"I won, Harumi."
Lloyd stood in the middle of the Ninjago Museum of HIstory. In front of him was the newest addition to the hall of villains. A new statue stood at the end of the hall, illuminated under lights to draw the eyes. Rather than just one, however, this one had two figures apart of it. He knew both of them well, since he'd beaten them both just a few months ago. One held four purple curved blades, another a simple red katana with a flourish on the hilt. The plaque read two names that Lloyd knew even better.
Harumi and Emperor Garmadon | The Jade Princess and Revived Oni
There was nobody else in the hall to see Lloyd as he starred the new addition down. There was nobody else here to look at him. He'd come right at the end of the day, and he was likely cutting into the time for the janitors to come and clean up. The new head of the museum -who thankfully wasn't a power mad twin- had given him permission to stay. He didn't intend for this to be long.
"I won," Lloyd said again, gripping his fists, "I did it. I beat you. I ruined your plans. You didn't break me like you wanted me to." There was no response.
"I saved Ninjago," Lloyd looked up, right into the statue Harumi's eyes, "My friends helped me get there, but I figured out what I needed to do when I fought him. The fight fueled him. You revived just the side of him that wanted to conquer, battle, all of that. And I figured out without that, he was nothing. He wasn't my father, at all. He didn't care about me, at all. And that's, that's how I won."
The statue didn't move. Lloyd looked straight into her eyes, as if expecting that she'd do something. When she didn't, he felt a pang go through his chest.
"Heh…." Lloyd let out a sigh and looked off towards the other statues, "It's, weird to see you with all these other guys. I mean, I think you belong with Chen, yeah, you both really knew how to manipulate people but… you didn't have any powers. Everyone else here, had something to make them evil. But, you were like me. You really didn't have anything. You only did what you thought, was right. I guess, you actually did the opposite of what I did. I mean, I went from hating the ninja to joining them. You did the opposite."
"...I don't know what I'm doing here…" Lloyd admitted with a sad smile, "Kai and Nya said that when they got sad about their parents they'd just, they'd talk. And, Zane said visiting the grave of someone you cared about helped too. They never found your body so… so I, I had to come here."
Lloyd's words caught in his throat. This was stupid. He was talking to a statue of Harumi, not the actual girl. He wanted to talk to her, not this. He wanted to say something and hear her biting response, hear the anger in her voice… see the hurt in her eyes. Something for him to respond to. He was just talking to a statue made to look angry now.
"I had a dream the other night," Lloyd coughed for a moment, "It… it's stupid, I know. But… but I dreamed that you didn't die that day. That I still beat Garmadon, and we captured you. And that… and that we were able to help you. We were able to get you to see how you being so angry, wasn't healthy. Kinda… kinda like what Wu did for me, when he took me in. I think, I know it ended, when you came up to me and said you forgave me, and I forgave you."
He could see it. He could see the face he'd seen in his dream. Harumi, the paint from her face gone, her hair knotted up against her head to show her full face, her eyes shining to him without that hatred that had swallowed up almost all of the memories he had of when she was 'good.' He could see her reaching out to him, holding his hand, and telling him that she knew all along he had never meant to hurt her the way he did. It was an image of Harumi he wished he'd been able to see.
"..." Lloyd shut his eyes, "You hurt me, Harumi. What you did with my dad, that was unforgivable. I've tried to forgive you. I tried to find something inside me that, that tells me that you were just acting out. You didn't deserve what happened, and you were striking back at the world. Like… heh… like Morro. I guess, well, you both make me sad, when I think about you… even though you'd both just call me a coward for that."
"I… I see now you were, you were just like those masks. The ones the Oni made, that you used to bring him back. You, you put it on and you made me care about it. Those things weren't even important by the time I took my dad down. You got me to just, care about it. You made me think you were so sweet, and kind, and you were caring and… and that you had just been so strong to keep going when you had everything taken away from you like that. By… by me."
"I liked you, Harumi," Lloyd reached out and gripped the plaque, "I liked you. That's what hurts the most. I lo-… I wanted to know you better. You were so beautiful, but you were more than that! You made me just feel so, so happy. It was like I finally had someone that understood me. someone I could open up to. And you got me to say so many things I hadn't told anyone else…" His grip tightened, "And knowing, knowing that everything I fell in love with was just this, this mask. I don't even know if I can ever love anyone again now."
"...No, that's not right," Lloyd tried to relax his grip, but it didn't budge, "I could love someone, yeah. But, I'd always be thinking about you, in the back of my mind. Because I failed you. I made you so… so upset. I ruined your life. If I just hadn't opened those stupid Tombs, if I hadn't been such a stupid kid, Pythor wouldn't have done that. Even if we'd just gone to that mountain right away, or, or if we'd tried harder to save everyone, maybe you wouldn't have…" Lloyd's words stuck in his throat again.
"...Am I selfish, Harumi?" Lloyd smiled sadly, "I… I think about the times we spent before you showed me your true colors in that temple. And, and I think about what could have happened if maybe, maybe that was all true. I wanted to learn more about the Harumi that was nice to me. The one that kissed me. But that wasn't true, and I have to tell myself each time you were lying to me. And then I get so angry, and I think about how many people you killed, how much harm you brought to the city, what you did to my father and I… and I…"
Lloyd's grip tightened. The plaque snapped in half. He blinked, looking down at the two halves he'd now ripped up from the nails. He opened his hands, letting them drop to the floor. The sound of them hitting the tiles echoed through the hall like deafening cymbals. He looked down at them, down at the words. He'd split it directly down the center. One half was the Princess, the other the Oni. Two people that took over Ninjago. Two people tried to kill him. Two people, that couldn't be more different.
Suddenly, he let out a small chuckle. Then he reached up and wiped his face. He was crying. Hot tears were staining his cheeks. He hadn't even thought about that. He sniffed as he bent down and picked up the pieces of the plaque. Slowly, he concentrated his power in his hands. The power seeped out and reached out to the plaque. Steadily, the halves began to fuse back together. He'd learned by watching Kai that his power put out enough heat to weld things if he focused. And so he did, letting the crack in the plaque meld. It left an ugly black mark down where the break was, but it was at least together and legible. He gently set it back up, not bothering yet to actually hammer it back on.
"I wonder if there's a place where you and I actually liked each other," Lloyd mused sadly, "What if there was a place where we were able to get along? And we actually… actually cared about each other? Where you weren't… you know. Heh… I guess that's just wishful thinking though. I can't undo time and the last guys who tried showed why you shouldn't."
Lloyd looked up back to the statue, "You know, you made me stronger, Harumi. You got me to realize what I had to do to beat my dad. You got me to see what I had to do. Is that what it's going to take for me to get stronger now? Am I going to have to keep going through painful things, keep regretting everything? Just, thinking about that… it hurts. I don't want to do that. But Ninjago relies on me to protect them. Everyone looks up to me. I can't turn around and stop moving forward now."
Lloyd turned his back to the statue to face the opposite wall. He leaned himself back up against the plaque for a few moments before he groaned, "I don't know what I expected to happen. I thought this would make me feel better but… but I don't. I still see your face when I look at Ninjago City now. I have to smile at every celebration knowing that you had to… had to… had to die for all of them."
"...I'm just rambling now," Lloyd pushed himself upright, taking a step away from her, "I have to move on. I don't know how I can, but I have to. Garmadon said something was coming, and I have to learn more about that. I have to be ready for it. I gotta be able to face danger without thinking about how I hurt you. Otherwise… more people are gonna get hurt like you did. More people are going to fall into darkness. I stopped the ultimate darkness before, but I didn't think about the shadows that don't come from evil. The things that everyone has to deal with. I can't let anyone else go through what you did."
Lloyd took a few more steps away, "I won't forget you, Harumi. But, I can't dwell on you. I can't let you consume me like you wanted Garmadon to. If I did I'd… I'd be saying that you were justified. You weren't. But you weren't entirely wrong. I do have to get stronger, be a better ninja. A better person. You showed me a lot of things I need to learn if I want to grow up. I can't just act like I'm not going to lose people. But I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I don't leave anyone else behind."
He reached the end of the hall. He hesitated as he reached out for the massive double doors. He felt tempted to look behind, back towards her. His hand trembled in the spot. After a few moments, he inhaled and forced his hand to move. He forced himself to grip the handle and push down. Forced himself to open the door and step outside. And as he held the door open, he let out one last sigh.
"I'm going to see him now, Harumi," Lloyd hung his head, "He asked to see me. I can't say no. I'm going to have to learn how to handle him too. How to move past both of you. And… I guess I need to do what my actual dad would have told me to do."
"Goodbye, Harumi," Lloyd let the door handle go, causing the door to swing back shut.
"Do you need anyone to accompany you?" The Warden asked nervously, "I can send in one of the guards if you need it!"
"No… I think I'll be fine," Lloyd turned towards the opened door to the Maximum Security Wing, "After all, you said it yourself: you spared no expense."
"Heh… right, of course we did!" The Warden suddenly backed up, "Well, I'll check you out when you get done!"
Lloyd turned to try to say something to the warden, but the massive vault door had already slammed shut and the laser bars had moved to block the exit. Slowly, he took a deep breath and walked towards the walkway that slowly extended for him, leading him to the massive cell that lay within the center of the room, and more importantly, the man that stood there.
Garmadon stood with his arms behind his back, looking away from Lloyd. From the angle that Lloyd could see, he could see there was a deep frown on his face. As he approached the glass wall, he took a moment to look down to the sheer drop that would await him if he were to fall. He supposed it was a good thing too… it meant his father wasn't getting out.
"So, you finally came," Garmadon growled out, "Funny, I thought the protectors of this world would be more… prompt."
"Forgive me for not wanting to spend anymore time in here than I have to," Lloyd narrowed his gaze, "You sent for me. Tell me why."
"Hrm… yes, I do believe I did. I had something important to tell you, something you would wish to hear…" Garmadon moved his hand to gently tap his chin, "Now, I wonder what that was. What sort of thing would be so important, I, Garmadon, would send for the Green Ninja? Hmm… it seems I can't quite remember. Your presence makes it hard to think over the stench of justice that you and your friends give off."
"My name is Lloyd," Lloyd stated flatly, "I would call you the Emperor, but you're not exactly ruling an empire right now."
"My reign is simply on pause," Garmadon curtly responded back, "Much like your ability to protect this world."
"I'll protect Ninjago when the time comes, me and my friends," Lloyd shook his head, "What did you want me here for?"
"Hrm… I have seen something, Green Ninja," Garmadon turned, "But, perhaps it would be more fun for you to guess what I have seen. Tell me, are the rumors true? Does the white one see visions of the future?"
"Sometimes…" Lloyd raised an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"
"A knowledge into the future is a result of many things," Garmadon turned about, "Oh, the easiest way is to peer into the void between the realms. To see the nothingness that extends there, and the terror that comes from it. It is enough to make a lesser man go mad. Though, I doubt you or your friends would be willing to do that."
"You're still not answering my question," Lloyd growled, "Why are you asking about Zane?"
"Impatience is not a virtue one such as yourself should have," Garmadon turned around, a hand on his chest, "Why, I would have thought I raised you better."
"You didn't raise me at all!" Lloyd countered, "You're just a reflection of the man my father was. He was a strong Sensei, a man that fought for his love, and truth, and his own son while being corrupted by the darkest thing Ninjago has in it! You could never be him! The real Garmadon, he'd never let his lust for power take over like this. You're just a murderer and a tyrant. Don't ever associate yourself with my dad!"
Garmadon looked to Lloyd for a few moments, then he scoffed and waved an arm. He moved over to his chair, gently sitting in it and spinning around in it to face Lloyd. He sat up just slightly in it, his bottom arms resting on the rests while his upper arms were clasped in front of his chin. He looked away from Lloyd, letting out a long rumble as the fire behind those red eyes of his seemed to begin to smolder to the surface.
"Perhaps I should speed this along, before I get more heartfelt confessions of your complex feelings on the topic of resurrection," Garmadon sighed, "My visions, they have changed. Something is coming, something else. Something that I have not felt… in so long."
"You said 'Something is coming' when we last met," Lloyd pointed out, "Are you telling me something else is on its way now?"
"Hrmm…. I cannot tell you much," Garmadon shook his head slightly, "I feel many things. Many conflicting things. My dreams, they have been dark. I have touched death, and death has touched me. I have seen what the Departed Realm is like, and how close it is to it. Have you felt it, Lloyd? The endless void, the one that lays just beyond our perception, that stretches beyond all reasoning, all thought, everything?"
"Of course not," Lloyd slowly sat down, bringing his feet together to mirror his father's sitting stance, "So, you're saying something is going to happen?"
Garmadon stood up, making Lloyd's eyebrow twitch as he walked towards the glass, "They are… familiar, to me. I have little memory of who I once was. That at first appeared as a curse to me. A man without memory is no man. Yet now that I have grown… I know what I am. From what I have gleaned of this land, I would be better off not remembering. Yet the sensation, that which it brings to me, it feels as though it is coming closer."
"Who?" Lloyd stood up to mirror him again, "Tell me so I can protect Ninjago!"
"I don't know," Garmadon slowly inhaled, "But I know that when they come… they will bring a destruction to them that will threaten far more than just our world."
"Our world?" Lloyd crossed his arms, "You mean the other realms, right? Someone is coming that will alter the realms, right?"
"If you do not know to what I speak, then you are best off not knowing," Garmadon turned around, "But, I can tell you this: the threat will be something that you will have to face not only alone, but with… beings. Beings that remind me, for some reason, of you."
"Now you're sounding crazy," Lloyd rolled his eyes, "There's only one me. I'm the one and only Green Ninja. There's only one of me in the world!"
"Do you not listen to me, you oaf?!" Garmadon thrust his head around, burning his gaze directly into Lloyd's own. The force and intensity of it was enough to make Lloyd stumble backwards. Had he not felt his heel go over the edge and thrown himself forward, he'd have gone flying off into the darkness.
"Clumsy," Garmadon turned around, "I see beings that you will face, those that you will fight alongside, those that will stand to the side… I do not know what they mean. I was thinking of telling you what I saw… but now that I see you in the flesh once more, I am reminded why I have no inclination towards it."
"You need to tell me," Lloyd stepped up to the glass, "Only one of us can protect Ninjago."
"Yes," Garmadon smirked, "We are linked, son. You were an ingredient in my ritual. Our powers, they are simply two opposites that lay across power. You are Creation, I am Destruction. If you were to submit your powers to me, I could take care of this threat long before it was ever even relevant to you."
"Fat chance," Lloyd retorted, "You and I both know it's the conflict that fuels you. You'd just use the chance to take over Ninjago the second you finished your fight!"
"So, you not only have the clumsiness of a child, but the ability of foresight as well?" Garmadon grinned, his teeth showing one by one, "Funny how the mighty show themselves to their foes."
"I'm not giving you your power back," Lloyd stepped back, "That's all this was about, wasn't it? It's all just some stupid attempt to get me to give you back what you lost. Forget it. I'll figure this all out on my own. Coming here was a waste of time."
Lloyd began to walk away from Garmadon. Holding himself back from stomping the way out. He reached the end of the walkway at the massive vault door. He prepared to call out to tell the Warden to open the door for him, but Garmadon's voice rang out.
"What if I were to tell you that I see death for you in my visions?" Garmadon called out, his tone neutral but his grin still present.
Lloyd hesitated to call for the door. He slowly turned towards Garmadon, taking a few steps forward to read his face. That grin of his, it unnerved him. He had seen his father angry, grieving, and even murderous. Yet for some reason, to see a monster like this, one she brought into this world for the sole purpose of destruction, smiling at him was the sensation that made a chill go down his spine. That face held no sign of lying, no hint of deceit. After having spent so long thinking about her, he was beginning to learn what deceit looked like.
"Are you telling me that I'm going to die?" Lloyd stalked forward back to the cage.
"Oh, so he finally is interested in what I have to say," Garmadon chuckled, "You already are. Slain at the hands of one of your former foes."
"That's impossible, I'm right here!" Lloyd gestured to his body, "Still very much alive. You wouldn't be alive if I wasn't."
"I have seen another, with them," Garmadon closed his eyes, ignoring the ninja, "They are one that I cannot ascertain. They are crying. Crying as they look over you. I would imagine they are likely close to you, in some way."
"But I'm not dead!" Lloyd pointed out again, "I'm. Right. Here!"
Garmadon continued, "Another weeps, but with a smile. A smile stained in ash. They walk forward into battle with that smile on their face, no matter what blows they take. They are the ones you must truly watch out for. They will push forward regardless of the pain you put them through."
"Oh, how funny, one that wishes to imitate me," Garmadon chuckled, still ignoring Lloyd, "And… one that he is training. I would hope that he would be able to move his sword more than just up and down."
"Are you just going to keep talking?" Lloyd groaned, "Ignore me?"
"How quaint… a child. Oh, but one that doesn't feel like a child… oh, I see them doing things that you could only hope of dreaming of," Garmadon sighed, "A pity. I would have liked to train them to their True Potential myself."
"You really are crazy if these are the visions you're seeing," Lloyd leaned back, "You're making so much sense right now."
"Oh hush. I've heard other things. The sound of those awful things the police carry -or rather should- rattling off incessantly. All reflected to me, strangely enough. In something rather… pure, against those horrible things," Garmadon opened one eye, "Are you listening?"
Lloyd rubbed his temples, "Just get it over with. I don't get any of this."
"Have you ever touched the darkness? One that has come far closer than that fool and his son. One that has been touched by the darkness, and has taken the darkness for themselves. Oh, the fight that must have been!" Garmadon chuckled, closing his eyes again, "How I wish I could have seen that fight."
"And?" Lloyd kept rubbing.
"One is weeping beside a temple… no, a statue. Something inside of it, dear to them, locked away where they can never truly get to it," Garmadon turned around, "Oh. They have a tail."
"And one… one is barely in my perception. I see light, and shadow, mingling together. The shining suns of a distance world, a world of barren wasteland, a land important to us. They sit amongst the beasts, at the gates of hell. Just them standing up… all the others I see cower before them."
"Is that it?" Lloyd asked.
"Hrm… yes, I do believe that it is," Garmadon opened his eyes, "Now, that was rather painless for you, wasn't it?"
"If you count 'painless' as horrible!" Lloyd turned around, "Thanks for all this confusing stuff, Garmadon. I'll be going home now."
"Yes, that would be all I have to tell you," Garmadon waved his hand, "You are dismissed."
Lloyd tightened his fists, thinking of something to say but failing to find anything. Instead, he inhaled sharply, then made a rather calm and collected walk back to the entrance to the vault. He was once more about to call for the Warden when Garmadon knocked on the glass with all four arms.
"What?!" Lloyd turned around, his attempted calm broken.
"Tell them to send me more books," Garmadon reached down to pick up a magazine from the previous week, "I wish to learn the history of these lands. Tell the Warden I am rather sated when I am given things to preoccupy my mind with, rather than thoughts of him."
"I'm pretty sure he's listening right now," Lloyd turned back around, "I'll pass on the message."
"Good," Garmadon stepped back, "Now leave."
Lloyd once more ignored Garmadon's declaration for him being allowed to leave, and called out for the Warden. A few moments later, the vault door opened, the laser bars deactivating and allowing him to step out. Garmadon turned so one eye watched Lloyd as he left the massive chamber, and more intently as each layer of security came back into place. Just as the vault was sealed, he looked away.
"So…" The Warden walked from around the corner towards Lloyd, "How'd it go?"
"You weren't listening?" Lloyd groaned, "He's insufferable."
"He is, but he's dangerous!" The Warden shook his head, "This prison is under my command, and he's the biggest threat we have right now to us. He says crazy stuff like that… but his visions always come true!"
"He's had other visions?" Lloyd asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Yep!" The Warden grinned, "The other day, he predicted exactly who would be watching him on the camera! And the day before that! And before that!"
"Did he tell you this?" Lloyd sighed, "If you talked to him on the intercom, he likely just memorized the pattern the voices were in. He's sneaky like that."
"I still say it was visions! ...But, you might have a point. I'll make sure to let the boys know not to talk to him!" The Warden paused, "Do you perhaps need an escort out?"
"No need," Lloyd raised his hand, "Nya's picking me up in the Driller. We need to do some prep before we get started helping move the rest of those artifacts to Borg Tower."
"Good luck with that!" The Warden saluted Lloyd.
"I'm sure it'll go fine," Lloyd sighed with a smile, "After all, it's just moving boxes. I'll make sure we keep it uneventful."
And thus, with a rather small chapter, we begin Universal Deviations!
Yes, this chapter is somewhat shameless foreshadowing. I have a lot of things planned and this chapter is sort of my way of forcing myself to make sure I'm going through with it. I had a lot of fun writing the dialogue between these two.
Each chapter will focus on one of the main leads we have so far in Ninjaverse. Since we have a total of 4 of them right now, we'll have 4 chapters during the hiatus. Each one is set before the actual beginning of Ninjaverse. Time flows chronologically in each of their worlds, so all chapters will take place before Lloyd drops into their life.
Thank you for reading, and Ninja-Go!