I haven't seen the morning news in so long, it almost felt odd falling back into my usual morning routine. But it was 6am, and already on the right channel for Good Morning Ninjago when I hit the power button on the remote. The tv switched on and I started to brush my teeth.
*Good morning, Ninjago! I'm Robin Roberts!*
*And I'm Michael Strahan! And in today's news -*
I tuned out as they talked about the weather, the stock market, a firefighter who'd rescued a kitten, and the 0% chance of a Garmadon attack, between Lady Irondragon and the Golf Tournament tomorrow. I was sure they'd spend the rest of the morning segment talking about the tournament, but instead...
*And on to Lloyd Garmadon! Poor kid - I'm still reeling over yesterday's dramatic reveal! Are you reeling, Robin?*
*Absolutely, Michael! We never imagined our very own Lloyd Garmadon could actually be Lloyd Irondragon! Which brings us to today's Lloyd topic - Is Lloyd the Green Ninja?*
It was a good thing I'd finished brushing my teeth a while ago, because I choked on nothing as it is. No. No way. Not happening.
*We're all familiar with Lloyd's infamous green color scheme, and add that to a secret desire to follow his mother's footsteps-!*
*That's very interesting, Robin, but we know it's not going to be enough for our viewers. How about we show them the real reason for our suspicion? Check this out, viewers!*
No. No no no no no!
A short video clip of me riding Green Dragon, hood up against the wind, flashed on the screen. It was only a few seconds long, but they played it on repeat enough times for all the details to sink in. Green Dragon mech. Green hoodie. A hint of blond hair. Green eyes, glancing over my shoulder. Flying towards the volcano.
I wouldn't be able to argue that wasn't me. It very obviously was.
*First Spinjitzu Master - is that what I think it is, Michael?*
*I don't know what you're thinking, Robin, but I'm thinking that looks a heck of a lot like a... wait for it... Ninja Mech!*
The horns and cheers and miscellaneous other sound effects did nothing to help my state of mind.
Not happening. There was no way this was happening.
A bit of hysteria flickered through my mind, finding it terribly funny that all this time I'd been afraid people would assume I was attacking Ninjago if they saw me on Green Dragon.
This was so much worse. But maybe I can still deny this. It's not like they have anything matching me to the Green Ninja, right? They're just so used to connecting Ninja and mechs that they...
Two photos flashed up on the screen, side by side, both showing my face, or rather, my eyes. They shown out identically, both in my usual outfit and that one time I wore the green gi. It didn't help that the green of the gi was the same shade as my favorite hoodie.
To be honest, I suddenly felt rather stupid for never realizing that myself until now. I guess I'm so used to all my favorite stuff being green that it just, well, made sense?
*That looks pretty decisive to me, Michael!*
*Absolutely, Robin! Viewers, after studying the video showing Lloyd and his amazing Green Dragon mech, we've compared thousands of photos in our databases, and we can tell you that we haven't found any matches between the Green Ninja's distinctive eye color with anyone, except Lloyd Garmadon! Coincidence? We think not!*
*But what do you think, viewers? Call or email us now with -*
I finally got control of myself, enough to grab the remote and turn off the tv.
I feel sick. I think I might throw up.
Crap. Crud. Rats. No. Just, no. Not happening. I imagined the whole thing. This can't possibly be... People would never actually think...
Heh. And I thought being known as the son of Lady Irondragon was bad. Heehee! Oh, this was just stupid! Stupid, ridiculous, absolutely insane! Like something out of a comic book or cartoon!
No, no. Hysteria bad. Calm down. I turned on the tap of my sink and splashed my face, which helped the room stop spinning.
Maybe I should ditch school. Again. What's one more day?
This couldn't be happening. Not to me. But it was! What should I do?!
I plopped on my bed and groaned.
Nope. Couldn't do it. No more being a coward. No more running away. No more...
But...
Oh, FSM. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to react. I'm scared. I'm confused. I feel sick. I just don't want to!
But there's no point in not going to school. Wouldn't that just make me more suspicious? What about my friends? And surely this couldn't be worse than every other day. Surely no one actually believes Good Morning Ninjago's crazy theory? (That kinda sorta happens to actually be true, but no one needs to know that...)
I mean, I was only the Green Ninja for a few hours! I couldn't have made that much of an impact! I hadn't even fought my dad, and they could only link the mech with me, not with him (other me? Green Ninja me?), so the so-called Green Ninja was hardly even a Ninja! Right?
Besides, I'd stayed up late last night finishing up my makeup work. (Ninjago City High has a special web portal for makeup assignments, since absences are so common with my dad invading all the time and all.) It would stink to get stuck with more when I'd finally caught up!
And my friends. They'll be waiting for me. They'll be on my side, no matter what craziness goes down. I took a deep breath, focusing on what I loved so much about them. Kai and Nya's fierce protectiveness. Cole's wisdom and strength. Zane's kindness and empathy. Jay's zeal for life and making those around him laugh.
The six of us together, we can face anything. What's one day of school with everyone acting weird? It couldn't be worse than being bullied and shunned and all alone.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
"It's worse. It's totally worse," whimpered Lloyd, hood up and hiding behind Kai.
"What is?" asked Nya, trying to find a gap in the crowd at their usual bus stop. Eventually she groaned, grabbed Lloyd's arm, pulled down his hood, and yanked him in front of Kai.
The crowd immediately silenced and parted.
"This!" yelped Lloyd.
Nya smirked at her own cunning in using Lloyd to make a path, seemingly oblivious to the cheers and coos and shouted encouragements starting up as she led a shrinking Lloyd by the hand up the steps onto the bus.
Kai just ate up the attention, smiling brilliantly and posing for photographs, chatting with fangirls. They were there for Lloyd, but they seemed happy enough with the attention from his "best friend".
"Hey! If Lloyd's the Green Ninja, does that make you the Fire Ninja?" shouted out an extra cute redhead. Kai had always had a thing for redheads, and Nya was not surprised when the reply was a flirty,
"What do you think, sweetheart?"
And he winked. Of course he winked. Nya groaned, grabbing him by the arm of his jacket and yanking him out of the doorway of the bus and to their seats.
The crowd started screaming and shouting, "Nin-ja! Nin-ja! Nin-ja!"
"Do the words 'secret identity' mean anything to you?!" Nya hissed at her stupid brother, who was still visibly preening. Literally. He'd taken out a hand mirror and was making sure his hair spikes were arranged just so.
"I didn't say yes," retorted Kai, utterly unrepentant. "What's the harm?"
"Well, this, for one!" growled Nya, grabbing Kai's chin to force him to face Lloyd's seat behind him, next to Nya. It was empty. Huh?
"Lower," grumbled Nya, getting down herself and murmuring comforts to a Lloyd curled up into a tiny ball on the floor, wedged in the small space for their legs, visibly trembling and covering his ears with his hands.
Just as well, as everyone on the bus was gossiping about Lloyd being the Green Ninja, and not very quietly.
"He's so cute!"
"Such pretty eyes! How did we not see it before?"
"Aw! He's so shy! Like, like a puppy! A shy puppy!"
"Think I can get an autograph?"
"He saved my uncle from that fire!"
"His Green Dragon is gonna kick serious butt against Garmadon!"
"Do you think it's true?"
"He's not denying it. Not confirming it either, but not denying it."
"Don't even ask - of course he'll deny it! They're supposed to keep their identities secret!"
"The timing makes sense, with Lady Irondragon's return and all."
"Lloyd! What's your superpower? Or are you just awesome like your mom?"
"Do you think the girl with him is the Water Ninja?"
"Hey! Hey! His gang at school is five, like the five Ninja! And don't you think the Ice Ninja acts kind of like the robot, um, Zane?, sometimes?"
"FSM! And the dude with headphones! He could totally be the Earth Ninja! Which leaves that mech nerd, uh, the nervous one-!"
"Totally! You can always hear the Lightning Ninja screaming! It totally fits!"
Lloyd grabbed Nya's arm and yanked her down with him, which wasn't that hard since she was already mostly on his level.
"I blew it! I totally exposed everyone!" he whispered, looking terrified.
Nya stuck out her tongue. Lloyd's eyes grew wide in surprise. "Only if we keep acting like we have something to hide," she whispered back. "Kai might actually have a point."
She sat back up, and already Kai was charming a few more fangirls, not answering any of their questions directly, but totally enjoying the attention. And leading it off Lloyd at the same time.
Nya patted the seat next to her, and slowly Lloyd climbed back up into it, trying to ignore the "awww!" Nya patted his arm encouragingly. In response he took her hand in a white-knuckled death grip.
It kinda hurt. But she could put up with it for the few minutes left of the bus ride.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
Cole was holding the door to the Mech Club Room closed, and from the look of concentration in his face, was actually having to tap into his super strength to do so.
Jay was having a panic attack in the corner. With Cole preoccupied, it fell on Zane to walk him through breathing normally and calming down.
Lloyd wasn't having a panic attack, but Nya and Kai weren't sure this soppy lump of self-loathing was much better.
"This is all my fault! I knew I should've stayed home!" cried Lloyd, flinching at an extra loud THUMP against the door. Kai was trying to hug him out of it, which usually worked, but not this time.
"This is ridiculous!" shouted Nya, at her rope's end by all this craziness. "They don't have any proof of anything! How can one stupid news story turn over half our school into a mob of crazed fans?! I even saw some teachers in there!"
The thumping was slowing down on the other side, though there were still lots of voices shouting and cheering and complaining. One voice rose above the rest.
Lloyd was still spiraling downward, whimpering how everything was his fault and he was stupid and a waste of space and why did they bother with him and AGAIN with the how he didn't deserve any of them.
But at least Jay was coming out of his panic attack? He frowned as he wiped sweat from his forehead. Zane has been rubbing his back, and offered a hand to help Jay up when he saw his friend surfacing.
Someone knocked on the door. "It's Karen!" shouted a muffled voice on the other side. They all exchanged bewildered glances, except Jay, who frowned thoughtfully.
"I think that's the candy girl, from yesterday?" he commented, still a little shaky but looking better each time Nya glanced his way. He went over to his backpack and, after fumbling through it for a minute, pulled out the gift bag from yesterday, neatly folded. He opened the bag and found a cute little card inside with a name and phone number. Sure enough, it said Karen.
"Let me in!" she called out. "I'm the mediator!"
"We need a mediator now?" grumbled a beyond irritated Cole, his back sore from the pounding. He glanced over at Nya, since to be honest none of the guys had a clue what to do with fangirls.
Nya frowned, tilting her head. She glanced at a whimpering Lloyd, her brother trying to hush him, shaky Jay, bewildered Zane.
"Just Karen," she said calmly. "I'll negotiate with her."
Cole reluctantly stood up from leaning against the door. Hyper-aware that this could be a trick, he VERY slowly cracked the door open and peeked out. A familiar pretty girl in a green sweater with green ribbons in her hair was standing in front of the crowd, and Cole recognized her from yesterday. He nodded and let her slip in, quickly slamming the door behind her and locking it again.
Not trusting the locks that had so nearly given just a few minutes ago, he again leaned against the door, content to let Nya be their representative.
Karen marched right up to Lloyd, who quickly ducked behind Kai entirely. The pretty girl paused, looking hesitant, and the others noticed she had another cute gift bag in her hands. This she set on the floor between her and Lloyd (or, rather, Kai, since Lloyd was still hiding behind him), then took a few steps back.
"I apologize on behalf of the Lloyd Protection Fanclub!" Karen barked out, then saluted.
All six ninja were very, very confused.
"We have let this matter get wildly out of control, but I promise we are working diligently to control the situation! We finally have come to an agreement with the crowd on what will quell their fanatic mania over this unconfirmed Green Ninja rumor!"
"Unconfirmed?" interrupted Nya. "You don't believe it?"
Karen blinked, transforming from soldier to cute teenage girl, and giggled. "Oh, we believed it long before the news report. Anyway!" And back to professional. "We believe a backflip is in order!"
Huh?
Even Lloyd peeked out from behind Kai, sure he heard wrong.
Karen just waited. At least she wasn't saluting anymore, but that was a pretty impressive parade rest.
"A... backflip?" asked Nya, disbelief heavy in her tone.
"Is that a euphemism?" asked Zane innocently. "Or just a colloquialism?"
"A backflip," confirmed Karen. "In front of the school."
Well, of course they all knew Lloyd actually could do backflips, and pretty easily too. But how did Karen know he could? And why on Ninjago would the crowd want one?
Cole scowled as the crowd in the hall on the other side of the door started chanting, "Back! Flip! Back! Flip!"
"Look, whatever your name is-" growled Nya, in full overprotective swing, marching up and poking the girl's shoulder. "You think you can just come in here and demand -"
"I'll do it," said Lloyd, a little shakily. He swallowed and tried again, coming out from behind Kai. "But I've got my own conditions!"
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
"Lloyd, this is ridiculous! You don't owe them anything!" complained Kai.
"I've run the numbers, Lloyd, and there is a 100% chance this will be posted online, which will only confirm to 85% of the populace your identity as Green Ninja," added Zane.
"Unless you're planning to blow it?" asked Jay. "Humiliate yourself to throw them off?"
Karen was on the stage of the school auditorium, talking to the crowd. Heh, and Lloyd had been afraid of missing classes. There were no classes. All of the students, teachers, and school employees had turned up, whether they believed Lloyd was the Green Ninja or not.
Nya grabbed Lloyd in a tight hug. "Don't do this. You owe them nothing. We'll just, I dunno, go to another school! Try online!"
Lloyd looked over at a silent Cole. Who after a moment of studying Lloyd, just nodded.
"Go for it," smirked Cole. "Show those idiots who they've been messing with."
"Cole!" scolded Nya.
"Give me a beat, bro," Lloyd smirked back.
All the other ninja protested, but Cole went out to work his magic on the sound system.
Lloyd took a deep breath. He suddenly looked much older, more confident, strong.
Like the leader of the Ninja.
The others took a step back almost unconsciously as Lloyd stepped onto the stage.
Lloyd held out a hand, and Karen passed the mic over.
"You all agreed to the deal? You get your show, then you go back to giving me and my friends space? You want anything, you go through Karen!"
The crowd roared in agreement.
A completely different person from the crybaby from this morning, Lloyd gestured to the sound box at Cole, who nodded and hit it.
The music kicked up, and Lloyd gave them a heck of a lot more than a single backflip.
Lloyd tumbled from backflip to handstand to backflip to handstand, all the way across the stage and to the rhythm of the song. He then went on to give the audience a whole acrobatics show, mixing gymnastics and classic break dancing, seemingly deaf to the screams and cheers. Probably only the Ninja noticed he was pointedly not using his spinjitzu skills, not that the ecstatic crowd could tell the difference.
Kai cried, he was so proud. Jay and Zane cheered loudly along with the crowd. Nya slowly began to smile, finally getting it.
No more hiding.
They were confirming nothing, but they were showing Lloyd wasn't some nobody to trample over. Not ever again.
Well, it beat switching schools.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
Lloyd waved as he walked proudly off the stage, only melting back into himself when he was out of the public eye again.
"That was terrifying!" he exclaimed to his friends. "But hopefully most of them will leave us alone after this!"
Nya wasn't so sure, with the crowd screaming for more out there, but then she never would've thought up this crazy idea in the first place.
Her anti-bullying idea was much more refined. And included kitty ears, so it was adorable too.
Kai glomped his little buddy, crying about how proud he was. Jay and Zane joined in on the hug, happily chattering about their favorite parts of the show.
Cole returned from the sound box, standing casually next to Nya.
"How did you know?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I didn't. He did."
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
Author's Notes: The idea that Ninjago High School has some sort of web portal / online option for absentee students, due to how common Garmadon attacks are, is Sunny Lighter's. Also thanks SO MUCH to Sunny for reassuring me when I was so worried that this chapter was just too weird. Like she reminded me, it's Ninjago - they're prone to overreaction and 'unique' solutions to problems.
Next chapter is titled Hope, for anyone wanting a bit of follow-up on Koko realizing perhaps more of the Green Ninja prophecy is open to interpretation than she'd thought! And the chapter after that will be the golf tournament!
Kudos this week to: Lea1985, Beaner97, ThisMARVELous galaxy, Carrie2sky, EMPFangirl02, Bookkeeper2004, Lloydfan1234 (guest), Pitch'snieceanddaughterofMew, and Silvermags! Thank you all so much!