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Chapter Text

Lloyd isn’t the green ninja , nor is anyone . He might end up being the green ninja but that will be in a while anyway . The green ninja prophecy will come up it’s just they aren’t looking for the green ninja anymore and they don’t care much about it the prophecy anymore .

The day Lloyd went to the arcade , he leaves the arcade but does not go with the serpentine . Instead , he runs away . Idk how morro has appeared considering no green ninja - no final battle - no sensei Garmadon p no one to defeat Chen - no green ninja for Chen - etc .

This won’t make much logical sense but hopefully it’ll be a good fanfic for a Ninjago au where morro finds Lloyd and raises him to his best ghostly ability .

Chapter Text

Lloyd was currently in an alleyway , just trying to survive in the cold winter Ninjago was facing .

Suddenly , an ice cold breeze wafted through the alleyway . Cold fingers clawed at his spine . Lloyd looked up just in time to see a figure of a teenage boy appear out of no where . He was breathing heavily , as if he had been running for miles .

“Fsm , I don’t have as much stamina as I used to” the boy muttered between breathes .

Lloyd was still staring at the greenish coloured boy in front of him . Well , until that greenish coloured boy stared back at him . Lloyd looked away from the teen as quick as possible , as if it was going to make him not exist anymore .

“Who are you , kid? What’re you doing in this alleyway ?” The teenager slowly but harshly said .

“I-I’m here because - because - I couldn’t find anywhere else to go” Lloyd stuttered - and oh was he so mad that his voice was failing him right now . His father would be so disappointed .

“You should probably go find your parents” It was of this person could read his mind and was purposely mocking him . Or maybe he knew that he had no parents - and the teen just had to bring it up . Of course he did .

Lloyd just looked down to the ground , anger and sadness creeping into his frayed mind . A small sob escaped his mouth , how dare it . His own emotions were meant to stay locked away within his own mind . Darkley’s had taught him that showing fear or sadness just made him weaker . He was stronger than this .

“Oh! I’m so sorry , I didn’t think before I said that” Lloyd was shook out of his disapproving and unwanted thoughts . This guy was really taking pity on him ? The son of Lord Garmadon ? How dare he .

Lloyd scowled at the teen in front of him . The guy seemed to pay no mind to his -probably failing- angry face .

“What’s your name , kid ?” The teen said in a now much softer tone .

“Why do you care?” Lloyd replied harshly . Why should he tell a complete stranger who he was ? He would probably mock him - or worse - hurt him .

“I’m not going to hurt you” It was if the guy could read his mind - he did that earlier too . What is up this guy ? He is uninvited into Lloyd’s life , that is for sure . “I just want to help you , kid” the guy continued to speak gently .

“I’m not a kid , I’m 11 years old” The blonde replied with a faint growl in his voice . He wasn’t planning on being patronised by someone barely older than him today.

“And I’m 19 , your a kid in my eyes . How about I greet myself first ? As you keep avoiding the question “ Lloyd decided to give a small nod with noticeable hesitance “my name is Morro , now what is yours ?”

“L-Lloyd… “ he took a deep breath before continuing “ …Lloyd Garmadon”

“Garmadon ? Eh , he’s the better of the brothers . Never knew he had a kid though ..” the teen seemed to be thinking about something . Lloyd didn’t care - as he was taught not to in Darkley’s - and chose to ask a question to the guy .

“You’ve met him?”

“No , but I’ve met Wu and he’s an asshole and a liar , I’m pretty sure anyone could be better than him”

“And a kidnapper” Lloyd added to the list of names “ - he forced me to stay on a ship of ninja that all hate me “ The blonde continued to Morro’s half-confused-half-concerned facial expression . Then - after a moment of silence - he spoke again .

“He’s training again ? Ugh , that man never stops . How about we work together ? We can get revenge on Wu “ Lloyd contemplated this , he didn’t hate Wu as much as he did the ninja . His uncle did fed him and take care of him - but , then again, he did kidnap him then force him to ‘bond’ with a bunch of jerks . He could possibly sway this deal to be more in his favour . After his moment of thought he gave an answer .

“Only if we get revenge on the ninja too”

“Deal”

They shook hands to seal it .

“Now c’mon , you can come stay with me“ Morro held his hand out for Lloyd , just to be met with a hesitant hand . The teen grabbed Lloyd wrist and dragged him out of the alleyway . Morro brung Lloyd all the way to an old pub or something , clearly closed - and abandoned - now .

As soon as they got inside Morro let go of Lloyd’s wrist . The blonde was quick to rub his wrist where the tight grip of the teen’s hand once was .

“I know this isn’t much , but I’m sure it’s better than that alleyway “ Can’t this guy stop with the un-needed mocking ? Can’t he tell it’s extremely rude to discriminate against someone else’s living situation .

“I guess” Lloyd mumbled in return . He still wouldn’t trust this guy but free shelter and revenge couldn’t hurt him .

“C’mon , I’m sure you haven’t eaten in a while . I don’t eat because I’m a ghost but I’m sure there’s something here that’s still edible “

“You’re a ghost?” The question slipped from Lloyd’s mouth before he could think otherwise . That was not very evil-overlord of him . He’ll need to think a bit more before he speaks next time .

“Why else would I be transparent?” Moro asked as if it were obvious . Again - with the mocking tone . What’s up with this guy ?

“Oh” Lloyd was embarrassed by how he hadn’t realised it earlier - he wouldn’t let that emotion show though . That resulted in detention at Darkley’s , just like any emotion other than anger and determination . How could he have missed that this guy was transparent ? He really is stupid and un-observant - maybe the teachers at Darkley’s were correct .

He straitened his posture and released those thoughts from his mind before heading to the kitchen Morro was currently heading to .

Morro pulled a tin of sweetcorn out of a cupboard and opened it with a can opener he had found in a drawer . He then passed the tin to Lloyd .

Lloyd chose to sniff the tin for any poisons . He was taught in Darkley’s to always check for poison when accepting anything from strangers . Anyone could trick you , anyone. He was not planning on dying from his too-trusting behaviours so he continued to sniff at the can .

“What the fuck are you doing?” Morro asked - kind of harshly but also kind of jokingly . Using his expert (more like intermediate) inference skills Lloyd could tell the ghost was trying to be playful .

“How do I know you’re not trying to kill me ?” Lloyd replied with the same tone Morro had used not long before .

“I just bloody opened it in front of your own eyes , stupid . It’s in a tin , the only way I could have messed with it is if I did it after I opened it . And you just watched me open it “

Lloyd scowled -hopefully menacingly- at the teen looming near him before looking back into the tin . The sweetcorn looked alright , and didn’t smell like poison . Therefore , the blonde decided to start eating it .

“What do you say?”

“Huh?” Lloyd asked after finishing his mouthful . What is this guy on about ? Did he really expect the son of an evil overlord to use the words ‘thank you’ ? This guy is crazy .

“C’mon you must know what manners are” Morro said with a somewhat eerie expression .

“Thanks , I guess” Lloyd grumbled . What was up with him ? How did this ghost actually manage to get him to say thank you ? The teen was clearly untrustworthy . Lloyd was going to keep his eye on him .

“No problem little guy “ Does he really have the audacity to say that to him ? Does he have a death wish or is he just that ignorant ?

“I told you , I’m not a kid” Lloyd scowled , he needed to learn his lesson .

“But you’re short” How dare he say that to him ? He would soon be taller than the teen in front of him , he would see . Then Lloyd could call him short instead .

Lloyd chose to huff at the teen . Proceeding to continue munching on sweetcorn . This was probably the best meal he had had in months if he was being honest . He wouldn’t dare express the gratitude to this stranger though .

Chapter Text

A few days have passed since Lloyd began staying with Morro . They had stolen some food from a shop the day before so that Lloyd wouldn’t starve , Morro really didn’t want to be the cause of an innocent person’s death .

Morro seemed to be a nice -enough- guy , and he was cool aswel . Lloyd would sooner die than admit it but , the ghost dressed in awesome clothing . It looked messy and ripped in a stylish way and it suited him well . Morro was chill with stealing and basic crimes -plus- he let Lloyd join in on most of them , which the younger was extremely grateful for .

Lloyd - of course - had to be involved in the planning of the attack on the ninja and Wu . It would prove to both Morro and his father that he could be a reasonable villain .

“Apparently there are snakes terrorising local villages - maybe they could help us” Morro stated to the room , that only held himself and Lloyd .

“Yeah- no thanks” After they betrayed him ? Absolutely not going to happen , that’s for sure . They probably wouldn’t even care about him anyways . What if he was kidnapped by them or something ? Yeah - not happening .

“What? You’re scared of a few big snakes?” There was that mocking again - Lloyd was starting to become used to it . The sarcasm and mocking tone was just part of the teen and there was no way of removing it from his system . He was basically born to be annoying .

“Of course I’m not !” Lloyd replied angrily to the teen . He couldn’t even believe Morro could have thought that of him .

“Then why not?” The ghost asked , unimpressed .

“They also betrayed me” Lloyd answered begrudgingly - but truthfully .

“Why are you on the bad side of everyone? Also how did you even get so close to the serpentine for them to betray you?”

“I may have -uhh- been the one to release them” Lloyd answered in faux innocence .

“Damn , your braver than I thought , kid” Lloyd sighed at the term ‘kid’ . He hated how patronising it was . It made him feel weak , fragile and childish . He was none of those things ! He was determined to prove to the world how wrong they were for believing he is just a kid .

“I gotta go somewhere , Lloyd , I’ll be back in a bit” Morro’s words pushed Lloyd out of his thoughts .

“Wait what? Can’t I come with you? Where are you going ?” The blonde basically stumbled over his feet as he ran up to Morro who was already nearing the door . He never usually just left like this . Well , he hasn’t known the ghost for long but he could tell that he wasn’t going to just leave Lloyd out of something . Morro treated them both as equals , not caring if Lloyd was a ‘kid’ or not .

“Chill out , I’m just doing something for someone . “

“For who ? What are you doing?” Worry crept into Lloyd’s voice . Why was he acting like this ? He was meant to keep his childish face on the inside of his mind . He wasn’t supposed to let it out so that the world sees how fragile he really is . He took a deep breath then regained his straight - almost angry - facial expression .

“A guy called Ronin has asked me to steal some precious artefact or something . I’m just going to go to the Ninjago city bank , get the artefact , give it to Ronin . Then I’ll get some money from the guy , meaning I can buy you some clothes . As -clearly- you need something other than a hoodie , trousers and long sleeved shirt that have definitely seen better days . “ Morro concluded , keeping his harsh grumble of a voice . Could this guy feel joy?

“Alright , I’ll continue thinking on our revenge plan !“ Lloyd exclaimed , earning him a pat on the shoulder and a ‘good idea , kid’ from Morro before the ghost rushed out of the door .

Lloyd lied . He shouldn’t have done - which is what makes him proud of himself . He sneaks around behind Morro as he makes his way to the Ninjago city bank . Lloyd knew he should have kept his nose to himself but he wanted to watch as Morro did his ‘mission’ .

Morro would regret leaving Lloyd behind , he could’ve had extra help from a future evil overlord . The ghost was clearly too stupid to realise that .

Lloyd waited outside of the bank - intending to scare Morro once he escaped the building . He loved pranks , especially pranking Morro .

However , he didn’t quite anticipate the ninja arriving to the scene . Lloyd was sure Morro didn’t intend for the ninja to arrive , considering their plan wasn’t ready yet . Maybe he could distract the ninja so that Morro could make it out of the building with his artefact .

“Hey ninja !” Lloyd called out to the group of fruit-coloured ninja “what’re you doing ?” He asked somewhat innocently .

“Lloyd! You’re alright ! We’ll come help you out once we’ve finished our mission” Kai spoke back to the boy .

“B-but” Lloyd forced his lip to quiver and his eyes to water “do you not care about me?” . He asked the question then crouched down , crying and sobbing loudly to attract the ninja’s attention . He just needed most of them to come and help him . Morro was strong , he would be able to fight a couple of the ninja but there was no chance he could defeat all of them .

“Zane , Cole , you two go to the criminal , Jay , we’re going to Lloyd! “ Kai shouted to the ninja team .

Zane and Cole rushed off after Morro . Jay and Kai went over to Lloyd to comfort him .

“It’s alright buddy , me and Jay are here” Kai stated calmly . Lloyd’s plan was working , he had half the ninja with him , he just needed to distract them long enough for Morro to get out .

He continued crying , letting tears fall out of his eyes and down his cheeks . “Yeah , how about you come back to the bounty?” Jay asked just as calmly as Kai had done . Who knew playing the innocent child worked so well ?

Once Lloyd ‘calmed down’ enough he chose to reply to Jay’s question “I- I don’t know” Lloyd broke into another round of sobs as soon as he spoke , to try and avoid speaking all together . He didn’t know exactly what to say , he was only improvising after all . There was no plan to this whatsoever - well except for distract the ninja until Morro can escape .

“It’s okay Lloyd , we can wait a couple minutes” Kai assured the boy . Lloyd was going to use the entirety of these minutes . He needed the ninja out of Morro’s ghostly hair .

Jay was standing up around a metre away from Lloyd and Kai crouched directly in front of the shaking boy . As soon as Lloyd saw the transparent green figure phase through the doors of the Ninjago City Bank he kicked Kai in the face and ran off after Morro .

He didn’t dare look behind him but he assumed the two were either chasing after him or stuck in place due to the shock of what just happened . Soon enough he caught up with Morro on the run back to the abandoned pub . They weaved through many alleyways until they had lost the ninja , and made it to their destination .

The two were out of breath , taking in massive gulps of oxygen . It confused Lloyd how a ghost could possibly have the need to breathe but that question did not need answering right now .

Once Morro regained his breathing he turned towards Lloyd “Why the fuck did you follow me?! Do you know how dangerous that was ? What were you even doing there?!”

“Saving your ass” Lloyd said casually . He didn’t care what Morro had to say right now , he was proud of himself for helping his accomplice .

“What do you mean ‘saving my ass ‘ ? “ Did the guy really not realise ? Ugh . He’s more annoying than Lloyd had previously thought . Actually cross off ‘annoying’ and replace it with un-observant.

“Did you not realise you only had Zane and Cole after you ? “ Lloyd asked with a deadpanned look .

“Is that their names ? What do you mean by ‘only’ ? Also have you been crying ?” Oh yeah , Morro knew nothing about the ninja , did he ?

“Right , so , there are four ninja plus a samurai . White gi is called Zane , Black gi is called Cole , Blue gi is called Jay and Red gi is called Kai . The samurai is Nya . You would’ve had all four ninja chasing you down - and maybe a samurai , but she wasn’t there - but instead you only had two because I distracted Jay and Kai “ Lloyd said , punctuating it all with a loud sigh .

“So you cried to distract them?” Morro asked in that same mocking tone .

“Yeah , they said they would come see me after they finished their ‘mission’ - which was getting you . I wasn’t going to have that so a pulled a tantrum to get their attention .” Lloyd -again- punctuated his phrase with a sigh .

“Sometimes it’s useful being short , isn’t it ?” Morro asked rhetorically , expressing a smirk towards the blonde who just scowled . So rude of him . He was right though , being able to play an innocent kid did prove to be useful . Ugh .

Chapter Text

Morro traded the artefact with ronin and claimed the money he deserved for the mission . Lloyd was now following the ghost around the markets of a nearby village - as morro was currently on the news for the stolen artefact in Ninjago City .

They walked and walked until they came across a clothes shop , in which Morro led the two of them into .

“Alright , what kind of clothes do you want ?” Morro asked Lloyd in a harsh- kind of fed up tone .

“Could I have something similar to what you’re wearing ?”

“Already a little copycat , are you ? I mean , can’t blame ya , I do have the best style” Lloyd was NOT being a copycat . He did like Morro’s style but he didn’t want to seem like he was copying his hero or something .

Morro grabbed some black cargo trousers and held them in a presenting gesture to Lloyd who nodded in affirmation . They then went on to grab a couple shirts and hoodies for Lloyd to wear .

“Don’t you need clothes too ? Your clothes aren’t looking any better than mine” Lloyd asked the ghost who was leading them both to the till to pay for the clothes . They were only buying the clothes rather than stealing them because of the tags that are on them . Apparently it ruins the clothes if you try to get them off yourself so they decided it would be best if they actually bought the items .

“My clothes can’t be changed , I died in these clothes and they are basically a part of me” Morro replied with a heavy sigh . Lloyd was curious as to how he died - especially if his clothes looked that torn . However , the teen seemed to not like the topic of his death - judging by the sigh that escaped him .

Once they were near the till Morro turned to Lloyd “right , considering I’m transparent I cannot buy these clothes for you - you’re going to have to buy these yourself . Don’t worry , though , I’ll be next to you - just invisible “

“Alright but , what if they react weirdly to a child buying clothes ?” Lloyd didn’t like thinking of himself as a child but it was a question that needed to be asked . He was a kid , and a short one as well - many people thought he must be under 8 years old . Won’t the cashier be confused that a child is buying clothes ?

“Put on the innocent child act , say your mum had to go take a call outside and left you to buy the clothes while she takes it or something I dunno” Morro supplied - kinda unhelpfully . Lloyd wasn’t sure how he was meant to act , considering he’s never paid for clothes before , or had a mother .

There was only one person in front of them in the queue , and so , Morro went invisible and Lloyd was left ‘alone’ . Then the person that was in front moved away with their bags .

“Oh hello , little one , where’s your carer ?” The lady behind the till asked in a rather annoying baby voice .

“Oh! My mummy went outside to take a call or somethin’ . She told me to buy the stwuff while she took the call .” He informed the lady in a higher pitched , more innocent sounding voice than he usually used . It was disgusting to use and he hoped he would never have to say ‘mummy’ again . He then placed his arm-fulls of clothes on the counter in front of him , in hopes he could get this exchange over with quickly .

The lady scanned all of the items and placed them in two separate bags for Lloyd . “That’ll be £67.80 please” the lady stated . Fsm , was that a lot of money , he was glad Morro had earned a lot from his mission . He dug his hand into the pocket of his hoodie and placed some notes and coins on the counter .

He only did that because first of all- children can rarely count very well , especially such a high amount of money . Secondly - Darkley’s didn’t teach maths . Thirdly - if he was to become an evil overlord then why should he count the money ?

He watched as the lady counted out the amount of money that was owed . She pushed the remainder back to Lloyd , who grabbed the small pile of change and shoved it into his pocket .

“She didn’t give you the correct amount of change “ something whispered in his ear - must’ve been Morro .

“I think you took too much” Lloyd said to the lady in a confused tone .

“Oh! I’ll check again” the lady ‘counted’ the money in her small pile before continuing “I definitely got the correct amount” Lloyd looks over the counter and can easily see she got too much money . He wasn’t the best at maths - considering Darkley’s didn’t teach it - but that was definitely too much .

“Don’t lie!! It’s rude to lie . That’s what my mummy told me” Lloyd said to the lady - and ew - was the word ‘mummy’ so bitter on his tongue .

The lady gave in and gave Lloyd the correct change “have a good day” the lady said in a much more monotone voice than before .

“You too , asshole!” Lloyd looked back as he said that to see the lady give a mixture of a shocked and angry expression to the boy . He just smiled to himself as he and Morro left the store .

Morro re-appeared and was now walking beside Lloyd , grabbing the bags out of the younger’s hands . “Good job , kid “ the ghost said with a mischievous smile quirking onto his lips as he faced Lloyd “that act is going to be useful for our future plans”

“Thanks !” The blonde exclaimed excitedly in his own voice again - finally “that lady was a bitch though , she deserved a punch in the face for taking the advantage of a minor“ Lloyd said with venom on his tongue .

“Definitely, save the anger for the ninja and Wu though “ Morro advised . Lloyd knew to save all his hatred to give to the ninja - hopefully sooner rather than later . The aggression in his mind seeped into his bones , causing a feeling of uncomfort to settle across his skin .

The two made their way back to the abandoned pub . Once they got there Morro told Lloyd to go put some of his new clothes on and the blonde happily accepted . He hadn’t had new clothes in … too long - that’s for sure .

Lloyd came out from the bathroom in black cargo trousers and a dark green long sleeved shirt . He had placed a black zip-up hoodie on but didn’t zip it up so that the shirt was visible .

“You look better than you did before , kid” Morro (barely) complimented as Lloyd walked over to him . He was getting a little bit more comfortable with the label ‘kid’ as morro kept insisting on saying it .

“Thanks” Lloyd replied with no emotion on his face . He was happy to have new clothes , he enjoyed the fresh feeling of soft fabric on his skin . He didn’t like Morro’s way of complimenting though .

The two sat on some stools that stood next to the bar . Lloyd was curious as to why Morro had specifically sat him down at one of the stools . The situation felt a bit formal and it made Lloyd feel impatient as to why Morro wasn’t speaking .

“Are you alright?” Lloyd was first to speak . He was extremely confused as to why the ghost just sat there glaring at him .

“Have you heard of elemental masters ?” Morro asked instead of answering Lloyd’s question . Yes , Lloyd had heard of elemental masters . The ninja were all elemental masters of creation , aren’t they ?

“I have - the ninja are the elemental masters of creation” Lloyd replied , still curious as to what Morro was leading on .

“Creation , huh? It’s useful having someone who has gotten close to the ninja at some point “ Morro gave a small chuckle , which eased the tense moment slightly .

“Yeah I guess so” Lloyd giggled a bit but uncertainty laid deep within his skin “what about elemental powers are you referring to then ?”

“Well , I thought I should probably tell you that I’m an elemental master” Morro stated casually . When Lloyd presented a shocked and confused look , the ghost decided to continue “the elemental master of wind , to be exact” . He punctuated the sentence by waving his hands towards a cup which must’ve been left on the bar a while ago . The glass fell off the side and shattered on the ground .

“Woah…” Lloyd started “that is so much cooler than the ‘elements of creation’” Lloyd said with a slight tone of disgust at the words ‘elements of creation’ . The blonde was in awe of the elemental display held before him . How had Morro hid this ? This was awesome .

“I’m glad you think so , kid” Morro patted Lloyd shoulder , in which the blonde flinched away from at first but quickly relaxed . He was lucky to have someone as cool as Morro .

Chapter Text

“How ‘bout we go to the arcade ? Take a break from the revenge planning?” Morro asked the younger boy in front of him. They had been trying to think of the best way to get back at the ninja and Wu for hours and it was getting tiring . Lloyd’s eyes lit up at the sound of going to the arcade - even if he had no clue what Morro was talking about - taking a break sounded nice .

“What’s an arcade?” Lloyd asked , curious expression presenting itself to the ghost . He recognised the name but couldn’t remember where he had heard it before .

“You don’t know what an arcade is ? What rock have you been living under?” Morro asks in his regular mocking tone . He clearly didn’t understand that for Lloyd’s entire life he has either been trapped in a boarding school or homeless in an alleyway .

Lloyd shook his head at Morro , confusion still seeping into his mind . “Well an arcade is basically just a place with a bunch of games - I’m sure you’ll enjoy it” Morro supplied for the younger . Games? Lloyd had played games a couple times at Darkley’s . Other students would pretend to be his friend and play games with him just so the son of Garmadon could be the centre of an awful prank .

Quite a few people had used Lloyd’s naïvety to their advantage . He hoped to not make that mistake again - but considering how much he was beginning to connect with morro - he was sure to fall for another prank .

Lloyd nodded and was soon led to the door of the abandoned pub . They walked through multiple streets until they made it to the arcade . Luckily they didn’t have to sneak through alleyways anymore , considering the artefact incident was multiple weeks ago now .

They walked into the arcade and were immediately greeted with bright lights , children screaming and the smell of cheap pizza . Lloyd had been here before , the day he ran away - the ninja had left him here . This was not the kind of place Lloyd enjoyed but maybe Morro could prove to him that the arcade could be -in fact- an enjoyable experience .

Morro moved straight over to one of the large machines . The screen said ‘alley-fighters’ and presented pixelated images of two men in fighting positions . Morro placed a coin in a slot at the front -lower-end- of the machine and quickly placed his hands on the buttons which sat on a ledge just below the screen .

Lloyd could hear the way Morro violently pressed each button . The aggression put behind each click just made the anger already leaking through Lloyd’s brain start to flood . Luckily for him , the screen glowed red with the words ‘GAME OVER’ on it . That meant the clicking stopped , and so a sigh of relief escaped him .

Lloyd was perfectly happy just following Morro around the arcade and watching him play games . Over the time spent he became more and more used to the sound of violent button clicking . This experience became even more enjoyable as Lloyd became used to the atmosphere .

Well it was enjoyable until the ninja walked in , then the once enjoyable atmosphere took a u-turn for the worst . “Morro!” Lloyd tried getting the ghost’s attention . When the words ‘GAME OVER’ displayed on the screen , the teen finally looked down at Lloyd with a disappointed sigh .

“What do you want , kid?” Morro asked somewhat harshly . Who knew a game could get someone so worked up ?

“The ninja ! They’re here” Lloyd provided hastily . Morro’s face turned to one of anger as he pulled himself and Lloyd away from the arcade machines and into an empty booth .

“Crap , what’re they doing here ?” Morro grumbled . He expressed a thoughtful look before turning to Lloyd “we need to get out of here - I bet they aren’t too happy after the robbery a couple weeks ago” Morro stated .

“I might be able to distract them again , but last time I saw them I kicked Kai in the face so I’m sure he isn’t too happy” Lloyd said . The innocent child act would stop working if he kept on using it , hurting the ninja , then running off after Morro . It would be too suspicious .

“Nah it’s fine , we’ll just wait until they’re distracted then make a run for it” Morro said casually . They were counting on this plan to work because they would both probably be in heaps of trouble if the ninja noticed them .

Morro looked around outside of the booth then grabbed Lloyd’s wrist , dashing out from the table the two were sitting on . Lloyd trailed not too far behind , still having his wrist gripped by Morro’s hand .

“Morro! Wait right there!” Kai exclaimed , dashing after the two boys that just ran out of the arcade .

“What do you want , ninja?” Morro said with a venomous tone .

“Let go of the child.”

“You know what? No thanks , I don’t think I trust you to take care of him.”

“What makes you think you can take care of a child , thief .”

“A lot of things “ Morro said before running off again , hand still gripped tightly over Lloyd’s wrist . The ninja chased the two through many alleyways , slowly but surely catching up to them . Morro sent a blast of wind through the alleyway , sending all the ninja falling backwards . By the time they stood up , Morro and Lloyd were long gone .

——————

“Argh! We would’ve had them!” Kai exclaimed angrily .

“Kai , calm down” Nya calmly spoke to her brother .

“Students , what is going on?” Wu asked as he walked into the room all the ninja were currently occupied in .

“We went to the arcade and Morro was there , kidnapping Lloyd!” Kai shouted to his master .

“But didn’t Lloyd run too ? He didn’t even try to escape from Morro’s grip , and the other day he distracted us so Morro could escape the bank . What if he’s helping Morro ?” Jay asked timidly to the room .

“That’s a stupid idea , Jay! He’s a child , why would he be helping a ghost-thief-previous student-elemental master?”

“Well I dunno , it just kinda adds up . He wanted to be evil didn’t he ?”

“He’s just a kid! He is too innocent to do stuff like that!”

“He unleashed the serpentine”

“And he learnt his lesson! I thought he stopped being evil now ?”

“Evil cannot be read away , kai “ Wu said in a relaxed state .

“You know what - you guys continue being delusional for all I care , that Morro guy has kidnapped Lloyd and we need to save him”

“Kai is right , Lloyd should ideally be not in such hands . Morro has no experience in raising children and should not be taking care of Lloyd . For Lloyd’s safety.” Zane spoke .

“Exactly! Zane gets it “

Jay , Cole and Nya all sighed tiredly , not wanting to deal with Kai’s temper and cockiness combined.

——————

“Good work , kid . We made it out of the arcade with no fighting” Morro said as he walked through the door of the abandoned pub . Lloyd didn’t do anything ? Why was he being complimented ? Oh well , it felt nice to get some appreciation every once in a while .