I think I'm behind on absolutely evERY single aspect of my life right now, and I am beyond sorry for how delayed both this chapter is and my responses are T-T I am also very much sorry for any glaring mistakes in this, as it's 3am here and I've got mild sun poisoning because I'm a fool who didn't wear sunscreen my first day back at work, so I'm skipping my usual extra editing because I swORE to myself I'd have this up as soon as I finished finals, and that was yesterday so! My writing is finally going toward something I enjoy instead of endless essays :'D
(As always, thank you so much to everyone who's stuck with this! You guys are so unbelievably kind, even when I die on you for months at a time T-T)
Chapter 13: Lloyd Learns the Joys of Blowing Everyone's Best-Laid Plans to Smithereens
To Nya's immense satisfaction and overwhelming relief, she ends up being dead right about Ms. Mystaké. She's gotta be a miracle-worker or something, because she not only cures whatever was destroying Lloyd, but she also gets them to sleep a full twelve hours without waking up, eat a full breakfast, and consequently start the next day feeling like entirely new people who've been shot up with ten times their usual energy.
It'd be great, if that energy hadn't hit Lloyd as well. Nya's beyond happy to see the spark in his eyes again, of course, and to see him running around causing havoc at full force instead of coughing a lung up and unable to move except for shivering. She just…wishes he'd take it a little easier. Considering he was just practically on his deathbed, that's all.
"—aha! So you're fighting dirty, huh? I'll show you, you stupid fat birds—"
Nya suppresses a whine of agitation as he goes vaulting over Mystaké's rickety old fence to get the jump on one of the scrambling roosters, only to immediately sink up to his knees once he hits the snow.
"Stay on the path, Lloyd!" Nya calls, in vain.
Lloyd ignores her, making an oof kind of sound as his face screws up, struggling to claw himself free of the snowdrift. He's making little to no headway by the time Jay finally snatches him by the back of the over-sized coat he's got on, hauling him to his feet.
"C'mon, green machine, they're outrunning you," Jay grins, his cheeks bright and flushed from the cold. He's got one of the many hats his mom knitted him on, this one a bright blue that leaves the auburn curls sneaking out the edges look redder than usual, and Nya totally does not stare at that for an extra second longer than is necessary.
"Stalker," Cole mouths to her as he drifts by, following Zane as he clears a neat path in the snow. Nya turns scarlet, and sends him a rude gesture that Zane unfortunately catches, his mouth falling open in shock.
"Nya—"
"Coming through, coming through!"
Nya's saved as Jay barrels into them both, his momentum sending them all sprawling in the snow with a chorus of shrieks. Lloyd jump-skips over Cole's legs just in time, ducking under Zane's wind-milling arm to escape the pile-up all together, cackling as he chases the rogue rooster back across the yard, sprinting by the front porch of Mystaké's shop.
He flashes her a bright grin as he runs past, the better length of the scarf Kai had shoved on him flapping behind him as he goes. Nya shakes her head, fighting back a grin despite herself. She guesses she can it let it slide, this time. As far as 'recovery exercises' go, which they've termed chasing Mystaké's escaped roosters, this is laid back enough. Kai isn't even out with them right now, still sound asleep inside. And, more importantly, Lloyd looks ecstatic not to be confined to the couch, even though it's barely been a day since his fever broke.
Not that you could ever tell, Nya muses. Lloyd still looks a little paler than usual, but his cheeks are flushed in a color that's healthy, and his eyes are bright under the light green hat he's got on. It's an old one of Cole's, and thick wisps of pale blond hair erupt from the front where he keeps having to jam it back on, constantly dislodging it in his chase of the roosters.
Honestly, she still doesn't understand where he's gotten this energy from. When she got sick, she spent the next five days sleeping, and she didn't even go into respiratory distress, or whatever those awful moments had been.
"What did I tell you," Mystaké says, sounding pleased with herself as she sips at her never-ending cup of tea. "Right back to normal."
They all wince as Lloyd crashes into the gate again with an ominous sound of splintering. Cole throws a look of budding terror at Mystaké, but she simply squints at Lloyd, her expression neutral.
"I am assuming that this level of exuberance is normal for him."
"It is," Sensei Wu assures her as he emerges from the house, joining them on the porch. "And I am afraid I must begin apologizing for that already."
Mystaké waves him off. "It's an ugly fence anyways. And I've had enough of your apologies to last me a lifetime, stop groveling. It's a terrible look on you, Wu."
Nya is torn between gaping at her and laughing at the expression on Sensei Wu's face. She's never met anyone who can talk to Sensei like that, except maybe Garmadon.
"Well, I must thank you, at least," Sensei Wu finally says, after taking a long sip of his tea. "Not only for healing my nephew, but for allowing my students to stay here until I returned."
"Oh, they've been fine," Mystaké says. "A wonderful source of entertainment. Don't mistake me, you'll repay me one of these days, but it was no skin off my back."
"Of course," Sensei Wu murmurs, looking almost amused. His expression suddenly sobers, and he watches as Mystaké's eyes linger on Lloyd.
"Mystaké, my nephew," he starts slowly, his expression guarded. "He…"
Mystaké snorts. "I know who he is, Wu." She sounds exasperated. "I'm not a complete fool. You needn't worry. I did heal the child, you know."
"Yes, of course, I just—" Sensei Wu breaks off, looking flustered.
Mystaké laughs. "Ah, I've missed you, Wu," she sighs. "And I am glad you let me meet your little snapdragon of a nephew. Even if your students had to haul him in through a snowstorm like bedraggled rats — haha!"
Sensei Wu just runs a hand over his face, looking mortified. Nya feels a pang of sympathy. Sensei Wu's been a mess ever since he got back early yesterday morning, just after Lloyd was finally conscious enough to sit up and make fun of the dark circles under all their eyes. He'd been frantic when he'd burst through the door of Mystaké's shop, apparently having rushed back home after receiving Cole's message that Lloyd was 'probably dying please help', but never having received any followup on that.
Cole had looked thoroughly guilty, though Sensei Wu was quick to assure him that it wasn't his fault.
"I should not have left you in the first place," he'd said, a hand on his nephew's head as Lloyd had napped against him. "I am sorry you had to go through that on your own, but I can't thank you enough for taking care of my nephew. You all acted with maturity beyond what I could have asked for. I am impressed you thought of Mystaké, Nya."
He'd nodded to her at that, and Nya had flushed, insisting she was just grateful she'd remembered the way.
She might have thrown Cole a look of I-told-you-so, but if she did, it would have been a merciful one, because the entire experience was awful all around as it was.
Before her thoughts can turn sour, Nya's yanked from her musing as Lloyd stumbles into the porch step breathing heavily, struggling to untangle himself from his scarf. Nya blanches as she catches sight of his face.
"Lloyd!" she exclaims, darting from her and seat and trying to hold him still long enough to get a good look at him. " What happened?"
Lloyd, cheerfully sporting three ugly scratches that stretch diagonally across his face, just grins at her. "The roosters got me!" he says, as if this is an accomplishment. "I look super cool, right?"
Nya isn't sure how to answer that, mainly because she's trying to remember if roosters leave the kind of scratches that can infect you and kill you — probably, with Lloyd's luck. She's gonna have to dump a bottle of rubbing alcohol on his face later, isn't she.
"The goal is not to end up an invalid again," she mutters.
Lloyd rolls his eyes. "A rooster isn't gonna kill me, Nya," he scoffs, then ducks out from her hold and sprints for the yard. "Jay! Come help me corner the ugly one!"
Nya watches him go in despair. Maybe the doctor's visit they're scheduling him will cover tetanus shots, too.
Mystaké snorts as she watches him run off, her eyes amused. "I like him," she informs Wu. "He reminds me of your mother."
Sensei Wu chokes so violently on his tea that Nya almost runs to help him.
"You knew my—"
"Of course I did, don't be a fool," Mystaké sniffs, standing. "Now, I'm going to take a nap. Your students are quite a handful, if you haven't noticed. It really was rather rude of you not to introduce me until now, you know."
With that, Mystaké marches back indoors, passing Kai as he finally emerges from his nap, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. Nya stifles a giggle at his hair as he slumps into the chair next to her. He shoots her a glare before turning his attention to where the guys are winding down in the yard.
"So…" he brings his hand up, shading his eyes against the bright sun. "Is Lloyd chasing the roosters, or are the roosters chasing Lloyd?"
"That's up for debate," Nya muses. "Would you have called that high-pitched cackling, or screaming?"
They both watch where Lloyd's finally caught his rogue rooster, holding it in a mangled kind of stranglehold as its spindly legs struggle to land purchase on his arms. Lloyd drags it back with a stubborn look of determination of his face, huffing at it tries to stab his fingers with its beak.
"Stupid bird," he grouses, but he sounds satisfied as he marches up to the porch with his prey.
"About time," Jay pants, slumping down on the porch steps. "That was a work out for me."
"As it should be," Sensei Wu says, but his eyes are dancing in amusement.
"I'll say," Cole mutters, striding up and clapping a hand on Lloyd's back, gesturing to the rooster. "This last one was a tough one."
"Oh yeah," Lloyd nods, holding the rooster tighter as it struggles, the unfortunate creature looking rather crushed at this point. "He's pretty fast for a fat old bird."
"Hey, you know what that means," Cole says. "It'll taste great when you cook it up and eat it."
Lloyd stares at Cole in abject horror.
"Eat it?" he exclaims, holding the rooster closer. Nya stifles a giggle at the look on his face.
Cole snorts, shaking his head. "Just a joke, green—"
"No one's eating him!" Lloyd snaps, his eyebrows downturned fiercely. Nya gets a sinking feeling the moment Lloyd terms the rooster a 'him', but her fears are confirmed when he shifts his hold on it, and without hesitation spills the rooster to the ground in a ball of squawking feathers. Cole's eyes go wide.
"Wait, Lloyd no—!"
"Oh no, I am not chasing that thing down again—"
"Run, run for your life!" Lloyd cries, shooing at the rooster. "Cole's slow, you can outrun him!"
"Hey—"
The rooster takes off like a shot, startling Zane as it streaks back across the yard. Jay buries his face in his hands with an exhausted groan. Cole just watches in despair, before hopping up the porch steps, clapping Kai on the back.
"Your turn," he says, before quickly darting inside.
"Wha— hey!" Kai glares after him, before glancing back at the yard, his shoulders slumping.
Nya bites back a smile, and pats him on the back. "C'mon," she says, cheerfully. "I'll help you."
Running around Mystaké's front yard with Kai and Lloyd, shrieking as the rooster claws at them, Nya completely forgets that she was supposed to be grilling Lloyd about being sick in the first place.
Nya changed the chat name to Kai the Rooster-Whisperer
Kai: enough about roosters in this chat
Kai: i'm sick of them
Nya: sensei wu's famous ninja, smile in the face of death yet cower at the feet of roosters
Kai: idk what u saw but there was no cowering
Kai: besides we're not famous, no one knows who we are
Nya: you know that is a little weird come to think of it
Nya: you gotta get a better PR agent
Kai: we cant even afford training space nya
Nya: yeah well
Nya: at least I finally get in on training
Kai: bc ultra loves u now, traitor dragon
Nya: you're just jealous I get to go flying with lloyd now
While Kai's still going to hold it against Sensei Wu for leaving them alone the one week Lloyd's immune system decided to go catatonic, because he's yet to stop having nightmares about that, and every time Lloyd even sneezes now he's gonna have a heart attack —
—he does have to admit that Sensei does an admirable job trying to remedy the situation.
Granted, it's not much more than a few adjustments and a sincere talk with Lloyd about limits — because like it or not, the Final Battle is an actual thing that is coming sooner than later — but Sensei doesn't want his nephew dropping dead of exhaustion any more than they do, and Kai will admit the adjusted schedule helps.
For one, five in the morning has been shifted to six, which is still terrible, but not quite so bad as it was before. And on weekends they get to sleep in until seven, so Kai's gonna take every hour he can get.
Lloyd, however, refuses to see the bright side, and still has to be dragged out of bed by his toes, even on the weekends.
"Lloyd, come on, you useless lump, get out of bed."
"Mph." Lloyd pulls the covers over his head. Jay sighs, standing back and huffing. Kai grabs a fistful of blankets and yanks them off, earning a stink-eye from Lloyd.
"Go 'way," he grumbles into his pillow, attempting to burrow into it like an agitated worm.
Jay rolls his eyes, trying again. "Hey, Lloyd. Lloyd, the Serpentine are back. They broke into the house, they're coming to get you."
"Oh good, they can eat you." Even muffled by his pillow and the heavy sleep in his voice, Lloyd still manages to sound like the perfect, callous little brat. "Then I can sleep in."
Jay makes a face, then looks to Kai, shrugging helplessly. Kai frowns, debating. His favorite solution is still yanking Lloyd up like a sack of potatoes and dragging him out, but Lloyd's also been getting really good at those heel-kicks, and Kai doesn't want a bruise this early in the morning. So he tries for a different angle.
"Lloyd," he says, in his most authoritative voice. "Sensei said we've gotta be out of the house in ten minutes. If you don't get up now, we're gonna leave you and go by oursel—"
Lloyd shoots up, jumping out of bed so quickly that Jay stumbles back, and Kai blinks in surprise.
"I'm coming!" Lloyd yelps, already hopping across the room as he struggles to drag his gi over his head. He wobbles preciously, getting stuck as one pant leg of his too-large gi unravels, and Kai darts over to catch him before he gives himself a concussion on the nightstand, pulling him upright. Lloyd immediately shrugs him off, tying off his gi and making a break for the bathroom, scrambling frantically for his toothbrush.
Jay watches the display in vague disbelief. "Geez, if I'd known that's all it takes," he shakes his head.
Kai simply nods as he walks over to Lloyd, rolling the edge of his sleeve up before he splashes it in the sink. "Chill out, bud," he assures him, eyeing Lloyd warily in case he chokes on his toothbrush. "I was kidding. We're not gonna leave without you."
That would kind of defeat the entire purpose, anyways, he mentally adds.
Lloyd chomps down on his toothbrush, leaving little imprints on the handle from his too-sharp teeth as he glares daggers at Kai. "Jer'face," he mutters through a mouthful of toothpaste. He finishes getting ready at a less hazardous pace after that, but the slightly manic, almost anxious edge to his actions still remains, even as he scurries down the stairs to beat Kai out the front door.
Kai sighs, picking up the hood of Lloyd's gi where he's dropped it, and follows him out.
In truth, there's really no good reason they should be up this early, Kai muses, as the others bicker over the bus tokens. They're looking for somewhere to train, not actually training, and busting into someone's dojo in the early hours of the morning isn't exactly going to endear them to anyone.
But who knows. Kai's from Ignacia — people in Ninjago City are weird.
Not that their group of ninja aren't, he admits ruefully, as a fruit stand worker stares at them openly from across the street.
"—bus tokens, Sensei thinks he's a real riot—"
"At least he didn't think they were a — what was it? Oh, spinijitzu vortex."
"So what! It's not that far out of possibility."
Zane just sighs, already despairing of them all and it's not even noon.
In all fairness, the idea of a spinjitzu vortex really isn't that far out of the possibility of belief, especially with Kai's admittedly limited interactions with Ninjago City. And by limited, he means he's gone out in it maybe like, three times. Four, tops.
Kai doesn't like cities, okay? They're just not his thing. Compared to the quiet simplicity of Ignacia, Ninjago City is loud and complicated and full of dark corners Lloyd is going to point out look just like somewhere he spent the night in once, which makes for an awful combo when it comes to Kai's temper.
But in his defense, it's not like he's the only one. Jay's knowledge begins and ends at the town near the junkyard, which was tiny, so that doesn't count. Zane lived in the middle of the woods for half his life, and then spent the other half, like…wandering, or something? Kai's not clear on that part, actually, he's gotta ask Zane about that sometime.
The point is, for the most part, their interactions with Ninjago City have been limited to either blasting themselves over the skyline with their powers in a race for their lives, or running into the grocery stores late at night. They haven't really…put themselves out there, so to speak. Or had the time to. There was that one outing where they almost drove Cole to tears while he tried to explain the subway system to them, but that's about it.
"It's not my fault you all grew up in the middle of nowhere," Cole grumbles, as they elect him in charge of handling communication once again, shuffling them all into a public bus. "Bunch of backwater country kids."
"Hey, I've lived in cities before," Lloyd protests. "They aren't so bad. It's way easier to swipe stuff in 'em than it was the smaller villages. There's a lot more people, so they aren't paying as much attention. It's super easy, all you gotta do is wait until a siren goes off or something, then you duck real low and—"
"How about you turn down the volume there, buddy," Kai says hastily, plastering a hand over Lloyd's mouth. He yanks it back just before Lloyd licks it, grinning triumphantly at the grumpy expression he makes.
Cole rubs his temple as he falls into the bus seat, muttering something about child criminals. Jay slides in next to him, stifling giggles. Kai trails behind Zane, shoving Lloyd in after him so he'll be firmly sandwiched between the two of them.
"Why don't I get my own seat?" Lloyd exclaims, indignantly.
Zane pats him on the head. "Because our job is to protect you." A grin pulls at the side of his mouth. "Also, because you just admitted to being an avid thief in the city, so we have to curb that habit while we can."
"I hate the city," Lloyd grumbles.
"Hey, what happened to Mr. City Expert here?" Kai asks, elbowing him in the ribs.
"Eh. I guess it wasn't that great. It got kinda scary at night," Lloyd shrugs, batting Kai's elbow away. His mouth pinches. "And people would chase me sometimes, or offer me weird stuff. I never stuck around long."
Kai, who was just sitting down, almost misses the bus seat he's supposed to be going for and hits the floor instead. He barely manages to slide himself in next to Lloyd, willing his face not to show the 'Lloyd's-childhood-sucked-worse-than-I-thought-again' look of pity Lloyd despises so much.
"What do you mean, 'weird stuff'?" Cole demands, frowning where he leans over the back of his seat to face them.
Lloyd shrugs again. "I dunno," he says, kicking at the back of Jay's seat. "Sometimes they just wanted me to go get stuff for them. Or go with them, maybe? I didn't listen, 'cause they weren't evil enough for my super villainous plans, but — oh yeah, there was this one guy, he had all these cool needles—"
"—that I'm sure were for tattoos!" Jay says, his voice high-pitched. "Just, just for that. I'm sure."
Cole makes a muffled noise that sounds like a shriek into his hands. Kai carefully lays a hand on top of Lloyd's head, then tilts it back so he's looking him in the eye.
"If you ever see any of them on the street," he says, with measured calm. "Point them out to me."
Lloyd's eyes widen, sharp teeth peeking over his lip as he grins. "And then you'll fry 'em?"
"And then I'll fry 'em."
Zane clears his throat audibly, leveling him with a death glare that still manages to look surprisingly impressive, considering he's squished against the window by Lloyd.
"No murder."
"What about a little frying?" Lloyd tries, his eyes large and innocent. "Just a teensy bit?"
Zane's glare takes a turn for the disappointed kind. "No murder means no murder."
"You're no fun," Lloyd grouses.
"No fun at all," Kai echoes, mournfully.
Zane just looks out the window, shaking his head. Kai ignores him, trying to get Lloyd to sit still instead.
"Stop squirming so much," he hisses, jabbing the pressure point on Lloyd's knee so he yelps, finally ceasing his attack on the back of Jay's seat. "People are gonna notice."
"No they're not," Lloyd rolls his eyes. "You guys are in like, super bright colors, and no one's even blinked twice."
Kai opens his mouth at that, then shuts it, scrambling for a defense and finding none. Zane stifles a quiet snicker.
"'Sides, I gotta get stronger for my Spinjitzu," Lloyd says, glaring at his legs. "I was talking with Nya earlier, and she said it's all in the legs! I mean, I guess she was just talking about Ultra, but it'll help with Spintitzu too, 'cause I keep tripping over my own legs, so maybe—"
"Woah, slow down there, shortstack," Kai says, eyebrows furrowing. "Spinjitzu's tough. It's not a big deal if you don't get it immediately. Trust me, it took us forever."
Lloyd doesn't look the least bit reassured, opening his mouth to argue back (or say something snarky, no doubt, he's been picking up too many bad habits from them), but Cole beats him to it.
"Yeah, take it easy, alright?" he says, craning his head back over the seats again. "You just got over being pretty sick, you shouldn't push it."
Lloyd scowls. "I am over it," he says, kicking Jay's seat again as he glares darkly at it. "That was nothing. I'm way better now, don't worry about it."
Cole worries his lip between his teeth as he frowns at him, then looks up, meeting Kai's gaze. A brief glance of understanding passes between them. Lloyd's had an unusually fast turnaround, sure — Kai had almost swallowed his tongue when Lloyd had executed a perfect handspring over him to snag the last pancake, only a mere day after he'd been practically comatose. But that doesn't mean Lloyd's okay. And it definitely doesn't mean they're going to let him get away with making a habit of it, because Kai's getting the sinking feeling that's what's happening here.
However, getting into it in the middle of the Ninjago City public bus is…probably not the best idea, as Cole's rueful expression clearly says. Lloyd can throw a mean tantrum when he wants to, and Kai doesn't want to actually sit on top of him.
So he blows his breath out instead, with the assurance to himself that he'll bring it up first thing later, and lets Lloyd off the hook with a hair scuff.
Lloyd shrugs him off like he usually does, but he lets Kai start jabbing the toe of his shoe into the back of Jay's seat with him, so by the time they reach the dojo Sensei's suggested, Lloyd appears to be back to his easy-tempered — if mischievous — self. Jay, on the other hand, looks like he's about to explode, and Kai grabs Lloyd and bolts for the door before Jay can break Zane's 'no murder' rule in full view of Ninjago City's local bus patrons.
Who still hardly seem to recognize them, even with their gi's on. Kai chews on the inside of his cheek. He probably shouldn't be complaining about it, 'cause it'd be a pain to get mobbed by everyone with questions, but…
Well, you'd think saving the city would get you some kind of recognition, he thinks dully, as they trod up the sidewalk leading to the dojo.
Cole's the first to make for the door, squinting up at the sign as they walk in, his eyebrows furrowing. "This is where Lloyd's going to train?" he says, eyeing the stick figure carved into it skeptically.
Jay finally ducks out from where Zane's been holding him back, stomping viciously on Kai's foot before chiming in. "It's better than our dumpy apartment."
Cole catches Kai before he can kick Jay's legs out from under him, so he settles for scowling at his back as they step inside.
"I like our apartment," Lloyd says, drawing closer to the middle of them as they progress into the dojo.
"Yeah, well I'll like it when you stop kicking me through the walls."
"S'not my fault you're not as strong as the super mighty Green Ninja—"
"Guys, please," Cole hisses, cutting them all a death glare. "We're here to make a good impression, for once in our lives."
Cole's setting the bar for them a little too high, in Kai's opinion.
Kai changed the chat name to Ninja Bootcamp Back in Business
Nya: I guess you found a place to train lloyd then?
Kai: yeah
Kai: i spinjitzued some elvis-looking guy until he let us use his dojo
Nya: KAI
Kai: he was asking for it!
Kai: we're cool now don't worry
Kai: i think
Elvis-looking guy's name ends up being Dareth, and he likes to make a whole lot of puns with it, too. Kai wouldn't mind as much if the guy didn't have the thickest city accent he's heard since he got here, but he is letting a bunch of kids with destructive powers train in his dojo, so the least Kai can do is let him have his jokes.
Also, he might feel bad for the, uh, Spinjitzu thing. Well, sort of bad. A tiny bit.
But it also could've been a lot worse, in his defense. Kai's learned the hard way to be wary of new people, especially when they're adults. Sometimes you get lucky, and they really do mean it when they say they want to help you and your kid sister out, but most of the time they've got bad intentions behind masks of fake sincerity. You just can't trust 'em.
Well, unless you get super lucky, like they have, and you end up with an adult like Sensei Wu who lets you live on his ship and drink all his tea and gives you free outfits, provided you don't mind dressing like a brightly-colored ninja all the time. Not that they have a ship to live in right now, of course — that's the reason they're here in the first place.
Despite his hesitance, though, Kai has to admit that Dareth…isn't so bad. And Kai's been on high alert, especially after the Skales incident, since they're bringing Lloyd to his place. Sure, the guy's goofy, always going on about his 'animal forms' and flaunting his trophies (which are obviously fake, Kai knows his metals). Dareth's as city-born as it gets, but he's —slowly, being a key word here — growing on him.
Maybe it's the fact that he's letting them use his dojo for free, and refuses to accept the money Cole and Zane are trying harder and harder to get him to accept. (It's actually getting kinda funny — Kai sat back with Jay and Lloyd one day and watched Cole trying to slip the month's fees into one of the trophies before they left, only for Dareth to spot it in three seconds flat and slip it right back to Lloyd, who won't refuse it.) Maybe it's how he starts leaving out little granola bars and stuff when they start training longer hours. Maybe it's the way he lends them the extra mats when Lloyd crashes for a power-nap in the corner after practice sometimes, and keeps the dojo open late just for them.
But what Kai thinks is really selling him on this dojo, and Dareth himself, is how completely chill he is with them. He doesn't look down on them, or ask where their parents are, or ask why they, of all people, are training to defend the city. When Cole scrawls his age on the sign-in sheet, there's only a momentary flash in Dareth's eyes, before he hands them a city map and tells them the safest routes home in the evening. When Jay shows up for training with a black eye from patrol, Dareth casually lets them know where he keeps the painkillers in the back of the studio. He doesn't frown and ask them who they think they are, or berate them for being meddling kids — he just continues to let them wreak havoc in his dojo, even on the late nights.
Sure, he gets this look on his face when they start talking about night patrols and battle plans and Lloyd's role in all this, but unlike any other adult Kai's run into, Dareth actually seems to respect them for being someone. And yeah, maybe he's asked Cole one too many times about Sensei Wu, and are they sure he knows what he's talking about, but for all his goofiness, Dareth's given them a place where they can train while actually breathing — somewhere safe.
Kai can put up with his awful puns and disco music for that.
"—and remember to knock when you're comin' in early, geez. I don't mind, but your silent ninja hijinks are gonna give someone a heart attack. Not me, of course — don't forget who's grand master here!"
"Of course, sir," Zane replies with an amused quirk on his lips, polite as always. Kai stifles a snicker, and Cole subtly steps on his foot. Kai shoots him a wounded look — he's been getting that foot stepped on a lot lately.
Dareth waves a hand at Zane. "How many times, ice ninja, do I gotta tell you not to call me sir?" He shakes his head as he walks off, coiffed hair bouncing as he does. "Buncha kids, makin' me feel old."
"Don't worry," Kai says, after Dareth's left the room. "Zane's probably just as old as you, anyways—ow, Zane!"
Zane looks entirely unapologetic as he finishes cuffing the top of Kai's head, and Kai scowls at him, hastily fixing his hair.
"Ninja are enough," he simply says. "Let's wait to drop a nindroid on him."
"You're just grumpy I made an age joke," Kai mutters, as they head back to where the others are training.
Zane rolls his eyes. "I'm a nindroid, Kai, age is inconsequential. Besides, my mind is set to that of a teenager's, otherwise I'd never find your teasing funny."
Kai sputters at him, trying to decide whether to be insulted that Zane called him immature, or take the compliment that Zane thinks he's funny.
He finally settles for, "I'm at least funnier than Jay, right?"
Zane presses his lips together, hiding a smile. "I know better than to step into that one."
"Fair enough," Kai sighs, turning his attention to Jay, where he's training Lloyd on the stepping beams. Lloyd still wobbles every other jump, but he hasn't fallen off once this session, even meeting Jay's hits block for block. It looks like dance lessons with Cole have been paying off, Kai muses. He'd been wondering why Cole kept having Lloyd do all those one-leg-spinning things, but it makes sense now. Sort of. Kai's still keeping the video Jay took to make fun of them both with later.
"I'll strangle you in your sleep," Cole threatens, as he carries in another heavy stack of wooden boards. "My bed's right next to yours, I won't hesitate."
"As if you could catch me off-guard," Kai retorts. He pauses, squinting at the unusually large stack of boards Cole's setting up. "Aren't those kind of a lot for the kid?"
"You saw what he did to our living room wall," Cole says. "I've got a suspicion he's packing a whole lot more strength than we've been pushing him to use. This is just a…gamble, I guess."
Kai glances back to Lloyd, where he's just thrown an enthusiastic hit at Jay, nearly toppling face-first off the beams. His eyebrows furrow, deepening into a frown. "A gamble on him breaking his hand or not?"
Cole bristles. "Wha— of course not! This isn't that big a step up from the ones he's been breaking, and I'm sure he wouldn't…push himself….that hard…"
Cole's voice trails off, his eyes following Kai's gaze. He worries his lip, before shaking his head. "He can do it. I know he can."
"You better be right," Kai threatens. Otherwise Nya'll kill us both, his mind adds unhelpfully, his stomach sinking at the very idea of having to explain a broken hand to her. Kai's got plenty of faith in Lloyd, but he's still a kid. Just because it's easy to overestimate him now that he's the Green Ninja, it doesn't mean they should.
As it turns out, they've both underestimated him, as not only does Lloyd splinter the thick stack of boards straight down the middle, but he fractures a gaping crack in the very solid dojo floor as well.
"Oops," Lloyd says, hand still hovering mid-air.
"Holy shi—" Kai breaks off as Zane elbows him hard, but he's still too stunned to get mad about it. He's pretty sure Cole's jaw is resting on the floor, right next to where Lloyd broke it.
"That was the power of the Staff of Quakes," Jay exclaims, his eyes wide as dinner plates. "And you did it without the Golden Weapon!"
"That must be why you have the potential to be the greatest ninja," Zane murmurs, tracing the cracked floor carefully. "You can harness all of the Elemental Powers."
Right, Kai remembers. He forgot about that part. He's suddenly struck by an image of Lloyd with his fists on fire, raining flames down on them all, and can't decide whether the idea is terrifying or if it has potential.
"Really?" Lloyd says, rubbing his hand. He sounds remarkably unconcerned for someone who just cut the floor open. "Cool."
Sensei Wu picks up on that one before they do. "With this power, you must be careful," he lectures sternly, and Lloyd ducks his head. "You must control it before it controls you."
Kai spots Lloyd beginning to form a blabbing mouth his his right hand, and kicks his shin before he can start mocking his uncle. Lloyd scowls back at him, winding up a kick of his own for revenge, but he's neatly interrupted by Dareth's entrance.
Cole glances from the floor to Dareth, and pales rapidly. "We'll, uh, we can pay for—"
Dareth waves him off airily, unconcerned. Kai guesses they shouldn't be surprised, though — Dareth's the same guy who cheerily watched Kai set fire to half the room on accident and laughed as they scrambled to put it out.
Probably because he's crazy, Kai decides.
"I have to admit, not bad for a kid," Dareth says, nodding to Lloyd. He puffs his chest out. "But instead of ten boards, how about fifty?" He gestures behind him, where two of his students are bringing out their own set of boards. "Stack 'em, boys."
Jay stifles a snort. Sensei Wu gives a long, weary sigh. He's long since stopped trying to caution Dareth against trying to imitate their training — it's a lost cause.
The two kids set down the large stack of boards, and Kai vaguely recognizes one of them as the boy Lloyd's been playing games with on Cole's phone during training breaks. The kid sticks his tongue out at Lloyd as he sets the boards down, and Lloyd makes a face back at him. Kai briefly looks up at the ceiling, trying not to sigh himself.
Lloyd grew on you when he was even worse, he assures himself. Complete lack of social skills or not, he'll make friends. Somehow.
If he doesn't die first, the darker part of his brain supplies. Kai swallows back the hard knot of fear that's formed in his throat. A sudden chill's slid down his spine, even with the warm sunny day around them. He tries his best to shake it off, shoving the thought back.
Lloyd will be fine. Lloyd has to be fine. He's come so far with his power already, he's doing so well. They're not going to lose him to this. Kai's sworn an oath to make sure of that, and he'll fight Garmadon himself to keep it.
Heck, he already has once, what's one more time?
He's yanked from his thoughts as Dareth gives a shriek of pain, hopping from one foot to another as he clutches his hand, his stack of boards unbroken. Kai shakes his head, snickering at the display. Jay and Cole clap hands over their mouths to stifle their laughter, and Kai even catches Zane pressing his lips together. Lloyd doesn't even try to hide his laughter, but Kai figures he'd be a hypocrite if he stepped on his foot for this one. Sensei Wu just presses a hand to his temple.
"Next time, I bet I can break them with my head," Lloyd tells Kai, as Zane departs to fetch ice for Dareth, or something disgustingly kind and thoughtful like that.
"Knock yourself out, I've always wanted to take someone to the hospital for a concussion," Kai says. He narrowly avoids being slugged in the arm by Cole. "Kidding, I was kidding—ow!"
In his hurry to escape Cole, Kai's made the crucial error of forgetting about Lloyd, who's hit he does not successfully avoid. "You're supposed to be on my side," Lloyd says, petulantly. "I could totally break all those boards with my head."
"Yeah, and your skull right along with them," Cole says, sounding stressed. "You can't even do Spinjitzu yet, short stack. One thing at a time."
"You're just saying that 'cause you already got to break them with your head," Lloyd pouts. "And I'm so close to getting Spinjitzu! Watch, see—"
Kai and Cole watch, unimpressed, as Lloyd attempts Spinjitzu yet again, looking more like an off-balance spinning top than anything. Jay snickers loudly from where he's pouring tea for Sensei, and earns a jab from his staff for it.
"Please tell me that's not what we looked like when we were learning," Kai says under his breath to Cole.
Cole bites his lip to hide a smile. "All I'll say is that we didn't have the benefit of being a kid."
"Wonderful," Kai scowls, but he's not able to hold the expression for long. Lloyd's going cross-eyed, and his little circles are starting to turn wild now.
"Hold on," Lloyd says, blinking dizzily as he wavers. "I'm gonna do it, any second now—"
"Let it go, Lloyd, you're just gonna—" Kai winces as Lloyd tips over, crashing to the ground like a drunken sailor. "Fall over," he finishes.
"You gotta tuck your arms in more," Cole says sympathetically, picking Lloyd off the ground. "You keep waving them around everywhere like a bird, and it's throwing you off balance."
"I don't look like a bird," Lloyd protests indignantly, even as he misses a step and almost goes sprawling again. "I told you, I'm so close! I can feel it, just lemme try one more time!"
"How about we get back to that 'bash your head in' thing instead?" Kai suggests. Cole scores a direct hit on his kneecap this time, and Kai goes down on one knee with a strangled whine, glaring hotly at Cole. "That hurt!"
"Wimp," Cole shoots back. Lloyd snickers unhelpfully. Kai's deciding how to best take them both down with one hit, when Jay speaks up.
"Hey," he says, from where he's pressed up against the window, shielding his eyes as he frowns. "Is it just me, or does that look like our ship out there?"
Ninja Bootcamp Back in Business Group Chat
Nya: please tell me you got the bounty back and are taking it for a joy ride
Kai: nope its pirates
Kai: we're going after them tho should be fine
Nya: of course it's pirates, why not
Nya: on my way
Nya: tell me lloyd isn't coming with you
Kai: he's staying behind on the bus, don't worry
Nya: what bus
Kai: the city bus
Kai: ok in hindsight that sounds bad i promise it's not
Nya: you left him by himself
Nya: on some random city bus
Kai: he's fine! he knows what stop the apartment is, he'll get off there
Nya: lloyd will do exactly what you told him to
Nya: LLOYD, kai
Kai: ok listen
Kai: i have faith in him
Lloyd means to listen to the guys. Really, he does.
But it's not his fault. He offered to be super good if the guys let him come, and what did they do? They ditched him on the bus, all alone, like some useless little kid, with "uncontrollable powers" and other total lies Zane made up.
Lloyd's mad. Leaving him behind doesn't even make sense anymore, 'cause he's the Green Ninja! He can't be useless. Just because he's not as tall as them, or as smart as them, or he doesn't have control of his powers as much, it doesn't mean they should leave him—
Oh. Lloyd's stomach sinks. Everything he just listed is a reason they should leave him behind.
Lloyd pushes the thought back, shaking his head and stifling the spike of panic. That's why he's just gonna prove them wrong. He's gonna prove he's not useless, and he's gonna prove that he can help — that's way more important than being obedient, or whatever.
Besides, Lloyd's awful at being super good, anyways.
"Okay," Lloyd breathes, gripping the scales on Flame's head extra tight as he slowly rises on wobbly legs to a crouching position. "You'll catch me if I mess this up, right?"
Wisp gives a snorting puff of blue sparks at that, and Shard's head lifts to stare at him with a disappointed look that feels a lot like Zane's.
"Right, heh." Lloyd swallows, then inches forward on Flame's neck. He can see the guys fighting right below him, swords clashing as they fend off the pirates. There's a lot more pirates than ninja, now that he's looking closer. Like, a lot more pirates. So clearly they need his help. Obviously.
He squints down at where Ultra's still got Dareth squirming in their grasp, and decides it's good enough for now. Dareth will be safer with Ultra anyways, and this way Lloyd can still swoop in, save the ninja, and prove he's not a useless little kid. It's a perfect plan.
"This is a good idea," Lloyd tells himself, firmly. The guys are definitely wrong. So what if he can't do Spinjitzu yet? He's got his Green Ninja power.
…somewhere, inside him. He's sure it'll start working when it matters.
Before Lloyd can think anymore (or change his mind) he blows his breath out, pulls his hood on tighter — and throws himself off Flame's neck.
This is not a good idea, his mind screams at him as his stomach drops from the plunge. Too late! a distant part of his brain echoes back, because now he's plummeting through the air, way faster than he'd planned, and he's gotta catch the rope now or he's gonna end up completely missing the ship and—
"Ha!" Lloyd snatches the rope mid-air, fingers fisting tight around it as his momentum sends him swinging around the whole ship, his stomach swooping from the speed. He gives a whoop of exhilaration as he zips past Jay, then immediately yelps as the rope bites into his hands, stifling a whole lot of words Zane would kill him for.
Note to self, ninja wear gloves for a reason, Lloyd thinks, as his hands sting painfully. Ow, ow, this sucks.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lloyd finally spots his target, and releases the rope with a flash of relief. He brings his legs up just like Jay taught him to as he swings forward, bowling right smack into the ugly pirate captain's face and sending him sprawling.
Perfect, he thinks, grinning. Just like a ninja.
There's a familiar cry from the direction he sent the captain flying in, and Lloyd cringes. Oops. He might have taken Zane out with that, too. Okay, not so perfect.
"There's a pajama baby now?" the captain growls, as he pushes himself back to his feet.
Lloyd glares hotly at him. "I'm not a baby," he snarls, pulling his fists up. What's with everyone treating him like a baby today? Oh, he's gonna show him.
Charging forward, Lloyd swings his fist up, yelling just like he's seen the others, "Ninja-go!"
Despite calling him a baby, Ugly Pirate Captain seems down for a fight, raising his sword as he hollers "Pirate go!" at him. Lloyd scoffs at how lame that sounds, before he realizes there's a very sharp sword headed for his skull now, and his green power still hasn't kicked in, and maybe he should've thought this through more—
A flash of red fills Lloyd's vision, and there's a sharp screech of metal as Kai catches the captain's sword mid-air with his own, forcing it away from Lloyd and sending the captain stumbling back gracelessly.
Kai's the best, Lloyd thinks, dizzy from adrenaline.
Kai blocks another swing from the captain, craning his head over his shoulder to glare at Lloyd. The little of his face Lloyd can see under his mask has gone as red as — well, his mask. His eyes look kinda weird, too, like they're about to explode out of his head. Or maybe that's just the sputtering noise he's making.
"Lloyd!" Kai strangles out, sounding a whole lot like he wants to strangle him. "You're not supposed to be here!"
Well duh, why's Kai think he had to sneak onto the ship in the first place? Lloyd scowls. Never mind, Kai's the worst. "It's not my fault you — ack!"
Lloyd cuts off in a shriek as Kai snatches him up tightly by the middle, lifting his feet clear off the deck. For a half-second, Lloyd thinks he's about to toss him off the side to Ultra like a frisbee, but then Kai hauls him over and dumps him head-first into a—
"A barrel?!" Lloyd tries to yell, except his face is smooshed against the bottom so it comes out a lot more like garbled shrieking. He flails wildly, kicking his feet in indignation. Of all the— Kai did not just stick him in a barrel. He's the Green Ninja, he can't do this to him!
…well, technically he just did, but still. Lloyd's gonna throw all his clothes in the dishwasher for this. Or maybe he'll steal all his hair gel and—
Swords clash loudly nearby, and Lloyd shakes his head, refocusing. Right, the battle! If Kai thinks he's got the upper hand by sticking him in a barrel, he's got another thing coming. Lloyd can help out, and he's gonna prove it if this stupid barrel kills him.
Gritting his teeth, Lloyd rocks back and forth wildly, until the barrel finally tips sideways. Digging his heels in, Lloyd rolls, staggering to his feet. He wavers briefly, the barrel still stuck around his shoulders, but — aha! He's standing, take that, Kai.
Now there's just the problem of him not being able to see anything, but the pirate captain's voice is super loud, so maybe if he just runs in that direction—
Lloyd rattles against the barrel with an oof as he strikes something solid, but there's a muffled yelp from the pirate captain before the solid something gives way, and Lloyd grins with teeth bared in victory. Ha! Who's useless now?
The world suddenly tilts sideways as Lloyd stumbles into a lever, that slides forward and sending him rolling across the deck. He panics as everything gets dizzy for a moment, before there's a horrible screeching sound from below and he goes sliding the other way. This wouldn't be as much of a problem, except then he runs into what he's pretty sure is Kai.
"You are—" there's a muffled yelp from above him, and Lloyd briefly wonders why in the world Kai's standing on the barrel as he finishes the threat. "—so dead when I get to you, kid, I'm gonn—agh!"
Kai's voice cuts off in a high-pitched scream, just as Lloyd's barrel finally stops rolling, banging against the side of the ship. Lloyd panics again, because he's pretty sure he just heard Kai go over the side—
But before he can do anything about it, there's a whistling sound as the pirate captain's sword comes for him again, and Lloyd's forced to stumble back to his feet, jumping his barrel away.
Ultra will save Kai, Lloyd reassures himself. Or Kai's smart, he can always save himself. Right now, Lloyd needs to be worried about not getting skewered by this ugly pirate captain who keeps yelling at him. That would be a pretty lame way to prove to the guys he can handle himself, besides hurting a whole lot.
"Come here, you blurry little munchkin!" The pirate captain hollers at him, and Lloyd feels the gust of air as the sword slices by his left ear, barely skimming the edge of the barrel. Ugh, this is why the guys should let him have weapons. Who cares whether he accidentally slices his hand open if it stops him from getting his head sliced open later?
This is getting really old, Lloyd thinks, twisting his shoulders against the barrel. Darn it, now would be a really good time for his powers to kick in again, or Spinjitzu, or—
Spinjitzu! Cole's words from earlier go off like a lightbulb in his head, the rude ones about how Lloyd keeps flapping his arms like a bird. Maybe he's stuck all tucked in on himself in this barrel right now, but hasn't that been his problem?
Not a problem anymore, Lloyd thinks, wobbling sideways as he barely dodges another hit, arms trapped firmly by his sides. The pirate captain roars something Lloyd barely hears — he's too busy trying to find that weird little bubbly feeling that wells up in his chest whenever his powers start to kick in.
Come on, come on, Lloyd fumes at himself, trying to twist around. He can't be a ninja if he can't do Spinjitzu! And if he can't be a ninja, then the guys won't need him, and he'll get left behind again, and no one will be there to save Kai when he falls off the side of the ship, and he'll lose his only—
It hits him like a truck. One second Lloyd's still hopping around uselessly, the next second everything goes a bright, neon green, and there's a sharp rush of hot adrenaline before he's moving, faster and faster, and holy FSM Lloyd feels like he could take down ten dragons at once—
"Ninja-go!" he barely manages to shriek, wild elation coursing through him as the barrel explodes, shattering outwards into tiny wooden splinters and knocking the pirate captain clear across the deck. Lloyd has a second of blinding, wild joy, before he accidentally throws his arms out again and wobbles to a halt, feeling a whole lot like a bright green spinning top.
But who cares, because—
"Woah, Spinjitzu!" he yells, his voice breathless from adrenaline. "I just did Spinjitzu for the first time!"
Lloyd gets about a second to savor that victory, before a sharp pain explodes in the back of his head as he's clocked viciously by the hilt of the pirate captain's sword.
Whoops, forgot about him, Lloyd thinks dizzily, his nose throbbing from where it cracks against the deck. At least he didn't hit him with the knife side. That'd put a pretty big wrench in the whole Green Ninja thing.
The pirate captain's laughter filters through through the ringing in Lloyd's ears, and he grits his teeth in frustration, hand flailing for purchase as he struggles to push himself up. He grabs the lever from earlier instead, and there's a lot of panicked yelling before Kai hops back onto the deck out of nowhere.
Oh good, Lloyd thinks, the crash of relief only making him dizzier. He didn't kill Kai after all. Heh, he might've actually saved him.
Kai kicks the pirate captain away, before bringing his sword up defensively, hollering for the others. "Get back, protect Lloyd!"
Lloyd's gonna eat his socks.
"I don't," Lloyd seethes, reaching for the surging power that hasn't entirely left his veins yet. His fingers twitch like he's stuck them in a light socket as his power courses through them. "Need protection."
The guys haven't been paying attention to him, too busy fending off the pirates from the defensive circle they've built, but the high-pitched whine Lloyd's powers start giving off is hard to miss.
Kai's head whips around, his eyes going wide behind his mask.
"Lloyd, don't!" he snaps, a note of panic in his voice. "Your powers are too uncontrollable!"
That's the worst thing he could possibly say. Anger rushes through Lloyd, and he feels a vicious sense of satisfaction as his power sparks, blossoming into an enormous sphere of green. The air around him crackles, sharp and hot with energy, and Lloyd barely hears the guys all yelling at him before he launches it, dead-on toward the pirate captain's head.
The minute his power leaves his fingertips, several things hit Lloyd at once. One, he promised the guys he'd listen to them, and he just totally broke that promise. Two, he's pretty sure he's just tried to kill the pirate captain, and might actually succeed at it.
And three, the green power is way too much for Lloyd's tiny body to control.
Terror shoots through Lloyd like ice at the realizations, and the little grasp he has on his powers tears loose, green bursts of energy ricocheting around them. Lloyd suddenly feels like he hasn't slept in two weeks, and he's so dizzy he barely feels Kai's arms snatching him up, shielding him as the mast cracks in two. His vision dissolves into fireworks, little black spots dancing in front of his eyes as a high-pitched whine rings in his ears.
For half a second, Lloyd's left wondering if he just accidentally killed himself, before the ringing starts to fade and the black dots leave his eyes. Kai groans from beside him, but besides being pinned down by the broken mast, he seems okay.
Uh oh. Lloyd's stomach drops. They're all pinned down by the broken mast.
Heavy footsteps vibrate across the deck beneath them, before the pirate captain comes into view, grinning at them with his half-blackened teeth.
"You lose, pajama people," he gloats. Lloyd wonders if it's too late to take back regretting trying to kill him. "Now, you're walking the plank."
The rest of the pirates roar with laughter around them. Lloyd definitely wishes he'd just knocked him off the deck when he had the chance. Kai goes tense beside him, and he can hear Jay muttering frantically to Cole, who's been desperately trying to lift the mast off them. Lloyd's heart skips a beat, his stomach twisting — this is his fault. He's gotta — he's gotta use his power again, maybe that will — maybe he can—
Lloyd's internal meltdown is cut off as a loud boom echoes across the deck. The pirates' laughter cuts off as well, and the pirate captain frowns, glancing around in confusion.
"What be it now," he asks in frustration.
Another loud boom rattles the deck — and a bright red, gleaming mech drops from the sky, crashing heavily in front of the pirates, blades flashing.
Cole gives the loudest sigh of relief Lloyd's ever heard. Kai beams, but his smile's vicious. "It be Nya."
Kai changed the chat name to RIP Demon Spawn
Nya: he'll get off at the apartment, huh
Kai: my faith in him has been squandered
Kai: i'll never trust again
Nya: squandered huh
Nya: fancy words coming from the butt I had to save again
Kai: oh shut up
It's hitting Kai, just now, that maybe he should've been more grateful for Nya growing up. Sure, she could be a brat, throwing fits if things didn't go her way the first time, and there'd been that one time she blew up half his forge for a "science experiment", and that other terrible time she'd tried to give him a surprise haircut while he was sleeping, but still. Compared to the daily heart attacks Lloyd apparently loves giving him, Nya's been a saint.
Lloyd, on the other hand, is the farthest thing from one, and Kai's going to murder him for it. He's going to shake him down, yell at him for a solid hour, then murder him.
…alright, fine, maybe just the first two, and then he'll like, get a leash for him or something, but his point stands. Murder.
And for once, he doesn't have to worry about Zane elbowing him for saying that, because this time he's got the whole rest of the team on his side.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" Cole is still ranting at Lloyd, his eyes frenzied. "You could've been killed in literally eight different ways, I can't believe Ultra went through with it—"
Said dragon took the opportunity to disappear right as the police arrived on the scene, clearing out long before anyone had to chance to corner them. A wise decision on Ultra's part, because Cole is furious. Kai's actually pretty impressed at how he managed to hold it together until they got back to the apartment. He'd been the perfect mixture of kind and reassuring to Lloyd after the immediate battle, only to do a full 180 and descend on him like an over-protective parent from hell the minute they walked through the door.
Not that Kai doesn't totally sympathize.
"—told you specifically not to come and you did anyways! Do you have a death wish?"
"No! I knew what I was doing!" Lloyd argues back, his face red. Instead of being intimidated, Lloyd's been giving as good as he gets, which would impress Kai in any other circumstance where it wasn't Lloyd arguing for his rights to get himself killed.
"Oh, did you?" Cole's voice is dangerous. "Disobeying orders and losing control of your powers, was that it?"
"I didn't lose control!"
"Dude, you blew up the ship's mast," Jay says. "If Nya hadn't been there, we would've been toast."
Lloyd's cheeks puff up, his lips pressed together tightly. "I didn't—"
"No, no, enough. I don't want to hear it, Lloyd," Cole snaps, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You can't keep doing this. First it was getting sick, now this — it's like you don't even know how to begin taking care of yourself, and you're making it a whole lot of trouble for the rest of us."
An odd expression flickers across Lloyd's face, and his eyes flash. "W-why does getting sick matter?" he retorts. "That was nothing, you guys just overreacted—"
"It was not nothing!" Kai's voice cracks out. Lloyd visibly flinches back, but Kai's temper is running too hot for him to notice. "That was definitely something, Lloyd, and so was this!"
Cole takes a deep breath, as if to calm himself down. "It matters, because you almost died, Lloyd."
Lloyd sticks his lip out. "It wasn't that bad—"
"Yes, it was!" Kai bursts out again. "And you know why it got so bad? Because you went around pretending you were fine, ignoring it just like you did our orders! You have to know better than that, Lloyd, what's wrong with you?"
Kai's aware he's losing his temper, but he can't help it. The image of Lloyd struggling to breathe, his lips tinted blue and his pulse weak, is going to stick in his head for months. It's sticking in his head right now, only it's booked a double-feature with the image of Soto about to swing a sword through Lloyd's very vulnerable, unprotected head. Kai's stomach turns, bubbling with the familiar sick feeling of anxiety.
He needs Lloyd to get it. He needs him to get it so that it never happens again.
"Lloyd," Zane starts, quietly. "We just want you to understand."
Lloyd ignores him, biting his lip as he stares stubbornly at the wall in an obvious attempt not to look any of them in the eyes.
"Lloyd," Cole echoes, his tone sharp. "You're not dodging this."
Lloyd goes tense. His eyebrows turn down, his mouth screwing up, and suddenly he looks like the kid Kai met in Jamanakai what feels like forever ago, cold and mean and closed-off, ready to bolt at any second.
"Why do you even care so much?" Lloyd's hands bunch into fists. "Why does it even matter to you?"
That gives them pause. "What?" Cole sputters.
"Oh yeah," Lloyd continues hotly, ignoring him. "It's 'cause I'm your stupid Green Ninja, right? You gotta look out for me, 'cause destiny says so—"
It's Cole's turn to flinch back, his eyes widening. "That's not it at all—"
"Why don't you just lock me in a box until your dumb battle then!" Lloyd snaps over him. "Then I'll be out of your way, and I won't be so much trouble for you guys, and you can — you can—"
Lloyd's voice starts to wobble treacherously, some of the ferocity leeching from his expression, and Kai feels his temper begin to fade as well. Lloyd's upper lip is subtly trembling, and Kai's starting to feel guilty instead. Great.
"Lloyd," Cole says, his voice much gentler. "Why do you think we just want you out of the way?"
Lloyd says nothing, his jaw working. He's closing off again, retreating further and further back into the Darkley's kid by the second. He glances up, expression set and stubborn—
And makes the fatal mistake of meeting their eyes. Lloyd crumples, his face falling as he stares at the ground. He mumbles something inaudible.
"What was that?" Cole hedges.
Lloyd sniffs, and Cole's expression melts into horror. Before he can begin fretting, Lloyd speaks up.
"You guys'll think I'm stupid."
"Too late for that," Jay mutters. He's met with four venomous looks, and he sputters in defense. "I didn't mean — no, like, he's on this team, so he's doomed to be stupid anyways, 'cause we're all…stupid…" Jay trails off, flushing. "Sorry, bad timing."
Cole rolls his eyes, before turning back to Lloyd. "This isn't Darkley's, kid," he says. "Remember? No one's gonna judge you here. So spill."
Lloyd chews on his lip, visibly nervous. He glances at Kai, who gives him what he hopes is a nod of encouragement. Lloyd exhales a shuddery breath. "I didn't — I didn't want you guys to leave me. Alone, for good," he murmurs.
Kai spots more than one frown at that. "Why would you think we'd do that?" Cole says. There's a note of hurt in his voice.
"Because that's what everyone does!" Lloyd snaps. "Everybody's always leaving me somewhere, and I thought — if I could be better, if I could—"
He pauses, his face scrunching up as he fights back tears. He swallows thickly before continuing.
"You guys — you guys like me now," he stammers. "Even after I was terrible. And I didn't — I didn't want to lose that 'cause I couldn't keep up! I've been sick lots of times before, and I was fine by myself. I didn't wanna bother you guys, being a crybaby, but then it got bad and I ended up causing so much trouble, so I thought if I could — if I could do Spinjitzu and actually help you guys, I — I—"
They're all giving Cole looks of varying degrees of horror now, and Cole doesn't look so hot himself. Kai suddenly wishes they'd waited to have this conversation when Sensei Wu was around.
"But you're still mad at me anyways, and I don't know what to do!" Lloyd cries. "I don't know how to make you want to keep me around, except to be the Green Ninja, but I can't even do that right."
Oh, ouch. And Kai's been thinking he's the ninja with issues.
It hits Kai, right then, that they're probably being incredibly unfair. Lloyd's been forced into this Green Ninja thing with barely a second thought, and while they've all talked plenty about it, Lloyd's been pretty much excluded from any serious conversations about it. He's struggling under the weight of a destiny he doesn't even understand, when not that long ago he was alone on the streets. The kid grew up at Darkley's, he probably doesn't even know what healthy communication is.
And, Kai remembers, his stomach sinking — Garmadon just left him again, flying off on the Bounty. No wonder Lloyd's in the mood for feeling some abandonment.
"Lloyd," Cole says, slowly. "Listen, that's not—" He blows his breath out, then starts again. "Listen. The whole ninja thing aside — when Kai got sick, we didn't kick him out. We took care of him. You took care of him. Why would we be any different with you?"
Lloyd won't meet his eyes. "You guys are different," he says, rubbing desperately at his eyes. "You're all family. You didn't — you didn't mess up like I did. You weren't b-bad guys. And your dad isn't — isn't—"
Lloyd's voice quivers, and he cuts off, looking torn between anger at himself and miserable heartbreak.
"Aw, kid." Cole's voice is agonized, and he snags Lloyd by the elbow, drawing him into his arms and pressing him close. Lloyd goes stiff as a board like he usually does, his eyes widening at the contact. There's a pronounced beat before he gives in — either that, or Cole finally manages to squeeze the last of the hesitance out of him. Either way, Lloyd doesn't look quite as petrified as Cole begins talking again.
"Remember that first night? When you blew up at us, and knocked Nya into the table?"
Lloyd flinches, trying to pull away and failing. "No," he says, stiffly.
Cole huffs. "Yes, you do. Do you also remember how we didn't pitch you off the side of the ship, even when you were a total brat about it? And how we still kept you around, even after you went and pulled a bunch of pranks on us?"
Lloyd's eyebrows furrow as he stares at the floor. "…yes."
"Did we know you were the Green Ninja then?"
Lloyd's eyes flash up to his. "No, but—"
"There you go," Cole says. "We aren't just keeping you around 'cause you're the Green Ninja, Lloyd. I promise. We're keeping you around 'cause you're you."
"But you guys didn't—!"
Lloyd cuts himself off, chewing on his lip. Cole nudges his shoulder.
"We didn't what?"
Lloyd shakes his head. "Nothing," he murmurs.
Cole glances back to them at that, uncertain — as if any of them are gonna be any help, with how they've been standing around through all this. Zane finally steps forward, laying a hand on Lloyd's shoulder.
"You do not have to worry about losing our care for you," he says, quietly. "We don't abandon each other every time we get annoyed with one another. We wouldn't have a team left, if we did."
There's an echo of guilty shifting from behind him.
"We care for you, Lloyd," Zane continues. "That is not something you have to earn. We will still care for you, regardless of whether you achieve greatness today or in ten years."
Lloyd gives a wet sniffle.
"But," Zane says, a hint of exasperation leaking into his voice. "It would complicate things a good deal if you got yourself killed."
"I wouldn't've—" Lloyd's protest dies a quick death at the look on Zane's face, and he sighs, before finally nodding. "Okay," he says softly.
There's a flicker of reluctance in Lloyd's eyes, but they're also getting pretty watery, so Kai figures he's at least got part of the point . Lloyd doesn't look entirely convinced, but he doesn't look like he wants to pitch himself out the window anymore either, so that's…progress, Kai guesses.
Cole looks like he has about eighty more things to say, but he rises to his feet instead, stifling a groan as his knee pops. He stumbles once, his leg wobbling, before righting himself, shaking his head as if ridding his ears of water.
"Guessing that's our cue for the medbay," Jay sighs, as Zane descends.
Between patching up their minor wounds and the rest of cleanup — particularly informing Sensei Wu what happened and why, exactly, their ship is suddenly resurrected right into the hands of Garmadon — it's not difficult for Kai to corner Lloyd with Nya that evening. Lloyd looks like he's been expecting it, too, his eyes flashing with fight or flight instinct before finally settling on freeze.
Kai doesn't even try to sugarcoat it, and cuts right to the chase. "I said we were family, right?" he says, trying not to sound terribly wounded. "So why — why d'you still think I'd leave you?"
Lloyd looks down. "I don't know," he says, miserably. "I don't know how families work, I've never had one before. This is the first one I get to stay with and I — I don't wanna mess it up."
Kai's heart twists. Great, now he feels guilty for feeling wounded. Today's been a disaster for Kai's ego on the whole. "Lloyd," he says, with the gentle kind of voice he usually reserves for Nya. "That's the thing about family, green machine. They stick with you even if you mess up."
Lloyd stares at him through watery eyes, then looks to Nya, who nods.
"I mess up all the time," she says, with a tiny smile. "And Kai messes up even more, trust me. But we still love each other."
Kai can't decide whether to be insulted about the messing up part, or go to gooey pieces because Nya's actually being sweet. He decides that Lloyd is priority now, though he's definitely going to remember that so he can remind Nya how much she loves him, next he 'messes up' .
"Being a family means you still care about each other, good stuff and the bad," Kai says. "Even if you blow up the mast, or knock me off the ship with a barrel."
Lloyd ducks his head at that last part. "That was an accident," he says, but there's an apology somewhere in there.
Kai snorts, letting it go. "And you don't have to earn that, either," he continues. "We don't wanna lock you in a box, Lloyd. We actually like you." He pauses, rubbing his chin. "I don't know why, we must be mutants or something."
Nya elbows him in the side, and Lloyd stifles a wet giggle.
"We want you to be safe," Kai says. "And it sucks when you keep being — well, not safe. But we like you. Looking out for you isn't some burden, you don't have to — to make up for that, that's not how it works."
Lloyd gives a thick sniff, staring fixedly at the floor. He gives the tiniest of nods, though, so Kai hopes he's gotten though to him.
"So stop sulking about it, geez," Kai mutters, pulling Lloyd into a one-armed hug and ruffling his hair. Lloyd bats weakly at his hand, but he leans into the touch enough to let Kai know he's okay with it. "You're gonna give Jay a run for dramatics if you keep this up."
"Don't encourage him," Nya murmurs, her lips twitching.
"M'not dramatic," Lloyd says, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Nya makes a face.
"Yeah, sure," Kai says, as Lloyd pulls away. "And by the way, being a family also means trusting each other," he says pointedly, giving Lloyd's shoulders a little shake. "Okay? We'll listen to you, but we can't if you don't ever say anything."
"Yeah, yeah," Lloyd waves him off half-heartedly. "I heard you guys the first hundred times."
"Brat," Kai mutters, scuffing the top of Lloyd's head again. Lloyd ducks under his hand, sticking his tongue out at him before scurrying off to where Jay's playing video games.
Kai watches him as he goes. He's still sniffling a bit, but he looks miles less miserable than he did before. Jay throws an arm around his shoulder as he joins him on the couch, and Kai's eyes narrow at the way Lloyd stiffens briefly before relaxing, as if unfamiliar with the contact. Or unprepared, or… expecting something else.
Kai's fists tighten. He's not stupid. He knows very well that there's a lot more to this than Lloyd just being scared they'd react badly. Lloyd's got the same kind of fear in his eyes that Kai sees in Cole when he's waiting for Sensei's approval, or in Jay when he's brushed off a little too brusquely, or in Zane when he's stuck on the solo shift too long. The same fear in his sister's eyes when her project keeps breaking down on her. It's the same fear he sees looking back in the mirror when he thinks about parents or worries about worth too much.
The thing is, all of those fears stem from past experience. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense when it comes to Lloyd being scared of them leaving him, because aside from their first meeting, which didn't really count, Kai knows they haven't given Lloyd reason to think he'd be left behind. Their team might be a mess at times, but they're a family, and it really didn't take that long for them to realize they're all sold on Lloyd.
No, this is stemming from somewhere else, and Kai doesn't need Lloyd's half-muttered confessions to know that the culprits behind it probably start with Darkley's.
"Your teeth are grinding, you know."
Kai relaxes his jaw, rubbing it even as his expression sours. Nya looks at him, her eyes a mix of concern and something fiercer.
"D'you ever wonder," she says, slowly. "What they teach kids at a school for bad boys?"
Ah. Nya's already in synch with him as always. He nods stiffly. "It always ends in me wanting to start swinging fists at people."
"Yeah," Nya blows her breath out. "Sounds about right."
Kai makes an angry sound in the back of his throat. "If I ever happen to run into any of those brats…" He lets the threat hang. "Poor kid's set a high enough standard for himself on his own, with how worked up he is about learning Spinji—"
Kai freezes, abruptly remembering something he'd heard Lloyd yelling about back on the ship. He hadn't had the time to process it then, but now—
"Hold on," Kai says, leaning over the back of the couch to look at Lloyd. "What were you saying back with the pirates, about Spinjitzu?"
"Huh?" Lloyd doesn't look up from the video game, his face scrunched up on concentration. "Oh yeah. I finally got it, I think. It wasn't even that hard, heh."
Jay drops his controller. The room goes silent, save for the tiny, pinging sounds of the video game.
"You what now." Cole sounds faint.
"Did Spinjitzu," Lloyd shrugs, as if he hasn't been treating the idea like it's life or death. "You were right about the bird thing."
Cole makes a strangled noise. Jay starts kicking up a fuss just as Zane begins to look like he's seen his life flash before his eyes, and Kai picks his jaw off the floor.
Lloyd's learned Spinjitzu. In less than a month.
FSM help them, they're either really good teachers, or Dareth's going to need a lot more floors.