A tall man with a goatee and a crab helmet was sitting on the curb in front of Cole's family's theatre the next morning.
"Should I call the police?" asked Sarah, frowning as she looked out at him through the window in their family room. "Or the Ninja?" She smiled at Cole, who smirked back.
"Nah," answered Lloyd, looking resigned. "That's General Number..." He closed his eyes for a second to remember how many times the volcano had gone off last time his dad fired people. "Three. Yeah, Number 3. He's actually one of the smarter ones. I'm pretty sure he's in charge of the 'secret' Lloyd Protection Squad. They usually don't do much more than track my phone and deliver messages from my dad on things he doesn't want to talk about."
"So Garmadon wants you home?" asked Sarah.
"But doesn't want to actually ask you?" added Cole.
"He believes I have the right to run off and be my own man, as he puts it, so he's probably going to use Koko as an excuse," sighed Lloyd. "I'll go talk to him. Be right back for breakfast."
Good thing it was still early, so Lloyd didn't have to rush. He slipped on his green hoodie and went out to talk to General No.3.
"You need to come home, Master Lloyd," was all No.3 said in greeting.
"Is there an emergency?" asked Lloyd, so casually that he obviously knew there wasn't.
"You know very well-"
"What my dad claims my rights are. Yes, I do."
No.3 groaned. Lloyd grinned.
"He's totally unbearable?" asked Lloyd.
"FSM, I've seen caged lions that prowl less, and for more reason," grumbled his father's general. "At least the Lady keeps him occupied, but she can't be there all the time."
Lloyd sighed and looked up at the sky for a few moments. "Ok. Yeah, I'll come home tomorrow. Let me mess with my dad for one more day though, since he's being a pain. Did you get stuck being his golf tutor?"
"I refuse to talk about that."
"Wow. That bad?"
"Worse," despaired the grown man. "I think I'd rather train a dog to play golf than your father."
Lloyd laughed as he took out his cell and dialed his dad's number.
"Hey, Dad. You sicced No.3 on me."
"Seriously? You expect me to believe he showed up just because HE was worried about me? Really?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Hmm, no. I don't think so. Still lots of evil business to take care of."
"Koko? Well, isn't it evil to make your mother worry?"
He winked at No.3. They both could well imagine the expression on Garmadon's face at that. Lloyd couldn't hide his grin at the sounds of his dad's gasp and fumbling around on the other end. Something crashed.
"Hmm-mm. I'll think about it. Maybe. Bye, Dad!"
No.3 was grinning in delight. "His brain must have exploded on that one," he whispered gleefully.
"Save me a copy of the camera feed?" asked Lloyd, smirking back as he tucked away his phone.
"It will be in the usual folder on our intranet," answered No.3. "You're awesome, kid. It's always a peaceful day when you give him an existential crisis."
"Consider it my apology for running off and leaving you guys to babysit. Don't get yourself fired, No.3, and I'll probably see you tomorrow."
"Eh, it wouldn't be so bad. The Lady's not letting him use the volcano, so I actually might take this chance TO get outta this almost literal dead end job."
"Hey, good for you!" praised Lloyd. "Want me to put in a bad word for you?"
"Nah. Pretty sure he'll be more than pleased to have me leave after he loses the tournament."
"Alright then. See you, No.3."
"Goodbye, Master Lloyd."
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
"What are you doing?" asked Koko, completely bewildered as she stepped into their kitchen. Garmadon was slumped at the kitchen table, lava eyes glittering, a mug held in each of his four hands. Four more empty mugs littered the table, and there were four ready to go for when he finished the current ones.
"I am getting drunk!" declared her husband, sounding like he was trying to sound haughty but just really looking like a kicked puppy.
Koko came over and took one of the untouched mugs, taking a sip for herself. "On hot chocolate?"
"Lloyd gets high on cocoa all the time!" announced Garmadon. "And too much coffee gives me a headache and makes me go pee!"
"And twelve cups of hot chocolate doesn't?" asked Koko, very confused.
"But he wants to be evil!" whined Garmadon. "But he isn't! But I want him to be - he should be! But it's not right! I don't want this, but I do want this, but I shouldn't want this? Or do I?"
"O-kay..." trailed off Koko, taking the mug with her and turning to leave the room. "Have fun with that, and I'll see you at lunch."
She left with him murmuring something about whether it's evil to make your mother worry, which of course it was, but he didn't like it, and he loved evil, so it must not be, but it certainly wasn't good...
Whatever. She'd be in her room researching Lloyd's hospital case if he needed her.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
This whole morning I've been getting the weirdest looks. Like, like pity. Instead of the usual hate and fear and disgust. It was so weird.
And now, this? This was just the cherry on top proving I was either dreaming or the whole city was in on some huge conspiracy to set me up for the worst fall of my life.
One of the most beautiful girls in the school was waiting by my (surprisingly undecorated) locker.
She looked up at hearing our voices approaching and smiled shyly right at me, tucking her hair behind her ear and blushing.
"Um, hi, Lloyd," she giggled.
Giggled?
I needed my locker, and had no idea what to do with this strange obstruction. Nya stepped in front of me, and Cole leaned against my shoulder to remind me he was there too. Kai grumbled and went up to his own locker, glaring warningly at the girl and very obviously looking around for traps.
"Um, like, I just wanted to say, I saw your mom's video last night and, um, FSM, I am so sorry. This is for you?" She held out a cute little gift bag, done up with curly ribbons and everything.
I blinked, frozen and waiting for the punchline. Something along the lines of me being an idiot and of course she was joking.
Jay took the bag when the moment drew on for too long and I still wasn't moving.
Cole was already watching something on his phone.
"I also wanted to say, um, you're, like, really cute, and my cell number's in the bag!" twittered the blushing girl, and then she ran off.
We all stared after her. She joined up with a cheering group of other beautiful girls down the hall. It was only when I saw all six together that I realized they were all wearing green. My green, the color of my hoodie.
It's a trap. A setup. If there even is candy in that bag, it's probably poisoned. I quickly yanked my hood up to hide when the girl gang looked in my direction. For some reason that made them all giggle and coo.
"These are pretty good," commented Jay, munching on whatever was in the bag.
I panicked and lunged to snatch it from him before he like, turned blue and died, but Zane and Cole snagged my arms and pulled me back.
"My scans show up clear," explained Zane gently. "The only threat to anyone's health is the excessive sugar and high fructose corn syrup, same as almost any hard candy."
I pushed them off, still shaking and probably pale. Ignoring Jay munching candy, I unlocked my locker and opened it, expecting the usual deluge of hate mail.
Well, there was the usual deluge of notes stuffed in my locker. But a terrifying number of them had "I love you," "I'm so sorry," or even oddly "Get well soon," scribbled on top. It was actually a bit of a relief when I spotted familiar handwriting calling me a demon-spawn.
In a bit of a daze, I scooped up the mostly not hate mail and dumped it all in a nearby trash bin.
"Hey, Garmadork-" began Chad, sauntering up the hall.
"GET HIM!" screamed the beautiful girl, who apparently was the leader of the green gang. The girls chased after my bully, shrieking at him to leave me alone and spewing some disturbingly threatening insults his way. Chad screamed in terror as he fled their wrath.
Nya and Kai started cracking up and cheering them on.
"What just happened?" I whimpered.
"I... I believe you have a fanclub," explained Zane, sounding as unsure as myself.
"A very protective fanclub," added Jay. "Who have excellent taste in sweets!"
What happened to my universe? I must have stepped through a mirror or something and didn't notice...
"Dude, there's something you have to see," added Cole, lowering his headphones and passing over his cell. He turned up the volume and hit play.
["Lady Irondragon! It is an honor! Truly! How can I help you? Anything at all!" ...]
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
Author's Notes: Lol! So what did you guys think? Personally, I loved writing every scene of this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it even half as much as I did! We'll get back to story and drama next chapter, don't worry. Lloyd's gonna spiral at the revelation of that video, poor green bean.
Credit to my beta reader and brainstorm partner, Sunny Lighter, as always! We've been laughing since early on in planning this story at Garmadon's likely crisis if Lloyd were to actually DO something considered 'evil'! Oh, and to anyone following her Grass is Greener story that hasn't checked out Greener Pastures yet - DO SO! The oneshots up now are really neat, and she's got so many more in the works, just waiting for Grass is Greener to be complete so they won't be spoilers! Including that one on movie Cole's family life that I mentioned last chapter! And several with the Lloyds interacting, which I just love!
Thanks to my wonderful reviewers from last chapter: Beaner97, Kifo Entiegon, Lea1985, Carrie2sky, Watcher321, Sunny Lighter, Pitch'snieceanddaughterofMew, Bookkeeper2004, Silvermags, EMPFangirl02, and MasterOfMusic139! So many of you have been with me from the very beginning of this story, and I'm also so excited to see a few new names beginning to drop reviews! I am so happy that you all enjoyed last chapter so much! It was a rough chapter, mainly Koko's trip to the hospital and the immediate fallout, so I was so relieved to get all of your encouraging reviews!