#ninjago whump

[overflowing-with-words]

i just suddenly had a theory that if the overlord "granted" her revival from her death, as the building fall did kill her, then what happens after he's defeated (?) my current headcanon is that she starts fading away, slowly losing her memory and going through symptoms alike malnourishment.

[honestlyobsessed]

One time I was writing a graphic scene of a dead body and the song 'Tokyo' by Leat'eq came on.

[spinjitsuburst]

most sane Jay Walker fan (regularly spends time imagining him in Situations where he gets the shit beaten out of him)

[goldenavenger02]

hope the skin heals where the pain enters

(Happy Dragons Rising season 2 part 2 release day! For those asking "how did you get this written SO fast", I watched the leaks when they came out but waited to post this UNTIL it was out officially. Friendly reminder to support the official release if you can! And now, on with the story!)

There were pieces of steel still in his hair.

As he gently pressed his hand against Lloyd’s body to help maneuver him onto the awaiting stretcher and blood seeped from his skin into his glove, all he could focus on were the stage lights catching on the flecks of shards tucked into his blonde hair.

There were pieces of steel still in his hair.

As he gently pressed his hand against Lloyd's body to help maneuver him onto the awaiting stretcher and blood seeped from his skin into his glove, all he could focus on were the stage lights catching on the flecks of shards tucked into his blonde hair.

Cole knew that it was because focusing on how ruthless and bold Zeatrix had been with her blow or the shallow breathing coming from the still bleeding chest of his teammate would result in tears that he didn't want anyone to see.

When the security bots lifted the stretcher and he heard a sharp inhale coming from Lloyd, he couldn't stop himself from reaching over and pulling one of the shards out of his loose, green headband, holding it tightly in his palm.

He couldn't bring himself to move until a familiar titanium hand rested on his shoulder, forcing him to look up into bright, artificial blue eyes that were full of the same worry he could feel wrapping around his chest.

"We should return to our quarters," Zane's suggestion was gentle as he prodded Cole's shoulder gently to move him away from the bloodied ground under their feet, "I am confident that the medical bots will alert us when they have an update on Lloyd's condition."

He wordlessly led the way to their sleeping quarters, unable to stop himself from walking over to the shrine Nya had made before she had left and looking up at the pictures of Kai and Jay as he knelt down, setting the shard on the table.

He knew that if Kai had been here, he would be the nervous wreck; he would be the one nearly ripping his hair out with worry, even if it was after he had gone to Zeatrix and delivered her a piece of his mind; with all of the trouble that they had gone to in order to stop Wyldfyre from fighting Cinder, Kai would have been unstoppable against Zeatrix.

But if Jay had been there, he would have lightened the air of dread with some sort of really bad joke or teasing at anyone's expense; it wouldn't even have to be that funny, but it would be something to break the tension.

The last thing he wanted was to put Lloyd's picture in between Kai's and Jay's, but that fear didn't stop him from pulling his lighter out of his pocket and gently pressing the flame to one of the sticks of incense until it caught, the warm smell of smoke slowly starting to fill the corner he was kneeling in.

"Cole?"

Cole turned his head, feeling his guard drop when Geo knelt down beside him and pressed a water bottle into his palm before letting his hand rest on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Geo offered and as much as Cole wanted to, the angle of his turned head allowed him to see Wyldfyre, Sora, Arin and even Zane with the same looks of worry on their faces that told him that he wouldn't be able to break right now.

"I can't," he admitted as he took a sip of the water before looking away from the others and back into Geo's eyes, "I gotta take care of these kids."

With that, he started to pull himself to his feet, only to be stopped briefly by a gentle hand on his wrist, "take care of yourself too."

"I will." Cole insisted before fully standing up and walking towards Sora, keeping his voice low as he approached, "hey, Sora."

Her loud sniffle, followed by her wiping her face on her arm, before she made eye contact with him pulled at his heart painfully, "hey, I just…I'm trying to figure out tomorrow."

"Your next fight?"

"There aren't a lot of people left in the competition. Frack's powers are all correlated to his abilities and Nokt is incredibly powerful, not to mention the fact that they are both helping Ras; if Lloyd is able to continue competing and they put me against him…" Sora sighed as she looked down at her feet, "I don't even know how I got this far in the tournament."

"Besides the fact that you're a badass?" Cole offered, waiting until she looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "you doubt yourself a lot, Sora, but you have gotten further than all of us except Lloyd, which is saying something since we've been in a tournament like this before."

"Really?"

"Yeah, except this one has rules that the host actually follows," Cole elaborated, "my point is that if anyone is going to win this thing, it's you. If you have to go against Frack, I know how the workarounds to earth based powers and if it's Nokt, we'll come up with a strategy with Zane."

"And Lloyd?"

"I already had to watch two of my best friends fight on opposite sides, I really hope Roby doesn't pit you two against each other."

"I've been thinking about that since we returned to our quarters," Cole nearly jumped out of his skin by the sudden intrusion of Zane's voice as he sat between the two of them, "and I have run the possible scenarios through my database. There is a sixty seven point nine percent chance that Lloyd and Nokt will be pitted against each other, due to their very powerful skill sets at their base level that has only been amplified by the addition of elemental powers which will result in a twenty percent increase in audience entertainment levels."

"But what if they pit me against Lloyd?"

"The likelihood is much lower, it's a thirty two point one percent chance, but including the fact that Lloyd is your master and the engagement from the fight between Nya and Jay, the audience entertainment levels could increase up to eighty percent."

"So it could really go either way." Cole sighed in defeat that was only added to by Zane's nod followed by one word.

"Precisely."

"I hate this," Sora shuddered, tears falling down her cheeks faster than she could wipe them away, "Nya and Riyu are gone, Arin won't talk to me, and now Lloyd is really, really hurt. I just want all of this to be over."

"Yeah, me too, kiddo."

"I know everyone says that ninja never quit…" she trailed off in order to pull a sniffly inhale, "but I really feel like quitting right now."

"I know that you feel hopeless but forfeiting the tournament now, especially if Lloyd is unable to fight tomorrow, would be catastrophic to our reasoning for coming here."

"Zane's right," Cole agreed, reaching over to gently squeeze Sora's shoulder, "we have to find out who is killing the matriarchs and what they are using their horns for."

"This isn't helping me feel bet-" Sora mumbled, but was effectively cut off by the sound of the door opening followed by two of the security bots making their way into the room.

"Can we be of assistance?" Zane offered as he stood with Cole and Sora doing the same and Cole's feeling of unease returned just as quickly as it had been momentarily forgotten.

"We have been given orders to ensure that Zane and Cole follow us to the medical wing in order to receive information about the injured member of their team."

"What about the rest of us?" Arin's question was the first time Cole had heard the teen speak in hours, briefly making him wonder if Sora wasn't the only one on the receiving end of his silent treatment.

"I apologize, but the only ones allowed inside of the medical wing are adult team members. You will have to wait here for the information to be relayed to you."

Cole waited for a protest from the three teens, but was instantly relieved when Geo spoke up instead, "let's get you three some dinner ordered. I don't know if you've had it yet, but the Merlopian spring rolls are to die for."

As the two security bots led Cole and Zane outside, he couldn't stop himself from looking back at his boyfriend and the three distracted teenagers, but the wink that Geo gave was enough for Cole to allow himself to focus on the task at hand.

Making sure Lloyd was okay.

…

In a way, he was thankful that Arin had pulled him away from the arena after Sora's fight.

Cole would be more than happy to go the rest of his life without seeing another person he loved deep within a coma and even though he was quickly swept up into yet another fight, it prevented him from going back to the room filled with tense silence and suffering.

In fact, it was that adrenaline that he found himself engulfed in, that kept him realizing that Lloyd was 'awake and alive and standing' until after he had pulled Bonzle into a very tight hug, unable to stop himself from muttering "thank the master you're okay" just loud enough that she could hear it.

Which made the calm he settled into after failing to find Arin all the more unsettling; in any other circumstance, he would have gladly taken the chance to just relax on the couch with Geo's head on one shoulder while he firmly wrapped the other one around Bonzle as Fritz and Spitz recounted everything they had been up to while they had been staying at the monastery with Frohickey.

He so desperately wanted to keep his focus on the elaborate but more than likely exaggerated story he was being told, but his mind kept going back to Lloyd.

The sword shattering on impact, knocking him off of the high platform from several feet onto the ground with a thud. The harsh coughing and his eyes fluttering open with a squint before they closed with a groan. Geo's hand resting softly on his shoulder as he watched over Lloyd and gently wiped away the blood and sweat with a sponge, his stomach twisting painfully as he listened to the sharp, painful breathing escaping from Lloyd's battered chest.

Standing over his teammate, the teammate he had known since they were sixteen and nine, and once again unable to do anything to help, feeling as though he was thirteen again and slowly watching his mom deteriorate until she too fell into a coma.

'Lloyd woke up,' he tried to reassure himself when he felt a squeeze on his left hand from Geo that brought him back to the two yawning storytellers, 'Lloyd's going to be okay.'

But when Bonzle got up with an "alright, you can talk our ears off tomorrow," as she ushered Fritz and Spitz to their room, Cole wasn't able to shake the unsettled feeling in his gut.

"When was the last time you checked on him?" Geo prodded, using the opportunity to sit up and brush some of the raven-black hair behind Cole's ear.

"Before Sora's fight. After that, everything got really chaotic; now Arin's gone," Cole stopped to rub a hand over his face before turning to Geo with a sigh, "and I don't know how I'm going to even approach that."

"In my personal experience, starting with a hug tends to work."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Cole muttered as he stood, only stopping to turn around to hug Geo quickly along with a quick kiss on his cheek, "I'll be back, okay?"

"Just make sure he's okay."

And with Geo's insistence, he walked out of the living room and into the hallway of the monastery to start looking for Lloyd.

He should have known it wouldn't take long to find him; even in the short period since he had returned to the monastery, it wasn't lost on him just how much time Lloyd spent outside deep in meditation.

But when he got closer and noticed what Lloyd was holding, he couldn't help but swallow nervously: he knew when he went to check on him that his worry and regret for how that final battle went being at the forefront of his mind was a strong possibility, but being face-to-face with it still made him aware that how he approached the green ninja would have to be very careful.

"Hey, buddy," Cole settled on, trying his hardest to keep his demeanor calm and collected in order not to further set him off despite the instant jump and turn that his voice caused, "you doing okay?"

At first, he didn't get an answer as he looked down at the stone floor; but the look on Lloyd's face, which was twisted tightly with guilt and worry, spoke for itself.

And when he finally managed to speak, the crack in his voice made it very clear to Cole that he was using all of his remaining energy to stay composed, "he's gone. I don't know why he believed Ras, but he did. Now he's gone, all because I failed him."

"Lloyd-"

"And I don't know what to do. Sora, Riyu and Wyldfyre, they're all looking to me for answers that I don't even have. I don't even know where to begin looking for him or if I want to bring everyone into that or just go-"

"Lloyd, take a deep breath," Cole cut off his rambling, "it has been a really long couple of weeks and I know you want to find Arin so you can make things right, but all of us need a couple of days to breathe and to rest."

"Y-you're right," Lloyd stuttered as he looked down at the photo frame clutched tightly in his palm, "I know that, but at the same time…I want to find him before Ras has a chance to further manipulate him. We saw what he did to Jay."

Cole swallowed down the memory of Jay's glowing red eyes after he used Shatterspin, not wanting it to cloud his judgment, "you have to finish healing, Lloyd. That hit and the fall, it was a lot."

Sure enough, Lloyd's hand drifted upwards to his shoulder over the bandages that had been wrapped tightly around him in the aftermath of his fight against Zeatrix.

"Come on," Cole offered, holding his hand out for Lloyd to take, "let's get you checked over and in bed. It's been a long day."

"I thought I was the master of the monastery." Lloyd said with a light chuckle as he put down the picture frame before taking Cole's hand so he could get down the step before he gently wrapped his arm around him.

"You are, but even masters need someone to look after them," and for a brief moment, Cole was reminded of watching with worry at every unexpected movement that Wu would make after he had been found, "now let's get those bandages changed."

[lloydgaymerdyke]

Just asking , if Harumi ever returns in DR, what would be ur more Preferred way? "Fluffy omg I'm so happy it's u ! Ur alive yipee" type meeting with Lloyd or "looking for ways to redeem herself and feeling guilty" type or " there's still some issues but in a way, are trying to fix it " type. This lives in my head rent free, it makes me just stand up and think while I'm in the shower

i think abt this so much that my answer is barely even coherent bc i have so many thoughts and ideas im sorry

first i rlly truly believe harumi will be in dr like i’m SO delusional abt this it’s terrible, but i just think that there are so many compelling ways she could be incorporated into this new story

that being said, if harumi comes back with an off screen redemption arc and is suddenly all friendly ‘i missed you so much’ with lloyd? and then they are like all sweet and in love? THATLL PISS ME THE HELL OFF. mostly bc it does such a disservice to harumi to do that like it’ll be bringing her back JUST for the ship at that point and like that’s fucking shitty to me. i am on the front lines for them to hit the pentagon with some llorumi angst NOT lloyd and card board cut out harumi

the dream is harumi and lloyd finding each other again and harumi having some expected development to not be like… a supervillian, but still have her personality. an explanation for how or who or what helped her would be so fucking cool too. and i would LOVEEEEE some commentary on WTVER THE FUCK HAPPENED IN CRYSTALIZED and like, i need them to be awkward. that’s what end of crystalized was giving to me sry sry like what do you even do other than awkwardly smile at each other after wtver the llorumi got going. and i need it to give me that once again but to like progress and rlly focus on who they are now and how they can be together now ! also i hope she gets interactions with other characters too and maybe like plot or character arc (asking for a lot ik)

overall harumi in ninjago dragons rising will debilitate me even if it’s the shittiest two second mirage cameo

[whumporpass]

Lloyd Garmadon from Lego Ninjago? That guy can’t get through a single season without being whumped.

[sunsetelo]

Writers block is making me go insane so I’m taking requests. I usually write hurt/comfort, angst, whump, fluff, ect.

Jay is the my favorite to write for but I’m open to all characters :)

[basicallyjaywalker]

To Protect Him

What, you thought I was gonna let these guys get off unscathed? Woe, Whumptober Day 1 be upon ye and it is yet again Kai who is first up on the chopping block (and also yet again about someone he fails to save... I might have a type.)

Prompts: Race Against the Clock, search party, panic attack

Length: 1,435 words

Character(s): Kai

Summary:

There's a ticking clock going in Kai's head. Tick, tick, tick. They only have so much time to find Lloyd. He can't bear to think of what will happen if they're too late.

[someloserinajaywig]

im going to throw up jaya post seabound/pre crystallised is SO Francis forever by mitski coded. Do you get it. Do u understand my vision. I have such a clear idea for an animatic in my brain

[alittlehurtwithyourcomfort]

Zane Julien Whumplist (Ninjago S8-S16)

Character: Zane Julien (voiced by Brent Miller)

For other characters, click here

For Dragons Rising, click here (unfinished)

Age Rating: TV-Y7 (FV)

Show available on Netflix

Notes: This list is only for seasons 8-16 of Lego Ninjago due to the animation style and voice actor changes that occur starting with season 8.

List Key:

bold = most whump, best whump, or favorite whump scenes

~ = a scene break

--- =

THIS LIST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

sons of garmadon: 

8x01: worried

8x02: worried, hit with electric blast

8x03: undercover, worried 

8x04: undercover ~~ jumps off bike, in pain

8x05: fought, in pain, heavy breathing, collapsed, unconscious ~~ concern for him, lifted in a gurney ~~ hooked up to machines, in a coma ~~ confused 

8x06: stressed, at sword point 

8x07: chained up with vengestone ~~ thrown around, worried about lloyd 

8x08: worried about lloyd 

8x09: extremely worried about lloyd

8x10: extremely worried about lloyd, almost loses powers ~~  almost crushed, presumed dead

hunted: 

9x01: stressed ~~ captured, chained with vengestone, blindfolded

9x02: chained with vengestone, thrown to the ground ~~ lead in chains, grabbed, scared ~~ made to fight in an arena 

9x03: outnumbered, dragged in chains ~~ in a cage, chained up, used as bait 

9x04: unconscious in cage ~~ chained up 

9x05: stressed 

9x06: none

9x07: stressed

9x08: chained up 

9x09: still chained, exhausted ~~ rough landing, groaning 

9x10: stressed, fought 

march of the oni: 

10x01: stressed

10x02: worried about lloyd 

10x03: in shock, grieving ~~ angry 

10x04: grieving ~~ rough fight, emotional reunion ~~ extremely worried about lloyd, emotional

secrets of the forbidden spinjitzu: 

fire chapter:

11x01: frightening vision, wakes up gasping, panicking ~~ frustrated

11x02: none

11x03: stressed

11x04: concern for him ~~ knocked out 

11x05: rough landing, groaning ~~ blasted back ~~ concerned, thrown, chained

11x06: none

11x07: chained, argued ~~ stressed 

11x08: none

11x09: fought, thrown, knocked out

11x10: stressed, fought 

11x11: none 

11x12: stressed 

11x13: scared 

11x14: glowing eyes, sacrifices himself

ice chapter:

11x15: none

11x16: none

11x17: none

11x18: none 

11x19: none

11x20: *in video recording* sad

11x21: none 

11x22: none 

11x23: none 

11x24: none

11x25: none 

11x26: none 

11x27: crash landing, confused, frustrated, glowing eyes ~~ fought ~~ recording message in case he dies, sad ~~ wakes up gasping, memory loss, manipulated, glowing eyes 

11x28: none 

11x29: fought 

11x30: fought, angst, gets memories back, gasping, emotional reunion 

prime empire: 

12x01: thrown 

12x02: stressed 

12x03: fought 

12x04: none 

12x05: none 

12x06: none 

12x07: none 

12x08: none 

12x09: none 

12x10: none

12x11: none

12x12: none 

12x13: electrocuted, knocked out, concern for him, kidnapped 

12x14: chained with vengestone, scared, angry, interrogated ~~ threatened, struggling, power channeled through him, screaming in pain

12x15: none

12x16: screaming in pain, collapsed, gasping

master of the mountain:

13x01: fought 

13x02: worried 

13x03: worried 

13x04: stressed 

13x05: none

13x06: stressed, worried about kai ~~ fought 

13x07: none

13x08: none 

13x09: none

13x10: none

13x11: straining powers, worried about lloyd 

13x12: none

13x13: fought 

13x14: none

13x15: caged, fought 

13x16: fought

the island:

14x01: stressed

14x02: fought ~~ shocked unconscious 

14x03: electroshocked, imprisoned ~~ tied up 

14x04: fought 

seabound: 

15x01: worried about nya

15x02: stressed, worried 

15x03: stressed 

15x04: none

15x05: worried about jay

15x06: stressed, shot at 

15x07: stressed

15x08: none

15x09: fought, stressed

15x10: stressed 

15x11: none 

15x12: fought 

15x13: stressed

15x14: ---

15x15: ---

15x16: stressed, worried about nya -- grieving

crystallized: 

16x01: turned off his emotions, concern for him

16x02: none 

16x03: none

16x04: fought 

16x05: fought

16x06: rough fight, arrested and put in handcuffs 

16x07: in prison, freaking out 

16x08: fought 

16x09: fought

16x10: none

16x11: none

16x12: fought 

16x13: worried 

16x14: scared, trapped underground, presumed dead 

16x15: still trapped underground, stressed

16x16: ---

16x17: ---

16x18: ---

16x19: ---

16x20: ---

16x21: ---

16x22: ---

16x23: ---

16x24: ---

16x25: "damaged", concern for him 

16x26: unconscious 

16x27: ---

16x28: fought

16x29: rough fights

16x30: rough fights, emotional

[senseigrace]

More than a Monster

Lloyd shows up on Garmadon's doorstep covered in injuries and with nowhere else to go.

Unable to turn the boy away, Garmadon decides to take care of him.

But there are demons and memories to face when your fractured soul can't love your own son.

(3.6k word fanfiction.)

Garmadon had gotten used to his new reality. A reality where he could be nothing more than a monster. 

In fact, it was the reality that he had spent most of his life being a monster, an evil being with no redeemable qualities. 

It was no different from any of those other times, but sometimes he couldn’t help but mourn what he had once been. 

In the very back of his mind, he could see the memories. A happy old man with a child, a young man enjoying the company of his wife… 

But it was like looking through a window. He wasn’t that man anymore. He didn’t even feel attachment to those people the way he once had. 

In fact, he’d almost killed them multiple times. 

But he had gotten away from them. He lived in New Ninjago City, far away from Wu’s monastery and his ninja. 

He didn’t have to deal with Lloyd’s judgemental glare and words anymore. The boy would never understand everything that he had been through, and he didn’t expect him to. 

How could he? The boy was young, naive, and weak. 

Garmadon looked at the TV, then at the leftover pizza from dinner. A part of him knew that this shouldn’t be the life he was living, that he should be up and around, not sitting around and being lazy. 

Whatever thoughts he had going through his mind were interrupted by the sound of knocking on the door. 

He groaned in annoyance, then stood up. If he was lucky, it would be someone that he could easily scare off. If it wasn’t… Well, he probably shouldn’t threaten people… 

Garmadon opened the door, then froze in shock at what he saw. 

In front of him was Lloyd. His face covered in bruises and blood, his body barely being able to support itself as he leaned against a wall. 

“I’m sorry,” Lloyd whispered as he wiped at his nose, blood staining his dirty green gi. “I.. I didn’t know who else to go to.” 

Garmadon swallowed. He knew how to do first aid, but he hadn’t been expecting to see the Green Ninja so beat up. 

Before he could decide to slam the door in Lloyd’s face, Garmadon grabbed him by the arm and gently led him inside. 

Not that it made any sense to do so. He didn’t care about the boy. 

Deep down he knew he should. Lloyd was his son, his heir. Any trip down memory lane would show that he was supposed to love him more than life itself. He was supposed to give up oaths of peace for the boy, decide to follow him to Chen’s island to protect him… 

And yet, it was like watching a movie he didn’t like. He knew that he should love the boy unconditionally, but he couldn’t. 

“What happened?” Garmadon asked him as Lloyd sat down on the sofa. 

Lloyd looked up at him, his green glowing eyes glazed over. “I dunno,” he said. “I was on my way home, and…” 

Garmadon sighed. It wasn’t surprising that he didn’t know what had happened to him, but it was inconvenient. 

“Where all are you hurt?” he asked. 

Lloyd tried to shrug, but winced before his arm was all the way up. 

“Alright then,” Garmadon said. “Don’t move. I’m going to get the first aid kit.” 

As he walked towards the bathroom, Garmadon found himself once again traveling down memory lane. 

This time though, his mind settled on one memory. 

Garmadon was only a little older than Wu’s ninja. 

He had been meditating. On what he can’t remember anymore, but that wasn’t the important part. 

The important part was the cry that brought him out of his meditative state. The way it had sent his heart into a frenzied panic as he stood up and ran to what had made the sound. 

“Lloyd? Are you alright?” he had asked as he picked up his son and wiped the tears from his eyes. 

Lloyd buried his face in his shoulder, his soft, duckling blond hair rubbing against Garmadon’s neck and jaw. 

He pressed a gentle kiss to the side of Lloyd’s head. “It’s okay,” he had said. “I’ve got you. You’re okay, Little One.” 

The memory was one that had been completely forgotten over the years. It was nothing that Garmadon truly needed to remember. 

There was no lesson there, there was nothing important that had happened. Lloyd had tripped over his own feet and started crying. 

The boy had always been clumsy. Perhaps he should have tried to train it out of him when he was a child instead of coddling him. 

It didn’t matter anymore though. That time was gone, and this version of him was no father. 

He grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom, but he caught himself looking at his reflection in the mirror. 

What had happened to the man who had been here before him? The eldest son of the First Spinjitzu Master, the dark-haired man who had won the heart of Misako Montgomery? 

When he looked in the mirror, he saw nothing but a shell. 

He shook his head. None of that mattered right now. What mattered was that Lloyd didn’t bleed out on his couch. 

Not because he cared about the boy, but because he really didn’t want to have to figure out how to wash all of that blood out of his couch. 

“You had better not be sleeping,” Garmadon warned Lloyd when he walked in. 

The boy’s dull eyes fluttered open and he lazily shook his head. “Not sleeping…” 

Before he could even try to counter the boy’s words, he found himself plagued by another memory. 

Garmadon scooped Lloyd’s tiny body into his arms. 

“And just what, exactly, are you still doing awake, young man?” He asked as he began to tickle the young child in his arms. 

Lloyd squealed as he squirmed away from his touch. “Mama said I could wait up for you!” he said, though his eyes were foggy with exhaustion. 

Garmadon raised an eyebrow. “Did she now?” he asked.

Lloyd hesitated for a second, then smiled. The smile was one that Garmadon recognized as the smile of a troublemaker. Someone who had been caught in a lie. “Uhhh…” 

In that moment, Garmadon had known that he should have scolded the boy for staying up so late, but he didn’t. Instead, he laughed. 

“Are you tired now?” he asked. “It is quite late for you, my little one.” 

Lloyd nodded, his blond hair falling in front of his eyes. It was time for another haircut. “Will you tell me a bedtime story?” he asked. “One about ninjas?” 

Garmadon smiled. “Of course,” he said. “Anything for you, my son.” 

Garmadon swallowed nervously as he looked at the boy in front of him. As much as he didn’t care about him, he knew that if he fell asleep, he might not wake back up. 

“You need to stay awake,” he told Lloyd. “No falling asleep yet.” 

Lloyd looked straight at him, but Garmadon wasn’t sure that he was taking in any of the words that he was saying. 

He sighed, then opened up the first aid kit. “Where are you the most injured?” 

Those words seemed to click because Lloyd actually answered. “I think I have a couple busted ribs. Um… there’s a cut on my arm,” he said. “My face really hurts, and I think I hit my head.” 

Garmadon nodded. He wasn’t the least bit surprised that the boy had a head injury. In fact, all of the symptoms were there. 

He reached out and felt the back of Lloyd’s head. 

As soon as he did, another memory popped up. 

“Misako, he’s perfect.” 

Garmadon looked down at the tiny baby in his arms. His heart bleeding with pride and joy as he took in every little feature of his young son. 

The baby’s eyes were shut peacefully, too tired and young to keep them open for more than a few moments at a time. 

His pink skin was so soft and ever so slightly fuzzy. 

He was swaddled tightly so that he didn’t startle, but Garmadon had caught a quick glance of his fingers and toes. They were so small, so precious. 

“What do you want to name him?” 

Garmadon cupped the back of his son’s head, the blond hair was so soft under his hand. 

For this one moment in his life, he had never been happier. 

He was a father. A father to the most precious boy in all of the sixteen realms. 

“Lloyd,” he said. “Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon.” 

Unsurprisingly, there was a lump on the back of Lloyd’s head. A clear and obvious sign that the boy was most likely concussed. 

He probably needed a hospital. Or at least someone with more equipment than a simple first aid kit. 

However, Lloyd had come to him. And he wasn’t about to call an ambulance to come pick the boy up at his own home. 

He didn’t want to end up in prison again. 

“You have a concussion,” he told Lloyd. 

Lloyd nodded. “Makes sense,” he whispered. 

Garmadon sighed, then picked up one of the alcohol wipes and began cleaning the cut above Lloyd’s left eye. 

“You know, for being the Green Ninja, they really did a number on you,” Garmadon remarked. 

Lloyd winced, and Garmadon wasn’t sure if it was because of what he said or if it was because of the stinging from the alcohol. 

For a second, Garmadon wanted to stop what he was doing and make sure that he wasn’t hurting him. 

But then he remembered what he was doing. He was patching up the kid’s wounds. It was going to hurt and there was nothing that he could do to fix it. 

Besides, he didn’t care about Lloyd. 

Right? 

“That boy makes you weak,” the Overlord rasped in his ear. “All it would take is one blade to end him, and you could become the strongest being in all of Ninjago.” 

Garmadon’s heart pounded in his ears. In the back of his mind, the venom agreed with him. There were so many ways to do it too. 

It would be so easy. Hide the blade in his hand, then hug his son. As soon as his arms were wrapped about the boy, he could slide the knife into Lloyd’s side. 

No… NO. 

What was he thinking??? 

That was his son. The only thing in all of Ninjago worth protecting. 

Lloyd was his sunshine, his starlight, his entire galaxy. 

How could he even consider such an idea? 

“Lloyd is not the problem,” he told the Overlord. “It is those pesky ninja. They are the ones that we need to get rid of.” 

He couldn’t care about Lloyd. Not in this state. He wasn’t the man he had been before and he could never be that man again… 

He couldn’t care about Lloyd and he didn’t care about Lloyd. 

“Does it need stitches?” Lloyd asked. 

Garmadon shook his head. “I do not believe so,” he said. “However, I don’t recommend doing whatever caused this cut again.” 

The boy let out a soft chuckle, though it was weak as well. “Believe me, I don’t plan on it.” 

Garmadon reached down and grabbed the wet washcloth that he had gotten when he was in the bathroom. With it, he began to clean Lloyd’s bloodied nose. 

“You sure have a knack for finding trouble, don’t you?” 

As soon as he said those words, Lloyd froze. 

Garmadon frowned. The words didn’t have any hidden meaning, he wasn’t being unnecessarily cruel… But Lloyd’s reaction was unusual. 

“What?” he asked. 

Lloyd looked at him for a second, his dulled green eyes searching his own. For a second, Garmadon felt like the young boy was peering into his soul. 

“You’ve said that to me before,” he said. “Well, not you, but…” 

He was older now, much older. 

And so was his son. 

Lloyd sat on the edge of the vehicle they had taken from the Samurai X’s cave. 

Garmadon pressed a wet washcloth to his son’s broken lip. The boy didn’t look at him as they sat there in silence. 

“You sure have a knack for finding trouble,” he said, breaking the quiet between them. 

It had been a nindroid who had found them. One who had immediately responded by attacking Lloyd. 

By the time Garmadon had gotten over there to stop it from overtaking the boy, it had already landed quite a good punch against his son’s mouth. 

“I know,” Lloyd said, though he still didn’t look his father in the eye. “That’s why destiny chose me.” 

Garmadon had tried to figure out a good response to that, but he couldn’t. It was true. Lloyd was quite the mangent to trouble… 

Some things never changed apparently. 

“I guess I did…” Garmadon said. “And I still stand by it.” 

Lloyd bowed his head. 

“What?” Garmadon asked again. 

“Nothing…” he whispered. 

Of course the child would try that. He would look all sad and miserable and then say that nothing was wrong. 

It was all a tactic to get him to care, to pretend to be something that he wasn’t. He couldn’t make himself care about Lloyd, and he wouldn’t pretend that he did either. 

“Fine,” Garmadon said, then began to clean the cut on Lloyd’s arm. This one probably did need stitches, but he wasn’t even remotely qualified to do that. 

His precious ninja team could stitch him up after he sent him back to them. If they really cared that much, they shouldn’t have left him out alone to get mugged in the first place. 

“Do you remember everything?” Lloyd asked. 

Garmadon gritted his teeth, then nodded. “I do,” he said. 

He remembered everything. From playing with Wu at the lake to this very moment. He remembered all of the moments with Lloyd, he remembered flirting with Misako, he remembered succumbing to the evil of the venom. 

But it was like he was looking in on them. They didn’t feel like they were his. Instead, when he thought back on them, he felt nothing. 

It didn’t matter how much he tried to bring himself to care about Lloyd, he couldn’t. 

The boy was his son, his own flesh and blood. 

But that meant nothing to him. 

Garmadon looked at his son. The boy had grown so much, and he was so proud of the man he was becoming. 

However, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to see any more of his son’s growth. 

This was the end. 

“I yearned to make the world in my image. I never realized I already had, in you,” he told Lloyd. 

Lloyd’s green eyes sparkled with tears, and Garmadon tried so hard to memorize the face he knew he would never see again. 

No matter what happened next, he would always love his son. 

Except… That part of him had been wrong. 

Garmadon looked at the boy in front of him, the boy that was his son. 

And he felt nothing. 

That pride that he knew he had once felt, that love… 

It was gone. 

“I’m going to go call your mother,” he said as he stood up. Suddenly, he couldn’t stand to be around the boy any longer. 

The boy he wanted to love, but couldn’t. 

Damn Harumi… 

The girl might have brought him back, but not the him that he wanted to be. 

He made his way to where the wired phone was hanging up, then hesitated. 

He had a chance to try to change, to try to find some form of love in his heart to give to Lloyd. 

But he knew that it would only lead to more heartbreak. It didn’t matter what he tried. He could never be the perfect father, even his past self had failed at that. 

He waited as the phone rang, and another memory came to mind.

Garmadon stood over Lloyd’s crib, the tiny child sleeping peacefully as the night went on. 

In the back of his mind, he could hear the golden weapons whispering to him, begging to be taken and used to create his own version of Ninjago. 

A version where there were no evil overlords, no hateful fathers, no perfect brothers who ruined everything… A perfect world for him and his son. 

He reached down and stroked the tiny child’s hair. Selfishly, he hoped that his son’s blond curls would one day turn dark brown like his. 

“I’ll make the world a better place for you, my son,” he said. “I’ll make a world worth living in. One where you can never be judged for your past. You’ll be a prince, royalty amongst men.” 

He didn’t know if it was the words he had spoken or if it was because of the soothing touch, but Lloyd leaned against his hand. 

“I’ll be back, Little One,” he said. “And the world will be a better place.” 

Then he left to go find the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu. 

He didn’t realize that nothing would ever be the same again. 

Finally, someone picked up the phone. 

“Hello?” 

“Misako,” Garmadon said. 

“Why are you calling us?” she demanded. “What is going on?” 

“Trust me when I say I’d rather not be calling this number at all,” he told her. “Your son showed up on my doorstep. He’d been jumped and needed someone to bandage his wounds. No idea why he came to me of all people, but he is patched up and ready for one of you to come get him.”

“We’ll be right over.” 

Garmadon hung up the phone, then walked back into the living room. 

Lloyd was laying on the couch, looking smaller than ever before. His eyes were shut and Garmadon couldn’t help but guess that the boy was probably sleeping. 

So he sat down in the armchair and watched the boy he really couldn’t care less about. 

He didn’t care about him, right? 

He wasn’t able to love. 

First it had been from the venom of the Great Devourer, and now it was from the Oni blood that coursed within him. 

Destiny had torn his family apart time and time again. There was nothing he could do about that. It was a fact of life, a cruel part of a game he wanted to be done with. 

“Dad..?” 

The soft voice caught Garmadon’s attention the way it had so many times in the past. 

“What is it, Lloyd?” he asked. It was harsh, but none of the words he had used in the past seemed to fit. 

He couldn’t love the boy, no matter how hard he tried. 

No matter how hard he wanted to. 

Lloyd didn’t say anything for a long moment, instead he just looked into the distance. 

“Just making sure you’re still there…” 

Garmadon swallowed. He could say something to bridge the gap, to cling onto some fake idea of love and what it meant. 

But he wouldn’t do that to Lloyd. He couldn’t lie to him. 

Not after everything else he had done to him. 

He wished life was easier. He wished that he could just pull Lloyd into his arms and tell him that everything would be okay, and that he loved him. 

But it wasn’t true. 

And it could never be true. 

He didn’t know how to love. He was incapable of loving. 

Garmadon looked at the boy in front of him and his heart broke. Not because he loved him, but because he wanted to. 

He had all of the memories, he knew all of the right words, he could pretend to play the part of a loving father. 

But it would never be real. 

He didn’t feel anything like what he remembered feeling when he looked at the boy in front of him. 

His fractured soul meant that Lloyd couldn’t be a part of his life the same way he had been in the past. 

He couldn’t pick him up and twirl him around. He couldn’t look at his son with pride and boast about him to everyone. He couldn’t follow the boy around on missions. He couldn’t teach Lloyd the things that Wu didn’t. 

Because he was a monster, an abomination. 

He should have stayed dead. Death was a kinder fate than this one. 

Garmadon wiped the tears out of his eyes. He wasn’t crying, it was just too late for him to still be up. 

He wasn’t sure how long he watched Lloyd for before the car pulled up in front of the building and he heard a knock on his door. 

Garmadon stood, then walked over to Lloyd and gently shook his shoulder. 

When Lloyd woke up, he startled. “What’s going on?” he asked. 

“Your team is here to pick you up,” he said. “They’re at the door.” 

Lloyd nodded, then stood up. Slowly, he limped and stumbled to the door. 

Unsurprisingly, it was the red ninja who was at the door. 

Instantly, the boy in red was checking him over and making sure that he was okay. 

They left without saying a word. 

Garmadon knew that he should go to bed, but instead, he found himself drawn to the window. 

He watched as the two of them got into the car, and Lloyd walked out of his life once again. For a moment, there was a lump in his throat. 

But what did it matter? 

He didn’t care. 

Garmadon was an Oni, a fractured soul of a man who should be dead… 

How could he love when he was nothing more than a monster?

[overflowing-with-words]

half hearted boy, maybe we'll have more connection || lloyd g.// harumi j.

a/n: something something angst i whipped up at three in the morning two months ago and just remembered to fix today!! <3 tw: death, blood, angst.

· · ·

Lloyd doesn’t cry when he sees Harumi die, swallowed by a swirling tsunami of bricks and dust. There’s too much adrenaline rushing through his blood, too many teammates that need him and too many stakes at hand to consider what he just lost.

The tears come later, in heavy shaking sobs, when he’s alone and alive and okay— as okay as he can be in the empty cold hospital room. It hits him like a brick to the chest, when he’s turning at the end of the battle to look for her face through the crowd, maybe exchange a few last sentences before she was gone again.

But she’s gone for real, now, and he doesn’t want to believe it.

So he doesn't.

He hauls himself out of bed, ignoring shaking limbs and burning cuts, fresh stitches that are tearing open as he walks through the abandoned broken city streets, hood pulled over his stiff form to hide any unwanted attention.

Lloyd’s still wearing his green gi underneath, blood stained and torn to scraps in a few places. (He had the chance to take it off, to change into clothes that aren’t carrying a decade’s worth of bad memories, but he doesn’t because it reminds him of being powerless again, and he can’t be.)

He searches the streets, unfamiliar after so long of ducking away from them in fear of discovery, eyes sweeping over piles of rubble and dirt until he finds what he’s looking for.

Then he digs. He digs until his hands are a bloody tearing mess of blisters and scrapes and cuts, until his knees are burning and his gi is soaked with sweat, because she. Can’t. Be. Dead.

Not when he hasn’t said sorry for not saving her fast enough, for killing letting her family die so many years ago (for every ounce of pain he ever caused her unknowingly because she didn’t deserve it and neither did he, even if he was ten and it was an accident and)

He digs and screams her name until his throat is hoarse and he’s pretty sure the sun is rising and someone will have noticed he’s gone (till soft golden rays are falling over the dust just right so it looks like her brown eyes in the sunset) and he can’t look anymore because everything hurts.

Harumi doesn’t cry when her parents die, swept away in a flood of dust and crumbling walls (and something red and sticky that pours down her forehead that she can’t think too hard about), because there are too many people screaming, too much smoke curling in her lungs like a murky hand closing around her throat, too many questions buzzing in her mind to face the biggest one she has.

She cries later, when the nurses are gone and she’s sitting in a terribly empty waiting room alone, waiting waiting waiting (still waiting) for parents who will never come. Quiet, ugly, sobs slip through her lips and she drinks in the tears (and pretends that her mother will come wipe her tears if she cries for long enough. She doesn’t.)

When she’s finally been in the waiting room for long enough, Harumi stands up and walks out the door, quietly enough that the receptionist doesn’t look up and offer her yet another cup of water, like that’s going to solve any of her problems. (They called her the Quiet One, so she will be.)

She walks through the rubbled streets, past the noodle shop her mother loved (it’s doors has caved into a unbreakable wall and she knows there’s a metaphor there but she’s too tired to find it,) till she reaches home.

Or home as she remembered it, because now there’s nothing there but a pile of terrible bloodstained dirty cement.

She breaks her nails against sharp edges and finds her old toys, buried in a mound of dust and glass that she thinks used to be their coffee table, and hugs them to her chest, a last shard of the fragile, broken thing she used to have.

(People whisper things about how she was too young for this, too small and too innocent for something so terrible to happen to her, but Harumi doesn’t think tragedy has a age limit.)

[blu3cl0v3rs]

Summary: The first time Morro died.

Warnings: Main character death, asphyxiation, hysteria, injury, vomiting, irrationally emotional breakdowns as a side effect of poisonous gas

Prompt: Day 12 - Far Away

Extra: So, I noticed I haven't written soul crushing angst in a bit, then this prompt came and now I'm here to pitch in on how I think Morro died. Long story short, I think he got stuck in that cave because of a cave-in, and got injured during it. As he's patching himself up, he slowly asphyxiates to death due to kethanol poisoning. I've based most of his reactions/symptoms on methane poisoning, since kethanol is actually fictional.

Morro trudged down the tunnel, dimly lit by his flickering lantern.

He was tired. His clammy hand shook from how long he had held the lantern in his grasp. Had it been hours? Days? Weeks?

He didn't know; there was no way of telling in the inky darkness of the Caves of Despair. Regardless, Morro continued.

One foot in front of the other.

…

Morro was tired. Maybe he should take a break. His shoulders shuddered involuntarily, little bumps raised on his skin. His knee bent forwards and he almost collapsed onto the solid rock. The lantern tumbled against the ground, it clinked to a stop, pitifully flickering as it finally died.

Shadows surged, everything went dark. Except for a low red glow from a tunnel up ahead. Morro squinted, trying to make out what illuminated the tunnel as he got up and stumbled to the light.

It was much warmer, he realized, as the cold slowly seeped out of his bones. Although, the room did smell like-

CRRRRK!

Morro shot his head up as the rocks shifted and collapsed.

SNAP!

His eyes scrunched shut, his face contorted as he barely held back a scream. He rotated slowly, as his leg screeched in protest to the movement. Morro's eyes scanned himself for injury, only to notice the rather large rocks resting on his legs.

His bloody, distorted legs. His legs. He could feel the rock resting on his exposed flesh, pain shooting from his legs from any movement he made.

Morro huffed, when did it get so hard to breathe? I've gotta focus, gotta… what- what do I have to do..? Something to do with… a tomb. Yeah, a tomb! His heart raced with his breathing as his eyelids fluttered tiredly, and his nose continued to be assaulted by that stench of… something.

I have to… keep going. Morro shifted, another jolt of pain reminded him of his imprisoned, and rather injured, lower half. He reached towards the rocks and slowly shifted them off as he ground his teeth together.

The rock fell to the ground as Morro panted harshly. He shook his head, trying to focus on the task… What task?

Morro glanced around the dimly lit room, whatever light source seemed to be behind him. He turned to look, and his leg looked angrily red. Some parts of the skin were torn up, revealing muscle and blood that steadily spilled out of the wound. But the worst part was the random bulge sticking out of the side of his leg, which constantly shrieked its agony.

Morro reached his hand to touch it, but the moment his fingers made contact with the area, tears sprung up along with nausea as the injury grew ever louder. Morro grimaced as he turned his head away from his body, bent over as he hacked. Thick fluid gushed out of his throat, horridly complementing the already disgusting smell of the room. Morro coughed a bit more up, spitting out the tainted saliva as well. The nasty aftertaste settled in his mouth.

The lump in his leg wailed again. The heat slowly ate away at his back. The stench left him reeling. The faint echoes that bounced off the rock walls rung in his ears. His muscles ached. His eyes stung.

Those were the last things he remembered before he felt himself falling backwards as his eyelids closed.

Morro jolted awake, swinging his head to eye his surroundings before he halted as the sick feeling of nausea returned. The dull ache in his legs reminded his dazed brain that he still hadn't bandaged them.

He reached a sweaty hand into his bag of meager belongings, dragging out the first aid kit he had stolen from the last village he stopped at. He set it down, or at least tried to as he heard it clatter. Apparently, the floor was lower than he thought. Regardless of that and his slowly spinning vision, he methodically bandaged his right leg; it was the one without the painful bulge. He dabbed an herbal paste, bandaged it, then repeated until he had to deal with the… uhh.

Oh, yeah. Morro blinked furiously, trying to stay conscious right now. He deduced it to be a broken leg. Which meant he had to set it.

Morro sighed. He grabbed the two sections of the bone, and took a deep breath. He sunk his teeth into the flesh of his lip as he shifted the bones into their proper positions. The lump disappeared.

Tears stabbed at his eyes as he dug around in his kit for splint materials. Using the stick he slung his bag on and some bandages, he set a splint on his leg. Finally, his injuries were taken care of.

He took this chance to view the… cave he was in. He felt woozy as he slowly turned to see the room. There wasn't much, just rocks, rocks, and more rocks.

Unfortunately… uh… oh yeah, the way he came in was blocked off by more rocks.

He was trapped. He probably will die here. Far away from the monastery, where Wu will never find his body.

FSM, Wu. His sensei, his father. Morro was gonna die alone, in a cave, with no one to mourn him or remember him or even care that he existed.

Something wet tumbled down his cheek. His throat clamped up. He huffed, breathing shuddered as he cried. And cried, and cried, and cried.

Salty tears spilled without hesitation and wobbly lamenting wails followed suit. Tears gushed down his face, sobs echoed against the rocks, and heat bit at his exposed skin. His lungs hurt, and all he could think about with his whirling, fading lucid mind was that he wanted to go home.

Morro wanted to beg for forgiveness, that he was never good enough to be the Green Ninja; that he was never good enough to be his sensei's student. Maybe Sensei could find it in his overwhelmingly kind heart to accept his pleads, and they could live happily even though Morro was horribly unworthy.

Morro fell asleep with warped images of happy days in flower fields and trips to the woods.

Morro died; his lungs gave out as kethanol clogged them.

Morro died alone, tear tracks burnt into his skin as his body rested for the final time.

Morro died.

[spinjitsuburst]

can't believe i'm being BULLIED on my OWN SERVER smh /j @tornoleander

anyways if you wanna join the shenanigans join my secret santa that i'm hosting this year :D

[goldenavenger02]

found my place

His heart was pounding when the darkness allowed him to come up for a quick moment, just a few seconds to let him thoroughly panic before a hand tightly grasped onto his with the hushed voice insisting, “hey, hey, it’s okay.”

And with that, he was pulled back under.

For @senseigrace, edited by @21st-century-ninja

Lloyd’s thoughts had been hazy since the final battle.

He knew it wasn’t his final battle with the tight rope that destiny had around his neck, but he couldn’t help but hope that it was the last time.

That this was the last time he would have to fight The Overlord, the last time he would have to see Harumi and the last time he had to see Garmadon.

He tried to find the bright spots in all of it, like how Nya was back and even had regained her powers, how Ninjago was rid of the persistent darkness that tried to engulf it, but despite that, his mind just kept wandering back to the darkness that lingered inside of him.

Even the sunrise exercises, training hours and meditation sessions that he was still expected to show up for despite being the only participant were unable to center his absent mind; nothing could erase the memories of the mental and physical pain that was associated with becoming something that he wasn’t, even if there was a small voice inside of him begging him to forgive his father.

Which had led Lloyd to where he was now, standing outside of Master Wu’s bedroom with his hand knocking lightly on the doorframe; he highly doubted his uncle was awake, given that the time was nearing two in the morning, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t lull himself to sleep.

But, to his surprise, it only took a few rapid, soft knocks for Master Wu to open the sliding door and given that he was still wearing the clothes he had spent the entire day in, Lloyd couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t the only one who was struggling to sleep in the eerily quiet monastery.

“Come in, Lloyd,” his uncle insisted as he stood to the side, allowing Lloyd to walk inside; his usual meditation setup with the tray of burning incense and the red, fraying carpet was still out as well as the secondary brown carpet that was reserved for lessons, “I’ve been expecting you.”

‘Why am I not shocked?’ Lloyd thought as he sat down on the familiar brown carpet, crossing his legs when he had fully brought himself to the ground.

“You haven’t been sleeping,” Wu called him out, “because something is troubling you.”

“Have you heard from the others?” Lloyd asked, hoping that his lie would be enough to quell his master’s prying, only to get the head shake that he had been expecting along with a sigh.

“Not since they left. But we both know that’s not what is keeping you awake, if anything, you should be sleeping better without the late-night video game sessions.”

Lloyd pulled in a breath to try and calm his nerves, pressing his palms into each other so they wouldn’t shake before the truth spilled from his lips, “I just…I’m worried, Master Wu.”

“About the others?”

“Well, yes, but no,” Lloyd stopped to bring in another shaking breath, feeling his heartbeat pound in his ears, “I’m worried about becoming like my father” those words resulted in Wu raising his eyebrow with what he hoped was curiosity instead of disappointment, “and the whole Oni form thing isn’t helping me feel better about that.”

“My brother was slowly corrupted by the darkness inside of him from the Great Devourer, the Oni inside of him simply propelled it,” Wu insisted, his voice growing eerily steady like it did every time he spoke about Garmadon, “we each follow our own paths, Lloyd. Paths that we are not even aware that we are on.”

“So, you have no idea if I’m going to end up like Garmadon.” Lloyd sighed as defeat seeped into his bones, “or if I’m going to turn into an Oni and get stuck like that.”

“I’m afraid I do not, nephew,” Wu agreed, “but, what turned your father into what he is now, was corruption of what once was truly good. The things that turned him into what he is now, they no longer exist.”

Lloyd nodded; he knew that the Devourer was long gone, that the Oni masks were destroyed and that the Golden Weapons had been returned to raw, elemental energy. 

Nothing existed that could corrupt him the same way it had destroyed his father.

“But, and you’re not going to like this, you should continue to work on controlling your Oni form.”

“Have you not been listening to me?!” Lloyd couldn’t stop himself from shouting as he stood up, “that sounds like doing exactly what Garmadon wanted me to do! He wants me to be like him, you know that, right?! He wants me to let go of all of my emotions, my sentimentality, anything that makes me human!”

“Lloyd-”

“I can’t end up like him, Uncle Wu!” 

And with those words, Lloyd felt like he was eight years old again; terrorizing Ninjago, releasing the Serpentine and being everything that he thought would bring his father back to him only to get taken in by the ninja, screaming and fighting as they made him board The Bounty.

He hadn’t even noticed the hot tears rolling down his cheeks until his uncle approached and brought his hand up to wipe them away before pulling Lloyd into a tight hug which only made him cry harder.

His chest heaved harshly, his body shook and all he could do was grasp tightly onto his uncle, burying his head into his shoulder.

Master Wu didn’t speak, he just kept one hand on Lloyd’s back and let the other one gently brush through the golden wisps of hair, but it didn’t do much to quell the sobs of what he had been keeping in longer than he should have.

But, when his eyes started to sting and his ears started to hurt, he finally managed to pull himself away from Wu’s shoulder, wiping his face on his sleeve.

“I-I’m sorry,” he muttered under his breath, “about yelling at you.”

“I would rather you aim your anger at me then someone else, nephew,” his uncle insisted before putting his hand on his left shoulder, “now, even though I don’t assign bedtimes any more, it is much too late for the two of us to be awake. No sunrise exercise tomorrow, but I expect to see you awake before noon.”

“Goodnight, Master Wu.” Lloyd nodded, letting his shaky legs guide himself to his bedroom.

But as he walked, he couldn’t stop the thoughts of worry from creeping back into his mind to try and narrow down any object that could possibly corrupt him.

…

The post-battle haze didn’t leave Lloyd’s brain when he awoke the next morning; in fact, between the throbbing directly in his forehead and the heat in his cheeks, the haze was only stronger than it had been in the last few weeks.

His vision was blurry as he squinted in the darkness, trying to gain his bearings only to see the familiar form of his uncle hovering over his bed; even though there was a look of worry covering his face, he couldn’t help but feel relief when he identified him.

“Master Wu?” Lloyd’s voice cracked as he spoke, making his cheeks feel more flushed than they already were and his jaw started to ache, “is everything okay?”

“Everything except for you, nephew,” Lloyd knew that when he was referred to by “nephew” instead of his name that Wu was worried about him but it wasn’t until he felt Wu’s familiar hand rest on his forehead that he was able to process that he was sick, “you’re running a temperature.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Lloyd insisted as he started to sit up, only to be met with what he could only describe as a stab of pain directly in his shoulder blades, “ah!” the cry of pain tore out of his throat and tears sprang into his eyes involuntarily.

He tried to slow his breathing as he was gently pushed back onto the mattress with a hand on his shoulder, but when the pain in his back dissipated, he was met with the throbbing in his forehead returning with a vengeance and nearly making him sick along with a chill starting to seep into his bones and spread throughout his body.

He couldn't stop himself from shaking as he pulled his legs inward toward his chest and pressed his head harder onto the pillow to try and muster up some relief.

“W-what’s…” Lloyd managed to pull a painful breath into his aching chest and fought the urge to cry out again from the ripples of agony, “w-what’s wrong with me?”

The last words Lloyd heard before the darkness pulled him down deep into unconsciousness were the unmasked, terrified words of his master, “that’s what your mother and I are trying to figure out.”

…

“-is going to have to hold him still.” 

“I’ll do it.”

Lloyd couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak. All he could do was listen in on the words spoken by his bedside as pain continued to make its way through his back, his head, his teeth, his hands and his sides and he was pulled into someone’s comforting arms.

He could tell that despite the rough hands seemingly trying to press on every area that throbbed or stung, he was being supported by someone’s chest against his back.

“This is bad, Wu.” The smooth yet deep voice finally broke through his hearing, “this wasn’t supposed to happen for years.”

Lloyd could recognize that voice anywhere; whether that was in the deep recesses of his childhood, those few good years followed by the worst years of his life, only to be face to face with something that was everything but what he needed. 

He could recognize the voice of Garmadon anywhere.

But, despite his harsh touch against his aching shoulder blades, there was the gentle hand in his sweaty hair that gently made its way from the top of his scalp all the way to where his thin, blonde wisps touched the bottom of his neck. 

It was the only thing that kept Lloyd from fighting the paralysis that held him tightly in its grasp because he knew that no matter how much his uncle wanted to continue to foster a relationship with Garmadon, he would never let him put an unnecessary hand on him.

If he had asked a question, had managed to make his lips move or even had found it in him to try and move, he didn’t know.

All he knew was that his uncle knew, because the touch somehow became even more gentle as his familiar whisper lulled him back into the darkness.

“Everything's okay, just go back to sleep."

…

“You need to call them, Wu.”

“If this is what Garmadon says it is, then it will pass.”

“Regardless of whether it will pass or not, you know as well as I do that they will want to know what’s going on.”

“They are all in the process of trying to regain their elemental powers, Misako.”

“And they all left you their contact information if they were needed. My son needs them right now.”

A long heavy sigh and the same gentle touch running through his hair before his uncle finally responded.

“Very well.”

Darkness enveloped Lloyd yet again almost as quickly as it had let go.

…

His heart was pounding when the darkness allowed him to come up for a quick moment, just a few seconds to let him thoroughly panic before a hand tightly grasped onto his with the hushed voice insisting, “hey, hey, it’s okay.”

And with that, he was pulled back under.

…

When Lloyd awoke again, his head was throbbing and even though it was now centered in the top of his skull, it still made the pain radiate throughout his face; despite that, he finally managed to pry his eyes open once again.

The lights were off, making it difficult for him to focus on anything.

In fact, he considered going back to sleep for a moment when he didn’t see his mom, uncle, or even Garmadon when his eyes flicked downward toward the pressure surrounding his left hands and saw the familiar, scarred hand with the red fabric of a gi nearly covering it.

“K-Kai?” he managed to croak, only now realizing how much his throat burned and his jaw ached, only to feel a soft hand on his blanket-covered leg that belonged to, “Nya?”

“Lloyd!” Kai shout penetrated his skull in a way that he couldn’t do anything but wince, resulting in the sound of a hard ‘smack’ against skin that he could only guess was Nya, “my bad, bud” he added in a much softer voice.

“H-how?” He couldn’t help but ask even though he vaguely remembered his mom and uncle discussing calling the others.

“Master Wu called us,” Nya said with a nod of confirmation coming from Kai, “he said that you weren’t doing too great.”

“Granted, I don’t think anyone would be doing well while they were turning into an Oni-”

‘No, no, this isn’t happening,’ the anxiety started to swell at the thought of looking like, of turning out like Garmadon, at the mere possibility of his worst fear coming true, ‘not now, not now, this is not happening.’

“Lloyd?” Nya’s muffled voice tried to break through, “Lloyd, we’ve got you.”

‘I’m a monster. I’m turning into everything that’s wrong with me. They’re going to leave me again.’

“Lloyd,” the pressure around his hand tightened, forcing him to look up at Kai’s amber-colored eyes, the eyes that he associated with safety, “Lloyd, take a deep breath and hold it in. I need you to do that for me, okay?”

Lloyd couldn’t do anything but comply, the salty tears breaking away from his tear ducts and streaming down toward his ears as he pulled in a shaking breath.

‘In, hold, out, hold.’ He repeated the breaths that he was coaxed through like a mantra until his chest stopped shuddering and his cheeks grew sticky from the drying tears.

Eventually, Kai loosened the pressure on his hand enough for him to push himself upwards on his elbows and slowly prop his aching body against the pillows; his head felt way too heavy for his neck but the angle allowed him to take in the fact that Nya and Kai were really there.

“Here, let me just…” Nya paused as she reached forward with a soft tissue and wiped down his cheeks before running her hand across the top of his scalp while avoiding the two prominent sources of the pain that pulsed throughout his head, “there you go.”

“Thanks,” he smiled, despite the ache it sent throughout his mouth before letting it fall, “what do you mean, about what you said?”

Kai’s sigh was long, the kind he reserved when he regretted what he had said, as he responded, “your uncle and your da-Garmadon want to talk to you about it.”

“First Spinjitzu Master,” Lloyd cursed as he rubbed his hand over his face; the thought of having to talk to Garmadon about how he had become exactly what he had tried to mold him into and hearing him gloat about how he had been right the whole time made Lloyd’s headache come back with a renewed throb to it, “do I have to?”

“They’re gonna have more answers than us, Lloyd,” Nya shrugged hopelessly, “but we can always stall for you, say you’re still asleep.”

“Yeah, we don’t wanna push you,” Kai insisted before his free hand became alight with fire, “and you know, just say the word and I’ll hurl this at Garmadon’s face.”

‘Wait…fire?’

“You got your powers back?” 

“We all did, big shot,” Kai’s grin continued to widen as he extinguished the flame, “and I’ll give you all the details after you get some more sleep.”

Lloyd nodded, scooting himself carefully back onto the mattress so he was laying down before rolling onto his side and letting his eyes flutter shut. He felt Kai pull the blanket over his shoulder and Nya gently squeeze the same shoulder, but he just let himself welcome the darkness that engulfed him once again.

…

With help from Kai and Nya’s stalling and his first peaceful sleep for the first time in a long time, Lloyd managed to hold off the conversation for a solid five hours.

And despite that, when he finally managed to stand on his shaking legs and look at himself in the bathroom mirror, he still didn’t want to do this when he still had the option to lay down for a few more hours.

But the sharp fangs that protruded from his gums in the place of his canines and the nubs of horns that would have been fully hidden by his hair if he hadn’t just been victim to a raging fever and sweat reducing the natural volume worried him.

‘If I keep putting this off, are more things going to change?’ he couldn’t tell if he was imagining the red that had always made up his eyes trying to push through the bright green, if the Oni inside of him was fighting its way to the surface, ‘will I continue to turn into a monster until there’s nothing of me left?’

“Lloyd?” Nya’s voice was soft as it broke through the spiral and forced him to turn away from the mirror to see her slouched against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest, “do you want me to go with you?”

As much as Lloyd wanted to say yes, he had a feeling that this was meant to be a private conversation between himself, Master Wu and Garmadon, something that the others would hear from him as soon as his father made his way out of the monastery.

“No, but…” he looked down at his fingertips, wincing when he saw the dark stain of dry blood under and around his fingernails from his claws forcing themselves out which sent him to the sink to try and scrub some of it away.

Nya approached silently, her hand coming down to rest on his shoulder as she spoke, “that promise I made to you, about protecting you? I still intend to keep it, and so do the others.”

“I know.” Lloyd agreed, knowing fully well that the others wouldn’t hesitate to take Garmadon down at the first sign of danger, that they had all been very uncomfortable with his methods of trying to teach him how to control his Oni form to the point that the insult toward Master Wu was the breaking point for them.

“Do you need anything before you go talk to them?” She asked while he pulled his hands away from the sink and wiped them dry on the brown towel that hung next to the sink.

Lloyd nearly bit his tongue in order to keep himself from saying ‘I need to get out of this conversation’ until he remembered that he had fangs now and he would actually like to keep his tongue, so he settled for looking up at Nya’s grayish-blue eyes and asking.

“If it’s not too much to ask, there’s a new Starfarer movie. It’s the reboot series, so it’s not as good as the original ones, but-oomph” he couldn’t hold the sudden wince of pain as Nya hugged him tightly, but she pulled away nearly as fast as she hugged him.

“I’ll let the others know, we’ll be waiting for you,” she insisted, leaving the room with one more look and a “good luck”.

Lloyd forced his legs to bring him towards his master’s quarters and as he brought his hand to the door in a series of swift knocks, the only thought that filled him was ‘here goes nothing.’

No one opened the door, but it was unlocked when he gently nudged it, so he let himself in; he wasn’t surprised to see Master Wu and Garmadon both sitting down at the small table pushed into the back of the room, talking softly over cups of tea.

He cleared his throat, instantly gaining both of their attention from their private conversation, but he kept his attention focused on Wu’s face despite his father’s voice being the first to speak directly at him.

“He lives.”

Lloyd swallowed back his anger as he crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to look him in the eyes and keeping his attention on a slightly darker spot on the hardwood floor.

“The least you could do is sit down with us.”

“I’d rather stand.” Lloyd tried to keep back as much of the bite in his tone as possible, if only for Master Wu’s sake of having to mediate between the once-close father and son.

“How are you feeling, Lloyd?” Wu asked while filling a third teacup which he reached over to hand to Lloyd once it was three–fourths full.

He took it gratefully, the warmth from the light brown liquid warming his palms while the scent of chamomile and vanilla worked through a few of his nerves; it smelled like Steep Wisdom, like coming into his uncle’s room late at night when something was keeping him awake; above all, it smelled like home.

“I’m feeling better,” Lloyd finally looked back up at his uncle with a nod before glancing over at his father, “do you know what all of that was? Is that why you were brought here?”

“That’s exactly why I was called here,” Garmadon insisted as he stood and approached Lloyd, “Wu and I may have similar genetics, but when it comes to the Oni side of it, I have much more experience.”

The lightest touch in his hair had him flinching away from the hand that was more than likely trying to get a closer look at the horns that had emerged from his skull, and the shame only really hit him in the chest when he saw the confusion and what seemingly was regret on Garmadon’s face.

“I didn’t mean to-”

“I’ve changed, Lloyd,” Garmadon cut him off, “and you still think that way of me? You still think I would hurt you?”

“I’m trying.” Lloyd swallowed to keep the tears from falling out of his eyes, “I’m trying to let you back into my life, but after that stunt you pulled, I…” Lloyd reached his free arm up to his face to wipe the tears off of his cheeks even though he knew they would quickly be replaced.

He was angry at his father, yes, but the real emotional weight of just how hard it was for him to have him and then lose him, only for him to come back but not as the father he remembered only for him to act as though he was losing him again, was finally smacking him across the face right in front of the man himself.

“The transformation you went through, that wasn’t supposed to happen until you were much older, when you aged from an adolescent Oni to an adult Oni,” Wu filled in, letting Lloyd’s unfinished sentence hang in the air, “but between your genetics and the Tomorrow’s Tea, Garmadon and I have come to the conclusion that your body assumed you were ready.”

‘Damn Tomorrow’s Tea,’ Lloyd couldn’t help but think as he nodded along with what his uncle was saying while setting down his untouched tea, “but that’s the end of it, right? The horns and the teeth, that’s it?”

“Well, that’s part of the reason that it was so hard on you, that I was so hard on you, aside from you being too young,” Garmadon cut in, only now Lloyd could find it in himself to actually look at his father’s glowing, red eyes, “the Oni side of you will always fight to let itself out unless you learn to control it. If you keep fighting against it like you have been, there is a high chance that more of your Oni features will end up like your horns and teeth. Permanent.”

“So the purple eyes, the claws, the wings and the extra arms?” Lloyd swallowed at the sight of the mental image he was faced with, the ruthless Oni that fought for dominance, “they would always be there?”

“Precisely,” Garmadon confirmed, making Lloyd’s stomach twist, “but you are closer to controlling it between this transformation and unleashing your Oni form, you just have to learn how to bring it out when you want it to come out.”

He didn’t respond to his father but focused his attention on his uncle as he asked, “I don’t suppose you could teach me that.”

Lloyd couldn’t help but deflate when Master Wu shook his head, “Your father is the most equipped to guide you through this training, Lloyd.”

He nodded and turned back to Garmadon, bringing his eyesight upwards to look at his glowing red eyes, the ones that used to remind him of home the same way the scent of his uncle’s tea did now, before finding it inside of himself to ask, “when do we start?”

“Once your horns finish coming in, you’ll have better balance that way,” Garmadon’s voice was unwavering and void of any emotion that Lloyd could try and pick out, “should be about three days from now.”

“Okay,” Lloyd nodded in agreement and hoped that he hadn’t just signed up for hours upon hours of misery, “is there anything else that you need to tell me?” 

“No, nephew,” Wu assured him, “you may leave now.”

Lloyd had never left a room faster, even if it was just to breathe in some less stuffy air and avoid having to process everything that had just happened. ‘Processing can happen later.’

And with that thought, he made his way downstairs toward his promised movie viewing and the others all while trying to keep his mind clear of any thoughts about his dad, the Oni or the pain that still occasionally radiated through his head and down his neck.

He had never been so relieved to see the others in their usual places, PIXAL and Zane setting up the movie, Cole holding the popcorn bucket that Jay had gotten when the two of them and Nya had gone to see the last Starfarer movie that had starred Cliff Gorden in the titular role, Jay and Cole already starting to eat it despite the fact that the movie hadn’t even started.

Given that Nya and Kai were sitting on the couch, leaving the spot in between them for him, Lloyd could only assume that Jay and Cole’s playful bickering had resulted in the two of them being banished to the floor like always.

Lloyd took his spot on the purple couch and shamelessly rested his aching head on Kai’s warm shoulder, his eyes already trying to flutter shut.

“Lloyd, the least you could do is try and stay awake long enough for the movie to even start.” Kai joked while wrapping his arm around him and gently rubbing his hand up and down his right arm.

“I’m gonna stay awake, ‘nless you put me to sleep.” Lloyd mumbled from where he laid, but made no move to sit up which only continued to enable Kai.

“Be nice,” Nya chastised as she finally got Cole to move the popcorn bucket upwards so she could reach some, “he’s been sick, he can sle-” she cut herself off after putting a few kernels in her mouth, “who the fuck seasoned the popcorn with ranch?”

Nya and Cole bickering about the ethics of putting ranch seasoning on popcorn was only stopped by the familiar intro music that indicated that PIXAL and Zane had finally gotten the movie started.

Lloyd tried to pay attention to the newest installment in his favorite franchise, but his eyes continued to try to flutter shut, Kai’s warm hand on his shoulder was the closest thing to a comforting embrace he had gotten in days and the blanket that someone had tossed over his body was so soft that he couldn’t help but wonder how he managed to stay awake during the first fight scene.

All he could really focus on before he drifted off wasn’t the classic “Fear? Fear isn’t a word where I come from” line, it wasn’t Jay saying that the design of the spaceship wasn’t comic accurate only to get loudly shushed by everyone else.

It was that for the first time since standing on that floating rock next to his father and Harumi, his thoughts were no longer hazy; for the first time in a long time, Lloyd’s thoughts were clear and for the first time in a long time, he welcomed the veil of sleep with open arms.

[scarletlight-has-issues]

These are just ramblings, but I think it's kinda messed up in a meta sort of way that the reason Zane gets hurt and beat up so much is that the writers can get away with displacing a lot of the violence and bodily harm onto him because the censors don't consider him to be human.

Like seriously, arguably one of the most brutal fights in the show is between Mr. E and Zane, who are both nindroids.

We effectively watch a person get beat close to death onscreen, and they can get away with that in a kid's show because Zane isn't viewed as a person.

I don't mind it too much because it allows for some incredible scenes, but it's still kinda messed up.