Raising Hell - lloydskywalkers - LEGO Ninjago (Cartoon 2011-2022) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1: Season One - Prologue

Chapter Text

Lloyd didn't mean for things to go this far.

He didn'tmean to let the all the Serpentine out — not at first. Just like he didn't mean to get kicked out of Darkley's. But it still happened. Just like this did.

He's caused…a lot of trouble. He knows this. He's put people in danger, he'shurtpeople. It doesn't feel anything like the teachers at Darkley's said it would. There's nothrill of victoryoradrenaline rush of evilthat floods him. And he definitely doesn't feel any closer to his father.

Maybe it's because he didn't win, but…he really doesn't think that's it. Nothing about any of it ever really felt right — every choice he made just felt like he was spiraling further and further out of control, until he was right back on the roof of where he'd started. He probably should have given up after his first failure, and gone…and gone….

Wherewould he have gone? The only home Lloyd's ever known is Darkley's, and that's not an option anymore. He doesn't even remember what his mother looked like, and she obviously didn't want him anyways. His father has been out since day one, though Lloyd would have picked him first, if he could have. All in all, Lloyd doesn't really have anything — or anyone, he could have gone to.

That's just the way things are, though. Lloyd doesn't have a family, he doesn't have a home, and he doesn'tneed one. He doesn't deserve it, maybe. Maybe if he was more like the other boys at Darkley's, or even more like any other normal kid — maybe his mother would have stayed. Maybe his uncle would have visited him. Maybe his dad would have come up from the underworld to see him once in a while.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. It doesn't matter, anyways. Lloyd's just not enough, that's all. Not good enough to be wanted by his family, not bad enough to be wanted by Darkley's.Definitelynot worth the Serpentine's time, that's for sure.

Stupid snakes.

That's why, when Pythor leaves him on the roof and the ninja surround him, Lloyd prepares himself for the worst. Maybe they'll leave him hanging from the roof again. Maybe they'll toss him straight off, or feed him to their dragons. And that will be the end of Lloyd Garmadon, worst villain ever.

But then—

His uncle doesn't throw him out. The ninja don't leave him hanging from a rooftop. They snatch him from the roof, wrestle him onto their ship, and leave him with his uncle, the blue one making little cutthroat motions as he leaves.

Lloyd is sure,now, that he's going to be punished — maybe his uncle will banish himto the underworld. Maybe he'll lock him up somewhere so that Lloyd can never cause trouble again, where he'll never bother anyone or be a burden.

Uncle Wu doesn't do any of that, though. Instead, he sits Lloyd down in his room and gives him funny-smelling tea and the first hot meal Lloyd's had in months. Lloyd is sure to eat extra fast, just in case his uncle changes his mind — but he doesn't. He just sits there and watches Lloyd scarf down the meal with a very sad look on his aged face. Lloyd doesn't know what to make of that, so he just stares at his tea, trying not to make a face at the funny smell.

He finishes too quickly, awkwardly shifting in place across from his uncle and refusing to meet his eyes. Now he'ssureUncle Wu is going to send him away. His uncle is a good guy, like, the ultimate good guy, but people like Lloyd don't getthatmany chances.

But his uncle just guides him to a spare room, makes up a little bed of blankets and cushions on the floor, and apologizes for not having a spare bed. Lloyd doesn't care – he hasn't had so much as a blanket to sleep with since he got kicked out of Darkley's. The realization that he's going to bewarmtonight is almost enough to make him cry with happiness.

But he doesn't, because Lloyd Garmadon never, ever cries. Not when Uncle Wu reads him a story, or when he pulls the covers up tight around him like Lloyd imagines a parent would. Not even when he tells Lloyd to sleep well, leaving him with a tiny lamp glowing to keep away the dark.

Not even when Uncle Wu tells him everything is going to be alright. How could it be? Lloyd screwed everything up. The Serpentine are still out there, and the ninja are still going to have to deal with them. The ninja all probably hate him, just like everyone else.

Lloyd bites his lip, burying his face in the blankets. They smell clean – a bit like smoke and old wood, but clean and soft and a little like somewhere safe. Maybe…maybe his uncle doesn't completely hate him. Maybe he'd be okay letting Lloyd stay with him, for a little bit. Maybe the ninja could learn to tolerate him-

Who is he kidding. Hot tears trail their way down Lloyd's cheeks.Maybe just this once, he thinks.

Hedidend up failing spectacularly at being a villain.

Kaicreated the chatSuper Secret Sibling Recon

Kai: super sibling recon time let's gooooo

Nya: you are SO lame

Nya: why is this a group chat there's literally just us

Kai: a super secret group chat

Nya: is this about the kid

Kai:yup

Nya:meet you outside his room in five

"I can'tbelievewe're keeping it," Kai hisses, as he peers around the door frame.

"He's not an it, Kai, he's a LloydGarmadon," Nya hisses back, from just below him. "Sensei does realize this is the kid that unleashed not one, butthreedifferent kinds of Serpentine that want to kill us?"

"Apparently not," Kai whispers, frustrated. "If he wasn't his nephew…"

"This can't end well," Nya whispers. "He's thesonofGarmadon, evil's in hisname—"

They both freeze as the kid mutters in his sleep, rolling over and snuggling deeper into the blankets, white-blonde hair just poking out from a coverlet. Curled up in the little nest of blankets on the floor, Garmadon's son is ridiculouslytiny, nothing more than a wisp of a child.

"I can't believe this kid survived an Anacondrai," Kai mutters.

"I can't believe it took you this long to catch him," Nya counters. Kai looks down at her, brown hair flopping over his eyes and ruining his glare.

"He had a snake army, I'd like to see you do better."

"You'd be surprised," Nya breathes.

"Ugh, we're gonna wake up with Hypnobrai standing over us," Kai hisses. "Or wake up with our throats slit."

"I don't think he'sthatdark," Nya whispers.

"Yeah, you're right," Kai grins. "We'll wake up with bad haircuts, or an eyebrow shaved off, or marker on our faces."

"He's like what, nine?" Nya shakes her head. "What's he doing running around on his own anyway?"

"Who knows, ask Sensei Wu," Kai shrugs. They turn back to the kid, staring at him from where they're hanging around his doorway. And no, they're not the creepy ones here - it's the kid, clearly.

"Well, I guess he'sprobablynot gonna murder us in our sleep tonight," Kai finally sighs, turning away.

"I think he'd fall over if you even breathed in his direction," Nya says, following.

"Still," Kai whispers, as they creep back down the hall. "You gotta admit, it's kinda impressive for a little demon spawn. Three major threats, from one tiny brat."

"Makes you wonder how longwe'lllast," Nya whispers back.

Super Secret Sibling ReconGroup Chat

Kai:hey

Kai:if i wake up with no eyebrows tomorrow can u makeup me new ones

Kai:nya

Kai:nya pleassssse

Nya:it's 3 am GO TO SLEEP

Nya:

Nya:i will if you let me fix your hair

Kai:fix?

Kai:my hair is a work of ART

Nya:oh please

Chapter 2: Season One - Part One

Chapter Text

"First Spinjitzu Masteralive, screw it a—"

Nya bites off the violent stream of cursing before it can get too loud. The last thing she needs is one of the guys finding the samurai mech because she burned herself on astupidmisplaced relay. She sucks the edge of her hand angrily, immediately flinching at the taste of metal and grease.Note to self, she thinks, spitting.Wear gloves next time.

She's normally never one to forget proper safety gear — that's Jay's area — but she was so excited about this last issue she's finallyfigured out in her mech that she went straight for the kill.

Which issoworth it, Nya thinks, grinning at her near-completed mech. It's beautiful, if she does say so herself. Kiss her days of getting kidnapped by skeletons and being stuck on theBountygoodbye, she's going to kickso much buttin this.

Now, if only she could show it off to everyone without blowing her cover. Oh well. She'll have to live in suspense for now.

And mild pain. Nya glares at her still-stinging hand. She should probably get that treated, given how often she harps on the guys for never treating their own injuries. They'd probably all die of infection or something without her, she thinks, as she slips out of her room, taking care to hide away any traces of the samurai mech. The guys are all on a training run with Sensei Wu right now, but one can never be too careful.

She makes her way to the ninjas' shared room – the burn cream is going to be in Kai's drawer, where it always is. Given her brother's tendency to accidentally burn himself, she should probably get him his own-

She stops suddenly in the doorway. Garmadon's son is crouched over Zane's drawer, currently pulling out his uniforms.

"What are you doing?"

The kid's head jerks up, his hand frozen over Zane's gi. "Uh, nothing!" he says, laughing nervously. "Just, doin' some laundry, haha!"

Nya narrows her eyes at him. She's given him the benefit of the doubt, but if the kid's about to try and pull something on Zane-

"Okay, okay, I'll spill," the kid says, cracking under Nya's stare faster than she expected. "Uncle Wu — I mean, Sensei Wu — he wants me to pull some pranks on the guys." Nya raises an eyebrow. "I'm telling the truth!" the kid says, defensively. "He really did! He lost his training book, so he wants to teach them about, uh, the destructive power of rumors, or something."

"Uh-huh," Nya says. It sounds…well, actually, it sounds pretty plausible, considering that this is Sensei Wu. And amusing, though she's not about to admit it to the little demon spawn. "He lost his lesson book?"

"Yup," the kid says, but he looks suspiciously twitchy. "Must've misplaced it, y'know—"

Before he can blink, Nya's hand whips the training book from the kid's hoodie pocket. The kid stares at her, astonished. "Lost, huh," Nya says, tossing the book from hand to hand.

"Okay, I stole it," the kid mutters, ducking his head. Nya appraises him, still tossing the book. She should probably let Sensei Wu know where his lesson book is, and that his nephew is, as predicted, already up to no good. However…the idea of the guys getting pranked iskind oftempting. Kai's been a pain about her living on theBountyrecently.

"So," she says. "Whatwerethe pranks he wanted you to pull?"

The kid looks up at her, his eyes unsure. "Uh, he didn't really say much, just to pull something harmless," he says, hesitantly. "But I was thinking — for Zane, I was gonna toss Kai's ninja suit in with his laundry."

Nya has to choke back a giggle at that. Zane's robes are going to bebeautiful.

"Please don't tell the others," the kid implores. "I know I stole the lesson book but I reallydowanna do good on this for Uncle Wu."

"Nah, you're good," Nya says. The kid gives her a disbelieving look. Nya draws her fingers across her lips in a zipper motion, tossing an imaginary key behind her back. "Your secret's safe with me."

The kid flashes her a hesitant smile. "Thanks," he says, stacking the robes in his arms and trotting out of the room. He pauses at the door turning back to her. "Um, do you know here the laundry room is?"

Nya rolls her eyes. "C'mon," she says, motioning for the kid to follow her. "Let's give you an actual tour of this place."

The 'tour' consists more of her pointing out wherenotto go on the ship until they get to the laundry room. Nya bites back a sigh at the pile of laundry shoved up haphazardly in the corner. There is nowayshe's getting roped into doing that for them.

Shedoesget roped into showing the kid how their terrible old laundry machine works, though he appears to know how to mix whites and reds pretty well. Now they just have to lean back and watch the disaster unfold.

Nya eyes the kid from the corner of her eyes as they sit on the floor. It's still hard to believe thatthisis the son of the great Lord Garmadon. The kid is painfully scrawny for his age, his black hoodie hanging a too large around his small frame. His white-blonde hair looks wild and unkempt, haphazardly cut into fluffy bangs. Apart from his eyes, which are that unsettling shade of red, there's nothing about this kid that screams "future super villain in the making" whatsoever.

Especially as he's shifting nervously besides her, looking slightly scared and even smaller than usual.

"So-o," Nya finally says, watching Zane's uniform swirl around with Kai's in the machine. "How did, um — how did you, uh, end up…"

"End up what?" the kid says, from where he's sitting cross-legged on the floor beside her.

"You know," Nya says, gesturing at the air. With a sigh of exasperation, she gives up on tact. "Running around with a bunch of snakes, terrorizing villages."

"Oh," the kid says, ducking his head. "Yeah. Um, I was pretty stupid, I guess."

Nya doesn't want to outrightagreewith him, but… "I mean, yeah, you created a pretty big problem.Severalpretty big problems."

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have if you guys hadn't been such bigjerks—" the kid cuts off, as if catching himself. He stares angrily at the washing machine, his face working as he takes a breath, his cheeks puffing up before he blows it out slowly. He seems to crumple inwards, as if sinking into the floor. "I-I know," he says, subdued. "And I'm — I'm really sorry. I messed up, big-time."

Nya studies him. "How did you even get that far, anyways?" she asks, shaking her head. "Weren't you supposed to be at school?"

The kid's face darkens, and he glares at his scuffed-up, worn sneakers. "No. And I'mnevergoing back to that school," he says, his tiny voice surprisingly menacing. He pauses, and Nya holds her tongue, sensing he wants to say more. "I hated it there," the kid finally says, his voice small and bitter. "It was dumb. Everyone there was a jerk. And then they kicked me out, like I wasn't even good enough forthat."

Despite the trouble this kid's caused for them, Nya feels her heart twist at that. Heisjust a kid.

"Why didn't you go back home?" Nya says. "Going after the Serpentine was pretty dangerous."

The kid looks up at her, confused. "I don't…have a home," he says.

Nya blinks. "What?"

The kid shuffles. "I didn't have anywhere to go," he says. "My dad's in the underworld, and I barely even remember my mom. I wouldn't even know where to look for her."

Oh. Nya's heart is doing something funny.

"But that's okay," the kid continues, casually. "I don'twantto look for her, anyways! She left me at that dumb boarding school so she doesn't want me, I guess. I'm fine withouther."

Oh. Nya's heart might be breaking.

"So I just lived on the streets for a bit," the kid says, like he's talking about the weather. "It wasn't a lot of fun, 'cause sleeping outside is theworst.But I thought-" the kid suddenly takes a shaky breath. "I guess I thought that if I could be as good a villain as my dad, maybe he'd decide he wanted me, and he'd come back."

Oh no, Nya's heart isdefinitelybreaking.

"But Uncle Wu found me instead," the kid says, brightening. "And he's really smart, he knows how to puts thing in perspec - perspirective-"

"Perspective," Nya says, her voice oddly thick.

"Yeah, that," the kid says. He sighs, looking down at his beat-up sneakers. "He said a lot of smart stuff," he mumbles. He glances up at her. "I know you guys don't trust me. I wouldn't trust me either! But I don't know how to fix what I did."

Nya has a lot of things she wants to say — first off, she wants to ask the kid who the hellis mother is, to abandon him like that. She wants to ask who gave him the idea that he'd only ever be wanted if he was evil, because yes, he's a brat and she's called the kid a demon spawn herself, but he'sjust a kid. A kid who lost his family, just like her, except he didn't have a big brother Kai to take care of him and make sure he was always safe and warm and happy.

No, this kid spent the better part of his childhood alone on the streets, and that is actually breaking Nya's heart more than a bit.

She wants to reassure him, she realizes, as the kid stares up at her with those eerie red eyes, trusting andfartoo innocent. Shewantsto have the answers for him. She wants to steer him right.

But she honestly has no idea what to even say to that, because she also doesn't want to let the kid down.

"Listen to your uncle, kid," Nya finally says. "He's a lot smarter than any of us. He'll lead you right."

The kid nods, his face serious. Somewhat satisfied that she'd handed the kid's moral development off to someone more qualified, Nya turned back to the washer, watching the red from Kai's uniform slowly seep into Zane's white clothes.

"My name's Lloyd, by the way," he says, quietly.

Nya feels a brief flare of guilt "I - I know," she says. She turns to him, offering him a smile. "It's nice to meet you properly, Lloyd. I'm Nya."

The kid — Lloyd'sface splits into a sunny smile. "Nice to meet you, Nya." Nya can't help but smile widely in return. Sue her, Lloyd's looking at her like she's his favorite person ever, and he's got somepowerfulpuppy eyes.

"Hey," Lloyd says, looking eager but slightly hesitant. "So – I kinda noticed you're like,reallysmart with machines." Nya feels a flash of surprised pleasure. "You, uh, you wanna help me reprogram the ship's training bots to get Jay?"

"Oh, do I ever," Nya says, grinning.

As she allows Lloyd to half-drag her through theBounty in his enthusiasm, Nya reminds herself that this is the same kid who set the Serpentine loose on them. She can't go losing her heart on the demon spawn just because he's got puppy eyes, and he's kinda sweet when he actually talks to her, and the poor kid's had such a tough life she wants to wrap him up in blankets and—

Uh oh.

Super Secret Sibling ReconGroup Chat

Kai:did u help the demon spawn prank us?

Nya:idk what you're talking about

Kai:nya i know ur the only one who could've rigged the training bots

Nya:you'd be surprised

Nya:the kid's pretty devious

Kai:yeah he KILLED ALL MY HIGH SCORES

Nya:do you even know how lame you sound

Nya changed the chat name to Kai Is Hecking Lame

Kai:RUDE

"Hand me that wire."

"This one?"

"No, the red one."

"Um, they'reallred."

Nya sighs, resisting the urge to slam her head against the wall. "The one that I am clearly pointing at, Lloyd."

"Uh — this one?"

"Yes," Nya says, snatching the wire from Lloyd's hand before he can damage anything. She sets on reconnecting it, silently praying that she doesn't fry theBounty'scentral heating this time instead of fixing the cooling system.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Lloyd says, scuffing his feet in front of him where he's seated on the floor next to her.

"Lotsof practice and studying," Nya says, adjusting her safety goggles. "Kai and I used to have a blacksmith shop, so I could work on what I wanted when I had the time. I've picked up some things from Jay, too."

"That's…cool," Lloyd says, almost sounding like he means it. He picks up her pliers, fiddling with them absently. Nya bites down the urge to smack his hands away.

"Hands off," she says instead, plucking the pliers from his grasp. Lloyd gives a whine of displeasure. "Y'know, if you're bored, I've got this pretty much covered here. You wanna see if your uncle needs any help?"

"I already asked," Lloyd says, kicking at the floor. "He's just staring at his smoke, doing weird sensei stuff. He told me to go bother you instead, since we're both stuck here."

Nya sighs. It's barely been a week since they've picked Lloyd up, and hardly a day since she's started calling him by his actual name, but she doesn'treally mind spending time with the kid. He's been surprisingly eager to make up for what he did, offering to help in an almost desperate way that's quickly becoming annoying. She understands, though — she's less annoyed with Lloyd and more so that she's stuck on the ship, doing nothing, again.

She knows why Kai's so against her going into the field — and it's not because she's a girl, at least. It's because she's his little sister, and Kai, bless him, is so overprotective of her it's almost suffocating.

She gets it. She doesn't know what she'd do if something happened to Kai — he's the most important person in the world to her. But she still lets him go, because it's what he wants and it makes him happy. She can swallow her fear because her brother is doing something great, being a part of something bigger than any of them. He's defending the people who can't defend themselves, and she's proud of him for that.

She just wishes she could be part of that too. She's not useless. She's smart and capable and — and she wants to be out there, too. She wants to fight for the people of Ninjago. She doesn't care about the recognition, or the praise (not that any of them get a whole lot of it, anyways) — it isn't even about proving herself to the guys either, really.

(Well, okay, that's a pretty big part of it.)

She wants to help because shecan. Because it's the right thing to do. That's why she's invested this much time and energy into her mech. Once she gets the chance to slip out in it, Nya's going to prove that she's much more than Kai's little sister. She's going toprovethat she doesn't need to be stuck on this stupid ship forever.

(Granted, the only one who will actually know is her, so she won't really be proving anything to anyone but herself, but...it'll still be satisfying.)

"This sucks," Lloyd finally says, breaking the silence. "Is it always like this?"

"Like what?" Nya says, tiredly.

"Like…I'm kinda mad, because I'm left behind, even if I get why," Lloyd says. "But…I'm kinda worried, too, because we don't know what's happening."

"Yeah," Nya says, her hands stilling on the panel she's soldering back into place. She thinks back to all the times she's been made to sit out, the fear that grips her when the guys' communicators die and she's left in the dark. "Yeah, that's exactly what it's like."

"I hate it," Lloyd says.

"Me too, kid," she says, ruffling his hair. He squirms indignantly, moving out of reach. "But we're doing important stuff here, too. Someone's gotta keep the ship running. And someone's gotta patch them up when they come home."

"You're a doctor, too?" Lloyd says, looking at her curiously.

Nya snorts. "Not even close," she says. "I just know basic first aid-"

The radio over theBountyscreeches to life, and Nya freezes. Cole's voice is coming through, tense and panicked.

"—a trap, Nya, the Serpentine knew we were coming! You gotta warn Jay and Kai before—"

The radio cuts off into loud static. Lloyd looks at her, his eyes wide. Nya bites back a curse. Of course,of courseit's Kai and Jay who are in trouble, it justhas to be them—

Well. If there's ever a time to test out her mech.

"Stay here," she says, shoving Lloyd to the front of theBounty. "Listen to the communicators, and don't move."

"Nya?" Lloyd says, sounding scared. "Where are you going?"

"Just checking on something," she says, already ducking through the door. "I'll be right back!"

She sprints down the hallways, almost skidding past her room in her haste. She throws the door open, yanking open the secret panel where she's hidden the suit. The armor takes longer than usual to put on because her hands are shaking — she's not sure whether it's from fear or excitement or a mixture of both. She finally gets it on, clicking the bracelet that controls her mech once and grinning as she hears the roar of engines. All that's left is the mask and helmet—

"Iknewyou didn't just sit around all day."

Nya starts so hard she bangs her head against her drawer. Internally cursing, she turns to see Lloyd standing in the doorway, his eyes wide in awe.

"I thought I told you to stay," she says, frustrated.

"I went to a school for evil kids," Lloyd shrugs. "I don't know how to obeyanyone."

Nya's fingers are white where they've tightened around her helmet. "I'm going to help them," she says. "But they can't…no one can know about this, Lloyd.Please."

A small grin pulls at Lloyd's mouth. Nya braces herself for the inevitable blackmail, the threats punctuated by the kid's pathetic villainous laugh. Instead, though, Lloyd just draws his fingers across his lips, tossing an imaginary key behind his back.

"Your secret's safe with me," he says, airily. "I didn't see anything."

Nya feels a surge of relief. She grins. "Thanks, kid." She pulls her helmet on, winking at him as she climbs into the mech. "Wish me luck, short stuff. And stay on that radio!"

"You got it, secret partner-in-crime," Lloyd says, giving her a thumbs up. "Kick some snake butt for me!"

Nya rolls her eyes, but she's too excited to stop the grin that splits across her face. "With pleasure, kid," she says, as the mech roars to life. Finally. Finally, she's going to show the world what Nya Smith cando.

Or what Samurai X can do, at least.

Kai is Hecking LameGroup Chat

Kai:nysdhj

Kai: nyas]

Kai: nyaaaa

Kai: whys ur facv like that

Nya:put your phone away kai you're still high on venomari poison

Kai:ughhhjklk

Kai:stupidf ssnakjes

Zane's gidoesend up looking beautiful in pink, but even though the color apparently turned out to be useful, Lloyd ends up doing so many loads of laundry to get the color out Nya figures he'll never pull anything likethisagain.

The good news is that the guys finally got back this time in high spirits, so Nya assumes things went their way. At least Kai isn't running into walls because he's high as a kite on Venomari poison this time.

Shestillcan't believe she didn't remember to get video of that, what kind of sisterisshe.

"Ow, ow, Nya—"

"Oh!" Nya starts, realizing she's pulling the bandage around Jay's arm too tightly. She turns bright red. "I'm so sorry, Jay, I got lost in thought—"

"Nah, it's okay, pressure is good for wounds," Jay says, grinning brightly at her. " 'Sides, it doesn't really hurt that much." Nya smiles back, her blush fading. Jay's smile never fails to ground her, it's one of the things she lov-likes, about him most.

"Yeah, 'cause you barely scratched it," Cole says, rolling his eyes. "Drama queen."

"Uh — says the guy who got freaked out by a bunch of rubber snakes," Jay snaps back.

Cole flushes. "I was not freaked out!" he protests. "I just didn't appreciate getting mobbed by toys when I expected food!"

"It's okay, Cole, we all have our downfalls," Jay says. "Yours was just at the hands of a tiny little ten year-old and a bunch of toy snakes."

"Well at least I didn't get my butt handed to me by a training bot said ten year-old messed with," Cole shoots back.

"He dialed it up to like, a level eleven!" Jay yelps. "I'd like to seeyoubeat that!"

"I would," Cole says. "Because I'm the strongest,obviously."

"Oh,you wish—"

Nya exchanges a look of weary amusem*nt with Kai. On an average day, it's all four of the ninja going at each other, but Jay and Cole have always had a…special relationship, when it comes to competing with each other.

"Okay, but strongest ninja aside," Jay finally says, in an attempt to get out of actually physically wrestling Cole. "I can't believe Garmadon's brat got away with all those pranks. Little punk did a number on us—"

"HisnameisLloyd," Nya cuts in suddenly, her voice sharp.

"Uh - yeah, okay…Lloyd, then," Jay says, frowning.

Nya flushes, but she keeps her head high — at least until Jay tosses a rubber snake in her face. "Jay!" she yelps, over his muffled snickering. His laughter cuts off in a shriek as Cole starts pelting him rapid-fire with the snakes around his feet.

"Cole — ow, stop!"

"Ha!" Cole grins, unapologetic. "Who's freaked outnow."

"I'll show you freaked out—" Jay scrambles around the table, gathering his own arsenal of rubber snakes to hurl at Cole. Nya sighs, scooting her chair back to avoid the cross fire as the two turn the dinner table into a war zone. The back of her neck prickles, and Nya doesn't need to turn around to know who's looking at her. She turns anyways, meeting Kai's gaze with her own challenging look.

What?

Kai just shakes his head, his eyes sliding to where Lloyd's helping Zane with dishes and back to her. Nya simply shrugs, keeping her face neutral. Kai rolls his eyes in exasperation and shoots her a look that clearly saysI'm not dropping thisbefore diving in to help Cole fight off Jay with rubber snakes.

"Hey, no fair! Two against one!" Jay yelps. Nya shakes her head at them, but she can't stop the fond grin that spreads across her face as Jay hops around. She slides out of her own chair, grabbing a rubber snake and joining Jay.

"Let's even the odds, then," she says, nailing Kai in the head with expert aim. Jay gives her a blinding grin, and Nya tries to ignore the warmth that floods her cheeks.

Kai Is Hecking LameGroup Chat

Kai: u did not adopt the kid

Nya: i didn't adopt him geez

Nya:he's just not as bad as you think

Kai:oh no

Nya:i'm serious kai he's not a bad kid

Kai: the hypnobrai got to you

Nya: kai

Kai:your brain's been snatched

Nya:KAI

Kai: fine fine i'll give him a chance

Kai:he's still a brat tho

Kai changed the chat name to Nya's A Marshmallow

Nya:i'm putting snakes in your bed

Lloyd is finding, bit by bit, that staying with his uncle actually isn't so bad. He doesn't really ever know what he's doing, of course, and he feels awkward and wrong-footed and really just a huge, massive waste of space half the time, but it's really…not so bad.

He doesn't hate the ninja anymore. It's kind of hard to hate them when they're always arguing with each other over dumb stuff and cracking jokes to each other behind Uncle Wu's back, or when they're holding best backflip competitions for the last slice of cake, or when they get caught by Uncle Wu at two a.m. in the morning trying to tie Jay's mattress to the edge of theBounty'smast (while he's sleeping on it). Lloyd spends more time stifling giggles at their antics than he does silently plotting their demise, like they all think he's doing.

Not that he blames them, of course, but geez, what do they think he's gonna do? They're four very intimidating, highly trained ninja who could just toss him off the side of the ship if they wanted. Lloyd is on hisverybest behavior. Or, he's trying to be, at least.

Nya is the only person he's really talked to, besides his uncle. It's funny, because she's agirl, and at Darkley's everyone talked about girls like they were worse than, like, eating vegetables for the rest of your life. But Nya is actually pretty cool — she knows all sorts of things, like how to fix the Bounty'sthrusters and how to give Kai harmless little shocks when he bothers her too much while she's working.

She also has a giant fighting mech and dresses up like a samurai, but Lloyd's not supposed to tell anyone about that.

The thing he likes best about Nya, though, is that she actually seems not to mind being nice to him. He knows everyone only tolerates him being here because of Uncle Wu, but Nya seems like she genuinely doesn't mind talking to him, asking him what kind of animals he likes and what sort of things he likes to do, other than terrorizing villages. He hasn't really had anyone he can talk to like that in a while — someone he can tell things to and not have to worry about them using it against him a few hours later.

Nya iskind, but she's also smart and strong and good. She's just like the superheroes Lloyd reads about, like in the Starfarer comics he'd smuggle into Darkley's.

So are all the rest of the ninja, of course, but Nya isextracool, because she lets him climb into her mech one time when she's hiding it away.

So maybe the rest of the ninja are still shooting him suspicious glances every now and then, and for the most part not talking to him much, but that's alright. Lloyd gets to live on a giant flying ship, and he gets to have a bed and three meals a day. And best of all, he gets to talk to Nya, who might actually be his friend. That's enough for him.

But, like everything in Lloyd's life, it doesn't last.

He doesn't mean for it to happen. It's just that everything builds up so quickly he doesn't — he doesn't know how to handle it.

It's one of those days — the days he used to get at Darkley's when the other boys were especiallynasty, or when Brad's parents would visit him, or when Gene would come back from Christmas break and tell everyone all the cool places he'd visited and show off all the presents he'd gotten.

It's one of those days where he wakes up and justfeels wrong. He wakes up to the ninja laughing over something and it makes the small ball of hurt in his chest turn hot and angry. It's not fair — it's not fairthat they get to be happy all the time, that they're always good at everything and never make mistakes like Lloyd.

It's not fair that they all get to have friends. It's not fair that they get to have a family like this, one that looks out for each other and doesn't abandon anyone. It's not fair that somebody actuallywants them, that nobody ever tells them their useless or stupid or pathetic just because they aren't anything like their dad—

It's not fair, because Lloyd didn't know what he was missing, but now hedoesand he's – he's jealous.

And it's not fair that they laugh at him when he double checks all the doors for traps, or when he tells them he was checking his food for pepper when asked why he watches them all eat first.

"We're not gonnapoisonyou, kid," the black ninja laughs.

"I dunno," the blue one says, grinning. "If Cole cooked it, it'd probably kill you just as fast."

"Hey!"

The others dissolve into snorts of laughter at the black ninja's indignant cry, exchanging amused grins as they eat their food.

Lloyd doesn't laugh with them. His chest is getting tight, like someone's filled a balloon with all his anger and frustration and it's getting closer and closer to popping. He hates it, he hates this — they hate him, they all hate him, they're just waiting for an excuse to throw him out and keeping him around for kicks in the meantime—

"Geez, kid, what's got you looking so sour?" the blue ninja laughs. "Cole didn'tactually cook tonight, this is Zane's—"

"Just stop!" Lloyd shrieks — and he pushes out violently, sending several plates crashing to the floor where they shatter loudly.

"Holy-"

"Kid, what theheck-"

Lloyd jumps up from his chair, sliding around the table towards the door. Nya steps in front of him, her hands reaching out to him, to catch him, to stop him—

"Lloyd, come on-"

Lloydshoves her away, hard. Nya cries out in surprise, stumbling back and into a chair, which tips over and sends her crashing to the floor — but not before she hits her head solidly on the table, the awful smackresounding through the room.

"Nya!"

Everyone jumps up immediately, exclamations of shock and anger mixing as they rush to help her. Nya winces, rubbing her head as the blue ninja puts a hand behind her back, helping her sit up.

Lloyd stares at her in horror. He didn't mean to — he just wanted to get away from—

The red ninja looks over at him, his eyes burning, and Lloyd flees.

He sprints blindly through the ship, stumbling through the passages as he desperately tries to find his way to the deck. His eyes blur as he runs, and he wipes angrily at them. He can't cry now, he has to get out of here, he has to hide before they come for him — before they punish him, or worse—

Before they throw him out. He needs to leave before they make him, he can't — he doesn't want to have somebody else tell him he's not wanted, he can do that himself, he just — he just—

He can't find thestupidexit on thisstupidship, and now he's standing in the engine room and he hasno ideawhere that is.

Lloyd stands there, the engine roaring in his ears and drowning out any voices from above. Looking around desperately, he spots a small corner, just hidden by the machinery. He shoves himself into it, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them tightly.

Then, Lloyd breaks down sobbing.

Stupid. He's such a baby, crying in a corner like this — no.

No, he's a brat, a selfish, mean little boy who just hurt someone who could've been his friend. He'sbad — he did something truly bad, something cruel, something like a villain would have done.

And it's awful. It's terrible. He feels frightened and sick, Nya's hurt expression playing over and over again in his head.

Lloyd cries even harder, burying his face in his arms. He wants todie.

"Hey, Lloyd…?"

Lloyd freezes, his heart stopping in his chest. He looks up and gasps — Nya is kneeling in front of him, her hand wavering just by his knee. He can see his uncle just behind her, the red ninja beside him, hovering protectively, but Lloyd can only pay attention to Nya's face.

She doesn't look angry. Instead, her face is soft and pitying as she looks at him, offering him a tentative smile.

Lloyd has never been this confused in his whole life.

"It's okay, Lloyd," she says. "I'm okay, see?" She taps the side of her head, grinning. "No harm done."

"You're…you're okay?" Lloyd croaks, staring at her.

"Totally fine," Nya says. "You're notthatstrong, kiddo."

Lloyd continues to stare at her, tears streaming silently from his wide eyes. Nya's expressions softens even further, and she looks at him in something like understanding. "We're not gonna kick you out, Lloyd."

He blinks, his mouth falling open. "Y-you're not?" he breathes. Nya shakes her head, glancing back at his uncle, who's looking at Lloyd as if he's in pain.

"It was an accident," he says, quietly. "We know you did not mean to hurt Nya. My students have done far worse to each other, and none of them have been kicked out yet." He says this last part with a pointed look at the red ninja, who shifts, his aggressive stance relenting.

Lloyd looks back to Nya, who smiles at him, her hand finally coming to rest on his knee. "It's okay, Lloyd," she repeats.

Lloyd launches himself into her arms, smearing his tears into her shirt as she wraps her arms around him tightly. He can't remember the last time anyone hugged him, but Nya's hug has to be the best hug in the whole world. It's safe and warm and she smells like cinnamon and engine grease, and her presence alone is calming — like the rushing of a river, or the gentle fall of rain.

Blinking away the last of his tears, Lloyd's vision finally clears enough for him to see over Nya's shoulder. The red ninja is staring at him, but he's not glaring anymore. There's an odd expression on his face, something a little softer than his usual expression. He steps over to them, tapping Nya's shoulder gently.

"I'm gonna head back up," he says, quietly. "I'll tell the others you'll come back when you're ready."

Nya gives him a murmured thanks, and she finally releases Lloyd, pulling back a bit as the red ninja leaves. "Better?" she says.

Lloyd nods. "I'm sorry," he says, his voice hoarse. "I'm so sorry, Nya, I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she says. "I got that. And I forgive you, so don't tear yourself up over it, okay?" She gives him a little shake. "Gotta have my secret partner-in-crime functioning at full capacity, you know."

Lloyd manages a watery grin, nodding. "You got it," he says.

Nya's face grows serious. "And listen…when Kai and I…when we lost our parents, there were a lot of bad days. We still have them, you know? When you just feel like hitting something. They suck, but talking to someone usually helps. A lot." She meets his eyes. "So next time you feel like that, come talk to me, promise?"

"Promise," Lloyd whispers.

"And I'm sure you can talk to your uncle, too," she says, and Uncle Wu gives a murmur of agreement. Nya grins. "Or you can always talk to Kai, if you want."

Lloyd wrinkles his nose. "I think he'd just light me on fire," he says, somberly.

Nya's face twitches, and she bursts into snickering. "Oh, he deserves that," she laughs. "Lloyd, listen. My brother is a giant softie. Don'teverfeel scared of him, he's barely even threatening to enemies."

Lloyd has to disagree with Nya on that one, but he decides to go along with it for now, nodding. Something must show on his face, though, because Nya just rolls her eyes. Uncle Wu makes a noise thatmightbe stifled laughter.

"You ready to go back up?" Nya says. "I'm sure Zane would like your help with dishes again."

Lloyd hesitates. He doesn't really want to, but…he needs to start facing his mistakes. If anyone is ever going to accept him, he can't just keep running away.

"Yeah," he says. "Okay."

Nya smiles, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. They file out of the engine room, Uncle Wu taking his hand as they head through the wooden hallways. He doesn't seem to mind if Lloyd clutches his hand extra tight.

When they get back to the dining room, the other ninja are sitting at the table, talking quietly amongst themselves. The broken dishes have been cleared away, no sign of Lloyd's outburst in sight. They look up briefly when Nya and Lloyd walk in, but they don't say anything, just smile easily at them and go back to talking. Nya gestures at Lloyd to sit next to the white ninja – Zane, the quiet one - who looks at him kindly as Nya starts talking to the blue ninja - whose name is Jay, apparently.

"Cole bought ice cream earlier," Zane says. "Would you like to help me bring it out for dessert?"

Lloyd nods, still not trusting his voice. He offers Zane a weak smile, though, as they stand up, and he's rewarded by Zane's bright smile.

"Come on," he says. "Cole usually hides it from Jay, so you can help me figure out where he's hidden it this time."

Lloyd glances back, hesitating. Nya gives him an encouraging smile, and he takes a shaky breath, following Zane into the kitchen.

Maybe he can do this.

Maybe…he can make this last.

Chapter 3: Season One - Part Two

Chapter Text

Nya's A Marshmallow Group Chat

Kai: so jay

Nya: oh fsm

Nya: don't be lame kai

Kai: i just wanna know what the deal is!

Kai: if i'm getting stuck with him as a brother in law u know

Nya: go jump in a lake kai

Kai: cruel

Lloyd hates that he's so short. He gets it, he's still just a kid, but it makes it somuch easier for the bad guys to loom over him and look intimidating while they're threatening to, say, eat him.

Lloyd was a bad guy too, though, so it shouldn't scare him, he doesn't getscared—

Pythor looms over him, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. Lloyd backs away, his feet unsteady on the deck of his uncle's ship.

"W-what are you doing here?" he demands, his voice cracking. Maybe he's alittlescared.

Pythor says nothing. He just smiles, the awful, creepy smile Lloyd should have seen from the start. There's a rattle of scales as he slinks forward, and Lloyd stumbles back, putting as much distance as he can between him and the Anacondrai.

"Stay back!" he yelps, continuing to walk backwards. "Y-you can't get me here, my uncle will hear you and he'll – he'll-"

Lloyd pauses. Whatwill his uncle do? Uncle Wu has been nothing but kind, but Pythor is only here because Lloyd let him out. Just another problem Lloyd's caused his uncle and the ninja. One mess after another, like one of his uncle's vases — cracked and cracked and cracked again and never put back together.

It's at this moment that Lloyd abruptly realizes that Uncle Wu's ship doesn't have railings anymore. He realizes this because he backs right over the side.

Lloyd's stomach plummets as he hurtles through the air, the wind tearing at his skin and screaming in his ears. He would be screaming, too, if his voice wasn't frozen in terror. Through blurry eyes Lloyd can see the ground rushing up to meet him, faster and faster, and a part of him wonders if he'll squish flat like a pancake, like in the cartoons some kids used to watch at Darkley's—

Lloyd blinks. He's suddenly standing on ice, so clear he can see his reflection beneath him. The cold seeps through his clothes, and he shivers. He looks around warily. He recognizes the hideout of the Hypnobrai, but there's no one around now — no Hypnobrai, no Fangpyres, no Pythor. Just Lloyd and the shiny ice floor.

Lloyd looks down again. His own reflection stares back at him, his creepy red eyes bright against the blue ice. He scrubs angrily at them, blinking away the tears that started to form when he was falling.

The glass cracks.

Lloyd jumps as ice around him splinters, jagged cracks running all along his feet and through the cavern. He gasps, moving to run, when a flash of purple catches his eye. Lloyd freezes, staring at the growing shape beneath shattered glass. Something dark is spreading out under his feet, staining the blue ice a dark purple-black. Lloyd's breath quickens and his eyes go wide as a dark silhouette spreads out beneath him. He can just make out a pair of huge, skeletal wings, glinting claws, and rows and rows of sharp, shiny teeth. He blinks again and the cracked ice beneath him falls away, sending him screaming toward the mouth full of sharp teeth that snap closed over him—

Lloyd wakes up with a strangled gasp, his heart in his throat. It takes him a minute to recognize where he is, in his little room on theBounty. The room is unusually dark – the lamp must have died while he was asleep, Lloyd figures. But it's clear that there's no one in the room but him, and the only sounds are from the winds rustling through the sails up above. No Pythor, and definitely no sharp-toothed dragon creature.

Lloyd lets himself fall back on his pillow with a flop.Ugh, he's spent so much time trying to act like a tough guy, and all it takes is one tiny little nightmare to scare the heck out of him.

Well, it wasn't really atiny little nightmare — it was a pretty scary one, actually, the more he thinks about it.

He immediately wishes he hadn't. Now all the shadows in the room are looking like Pythor, and the wind whistling outside the ship sounds like the flapping of giant wings. Lloyd squeezes his eyes shut tight, pulling the blanket up over his head. He's not scared. He's Lloyd Garmadon, son of Lord Garmadon, and he doesn't getscared like a little baby—

There's a small thump from over Lloyd's head. He jerks upright, eyes darting wildly around the room. That – that didn'tsound like anything bad. It could have just been the wind. But just to be sure, Lloyd slides out of the covers, tiptoeing toward the door—

" Ouch!"

He gives a strangled hiss as he clutches at his foot, hopping precariously around on the other. He quickly scrapes at his foot awkwardly, managing to dislodge the sharp piece of – is that glass? Lloyd squints at the tiny fragment in his hand. It's shiny and translucent, kind of like a lightbulb.

Oh, Lloyd realizes, looking down. Itis a lightbulb — or it used to be. The shattered remains of the lamp's lightbulb are littered all over his floor. At least that explains why it was so dark-

Somethingbangsup on the deck above him, and Lloyd has to stifle a shriek. He streaks out of the room, ignoring the broken glass under his feet as he heads toward the deck. Forgetthis, he's not about to wait around to get murdered in his room by Pythor. He's gonna catch him in the act and then — and then—

Lloyd stops so quickly near the top of the stairs he almost wipes out. Whatishe going to do? He's just a defenseless kid – he doesn't even have shoes on, he thinks, glancing down at his bare feet.

Maybe he'll just scream and wake everyone up, Lloyd decides. They aren't his uncle's hand-picked ninja for nothing.

And Nya can always swoop in the the Samurai suit and beat the heck out ofanysnake.

Tiptoeing quietly up the last few steps, Lloyd peeks his head up, looking around the deck. He feels a slight swell of relief. There's nothing but training dummies and the ship masts, he must have just heard –aha!There's a sudden flash of light near the back of the ship that quickly fades, drifting off the back of the ship. Craning his head up further, Lloyd recognizes the red ninja, the one with the cool hair – Kai, Nya's brother – leaning up against the railing, messing with something in his hands.

Lloyd watches, fascinated, as a tiny flame sparks to life in Kai's hands, setting a crumpled piece of paper on fire. Kai holds it for a second, watching the flames consume the paper, before he lets it go, where it drifts briefly before it's caught in the air currents, whisking the tiny ball of light away from the ship.

"I know you're there, demo— …kid," Kai says, without even glancing up.

Lloyd jumps, flushing at being caught so easily. He inches forward, hesitant. "I-I'm not doing anything bad," he says. "I just — I just wanted to get some air. I wasn't gonna pull any more pranks, or anything, I promise—"

"Chill out, kid, I believe you," Kai says, finally looking at him, amused. "Using our busted washing machine that many times would scare anyone straight."

Lloyd shudders. "Oh, it did," he says, fervently, relaxing a bit. "I should've made it my life's goal to destroy laundry machines instead of vegetables."

Kai gives a surprised laugh — a real one, not the mocking, fake laughter Lloyd is used to hearing at Darkley's. Kai's laugh is warm and open, and Lloyd begins to relax a bit.

"Youmighthave regretted that one," Kai says, still smiling.

"Yeah," Lloyd says, offering a tentative smile back. "Yeah, maybe."

They fall into silence after that, the only sound the crinkle of the paper Kai's balling up. Lloyd bites his lip. He's notintimidated by Kai, really — Nya told him he wasn't really scary, and besides, Lloyd Garmadon isn't intimidated by anyone, but Kai is – Kai is a ninja, thefireninja, and that's a little…maybe a bit intimidating. Then thereisstill the fact that he got hit by Venomari poison because Lloyd let the other Serpentine out. And he's got really cool hair, too.

(He wonders if it would be rude to ask Kai how he even gets his hair like that, all sharp and spiky and stuff.)

In the end, his curiosity over Kai's actions wins out.

"W-what are you doing?" Lloyd says, wincing at the way his voice cracks. He soundsstupid.

"Ah, nothing much," Kai says, as he finishes balling the paper up. "Just messing around."

A tiny flame sparks from Kai's hands again, setting the ball of paper on fire, and Lloyd's eyes go wide. "You cancreatefire?" he asks, awed.

"Huh? Oh — no," Kai says, letting the tiny fireball go, where it floats up and over the ship's side. He flips his hand up, showing Lloyd the tiny lighter glinting between his fingers. Lloyd's face falls in disappointment. "Yeah, same," Kai says, ruefully. "I wishI could, that'd be awesome."

"I thought you guys were elemental masters," Lloyd says. "What's the point if you can't actually control any elements?"

"Well, there's our Spinjitzu, and our weapons can, sometimes," Kai says. "Andsupposedlywe'll be able to eventually. We just gotta unlock our 'true potential' first, whatever that means."

"That's…cool, I guess," Lloyd says, trying to sound like he understands. Judging by the way Kai's mouth quirks up, he failed.

"It's annoying, right now," Kai says. "But we'll figure it out eventually. It'll probably make more sense once we've actually gotten a full night's sleep for once. Speaking of," he narrows his eyes at Lloyd. "Whyareyou out here in the middle of the night? And don't tell me 'fresh air' again, we both know that's a lie."

Lloyd flushes, chewing on his lip. He can't tell Kai he's out here because of some dumbnightmare. Kai is way too cool for that sort of stuff. "I couldn't sleep," he finally says. "I – I guess I'm still used to watching out for Serpentine trying to eat me when I sleep," he says, huffing.Thatpart, at least, is true. He may have had them working for him at one point, but that didn't mean he wasstupid.

Kai winces. "Yeah, that'd make sense," he says, his dark eyes soft. Lloyd breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn't pursue it.

"So…why areyouout here in the middle of the night?" Lloyd asks.

"So many questions," Kai sighs. He hesitates, looking for a moment as if he won't answer Lloyd. "I'm making lights," he finally says, hesitantly. "It's…what I do when I have nightmares. I'm not…a huge fan of the dark after bad dreams," he says, turning a bit red. "So I make fires to sort of…chase it away, I guess. It…helps."

Kai is flushing bright red by this point, but Lloyd is too distracted to care.

"Yougetnightmares?" Lloyd gapes. "But – but you're the fire ninja! You're like, the bravest person I've ever seen!"

Kai looks at Lloyd in surprise. "Wow," he says, slowly. "I didn't know you — thought that much of me," he says, looking thoughtful.

It's Lloyd's turn to flush. "I don't!" he exclaims. "Well, notthat much — being a ninja ispretty cool, and you're…fire is cool?"

Kai snorts. "Fireiscool," he says. He looks down, his fingers tightening around the tiny ball of paper. "But sometimes it hurts people more than it helps them."

"Oh," Lloyd says, quietly. Kai looks kinda sad now, and still a little embarrassed. Lloyd sighs. "I lied, about why I was out here," he says, scuffing his feet along the wood of the deck. "I had a nightmare, too."

"Guess that makes two of us hiding out here, then," Kai says, wryly, but his eyes are kind. "D'you — uh, wanna talk…about it?" He looks like jumping off the ship might be more appealing, but Lloyd can appreciate the gesture.

"No," Lloyd says, fiercely. "I wanna punch it in the face."

Kai gives a huff of laughter. "You know what," he says, taking Lloyd's hand. Lloyd feels a jolt as soon as Kai's hand wraps around his — almost like tiny flames just licked his fingers, only they don't hurt — they just feel warm. Kai ignores his flinch, carefully spreading his fingers open. "Here," Kai says, and he sets a crumpled piece of paper in his hands. "The trick is to let it go before it burns you, but not too soon, or it won't float. Ready?"

"Yes," Lloyd says, solemnly, running over Kai's instructions.

Kai shakes his head. "Relax, kid," he says, with a small smile. He flicks the lighter, the tiny flame sputtering against the wind as Kai cups his hand around it. "And, three, two, one — let it go!"

Lloyd releases the tiny ball, lifting it up so it catches the air currents. He gives a small laugh of delight as it floats up, tiny sparks drifting behind it as it floats off the ship. Lloyd runs to the railing, craning his head so he can watch it disappear.

"Cool," he says, grinning.

"Yeah," Kai says, watching the tiny fire ball. "It always is."

Lloyd relaxes, letting himself hang limp against the railing, his arms dangling over the side of the ship. Maybe the ninja are pretty nice after all. At least Kai (ha, because he's Nya's brother!) is pretty cool.

Even if hecan'tthrow fire from his hands.

Nya's A Marshmallow Group Chat

Nya: are you okay?

Kai:yeah why?

Nya: the dark circles under your eyes have dark circles

Nya:you can't afford the beauty sleep you're losing bro

Kai: i make dark circles look sexy thanks

Nya: kai i'm serious

Kai: i'm fine nya don't worry about it

Kai:just having some not so fun dreams lately

Kai:i'll be okay tho

Nya:you sure?

Kai: promise

Kai's beginning to wish he'd never accidentally found that stupid green ninja scroll.

Not really, because it's obviously something that's going to affect them, and who knows when Sensei Wu would've told them anyways – he's got a terrible habit of keeping big things like that a secret until the absolute last second possible – and because it gives Kai something to hope for.

Not that he's in a bad place of mind, or anything, it's just…among a team of incredibly smart, strong, and perceptive people, it's hard for a half-rate blacksmith not to feel lost. He's a good fighter, heknowshe is, but he's reckless and passionate to a point where he can constantly feel Sensei Wu's eyes on him in training, just waiting for him to screw up again.

(Okay, so he doubts that'sactuallythe case, but it surefeelslike it.)

It doesn't help that the rest of the teamstillseem to regard him as the 'reckless one', the hothead. Sure, they were here before him, but he earned his place just as much as they did. Cole and Jay and Zane are his best friends, hisbrothers, but…it's hard not to feel inadequate next to them. Jay is brilliant, Cole is strong, and Zane is the calmest strategist anyone could ask for. Kai is just…he doesn't want to say angry, but his temper is definitely what gets noticed most.

But if Kai can become the green ninja, the legendary hero destined to defeat Lord Garmadon and rid Ninjago of evil…if he can just prove, once and for all, that he's truly a ninja, that he's earned his place on the team just as much as the rest of them—

Kaineedsto be the green ninja. He'sgotto be more than just the hothead on the team, right?

"Y'know, you're really boring when you're not kicking and spinning and stuff." Lloyd's voice yanks Kai out of his musings with all the delicacy of a car crash. Speaking of which—

Kai blinks rapidly, refocusing on the road in front of him. "Hate to break it to you, but it's not our job to entertain you, short stuff," Kai says.

"No, just to be all quiet andbrooding," Lloyd says, poking lazily on the back of Kai's seat. "It's not as cool as it looks in the comics. It's lame."

Kai snorts. It's not often he gets calledquiet.

"At least you have a cool bike, I guess," Lloyd continues, leaning precariously over the side to survey it.

"Woah — no you don't!" Kai reaches back with one arm, yanking the kid back in place before he can give Kai a heart attack. "Geez, kid, are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No, I just wanted to look at the bike!" Lloyd says, defensively. "I never get to doanythingwith you guys around."

"No, you don't get to fall under the Blade Cycle's wheels and get squished into a pancake when I'm around," Kai says.

Lloyd wrinkles his nose. "I wouldn't get squished into a pancake," he says.

"Yeah, you would," Kai says. "A flat little Lloyd pancake served up on the road — and you'd taste like brattiness with extra whining."

"Ew," Lloyd says, giggling in spite of himself. "I wouldn't taste like whining!"

"I dunno," Kai says. "I bet that's why the Serpentine didn't eat you. Too much whining makes you taste bad."

"The Serpentine didn't eat me because I was a terrifying villain," Lloyd says, proudly. Kai actually turns around at that, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the kid. "Okay, fine," the kid deflates. "I was a lame excuse of a villai- look out!"

Kai jerks around just as the car coming towards them starts honking loudly. Cursing under his breath, Kai yanks the bike back on track, wincing at the look on the other driver's face as he passes. He gives mental thanks that Nya wasn't here to see that. He relaxes his death grip on the wheel, opening his mouth to ask if the kid's alright.

"That was fun!" Lloyd says with a wide grin on his face, before Kai can even get a word out. "You should drive all fast like that more often!"

Kai has to shake his head. This kid might be crazier than he is. "Yeah, how about Idon't, and we just pretend that didn't happen the rest of the trip?"

"Aw, c'mon," Lloyd pouts. "Don't you wanna go just alittlefaster? I bet this bike can do super cool tricks and stuff!"

Well, actually, it can do some really cool tricks, Kai just hasn't taken it out for that sort of stuff in a while. Normally it's just Jay showing off with his jet in the air, but Kai can put on a show when he wants to — wait.

"No," he says, even as Lloyd's grin grows wider. "Not gonna happen."

"Please?" Lloyd says. "I know you want to…" he sing-songs, poking Kai's shoulder this time. Kai shrugs him off, and Lloyd sticks his lower lip out. "I won't tell anyone about what happened earlier! Just one little trick?"

Kai resists the urge to groan. Of course the demon spawn is blackmailing him. Well. If Kai doesn't havechoice, then he guesses it wouldn'thurt.

"Tell you what," he says, as they pull into the city. "If you're good, we'll take a little shortcut home. I'll show you why it's afirebike."

"Deal," Lloyd says, grinning excitedly. His smile quickly fades as they weave through the city streets. "But I still don't get why I have to wait around at some dumb arcade all day," he complains, as they hit a stoplight. "You guys are always talking about fixing your own mistakes, let me fix mine!"

"No offense kid," Kai says. "But you'd be snake food in minutes."

"I wouldnot," Lloyd huffs. "I survived three whole tribes on my own, and one of them was an Anacondrai!"

"One Anacondrai," Kai says. "The rest didn't kill you because you were just a defenseless little kid. Which, oh wait — you still are."

"I'm the son of Lord Garmadon, I'm not defenseless," Lloyd sulks.

"Your father won't do you much good if he's not around, kid." The quiet words slip out before Kai can stop them. He bites his tongue, cursing internally. He promised Nya he wouldn't be a jerk, and that reallywasn't his intention. "I mean, I—"

"No, you're right," Lloyd says, quietly. He doesn't sound upset, though, just…resigned. "I – I haven't even seen him since I can barely remember, anyways."

Kai winces. Fathers aren't really a…good subject for him, personally, but this kid actually has it a lot worse than he does. Lloyd's chosen a side with them, even if he is a little demon spawn, and that means he won't be on his father's side when he returns (Kaihopes). At least Kai knows his father wasn't an agent of evil. At least he would never have to see him on the other side of a battlefield, even if it would mean he'd at leastseehim again, he'd at leastknow why—

He cuts off that train of thought violently. This isn't time for him to go into his own tragic backstory — not while the kid's in the middle of picking up the pieces of his.

"Maybe that's for the best right now, kid," Kai says, quietly, as he remembers the dark laughter, the glowing red eyes that are much less threatening on Lloyd. "You might not like what you see."

"I don'tcarewhat he looks like," Lloyd says, hotly. "He's my dad. He'sfamily. I'll still—" He cuts off. "I'll still love him," he mumbles, almost inaudibly.

"Well…" Kai hesitates. He doesn't want to give the kid false hope or anything, but the sentiment he's talking about is one Kai's pretty familiar with. "Familyisfamily," Kai finally says, firmly. "Your dad is lucky to have you caring about him."

"Like you do for Nya?" Lloyd says, leaning forward and craning his head over Kai's shoulder. "She told me you took care of her ever since she was a little kid."

"Uh-huh," Kai says, planting a hand over the kid's face and pushing him back. "And what else has Nya told y-ew!"Kai yanks his hand back, wiping it against his gi in disgust. "Youlickedme, brat!"

Lloyd giggles deviously. "You shouldn't have put your hand on my face!" he says, cheerfully. Kai grumbles darkly beneath his breath. Thank FSM, they'refinallyat the arcade.

The kid hops off before the bike's even come to a full stop, somehow managing not to face-plant horribly. Not that Kai's had experience with anything like that. Lloyd looks at Kai expectantly.

"Stay here, and stay out of trouble," Kai says, pinning him with a firm a look as he can. "I'll be back."

"Wait, so you're just gonna ditch me here alone by myself?" Lloyd says, indignant. Kai winces. When he puts it likethat—"But Cole said you were gonna make sure I don't die horribly of my own reckless volition!"

"Your own reckless — what?" Kai blinks. He shakes his head. "Look, I know it's my turn to look after you," he says. "But just play a few games and stay put while I look around." He hands Lloyd what should be enough money to entertain the kid's devious little soul. He glances at the sky. "I have a feeling the Samurai might show up."

"Let me help?" Lloyd saysagain, his face upturned in hopeful determination.

"No," Kai says, emphatically.

"C'mon," Lloyd pouts, his face falling. "At least manage to drop me off at adecentarcade."

Kai hides a grin beneath his gi at the petulant look the kid's giving him. He doesn't have time to entertain the demon spawn now, though — Jay or Cole or Zane could be cornering the Samurai any minute now. "Sorry, shortie," he says, revving the engine.

"Kai—!"

Kai's already taken off, the roar of his bike drowning out the rest of Lloyd's yelp. He can't help glancing at Lloyd in the rearview mirror as he drives off, though. The kid looks smaller than usual, slumped in defeat as he turns toward the arcade. Kai feels a pang of guilt — he knows what it's like to be left out, to feel like—

He'll make it up to the kid later, he tells himself. For a demon spawn, he's reallynotso bad.

Nya's A Marshmallow Group Chat

Nya:YOU LOST LLOYD

Kai:it wasn't my fault!

Kai:i left him alone for 5 seconds and he went after the serpentine!

Kai:not my fault the kid ran off!

Nya:KAI

Nya: he's just a kid

Kai:who can take care of himself

Kai:he'll be fine nya he hung with the serpentine before

Nya: this is different kai

Nya:he's one of us now

Nya:and he's been through enough already

Kai:look we'll get him back nya i promise

Kai changed the chat name to Save The Demon Spawn

Nya:thanks kai

Sensei Wu is furious.

It's hard to tell, because he maintains that constantly serene air he always has, but it's not exactly easy to miss, either. There's a hard light in his eyes, his mouth set tightly, and his knuckles are white where he grasps his staff. It sets everyone on edge, and for good reason — his nephew is gone, just barely after he'd found him, and a significant part of the blame is falling on the ninja.

Nya is furious as well, but her fury is resolved mostly for the Serpentine. She's ticked at her brother for leaving Lloyd alone, but she's also ticked at Cole and Jay and — heck, all of them — for the casual way they reacted when they couldn't find him. The guys are well-meaning, and she loves them to death, but FSMcan they be oblivious idiots sometimes.

She's less furious with them rightnow, though, and more concerned and desperately trying to save their lives, because for all that her guys are a well-trained, highly efficient ninja team, sometimes they reallyaren't.

Like right now, when they've managed to get themselves stuck in some twisted Serpentine fight pit without their golden weapons.

She's had her fun pulling them along lately — the more aggressive they get in their attempts to figure out who Samurai X is, the easier it seems to be to keep them from the truth. If anything, she's come closer to blowing her cover than they have — seeing Jay fully dressed as a damsel in distress on the train tracks had her choking back hysterical laughter the entire "rescue".

It isn't fun right now. Cole, Zane, Jay, and Kai's lives are on the line. Lloyd is on the line. And this,this is the reason Nya built Samurai X — to protect the people she loves.

And like heck is she going to let the Serpentine take them away from her.

Her plan is — or was — relatively simple: crash their giant snake gathering, bust Lloyd out, and fly out of there victorious partners-in-crime before the guys could even clue in. What actually happens is…more along the lines of Nya seriouslyunderestimating her opponents. Now her plan includes fighting the ninja while notreallyfighting them, getting them out of there the first opening she has, busting Lloyd out, grabbing the golden weapons, andthenflying out of here victorious partners-in-crime.

Okay, it's a lot more complicated than her first plan, but it would've workedfineif the guys hadn't pulled the Tornado of Creation on her.

"Agh, can this get any worse?!" Cole yelps from where he's hanging on beside the other ninja, his eyebrows creased in frustration. Nya almost tells him to shut up before fate takes him up on the dare.

"We must continue to make it appear that we are fighting for real!" she says instead, the mask distorting her voice into something that sounds eerily like Darth Vader. Which was not purposeful at all, nope.

"Wha — we're not fighting for real?"

Nya fights back a grin behind her mask at the dumbfounded way Jay's looking at her. "Keep up the charade," she says. "And hold on to my exo-suit!"

To her eternal gratitude and complete surprise, the guys comply without hesitation, clinging to the sides of her mech.Yes, that's part one of her plan in place. She brings the mech up quickly, boosters straining under the combined weight of them all. But Nya was expecting that – before the others can do anything, she's unbuckling herself from the mech, tapping at her bracelet before leaping back into the ring. She can just hear Kai and Jay's frustrated cries before they're launched into the sky, her mech taking them neatly out of harm's way.

Part one completed.

"Go ninja, go!"

She whips around, Lloyd's cheering reminding her sharply that she's got one more member of her family to save. Punching two Serpentine solidly out her way, she springs forward, rushing at Lloyd's cage. His face splits into a smile as he finds her eyes, his obvious faith in her spurring her forward—

Pythor unlocks the cage, and in one short movement, he's got Lloyd pinned against him. The other Serpentine are quickly surrounding him, protecting their leader and blocking Lloyd from Nya.

No, no, no!She wants to scream. She's good, but she's notthis good, she can't fight them all — but she can't leave Lloyd here, either, she'd promised him, she'd promised him she wouldn't just abandon him—

Through the oncoming crowd of Serpentine warriors, Lloyd catches her eye. His expression is set, a little scared, but determined. He nods at her.

Biting the inside of her cheek in defeat, Nya skips part two of her plan and switches on her magnetizer. The golden weapons shoot towards her, and she gathers them quickly, flicking a disc at the pit's controls. The floor slants beneath her once again, only this time Nya doesn't hesitate to activate her jetpack, soaring neatly out of the Serpentine warriors and coming to rest on top of the giant stone statue.

With a heated, hateful glare at Pythor that she knows he can't see, she gives a mocking bow. She can't bring herself to look at Lloyd.

And with that, she flies out — but not victoriously.

That's three parts out of four of her plan completed, and she's managed to fail at the only reason any of them were out here in the first place. Nya clenches the golden weapons tighter against her, biting back the tears of frustration. She failed. She failed Sensei Wu, and she failedLloyd-

And now her jetpack is shorting out.

With a muffled curse that quickly turns into a shriek, Nya plummets towards the ground.At least it's sand, she thinks, before she hits the ground with an almighty crash, tumbling head over heels before skidding to a stop a foot into the sand.

Nya gives a low moan as she waits for the world to stop spinning, slowly pushing herself up. Her brain feels rattled and out of place, but miraculously, nothing's broken. She's escaped relatively unscathed, then.

She spits sand out of her mouth, wincing at the gritty taste as she swipes more of it from her helmet, shaking it off.Drat, this is going to take a minute to work out. It's going to take time she doesn't have, what with the ninja this close. At least it'll distract her from the fact that she just left Lloyd with the Serpentine. That shefailed—

"…Nya?"

Oh, FSM reborn, there's Kai. She reallydoesn'tgive her brother enough credit.

"Steer clear, ninja!" she barks, pulling her helmet back and turning around to point at him threateningly. "Don't look—" Nya finally gets a good look at Kai's face, and the fight in her dies abruptly.

She can't lie to her brother. Not to Kai.

"—at me," she finishes, pulling of her helmet, her head lowering in defeat.

"I don't understand," Kai says, his expression awed as he walks over to her. "You'rethe Samurai?"

"It was always a boy's club," Nya says, wearily. "You never let me try to help, so I found my own way to…to be a hero." She pauses, unable to meet Kai's eyes as the beginnings of fear latch onto her heart. "Are — are you mad?"

"Ofcoursenot." Nya's head jerks up abruptly, and she looks at Kai with wide eyes. He's looking at her with a bit of a surprised, but undeniablyproud, smile. "It's just — all this time I've been trying to protect you, and you've never needed it. You're amazing!

Nya's heart swells. "Girl power," she says, punching Kai's arm lightly. "You're, uh…you're not gonna tell the others, are you?"

"But we have a bet!" Kai says, his expression eager. "We said whoever caught the Samurai would be the green—" He pauses, having caught the look on her face. "Of course I won't say anything," he says, deflating — but his voice is sincere. Nya gives him a relieved grin of thanks, and Kai shakes his head. "How did you make all this stuff, anyways?" he says, gesturing to her suit.

"You'd be surprised how much spare time I have waiting for you guys to come back from your missions," she says, shrugging. She hands him the golden weapons, the time pressing on her. "You better head back before anyone gets suspicious." She takes a breath, closing her eyes as guilt sweeps her. "We'll…have to rescue Lloyd another day."

Kai says nothing, but he clasps her hand, squeezing it in reassurance. He hesitates. "Nya," he says, his voice shot through with concern. "Whenever I get into trouble, the other three always have my back. But you—" he breaks off, taking an unsteady breath. "Just…be careful, will you?"

Nya's heart is close to bursting. He's letting her go. Heknows, and he's letting her do this. "Promise," she says, squeezing his hand back.

Kai gives her a weak grin, then glances at her sparking jetpack. "But, um…howareyou gonna get back?"

Nya gives him a crafty smile. "I have my ways."

The mech takes seconds to come back to her, and she's treated to another awestruck look from Kai as she blasts off, leaving the desert and the Serpentine far behind her.

Leaving Lloyd alone.

I'll come back for you, she promises herself fiercely.I'm not going to abandon you, too.

Kai changed the chat name to NYA THE SLAYING SAMURAI

Nya: kai no

Kai:I STILL CANT BELIEVE UR SAMURAI X AND U DIDNT TELL ME

Nya:a girl's gotta have her secrets

Nya:kai i couldn't save lloyd

Kai:it's not ur fault nya

Nya:i should've saved him

Kai: u had ur hands full saving us

Kai:he'll be fine nya i saw him

Kai:he's a tough little demon spawn

"Okay, okay, but — show me again."

"Kai, seriously, this is thesixthtime," Nya huffs at him.

Kai sticks his lower lip out. "Come on, Nya, I'm keeping your deep, dark, scandalous secret for you—"

Nya whacks him in the head with a pillow from her bed, sputtering as Kai laughs. "Scandalous — don't be a drama queen, Kai!" she sighs, relenting her pillow attack. "It's not thatbig a secret."

Kai raises an eyebrow at her, and she flushes. "Okay, so it's abitof a big secret. But you already promised you wouldn't tell, so you're blood-bound now!"

"I don't remember signing anything in blood," Kai says, tapping his chin. "Jay, maybe, because he'd gladly bleed all over if he could get near you—"

"Shutup!" Nya yelps, whacking him with a pillow again. Kai waves his hands in surrender at her, his laughter ebbing. Teasing his sister to infuriation is one of his sworn brotherly duties, but he's got to look out for his hair, too.

"Imeantthat we're siblings, so any promise is a blood promise," Nya huffs.

"Geez, who's the drama queennow?" Kai says. "YouknowI won't tell anyone, Nya. Plus, it'sreally fun now since none of the others know — and it's driving them crazy,heh."

Nya rolls her eyes, but she finally shifts closer to him where they're sitting on her bedroom floor, pulling her bracelet up so he can see. "I tap here to summon the mech to me," she says, her fingers tracing the red gem on her bracelet. "Easiest command possible. Two taps get it to blast off. Three to turn it off. The rest is in the mech itself, though I do have an emergency guidance system I can use if worst comes to worst."

"And the whole thing's rigged to your bracelet?" Kai says, studying her workmanship. It's good.Reallygood.

Of course it is, though. This is Nya.

"Yeah," Nya says, and Kai can't help but grin as she starts to get the proud, eager excitement she does whenever she's explaining her inventions to him. "I built an entire system in it that links back to the Samurai mech. That way, it can find me wherever I go, and I can find it. Plus," she grins, lowering the bracelet. "Convenient GPS when you need it."

"Nice," Kai says. He smirks. "So I'm guessing you've either stuck us all with trackers, or you've found another way to track our signatures?"

Nya cheeks tinge pink. "It was the second thing I did," she admits, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "The golden weapons aresuper easy to track. But, uh — there mightbe something attached to your gi as well."

"Supervillain in the making, you are," Kai says, shaking his head.

"You never know when I might need to find you guys in an emergency!" Nya defends, her face bright pink now. "And Idid, by the way — I saved you from the Venomari, remember?"

"Alright, alright, fine," Kai says, eager to get away fromthatmemory. "It's…super cool, Nya. Everything is."

"It's a giant pain of a secret, is what it is," Nya sighs, flopping across the pillow dramatically. "It's starting to get kind ofwaytoo stressful, keeping it a secret from everyone."

"Well, it's now the best-kept secret sibling – uh, secret – ever, and no one else has figured it out yet," Kai says. He pauses. "Wait, Iamthe only one that knows, right?"

Nya hesitates, biting her lip, and Kai tries to stop the flare of jealousy in his chest. If she went and toldJay before him, he's gonna have some words—

"I, uh — Lloyd knew," she says. Kai blinks. Well that…wasn't what he was expecting. "We spent a lot of time stuck on the ship together," she says, catching the look on his face. "I wasn't as careful as I should've been, and he's sneakier than I expected, so — he caught me."

Kai snorts. "Should've seen that one coming."

"Yeah," Nya says, with a slight smile that quickly fades. "Kai…" she takes a shaky breath. "I know what you guys thought of him — or still think of him, I don't know, but — I don't care, Kai, he's just a kid. Agood kid, that got dealt a sucky hand in life, and he doesn't deserve to be—" Kai's heart twists as Nya's face crumples. "I was supposed to keep him safe."

"Hey, hey, it's not your fault, Nya," he says, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. He pauses, exhaling wearily. "It was my fault, Nya. I should have stayed with him. The blame's on me."

Nya shakes her head. "If I hadn't gotten so obsessed with showing off to you guys – if you hadn't been trying so hard to find out who the Samurai was-"

"It'snotyour fault, Nya," Kai repeats, firmly. "Whatever choices we made were our own. The blame's on us, okay?" He nudges her, getting her to look him in the eyes. "And I meant it, Nya. Sensei's already working on it. We'll get him back. All of us will."

Nya studies him. "Promise?" she says.

Kai goes quiet for a beat. Lloyd has caused them trouble — a lotof trouble. There's asignificantamount of blame that falls on the demon spawn when it comes to the Serpentine, and the kid can be an insufferable brat when he feels like it.

But…he doesn't know the kid's story, not like Nya obviously does, but it's not hard to piece together that the kid hasn't had it easy. The way he flinches when any of them get too close, the nervous way he's always looking at the exits, the almost-paranoid way he's always expecting one of them to lash out at him - they're all very disheartening signs of an upbringing that wasn'tgood. And try as he might to deny it, the overly-soft part of him that's always watching out for Nya, watching out for the rest of his family, has inexplicably umbrella-ed out to include Lloyd. Nya's right — he isjust a kid.

Also, the conversation Kai had with the kid the other night is still fresh in his mind. Lloyd had managed to bring a surprising amount of light that night, his childish awe of Kai lightening the heavy weight that had sat on his chest from the nightmare.

LloydGarmadon. FSM, Kai really doesn't need to start actually caring about random, troubled kids of his sworn enemy like this.

"Promise," he says firmly. He's rewarded by the grateful smile that splits across Nya's face.

Who is he kidding, he'd probably save Garmadon himself from the Serpentine if it made Nya happy.

(Okay, maybe that's stretching it a bit, but he's made his point.)

He gives Nya one last hug before he stands, stretching. "Now, I've gotta go join the guys — we're gonna see if Zane can break his record staying underwater."

"Again?" Nya says, raising her eyebrows. "But you know — he's already waypast what any normal human should be able to do!"

"Yeah, Zane's inhuman," Kai says, with a laugh. "He's pretty incredible — hey, maybe he'll reach his true potential!"

"Notthatagain," Nya sighs.

NYA THE SLAYING SAMURAI Group Chat

Kai: so uh

Kai: be really chill about this but

Kai: zane's kind of a robot

Nya: excuse me?

Chapter 4: Season One - Part Three

Chapter Text

The funny thing about all this is that Nya genuinelywaslooking forward to going on a date with Jay. She had actually beenexcited about it. The past week has been terribly stressful — between Sensei Wu's departure, the desperate race for the Fangblades, and the reaching-unhealthy-levels-of-worrying she's doing about Lloyd, to say that Nya is exhausted is a vast understatement. So the idea of break (just a little one) where she could spend the afternoon just hanging out with Jay had sounded like the breath of sanity she needed.

Also, despite what he seems to think, she reallydoeslike Jay. A lot.

What a dumb dork,she thinks. How can he think she'll ever want anything more than just himself? She didn't fall in love with him because he was cool, or smooth, or had nice hair (even if she does like his hair a lot). She loves Jay because he'sJay — loud, energetic, and goofy, but also always sincere, endearing, and never failing to make her smile.

But that's — that's not the point.

The point is that Nya had been genuinely looking forward to this afternoon, and the stupidSerpentineswooped in out of nowhere and ruined it.

And okay, Nya's come to expect the unexpected with the life she lives, but really — getting chained to a roller coaster that's heading to a flaming death next to Jay (who had been slowly turning into a Serpentine himself?) only to be saved by Jay turning into the literal embodiment of lightning — andthen getting her cover as Samurai X blown once and for all…it's pushing it, a bit.

At least she finally gets to see the guys' reactions. And they're just as satisfying as she'd hoped.

"So it automatically returns to you, no matter where you are?" Zane asks her, turning her bracelet over in his hands.

"Yep," Nya says. "As long as I've got the bracelet on, I'm never without backup."

"This is incredible, Nya," Zane says, as he hands the bracelet back to her. Nya beams at the praise.

"So cool," Jay says, still looking slightly star-struck. "So, so cool."

"It's not that big a deal, really," Nya says, her cheeks heating. "I'm still no ninja."

"Are you kidding me?" Cole says, incredulous. "Nya, you'reawesome!"

"It's ahugedeal," Jay says, grinning brightly at her.

"We would be dead several times over if not for you," Zane says, smiling at her. "It is anything but 'not a big deal'."

"Thanks, guys," she says, flushing. "But seriously, you all really came through today with the Serpentine — especially Jay. Can't overlook that."

"Oh yeah, and I think we're overlooking something else important," Jay announces, dramatically. They all glance at him. "Ifigured out the identity of the Samurai." Jay grins smugly. "Soeat it,Cole."

"Not true—"

"Technically, Nya told you," Zane says. "So you didn't actually figure anything out."

"Yeah!" Cole says, fist-bumping Zane. "Besides, Kai figured it out before you, anyways."

"Hey, speaking of — where isKai?" Jay says, glancing around as if he's just noticed their fourth member's absence. Which is a feat only Jay could accomplish, because he's the only other person more vocal than Kai.

"I dunno," Cole says, his eyebrows creasing. "Didn't he say he would be down with us in a minute?"

"He has not left the ship, and I did not detect any injuries on him from our encounter with the Serpentine," Zane says, though he sounds as uneasy as the rest of them.

Nya taps the edge of the table, her fingernails clacking in a nervous little tick.She knows where Kai is — the other guys probably do, too, if they think about it. It's pretty obvious, actually. It's all he ever does, anymore.

"I'll get him," she says, standing abruptly. She gives them a reassuring little smile. "If anyone can get to him, it's his sister."

"Hissamuraisister," Jay says, grinning.

Nya rolls her eyes, but she feels her cheeks heat again. It'sniceto be appreciated, alright?

She ducks out of the dining room, making her way to the upper deck of theBounty. The cool night air washes over her, and she inhales deeply. She can already hear the sounds of Kai training, the rattling of the training dummies and Kai's grunts of frustration loud across the otherwise quiet deck.

Nya leans over the upper deck railing, watching Kai as he attacks the training dummies with ferocity. Normally, she likes watching Kai train — one, because he's an amazing fighter, and two, because it gives her a chance to analyze all his weak spots so she can beat him later. Watching him now, though, is just stressing her out. Because the way he's fighting just feels wrong — it's not like her big brother, who's co*cky and arrogant, yeah, but always seems to be havingfunwhen he fights. There's none of that in his expression right now, and she'sworriedabout him.

The thing is, Kai is like a weird sort of pendulum — constantly swinging from conceited confidence to near-crippling insecurity. Most of the time, Kai runs on confidence — it's his way of dealing with stuff. Something needs to happen, so it willhappen, and Kai's going to be the one to do it.

But while he'll never admit it, and it's near impossible to guess by looking at him, Kai is insecure — not the jittery kind of insecure like Jay, where he's worried about being impressive or funny or good-looking enough for people to love him. (Which honestly, Nya doesn't get at all — sure, it'd be nice if Jay took a little more initiative sometimes, but she doesn't wantsome suave, macho meathead,ugh.)

Kai's type of insecure is more of the subtle kind, one that eats away at someone and makes them do stupid stuff for the sake of proving something.

Kai's insecurity stems from his ridiculous need to be thebest,if she has to guess. Nya's not sure why it's so important to him — maybe it's because he needs to feel needed, or it's a result of the years he spent trying to keep their broken little family afloat. Whatever the case, she doesn't like it. It makes her dumb, snarky, caring brother act like a conceited jerk-head sometimes.

It hasn't always been this bad. Kai's always been arrogant, it's just who he is, but it's never gotten to a point where he's almost obsessively proclaiming that he's the best. But something about the whole green ninja thing has lit him on fire, and not in a good way. She wants to talk to someone else about it, but it feels a little like going behind his back. She'd rather talk to Kai himself straight up. Also, the guys probably already have a pretty good idea that something's wrong.

Kai's temper is, after all, something of a legend around here.

(Nya doesn't actually mind so much — it helps mask the fact that she's got a fairly fiery temper herself. They aresiblings.)

Nya sighs, watching Kai as he attacks another poor training dummy, still hitting with that same possessed fervor. At least he's channeling his passion into something not so destructive, she thinks. Maybe she can get him to channel some of that into helping her get Lloyd back.

Nya's fingers clench into a fist. Shehatessitting around and waiting in general, but sitting around and doing nothing while someone she's promised to protect is in the clutches of one of the deadliest Serpentine known to Ninjago?

If she didn't respect and trust Sensei Wu as much, and if she wasn't sure that the guys would probably get themselves killed in a day, Nya would be on Pythor's doorstep this very minute.

His metaphorical doorstep. Pythor probably doesn't have — whatever, she'd have a fist in his face right now if it were up to her.

Nya huffs, frustrated. Again, shehates waiting around like this. Between Sensei Wu leaving, the Serpentine having a Fangblade, Kai being a mess, and Lloyd being captured, she's at the end of her rope—

"Man, he's alotmore fired up than I'd realized."

Nya whirls around at Cole's low whistle, nearly jumping clear off the deck in surprise. "Don'tdothat!" she hisses.

"Sorry, force of habit," Cole says, not looking sorry in the slightest.

"Stupidninja," Nya mutters.

"Yeah, stealth is way overrated," Cole says, grinning. "We should all clank around like samurai."

Nya glares at him. "I do not 'clank around'!" she says, insulted. "You're just jealous Jay figured it out before you did."

"Hmph, only because youtoldhim," Cole grumbles. "That doesn't count."

"Keep telling yourself that," Nya says grinning. The smile is quickly wiped from her face as Kai hits a dummy so hard the head goes flying off, clattering across the deck.

Cole winces. "I should've caught this earlier," he murmurs, eyebrows creasing in concern. "How long has he been this bad?"

"Not…too long," Nya says, shifting. "I don't really know. Ever since that whole green ninja thing, I think. And the true potentials."

Cole shakes his head. "That stupid scroll," he mutters. "It's causing more trouble than it's worth, if you ask me."

Nya raises an eyebrow at him.

"What?" Cole says. "Just because I want to be the green ninja too doesn't mean I can't see that it's causing problems in our team."

"At least one of you is self-aware, then," she says. "I don't want to see what happens when you get your true potential before he does."

"You mean 'if'," Cole says, glumly. "I have no idea how I'm supposed to unlock mine, either. It seemed so fast for Jay and Zane. I don't even feel halfway at that point."

"You're not alone in that, I think," Nya says, turning back to watch Kai again. "I'm sure you'll both get it soon."

"One can hope," Cole mutters.

"I'm just…" Nya bites her lip. "I'm a little worried about him," she says quietly.

"Hey," Cole says, the glum look sliding off his face as he gives her a reassuring glance. "It'll be okay, Nya. He's been in a funk like this before, and he's snapped out of it."

"Really?" Nya says, skeptically.

"You should've seen him when you were captured," Cole says. "He was a terror.Way worse. I honestly thought he'd been replaced with an entirely different person — that Sensei Wu had just swapped out Kai's on us when we got you back."

Nya grimaces — partly because her time with the skeletons isn't something she likes remembering, and partly because can imagine how Kai must've been.

"But that's just how he is, you know?" Cole continues. "Once we get a better position with the Serpentine and Sensei Wu is back, he'll cool down. Just let him vent it out for now. He'll be fine, I promise."

"Yeah…" Nya says, hesitantly. She sighs, before giving Cole a grateful almost-smile. "I guess you're right. Thanks, Cole."

Cole shrugs, grinning at her. "Anytime," he says. His expression turns mischievous. "Hey, by the way. I gotta give you the talk, you know?"

Nya frowns. "The what?"

"The talk," Cole says. "You know. Like, Jay's my best friend, so you better watch it, you heart-breaker—"

"Oh, for—" Nya rolls her eyes, elbowing him. "I'll be extra super careful with your best friend, you dork, don't worry."

"I'd expect nothing less," Cole says, still grinning as he rubs his arm. "And don't worry, Kai's already grilled Jay within an inch of his life about watching himself with you."

"Of course he has," Nya sighs, glancing back down to where Kai is furiously training. She bites her lip.

"Hey," Cole says, elbowing her — a lot more gently than she did to him. "I'm serious about your brother. He'll snap out of it soon enough. And if he doesn't, we'll do it for him."

"Thanks," Nya says, giving him a weak smile. The guys are good for Kai — they're his family too, at this point. They know him.

But she knows him better. And she knows that when Kai isthisdead set on something? It's never that easy.

NYA THE SLAYING SAMURAIGroup Chat

Kai: blech

Kai: BLECHHH

Nya: shut up kai

Nya: jay was super sweet

Kai:ugh whatever

Kai:i have this great brotherly speech of wisdom about relationships for you later btw

Nya:SPARE ME

Nya: kai this is taking too long

Kai:what do u mean u guys just got together

Nya:no i mean with lloyd

Kai: oh

Nya: we should've got him back a week ago

Kai: yeah im starting to actually miss the demon spawn

Nya: kai!

Kai:we gotta hold out for sensei nya

Kai:he'll be back soon and he'll have something

Nya:…ok

Kai's happy for Cole — he really is. Cole is one of his best friends, his brother, and he's one of the strongest people Kai's ever met. Seeing him weighed down, afraidof his father's judgement and unable to take pride in what he really was, hurt more than a little bit.

Starting to mend that relationship with his father, being able to hear that he's proud of Cole – that's something Kai could never, ever begrudge Cole for. He's beyond happy that Cole has that particular weight lifted from him. Cole doesn't deserve that kind of pain in his life.

It's just…it stings a little, because it means Kai's falling short (again).

In a stroke of unfortunate luck that seems to always follow him around, Kai is the now the only ninja not to have unlocked his true potential. It sucks, more than a little bit, but Kai's fine with it. Really.

He watches Zane freeze a training dummy solid as Cole rattles the earth, hears Jay's excited whoop as he pulls electricity out from mid-air. He should be training with them, right now, but what is he even gonna do? Punch the dummy? In comparison to the others, Kai is now utterly, completelyuseless. He's gone from being one of the best fighters to utterly ineffective, the dead weight on the team.

Okay, maybe he's not fine.

It justsucks. Kai is trying, he's tryingso hardto better, but it's like he's just not enough. Sensei Wu seemed to have faith in him when he chose him as the fire ninja, but what is he going to say when he comes home and finds that Kai is the only one who can't live up to the name?

(He can, hecanlive up to the name, hewill—)

The other frustrating thing is that, from what they've seen, Kai either needs to one: regain his memories and come to terms with what he is; two: sort out his self-confidence and be himself for his girlfriend; or three: repair his relationship with his father and be proud in what he is. This is problematic because one: Kai isn't nindroid; two: Kai doesn't have a girlfriend (and as Nya's always quick to point out, he's never lacked confidence in that area); and three: his parents are long gone, so yeah. That's out.

And Kai knows that whatever he needs to overcome is going to be personal, tailor-made to whatever his issues are, but it's hard to pin that down. Everyone is expecting it to involve his temper — or Kai thinks they do, at least, it's kind of the obvious one. But that can't be it — Kai can control his temper when he needs to. It's never been as bad as the others make it out to be.

Ithas to be about him proving his worth as a ninja. Kai just needs to be better, to prove that he's the best. He needs to be the Green Ninja.

It only makes sense, right? He's the only one left, and none of the others are the Green Ninja, obviously. It has to be him. That's why this is so hard — it'll be worth it in the end.

He hopes. It's only just now hitting him, how lost he is on this — he really hasn't had a whole lot of time to think about howhe's going to get his own potential in the past week. He's been too focused on his teammates, because FSM did they all need the support.

He's spent the last week in a constant state of worry — concern for Zane and his world-shaking revelation, concern for Jay and his frantically dropping self-worth, concern for Cole and the obvious pain his relationship with his father had left him with.

On top of that, there's his never-ceasing concern for Nya's well-being (especially now that she's Samurai X — she's brilliant, sobrilliant, and Kai couldn't be more proud, but he never wanted her to have to face the same dangers he did).

And then, oddly enough, there's the growing ball of worry in his chest for the demon spawn.

Okay, so it's notreallythat odd. Despite everything he's done, Lloyd reallyisn't that bad a kid. He's naïve, in an endearing kind of way. And he's surprisingly innocent, even after everything Nya's told him he's been through — after everything Kai's seen. Sure, he's a bratty little terror with a mischievous streak worse than Jay and Cole collaborating together, but to his core he's just that wide-eyed little kid who looked at Kai like he was amazing, just because he let him play with fire.

….he probably shouldn't phrase it like that when he tells Nya about it.

At any rate, it doesn't sit well with him that the kid is locked up with a bunch of Serpentine somewhere, demon spawn or not. Especially since it is…sort of Kai's fault. (Okay, so it's a lot Kai's fault, but he didn't tell the kid to run after the Serpentine, did he?)

They need to get him back. They need Sensei to come back, and they need to stop Pythor before he gets his hands on another Fangblade. They're successfully doingnoneof those things right now.

So Kai is going to become the Green Ninja and do it himself.

…he just needs to try a different tactic than this one, because it'ssonot worth it.

"Seriously, guys,not cool," Kai says, glaring at them as he tries to disguise the heating flush rising in his cheeks. Jay only snickers harder, grabbing Cole's shoulder for support. Cole isn't much better, barely suppressing the amused grin on his face, and Zane — even Zane is laughing, the traitor.

"Kai, the ninja offiyahhhhh," Jay gasps. "Dorkiest ninja in all of Ninjago—"

"I willend you, Jay," he hisses. "I'll light everything you love on fire—"

"Chill out, Kai," Cole snickers. "You're the one that got caught playing around in the green gi."

Kai flushes harder, pulling at the sleeve of the gi he's got on. "I was notplaying," he says, forcefully. "I was just trying it on. I was looking for some sort of clue from Sensei, and then I found this. "

At least Nya isn't here to see this.

"But you know only he who is foretold to face Lord Garmadon is destined to be the Green Ninja," Zane says. "And only he will wear the Green Ninja outfit. So Sensei will most likely be very—"

"I know, I know," Kai cuts him off, wincing. "But I thought if I just tried it on, it might help me see my true potential." He sighs, walking over to the window dejectedly. "It's not fair that you guys have unlocked your cool powers and I still haven't."

And okay, he knows he sounds like a kid, but it'snot fair. The others may have their own brand of special strengths, but Kai is the best fighter, the fiercest in battle — just like fire is more formidable than any of the other elements. They fear it because it's destructive, and they should, fire is the most powerful element for areason—

Kai blinks. He shakes his head, the haze of anger evaporating. What is hethinking, fire isn't great because it'sdestructive. He'd never want to hurt anyone, much less his family, geez, there goes his stupid temper again—

"Besides," he says, his voice softer. "Sensei's gone. And we don't know when he's coming back—"

"Hello? I'm home!"

Speak of thedevil.

The others exchange delighted looks. "Sensei!"

They all sprint out, leaving Kai behind as he suddenly panics. Thelastthing he needs is to get caught by Sensei wearing the green gi without permission. He grabs his own red gi from where he'd left it, tugging at the folds of the green uniform. The fabric is soft and maneuverable, and easy enough to get off and on.

Kai pauses, glancing in the mirror again, the bright green of the gi he's got on jarringly unfamiliar. It doesn't fit quite right, the design likely meant for someone smaller than him, but the effect is still the same. The green is a softer color than the usual red he wears, a bit less threatening — but it makes him look older, makes him look different.

He's…not sure he likes it. Which is ridiculous, because this is the color he's going to wear soon, and green is — it's the color of power, and—

(He's going to miss red.)

Kai jerks himself back to the present, remembering with a start where the others have gone. He quickly tugs the green gi off, pulling his own familiar red back on. He immediately feels the sense of unease fade, more comfortable in the uniform that's tailored to him. He grabs the green gi, folding it back up and opening the cabinet Sensei's been storing it in.

Kai hesitates. He sighs, running his fingers over the embossed green fabric once more. So much trouble, over one little uniform—

"You really shouldn't let Sensei see you with that, you know."

Kai jerks, spinning around and immediately relaxing when he sees only Nya standing in the doorway.

"I was just putting it away," he says, quickly, stuffing the uniform back. "Is Sensei on board yet?"

"Just getting here," Nya says. "I came to make sure you were gonna join us."

"Duh," Kai says, frowning. "Sensei'sback, Nya, we can finally get moving!"

"Yeah, but—" she sighs. "I was just making sure you're okay."

Kai's frown deepens. "Of course I am," he says, his expression shifting as he gives her a reassuring grin. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Nya doesn't answer that, pausing. "You don't have to lie to me, you know," she suddenly says, quietly. "I'm your sister, Kai, you're supposed to be to tell me stuff. Not hide it away and act like you're — like you're some tough guy."

"Iam some tough guy," Kai grumbles, but he hesitates at the look on Nya's face. "I'll be fine, Nya, I promise, I just — I just need to prove this, okay?"

"Prove what?" Nya says, looking frustrated. "Kai, you're pretty much the best fighter here. Stop thinking that you're just — some weak link on the team or something!"

"I'm not, I'm — Nya—" Kai pauses. He hatesappearing weak in front of Nya, but she's the only one he feels comfortable being this vulnerable in front of. "You…you know what I'm like. I have to prove to Sensei that I can get over my weakness, like the others."

"Your need to prove yourselfisyour weakness," Nya says, insistently. "You don't need to prove anything, Kai." She hesitates, then grabs his hand, squeezing it tightly. "Well, you definitely don't tome. I know you'll get your true potential. Just give it time, okay? Don't run yourself to the ground over this. You're better than that."

Kai exhales heavily, not meeting Nya's gaze. Her words rattle around in his head, mixing with the constant pounding in his head to do better. Nya has so much confidence in him, like she always has, and Kai is scared to death of proving that confidence wrong.

Kai squeezes her hand back before letting it go, his resolve strengthened. He won't fail her. He can do this.

"Now get your suit on already," Nya says, heading toward the door and giving him a look. "I'll stall for you."

She doesn't have to stall for long — Kai makes it just as Sensei Wu is questioning where he is, out of breath as he finishes tugging his gi into place. He gets a raised eyebrow from Cole, but he ignores that one, turning to Sensei.

"So glad you're back safe, Sensei," he says. And he is — he hadn't realized how much he'd missed Sensei Wu's guidance until now. He's been gone for what feels like forever.

But he's back safe now, and he seems confident, which means he must have found a way to save Lloyd. Once Sensei collects the demon spawn, Nya can finally relax and Kai can unlock his true potential. It shouldn't take long, Sensei Wu's plans are usually foolproof—

A dark shadow steps out from behind Sensei.

Never mind.

NYA THE SLAYING SAMURAIGroup Chat

Kai: IS HE CRAZY

Kai: HE'S CRAZY

Nya: i'm sure sensei knows what he's doing

Nya: but YEAH HE'S CRAZY

Nya: i can't believe i have to live with the jerk that used me as a damsel in distress

Kai: I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S EVEN LIVING

Nya: okay maybe cool down a bit?

Kai: NEVER

Kai: GARMA-FREAKING-DON IS ON OUR SHIP NYA

Kai: GARM. A. DON.

Kai: IN OUR HOME

Nya: yeah this is gonna end well

So, on the list of smartest things Lloyd's ever done, trying to infiltrate the Serpentine with a mask and maracas probably ranks just barely above actually letting the same Serpentine out of the tombs. That is, right at the bottom, because they're the stupidestthings Lloyd's ever done.

Stupidsnakes. Stupid Pythor and his stupid Fangblades and his stupid cage he shoved Lloyd in.

Lloyd kicks at the bars of the cage again, glaring hotly at them as they barely even rattle. He'd tried hitting it harder earlier — pulling and kicking and trying to find someweakness in it. Nya had told him once, when he was helping her with repairs, that people sometimes cut corners when they make stuff and leave little weaknesses. She had demonstrated this by using a wrench as a lever and neatly breaking a metal grate on theBountyin half.

Lloyd's been searching for something like that on this cage for hours, but even if hecouldfind it, he doesn't have a wrench, and he's nowhere near as smart as Nya, so it probably wouldn't work anyways.

(It was worth a try, though.)

His last attempt had been to squeeze through the bars himself — he might have been able to pull that one off if his dumb head wasn't so big. Instead, he'd managed to get himself wedged uncomfortably between the bars for a few minutes, sending him into a fit of panic until he'd been able to get himself unstuck — and successfully right back where he'd started.

The Serpentine had gotten a real laugh out of that one. Lloyd's cheeks still burn at the memory.

At least they've left him alone, though. The first few days of his capture, some of the nastier Serpentine had decided that Lloyd was their personal entertainment, and had taken turns trying to scare him with the regular evil threats while pretending to stick their blades through the cage. They'd kept at that until they'd gotten bored, which had been pretty fast — they didn't get much of a reaction out of Lloyd, to their disappointment.

He'd been extra careful that they wouldn't, biting his lip and staring hard at the ceiling when they hissed at him. Never give your enemies any reaction, especially if you're weaker than them. It's always better to bear it in silence until they get bored and leave you alone. He'd learnedsomethings at Darkley's.

Lloyd pulls his knees to his chest, trying to find a comfortable position while leaning against the metal bars. Hehates this stupid cage — it's tall enough for him to stand up in, but not big enough for him to walk around any. He can sit down, but laying down is almost impossible — Lloyd's neck hurts from all the times he's fallen asleep, awkwardly propped up with a metal rung digging into his back.

The thing he really, really hates is how everyone canseehim. He feels like an animal in one of the zoos he'd look at pictures of sometimes, locked up so everyone can look at him and laugh at him, the dumb little kid who got himself caught because he wasn't smart enough to mind his own business.

Lloyd promises himself that once he gets out of here, he'll learn how to fight so he never, ever gets stuck in a cage like this again.

If he gets out of here, that is.

Lloyd bites his lip, watching the Serpentine across the room from him anxiously. He doesn't really know why Pythor still has him around — he's pretty sure he's a hostage, but for how long? Pythor hasn't really made any threats to the ninja yet, except for using him as a shield back at Ouroboros when Nya was about to kick his butt into tomorrow.

Lloyd manages a tiny smile at the memory. He'd been so scared that Nya and the ninja were going to get hurt — or worse — because of him.

He's still reeling from what happened. When Pythor had discovered him at the snake-rally-thing he'd snuck into, he'd thought that was it for him. Kai had told him to stay put, and he'd ran off anyways. He had just wanted to help — wanted to fix at least part of what he'd caused — but he'd failed, just like he always does.

He hadn't expected them toallshow up, in spite of that.

The fact that they had showed up — that they came for him, even after he's been a terrible brat and even when it was his fault he got captured anyways, does things to Lloyd's chest that threaten to make his eyes water. He doesn't get it. He had hoped Nya would show up, because they're secret partners in crime and she's his friend. And then she'd been captured, because she was trying to save him, and Lloyd had taken it back.

But then the ninja had shown up — all of them. Kai and Cole and Jay and Zane, all ready to fight — for him?

It must've been the Serpentine, Lloyd thinks. That's why they all showed up. They saw a chance to stop Pythor and the rest of the Serpentine, and rescuing Lloyd would have been a side bonus, that's all. Which is fine by him — he's still not used to having anyone even remotely care about him, so it probably would have been a little overwhelming if they had allactually came just for him.

The important thing is that they all got out safely. The ninja are still out there, still able to fight against Pythor and the other Serpentine. They'll stop him — they have to. Maybe they haven't been supersuccessful yet, because Pythor already has two Fangblades, but they'll come back! The ninja will win. They'll beat Pythor.

Lloyd tries to shove away the dark thoughts that remind him that heroes don't always win. Tries to forget that a lot of the time, your team doesn't come out on top.

(After all, it's the people you think are best that fail you the worst—)

No. No, this is different. The ninja are the good guys, and they're more than good guys — they're fighting for what's right,for what'strulygood. They won't lose. That's what always happens in stories like this. Just when everything seems darkest, the light comes through. In the end, good will win out.

Lloyddoes wish that he could contact them, though, to help them out, kind of like a spy — ooh, that would be way cooler than this. The upside about Pythor dragging him along everywhere is that he knows exactlywhat their plans are. The downside is that Pythor is havingLloyddo all the dirty work.

Lloyd pokes dolefully at the hole in his pants over his knee, where the ragged scrape he got from dodging booby traps is just peeking out. The skin beneath has finally scabbed over, and Lloyd tries not to pick at it again. He doesn't want to bleed all over his clothes — he already has enough dust and dirt from sliding and diving all over the cave floor.

Stupid Pythor. He even found a way to take all the fun out of exploring booby-trapped caves.

Lloyd bangs his head against the cage, frustrated. He glances up through the bars, and is surprised to see that he's mostly alone in the main room of the cave now. The Serpentine must have gone to bed for the night.

Lloyd grins. Which means this is the perfect time for him to test out his lock-picking skills.

He crawls over to the cage's lock, pulling the snapped off arrow he'd grabbed when Pythor had forced him to go through all the booby traps. Squinting in concentration, Lloyd slides the sharp edge into the keyhole, biting his tongue as he fiddles with it. He wishes Brad was here — he's waybetter than Lloyd at picking locks like this. Brad is a certified master lock-picker, way better than Gene or any of the others jerks at school. One time, he had actually tried to help Lloyd out with it, sneaking out to the kitchen with him and secretly showing himjust the right way to jiggle the lock to the candy cabinet open—

The lock clicks, and the cage door suddenly swings open, almost sending Lloyd face-planting to the floor.

"Yes!" Lloyd whispers, in delighted victory as he picks himself up. "Thank you, Brad."

He glances around quickly, making sure no one's heard his escape. There's no one — Lloyd is the only one in the room. Darting forward, Lloyd slips through one of the passageways, carefully peeking around the corners to make sure there aren't any Serpentine slithering around. He can hear voices down the left passage, but the right passage is clear — maybe that one will lead to the top.

Lloyd feels a huge grin split across his face in exhilarated adrenaline as he runs down the passage. He's free! All he has to is sneak through the rest of the caves, and he can hike back to Ninjago city, find the ninja, and tell them everything about Pythor's plans. He can finally beuseful—

Lloyd smacks into somethinghard, sending him sprawling to the floor. He groans, shaking his head and glancing up. Immediately, his blood runs cold.

"Well well, what do we have here?" a purple Hypnobrai hisses at him, sounding amused.

"Get away from me!" Lloyd yelps, kicking furiously at the Hypnobari. The snake just laughs, pulling out a very, very sharp sword that could probably skewer Lloyd through in seconds. Lloyd goes still, his heart pounding in fear.

"I can't do that, I'm afraid," the Hypnobrai says. "You're our prisoner, you know."

Lloyd growls through his teeth, trying to look intimidating. Oh, heknows.

"It's a wassste, if you ask me," the Hypnobrai says, his eyes glinting as he studies Lloyd. "We're getting terribly hungry, you know. Pythor doesn't keep us well-fed." The Hypnobrai grins, sharp and deadly. "Of course, he'ssss not around right now."

Lloyd stops struggling, going still as fear grips him. The snake wouldn't actuallyeat him, there's no way Pythor would—

The Hypnobrai pulls him up, his fangs glinting in the dim lights of the cave.No, no, no!Lloyd wants to scream in panic, but his voice is stuck in his throat. There's a pressure building in his chest, a humming sort of terrified adrenaline. He doesn't want to get eaten, he can't get eaten,he wants to get out of here he wants to go home he wants his dad—

Lloyd lashes out against the Hypnobrai in panic, and the pressure in his chestsnaps, flooding out through his fingers and—

There's a weird hummng sound and the purple Hypnobrai jerks back with a shriek of pain, releasing Lloyd and letting him crash to the ground. Lloyd immediately scrambles to his feet, running as fast as he can away from the snake.

Out, out, he has to get out of here before he's eaten—

Smack.

Lloyd has the worst sense of deja-vu as yet another Hypnobrai, this one a bright blue, hauls him up from the floor. "And where do you thinkyou'regoing?" she hisses, her eyes raking over him critically where he dangles from her grip in the air.

"He's going toeatme!" Lloyd shrieks, pointing wildly back at the other snake and struggling furiously. Maybeshe'llremember that Pythor wanted him kept alive.

The blue Hypnobrai looks surprised. Her expression immediately twists to a glare, which she directs at the Hypnobrai that was chasing him.

"You didn't tell the human you'd eat it, did you?" she snaps at the purple Hypnobrai, who suddenly looks sheepish. The blue one gives a hiss of irritation. "Thissss is why people hate us, you know."

"Heshockedme," the purple one says, sounding more surprised than angry. "I didn't know human children could dothat."

"Oh, stop with your stories," the blue one says. "There's no excuse for you. We don't need to give the child another reason to think we're monstersss."

"Pleassse, his people have already filled his head with enough stories," the purple one says. "It's too late for that."

"You can stop encouraging the stories, then," the blue one says, wearily.

"Just get the child to Pythor," the purple one mutters.

"No!" Lloyd yelps, suddenly. Both Hypnobrai stare at him. Lloyd shifts. "You could, uh, you could just let me go?" he says, hopefully. "I'll tell everyone you're, uh — you're not really monsters, and stuff!"

The blue one snorts. "Cute," she says, looking amused. The expression is nice on her — it doesn't make her look as scary. And she didsave him from the other Hypnobrai. Lloyd almost likes her.

And then she throws him in front of Pythor, who shoves him right back in the cage, and Lloyd doesn't like her anymore.

"Oh, Lloyd, my friend," Pythor sighs, as he slithers in front of the cage. "You reallyareproving to be more trouble than you're worth."

"I'm not yourfriend," Lloyd says, darkly, from where he's sitting back against the cage with his arms tightly crossed. "And I'm nothingbuttrouble. So you betterwatch it, you — you ugly jerk."

"I'd have thought your school would have taught you more…creative insults," Pythor says, mildly. "That wasss rather pathetic."

Lloyd huffs. As if he cares what Pythor thinks. He can think up his own insults, it's not like Lloyd knows—

Well, actually, Lloyd knows lots of worse insults, but he's not about to waste them onPythor. Besides, he isn'tactuallya supervillain.

"You're gonna be the pathetic one when the ninja bust in here," Lloyd says, confidently. "They're going to break me out of here, kick your butt, and ruin all your plans. Just wait and see."

"Ssso confident they're coming for you," Pythor says. "I wonder, what makes you so sure they'd come back for a tiny little brat like you? It'sss not like you're very important."

"T-they —" Lloyd breaks off, doubt flooding his mind. No, no, that's what Pythor wants!"They wouldn't just leave somebody behind," Lloyd says, firmly. "And Uncle Wu is leading them. I'm family."

"Oh dear boy, family doesn't meananything," Pythor laughs. "You're really better off without it. You can take it from me, Iatemy own family."

Lloyd shudders, backing further into the cage, as far as he can possibly get from Pythor. "You'recrazy," he says, in a kind of fascinated horror.

"Perhapsss," Pythor says. "But tell me, young Lloyd," his eyes are glinting. "If it comes down to you or the Fangblade, justwhichdo you think they'll chose?"

Lloyd goes quiet. He doesn't know the answer to that one — or maybe he does, and he just doesn't want to say it. The ninja are good people — if he's learned anything in the past weeks, it's that. His uncle seems to care about him, Nya is his friend, and Kai — well, Kai is easy to talk to, but that doesn't mean he cares. But still, he knows the ninja wouldn't just let him die — not unless there was something bigger on the line.

The Great Devourer is something bigger.

No, Lloyd shouldn't lie to himself. If it comes down to it, the ninja won't choose him. His ownmomdidn't even choose him.

Pythor smiles, wide and cruel. "Ah, as I thought," he says. "You see, Lloyd, no one everreallycares in the end. There's alwaysss something better they'll trade you in for."

Lloyd bites his lip. He's got a good comeback, he's going to say it to Pythor any minute — any minute now, just as soon as his eyes stop blurring.

"I'm terribly sssorry you didn't learn that lesson at your school."

With that, Pythor slithers off, leaving Lloyd staring after him in silence. He flicks his staff against the wall as he leaves the room, and the torches burning in the cave begin to flicker out. Lloyd shivers, watching as the chamber is plunged into near-total darkness. He suddenly wishes desperately that Kai was here, with his lights. Hewouldn't be scared.

Lloyd pulls his knees up to his chest again, sniffling miserably.

He thinks about the Great Devourer, the giant evil snake his uncle described to him. He thinks about the story his uncle told him, about how the Great Devourer had ripped his father from him.

He imagines the ninja standing against a huge snake, their weapons tiny against the monster. He imagines Nya, alone in her Samurai mech, fighting uselessly to save the people of Ninjago. He imagines the Great Devourer, snapping them all up in one big bite, tearing them away just like it took his father. Lloyd shivers.

He'sglad they'll choose the Fangblade, he tells himself. If the ninja get the Fangblade, then they'll be safe. Nya and Uncle Wu and all the others — they'll be able to stop Pythor.

The ninja are heroes. They're like the characters from the stories Lloyd reads in his comics, brave and strong and confident. Lloyd isn't any of that. He doesn't have a place in that story — he doesn't have a place anywhere.

They won't choose him. No one ever does. What would he ever be able to contribute to the team, thefamily, anyways?

Lloyd kicks the bars bitterly.

Stupid cage.

NYA THE SLAYING SAMURAIGroup Chat

Nya:kai i get it but you need to chill the heck out

Kai: nya are u seriously forgetting who this is

Nya: i'm not kai, none of us are

Nya: but he's helping us out now and we need him

Kai: we DO NOT need him

Nya: do you see lloyd on the ship?

Nya: any fangblades?

Nya: we can't do this on our own kai

Kai: we could've with sensei wu

Kai: i can't work with him nya

Nya: kai i love you

Nya: but get it the heck together and suck it up

Living with Garmadon is every bit the hell Kai had expected it to be. Granted, he hadn't really been expecting soap operasandsuntanning(or whatever that was), but it's stillhell. Garmadon is the most frustrating, irritating, and, oh yeah,completely eviland definitely-going-to-kill-them-all-in-their-sleep roommate he's ever had.

If he has to hear his smug laugh one more time—

Kai never would have imagined a day where he'd actually miss the demon spawn's obnoxious little attempt at a villainous laugh, but here he is.

The worst part about all this is that literally no one else seems to feel the same way. Have the guys forgotten that this is the same villain who almost killed them all? Heck, has Nya suddenly forgotten that this man is the reason she was captured by the skeletons and used as bait?

Apparently they have, because no one else is having a big a problem as Kai is with this.

And there's no use even addressing Sensei Wu — for all you'd know, him and Garmadon have gone back to being best brothers in the world again. Go figure.

It wouldn't bother Kai as much if so much wasn't at stake. Maybe if it wasjust Lloyd, and this was all to rescue him, Kai wouldn't mind it as much. But it's more than that — this is the possibility of unleashing theGreat Devourerthat they're talking about. That's not just a threat to their family, but to all of Ninjago as well. The stakes arewaytoo high to be putting this much faith in an enemy.

And this…doesn't really leave Kai in a great position. He's been biting back his temper the best he can,tryingto get along with Garmadon, but he's reaching the end of his rope -fast. The Fangblades, the Great Devourer, Lloyd — it's a little too much. It leaves Kai biting back anger born from the desperate sort of fear he gets when someone he cares about is in danger. It's not quite the same blinding panic as when Nya was taken, but the feeling has been creeping up on him slowly, an uncomfortable kind of twisting in his gut and a building pressure in his chest as his mind screams at him to do something, do something, fix this already stop wasting time!

It's never a good state of mind for Kai to be in, because it leaves him two seconds away from snapping at any moment.

And this time, snapping costs him. A lot.

"You cannot defeat someone who allowed himself to bedefeated." Sensei's voice cuts through Kai's momentary confusion, bringing reality crashing down around him. He glances down to where Garmadon's lying on the floor, looking unconvincingly 'hurt'.

Of course. Of course it wouldn't be this easy. And ofcourseGarmadon's found a way to pin this all on Kai.

"I wasn't going to hurt your boy," Garmadon says, his voice steady and even. "I was only fetching your weapons."

"But you were trying tostealthem!" Kai says, frustrated. Can't theysee—

"I asked him to get them," Sensei Wu cuts in, his voice sharp. "Perhaps…" he hesitates, an unnamed emotion flashing in his eyes.

(Vaguely, Kai has the weirdest feeling that he's not even seeinghimanymore).

"Perhaps it is best you do not reach your true potential, or else someone could get hurt."

Kai goes still.

Best he doesn't reach his true potential — what?

Sensei can't be serious. He can't be — Kai isn't dangerous, he's not a liability to the team, how could Sensei think that he's better off never—

He can'ttake this away from him—

Kai doesn't hear Cole's remark. He doesn't hear anything but Sensei's words storming through his head on repeat, smashing into his skull—

"Aw, poor thing, let me help you."

—okay, he hears that. Seriously, Nya? Kai wants to scream.

"Yes, poor thing," Garmadon says, like heknows, like he'smockinghim. Kai's vision goes blurry, turning red as he fumes.

Nya and Sensei Wu help Garmadon up, the others standing around them with matching expressions of irritated…disappointment, Kai thinks, he's not sure, because he knows if he meets any of their gazes he's going to have murder in his eyes. He's saved by a sudden shudder that rocks the ship, the heavy silence interrupted by the low screeching of theBountyas it comes to a sudden, jerking halt.

"Sounds like we finally reached our destination," Cole says, mercifully dragging them all from the tense silence. Sensei Wu is out first, heading for the control room, the others close behind. Kai follows, his hands still clenched into fists and his head spinning.

He stops as their destination comes to view through Zane's falcon, his heart skipping a beat as Sensei Wu informs them of what they all already know.

"The Fire Temple."

The volcano is restless, spitting ash and smoke into the atmosphere even as they approach. Kai canfeel the building pressure inside — the fire is one wrong move from going up in a blazing hot eruption.

"Pythor's here, alright," Nya says, grimly, pointing to the screen. They can just see the last of a few Serpentine entering the fire temple, a mix of Fangpyres and Venomari. There's a small flash of black on the screen, and Kai hears Nya's tiny inhale as Lloyd swings into view for a half a second, dangling in a cage held by on the Fangpyres, looking utterly miserable.

Garmadon sucks in a sharp breath of his own, and Kai can practically feel the dark anger radiating off of him as he watches his son disappear into the fire temple. There's a sharp, sad*stic sort of satisfaction that curls in Kai's chest at the look on Lord Garmadon's face.

How doyoulike it, he thinks, hotly.How does it feel when someoneyou love is in danger this time—

It fades pretty quickly, though because Lloyd reallydoeslook terrible, and ironically enough, through Nya's concern and the sheer willpower of Kai's paternal side, he's come to sort of care about the only person in the world Lord Garmadon probably does. He actuallycaresabout the little demon spawn.

At the very least, he's not about to let Pythor get the kid killed.

Sensei Wu starts detailing their plan of attack as Nya pulls the ship around, docking as close as they can get to the volcano without putting the ship in immediate danger. Kai tries to pay attention, following Sensei's instructions, but his head is still spinning, still too hot, from his confrontation with Garmadon.

Maybe Kai did mess up, but he's not wrong. He knows he isn't — Garmadon is their enemy. The minute they have his son back, he'll turn on them. It's inevitable, the others have to know this. Which is why it stings, more than a little bit, that they all took his side.

Sensei he'd expect, of course, but from Cole, Zane, and Jay — he's their teammate, their brother. They've been through so much together, faced Garmadon together, and now they're just…takinghisside over Kai's? Without eventryingto get where Kai's coming from?

Even Nya took Garmadon's side. Kai's been officially abandoned by everyone he knows forLord Garmadon. Fantastic.

And now Sensei Wu thinks he's better off never getting his true potential at all.

Kai knows he's hot tempered. But he's not — he would neverhurt his teammates, hurt his family. Can't Sensei Wu see that the only reason he's so passionate about this is because he wants toprotectthem?

Kai blinks back the jagged pain in his chest.

He's always going to be that poor blacksmith boy, hammering uselessly in the forge all day and always two steps behind everyone else.

The rest of the team starts filing out to the deck, masks pulled up and weapons glinting on their backs. Garmadon and Sensei Wu have taken the lead, preparing to drop the anchor. Kai pulls his thoughts back together, tightening his grip on the fire sword and heading for the steps.

Before he can make it to the deck, Nya grabs his arm, holding him back. "Watch it in there, okay?" she says, concern in her eyes. "It's gonna be pretty dangerous. Keep the fire sword away."

Kai huffs, avoiding her gaze. "Yeah, sure. You got it." He still hasn't forgotten 'you poor thing'.

"I'm serious, Kai," Nya says. "There's a lot on the line here."

"Iknow," Kai says, hotly. "I'll watch it, geez."

Nya huffs, clearly not pleased with his answers. "Look, Kai, if you're upset about that true potential thing — the others are just a little on edge, okay, just forget about it for now—"

"Iwill unlock my true potential," Kai says, fiercely. "And then they'll see — they'll see that I am the Green Ninja, that I'm not a — I'm not a risk to the team."

Nya pauses, her hold on his arm loosening. She's quiet for a moment. "You know what I love best about you?" she finally says, softly. "Your greatest strength isn't that you're the best fighter."

Kai opens his mouth to cut her off, but Nya glares at him.

"It's that you care the most," she says. "You're strongest when you're fightingforthe people you love, not to bebetterthan them." She stares at him, her gaze heavy. "Try to remember that, okay?"

Kai stares at her as she heads back to the control room, momentarily frozen in place. His fingers tighten back around the fire sword.

Heis fighting for the people he loves. Can't she see that? That's why he needs to become the Green Ninja, so he can save them all.

He steps out behind his brothers, the ash from the Fire Temple speckling the air around them as they move forward, filing down the dropped anchor. Kai can already feel the heat, hear the boiling lava and crackling flame, calling to him. It leaves him feeling hyper-aware, like his very blood is on fire. This ishiselement.

This is it. This is his chance, his moment.

Kai is going to unlock his true potential. He's going to prove Sensei Wu wrong. He's going to become the Green Ninja today, or he's going to die trying.

Chapter 5: Season One - Part Four

Chapter Text

Nyachanged the chat name toDon't Blow It, Kai

Nya: get it?

Nya: because you're in a volcano

Nya: and it might blow up

Nya: kai

Nya: please don't get blown up kai

Nya: and stop being so overdramatic about everything I can hear you over comms

So like, Kai knows he's being a littledramatic about all this. He's totally justified, of course, but hecan sort of see why the guys and Nya have been calling him out on this. However—

"From here on out, we travel by shadows."

"It's the only way I know how."

—compared to Lord Garmadon, he thinks he's doing alright. Because besides being the biggest pain in Kai's neck ever to walk the earth, Garmadon is a total drama queen as well. And yeah, his son is in potential mortal danger, Kai will give him that, but still.

They race through the fire temple — not really traveling by shadows, strictly speaking, because everything is glowing an orange-red from the lava ahead, but still quietly enough that they're not spotted. Garmadon makes a decent ninja when he needs to, Kai will give him that (begrudgingly).

They're hit with a blast of heated air as they finally reach the inner chamber, the bright steam from the bubbling lava stinging Kai's eyes. Beside him, Zane shifts in discomfort, and Jay wipes at his forehead, sweat already beading up beneath his gi. Cole looks a bit more at ease, his eyes narrowed as he sizes up the Serpentine below them, their hissing voices loud in the echoing cavern.

Kai feels invigorated by the heat — he lives for this. It feels like the lava itself is reaching to him, ready to respond to his call, if he can just get his stupid power to unlock—

"There's Lloyd!" Jay whispers suddenly, pointing across the cavern.

Kai follows his finger, his pulse picking up as he spots the kid. Lloyd is still locked in that cage, a tiny figure in black where he's resting precariously near to the edge. He doesn't look bothered by the heat, though — just concerned and scared and really, painfully young. Kai bites his lip. Nya is right — they should've gotten him back a while ago.

Garmadon gives a sharp inhale, moving forward. "Son," he gasps. It's weird, the sheer concern and worry that colors his voice — it's incredibly unfamiliar and rather disorienting to hear from him, who Kai has written off as not caring about anyone in the world but himself.

There's a tiny flicker of relieved sort of satisfaction in his chest, as he remembers Lloyd's words to him before he was captured. At least his father seems to return that same love.

Kai brings his gaze back to the Serpentine, mentally noting their numbers as he sizes them up. Most of them don't really seem to be doing much, just watching the little group near the middle digging—

"Out of my way, fool!"

The voice bursts out from the small circle of Serpentine, and Kai's eyes narrow. That's Pythor — Kai knows that saccharine voice anywhere. He glares at the Anacondrai as he hurries to the hole they were digging, bending down and picking something up before waving it triumphantly in the air, where it glitters in the heated light.

"The third Fangblade is ours!" Pythor roars, and the Serpentine go wild, cheering and yelling. Kai feels his stomach twist. Three Fangblades, that'sthreetimes they've failed now.

No — not this time. This time,they'releaving with the Fangblade.

Sensei Wu inclines his head, and they begin to creep forward, keeping low as to avoid being seen. Their footsteps are silent where they tread across the jagged, volcanic rock that forms the lifted structures. Kai keeps his breathing steady, even as he feels his shoulders begin to tense up in pre-battle anxiety.

They're almost to the first of the Serpentine, mere feet away from the first of the bridges, when they're caught.

Kai's not sure how it happens, actually. One second, they're creeping along unseen, the Serpentine too busy celebrating to notice — the next second, Pythor is hissing Ninja!in a particularly disgusted voice, and they're left staring down a considerable amount of hyped-up, fairly angry Serpentine warriors.

"Attack!" Pythor howls, andgreat, now the Serpentine are charging at them.

"Light as a leaf!" Sensei Wu cries, springing forward. "Attack like there is no tomorrow!"

Kai is still trying to figure out what "light as a leaf" means in terms ofattackingpeople, when he's quickly yanked back to the present as they clash with the Serpentine, Garmadon already on the violent offensive. Despite everything, Kai feels a grin creep up on his face as a burst of adrenaline floods his veins. Now this,thisis something he can get behind. They're finally getting something done.

Jay is the first into battle, barreling through the Serpentine before he's forced to pause, a burst of fiery lava shooting up in front of him.

"Wind!" Jay yells, sparks flying from his hand and whipping into a bright blue funnel that cuts through the burst of flames.

Kai blinks. Jay's power islightning, where isthiscoming from?That's not fair at all, Kai thinks, irritated — he doesn't get much further on that train of thought, forced to dodge as a Fangpyre nearly bites his arm off.

He catches Zane out of the corner of his eye as he battles, watching as his friend jumps forward, preparing to cross over the lava.

"Ice!" Zane yells, bright white light bursting from his hands, crystalizing in the heated air where it immediately starts to sweat. Kai feels a mixture of relief and irritation — his teammates are handling themselves just fine, what with their new elemental potentials—

And Kai really needs to stop paying attention to his teammates this much, because now he's surrounded, Serpentine closing in on him from every side. He reaches back for his sword — then hesitates. Nya told him specifically not to, and she doesn't give them orders like that without a reason.

The Serpentine edge closer, and Kai swears internally. Honestly, what is hesupposedto do? It's not like doinghisSpinjitzu in the middle of an active volcano is going to go any better than using the fire sword is, and he's all out of other options.

He pulls out the weapon, grinning a bit as the familiar warmth pulses beneath his hand. The grin immediately fades as the lava around them reacts violently, hot yellow light flaring briefly.

That's not good,he thinks.

"Kai! The weapon is compromising our safety!"Nya's slightly panicked voice comes over the radio, confirming his suspicions.

Yeah, well, being weaponless is compromisingmysafety, he thinks, hotly.

"I will do what I must," he says.

...okay, maybe heisreaching Garmadon's levels of drama.

Kai slashes forward with the sword, driving the Serpentine back. Around him, the others have sent the better part of the Serpentine fleeing, leaving Pythor surrounded by his guards. The Anacondrai hisses, slithering up the staircase carved into the cavern wall.

"Let's get out of here!" Pythor calls, smiling darkly down at them. "But not before we leave them with a parting gift."

Before any of them can react, several Serpentine dive beneath the ground, drilling through the unstable earth. Kai has a moment of panic as he whips around, expecting them to shoot up from beneath him at any second. He feels a flash of relief as he sees them come up across from him instead — but that relief quickly turns to panic. Lava spurts from the holes, flooding over the bridges as the rocky structures they're standing on begin to get noticeably closer to the rising lava.

"They're making the volcano unstable!" Zane says in alarm, confirming Kai's fears.

Jay looks around in panic, his voice tight. "Any minute this place is gonna blow, we have to get out of here!"

"Not without my son," Garmadon growls, surging forward as the rest of them fall back. Kai watches, wide-eyed, as he clears the lava, jumping to the feet of the stairs and racing forward.

"Dad!" Lloyd's voice echoes across the cavern. The kid's knuckles are white where he grips the cage bars, his eyes glued on his father.

His son's voice only seems to fuel Garmadon's determination, the dark lord a flash of black as he streaks up the stairs, charging at Pythor in full force. He approaches the last of the Serpentine, and—

Oh, wow.Wow.

Sensei Wu was right about Garmadon holding back, then. Remind Kai never to go up solo against Lord Garmadon again, especiallyif his son's life is on the line. Because he will freakingdie.

The Serpentine don't stand a chance against Garmadon, either. Pythor seems to realize this, his eyes going cold as he watches. He whirls around to yell at the Serpentine behind him.

"Lose the boy!"

One Serpentine hesitates, but it's not enough — they haul the cage over the lava, and with a panicked scream from Lloyd — drop him.

Kai's first thought isholy FSM, Pythor is a stone-cold, child-murdering maniac.

His second thought isOH FSM, he justthrew Lloyd in the lava.

His third thought is more along the lines of blinding panic.

"Lloyd!" Garmadon roars.

Nya's anguished shriek rings through the communicator, and Kai swears, watching Lloyd's fall in panic as he moves toward the edge of rock, hoping against hope that maybe,somehow, Lloyd won't—

The cage catches against a rock just jutting up from the rising lava, leaving Lloyd literally inches from a boiling death. Kai starts breathing again, a wave of relief sweeping him, before it turns to concern again. The cage won't hold for long against the heat — one of them needs to get to him before it sinks.

Garmadon's already moving, and Kai grits his teeth, rushing forward before the others can react. The bridges are gone now, drowned under the rising lava, but Kai doesn't need them — he jumps, his momentum just propelling him to the next raised rock. Squinting through the heated steam and smoke, Kai gauges the distance between him and the stairs, and jumps again, just clearing another burst of fiery sparks. He hears Cole's sudden yelp of shock, Jay's cry of concern, but he ignores them. Someoneneeds to get over there and help.

Kai makes it to the bottom of the stairs just in time to see Garmadon pull Lloyd up, immediately grabbing him into tight embrace, his expression crumpled in overwhelming relief.Huh,Kai thinks in the back of his head. Maybe Garmadon isn't a half-bad dad to have.

Kai yanks himself back on course, sprinting up the stairs and darting past father and son. "The Fangblade'smine," he breathes, his eyes on Pythor.

"Come back! It's too dangerous!" Cole's voice echoes through the cavern, laced through with panic. "The whole place is gonna explode!"

"Then I'd better be quick," Kai says, his voice set in determination. There's the tiniest flare of guilt for making the guys have to worry about him again, but really — he's got this.

Pythor is almost at the exit, the Fangblade glinting in his hand as he slithers away.No you don't, Kai thinks, fiercely. He pulls his sword back, eyes narrowing, and flings it forward. Kai watches it fly, his aim dead-on as it slams into the Fangblade, knocking it from Pythor's hand with an alarmed shout from the Anacaondrai before pinning it solidly to the wall.

Pythor hisses in anger, tugging desperately at the Fangblade, unable to pull it free. A vindictive grin spreads across Kai's face — he doesn't train obsessively for nothing.

Kai's almost on top of Pythor by now — the blue Hypnobrai leader seems to realize this, his eyes widening. "Come on!" he hisses at Pythor, dragging him through the exit just before a chunk of the ceiling comes down in front of it, blocking Kai off from them.

Not that it matters — Kai's objective is pinned firmly into the wall in front of him.

"Leave it, Kai, it's not worth your life!" Jay yells desperately as the temple shudders, the volcano rumbling threateningly.

"Not without that Fangblade!" Kai calls back, as he finally reaches it, wrapping both hands around the hilt and pulling. He's worked this hard for it, it's literallyin his hands — there'sno wayhe's letting it go now.

There's another burst of flame, the ground beneath Kai shaking as more heavy chunks of rock fall from above them. Out of the corner of his eye, Kai can see the lava rising faster.

"Kai!Kai!"

There's Lloyd now, he thinks — Kai isn't sure, the voice is drowned out amongst a sudden burst of yelling from the others and the loud, thundering crack as more stone breaks apart. Kai grits his teeth as he braces his foot against the wall and pulls harder, now regretting throwing the sword quiteas hard as he did. Come on,it's not like he'sthatstrong, he should be able to pull this out easily.

Kai spares a quick glance to the others — his teammates are backing up as the ledge they're on trembles violently, Sensei Wu pulling Garmadon back from the edge. That just leaves Lloyd, who is—

Kai double-takes. Lloyd is clinging to a rock floating in the lava, several yards below him.

How—?

Never mind, Garmadon is a terrible father. It's been likefive secondsand Lloyd's in mortal dangeragain—

"It won't budge!" Kai yells in frustration. With a jolt, he realizes he's yelling to no one — his teammates have disappeared behind a wall of fallen rock. Kai swears. Whatever, he doesn't need them. He can do this on his own, getting out shouldn't be too hard for a ninja of fire.

With a final, desperate yank, the Fangbladefinallycomes free. Kai's cry of victory quickly turns to a yelp of panic as the Fangblade flies out, clattering down onto one of the rocks Lloyd's cage was balanced near earlier.

Oh, comeon—

Kai hops down, barely flinching at the sudden blast of intense heat as he nears the lava. He balances precariously on one of the rocks, his fingers outstretched toward the blade as he strains.

"Come on, why won't my power unlock?" he growls at himself, his fingers trembling as he stretches them as far as he can reach. The heat around him is becoming unbearable, sweat blinding him as he strains toward the Fangblade.

He'sso close — if he can get the blade now, they're safe. Nya, his family, Ninjago — they're all safe from the threat of the Great Devourer if Kai can just reach it. He can save them all right now, prove once and for all that he's the Green Ninja.

This is his moment. This is theperfectmoment for his potential to unlock, he's literally in thefire temple, so if he can just reach thestupidblade-

"Kai!"

Lloyd's cry cuts through Kai's obsessive haze, and with a brief struggle, he tears his eyes away from the Fangblade. His eyes lock with Lloyd's, and Kai's world screeches to a halt.

Lloyd is clinging to one of the few remaining rocks, the lava around him threatening to consume him any second now. Kai gives a quick glance back to the Fangblade, which is in the exact same predicament.

Lloyd and the Fangblade, both in peril.

Lloydor the Fangblade—

He can't save them both.

Lloyd is moments away from a fiery death, the lava nearly having overwhelmed him. He's clearly terrified, tears brimming in his eyes as he clutches the sinking rock desperately, but the look in his eyes—

He can't save them both.

—there's resignation there. Lloyd looks as if he's expecting Kai to leave him for the Fangblade — as if he knows Kai will abandon him. As if Kai shouldabandon him, because the Fangblade is more important.

As if it could be the same as the look in Kai's eyes when he decided the Fangblade was worth his life.

It's an easy choice.

Kai yanks his hand back, standing up. The obsessive haze is gone, along with any doubts he has. Bracing himself, he hops across the lava, using his Spinjitzu to bring him over to Lloyd.

"Come on!" he says, hauling Lloyd up by his jacket and setting him on his feet. Lloyd blinks in almost-surprise, but a wave of relief spreads across his face. He wraps his arms around Kai, clinging tightly to him, and Kai grabs him close, gripping him firmly as he uses Spinjitzu again to take them both over the lava, hopping from rock to rock—

Kai's forced to cut his Spinjitzu off suddenly, and they both stumble forward on the small rock, Lloyd giving a quick yelp of fear. Kai stares forward in horror. There's no rocks left. There's noexitleft. There's nothing but Kai, Lloyd, and the lava rising around the rock they're standing on left in the temple.

Sparks flare around them and Kai pulls Lloyd back by his jacket hood, trying to shelter him from the growing heat.

Oh, no, no, please—

Kai swallows. There's a terrible ache growing in his chest, a mixture of fear and despair. He doesn't know how to get out of this. He's never trained for anything like this. How is he supposed to—?

There's nothing hecan do, he realizes. Kai has screwed himself over — it's that simple. He let his recklessness run away again, and now he's going to pay the price. Kai feels a crippling hopelessness threaten to overwhelm him as he realizes he's brought this on himself.

But Lloyd—

It'sKai'sown stupid fault for getting himself stuck here. Lloyd doesn't deserve this, not now, not when he'sfinallyfree.

Kai blinks back sweat from his eyes. He thinks of his brothers, ofNya — he can't leave her alone, he promised he wouldn't.

And he thinks of Lloyd, stuck in this inferno with him.

Lloyd looks frightened, his hands clinging tightly to Kai's gi, but he's looking up at him with determination — with confidence. Lloyd's looking at Kai just like he did back on the deck of theBounty — like he's the bravest ninja in the world, and as if he knowshe's going to get them out of this.

It's almost funny, Kai thinks. That Lloyd, of all people, seems to be the only person left with any kind of faith in him. With so much faith in him that hestillexpects Kai to get them out of this. Lloydtrusts Kai, he realizes with a start — wholeheartedly and with his life. It hits him that this might be the first time he's seen Lloyd look at anyonelike that, even his uncle.

It also hits him, at the same time, how much he cares for this stupid kid.

Your greatest strength isn't that you're the best fighter. It's that you care the most. You're strongest when you're fighting for the people you love.

Nya's words flicker through Kai's head. Resolve sparks to life in his stomach, a fiery sort of determination that blazes up into his heart. He takes a deep, steadying breath, closing his eyes briefly and letting the scorching heat surround him, sinking into his skin, his lungs. He grabs Lloyd's hand, pulling him in close—

—and the world shifts, a warm sort of giddy energy pulsing from his fingertips to his heart, similar to the way fire feels to him but different, softer and steadier and—

Green.

Kai blinks.Huh.

"I've got you, Lloyd," he says, his voice calm. "Just don't let go."

And with that, Kai lets go — lets go of his anger, lets go of his fear, lets go of the desperate need burning in his chest to be better.

He's got his brothers, he's got Nya, and now he's got Lloyd. He doesn't need to be the Green Ninja to be important to them — he's never needed to be the Green Ninja. This isn't about proving himself to the others. This isn't about being the Green Ninja. This is about being Kai.

And Kaidoes not give upwhen his family is on the line.

There's an explosion of light, a roar of wind that mixes with Lloyd's exclamation of wonder as the heat turns blazing—

—and Kai bursts to life.

Kaichanged the chat name toFIYAHHHHHH BABY

Kai: AW YEAHHHHHHH

Kai: TAKE THAT SENSEI WU

Kai: WHO'S LAUGHING NOW GARMADON

Nya: oh fsm

Nya: you're going to be impossible to live with now

Kai: HECK YEAH BABY

Nya: oh by the way

Nya: if you ever do anything like that to me again

Nya: i swear to fsm i'll murder you

Kai: u have my word

Kai: know why?

Nya: oh no

Kai: because i am THE FIRE NINJA

Kai: AND THE FIRE NINJA ALWAYS WINS, HECK YEAH

Watching her brother disappear into a fiery inferno behind a stone wall of rock is an experience Nya never, everwants to relive.

She had been already half-hysterical as it was, watching Lloyd get straightthrown down into the lava,only to be saved at the last second by his father (speaking of, Nya reminds herself to never get between Lord Garmadon and his kid, ever). To have to watch helplessly as her hot-headed, well-meaning, self-sacrificing moron of a brother ran straight into what may as well be his death pretty much sent her over the edge.

(Does he even realize what losing him would havedone to her, the last time they ever would have spoken she would have been angry at him—)

But this is Kai, and Kai has a knack of coming through when the situation is worst. Seconds after the Fire Temple erupts, a brilliant fireball shoots above the ash, and Nya doesn't need Sensei Wu's awed exclamation to know who it is.

And she's proud of him, so proud of him that he found his true potential even against all odds. And, yeah, she's also pretty smug that he managed to prove Sensei Wu wrong that drastically (despite her actions sometimes, she'salwaysholding out for her brother). However,noneof that is going to get him off free for almost giving her a heart attack.

The first thing Nya does when she's able to get her hands on him (because he washotthere for a second, literally radiating heat and fire everywhere, how on earth he didn't cook Lloyd alive is…something she needs to ask him), is worry over Kaimercilessly.

"Neverdo that again," she mutters in his ear, as she hugs him tightly. She's going to be having nightmares of her brother dying in that volcano formonths.

"Scout's honor," Kai says. "I'll try not to get stuck in erupting fire temples ever again."

Nya's torn between strangling him on the spot and dragging him straight to the first-aid kit, so she settles for muttering curses at him as she searches him manically for any outstanding wounds. Kai looks slightly scared by her threats and flushes in embarrassment (theyarestill in front of the guys), but he lets her worry over him, with all the gentle patience of an older brother who knows he's in trouble. He can't stop the wide grin that keeps breaking out in his face, though, along with the triumphant gleam in his eyes.

"But did yousee—"

"Yes, Kai."

"Like, I didn't think it was gonna work, but then all of the sudden I just knew, you know?"

"We know, Kai."

"And thenbam, it was the easiest thing ever, fire everywhere—"

"Trust me, we saw."

"Ha, it waswaycooler than any of yours," Kai says, with a grin of superiority.

"Um, are you serious?" Jay says, insulted. "All you did was fly around a little, I stopped an entire roller coaster—"

"Excuse me, are we forgetting that I lifted, like several tons of debris—"

"May I remind you that all of you would most likely be dead, had I not unlocked my potential and frozen the Treehorns—"

"Okay, okay, fair point," Kai says. "But I savedLloyd."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jay says.

Kai grins wickedly at him. "Everything."

Nya rolls her eyes, knowing exactly where he's going with this. But — he does have a very good point. She steps up, pressing a kiss on his cheek and ignoring his embarrassed "Nya!"

"Thank you for bringing my partner in crime back," she says. "Your potentialwasthe best."

Jay blinks, his mouth opening. "Hey, wait, I helped save Lloyd too!"

"Yeah," Nya says. "But Kai risked his life for him, you know?"

"Okay, first of all, we all know he was going after the Fangblade like a total hothead," Cole says, scowling. "Second of all, seriously? Mine waswaybetter."

"No, I'm pretty sure Kai was just running after Lloyd," Nya says, evenly. Kai winks at her, grinning.

"Oh for—"

They all dissolve into arguing after that, and Nya rolls her eyes, leaving the boys to bicker amongst themselves as their post-battle adrenaline wears off. She makes her way to control room, searching for victim number two. She finds him with his father, who hasn't let him out his sight since Kai brought him back. It's a close battle, but Nya just barely manages to extricate Lloyd from Garmadon's grasp, glaring firmly at the dark lord.

"I'm just going to patch him up," she says, undaunted. "Give him over."

Lloyd wriggles out of his father's grasp, hopping over to Nya. "Nya's super cool, dad, don't worry!" he says, grinning.

Garmadon looks slightly taken aback. Nya gives him a smug grin.Ha, that's what you get when you forget to check on your son for eight years,she thinks.You gotta share.

Nya sits Lloyd down at the table, pulling the first aid kit out and immediately attacking the scrapes and bruises he's got everywhere. She keeps a cheerful conversation going with Lloyd as she does, hoping to distract him — he doesn't seem to mind, though, barely even flinching as she dabs alcohol on the cut over his knee. She listens to his story about how he got it (trying to get the Fangblade for Pythor, of course, she's getting sick to death of those things) with an even expression on her face — internally, though, she draws up her plans for revenge against Pythor in refined, graphic detail.

"But Nya, did you see Kai back there?" Lloyd babbles, his eyes shining as she finishes putting a bandaid on his knee. "He was so cool, like he just — burst into flames, it was awesome—"

Oh no, Nya thinks. There he goes, biting the dust. She's losing him to Kai, it's already happening.

"Itwas…awesome," she says, glad she's out of earshot of her brother. His head is going to be inflatedenoughas it is. "I'm just glad he got you out safe."

"Me too," Lloyd says, with a shiver. "Itotallythought I was gonna get fried alive in the lava there for a minute."

Nya cringes. Things likechildhood traumaandissues for lifeare flashing through her brain rapid-fire. Hopefully it's not too late to give him a normal childhood experience, like, you know, playing a board game or something, instead of spending the majority of his time playing chicken with death.

"But Kai was there too, so it ended up being awesome instead," Lloyd says. "I got toerupt out of a volcano, Nya, it was so cool, I could see for miles up there!"

Despite the fact that he's talking about getting blown out of a volcano, Nya is actually…slightly, the tiniest bit (not very much at all, really) jealous. It wouldbe cool to fly without anything but your own power.

"And then I sort of blacked-out, because it was kinda hot," Lloyd says, expression falling.

Nya frowns. "It didn't hurt you, did it?" she asks.

Lloyd shakes his head. "I was just overheated from the volcano, I think. It wasn't that hot with Kai at all! Just a little bright."

"Huh," Nya says, pausing.Shehad felt the heat coming off of Kai even from ten feet away, but from the looks of it, Lloyd hadn't felt anything at all. Maybe it had something to do with actually being inside the fire ball?

"Yeah, it actually felt — Kai!" Lloyd perks up, a brilliant smile breaking out on his face as her brother walks in.

Nya fixes Kai with a glare as he comes up to them, pausing to ruffle Lloyd's hair, which sends a tiny cloud of ash puffing out from it as he does. "You stole my kid," she hisses at him.

Kai gives her the most unapologetic look she's ever seen in her life. "You were the one who told me to be nice to him," he says. "I can't help that everyone naturally loves me."

Nya sputters furiously, but Kai is already turning away from her, fist-bumping Lloyd as he hops down from the table, following Kai closely. "Come on, shortie, let's go rub how cool we are in everyone's faces."

"I'm notshort—!"

Nya watches them go, feeling slightly miffed. Sure, she's happy that Lloyd has someone else to prove to him that he's not unwanted now, and she's really happy that Kai is bonding with him, because yeah, shedidtell him to. But it's just…Lloyd washerkid.

She sighs, packing up the first aid kit. It's notreallyKai she's worried about, if she's being honest with herself. Garmadon's here. Lloyd'sdadis here. She'd kind of just been assuming Lloyd was going to live with them forever now, but now that his actual family has shown up…

Will Garmadon take him to live in the underworld with him? There's noway she'll let him send Lloyd back to Darkley's — she'll fight him herself on that if she has to. Maybe Garmadon will see the benefit of leaving Lloyd with his brother, in a semi-normal and functional environment with people who aren't murderous skeletons. She bites her lip. Maybe—

Lloyd suddenly rushes back in, making Nya jump in surprise. He plows into her without hesitating, throwing his arms around her tightly.

"I forgot to tell you, I missed you," he says, his voice muffled. He pulls back, looking downcast. "I tried all your tricks and stuff to try and escape faster, but you'll have to teach me again. I messed them all up."

"You know what," she says, smiling. "We'll have an entire day for it. We'll learn how to break out ofanything, square deal?"

"Deal," Lloyd says, grinning. He starts. "Oh yeah, I was supposed to be getting you — they want us in the control room, Uncle Wu wants to talk to us about everything."

Nya doesn't waste any time getting them back to the control room, where everyone is already gathered, talking easily with each other even in the presence of Garmadon. Despite the trouble they've just been through, the loss of the Fangblade and the threat of Pythor still on the horizon, everyone is in high spirits, taking this one as a victory for once. Lloyd immediately makes a beeline for his father, who pulls him into another tight embrace. Nya can't help but smile wider at how happy Lloyd looks.

Good, she thinks. It's about time Lloyd realizes that he doesn't have to be anything other than himself for his parent to love him. He just needs to bealive, and that's clearly enough for Garmadon. It's almost enough for her to overlook that time he captured her and…

Okay, it's notquiteenough, but she'll let it slide for right now. She can still be happy that Garmadon is apparently dad of the year, even with being a homicidal dark lord of the underworld.

Garmadon looks up from his son, an odd expression on his face as he looks at Kai — something that almost might be respect. "Thank you, Kai," he says, embracing Lloyd a little more tightly.

Kai blinks, clearly surprised at the open way Garmadon uses his name. He gives an awkward little nod, as if he can't quite decide how to take the thanks. Nya stifles a snort.

"But how did you survive?" Zane says, asking the question that's on everyone's mind. Despite the fact that Kai's told the story about fifty times so far, he still hasn't actually told themhowhe managed to unlock his potential. "How did you discover the key to unlocking your powers?"

"I knew I had to make a choice," Kai says, his expression content in a way Nya hasn't seen it in…well, in a while, actually. "I wanted the Fangblade so badly, to prove I was good enough to be the Green Ninja."

Nya exchanges a small smile with Cole, thinking back to how he had reassured her. Looks like Cole wins this one.

"But then I figured it out," Kai says, his expression growing serious. "All my training to become the best ninja…wasn't in preparation to be the Green Ninja." He looks at Lloyd, his eyes widening a bit, even as they light with a determined sort of fire. "It was…to protect him."

Silence reigns in the room. The same slowly dawning expression of shock is written over everyone's faces. Nya blinks. What on earth is Kai trying to say — that Lloyd is the Green Ninja? That's ridiculous, there's no way—

"What? What is everyone looking at me for?" Lloyd says, clearly as baffled as the rest of them, if not more so.

"That means…" Nya trails off, still trying to make sense of what Kai just said. Cole blinks slowly, as if awakening from a haze, and he steps forward, holding the Golden Weapons out. Nya follows suit, though her mind is still rebelling in denial.

This isridiculous, she thinks. Kai's head is still just overheated, that's all. Lloyd is just a child — a spunky little brat with more heart than half of them put together, yeah, but a child. There's just no way—

The weapons flash, flaring to life and floating in a protective semi-circle in front of Lloyd. He jolts in alarm, his eyes going wide as the weapons surround him, the bright green light glinting in his eyes. Nya's mouth falls open.

"Lloyd…is the Green Ninja," Sensei Wu says, his voice as astounded as the rest of them.

Nya stares at him blankly. Zane's eyes have gone wide, and Cole looks like he's struggling to hide his shock. Jay isn't even trying, his jaw practically resting on the floor.

"I had thought it would be one of you," Sensei Wu says. "But it was him the whole time." Beneath the shock and awe in his voice, Nya catches an odd note in Sensei's voice, a twitch in his expression — as if he's trying to stave off a reaction of some sort.

"It all makes sense," he continues, slowly. "Not only have you four been chosen to protect the Golden Weapons, but also to protect the chosen one."

What. The. Heck.Nya gapes at him.

There's a sharp, sudden intake of breath, and everyone turns to look at Garmadon. His expression is frozen in blank horror. "That means…"

"The battle lines have been drawn, brother," Sensei Wu says, his voice pained in a way Nya's never heard him sound before. "Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother…" Lloyd reaches out to Garmadon, his expression twisted in desperate denial. "…and now, son versus father."

Just like that, Nya's shock takes a hard left and derails into fear.

Oh no. Sensei can't be serious, he can't — they justgot Lloyd back from the Serpentine, he can't be telling him he has tofight his father.They need to be giving him an actualchildhood! He needs to be able to goof off and help her prank the guys, he needs to learn how to be an innocent little kid outside of the influence of terrible people, he needs—

No. Sensei Wu can preach about destiny all he wants, but Nya's going to have to be physically chained up by the Serpentine before she lets Lloyd don the green gi anytime before he's atleastfifteen. Maybe sixteen. Seventeen? How old is Kai again...

The heavy, tense silence is suddenly interrupted by Jay's high-pitched, 'panic mode' voice.

"This is heavy and all, but whatever happened to theFangblade?"

...and there's her boyfriend, cutting the tension with more tension.

FIYAHHHHHH BABYGroup Chat

Nya: what the HELL

Nya: kai they can't do this to him he's just a kid

Nya: HE'S JUST A KID KAI

Kai: i know i KNOW i'm pissed too i didn't even THINK about

Kai: his FATHER oh fsm

Nya: he's gonna need you guys kai

Kai: i got it i know

Kai: i'll fight garmadon myself

Kai: i'll fight stupid destiny myself

Kai: i'll take lloyd with me and run before he has to face garmadon alone

Nya: not without me you wont

Nya: but since we're talking

Nyachanged the chat name toKai's a Roasted Marshmallow

Kai:…

Kai: fair enough

Kai has trouble falling asleep that night. The adrenaline from earlier hasn't worn off, and he can still feel his new fire potential surging through his veins. It's awesome, but it doesn't really make for a good night's sleep, so by the time Lloyd tiptoes into their room and taps him hesitantly on his shoulder, Kai is pretty much wide awake.

"What's up?" he whispers, careful not to wake any of the others.

Lloyd shifts awkwardly, his hands wringing the cape portion of his black jacket. "I – I can't really sleep," he whispers, looking painfully shy. "D'you — would you want to light some fires?"

He's fully aware that it's about three a.m. right now, but it's not like he's getting any sleep anyways — and Kai's never needed to be asked twice to set something on fire.

"Sure, kid," he says, slipping out of bed. "Let me grab some paper."

With a small burst of satisfaction, Kai leaves the lighter behind as he walks with Lloyd to the deck. Actually, he probably doesn't evenneedpaper now, but he grabs it for Lloyd.

They have to sneak past Sensei's room on their way out — the light is on, streaming through the crack beneath the door, and Kai can hear low voices, tense and arguing. It's Sensei and Garmadon, Kai realizes with a start, and he doesn't need to listen further to know what — or who — they're talking about.

Grabbing Lloyd's shoulder, Kai hurriedly steers him away before he can hear anything. Judging by the expression on his face as they step out into the night air, he's failed. Kai winces, but he doesn't comment on it, instead shoving a piece of paper into Lloyd's hand to distract him.

With a tiny frown of concentration, Kai snaps his fingers — and a bright grin spreads across his face as a tiny flame bursts to life from his fingertips.

Lloyd's mouth drops a bit, the light flickering and reflecting in his wide eyes.

"How'sthatfor an elemental master of fire," Kai says, smugly.

"Socool," Lloyd says, awed and little wistful. He holds the ball of paper out, and Kai lights it up, the two of them watching as Lloyd lets it go, floating up into the dark sky.

They sit there in silence for a bit, just lighting up little balls of fire and watching them disappear into the night. It's good practice for Kai, in keeping the fire small and controlled, but he's endlessly pleased to find it's a lot easier than he'd thought. Lloyd is an oddly steadying presence by his side, almost as if having him near is giving Kai the inner balance he needs to keep the flame in check. Kai's lit about eight little balls of paper on fire before Lloyd suddenly breaks the silence.

"How did you know?" Lloyd asks.

"Know what?" Kai asks, glancing at him.

"That — that the Green Ninja was, you know," Lloyd says, looking away. "Me."

"Oh," Kai says. He pauses. He hasn't really thought about thehowof it, really. He'd landed on theBountyjustknowing, unquestionably, that Lloyd was the Green Ninja. But now that he thinks about it…

"I just…I felt it, you know?" Kai says. "We were in the volcano and everything was terrible, and then suddenly…it was like I justknew. I knew it was you."

"Oh," Lloyd says, quietly, and Kai frowns. He's been trying to get a read on how the kid feels about the whole thing since they broke the news, but so far he's come up with nothing. Lloyd's got an alarmingly good poker face for someone his age, his emotions surprisingly unreadable.

"Are you mad?" Lloyd suddenly asks, his voice cracking slightly.

Kai stares at him. "Am I — what? Why would I be mad?"

Lloyd won't meet his eyes, his shoulders painfully tense as he stares at the floor like it's the most interesting thing in the world. "You wanted to be the Green Ninja, right?" he says. "So – so you should be mad that it's me instead."

"Oh, Lloyd, no," Kai says, wincing. Because yeah, he's given Lloyd a lot of reason to think that — and more. But it's differentnow, Kai's world is flipped upside down and he's better for it. "I'm not mad at all, I'm fine with it. I'm glad it's you, actually," Kai says, giving him a hesitant smile.

Lloyd doesn't return it, suddenly looking furious. "WellI'mnot!" he bursts out, angrily. "I don'twant to be the stupid Green Ninja! Yoube it, you wanted it so bad!"

Kai almost flinches back in shock at the sudden outburst.

"Wha — Lloyd, that's not — that's not how it works," he says, weakly. "You're the Green Ninja, it's supposedto be you."

"I don'tcare!" Lloyd says, his eyes bright with anger and welling moisture. "I don't care about what stupiddestiny says, I just — I'm not—"

"You're not what?" Kai says, trying to reign the kid back in before that shine in his eyes turns into something else — please don't cry, please don't cry—

Well, actually — crying might help with this one.

"I'm not — I can't — ugh!" Lloyd cries, his arms flailing out in frustration. "You wouldn'tunderstand!"

He jerks away from Kai, huddling himself up against the railing and burying his face in his arms. Kai blows a breath out wearily. He wonders if this is anything like the guys feel when they have to deal withhisown angry outbursts. It's about as appealing as pulling your own teeth out, according to Jay. The guys aren't always sure how to handle it.

The good thing is, Kai is an older brother. For him, this isveryfamiliar territory.

"Hey," he says, his voice gentle as he draws up next to Lloyd. "You're right, you know. I don't understand."

Lloyd actually looks up at him, his expression surprised where he's peering at him from beneath his arm. "I am?"

"Yeah," Kai says. "I'm not the Green Ninja. And Garmadon isn't my father."

Lloyd's eyes go wide, and he immediately looks away again, biting his lip. "That – that's not—"

"You know," Kai says, edging closer to Lloyd. "If I was just told I had to fight my own father, I'd be pretty scared."

"I'm not scared," Lloyd mutters into his arm.

"I didn't say you were, I saidIwould be," Kai says, gently. "So you know, it's totally okay to be scared. And angry. Trust me, I'm theexperton being angry."

Lloyd gives an audible sniff. "I'm not."

Kai crouches down, putting himself at eye level with Lloyd. "No one would think any less of you if you were," he says, trying to convey this to Lloyd. "No one around here is going to tear you down for feeling a certain way. We're not — we're not like the people at your school, I promise."

"I'mnot scared," Lloyd says, tremulously. "I can't be, not anymore, I have to — I have to be the Green Ninja now, that means I have to be like you, and I want to, I really want to, but it's just—"

Kai wraps his arms around Lloyd, pulling him close and effectively halting his stream of nervous chatter. Lloyd's voice cuts off in a squeak, his shoulders going painfully rigid. Kai only shifts his embrace so Lloyd is closer to him, though he's careful to leave him with enough room to pull away if he wants.

Lloyd doesn't. He takes a sudden, shuddering breath that reverberates through his chest, and then clutches Kai back tightly, his shoulders shaking as he buries his head in Kai's shirt.

"I don't wanna fight him," Lloyd whimpers, sniffling. "Ican't be the Green Ninja. Ninja are strong and brave and I'm just — I'm scared, and I – I-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Kai says, even as his temper sparks dangerously. Whoever — or whatever, it doesn't matter — is responsible for putting this on the shoulders of a childwho's already been through enough…Kai is going to have a fewwordsfor them.

"It's going to be okay," Kai continues. "I promise."

"You can't promise that," Lloyd says, his voice muffled. "How doyou know, that everything's not — that everything's not gonna be terrible—"

"I can't know for sure, no," Kai says, fiercely. "But I can promise you, without a doubt, that I'm gonna doeverythingI can to make sure it's okay."

Lloyd finally blinks up at him, his eyes red and wet. Kai ruffles his hair, giving him a determined smile.

"Whatever happens after this — whatever comes up on the future — we're going to face it together," he says. "Okay? You and me, just like in the temple. We got out of that, right? We can get out of anything."

"That was all you, though," Lloyd says, looking down. "I didn't do anything."

"No," Kai says. "You reallydid, Lloyd, you did." More than he'll ever know, probably.

Lloyd looks up at him again. The expression of utter misery has ebbed from his face a bit, leaving him looking lost.

"What do I do now?" Lloyd asks him quietly, his eyes wide where they look to Kai.

"Be you," Kai says. "Be yourself, and give it the best shot you can give it. We'll do the rest. Cole, Zane, Jay — we're all gonna train you, okay? So don't go looking so doubtful of our amazing training abilities, we're the best around."

Lloyd gives a weak, tiny smile at that. "Okay," he says, his voice a little hoarse. He shifts, looking at Kai hesitantly. Kai shakes his head, and pulls Lloyd in, hugging him tightly again. Lloyd grips him like a lifeline, giving a shuddery exhale.

"Thanks, Kai," he whispers.

"No problem, kid," he says, pulling back and grinning. "Just promise me you won't use your newfound power to rob Ninjago of all its candy, okay?"

Lloyd giggles, and Kai is endlessly pleased with himself to see the bright expression on his face.

"I'll try," Lloyd says. "But no promises."

"The best I can ask for, I suppose," Kai says, dramatically, and Lloyd snorts. They lapse into silence after that, the two of them leaning over theBountyrailing, watching the villages below streak by.

"That was super cool, how you turned into straight fire and stuff," Lloyd says, suddenly.

"I discovered my true potential, I didn'tactuallyturn into fire," Kai says, amused. "At least, I think I didn't," he says, with a frown.Huh. Maybe Zanecouldhave turned into ice, but he's pretty sure that Cole didn't change into straight-up rock, or that Jay didn't suddenly become hundreds of volts of electricity. (Okay, hemight believe that one.) But still—

"Itwaspretty cool though, huh, shortie?"

"Don't call me that," Lloyd grumbles, shoving at his arm. He perks up quickly. "Hey, do you thinkI'llbe able to do something like that?"

Kai shrugs. "I have no idea," he says, thoughtfully. "I don't really even knowwhatyour power is."

"Me neither," Lloyd grumbles. "I've never done anything cool like you guys."

"Hey, with you, I'll bet its like, the elemental power of candy consumption," Kai says. "Or the elemental power of excessive whining-"

"Shutup, Kai!" Lloyd yelps, shoving him even as he tries to stifle another giggle. "I donotwhine."

"Yeah, and I'm the elemental master of water."

Kai's a Roasted MarshmallowGroup Chat

Nya: weak lol

Kai: huh?

Kai: what do u mean

Nya: i can't believe you ever gave me heck about the kid

Nya: hypocrite

Kai: hey he's still a demon spawn

Kai: he's my demon spawn now tho

Nya: i had him first, you demon spawn stealing, no good brother

Kai: we can share genius

Kai: besides imagine the potential

Kai: the three of us pranking jay

Nya: kai no

Kai: still gotta give him shovel talk no. 6

Nya: kai please

Chapter 6: Season One - Part Five

Chapter Text

Lloyd shifts in the confined space of the cabinet, the area around his nose stinging as he does. Wincing, he pinches two fingers around the bridge of his nose like he's seen the bigger boys do when they get hurt, wiping angrily at the blood with his other hand. It's sticky and gross, but his nose doesn't hurt as much when he touches it this time. That's good, he thinks.

Footsteps echo from outside the door Lloyd barricaded shut, and he cringes, scooting back further into the shelf he's wedged himself into. He imagines himself folding up into a little ball, just like the laundry towels around him. He's almost small enough. Small enough that he can slip through corridors and crawl up onto shelves in janitor's closets when he's being chased, at least.

"Where'd he go?"

There's Nico, Lloyd thinks, shrinking in on himself. That's bad. Nico doesn't let go easily.

"Dunno," a second voice says. "Probably ran off crying again."

Lloyd recognizes him as James, which is better — James doesn't have patience for anything. If he doesn't find Lloyd soon, he'll decide he's not worth it.

"No," Nico says, his voice growing louder. "He's somewhere around here. He knows we're not supposed to go any further than this."

"Not unless you wanna end up in detention," James says. There's a hollow knocking, and Lloyd can picture him banging on the lockers across the hall that he knows lead to the lower tunnels — the bad ones, the ones with the venomous spiders in them.

Footsteps draw closer to Lloyd's closet, close enough that he can hear Nico's heavy breathing.

Lloyd holds his breath.

"C'mon, Nico, we can catch him later," James says. "He's gotta show up eventually. He's not worth wasting your time on now."

"Typical," Nico mutters. The door rattles as he kicks the wall nearby, and Lloyd stuffs his sleeve in his mouth.

"You're a coward, Garmadon, you hear that?" he yells, his voice reverberating through the closet. "No wonder your dad's never shown up. He thinks you're one too."

Lloyd is still holding his breath, biting down on his sleeve.

Their footsteps finally start moving away, and Lloyd starts breathing again.

He doesn't move after that, not even long after their footsteps have faded. He stays curled up in the closet, arms locked tightly around his legs as he tries not to breath too loud.

Maybe he'll sleep here tonight. At least he'll know he won't wake up with spiders in his hair, or something worse.

Lloyd doesn't really remember much of life before Darkley's. He was really, really young when he came in, and Darkley's kind of has a habit of making you try to forget whatever you were before. And then youwant to forget mostly everything that happens at Darkley's, so it's just a big dumb circle of trying to forget things. The problem is, Lloyd managed to forget everything before Darkley's, which was the good stuff, and completely messed up on forgetting the bad parts, which was…basically everything about Darkley's. So. That sucks.

He does remember some stuff, though. Nothing really big, just a few scattered memories of a house with red and gold wallpaper, the smell of old books and incense, the sound of a woman's laughter. And then there's the one memory he likes best — the memory of someone hugging him, someone tall and strong. He doesn't remember what that person looked like, just that they had the brightest smile, and that they're the only person who's hugs he remembers.

Lloyd knows who it is now. He might not look the same, but his father's hugs are just as safe and comforting as Lloyd remembers them feeling.

Lloyd could really use a hug like that right now, because he feels anythingbutsafe and comforted.

Despite everything Darkley's tried to teach him, Lloyd had still managed to go through theI-want-to-be-a-superhero phase. He had tried, for a while, to want to be a supervillain instead. No one ever wanted to be a dumb hero when they played at school - the villain was always the best role. Even if it didn't really…feel right, pushing people down and stealing their stuff and shoving them in lockers, Lloyd had done it. (Or had it done to him — Lloyd wasn't the strongest kid at Darkley's by a long shot.) Lloyd had embraced it though, because that was just what you did at Darkley's.

Even with all that, the idea of being a superherostillsounded cool. It's Fritz Donnegan's fault. Ifhe wasn't so cool, bravely saving the day and laughing in the face of danger, then maybe Lloyd would've wanted to be the villain more often. But being a superhero sounded amazing — like actually beingsomebody. Somebody who could fight back. Back at Darkley's, Lloyd would have given anything to be like that.

He'd like to change his mind now, he thinks.

The whole thing doesn't make any sense, really. Not to Lloyd, at least. He'sLloyd Garmadon — he gets called things like bratandannoyinganda pain in the neck.

Definitelynot the Green Ninja.

(A part of him is scared that might be a worse thing to be.)

Even worse, though, is the other side of it. Every time Lloyd has thought of a bad guy, he's imagined some shadowy, menacing figure, with cruel eyes and an evil laugh. And maybe it's because Lloyd is just a dumb kid, but he's neverreallythought of his dad as a villain. Like, yeah, he's bragged about being the evil son of the evil dark lord, but he never really thought about what saying thatmeant.

He knew his dad was a villain, but he didn't think his dad was abadguy. He's a little menacing, maybe, and he can do a pretty awesome evil laugh, but his dad's eyes aren'tcruel. Lloyd can't imagine his dad ever hurting him. It just doesn't make anysense.

He bites his lip. No matter how hard Lloyd tries to ignore these thoughts, they keep on running through his head, loud and annoying. It's almost two a.m. again, and Lloyd still can't fall asleep. He doesn't want to go to anyone, because he's already done that once, and he's been enough of a hassle to rescue already — they don't need him bothering them in the middle of the night just because Lloyd's being a big chicken.

Which is why Lloyd is curled up on the couch in the living room instead of in bed right now, watching TV. He has all the lights off, so the flickering of the screen makes shadows dance around all over the room. It could be creepy, but instead it just makes Lloyd feel calm — safer, almost, as if the flickering blue lights are here to protect him.

He'd wanted to watch cartoons, 'cause he hasn't watched any since Darkley's and he'swaybehind on his favorite shows, but all that's on right now is some weird conspiracy show on the history channel. Lloyd doesn't really get it, but that's mostly because he has to keep the volume off. The last thing he wants to do is wake anyone up. He doesn't want anyone to come in and tell him to turn it off and go to bed because it'spast his bedtime, or whatever.

Lloyd wraps his arms around his legs, shivering a bit. He stares at his hands, remembering the way they tickled earlier when the Golden Weapons lit up around him.Thatwas cool, at least, even if it made everyone look like someone had dumped ice water on them.

Andrats, now he's back to thinking about it.

It's kind of funny, actually, because yesterday Lloyd didn't even think he was gonna live long enough to see tomorrow. Now he's the legendary…super-destined ninja, or something.

(Okay, so maybe Lloyd doesn't actually know what being the Green Ninja entails. He was kicked out of school, sue him.)

Hedoesknow that it means the ninjahaveto keep him now, so ha.

Well…he hopes so. Ever since he's been on theBounty, Lloyd's been hearing about theGreen Ninjathis and theGreen Ninjathat. It's all the guys would talk about sometimes — how awesome the Green Ninja was going to be, and how great it would be if theygot chosen.

…what if they're angry at him for that?

Lloyd twists his thumbs together. They didn'tseemangry. Kai himself told Lloyd he wasn't mad, and Kai wouldn't lie to him, right?

…right?

At any rate, they're probably all super disappointed that it's him, Lloyd thinks.Lloyd'sdisappointed that it's him. How is he supposed to fight the fight the forces of darkness when he's pretty much only half Jay's height? And Jay is the shortest out of everyone!

Maybe they're just acting nice because they pity him, Lloyd thinks glumly. He wonders if Kai wishes he'd left him in the volcano now.

No, Lloyd thinks. Kai wouldn't do that.

Despite everything being pretty muchterribleright now, there's still a glowing, happy little bubble in Lloyd's chest. Kai camebackfor him. He chose Lloyd instead of the Fangblade. No one's done that before. No one's ever chosen Lloyd.

But Kai did.

Nya was right, Lloyd thinks (he's starting to realize she's right about most things). Kaiiskind of the best big brother ever.

Not that Lloyd sees him as a big brother!Lloyd corrects himself, hurriedly. No, of course not, Kai would laugh in Lloyd's face at that. Kai and Nya are super nice, that's all.Allthe ninja are nice. But Lloyd's not part of their family. He's got his own family now, which is kind of a mess.

"You're up awfully late."

Lloyd jumps. "Dad!" he yelps. His first instinct is to run to him and hug him again, but he stuffs that down, because his second instinct is to runawaybefore he gets in trouble. "I wasn't - I was just-"

"Watching one of your uncle's terrible soap operas?" Garmadon says, an eyebrow raised as he glances at the television. Lloyd follows his gaze, and immediately makes a face at the gushy romance that's somehow made its way onto his TV screen.

"Eugh, no," he sputters, reaching for the remote. "I didn't know that was on."

"No," his father says, his voice softening. "I don't suppose that's where your head is right now." He hesitates in front of Lloyd. "Do you mind if I…"

"Huh?" Lloyd says, confused. Oh — his dad is asking if he can sit next to him. That's kind of funny. "Yeah, here!" Lloyd scoots over, patting the space on the couch beside him. He briefly considers sharing all the pillows he's stolen with his dad, but Garmadon looks comfortable just sitting there as he is, so Lloyd decides to keep them.

His dad doesn't say anything for a minute, just stares forward with a pensive kind of look on his face, occasionally glancing at Lloyd. Lloyd shifts awkwardly, wondering what his dad is thinking — what he thinks of him. He hasn't seen Lloyd in forever, not since Lloyd can even remember. He bites his lip, hoping he isn't too disappointed.

"I…I owe you an apology, Lloyd," his dad finally says, softly. "It's been so long, I hadn't even realized…" He looks at Lloyd longingly, as if he wants to hug him again. Lloyd wouldn't mind if he did.

"You've grown so much," Garmadon says, quietly. "And I've missed it."

"Not that much!" Lloyd says, gripped with the urge to wipe that sad look off his face. "I'm stillwayyounger than the other ninja, Nya is always telling me that."

Garmadon gives a small, if somewhat pained, smile. "Youarestill much too young to be doing what they do." Lloyd huffs, crossing his arms. Even hisdadis against him.

"If you…if you stick around, you won't have to miss anymore," Lloyd says, hesitantly. "You could…we could…" he trails off, at a loss. He's not quite sure how to ask him to stay without being annoying.

His dad is quiet, and Lloyd can't quite read his expression in the darkness of the room. Garmadon doesn't say anything for a bit, but Lloyd thinks he sees his jaw clench.

"Lloyd…"

"Or you could just — I mean—" Lloyd stutters, panicking a bit. Stay, stay,he wants to yell at Garmadon.Please. "I guess…with the Green Ninja and…and everything—"

"You don't have to think about that right now, Lloyd," Garmadon cuts in, his voice tight. "We have time, we…we have time."

That's not what he wants to hear. It doesn't matter if they have time or not — if Garmadon leaves, that'll be it. All Lloyd will have to look forward to is eventually having to fight him until one of them…until one of them….

Huh. Lloyd's been so focused on what his dad fighting him means, he hasn't really thought about whathimfighting hisdadmeans.

Lloyd swallows. He doesn't want to hurt his dad. What qualifies as "defeating" Garmadon, anyways? Punching him really hard until he surrenders? Knocking him out? Whatever it takes to get his dad locked up, or banished to the underworld again, Lloyd supposes.

Lloyd chews on his lip. He hopes whatever power he ends up getting is as good as everyone's making it out to be, or he's gonna be toast.

"The final battle will not take place until you are older, Lloyd," Garmadon reassures him again. "Much older, I hope."

"Ihope so," Lloyd says, stifling a traitorous yawn. "I mean, I don't even really know what I'm supposed to do. Do we just shoot our powers at each other until one of us passes out?"

His dad is quiet for a minute. "…something like that," he says, with a weird little tremor in his voice.

"That's a stupid destiny," Lloyd mutters. "Just to defeat you."

"You have a far greater destiny than that, son," Garmadon says, seriously. "You're fighting to save the people of Ninjago. To protect people. That is a far greater triumph than defeating an enemy."

Lloyd makes a face. He remembers the mean teachers at Darkley's, the way none of the other parents ever cared what happened to them. He remembers the ugly looks and teasing he got from the people in Jamanakai village, the way they left him hanging there for hours. He's supposed to trade his dad forthesepeople?

Lloyd pulls the blanket up to his chin, his face working. He's not being fair, maybe. Ninjago also has the nice old couple who gave him food that one bad night, and the kind lady at the library who tried so hard to find his mother for him.

(She never did. Lloyd guesses that's for the best, now.)

Ninjago also has the ninja, Kai and Nya and the others. None of them deserve to be…well, whatever his dad is supposed to do to them. He doesn't actually know the details — again, no one's told him anything yet.

Lloyd glares at the floor. How is he supposed to be the Green Ninja when he knowsnothing?

Garmadon watches his changing expression, almost looking amused. "Don't overthink it, Lloyd," he says. "Like I said, we have time. Time that you should use tosleep."

Lloyd rolls his eyes, trying not to groan. Apparently, even lords of the underworld can be boring, too.

"Fine," he says, wrestling the blanket on until it's so twisted around him he can barely move. "But I'm sleeping here."

"Alright," Garmadon says, sounding a little more amused.

"You should…you should probably stay out here, too," Lloyd says, quickly. "Just to - to make sure I actually go to sleep. I'm a rebel, you know. I break all the rules."

Garmadon is definitely amused now. "Of course," he says, his tone lighter. "No sense in the both of us getting in trouble with your uncle."

Lloyd leans against his dad's side, almost hesitantly, and only relaxes once his father's arms wrap around him. Despite Lloyd's best attempts, because he's not reallythat tired, he feels his eyes fluttering closed. He can't help it — it feels safe like this, with his dad next to him, like it's the safest place in the world. For just a minute, Lloyd lets himself forget about the prophecy. He forgets about the Green Ninja, about the golden weapons, about the Great Devourer and its venom.

He forgets about everything but his dad, curled up with him on the couch and watching Lloyd's dumb TV with him, like he doesn't even mind.

Lloyd falls into a sleepy haze like that, drifting in and out of sleep against his dad. He doesn't even register that anyone's started talking, until muffled voices begin to cut into his dream about angry sharks jumping from the lava and eating Pythor.

"…just want you to be careful, now that we know."

Old, scratchy voice that's familiar and comforting. That's Uncle Wu.

"Do you honestly think I cannot be trusted around my own son?"

Deep and resonating voice, one that Lloyd loves — his dad. Except he sounds kinda angry.

"That is not what I was saying—"

"This changes nothing," his dad hisses. "Regardless of what my son is or is not prophesied to do, brother, he is still myson. I will never, ever hurt him."

"Willingly, you won't."

His father sucks in a sharp breath, and Lloyd vaguely feels the arm around him tighten.

"Gods, Wu." Garmadon's voice sounds weak. "You know I'd sooner end myself before I hurt Lloyd. But the venom…"

"We cannot undo what's been done, brother." Uncle Wu sounds sad. "I will make sure he is prepared. He will not lack for training, I assure you."

His father gives a bitter laugh. "Is that why you took him in? So he could be another one of your trained brats?"

"I did not know he was the Green Ninja any sooner than you did, Garmadon," Uncle Wu says, sounding angry now. "And I took him in because he was mynephew, and I could not live with myself if I had left him wandering the streets alone like he was."

"Hewhat—"

There's a hushing sound from Uncle Wu, and his father's voice lowers again.

"Father'sghost, Wu, you told me he opened a can of worms, not that he was — wandering around completely alone, abandoned."

"I'm sorry, brother."

"Do you think..." His father pauses, his voice cutting off like he's in pain. "Do you think she knew?"

A sigh from Uncle Wu. "I don't know. She was always rather talented at keeping her secrets."

"If it was enough to abandon our son, then good riddance."

"I willnothear you insult Misako like that when she is not here to defend herself."

Who's Misako?Lloyd wonders, sleepily. He frowns, burying his head further against his dad's side. Ugh. This conversation is too confusing to follow, and it's making his head hurt. Why can't his dad and Uncle Wu just get along?

The voices cut off abruptly.

"I should let him rest," his father whispers. "And I…I'll…"

"Rest here, brother," Uncle Wu says, his voice quiet. "You are still welcome. Things don't have to change. Not immediately."

"Thank you, Wu," his father breathes.

Uncle Wu makes an odd sort of sound, like a sad laugh. "I've missed you, you know."

"And here I thought you would be thrilled to have me out of the way," his father says, but his voice is warm, pained. "I….missed you too. I wish…"

"Don't, Garmadon. We cannot change our destinies. Only continue to walk the paths we've been given to their ends." Lloyd hears Uncle Wu's footsteps begin retreat.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

The footsteps pause.

"Oh, and Garmadon…be sure to let Lloyd know what he means to you, will you? Before it's too late."

Kai's a Roasted MarshmallowGroup Chat

Nya: kai dear brother

Nya: i love you beyond belief

Nya: but if you set another part of the ship on fire

Nya: i will actually murder you in your sleep

Kai: its not my fault!

Kai: i'm just too powerful to be contained now i guess

Nya: murder you

Kai: ok ok i'll chill out a bit

Kai: gotta remind garmadon who's running the show here

Nya: kai why

Nya: i thought you had worked that out

Kai: yeah but

Kai: you do realize what he's supposed to do right

Kai: to lloyd and everything

Nya: to TRY and do

Lloyd wakes up to loud hushing noises and the smell of something burning.

His first panicked thought is that he's back in the volcano, and everything with the ninja and getting rescued was just a dream. But the soft, comfy couch he's laying on and the fact that he isn't burning to death at the moment rule that one out. His second thought is that it's Kai, lighting something on fire again with his new powers, but the voices are different — Jay and Cole, he thinks, and..maybe Zane?

Lloyd debates getting up and finding out or staying on the couch. Someone's left a blanket over him, and it's awfully cozy here, so maybe he'll just stay. One of the voices drifts closer to him, and Lloyd frowns, now too curious to fall back asleep.

He yawns, rubbing at his eyes at his eyes and sitting up. He stares blearily over at the kitchen, where Cole and Zane are pulling stuff out of the cabinets. Jay is right in front of him, his back turned. Still blinking sleepily, Lloyd pokes at his back. "Hey, what's going—"

Jay shrieks, and Lloyd starts off the couch in surprise.

"What the — Lloyd?" Jay yelps, leaning over the couch at him as Cole bursts into laughter. "When didyouget there?"

"I've been here," Lloyd says grumpily, from where he's sprawled on the floor. "You woke me up!"

"Forget training him," Cole says, still snickering at Jay. "He's already a better ninja than you are."

"I apologize if we woke you, Lloyd," Zane says, ducking the couch cushion Jay chucks at Cole. "We did not realize you were there."

"Nah, it's okay," Lloyd says, picking his way past Jay and Cole as they battle over the single cushion. "I was waking up anyways. What are you guys doing?"

"We aresupposedto be making breakfast," Zane says, raising his voice and glaring at Cole and Jay. The two pull apart, looking sightly chastised.

"Yeah," Cole says, sliding back around the counter to join them. "We haven't gotten a lot of free time lately, so we haven't had a chance to actually eat something other than takeout in a while."

Lloyd feels a pang of guilt, and glances down.

"Also, this way I can bring Nya breakfast, and it'll actually be good, since Zane is helping," Jay says. He leans in close to Lloyd, cupping a hand over his mouth conspiratorially. "Never eat anything Cole says he made," he tells him, voice hushed. "It might kill you."

"I'm notthatbad a cook!" Cole says, offended. "Don't listen to him, kid, Jay's a compulsive liar."

"Since when have Ieverlied?"

"Just this minute, right now!"

Zane sighs. "Can we please just get started?" he says, pulling out a pink apron.Huh, Lloyd thinks. Maybe he should've left Zane's gi pink.

Both Jay and Cole mumble apologetically, pulling out plastic bowls and little measuring spoons. Lloyd watches them, wondering if he should leave. The other ninja are nice, but he's never really been around them without Kai or Nya before. They might have accepted him onto the ship, but that doesn't mean they want him around them.

Lloyd chews on his lip, deciding he should probably leave. He's edging his way out of the kitchen when Cole snags his elbow, handing him a bowl.

"Here, hold this," he says, his eyes narrowed on the recipe. He glances at Lloyd. "Sorry. You're up, you gotta help. Team rules."

"O-okay," Lloyd says. He feels a burst of warmth in his chest. Cole included him inteam.

"Are we making chocolate chip, or blueberry?" Zane asks, where he's pulling milk from the fridge.

"Blueberry, duh," Jay says.

"What are you, a heathen?" Cole says. "Definitely chocolate chip."

"How dare you insult blueberries like that to my face."

"Zane, settle this for us," Cole says, with an eye-roll in Jay's direction. "Blueberry or chocolate chip?"

Zane pauses, looking between the two ninja briefly. "Ah, perhaps we should let Lloyd pick," he says, and they all turn to look at him. "Lloyd, which one?"

Lloyd shifts awkwardly at the sudden attention. "Uh, blueberry or chocolate chip…what?" he asks.

"Oh," Jay says. "Pancakes. Which kind do you like better?"

"Um, I'm not sure," Lloyd says. "I can't remember ever having pancakes."

Jay and Cole gape at him. "Can't remember…pancakes?" Cole gets out, as if Lloyd's just announced he's never heard of the First Spinjitzu Master.

"No..?" Lloyd says, slightly alarmed at the intensity of Cole's distress.

"Oh, Lloyd," Jay says, kneeling down in front of him dramatically and grabbing his shoulders. "Not only have you been missing out on the beauty of pancakes, but you have never tasted the beauty ofZane'spancakes."

"They are really not as good as you seem to think—"

"Hush, Zane," Jay says, stilling holding Lloyd by the shoulders. "We must educate you." He stands abruptly. "We're making both kinds, okay? And with whipped cream, too."

"And ice cream and chocolate syrup," Cole says, pulling more items from the cabinets. "If we're doing this, we're going all out."

It takes a while for Kai to finally join them, but by the time he walks out from his room, still blinking sleep away and his hair resembling a hay stack, the kitchen looks less like a kitchen and more like a war zone.

"What's going on?" he yawns, his voice still thick from sleep.

"We're making pancakes!" Lloyd tells him eagerly, wrinkling his nose in an attempt to get the flour off it. "We're usingchocolatesyrup!"

"And everything else in the fridge, apparently," Zane says, sounding slightly frazzled. This is probably because Cole and Jay have teamed up and are trying to make it "snow" flour on him.

"You using mayonnaise?" Kai asks, already picking up a whisk to help.

"Usingwhat?" Cole gags.

"Mayonnaise. Like — no, it's not like that," Kai rolls his eyes. "It's different—"

"Don't let Kai near the pancakes!" Cole yelps.

"I will, because Kai is a halfway decent cook," Zane says, handing Kai a spoon.

"Ooh, Zane coming in with the brutal honesty," Jay says. "I thought you wanted us to help."

"I do, but I would prefer not to poison everyone on board because someone mixed up the salt with the smoke powder."

Jay stares at the plastic container in his hand in surprise. "Why do we even keep this in here?!" he exclaims. Kai scoffs, ignoring him and making his way over to Lloyd.

"Look at you, already dragged into cooking duty," Kai says, dusting a smear of powder from Lloyd's forehead. Lloyd wrinkles his nose, but lets Kai brush the rest of the flour off.

"Yeah," he says, holding up his mixing bowl. "I'm in charge of stirring the chocolate chip mix!"

"Nice," Kai says, glancing at the mixture. "That's, um, a lot of chocolate chips."

"You canneverhave too many chocolate chips," Lloyd says, becauseheknows how to make pancakes now, and he's gonna make them his way.

"See,thisone has taste," Cole says, patting Lloyd's shoulder. "Wait 'til we make the double chocolate pancakes."

"Those are athing?"

Cole just laughs. "Looks like you're done," he says, glancing at Lloyd's bowl. "C'mon, I'll show you how to cook them."

Cole is patient as he instructs Lloyd on how to pour the mix onto the pan, even though he keeps yanking Lloyd's hand away from the stovetop when he gets too close, telling him he'd better not burn himself on day one.

Naturally, Lloyd still manages to burn his hands of the edge of the pan anyways, like a moron.

Cole kind pf panics, even though its only a little burn that doesn't hurt that bad, and immediately ushers Lloyd over to Zane, who quickly frosts Lloyd's fingers in a gentle coating of ice. Lloyd rubs the ice crystals in his hands in awe, wondering if they taste like snow.

"Don't mess with it, okay?" Cole says, pulling his fingers apart. "It'll just hurt worse, trust me. I've been burned before." He gives Kai a dirty look.

"It wasn't like Imeantto!" Kai protests, throwing his flour-covered hands up defensively. He shakes his head, returning to the mixing bowl and muttering. "You misuse the fire sword one time…"

"I had blisters forweeks — no, you don't," Cole says, catching Lloyd's hand before he can bring the ice to his mouth. "Keep the ice on your hand.It won't hurt as much if it's numb."

Lloyd studies Cole's expression, confused. He'sconcerned, Lloyd realizes. Which is kind of silly, because it was Lloyd's fault in the first place. Lloyd was just being clumsy. Cole should be laughing him, if anything—

"There," Cole says, sounding pleased with himself. He's managed to clump most of the ice back onto Lloyd's reddening fingertips. "Keep that still, okay? And go help Jay with the toppings, I'll finish off the pancakes."

He ushers Lloyd over to Jay, who is covertly sneaking drips of the chocolate syrup onto his finger. He rolls his eyes as Lloyd joins him. "Cole can be a real worrywart sometimes," he tells him.

Kai snorts. "That's rich, coming from you."

"You, hush," Jay says, pointing the chocolate syrup at Kai threateningly. He looks back at Lloyd, leaning closer. "But there's one thing you can always count on to break him."

"What's that?" Lloyd whispers, ready to store this vital piece of information away.

"Cake," Jay says, smirking. "Or, if you're short on that, another form of sugar, say…"

He reaches for the toppings they have lined on the counter beside them. "Co-ole," Jay sing-songs, shaking a can of whipped cream in his hand and grinning. "Betcha can't beat your record."

Cole freezes where he's washing a mixing bowl out, surveying Jay through narrowed eyes.

"Oh, no," Zane says, quickly. "Don't, Cole, remember, you threw up last time—"

"Bring it on," Cole says, sliding over to them.

By the time Nya finally joins them, Lloyd is mid-chant with Jay, excitedly egging Cole on as Jay holds the bottle of whipped cream over his head. Poor Zane looks despairing of them all.

"Nya!" Lloyd exclaims, waving excitedly at her. "Cole's gonna eat a whole bottle of whipped cream in one go!"

"I see that," she says, rubbing her eyes and leaning against the counter next to him. She gives Jay a look. "You know this is going to—"

Cole suddenly chokes, doubling over as Jay yelps, pulling away.

"—end badly," Nya sighs.

"Oh, mistake," Cole wheezes, bracing himself against the counter. Jay leans over him, snickering.

"So close," he says, waving the bottle in his face. "We were so close."

Cole coughs, wiping whipped cream from the corner of his mouth and flicking it at Jay.

"Aw - gross, Cole!" Jay cries, jumping back as even Zane bursts into laughter.

Lloyd can't help the wide grin that spreads across his face as he giggles. The ice on his fingers is completely melted now, dripping down onto the counter. The burn stings a bit, but he doesn't even notice, too busy laughing at the look on Jay's face.

"Students."

Everyone whips around. Uncle Wu is standing in the kitchen entrance, his expression serious. The laughter quiets, trailing off into silence.

"A Fangpyre has been spotted on the streets," he says, gravely. "It is time we returned our attention to the Fangblades."

The silence grows tense, the ninja exchanging glances. Nya bites her lip. Lloyd shifts, looking down. He feels Kai's hand on his shoulder, tightening slightly.

He'd almost forgotten about everything.

Kai's a Roasted MarshmallowGroup Chat

Nya: can you pick up some eggs

Nya: and milk too, we're almost out

Kai: ?!

Kai: we're catching snakes here not grocery shopping

Nya: we really need milk though

Kai: nya this is a deadly mission

Nya: it's one fangpyre

Kai: ….

Kai: are u watching us again

Kai: u better not come swooping in with samurai x

Kai: we got this okay

Kai: no more stealing our thunder

Kai: STOP IT NYA

Nya: i didn't say anything?

Kai: I CAN HEAR YOU THINKING FROM HERE

Nya: get me milk

Nya: and those little strawberry pastry things

Kai:…fine

"Did they catch him yet?"

Nya sighs, rubbing her head. "No, Lloyd. For the eighth time, no."

"It wasn'teighttimes," Lloyd mutters, sulking.

"No, you're right," Nya says. "It was more like fifteen."

Lloyd pulls the blanket up over his head, glaring at her. Nya has to resist the urge to snort — wrapped up in the blanket like he is, Lloyd resembles a rather fluffy seal, the static from the blanket leaving his hair sticking out in every direction.

An entitled bratty seal, she decides, as Lloyd shuffles forward on his elbows to reach for her last pieces of candy.

"No," she says, swatting at his hand. "These are mine, half-pint."

"But I want more," Lloyd whines.

"Then you shouldn't have eaten all yours that fast," Nya scolds.

Lloyd glares at her again, pulling the blanket down over his face. "You're so mean," he mutters, his voice muffled.

Nya rolls her eyes, turning her attention back to the view screens. Itispretty boring right now, she has to admit. They're holed up in the control room of theBounty, keeping tabs on the guys while they hunt down the Fangpyre running around. It's getting late — reaching midnight, so Nya should really send Lloyd to bed. She should have sent him to bed hours ago, actually, then she wouldn't have had to deal with him eating himself into a sugar rush and the resulting disaster from thatone.

Instead, she's helped him turn the control room into a messy sort of blanket fort, and they're now six episodes into that old drama show Sensei has on board for some reason. They're cliché, if anything, but Lloyd's endless commentary ofthat was the fakest blood everandwhy are they trying to eat each other's faces like thatis entertaining enough in itself.

(…okay, maybe sheshouldcrack and buy Lloyd those Starfarer movies instead. They're probably more kid-friendly. And maybe she can just download them semi-legally. Ninjago owes them for saving their city, anyways.)

She glances at the time again and sighs. Whatever. It's not like Lloyd's actual parent is going to come up and scold her for keeping his kid awake with terrible TV shows. Garmadon's been talking to Sensei Wu aboutsecret stuffall day, and it doesn't look like that's likely to change anytime soon.

Lloyd starts banging his head repeatedly against the ground, still hidden in the blanket, and Nya resists the urge to smother him. Instead, she lets herself fall back, laying on the pile of pillows and staring up at the ceiling. Unbidden, she can feel her eyes starting to close, Lloyd's steady thudding fading into the background.

The radio crackles, and Nya jerks up, blinking rapidly. Lloyd pokes his head out from the blanket. Muffled voices come through the speakers, and Nya jumps up, sending pillows scattering as she dashes for the radio. Behind her, Lloyd struggles in vain to free himself from his blankets and join her.

"Hello?" she says breathlessly. "Guys?"

The radio crackles again, and Lloyd finally makes it over, peering at the controls with wide eyes. Nothing else comes through.

"Guys?" Nya repeats, tapping her fingers on the radio anxiously.

There's an ear-splitting whine, and the static finally clears up, Cole's voice coming through.

"Nya?"he says, his voice hushed."What's up?"

Nya frowns, her anxiety ebbing. "You tell me," she says. "You're the ones that called in."

"Wha - huh? Lemme see."There's a rustling sound, and she can just hear Cole's hushed voice asking the others. Nya trades glances with Lloyd.

"Ah - yeah, we did, sorry,"Cole's voice comes back, sounding exasperated."Jay managed to sit on his communicator again."

"Don't tell her that!"they hear Jay yelp.

"Typical Zaptrap."

"Shut it, Kai, at least I didn't try to light a cat on fire because I thought it was a snake—"

"Guys, please?" Cole sounds likehewants to bang his head against the ground."Sorry about that, Nya. We're good."

"Okay, good," she says, as her heart rate returns to normal. "Any luck?"

"No sign of any snakes yet,"Cole says."But we'll get him."

"Punch him in the face for me!" Lloyd yells, craning his head over. Nya shoves him back, hushing him.

"Will do, kiddo,"Cole says, amused."Oh — Zane's picking up something. Gotta go, we'll keep you updated okay, Nya?"

"You better," Nya says. "Good luck."

"Thanks. Kai says he loves you."

"I did not!"

"And Jay is blowing kisses."

"Cole!"

Nya rolls her eyes as the line dissolves into bickering, before finally cutting off.

"They're weird," Lloyd says after a minute, staring at the radio in consternation.

Nya snorts. "Yeah, but they're our weirdos," she says. She yawns, making her way back to their pile of blankets and flopping down on her back. "Looks like we're still on lookout, partner."

Lloyd makes a pathetic sound between a whine and a wail. "But it's soboring," he says. "I'm gonna die. And these movies are terrible."

Well, she won't argue with him on that. Sitting up, Nya stretches her arms above her head, wincing as sore muscles pull. "If you keep whining, it'll only get worse," she says, huffing as she lets her arms fall. "You wanna play a game, or something?"

"Like what?" Lloyd yawns, looking bored at the thought.

"Like, uh…I Spy?"

Lloyd gives her a thoroughly unimpressed look.

"Geez, fine, it was just a suggestion," she says.Punk. "We could, um…" Nya trails off, glancing around the control room. Her eyes catch on the ship's wheel.

"Ooh, I know," Nya says, a gleam in her eyes. "How about we start my part of your ninja training."

"Your part?" Lloyd says, frowning. "But you aren't even a ninja."

Nya cuts him a glare. "What, so that means I can't teach you anything?"

"No, of course not!" Lloyd says, looking scandalized.Smart kid, Nya thinks. "But you're a samurai, not a ninja."

"That's why this is going to be extra special training," she says. "I'm going to teach you useful stuff that'll save your life when the guys inevitably get you into trouble. Like, for instance..." she stands, beckoning dramatically to the ship's steering wheel. "How to fly theBounty."

Lloyd lights up like a Christmas tree. "Wha — really?" he says, jumping up beside her and running over to the wheel. "No way! Can you teach me how to use the rocket engines? Can we fly it over Ninjago City and scare people? Can we do barrel rolls? Can we—"

"Woah, woah, slow down," Nya says, blinking at the sudden barrage. She snorts.Barrel rolls,Sensei would kill her. "How about we start with something easy, like how to actually stay in the air."

"Oh, yeah, uh — that'd make more sense," Lloyd says, rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay," Nya says. "First things first, this is the steering wheel." Lloyd gives her a look that clearly saysno duh. Nya rolls her eyes. "It's just like a ship in the sea, except you're in the air," she says, shifting the wheel slightly. "Instead of using a rudder, it works with the sails and the rockets on the back to make turns. So it reacts a lot more strongly than a ship in the ocean would."

Demonstrating, she turns the wheel a bit more. The ship tilts, slightly changing course before she pulls it back into position.

"Okay," Lloyd says, reaching for the wheel. "So you just—"

"Nuh-uh," Nya says, smacking his hand away. "Not yet. You gotta learn how the rest works first."

"I know how to steer a ship," Lloyd pouts. "That's enough!"

"Mm-hm," Nya says. "And how do you start the ship, then?"

Lloyd stares at the wheel. "Um."

"Exactly," Nya says, shaking her head. "There's a lot more to it than just yanking the wheel around. We'll start with the basics — which do notinclude barrel rolls."

Lloyd sighs, but she can tell he's making a valiant attempt not to complain anymore. Relenting, Nya pulls Lloyd back to her side, placing his hands on the wheel. "But first, let's give your dad and uncle atinylittle scare."

Kaichanged the chat name toMission Impossible: Snake Busting

Nya: fsm you're such a nerd

Kai: try getting the theme song out of your head now

Nya: you suck

Kai: okay but real talk we're all actually making a planned attack

Kai: i never thought i'd live to see the day

Nya: you're actually being smart and taking me along

Nya: i thought you'd all die before you saw the day

Kai: stop being smug

The Mountain of a Thousand Steps is kind of disappointing, compared to where they've been the past few days. Especially after the Fangpyre they'd captured had made it seem like the end-all of all evil hideouts. Maybe that's just because nothing can top the explosive adrenaline of the Fire Temple, but still, it's…a little disappointing.

"Look at all that dirt!" Jay says, craning his head over the side of theBounty.

Kai ignores him, squinting at the rugged mountain top as he reruns the information the Fangpyre gave them about the Fangblades through his head. They're not here for dirt, they're here so they can smash Pythor's face in and get the Fangblades, preferably in that order. "What are those snakes up to?"

Cole shrugs, adjusting his grip on his weapon. "Whatever it is, we're gonna stop them."

Kai gives him a sharp-edged grin, and he's thrilled to see Cole return it. Fights where Cole breaks out the bad ass are thebest.

The door to the deck clatters open, and Lloyd bursts out, skipping down the steps two at a time. "Wait for me!" he says, pushing his hood back as it falls in his face.

As if.Kai resists the urge to snort.

Sensei Wu seems to be on the same train of thought. "This is not your fight. The Green Ninja is too important for a future destiny," he tells Lloyd sternly. "You shall stay with me."

Oops, Kai thinks, trading glances with Jay.

"Well, he's gonna have to look after himself, because we made room for you," Nya says, gesturing proudly from her position in Samurai X. The altered seating Jay and Nya put in last night looks a lot less precarious then it did at two am last night, and Kai is actually kind of impressed.

Sensei glances at the seat, turning questioning eyes to Kai.

"Well, you said you were concerned that you couldn't keep up, so Jay and Nya re-jigged the design so you could come along," Kai says, ignoring the glare he can feel Lloyd sending his way. "What do you think?"

"I think—" Sensei Wu takes one, two steps up and then flips expertly into the seat. "Shotgun! Haha."

Kai blinks. Maybe it's just in the bloodline of the FSM family to be extra about everything. Come to think of it, Sensei Wucansound a lot like Garmadon when he gets on a tangent…

"I will stay behind with Lloyd," Garmadon speaks up, stepping forward. His glowing eyes flick over them in thinly-veiled scrutiny. "I don't enjoy saying this, but…good luck."

Kai resist the urge to tell him they don't need his luck, thanks very much. He's trying to get along with Garmadon here, not pull a Lloyd and act like a socially-inept brat when it comes to getting along with people. It's vital to the mission that Kai doesn't get them prematurely killed because he's too busy holding a grudge match with Garmadon. Or at least that's howColeput it, in all his "I'm-the-leader-so-I'm-mature" act he's got going.

Kai is plenty mature, please. He just doesn't trust Garmadon one way or another, especially since the guy one) has captured his sister, two) is destined to try and kill his own son, and three) apparently still has the overall goal to enslave all of Ninjago in darkness or something.

Sure, there's something to be said for "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", but this is pushing it.

Kai feels Nya's eyes on him. Giving her a side-eyed look, he finally sighs, relenting. It won't be long before Cole starts looking at him as well, and then Zane'll join in and it'll be all over for Kai. Better to keep the illusion that he's perfectly composed.

Rolling his shoulders, Kai makes his way over to Lloyd, who is staring at the mountain with a look of utmost sulking. He glances up as Kai nears him, eyeing the fire sword strapped to his back almost hungrily.

"Don't get caught or anything, I guess," Lloyd says, kicking at the deck. Kai grins. He's sulked enough himself to recognize when someone's concerned and trying to hide it.

"We'll be fine, kid," Kai says confidently as he pulls his mask up. "We're the best ninja around, remember?"

"Hmph." Lloyd draws himself up, as if he can make himself taller by puffing his chest out alone. "Well, if you aren't fine, I'll be here to bail you out!"

"No, you'll be here to send in your dad," Kai says, glaring at Lloyd firmly. "You arenotcoming in after us."

"Oh, come on," Lloyd whines. "You can't keep leaving me out of stuff anymore! I'm a ninja now!"

"No, you're not," Kai says, amused. "You'd probably fall on your face before you actually did Spinjitzu."

"I wouldnot," Lloyd says, stubbornly.

"Would too," Kai says, and before this devolves into a back-and-forth mess, he flicks Lloyd in the nose, causing him to sputter indignantly. "Stay on theBounty, ninja orders. You'll be safe here with Garmadon."

Kai reruns the sentence he just said through his head.

"On second thought, maybe you should lock yourself in my room," he mutters.

Lloyd frowns. "Why would I do that?"

Kai glances over his shoulder at Garmadon inconspicuously. "Um, no reason," he says. "Just…be good, okay? We'll be back before you know it."

"With the Fangblades?" Lloyd asks.

"With the Fangblades," Kai says, reassuringly. "We got this. We're professionals — the Serpentine don't stand a chance."

Mission Impossible: Snake BustingGroup Chat

Kai: why did we leave lloyd alone with his dad again

Nya: because we don't want him to die down here?

Kai: garmadon is a terrible influence

Kai: do u want lloyd to go bad again?

Nya: fsm

Nya: they'll be fine kai it won't be for long

Kai: i don't trust garmadon

Nya: really?

Nya: wow

Nya: i had no idea

Nya: the shock

Kai: -_-

Chapter 7: Season One - Part Six

Chapter Text

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Lloyd stares at the clock cross-eyed, watching it inch forward little by little. Maybe if he stares at it hard enough, it'll go faster. He's supposed to have powers, right? Go faster, stupid clock.

Lloyd yawns loudly. This isboring. Everyone else is down in the mountain getting to beat up snakes, and he's stuck here, hiding out in Nya's room.

Lloyd shakes off the brief feeling of anxiety. Technically, he's notnot allowed to be in Nya's room. This is just Nya — it's not like he's sneaking into some random girl's room without permission. He's perfectly within his right to chill out in her room because she stole all the best pillows in the Bounty. He's not doing anything wrong.

…well, okay,maybehe'd been looking for some of Nya's hidden weapons he could swipe, but all he ended up finding was a bunch of books on engineering (boring) and a picture of Jay stashed behind her dresser (ew).

She did have a pretty cool knife hidden under her pillow, though. Lloyd traces the edges, careful not to cut his fingers on it. It's just a little knife, sharp and shiny with a red hilt. There's a fancy design on it, too, which looks familiar. He thinks he remembers having seen it on one of Kai's swords, actually, when he was trying to steal - uh, borrow - it the other day. Maybe it's their family crest, or something. Nya did say something about Kai being a blacksmith.

Lloyd flips the knife over, miming throwing it at the wall. He can't really throw it, of course — Nya would kill him if he left a hole in her wall. But it would be fun, even just for a minute.

Ugh.Lloyd flops back on the pillows, shoving the knife back in place. This is so boring. He wants to be a ninjanow, so he can go kick snake butt and have adventures like everyone else. If he's the super powerful future Green Ninja, shouldn't he be down there fighting too? Maybe there's a special way to speed up his training, like the level-up potions he's always stealing from Jay when they play video games…

Lloyd sighs, pushing himself up from the bed. Maybe his dad will have an idea, or at least be less boring, he thinks, as he makes his way down the creaking halls of theBounty. It's eerily quiet without the guys here to make noise, and Lloyd doesn't like it. He takes his time making his way around, being sure to hit all the extra creaky spots in the floorboards, kicking up as much noise as he can.

Huh. That one'sjustcreaky enough that he bets he could pull it up. It would make a good place for stashing stuff, like the candy Uncle Wu won't buy him.

Hm, Lloyd thinks. Maybe since his dad is here,he'llbuy him candy. It's not like dark lords of the underworld carethatmuch about spoiling appetites, or giving yourself cavities. Ha! Lloyd's never evenbeen to a dentist. If he plays it right, maybe he can convince his dad to—

Lloyd stops cold. Garmadon is in the control room, looking awfully suspicious. He's bent over the computer, eyebrows creased in concentration as he taps at it, not even noticing Lloyd. An uneasy ball of worry forms in Lloyd's gut at the look on his father's face. Surely, he's not going behind their backsalready—

"Transferring Files"reads out clearly on the computer screen. Lloyd's stomach drops. He doesn't know much about computers, but he knows enough to know whatthatmeans.

"You're…stealing?"

Garmadon whips around at Lloyd's gasp, his eyes flying wide. Lloyd waits for him to explain, for his dad to tell him that there's nothing to worry about.

A horrible look of guilt crosses Garmadon's face, and Lloyd's stomach drops all the way to his feet.

"Dad! My friends are risking their lives to save Ninjago," Lloyd says, trying not to sound like the floor's been yanked out from under him. "And you go behind their backs to…gain an advantage?"

He stares at his dad,willinghim to give him an excuse. To explain that Lloyd's just a silly little boy, and of course his father is still on his side.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd," Garmadon tells him, his eyes creased in regret. "But I can't help it. Ever since the Devourer bit me, evil runs through my blood."

There's the Great Devourer again, responsible for everything, Lloyd fumes. The stupid snake seems to come up alotwhen his dad tries to explain things to him. Lloyd takes a breathe. "You left me for so long," he says, anxiously crumpling up the sleeve of his hoodie. "Where did you go?"

The guilty look on Garmadon's face twists to grief. "Son," he says, quietly. "There are places in this world void of any good. Dark places."

Lloyd feels a chill at his dad's tone. In the past, hearing about something like that might have excited him. Now it just makes him feel kinda sick. "Is that where Uncle Wu found you?"

"You know how I've always wanted those Golden Weapons," Garmadon says. Lloyd blinks. The sudden change in tone almost gives him whiplash — his dad sounds greedy. "Well, this place allowed me the power to possess them!"

"But…" Lloyd hesitates. "Why didn't you take me with you?"

Garmadon looks sadandguilty now, his eyes flicking down briefly.

"Every boy has a choice to grow up to be whoever they want to be," he finally says, gravely. "But I never had that choice — because I was bitten, evil runs through my veins."

He puts a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, almost fervent. "But you still have a choice. You don't need to be like me, Lloyd. Your uncle has a plan for you, and even though it may be to stop me one day…we have to follow our own destiny." Garmadon lowers his eyes again. "And after I help the ninja stop Pythor, I'll need to leave again."

Lloyd blinks rapidly.

Leave. Again.

A swooping rush of panic floods him, almost leaving him dizzy. His dad is just…going to leave him? Again?

Lloyd's breath catches. It's like Darkley's all over again. It wasn't enough.Hewasn't enough. His father still doesn't want him, just like his mom, and Lloyd is going to be abandonedagain—

Anger bubbles up in Lloyd's chest, hot and painful. Fine. His dad wants to leave him, too? He didn't need his mom. He doesn't need his dad, either.

He wrenches away from Garmadon's hold, glaring hotly at him. "Why don't you just leave now!"

Garmadon flinches back. "Lloyd—"

"No, really!" Lloyd bursts out, fighting back the sting in his eyes and trying to stay angry instead. "Just — go back to whatever evil place you came from—"

The radio goes off with an ear-splitting screech of static, interrupting Lloyd's rant as they both turn to stare at it.

"Come in! Operation stealth was a total bust!" Nya's voice crackles through, tight and panicked. "We're gonna need reinforcements. Is anyone there?"

Lloyd's anger evaporates, taking a nosedive into fear. Garmadon moves forward, reaching for the radio, and something in Lloyd's chest tightens. He shoves him away fiercely, surprisingly able to force his father back.

"We don't want your help! And we don't need you here," Lloyd says, hotly. "Maybe it would've been better if you hadn't come back at all."

Garmadon takes a step back, his eyes widening in what looks like hurt. Lloyd doesn't feel guilty. Hewon'tfeel guilty.

"If that's the way you feel," Garmadon says, quietly. Lloyd doesn't say anything, not even looking back as his father retreats from the room.

Good. Lloyd can save his friends by himself, he doesn't need his help. And not from a father who doesn't even want him, that's for sure.

"I'm trying to help, Nya, just hold on!" he yelps into the radio, trying to sound in control. Lloyd fiddles with the buttons, trying to remember what Nya taught him. All he can remember is how to make the ship fly — what did she say about the weapons, again? It couldbe the blue switch there, but itmight'vebeen the red-

The controls swim in front of Lloyd's eyes, Nya's instructions blurring in the back of his head.Rats. This is what he gets for letting himself get distracted.

He bites his lip. Okay, the ship's not gonna help much, that's pretty clear. That's fine, he doesn't need the ship. He's got two legs, he can go down there just like the others did. Just like a ninja—

He glances at his black hoodie.

…well, he is the Green Ninja, right? So it's not really like he's stealing it, if it's gonna be his anyways.

Lloyd sprints down the hall, skidding into one of Uncle Wu's rooms. He pushes a chair up to the old dressers, sliding one of Nya's bobby pins he swiped out of his sleeve and quickly picking the lock to the drawer.

The lock clicks, and Lloyd gives a quietyes!of victory. There it is, folded neatly just where he'd found it a couple weeks ago.

Lloyd lifts the green gi out reverently, running his fingers over the embossed silver on the neckline. This is the most important piece of clothing ever, he reminds himself. This is what all the ninja were so worked up about, one of Uncle Wu's greatest possessions.

And he'stotallygoing to put it on. He's gotta getsomethinggood out of this Green Ninja deal, right?

Lloyd wrangles the gi over his head, the green fabric sliding over his arms easily. It's soft, kinda like the silk of Kai's gi, but it feels steady and durable. It smells like incense and old wood, and it feelswarm — safe and comfortable.

It's also way,waytoo big.

Lloyd stares at the sleeves where they fall over his hands in consternation. It makes sense that it'd be too big, now that he's thinking about it, but really? He can't even walk in this thing!

Lloyd sighs. There's nothing for it. He bends down, rolling up the pant legs until they come up above his shoes. He does the same with his sleeves, bunching up the green fabric where it falls loose around his bony wrists. Wriggling a bit, he finally manages to get the gi to where it won't fall off him when he takes a step. With a grin of satisfaction, he turns to the mirror.

Lloyd immediately bites back a groan. He looksstupid, like a little kid playing dress-up. He doesn't look nearly as cool as the others do. What's the point of the dumb prophecy if it isn't even gonna bother to take the time to get his size right?

At least it's a new outfit, he tells himself, trying to look on the bright side. He hasn't had one of those in ages. And this one isn't too small, at least! Not that it being too big is much better, but at least it's comfy, like pajamas.

And he's wasting time on clothes now, Lloyd reminds himself. The others are in danger, who cares if the gi is too big! If he saves them, the ninja won't be able to make fun of him anyways.

Rushing out, Lloyd sprints back to the control room, kicking open the door. He already feels a bit like a ninja, now that he's wearing the clothes. The radio crackles again, and Lloyd makes a beeline for it.

"Lloyd! Garmadon! Is anyone there?" Nya sounds worried, but not too bad — more like she's irritated.

Lloyd hovers over the controls. "It's me Nya! I'm here! But my dad…left." Lloyd bites his lip, glancing back at the empty doorway. "How are you guys holding up?"

There's an awful burst of static, and Lloyd winces, clapping his hands over his ears until it finally clears up. "We're fine," Nya says, and Lloyd exhales in relief. "But we're a little…held up at the moment. Our weapons have been taken, and we're locked in cages!"

Lloyd makes a face. Not cages again. Ugh, he'sgladhe didn't go now.

"And Pythor's returned with the fourth Fangblade!" Cole chimes in, sounding harried.

Zane cuts in before Lloyd can reply. "Lloyd, where did your father go?"

Lloyd winces. Why'd they have to bring him back up? "I…told him to leave," he says. "H-he was trying to steal secrets!"

"Ha! Big surprise there," Kai's voice filters in, smug. "I told you about that guy, and you guys wouldn't listen."

Lloyd steels himself, trying to sound as careless as Kai does. "My dad's going back to where he came from," he says, firmly. "But don't worry, I'll save you!"

"You're not ready, Lloyd," Uncle Wu jumps in, sounding a lot less calm than he usually does."Your destiny is too great to risk."

Cole speaks back up."I hate to break it to you Sensei, but if we don't get out of here before Pythor unleashes the Great Devourer, this could be the end of all our destinies."

Lloyd swallows. He needs to get down therenow. They're running out of time.

"I'll get you out of there!" he promises, and swiftly cuts off the radio before Uncle Wu can tell him not to. He can totally do this — he's a ninja now! Lloyd puffs his chest out. He's ready for this.

…he's a little nervous too, now that he's thinking about it. He's about to run right back to Pythor, isn't he? He could get eaten. He could, like,die.

Lloyd shakes his head, steeling himself in determination. He can do this. Hehasto do this. The ninja didn't abandonhim, even when Lloyd was a horrible brat. And Lloyd isn't going to be like his mother, or his father.

He isnevergoing to abandon somebody like that, and certainly not his friends.

Nodding to himself, Lloyd wrenches open the weapons closet—

—and is promptly knocked to the floor by an avalanche of heavy, metal weapons. Lloyd groans, his head spinning as he lies on the floor.

Okay, this might beslightlyharder than he'd been thinking.

Mission Impossible: Snake Busting Group Chat

Kai: for the record

Kai: this is all jay's fault

Nya: kai we are literally imprisoned right next to each other in mortal peril

Nya: get off your phone

Nya: and it is NOT

Kaichanged the chat name toEverything Is Jay's Fault

Nya: KAI I SWEAR

Pythor's crossed a lot of lines in the short time Kai has suffered the burden of knowing him. He's put his family in danger, nearly killed Kai and Lloyd in a volcano, and he's just made himself a giant pain in the neck in general (bigger than Lord Garmadon, which is saying something).

But this is crossing a line. Stealing his hair gel? Unacceptable. And when Kai had been this close to proving to Nya that bringing it along wasn't a waste of pocket space, too. No, instead, Pythor had neatly thwarted his plans, and Kai had failed to obtain the "I told you so" to Nya that she deserved.

And he also failed to escape. That's…probably a lot more important right now.

"Don't worry, Sensei, I have faith in Lloyd!" Nya's telling them, still valiantly defending the kid.

Oh, important thing number two: they not only failed to escape, butLloydis their only backup. Kai wrenches uselessly at the cuff around his wrist again. Of all thestupid situations to get in—

"Nya, he hasnotraining!" Jay hisses. "Kai has training and hestillgot his butt kicked into tomorrow!"

"I didnot get my butt kicked, I just got caught," Kai sulks. But he has to side with Jay on this one — Lloyd can barely keep himselfsafe for five minutes on his own. How is he supposed to save them from an entire army of Serpentine?

"I bet you next week's laundry he does," Nya says, though her confidence is wavering. "Lloyd'll come through."

"He betternot," Cole mutters, still tugging vainly at his own cuff. "He'll get himself killed."

"Cole," Zane says, glancing at Sensei Wu.

"We must have faith that my brother will not let his son come alone," Sensei Wu says, his normally peaceful voice slightly strained. There's a distinctly unspoken "my brother better not let his son comeat all" in his voice.

"Oh, great," Kai huffs. "Our best bet is having faith inLord Garmadon. Yeah, we're all gonna die."

"Would you stop being so pessimistic?" Nya snaps. "This is bad enough as it is!"

"It could be worse," Zane says. "They could be lowering us into the acid."

"Don't give Pythor any ideas," Cole grumbles. "We're scheduled to die pretty soon, right? Betcha anything it's gonna be death by acid."

"Nothelping, Cole!" Jay says, tightly.

"I don't seeyoudoing anything."

Sensei Wu sighs, looking a little like he wishes he could pitch himself into the acid.

"Look, does anyone have anything small and sharp?" Nya says. "Like a lockpick? If we can get out of these chains, then maybe we can…um…"

"I calculate our chances of reaching our weapons again are extremely low," Zane says, squinting at where the Golden Weapons hang from the ceiling. "Pythor will likely be on guard after Kai's failed attempt."

Kai bristles. "At least I actually did something!"

"That was not an insult to you," Zane says, quickly. "I was just saying—"

"Look, there's no point!" Jay cuts in, half-hysterically. "Garmadon's not coming, Lloyd's not coming, Ninjago's gonna get eaten by a giant snake, and we're all gonna die in here and never see the light of day again!"

Kai opens his mouth to reply, but he's interrupted by a sudden commotion from the cave opening. There's a few shouts of surprise from the Serpentine, and Kai spots a flash of green materialize in the midst of the snakes.

"That isn't — is it?"

Senesi Wu inhales sharply. Kai is highly aware of the other's open mouths, Nya's eyes wide as dinner plates.

The flash continues to somersault forward before falling flat on its face, muttering darkly.

"I really gotta grow into this thing," Lloyd groans, tugging at the green gi.

Sensei Wu makes a sound of utter distress. "Oh, FSM," Nya whispers.

Kai stares. He really should have been expecting this, in all honestly. It's not like Lloyd has proven himself all that great at following orders, and the kid is stubbornly loyal to a fault, when he wants to be. The fact that he's even come at all is actually kinda heartening, even if he did fall on his face just like Kai predicted.

In fact, this whole thing might be kind of hilarious, if Kai wasn't currently losing every last ounce of his sanity to panic right now.

"Kai, do something, Kai - Kai, do something," Nya hisses, pulling at her cuff desperately as she works herself into a frenzy of panic. "Kai, he's going to get himselfkilled—"

"Well, if we don't meet again, Pythor!" Lloyd calls, as he strikes a defensive position. A vague part of Kai notes that his form isn't half-bad.

The Serpentine burst into laughter, jeering wildly. Normally, Kai might actually find it pretty amusing too — or he'd just be plain angry at the Serpentine (which is his default mood at this point in his life, anyways).

Instead, Kai is too busy being transfixed by a dawning horror.

Lloyd is wearing the green gi, the familiar uniform unmistakable where it hangs loosely around his small frame. Kai's thought about what Lloyd being the Green Ninja means plenty of times since the truth was revealed, and he's known what that entails, but actuallyseeing it—

Tiny. Lloyd istiny, practically drowning in the overlarge gi, swamped beneath the green fabric. The mask does nothing to disguise how young he is, a flash of blond hair just visible where he's tied it sloppily.

Lloyd is tiny, inexperienced and untrained and achild, and here he is, wearing the green gi and about to try and fight half the Serpentine to save them.

Oh, Kai thinks, in horror.This isn't just a prophecy anymore.

Lloyd is the Green Ninja, and they're going to send him to fight his father, at the height of all darkness, on his own, and he probably won't even make it that far because Pythor is going to kill him andwow, Kai's failed already-

Beside him, Jay seems to have come to the same realization. "Oh, my gosh," Jay says, faintly. "He's a kid. He's the Green Ninja and he's just a kid,what are wedoing—"

Below them, the Serpentine are oblivious to the cage's occupants and their distress. Pythor is leering at Lloyd with amusem*nt, the four Fangblades still held mockingly in his grasp.

"Unhand the ninja, or suffer humiliation against the Green Ninja!" Lloyd calls fiercely, glaring at Pythor.

"Oh yesss?" Pythor snickers, slithering closer to Lloyd. "You and what army?"

"Uhhh…" Lloyd falters, finally seeming to realize the situation he's in. "How about an army of my fists?"

Well, Kai thinks, half-hysterically. At least they can all die knowing that Lloyd would have fit right in with them. That sounds exactly like something Jay might say. Or himself, actually.

Nya groans, pulling harder at the cuff on her wrist.

There's more laughter from the Serpentine, loud and grating. Lloyd takes a step back, keeping his hands raised defensively. Kai is just considering the possibility of dislocating every bone in his wrist and forcing his way down there — when a powerful, commanding voice booms across the cavern, halting the Serpentine's laughter in its tracks.

"Or this army!"

Kai looks up, his mouth falling open. Garmadon stands at the top of the cave, weapons raised menacingly. What's more impressive, though, is the full-fledged army of skeletons he has at his side, lining the sloping ledge.

Sensei Wu practically collapses against the cage bars with a gasp of relief. He mutters something mostly unintelligible, though Kai catches "took you long enough" punctuated with some interesting words he hasn't heard from his Sensei before.

"Dad!" Lloyd sounds utterly surprised, but completely overjoyed.

"Lloyd!" Garmadon calls, his eyes on his son. "You helped me realize I do have a choice." His eyes narrow. "If there is anyone who's going to threaten Ninjago, it better well be me."

"Like for real, he can't even brush his teeth without being dramatic about it," Kai mutters. Nya elbows him, her eyes shining in relief.

"The skeleton army?!" Pythor exclaims in outraged surprise. "But why would they fight besideyou? You betrayed them and Samukai long ago!"

Garmadon gives Pythor a malicious grin, his eyes glinting. "Becauseeverybodyhates snakes."

Pythor hisses in fury. "Attack!" he roars. "Attack!"

The skeletons charge forward with enthusiasm, rushing to attack the Serpentine and defend Lloyd. Any enmity they might have had against Garmadon or the ninja over the past seems to be just that — a thing of the past.

Apparently Lloyd is just inspiring people all over the place, Kai thinks. Great. He can take over as leader when Cole inevitably snaps from the stress that is keeping them all from dying horribly.

—speaking of dying horribly, which may actually be happening pretty soon, Kai realizes, as the cage abruptly starts moving down.

"Hey, we're moving!" Jay says, his voice raised over the loud hissing and clashing of swords from the chaos unfolding below them.

"Yeah, the wrong way!" Cole yelps. "What kind ofstupid — at least don't kill us like a coward, Pythor!"

"I don't think he cares," Zane remarks weakly, as they all dissolve into panic, the bubbling acid growing closer beneath them. Kai can smell the acrid liquid from here, feel the uncanny heat — the bad kind, bad heat, bad, bad, bad—

Nya hops up on the bars, balancing herself with her feet as the rest of them follow suit. She gives Kai a panicked look, her eyes wide. Kai's chest constricts. This feelsway too familiar — why does he keep getting into these hopeless situations? Does karma hate him this much? Where's he gonna get a miracle from this time—

Nya isn't looking at him anymore. "Lloyd!" she cries, looking across the battle raging around them.

Kai follows her gaze, spotting the short flash of green in the battling Serpentine and skeletons. He watches, almost incredulously, as Lloyd ducks beneath the chaos, neatly dodging his way to the cage's controls. Sliding forward, Lloyd quickly yanks the lever in the opposite direction, the mechanisms above them suddenly groaning.

The cage screeches to a halt, and the cuffs keeping them chained snap open. Kai rubs his wrist as he watches Lloyd wrench the lever back for their weapons as well, the chains lowering them with a steady creaking.

"Told you I'd save you!" Lloyd calls to them, brightly.

Kai stares at him, unable to stop the smile that spreads across his face. Huh. Maybe Nya's got a solid point about them underestimating Lloyd.

"Go ninja, go," Kai says, grinning brightly himself.

"You owe me a week of laundry," Nya says, triumphantly.

Their weapons drop free just as the cage springs open, and Kai doesn't hesitate. He springs forward with the others, hurling himself into the familiar sensation of Spinjitzu, his own bright red sparks mixing with the blue, black and white.

The Serpentine don't stand a chance.

Yells of panic erupt from the unfortunate snakes as Kai barrels into them, fire sparking dangerously around his hands, in his lungs, powerful and unstoppable.

Cole is the first to stumble out of his Spinjitzu, and Kai follows suit with the others as they form a defensive circle, Golden Weapons flashing as they battle back the Serpentine. Cole gives a sudden grunt of surprise, and Kai turns.

A smirk spreads across his face. Pythor is cringing in front of them, Fangblades in hand.

"Goin' somewhere?" Cole says, viciously amused.

"Oh dear." Pythor's voice is dry as the desert. Kai rushes forward, but Cole beats him to it, wrestling the Fangblades from the Anacondrai with ease.

Pythor gives a hiss of fury, shooting Cole one last glare before going invisible, vanishing into thin air.

"Where'd he go?" Cole yelps, whirling around.

"Who cares?" Kai says, already backing his way toward the exit. "We have the Fangblades. Let's get out of here!"

He's not about to get caught in any death cave again — he learned his lesson the last time around.

With a muttered curse of irritation, Cole nods at the others, and they pull back into their Spinjitzu, clearing the way up the sloping path toward the cave exit. Nya follows behind them, clanking loudly in the Samurai X mech as Sensei Wu sips tea serenely from his spot on her shoulder, unflappable as ever.

Kai glances back at the skeletons, where they're holding off the Serpentine below. He gives a brief salute of thanks for the skeleton army — something he definitely hadn't been planning on feeling today.

One of them waves cheerily, calling after them. "Go, ninja-go!"

Kai gives a huff of laughter. And to think, not that long ago he wouldn't have hesitated to light these skeletons on fire before they tried to kill him. Now they're helping them escape a hoard of manic Serpentine. Maybe Sensei Wu does have a point about the whole "make your enemies your friends" thing.

Well, Kai thinks, glaring at Garmadon where he leads the escape. He probably shouldn't gettooahead of himself. Lloyd was one thing, his dad and his various assorted armies of darkness are another.

Speaking of—

Kai glances behind, making sure the others are following. He almost goes into cardiac arrest as he catches sight of Lloyd, a small green blur where he's doubling backdownthe slope, heading back for the vicious battle.

"Lloyd, get back here!" he barks, sprinting after him.

"No!" Lloyd yells. "I gotta get to Pythor! I owe him for locking me— ack!"

Before Lloyd can move another inch, Kai grabs him by the waist and yanks him up, tossing him over his shoulder and running for it.

Lloyd flails in wild indignation where he's held tightly against Kai's shoulder. "Kai! Lemme go, you big dumb—"

"Demon spawn," Kai pants. "That's what you are, a demon spawn with no sense of self-preservation—"

Garmadon suddenly comes doubling back down toward them, obviously having realized the lack of his son at his side. His eyebrows shoot up as Kai sprints past him, Lloyd still flailing where he's flung over his shoulder.

"Keep up, old man!" Kai yells as he passes, cackling.

"Dad! Save me!" Lloyd yelps.

Garmadon stares at him in bewilderment, before following after them.

"Stealing my own child," Garmadon mutters from behind Kai. "Typical Wu's student."

Everything Is Jay's Fault Group Chat

Kai:this is getting humiliating

Kai:if i have to get saved by garmadon again im gonna lose it

Nya:yeah because dying would've been much better then saving your ego

Kai:hmph

Nya:we were all gonna die without him and you know it

Kai:nuh uh

Kai:lloyd was gonna save us

Nya:HE ALMOST DIED KAI

Nya:this is your fault

Kai:how is it my fault?!

Nya:you're a terrible role model

Nya:a corrupting influence of recklessness

Kai:ur so rude

Kai:why does jay love you so much

Nya:i'll kill you

Nya:…did he actually say he loves me

Nya:did he

Kai:yeah im out bye

Nya:kai

Nya:kai!

Nya:stupid spike head

Lloyd gets the lecture of a lifetime when they get back to the Bounty. Worse than the post-unleashing-the-Serpentine lecture, which is saying something.

It's totally not fair, either, Lloyd pouts, as Uncle Wu goes on about "destiny"and "safety"and "why can't any of my students possess a single ounce of common sense for once". Lloyd saved their butts back there, and all he gets is a lecture on why he shouldn't have come?

…okay, well, maybe it was mostly his dad doing the saving, but Lloyd was part of it! He deservessomecredit. Even Nya was against him in the end, telling him that if he ever pulls a stunt like that again, she'll rat out where his candy stash is hidden to Jay.

Lloyd huffs, kicking half-heartedly at his mattress as he trudges back into his room. At least Kai didn't try to lecture him. Kai rushes off into danger recklessly all the time, and he doesn't get big embarrassing lectures like that.

With another long-suffering sigh, Lloyd finally pulls his old clothes back out, tugging the green gi over his head. Regretfully, Lloyd folds the uniform up, careful to smooth out the creases and brush off the dirt he got on it.

It was nice having something so cool to wear, even if it is too big. He likes the way he feels wearing it — he doesn't feel like loser Lloyd Garmadon, wannabe villain in his worn Darkley's clothes. He feels like Lloyd Garmadon, one of the ninja.

But he did technically steal it, Lloyd reminds himself. His uncle didn't really give it to him, after all. And Lloydistrying to better, so he'd better go ahead and give it back.

Dragging himself down the hall, Lloyd knocks on his uncle's door, shifting from leg to leg nervously. His uncle opens it, looking tired but a lot more at peace than he did earlier. He smiles at Lloyd.

"Lloyd, I was—"

Lloyd beats him to it, shoving the green bundle he's holding at his uncle.

"Here," he says, a little breathlessly. "I - I took it, earlier. I probably shouldn't have, but I needed it, so I did. But you can have it back, now. Um, sorry."

Uncle Wu blinks, looking from Lloyd to the gi, then back to Lloyd again. He doesn't take it back yet.

"That's…that is alright, Lloyd," he says, a bit quietly. "I suppose it is yours, after all."

Lloyd swallows. "Yeah, but it — not yet, right?" He pushes the gi against his uncle again, a little more insistently. "I've still gotta grow into it."

An odd mix of expressions crosses Uncle Wu's face as he looks from Lloyd to the gi. His eyes are almost sad as he gazes at it. His fingers finally close over the gi — only to push it back into Lloyd's hands.

"Keep it, Lloyd," he says, gently. "You don't have to wear it, but I believe you should have it."

Lloyd blinks. "For real?"

Uncle Wu nods, the sad expression fading a bit as he looks at him. "For real."

Lloyd stares at his uncle for a minute, then looks back down at the gi. Slowly, he pulls it to his chest, hugging it tightly against him.

"Thanks," he whispers, looking down at the floor.

Uncle Wu smiles at him, ruffling his hair, and Lloyd almost unconsciously leans into the touch before reminding himself to jerk away, scowling as he tries to fix his hair back in place.

"I believe the others are planning to throw a party," Uncle Wu says, as Lloyd makes to leave. "To celebrate the successful capture of the Fangblades," he clarifies, at Lloyd's confused look.

Lloyd brightens. Maybe it won't just be boring lectures all day, then.

"Perhaps you could lend them a hand, if possible." Uncle Wu's eyes roll up briefly. "Their enthusiasm, while appreciated, can get…a bit out of hand, at times."

Lloyd shrugs. "Sure," he says. "I'll, uh…I'll just put this away, then see." With that, he clutches the gi tighter against his chest, scurrying back down the hallways.

He pauses by the control room on his way back, drawn by a sudden yelp from Jay. He pokes his head in the room, frowning as Jay ducks away from Kai's reaching hands, grabbing at his hair.

"Get back, you're just gonna make it worse—"

"I'm trying to help!" Kai says, irritated. "It's not my fault you managed to get gum in your hair, geez."

Jay's expression turns murderous. "Oh yeah, becauseIwas the one who tried to stick balloons up with it, even though Itoldyou it was a stupid idea, butno, you never listen to anyone—"

"I wasn't the one who forgot to pick up tape!"

"Wehavetape, Nya just left it in the engine room again, but you had thebrilliantidea to try-"

Lloyd can't help but giggle at the scene, catching Nya's attention where she's standing off to the side, her half-inflated balloon forgotten.

"I'd duck out if I were you," she says, in a loud whisper. "They're gonna be at this for a while."

Jay gives her a look of wounded betrayal. "C'mon, Nya, you're the only one I trust near my hair."

"What, you don't trustme?" Kai looks scandalized.

Lloyd watches as Jay moves closer to Cole, who looks completely unconcerned by the entire affair, still peacefully inflating balloons.

"Y'know you can just use peanut butter to get it out, right?" Lloyd says. They look at him. "It works really well, I promise! No tricks this time."

"Alright, Mr. Hair Expert," Kai grins.

Lloyd rolls his eyes, like he's seen Kai do. "I just know how to get gum out, that's all. These kids at Darkley's used to stick gum in my hair during class all the time. It hurt too much to yank out and I didn't wanna cut it anymore, so me an' Brad figured it out."

Kai blinks. "Oh," he says, his voice a little funny. "That's…good for you."

"Or you could just shave all Jay's hair off," Lloyd says.

Cole looks up at him, grinning. "Nowthere'san idea."

"No!" Jay yelps, edging away from Cole. "Back, you monster—"

"I'll get it out," Nya says, shaking her head. "Lloyd, do me a favor grab that extension cord that's in you guys' room, okay? I wanna hook up these speakers over here."

Lloyd nods, leaving the room with one last amused grin. The grin fades quickly as he makes his way back down the hall, his heart sinking with every step.

He hasn't forgotten what he said to his dad, earlier.

Lloyd bites his lip. He should probably find him. He hasn't seen Garmadon since they got back from the mountain, even when Uncle Wu congratulated them all on their success. His dad was the one who did most of the work, after all. Lloyd needs to thank him for that.

…and he probably needs to apologize, too. Lloyd doesn't have any place calling out his dad like he did. He knows Garmadon is trying his best, and he knows…heknowshis dad cares about him. Even if it's a little hard to see sometimes.

Lloyd trots back to the room he's sharing with the guys, shifting the now-crumpled green bundle in his arms. He nudges the door open with his elbow—

—and for the second time that day, comes to a halt in front of his father.

He doesn't need to ask this time, but he does anyways.

"You're leaving?" he says, his voice embarrassingly small.

Garmadon turns. "Now that you're safe, and the ninja have the Fangblades, there is nothing else I am needed for," he says, quietly.

"Ineed you," Lloyd mumbles, biting his lip.

His dad's face turns sad, something that's becoming way too familiar on him.

Lloyd steels himself. "Can….can you at least promise me something?"

Garmadon looks at him, his expression surprised and somewhat apprehensive.

Lloyd swallows. "The - the final battle, and everything," he says, and Garmadon's jaw tightens. Lloyd continues. "It's between you and me, right? Just you and me. So it…it doesn't have anything to do with the other ninja, in the end."

Garmadon's expression crumples into something softer.

Lloyd takes another breath, and he looks up at his father, resolved. "So I just want to ask you if you can — if you can try— " Lloyd stutters, and he bites his lip, angry at himself. "If you can leave them alone, when the final battle comes?"

His dad looks down at him with an agonized expression on his face. Lloyd almost thinks he sees a hint of pride, though.

"I cannot...I cannot make you any promises, Lloyd," his father says, his eyes downcast. "I wish I could. Desperately, I wish I could. But the venom in my blood...I can't even trust myself, Lloyd, do you understand this?"

Lloyd doesn't, not really, but hewantsto, so he nods, trying not to let his dumb eyes water up.

"I can't promise you anything," Garmadon repeats, quietly. "But I will try, Lloyd. For you, I will try."

Lloyd nods again. He guesses that's the best he can ask for, right now. Also, he really doesn't want to press his luck any further. It's not like Lloyd can actually make his dad do anything.

He just hopes Garmadon understands how much the ninja kind of mean to him now, even if theyareall sworn to defeat him, and stuff.

Lloyd takes deep breath. "I know you have to leave," he says. He squares his shoulders, jaw upturned. "But know this. When we meet again, I'm gonna do everything in my power to defeat you."

Lloyd's feeling pretty impressed with himself, until Garmadon smiles and pats his head, fluffing up his hair like Lloyd might with a cute puppy.

Lloyd makes a face. Why doeseveryonedo that? It's ruining his image, here.

Garmadon laughs, a little sad, a little tired. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Lloyd stares at him, watching as he makes his way out. Just as he reaches the doorway, Garmadon halts, turning back to him.

"Oh, and…son?"

Lloyd looks up at him, expectantly.

Garmadon's eyes soften. "You're a good boy. Soon, you'll be a great man. Although we are now on opposite sides, I'm still very proud of you."

Lloyd inhales very, very slowly, and just a little shakily.

"W-wait!" he yelps, before his father can go any further. "I can get you one of Jay's gliders." He gives a little laugh, digging through the storage cabinet. "You probably don't need it, but it—"

Lloyd trails off, blinking at the empty doorway. His arms lower, and he feels his shoulders drop.

"…might help." He sighs. "So long, dad."

Lloyd's head droops. The room is painfully quiet with his father gone, but his last words echo loudly in Lloyd's head.

I'm still very proud of you.

Lloyd looks down at his hoodie, tracing the white lines he's painted on so long ago with an unsteady finger. He'd wanted so badly — so badly,to be just like his dad. To be evil just like him, so he could make him proud.

Maybe…he's had it backwards this whole time?

Lloyd looks at green gi, where it rests innocently on the dresser. He glances back at his hoodie.

It's time to stop pretending, Lloyd tells himself.

His dad thinks he's gonna be a great man some day. Lloyd's got a lot of ground to make up for, then.

Kai changed the chat name toRIP In Pieces Pythor

Nya:not gonna lie i was waiting for a comment about garmadon leaving

Kai:nah

Kai:lloyd's too sad about it for me to gloat

Kai:poor little demon spawn

Kai:stuck with a demon as a dad

Nya:at least he cares about him

Kai:at least lloyd knows it

Nya:kai

Kai:yeah

Nya:i miss them too

Kai:who needs parents anyways

Kai:he's better off with us

Lloyd's never been to a party before, but it's kinda fun.

Nya's rigged the overhead lights, flashing neon colors around the control room to the point where Lloyd almost doesn't recognize it. The ninja seem to have gone all out, brightly-colored balloons and streamers everywhere. It's going to takeforever to clean up — Lloyd makes a mental reminder to conveniently disappear when it comes time for that.

Lloyd stands off to the side, one hand tightly clutching the punch Nya handed him earlier. His other hand plays nervously with the ties of the green gi, and he watches the way the dull silver on his gi glints in the multi-colored lights. He puffs his cheeks up, letting out a breathe slowly as he looks up at the others.

It's kind of crazy, to think that it wasn't that long ago he was living on the streets. The long days spent trying to find his dad, plotting evil schemes while trying not to go hungry — they feel like agesago.

Everything before the ninja feels like forever ago, actually. The Serpentine, Pythor, all his ambition (or lack of it) to be a villain – it feels like a different life. Like sure, Lloyd remembers why he did it, but everything is sodifferentnow.

It's kinda weird, too, because Lloyd can't imagine making the same choices as the Lloyd who opened the Serpentine tomb. Not when he knows who the ninja are, now. Not when he knows what happens to the people on the other side of evil plans.

Not when he knows what it's like to feel like he actually might have a chance at belonging somewhere.

Lloyd chews on his lip, twisting a handful of fabric up. He doesn't really care much about being "the chosen one" or whatever. Hehatesthat this means fighting his father. But…

He glances back up, watching where the ninja are still partying, kicking up balloons and dancing. Jay is twirling Nya around, her hair flying as she laughs brightly. It's kind of gross, how they keep looking at each other, but Nya looks super happy, so Lloyd will put up with it.

Across the floor, Kai and Cole are trying to teach Zane this weird dance Cole keeps claiming his dad won some championship with (Lloyd doesn't really get that one — is Cole's dad some dance-fighter, or something?). They're failing miserably, but they look just as happy.

No one trips anyone, or tells them what they could've done better. No one tries to sneak off with the Fangblades by themselves while the others are distracted. No one stabs each other in the back. It's nothing like Darkley's, or anything else Lloyd's ever known.

They're just…good. They're good, and they care. Lloyd thinks he gets it, maybe.

They fight for good and all, for Ninjago too — but they're also fighting for each other, to protect this group of people who make each other happy.

Lloyd doesn't know a lot about families, but this is a good one, he thinks.

And he wants to be part of that. He wants to be part of it so badly ithurts.

Lloyd looks down, watching the lights dance across the punch in his cup. He knows he doesn't belong. He's the son of Garmadon, where is heevergonna belong? All he's done is make himself a pain in the neck, really.

But…Lloyd Garmadon is a pain in the neck. If he's theGreen Ninja…

He has a chance. A chance to be someone — somebody more than just Lloyd Garmadon. Maybe, maybe — Lloyd has the chance to be part of this family.

Mind made up, Lloyd straightens the green gi, rolling back a sleeve that's come loose and flopped over his hand again. He carefully picks his way across the dance floor, walking over to where his uncle is leaning against a wall.

"Uncle Wu?" he says, his voice almost drowned out by the pounding music.

His uncle glances at him, giving him an easy smile. "Lloyd. I've been meaning to—"

"I'm ready," Lloyd cuts in, forgetting that it's rude to interrupt Uncle Wu. "To be the Green Ninja."

Uncle Wu gives him a long look. His eyes look conflicted, but there's something deeper there, something that makes Lloyd's chest tight. "You're still young, Lloyd," he says, quietly.

"I know," Lloyd says. "But I've seen what bad guys can do. I saw why the ninja need to be there to protect them. I wanna be part of that, Uncle Wu. I want to protect them."

He wants to protect the ninja and Nya, these people who gave him a home.

Uncle Wu hesitates, his expression going tight before finally falling in concession.

"Alright," he says. "Once we have destroyed the Fangblades, I will see to it that we begin your training as a ninja."

He looks up, watching where the Fangblades glitter innocently on the table in the lights. "Hopefully," Uncle Wu sighs. "It won't take long."

Chapter 8: Season One - Part Seven

Chapter Text

It's going to rain soon.

Nya pauses, her hands stilling over her machinery, grease-stained fingers relaxing their death grip on the wrench. She doesn't have a good vantage point of the window from here, huddled over part of the Samurai X mech as she is, but she doesn't need to. Nya's always been able to tell when it's going to rain. It's her special talent, like setting the blacksmith shop on fire once a week was Kai's. Logically, she knows it's probably just the ache of some old injury — maybe a bone she broke when she was younger, or something — as opposed to a mystical power of destruction.

She justknows, like she knows what gear needs to be tightened or what wire to cut — it's going to rain soon.

A sudden flash illuminates her room, and Nya counts the seconds as she blinks bright spots from her eyes, before the crack of thunder echoes nearby. She listens as the rumbling trails off into an angry murmur in the roaring winds. Nya's skin tingles, a weird sort of humming beneath her skin.

A tiny grin plays across her lips. Never fails.

She glances back down, rubbing her forearm across her head as she squints at the open gears before her.Hm. Is it more practical to reinforce the main frame and the boosters, so she can potentially lift more people at once? Or is it better to opt for those extra cannons instead, so she's able to double the radius of her blasts?

Decisions, decisions,she thinks, tapping her wrench against the side of the mech, creating a hollow banging that sounds a lot like she's imagining her head does right now. Empty, that's what.

Nya groans, her hand going up to rub at her eyes before she abruptly yanks it back, remembering she's got grease all over it. Maybe she should go ahead and call it a night, she thinks, glancing at the tiny numbers on her wrist.Ugh. If she goes to bed before two, she can still get, like, six hours of sleep, right? That's enough.

…right?

Nya sighs. Bed would probably be a good idea. They're destroying the Fangblades tomorrow, and she doesn't want to sleep through their moment of glory as they officially destroy all of Pythor's hopes and dreams.

But the mech…

Nya purses her lips. Maybe she'll see if Jay's awake — if he isn't, she'll go back to sleep. If he is, then they can have another late-night engineering party, and they'll both be so tired tomorrow they'll hate themselves in the morning. Perfect.

Nya slides quietly out her room, careful with her steps across the old floorboards. Another peal of thunder splits the night, the hallways rattling as Nya briefly flinches at how loud it sounds. How anyone is sleeping through this is beyond her, but she guesses one get used to it, living on a flying ship.

As a child, a storm like this would have sent her sprinting to Kai's room, stealing all his blankets as she tucked herself in with him, safe in the knowledge that her big brother could protect her from anything. Nya feels a brief flare of longing for those days, before shaking it off. She's not a child anymore. Thunderstorms stopped scaring her a long time ago.

Reaching her target, Nya cracks open the boys' door slowly, careful not to wake anyone — she knows firsthand how disturbing Kai or Cole's sleep ends. It's never pretty.

Leaning in, she immediately bites back a sigh. Nope, Jay is sound asleep tonight, snoring peacefully. No late-night sketching or reading, just a messy-haired dork wrapped around his pillow like he's strangling it in his sleep.

Nya feels a tiny, amused smile pull at her lips. She immediately flushes, looking away. Jay's asleep, obviously, and she's half a minute away from looking like some creep who's spying on him.

Another rumble of thunder echoes through the ship. Nya pauses, glancing over the room. It's odd that Lloyd hasn't woken up to the noise yet. He's proven to be a light sleeper at best, prone to waking up at the slightest—

Nya blinks. They've yet to get an actual bed for Lloyd, so he's been sleeping on a mattress for now, which is sometimes hard to pick out in the dark, but it's very noticeably empty.

Nya's heart rate kicks up, just a bit.

She backs out of the room before she can wake the guys up, her mind working. It's probably nothing — maybe he just went to the bathroom, or he's getting a drink of water, or something.

Or he's been captured by Pythor again, or Garmadon changed his mind about his destiny, and—

This kid is gonna be the death of her, Nya thinks, as she picks up the pace.

Okay, relax, she tells herself. There's no way anyone got on board — her sensors would've caught them, and even if they got past those, Lloyd is literally surroundedby the guys, and they would've noticed if someone had come in like that.

Lloyd definitely isn't one to go anywhere quietly, either.

But there's no one in the kitchen, and the bathrooms are empty, too. Nya's feeling a little less confident now.

Where would she go, if she were a conniving little brat set on causing trouble.

Nya heads to the control room almost on autopilot. She can pull up visuals on every room from there, so if anything's happened, she can find out quick—

Nya screeches to a halt, blinking in disbelief. The lights on theBountydeck are dim as they're battered by the wind, and it's harder than usual to see out the window. But down below, just out on the deck, Nya can spot a tiny figure, his arms slung casually over the railing.

TheBountypitches to the side again, thunder rattling the ship, and Nya is shaken from her stupor abruptly.

She throws herself toward the deck doors, yanking them open with a bang.

"Lloyd!" she hollers, bracing herself against the wind before sprinting out into the howling gale. "Lloyd!"

Lloyd turns to her as she reaches him, looking utterly at ease. "Hey Ny-agh,hey!"

"What onearthare you doing out here?" she hisses, hauling him back from the edge. "Do you even know howdangerous it is up here—!"

"I was just watching the storm, geez!" Lloyd huffs, squirming in her hold. "I wasn't doing anything bad!"

"You—" Nya takes a deep breath through her nose, her eyes closing briefly. Terrible, horrible, brat.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to be out here during storms?" she finally says.

Lloyd glares at her. "The guys do it!"

Nya bites her tongue briefly. "The guys are trained ninja," she says.And often very stupid, she doesn't add. "Youare like, fifty pounds of a spiteful little corgi justwaitingto get swept over the railing."

"Fifty pounds ofwhat?" Lloyd blinks.

"Just — ugh, forget it," Nya huffs, too tired to beat the lesson in right now. "Why are you even out here? Aren't you scared of the storm?"

"I'm notscaredofstorms," Lloyd says, as if she's insulted him. "I'm the son of the dark lord, I don't get scared of dumb stuff like that."

"Obviously," Nya rolls her eyes. "Whyare you out here, then? At—" she glances at her wrist. Oh, yikes."Two a.m.?"

Lloyd shifts from foot to foot, looking anywhere but at her. "No reason," he says, unconvincingly.

Nya narrows her eyes. "That's not even a good lie."

Lloyd grows haughty. "Why do you even care, anyways?" he says, snappishly. "S'not like I was doing anythingbadthis time."

Nya blinks. Lloyd is bratty at his best, often, but…really?

"C'mon, Lloyd," she finally sighs, leaning back against the mast wearily. "It's just me. You know I care. And you don't have to…be all stoic, or whatever, either. I have the other guys for that."

"I don't even know what stoic means," Lloyd mutters. He sneaks a glance at her, his jaw working, before deflating a bit.

"Fine," he relents, if reluctantly. "I…sortahadanightmare."

Nya squints. "Words, Lloyd."

"Ihadanightmare," Lloyd snaps, turning red. "Okay? Go ahead and laugh."

Nya watches the way he curls in on himself, as if bracing for mockery. "I'm not gonna tease you for that," she says, as a streak of lightning illuminates their faces, briefly turning Lloyd's hair white. "After everything you've been through, I'd be surprised if you didn't."

Lloyd says nothing, just folds his arms a little tighter around himself.

"We all get nightmares, you know," she says, softly. "It's kind of a normal thing, with us."

Lloyd glares at her suspiciously. "Even you?"

"Especially me," she admits, a little awkwardly. "I used to turn all the lights in the house on and wake Kai up when I did, so I wouldn't be as scared. Now I just work on machines."

"Youarejust like Kai," Lloyd mumbles to himself.

"You wanna…tell me what it was about?" Nya says. She rolls her eyes at the look on Lloyd's face. "Serious. It helps sometimes, you know? Like, Kai had a dream about elves one time, and he was terrified until he said it out loud. Then he realized how ridiculous it was."

Lloyd giggles in spite of himself. "Elves?" he cackles. "Like, Christmas elves?"

"I don't know," Nya sighs, shaking her head. "I don't understand half of what goes on in his head." She nudges Lloyd. "Wanna try and make sense of yours, though?"

Lloyd looks away, then gives a very deep, very dramatic sigh. "Fine," he mumbles, scuffing a bare foot against the deck. "I, um…I don't remember a lot. There was…a lot of purple, and stuff? Purple and black, like smoke."

Nya frowns, but makes a "go on" gesture with her hands.

Lloyd flushes. "I dunno," he mutters. "There were these people, too, but they weren't - they weren't like normal people, they looked a little like…a little like…"

He trails off, the color seeping from his face a bit. Another flash of lightning streaks overhead, lighting up the red of his eyes, giving them a brief, almost glowing appearance.

"Like what?" Nya prompts.

Lloyd shakes his head. "Nothing," he says. "I don't remember."

It's another lie, and an obvious one, but Lloyd looks resolute on it, so Nya lets it slide.

"So…scary purple shadow people, huh?"

Lloyd wrinkles his nose. "It sounds dumb when you say it likethat," he scowls.

"That's thepoint," Nya grins. Lloyd puffs his cheeks out indignantly. The expression fades as he looks back out at the storm, chewing on his lip.

"They were fighting something," Lloyd says, quietly. "It looked like it had wings."

"Did you see what it was?"

Lloyd shakes his head, going paler. "There wasn't enough left."

Nya feels a chill creep down her spine. Graphic nightmares are normal for kids who have less-than-great childhoods, right?

"So does, um, being out here help?" Nya says, finally. "Fresh air, clear your head, and stuff?"

"Yeah," Lloyd mutters. "I don't think about it as much. My dad said storms make him feel better sometimes too, so I kinda, uh, just…was thinking of him." Lloyd looks down, his face crumpling even further. Nya feels her heart twist.

"Lloyd…"

He looks up, his expression lightening as thunder cracks again. "I also reallydolike them too," he tells her, toeing a circle on the deck. "All the thunder and lightning and wind and stuff - it's cool."

Nya softens, her stance relaxing. The air grows cooler, and there's a soft patter of something hitting the deck around them, that quickly grows into a quiet rushing.

"And the rain!" Lloyd says, his eyes lighting up. "There it is!"

Nya feels a wave of calm as the smell of rain floods her, the droplets soft and cool where they speckle against her skin. It's a light, misting kind of rain, and she tilts her head back, letting it wash over her. Lloyd leans his own head back, trying to catch droplets on his tongue. Nya gives a huff of laughter, letting the rain slide through her fingers.

She blinks, the world a little clearer than before.

"C'mon," she finally says, gesturing at Lloyd. "Time to head in."

"Aw," Lloyd says, but he complies, just beginning to shiver in the cold downpour. Nya ushers them both into the control room, dripping rainwater everywhere. She frowns, debating whether or not it'll dry before anyone wakes up.

Maybe…?

Well, first things first,she tells herself. "Alright, you got your fresh air," she gives Lloyd a pointed look. "Back to bed. It's way too late."

Lloyd makes a face. "What if…I didn't?"

Nya glares at him. Lloyd glares back, before his expression melts into a pleading one. "Please? Just five more minutes? You can show me more stuff about flying theBounty!"

Nya folds her arms. It's almost three in the morning. Lloyd's bedtime washoursago. He's going to be the grumpiest demon spawn from hell in the morning, she can already see it.

…well, they have twenty minutes until three am. That's…time.

"Fine," she grumbles, as Lloyd whoops. "Hush! You just can't tell your uncle. Or Kai. Or anyone else, okay?"

Lloyd draws a finger across his lips. "Not a word," he promises.

"Alright," Nya says, tugging him over to the controls. "We're both gonna hate ourselves tomorrow, y'know."

"Youare," Lloyd says, as he wraps his hands around the wheel. "I'm a creature of the night. A vigilante of the dark, a ghost in the shadows—"

"Okay, Mr. Big Shot," Nya snickers, guiding Lloyd back on course. "How about you try not to turn usallinto ghosts, and show me how you make a smooth turn."

"You got it, captain!" Lloyd says cheerfully, turning the wheel. Nya watches the rain glide by as the ship tilts, slowly but surely. He's getting pretty good at it, she notes proudly. For a little demon spawn, but still.

"Okay, now let's—" Nya stops abruptly, her eyes catching on the monitor screens. "Um, hey, Lloyd, can you just…hang on a sec? Here, watch the sensors."

Locking the ship on autopilot again, she gently shoves him over to the flashing panels, ignoring his sputtering protest as he stares at the blinking lights in confusion. There's not much harm he can do anyways, Nya's locked the controls for the night. The worst he could do would be to set off the alarms or something, which, annoying as it would be, would also be funny.

Nya leans against the edge of the hallway, peering around the corner. Sure enough, Sensei Wu is standing in front of one of the windows, his back silhouetted by the flashing lightning. Nya shifts, glancing guiltily back at Lloyd.

"It's alright, Nya."

She jumps about a foot in the air at his quiet voice, barely choking back a shriek.

"Sensei Wu!" she whispers loudly, glancing back at Lloyd. He's utterly engrossed at the window, his eyes wide on the storm blowing outside. Nya carefully slips down the hallway, keeping a carefully respectful distance between herself and Sensei Wu.

"Um, I didn't mean to…Lloyd was already up, I swear."

Wu gives her a glance over his shoulder, his expression light. "Like I said, it is alright," he says. "I am glad Lloyd has someone to watch over him after nightmares." He turns back to the window, but Nya catches a flash of emotion in his eyes as he does, something deep.

Something painful.

"I, too, have trouble sleeping on nights like this," he says, quietly.

Nya bites her lip, wincing as lightning briefly blinds her as it streaks nearby. She can hear Lloyd's awe-struck laughter from the control room.

Sensei Wu turns his head again, half-smiling. "Fortunately, some of us have better memories associated with storms," he says. He glances briefly at the gold lettering stitched across his gi. "I hope it remains that way."

RIP In Pieces Pythor Group Chat

Nya:so like

Nya:i'm happy we won and all

Nya:but

Nya:does this feel too easy to you?

Kai:dont u jinx this nya i swear

Lloyd doesn't really hate himself in the morning, like Nya said, but gosh, he's exhausted. Almost as tired as he'd get back on the streets, when he'd skip sleeping a night or two because he couldn't find anywhere good to crash. He's notthattired, though, and it'snotwhy he's so grumpy, like Jay keeps accusing him of.

He's grumpy because his dumb uncle is trying to ruin his life.

"You're kidding me!" Lloyd yelps, indignant. "No way am I missing this!"

"Lloyd." His uncle massages his forehead, looking weary as Cole tries to juggle the Fangblades behind him. "It's not safe. Torchfire Mountain is highly dangerous, even at a distance, and you already had one close call with a volcano like that. You will stay below deck, where you're safe."

"But the Fangblades…" Lloyd whines, watching the others clamber out the deck in jealousy.

"It will hardly be anything spectacular," Uncle Wu says wryly. "Nothing more exciting than what you've already lived through, I'm sure."

Lloyd groans, pulling the collar of his gi up over his face. All this trouble and he doesn't even get to see their moment of victory? Thissucks.

"We've still got a ways to go," Uncle Wu says, lightly. "Why don't you go below deck and try to practice training a little?"

Lloyd perks up at that.

"Can I use the dummies and stuff?"

"I suppose," Sensei Wu says, his attention now completely on the ninja. "Just stay below, and we'll come get you when it's safe."

He leaves, chasing the other ninja out to the deck and calling something about "Jay, please be careful with the Fangblades so close to Kai's head". Lloyd watches him go, sighing as his shoulders slump.

He never gets to doanythingfun.

Lloyd mopes his way down to the training room, tugging listlessly at the sleeve of his gi. He doesn't like being alone anymore — it gives him too much time to think. Which wouldn't be so awful, except all Lloyd ends up thinking about is his dad, and how much he misses him now—

Lloyd blinks furiously. He turns his thoughts back to the ninja instead, resentfully. It's just not fair. Why does he always get left behind? He's not just some baggage.

Lloyd falters, worrying at his lip with his teeth. Is…he? He's the Green Ninja, but he hasn't really done much with that yet, has he? All he has right now is a title and a fancy gi that's too big for him.

Lloyd makes a face, slipping into the training room and punching half-heartedly at one of the hanging bags. He's beenkinda useful — he saved them all from the Serpentine yesterday, didn't he? He made it all the way into the mountain, and-

Well. Lloyd's eyebrows knit together, and he starts punching a little harder. Really, it was his dad who did the saving, wasn't it. And even though the ninja had been happy enough to see him at first, he'd gotten so many lectures when he'd gotten back, and Nya had been disappointed in him, and Kai had said he'd better not get himself into more danger again, and—

Oh no. He is just baggage, isn't he.

Frustration bubbles up in Lloyd's throat. It's just like stupid Darkley's all over again, except Gene's in his head now instead of leering over him, telling him howdumb loser Garmadork can't do anything right, we always gotta be looking out for him, ugh, why'd we end up with him on our team—

Lloyd grits his teeth. He's not gonna let that happen again. He's not gonna be the weak link this time, he's not gonna be the outcast this time, he's not, he's not, he'snot—

Ohouch, ouch ouch ouch—

Lloyd yelps, hopping away from the training dummy and clutching his hand. He stares at his right hand in dismay, where his knuckles are turning a dark purple. Aw, really? He wasn't even hitting it that hard!

Lloyd hisses, shaking his hand out. Whatever. It doesn't hurt that much — sons of the dark lord don't get upset about little things like that.

"Not a crybaby," he mutters to himself, fiercely. And he doesn'tquit, like some loser. Gene can shut up and go jump in a lake. Lloyd isn't just Garmadorkanymore.

Determined, Lloyd flips the switch to the training arena, watching the dummies shoot up and start spinning. He pulls the hood of his gi up, wrinkling his nose as the fabric slips lower over his face.

Stupid too-big ninja gi.

Shaking his head, Lloyd strikes a pose he's seen Kai make, beckoning to the dummies. "Serpentine!" he calls, narrowing his eyes. "It's time I Spinjitzu you back into the filthy hole you came from."

Lloyd springs forward, kicking and spinning at the dummies.Ha — this is way more fun when he can pretend he's in a Fritz Donnegan movie instead of just training, beating up the treacherous snakes of the Serpentine Empire. Orthat he's just getting some well-deserved revenge.That kick is for wrecking his tree house. Thispunch is for catapulting him into the snow.Thatkick is for locking him in a cage.Thispunch is for trying to throw him in the lava.

He jumps up, trying to pull himself into the fancy spins the others do. "Ninja-go!"

Oops — ouch, again?! Lloyd rubs his head, glaring at the dummy he'd bounced off of. Why can't he do Spinjitzu, like the other ninja? He kicks at the dummy, making a face at it as the overhead lights flash off of—

The glint of purple scales, sharp teeth and slitted eyes.

Lloyd's eyes goes wide, his heart jumping up to his throat. Noway—

Familiar laughter echoes through the room, the sound of scales rustling across the floor loud in his ears. Lloyd scrambles back frantically. He can't see him yet, but he's there, he knows he is—

Lloyd's mouth goes as dry as the desert. He blinks rapidly, as if that'll make Pythor disappear. Because he can't be here, hecan't, this only happens in his nightmares, this is supposed to be a safe place.

Scaled hands wrap around his neck, lifting him off the ground, and Lloyd yelps.

"You alwaysss were a boy who chased stupid dreams," Pythor hisses, eyes glinting in the flashing lightning.

"Pythor!" Lloyd claws furiously at him, kicking his legs out stubbornly. "H-how did you — mph — get on board?!"

"You think I would allow the ninja to sssteal the Fangblades fromme?" Pythor smirks, slithering forward as he pushes Lloyd back, back, until he hits one of the hanging punching bags.

Lloyd struggles viciously, fighting back fear as Pythor yanks his arms behind him, back around the punching bag until they hurt. Oh- he's tying him up again, wait, no!

"You'll never get away with this!" Lloyd hollers, kicking savagely at him. Pythor finishes tying his hands, then—

Hey!Lloyd tries to yell, as Pythor plasters tape across his mouth. That's justlow.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Pythor snickers, unfazed by Lloyd's muffled threats. "As they say, out of sssight—" Pythor gives a last, mocking push to the punching bag, leaving Lloyd swinging helplessly as he slithers out of the room. "—out of mind."

The door swings shut with an ominousclick.

Lloyd panics. It's like his stomach has hundreds of tiny snakes in it, all twisting around and making him sick. Pythor's on board, and the ninja havenoidea. He's gonna sneak up on them and ruin everything, and then he'll steal the Fangblades back from them and Pythor willwin and—

Lloyd screws his eyes up, fighting back tears. Itisjust like Darkley's. He's the weak link again, the loser. He couldn't even stop Pythor, and now Kai and Nya and everyone are gonna get hurt-

No. Lloyd scrunches his face up, sniffing furiously. He can't lose them. He can't let Pythor win. His dad is gonna be so disappointed if he learns Lloyd gave up just because of one dumb snake.

Lloyd twists his wrists together, pulling and wrenching as he tries to yank them free. There's no budge, and all it does is make him slip lower and his arms hurt—

Oh. The punching bag isn't attached to the floor. He can just slip off!

Wriggling furiously, Lloyd works his way dow, slipping lower and lower until - there! He drops free of the punching bag, arms still tied tightly behind him — but who cares, he can move. He sprints forward, tripping slightly as he tries to knock the tape free. He makes it to the intercom just as it loosens enough to peel away from his mouth. High on victory, Lloyd smashes his head against the button, yelling wildly.

"Pythor's on board! Pythor's on board!"

Satisfied with his warning, Lloyd kicks the door open, hot on Pythor's tail.

He'sgottafind Nya.

Nyachanged the chat name toCHOKE, PYTHOR

Nya:kai get off the deck

Nya:pythor's onboard

Nya:KAI GET OFF THE DECK

Kai had known darn well that walking out on a tiny, fragile plank over the middle of a smoking volcano to drop the Fangblades in instead of just chucking them off the side probably wasn't going to end well.

He just hadn't expected it to gothisbadly.

Like, somebody tripping and falling, maybe, but Pythor sabotaging the ship so badly that they all end up dangling over the volcano,whilehe runs away with the Fangblades? Not so much.

The ship tilts dangerously again, busted engine smoking as Nya doubtlessly tries to get it under control. Kai tries very hard not to look down at the bubbling lava (again? seriously?!) beneath them, instead focusing his gaze on Sensei Wu where he dangles at the end of their chain, holding tightly to Cole. Kai tightens his own hold on Jay's leg as they slip further, wincing at the pull on his legs. Laughter echoes around them, and Kai curses as Pythor slithers away. If he wasn't so preoccupied keeping them all from falling to a fiery death with nothing but his legs—

Ugh. Kai blinks away the sweat that's dripping down into his eyes. This is why Cole always needs to be the end of the chain. Not that Kai's weak or anything, but they're all — Kai grimaces as they slip further — reallyheavy together.

He spares the barest of thanks that Pythor didn't take the chance to shove them all into the lava when he could've. Not that it mattersnow, of course. He's getting away with the Fangblades, and Kai can't do anything to stop him because he's too busy holding hisentire team by Jay's leg—

A voice pipes up from the deck. "Where do you think you're going?"

Oh good, Kai thinks, as the blood starts draining to his head. Lloyd can stop him.

Wait — Lloyd is alone up there. He's facing Pythor on his own. That's - that's not good. Kai strains, trying to haul Jay higher. He's forced to relent with a gasp, panting as his arms burn. Curses.

"Little cliche, don't you think?" Pythor sounds amused. Kai hopes someone punches him in the teeth.

Lloyd just sounds confused. "Uh, cliche?"

"This is gold," Jay wheezes below him. "They're gonna argue about word semantics while we fall to our deaths. Classic!"

"Stop - moving - so - much-" Kai grits, his legs screaming at him. His teammatesseriouslyneed to drop some weight.

"Oh, I wouldn't expect a child to understand." Pythor's voice is as dry as Kai's throat.

"H-hey, I've grown up a lot!" Lloyd protests indignantly. Kai hears scuffling footsteps, then Lloyd's squeaky-voiced battle cry.

Oh no. Kai struggles harder. He has to get up therenow, Pythor's gonna — he's gonna—

Passive aggressively evaluate Lloyd's attack?

"Hm, puny strength. No fundamentals. Sloppy footwork," Pythor critiques. Kai fumes, even though he can easily picture what he's describing. "You think you can defeat me?"

No, Kai mentally wails.No, just duck and cover somewhere safe Lloyd, get away from him—

Lloyd sounds surprisingly unfazed. "I'm not trying to defeat you," he says, smugly. "I'm just tryin' to keep you busy until the calvary arrives."

The now-familiar whine of the Samurai X mech echoes across the deck, rattling the ship as it lands. Some of the tension leaves Kai's shoulders with a wave of relief, and Jay yelps as he relaxes his hold just the slightest bit.

Nya reallyisthe best, sometimes.

Kai cranes his head around, just barely able to see where Nya is stomping menacingly toward Pythor, who's slithering back cautiously. A tiny figure in green blocks Pythor's escape, bo staff in hand.

Ha, Kai thinks, blinking more sweat from his eyes. Not so tough now, is he.

He watches Pythor tremble in fear as Samurai X clanks closer, forcing him toward a corner. Pythor makes to turn and flee, Fangblades clutched tightly to his chest.

Lloyd sees his chance first. He hops up and with a solid, round-house kick, sends Pythor flying against the side of the ship with a painedoof.

Kai has never been so proud of a demon spawn in his life.

"Woah — I hit him!" Lloyd cries, thrilled. "I hit him, guys!"

Kai wants to call back like the disgustingly proud big brother he is, but he's forced to turn his attention back to his hold on Jay as the battle above them rattles the deck, sending Kai slipping further.

"Stop moving around up there!" Cole hollers, probably almost as bad off as Kai, close to the heat of the volcano as he is.

Nya's shout of frustration echoes from the deck, and Kai's heart sinks as he hears Pythor's gloating laughter. "As much as I would like to play with your toys, I have a ride to catch!"

"No!" Lloyd cries out.

Kai can just hear the whir of a helicopter as it catches Pythor, who leers at them as he's flown off. "So long, suckers!"

Kai's heart is in his throat.No, no, he's getting away—

TheBountyshudders again, and Kai bites back a yelp as his hold suddenly slips further.

"Don't let go!" Jay cries, sounding strained.

"You think I don't know that?!" Kai grits out, his knuckles bloodless from how tight his hold is. If he can just get a better grip with his legs, then maybe—

Oh no. There's a horrible sliding sensation, and then—

The strain on Kai's legs abruptly lifts, and his stomach drops as they plummet toward the volcano. His scream mixes with the others', arms flailing wildly as the heat suddenly turnshot—

He crashes into solid metal, and Zane snatches his arm before he can slip off the side of the mech. Nya's face is white where she pilots Samurai X, but she gives a whoop of victory, everyone safe and accounted for where they clutch at the sides.

Kai guesses she's probably pretty happy she went with reinforcing the boosters instead of the cannons she was talking about.

"I don't think I've ever been more glad to see you!" Jay says, his voice drenched in relief.

"I feel the same," Nya says, breathlessly. The mech whines as she flies them back toward the deck of theBounty. "C'mon, he's getting away!"

Lloyd is waiting for them when they land, his eyes wide. A flash of relief crosses his face as he catches sight of them, running up to meet the mech as it clanks down on the deck. Kai happily notes that he doesn't seem to have any bruises or other Pythor-inflicted injuries, having come out of this fight unharmed.Thank FSM.

"He took a helicopter down!" Lloyd says urgently, pointing out over the railing. "I think he's hi-jacking a train!"

"A what—"

"Look, there!" Jay yelps, as they all crane over the side. Sure enough, Pythor's helicopter is landing near one of the civilian speed trains, far too close to it to mean anything good.

"Lloyd, please fetch the Golden Weapons," Sensei Wu says, his voice impossibly calm. Lloyd nods determinedly, running off.

Kai looks at his sensei. "We're going after him, right?" he asks, fighting back the jittery panic closing in on him.

Sensei Wu nods, his eyes darkening. "Pythor has caused enough harm," he says. "We are ending this here and now."

"Alright," Cole says. "It's about time for some proper payback."

The cabin door slams open, and Lloyd totters out, struggling to lift the heavy case in his hands. Despite himself, Kai bites back an amused grin as he stumbles over the stairs, making it two steps down before finally deciding to simply toss the case down, the weapons inside clanking loudly.

"We must hurry," Sensei Wu says, carefully climbing aboard his spot on the Samurai X mech. "If Pythor returns the Fangblades to the lost city of Ouroboros, he'll awaken the Great Devourer."

"We'renotgonna let that happen," Nya says fiercely, making a fist with the mech. Kai feels a flash of pride. It's odd to think how horrified he would have been at the thought of Nya fighting beside him, not too long ago. Now, he's just fiercely glad to have her at his side.

"W-what about me?" Lloyd pants, still struggling with the weapons case. Cole finally takes pity on him, leaning down to help him carry the case the rest of the way.

"We need someone to stay with theBounty," Kai says, with a reluctant glance at Nya.And you're much safer out of the way here, he doesn't add.

"But did you see me kick him in the face?" Lloyd says, enthusiastically. "I'm anasset. I kicked butt! And face."

Kai fights back a grin, resisting the urge to ruffle Lloyd's hair. "Patience, kid," he says. "You're too important, now that you're the chosen one."

Sensei Wu raises an eyebrow at him. "Patience, hm? I see the student has become the teacher."

Kai flushes at the hint of pride in his voice. He's just looking out for Lloyd, that's all.

Lloyd flips the case open, his eyes sparkling at the Golden Weapons. Kai reaches for the Fire Sword as the others grab their own weapons, relishing the familiar pulse of power beneath his fingers, the comforting hum of the fire in his blood.

"What do you say we play a little catch up?" Jay says, his eyes already crackling blue.

"It's my favorite game," Cole says with a vicious grin, twirling his scythe in a deadly arc.

Kai just tightens his hold on the Fire Sword, feeling his power spark to life beneath his fingers. They're gonna stop him, he tells himself, even as his insides crawl with anxiety. It'sthem — they're unbeatable together.

And then he's gonna knock every last one of Pythor's teeth out.

CHOKE, PYTHOR Group Chat

Kai: well that went just great

Kai: can we die yet

Nya: stupid, stupid, stupid snakes

Nya: my MECH

Nya: kill them ALL

Kai: i cant believe he just left us

Kai: nya how are we gonna get to wu

Nya: hold on

Nya: give lloyd a sec to catch up with the bounty

Kai: wait

Kai: wait what?

Kai: you said WHO'S flying the ship?

Nya: just don't think about it

Nya: we've got this

Sensei Wu cut their train car off. Of coursehe did.

Nya fumes. It's not entirely unexpected, that he'd jet off to take on Pythor by himself and leave them behind on a busted train, but with the stakes this high — surely, he'd want all the help he could get? They're not just liabilities. Pythor is no bigger risk than anything else they've fought.

"This is really boring," Nya mutters, pushing uselessly at a busted lever in the mech, listening as it squeaks side to side.Sloppy workmanship there, Nya,she grumbles at herself.

The guys are all slumped in various positions on their half of the train car, looking just as hopelessly bored. Cole is tapping out a beat that sounds like one of his father's songs with his fingers, humming"glimmer, glimmer" under his breath as he does. Jay is pulling bits of the train seat apart in his fingers, slowly shredding the fabric to pieces as he bounces his leg relentlessly against the floor. Kai looks like he's two seconds from either collapsing in despair or running after Sensei Wu himself, and he's gotten stuck trying to decide between the two. Zane appears the only truly calm one of them all, sitting utterly still on the edge of the car, but his expression says otherwise.

This is stupid, Nya seethes. What's the point of having them all as a team if Wu is just going to leave them stranded here for the big battle finale? Now they won't even know who wins.

They'll probably figure it out pretty fast if the Devourer suddenly pops up and eats them all, Nya thinks dully.

Kai makes a noise of frustration. "Y'know what, forget this, I'm—"

He freezes. The others stiffen as well, listening to the approaching sound from above them. It sounds just a bit like—

TheBountystreaks into view, the anchor already dropping toward them as it races forward. Nya's face splits into an enormous grin.

"Lloyd!"

The cry of joy is echoed by everyone, only reinforced as the anchor hits home, hooking onto the train and pulling them forward with a sudden, creaking jerk.

"Hook, line and sinker!" Lloyd calls over the radio, sounding positively gleeful. Nya whoops, grabbing onto the chain for support as the train car is lifted up, dragged forward at increasing speeds as Lloyd guns the booster rockets.

"That's my kid," she grins up at the ship. Her little demon spawn, flying the ship like a natural.

"To Ouroboros as fast as you can!" Kai calls up, coming back to life like a gasoline-fed fire.

"Aye-aye, captain!" Lloyd calls back, tilting the ship into a smooth turn as they race across the desert, the city growing nearer and nearer into view. Cole latches onto Zane with a yelp as the train is dragged higher, leaving them dangling over the ground. Kai and Jay seem much more comfortable in the air, their eyes narrowed on the approaching city.

Nya's cheer dips into churning anxiety the closer they get. The air is changing around them, turning colder where the wind beats against them. It feels like entire world is holding it's breath, an ominous sense of dread pressing down on them.

Nya glances up, her eyes wide. The sky has grown overcast in a matter of seconds, dark clouds swirling as the desert turns a foreboding grey. The wind picks up, howling against her ears and biting into her skin even in the Samurai X mech.

Something's happening, and she's not dumb enough to hope it's anything good.

Kai's eyes are glued to the city, his face set in grim determination. "Okay Lloyd, put us down right after that truck!" he calls.

The engines whine as the ship slows, bringing their ride closer and closer to the ground. Nya feels another brief flash of pride for Lloyd, before it's quickly dashed by adrenaline as she jumps from the train car, landing hard on the ground in the mech.

The others quickly hop down around her, immediately breaking into a sprint toward the city. The anchor chain rattles, and Nya glances back. Her heart seizes up as she sees a flash of green sprint after them.

"Wait up, guys!" Lloyd calls, as he closes the distance between them startlingly fast. Nya wants to yell at him to stay back on the ship, where it's safe—

But if the Devourer is released, is anywhere safe?

Lloyd finally reaches them, keeping their pace surprisingly well. His eyes are wide, but he looks stubbornly determined as he trails behind Kai. Nya bites her lip. It's better to have him near, she decides.

She doesn't have the heart to make him wait this one out alone on the ship, anyways.

They make it to the first stone structures of the city just as the sky above them turns a sickly green, the clouds swirling at the city center cast in an unearthly glow. The ground shakes beneath them, sending them stumbling briefly. Jay gives a strangled yelp as he crashes into Cole, who is quick to pick him up and drag him forward into the winding city.

"Zane!" Cole barks, his voice strained in fear. "Which way?"

"This way!" Zane orders, taking a sharp left as he leads them around a cracking wall. The others follow unquestioning, faces white as the earth shudders under their feet, growing worse as they near the city center. Nya can hear voices growing louder as they run, echoing through the empty, crumbling city.

"—underneath us!" Pythor's voice rings out loudly, the terror a stark contrast to his gloating from earlier. Zane and Kai lead the way as they crest a mound of sand, finally reaching the middle of the city. Nya can't help her gasp as the full extent of the horror comes to view.

Wu is holding a struggling Pythor at the edge of the swirling ouroboros, now lit with toxic green flames. He's seemingly heedless of the ground crumbling around them, the giant snake statue already in ruins. The mech clanks as Nya slows with the others, their footsteps faltering as the ground opens up in front of them.

Kai staggers to a halt, his eyes wide. "Hold on!" Nya's stomach drops. Kai soundsscared. Her big brother is terrified, that's not supposed tohappe—- "There's a creature underground!"

The ground shudders, earth and stone falling away into the growing pit. There's something down there Nya can see now, a vast, dark shape that writhes around a pair of burning spheres — no, they're eyes. Twohuge, glowing red eyes, that remind her terribly of Garmadon's—

Lloyd cries out in fear, stumbling back, and Nya's eternally grateful to Cole as he pulls him up, clutching him close against his side. She watches as Cole and Kai exchange terrified glances, before looking to Jay and Zane.

What do we do, they're asking. Nya swallows. Whatcanthey do, it's too late—

"Ninja!" Sensei Wu's voice cuts across the sounds of destruction and terror, the calm in his voice as loud as thunder. "You must do everything in your power to stop the Great Devourer," he says. Nya feels her heart sink all the way to the bottom of her stomach at his tone.

She knows what that kind of voice means.

"Go ninja," he orders, eyes blazing as he holds Pythor back. "Go."

Cole sucks in a sharp breath, and Jay gives a gasp of horror.

Kai's voice is heartbroken. "No, Sensei—" he whispers, one hand outstretched, as if he can stop it from happening. As if he can stop them from losing again.

The Great Devourer bursts from the ground, sand and dirt exploding everywhere as hundreds of yards of glimmering scales shine in the green fire that rains around them, its massive form stretching high up above them. Teeth bigger than Nya glint as the Devourer roars its fury to the world, rattling her very bones. Nya screams as the sound, and the others stumble back in terror as the massive snake flails above them.

Wu's eyes go hard. Pythor shrieks in terror.

Zane grabs Kai, his eyes agonized as he holds his brother back. Cole has already grabbed ahold of Lloyd, turning him away and pressing his face against his gi. Lloyd struggles wildly, yelling.

"No,no, lemme see— Uncle Wu!"

Nya can't bury her own face in Kai's shoulder, trapped in the mech as she is. All she can do is watch in open-mouthed horror as the snake — oh FSM, it's so big —rears its head, teeth glinting sharp—

And swallows their sensei whole.

Chapter 9: Season One - Part Eight

Chapter Text

It happens so fast. Like how it had felt when his mother had left him, or that time he'd broken his arm after being tripped, or when he'd gotten kicked out of Darkley's — one second everything is okay. The next second, nothing is.

His mom, his dad, and now UncleWu—

Lloyd's hands are shaking as he pulls against Cole's hold. The other ninja are still standing in open-mouthed horror, and Lloyd kinda wants to do the same. Because Pythorwon. Pythor finally got what he wanted, and let the Great Devourer out.

And who let Pythor out?

Lloyd doesn't wanna think about that. He doesn't, hedoesn't, it makes him sick to his stomach and he wants to throw up because he never, ever,ever wanted anything like this to happen, ever, he didn't mean to — he just wanted somebody to—

But now—

Uncle Wu was the first person to give Lloyd a chance. He was the only person whowanted to give him a second chance, he was the first person in his whole life that took Lloyd in without wanting something else, and now he's just — he's gone, just like that. Uncle Wu is d—

It'sall Lloyd's fault.He's gonna throw up.

A wail is building up in his throat, matching the blurring tears in his eyes as he stands with the others, and he's two seconds from breaking down when Nya gives a sharp little inhale from inside the mech. Lloyd looks up at her just in time to see the horrified expression on her face give way to cold determination.

Before Lloyd can even blink, she wrenches Samurai X into action, scoops Lloyd up, and fires the mech to life. All she says is one short, terse order.

"Move!"

Lloyd barely has time to register that she's picked him up before she blasts them away, streaking back toward theBounty. Lloyd feels a little like he's dreaming and a lot like he's sick, too stunned to do anything but hang limply in her grasp. He watches the guys grow smaller where they're still frozen in devastated shock, and Lloyd remembers something.

He'd had a teacher at Darkley's, one of the quieter ones — the scarier ones.

"Your other teachers will tell you to act on your anger," she had said. "To use your emotions to fuel your fight." Her lip had curled. "They're wrong. Emotions, in a time as perilous as battle, are your enemy. Love, despair, even anger and the unquenchable thirst for revenge I'm sure you're all dying to taste. They pull you down. They take away energy you could be focusing elsewhere. No one cares how you feel — your job is to train yourself not to care."

"And if you don't learn to do that — if you can't put your little feelingsaside and do what needs to be done," she had glared at them. "You're going to get yourself killed."

Lloyd hated that teacher. He still hates her, she was cold and ugly and mean.

But in the split second that Nya lands them on theBounty, yelling out tense commands, he realizes with a cold flash that his teacher is right.

Because Nya knows it too — the way she doesn't pause as she starts hauling the anchor up, the way her expression goes hard as she takes the wheel. They don't have time. Lloyd doesn't have time to break down into tears. He can't be sad about Uncle Wu right now, he can't be guilty right now, he can't let himself hide in the corner and cry like he wants to—

Because if he doesn't snap himself out of it, he's going to lose Kai and Nya and everyone else, too.

Lloyd swallows back the lump in his throat, and imagines himself taking every emotion he has and crumpling it into a tiny little ball. Then he throws that ball in the trash, shoving it deep down until itstops.

Steeling himself, he tries to listen to Nya instead, taking over pulling up the anchor for her. It's halfway up when movement out the window catches his eye. Kicking a nearby bucket over to stand on, Lloyd cranes his head up. He immediately feels like someone's dunked him in icy water.

The guys are sprinting across the desert sand, Jay just stumbling at the rear — and the biggest snake Lloyd's ever seen in his life is trailing right behind them.

TheGreat Devourer.Lloyd's eyes go huge. Seeing it in full isway worse. No wonder his dad hates this thing so much — it's the scariest thing Lloyd's ever seen.

"Lloyd!" Nya's strained yell cuts through his awe. "I said, fire up the engines!"

Lloyd shakes himself back with a jerk, hopping down and rushing over to the computer screens. He punches at the controls that start the ship up, and his stomach drops as the readings pop up. He doesn't know as much as Nya does about this stuff, but-

"There's no wind!" he cries to her. "And we only have reserve fuel!"

Nya looks back at the window, her eyes going wide. "Use it!" she yelps, prepping the engines.

Lloyd's halfway through diverting the extra fuel when the door kicks open — Lloyd jumps about a foot in the air before he remembers that the Devourer wouldn't use the door. It would just eat the ship whole. Kai stumbles in first, tripping over the floor as the others pile in behind him, white-faced and panting for breathe. Jay is the last in, somersaulting before crashing into the wall. He pushes himself back up, freezing at the display screen in terror.

"Uh, hate to tell you this, but objects in the mirror are closer than they appear!" he warns, tightly.

Lloyd glances back, and immediately wishes he hadn't — the Devourer is right there.He turns back to the controls, his leg bouncing in nervous energy. C'mon, stupid fuel, work workwork—

Nya gives a grunt of frustration. "Workin' on it—"

She flips a switch, and the ship hums, wood vibrating beneath Lloyd's feet. "Blasters on full!" Nya cries — it's the only warning they get before the Bountyshoots forward, nearly sending Lloyd tumbling back with a yelp as his stomach gets left behind. They guys give similar shouts, but they quickly turn to cheers as the Devourer shrinks into the distance, left in their dust.

Kai whoops. "Take that, you stupid snake!"

The computer pings a warning, interrupting his cheer, and Lloyd frowns. That's weird, there shouldn't be anythingthat big beneath them—

Oh no.

Before he can call a warning, the Devourer bursts from the sand in front of them, its eyes flashing as it roars. Lloyd barely manages to strangle his scream by biting down hard on his cheek.

Jay doesn't even try, giving a strangled yelp. "Uh, I think it heard you."

Kai looks a little likehe wants to start eating people whole. Nya doesn't pay attention to either of them, yanking the ship to the side and barely missing the Devourer's gaping jaws. Lloyd gives a tiny sigh of relief, before the adrenaline takes over again. They're nowhere near safe yet, the computer's annoying little alarms won't let him forget it. He glances at the back window, and immediately wishes he hadn't — the snake is still behind them, picking up speed as they race across the desert.

Lloyd swallows, turning his head back to the computers and chewing frantically on his lip, trying to ignore how his hands tremble as he keeps the fuel regulated. Just focus on that, don't look back, don't look back—

"Nya, we gotta go faster," Kai says, tightly. "That thing is gaining on us!"

-don't look back, don't look back-

"We're going as fast as we can!" Nya yells back, sounding more panicked than Lloyd's ever heard her. Lloyd's stomach somehow manages to drop further. If NyaandKai are this scared...

"I'll try to make it to Scatter Canyon," Nya continues, setting a course for the rocky pillars Lloyd can just see looming the distance.

Zane glances at her, his voice anxious. "The probability of making it that far is less than eight percent!"

Nya grits her teeth, her grip on the wheel white-knuckled as she glares fiercely ahead. "Never tell me the odds!"

Cole slides next to Lloyd, his eyes focusing on the view screens. "It's coming in for another attack—" His eyes narrow. "Portside!"

Nya spins the wheel, sending them careening to the right. Lloyd stumbles back, losing his balance before Cole yanks him back to place. He has a second to notice that Cole's own hands aren't that steady, before something on the computer screens catches his eyes.

"We're losing speed!" he yelps, looking at Nya. "We'll drop to the ground pretty soon!"

Nya gives a muffled curse. "Throw everything overboard," she orders.

"What?"

Nya turns her head, glaring at them all. "We need to lose some weight!"

There's a brief smattering of muffledoh's, before the ninja make for the deck. Lloyd hesitates, but he decides to stay behind — his place is with Nya. He can't leave her without a copilot.

(Also, he really, really doesn't wanna go outside, where the Devourer can snap him up like a popcorn shrimp, or something.)

Lloyd keeps his eyes glued to the screens, trying to focus like Cole did. He squints, catching the slight shifting of sand below them. "Starboard!" he cries.

Nya gasps, spinning the wheel again — two seconds too late. There's a horrible screeching sound, and alarms start blaring, ringing loudly across the cabin as the ship suddenly jerks harshly before slowing down.

"Uh oh," Nya mutters. Lloyd watches with wide eyes as half of one of the rocket boosters goes flying off behind them, trailing sparks as it crashes to the ground, where it's immediately squished flat by the Devourer.

"That's…bad, right?" he swallows.

Nya shakes her head, watching the deck where the guys are chucking furniture over the railings with gusto. "If this works, we can do without," she says. "How's it going?"

Lloyd glances back at the fuel levels. His heart jumps as he watches them start slowly bouncing up. "It's working!" he calls back. And a good thing, too, because he's pretty sure he saw Jay chucking some ofhis stuff overboard — his sacrifice better be worth something.

"Good," Nya sighs in relief. "If they can just…"

Her voice trails off, and they both gape in horror at the view screen. Behind them, the Devourer has slowed down, its skin shifting and wriggling. Lloyd watches in half-fascinated, half-revolted dismay as the Devourer shakes its own skin off, scales and slime slaking away as it grows evenbigger.

Lloyd's jaw drops. How isthatfair?

"It gets larger the more it consumes," Nya murmurs. Her eyes widen. "Which means we're just making itbigger — stop throwing stuff off!"

The guys seem to have already come to the same conclusion, having halted tossing things overboard. Kai clings to the front of the deck, watching the Devourer's approach with Zane as Cole and Jay stumble back into the control room. Nya suddenly gives a breathless gasp of relief, and Lloyd suddenly realizes that the stone columns have gotten a lot closer.

"We made it to Scatter Canyon," she says, sounding winded. She spins the wheel, taking them into the narrow labyrinth of rocks. "Hold on!"

Lloyd grabs onto Cole, and not a moment too soon — the rocks narrow dangerously fast, and Nya's forced to zig-zag through the canyon at a terrifying speed, sending Jay sliding across the room with a cry. Lloyd glances at the deck, his eyes searching wildly for Kai. He breathes a tiny sigh of relief as he catches on the red figure, hunkered over next to Zane on the deck.

They all yelp as Nya yanks the ship to a harsh left, nearly knocking Cole over this time. Lloyd watches as she continues to fly them through the canyon, his eyes wide. Nya iscrazy, he decides, as they barely slide through two rocks.Waycooler than Kai. Why doesn't she fly them like this more often? This is awesome!

Well, itwouldbe if they weren't all about to get eaten. That's not awesome. That's really scary, and not in a fun way.

The Devourer is quickly lost to sight in the maze of rocks, left in the dust by Nya's piloting. Cole laughs, relieved. "Ha, we lost 'em!"

Sure enough, it seems they've finally left the Devourer behind, nothing around them but sharp rocks and sand. Lloyd breathes a sigh of relief, the barest hint of a smile breaking across his face as he looks over at Nya—

And then Lloyd learns that you should never,ever celebrate anything too soon ever, because the Devourer explodes out of the sand in front of them, shooting straight up in a towering column of green scales that blocks their way.

Nya screams as it dives back down, its wide mouth and glinting fangs just barely missing the front of theBounty. For a second, Lloyd thinks they might have escaped — but the the tail comes down right after, curved and sharp and right on target.

It hits the ship with an ear-splitting crack, and an entire engine is violently ripped off, immediately sending them into an uncontrollable spiral. Warning alarms erupt in the cabin, shrieking loudly as Nya tears herself from the wheel.

"Abandon ship!" she cries, already punching at her bracelet for the mech.

The ship careens out of control, wood crunching and computers crashing to the floor where they spark and shatter. Smoke pours from the sparking remains of the engine, enveloping the deck in a dark haze as the ship spins wildly. Jay gives a cry of panic as he falls back, smashing through the window with a shatter of glass.

Lloyd is too terrified do anything but try to hold onto something, the ship's momentum sending him stumbling into the control panel. His head strikes against the side, and he gives a muffled yelp of pain, tripping to the floor. Lloyd blinks stars away, his head throbbing and swimming in dizziness and terror. Smoke is flooding into the cabin now, clouding the room and making his eyes smart. He coughs, trying to catch sight of Cole, or Nya, oranyone—

Lloyd's stomach drops in dread. He can't see anyone, even through the thickening smoke. Are they — are they dead? Did they get thrown out the window like Jay? Did they leave him beh—

Lloyd's heart seizes. They must've left him. They forgot him, and now Lloyd's stuck in the ship and he can't get out 'cause he just a stupid kid and he's gonnadie—

Firm hands grab his shoulders, hauling him up. Lloyd gives a startled gasp, and Nya stares at him through her Samurai helmet, her eyes frightened but determined.

"C'mon, bud," she coughs through the smoke. "Let's get out of here."

Lloyd gives a cough — that is definitely not a sob, it's just the smoke — of relief and wraps his arms around Nya, letting her haul him out of the cabin. Nya kicks the door away, yelling into her bracelet as she does.

"I got him! We're blasting out in the mech, you guys get clear with the weapons!"

She pulls them down the hallway, stumbling up the steps as the ship bucks and turns, Lloyd's stomach a horrible mess of nerves and dizziness. Nya finally pulls them out into the open air, and Lloyd's heart soars as the Samurai X mech clanks down in front of them.

He suddenly goes weightless, the ground dropping away from beneath his feet, and he realizes with a start that Nya's picked him up, and is boosting him onto the arm of the mech. "Just hold on, okay?" she says hurriedly, guiding his hands around the large ones of the mech. "I'll make sure you don't slip loose, promise."

Lloyd obeys without question, clinging to the mech as Nya clambers in. There's a whirring sounds as it sputters to life, and Lloyd feels the hand around him tighten, pulling him firmly against the mech.

"And we're out!" Nya cries, blasting them off — and not a second too late. Lloyd watches as the ship falls away below his dangling feet, smoke enveloping the deck where they just stood.

He really needs to stop cutting things so close, he thinks, a bit dizzily.

Nya quickly pilots them after the guys, who Lloyd realizes with a surge of relief are all in their elemental vehicles, parked in the sand and watching wide-eyed. Nya sets them down just next to Kai, who's expression flashes in relief as he catches sight of them.

The relief dies in seconds. There's an awful, splintering crack, and they all watch in horror as the ship — their home — slams into the ground with a thundering crash, sand and dirt exploding out against the desert beneath it. The mast creaks and groans before collapsing, shredding the sails as it crunches against the remains of the ship.

Zane gives a shuddery intake of breath. Cole punches the dashboard of his vehicle, and Lloyd can hear Jay's heartbroken littleno.

Kai doesn't say anything. His eyes look hundreds of miles away.

Lloyd's own vision suddenly blurs, and he wipes furiously at his eyes. They smart and burn, but it's not from the smoke this time. Lloyd's angry at himself, because he's not a baby, but — he can't helpit. TheBounty is the only home he's ever really—

Was. It was the only real home he's ever known.

Lloyd sniffs miserably, clinging tighter to the mech. He's right back where he started, isn't he? Homeless again.

Well, he guesses they're all homeless, now.

The ground suddenly shakes beneath their feet, and Kai's head snaps up, his eyes alert. Cole is next to notice, calling out a warning as he turns.

"Get to cover!"

No one needs to be told twice. Nya follows tightly behind Kai as they all race toward one of the towering rocks, spotting the cave-like outcropping just nearby. The guys hop out of their vehicles as they reach it, Golden Weapons reappearing with a shower of multi-colored sparks as the vehicles disappear.

They've barely set foot in the cave when the Devourer bursts from the sand again, roaring loudly enough to make Lloyd's teeth rattle. He yelps, burying himself against the mech as Nya pulls them back further.

The Devourer slows, pausing over the ship. Lloyd watches in wide-eyed horror as it takes the ship in its gaping mouth, huge teeth glinting sharp as they bite down - and with a loud crack, the ship is snapped in half, wood splinters raining from the Devourer's jaws.

"No!" Cole and Kai scream, the others' voices joining theirs. Lloyd feels a surge of anger — their home was already destroyed, it didn't need to wreck it further!

Seemingly satisfied with this last insult, the Devourer's head rears again. They all hold their breath, holding perfectly still as it's glowing eyes turn toward them—

And then it dives back into the sand, disappearing from view as it rumbles beneath the desert, fading away.

Lloyd exhales with a gasp, his limbs feeling like jelly. That was the most intense thing he's ever seen — wayworse than anything Gene ever told him about at school. Forget everything Lloyd thought, the real world apparentlycanbe way scarier than Darkley's.

"It's gone," Cole breaths, practically collapsing on the sand. The others seem to deflate as well, Nya finally powering off the mech and hopping out, carefully helping Lloyd down. Her hands tremble as she sets him on the ground, and her face has gone an unnatural shade of white. So Lloyd lets her pull him close, keeping a protective hand on his shoulder, instead of shrugging her off.

It kinda helps, just a little.

"That…was too intense," Kai gasps as they walk over, tugging off his hood and wiping at the sweat that lines his forehead. Zane sinks to the ground next to him, looking utterly defeated.

"Our home," Jay whispers, staring at the ground in rattled shock.

The others don't look much better, despair written on everyone's expressions. Lloyd looks down at the sand, kicking angrily at it. He wants to yell — or maybe break down crying, if he wasn't in front of everyone — but he can't be a whiny little kid. He's the Green Ninja now. He's gotta act like an adult.

"Damn it," he mumbles.

Zane gives the single most offended gasp Lloyd's ever heard in his life.

Choke, PythorGroup Chat

Kai: i take back what i said when u were born

Kai: i want another sibling

Nya: did you teach him to swear?!

Kai: no but i wish i had

Kai: zane's FACE AHAHAHAHA

Nya: kai this is not funny!

Nya: he's like 9!

Kai: GOLD

Nya: kai our home is DESTROYED STOP LAUGHING

Nya: DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH OF MY LIFE JUST WENT DOWN THE DRAIN

Nya: i spent WEEKS ON THAT SHIP

Kaichanged the chat name toSnakes, Why Did It Have To Be Snakes

Nya: STOP

Kai: bc indiana jones would hate this

Nya: i hate you

Kai's brief flash of good humor ends pretty quickly. Because as great as it was listening to Cole try to lecture Lloyd for thirty minutes straight on appropriate language, they're also so, completely screwed.

Orhooped, as Jay keeps frantically babbling about.

Kai can't hold it against Jay, though, even if he is wildly tempted to shove him five feet deep into one of the junk piles nearby. Nervous chatter is just how Jay deals with the looming threat of death.

Kai, on the other hand, feels miraculouslyoptimistic. Even considering how everything is absolutely, down the drain, up-the-creek-without-a-paddle terrible right now, Kai's feeling pretty good about things.

Maybe he had too much coffee this morning. Maybe he used up all his aggressively-angsty pessimism with the whole true potential thing, so all he's got left to run off of is upbeat, positive energy. Or maybe he reallyisan adrenaline junkie, the kind that gets a high off of near-death experiences, and Nya was actually right.

Whatever the reason, Kai finds himself stepping up just as the others threaten to crash into despair. Which is warranted, for sure — Kai's not thatfar away himself from doing the same. Sensei Wu is gone. It's gonna hurt like heck when he really processes that, but he doesn't have the time to now. Someone's gotta take down the Devourer, and someone's gotta make sure they're working together the best they can.

And Sensei Wu taught them never to give up. He leftthemto protect Ninjago, and Kai isn't going to let his sensei's faith go in vain. Not when he owes him this much.

So Kai sucks it up, delivers what's probably the best speech he's ever gonna be able to come up with on the spot (again, adrenaline doeswonders) and manages to get his team energized enough to make it to the Walkers and come up with half a plan.

Naturally, it fails.

"That waswaytoo close," Cole hisses, as he pulls Zane from the partially-crushed Ultrasonic Raider, fussing over his missing faceplate. "We almost lost you!"

"But you didn't," Zane says, waving Cole off as he clambers to his feet. "And I am fine. It's…annoying from a cosmetic stance, that's all."

Cole frowns. "Cosmetic? Zane, no one cares about that—"

"You look like one of those killer robots from those old scary movies!" Lloyd pipes up. "It's cool!"

Cole makes a sound that's somewhere between a laugh and a groan, cringing. Nya runs a hand down her face and sighs, sounding wearily despairing.

Zane just gives Lloyd a bemused smile. "Thank you…I guess."

Kai suppresses a snort. Zane probably has no idea what Lloyd is talking about, but at least the anxious look on his face is fading. He glances at the Ultrasonic Raider, honestly kind of impressed that it mostly survived the Devourer's attack. Theydidcut it too close, to his dismay. Kai knew that using the recording of Sensei's flute was a long shot, but…he had hoped. Nothing's ever gone easy for them before though, so why should it now?

"Perfect," Jay snaps, sounding much more irritated as he pulls himself out of the Raider. "Nowthatwas a total failure."

"Not a total failure," Kai insists, remembering what he'd spotted. "Did you guys notice on its head? It has a weak spot!"

Jay gives him a dirty look, and — yup, the hysteria is already building.

"Oh, great, let me make a note of that!" Jay says, miming dramatic writing on his hand with a manic intensity. "Giant snake, has aweeitty bitty weak spot that'll betotallyimpossibleto get at because that thing is too ridiculously huge to do anything to stop it!"

Jay finishes his rant, panting, and they all stare at him. Cole looks mildly impressed.

Nya, not so much. "Are you done?" she asks.

Jay sighs, his arms dropping to fists at his side. He takes a long, aggravated breath, before biting out a tight "Yes."

Nya crosses her arms, jerking her head to where the Devourer retreated. "Because things just got worse. Look!"

They all follow Nya's pointed finger. Kai can still see the Devourer as it slithers away from them at impossible speeds, its mammoth body seeming only to grow larger as it races across the desert toward—

Oh, Kai thinks, his stomach dropping. Things just got alotworse.

"It's heading toward Ninjago City," Zane exclaims, his eyes going wide.

Jay falters, his face paling. "That's…that's where my parents are."

"So is everybody else!" Cole says, stress lining his expression.

Kai feels sick, thinking of just howmanypeople live in Ninjago City. "If it consumes the biggest city in all of Ninjago, there will be no stopping it," he says, almost blankly.

Lloyd takes a shuddery breath, drawing closer to Nya. "We can - we can stop it though, right?" he says, his voice impossibly small. "I mean, there has to — there has to be a way, right?"

Kai looks at Cole. The silence is deafening. Jay wraps his arms around himself, and Zane looks at the ground.

Kai finally looks up at Lloyd. The kid's face is stark white, his red eyes watery where they stand out darker than usual. He's biting his lip furiously, and Kai feels his heart twist as he finally pins down the emotion he's seeing there - guilt.

Kai swallows. Lloyd can't blame himself for this. Hecan't, it's not his fault — it's not his fault Pythor's crazy. It's not his fault he had nowhere left to go but chasing after what was supposed to be a myth. It's not his fault Kai didn't just take him back to his uncle in the first place, didn't stop this whole thing before it started—

Kai closes his eyes. It doesn't matter anymore. There's no time for the blame game now. The Devourer is out, and that's that. It doesn't matter who's fault it is, it's not gonna change anything.

Whatisgonna change things is what they decide to do next.

"Lloyd's right," he says. The others' heads snap to him, and Lloyd looks up slowly. "Sensei Wu told us to do whatever it takes to stop the Devourer, right? Well, we're still here. And we haven't stopped it yet."

Cole nods slowly. "This isn't over," he says, sounding steadier. "We've still got a fight to get to."

"The Ultrasonic Raider isn't completely destroyed," Zane says. "By my calculations, if we can get it running, it shouldn't put us too far behind the Great Devourer."

"We can still stop it," Nya says, her voice determined. "We can make it sorry it ever messed with us."

Kai exchanges a tight, small smile with her. He looks over at Lloyd, who's staring at him with eyes that look a little less lost.

"We're not giving up," Kai says. "We've still got a chance. Ninja never quit, right?"

Lloyd gives a small, shaky nod. "Ninja never quit," he says, quietly.

"Then what arewewaiting for?" Cole says, pulling his mask back up. "Let's get moving! Nya, Jay, think the Raider'll hold up?"

"Well, considering you just tornado-ed it to life out of a bunch of junk," Nya says, squinting at the damage. "But yeah, it looks like it'll stick together. What do you think, Jay?"

Jay takes a moment to respond, his jaw clenched tight. "Um, yeah, it looks - it looks like it'll be fine," he says, his voice too quiet. Kai exchanges a glance with Cole.

"Nya, are you good to keep Lloyd safe?" Cole says, as Kai snags Zane by the elbow, heading over to Jay.

"Yeah, of course — c'mon kid, let's see if I can clear enough room to fit us both in the mech. I don't like leaving you out in the open when I'm flying us around."

Kai comes up next to Jay, bumping him lightly in the shoulder. "Hey," he says. "You okay?"

Jay shakes his head, looking away. "I'm just - I'm dumb."

"I can assure you Jay, you are not dumb," Zane says, gently. "If you're scared, it's perfectly natural—"

"It's notthat," Jay bursts out. He exhales, looking down. "People are gonna get hurt," he says quietly, his voice anxious. "And we couldn't — we couldn't stop it, they're gonna get hurt and it's on us."

Kai's stomach sinks. He's been trying not to think too much about that, but…

"We can't change that," he says, tightly. He looks at Jay, meeting his eyes. "But we can stop it from getting worse. We can put ourselves in the line of fire instead of them. And we can do everything we can to end that thing."

"But what if…" Jay looks down, running a finger over the edge of his weapons. "Kai, what if wecan'tstop it? What if we're just another set of casualties?"

Kai steels himself, his expression set. "Then heck, we can die knowing we did everything we could. But I'm not abandoning Ninjago," he says, looking over to where Nya is fiddling with the mech, letting Lloyd clamber up the sides. "I'm not abandoning our people."

Cole lets out a breath. "Kai's right," he says. "We signed up for this, we're gonna follow it through." He looks at Jay, and his eyes soften. "But hey, we're gonna be fine, okay?"

Jay nods weakly, and Zane speaks up. "We'll watch out for each other. Brothers need to have each other's back, right?"

Kai smiles at Zane, before turning back to Jay. "C'mon, Zaptrap, we can't do this withoutsomeonetelling lame jokes in the background."

Jay rolls his eyes, and gives a watery smile. "You guys just have an uncultivated sense of humor."

Cole snorts. "Yeah, unlike your junkyard-cultivated one."

Jay shoves Cole lightly, shaking his head. He takes a deep breath, a determined light sparking in his eyes. "You're right. And my parents are in the city," he says. "I'm gonna make that stupid snake regret ever coming near them."

"That's the spirit," Kai grins, clapping Jay on the shoulder. "We've got each other. That's all we need."

"When didyouget so corny?" Cole says, grinning. Kai stomps on his foot.

"I'mtrying to be optimistic here. You guys reduced me to this, acting all woe-is-me, moping in despair, we're all gonna die, ooh—"

"We get it!" Cole says, rubbing his foot.

"Can we actually start chasing it down?" Zane cuts in, with a weary sigh.

"Yeah, let's fire this baby up!" Jay says, brightness restored, hopping back in the Ultrasonic Raider and shoving off the rest of the broken debris. "Who's ready to break every speed limit in Ninjago?"

"As long as you're not the one driving," Cole says, hopping in behind him. Kai pauses to help Zane in, double-checking the back. It's not ideal, and Zane's gonna be a bit squished, but they'll fit.

Kai looks up at Nya, who's just finishing off her patch repairs on the Samurai X mech. Lloyd is kicking absently at the sand beside her, but he darts over to Kai when he sees him looking.

"Ready for this, green machine?" Kai says, reaching down to tug Lloyd's ninja hood into place. Lloyd's eyebrows furrow, and he pushes the hood back up. "Pretty big stuff for your first official mission."

"Nah, this? Snakes arewayold news for the mighty Green Ninja," Lloyd says, and Kai is heartened to hear some of the bratty spunkiness back in his voice.

"Well, I hope it's not too boring for you," Kai says. "'Cause we're about to make short work of this snake. Go on ahead with Nya, okay?"

Lloyd nods, but he hesitates, shifting nervously from leg to leg. He's got his mask pulled up, so Kai can't read his expression, but he can see that his eyebrows are pinched.

"Lloyd?"

"Um…" Lloyd looks away, twisting the edge of his gi in his hands. "Be…be careful, okay?" he finally says, so quietly that Kai almost misses it. "…please."

Kai's expression softens. Whatever happened to the brat who swore eternal revenge against him? This kid's turning into the worst sweetheart Kai's ever seen faster than he can blink.

"Promise," Kai says. "We'll get out of this just fine." He meets Nya's eyes as she walks up. "We all will."

Nya nods, patting Lloyd on the shoulder. "Time to go," she says, inclining her head toward the mech. Lloyd gives Kai one last anxious look, glancing over at the other guys where they're in the Raider, before he runs off, hopping up into the mech.

Nya pins Kai with a look. "You better keep that promise," she mutters, punching him weakly in the shoulder. "Okay? Don't…don't take any dumb risks."

Kai raises his eyebrows. "Howelseam I supposed to win?"

Nya glares at him. Kai winces. "Uh, yeah, sorry. Bad time to joke. No dumb risks. Promise."

Nya nods, her expression tightening into a forced smile. "Good," she says. "We'll - we'll have your back."

For a second, it looks as if she's about to hug him, but decides against it last minute, turning for the mech. Kai frowns at her back.

"H-hey, the no dumb risks goes for you too!" he calls after her.

"Promise!" Nya calls back, her crossed fingers raised visibly in the air.

Snakes, Why Did It Have To Be Snakes Group Chat

Kai: for real u better stay safe

Nya: duh

Nya: i've got the demon spawn with me

Kai: good

Nya: but if it comes to saving someone else

Kai: that won't happen

Kai: we're gonna be fine

Nya: kai

Kai: just wait

Kai: everything's gonna work out fine

In a surprisingly orderly move, the Devourer enters through the subway, so by the time they reach the city, it's already torn up entire streets.

They split — the guys take the Devourer, and Nya and Lloyd take off to help the civilians. It's the safer job, she knows that's why they gave it to her, and it doesn't really sting, but—

Nya doesn't know if she can face seeing another person hurt.

"Here, grab my hand," she says, reaching down to another person trapped in what's left of the subway station. "I'll help pull you out, just hold on—"

She grunts, and with a brief struggle, she helps pull the frightened man to the surface, only half-hearing his gasped thanks. He's got a nasty cut on his forehead, but he doesn't seem to be hurt any worse. Nya points him in the direction of shelter, reminding him to check in at the medical tent just in case. She's not sure he really hears any of it, though. He looks like every other person Nya's helped so far — confused, dazed, and terrified.

She exhales wearily, watching a woman help her friend limp toward the medical tents haphazardly set up nearby. Nya wipes beads of sweat from her forehead, turning back for her mech. She gives silent thanks that she left Lloyd in there, where he won't see any of—

Nya's stomach drops. Lloyd isn't in the mech.

She curses under her breath, frantically scanning the streets. Of all the times to be a bratty little rebel — she toldhim to stay there, it's not safe, and she doesn't want...she doesn't want him to see this. Her eyes catch on a bright splash of green, and her heart stutters in relief as she rushes over to the medical tent he's stashed himself in the corner of.

"Lloyd," she hisses, as she shoulders past a medic. "I told you to—"

Nya stops, her voice trailing off. Lloyd is sitting cross-legged on the ground, talking to a tiny wisp of a girl with a garish orange shock blanket draped over her shoulders. The girl looks a few years younger than him, her dark hair coated in dust and dirt, scrapes littering her freckled cheek and forehead. She's smiling, though — a little shakily, maybe, but enough to laugh at whatever Lloyd's saying.

Nya lets her breath out weakly. "Lloyd," she says, more gently this time, as she approaches them. "Hey bud, we gotta move."

Lloyd looks up at her, his eyes unreadable. "Okay," he says, pushing himself off the floor. He turns back to the girl. "It was nice to meet you. I hope everything ends up okay."

"Thanks," the girl says, quietly. "I like your outfit."

Lloyd nods goodbye to her, then turns to follow Nya, pushing past the crowds of people and emergency medics. Nya feels a hand slip into hers as they walk toward the mech, squeezing tightly. She squeezes back, her heart aching.

"There are so many people," Lloyd finally whispers, his voice tiny. "They're all hurt."

Nya bites her lip. "They're gonna be fine, Lloyd. The medics here are great. We got them to safety, and no one was — I mean, that's what matters now."

"All these people," Lloyd continues shakily, as if he hadn't heard her. "They're counting on us. If we don't — Nya, we gottawin."

Nya says nothing, fighting back the sick surge of anxious fear at his words. She tries to find her anger instead, pushing back the swell of panic. This isn't anything like she'd imagined. When she'd wanted to help the people of Ninjago, when she'd wanted to fight for her family — she had never imagined that they'd be the last line of defense.

But they are. The only thing standing between the Great Devourer and the destruction of Ninjago isthem, a bunch of kids with powers they barely understand themselves, and it's not fair, it's not fair at all, that hundreds of people's lives are depending on them—

Nya takes deep breath.

People'slivesare depending on them.So suck it up and pull yourself together, she tells herself, fiercely.

"We're gonna win," Nya tells Lloyd, tightly. "So let's get back in the mech and keep looking out for people, okay?"

Lloyd nods, looking the tiniest bit assured, and he hops up in the mech, squeezing next to Nya as she powers it up. The radio flickers back on, and Nya feels a flash of relief as the guys' voices filter through, strong and clear. She can't quite piece together exactly what's going on, but they seem to be doing alright so far. It sounds like their true potentials actually were as important as they were going on about, with all the yelling offire!andice!andlightning!they're doing.

Nya focuses back on her own task, taking the mech further into the city, over the path of destruction and the screaming crowds of people still fleeing. She continues scanning for stragglers, half-listening to the guys on the radio as she makes sure no one's left behind out in the open.

Cole's voice suddenly bursts out loudly, panicked. "No — that's one of my dad's friends from his group! He's gotta be here too!"

"We'll find him, just keep fighting!" Nya responds, mentally praying that Cole stays where he is, with his team thatneeds him. She pulls the mech into a sharp turn, sending them hovering back over the fleeing crowds, her eyes searching the screaming people. "Lloyd," she says, nudging him. "Look for a bunch'a guys in suits, one with darker hair—"

"Like those guys?"

Nya follows Lloyd's pointed finger, and double-takes — she's not as familiar with him as the other guys are, but she's seen pictures. That's Cole's dad, alright.

"Exactly those guys, way to go," Nya breathes, bringing the mech down. "Cole, we found him, he's fine."

Cole gasps his thanks over the line before a loud explosion interrupts him, followed by a yelp from Jay. Nya bites her lip, her knuckles white as she clutches the controls.

They're fine. They're gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be fine—

"Mr. Brookstone!" she calls out to him as they near, the crowds around them parting as they pause their screaming to stare at the mech in awe. Cole's father squints up at her, as if trying to pinpoint why on earth a teenaged girl dressed as a samurai is yelling at him (if Nya had to guess).

"I'm Nya Smith," she says, jumping out of the mech and lifting her helmet visor. "I'm Cole's friend, my brother is—"

"Kai, yes, I know him," Mr. Brookstone says, rushing over to her. His eyes are creased in worry. "Cole, do you - is he-"

"He's with the other guys, they're trying to — he's fine," Nya stammers. "He sent me to make sure you're safe."

Mr. Brookstone shakes his head. "I'm on my way to a shelter now, I'm perfectly fine. But you—" He goes quiet, his eyes widening further as he studies her face. "You're just a child," he murmurs.

Nya bristles. "I'm asamurai," she says, tightly. "I've fought beside Cole and everything. I know what I'm doing."

Mr. Brookstone blinks, his eyes swimming with an emotion Nya can't figure out. "I-I suppose you all do," he says, sounding every bit like he doesn't believe it for a second. But he seems to let it go, his eyes hardening. "Then you be careful, and when you see Cole, can you...can you tell him..."

"I'll make sure he's fine," Nya promises. "We've got it under control—"

"Nya?"

She whips her head around at Lloyd's voice, small and scared as it is. He holds the radio out to her, wordlessly.

Nya freezes. The guys' voices are growing more panicked over the radio, a thunderous crashing sound echoing over the static—

The voices turn to screaming.

Mr. Brookstone goes pale. "Cole."

Nya doesn't waste a second. Hopping back in the mech, she fires it up, barely pausing to check the systems. Diverting all extra fuel to the blasters, she sends the mech hurtling toward the city square, her teeth clenched tightly. Lloyd clings to the side silently, his face pale but his jaw set. Nya grits her teeth tighter as she wills the mech to go faster, faster, comeon—

They shoot out over the city square just in time to see the Devourer coiling up for another strike. The guys are sprawled on the ground, a civilian camera crew cowering behind them. Nya's mind races, and she catches sight of a lamp post. She can't defeat the Devourer with a single attack — but if she can stop those jaws from devouring just a little longer—

Nya redirects the mech, tearing the lamppost from the ground with an awful shriek of metal. "Hold on!" she yells to Lloyd, as she takes them up over the Devourer's mouth. She has one brief second to wonderwhat the heck she's doingbefore she dives down, shoving the lamppost horizontally into the Devourer's mouth until it tightens firmly in place.

Lloyd cries out in fear as the snake roars, and sweat builds on Nya's forehead as the pole creaks, the metal buckling slightly — before it settles back into place, snagged between the glistening fangs. The Devourer's jaw clenches and unclenches, unable to dislodge the pole as the mech holds tightly to it.

Jay's triumphant voice echoes over the radio."Samurai to the rescue!"he cheers."Again!"

Nya gives a breathless laugh, trading a wide-eyed grin with Lloyd.

"It smells worse than Cole's chili!" Lloyd complains, as a waft of hot air from the Devourer's throat sweeps over them, leaving Nya coughing.

"Hey!"Cole yelps, indignant.

Nya snorts, preparing to lock the pole in place and get them out of here—

—when the Devourer suddenly gives a keening shriek, and violently throws its head around, banging Nya and Lloyd against the side of the mech as she momentarily looses her grip on the controls. Nya gives a strained cry as the Devourer crashes its head against a building, rattling the mech and raining glass and debris down on them. Lloyd yelps, burying his head into Nya's side.

Nya curses, shaking her head and clearing her vision as she grabs for the controls again. Without pausing, she flicks the rocket boosters on full. There's a brief whir, followed immediately by a horrible, rattling moan, before the engines clatter into silence.

Nya's blood turns to ice. Oh no, no nono, notnow—

"Nya?" Lloyd says, his voice small as he clings to her. "What's—"

The Devourer swings its head again, and they both scream as the lamppost slips further into the Devourer's throat, the mech swinging dangerously. Nya adjusts the grip on the pole, clinging to it as tightly as possible.

"Get outta there, Nya!"Kai's voice sounds panicked over the radio, doubtless worried out of his mind.

"I can't!" Nya cries, panic making her vision swim. She punches at the rocket boosters again, hitting the button repeatedly. No, no, it can't have taken this much damage, she built itbetter than this—

The mech creaks, and the tiny alarm starts blaring. Nya's stomach plummets. "I'm stuck!" she shrieks. "Kai, I can't—"

The lamppost suddenly cracks, bending in the middle, and Lloyd and Nya both scream in terror.

"Nya! Lloyd! NO!"

Kai's scream rings in her ears over the radio. Nya fights back panicked tears, every ounce of her telling her to scream back to him for help. Kai can't save her this time — she's gotta get them out of this, the pole's about to crack, she's gotta do something—

Lloyd suddenly goes utterly still next to her, and she hears him give a sharp intake of breath.

"Dregon," he whispers.

Still struggling desperately with the controls, Nya can only give a tight"What?"as she tries to keep them from slipping down the Devourer's throat.

"Dregon," Lloyd says, sounding awe-struck. "It's adregon."

"A wha—"

The pole snaps, and Nya screams as the mech plummets, sharp teeth closing over them—

—an enormous shape, glinting claws and snow-white wings, a roar that matches the Devourer's—

A four-headed dragon crashes into the Devourer's throat, sending the mech tumbling out of its mouth as the Devourer screams.

At her wit's end, it's all Nya can do but clench the controls tightly and try not to shut her eyes as the mech is crashed around wildly — just catching at the edge of the Devourer's spiked head, leaving them dangling over the city as it flails.

Nya gives a gasping shout that's half-relief, half-frustration. They missed being eaten by literal inches, but they'restillstuck on this stupid snake, how are they still alive—

Lloyd, miraculously, isn't panicking at all, his hand that clings to her limp as he stands frozen, staring at the dragon with what may as well be stars in his eyes.

We're still alive, Nya tells herself.Keep it that way.

She yanks the panel in front of her off, tossing it savagely away as she starts pulling out wires. It might not be too late to jumpstart the engine, if the rest of the mech can hold together for a little longer. The others clamor below, their voices enthused as they filter through her radio.

"Rocky!" Cole is exclaiming, sounding overjoyed. "Our dragons are back!"

"It appears dragons go through a metamorphosis when they reach adulthood," Zane says, and Nya has to bite back a hysterical laugh as she pulls more wires out. Still lecturing, even now."They too have found their true potential."

"Ha, well they couldn't have come at a better time!"Cole cheers."Go get 'em, Rocky!"

Nya's hands suddenly still. Wait, if this is their elemental dragon—

"Wait, no—!" she yelps, too late. She barely manages to wrap her arms around Lloyd, pulling them both down and crouching at the bottom of the mech before flames erupt around them. The Devourer shrieks, and the smell of something burning reaches Nya's nose. She almost gags, pulling Lloyd tighter to her and closing her eyes. Lloyd clutches at her, trembling as the flames finally grow less.

Thankeverythingshe fire-proofed the mech.

"Kai!" she shrieks into the radio, as soon as the flames have died off. "We're still on thestupidsnake!"

Kai's cheering suddenly cuts off into strangled, violent cursing, and Nya tries to cover Lloyd's ears — before she remembers he probably knows all those words anyways, little punk.

The dragon comes in for another strike, and it's all Nya can do but wrap herself around Lloyd and scream as it crashes the Devourer against another building, sending the mech rattling and screeching before it finally knocks them loose, leaving them to plummet to the ground.

The controls spark, as if to mock her. Nya, done with her mech, done with this snake, done with this wholehorrible stupid day, decides to just keep screaming, hoping against hope that the mech will keep them from the worst of the fall instead of them both dying horribly—

—oof. Nya is inches from getting an up close and personal view of the pavement before the dragon snatches them, pulling them up half a second before they hit the ground. Lloyd shrieks, and Nya can't tell whether it's from terror or—

"This isawesome!"

—joy, it's joy, the demon spawn is worse than Kai.

The dragon lets them down with a loudclank, and they bounce twice across the ground before finally skidding to a stop with an ear-aching creak of gears and metal. Nya wants to curl up in a ball and never move again. Lloyd isgiggling.

Nya finally shakes her head, coming back to herself just before Cole straight-up tears the front of the mech off, sending her and Lloyd to spill straight into Kai's arms.

"Thank freakingeverything, oh my god, you can'tever do that again, I swear—"

Kai's frantic babbling echoes oddly in Nya's ears as he frets over them both, and she blinks, trying to get the world to stop spinning.

"We're fi-ine," Nya says dizzily, patting Kai on the shoulder. Lloyd is already on his feet, wobbling awkwardly as he stands next to Cole, pointing frantically at the dragon.

"He's ours!" Cole tells him. "Zane says we should call him the Ultradragon now, and — actually, should we be saying they?Since it's got four heads now…"

Nya tunes him out, letting Kai help her to her feet as she peels the samurai mask from her face. "I'm fine, really," she says, giving him a shaky smile. She looks up, watching as the snake circles around a building before shrieking, ducking for cover as the Ultradragon swoops at it, teeth flashing.

Cole laughs, triumphantly. "Could dragons get any cooler? Seriously."

Kai rolls his eyes, but he's grinning too. "Yes!" he cheers, as the Devourer flees underground. "It's running away!"

Having lost its prey, the Ultradragon curves a graceful arc in the air, swooping down toward them. Nya can't help but gape at it, feeling a little like Lloyd. It's beautiful, strong and powerful — with the dragon, surely they stand a chance against the—

The Devourer erupts from the ground in front of them, it's momentum carrying it up — where it slams into the Ultradragon with a powerful strike, knocking the dragon to the ground with a thundering crack.

"No!"

The cry is echoed by them all as they rush toward the fallen dragon. Cole is there first, his expression panicked as he puts a hand on one of the heads.

"You're fine," he's saying tightly. "You're fine, boy, c'mon—"

Nya stares. The Ultradragon gives a low moan, clearly too injured to fight. She swallows. "What now?"

They fall silent, screams and sirens echoing loudly around them, punctuated by the Devourer's roar and the sounds of destruction. The guys look at each other. They're all disheveled, their uniforms rumpled and askew, covered in dirt and dust. Nya can see a bead of blood streaking down from Kai's forehead, an ugly bruise forming on Jay's cheek — Cole's holding his left arm awkwardly, and Zane's still missing half his face—

Nya's heart drops. They're not gonna be enough, are they.

Kai's hands tighten into fists, and he takes a breath. Lloyd, who's been quiet so far, suddenly straightens, inhaling sharply.

"…dad?" he whispers, with barely-repressed hope.

Nya whirls around. Sure enough, standing across the street from them, isGarmadon.

Kai's gonna love this,she thinks, half-hysterically.

Lloyd does, at least. "You came back!" he cries, overjoyed. The guys look as floored as she is, trading cautious glances, unsure.

In contrast, Garmadon seems like he knows exactly what he's doing. "Give me the weapons," he says after glancing at Lloyd, his voice firm. "I am the only one who can handle the power of all four weapons at once. It's the only thing that will defeat the Devourer."

They all blink. Nya's head spins — they can'tgive him the Golden Weapons, can they? Isn't that Rule Number One for them?

"Uh," Jay cuts back, clearly thinking the same thing. "I thought we were supposed to do everything in our powernotto let him possess the weapons."

Zane shakes his head, looking up from the panel on his arm. "I've run every other scenario through my servers," he says, regretfully. "It appears to be the only way."

Ofcourseit is. Nya looks at Kai. He looks past her, watching the Devourer as it crashes through another row of cars, sending more people screaming.

Do they have a choice?

Garmadon grits his teeth. "Give me the weapons," he says, beseechingly. Lloyd's eyes are wide, and he looks at Kai. Her brother's eyes are screwed shut, his jaw working tightly.

"Kai?" Zane says, quietly.

"Only I can destroy it!" Garmadon snaps, at the end of his patience. "Or prepare to watch—"

"Quit your yammering and just do it!" Kai tosses him the fire sword, his eyes hard. He sighs. "When you get the chance to make the blow, it has a weak spot near its forehead."

Lloyd beams.

Nya wonders if hell has frozen over yet.

The guys are quick to follow Kai, handing their own weapons over, albeit reluctantly.

"Uh, I don't think this needs to be said," Jay says. "But we're gonna need these back."

Garmadon gives a snort of laughter, his eyes glinting. "I'll do my part. You just make sure he stays in one spot." He laughs again, which isverydisconcerting and not reassuring in the slightest, before running off, weapons held high.

Jay sputters. "Stays in one spot? Stays in onespot, how are we supposed to dothat?"

Kai straightens, his chin held high. Nya blinks. He looks older than she's ever seen him, his stance steady, his eyes determined. Her brother looks like aninja.

"Don't forget," he says, looking at his brothers with a small grin. "We're ninja."

Snakes, Why Did It Have To Be Snakes Group Chat

Nya: i stg if you die i'm gonna kill you

Kai: ur the one who almost got eaten

Kai: keep lloyd safe, and u stay safe

Kai: i'll be fine

Kai: i've got like

Kai: weeks of pent up aggression thanks to garmadon

Kai: like heck i'm gonna let him show me up

Chapter 10: Season One - Finale

Chapter Text

He came back.

He cameback!Lloyd's dad came back for him in the nick of time, just like a comic book superhero coming to save the day. Lloyd can't remember ever having been so happy, except for maybe that time he realized Uncle Wu and the ninja were keeping him. Garmadon cared enough to come back, even if it's just to save the city. Who cares about the dumb prophecy! Lloyd's dad came back to save him from a giant snake, not for some stupid prophecy — he'll take it for now.

It does kinda ruin things, though, that Lloyd's probably gonna die any minute now, which would really suck after everything else he's lived through recently.

"Go, go go go - Lloyd, run!"

Lloyd doesn't need to be told twice, ducking falling rubble as he sprints behind Nya, her grip on his hand painfully tight. His legs start to burn just as Nya slows, gasping as she slams the door of a building open, grabbing Lloyd by the front of his gi and practically hauling him inside after her. Not a second too soon, either — the jagged half of a billboard comes crashing down where Lloyd just was, sending splintering cracks across the sidewalk.

Lloyd takes an extra large, careful step back, trying to catch his breath. Oh man, he really hopes being a ninja isn't always like this. He's losing count of how many times they've almost died, and that's just fromtoday.

Nya seems to finally shake the shock off, still not letting go of his hand as she tugs him further into the building. Lloyd glances around curiously as they weave through shattered glass from a fallen chandelier — it looks like they're in the lobby of some fancy business place, nice desks and little potted plants scattered around the abandoned floor. He's guessing everyone else evacuated already. There's no sign of anyone here but them.

That's smart, Lloyd thinks, as he pulls his hood against his head tighter, the roar of the Devourer making his ears throb. He wishestheycould evacuate, but that's not what ninja do. And that's not whathegets to do, either. Lloyd is the one who started this whole terrible mess, no matter what Kai says. He was the one that pulled the lever that let Pythor out. Pythor might be gone now, but Lloyd isn't. And he's gonna do everything he can to fix it, to end this whole awful mistake before it hurts anyone else. Hehasto.

But for now, he and Nya have a job to do. They're…um…well, alright, he's not entirely sure what they're doing actually, just that Kai had yelled "get somewhere safe or I'll kill you!" at them before running off.

That's becoming a habit with the ninja, Lloyd thinks sourly. Yell at him and Nya to get safe while they take care of things. Heispretty glad not to be on the front lines this time, though — not that he's gonna admit that to anyone else! But the Devourer just keeps getting angrier, and Lloyd isn't gonna forget what its breath smells like anytime soon.

Nya finally stumbles to a halt, leaning over and bracing her hands on her knees as she lets out a breathless curse, which Lloyd carefully ignores. (Zane and Cole wentoffon him earlier, he's not gonna try his luck this soon. Still, it's totally not fair that he got lectured so much for that when he'sdefinitelyheard the others saying some bad stuff during training.)

"They could have atleastdropped us off somewhere safer," Nya pants. "Stupid uselessmech."

Lloyd ignores her, peeking out a busted window and watching with wide eyes as a tiny red figure hops over a row of cars, the Devourer following close behind. Lloyd bites his lip, his hands fisting tightly around the window sill.Please be careful,he thinks.Please don't get eaten-

"Okay," Nya says, straightening as the building shudders, an awful creaking sound echoing above them. "We gotta - we gotta get to higher ground." She turns, then grabs for Lloyd's hand again, dragging him away from the window. "And get back from there!"

"I'm just looking," Lloyd sulks, but he quickly draws closer to Nya's side as the Devourer shrieks loudly. Nya goes slightly paler herself, biting her lip.

"It's gonna be okay," she breathes, sounding like she's trying to convince herself. "We're gonna be fine. Let's just see if we can get to the top of this building, okay? We can watch from the roof that way."

Lloyd eyes the stairwell nervously, watching as a little layer of dust rains down from the ceiling over the stairs. Nya doesn't seem too eager either, still standing frozen by Lloyd's side.

She finally takes a sharp breath, then squeezes his hand. "It's not that many stairs," she says, firmly. "We just need to move fast."

Lloyd wants to argue that they're in a pretty tall building, so it's probably gonna have alotof stairs, and they've had a bad day enough as it is — but Nya is already pulling him up the first steps, setting a rapid pace Lloyd has to half-run to keep up with. It's not a terribly exhausting pace though, as Nya's too focused looking up at the stairwell that stretches above them, occasionally halting and pulling him to the side as the building shakes. Lloyd figures she's looking out in case the ceiling starts falling down on them, which would be…which would be really bad, and he needs to stop thinking about it.

Ugh, but there areso manystairs — Lloyd just wants to get to the top already. But he also doesn't want to have to start running yet, because Nya has longer legs than him and he's pretty tired-

The Devourer roars nearby, and Nya glances out the window. Her eyes immediately go wide, and she suddenly breaks into a sprint, hauling Lloyd behind her as they fly up the stairs.

Okay, running is fine,Lloyd thinks half-hysterically as the Devourer's tail hits their building, sending him and Nya stumbling forward with a scream. Nya yanks him back to his feet before he can fully recover, dragging him up to the next stair level.

Something rumbles from above them, and Nya's head jerks up, her eyes wide. "No, no-!"

Lloyd looks up, and he feels his stomach drop. The giant lighting panel at the top must've gotten knocked loose, because it's barreling down toward them, making its way to crush them flat.

Nya quickly yanks them to the doorway, elbowing it open and sending them sprawling through it, just as the huge light panel comes sparking down right where they were, crashing against the stairwell as it tumbles down. Lloyd watches wide-eyed as the stairwell lights up like a deranged disco floor, sparking and flashing as the rest of the lights blow out.

"Okay, new plan," Nya says, breathlessly. "Um…elevator?"

He looks at her, wide-eyed. Lloyd doesn't know a whole lot about disaster safety, and other useless stuff like that, but he's pretty sure the elevator is thelastplace they wanna be right now. Like, he used to jump up and down in the elevator at Darkley's along with the other kids trying to get it to rattle, but he doesn'tactuallywant to plunge to his death in a little box.

"Yeah, alright, not my best plan," Nya admits. She looks around the floor they're on, the work cubicles abandoned, a few computers still bright and running where they were likely left on in the haste to escape. "I think we're still three floors or so down for the top, so there might be another stairwell on the other side?"

"What about the fire escape?" Lloyd tentatively suggests.

Nya snaps her fingers. "There we go. That's the kind of thinking I'm talking about, partner."

Lloyd returns her grin, trailing behind as they weave through the cubicles— when a loud roar from the Devourer echoes close by again.Reallyclose by. Nya's eyes go wide in horror, and her hand seizes around his tightly. "Get down-!"

Too late. The Devourer crashes violently against their building, knocking them both off their feet with a cry. Lloyd blinks dizzily, the world spinning as a loud cracking sound echoes in his ears. He must've hit his head harder than he thought.

Lloyd looks up, and his stomach plummets. The cracking sound isn't in his head — it's from the large, jagged fissures splitting across the ceiling above them, fracturing as the whole thing threatens to come down on top of them.

Nya looks up as well, and she gives a sharp gasp. She pulls Lloyd up, trying to move back for the stairwell — just as a portion of the ceiling comes down in front of them, heavy plaster chunks raining down with a loud crash. Nya shrieks, stumbling back and dragging them away before they're crushed. She yanks Lloyd to her, glancing up to the crumbling ceiling left above them as her eyes set in terror. Lloyd feels her pull him closer, and if she's about to fold herself on top of him.

A cold rush of terror swoops through him — he knows what she's doing. Nya doesn't think they're gonna get out. Nya's gonna try and save him, and she probably isn't — neither of them are strong enough to-

Lloyd stops. If he reallyisthe Green Ninja — if he remembers what Uncle Wu said about using the others' powers-

The ceiling left finally gives, cracking and tumbling down on top of them as Nya screams, and Lloyd stands up.

He doesn't have time to think it through — all he can think is that he has to bestrong —strong like Cole. Cole, who's always rock steady, who keeps the team going even when everyone else is falling apart. Cole, who's always looking out for his family, even when they're being dumb. He's gotta be strong like Cole-

Nya gasps.

Lloyd's eyes are screwed shut tightly, but he doesn't give. His arms are trembling under the weight, but they don't actually hurt — they feel all tingly and stuff, like he's lifting something heavy, but it's not too heavy forhim.

Somewhere in his chest, Lloyd feels something shift, as if sliding into place, warm and pulsing.

Then his arms suddenly start to burn, threatening to give, and he shoves the chunk of ceiling he's somehow holding aside, collapsing to his knees. Nya's at his side in a flash, pulling him into a tight embrace.

Lloyd's head spins. He doesn't understand what just happened — he feelsweird, wound-up and wrung-out and a lot like someone lit his insides on fire or shot electricity into his blood. He feels like he could bring a whole building down himself, and it's — it's—

"-okay, it's okay, Lloyd, yousavedmylife, stop apologizing-"

Lloyd realizes with a flash of horrified embarrassment that he'scrying, tears sliding down his cheeks as he clutches at Nya. He quickly wipes at them, scooting away and trying to pull himself together. He's not a baby, he reminds himself. He's the Green Ninja.

Which means he can just…lift part of a ceiling now, that's all. Totally normal for a ninja.

Nya keeps staring at him, her eyes wide. "Whatwasthat?" she says, her voice awed.

Lloyd rubs at his eyes, trying to get the tingly feeling to go away. He shrugs, not exactly wanting to test out his voice at the second. It's not like he can really explain, anyways, what it felt like.

Nya gives a breathless, wheezing laugh, shaking her head. "We aresotalking about this later, don't think you're off the hook."

She pushes herself to her feet, wobbling a bit as she does, looking every inch as rattled as Lloyd is. "C'mon," she says, holding her hand out to him. She jabs her finger over the wrecked pieces of the ceiling around them, toward to the light filtering in from outside. Lloyd realizes that the ceiling that fell down on them is only part of the building — the rest is still holding strong, even though it's got a big ugly hole in the side now.

And, right at the edge of the rubble, still firmly screwed into place, are the metal bars of the fire escape.

"Let's go, demon spawn," Nya says, pulling him to his feet. Lloyd follows her almost blindly, letting her clutch tightly at his hand. He refuses to acknowledge that he's probably holding her hand even tighter.

Nya pushes him in front of her, letting him climb up the fire escape first. Clambering up the rickety ladder attached to the wall, the city sprawling way down below them, might be terrifying to another kid, but to Lloyd, it's a surge of familiarity.Thisis what he's used to — playing chicken on the roof of Darkley's, scaling across booby traps in the depths of the Fangblade caves. Not…weird warm power flowing through his hands, and suddenly being able to lift half a ceiling.

Hand over hand, Lloyd scales the ladder, and finally, finally reaches the top of the stupid building. He sticks a hand down, making sure Nya gets up safely before standing himself, looking wide-eyed around him. The roof they're on is pretty boring, edged by a little block railing, but it's high enough to see the chaos unfolding in the city around them. From here, Lloyd can see the wreckage the Great Devourer's left, the rising smoke from buildings it's hit, its great big ugly body twisting all around the city in some giant, coiling circle. His stomach drops as he realizes that he doesn't see the guys anywhere. Aren't they supposed to be—

Nya gives a whoop of joy, and Lloyd looks up. His eyes go wide as his face splits into a smile — it's the dragon again! It looks like it's recovered a bit, huge wings sending gusts of wind at Lloyd and Nya as it lands. Lloyd spares a minute just tostareat it, trying to memorize every bit of the enormous dragon. This alone almost makes this whole stupid day worth it. He's standing next to adragon, how cool is that?

Oh yeah, and the guys are safe, which is pretty cool too.

Lloyd runs forward with Nya to greet them, feeling a little more relieved when he realizes they're all unharmed. They mainly look excited, little sparks of elemental power still flickering off of them as they jump from the dragon's back to the roof. Nya streaks past him, darting over to intercept Kai before he can even take a breath, muttering almost frantically.

"-better be okay, you're okay, right, c'mon Kai, tell me you're fine-"

"I'm good, I'm - Nya, I'm good!" Kai yelps, extricating himself from her. He tugs his hood up, looking winded but smiling nonetheless as he wipes sweat from his brow. "We totally kicked butt out there. You saw us, right?"

"Uh…yeah, most of it," Nya says, her eyes darting briefly to Lloyd.

Kai frowns. "What d'you mean?" he says, eyebrows furrowing further in concern. "You guys didn't have any trouble, did you?"

"Well, there's, erm…we were fine," Nya says. Lloyd takes a careful step back, putting himself next to Zane. "I've gotta tell you about something later, though…"

"What's tha-"

"Alright, where'd Garmadon get to?" Cole cuts in, his harried tone reminding them of the situation they're in. He glares down over the roof. "That thing's not gonna hold on for much longer."

Lloyd peeks over the edge of the building, watching with wide eyes as the Devourer writhes, struggling to untangle itself, scales flashing in the sun as it coils and uncoils. It gives a hissing shriek of frustration, infuriated at being caught. Lloyd almost gets it, in a weird way. He knows what it's like to get stuck somewhere thanks to the ninja, even if itwasjust a roof. Cole is right, though — unlike Lloyd, who took about three (and he's not gonna admit any more) hours to get down, the Devourer looks like it could pull itself free at any moment.

Lloyd bites his lip, looking with the others around the city. His dad's here, he knows it. The guys might not trust him, but Lloydknowshis dad, and he - he trusts him enough to show up, so hebetter.

Something prickles at the back of Lloyd's neck, and he stills, eyes turning upward instead of below like the others. High up above the chaos of the city, on the tallest tower. Lloyd's heart jumps.There.

"Look!" he calls, pointing up at the dark figure. He'd recognize his dad anywhere, that's definitely him. The Golden Weapons held high in his hands are just more confirmation. A heavy gust of wind pulls at Lloyd's hair, a growing chill that sweeps through the fabric of his gi, leaving the others shivering. The sky is turning dark, swirling and purple, like a building storm that threatens to blow them all from the roof. Lloyd tugs his mask off, stepping up to the edge of the building, his eyes glued on his father.

"Lloyd, no, get back-!"

"Dad!" Lloyd calls, shaking off Nya's hand, his voice small against the howling winds.

Lloyd stumbles forward, just to the edge of the building, eyes tearing up from the force of the wind. He feels someone's hands grab him, holding him steady — Kai, his brain tells him instinctively — but Lloyd barely registers it. He's only got eyes for his dad, who looks so small up against the Devourer. Lloyd feels a cold knot of fear build in his throat. His dad can beat it. His dadhasto beat it. Lloyd can't lose-

Garmadon's head turns, and even though the tower he's on is far, so far away — Lloydswearshe sees the glow of his eyes meeting his own.

Then Garmadon raises the weapons higher, gleaming gold sharp against the darkened purple sky, and his head turns to the Devourer.

"You. You are the reason evil runs through my blood!" Garmadon's angered shout echoes across the city, thundering in their ears, and Jay stumbles back with a yelp. The weapons in his hand suddenly flash, bright swirling purple sparking around them as his father's power overtakes them. The weapons blink once, then a burst of light explodes from them, nearly blinding Lloyd's vision as a screaming surge of wind sends him stumbling back against Kai, who quickly grabs him and holds him close. Lloyd can hear the rapid beat of Kai's pulse as he leans against him, and he wonders if his own is racing that fast.

"You bit me once," Garmadon snarls. "Now, feel what it's like to be bitten back!"

Zane gasps. Garmadon jumps, a streaking comet of bright gold and purple as he falls toward the Devourer. Lloyd watches him fall, purple light flashing in his eyes.

"Go get 'em, dad."

A dark cloud of power explodes out, hiding Garmadon from Lloyd's view, but he hears his dad loud and clear. "Vengeance will bemine."

There's a howl, a flash, a shrieking scream-

And the word explodes in green.

Kaichanged the chat name toGet Owned, You Overgrown Reptile Scum

Nya: really?

Kai: its poetic

Kai: for our AWESOME VICTORY HECK YEAH

Kai: did u see how i lit it up?!

Nya: for the 10th time, i saw all of you, stop bragging

Kai: we're such badasses

Nya: kai please

Kai: nya we just kicked snake butt whats ur problem?

Nya: i'm trying not to PUKE

Nya: couldn't you have killed it some other way?

Kai: what don't u love flooding piles of snake guts everywhere

Nya: KAI

Kai: lol

Kai: technically that's garmadon's fault

Nya's not normally one to worry about appearances, but even though she knows it's nothing but a pile of wood in the desert now, she's seriously considering hiking back to the Bountyto see if the water heater survived, because she's gonna need to shower for three straight days after this.

"Oh, gross, it's sticky," Nya gags, wiping another strand of slime from her hair. "Ew, ew,ew-"

"Geez, what are you, five?" Kai snickers at her. "It's just a little snake guts."

Nya gives Kai the darkest glare she can manage. "I don't seeyoudealing with it in your hair," she scowls. Stupid ninja hoods, she should've put her helmet back on when she had the chance. Now her and Lloyd are the only ones sporting lime green-stained hair.

"I think you still look great!" Jay pipes up, quickly. Nya sighs, but she gives him a slightly less strained smile.

"Thanks."

Kai makes a gagging noise, and Nya flicks the slime from her fingers at him. He jumps back with a yelp, brushing frantically at his hair, and Nya rolls her eyes, turning to the others where they're still surveying the aftermath with wide eyes. Lloyd is the first to start moving, craning his head over the flooding masses of green goo (Nya isnotgoing to refer to it as guts, because this day has been enough already) as he searches for something.

He finally steps back, worrying at his lip. "I don't see my dad," he speaks up slowly, and Nya catches the edge of concern in his voice.

"He should be around here somewhere," Kai says, with a frown. He glances up as well, and Nya joins him in looking around, squinting through the crowds of people celebrating in the streets a little ways down from them. They were quick to flood from their homes after the Devourer was killed, and it's already shaping up to be the most disgusting celebration Nya's ever seen, everyone wading around in the piles of gut-slime.

She shakes herself back, eyebrows furrowing as her eyes dart around the street. She'd watched Garmadon fall along with all the others, seen the explosion of power. If what she'd last seen was correct, he should be right around here — unless he's been blown sky-high along with the rest of the Devourer.

Zane's eyes flash, an action Nya is coming to recognize as him scanning their surroundings. "Your analysis is incorrect," he says, blinking. "He is not here."

Cole's eyebrows scrunch up. "Then our golden weapons are gone too!" he says, indignant. "Well isn'tthatconvenient."

Lloyd's expression falls at that, his eyebrows pinching. He looks like he wants to say something, but is deciding against it. Nya shakes her head. There's gotta be some sort of clue around here. Garmadon couldn't just havedisappeared— he's a dark lord, not a teleporter.

(…can he teleport? Nya's never actually asked what the extent of Wu and Garmadon's powers are, come to think of it…)

Her eyes finally catch on trailing spots of green — which wouldn't be out of place, except they're staggered in a uniform fashion too precise to be random, heading away from the streets. "Look," she says, realizing what she's looking at. "His footsteps!"

It takes a second for her words to sink in, but the reality clicks pretty quickly. Garmadon's footprints are leadingawayfrom the city, and Nya doubts he's got any plans of coming back for them. Cole mutters a curse under his breath. It quickly turns to a yelp as Zane swats him.

Nya's heart sinks. She shouldn't besurprised, really, but…

For Lloyd, she had hoped.

She carefully glances over at Lloyd, biting her lip. He's staring at the footsteps with a forlorn expression on his face, but there's also a hollow sort of acceptance in his eyes. There's a flash of heartache, but it's gone before Nya can blink, Lloyd's face settling in a determinedly blank mask.

She's about to go to him, but Kai beats her to it. He places a gentle hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "I have a feeling you'll see your father again soon," he tells him, quietly.

Nya's not sure if that's a reassurance, or an impending doom.

Lloyd exhales. "I know," he mutters. He hesitates, his voice catching. "But….that's what I'm afraid of."

Kai blinks at that, and Nya feels a pang. Kai opens his mouth to reply, when Cole suddenly straightens, his face splitting into a growing smile of half-disbelief.

"SenseiWu?"

Nya's head snaps around, the others following suit. Her mouth drops open, and her own eyes go wide.

Just standing up in a thick pile of slime, brushing at his beard with a disgruntled expression, is an unharmed, very much alive, Sensei Wu.

"Oh wow," she manages.

Jay gives a burst of incredulous laughter. "Would you look at that!" he says, a grin spreading across his face. "He survived!"

That's all it takes for it to sink in. They break into a run all at once, slipping and sliding across the gooey street as they race for their sensei, breaking into breathless laughter and cheers. Nya trails behind the guys with Lloyd, trying not to slip as they hop down a jagged section of pavement to meet Wu.

Wu neatly bypasses them all, pushing right by them and heading straight for-

His teapot?

"I can't tell you how glad I am to see you!" Nya blinks rapidly as Sensei Wu scoops up his teapot from the street, shaking it once before pouring it and — oh, no,gross, that was in the Devourer's guts-

"The Great Devourer left a bad taste in my mouth," Sensei Wu says, sipping at his tea appreciatively. They all gape at him, lost for words. Which is becoming an unsettlingpattern, at this rate-

Wu finally looks up at them all, smiling fondly. "Much better," he says, glancing down at his tea. "And still hot — oh!"

Lloyd surges forward, smashing against his uncle and throwing his arms around him, face pressed into his robes. Wu blinks, then smiles gently, leaning down to gently pat Lloyd's back.

Lloyd suddenly pulls back rapidly, his cheeks flaming. "It's - uh - it's good to have you back, uncle," he says so quickly, Nya barely catches the quiver in his voice. He straightens, eyes going wide. "But my father left!" He tugs insistently at Wu's robe. "And he took the Golden Weapons with him!"

Wu's eyes grow heavy, his head tipping downward as he nods. He places a comforting hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "Very true. The ability of the Golden Weapons is truly great." His eyes soften. "But the ability to better oneself makes you limitless."

Lloyd looks taken aback, frowning. He exchanges a glance of confusion with Nya, his obvious question echoing in her own mind. What doesthateven mean?

Jay gives a satisfied huff. "I couldn't have said it any better myself."

Kai rolls his eyes. He steps gingerly over the slime, making his way to Lloyd's side. He puts his hand on Lloyd's shoulder, in a gesture that mirrors Sensei Wu's previous one. "Besides, we have what's most important," he smiles, and Nya feels her heart pull as she recognizes it. "You."

Oh, Kai issogone for him, Nya thinks half-smugly, half-happily. Looks like her brother's still a total softie, ninja training or not.

Wu seems to be thinking something along the same lines, smiling slightly at Kai. "The pupils have become the masters," he says, and Nya can pick up a hint of pride in his voice.

Lloyd looks up from Kai, to Wu. "Am I really gonna have to fight my father one day?" he asks, uncertainty punctuating every word. He fists a hand in his gi, clenching and unclenching in a nervous tick.

Wu's expression grows heavy again, and he nods, regret flashing in his eyes. "One day." He shakes his head, his expression lightening. "But today we can feel good that Ninjago is safe."

Nya nods along with him.Good. They just had the longest day in history, the last thing they need is to be pilingmorereason to worry on anyone's shoulders-

"Tomorrow we will train for the day that good will finally face evil, and the final outcome will be decided, for all of time."

Nya scowls. Wellnever mind then. No pressure, or anything.

"That's a big final," Lloyd murmurs.

Kai quickly puts his arm back around Lloyd's shoulders. "U-uh but don't worry!" he says, encouragingly. "We're gonna teach you everything we know."

Jay nods, stepping up. "And make sure you're prepared for that fight."

"Cause as we all know, good will always stand up to evil," Cole grins at him.

Zane smiles softly at his brothers, then turns the expression to Lloyd. "And ninja always stand up for what is right."

Nya watches Lloyd stare up at them with wide eyes, a hint of a smile pulling at his mouth. She can't help a smile of her own, and she glances over to find a similar expression on Wu's face. It's just - it's nice, seeing them all getting along like this. You'd never have guessed that this was the same kid the guys hung from a roof not that far back. Now look at them. They look like a bunch of grinning, happydorks.

…kind of like a family, actually.

"But in the meantime," Cole speaks up, crossing his arms. "Can I remind everyone that we just won atotally epicbattle?"

Sensei Wu coughs out a laugh.

"Heck yeah we did!" Kai whoops, punching his fist in the air. "That's the attitude we need!"

"Y'know what this calls for," Jay grins. "A good old, solid,go ninja-"

"Go Ninja go!" Cole and Zane holler in unison, drowning out Jay as they sling their arms over his shoulders, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Go ninja go!" Kai cheers, kicking goo up at Lloyd. Lloyd sputters indignantly.

"Hey!"

Nya bursts into giggles, watching as Lloyd nearly wipes out trying to kick slime back up at Kai. Over by the others, Jay finally breaks free, sliding quickly up to her and grinning expectantly. Nya shakes her head, but she doesn't have it in hernotto give in. "Go ninja, go," she laughs, the phrase much happier than she's ever said it.

Jay beams, grabbing her and spinning them both around as they burst into laughter. Nya's cheeks almost hurt from smiling — theydidit. They did it! They made it out alive, they're all gonna be fine, just like they promised. Caught in the bright haze of happiness, Nya leans forward, planting a kiss on Jay's cheek.

Jay turns bright pink, but he gives her a shy sort of smile, pulling at the light smattering of freckles on his cheeks, more visible in the bright light of the sun. Nya feels her own cheeks heat, but she smiles softly back.

"What wasthat?"

Nya and Jay turn abruptly. Nya shakes herself, briefly yanked out of her spell of happiness. Lloyd is staring up at them, looking highly suspicious and somewhat perplexed.

"What was what?" Nya asks, frowning a bit.

Lloyd's eyebrows knit, looking between them both. Then his eyes go wide, as if having figured out a particularly difficult puzzle. "Wait a second," he says, eyes narrowing at Jay and Nya. "Do you two…do like,kissing?"

Jay turns scarlet. Nya gives a loud snort, unable to entirely suppress her laughter. Cole isn't nearly as successful, bursting into snickers he tries to muffle against Zane's shoulder. Kai bites his lip, looking as if he wants to be grumpy, but can't quite hide his amusem*nt.

"Well, I mean…sometimes," Nya finally answers him, at a loss.

It's not quite the answer Lloyd was looking for, apparently. "You and Jay are inlove?!" he yelps, looking thoroughly disgusted.

"Jay's my boyfriend, Lloyd," Nya says, amused. "You know that."

…he does, right? Nya quickly backtracks over the past month. She's pretty sure Lloyd teased her relentlessly about the picture she'd had of Jay, so he had to know, right?

"I thought you just had gross crushes on each other!" Lloyd says, looking affronted. "I didn't know you actuallykissed!"

Zane's laughing along now too, and Sensei Wu looks torn between despair and amusem*nt. Nya just snickers, leaning down close to Lloyd's face.

"Do you want a kiss too, Lloyd?" she says sweetly, leaning forward.

"No!" Lloyd yelps, quickly scrambling back, bumping into Kai's leg. "No, Kai, help!"

With a grin, Kai snatches Lloyd from Nya's attack, sweeping him up into the air and placing him firmly on his shoulders. Lloyd gasps, suddenly going still. His eyes go painfully wide, and he wavers a bit where he's frozen on Kai's shoulders.

"I gotcha, green bean," Kai says, apparently oblivious to Lloyd's reaction. "C'mon, wanna leave the lovebirds to their own gross stuff and get some victory cake?"

"Ooh, cake!" Cole's eyes practically sparkle. "Can't have a good celebration without cake! I know a really good place down the street — if it's not, uh, destroyed…"

"Wha'd'ya say, kid?" Kai asks, starting after Cole. "Green Ninja calls the shots."

Lloyd's eyes are still wide, but he finally starts to relax, his hands settling carefully on Kai's shoulders, balancing himself.

"Yeah," he says, a bright smile creeping up on his face. "Yeah, cake sounds good."

Get Owned, You Overgrown Reptile ScumGroup Chat

Nya: not to rain on our parade or anything

Nya: but do we like

Nya: have a plan for tonight

Kai: what do u mean

Nya: we're kinda homeless right now remember

Nya: since the bounty's gone

Kai: aw man I forgot about that

Kai: thanks for raining on our parade

Nya: how much $$ did u lose in hair gel with that btw

Kai: oh NO

Kai: NOOOOOOOO

Nya: rip

Kai: IM GONNA KILL THAT SNAKE ALL OVER AGAIN

So much for a victory celebration, Kai grumbles to himself.

He grits his teeth as he braces himself against the car, straining as he pushes it toward the side of the street. Man, what he'd give to have Cole around right now. Butno, Cole skipped out and went to help Jay with the easy stuff, like freeing up the subway tunnels from the worst of the concrete. Kai grunts, his muscles burning as he gives the car a final push, wheels creaking as it finally moves from the center of the street, leaving a clear path for the medical team and ambulances to move through.

The car makes a crunching sound as it hits the curb, and Kai lets his muscles go limp, leaning back and wiping sweat from his brow. Geez, maybe hedoesneed to be training a little harder, he thinks as he pants. At least he can chalk this one up as sheer exhaustion from everything that's gone down today. He tugs at his gi so it's not stifling his neck as much, waving half-heartedly as people pass him by, an ambulance rolling past him. Kai leans back against the car, exhaling wearily as he looks up, watching where the sun is dipping lower in the sky.

This has all been the same dumb day, he realizes with a jolt. It's felt like threeyears.

Kai shakes himself back to the present, pushing up from the car and setting off in search of Zane. He shouldn't be too far — the road they're working on kind of ends abruptly in a fallen building now. Kai gingerly shoulders his way through the crowds of milling people, most of them leftover from the medical tents that were here earlier. He cranes his head over them, searching for the slightest flash of white-

"—just saying, they didn't even kill the snake, Garmadon did." Kai's footsteps slow at the muttered voice he hears, and he blinks slowly, listening in almost against his will.

"Yeah, I saw 'im and everything! Took it down with one hit, those ninja were pretty useless next to him."

"Ha! Garmadon's our hero, who would've thought. So much for the ninja."

Kai's nails dig into his palms as his fists tighten, something hot bubbling up in his stomach. His throat feels tight. Who do these people think theyare?They all worked themselves to theboneto save this city. Kai hasn't slept in three days, and he doesn't even wannaknowhow long it's been since Cole so much as took a nap. They'vebled to stop that stupid snake, risked their lives over and over and-

They almost lost Zane for this. Kai almost had to watch his sisterdie, listen to his little brother screaming-

Um. Lloyd. He had to listen to…to Lloyd, almost get eaten.

Kai blinks, shaking himself from that train of thought. He narrows his eyes at the group of people conversing, the anger in his gut only heating up as he realizes that some of them are medical personnel, EMT's. A haze of red slides over his vision. These people areadults, easily two or three times his own age. Where weretheywhen Kai almost got crushed defending the city? What gives them the right to talk about his family like-

"Kai, no."

Kai is yanked to a sudden halt by a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder, Zane's reprimand low. Kai stiffens, turning on him.

"Do youhearthem?" he says tightly, his voice just barely kept quiet in suppressed anger. "Youknow what we went through, they don't get to sit around and just - just talk about us like we're helpless little kids!"

"Kai, we are kids," Zane says, heavily. Kai stares at him, his mouth half-falling open to protest. Zane cuts him off first. "At least in their eyes, we are."

"W-well yeah, okay, but—" Kai cuts off frustrated. "That doesn't mean we're helpless. We worked so hard to save this stupid city, Zane, at least lemme give them a piece of my mind—!"

"I will not, and you know I'm stronger than you, so please stop trying to push me over."

"I'm not-" Kai gives an irritated growl, then relents, deflating against Zane. "Fine.Fine. We'll do it the peaceful way, or whatever."

Zane looks at him, and Kai tries to stifle the pang in his chest as his eyes rake over the wrecked half his brother's face, none of them having had the time to repair it yet. "You cannot change someone's mind by yelling at them in anger," Zane says, quietly. "Sometimes you have to show them. And we will. We just have to be patient."

Ohgreat, Zane's being all smart and reasonable again, Kai huffs. Whatever, he thinks dully, finally turning away from the group of jerks. It's not like he can stay that mad at Zane for long anyways.

"Yeah, okay,sensei," Kai mutters, kicking at the dirt. "Let's go. Who needs them anyways."

"Thank you," Zane says, a bit hesitantly as he follows him. "I'm…I am sorry if I upset you further."

Kai pauses, then shakes his head, throwing his arm around Zane's shoulders. "Nah, it's cool," he says, ruefully. "You're right, I guess, as usual. Besides, Nya would'a killed me if I'd started something."

A flash of relief crosses Zane's face , and he smiles at him. Then he hesitates, looking away. "But Kai…" he sighs, staring out over the edge of the desert, where they can see the sun turning a fiery orange as it begins to set. "Don't think this means I'm any less frustrated than you are with their attitudes toward us."

"Therewe go!" Kai says, throwing his hands up. "I mean, I know, right? We spend all this time trying to save this dumb country andGarmadongets all the credit. What kind of stupid joke!"

"Personally I fail to see the humor in it, but yes, what kind of joke." Zane sighs. "It's the price of doing what we do, I suppose."

"Yeah, yeah," Kai grumbles. "Bet there's that exact line in one of Lloyd's dumb comic books."

Zane's head perks up, as if remembering something. "Oh, yes," he says. "I was supposed to mention. Nya is helping clear a street nearby, but she asked if you could check on Lloyd for her in the meantime."

"Lloyd?" Kai blinks. "Is he okay?" Aw heck, there goes his heart rate again. He's gonna have the worst anxiety known to man at the end of this-

"Physically I believe he's perfectly fine," Zane assures him. "Nya, ah, the term she used was banished? She banished him from helping with repairs to go take a rest. She wants to make sure he's actually obeying her."

"Oh," Kai says, the worry ebbing. "Yeah. I can do that. Where's the brat at?"

Zane gives him a look. "That's not a kind term to call him," he says, eyebrows furrowing. "Perhaps-"

"I don't mean it like that," Kai assures him. "I mean — notanymore. It's a kind of nickname now, like how Cole always calls Jay zaptrap, y'know?"

"Oh," Zane says, taking this in. "Alright. The…bratis over by our camp, then."

Kai claps him off the shoulder, before taking off. "Thanks, bud."

"You are welcome, hot-head."

"Hey now, that wasn't an invite to callmenames!" Kai calls back to him, and Zane laughs, the sound quickly fading as Kai jogs across a torn up street. He hops over a particularly nasty crack, grimacing at the destruction he passes. Man, it's gonna take them forever to clean this up. It really takes the thrill out of seeing Ninjago City, Kai muses, seeing the buildings half-crumbled, the smoking wreckage left by the Devourer's wrath. For having lived in such a small town his whole life, Ninjago City still manages to impress him with how big it is, how tall its buildings are.

He supposes that just means there's more stuff to destroy and rebuild.

Kai sets his jaw, clambering over an overturned car and hopping down, finally reaching the edge of the city. They've set up a makeshift sort of camp just on the outskirts, which is really just a few tents, Sensei Wu's rescued tea set, and the Ultradragon. It's not ideal by any means — he really misses theBountyright now, andboywas it fun telling Sensei about that one — but Kai's used to living rough. Besides, if it rains or anything, they can always just huddle under the Ultradragon. It's not like it's a permanent living situation either, though Kai….really doesn't wanna think about how their little ragtag, pretty-much-penniless family is gonna afford an actual place.

This is what they get for all running away from home, Kai sulks. Running off to be a ninja sounds great until you have to startpayingfor things.

He takes a deep breath, blowing it out. That's not something he needs to worry about right now, he reminds himself. They're all alive, and that's what matters. As long as they have each other, they'll be fine.

Besides, he's supposed to be checking up on Lloyd, and the kid's already given himenoughto worry about in the span of one day to last him a year.

Lloyd's not anywhere in sight at the camp — certainly not sleeping, like he's supposed to be, but Kai figured that'd be the case. He pauses, panting a bit as he looks around.Hmm. If he were a little demon spawn, where would he go to hide from everybody? Hopefully Lloyd's gained enough common sense in the last month not to go running off too far.

Aha. Kai finally spots a bright flash of green closer to the city, a tiny figure huddled over on a broken piece of wreckage, using the unsteady chunk of concrete as a seat. Kai starts picking his way over to him, pulling his gi a little tighter around himself as a gust of wind from the desert picks up. The evening is growing chillier as the sun sinks further below the horizon, and Kai suddenly finds himself missing theBountya lot more.

He finally approaches Lloyd, footsteps dragging slightly as the sand beneath his feet turns to concrete-ridden grass, before finally giving way to the streets of the city. He's fairly sure that Lloyd hears him coming, but the kid doesn't look up, staring darkly at the ground instead.

Oof. That doesn't look like a good mood, Kai thinks.

"Hey, squirt." He ruffles Lloyd's hair in greeting, grinning at the annoyed look that crosses his face. "How you doin'?"

Lloyd shrugs him off, making a face. "I'm fine," he says. He narrows his eyes. "And I'm not tired, either."

"Uh-huh," Kai says, eyeing the darkening circles forming beneath Lloyd's eyes with concern. "Yeah, you still suck at lying, bud."

Lloyd glares at him. "Fine. I can't sleep then," he says, kicking at the ground. "S'that good enough? Can you leave me alone now and go annoy someone else?"

Kai blinks, taken aback by the heat in his voice. "Geez, you don't have to get all worked up," he says, crossing his arms. "I'm just checking up on you. It's fine if you can't sleep, but being a brat about it isn't gonna help your case."

Lloyd flinches, glancing down. "Sorry," he mutters, looking chastised. "It's just - just a long day."

"Yeah, I hear that," Kai huffs a weary laugh, looking up at the sky briefly. A long day is anunderstatement. "But hey, it's almost over now. We won, too, y'know. Normally people are happy about stuff like that."

"I-I am!" Lloyd looks up at him, quickly. "Really! It was - you guys were awesome. Kicked the dumb snake's butt like it deserved."

"Hey, you helped too," Kai nudges his leg with his foot. "Sure, we did most of the work, but give yourself come credit. Like, three percent?"

Lloyd rolls his eyes, but Kai is heartened to see a hint of smile on his face. It quickly drops, though, and Lloyd returns to looking at the ground, that same miserable look on his face.

"Hey," Kai says, his voice softening as he carefully takes a seat beside Lloyd, the chunk of rubble wobbling a bit. "You sure you're okay?"

Lloyd shrugs, kicking at the ground again. "Doesn't matter," he mutters.

"It does to me," Kai says, persistently. Lloyd looks up at that, a flash of surprise crossing his expression. He quickly looks back down, shaking his head.

"My dad left," he says, voice colored in absolute misery. "Again."

"…oh." Understanding dawns on Kai. Personally, he hadn't been too concerned when Garmadon disappeared (except to worry about their weapons, becauseugh, while expected, what a low move). But for Lloyd, who had tried to get his dad back for so long and finally found him, just to lose him right after…

Broken families are something Kai is intimately familiar with — it wasn't until he met the guys that he really started to feel as if him and Nya were part of something whole, and even then, there's still that gaping hole in his chest that's taking a…a really long time to heal. But it'shardto see that same pain in Lloyd's eyes, and it hurts a bit more than Kai would've thought.

"I mean, I knew he would," Lloyd says, bitterly. "I'm not stupid."

Kai opens his mouth, but Lloyd continues before he can say anything. "But I just — it'sstupid. A stupid, broken family." Lloyd hunches in on himself, biting at his lip before mumbling, his voice so quiet Kai almost misses it.

"It's just…everyone's always leaving. They'realwaysleaving me behind, like I'm just - like I'm-" he cuts off, his voice hitching, either from anger or sadness or a mix of both. "W-why does everyone alwaysleave?"

Kai blinks, momentarily at a loss. His heart constricts.Oh. He doesn't have an answer for that one, other than it's not fair.

But it isn't — itisn'tfair. It's not fair that Lloyd's left this way. He's a good kid — a mischievous, scheming little brat who can whine forhoursand get underfoot like nobody's business, but he's also earnest and sweet and amusingly funny, and he cares about people in a way that's so naively innocent you can'thelpbut want the world to change for him.

He's a good kid — the Golden Weapons knew that, even when Kai couldn't see it.

Kai blinks. He realizes, with a start, that Lloyd is the Green Ninja now. He's going to be training, going places, doing dangerous things. He won't be Nya's little tagalong anymore. He won't just be Kai's little demon spawn who watches him make fires in the middle of the night with wide eyes. He's going to be so much more, he's going to be somethinggreat. He's — maybe going to leave, eventually.

And Kai — Kai has gone and gotten himself attached.

It doesn't make sense — what is this, witchcraft? Here's a pint-sized brat, in one month you'll gladly burn the world down for him? Because hewould, Garmadon's son or not-

Kai is suddenly seized by an overwhelming need to keep this kid forever.

"How about we combine, then?" he blurts out suddenly.

Lloyd's head snaps up, looking utterly confused. "Wha-?"

"Families," Kai says, hurriedly. "Let's combine families. Mine's broken, too. Nya and I, it's just us, our parents are — well, anyways, it's broken. So let's combine, you and me and her, huh? Then we can have half a working one, you know?"

The entire thing comes out in a dizzying rush, Kai tripping over every other word. He immediately wants to bolt and pitch himself off the nearest cliff, becauseyikes, that was a mess.

Lloyd stares at him, his eyes wide and mouth half-open, expression blank.

Kai is very well considering that he may have said the entire thing in a different language, because Lloyd is staring at him like he's grown a second head.Smooth one, fire boy,a voice that sounds like Nya echoes in his head. He should probably try and explain, either to clarify his point or drop the whole thing entirely — probably drop it entirely, Lloyd is gonna think he's a dumb joke anyways — when Lloyd opens his mouth and—

"You – you want…me?"he says, his voice a baffled whisper. "To be a – a part ofyourfamily?"

Lloyd blinks furiously, and Kai is horrified to see tears welling up in his red eyes.

"I mean - not if you don't want to!" Kai yelps, hurriedly. "It's just - it's just an offer, I thought - well, I dunno what I thought, just - please stop crying? Please? You can just forget everything I said if you wa-"

"N-no, it's not that!" Lloyd bursts out, his voice thick as he waves desperately at Kai. "I just – no one's ever – you're not evenrelatedto me, and you actually want-"

Oh,oh, Kai's heart is just getting shoved through a cheese grater today, isn't it. He swallows back a lump in his own throat, crouching down on one knee so he can face Lloyd directly.

He grabs Lloyd's shoulders, holding him firmly in place so he actually meets his eyes. "Kid," he says. "You may be a demon spawn, but you know what else? You hit Pythor in the face. You've tried to punch people who can, without a doubt, utterly crush you. You can't do laundry to save your life, your taste in pizza isterrible, and you've given Nya gray hair already. Trust me," Kai grins a little, shaking his head. "You are a hundred percent, guaranteed, family material here."

Lloyd's face screws up, like he's desperately trying not to burst into tears. He makes a shaky little squeak that might be an attempt at a sentence.

Kai clears his throat, trying not to feel hideously awkward and mentally praying to everything that he doesn't make Lloyd cry anymore. "So, uh, yeah! Bing, bang, you're adopted. Congrats, we're a very exclusiv-uff!"

Lloyd crashes into Kai, his arms wrapping around him tight enough to knock the air clean out of him. Kai has to take a few wheezing gasps before he's able to return the embrace, holding Lloyd tightly, then patting him awkwardly on the back.

"Uh — there, there. Just — please stop crying?"

"I'm not crying!" Lloyd says thickly into his shoulder, obviously tearing up.

"Then what is this?" Kai says, gesturing to his damp gi half-hysterically. "Rain?"

"You're crying too!" Lloyd accuses, through tears.

"I am not!" Kai defends, trying to ignore the hot sting in his eyes. "It's been a very stressful day, that's all!"

Lloyd just giggles, sniffling noisily and pulling back a bit. He quiets, looking down at his hands before looking up at Kai. Kai's stricken by how very small he looks, and how tentatively, painfully hopeful.

"You're…you're really for real about this?"

"A hundred percent, really for real," Kai assures him.

Lloyd's expression spasms briefly, several hundred different emotions flashing across it at once, before it softens into the tiniest pull of a smile. Kai grins back, and ruffles his hair. Lloyd lets him this time, not even trying to pull away. "You just need a haircut, okay?"

The fact that Lloyd doesn't even try to make a bratty retort back is probably saying something.

But maybe it's a good something, Kai thinks, as he scoops Lloyd up when he finally falls asleep against his side, carrying him back to their camp under the night sky, the stars just starting to shine through. A good something that makes Kai's chest almost hurt as Lloyd mumbles something inaudible, tucking his head against his shoulder. The kind of hurt that feels good, though, like when he looks at Nya.

Ooh.Yeah, speaking of. He should probably let Nya know — she's gonna kill him for adopting Lloyd without her.

Itwaskinda her idea, after all.

Nyachanged the chat name toHE WAS MY KID FIRST

Kai: u snooze u lose

Nya: i hate you

Kai: whatever u know he loves u

Nya: yeah but I wanted to BE THERE!

Kai: ur just mad ur not the baby of this family anymore

Nya: no that's definitely still you

Chapter 11: Interlude

Chapter Text

HE WAS MY KID FIRSTGroup Chat

Kai:ok listen i am a patient guy

Nya:who told you that

Nya:they lied

Kai: I AM A PATIENT GUY

Kai:but if ur planning on sleeping the whole night with jay over there

Kai:im gonna fry him

Nya:would you chill?!

Nya:i'm just sitting by him!

Nya:i'm gonna move when we go to sleep!

Nya:we're all crammed together kai its not like that!

Kai:lol ur like bright red right now

Nya:KAI

Kai wakes up with a pounding headache and a whole mouthful of sand, which isn't even the weirdest thing to happen to him this week.

It's stillgross.

"Pleh." He grimaces, sticking his tongue out as he scrubs at his eyes, which have crusted over sometime in the night with sleep — again,gross. The ground beneath him is no more comfortable than it was when he was trying to fall asleep last night, even with Nya and Zane's half-hearted attempts to line the ground with blankets, and his back feels like a bunch of kids in soccer cleats used it as a dance floor (that might just be the Devourer's fault, though). He groans, trying to sit up.

A warm weight around his middle shifts as he does, making a muffled sound of displeasure. Kai blinks in confusion.Oh yeah, he remembers, staring at the small, huddled figure half-draped around him. He's been using a demon spawn for a blanket, right.

Kai feels the corners of his mouth twitch up as he watches Lloyd where he's half-sprawled, half-curled up against him, one arm slung over Kai and clutching him like he's his own personal teddy bear or something. Lloyd's wearing his old hoodie (which Kai doesn't even want to know where he got it from, the jacket's so ratty that Nya should've thrown it out with the rest of his old clothes by now) over his gi, the hood tugged up over his head so his hair sticks out awkwardly in little blond tufts. Despite the grumbling, Lloyd looks like he's still solidly out for the count, snoring quietly. He must've been muttering in his sleep.

Kai make a face, weighing his options. His first instinct is to get Lloyd off him by cheerfully dumping sand over his face, like he would the others — but Nya's just waking up to his left, so that's out. Plus, his kid still looks like he needs a good three days of sleep, dark circles turning bruise-like under eyes that are way too young to be sporting that kind of exhaustion.

(Kai's just…not gonna acknowledge the fact that he's started calling Lloydhiskid.)

His second instinct is to appeal to Nya, who's finally rousing herself enough to sit up, giving a quiet moan and rubbing her head as she does. Her expression melts into amusem*nt as she catches sight of Kai, who's still awkwardly propped up on his elbows and desperately trying to decide how to get the fifty pounds of newly-adopted brother off him without waking him up.

"S'what you get for stealing him," Nya grumbles, but she takes pity on him, grabbing the blanket she'd been using and balling it up. "Here," she murmurs, carefully pulling Lloyd's arm away, maneuvering the blanket between them. Lloyd briefly makes a face of distress, but he curls around the blanket, relaxing as he slips back under.

"Thanks," Kai mutters as she gives him a hand up, pulling him to his feet. Nya shakes her head, and Kai winces at the darkening bruise just starting to show up across her forehead. Nya frowns at him, then runs a hand over it.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she tells him as they duck out of their makeshift tent. "Promise."

"Get Zane or Sensei to look at it anyways, will you?"

Nya rolls her eyes, but she doesn't argue like she normally would. Kai feels a flicker of relief in his chest as she nods. He'd comewaytoo close to losing her yesterday,waytoo many times. A little irritation is a small price to pay for knowing she's okay.

The others must've already left the tent while Kai was still sleeping, but he quickly spots them gathered a few paces away, against one of the rocky outcroppings that lie just outside the city. The Ultradragon rests just off to their left, its heads lounging lazily on the sand, four pairs of eyes following Kai and Nya as they walk by. He flashes them a smile he actually feels, letting Flame nose him as he drifts past. His dragon's head gives an exhaling snort in return, a warm burst of air ruffling Kai's hair.

Oh man, he'smissedhis dragon.

"Hey, watch it," he grins, shoving Flame's head away playfully. "My hair's messed up enough as it is."

"An improvement, actually," Nya says under her breath. Kai elbows her, making an expression of mock offense as she giggles. He gives Flame one last pat on the head before following his sister to the others, who are huddled around the small fire Sensei's got going.

"Look who's alive after all," Jay grins at them from where he's leaning back against the outcropping, though his voice is hushed. "About time you joined us."

"Zip it, sparkplug." Kai stops, frowning. "IsColealive?"

Jay winces, glancing down to where Cole is slumped fully against his side, snoring quietly into Jay's elbow. "Ah, he kinda drifted off in the middle of talking," he says, looking a little concerned. "I'm just letting him sleep it out."

"That was not your original plan," Zane says pointedly, and Jay makes a face at him.

"I'm agoodfriend, how dare you suggest I'd do otherwise."

Kai snorts in unison with Zane as he takes a seat by him, crossing his legs as he tries to get comfortable on the desert sand. Zane offers him one of Sensei's delicately patterned teacups, which Kai takes carefully, highly aware of Sensei's eyes on him. Geez, you chuck his prized teapot into the mouth of a giant murder snake one time—

The rest of Kai's internal pout dies off as he catches a whiff of what Zane's given him.

"Ohsweet, is this coffee?" His eyes light up. Zane nods, taking a careful sip of his own, and Jay finger-guns at him.

"Cole and I picked it up from the city earlier this morning," he says. He shoots Sensei Wu a covertly shrewd glance from the corners of his eyes. "Tea is fine and all, but coffee isnecessary."

Sensei Wu merely flicks his eyes upwards, pulling his own cup of tea closer to him.

"I hear you," Nya agrees with Jay, snatching the cup from Kai's hands — wait,hey!

"No you don't, that's mine!" Kai snaps, straining to reach Nya as she darts away, taking a seat across the low-burning campfire next to Jay. She flashes him a bright, unapologetic smile, taking a long sip of his coffee. Kai glares at her, his fingers itching to light themselves on fire (if they could). Who does she think she is, the brotherly goodness of his heart doesn't extendthisfar—

"Here," Zane sighs, shoving another teacup into Kai's hands. He looks wearily resigned, as if he's still expecting Kai to vault over the campfire and start strangling Nya for the coffee, which is…fair, Kai will admit.

Hmph. He's gonna be mature about it just to spite Zane, then.

"Thank you, Zane," Kai says politely, sipping at the coffee while glaring at Nya. "At least some of you have a soul —hngh." Kai cuts off, choking at the unexpectedly bitter taste. "How strong did you make this?" he sputters.

"Uh…pretty strong, I guess," Jay shrugs. "Needed the caffeine." Nya, who is slowly moving into ex-sister territory this morning at an alarming rate, takes a long, steady sip of hers, locking eyes with Kai's as she does. Kai makes a face. Just becausehehasn't stripped his tastebuds by regularly drinking gasoline doesn't mean she'ssuperior.

"We don't have any sugar or creamer, unfortunately," Zane says, looking apologetic. "We were a little…short on funds this morning."

"S'fine," Kai waves him off, even as he internally winces at the mention of money. He can see the reminder echoed in Jay and Nya's posture, though, so he changes the subject. "Guess that means Lloyd won't be having any."

Sensei makes an odd choking sound, and Jay actually pales.

"No," he declares, firmly. "We are never letting that kid even have asipof coffee. He's enough of a hell spawn as it—"

Nya elbows him harshly in the side, and Jay cuts off in a wheeze. He gives her a wounded look, and Nya cuts her eyes meaningfully toward Sensei. Kai stifles a snicker as Jay's eyes go wide.

"Um, that is to say — I obviously wasn't referring to your nephew as a hell spawn, Sensei, that'd be super rude, I was just — Lloyd is uh, you know — giving him coffee would be—"

"I'm well aware of what my nephew is like," Wu says wryly, but there's a hint of a smile on his mouth. "Though I agree that giving him coffee would likely be a bad idea."

"Giving any young child coffee would be a bad idea," Zane says, sounding mildly scandalized. "At that stage of development, high doses of caffeine are unadvised—"

"We get it, Zane," Jay says tightly, his cheeks still flushed. Kai doesn't hold back the snickers this time, and Jay glares at him.

"Oh hush, you'll wake Cole up," Nya chastises, shaking her head. They quiet, heads turning to Cole where he's somehow still snoring soundly against Jay's side.

Jay's expression softens. "Poor dirtclod," he murmurs, tugging a throw blanket that looks suspiciously like Sensei Wu's higher up his shoulder. "He's been way more stressed out than he's been letting on lately."

Kai sobers at that. He's picked up onthatone. They've all been stressed out in the past few weeks, but Cole seems to have taken the whole thing personally, like "I'm-gonna-shoulder-all-responsibility-in-an-incredibly-unhealthy-way" kind of personally. Maybe it's a leader thing, Kai muses.

Or it's just older brother instincts kicking in overdrive, because Kai knows a little too much about that kind of stress and what it looks like.

"He should cut himself a break," he says, quietly.

Jay nods, biting his lip. "It's been bad enough with the Fangblades, and then everything with his dad really wore him down..." He sighs. "I know you can't always tell, but he has a really bad habit of worrying a lot about us. More than he needs to, really."

"Seems to be a popular habit," Nya murmurs, throwing a glance at Kai. He ruffles, but he doesn't say anything, taking another sip of his coffee instead. He's too tired to pick another fight with Nya right now, that's all. It's not like he's admitting she'sright, or anything.

"You should all cut yourselves a break." Sensei's voice cuts across the heavy silence, and they all turn to look at him. He sighs, adjusting the brim of his hat as he swirls his tea. "Any blame, however unwarranted, is misplaced. As your teacher, any failure should fall on me. You've all gone above and beyond this past week, far surpassing my expectations. You should be proud."

Kai opens his mouth, then closes it, feeling his cheeks heat. Jay looks down, a tiny smile on his face as the skin between his freckles turns pink. It's harder to tell on Zane, but he looks more at ease with Sensei's words, his posture less stiff and robotic than before. Nya gives them a fond smile.

"That goes for you as well, Nya."

Nya blinks rapidly, her head snapping around. "But Sensei Wu, I didn't—"

"You played an instrumental role in fighting against the Devourer, from what I've heard," Sensei tells her. "And more importantly, you protected your friends. Your actions were every bit as valuable as a ninja's."

"I — thank you, Sensei Wu." Nya ducks her head, but Kai catches the happily satisfied smile spreading across her face.Good, he thinks, grinning himself. With everything she's done — on herown, too — Nya needs more credit.

"I've also been told that you kept a sharp eye on my nephew," Wu says, his voice lighter. "I'm sure that couldn't have been easy, but I cannot thank you enough."

"Oh,that'snothing," Nya says, perking up. "Lloyd was a big help, actually. You'd have been impressed."

Sensei Wu looks a little too much like he was expecting that reply, merely smiling. Kai discreetly narrows his eyes at Nya, aware of the parts of Lloyd'shelpshe's keeping quiet about. The parts she'd told him about last night as they'd been falling asleep, theLloyd's-already-got-powers-apparentlyparts. She shoots him a look from the corners of her eyes, just barely shaking her head.

Later, she's saying. Kai wonders if she's trying to put off the fallout of what that means.

"Speaking of," Jay speaks up, yawning as he reaches for the coffee pot over the fire. Zane swats his hand away, and Jay makes a face, leaning back. "Where is the little pun— uh, the kid this morning anyways?"

"He was still out when I left the tent," Kai says, glancing back. "He seemed pretty — oh, never mind. Speak of the devil."

Nya gives him a look for that one, but Kai ignores her, grinning as Lloyd totters across the sand to them. He's still wearing his old hoodie, the sleeves falling over his hands as he wipes blearily at his eyes. He stops just at Kai's side as if drawn instinctively, flopping cross-legged in the sand beside him.

Kai shoots Nya a vicious grin.

Lloyd yawns, blinking groggily at them all. "Wha's that smell?" he asks, his gaze finding the coffee pot with a dangerous sort of interest in his eyes.

"Poison," Kai says flatly, yanking Lloyd's hand away from the pot. "Toxic grown-up sludge — it'll turn you into boring adult like us if you drink it."

"Oh," Lloyd says, his face scrunching up as his hand falls back into his lap. "Never mind."

Jay snorts, and Nya shakes her head. "It is kinda gross," she admits beneath her breath.

"Here." Sensei leans forward, handing Lloyd a cup that was previously hidden behind him. Lloyd takes it, eyeing its contents with vague suspicion.

"It's only tea," Sensei Wu assures him, with a hint of amusem*nt. "You'll like it."

Lloyd eyes his uncle, then looks back at the cup and shrugs, taking a tentative sip. He wrinkles his nose briefly. "Needs sugar," he states imperiously, then takes another sip.

"Pleasetell me there's no caffeine in that tea," Jay whispers loudly at Sensei Wu. Wu simply gives him a benign smile, sipping neatly at his own cup.

"Just drink your own coffee, Jay," Nya tells him, reaching for his cup. "Before I drink it for you."

"Wha- hey, no! This is mine!" Jay yelps, yanking his cup out of Nya's reach. Kai and Lloyd watch blankly as the two tussle, and Zane winces as Jay's elbow collides with the side Cole's head.

"Oh shi—ow!Nya!"

"Wha'sgoin'on," Cole slurs, his head snapping up as Nya continues to keep a hand clamped over Jay's mouth. Cole ignores the two, staring around the circle for a minute, his eyes bleary and confused.

"So we didn't all die?" he finally gets out.

Jay wrestles free of Nya just far enough that he can awkwardly pat Cole on the shoulder. "Nope," he says, lips popping over thepsound. "You're still stuck with us. Sorry."

"Worth a shot," Cole grumbles, but he smiles slightly as he does. "Do I smell coffee?"

"Here," Zane says, handing the teacup he'd been hiding over to Cole, eyeing the others shrewdly as he does. "I made sure to save some for you."

"You're the best, Zane," Cole breathes, practically inhaling the coffee.

Jay bristles. "Hey,Ilet you use me as a pillow—"

"Now that we are all awake," Sensei Wu cuts over them. "I believe that it is time we start making plans for the future."

Thatputs a damper on the atmosphere. Jay and Cole's bickering dies off as they all fall quiet, Lloyd shifting uncomfortably.

"We no longer have a home aboard theBounty," Wu says, with a quiet note of regret. "And while the tradeoff of your lives was more than worth it, it does leave us in a bind."

"Basically, we're homeless," Kai mutters. Lloyd glances up at that, his expression twisting into an anxious sort of frown.

"W-we're gonna live on the streets?" he asks, his voice small. The rest of them cringe, and Kai immediately wants to take back that phrasing. Lloyd's unspokenagainisn't exactly subtle, and the reminder of how they'd found him is even less so.

"No," Sensei Wu says firmly, before anyone else can speak up. "I promise, we will find another home as soon as possible. Our funds are not quite that low."

There's an audible sigh of relief from everyone. Kai lets the breath he was holding go — he'd been pretty sure they hadzerofunds.

"We will, however, need to find temporary lodging in the meantime," Sensei muses. Jay and Cole glance at each other. "But let me worry about that," he adds quickly. "I have another task for the rest of you to focus on. It would be wise to salvage what's left in the wreckage of theBountywhile we still can."

"Uh, yeah," Cole says, lifting his cup to his face and avoiding Sensei's eyes. "What's left on theBounty."

Kai exchanges looks with Zane, swallowing. Jay shifts awkwardly, and Nya makes an imperceptible gesture at Lloyd — though Kai's pretty sure Lloyd already gets it. No one wants to be the one to let Sensei know exactlyhowmuch stuff they'd tossed off the ship as food for the Devourer.

"Well," Zane speaks up, coming to their rescue as always. "We should prepare to head out, then. It's already getting late in the morning, and we should try to avoid the worst of the afternoon sun in the desert."

"Good thinking, Zane." Nya stands up, sending Jay, who'd been leaning on her shoulder, thumping to the ground with anoof. "Wanna help me try and get the Samurai X mech working enough that we can carry stuff with it?"

Zane nods, moving to follow Nya as Jay quickly scrambles after them. "Hey, hey I can help too—"

Cole sighs, shaking his head and leaning forward to help Sensei with the campfire. Kai grins, then makes to stand himself, tugging Lloyd's hood over his head as he does.

"C'mon kiddo, you can help me take the tent down," he says as he straightens, wincing as he does.Oof. He knows that this is what he gets for going overboard fighting the Devourer yesterday, but geez, isn't he supposed to be young and limber and stuff?

"You always give me the boring work," Lloyd complains, yanking his hood back down and slouching behind Kai.

"Because you're always whining," Kai replies, flippantly. "That's what bratty little whiners get."

Lloyd kicks up sand at Kai in response. "M'not a brat," Lloyd grouses, glaring at Kai. "Just because you guys all have sticks up your—"

Lloyd goes abruptly quiet, cutting off what hopefully wasn't about to be a curse. He stops completely, feet trailing to a halt in the sand, eyes going wide as dinner plates. Kai follows his gaze up, then smiles.

"They're pretty cool, huh," he grins, watching in amusem*nt as Lloyd stares in awe at the Ultradragon. Good to know the kid's impressed bysomething. "You can get closer, they won't bite."

Lloyd gives him a wide-eyed glance, then takes a step closer, still looking like, well, a kid seeing a four-headed dragon up close for the first time.

"It's really a dregon," Lloyd breathes, his voice amazed. "They're amazing."

"Yeah," Kai grins. "They really are, huh-"

Wait,whatdid the kid say just now?

"What did you call it?" Kai squints at him.

"A dregon…? Duh." Lloyd rolls his eyes.

Kai stares at him. "No, that's a dragon," he says, stretching theahsound out for emphasis.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Lloyd frowns, starting to look annoyed. "A dregon!"

"No, you're butchering it!" Kai says, incredulously. "It's adra-gon, not adre-gon!"

"What's the difference?!"

"Do you seriously not hear—" Kai cuts off in a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Lloyd's got that look on his face, the one that means he's about to be a stubborn brat about something, and Kai isn't in the mood for this. "Okay, okay, fine. Keep calling it a dregon, whatever." He's notNya. If Lloyd wants to call it a dregon, fine. Maybe it's just a weird accent or something.

"Weirdo," Lloyd says under his breath, then turns his attention back to the Ultradragon before Kai can grab him by the hair. "I never thought I'd ever see a dregon," Lloyd says reverently, finally stepping in reach of Ultra. Flame's head is the first to crane toward him, dark crimson eyes meeting Lloyd's deep red ones. Lloyd hesitates, a brief flicker of uncertainty crossing his face as his hand wavers.

Flame's head darts forward, jaw snapping open as he licks a solid stripe across Lloyd's hair.

Kai bursts into snickers as Lloyd shrieks, swatting at Flame's head even as he dissolves into giggles. Flame snorts, a thin plume of smoke enveloping Lloyd as he coughs, waving at the air. Shard and Rocky's heads dip down as well, surrounding Lloyd as Wisp corners him from behind. Lloyd spins in a dizzying circle, trying to pay rapt attention to every head at once.

"Kai, look, Kai, they're socool,can I hug them-"

Wisp takes the invitation before Kai can reply, nosing Lloyd's middle until he wraps his arms around Wisp's gleaming scales, looking delighted.

Flame noses against Lloyd's forehead, and Lloyd turns his attention to Kai's dragon, grinning widely as he traces the patterning of scales across his snout. Flame nuzzles Lloyd, looking equally in love with the brat. Kai narrows his eyes.Traitor dragon. It took Kai atleasta week to warm up to Lloyd, and his dumb dragon goes and falls in love in five seconds?

C'mon, Flame, we've got a reputation to keep here, Kai grumbles to himself.

Lloyd looks like he's ascended from this realm and currently found himself in heaven, though, so Kai figures he'll let it go. Besides, Lloyd's gotta get familiar with them fast if he doesn't wanna get tossed off when they fly out to the wreckage of theBounty.

"Wait, what?" Lloyd turns to him.

"We're gonna head back out to the desert, see if we can scrounge up whatever survived on theBounty," Kai says. "Sensei said we should all go, so you're coming."

Lloyd looks up at Ultra, then back at Kai, a terrifying kind of light sparking in his eyes. "So does that mean….that we're…"

Kai nods, knowing full well he's got the same kind of spark in his own eyes. "I did promise you I'd show you some cool tricks a while back, didn't I?" He grins. "Hope you got used to heights on theBounty."

Lloyd looks like Kai's just told him he's been gifted a life-time's supply of sweets, and no, Kai does not feel a surge of supreme satisfaction at this.

Take that, Nya.

Kaichanged the chat name toWill Trade Soul for Shower

Nya:oh man same

Nya:i want a 3 year shower after this

Kai:u need one

Kai:i can still see guts drying in ur hair

Nya:you see WHAT

Nya:KAI I SWEAR TO FSM

Kai:jk its probably just dirt or something

Nya:or blood hopefully

Kai:?!

Kai:hopefully?!

Kai:u said u didn't get hurt!

Nya:i was pulling a kai

Kai:ur grounded

Nya:don't try me

"This is the best day of myliiiiiife!"

Lloyd's exhilarated shriek echoes across the desert, followed closely by Kai's wild laughter. Nya shields her eyes with a hand, squinting up at them as they race by, Ultra careful to keep their wings from upsetting the others on the ship. Nya's lips curl in a small smile as she watches them. Kai has Lloyd tucked against him, arms wrapped around him tightly, but he's let go enough that Lloyd can lean forward, just grasping the ridge of scales that run up Wisp's head. Lloyd's got a smile as bright as the sun itself on, his eyes blown wide as his hair whips wildly in a disastrous mop of tangles around his face. Kai doesn't look much better, his carefully spiked hair thrown into utter disarray by the wind, but the megawatt grin on his face is clear sign that he isn't worrying about his hair for once.

Nya feels the smile grow full. She should scold Kai for slacking off, but he looks sohappyright now, she doesn't really have the heart to. He looks carefree, in a way he hasn't since the whole Green Ninja thing started — he looks like Kai again. Liker her dumb big brother, who's still a big dumbkid.

Who hadbetterbe keeping an extra tight grip on Lloyd, she thinks, her heart jumping as Ultra swoops far enough to the left that the dragon nearly turns upside down. They'd had enough of a scare on the way over to the wreckage of theBounty, all of them crammed on the poor Ultradragon's back, when Lloyd had decided that crawling as far forward as he could onto Rocky's neck before anybody could notice was a great idea. It wouldn't have been as much of a problem if Rocky hadn't grown as excited as Lloyd had, and in his enthusiasm, nearly given Lloyd an up-and-close tour of the desert by dropping him straight from the sky toward it.

"Demon spawn," she mutters under her breath as she tears her attention from the sky, returning back to the splintered wood around her. She's not usually one to give into Kai's less-than-appropriate nickname — especially since the other guys are joining in now, and poor Lloyd needssomeoneon his side — but it's getting harder to deny that it kinda fits the bill.

(Granted, you could just as easily callKaia demon spawn and it'd be spot-on, but Nya digresses.)

"Good to know we're already teaching him about the value of responsibility and teamwork," Cole sighs from off to her left, watching as Ultra streaks by again, Lloyd's giddy laughter a cross between cute and downright terrifying.

"Ah, I'm sure he'll get it when Sensei Wu emerges," Nya says, grimacing briefly as she pulls at a giant wooden plank that's crushing what used to be her room. "He can only look for his tea supples so long down there."

"Speak for yourself," Cole grumbles as he steps up beside her, and Nya watches in envy as he effortlessly hauls the wooden plank up, tossing it down to the desert ground below. There's an awful creak from beneath them, and Cole and Nya freeze. What's left of theBountyis turned entirely on its side, half the rooms still somewhat intact and others open and splintered in the sun — butstableis something it decidedly is not.

The creaking finally quiets, the remains of the ship beneath them holding strong, and both Cole and Nya sigh in relief. She shoots him a look, and Cole gives a guilty little shrug.

"Alright, alright, I'll be more careful," he says sheepishly, bending down to pick up another fallen beam with an exaggerated gentleness this time.

Nya rolls her eyes and bends down herself, trying to pry open what used to be her closet. Her fingernails catch on the jagged wood, but she's finally successful, pulling the remains of the door away. She breathes an almost immediate sigh of relief, grinning. At least most of her tools survived — and her old trunk is there too, which means her blueprints did as well. Hopefully most of herclotheswere as lucky, too…

"Hey, Nya."

Nya pauses in her attempts to haul her trunk out, blowing a strand of hair away from her face as she cranes her head to look back at Cole. "What?"

The grin on his face immediately sets off six different alarms in her head, and Nya tenses. Cole waves a thin photograph in his hand, his smile turning devious. "This was your room here, right?"

Nya doesn't need to get any closer to know what picture he's holding. Her stomach drops as the trunk she's holding does, and she makes a dash for it.

"Wanna explain why you've got picture of Jay stashed under your—"

"Finish that sentence and I'llmurderyou, Brookstone!" Nya hisses, grabbing for the picture and missing as Cole snatches it out of her reach, laughing. Nya spares a panicked glance to make sure Jay's still on the other side of the ship with Zane, then returns her glare to Cole, who's grinning like the big dumbchildhe is — how'd she ever think he was the mature one of the group—

"Chill out, Nya," Cole snickers. "I just think it's interesting, you know? And hey, is this aheartdrawn right here—"

Cole's snickering cuts off as Nya plows into him, tackling his arm and grabbing for the picture with a viciousness alike to Lloyd fighting for the last piece of candy.

"I'll saw your arm off with aspoon—"

"Ow, hey, I need that arm, stoppit—!"

Unfortunately, the moment their fight turns for the less dignified is the moment Kai and Lloyd finally return from slacking off like the terrible teammates they are, so Nya's just gotten a good handful of Cole's hair — an impressive task, really, with how tall the stupid dirtclod is — when Lloyd's cheer of "kick his butt, Nya!" reaches them.

"Tsk," Kai scolds as he pries the two apart, shaking his head. "C'mon, you guys, we're supposed to be teaching Lloyd to be responsible. What kind of example are you setting here?"

Thatdiffuses the tension between Cole and Nya faster than she can blink. They both stand slowly, staring at Kai with murder in their eyes. Nya feels an itch for the Samurai X Mech.

"You're theactualworst," Cole says. Nya's too angry to get anything out other than an indignant sputter, her hands already reaching for the metaphorical spoon she'd mentioned to attack Kai with. Her brother's life is only saved by the appearance of Lloyd, who steps between them neatly, practically bouncing on his toes with excitement.

"Nya," he pipes up, his eyes still shining like a lightbulb. "Nya, you gotta ride Ultra, yougotta, it's not like with the Devourer, it'sfun—"

Nya looks at Kai again, but she can't muster up anyrealanger this time — just amused exasperation, as if to mentally communicatehim falling off Ultra once wasn't enough, huh, you had to instill even more of an adrenaline junkie death wish in him?

"I rode Ultra earlier with you guys, remember?" Nya tells Lloyd, trying in vain to smooth down the unruly cowlick his hair decided to adopt somewhere in the skies.

"Yeah, but that was with the others, and they're all boring," Lloyd says, matter-of-factly. Cole blinks rapidly, looking offended.

"I'm not boring!"

Lloyd evaluates him. "Not as boring as Zane, I guess," he admits.

"Lloyd," Nya chastises, half-pained. "Remember what we're working on?Notbeing so rude?"

"Oh yeah," Lloyd says, his brow furrowing. "Um. You're not boring, just, uh, way too slow and careful. Is that better?"

"Take what you can get," Kai snickers, clapping Cole on the back. Cole shrugs him off with a defeated sigh.

"How close are we to being done here, anyways? I've already got all my stuff." Kai shoots Nya a triumphant grin. "Guess what? All my hair gel made it."

Nya makes a point of running a hand over her face. "Great," she says. "We live to suffer another day of your awful sense of style."

"How dare you—"

"Have you all finished up, then?"

They snap to attention at Sensei's voice, save Lloyd, who kind of just grins at his uncle while trying to grab something from Nya's bag—

"Oh no you don't," Nya hisses, jerking her bag away from Lloyd's grasp and stuffing the picture of Jay deeper into it. Lloyd pouts.

"I think so," Cole answers for them, casting one last look around what used to be Nya's room. "I've got all my stuff packed up. Nya?"

"Yeah," she replies, quickly stuffing the rest of her tools into her trunk and patting the top. "This should be it."

Sensei Wu nods. "The others have finished up as well," he says. He sighs, head dipping beneath his hat as a weary look crosses his face. "I'm afraid I haven't had as much luck as I'd hoped in finding us a place to stay, however."

"Oh?" Nya tries not to look as despairing at that as she feels. She gets that there's not a lot of options for them right now, and she'd rather be alive than like, crushed, so she's thankful and all, but she'd really been hoping they wouldn't have to sleep outside again. She wants ashower.

Sensei Wu shakes his head. "The agent I spoke with isn't able to meet with us until Monday," he says. "And on such short notice, there is little else I can think of. I suppose I could always askher, but…"

He trails off, looking very much like he'd rathernotask her to house his mismatched handful of students, whoever 'her'is.

"So we're out of luck then," Kai says, sounding as miserable as Nya is, though he's obviously trying to hide it. Nya bites her lip, reminded uncannily of the days they spent alone together, trying to scrounge up enough that they wouldn't lose their house and end up homeless. Ah, the irony.

"We-ell, actually…"

Heads turn to Cole, who's biting his lip, looking conflicted. "My um, my daddoeshave a house near the city."

Kai's eyebrows shoot up. Nya blinks — she'd almost forgotten the dark-haired man she'd spoken with in the city among the chaos, but hehadseemed to care an awful lot about Cole. Which he should, obviously, Cole's amazing, but there's that weirdly protective look in Kai's eyes, so maybe Nya's missing out on some of the story here.

"He doesn't have anyone else living with him," Cole continues, sounding a bit more confident. "So he'd probably have room, if he…said yes."

Sensei Wu looks Cole carefully in the eyes, his gaze questioning. "And this would be no trouble to him?" he says. "Or you?"

Cole shrugs. "I mean, it's worth a try," he says, with a half-hearted, weary smile. "S'not like we have anywhere else to go. I've been meaning to check in on him anyways, so…fingers crossed?"

Sensei Wu nods. "Try to contact him then, if you can," he says. "We will prepare to head back to the city." His brow crinkles, gaze narrowing in on the dirt-streaked, tear-ridden gis they've been in for the last few days now. "And change your clothes while you're at it," he says. "I doubt Cole's father would appreciate anyone tracking the remains of the Great Devourer over his house."

Nya, who had since managed to repress the fact that they hadn't been able to get rid of allthat, has to bite back a gag at the reminder that it's still in herhair. Thanks a lot, Sensei.

Cole looks down at his gi, his face falling. "Ah, yeah," he says. "Will do."

"I'll go wrangle Jay and Zane," Kai says, patting Cole on the shoulder. "Make sure we look halfway presentable."

Cole snorts, but mutters a thanks. Nya casts a glance at her own outfit, grimacing. Oh well, she's been meaning to redesign the Samurai X armor anyways.Hm. She's still got that old kimono, right? Or that red wrap dress she'd been saving…either way, she's gonna need to dosomethingabout her hair eventually.

Shaking her concern off — and any more thoughts about the Devourer andguts— Nya turns her attention to Lloyd, narrowing her eyes. Nowthere'sa real problem. His hair is a catastrophic mess of snarled blond curls, and there's sand and dirt streaked across his face, but she can at least deal with that. The filthy, dirt-stained gi, on the other hand…

"You gotta change too, mister," she says, poking Lloyd's shoulder.

Lloyd looks at her in consternation. "What's wrong with this?" he demands, gesturing at his gi. Nya stares pointedly at the rather large, charred hole he's just managed to reveal with the gesture. Lloyd cringes.

"Everything is wrong with it, Lloyd, it's disgusting." Nya injects a little more authority into her voice, hoping Lloyd'll comply without throwing a fit for once. "You're not wearing that to Mr. Brookstone's, he won't let you in the house. Besides, it's kind of risky wearing it around anyways."

Nya pauses. She hasn't even entertained the thought that the rest of Ninjago might know what the Green Ninja means — she'd been so caught up with what it meant for Lloyd and Garmadon. But if someone whodidknow were to see a tiny kid wandering around in the green gi…

Nya glares at the gi. Lloyd avoids her gaze, and very muchnotmaking any move to concede to her. Nya huffs. "Come on, Lloyd, I'm not gonna ask again, change into something else—"

Lloyd murmurs something inaudible under his breath.

Nya frowns. "What was that?"

"I don'thaveanything else," Lloyd mumbles a bit louder, his face red in embarrassment.

"…what?" Nya repeats, confused.

"I don't have any otherclothes!" Lloyd bursts out, looking like he wants to crawl under the floorboards. "My hoodie was the only other thing I had, and you said I couldn't wear it anymore!"

Oh. So Nya's just an idiot.

Lloyd's turned bright red by this point, looking terribly embarrassed, but Nya's the one that feels stupid. Of course Lloyd doesn't have any other clothes. He was barely even able toeatbefore he came to live with them, much less afford any new clothes.She feels the odd churn of guilt, anger and pity in her stomach that she's coming to associate with hearing anything about Lloyd's life before them. She's banned the hoodie until she can fix the tears in it, and half of her has been debating straight-up tossing it out because it's so dirty, but — that was all he'd had on the streets to keep warm. No wonder he doesn't want to give it up.

Nya bites her lip. Why didn't she notice this before? The poor kid's been wearing the gi so much she hadn't eventhought—

Well, she shakes herself.No time like the present.

"Okay," she says, blowing her breath out.

Lloyd looks up at her hesitantly. "Okay?"

"Okay, we're gonna go shopping later," Nya says, firmly. "Soon as we're back on our feet, we'll get you an entire wardrobe." Lloyd blinks at her, the flush fading from his cheeks as his eyes go wide. Nya claps her hands together. "But for now—"

She turns. "Kai!" she yells across the splintered deck to where she can see the spikes of his hair just sticking up from below, where he's harassing Zane about his outfit. He pokes his head up, giving her a questioning look.

"You got any spare clothes down there?" she calls. "Preferably older ones?" Kai's brow furrows in confusion. He glances briefly between her and Lloyd, and realization dawns.

"Yeah, I oughtta be able to find something!" he calls back. "Our room didn't get too wrecked, lemme check."

"Ask the others too," Nya instructs him. "Anything that's too small, or that they can spare."

Lloyd blinks rapidly, sputtering. "Wait, no, you guys don't have to-"

"Yo guys!" Kai's voice echoes across the wreckage. "Anyone got old clothes they can share with short stack over here? Lookin' at you, Jay, you're a shrimp—"

"Hey, rude!"

Nya shakes her head, but she's grinning as the others clamor back and forth across what used to be their home. Her guys and their dumb antics. Her smile grows tight, and for a brief second, she's hit with an overwhelming wave of relief that they're all still here — that they all made it through.

She doesn't know what she would have done, if any of them hadn't.

She glances back at Lloyd, who's still got a look on his face that clearly says he doesn't understand what's happening here. Nya pats him on the shoulder. "We'll take care of you, green bean," she tells him. "It's our job."

The guys are more than eager to pitch their old clothes in, and they step up so enthusiastically Nya isn't sure whether she should start crying in pride or rescue Lloyd before the guys get into a tug-of-war with him over what primary color he's gonna wear the most.

"C'mon, Lloyd, blue's a much better look on you—"

"Are you kidding me? Red's obviously his color, it matches his eyes—"

Lloyd just stares at the t-shirt Cole's pressing on him with wide, suspiciously watery eyes, already holding the other clothes tightly against his chest.

Nya is again assaulted with the rather painfully unpleasant idea that this is the first time Lloyd's ever had someone give him something like this, ifanything, with no strings attached. She grits her teeth. If she ever gets within five feet of Darkley's, boy is she gonna have afieldday. She's been building up alotof pent-up stress lately, and she didn't even get to hit Pythor a second time before he got eaten, so she's gotta take it outsomewhere.

(Hm. Not to pull a Kai, but there is always Garmadon, she supposes…)

The end result is, admittedly, a headache. Lloyd ends up with one of Zane's tight-knit, long-sleeved white shirts and one of Cole's old graphic t-shirts pulled over on top it. To Jay's chagrin, his shortsarethe only ones that stand a chance of fitting Lloyd, so he ends up with bright blue gym shorts that are only rolled up three or four times. Kai tops the outfit off by handing Lloyd a red hoodie that Nya immediately recognizes.

"It's an old one, so don't worry about getting it dirty, it's yours," Kai tells him, as he helps roll the sleeves up over Lloyd's much smaller wrists. "It's no big deal."

That's a lie, and Nya knows it, because Kai's had that hoodie since she can remember — it's important to him in the way the worn leather necklace that belonged to their father is, the way Nya's bracelet is, so the fact that he's giving it to Lloyd and telling him to keep it—

Sap!Nya jabs at him in her mind, even though she's the one getting her heart strangled all over again.

By the time they're ready to go, Lloyd looks like a multi-colored disaster of over-sized red, blue, black, and white, mismatched and ill-fitting and very obviously barely held together by the neat pinning Zane's done. But the small, genuine smile Lloyd's got on as he tugs Kai's hoodie sleeve up makes it work, in Nya's opinion.

It's not like the rest of them lookallthat much better, she thinks ruefully, watching as Zane tries to get Kai's hair to stick up right for the eighth time.

Will Trade Soul for ShowerGroup Chat

Kai:really hope cole's dad has an extra phone charger

Nya:thats what u get for letting lloyd play games on it last night

Kai:excuse me for being a caring brother

Kai:where am i supposed to find an outlet anyways

Kai:the sand?

Nya:jay can zap it for you

Nya:it worked for cole's

Kai:…isnt cole's phone exploded

Nya:aw man you saw that

As it turns out, Mr. Brookstone actually doesn't mind the idea of his son bringing home five filthy, homeless ninja and their debatably-sane Sensei for dinner, which Kai figures either says something about how much Cole's dad loves him, or how weird Cole's dad is.

Not that the two can't go hand in hand, of course, but still.

They make a sorry troupe on the whole as they trudge toward the Brookstone household, the Ultradragon having found itself a nice place in the desert and stubbornly refused to accompany them until they found somewhere big enough for it to rest. This is a good thing, Kai reminds himself, even as his feet ache from walking across the still-under-construction streets of the city. They're trying to draw as little attention as possible right now, and the Ultradragon is probably more likely to knock another building over than it is to help them out much.

Still, Kai thinks, watching Lloyd stumble on an upturned sidewalk, Zane catching him before he can face-plant on the concrete. It would've been nice to get a break.

Cole's house is fairly far out from the main hub of Ninjago City, so unlike a lot of the houses closer in, it seems to have survived the worst of the Devourer's attack. It's good to know that their attempts to keep it corralled didsomething, Kai thinks bitterly. The amount of destroyed buildings, ruined homes and businesses they had to pass on the way in — it makes Kai's stomach turn, and he's suddenly glad he hadn't had anything to eat this morning after all.

Next time, Kai swears to himself through hot eyes, watching another misplaced family try to salvage what's left of their home. Next time, they'll do better. They'll train harder, get themselves together quicker, they'll make their elemental powers so strong that no one in Ninjago will ever have to face something like this again, just because they weren't prepared enough to face something like the Devourer.

The depressing part of Kai's brain tells him that it's a promise that's asking to be broken, and another part of his brain, that sounds suspiciously like Zane, reminds him that he's just a kid, and kids don't tend to stand the best chances against this sort of—

Kai shoves the thought back. He's not some little kid, he thinks hotly. No excuses.

Lloyd, however, very muchisa little kid, and Kai winces as he stumbles again, looking dead on his feet. Kai blows his breath out, pulling himself together as they trudge up the path leading to Cole's father's house. Focus on what he can do now, he reminds himself. He's got his own family to take care of, first.

The door slams open before Cole can even take the first step up, and Mr. Brookstone surges out, walking cane abandoned. His eyes are wild as they catch on Cole, wide with some painful, overwhelming sense of relief.

"You had to keep me waiting," Mr. Brookstone scolds wetly, as he pulls Cole to him tightly. "Couldn't be bothered to let me know you were fine earlier, could you."

Cole stiffens in his father's embrace, his eyes going wide. "I didn't mean — dad, I'm sorry—"

Mr. Brookstone shakes his head. "Never mind that," he says gruffly, pulling back from Cole and dashing surreptitiously at his eyes. "You're back safe, that's all I can ask for." Cole's shoulders ease out, his expression crashing into its own sort of relief. Mr. Brookstone turns his attention to the rest of them, giving Sensei Wu a formal bow in greeting,

"That you for your generosity," Sensei Wu tells him, his voice sincere. "We appreciate your willingness to help us, especially in these times."

Mr. Brookstone waves him off, shaking his head. "Of course," he says, flippantly. "Anyone who's a friend of my son is always welcome. And I suppose I owe you thanks too, for training him well enough to stay alive," he finishes wryly.

Sensei gives him a crooked smile. "Cole does a good deal of that work himself," he says, evenly. "It is easy to teach someone as hard-working as he is."

Cole turns a bit red, and Jay snickers. Mr. Brookstone just nods, then turns his attention back to the other ninja. His mouth pulls into a smile as his eyes land on Nya.

"I should thank you as well, young lady," he says. "For keeping good on your promise."

Kai turns to her in surprise, frowning. When had Nya had the time to chat with Cole's dad? She hadn't really talked much with them during that ridiculous excuse for a dance competition…

"I had help," Nya shrugs, but she's got a smug little smile on. Kai refrains form rolling his eyes. FSM knows she's gonna lord it over them that she saved them for months. It's like she's forgettingshewas the one who spent a good ten minutes two inches away from falling into the Devourer's mouth.

Cole opens his mouth to say something, when Jay's stomach suddenly growls loudly. They all turn to him, Cole's eyebrows pulling into an expression of exasperation.

Jay folds his arms across his chest, looking unrepentant. "Excuse me for being starving," he says, haughtily. "It's not like we haven't eaten in two days or anything."

Sensei runs a weary hand over his face, but Mr. Brookstone just laughs. "Come on in, then," he says. "I've already got soup on, I figured that might be the case."

There's a noticeable change in the atmosphere as they all turn to him, their eyes practically gleaming at the mention of food.

"That," Sensei Wu says. "Is very much appreciated."

To Kai's relief, Cole's dad is awaybetter cook than Cole is. It could be that Kai's just so hungry that even Cole's cooking would taste good at this point, but Mr. Brookstone's soup tastes amazing either way. Kai has to remember to breath in between spoonfuls, and gets more than one sharp elbow in the side from Nya, accompanied by a hissedremember your manners.

What a mother hen, Kai thinks in amusem*nt. Manners can take a backseat in the face of giant snake-developed starvation.

"This is great, dad," Cole finally says between spoonfuls, breaking the silence around the table they're gathered at. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble to make."

"Of course not," Mr. Brookstone says, shaking his head at Cole. He eyes the rest of them. "I'm just glad I made enough…"

"About timesomeonedid," Jay mumbles through a mouthful of soup. Zane elbows him, looking scandalized.

"We are very thankful for your kindness, Mr. Brookstone," Zane says, polite to the bitter end. Good ol' Zane will always have them covered in that area. "Both in sharing your food and your home."

"Like I said, it's no trouble Zane," Mr. Brookstone says, his eyes crinkling as he smiles. "It's good to see you all again." His gaze shifts, landing on their side of the table. "Though I do see some new faces." He gives Lloyd a friendly smile. "And who's this, Cole? I don't think you brought him with you last time."

"Oh," Cole says, quickly. "He's, uh—"

"I'm Lloyd," Lloyd pipes up, through a mouthful of soup. Then, before anyone's gesture can stop him— "Lloyd Garmadon."

Leave it to Lloyd to do things the hard way,Kai thinks in despairing exasperation, resisting the urge to slap his hand over his face. At least he didn't tell him he was the legendary Green Ninja while he was at it.

The table goes abruptly quiet. The four ninja glance between each other, then turn in unison to look at Mr. Brookstone. Sensei Wu merely takes a long sip of tea, watching Cole's father carefully. Mr. Brookstone straightens, blinding rapidly. "Garmadon— as in his…son?"

Lloyd nods, oblivious to the thickening tension in the room. "Tha's my dad," he mumbles, shoveling another mouthful of soup in his mouth. "But he's running off all the time, so I live with the ninja."

Mr. Brookstone's mouth opens slightly, then closes, as if he's not quite sure what to say. Nya meets Kai's eyes. They both look at Mr. Brookstone, scooting slightly closer to Lloyd as they do, expressions set. Their unspoken message is fairly clear, Kai thinks.

Cole just watches his father, biting his lip anxiously. He looks like he's about to speak up, but Mr. Brookstone nods, clearing his throat before Cole can say a word. He leans back in his seat, carefully stirring another spoonful of sugar into his coffee.

"Well," Mr. Brookstone says, his voice surprisingly at ease. "Like my boy Cole, you're never really bound to your father's career, are you?" He smiles slightly at Cole, who's gaping at him. "That's not a bad thing, either."

Cole blinks, then quickly looks down at his food. He completely fails to hide the bright smile slowly growing on his lips, though.

Lloyd nods sagely. "Yeah," he says. "I wouldn't wanna hang out with snakes and skeletons as much as he does, anyways. And his helmet's kinda ugly too. I like my gi better."

The table erupts in muffled snorts, Kai shoving a hand over his mouth to hide his grin. Lord Garmadon's helmetiskinda ugly, isn't it. Burn points to the demon spawn, Kai's gonna have amodellittle brother at this rate.

Sensei Wu shakes his head wearily, taking another sip of tea. "Family is family," he sighs. "Fortunately, this one here has moderately better taste in fashion."

"Moderately," Mr. Brookstone mutters under his breath. "Is a generous term."

Cole looks insulted at this. "I wasn't that bad," he grumbles. Then, realizing his mistake, he goes pale. "Wait, dad, please don't—"

Kai exchanges gleeful looks with Jay, and they both turn to Mr. Brookstone. "You wouldn't happen to have any pictures of thismoderatelyterrible fashion, would you?" Jay says, wickedly.

Cole gives him a look that could kill. "Don't you dare—"

"Actually, I was just cleaning out the attic other day,"Mr. Brookstone says easily. "I found a lot of your baby pictures, Cole, you know, and the ones from your toddler ballet classes?"

Jay looks like Christmas has come early. Cole looks like he wants to absorb himself into the table, and Kai would feel sorry for him if he wasn't as invested in humiliating his brother as Jay is.

"Oh, we wouldloveto see those," Nya says, her smile all teeth as she grins at Cole. For some reason, her eyes screamrevenge.

Cole sighs miserably, burying his face in his hands. "I hate all of you," he mutters.

Nyachanged the chat name toSHOWER ACHIEVED

Kaichanged the chat name toReturn of the Sexy Smith Sibling Hair

Nya:are you serious

Nya:what was wrong with mine!

Kai:not enough pizazz

Nya:you don't even know what that is

Nyachanged the chat name toKai Has a Potato Face

Kai:how dare u

Kaichanged the chat name toTechnically Nya Kissed a Serpentine

Nya:I WILL MURDER YOU THIS IS NOT A JOKE

Kaichanged the chat name toLive Fast Die Young Homeless Ninja Do It Well

Nya:…that's not even better

Kai:if u werent so picky it would be

Lloyd isn't one to admit defeat, ever, in the face of any know-it-all adult, but he's actually getting pretty tired.

Not as tired as yesterday, of course! Yesterday was the most tired he's ever been in his life, and that includes that one time he accidentally fell asleep standing up in the Jamanakai library because he didn't have anywhere else to go and he hadn't slept since he'd gotten kicked out of Darkley's.

Ugh. Lloyd shivers. Oh man, he's really glad Uncle Wu and the ninja came through, because being homeless again would have been terrible.

Despite how lame Lloyd's always calling the ninja, 'cause old habits die hard, Cole's dad is actually pretty cool, as it turns out. Not as cool as Lloyd's dad, obviously, but he's got a really neat music collection and he makes good soup. He also shows them all sorts of embarrassing pictures of Cole, which is funny.

Cole gets all sputtery and red-faced, but Lloyd can tell that he doesn't really mind all that much. He mostly just looks happy that his dad is talking about him at all. There's a relaxed sort of smile Lloyd hasn't seen Cole wear lately, and he looks a lot less stressed as he tells his dad about their adventures. He kinda looks younger too, flushing as his dad ruffles his hair before heading off to make another pot of tea.

Lloyd watches him retreat, fiddling with the end of Kai's hoodie that he's wearing. He wonders if this is how his dad would act, if he wasn't all cursed and evil and doomed to darkness and stuff. If this is how their house would look, with patterned curtains and old record players and fancy clocks, the worn table and the painted wallpaper with pictures hanging up neatly everywhere.

Huh, Lloyd muses, squinting at the picture on the wall of Cole and his dad again. He hasn't seen any trace of Cole's mom. Maybe he's like Lloyd, and she left before he could remember her?

Whatever the case, Lloyd isn't gonna ask. Nya's been stressing the importance ofpolitenessall day, and Lloyd wants to stay on her good side. He's got more important stuff to focus on right now anyways, he reminds himself, glancing back down at the colorful Monopoly money lined up in front of him and Kai.

Sensei Wu is talking with Mr. Brookstone about boring adult stuff in the kitchen right now, so they can slack off as much as they want to. Lloyd was a little worried that they might try to send him to bed early, or do some boring ninja training after dinner, but Cole pulled out a bunch of board games and they all ended up on the living room floor instead. Zane even madecaramel popcornfor them to eat, and on top of getting to stay up late? Tonight is a wild success in Lloyd's opinion, even if theydidhave to pick some boring game like Monopoly.

"—four, five, six — oh come on, are you kidding me?" Kai groans, staring at where his game piece landed. "This is the third time we've landed here!"

"Luck of the roll," Jay says smugly, hand already outstretched. "Pay up."

Kai makes a face at Jay, but his shoulders droop in defeat. "C'mon, Lloyd," he says. "I guess we don't have a choice."

Lloyd glares at Jay, but he slaps the money in Kai's outstretched hand anyways, watching as he hands it off to Jay with mild grumbling.

Lloyd wrinkles his nose. If he's being honest — (and he's trying to be honest more often, because that's what good guys do, even if Nya tells him that being as honest as he is can berude, for whatever dumb reason) — Kai is terrible at Monopoly, and Lloyd probably could've done better if he'd just played by himself. But Lloyd is also trying to be nicer, and in the battle of niceness versus honesty Lloyd is….ten percent sure that niceness should win out?

Look, he's still learning, he can be excused for this one.

Either way, even if Kaiisterrible, Lloyd still wants to be on his team anyways. Because that's what brothers do, if Lloyd knows anything about brothers (he doesn't, but it's what he imagines brothers are supposed to do — he's watched the ninja enough). Brothers stick with each other even if they suck really,reallybadly at Monopoly, and they help them beat at least Cole by stealing money from the pile when Zane isn't looking.

…Lloyd's had to steal a lot, though, and he's starting to push his luck. He's pretty good with slight of hand, but he's notthatgood, and Zane's got scary good eyes when it comes to zeroing in on people cheating. He sighs, watching as Kai has to hand more money over to Cole this time.Geez. Kai's good at a lot of things, butdefinitelynot Monopoly. Maybe Lloyd should take over rolling the dice.

He glances over to where Nya is sitting with her much larger pile of money, collecting her latest steal from Zane. Hewouldhave been on her team, but the competition she's got going on with Jay is a little too intense for even Lloyd — he doesn't wanna get murdered over something as dumb as Monopoly.

"Well well, what have we here," Jay's telling Nya, in a voice that soundswaymore creepy than any of the threats he's ever yelled at bad guys. "Park Place is mine now. Looks like your greedy reign is coming to an end, Nya."

"Not likely," Nya tosses back, her eyes narrowed. "You're about to pass through my carefully constructed block of apartments, remember? Your money ismine."

Jay leans forward over the Monopoly board, giving Nya what Lloyd thinks is a pretty decent evil grin. "That's onlyifI land on your pathetic apartments," he says. "And don't forget who owns the Water Works. Better watch that next roll."

"Don't get too co*cky, Walker," Nya says, leaning forward as well, eyes flashing at Jay like he's her prey. "I'm about to own the Electric Company. Taking the Water Works back from your weak hold will be easy."

"Ohyeah—"

"I always forget they end up like this whenever we play Monopoly," Cole sighs, leaning back against the foot of the couch. He glances at his own shrinking pile of money. "Maybe we should've stuck with Candy Land, or something."

Lloyd's head snaps up. They have a game calledCandy Land, and they're stuck playing dumbMonopoly?He grumbles to himself, glaring at the board. Why doesn't anyone here have anytaste?

"Nya's always been a money miser," Kai says. "Combine that with her competitiveness and it's deadly."

Huh, Lloyd would've thought Kai was the competitive one. Maybe he's just so far behind that he resigned himself to defeat this time.

"She does have an unusually good mind for this," Zane admits, staring at his own pieces in bemusem*nt. "Normally I fare better in these games."

"Just accept defeat and move on," Kai says. "Nya's already won this."

"I dunno," Cole mutters. "Remember when Jay took up couponing for a month so he could get his mom that blender? The store ended up owinghimmoney. He's pretty terrifying at this himself."

"And Nya isn't terrifying?" Zane says, watching warily as Nya gives Jay a savage, sharp-toothed grin, the two still trading trash talk.

"Fair point," Cole winces. "I guess it's anyone's game."

"Except ours," Kai says, dully. "Sorry, green bean. Looks like we're going broke."

"No we're not," Lloyd whispers, slipping Kai the latest money he'd swiped from the pile. "Look, more money magically appeared."

Kai blinks at him, then breaks into muffled snickers, quickly sorting the money into their own tiny pile before the others can see. "Terrible," he says, shaking his head. "You're terrible."

"Hmph," Lloyd crosses his arms. "I wouldn't have to be ifyouweren't so terrible at this game."

"Ouch," Kai says. "Dagger to the heart there, demon spawn."

Lloyd's bottom lip juts out, and he frowns at Kai. "Y'know, if we'rereallybrothers now, that means you're part demon spawn too," he huffs. Kai blinks, and Lloyd freezes.

He immediately wants to take the words back — because what if Kai says they'renotreally brothers? He knows Kai said all that stuff the other evening, and he's seemed super sincere about it ever since, but — but — no one's ever wanted Lloyd like that, and he just gave Kai a window to take it all back, so what if—

"What — that's not how it works," Kai sputters. "I balance out your demon-ness, if anything."

"Nah, Kai's a demon too," Nya says, having taken a break from her deadlock with Jay to drop in on their conversation. She grins at Lloyd. "Now you're even worse."

Kai starts sputtering even further, and Lloyd giggles quietly as he watches them dissolve into arguing. There's a warm little bubble in his chest, the kind that makes him feel weirdly light and giddy. It's kind of funny, because the kids at Darkley's used to call him all sorts of names —demon spawnis pretty tame, honestly — but whenever Kai and Nya do it, it feels a hundred times different. Like it's a good thing, a family-ish kind of thing, he thinks.

"Speaking of demon spawn, it iswaypast your bedtime," Nya frowns, looking at her watch. "Time for bed, bud." The smile slides off of Lloyd's face. There goes his happy feeling.

"Aw, c'mon, please?" he begs. "Just ten more minutes?"

"We already gave you two extra hours," Cole shakes his head. "Don't push your luck."

Lloyd sulks, glaring at the ground. "You guys are so lame," he mutters.

"Don't be a brat," Kai says, ruffling his hair. Lloyd makes a face. "We'll probably turn in pretty soon, anyways. You got pajamas?"

"Yeah," Lloyd sighs, standing up. He knows when he's lost a battle. "Cole gave me some stuff."

"Dad had some of my old clothes," Cole explains. "Should last us until we can go shopping."

"Nice," Kai says. He makes to stand up. "Here, I'll come with you and make sure—"

"No, no, I can go to bed myself," Lloyd says, trying to push Kai's shoulders back down. "You gotta win the game for us."

Jay snorts, and Kai winces. "I'll, uh, I'll try," he promises, half-heartedly.

"You better," Lloyd says, yawning. "I'm going, I'm going!" he yelps at Nya's look. "Goodnight, bunch of traitors."

"Goodnight, Lloyd," the others chorus cheerfully.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" Kai calls after him, and Lloyd grits his teeth. First he gets sent to bed earlier than the others, now he's gotta brush his teeth, too? So lame.

Out of spite, Lloyd barely brushes his teeth at all, and ends up swallowing most of the toothpaste on accident. After almost hacking a lung up, he finally trudges to the room the guys and him are sharing, crawling onto one of the air mattresses Cole's dad set up on the floor. He yawns again, pulling the covers up and staring up a the ceiling sleepily. Maybe he's a bit more tired than he'd thought—

"…need to get an early start tomorrow, anyways, if we're going house-hunting."

Lloyd perks up, head lifting from the mattress. He can hear the guys' voices from right outside the door, which means they're probably all standing in the hallway.Ha, Lloyd grins to himself. They must think he's asleep.

He edges closer to the door, straining to listen in. It doesn't sound like they're talking about anything too interesting, but Lloyd's not about to miss out on hearing something he's not supposed to.

"Dad's got the name of another agent for us, if the other one falls through," Cole is saying, his voice hushed. "We can meet with her tomorrow, she'll hopefully have something in our budget."

"I already have the calculations done," Zane says. "We will be prepared. I just hope we are able to find a good place quickly."

"Time is of the essence," Uncle Wu speaks up. "Shelter is not our only concern. My brother has the Golden Weapons now. Every day that passes draws us closer to the Final Battle."

Silence falls over the hallway. Lloyd clutches his blanket tighter, a weird thudding in his ears. He doesn't know if he wants to listen in on this conversation anymore.

"We need to start training Lloyd," Cole says, his voice heavy. "As soon as possible."

"He'snine," Nya's voice speaks up, strained and tight. "You can't just stick a weapon in his hands and expect him to hurt someone with it, especially not his ownfather. That's not right."

"He's gotta be able to defend himself," Jay says, sounding like he's imploring Nya. "We're gonna focus way more on teaching him to keep himself safe, obviously."

"We must also teach him to control his powers," Zane says, quietly. "If what you told us earlier is true, he's already manifested them. Leaving them unchecked will only put him in more danger."

Nya falls quiet. "He controlled them enough to save me," she mutters.

"I don't like it either, Nya." That's Kai, his voice sounding a lot more tired than it usually does. "But I don't think the powers of darkness are going to care that he's nine."

Silence falls over the hall again, heavier and more oppressive than before. Lloyd bites his lip.

"We will get no further worrying ourselves about this tonight," Uncle Wu speaks up again, sounding exhausted. "Get to bed now, you are all in need of rest. The future will still be there for us to worry about in the morning."

There's a scattered murmuring ofyes, Sensei, and Lloyd quickly burrows back under the covers, shutting his eyes and forcing his breathing even. The door opens and he hears the guys start trodding in, carefully keeping their footsteps quiet as they settle down. The room finally falls into quiet, the only sound the tick of the Brookstone's clock and Jay's slight snuffling. Lloyd pulls his blanket higher over his head.

It'll be fine, he tells himself, his eyes screwed shut tightly.It'll all be fine. The ninja will make sure everything's fine.

Lloyd's never put much trust in anything, but he trusts Uncle Wu. He trusts the ninja.

He just wishes he could trust himself.

Chapter 12: Season Two - Part One

Chapter Text

As it turns out, finding an apartment that suits the needs of four ninja, a samurai with weapons of mass destruction, a questionably-old ninja master, and a pint-sized chosen one ofveryquestionable power is a big fat pain in the neck. Finding an apartment that's even remotely within theirbudget, though? Impossible.

"Maybe we should just make camp in a Serpentine tomb," Jay mutters, as Zane dejectedly crosses another marking off their list.

Nya elbows him, but she can't help feeling the same despair that's leaking into his voice. Ninjago City's open housing listings have kind of…sucked so far. A lot, especially since a giant snake recently crushed half the housing that used to be available. Nya fights back a sigh of despair. No wonder Kai constantly fought tooth and nail to keep them in the blacksmith shop. She's gaining a new appreciation for the stress her brother went through.

And speaking of brothers—

"I don't wanna live in a Serpentine tomb," Lloyd scowls. "They're cold and dark and gross and full of snakes. I'mnotgonna live there, you can'tmakeme—"

"Woah, no one's living in a Serpentine tomb," Kai says hastily, assuring Lloyd. He shoots Jay a glare, and Nya doesn't need to be his sister to read the warning there. Jay puts up his hands in defense.

"Joke, it was a joke," he says quickly. "Geez, no need to get so grouchy about it."

"I'm notgrouchy," Lloyd bites, sounding very much grouchy. "You'regrouchy, you big dumb — ugh, whatever!" He throws his hands in the air, looking incensed. "This is taking forever! We've been out here all day and we haven't even gotten anywhere. We're just gonna end up homeless again, right? 'Cause this whole stupid city is just a - it's just a-"

"Hey, no, hold the phone," Kai says quickly, and Nya's quick to crouch down by Lloyd next to him. Her heart drops at how red Lloyd's eyes are getting, the telltale sheen of tears that's gathering there. She'd been expecting it with his outburst, sure, butstill.

She's a few more rejections from crying herself.

"We're not gonna be homeless, okay?" Kai tells Lloyd. "I promise. You uncle's out looking too, remember? He might have better luck."

Lloyd mumbles something inaudible under his breath that only Kai seems to hear, and Nya stands wearily, exchanging glances with Cole.

"We might need to take a break soon," she murmurs, as Jay and Kai try to tackle the slowly-dissolving mess that is Lloyd. "Before Lloyd throws a full tantrum on us and quits."

"He's probably hungry, like the rest of us are," Zane says, quietly. "That might contribute to…current temperaments."

"Yeah, I'venoticed." Cole runs a hand over his face, flattening the slightly-crumpled newspaper over his leg again, squinting down at the ads listed. "Okay, ah, there's a few listings on the east side of the city we haven't checked out yet, so there's…that."

"The east side?" Kai scoffs, looking up from where he's still crouched by Lloyd. "Great idea, Cole. We'retotallygated community material."

"It's worth a try," Jay says stubbornly, defending Cole. "At least he's looking."

"What, and I'mnot?" Kai snaps.

"You're not being helpful, that's for sure, you hot-headed jerk—"

"Call me that again,junkyardboy—"

"Woah, hey, stoppit!" Cole yelps, shouldering between them. Kai's eyes are simmering, and Jay's got a dangerous sort of lightning sparking behind his at the wordsjunkyard boy. "Calm down, guys, we're in the middle of —" Kai makes a move, and Cole solidly blocks him, his own eyes darkening. "That's an order. Let it go,now."

Nya stands back next to Zane, who's since grabbed Lloyd from the middle of it, the three of them watching wide-eyed as Kai and Jay slowly back down. Their tempers might be high right now, but no one in their right mind wants to cross Cole when he gets like that. It's not worth it.

"Fine," Jay spits, taking a step back. Kai just gives a sharp nod to Cole, before glaring at the ground. Nya can already see the slight flash of regret in her brother's eyes, though — aw great, he's gonna be a big ball of moody self-loathing for the rest of the day, isn't he.

"Perhaps you had a point about that break," Zane sighs.

Nya scrubs a hand across her face, nodding. They need to find a place to live a-s-a-p, but pushing them when they're already at their breaking point from exhaustion and stress isn't gonna help. Especially when Kai's likethis.

She studies her brother's expression again, the way his shoulders are ramrod-tight and hunched in on himself, and bites back a sigh.

She knows, in part, why Kai's in such a sour mood. And if she had to guess, it's part of the reason Lloyd is, as well. They'd only left the Brookstone's house a few hours ago, but the undercurrent of hollow bitterness she's trying to suppress is taking its sweet time to leave.

She'd been fine, she'd beenperfectly happyto spend time at Cole's house with Cole's dad, because Cole is one of her best friends — herbrother— and seeing him happy makes her happy.

But then they'd been preparing to head out, bags too light as they packed them up, when Mr. Brookstone had come running out and swept Cole up into a hug that looked a bit like he was trying to crush him. Cole had just laughed, hugging his dad back in what Nya knew was a stronger embrace than his father would ever be able to give, and there'd been thislookon his face, closed-eyes and content and happy, and Nya — she realized she didn't quite know what that look felt like.

And she could have put up with that, maybe, if Jay hadn't taken the opportunity to call his parents at the same time, cheerfully echoing their"I love you too"into the phone, and something in Nya's chest had clenched up, all tight and painful.

If she had to name it, she'd call it the overwhelming urge to punch the universe in the face. The part of her head insisting that it wasjealousy, that could take a hike.

But Kai had worn the same kind of look on his face as he watched them, and he'd taken a step closer to her, tucking Lloyd between them. Zane had edged toward them as well, and Kai had set a bracing sort of hand on his shoulder. There'd been an unspoken tightness between them that Nya can still feel now, stranded on a newly-repaired sidewalk in Ninjago City she'd help patch with her own hands that morning.

A camaraderie of jealousy, Nya thinks dully. How's it work out that only two members of their family got away with at least one parent that didn't die, disappear, and/or turn evil and walk out on them?

So if the reminder that their parents are kind of nonexistent at the moment, compared to their teammates' happy ones, puts them in a bit of a garbage mood, Nya thinks they can be excused.

"Can we go already?" Lloyd pipes up, his voice sour. "This is boring. My legs hurt."

Kai and Jay, while not audibly communicating, are staring at the ground with expressions that mirror the pent-up, whining tone in Lloyd's voice almost exactly. Nya exchanges looks with Cole again, who then glances to Zane.

"What if we split up?" Zane offers. "Nya can take Lloyd to find Sensei, and us four can look around, and maybe help with any repairs still needing assistance."

Thank FSM for Zane,Nya thinks. He's continuing to be the smartest on the team, as always. Giving the guys a task to focus on, as opposed to milling about aimlessly trying to decide what to do next, is probably the best plan any of them have had all day.

Maybe they can like, find a bunch of concrete to blow up or something. Blowing stuff up always seems to solve any arguments between the guys, right?

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," Cole nods, looking gratefully at Zane. "And maybe you two can grab some food while you're at it."

He stresses the food part, eyeing Lloyd. He's been growing suspiciously quiet, his face pale and drawn where he kicks absently at a rock on the ground.

"On it," Nya says. She grabs Lloyd's shoulder, shaking it gently. "How's that sound? Wanna grab some food, then hunt down your uncle?"

Lloyd regards her briefly, then nods. "Can we go somewhere that has those little prizes," he mumbles.

Nya snorts. "If you can find a better attitude somewhere, maybe." She turns to the others, wincing briefly at the bruises and scrapes that still line them, thrown into sharper relief in the bright afternoon sun. "Um, maybe you guys can pick up some food, too?"

Kai shrugs. "Might help," he mutters.

Cole huffs a sigh. "We'll get something," he assures Nya. "C'mon guys, let's head out. And — no, stop — Jay and Kai, you're not allowed to walk next to each other, break it up."

Nya bites her lip against an exhausted laugh as Cole shoulders the two apart, still scowling at each other. She doesnotenvy Cole and Zane that one.

Kai breaks away from them briefly to mumble a goodbye to Nya, something about staying safe garbled between the words. Nya shakes her head as he turns to Lloyd, who's still staring at the ground with an expression of half-sulking, half blank-eyed exhaustion.

He perks up for Kai though, murmuring something quietly to him, and Kai nods. He whispers something back, scuffing Lloyd's hair from his eyes with his hand before sending him back to Nya. Lloyd looks marginally happier as he joins her, and a lot less grumpy, so Nya can only wonder what her brother said.

"See you in a bit," she waves to him. Kai nods back, his eyes sweeping over them both.

"Stay safe," he says again, and Nya almost rolls her eyes. Almost. The dark circles under Kai's eyes have her feeling guilty just thinking about it.

"Sensei mentioned he wants to meet up later in the afternoon," Cole tells her. "So stay in touch, okay? We can regroup then."

Nya nods, grabbing for Lloyd's hand as they drift apart from the others. Lloyd holds her hand for a whopping three minutes, before he finally remembers that he's a little brat of a pre-pubescent boy and yanks his hand away, turning red and scowling.

Nya's less offended than she is amused.

"So," she says. "What kind of unhealthy junk food you feeling?"

Lloyd picks the brightest-colored, greasiest, ugliest eyesore of a diner that hasn't been destroyed by the Devourer on the block. Nya's not ashamed to admit how much food she orders them.

"I'll trade you five fries for a chicken nugget," she offers, as they tear into their plates.

Lloyd purses his lips, contemplating her offer. "I want…half your fries."

"Half?" Nya snorts. "That's robbery and you know it, little swindler."

"Do you want a nugget or not?" Lloyd sniffs, guarding his meal under his hands.

"Okay, how about this," Nya says, leaning her elbows on the table. "I'll give you half my fries, if you—" she dangles one of the fries in the air. "Can vaporize this with your powers."

Lloyd's face scrunches up. "What?" he exclaims. "That's not fair!"

Nya raises an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"'Cause I can't use my powers," Lloyd hisses, glancing around furtively. "Not like — not onthat."

"Fine, we'll start smaller." She dangles the straw wrapper in front of him instead, waving it a bit. "What about this?"

"A straw wrapper?" Lloyd wrinkles his nose. "You make spitballs with those."

Nya resists the urge to rest her head against the table. "Wellthisone can be for your powers."

Lloyd's jaw works, clenching up. He stares at the wrapper, small fingers wrapped tightly around the table edge as his expression screws up in concentration. He remains like that for a minute, clearly tryingsomething, before his shoulders sag, and he ducks his head. He mumbles something inaudible.

Nya frowns. "What was that?"

"Ican't," he snaps, looking distressed. "Okay? I — I can't. I don't even know how I did it the first time! I just - I justdid."

Nya stares at him, gauging his expression, then lets the wrapper drop.Darn. She was really hoping she'd be able to get through to him — she was the first one to see his powers, after all, and she kind of wants to be the one to help him out with them now before the guys get to him, sue her.

But Lloyd still looks exhausted, even with the food, and exhausted equals grumpy, so Nya lets it drop.

"Here," she sighs, dumping a heaping of her fries on his plate.

Lloyd narrows his eyes on her. "What's the catch?"

"Thecatchis you're on your best behavior the rest of the day," Nya says. "Which means no whining."

Lloyd makes a face at her, but he nods, grabbing for the fries. "You got it," he says, sentence garbled through the mouthful of fries he has. "No whi'ing."

"Chew with your mouth closed, Lloyd, that's gross," Nya frowns. He rolls his eyes but obliges, shutting his mouth. Nya shakes her head, bending her straw back and swirling it around a few times, watching as the ice crowds around in her soda. She glances back up at Lloyd, then smirks. His lips are pulled into a pout as he struggles with a ketchup packet, trying to tear it open and failing. He finally gives up with a huff, handing it out to her.

Nya raises an eyebrow. "Something you need?"

Lloyd groans quietly. "Please?"

"That's better," she says, taking the packet from him. She's just getting her fingers on it when her phone vibrates, and she quickly grabs for it, her eyes scanning the message.

"Huh," she murmurs, staring at her phone as she continues to try and open the ketchup packet one-handed.

Lloyd clambers over the table, trying to get a glimpse of her phone. "What? What is it? Tell me," he demands. "Did they find a place?"

"Not quite," Nya says, her fingers slipping over the plastic of the ketchup packet — which is proving harder to open than she'd thought, huh. "But they did find—"

The packetpopsin Nya's hands, sending ketchup splattering all over her face.

"Gack!" she yelps, dropping her phone and wiping at her face. Oh,gross, she doesn't even like ketchup, first snake guts nowthis—

Lloyd stares at her, his eyes wide for a brief second at what probably looks like a crime scene on her face. His nose twitches as a sign that he actuallytriednot to, then he bursts into laughter.

"Yourface," he cackles, as he doubles over on the table. "You've got ketchupall over, you look hilarious—"

Nya makes a face at him, grabbing for a wad of napkins to clean it up, but she can't hold the glare she tries to give him. Lloyd looks almost beside himself in glee, giggling at Nya as she swipes at her face, the one dimple on his left cheek visible as he smiles brighter than she's seen since—

The hairs on the back of her neck standing up is the only warning Nya gets before the lights above them flare blinding bright, then abruptly shatter.

Her and Lloyd shriek in unison as the lightsblow.They're quickly joined by the other patrons around them as the bulb lights above flare brightly before exploding, raining bits of glass as they all duck for cover.

"The heck—"

"What wasthat?"

"Is the snake back?!"

Nya's out of her seat and against the window in a flash, her eyes scanning the streets frantically. Her heart rate crashes back into something normal when she spots no giant snakes against the clear blue sky, no smoking destruction or screaming citizens running.

"Sorry!" one of the servers is saying frantically, helping the affected customers from their seats. "I'm so sorry, I have no idea what happened—"

"It must've been the fuses," another employee grumbles, and Nya figures he must be the manager. "Darn snake probably damaged the electrical wiring. It's fine, everybody calm down."

Nya wants to argue that it isnotfine, she about had a panic attack on the spot and now there's little bits of lightbulb in her fries, which shepaidfor—

But the employees look as frazzled and frightened as she is, so she sucks it up. She's mature like that, unlike some people.

"S'just an accident," Nya sighs, turning back to Lloyd. "C'mon, let's see if we can a refund on those fries."

She pauses, blinking. Lloyd is still in the seat, surrounding by lightbulb bits, looking slightly dizzy as he scrubs at his eyes.

"Oh no, did you get hit?" Nya flies to his side, trying to pull his hands away so she can get a look at his eyes. Aw man, if he really did get glass in them—

"No, I'm fine, I'm just — I'm fine, Nya, back off!" Lloyd shooes her away, frowning. "I'mfine," he repeats, with one last scrub to his eyes. Nya's relieved to see that they're unharmed, if a bit bloodshot.

"You scared me there," she says accusingly, but she leans back. "Geez. Okay, on second thought, we're getting out of here. I want you safe."

"I wasn't in danger or anything," Lloyd grumbles, but there's no bite in his words. He looks small as he slides from the seat, face drawn and quiet.

Nya frowns as she watches him, the two of them trailing for the restaurant doors after she's paid for their food (she's not that much of a jerk, and theydidget to eat most of the food, anyways).

"You okay, green machine?" she asks, as they make their way down the city streets.

Lloyd shrugs, seemingly shaking himself off. "I'm fine," he says, with another eye-roll. "And hey, you never told me what the guys said."

"Oh," Nya blinks, distracted. "Right. Well, they don't exactly have an apartment yet, but they've got an agent." The corners of her lips tremble as she remembers the text, trying not to laugh. "And jobs, apparently."

Lloyd wrinkles his nose. "Jobs?"

"Oh yeah." Nya's unable to stop the wide grin that stretches across her face this time. "And you are never going to guess what your big bro got himself into."

Nyachanged the chat name toKai Smith, the Human Piñata

Kai:how dare u remind me of that in my own chat

Nya:AHAHAHAHAHAH

Nya:kai why

Nya:why would you take this job

Kai:do u know how hard it is to get a job when ur a teenager wearing a ninja uniform?!

Kai:no one takes us seriously here :/

Nya:yeah because you're all nerds

Nya:btw aren't you guys supposed to be teaching lloyd?

Kai:we are teaching him

Nya:lloyd said you forced him to make fried rice last night

Kai:i TAUGHT him to make fried rice

Kai:see, important life lessons

Nya:great, he can throw rice at his dad when the world's ending

Kai:geez, thanks for that happy reminder

Kai hates kids.

Okay, so that's not really true, especially with Lloyd and all, but that's just because Lloyd, despite being a demon spawn, isn't an actualdemon from hell. The something-hundred kids he has to deal with at parties, however….

He knew he should've just taken a fast food job like Jay and Zane. Heknewit. Too bad there's like, child labor laws and stuff in Ninjago City that they actually enforce, which keep Kai from getting anactualjob, like blacksmithing.

Kai's lips twist into a pout. It's just not fair — he's the only one of them who's actually managed to run a business, with decent success. Stupid smithing laws, he's notthatyoung—

His train of thought is rudely interrupted as his nose flares, his eyes water, and he breaks into another round of congested sneezing.

"Gesundheit," Nya says, handing him a tissue that he accepts gratefully. She eyes him in concern as he blows his nose, her eyebrows furrowing. "You okay there?"

Kai shakes his head. "M'fine," he says, clearing his throat. "One of the kids had a cold at the party the other day, I'm probably just fighting that off." He scowls. This party gig is ruining his health now too, not just his clothes.

And his dignity.

And his general sanity overall.

Nya makes a face as he blows his nose again. "If you say so. Take it easy though, okay? You might need to just sleep it off."

Kai snorts humorlessly. "Yeah, I wish. Do youknowhow far away from making rent we are?"

"No, but I can imagine," Nya says. "This place is ridiculous, it's gotta cost an arm and a leg." She pauses, worrying her lip. "You know, the auto-body shop I've been looking at is still closed for repairs, but I might be able to get a different job in the meantime…"

"No, you don't have to do that," Kai says, quickly. "We got it, Nya. Besides, Sensei Wu still needs your help. I don't even know if hecandrive a car, much less a motorcycle."

"Alright," she says, sounding unsure. She glances around their new apartment, looking uneasy and far from comfortable in the lavish surrounding. "But if you change your mind, lemme know. I still say it's ridiculous."

Kai sighs, looking away. It's not like she doesn't have a point. Their new apartment isawesome— it's got a fully-stocked kitchenette and a TV setup that rivals a theater's. The beds alone are worth it, after camping in the desert the past two days, and the showers are the actual best thing Kai's ever seen in his life. (And don't start him on the bathroom vanity —somuch room for hair products.)

But it's the kind of luxury Kai's never known in his life, and he's almost intimidated by it. The apartment's just too fragile — too nice, too fancy, too expensive. The kind of people that live in apartments like these are the kind of people that sneer down at the kind of peopleKaiis. He feels like an imposter here, which is ridiculous, because he's paying for it fair and square.

He alsosaved the city, so — snobby rich people wouldn't even have a place to live in the first place if it wasn't for him. They can take their sneers andshove'em.

"Any idea when Zane's getting back?"

Nya's sudden question yanks him from his musing, and Kai blinks. "Ah — yeah. He ran to pick up takeout for dinner, but it's just down the street. He should be back soon."

"What, Lloyd isn't making dinner for you guys tonight?" Nya's smirking.

Kai rolls his eyes. "Ha. We only had him do that once, we've helped the other times. Besides, kid's gotta learn how to cook at some point. It's a valuable life skill."

"Is he any good at it?"

Kai presses his lips together, trying not to grimace. "He's, uh…he's terrible."

Nya stuffs a fist against her mouth, her eyes shining in amusem*nt. "Serves you right."

"Yeah, yeah, give him time," Kai defends. "If Zane has his way, Lloyd'll be a little chef in no time."

"If you say so," Nya says, still sounding amused. She and Kai both glance over to where Cole and Lloyd are sitting on one of the enormous couches. Cole's been trying to teach Lloyd how to draw in his spare time, since that doesn't require a lot of effort like, say, standing up does. Lloyd seems to enjoy it though, and he's making better progress with it than he is cooking. Right now, it looks like Cole is trying to teach him to draw a cartoon-ish dinosaur, or something with viciously sharp teeth. He's having a surprising amount of success, despite Lloyd's side comments.

"Okay, so now we're going to move onto to the legs—"

"Those are supposed to be legs? They look like chicken fingers."

"Youlook like a chicken finger."

"Chicken fingers," Jay moans, where he's slumped across the couch. Kai resists the urge to scoff at him.Please. Jay gets to deliver pizza off a motorbike, he has it atleasttwenty times easier than Kai does. Kai has to watch a bunch of maniacal little brats stuff their faces with cake all day, which by the way, hasruinedcake for him, he'sstillgetting icing out of his hair. At least Jay can like, eat one of the pizzas ifhegets hungry.

…maybe it's a good thing Kai didn't get the pizza job after all.

"I hope Zane gets back soon," Nya mutters. "I don't want to deal with you guys when you're hungry again."

Kai bristles. "We weren't that bad."

Nya stares at him. "You were terrible."

"We weren't nearly as bad as Lloyd."

"No, you were worse, which was the sad part—"

"I'm back," Zane announces, their fancy door sliding open neatly as he steps through, the smell of takeout already hitting Kai in the face. "Sorry it took so long, there was a line."

"You're a life-saver Zane, all is forgiven," Cole says, his eyes lighting up as they land on the food.

Zane smiles lightly. "I highly doubt you were in any actual danger of starving to death, but thank you, I suppose." He carefully sets the takeout bags on the counter, brushing his raincoat off briefly before hanging it up.

"Dibs on the all the fortune cookies!" Lloyd cries, scaling the barstool and practically hurling himself across the table for the bags.

"Hey, no, dessert comes last — nostop, Lloyd, spit them out, you brat— you didn't even take the paper fortune out!"

Lloyd makes a face, spitting the paper into his hand. "Bleh," he grimaces. "Gross."

"Serves youright," Nya swats him with a dishtowel. Zane snatches the cookies away as he's distracted, and Lloyd whines in protest. "Dinner first, then you can have cookies."

Kai joins the others as they crowd around the table, plopping heavily onto the barstool next to Lloyd, bracing his elbows on the counter and his head in his hands.

Ugh, he thinks blearily, staring at the greasy food. The smell of the takeout mixed with the growing volume of chatter is turning out to be a horrible combination for the ache in his head.

Lloyd quiets down a bit, turning on his stool to look at Kai, his eyebrows furrowing. "Are you okay?"

Kai waves him off. "Just a headache, don't worry."

"The little party gremlins too loud for you?" Jay mocks, but there's a note of sympathy in his voice that keeps Kai from going for his throat again.

"Kids suck," he groans instead, pressing his hands against his aching temples. His head has gone from mild aching to feeling like an over-inflated helium balloon, stuffed and clogged and two seconds from exploding on him. He briefly entertains the image of his head justpopping, exploding everywhere as his sinuses burst, then decides that one: that's disgusting, and two: maybe there's a point to the whole need-to-sleep-it-off thing.

Lloyd gives a nod of committal. "They do suck," he agrees.

Jay frowns. "You'rea kid."

Lloyd's lip juts out. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You're like, two feet tall. You're a baby."

"I amnot!" Lloyd bursts out, the volume of his voice causing Kai to nearly double over in pain. Lloyd flinches, giving him an apologetic look before turning back to Jay. "I'mnota baby," Lloyd repeats, in a viciously whispered voice. "I'm the greenninja."

"Oh yeah?" Jay grins, flicking his nose. "Then I guess you don't need all those Starfarer comics Nya picked up this morning, if you're so grown up."

Lloyd freezes, looking caught. His expression is a warring battle between a need to refute Jay's claim, an undying love for comics, and an irritation at having his nose flicked.

"I….am halfway grown up," Lloyd finally decides on, nodding to himself.

He's too cute, Kai thinks hazily, watching Lloyd's expression work.Too cute for his own good.

"Oh, just halfway," Cole says, grinning. "Nice compromise."

"Yeah," Lloyd sniffs. "Halfway, because I stay at home by myself, but I also get Starfarer comics."

Cole's grin drops, and Jay winces. Nya manages to both spear them with a look while biting her lip and looking guilty.

"We won't be leaving you here by yourself much longer," Zane promises, firmly. "As soon as we make rent, we will be here to oversee your training."

"It'll be soon, half-pint, promise," Kai chimes in. "We are sorry we gotta ditch you though — we don't really want to, you know that, right?"

Lloyd rolls his eyes. "S'okay, geez," he says. "I told you, I get it. I'd rather be home alone than homeless."

"Well yeah, but those are pretty sucky options," Cole frowns. "Maybe we can like, work out a schedule? Stagger our shifts so at least one of us is here all the time…"

"Nah, you're bringing in money, don't worry," Lloyd waves him off, looking excessively wise. "You guys are like Paula from that weird housewives show, after her husband dumped her and she had to work triple shifts to pay for her dying kid's hospital bills."

Kai chokes. Oh geez, what has this kid been watching while they were gone? Did they forget to parent-lock the TV? Rookie mistake, now he's gotta make sure Lloyd doesn't mentionhousewivesin front of Sensei—

"—you'd be more like her side boyfriend, though, 'cause he was always trying to give her money, but she was all proud and stuff—"

"Okay, let's — I get the picture," Kai says quickly. He shakes his head, muttering. "We're gonna have to get you started on real cinema here. Jaws, Jurassic World, all that."

Lloyd tilts his head curiously. "What's Jurassic World?"

Jay's jaw drops. "You haven't seenJurassic World?"

Lloyd shrugs. "I grew up at Darkley's. We could only sneak cartoons and stuff once in a while, and the only movies we ever saw were like, horror movies on how to destroy your enemies. And then I didn't really live anywhere, so I didn't have a TV, or anything, which sucked, because I missed all the new episodes of Starfarer—"

"We get it," Kai manages. "Makes sense. So let's, um — let's watch it now."

Lloyd looks up at him, his eyes gleaming. "Really?"

Zane frowns. "Kai, it's too close to his bedtime, and we haven't even had dinner—"

Kai waves him off. "Aw, we all know he's gonna sleep in when we go to work anyways," he says. "May as well spend some time together, huh?"

Kai watches as Zane debates this for a moment, responsibility warring with actually wanting to feel like a normal human for once. He finally relents. "We have been spending a lot of time apart," he admits. "We could just eat dinner in front of the TV, I suppose."

Lloyd looks like he's won the lottery.

It is nice, though, all of them piling together on the couch and eating together, flicking bits of takeout at each other's heads as they bicker over which dinosaur is the best, and which one ofthemwould get eaten if they found themselves stranded in the park.

"Jay'd obviously be the first to get eaten, that's a given," Cole remarks. Jay, who's neatly positioned above his head where he's draped across the couch, kicks him in the head.

"Would not," he sulks. "You'd get eaten by the velociraptors in like, the first five minutes."

"Iwant a velociraptor," Lloyd says, as the two kid characters — who are about his age, and probably way less trouble to take care of — run screaming from the velociraptors on the screen. "Or a T-Rex."

"We have a dragon," Cole scoffs. "Why would you want a dinosaur?"

"Whywouldn'tyou?" Lloyd replies, scandalized. "Just think of what you could do with dinosaurs!"

"Get eaten by them?" Kai suggests. Lloyd tosses a pillow at him, and frowns as it falls short, just hitting Kai's toes.

"No dinosaurs would eat me," Lloyd mutters. "Because I'm—"

"Lemme guess, the evil son of the super evil dark lord?" Jay pipes up.

"No!" Lloyd protests, angrily. "Because I'm the green ninja, that's what!"

"Ah, look how his life aspirations have changed for the better in our presence," Cole says, clapping a hand over his chest. "We're such good influences."

"It seems like just yesterday he was merely a young, troubled child, wreaking havoc as he pillaged poor innocent villages of their candy," Jay says, wiping a mock tear from his eye. "Now he struggles to throw a pillow three feet, and—"

Lloyd throws another pillow, this one socking Jay square in the face. Zane covers his mouth as Cole breaks into giggles, Nya the only one attempting not to laugh — and failing.

Kai, for his part, manages a tired snort as he watches Jay sputter, rubbing at his temples again. Maybe he can just nap through the rest of the movie — that'd give him at least an extra hour of sleep, right? He's gotta be up early for work again, but not earlier than Cole, so if he goes to bed now, then—

"Hey, are you sure you're okay? Your eyes look kinda gross."

Kai cracks an eye open to glare at Lloyd, who has conveniently moved right in his line of vision, blocking the bright lights of the TV.

"Stay right there," Kai mutters, flopping a hand on Lloyd's head and holding him in place.

Lloyd freezes briefly, a warring expression on his face, then ducks out from Kai's arm, letting it flop bonelessly back onto his lap. Lloyd frowns.

"I'll get Nya—"

"No." Kai's lucid now, eyes snapped open. Thelastthing he needs is Nya worrying more, much less her having to deal with Lloyd worrying too. "I'm fine, okay? Big tough ninja here, I'm all good. Just a little tired of hanging around other gremlins."

"I'm not a gremlin," Lloyd grouses, but he still looks concerned.

"Nah," Kai says. "I like you a whole lot better."

Lloyd looks pleased at this, the worried crease in his eyebrows smoothing out. Kai gives him another reassuring grin.

"Don't worry, half pint," he says, ruffling Lloyd's hair. "No way am I gonna get sick. I'm way too cool for that."

Kai Smith, the Human PiñataGroup Chat

Kai:LLOYD

Kai:NYA GET LLOYD

Kai:RED ALERT! RED ALERT GET TO DEMON SPAWN NOW

Nya:what?!

Kai:JUST GET! LLOYD! SAFE!

Kai is definitelysick.

That or he's just horribly allergic to snakes, but he's pretty darn sure he's sick, because half the kids at Sarah Ann what's-her-name's birthday party definitely had the flu, and they justhadto go ahead and give him that too, on top of all the bruises he's got from playing piñata.

And he's totally going to blame that on his slow reaction speed right now, but seriously — how was he supposed to be prepared for the Serpentine to forgo manners and bust through the entire subway roof to grab him? Because that wasrude, and now he's lost the element of surprise on top of hisactualelement, and their whole "get the upper hand on the Serpentine by busting them on their way back to base" plan is slowly going up in flames.

To top it all off, they're down one ninja because Jay isstillmissing, and Kai is maybe just a little bit starting to lose his mind in panic over that.

Zane and Cole, at least, seem to be faring better than he is against the Serpentine on the subway car with them. Or theywere, until Cole panicked and used Zane as a human shield.

"That's quite alright," Zane is saying, like he didn't just get spritzed in the face by death venom. "Venom can't hurt a—"

Zane yelps as the Constrictai whacks him solidly in the head. "But that stings a little," he finishes, his voice darkening. "Let me have this dance, snake."

The Constrictai goes flying, and Cole cheers.

"One down, two to go—gah!"

And then Cole is clocked in the face as well, because they're all garbage today, apparently. Not that Kai can say much, absolutely useless as he is, because he's still stuck in thisstupidsnake's hold.

"These Serpentine are a lot harder to defeat without our weapons!" he growls, struggling in vain to break free. It's gotta be a Constrictai then, because this griphurts.

"Just keep fighting," Cole grunts, as he ducks a swing from the Fangpyre. "We're not gonna let these losers get away with this!"

Cole's arms flex taught as he parries, and Kai almost feels sorry for the Serpentine as he realizes what kind of strength Cole is packing. The Fangpyre barely manages to look horrified before Cole sends him smashing into the window, shattering glass all over the subway floor.

Damage control,Kai thinks hazily.

"Get away?" The Fangpyre gives a husky laugh as he stands back up, wiping at the bit of blood on his chin. "We aren't trying to get away."

Kai suppresses a snort. Yeah right. Typical slimy snakes, trying to talk their way out. Whyelsewould they—

"We're just trying to distract you long enough so that Skalesss can kidnap Lloyd."

Kai almost scoffs, because yeah,right. Like Skales is ever even gonna getnearLloyd with Kai around—

Oh. Ohno. Kai freezes colder than Zane's ice.

Lloyd's at the apartment. Lloyd'saloneat the apartment.

A freight train of terrible words Nya would definitely smack him for barrels through his head at high speed.

"What?" he manages to half-shriek.

"We could care lessss about the money," the Fangpyre smirks at them. "We just wanted the boy."

Cole gives what Kai is pretty sure is a mangled swear. Zane looks horrified, and for once it's not over Cole's language.

The snake's lips curl, sharp teeth glinting viciously. "Who'sss the fool now?"

It is a very near thing, and probably a miracle, that Kai doesn't murder him on the spot.

Probably because Cole snaps to action, and Kai doesn't have a razor-sharp sword to decapitate him with.

"We have to save Lloyd!" Cole calls, dark eyes flashing.

"No duh," Kai bites back. "Just give me a weapon, and I'll take care these snakes!" There's a furious kind of fire bubbling up in his chest right now, made from protective anger andpanic. There's no way, nowayhe's going to lose Lloyd to the Serpentine again. He can't, not when it was his fault Lloyd got caught the first time.

Zane steps up, cool and calculating. "Who needs weapons, when you can make your own?" There's a loudsnap, and Zane yanks one of the handle poles from the subway. Without pausing, he snatches the fastening bolt from the top, flips it like a throwing star, and nails the Constrictai holding Kai solidly in the eye.

The Constrictai give a pained yelp,finallyletting Kai go.

"Ha!" Cole crows. "Smart thinking, Zane!" He drop-kicks the snake in front of him before ducking down, snapping another pole from the subway lining.

Damage control!the Zane part of Kai's brain yelps.

"Here Kai!" Cole tosses him the pole, and Kai snatches it mid-air. It's no sword — duh, it's apole— but the balance is decent, and it makes a solidthwackwhen it collides with the Constrictai who'd been holding him, so Kai can manage.

The Constrictai attempts to charge him again, and Kai blocks him with a sharp jab to the neck. The snake flinches back, and Kai levels the pole at the him, his eyes burning.

"This was all a big misssunderstanding," the snake stalls, looking visibly shaken at how easily the tables have been turned by a few subway poles.

"Oh really?" Kai's lip curls. Threatening his little brother is just abig misunderstanding. Huh.

"Guys!" Cole's panicked voice interrupts them. "I think I found Jay!"

Kai frowns. Why is he worrying about Jay, the one in danger right now is Lloyd—

Then Cole's words make a little too much sense, and Kai's blood runs cold. Jay's been missing all day, and there's only one place Cole could've seen him from where they are right now.

"You have got to be kidding me," he mutters in disbelief, even as Cole and Zane start making a dead sprint for the head subway car. The Serpentine move to exit through the hole in the roof, and Kai steps forward, blocking their escape as he levels the pole at them.

"Not so fast," he growls, and he's pleased to see that he's at least still threatening enough for them to stop.

Or maybe that's just his eyes watering, 'cause he's not trying not to sneeze—

There's a high-pitched screech, and the subway jerks, nearly sending Kai and the Serpentine off their feet. It quickly resets, continuing its speeding pace as Kai watches the lights whip past through the window.

"It's not slowing down!" Cole cries out, his voice echoing across the subway cars.

Kai looks from the cars ahead to the Serpentine, and the Venomari grins.

"I'm sssure they could use your help, but what do I know?" he rasps. Kai bites down on the inside of his cheek. He can't let them get away. Not when they've sunk low enough to go after Lloyd like this—

Zane's strained cry hammers through his head. "We're not strong enough!"

"Son of a—" Kai curses, tossing the pole at them and turning heel. It's not worth losing Jay.

"I'm coming!" he yells back, hurtling over the broken seat in front of him and sprinting through the subway cars. Behind him, he can hear the sounds of the Serpentine cackling as they escape — but his fury is quickly drowned by fear as he spots Jay, hopping frantically on the rails in front of them.

"What is hedoing?" Kai yelps.

"Trying not to get crushed, obviously!" Cole snaps back, his jaw clenching as he pulls at the brake lever. "Now help us! Together!"

Kai grabs the brake, straining back. He's not as strong as Cole, and he knows Zane's stronger than him too, but he's not weak, either. The wheels screech as the subway grinds slower and slower, the headlights closing in on Jay as he trips over and falls flat on his face.

Cole screams. Kai screams. Zane screams too, and Kai'll bet everything he has that the muffled high-pitched shrieking from outside is Jay screaming.

Then the subway finally, just in time, screeches to dead halt.

Cole collapses over the lever, panting. "Too close," he gasps. "Waytoo close."

Zane kicks the door open, and Kai hurries after him. Jay is still on the tracks, half-propped up on his elbows. He gives a wild laugh of victory as he catches sight of them. "Hey! There you guys are! I, uh, could use a little hand here, ha ha."

Zane shakes his head, smiling faintly in relief as he helps Jay up, snapping the ropes around him. Jay shrugs them off, rubbing at his arms. Kai grabs him before he can react further, hauling him off the tracks and up into the car with them.

"I'm sorry I called you junkyard boy," he wheezes, still holding tightly to Jay's arm. "That was jerky of me. Please don't ever come that close to dying again."

Jay looks at him in alarm. "Wait, you're apologizing forthat?Now?" He smacks a hand on Kai's forehead. "Dude, are you okay? Are youdying?"

Kai scowls, shrugging him off. "No!" he glares at the floor. That's the last timehetries to be nice, then.

"You're definitely sick," Jay nods to himself.

"And you're a moron," Cole says, clapping Jay on the shoulder. "Don't do that again."

"Didn't have any plans to," Jay laughs, a little nervously. His expression suddenly freezes, melting into horror. "Oh wait — guys, we have to get to Lloyd! The Serpentine are—"

Kai swears. "Shoot, weknow, Zane can you—"

Zane is already at the subway controls, throwing the car into reverse. "On our way," he says, grimly. "I just hope we're not too late."

Kai's fingers clench tight into fists. FSM alive,pleasedon't let them be too late.

Nyachanged the chat name toNever Hire Ninja as Babysitters

Nya:you guys get jobs for a week and almost lose lloyd AGAIN

Nya:sensei's gonna murder you one of these days and I'll be next

Kai:u know what i'm not even gonna argue

Kai:i owe u

Nya: you all do

Nya:skales was RIGHT THERE

Nya: IN THE APARTMENT

Kai:we messed up big time trust me I know

Kai:but in our defense

Kai:jay did almost get run over by a subway

Nya:wait he what

Nya:kai?!

"Well, I hope you all learned something from this."

Uncle Wu's voice is stern, but not as harsh as it could've been, Lloyd figures, watching as his uncle takes another sip of tea. He's still got a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, keeping him planted firmly in sight like he's been doing ever since he and Nya kicked Skales' butt for trying to capture him.

"It's my fault, Sensei," Kai says, his eyes apologetic as his head lowers. "It won't happen again."

Lloyd tilts his head, trying to catch Kai's eye so he can make a face at him. Honestly, he isn't even that upset. Nya and Uncle Wu fighting was super cool, and he'd been having a boring afternoon anyways.

"If you're to blame, then we all are," Zane picks up, soberly. He rubs at his left wrist, looking pained at the creaking sound. Nya makes a sympathetic noise in her throat, carefully taking Zane's wrist in her hands and examining it.

"Yeah," Cole groans, running a hand over his face. "This was a group screw-up. We shouldn't have left you, kid. We're sorry."

"And not just 'cause you almost got snatched by a bunch of snakes, either," Jay speaks up, before Lloyd can protest. There's a visible flinch from Wu at his words, and Kai kicks Jay in the leg from where he's slumped on the threadbare couch —definitelysick, like Lloyd called earlier. Jay waves him off, unfazed. "Leaving you all on your lonesome was pretty low of us. Especially when we're supposed to be training you, and all."

"I mean, you guys were just trying to earn money," Lloyd shrugs, his cheeks heating just a tiny bit at all the attention that's on him. He hasn't been put on the spot like this since they rescued him from the volcano, and all the — green ninja stuff happened, and such. "We kinda need that. It wasn't like you were avoiding me on purpose, or like — using me as snake bait, or anything."

"The snake bait's a nice idea, though," Jay muses. He pales at the glares directed toward him, quickly waving his hands. "Joke! That was a joke! Seriously, how are you guys not catching that I'mjoking— "

"Get better jokes then, lightning brain—"

"Ahem." Uncle Wu clears his throat, and they all fall silent. Uncle Wu rubs his forehead, but the look he turns on them is fond. "You did indeed mess up, but it is obvious you have learned your lesson. I understand your desire for luxury—" The rafters above them creak ominously in the wind, and everyone winces. "But it is, unfortunately, something we cannot afford right now," Uncle Wu continues, looking pretty disappointed in that statement himself.

"It was a nice apartment though," Jay murmurs, wistfully.

"And a headache," Cole mutters. "I never want to deal with rent like that again."

"Technically, it was the power bill that put us under," Zane remarks. "As well as the water bill, which was unusually high."

"Lookin' at you, Kai."

"Oh,you'reone to talk—"

"At any rate, the expense of your living quarters is something you don't need to add to your worries," Uncle Wu says, cutting over them. His eyebrows dip into a frown. "Your priority now should be training Lloyd. And with that, of course, comes keeping himsafe."

The ninja all wince, and Lloyd kind of wants to cringe for them. Uncle Wu doesn't joke around with the scary voice, yeesh.

"Fortunately, these are close enough quarters that I doubt we'll lose sight of anyone," Uncle Wu continues, his voice lighter. "So you can rest assured that we are safe for tonight. And on that note — I think it would be a good idea for you all to get a full night's rest. Part of the ninja life is keeping oneself in good shape, and the dark circles under your eyes are telling me you've been doing otherwise."

Jay punctuates that with a massive yawn, clapping his hand over his mouth immediately after, looking sheepish. Cole snorts.

"Have to agree with that one," he murmurs. He turns to Uncle Wu. "We understand, Sensei. And we apologize for failing you. Itwon'thappen again."

Uncle Wu's eyes soften, and he gives Cole a slight smile. "You're forgiven. Do not worry yourselves over this — the failing was in my part, as well. I could've been present more often."

"There's no use dwelling on could-have's, though," Zane speaks up. "The past is the past, isn't it, Sensei?"

Uncle Wu nods, looking amused. "As always, Zane, you have a good point." He finishes his tea, setting the cup down in the sink and standing. "And with that, I am going to turn in myself." He squeezes Lloyd's shoulder lightly, hand ruffling his hair briefly as he makes his way back to his room. "Do not stay up too late — I meant it, when I said you needed rest."

"Yes, Sensei," they all chorus.

They fail silent until they hear theclickof his door, and the guys seem to deflate in relief.

"That wasn't so bad," Jay says.

"You're tellin' me," Kai says, his voice muffled from the pillow he's stuffed his head in. "Could've been a lot worse."

"The consequences could've been worse, too," Nya says, pointedly.

"Yeah, we know," Cole says, ducking his head. "I meant it, it won't happen again. We'll start training you first thing tomorrow, half-pint," he tells Lloyd, scrubbing at his hair. Lloyd scowls, shoving his hand away. Everyone's so touchy-feely tonight, geez.

"We are sorry for neglecting it so long," Zane says, apologetically. "We will not let ourselves slip again."

Lloyd shrugs again, trying not to turn red. "It's fine, guys," he says, for what must be the millionth time. "I'm okay, geez. Just start training me so I can kick his butt myself next time."

Kai snorts, thick and stuffy. "You got it," he yawns. "We'll make a real terror out of you."

"You say that like he isn't one already," Nya says, but she's grinning at him. Lloyd sticks his tongue out at her.

"You're all terrors," Cole says. "Except Zane, maybe," he amends.

"What about me?" Jay says, offended.

"Oh, you're the worst one," Cole shakes his head. "There's no hope for you."

Jay makes a sad expression, kinda like the one Lloyd uses to get people to do stuff for him. "I almost got run over by a train today," Jay sighs. "You think you'd be nicer."

"I'll be nicer when you don't almostdie," Cole grumbles, but when he punches Jay lightly in the shoulder, his expression is of overwhelming relief. "I meant it. You're not allowed to do that."

"Told you, I got no plans," Jay replies, yawning. Zane shakes his head at them.

"I believe we should take Sensei's advice," he says. "And put these arguments off until morning."

There's a chorus of grumbling at that, but no one really argues with Zane, instead picking themselves up and heading to bed. They try to usher Lloyd off to bed as well, but they're all tired enough that he manages to get off with only three warnings before they give up. All he has to do is argue that he doesn't wanna sleep right now because he's scared of snakes, anyways, before they relent.Ha. Lloyd feels a little bad for using that against them, but whatever. He's not tired, and he doesn't wanna lay around bored in bed for another hour.

Lloyd drifts off to the kitchen area, briefly scanning the fridge — darn, Zane didn't pick up ice cream. It figures, he sighs to himself, closing the door. They're probably broke as it is from that fancy apartment. Lloyd can't help but miss it, though. Their new apartment isn't bad — especially compared to living on the streets! It's got heating and a TV and everything, and Lloyd's gonna be the last one to whine about that.

He does miss how big the other apartment was, though. And the super nice TV, because this one is sorta lame. Hewouldmiss the giant windows, because the view was pretty awesome, except Skales ruined it by carving a hole in the window.

Lloyd pauses, staring up at the tiny circle of a window in their new apartment, where he can just the stars coming out in the night sky.

You seem to be the only thing your father cares about.

He runs Skales' words through his head again. He knows he should be scared about the whole thing — or notscared, he's thegreen ninja, just — annoyed, maybe — but those words make something in his chest all warm and bubbly.

He still cares, Lloyd tells himself fiercely. His dad still cares for him, even if he's training to be a ninja and fight him now.

I do, too,he wishes he could tell him.

But he can't, so Lloyd is just being dumb, staring out the window like this. Tomorrow he starts training, anyways, and he can't be thinking about his dad like that when he's gonna be training to fight him.

He bites his lip. He still wishes he could tell his dad, though. He thinks it might be important for him to know.

Lloyd shakes himself off, glancing around. Most everyone's asleep now, piled up in the bunkbeds of their tiny excuse for a bedroom. Sensei and Nya get their own rooms, so they're down the hall. In fact, the only one still up is Kai, who's been quarantined to the couch for the night so he won't get everyone else sick, or keep them all up with his sneezing. That last one is kinda dumb, in Lloyd's opinion, because Sensei's room is furthest away and he canstillhear his snoring.

Speaking of…

Lloyd glances at Kai where he's half-asleep on the couch, sniffling through his stuffed nose. Lloyd watches him with a worried lip. Kai looks awful, and that's not just Lloyd being a brat. He's got ugly dark circles under his eyes and he looks all pale, except for his cheeks where they're turning bright red as he coughs. His normally cool hair is all droopy, falling around his face in thick waves.

Thinking to himself, Lloyd debates for a moment. Then he quickly tip-toes into their shared room, snatching his pillow from the bed before tip-toeing back. His bare feet pad quietly against the ugly carpeted floor, but Kai hears him coming anyways, eyes drifting open blearily as Lloyd draws up to the couch.

Kai gives a thick sniff. "Don't ge' near me, kid," he croaks, waving half-heartedly at Lloyd, letting his eyes droop closed again. "You'll catch it too, and then you'll —achoo— be dying like me."

"You aren't dying," Lloyd says firmly, glaring at him. Kai cracks an eye open to glance at him, then sighs, closing it again.

"Fine," he huffs. "Can't even catch a break when I'm sick, huh."

"Nope," Lloyd says, popping his lips over thep. He picks his way forward carefully, climbing up on the other end of the couch. Kai frowns as he's shifted, then snaps his eyes open, glaring at him.

"Lloyd, no."

"You sound like a drowned rat," Lloyd argues. "I'm making sure you don't suffocate in your sleep."

Kai is having none of it. "Yeah, sure. You're not sleeping out here, kid, I'm not getting you sick."

"You're not gonna get me sick," Lloyd says, determinedly. "I'm part demon-spawn, remember? I don't get sick."

"I don't care. Go back to your own bed."

Lloyd bites his lip. Why does Kai have to be sostubborn.

Kai sighs, his eyebrows pinching. "Lloyd, I mean it—"

"I don't want you to be alone," Lloyd says, quietly.

There's a thick silence at that, save for Kai's occasional sniffles. Lloyd swallows, fingers fiddling with one of the holes in the blanket. "Back at…back at Darkley's, it was super miserable," he mumbles. "When I got sick, and was all alone. So I — I don't, uh, want you to be miserable. Miserable-r,than you already are."

Lloyd's mouth is dry by the end of it. His heart's doing this weird skip-jump thing, the kind of thing it always does when he gets nervous. He doesn't talk to people about Darkley's, except maybe Nya that one time. Hedefinitelydoesn't tell people he's worried about them. No one's everwantedto hear about it, to hear Lloyd trying to care about somebody. The last time he tried to share like that with someone it didn't end well, so Lloyd's sworn it off since then.

But Kai makes him want to try.

Kai stares at him for a beat, something in his dark eyes softening. He gets this weird melty-expression on his face, like he'semotionalor something. Kai makes a snuffled noise that might be a sigh, and he pinches the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

"Fine," he pats the section of couch near him. "Just…keep your distance, okay?"

Lloyd's chestwhooshesin relief, and he grins. "You got it," he says, hopping up on the couch. "I don't want your gross snot germs anyways."

Kai kicks weakly at him, glaring through hazy eyes. "I'll sneeze on you, brat."

Lloyd holds his pillow up as a shield, narrowing his eyes. "I'll tell Nya on you."

"Geez," Kai huffs, in what might be a laugh. "You learn too fast, demon spawn."

"You're my teacher," Lloyd shoots back, lowering the pillow and scooting closer to Kai. "S'all your fault."

"Yeah, yeah," Kai yawns, laying back against the pillow. "Jus' wait. Once we really start training. I'm gonna…teach you how to becool."

"I'malreadycool," Lloyd mutters, but Kai's eyes have drifted shut. Within a few minutes he's back asleep, snoring quietly through his stuffed nose. Lloyd waits a few more minutes, then glares at the edge of the blanket that's slipped from his shoulders.

Moving quietly, Lloyd tucks the edge of the blanket back up over Kai's shoulder, fiddling with the edges so they cover his arm where it hangs loosely over the edge of the couch. Leaning back, Lloyd surveys his work, nodding to himself.

Then he curls up against Kai's side, yawning as he hugs his pillow to his chest. It's not the most comfortable thing ever, but Lloyd's had worse. Plus, this way if Kai wakes up feeling worse, Lloyd can be here to make sure he doesn't try to do something stupid, like hide it and pretend he's all tough-guy and stuff.

Lloyd eyes Kai again, making sure he isn't actually suffocating, or anything. He looks fine, if miserable, and Lloyd figures that's the best he can hope for right now.

Not that Lloyd has a lot to compare to, but he's pretty sure Kai is the best kind of big brother. He's really good at looking out for people, and at looking out for Lloyd — but Lloyd can a hundred percent say that Kaisucksat looking out for himself.

What a dummy,Lloyd thinks to himself, trying not to giggle at the way Kai sleeps with his mouth half-open. He hugs his pillow closer to his chest, stifling another yawn as he prepares to take watch.

Hey, someone's gotta look out for Kai, too.

Chapter 13: Season Two - Part Two

Chapter Text

Never Hire Ninja as BabysittersGroup Chat

Kaisent an attachment:

5:00 a.m. : Wake up

5:15 a.m. : Breakfast

6:00 a.m. : Stretching, rotation, and balance exercises — supervised by Kai

8:00 a.m. : Endurance hike at top speed — with Zane

11:00 a.m. : Free running and ballet class (to develop agility) — with Cole

12:00 p.m. : Lunch (with the team)

1:00 p.m. : Scroll and book study — with Sensei

3:15 p.m. : Rooster chasing (to develop speed and reflexes), plus more spinning exercises

6:00 p.m. : Sparring (assign an off-duty ninja to be a sparring partner)

6:30 p.m. : Dinner (with the team)

7:45 p.m. : Obstacle course (including more spinning and balance exercises) — supervised by Kai

9:00 p.m. : Recreation — with Jay

9:30 p.m. : Bedtime (assign Zane to read a bedtime story)

Nya:what is this?!

Kai:APPARENTLY our new training schedule

Nya:5 am ouch sucks for you

Kai:ur gonna be suffering too

Nya:um from what i'm seeing I don't have anything to do until 12

Nya:wth am I chopped liver or something sensei

Kai:no ur just not in suffering bootcamp

Nya:wait this is Lloyd's schedule?

Kai:yeah

Nya:….

Nya:so 30 minutes a day to be a kid

Kai:i mean there's…lunch…

Message fromNyahas been blocked byParent Lock

Nya:YOU PUT WHAT ON HERE

Kai:u wash ur mouth with soap young lady

Long ago, when Lloyd was still a youngandinnocentchild —

…okay, the innocent part might be a bit of a stretch, but still — when Lloyd was young and innocent, he'd thought that an early bedtime was like, the worst punishment possible. Being forced to go to bed at only nine-thirty? Theworst. Awful, terrible, cruel, that's when all the best shows come on. So back when he was young and innocent, he would've fought Uncle Wu tooth and nail if he'd tried to make him go to bed that early. He would've refused, thrown a fit, and possibly tried to mix the whites and reds in the laundry again as revenge, only with Uncle Wu's robes this time.

But that was before he knew whatfive a.m. in the morningfelt like.

Now he just wants to go right back to bed, early as possible.

"C'mon, Lloyd," Kai attempts to stifle a yawn, failing completely. "It's not — it's not that bad."

Lloydhighlydisagrees — he's only just been dragged from under the blankets and he's already freezing. He'd known winter was coming soon, but with the way the wind filters through the cracks in their apartment, it feels like they're smack in the middle of it.

He silently scolds himself. He shouldn't complain about their apartment, not when he spent the last winter on the streets. This is ahundredtimes better, he reminds himself with a shiver.

No, he can complain about how early it is instead, because he knows Kai doesn't like it, either. Lloyd watches through bleary eyes as he walks into the doorframe, staggers back, and almost falls on his face.

"Son of a—" Kai hisses, rubbing his head. "Not a word, demon spawn."

Lloyd's too tired to even make fun of him, which is lame, because if he was any more awake he would've found that hilarious. If he was any more awake he'd findallof this hilarious, actually. The ninja either got way too used to sleeping in, or never had to wake up this early at all (which would besounfair), because they all look like zombies.

Kai's hair is drooping, the ends slightly creased up from where he slept on them funny, and his eyes are mere slits as he tries to force them open. Cole doesn't look much better, his thick hair sticking out in every direction, still half-wrapped in one of his blankets as he stares blankly at the breakfast table. Jay looks slightly better, except he's got bedhead that's left his hair exploding all over in static-y little curls, which he's absently trying to smooth down as he finishes what Lloyd's pretty sure is his second cup of coffee.

Zane's the only one who actually looks human — which is pretty funny, haha, 'cause he's a robot — his eyes bright and hair in place where he's trying to get Cole to eat some gross healthy cereal. Cole ignores him, thunking his head against the table and pulling the blanket over his head instead.

"G'morning," Kai mutters at them, flopping down in a chair. Lloyd glares at him. He took the fun swivel chair.

"Good morning," Zane says, his voice chipper. "There's coffee left in the pot if you want some— no, not you, Lloyd."

Lloyd grumbles darkly, slumping in his seat. "Sure, makemesuffer," he scowls.

"Trust me, kid, it's nasty," Jay says. Lloyd narrows his eyes as he pours himself a third cup. "Adult juice, remember?"

"Whatever," Lloyd sulks.

"Here, you need breakfast." Zane slides a bowl of cereal toward him, and Lloyd eyes it with suspicion. It's got the little marshmallows he likes in it, sure, but this isZanegiving it to him — he bets it's secretly healthy, or something.Ugh.

"Can I have poptarts instead?"

"No." Cole's voice is muffled against the table. "If I don't get them, nobody does."

Lloyd makes a face. Likethat'sfair.

"Eat your cereal, Lloyd, or we'll all be late for training," Zane repeats, more firmly.

Lloyd sticks his tongue out at him, but he relents, spooning the marshmallow bits into his mouth. The threat of being late is motivation enough. He doesn't want to be the last one done, 'cause then he'll get left behind, which means figuring out everything by himself—

Wait. Actually, there's one personwaybehind him, Lloyd realizes, and it's weird that she's late, because she likes to lecture him about that.

"Where's Nya?" he asks, through a mouthful of cereal. If she decided to sleep in on him, Lloyd is going to be veryunhappywith her.

Kai sighs, rubbing his temple. "She's sick," he mutters, looking guilty. "Pretty sure she picked it up from me."

"Oh. Poor Nya," Lloyd winces. It's not a surprise, really. Nya totally smothered Kai while he was sick, and she doesn't have cool Green Ninja genes to protect her like Lloyd does, but that still sucks. Now he's gotta keep an eye onher,too, and he won't even be able to share comics with her or anything because he's gonna be stuckstupid training.

"Nya's sick?" Jay's head snaps up, his eyes widening.

"Yeah," Kai waves him off. "She's fine, though, just sleeping."

"Ah, uh — good," Jay says. He still looks pretty nervous, for some reason. "Do you know, say, how long she's, uh, been sick?"

Kai slowly raises his head to look at Jay. Cole, who's finally dragged his face up from the table, tilts his own head, eyebrows furrowing, before some kind of realization dawns. He immediately buries his face back in his blanket, muffling snickers, and Jay turns red.

"Why," Kai says, his voice eerily calm. "Would you need to know,Jay?"

"No reason!" Jay says quickly. If he was a cartoon character, he'd be sweat-dropping, Lloyd thinks. "Just, uh—" he coughs, his hand reaching for his mouth before hastily aborting the action. "Hope it's not…real contagious."

The coffee cup in Kai's hand creaks ominously, as if it's about to crack. "I wouldn't think you'd have a problem," he says, his face turning thunderous. "Unless you've been getting yourmouthclose enough to mysisterto—"

"Hey, you know what?" Cole interjects quickly, suddenly alert. "Look at the time! You're on stretching exercises Kai, better grab green machine here and hop to it."

"I still have fifteen minutes to kick his a—"

"I saidhop to it."

For a brief second, it looks like Kai might actually start a fight — but to Lloyd's disappointment he deflates, sliding out from his chair.

"Let's go, bud," he sighs. "Stretching time."

"Ughhh," Lloyd draws his groan out, pulling the edge of Cole's blanket over his head. Cole tugs it back, looking amused. "It's too early."

"It's not that early."

"Thesunisn't even up."

"Then you'll get to see the sunrise."

"Hooray," Lloyd pans drily, but he slides out of his seat as well, trudging after him.

At least his first exercise is with Kai. He's supernotlooking forward to hiking with Zane afterwards. And he likes Zane! A lot, Zane is super cool and nice, and he always makes sure Lloyd isn't falling too far behind the others. He's also just…super in shape, and really tall. And really tall means really long legs, which isn't saying that Lloyd isshort, of course, he's just — not as tall as Zane, and that means he has to take like three steps to Zane's one, and he's not really looking forward to that.

"—c'mon, half-pint, you with me?"

Lloyd blinks rapidly, and realizes that Kai is staring at him, having just snapped his fingers in his face. Lloyd frowns.Rude.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles. "I'm just falling back asleep already, 'cause you're so boring."

Kai looks mildly offended. "I'mboring?"

"Yeah,wayboring," Lloyd yawns. He yelps as Kai tosses a couch pillow at him, then scowls. That was low, his reflexes aren't warmed up yet!

"That's why we're stretching," Kai says, rolling his eyes. He eyes Lloyd shrewdly. "And working on your balance, too. Just 'cause you're lower to the ground, doesn't mean it's gonna be any easier for you."

Lloyd bristles. "Just 'cause I'mwhat!"

"You're short, shortstack," Kai grins, unapologetically. Lloyd considers his odds of getting away if he were to kick Kai's kneecaps in. "Which means this first one's going to be easier for you, since your toes are closer."

Lloyd gives him the best glare he can. "Well guess what that means," he snaps. "Myarmsare shorter too, so I guess Ican'ttouch my toes."

Kai puts a hand on his hip, looking unbearably like a big dumbgrown-up. "I know you can touch your toes, Lloyd," he says. "I saw you squish yourself into a ball in the cabinet during hide-n-seek the other day."

"That doesn't prove anything," Lloyd mutters, but he lets the upper half of his body slump forward, arms dangling as his hair falls in his face. He gives a huff of annoyance, the blood rushing to his head as he lets his arms sway bonelessly. Kai makes a muffled noise that's probably irritation, so Lloyd goes toactuallytouch his toes—

Except the sleeves of his dumb gi choose then to unravel from where he's rolled them up, flopping over his hands. Lloyd frowns at them in betrayal, then shrugs. Hey, at least hissleevesare touching his toes now.

"Does that count?" he asks, starting to feel dizzy from how he's hung his head.

"FSM's sake," Kai's muttering, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. He sighs, stepping forward and pushing Lloyd's head up. He goes down on a knee, taking one of his sleeves in his hand and frowning. "We should probably stitch this up or something," he muses.

Lloyd bristles. "But what about when I grow taller?" he exclaims. "I'll have to unstitch them and everything! I'm growingfast, you know."

Kai does this funny little thing with his mouth, the expression Lloyd is starting to recognize as him biting back a laugh. "Notthatfast," he murmurs. "But since we're short on sewing machines, this'll have to do."

He rolls Lloyd's sleeves back up, making a whole lot more progress with his two hands than Lloyd was with one. He carefully tucks them back over his wrists, making sure they'll hold this time.

"Better?"

Lloyd wiggles his hands around, pleased to find that his sleeves don't go slip-n-sliding this time. "It'll work."

"Good." Kai grins. "Now, show me that stretch."

Lloyd stifles a groan, throwing his head back in defeat. "You sure you don't want to just take a nap instead?" he tries tempting, hopefully.

Kai scuffs his hair back, and Lloyd makes a disgruntled expression. "Sneaky," he says. "And tempting. But—"

His eyes flit to the doorway, and Lloyd almost thinks he catches a flash of white.

"Yeah," Kai mutters. "Always watching. C'mon, green machine, your muscles aren't gonna train themselves."

"Hmph," Lloyd sulks, even as he takes his spot in their tiny living room. "Stretching is for losers. Why can't I just do Spinjitzu?"

"Because you're not there yet," Kai shakes his head. "It took us ages to get to that point, and we're older."

"But I'm the Green Ninja!" Lloyd protests.

"Yeah, and again — a shrimp," Kai points out. "Besides, remember what happened last time you tried Spinjitzu?"

Lloyd shrinks, not even rising to the 'shrimp'. The guys made Spinjitzu look so easy. Lloyd just wanted to be part of that. He hadn'tmeantto shatter Uncle Wu's favorite lamp.

"That's what I thought," Kai nods, and Lloyd glares at him. "Enough stalling. Stretches, now."

Lloyd makes a face, but he folds himself into position. Too old to sleep in, too young to do Spinjitzu, he thinks sadly. Or anything fun, apparently.

Geez, you'd think the green power would be good forsomething.

Nyachanged the chat name toKai the Germ Ninja

Kai:i said i was sorry!

Kai:its those dumb kids' fault

Nya:tell that to my stuffed nose

Nya:zane's making me stay in bed all day :'(

Kai:good u need the rest

Nya:but i'm missing lloyd's training!

Kai:we've got it, don't worry

Kai:he's doing fine

Nya::(

Nya: are you at least taking pictures of his ballet class with Cole

Kai:are u kidding me?

Kai:me and jay video taped the whole thing

The one bright side about Sensei's training schedule is that, technically, theydon't have to do it. Sure, Kai's still got his own training like everyone else, and there's patrol duty to bicker over, but apart from meal times and the early-morning exercises, Kai doesn't have to be there. It'sLloyd'straining schedule, not any of theirs, so it's not like all of them have to stick to it. They've been given precious little free time as it is, and they should take advantage of it.

Or at least, that's what Cole tries arguing to them, when they all crash his ballet class again.

"It's not a real ballet class," Cole sighs. "It's agility training. Ballet just happens to be the best way to go about it, which you'd know if you had any."

"Rude," Jay sniffs.

"I'm agile," Kai grumbles, even as Cole rolls his eyes. Kai resists the urge to roll his right back at him — he knows when not to push Cole. They're all already tired as it is, especially sincesomeonekept coughing all night. Kai's money is on Jay, sincehehad close contact with Nya, he remembers sourly.

"If you're already agile, then leave," Lloyd mutters from the corner, arms crossed.

Jay co*cks his head. "Well, if according to Cole, wedon'thave agility, then it would be good for us to watch, right?" He looks extremely pleased with himself for this reasoning.

Cole raises an eyebrow. "I've got running too, you know. You gonna stick around for that?"

Jay laughs. "Yeah, stick around andwatch—"

Zane elbows him sharply in the side, and Jay quiets.

Kai turns his attention back to Lloyd, where he's scuffing a mark on the floor with his toe, looking like he's zoned out straight into another realm from boredom. Kai bites back a smirk. He won't be zoned out for long.

"Alright, half-pint, let's get this over with," Cole sighs, shooting a glare at them over his shoulder. He mutters beneath his breath, "I still hate dancing in front of people, y'know."

"We believe in you, Cole!" Jay says, cheerfully. "Remember, you did the Triple Tiger Sashay, so you're a professional now."

"The triple tiger what?" Lloyd looks a good deal more interested in that than he does ballet. Kai, however, has a brief but vivid vision of Lloyd traipsing up to Mr. Brookstone's house and hoarding as much blackmail against them as he can, and quickly moves to shut it down at the same time the others do.

"Nothing."

"It's just a dance move," Cole explains, quickly. "A fancy one, for stuffy fancy people."

"Oh," Lloyd ponders this. "I guess that's not us."

"Not at all," Cole agrees. "Youare going to be doing basic positions."

Lloyd looks very muchnotexcited.

In due fairness, though, Lloyd is surprisinglygoodat ballet, after he gets over his initial revulsion to it. He's got an unusual amount of gracefulness in his step that Kai's never really noticed — though he should've. Lloyd is light on his feet even when he's stomping them, his footsteps quiet, like he's constantly afraid of disturbing some monster in the closet. Combine that with the manic kid-energy he's got, and Lloyd's a firecracker of a dancer.

Kai likes to think they're being a good audience to it, but he's had to physically stuff his fist in his mouth before he makes any comments about Cole the ballet teacher. He wouldn't anyways though, because one, that'd be super uncool, and two, Zane would probably kill him where he stood, having already had it with Jay.

Also, Lloyd would take it…not well, which is something they're trying to avoid, considering how hard it's been to convince him to dance atallin the first place.

"I still think this is dumb," Lloyd says, shifting from foot to foot on the floor they've cleared out, when Cole finally pauses for a minute.

Kai feels a sympathetic sort of relief for them — Cole drives a tough pace, and he doesn't slack off. But Lloyd's tone holds another half-hour's worth of arguing in it, and Kai's tempted to escape while he can. Zane's left for patrol by now, and Jay should be wrapping up his. Nya's still out with Sensei Wu, which leaves Kai the only other one in their apartment, meandering in and out of the kitchen as he watches their progress.

"I know you do," Cole says, as he towels off sweat from his forehead with thinly-veiled frustration. He looks like he's about to go off on a Sensei-like lecture, which Kai knows won't end well — but then he pauses, and suddenly bends down on one knee so he's eye-level with Lloyd.

"So," Cole says, tilting his head as Lloyd's turns away, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Wanna tell mewhyyou think it's so dumb?"

Lloyd flushes. "S'nothing."

"Lloyd."Ooh, Kai flinches from his spot in the kitchen. Cole's broken out the adult voice.

Lloyd looks away, biting his lip. "It's just…" He makes a face, as if the words are painful. "The kids at…at Darkley's would laugh, if they saw me right now," he mutters, looking half-angry at himself for admitting this.

Kai leans in closer. Lloyd doesn't talk about Darkley's a lot, except when he accidentally lets slip about it in casual passing. So for him to voluntarily bring it up…

An odd expression crosses Cole's face, part of which Kai recognizes as realization. "Hm," he finally says, glancing around the room. "That's funny. I don't see any Darkley's kids here."

Lloyd gives him a sour look. "You know what I mean," he grumbles. "Everyone already said I was a failure, now they'd think I'm justdumb—"

Kai feels a flare of anger, ready to finally chime in withhisopinion of those people, but Cole beats him to the punch.

"Darkley'sis dumb," he cuts over Lloyd, firmly. "You know that, right?"

Lloyd's eyes widen, but he nods fervently. "Y-yeah. It's…super dumb."

"And they were wrong," Cole continues. "They were wrong about a lot of things, and most of all you." He pokes Lloyd lightly in the chest. "Okay? Whatever they said about you back at that school doesn't mean jack."

Lloyd's eyes go wide, and he glances back at Kai, who's heart is currently going all melty and gross. "Don't say bad words," he mutters.

Cole rolls his eyes. "Darkley's deserves alotof bad—" He cuts off, sighing. "Look, Lloyd, my point still stands. Look at you. You're the Green Ninja. You survived on the streets and faced down Serpentine. Heck, you faced down the Great Devourer. What loser kid from your evil school can say that?"

Lloyd stares at him, his mouth parting slightly in what could be shock. He blinks rapidly, looking at Cole with a very shiny-eyed kind of expression.

"And hey, look at me," Cole continues. "Do you think I'm some lame washout?"

Lloyd shakes his head, expression turning scandalized. "No way!" he says. "You're really strong and cool and — and you're like, a hero, and stuff."

It's Cole's turn to blink rapidly, and Kai almost snorts. That's what he gets for putting the kid on the spot like that, he thinks gleefully, watching Cole's cheeks go dark. Unfiltered honesty.

"That's uh—" Cole clears his throat. "That's — really nice, kid." He shakes his head, his face still flushed dark. "But um — yeah, okay, see? I'm not lame, and I do ballet. I bet all the kids at Darkley's are just scared."

Lloyd's eyebrows furrow in skepticism. "They're scared?"

"Oh yeah," Cole says. He narrows his eyes at Lloyd. "Are you scared?"

Successful distracted, Lloyd's eyebrows draw into a glare. "Noway."

"Then show me what fifth position looks like," Cole challenges.

"I'll show you whatallthe positions look like," Lloyd retorts, already bouncing back across the floor. "I'll —oof!"He runs into the wall with asmack, and he rubs his elbow, grimacing. "Oops."

Kai shakes his head, moving out of the kitchen, already flipping a mental coin between lecturing Lloyd about being careful, or insulting their apartment. Cole just rubs his temples, sighing as he surveys the damage.

"That's fine, it's pretty tight in here any—" Cole blinks, staring at the wall. He runs his fingers over the new dent, which has also managed to shatter part of the brick behind the layers of plaster.

Wait,what?

Kai darts forward to inspect it, his eyebrows furrowing. "He can't be that strong — not yet," he murmurs. "Can he?"

Kai looks at Cole. They both look at Lloyd, who's frowning to himself as he goes up on tip-toes, trying to hit whatever position Cole's left him on.

"I have to wonder," Cole mutters. "If this is really just karma for what we put Sensei through."

"Or just Sensei's sense of humor," Kai says, morosely.

With only a few other hiccups, they manage to wrap up the lesson by the time Jay and Zane return from their short patrol. They're just in time to catch them slacking off by blasting theStarfarersoundtrack for Lloyd, who lights up like a firework, then goes off like anactualfirework, bouncing on his toes around the room with a wild energy thatdefinitelywasn't there when he was running laps for Cole.

It's pretty cute until he runs elbows-first into the wall again, leaving another sizable dent as Zane trails behind him in mild alarm, exclaiming stuff about "property damage" and "increased rent".

Lunch is next though, which means more free time instead of more training, so when Nya finally makes it back from where she's been out with Sensei, she gets to watch Cole trying to recreate theDirty Dancinglift, except with Jay and Lloyd balancing on each hand, which ends about as well as it sounds.

"Good to see the training's going well," she remarks in amusem*nt, watching as Zane dances anxiously around the pile of tangled limbs, trying to pry Jay and Lloyd off of poor Cole.

"This is the recreative session," Kai snorts. He eyes her, pleased to see that most of her color's returned, and she doesn't look as miserable and sniffly anymore. "How you feeling?"

"Way better," Nya sighs in relief. "Sensei took me by his friend's teashop while we were out, and she had this tea that like, zapped my sinuses clear. Or something. I'm not really sure, but I feel human again."

"Huh. I didn't know Sensei had friends," Kai muses. He immediately realizes that this is a rather thoughtless (and senseless) statement, going by the look on Nya's face. "I mean — he just never — youknowSensei, he seems more the hermit type."

Nya shakes her head. "Well, he's got her." She makes an odd face. "She's definitely….his type."

Kai frowns. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Nya shrugs, looking a little helpless. "She's just weird, I guess," she says. "Reallyweird. Like, all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, weird."

"Maybe you're coming down with something else," Kai offers. Nya elbows him.

"You know what I mean," she mutters.

Kai snickers, then starts as the tiny alarm on his watch buzzes. Looking down at it, Kai sighs, his heart sinking.

"Back to the grind already?" Nya says, looking sympathetic, and a little disappointed. "Aw. I wanted to spend time Lloyd."

"Tell you what," Kai yawns, as he makes his way back to the living room. "I'll give you six a.m. stretches, you can spend that time with him."

Nya makes a face at him. "I'm going to talk with Sensei about this," he hears her muttering to herself. "Just 'cause I'm not some dumbninja—"

Kai shakes his head, tuning her out as he turns his attention to the demon spawn himself.

"Alright, kid," Kai says, wading into the middle of the others, where Lloyd is trying to convince Cole to toss him again. "Time for lunch. You don't have much time before we gotta cart you off to Sensei for scroll study."

"Ugh, forreal?" Lloyd groans. "Scroll study's so boring though. Can I skip? I'm gonna skip."

"No, Sensei'll — no you don't!" Kai snatches for him just as he makes to scramble, hoisting him in the air as he flails wildly, giggling as Kai hangs him upside down.

"No, Kai, lemme go—"

"Ninja don't skip, demon sp— woah!"

Kai's hold slips, and Lloyd wriggles out from his arms like a particularly slippery fish, tipping forward and somersaulting across the floor, before standing triumphantly with a "ha!"

Kai's briefly amused — and slightly impressed — before Lloyd's face suddenly goes an odd, ashy color and he sways in place.

"O-oh," he mutters, wavering two steps to the side and rubbing at his head, as if it's paining him. "That's dizzy."

Kai's at his side in an instant, and Nya isn't far behind him.

"What's wrong," he demands, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. He places a hand on Lloyd's back to steady him, then frowns, moving his hand up to his forehead. "You're warm," he mutters, his heart sinking. "Really warm."

Lloyd shoves his hand away, looking irritated. "Yeah, 'cause I just did a whole bunch'a training," he grumbles. "I'm fine. I'm just hungry."

Kai scrutinizes him, then turns to Zane.

"Ithasbeen a while since breakfast," Zane offers, though he still looks concerned.

Kai looks at Nya, then looks back at Lloyd, who's pulling at the end of his gi, seemingly frustrated with the concern he's getting.

"You weren't trying to do Spinjitzu again, were you?" Jay calls. "I told you, Lloyd, spinning around that much is just gonna make you sick. You're not there yet."

Lloyd's cheeks puff up in indignation, and his irritation turns on Jay instead. "Am too!" he protests. "I almost had it, you just weren'tlooking—"

Kai watches the color seep back into Lloyd's cheeks as he snaps at Jay, and his jaw works.It could just be that he's hungry,he thinks. That's what he hopes, because the alternative means that either Kai or Nya went and got him—

"Well, let's get you lunch, then," Kai says, letting it drop for now. Who knows, maybe demon spawns just run hotter than the average human.

But he'll keep an eye on him, just in case.

Kai changed the chat name toDeath to Roosters

Nya:aw but lloyd is so cute chasing them

Kai:yeah until ur cleaning the 500 scratches he picks up

Nya:I thought I spotted some of those on you too

Kai:DEMON BIRDS

Kai:thank fsm it's getting too cold to chase them now

Kai:saved by the winter

Nya:at least you guys were having fun

Kai:yeah

Kai:the demon spawn needs it

Kai:he's wearing down

Kai:like i'm dying here, i don't wanna think how he's feeling

Nya:I thought you said he was doing fine?

Kai: he's a good liar when he really tries

Kai: he's way too good a liar

Sensei decides it's time to take off for another mission the week it starts to snow outside, which Nya is pretty sure is a whole bunch of baloney that he's making up to either escape their cramped house, or get out of talking with her.

"Aw, it's not that, Nya," Jay consoles from across the table. "He's just worried about how quiet Garm—" Nya quickly motions at him, and Jay falls quiet, glancing over to where Lloyd is meandering about the kitchen. "He's worried about how quiet you-know-who's been," Jay continues, his voice hushed this time.

"Yeah, I know," Nya sighs, her chin smooshing up against her hand as she leans against it. And she does — Garmadon's been suspiciously quiet lately, but they're all suspecting that won't be the case for long. Nya's been secretly hoping he's really just holding back for Lloyd, though. "At least he didn't make me drive him this time, I guess."

"That's…a plus," Jay says, looking like he's trying hard not to laugh. Nya gives him a look, and he hastily adds, "But hey, he'll be back in a couple of days! You can drag him over the coals for not letting you in on training then."

"He'd better," Nya mutters, sliding down so her chin's resting on both her hands now. "All I get to do is give Ultra medicine."

"Maybe you can teach him to fly Ultra, then," Jay offers. "When they're better."

Nya and Jay both look at each other for a moment, envisioning Lloyd atop of Ultra, cackling as he hurtles through the skies. Nya gets a sudden rush offear, then dissolves into quiet giggles at the look on Jay's face, before he does too.

"He'd take the whole city out, wouldn't he," Jay manages.

Nya shakes her head, trying to bite back her own smile. "No way, this is Lloyd." Jay stares at her, and Nya's lips tremble. "He'd take out the whole country."

Jay rests his head on top of the math book sprawled in front of him, snickering. "He can be our back-up plan. If worst comes to worst, stick Lloyd on a dragon and let him go nuts."

"The worst, worst case scenario," Nya snorts, resting her cheek on her hand again as her eyes find the case in question. Her humor fades as she catches sight of him, her smile slipping.

Lloyd's standing in front of the fridge, half-hanging from the handle as he stalls returning to the table for their improvised math lesson. (Hey,somebodyhas to teach him, and they've got free time now that Sensei's gone.) He's got one of Cole's shirts on today, and the thing's so long on him that Nya could stick a belt around his middle and call it fashion. Coupled with Jay's old shorts and Kai's hoodie, Lloyd looks every bit the homeless child he used to be.

Nya winces. Geez, no wonder they've been getting looks from the landlady.

She rubs her temples, feeling torn. They need to go shopping soon, there's no way around it. They've been scrounging by with picking up groceries from the late-night shop once training's done, but they had promised they'd get Lloyd clothes that fit, and Nya's really starting to miss coffee that isn't dirt cheap.

But there's just notime.

Sensei Wu's schedule solidly blocks off their day, and while they've all got shifts so they couldtechnicallytake a break (Nya most of all, 'cause she barely has to doanything), nobody wants to ditch. Especially when poor Lloyd's stuck doing everything.

Nya never thought she'd miss Lloyd's high-pitched, extra-loud complaining every night as he bounced from couch to couch refusing to go to bed, but she does. Lately he looks so exhausted by the end of the day that he's close to tears, and that leaves Nya close to tears, which ends up being a reallybadcombo for Kai, who's starting to wear thin over it and look close to tears himself.

We need a vacation, Nya think to herself.Somewhere warm and sunny,she adds with a shiver, pulling her sweatshirt closer around her. Stupid heating's gotta be busted again. She'll need to add that to the growing list of things she and Jay are going to have to fix later.

Lloyd finally decides on a soda, grabbing it from the fridge and hopping back to the table. Nya narrows her eyes at it as he scrambles into his seat, and she snatches it up before he can react.

"Hey, that's mine!" he yelps, reaching for it.

"Not before lunch, it isn't," Nya says. Her eyebrows furrow as she thinks back. "In fact, you haven't eaten anything today, have you. I saw you skip breakfast. You need real food, Lloyd, not soda."

Lloyd's face scrunches up, and he kicks at the table, looking down. "M'not hungry," he mutters.

Nya frowns at that. Lloyd'salwayshungry. "Are you feeling okay?" she asks, remembering his brief dizziness the other day. "Is your stomach upset?"

"No, it just wantssoda," Lloyd retorts, looking offended that she'd even ask, before reaching for the soda again. Nya snatches it away, and Lloyd looks as if he's considering pitching a fit before Jay chimes in.

"How about this," he says. "You finish these problems here, and you get half the soda. After that, you eat a sandwich or something, and you can have the other half."

Lloyd appears to turn this over in his head, then finally nods, looking subdued but much less disagreeable. Nya throws Jay a look of gratitude.

"Alright then, pay attention. " Lloyd rolls his eyes, but he gives his attention to Jay as he taps his pencil on the scribbled math sheet.

"Say you have…sixteen pieces of candy," Jay says, scrawling a neat16on the scratch paper. "And three friends. If you split the candy evenly between the four of you, how many pieces would each of you get?"

Lloyd frowns. "I'd get sixteen, because it's my candy and they should've brought their own."

Nya gives a muffled groan, burying her head in her hands. Jay makes histrying-not-to-laughexpression again.

"That's not — that's not the point," he sighs, pushing the paper back toward Lloyd. "Look, if youhadto share with the three friends—"

"I don't evenhavethree friends."

Jay frowns. "Hey, then what are we?"

"Annoying," Lloyd mutters.

"Lloyd," Nya says sternly. He ducks his head, flushing at her glare.

"Sorry, Jay," he murmurs.

"Nah, it's no big deal," Jay laughs, a little awkwardly, but it eases over the tension. "Math can get you in a mood, I get that. Wanna try again?"

Lloyd nods, looking chastised, and gets the answer right this time, to Jay's delight. Nya continues to watch him in concern though, her forehead pinched. Lloyd's more distracted than usual today, irritable and constantly zoning out, and she doesn't like the way his complexion looks. He's been sniffling for the last two days, and as much as he claims that his runny nose is just from the colder weather, Nyaswearsshe can hear congestion building in the back of his throat.

He's obviously coming down with a cold, which is why the guys have been taking it easy today — but what's concerning Nya is howLloyddoesn't want to take it easy. He hasn't even mentioned feeling under the weather except for admitting he's not hungry, and even that felt like pulling teeth. Lloyd's clearly trying his best to hide it, which doesn't make any sense — most kids his age are tyrants when they're sick, and Lloyd doesn't seem the type to miss an opportunity to be spoiled.

Maybe he just doesn't want to be coddled, Nya thinks, even though that doesn't sound right. Lloyd's always been funny about attention, but it's more than apparent that he's starved for it.

Whatever the case, she's going to pick up cough syrup this evening, Nya decides. The last thing they need is Lloyd falling as sick as she and Kai did.

"—missed a few, but I think you've got it down," Jay's saying, and Nya turns her attention back, where he's just finished grading Lloyd's scribbled math sheet. He looks at Nya. "What do you say? Think he's ready for the quadratic formula?"

Nya fights back a smirk at the look on Lloyd's face. "I dunno," she pretends to consider. "That might be a little over his head. How about we start with trigonometry?"

Lloyd looks like he's going to cry.

"Kidding, green machine," Jay snorts, ruffling his hair. Lloyd scowls, clearly not amused. "You're done for the day. Just in time for sparring, I think."

Lloyd pumps his fist in the air, hopping down from his seat. He stumbles briefly as he lands, making an odd sound in his throat, like he's suppressing something. Nya leans toward him, alarmed, and Jay's not far behind.

"Or we could take it easy," he says, concerned. "You alright, bud? We can cancel for today, if you want—"

"Nah, I'm fine!" Lloyd says quickly, flashing a smile at them. Nya doesn't buy it for a second.

"Lloyd," she says, slowly. "I think you should rest. You sound like you're coming down with something."

"I'm the son ofGarmadon," Lloyd snaps, sounding particularly aggravated. "I don't get sick."

Nya blinks, taken aback, and before she can reply Lloyd's scrambling off, running for the others. She stares after him, then looks at Jay, who bites his lip.

"Little brat," Nya exhales.

Jay slides out from his seat, patting her on the shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on him," he says. "Make sure the others don't push him too hard. We'll keep it easy sparring today."

"Okay," she murmurs, watching as the others set up in concern. The concern is mixed with a sense of helplessness though, and with that comes frustration.

I can spar with him too, you know,is on the tip of her tongue. Nya crumples a piece of scratch paper in her hand, then sighs. She's a samurai, not a ninja. She gets that.

That doesn't mean she doesn't have anything to teach Lloyd, though. Maybe sheshouldlook into teaching him to fly Ultra, she muses.

A particularly loud gust of wind rattles at their windows, and Nya shivers briefly before pushing herself up.Fine, she thinks, as she stalks toward the laundry room, where the heating system lies. If she can't spar, she's gonna take her energy out on something else, like a useless heater that isn't doing itsjob.

Yanking the panel from the wall with more force than necessary, Nya sets to work, the sounds of the guys sparring in the other room fading into the background. She loses herself in the work, the mechanical part of her brain kicking in as she studies the wires.Maybe they need a better power source…?

Huh, Nya thinks, in vague amusem*nt. Maybe they can just hook Kai up to the heater, and he can be their central heating system. Then they'd save themselves a whole lot of money, and she could finally buy some decent coffee—

A solidthudechoes from the other room, followed by a panicked clamor from the guys. Nya freezes. Then she hears Lloyd's name on Kai's voice, and she tears herself from the heater, racing to the living room. It didn'tsoundlike anyone hit the other with a sword, but you never know—

She stops in the doorway, her eyes going wide.

It's clear they had been sparring without swords, at least. But Cole, Jay, and Zane are frozen, standing in place where they stare at Kai. Kai is on the floor, his eyes wide, Lloyd crumpled across his lap, his eyes fluttering and his face gray.

Nya's heart does an odd, weird sort of skip.

Her first thought is,she knew it.

Her second thought is more along the lines of stuff she can't say in front of Kai.

Zane is the first to snap to action, kneeling by Lloyd's side as his eyes flash. Cole isn't far behind, and Nya's at his back before she remembers how to move her feet, trying to find a space next to Lloyd.

Her heart kicks up into her throat as she catches a better glimpse — he looksterrible. This close, she can see how high the color in his cheeks is, contrasting with the white of his face, and his chest keeps hitching, like he's struggling to breath past something thick. It's as if he's progressed from a mild cold to the full-blown flu in the span of five minutes, a frightened part of Nya's brain informs her, though she knows that's not the case. This is what he's been hiding, isn't it.

She swallows. Lloyd is still, and as long as she's known him, Nya's little brother isn'tstill.

"He dropped," Kai's saying, his eyes frightened, the expression on his face one Nya recognizes as his prelude to panic. "He just — he just dropped, I didn't even touch him—"

Cole kneels beside Kai, his hand gently brushing the hair from Lloyd's forehead to feel the skin beneath. Lloyd's eyelids flutter, his eyes focusing and unfocusing hazily as he tries to wave him off, his movements weak and halting.

"Stoppit, m'fine—"

"He's burning up," Cole murmurs, looking furious with himself. "He's definitely sick, and I didn't even notice—"

"Maybe he's just overtired?," Jay suggests, anxiously. "We've been working him super hard, so — so maybe that's it, and he just needs sleep, so he — so he—"

"He's sick," Zane announces, with a strained calm. Nya bites back a hystericalno duh. "I don't have an exact diagnosis, but his temperature is far too elevated to be healthy."

"Okay," Cole says, clearly rattled, but trying to look like he's not. "Let's get him on the couch then. Jay, run and grab some blankets, will you?" Jay scampers off, looking relieved to have something to do. Cole continues, "And Kai or Nya, if either of you've got any of that medicine left—"

"I do," Kai interrupts, his face still white, but looking slightly more composed than he had when Nya first came in. He makes no move to let go of Lloyd, lifting him carefully and setting him on the couch. "It should still be in the kitchen."

"I'll get it, then," Cole says. "Zane, can you—"

Zane nods, already at Lloyd's side, and Cole flashes him a grateful look before stepping away. Jay comes back in, blankets piled in hand, and Kai immediately snatches them from him, tucking them firmly around Lloyd. Nya is hit with a sudden memory of him doing the same for her, years ago when she was that small, and she bites her lip.

She hates sickness. She knows they're not in the same straits, but growing up, without adults or money for medicine, falling sick meant disaster. Or worse.

But things are different now, Nya reminds herself firmly, as her eyes find Lloyd. Laying on the couch, he looks a little less ashy, but he's still making that awful rattling sound in his chest, and he's breathing oddly, like he's having trouble catching his breath. He's conscious, but it's a reluctant kind of conscious, his eyes hazy as he burrows beneath the blankets, small frame trembling. Zane's eyes flick over him, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What's wrong with him?" Kai asks, an anxious edge in his voice.

Zane runs a hand over Lloyd's forehead again, and Lloyd makes a face, weakly pushing Zane away. Zane's lips purse, his eyes concerned. "It could just be the flu, like you two had," he murmurs. "He could have pushed it too hard in training, which resulted in his body giving out on him. That could be all."

Nya doesn't like thecouldthere. "Or?" she asks.

Zane shakes his head. "I can't say for sure. I am not a doctor, I don't want to jump to conclusions. But he does have a fever, so he's certainly ill with something."

"Then let's focus on what we can do right now," Cole says as he strides back in, medicine bottle in hand. "This should help bring down the fever. I can grab antibiotics or whatever later, if we need those."

Nya steps forward, already bracing herself for the daunting task of getting Lloyd to swallow anything. It's easier than she thought, though — Lloyd is so out of it he complies almost instantly, taking a measly two sips of water before slumping back down on the couch, withdrawing into the blankets.

"Hurts," he mutters, pressing his hands against the sides of his head as his eyes squeeze shut. He gives a thick, rattling cough before curling in on himself, shivering. "Lemme sleep."

Nya tugs the edge of his blanket higher, biting her lip. She looks to Cole again, aware that she isn't the only one.

Cole's thick eyebrows draw together, his jaw working. "It doesn't sound too bad now, but worst case scenario, it goes to his lungs," he says, quietly.

Kai taps his fingers anxiously on the end of the couch. "What do we do then?"

Cole exhales heavily. "Hope it doesn't go to his lungs," he mutters.

Kai looks down at Lloyd. Jay's leg bounces nervously. That, Nya thinks, is not very reassuring at all.

"He'll be fine," Cole reassures them, as if suddenly realizing the mood he's pitched the room into. "I'm sure he just needs some rest, and he'll be over it like Kai and Nya were." He eyes them. "We all need rest. I want everyone taking care of themselves, okay? If anyone else starts feeling ill,saysomething."

They all nod, too subdued to book argument. Lloyd breaks into another round of coughing, and Kai presses a hand against his back, his eyes darker than usual. Cole wraps his arms around himself, his forehead stressed in worry as he blows his breath out. The leader-face he'd been wearing falters briefly, and he suddenly looks very young.

Zane lays a gentle hand on his shoulder. "The snow is picking up outside," he says, quietly. "Most shops will likely be snowed in by tonight. It would be wise for some of us to go ahead and buy whatever we may need."

Cole nods. "Yeah, yeah okay," he says. "Jay, you down?"

Jay flashes him a weak thumbs-up, scampering off to grab his coat.

"We'll hit the store," Cole continues. "Zane, you, Kai and Nya take shifts watching Lloyd, okay? Whoever's not, see if you can board up the windows. It's supposed to get cold tonight."

"Got it," Kai says, already looking like he's prepared to camp by Lloyd the entire night. Zane nods, and Nya bites her lip. She wants to stay with Lloyd, all hovering and worrying like Kai is. But the wind is already picking up outside, and she remembers the stories she'd hear about blizzards in Ninjago City, back when they'd lived further south.

"I'll get the heater fixed," she announces. A hot flare of determination settles in her chest. "I'll get that stupid thing working if it's the last thing it does."

Nyachanged the chat name toSnow Sucks

Kai:zero points for creativity

Nya:i'm wrestling a heater to death back here

Nya:no time for ingenuity

Kai:remind me to sue our landlord next week

Nya:how's lloyd

Kai:sleeping

Kai:still sick

Nya:i'll have it fixed soon promise

Kai:i know

Kai:do u think we can fit ultra in here with us

Kai:i bet they're warm

Nya:they flew off when it started snowing, haven't seen them since

Kai:traitors

Kai:wish we'd ditched with them

Kai's no stranger to mistakes. He's made so many it's practically a character trait, written across his face in the scar that stretches there, in the burn marks that line his arms. Some are more dramatic than others, sure, but by this point he's gotten pretty good at realizing when he's making them.

Hindsight's still twenty-twenty though, andheck, Kai wishes he'd never let Lloyd come near him when he'd come down with that stupid flu. He wishes he'd never gotten that job at all, because then no one would've gotten sick, no one would've nearly been run down by a subway train, and his little brother wouldn't be half-conscious on their ugly couch, trying to hack a lung up.

Lloyd sniffles miserably, and Kai drags a damp cloth across his forehead again, trying to alleviate the raging heat there. Lloyd mutters something inaudible, curling away as he buries his head in his pillow.

"You okay, kid?" Kai feels stupid even asking, becauseno duh, he's not okay, but he needs to knowwhatisn't right now.

"Head hurts," Lloyd murmurs, his voice hoarse, scratchy from coughing. "E'rything hurts."

Kai bites his lip, eyebrows furrowed in sympathy. "Think you can take more medicine?"

"No," Lloyd moans. "No more. Stomach hurts too."

Kai blows his cheeks out, but decides to let it go. He doesn't want Lloyd throwing up on top of everything else, and he's not sure if he can even give him any more at this point, anyways. He hasn't been keeping track of time. It's late enough that it's dark out, but that's all he's got.

He leans back against the couch, rubbing his eyes. He can hear Zane in the kitchen, quietly making some form of dinner. Nya's still in the back, working on the heater, and makingsomeprogress, if the decrease in angry swearing is anything to go by.

Kai hopes so, at least. It's not terribly cold in the apartment to him — in fact, it feels pretty toasty over here, with Lloyd and his pile of blankets. But Lloyd's got the chills in a bad way, shivering constantly, so it's probably just Kai's hot nature.

If only he could lend it out, he thinks miserably, as Lloyd tosses again, making tiny little whimpering sounds. What's the point of being the fire ninja if you can't cure your invalid brother of cold instantly?

And yeah, Kai knows the disconnect there, fire isn't gonna cure him anyways, but he just hates feelinguseless.

Nya stays true to her word though, and by the time Cole and Jay stumble back in the apartment, brushing snow from their shoulders and shivering from cold, she's finally managed to coax life back into their heater.

It croaks on with an awful screeching, rattling their apartment like it's about to burst before finally seeping warm air through the vents, filtering quickly through their tiny apartment. Just in time, too, because Kai can already see snow piling up on the streets from their tiny excuse for a window.

"That should stay on for the night, at least," Nya pants, wiping sweat from her forehead with her elbow as she scrubs grease off her hands in the sink. "Can't promise a week, but it should last us a few days."

"You're a miracle-worker, Nya," Cole tells her, eyes shining in relief as he sets his snow-covered grocery bags down.

"Did you manage to pick everything up?" Zane asks, his eyes flicking to the window at the swirling snow in concern.

"Y-yeah," Jay shivers, rubbing his hands together. "We're gonna have to hit the pharmacy tomorrow, though. It's really starting to pile up out there. Roads are closing down and everything."

"Well," Nya sighs, glancing Kai's way. "It's not like we were planning on going anywhere, anyways."

"I'll say," Kai yawns, running a hand through his hair and grimacing. He's barely touched it all day, and it's lying flatter and wavier than he'd like. Hair just hasn't been a priority today, he thinks, watching as Lloyd sleeps restlessly, his breathing rasping.

"How's he been?" Cole asks, slumping wearily into the chair across from them.

Kai shrugs stiffly. "Little worse, I think," he says. "He's been coughing a lot."

"Great," Cole mutters, shutting his eyes as he drags his hands across his face, up and over where they tangle in his thick hair. "Should've picked up Tamiflu or something while I was out. All we got was Tylenol." He rambles off, muttering more about medicines.

Kai, who knows little to nothing about this kind of medical stuff, has little tonoidea what Cole's going on about, but from what he can tell, there's nothing they can do now, unless someone wants to hike through the snow.

"No," Cole says, firmly. "If he gets worse, we'll make a stab for it, but right now we'll just risk ending up with another sick ninja."

Kai looks down, but he nods, dragging the cloth over Lloyd's forehead again as he twitches, before bursting into another rattling round of coughing.

Dinner is a sombre affair, everyone either too tired, too worried, or a depressing combination of the both to make much small talk. The darkened storm outside doesn't help the mood, and Lloyd's absence is painfully noticeable. Kai hadn't really considered how much of a fixture Lloyd's become in their team dynamic until now, but now that he has to, it's obvious. Nya keeps glancing back at the couch, and not even Jay seems in the mood for cracking jokes, stirring at his soup with eyes glassy from exhaustion. Cole finally ushers him off to bed, cutting any complaints short.

Kai appreciates this until Cole turns it onhim, refusing to hear any arguments.

"You're exhausted," Cole tells him firmly. "Your hair doesn't have it's usual energy, that's a dead tell."

Kai makes a face, pretty sure he should be offended by that. But then Nya takes Cole's side, her eyes all concerned and worried, and Kai doesn't stand a chance. Plus, Zane promises he'll stay up with Lloyd for the first watch, and if Kai trusts anyone to keep an eye on his kid, it's him.

He does make sure to tuck the blanket around Lloyd extra tight before he goes to bed, though. Kai brushes the sweaty hair from Lloyd's face, chewing on the inside of his cheek. If it was up to him, he'd stay out here all night. He promised Lloyd he'd never abandon him, even if his nose is all runny and his coughing gross and congested. Sure, Kai knows that he isn't actually abandoning him, he's just gonna be a room over, but it's the principle of the thing.

But even Zane's starting to give him the stink eye now, so Kai sighs, smoothing the furrow in Lloyd's brow out before letting go.

"G'nite, green machine," he murmurs through a yawn. Lloyd mumbles sleepily at him.

It's a lot warmer in their bedroom with the heater working, so Kai hardly needs a blanket, but he grabs one anyways, pulling it close around himself.

Lloyd'll be fine, he tells himself, with sleepy eyes. He's probably just overreacting. Kids get sick all the time — it's a wonder Lloyd hasn't fallen ill before this. He's a tough kid, though. He'll sweat it out a bit longer, then be on the mend by tomorrow morning. By the next day or so they'll be missing the quiet of the house right now, stuck inside with the snow as it is.

He'll be just fine, Kai repeats to himself. It doesn't do much more to help than it did the first time. Rolling over, he wraps his blanket tighter around himself, until he finally dozes off into an uneasy sleep.

It doesn't last long.

What feels like moments later, Kai wakes to someone shaking his arm frantically, and a voice hissing in his ear.

He drags his eyes open blearily, and blinks. Jay is before him, white-faced and frightened.

"It's Lloyd," he says, his voice tight, and Kai is already on his feet. Jay hurries after him as he races for the living room, stammering. "Something's wrong, he's not responding, it — it sounds like he can'tbreathe, Kai, I don't know what to do—"

Kai stops, for a half a second, in the doorway to the living room. Cole is bent over Lloyd, trying to lift him into a sitting position. Lloyd trembles in his hold, unresponsive save the horrible, halting rasp Kai suddenly realizes is his breathing. Ice forms around his heart, and Kai stops thinking.

He crosses the room in two steps, scooping Lloyd into his arms without stopping, blanket and all. Cole flinches back in surprise, but Kai ignores him, focused on the form in his arms. Lloyd trembles against his chest — this close, Kai can see the sweat beaded on his forehead, the spreading blue tint of his lips.

No time, Kai thinks.

"I'm going to the hospital," he says, feeling oddly detached, his voice eerily calm.

Zane makes a muffled noise, and Nya turns wide eyes on him.

Cole shakes his head, as if he's already thought of that. "The hospital's clear across the city," he says, his voice agonized. "By the time we get there he'll be half-frozen. It'll just make it worse."

"Well we can't keep him here!" Jay exclaims, taking Kai's side, his eyes growing shiny. "Look at him, Cole, we can't help him! We're just a bunch ofkids, we're notdoctors—"

Jay cuts off, pressing his hands over his mouth and exhaling tightly into them. "Just — do something," he whispers.

Zane twitches, looking as if he's running the options over in his head. Kai doesn't have time for this. Lloyd is too limp in his hold, and his breathing sounds worse by the second.

"Then I'll run," he bites out. "He can't stay here."

"Kai—"

"There must be something closer, someone else that can help—"

Nya suddenly goes rigid, her eyes wide. "Yes," she breathes. "We can take him to Sensei's friend. She's just a few blocks down, we can get him there way faster."

The others turn to her in unison, radiating skepticism.

"That's a bigger risk than the hospital," Cole says, slowly. "Nya, we don't even know who she is, much less if she can help."

"Sheknowsabout him!" Nya argues, her eyes shining. "She knew all about how to help Sensei after the Devourer, and she knew how to cure me! I bet she knows how to deal with elemental masters, too!"

Cole looks to Zane in desperation, and Zane bites his lip. "We've never met her," he says, slowly. "I do not know — I don't know if it's better to risk the distance, and be sure of treatment, than to turn to a source we are not sure can help."

Nya stomps her foot, her fists balling up, desperation written in the stress of her shoulders. She turns to Kai, her eyes fierce and pleading.

"Kai, please," she says, her voice wavering. "Iknowshe can help."

Kai stares at her, his heart pounding as his head spins. Lloyd trembles in his arms again, wracked by another round of shaking, but Kai can feel how weak it is. He doesn't have much left in him.

Kai swallows, closing his eyes for a beat, then sets his jaw.

He won't trust Lloyd on chance. But he can trust Lloyd on Nya.

"If you're leading the way, you better run fast," he says.

Nya's expression crumples in relief, and she dashes at her eyes, nodding. "It's down the south street," she says, already bolting for the door. "Come on, let's go!"

Cole steps forward, his eyes wide. "Kai—"

Kai turns on him, shaking his head in what he hopes will suffice as an apology.

"I'm going. Come or don't." And he's sprinting away before the others can get a word in edgewise.

"Kai,wait— at least take a jacket!"

He's vaguely aware of the others shouting at him as he kicks open the door, but Kai ignores them, his mind only for Lloyd and following Nya ahead. She throws the door open with force, and they both flinch back at the howl of freezing air. Lloyd makes a quiet noise, and Kai blinks snow from his eyes, gritting his teeth and following Nya into the storm.

He presses Lloyd tighter against his chest, as if to fold himself around as shelter from the cold. "Hold on, demon spawn," he mutters. "You better not quit being stubborn now."

Lloyd gives an incoherent mumble, coughing weakly. Kai's heart does a somersault as he takes one, two, three aborted gasps before he manages to breathe again. Kai almost feels like struggling to breathe himself, fear threatening to suffocate him. He stumbles briefly in the snow piling the streets, briefly thanking that he remembered to slip his boots on. His arms aren't as lucky, clad in only his sleeping shirt, the freezing air turning them a painful red.

Nya turns to make sure he's following, looking little better — her arms are clutched tightly around herself, and she's already shivering violently, her hands rubbing at her bare arms.

"I-it's j-just ah-head," she stutters out, her face white with cold. "J-just—"

Footsteps crunch in the snow behind him, and suddenly Cole is there, dropping a heavy winter coat over her shoulders. Jay's just behind him, his cheeks red from the wind as he pulls a hat on her, and Kai feels something warm drape over his own shoulders — he realizes with a jolt that it's Zane, his eyes glowing a bright blue in the storm.

"If we're going, we go together," Cole snaps. "But don't freeze yourselves making a charge, idiots."

Kai nods shakily, and Nya sniffs. Cole inclines his head at her. "Lead the way?"

Nya takes a quick breath, then gives a sharp nod. "It's j-just another block," she says, looking slightly less frozen. "Come on!"

They set off, fighting through the heavy winds and swirling snow. The familiar buildings of Ninjago City are reduced to dark outlines around them, obscured by the storm, and the city looks unfamiliar, white and eerie. Lloyd makes a strangled wheezing sound, convulsing in Kai's hold, and he's yanked from his thoughts, his eyes on his brother in terror.

"Nya, we need to be therenow!" he calls, tightly.

"Here!" she cries, slipping across the snow as she changes direction. "It's here!"

Zane places a hand on his back to steady him as they follow, leaving the street for the small, barely-visible building. Kai is just able to pick out the dim glow of the sign hanging above, rattling where it's blown about in the storm. He manages to make out a cup-like shape of purple before Nya's banging on the door, practically rattling it from its hinges.

"Ms. Mystaké!" she yells. "Ms. Mystaké it's me, Nya! I came with Sensei Wu earlier, I need your help!"

No response comes from the door, nor the darkened shop. Kai's fingernails bite into his hand where it fists in the blanket wrapped around Lloyd.

Nya's jaw sets. She steps forward again, raising her fist. "MS. MYSTAK—"

The door swings open, and Nya nearly trips backward trying not to hit the figure that steps out in the face.

They all stare, wide-eyed.

And older woman stands in the doorway, silhouetted by the dim lights that burn inside. She looks unassuming, her gray hair twisted into a neat bun, old sweaters layered in a way that reminds Kai of the grandmothers back in Ignacia. Her face is wrinkled, but her eyes are sharp — the minute they land on him, Kai understands what Nya meant, about her beingweird. He's hit by a sudden burst of flight or fight instinct so powerful, he almost bolts. He shakes his head, steadying himself and ignoring the crawling sensation that creeps up his spine.

Her eyebrows furrow into a deep frown as she looks at them, her eyes cold. Kai swallows, then steps to the front of their group.

"W-we're Sensei Wu's students," he manages to rasp out. "We — we need your help."

The woman simply stares at him, her eyes shrewd and calculating. Kai inhales shakily, clutching Lloyd tighter.

He's well aware how they must look. A bunch of white-faced, wide-eyed kids, shivering in the snow, Nya with her nose and cheeks cherry red, her hair tangled and Cole's coat half-slung over her shoulders. Jay huddled up against Cole, shifting from leg to leg, his eyes wide in fright. Zane's frozen expression where he stands beside Nya, her hand squeezing his arm tight. Kai in only his pajama t-shirt and flannel pants rolled up, Lloyd bundled in their old blanket where he shivers weakly in his hold.

Lloyd's head lolls against his chest, and Kai fights back tears.

"Please," he croaks. "He's sick. He's Sensei Wu's nephew."

The old woman tilts her head, almost as if she's searching for something, sizing them up. Something in her eyes finally shifts, though, and suddenly her stare is less harsh. She opens the door wider, her gaze finding Lloyd, and her eyes soften.

"You're as presumptuous as your teacher is," she sighs, her voice reedy and creaking. "But correct. I can help you."

Cole makes shaky sound, and Kai's hit by a wave of relief so strong, he almost starts crying on the spot.

"Well don't just stand around then, you'll freeze him," she suddenly barks at them. "You want me to help, right? Get inside, the lot of you!"

As if unfrozen from a trance, they all stumble inside, and she shuts the door tightly behind them. Kai stands awkwardly in place for moment, his eyes wide as he looks around the shop, Nya clutching his arm as she stays close. It's a tea shop, obviously — he can tell from the smell alone. The shop looks old, but it's warm, and it feels a little like Sensei Wu's monastery did.

Lloyd coughs weakly, and Kai shakes himself. The shop isn't what's important right now.

"What's he sick with, then," the old woman inquires as if asking for the weather, rummaging through drawers.

Kai looks at Cole, who looks at Zane. Zane clears his throat, stepping forward, the first of them to move.

"I believe it is pneumonia," he informs her. "We thought it was the flu, but it sounds like an infection in his lungs, now."

The woman pauses, listening briefly as Lloyd's breath rattles through his chest, wheezing. She nods, before returning to searching through cabinets. "Smart one, you," she clicks.

Zane looks surprised. The woman ignores him, shouldering past as she grabs one of the ornate tea pots from the shelf. Kai's eyebrows shoot up. He hopes her idea of "helping" isn't justtea.

"Tea can do a lot more thanyoucan," she chides, and Kai's mouth falls open. He's positive he didn't say that aloud.Positive.

He doesn't get to puzzle over that anymore, because she's suddenly trying to grab Lloyd from his arms. Kai reacts violently, snatching Lloyd back as his teeth bare.No wayis he letting him go, not to her—

The woman gives him a sharp look. "You want me to help him, you have to let me," she snaps. Kai meets her glare with his own, before faltering, her eyes pinning him in place. He reluctantly lets go of Lloyd, and she sweeps him into her own arms, her grasp alarmingly strong. With measured steps she takes him to the back on her shop, clearing a space on her couch before laying him down with a surprising gentleness.

"You said it's in his lungs?" she rasps. Zane pauses, then nods. She tilts her head, considering.

"Hmph. Less easy, but fixable," she mutters.

"We considered taking him to a hospital," Zane offers, sounding unsure. "But—"

"You were wise not to," she says lightly, as if the concept is amusing. "They'd turn their heads inside out, trying to figure him out."

Zane blinks rapidly, and Kai's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What does that mean?" he bites out, before he can stop himself.

The woman merely smiles at him, all teeth. "Young Garmadon isn't exactly human, is he?" Before any of them can react tothat, she leans over Lloyd, placing a hand on his forehead, her eyes searching.

"So this is who you choose, golden one," she murmurs to herself, her voice so quiet Kai almost misses it. Something in her eyes flashes, almost like hunger. Kai feels the sudden need to step in front of Lloyd protectively, but his feet are rooted to the floor.

Quickly as the hunger appears, it vanishes, and her hand moves to brush sweaty golden strands from Lloyd's forehead. Her eyes close briefly. "Your cruelty would rival your parent's," she whispers. Then she shakes her head, standing.

"I am, in fact, going to make tea," she says, eyeing Kai shrewdly. "But it's the kind of tea that will help, if you all stop hovering like aggressive ducklings."

Nya nods, the only one whose expression isn't currently contorting at being called a duckling. "Is there anything we can do to help, Ms. Mystaké?"

The woman smiles at her, the genuine expression jarring to see on her face. "You just sit tight, dear," she says, her voice suddenly kind. "I know what he means to you. I'll fix him up, just you see."

That seems to be the end of it. Kai wants to argue more, but smell of tea wafting through the shop is sapping at his willpower, and against his will, he finds himself slumped over on a bench next to Cole, watching the old woman as she works.

It occurs to Kai thatMystaké, as Nya's been calling her, is probably her name.

Weirdseems an understatement, now.

Despite Kai's best efforts, time blurs after that, the quiet sounds of Mystaké rattling around already having claimed Jay for sleep. The events of the day are starting to crash down on Kai, the built-up stress and worry, and it's hitting him like a tidal wave of utter exhaustion. He nearly falls asleep several times just leaning against Cole's shoulder, and he only doesn't because there's suddenly a hand shaking his shoulder. His eyes snap open, and he immediately flinches back. The old lady — Mystaké — is in his face, her eyes tired but warm.

"I've taken care of the infection," she says, airily. "You're welcome. He's sleeping it off now, but I gather he'll want someone he knows with him, when he wakes up."

Kai blinks at this, then her words sink in. He quickly jumps to his feet, leaving Cole dozing on Zane's shoulder, Jay burrowed into his other side. He takes a brief moment to check on Nya where she's curled up on one of the armchairs, a knitted blanket draped over her shoulders. It doesn't look like any of theirs, and Kai reevaluates the old woman, his eyes searching.

He lets go of his musing as soon as they reach Lloyd, dashing to his side where he's curled up on her couch. Kai lays a hand on his forehead, his heart in his throat.

The heat's still there, but it's greatly diminished, as if the fever's broken. His color is less ashy, and the blue tint has left his lips, his breathing quiet and steady.

Kai's head drops, his forehead resting just over Lloyd's as he fights back the swell of emotion.

"Thank you," he rasps out, relief choking his voice. "Thank you."

Mystaké gives a quiet laugh. "You have good hearts," she remarks, an odd note in her voice. "I've enjoyed helping those who deserve it, for once."

Then the softness in her expression is gone, her voice dry again. "You may stay here tonight," she clips. "I doubt any of you would make it home in this storm, fledging humans that you are."

With that, she sweeps from the room, leaving Kai to stare after her. He shakes his head, too tired to puzzle over her cryptic statements any longer. Instead, he clambers onto the couch next to Lloyd, gently pulling his head onto his lap, his fingers carding through the stiff blond hair. He's still too-warm, but he isn't making that awful wheezing sound when he breathes now, and the lack of the awful blue tint alone is enough to reassure him.

Cushioned by relief, Kai finds himself finally drifting off into something peaceful, sleep claiming him as he watches the steady rise and fall of Lloyd's chest, listening to the gentle rasp of breathing.

He's awakened in the morning by the sleepy warmth of sunlight, and the quiet whistle of a teapot. There's a rustling at his side, and Kai drags his eyes open, blinking until they focus.

Lloyd is stirring awake in his lap, bit by bit. He finally lifts his head, frowning at his surroundings until he finds Kai, blinking owlishly at him. Kai gives him a weak smile.

"G'morning, sleeping beauty," he croaks out, his voice hoarse from sleep. "How you feelin'?"

Lloyd stares at him a bit longer, then yawns, pulling his blanket back up to his neck and nuzzling against Kai. "I'm starving," he mutters, drowsily. "You should make me pancakes."

Kai breathes out a silent laugh. He then pulls Lloyd closer to him, tips his head back on the couch, and continues to laugh until his eyes are streaming.

Nyachanged the chat name toSensei Is Never Allowed to Leave Town Again

Kai:agreed

Kai:now go back to sleep

Nya:make room on the couch then

Nya:it looks cozier over there

Chapter 14: Season Two - Part Three

Chapter Text

To Nya's immense satisfaction andoverwhelmingrelief, she ends up being dead right about Ms. Mystaké. She's gotta be a miracle-worker or something, because she not only cures whatever was destroying Lloyd, but she also gets them to sleep a full twelve hours without waking up, eat a full breakfast, and consequently start the next day feeling like entirely new people who've been shot up with ten times their usual energy.

It'd be great, if that energy hadn't hit Lloyd as well. Nya's beyond happy to see the spark in his eyes again, of course, and to see him running around causing havoc at full force instead of coughing a lung up and unable to move except for shivering. She just…wishes he'd take it a little easier. Considering he was just practically on his deathbed, that's all.

"—aha! So you're fighting dirty, huh? I'll showyou, you stupid fat birds—"

Nya suppresses a whine of agitation as he goes vaulting over Mystaké's rickety old fence to get the jump on one of the scrambling roosters, only to immediately sink up to his knees once he hits the snow.

"Stay on the path, Lloyd!" Nya calls, in vain.

Lloyd ignores her, making anoofkind of sound as his face screws up, struggling to claw himself free of the snowdrift. He's making little to no headway by the time Jay finally snatches him by the back of the over-sized coat he's got on, hauling him to his feet.

"C'mon, green machine, they're outrunning you," Jay grins, his cheeks bright and flushed from the cold. He's got one of the many hats his mom knitted him on, this one a bright blue that leaves the auburn curls sneaking out the edges look redder than usual, and Nya totally doesnotstare at that for an extra second longer than is necessary.

"Stalker," Cole mouths to her as he drifts by, following Zane as he clears a neat path in the snow. Nya turns scarlet, and sends him a rude gesture that Zane unfortunately catches, his mouth falling open in shock.

"Nya—"

"Coming through, coming through!"

Nya's saved as Jay barrels into them both, his momentum sending them all sprawling in the snow with a chorus of shrieks. Lloyd jump-skips over Cole's legs just in time, ducking under Zane's wind-milling arm to escape the pile-up all together, cackling as he chases the rogue rooster back across the yard, sprinting by the front porch of Mystaké's shop.

He flashes her a bright grin as he runs past, the better length of the scarf Kai had shoved on him flapping behind him as he goes. Nya shakes her head, fighting back a grin despite herself. She guesses she can it let it slide, this time. As far as 'recovery exercises' go, which they've termed chasing Mystaké's escaped roosters, this is laid back enough. Kai isn't even out with them right now, still sound asleep inside. And, more importantly, Lloyd looks ecstatic not to be confined to the couch, even though it's barely been adaysince his fever broke.

Not that you could ever tell, Nya muses. Lloyd still looks a little paler than usual, but his cheeks are flushed in a color that's healthy, and his eyes are bright under the light green hat he's got on. It's an old one of Cole's, and thick wisps of pale blond hair erupt from the front where he keeps having to jam it back on, constantly dislodging it in his chase of the roosters.

Honestly, she still doesn't understand where he's gotten this energy from. When she got sick, she spent the next five days sleeping, andshedidn't even go into respiratory distress, or whatever those awful moments had been.

"What did I tell you," Mystaké says, sounding pleased with herself as she sips at her never-ending cup of tea. "Right back to normal."

They all wince as Lloyd crashes into the gate again with an ominous sound of splintering. Cole throws a look of budding terror at Mystaké, but she simply squints at Lloyd, her expression neutral.

"Iamassuming that this level of exuberance is normal for him."

"It is," Sensei Wu assures her as he emerges from the house, joining them on the porch. "And I am afraid I must begin apologizing for that already."

Mystaké waves him off. "It's an ugly fence anyways. And I've had enough of your apologies to last me a lifetime, stop groveling. It's a terrible look on you, Wu."

Nya is torn between gaping at her and laughing at the expression on Sensei Wu's face. She's never metanyonewho can talk to Sensei like that, except maybe Garmadon.

"Well, I must thank you, at least," Sensei Wu finally says, after taking a long sip of his tea. "Not only for healing my nephew, but for allowing my students to stay here until I returned."

"Oh, they've been fine," Mystaké says. "A wonderful source of entertainment. Don't mistake me, you'll repay me one of these days, but it was no skin off my back."

"Of course," Sensei Wu murmurs, looking almost amused. His expression suddenly sobers, and he watches as Mystaké's eyes linger on Lloyd.

"Mystaké, my nephew," he starts slowly, his expression guarded. "He…"

Mystaké snorts. "Iknowwho he is, Wu." She sounds exasperated. "I'm not a complete fool. You needn't worry. I did heal the child, you know."

"Yes, of course, I just—" Sensei Wu breaks off, looking flustered.

Mystaké laughs. "Ah, I've missed you, Wu," she sighs. "And Iamglad you let me meet your little snapdragon of a nephew. Even if your students had to haul him in through a snowstorm like bedraggled rats — haha!"

Sensei Wu just runs a hand over his face, looking mortified. Nya feels a pang of sympathy. Sensei Wu's been a mess ever since he got back early yesterday morning, just after Lloyd was finally conscious enough to sit up and make fun of the dark circles under all their eyes. He'd been frantic when he'd burst through the door of Mystaké's shop, apparently having rushed back home after receiving Cole's message that Lloyd was 'probably dying please help', but never having received any followup on that.

Cole had looked thoroughly guilty, though Sensei Wu was quick to assure him that it wasn't his fault.

"I should not have left you in the first place," he'd said, a hand on his nephew's head as Lloyd had napped against him. "I am sorry you had to go through that on your own, but I can't thank you enough for taking care of my nephew. You all acted with maturity beyond what I could have asked for. I am impressed you thought of Mystaké, Nya."

He'd nodded to her at that, and Nya had flushed, insisting she was just grateful she'd remembered the way.

She might have thrown Cole a look ofI-told-you-so, but if she did, it would have been a merciful one, because the entire experience was awful all around as it was.

Before her thoughts can turn sour, Nya's yanked from her musing as Lloyd stumbles into the porch step breathing heavily, struggling to untangle himself from his scarf. Nya blanches as she catches sight of his face.

"Lloyd!" she exclaims, darting from her and seat and trying to hold him still long enough to get a good look at him. " What happened?"

Lloyd, cheerfully sporting three ugly scratches that stretch diagonally across his face, just grins at her. "The roosters got me!" he says, as if this is an accomplishment. "I look super cool, right?"

Nya isn't sure how to answer that, mainly because she's trying to remember if roosters leave the kind of scratches that can infect you and kill you — probably, with Lloyd's luck. She's gonna have to dump a bottle of rubbing alcohol on his face later, isn't she.

"The goal isnotto end up an invalid again," she mutters.

Lloyd rolls his eyes. "A rooster isn't gonna kill me, Nya," he scoffs, then ducks out from her hold and sprints for the yard. "Jay! Come help me corner the ugly one!"

Nya watches him go in despair. Maybe the doctor's visit they're scheduling him will cover tetanus shots, too.

Mystaké snorts as she watches him run off, her eyes amused. "I like him," she informs Wu. "He reminds me of your mother."

Sensei Wu chokes so violently on his tea that Nya almost runs to help him.

"Youknewmy—"

"Of course I did, don't be a fool," Mystaké sniffs, standing. "Now, I'm going to take a nap. Your students arequitea handful, if you haven't noticed. It really was rather rude of you not to introduce me until now, you know."

With that, Mystaké marches back indoors, passing Kai as he finally emerges from his nap, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. Nya stifles a giggle at his hair as he slumps into the chair next to her. He shoots her a glare before turning his attention to where the guys are winding down in the yard.

"So…" he brings his hand up, shading his eyes against the bright sun. "Is Lloyd chasing the roosters, or are the roosters chasing Lloyd?"

"That's up for debate," Nya muses. "Would you have called that high-pitched cackling, or screaming?"

They both watch where Lloyd's finally caught his rogue rooster, holding it in a mangled kind of stranglehold as its spindly legs struggle to land purchase on his arms. Lloyd drags it back with a stubborn look of determination of his face, huffing at it tries to stab his fingers with its beak.

"Stupid bird," he grouses, but he sounds satisfied as he marches up to the porch with his prey.

"About time," Jay pants, slumping down on the porch steps. "That was a work out for me."

"As it should be," Sensei Wu says, but his eyes are dancing in amusem*nt.

"I'll say," Cole mutters, striding up and clapping a hand on Lloyd's back, gesturing to the rooster. "This last one was a tough one."

"Oh yeah," Lloyd nods, holding the rooster tighter as it struggles, the unfortunate creature looking rather crushed at this point. "He's pretty fast for a fat old bird."

"Hey, you know what that means," Cole says. "It'll taste great when you cook it up and eat it."

Lloyd stares at Cole in abject horror.

"Eatit?" he exclaims, holding the rooster closer. Nya stifles a giggle at the look on his face.

Cole snorts, shaking his head. "Just a joke, green—"

"No one's eating him!" Lloyd snaps, his eyebrows downturned fiercely. Nya gets a sinking feeling the moment Lloyd terms the rooster a 'him', but her fears are confirmed when he shifts his hold on it, and without hesitation spills the rooster to the ground in a ball of squawking feathers. Cole's eyes go wide.

"Wait, Lloyd no—!"

"Oh no, I amnotchasing that thing down again—"

"Run, run for your life!" Lloyd cries, shooing at the rooster. "Cole's slow, you can outrun him!"

"Hey—"

The rooster takes off like a shot, startling Zane as it streaks back across the yard. Jay buries his face in his hands with an exhausted groan. Cole just watches in despair, before hopping up the porch steps, clapping Kai on the back.

"Your turn," he says, before quickly darting inside.

"Wha— hey!" Kai glares after him, before glancing back at the yard, his shoulders slumping.

Nya bites back a smile, and pats him on the back. "C'mon," she says, cheerfully. "I'll help you."

Running around Mystaké's front yard with Kai and Lloyd, shrieking as the rooster claws at them, Nya completely forgets that she was supposed to be grilling Lloyd about being sick in the first place.

Nyachanged the chat name toKai the Rooster-Whisperer

Kai:enough about roosters in this chat

Kai: i'm sick of them

Nya:sensei wu's famous ninja, smile in the face of death yet cower at the feet of roosters

Kai:idk what u saw but there was no cowering

Kai:besides we're not famous, no one knows who we are

Nya:you know that is a little weird come to think of it

Nya:you gotta get a better PR agent

Kai:we cant even afford training space nya

Nya:yeah well

Nya:at least I finally get in on training

Kai:bc ultra loves u now, traitor dragon

Nya:you're just jealous I get to go flying with lloyd now

While Kai's still going to hold it against Sensei Wu for leaving them alone the one week Lloyd's immune system decided to go catatonic, because he's yet to stop having nightmares about that, and every time Lloyd even sneezes now he's gonna have a heart attack —

—he does have to admit that Sensei does an admirable job trying to remedy the situation.

Granted, it's not much more than a few adjustments and a sincere talk with Lloyd aboutlimits —because like it or not, the Final Battle is an actual thing that is coming sooner than later — but Sensei doesn't want his nephew dropping dead of exhaustion any more than they do, and Kai will admit the adjusted schedule helps.

For one, five in the morning has been shifted to six, which is still terrible, but not quite so bad as it was before. And on weekends they get to sleep in until seven, so Kai's gonna take every hour he can get.

Lloyd, however, refuses to see the bright side, and still has to be dragged out of bed by his toes, even on the weekends.

"Lloyd, comeon, you useless lump, get out of bed."

"Mph." Lloyd pulls the covers over his head. Jay sighs, standing back and huffing. Kai grabs a fistful of blankets and yanks them off, earning a stink-eye from Lloyd.

"Go 'way," he grumbles into his pillow, attempting to burrow into it like an agitated worm.

Jay rolls his eyes, trying again. "Hey, Lloyd. Lloyd, the Serpentine are back. They broke into the house, they're coming to get you."

"Oh good, they can eat you." Even muffled by his pillow and the heavy sleep in his voice, Lloyd still manages to sound like the perfect, callous little brat. "Then I can sleep in."

Jay makes a face, then looks to Kai, shrugging helplessly. Kai frowns, debating. His favorite solution is still yanking Lloyd up like a sack of potatoes and dragging him out, but Lloyd's also been getting really good at those heel-kicks, and Kai doesn't want a bruise this early in the morning. So he tries for a different angle.

"Lloyd," he says, in his most authoritative voice. "Sensei said we've gotta be out of the house in ten minutes. If you don't get up now, we're gonna leave you and go by oursel—"

Lloyd shoots up, jumping out of bed so quickly that Jay stumbles back, and Kai blinks in surprise.

"I'm coming!" Lloyd yelps, already hopping across the room as he struggles to drag his gi over his head. He wobbles preciously, getting stuck as one pant leg of his too-large gi unravels, and Kai darts over to catch him before he gives himself a concussion on the nightstand, pulling him upright. Lloyd immediately shrugs him off, tying off his gi and making a break for the bathroom, scrambling frantically for his toothbrush.

Jay watches the display in vague disbelief. "Geez, if I'd known that's all it takes," he shakes his head.

Kai simply nods as he walks over to Lloyd, rolling the edge of his sleeve up before he splashes it in the sink. "Chill out, bud," he assures him, eyeing Lloyd warily in case he chokes on his toothbrush. "I was kidding. We're not gonna leave without you."

That would kind of defeat the entire purpose, anyways,he mentally adds.

Lloyd chomps down on his toothbrush, leaving little imprints on the handle from his too-sharp teeth as he glares daggers at Kai. "Jer'face," he mutters through a mouthful of toothpaste. He finishes getting ready at a less hazardous pace after that, but the slightly manic, almost anxious edge to his actions still remains, even as he scurries down the stairs to beat Kai out the front door.

Kai sighs, picking up the hood of Lloyd's gi where he's dropped it, and follows him out.

In truth, there's really no good reason they should be up this early, Kai muses, as the others bicker over the bus tokens. They're looking for somewhere to train, not actually training, and busting into someone's dojo in the early hours of the morning isn't exactly going toendearthem to anyone.

But who knows. Kai's from Ignacia — people in Ninjago City are weird.

Not that their group of ninjaaren't, he admits ruefully, as a fruit stand worker stares at them openly from across the street.

"—bus tokens, Sensei thinks he's a real riot—"

"At least he didn't think they were a — what was it? Oh,spinijitzu vortex."

"So what! It's not that far out of possibility."

Zane just sighs, already despairing of them all and it's not even noon.

In all fairness, the idea of a spinjitzu vortex really isn't that far out of the possibility of belief, especially with Kai's admittedly limited interactions with Ninjago City. And by limited, he means he's gone out in it maybe like, three times. Four, tops.

Kai doesn't like cities, okay? They're just not his thing. Compared to the quiet simplicity of Ignacia, Ninjago City is loud and complicated and full of dark corners Lloyd is going to point out look just like somewhere he spent the night in once, which makes for an awful combo when it comes to Kai's temper.

But in his defense, it's not like he's the only one. Jay's knowledge begins and ends at the town near the junkyard, which wastiny, so that doesn't count. Zane lived in the middle of the woods for half his life, and then spent the other half, like…wandering, or something? Kai's not clear on that part, actually, he's gotta ask Zane about that sometime.

The point is, for the most part, their interactions with Ninjago City have been limited to either blasting themselves over the skyline with their powers in a race for their lives, or running into the grocery stores late at night. They haven't really…put themselves out there, so to speak. Or had thetimeto. There was that one outing where they almost drove Cole to tears while he tried to explain the subway system to them, but that's about it.

"It's not my fault you all grew up in the middle of nowhere," Cole grumbles, as they elect him in charge of handling communication once again, shuffling them all into a public bus. "Bunch of backwater country kids."

"Hey, I've lived in cities before," Lloyd protests. "They aren't so bad. It's way easier to swipe stuff in 'em than it was the smaller villages. There's a lot more people, so they aren't paying as much attention. It's super easy, all you gotta do is wait until a siren goes off or something, then you duck real low and—"

"How about you turn down the volume there, buddy," Kai says hastily, plastering a hand over Lloyd's mouth. He yanks it back just before Lloyd licks it, grinning triumphantly at the grumpy expression he makes.

Cole rubs his temple as he falls into the bus seat, muttering something about child criminals. Jay slides in next to him, stifling giggles. Kai trails behind Zane, shoving Lloyd in after him so he'll be firmly sandwiched between the two of them.

"Why don't I get my own seat?" Lloyd exclaims, indignantly.

Zane pats him on the head. "Because our job is to protect you." A grin pulls at the side of his mouth. "Also, because you just admitted to being an avid thief in the city, so we have to curb that habit while we can."

"I hate the city," Lloyd grumbles.

"Hey, what happened to Mr. City Expert here?" Kai asks, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Eh. I guess it wasn't that great. It got kinda scary at night," Lloyd shrugs, batting Kai's elbow away. His mouth pinches. "And people would chase me sometimes, or offer me weird stuff. I never stuck around long."

Kai, who was just sitting down, almost misses the bus seat he's supposed to be going for and hits the floor instead. He barely manages to slide himself in next to Lloyd, willing his face not to show the 'Lloyd's-childhood-sucked-worse-than-I-thought-again'look of pity Lloyd despises so much.

"What do you mean, 'weird stuff'?" Cole demands, frowning where he leans over the back of his seat to face them.

Lloyd shrugs again. "I dunno," he says, kicking at the back of Jay's seat. "Sometimes they just wanted me to go get stuff for them. Or go with them, maybe? I didn't listen, 'cause they weren't evil enough for my super villainous plans, but — oh yeah, there was this one guy, he had all these coolneedles—"

"—that I'm sure were for tattoos!" Jay says, his voice high-pitched. "Just, just for that. I'm sure."

Cole makes a muffled noise that sounds like a shriek into his hands. Kai carefully lays a hand on top of Lloyd's head, then tilts it back so he's looking him in the eye.

"If you ever see any of them on the street," he says, with measured calm. "Point them out to me."

Lloyd's eyes widen, sharp teeth peeking over his lip as he grins. "And then you'll fry 'em?"

"And then I'll fry 'em."

Zane clears his throat audibly, leveling him with a death glare that still manages to look surprisingly impressive, considering he's squished against the window by Lloyd.

"No murder."

"What about a little frying?" Lloyd tries, his eyes large and innocent. "Just a teensy bit?"

Zane's glare takes a turn for the disappointed kind. "No murder means no murder."

"You're no fun," Lloyd grouses.

"No fun at all," Kai echoes, mournfully.

Zane just looks out the window, shaking his head. Kai ignores him, trying to get Lloyd to sit still instead.

"Stop squirming so much," he hisses, jabbing the pressure point on Lloyd's knee so he yelps, finally ceasing his attack on the back of Jay's seat. "People are gonna notice."

"No they're not," Lloyd rolls his eyes. "You guys are in like, super bright colors, and no one's even blinked twice."

Kai opens his mouth at that, then shuts it, scrambling for a defense and finding none. Zane stifles a quiet snicker.

"'Sides, I gotta get stronger for my Spinjitzu," Lloyd says, glaring at his legs. "I was talking with Nya earlier, and she said it's all in the legs! I mean, I guess she was just talking about Ultra, but it'll help with Spintitzu too, 'cause I keep tripping over my own legs, so maybe—"

"Woah, slow down there, shortstack," Kai says, eyebrows furrowing. "Spinjitzu's tough. It's not a big deal if you don't get it immediately. Trust me, it took us forever."

Lloyd doesn't look the least bit reassured, opening his mouth to argue back (or say something snarky, no doubt, he's been picking up too many bad habits from them), but Cole beats him to it.

"Yeah, take it easy, alright?" he says, craning his head back over the seats again. "You just got over being pretty sick, you shouldn't push it."

Lloyd scowls. "Iamover it," he says, kicking Jay's seat again as he glares darkly at it. "That was nothing. I'm way better now, don't worry about it."

Cole worries his lip between his teeth as he frowns at him, then looks up, meeting Kai's gaze. A brief glance of understanding passes between them. Lloyd's had an unusually fast turnaround, sure — Kai had almost swallowed his tongue when Lloyd had executed a perfect handspring over him to snag the last pancake, only a mere day after he'd been practically comatose. But that doesn't mean Lloyd'sokay. And it definitely doesn't mean they're going to let him get away with making a habit of it, because Kai's getting the sinking feeling that's what's happening here.

However, getting into it in the middle of the Ninjago City public bus is…probably not the best idea, as Cole's rueful expression clearly says. Lloyd can throw a mean tantrum when he wants to, and Kai doesn't want toactuallysit on top of him.

So he blows his breath out instead, with the assurance to himself that he'll bring it up first thing later, and lets Lloyd off the hook with a hair scuff.

Lloyd shrugs him off like he usually does, but he lets Kai start jabbing the toe of his shoe into the back of Jay's seat with him, so by the time they reach the dojo Sensei's suggested, Lloyd appears to be back to his easy-tempered — if mischievous — self. Jay, on the other hand, looks like he's about to explode, and Kai grabs Lloyd and bolts for the door before Jay can break Zane's 'no murder' rule in full view of Ninjago City's local bus patrons.

Whostillhardly seem to recognize them, even with their gi's on. Kai chews on the inside of his cheek. He probably shouldn't be complaining about it, 'cause it'd be a pain to get mobbed by everyone with questions, but…

Well, you'd think saving the city would get you some kind of recognition, he thinks dully, as they trod up the sidewalk leading to the dojo.

Cole's the first to make for the door, squinting up at the sign as they walk in, his eyebrows furrowing. "Thisis where Lloyd's going to train?" he says, eyeing the stick figure carved into it skeptically.

Jay finally ducks out from where Zane's been holding him back, stomping viciously on Kai's foot before chiming in. "It's better than our dumpy apartment."

Cole catches Kai before he can kick Jay's legs out from under him, so he settles for scowling at his back as they step inside.

"I like our apartment," Lloyd says, drawing closer to the middle of them as they progress into the dojo.

"Yeah, wellI'lllike it when you stop kicking me through the walls."

"S'not my fault you're not as strong as the super mighty Green Ninja—"

"Guys, please," Cole hisses, cutting them all a death glare. "We're here to make a good impression, for once in our lives."

Cole's setting the bar for them a little too high, in Kai's opinion.

Kaichanged the chat name toNinja Bootcamp Back in Business

Nya:I guess you found a place to train lloyd then?

Kai:yeah

Kai:i spinjitzued some elvis-looking guy until he let us use his dojo

Nya:KAI

Kai:he was asking for it!

Kai:we're cool now don't worry

Kai:i think

Elvis-looking guy's name ends up being Dareth, and he likes to make a whole lot of puns with it, too. Kai wouldn't mind as much if the guy didn't have the thickest city accent he's heard since he got here, but he is letting a bunch of kids with destructive powers train in his dojo, so the least Kai can do is let him have his jokes.

Also, he might feel bad for the, uh, Spinjitzu thing. Well, sort of bad. A tiny bit.

But it also could've been a lot worse, in his defense. Kai's learned the hard way to be wary of new people, especially when they're adults. Sometimes you get lucky, and they really do mean it when they say they want to help you and your kid sister out, but most of the time they've got bad intentions behind masks of fake sincerity. You just can't trust 'em.

Well, unless you getsuperlucky, like they have, and you end up with an adult like Sensei Wu who lets you live on his ship and drink all his tea and gives you free outfits, provided you don't mind dressing like a brightly-colored ninja all the time. Not that they have a ship to live in right now, of course — that's the reason they're here in the first place.

Despite his hesitance, though, Kai has to admit that Dareth…isn't so bad. And Kai's been on high alert, especially after the Skales incident, since they're bringing Lloyd to his place. Sure, the guy's goofy, always going on about his 'animal forms' and flaunting his trophies (which are obviously fake, Kai knows his metals). Dareth's as city-born as it gets, but he's —slowly, being a key word here — growing on him.

Maybe it's the fact that he's letting them use his dojo for free, and refuses to accept the money Cole and Zane are trying harder and harder to get him to accept. (It's actually getting kinda funny — Kai sat back with Jay and Lloyd one day and watched Cole trying to slip the month's fees into one of the trophies before they left, only for Dareth to spot it in three seconds flat and slip it right back to Lloyd, who won't refuse it.) Maybe it's how he starts leaving out little granola bars and stuff when they start training longer hours. Maybe it's the way he lends them the extra mats when Lloyd crashes for a power-nap in the corner after practice sometimes, and keeps the dojo open late just for them.

But what Kai thinks isreallyselling him on this dojo, and Dareth himself, is how completely chill he is with them. He doesn't look down on them, or ask where their parents are, or ask why they, of all people, are training to defend the city. When Cole scrawls his age on the sign-in sheet, there's only a momentary flash in Dareth's eyes, before he hands them a city map and tells them the safest routes home in the evening. When Jay shows up for training with a black eye from patrol, Dareth casually lets them know where he keeps the painkillers in the back of the studio. He doesn't frown and ask them who they think they are, or berate them for being meddling kids — he just continues to let them wreak havoc in his dojo, even on the late nights.

Sure, he gets thislookon his face when they start talking about night patrols and battle plans and Lloyd's role in all this, but unlike any other adult Kai's run into, Dareth actually seems to respect them forbeingsomeone. And yeah, maybe he's asked Cole one too many times about Sensei Wu, and are theysurehe knows what he's talking about, but for all his goofiness, Dareth's given them a place where they can train while actually breathing — somewheresafe.

Kai can put up with his awful puns and disco music for that.

"—and remember to knock when you're comin' in early, geez. I don't mind, but your silent ninja hijinks are gonna give someone a heart attack. Not me, of course — don't forget who's grand master here!"

"Of course, sir," Zane replies with an amused quirk on his lips, polite as always. Kai stifles a snicker, and Cole subtly steps on his foot. Kai shoots him a wounded look — he's been getting that foot stepped on alotlately.

Dareth waves a hand at Zane. "How many times, ice ninja, do I gotta tell you not to call me sir?" He shakes his head as he walks off, coiffed hair bouncing as he does. "Buncha kids, makin' me feel old."

"Don't worry," Kai says, after Dareth's left the room. "Zane's probably just as old as you, anyways—ow, Zane!"

Zane looks entirely unapologetic as he finishes cuffing the top of Kai's head, and Kai scowls at him, hastily fixing his hair.

"Ninja are enough," he simply says. "Let's wait to drop a nindroid on him."

"You're just grumpy I made an age joke," Kai mutters, as they head back to where the others are training.

Zane rolls his eyes. "I'm a nindroid, Kai, age is inconsequential. Besides, my mind is set to that of a teenager's, otherwise I'd never find your teasing funny."

Kai sputters at him, trying to decide whether to be insulted that Zane called him immature, or take the compliment that Zane thinks he's funny.

He finally settles for, "I'm at least funnier than Jay, right?"

Zane presses his lips together, hiding a smile. "I know better than to step into that one."

"Fair enough," Kai sighs, turning his attention to Jay, where he's training Lloyd on the stepping beams. Lloyd still wobbles every other jump, but he hasn't fallen off once this session, even meeting Jay's hits block for block. It looks like dance lessons with Cole have been paying off, Kai muses. He'd been wondering why Cole kept having Lloyd do all those one-leg-spinning things, but it makes sense now. Sort of. Kai's still keeping the video Jay took to make fun of them both with later.

"I'll strangle you in your sleep," Cole threatens, as he carries in another heavy stack of wooden boards. "My bed's right next to yours, I won't hesitate."

"As if you could catch me off-guard," Kai retorts. He pauses, squinting at the unusually large stack of boards Cole's setting up. "Aren't those kind of a lot for the kid?"

"You saw what he did to our living room wall," Cole says. "I've got a suspicion he's packing a whole lot more strength than we've been pushing him to use. This is just a…gamble, I guess."

Kai glances back to Lloyd, where he's just thrown an enthusiastic hit at Jay, nearly toppling face-first off the beams. His eyebrows furrow, deepening into a frown. "A gamble on him breaking his hand or not?"

Cole bristles. "Wha— of course not! This isn't that big a step up from the ones he's been breaking, and I'm sure he wouldn't…push himself….that hard…"

Cole's voice trails off, his eyes following Kai's gaze. He worries his lip, before shaking his head. "He can do it. I know he can."

"You better be right," Kai threatens.Otherwise Nya'll kill us both, his mind adds unhelpfully, his stomach sinking at the very idea of having to explain a broken hand to her. Kai's got plenty of faith in Lloyd, but he's still a kid. Just because it's easy to overestimate him now that he's the Green Ninja, it doesn't mean they should.

As it turns out, they've bothunderestimated him, as not only does Lloyd splinter the thick stack of boards straight down the middle, but he fractures a gaping crack in thevery soliddojo floor as well.

"Oops," Lloyd says, hand still hovering mid-air.

"Holyshi—" Kai breaks off as Zane elbows him hard, but he's still too stunned to get mad about it. He's pretty sure Cole's jaw is resting on the floor, right next to where Lloydbrokeit.

"That was the power of the Staff of Quakes," Jay exclaims, his eyes wide as dinner plates. "And you did it without the Golden Weapon!"

"That must be why you have the potential to be the greatest ninja," Zane murmurs, tracing the cracked floor carefully. "You can harness all of the Elemental Powers."

Right, Kai remembers. He forgot about that part. He's suddenly struck by an image of Lloyd with his fists on fire, raining flames down on them all, and can't decide whether the idea is terrifying or if it has potential.

"Really?" Lloyd says, rubbing his hand. He sounds remarkably unconcerned for someone who just cut the floor open. "Cool."

Sensei Wu picks up on that one before they do. "With this power, you must be careful," he lectures sternly, and Lloyd ducks his head. "You must control it before it controls you."

Kai spots Lloyd beginning to form a blabbing mouth his his right hand, and kicks his shin before he can start mocking his uncle. Lloyd scowls back at him, winding up a kick of his own for revenge, but he's neatly interrupted by Dareth's entrance.

Cole glances from the floor to Dareth, and pales rapidly. "We'll, uh, we can pay for—"

Dareth waves him off airily, unconcerned. Kai guesses they shouldn't be surprised, though — Dareth's the same guy who cheerily watched Kai set fire to half the room on accident and laughed as they scrambled to put it out.

Probably because he's crazy, Kai decides.

"I have to admit, not bad for a kid," Dareth says, nodding to Lloyd. He puffs his chest out. "But instead of ten boards, how about fifty?" He gestures behind him, where two of his students are bringing out their own set of boards. "Stack 'em, boys."

Jay stifles a snort. Sensei Wu gives a long, weary sigh. He's long since stopped trying to caution Dareth against trying to imitate their training — it's a lost cause.

The two kids set down the large stack of boards, and Kai vaguely recognizes one of them as the boy Lloyd's been playing games with on Cole's phone during training breaks. The kid sticks his tongue out at Lloyd as he sets the boards down, and Lloyd makes a face back at him. Kai briefly looks up at the ceiling, trying not to sigh himself.

Lloyd grew on you when he was even worse, he assures himself. Complete lack of social skills or not, he'll make friends. Somehow.

If he doesn't die first, the darker part of his brain supplies. Kai swallows back the hard knot of fear that's formed in his throat. A sudden chill's slid down his spine, even with the warm sunny day around them. He tries his best to shake it off, shoving the thought back.

Lloyd will be fine. Lloydhasto be fine. He's come so far with his power already, he's doing sowell. They're not going to lose him to this. Kai's sworn an oath to make sure of that, and he'll fight Garmadon himself to keep it.

Heck, he already has once, what's one more time?

He's yanked from his thoughts as Dareth gives a shriek of pain, hopping from one foot to another as he clutches his hand, his stack of boards unbroken. Kai shakes his head, snickering at the display. Jay and Cole clap hands over their mouths to stifle their laughter, and Kai even catches Zane pressing his lips together. Lloyd doesn't even try to hide his laughter, but Kai figures he'd be a hypocrite if he stepped on his foot for this one. Sensei Wu just presses a hand to his temple.

"Next time, I bet I can break them with my head," Lloyd tells Kai, as Zane departs to fetch ice for Dareth, or something disgustingly kind and thoughtful like that.

"Knock yourself out, I've always wanted to take someone to the hospital for a concussion," Kai says. He narrowly avoids being slugged in the arm by Cole. "Kidding, I was kidding—ow!"

In his hurry to escape Cole, Kai's made the crucial error of forgetting about Lloyd, who's hit he doesnotsuccessfully avoid. "You're supposed to be on my side," Lloyd says, petulantly. "I could totally break all those boards with my head."

"Yeah, and your skull right along with them," Cole says, sounding stressed. "You can't even do Spinjitzu yet, short stack. One thing at a time."

"You're just saying that 'causeyoualready got to break them with your head," Lloyd pouts. "And I'm so close to getting Spinjitzu! Watch, see—"

Kai and Cole watch, unimpressed, as Lloyd attempts Spinjitzu yet again, looking more like an off-balance spinning top than anything. Jay snickers loudly from where he's pouring tea for Sensei, and earns a jab from his staff for it.

"Please tell me that's not what we looked like when we were learning," Kai says under his breath to Cole.

Cole bites his lip to hide a smile. "All I'll say is thatwedidn't have the benefit of being a kid."

"Wonderful," Kai scowls, but he's not able to hold the expression for long. Lloyd's going cross-eyed, and his little circles are starting to turn wild now.

"Hold on," Lloyd says, blinking dizzily as he wavers. "I'm gonna do it, any second now—"

"Let it go, Lloyd, you're just gonna—" Kai winces as Lloyd tips over, crashing to the ground like a drunken sailor. "Fall over," he finishes.

"You gotta tuck your arms in more," Cole says sympathetically, picking Lloyd off the ground. "You keep waving them around everywhere like a bird, and it's throwing you off balance."

"I don't look like abird," Lloyd protests indignantly, even as he misses a step and almost goes sprawling again. "I told you, I'm so close! I canfeelit, just lemme try one more time!"

"How about we get back to that 'bash your head in' thing instead?" Kai suggests. Cole scores a direct hit on his kneecap this time, and Kai goes down on one knee with a strangled whine, glaring hotly at Cole. "That hurt!"

"Wimp," Cole shoots back. Lloyd snickers unhelpfully. Kai's deciding how to best take them both down with one hit, when Jay speaks up.

"Hey," he says, from where he's pressed up against the window, shielding his eyes as he frowns. "Is it just me, or does that look like our ship out there?"

Ninja Bootcamp Back in BusinessGroup Chat

Nya:please tell me you got the bounty back and are taking it for a joy ride

Kai:nope its pirates

Kai:we're going after them tho should be fine

Nya:of course it's pirates, why not

Nya:on my way

Nya:tell me lloyd isn't coming with you

Kai:he's staying behind on the bus, don't worry

Nya:what bus

Kai:the city bus

Kai:ok in hindsight that sounds bad i promise it's not

Nya:you left him by himself

Nya:on some random city bus

Kai:he's fine! he knows what stop the apartment is, he'll get off there

Nya:lloyd will do exactly what you told him to

Nya:LLOYD, kai

Kai:ok listen

Kai:i have faith in him

Lloyd means to listen to the guys. Really, he does.

But it's nothisfault. He offered to be super good if the guys let him come, and what did they do? They ditched him on the bus, all alone, like some useless little kid, with "uncontrollable powers" and other total lies Zane made up.

Lloyd'smad.Leaving him behind doesn't even make sense anymore, 'cause he's the Green Ninja! He can't beuseless. Just because he's not as tall as them, or as smart as them, or he doesn't have control of his powers as much, it doesn't mean they should leave him—

Oh. Lloyd's stomach sinks. Everything he just listedisa reason they should leave him behind.

Lloyd pushes the thought back, shaking his head and stifling the spike of panic. That's why he's just gonna prove them wrong. He's gonnaprovehe's not useless, and he's gonna prove that he can help — that's way more important than being obedient, or whatever.

Besides, Lloyd's awful at being super good, anyways.

"Okay," Lloyd breathes, gripping the scales on Flame's head extra tight as he slowly rises on wobbly legs to a crouching position. "You'll catch me if I mess this up, right?"

Wisp gives a snorting puff of blue sparks at that, and Shard's head lifts to stare at him with a disappointed look that feels a lot like Zane's.

"Right, heh." Lloyd swallows, then inches forward on Flame's neck. He can see the guys fighting right below him, swords clashing as they fend off the pirates. There's a lot more pirates than ninja, now that he's looking closer. Like, alotmore pirates. So clearly they need his help. Obviously.

He squints down at where Ultra's still got Dareth squirming in their grasp, and decides it's good enough for now. Dareth will be safer with Ultra anyways, and this way Lloyd can still swoop in, save the ninja, and prove he's not a useless little kid. It's a perfect plan.

"This is a good idea," Lloyd tells himself, firmly. The guys are definitely wrong. So what if he can't do Spinjitzu yet? He's got hisGreen Ninjapower.

…somewhere, inside him. He's sure it'll start working when it matters.

Before Lloyd can think anymore (or change his mind) he blows his breath out, pulls his hood on tighter — and throws himself off Flame's neck.

This is not a good idea, his mind screams at him as his stomach drops from the plunge.Too late!a distant part of his brain echoes back, because now he's plummeting through the air, way faster than he'd planned, and he's gotta catch the ropenowor he's gonna end up completely missing the ship and—

"Ha!" Lloyd snatches the rope mid-air, fingers fisting tight around it as his momentum sends him swinging around the whole ship, his stomach swooping from the speed. He gives a whoop of exhilaration as he zips past Jay, then immediately yelps as the rope bites into his hands, stifling a whole lot of words Zane would kill him for.

Note to self, ninja wear gloves for a reason, Lloyd thinks, as his hands sting painfully. Ow,ow, thissucks.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lloyd finally spots his target, and releases the rope with a flash of relief. He brings his legs up just like Jay taught him to as he swings forward, bowling right smack into the ugly pirate captain's face and sending him sprawling.

Perfect, he thinks, grinning. Just like a ninja.

There's a familiar cry from the direction he sent the captain flying in, and Lloyd cringes.Oops. He might have taken Zane out with that, too. Okay, not so perfect.

"There's a pajama baby now?" the captain growls, as he pushes himself back to his feet.

Lloyd glares hotly at him. "I'm not a baby," he snarls, pulling his fists up. What's with everyone treating him like a baby today? Oh, he's gonna showhim.

Charging forward, Lloyd swings his fist up, yelling just like he's seen the others, "Ninja-go!"

Despite calling him a baby, Ugly Pirate Captain seems down for a fight, raising his sword as he hollers "Pirate go!" at him. Lloyd scoffs at how lame that sounds, before he realizes there's a very sharp sword headed for his skull now, and his green power still hasn't kicked in, and maybe he should've thought this through more—

A flash of red fills Lloyd's vision, and there's a sharp screech of metal as Kai catches the captain's sword mid-air with his own, forcing it away from Lloyd and sending the captain stumbling back gracelessly.

Kai's the best, Lloyd thinks, dizzy from adrenaline.

Kai blocks another swing from the captain, craning his head over his shoulder to glare at Lloyd. The little of his face Lloyd can see under his mask has gone as red as — well, his mask. His eyes look kinda weird, too, like they're about to explode out of his head. Or maybe that's just the sputtering noise he's making.

"Lloyd!" Kai strangles out, sounding a whole lot like he wants to stranglehim."You're not supposed to be here!"

Wellduh, why's Kai think he had to sneak onto the ship in the first place? Lloyd scowls. Never mind, Kai's the worst. "It's not my fault you —ack!"

Lloyd cuts off in a shriek as Kai snatches him up tightly by the middle, lifting his feet clear off the deck. For a half-second, Lloyd thinks he's about to toss him off the side to Ultra like a frisbee, but then Kai hauls him over and dumps him head-first into a—

"A barrel?!" Lloyd tries to yell, except his face is smooshed against the bottom so it comes out a lot more like garbled shrieking. He flails wildly, kicking his feet in indignation.Of all the— Kai didnotjust stick him in a barrel. He's the Green Ninja, he can't do this to him!

…well, technically he justdid, but still. Lloyd's gonna throw all his clothes in the dishwasher for this. Or maybe he'll steal all his hair gel and—

Swords clash loudly nearby, and Lloyd shakes his head, refocusing. Right, the battle! If Kai thinks he's got the upper hand by sticking him in a barrel, he's got another thing coming. Lloyd can help out, and he's gonna prove it if this stupid barrelkillshim.

Gritting his teeth, Lloyd rocks back and forth wildly, until the barrel finally tips sideways. Digging his heels in, Lloyd rolls, staggering to his feet. He wavers briefly, the barrel still stuck around his shoulders, but — aha! He's standing, takethat, Kai.

Now there's just the problem of him not being able toseeanything, but the pirate captain's voice is super loud, so maybe if he just runs in that direction—

Lloyd rattles against the barrel with anoofas he strikes something solid, but there's a muffled yelp from the pirate captain before the solid something gives way, and Lloyd grins with teeth bared in victory.Ha!Who's useless now?

The world suddenly tilts sideways as Lloyd stumbles into a lever, that slides forward and sending him rolling across the deck. He panics as everything gets dizzy for a moment, before there's a horrible screeching sound from below and he goes sliding the other way. This wouldn't be as much of a problem, except then he runs into what he's pretty sure is Kai.

"You are—" there's a muffled yelp from above him, and Lloyd briefly wonders why in the world Kai's standing on the barrel as he finishes the threat. "—sodead when I get to you, kid, I'm gonn—agh!"

Kai's voice cuts off in a high-pitched scream, just as Lloyd's barrel finally stops rolling, banging against the side of the ship. Lloyd panics again, because he's pretty sure he just heard Kai go over the side—

But before he can do anything about it, there's a whistling sound as the pirate captain's sword comes for him again, and Lloyd's forced to stumble back to his feet, jumping his barrel away.

Ultra will save Kai,Lloyd reassures himself. Or Kai's smart, he can always save himself. Right now, Lloyd needs to be worried about not getting skewered by this ugly pirate captain who keeps yelling at him. That would be a pretty lame way to prove to the guys he can handle himself, besides hurting a whole lot.

"Come here, you blurry little munchkin!" The pirate captain hollers at him, and Lloyd feels the gust of air as the sword slices by his left ear, barely skimming the edge of the barrel.Ugh, this is why the guys should let him have weapons. Who cares whether he accidentally slices his hand open if it stops him from getting hisheadsliced open later?

This is getting really old, Lloyd thinks, twisting his shoulders against the barrel. Darn it, now would be a really good time for his powers to kick in again, or Spinjitzu, or—

Spinjitzu!Cole's words from earlier go off like a lightbulb in his head, the rude ones about how Lloyd keeps flapping his arms like a bird. Maybe he's stuck all tucked in on himself in this barrel right now, but hasn't that been his problem?

Not a problem anymore, Lloyd thinks, wobbling sideways as he barely dodges another hit, arms trapped firmly by his sides. The pirate captain roars something Lloyd barely hears — he's too busy trying to find that weird little bubbly feeling that wells up in his chest whenever his powers start to kick in.

Come on, come on,Lloyd fumes at himself, trying to twist around. He can't be a ninja if he can't do Spinjitzu! And if he can't be a ninja, then the guys won't need him, and he'll get left behind again, and no one will be there to save Kai when he falls off the side of the ship, and he'll lose his only—

It hits him like a truck. One second Lloyd's still hopping around uselessly, the next second everything goes a bright, neon green, and there's a sharp rush of hot adrenaline before he's moving, faster and faster, andholy FSMLloyd feels like he could take down ten dragons at once—

"Ninja-go!" he barely manages to shriek, wild elation coursing through him as the barrel explodes, shattering outwards into tiny wooden splinters and knocking the pirate captain clear across the deck. Lloyd has a second of blinding, wildjoy, before he accidentally throws his arms out again and wobbles to a halt, feeling a whole lot like a bright green spinning top.

But who cares, because—

"Woah, Spinjitzu!" he yells, his voice breathless from adrenaline. "I just did Spinjitzu for the first time!"

Lloyd gets about a second to savor that victory, before a sharp pain explodes in the back of his head as he's clocked viciously by the hilt of the pirate captain's sword.

Whoops, forgot about him, Lloyd thinks dizzily, his nose throbbing from where it cracks against the deck. At least he didn't hit him with the knife side. That'd put a pretty big wrench in the whole Green Ninja thing.

The pirate captain's laughter filters through through the ringing in Lloyd's ears, and he grits his teeth in frustration, hand flailing for purchase as he struggles to push himself up. He grabs the lever from earlier instead, and there's a lot of panicked yelling before Kai hops back onto the deck out of nowhere.

Oh good, Lloyd thinks, the crash of relief only making him dizzier. He didn't kill Kai after all. Heh, he might've actually saved him.

Kai kicks the pirate captain away, before bringing his sword up defensively, hollering for the others. "Get back, protect Lloyd!"

Lloyd's gonna eat hissocks.

"I don't," Lloyd seethes, reaching for the surging power that hasn't entirely left his veins yet. His fingers twitch like he's stuck them in a light socket as his power courses through them. "Needprotection."

The guys haven't been paying attention to him, too busy fending off the pirates from the defensive circle they've built, but the high-pitched whine Lloyd's powers start giving off is hard to miss.

Kai's head whips around, his eyes going wide behind his mask.

"Lloyd, don't!" he snaps, a note of panic in his voice. "Your powers are too uncontrollable!"

That's the worst thing he could possibly say. Anger rushes through Lloyd, and he feels a vicious sense of satisfaction as his power sparks, blossoming into an enormous sphere of green. The air around him crackles, sharp and hot with energy, and Lloyd barely hears the guys all yelling at him before he launches it, dead-on toward the pirate captain's head.

The minute his power leaves his fingertips, several things hit Lloyd at once. One, he promised the guys he'd listen to them, and he just totally broke that promise. Two, he's pretty sure he's just tried to kill the pirate captain, and might actually succeed at it.

And three, the green power isway too muchfor Lloyd's tiny body to control.

Terror shoots through Lloyd like ice at the realizations, and the little grasp he has on his powers tears loose, green bursts of energy ricocheting around them. Lloyd suddenly feels like he hasn't slept in two weeks, and he's so dizzy he barely feels Kai's arms snatching him up, shielding him as the mast cracks in two. His vision dissolves into fireworks, little black spots dancing in front of his eyes as a high-pitched whine rings in his ears.

For half a second, Lloyd's left wondering if he just accidentally killed himself, before the ringing starts to fade and the black dots leave his eyes. Kai groans from beside him, but besides being pinned down by the broken mast, he seems okay.

Uh oh.Lloyd's stomach drops. They'reallpinned down by the broken mast.

Heavy footsteps vibrate across the deck beneath them, before the pirate captain comes into view, grinning at them with his half-blackened teeth.

"You lose, pajama people," he gloats. Lloyd wonders if it's too late to take back regretting trying to kill him. "Now, you're walking the plank."

The rest of the pirates roar with laughter around them. Lloyd definitely wishes he'd just knocked him off the deck when he had the chance. Kai goes tense beside him, and he can hear Jay muttering frantically to Cole, who's been desperately trying to lift the mast off them. Lloyd's heart skips a beat, his stomach twisting — this is his fault. He's gotta — he's gotta use his power again, maybe that will — maybe he can—

Lloyd's internal meltdown is cut off as a loudboomechoes across the deck. The pirates' laughter cuts off as well, and the pirate captain frowns, glancing around in confusion.

"What be itnow," he asks in frustration.

Another loud boom rattles the deck — and a bright red, gleaming mech drops from the sky, crashing heavily in front of the pirates, blades flashing.

Cole gives the loudest sigh of relief Lloyd's ever heard. Kai beams, but his smile's vicious. "It beNya."

Kai changed the chat name toRIP Demon Spawn

Nya:he'll get off at the apartment, huh

Kai:my faith in him has been squandered

Kai:i'll never trust again

Nya:squandered huh

Nya:fancy words coming from the butt I had to save again

Kai:oh shut up

It's hitting Kai, just now, that maybe he should've been more grateful for Nya growing up. Sure, she could be a brat, throwing fits if things didn't go her way the first time, and there'd been that one time she blew up half his forge for a "science experiment", and that other terrible time she'd tried to give him a surprise haircut while he was sleeping, but still. Compared to the daily heart attacks Lloyd apparently loves giving him, Nya's been a saint.

Lloyd, on the other hand, is the farthest thing from one, and Kai's going tomurderhim for it. He's going to shake him down, yell at him for a solid hour, thenmurderhim.

…alright, fine, maybe just the first two, and then he'll like, get a leash for him or something, but his point stands.Murder.

And for once, he doesn't have to worry about Zane elbowing him for saying that, because this time he's got the whole rest of the team on his side.

"Do you haveanyidea how dangerous that was?" Cole is still ranting at Lloyd, his eyes frenzied. "You could've been killed in literally eight different ways, I can'tbelieveUltra went through with it—"

Said dragon took the opportunity to disappear right as the police arrived on the scene, clearing out long before anyone had to chance to corner them. A wise decision on Ultra's part, because Cole is furious. Kai's actually pretty impressed at how he managed to hold it together until they got back to the apartment. He'd been the perfect mixture of kind and reassuring to Lloyd after the immediate battle, only to do a full 180 and descend on him like an over-protective parent from hell the minute they walked through the door.

Not that Kai doesn't totally sympathize.

"—told you specifically not to come and you did anyways! Do you have a death wish?"

"No! I knew what I was doing!" Lloyd argues back, his face red. Instead of being intimidated, Lloyd's been giving as good as he gets, which would impress Kai in any other circ*mstance where it wasn't Lloyd arguing for his rights to get himselfkilled.

"Oh, did you?" Cole's voice is dangerous. "Disobeying orders and losing control of your powers, was that it?"

"I didn't lose control!"

"Dude, you blew up the ship's mast," Jay says. "If Nya hadn't been there, we would've been toast."

Lloyd's cheeks puff up, his lips pressed together tightly. "I didn't—"

"No, no,enough. I don't want to hear it, Lloyd," Cole snaps, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You can't keep doing this. First it was getting sick, now this — it's like you don't even know how tobegintaking care of yourself, and you're making it a whole lot of trouble for the rest of us."

An odd expression flickers across Lloyd's face, and his eyes flash. "W-why does getting sick matter?" he retorts. "That was nothing, you guys just overreacted—"

"It wasnotnothing!" Kai's voice cracks out. Lloyd visibly flinches back, but Kai's temper is running too hot for him to notice. "That was definitely something, Lloyd, and so was this!"

Cole takes a deep breath, as if to calm himself down. "It matters, because you almostdied, Lloyd."

Lloyd sticks his lip out. "It wasn't that bad—"

"Yes, itwas!" Kai bursts out again. "And you knowwhyit got so bad? Because you went around pretending you were fine, ignoring it just like you did our orders! Youhaveto know better than that, Lloyd, what's wrong with you?"

Kai's aware he's losing his temper, but he can't help it. The image of Lloyd struggling to breathe, his lips tinted blue and his pulse weak, is going to stick in his head for months. It's sticking in his head right now, only it's booked a double-feature with the image of Soto about to swing a sword through Lloyd's very vulnerable, unprotected head. Kai's stomach turns, bubbling with the familiar sick feeling of anxiety.

He needs Lloyd togetit. He needs him to get it so that it never happensagain.

"Lloyd," Zane starts, quietly. "We just want you to understand."

Lloyd ignores him, biting his lip as he stares stubbornly at the wall in an obvious attempt not to look any of them in the eyes.

"Lloyd," Cole echoes, his tone sharp. "You're not dodging this."

Lloyd goes tense. His eyebrows turn down, his mouth screwing up, and suddenly he looks like the kid Kai met in Jamanakai what feels like forever ago, cold and mean and closed-off, ready to bolt at any second.

"Why do you even care so much?" Lloyd's hands bunch into fists. "Why does it even matter to you?"

That gives them pause. "What?" Cole sputters.

"Oh yeah," Lloyd continues hotly, ignoring him. "It's 'cause I'm your stupid Green Ninja, right? You gotta look out for me, 'causedestinysays so—"

It's Cole's turn to flinch back, his eyes widening. "That's not it at all—"

"Why don't you just lock me in a box until your dumb battle then!" Lloyd snaps over him. "Then I'll be out of your way, and I won't be so muchtroublefor you guys, and you can — you can—"

Lloyd's voice starts to wobble treacherously, some of the ferocity leeching from his expression, and Kai feels his temper begin to fade as well. Lloyd's upper lip is subtly trembling, and Kai's starting to feelguiltyinstead. Great.

"Lloyd," Cole says, his voice much gentler. "Why do you think we just want you out of the way?"

Lloyd says nothing, his jaw working. He's closing off again, retreating further and further back into the Darkley's kid by the second. He glances up, expression set and stubborn—

And makes the fatal mistake of meeting their eyes. Lloyd crumples, his face falling as he stares at the ground. He mumbles something inaudible.

"What was that?" Cole hedges.

Lloyd sniffs, and Cole's expression melts into horror. Before he can begin fretting, Lloyd speaks up.

"You guys'll think I'm stupid."

"Too late for that," Jay mutters. He's met with four venomous looks, and he sputters in defense. "I didn't mean — no, like, he's on this team, so he's doomed to be stupid anyways, 'cause we're all…stupid…" Jay trails off, flushing. "Sorry, bad timing."

Cole rolls his eyes, before turning back to Lloyd. "This isn't Darkley's, kid," he says. "Remember? No one's gonna judge you here. So spill."

Lloyd chews on his lip, visibly nervous. He glances at Kai, who gives him what he hopes is a nod of encouragement. Lloyd exhales a shuddery breath. "I didn't — I didn't want you guys to leave me. Alone, for good," he murmurs.

Kai spots more than one frown at that. "Why would you think we'd do that?" Cole says. There's a note of hurt in his voice.

"Because that's whateveryonedoes!" Lloyd snaps. "Everybody's always leaving me somewhere, and I thought — if I could be better, if I could—"

He pauses, his face scrunching up as he fights back tears. He swallows thickly before continuing.

"You guys — you guys like me now," he stammers. "Even after I was terrible. And I didn't — I didn't want to lose that 'cause I couldn't keep up! I've been sick lots of times before, and I was fine by myself. I didn't wanna bother you guys, being a crybaby, but then it got bad and I ended up causing so much trouble, so I thought if I could — if I could do Spinjitzu and actuallyhelpyou guys, I — I—"

They're all giving Cole looks of varying degrees of horror now, and Cole doesn't look so hot himself. Kai suddenly wishes they'd waited to have this conversation when Sensei Wu was around.

"But you're still mad at me anyways, and I don't know what to do!" Lloyd cries. "I don't know how to make you want to keep me around, except to be the Green Ninja, but I can't even dothatright."

Oh, ouch. And Kai's been thinkinghe'sthe ninja with issues.

It hits Kai, right then, that they're probably being incredibly unfair. Lloyd's been forced into this Green Ninja thing with barely a second thought, and while they've all talked plenty about it, Lloyd's been pretty much excluded from any serious conversations about it. He's struggling under the weight of a destiny he doesn't even understand, when not that long ago he was alone on the streets. The kid grew up at Darkley's, he probably doesn't even know what healthy communicationis.

And, Kai remembers, his stomach sinking — Garmadon just left him again, flying off on theBounty. No wonder Lloyd's in the mood for feeling some abandonment.

"Lloyd," Cole says, slowly. "Listen, that's not—" He blows his breath out, then starts again. "Listen. The whole ninja thing aside — when Kai got sick, we didn't kick him out. We took care of him.Youtook care of him. Why would we be any different with you?"

Lloyd won't meet his eyes. "You guys are different," he says, rubbing desperately at his eyes. "You're all family. You didn't — you didn't mess up like I did. You weren't b-bad guys. And your dad isn't — isn't—"

Lloyd's voice quivers, and he cuts off, looking torn between anger at himself and miserable heartbreak.

"Aw,kid." Cole's voice is agonized, and he snags Lloyd by the elbow, drawing him into his arms and pressing him close. Lloyd goes stiff as a board like he usually does, his eyes widening at the contact. There's a pronounced beat before he gives in — either that, or Cole finally manages to squeeze the last of the hesitance out of him. Either way, Lloyd doesn't look quite as petrified as Cole begins talking again.

"Remember that first night? When you blew up at us, and knocked Nya into the table?"

Lloyd flinches, trying to pull away and failing. "No," he says, stiffly.

Cole huffs. "Yes, you do. Do you also remember how we didn't pitch you off the side of the ship, even when you were a total brat about it? And how we still kept you around, even after you went and pulled a bunch of pranks on us?"

Lloyd's eyebrows furrow as he stares at the floor. "…yes."

"Did we know you were the Green Ninja then?"

Lloyd's eyes flash up to his. "No, but—"

"There you go," Cole says. "We aren't just keeping you around 'cause you're the Green Ninja, Lloyd. I promise. We're keeping you around 'cause you're you."

"But you guys didn't—!"

Lloyd cuts himself off, chewing on his lip. Cole nudges his shoulder.

"We didn't what?"

Lloyd shakes his head. "Nothing," he murmurs.

Cole glances back to them at that, uncertain — as if any ofthemare gonna be any help, with how they've been standing around through all this. Zane finally steps forward, laying a hand on Lloyd's shoulder.

"You do not have to worry about losing our care for you," he says, quietly. "We don't abandon each other every time we get annoyed with one another. We wouldn't have a team left, if we did."

There's an echo of guilty shifting from behind him.

"We care for you, Lloyd," Zane continues. "That is not something you have to earn. We will still care for you, regardless of whether you achieve greatness today or in ten years."

Lloyd gives a wet sniffle.

"But," Zane says, a hint of exasperation leaking into his voice. "It would complicate things a good deal if you got yourself killed."

"I wouldn't've—" Lloyd's protest dies a quick death at the look on Zane's face, and he sighs, before finally nodding. "Okay," he says softly.

There's a flicker of reluctance in Lloyd's eyes, but they're also getting pretty watery, so Kai figures he's at least gotpartof the point . Lloyd doesn't look entirely convinced, but he doesn't look like he wants to pitch himself out the window anymore either, so that's…progress, Kai guesses.

Cole looks like he has about eighty more things to say, but he rises to his feet instead, stifling a groan as his knee pops. He stumbles once, his leg wobbling, before righting himself, shaking his head as if ridding his ears of water.

"Guessing that's our cue for the medbay," Jay sighs, as Zane descends.

Between patching up their minor wounds and the rest of cleanup — particularly informing Sensei Wu what happened and why, exactly, their ship is suddenly resurrected right into the hands of Garmadon — it's not difficult for Kai to corner Lloyd with Nya that evening. Lloyd looks like he's been expecting it, too, his eyes flashing withfight or flightinstinct before finally settling onfreeze.

Kai doesn't even try to sugarcoat it, and cuts right to the chase. "I said we were family, right?" he says, trying not to sound terribly wounded. "So why — why d'you still think I'd leave you?"

Lloyd looks down. "I don't know," he says, miserably. "I don'tknowhow families work, I've never had one before. This is the first one I get to stay with and I — I don't wanna mess it up."

Kai's heart twists. Great, now he feels guilty for feeling wounded. Today's been a disaster for Kai's ego on the whole. "Lloyd," he says, with the gentle kind of voice he usually reserves for Nya. "That's the thing about family, green machine. They stick with you even if you mess up."

Lloyd stares at him through watery eyes, then looks to Nya, who nods.

"I mess up all the time," she says, with a tiny smile. "And Kai messes up even more, trust me. But we still love each other."

Kai can't decide whether to be insulted about the messing up part, or go to gooey pieces because Nya's actually beingsweet. He decides that Lloyd is priority now, though he's definitely going to remember that so he can remind Nya how much sheloveshim, next he 'messes up' .

"Being a family means you still care about each other, good stuff and the bad," Kai says. "Even if you blow up the mast, or knock me off the ship with a barrel."

Lloyd ducks his head at that last part. "That was an accident," he says, but there's an apology somewhere in there.

Kai snorts, letting it go. "And you don't have to earn that, either," he continues. "We don't wanna lock you in a box, Lloyd. We actually like you." He pauses, rubbing his chin. "I don't knowwhy, we must be mutants or something."

Nya elbows him in the side, and Lloyd stifles a wet giggle.

"We want you to be safe," Kai says. "And it sucks when you keep being — well, not safe. But we like you. Looking out for you isn't some burden, you don't have to — to make up for that, that's not how it works."

Lloyd gives a thick sniff, staring fixedly at the floor. He gives the tiniest of nods, though, so Kai hopes he's gotten though to him.

"So stop sulking about it, geez," Kai mutters, pulling Lloyd into a one-armed hug and ruffling his hair. Lloyd bats weakly at his hand, but he leans into the touch enough to let Kai know he's okay with it. "You're gonna give Jay a run for dramatics if you keep this up."

"Don't encourage him," Nya murmurs, her lips twitching.

"M'not dramatic," Lloyd says, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Nya makes a face.

"Yeah, sure," Kai says, as Lloyd pulls away. "And by the way, being a family also means trusting each other," he says pointedly, giving Lloyd's shoulders a little shake. "Okay? We'll listen to you, but we can't if you don't eversayanything."

"Yeah, yeah," Lloyd waves him off half-heartedly. "I heard you guys the first hundred times."

"Brat," Kai mutters, scuffing the top of Lloyd's head again. Lloyd ducks under his hand, sticking his tongue out at him before scurrying off to where Jay's playing video games.

Kai watches him as he goes. He's still sniffling a bit, but he looks miles less miserable than he did before. Jay throws an arm around his shoulder as he joins him on the couch, and Kai's eyes narrow at the way Lloyd stiffens briefly before relaxing, as if unfamiliar with the contact. Or unprepared, or… expecting something else.

Kai's fists tighten. He's not stupid. He knows very well that there's a lot more to this than Lloyd just being scared they'd react badly. Lloyd's got the same kind of fear in his eyes that Kai sees in Cole when he's waiting for Sensei's approval, or in Jay when he's brushed off a little too brusquely, or in Zane when he's stuck on the solo shift too long. The same fear in his sister's eyes when her project keeps breaking down on her. It's the same fear he sees looking back in the mirror when he thinks aboutparentsor worries aboutworthtoo much.

The thing is, all of those fears stem from past experience. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense when it comes to Lloyd being scared ofthemleaving him, because aside from their first meeting, which didn't really count, Kaiknowsthey haven't given Lloyd reason to think he'd be left behind. Their team might be a mess at times, but they're a family, and it really didn't take that long for them to realize they're all sold on Lloyd.

No, this is stemming from somewhere else, and Kai doesn't need Lloyd's half-muttered confessions to know that the culprits behind it probably start with Darkley's.

"Your teeth are grinding, you know."

Kai relaxes his jaw, rubbing it even as his expression sours. Nya looks at him, her eyes a mix of concern and something fiercer.

"D'you ever wonder," she says, slowly. "Whatthey teach kids at a school for bad boys?"

Ah. Nya's already in synch with him as always. He nods stiffly. "It always ends in me wanting to start swinging fists at people."

"Yeah," Nya blows her breath out. "Sounds about right."

Kai makes an angry sound in the back of his throat. "If I ever happen to run into any of those brats…" He lets the threat hang. "Poor kid's set a high enough standard for himself on his own, with how worked up he is about learning Spinji—"

Kai freezes, abruptly remembering something he'd heard Lloyd yelling about back on the ship. He hadn't had the time to process it then, but now—

"Hold on," Kai says, leaning over the back of the couch to look at Lloyd. "What were you saying back with the pirates, about Spinjitzu?"

"Huh?" Lloyd doesn't look up from the video game, his face scrunched up on concentration. "Oh yeah. I finally got it, I think. It wasn't even that hard, heh."

Jay drops his controller. The room goes silent, save for the tiny, pinging sounds of the video game.

"Youwhatnow." Cole sounds faint.

"Did Spinjitzu," Lloyd shrugs, as if he hasn't been treating the idea like it's life or death. "You were right about the bird thing."

Cole makes a strangled noise. Jay starts kicking up a fuss just as Zane begins to look like he's seen his life flash before his eyes, and Kai picks his jaw off the floor.

Lloyd's learned Spinjitzu. In less than amonth.

FSM help them, they're eitherreally goodteachers, or Dareth's going to need a lot more floors.

Chapter 15: Season Two - Part Four

Chapter Text

RIP Demon Spawn Group Chat

Nya: random question

Nya: darkley’s is definitely the name of lloyd’s old school right

Kai: yeah and it sucks why

Nya: just asking

Nya: trying to decide whether I should chuck this letter straight in the paper shredder

Kai: might be a good idea

Kai: cole’s got the child protection services hotline saved on his phone

The most exciting thing to come out of Lloyd’s newfound ability to perform Spinjitzu is, by far, the bets Kai makes with Jay on whether or not it’s going to accidentally kick in every time Cole has him start spinning during ballet practice.

“Don’t you dare encourage him again,” Cole glares at them both, where they’re sandwiched protectively behind one of Dareth’s display cases just in case. Sure, watching Lloyd’s powers go whack is fun, but that doesn’t mean his zappy little green energy feels good when he sends it careening your way. “We still owe Dareth a front door. And four new windows, and a half a staircase, and—”

“We get it, yeesh,” Jay puts his hands up in surrender. “We’re not even encouraging him, really! We’re just…making casual predictions about possible outcomes. That’s all.”

Lloyd squints at him. “You said you’d let me off math homework yesterday if I let my powers go out of control.”

Jay cuts his frantic hand-waving at Lloyd off, burying his face in his hands as both Cole and Kai stare at him in betrayal. Well, Kai’s is more like incredulous anger, but that’s because Jay just swindled him out of a free lunch.

“And you helped him?” Kai directs at Lloyd, hoping to convey the depths of his disappointment. “Lloyd, you’re supposed to be on my side! I promised you extra dessert if you didn’t lose control, you sneaking little backstabber.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Lloyd defends, looking wounded. They ignore Jay’s scandalized shout of hey! as he attempts to convince Cole to lecture Kai instead. Lloyd wrings his hands, glancing at the blackened floor tiles as his cheeks redden. “I tried to keep it under control this time, I really did!”

“Yeah, like you tried not to ruin the laundry, or the time you tried not to put plastic spiders in my bed,” Cole retorts, having finished scolding Jay. Kai ducks neatly behind Lloyd, which is a lot harder than it sounds, with how short the kid is.

Lloyd makes a face, and Jay snorts. “Take the kid out of Darkley’s, can’t take the Darkley’s out of the kid,” he sighs, patting Lloyd on the head.

Lloyd’s expression immediately sours. “I am not a Darkley’s kid,” he hisses, then promptly stomps off back to the training floor before any of them can get another word in.

There’s a moment of silence as they watch him go, Cole with an expression of exhausted despair and Kai with an expression of…well, he hasn’t quite figured out how he feels yet, but it’s somewhere in the “suspiciously angry about Darkley’s again” area.

Zane frowns as he enters the room, staring between them all in mild confusion. “Is everything alright?”

Alas for poor Zane, he goes ignored. Jay is still staring at Lloyd, clearly taken aback. “Huh. Has that always been such a sore spot?”

Cole rubs a hand across his face. “Jay, did you miss the conversation about needles?”

“No, duh, but that was on the streets, not Darkley’s!”

“Darkley’s was probably worse,” Kai mutters darkly. Then, suddenly conscious of Lloyd eavesdropping from across the room, quickly changes the subject. “Maybe he’s just tired of dance lessons.”

It’s not a complete lie — if Kai has to hear the word “arabesque” or anything of the like one more time, he’s going to lose his mind. Besides, there’s only so many times he and Jay can snicker at them until they’re forced to admit to themselves that yeah, that actually looks pretty cool, and perhaps, neither of them could pull that off if they tried.

But at this point, it’s mostly to escape the scathing looks Lloyd is shooting them.

With the reminder of dance lessons, Cole returns to said arabesques, leaving Kai to feel mildly guilty about the look of betrayal that overtakes Lloyd’s expression instead. Not too guilty, though. Now that he knows Spinjitzu — okay, knows is a generous term, but he’s got the basics — it’s more important than ever that they train Lloyd. At least with dancing, it’s only Cole getting the brunt of it.

Cole sighs as Lloyd half-heartedly takes a position. “Nope, wrong again. Ninety degrees, Lloyd, remember?”

“Now I’m supposed to know math for dancing?” Lloyd looks suitably horrified. “I don’t know what ninety degrees is!” He stomps his foot for emphasis, growing increasingly distressed. “Except for weather, but that doesn’t even make any sense, just like you—”

“Woah, chill out, it just means— wait wait no!” Cole yelps as the lightbulbs above him flicker threateningly, throwing his arms over his head. Zane gives a tiny moan of despair, with a whispered plea of not again.

“It’s okay!” Cole waves his arms frantically, attempting to calm Lloyd down before he shatters every lightbulb in the room yet again. “You’re doing okay, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have — Jay, a little help?”

Kai breathes a sigh of relief along with Zane as the lights stop flickering, sputtering back to normal. He runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head at Lloyd.

“You gotta go all out every time, huh, short stuff?”

“Please don’t upset him again,” Cole begs. “We literally cannot afford it, do you know how much that many lightbulbs cost?”

“I meant you did very well, Lloyd, good job,” Kai amends hastily.

Lloyd scowls. “Don’t patronize me,” he mutters, but the lights stop flickering. Cole slumps in relief, and Jay mouths ‘patronize?’ to Kai.

Kai simply shakes his head.

The upside about Lloyd having kickstarted his powers is that it is, at least, some proof that they’re doing their job right. Sure, Zane’ll say it has more to do with how eager to learn Lloyd is, because apart from basic hand-to-hand combat all they’ve really done is inform Lloyd of all the ways their individual powers can be used to blow up a room, but what does he know?

However, that leaves the downside — since the thing about Lloyd being both an incredibly eager learner and an apparent prodigy of a demon spawn who unlocks his powers ridiculously early — they have to deal with said powers.

It’d be easier, maybe, if his powers weren’t apparently tied to his emotions. Sure, Kai’s all for super-powering yourself with the sheer passion of your feelings, but Lloyd is like, nine. And nine year-olds do not self-controlled masters of their emotions make.

“We’ve been practicing the same dumb moves all morning, can’t we do something cool already?” Lloyd’s grumbling at Cole once more.

“If by cool, you mean trying to flip off the rafters again, then no.”

Lloyd kicks dully at the floor. “I still think it’s lame there are no triple flips in ballet.”

“They’ve got something pretty close,” Jay chimes in, even as Cole frantically gives him murder eyes. “It’s the Triple Tiger Sashay, which is even better.”

Lloyd’s eyebrows furrow. “That sounds made up.”

“Oh, it’s not, I promise,” Jay grins. “In fact, if you ask Cole—”

“Oh, what do you know, it’s Jay’s turn to train you,” Cole interrupts hastily, ushering Lloyd toward Jay.

Jay, clearly eager to smooth over the Darkley’s slip-up, wastes no time in darting over to Lloyd.

“I got an idea,” he says, eyes bright with the excitement Jay always gets when he’s on a project. “For your powers. We’ve pretty much figured out that they’re at least connected to electricity, sort of, but more specifically light fixtures, with what we’ve been seeing. Plus, Nya mentioned that a bunch of lightbulbs blew up in a restaurant you guys were at a while back. She thinks that was you — or your powers, to be exact.”

Lloyd’s eyebrows furrow. “So my powers…are controlling lightbulbs?”

“Not just lightbulbs,” Jay corrects. “I think it’s got something to do with the energy running through them — or if you wanna get philosophical, it’s the source of light, since if you read the prophecy there’s that whole ‘light versus dark’ thing going on, which would be kinda cool if it applied to physical lights, but it also wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense, because then you’d get into what constitutes as a light in the first place, and—”

“Jay,” Cole says, gently. Lloyd is staring at Jay with a dizzied expression, and Kai isn’t much better.

“Uh, I mean, sorry,” Jay flushes bright red. “I guess I just — figured it’d be a safe place to start. If we’re practicing for control.”

“It would save us on the lighting bill,” Zane murmurs.

“O—kay,” Lloyd says slowly, eyeing the lightbulb Jay’s offering him in trepidation. He takes it gingerly, and they all wince as there’s a brief burst of sporadic flickering from the bulb. Jay’s expression wavers, then he sets his jaw in determination.

“You’ve got this, Lloyd,” he encourages. “Just make it glow a little bit. Piece of cake.”

Half an hour later, Kai’s wishing they’d just left Jay to deal with this mess on his own. The literal mess, now, since Lloyd’s gone and covered the floor in shattered lightbulb glass.

Not that Jay’s one to admit defeat that easily.

“Focus, Lloyd,” he’s instructing, ignoring the sharp crunch of glass beneath his shoes as he crouches near Lloyd. “Control the power inside you. When you feel a surge welling up, harness it.”

Lloyd cradles the lightbulb carefully, his expression scrunched up as he concentrates. “I understand,” he says, looking as if he understands absolutely nothing of what Jay’s said at all. “I am in control.”

Jay brightens, as if Lloyd claiming he’s in control is going to make a difference the tenth time in a row. Kai chews on the inside of his cheek, watching the light sputter. He takes a careful, measured step back, conscious of Cole and Zane doing the same.

Jay remains stubbornly faithful. “Come on, Lloyd,” he says, nodding at him. "You can do it.”

Lloyd puffs his cheeks out, eyes scrunching up in concentration as the light flashes, once, twice, before growing brighter. There’s a humming, electrical kind of whine that follows the glow, a sound they’ve quickly come to associate with Lloyd’s powers. It’d be cute, if the sound didn’t make his hair stand on end in an automatic flight or fight response.

Which is weird, because Lloyd’s powers aren’t scary, but every time he uses them, something in Kai decides they are.

“There you go, you’ve got it!” Jay says excitedly, as the bulb grows brighter. A bubble of hope forms as the light holds—

Then Lloyd’s hand wavers, the light sputters, and the bulb explodes with a sharp pop.

Zane gives an imperceptible, weary sigh.

Jay opens his mouth, likely to console him, but Lloyd’s already on the warpath.

“Stupid lightbulb!” he snaps, tossing the remnants to the floor, eyebrows furrowed in frustration. The rest of them take another step back, and sure enough, Lloyd’s ire turns on Jay. “You’re putting too much pressure on me,” he accuses. “Let me have one more try.”

Zane visibly winces, and Kai decides this is his moment to step in. “Uh, sorry, Lloyd,” he says, trying to sound gentle. “That was the last lightbulb.”

Lloyd’s cheeks puff up again, in anger this time, but he doesn’t fall to the floor in a fit or start throwing things. He keeps his mouth shut, staring darkly at the floor. Cole makes a wheezing kind of thank FSM sound, before patting Lloyd on the shoulder.

“Clean up, Lloyd,” he instructs. “We’ll continue training tomorrow.”

Lloyd sighs, but he trudges over to the broom. While he does it with all the enthusiasm of a dead rat, he’s still actually sweeping, and despite the utter failure of the lightbulb training Kai’s kind of proud. Sure, they might be doing a garbage job at teaching him to use his powers, but at least the kid’s learned manners. Or self-control, at least.

…for the most part.

“What am I doing wrong, Sensei Wu?” Jay sounds downcast as he turns to Sensei, watching Lloyd with a despairing kind of look. “No matter what I try, nothing seems to help him control his power.”

Sensei Wu is quiet for a moment, regarding Lloyd, and the rest of them follow his gaze. For half a moment, he almost looks like the picture of a perfect, normal kid, diligently sweeping up the mess he’s made with his definitely-less-normal superpowers.

Right up until he runs into the punching bags, and — to be fair — Kai’s seen Lloyd get bowled over by enough of them to get that he has a grudge, but the way he starts whacking at it with the broom is…something.

It’s even more something when the punching bag swings right back, smacking him in the face. And oh, there goes behaved-sweet-Lloyd, welcome back bratty-demon-spawn.

“You dare to defy the Green Ninja?!”

“At least he’s strong enough to snap a broom in half?” Cole winces.

“Jay’s strong enough to snap a broom in half. That doesn’t mean anything.”

“Hey!”

Sensei Wu just gives a fond, quiet laugh.

“Patience,” he says. “Sometimes, the greatest opponent we face is ourselves, and that's especially true of Lloyd.” His expression grow heavier, and his gaze lowers. “Remember where he came from. He's the son of Lord Garmadon. It's going to take time for him to embrace the light.”

Personally, Kai thinks Lloyd’s problem is that he’s embracing the light a little too enthusiastically, but he also knows he’ll probably get his feet stepped on for making that joke, so he keeps quiet.

It’d also be less of a joke, and more of retort. Whatever. Lloyd’s a good kid, he’s embracing the light just fine. Powers are tricky, Kai knows this better than anyone. And he’s already made the promise to himself that he’s gonna be as patient and gentle as possible with Lloyd, after what happened with Kai’s own true potential. He knows the value of having someone telling you it’s okay not to rush more than anyone. That it’s okay to take your time.

The problem, of course, is that with Lord Garmadon around, time isn’t something they have a lot of.

Kai’s depressing train of thought is interrupted as Nya nudges the door open, her hands tucked behind her back as she glances at them. Kai’s eyes narrow as her own eyes land on Jay, and he squints harder at the new dress she’s got on.

“Hey, guys,” Nya says, brightly. Oh, Kai does not like that tone.

He greets her with the rest of them, but he watches sourly as she makes an immediate beeline for Jay, bouncing slightly on the edge of her toes.

Kai takes a careful, measured breath, and lets it go.

“There you go, bud,” Cole pats him on the shoulder.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Kai snaps.

“Unlearning overprotective habits can take years,” Zane says. “Your progress is quite admirable."

“I am not—!” Kai cuts himself off before he tries to lie to the two people most likely to call him out on it. He’s not stupid.

“Nya’s the one that needs to unlearn terrible flirting habits,” he finally says, watching as she stutters through asking Jay to the — auto body shop?

Geez, she could at least try for some style. Did he forget to teach her the good pick-up lines?

(…does he even know any good pick-up lines?)

Huh. He’ll have to fix that. She’s due for some sibling embarrassment, anyways.

“Uh, the auto body shop?” Jay’s reply is every bit as hopeless as Nya’s flirting, so there’s that, at least. Cole and Zane seem as pained as he feels now, carefully avoiding looking over at that side of the room. Hopefully Sensei isn’t getting the same enjoyment out of this he does those terrible old soap operas he watches sometimes.

“—and, uh, what you got there?”

Kai’s eyes snap over as Nya startles, pulling an envelope with suspiciously crumpled edges from behind her back. She looks unusually reluctant.

“Oh, um, this letter came for Lloyd.” She hands it to Sensei Wu as if handing over something particularly unpleasant. Sensei’s eyebrows furrow, and he hums thoughtfully.

For half a second, Kai lets himself entertain the dream that Lloyd’s won the lottery, or maybe he’s got some inheritance finally kicking in and they can finally afford dressing him in something other than oversized hand-me-downs.

“It’s from Lloyd’s old school.”

The dream dies faster than Kai’s childhood did.

“The Darkley’s School for Bad Boys?” Cole asks in confusion, a hint of the same anger Kai feels barely restrained in his expression.

“Formerlybad boys,” Sensei Wu corrects. “Since the last time we were there, they've changed to the Darkley’s School for Great Children.”

Kai can’t help the loud snort that escapes him at that. “Wait,” he huffs, unsure he’s heard right. “They've turned good?”

He exchanges incredulous looks with Nya, who shrugs helplessly.

“It says here there's going to be a ceremony,” Sensei muses.

Cole’s eyes light up. “Oh, I love ceremonies. That means there's going to be cake.”

Jay muffles a snicker. Kai mourns the loss of Lloyd’s imaginary inheritance. They could have so much cake with his probably-dead-mother’s money.

“Lloyd's change inspired them,” Sensei continues, sounding a bit suspicious himself now. “They've invited Lloyd to give him an honorary degree in excellence.