Garmadon glared as he tried to keep his mind from wandering over to the mass that decided to take it over. Grasping the sides of his head and trying to force the pain stinging through it to go away, but no avail.
Lloyd was in tears by now, across from his tortured paternal figure, "Please Father, fight it!"
Trying to nod in agreement, the mastermind soon found his ability slipping away into the distance. Soon his hand started to inch in front of him, and his powers begin to start up a blast of purple elements. Scared of hurting his adopted child, after all of this even, the brunet snarled and began to force his hands towards his own person.
"No! Please don't do this! I didn't mean to do that!" The teenage blond was catching on very quickly.
This was for the best, and as his face began to contort back and forth, he knew it had to be done. The host was fighting back, and the parasitic energy hissed out angry breath from the stolen body's mouth. It seemed too late to stop what was started, as the beam hit the wielder with much power. Knocked backwards, Garmadon grimaced at a sudden change in tempo deep within. "You… fool…" gasped the new addition in him, "We'll both be dead!"
The green ninja sobbed and willed his eyes to be lying to his mind. This couldn't be! He rushed over to his father and dropped to his knees pathetically, "I…" Nothing more could be said as his past role model began to divulge into convulsions that shook the spectators. The purple haze left the body slowly, but disappeared just as quickly. Unable to watch, he shifted his eyes to the form that was back to its usual norm.
Not even Wu had anything to say or do about this, but he silently hoped his secret role model from his own childhood lived to be among them still. No matter what he allowed the evil to push him to become… "Garmadon," he choked out, sounding more like the little boy who hid behind his slightly older brother while their mother had a violent mental breakdown, rather than the wise elder he grew into later.
The ninjas closed in silently as they awkwardly watched their foe shaking and wildly cling to the life he was still into, despite inevitable end. He gargled softly, until he found some peace with it, "I- n-need Lloyd…"
"I'm here," murmured the mentally pained teenager, watching this without shedding tears… yet.
"Good," smiled the crude male, in a far-off way, "I just want you to know I love you like a son, no matter whether you are truly mine or not." He failed in gaining chuckles, but rolled his quivering irises over to Wu, "Dearest Brother, do not fear the past or present, for they are only right there for as long as you think of them."
The younger brother bit his lower lip fiercely, "I know that, but… I will never let go of your spirit, you taught us all so much."
"Also," coughed the oldest, despite not looking it, "Never put off for tomorrow what…"
"-Could be done today," the others found they all finished for the unlikely gathering.
'Daddy!' Called a voice from the back of his mind, and he felt his soul reaching for the memory, whether or not his current life willed for it. The innocent voice still kept his calm, after all these years. 'Look what I made you!' Darkness was not clouding his failing vision, leaving his with the present Lloyd's own cries for his attention…
~~
He blinked awake to find the eight-year-old Lloyd shaking his body the best he could. "Yay! You're awake! You don't want to miss this!" To see what was being mentioned, he watched as the boy pointed to the coffee table. The blond focused widely into staring intensely at the wooden finish until something happened. A green sphere the size of a baseball appeared and spun slowly, soft flecks coming off in certain patterns.
Fear shot up his spine, "Don't do that!" It got the small child to end the concentration from shock. "I'm sorry, but that just startled me…" He wrapped an arm around the slightly pudgy waist, urging the boy to snuggle closer, "You know how much I love you, Lloyd?"
After a few seconds of confused blinking, "I guess so, Daddy, but why are you randomly like this sometimes?"
Garmadon let out a breath of yearning. He so wished to be honest to his child, but the blond wouldn't understand he bet. It seemed like a distant dream, but could it be an inevitable reality? Shaking his head like a wet dog, not at all wanting that, "Hey, you want to do something together sometime?"
"Sure! How about right now?" Without waiting for the answer, he clicked in the television, earning a gasp of eager surprise, "Oh, cool! 'Japan's Next Top Model' is on! I hope my favorite girl wins!"
Right now, this behavior was music to his ears. When he had tried putting the boy in the public system, the boy was instantly shunned for being into dolls and fashion-related, well, anything. Being open-minded, the parental hated that he seemed outnumbered and how Lloyd pretended to be into toy cars and other stereotypical interests of little boys. After going back to homeschooling, he still acted like the makeup section in drugstores weren't his favorite part of even going when Garmadon was up for shape shifting, or not knowing which shirt matched which jeans. Eventually he went back to things that actually gained a special place in the wide heart.
Having not actually seen the last few episodes, Garmadon looked at Lloyd, "Yes, I hope she wins too…"
"Daddy, you don't even know who I'm talking about!" Cried the boy in mock hysteria. This is why he hated the random act of passing out; he missed time with the best thing in his life. But before the adult could apologize for the so-called offense, "Just kidding, it doesn't matter… Oh, and I love you too." Moving so he could kiss his father on the cheek, despite the glaring white markings that scared off basically anyone.
~~
The man woke up yet again, but this time alone in the moving machinery. He hated this worse than the dying dreams or having the possibility to have a do-over with his adopted boy. At least he was safe from changing into what he was inside… for now.
((A/N: Still using my head-cannon, heh...))