Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Can I have a bathroom pass?”

Lloyd’s brows furrowed as he glanced over to the two students who had just jumped out of their seats, hands raised above their heads. This had to be the fourth time they were ditching class using the same excuse.

“I think you mean may I. ‘May I have a bathroom pass?’” the teacher corrected crossly, poking her head out from under the desk with a glare. Then, however, she shrunk back down. “Actually, you know what? Do whatever you want.”

…Somehow, it never failed.

The duo immediately rushed out of the classroom, leaving it in complete silence — if one could ignore the Garmalarm that was blaring throughout the city, that is. Very kind of the city to announce his arrival for him, as Garmadon would say. Though that unfortunately meant the Secret Ninja Force were also alerted, rushing to give his dad a very special housewarming gift that may or may not involve a beating.

…On that note, his dad probably needed his help. Lloyd pushed out of his chair, the sudden noise gathering startled attention. “Lloyd Garmadon! Where do you think you’re going?” Mrs. Ippi demanded as he strolled up to the door.

“You said we can do whatever we want, right?” Lloyd said, turning the handle. “So, I’m leaving.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mrs. Ippi open her mouth, but the door slammed on her glaring-yet-mildly-terrified face before she could get a word out. All the better for Lloyd, really. He did not want to know what she had to nitpick about his sentences.

To be honest, this mode of exit was probably even more suspicious than the constant bathroom passes the other two used. But, well, it wasn’t like anybody was going to question him about it. Such were the perks of being the son of Garmadon. The threats his father had given everyone last year were probably still fresh on their minds. It certainly was on Lloyd’s, and he hadn’t even been on the receiving end.

They could never trace him to his secret identity anyways. He was meticulous enough to ensure that, even if it required assistance from less-than-ideal business partners.

He took off down the hallway, pace brisk, steps quiet on the sleek floor. He soon came upon his locker and, after checking both ways, pulled it open, grabbed his duffel bag, and pressed a finger against a shark-shaped sticker on the backside of the locker. The scanner took about three seconds to analyze his fingerprint before he felt a faint vibration as it confirmed his identity. The shelves and their content were pulled back into a hidden compartment as the locker wall retracted, leaving an empty space perfectly his size. He stepped inside, and the locker door clicked shut as the ground gave way beneath him.

Sent into free-fall, Lloyd pulled his suit out of the bag and swiftly changed into battle-ready clothes in midair, stashing his previous outfit away. A few more seconds of weightlessness later, he felt the anti-gravity barrier begin to kick in, slowing his fall to a steady descent. His feet lightly touched solid ground a few moments later. And without so much as a brief bout of nausea, too — a massive improvement from his first time coming here, which had ended up with him crouched over the edge of the circular platform he was currently standing on and barfing out his lunch. Impressive as they were, anti-gravity barriers were horribly disorienting. It was why his dad didn’t use them as often as he could –— their soldiers weren’t able to handle them well (and neither could Garmadon, though the dark lord would sooner be blown up than admit that).

The duffel bag was thrown aside as Lloyd finished adjusting his uniform. The intense fluorescent lights hanging above the otherwise pitch-black underground base highlighted a rather impressive motorcycle in the center of the platform. Its mirror-like surface sparkled with a vermillion sheen, upkept with clear devotion. And Lloyd was, admittedly, pretty proud of his bike. One of the many things his father had taught him during his childhood was bike-riding (by which, of course, he meant military motorcycle-riding); in fact, there was probably no cyclist better than Lloyd by now. For his fourteenth birthday, Garmadon had gifted him a state-of-the-art motorcycle manufactured and assembled by his scientists (or ‘nerds’, as he liked to call them) — which, in Lloyd’s opinion, had to have been the best birthday gift ever. He hadn’t gotten to use it much back then, having been only fourteen and all (and also having had to deal with school for the first time in his life); but as he turned fifteen and truly began aiding his father in his ‘passion project,’ the bike had come in very handy.

He sprinted towards the vehicle now, hefting a sheathed pair of katanas behind his back as he passed by a sword stand. Jumping onto the seat, he pulled out a helmet and set it down over his head. Two white eyes silhouetted by swirling red patterns flickered into existence on the crimson visor — eyes that were only second to Garmadon’s in its fear-inducing effect. They followed the movement of his face, allowing him to emote when needed.

Dubbed by major news outlets as Lord Garmadon’s right hand, Mr. E was geared up and ready for battle.

The motorcycle spurred into life with a faint rumble. Lloyd took off towards a long bridge that connected the platform to one of several tunnels cut into the far walls. Neon lights reflected off the bike and his visor in blinking lines as he sped through the city underground. The tunnel eventually slanted upwards, opening up to a distant light. A moment later, the motorcycle leapt out of a discreet alleyway, plowing through garbage and various debris. With a screech, Lloyd rounded the corner and into the main street, opening up to a view of the city. Chaos — a staple of his dad’s visits — reigned supreme. The broadcasting station must’ve been taken over again, judging by the fact that every screen was currently displaying said warlord as he let out a cackle.

His father’s appearance truly lived up to his fearsome reputation. Resting upon his head was his signature horned helmet, the glowing red eyes beneath them made more prominent with his pitch-black skin. His jagged teeth glinting in the noon sunlight and his four arms ending in clawed fingers joined everything else to scream: this is an oni. The greatest of them all. Menacing, imposing, awe-inspiring – somebody you couldn’t help noticing, mostly because it was impossible not to.

Garmadon’s voice bellowed through the speakers across the city. “Citizens of Ninjago! Get ready to greet your new ruler – I, Lord Garmadon!” On the screens, his mischievous grin widened as he continued, “Ninja, surrender now, and maybe I’ll spare your infrastructure! If you don’t, then don’t blame me when half the city’s budget goes towards reparations!”

An explosion rocked the city, coming from somewhere behind a group of tall buildings. That was enough of an indication towards where his dad was – and if Lloyd had to guess, where the Ninja would soon be, as well.

The crowd of civilians that had been fleeing on the street were thrown into another wave of panic as they registered Mr. E’s appearance, scrambling away from his route as he sped towards the blast zone. Decrepit buildings that had yet to recover from the previous visit blurred into one another, and the city center’s skyscrapers grew more imposing until they were looming over the highway. The acrid stench of sulfur and smoke breached through his helmet’s filters.

A smile grew on his face. If he closed his eyes, he might’ve believed that he was back at the volcano. His father always brought reminders of home whenever he visited.

Something green flashed on the window of a nearby building, and Lloyd’s thoughts halted. From the edge of his vision, he caught sight of a mechanical dragon flying in the same direction, a figure clad in black and green robes seated behind its head.

Lloyd’s eyes narrowed as his smile swiftly disappeared. The Green Ninja.

It seemed that the leader of the Secret Ninja Force was late to battle — which was highly unusual, since he was almost always the first to arrive. But, thinking back to his dad’s visits this past month or so, Lloyd noted that the paragon ninja had gradually been slipping up: the surprise attack on his dad’s formerly favorite guitar shop, Mr. E’s solo mission to steal ‘super-classified’ weapon blueprints from the Ninjargon military (or whatever was left of it), the Tuesday attack testing out a mech prototype, and all other various Shark Army hijinks had been thwarted mostly if not entirely by his peers. And given the Green Ninja’s extreme valor (or what the public perceived to be valor, anyway), it seemed almost out-of-character.

I’d better report this to Dad later. Lloyd added the thought to his internal to-do list and pressed on the pedal, racing against the dragon to the warlord in question.

But somewhere along the way, the dragon began veering towards him. Lloyd cursed internally and sped up until he was practically shooting through the city, leaving a neon red trail cutting through the smoke. But there was no hope of outrunning the dragon mech. Soon, it was close enough for Lloyd to spy the seams on the dragon’s golden whiskers and the ghostly green eyes of the rider on top.

“Hello, Mr. E!” the Green Ninja shouted through a speaker, closing in on Lloyd. “What a coincidence, meeting you here like this. Got places to be?”

Lloyd remained silent. After all, to the public, Garmadon’s right-hand man was mute. He instead sent a glare towards the ninja, who returned the favor with twice the intensity.

His tone was laced with mocking bravado as he said, “What? Not happy to see me? Well, sorry to bother you, but I’ll have to take up some of your time!”

The dragon swooped in for an attack, outstretched black claws glinting threateningly. Immediately, Lloyd leaned to the side — putting almost his entire weight behind it — as he turned the motorcycle ninety degrees and narrowly avoided getting snatched, his head hanging mere inches from the ground. The motorcycle screeched to a slow stop, but Lloyd kicked it back up and went zooming through a side route.

Dodging around vehicles and panicking civilians, Lloyd kept an eye on the rearview mirror as he attempted to shake off the Green Ninja. Overhead, his dad’s air force was flying about and causing havoc, serving as a useful distraction. But to his dismay, the ninja ignored the soldiers in favor of tailing after him, managing to make quick work of those who dared to get in his way.

What’s with this weirdo? Lloyd made another sharp turn at the next intersection, then one more, entering a narrow street. The flying mech shadowed him from above, refusing to let him go. Even higher up, another shadow passed over them, lightning erupting from its metal wings. Screams and gunfire ensued, rapidly diminishing as more crackles of electricity rendered the Shark Army’s planes useless. The Lightning Jet’s blue form zipped across the sky, smoking metal husks raining down in its wake.

It seemed that the Green Ninja had called Blue over to the scene, which, Lloyd supposed, explained why he hadn’t bothered to attack the Shark Army. He had the urge to check his mirror, to watch the pilots as they ejected themselves and threw open their issued parachutes. As a small thanks — or whatever — for trying to help. But right now, Lloyd had to worry less about the soldiers and more about himself, because the way ahead was a dead end.

Shoot, he thought. The Green Ninja must have noticed it, too, as the dragon mech lowered itself closer to the alley, claws twitching outwards. Lloyd wasn’t sure if it could actually fit between the gap and snatch him away, but he did not want to find out.

His eyes frantically flitted around for any sort of escape, and sure enough — there — he found an opportunity: a pair of planks perched on a broken window into a half-collapsed building. He waited to get closer before he made a sudden swerve to go up the boards, disappearing into the darkness. A small dust cloud followed him as he crashed onto the floor, swayed, then rumbled on. Avoiding pillars and piles of debris, he headed towards the opposite end of the building — but stopped. After all, chances were high that the Green Ninja would be waiting for him on the other side. So, instead, Lloyd would have to exit some other way.

Soft crunches accompanied him as he rolled through another empty room before stopping in front of a wall. Lloyd dismounted the bike, then reached behind him to pull out his katanas. They slid out of their sheaths smoothly, red blades glowing dimly in the dark. He hoped that there was enough energy left in them for this next part.

Approaching the wall, he stared at it for a second, then made two vertical slashes followed by two horizontal ones. The katanas flashed and released red energy that easily cut through the concrete with each movement, leaving a faintly glowing rectangle — large enough to fit him and the motorcycle — on its surface. Satisfied, he sheathed his weapons and quickly hopped onto his bike, backed up, then sent it flying through the fading outline, transferring the remaining energy from his katanas to the vehicle in the process. It crashed through the wall, sending dust and rubble flying everywhere as he emerged in a much narrower alley. Not wasting any time, he sped towards the light at the end of the passage.

He was back on the open road. The sudden sensory overload from the chaos-ridden city — with the sirens, the people, the helicopters, shots, shouts and screams — hit him like a Quake Mech shockwave. He needed another second to find his bearings and figure out Garmadon’s location (which was made easy by the explosions that tended to follow him) before resuming his approach.

Lloyd, to his great relief, managed to be unseen by the Green Ninja this time around and reached his destination without any issue. The telltale sounds of an ensuing fight greeted him as he rolled out of the shadow of a skyscraper. He halted abruptly as he neared the edge of a collapsed overpass, taking in the sight below him.

Locked in combat against Garmadon himself were the Red and White Ninja, somehow managing to work coherently as a team despite their clashing elements. Red’s Fire Mech sent waves of searing-hot flames towards Garmadon, forcing him to backtrack or cover himself, while White froze the shark-themed mech’s joints using his Ice Tank, impairing its movement. Sometimes, they would combine their fire and ice to drench Garmadon in water, momentarily disorienting him as he sputtered and complained. However, due to the difference in speed and size between the Red Ninja’s mech and White Ninja’s tank, they would occasionally have slips in their otherwise excellent coordination.

As Lloyd watched, the Red Ninja sent another pillar of scorching flames towards Garmadon just as White happened to fire his ice. The warlord immediately sent his mech reeling backwards, tearing away its frozen legs and making shards of ice rain over the already-littered ground. The two elements met where he had been a second ago and drizzled down as harmless water.

Without missing a beat, Garmadon sent a barrage of metal fish with razor-sharp teeth towards the Red Ninja. The Fire Mech immediately raised an arm, and the sharp sounds of metal striking against metal washed through the clearing. The warlord wasn’t done: with his mech’s other arm, he shot a torrent of scalding-hot lava at White, forcing him to swerve out of the way. Lloyd had always wondered how the Ninja mechs could be so durable while retaining speed (contrary to his father’s builds, which never seemed to last one visit). Whoever the Secret Ninja Force’s engineer was, they were good.

He didn’t really have the time to appreciate the craftsmanship of the ninja’s mechs, though, so he backed up before shooting towards the edge of the broken overpass at full throttle. The next moment, he was flying above the heads of everyone in the clearing below. It felt as though the world had gone into slow-motion. The sun hit his motorcycle from above, highlighting its polished surface as it stood suspended in midair, its underside drowned in shadows. Then, he was dropping down, landing right on top of the outstretched arm of his father’s mech as he speedily reacted to Lloyd’s entrance.

“Hello there, Mr. E!” he greeted cheerfully. “I was starting to wonder where the heck you were. You know, if you were any other soldier, I would’ve fired them in a heartbeat. But you’re great, so I’ll let this slide.”

Mr. E’s white eyes narrowed in response. Lloyd, meanwhile, cringed sheepishly beneath the helmet, knowing full well that this meant another one of Garmadon’s lectures. He had a perfectly reasonable excuse this time, though, since it wasn’t his fault the Green Ninja had decided to be a total headache and chase him around the city.

As if summoned by his thoughts, the Green Ninja’s mascot dragon announced its arrival with a roar, the sound reverberating throughout the clearing as it emerged from between a pair of apartment buildings.

“Garmadon!” the Green Ninja bellowed, his enhanced voice washing over their ears like the roaring wind. “Your presence is not welcome here. Leave Ninjago now, or face the consequences.”

“Well, hello to you too, Green Ninja,” Garmadon said in mock delight, turning to face the floating dragon. “As tempting as your offer is, I gotta say that taking over Ninjago sounds much sweeter. So, no.”

“Alright, then,” Green growled, and Lloyd clocked in on the way his hand hovered over a large red button on the dragon’s control panel. “Let’s do this the hard way.”

“Oh, I don’t think so — catch!”

And Lloyd was now shooting through the air after being thrown by Garmadon in the dragon’s direction. He went along with the impromptu surprise attack; a person tended to get to used to unpredictability after growing up in an active volcano. In the split second it took him to cross the clearing, he readied himself, then leapt out of his seat and barely managed to catch a hold of the dragon’s tail as Green attempted to evade him. He held on for dear life as the dragon began flying erratically to shake him off, channeling some of the katanas’ stored energy to his hands for extra measure.

Lloyd holstered himself up with a grunt, then dug his gloved hands into the metal. He had to act fast, or he’d be flung away like a fly. With that thought, his hands began to emit a red light through his gloves, and Lloyd felt the mech’s electrical energy course into him — absorbed into his being and turned into his own.

“Warning!” he heard a robotic voice cry from where Green was still manning the mech. “Energy reserves depleting at rapid speed. Emergency landing is recommended. Warning—!”

The Green Ninja audibly growled before diving onto a rooftop, doing a 360-degree spin in a final attempt to hurl Mr. E off the dragon. He failed, of course — but Lloyd soon found himself face-to-face with the leader of the Secret Ninja Force.

“So, Mr. E,” he sneered, “the chase around town wasn’t enough of a fight for you? You just gotta come crawling back for Round Two. Talk about being a sore loser.”

Mr. E narrowed his eyes. He knew that the Green Ninja was just trying to rile him up. It was a common tactic of his, if the months of fighting him had anything to suggest.

It would be best to answer him the only way he could.

Mr. E drew his katanas and assumed a stance, wagging a provocative finger as he let the stolen energy flow through his body.

The Green Ninja laughed, a dark smirk clear in his narrowed eyes and tipped head. “So, then. You wanna fight?” His green eyes flashed dangerously as he unsheathed his own sword. “Alright. But after you lose, you better not come crawling back for more.”

Lloyd gladly sped forward to take him up on the challenge, meeting the ninja’s blade with his own. Red energy crackled as he directed the currents to enhance his muscles, boosting his speed and strength. Despite that, the Green Ninja was only pushed back slightly, not even a grunt escaping his mask.

Lloyd disengaged before attacking the ninja once again from a different angle, his swords flashing as energy flowed into the scarlet metals. The Green Ninja managed to block each one of his relentless attacks, but was caught by surprise as Lloyd feinted a slash and suddenly kicked him square in the abdomen.

The ninja slid back a few meters, swiftly reorienting himself to block Mr. E’s following attack. The clash of metal resounded through the rooftop, mostly drowned out by the chaos happening beneath them. Garmadon was going all-out on the rest of the ninja, and underneath the mask, Lloyd smirked.

The Green Ninja’s eyes narrowed threateningly at Mr. E’s apparent bravado, a frustrated growl leaking through his mask. That was the only warning Lloyd received before the ninja suddenly switched tactics, pushing him back with surprising strength before beginning to rain countless attacks upon him as he spun continuously in a bizarre, ancient technique.

Spinjitzu, Lloyd thought, eyes narrowing, as he was forced into defense.

The clatter of steel rang through the air. Lloyd met each strike despite his straining muscles and sweat-soaked face — until, with a final kick, the Green Ninja managed to push Mr. E back. Instead of continuing his assault, however, the ninja bolted towards his dragon. Lloyd sped after him, but before he could get too far, a figure crashed in his way. He barely managed to dodge the spear aimed at his head. In the background, the Green Ninja remounted his mech successfully and flew back down, a mechanical roar joining the mayhem of sounds below. Mr. E’s white eyes fixed back onto his assailant, narrowing in frustration.

“Hey, Mr. E,” the Cyan Ninja said with faux cheer. “Sorry for the interruption. Did you have someplace to go?”

Mr. E’s eyes narrowed further as Lloyd clenched his teeth. The Ninja always seemed to get a kick out of meddling in each other’s battles. It frustrated him to no end. How difficult was it to stay out of his business?

He sprang forward, replying to the girl-ninja’s words with the sharp edge of his blades. A red trail seemed to follow after his katanas as he swung them, and the Cyan Ninja wisely dodged instead of meeting his attack head-on. She had likely seen the many times his energy-enhanced katanas had violently thrown back her fellow teammates — and, unlike the Red Ninja, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe she could take it.

But Lloyd wasn’t done. He continued to press forward, forcing Cyan to take the defensive. Red arcs flashed through the air, somehow missing the ninja by a few millimeters every time. He had to hand it to her; she was good at dodging. Almost like water in the way she twisted and flowed between each attack. However, Lloyd didn’t plan on letting that stop him, and their fight ensued for several more seconds, neither side able to mark the other and both too stubborn to give up.

The status quo snapped eventually. An irritated sound left Cyan, and as Lloyd swung once more, she performed a rather impressive leap and managed to land a good two meters away. Before Lloyd could come closer, she threw her spear at his face, which he swiftly swatted away with a katana. When his eyes found her again, she was already running to the edge of the rooftop — and proceeded to throw herself over the edge.

For a second, Lloyd was plagued by confusion. But then he heard the mechanical whirrs of the Water Strider just before the silhouette of the bug-like mech leapt up over the platform. Lloyd was already jumping out of the way when one of its legs shot towards him, sending a net of cracks over the spot he had been standing on.

This… is not looking too good. Lloyd mentally began prepping himself for another rough battle. Then, Garmadon’s voice crackled through the comms in his helmet.

“Hey— hey, Mr. E? Some backup, please! The Green Weirdo is going crazy!”

He blinked. Well, that’s my cue, Lloyd thought in both relief and slight disappointment. Maybe next time, Cyan.

Mr. E sheathed his swords and somersaulted back, diving over the edge of the roof in a reflection of the Cyan Ninja’s earlier stunt. The Water Strider shot forward, likely aiming to catch him, but it was too late.

Lloyd dropped, the solid cement of the road below growing closer by the second. He could feel the energy around him build up as he gained momentum, but he had never been able to absorb kinetic energy. In fact, he wasn’t sure if it was in the same realm of energy that his unique Elemental Power concerned. Weirdly, he never had any trouble sensing the fluctuations of varying energy waves, even if he remained unable to manipulate them. Definitely would have come in handy in moments like these.

As current matters stood, Lloyd would have to do with an old-fashioned parachute. He pulled a strap and a mass of black cloth emerged from his back, smoothing his fall over to a steady glide as it caught the wind. And he knew that, from above, where the Cyan Ninja was watching, a painted logo of Garmadon would be displayed in full view, almost taunting.

Below him, the dragon mech was raining hell upon the actual Garmadon, who, despite his best efforts to evade the storm of missiles, was getting more and more of his shark mech decimated.

Lloyd’s comms crackled into life once again: “Gah—! Mr. E! Come on, man, help me out a little!”

I’m trying to, dad, he thought, angling himself towards the green dragon. His plan was to land on the mech once again; but this time, he intended to catch the Green Ninja by surprise. From there, he should have a relatively easier time hijacking the dragon, provided that he immediately tackled the ninja off his own ride.

It was a slightly reckless idea. The dragon was constantly whipping around the clearing, occasionally straightening out to aim another missile at Garmadon before just as swiftly returning to snake-like flight patterns. But if Lloyd timed it right…

Just then, the dragon uncoiled once more to shoot a well-aimed attack at Garmadon. Lloyd jumped to take the opportunity, removing his parachute and dropping down to the dragon—

Only for it to move at the last second and slam into him from the side, catapulting him through the air. The sharp sound of shattering glass overtook his eardrums as he collided with a window pane at breakneck speed.

Ow, ow, ow… Lloyd curled into himself reflexively. His entire body hurt — although that was to be expected after being thrown into building by a good several-hundred-pound metal ram. Ow.

He reached out to his katanas, feeling for the energy contained within them, and let whatever was left to flow into his body and course through his veins. Soon enough, he felt his body slowly pull itself back together — but the effect was not spontaneous. His power only provided the energy required to speed up the process of his body’s natural regeneration, but could not heal anything by itself.

At the very least, his concussion did not feel too horrible anymore. He twitched his fingers, regaining the rest of his senses as the ringing receded. Distantly, he registered the sound of another explosion. He opened his eyes to see that he was lying on polished floor, surrounded by a snowfall’s worth of broken glass. They swished and crunched as he shifted onto his back. Wooden desks towered above him, each equipped with monitors and a ridiculous amount of paperwork.

So… I landed in an office? It wasn’t the worst place to be thrown into, all things considered. At least it wasn’t some guy’s bathroom.

Lloyd sluggishly pushed himself up until he was standing on his feet, using a nearby desk to steady himself. Ceiling-high windows made up the entirety of the wall facing the battle, and a large, jagged hole marked the spot he had crashed through. He limped over to it, peering down at the scene below.

It seemed that he had missed the big fight. The Green Ninja was already giving the standard speech to give up and surrender because Garmadon was never going to take over Ninjago under their watch.

Lloyd was definitely out of commission for the time being, so he couldn’t do anything about the situation below even if he wanted to. So, he only watched as Garmadon replied with his own standard quip and promise that he would be back, already retreating to the volcano with the remains of his army. Which also meant that Lloyd should get back to school before he was discovered.

At that, he couldn’t help but groan. It was ridiculous that school would resume as regular following a military invasion from an oni warlord, because, honestly, who even did that?

Only in Ninjago City, Lloyd thought, a smile twitching up despite his pounding head.

After one last look at the decimated clearing, Lloyd turned and made his way towards the elevators. Not the flashiest exit, but there was no way he was pulling another stunt in his current state.

Now, all he had to do was retrieve his motorcycle from wherever it had landed in the chaos (with him already pulling up its location on his wristwatch) and stash it away in his underground base before finally being done with all the action.

***

In the end, Lloyd ended up having to do some parkour, anyway.

He generally loved to jump across rooftops and scale buildings as he currently was, but he could astutely feel the strain it was causing his body, even with the help of his Elemental Power. His entire side hurt from where he had crashed through the glass pane, and he was sure he’d find nasty bruises marring his everywhere the next day.

Ah, well, he thought as he slowed to a stop on a particular low-rise apartment building, at least I’ve got no broken bones. That would’ve been a lot more difficult to hide or explain.

He glanced down to make sure there were no straddlers around, then jumped down its fifteen-meter length. He landed softly despite the lengthy fall — courtesy of his father’s ninja training — and slinked back into the shadows, almost blending in with the wall.

He did not have to wait too long until someone else rounded the corner. The newcomer had an outfit consisting of mostly grey and an occasional pop of red, accentuating his crimson eyes. He had a necklace strapped around his neck, the end of it tied around a large tooth that Lloyd knew was a shark’s. His hair was a unique shade: a blond so light that it nearly looked white. A bored expression was set onto the boy’s face, his gait almost nonchalant despite the fact that he was roaming around the city outskirts right after a Garmadon attack.

Lloyd was, to say the least, extremely impressed by the accuracy. Even his own father might have mistaken the doppelgänger for the real Lloyd. Heck, if he wasn’t, well, himself, then he might have been completely fooled, too…

His lookalike stopped a short distance away from Lloyd’s hiding spot before directing a crimson-eyed stare straight into his own. Then, he raised an eyebrow. “Well? Are you just going to stand there, gawking like an idiot?”

…If it wasn’t for his benefactor’s penchant to be unnecessarily cross with him, that is.

Lloyd sighed before stepping out of the shadows, raising his own brow in what he hoped was an unimpressed manner. “There. Happy?”

The other him scoffed. “Now, don’t get sassy with me, boy. You should be grateful I am even doing this for you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah — you only remind me that, like, every time we meet up. Could you change back now? Feels extremely uncanny to be staring at myself.”

The other Lloyd only let out a ‘hmph’ before his entire body rippled and began to morph. Watching the shapeshifting process had always made Lloyd feel awfully queasy, but he could never tear his eyes away. His face began to contort and change shape, his eyes bulging before they pinched into smaller, narrower eyes and wrinkles sprouted over his skin. His hair changed length, texture, and color, then pulled itself taut into a bun. He was never able to pinpoint the exact moment the bamboo hat appeared over the formerly exposed head.

When the figure straightened — or, at least, slouched a little less — from its position, Lloyd found himself looking not at his own face, but an elderly woman’s, a mischievous glint in her pitch-black eyes.

“There. Happy?” she said, his voice coming out of her throat (which earned her a flinch and a glare). She cleared it, and her next sentence came out in a high-pitched rasp. “Oh, but you were right. This is much better than whatever form I had previously.”

Lloyd was unsure whether to take that as an insult, so he ignored her. He had one more thing to ask, even if he was still unsure whether it was worth it. “By the way — and perhaps I should’ve asked this sooner — but is there no chance that you could continue posing as me? At school? Just for today. I got a concussion from the battle, and I don’t think I can—”

“Pah! Listen to yourself. Now you want me to go to school for you? What am I, your servant?”

“That’s not what I—"

“Spoiled brat — your father’s clearly never taught you manners! Our contract was clear, boy. You don’t get to alter the terms!” She paused. “Though I suppose that is fittingly oni-like. Pah!”

“Okay,” Lloyd bowed in apology, biting his tongue as his vision swam. “Okay. Sorry for overstepping. I didn’t think it through. Probably the concussion’s fault. Yeah.” He rose and cleared his throat. “Thank you for your services, Mistaké. I appreciate them greatly. As usual.”

“You better!” the old lady snickered. “And you need to work on your apologies.”

He gave her a prompt nod before moving to leave, head swimming too much to manage another response. That nasal voice also really wasn’t helping, even though he did actually appreciate her help. He would appreciate it even more if she could extend a little bit of empathy.

Then again, he supposed he was expecting too much from a rogue oni.

“Ah, one more thing.” Lloyd halted. He tilted his head sideways to show he was listening, hoping that she didn’t have a secret mind-reading ability. Though it was more likely that…

Dread rose in his throat like bile — though that feeling in his throat could also be actual bile — as he waited for her next words.

From the edge of his vision, he watched her smile twist. “Have you given any thought to what I told you?”

He stiffened, almost involuntarily, even though he’d seen it coming. His voice was equally stiff as he responded with, “No, and I don’t plan to. Goodbye, Mistaké.” He hurriedly began walking away, but not without hearing the oni-witch’s parting words.

“Oh, that’s a shame. I would’ve thought you’d be a bit cleverer than that!” A raspy laugh rang out, hanging hauntingly around his ears as she continued. “But all’s well. I know you’ll come around eventually.”

Lloyd clenched his jaw tightly but kept up his brisk pace, just wishing to get away from the shapeshifter.

That was one downside to their whole agreement. Mistaké seemed to enjoy attempting to sow seeds of treason in his mind. He wasn’t sure which was worse: the fact that she had the audacity to even suggest turning against his father, or the fact that she truly believed he was gullible enough to fall for her tricks.

Lloyd sighed internally. He would much rather avoid relying on the shapeshifter with dubious intentions. But as things were, there was no other choice. Given his already soiled reputation, it would only take the smallest slip to have the entire city onto him. He was still more than a little creeped out by the fact that he was occasionally covered on the news, so he could only imagine how quickly the reveal of his identity would spread.

No, having a shapeshifter who was also a master-class actress as his accomplice was likely the very best offer he could get, and Mistaké knew it. Perhaps that was why she dared to push his buttons so much. Or perhaps she just couldn’t care less.

Whatever, Lloyd thought, shaking his head. What’s done is done. Mistaké is a useful ally. I can put up with her antics if it means she continues helping me.

He hoped that she would drop this matter in time, at least. He had already given her his answer. And if it didn’t satisfy her, then she would be left sorely disappointed, because he was not going to change it. Not even if the entirety of Ninjago was at stake.

Because his father was his whole world, and he didn’t know what he would do if he was ever taken away.

***

On the very edge of Ninjago City, in a deserted area of the docks, and inside an abandoned warehouse, the Secret Ninja Force was settling down for the day.

“Good work, everyone,” Green said, jumping off his mech as he laid it to recharge on the floor. “That’s yet another successful mission. Let’s keep our streak going, alright?”

“Well, we’d better, ‘cause breaking our streak means Garmadon wins,” Blue piped up, clambering out of his jet on the wall.

“And it was a pretty close call this time,” Cyan added as she leapt out of the Water Strider from where it was perched on the roof, safely landing on the floor with a few more leaps.

Black, having just parked his Quake Mech near the corner, leaned out of his seat inquisitively. “Yeah, what took you so long?”

“Your arrival to battle has been less than punctual lately,” White inputted, sliding down from the Ice Tank. “It would benefit the whole team if you informed us of the reason.”

The Fire Mech collapsed onto a giant sofa, Red springing out of it a moment later. “Please don’t tell me our exemplar leader has started to lose his touch,” he joked, approaching the small crowd they’d formed in the center of the warehouse.

“You wish,” the Green Ninja said, pulling off his mask and shaking out his neck-length black hair. “It’s nothing, guys, really. Just some, uh… school stuff.”

Cyan removed her mask as well, followed by the rest. “Is someone…”

“No. Don’t make that face,” Morro said. “You know I’d never let someone walk all over me.”

“Then what is it?” Black — Cole — asked as he placed an arm on White’s shoulder and leaned on it. Zane nodded and cocked his head in silent backing, not minding being used as an armrest.

Morro sighed, blowing a strand of hair away from his face. “It’s actually not a big deal. In fact, it isn’t something bad at all — I… believe?”

“You believe?” Nya repeated, placing a hand on her hip.

“Well, I’m still not quite used to it, is what I mean. Alright, fine, here it comes: I… made a few new friends.”

The rest of the ninja blinked, mildly stupefied expressions on some of their faces. After a moment, Blue burst into laughter, with Red and Cole joining in.

Morro’s face looked haunted. “What? Why are you laughing?”

“You’re trying to tell me the reason you’ve been late is because you were too busy hanging out with some new pals?” Kai asked, shaking his head as Blue and Cole quieted down to silent snickers.

“Well, not exactly—“

“And the thing you’ve been so scared to tell us is that you have… other friends?” Nya added, smirking.

“I wasn’t scared,” Morro protested. “I was just… worried that you wouldn’t like it.”

“You were worried we wouldn’t like you having friends outside of the team like jealous jerks,” Cole confirmed with a raised eyebrow.

“No, not like jealous jerks — but… to a very slight degree, I suppose, sort of.”

“Careful, there, you’re starting to sound like Zane,” Kai said.

Zane looked at him confusedly. “Why am I catching stray remarks?”

Nya laughed, not seeming offended. “Of all the things I expected you to fear, it definitely wasn’t something as simple as this.”

“I told you, this has nothing to do with fear—”

“Yeah, we got it, champ,” Kai said, leisurely clapping Morro on the back. “If anything, you have my full endorsement — is that the word? — to go hang out with your new buds. Have fun, do crazy stuff, whatever — as long as you’re happy.”

“—And you’re not doing anything illegal,” Nya added.

The rest nodded, encouraging smiles on their faces. Their leader looked around, a slightly abashed expression on his face. “Uh— thanks. I mean that.”

“Anything for you, buddy,” Kai grinned, offering a one-armed hug.

“Of course, this does not mean you can continue your late arrivals to battle,” Zane piped up. “Although I understand how it could be more difficult to sneak away from school while surrounded by your peers, I would appreciate it if you could return to your previous punctuality.”

“I second that,” Cole said from beside him. “We nearly got our butts handed to us by Garmadon and his goons. If you’d come a little bit later, our mechs would’ve been wrecked.”

“Us, too,” Jay added, tightening his hold on his blue mask.

Morro winced. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I was flying for you at full speed, but I got distracted by Mr. E and started chasing him around.”

Nya nodded solemnly. “Understandable — that guy’s a huge pain in the neck.”

“Tell me about it,” Kai grumbled, gingerly touching the scar running across his right eye.

“But maybe try not to lose focus next time,” Cole said, reigning the room back to the initial topic. “As the Green Ninja, your main objective at all times is to stop Garmadon. You’ll have to leave everything else to us. After all, we’re a team.”

“Yeah, I know,” Morro sighed after a beat. “I’ll try to avoid repeating this… blunder.”

Cole grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

“And, Kai,” Zane said, “I do not think ‘endorsement’ is quite the right word. A better one would probably be approval, encouragement, backing, assent, blessing, or— perhaps support? That seems more within your repertoire.”

Kai raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I feel like that was definitely an insult.”

“I’m sure Kai knows what approval and encouragement mean, Zane,” Nya said.

“Hold up, do you think I don’t know what backing means? Or blessing? I mean, I just used endorsement.”

“Yeah, because I explained what it meant to you in History yesterday,” Nya pointed out.

Cole frowned. “Do you not know what assent means?”

“Dude, that’s like a Tier Three word. Leave me alone.”

“You were just saying—"

“Ooh, ooh! I’ve got a good one,” Jay grinned. “Espousement.”

“…That is not a word. Do you mean the noun form of espouse? That would be espousal,” Zane said.

“Oh. Well, close enough!” He suddenly gasped, then groaned. “Oh shoot. I used espousement in the test!”

“…Why are we talking about this? I just left Language class,” Morro said.

“Join the club,” Jay said morosely as he threw an arm around Kai, who pushed him away with a snort. “We even got the ‘may I’ correction.”

Nya suddenly cleared her throat — loudly. With all the attention on her, she straightened, assuming a more dignified stance. “Well, I’m sure we all learned a valuable lesson today.”

Jay blinked. “…That espousement isn’t a word?”

“Or that espousal is one?” Cole added.

“Or that Kai apparently maxes out at Tier Two vocabulary?” Morro snickered. Kai rolled his eyes.

“No— just— okay, we all learned that we should probably focus on training to fight without Morro in case something like this happens again,” Nya stated, her eyes closing halfway through her speech in a reflection of a certain bearded master.

“Wonderfully said, Nya. I see you’ve settled into your role as vice-leader of the Secret Ninja Force.”

“Thank you— wait, what?”

The ninja whirled around almost simultaneously, greeted by the image of the warehouse doors now wide open and a beautiful ship docked at the previously empty waters.

“It’s the Destiny’s Bounty!” Jay exclaimed.

Kai squinted. “But wait, where’s Mast—“

“Hello, students,” a voice sounded from behind them, and they whipped around once more.

“Master Wu!” they shouted in near perfect unison, moods instantly lifted as they were met with a familiar bearded face.

“You’re back,” Morro breathed.

“How was your trip?” Cole asked as Wu trudged around them.

“It was a deep spiritual journey that took me to depths inside myself I never knew existed,” he replied solemnly as he stopped to stand in front of them, the open warehouse doors silhouetting him from behind.

“Yeah, you have a pretty serious tan line,” Jay remarked with a snide grin.

“Mind your manners,” Wu snapped.

Jay raised his hands sheepishly as Nya stepped forward, her face almost glowing with excitement. “So did you see us annihilate Garmadon?”

“We practically vanquished him,” Zane agreed, and Kai made some fighting noises as he punched the air.

“I saw you fight, and I saw Garmadon retreat,” Master Wu said. He narrowed his eyes. “But you did not defeat him.”

Protests began to break out, but they were swiftly silenced as Master Wu pounded his staff on the floor twice, a stern expression on his face.

“There is nothing ninja about you ninja,” he declared, fixing them with a sweeping gaze.

“We’re so ninja, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jay said, with several supportive nods from his friends.

“You cannot even force Garmadon back in the absence of Morro, and your victories are often entirely dependent on your mechs,” Master Wu snapped. “Yet, you call yourselves ninja?”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Kai said, waving his hands. “Now, slow down there, Master. You know just as well as we do that those mechs are special. Without them, we’re powerless.”

“And that is precisely the problem,” Wu said.

In the following silence, Zane asked, “So what do you suggest we do, Master?”

“As things stand,” he began, leaning forward, “you will never truly defeat Garmadon until you reach your own true potential.”

He started to approach them, tapping his staff to the floor with each step. “You have the power to win the battle without fighting. When you start using your mind,” he circled Morro, poking his head and ignoring the grunt that followed, “you won’t need mechs and machines.” To that, some of the ninja’s brows furrowed. “Your call signs are not simply rousing names — they are the elemental powers you were all born with.”

He began stopping before each of them. “Nya, Cyan Ninja. As the Master of Water, you can create water — on your own,” he said, and her eyes widened.

“And Kai, Red Ninja: the Master of Fire. It burns bright in you.” The Red Ninja broke into a wild grin as he breathed, “Awesome.”

“Jay is the Blue Ninja, Master of Lightning.” Blue lit up, barely holding in a giddy laugh.

“Cole, Black Ninja, solid as rock — Master of Earth.” Black’s eyes glimmered.

“Zane is the White Ninja. Master of Ice, and seer with sixth sense.” The White Ninja puffed out his chest theatrically.

“And Morro, the Green Ninja. Master of Wind,” he finished, sharing a silent look with the leader of the Ninja for a few heavy moments.

“These elemental powers are why I chose you to form the Secret Ninja Force,” he continued as he made his way to the front once more, leaving them no room for further questioning. “And once you find the key to unlock your true potential, you will become Masters of Spinjitzu. It is the highest level that you can achieve as a ninja. I wrote a book about it,” he added, producing a hardcover copy from somewhere behind his back. “It’s called Ninjanuity.”

The ninja collectively groaned. Their master’s gaze sharpened in return. “None of that.” He jabbed his staff in their direction. “All of you, practice Spinjitzu.”

“That’s easy, watch this.” Kai smirked as he turned into a whirlwind of movement, raining relentless attacks upon nonexistent enemies as he spun.

“For three hours,” Wu added, and everybody groaned once more, dismay apparent in their twisted faces.

“Three hours?! Are you kidding me with this guy?” Jay whined.

“You will find your efforts more than paid off once you unlock your true potential,” Master Wu informed. “Spinjitzu is a special technique — a legendary art that lets one imbue their Elemental Powers into their movement and turn into a tornado of their respective element.”

“And he means that literally,” Morro said with a grin. “I’ve seen it happen.”

“Indeed, he has,” Wu said, tucking his book into his robes as he assumed a stance. “Observe.”

Suddenly, the ninja’s master was gone, replaced by a tornado of gold that shone dazzling light onto their awed faces. The tornado moved around, twisting and turning, even jumping into the air. Then, Master Wu was visible once again as he slowed to a stop. “And that is how it is done.”

For a moment, nobody spoke. Jay was the first to break out of his stupor as he exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, that was so cool!”

The rest of the ninja followed his exclamation, their voices overlapping as they expressed their excitement. Morro stood to the side, watching them with an amused expression.

“Silence,” Master Wu ordered, tapping his staff. The ninja complied, suddenly eager to hear their master out. “Do not get ahead of yourselves, ninja. You still have a long and arduous journey ahead of you. For now, practice your movements and refine your technique, as that is currently the extent of your abilities. And read my book!” He unceremoniously tossed the copy into their midst, and the ninja were back to groaning.

Wu turned, paying them no mind. “Morro, come with me,” he said, gesturing for the Green Njnja to follow him. “We have to talk.”

“Yes, Master.”

The two of them left the other ninja to their Spinjitzu practice, the teens’ grumbles cutting off as the warehouse doors slammed shut behind them.

***

Morro tried to keep his head up despite the steady dread growing in his chest. He had an inkling about what Wu wanted to talk to him about — there were only so many things that warranted a private chat.

He wished he would just get it over with. But Wu kept strolling forwards, a beckoning hand his only acknowledgement of the ninja who had stopped behind him. Morro’s gaze was practically drilling a hole into his back, but the silence between them remained unbroken.

Did they have to do all this? Morro had been so happy to see the old man; he hated to feel his relief atrophy into something… mixed.

Deep breaths in. Deep breaths out. With that, Morro followed his teacher, redirecting his gaze to the sky. A cloud shaped like a flute hung above them, sunbeams from the setting sun painting it in white, grey, and gold.

Their feet clunked over the planks as they headed towards the Destiny’s Bounty, the sound of the waves accompanying key. With the soft light washing over the ship’s mast, filtering through the sail in golden rays, it felt like they were intruding upon a fading memory.

Wu stopped by the rope ladder to let Morro climb up first. Stray fibers dug into his palm as he gripped the coarse rope. He could almost feel Wu holding him up by his arms, helping his too-short legs onto the first rung.

But he had grown out of that child, and Morro scaled the side of the ship with two hefts without anyone’s assistance. Now, it was his turn to wait for his father to make the climb; to pull him up by his wizened hand and assist him with his staff.

“Thank you,” his voice — raspy and fragile — muttered. He didn’t know when his father’s voice had started to sound fragile. Like one day Morro might wake up on his mattress and realize his dad had broken into a thousand pieces during the night.

Why do we have to do all this?

A warm hand over his cold one, and Morro was back to the ship. He realized he had tightened his hold on his Wu — as if the child with skin hanging off his bones had never left — and immediately forced it to relax. He drew himself away, leaving the old man’s arms hanging in the air, and walked over to lean over the ship’s bulwark. He tried to find the flute-shaped cloud again, but it had dissipated with the wind.

Wu joined him a few moments later. The distant sounds of the port’s simple chaos filled in the emptiness between them. Until the spell was broken.

“I see you’ve been busy,” Wu said, gesturing to the decimated training grounds with his staff.

Morro opened his mouth, but it took him a second to say something. “Yeah, uh… that was mostly my fault.”

He saw the bamboo hat tip forward at the edge of his vision — a nod. “Is there anything you wish to tell me?”

“N…” Morro paused. “Well, I… made a few new friends. Outside of the team.”

His father didn’t respond. Morro didn’t know if his brows had furrowed or risen, or if his eyes had wrinkled upwards in a smile, or if he had simply remained impassive.

“They’re pretty cool,” he felt the need to add.

“I’m happy to hear that, Morro. I hope they, too, bring you happiness.”

Morro snorted quietly. “Thanks.”

And the spell was back. They watched the sea for a while; the light dancing over the undulating water. The warehouse, which would appear abandoned and forgotten to an outsider. The decimated training field, his fault. The sky, which had turned into that specific shade of blue before the orange, red, and purple. The clouds, which didn’t seem to have any meaning at all.

“You know why I wished to speak with you alone, yes, Morro?”

He shut his eyes to the world tightly. “It’s because of my Elemental Power, isn’t it?”

A hand settled on his shoulder. “Morro, you must know that true potentials are seldom reached once. Like these waters, life is never a still line. It rises and falls, converges with other waves in riptides, and in bad weather, it is easy to forget that it could ever have suitable for a nice swim. And as with everything that has existed since the dawn of time, it has nuances in its every movement. No wave is ever the same height; no interval between the peaks the same length; no force the same strength. You cannot predict what the sea will do next. It is, in its nature, volatile.”

But Morro shook his head, brushing off the hand. “D— Master, you don’t understand. Right now, on that volcano, Garmadon is planning his next attack. Mr. E might be preparing to terrorize the streets tonight, and the First General might finally decide to make their first appearance to turn the tides. We can’t afford to— to ‘go with the flow.’ That’s what you were building up to, isn’t it? That we have to stop trying to control the waters, or whatever.”

“To attempt to control the waters is a fool’s errand,” Wu stated. “You can only try to steer your vessel in your heart’s direction. Whether that is to ‘go with the flow,’ as you’ve put it, or to struggle against the current — it is your choice.”

Morro remained silent as he stared at the dancing light. “That’s an easy choice. The only thing that’s stopping me is everything else that keeps getting in my way.” Then, he chuckled. “You know what? I think the ideal solution to this scenario is to get a ship with the heaviest cannons you can imagine. Maybe a tactical missile, if I can get my hands on one.”

“To, ah, blow your obstacles away?”

“Exactly.”

Wu sighed. “Morro, weapons alone will not solve your problems, let alone the problem of my brother. I have every kind of weapon in my dojo. Large weapons, small weapons, sharp weapons, dull weapons, even the Ultimate Weapon. But my journey through the oceans have only ever taught me that the strongest weapon is inside you.”

Morro, however, had something more pressing to comment on. “Hold on— what was that you just said?”

Wu seemed truly perplexed. Part of that might’ve been because he had finally gotten Morro to face him, but without the reaction he’d probably been expecting. “…The strongest weapon is inside you?”

“No, no — before that. Right before.”

“Do you mean… the Ultimate—” Wu stopped himself, but it was too late.

“Yes, the Ultimate Weapon! That’s what you said! And I’ve never heard of this thing my whole life — why?”

Wu’s expression took on a somber edge. “In the wrong hands, the Ultimate Weapon could spell doom for Ninjago.”

Morro stepped forward with an intensity he couldn’t quite reign in. “Then put that in my hands. We could save Ninjago, right now! Why does it matter how we defeat Garmadon as long as we take him down?”

“Because, my son, right now? Your hands are the wrong hands.”

Morro’s gaze automatically looked down.

At the hands that had been sifting through trash the day Wu had found him. The hands that had touched warm food for the first time in the Bounty’s dojo (the very dojo that he now knew housed Ninjago’s potential salvation). The hands that had breathed wind when he was still too young to understand what it meant. The hands that had bled and bruised as he trained himself to the brink. The hands that had grown callouses when his face was still wide-eyed and soft. The hands that had saved Ninjago countless times because his father had raised him to become the perfect warrior. The hands—

“My hands? The hands that, moments ago, helped you up onto this ship?” His voice was strained, barely containing the maelstrom of rage — of pain — threatening to spill out.

But Wu remained unphased. “Those hands.”

Morro shook his head, not bothering to mask the bitter hurt on his face. Knowing that if he said something just then, he would make a mistake he couldn’t undo.

Even after all this time, his father did not have faith in him. And Morro had been trying so hard to see that look — of pride, of joy — that always seemed to be on his face when he was younger. When he was still considered a prodigy. When he could still do the impossible.

His constant smiles and assurances? All those metaphors? Morro could tell he didn’t mean any of it. And yet, to say that his hands could spell doom for Ninjago…

When did you lose your trust in me, Wu?

“Morro. I am his brother. I, especially, feel responsible for the safety of Ninjago. But I will not always be here to assist you.”

He glared at his palms. “Why? Because you’re always leaving us to fend for ourselves while you get tanned in a far-off island?”

There was something sad in his voice as he said, “Because I’m starting to… feel my age.”

Morro’s head snapped up. “What?”

“Morro, my own teammates have passed long ago. And my time, too, is approaching.”

“What are you—”

“But their passing didn’t erase their existence. The marks to prove it are on your teammates. Their faces, their Elemental Powers, their characters, their values — they all carry the remnants of those that have fought evil before them. And I? I’m leaving my mark on you, Morro.” He straightened, his head haloed by the setting sun. “The same way I have led your teammates’ parents, you must lead yours, and be ready to train the next. But you must promise to walk a different path than mine — one that is not haunted by the mistakes of a long and winding past. One only my son, the nemesis of the Dark Lord, can walk.”

The sky was orange. Shadows casted deep lines over his father’s face, making him appear all the more wizened. Ancient. His white beard, which reached past his chest, swayed lightly in the breeze. His hands were bonier, Morro realized; his grip on the staff tighter, like he truly needed to use it as a crutch. He wondered how time had managed to catch up to a man that had never seemed to be in the race.

“I promise.”

He had so much more to say. Given the knowing look in his eyes, Wu felt it, too. Silence — especially one that had persisted for so long — was difficult to break. For now, the old master settled for a nod. An acknowledgement. Maybe an invitation.

He swiveled around to head into the cabin. “Come inside, Morro — it’s getting cold. I’ll make tea.”

“Yeah. Sure.” He had missed his father’s jasmine tea, though he wouldn’t tell him that. It always ended like this: with words and phrases gathered in a dark cloud behind them.

As he pushed past the beads hanging in the doorway, his eyes caught on the wooden construct in the center of the back wall. The one thing he had never been allowed to inspect. How hadn’t he suspected anything? He forced his gaze away, but it remained unfocused as he moved to sit on the dojo floor. If it came down to it — if it was between his hands and Garmadon’s — would it be so bad for the lesser evil to wield that power?

A cup was placed in front of him. Hot liquid filled the marble container as his father elegantly tipped his favorite kettle. As he maintained that form, his hands not betraying the slightest twitch, all his fragility seemed to peel away, revealing an unfaltering foundation. Like a tree, with old bark and withering branches but a root system that reached into the core of the earth.

“I’m sure that you’ve got some more fight in you,” Morro said as he raised his cup. “I mean, you’ve been living for, what, a few thousand years? I feel like a couple hundred more isn’t out of your depth.”

Wu’s eyes twinkled. “One would think so, hm?” He began pouring tea into his own cup. “But it’s wrong to assume you can predict destiny.”

“Right, the whole thing with the waves?”

“I’m happy not all of that went out the other ear.”

“Okay, old man, not everyone’s an eager information sponge like Nya.”

“Maybe that’s true. I’m glad, nevertheless, that you’re not as distracted as Jay.”

“Hey! You can’t gossip about your own students!”

“And you cannot gossip about your own team.”

Morro rolled his eyes. “Always gotta have the last word, huh?”

“I didn’t live so long to lose my arguments,” Wu said.

“You know what? Fair point.”

And long after the sky had turned black and the rest of the Ninja had filed out of the warehouse (their loud complaints earning quiet chuckles), father and son cleaned up the table and bid each other goodnight.

And Morro remained awake long past the moment the light down the corridor faded, swaying with the ship in his childhood room. The strongest weapon is in you, his father had said. But Morro didn’t see why he needed to continue to struggle to find his true potential over and over again when the ultimate trump card was lying only a few steps away. Waiting to grant a miracle.

His father meant the world to him. But if it was the entirety of Ninjago at stake, Morro wouldn’t hesitate to steer his path into the storm and do what needed to be done.

That, he promised.

***

On the way back to his and Nya’s rented apartment in the city outskirts, Kai was sore, a little grumpy, and beyond ready to collapse — despite the jittery excitement stubbornly clinging onto him.

Well, of course he was. Not only had Master Wu made them practice an incredibly difficult ancient technique that was both physically and mentally draining for (three times sixty is—) a whole hundred and eighty minutes, he had also revealed that their team could apparently break all the laws of physics and create stuff using their minds — then proceeded to shut the door in their faces. Both figuratively and literally.

Worse, Kai’s many questions had increased in both amount and weight during training, and at some point, his brain was straining so much that he thought he might spontaneously combust. And when it was over, he was too tired to even consider seeing that bamboo hat. Smart trick, old man.

So now he was back to agonizing over Master Wu’s every word, mood shifting like a scammer’s demeanor. On one hand, what did Master mean by “nothing ninja about you ninja” (because, yes, Kai was still not over it)? For once, he had to agree with Jay: they were definitely so ninja. They saved Ninjago on a near-weekly basis; Kai would like to see other ninja try to do the same.

And so what if they relied on the mechs a little? Ninjago City was huge, and there was no way they’d be able to do half the saving without those mighty hunks of metal. And Morro? Well, he was their leader and the most skilled of the Ninja, not to mention Master Wu’s first disciple and son, so it made sense they underperformed in his absence. Everyone was a key member of the team, and for maximum output, they needed everyone — Morro especially. In his opinion, Master Wu was just being unfair and a tiny bit overbearing.

Now, if only his sister agreed. Nya was still on a tangent about how the Force really needed to work on their synergy and how she needed to brainstorm team-building exercises with Morro and how bad she felt about disappointing Wu, and Kai understood his sister’s situation — she was the closest to Wu after Morro, after all — but he thought she was taking Master’s words too seriously. He was still too caught up with the bigger revelation of the day to let her know that, though.

Powers! They had powers! Now that had to be the awesomest thing he’d heard in his life — though maybe being invited into the Secret Ninja Force by Wu all those years ago still had it beat by a little. Anyways, he thought it was incredibly fitting he’d be fire. Well, of course, since he was the Red Ninja and rode the Fire Mech; it had all the subtlety of a Tuesday Garmadon attack (which was to say, none). But still, fire powers? Wicked. He couldn’t wait to unlock his real potential — or whatever Master Wu had said — and have actual fire fly out of his hands. Just imagining it got him all fired up (heh).

Meanwhile, Nya was still not done ranting. “—and I could probably come up with a new installment in the new training course to help practice combat strategies, but I’m not sure if we have the space or the money. Well, if I postponed the upgrades on our mechs, then maybe I’d be able to use those parts for the props, but I don’t think that’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make. If only Master Wu would help me out a little, then—!”

“Come on, Nya,” Kai interjected. He didn’t think it’d be good for her if she kept spiraling. “Wu told you that you have powers and this is what you focus on?”

Nya blinked, successfully brought out of her head. “Well, it’s cool to hear I may have powers in the future, yeah. But right now, we’ve got much more pressing matters to worry about, like updating our—”

“Right,” Kai said. “But also— are you really going to brush over the fact that everything you’ve learned in Physics is false?”

“Not everything,” Nya corrected. “Whenever magic is involved—”

“This is not magic—”

“Whenever concepts beyond the laws of reality are involved, it isn’t fair to blame these laws for failing to account for clear outliers. I mean, Master Wu is, like, thousands of years old, isn’t he? But you can’t say people can actually live that long, just like how your average Ninjago citizen can’t— I don’t know, squirt water out of their nails.”

Kai scrunched up his face. “Is that the image you get when you think about having water powers?”

His sister sighed. “Basically. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the prospect of having powers at all is definitely super cool,” she added when Kai shot her an incredulous look, “but being the Master of Water is… I don’t know, I feel like I’m more of the fiery type, you know? Plus, what am I going to do, splash the enemies?”

“Yeah, you could do that. You could also sweep Garmadon and his army away if you wanted to. I mean, we live right by the sea. Just imagine it!”

Nya puffed. “That’s a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?”

“Nah. You could definitely pull it off.”

She snorted, but a small smile grew on her face despite her joking tone. “Well, I’m glad you think so highly of me.”

Kai celebrated internally at the successful bad-mood-removal as he replied, “’Course, I do. I raised you, didn’t I?” Which earned him a laugh and a light punch in the shoulder.

He grinned as he couldn’t help adding, “But you know, fire’s totally the better element. If we’re being real, it’s gotta the best element, period. Can’t help but pity the rest of you for ending up with the objectively less cooler ones.”

Nya rolled her eyes, although her smile grew wider. “Please. Now that’s ridiculous. Also, you just used two comparatives.”

“First Master, won’t you guys lay it off? I know we’ve just had a test, but come on!” Kai stopped to breathe, ignoring his sister’s snicker, then lit up again as he said: “Anyway, let me tell ya — there’s nothing ridiculous about fi-yah!”

“…Let’s not get too excited, there. You don’t even have your powers yet.”

“Key word: yet! I can tell you right now that I’ll definitely be the first to unlock my real potential.”

“Mm, not really sure about that, since you can’t even get true potential right.”

“Okay, so I made a mistake, big deal!”

“True, wouldn’t be your first time today.”

“Dude? Why is everyone— even my own sister—!”

And they continued their back-and-forth as they treaded through rubbish-strewn streets still smoking from the attack a few hours prior, bright laughter drowning out the gravel crunching beneath their feet. Buildings got less and less developed until they eventually dropped all pretenses of modernization: decrepit roofs, brick walls, and cracked roads passed by them in jumbled grey. Their duo eventually stopped by a concrete low-rise apartment building, laughing as Kai’s fingers shook even harder as he fumbled with the keys until he dropped it, wheezing. Nya picked it up for him, managing to insert it after two tries. Trying to smother their giggles as they went past the barely-functioning elevator and climbed the stairs, swaying like drunks, they raced each other to their door. When Nya took ahold of the handle and pumped a fist in victory, Kai thought that he wouldn’t mind having this day repeat forever — despite his loser-punishment of vacuuming their three rooms.

Some point during the evening, mid-rock song, Nya told Kai that she would head over to her ‘secret hideout’ (which was really an abandoned garage she had taken ahold of) to work on a project, and after sending her off with two chicken sandwiches, Kai was left alone. And once his chores and playlist were done, he was left with nothing else to do except call it a night.

About thirty minutes later (which, Cole, isn’t at all a “crazy amount of time” to get ready to sleep, thanks), he was comfortably settled in his bed. Sleep wouldn’t come to him for a while still.

His head ran over the day again. From the Language class he had slept through to the Garmalarm that had startled him awake to the rush to get to Garmadon before he could do much damage; his and Zane’s battle against the warlord — which had been going pretty smoothly until a bomb had blown up on their faces while they were too distracted by Mr. E’s out-of-nowhere appearance — and Morro’s following arrival to the scene; the absolutely epic final battle; the way back to their hideout; the revelation that Morro had made other friends. Which was a weird beat to make him stop in his tracks, especially considering literally everything that had happened before and after that. But it struck him, in the silence of his humble apartment, that basically none of the Ninja had— (well, no way to make it sound any less awkward)— other friends.

Which made sense, given that they had fought countless battles side-by-side and had trained under the same master for years. But it was kind of interesting that they didn’t have all that many close relationships. In a way, Morro’s whole deal was surprisingly eye-opening.

Well, I guess our group’s not only stagnating in the ‘pushing back Garmadon’ thing, but also the ‘having friends’ thing, Kai thought, smiling slightly. Huh… now that I think about it, I don’t really hang around with anybody else. Even though I’m, like, really popular. Not to brag.

Yeah, that was… weird to think about, all of a sudden. He hadn’t noticed it before, but even though he considered half the school his friends, he barely ever talked to them. And never like he did to his team.

He wondered what the other kids thought of that. Like the guys who had bought fire stickers to match with him, or the girls who kept following him around, or the random people who greeted him in the hallways. Did they care that his world seemed to revolve around only his five special people?

Huh. Maybe I’m kinda neglecting all my other friends, Kai thought, feeling a small spike of guilt. I mean, it’s been a long while since I’ve last caught up with Ash. Wonder how that crazy geek’s doing nowadays.

And couldn’t he fix that? It wasn’t as if spending one day away from the ninja would kill him. He could totally check in on his other friends, see what they’ve been up to, maybe reconnect after so long of only casual interactions.

But, well, Kai didn’t have any problems with how things were. He liked having his world revolve around the Ninja, with everybody else kept at arm’s reach. Too many relationships just got complicated. And ‘outsider’ relationships that got too close got complicated. He’d just end up having more things to watch out for. A slip, and he could jeopardize the entire team. It wasn’t worth it.

So, he’d just forget about it. That was the way of the Ninja, wasn’t it? To keep the balance, and make sure that the sun rose over a functioning city. And the city would only keep functioning as long as its protectors did. To Kai, that meant doing his part to support his team and family however they needed it.

No distractions. He’d wake up tomorrow to have another regular day at school. Tidally locked to his deceptively small five-person realm.

And he wouldn’t change that for the world.

***

Mistaké was careful to appear as pitiful as possible when she bumped into a shoulder and collapsed to the ground with a strangled yelp.

“Oh, First Master! I’m so sorry — are you okay?”

Mistaké gasped a breath as she accepted the extended hand. “Yes, yes, dear, please; don’t be sorry. It was my fault.”

“No, not at all!— Oh, no. Your shopping bag, it’s—”

“Don’t worry, I always package my vegetables. I just have to pick them right back up.”

“Let me help.”

Mistaké leaned down with a grunt, picking up a few of the lighter objects. When she straightened with apparent effort, the girl was already holding a filled-up shopping bag with a guilty expression. “I’m so sorry—"

“Please, don’t apologize. I should be thanking you.” She reached for her bag. “And, in fact, yes — thank you for your help, Miss...?”

“Nya,” the Cyan Ninja said.

“Nya,” Mistaké repeated. She offered the vigilante her brightest smile.

Nya.

What a wonderful name.