Sorta a "What if" about if Lloyd had failed to defeat the Overlord the first time.

Monday1113 does not own Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu.


Chapter One

Lloyd's POV

I felt myself fall, landing on the rooftop, breathing heavily. From somewhere above me, the Overlord grinned down at me.

"It seems you've lost, little Garmadon." He said, a single claw lifting me up by the back of my gi. I was dangling over the side now, looking down at everything I had worked so hard to save. Kai was still fighting Nya, but when she stopped to look at me, Kai turned around. He was too far away for me to see his expression, but I could hear his voice shouting at me, the words turned to mush before I could entirely understand them.

As the Overlord scooped me up once more,he dropped me back onto the rooftop. I landed on my bad leg, the broken bone grinding against itself. I curled up tightly and closed my eyes, hoping that this was just a bad dream and that when I woke up, I'd be back on the dark island, preparing to leave or home or anywhere but here.

So when I woke up to see that I was in a cage, and still on that damned rooftop. Completely alone. Everything hit me like a big yellow school bus.

I had failed.

Everyone was now probably a dark matter zombie except me. What was I here for? Was my purpose just to become a martyr for the light, or what might be left of it? My answer came in the form of a purple dragon, the Overlord. He wasn't alone though, he had someone in his hands. 'Kai'. When he dropped him on the rooftop, he immediately ran over to me, and I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep.

"Lloyd!" Kai shouted, drawing his sword. As he ran up, he slashed against the bars. Nothing. He slashed again, trying from several different angles. Behind him, the Overlord laughed quietly.

"It won't break. You can try as hard as you want, but those bars were crafted out of dark matter. They don't break like normal metals. They'll simply bend and morph to fit around whatever is inside"

With one more hit, the dark matter bent inwards like it was taffy, and once it touched my skin, it stuck, and it felt like fire. The pain tore a scream out of my throat, my voice cracking. Kai reached to pull it off, panic clear in his face. No matter how hard he tried, it didn't come off. I could feel it burning, and I wanted to die.

With another dark laugh, the Overlord said something, and the cage peeled off my skin. Where the dark matter had been, was an angry burn, but that wasn't the worst part. As the edges faded from the angry color, Dark black spread under my skin, branching out in tiny veins. "It's...it's poisoning me..." I mumbled, partially shocked, partially afraid.

"Indeed it is. The darkness is spreading inside you. With each time you try escaping, or every time your friend tries to save you, the further it will spread, slowly consuming the light inside you, very painfully." Kai stepped in front of the cage, bristling in anger. "Do not worry though, if you embrace the darkness, it will spread rapidly, completely pain-free."

"So either way..."

"I will quash the light within you."

I didn't move, instead, I sat perfectly still inside the cage, not touching the bars at all. "Kai," I whispered once the Overlord took off, probably looking to make sure there we no more people who weren't under his power. "Kai, get out of here. I'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving you." He said, raising his sword. It glowed white-hot, and I backed up, until I was inches away from the bars.

"No don't! Didn't you hear him? If you try, it'll just turn me evil sooner!" I looked down at my ankle, the make-shift splint was loose. "I'd never make it that far anyway Kai, not with my ankle."

Moving back into the center of the cage, I watched his sword's glow dim. "I'm going to find a way to get you and the others back, I swear!" He said, starting to leave. I smiled, listening to the wind blow around me.

'Is it wishful thinking of something that cannot be achieved, or is it a goal that I'm trying to not reach?' I thought, watching the skyline for any sign of his return. 'Either way, I'm stuck up here until god knows when.' Looking down over the side of the building, past the stairs, the streets seemed dead. Completely empty and lifeless. The only proof that we had lost the battle.

If we had won, everyone would be celebrating.


Days had past, and it seemed that the Overlord was planning on ruling from up here. His power had grown enough to the point he no longer had to keep his dragon form to exist. He now had his human form again. He didn't seem so old, but I guess he had some say over his human form's appearance.

Whenever he came up, he would be in his human form for the most part, and at least once a day, he'd let me out of the cage, letting me hobble around on the rooftop for a few minutes. After that, he'd show that he still had the upper hand, beating me until I every part of me was sorer than it was when the others had trained me. The bars would bend to his touch, only letting me in and out when he wanted.

Today was different though.

He sat himself down in front of my cage, a smirk on his face, something held behind his back. "How's your hope going? Has it died yet?"

I shook my head, refusing to give him a verbal answer. "Maybe this will change your mind then..." He pulled out a paper bag, dumping blue shards on the floor of the cage. 'Uncle's tea pot! He's gonna be so mad that it's broken!' I thought, remembering the one time it did break, and shuddering in my head. "They're all under my control Lloyd. The sooner you give up, the sooner I'll let you see them."

It didn't take a super genius to know he was just baiting me. I looked the other way, closing my eyes, as I rested my head on drawn-up knees.

Cold winds bit at me through the cage, something I hadn't gotten used to. It was almost always cold up here, like I was sitting in the freezer section of a grocery store.

He left for a few minutes, saying he was going to get my new guards. When he came back, Cole, Jay and Zane were following him. It was clear that they were completely under his control. They stood so that there was one of them at each corner of my cage, facing away from me.

Sighing, I closed my eyes, and rubbed my arms, trying to warm up. Turning into a popsicle was something I wanted to do.


So yeah...I started this chapter a year ago, left it alone, found a lack of failed final battle stories, and revisited this.

Do you guys want me to continue, or should I focus on other things?