CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
. . . THE FISHING IS A LIE
LLOYD HAD WORKED HARD TO repair his life after Zane's death. Trained harder than he ever had before, moved in with his parents to rebuild the strained relationship he'd left them with. There was still so much anger and resentment toward both his mother and his father—Misako for abandoning him when he was only a boy, Garmadon for his cruelty toward Hiro for no reason, in Lloyd's opinion. But he knew that Hiro would have wanted things to work out, and with a spare room being available for him to crash in since the Bounty was out of the question, Lloyd took the chance.
Which left him where he was now, standing at the foot of his bed, packing a bag to take to Chen's Island. His room was filled with small knickknacks that he had collected, none of which he paid any mind to—things were replaceable. Zane was not. If given the chance to keep all of his valuables or bring Zane back home, Lloyd knew what he would choose every single time, and it wasn't going to be a couple of Illuma Swords.
A song played on the radio nearby as Lloyd went to grab his sword, stopping when he remembered what Chen's message had ordered—Leave your weapons behind. He turned away with a sigh just as his father knocked on the door, the wooden door sliding to the side to reveal Garmadon standing there with a smile. Lloyd nodded to his dad. in greeting, which Garmadon took as a sign to enter the room.
"I was just on my way to help Nya and Wu restore the Bounty," he said. "Would you like to join? Guess you could say it's all hands on deck," he joked as Lloyd turned off the radio, not wanting it to play the entire time he was gone for . . . however long that would be.
"Uh, sorry. The guys and I are going fishing," Lloyd lied smoothly, miming using a fishing hook. "Team building exercise."
Garmadon hummed. "Good to hear the team's back together," he said. Lloyd nodded once before turning his gaze to the floor. After a moment, Lloyd began making sure he had everything packed again. "May I ask why you seem sad, son?" Garmadon asked, stepping into the room.
Lloyd shrugged, turning to face him. "Well, I got the guys back together, and that's great! It really is!" he assured. "But . . ."
"But you miss Avashiro," Garmadon finished heavily, as though he expected it.
"I just— where could he have possibly gone? I've searched everywhere, I've passed out fliers, I— I've talked to so many people, looked in so many places. Is there a chance he went back to the island?" he asked helplessly, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Impossible," Garmadon said immediately. "Any travel to the Dark Island is reported to the city. We would have heard about it."
Lloyd shook his head. "No, you don't— he can travel, remember? He could, I don't know, jump through shadows? It's the only possible way he could have disappeared the way he did after— after Zane died," Lloyd explained.
Garmadon sighed, stepping closer and kneeling in front of Lloyd. "It's unlikely, son. That island holds too much trauma." Lloyd's brows furrowed in confusion. Garmadon sighed. "What the Overlord did to Avashiro . . . he did the same thing to me. I was only trapped in the darkness for half a day, Lloyd, and I nearly came out without my mind. It's the reason your mother and I chose to distance ourselves from you. If that had happened to me . . . I can't imagine what Avashiro is going through that life has slowed down for him and given him the time to process those years locked away."
The words rang in the air as a heavy silence settled over them. Lloyd frowned at his dad, feeling tears pricking his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" he asked softly.
Garmadon smiled sadly. "I didn't want to scare you, son. And if I had told you sooner, you would have pitied Avashiro, and we both know he doesn't deal well with sympathy." Lloyd snorted, knowing his dad was right. Hiro would rather die than have someone pity him. "For what it's worth, I believe that he is alive and surviving and that you two will see each other again when he wants to. Not when you do." Garmadon patted Lloyd's knee and then stood, going to leave once more.
"Do you feel bad?" Lloyd blurted. "About how you treated him?"
Garmadon sighed, turning to face him again. "Every day," he admitted. "He's like you. A child in a cruel world. I should have been the one to show him kindness." Garmadon smiled wryly. "It's a good thing he had my brother looking out for him." Garmadon cleared his throat. "Any more questions?" he asked.
Lloyd was about to say no when another thought struck him and he got to his feet, approaching his father. "Our Elemental Power . . . are there others like us?" he asked.
It was as though a flipped had switched. Garmadon took a step forward, body posture tense, his brows furrowed down into an almost angry expression. Lloyd had half a mind to take a step back before remembering that his dad wasn't going to hurt him. "Why would you ask?" Garmadon voiced, his voice calm despite the tension radiating off of his body. Lloyd turned away so his dad wouldn't see his expression.
"No reason. It was just on my mind," he lied, grabbing his bag off of his bed. "See ya! Early bird catches the worm!" he called out as he left the room, leaving his dad behind. Lloyd didn't worry about Garmadon going through his things, and even if he did, he had nothing to hide, so he found no problem leaving his dad in his room.
The sky was turning dark as Lloyd left the monastery, which made for a bleak trip to the docks in the city. A fog settled over the massive land of buildings at different heights, coming in from the ocean. Cole had picked him up when he was halfway to the city, Kai picking up Jay from his new apartment and meeting the other two at the docks. They were all in their suits, but different variations. Lloyd wore his most recent suit, the one that was used to hide them from the Overlord and Nindroids; Jay had on the suit from before the Island of Darkness, back when the Serpentine were the Ninja's biggest concern; then there was Kai, dressed in what Lloyd remembered to be the very first suit he ever saw the Nina wear; and finally Cole, in a suit that Lloyd had never seen before but must have been an old design, a golden dragon on the front.
As they walked down the docks, it became clear that they weren't the only ones who had been given letters from Master Chen. They were surrounded by strangers, and Lloyd could feel the anxiety coming off of Jay the moment the blue ninja turned to look at him.
"Ah, I told you we shouldn't have worn them," he complained. Lloyd frowned and motioned to Kai, who'd had the idea to wear them in the first place. When did they decide that Lloyd was the leader? Just because he was the most powerful doesn't mean he knows how to lead!
Lloyd set down his bag and pulled down his mask as Kai spoke. "The tournament of Elements." He looked around at the people around them, all in their own conversations. "You think all of them have powers like us?" he asked.
"Or it could be like with Shiro," Cole noted. "He has powers and he isn't an Elementalist."
"When I asked my dad about it, he got really suspicious," Lloyd said, looking at his team. "Like there's something he's keeping from me." Lloyd was sure that Garmadon was keeping a lot of things from him, but he would at least like to know the useful ones before he ran off to an island he had no idea even existed until yesterday.
"The fortune cookie said to tell no one or else there'd be consequences," Cole reminded him sternly.
"Relax, we're cool," Lloyd dismissed. Cole frowned but dropped that conversation.
Kai looked behind Lloyd, looking confused and a little disgruntled. Lloyd frowned, turning to look over his shoulder, but all he saw was a group of people talking—possible Elementalists maybe, but they already knew that, and Lloyd saw no reason for Kai's expression to look the way it did. "Someone over there, they were watching us," Kai said. "Dark cloak."
Lloyd's heart jumped into his throat, remembering the person in the dark cloak, who he had been so sure was Hiro, watching him the day before at Zane's statue. But he let the idea go—Hiro wasn't an Elemental Master. He might have powers, but he wouldn't be invited to compete in the Tournament of Elements, and there would be no way for him to know about the Tournament without an invitation.
"Must be a fan," Lloyd muttered, shrugging it off.
A ferry pulled up to the docks, three stories tall with warm lighting dispersing the fog around them. A plank was lowered, and a man walked onto the docks—tall, but not as tall as Cole, with dark black hair smoothed back with gel. His face was lined with wrinkles to show his age, but Lloyd had no doubt that this man could be a challenge in a fight, if not for his skill than for the obvious magic that he possessed. He seemed to hold the attention of the entire dock, even the waves themselves, as the group made their way forward to meet with him.
"We don't know yet if this is a trap," Lloyd muttered to his team. "Wherever they take us, we have to stick together."
The man's voice drifted over to them as he greeted the first guest. "Watch your step, madam," he warned, the woman turning to look behind her for a moment. The one look was enough for Kai's expression to shift entirely, a happy sigh leaving him as he looked at her.
Lloyd rolled his eyes. "We get let anything distract us," he said, putting a hand on Kai's shoulder. "You hear me, Kai?"
"Uh?" Kai muttered. "Uh, yeah. Uh, got it. Whatever you say," he mumbled, clearly not listening. Lloyd facepalmed.
The group slowly boarded the ferry, and soon it was just the Ninja left. "Master Chen will be charmed to see you've accepted his offer," the man noted, his voice thick with an accent that Lloyd couldn't place. "A Master of Spinjitzu shall fare favorably in his Tournament," he told Jay.
"Hey, we're not here to fight, we're here to save a friend," Jay protested.
The man hummed. "Don't be so petty, Master Jay," he said, reaching down and grabbing nunchucks from Jay's bag. Lloyd groaned, facepalming. "Everyone here has something to fight for." He shook the weapon in front of Jay's face, taunting him.
"Chopsticks," Jay tried, chuckling nervously. "I'm a big eater, heh." The man smiled condescendingly and then threw the nunchucks into the sea, where they disappeared, probably never going to be found again. Jay gulped. The man let the Ninja board, but Lloyd was stopped by someone calling out his name, the familiarity of the voice freezing him in his tracks.
"Lloyd, wait!" Lloyd turned, spotting Garmadon approaching from the other end of the docks, appearing out of the fog. "If you get on that boat, you may never return," he warned. Lloyd frowned at him, nervous about the reaction the others would have. He knew that he hadn't told his dad about Master Chen's Tournament, so how did Garmadon know where to find him?
"What are you doing here, Dad?" Lloyd questioned, his voice tense as he glanced back at his team.
"Master Chen is a dangerous man who should never be trusted," Garmadon hissed as he got closer. "Whatever he promised you, do not believe him!" He grabbed Lloyd's arm, though they both knew that Lloyd could fight him off if he wanted to. And for a moment, Lloyd really did want to. He wanted to push his dad away and tell him off for following him, for sticking his nose into Lloyd's business. This was for Zane, they couldn't afford to mess it up! But Lloyd knew that his dad was just doing his best and sighed.
"Dad, don't—"
"Lord Garmadon," the man greeted, turning around from where he was standing on the plank to board the boat. Lloyd caught the team's gaze—they clearly wanted him to hurry up and tell his dad to go away, but Lloyd couldn't just do that, it was his dad! "It's been a while. It's Sensei now, correct? I can't remember," the man dismissed.
"Clouse," Lloyd's dad said darkly. Lloyd wondered, briefly, how they knew each other. "I see Master Chen still has you running his errands."
Lloyd scowled, turning to face his dad. The team was right, Lloyd had to tell him to leave. They couldn't risk being kicked off the boat and not being able to save Zane. "I have to go, Dad. This is about Zane. It's about family! If we're ever going to be whole again, I have to get on that ship," he insisted, taking a step toward the plank.
"Last call," Clouse said. "Are you in, or out?"
Lloyd gave his father one last look before turning around and getting onto the boat, his bag clenched tightly in his hand.
"I can't stop you, son, but I can join you," Garmadon said. Lloyd stepped onto the ship and turned to face him.
"Sorry, no more room in the ship," Clouse said, motioning for his minions to remove the plank so Garmadon couldn't board. Lloyd was almost somewhat relieved, the stupid teenage fear of his dad embarrassing him even more fresh in his mind given the very recent interaction. But he also wanted to punch Clouse for disrespecting his dad like that in front of everyone, so it was a lose-lose situation.
"No room?" Garmadon challenged. As one of the thugs continued to pull the plank, Garmadon jumped off the dock and onto the edge of it, startling the minion into dropping the wood into the ocean. The team watched as Garmadon flipped through the air and gave a swift kick to the thug's back, knocking him into the water, as he landed. Clouse turned to look at the scene with disinterest.
"I stand corrected. There's room now," he said simply. Jay mumbled to Lloyd, asking what they had just gotten themselves into. Lloyd shrugged, but he knew from the beginning it wouldn't be anything good.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to compete," Garmadon assured, moving toward Lloyd and laying a hand on his shoulder. "Only to look out for my interests." Clouse could not be any more unfazed, ordering the ship to move out.
Lloyd looked around the ship as Garmadon led the team around to the other side of the ship, where there were other Elemental masters training. A man with metal arms repeatedly punched a barrel, making the sound of metal clanging against wood ring out; on the left, there was a man floating on smoke, a man playing the guitar, and a bearded man who could make plants grow. To the right, a man who disappeared from view every so often, completely invisible except for his clothes, and the person in the cloak from before. Lloyd still couldn't get a good look at their face, what with the hood covering them in shadows.
A million questions raced through Lloyd's mind as he looked at his father, who seemed to have all of the answers and wasn't willing to share them.
"You know him," Lloyd said, nodding to Clouse, who walked with his henchmen across from them. "You said his name's Clouse." Lloyd knew that there was a lot that he didn't know about his father. Garmadon and Wu had been alive for hundreds of years before Lloyd was even conceived, aging slowly due to their father's influence on genetics. So the fact that his dad knew this Clouse guy didn't surprise him in the slightest—but it did raise more questions.
"Don't be fooled by his attire," Garmadon murmured to the team, casting a dark look over to Clouse. "He is a Master of Dark Arts and Master Chen's number two," he told them. The smirking thugs that followed him did him no favors.
"Huh, I thought Master Chen's number two was an eggroll and fried rice," Cole joked.
Kai sighed, electing to ignore him. "Why haven't you or Wu ever told us there are others with powers like us?" he asked Garmadon. Lloyd had the same thought—imagine how much stronger the team would be with more people like them, more powers. And where had the other Elemental masters been before this? All the threats in Ninjago and the team was just now learning there were others like them?
"Because there are some things we don't want you to know," Garmadon said easily as if he hadn't admitted that he and Wu were hiding more things from them. "You were led to believe you were special, yet you never questioned where your powers came from."
Lloyd figured he didn't have to—he didn't get his powers from his father, but from his grandfather. He supposes he'd never asked himself where the rest of the team got their powers. Jay's parents didn't seem like Elemental Masters, so maybe one of his grandparents had wielded lightning; Kai and Nya's parents, well . . . Kai probably got his powers from one of his parents, most likely his father; Lloyd had never met Cole's father, but Cole was certain that the man wasn't an Elemental Master; Zane was a robot, and, well, Lloyd had never wanted to ask.
"Uh, are you implying that I'm not special?" Jay asked. Lloyd smirked, glancing to his side, expecting to share a look with Hiro before remembering he wasn't there. Kai caught his eye and quickly looked away as if knowing what Lloyd had been expecting. Lloyd looked back at his dad, jaw clenched.
"Everyone on this ship is a descendant of an original Elemental Master," Garmadon told them. "They were the First Spinjitzu Master's guardians, each endowed with an Elemental Power that has passed down through generations. Sometimes powers skip a generation, but never more than one. It's too much power to be building up for generations to be held back."
"If that's true, then so is Nya. But she can't do what I can," Kai spoke up.
"Can't she? Power lies in all of you. It only needs to be awoken." Lloyd wasn't too sure about that, Nya being an Elemental Master, but who was he to judge? "The fighters here serve no master and have managed to unlock their own True Potential." Lloyd smirked at Kai, who crossed his arms and grumbled. "For instance, that pale man. A distant relative to the Master of Light. Watch closely and you'll see how he's stayed hidden all these years."
Lloyd and the team turned their eyes onto the man Garmadon pointed to. As if listening to their conversation, he suddenly completely disappeared, clothes vanishing in a second, even his sunglasses. A swift breeze kicked up, nearly knocking Lloyd over, and a man came to a stop where the pale man had been. "Then there's Griffin Turner, grandson to the Master of Speed," Garmadon continued.
"Uh, Master of Speed?" Jay questioned. He scoffed. "That's not an Element."
"So says the Master of Lightning," Garmadon said, smiling at Jay as he began walking away from the group.
"Oh, snap, he got you there!" Cole jeered as the team raced to keep up with him.
Garmadon found them all a place to sit down out where it wasn't so loud. The ocean was covered in a thin layer of fog, obscuring Lloyd's view. He wasn't the biggest fan of the ocean considering the last journey he'd taken on it, but he could admit that it seemed peaceful now. It was dark out, the night sky not showing any sign of letting up anytime soon, so that must mean only a few hours had passed since they'd departed from Ninjago.
"Who's that?" Jay asked once things had calmed down again, nodding to the person in the black cloak from before. They were sitting on a crate near Clouse, swinging their legs back and forth, and looked up when Jay pointed at them. Jay squeaked, hiding behind Kai, who rolled his eyes.
"I don't know," Garmadon admitted.
"Clouse seems comfortable with them," Cole noted, scowling slightly.
"Scared," Garmadon corrected, still able to read Clouse after all these years. "He's scared of them, so he tolerates them. They must be a powerful Master, or in league with Chen. Be careful," Garmadon said, looking at Lloyd, who nodded, not taking his eyes off of them. The person finally looked away, sliding off the crate and disappearing around the corner.
Lloyd was tempted to follow until Kai spoke up.
"And, uh, who's she?" he asked, looking over at the girl from before. She was also wearing a cloak, but it was easier to see her face.
"I don't know," Garmadon repeated. "Most of these people I have not seen. But they will all be gunning for you. You are ninja. You serve with honor." Garmadon said. Lloyd's gaze drifted toward the girl again. The man with the metal arms had walked up to her and was now tugging on her cloak. "Here, that means very little."
Lloyd nudged Kai, nodding to the scene. Kai scowled. "Well, maybe honor means something to me," he said, standing up and walking over. Lloyd took his place on the stairs, glad to have a seat to himself and a show to watch, even if he was technically supposed to stop Kai from making a fool of himself.
Hiro would have loved this.
Lloyd found himself thinking of Hiro a lot. Maybe too much these days. Before, it had been a constant thought process, his heart hurting, unable to get out of bed most days. And then it had faded to the determination to find him. And now it was dread that he would never find Hiro and that he would spend the rest of his life looking to a ghost for laughter that wouldn't be heard.
He didn't think Hiro was dead—no, he was too strong, too stubborn for that. He wouldn't die without proving to Kai that he was useful. If nothing else, spite would keep him alive.
Lloyd only hoped he was still alive when the team got back to Ninjago, this time with Zane. Maybe then Hiro would come out of hiding.
Lloyd was brought out of his pity party by Kai shouting out, looking at the team for help. The metal man had him lifted by the front of his shirt. "Just jump in whenever you feel like it!" Kai called out to the team, legs flailing around as he struggled.
"You say Karlof not smart?" the metal man—Karlof, apparently—demanded. Lloyd sighed, stepping forward as he wondered what Kai had done now. Seriously, the one rule was to stick together and not let anything distract them.
"I'd say Karlof is plenty smart not to start something he can't finish," Lloyd spoke up, a warning tone in his voice.
Karlof looked over at them, then glanced at Kai, weighing his options. He put Kai down, and for a moment Lloyd was relieved that there wouldn't be a fight, but then Kai went sailing a few feet away after Karlof punched him, leaving no doubt in Lloyd's mind that someone's ass was about to get kicked.
He really hoped it wouldn't be his.
The team stepped forward, ready to intervene in the fight, but were stopped by Garmadon. "Kai started this. He can finish it," the older man said, giving Lloyd and Cole especially a look. Cole scowled, stepping back, but Lloyd had no problem letting this play out. Call him petty, but maybe Kai did need to be knocked down a peg. Lloyd only hoped that it wasn't going to end with Kai breaking any bones.
Or dying. It would be pretty bad if he died, too.
"Fine!" Kai yelled, balls of fire forming around his fists. He launched them at Karlof, who blocked each one with his metal fists; the Russian man hit his fists together and his entire body became metal, clothes and all. Lloyd winced as Karlof ran toward Kai and launched himself at him.
"Twenty bucks Kai loses," Jay spoke up.
"Deal," Garmadon said, making Lloyd look at him. He shrugged.
The team looked around the corner where the other two had disappeared, just in time to see Karlof punch Kai so hard he went flying through the air. Lloyd grimaced as Kai landed hard, but the Master of Fire was on his feet in a second, never one to lose a challenge.
Lloyd rolled his eyes as the two disappeared from view, sitting on the stairs again. He glanced around, seeing some other Elemental Masters. There was a man with black hair talking to the cloaked person and seemingly arguing with them, making fast-paced hand gestures. The cloaked person walked away without responding, which only seemed to make the man angrier. Lloyd was tempted to get closer to hear what was happening, maybe learn more about the mysterious figure Clouse was so afraid of.
Lloyd wasn't stupid, though. He knew it wasn't his fight, so he turned away.
"We're here," Chen announced to the ship, capturing everyone's attention. "Welcome to Chen's Island."
For a moment, Lloyd thought that it was the Island of Darkness, given the large land mass and the rock formations jutting out of the ocean, but he quickly realized it wasn't. The shape was different and there wasn't a haunted feeling surrounding the island. Lloyd stood beside his father, looking out over the water.
"I swore to never return," Garmadon muttered, making Lloyd wonder what else he was hiding from them.
"You know, you should never swear. It's a sign of weak verbal skills," Jay spoke up.
Cole snorted. "Try telling that to Shiro." Jay shivered, shaking his head.
"If Zane's on that island, we'll find him. We have to," Lloyd said, his voice determined despite the anxiety that settled into his chest at the thought of failing.
But they couldn't fail. This was Zane they had to save.