Update 4-27-19: Minor addition to Skylor and Lloyd scene for clarity. No changes to plot or dialogue.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
"What are you up to that has Clouse so fascinated, little pet?" cooed Chen, walking up to the jar and setting a possessive hand against the glass.
The Green Ninja visibly bit back a groan as he climbed back upright and backed as far away as he could from his captor, pressing back against the glass. The ninja didn't answer, but that didn't really surprise Chen. So far his pet had been quite reticent, which suited him just fine. He so disliked being disrespected.
"Playing with your newfound powers, hmm? Don't let me stop you, little one! Green Power is the essence of legends, after all. You're the first Master of Green in history! Your existence prophesied by the First Spinjitzu Master himself, thousands of years ago! Though I seriously doubt he expected it to be his grandson, going by the ignorance of your father and lack of essence training from your uncle."
Chen smiled as he read the interest in the Green Ninja's body language, even as the boy kept his eyes determinedly on his own feet. The old master was excellent at knowing what people were thinking just by watching them. Thus his many worshipful followers. People were so easy to manipulate!
He rested his forehead against the glass and just watched as his pet fidgeted, eventually glancing up as the silence stretched on.
Chen just grinned. The Green Ninja's jaw hardened in anger. Those distinctive green eyes practically glinted. How could the fools of Ninjago City never have made the connection between Lloyd Garmadon and the Green Ninja without the truth being thrown in their faces? No other being in the world had eyes like that.
"Don't you want to know what I know, pet? I know ever so much. I could train you, even. You could do things your little ninja friends could never imagine."
The child was doing everything just short of clapping his hands over his ears to NOT take heed of his captor's words. Every stiff muscle screamed "I AM NOT INTERESTED!" with such force it was obviously self-denial.
"Sounds good, hmm? Would you like that? To be more than just my little battery? I could use another student. Your father was once an excellent student. You know, I was the one that gave him the title Lord."
He grinned at the sudden flick of green eyes up to his face. Ah, the boy was a sucker for stories about his daddy. Lord Garmadon must not be very open with stories of his dark past.
"Oh, yes. It was a duel between Clouse and Garmadon, my two prize students. The winner would be given the title Lord and the authority as my second in command. I told them to go all out. Clouse played fairly. Your father cheated, and thus won."
The boy's eyes were glued to his face now, hungry for more though the ninja would undoubtedly fiercely deny it.
Chen pretended to be reminiscing, even as he studied his new pet out of the corner of his eye. "Yes, Garmadon still looked human back then. Brown hair and eyes, normal skin, only two arms. It took decades for the Great Devourer's poison to advance to where it is today."
The Green Ninja opened his mouth to ask a question, but visibly cut himself off and looked away.
That was enough for now. Had to keep his pet wanting more. A little here, a little there, and the boy will be anticipating his visits before he knew it! An eager puppy, all but wagging its tail as master came over.
Chen looked forward to it.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
Skylor thought she had long since mastered not caring. So her father enslaved and killed people, big whoop. So he had locked her up and experimented on her after her mom died, whatever. So he'd trained her to be his obedient little spy - get over it and move on!
She didn't care anymore. You know what? She never had cared. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Master Chen got whatever he wanted, and if she wanted to stay alive and free, she had to play his game. And play it well.
She'd been a spy for over six years now, and for the last three she'd had the privilege of being HANDS OFF for Clouse's experiments. In that time, and at her father's orders, she'd copied over a dozen powers and helped capture at least four various elemental masters. They were all now dead, their corpses laid at her own feet. Not the main Ninja, of course, as Chen had been insistent that they weren't ready to attract Wu and Garmadon's attention, and certainly not to take on the main five elemental masters.
And then the Green Ninja had appeared.
Skylor hadn't understood what the big deal was. Like, how is "green" even an element? All he did was make friends with a giant cat! Her amber power was so much better. Elite, the best of the best. Why it wasn't ranked as high as the five so-called main elements, when it could copy any of them, was beyond her. There was nothing they had that she didn't. Right? Well, maybe spinjitzu. She couldn't do that tornado thing. But otherwise she was an excellent fighter easily on par with any of them!
So it was just... weird. Seeing her father and Clouse so excited. Whispering about shortcuts, and cheating, and a power beyond all others.
Seriously?! It was just a stupid cat! She could've blasted the thing herself! But no, she had to hide behind the counter in the noodle shop and pretend to be terrified. She had to fall all over the Ninja in appreciation for their "saving the day" - as if a good chunk of the city wasn't still destroyed. She had to exclaim over how she'd had no idea the Green Ninja was Lloyd Garmadon - even though it had been so obvious even before her father told her the identities of all six Ninja. Lloyd Garmadon is seriously the only person in Ninjago City with bright green eyes, and he hangs out with five people, one of whom is a robot and another a girl. It wasn't particularly hard. The idiots even wear their signature Ninja colors on their casual clothes.
The Master of Amber, heir to Chen's empire (provided he ever died - he just might be immortal at this point), had dosed Lloyd's dinner that night without any thoughts beyond following her father's orders. Or so she told herself.
Certainly the attention from the Fire Ninja was flattering, and my was he cute, strong, brave, clever. The way he stared at her and tripped over his own tongue trying to be suave was adorable. And she was beginning to think she'd be able to win him over to her father's side as a lieutenant - Fire was Power after all, the most aggressive and destructive of all the elements. He thought rather highly of himself, his talent and power, and she'd be lying to say she wasn't attracted to that confidence.
And it was good strategy to befriend the Ninja, or at least give the impression of doing so. Kai's flirting was fun. Cole's smirks and snarky comments made her smile. Jay and Nya's teasing. Zane's polite kindness. Wu's sage wisdom. Koko's open affection. Garmadon's, well, the guy was just FUNNY when he wasn't trying to conquer Ninjago!
And Lloyd. Her target. Sweet and gentle and so freely trusting. So easily hurt. You'd think he was half the age of the others, he was so innocent. It should be impossible with his history. He should be like her - jaded, cold, a liar painting on a mask to manipulate others. And with no sign of any of this "Green" power, despite his title of Green Ninja and that weird little speech about Green being Life, Connection, Love, blah blah blah.
It had been a simple matter to drug the silly boy, as she'd thought of him. Skylor had learned where he lived weeks ago, and simply headed on over once her shift was over, via rooftops and dressed in black. Just as she'd estimated, the boy, the child, had collapsed on his bed, still fully clothed but completely unconscious. He wouldn't wake for anything, not for at least twelve hours. She'd carried him herself to the drop point, where he'd been picked up by a couple of her father's stooges to be taken to the island.
He was supposed to die. Her father and Chen were supposed to realize there was nothing special about Lloyd Garmadon and cut their losses. And no, that thought hadn't bothered her at all. Nope, not at all. As she told herself again and again and again.
Instead of disappointment, however, she witnessed ever growing excitement as they placed the leader of the Ninja into some incredibly weird jar thing next to an even weirder giant coil. She saw Clouse taking weird tests and giggling his head off as he examined the results. Her father, literally dancing with eagerness. And then, when they were finally ready, they had turned the machine on.
Lloyd had screamed. Screamed more than she ever had, as if they were turning him inside out. Forcing, dragging something out from his deepest core. Something not ready to come out, maybe would not have ever been ready to come out. And the jar and coil had been awash in a strange, swishing, sparkling, flowing green energy that had everyone in the room staring in awe.
It was unlike any of the elements Skylor had ever seen before. Lighting crackled, Fire swooshed, Earth trembled, Water flowed, Ice glistened. This Green Energy her father and Clouse so lusted after seemed to combine traits of all of them. It almost danced, like the aurora she'd seen pictures of far to the north, with swirling sparks within like twinkling, playful stars. And it wasn't just a pretty light show; it had a physical power, a pull, that was unmistakable and quite frightening to be in the same room with. And yet so beautiful it ached. She'd known it would burn her long before her father instructed her to try use it.
And, instead of not caring, she felt like crying. Lloyd would live. He would be useful to her father, like her, and she wouldn't have a friend's death on her hands. Not that Lloyd was her friend.
Lloyd finally stopped screaming, but was shaking and twitching and trembling in exhaustion and pain and probably some weird problems caused by having his until then inactive power ripped out of him.
He should've been spitting hatred. Those green eyes should have been glistening in hate, demanding that she just go die. Instead he'd been confused, and once he recognized her, worried. Sympathetic.
Lloyd Garmadon was still the Green Ninja. Still unbelievably compassionate and sweet and emotionally vulnerable and weak. Or, so she'd thought.
In truth, he was stronger then she had ever been. How could one so weak have such strength? Refuse to give in so completely? Be able to extend forgiveness so easily? It should be impossible! Hadn't she proved to herself that it was impossible? Used it to justify her every vile action under her father's orders?
She was supposed to be the strong one. Didn't survival equal strength? So what if the price of survival was giving in to the evil.
Yet, HE comforted HER. Even knowing she was at fault for his situation. Even knowing this had been planned for months.
He... asked her to help him. Believed she would help him. Truly thought there was some good in her, despite all evidence to the contrary. Even as good as said she was worthy of Kai.
Skylor didn't know what to do. She wasn't strong. All along she had been the weak one, feeling sorry for herself and thinking she had no choice. She'd had a choice all along.
It was time to make a choice.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
Skylor knocked on the glass, startling Lloyd out of his quiet contemplation. He had probably been thinking about his new powers, staring at his hands like that.
"Hey, Lloyd," she greeted softly, smiling gently as he looked her way. "Got some food and water, but I'll have to lower it to you."
Lloyd smiled in acknowledgment, that irritatingly angelic little half-smile he could give no matter the situation. "Hey, Skylor. Oh, I can't tell you how good a bite and a drink sound!"
Skylor pulled a lever, and a small, fragile looking robotic arm thing lowered from the ceiling. It strongly resembled the type of flimsy cupholder you'd find in a cheap car. There were spaces for two cups on the end. She slipped a water bottle into one and a hot cup filled with soup in the other.
The arm thing slowly rose to the ceiling, then over the metal lid at the top of Lloyd's jar. There was a sharp, metallic sliding sound, and an opening only just large enough for the thing to pass through appeared. Way too high and too small to escape through, not that the arm thing could possibly hold his weight. Oh well.
Lloyd took the water bottle first, chugging the entire thing in less than a minute. He set the empty bottle back in the cupholder and helped himself to the soup. There was no spoon, but then it was mostly just broth. He could just tip the cup for the tiny pieces of meat and vegetable.
Skylor didn't seem in a rush, and didn't complain when Lloyd took a seat facing her instead of hurrying up to finish his paltry meal. Rather, she also sat down facing him.
"Do you know anything about Green?" asked Lloyd, as he sipped at his hot cup.
"Not really," replied Skylor. "Only what I saw. That it's some sort of beautiful and powerful energy that my father and Clouse are gaga for. And that it packs a mean punch." She held up her bandaged left hand as evidence, trying to make light of her injury. "Why?"
Lloyd frowned thoughtfully. "Because I'm wondering if it may be related to Amber somehow."
Skylor blinked in surprise. "That's... an odd idea. Like, I'd understand it being related to Lightning. Electricity, Energy, you know. Why my power?"
He frowned thoughtfully, took another swallow of soup, and visibly decided to trust her. He held out his right hand, his left holding his cup, and snapped as he'd seen Skylor do earlier to demonstrate Fire.
Skylor's mouth dropped open as a green flame appeared over his hand. As she stared, it swirled around into green bolts of lightning, then seemed to wrap itself around Lloyd's hand and freeze, turning into a glistening layer of green ice.
She looked back up to Lloyd's face. His eyes were on the hand controlling his power, frowning slightly in concentration. He seemed to sense the shift in her focus and relaxed. The ice seemed to melt, shifting back into those glowing green sparks and swirls that seemed most natural to it.
"I seem to be able to copy other elements. But they're always green and not quite right," said Lloyd.
"Do they have all the same properties?" asked Skylor, extremely interested. "Is it just the color that's odd?"
"I think so," answered Lloyd. "But it's not like I ever had elemental powers before, so I'm not sure." He finished off his soup cup, looked at it sadly for a second, then put it back in the cupholder thing. No sense leaving trash around.
"How about we compare?" asked Skylor. "I've had my power as long as I can remember, and I've practiced a LOT with the main elements. Want to try?"
Lloyd's eyes sparkled like the time the restaurant had been out of fortune cookies so she gave them free custard tarts after their meal. "Yes, please!" he cheered.
And, ah man, that 'please' was practically invented to mess with her heart. Especially combined with those adorable puppy eyes.
Skylor made herself comfortable and held out both hands. Even bandaged, she should be able to use her left hand for this, and the elements would have to be a bit larger and stronger for Lloyd to be able to observe all the nuance.
A bit of concentration, and Kai's flames billowed into being above her open palms.
Lloyd studied the flames seriously for over two minutes. If he applied half as much dedication to studying spinjitzu, it was no wonder Wu had appointed him leader. Finally, he leaned back, held out both hands, open palmed in imitation of Skylor, and allowed green flames to erupt from his own hands.
Both teens were abruptly yanked forward, smacking into the glass. Thankfully their powers had dissipated the second they'd been yanked forward, that strange magnetic pull snapping in the same instant, so neither was seriously hurt. Their startled eyes met and after a second they started to laugh.
"What WAS that?" giggled Lloyd, rubbing his sore forehead.
"I have no idea! Let's do it again!" laughed Skylor in return, checking her aching cheekbone with her good hand. There didn't seem to be any bruising, and the pain was already fading. The whole thing had been so completely unexpected!
"Ok, but smaller this time!"
"Agreed!"
They both made small flames above just a single hand, and there was a definite pull between the two. Both teens were wide-eyed in wonder as they let their arms and flames be pulled forward until they were only separated by glass.
"Fire pulls Fire? Or is it Green?" asked Lloyd, studying the flames in fascination. "Or maybe Green pulls Amber?"
"Let's find out!" said Skylor excitedly. "Ice next?"
They went through all the main elements, with the same results. A strange sort of magnetic pull between them. But there was nothing if Lloyd just left Green in its natural state, only when he 'copied' the other elements. Even when Skylor replicated Green, there was no pull between the two.
"This is so weird," commented Skylor, but her eyes were shining. This was probably the most fun she'd ever had with her powers! It was cool too, seeing Green shift between forms and phases. Lloyd seemed to need a lot more concentration than her to control it, but then he was much newer at this.
"Does Amber have a sort of natural state?" asked Lloyd. "Like Green?"
"Nope," replied Skylor. "It's all or nothing. If I'd never touched another elemental master, I wouldn't have any powers at all."
"Huh," went Lloyd. "Well, how about we see how the different elements react to each other? Like Earth and Ice, or Fire and Water?"
"Sounds fun!"
And over two hours of messing around and giggling followed, with the two trying every combination they could think of. Multiple combinations too, once Skylor showed Lloyd how she could use different elements at the same time, say Earth literally on one hand and Fire on the other. Lloyd wasn't able to copy that trick, at least not yet, so they had to settle with combinations up to three. With some rather surprising results! Some drew together, some pushed apart. Some grew stronger together, some seemed to weaken each other. Some even seemed to start to try to combine! Though of course they couldn't, through the special glass of the jar.
But only with Green in the mix, in some form or other. If Skylor tried to combine or mix elements on her own, nothing happened. They remained completely unaffected by each other. It was so cool!
Skylor also reached another conclusion, one unrelated to elements. Somewhere in the midst of all the smiling and laughter and trading of ideas and new discoveries, Skylor realized Lloyd really was her friend now. And she did have to help him.
She'd made her choice.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
Author's Notes: Credit where it is due - Sunny Lighter (an excellent writer with over 20 stories to her name and more on the way, including an epic movie/show Ninjago crossover!), gets credit for inspiring that last section! She kindly let me know that we needed more Lloyd and Skylor interaction. She's done a ton of beta work for this story, previewing future chapters and helping me improve them. Thank you so much, Sunny!
Also special thanks to Sunny Lighter, Carrie2sky, EMPFangirl02, Bookkeeper2004, and at least one unnamed Guest who have graciously reviewed every single chapter so far! You are all very special and I do indeed wait to see your reviews appear every time I post!
For those that don't know, I PM replies and thank you's to every signed-in review I receive. Especially if you have questions or comments, please do sign in or at least leave your account name in your review so I can get back to you.
Thank you all and hope you're enjoying the story! It looks like we'll be done by chapter 8, but there will be room for a sequel if anyone's interested.