His friends were looking both sheepish and guilty. They’d apologized to him a million times after he’d come back, but…

“So, I went to get revenge, but…”

“But what?” Dareth asked, pausing in his writing.

“It was a trick.” Zane explained. “Yang wanted to turn himself and his students back into humans, and he needed several things to achieve that goal – the Rift of Return, which was taking place that year, the Yin Blade and the ninja out of the way.”

“The Yin Blade? Was that the blade on display at the Museum that year?”

The ninja all nodded.

“Once he had me in his grasp, he summoned the spirits of several of our past villains to go after the other ninja so they wouldn’t get in Yang’s way.” Cole continued. “Those spirits possessed the mannequins of their own selves, and each decided to go after one of my friends.”

“Master Chen came after Nya and I, while we were at our parents’ blacksmith.” Kai said, pulling a black and white blanket out of the box at his feet and tossing it on both his and Cole’s laps.

“First Master, that was annoying.” Nya muttered. “Chen is a major asshole. His mech thingy kept malfunctioning. Also, why did he wanna come after us?”

“We did majorly mess up his little Anacondrai ritual plot.” Kai pointed out. “Oh, and we both betrayed him. But yeah. Asshole.”

“I believe it was Cryptor that came after me, while I was visiting the woods that my father and I used to live in.” Zane said, offering a blue teddy to Jay, who looked lost in thought as he took it. “He and several other Nindroids attacked me, but I managed to defeat them.”

“Pythor came after me when my mother and I were visiting my dad’s statue.” Lloyd murmured. “I hate that snake. He tried to hurt my mother, and I barely managed to defeat him. He ended up running away after he realized he was losing.”

Oh yeah, Pythor. That asshole of a snake also needed a beatdown. He’d given Lloyd some awful trauma.

Honestly, Cole wanted to gather up everyone who'd left his friends with trauma and beat them all blue. Morro, Pythor, the Overlord...

“Jay, who came after you?” Dareth asked.

The Lightning Ninja glanced up, frowning. “Uhhh… Samukai, I think? You remember the Skeleton General? I don’t really know why, but he came after me and my parents. He wasn’t that hard to deal with.” His leg began to bounce up and down as he fiddled with the teddy.

Cole hadn’t thought about those weird skeletons in ages. They’d been the first foes he and his friends had ever fought. Where the heck were they now?

“Ahh yeah. You guys remember that weird stone guy?” Dareth commented.

The six ninja all looked up in surprise.

“What does he have to do with anything?” Kai asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He attacked me that night. Honestly forgot about it, but then you guys started talking about villains coming after you on the Day of the Departed, it all came back.” He explained.

Cole could feel his stomach twisting again.

“Anyways, Cole, what were you saying about Master Yang?”

Dareth is not your enemy. Do not strangle him. Stay calm.

Cole took a deep breath. Ground yourself. You can do this.

“He trapped me in his temple with his students. He was going to use the Yin Blade to rip apart the Rift of Return. I managed to get out, and then…”

He gripped the blanket as he thought back to that fateful night.

“You do not stand a chance, Cole!”

Yang flew above him, pushing him down, mocking him. Behind him, the Rift of Return pulsed and flickered, slowly but surely stitching itself back together. Below, Yang’s young students flew around, waiting for orders.

Yang clutched the Yin Blade in his fist, his ghostly grin visible from miles away.

Cole couldn’t let him win. His friends may have forgotten him, his powers may not have been working, he may have nothing left, but he knew one thing: ninja never quit.

His powers were weakening. How could he stop him?

“COLE!”

If he still had a heart, it would have stopped beating.

The Bounty! It flew just above the Rift. And his friends were on board.

They were alive? Had Yang lied about them being doomed?

He must have. Kai, Jay, Lloyd, Nya, Zane… they were all there, calling his name, begging him to come back.

“COLE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

“COLE, PLEASE!”

He had a purpose again. He felt his powers surge through his body.

Okay, his arms were glowing. That was new.

“What?!” Yang cried, lowering himself. “Impossible!”

Cole saw his opportunity. He pushed himself off the ground and leapt into Airjitzu, snatching the blade off the master and shattering it with his grasp.

The shards hit the ground.

His friends were still yelling at him, but he wasn’t finished. He landed on the ground and turned his attention to the kids.

“GO THROUGH THE RIFT!” He yelled at Yang’s students, who seemed dazed. “IT’S YOUR ONLY CHANCE!”

The students heard him, leaping into their own forms of Airjitzu and flying into the Rift.

He turned to Yang, who no longer looked angry, more… forlorn.

“I never wanted to hurt anyone.” He said quietly, his eyes on the ground. “I failed them. My students…”

Cole’s heart dropped. Was Yang really his enemy? Or was he just a bitter, upset old man who had just wanted to help his students?

“You haven’t failed them.” Cole assured him.

“I just wanted to make sure no one could forget me… that all my teachings and all my years on this earth… weren’t for nothing. I thought immortality was the only way to achieve that.”

Cole was torn between returning to his friends and wanting to help.

“You won’t be forgotten.” Cole said gently. “You’re the inventor of one of the greatest martial arts Ninjago has ever known. You’ll be remembered as the creator of Airjitzu.”

He glanced up at the Rift of Return, which had shrunk even more in the past few minutes. They were running out of time.

His friends were still screaming for him, but Cole couldn’t leave him behind.

“Come on!” Cole threw a hand at the old master.

Reluctantly, Yang took it, and Cole created a new Airjitzu tornado.

As they flew upwards, the voices of his friends grew louder.

“What is he doing?!”

“He’s taking Yang through the Rift!”

“Cole, hurry! You don’t have much time!”

No kidding, Cole thought to himself. He was going to punch Jay when this was all over.

“We’re almost there!” Cole cried, pushing the tornado as much as he could.

But Yang was… letting go?

“It is impossible!” He yelled, struggling against Cole’s grip.

“What are you doing?!” Cole screamed.

“The curse of the Temple! It requires someone to remain in the temple to be the master of the house! I cannot go with you!”

Cole couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Yang was refusing to become human again? What the heck?

“COLE!”

“What are you saying?” Cole demanded, as Yang pushed him towards the Rift.

“Your ghost form is my fault! Return to your friends! Ensure my legacy lives on! Go, Cole!”

Cole screamed as he flew through the Rift.

He didn’t remember landing. But he remembered hearing his friends’ voices and opening his eyes.

He looked down.

Human. He was human again.

Cole put his hand to his chest, feeling his heart beating, his lungs expanding and his bones cracking. It wasn’t a dream. Everything that had happened over the last few hours…

The Rift… his friends… Master Yang…

Yang had sacrificed himself, so Cole could return to his human self. The old man may have made mistakes, but he’d done a good deed in the end.

His friends… they were nearby. He could hear rustling and what sounded like a fire. And their voices.

“I can’t believe he’s gone.” Nya. She sounded like she was crying.

“We cannot lose hope. Perhaps Cole survived, like Yang’s students.” Zane. A spark of hope in his voice.

“He went into it just as it disappeared. Can we be sure he even made it through?” Lloyd. The best little brother on the planet.

“If I know Cole, he’s making his way here now. We just gotta wait.” Kai. That stubborn idiot. 

“It’s all our fault. I feel awful.” Jay. His best friend.

He’d found them. They were gathered around a campfire, the Destiny’s Bounty parked nearby. They each clutched an unlit lantern, and half of them looked close to tears.

They all looked a little battered and tired, but otherwise okay after what they’d been through.

They hadn’t noticed him yet. He crouched behind a rock and listened to them speaking. Jay now sounded like he was crying.

“I’d give anything to have him back.”

Cole had a brilliant idea.

“Anything?” He called out, trying to hide the glee in his voice as he slowly stood up.

“Anything!” Jay cried, clearly unaware of who had just spoken.

“Including giving me the Sonic Raider Jet?” He cried, as he leapt over the rock, grinning widely.

The only regret he had at that moment was that he didn’t have a camera.

The looks on their faces were PRICELESS.

“… and then we celebrated by releasing our lanterns.”

Cole snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at his friends. They were still talking.

“Gosh, this year’s Day of the Departed is in just a few weeks, huh?” Dareth said, as he continued to hurriedly write. “We’ll need to celebrate.”

While the others were chatting with Dareth, Kai was looking at him, concern in his eyes.

“You good, dude?” He murmured, ruffling the blanket as he crossed his legs.

Cole felt himself smile.

“Never better. What are we up to?”

“Uhh, who knows?” Kai shrugged. “I kind of zoned out. But I’m pretty sure the villain we faced after this was the Time Twins. Krux and Acronix.”

“Who’s that?”

Dareth had perked up at the sound of a new topic. Kai suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable.

Cole supposed the assholes who had kidnapped and held his parents hostage for over a decade would be a tough subject for the Fire Ninja.

Nya wasn’t looking too good either. She had gone pale and was breathing faster. Jay was quietly reassuring her as he rubbed her back.

“Elemental Masters of Time.” Zane explained. “They used to fight alongside Master Wu and the original Elemental Masters, until they become crazed about their own powers and had to be taken down.”

“Time?” Dareth asked, looking way too excited. “Sick power!”

“It wasn’t.” Kai muttered, glaring at the ground. The air around him seemed to be heating up – even without his power, Kai always seemed to run on hot. “It was anything but.”

Chapter Text

Kai had forgotten they would have to talk about this.

The Masters of Time… the Vermillion Warriors… his parents…

He wasn’t sure he wanted to dig into that ball of trauma. His insides felt like they were cooking alive. He missed having his power – often when he was bored, he could summon little balls of fire to play with. He could make shapes or just play with the sparks and flames.

The fidget toys were nice, and the blankets were soft, but there was something about having flames at his fingertips. It was comforting for him.

He was beginning to get bored and tired. How long has they been in this room for? An hour? Two? Ten? Thirty? Who knew at this point?

Kai didn’t know much about therapy, but it wasn’t supposed to go for more than an hour or two, right?

Then again, most therapy patients weren’t six traumatized powerful ninja who had been through more danger and chaos in about a decade than most people go through in a lifetime.

“I think I remember those guys.” Dareth murmured, as he flipped to a new page. “They stole all my trophies!”

“Your fake trophies.” Jay muttered before grunting when Zane elbowed him in the side.

“They were not fake!” Dareth cried. “Anyways, weren’t they like, stealing a whole bunch of metal to make something?”

“Yes.” Zane said. “They raided various places all over Ninjago – Mega Monster Amusement Park, Ed and Edna’s Scrapyard, your dojo. They needed metal to forge their Vermillion Warriors.”

“Ewww, I remember those guys.” Jay murmured, as he played with Nya’s hair. “They were like, made of snakes or something, like their literal flesh.”

“That wasn’t their real goal though.” Kai explained. “They needed soldiers, but their main objective was to track down four Time Blades.”

“Time Blades?” Dareth asked.

“Forged from Chrono Steel, a type of metal that can extract Elemental Powers.” Nya explained, running her fingers over the blanket she and Jay were wrapped in, as Jay started to braid little chunks of her hair. “After their powers were drained, Krux and Acronix wanted to find those blades so they could regain their abilities over time.”

Kai fought down a twinge of guilt as he glanced at his sister, who was still looking pale and uncomfortable. He knew more than anyone she was capable of defending herself against villains, but the story she and Jay had told earlier… he felt awful knowing that two of the people he cared about most had gone through such horrific trauma.

Who was he kidding? Practically everyone he knew had been through some kind of shitty trauma. It basically came with living in Ninjago City (they should add that to the brochure – Move to Ninjago City! Watch your home get destroyed every few months! Endure horrifying trauma!). And if this therapy session was proving anything, he and his friends really should have dealt with theirs sooner.

“Wanna know the weirdest thing?” Jay asked Dareth, who looked like he was starting to sweat nervously as he continued furiously writing. “One of them hid as a museum worker for about forty years, and the other was lost in time until he just appeared one day at the ruins of the monastery, where he proceeded to attack and wound Master Wu.”

Dareth’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? What the hell?”

“Honestly, the whole adventure was wild.” Cole said. “Each of the Blades had a different power – Reverse, Forward, Pause and Slow-mo. I’m sure you can guess what power each blade has.” He crossed his legs under the blanket as he continued, “Throughout the adventure, the Blades would appear in random places throughout Ninjago, and we needed to try and collect them all.”

“Like Pokémon!” Jay laughed. His smile faded when he realized everyone was looking at him weirdly.

“Sorry.” He muttered, continuing to play with his yang’s hair.

“And then Nya had that whole thing with her Samurai X suit.” Lloyd added, glancing at Nya, who clearly had been zoned out, but glanced up at the sound of her name.

“Oh yeah. Someone took all my Sam X stuff and became the new samurai. At the time, I didn’t know who it was – just assumed it was some jerk who wanted some shiny tech.” Nya explained. “Turned out to be PIXAL, funnily enough.”

Zane smiled. “I am glad you trusted her with your machinery and your Samurai X identity. PIXAL spent a long time inside my head, unsure of who she was without me. She was so pleased to have her own identity and body.”

“Yeah.” Nya chuckled, sitting up slightly. “You know, I remember you malfunctioning a whole bunch during all that chaos. Something about treadmills and vegetables?”

Zane rolled his eyes as the others laughed. “It was not my fault my systems decided to malfunction.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t buddy.” Jay giggled, poking his nindroid teammate in the side.

“Alright Mr ‘I still sleep with a teddy bear named Mr. Cuddlywomp’.” Kai muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Hey! Don’t you start! You think I haven’t found your pet rock collection?”

“How do you know about my pet rock collection?!”

“You really should invest in a lock on your doors!”

“I really need to invest in some noise-cancelling headphones! That’ll be the only way to drown out your pitchy voice!”

“I’M NOT PITCHY!”

Dareth coughed loudly. “You were saying about the Time Twin dudes?”

“Oh yeah.” Kai said, giving Jay one last glare and looking back at Dareth. “Their plan was to travel back in time with their four Blades, in order to destroy the original Elemental Alliance – the previous generation of Elemental Masters.”

Kai remembered the pictures he’d seen hanging around the monastery of those Masters – Master Wu, Garmadon before he was turned evil, his own parents and… all his friends’ parents basically.

“Who was in this Alliance?” Dareth asked, flipping to a new page, more sweat dripping down his forehead.

“Uhh… Wu, Garmadon, the Masters of Ice and Shade, I think Cole and Jay’s mothers, me and Nya’s parents…”

“Oh yeah! Your parents!” Lloyd said, looking over at Kai. “Didn’t you find them?”

Kai nodded. “They were being held prisoner by the Time Twins, but Nya and I managed to set them free. We also went back in time with Master Wu, where we barely managed to take one of the Blades off the Twins before Master Wu sent us back.”

While the others continued explaining the rest of the adventure, Kai let himself get lost in thought.

He hadn’t thought about his parents in months. When he’d first discovered they were alive, there’d been a lot of complicated emotions – anger, sadness, guilt and eventually happiness.

(He recalled how when he’d found them, he’d almost killed his father before Nya stopped him. To be fair, it was absolutely not his fault – he’d believed they were traitors, not just two blacksmiths forced to work for cruel people in order to protect their young children)

After the Time Twins disappeared, his parents had moved back into the old blacksmith shop, staying there until Nya’s powers started acting up, so they’d been called in to help.

Then Nya had merged with the sea. He’d cried with them at her memorial, and after that, hadn’t seen them in months. Kai knew they had fought during the Crystal Battle but hadn’t called or talked with them since then. He made a mental note to call them as soon as this therapy session was over.

“Time travel, man.” Dareth shook his head as he continued writing. “That is one can of worms that should never have been opened.”

Kai frowned at the self-proclaimed Brown Ninja, who finally finished his writing and pulled up his sleeve to check the time.

“I reckon it’s time for a break, you guys.” He said as he stood up, dusted off his gi and made his way to the door. “Feel free to stretch, move around, all that jazz. Someone will be in with snacks and stuff eventually, and to clean uhhh…” His eyes glanced at the puddle of vomit in the middle of the carpet, and his nose wrinkled. “That whole situation.”

Dareth pulled a key out of one of his pockets and unlocked the door as the ninja all got up and moved around. Kai stretched out his arms and legs, before making his way to the door.

“Uh-uh-uh.” Dareth tutted, as he pulled the door shut. “You six are staying in here. Like I said, you’re not leaving until we’ve dug through ALL the trauma.”

“What?!” They all cried in unison.

Before any of them could run out the door, Dareth laughed, shut the door and locked it behind him.

Kai looked up at his friends, all of them looking frustrated and confused. Nya and Jay were still holding onto each other, Cole was clutching the blanket, Zane was massaging his temples and Lloyd looked on the verge of another panic attack.

“Well…” Kai muttered, flopping onto the blue armchair that Dareth had been sitting in and trying for a smile. “… at least we get a break from Dareth, right?”

Chapter Text

Dareth was beginning to regret agreeing to this.

When Master Wu had called the team’s allies around the city, asking for some help to deal with their issues, of course he’d volunteered.

It had seemed pretty simple in the beginning – sit and listen to the ninja, take notes and help them dig into their trauma.

But HOLY SHIT. What these kids had been through… no wonder they were all mentally ill. And slowly losing their minds.

Abandoned by their parents? Forced to fight all kinds of evil creature? Dying and being possessed? Watching everything and everyone they care about be destroyed countless times?

After they’d finished describing an adventure with time travel and long-lost parents, Dareth realized a few things.

One, half of the ninja looked on the verge of tears.

Two, the smell of vomit was becoming overwhelming.

Three, Dareth had run out of paper.

Once he was out in the hallway, he paused for a second. He leant against a nearby wall and let himself breathe.

Holy shit. That had been a lot.

He glanced down at the notepad in his hand – full of notes and details from the stories they’d told him so far. He’d already filled every page, and they still weren’t finished. He made a mental note to grab at least three or four more notepads before he went back in.

Alright, that was two things sorted. Now about the vomit.

He couldn’t blame Jay for doing that – if he’d had to recount the time he’d been kidnapped, tortured and defeated by some weird genie guy (gene? Djinn? How did they pronounce it again?), he’d probably freak out too.

Still, it was really gross, and the smell probably wasn’t helping with the ninjas’ emotions.

The therapy office had been more than willing to let the ninja and their allies use one of their rooms for the day, under the condition that it stayed in one piece – one clean, tidy piece.

The manager would definitely not be happy if they found out one of the ninja had thrown up on their very expensive carpets. He really needed to get someone to deal with that vomit.

He stopped a random cleaner halfway down the hallway and asked if they could clean it. The cleaner – a skinny blonde male who looked like he needed a few therapy sessions himself – just grunted in acceptance and pushed his cart down the hall.

Eh, that was his problem. Dareth knew where he was headed.

When he reached the end of the hallway, he knocked on a door with a massive KEEP OUT sign. Rustling, then the door opened, and a red-haired woman stuck her head out. Skylor, with a bag of her noodle company’s food in her hands.

“Hey, Dareth. Come on in.” She said, opening the door and making her way down the hallway.

He was surprised how many people had turned up. Around a dozen people were gathered in the little room – the ninjas’ closest allies and family members mostly. All sitting on plastic chairs, eating from bowls of noodles (Skylor’s recipe, of course) and watching the ten or so cameras.

Before the session had started, Master Wu and PIXAL had installed several hidden cameras throughout the room. They said it was a safety precaution – even without their powers, the ninja could be a danger to themselves or others.

Dareth couldn’t blame them – the ninja had been shooting him a lot of angry or upset looks. Kai had snapped pretty brutally at him before, and he wouldn’t deny some of his words had stung.

As he took a seat next to a woman that he believed was Jay’s mother, he tried to focus on the screens displaying the ninjas’ therapy room, hearing words float around his head.

It’s horrible being a ninja!

That was the day I sacrificed my body in order to take down the Overlord.

He’s having a panic attack. Give him space.

It was the… Overlord.

We’re not traumatized!

“You alright, dearie?”

Jay’s mother was looking at him, concern visible behind her silvery glasses, offering him a bowl of noodles.

What was her name again? Edna. That’s right. And her husband Ed sat on her right, fiddling with some kind of metal contraption.

He’d seen her before, mostly during the times that Ninjago was under attack. She looked like a combination of a young mechanic and a loving granny. Her grey hair was pulled into a bun, and her pockets were overflowing with tools and random objects.

Earlier, Jay had explained how he was adopted, but it was easy to see where the Lightning Ninja had gotten his love of inventing and his chatterbox side from. Her hand rested on his shoulder as he took the noodles, the smell filling his nostrils and reminding him of simpler times.

“Your son and his friends are really messed up.” Dareth mumbled as he slurped up the noodles. It wasn’t any Puffy Potsticker, but First Master, this was delicious.

Edna chuckled. “Yes. I’m afraid that’s true. Sometimes I regret telling Jay that yes, you can go with the strange, bearded man to his faraway monastery to learn ninja training.” Her smile faltered as she glanced at one of the screens, displaying Jay nervously flapping his hands. “He never told us all this… or what his friends had been through.”

“I feel the same way.”

The man sitting in front of Dareth turned to face him.

Cole’s father, Lou Brookstone. It was easy to see the family resemblance – he looked almost exactly like the Earth Ninja, if you added a cane, slicked back hair, a fluffy mustache and a cool brown tux.

“Cole and I have struggled to see eye to eye in the past, but I’d thought we’d become closer since that… dance incident several years ago.” He explained, frowning. “But now, sitting here and listening to this… maybe I should have sat down and talked with him sooner.”

Dareth looked down into his noodle bowl, trying to focus on the taste, but now all he could taste was cardboard.

First Master, he couldn’t imagine being one of the ninjas’ parents.

How could you watch your child go through all of that? Not to mention, from what he’d heard in the conversation about their childhoods, practically none of them actually grew up with their parents. Adopted, neglected, kidnapped, abandoned and died…

His eyes scanned over the other people in the room, all showing different emotions on their faces and in their body language.

He recognized several Elemental Masters, Kai and Nya’s parents (their mother looked close to tears, while the father looked like he was about to vomit), Gayle Gossip (not wearing her usual reporter outfit today), the Police Comissioner, Lloyd’s mother Misako, Ronin, that Vinny guy from the news team and…

Lord Garmadon.

He seemed so ordinary, sitting there, chewing on one specific noodle, watching his son with what looked like pride and intrigue. Nothing like the monster that Dareth had been raised to fear and hate.

There was a second where Dareth made eye contact with him. All he could do was force a grin as Garmadon raised an eyebrow and turned back to the screen.

Eugh. That guy seriously creeped him out.

Master Wu and PIXAL sat at the front of course, their eyes not leaving the screens.

Oh right. The screens.

The ninja hadn’t moved much since Dareth had left the room. Kai had flopped into his armchair (the AUDACITY), Zane was inspecting several of the posters on the wall, Cole and Lloyd were still sitting on the couch (Lloyd was pale as a… maybe he should find a better word than ghost) and Nya was standing to the side, quietly reassuring Jay, who was crying again as he continued to flap his hands.

What was that about?

Kai was rambling about something, and now Cole was giving him a dirty look.

Honestly, if any of the ninja were going to kill him during this therapy session, his money was definitely on either Cole or Kai. Cole’s patience was definitely wearing thin, and it didn’t take much to make Kai mad. Dareth prayed that the ninja could make it to the end without killing him.

The door opened again, and all six ninja glanced up as the cleaner from before came inside, followed by Skylor.

“Hey guys!” She announced, holding up the bag of noodles Dareth had seen before and shutting the door. “Brought you some food – all your usual orders. Figured you were getting hungry.”

“Skylor?!” Kai demanded, his face going red. “The heck are you doing here?”

The Master of Amber merely smirked. “When Master Wu explained you lot were apparently needing therapy, he asked me to help out, so I thought I’d cook you guys something. Trauma dumping makes a person hungry.”

“You knew about this?” Cole asked, as he rubbed Lloyd’s back. “The therapy, the kidnapping?”

She nodded as she walked over. “Wouldn’t really call it kidnapping. More like a uhh… strategical movement.”

“We were knocked out and taken to a strange place against our will.” Nya pointed out, as she led Jay over to Skylor. “Yes, I think we can call it kidnapping.”

“Well, it’s working. You guys are dealing with your trauma, right?” Skylor asked, reaching into the bag as the others glanced at each other. “Alright, who wants food?”

The cleaner got to work on the carpet, scrunching up his face and grumbling to himself about something as he began to scrub. Meanwhile, all the ninja hurried over to Skylor as she pulled out several containers of food.

“Lloyd, got your plain noodles… Nya, there’s your fried rice… Cole has the vegie surprise…” Skylor muttered to herself as she handed them all out. “… Jay’s favourite ramen… Zane, here’s your usual salad… and Kai, your typical spicy explosion?”

Each of the ninja took the container and cutlery Skylor offered, murmuring thanks and finding a seat around the room to eat. The only sounds for a moment were chewing, rustling and slurping (with the last one mostly coming from Jay).

“So…” Skylor said, scrunching up the bag. “How far into the trauma are we?”

Kai groaned. “Forgot we weren’t finished. Dude, what the hell?”

“So Master Wu did organise all this?” Zane asked, looking up from his salad with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep.” Skylor said, taking a seat on the other side of Lloyd, who slowly rested his head on her shoulder. “PIXAL called me up and explained the plan. Gotta say, you guys… really have been through a lot.”

Dareth felt his stomach twist at her words.

Maybe Kai was right. Maybe being a ninja wasn’t as glamourous and exciting as he had used to think.

“You were in on this?” Lloyd asked, looking up at the red head with confusion.

Skylor snorted. “Yeah. After Wu sent you guys on a detour, managed to organise the session and convinced Dareth to be your therapist, he sent me, PIXAL and Ronin to bring you guys here.”

“So, you’re the weird masked guys who knocked us out and brought us here?” Cole asked, finding the green blanket Lloyd had before and tossing it onto the Green Ninja.

Skylor nodded as she crumpled up the bag. “For a bunch of highly-trained ninjas, you guys were really easy to take out.”

“HEY!” All six of them cried.

“We were unprepared!”

“You guys came out of nowhere!”

“You forgetting we went through a massive fight two months ago?!”

“I’m gonna kill you later, I swear to the First Master!”

Dareth chuckled. “Wow. Honestly, fair.”

He checked the time on his watch. He probably had about ten more minutes before he’d need to get back in there.

“Hey, uhh, what happened after the whole thing with the Time Twins?” Edna asked.

Dareth shrugged. “Honestly, who knows? This therapy session is digging up memories I don’t even remember.”

-----------------------------------------------

“Are we sure we should continue this?” PIXAL asked, turning to Master Wu.

So far, the session seems to have been going fine. There’d been a few minor hiccups, but everyone had been doing alright.

Until PIXAL had remembered what came next in this conversation.

“Why shouldn’t we? You were correct – the therapy is working well.” Wu asked, raising an eyebrow and tightening the grip he had on his staff.

“Do you not remember what comes next?” She glanced at Lord Garmadon, who seemed very invested in his noodles, and lowered her voice before continuing. “The Sons of Garmadon? The Quiet One? The Oni Masks?”

Both of them looked up at the screens. One in the top corner was focused on Lloyd, who was wrapped in a fluffy green blanket and resting his head on Skylor’s shoulder. Unlike the rest of his teammates (who were all chatting with Skylor), the Green Ninja looked lost in thought.

“Do you think Lloyd can handle that?” She asked quietly.

PIXAL had been there when Lord Garmadon’s evil side had returned. She remembered the horror of watching Lloyd be destroyed by the father he used to love, of thinking her love and her friends had been destroyed by the Colossuses, of knowing her city was crumbling.

The scariest part of it? It had been watching Lloyd, the friend and leader she’d known and trusted for years, be manipulated, tortured and broken for weeks. He’d never really recovered from what Harumi had done to his self-esteem.

Wu’s face fell. “It is too late to turn back now. They must deal with everything.”

PIXAL turned to look at Dareth, who was seated at the back next to Jay’s parents, eating noodles. She sighed.

“I will warn Dareth of what is to come. And perhaps give him some more note paper.”

Chapter Text

Sometimes Lloyd wondered if he was losing his mind.

After everything he’d been through, he wouldn’t be surprised if one day his mind just snapped, almost like a broken bone.

Sitting here, listening to his friends describing their early adventures… it scared him to realize just how badly scarred they’d all become after they’d joined the team.

And those stupid voices in the back of his head just wouldn’t shut up.

The food was helpful, at least. He hadn’t been expecting Skylor to show up, but he was grateful for the familiar taste of his favorite noodles. It reminded him of mealtimes at the monastery, with the clatter of cutlery and the sounds of laughter.

First Master, he wished he was home right now. He wanted his headphones, or to have a minty treat, or to sit with his friends and laugh about something stupid. This room suddenly seemed incredibly small and crapped, like the walls were closing in, crushing him.

Not long after the cleaner guy left the room (having finished cleaning up the vomit, thank FSM), leaving behind a weird chemical smell, Skylor pulled out her phone and checked the time.

“Ah shoot, guys, I gotta run. Got a shift in an hour.” She said, ruffling Lloyd’s hair as she stood up and collected all their containers.

Several of the others groaned as they stood up, finding their same places on the couches from before.

Lloyd agreed. He didn’t want Skylor to go. If she did, it meant he’d have to continue this stupid therapy session, and he would rather eat worms slowly one by one (he'd done it before with tremendous regret, and though he'd hoped to never do it again, if it meant no more therapy then he'd eat a whole bucket full).

Surely, they’d be let out soon, right? It had been around midday when they’d gone to the warehouse, and the time on Skylor’s phone showed that several hours had passed.

Kai asked, “Does that mean Dareth will be back in soon?”

“Yep. Good luck with the rest of your session, guys.” Skylor told them, giving Nya a quick hug before making her way to the door. “I’ll come visit you later, if you like.”

The click of the door made everyone jump as Dareth reentered the room, carrying a stack of notepads and pens. Skylor held the door as the Brown Ninja shuffled into the room, before waving and walking out, closing the door behind her, her red ponytail swishing around.

“Wow.” Lloyd murmured, staring at Dareth as he adjusted his blanket.

“Uhh, Dareth? Where’d you get all that?” Cole asked, frowning as he leaned on Kai and threw the black and white blanket from before over both their bodies.

Dareth chuckled as he resumed his seat in his armchair. “Made a pit stop while I was on break. Alrighty, you guys ready to get back into it?”

Lloyd glanced at his friends – Kai looked exhausted, Cole and Zane looked frustrated, Jay was looking sick again and Nya was staring off into space.

Yes Dareth, Lloyd thought bitterly. We’re so excited to continue diving into our decade-long trauma from being ninja and have you write down every single word as we all freak out.

“So, apparently, we had the whole thing with the Sons of Garmadon next?”

Oh shit.

He’d known he’d have to talk about Morro’s possession and the time he released the Serpentine tribes. And about all the times he’d watched his teammates die, be captured and tortured.

But he’d forgotten what else.

The Sons of Garmadon. The worst parts of his father coming back. Him and his mother taking turns drowning. Watching his friends be crushed. Losing his powers. Seeing his city fall. Crying into Nya’s shoulder, feeling more broken and emptier than ever.

The sound of Harumi’s voice, haunting his dreams for weeks, with her paint-soaked face and her sickeningly sweet voice, singing that stupid spider lullaby…

It felt as though he’d been run through with a sharp blade all over his body. Like the wounds he’d received during that period were fresh and still bleeding.

He hadn’t seen Harumi in months, ever since they’d first started rebuilding the monastery. Someone had mentioned something about community service, how she was volunteering with young children who’d lost their homes or families during the Crystal invasion. But First Master only knew where she was and what she was really doing.

Part of him had forgiven her – she’d helped turn the tide during the final battle after all, and Lloyd knew better than anyone the benefits of getting a second chance. Where would he be right now if his uncle and his friends hadn’t taken him in and let him correct his mistakes?

But the other part of him – the one who was carrying that ball of emotions and anger he’d been juggling for years – wanted to kill her, torture her, put her through all the pain he’d suffered.

She’d broken his trust more brutally than any villain or former ally, toying with his emotions like she did.

“Yes. After several months of separation, the six of us finished our missions and met back up in the city.” Zane started, though Lloyd could barely hear him over the ringing in his ears.

“Missions?” Dareth asked, crossing his legs, opening a fresh notepad and clicking his pen.

It was so loud, so bright. Why couldn’t he calm down?

“The six of us were on various missions around the Realm, either stopping criminals or searching for Master Wu.” Zane continued. “But when we learnt of a new threat to the city, we came back together and went to the palace of the royal family.”

“Ahh, that place was so cool. Remember how we got to eat all that great food?” Jay sighed, cuddling his blue teddy.

His blanket was slipping off. His head was pounding, as though someone was ramming it into a brick wall.

“And it was there we learnt about the Oni Masks.” Cole said, his face scrunched up in thought as he thought back.

Now he was shivering. He felt like he was having a mental battle – two different voices, one raspy and rageful, one nervous and high, both fighting for dominance in his mind.

Calm down, you idiot. They’re going to notice if you freak out.

But I can’t stop thinking about this.

Do you want them to ask about what you went through?

Well, we’re in therapy. We don’t have a choice, do we? They’re not going to let us out unless we talk.

Says who? What’s stopping us from tackling the brown man, taking his keys and making a run for it?

We’ve made it this far. We might as well finish it off.

This is why you should never get to make decisions. What is this even doing, besides giving the brown man more information about us?

What is it our uncle likes to say? Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today. If we don’t complete this discussion, we’ll just have to talk about it another time.

Ugh, you’re a pain. Fine, let us suffer.

He vaguely remembered that his blood was a mixture of Oni and Dragon, and right now it felt like the two creatures were going at it, arguing like children.

He wished (ooh, maybe he should watch saying that word around Jay and Nya from now on) they’d shut up.

“Oh, I remember those ugly things.” Dareth murmured as he flipped to a fresh page, his pen flying across the paper. “There were three, weren’t there?”

He needed to fix his blanket, calm down, join in the conversation. If anyone noticed he was stressed…

He didn’t mind if his friends saw him freak out, but he knew Dareth would just write twice as much if he did, and he had the strangest feeling they were being watched.

“Yeah, and by the time the six of us had reunited and gone to the castle, those Sons of Garmadon assholes had already stolen one – the Deception one, I think.” Nya explained, as Jay began to braid her hair again. “The Mask of Hatred was under heavy guard at the palace, and at the time, no one knew where the other mask was.”

As the other ninja continued talking with Dareth about the SOG gang and the masks, Lloyd felt himself shaking.

He couldn’t make himself move. It was as though Zane had encased him in ice, or like Morro was running his ghostly hands down his spine once again.

We really are such a weak creature. Look how he shakes, like a crying child. If you can’t keep control of your emotions, how are you supposed to do this?

Shut up, damnit. You’re the one making him weak, reminding him of his mistakes.

I’m only reminding us of how much stronger we could be. How much power fits into this small form. How many battles we’ve endured, how many people we’ve hurt.

Do you ever be silent? Is there an off switch?

Think about it, idiot. That Harumi girl said it perfectly: How many times has Ninjago fallen when we were supposed to be the ones protecting it? How many people have lost their homes and loved ones because their beloved ninja were too weak to fight?

You were the one wanting us to calm down. How is this helping us calm down?

You’ve killed people, Lloyd.

“Shut up.” He muttered under his breath.

Nya looked up at his voice, concern on her face, the braids in her hair sticking up slightly, almost like antenna. None of the boys noticed, too busy debating with each other what had happened at the palace when the Sons of Garmadon attacked.

You call yourself a hero. Heroes don’t let their cities crumble while they sob in the corner. Heroes don’t let their friends sacrifice themselves and then forget about their deaths.

“Shut up, please.” He hissed, shutting his eyes.

His friends’ voices were so loud.

“Dude, I’m telling you, we went out through the front gate!”

“I thought we went out through the tunnels!”

“First Master, you guys are stupid.”

“I recall us escaping on the Bounty. Where did this idea of a tunnel even come from?”

“I swear there was a tunnel!”

“You’re thinking of Chen’s Island! That was like four adventures ago, man!”

“Jay, chill. You get more pitchy when you’re annoyed.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Cole!”

“Hey, you guys remember how we found Master Wu as a baby during all this?”

“First Master, that was weird. Remember how he drank all the tea?”

“You’re the one who fed him tea, dude!”

“Hey, I tried feeding him literally everything else on the ship! You ever tried feeding a fussy baby before? It’s not exactly easy!”

Your friends don’t even need you. How many times have they gotten hurt or killed under your leadership? How many times have you been the reason for their pain and suffering?

That was NOT OUR FAULT.

Zane’s sacrifice. Jay’s battle with Nadakhan. Cole’s fall. Kai losing his powers. Nya merging with the sea.

As the raspy voice spoke, Lloyd saw flashes of what it was describing – Zane pushing power from his chest, Jay sobbing with his back and arms covered in bloody wounds, Cole screaming as he fell into the cloud, Kai shivering as he tried fruitlessly to summon his powers, Nya leaping off the building into the water…

Nya was touching him. He knew it was her – her cooling touch the only sensation he could feel amid the voices and memories. Her hand was wrapped around his wrist.

Our friends have suffered because of our mistakes. And they hate you for it.

WE HELP OUR FRIENDS. THEY LOVE AND SUPPORT US. WE NEED THEM AND THEY NEED US.

YOU’RE A MONSTER, LLOYD. ACCEPT IT AND END THIS.

Lloyd couldn’t take it anymore. The noises, the colors, the thoughts... it was too much.

“SHUT UP, DAMNIT!” He cried, his hands flying to his head and pressing against his temples.

Finally silence.

It took him a minute to realize that the voices in his head weren’t the only ones who had gone quiet. Everyone in the room was staring at him in shock – even Dareth had dropped his pen.

“Ughh.” Lloyd stood up, annoyance flooding his mind. He wanted to break something.

“Lloyd? Everything okay?” Nya asked gently, unwrapping herself from Jay’s arms and moving closer to him.

His feet were starting to feel like heavy anchors at the bottom of the ocean, dragging him further and further down. Nya let go of him, the braids in her hair unraveling.

We need to calm down. Freaking out will only make things worse.

Great. They hadn’t been silenced.

There’s no point. Go on Lloyd, let it all out. Show them the evil side you’ve been dampening all these years.

“What’s happening right now?” Cole asked, pulling his blanket off.

He wanted to claw his eyes out. He wanted them all to leave him alone, to let him out of this stupid room and for the voices to SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Different voices echoed throughout his mind – voices of allies, enemies and people he hadn’t even thought about in years.

You’re such a brat. No wonder your parents left you. A classmate back at Darkley’s. He couldn’t recall their name, and their face was fuzzy. But that one line had stuck with him ever since he was little.

Lloyd is the Green Ninja! His uncle, so full of pride. He’d been waiting for this moment for centuries, to finally see the Golden Weapons glow as they found the one in the prophecy.

We need to prepare you to fight your father. The early morning training, the sparring, the battles with pirates and snakes… all to prepare an eight-year-old to fight his monster of a father.

Sloppy. Sad. Pathetic. Pythor, that prick of a snake. One of the first people who’d betrayed him. Never trust a snake.

Ninja never quit. Three words. Spoken more times than he could count. A constant reminder of honour and bravery, and to keep fighting through the pain and struggles.

Don’t worry, big shot. I’ll watch over you from now on. Oh Kai… how could he do anything but worry?

Save your strength, ‘cause I’ll be needing it. Morro. A frequent face in his nightmares. With his cold touch and taunting voice, using his own body against him.

Bite your tongue, Green Ninja! The fight is all but over. Harumi. His first love, and his biggest regret.

I have no son. His father said those four words right before throwing him through concrete, breaking bones and his spirit.

He scrunched up his face in pain, trying to push out the thoughts and voices.

We need to breathe, we need to relax. This is going too far.

Would you prefer we bottled all this up again until it spills out?

He could hear muffled sounds – his friends talking to him, asking what was wrong, trying to reassure him, and the sound of Dareth’s drawling voice.

First Master, he was done with Dareth. This therapy session had gone on too long, and all it had proven was that he and his friends were seriously fucked up.

“Lloyd?”

He was greeted by Nya when he finally opened his eyes. She had moved to stand directly in front of him, blocking his view of Dareth, her hands held out as if he was a crying child.

Oh wait. He was crying. His eyes stung, the way they always did when he cried.

Why was he so freaked out? He shouldn’t be acting this way. Shit.

He looked around the room. Everyone but Dareth had stood up and gathered around him, all keeping about an arm’s distance except for Nya, probably because of her comment earlier when he had a panic attack. Their faces were full of concern, and it made him feel sick.

This isn’t how a leader behaves.

“I’m sorry.” Lloyd murmured, placing his shaking hands in Nya’s outstretched ones and squeezing, trying to focus on her touch.

“It’s alright, Greenie.” Kai told him, putting on a small smile. “We all need to freak out sometimes. You looked like you needed it.”

“Yeah.” Cole added, still wrapped in his blanket like it was a towel. “We… we don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”

Yes, yes, listen to the earth one. We could ask to leave.

No. It wouldn’t be fair on the others. Our friends have told some of their stories – we need to finish this one.

Lloyd had a new idea. Instead of listening to those voices, he came up with a new approach.

Go ninja go!

Besides, we have what is most important – you.

Come on, Lloyd!

GIVE ME MY 600 BUCKS OR I SWEAR ON THE FIRST SPINJITZU MASTER I WILL FLIP THIS BOARD!

Fear? Fear isn’t a word where I come from! Ha-ha!

Oh, you’re going down, shortie!

I got you, little brother!

Everything okay?

We’re a team. And we’re not leaving anyone behind.

Pass the salt? No, Kai, I said the salt, no, pUT JAY DOWN-

Ahh, I love you guys.

He looked at each of them – the ones he’d fought a million battles with, both physical and emotional. His friends, his teammates, his siblings.

They were the only voices that mattered.

“Deep breaths, Lloyd.” Zane murmured, adjusting his gi.

“You need a fidget toy?” Jay asked, offering him the entire box.

“Anything we can do?” Cole wanted to know, adjusting his blanket to wrap around the upper half of his body.

He turned back to Nya. The markings on her face seemed to glow slightly as she smiled.

“You’re alright.” She assured him.

------------------------------------------------------

Lord Garmadon knew many things.

He knew that he was older than most of the temples and buildings in Ninjago City. He knew Vinny’s exact pizza order – eight slices of pepperoni with extra cheese and no pepper. He knew over a hundred ways to kill someone with just a sword.

What he didn’t know was how to help his son.

When Wu had called Vinny’s apartment and explained that they were going to be taking the ninja into therapy, Garmadon had been curious. He’d asked to watch what happened, but this had not been what he was expecting.

Arriving at the office had been awkward enough. They’d gotten there ten minutes late because Wu had sent them the wrong address (typical of his foolish brother), so when he’d walked into the room with the cameras, everyone had freaked out (the screams had irritated his ears).

He recognized several of the faces in the room – mostly because they were the ninja’s parents and allies. He knew most of their names and faces - had even been friends with some of them in the past.

Even Ray and Maya were there, the former Elemental Masters of Fire and Water. They’d been part of the original Elemental Alliance, before going missing not long after the war ended. He hadn’t thought about them in years, but here they sat, watching their children.

Once that had been dealt with, he’d watched with everyone else as the ninja were brought into therapy and began to tell stories of their adventures and backgrounds.

Different discussions had stirred different memories in his mind.

Talk of the Overlord had given him flashbacks to the final battle, and when they’d discussed Chen’s Island, a fuzzy memory of fighting Clouse emerged. While he hadn’t been present for most of the ninjas' adventures, he felt like he was digging through an old dusty box, filled with objects he hadn’t thought about in years.

Ever since he’d been brought back from the Cursed Realm, his memories from when he was younger were cloudy, almost like the evil in his blood was trying to bury his happy memories. It was conflicting.

When the Master of Amber had arrived bringing noodles, it reminded him of old times with the Elemental Alliance – sitting around the table in the monastery kitchen, planning to battle the Serpentine and enjoying noodles. The Amber girl had even brought his favourite flavor – the spicy explosion, filled with every spice available at Chen’s Noodle House.

Throughout most of the session, Lord Garmadon had been trying to understand what was going through his son’s mind. Lloyd was a complicated person, and Garmadon knew he couldn’t go in and help him – his son was still hesitant to trust him.

As he’d done for all his life, he needed to step back and let his son decide his destiny.

Things had been going fine, until they’d began the conversation of what happened before Garmadon had been resurrected into his evil form, and Lloyd had another breakdown.

He’d had one earlier, when they’d been discussing something about a ghostly former student of Wu’s. But this one seemed more severe, as though his mind was collapsing.

The brown man and the other ninja were… trying to help. Any fool with half a brain could see that. But his son wasn’t listening to anyone.

Around him, the others were talking quietly, wondering what Lloyd would do next.

All Garmadon could do was watch in silence.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Lloyd had the strangest feeling he was being watched.

Not by anyone in the room, but by… something else. Like outsider eyes were staring at him, wondering what he’d do next.

Once he’d calmed down better and the voices had gone quieter, he and the others had found their usual positions on the couch, and Lloyd listened silently while his friends explained the story to Dareth.

“… and then the Colossus started destroying the city.”

“Oh, I remember that thing. Giant, grey and glowing purple, right?”

No one was looking at him – well, except for Dareth, who occasionally shot him glances over his notebook as he continued taking notes.

He’d found a strange looking green poppet shaped like a video game console to play with while the others talked. The popping was kind of soothing, but his stomach was still twisted into too many knots.

“Hey Kai, didn’t you jump on top of that thing?”

“No!”

“Yep. I’m pretty sure he did.”

“What? Jay, you weren’t even there!”

“Well, I’ve learnt that if something goes wrong, usually your hot-headed ass is behind it.”

“Oh, like your chatty mouth hasn’t gotten us in trouble before?”

They were safe. There was nothing in here but fidget toys and pillows.

But Lloyd still couldn’t shake the feeling…