Camping 101-Chapter 1-Hit the Road
AN: Post Ninjago Movie AU where Garmadon wants to spend some quality time with his son, so what better way than to go on a road trip camping? I don't own Ninjago!
I was hailed as a hero of Ninjago. I felt so free being able to finally let the city know who the Green Ninja really was. It was a long time in coming. I was also treated a whole lot better now that my father, Lord Garmadon, had stopped attacking the city. It seemed he wanted to try and change from his evil warlording ways.
My mom wasn't eager to let my dad back into her life so soon. While I understood this, I still wanted to try to get to know him better, but since he wasn't living with us, it was challenging.
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and breaking me out of my thoughts. I absentmindedly picked up my bag and followed my friends out the door.
"So, what are you guys doing for this longer weekend?" Kai asked Cole, Zane and Jay. It was an extended weekend, as we had two extra days off due to Teacher work days.
"Nya and I thought we'd go to the Ninjago theme park. They have a new ride," Jay answered, giving Nya a shy look.
"When were you going to ask me about this?" Nya asked him, with a hand on her hip, but a smile on her face.
"I am going to do my homework," Zane answered.
"Seriously, Zane?" Cole asked. "Who does their homework at the beginning of a four-day weekend?"
Zane shrugged in response.
"What about you, Lloyd?" Kai asked me, as we walked.
I wasn't really listening to their conversation. I was thinking about my father.
"Earth to Lloyd!" Kai said again, waving a hand in my face.
"W-what?" I asked, finally tuning in.
"I asked if you had plans this weekend," the fire ninja repeated.
"Not really," I answered.
"Want to come to the new arcade then?" Kai continued. "It's got a new game that I hear is awesome!"
"Uh—" I started to say, but Cole interrupted.
"That sounds great! Count me in!"
When we got outside, there seemed to be quite a commotion going on. Cars honked angrily, and some people were yelling and screaming in the parking lot. What in the world?
As I looked, there was one of my dad's Garm-a-mech's I hadn't seen before, apparently waiting for me to come out of school. Looked like he had cut everyone off to get to the front of the pick-up lane, which explained a lot.
Heat rushed to my face, and I was rooted on the spot. I felt everyone's eyes bore into me. This was so embarrassing.
I could hear kids talking nervously, wondering what the warlord was doing at the school. Recently memories of him attacking Ninjago were still fresh in their minds.
"Lloyd, what's your dad doing here?" Kai asked.
Before I could respond, Garmadon caught sight of me and jumped out of his mech and walked over to me.
"Hey there, Luh-loyd!" he said loudly.
Several kids tried to cover their laughter at how my dad said my name. He still didn't get it right.
"Dad! What are you doing here?" I asked him, as my friends looked on curiously.
"Why, I came to pick you up from school, of course!" Garmadon answered as if it should be obvious. "I had to show you my awesome mech!"
"Right. Thanks, I guess." I turned to my friends. "See you guys later."
As I followed my dad to his mech, I felt everyone's stares. I climbed in quickly behind my dad and we took off.
"Dad, if you're going to pick me up, then can you please do it in a normal car?" I asked him.
"What? I don't do normal, Luh-loyd," Garmadon answered. "Besides, isn't this mech so cool?"
I looked around at it. It was a flying type. "Yeah, it's great," I answered, "but you cut everyone off at the pick-up area, and then everyone was staring at me."
"It's because they're all jealous," my dad answered with a shrug, as if it was no big deal.
"Dad, that's not—" I started to say, but he cut me off.
"So, I heard you have a longer weekend from school," he continued.
I raised my brow at him. "How did you know that?"
"I've made it a point to know more about what's going on at your school," the warlord answered. I guessed that was good. "And I was thinking it would good to have some father son time together."
I was surprisingly thinking about something similar. "Did you have something in mind?" I asked, interested.
"Of course, I do! I thought about it a lot," my dad told me excitedly. "I'm pretty sure you'll like it."
"Okay, what is it?" I asked, feeling curious about what my dad would come up with.
"Get this: we're going to conquer Mt. Everest," he told me in all seriousness.
My jaw dropped. "Dad, you can't conquer Mt. Everest!" I protested. "Besides, Mom would never let me do that!"
"Hmm…you may have a point there, Luh-loyd," Garmadon conceded, disappointed.
"How about a camping trip instead?" I suggested. "I've always wanted to go camping."
"Sure," my dad grinned, "it's not as exciting as conquering Mt. Everest, but I'm game."
"Have you ever camped before?" I asked, suddenly slightly nervous.
"No, but how hard can it be? I was in the jungle, and before that, doing battle in remote places, so I don't think it's any different than that," he answered confidentially.
I wondered about that, but it would give us a chance to get to know each other better.
"I'll talk it over with Mom, and get back to you," I said, as we approached the apartment.
"Okay, see you," Garmadon said as he let me off.
This would definitely be interesting.
When I told mom about the camping idea with Dad, she was surprisingly agreeable. I guess she didn't mind me spending time with him. Her only condition was that we didn't do anything dangerous.
I then decided to text my friends to let them know my plans for the weekend and that if we didn't come back, to come looking for us. I got a lot of joking replies about if I would survive four days with Garmadon.
After researching camping sites that were in Ninjago (and there were quite a few), I found a great spot that seemed perfect.
I called Dad on the phone to tell him.
"Hello," his gruff voice answered.
"Hey, dad. Mom is fine with me going on the camping trip with you, so long as we don't do anything dangerous."
My dad laughed at this. "Of course, it'll be dangerous! We'll be alone, out in the field! It reminds me of my warlord days. I should bring some of my weapons."
"Dad, camping is not like your warlord days (which wasn't that long ago). Don't bring any weapons!" I insisted.
"Fine," he agreed grumpily.
I could tell he was still having trouble completely letting go of his old ways. "Listen, I've got all the camping supplies we need. Just bring what you think you'll need and pick me up in the morning," I told him.
"What kind of mech do you want me to bring?" my dad asked me.
I frowned. I really didn't want to go camping in one of Dad's mech's. "Can't you just rent a car or something, dad?"
"I told you before, Luh-loyd. I don't do cars," Garmadon answered pointedly.
"Look, dad, just pick some kind of recreational vehicle. Your mech's aren't big enough to hold everything anyway," I told him.
"I can pick out whatever I want?" my dad asked.
"Sure," I relented.
"Okay, I'll surprise you with something great! See you soon," he answered and then hung up.
I figured that anything was better than one of his mechs.
The next morning, I had all my things packed and ready to go. Mom was waiting with me for Dad to arrive.
"I hope you have a great time, honey," she told me, kissing me on the cheek.
"Thanks mom," I answered with a smile.
"Keep your dad in check," she added. "He can be a handful."
"I will. I don't know if I'll have good reception on my phone, but I'm sure we'll be fine," I told her.
Suddenly, we heard the sound of screeching tires, and very loud, ear shattering, music coming from the street below. Mom and I looked out the window and saw Garmadon waving up at us from his car. It was a luxury, black, sleek looking SUV with enormous wheels.
All of our neighbors, who were rudely awoken, were now glaring at Garmadon out their windows.
"Your dad sure has a sense of style," Mom said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, I guess so." I mumbled, embarrassed. "Bye mom," I told her, giving her a hug as I gathered all my items and went down to meet Dad.
I walked up to the vehicle and noticed that my dad had a canoe strapped to the top.
Interesting.
"Hey, son! Check this out!" he said as he pushed a button in the car. The passenger side door opened like a bird stretching its wings, revealing a staircase to climb up inside.
My mouth fell open. I couldn't believe Dad got such an impressive vehicle! As I walked up the stairs, I looked around. It had six seats that were covered in shiny, black leather. Up at the front, there a screen console and millions of buttons.
"Dad, how did you get a car like this?" I asked.
"I have my ways," he answered mysteriously. "Look at all what this baby has," Garmadon continued. "It has a high-end sound system, screens for doing whatever you want, and even helps you drive!" he gushed.
I started to put my stuff down, when Garmadon said, "You can put that stuff in the closet."
"Closet?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah, it's in the back-check it out."
I walked to the back of car and saw what Dad was talking about. It looked like a mini closet with a place for everything. *
I noticed that he had already had all his stuff there; fishing poles, a couple bags and other camping stuff.
"So, what do you think?" Garmadon asked as I sat in the passenger seat.
"It's really nice, but don't you think it's too fancy for camping?" I asked as I fastened my seatbelt. I noticed on the arm rest that it had massage, heating, and cooling options for the seats.
"Nah, only the best for my son!" Garmadon answered with a grin.
I gave him the address of campsite, which he put in the internal navigational system. Then, he pushed his foot down hard on the gas pedal and we sped off.
*this is a real car concept that I looked up ( 2016/03/lincolns-yacht-sized-concept-suv-closet-staircase/)
AN: This will be a 3 part story. Review if I should continue.