The One True Pairing

"Why do I have to judge this?" asked Luh-Loyd dryly.

Lala and Lil'Loyd looked up from where they were pouring over their own lists. Once again they were comparing the things they were unfortunate enough to have in common, and this time it was comparing the worst cages they had been trapped in. A competition they had decided to exclude Luh-Loyd from.

"Because you only have two kidnappings under your name, and neither cage in them was very impressive, so you're better for listening and being the judge than competing," said Lil'Loyd primly.

At Luh-Loyd's affronted look, Lala laughed. "I mean, he's right. One of your cages was just made of bamboo."

"I nearly got thrown in a volcano in that cage!" Luh-Loyd protested.

"I was thrown in a volcano, and my cage was tiny and made of metal and vengestone," said Lil'Loyd with a huff.

"Easily breakable bamboo," Lala reiterated. "We're Ninja, we karate chop stacks of bricks for fun. And your other kidnapping put you in a cage a child was able to break out of."

"I was concussed, drugged, and unconscious!" Luh-Loyd snapped. "I could have gotten out if I had the chance!"

"A. Child!" was all Lala said in reply, pointing at said child.

"Hey!" squawked Lil'Loyd at the perceived slight against his escaping skills.

Luh-Loyd just huffed. He knew he wasn't going to win this one, unless… "Wait, there was one more time," he said. "I didn't count it before because it was Master Builder stuff, not Ninja stuff."

The other two Lloyds looked at him dubiously.

"Lord Business," said Luh-Loyd like that was a name they should know, but from their blank expressions, they didn't. "He had a grudge against all Master Builders. So he kidnapped a bunch of us and stuck us in this weird machine cage that sucked out our creativity."

Lala and Lil'Loyd exchanged a glance. "Okay, that's a new one," Lala admitted.

"What was the cage like?" asked Lil'Loyd.

"I was strapped down like a butterfly pinned in one of those picture frames, only in a really small frame and things were plugged into my head," said Luh-Loyd.

"How'd you get out?" asked Lala curiously.

Luh-Loyd frowned at the memory. "Lord Business was supposed to be beaten by this guy named Emmet, (I like him, friendly guy, he loves Cole's music) so instead of putting him in his own cell with the rest of us Master Builders, he strapped Emmet to the machine's power source to make him watch." Lloyd then winced. "Emmet had to throw himself and the power source down this vortex to save us before the machine fried all our brains." He brightened. "Thankfully, Emmet survived and came back and we managed to save the day once we got free. Everyone, even civilians pitched in to stop Lord Business, it was great."

Lala sucked air in through his teeth, and Lil'Loyd stared wide-eyed. "Yeah, okay, that probably gets you some points," said the former.

"Only some?" asked Luh-Loyd, sounding unimpressed.

"It's still just one compared to our…" Lala looked back down at his and Lil'Loyd's lists, trying to count them all and failing. "Several," he finally said.

"Quantity and quality," said Lil'Loyd with a smirk.

Luh-Loyd glanced at the lists and had to concede their point.

"Okay, so the first point of comparison is getting kidnapped by Pythor," said Lala. "I've got it twice, and Lil'Loyd's got his one."

"Pythor's cage sucked," Lil'Loyd groaned. "It was tiny! I couldn't lie down in there!"

"I know, right?" said Lala with the sort of exasperation that only someone who could completely understand another's pain could have. "It was bad enough when I was your age. I swear, it was the exact same cage he used when he caught me last time too."

Lil'Loyd winced at the thought of being Lala's size and being stuck back in that tiny cage. "Glad my cage got melted in lava. Can't go back into that when Pythor rears his ugly head again."

"If he does, Meowthra will eat him," said both Lala and Luh-Loyd protectively in unison, exchanging a surprised glance after doing so before giving each other a resolved nod.

Lil'Loyd looked between them, feeling glad to have them so ready to protect him, but "You're weird," was all he said to them.

"We're you," Lala sassed.

"Touchè," said Lil'Loyd.

Luh-Loyd got them back on track. "So the question is, which is worse? Getting shoved into the same teeny cage twice but when you're bigger the second time or being shoved in it once and getting tossed down a volcano."

The three Lloyds exchanged thoughtful glances as they mulled that over.

"Volcano," they all agreed at the same time, and Luh-Loyd marked it down on the list.

They continued like that for several more cages before a strangled sound caught their attention.

They looked up to see various members of their respective ninja teams staring back at them, and from their freaked-out expressions, they had to wonder just how long they'd been standing there.

They didn't get to ponder it for long before all the Lloyds were dogpiled in hugs and declarations they weren't getting hurt like that again and promising vicious retribution to anyone who dared try to put them in another cage.

The Lloyds knew that with their luck there was no way that would happen.

It was a nice sentiment, though.

A/N Happy April Fools Day once again! Now I'm not sure if this story is going to become an annual thing, but I had an idea to put a little more into it and couldn't resist. The title comes from a joke I see often on Ninjago's Tumblr about how the most consistent OTP of the series is LloydxCage, and I couldn't resist. Now, for those of you who read my other Ninjago fics, I'm sorry I've been absent for so long. I've started a new job and it's been pretty exhausting. I am still writing, however, but my work for Greener Pastures has been slowed considerably, and instead I've been focusing on the next sequel in the series, One Heck of a Wedding, which isn't ready to post yet, but it's getting there. Please be patient with me a little longer. Anywho, hope everyone's doing good, and have a fun Fools Day.

As ever, major thanks to Kay Hau for beta reading. It was her encouragement that inspired me to write this continuation, and I appreciate her reading it over for me.