A/N: *skids in* *falls on my face* *jumps up* Oh wow, I'm alive! How were everyone's holidays? Mine were lovely, but work hours spiked way up after that, and then I got a new boss. It's been crazy. But hey, I'm here now! Have a longer chapter to (hopefully) make up for the wait, a recap, and another little bit of fluff. I'll keep updating whenever I have the time between work. *runs out again*
The next day was sleepy, sunny morning, not a cloud in the sky. While the older boys were splitting flying coconuts with their new elemental blades offshore (seriously, you can't make this stuff up), Lloyd leaned on Dr. Julien's workbench and watched him repair the falcon that Zane had rescued the day before.
It was everything he could do not to frown. Lloyd had woken up that morning feeling uneasy—he thought the new power of the First Spinjitsu Master would do away with all his worries about the final battle, but he woke up feeling just the same as before. Only difference was that he could shoot balls of energy out of his hands now, if he concentrated hard enough.
But watching Dr. Julien fit cogs and gears and wires around in the falcon's chassis was kinda relaxing. It give his brain something to focus on instead of his thoughts.
The old doc had kept up a little running commentary to Lloyd while he worked. He seemed determined to turn Lloyd into a nerd like him, and Lloyd was determined not to be a nerd. But he listened anyway, because building stuff was cool.
"Every cog...every gear...is important," the old doc said, carefully placing a gear into the falcon's open chest. At that, the mechanical bird began to whir and move—the wings flapped, and the bird came back to life. "If one piece is missing or out of place," the doc went on, leaning over the workbench toward Lloyd, "the invention won't work!" He looked goofy in his protective magnifying goggles, and it was all Lloyd could do not to snicker.
Dr. Julien pressed the red button on top of the falcon's workings, and the bird's chest panel shut, closing the seams over with fake feathers. The falcon perched obediently on a red screwdriver on the bench, looking every which way to take in the sights of the beach.
Lloyd couldn't help but smile.
"Come now, little one," bid the doc, affection and glee wrapped up in his voice. "Time to fly." He motioned for the bird to take to the skies, and it did, soaring upward with a hearty screech until it was only a tiny black shape on the blue sky.
Lloyd hardly heard Uncle Wu stalk over the sand to meet them. He walked like a cat. "It is like you ninja," the old sensei said. "You each serve very important roles, and are each key parts to a magnificent fighting force."
And Wu just had to get right to the point. Lloyd scowled at his shoes. He knew he had to be the head of that fighting force—but he sure didn't feel like it at all.
The doc had already taken off the goofy goggles, and was whistling to himself as he joined Nya to work on the driller mech's repairs. She'd been soldering a fracture in the cabin roof for the past few minutes herself, and the noise went on behind Lloyd as he tried to think.
"If we're all gears," he said slowly, "what if I'm the gear that doesn't work? What if I don't do my part? What if—" His voice got quiet, and he stared at his shoes. "—I can't defeat my father?"
Or worse, what if he did defeat him, and hurt him? This new power was great, but against his dad...the thought had been gnawing at him all night.
"What if there are no more 'what if's?" Wu asked in return.
Lloyd blinked as that sunk in, and lifted his head.
"The final battle is almost upon us," Wu went on. "When that time comes, we will know the answer to 'what if', whether we like it or not."
The voice was kind, even if the words were not, and that made Lloyd feel a little better. Nya stepped down from the vehicle and took off her soldering helmet, shaking her head to put her hair back in place.
"I know you don't want to face your father," she said, with a sympathetic look at Lloyd, "but there's no other choice."
"But perhaps there is." Lloyd stepped back to see his mom. Misako wore a beaming smile that made crinkles around her eyes. "I used to think it was inevitable, but then I found this." With that, she set a red scroll on Dr. Julien's workbench.
"You mean Lloyd doesn't have to fight?" Cole emerged over the dune with the other boys behind him. He was grinning too. "This I gotta hear."
As Lloyd watched, Misako rolled out the scroll and began, "The scrolls say that when the Helmet of Darkness is bequeathed to its rightful ruler, the celestial clock will count down to the activation of an unspeakable weapon, the first sign that the final battle between good and evil has begun."
The scroll's paper was blood red. Lloyd couldn't tell if that was a face, a cave, or a giant helmet with horns painted there with black ink, but a red army poured out of its "mouth" and it was topped with a single evil eye and a skull, and it sure looked evil. He had to wonder what his mom was so happy about.
Still descending the dune, Kai asked, "Did you just say, 'unspeakable weapon'?"
"Uh, I'm still hung up on what 'bequeathed' means," put in Jay.
"Go on, Misako," said Cole with a big smile. "Don't let us interrupt you. How do we stop the final battle?"
Misako looked over the scroll thoughtfully as the boys crowded around the workbench. "There is nothing here that explains what would happen if the helmet of darkness...is returned," she said, turning the rest of them.
"Interesting," noted Wu. "Remove the helmet, the clock starts. Put it back, the clock stops."
A lightbulb went off in Lloyd's head, and his eyes bugged out. "And the final battle never starts!" he cried, standing up with a grin.
"Bequeathed, anyone?" asked Jay, looking mildly annoyed. "Is anyone going to help me out with that?"
Kai ignored him. "Uh, that sounds great and all," he began, "and I know we have our new powers, but—you expect us to get past his whole army of stone warriors, and pluck the helmet off his head?" He mimicked the motion of doing exactly that.
"My brother's right," Nya spoke up. Her voice took on a sly tone. "They're good, but they're not that good."
If Kai made a face at that, Lloyd didn't see it.
"I know," answered Misako with an amused smile. "And that is why I am going to do it."
Everyone in the group took a collective quick breath in. Lloyd was immediately worried, but he wasn't sure he should be. I mean, it was his mom. She could handle herself against the stone warriors. And anyway, if he could go with her, maybe he could make sure that nothing would go wrong.
"I'll just need a little help," Misako went on, and pulled the older ninja aside. "In order to get past their guards, we need to first get control…" she began.
Lloyd took a step to join their little pow-wow before he felt a thin (but firm) hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Lloyd." Uncle Wu gently pulled him back, and Lloyd could only groan in response. "This mission isn't for you."
Lloyd turned to face his uncle, his two fists balled up beside him. "But I'm all powered up!" he protested. "I can help!"
Uncle Wu's voice was steady. "We mustn't let you and your father come face to face yet," he reasoned. "We're trying to prevent the final battle, not welcome it."
And Lloyd couldn't argue with that at all. He lowered his head in a small bow. "Yes, Sensei."
Again, infinite power—not really doing much for him. Wu really did seem sorry, if still very firm. It took all of Lloyd's willpower not to pout like a kid. He tried not to listen too hard to what the other boys were saying, especially since he wouldn't be a part of their mission.
He ended up zoning in on the conversation between the resident old guys instead. Uncle Wu had approached Dr. Julien while Lloyd was thinking.
"Doctor," Wu greeted him quietly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Dr. Julien dusted off his lab coat and shrugged. "Well, going to the creek for water was a disaster last time, so I won't ask you to do that. Your nephew and I set up a filtration device in a hidden area on the shoreline if we should need it."
Lloyd had to grin a little at that. He remembered.
"But first things first," the doc went on, "I'll need replacements for the parts that took damage in the last fight, if you can."
Wu nodded—and when Uncle Wu nodded, it always looked like a slow, sage bow. "I'll look around the Bounty and see what I can find," he promised.
"Thank you," answered Julien. And with that, Wu headed for the Bounty.
Lloyd had to smile, himself. He figured he might as well make himself useful, so he jumped in with what Dr. Julien was doing, removing damaged parts, fitting new ones on the driller, and carrying anything that was too heavy for the old doc. Soon, Nya joined them.
A little pile of scraps built up on the sand nearby as they went on in a few minutes of quiet work. The only sounds were the hiss of Nya's soldering iron and the lap of the waves, and Lloyd had time to think.
It occurred to him that he'd forgotten to ask the old doc a question since their team meeting in the Bridge. "Did...you say yesterday that you liked adventure stories?" he began slowly.
"Hm?" Dr. Julien looked up from trying to free a ripped bolt. "Oh, yes!" he replied lightly. "Just a pastime, I suppose. An avid reader yourself?"
"Heh. You could say that." Lloyd began to work at freeing a bent piece of metal from the chassis. He was pretty sure sure comic books didn't count. "Got any favorites?"
"Oh, certainly!" The doc had a grin on his face as he rattled off, "California MacKeen, Clutch Powers, old classic Fritz Donegan—"
"Wha-?" Lloyd's head flew up, and he asked eagerly, "You like Fritz Donegan?!"
"Why, of course! Do you?" asked Julien.
"Yeah, he's one of my favorites! I have every copy of his comic books in mint condition," Lloyd rambled, hefting the metal into his arms. "Except for the last one. But I already know what happens to the Imperial Sludge. I thought all of his stories are new," he added, shrugging.
"Well, I guess the comic books are, if they're making those," admitted Dr. Julien. "Back in my day, Fritz Donegan was actually a radio show! But I loved listening to his outer space adventures. I've always wanted to go to space." That goofy grin was back.
Lloyd chuckled. "Me too." He followed him around to the other side of the vehicle, still lugging the heavy piece of metal. "Even though I don't think it's really as interesting as the comic books make it."
"You're probably right." The doc started working on a new coupling. "But just to be in a space shuttle—to engineer a space shuttle!" His eyes twinkled. Nerd.
"I think I'd like to meet aliens," said Lloyd. Then he back-pedaled. "Not that I think there are aliens, but—if there were, you know."
"Are you sure?" asked the doc. "Fritz Donegan's aliens were hardly ever friendly."
"Yeah, but he always fought them to solve his problems. Except for the one time he saved the Judari princess. That's what I'd do—make friends out of hostile species."
"Sounds like a snooze." There was a mischievous gleam behind those glasses now.
"Oh, yeah?" Lloyd shot back. He tossed the hunk of metal into the scrap pile with a clang so that he could put his hands on his hips. "And I bet you think fighting everybody is a better idea."
Dr. Julien pretended to look at Lloyd down his nose, then he turned and shouted over the vehicle, "What do you say, Nya?"
Nya popped her head up from the rear bumper and flipped up the soldering helmet.
"Best way to colonize the galaxy: diplomacy, or conquest?" called Dr. Julien.
Lloyd mouthed, "Diplomacy!" in her direction, then gave her a thumbs up.
"Conquest, definitely," she answered with a wry grin.
"No!" Lloyd protested, stomping his foot.
Dr. Julien chuckled, and even Lloyd had to grin.
In the midst of that conversation, he'd forgotten all his worries about his powers.
tbc...
A/N: Little-boy Julien with his brown hair and big glasses lying on the rug and listening to Fritz Donegan radio shows is one of my favorite and strongest headcanons. Fight me.
Reviews are when your nerd daughter takes your side in a debate.