Chapter Text
The sun shone brightly in the afternoon sky.
Lloyd Garmadon shivered from where he sat, on top of the roof of the gleaming Monastery of Spinjitzu’s roof. His brilliant green eyes blinked open, slowly observing his surroundings in a haunted way.
The images he’d been tormented by for the past three weeks flashed through his mind yet again, making him whimper, massaging his forehead as it erupted in pain once more.
(A giant dragon, roaring and blasting him with a giant plume of fire –)
(Himself, standing in the middle of the elements –)
(A graveyard, sprinkled with dusty ninja hoods –)
He shuddered at the last vision, his fingers digging into the gaps between the roof tiles.
He’d been unconscious for a long time, thanks to that extreme boost of power that the Source Dragon in Imperium had given him, and honestly, waking up had overwhelmed him so much that sometimes he wished he was still asleep.
He couldn’t remember a time where he felt so jittery and annoyed and jumbled – other than when Morro finally saw fit to release him from his possession, and he couldn’t figure out which thoughts were his, and which were remnants of the unwelcome intruder who’d barged in so rudely.
(Lloyd winced. It wasn’t his best memory to relive).
You see, the problem was, he kept seeing flashes of the visions that the Source Dragon had shown him.
Himself, in the middle of emblems that symbolized the elements. An abandoned graveyard, littered with ninja hoods.
And were those his friends?
Lloyd had no clue.
He knew he was driving himself insane trying to figure everything out, but the images just would. Not. Leave.
Maybe it was a side-effect of harnessing the Source Dragon’s power. Maybe he was connected to the images in some way. Maybe it was his dragon heritage reaching out to a member of its species, like the Oni part in him had tried during the species’ failed invasion of Ninjago.
(Lloyd remembered the frightening pull inside of him to get close to that paralysing cloud of evil, to feel the darkness and the urge to destroy thunder through his veins like it did to his father, and shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself as a sudden chill went through his body).
Even after all this time, the Oni part of him remained a touchy subject for him to discuss, let alone think about.
Especially after that mess with the Crystal King and Harumi.
Enough, Lloyd, he told himself sternly, as an unexpected wave of pure rage passed through him at the mere thought of his kidnappers, making him go very still for a moment. His palms lit up in purple fire, and he assumed that his eyes had taken on a similar colour, but Lloyd didn’t panic.
He knew the drill – unfortunately, these reactions had become rather common after he’d transformed into a full Oni. Thankfully, that meant that he knew how to calm himself down before he hurt someone.
He tried to think nice, happy thoughts.
Rainbows. Kittens. Uncle Wu as a baby.
His Oni side seemed to let out a huff of disgust, sulkily sinking to the back of Lloyd’s mind, where it would stay for at least a few hours – hopefully.
Lloyd hummed in satisfaction.
One more Oni outburst, avoided.
Take that, Dad.
Did he still think that Lloyd couldn’t control himself?
He huffed and folded his arms, looking away, even as his heart panged at the memory of his father, as twisted as he had become.
“Whatcha doin’ up here, boogers?” Kai teased, sitting down next to him on the roof.
Lloyd jumped. “Kai!” He was so surprised that the other ninja had managed to sneak up on him that he forgot to get annoyed at his new nickname. “How the – how did you – ”
Thankfully, Kai managed to figure out what he meant through all the stuttering.
“Did I ever tell you that Cole, Jay and Zane ambushed me from the roof once?” He asked rhetorically, swinging his legs. “Obviously, I got them to tell me all about how they’d gotten up there and everything, and what’d you know?” He shrugged, a smirk on his face despite the sad memories the names of their missing friends brought up for both of them. “I do the same thing to them five years later.”
That startled a laugh out of Lloyd. “It took you five years to retaliate?” He asked incredulously. “I knew you sucked at pranks, but really, Kai – ”
Kai rolled his eyes. “Oh, you’ve got no room to judge. Everything you learnt was from that stupid school for evil kids.”
“Yeah, at least they had taste,” said Lloyd, sticking his nose up self-importantly. “Remember when I beat all your high scores as a kid?”
“Alright, you asked for it!” Kai yelled, lunging for him. Lloyd fell to the ground laughing as he began getting tickled mercilessly.
Kai smiled to himself, happy that he’d managed to distract his little brother from wherever his thoughts had been taking him. Contrary to what Lloyd thought, Kai did have eyes. He’d noticed that his favourite booger-eating green ninja hadn’t been himself after waking up from his dragon-induced coma. He seemed subdued, and kept shooting them nervous looks as if checking that everyone was still there.
Kai didn’t know what Lloyd was thinking, or why he seemed so scared, but he was willing to bet that it had something to do with whatever happened with that Source Dragon.
His smile dimmed at the memory of his little brother lying unconscious on the floor, practically dead to the world, but thankfully, Lloyd didn’t notice, too caught up in his breathless laughter.
“Hey, idiots!” Nya yelled from the ground, hands on hips. “Get your butts down here and clean the tables!”
Kai groaned and flopped on his back. “Tell the kids to do it!” He yelled back.
“NO!”
And with that eloquent statement, the Water Ninja stormed away.
Lloyd clutched at his chest, still wheezing, and shakily got up. “We…We should do what she says before she comes back and hits us,” he managed. Kai rolled his eyes. “I suppose,” he grumbled sulkily. “Nya’s such a mom sometimes.”
He turned around to call Lloyd over to show the secret ladder which he’d used to get up onto the roof, only to find the blond perching on the edge, knees bending.
Kai felt horrified.
Was he going to jump off?!
Acting quickly, he all but threw the ladder to the side and grabbed Lloyd by his hood, managing to hold on when the younger boy jumped. He pulled Lloyd back and dragged him back until they were a safe distance away from the edge, and glared, angry that Lloyd had done something so reckless.
“What the heck, Lloyd?! Do you even realize how high up we are?”
Yeah, they’d done some pretty crazy jumps before, but jumping off a five-storey Monastery roof was not on any of their bucket lists.
You know, because people usually don’t survive it.
Seriously, what was Lloyd thinking?!
Lloyd frowned and ducked, moving backwards quickly so that Kai wasn’t holding onto him like a stray kitten anymore.
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking confused.
“What’re you talking about?” He sounded utterly bewildered. “Look, Kai, I do this all the time – it’s really nothing to worry about.”
And as if to prove it, he dashed to the edge, and dived.
“LLOYD!” Kai screamed, running after him, but he was too far away. He hadn’t reacted fast enough, since he hadn’t expected Lloyd to just charge off the moment he let go.
Kai stumbled to the edge, squeezing his eyes shut.
There was a soft thud!
And he dared to peek, terrified of what he might see.
Instead of seeing his little brother’s broken body lying dead on the Monastery’s polished tiles, all Kai saw was Lloyd, blinking up at him with his soft blond hair and shimmering emerald eyes and his small smirk – all fully intact.
He folded his arms. “I did tell you.”
Kai looked relieved and angry at the same time, before finally settling his expression firmly on 'amazed'.
He'd known Lloyd was capable of many cool things, but this just took the cake.
"Do you think I can do – ” Even before he finished speaking, he was preparing to jump, looking excited.
Lloyd’s eyes widened in alarm. “Kai, NO!” He shouted, panicked, raising his hand to shoot green energy, which coalesced into a glowing net that wrapped around the fire ninja, stopping him in his tracks.
Kai shot him a disappointed look, frowning.
Lloyd cleared his throat, looking relieved.
Calmer now, he said, “Erm, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m pretty sure it’s the inhuman stuff in me which protects me when I jump. I just…” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I dunno...Just wanted to show you. Come on,” he turned to leave, hoping Kai didn’t notice how shaken he was.
He stuffed his trembling hands inside the pockets of his gi and pretended to grimace at a sound coming from his stomach. “I’m starving.”
Kai slid down a pole, landing on the ground. He folded his arms. “Lloyd, wait.”
Lloyd froze.
Uh oh. Kai had actually used his name when they weren’t on a mission. Something was wrong.
He swallowed and hoped he looked light-hearted as he turned around to face his older brother in all but blood.
“Yeah?”
“What’s going on with you?” Kai asked, stepping closer. His worried amber eyes reflected the setting sun, giving them a warm golden-orange glow.
Lloyd forced a laugh that sounded entirely too high-pitched. “There’s nothing ‘going on’ with me. The Source Dragon’s visions are totally gone now. I’m fine.”
“Visions?” Kai’s voice took on a sharper edge. “What visions?”
Oh, heck. Lloyd cursed in his head. He hadn’t told the others about the Source Dragon’s visions.
Thinking fast, he tried to brush it off. “Nothing. Hallucinations, you know how they are. The power must’ve been too much for my body to handle. My mind’s still scrambled.”
“You never said anything about visions, Lloyd,” Kai accused. “And it’s been almost a month since you woke up.” His eyes hardened and he stepped even closer.
Lloyd unconsciously took a step back, some instinct telling him to run away. Kai’s eyes tracked the movement, and his gaze narrowed.
“Is this why you look like a sad bunny all the time?” He demanded.
Lloyd startled. His green eyes flicked up to Kai’s, offended. “Sad bunny? I do not look like a sad bunny!”
Kai rolled his eyes. “Trust me, you do. And it’s not a good look on you, either.” He held up a stern finger. “But don’t change the subject! Is this why you’ve been moping around the Monastery, sulking in the corners, failing to beat me in video games?! Man, even the chicken’s noticed!”
He jabbed a finger to the side, where the electric chicken, a fairly old resident of the Monastery by now, clucked mournfully in Lloyd’s direction.
Lloyd gaped at him for a moment.
Then, he said, avoiding Kai’s gaze, “…Does everyone know?”
Kai deflated slightly. “Well, no. Just me and Nya. Arin and Sora definitely think something’s up, but they’ve decided to leave you alone, I think. And Wyldfire, well…” He sighed in irritation. “She’s Wyldfire, I guess. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t even sleep in the Monastery.”
Lloyd calmed slightly at the words. The last thing he wanted was for his students to think that he’d become weak or something.
“They’re not like that,” Kai said, as if reading his mind.
He held Lloyd’s distressed green gaze steadily. “I’m sure they’ve been worried too, not angry. Why would they be angry? You’re practically the First Spinjitzu Master to them.”
Lloyd chuckled dryly. “Well, I am his grandson,” he said softly, but the joke was ruined by his bitter smile.
He knew it was probably disrespectful to think that way, but he really did wish sometimes that he wasn't related to this god-like being. His heritage was one of the reasons why he’d become the Green Ninja, after all. Just that title alone brought him enough trouble to last not one, but several lifetimes.
(…Good thing to know he was going to live that long anyway, then, if Garmadon and Wu’s ages were anything to go by).
The names caused a flicker of pain in his head, making Lloyd wince.
“I don’t want to talk right now, Kai,” he said, sighing. Everything fell silent. “Come on, we should get to the kitchen. Nya’s probably going to come yell at us again if we don’t…”
He turned around, and froze. “…Move.”
Kai was absolutely still. His warm amber eyes were glassy, glazed over, like someone had pressed a pause button on him. His chest wasn’t moving either.
Lloyd’s heart began to beat faster. “Kai?” He called, moving closer, trying not to panic. “Kai!” He waved a hand in front of the brunette’s face, but Kai didn’t respond.
“Kai, this is not a good time to play a prank on me, okay?!” Lloyd exploded, feeling his worry frazzle his nerves.
He checked over his older brother again, but everything was fine – apart from the fact that Kai was literally paused in time.
Something itched at the back of his mind. Lloyd concentrated, but the memory – if it even was a memory, and not his Oni side trying to stage a rebellion again – faded away before he could get a grasp on it.
“Master Lloyd!” Someone called, sounding panicked. Instantly, Uncle Wu’s staff was in Lloyd’s hands, and he snarled, whipping around, ready to defend himself, hand out, crackling with green energy.
Instead, Arin and Sora skid to a halt in front of him, eyes wide.
Lloyd hastily put the staff down, releasing the stance instantly. “How many times do I have to tell you guys not to call me ‘master’?” He grumbled, trying not to look as shaken as he felt. “I’ve told you before – I’m not a master, I’m just a teacher!”
Sora ignored that. “Nya, Zane and Wyldfire – they’re frozen!” She burst out. “Riyu, too! What happened?!”
Lloyd narrowed his eyes, assuming a defensive stance again. “…Then how are you two still moving about?” His gaze sharpened. “Did…Did you do something?”
Arin looked horrified at the thought of paralysing his adored heroes. Lloyd immediately felt bad for even thinking his beloved students would do something like this.
But, still…It was a bit suspicious…
“No!” Arin denied vehemently. “I swear, I was just getting yogurt and Nya was in my way and then I asked her to move but she wasn’t moving and I just – ”
Sora elbowed him. “Freaking out is not going to help us,” she hissed. Turning to Lloyd, she shook her pink hair. “Look, I’ve got no idea how we’ve avoided…whatever the heck that is,” she gestured to the frozen electric chicken and Kai, “but it wasn’t our fault. I was on the training course when everything just…stopped. For some reason, I was fine. So was Arin. We bumped into each other trying to find you. But everyone else…”
She thought for a moment, then frowned. “Yeah, I’ve got nothing. Even Wyldfire’s still frozen mid-jump – look!”
She pointed upwards, where the flaming girl was hovering in the air, presumably after she’d leaped off her adoptive dragon father’s back.
Lloyd scratched at his non-existent beard.
“I’m actually fine too,” he said, as if just realizing it. “But spells don’t usually work on me like they do the others anyway, so I thought this was just one of the exceptions. But you guys…” He shook his head, looking truly disturbed. “Who could do such a thing?”
There was no spoken answer, but the minute his words left his mouth, the ground rumbled.
Lloyd’s eyes widened. “Get back!” He shouted loudly, leaping towards them in a Spinjitzu tornado and whisking them a few metres backwards. Sora and Arin barely had time to yelp before the tiles they were standing on suddenly fell down, straight into…who knows where.
Familiar colours and distorted visions entered their gaze, and Arin gaped.
“Is that a Mergequake happening on land?”
“I’m afraid so,” Lloyd said grimly. He looked back warily at his own tile, which was slowly corrupting the others, leeching at them like some sort of strange liquid, clearly headed towards him.
“Do Mergequakes usually go after people?!” Sora shouted. “Because, uh, this one’s after me!”
She jabbed a finger at the ground she was standing on, which was slowly melting into the eerie, distorted colours of the other corrupted tiles.
“Then move, Sora!” Arin yelled, panicked at the thought of losing his best friend. “Get out of the way! AH!”
Unfortunately, in all the chaos, no one had realized that Arin’s corrupted tile had reached him, sneaking up from behind. One minute he was shouting, the next screaming his lungs out as he was pulled into the Mergequake.
He could feel his limbs stretching so long he was sure they would snap, his eyes bulging out, his body shrinking like he’d been tossed into an industrial garbage compactor.
“Oh no you don’t!” A warm hand clasped his and pulled Arin out, green energy flashing around him as Lloyd reached deep into the Mergequake. He grunted in exertion, sweat beading on his forehead.
There was a short, quickly cut-off scream. Sora seemed to fall in slow-motion, her shouts distorting in the confusing landscape, before Arin’s arm shot out to secure her to him.
Lloyd’s eyes widened at the sight. “I can’t pull both of you out!” He cried out as one of his energy tendrils holding Arin in place suddenly snapped, causing the Green Ninja to look like he was going to be sick.
“Don’t leave me!” Arin begged desperately, feeling embarrassed that he was acting like such a baby in front of his hero, but unable to help himself. He was terrified of Mergequakes, and having to face them all alone, without Lloyd…
Nope.
The odds of survival would be less than zero.
Negative zero.
…Was that a thing?
Arin resolved to ask Zane as soon as he got out.
Well, he thought nervously as Lloyd’s feet began dragging him towards them, the blond wincing from the exertion, the question really was, if he got out.
“Arin, Sora,” Lloyd finally managed, panting, “I’m sorry. There’s only one way to do this.”
Arin instantly tightened his grip on Lloyd’s arm, scared. Was he going to let them fall?!
For a moment, he could’ve sworn that his mentor’s eyes flashed golden. The Green Ninja cast one look back at the crumbling Monastery of Spinjitzu, the only true home he’d ever known, and seared it into his memory.
Lloyd’s face hardened into determination.
“Goodbye, Ninjago,” he whispered to himself, clenching his eyes shut for just a moment before yelling at Arin and Sora – “hold on tight!” Before cutting off his energy lines, which was holding the two kids near him.
He leaped up and grabbed Arin’s arm tightly just as the Mergequake rumbled, sucking them all in sharply, and strained his arms as much as he could trying to hold his two students close to him as they tumbled head over heels, over and over again, through the dizzying colours and eerie sounds.
Was this what the others had seen during the Merge? Lloyd wondered shakily, feeling like he was about to throw up. How on earth did they manage to survive?
He gasped as something suddenly yanked on his arm, Arin holding on for dear life as he spiralled, legs splaying out as if something was actively pulling him away. He let out a grunt and gathered his strength, his fingers gripping his student’s arm so tightly he was sure it would leave bruises.
Sorry, Arin, he thought with a wince.
Unfortunately, keeping them all together was soon proving to be a near-impossible task. It was as if the Mergequake was trying its best to pry them apart. Green energy snapped and hissed in Lloyd’s hands, as if repelling the very essence of whatever was dragging them through.
Arin and Sora, to their credit, helped him as much as they could, but ultimately their strength failed them, and they were forced to rely on Lloyd once more.
But even he couldn’t hold on for much longer.
He had to do something.
“Sora! Arin!” Lloyd shouted over, hoping they could hear him over the chaos, an idea suddenly sparking in his mind. He knew it was a long shot, but it was the only chance they had. “Whatever happens, promise me that you won’t let go of each other!”
His green eyes were fiery, golden hair tousling in the wind. “Promise me!” He demanded again, as his students hesitated.
“We – We promise,” Arin stammered. “But what are you –”
Lloyd’s hands exploded with energy, throwing bright green light onto the lower half of his face, illuminating it from below. “I’ll find you,” he promised. “As long as you’re both together, I’ll find you, I swear!”
“Lloyd, what are you doing – ?!” Sora tried to shout.
Lloyd threw a ball of energy straight at his two students.
They screamed, squeezing their eyes shut and leaning their heads away frantically, but the ball didn’t hit them. Instead, it expanded outwards just before it hit their bodies, coalescing into a pulsing net that enveloped them both.
“Don’t worry!” Lloyd tried to grin, hoping his expression wasn’t as terrified as he felt. “This happens to me all the time! You’ll be fine!”
“That is not helping!” Sora screamed back. “We’re – AH!”
The Mergequake yanked them away, and they disappeared into the swirling colours and noises.
Everything froze for a moment, the forces that had been yanking Lloyd here and there halting abruptly.
Lloyd stopped tumbling through the air and stilled, feeling uneasy, as if something was watching him. He slowly turned his head side to side, cautiously pulling out his golden katana, but there was nothing to fight.
It was...just him.
Then, suddenly:
You’ll have to learn to embrace us both, Lloyd Garmadon, and soon – or else the world shall shatter with our combined might.
Cracks began to spread from under his feet.
Lloyd stared. “Who are you?!” He shouted angrily, green energy spluttering to life around his fingers.
But nothing answered.
The cracks widened, and Lloyd fell straight through.