"Nope. Nope, nope, nope. No way," Lloyd declared flatly, standing up from his chair. "Me believing you only goes so far. I can maybe believe my parents being evil. I can possibly believe the rebels wanting to save Ninjago. I'll even say there's a chance I can believe there's a prophecy about my parents getting defeated by someone. But I can't, I cannot believe that the someone who's going to defeat my parents is me."

The three teens sitting around the table exchanged uneasy glances.

Wu just kept smiling. "Oh, nephew. There is so much that you do not know, so much you have to learn about yourself, others, and the world."

"Like what?" Lloyd challenged, folding his arms.

"Do you recall what we told you about the Elemental Masters?" Wu asked.

Lloyd nodded. "They supposedly fought against my mom and dad when my parents tried to conquer Ninjago City, right?"

"Right. What do you think made someone an Elemental Master?" Wu asked.

"Some sort of agreement that they'd help the other Elemental Masters fight?" Lloyd tried.

Wu shook his head.

"A secret code?" Lloyd asked.

Wu shook his head.

"They just decided to start calling themselves that?" Lloyd attempted.

Wu shook his head and asked, "Do you remember what happened when the Elemental Masters defeated Meowthra?"

"You guys said that they did it, but their generation lost their powers, whatever that means," Lloyd recalled.

"What makes an Elemental Master is their elemental powers," Wu said clearly.

Lloyd raised his eyebrows and repeated, "Elemental powers?"

"Elemental powers," Wu said again.

"Elemental powers," Lloyd mused.

"Elemental powers," Wu agreed.

"Please stop saying 'elemental powers' and just tell him what it means," the spiky-haired guy said waspishly.

"Hush," Wu chided. "I get there in my own time."

"Sorry, Master," the spiky-haired guy stated, not sounding sorry at all.

"Elemental powers are abilities passed down from parents to children," Wu explained.

"So like, being able to ride a bike, or tie a tie, or catch or throw a ball?" Lloyd questioned.

Wu chuckled. "No. These abilities are special abilities, abilities that no one else has, abilities that have great, true, full potential. You see, each Elemental Master has the power to control their element. The Master of Wind, for example, could manipulate the wind."

"The Master of Fire can manipulate fire," the spiky-haired guy piped up.

"The Master of Water can manipulate water," the ponytailed girl continued.

"The Master of Earth can manipulate earth, and so on," the black-haired guy added.

"And the Green Ninja, as the Master of Energy, can manipulate energy. That's you, Lloyd. You can manipulate energy," Wu said solemnly.

Lloyd shook his head firmly. "No. No, I can't. No, I've never done anything even close to that. No. You're lying. And if you're lying about that, how am I supposed to know that you're not lying about the prophecy and the rebels and my parents?"

"Let me show you something," Wu stated. He stood and walked over to the counter, picking up the chest that lay there and bringing it over to place it on the table. "In here are the Ultimate Weapons, the artifacts that help new Elemental Masters unlock their powers, and the Golden Weapons, the artifacts which will glow when arranged in the presence of the Green Ninja. I want to hand you the Energy Ultimate Weapon and put the Golden Weapons in front of you. If the Ultimate Weapon does nothing and the Golden Weapons stay as they are, then you are free to assume we are lying about everything. You can go back home. You can return to your everyday life. You can forget this whole thing ever happened."

Lloyd hesitated. "And if the Weapons do what you say they'll do?"

"Then you'll know we're telling the truth about everything, evil parents, Green Ninja, and all," Wu explained.

Lloyd thought about that. "Okay. Okay, I'll do it."

Wu nodded, like he'd known Lloyd would say that. "Students, arrange the Golden Weapons in front of him. I'll hand him the Energy Ultimate Weapon."

"Yes, Master," the black-haired guy said respectfully, and he, the ponytailed girl, and the spiky-haired guy stood and went to stand by Wu. Together, the three teens pulled out four shiny weapons from the box: a scythe, a pair of nunchucks, a sword, and a pair of shurikens. They placed the weapons on the table and carefully started nudging them into place.

Wu came over to Lloyd holding a strange item shaped kind of like a branch, but bright green. "When I say so, students, get the Golden Weapons into their arrangement."

"Yes, Master," the ponytailed girl chirped.

"I'll give Lloyd the Energy Ultimate Weapon at that moment. Ready. Set. Go, now!" Wu commanded.

Immediately, the three teens pushed the Golden Weapons together on the table and Wu shoved the green branch-thing into Lloyd's hands.

For a split second, nothing happened, and Lloyd was simultaneously overjoyed and a tiny bit saddened. Then, oh, then something warm pulsed behind Lloyd's eyes and the branch-thing in his hands sprang to life, emitting a bright glow of rays of green from between his hands. Lloyd dropped the branch-thing in surprise, but the glow kept on, well, glowing. That's when Lloyd realized the glow wasn't coming from the branch-thing.

The glow was coming from his hands.

Lloyd looked up to see the four Golden Weapons on the table also glowing. He gaped at them, mouth hanging open and eyes as wide as they could go.

"Check out his eyes!" The spiky-haired guy crowed. "They're green!"

"They are?" Lloyd managed to ask through his shock.

Wu smiled and tilted his head toward the room's window, which Lloyd peered at only to see his reflection staring back with green eyes that seemed to glow.

"Do you believe we're telling the truth now, nephew?" Wu asked.

Speechless, all Lloyd could do was nod and look back down at his hands. A moment later, the glow stopped, and he looked back up at Wu.

"Lloyd, you are the Green Ninja. You are destined to save Ninjago from your parents with the help of the other ninja," Wu declared, nudging the Golden Weapons out of place so they stopped glowing and picking up the branch-thing from the floor.

"...Okay, but I don't know how much help I'm going to be," Lloyd warned.

"You're going to be a lot of help just by being you," the ponytailed girl commented. "And I don't mean that in the 'hooray, being yourself is the best thing to be' way, although that is true. I mean it in the 'you're the son of Garmadon and so you can get into places most people aren't allowed to go to' way."

"There are places I can go to that most people can't?" Lloyd echoed in confusion. Then he remembered what the spiky-haired guy had said. "Oh. Do you mean places where warriors and identity locks are? I've seen those before. You think I could get past those?"

"You're sixteen now. Your parents have started preparing to have you take over ruling Ninjago for them, and my sources say that has included including you in their identity locks," Wu explained. "We'll need to bypass some identity locks to secure things we must have to successfully revolt against your parents. We need parts to make mechs and blueprints to give us instructions to make mechs. We'll also need to find two more Elemental Masters, as the prophecy of the Green Ninja stated that six ninja in total, including the Green Ninja, will be needed to face Lord and Lady Garmadon."

"How are we supposed to find all of that stuff and those people?" Lloyd wondered.

"Simply follow my instructions and all will turn out," Wu said simply. Just like that, he stood and left the room, calling back, "I will return."

Lloyd frowned. "That was unnecessarily mysterious."

The spiky-haired guy laughed. "That's Wu for you. There's always something he hasn't told us yet."

"Speaking of things that you haven't been told," the ponytailed girl said thoughtfully. "Have we even introduced ourselves yet? Did Wu tell you who we are?"

Lloyd shook his head. "You're three of the six ninja, right?"

The ponytailed girl nodded. "Right. I'm Nya, Elemental Master and Ninja of Water. That's my brother, Kai, Elemental Master and Ninja of Fire-"

"Let me introduce myself," the spiky-haired guy interrupted. He gave Lloyd a cocky grin. "I'm her brother, Kai, Elemental Master and Ninja of Fire."

"That's exactly what I just said," Nya said bluntly.

"But now I said it," Kai stated, as if that explained everything.

"What does that have to do with-" Nya began.

"And I'm Cole, Elemental Master and Ninja of Earth," the black-haired guy butted in over Nya. "We're glad you're here. Now we're one step closer to freeing Ninjago."

"Because Ninjago needs to be freed," Lloyd said heavily. "From my parents."

The three ninja exchanged glances.

"Listen, Lloyd. It's gotta be tough, learning all this so quickly," Kai said slowly. "Although I said I wished I was the Green Ninja, I'm glad I'm not in your shoes. It must be really hard to know you have to fight your parents. I can't even imagine my parents being evil. This situation stinks for you."

Lloyd nodded glumly.

"But the good news is, now you know the truth. Now you can do something about it. Now you can save Ninjago! Doesn't every person dream as a kid of saving the world? I know I did. And you get to do it!" Kai enthused.

For a moment, that cheered Lloyd up, and he gave Kai a grateful smile. Then he remembered who exactly he was saving the world from. His smile disappeared immediately.

"Uh, I saw a smile for a second there. Where'd it go?" Kai asked.

"It's just going to take some time to get used to this," Lloyd admitted. "I just wish I could get my mind off of it."

"Well, the good news is, when Master Wu goes off on his own like this, there's no telling when he'll come back," Cole pointed out.

Nya nodded. "Which means we have time to help you get used to it, or at least get your mind off of it. Do you want to hear some stories?"

Lloyd scrunched up his face. "What kind of stories?"

Nya grinned.