All aboard the angst train it's only just beginning T-T . Seriously though these cliff hangars are killing me just bring back Garmadon and kill us all with sadness already.
Warnings for Harumi being a manipulative jerk I guess? Like I can't believe that episode went that far?
Kai is going to kill Lloyd.
Scratch that – he's going to save him from the Sons of Garmadon, murder Harumi, then he's going to kill Lloyd.
"FSM alive, what the hell was he thinking-"
"Calm down, Kai, freaking out isn't going to get us anywhere."
Kai whips around to glare at Cole. "They have Lloyd!" he cries angrily, gesturing wildly at the sky. "Who knows what Harumi has planned for him, and we're stuck here, in the middle of nowhere, completely useless-"
"Wow, this is usually my riff," Jay says, sounding slightly impressed.
"Shut up, Jay!" Kai gives Jay a fiery glare.
"No, you shut up," Nya says, stepping defensively in front of Jay and grabbing Kai's shoulder. "Cole's right, we need to stay calm. Losing our cool isn't going to help anyone." Kai tenses beneath her hold, but he calms at his sister's comforting touch, some of the fight ebbing out of him. "Zane, any word from Pixal?"
Zane shakes his head, brow creased in concern. "It may be that our comms do not work this far in," he says, sounding as if he's trying to convince himself. "I'll keep trying to contact her, but for now…we're on our own."
"Great," Jay says, kicking at the wreckage they've created in their battle against the creature. "Just great. We successfully got completely backstabbed, lost all the masks, and lost Lloyd, again, all in one day. What do we do now?"
"We get out of this jungle," Cole says, holding the Cole Junio – uh, Master Wu in his arms. The toddler has gone quiet, his previously happy demeanor gone. "We make it back to Ninjago City, and we get Lloyd back."
"And then we kick the Sons of Garmadons' asse-"
"Kai," Cole hisses, his eyes flicking down to little Wu.
"Oh, like he's never heard profanity before," Kai says.
"We have yet to determine whether or not he has all his memories," Zane says. "Though I like the direction your plan was heading." He tightens his grip on his bow, clearly still worried about Pixal.
And probably still bitter about what happened with Mr. E, Kai thinks.
"We're all angry about Harumi," Cole says, his jaw tightening. "Trust me, I really want to hit her with an earth punch right now. But we can't just – we barely got away from that creature, we're stranded, and we can't afford to think like that right now." Cole looks desperate, tiny cracks of panic appearing in his mask of calm. Kai feels the fight drain completely from him – Lloyd is Cole's little brother, too.
"Fine," he says. "Fine, okay. We gotta start moving, though, we're toast just standing here."
"Kai is right," Zane says, his eyes scanning the trees. "I sense the inhabitants of this forest won't leave us alone for much longer."
"I'll be ready for them when they decide to," Nya growls, the water around them vibrating. "What?" she says, at their looks. "I'm angry too! Backstabbing little snake."
"More like a spider," Jay mutters. "I knew that song was way too creepy."
"Okay!" Cole says, sounding stressed as he pulls Wu tighter to his chest. "We can insult Harumi all we want when we face her, let's just get moving. Zane, can you…?"
"I can at least guide us in the right direction," Zane says, frowning in concentration.
"We'll keep looking out for Pixal while you're at it," Jay says, patting Zane's shoulder.
Zane gives him a weak smile before moving forward, pointing them into the wild jungle. Kai and Nya take the front, hacking at the thick greenery while Cole and Zane discuss strategy behind them. Jay brings up the rear, his eyes bright and sharp on the trees around them.
Once they've fallen into that rhythm, time seems to pass quickly, the monotonous hacking giving Kai something of an outlet – just imagine the branches as the Sons of Garmadon, makes it ten times easier.
"Try not to work yourself dead so fast," Nya says, her voice just loud enough for Kai to hear. "We've got a ways to go."
"I'm not-" Kai sighs in irritation, but he forces himself to hack a little less savagely.
"We're gonna get Lloyd back," Nya says, bumping him in the shoulder. "He'll be fine – you trained him, after all. I'm sure he's working on an escape right now."
"I just can't believe he took off after them like that," Kai growls. "Has he learned anything at all? Why would he do that?"
"Skylor," Nya says, pointedly.
Kai misses a stroke, head whipping to glare at Nya. "Harumi is nothing like Skylor," he hisses. "Skylor didn't think she had a choice – what Harumi did, what she did to Lloyd-"
"I know, I know," Nya says, her own face dark with anger. "Trust me, I'm just as angry as you are. But I meant he's not going to be thinking straight. Like you couldn't with Skylor."
Kai bites his lip, glaring at the trees. Nya's right, of course, but he's still going to kill Lloyd for leaving them like this.
Just focus on being angry. Don't think about Lloyd in Harumi's clutches, don't think about what she might be doing to him-
"I wish I could go back and warn myself," Nya finally says, kicking at a particularly stubborn branch. "I told Lloyd to be himself with her," she says, sounding disgusted. "Like she deserved – gah, poor Lloyd. This is terrible."
"Yeah, I was kinda hoping his first crush would be someone nice," Kai says, exhaling. "Someone we could tease him about, but not, you know, a sociopath."
"We should've given her that shovel talk we planned on day one," Nya says, darkly.
Kai's lips tighten, and he nods in bitter silence. He feels wound too tight, like he'll explode at any moment. It's the awful kind of tension he hasn't felt since the time fiasco with his parents, or since the ordeal with Morro when Lloyd was gone-
His fingers tighten around his sword. Lloyd may have grown, but he's still Kai's little brother. He's still that wide-eyed, open-hearted kid with a mischievous streak a mile wide that Kai unlocked his true potential for. He's still Lloyd, and as much as it's hurting Kai's heart to think about it, that's exactly why Harumi was able to get this far.
Lloyd wants to see the best in everyone. It's one of his best qualities, on most days. It's the reason he believes in them all so whole-heartedly, the reason he's able to love so sincerely. Lloyd always looks for the best in everyone, regardless of who they are or where they're from.
Kai is going to destroy Harumi for using that against him. For exploiting his little brother's heart and using him like he's another one of her pawns-
Kai sinks his katana a foot deep into a tree.
"Sorry, sorry," he mutters, flushing as he feels the others' eyes on him. He yanks his katana out, wincing. Cole comes up next to him, and Kai braces himself.
"You better hit like that when we catch them," Cole simply says. Kai looks at him, meeting Cole's gaze. He nods, fiery determination replacing the hopeless rage he'd been fighting.
"You got it," he says, giving Cole a tight grin.
"We're all gonna bring it," Jay says, slinging his arms around them both, ignoring their twin glares. "Those knock-off sons of Garmadon won't know what hit them."
"Hit them!" Little Wu giggles, clapping Cole's face.
"See, Master Wu's already back to giving us great advice," Jay says. Cole rolls his eyes.
"Can we please start moving again?"
With minimal grumbling from Jay, they fall back into place, Kai beside Nya again as he hacks at the jungle with renewed determination.
They'll get out of this. They've beat worse odds than this before, they'll come through. And then Harumi's going to learn that no one, no one, messes with their family.
Half a turn clockwise. Twist back a little, and-
The pin snaps against the vengestone cuffs, slipping from Lloyd's numb fingers. He resists the urge to swear violently. If only he'd paid more attention in class at Darkley's (wow, that's a new thought) during the lock-picking sessions – and if he'd only remembered to slip more than one pin up his sleeve. But no, Lloyd is truly hooped, as Jay would put it.
Gods, he really hopes they're all okay.
Kai is going to kill him.
Nya is going to kill him, too. And Cole, and Jay, and Zane. They'll all gather around and joint murder him for his terrible taste in girls and his awful life decisions. And honestly, Lloyd would deserve it. He'd actually welcome it, at this point-
No. The people he really needs to be worried about killing him are the Sons of Garmadon - and her. They're practically holding the knife at his throat as it is.
(And his father, who probably won't even recognize him when they bring him back-)
Lloyd shuts down that train of thought violently. A fiery burst of anger wells up in his throat, and he brings his head back hard against the mast, welcoming the brief flare of pain.
Stupid, stupid, stupid Lloyd, you're so stupid-
At least they've finally left him alone – the hits he could take, fine, he's had worse, but having to listen to Ultraviolet's laughter as Harumi kept talking was unbearable. Sure, being shackled to the Bounty's mast isn't exactly comfortable, and having his arms twisted savagely back isn't doing wonders for his previously injured arm, but it's better than having to be within twenty feet of Harumi.
Lloyd prods the edge of his busted lip with his tongue, trying to assess the damage. He's lucky he still has all his teeth, really. The rest of his body just hurts – the Sons of Garmadon weren't exactly gentle.
They might have been a little less aggressive if Lloyd hadn't started firing off energy bursts at them the minute Killow grabbed him from behind. It was worth it, though, to power blast Harumi in her smug face. It's a small comfort that he won't be the only one sporting a black eye in the morning.
Lloyd tries to picture the surprised look on her face before he knocked her flat. Tries to replace every other look she ever gave him with that face, as if he can block out the last few days-
Lloyd closes his eyes wearily. He doesn't want to think about it. He can't think about it, if he wants to get through this. He just needs to pretend that his stupid heart wasn't just violently shattered into a hundred pieces by the girl who's going to bring his father back as a soulless demon.
Stupid, naïve, idiot, he thinks bitterly at himself. Stupid moron, why didn't you figure it out sooner-
He knows why. It's the same reason he failed to destroy the Overlord the first time – the same reason he trusted Pythor, the same reason he's able to sit through Sensei Wu talking about Morro without being bitter. Because Lloyd is a stupid, soft idiot who still thinks with his heart, even after everything.
And he'd thought –
He'd thought Harumi was different. He'd thought she understood. And…he'd thought that he finally understood why Kai kicked up such a fuss about Skylor, and why Jay was willing to go to such lengths for Nya, and why Zane pulled out half his heart for Pixal.
Ha. Harumi didn't stop at half with him. She took the whole thing and smashed it.
Typical, Lloyd thinks, bitterly. The other ninja fall in love and no matter the obstacle, true love comes through. Lloyd falls in love and it puts their lives, their master, and the entire city of Ninjago in danger.
Idiot. Stupid, naïve, idiot.
So much for not thinking about it. Lloyd hasn't felt quite this used since Morro, and that's…saying something.
Of course Harumi was using him. It makes sense, right? That's the only reason anyone's ever wanted him, anyways. He's the son of Garmadon or he's the green ninja - either way he's a bargaining chip, a means to an end, a savior or a source of power.
Not true, he tells himself. Kai doesn't think that. Neither does Nya, or Cole, or Jay or Zane, or his dad-
Lloyd squeezes his eyes shut tightly, fighting back the welling tears. He misses his team. He missed them before this whole awful mess started – misses the days they spent on the Bounty, the nights they stayed up watching terrible movies, the missions that were always easier because they did them together.
He misses his family. And he hates it, he hates that she's right, but he misses his father. So much that it creeps up and leaves him breathless sometimes, and yes, he does want him back. He'd give almost anything to have him back.
Almost anything.
Putting his family in danger and the city in jeopardy isn't on the table. And neither is bringing his dad back as a soulless villain, at that. Garmadon would never want that.
(And to think that Lloyd was almost excited about this mission, because it would bring them all back together again-)
Maybe he deserves it. Harumi's parents only died because of the Great Devourer, and it never would have attacked Ninjago City if Lloyd hadn't let the serpentine out in the first place. Maybe this is the universe reminding him that no matter how far he gets, he'll always be that horrible bratty little kid who everyone hated. Harumi is just the vindictive final nail in the coffin.
And, speak of the devil-
"Nice to see you aren't being so unreasonable anymore," Harumi says, her voice sickly sweet. She emerges from below deck, seeming almost to melt into the shadows before creeping up to where Lloyd's chained up.
Lloyd looks up, his eyes burning as he glares at her. To his surprise, she actually hesitates.
She frowns. "I thought your eyes were green," she says, almost only to herself.
It's Lloyd's turn to frown. "They are," he says. "Wha-"
Oh. He's forgotten the last time he'd failed to keep his eyes colored green by his powers, but he knows the natural red can be unsettling to anyone – even the Quiet One.
That's not good, though. It means he either used so much power that he seriously knocked himself off his game, or his father's genes finally decided to kick in full-force and he's being consumed by the Great Devourer's venom.
Probably the first, even if he does feel a little like going full warlord-out-for-vengeance at the moment.
Harumi doesn't really seem to care though, once she realizes he won't be breaking out any time soon, so Lloyd doesn't say anything.
"You know, it really is a pity you didn't just drown in that temple like you were supposed to," Harumi says, leaning easily against the railing. "It would have been so much less messy."
Lloyd just glares at her.
"Never mind that, though," she says. "As it turns out, it works to my benefit. I've got lovely plans for you."
If she's expecting Lloyd to ask her what her plans are, she can keep waiting in dramatic silence like that, Lloyd thinks. "Did you come up here just to talk about your plans?" he finally says, tiredly. "'Cause if you did, you can just go ahead and knock me out again, spare yourself the trouble."
"Oh, but then I wouldn't get to watch you glare at me with all that heartbroken anger," Harumi says. Lloyd's fingers tighten into fists where they're bound behind his back, his glare deepening. "What?" she says, smiling. "Annoyed that you fell for your enemy? It wouldn't be your first mistake."
"I'm more annoyed that my first kiss was from a maniacal sociopath," Lloyd mutters. "So thanks for that."
"That was hardly a kiss," Harumi laughs, pushing herself from the railing to circle him. "You're so cute." Harumi trails her hand down his hair, and Lloyd jerks away violently. He still can't banish the feeling of her hands on him from earlier, the possessive way they roamed from his chest to his shoulders – Lloyd shudders.
"Don't touch me," he grits out, teeth clenched tightly.
Harumi raises a carefully sculpted eyebrow. "I thought you liked me being close," she says, leaning in. She's close enough that Lloyd can smell her perfume – he's going to get sick every time he smells roses now. "You didn't have a problem with it earlier."
"I was an idiot earlier," Lloyd says. "And that was before I knew what you were."
"Oh?" Harumi's hand locks on his shoulder, tightening. "And what am I?"
"Insane," Lloyd says. He meets her hard gaze head on. "But deep down? A frightened little brokenhearted princess who thinks she can fix herself by making everyone hurt like she did."
Harumi slams him back against the mast, her eyes wild in anger. "Don't pretend you know anything about me," she hisses.
"We are a kindred spirits," Lloyd says, firing her own words back at her.
Harumi freezes, her jaw working. "No," she says, letting go of his shoulder and stepping away, her icy sweet mask sliding back into place. "I know exactly who I am. I know exactly what I want. You? You don't know anything."
She straightens, adjusting her jacket. "Once I have Garmadon by my side, nothing will stand in my way," Harumi says. "I'll rid Ninjago of anything that poses a threat. Which just so happens to include you and your little ninja friends," she says, with a sick sort of delight. "When your precious friends try to stop me – which they will, of course – I'll have your father kill them all on sight. Won't that be wonderfully fitting?"
Lloyd lunges at Harumi, pulling violently against the cuffs and barely registering the pain as the skin around his wrists splits open.
"I'll kill you," he says, through bared teeth.
"Ooh, now that doesn't sound like something the great and good green ninja would say," Harumi says. "A little violent, don't you think?"
"I'll show you – violent –" Lloyd bites out, struggling against his restraints. There's a frantic humming building in his ears, like the angry panic that's gripping his chest.
"I'll take your family just like you took mine," she hisses. "And then I'll have your own father put you out of your pathetic misery."
"Shut up-"
"I grew up alone, Lloyd, thanks to you. I had everything, and you and your friends tore it from me. You could never understand my pain – and you could never understand love, either." She gives a slow, mocking smile. "How could you? You thought I loved you."
The humming in Lloyd's ears reaches a crescendo. "Shut up!" he yells, his voice echoing across the deck like a crack of thunder. Harumi actually flinches back.
"You-"
She pauses as footsteps sound from behind her, drawing closer as someone heads up to the deck.
"Hey, boss?" one of the Sons of Garmadon pokes his head up, looking troubled. "Um, all the lightbulbs in here just blew out – straight-up shattered. Everything okay?"
Harumi tenses. She looks at Lloyd, her eyes narrowed. He glowers back.
"Just fine," she says, curtly. "Find another source of light, I'll be back down in a minute." The man disappears, and Harumi takes a breath, looking out over the deck of the ship. She turns back to Lloyd, her gaze apathetic.
"Do try to get some rest," she says, turning away from him. "I'd hate for you to disappoint your father when we bring him back."
Lloyd tenses. "This won't go how you plan," he finally calls after her. "You're going to lose."
"Oh Lloyd," Harumi says, without looking back. "I don't lose." And with that, she's gone, disappearing below deck.
Good riddance, Lloyd thinks bitterly, slumping back against the mast. His heart is hammering in his chest, his emotions a mess. Points to Harumi for being the most infuriating adversary he's ever had to deal with.
The adrenaline begins to fade quickly, though, replaced by a growing haze of despair. He can threaten Harumi all he wants, but he still fell right into her trap. He's still the one chained up, and his team is miles away by now.
Lloyd shivers, his gi offering little comfort from the night air and chilly winds. He winces, flexing his hands and trying to bring back feeling to his fingers. They're sticky with his own blood, and he's seriously regretting pulling at the cuffs like that.
It would have been worth it, if he could have gotten to her-
Lloyd closes his eyes tightly. The worst part about this whole terrible situation is that as much as he hates Harumi, as much as he wants her gone-
He can still remember why he liked her so much, and those stupid feelings are still…they won't-
He didn't love her, but he could have.
It hurts.
Lloyd kicks at the deck bitterly. He's had his heart broken before. No big deal. He'll just sweep the pieces back up and patch them together again. Slap the metaphorical duct tape over it and move on with his life. He's done it before, done it again – he can do it now.
He can. They're going to bring his father back, and he's not sure if he – if his team can stop them in time.
He needs to get ready for it to shatter again, just in case.