Hey everyone!
So I was miraculously given time over the Easter weekend to finish this and publish it! This fanfic will be solely Lloyd focused and is basically how I would've wanted the whole Tournament thingo to happen. (This is the rewrite of 'The True Tournament').
IMPORTANT: This will be set between Season 6 and Day of Departed. Also Season 4 has happened meaning the plot will be very different to the plot from Season 4.
Enjoy!
Your Greatest Fear
Chapter One: The Labyrinth
'It is not common knowledge to many that Ninjago is in fact apart of the 16 realms that build up our universe. These realms have only been journeyed to by the First Spinjitzu Master and his Sons. Though these realms are also used for banishing extreme criminals within Ninjago, there is only a select few realms that are used for these disciplines. The Cursed Realm is a classic example, holding many of Ninjago's most notorious criminals, mainly including the Anacondrai generals, sentenced there for beginning the Serpentine War.
Perhaps one of the most mysterious expulsions, was the banishing of Katan Kage (A/N: pronounced Car- j), once a very well known Sorcerer. He had a strong disrespect toward many citizens of Ninjago. Constantly causing havoc and chaos across the country, Kage become very well known for his extreme cases of 'fun'. This disregard of safety and responsibility as a Sorcerer soon led to great mistrust amongst the Elemental Masters, and other Sorcerer's combined. Katan crossed the line, several years after the Serpentine War, when during one of his pranks (that citizens had learned to fear), he was accused of a tragic murder of a little boy. It was unclear on what actually happened, but this death was what lead to Kages' banishment.
The realm he was banished to is unknown, but many historians have presumed that-'
The rest of the page was ripped. I sighed in frustration. I had read this single passage about a hundred times already. I had been in Uncle Wu's quarters and had seen this book. It was bound in green leather, with sixteen symbols on the front. The title had been illegible and yet I couldn't help but feel fascinated by it. The symbols looked slightly familiar, but every time I tried to recall where I'd seen them, all I got were some hazy memories.
Ever since the Morro… episode I had been researching my father's past. After he had passed, it didn't take me long to realise I hardly knew anything about him. I had been gathering information up to the Serpentine War and it was nothing I didn't know. Though, there was a gap of information from the War to when Sensei Wu banished father to the underworld. This was the only information I could find to fill that gap and it was old. Plus it wasn't even whole! I had hit a dead end.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I hurriedly shut the book, as the alarms blared through every speaker in the Destiny's Bounty. Nya's voice loudly echoed through the ship, causing me to block my ears.
"EVERYONE REPORT TO THE BRIDGE IMMEDIATELY! I REPEAT, REPORT TO THE BRIDGE IMMEDIATELY!"
I sighed and slowly got out of bed. I couldn't help but feel that this whole thing was a drill. If it was that would make it the… tenth time this week! I got out of my pj's and into my ninja gi. It took me about ten seconds. At least these drills had done one thing, improved my changing time.
All I wanted to do these past mornings was read, which was really weird for me to want to do. I can tell you Kai wasn't the only one who was slightly concerned for me. He kept telling me I should focus more on my Sensei training, which was definitely coming along… if at snail pace.
"LLOYD WOULD YOU HURRY UP! THIS ISN'T A DRILL!"
When Nya's voice came through the speaker again, I only hurried up by a margin. The 'this isn't a drill' line had been used on me before, more than once, and it was getting old.
As I half ran, half walked to the bridge, I couldn't help but ponder on that name, Katan Kage. It sounded so familiar, but where I'd heard it, I couldn't for the life of me think where.
"Thank you, for finally turning up, Lloyd." Nya scowled uncharacteristically. These extra drills had been tiring everyone out… though Nya was the one issuing them… okay and maybe I had told her she could be in charge of the drill's this month…
"I wasn't that slow." I shrugged. Normally I would be very concerned with our reaction times, but now? Honestly, I didn't care. She was probably going to now tell us how fast we responded and let us go back to whatever we were doing. And then I'd be forced to go to the training deck, because we need to be ready for what other evils might come our way, blah blah blah blah...
Okay, I was being a bit of a hypocrite, because I'd given that speech several times myself. I was just really feeling out of it today and I really wanted to find out more about this Katan Kage and why he sounded so familiar.
"I've received a distress call from Hiroshi's Labyrinth." Nya said. My ears pricked up, my attention was now solely on the mission… more or less. "Borg's reported the alarms have been tripped but the security cameras can't pick up on who or, more importantly, what has triggered them."
"How do we know it's not just some stray animal who's accidentally wandered into the Labyrinth?" Jay asked.
"There is no possible way an animal could accidentally wander into the Labyrinth, Jay." Zane deadpanned.
"Besides, Borg would've told us. The security cameras haven't picked anything up remember? No animal's that stealthy." Cole argued.
"Fine. But if this turns out to be a false alarm-..."
"I doubt it's a false alarm Jay." I quickly stepped in, sensing an argument brewing. "I doubt Borg would've sent out a distress signal if it wasn't serious."
Jay huffed and turned back to Nya. "Is there anything else we need to know?"
"Well, the Labyrinth is on lockdown, meaning…"
"Meaning we're going to have to break in. Great." Kai finished sarcastically.
"Yeah, well, Borg sent me the blueprints to the Labyrinth so it won't be too hard." Nya sighed and began to input the coordinates into the Destiny's navigator.
"We should be arriving in about 3 minutes." Nya reported.
"Come on team. We should get warmed up first on the deck." All the ninja followed Cole out, well except for me. I just needed to check on something…
"Hey Lloyd? You coming?" Kai called out.
"Y-Yeah, I'll be there soon!" I called back distractedly, my eyes frantically searching the blueprints of Hiroshi's Labyrinth.
"Bingo." I muttered to myself, a smile spreading across my face.
I stared at Lloyd curiously. He seemed… out of it. His reaction time was significantly slower than our last sparring match and his attacks were sloppy. I had noticed he hadn't been improving over the past training sessions despite them being far more frequent and demanding.
After knocking him to the ground a third time (with nothing but a simple fire blast!) I was feeling slightly concerned. "Lloyd? You okay? You seem… distracted." I smiled at him and he smiled back but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Yeah. Never better. Why'd you ask?" I gave him an exasperated look.
"Um… maybe because I just beat you... what, three times in the last minute with my simplest attacks! You're barely even trying! At least put a little bit of effort in!" I threw my hands in the air in annoyance at his stubbornness. Lloyd just smirked.
"Want to go again Kai?" He challenged.
Sighing, I went to give him a roundhouse kick. To my surprise (which is actually very sad) he dodged it and flipped over my head. I turned around a second to late, as a giant ball of green energy hit me in the chest. I was blasted across the deck and hit the mast. Okay… maybe a roundhouse kick wasn't the best move.
Landing painfully on my butt, I looked up slightly dazed but with a smile on my face. "I thought this was a sparring match?" I joked.
Lloyd shrugged. "You wanted me to try." He gave me a small smile but I could tell something was bothering him.
"Hey? You okay?"
"I'm fine, Kai." He said a little too quickly.
"Lloyd, no y-"
"WE ARE APPROACHING HIROSHI'S LABYRINTH. EVERYONE PLEASE REPORT TO THE DECK." Misako's voice boomed out of the speakers, interrupting our conversation. Lloyd quickly made his way to where Jay, Cole, Zane and Nya were already gathered. Huffing in frustration, I followed.
"Zane, where's the best place to enter the Labyrinth?" Lloyd asked.
"Judging by the blueprints, we need to enter from the north side, which is on the opposite side of the Labyrinth. It is the least fortified and will be quite easy to infiltrate." the nindroid replied.
"Okay, and the security rooms?"
"When we enter there should be two major security rooms to the left and right. I suggest we split up to cover more ground."
"Good idea, Zane. Jay, Nya, Kai, go to the left. Zane, Cole and I will go right. We'll use the communicators to let the other group know if we've found anything. Other then that, radio communication must be kept to a minimum." Lloyd told us. I still found it hard to imagine how we even made it through the tomb while he was possessed by Morro.
Misako's voice came out of the Destiny's speakers again. "WE ARE ABOVE THE DROP ZONE. GOOD LUCK NINJA."
We all hurtled over the edge of the Bounty, using Airjitsu to land softly on the jungle's undergrowth. Immediately, Zane ran over to what looked like a giant moss covered rock and tapped on it a few times. He gestured for the rest of us to come over.
"I am pretty certain this is where we need to enter." He told us.
"Positive?"
"Lloyd, he's a nindroid, he can't go wrong." Jay shook his head in exasperation.
"Okay, just checking." Lloyd began to gather energy in his hands and blasted the 'rock'.
A sheet of metal fell away from the wall revealing a lit, high tech-looking passage inside. Before the metal sheet hit the ground, Cole caught it and frantically gestured for everyone to get inside.
Once they were safe he pulled the metal back and waited for me to weld it back on.
"Lloyd, I know your our leader and you should know what you're doing… but what part of stealth mission didn't you get?" Cole's eyebrows furrowed.
I glanced back to look at Lloyd and was surprised to see him slightly pale. He looked almost… afraid. He was staring at his hands in slight shock and seemed to take a moment or two before he fully registered that Cole had spoken to him.
"S-Sorry, I-It slipped my mind." He chuckled and attempted an apologetic smile that fooled nobody. "A-Anyway, now we need to split up. Zane, Cole, come on." Lloyd turned around hurriedly and sped down the right corridor.
Zane and Cole looked at each other, shrugged and followed. I looked after Lloyd, knowing something was bothering him. Before I could ponder this any longer however, my sister interrupted me.
"Kai? Come on! We need to go!" Sighing, I turned around and followed Nya and Jay.
That was close… too close. I was getting distracted and that was dangerous. Dad had taught me the importance of focus while using my powers, saying that if I didn't, there could be disastrous consequences. I'm not sure the rest of the ninja realised how close that really was...
Shivering, I took a deep breath and turned back to my teammates. "Zane do you know where to go from here?"
Nodding, Zane took the lead. I couldn't help but feel slightly claustrophobic in the unending, high tech corridors. I was beginning to think that maybe I wouldn't be able to find that computer.
After walking down several corridors, Zane finally stopped in front of a locked door. "Cole, would you like to do the honors?" I asked, not really paying attention but looking down the corridor trying to get my bearings to where I was, according to the blueprints at least.
Cole's transparent form gave me a small smirk and raised his fist. As soon as it collided with the metal, the door was blown off its hinges. "Probably should talk to Borg about his security, Lloyd. Still might need a little work."
Rolling my eyes, I let Zane and Cole enter first. I stared down the hall, knowing I would need to head that way. Unbeknownst to the rest, I had actually studied a decent size of the blueprints, at least so I could navigate to a single location and back. Letting Zane lead was merely to avoid suspicion. I was sure Borg would have information on this Katan Kage. I mean, the Realm Crystal was here right? He must have loads of info! I just needed to find it.
"Lloyd? You coming?" Cole's voice echoed from the security room.
I pondered that question for a bit. If I went now,
I'd be able to get back a lot faster and wouldn't have to come up with an excuse to leave. I needed to be as focused as possible if we were going to complete this mission, staying would merely make me distracted,
"Yeah, I'm coming, just… need to check something out first." I began to make my way down the corridor, ignoring Cole and Zane's queries, determined to find answers.
"Lloyd? You coming?" I asked as Zane and I flicked through the security footage. So far we hadn't uncovered anything of use. Zane was planning on scanning through all the cameras to pick up on anything suspicious that Borg's security team may have missed. What was suspicious… okay, maybe not suspicious just weird, was this room. It was huge! I could hear my voice still echoing off the metal walls.
"Yeah, I'm coming, just… need to check something out first."
"Okay, that's fi- wait. Lloyd! Where are you going?" I shared a glance with Zane and sighed. We ran out to the corridor calling Lloyd's name but he was already gone.
"Should we call the others?" I asked Zane, concerned.
"I am contacting them now."
"But Zane, it's not an emergency!"
"Then why did you ask me?"
"W-Well, that question was more asking if we should than if we can…"
"Cole, I think it is best if we let the others know. And I am a nindroid, the smart one, remember?" Zane asked sounding (and looking) slightly amused.
"Yeah okay, but we better be quick. Remember, we need to maintain radio silence… as best as we can."
Zane nodded and handed me my communicator. Solidifying my hand I carefully took the device and held it up to my ear, realising now I couldn't actually put into my ear because I was a... you know... ghost. There was a crackle of static. Eventually the static cleared (albeit only slightly) but there was no answer.
"Zane while we wait for them to pick up, could you continue to search through the footage?"
"There shouldn't be any interference's. There should be immediate contact." I shrugged and Zane turned back to the computers and plugged in a USB that seemed to scan the footage with some sort of… program? Zane, Jay and Nya had manufactured it, I had no idea how it worked.
"I will need to speak with Borg and get these fixed. If they are malfunctioning then-"
"...ole?...What's….matter?..." Nya's voice came through my communicator but it was full of static.
"Lloyd's run off. Don't know why, he just has. We thought we'd tell you cause Zane thought it best…oh and is your communicator full of static?"
"Cole." I turned to Zane quickly. I was surprised to hear apprehension in his voice, almost as if he was scared of something.
"No... fine….ere...ny...ing...else?" Nya asked as I stared at the screen that Zane was pointing to. And my eyes widened. Looks like Borg had missed something, how he missed it I had no idea. We needed to get Lloyd back in here… now.
"Um, yes. There's-"
"...ust...wait...Cole…...om...hing's...ere…."
"Nya! Wait! What's there?" The communicator was suddenly filled with static… well, more than before and then the connection broke. "Nya? Nya! What happened?"
"Zane we've got a problem. Something's happened to the others." I turned to look at Zane but he seemed to be looking at something else in the doorway.
"Cole I do believe we have more pressing issues at hand." I turned towards the door and my eyes widened even further. I got into a fighting stance, ready to attack at any moment and wondering if maybe I should go invisible, at least to gain some ground on this very advantageous enemy.
There was a huge, lime green serpent, with red slits for eyes and two large fangs, dripping with venom. The giant serpent rearing in front of us, lowered it's head. I tensed, expecting it to launch forward and bite us. But instead a person stepped off the serpent's head. As the person moved into the light, I was able to make them out better…
And my jaw dropped.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I'm merely extending an invitation."
"To what?"
"How would you like a shot at a second chance?"
A/N: Dun dun duuuuuuuun! So I planned for this chapter to go a lot longer than this, but I wanted to publish something to get this story started.
Please leave a review! They really motivate me to continue writing (the nice and constructive ones at least).
Have a Happy Easter and if you don't celebrate that then have a great weekend!
Until next time!
SkyD12 Out!
