A/N: Guess who got a new job and told them she was available on weekends? *does a little dance* One of these days I'll get good at time management. Anyway, I had a few hours to kill today, so here's a new chapter!
Given that he was basically a twelve-year-old kid in a vaguely late-teenage body, here's the grand total of what Lloyd knew about mechanical engineering: nothing.
The good news is that he didn't have to know it all. Dr. Julien already did, and he made things seem really simple and easy. Wire this here. Hook this to that. Ratchet these in. Stack those. Fit these together. Solder that. Watch your fingers. Rinse, and repeat.
Before Lloyd knew it, he was putting the finishing touches on a gigantic drill, as wide as he was tall, that took up the entire front end of the combat vehicle.
He hadn't forgotten about his own plan to protect everybody. So when Dr. Julien sent Uncle Wu to the Bounty's hull to fetch more spare parts that Lloyd couldn't name, Lloyd made a mental note.
When the doc sent Lloyd's mom to a nearby creek in the forest for water to wash them, Lloyd payed extra attention.
And he kept listening to the clanks, whirring, and ratcheting noises he could hear from an otherwise inconspicuous pile of palm branches on the other side of the Bounty to make sure that Nya was okay.
For now, it was just him and the doc. Lloyd's wrist was starting to hurt, so he sat up on top of the drill with a grunt and massaged the ache.
Dr. Julien fiddled with some wires in the control panel of the vehicle nearby. He looked like you could set off a bomb and he wouldn't even notice; laser-focused through his glasses, muttering to himself and scrawling down notes on a pad of paper as he worked.
Lloyd had to smile. He was starting to wonder how an old nerd with a mind for nothing but machines must feel to see all of this flying ship, evil stone army nonsense for the first time.
Heck, it was overwhelming enough for Lloyd, and he'd grown up with his own dad being the lord of darkness.
"Doesn't this seem weird to you?" he asked.
Dr. Julien's head flew up so fast that his glasses bounced on his nose and landed crooked. "Eh? What?"
"Oh. Sorry, did I startle you?" Lloyd tried to hold back a grin and failed.
"No, no, not at all. I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Dr. Julien pushed the spectacles further up on his nose and blinked. "What was it you said?"
"I asked if this is weird to you."
"How to you mean?"
Lloyd hopped down off the drill and landed expertly on his feet in the sand. "I mean—well, I know you've already seen a lot." He hardly wanted to think about the story the poor guy had to tell about Samukai.
"But we're ninja," continued Lloyd. He heaved a box of parts into his arms and turned back to face the doctor. "And you're on an island with the lord of darkness, the Overlord, and an indestructible army, and the final battle is on its way."
Lloyd shrugged with the box in his arms. "Aren't you—I dunno, maybe a little bit scared?"
"Heh..." Dr. Julien shook his head and got up from his knees. Lloyd had to guess that he'd been kneeling by the control panel.
"Well, a little frightened, if I must say so," he admitted. "But to be honest—" He filled his lungs with the island air and stood up. "I'm just so glad to be free that everything else pales."
Lloyd wasn't expecting that, so he paused and listened.
"If Ninjago is in danger," the old doc went on, "and you have a fighting chance at saving it, I'd be happy to do what I can to help you." Dr. Julien's smile made the wrinkles around his eyes jump out.
Lloyd had to smile back. Really, should he be surprised that the guy who raised Zane turned out to be pretty awesome?
The old doc gave a small laugh. "I told Zane that I made him to protect those who can't protect themselves. This is the best way I could ever imagine it to happen!"
He waved his arms wide at the entire blue sky. "As a ninja." He said the word like it meant a million dollars. "Fighting for good, with all of you."
Fighting. Lloyd's smile fell, and he gave a frustrated groan instead.
"That's just it." He tossed the box up onto the vehicle—sloppily, so that it landed with a loud clank—and jumped up after it just as loudly.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I kind of haven't been doing very much fighting," groused Lloyd. My mom and Sensei Wu mostly just shove me to the side."
Dr. Julien frowned as Lloyd started rooting through the box. "As I understand it," the old doc answered slowly, "your role is the most crucial one of all."
Lloyd didn't look him in the eye.
"I suppose they're trying to protect you."
"I guess," griped Lloyd.
He really, really, really hated to admit it. But maybe the old doc was right.
That's when Lloyd noticed that he couldn't hear what Nya was doing anymore. The little cluster of leaves by the Bounty was quiet—and instead, whirrs followed by heavy thumps rang out from the forest.
Lloyd straightened up on his knees to see. Could it be one of the stone army's tanks?
Oh. Nope. A huge, bright red mech stomped out of the forest shadows, and Lloyd couldn't hold back a wild grin.
Nya pulled a lever to make the beast of a machine stand still. "Well, looks like this is done," she said with a little smile. "Hope you boys are ready for this baby."
"All right, Nya!" cheered Lloyd. "That looks great."
"You built that?" cried Dr. Julien, and Lloyd swore his grin was even wider.
"Uh, yeah." Nya looked embarrassed enough to hide in the mech, but she still smiled. "Whaddya think?"
"I think it's magnificent!" The old doc scrambled down off of the vehicle and took off running over the sand as Nya jumped down out of the pilot seat. "For this level of craftsmanship with so little resources and time—"
He beamed up at the machine, then turned that same smile to Nya. "Young lady, you and I are definitely going to have to talk machines when we get back to Ninjago."
Nya practically glowed. "Really?" Her hands had come up in two little fists in front of her, and she shoved them behind her back. "I mean—I'd be honored! You kind of built Zane, so I think I've got a lot to learn from you."
"And I, you," he answered. "Technology has progressed in leaps and bounds since I last remembered it. Could you bring the cabin down here so I can take a look?"
"Sure!" She leaped up to do just that and buckled in.
Lloyd just smirked to himself and went back to ratcheting bolts on the big drill, kind of spacing out a little as the doc and Nya talked machines in the background.
Lloyd had listened to a lot of adults' attempts at encouraging others—some more successful than others. They went from his mom's warmth, to Uncle Wu's quiet stirring speeches, and even to his dad's heartfelt honesty.
But Dr. Julien was a little bit different. He seemed to think the best course of action was just to throw somebody a big grin and go on and on to tell you how good they'd done.
Thing is—it worked. Lloyd felt like he was already a mild prodigy at building machines, and Nya looked really excited to talk about her mech.
The best part was that the doc genuinely seemed to enjoy listening.
Lloyd began to pay attention when the two mechanics nerds started saying words he understood again.
"Well, the coupler is all ready for you," Dr. Julien was telling Nya. (Lloyd got that because he'd helped to build the coupler.) "We left the back of the vehicle wide open for storage."
"Good deal," replied Nya. She hit a button on the mech's leg, and the whole thing folded itself. Over and over, again and again, smaller and smaller, until it squeezed into a fair-sized red trunk and slid into the vehicle trunk.
Dr. Julien was almost shaking.
Lloyd howled in laughter. "Nya, that's awesome!"
"Thanks." She grinned up at Lloyd and rocked on her heels. "It took a little effort to work in the extra compactors, but I think it was worth it!"
Dr. Julien was recovering, if a little slowly. His open mouth shut into a smile, and he stiffly clapped his hands.
"Right then." The old doc's voice was unusually high. He cleared his throat and it was lower. "We should check the deploy mechanism to make sure it's working," he remarked to Nya.
"Right behind you," she answered, and followed him up the side of the vehicle to the control panel.
Lloyd couldn't help but grin and stick his tongue out when he caught Julien's eye.
What a nerd.
tbc...
A/N: Shared interests know no age. Dr. Julien is considering adopting Nya so that he'll have a nerd daughter.
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