I don't think any villain I've ever faced has gotten more personal to me than Chen has.
I know that's a little weird to say, since I've been talking over and over again about Harumi. The thing is, Harumi got to me by getting down to my emotions. She grabbed hold of them and then yanked them. I guess in that respect, she's more personal to me as Lloyd. Chen, is more personal to me in terms of who I am as a being. I don't know if that makes sense. Harumi, got to me, as a person. Chen got to me as to who I am, as the son of Garmadon, might be more accurate? It's hard to explain. Okay, let's just say that Chen is maybe the most personal one.
Master Chen is a bit difficult for me to talk about. It's less so that I don't like talking about him, but more that I have a hard time figuring out how I feel about him. On one hand, he's someone that's actually the most important villain that I've ever faced in terms of his impact on my life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Chen's meddling during the Serpentine Wars. Sure, the Overlord was always destined to fight me, but that was something that was decided a long time ago. We were built from the beginning to fight each other. Chen and I could have gone our entire lives never meeting, and I wouldn't know how important he was to me.
That's not to say I like him. I don't know anybody who actually likes Master Chen. He's rude, annoying, really loud, bombastic ("extra" is how Jay described him), and manipulative. Chen had no powers when we first met him. Of everyone that I've fought, Chen felt like he wanted to get to me personally. It's one thing to fight a power mad set of Twins that just want to destroy the world. It's harder to fight someone that knows who you are, and specifically wants to tear you apart.
While Chen failed to conquer Ninjago, he opened our eyes a lot to the world outside of Ninjago. Before we entered the tournament, we had all seen things as just, Ninjago City honestly. We know that we were important, but we never even stopped to consider the fact there might be more to Ninjago than just that. We never even thought to question if other people had powers like us. We'd been guided by destiny to fulfill whatever it was that needed to be done. The Serpentine, the Stone Army, and the Overlord almost felt like it was destiny moving us all along to the Final Battle. The Digilord was us having to clean up the mess I left behind. Chen was different. Chen couldn't care less we were the ninja. He only cared for the fact we had something he wanted.
The Tournament of Elements, Chen's plan to lure us all together to fight, was a wakeup call for us. We learned that we weren't just five random kids that were picked to help save the world. I wasn't the only one that was related to the First Spinjitzu Master. All of us who showed up were. All of us Elemental Masters, a lot of whom fought alongside me in the Resistance, were apart of families that tied directly back to the first guards that the First Spinjitzu Master gave elemental powers to. All of us were a part of a world much larger than just that. It wasn't because of destiny we learned that either. It was because Chen decided he wanted to accelerate his plans. I think that's what made Chen so different from everyone else we fought until then: Chen was manipulating us all from the start, and we never even realized it.
Now, before the Tournament of Elements began, everyone was still going their separate ways. Jay was working on his Most Ultimate Extreme Ninja Challenge Ever (I really wanna meet the person that came up with that dumb name), which he still asks us not to talk about. Cole was off being a lumberjack out in the woods, which I admit is actually pretty fitting for him. And Kai was off in the Slither Pit as some sort of underground wrestler. Of everything Kai could do… I still don't get why he chose that. I mean, I guess he was a ninja, but why he decided to become a wrestler in those sorts of matches and not like, some sort of athlete never made sense to me.
After my meeting with Borg to test out his security defenses for the Golden Armor we recovered after the battle, I decided it was time that we stop being split up like this. I had moved on with my feelings, and it was time the rest of the team did too. I couldn't let them stay broken up like that. I know that it was hard to lose someone as important as Zane, but we couldn't just abandon our duties to Ninjago! We were in a time of peace, but I knew that we'd be needed someday. My dad had told me during my training that if I thought that my duty as the Green Ninja was over after the Overlord, I was still being a young immature kid. I had to get the team back together. I justified it by saying that Ninjago could be in danger soon, but I needed us to be together because we needed to be a team, with, or without Zane.
I visited each of them during their jobs. Looking back on it, it's kinda funny how much I grew up in such a short amount of time. I was giving them all the talks they all would likely have given me while I was still training to be the Green Ninja. I was the only telling them that they had to respect their power, duties, and put aside their feelings to see that the team couldn't function if we were broken up like that. I must have gotten through to them enough for us to go meet up at Chen's Noodle House.
One thing that really annoyed me at the time was that Cole and Jay were still arguing over Nya. I didn't get that. Nya hadn't ever gone out with Cole alone, she'd never told Jay she loved Cole over him. Cole had no reason to even be angry with Jay. From what I heard of the situation, it was just, weird. I ended up having to trick them just to get them in the same room together. It's… honestly just ridiculous.
Now, when I sat down for that meeting, I had two goals: to get them all to come back to being ninja, and to discuss the possibility of adding a new member to the team. I recognized that we'd never be the same without Zane, and it wouldn't feel right with just the four of us. Of course, they all got upset when I told them that. It wasn't like I wanted to mention it myself, but I had to say it. I didn't even get into my main points I'd prepared before they were all ready to leave. I don't know if they would have actually stayed around if some of Chen's cultists hadn't come in to start messing up the place.
After we took out the goons, which was easy even after all of the time they'd spent away from training, we chased after them and found a shrine set up in the alley beside the noodle shop. One thing about Chen that you have to realize is he had, as my dad said, a 'flair for the theatrics.' Not only did he set up a shrine with Zane painted on it with the message that he was alive, but he also left us four fortune cookies with instructions inside of how to find him that even self-destructed after we finished them. We had to go to the docks at a specific time, where we'd find transport to the island where this tournament was taking place.
This is what I meant that from the beginning Chen was manipulating us. I don't mean he was baiting us by saying that Zane was alive, that much is easy to see. Chen found something that we all wanted and dangled it in front of us. He got us to think about the importance of the tournament itself over him. Like… if he had instead said that he was just holding Zane hostage, then we could have stormed the island and gotten him back right away. Because of the fact he needed us to play along, he crafted the tournament to force us to play in step with him. If we had just ignored the tournament, we could have ended it from the beginning. We played right into his hands without even thinking about why we were.
It's a bit hard to explain. I guess one way to describe it is that he got us to focus so much on Zane, we didn't think about anything else. Even when we were on the island and found out about his plan, we always kept Zane in our heads. We never wanted to risk dropping out of the tournament in case we couldn't get to Zane. We didn't even question if Chen was lying to us about him! He put such a hard to ignore carrot in front of us we couldn't do anything but play along while thinking we were cutting the string. Instead, we were being led right to a cliff. That's, kinda the best way I can describe it.
When I was getting ready to leave, which was easy since we were told to bring nothing with us, my dad came to talk. Now, lying isn't my strong suit, and it never has been. I can't make up a good story to save my life. I guess it's a good thing that the Green Ninja can't lie to people, but this meant that my dad figured out that something was up. I thought I'd managed to fool him by saying I was going fishing with the team I'd just gotten back together… only to literally forget the fishing rods right in front of him. I don't know how much more obvious I could have been with that. So, when we arrived at the docks, my dad came after us knowing something was up.
When we got to the docks, it was already filled with people. We'd never seen any of them before, but for some reason, I felt an instant connection to them. It's sort of like being in the room with a friend you've forgotten, and you feel that you know the person beside you. Since we were all Elemental Masters, now I can say that I was feeling the fact we were all unique. I still don't know why it is that my green power is counted as an element, since it seems more like it's made to turn into the Golden Power, but… I've been told before my element is that of energy, so I usually go with that. Either way, Chen needed me there either way.
Clouse was on that ship. My father arrived, and Clouse immediately acted like he knew him. My dad even knew him back! I don't know why, but that fact didn't sit right with me. I'd always thought my father had lived in the Monastery, then was sent to the Underworld, and came back. Clouse implied that he had known my dad, and not in the same way that you would talk about seeing your former enemy. Again, it was a sort of wakeup call to the fact there was more to Ninjago than just… us.
This is one thing I also wanna point out as my dad as a Sensei: he refused to let us go alone. Rather than saying that he'd watch over us or give us advice, he decided to come along with us. I know that Wu has his whole 'hands-off' style, but my dad said that Chen was too dangerous for us to take on alone. I don't know why, but seeing him leap onto the ship without thinking for me…. I think I might have actually felt relieved. We were going into a completely unknown situation because we had to find Zane. Having my dad there, it was a comfort to know that we would have someone there to help guide us. If he hadn't been there, I don't know what we would have done come the later rounds.
When we got on the ship, we saw people that were doing a lot of things. These turned out to be the Elemental Masters. Not all of them -Nya wasn't using water yet, Morro was stuck in the Cursed Realm and the Time Twins weren't together again yet- but most of them. My dad explained that each of them had somehow gotten to their True Potential without the help of a master. Given how much I had gone through to reach my True Potential, and what the ninja overcame to get to theirs, that was enough to say they were all worthy opponents.
It's hard to describe what I was feeling when I saw everyone on that ship. My dad said that we were led to believe we were special, but we never questioned where our powers came from. I think the reason we didn't was because until then, we'd been at the center of destiny. The ninja were destined to protect me, I was destined to become the Green Ninja then to defeat the Overlord. The thing was, those destinies were over now. When we were on that ship, we were just as important as everyone else. All of us were connected because, well, we were all from the same source. In a way, we were all connected to the First Spinjitzu Master. I wasn't… the only special one anymore.
Now, I'm not saying that I felt really threatened or upset by that fact. I think, it was more like I was just surprised that I hadn't ever had that happen before. Before that point, everyone was already fighting for me. I was the one that had to handle everything, the one that had to be at the center of destiny and all of that. But now, on that ship, I realized that without destiny I was on the same level as the other masters. It was…. I think the good word to use is humbling? I wasn't upset, I was just confused. From the beginning I'd thought there were only the five of us elemental users. We found out all at once that we weren't special like that. I guess… it's like, if you were in a special gifted class with all these fancy projects, but then you were put into a bigger class of gifted kids, and you realized your class was on par with them?
Not that I would know, since I dropped out of school when I was a kid. I guess I should mention that my dad had taken over my education. He used a combination of old books and some of the new programs Borg had put out to help me catch up. I can at least now say I have a high school education. I haven't mentioned it up until this point and, well, this seems like the best place to say it I guess.
Anyways. Of course, the first thing Kai did when we got on was start hitting on some girl. That girl was Skylar, Chen's daughter. She came along and pretended to be a part of us to help guide us into participating in the tournament. I have to admit, I never saw it coming that she could be allied with him. She never even told us her name until the tournament had already started. She was mysterious, but it wasn't like we knew anyone else. I'm pretty sure most of the others didn't know each other when it all began.
Kai got involved with Karlof after he tried to hit on Skylar, which apparently Kai decided to white knight for her (I think I'm using that term right) and tell Karlof to back off even after Skylar said she could handle herself. We tried to step in and help, but my dad said Kai could finish what he started. My dad wanted us to learn our own lessons, I guess.
The fight more or less came to a draw after Clouse got involved. Seeing Karlof actually manage to stand up to Kai, but also put Kai on the defensive, was a bit wakeup call that we couldn't just go into this tournament thinking it'd be easy. Just realizing that everyone there could actually fight us on equal ground was impressive. We'd trained for years and helped save Ninjago, yet we were now in the middle of a ship filled with people that could actually stand up to us. I'm just glad that we're allies now instead of enemies.
Soon, we caught a glance at Chen's island. We'd been sailing all night, and I noticed that we'd actually been taking strange directions and routes, as if to deliberately confuse us as to where we were going. I like to think after all my time spent out with my dad during the Golden Master incident, I gained a decent sense of direction, but even then I couldn't figure out where we were. Chen's island actually looked incredibly civilized for what we learned was meant to be an island prison. He'd not only built himself an entire palace, but multiple facilities, docks, vehicles, a sizeable cult, a ton of things. The only thing that was keeping him there was knowing that if he left, he'd get sent back by my father and uncle.
Chen didn't spare us a big grand entrance either. We got off the ferry and were escorted down a massive path with cultists banging away at drums and lighting all sorts of fiery displays for us. It was a pretty impressive thing, for what we thought was going to be an underground ring like what I'd gotten Kai out of. It turned out that Chen wasn't planning on doing anything by halves, or quarters… I still wonder where he got all the supplies for this.
The team and I were back together, and soon, we were entering Chen's main room. As he came to greet us, none of us knew what to expect. I'd gotten the team back together, but we were far from whole. We all had one goal driving us forward: find where Chen was keeping Zane, and stay in the tournament long enough to do that. As we sat down with all the other contestants, none of us knew what to expect.
We'd accepted Chen's unwelcome invitation, and now, we were about to meet Chen himself.
"So… you've been doing this with Zane for awhile?" Cole asked, tapping the recording device on the table in front of him.
"Heh… yeah," Lloyd rubbed his neck, "I, just figured that I should get all my thoughts out on all of this. Zane suggested I should try to mix up who I'm doing all these with, and, well… I figured I should give it a shot."
"You're going to put this all into a book, right?" Cole asked, "A book you're planning to sell?"
"Yeah, that's the goal!" Lloyd smiled, "I wanted to write an autobiography but when I sat down to do it I just found I couldn't really get my thoughts out the way I wanted to. I ended up sitting down and talking to Zane about it, and when I found that I could talk a lot more than I could write, we started doing this."
"Huh, I wouldn't have thought of that," Cole shrugged, "Any reason you asked me first?"
"Yeah, actually," Lloyd paused, "There's, a lot that I want to get out. And, aside from Zane, I really wanted to have someone that wouldn't stop me or try to correct me while I'm talking. And, well, you're really good at listening to people, Cole, and I thought maybe, you wouldn't judge me for all of this?"
"It's not my thing to judge," Cole crossed his arms, "Everyone's got their own things to say. I'm not really in a place to go and tell them they're right or wrong. Plus, what others see and I see, probably don't always line up."
"Yeah, exactly!" Lloyd sighed, "I'm glad you get it. I'm planning on getting all the chapters out based on Chen's Island with you. After that, I figured I'd try to vary up who I do each of our villains with, you know?"
"Sure, just let me know when you wanna record and we can set some stuff up," Cole replied.
"Awesome," Lloyd stood up, "You wanna go get something to eat? I was talking for a little while there."
"I'm always happy to eat!" Cole bounced up, "We still got any of that cake?"
"We should, unless Jay got to it first," Lloyd smiled, then his smile dropped, "Oh…. yeah, speaking of Jay, I'm gonna, be talking about that a bit here. Uh… can you promise me that, whatever I say you won't like, get mad at me?"
"Trust me, me and Jay both don't like thinking about it," Cole frowned, "I don't think you could embarrass me anymore than we already did ourselves."
"Got it," Lloyd turned, "Well then… let's go get something to eat! Same time tomorrow?"
"Works for me," Cole stretched, "I'm down."
Author's Note:
And so Autobiography continues into Season 4! For those of you wondering why I picked Cole for this particular season, I have a list of who will be doing each season for now. When it came to assigning people, I was left with one season for Jay and one for Cole. Since I hadn't gotten much of a chance to write for Cole, I decided to put him here and put Jay later down the line.
I hope you all enjoy! As always I appreciate any and all feedback. Let me know what you think!
