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“...You can't be serious.”
“Oh, I'm totally serious.”
Nya smiled her most annoying grin at her brother, twirling a pen between her fingers.
It was sweet how overprotective he was sometimes.
“Nya.” Kai stared her down, most seriously. “As your brother, I cannot allow you to—to interview that, that—”
“—Valuable source of information?” Nya guessed. “Exclusive informant?”
“He's Lloyd Garmadon!” Kai exploded. “Son of the evil Lord Garmadon! The guy who attacks this place every other day, might I add?” He groaned in exasperation and rubbed his temples. “Why did we even move here… Why would anyone move here…”
“Better work options, I guess.” Nya shrugged, vaguely quoting their parents. “But we're here now, and I know at least one of us is going to make the best of it!”
“...By surveying the local murderous demon spawn.” Kai gave her a deadpan look.
“Oh, please.” Nya waved a careless hand. “I'd say he's more of a… greenish blond shrimp, if anything. What's he gonna do?”
Kai promptly opened his mouth to list out the miles of rumors, but Nya shushed him before he could make a sound.
“Come on, Kai! We're new here, so I’ve gotta make a splash. What better way to do that than get the scoop on an evil warlord straight from his kid? Go big or go home, big bro!” She grinned like a shark. “Who knows, maybe journalism's gonna be my thing.”
Kai sighed and dragged his hand through his spikes. “...Is there anything I can do to stop you?”
“Nope! Wish me luck.”
“Just come back alive, would you? I don't feel like getting arrested for manslaughter today…er, demon-slaughter.”
“Eh, I don't think anyone cares.” Nya shrugged, scooped up her papers and clipboard, and skipped off in a beeline towards the infamous Garmatable.
Kai mumbled a quick prayer for her safety to Lloyd's grandfather under his breath.
“Hi there!”
The first reaction Nya got from the demon prawn was a visible flinch at her voice.
He was facing the opposite direction, completely alone at the table and wearing a very green hoodie.
The hood was up, and Lloyd’s shoulders were hunched to make himself look even shrimpier than normal.
He did not turn around.
“...H-hi,” he said, at last, when Nya's presence gave no signs of leaving. “Uh… do you want something?”
Nya frowned.
Wow, he looks really tense.
For some reason, she'd expected a little more… bite? Menace? Some confidence or something, at least?
Pfft. Some evil heir.
Nya shook it off, and cut to the chase. “So. You're Lloyd Garmadon, right?” she asked.
Another flinch. “Y-yeah, that's me…”
“Well, I got some questions for you. Mind if I sit down?”
“Um…sure. I mean, no!” he panicked. “Of course I don't mind! English! Grammar! Words! Stupid…” he hissed quietly, though that part seemed meant for himself. “Not that it matters, or anything… Just…j-just do whatever you want.”
“Um…O—K, then.”
Nya sat down.
Across from him.
Lloyd's eyes, which had dark circles under them—or maybe bruises, she couldn't tell—were a weird, glowing green. Huh. After one startled shared glance, they flicked around nervously, settling on the table, his lunch tray, the wall—anywhere but her.
Yeesh, that was going to get annoying.
Nya cleared her throat, trying to command her subject's attention. “So. What's that—some kind of weird Garmadon food?” She pointed at the strange, gloopy mass on his tray.
“Huh?” Lloyd blinked. He looked down in mild surprise, like it had just spawned into existence in front of him. Poked tentatively at the blob with a fork.
“Umm… I'm not sure?” he stammered. “I-I don't think so? It's just—it's just cafeteria food.” He grimaced as it squelched slightly. “Probably.”
Now that Nya thought about it, it did look a bit like the slimy edges of the slightly-more-edible-looking casserole dish being served that day, all scraped up and scooped on a plate.
(Thank goodness their parents had forced her and Kai to pack their own lunches.)
“Oh. Huh. I thought it was like, I dunno, condensed evil or something.” Nya waved a hand at the so-called “food.”
(Were they trying to starve him?)
Lloyd gave a little huff of amusement, then quickly attempted to cover it up with a cough.
“So. Um. The rest of the questions?” he asked, making eye contact for a couple moments before looking away. “...I dunno, just… if you want to get it over with. That's all.”
He looked quite a bit like he wanted to get it over with himself.
“Oh, yeah. Right.” Nya glanced at her clipboard. “Um… Aha! Here it is.” She cleared her throat importantly and clicked her pen.
“How would you describe Lord Garmadon, when he's not trying to conquer the city?”
Crickets.
Slightly irritated, Nya looked up. “Well?”
Lloyd was looking at her for once this time, at least. Absolutely silent.
Should’ve known he'd be a tough nut to crack, Nya thought grimly. Looks could be deceiving, after all.
She waited, eyebrows raised. Clicked the pen. Intimidation.
“...I-I don't know,” Lloyd managed at last. “I've never met him.”
Nya blinked.
“What do you mean, never met him?!”
Lloyd shrank a little at her tone, accidentally too sharp. Oh well. Whatever. He was just a demon shrimp, anyway.
“He's your dad, isn't he?” She poked the pen in his direction, like the accusation. “Liar.”
“I'm telling the truth, I promise!” Lloyd's palms shot up, like she was going to arrest him or something. “I mean, I-I guess he was there when I was a baby? But that's it. I don't remember. Mom left when I was really little. W-with me, of course,” he added hastily.
More silence.
“...They didn't even, like, split custody or anything?” Nya asked.
Lloyd's eyes widened, as if in horror at the prospect. “No! Of course not! H-how would that even work?” He gave a short, slightly panicked little laugh and tugged at his hair. “I-I just live with my mom. Honest.”
“...Oh.” Nya frowned, disappointed. She glanced down at the questions on her clipboard.
Well, that just made my job a lot harder.
It looked like this wasn't going to be as simple as she thought.
Nya sighed. She scribbled something down.
Completely useless. Doesn't live with his dad :(
OK—so what if one didn't apply? Nya was never the type to stay down for long. She tapped her pen on the next line.
“Alright, let's try this again,” she announced briskly. “Is Garmadon human?”
She paused, thoughtful. Looked him over, up and down.
“...Are you human?”
Lloyd shifted uncomfortably. Ran his tongue across his teeth.
They were sharper than usual, Nya noted. Has fangs, she wrote.
“...I-I’m not sure,” he admitted at last. “I'm half-human, at least. Maybe more? Dunno about my dad.” He shrugged. “I've tried asking my uncle, but he usually just gets all cryptic and vague about it.”
His tone was slightly bitter.
Nya wondered, for a moment, what that would be like. Not knowing.
“...Mom says it doesn't matter,” he continued. “You know, 'the heart is what counts' and all that, yada yada. But…”
He bit his lip.
It kind of does.
“That stinks,” Nya said honestly. “I think it would drive me nuts.”
Lloyd smiled a little. It looked wrong on him. “You get used to it.” He shrugged.
Probably not, Nya wrote, for the answer. Doesn't know.
“Well, I'm guessing you won't be much help for this either, but here goes nothing.” Nya exhaled and drummed the pen on the table. “Do you have any explanation for Garmadon's…appearance?”
Lloyd laughed helplessly. “Nope.”
“...Any for yours?” Nya asked. Lloyd blinked at her. “I mean, like, why do you look so…normal?” she rephrased. “And what's with the freaky green eyes?”
Lloyd flinched. He lifted a hand to his face.
Whoops, she hadn't meant to say that out loud.
…But he was just a demon shrimp, anyway. Whatever.
Right?
“...Sorry,” Nya decided to say at last.
“It-it's OK,” Lloyd mumbled. “And I don't really know anything about that, either.” He slumped.
Nya paused, looking at her list.
She looked at Lloyd.
…Maybe she should just leave him alone.
But no, she had a job to finish. Smiths weren't quitters, after all.
Nya sighed. “Alright, I’ve just got two more left and we're good. Got it, greenie?”
He startled at the nickname, before she continued.
“What is Lord Garmadon's true motivation for conquering Ninjago?”
She stared hard at him.
He stared back. Opened and shut his mouth like a fish. Thinking.
“...I don't know,” he said carefully. “I guess it could be revenge, or a grudge, or-or something. Maybe he just likes destroying things. Some people…” He swallowed. “...Most people think it's genetic.”
There was a heavy silence.
“...I kinda hope it's not,” he said, in a small voice. Looking down at that sad pile of “food.”
Nya's heart cracked a little, the outer shell snapping like a crunchy layer of glass.
She reached across the table to touch him, on the shoulder.
Lloyd flinched.
“Hey,” she said softly. “‘Most people’ can be wrong too, you know.” She paused. “I sure was.”
The prawn's creepy green eyes met her own, and held them.
Yep, the shadows underneath were definitely bruises.
“...You said you had one more question?” he asked.
Nya looked down at her sheet.
Does Lloyd Garmadon plan on following in his father's footsteps?
…She'd be making a few changes to that article.
“I think I already know the answer.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Kai shook his head vigorously, during a later school lunch break.
“Kai.”
“No. Way,” he persisted. “I'm not doing it!”
“Kai!”
“I am not—I repeat, we are not sharing our table with some evil little demon spawn!” He slapped a palm on the aforementioned furniture and glared at her sternly. “We're the new kids, Nya! I know you want to ‘make a splash,’ but do you have any idea what this will do to our reputation?!”
“Hey!” Nya glared right back. “First off, don't call him that! His name is Lloyd, and you'll come up with plenty of way better nicknames later. Trust me.”
She paused. “Besides, I think you'll like him.” A slow smile spread across her face. “I think he could use an overprotective big brother.”
“Ugh.” Kai groaned in resignation. “Fiine, have it your way. He can visit.”
Nya grinned.
“But don't get your hopes up!” he insisted. “This is just for once! One day only!”
She rolled her eyes.
“Sure, sure. Whatever you say, bro.”
Several days later…
“Nya. Where can I get adoption papers.”
The revised article—“Lloyd Garmadon: Not Who You Think”—was an absolute flop.
“Is this a joke to you?” Gayle snapped incredulously, waving the paper at Nya before she slammed the club's door in her face.
Eh. Oh well, she'd tried.
Nya shrugged.
She'd always been more into mechanical engineering anyway.