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Lloyd was ready to murder Uncle Wu.
Not like, actually. Maybe just some minor bodily harm. The old man’s literally descended from the First Spinjitzu Master — he can handle a broken bone or two (three if Lloyd gets lucky).
Imagining such helped him relax a little bit in his new room as he sighed and looked outside from the balcony. Wu had gotten the bright idea that they needed to have some sort of family vacation to celebrate Harumi’s adoption – ugh – and so they were all stuck together on a cruise ship for the next two weeks.
Fun.
Lloyd had arrived earlier while Misako checked in so that they could get settled. As far as he knew, Wu had been taking some of the morning to catch up with Morro as he’d been off on his whole “soul searching” trip around Ninjago for the last few years since he’d been resurrected. And his dad was off doing some father-daughter bonding with his newly acquired offspring.
There were three beds in total in the room, so he called dibs on the one closest to the window cause he was actually on time and therefore got to choose the best spot.
He’s assuming that he’s sharing the room with his mom and maybe Uncle Wu or Garmadon. He wasn’t exactly privy to the all the details of the trip, but that made the most sense.
(Which, in hindsight, should have been his first warning sign.)
The ocean stretched endlessly in front of him, calm and deceptively peaceful. For a brief, fragile moment, Lloyd let himself believe this might actually be an okay trip – it wasn’t often that he got to take a break from being the hero of Ninjago. It’d be nice to actually get some peace and quiet for once—
The door slams open.
That’s really an understatement for what just happens – the door practically explodes inwards, slamming against the wall with a sharp crack that echoes throughout the room as a powerful gust of wind barrels in after it.
Lloyd stumbles back from the force of it, arms pinwheeling as he tries to steady himself – FSM he nearly fell off the balcony – before whipping around, prepared to yell at whoever had done literally whatever that was.
Instead, he freezes in place.
There, standing in the doorway, hands still outstretched from the wind he had very much just used to blow the door wide open, looking entirely too pleased with himself, was Morro.
Very much alive and thriving.
Unfortunately.
He was dressed like a fashion disaster, wearing a yellow flower lei, pineapple shaped sunglasses perched on his absolutely atrocious hair, and a polo shirt covered in colorful neon flamingos.
Lloyd stares at him.
Morro grins wider.
And then Lloyd notices that he’s not alone.
At his side, dragging her suitcase in like she owns the place, is his new apparently-not-evil-anymore sister, also wearing a matching yellow lei and a pink floral dress like this is some kind of coordinated attack.
Harumi drops her bag beside the bed closest to the door and immediately flops onto it, testing the mattress like she’s already claimed it (still wearing her shoes too, the monster).
Lloyd’s eye twitches.
There’s a beat of silence as he processes this new development, trying valiantly to come up with literally any other explanation.
Maybe they’re in the wrong room?
Maybe they’re just dropping off some extra luggage?
Maybe—
“Hey Lloyd,” Morro says, smirking like he’s about to ruin his entire life (for the second time).
Oh no.
“Guess what?”
Oh no.
“We’re roomates for the next two weeks!”
Oh hell no.
Lloyd doesn’t – can’t – respond, his brain having shut down somewhere between “we’re” and “roomates”.
Slowly, he turns towards to hallway, as if Wu will magically appear out of thin air and reassure him that this was all a mistake. Because there was no way that this was anything other than a mistake.
Wu wouldn’t–
Wu would.
That sneaky, cryptic, deceitful old man had absolutely planned for this to happen. Of course he did.
Lloyd takes a deep breath. In. Out.
“Great,” he mutters, somehow managing to sound only slightly murderous and unhinged.
Harumi beams.
Morro looks like he might actually start laughing.
Lloyd turns back towards the balcony, staring longingly at the endless ocean. He briefly considers his options. Jumping is a pretty strong contender…
Never mind, Wu is dead.
Instead of (justifiably) unleashing every profanity currently known to man (and then some), Lloyd very politely excuses himself and totally does not storm out of the room and barge into the room he believes to belong to his uncle.
He doesn’t even knock. He just barrels inside — and immediately freezes.
Lloyd makes eye contact with the occupant in the room who is very much not his uncle, and instead his absentee father wearing a yellow lei – did everyone get one expect him? – and swimming trunks.
There is a long, terrible pause.
Lloyd slowly backs out of the room, shutting the door without saying a word.
Nope. He is not dealing with that right now, thank you very much.
He turns to the next door over on the right and opens it more cautiously this time.
His uncle stands in the room, calmly unpacking his own suitcase as if he hasn’t ruined Lloyd’s life.
“Lloyd!” Wu calls out brightly, turning to face him. He’s wearing a yellow lei – seriously? – and a polo shirt that matches the one Morro’s wearing. “Have you settled in yet? Oh! I haven’t given you yours yet!” And promptly tosses a yellow lei directly at Lloyd’s face.
Lloyd sputters as he fumbles to grab it out of the air, glaring down at it like it had personally offended him, before breathing deeply to calm himself down.
“Switch rooms with me,” he asks very politely, because he is such a good nephew, and he does not deserve this.
“Nope!” Wu chirps, and slams the door in his face.
Lloyd stares at the door.
Well.
Someone’s going to die tonight.
And by his grandfather, it is not going to be him.
— — —
Lloyd very decidedly does not go back to his room.
Instead, he spends the next few hours wandering aimlessly around the cruise ship. Not because he’s avoiding anyone, obviously – he just wanted some space. Really.
He eventually finds his mom’s room and lets himself in without knocking, immediately making a beeline for the bed and faceplanting into her pillows. He doesn’t move, choosing to just lie there in silence. He can feel his mother staring at him, yet pointedly ignores it.
Misako lets out a quiet chuckle “I take it you did not take the… surprise very well?”
“Hnggh”
A very articulate response.
She sits down next to him, patting his head before gently combing her fingers through his hair. “I know this is something that you don’t want to do,” she says softly, “but I do believe it will be good for you to spend more time with them. Everyone deserves a second chance.”
(Lloyd would like to point out that she literally left him at a boarding school for evil when he was like, five. Of course she’s a fan of second chances.)
She continues, “Please don’t let this stress you out. Try to enjoy your time off. You never get to rest these days – this will be good for you.”
Lloyd finally lifts his head from the pillows, blinking up at her.
Well…
She is his mom. She does only want what’s best for him. If she can forgive and forget, then maybe…
His gaze shifts to the stupid bright yellow lei around her neck, and then slowly back up to her face.
He stares at her, unimpressed.
Yeah, no.
Not happening.
— — —
He leaves her room soon after, not wanting to stick around for too long.
(Not because he’s holding a grudge, obviously. He just doesn’t associate with traitors.)
Eventually, Lloyd stumbles across one of the recreation rooms and stares at the area in awe, like it was a gift from the universe itself.
Because sitting right there is the newest Starfarer video game.
Thank you for once, grandfather.
He drops onto the couch without hesitation, grabbing a controller and diving into the game with the intensity of someone who is absolutely, definitely not avoiding his problems.
Several hours later – featuring multiple new high scores across every available Starfarer game on the ship – Lloyd finally leans back, stretching his arms over his head.
For a brief, beautiful stretch of time, he had known peace.
Unfortunately, peace has a time limit.
Lloyd glances at the clock, noting the time with a groan.
Lunch.
…Right.
He sighs, dragging a hand down his face.
As much as he would love to continue living here for the rest of his life and survive exclusively off of the arcade snacks, avoiding his family for the entire trip is, apparently, not an option.
Tragic.
— — —
Lloyd slips into the surprisingly sparse dining area, mentally cheering. It had taken him a while to find where lunch would be held (totally not on purpose), to the point where he nearly missed the serving window entirely.
A true tragedy, indeed.
He grabs some food, feeling marginally better, and scans the room for a place to sit. Preferably somewhere quiet – maybe near one of the windows, the view is amazing – when he spots someone waving in the corner of his vision.
Lloyd ignores it. Not his problem.
Unfortunately, the waving persists.
He sighs, already preparing to turn and politely inform whatever idiot in yellow is trying to get his attention that sorry they have the wrong person, when he takes a closer look.
Oh.
Oh no.
There’s a table.
A very familiar table.
Filled with very familiar people.
All wearing very familiar bright yellow leis.
Yay… they were all here.
He sighs, and with the slow, resigned steps of a man marching toward his own downfall, Lloyd makes his way over to the circular table.
And, because destiny seems to have a personal vendetta against him right now, the only available seat was the one right between Morro and Harumi. Lloyd forces a tight smile that absolutely does not reach his eyes and sits down
FSM… what did he do to deserve this?
He elects to ignore the matching snickers of Harumi and Morro in favor of eating his food as quickly as possible and getting out of here.
If he eats fast enough, maybe he can escape.
…Probably not.
Uncle Wu hums in contentment. “I’m glad to see everyone has settled in well. Isn’t this so nice?”
(It isn’t.)
“Anyways,” Wu continues, far too pleased with himself, “I don’t really have anything planned for the rest of the day. It would be a good time for all of us to relax and explore the ship – unless anyone has something they want to do?”
Please don’t say anything, move on move on move on—
“Actually…” Morro draws out, sharing a conspiratorial glance with Harumi.
Lloyd pauses mid-bite.
Oh no.
“We saw some posters for a play that’s going to be on tonight,” Morro continues, already sounding insufferable. “Apparently it’s some kind of historical reenactment piece.”
Misako perks up immediately. “Oh, that sounds nice! What’s it about?”
Harumi snorts. “The Green Ninja”
Everyone turns to stare at the Green Ninja in question.
Lloyd would like to die now, please.
He slowly sets his utensil down before burying his head in his hands with a long, suffering groan. “Oh, please no. That’s going to be horrible.”
Garmadon lets out a sharp, barking laugh. “Horrible?” he repeats, clearly delighted. “That sounds amazing! We have to see this.”
Lloyd does not lift his head. “Nooo, it’s going to be horrible,” he groans. “They always butcher this stuff about me. It’s going to be completely insufferable – they’ll have me spouting all these cheesy heroic lines and doing things I didn’t even do, and it’s going to be so embarrassing – ”
“You act like you don’t already do that in real life,” Morro points out smugly.
“Shut. Up.”
“Well,” Wu interjects, “what exactly is the play about?”
“The Serpentine~” Harumi practically sings
Ah.
Fuck.
That.
When he freed the Serpentine from their tombs and accidentally helped unleash the Great Devourer. Which then went on to destroy a significant portion of Ninjago City.
Fantastic.
Lloyd lifts his head just enough to stare blankly at his very unhelpful family who clearly does not care for his mental wellbeing, then bangs his head against the table in defeat.
“This sounds like a wonderful idea,” Wu says.
— — —
“This is a terrible idea,” Lloyd grumbles, slouched so far down in his seat he’s basically trying to disappear into it.
No one listens to him.
Of course.
The lights dim, the curtain rises, and Lloyd prepares himself for the worst experience of his life (a bold assumption considering his track record).
And… it’s actually better than he had expected it to be.
It’s still bad, obviously. But it’s the kind of bad that’s almost impressive in how committed it is. The actor playing him is… deeply unfortunate, first of all, and is delivering every line like he’s auditioning to be the most dramatic person alive.
Lloyd watches in growing disbelief as this little-him monologues for the third time in under five minutes.
He does not sound like that.
He refuses to believe he has ever sounded like that.
(He absolutely has.)
“Wow,” Morro whispers from beside him. “You’re insufferable.”
“I don’t sound like that,” Lloyd hisses back.
“You literally do.”
“I do not—”
Harumi snorts on his other side.
True evil, the lot of them.
Lloyd crosses his arms and sinks lower into his seat, resigning himself to his fate as the play barrels forward. Little-him stands center stage, monologuing dramatically – seriously, this is a bit much – before opening the den for the Anacondrai.
He hears a low, hissing laugh – far too familiar for his liking.
But no, it can’t be …
Pythor steps onto the stage.
Not a costume or some overly dedicated performer. The real, honest-to-goodness, definitely-should-be-here, Pythor.
There’s no fucking way this is actually happening.
No way someone looked at this play, looked at the guest list, looked at him, and thought: yes, let’s hire the snake who has personally tried to ruin the Green Ninja’s life multiple times while he is going to be on said ship.
A true genius, that one.
Pythor spreads his arms dramatically, clearly about to launch into something long, theatrical, and deeply annoying—
Lloyd doesn’t think.
(Which, to be fair, has historically never stopped him before.)
He shoots to his feet.
“NOPE—”
A blast of green energy launches from his hand and slams directly into Pythor.
There’s a very satisfying CRACK as Pythor is sent flying backward through the set, taking an alarming amount of the scenery with him.
Lloyd slowly lowers his hand.
Huh.
He did say someone was going to die tonight.
And in his defense – that was a completely justifiable course of action (not to mention that Pythor also has a very punchable face).
Then, very slowly, Lloyd becomes aware of the fact that every single person in the audience is staring at him.
Oh. Right.
“…Oops?” he offers weakly.
From somewhere backstage, there’s a groan.
Lloyd’s eye twitches – he can’t seriously still be alive, can he?
(What is he talking about – this snake got eaten by the Great Devourer and survived – of course he’s still kicking).
Pythor stumbles back onto the stage, looking significantly worse for wear, and yes – unfortunately still alive.
He sways slightly, clearly preparing to speak.
Absolutely not.
Lloyd straightens, already preparing to blast him again as the stupid snake clearly deserves it —
Before Pythor is abruptly bonked over the head with a staff.
From somewhere backstage, there’s a groan. Pythor stumbles back onto the stage – alive, ugh – wobbling slightly, clearly about to say something dramatic that would definitely get Lloyd and the rest of his family kicked off of this cruise ship–
When he immediately gets bonked over the head by a staff and falls, unconscious.
The floor panel bursts open, and Aspheera pops out with a triumphant cackle. “Revenge… Revenge!” She crows, then pauses mid-rant as her gaze lands on the audience.
“…Oh.”
Lloyd closes his eyes.
Of course. Of course his uncle’s (evil?) on-and-off-again-what-even-are-they-girlfiend shows up.
“Hey hey, Wu!” she calls, delighted. “What are the chancesss?”
To say the least, the play is canceled immediately.
And Lloyd – despite his very valid reasons for everything that just occurred – is banned and sent back to his room for the rest of the evening.
He has a feeling that he would’ve been kicked off the ship entirely if not for a) being the Green Ninja, b) that it was Pythor he sent flying eight feet, and c) Aspheera was really the one to land the last hit, so she really did him a solid there.
Worth it
Honestly, he’s not even that mad about the whole situation. Everyone else heads off to dinner, leaving him alone in the room.
Lloyd drops onto his bed, cocooning himself in the sheets, pulling the blanket over his head like that might block out the rest of the day entirely.
Finally, he can have some peace.
— — —
The door blows open. Lloyd jolts slightly before quickly going still, squeezing his eyes shut and tugging the blanket tighter around himself.
Morro, most likely. He’d bet money on the dramatic entrance (some weird vendetta against doors, apparently).
He squeezes his eyes shut and yanks the blanket tighter around himself, committing fully to the very mature and definitely foolproof strategy of pretending that he does not exist.
Behind him, he hears their not-very-quiet footsteps and muttering, very clearly not respecting other people’s sleep.
Lloyd tries very hard to tune it out. He really does.
Unfortunately…
“ — I thought you said Lloyd would like this,” Morro whispers.
Great.
Love that this is happening.
“I don’t know,” Harumi whispers back, defensive. “I thought he would! How was I supposed to know Pythor would actually be there?”
“…First Master,” Morro groans quietly. “He’s not going to talk to us for the rest of the trip, is he?”
They fall silent.
Harumi huffs. “He’s already doing that.” She pauses for a moment, continuing quietly “It’s not like we can really blame him… should we just give him space?”
There’s a heavy whump as Morro drops onto one of the beds. “I mean… we probably should,” he admits. “But wasn’t that the whole point of this trip? To actually, you know… not be a complete disaster of a family?”
Lloyd huffs silently into his pillow
Too late for that.
Morro exhales sharply. “I just – I don’t know what we’re supposed to do with him.”
There’s a small creak as Harumi sits down. “We can’t just wait for him to come to us,” she says. “We both know that’s never going to happen.”
Rude.
Accurate, sure.
But still rude.
Lloyd tightens his grip on the blanket.
This is so much worse than the play. He was supposed to stay fake asleep forever and avoid this conversation until the end of time.
But now they’re being sincere.
He grimaces.
Feelings. Ugh.
Before he can think better of it, Lloyd bolts upright.
“Well,” he says flatly, staring straight ahead. “I’m up. We can interact now.”
There is a very long, very painful silence.
Lloyd immediately regrets everything.
This was a mistake.
A horrible, horrible mistake.
Why did he do that?
Lloyd clears his throat. “Well?”
Morro and Harumi exchange a glance.
“…How much did you hear?” Harumi asks, a little hesitant.
Lloyd shrugs, very deliberately not looking at either of them. “Enough. Around the part where you were talking about the play.”
“…Ah.”
Another very long, very awkward silence.
Lloyd picks at a loose thread on his blanket, focusing very hard on it like it’s suddenly the most important thing in the world.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” he mutters. “You’re just… really loud.”
“Wow,” Morro says dryly. “Good to know.”
CRACK
Lloyd flinches.
He looks up just in time to see Morro clap his hands together, sitting up like he’s just made a life-altering decision.
“Oh, good,” Lloyd says immediately. “That sound never means anything good.”
“Well!” Morro says, with entirely too much forced enthusiasm. “We might as well talk about our feelings now that we’re here!”
Lloyd stares at him, horrified because this cannot be happening, not with them—
Morro falters slightly under the look but pushes on anyway. “Lloyd—I, uh…”
He rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry,” he says, a lot quieter. “For everything. The possession thing especially.”
Lloyd’s expression flickers before he can stop it.
“That was… bad,” Morro finishes, wincing.
Understatement of the century.
“I was dealing with stuff,” he continues. “Not an excuse. I know that. Just —” He exhales sharply. “Wu trained me my entire life to be the Green Ninja. To be you.”
“And when I wasn’t…” Morro shrugs, a little helpless. “It felt like I was nothing.”
Oh.
Lloyd doesn’t like that.
He doesn’t need for this to become more complicated.
“Doesn’t make it okay,” Morro adds quickly. “Just… yeah.”
There’s a small pause before Harumi speaks. “I was kind of the same,” she admits.
Lloyd glances at her despite himself.
She looks down at her hands.
“Losing my parents like that messed me up more than I wanted to admit.” A small, tight laugh. “And I took all of that out on you.”
Lloyd’s grip tightens slightly in the blanket.
“You didn’t deserve that,” she says, quieter now. “None of it.”
She looks up at him. “I’m sorry.”
Silence.
Lloyd stares at them.
He opens his mouth…
And then closes it again.
What is he even supposed to say to that?
They’re…sincrely apologizing to him.
Which is, frankly, deeply inconvenient (his mother and Wu were right, damn it. He was going to have to apologize to them).
Lloyd opens his mouth again.
Closes it.
He doesn’t know how to —
The door SLAMS open.
(those hinges are holding on for dear life)
All three of them jump.
Lloyd whips around, heart in his throat, as Garmadon bursts into the room like the world is actively ending – quite unfortunately a very real possibility for them.
“Quick! Quick! It’s an emergency!”
Garmadon points dramatically down the hall. “Christofern’s been kidnapped!”
…What.
“You brought that plant on a cruise ship?!” Lloyd screeches.
He can’t help it, okay?
His father basically replaced him with that plant. He’s allowed to feel a little (okay, maybe more than a little) satisfied that it has mysteriously gone missing.
Garmadon huffs, having the audacity to look offended. “Of course I did! This is a family vacation, is it not?” he snaps. “Now, we need to look for him.”
From behind him, Lloyd can hear muffled snickering.
He doesn’t even need to turn around.
Traitors.
Both of them.
Of course they’re laughing. They both have… what – pretty good functional relationships with their respective father figures now?
Must be nice.
Can he even count Garmadon as his—
Nope.
Not going there.
He groans and drags himself upright, already exhausted. “And why,” he says, with all the patience of someone who has none left, “did you come here for this?”
Lloyd gestures vaguely towards the hallway. “Surely Mom or Uncle Wu would’ve been better help for this.”
“Your mother is sleeping, she deserves the rest.”
Oh, and he doesn’t?
Good to know, father.
“As for Wu…” Garmadon rolls his eyes. “He is currently occupied with Aspheera, and I do not wish to involve myself in that situation.”
… Fair enough.
Still doesn’t make it his problem, though.
Lloyd steps forward and places both hands on Garmadon’s shoulders, very calmly and very gently (eh, maybe not so gently) steering him back towards the door.
“Considering how late it is,” he says pointedly, “we can deal with this in the morning.”
Garmadon does not move.
Garmadon, in fact, grabs his wrist.
“Nope!”
Before he can even blink, Lloyd finds himself abruptly being dragged out into the hallway.
“You’re helping me rescue him!”
“Oh, come on—”
Lloyd twists around mid-drag, shooting a desperate look back into the room – surely that very painful heart-to-heart had to count for something.
Morro meets his gaze.
Smiles.
And gives him a little wave.
Harumi doesn’t even try to hide her laughter.
Lloyd stares at them, betrayed on a deeply personal level.
“Wow,” he says flatly. “Okay. Great. Good to know where we all stand.”
He’s surrounded by traitors.
— — —
There’s a loud CRASH as Garmadon barrels through yet another door, an impressively evil aura radiating off of him in furious waves.
Honestly, it’s almost nostalgic.
“I know you have him…” Garmadon growls, low and menacing. “Where. Is. Christofern?!”
The couple inside the room scream – one of them fainting immediately from the shock.
The other clutches the bedsheets close to their chest like it’s going to save their life. “W-we don’t have, um, Christopher, you say?”
Garmadon turns slowly. “Christofern,” he corrects.
The full force of his glare lands on them.
They pass out too.
Lloyd pinches the bridge of his nose. “Dad,” he says, voice flat, “this is, like, the eighth room you’ve tried.”
No response. Typical.
“Maybe – just throwing this out there – we stop breaking into random people’s rooms?”
Yeah, he’s not going to listen to that one.
Lloyd exhales sharply, gesturing vaguely down the hallway. “Or, I don’t know, we could try something completely insane like going to the front desk and asking if they have a lost and found?”
Garmadon pauses, actually considering.
Lloyd dares to feel the faintest flicker of hope.
“Excellent idea!”
Oh thank FSM, he can finally get some sleep and be done with this day—
“We can ask them to check the tapes!”
Wait… thats not…
Damn it.
Garmadon is already beelining to the front desk.
Lloyd groans and drags a hand down his face before following after him.
The lobby is, unfortunately, still open.
Which means there are witnesses.
Lloyd lingers a few steps behind as Garmadon leans over the desk, looming in a way that is definitely not reassuring to the poor employee on the other side (it is not comfortable interacting with the former warlord – he knows from experience)
“My son has been kidnapped,” Garmadon declares.
No.
He can’t be serious.
Something in chest twists, sharp and sudden.
There’s a distant howling in his ears as he blocks out the rest of what Garmadon says to the employee.
He considers that plant – it doesn’t even do anything – why – he’s literally right there.
Hot, curdling rage bubbles up inside of him – how dare he.
He distantly notices that the employee has moved on to the back, and the lobby was sparse with people now.
“…Your son?” Lloyd hears himself say.
It comes out sharper than he means for it to.
Garmadon glances back at him, frowning slightly. “Yes. Christofern—”
“No,” Lloyd cuts in.
He steps forward.
He doesn’t even realize he’s doing it until he’s already there.
“Your son?” he repeats.
“You barely even talk to me,” Lloyd snaps. “I had to find out from the news that you adopted Harumi,” he continues, the words coming faster now. “Two weeks after the fact.”
Garmadon straightens slightly. “Lloyd…”
“No, you don’t get to—” Lloyd cuts himself off, dragging a hand through his hair.
He laughs, but there’s nothing funny about this. About everything.
“You don’t get to act like this is normal,” he says. “Like this is just, what, father-son bonding time?”
Garmadon’s expression hardens. “I am trying to—”
“You don’t try,” Lloyd interrupts. “You just show up when it’s convenient for you.You barely even look at me–interact with me–FSM—”
“Do not use my father’s name like that,” Garmadon snaps automatically.
Lloyd glares at him.
Garmadon goes quiet.
“You treat that plant more like a son than you do me!”
“I do not treat you that badly.”
“You disowned me the moment you came back!”
“I thought we moved past that—”
“I didn’t even know where you were for years!”
“You seemed to be doing just fine without me—”
“You ruined my life!”
Garmadon recoils slightly. “How could I ruin your life?” he shoots back. “Apparently I wasn’t even there—”
Lloyd makes a noise that is not even remotely human (oni genes, great timing.)
He turns —
And drives his foot straight through the nearest wall.
CRACK
Dust explodes outwards.
There is a long, ringing silence as the debris settles to the floor.
Lloyd stands there, breathing hard, staring at the damage.
…There is, objectively, a lot of damage. Cruise ships, as it turns out, are not built to withstand the full strength of the Green Ninja having a meltdown.
“...Okay,” he mutters. “That one might’ve been a bit much.”
He spins back around, jabbing a finger at Garmadon. “I am not doing this with you anymore,” he says sharply. “Goodnight, father.”
Lloyd turns and storms off.
He just … needs some time to cool off, okay?
He’ll apologize tomorrow.
…Maybe
A sharp yank jerks him out of his thoughts.
“What the–?!”
Lloyd yelps as he’s dragged sideways, slammed into darkness before he can even react properly.
A door slams shut behind him.
He stumbles, barely catching himself before hitting the floor. “What–hey–!”
He throws his hand up, ready to blast his attacker into tomorrow because now was very much not a good time to antagonize an already ticked off Green Ninja—
Only to be shoved down and pinned.
Something cold snaps shut around his wrist.
Lloyd freezes.
The energy drains out of him almost instantly.
…Vegestone.
Oh, come on.
By the time he manages to get his bearings and look up, his attacker is already gone
Lloyd blinks in the dim light, breathing unevenly as he tries to process what just happened.
“…Seriously?” he mutters. He shifts, the chain clinking softly, and looks around.
Andddd he’s in a supply closet. With nothing else in the room except a half-filled water bottle, a sad looking mop, and…
A fern.
A single, completely unremarkable, fern.
A fucking fern that very closely resembles one that disappeared a few hours ago.
How fantastic.
— — —
Pythor kidnapped him. Again.
Lloyd drops his head back against the wall with a dull thunk.
FSM, that snake needs a new hobby.
Sure, he hasn’t actually seen Pythor since getting shoved in here. But really, who else would it be? No one else on this ship has both the motive and the audacity.
(Well. Morro. Harumi. His dad. Several people, actually. But considering recent circumstances… pretty unlikely.)
Yes, he did already try breaking the door down, or picking the lock, or yelling at the top of his lungs for help because really he is out of options here and does not have the energy to be embarrassed anymore.
Yet, nothing
Apparently this is the only part of the cruise ship built to withstand the Green Ninja.
The architect must really be proud of himself.
Lloyd reaches over and grabs the abandoned water bottle, taking a small sip.
It’s warm. Probably questionable.
He drinks it anyway – he doesn’t need to deal with dehydration on top of everything else.
Then, for reasons he refuses to examine too closely, his gaze drifts over to the freaking fern sitting in the corner.
It looks… dejected (how a fern expresses emotion, he has no clue.)
Lloyd squints at it.
“…Don’t look at me like that.”
He sighs, then tips the bottle slightly, giving it the smallest bit of water.
There.
Happy?
The damn thing somehow manages to perk up.
“…I hate this trip.”
At least his little closet has an open window near the top of the door. He can watch as his impending doom approaches.
— — —
Lloyd must have drifted off at some point.
He wakes with a start at the sound of something – voices, maybe? – echoing faintly from outside.
He groans, pushing himself upright.
Okay.
People are awake.
Which means someone can finally come get him out of this stupid closet.
He stumbles to his feet and stretches up onto his tiptoes – he’s not short, the window is just ridiculously high up – trying to peer through the small pane of glass.
He squints.
And absolutely no one is around to save him from his misery.
Lloyd drops back down with a quiet thump, scowling.
He exhales sharply and slumps against the wall, dragging a hand down his face.
Surely someone has noticed he’s missing by now.
Right?
… Harumi and Morro didn’t really know that he’s not actually holding that much of a grudge against them now, did they?
And he did stomp away from his dad after that whole thing. Which did end pretty badly.
Anddd he hadn’t exactly been subtle with his disdain for this entire trip.
… they all think he’s hiding on purpose, don’t they.
Great going, Lloyd.
The fern exudes a sympathetic aura.
“…Don’t,” he says flatly. “This is literally all your fault.”
(The fern, obviously, does not respond. Lloyd has the distinct feeling that this is for the best.)
He lets his head fall back against the wall with a quiet thunk, staring up at the ceiling.
If he’s going to be here for a while, he might as well get some sleep. FSM knows that he clearly deserves it after everything—
A faint noise filters through the door.
Are those… voices?
He straightens immediately, scrambling to his feet and hurrying over to the door, stretching up to peer through the small window.
Oh thank FSM.
Never before in his life has he been so happy to see Morro and Harumi.
“...I’m telling you,” Harumi is saying, “this isn’t really like him to just vanish on everyone.”
“But it’s a fucking cruise ship,” Morro replies. “You’d have to be an idiot of epic proportions to find trouble on one—”
Lloyd raps sharply on the glass.
Both of them turn.
And stare.
“Well,” Morro says, smirking, “looks like we found that idiot.”
“Har-har,” Lloyd deadpans. “Now get me out of here. I’ve been trapped for hours.”
Morro grabs the handle.
Rattles it.
“…It’s locked,” he observes.
Lloyd stares at him, cause yeah, no shit, Sherlock.
“Yes,” he says slowly, because clearly he is communicating with a toddler. “That is generally how being trapped works.”
Morro squints at him. “Knowing you, I wouldn’t put it past you to just… not try the doorknob.”
Why that little—
“You’re the one who acts like doorknobs are optional!”
Harumi huffs, already digging through her things, because of course she carries lock-picking tools on her person like a sane individual.
“Who put you in there?” she asks. “Is there vengestone?”
“Yeah,” Lloyd says. “Pretty sure it was Pythor.”
“That scheming old snake,” she mutters. “Alright, I’ll have you out in a—”
“Wait,” Morro cuts in suddenly. “I have an idea.”
That is never reassuring to hear.
“…No.”
“Stand back!” Morro announces.
“Morro, NO—”
CRASH.
The door does not open.
“…Huh,” Morro says.
Harumi slowly turns to look at him. “Did you just shoulder-check a metal door?”
“I thought it would be wood!”
Inside the closet, Lloyd pinches the bridge of his nose. He’s never getting out of here, is he?
“Now that Morro’s done doing… whatever that was,” Harumi mutters, “let me just get this loose—”
A new voice cuts in, smooth and slimy.
“Oh, this is delightful.”
Lloyd’s blood runs cold.
“Oh, come on,” he groans. “Can you just, like, go die?”
Pythor steps into view on the other side of the door, looking far too pleased with himself. He keeps a wide berth from Harumi and Morro, lazily twirling a spear in his hands.
“I was hoping for a more dramatic reunion,” he says.
“This isn’t dramatic enough for you?”
“Obviously not. Now, if your little friends would just step aside—”
Morro lunges.
“GET OVER HERE—”
Lloyd can’t see much through the tiny window, but he can hear everything.
A sharp hiss.
A thud.
The unmistakable sound of someone getting absolutely wrecked.
Morro’s laughter – just a little too unhinged.
A burst of howling wind strong enough to rattle the door.
Lloyd winces.
…Yeah.
He does not miss fighting him.
Harumi joins in a second later, abandoning her lockpicks with a sigh that sounds far too pleased for someone escalating to violence. Metal flashes – her knives, probably – and the chaos somehow explodes.
There’s a crash from somewhere down the hall.
Another from what sounds like an entirely different room.
Wood splinters and metal shards fly across the area.
Something glass shatters.
They are so getting charged for this.
Eventually, footsteps approach.
Two sets.
And the very distinct, very offended hissing of a snake who has made several poor life choices.
Pythor thrashes, attempting to twist out of Morro’s grip, only to immediately be grabbed again.
“Hold still!” Morro snaps.
“I am an Anacondrai, you fool!”
“Perfect.”
There’s a very brief, very concerning pause.
Then Morro turns.
Grins.
And swings.
Pythor’s entire body slams into the door.
CRACK.
The hinges groan.
Lloyd blinks. “…Did you just use him as a battering ram?”
“AGAIN!” Morro shouts, far too delighted.
CRASH.
The door shudders violently.
Light spills in through the cracks.
Lloyd squints just in time to see Pythor get yanked back for round three.
“AGAIN!!”
“PUT ME DOWN, YOU IDIOT CHILD—”
BANG.
The door finally gives.
Freedom.
Glorious, beautiful freedom.
Harumi drops her hold on Pythor – his head hits the floor with a very satisfying thunk – and immediately kneels to unlock Lloyd’s vengestone cuff.
“Hold still,” she mutters.
The cuff clicks open, and energy rushes back into his system.
At the exact same time, Pythor twists free.
“Ah, fuck,” Morro starts.
Too late.
Pythor lashes out, kicking Morro hard in the gut and sending him stumbling back before darting away—
Straight towards Christofern.
The plant.
Pythor scoops it up – why in the world is that his priority? – and bolts out the door, towards the deck.
Ughhh
He’s going to have to rescue that plant, isn’t he.
— — —
By the time they manage to gather themselves and make it to the deck, Pythor stands near the edge of the ship, silhouetted against the ocean, Christofern dangling precariously in his grip. “Don’t come any closer!” he hisses.
Lloyd slows to a stop. He can’t seriously believe a plant is a suitable hostage, right?
(This is Garmadon’s plant; you probably couldn’t find a better hostage)
“…You cannot be serious.”
“Oh, I assure you, I am very serious,” Pythor replies, giving the plant a little shake.
Lloyd winces, “Please stop doing that.”
“Or what?” Pythor challenges.
Uhhh
Lloyd glances at Morro. At Harumi.
Back at Pythor.
“…I will be very annoyed,” he says flatly.
Morro snorts.
Harumi elbows him.
Pythor narrows his eyes. “You think this is a joke?”
“You kidnapped a plant,” Lloyd says, “locked me in a closet with said plant, and are now holding it – instead of, you know, the Green Ninja – hostage. So yeah, a little bit.”
Pythor hisses, clearly offended.
Behind Lloyd, Morro shifts slightly, wind curling around his hands.
Harumi’s stance lowers, knives glinting faintly in the morning light.
Pythor notices. “Ah-ah-ah,” he warns, lifting Christofern a little higher over the railing.
Everyone freezes.
“Make one move,” he continues, “and your father’s precious little—”
He never gets to finish that sentence.
Garmadon slams into Pythor like a freight train. Pythor reels, teetering over the edge before snapping back with a hiss, launching himself at Garmadon.
Christofern, now forgotten, goes flying out of Pythor’s grasps towards the ocean below.
And Lloyd—
(who really should have thought this through a little bit more)
Lunges forward to catch it, only to fall off the ship.
Oh shiiiiiiiit
That was a mistake.
He catches the plant though! (and is going to die)
The ocean rushes up to meet him.
Oh no no no no no
He can’t form his dragon like this—
He’s falling fast too fast way too fast
He can’t—
No no no no nononono
Something slams into him.
Wind.
Lloyd jerks to a stop midair, suspended just above the water.
He looks up.
Morro is leaning dangerously far over the railing, arms outstretched, wind swirling violently around him.
Harumi has a death grip on the back of his shirt, bracing her feet against the deck to keep him from following Lloyd overboard.
“…Got you,” Morro grits out.
Slowly, he lifts Lloyd back up. Lloyd scrambles over the railing the second he’s close enough, clutching Christofern close like this was all completely intentional.
Behind them, Garmadon and Pythor are still fighting. Violently.
The deck shudders under the force of it.
“You dare—!” Pythor snarls.
“You kidnapped my son,” Garmadon cuts in, voice low and dangerous. “How dare you touch Lloyd?”
Lloyd freezes.
Oh.
That’s… not what he expected.
Pythor lunges, jaws wide.
Garmadon doesn’t even flinch.
He grabs him. Lifts him. Turns around—
And throws him clean overboard.
There’s a distant splash.
Lloyd leans over the railing slightly.
Oh please be dead dead dead—
A faint, very offended stream of Serpentine cursing drifts up from below.
“…Damn it.”
The wind howls softly across the deck.
Morro blinks. “…That was kind of anticlimactic.”
Harumi hums, nodding to Lloyd. “For one of your ‘greatest enemies,’ he’s not much of a threat.”
“Yeah,” Morro snorts. “We’ve all been more life-threatening to you than that.”
Harumi shoots him a sharp glare.
He winces. “Well, you know. In the past. When we were – trying to be.”
Great, Morro.
Make it awkward.
Lloyd looks away, clearing his throat as he glances down at the plant still in his hands. He glances up at Garmadon, taking a step forward and to hold it out.
“Here,” he says, a little awkwardly. “And… thanks.”
Garmadon takes the plant carefully, holding it with both hands like it’s something fragile. Then he looks up at Lloyd. Soft. “Of course, son.”
It’s not fixed, of course.
But it’s a start.
Harumi clears her throat. “We could… all go get breakfast?” she offers. “I think pancakes are deserved after all of this.”
There are quiet murmurs of agreement.
Honestly sounds amazing after all of this—
“HEY! Hands up!”
(Or not. Who needs food?)
Security floods the deck.
Lloyd raises his hands slowly, trying to exude peace and harmlessness and general Green Ninja aura. “Okay, look, there’s been a misunderstanding—”
The upper deck explodes into flames.
Everyone turns as the heat washes over them.
At the center of it—Wu and Aspheera stand, backlit by fire.
“Oh,” Lloyd says faintly.
Yeah… there’s no salvaging this.
— — —
They all get kicked off of the ship.
— — —
Wu and Aspheera…
No one is entirely sure what they did.
But judging by the state of the upper deck–
(Which is on fire.)
And the screaming passengers–
(Who are somehow not on fire?)
And the suspicious lack of desserts from the kitchen–
(Which is also on fire)
…it was not good.
They look far too pleased with themselves.
— — —
Misako, apparently, had a “stern talk” with the staff.
They don’t have to pay for any of the damages.
(Hiring a known villain who nearly kills the Green Ninja again is apparently not good for business).
Lloyd does not question it.
Being the Green Ninja does not, in fact, come with a steady source of income.
— — —
They all collectively decide that the cruise has definitely run its course. An evening on the beach in Ninjago City is more than enough “vacation” for one trip.
The ocean is calmer here. Quieter.
Finally
He drops his bag into the sand and crouches down, digging through it until his fingers brush against something soft.
Bright.
Annoyingly familiar.
The yellow lei.
He pulls it out, slightly crumpled from being shoved to the bottom of his bag what feels like ages ago
Was it really only yesterday?
Lloyd turns it over in his hands, frowning at it for a moment.
…It’s not really that hideous.
He hesitates. Glances up.
His family is scattered along the beach.
Morro is arguing with Harumi about something completely ridiculous. She chucks a beach ball at his head. He knocks it right back.
It goes wildly off course.
Wu and Aspheera are sitting off to the side, whispering to each other, – definitely plotting something, when are they not – when the rogue beach ball smacks straight into Aspheera.
She recoils, then shakes her staff furiously, clearly mouthing a very distant, very offended “Revenge!”
Misako watches the whole thing unfold with a barely suppressed laugh.
Garmadon lies next to her in the sand, Christofern resting peacefully beside him…
Right up until the beach ball lands directly on the plant.
Pop.
Garmadon jerks upright in outrage.
Before he can react, Wu dumps an entire bucket of ocean water over his head.
An all-out water fight erupts instantly.
…They’re all kind of crazy, huh.
Yeah.
They really are.
He looks back down at the lei, exhaling softly as he slips it over his head.
Sure…
It’s still a little hideous.
But…
All things considered…
It’s not really that bad.