Summary:Coming home, to find that his parents are gone, Lloyd awaits for his friend, Brad,to take him to the City of Ninjago. Meanwhile, Lloyd encounters a rowdy little boy and befriends him.

If Lloyd had known about sudden the change of location, he would have signed up for those summer programs at Darkley's when he had the chance. Lloyd's expectations for these two months had blown up in his face when he returned home to discover that his parents had moved to New Ninjago City without bothering to even give him a head's up. Although pissed beyond belief, he gave thanks to whatever greater power that saved him from all the packing he would have done. If there's one thing Lloyd despised most, it was packing. Well, that and Brad's car. Despise may not be the right word. Don't get him wrong, he thought the flowers were pretty and it was quite impressive how gentle he handled them, but any other aspect was unappealing. Anyone could agree that gnats were annoying and bees are kind of intimidating and the eggs shells and rotten banana peels gave off a cringe worthy smell. Brad was not fazed by all these things, but Lloyd was and he unfortunately needed a ride.

"Voicemail...damn it." Groaning, he pressed the red button and sat on the steps of the now vacant home of his childhood. Having nothing much else to do until his roommate called back, he began looking through his gallery to delete unwanted photos and videos that were taking up space.

So engrossed in his task, he hadn't noticed a small visitor joining him on the porch.
With a mischievous grin, the child used all the force he could muster to push Lloyd off the steps. He was successful in his mission and Lloyd tumbled down the remaining stairs. Laughing hard at the scene, the boy fell back.

Of course, Lloyd heard him and the boy was so caught up in his amusement that he hadn't realized it until he was lifted by his black dirt stained shirt. The boy gagged, his mouth hung open in surprise.

"You can see me?!"

Lloyd flared his nose. "Of course I can see you dumbass!" He yelled, flicking his forehead. The boy whined.

"Ouch! I'm sorry!" Letting go of the twerp, Lloyd walked away to retrieve his phone.

Fixing his collar, the child got up and stuck out his tongue. Lloyd saw this when he turned back and rolled his eyes. "Where the hell are your parents, kid?"

"Where are your parents?" He retorted.

"Oh god." Lloyd thought, taking in a deep breath. Shaking his head, he decided to sit in the rocking chair by the screen door. He went on to examine his cell, making sure there weren't any damages.

"Is it broken?"

Lloyd groaned in annoyance. His red irises shot daggers at his face. The boy pursed his lips.

Moving closer, much to Lloyd's dismay, the boy tried to touch the device. Lloyd slapped his hand away, eliciting a scream from him.

"Why'd you hit me?"

"Why did you push me?"

The boy pouted. "I was only having fun."

"Then have fun somewhere else." He said, shooing him.

"Oh come on," He moaned, "I said I was sorry."

Lloyd clicked his tongue and reached a hand into his pocket to grab his ear buds. He cursed when he realized they weren't there. Getting up, he picked up his backpack. He then felt something grab his leg. Looking down, he saw a head of jet black hair below him.

"Hey, let go." He ordered, shaking his limb to set himself free. It seemed the kid had a strong hold. Lloyd fumed.

"You're the first person to see me!" The boy hollered at the top his lungs "I'm sorry for pushing you, really!"

"Alright, I forgive you." Lloyd said, fed up with boy. "Just let go." He complied. Lloyd heard him sniffle. Great this is exactly what he needed right now.

"Maybe I went too far?" He thought. Biting his lip, Lloyd set his bag down and kneeled down to his level.

"Look, don't cry alright." He said, "I was wrong for blowing up like that, but you did deserve it. You know that, right?" Still wiping his eyes, the boy nodded.

"Let's start over. What's your name?"

"Cole." He murmured.

"My name's Lloyd. It's nice to meet you, Cole."

"You…too" Lloyd smiled.

Cole smiled as well, happy to see that he wasn't shooting him any nasty looks anymore. Lloyd noticed that a few of his teeth were missing.

"C-can we be friends?" He asked suddenly.

"Uh…Yeah, I guess."

Cole sprung up, his mood shifting gears. He took his hand, insisting for Lloyd to stand. "Let's play a game!" Pulling at his arm, Lloyd was lead down the steps and through the open gate to the sidewalk. Lloyd simply went along with it. As long as the kid wasn't crying, he was fine. He just didn't like the idea of having the kid break the water works and have Mrs. Crumple-bottom come to scold him. No matter long ago it had been. She still saw him as that same little rascal who had made it his daily routine to torture her with his childish pranks. Now that she was on his mind, maybe that's why he didn't get the letter in time.

"Why'd you give it to her?" He screamed. Cursing at his parents for allowing the woman who had constantly came to them about his behavior. If only he hadn't dropped his phone in the toilet, none of this would have happened.

"Lloyd?"

Brought back to the outside world, he realized that Cole was staring at him, expecting an answer. "Huh?"

"What do want to play?" He repeated.

"Oh," He shrugged, "Hide-and-seek, maybe?" Cole's face scrunched up like he had taken a whiff of Brad's fertilizer.

"Hide-and-seek is for babies!"

Lloyd was humored by this statement. For babies he said. "And how old are you?" Cole let go of his hand, counting his fingers silently to himself. He held up his hands.

"I'm six years old!" He exclaimed proudly. Lloyd burst into laughter, making Cole embarrassed.

"Stop laughing!" He barked.

When Lloyd had finally stopped, his hand rubbed at his abdomen, sore from how tight he had it for a full four minutes. Cole stood there with his arms crossed and lips sealed shut. He looked like he was going to cry again.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Lloyd said, a giggle slipping out. He held a hand to his mouth to muffle the sound.

"It's not funny." He mumbled.

Lloyd sighed, "I know. Please forgive me, Cole. I'm sorry, honest."

"Really?"

Lloyd nodded. "Well, since you laughed at me, I get to choose the game." Cole bargained, "And I say we play ninja."

"Okay, so how do you—Cole, wait!" Not able to ask him how this game of ninja was to be done, Cole ran off. Groaning, Lloyd would have preferred taking the scolding from Mrs. Crumple-bottom after all.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

Lloyd was sure this was exactly how hide-and-seek worked. He couldn't find Cole anywhere. Being a terrible sore loser, he would have forfeited by now, but he wouldn't want a kid like him to even have the satisfaction of knowing that he had won. So he played along, looking in places that he once hid himself when he had been his age. However, he had no success.

"I hope nothing happened to him." He said out loud, "I'm sure his folks will have my head."

Hearing a dog barking from a distance, Lloyd rushed to the noise in hopes that it was Cole's presence that had alerted the animal. But when he did, it wasn't the kid he was looking for. Watching a young girl throw a chew toy, the dog happily went after it, barking as he did so. Lloyd was becoming irritable and worried. Either Cole was just good at this Ninja game or something had really happened to him. Or maybe he was just fucking with him and him running around the neighborhood calling his name like a mad man. Lloyd cocked his head to the left, relieving himself of the crook he had in his neck. It was then that he saw a familiar face, standing on top of the roof. His jaw slackened.

"Cole?!" He screamed at the boy, his pants were down to his ankles as he showed off his rear end. Glad to see that Lloyd had finally noticed him, Cole covered his bum and stuck out his tongue.

"Bleeeegggh!"

Lloyd's right eye began to twitch. He now understood the saying: "You reap what you sow"

"Get down from there idiot before you hurt yourself."

With his hands on his hips, standing in a typical hero's pose, Cole portrayed himself like a villain rather than a hero with his wicked laughter. "You have to catch me first!"

And in slow motion, Lloyd's eyes popped from out his skull when Cole took the leap of a lifetime. He had never moved so fast in life. Lloyd was not athletic, but with how quick he was to jump over the fence and still had the time to catch Cole before his brains were to be scattered across the ground was just a miracle. Maybe he should join track and field next year.

"Let's play again!" Cole demanded, his laughter had Lloyd close to tears and they weren't tears of joy.

"He's crazy!" He thought as he rested his head on the patio, praying to any god willing to listen to give him mercy. Lloyd had completely forgotten about the girl and her furry companion. She had stopped her activity to watch the scene in front of looked puzzled. Her dog looked back and forth between his owner and the stranger in their backyard, his tail still wagging in anticipation for the girl to throw the toy bone for him once more.

"You bozo!" Lloyd wacked Cole across the top of his head and of course he held back, but gave just enough force to know that he would at least hurt the little devil.

"Ouch, that hurts!" Cole screamed, nursing the fresh new wounds afflicted by his recently become friend.

"Good, it should!" Lloyd retorted, "What in the hell were you thinking of jumping off the roof? No scratch that. How did you even get up there?"

Cole shot him a glare, "I told you we were playing Ninja, didn't I?"

"That doesn't mean you go climbing up roofs and jumping off it!" He yelled, "If I hadn't caught you in time, you and me would be having some major problems."

Cole pouted. "Whatever, let's play something else then. It's your tur—"

Ring. Ring.

It was Lloyd's phone, pulling it from out his pocket, he was happy to press the answer button.

"Hey, it's about time you called."

[Yeah, sorry about that. So what's up?]

"Well I got some bad news." Lloyd grumbled. Brad hummed at this statement. "So apparently my folks had moved."

[What?! Are you kidding?! Why didn't they tell you?!]

"That's the thing. Since my phone decided to take a dive, they didn't have the number to my new one." He explained, "Oh, and they convinced Mrs. Crumple-bottom to be in charge with making sure I got the letter from them. I'm guessing they thought I wouldn't be coming home this summer."

[Damn. That totally sucks man. So what are you going to do?]

"I was hoping you'd come get me and take me to Ninjago city." He said.

[Sure! I'm not too far away from you now. I got caught in traffic because of a car accident. It was pretty hectic. This eighteen-wheeler completely totaled this van. You should have seen it!]

Lloyd grimaced at the info. "Wow." He frowned, "Well, I'll be waiting for you where you dropped me off."

[Okay, bye!]

"Bye." Hanging up, Lloyd sighed. He almost forgotten Cole was still there standing next to him until he felt someone tug at his shirt.

"You're leaving?"

Lloyd felt his heart break a bit at how glum Cole's voice sounded. "Yeah, "He confessed. Terror was in his eyes.

"You can't leave!" He cried, "We were just having fun!"

"I'm sorry Cole, but I have to."

"You hate me don't you?!" Cole yelled accusingly. Lloyd was shocked by the hostility.

"Cole, I-I never said—"

"Shut up! You're lying!" He screamed, straining his voice. "I don't want to be friends with you anymore! You're a liar!" And he ran off, but this time Lloyd wouldn't let him get out of his sight. He followed after him, thankful that Cole didn't have long legs to carry him far. Time went on and Lloyd was sure they ran three laps around the neighborhood. However, it didn't look like Cole wasn't stopping anytime soon.

"Damn, this kid has stamina." Lloyd's lungs burned and eventually he had to stop. Then suddenly there was a divine intervention, Cole had tripped and although the fall was pretty ugly, Lloyd was glad he had been put down. An ear-wrenching screamed filled the air, making Lloyd cringe at the sound. And that's when things went bizarre.

The ground began to move. Was this an earthquake? Lloyd knew for sure that his village never had those. Not use to the trembling ground below his feet, Lloyd fell to his knees. He could still hear Cole's scream over the chaos. He knew the boy was scared. The usually quiet neighborhood, began to stir, people evacuated their homes to go outside. He noticed that most of them were wearing pajamas. He didn't realize it had gotten so late.

Bringing his attention back to the child siren, Lloyd heard a snap. His head shot up, identifying the noise to a tree. It was going to fall.

"Not this again." Giving it his all to balance himself on his feet, he felt he would be too late. There was just no way he would make it. There was another snap. Lloyd was now standing. Now he just needed to—

BOOM!

The screaming and the earthquake had all stopped. It had been so sudden. Lloyd entire body froze in place. This isn't happening. It didn't happen. Cole was fine. He had probably moved before it even managed to fall on him. He was an extraordinary kid. I mean he climbed on top of that roof earlier somehow.

Lloyd wished he was right, but he knew he wasn't.

"Cole!" He screamed, "Cole, answer me!"

Silence.

At this moment, Lloyd never thought he would have ever hated it so much. The quietness in the air was unnerving. He didn't dare go any closer to the fallen oak tree. He was scared to find what lied under those leaves and branches. So he fell back to his knees, his eyes still looked forward but no longer focused on the grave before him.

Okay, So I finished this at 4:56 AM. I didn't even bother to sleep. I'm sure there were lots of mistakes, but my eyes are tired and I don't want to look again until I atleast take a nap. Well I hope you enjoyed...*looks to the tree* Awkward.