Chapter Text
The metro was moving fast, but Harumi was catching up. As the metro sped along the tracks, Lloyd readjusted his grip on baby Wu and shouted into the comms, “I have Wu. Can any of you hear me?” Nothing. After a brief moment of silence, he tried again, “Where is everyone?”
No response. Below him, he could make out the shapes of Ultra Violet and other goons speeding along their motorcycles. He glanced around, hoping to spot some sign of the bounty, when he heard a voice behind him. “I hear you loud and clear,” Kai shouted. Lloyd turned around to see him waving from the bounty, Cole and Jay by his side, both with grins on their faces. Wu giggled at his expression, and he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself in relief.
“Jump!” Cole yelled, but looking around, Lloyd couldn’t find any way to successfully make the jump. “It’s too far!” He said, as loud as he could, and faintly heard Jay tell Zane to get the Bounty closer. The Bounty moved until it was almost touching the metro, and he heard Zane tell him, “It’s as close as I can get her!”
Suddenly, a jolt shook the train, and he turned around, still clutching Wu, to see Harumi with the Oni mask on, approaching him. “Give me the child,” she demanded, “the emperor wants his brother!” He heard Kai scream from behind him, “Lloyd! Jump! You can make it!” but he couldn’t do anything while Harumi was still approaching, since if he did, she could knock both of them down. He glanced at Harumi and the Bounty, torn, then made a final decision. He hoisted Wu over his shoulder and started to jump, already knowing what was going to happen.
As he jumped, Harumi grabbed onto both of his legs, yelling, “Catch him!”
He threw Wu at the Bounty with all his strength, Harumi yanking him back. With a grunt, he landed onto the roof of the metro, and watched as the baby landed safely in Cole’s arms and the Bounty flew away. “You shouldn’t have done that.” Harumi stated, walking towards him.
Lloyd quickly rose to his feet, running towards her, and they grappled for a few minutes before he managed to secure her arm behind her back. Combined with the power of the mask, she easily freed herself, and started going on the offense. As they fought, he saw the Bounty head toward him, but before it could fully make it, a giant stone warrior glowing an ominous purple rose up and grabbed it with both hands.
Zane frantically tried to steer the Bounty to escape the holds, but couldn’t manage to break free from the hold they were in. The warrior started to press its hands together and parts of the Bounty fell to the ground, and Lloyd could only watch in horror as its fists fully crushed the Bounty with a loud crack, removing any chance of survival. “NO!!!” He shouted in despair, frozen from the shock, and Harumi chuckled from behind him, “This…” she murmured, shaking him by the collar, “This is what I wanted. To see your fathers return, and for you to lose
everything.”
She let go when he sank to the ground in defeat, and couldn’t hold back the tears. “How does it feel to see the end?” She asked him with glee. He felt a rush of anger, and muttered, “No… I won’t let it do to me what it did to you.” He slowly stood back up and faced her, “This isn’t the end, Harumi. This is the beginning.” the words falling from his lips unconsciously, strengthened by the grief he felt from the loss of his family, the ones who had stuck by his side through
everything. “Without my power, without my friends, I’m going to fight you. I'm going to fight on, because ninja never quit,” he swore, revenge fueling the hatred and betrayal he had already felt towards her. “Well, then goodbye, Lloyd.”
“Before I go, just answer me this,” he asked. “You said the greatest villain was the one who got away.” She made a noise of confusion, but he pressed on, “then what am I?” There was a beat of silence before she screamed in rage, and charged towards him, but he jumped off the speeding metro, activating the parachute and landing onto a boat he knew contained Nya and Misako.
“Did you see?” He asked grimly, half hoping they had and half hoping they hadn’t. Nya nodded sorrowfully, “We did. We were watching from the boat.” At this, Lloyd hugged her, and they stayed silent until he asked, “Where are we going?”
Misako broke in to say, “I know a place that's not too far from here, it’s part of a garage, but it has a lot of room, and a first aid kit. Pixal and Dareth are already there.” He offered a wan smile, then realized something. “What about Mistaké? She could be able to help us hide, after all,” he took a deep breath to steady his voice before adding, “Wu was friends with her. She might also be in danger.” Nya hummed thoughtfully, “That sounds smart,” she admitted, “but we’ll need to watch out for any goons searching the streets for us.” Lloyd agreed, and Misako shifted course.
They didn’t talk as they headed towards the last place they had seen her, and when they arrived, the tea shop was barely recognizable, so broken down that it was only thanks to Nya’s memory that they found it. Walking silently among the ruins, they searched for her telltale hat, and before long they found her packing a bag. She turned to face them, looking intently at their faces. “So you need my help?” She asked.
“Actually, since you were friends with Wu, we were worried that Garmadon might come after you.” Misako said, “and we already have a place to stay low until we can make a plan.” “A plan? Against Garmadon? When he clearly beat you,” she gestured to Lloyd, “so badly that you lost your powers?” Lloyd frowned, before she continued, smiling slightly, a mischievous look in her eyes. “I’ll stay with you, not only because you are Wu’s nephew, but also because of your heritage. Who knows, I might be able to do something with that”
He sighed in relief, and as they made their way back to the boat, broached the question that was on his mind after that statement. “What do you mean, because of my heritage?” Mistaké glanced at him strangely, and asked, “You mean you don’t know?” He shook his head, not having a clue, so she added, “about the fact that you are part Oni and Dragon?” “Oni? Like those wives tales?” Nya said, confused, and at Mistaké’s nod, she added, “so just like the serpentine, they must also be real.”
“Correct,” Mistaké agreed, “and like the serpentine, they were exiled, but just not from Ninjago.”
At that, Misako butted in, telling Nya and Lloyd, “The Oni were, or well, are, evil incarnate. Much like how Dragons are symbols of good, they are symbols of evil. It is not a well known fact, but Lloyd’s grandfather, the First Spinjitzu Master, was the child of both a Dragon and Oni, so he was gifted with both powers of creation and destruction.” At Lloyd’s shocked face, she let out an exasperated sigh, muttering, “of course Wu didn’t share that with you. Clearly, he doesn’t share much with you ninja according to what you’ve told me.”
“Alright, how about Mistaké and I will go more into depth when we get to the hideout,” she said after a beat, “that sounds good to you?” At both of their sounds of confirmation, she smiled at them, and continued to row.
Eventually they made it to the hideout, where Pixal and Dareth were waiting for them. “Thank the First Spinjitzu Master, you guys are safe!” Dareth cried in relief, “I was so worried that those goons had gotten to you!” Pixal nodded, adding, “We saw what happened to the other ninja. I’m so sorry Lloyd and Nya.”
“I know Pixal, and I’m so sorry about Zane. If only I had tried harder –” he started to say, but Nya interrupted him before he could finish the sentence. “There’s nothing you could have done, don’t blame yourself,” she scolded him. “I agree,” Pixal said, “it is not fair to feel the guilt. If we are speaking technically, it is Garmadon who controlled the stone giant who,” she paused, then continued grimly, “who did that to them. Not you, you are not at any fault. None of them would want you to blame yourself, and you know that.”
Lloyd let out a wet laugh at that, “I agree. Kai would have scolded me as soon as he saw that I felt like something was my fault.” “Jay would have cracked a couple of jokes and then blamed it on Cole,” Nya added, a smile growing on her face. “Did you know one time, when Zane accidentally broke one of the training machines after a rough, Kai saw that and then broke his own, claiming that he should also be able to take out his anger on it too?” She said, causing everyone to break into smiles. They began to each share stories of the adventures they had, each one fighting back tears, and letting the stories help dull the grief.