Work Text:
Lloyd’s not sure how he keeps getting himself into these situations.
It’s honestly embarrassing how many times he’s been kidnapped. He hadn’t even known he was the Green Ninja when the first one happened, and he has no idea how many times it’s happened since—he lost count. And it wasn’t exactly something to boast about.
C’mon, the Legendary Green Ninja getting kidnapped over and over? It’s like he’s an amateur and not a highly trained and powerful Ninja. He’s slightly surprised that his siblings still let him go outside alone.
But it doesn’t change his current predicament. Lloyd knows he’s kidnapped as soon as he regains consciousness. He has a killer headache and his whole body aches. He can’t remember what happened, but as soon as he realizes that his hands are tied behind his back with ropes, he knows what his situation is. And FSM it’s embarrassing.
Lloyd remains motionless as he wakes. Pretending to be asleep is something he’s become scarily good at, something Kai hates, but in this situation it’s actually helpful. If his captors don’t know he’s awake, he can gather intel if they say anything.
He’s leaning uncomfortably against a cold stone wall. His shoulders ache; he must’ve been knocked out for a while. His neck hurts from the way it’s angled against the stone. It begs to be moved, but he can’t yet. Not until he figures out what he can piece together with just his ears.
Several minutes pass in quietness and his discomfort grows. He’s growing restless with the soreness from his aching body. He wishes he has his powers. It would be so easy to bust out of simple ropes if he had them. He would’ve felt stronger and more in control. Now, though, without them, he’s vulnerable.
Finally he hears a quiet voice. “I’m bored.”
“Shut up,” a second voice snaps back. “Do you know what the Quiet One would do to us if she found out we’re slacking?”
Oh. Right.
The garbage depot was in desperate need of restocking. Lloyd and Nya had been sneaking around alleyways to find food when some Sons of Garmadon had ambushed them. The two Ninja had put up quite a fight, but, injured and exhausted and hungry, they hadn’t been able to overpower the dozen goons grappling with them, especially since Lloyd didn’t have his powers. The last thing he remembered was something hard hitting his head.
“I ain’t sayin’ I’m gonna slack,” the first voice shoots back. “I’m just bored. They haven’t moved at all. And what can they do anyway?”
A moment of silence falls, then: “Just…be quiet. Do your job.”
And they go quiet again. Lloyd quietly sighs. That wasn’t useful at all. But the memories were. He’d been out with Nya when he was captured, which means she has to be here too. Unless they…
Lloyd swallows thickly. He doesn’t put it past the SoG to kill Nya. And if he hasn’t already heard her yelling and arguing, then is she really here?
His heart rate spikes and anxiety makes his skin buzz. He needs to know if Nya’s okay. He can’t lose her too.
So he opens his eyes.
His vision is worryingly blurry. He immediately sees the two SoG guards in front of him, and they both snap to attention when his dull red eyes land on them. He’s in some kind of basement with only one lightbulb hanging in the middle, casting dim light over the space, and an illuminated doorway behind it. Luckily for Lloyd, he’s part Oni, and he can see quite well in the dark. It lets him pick out the curled-up lump on the opposite side of the room.
Nya. He wilts in relief. She’s alive. If he listens hard enough, he can hear her breathing. It comforts him greatly to know that she’s with him, even though she’s on the other side of the room.
He returns his attention to the SoG goons in front of him. They’ve moved closer, one holding a knife and the other armed with a gun. Both weapons are pointed at him, but it doesn’t do much to intimidate him. As Kai would say, a weapon’s only as good as its wielder.
“Mind untying me?” Lloyd asks kindly, finally sitting upright, much to his body’s delight. He shifts so his hands point backwards towards the SoG. “The ropes are a bit tight.”
“Silence!” The first voice demands. “You’re not going anywhere, Green Ninja.”
Lloyd pouts as he leans back against the wall. “Rude. I have places to be and a tight schedule. I don’t think they’d appreciate—”
He can’t even blink before something strikes the side of his face. Hard.
Lloyd’s head snaps to the side and pain explodes across his cheek. His eyes widen more from shock than anything else. He slowly turns back towards the goon who’d slapped him. It’s the owner of the second voice. Up close, Lloyd can see a long scar across his forehead and malice glittering in his eyes. Wow, this guy really needs to learn about patience and anger management.
“He said silence,” the guy hisses, leaning close. Lloyd’s nose wrinkles and he leans back. Scar-face also needs to learn what dental hygiene means.
“Aw, cute,” Lloyd grits out. “Standing up for your buddy.” He moves his jaw from side to side. He’ll never admit it out loud, but that guy can pack a punch. The whole side of his face hurts. “You must be so close.”
Scar-face crosses his arms and blissfully steps away. He scowls. “We ain’t friends, Ninja.”
The other SoG goon glances at his partner. He looks like he wants to protest but wisely keeps his mouth shut. Lloyd rolls his eyes at his obviously wounded expression. That guy certainly thought they were friends.
“Well, that’s my friend over there.” Lloyd nods towards Nya’s still form. She’s more than a friend, but he doesn’t need the goons to know that. “And I’d like to see her. Do a guy a favor and help me over?”
He starts to stand. Scar-face moves immediately, one arm already swinging towards his stomach. Lloyd jerks away and bumps into the wall. His eyes widen as he realizes that he just cornered himself.
Scar-face notices this too and makes the swing again. This time, Lloyd can’t dodge. He takes the punch with nothing more than a grunt of protest as the guy’s fist collides with his body.
“Sit down or I hit again,” Scar-face demands.
“You must feel sooo strong,” Lloyd drawls, unamused. “Beating up a powerless Ninja in ropes.” He winces when the next punch strikes his shoulder. “You know you wouldn’t stand a chance if I had—”
“What?” A sickeningly sweet voice asks. “Your powers?”
Lloyd freezes.
A shadow stands in the doorway. She slowly steps forward until she’s directly under the overhead light. The red on her face is dark like blood. “How unfortunate for you that you don’t have them.”
Lloyd can’t take his eyes off her. The last time he’d seen her had been on the tram when she’d tried to kill him after making him watch the Bounty get crushed by his father’s colossus. He can’t describe the paralyzing fear that wraps his body and mind in iron claws. He’s shaking now and he can’t stop it. He can barely breathe.
Get it together! He internally screams at himself. You’re a Ninja!
But when Harumi approaches him, Lloyd instinctively flinches back. He wants to dissolve into the wall. He wants to look away but he can’t. Her hazel eyes glitter, the red paint on her face almost hypnotizing.
Scar-face and Friendly step away as their boss draws near. Harumi regards Lloyd with something akin to disgust on her face. “You’re pathetic.”
He realizes then that he’s cowering slightly, bending away from Harumi, his body automatically trying to make itself smaller and less of a threat. He forces himself to stand up straighter. “Let me go,” he demands coldly. Any trace of sass he had earlier is gone.
“Uh, no.” Harumi laughs. “You belong to me now.”
Something hard settles in Lloyd’s gut when she says those words. Like he was a thing. Like he held no threat and was already doomed to his fate.
“What do you want with me?” Lloyd tries to sound angry but his voice shakes. He hates how easily Harumi can make him feel powerless.
“For you to know what you put me through,” Harumi replies as if it’s obvious. “To watch everything you love get crushed—” She lunges forward and her hand lands on Lloyd’s throat, pinning him against the wall “—and for you to be alone.”
Lloyd can’t breathe. He writhes against Harumi’s grip but she presses down tighter. Her sharp nails dig into his skin. She smiles as she watches as his struggles grow weaker. His headache explodes tenfold and the dark basement becomes a few shades blacker. He feels himself start to slip into unconsciousness when Harumi suddenly lets go.
Lloyd collapses to the ground, coughing violently. His lungs rejoice as cold air fills them without obstruction. His neck pulses in sync with his rapid heartbeat. “Do not worry, Lloyd,” Harumi coos, crouching next to him and lifting his chin with a delicate finger. His eyes land on her face for a moment before he rips his head away and stares at the ground. “I’m not going to kill you.”
I know, he thinks bitterly. That’s the problem.
She doesn’t want him to die. He wants him to see everything he loves be destroyed. It’s a punishment worse than death.
“Your little friend, however,” Harumi stands and heads over to Nya, “won’t be so lucky.”
“No!” Lloyd’s cry earns another coughing fit as his throat protests at the sudden shout. “Leave her alone! Nya!”
Harumi picks Nya up by her collar. The Water Ninja doesn’t react, hanging limply under the Quiet One’s grasp. “She can be the first to go.”
A glint of metal shines in the light as Harumi draws a knife.
“No!” Lloyd surges to his feet and makes it halfway across the room before Scar-face tackles him to the ground. His head collides with the floor but he doesn’t feel the stinging pain. Tears flood his eyes. “Nya, no! Please, Harumi, I’ll do anything, just let her go!”
Harumi smiles at him, then raises the knife.
“Nya!”
Quick as a snake, Nya suddenly twists out of Harumi’s hold and drops to the ground. The knife strikes open air. Harumi shrieks furiously as Nya sweeps her legs across the ground and into Harumi’s ankles. The Quiet One stumbles to the ground.
Nya stands and shakes hair out of her face. “Thanks for the heads-up, Lloyd.” He wants to sob with relief; Nya had been faking unconsciousness just like he did.
Harumi’s already back on her feet, enraged. She grips the knife with white knuckles. “I’ll make your death slow!” She cries, and lunges at Nya again.
The Water Ninja dodges and runs towards Lloyd. She’s intercepted by Friendly, who swings his own knife at her, but one quick leg-sweep and he’s on the ground. Nya charges towards Scar-face to get him off of Lloyd.
“Not so fast, Ninja,” the goon growls, and Lloyd feels something cold press against the side of his head.
Nya freezes, her eyes widening, and Lloyd goes perfectly still. He doesn’t want to move and accidentally cause Scar-face to pull the trigger early.
The momentary threat allows Harumi to catch up to Nya. The princess wraps her arm around Nya’s shoulders and puts the knife to her throat.
“Now,” Harumi huffs, “you will obey.”
Nya closes her eyes, breathing heavily. Lloyd lowers his gaze and slowly relaxes into the floor. He won’t do anything that might cause Harumi to end Nya’s life. He needs to hold onto hope that they can both still get out.
“Stand up,” Scar-face snarls, suddenly getting off of Lloyd. The goon pulls him up before he gets the chance to do so on his own. His head stings from where it hit the floor; he hopes it didn’t leave a cut. The gun still rests against his temple.
“What do we do, Quiet One?” Friendly asks. “They’re too dangerous.”
Harumi regards Lloyd with her calculating green gaze. He tries to glare at her but he knows he’s too scared for it to have any real impact. “They had their chance,” she growls. “This one dies.”
She points the knife at Nya’s chest. Lloyd surges forward and the gun fires where his head had been a millisecond earlier. He twists out of Scar-face’s grasp and barrels into Nya and Harumi, sending them to the ground. Pain explodes in his shoulder.
A jet of water strikes Friendly and Scar-face hard enough to send them both flying into the back wall. They drop to the ground in heaps, motionless. Harumi screeches and pulls her knife out of Lloyd’s shoulder, only for it to land in his arm. Lloyd screams and rolls onto Harumi’s weapon hand, pinning it beneath him and on the ground. Now that he’s off Nya, his sister scrambles to her feet and uses her foot to wrench the knife out of Harumi’s grip. She awkwardly leans down to pick it up and cuts her binds off.
Dazed from pain, Lloyd barely reacts when Harumi shoves him off her arm and puts a knee on his chest right below his ribs. A dull pain erupts from the area, but it’s masked by the agony in his arm. He groans weakly as she restricts his breathing.
Then her fist flies forward and hits his face right next to his eye.
Then again.
And again.
Lloyd can’t do anything but take the blows. He’s half-conscious from pain and his head feels like it’s going to explode. He hears Nya scream his name and she kicks Harumi away moments after she cuts through the ropes around her wrists. Arms now free, Nya doesn’t waste a second summoning her element to sweep Harumi up in a wave of water and send her crashing into the ceiling, then the ground, then the wall. The Quiet One goes blissfully silent.
“Lloyd!” Nya crashes to her knees by his side, already pressing painfully into the wounds on his arm. He groans weakly in protest and tries to pull away, but her other hand gently pins him in place. “Hey, don’t move. Take it easy.”
His next breath is ragged with pain and fear. “Hurts,” he groans, screwing his eyes shut. It’s not as bad as when he was out in the sand by Kryptarium, but FSM, his shoulder is burning and his head is spinning. His face feels like one giant bruise and he knows it’s bleeding.
“I know,” Nya sympathizes. “But we gotta—Lloyd, stay awake!”
He forces his heavy eyes to open. They want to close again and sweep him away to the numbness of unconsciousness. But he can’t do that to Nya.
“We gotta get out of here,” Nya frets. There’s a groan from behind them as one of the SoG goons starts to come-to. “I need you to work with me, Lloyd.”
He nods once and braces himself for what comes next. Still maintaining pressure, Nya helps him stand. His vision goes white for a long few moments, heart racing, until he breathes through it. He can feel his eye swelling shut and blood trickles down the side of his face. He dreads to see it in the mirror.
The two Ninja silently climb out of the basement. Lloyd strains his ears to listen for hidden Sons of Garmadon, but the ringing in his head drowns out almost everything. He can only hear Nya’s quiet reassurances and encouragement.
The Water Ninja suddenly stops in her tracks. Lloyd’s heart drops to his feet when his fuzzy vision picks up why. Three SoG goons stare at them in stunned silence.
Dammit. They can’t fight through them with Lloyd half-conscious.
The goons charge them with battle cries—
—just in time to be slammed aside by a giant metal fist.
“Pixal!” Nya cries joyously. The mech’s hand lowers and Pixal yells something that Lloyd can’t pick up through the ringing. He and Nya scramble up onto the metal hand and Pixal leaps into the sky.
Lloyd lurches forward and collapses to his side. Nya shouts something and the pressure on his arm increases.
The last thing he sees is a bright blue sky.
Then the pain fades and he’s left in peaceful darkness.