#a good start. lloyd’s finding other comic shops in ninjago city while jay finds them occasionally out in the smaller cities | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

themadauthorshatter · 3 years

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MAJOR TIME AND EPISODE JUMP IN THE NINJAGO PG-13 TOUCH-UP UA!

We're jumping ahead to season 2 because I'm impatient and want to fix Misako; I WLL NOT HAVE THIS WOMAN BE CALLED A BAD MOTHER IN THIS UA!!!!

We're mixing episodes because we're starting with Lloyd watching school kids playing kick ball before he continues training with the ninja, which he is getting better at. When he's done, he leaves to go back to watching the kids play.

The ninja all get the jist that Lloyd's not himself. At all. He's more withdrawn after training and lessons, he's spacey, and he's just not all together.

Zane opts to talk to him, but Jay beats him to it, ruffling Lloyd's hair and telling him he's getting stronger by the day.

Lloyd thanks him and goes back to watching the students, particularly one that is getting picked up by his dad.

Now it's Kai's turn to ask what's going on. Lloyd repeats it's nothing, and leaves, though he gives one last glance at the father and son as they're approached by a woman, the man's wife and boy's mother; it is one of the worst reminders of who he is and what the dynamic of his family is.

The ninja debate on this, Zane seeing the family and understanding that want of Lloyd's, having personal experience with the whole "outliving his family" thing, but he's not going to go and talk to him about it because they've already bugged him enough.

Cue the serpentine and Garmadon being spotted at the museum and reviving the grundle, which I'm renaming the Valciraptor because this is PG-13 Ninjago now.

Garmadon wills it to life with the mega weapon, which is the 4 golden weapons mixed with the 4 silver fang blades, but only has it target Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane, shreds and scraps of their clothes, gloves, and armor to lock the Valciraptor on them and not on Lloyd, which Skales is starting think is tedious.

The ninja still 'stop' the resurrection of the Valciraptor, ensuing in a small little fight against Garmadon before he flees, and the serpentine generals leaving with the golden sarcophagus.

The ninja all give chase, but Zane, for once, is the fastest, stopping them just as they try attempting to get underground through a manhole.

He sighs at not stopping them, but secretly pats himself on the back for catching them before they could damage the artifact.

"Zane? Zane! Wait up!"

Zane has a moment of, 'wait a second,' before turning to the rest of the ninja, who are half his size, stumbling in their oversized clothes, and talking in higher, more youthful voices.

While they freak out over being kids, Zane can only suffer from a sudden existential crisis because he was now the oldest and must look after them.

Zane spots a cop car speeding toward them and, with a fantastic idea, races back around the corner they all just came from as the car stops infront of Kai, Cole, and Jay, Jay shouting they're the ninja when the cops ask, "What are you kids doing out, stealing from the museum?"

Cue Zane sprinting back around the corner, purposely misnaming each of the younger ninja as he embraces them all, saying he's been worried sick and thanking the officers for finding them; the three rascals wandered off again.

"Wait, these are YOUR children?"

"Yes. Hayden-" Zane gestures to Jay. "-has quite the habit of wandering off. And Nyle and Juniper-" Gestures to Kai and Cole. "-are good enough to keep their eyes on him."

"Why didn't you stop them first?"

"With all due respect, have you ever tried leaving a conversation with a more well off parent about our children wearimg the same costume, Officers?"

The cops nod at each other begrudgingly before the officer that has been silent speaks up, "Well, we suspect they stole the golden sarcophagus from the history museum about a block away."

"My children are 9 and 7 years old. How could they even LIFT such a heavy piece of gold? If you still do not believe me, check the security cameras."

They do. And it is shown that the children are innocent; the camera they watch from shows black and white footage and hides the foot chase between the ninja and serpentine. What it does not hide is the Valciraptor bones growing ligaments, muscles, veins, and skin, shaking where it stands, and then stomps away.

The cops excuse the family, saying it's a new animatronic they're working on, to ease a frightened Jay and Kai.

The team leaves, Cole on Zane's back for a change, and Jay panics, asking what they need to do. Kai isn't as freaked out, saying they're safe as long as there's light.

Cole tells them to calm down and focus befor asking Zane if he has any more ideas.

Cut to Lloyd taking a break from training and reading a comic book and overhearing Wu and Nya as they worry about where the ninja are. Before they can elaborate more, the phone rings, which Nya answers.

"Hello? Nya? It's Zane."

"Zane? Where are Cole, Jay, and Kai?"

Zane, dressed in normal clothes from a bag he keeps in a hidden pocket of his gi, looks over at Jay, Kai, and Cole as they all watch him, Jay staring off as he sits, Cole leaning against the wall, and Kai pacing back and forth. "Well... We are in the city, but we have a small problem."

"What's happened? Tell us everything," Wu replies

Cut back to Nya, Wu, and Lloyd, where we hear Zane through the phone.

"Garmadon brough back a Valciraptor, a beast that supposedly feasts on humans. He has made sure it targets us the most, but we will need to stop it before it preys on anyone else in the city."

"Why can't you just stop it?" Lloyd asks; Nya put Zane on speaker.

Cut back to Zane, who winces and kneels down, holding his phone out for Kai to talk into, though he does say as a joke, "Remember, son, speak nicely to others."

"You'd better be glad I'm a kid right now, Zane!" Kai snaps as he takes Zane's phone. "Sensei? Nya? Lloyd!?"

Cut back to The Bounty, where Nya and Wu are flabbergasted and Lloyd fights back a smile and laugh.

"Is... Is that you, Kai?" Nya asks.

"Yeah, and- HEY!"

"NYA, SENSEI, GARMADON BROUGHT BACK A VAL-CAR-SOMETHING, WE ALMOST GOT ARREDTED, I DON'T WANT ZANE TO BE MY DAD, WE LOST THE THING GARMADON BROUGHT BACK, AND I NEED SOMETHING WITH CAFFEINE IN IT! I'M LOSING MY MIIIIIIIND!" Jay shouts at the top of his lungs before Zane takes his phone back and picks up a now emotionally melting down Jay.

"We've had a long night," Zane sums up as he stands. "What do you advise we do, Sensei?"

"Do you know anything about this Valciraptor?"

"Yes. It is nocturnal. And it seems to be vulnerable to light."

Wu is quiet for a second before replying, "Stay in the light, then, and find out as much as you can." He turns to Nya and Lloyd. "Nya, Lloyd, ensure you join them the minute you find them."

They agree, though Lloyd giggles out a quip about the ninja needing protection, which gets an, "I heard that," out of Kai, a desperate cry for an energy drink from Jay, and an agreement and "Be careful," from Zane, and the call ends.

The group of Wu, Nya, and Lloyd set out, Wu going to the tea lady for something he KNOWS will help and Nya and Lloyd looking for the ninja.

Cut to a gag of Zane hanging up, Cole sighing at how the call went, Kai groaning, and Jay whimpering that he just hopes they bring a soda.

Cut/Time jump to Lloyd and Nya walking around the city as they try to find the ninja. They're quietly observing, until Nya talks about the comic Lloyd was reading, noting how he used to read it a lot before, but recently he hasn't, which is strange because she thought he loved the series.

He tells her that he does, but lately all he can think about is Garmadon and facing him in battle. The training doesn't help and, thinking back on before he became the Green Ninja or even found the serpentine, all he'd ever wanted was to be a normal kid with a normal family. Granted he's more than happy to be with Wu, Nya, and the ninja, but he sees other kids with their parents and he can't help but feel jealous. He doesn't say this word for word, but Nya gets the point.

They find the ninja at a library, Zane and Cole being the only ones actually doing research on the Valciraptor while Kai comforts Jay, who just got done crying.

Thankfully, Nya saves the day with a sports energy drink and Lloyd winks as he shows the back pack he has contains weapons for the ninja, which had been dropped during their freak out.

Nya calls Wu and tells him she and Lloyd found the ninja, but Zane informs them that he can't exactly find anything on the Valciraptor, save for the most basic knowledge, so they're at a loss for information.

That is until Lloyd notices a teen reading the same comic book series he has been, and tells Wu to meet them at the comic book store Doomsday Comics when he finds the tea they need.

Cole tells him to focus and Lloyd replies that he is, and knows someone who can help them.

The call ends as Wu arrives at the tea shop went to th o get the Traveler's tea, the owner jabbing that she hopes he's not going anywhere anytime soon because she's out of stock. He tells her he needs Tomorrow Tea, which she does to look for. Wu looks out the window and silently prays for the ninjas' safety as dusk approaches.

With the ninja and Nya, they arrive at the comic store, where they meet the owner Professor Doomsday, which is what Lloyd calls him, as he was the only teacher at Darkley's that was actually nice to him.

The professor is impressed by how healthy Lloyd looks now, compared to his school days, but Lloyd talks business, asking about the Valciraptor, and if what he taught about it was true.

Turns out this beast was loosely related to dragins and used to be a thorough replacement for assassins and was used more for fighting rebellions by tyrant leaders. It didn't hunt only ninja, it feasted on anything it could get its claws on, especially after consuming its target.

Zane isn't exactly listening, because it's completely night out now and the street lights are dim as hell.

Cole notices Zane slip out of the shop, but is stopped by a girl, who tells him her friend thinks he's cute.

Outside, Zane spinjitsu changes into his gi just as the Valciraptor stomps around the corner and growls at him. He glanes at the other ninja, Lloyd, and Nya still inside the shop, and then unsheathes his shurikens. "Let's dance, you poor excuse of a dragon."

He races forward and leaps to the Valciraptor, which snarls at him at comes close to biting him in half. Zane kicks off it's muzzle and lands on a street light, tapping it to try to get the light back on.

It only makes the beast angrier.

In the store, Doomsday notes that it's strange how Lloyd's friends want to learn about such a dangerous and mature subject concerning the Valciraptor, and Jay asks, "What if we were to say that it was brought back?"

Cue Zane being thrown through the window and the Valciraptor chasing after him; the comic book shop is pretty big, about the size of a Barnes and Noble shop.

Cole asks if he's okay, but Zane goes right back to fighting off the beast, which doesn't work because it bites his leg and slams him down twice before throwing him against the wall.

The other ninja change, not as well as they'd like to, Lloyd included, and Nya leads everyone out of the shop and into the street.

The fight gets serious as the ninja can barely ude their spinjitsu and Zane is knocked unconscious and almost becomes a popsicle before Cole pulls on its leg and it kicks him away. Jay and Lloyd are up to the plate as Jay tries something he hopes works, disassembling the lights in a didplay to make a replica light sword toy a become to scare the Valciraptor as Lloyd makes and energy ball and Kai attacks it with scissors.

It knocks away all three of them, making Jay lose the super bright light sword. The Valciraptor sniffs at Lloyd before turning to the ninja.

Good thing Wu arrives with the Tomorrow Tea and Nya, in a panic, throws it to the ninja, which Lloyd catches, until it falls out of his hands and into Zane's. Just as he opens it, Kai stops him, realizing that it will also age Lloyd up along with the ninja and Valciraptor. Lloyd shouts to use it anyway, but every ninja objects, Kai, Jay, and Cole wanting him to still have his childhood and not miss out on it and Zane begging him to not throw his life away, and that such acts are too unfair, even for a boy of Lloyd's upbringing.

The Valciraptor, pissed beyond all reason, tears the sword out of Kai's hands and goes gor a snap. Lloyd, acting in the heat if the moment, snatches the tea and shouts, "Nothing in my life was ever fair! What's the difference NOW!?" as he throws it right into the Valciraptor's jaw as it shuts, shattering the tea instantly and making it wither, age, and dissolve right then and there.

It also restores Kai, Jay, and Cole, Cole checking on Zane, who's okay, even though he's a little concussed.

In the sudden silence and ash, Wu asks almost silently, "What about Lloyd?"

They dig through the ash, and Jay gasps at finding him.

Lying unconscious is Lloyd, who has aged up to either 16 or 17. He has grown taller and thinner, lean like Zane, his hair is very long, and is now at a point to where his gi now fits.

The "episode" ends with Cole carrying Lloyd as the team goes back to the Bounty, Doomsday asking Wu to promise he'll take care of Lloyd, as he couldn't back at Darkley's. Wu promises and the episode closes as they leave.

The next episode starts from Lloyd's perspective as he wakes up, greeted by the ninja, Nya, and Wu. He's still sore from the instant growth and winces as he sits up and examines his hands, especially noticing that his feet touch the ground. He asks what happened, but stops and puts a hand on his throat, surprises by the new pitch he now has.

Despite everyine telling him to take it easy, Lloyd gets up and walks very stiffly to the bathroom mirror, where he sees himself and the result of throwing the tomorrow tea at the Valciraptor.

He's literally speechless, examining his face, hair, and body as he realizes what he's done in order to save his friends.

That doesn't stop Kai from saying as gently as he can that they tried to warn him. Lloyd asks very sharply if they would rather have him sit back and watch them die, and Kai barks that he, actually, shouldn't have been in the shop when the Valciraptor yeeted Zane through the window, that he should have followed Nya.

There's more arguing and Lloyd tries to do a stand off, but his legs give out from under him and send him to the ground.

Pins and needles race through his limbs as Zane and Cole help him stand up, Wu elaborating that Lloyd needs time to adjust to his new body, and maybe his mind too because he aged from 7 to 16 in the span of a couple minutes and now has to get used to the teenage hormones that are no doubt going crazy.

"But what about the serpentine and my dad?" Lloyd asks as Zane keeps one of his arms over his shoulder. Cole affirms that he's not fighting or leaving the Bounty until he gets better. Kai mutters that he also needs a haircut, tugging his hair for more emphasis.

Wu assigns Zane as the caretaker for Lloyd and assigns Nya to join the ninja, as they've spotted a small group of serpentine in the outskirts of the city. Kai and Jay object, but Wu tells them that Nya needs the training and Zane is more experienced in taking care of someone medically, which will help Wu exponentially.

Nya gets an old, plain black ninja gi and her own weapons before heading out with the team, leaving a very sulky Lloyd with Zane and Wu, the former helping him to the shower.

He holds onto Lloyd's hands and walks backwards, practically leading an wobbly legged teenage Lloyd to the shower. The last few steps, though, he lets go, which leads Lloyd to catch himself on the door frame before he falls.

"What was that for!?"

"I didn't mean to be cruel, nor do I intend to be. If you wish to find your father in a hurry, then this is the fastest way I can think to help you adjust."

Lloyd nods and takes his shower, struggling to stand every now and then, but getting stable on his feet. Zane's waiting for him, when he's done, with a pair of scissors. With a look at how long his hair is, Lloyd shrugs in slight defeat, "Make me bald."

Zane snickers and gets to work, having SOME experience from helping Nya and the other ninja.

With the ninja and Nya, they're successful in catching two of the five snakes, these two being a Fangpire and Hypnobri, and demand to know why they're in the city.

The Fangpire pulls an uno reverse card and demands to know what happened to the Valciraptor and Lloyd.

Nya asks why it matters, since Garmadon has the megaweapon, and the Hypnobri accidentally spills the tea that the megaweapon is "acting out" in a sense, not obeying its master's wishes and even starting to crack, which we see in a cut to Garmadon as the snake talks/narrates.

Garmadon commands the weapon to speak to him, but it only shows his reflection and grows cracks into it.

Cut back to the ninja and Cole asking what Lloyd has to do with it. Neither of the snakes know, but they need to find and retrieve Lloyd or Garmadon's going to get two new wallets.

Cut back to the Bounty after the ninja and Nya finish interrogating the snakes, where they see Zane walk out with Lloyd, who's getting a little better at walking and now has an awesome new hairdo. They all have to admit he looks pretty good, but get back on track with explaining what they learned about the megaweapon and Garmadon trying to find Lloyd.

Wu deduces Garmadon has practically abused the weapon's power and it's at its limit and tells a growingly stressed Lloyd he must stay on the Bounty, no matter what. Lloyd, however, isn't listening as he comes to his own conclusion: the snakes must have seen him use the Tomorrow Tea against the Valciraptor, but didn't see the monster die or him grow. They reported to his father, and now the final battle must begin NOW.

"This is all my fault."

Cole tells him it isn't, as the final battle was alway going to happen and Lloyd should really calm down because his hands are glowing with energy that his little body couldn't exactly make use of before.

With a shout, the energy blasts outward, knocking back the ninja, Nya, and Wu, just a little bit because he energies himself a shield. No one's thrown off the deck of the Bounty, Llyod just shoves them back a little too hard without directly touching them.

Zane determines the increase in power he now has and asks Wu if power is somehow connected to one's emotions, which he says can be the case.

Lloyd apologizes for almost throwing them overboard, which they accept as long as he doesn't do it again(he never will), and Wu tells him that his emotions and his powers are like different streams that go the same way; they're going to to seperate and hard to see together, but when they meet and converge into a river, they'll be united and strong. If it doesn't make sense, I'm so sorry, I'm not good at being a wise mentor. Lloyd is about to protest, but nods and agrees.

With the power of Process of Elimination, the team comes to the conclusion that Garmadon and the serpentine are probably at Ouroboros, all things considered.

They head there, their dragon following, which has totally been here the whole time, it just hunts and whatnot and comes back, though the ninja instruct it to stay with Lloyd once they reach the city.

During the flight, which takes a couple days, Cole finds Lloyd reading a book Zane lent to him, a fictional one talking about mature subjects like the societal underworld, politicians involved in and protecting people from it, and the society itself blind to what's going on. Forgetting Lloyd's sudden physical growth, Cole tells Lloyd that he's a little young to be reading a book like that. Lloyd, however, says he's tried reading it before, about a week ago, but barley understood it. Now he's starting to, proof that his mind is slowly catching up with his body. Cole takes a seat next to Lloyd as the younger admits that since his sudden growth, he's been seeing more of the world, kind of like before when he was younger, but there's more to see now, like he's a fish in a tank that's left the decorative house it stayed in only to find it is now noticing the tank is really the ocean for the first time, and is about to swim and explore it all.

Cole puts an arm around him, pulls him close, and assures him that he doesn't have to explore this ocean alone, that he has Wu, Nya, Zane, Kai, Jay, and himself(Cole) with him, as they are his school, if they're still using the fish analogy.

Lloyd thanks him, resting his head against Cole's shoulder, and admitting tearfully, and wuite self deprecatingly, that even with how much bigger he's gotten, he still has a lot of growing to do. Cole assures him he'll grow pretty quickly, knowing Lloyd.

They arrive and head out, the Bounty a good distance away as to not attract attention. Lloyd tells them to be careful, which they do, as long as he promises to stay put, Kai offering to buy him candy if he does, which Lloyd does not find funny at all.

Cole, being smart, offers that if they aren't back in thirty minutes, he can join in the fight, which Wu reluctantly agrees with, to calm his nephew.

They leave, Zane looking back and gesturing for Lloyd to remain out of sight as he stands on the deck.

Lloyd instead crouches and then sits down, examining his hand again before one of the dragon's heads rubs against it, so he can give ot pets. He chuckles as he does. "Guess I'm finally taller than Brad," he says to himself.

Back with the team, they arrive and enter in secrecy, watching from a close enough distance as Garmadon tries to make the weapon work as the serpentine return from searching for Lloyd and the Valciraptor, which they report is dead while Lloyd is purely missing. Garmadon groans and calls them all useless before pacing and turning to his last ditch effort: using the weapon to summon Lloyd to him.

Wu has none of that and spinjitsus his way into the center of the arena Garmadon and the serpentine have gathered, knocking out and away a few snakes and a general or two.

The rest join in and the battle begins, Garmadon and Wu duking it out, with Garmadon demanding, "Where is he hiding!?" as Wu snarks back, "This battle is between us!" while the ninja and Nya fight against the snakes, which are coming at them in very overwhelming numbers.

Cole and Zane are fighting back to back and doing fairly well as Zane hopes Cole was serious about that "thirty minutes" thing, because goodness help them if he doesn't show up.

Funny Zane say that as we cut to a sort of TV, Viewer prespective of a montage/jump cut extravaganza that cuts between Lloyd and the ninja fighting, quiet, slightly humorous, kinda bored soinding music playing for Lloyd as he rests his head in his arms on the table and looks at the clock to see only five minutes have past. He leans back with a sigh and blows some hair off his forehead as he taps a finger. Cut loud, kind of desperate, fighting, action music playing with Wu kicking Garmadon away and doing some wicked staff attacks that knock away Skales and the Fangpire general. Garmadon gets back up and the two have one of those weapon colliding glare offs as Garmadon seethes, "You stole my family once, I will not let you do it again!" He pushes Wu back and slashes at him, Wu dodging and asking, "You really think he will be safe back among the serpentine!? Not even you can protect him from them, and you LEAD them!" Garmadon shouts, "ENOUGH!" and lunges at Wu. Cut back to Lloyd, who's leaning against the railing on the bow of the Bounty and having a staring contest with Shard, who blinks, making Lloyd smirk at the victory. He checks the time on his phone and finds that seven minutes has past since the team left. CUT to Jay as he's thrown into frame by Skalidor before Zane dropkicks him for old time's sake. He helps up Jay, who thanks him, and they tag team Skalidor, who hisses at tail whips Zane and right hooks Jay. CUT back to Lloyd, who's balancing on the railing with the dragon watching, each head knowing what stupidity this 7 year old in a 16 year old's body is going to cause. He quickly switches feet ans his foot slips, making him lose his balance and fall to the dirt. The camera would linger on where he was standing as he hisses in pain and groans, "Ow." CUT to Cole as he wrestles the Hypnobri general to the ground and smashes his fist into his face, knocking the snake out standing back up in time for a Constricti to land on his shoulders and choke hold him. As he fights it off, Kai and Nya take turns fighting off Skales and an assortment of snakes, Nya even getting a few good hits in with her chakrams as she dryly remarks that she should've left ninja-ing to the boys. Cole throws off the Constricti and shouts, "Wherever Lloyd is, he better get here now!" CUT to Lloyd chewing on his nail as he's crouching on the ground, occasionally looking at the dragons through the corner of his eyes, like his eyes move but his head doesn't, and looking at the arena at the center of the city. He does this a few times before checking his phone again. Fifteen minutes has past and he can't take the suspense anymore as he climbs back onto the Bounty, quickly changes, and runs to join the fight, though the dragon trots after him in time to see him stumble a little. He saddles up and flies there instead, as he'll need all the energy he can get. (Thank goodness that's over.)

The ninja, Nya, and Wu are surrounded and back into the center of the arena, all of them bloodied, bruised, and worn from fighting, the snakes and Garmadon swarm in, ready to deliver the final blow, Garmadon having figured out he can create a killer lightning storm that doesn't TECHNICALLY go against what the weapon does.

Too bad Lloyd drops in super hero landing style and uses earth powers to knock the snakes back, and accidentally make the team fall. Garmadon remains standing and points the weapon at him, demanding to know who this tall, teenage, powerful ninja in green is; for anyone who says he should know his son is the green ninja, Garmadon doesn't know Lloyd threw away 9 years of his life to save the ninja, and it's kind of dark out, so he can't really see his eyes.

Lloyd stands up, stumbling a little, but still stands, gesturing for the team to stay back as he rises. He and Garmadon have a stare off before Lloyd gets into a defensive stance.

Garmadon laughs, remarking that this warrior is here in Lloyd's place, probably because they hid him somewhere. Lloyd's shoulders drop, because he's right there, but Garmadon interprets it as the ninja's plan being foiled, remarking that it was clever of them, but it was still stupid. He also can't help but thank Wu for keeping Lloyd away from the battle.

Before he can say more, Skales charges, clocking Lloyd with an upward swing from his staff into Lloyd's jaw, knocking him down. He shouts if THIS is Ninjago's hero, an amateur who's all bark and no bite? Lloyd kicks him back for that and stands as he picks up a sword one of the snakes dropped, holding it up as much as he can despite the weight. The snakes laugh, and Lloyd gives a 'bitch, really' face and throws the sword at Skales, which bangs into his staff and scares him.

"I'm not here to play games!" Lloyd shouts before pointing to the megaweapon. "The weapon's on its last legs. Use anymore of its power, and theres no telling what could happen!" Garmadon scoffs, retorting, "You expect me to just hand it over that easily?"

The serpentine back away, some even pulling the team back with them as carefully as possible. Lloyd notices and realizes what's about to happen.

Soon it's just Lloyd and Garmadon. Tv perspective, the camera would be above the now open ring as the two circle each other from far away, spinning counter to them. It cuts to a perspective behind Garmadon's boots as he walks, steady footed with Lloyd in the background of the frame trying to be tough, but still kind of stumbling. Cut to the same perspective, but behind Lloyd's less sure feet with Garmadon stalking in the background.

From where the team stands, Jay asks to no one in particular if the two aren't really going to fight, considering what the team knows. Upon hearing that, Wu has an 'oh, SHIT' moment, and tries calling out to Garmadon to not fight.

Too late, because he takes a swing at Lloyd, who barely dodges in time and gets a punch into the cheek that sends him back into the ground.

Garmadon shouts for him to get back up, that if he wanted a fight, then he'd get what he wanted, as he was the so-called green ninja. Those words, minus the green ninja bit, trigger a very unpleasant memory for Lloyd, one where an older boy yelled at him and beat him up for being the son of Lord Garmadon. He's snapped out of it with a kick to the face from a serpentine; he was unconsciously crawling away.

Garmadon shouts for his opponent to man up and stop being a coward and Lloyd shakes his head before standing up.

This time, Lloyd apologizes to his father and races towards him, using a trick he picked up from training with the ninja: he sends some lightning in Garmadon's direction, which he blocks, before sliding and kicking his feet out from beneath him, making Garmadon fall as Lloyd kips up, one that he's been practicing and celebrates pulling off prematurely. (Again, 7 year old in a 16 year old's body)

Garmadon gets up with a cool sweepy motion and kicks the back of Lloyd's knee before kicking him HARD in the face, enough to make his nose bleed.

He laughs that NOW this is a good fight, and asks very tauntingly where it's been in the first place, as Lloyd struggles to his feet as he holds his nose. He throws apologies and martial arts to the wind as he shouts and left hooks Garmadon close to the eye. Garmadon has none of it and uses two of his four hands to grab Lloyd's hands before returning the punch to its sender, kneeing, and kicking Lloyd away once more, but not without a surprise blast of ice to the megaweapon, freezing it to uselessness.

On his back, Lloyd fights tears as Garmadon shouts at him for getting in the way, being no better than the ninja and always trying to ruin his plans. Lloyd, barely able to keep it together, bites that what he's been told is true, that Garmadon really is evil.

Garmadon kicks him numerous times for that, in the face, ribs, and arms, shouting he doesn't know anything about what he's had to do for his son.

Lloyd crawls back and throws his hood off, revealing himself for everyone to see, those who don't know, at least.

All that rage and battle adrenaline Garmadon had immediately gets washed away by horror as he sees and recognizes the green ninja's face, even though he's bleeding, starting to bruise, and has tears streaming down his face.

Silence washes over the entire arena; not even Skales has something dry to say.

Garmadon and Lloyd stare at each other, the father struck with guilt and horror as his son glares at him as he doesn't bother trying to stop his tears, even backing away when Garmadon reaches out for him.

"L-Lloyd? How?"

Lloyd rolls onto his front and pushes himself up, grunting out, "The Valciraptor. I used tea to make it age into nothing but bones. Kai and Jay and Cole, the weapon made them turn into kids." He stands very slumped over and holding his side and turns around to Garmadon, who puts the pieces together, and glares at Wu.

"You... You fools! Look at what you've done to MY SON!"

"All Sensei did was bring the tea to our location," Lloyd replies as he takes a breath and straightens, wiping his eyes and meeting his father's gaze head on. "I wasn't going to let you take my family away from me."

Those words put a SPEAR through Garmadon's chest and opens the teams eyes, especially when Lloyd turns to them and smiles to say what he said was true.

Garmadon trembles as emotions flood him. He's beaten and attacked his son, turned his ENTIRE family against him, and has ultimately proven that the evil from the great devourer's venom has truly shaped who he is.

But he still has the megaweapon. With a shout, he smashes the bottom part into the ground, commanding the weapon to turn back the clock and to give him back his son, to give him back his boy and give him the power to destroy those who've taken everything from him.

The weapon cracks even more and begins to start working, but a panic reaction from Lloyd takes care of that:

The teen's eyes go from their usual red to green, and then gold as he shoots a blast of energy at the weapon just as it too blasts at him and the team. Despite a little back and forth, the gold and green blast overwhelms the megaweapon and it is destroyed in Garmadon's hand, leaving nothing but the fang blades and the now permanently dormant golden weapons.

The gold and green energy blast morphs into enery tentacles as Lloyd slightly hovers off the ground. Before they can do anything, he drops to the ground, the energy fading and everyone still alive. Garmadon's eyes lock onto the unconscious Lloyd and he drops to his knees, only watching him as his own tears fall from his eyes

The team silently collect the fang blades and the weapons, though Zane chooses instead to carry the unconscious Lloyd on his back.

As they leave, the serpentine all back off, giving them room to leave. Skales does try telling them to attack, but Garmadon weakly grabs his arm. "No. That's enough. Let them go."

The episode ends as the team reaches the Bounty and Lloyd cries as quietly as he can, which Zane notices. Kai asks if Lloyd's okay, but Zane says that Lloyd's just having a bad dream, as he did get triggered earlier, and will be okay when he's in bed. Kai shrugs it off, and Lloyd thanks Zane, who smiles sympathetically as the episode closes.

NEXT EPISODE: We start with a another jumpcut montage, but it's not crazy like before. Somber-ish music playing as we switch from Garmadon, who's leaning against a table while dealing with a major shame-over from fighting with Lloyd. The serpentine watch him closely, but are too scared to ask what their plan of action is now. Cut to Lloyd as he lies curled up in bed with the blankets over him. He's still physically and mentally beaten up by what happened in Ouroboros and would rather stay in bed than talk about it. Tv perspective, the camera would be on a tired and drained Lloyd as he hears and feels his bed creak slightly behind him as someone sits down. It cuts to show it's Wu, who has some bandages on his face from the battle and is silent for his nephew's sake. He goes to put a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, but Lloyd sits up and removes the blanket. They stare at each other before Lloyd hugs him, Wu returning the hug and rubbing the back of Lloyd's head. Cut to Garmadon staring at the sky, with Skales and some lower ranked serpentine watching him. One brave soul gulps and approaches him, offering some water, because he's been standing and staring for hours on end. G-Dog politely turns down the free drink and returns to standing and staring. Zoom in on Skales glaring him down as the serpentine quietly agree that since the fight, Garmadon's been about as useful as a water in a spray bottle used against a house fire. Cut to the ninja as they train on the deck, Nya included, all of them stopping when Lloyd walks out and awkwardly shrugs as he forces a smile.

As he warms up, Jay checks in on him, maybe we can have a visual gag of Zane doing something cardiovascular by running between where the deck meets the front and back of the ship behind them as they talk.

Jay asks if Lloyd's feeling any better, all things considered, including that he hasn't left the bunk rooms in a week, and Lloyd says he's fine, not as good as he'd like to be, but fine as he is. Jay then asks about what happened with the megaweapon, more specifically when Lloyd did the cool hovering thing, to which Lloyd responds that he still can't remember what he did or the events slightly prior, even though he's tried remembering and repeating what he did, though he does ask if they've had luck with the weapons and fang blades.

Kai pauses from his spar with Cole to say they've still had no dice. The elemental weapons are dead and there's no bringing them back. Behind them, Zane sprints around them, on a mission to get in as many laps as he can.

Lloyd deflates at the fact that Wu was right about the weapon being at its limit, but continues warming up.

Nya, from her place on some sort of mini obstacle course, relays that she and Wu did some digging and noted that the weapons had certain reactions when placed beside certain weapons; the scythe looked less like dead stone next to the 'earth' fangblade, the one used in the trophy for the talent show, there was a defined red edge to the sword next the the 'fire' fang blade, etcetera. Lloyd, who switched to doing push-ups, wonders what it could mean.

Kai jokes that maybe it has to do with Garmadon getting the fangbaldes and making THEM into another megaweapon, but Cole quite literally kicks his ass for this, which sends Kai to the deck with a surprised yelp. Cole ignores the glare from Kai as he says whatever the change is, it's most likely important. He also apologizes for how messed up his blood family is, concerning what Lloyd said about them being his family. When Lloyd flinches away, Jay tries to lessen the words by saying, "Hey, at least you still have Sensei. A-and your mother." Lloyd shakes his head at this and admits, "I wouldn't know. I've... never met her. I mean, I remember her, but... something happened. And I never saw her again."

The ninja ans Wu are dead silent, but Kai gets up to continue his spar with Cole, and try to steal the rank of leader, only for Zane, who's been running this entire time, to surprise leap onto his back and send him back into the deck, Kai shouting, "No! Not again!"

The ninja laugh, and Lloyd lets himself chuckle, Zane saying to him as he holds a wrestling Kai, "Regardless, Lloyd, I believe we should be able to make up for what you've lost, if you'll allow us." He nods and says he does, thanking Zane as Kai breaks free.

Too bad the moment's broken by an alarm going off, Wu informimg them that venom from the great devourer has been found at anither museum in Ninjago City, one that's bigger and more expensive to go to than the one where the Valciraptor was revived. They all head out, even Lloyd, who figures he could use the change of scenery.

Quick cut to Garmadon sulking, but a Hypnobri saying they found the ninja at sea, and that they overheard Lloyd admitting he was apologetic about what happened with the weaopn. Garmadon, too desperately, commands that they get there immediately, missing and smirking Skales, who nods a 'well done' to the Hypnobri.

Back with the team, they make it to the city, the dragon and Bounty hidden a top a building as they arrive, carrying the fang blades with them along with the dead elemental weapons for safe keeping, and because they missed using the weapons.

Turns out the venom, like before, has given life to some of the museum's exhibits, but instead of bobbleheads, it's extinct creatures that used to hunt in Ninjago before humans were a thing, creatures like sabertooth tigers with cobras for a tails, bears that stand tall as giraffes and are long as hell rather than squat and fat, maybe a mini Valciraptor and Treehorn, and all sorts of nasties that makes the hair on even Zane's arms stand on end.

As the museum's director explains the situation, Lloyd stops and notices a painting of a crowd, maybe a battle in a village, and the camera would zoom in on his face, more specifically eyes because his face is hidden, as he stares. TV perspective, the director's voice fades into a crowd screaming in terror, particularly a woman screaming for her child to stay with her before the child himself screams for his mother.

A tap on the shoulder from Zane snaps him out of it, the white ninja asking if he's okay, which he semi-lies about. They rejoin the group and find the beasties, each person taking on one: Cole gets the monster long giraffe bear, Kai gets a large, wolf sized doberman with a long long and snake head and a bat head, Jay gets the sabertooth, Zane has to deal with treehorns agian(he looks at them with a glare, pulls off his hood, and lets a very scary, psychotic smile grow on his face because these things are the size of pitbulls.), and Lloyd is left to a cheetah-horse hybrid that spits acid at him, acid similar to what we have in our stomachs to digest food.

Each creature is oddly colored and had grown a stoney patch with veins of the devourer's venom pulsing all theough their bodies.

Where are Wu and Nya during all this? Well, Nya saw a woman almost get nommed on by one of these creatures, but the woman threw NYA out of the way and dealt with it herself with a blade hidden in her research scroll. Another beast comes running, but just as she goes for her blade again, Wu saves the woman as Cole takes care of it, apologizing for being a bad driver. Wu asks if she's alright, the camera on him, and he gasps at who he just rescued, even though she would've been just fine.

Cut to the ninja each fighting off their respective monster and winning, though when they hear shouting from Zane, they find him panting in a room full of dust and stone bits with a smile on his face. They're all terrified, but Jay's the only one brave enough to say Zane's lost it, which Zane responds to by throwing a recreated treehorn bit at him.

Lloyd isn't as successful as the cheetah-horse keeps knocking him back with it's front hooves and going for a bite, though he does well enough to get a few kicks in and block it woth his sword. It snags his collar instead and shakes him into a wall, which makes him see stars, before it goes for a bite and Lloyd gets in a killing blow with a sword. It falls, and he lies on his back, worn from the fight and not noticing the mini, great dane sized Valciraptor bites his hood and drags him back, making Lloyd choke. He's dragged awsy from his sword and his powers aren't exactly working right now, so he's left flailing and kicking to try and break free.

Thank goodness a blade pierces the Valciraptor and a boot stomps in it, destroying the creature. I hope you remembered that woman Wu saved, because she helps Lloyd to his feet as he coughs and thanks her.

The two meet eyes and the woman gasps, the team rounding the corner with Wu at the lead. Lloyd has major déja vu as the woman holds his face, tearing up as she examines him, asking if it's really him.

Wu speaks up to Lloyd that he probably wouldn't remember, as he was a CHILD when it happened(there's being a child, like a little kid, and then there's being a CHILD, like a 2 or 3 yesr old) and a crowd that heavy would have been too overwhelming for a three year old to handle. The ninja are flabbergasted and Lloyd backs away, a look of 'it can't be' on his face before he runs, overwhelmed by what's going on and not turning back when the woman calls for him and starts to give chase before Nya stops her, saying he just needs a lottle bit of time. Jay apologizes for breaking the moment and asks who this woman is, considering how skilled she is for being Wu's age.

Wu states that this is Lloyd's mother, the woman taking the wheel and introducing herself as Misako.

Cut to Garmadon and the serpentine generals as they fly a fang-copter over the water, Garmadon looking and asking for where Lloyd is. Skales replies, "Right HERE!" and shoves hin into the water below, where he falls and resurfaces to see them fly away. He calls them bastards and traitors and swims in a random direction, hoping it's right because damn him, if it isn't. Skales and the other generals bid good riddance to bad rubbish and the other leaders decide Skakes would maje a great leader. He ddoesn't disagree.

Back at the museum, the team has split up in search for Lloyd, the groups being Wu and Cole, Zane and Misako, and Jay, Nya and Kai, who's joining so Jay doesn't do anything suspicious. Zane catches Misako up on the series and tells her what's happened. She's not too happy about the fact her son fought his father one on one and got his ass kicked or the fact that he thought it was a good idea at 6 years old to befriend a bunch of snakes, but knowing what happemed and what he's been through, she can't exactly throw in her two cents. Zane admits that she's back in Lloyd's life now, and the two of them can catch up personally.

They find Lloyd sitting with his knees to his chest near a bottomless pit, which is restricted from entering to the public, and Misako quietly sits beside him. Zane stays back, but sneakily grabs some rope in case they fall.

After a few minutes, in which the rest of the team arrives, Misako carefully puts a hand on Lloyd's head, apologizing to him as he meets her eyes. Turns out he's been crying and he sees that her eyes are tearing up very much so. Out of misunderstanding, and a broken heart, he asks why she left him. Misako quickly hugs him, crying that she held on as much as she could, that she should've carried him rather than led him by hand as he was only three years old at the time. He thinks back to that painting and remembers more clearly as Misako weeps it was an attack and they should have left as soon as it began rather than sit and wait for Garmadon. Lloyd remembers vaguely how his father was back then as well, and says almost bitterly that his father hasn't changed a bit.

Misako pulls away and gets a closer look at him, asking how he got so bug if only four years have past. Zane's the one to spill the tea, the Tomorrow Tea that is, and Kai tries joking about it, stealing my spilling the tea joke, which earns him 'drop dead' eyes from Lloyd and Misako.

Whatever doubts they had about Misako vanish instantly.

Lloyd has one more question, though: Where was she while he was in Darkley's, even when he was thrown out?

Misako gives Wu 'How could you!?' eyes and then hugs Lloyd again.

She looked everywhere for him. The bus he was put on headed toward Ninjago city while her bus headed toward Jumonakai village, the two locations essentially being like Maine and California. She looked in every orphanage, boarding school, refugee camp, and anywhere else she could think, going from village to village to try and find him. She never really found him, but she found out about the serpentine and the dark island.

We get the explanation from before about the Overlord, his indestructible army, and that HE'S the one Lloyd needs to take down, not Garmadon, though they all move rooms so no one falls in the bottomless pit.

The ninja collectively shudder at this, and then Misako notices the fang blades, asking about them and the dead weapons. Lloyd drops the megaweapon and fang blade bomb and Misako realizes that the great devourer is gone with a capital G, which is bad because it could've been a last resort. She also remembers something she learned, when Lloyd talks about the weapons reacting to the fang blades. She holds the nunchucks with the fangpire blade and everyone is surprised to see the weapons merge into a cook buton sai mix that can be nunchuck-y with the push of a button. Lloyd asks how it's possible, since the weapons lost their power, and Misako explains that things don't really die, they just become something else, something more powerful. This is a voice over as we see a giant stone warrior come to life with help from the great devourer's venom.

Cut to Jay taking back what he said earlier, because Lloyd's mom is a badass. He's not exactly paying attention, instead asking Wu and Misako why they didn't find him earlier or why Misako hadn't joined the team earlier when Lloyd was first brought on the Bounty. Wu explains that he had called Misako to fill her in, and Misako was on her way, choosing to travel by foot between bus rides because she was tired of getting cat-called by other men and having a sore rear from sitting for nearly four hours straight. She at first started the research to cope with what happened, but it became a hobby and "safety net" for when she couldn't find Lloyd. If that doesn't paint a clear picture that Lloyd is, was, and always has been her first priority, I don't know what does

The stone warrior interrupts the moment, shocking EVERYONE. It takes a swing and they all dodge it, Misako throwing Lloyd out of the way as she flips back and readies her blade again. Lloyd isn't about to lose his awesome mom, so he leaps off the wall and kicks out the warrior's knee, making it fall.

They run to a 'party' room, one that's proper for fighting, and the duel begins, the ninja unsheathing their weapons and each one merging his with a corresponding fang blade after seeing their weapons fail where Jay's succeeds. Cole's scythe mixes with the Hypnobri blade, making it a staff sword on one end and a wicked double bladed scythe on the other, Zane merges his shurikens with the Constricti blade, giving him a staff that his shurikens can be removed from that turns into a bow with ice and venom arrows, and Kai merges his sword with the Hypnobri blade, at girst complaining that his weapon is the same before seeing it is every pyromaniac swordsman's dream when the sword becomes something of a whip that spews fire when it slashes and cracks.

They do more damage to the warrior, Lloyd getting in aome good hits with his powers, which he keeps in check as Misako fights with him and commends him for doing well in battle.

Good times end when the ninja are thrown off and Lloyd remembers the bottomless pit.

He shouts for everyone to give him at least five minutes and ahouts for Nya to follow him, which she does, as the rest keep fighting.

Even though they do well enough, the stone warrior follows where Lloyd and Nya ran, the remaining team trying to stop it.

Cut to it finding and charging at a meditating Lloyd, Misako crying for him to move because he's right infront of the bottomless pit. As the warrior swings, Lloyd falls back, and the warrior falls with him, having lost its balance from swinging at him.

Misako and the ninja are all quiet, Misako fighting tears as Nya says that all Lloyd told her to do was move the rope around the pit and keep her distance, and that she didn't know he'd do this.

Misako sees a glow from the pit and gasps as Lloyd hovers back out of the pit, looking very much like how he did before when he destroyed the megaweapon to protect his uncle and friends. He touches the ground drops to his hands and knees with a sigh, looking back at the pit and laugh-cry about his plan working as Misako hugs him and slyly pulls him away from the pit.

The others are equally glad, though Cole threatens him that if he does something like that again, he's keeping Lloyd in a harness on his chest to keep an eye on him.

They try to laugh it off, even though Misako gives him murder eyes, and all leave the museum, Lloyd sheepishly asking Misako if she's coming with them.

Upon seeing the 'please say yes' in his eyes, she hugs him and agrees that she'd be more than honored.

The episode ends with the team welcoming Misako on the Bounty, and a cut to an unconscious Garmadon floating on his back and washing on the shore of the dark island, exhausted from swimming and plotting on how he can get back at the serpentine. From a first person POV shot, a figure watches him rest, hissing out in a distorted voice, "Ah. He's perfect."

#ninjago #ninjao jay #ninjao cole #ninjago zane #ninjago kai #ninjago lloyd #ninjago rewrite #slight violence #angst #emotional damage tw #daddy issues #reanimated animals tw

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grumpy-zane · 3 years

Text

((Idk what to title this. DOTD stuff/Royal Blacksmith HC lore.

WARNING: this is long.))

Dareth ran the tablecloth up and down the counter, scrubbing out the spots that had ring stains to the beat of the song cracking from the radio. It was still too early in the evening to open up shop, but he didn't mind the wait. It gave him a lot of time to double check everything and re-count inventory. He flicked off the radio and on the TV, leaning on the counter to catch the news.

Nothing important was happening today, unless you counted traffic jams as a lethal city attack, and it was the perfect weather to hit the beach according to the news. No doubt Gayle was trying to find something to talk about, but, "Not a single story to get a scoop out of today, miss reporter," he spoke to the screen. Eyeing the window, he contemplated going out for an hour to catch some rays. Not that he needed it immediately, but he had notice that his tan was starting to fade as of late.

Knocking against the door pulled him from his thoughts. "We're not open yet, come back in three hours!" Dareth called, hoping his voice carried though the thick wood.

"Not a patron!" A prideful voice muffled back.

"Lou?" He stood up and answered the door. "Lou! Good to see ya, how have you been?"

"Well I've been just wonderful," he smiled and stepped inside, taking a seat at the bar while Dareth returned to his position, "I stopped by to talk to you about Day of the Departed plans."

"You know me, always room in my schedule for that. That's a few months away though, right?"

"Yes, but its always good to plan these things far in advance. Anyway, the other day when I was going through the archives, It hit me that I never let Cole experience how the Royal Blacksmiths formed."

Dareth lowered the TV volume, "Wait, I thought Cole didn't want to be a Blacksmith?"

"No, of course not! But its family history that I think he and his friends should know.. on top of a performance of course! That’s why I've come to you! We need the Jade Palace rented out." Lou beamed.

Bewilderment struck across his face, "Lou. You can't just rent out the Jade Palace- sure the city rebuilt it and turned it into a memorial.. museum.. actually I haven't been inside. But! Isn't that a little 'out there' in terms of.. you know.."

He laughed, "That’s why I came to you! You know how to make the impossible work out! And it's perfect too! 'The Royal Blacksmiths perform at the Jade Palace: a Historical Unraveling', I can see the headline now." He looked up, picturing the scenario in his mind.

Dareth folded his arms and thought about it. No doubt he'd have to talk to a rabbit hole of people just to pull it off, at least Lou came to him about it now rather than one week in advanced. "I'll see what I can do," he sighed.

"Haha, yes! I knew I could count on you!" He jumped up and headed towards the door, "I'll give you more details once I flesh them out. This is going to be so much fun!" The door shut in excitement.

---------

"You said your dad planned something?" Jay popped a few pieces of candy in his mouth, "something about the palace?"

"Yeah," he reached over and dug into the bag, grabbing out a taffy. "He said he had something special for the team- more importantly me, but he extended the invitation. He said something about Blacksmith history, I just hope he doesn’t drone on and on." Cole rolled his eyes.

"It sounds like you didn't have a very good experience with this in the past?"

He shrugged, "My dad was never a 'when I was your age' person, but he was a 'your great great whatever' person when it came to performing. I didn't like listening to it, so I never payed much attention."

The two climbed the front stairway just as people were departing. so much for making the show, but at least they weren’t absurdly late and didn’t leave Lou waiting half an hour. Kai and Nya looked away from the entry way and waved at the two, drawing the attention of Dareth was was hovering around the side walls. He whistled, Lou snapping away from the conversation of the quartet and smiling. “Cole! Jay! there you two are!”

“Hey dad-” the two hugged, “sorry we missed the performance. Crime never rests.”

“Yeah, luckily Pixal and Zane took over for us.” Jay chirped, “So, a story? Will it be in the form of a song?”

He laughed and rested a hand on Cole’s shoulder, leading the two up through the entrance. “No, no, I’m afraid not. The boys want to call it early tonight, so it’s going to just be me.” Lou nodded to the rest of his group, the three calling their goodnights and goodbyes. “So, you said two of you aren’t showing up, what about Lloyd?”

Jay and Cole exchanged glanced, then repeated the motion with Kai and Nya.Usually everyone would be here, but the S.O.G. no doubt made him rethink things in regards to his father. “I’ll keep a look out for him,” Dareth waved a hand and smirked, “I already got the low-down and I’ll get him up to speed. You guys enjoy the tour.”

The interior was much like it was before the destruction, though more antique fitted for the occasion, no doubt. Glass cases displayed attire and relics of an older time; worn armor stood tall on wooden racks, faded paintings hung beneath special lights, weapons held vertically reflected the gold trimmings surrounding them, and masks hung from the walls. Lou proudly walked past the displays to a dark lit wall, “As all of you know who the Royal Blacksmiths are, I won’t e going over that. Instead, I want to start from the very beginning.” He flicked on a light, illuminating the wall with a portrait through a lamp. “Before there were Blacksmiths, there were entertainers. This group of four traveled through Ninjago by foot, performing tricks no one had seen before! Their acts drew the attention of the Royal Family, who’s prince was delighted by their performances! So much so, that he invited them to perform at the palace.”

Cole tried not to sigh, feeling deja vu from this spiel. Taking a look around, it seemed like no one else was feeling the same. Whether that was for better or worse...

“Mr. Compère, You’re needed!” Lou jumped with the rest of the group, the masked man wrapped his arm around the Blacksmith, his attire making him look out of place, hailing from a lost time.

“M-Mr. Compère?” He sputtered.

“Yes, the King wants to see what we can do!” He was promptly pulled away, the person stopping to look back at the stunned Ninja. “You best be making your way to the stage if you don’t want to miss the performance.” He held up a finger to the lips of the mask, dispersing away into smoke.

Jay gawked, “Did you just SEE THAT?!”

“Who was that?” Kai asked, Cole pushing everyone aside.

“I dunno, but I don’t like the sound of what he has planned. Come on!”

Grand pillars held up the octagonal roof, the rafters danging dozens of lights of varying color, each held at a height that pointed down to the stage. The squad shoved open the doors, weapons brandished ready to fight when they were once again dumbstruck. On the far side the king sat, his green robes draping over his armored body. The Jade undertones in the trimming angled in a way that drew attention to his pale face, his dark eyes watching intently at the four masked men who stood in a circle with their backs on the inside. Among the four, one rose up an instrument: a lyre, intricately carved in ancient Ninjagian. The notes that escaped it echoed in the large room, the lights flickering as the air reacted to the music. The other three drew comically long blades, lifting them to the air and spinning around in a dance.

“The King and his son watched as their performance spelled out the story of a bard, One of which caught in plans that would prove to be quite fatal,” Lou’s voice spoke from the upper floor. As if on queue, one of the masked figured drove their sword into the other, shocking the royalty as the other two dropped to the floor dramatically. The bard only paused, returning to his playing once again. Another masked person stabbed their sword through, followed by the third, but the playing did not cease. This frightened the assailants, the person turning and gliding towards them, scaring them off stage. “It was such a grand display of endurance, that the King thought it would be foolish to simply send them away without compensation. Thus, he dubbed the ensemble, ‘The Royal Blacksmiths’, entertainers of the Royal Family.”

Cole lead the way around the lower balcony, the lights above blowing out suddenly before flickering back on. The stage had dramatically changed, one of that reflect a circus. The ringleader faced the four who had taken a seat next to the railing. Kai blinked, “Hey is that-”

“Ladies, and Gentlefolk, Tonight’s performance is none other than The Wondrous, Illustrious, Roooyaall Blacksmiths!” He brown cape flew as he lifted an arm to them, the curtains flying open as a large tiger leapt forward. One of the blacksmiths, wearing a black suit and white face paint with red accents, jogged across the ring, leading the large cat around the obstacles and through the tubes. From the other side, another Blacksmith ran out, performing flips through the same obstacle course and landing on a rolling board. A third leapt over the back curtain, landing in the hold of the rolling one who lifted them elegantly. The fourth emerged in a cloud of smoke, holding an arm out to the Ringleader who promptly through his hat and cane.

“Cole, That’s your dad!” Jay giddily squealed, pointing at the center circle.

“What?!”

Lou gently bowed, spinning the cane around and throwing it into the air, catching it and tossing it up again even higher. “No more was the need to act plays and stories, the people wanted to see something extraordinary, and so it was!” Lou shouted, barely turning around in time to see the tiger leap from the back curtains again.

“Dad look out-!” Cole leapt up from his seat, gripping the railing as the tiger fell into the hat and disappeared completely. Lou caught the cane and tossed it up again, winking at his son as he whipped the hat directly at him. It spun back around just out of reach and out of the light. The wheeling blacksmith sped up their circles, tossing the other into the air and catching the cane. The other landed next to Lou, striking a pose as the third slid out from the curtain on the other side. Lou kept his hands raised, marching in place as the cane was tossed up again. He grabbed it just as the last smith found his place behind the three, sparks exploding from the end of the cane like fireworks. The hat finally came back around which he promptly caught, lowering it to the ground and letting a small house cat step out of it.

“But it was so, that the life of excitement wasn’t something everyone could handle. Generations of building up elaborate stunts were daunting to the eyes of a junior, and so he chose a different approach,” Lou spoke as the quartet began humming various pitches. “He thought no one should bear to hear such noises that left ears ringing, Instead he came up with a new plan! One that involved singing!” He held the last word on a high note.

The tiger let out a low grumble, its purring distracting everyone to look at the side wall. “Oh nuts,” Dareth, the ringleader, smiled sheepishly, gently scratching the large cat under the chin.

Lou cleared his throat, “And so here we are now, carrying out the tradition to entertain no matter the form, display, or song. I hope you all enjoyed the performances, you especially, Cole.” He smiled up at his son.

Jay barged into the conversation, “That. Was. Awesome!”

“How did you pull it all off??” Nya asked, beaming.

“I would have never guessed that it was that deep,” Kai mirrored their excitement, “who knew?”

Cole leapt down from the balcony and approached his father, “You did all of this, just for me?”

“Of course, Cole, It’s family history!.. and I wanted to let you know that, not everyone in our historical line wanted to do what their fore-fathers did. I’m proud of you, that you’re a ninja, It gives me a lot to write and sing about!” He gripped Cole’s shoulder and laughed, pulling him into a half hug.

The other ninja had leapt down, asking the others as the group of performers congregated in the pit. It was a shame that Zane, Pixal, and Lloyd missed it, but Cole was sure that Kai had recorded at least part of it on his phone for his social media followers. The earth ninja eyed around at the general happiness, content with it, and leaned against his dad. “Happy Day of the Departed, dad.”

He squeezed him back, chuckling, “Happy Day of the departed.”

#ninjago #Lou #Dareth #cole #jay #nya #kai #the royal blacksmiths

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fabrowrites · 3 years

Text

Oh, can I be your Bibilly Hills?

For Lloyd’s very late birthday! also on ao3 and ffn.net.

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Kai stands at the entrance to the cafeteria. The bustle in the room is loud with kids meeting up with their friends, the snapping open of lunchboxes, and chairs and tables being squeaked across the floor.

Kai exhales. He hikes his backpack higher onto his back. Then he squares his shoulders and walks over to the table in the far corner of the room where only one person sits, despite the overcrowding at all the rest of the tables.

Lloyd Garmadon’s eyes lift as Kai drops into the seat across from him, only to return to his plate again just as quickly. One by one, the rest of their secret ninja crew arrive. They send glances at each other, and at Lloyd, who has started to eat his food with laser-like focus.

It’s only been a week since Master Wu gathered them all together for a “very important meeting”. It’s only been a week since he told them they were ready to take the next step in their team-building. It’s only been a week since their eternally-masked leader took off his hood, only to reveal the son of Ninjago City’s very own warlord hiding beneath it.

Needless to say, conversation is stilted.

A hand comes down on the table with a resounding smack. Chen, captain of the cheer team, leans over their table. “Hey, look, everyone,” he says mockingly. “Garmadork has a dork squad now.” He gives their table an obvious once-over, grin widening. “Aw, why are you sitting with him? Are your daddies super-villains too?”

“Hi, Chen,” Lloyd says. “Nice insult. Much more original than your last one- what was it? The Bad Dad Lad?”

Chen’s face twists up in a sneer. His hand snakes out and smacks Lloyd’s water bottle over, instantly flooding his lunch. “Oops,” he says, sounding not at all sorry. “I didn’t see that there! Hope that wasn’t all you had.”

He saunters off, looking inordinately pleased with himself. Lloyd, on the other hand, stares for several long seconds at his ruined lunch. Kai expects him to look furious, or at the very least, upset, but there’s only this sad sort of look on his face. Like he’d been expecting it to happen. It’s so awful to look at that something in Kai snaps.

“Here, have some of mine,” he says, shoving his bento forward. ��“I always take too much rice anyways.”

Nya gives him a near-imperceptible nod from across the table; she’s thinking the same thing. God, Kai loves his sister so much. “This is true,” she says. “The day Kai doesn’t bring home leftovers is the day he’s been replaced by his evil clone.”

Kai opens his mouth, intending to say just what he thought of that, when a quiet noise brings him back to the situation at hand. Lloyd looks at them both, mouth parting slightly. “Are you sure?” he asks, but he can’t disguise the way he’s already eying the bento up.

“Take it,” Kai insists. “It’s not doing me any good sitting here.”

Kai can see Lloyd’s hesitation wavering. A moment later, the other boy accepts it with a quiet, “thank you”.

The other ninja are watching. Kai catches their eyes and mouths ‘later’ above Lloyd’s head. After lunch wraps up, and Lloyd excuses himself to use the restroom, they all gather near the window.

“What happened at lunch-” Kai says without preamble- “it can’t happen again.” It’s not like he was expecting them to protest, but something warms in his chest at how intensely they immediately nod. They must look like a pack of bobbleheads to anyone passing by.

“He was just so sad,” Nya says. “It makes me want to punch something. Preferably Chen’s face.”

Jay backs a step away from her, laughing that nervous laugh of his. Cole hums. His ever-present headphones are hanging around his neck, which is how Kai knows just how seriously he’s taking it. Headphone removal: truly the highest form of respect in the modern age. “We should do something for him,” he says.

“Normal human teenager things?” asks Zane.

“Exactly!” says Kai. “He’s an only child! I bet he’s never had a blanket fort before!”

“We can make it at his house so he can keep it up longer,” Cole says. “I’ve dropped off homework for him before. I still have his address in my phone.”

“I’ll take him out after school to the comic book shop so you guys have more time,” Jay offers. He twists his hands in his ever-present orange scarf.

“And we’ll get the snacks,” Nya finishes. She sticks her hand out. The rest of them do too, and then there’s a period of silence where they look at each other awkwardly. Wow, they really are lost without Lloyd.

Cole sighs. “Ninja go,” he says.

“Ninja go!” Kai says. The game is afoot.

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

The walk to the comic books shop is literally the definition of awkward silence.

Jay and Lloyd walk three feet apart on the sidewalk. Their eyes meet fleetingly across the way before skittering away. People who pass them stare, and Jay ducks his head and meeps at each hateful glare sent his way.

“You don’t have to do this,” Lloyd mumbles.

Jay jumps. “Huh?”

Lloyd shoves his hands into his hoodie pocket. “I said,” he says a bit louder, “you don’t have to do this.”

“Do what?” Jay says nervously. He wrings his hands in his scarf. “I’m not doing anything?”

Lloyd looks pointedly at his hands. He huffs, dipping his head so his bangs cover his eyes, “Make yourself be nice to me, or whatever it is that you and the rest of them are trying to do. I have eyes, Jay,” he says, when Jay opens his mouth to protest. He glances up at him through his curtain of hair, and something in his face softens. “It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

Jay doesn’t know what to say to that. But something comes over him, and before he can talk himself out of it he’s bridging the gap to walk right beside Lloyd. Lloyd looks up sharply.

“We want to be nice to you,” he says softly. “You’re part of our team, aren’t you?”

Lloyd snorts. “Some might go as far to call me the leader,” he says, but there’s this quiet, sort of pleased look on his face. It’s enough for Jay to stick by his side, even as they move towards the busier part of the city and the glares and angry whispers increase.

It takes them about fifteen minutes to get to the comic book shop. Jay swings the door open, inhaling that paper-ink-and-smelly-teenager scent he’s become intimately familiar with. Lloyd follows more hesitantly, blinking at the racks upon racks of books, merch, and everything in between. His eyes widen when they land on the display case right in front of them.

“No way!” he says, springing forward. “I didn’t know this came out!”

“What?” asks Jay, jumping sideways to see. “Is that the new edition of Starfarer? Wait, you like Starfarer too?”

Lloyd is already flipping through the chapter, eyes scanning the pages. “It was my favorite as a kid!” he says excitedly. ‘I didn’t know they were still making it. The library only has through chapter sixteen.”

“I think there’s forty-two now,” Jay offers. Lloyd gives him a look that’s halfway between horrified and delighted. Jay can’t help but grin back. He goes to say something else, but a sharp exhale nearby interrupts their moment.

Two men are standing across the room, muttering and glaring alternatively at them. No, at Lloyd. One scowls at them and leaves, heading towards the front desk.

“We should go,” Lloyd says. With great reluctance, he sets the comic back down and pats it into place. “I don’t want you getting in trouble for me.”

It’s like that one tumblr post- and Jay will deny to the end that he has a tumblr- that’s like: ‘if somebody is more uncomfortable than me I am suddenly able to Do The Thing’. “No, we just got here,” he says. “We can’t leave yet.”

Lloyd looks obviously torn. Jay sees the manager heading their way and makes the decision for him. Seizing his hand, he pulls Lloyd deeper into the store. They speed-walk through the isles, ending up near the back.

“They shouldn’t do that to you,” he says.

Lloyd shrugs, eyes cast off to one side. “It’s not like it’s anything new.”

“Still,” Jay says, feeling his ears heat up. The adrenaline of the moment has worn off, and now he’s feeling the embarrassment from his spontaneity. “It’s not cool.”

Lloyd stares at him for several long seconds. Jay squirms. Lloyd looks like he wants to say something, but then his eyes slide past Jay and land on something behind him.

Lloyd’s entire face lights up. “I thought they discontinued this years ago!” He starts pawing through the container, making little mumbling comments and noises underneath his breath.

Jay takes out his phone and surreptitiously sends a text to the group.

bluejay: okay we are keeping him!!!

kaiguy: was that ever even an option?

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

The woman who opens the door for Cole and Zane looks… tired, for lack of a better way to put it. Her hair is done up in a messy bun and there are dark circles under her eyes as she regards the pair of them warily.

“Mrs. Garmadon?” asks Zane.

“Ms. Ito,” says the woman. Her expression flattens the longer they stay silent. “Look, if you’re looking to hassle me or Lloyd, it’s been a long day and-”

We’re some of Lloyd’s friends from school,” Cole blurts out. He freezes the moment the words leave his mouth- interrupting someone? Idiot, Mom taught you better than this - but the words themselves don’t feel false in his mouth. They feel right, an unshakable truth like the laws of gravitation and motion, steady as the earth beneath his feet. He spares a look at Zane and finds the other nodding his agreement.

Lloyd’s mom, however, looks like she’s been slapped in the face. ‘Friends?” she echoes, almost like she doesn’t believe them. Which, as Cole reflects, shouldn’t be that surprising. He’s seen the bullying at school firsthand. A wave of regret knocks into him for all the times he’s stayed silent and watched- not participating, just not stepping in. Never again, he swears to himself.

While Cole’s been having this epiphany, Zane’s been barreling on ahead without him. “Lloyd was harassed this morning in school,” he says primly. “We want to build a structure of blankets for him in your apartment.”

Zane, Cole thinks, internally slapping his palm against his forehead.

But Lloyd’s mom looks so grateful that Cole feels suddenly sick. This woman has two complete strangers standing on her doorstep, practically demanding to be let in so they can destroy her house with pillows and blankets and loud teenagers. She shouldn’t look like they’ve just saved her dog from a house fire.

“It’s really nothing,” he grits out. “We just wanted to do something for him.”

He’s staring at the load of blankets in his arms, so he doesn’t see Lloyd’s mom move. Suddenly, there are hands taking the pile from him. Her face appears in front of his. “It’s not nothing,” she says softly. She doesn’t elaborate, but neither of them need her to. “Come on in. I’ll show you where everything is.”

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

“Vegetable or Sriracha?’

“Does he like spicy things?”

Kai looks down at the two bags of chips in his hands. “Both,” he decides. “Both is good.”

Both their phones go off at the same time: Kai’s the default BorgPhone ringtone he’s never figured out how to change, Nya’s the Wilhelm Scream. Nya digs hers out first. “It’s Jay.”

Kai juggles the chips with the rest of the snacks in his arms.

jaybird: were almost done here

jaybird: well be at his house in like 20

jaybird: r u guys done yet?

do it for the vinyl: 👌

frozane: 😁 🥰 😚 😋 🤗 😇 🙃 😆 🤣 😘 🤪 🤩

Kai pockets his phone. “Guess that’s our cue to go.”

They pay quickly and rush over to Lloyd’s house, using the address Cole had texted them all earlier.

Kai hands off his bags to Zane, switching his shoes. “Let’s see what you’ve done!” He catches sight of the fort from the corner of his eye and his jaw drops. “Woah.”

“Right?” Cole smirks.

Kai’s too focused on the mass of colors and fabric swallowing up the living room, otherwise he would pick a fight. He crawls through the entrance, a sheet hanging loose between two cushions.

The fort is nearly tall enough to stand up in. Cole and Zane have slung sheets from the lamp to the couch to a coat rack, using tape, clips and pillows to secure the blankets down. A music stand supports the entire thing in the center. Kai didn’t know that Lloyd took music, though maybe he should have expected it because, hello, Asian? It seems like not knowing is a depressingly common thread running through all that they’ve been learning.

Kai squares his shoulders. Nope. Now’s not the time for beating himself up. He’s just gonna do better, be better, from here on out.

“Bring the snacks in already!” he hollers, sticking his head out the hole. “Lloyd’s gonna be here any minute!”

Cole raises his eyebrow judgmentally, even as he passes him the bags of chips. Nya has no such restraint and throws dried squid at his face.

“Lloyd just texted to say he’s on his way,” Lloyd’s mom tells them from the kitchen entrance. Kai thinks her expression is a mix of fear and awe, which is always a good reaction to one of Kai’s ideas.

Kai can hear them now, feet thudding softly on the wood of the hallway through the thin walls. They’re laughing at something- presumably a meme on Jay’s phone. The dork has thousands of them. Someone bangs against the door and then it swings open.

“Hey, Mom,” Lloyd says, and Kai doesn’t think he’s ever heard him this happy. The blond is switching his shoes, completely unaware of the spectacle behind him. “Sorry that I’m late, we lost track of-”

He turns around and freezes.

“Surprise!” Kai shouts. Behind Lloyd, Jay starts cheering. Nya salutes him from her position sprawled on the couch and Cole and Zane wave at him from beside the fort.

Lloyd’s mouth drops open. “What?” he splutters. “Wait, what’s going on? What is all this?”

“Can’t we do something nice for our bro just ‘cause we feel like it?” Kai crawls out and goes to him, slinging his arm across his shoulders.

“Guys,” Lloyd says.

To Kai’s horror, his eyes are wet around the corners. Shoot, did they mess up? “Don’t cry!” he yelps, voice cracking embarrassingly at the end. “We’ll pick it all up, don’t worry!”

“No, no,” Lloyd says hurriedly. “You did this for me?” he asks, awe in his voice. He glances around the room. “All of you?”

“Of course,” Zane says. “You are our friend.”

“We realized we’ve been a little lacking in that department,” Nya chimes in. “So here’s us, making up for it! We’re nowhere near done yet either,” she warns. “Constant vigilance!”

Lloyd discreetly wipes his eyes. “Thanks,” he says. “I love a good threatening in my own living room.”

And for a moment, they all stay put in their places, grinning widely from Lloyd to each other. Lloyd’s mom smiles softly, unseen, from where she stands in the kitchen.

Kai grins. The moment breaks. “Well, don’t just stand there. C’mon! You’ve got to see what Cole and Zane did inside.”

#ninjago #ninjago fic #happy birthday lloyd garmadon

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