Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lloyd always hated his father.

How could he not? The man ruined his life. He’s the reason everyday he’s berated and seen as a monster by civilians and school peers.

Not to mention his damn genetics gifted him with fangs and red eyes. At least he didn’t have four arms. That would’ve definitely stopped him from being allowed to step inside the city limit. It wasn’t like the people hadn’t petitioned for it already. He’s certain the only reason he hasn’t been kicked out is because they’re afraid to anger his father.

Newsflash people his dad forgot he even exists!

He’s sure of that by now. That guy only cares about conquering the city and controlling its citizens by their fear. Fear holds a lot of power over people. He noticed that early on, he had to be four at the time when it happened. He was playing by himself in the sand of a playground and was approached by a little girl wanting to play as well.

It was the first time he had ever been asked that, not counting his cousin who babysat him constantly. Of course he had accepted and it was fun. She was nice to him. Nice! No one was nice to him and he never understood why at that age. He thought he was unlikeable, really.

It wasn’t long till her mother came back and she panicked, shouting “Lloyd Garmadon!”

He’ll never forgot the way the little girl screamed and…attacked him, mercilessly may he add. It wasn’t till his cousin came rushing back and plucked him from the sand box that she stopped. He still remembered how Morro shouted at the girl to…well, it was a very crude response. The mother called them both monsters.

Now he knows fear does things to people. It makes them act out like wild animals, lashing out, skittering away at the sight of him, pressing themselves against the nearest corner in an attempt to hide.

It’s cruel, but he knows who caused it. Garmadon. His dad has been attacking the city ever since he was a baby. There was an elemental alliance that fought him before the secret ninja force stepped up, but they’re long retired or disappeared into the wind.

The secret ninja force is the most important thing to him, they keep that monster away, they ensure the safety of innocent civilians and they’re beloved by all of Ninjago city.

Under the mask is the only time he feels truly free when he’s not with his best friends. Then again, he’s always with his best friends since their group makes up the secret ninja force. He’s the leader, cyan is water support and his second in command, red is ground support, black is the heavy hitter, blue is air support and white is their planner and occasionally wild card depending on if he’s feeling like a wild teen or not.

They’re the most important people to him, Y’know excluding his mom, uncle and older cousin. They’ve always been there. He met black and blue in second grade. He was being picked on by Chen and his cronies when black came to his rescue and shoved Chen away with surprising strength. He can still clearly picture blue clinging to the other boy’s shirt, extremely shy and even more anxious.

Once the bullies left, Black introduced himself as Cole and blue as Jay. It was a surprisingly good day despite getting a bloody nose.

He met red and cyan in middle school. They were the popular kids, but cyan caught eyes for him. Cyan was determined to make him her little brother and no one can change her mind when she decided something.

About a week later she introduced herself as Nya and introduced her red clad twin brother as Kai. In wasn’t long until their popularity took a dive. They didn’t care though, Cole, Jay, Nya and Kai were true friends to him.

White has been the newest addition to their friend group. Lloyd met him on the last day of his first semester when someone tripped him and his books went everywhere. The kind boy had bent down and helped clean up the mess.

Right away Lloyd knew there was something special about him, even when he introduced himself as the famous Lloyd Garmadon the boy simply extended his hand and told him it was a pleasure to finally meet him, telling the green clad boy his name; Zane Julien. That was four months ago and white has been a ninja for two months, yet they trust him with their lives.

Sure, he’s strange, but Lloyd finds it endearing. Although he’s pretty convinced this kid isn’t human. Jay thinks he’s a robot, which is a little too silly for him to believe personally. Anything could happen though. Especially if there’s monsters like his dad out there.

Speaking of monsters, he’s locked in a standoff with that creep right now. Leave it to Garmadon to come out of his mech and start strutting around like he owns the place. It takes everything in his power not to blow his dad up with a missile right then and there.

He can’t though, not with that weird golden weapon in his hands and that shit eating grin on his face.

“What do you want, Garmadon?” Lloyd hisses, fangs bared behind the mask. The nerve of this guy! God, he has such a punchable face. No wonder Chen likes to beat him up if he looks even half like this asshole.

“Ah green ninja, you’re always so, so serious. You’re getting boriiiinnnngggg!” the four armed menace groans, stroking his weapon as if it were a cat. “Maybe you should spice up the dialogue. Make it interesting and not so stupid sounding!”

Lloyd grinds his teeth.

“I won’t ask again, what do you want?”

“Well, Ninjago City of course!” Garmadon spreads his lowers arms out, pointing the staff at the green ninja.

The other ninja’s mechs instantly point their weapons at him and the oni giggles maniacally, seemingly not impressed in the slightest.

“Put em down, ninja. We don’t want this to get messy.” Garmadon nods to his aquatic themed army, all of them pointing guns at the heroes from behind. “I just want you to listen to me, green ninja. Loud and clear.”

The ninja reluctantly lower their mech’s weapons, glaring fiercely at the lord of darkness.

“Fine, speak.” Lloyd replies shortly, watching him carefully. Garmadon never wants to just talk. He’s up to something and knowing him it’s pure evil. “I’m listening.”

Garmadon smiles.

“You see, I’ve been trying to finish you ninja off for two whole years, but you keep returning. You even have a new ninja as of two months ago. You can see how frustrating that is, can’t you?” he drawls on, pacing back and forth.

“I needed something to shift the balance, something to stop you from beating me again. I delved into my father’s old scrolls and found a legend about four golden weapons that were drained of their powers to defeat evil demons from another realm, but when united they become an all power wish granting staff.”

“Why are you telling us a fairytale meant for babies?” Red spits from his fire mech, abruptly pausing the story.

Garmadon growls at him, fangs bared before returning to his speech. “I thought surely, surely there’s still some power in these things. I sought each one out in secret and combined them. I now have the power to make a wish, maybe more depending on how much juice is left in it.” he finishes and stretches his fingertips. “What do you think green ninja?”

“I think you’re crazy.” Loyd deadpans, eyeing him. If there was a weapon of that power, then his uncle would’ve definitely said something by now.

“Mmm really? Well then, megaweapon,” he glances down at it, grinning like a maniac. “I call upon you for a wish. I wish for you to send this annoying little green ninja somewhere he can no longer mess with my plans.”

The staff suddenly starts to glow gold and Garmadon grips it tightly with a pained grimace, the weapon shaking.

“Ll-green!” Red exclaims, looking over to his leader in fear.

Lloyd stares at the weapon, mouth agape under the mask as he watches the weapon glow brighter and brighter. Suddenly there’s a big flash and-and nothing happens.

Garmadon stares at him as if waiting for him to poof out of existence.

Lloyd suddenly starts laughing, relief washing over him. “You actually almost had me there.” he breathes out, staring down at the oni from his dragon mech. “Now, if I were you I’d brace for impact .” he clicks a few buttons, missiles preparing to fire.

The evil lord yelps and practically springs into his shark mech, taking off at top speed, the green ninja trailing close behind and firing at him. One of the missiles hit him and the other disappears into the ocean making a very big splash.

The shark mech disappears beneath the depths and Lloyd is about to attempt to follow it when he gets hit by a dizzy spell, getting extremely lightheaded. He grips the mech’s controllers, taking deep breathes in and out. His head feels fuzzy, as if it’s filled with scratchy cotton balls.

“G…Gr..ca…can…h…r..green!”

Lloyd jumps, hearing all five of his teammates screaming through his ear piece. He gasps loudly, slowly regaining his senses.

“Green, are you okay?” Blue squeaks, voice trembling.

“I’m okay. I just felt a little lightheaded is all. Let’s return to base.” Lloyd switches off his comms immediately, piloting towards the docks. He doesn’t want his friends to worry. They do too much of that already, especially when he walks home alone. He only got stabbed in the arm one time and they never let it go.

He’s the second to land, albeit a little slowly. He still feels off. As soon as his feet drop onto the concrete, he stumbles, but manages to catch himself. Well, partially, Cole got to him just as he steadied himself.

“It’s okay, Cole. I’m fine.” Lloyd sighs, pulling off his stuffy mask.

The black ninja just scoops him up in his arms, ignoring the smaller boy’s indignant shouts. He carries him all the way to the medical bay, plopping him on a bed. “Sit. Zane is going to check you over.” he commands, crossing his arms.

Lloyd groans loudly, flattening himself on the bed. “Come on, Cole. We can’t afford to wait around. We have school, remember?” he glances up, being met with the dark haired boy’s ‘no nonsense’ stare. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

It only takes a few minutes and the rest of the ninja are crowding into the room, all wanting to check on the young teen. It’s honestly a little overwhelming, but it happens more often than not with his best friends. Especially with Nya and Kai, his certified big siblings. Although Morro always makes faces when he calls them that, but he chalks that up to his cousin being overprotective.

“Let me through.” Zane pushes the twins aside and gets to work, making the green ninja wait patiently. He does several scans with different machines and even stares at him an unnaturally long time as if he can just sense what’s wrong with him with a glance.

Maybe, Jay’s theory about him being a robot wasn’t that crazy after all.

“I can’t find anything amiss.” Zane finally concludes, tapping his clipboard. “He appears to be in perfect health. The most logical reasoning is that it was purely a rush of adrenaline that caused the dizziness.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Kai asks, peeking his head over the white haired boy’s shoulder.

“Of course.”

“Perfect. We can go back to school.” Lloyd murmurs, clambering out of the bed. “I left my bag there.”

“According to the news report the school has closed early. You would not be able to get in at this time.”

Well, frick.

How did Zane even have time to check the news while doing all those tests?

Jay lets out a eep, jumping in place. “Igottagohomesorryguysparentstuff-“ he shrieks, taking off nearly as fast as his jet.

“I’ll make sure he changes into his civilian clothes.” Cole mutters, racing after the shortest teen.

“I’m going home and no, you can’t walk me.” Lloyd sighs, getting ready to leave. He quickly changes into his normal hoodie and jeans, heading home. There’s many pissed off stares directed at him and he speeds up, trying to ignore them.

This happens every time there’s a new Garmadon attack. Everyone wants someone to blame and hey, he’s the son of that guy, making him an easy target. There’s only a few people with enough balls to make a move on Lloyd Garmadon.

Not like he would ever fight someone, only if he was in danger of dying and even then he would probably hesitate before throwing a punch.

His phone jingles and he looks down, smiling. He presses the green button and puts it up to his ear. “Hey, ghost boy.”

An annoyed groan comes from the other side of the phone line. “Stop calling me that. It’s obnoxious.” Morro grumbles.

“Mhm. Then, why are you calling me if you find me so obnoxious, ghost boy?” Lloyd chuckles, grinning. a woman stares at him in extreme, unbridled terror and he quickly closes his mouth, hiding his fangs from sight.

“I just wanted to make sure my favorite legendary hero the green ninja is okay and well. You know, since I’m such a fanboy.”

“I’m fine, thank you for asking. How are you? Ghostly as ever?”

“I’m alive and breathing. Unfortunately.”

Lloyd lets out a snicker, that sounds more like an evil giggle to his absolute dismay. Curse his dad for giving him that horrid laugh. “Is college still beating your ass?”

“You bet. I’m playing a gig with my band in a couple days though, so hopefully it’ll be a welcome distraction.” Morro hums. “You headed home?”

“Yep.”

“You have one of your little bodyguards with you, right?”

“Nope.”

The older boy groans loudly, followed by another very dramatic noise. “Cuz, you gotta stay protected. There’s probably at least six hundred new people who want to stab you now. You can’t just walk home alone.”

“Relax. I’m already here.” Lloyd sighs, clambering up the apartment stairs. He types in the combination code and walks inside the complex. Yawning, he makes his way to the staircase since he was barred from going into the elevator. “I’ll call you later, okay? I’m gonna take a nap.”

“Okay, but make sure to lock the doors.”

“You got it.”

“And windows.”

“Way ahead of you.”

“Don’t let anybody inside unless you know they won’t try to stab you.”

“Morro. I’m not a baby.” Lloyd sighs, taking the stairs two at a time. “I’ll be super duper ultra careful, promise.” he swings open the third floor door, making his way down to the hallway and to his house door. “Later, ghost boy.”

“Goodnight, baby cousin.”

Lloyd mutters something under his breath and hangs up. He unlocks the door and goes inside, locking it up tightly behind him. Sighing heavily, he walks to his room, feet dragging. He sluggishly takes out his contact lenses and lays down on his bed.

As soon as he hits the pillow he’s out, sleeping peacefully for what feels like the first time in ages.

*****

When Lloyd wakes up he feels weird. He blinks his eyes a few times and cricks his back with a long groan. God, he feels strange. Maybe he should’ve drank more water earlier.

Getting to his feet, he stretches and walks over to his mirror. Before he can even reach for his brush, his eyes connect with the reflective glass and he screams.

Chapter Text

Lloyd was having a bad day.

Granted, it could be worse. He could be seriously maimed, he could be bleeding to death, but no, all he did was nearly die for good. This week has been the worst week of his life, somehow even more rotten than when he got possessed by that asshole of a ghost Morro.

He thought he was done with his father, the oni having been locked up inside Kryptarium Prison. That psychopath was meant to stay there for the rest of his life, but, no they had to be attacked by a horde of bloodthirsty oni.

First he had to deal with his dad’s antics, then go into a death cloud, then Cole nearly died and finally (as if it was the cherry on top of the trauma sundae) he literally died performing the tornado of creation. Even worse, he’s sure something happened during that time, but he can’t seem to remember what or who he saw. It’s beyond frustrating.

Now, here he is eating dinner with his family like it never happened. He knows it did though, he knows because of Kai’s puffy, red eyes while he numbly stares at his plate, he knows because of how much Nya and Jay are leaning on each other, he knows because Zane has scanned him ten plus times in the last two minutes, he knows because Pixal isn’t looking at him, he knows because Cole is shaking and he’s the steadiest out of all of them.

Lloyd’s hands curl into fists and he hangs his head. When he woke up his father was already gone. His dad was gone.

Fsm, he missed him. The real Garmadon, the one that came to his rescue when Pythor kidnapped him, the one that hugged him like there was no tomorrow, the one who wouldn’t  let any of his serpentine minions hurt him, the one who taught him things he never knew about his powers, the one who he knew he could trust. The one he sent away.

He should’ve never let him go. If he knew what Harumi would do in the future, he would have never agreed. There had to be another option, another path. There had to be! He just wasn’t wise enough to see it. Now, that part of his father is gone forever.

Tears well up in his eyes and he quickly stands up, chair screeching loudly. Guilt spikes in him when he sees how much Jay jumps. “Goodnight guys.” he mutters, waving his hand once and heading to bed.

He locks himself in the room and shuts off the lights. An involuntary shiver goes through him, but he shakes it off and face plants into bed.

“Dad…” A sob echoes in his throat and he cries into his pillow. Tears wet the fabric to a point where it gets soaked. He punches the pitiful pillow, giving it no mercy as he sobs and holds back screams of anguish with every ounce of strength he has left in his exhausted body.

He knows he sounds like a broken record, but he just wants his dad back! He wants Sensei Garmadon!

He wants the man that loved him.

That man isn’t coming back though. Never again and it’s his own doing. He just has to live with that. If he can.

Lloyd screams into his pillow and clutches it, crying to himself in the eerily quiet room.

*****

Lloyd isn’t even sure when he fell asleep, but it’s early morning now judging by the light orange sunlight bathing his room. He groans, covering his face with a pillow. Today already sucks. Although he’s surprisingly not sore despite dying yesterday. In fact he feels pretty good. He makes a face, lowering the pillow.

Something feels off and fsm he knows when something is off. The question is what kind of off is it? Is it a he got stabbed sort of off or someone has kidnapped him type of off? Is it possibly the his body feels wrong sort of off? He used to get that one a lot after he got hit by the tomorrow’s tea, but that was years ago.

So, what’s going on with him?

Slowly, he clambers out of bed. Right away something is even more wrong and he looks down. He’s not wearing his gi despite falling asleep in it. Instead he’s clothed in a dark green hoodie and a pair of soft jean pants. Even worse, he’s wearing shoes! What kind of psychopath wears shoes to bed?!?!

His eyes flick across the room which to his horror isn’t his room. It’s completely foreign, bookshelves littered with small Knick knacks and a few books and movies. Across from him is a mirrored dresser and his mouth drops. That action nearly makes him scream when he sees the pair of nasty fangs in his upper jaw.

Stumbling over to the mirror, he peers at the red eyed, fanged kid looking back at him. He’s years younger again, around the age he was when he competed in the tournament of elements. When his dad…

Lloyd growls, startled when it sounds extremely inhuman. He didn’t even know he could make that sound.

The biggest problem is through his whole life he never had fangs or red eyes (thankfully may he add).

Something is very, very wrong with his body. Probably because this isn’t his body!

“Honey, you gotta get up for school!” a voice chimes from outside his bedroom and he jumps, whole body tensing at that-that voice. He knows it anywhere. It’s his mother’s voice, but much, much cheerier.

“School?” Lloyd questions dumbly, staring at the door like it’s gonna burst open any second to reveal some sort of nightmare monster.

This is a nightmare right?

“Yes, school. Now hurry up, I’m making pancakes.” she replies, giggling sweetly and Lloyd swallows dryly.

What in his grandfather’s name is happening? Is he dead?

Lloyd runs his fingers through his long (long!) blonde hair and paces back and forth like a mad man. He feels like he’s going insane. This must be a dream! That’s the only explanation for this hellish experience. So, why is he panicking if it’s not even real?

The young teen comes to an abrupt stop and blinks.

It’s just a dream. Therefore he doesn’t need to worry. All he can do is roll with it.

Swallowing his fear, he searches around for a backpack, because logically he would have one, right? He can’t find one, so he abandons the room and cautiously makes his way to the kitchen. A sweet hum reaches his ears and he peeks around the corner, surprised to see a carrot haired woman making pancakes on the stovetop.

Is that his mom? Why is her hair orange of all colors?

“Oh! Good morning, sweetie!” the woman smiles brightly and sets the pancakes on a plate. She crosses the room and hugs him closely. It takes everything in Lloyd’s power not to flinch away or flip her when she kisses him on the top of his head. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good…I guess?”

“Great! I was worried when I came home and you were already in bed. You must’ve been super sleepy.” she reaches forward and pinches his cheek briefly. “I had to make myself toast for today. I’ve got to get ready for the big unveiling at the museum this afternoon, but I’ll be back tonight to make dinner.” she taps her wrist watch and hugs him tightly one last time. “Feel free to invite some friends over since I won’t be back till eight o’clock or later. I know you’ve been wanting to watch that space movie with Jay.”

“Starfarer?” Lloyd asks, still staring at her. He’s only ever been given that type of affection by his siblings and his father before he was turned into a unloving monster.

“Yes! That!” the woman snaps her fingers excitedly. “Oh, and if you do see Jay tell him I need to speak to his mother.” she checks her wrist watch again and takes a bite of her half eaten toast. “I’ll see you tonight, sweetie! Stay safe!” she swings her purse over her shoulder and waves, leaving the house and him all alone.

Okay, this is one strange dream.

Sighing, Lloyd sits down at the table and eats his pancakes. Oddly enough he can taste them perfectly, as if they were real. They’re honestly a little burnt. He demolishes them anyway, stomach growling ferociously. Maybe he’s just subconsciously hungry so that’s why he’s dreaming about eating?

After breakfast, he leaves the apartment and wanders around until he finds the front entrance. The people around give him strange looks and even a couple glares, so he just speeds up. He walks all the way to the school bus stop, glancing around. He’s so wrapped up in his new surroundings that he doesn’t pay much attention to all the people steering clear of him.

The bus shows up a few minutes later and he climbs one. The rowdy kids immediately stop at the sight of him, just staring.

Weird.

Frowning, Lloyd takes a window seat, blinking quizzically when all the other teens crowd on the other side of the bus. It makes the vehicle screech on one side unnaturally and he turns his head away, watching the streets go by.

This is an awfully mundane dream, but it’s actually pretty nice. It’s peaceful and even better there’s no evil villains trying to murder him and his friends.

His eyes slip shut for a brief moment and when he opens them, they’re at the school. He yawns, rubbing his eyes and getting up. It’s probably bad that he doesn’t have his backpack, but he’s sure he can figure something out. He wonders if this is what normal teens lives usually are? Boring.

When he enters the school, every kid in the near vicinity shuts up entirely and glares at him.

Lloyd brushes it aside and glances around, a little lost. What is he supposed to do here? There’s lockers on either side of him, so he probably has one. Maybe?

This is so-

Someone grabs him from behind and Lloyd shrieks, struggling to twist around to face his attacker. Except he’s not being attacked, he’s being hugged.

“Relax, green bean.” The teen laughs and sets him down, patting his shoulders with a smirk. A scar goes over his left eye, but Lloyd knows that nickname and overly greased up hair anywhere.

“Kai.” Lloyd breathes out, an easy smile creeping across his face. “You scared me.” he shakes his head, trying not to dwell on the fact that his scar is in the wrong place.

“Sorry, I forget how jumpy you are.” Kai reaches out, ruffling his mop of blonde hair. He stops though, frowning. “You’re not wearing your contacts.”

“Oh, I guess I forgot.” Lloyd laughs nervously.

He wears contacts?

“Yeah, but your eyes are…” The taller boy trails off, getting uncomfortable. “I thought you may have died when you didn’t respond in the group chat. We left you a million messages.” he changes the subject, eyes flicking over him as if searching for something. “Why didn’t you answer us?”

“I fell asleep.”

“At five in the afternoon?”

“I guess.”

Kai whistles, shaking his head slowly. “Damn. I really underestimated how much you can sleep.” he leans against his locker, a boisterous smile still on his scarred face. “Where’s your backpack?”

“Good question.” Lloyd murmurs, leaning against the lockers too. If he’s being honest he feels a lot more comfortable now that his big brother is here. It is weird seeing him high school age again though, especially since he looks about the same age as him. “I’m not sure. I couldn’t find it this morning.”

“Did you check your locker?”

“No?”

“Let’s check it then.” Kai grabs his hand, leading through the hallways and to the locker.

Lloyd grimaces at all the graffiti on it with the words ‘freak’ and ‘monster’ written all over it. Seems like he’s not very well liked in this dream.

Kai curses behind him, scrubbing at the with his jacket sleeve. “Asshats.” he grumbles when it doesn’t come off. “Aight. Punch in the code, green bean.”

Lloyd hesitates, just staring at the lock. “I, Uh, forgot the combination.”

“Seriously?” Kai laughs, reaching out and turning the dial until it clicks open. “Good thing I pay attention. Otherwise that sleepy little brain of yours would have needed to get a new lock.”

Lloyd nods numbly, opening it up. To his relief his backpack is inside and he pulls it out with a wide smile. “Thanks. What’s the number?”

“Two, four, six, four, seven, andddd three.”

“Did Lloyd forget his locker combination again?” a voice comes from beyond them at the two turn, a girl with a long black pony tail and a warm skin complexion walks up to them.

Is that Nya?

“Did you stay up with your idiot cousin again?”

“Cousin?”

“Yeah, Mo-“

A loud clanging sound echoes through the hallways and Lloyd yelps, gripping his bag tightly. “What was that?”

“School bell, obviously.” Kai frowns, leaning closer to the teen. “Are you okay? You’re acting really weird.” he taps the blonde’s cheek, amber eyes once again searching him for anything out place.

“I’m fine. I-“ Lloyd blinks.

If this is a dream then why is he lying to Kai? Is he just so used to saying he’s okay that it’s become a constant even in sleep? Why does everything feel so real?

“Come on, firecracker! If you fail another class mom’s gonna send you to math camp for realsies.” Nya (?) deadpans, grabbing her brother and dragging him along. “You too, Lloyd. Get to class.” she disappears down the hallway and Lloyd is left alone all over again.

He’s starting to realize he hates being by himself.

Sighing, he digs through his backpack for some sort of school schedule. There’s got to be something in here to help him out. He doesn’t even know why he’s going along with this crazy dream. He supposes it’s better than having to wake up to a world where his father tried to kill him.

Footsteps echo in front of him and Lloyd looks up, getting a punch to the face. He’s slammed into the locker by the force and he gasps. His eyes widen, staring at the teen in front of him.

“Hey, Garmadork.”

Blood trickles down his nose and a hard pit settles in his stomach.

This is real .

Chapter Text

What. The. Hell.

Lloyd stares into the mirror and unfamiliar dark green eyes look back at him. A large bruise colors his face a nasty yellowish color and his mouth hangs open, the scream dying away.

Where are his fangs?

Slowly, he reaches up and rubs his fingers over the ridges of his strangely rounded teeth. There’s no dangerously sharp areas anymore, all of it is just…normal. He has normal, everyday, human teeth.

That’s not the weirdest thing though. He’s…old. Like, really old. By the looks of it, he’s about the age of Morro, but that could just be the large bags under his eyes and slightly pale skin.

He looks almost ghostly in the dimly lit room.

Lloyd reaches out and touches the mirror, immediately grimacing when his joints pop at the movement.

God, why is his body so damn sore? He feels like he got hit by a school bus. He supposes that isn’t too ridiculous of an assumption, especially since someone once tried to run him over. Thank god Cole saved his ass.

“Lloyd!”

Something slams into his door and the teen screams, scrambling back. He trips on himself and falls backwards, hitting the ground a little too hard. Pain spikes through him and he groans. That hurt. A lot.

There’s another assault on the door and the heavy wood creaks under the weight. It causes another shriek to tear from Lloyd and he backs up against his bed. His eyes search around for an exit or somewhere to hide from the angry individual. He manages to find a couple options, in the closet, under the bed (he’d really have to squeeze his body to fit though since he’s gotten so tall) or he could go out the window. That might just have to do.

Lloyd makes a break for the window and fumbles to unlock the latch. Finally, he gets it open and is about to jump out when he realizes he’s over a ginormous drop. Below him is clouds of all things! How high up is he?

There’s another punching noise and Lloyd jumps up so quickly he nearly topples out of the window. Luckily, he manages to catch himself and pull his body back inside the small room.

What does he do? He has nowhere to go!

“Lloyd!” an urgent voice comes from the other side of the door and the green clad teen stops. His train of thought immediately disappears from his brain and he turns towards the door, it’s lock closed firmly.

There’s more loud noises, but this time it’s more like frantic knocking. “Lloyd, please let me in.”

“Kai, is that you?” Lloyd whispers, some of the tension leaking from his shoulders. He steps closer to the door, listening intently for an answer.

A sigh of relief comes from the other side of the door along with a creak, as if the other boy is leaning his weight against the wood. “Yeah, it’s just me.” Kai answers, a shuffling noise coming from the other end and the door handle jiggles again. “I heard you scream, but the door is locked and I can’t get in. Why’d you lock it?”

Lloyd swallows dryly, hand trembling slightly. “I…wanted to be safe.” he moves forward, one step, two steps, three steps. He’s at the door. He twists the lock and he can hear the older boy audibly sigh as he calms down a little.

“Finally.” Kai mutters and swings the door open. He quickly looks the smaller boy over, frowning at the large bruise on his cheek. “Why’d you scream?”

Lloyd just stares him down, eyes wide. The man in front of him is not his brother. For one, he’s a man! Probably early twenties if he had to guess. His scar is in the wrong place too, but that’s not the only thing. He’s wearing a bright red gi despite them being at home.

Why is Kai in his home? Is this even his home? Where is he!

“Where am I?” Lloyd snaps, sounding more defensive than he intended. He can’t help it though. He’s boxed inside a foreign room with a man who is too old to be his brother. Hell, he’s too old to be himself! It’s frankly terrifying and he’s distantly reminded of what people do when they’re frightened. Right now he feels like those people do at the moment. Trapped .

“What?” Kai questions, the frown only becoming more noticeable as he steps further inside. “You’re in your room, Lloyd. In the monastery.” he reaches out to touch the younger teen only for him to bat his hand away with a startled hiss.

“Don’t touch me.” Lloyd growls, baring his teeth. He really wishes he still had fangs. As much as he hates scaring people it could really come in use right about now. It would at least deter the man a little.

Glancing around, he searches for an escape. The only place he can go is the closet which still isn’t the best place, but it’s the only area to hide in.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe.” Kai puts his hands in a placating gesture, gaze softening. He looks brotherly, kind, but Lloyd isn’t having it.

“Leave me alone!” the teen snarls, making a break for the closet. He can hear the other man get closer and he slams the closet doors behind him. He just holds them shut, breath caught in his throat. A few tears prickle in his eyes and his arms ache. All of his joints burn and fill with soreness, protesting with each movement.

“Green bean?” Kai asks, his voice incredibly soft and he can hear him just outside the closet. “I’m not gonna hurt you, you know that.”

A sob starts to bubble into Lloyd’s throat, tears streaming down his face. He doesn’t wipe them away, keeping his hands firmly on the doors. They have to stay shut. They have to. “Please, just—just leave me alone.”

There’s a long pause before there’s a shuffling noise. “Okay. I’ll go.” Kai whispers, getting up. His footsteps echo across the room and into the hallway presumably.

The green clad lets out a sigh of relief. He immediately lets go of the closet shutters and they part slightly. He quickly checks the room through the half open sliver. It’s thankfully empty. Finally, he’s all by himself. Safety at last. He doesn’t feel safe.

Lloyd shoves himself in the very back of the closet and curls his knees to his chest, sobbing into them. He wants to go home! He misses his friends and family! His cousin, uncle, his mom, not his dad. Actually, he would even take Garmadon since he could at least fight someone familiar. Wait— fight.

“Oh my god.” Lloyd breathes out, his chest suddenly burning. He finally understands what happened. This is all his dad’s fault! That villain made a wish with his mega weapon! Frick, what was the wish again? Something about sending him somewhere he couldn’t mess with his plans!

Ohhh, that guy is gonna pay for putting him through this weird dimension/universe/alternate timeline, whatever this is!

He grinds his teeth, having to take a tight breath in and out. He feels like he’s going to explode. This is not what he wanted his Thursday to go. Then again, it is better than be mercilessly bullied by Chen. His friends will be freaking out though! He just disappeared on them! Not to mention Morro is going to murder him for never calling him back.

He needs to think of something and fast! There’s got to be a way to get himself home. Maybe a second mega weapon? A portal of some sorts perhaps? Oh, who is he kidding! He has no idea what he’s doing. He’s going to need help.

He wishes his team were here. Zane would probably come up with something in ten seconds flat. He’s brilliant like that.

“What do you mean he was scared of you?”

Lloyd jumps, eyes flicking over towards the room door. It creaks open and Kai steps out, followed by a shorter man dressed in a bright blue gi. His curly ginger hair is only a little shorter than Lloyd’s friend Jay’s dark auburn hair. He has freckles too, but much less than his shy friend.

“I mean he was scared of me. He was acting like I was gonna hurt him or something.” Kai answers, crossing his arms.

“Maybe he just wanted to be alone.”

“He hissed at me, Jay. Hissed!”

The auburn haired man (Jay?) makes a face, cheeks scrunching into a frown. “Okay, that’s definitely a little strange. I’m not so sure I wanna mess with him if he’s hissing at people.” he mutters, eyes flicking at the closet. He freezes up, meeting the teen’s wide, green eyes. “Um…Kaaaaiiiii, he’s staring at me.”

“Be thankful he’s not hissing. Now, go talk to him.” Kai shoves him forward, causing Jay to yelp loudly.

Weird. Kai is never like that to Jay. The whole group is well aware of how anxious he is. Therefore forcing him into things is a huge no go. Yet this Jay isn’t exactly acting normal right about now. He’s too talkative and definitely way too loud to be himself.

“Hey, kid.” Jay approaches the closet cautiously, coming to a crouch a few feet away. “Please, don’t bite me.”

Lloyd watches him carefully, more tears starting to fill his eyes. He doesn’t want to be in this weird place anymore. He wants familiarity, not this. There’s got to be someway he can get home. Maybe, he just needs to investigate, but he can’t be acting like an injured animal if he’s going to fool these guys. He’ll have to stay as calm as he can and play along.

“Why isn’t he hissing at you? He hissed at me!” Kai complains angrily, huffing.

“He likes me better.” Jay chuckles and the red ninja glares at him. “What’s wrong, kiddo?” he turns back to the green ninja, inching closer to the closet. “Was Kai being annoying again? It’s pretty scary when he gets obnoxious.”

“Dude!”

“See, there he goes being all cranky again. You don’t need to be worried about him. He just needs some anger management therapy.” Jay grins, stormy gray eyes softening. There’s a large scar over one of them, jagged and running down all the way past his lips. “Why don’t you come out of there and we’ll eat some pancakes? We’ll use strawberry syrup. Your favorite.”

Tears spill over the edge of Lloyd’s eyes and his chin wobbles. This isn’t his family, but god does he want a hug.

Without thinking he throws open the closet door, collapsing onto the strange Jay and hugging him. His embrace feels exactly how his friend’s does, warm, soft and with a good amount of static electricity.

“Seriously?” Kai exclaims, sounding legendarily offended. “He hugs you, but not me? That’s so unfair!”

Jay only laughs and squeezes Lloyd lightly, hand carding through the blonde teen’s hair. “Jealous, much?” he snickers, causing the red ninja to storm out of the room with a snarl.

Lloyd shuts his eyes tightly and buries his face in the blue ninja’s shoulder.

He wishes it was his Jay.

Chapter Text

This is real. He just got punched and there’s literal blood coming from his nose. Oh fsm, this was never a dream, was it? He just didn’t realize he was awake the whole time and in someone else’s body. What in the cursed realm is happening? This shouldn’t be possible! He’s heard of other realms, but has never been to one. Is this one of the sixteen realms?

What kind of messed up realm is this? Ninja should not be in high school! Is he even a ninja in this universe? He doesn’t feel like a ninja. He just feels like a regular kid and not a literal powerhouse that could take out the entire city’s light source with one misstep.

“-ey are you even listening?!”

Lloyd snarls when he’s shoved against the locker again. He glares up at the kid, face immediately going even more sour when he notices the sporty jacket and preppy hair style. He looks straight out of those teen musicals Jay made everyone watch with him. Gross .

The kid’s mouth drops, staring the green teen in the eyes. “You actually have red eyes? Wow…just like your dad.” he chuckles and Lloyd hisses. Hisses! He’a never been able to make that noise before. At least not to that extent. It actually sounded inhuman, like an oni. Does he have oni powers?

Blood continues to trickle down his nose and past his lips. Lloyd wipes away the thick substance and tries to back away from this guy. “Leave me alone.” he growls, literally growls. Like a wild animal or an unruly oni.

“Not happening, Garmadork. I’ve finally got you alone.” the teen cracks his knuckles, grinning stupidly. What an idiot. “I had to wait for your freak friends to leave. Especially that bitch Nya. She’s a real aggressive one. Even worse than that loser cousin of yours.”

Lloyd bares his teeth and punches him. Hard.

“Don’t talk about my friends like that…or my cousin.” he adds with a snarl, watching the boy stumble back and fall flat on his butt at the force. He has no clue who his cousin even is, but he’s not letting someone like that trash talk him or her or them. No one treats his family like that. No one. He doesn’t even let his family say anything bad about themselves.

The teenager scrambles away from him. His freshly bruising eyes widen. He’s afraid.

Lloyd would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little bad. He did just punch a kid, but said kid is an asshole. As long as the creep stays away, he won’t hurt him again. Sniffing, he wipes his nose again. “Scram.” he growls, eyes glowing red, not that he could see.

The boy shrieks and bolts, leaving the green clad teen alone and bleeding.

Sighing, Lloyd searches around for a bathroom. He eventually finds it and grabs some toilet paper, stuffing it in his nose. He sets his backpack on the sink counter, digging around in it for something to help him identify what realm this could be.

His ears unexpectedly prick up (his ears can move?) and zero in on a noise coming from one of the stalls. It’s quiet, but subtle. Someone is crying, the mystery person’s breath hitching every few moments. A couple stifled sniffles get louder and the green teen turns towards it.

He didn’t even realize someone was in the bathroom with him, led alone someone who sounds like they’re starting to break down. Every breath is partially concealed though, the person trying to hide the fact they’re panicking or even that they’re in the same area as him.

Lloyd takes a deep breath in and out. Out of all things he thought this day would hold he didn’t expect to be rocketed into a different realm, stuck in some else’s body, punched and now about to help a teenager through a panic attack. That is if they’ll accept the help.

A poorly hidden sob comes from the stall and there’s a shuffling noise. Shoes on top of the toilet lid probably. His well trained ninja ears are somehow tripled. It’s like he can hear everything one hundred times more crisp, like having a stereo in his brain.

“Hey, are you okay?” Lloyd asks, stepping closer to the stall.

There’s a long pause before, “Lloyd, is that you?”

The teen blinks, taken aback. He knows this guy? The voice doesn’t sound familiar. It’s so quiet and somewhat muffled, as of the person is talking through an article of clothing. “Yeah, it’s me.” he replies, not moving any closer. “Are you okay in there?”

There’s another drawn out pause and Lloyd thinks the person might have just decided to stop talking to him, when they finally speak up again. “I-I’m fine I g-guess. I realized I f-forgot my test papers and p-panicked.” the teen sighs shakily. “The teacher had been giving m-me hell for p-procrastinating too long. Sh-shouldn’t you be in class by now?”

“Probably. I got punched.”

“What?!”

The stall door’s lock clicks open and it flies open so fast it nearly smacks Lloyd in the face. Thank fsm for his ninja reflexes. That would’ve probably hurt worse than the punch.

“Are you hurt? Was it Chen again?” the boy asks and Lloyd just stares at his countless freckles and long, curly, dark auburn hair.

Jay. There’s no doubt about it, even if he looks slightly different.

He’s wearing an orange scarf that stands out against his muted blue zip up hoodie, little buttons and pins attached to it. One of them is a little yellow lightning bolt and Lloyd saves that detail for a later investigation. Perhaps his family does still have powers. Then, why can’t he feel his own?

“-arth to Lloyd? Are you okay?” Jay squeaks and boy, who knew his voice could get that high pitched. The poor teen seems to be in distress, pulling on the ends of his orange scarf. Tears gather at the bottom of his electric blue eyes and Lloyd immediately is pulled from his thoughts.

“I’m alright. Sorry, I just spaced out a little.” Lloyd chuckles quietly, offering a small smile. “I got a bloody nose out of it, but it’s nothing that will kill me.” he watches the shorter boy closely, gaze softening.

It’s strange to see his brother so small. He looks innocent. All his friends are so young. He may be as young as them, but fsm so help him—he’s gonna be there big brother.

“Stupid, rotten teenagers. They all make me so mad.” Jay grumbles, his voice barely above a whisper. “One day I’m gonna give Chen a good zapping. God knows he deserves it.” he sighs, rubbing his temples in annoyance. “It was Chen, right? He’s always bothering us.”

“Maybe. I wasn’t expecting it honestly. I was just going through my backpack for my schedule when it happened.” Lloyd glances over his shoulder at his open bag, a few of the contents already splayed out on the sink top. “I should probably finish going through it before class.”

“I’ll stay in case Chen comes back.” the blue clad teenager places a hand on his back and smiles slightly. It’s barely classified as a lip part, but it makes the green teen feel a bit better. It’s nice to know there’s some people who don’t seem to dislike him. He is still a little confused on why everyone hates him though.

“I’ll be quick.” Lloyd murmurs, going through his backpack faster than before. This time he searches for that schedule mainly, deciding to continue his investigation on this realm later. Eventually he finds the wrinkled paper with some stains. It honestly looks like he dropped hot chocolate on this in several places. “Got it.” he turns back to the shorter boy. “Thanks for staying. You’re awesome.”

“N-no problem. That’s wh-what friends are for.” Jay stutters, his face going a little pink at the compliment. “I’ll see y-you at P.E.” he waves, going back towards the classroom.

Lloyd pulls out the tissue from his nose and chucks it in the bin. He grabs his backpack and walks towards his class, staring at his schedule. It’s not till he reaches the door that he remembers he was going to comfort Jay. The teen ended up being the one to look out for him. He supposes they looked out for each other, like all family should.

Opening the door, the class suddenly gets deathly quiet. He glances at the teacher, wincing at her miffed expression. He decides to just go straight to his seat, slipping into the only empty one.

The woman goes back to explaining the math problems on the board and Lloyd quietly digs through his backpack. Eventually, he finds the workbook and just stares at the cover. Which page are they even on? He hasn’t been to school in years and they only taught evil. He learned most of his math from Kai who wasn’t even that good at it himself.

“It’s page two hundred and sixty.” a voice comes to the left of him and he looks up, immediately recognizing the person.

He knows his big brother gingerbread skin and fluffy black hair anywhere. He still has toned arms, not quite as toned as in his universe, but still beefy. Chocolate brown eyes are partially hidden under his black hair and a pair dark headphones cover his ears.

“Thanks, Cole.” Lloyd whispers, sending a small smile his way before opening up his work book. He quietly listens to the teacher, writing a few notes and trying to understand why there’s letters mixed in with numbers. He doesn’t remember Kai teaching him that. It all looks like some sort of alien language to him. This is the type of stuff Fritz Donnegen had to decode in Back To The Crystal Caves of Zataro.

The class ends early, well probably on time, but he was late and Lloyd gathers his things. Most of his notes look like complete gibberish and he’s honestly pretty sure he’s going to fail math. To whichever Lloyds body this is, he apologizes sincerely for tanking his grades. He didn’t mean to suck so bad at basic human knowledge.

Glancing to his side, he watches Cole packing up at the same slow speed as him. The other teen’s dark eyes are on him though, watching intently. Part of him wonders if he can tell something is off. Cole always seems more in tune with understanding other people’s emotions. Sometimes it feels like he can even read thoughts.

Either that or Cole is just being protective. That’s in character for him too and it makes sense that it would be doubled around these people. Especially since they seem to hate him. Fsm, earlier the whole class was watching him like they were wanting to pelt him with tomatoes. It’s definitely a war zone in this school…and the war is on him.

“Ready to go?” Cole asks, his voice still hushed as he watches the blonde teen.

Lloyd nods, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

“Where are your contacts?” the taller boy asks, tugging on his backpack. “You always wear them.”

“I couldn’t find them.” Lloyd answers, walking out of the room with his friend. He definitely feels safer being around the stronger teen. Cole stays quiet at that answer and the two stroll to Lloyd’s locker. The blonde puts away his backpack, still holding his schedule tightly.

Cole does the same thing, except he has no schedule. He must’ve memorized it. Lloyd has no idea how anyone could memorize so many classes. It sounds as bad as the cursed realm to him. A fate worse than death…school.

Lloyd hears a yelp and looks up, meeting Chen’s eyes. The teenager quickly runs down the hallway with his gaggle of teenager cheerleaders.

“Whoa. Who gave Chen the shiner?” Cole marvels, his normally blank face reading shock at the other teen’s large bruises.

“Dunno. He looks kinda like a raccoon.” Lloyd shrugs, trying to hide a small smirk. The older teen looks at him strangely and the blonde’s stomach sinks. He definitely knows something is up. Hopefully, he won’t ask. This universe of him doesn’t seem like much of a fighter, guessing off how Chen reacted to getting punted.

“We better get to P.E. You know how cranky Ms. Lakerson gets.” The dark haired boy murmurs, walking down the hallway.

Lloyd quickly follows, reaching the large gym in no time. The whole place is huge and already smells of teen musk. Wrinkling his nose, he glances around. Too bad his sense of smell is doubled too. Teenagers smell gross.

There’s a group of teens in the center of the large room, including Jay, Nya and Kai. There’s a boy with shockingly white hair beside them, an unnaturally wide smile on his face. Even with the strange new look, Lloyd has an inkling who it may be. At least he knows all his friends are here and safe. That’s comforting at least.

The two teens come over to the small group of friends and the green boy takes his spot in between Kai and Nya who squeeze him in, both looking extremely over protective and glaring at everyone. Jay just shifts foot to foot, one arm wrapped around the frosty haired boy’s arm. Zane (?) stares at him, but Lloyd has a feeling the nindroid is just scanning him. After a moment his eyes flick away, the irises dimming slightly.

Yep, definitely scanning.

Chen joins the group and the other cheerleaders steer clear of their small group.

Lloyd feels a sickening sense of satisfaction, knowing that jerk will think twice before harassing him and his family. No more trash talking his friends, at least in front of them. Hopefully. His cousin should be fine now too, whoever they happen to be. If his cousin turns out to be younger than him, then Chen is going to be in big trouble if he tries to bother the kid.

“Jay told us you got punched.” Nya whispers under her breath to him. “Tell me who it was and I’ll beat them up for you.”

“You’ll get detention.” Cole whispers to her. “Remember how disappointed your parents got last time you were given detention?”

“Like I care—they’re not even my real parents. Just a pair of posers.” she rolls her eyes and Kai scoffs.

“Yeah right, sis. Maya is an awesome foster mom and you know it.” Kai shoots back, eyeing her closely. “Besides, Chen isn’t worth your time.”

“It was Chen?” Nya curls her fist, fuming by now.

“I’m guessing.” Kai shrugs, eyes flicking away.

“Were you the one who punched him?” Cole glances over at the red clad boy now, whose mouth drops open a comically large amount. “He got punched?! Holy shit—that’s epic. Lloyd, did you see who socked him?”

Lloyd blinks, realizing are all staring at him intently. They all want answers and he’s honestly not sure he’s ready to give them any. All of this is still so alien to him. Any wrong answer and they could realize he doesn’t belong here. Instead he just shrugs, offering a meek smile.

“Walker!”

Jay shrieks, glancing over at the teacher and blushing profusely. “Y-Yeah?”

  “You’re first up for the rope. Were you even listening?” the woman grumbles, pointing to the giant rope hanging from the ceiling. “Climb it, ring the bell and climb down. You should be fit enough to at least do that.”

“C-Can I go second?”

“Not unless anyone feels like taking your place.” she sneers and the teenagers around the group glare at them. All except for Chen who seems to be knocked into docility, for now at least.

“I’ll go.” Lloyd speaks up, not paying attention to the fact that Cole just opened to his mouth to no doubt volunteer. He might as well show these kids how it’s done.

“Fine, up you go first, Garmadon.” the woman steps aside and Lloyd’s face hardens into a glare at the mention of his last name. It was once something he was proud of. That changed though. He never wants to hear that name again. That man is gone. That name is dead to him.

Lloyd grips the rope and climbs it with ease. His muscles burn a bit by the time he reaches the top. This version of him doesn’t have the same devolped muscles, but thankfully he’s fit enough to do this. He’ll have to work on getting his strength back.

His eyes flick downwards, watching his shocked friends and classmates. It’s pretty dizzying, but he doesn’t mind. He’s been on insanely high mountains before. This is nothing compared to the wailing alps.

Just as he’s about to clamber down, a loud alarm starts to blare through the building. His hands slip from the rope and he screams, finding himself plummeting. Just before he hits the ground, someone catches him, holding the teen close.

He knows the unnatural chill anywhere and he smiles softly, looking up at his friend and brother. “Thanks, Zane. You’re a life saver.”

“No thanks needed. It is my duty to protect.” The nindroid shrugs and pulls the teen to his feet. “Now, I believe it’s time we get ready to properly deal with the attack.”

“Attack?”

“Can I have a bathroom pass?” the voices of his friends echo from behind him. The group all take off running down the hallway after getting an okay.

Lloyd and Zane exchange looks, both turning to the teacher.

“Can I have a bathroom pass?”

“Just go!” Ms. Lakerson snaps, herding the other children under the bleachers like cattle. “Your father put us in this mess!”

The green clad teen blinks, turning to Zane and gasps when he sees the nindroid taking off without him. He quickly follows and catches up to all the other ninja who are swinging their locker doors open. They step inside and a chute opens up in each one, his friends disappearing down the tubes. As if on command the doors close behind them.

Lloyd stares at his locker, dumbfounded.

“…You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Chapter Text

Humans get scared. It’s a normal reaction when something jarring happens. Maybe that jarring thing is your older sibling jumping out in front of you with a loud noise, maybe that jarring thing is getting new scar, or maybe it’s getting thrown into a strange place with weird versions of your family and your body is anything but yours.

Humans are easy to startle, easy to anger, easy to experience a variety of emotions at once.

Lloyd suddenly feels more human than ever, wanting to bolt at any moment. Fear always has been close to him, everybody acting out when he was around. Now, he’s the one ready to attack and hiss or just act like a rabid animal in general. Everything is threatening to him, even his literal best friends. They’re wrong, Jay is too loud, Kai is too short tempered. He’s kind of scared to see how the others will act.

If only Morro was here. He’d probably have some good advice and if not he’d at least be there to protect Lloyd. He’d probably gather him in his arms and yell at everybody to get away. He remembers his big cousin doing that with him once. There was so many overwhelming senses at once and Morro kept him safe, keeping his hands over the blonde’s ears in an attempt to block out the noise.

After that the older boy would try to get Koko to buy him noise cancelling headphones. They never had enough money for the good ones though. Still, his cousin would always cup his palms over the green teen’s ears if needed.

Lloyd always could hear better than everyone else, but all of a sudden his hearing is wrong. He can’t hear the little details which means he can’t detect any threats that are around. It’s terrifying and he keeps looking over at Jay and Kai who are just bickering about Starfarer lore.

It feels familiar, but these people aren’t his friends. He feels so small, smaller than ever. He swears Jay might even be taller than him and that’s just unsettling.

He just wants to go home.

“Mornin, guys.”

Lloyd’s eyes flick to the side, catching sight of a dark haired man with gingerbread skin, a bright green scar marring his eyebrow. It’s Cole, no doubt about it. He’s missing his headphones though which isn’t like him at all! He’s always wearing them.

“Cole, tell Kai that it’s Fritz Donnegan not Frenz Donnegan.” Jay whines, crossing his arms and glaring at the red clad ninja.

“Frenz?” Cole questions and laughs, a deep one as he turns to Kai. “That is not his name, but that is funny as fuck, so I’m not gonna correct you.” he shrugs, flashing the blue ninja a smirk and chuckling when he gets all worked up.

“It’s Fritz Donnegan! I can’t believe you’re disrespecting my late father. Disgusting.” he shakes his head, huffing in an offended way. “No respect for the dead.”

“Dude, you can’t bring up the dead part. That just makes us sound like assholes.” Kai shoves him in the arm playfully. “Besides, I’m sure your dad wouldn’t mind. He can’t really…at least not anymore”

Lloyd blinks, the conversation fuzzing out for him as he processes the new information. Apparently Jay’s dad is Fritz Donnegan and he’s dead? Since when? He knows his Jay is adopted, but as far as he knew Jay’s real parents were deadbeat drug addicts and not actors. There’s no way his friend would lie about having a movie star dad, right?

Maybe he doesn’t know as much about his friends as he thought or maybe this universe is just wildly different. More so than he thought. How many other things have been changed? How many destinies have been altered?

Just the prospect of that word makes his whole body tingle with pent up energy. It’s almost as if he can feel it inside his veins, buzzing there, trying to get out. It’s all over him, thrumming like thousands of butterfly wings. Something strange is inside him.

It’s like there’s a literal caged beast in him, wanting to be let out. Part of it is electrifying like lightning almost, but the other is dark, powerful, hungry. It’s like there’s two halves of him, yin and yang.

“Hey, we’re here.” Kai shakes his arm and Lloyd swallows a gasp, looking up at him with wide eyes. His eyes take in the area in front of him. It’s a dining room, connected to a well sized kitchen.

“Don’t give me that look again.” the red ninja mutters, getting a weird look in his eyes. It almost reminisces guilt and the blonde teen feels a bit guilty for upsetting him.

There’s already some people at the breakfast table. A girl with a black hair kept in a short ponytail and a…a robot?! He gapes at the shiny, metal man. His haircut is similar to Zane’s and he even has the same narrow features.

Holy shit. Jay was right!

Zane is a robot!

“Is something wrong?” Zane asks, eyeing Lloyd with a concerned frown. “You seem to be in quite a bit of distress.”

Yeah, no kidding.

“I-I’m fine.” Lloyd clicks his mouth shut, trying to hide his absolute shock at this revelation. He knew his friend was special, but this isn’t the type of special he expected. At all. In fact he feels blown off his feet at this whole situation.

Things are usually so easy with his friends. They’re all close, hell, he’s known Jay and Cole since he was a little kid. It’s so hard matching their names to these people with the wrong personalities.

At least Cole isn’t too different although it makes him uncomfortable seeing him without headphones-he’s, like he’s naked without them or something. He doesn’t even remember the last time he saw his friend’s actual ears. Most of the time they’re shielded by the shiny black earphones or covered by his raven hair.

A plate gets placed in front of him along with a fork. On the pretty hand-painted dish there’s a stack of fluffy pancakes with strawberry syrup. It looks exactly how his mom makes it. That thought makes his chest ache and he quietly eats his meal, trying not to breakdown crying. There’s already a huge lump forming in his throat and he tries to swallow it with his food.

Slowly, Lloyd turns his head around to take note of these new versions of his friends. They all seem to be getting along, talking cheerily and laughing…all except the dark haired woman he can only assume is Nya. She seems half asleep, clutching a pillow with one arm and leaning against Jay.

The red head is excitedly chatting about the new Starfarer comic to Cole, moving his arms up in down. He’s so…energetic, but in an unfamiliar and talkative way.

Cole is just nodding and always speaking up when he can get a word in. The black haired man seems content, smiling softly while Jay continues on.

Zane is eating just as quietly as him. He seems to be listening to the red head too, watching him from the corner of his bright blue eyes.

And Kai…is staring at him.

Lloyd quickly looks down at his pancakes. He can feel the red clad boy’s amber eyes bore into his skull. He knows—he must. There’s no other reason he’d give him that look. Maybe he doesn’t know exactly what’s going on yet, but he’ll put it together in no time if he doesn’t start acting normal soon, but what is normal for this Lloyd?

“Where’s Pix?” Nya mumbles sleepily, rubbing her eyes with a yawn.

“She got a call this morning from the Commissioner. Apparently there’s still some low level Sog members that are stirring up some trouble in The Quiet One’s name.” Zane sighs, looking down at his lemonade. “Pixal has been working ever since three am to track down their whereabouts so we may detain them. After that they’ll be sent to Kryptarium.”

The breakfast table gets real quiet and Lloyd forces himself to look up, to confront the faces that are scaring him to his core. They’re all looking at him and he gulps.

It’s not like he can ask what a Sog is or what sort of freak calls themselves The Quiet One. No, he’s gotta pretend to know what he’s doing. Just like in Ms. Hutcherson’s class, pretend he actually understands geometry or in this case what the hell is going on.

“We can’t have them putting any civilians in danger. Once Pixal gets their location, we should take them out right away.” Lloyd says, putting all the bravado he can muster into his tone.

“Agreed. We have to make sure they’re all gone. Only then Ninjago will be safe.” Cole speaks up, side eyeing Zane. “Although, I think it’d be easier for some of us if we didn’t mention you know who. Especially since she is gone and dead . No use mentioning someone who isn’t here anymore.”

“Thank fsm for that.” Nya growls, slamming her fork into the last pancake viciously. “I never liked her. She’s more of a snake than Pythor.”

“Ugh…I hate that serpentine.” Kai grumbles, leaning back in his chair. “Not as bad as Chen though. That guy was a maniac! What kind of psychopath would want to turn themselves into a literal reptile? That’s just nuts.”

Lloyd tunes the group out again, abandoning his last pancake entirely. He needs to think. This—it’s too much for him to comprehend. Zane is a robot, The Quiet One is dead, there’s a mythical serpentine named Pythor and Chen is not just a bully, but a madman now! How is he supposed to keep up with all this? His head is already swimming.

This is the worse possible thing that could happen and it’s all his dad’s fault! Why did his father have to send him to this nightmare realm? Why can’t he just have a normal family that doesn’t have an insane warlord in it?

“I’ve got a location!”

Lloyd turns towards the voice, eyes widening at the sight of the shiny metallic woman. Her curly metal hair is kept in a long pony tail and she has bright green eyes. Is this…Pixal? She’s a robot too?

“Pixal, I haven’t even finished breakfast!” Jay exclaims, groaning and sliding down on his chair dramatically. “This isn’t faaaaiiiiirrrr.” he whines, crossing his arms with an annoyed huff.

“I’m afraid you must go. They’ve been moving around quite a lot.” Pixal explains, glancing over the group. “I’ve started your vehicles and made sure your weapons are at the ready. I will be working as technical support, but if you need me I shall be ready at a moments notice.”

“Alright, let’s ninja-go.” Cole chuckles, getting very unimpressed stares in return. “What? Jay can make jokes, but I can’t? He’s not even funny.”

“I’m hilarious!” Jay argues and the group starts to get up.

Lloyd swallows the lump in his throat, taking a deep breath in and out. He’s never even drove a car! Sure, his mom gave him lessons, but he’s never actually been behind the wheel. It can’t be too different from a mech though? Oh, who is he kidding! It’s totally different!

Slowly, he gets up from his seat, trying to keep his nerves at bay. His hands fidget against his gi anyway. It feels worn…like it’s been through a lot. He feels like this version of himself has been through way too much.

Lloyd just follows everyone, crowding into an elevator. He taps his foot nervously, staring at the two doors. Once they open, he trails behind Nya.

They’re in a giant garage with a large monitor in front of them. To the side are an wide array of vehicles, equipped with large weapons. The other ninja hop into theirs no problem and he gulps, making his way to his green themed rover.

The seat is comfortable at least, but the controls are confusing. There’s basic car things, but also several buttons he doesn’t recognize. There’s a large red one in the center that he thinks he should avoid at all costs. At least they’re not fighting Garmadon. He’s a little sick of his father by now. In fact he would be happy if he never sees that man’s face again.

Thankfully, the vehicle is already started which means it should be easier to drive. The others have already started pulling out, so he slowly presses his foot to the accelerator. The car lurches forward and he quickly retracts his foot.

“Lloyd, are you okay?” Kai asks, his voice crackling through comms he didn’t even realize were in the car.

“I’m good.” Lloyd murmurs, gathering his courage and driving after them. He grips the steering wheel tightly, hands trembling badly. “Let’s do this.” he pulls on his hood, quickly grabbing the wheel again. He’s just gotta take it easy and stay calm. Which isn’t going to do him much good since his driving is already crooked compared to the others.

His stomach does a backflip and he mentally curses the rocky mountain. Out of all the places to live why in Ninjago did they decide to make their home up here?

The green ninja searches for the comms button awhile, eventually finding a call button and he clicks it off, breathing out.

“Okay, Lloyd, you can do this. It’s just a simple mission. You’ve done missions a million times.” he whispers to himself, hands sweating profusely against the steering wheel. “One mission won’t kill you. It’ll be easy—super easy. You’ve fought Garmadon! He had a megaweapon and you still went up against him no problem! You’ve just gotta get outta your—“

“Wait, I thought you didn’t remember the megaweapon?” Jay’s voice comes through the comms and the green ninja yelps, car screeching to the left for a moment before he scrambles to fix its path.

“I thought I turned the comms off!”

“Nope. You just switched it to my channel.” Jay explains with a hum. “Pixal disabled the ‘turn off’ comms option after you decided to get all angsty and face Garmadon by yourself. Thank fsm for that.” the blue ninja mutters the last sentence. “Seriously though, I thought you didn’t remember the whole megaweapon situation?”

“Oh, I…remembered. Just recently, actually.” Lloyd lies, fingernails digging into the steering wheel padding. “It was pretty crazy, huh?”

“Oh, you bet! I can’t believe my clone kissed Nya! It was so insulting!” Jay huffs, voice crackling through the stereo. “Remember when we were turned into children? That was insane! I don’t think I’ve been more horrified in my life!”

“Yeah…that was wild.” Lloyd murmurs, staring at the red ninja’s car in front of him. His heart is racing in his chest, the adrenaline making his stomach churn uncomfortably. This isn’t good at all. At least Jay is dominating the conversation. It makes it a little easier to just listen and not have to actually speak.

“I’m just glad Garmadon is gone, Y’know?”

“He-he’s gone?”

“I mean, yeah? For now anyway. I can’t believe he actually helped us! Maybe there is still a tiny sliver of good in his heart after all.”

“Yeah…maybe.”

*****

Lloyd puts the car in park, leaning against the seat heavily. He must admit, he’s impressed with how much Jay can talk. It’s a little tiring, but it does make him wonder if his Jay would be like this if he wasn’t so shy.

Sighing, he switches through the buttons until he finds the group comms. He’s immediately met by someone talking to him.

“—lright, what’s the plan, green machine?” Cole asks.

“Uh, fight some bad guys, detain them and send them to prison.”

“Yeah, but what’s the attack plan?” Nya clarifies.

“Don’t die?”

There’s a long pause throughout the vehicle and Lloyd swings open the car door in sudden panic. “I’ll meet you guys in there!” he slams the door shut and runs towards the warehouse. His heartbeat thunders in his ears, making everything else fuzz out.

They know, they know, they know.

They know!

His breath catches in his throat and he slips into the warehouse. He’s immediately greeted by a stack of crates, an open one filled with guns. Okay, that’s really bad.

Swallowing, he peeks from behind a box and notices a group of men crowded around a photo of his father, a bunch of locations written on it. They seem preoccupied and Lloyd closes his eyes, centering himself before opening them.

He has limited training, no powers and definitely isn’t as good as a fighter as his uncle, but he’s got this. Right?

A hand appears on his shoulder and Lloyd shrieks in terror. He stumbles backwards, eyes settling on Kai whose now face palming.

A gunshot goes off and a bullet whizzes just past Lloyd’s head. He swiftly jumps behind a crate, looking over at the men who are all grabbing weapons.

Shit .

Cole reaches out his hands and the ground starts to rumble and a gap opens up under the men, swallowing a few of them whole. Some still escape and shoot at the crates. The ninja all disperse, moving away as quickly as possible.

Lloyd turns right, while everyone else goes left. He immediately runs face to face with another man and a gun is aimed right at him. With one fluid movement he rolls to the side, barely missing a bullet to the chest. He attempts to trip the guy and narrowly succeeds.

“Holy shit! I did it!”

A hand grabs him by the collar and he’s yanked backwards, being thrown into a crate. His back spikes in pain and he hisses through his teeth.

“The Quiet One would be pleased to know we avenged her.” the man sneers, pulling out a wickedly sharp knife. “Who knew the child of the all powerful Emperor Garmadon would be such a goodie two shoes. From bratty kid to destiny’s child, how does that feel? How does it feel knowing you’ve destroyed many lives with your reckless battles?” the man spits, the weapon nearing the blonde’s neck. “You speak all high and mighty, but you’re no better than the bad guys you put in Kryptarium. You’re a monster.”

“I’m not a monster! I’m nothing like my father!”

“You’re right! Your father is better than you! He saved us from The Great Devourer, he tried to liberate us from the ninja filth invading our city! You’re just a kid pretending to be a hero. You’re not special- you’ve never been anything more than a scared little boy.”

Hot energy rushes through Lloyd, his ears ringing almost as loud as the gunfire. Tears burn in his eyes and his jaw sets.

“You’re pathetic and I’m going to slice your neck. Then, I’m gonna kill your friends. They’ll be nothing, but bloody corpses on the ground. You’re a coward! You couldn’t even see through The Quiet One’s schemes. You were too infatuated with her. I bet even after death you miss her. Don’t worry, you’ll get to see her soon and so will your friends.”

A surge of energy goes through Lloyd and a shockwave emits from his chest, blowing the man back and through a literal wall. Something tingles in his body and he glances down at his glowing green hands. Sparks of energy zap in his palms and he turns to the other men who are on the floor, trying to recover from the surge.

The other ninja are on the floor too, looking extremely disoriented.

What- what was that?

Does he have powers??

Lloyd turns towards the men and stalks towards them, his hand hovering over them, trying to keep them from shaking at the sight of the green glow. A silent threat. They slowly lower their guns and heads, grimacing.

“Ugh…my head.” Jay groans from underneath Cole, the earth ninja presumably shielding him from harm. “Get offa’ me..” he pushes the larger man with another grunt. “You’re heavy.”

“Your welcome for saving you.” Cole mutters, sitting up slowly.

“Is everyone alright?” Zane asks, glancing around at the group.

A chorus of yes’s and a maybe (Jay) enter the room, followed immediately after by a hiss of pain from the black ninja.

“Fuck.” he mutters, clutching his shoulder.

Lloyd’s eyes focus on a wet spot growing on the ninja’s dark gi. A pit lodges in his stomach and panic begins to swell in his chest, overfilling like a glass of water.

“Cole-“ Jay squeaks, body stiffening. “You’re bleeding!”

“Don’t worry. It—it’s just a through and through. I’ll live.” the dark haired man answers tightly, gritting his teeth. “I think I should go to a hospital though, so we might wanna wrap this up.” he chuckles, forcing a smile.

Lloyd just stares blankly at the group.

Kai meets his eyes and the glare he gives the green ninja makes him wilt inside.

Maybe that guy was right…maybe he is a monster.

Chapter Text

The chutes aren’t as bad as Lloyd thought they would be, only scraping on his skin a little. He might get some blisters later and it is slightly disorienting to be sucked through tubes, but other then getting a little dizzy the ride was fine. He wonders how often this version of him goes through those things. The teen must have a good stomach.

He turns his attention back to the huge room. It appears to be a large warehouse and the smell of seawater is strong in his nostrils. It reminds him of how Nya’s gi usually smells when she hugs him. He hopes they’re okay without him.

The giant storage is also housing large mechs, even larger than Sam X’s suit. There’s a fiery red one he assumes belongs to Kai, an icy white tank, a water strider mech with multiple legs, a large black mech with a giant wheel supporting it, a blue jet and finally a green dragon mech.

Lloyd walks up to it and touches the snout. He misses his elemental dragon, but it’s gotten too difficult to summon it. There’s still a lot of uncertainty why not, but Uncle Wu believes they’ve lost too much and their fear is holding them back from using it. Although that’s just theory.

The dragon doesn’t respond to him. It’s not sentient like his was.

“Lloyd, your gi.” Kai taps him on the shoulder. “We gotta get going.”

“Right, uh-“ the green ninja glances around until he finds a set of lockers. He rushes over to them and finds his bright green gi, but it’s hood has black in it oddly enough. It reminds him of the suit he wore when he met Harumi.

Lloyd swallows, his stomach aching as if he’s been punched squarely in the abdomen. Harumi…he shouldn’t miss her, but he does. She destroyed him and his family, but even she didn’t deserve to die like that. He still remembers the look on her face when she locked eyes with him.

It makes him feel sick to his stomach, that image burned into his skull. It’s like she was asking for help and he couldn’t do a thing. All he could do is watch as she reaped what she sewed. Still, it tore him apart and he doesn’t know how to even begin to explain what that feels like.

She took everything from him, his dignity, his trust in people, his father.

Lloyd grips the gi tighter and takes a deep breath in and out. He disappears between the curtain and changes into his suit, barely holding back the tears. He can’t be crying right now. It’s not going to help anything. If only it’ll just make things worse.

Once inside his gi, he runs to his mech, clambering onto it. The mech’s controls feel strange, but as soon as he touches them the metal beast comes to life. Its buttons and eyes glow brightly and Lloyd runs his hands over the makeshift scales.

“Everybody good to go?” Kai asks, making Lloyd jump.

They have comms in their hoods…he honestly should have Pixal do that with their hoods once he gets home. Wait, where is Pixal? Is she even in this universe?

“Ready.” Nya answers and the rest of the ninja make it known they’re ready although it’s not much more than a mumble from Jay.

“You good, Green?”

“I’m okay, Cole. We better get going and fight…the bad guys.” Lloyd cringes internally and outwardly now that he thinks about it. He has no idea who they’re supposed to be fighting. This universe is already way too confusing for comfort.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Nya exclaims and her mech makes its way towards the door. “See you guys there!”

Lloyd just follows the rest of them out, not impressed by the dragon’s flying ability. It isn’t very steady, but that could just be him not knowing how to use the controls. They seem very sensitive to touch, almost as if it can he’s not the right driver. That’s just ridiculous, still unnerving though.

The first thing Lloyd notices is all the mechs flying through the sky, shrimp, jellyfish, shark, pretty much every kind of fish themed villain. The pilots are wearing silly little costumes that look like fish bowls and piranha hats with little fins sticking out like tiny legs.

Lloyd’s face twists up and he holds his breath, trying not to burst into laughter. It’s so stupid, it’s hilarious. “Wh-Why do they look like that?” he manages to gasp out, eyes watering profusely. Fsm what is this universe?

“I dunno. I guess Garmadon takes his sea themed army seriously.” Jay pipes up, squeaking when a jellyfish mech gets too close to his jet.

Lloyd sucks in a breath, his ears starting to ring. His head pounds and pounds and pounds like thousands of footsteps echoing in his skull. His father is here and he’s commanding an army. Garmadon is trying to take over Ninjago all over again. Does this mean Harumi is…?

Oh fsm. She could be alive.

He might be sick.

“-een, are you alright?” Kai’s voice crackles through the comms. “You’re breathing really hard right now.”

Lloyd closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in and out. He slowly opens them and grips his controls tighter. “Zane, give me a run down on what the situation is.”

“Most of the mechs are attacking the downtown area, there’s a horde attacking from the sky near the beach and the rest are invading the less populated areas which is still thousands of defenseless people.”

“Do you have eyes on Garmadon?” Lloyd growls, baring his fangs.

“He’s heading towards the mayor’s office in his signature shark mech. We cannot let him reach it otherwise he’ll conquer Ninjago City and become are new emperor.” Zane finishes.

“I’ve got him.” Lloyd snarls, pressing down on what is thankfully the accelerator and zips through the skies. The dragon plows through fish themed mechs and Lloyd hits a button with an explosion on it, blowing up the vehicles with ease.

Energy thrums inside his chest, but not the same kind he’s used to. It’s more like a heavy dose of adrenaline if anything, body tingling.

His heartbeat thrums in his ears and he locks onto the ugly shark mech that’s almost at the top of a tall building. “Get ready to die, father.” he whispers under his breath and slams into the mech at full force. It sends them both sprawling to the ground with a thud. The crash jostles his whole body and his hearing is filled with a piercing sound.

Lloyd coughs, glancing down at himself for any injuries. He’s got some bloody scrapes, but it’s not bad from what he can see. He’s definitely going to be sore for the next few weeks unfortunately. Shaking his head, he tries to regain some hearing, only getting fuzzy voices that make zero sense.

Smoke fills the area and he nearly chokes on some. The air is too thick to even see properly and he coughs again. His chest hurts which probably isn’t a good sign, but he’s not spitting up blood so hopefully he doesn’t have internal bleeding.

Something moves in the haze in front of him and he squints. Someone charges at him and Lloyd narrowly jumps out of the way of a very angry oni.

His ears pop and screaming fills his head, all of his friends talking at once. He claws at his head and switches off the comm link. “Hey, Garmadon.” he grins, not that his dad can see it under the stuffy mask.

“Green ninja, you have some nerve.” the oni hisses, towering over him. “What happened to our little banter? It’s banter first, then fighting. You know this.” he mutters, pushing a strand of white hair back under his helmet. “Don’t you remember I have a megaweapon that could destroy you easily?”

“I don’t see a mega weapon.” Lloyd cracks his knuckles and tilts his head. “Although I do see a very nasty gash on your cheek.” he nods at the growing purple spot.

Garmadon touches it and glances at the blood on his fingertips. He looks at the green ninja and laughs, a chilling one that sends shivers up Lloyd’s spine. “I’m impressed. You have guts, I’ll give you that. Lots of guts.” he pulls out four swords from behind him. “Come now, show me that tenacious courage of yours.”

“With pleasure.” Lloyd reaches out to pull his sword, realizing he forgot it.

First master-

Well, he’s worked with worse. He puts his hands up to use his powers, watching as his father just laughs, seemingly unimpressed. Nothing happens and he glances down at his palms.

“You’re going to fight me without weapons? Now, that’s just silly. No mech, no powers, you’re nothing against me, dear green ninja. Although I must commend your courage, facing me on your own. Too bad you’re powerless.”

A growl emanates from Lloyd’s throat and he pounces forward with a flurry of green sparks. He turns into a bright green tornado, smacking Garmadon back with a powerful wave of spinjitzu. The swirling green only getting larger and while the oni is distracted, he snatches one of the swords and does a back flip, landing perfectly.

“No Garmadon, you’re powerless to me. You don’t have the courage I have because you don’t know the most important thing.” Lloyd’s red eyes flash brighter. “The Resistance never quits and neither does a ninja.” he springs forward, blade meeting his father’s with a loud clang.

The oni stares into his eyes, analyzing him as he swings his three swords at the hero. “You’re acting different, green ninja. Almost like something has changed in you.” he dodges a dangerous swipe. “Whats with your eyes? I don’t remember them being that color.”

“I forgot to wear my contacts.” Lloyd slices at him, bouncing on one of the swords and double kicking the oni in the face. He rolls backwards, ignoring how his arm spikes in pain and gets covered in a wet substance. “Whats the matter? Is red your color?” he stands up, twirling his sword easily, wielding it expertly.

Garmadon tilts his head, staring him down. A smile breaks across his face and he chuckles. “I like the new you. You’re funny.” he jumps forwards, sending a kick towards the green teen. His claws swing at Lloyd, making a few cuts across his already wounded arm. “I must know how you managed that spinjitzu? Even my brother can’t do that and he always bragged about being the ultimate master.” he yanks the sword from the ninja’s arm and throws it.

“It just comes natural.” Lloyd dodges the next hit and jumps into his mech, sending a downwards kick onto Garmadon’s head. He jumps off the oni, breathing heavy. Sweat is coating his forehead, rolling down past his eyes and onto his nose and lips. This body definitely isn’t used to doing all these fancy moves. In fact he kind of feels like he’s going to throw up, but first realm be damned he is not gonna do that while fighting his father.

Garmadon rubs his head and he chuckles to himself. “I’m getting a feeling that my megaweapon did do something to you. You’re too…skilled.” he turns to him, a hungry look in his eyes. “I want your skill, green ninja, so I offer you a chance to join my army as general number two. What will it be?”

“I rather die.”

“So dramatic.” The oni rolls his head with a scoff. “Now, where were we-“ he lifts his sword, only to freeze when the sound of a jet’s engines blare overhead. “Looks like your little ninja nerds finally came. I should be going.” he steps back and about fifty ocean themed men surround him, including the flying vehicles.

“If you come back, I will destroy you once and for all.” Lloyd growls, standing his ground despite how much his head starts to spin. He can’t show weakness, not around him.

“Of course you will.” Garmadon turns away with a laugh, cape trailing behind him as he boards one of the helicopters. “Goodbye, green ninja.”

“Goodbye…” Lloyd turns away. “Father.”

“Huh? What was that green ninja?”

Lloyd doesn’t answer, walking away and picking up the sword. His reflection stares back at him, glowing red eyes and all. He growls, baring his teeth. His father is already flying away when he glances back. “Return and I will kill you.” he hisses quietly.

The jet blares again and it zooms downwards, parking about ten feet away. The cockpit swings open and the blue ninja stumbles out. “Green!” he exclaims, running over. “Are you okay? What happened?” his hands anxiously flick over the ninja, trying to find some way to help him.

“I’m alright. I got a couple cuts on my arm, but that’s about it.” Lloyd reaches out and pats his friend’s shoulder lightly. “I think I totaled my mech.” he glances over at the mess of parts the green dragon is. His legs start shaking, but he stays upright despite the oncoming dizzy spell washing over him.

Jay just stares at him through his blue mask, as if trying to spot his lie. “You d-don’t look so good. You can ride with me back to base, how about that?”

Lloyd nods shortly, unable to argue in this situation. It’s better than falling flat on his face. He walks over to the jet, taking his place in the backseat. It’s fairly comfortable and he can actually lean back in it. Closing his eyes, he curls in on himself a little.

Jay gets inside a moment later and buttons start clicking, the engine roaring to life. “Guys, I’ve got Lloyd and we’re headed back to base. I should be there in about five to ten minutes. Oh, and Zane if you get there first, prep med bay.” he pauses for a moment and the jet flies into the air. “It’s n-not bad. His arm got a little mangled, but otherwise he seems fine. He was responsive. Is he still…? Lloyd, are you still awake?”

“I’m awake.” Lloyd murmurs softly, opening one eye to watch the ninja talk to the others through the fuzzy comms. Fsm, why is this version of him so inexperienced in fighting? All his muscles are burning despite him not moving at all.

Breathing in and out deeply, he tries to lesson the spinning of his head. It’s only getting worse though, nausea curling in his stomach.

Come on, Lloyd. Don’t puke in your alternate brother’s jet.

Sweat continues to pour down his forehead and soak his palms, all of him shaking. He just holds everything in, shutting his eyes tightly. Just a few more minutes. Seconds? He’s not sure how long they’ve been flying.

The jet suddenly settles and the engine clicks off.

“We’re here.” Jay turns to him and Lloyd opens his eyes, making eye contact with him. The blue ninja’s eyes widen and he quickly opens the cockpit door, carefully helping the green ninja out. “Um- if you’re gonna throw up there’s a bathroom right—“

Lloyd insides lurch and he empties his stomach contents onto the warehouse concrete below him. His legs give out a second later, but Jay catches him, wrapping his arms around the blonde’s waist.

“Easy there.” Jay’s soft voice comes through his eardrums clearly. After a moment, he half drags, half walks Lloyd over to one of the couches and sets him down. “W-Was it my driving? I usually fly alone since l-last time Kai came with me he threw up in the backseat. Oh god, did it smell in there? I-I’m so sorry-“

“It’s not your fault. I just overdid it.” The green teen sighs heavily, closing his eyes. “I need to get some sleep.”

“Sleep? What do you mean? We still have to get back to school!”

“Fuck school.” Lloyd shuts his eyes, the noise of Jay’s voice filtering out until it’s all quiet.

*****

Morro glares at the messages on his phone, tapping his foot in annoyance. He’s texted Lloyd about fifty times in the last two days. He even tried ringing into him earlier after the attack, but got nothing.

“That’s it.” Morro growls, snatching his coat and walking out the door.

If his little cousin won’t text him then he’ll just go find him.

Chapter Text

Lloyd feels like he’s going to throw up.

Cole got shot, Kai is onto him and he just crashed his rover into a stop sign. Admittedly, it could be a lot worse. It’s a minor wreck, but his head is pounding from being hit with a literal airbag. His nose is dripping red too. That’s not as bad. He’s gotten beat up so many times it’s pretty normal.

The spinning sensation in his skull isn’t very fun though and he curls up a little. He just needs a moment to sort out his thoughts.

How did his first mission go in this body? Bad, horrific even. His teammates got hurt because of him, because of his fear. These versions of his friends are alien to him, but they still protect each other like his friends do. Hell, Cole covered Jay with his entire body to shield him from being injured.

Speaking of Jay, the poor blue ninja was shaking the whole time. Even when the ambulance came he was trembling all over. The earth ninja’s head was in Jay’s lap despite him saying he was fine with laying on the floor.

The other ninja looked to him for help and he had no idea why in the moment.

Sure, he’s the leader in his universe, but he’s also the youngest. He’s underestimated, his orders get ignored sometimes, he’s teased about being short. He’s not a tough leader who has all the answers. He’s just a scared little kid, like what that guy said.

The other ninja asked him for guidance and he failed them. These people are still his friends, just different. He can’t afford to mess up, not when it puts them in danger. From what he’s seen they take care of each other.

He failed them.

Not to mention he has powers! Powers he can’t even use correctly because he’s a failure.

A sad excuse for a ninja.

A loud rapping sound echoes on the window and Lloyd turns just in time to see Nya basically yank the vehicle’s door off its hinges. She scoops him into her arms a second later, carrying him away.

“How in the cursed realm did you manage to crash your car? And into a stop sign of all things!” Nya rambles, cradling him with extreme gentleness despite yelling at him so fiercely. “Are you okay? You didn’t break any bones, right? No traumatic head injury?”

“I’m okay.” Lloyd whispers, a lump rising in his throat. It feels strange to be in this version of his friend’s arms, but it has the odd sense of familiarity to it, reminding him of the time he got injured in a Garmadon attack and his mech seized up. After it crashed Nya pulled him from the wreck. She had held him close to her chest and in that moment he realized this wasn’t just a friend, but a sister.

Kai and Nya always teased him about being his big siblings, but he never really told them he saw them that way. Now he might never get to.

“We’ll see what Zane has to say about that.” Nya mutters, placing him in the back of her vehicle, seat-belting him in. “Just stay still and hold this to your nose.” she tears off a piece of her already ripped cloth belt and hands it to him. “We’ll be back at the monastery in no time.”

Lloyd nods numbly, curling up in the backseat and closing in his eyes.

*****

“All his vitals are stable and I see no other outward or inward damages.” Zane hums, the glow from his eyes lessening. He steps from the med bay bed and taps his chin. “Although I did detect a strange energy coming from him. I’m unsure what it make of it though.”

“What kind of strange energy?” Nya glances over to Lloyd, worry lacing her tone.

Lloyd just swallows, mouth dry. He already hates where this is going. It’s only a matter of time before the others realizes he’s an imposter and that he’s not supposed to be here.

“I’m unsure. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in this realm. I think we may have to ask Master Wu about this.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Nya mutters and the concern in her voice only grows as she stares at the green ninja. “How do you feel, Lloyd? Anything out of the ordinary?

Yeah, I’m in a body that’s not my own, I feel like I got hit by a truck, I’m pretty sure I have trauma now and I’m disoriented because I can barely hear a thing with these round ears! Everything is wrong. I’m wrong, you’re wrong, the world is wrong. It’s like I’m wearing a cloak made of skin that’s meant to look and sound like me, but isn’t me.

“I’m fine.”

Nya raises her eyebrows, clearly not believing him.

“I believe Lloyd should rest for a while. He may not be injured, but his heart rate is slightly elevated.” Zane puts the medical tools back in the first aid kit. “I’d recommend watching a movie or reading a book to unwind.”

“I’ll make sure he does just that.” Nya grabs Lloyd by the shoulders and steers him to the living room. Right where Kai is, the older ninja texting on his phone. “Hey, fire idiot, watch over our little brother, okay?” she sits the green ninja onto the couch and pats his head.

“Got it.” Kai murmurs, fingers flying across the miniature keyboard. His expression relaxed, seemingly not a care in the world.

“Are you talking to Jay?” Nya asks, voice soft.

“Yeah.”

“How’s Cole?”

“He’s doing a lot better. The doctor said he needs to take it easy, but he should recover just fine.” Kai explains. His eyes never leave the screen, focused on the small text on the screen. “Jay is gonna stay a little longer then come back.”

Lloyd listens to their exchange closely, guilt pooling in his stomach all over again. At least he knows Cole will be okay, but that doesn’t stop him from feeling horrible about the whole situation. He can’t help, but think he’s encroaching on all their lives.

It’s not like he can just leave though. He’s still in their Lloyd’s body. It would only cause for panic and misunderstandings. He’s terrified what will happen to him if they find out. It’ll only be bad things, he’s sure of that.

  All he can do is try to hold out as long as possible until he finds another solution on how to get home. Hopefully his friends will realize something is wrong and wish him back with the megaweapon.

“I’ll put on some Starfarer.” Nya pats Lloyd on the back and puts in one of the dvds by the tv. The trailers start to roll and she skips through them, pushing play. “Here, just watch this one for awhile. I’m sure when Jay gets back he’ll watch some of the others with you.”

“Thanks.” he murmurs, taking the remote from her and watching the water ninja leave. Slowly, he turns his attention to the tv, trying to take his mind off things. It’s one of the less action packed films, thankfully. In fact, he’s pretty sure it’s Starfarer: Vacation on Mars. A classic.

It’s not till thirty minutes into the movie that Lloyd notices the fire ninja’s typing has come to a halt. His eyes flick to the side, seeing Kai watching him with that same blank expression.

Shit-

What does he do?

Kai reaches to the side and takes a drink of his soda. When he looks back at Lloyd, he’s got a dangerous glint in his eyes. A sword is at the green ninja’s throat in a matter of seconds, threatening to cut him at any moment.

“Who are you?”

Chapter Text

“What happened?” Cole asks, hovering over Zane and Lloyd, the green ninja’s face much paler than it usually is. His mask has been completely discarded, Jay rambling something about it needing to be washed after the teen threw up in it and on the floor.

Not that it bothered Cole much. He’s dealt with plenty of sickness in his life. There’s still a part of him that gets shivers and his chest gets wracked with anxiety, but he can just push it away.

Lloyd isn’t dying. He’s just in bad shape.

He knows what it looks like when someone is dying.

“Overexertion. He pushed himself farther than his body could keep up with.” Zane answers simply, putting away his tools in the medic kit. “He needs lots of rest.”

“What about school?” Jay squeaks, still quaking where he stands.

“What about school? Lloyd passed out and you’re worried about school?!” Kai snaps, his face twisting up with an expression that’s rare on his face. Pure rage and a tinge of fear. “He literally fought Garmadon by himself and almost won! Clearly, some of us aren’t pulling our weight.” he hisses, getting closer to the blue ninja.

Jay instinctively flinches back as if he’s been punched. Tears well up in his eyes and he turns on his heels, running off.

The warehouse goes quiet until Nya speaks up: “Kai, what the hell?”

The red ninja doesn’t answer and Nya gets off the couch, grabbing her brother by the sleeve and turning him to face her. “Look, I know you’re scared, but you can’t just-“

“I’m not scared!”

“I know you’re scared, because I am too, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to yell at Jay! He didn’t do a thing wrong.” Nya steps closer, gripping onto her twin brother’s shoulder. “We all had to fight off the mechs or else the city would’ve been destroyed and hundreds, if not thousands would’ve been killed. You know that-“

Her gaze hardens and Kai’s expression softens, the fiery teen glancing at the floor in a poorly concealed attempt to hide his tears.

“I-I know. I’m sorry…I’m just really worried. Garmadon has never fought in hand to hand combat with any of us. Ever. ” Kai chokes out, tears dripping down his cheeks as he hugs his sister. “Lloyd could’ve died and wh-when I saw him passed out I thought he did.”

“I know, but we can’t take our fear and anger out on each other, okay? That’s not how we do things.” Nya pulls him into a gentle hug, squeezing him gently.

“Okay.” Kai glances in the direction where Jay went, his expression fading to deep sorrow. “I’m such a jerk.”

“Think of how you’re going to apologize and I’ll go check on him.” Nya whispers, pulling away from her brother. She heads towards the front of the warehouse and out the door, looking around until she spots him by the docks.

“Hey, are you okay? she walks over, sitting beside him and dangling her legs above the water.

“I-I don’t know. Not really. I feel so bad that L-Lloyd got hurt.” Jay stares down at the gentle waters lapping against the dock. “Seeing him fight Garmadon like that, I just feel useless. Maybe Kai was right. Maybe, I’m not pulling my weight. You guys might be better off without me.”

“Jay, look at me.” Nya takes his face in her hands and turns his face to hers. “You are an incredible pilot and our only air support when Lloyd is downed. You take down the bad guys and save hundreds of lives everyday doing it. You pull just as much weight as the rest of it and look good doing it too.”

The curly haired teen’s face turns a rosy hue and he quickly looks to the side. “Th-thanks, Nya. I r-really needed to hear that.” he gives her a cautious smile and she hugs him close.

“You’re amazing and never forget that. Ever.”

Footsteps echo and the wooden planks and both teens look up, coming face to face with a pair of lime green eyes.

“What happened to my cousin?”

Nya sighs and stands up, brushing herself off. “What makes you think something happened to him?”

“He hasn’t answered my texts and wasn’t at school or his house. He always returns home or to school after an attack.” Morro growls, dark hair falling into his face. “I’ll ask again, what happened to Lloyd?”

“He fought Garmadon and got a little banged up.” Nya answers, feeling Jay get up and hide behind her.

Morro always was a little scary to him. Apparently the young man could get quite fierce over his baby cousin.

“Where is he?”

“Inside the warehouse.” Nya gestures to it, watching the teen immediately stalk inside. “You’re right, Jay. He is kind of unsettling.”

“More like unstable!”

*****

Lloyd groans, eyelids fluttering as his eyes adjust to the bright lights of the room. A hand immediately is set on his shoulder, easing him down when he tries to sit up. The teen looks to his side, Kai, Zane and Cole all hovering close.

The black ninja’s hand is on his shoulder, keeping him from getting up yet remaining gentle.

“What happened?” Lloyd rasps out, wincing slightly when his whole body starts aching.

Zane hands him a glass of water and the green ninja gratefully accepts, downing it in one go.

“You fought Garmadon and almost died!” Kai exclaims, throwing his hands up. “Why the hell did you fight him solo? He’s like—the King of Evil! I bet he eats babies for breakfast!”

Lloyd just shrugs, pushing back some of his matted blonde hair.

“Where’s Jay and Nya?”

“You cannot just change the subject like that!” Kai snaps, the ice ninja putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Breathe, Kai. I know you’re stressed, but perhaps you should let Lloyd unwind before asking him difficult questions.” Zane pulls him a bit closer and the fire ninja sighs heavily, hiding his face in the white ninja’s shoulder.

A spike of guilt tremors through Lloyd and he rubs his temples, already getting a headache.

He needs to tell them who he really is. He can’t hide it forever, especially if it starts to put him and them in danger.

They’re still kids. Hell, if he was in his regular body he’d be older than them! He needs you be responsible, but what if they think he’s lying or worse has a traumatic brain injury?

Maybe, telling them right now isn’t the best idea he’s ever had.

He turns his attention to Zane, the teen looking at him with curiosity and something else…suspicion  perhaps.

Did Zane scan him again? Does he even know he’s a robot in this universe? Do the others know he’s a robot?

Why is everything so confusing?

His head hurts.

“Lloyd!” a voice shouts and it echoes across the whole warehouse.

Everybody turns towards it and Lloyd’s heart jumps into his throat at the sight of the man in front of him. Black hair with green streaks, lime green eyes, and those same eye bags.

It’s him. It’s Morro.

“No-“ Lloyd chokes out the word as the figure gets closer. He jumps to his feet, his whole body shaking like a leaf.

Cole doesn’t pull him down this time, studying his body language in confusion.

“Why didn’t you answer my texts or calls? I was worried about you!” Morro exclaims and traps him in a hug, holding him close, but not in a way that would hurt the teen. Not physically anyway. “You can’t just ignore me for days then look like you knocked on death’s door after fighting Garmadon!” he pulls away, staring at him. “Are you nuts?!”

Tears stream down Lloyd’s cheeks, wriggling in his grasp. No words come out of his mouth, but his face says everything.

“Hey, maybe let him go. He’s still a little shaken up.” Cole starts, getting up from his crouched position.

“How about you back off? I’ve helped calm him down from at least two hundred different panic attacks.” Morro snarls, looking back at the green ninja as he carefully wipes the tears from his eyes with a sort of gentleness Lloyd has rarely felt in life, especially from a monster like Morro.

“Just breathe, okay? Focus on-“

Lloyd tunes him out, glancing at Kai.

Kai will help. He always helps him when he’s in trouble.

Lloyd stares directly at him, a silent plea for help.

In seconds Kai is storming over and practically rips Morro off the teen. “I think it’s time you back off! You’re scaring him!” the fire ninja growls, sparks of flames flicking off him.

“Me? Scare him? I’ve protected him from people like Garmadon my whole life!”

“Well, right now he’s terrified of you! I don’t know for what reason, but I think you should leave!” Kai shoots back, stepping closer to the taller man. His eyes never once shy away from the older teen, baring his teeth. “Seriously, get away from him or you’ll regret it.”

Lloyd watches the two, stepping back.

He wants to run away, but he can’t leave Kai. What if Morro tries to hurt or possess him? Oh fsm, he can’t let Morro possess his brother! It’s the worst possible thing in the world!

For the first time in this universe, he feels something well up in him. It grows and grows, boiling and steaming until it reaches a tipping point.

Claws sprout from his fingertips and four horns jut out from his head, hands lighting on fire with purple flames.

“Leave. Kai. Alone!” he shoots a ball of purple energy at Morro and the man is sent flying back, hitting the ground hard.

Morro’s eyelids flutter, smoke coming from the injury on his stomach. He makes eye contact with Lloyd and before he passes out the green ninja can read the words on his lips: “you’re not him…”

The room is deadly silent for a few seconds until Nya and Jay come running in, both rushing over to Morro and shouting something about the first aid kit and needing Master Wu.

Lloyd falls to his knees, shaking as his body transforms back to normal. Flames fall down his face like a fucked up version of tears, lilac smoke coming off his cheeks.

He shuts his eyes, someone pulling him into a hug.

Chapter Text

“Who are you?”

Lloyd’s breath gets stuck in his throat, the sword inches away from his throat and closing in even more. He definitely didn’t expect such a violent reaction from the red ninja in front of him. It’s not like Kai to do this, but the young mam is staring at him with a steely, unwavering gaze.

“I said, who are you?” he growls, baring his teeth.

“I’m Lloyd-“

“The cursed realm you are!” Kai snarls and the sword gets within centimeters of the younger ninja. “Where is my brother?”

Lloyd swallows.

Guess the cat is finally out of the bag.

“Okay…I’ll tell you the truth, but it might not make a lot of sense.” Lloyd sighs, sagging into the couch and looking into his eyes. “I’m Lloyd from an alternate universe or dimension of sorts. I was fighting Garmadon and he used this thing called the “megaweapon” and wished for me not to be able to ruin his plans. I went home and when I woke up I was in the wrong body. I assume your Lloyd is in my universe.” he explains, not missing a beat the whole time.

He’s trying to stay calm, but he really rather not have a sharp blade pointed directly at his jugular.

Kai stares at him for a moment, glaring into his soul almost until he growls in frustration. He withdraws his sword and sheathes it.

“You believe me?” Lloyd asks, his incredulousness accidentally leaking into his tone.

He was sure he sounded ridiculous.

“I’ve heard crazier.” Kai mutters and stands up. “Come on-“

Lloyd gets to his feet without an ounce of hesitation and follows him. He suddenly stops halfway down the hallway, eyes widening.

What is he doing?

He isn’t sure he should trust this Kai yet.

It’s not his friend- his big brother .

“Wait- where are we going?” Lloyd asks, his voice wavering slightly.

“We’re going to see the one person who might be able to help untangle this mess.” Kai glances back at him, a frown present on his face. “And just so we’re clear I’m driving this time. In fact I don’t even think you can drive.”

Lloyd swallows, giving an awkward smile.

“Well, you got me there.”

The fire ninja rolls his eyes and makes his way to the elevator and he pulls the green ninja in.

Lloyd shifts foot to foot, the awkward silence making him uncomfortable.

It’s not like Kai to be quiet or this stoic.

It’s like their personalities are completely switched.

The elevator dings and Kai pulls him through.

Lloyd glances around at the hanger again, noticing the robot Pixal working away on his counterpart’s vehicle. She doesn’t even seem to notice them, too swept up in her work. Something floats beside her, but it’s mostly hidden from view and the green ninja’s frowns.

How does something that small float?

Are there fairies in this universe??

No, that’s just silly. Right?

Kai drags him to his vehicle and points to the backseat.

“In.”

“Can’t I sit shot gun?”

“Nope. You’re in baby jail for not telling me about all this earlier.” Kai says, a grin crossing his face for the first time while talking to the green teen.

In all honesty it’s a bit of a relief.

For a moment Lloyd can imagine his Kai is right here, ready to help him out.

He clambers into the backseat, buckling in tightly. He rather be nice and safe in case Kai crashes.

He’s actually pretty thankful he’s not driving again.

That was terrifying .

Kai gets inside and starts the engine, the car roaring to life. He pulls onto the road, revving the engine as he speeds up. He side eyes the backseat, watching as Lloyd grips the cushions tightly with wide eyes.

“Relax. I actually know how to drive.” he smirks then turns back to the road.

Lloyd stares out the window, hands on the glass. The scenery is actually quite beautiful as he takes in the large mountain and green rolling hills far below. The clouds are above him, misty and hiding away the top of the monastery like a secret sanctuary.

It’s gorgeous.

A much better view than Ninjago city’s large skyscrapers and pollution.

“Where are we going?” he asks, voice coming out quieter than he intended.

“Ninjago city.”

Lloyd tries not to groan at that.

He doesn’t reply back to the fire ninja, watching the people far below working in rice fields. This all reminds him of the one time Morro and him took off on a trip cross country. His cousin was freshly sixteen and him and Lloyd were both sick of the city.

Their parents weren’t letting them leave and the bullying was getting worse so his cousin who had sworn to protect him decided it was a good idea to move to somewhere quieter with him.

Lloyd had been all on board, ready to escape the mess.

They made it three days without being caught, driving through the green countryside, only stopping for food and to get gas.

It was some of his happiest moments, staying in the car at night, bundled in blankets and listening to his cousin play guitar and sing to him.

Eventually the police pulled them over and they were sent back to Ninjago city being met with a pair of raging parents.

He’d never seen his mom that angry before or Master Wu.

He didn’t get to see Morro for two weeks after that.

When they finally saw each other again, they both held on to one another like they were never going to let go.

After all that both his uncle and mother kept a close eye on the two of them. In fact Morro wasn’t allowed to take him anywhere until years after.

Sometimes he wonders what life would be like if they had succeeded in getting a new start.

He knows he would’ve missed his mom and two friends, but for the first time in his life he was free .

“Lloyd!”

The green ninja jumps, torn from his thoughts by the voice. He looks at Kai with wide eyes.

“Y-yeah?”

“Are you alright? You’re just zoning out.” he asks and genuinely sounds concerned.

“I’m fine, just thinking about the time me and my cousin went on a cross country trip. Technically we ran away, but I like to think of it more as a vacation.” Lloyd chuckles, a small smile spreading across his lips. “I miss him.”

“You have a cousin?” Kai raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah. His name is Morro.”

The fire ninja’s expression drops into a horrified one and Lloyd frowns.

“Whats wrong?”

“Morro’s your cousin?? And he’s not evil?” Kai questions, quickly looking back at the road.

Lloyd has a feeling it has more to do with hiding expression. He can still partially see it in the small mirror and he looks shook to the core.

“No, of course he’s not evil. He’s the one person who’s protected me my entire life.” Lloyd explains, fiddling with the cuffs of his gi. “He was my best friend for years . He’s still the person I’m closest to- one of the few people I know I can trust with my life. He’d do anything for me.”

“Huh…a lot different than our Morro.”

“…What’s your Morro like?”

“He was a vengeful ghost who possessed Lloyd and nearly destroyed all of Ninjago after releasing the cursed realm upon our world.” Kai deadpans, side eyeing the teen in the mirror.

“Possessed…?” Lloyd’s question dies in his throat and he looks out the window.

If that’s the case then he hopes his other version won’t freak out too bad when he sees who his cousin is in that universe.

And he hopes Morro doesn’t notice he’s not the right counterpart.

Otherwise all hell will break loose.

Chapter Text

Lloyd sits at the very far corner of the couch, picking at his claws. Thankfully they’re almost back to normal nails by now. His eyes have stopped glowing purple too and the horns are gone. All of him will be eternally grateful that he didn’t get to see his monstrous reflection.

All he knows is what the other ninja whispered and bickered about with each other when they thought he wasn’t listened and had tapped out.

Kai was the one who pulled him into the hug then proceeded to drag him into a sitting position and make sure he didn’t tear Morro to little shreds or blow him into itty bitty pieces.

Still despite everything his friends didn’t seem scared of him. If anything it just seemed like they were more worried except Jay who was slightly cautious around him.

Lloyd almost thought he lost all progress with his friend until Jay left him a cup of tea a few minutes ago before returning to the small group on the left side of the warehouse.

He can hear everything they’re saying.

His ears pick up every frequency, every type of echo.

Even the tapping of Morro’s feet as he sits on top of Kai’s mech.

“I’m telling you, that’s not Lloyd!” the older boy snarls, a bite to his words.

“Looks like Lloyd to me.” Kai spits back and Lloyd can hear his protective streak coming out.

“You don’t know a thing about my baby cousin! I practically raised the kid!” Morro slides off the mech, stalking up to the fire ninja and Lloyd’s chest tightens with every step he takes. “I know that’s not him. He’s never turned in his life- even after everything he’s been through he never let his oni side come out. You wanna know why? Because he was afraid of hurting someone. That guy right there was not worried about that.”

“Why didn’t he tell us he was an oni?” Nya speaks up, arms crossed over her chest.

“Yeah! A little warning would’ve been nice!” Jay squeaks.

“No, I got a better question.” Kai starts speaking again and Lloyd flinches at his sharp tone, chest filling with concern.

Morro isn’t someone to be trifled with.

By now he’s gathered Morro isn’t a ghost- the oni blast hurt him and it wasn’t water.

He’s human.

An easy target for the green ninja.

Lloyd blinks, the air in his lungs leaving him.

That’s not how he’s supposed to think, but it…it felt good. He’s underestimated in this universe. He nearly beat his father (perhaps he could do it completely once he’s trained his body more), Harumi might still be alive- she might even be able to be reasoned with or at least stopped, and Morro…he can’t touch him anymore.

He’s in control. For the first time in months he’s in control of his destiny .

Perhaps this is too good to be true.

Perhaps he’s taking this too far just to fix his past mistakes, but if he can help this Lloyd’s life be a little easier he’s all for it.

“Oh yeah, what’s your question, hotshot?” Morro hisses.

“Last time I checked the oni were nearly extinct. So, what are the chances of this being not Lloyd, but still an oni?” Kai raises her eyebrow, a petty smirk crossing his face and Lloyd vaguely realizes that despite this version of his brother being more upbeat he’s still a pain in the ass sometimes.

It’s actually pretty comforting to know.

Morro lets out a low growl at that.

“I find it illogical to argue at this moment.” Zane steps in between the two of them. He eyes the fire ninja then the black haired young man. “We should be more concerned about the fact Lloyd nearly got murdered by Garmadon and his mech got wrecked. We need to fix it as soon as possible or else the balance of power could shift.”

“But, this isn’t-“ Morro huffs and shakes his head. “Y’know what- it’s not worth it. If you won’t listen I’ll just bring it up with my father when he returns.” the dark haired man stalks off and Lloyd watches him go, lips curling into a sneer.

“Good riddance.” he whispers under his breath.

Finally that creep is out of here.

He can actually relax a little and plan how to get this guy out of this Lloyd’s life before he gets hurt.

Lloyd turns back to his friends, going over each of them. Kai still looks worked up, his shoulders in a tense line, Nya is pacing and biting her lip aggressively, Jay is just standing there looking miserable while Zane puts a hand on his shoulder, and finally Cole…the earth ninja hasn’t said a single word this entire time.

He has his headphones over his ears as he leans against his black mech. His eyes drift around the room, locking onto the green ninja’s face.

Lloyd immediately turns away.

Stupid!

He got caught looking- great, just great.

Real sneaky, Lloyd. Real ninja of you.

His uncle would be ashamed of his sloppy work.

The others are now looking at him and he sighs, standing up.

“I’m gonna get changed and go home.” he mumbles, not meeting their eyes.

“Are you sure you feel well enough to leave already?” Nya asks, her voice soft, sisterly.

It makes his heart hurt .

He misses his Nya already.

The one who helped him through everything, the loss of their family, the loss of his powers, the loss of his hope.

He wants to see her dearly, but right now he’s stuck.

He’s going to have to find some way to switch himself back- somehow.

“Yeah, I feel fine. I’m just sore is all.” Lloyd replies, trudging over to the changing rooms. He gets to his locker and pulls out his civilian clothes, getting dressed quickly. He pulls his dark green hood up, hiding away his face and heading towards the front door of the warehouse.

He makes it halfway down the docks when he hears heavy footsteps right behind him, too heavy to be a ninja.

Lloyd turns with a slight snarl, surprised when he sees Cole in his civilIan outfit.

Huh. A loud ninja.

That’s a first.

“What are you doing?” Lloyd asks, his tone and expression immediately softening. His shoulders relax, no longer feeling threatened. At least not in the moment.

“Walking you home.” Cole replies, catching up to him and readjusting his headphones.

Lloyd looks into his eyes, searching for an ulterior motive, but finds it impossible to tell. He’s a ninja for crying out loud! Yet somehow this version of Cole has the best poker face he’s ever seen, not a hint of emotion on it.

He supposes it makes up for the heavy steps. Being able to have that stony of expression must take a lot.

It’s highly impressive and Lloyd half wonders if his awe is showing by the way he’s just gawking.

Cole doesn’t point out his staring, just bobbing his head to the music.

Lloyd walks with him through the city, immediately noticing the glares of hatred and sneers directed at him. Everyone is looking right at him, ready to pounce it seems. He finds himself leaning closer to Cole who continues on his way, not moving from the green ninja’s side.

The blonde haired teen takes in his surroundings, heart sinking at all the destruction. It makes his chest heavy.

He wonders how many Harumi’s are created each day that the city is under siege.

He wonders how many children lost their parents or how many parents lost their kids.

Of course he’s hated- his father did this. He destroyed these people’s lives and they needed someone to blame.

Perhaps this is why other him never stood up. He thought it was his fault.

But, it’s not.

This is on Garmadon and Lloyd will bring him to his knees again if he needs to.

He will save these people.

The Resistance never quits.

No matter what universe, he will protect the citizens of Ninjago City.

“Hey, Lloyd.” Cole pipes up and the green ninja glances up at him.

“Yeah?”

“You’re going the wrong way. Your apartment is that way.” he jerks his thumb the other direction and Lloyd clears his throat awkwardly.

“Right- sorry, I got a bit distracted.” he mumbles, hastily walking towards the way Cole pointed. His friend follows after, staying right at his side. Even after the green ninja’s slip up he doesn’t seem bothered or curious.

Just a blank face.

Something in Lloyd tells him that his friend knows.

This Cole is the Kai of Lloyd’s universe.

Stoic, always thinking about something or other and knowing when something is up with their little brother.

The prospect of the other boy knowing something strange is going on is nerve wracking though.

Eventually Lloyd’s apartment comes into view and he quickens his pace, pushing through the front gate and going inside. It occurs to him that the place isn’t overly nice. It’s a rundown building with little to no security, but he can spot his apartment window above and it’s decorated with plants and a brightly colored bird-feeder.

His mom in this universe did a lot to make their part of the building live-able and comfortable.

It can’t be easy being the wife of Garmadon and the mother to his child.

It isn’t until that Cole’s shoulder brushes his that he realizes the earth ninja is still right beside him, this time staring at his phone with a frown. He pockets it with a sigh and turns towards the blonde haired teen.

“I gotta get home. My mom will be waiting for me.”

“Your mom??” Lloyd blinks, unsure if he heard him correctly.

“Yeah. My mom.” Cole stares back at him, his eyes almost piercing.

Cole’s mom is alive??

Since when?

This universe just keeps surprising him it seems.

“Oh right- Goodluck. See you tomorrow.” Lloyd waves and quickly clambers up the stairs and to his apartment. He tries to open the door, only to realize he doesn’t have a key and he mutters unpleasantries to himself.

He glances at his sharp fingernails and then at the keyhole. He sticks his fingers in it, hand glowing as he shapeshifts his fingers into a key shape and the door pops open.

Lloyd glances down at his hand (which shape shifted back) with a newfound curiosity.

He wonders what else he can do.

Could he look like his friends if he wanted?

Could he look like his enemies?

That thought makes him shudder and he comes inside, locking the door behind his as he makes his way to his room. He face plants onto his bed with a heavy sigh, getting a mouthful of pillow.

He’ll think about that later.

Right now he just wants to rest.

*****

Cole gets home and tugs his shoes off. He comes down the small hallway, casting a glance at the family photos on the wall.

All he sees is his smiling childhood face and beaming mother. Not a single photo of his father in view and he sighs, rubbing his temples.

“Mom, I’m home!” he calls, slowly heading towards the living room where he can hear her humming. He peeks his head in the room, watching the older woman painting in her usual spot.

When she sees him she immediately brightens up and comes over to hug him.

“I’m glad you’re back safely,” Lilly sighs softly, pulling back after a moment to look at him. “The attack was close to the school. You didn’t get hurt, right?”

“Nope. I’m okay.” Cole holds her at arms length, allowing a small sad smile to cross his features.

“Good.” she smiles, her skin crinkling around her eyes.

She looks much older than she should and he averts his eyes.

“Cole? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, mom.”

“You can tell me.” Lilly urges, cupping his cheek.

“Dad was just wondering when I’m going to visit again.” Cole sighs, remembering the text as he looks up at her. He immediately notices her expression go sour and he wilts a little. “I feel bad. I know he misses me, but I have so much going on. I don’t have the time.”

“You’re a busy kid. If he’s bothering you I can talk to him.” Lilly offers and the teen shakes his head.

“It’s okay, mom. I rather not have you two fighting again.”

“But, something else is bothering you, isn’t it? I can sense it.”

Cole falls silent, his mind replaying the events of today. How strange Lloyd acted. He wasn’t himself today. It was still him, he thinks, but he wasn’t the Lloyd he knows. He was secretive, bold, and perhaps even a little sinister.

“Just troubles in the friend group is all.” Cole replies with a shrug.

“Need advice?”

“Maybe, but only if it gets worse.” Cole steps back with a heavy sigh. “I’m going to make something to eat. Want some Creamy Alfredo pasta?”

Lilly smiles softly at that.

“My son the chef..”

“That wasn’t an answer, mom.” Cole chuckles quietly.

“I’d love some.” she replies and plants a quick kiss on his forehead. “Just don’t burn yourself.”

“I won’t.” Cole grins and goes towards the kitchen. His smile drops when he’s out of range though, his expression hardening.

He’s going to figure out what’s up with Lloyd no matter what….after eating that is.

But, he will get to the bottom of this and that’s a fact.

Chapter Text

Lloyd’s nails dig into the seat as he stares out the vehicle’s window. After their conversation about Morro the car fell silent and not too long after the sights of the beautiful mountain range faded into city streets and countless buildings.

Every person he sees go by is a new threat.

If his city already hates him for being the son of Garmadon, then he’s sure this universe might hate him worse. Especially since from what the ninja were saying there’s been even more threats than Garmadon.

They probably blame him for that too.

Lloyd really wishes he still was wearing his ninja hood. He feels horribly exposed and he tries not to tear up.

He doesn’t want to be hated.

Living everyday with an anvil over your head is torture.

“We’re here.” Kai pulls into a private parking spot and unclips his seatbelt. “Come on, new Greenbean.” he steps out of the car and Lloyd hesitantly follows.

He matches the red ninja’s step, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. He doesn’t hear a single jeer or snappy comment though.

In fact he just hears excited comments and chattering.

His head tilts up slightly, watching the people around him.

They look happy to see him and boy, that’s a weird feeling.

“Mommy, it’s the green ninja!” A young girl’s voice cheers as Kai pulls him into the lobby of a gigantic building before he can panic about it.

Its architecture is perfectly stream lined, high tech, sculpted in a futuristic way and is sporting the coolest technology he’s ever seen in his life. Cameras track their every moment, their lens perfectly clean and with detailed divots in them.

“Am…am I going to get in trouble for being here?” Lloyd asks and Kai gives him a weird look.

“Why would you?”

“I’m the son of Garmadon?” Lloyd frowns, shoulders hunching as he looks to the side. He lets out a small, defeated sigh. “Where I live people hate me. They think I’m evil and a freak, that I’m just a spy for Garmadon and plan to hurt them when they’re at their weakest.”

The fire ninja is quiet for a long moment and suddenly a pair of hands touch his shoulders, gently turning him to face Kai. The touch is so careful that he can’t help but think of Morro.

When his eyes meet Kai’s the amber irises are full of sympathy and concern.

“Lloyd, you’re safe here, okay? No one thinks that about you…at least not here. And where you live they shouldn’t either.” the fire ninja squeezes his hand and leads him to the elevator, pressing the up button and getting inside.

The two are quiet for a few seconds before Lloyd sighs.

“How come your identities aren’t secret?”

“What do you mean?”

“How does the whole city know who you are under the mask?”

“We weren’t exactly slick about our identities. We didn’t see a reason to be.” Kai chuckles nervously, a small smile playing at his lips as he leans against the elevator. He looks so comfortable in the moment, so at peace. “Plus it’s really hard to be subtle when Cole and Jay’s parents are telling everyone that their son is a ninja. Lou brags to everyone he meets about his son and how he’s the ‘strongest’ ninja. It’s kind of sweet really. My mom is kind of like that but the only people she can really tell are the rice farmers and the occasional smithy customer.”

Lloyd frowns slightly at that. “Cole still talks to his dad?”

“Yep. Phone calls every Friday. They’ll stay on the line for hours. Especially if Jay pops in and starts blabbering into the phone.”

The elevator dings and the two step into a laboratory with desks and computers. There’s even more cameras in this room and to Lloyd’s shock a nindroid guard with a gun guarding a black haired man in a wheelchair.

He turns when the two step into and his features crinkle up into a smile.

“Kai, Lloyd, it’s good to see you. What brings you here? No one trying to kidnap me, I hope.” he chuckles and wheels over to them.

“Cyrus Borg, we’ve run into a bit of a problem and I figured if anyone could help it’d be you.” The red ninja starts, nudging Lloyd forward a little. “Somehow due to the megaweapon Lloyd swapped consciousness with this version of Lloyd from another universe…or possibly realm. We’re unsure just yet.”

Swallowing thickly, Lloyd tries to press down his anxiety and focus.

He has no idea who this guy is, but if Kai trusts him then it’s okay, right?

Then again he knows barely anything about this Kai.

But he’s Kai!

No version of his friend would hurt him, much less conspire against him.

He’ll just have to trust these two.

“Oh! Fascinating! Come, come, sit down and I’ll do some scans.” Cyrus Borg wheels over to an examination table and starts fiddling with some large equipment and screens. It’s all sleek, efficient and highly intimidating.

Slowly, he walks forward and lays down on it, the red ninja beside him.

He doesn’t even realize his hands are shaking until Kai takes one of them and squeezes it gently.

“It’s okay. He’s not the mad scientist type. He won’t hurt you.” the other ninja smiles reassuringly and Lloyd breathes out, trying to steel his nerves.

The machines boot up with a whir and start scanning him with bright green light that he has to close his eyes to avoid. The keyboard clacks as Cyrus Borg starts running more tests and he feels two sensors pop up beside his head, buzzing like angry hornets.

His heart starts to race, but he keeps breathing, keeps focusing.

Focus on calming down, not all the other overstimulating noises.

Remember what Kai said…

After about thirty-five nerve wracking minutes the scans end and Cyrus Borg lets him get up.

“Wh-what’d you see?” Lloyd asks, wincing at his shaky tone.

“The energy you’re giving off is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly not temporal and I don’t believe it’s from another realm either. It’s a whole third party energy. Most of the energy signal is located in the neurons but it’s scattered all throughout you. It’s incredible!” Cyrus Borg raves, smiling so hard it looks like his face is about to pop open.

Lloyd feels the opposite, his spirits dampening.

None of this sounds good to him, just concerning…upsetting…awful.

“It’s not another realm?” Kai sounds just as perplexed as him but more hopeful. “Is there any way to get him home?”

Cyrus Borg hesitates, seemingly thinking hard as he thoughtfully taps his chin.

“I…could theoretically try to build a device by siphoning sone of the energy from your neurons as a power source. Just enough to get a good look at its unique signature and to be the base of the machine that might be able to punch a hole in space and time. Of course this is all theoretical and may be dangerous. I suggest you truly think about this.” Cyrus Borg gives the two of them a kind smile and Lloyd tries not to look crushed.

“Right…we’ll think about it. Thanks, Borg.” Kai stands up, hauling Lloyd up with him. He bids the old inventor one last goodbye, a nervous look on his face.

The two head towards the elevator, Lloyd’s steps feeling like they’re weighted by lead.

What if he never sees his friends again?

What if he never sees his mother again?

His cousin again?

His uncle again?

For a flicker of a moment his mind flashes back to Garmadon, but he shakes off the thought bitterly.

The elevator dings on its own accord and Lloyd flinches back as Pixal steps out. Oddly enough she doesn’t seem surprised, only giving them a thin smile.

“I was looking for you both.” she says, voice dangerously silky soft and calculated.

“Heyyyyy, Pix…” Kai chuckles nervously and she grabs him and Lloyd by the collar and drags them into the elevator.

“I believe you owe me an explanation, both of you.”