Lloyd frantically pulled at the bars of the cage keeping him imprisoned, biting back a cry when it burned his hands.
Of course it just had to be Vengestone. It couldn't have been normal steel, it had to be the thing that would hurt to fight.
He hated this with every fiber of his being.
"Let me OUT!" He shouted, doing his best to ignore how even the sound of his own voice made his head pound.
In front of him, just outside the cage, the ghostly form of Morro appeared, his face twisted with disgust and hatred. "Shut. Up." He growled, his gaze so fierce it was almost painful.
"No way. I'm never going to stop until you let me out." He hated how childish he sounded saying that out loud, but at this point, he couldn't find it in himself to care.
"Remember Green Ninja, I'm in control. Don't do something you'll regret later."
Lloyd glared at him. "What are you even going to do to me? You're the one in my body."
"Oh, believe me, I can do lots of things to make you obey. Don't try my patience."
The look on Morro's face was enough to temporarily convince him to shut up. Morro would likely take a lot of pleasure in causing him pain, and that wouldn't help him to fight the possession. He had to break free.
Morro chuckled, the sound threatening. "Oh yes, you're completely right. I would take such immense pleasure in hurting you. Now be a good boy and shut up." Then, with one final, obnoxious smirk, he disappeared.
Lloyd sank to the floor, holding his head in his hands. If he was being completely honest, he wasn't holding up so well with being possessed. Besides the obvious problem of having two minds in one body, his consciousness was slowly being suffocated by Morro's. At first, it had been easy to fight back, but now? Well... it hurt to even think, to move around. He didn't want to dwell on what would happen if he didn't get his body back, and soon.
Looking up, he watched Morro talking with his ghostly compatriots, silently hating how Morro's voice sounded coming out of his body.
Vaguely, he listened to the conversation that Morro was having. Something about the Sword of Sanctuary, and those pesky ninja- wait a second. His family!
Pushing the pain once again to the back of his mind, he sat up, actively listening to the conversation.
"So you're telling me that if I grab the Sword of Sanctuary from the ninja, my debt will be considered paid in full, correct?"
"Correct." Morro confirmed, idly twirling a wicked looking knife between his- no, Lloyd's- fingers. "You get the sword, your debt gets paid. Simple as that."
He was distracted! This could be his chance!
Lloyd closed his eyes, steadily increasing his resistance to Morro's possession. He'd kept up fighting this whole time, but in order to conserve his energy, he'd kept it steady, but low. Now, he increased it, pouring as much of his energy as he dared into fighting for control.
Morro groaned, putting a hand to his head, and Lloyd felt a sudden surge of satisfaction.
"The boy putting up a fight again?" Bansha asked, her voice grating on his nerves.
"Yes." Morro growled, and Lloyd could feel his anger radiating all over.
Oh snap.
Two seconds later, Morro appeared in front of him, anger twisting his features. The Vengestone bars dissolved into thin air and Morro grabbed him by the collar, throwing him roughly to the floor. "That was a dumb move."
Lloyd winced, slowly getting to his feet. "It accomplished what I wanted it to."
"Do you think this is a joke?" Morro demanded, kicking him in the stomach and pinning him to the ground. "I told you that you would regret fighting me."
Lloyd struggled, but Morro's consciousness was so much stronger. "You aren't going to win." He grunted, desperately wishing he could use his powers.
Morro chuckled darkly. "Oh, you'll get to watch me win. Now, I'm going to make good on what I said earlier."
Just as he said it, searing pain tore through him, so intense that he couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't move. All he could do was scream as it seemed to rip through him, worse than anything he'd felt in his entire life. In the back of his head, he was painfully aware of his defense crumbling under the pain.
It seemed to ebb away slowly, leaving him gasping for breath on the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing back tears. He could do this, he didn't have a choice. He'd endured worse than this, and for longer times. Morro wouldn't break him. He couldn't break.
He slowly forced himself to his feet, every inch of him screaming from the movement. He glared at Morro, holding his gaze. He wouldn't break, not like this. "Do you really think a little pain is going to stop me?"
Morro chuckled again, seeming stronger from Lloyd's pain. That was when it hit him.
Morro was feeding off of his consciousness. As he got weaker... Morro would get stronger. His tether to the mortal world was strengthening the weaker Lloyd got.
"I think it will. Besides, not only is there no one to save you, but all this is all in your head." He smirked. "Ironic, isn't it?"
Lloyd glared at him. "A door opens both ways. You're going to lose this little game that you're playing." He hated how dizzy he was starting to get, forcing not to let it show in his expression. "Just wait."
"Oh, stupid, naive Lloyd." Morro's hand twitched, and the exhaustion lingering in the back of his mind intensified, forcing him back against the wall. "This is your body after all. To use your words... 'what are they going to do?'"
"Whatever they need to." Lloyd managed, trying his best to fight back, no matter how hard it was. Pain was radiating all over his body, but he tried his best to ignore it. "You'd better be taking good care of my body, though."
The smirk came back to Morro's face, so ridiculously infuriating. "I right, I forgot that you're mortal. Alive. Oh well, one more way to keep you quiet." His smirk turned into a glare, burning into him. "Don't test me, Garmadon. All I need is your body, not your consciousness. I couldn't care less whether you lived or died."
Another blinding wave of pain shot through him, causing his vision to flash white. He groaned, pressing a hand to his head. "Fine. Fine! I'll cooperate." Those words hurt to say, almost worse than the pain radiating over his body, but what choice did he have? He couldn't die like this... he had to hang in there for his family.
His dad would tell him to live to fight another day. If that meant doing what Morro wanted for a time... he'd do it.
So, as much as it pained him to do so, he let his expression break a bit, looking away from Morro and to the ground. "Just- just don't kill me."
Morro smirked again, and the pounding in his head let him, just a bit. "Good. Now shut up."
Lloyd nodded once, still not looking at him. "Fine."
Without another word, Morro disappeared, leaving Lloyd... well, just about as alone as he could get these days. Slowly, he sat down, every inch of him screaming in protest at the movement.
This wasn't how he had imagine dying, suffocating under the weight of another consciousness. He had thought it would be fast, surrounded by his family... maybe only a quick flash of pain.
Never in all his life had he imagined it would be so lonely.
He slowly curled up, desperately holding to the tingling in his fingertips, to how it felt to breathe. Small indicators that he was still alive, that he could still make it.
It was really odd how quickly time passed... he didn't hardly pay attention to anything that happened while he sat there, only trying to stay alive now. Resistance seemed so futile now...
Even the small amounts of time he would spend with his thoughts to himself did nothing for him. Each time Morro left his body to possess someone else, he was only painfully reminded of how tired he was. If anything, it seemed easier to just... give in to the darkness, to slip away.
But he didn't.
For whatever twisted reason, Morro stopped interacting with him so much. Maybe it was how close he was beginning to get to death, maybe it was how little resistance he could put up now... whatever the reason was, he was quietly grateful that the torture had stopped, at least. As it was, he knew how tenuously he was holding on. He was very aware of how dangerous hard it was to think, to keep breathing, to even feel anything, but he could no longer find the energy to care.
He could only watch numbly as things unfolded around him, as Morro made plans to get the Realm Crystal, as he made it through the three obstacles in his grandfather's tomb, as he fought through his friends, eventually getting trapped in the icicles that grew whenever they were cut. He didn't even really register how in Ninjago Morro got out of those.
What he did register was Morro's sharp growl of frustration, followed by the searing pain of- complete silence.
Almost all at once, all his sense came back to him. The ice underneath him, the pounding in his head, how blinding white everything was, the crisp smell of the ice.
Then, he collapsed, smacking his head on the freezing cold ice. What in Ninjago was-
He blinked groggily, the cold seeping through his fingertips. "What are you-"
Morro roughly pulled him to his feet, surprising him by how corporeal he was. "Walk. I'm getting that Realm Crystal, and you're going to help me. Don't try anything stupid, I can still make you regret it."
Lloyd swallowed, his throat dry and scratchy. Even with how cold he was, with how cold everything was, he was still having a hard time keeping his eyes open, stumbling every other step. Why did his chest hurt so much? Why was it so hard to take a breath, like his heart wasn't working properly? At the edges of his consciousness, there was a faint hum, low enough that he could barely feel it. At the moment, his brain was too foggy to register what it was.
It was so hard to focus, so he just allowed his eyes to drift shut, focusing on trying not to pass out. When Morro forced him to stop, he did, unconsciousness fluttering just out of reach. He was vaguely aware of Kai's voice, of Morro trying to get them to trade the crystal for him.
"I- I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him." He managed, the effort of opening his eyes too much. They couldn't trade that crystal for him, they couldn't! He wasn't worth it. It was all he could do not to pass out.
"Stop stalling, or else!" Morro yelled, his grip on the back of Lloyd's gi tightening painfully.
"We're not stalling, we're thinking!" Kai snapped back, his voice tense. He know what was at stake here...
In that moment, Lloyd couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to just surrender to the darkness. He was so tired...
"Time's up!" Morro's voice shattered his thoughts. "You leave me no choice."
He knew what was going to happen now. Death. He was going to die. Maybe that was okay... he'd get to see his dad again, and-
"No, wait!" Kai's voice was stronger, more steady. What was he planning? Hopefully nothing too stupid... "We'll give you the Realm Crystal."
No! NO! He couldn't do it!
Even though it hurt, he forced himself to take another breath, shoring up his strength. He had to grab the crystal from Morro.
Everything seemed to happen so fast after those first few seconds.
Morro released his grip on Lloyd, practically tossing him to the hard stone ground. He could just barely hear the clink as he caught the crystal.
Then, he cried out in pain, the sound piercing and oddly satisfying.
After that, the sound of the crystal right next to his head, then the splash as it hit the water below them.
"The crystal!" Morro shouted in anger. "What have you done?!"
That was when Lloyd made his move, forcing himself to his feet and kicking Morro square in the chest. He had to fight him off. It didn't even matter much anymore if he felt like he was gonna pass out.
Morro recovered quickly, not even bothering to engage him. With a simple gesture, a burst of wind came out of nowhere and knocked him back, off his feet.
A cry of terror tore itself from his lips. No, the water!
When he hit the water, it hurt, almost like hitting a brick wall. He hadn't been able to take very much of a breath beforehand, his lungs already beginning to burn. He couldn't see anything, could barely find the ability to push himself up towards the surface.
When he finally broke the surface of the river, he inhaled deeply, the cold water doing a better job of waking him up than anything else had so far.
Even with that, though, his eyelids were so heavy, each movement laden with exhaustion. Immediately, he could see Kai and Cole bolt after him, trying to reach him, pull him to shore. In vain, he tried to reach for Kai, the flow of the river pulling him under again and again.
"I- I can't get to him." Kai leapt onto a rock, reaching out to try and touch his hand. "I can't swim!"
Lloyd struggled, not even hearing Cole's response to that. He couldn't stay afloat, unconsciousness starting to come like a wave.
He was going to drown...
At least it was better than getting suffocated.
He coughed, treading water as best as he could. With every second that passed, it got harder and harder to keep his eyes open, to keep fighting. What was the point if he was just going to lose again and again? He could never truly win these battles...
Maybe this was the one battle he'd lose. His last one...
That really wasn't so bad, when he thought about it.
"He's gonna drown!" Cole was panicking, his voice hurried and desperate.
The water swallowed Kai's response, unconsciousness hitting him like a wave as the burning in his lungs reached a point where he couldn't handle it anymore. He couldn't keep fighting... Slowly, his head dipped below the water, everything flickering to black. His eyes slowly drifted close, the water feeling like a warm hug. Drowning wasn't so bad... no more fighting, no more pain. Just a painless death. He couldn't wait to see his father again...
Vaguely, he heard a splash, followed by the feeling of someone putting an arm around him, supporting him, keeping him from sinking deeper.
He did even have the energy to open his eyes as Kai pulled him back to the surface, air reaching his tortured lungs. Things kept going in and out, like he was experiencing them from far away.
Even when Cole pulled him and Kai back onto dry ground, all he could do for a minute was lie there and try to breathe, try to ignore the water dripping off of him.
Slowly, he made an effort to sit up, Kai coming behind him and helping him to stay upright. The sight of the crystal in Morro's hand made him dizzy. All that work... they lost.
"Everyone run!" Cole cried, pointing after Morro's retreating form.
"No!" Kai shook his head, squeezing Lloyd's shoulder's a bit.
Jay came over and knelt down next to him, putting another hand on his shoulder. It was comforting, in a way. It helped to ground him. "I- I'm sorry." He managed to say, his head pounding and the world spinning around him.
"Don't be." Kai glared at Cole a bit. "It wasn't your fault."
"But- if I hadn't-"
Zane's blue eyes flickered, scanning him for injuries. "Do not argue right now, Lloyd. This was not your fault."
Lloyd groaned a bit, trying to sit up more. When he moved his arms again, the feeling was foreign. It was still hard to believe that he had his body back... "It's- really freezing in here."
Kai chuckled a bit, shaking water droplets out of his spiky hair. "This should help." He wrapped Lloyd in a tight hug, warmer than anything he could remember feeling in a long time. "Are you okay?"
Lloyd clumsily shook his head, letting everyone work together to pull him to his feet. "I- I don't know. I'll be fine." It felt like such a lie, but he didn't know what else to say. Not right now, anyways.
Kai frowned a bit, keeping an arm around him to support him. "Let's get you home, kid."
Lloyd couldn't say anything to that, starting to feel the world tilting around him once again. Zane put a cold hand on his back, keeping him grounded. He was surrounded by his family... it would be okay. He could do this.
"Stay with us, Lloyd." Jay murmured, sounding more worried than he'd heard him in a little while.
He forced a bit of a smile. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easily. Trust me."
Jay smiled back, but it was still laden with worry for him. He didn't even want to think about how out of it he must look...
When they finally reach the top of the stairs, the sunlight was blinding, almost causing him to black out again. He slowly sank to his knees, trying to regain his equilibrium. Kai still didn't let go of him, just sat down next to him quietly, keeping an arm around him.
"You all sacrificed so much to save me..." Lloyd finally said, glancing at Kai.
"Heh, I promised I'd look after you, didn't I?" Kai smiled a bit, his wet hair plastered to forehead.
Lloyd couldn't stop a frown. "But... now Ninjago is gonna be cursed!"
Zane's eyes flickered to Lloyd, his voice soft, but sure. "Yes, but now we have you."
"And now-" Jay held up a hand, lightning starting to go up and down his arm in dizzying flashes of light. "- We have our powers back."
"As you get stronger, so will we." Cole crossed to stand in front of them, a small smile on his face. As he spoke, he summoned up a small cloud of dust, passing it between both hands. "And they haven't even seen us at full strength yet." He easily tossed it into the air, connecting with fire, ice, and lightning summoned by the others, exploding into a bright flash of light that nearly blinded him.
Even so... if they all had their powers back, maybe they stood a better chance of defeating Morro. He just had to get through these next few days... then he could rest.
He tilted his head towards the sun, enjoying the feeling of having his thoughts to himself again.
It would be okay. What else could possibly go wrong that they couldn't handle?
His best bet was to take it one step at a time. For now, regaining his strength enough to be able to fight was at the top of his list. He could do this...
Morro hadn't broken him. No matter how hard he might have tried... he was still functioning, still alive.
He could do this.
Hey guys! This oneshot has been in progress for... oh man, a few months now, at least? Maybe since the beginning of the year XD.
Either way, I'm oddly proud of it. Sure, it's angsty, and it's evidence to how evil I am (poor Lloyd, I just like torturing him lol), but it's still... I dunno, pretty dang good for being so angsty!
As always, feel free to drop me a review if you liked it, and if you haven't read any of my other fics before, give them a try! I try to deliver quality fanfiction without all the spelling and grammar mistakes that other authors might make (believe me, it bugs me too), and I'd love to know what you thought of everything else I've written as well! My personal favorites are Donut (Jay on a sugar high, it's amazing), Can I Have This Dance and Tightrope (both Jaya, really sweet, I adore them), and Three Wishes (also Jaya, but Aladdin! It's part of the Fairy Tale AU, and it's just... *chef's kiss*)
Either way, thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys next time!