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m-aster-of-spinjitzu · 3 years

Text

the hues of an empty sky

Missing memories, or having two of them for one moment - not quite the same, but if there's one thing Jay's leant over the last few weeks, it's that literally nothing makes sense anymore.

Or, some Skybound aftermath, Zane actually expressing emotions about his memory switch being turned off for all those years, and what was supposed to be a 'they tell everyone about the erased timeline' fic, but it turned into a 'two characters who barely interact on screen talk at like one am in the morning, and don't actually tell the other what exactly they're alluding to the whole time' fic that I wrote at like one am-

Also yeah, I realized too late that they split up to look for Wu after s7, we’re just gonna pretend that they waited a few days or something, idk anymore tbh, lol.

(I also didn't have time to edit - so please tell me where the typos are? 😂💛)

Word count: 4539

Prompt: crying, from @ninjago-bingo 's warm board.

Trigger warnings: the main character has a panic attack, and squeezes their fingernails into their hands once or twice but I think that's it.

*facepalms* also, guys, i’m so stupid - i literally just realized that this freaking CHANGES TENSE HALFWAY OHMYGOSH I- i don’t think it’s super noticeable, but ugh, apologies to anyone who actually thought my writing was good lol-

---

It's cold.

Bitterly, freezing cold.

The biting chill of the air is a bit strange for this time of year, but, heck, that's nowhere near the craziest thing that's ever happened to him - not by a long shot.

He sighs, squinting at the stars dotted liberally against the black canvas of the sky.

Cole had once joked that one of them might be the remains of their golden weapons, after they'd hurled the burning mass into the sky - in another alternate timeline; one that only existed in the memories of a certain few.

Gosh - that seemed like such a long time ago.

Wouldn't it be nice to go back to that time, when he'd still thought that their powers were the coolest thing ever - instead of despising them for all the responsibility and sacrifice that came with them? When one of his biggest worries was whether the girl he had a crush on liked him back - not wondering if his friends would survive the night?

"I did not expect to find you awake at this hour, Jay."

Reflexivity, he jumps back, his mind twisting his friend's gentle voice into the- the djin's triumphant, accented one.

You're supposed to be a ninja. What good are you if your friends can still sneak up on you?

"Geez, warn a guy before you sneak up on him! I almost fell off the Bounty!"

"My apologies. I was... surprised to find you awake at this hour," Zane answers. "What are you doing?" "Couldn't sleep. It's too cold," he confesses, not entirely a lie. Ninjago wasn't 'that' far from the Sea of Sand, but he'd grown up in a much warmer area - unfortunately resulting in his practically nonexistent tolerance to the cold. That never failed to stop Kai from teasing him about it, though. He doesn't mention the pressing weight on his chest, almost tangible - or how it constantly makes him feel. Like he's being dragged through the darkness of an empty sky, spikes of fear making everything so freaking terrifying- "You?"

"I have been analyzing my memories of Pixal, in the hope that it may lead me to her whereabouts. However, all my efforts have proved... unsuccessful," Zane answers wearily, shifting his gaze to the sky.

Oh- oh. They'd all be so caught up in the chaos of the last few weeks - hey, it's not like any of them had asked the universe to permanently be out to get them! - that they'd forgotten Pixal was still offline.

"Hey, I'm sure that she's still there somewhere," he says, earnestly. "After all - she wouldn't be your girlfriend if she didn't pull a vanishing act every now and again, eh?"

The question is punctuated with a laugh, but he doesn't say that he's a little worried about her too. They hadn't talked much, but-

I can't see one of my best friends find out that his girlfriend is dead, a quiet voice at the back of his mind points out. Well - been there, done that, wouldn't recommend, he thinks bitterly. Emotional breakdowns and frequent nightmares apply. Anxiety attacks are half off, too!

It's quiet for a few minutes, neither of them seeing a need to break the silence. The wind blows softly through the sails above them; gray wisps of cloud revealing a pale sliver of moonlight that paints the sky in its glow.

It should be a peaceful night: beautiful, calm, no one trying to kill them or destroy their city - for a change.

His hands won't stop shaking.

It should be a peaceful night, but, as usual, the world is too freaking unfair for that-

He hasn't even slept for a full night in weeks! Well, not since- since-

Don't think about it! That's only going to make it worse, duh-

"Are you alright, Jay?"

"Yeah- I- I'm good, thanks," he says quickly, ignoring the way his breathing keeps speeding up. FSM, not this-

Not for the first time, the world suddenly becomes too loud - too much. Every little thing, from trying to breathe properly or even walk- feels insurmountable, because, gosh, oh gosh, it's going to come crashing down if he even moves-

The memory starts off the same as it always does.

Rubble strewn over the temple grounds, his friends literally reduced to nothing more than statues. A shot that hit the mark perfectly, but perfectly shattered his world in the process.

A poison-splattered dress, a terrifying realization.

Her well-aimed joke, but one that never fails to sting every time. Gosh, why hadn't they just allowed her to join their team in the first place? Maybe they could've prevented this- this- whole situation, if they hadn't been so freaking egotistical-

And, again, he's overwhelmed by the sheer sense of helplessness, all his power and training and skills completely useless to one of the people he cared most about. FSM, if only I hadn't used my first w-request so carelessly! If only I'd been able to escape- or, or if only I'd been able to assemble the team faster! If only-

Despite being in what must've been unimaginable pain, she offers a strained smile - a sweet gesture that, ironically, feels like she's poisoning him, because- because FSM, this is all so wrong, it wasn't supposed to end like this-

He watches with horror as her eyes dull and she stills in his arms.

She's gone, FSM, she's gone and it's all my fault-

"Jay?" a voice asks, concern evident in their tone. Distantly, he registers that he's having a breakdown in front of one of his best friends - one of the things he'd been trying really hard to avoid.

Dang it.

"I-" he tries to say, but, great, he's breathing too fast to even get the stupid words out.

"Breathe in for four seconds," Zane says, softly.

Four seconds? Time has no meaning right now, narrowed down to, like - falling down a chasm, terrified of what's at the bottom, except the fear's all around, this- this... foreboding thing of his mind that keeps yelling that he needs to run, or fight, but he can't, can't-

Right. Four seconds.

You're okay, you're fine, no one's trying to hurt you or your friends. She's not dead.

But what if- what if they're being dragged out of this ship right now? What if it was all a dream, and she's dead anyway, because all of us were too stupid to come up with another plan, and none of us could even do anything when she-

After a little while, when he could breathe a little easier, and the fear didn't feel like it was slamming into him from every possible direction, he slowly opened his eyes. Shakily, he wiped a tear from his face - as if that would wipe away all the weeks that had, theoretically, never even freaking happened.

The sky comes back into focus - pinpricks of light against pitch black.

How was he going to come up with some sorta explanation without... well, explaining everything?

Great.

My nerves are frayed, and I have to lie to a walking lie detector - what could possibly go wrong?

"Are you alright?" Zane asks, his brows creased in concern.

"Heh heh, yeah. Probably just too many video games," he replies quickly, laughter a bit strained.

"You were muttering to yourself," his friend replies quietly. Ugh, trust the way-too-observant-nindroid to call him out on the remains of his facade. "If you do not mind me asking, what was 'all your fault'? I am sure that it was probably a misunderstanding."

You're the one who misunderstands everything, he thinks wearily, ignoring the part of him that yearns to tell someone else about... well, everything that's happened because of that stupid teapot. He's not one to keep secrets by nature, and it's been taking a bigger toll of him than he'd thought it would. Is this how Nya felt when she was still the Samurai? "It's- it's nothing, probably just nonsense."

"Are you sure? You seem... quite worried about something."

Dang it, were his hands still shaking? He presses his fingernails into his palms, squeezing his eyes shut for a second.

He's talking to one of his best friends, FSM. Weren't friends able to tell each other anything?

"Do you think it's easier to forget? Better?"

He didn't even realize he'd asked a question until Zane's eyes widened in surprise.

A forest coated in snow, ice crystals dangling from the tree branches above their heads. Plenty of screaming - way too much, he reflects, couldn't they have been a bit nicer? It must've been pretty jarring to learn that you weren't human, or that your father had erased years of your life from your mind - in that weird underground treehouse. Those crazy tree monsters - and the realization that they all had much more power than they'd thought.

"N- nevermind," he stutters, fleetingly thinking of kicking the deck. "That's way too personal, you don't have to answer it-"

"I do not mind," Zane says, a bit sadly.

Oh.

Heck, his friend was way too nice.

They gaze up at the stars for a few minutes, not really seeing them - one drowning under the weight of too many secrets, the other, too many memories.

It's quiet - too quiet.

Ugh, he thinks, sighing, that sounds like something a low-budget horror movie would start with, cringey sound effects to match.

But the silence is a painful reminder of the days he'd spent tossing and turning in a cramped cell - nothing but his worries and the bruises on his leg from that stupid ball and chain keeping him awake.

He's been trying hard - maybe too hard - to avoid being alone, avoid being in a situation where they've gotta be quiet ever since then, because, dang it, his memories always seem to fill the silence, and they're always far more terrifying than they should be-

It's easier, in a way, to be mocked for his stupid jokes than it is to relive a single moment from those nightmarish few weeks.

Almost reflexively, he grasps for something to fill the quiet.

"Heh, this is a bit awkward. It's okay if you wanna leave-"

"I do not mind," Zane echoes, walking a bit closer. "It is not as if I need to sleep. But... I do not quite know what to think of your question."

There comes the answer - or a semblance of one at least, and it's the last thing he'd been expecting.

"You don't know?" he blurts out before he can even think of trying to filter the thought. Way to treat your friend who's been nothing but kind to you, Jay. "But you're- you're a nindroid! You know everything-"

"Pixal," his friend mutters softly, sighing, and the hurt, the fear, laced through the word makes something in his heart practically twist. He knows all too well what it feels like to be in that situation - even if, technically, it had never happened.

Then- "I wish that were true. But I suppose that my emotions make certain situations much more complicated than... than they need to be. Thus I cannot give my perspective on this - or, at least, without sounding quite conflicted."

"You know that you're allowed to be conflicted, right? Even the coolest Nindroids don't know everything."

"...Yes, I suppose so."

Jay frowns at the almost subconscious hesitation, eyebrows creasing in concern.

"Seriously," he starts earnestly. They're both leaning on one of the railings just above the deck now. "Just 'cause you're a nindroid doesn't mean that you've gotta chase some kind of perfection that doesn't even exist."

He doesn't miss how Zane's eyes widen in shock, their bright blue hue glowing a little brighter - and heck, if that doesn't hurt even more than the earlier realization.

"Besides - it's not like none of us haven't made mistakes before. Hate to go all Wu on ya, but they help us learn or some stupid thing like that. Even if the mistake is trying not to make 'em, you know?"

"Thank you," Zane replies, a tired smile on his face. "Even the most advanced tech is susceptible to error, I suppose."

They've all made lots of mistakes, heaven forbid if one of them is still agonizing over messing up over the crazy situations the universe constantly put them in. It's not like they were told they'd have to face more ancient evil armies than they could count, were they?

Maybe it's time to stop focusing on events that never even happened, and pay more attention to your friends. What's the point of being part of this team if you're always scared or selfish?

"Shut up," he mumbles, rubbing his temples. What's the point of fighting if your own brain is gonna fight you whenever it gets a chance? A few seconds later, he schools his face back into his default anxious grin. "Great, cause I- I- could use your advice on something." "Alright," comes the quiet reply, his friend seemingly lost in thought.

"What if you wanted to tell someone something, but you couldn't?"

His breathing starts to speed up again, but he grips the deck until his fingers are practically bruised, stark white against his tanned skin. Not this time-

"Is this what you were referring to earlier? An event that you blamed yourself for?" Zane asks, eyes flitting between the floor and the sky.

Dang it, way too observant as usual. He masks his surprise with a laugh, but the conversation definitely isn't going as planned and, oh gosh oh gosh, what if-

No, there's no way that any of them would even believe that. Besides - no one can remember stuff that they've forgotten, especially if magic's at play.

"Yeah, kinda," and he's surprised by how steady his voice sounds. It's not easy to even think about that- event, talking about it is a whole different thing. A much more difficult thing, but also - a bit, a little bit, easier. "I-" "Apologies for interrupting," his friend interjects. "I suppose that I have not been entirely honest with you." What?

"A few days ago, I discovered a number of deleted memory files buried deep within my code."

Just like that, his whole world tilts out from underneath him.

It takes every ounce of his strength to keep himself from falling into the abyss again.

Wait, what?

Has he really known for all this time? It's been weeks! Surely he would've said something? It can't be, it never even-

The rational part of his mind points out that he can remember every day of those few weeks. Well, he was the one to make the wish - magical logic is kinda stupid, but maybe that's why he had to remember it or something?

Well then, a small voice interjects, why was Nya cursed to remember everything too?

Of course, even the stupid magical logic doesn't even make sense to the one who caused this whole mess in the first place.

"They were almost entirely corrupted - scrambled in a way that I am not familiar with. However, I did realize that certain files bore dates that have not even occurred yet. I dismissed it as a problem with my code, however..."

Breathe, calm down, it's not like he was able to process them or anything-

We agreed that no one was supposed to know! What if they end up blaming us for keeping it a secret this long, or, or-

"I mean, they could've been-" he starts, but the way in which he's nervously twisting his fingers is a pretty clear indication that he's lying, dang it.

"So when you mentioned that you were unable to tell someone something - did you mean that it was because they had quite literally forgotten about it?"

Great. Fantastic. Of course the literal robot has pieced it together by now-

He squeezes his eyes shut for a minute, hoping that if he ignores the problem, maybe it'll go away.

Okay, fine, maybe he's trying to figure out a way to fix this whole mess. Doesn't mean that he's any closer to coming up with a solution, though.

"Er, yeah," he whispers, shoulders slumped, eyes still firmly shut. Because gosh, he doesn't want to - can't, can't - see the realization dawn that, yeah, he's lied to people he's known for years and years, even though they've all seen way too many times that secrets bring nothing but trouble-

"Well, then - I would say that you don't have to tell them," Zane replies, surprisingly... earnestly? That, or he's either too freaked out to understand the tone properly. Could be either.

He opens his eyes, hesitantly.

And it comes as a bit of a shock to find nothing but concern reflected in his friend's.

The almost persistent weight on his chest feels a little lighter now, like the sky isn't as quite so empty.

Well, it still kinda is. But that doesn't hold as much weight as he'd thought it did - not if one of his friends is willing to look past that; past the heaviness of holding up all those memories with nothing his single star, flickering in and out of the darkness, to try and light the unforgiving darkness of the sky.

"Why?" Jay asks, so quietly he can barely hear it himself. "Don't I owe it to them? Do you?"

"No. Definitely not," comes the reply, so full of conviction that he almost stumbles back. Why-

"My father..."

Oh- oh.

"thought it was better to spare me the pain of mourning him than for me to know who I was," Zane confesses, hesitantly. "Not that I disagree, necessarily. I just..."

He trails off, clutching the railing so hard that the wood almost snaps beneath his titanium fingers.

It takes Jay a little while to realize why - why exactly his friend, who has access to a wealth of knowledge and information, is grasping for an answer. Because- because, well, even if someone does something in your best interests - sometimes the choice isn't always up to them. Or maybe it is, but it was... difficult, to say the least, to let go of the fact that his parents had never told him the truth sooner. Not that he blames them, necessarily - it's not like they knew that his father would pass on before he'd even get the chance to meet him - but... it's confusing, and difficult, not to know why you were left at a junkyard as soon as you were born. Maybe if he'd known that sooner, he could've asked the one person who might've had answers - although it's not like hoping for the past to change will actually change it.

They don't even know that you know, a small voice at the back of his mind points out, and suddenly everything makes a lot more sense-

"You wanted a choice," he breathes, eyes widening. A choice - like one that he'd never been given, one that he stills struggles not to hold against two people who've always had his best interests at heart. Even if they did have the right to withhold that one thing, after all they've done for him - the 'what if's' still echo in his mind far more often than he'd like. "There's nothing wrong with that, even if it feels that way. I kinda get where you're coming from, dude, and it's... super confusing, but I'd be pretty mad if my memories were tampered with like that."

So would anyone, he realizes, heart sinking. Oh, great. Not helping-

"I- I suppose so?" Zane answers, but it sounds more like a question than a reply. "However, in the same vein, it would be unwise for you to give away your choice whilst you still have one." "But don't I owe it to everyone? You just said it, it's horrible to alter people's memories and I- I-" "Did we forget... whatever it was for a good reason? "I- I mean, I guess, but..." "Then you do not owe it to us to relive something that we do not even remember." The words should be a relief - and they kinda are. But some part of him really does want to explain the crazy alternate timeline, and everything that happened in it. It's just... really, really freaking difficult.

"What if- what if I wanted to, though?" Jay asks hysterically, running his hands through his hair in a frenzied sort of way. "And I still couldn't? I just, I-"

He cuts himself off with a bout of forced laughter.

Zane takes a moment to reply, the bright blue light in his eyes flickering - a small tell that he was thinking so deeply, his processors were literally sparking up a bit.

"You queried earlier if it was easier, or better, to forget. And while all situations are different, I suppose it is... well, subjective. What do you think?" Zane asks, softly.

Derailing the conversation a bit, but his friend's obviously smart enough to be leading up to something.

Sure, he'll go along with it.

"I mean, there are some things I'd rather forget, you know? I guess we all know what that feels like," Jay replies, the statement with oddly sad air to it. They're still kids, after all, and it gets a bit exhausting pretending that their superhero lives were all fun and games - when they'd just given him enough grey hair to last then lifetimes, and enough nightmares to keep him from ever getting the normal amount of sleep his mum always prattled on about.

Sleep, heh heh. Practically a foreign concept, now.

"And I know that stuff that happens, like shapes us or something - and Master Wu would probably go off on a whole ramble about why we learn from our mistakes or whatever," he laughs nervously, resisting the urge to just fall headfirst onto the deck of the stupid ship instead of continuing the conversation," and how 'our scars only make us stronger', crap like that, but I just-"

"I'm just really... tired of this," he confesses warily, shoulders slumped. "W- I remember so many horrible things, and I-" he breaks off, laughing bitterly. His voice takes on a sort of brittle quality, way too high pitched, "and I can't even talk about them, dude. If that's not the most pathetic thing ever, I dunno what is."

"It does not-"

"Don't say it," Jay mutters, rubbing his temples. "I know, I know, my feelings aren't pathetic, they're always valid, whatever, spare me the lecture-"

"That is not what I was going to say," Zane replies gently. "It just seems that you have answered your own question."

"Gee, which one?"

"I do not know how much helpful assistance I can provide in this situation, but it is understandable to wish certain events had never occurred. However, seeing as we cannot change the past, it seems unwise to dwell on said events if you can avoid it."

Jay stiffens, clamping a shaky hand over his mouth. Something seems to press down even harder on his chest, a heavy sort of weight that causes his breathing to speed up again. Don't say it don't say it there's no reason to warn them this time-

"If you would like to tell any of us about something, of course you are welcome to. It does not to be the whole story, after all. Just make sure that it is the decision you choose, not one you choose because of what you think how it will affect others," Zane finishes quietly, ducking his head as if he's embarrassed.

The stars are still white-hot, burning away some million miles above them.

"Thanks," he says, and puts his hand softly on Zane's shoulder. "I mean, I know - that all makes sense, I guess. It's just- I-"

"You want to?"

"Yeah," Jay starts, sighing, "I do. It's just- it's not just my choice. And I'm pretty much dying already right now, so, as fantastic as making it all worse sounds, hard pass."

Oops, maybe he shouldn't have said that last bit. They'd agreed not to tell anyone about it - even this conversation was cutting it way too close. It wasn't impossible for them to put everything together - they were a pretty smart group, after all, even without their resident inventor and engineer - and Jay didn't really know what he'd think if they did. Fearful? Relieved? Angry?

"That does... not sound great? Dying certainly does not seem-"

"It's called sarcasm, Zane."

"Oh- yes. My memory now accesses the fact that people often speak in that manner. It does seem a bit counterproductive, though. Why not just say what you mean?"

"Shut it, you have no clue how integral to my life it is," Jay replies with a halfhearted grin.

A few seconds later, he remembers something his friend had mentioned earlier, and the grin disappears.

"You know that you can talk to us if you're not happy, right?" he asks, earnestly. Sure, it's not like he could always do that, considering, well, a stupid djin and even stupider magic, but it's not like he needs to. It's- well- he'll be okay, probably. Maybe. Kinda.

Zane's eyes blink on and off again, blue fading in and out. "I... I suppose that I was not quite aware of that."

Okay, they've screwed up way too many times, but this... this is pretty bad. Dang it, how long does it take for them to throw self-preservation instincts at their friend before he freaking- picks them up or something?

"However, will it not hurt those who have experienced the same unfortunate events?"

Dude, not the best question to ask someone wondering the exact same thing-

"It's been... uh, nice, kind of, talking to you. So- I don't think so, and I'm pretty sure someone would say so if it did. Besides, don't we talk about our adventures all the time? It'd probably be better if we... uh, well- heh heh, nothing."

"If we talked about the less than positive elements of them? Perhaps, but I still-"

Maybe it's the fact Zane has always tried to be there for him, or maybe he's too sleep deprived to care anymore, but this is a way too familiar situation and-

Well, not ignoring the issue would be a start.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're family, Zane. We care about each other. And, gosh, that means that we care about you too. Memories are stupid and annoying sometimes, but we have to make good ones too, right? To block out the bad ones a bit, I guess? Kinda, at least."

They both look away from the stars now, grappling for something else to say.

In the end, they leave it be with a hug and a fondly exasperated warning about sleeping, if you happen to need it.

After all, they're family. They don't have to be perfect, or tell each other everything - even if it does take them a long time to realize that, and an even longer time remembering it.

---

The next time Jay startles awake from a nightmare, the sky is still empty - painfully so, like an ache that simmers beneath the surface even when it's not able to be seen.

The hue, though, is a little lighter.

Just a little - the all-encompassing darkness of it is now a navy sort of blue, his star shining a little bit brighter.

It's still not sunrise, not even close - but he'll take it. AN: the ‘sky’ mentioned at the start and end is a stupid metaphor that i somehow ended up liking too much to trash, it’s ‘empty’ because he hasn’t told anyone about the timeline, and Nya’s not included because they never had a chance to tell each other everything significant or even talked about it or processed it on screen. so yeah! if you read this,,, not great thing, can i send you a hug or good vibes or smth? tyy🥺

#ninjago #jay walker #zane julien #skybound #ninjago fic #not the best thing i've written #actually it's not great-#but i spent too long on it to not post it so if you actually read to here i simunltaneously wanna send you good vibes & apologize profusely-#the ending is super rushed but im too tired to try and write a better one yay:/#also dang it- sorry this fits the prompt so badly i-#i didn't realize till after oops #ninbingo #ninjago jay #ninjago zane #ninjago masters of spinjitzu

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ninjago-happens-here · 3 years

Text

@ninjago-angst-week sorry I'm late!

Day 6: Anger

Kai hates the universe for everything. Surprisingly, his teammates don’t agree.

Or 5 times where Kai lets anger control him, and 1 time he doesn't.

Word count: 13,944

- Nya - It’s been 6 days. Kai has spent all his time at Wu’s Monastery doing nothing but training and passing out from exhaustion. The only reason why he kept going was his love of his sister- and his spite against the universe. First Spinjitsu Master, why had Lord-fucking-Germadon take his sister as a hostage? He was just a poor blacksmith, trying his best to make ends meet and to get a proper education for his bright, 14-year-old sister. But the universe has decided to throw another curveball at him by forcing him to become a ninja and complete this stupid course-

“ARGH!” Kai shouted in frustration as he was thrown off by the training course, again. “Failed,” Wu said and took a sip of his tea. Punching the obstacle course, with another shout, Kai seethed, seeing the colour red dancing all over his eyes. What did the old man know about saving people anyways? Why can’t he just fight Wu and be done with it? Graduate his class, be finally given the location to where his sister is, and end this chapter of his life- because he was all for it.

Looking for his tormentor, Kai noticed that Wu has slipped away, with all the stealth that only a ninja master has.

Taking deep breaths, Kai balled his fists even tighter, nails pressing indents into his palms. Tomorrow. There still was tomorrow. And by god was he going to pass because he won’t let his sister spend another day in captivity.

All he needed to do was complete the training course before Wu finishes his tea.

He had done it. Of course, it took a well-timed sword throw to technically pass, but he was done sitting around and waiting for some unknown force to rescue Nya. Master Wu told him to get a goodnight’s rest as they were going to leave in the morning. Yeah right. As if he wasn’t going to spend this night tossing and turning around again.

He didn’t spend the night staring into the ceiling of the monastery. Rather, he was rudely ambushed by 3 men dressed in black, who actually weren’t as much of a challenge that Kai thought they would pose. Huh, maybe the training Sensei Wu put him through was pretty useful after all.

All praises for the cryptic old man were thrown away once Wu revealed the 3 men to be his students. Seriously? Didn’t Wu just tell him to get a good night’s rest? Kai barely kept the snarl inside him when Wu did his spinjitzu thingy and he suddenly was in an entirely different get-up.

Hey! Kai thought angrily. What’s the big deal? The garment was loose-fitting and a solid shade of red, and whilst red may be Kai’s colour, the garb was still drab-looking and overall, not something Kai would have picked out for himself..

Wu then gave a quick introduction of the 3 men who attacked him, who were probably called Jey, Zain, and Coal. Hey, don’t look at him like that! It’s not like he had the time to go to school and learn Maths and the Ninjago Alphabet. Anyways, they were all, apparently Elemental Masters? Of lightning, ice and earth nonetheless. Now, Kai can understand Earth. And Kai of course can give a testament to fire. But what do lightning and ice have to do with the elements? Shouldn’t it be Air, Water, Earth, and Fire or something along those lines? What was the FSM thinking, naming these the elements of creation?

Just as Kai was about to head back into the monastery and actually catch a few Zs, Wu called to them telling them that they have to protect the 4 weapons of spinjitzu in order to beat Garmadon to them, for the Skulkin must have taken the map that Wu had hidden in the Four Weapons.

“And rescue my sister,” Kai stated, daring anyone to challenge this non-negotiable mission.

“We’re rescuing a girl? Is she hot?” The ninja in blue (seriously, why blue on a ninja? It really does not help his stealth) just straight up asked Kai if his sister was hot. Kai’s first instinct, of course, was to punch Jay hard in the teeth, followed by an elbow straight to his gut. But if he was going to be teammates with this guy, he had to control his urges and only glare at him through the convenient slit in his mask. The blue ninja chuckled nervously as Kai’s eyes bore holes into him.

“Does she like blue?”

“Back. Off.”

“When we find the weapons, we will find your sister. We rise at dawn to look for the Scythe of Quakes in the Caves of Despair,” Wu concluded the impromptu meeting at night, which diffused the tension between Kai and Jay. The fiery anger he felt pooling in the balls of his hands started to dissipate. In fact, most of his energy was gone too. Kai felt like he was sagging under the weight on his shoulders and immediately headed for his room, where he collapsed immediately upon reaching the soft, inviting mattress. It was the best sleep he had in possibly years.

Of course, Sensei Wu upheld his promise of rousing them at dawn to go collect the first Golden Weapon. What he didn’t warn the ninja beforehand was that he was going to use them to be his literal slaves, and Kai spent the morning running whilst pulling a carriage like a horse. This has to be illegal, Kai grumbled to himself. He was starting to be seriously short on breath. Luckily, his teammates seem to at least have some strength and endurance training, so whilst he was stationed at the easy middle, Cole was at the front spearheading the charge whilst still holding conversations like it was no big deal.

“So…huff, how did Sensei find you guys?” Kai panted, wanting to learn more about his teammates.

“Let’s just say if it wasn’t for Sensei Wu, we wouldn’t be seen together.“ Cole started

“I was testing my limits,” Cole gave a brief description of how when he was rock climbing, he found Sensei Wu already at the top of the mountain, drinking tea and offering him a cup.

“I was testing my inventions,” Jay also panted out, and tried to ramble about how he was testing a flying machine and crashed through a billboard (what?) before seeing Sensei Wu, was also drinking tea and offering him a cup. He couldn’t really talk too much, because at this point he was getting tired too.

“And I, was testing myself,” Zane said, whilst recalling how he was practicing to hold his breath underwater for even longer periods of time when he found Sensei Wu sitting next to him at the bottom of the pond, still somehow drinking tea before offering some to him, which immediately led Zane to choke.

“You’re right, if it wasn’t for Sensei, none of us would-” Kai said before Wu shouted at them to stop. They were here.

Immediately, everything felt more real to Kai. The drowsiness that he felt clouding his mind was cleared as pure adrenaline shot through his veins. He couldn’t fail now. Not when Nya’s life was on his hands. All he has to do was to collect 4 Ancient Weapons that have powers and he would be able to face off with Lord Garmadon. Jumping into action, he weaved through the Skulkin that were strolling and working in the area, body moving in autopilot and mind focusing on only one thing: Get the weapon.

On his way to the opening of the cave, Kai spotted Samurai reading the map to the 4 Golden Weapons on a watchtower. Kai immediately took a detour and climbed up onto the roof, where he could see Samukai reading the map.

“What’s the matter with you,” Jay whispered, hitting Kai on the head. Kai shushed him, before returning to watch Samukai laugh menacingly whilst holding the map upside down. Kai wondered how incompetent he was one week ago to have let this guy kidnap his sister. “The Golden Weapon is near,” Zane observed, before taking out a shuriken with a rope attached before looking at Cole for confirmation and then throwing it done, landing squarely in the middle of the map before pulling it back, holding the prize squarely in his hands.

There was no time to waste. Kai immediately backflipped off the building before climbing to the outcrop where 2 guards were stationed. Picking up a convenient lamp head, Kai carefully snuck by the 2 guards before ducking into the cave system. Kai began to start pushing the rock blocking the path to the weapon. But no matter how much he exerted himself, it didn’t move one inch. He felt like he was trying to make a sword again, doing everything he could but still failing. Grunting and groaning, Kai gave it his all.

Not soon enough, Kai heard the footsteps of his teammates.

“Hey, before you race off again, you gotta remember that we’re a team.” Cole’s patronizing voice made Kai stop his futile attempts at trying to push the boulder on his own. Kai looked at the 3 Ninja before sighing. “Yeah, whatever.”

The white, black and blue Ninja gathered around him and they all started to push, actually managing to shift the rock. Giving the rock his all, Kai did enough on his part to be suddenly be blasted by a golden light, shining from the cavern behind the rock. As his eyes got used to the sudden brightness, Kai spotted the Golden Scythe, sitting on top of a weird creature’s head.

“Woah, that is SO COOL!” Jay exclaimed, and his voice reverberated throughout the entire cave. Kai cringed from his volume. Here’s to hoping that the entire skeleton army outside won’t discover them. Cole shushed Jay again, before pulling out the Golden Scythe and jumping back down onto the cave floor. Wrapping it in a sheet of canvas, Cole once again reminded Jay to not be so loud.

“Oh, don’t be paranoid!” Jay brushed off the sentiment. Kai couldn’t believe that this guy was his teammate. “We’re totally on the other side of the caves!”

“Zip it, okay?” Cole admonished the blue Ninja whilst handing the wrapped Scythe of Quakes to Kai. It’s okay with him. As long as he can make sure that this weapon is safe which in turn ensures that Nya is safe, he’s alright with taking the Scythe. “Now that we’ve got the Scythe, let’s sneak out whilst the boneheads are still busy.”

“Alright team, everyone sticks together. Way out is right around the corn-“ Cole suddenly came face to face with Samukai. All Kai could think at that moment was Fuck the blue guy. Because seriously. Now he was going to have to fight these guys. And alright, honestly- Kai was more than happy to throw hands with the skeletons that captured his sister. In fact, he’s been waiting all week to do so. But come on, this guy was supposed to be a ninja? Pulling out his sword, Kai stayed in the middle of his teammates for a bit as they tried their hardest to protect the Scythe, but quickly they were drawn by enemies elsewhere and the red ninja was left in a precarious situation.

“Kai! Throw it here!” Thank god for Zane. Honestly, he took back what he said about how this guy takes things a bit too seriously, now that he was in the heat of battle and could feel every beat of his heart. Kai heaved the heavy weapon to Zane. Immediately, the heat was taken off him and Zane had to pass the Scythe to Cole as he was dog-piled by 3 Skulkin in seconds. Cole made it past a long line of skeletons before catching the Golden Weapon, but Kai could see 5 to 6. no, 9, 10- argh, who cares! Either way, there were too many enemies.

“Let me handle it!” Jay shouted, taking out a couple of enemies quickly, before exclaiming, “Hey! Guys!”

“It’s just like the training course! Over the planks, dodge the swords- here comes the dummy!”

Kai heard multiple enemies being defeated before a bright blue light shined through the caverns as this guy did spinjitzu. What. The. Heck. Kai’s level of respect for him instantly rose.

“Jay! What’s the key?” Kai waved at his teammate desperately. He had to do spinjitzu too- if he ever was going to see Nya again.

“Hehe, I’m just going through the motions! This is what Sensei must have meant when he said we already know it!” Jay laughed from inside his tornado as Kai watch him take down 4 enemies in one second. Kai contemplated this for a moment, before relying on his muscle memory to dodge a couple of Skulkin.

“Over the planks, dodge the swords- here comes the dummy!” Spinning in a beautiful vortex of red, orange, and yellow, Kai saw the world around him slow down as he moved with enhanced power and agility, taking down enemies with incredible ease.

“RETREAT!” Samurai shouted, and Kai could hear the screams of the skeleton army mixing with the beautiful chime of his team’s spinjitzu. Slowing down, Kai stopped his spinjitzu and surprisingly, didn’t feel dizzy. Man, this spinjitzu thing is really cool.

“Hah! Guess they didn’t want a second serving of these babies,” Cole flexed his biceps as Kai and Jay both shook their heads in dismay. “Good thing they didn’t check out the merchandise on the back!”

From the corner of his eye, Kai watched as Cole turned around to emphasise his point. Alright, 2 can play at the end game. Raising the Golden Weapon of Spinjitsu, Kai cheered and high fives Jay. That dude has many faults, but he would be able to have Kai’s back in a moment of need, and Kai vows to watch his back too.

“Uh… guys?” Cole stammered. Kai and Jay rolled their eyes. What was Cole trying to get at now?

“Didn’t Sensei say there was a guardian protecting the weapons?” Zane recalled. Kai tilted his head to the side, before turning to his right AND WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT.

“Is that- a..a, that’s- not what I think it is, isit?” Cole blubbered, his voice an octave higher.

“Y-you mean a dragon?” Jay stammered.

“Uh, that sure looks like a dragon!” Kai panicked, his voice on the edge of a scream.

“I sense that we won’t be able to spin our way out of this one,” Zane stated with the calmest out of any of them.

Out of the blue, the dragon breathed out a breath of earth, and Kai was suddenly flung to the side. Screams filled the cavern as his teammates landed from their dodge. getting up on his feet, Kai immediately started to run towards the exit, clutching the Golden Weapon tightly. Unfortunately, they were cornered, and Kai did the only thing he thought he could.

Removing the canvas, Kai moved to use the weapon but was stopped by Jay, stating something about how Sensei told them not to.

“Well you better keep your mouth shut,” Kai growled as he ran towards the otherworldly creature. Nothing was going to stand in his way from reaching his sister. Cole shouted something at him, but he raised the weapon high above his head and brought it down to the earth in front of the dragon, causing a split in the ground like a fault line and the cave started to shake. The dragon was temporarily rendered stunned as a large piece of rock fell on his head. It reacted too late, for Kai and his team were getting out of here.

“We gotta escape!” Kai said frantically. Looking up, he and his team saw the caverns opening up to the skies. “We’ll use spinjitzu!” Cole proclaimed, and Kai spun into his tornado, finding that the boost in speed and strength was exactly what he needed to make through the opening in the ceiling of the cave.

Landing on the ground in front of his sensei (on both feet, take that Zane and Jay!) Kai immediately devolved into cheering and celebrating with his teammates, because who wouldn’t after such an adrenaline high? They were 1 weapon closer to finding Nya, and Kai had learned the amazing art of Spinjitsu, and he had just escaped from a dragon.

“ENOUGH!” Sensei Wu shouted. Kai immediately felt his mood sinking. “I told you not to use the scythe!!” Of course, Jay, then Cole, immediately threw Kai under the bus.

“Using it was my only option!” Kai said, starting to get frustrated with his teacher and teammates. Couldn’t they see it that was a matter of life or death? He just saved all of their sorry asses!

“And what makes you think that you’re more important than your team? Huh? Huh!?” Wu got closer to Kai’s face, and he was not happy. Not happy with this at all.

“They took my sister, remember?” Kai stated angrily. Who did the old man think he was? Nya was everything to him, and losing her- Kai did not want to think about losing her.

“There are still 3 weapons left. Maybe next time, you can do it right,” Wu admonished him, and Kai could only watch as his teammates follow in their master’s footsteps. Whatever. It’s not like he needed a team. Hoisting the scythe onto his shoulders, Kai swore that nothing, not even the First Spinjitsu himself, would stop him from saving Nya.

Over the course of the next few days, Kai learned of a technique called the ‘Tornado of Creation’ as they journeyed all over north Ninjago and found 2 of the remaining 3 weapons. Just before they headed to the Fire Temple, Wu made them all rest, for some reason he was unwiring to share. Kai privately thought that it was for them to recuperate their energy because his sister was going to be the one they rescue next, and once he got his hands on the Sword of Fire, nothing would be able to stand in his way, his team included. If he was being honest with himself, Kai was grateful that they had time to celebrate his past achievements. They had been through so much climbing, exploring, and journeying these fast few days and they have beaten Garmadon’s Army too many times to not do something about it. His mood was so great that he even invited Sensei Wu to dance with them as Cole played the bongo drums that they had stolen from the skeleton army at one point.

Kai didn’t know when he fell asleep, but what he did know was that he was roused awake by a voice whispering his name. At first, he was groggy with exhaustion, but the second time Nya called out to him, Kai was wide awake. Looking at the source of the sound, Kai saw his sister standing directly at the edge of his camp. Immediately, Kai felt a great wave of relief wash over him. His sister looked, at least in the dark, fine and free from any visible injuries. He was just about to get up and reunite with his sister when she suddenly stated that she had to go, and started to run away from him.

Kai immediately shot to his feet, alarmed. There was definitely something wrong. He followed her as best as he could through the dense forest, calling out to her, but not receiving a reply. He was led to a temple sitting right next to a volcano. Ghostly whispers of his name reached him as he saw his sister’s vague figure entering the temple.

“Nya?” In a heartbeat, he arrived at the front of the temple. Fully pushing open the doors, Kai was blown away by the cavern and the inviting, welcoming warmth of the lava that slowly cranked up the further he went. In fact, it was slowly stifling, and Kai wanted to grab Nya and get out as fast as he could. Looking all over the place for her, Kai saw the image of his sister appear right in front of the Sword of Fire.

“Nya!” Kai said with a smile, running towards the platform. He was praising FSM for this miracle when suddenly, he skidded to a halt as Nya transformed into a large shadow that laughed menacingly. It was Garmadon. And he- was dangling Nya, wrapped in iron chains, on top of a pool of lava.

“KAI!!” Nya shouted desperately. The red ninja called back to his sister, as Garmadon taunted him, stating that only by removing the sword, could he save his sister. And as much as Kai hated the fact- Garmadon was right. There was nothing he could do but take the sword and save his sister. Nya begged Kai not to listen, but the chain had suddenly lowered her even more, and the screams of his baby sister were too much for Kai to bear. Taking a deep breath, Kai did a series of acrobatics pulling out the Sword of Fire and doing spinjitzu on the walls in order to get to Nya, and then to get her to safety on the other side. Landing o the warm rock, Kai pulled his sister up and told her to stay close.

Then Garmadon appeared directly in front of him, and Kai changed his mind. Not long after, he was getting beat up by a shadow- a shadow of all things! Then, Garmadon played extremely dirty and duplicated himself, and in no time at all, Kai lost the sword and Garmadon picked it up. Tired, out of breath, and running on a combined 18 hours of sleep this past week and a half, Kai collapsed and couldn’t move any further.

Just in time, Sensei Wu arrived and started to use his shadow to properly fight Garmadon. As Kai could only sit and watch, he saw Sensei Wu’s incredible usage of shadows, and his respect for him rose even more. But soon, the feeling of calmness turned into panic as he remembered his 3 teammates who were probably out like a light.

Nya gave Kai a hand to stand up, and they both moved to be closer to Wu. Soon, they were assaulted by Garmadon showing them that the Skulkin has taken Kai’s brothers and 3 of the 4 Golden Weapons.

“My brother must not unite the 4 weapons. We must keep them apart!” Sensei Wu commanded, to which Garmadon responded by rousing the dragon guardian. With a swipe of its flaming hot tail, the Fire Dragon blocked the entrance of the Fire Temple. There was no way out.

“He’s taken away all our options!” Kai said, starting to panic even more as the Fire Dragon breathed on them.

“All but one.” And soon, Kai lost his Sensei to the Underworld. Feeling terribly guilty for not being a better student and teammate, Kai collapsed on his knees. However, he was soon confronted with greater, immediate danger.

Luckily, he seemed to be able to talk down the dragon that was guarding the sword. They reached an understanding that they were trying to protect the weapons from Garmadon, and just in time too. He heard his teammates outside the temple and Flare did too, opening the temple dramatically. Too soon, he had to split from Nya again. But he would return in no time at all, with all members on his team.

Through a great load of traveling by dragon, managing to use the Tornado of Creation, and watching Samurai get vaporised whilst Garmadon passed into a portal to another realm, they eventually returned to Ignacia, and Kai could finally feel safe again. Of course, he immediately slept for 3 days straight after making sure that Nya was doing alright and that she could take care of herself for the next few days.

This was not the first time he was fuelled by only his fire, and unfortunately for his body- it would not be the last.

- Lloyd - The next time that Kai could say with 100% certainty that he hated the universe was when Garmadon decided that it was a good idea to turn them into all children. They then had to be saved by Lloyd, his baby brother, but in return- he had grown. Too fast. Way too fast.

And Kai had to look at his failure, his inability to protect Lloyd because it falls on his shoulder to at least stay beside the green bean whilst he deals with the fact that he was older now. And whatever fallout was happening with his body. Because whilst Lloyd can try to insist that he’s fine for the 100th time, Kai is not letting him get out of bed whilst he has a 40 degree fever.

So whilst Kai stews angrily at the edge of Lloyd’s bed, he reflects on all the things he’s going to punch the First Spinjitsu Master for. Honestly, he did not know where the thought came from, but today was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Kai will be honest- he hadn’t always been this friendly with Lloyd. In fact, if he saw someone else doing what he did to the kid when they first met, he would sock them in the eye, no questions asked. (In fact, he wanted to do that to himself now.) But then he got close to the brat. He saw himself in the kid, just- lost without an anchor as Kai had in Nya. And the ‘demon spawn’ became ‘kid’, and ‘kid’ became Kai’s baby brother. Kai’s baby brother who he lost at the arcade just because he was too focused on his ego, going after the damned Samurai who turned out to be his baby sister. Seems like Kai can’t do much protecting at all.

After Kai had rescued Lloyd from the volcano (Fuck you Pythor), it was revealed that Lloyd was the Green Ninja, and would, in turn, have to fight Garmadon And whilst at first Kai felt elated that the search for the Green Ninja was long over, he then felt horrible to see Garmadon and Lloyd falling out as both knew that they had to fight each other. Kai could see Lloyd’s lip tremble as his father released the hug, and almost start to cry when Garmadon disappeared after having saved the Ninja and the fang blades.

He knew that Lloyd had it especially hard, seeking his father’s approval and attention, yet not getting it as Garmadon tried his hardest to delay the oncoming final battle, but furthered it instead. He saw Lloyd look incredibly small in their tiny apartment, and wished that he had just earned more money, or that he had somehow managed to defeat the Great devourer instead of Garmadon.

Yet all he could do was comfort Lloyd when he opens up about Darkley’s (boy, wasn’t that’s something they’d have to unpack in the future) before they returned to the accursed school, or treat Lloyd’s sore muscles before the kid has to inevitably wake up at 5 AM tomorrow to do an insane amount of training.

He hates how all the pressure in the world is hoisted by the shoulders of his baby brother, and he would do anything, anything to give Lloyd a good childhood.

Now, he can’t even do that. Unless the element of time exists, all he could do was count the numbers of a good childhood Lloyd had on one hand. And goddamnit. All Kai really wanted to do was to give Lloyd the childhood didn’t have, not the incomplete one he had given Nya that ended with a kidnapping. Was that too much to ask for?

A drop of a hot tear escaped Kai’s eyes and rolled down his cheek. Quickly snapping his head towards Lloyd, he saw that he’s fallen asleep. Okay, thank FSM for that. Kai did not want Lloyd to see his big brother cry. Now, Kai didn’t want to be a bad brother. But he wasn’t Lloyd’s only family left. He’ll just ask Zane to watch over him as he runs the training course at Dareth’s dojo.

Or maybe not, Kai thought as he sat on the roof, hidden by water tanks and billboards as he had a meltdown. He didn’t even know why he was crying! All he knows is that suddenly, he can’t stop the water flowing from his eyes, even as his own body heat evaporates them as soon as they are shed. His head was still stuffy even though the night air breezed past him. All he wanted to do was to shout, screen- anything to release the tension he’s been building up in his body. Now that he’s reached his breaking point, he was ready to release like a coiled spring.

But he couldn’t. They were living in the midst of Ninjago city, not on the Destiny’s Bounty. And they would get kicked out of their cramped apartment if Kai just shouted at the night skies. So Kai hissed, growled, and wrapped his hands around himself, and squeezed as much as he could. He wanted to fight anybody, be it serpentine, skulkin, Garmadon, or even the First Spinjitsu Master himself.

The air around him got even more suffocating as his fist couldn’t find anything to connect to.

And suddenly, the roof hatch opened suddenly, scaring the living hell out of Kai Smith. Jumping into action and getting into a ready stance, Kai immediately felt the tension dissipate as it revealed that it was just Cole.

“Wow Kai, you must be really wounded up to be spooked like that,” Cole commented whilst giving Kai a smirk. Kai glared back at his team leader before futilely trying to wipe his face clean. Ah well. He tried. Cole snorted. “I always knew that you were a big softy.”

“Got any reason why you came up here?” Kai grunted. His ego had taken enough bruising these past few weeks.

“Of course buddy. I needed to spar with someone at full strength, and since Zane is looking after Lloyd and Jay won’t be able to effectively take my hits, I had to find you.”

“Psh, whatever. You’re in luck that I need to let off some heat too,” Kai shrugged off.

“Cool. Race you to Dareth’s Dojo?” “You’re on.”

In a few minutes, Kai would come to regret his decision. Hey, it wasn’t his idea to race with the idiot who got himself dehydrated via crying. Still, falling in only just a step behind Cole (It’s been 80 years, Coke joked), he grabbed the energy drink Cole held out to him and take an unprofessionally huge gulp. Man, was he going to feel that later. Still, a promise was a promise, even if it was a verbal agreement. He watched Cole do his warm-up stretches before settling into his own normal routine.

Too soon, they rolled out the sparring mats, and Kai had a fleeting feeling of vertigo. Why had he agreed to this again? Oh yeah. Lloyd’s life is shit, and I can’t do anything. Balling his fists tightly, he started to bounce from on the balls of his feet.

Too soon, he ended up on the mat. And then again. And again. When he was defeated for the 4th time, Cole called for a break and sat down next to Kai, who was lying on the mat and just staring straight into the sky.

“Why did destiny make him grow up so fast?” Kai’s voice was trembling too hard for even Cole’s liking. “It’s not your fault-“

“IT IS MY FAULT! My fault, that I couldn’t protect him! Not from the serpentine, not from Garmadon, not from destiny!What’s my worth as a protector if I can’t even defend the one destiny said I must?!” Kai wailed out, enraged with everything. After his anger outburst, Kai breathed out deeply as his whole body sagged, the tension broken. They sat in silence as Kai contemplated what he was going to do next.

“You know Kai? Maybe you should talk with the Green Bean about this. But just so you know, no one is blaming you for what Garmadon had to do, and in turn what Lloyd had to do in order to save all of us,” Cole responded and stood up. “Thank you anyways for agreeing to spar with me.”

He offered a hand, to which Kai grabbed and was pulled upright.

“You go ahead. I’ll go wipe down the mats here,” Cole stated. It was a regular schedule that they had made up in order to reduce the amount of traffic using their tiny bathroom, and Kai gratefully accepted the chance to go first. If he was going to talk to Lloyd, he had to at least get his spikes up to regular Kai standard.

After doing the bare minimum amount of cool-down stretches, Kai took a swig of the energy drink as he jogged back home. After showering and gelling up his hair, Kai was ready to sit down with Lloyd and just- talk. He finished his bottle and prepared some sandwiches as the sun rose on Ninjago City, showering the apartment in fragmented light.

Just on time, Lloyd returned from his morning run, this time accompanied by Zane. Kai patiently waited for him to be done with his shower before Lloyd sat down right beside him and took out a peanut butter and jam sandwich from the small pile on the plate. Zane gave Kai an acknowledging nod as he went to grab his work bag before going back out the door.

“Hey, bud. How’re you doing?” Kai started tentatively. Lloyd, having just taken a huge bite of the pb&j, looked mildly alarmed at the confrontation, but still answered after finishing the bite.

“…honestly Kai? My bones don’t feel on fire anymore and Zane has said that my fever had gone down through the night. Still, I don’t regret what I had done,” Lloyd responded earnestly before taking another bite of the bread. If Kai didn’tknow better he would have thought that the kid had faced starvation before, because he was still eating as if the food could be taken away at any moment. Keyword: thought.

Kai really wanted to continue the talk after Lloyd had his fill, but knew that Lloyd’s busy schedule didn’t allow for such talks. So, he pushed down all the instincts that screamed that he was a bad brother and gritted his teeth.

“I know that that wasn’t your choice-“

“It was my choice!” Lloyd cut in even though he was still chewing. Gulping down another mouthful of food, Lloyd continued. “… because if I couldn’t even consider that my choice, how much of my life can I say that belongs to me?”

Kai was stunned into silence. In his mind, he didn’t think that Lloyd had thought of throwing the tea like that. He wondered how much Lloyd had been holding in inside of him, how much he had to endure being told by people that he hadn’t had a choice. Thinking back to the time where he couldn’t save Nya without listening to others on what he had to do, Kai felt even worse. Cole was right- he wasn’t at fault for this specific action that Lloyd did, but he was at fault for not being understanding enough, or even approachable enough.

Taking advantage of Kai’s speechlessness, Lloyd finished up his sandwich before reaching into the pile and taking out another, this time picking out a Nutella and cheese combination.

“It’s not just that. Now, I can finally go on missions with you guys. Now, you guys don’t have to hold back on me, and I can train for longer amounts of time. The Final Battle will be on us whether we’re ready or not, and I too would feel much safer if I am prepared to… to face my father,” Lloyd said before continuing to stuff his face with breakfast.

Kai’s brain began to work again, and he formulated a good enough response. “…Alright buddy, but just so you know, you’re still not going on missions with us.” Lloyd’s face immediately formed a pout and Kai grinned, rubbing his blonde hair. “Also, since when did you start speaking like that? ‘The Final Battle will be on us whether we’re ready or not.' Wow, such language. Much eloquence.”

“That’s because you guys gave me 2 hours to spend studying Uncle Wu’s books every day,” Lloyd huffed in annoyance, having finished another mouthful of bread. “But seriously Kai, please don’t be angry for me. It really isn’t your fault.”

Kai mused over those words as he watched Jay trained Lloyd with his acrobatic abilities. Of course, the kid was still getting used to his taller and larger limbs, but Kai could see him improve at an incredibly fast rate. Lloyd was right, in a sense. He didn’t really have the legal right to worry over Lloyd’s physical and mental wellness, but still- he was Kai. Master of Fire, protector of the Green Ninja, and he should be allowed to feel the fuel of his anger at any time he so pleases. If it happens to be an injustice to his trainee and well- who can blame him?

He accidentally fell asleep during Lloyd and Jay’s training, having to catch up to last night’s lost sleep, and boy was that a bad idea. He forgot one of the most important rules within the Ninja’s family: Do not fall asleep when with Lloyd and Jay, because those two can pull some terrible pranks.

Kai didn’t notice anything wrong until he passed Dareth’s trophies and saw that his beautiful hair was not spiked. Kai swore that when he sees those two again, he would chase after them until they begged for mercy because Kai cannot be seen in public with hair like this! Feeling his eye twitch, Kai wondered if Lloyd was going to be the cause of him popping a blood vessel.

Years later, Kai would realise that indeed, Lloyd would give him his first grey hair at 19. That damned brat.

- Zane - When Zane… left the team, all Kai could feel was a sense of numbness. He floated through a fuzzy reality as nothing seemed real to him anymore. His family was in shambles, broken pieces that were scattered without their missing piece completing them. The fact that Zane was gone didn’t really register to him until they had asked Lloyd to do a speech honouring the titanium ninja. Lloyd, face as pale as the gi Zane used to wear, couldn’t say any words, so he volunteered to step up for his brother. Lloyd looked at him with thanks, before disappearing off to whatever world he was in just moments before. Kai joined him, staring aimlessly at their ceiling, before having to get up and pen down words that he was going to say, to honour Zane.

He realised that he couldn’t, really couldn’t. The words just wouldn’t come out of his ink pen, even though he was pretty much literate now. He could only manage to jot down a few words that summarised what Zane was to him. A brother. A teammate. A fellow Ninja. Built to protect those who cannot protect themselves. But words can't do Zane justice. How could he capture Zane's cool-like grace, his calm calculation when it matters most? Zane's amazing cooking, his incredible kindness, and all-around sweet nature? How could he describe his first time meeting him, first time working with him, when he discovered his true potential and saved all of their sorry asses? How could he do all that?

Hot, angry tears dribbled down from Kai’s eyes as he hunched over their kitchen table. No, this wasn’t going to do. Kai decides that he'll just have to wing it.

As soon as he had finished his speech and paid proper respect to Zane, Kai left his family and just wandered around aimlessly, going from bar to bar to drink and inevitably get into fights.

Having been thrown out of almost all bars in Ninjago city for ‘disrupting common services’, whatever that was supposed to mean, Kai soon found himself standing in front of Yang’s Tavern. From what he heard, this place was run by quite a few Serpentine and they had a ‘Slither Pit’. Whatever that meant. What Kai needed to do was to feel his fist connect to something flesh-like, and he will be okay.

Months passed, as Kai found himself falling deeper and deeper into Ninjago’s criminal organisations. Under the name ‘The Red Shogun’, he would remain the undefeated champion, all whilst working for different kinds of bosses as ‘security’. Kai knew that he shouldn’t be doing this, that he shouldn’t be helping criminals get away with their criminal activity, shouldn’t have let human merchandise go under his nose. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. Nothing really mattered after Zane’s death. Nothing had mattered at all. Kai was stuck down in the pits of hell, drinking himself to half-death before the barkeep regulated his intake just so that he could bring in the cash that Kai made through betting, before receiving poor attempts to reach out by Lloyd.

Somehow, the kid had gotten the number of his burner phone. He even sent mail to the bar, to which Kai and his bar buddies had laughed at. Kai didn’t feel too bad for ignoring the kid. Zane’s death was partially his fault anyways. (Nromal Kai would have been horrified to hear him think this.) Kai was angry. Angry that Lloyd didn’t try hard enough. Didn’t try hard enough to defeat the Overlord, when he had a clear shot. Angry that Lloyd had apparently failed to defeat the Overlord 100%. Angry that he had been captured whilst literally wielding the power of God, only for the Overlord to use its incredible power to construct a new body. Angry that Lloyd didn’t try hard enough to keep the team together, to reach out to him, or even to speak at Zane’s funeral.

But above all, Kai was angry at himself. Angry that he had made fun of Zane for his passions and clothes. Angry that he did not try hard enough to train Lloyd, and ultimately failed to be with him in the ‘Final’ battle. Angry that he couldn’t have done his job as a ninja properly, getting captured and tied to a rocket ship which only made them have to try rescuing him instead of stopping Project Arcturus. Angry that he couldn’t do anything when Zane took on the Overlord by himself again.

And Kai was angry at Ninjago. At the world. At the universe. At the First Spinjitsu Master, who had no right to decide that his family had to face the world like that. Angry, and wondering why he was being put through this kind of torture: not being able to live, and yet not willing to die. Kai was a man of action and he had to stay in motion- so his knuckles split. So he goes ‘home’, to the hotel room in Yang’s Tavern, covered in bruises and sometimes even blood- just not his. So he has to take part in crimes, never rising above the level of a security guard, all whilst feeling terrible. He did not know how to get out of this state and feared that if he did, he would collapse into a lump of uselessness.

He fought all day and night, and in the moments where he wasn’t fighting, he was drinking. His sleeping schedule has shifted to between 6 AM and 2 PM. All whilst he kept grieving over a death that was not deserved.

After a year, Lloyd somehow inexplicably showed up on his doorstep, telling Kai to not drink too much ‘juice’ (he rolled his eyes at that and smiled fondly at Lloyd’s innocence) and asked him to show up at Chen’s noodle house where he was holding a meeting with his other teammates.

Unexpectedly, this led to a discovery that instantly brightened Kai’s mood before dampening it slightly. Zane was alive! But they had to fight through… an elemental tournament to get him? At this point in time, Kai was alright with doing anything, anything to get Zane back.

Just 2 weeks later, Kai would hesitantly retract his statement. Sure, they had gotten Zane back, but in exchange, Lloyd had to lose Garmadon to the Cursed Realm. Kai wonders if they’ll ever be able to make it through a fight with everyone intact, but today wasn’t about him. He felt a familiar spark of rage burning brightly through his chest as he watched Lloyd trying and failing to smile. From the corner of his eye, he saw Zane approaching him.

“Kai, can we talk for a moment?” Oh, dear. What is this about now? Was it about how Kai had almost killed their baby brother over a stupid staff? Or the fact that Kai had very stupidly fallen for the Criminal Mastermind’s daughter? Did Zane find out about his criminal activity?

Well, it wasn’t everything that Kai had thought would happen, although the topic had come stupidly close to the last point. Zane confronted him, making him open up about his ‘feelings’ or whatever, before telling Kai that the alcohol content in his body was too high and that his livers were on the edge of failing. Well. Good to know that Zane is still regular old Zane who’d scan you without permission.

“Kai, all I’m saying is that you are free to tell me anything. To just let it all out -“

“I can’t let it all out!” Kai shouted in annoyance. What did Zane know about grieving- Oh wait. Doctor Julien. Well, what did Zane know about Kai’s specific method of dealing with his issues? He was fine.

“Why not, Kai?” Zane asked with a bittersweet smile. Kai looked around, desperately searching for an answer that he doesn’t have.

“Well- I can’t tell you that! Just know that it’s okay for me to feel angry!” Kai stated very, very eloquently. Zane just gave him a look that said ‘bullshit’. “It’s also okay for you to be sad, and to cry.”

“You’re-you’re wrong!”

“And you’re a hypocrite, Kai. You can’t make Lloyd do the right choices if you aren’t gonna do them yourself.”

“Well- Lloyd’s just a child! A teenager at best, really. Me? I’m a fully legal adult! I can make my own decisions!” Kai seethed. Zane looked sad for a moment, before straightening up and doubling down.

“Whilst according to Mill’s Harm Principle, you’re free to do anything that could harm yourself without damaging others, might I remind you that you’re still a role model for Lloyd, Nya, and even Jay? Please, Kai. If you can’t do it for yourself, at least do it for them.” Zane pleaded. And damn it. Whilst Kai wouldn’t lift a finger to save himself, just the thought of Lloyd doing what he’s done sent a shiver down his spine. Zane was right, as always. He had to be the big brother, and being the older brother means that he has to display healthy habits more. FSM knows that Lloyd would need it. So he sucked up his pride, arrogance, and ego, then threw it all away, metaphorically off the Bounty

He knew that they would always come creeping back to him later, but for now, Lloyd needed a functional older brother, and Kai was going to be exactly what he needs.

“Thank you, Zane,” Kai stated. Grinning, Zane waved Kai on to go save Lloyd, who now looked like he was drowning from some invisible force.

“Lloyd? Lloyd buddy, you there?”

- Cole - Of course, Kai couldn’t stop his blood pressure from reaching a boiling point. How could he? This month had been the worst month for his health since- well, since forever! Who would’ve thought that Wu’s dead first student would escape the Cursed Realm just to possess Lloyd in order to exact an act of stupid, grand revenge because he didn’t get the title of the Green Ninja?

Kai had to fight his baby brother, lose the staff of the First Spinjitsu Master, fail to defeat ghosts, bargain with a stupidcrook for some weapons that were actually effective to ghosts all whilst looking for the scroll of Airjitzu, who guess what? Turns out Ronin had it all along. And he had just handed it to Morro, which caused all of them to go to this cursedtemple, which was designed to be a terribly haunted house, because it just amplified Kai’s fear of water a 100 times more, and all that culminated in a stupid idea where they tied themselves together to not lose track of the other, which caused Cole to lose valuable time when the scroll of Airjitzu was dropped right as they were at the door to the temple.

Spinning around to check on his teammates, he saw a pale green sheen. Just as he was about to raise his weapon, he heard Cole’s voice calling out to them that they had the scroll. And oh. Oh no. No, Kai couldn’t deal with this anymore. He watched Cole realise with horror that now, he was technically dead, and wail.

Kai’s blood vessels were very, very close to popping. Being an alcoholic had not helped with his anger issues, and having faced too many setbacks, all whilst not having any powers or any victories, Kai was prepared to curse the entire 16 realms.

As Nya parked the bounty right next to the floating temple of Airjitzu, Kai could see her face widen in shock and horror at Cole. Fists clenched the tightest they had been in a while (and that was saying something, given that he had failed to protect Lloyd again) Kai could only take over the lead as he herded his teammates onboard the ship.

Cole’s a ghost now. So what? He can deal with that later. For now, they had to beat Morro to the Cloud Kingdom and the Realm crystal if he was going to have any chance of having Lloyd back.

Well, that was a lie, Kai thought to himself after the heat of the moment. Their ship was now charted towards the Wailing Alps, trying to make it as the Blind Man’s Eye passed over the top so that they may use Airjitzu to get the Sword of Sanctuary. And that meant they had time. Whilst Zane and Jay were working on some mechs to help them traverse the mountains, Nya was training with Sensei Wu to unlock her true potential faster, and Misako was packing them supplies. That meant that Kai and Cole were left in the bow of the ship. The air just felt denser than usual, even though by all logic, it should have been lighter due to their high altitude.

Kai watched Cole trying to tap a button on the control board, but couldn’t manage to get his hands to temporarily appear solid. He saw the frustration on Cole’s face grow as he gave up and slammed his hand on the board, accidentally touching on several buttons. Immediately the ship started to list onto the left side. So bracing himself Kai rushed to the position and immediately undid the damage Cole had done.

Cole then let out a scream of frustration. “All I wanted to do was to view the stupid GPS! Why. Can’t. I. Do. Anything. Right?” Cole angrily shouted, punctuating each word with a kick aimed towards the control panel, but never managing to connect. He immediately sunk onto the floor and held his face in his hands.

Kai sucked in air through his teeth. He wasn’t everyone’s go-to when comforting them from anger, but it seems that he had to step up this time.

“Hey, Cole?” Kai started gently. “Yeah?” Came a muffled response.

“I know that I’m not the best person to do this, but I just want you to know that I hate the universe as much as you do, and it’s alright if you wanna just shout and spar with me-“

“Hah! As if I can do anything good with this. Stupid. Body!” Cole replied, voice tense with frustration. Kai frowned.

“I’m serious Cole. And you will get better at using this body. Remember how Morro’s ghost friends had beaten us? Imagine them, not realising that we actually have a pretty powerful member right in their midst. Think of the recon missions you can do as a ghost! Imagine how satisfying it would be to just punch Morro in the nose without feeling bad for hurting Lloyd!” Kai picked a direction and resigned himself to it, smile getting more manic as he realised that hey! Cole’s new body is actually kinda cool. Cole snorted.

“Imagine all the pranks I’ll be able to pull on Jay. And imagine me possessing Mr. Cuddlywump-“ Both of them dissolved into laughter after this thought, each imagining Jay’s terrified expression as Cole’s voice comes out of the teddy bear that he thinks nobody knows he hugs every night.

“Hey- you know that being a ghost would be incredible for your stealth right?” Kai ribbed Cole gently, finding delight that it actually connected. Cole scoffed. “Oh, don’t remind me Mr-I-blew-up-2-trucks-filled-with-jet-fuel-and-thought-that-I-wouldn’t-be-noticed.”

“Hey! It was just one time.” Kai defended himself. “Seriously though, imagine all the cool shit you can do now.”

“Too bad that I won’t be able to eat anymore,” Cole said mournfully. Kai raised his eyebrow. “Nah, this just means that you can eat as much as you want and wouldn’t be scolded by Sensei Wu. Also, don’t we have Hungry Ghost Month right before Day of the Departed?”

“Holy shit, Kai. You’re right! You know, maybe being a ghost isn’t so bad after all,” Cole said with a hearty grin. With a grin of his own, Kai thought to himself that really, being a ghost is no big deal. We have a nindroid as a brother after all! Besides, at least Cole is still with us in, heh, spirit.

Too late did Kai consider the cons of being a ghost. As Cole watched helplessly from the banks of the river that Lloyd was drowning in, Kai had to bite his own tongue to stop himself from screaming as he plunged into the water to save Lloyd from drowning. Too late, after the defeat of the Preeminent, did he see Lloyd flinching from Cole’s touch, which led to a very heartbroken Cole and an extremely apologetic Lloyd. He saw Lloyd trying his best to just endure and adapt to the change, and his heart was filled with anger again.

It wasn’t as bad as his breaking point at Yang’s temple, but he now has a grudge against Morro that runs through the core of his being, like how ‘Nya is my Sister’ and ‘Lloyd is my baby brother’ are the code of his being. Still, victory tasted bittersweet as he gets to finally pat the golden head of hair his brother has.

Kai would be okay to go through anything, as long as he had his family with him.

- - Jay - Family. That’s what Kai’s life has circled back into, hasn’t it? He had fought skeleton armies for his sisters, fought snakes with his brothers, trained the youngest to fight the literal embodiment of evil, went through an entire tournament for one of his brothers, fought with Wu’s student to save Lloyd, and now destiny decides for him to face another whiplash.

His parents. His good-for-nothing parents. They had left Kai when he was 6 and Nya when she was just 3. It had been absolute hell, making sure that they had enough to eat, enough to drink, and enough to wear during the winter. Kai had to start working at the blacksmith shop when he was just 8, trying to find some independence from the goodwill of his neighbours. And whilst he was working odd jobs, being a stable boy, an errand boy, doing some house chores for the minimum wage- he also had to make sure that his baby sister could attend school properly.

He had properly started to work at the forge when he was 12, having sold most of his father’s previous work. Soon, he found ease in making spear tips, armour, and samurai-style helmets. He had been working on doing a good sword when his sister was kidnapped, and his entire life changed as he tried his hardest to bring her back. Since then, he hadn’t gone back to his old home in Ignacia.

But he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Looking at the smithing symbol on the inside of the Vermillion Warrior’s helmet, Kai had to take a quick journey back to his old home, back into his past. Picking up a decade-old helmet, Kai’s worst fears were confirmed.

“I knew it,” Kai said humourlessly as the puzzle pieces began to construct a monstrosity that he never wanted to know. In a fit of anger, he punched his father’s symbol, to which a secret hatch just suddenly opened. Curious, Kai took a look at the basement of the shop, only to see a double-edged blade as well as some old armour. What was he making? Kai wondered, before shaking his head. It doesn’t matter now.

With single-minded determination, Kai took the blade, old, and a new helmet, then immediately headed to someone who he knows would understand.

10 minutes later, Kai was sitting at a booth in Chen’s Noodle House, venting out all his frustrations to Skylor, who, bless her, had offered him free noodles as he spilled out his feelings. Of course, Kai didn’t feel much better after doing so, but at least he felt like he wasn’t suffocating anymore. Just as Kai was summarising his rant, incomes Nya, proclaiming something about how Skylor was the mysterious and new Samurai X. Kai’s stomach suddenly started to churn and he gulped. He had to break the news that their parents were still alive to Nya. And whilst that was mean, what Kai learned throughout his years as being a Ninja that being honest with your teammates was the difference between life and death. Funny, he remembered a weird dream that was focused on this exact point. But Kai didn’t have time to reminisce now. All he could do was think of ways of breaking the news to Nya.

Too soon, Kai Smith, no not Smith, Kai had to think of a better surname after this was all over. Anyways, their team has decided upon infiltrating Krux and Acronix’s secret base, which also meant that they will find his traitorous father. Instantly, he felt a searing hot pain radiate from within his ribcage. teeth clenched, fists tightened, he and Nya arrived at the swamp.

He had a single-minded focus on finding his parents and nothing could stop him.

“Kai, I don’t see anything. Give me the map,” Nya whispered. “Hmmm, what even makes you think that Acronix and Krux will be around here?”

“I honestly don’t even care if they are,” Kai said noncommittally and looked around his surroundings. In the distance, he saw a building, right where the blacksmith shop was situated on the map. Heart pounding, he raced up the planks leading up the shop.

Kai was in too deep to stop now, to have second thoughts. Seeing his father’s blacksmith symbol on the door, builds up his resolve to kick the door open.

“I knew it!” anger, like how lava flows down a volcano, seeped into his bones as his father stared at him like he was some kind of stranger. In all fairness, he was. Because what kind of ‘father’ was Ray Smith for abandoning Nya, for abandoning him, all those years ago?

“Who are you? What do you want?” Those words cut deeply into Kai’s heart, etching all kinds of feelings that Kai couldn’t process. Because all he could see. Was red.

“I WANT JUSTICE!” With a war cry, Kai drew out the double-edged blade that his father had watched. But this time, he wasn’t fighting to disarm, to defeat, or to stun. He was fighting to kill.

Running towards the blacksmith, Kai jumped to plunge the blade into his father’s chest, only for him to dodge, Raising another strike, he missed and hit the edge of the forge. Spinning around, his next shot was parried by his father.

Blocked by his father again, Kai gave his old man a chance to explain himself. But what was said was, “You’re red like a Vermillion Warrior. But you’re no snake.”

“No, I’m not, BUT YOU ARE! TRAITOR!!” Kai broke out of his father’s block, spinning the weapon before clashing it with his father’s hammer again. His next few strikes were dodged and a kick sent Kai sprawling over the anvil. Getting up again, Kai swung the weapon wildly, getting dodged before being thrown back by a well-timed shot from his father.

“You messed with the wrong blacksmith, my friend,” Ray said, standing over Kai’s body. hearing those words sent a hot shot of seething fire down to his free palm. Building up a fire in his hand, Kai stood up and spun the double-edged blade.

“Fire power…” Ray thought out loud. Shocked, he could only get out of the way as Kai threw a fireball at him.

“No… you’re certainly not a guard. You’re… my son!” Hearing those words made Kai pause. He didn’t know why, he just couldn’t move. Too many emotions were battling in him, and he could only focus on his father’s next few words.

“Kai! You’ve inherited my elemental power!” his father had actually said that. In joy. Suddenly, his fire was rekindled.

“That’s the only thing I’ll ever inherit from you!” Kai started to move, to continue the fight when suddenly his baby sister screamed for him to stop from the front door.

“He’s a traitor!” Kai explained through gritted teeth.

“He’s still our father,” Nya begged Kai to reconsider.

“Whatever it is you think, I can explain-“

“Yeah… BET YOU CAN!” Kai threw back his left hand, ready to unleash another fireball at his father when a jet of water put his element out.

“Kai, let him speak!” Nya pleaded. “There’s no harm in hearing him out!”

Kai then moved to throw the double-edged blade at his father, who had dodged out of the way. sensing that Nya would just put out his fire again, Kai pounced on his father and dragged him hip by the collar of his clothes, and began to wrestle with him.

“It ends here! NOW!” Overpowering his father, he managed the wrench his left hand free, and pulled it back into a punch.

“Kai, you don’t know what you’re doing!” “I DO NYA! I ABSOLUTELY-“ “I’m not your sister, son.”

Kai suddenly stopped. His mother… was alive?!

“Huh? M-mom? I-I don’t believe it!” Kai released whatever he was holding as he turned around, trembling.

“That makes the 2 of us,” Maya stated sweetly, and suddenly all the memories that Kai had been oppressing came back- he could see the woman who cared for him, hear the lullabies she used to sing Nya to sleep, smell the floral shampoo and scent of mountain springs that hung around her. He remembers the taste of the food that she had made, and the warm, slender hands that held his own. As Kai watched his mother fuss over his baby sister, his resolve to fight, to seek revenger, crumbled away into pieces.

Removing his hood, he threw his arms around his mother, still smelling the scent of mountain springs, feeling the her skin, folded and cut in several areas, but still warm and firm.

But suddenly, he remembered the snake helmets and of Sensei Wu, and immediately pushed her back.

“Why, she’s as guilty as he is! They’ve been helping Acronix and Krux for years!” Kai seethed. “They’re the enemy!”

“Is that what you think?” Maya reproached. “We are not your enemy.”

“Then how do you explain this?” Kai took up the vermillion warrior’s helmet and showed his father’s symbol to his biological family. “Dad’s blacksmith stamp on every piece of Vermillion armour!”

“They forced us to work for them! Part of their revenge…” Maya rebutted.

“For what?”

“For creating the time blades,” Ray shook his head and creased his forehead. “It goes back a long tie, then Acronis and Krux were still Elemental Masters.”

Ray recounted how Wu had asked them to forge blades made of a chronosteel, a sort of metal that suctions your elemental powers away permanently if you used them to their true potential on the metal.

“We had worked for days and nights. At the end of it all, we were so exhausted, that we could not participate in the fight. But Wu had told us the results of the fights, about how he and Garmadon had sent the Time Twins and the Time Blades into a Time Vortex, essentially having them lost to time.”

“Yet, immediately after the portal has closed, Krux had gotten away. And he had gotten a glimpse of the Blimp too. He now knew that his brother was being sent to the future without him.”

“Now, he had decades to scheme and plan. He adopted the persona of the kindly Dr. Sanders Saunders. He had begun making the first batches of Vermillion out of the Great Devourer’s eggs. And his army would need weapons. Armour. Vehicles.

“So he went looking for us, and we had built a cordial relation with the old man.”

“One day, he suddenly revealed his true colours and held you two at sword point, stating that if we did not cooperate, he would not hesitate to kill you,” Maya said, eyes glistening with tears. “What could we have done?”

Kai didn’t know how to react. He stood there shell-shocked. His parents.. they weren’t traitors after all? The fire of anger fizzled out. “Okay, but what about the stamp?”

“I stamped every piece of my work, hoping that one day, someone would figure it out,” Kai’s father admitted. “So that together, we can stop Krux and Acronix’s plan.”

“What is their plan?” Nya asked. Ray shook his head and creased his eyebrows in fear. “To control all of time.”

That revelation shocked Kai into speaking again. He looked at his father, bruised, dirtied, and tired from their fight before. The feeling of guilt bubbled in his stomach, and Kai had to immediately right the wrongs.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Kai began, wincing internally at his bad apology. But Nya- blessed Nya, had saved him by asking about Krux and Acronix’s plan to control all of time.

“They made me design the Iron Doom, a machine capable of transporting the Vermillion warriors through time,” Ray explained, rolling out a blueprint of the iron doom.

“So you built a Time Machine?” Kai asked incredulously. Ray huffed. “No, just the shell. I’m afraid the Time Machines are bit out of my skill set.”

“But Cyrus Borg was forced to design a power source capable of powering the machine by using temporal energy from the Time Blades,” Maya said whilst rolling out another piece of blueprint next to Ray’s this time of some sort of machine.

“Oh no! That must mean that the pause we felt earlier… that must mean that there are 3 blades in the present!” Nya exclaimed. Kai thought out loud that if Krux and Acronix got the blade, there will be only one left. “And if they get that, their time traveling mega armour will be fully operational!”

Kai stared dumbfoundedly at the smile shared between his parents. “Sorry, full operational is… good news?” Man, if his parents could just pick a side already!

“They’ll never get it,” Ray said with a smile. “Master Wu found it shortly after Acronix disappeared. Turns out it had the power to reverse time. Wu knew it was too dangerous to keep, so we hid it, buried deep in a location where only a combined elemental power of Fire and Water can reach.”

“And since you inherited our powers-“ Kai’s mother gasped sharply. “You must leave. Now!”

Ray looked downright alarmed. “You’re right. If Krux and Acronix knew you were here, they could-“

At this moment, the door burst open and time stood still.

“Could force you to retrieve the Time Blade for us? Excellent suggestion,” Krux said with a menacing smile.

“No way! We’ll never retrieve the Reversal Blade for you!” “You tell him, brother!”

“You will! Or your parents will face the same fate that they tried to protect you from.” Krux countered, his smile stretching impossibly wider.

“We’re done serving you, Krux. Bring your worst!” Ray shouted, charging towards the Time Twins. Kai watched in horror as Krux used the Pause blade to stop his father’s momentum immediately, before giving him a hard kick in the gut.

“DAD!” Kai shouted, watching his father still frozen in place, bouncing on the hard floor.

“Look what I found,” drawled the voice of Commander Machia, wheeling in-

“Master!” “Wu!’

“You know, it occurs to me that the Reversal Blade is the only way to undo Wu’s Time Punch.” Acronix grinned.

“I…I’m afraid that’s true,” Kai’s father said, having gotten out of the pause effect.

“If you want to save your master, you’ll have to retrieve the 4th blade.” Krux walked even closer to Kai, before snatching away the double-edged blade. “And I’ll take that.”

Lightning flashed over the skies, creeping in tendrils and thunder boomed, rocking the ship. Kai and his family were stuck on a ship, not able to help his other family back at the swamp to fight off a whole swamp’s worth of snakes! And to top it all off, he had to retrieve the 4th Time Blade for the Twins, directly enabling Krux and Acronix’s plan!

Kai felt anger in the many hot drops of rain the fell onto his skin. But he couldn’t afford to lose himself here, he and Nya would have to work together, get past all the challenges and get the time blade, save Wu and get out of here!

Yet, once he and Nya had returned to the ship, the blade was immediately knocked out of his hands and his father took another Time Punch. Just as he was about the throw hands with the Time Twins, he was hit with a jet of brilliant red light, trapping him a Pause as he could only see the ship moving away from underneath him. They barely had the time to pull up their fusion dragon before heading back to the swamp.

Upon their arrival, they saw the Time Twins enter a temporal vortex. They had to follow them. There was no other choice.

A long, tiring battle in the past 40 years ago had taken its toll on Kai and Nya. They had managed to reverse the Time Punch on Master Wu (though Kai wonders if maybe Nya used a bit too much) and they had managed to drive Acronix and Krux back into the Temporal Vortex, this time actually sneaking aboard the ship and trying to remove the Time Blades from the engine of the Iron Doom.

Unfortunately for Kai, he just couldn’t lift the Reversal Blade, but Sensei Wu had. Throwing the Time Blade to him, Kai almost didn’t register Wu telling them to use the blade of Ray before throwing both of them out of the time stream and back into the present.

After had used the time blade on his father, Kai and Nya were tasked with Master Lloyd’s command to return the Reversal Blade to its place in the Boiling Sea. Of course, Kai had complied, adrenaline still fuelling his body. And yet when all was said and done, Kai collapsed upon reaching the Temple of Airjitzu.

The days after Kai and Nya returned to the present without Sensei Wu were some of the worst. Kai felt like he was over bursting with emotions. Guilt, grief, and anger clouded his mind over the loss of Wu. Joy, confusion, and deep-seated anger clouded his heart over his parents. Kai didn’t know how to deal with everything. He couldn’t really talk with his previous confidence, he couldn’t move without double guessing himself, and his decision-making skills were in pieces, grounded into a fine dust.

Does he reconnect with his family or not? What could he do the aid the search of Sensei Wu? Are Nya and Lloyd doing alright? Cole seems to be the hardest hit out of all of them, maybe he should go check on him?

Lying on his bed in the Temple of Airjitzu, Kai couldn’t muster his strength to well, do anything! He just needed some time to just… process, everything that had happened in the past month. His parents, of course, had given him some space, and just said that when he’s ready to contact them. Kai thinks that they also didn’t know how to deal with his situation and just took a cop-out. Or maybe they just wanted to breathe fresh, non-swamp-sewer air and tour Ninjago after being in captivity in 10 years. Honestly, who knows?

Lloyd had walked in and provided a brief source of relief for Kai, but too soon had he walked away, going back to his training. Kai saw his baby brother’s eyes sporadically turn green, infused with his element, in just 3 days. Kai would have joined him too, doing whatever hellish program he had set up for himself, if he wasn’t just ambushed by his feelings whenever he tries to get up, wondering if that was even the right choice. He certainly felt that it was his fault that he lost Sensei Wu, and now his kid brother had trained so hard that his eyes became green just to find Sensei again.

Nya was dealing with her own reconciliation with his parents and sometimes offered Kai a shoulder to cry on. Mostly, she was by herself, as Jay had told Kai to ease his worry. Still, his worry for Nya is topped only by his worry about the future.

Cole had also been hit hard by the loss of Sensei Wu and was shutting himself in. Zane was still trying to spend time looking for Pixal throughout the Bounty and any of our other bases of operations, trying to tracer her down.

That left Jay, who really, was as much of a help as a hindrance to Kai. Hanging out with Jay meant that Kai soon developed a terrible sense of humour, an arsenal of horrible puns, and way too many prank ideas. Jay had made sure that everyone was fed, watered, and in some cases- slept. Of course, being the responsible one for once meant that Jay had to bully his most stubborn teammates into taking a break, or having some food.

“MOOOORRRRNNIIIIIINNG!” Kai was once again woken up by Jay’s terrible screeching. Turning to face the wall, Kai pushed a pillow on top of him just so he could remain in the land of sleeping for longer. No such luck.

“KAAAIIIIII! GET UP!” Jay, screamed as the door to his room flung open. Aw man here we go again, Kai grumbled to himself.

“So what would you like to have this morning? Eggs and bacey? Toast with jam? How about-“

“How about you shut up and leave me alone!” Kai shouted, irritated by the perky tone that Jay has adopted. Watching Jay’s smile become less bright and more forced, Kai couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Sitting up and rubbing the base of his neck, Kai apologised for his outburst. “Sorry, Jay- it’s just that I need some time, alone.”

Jay nodded solemnly, before sitting down at the edge of his bed. Kai watched as Jay took a deep breath before saying his piece.

“I know Kai, but… Nya… she needs you. You have got to fix your relationship with your parents, or at least start on the first step. I’m going to be honest: I’m not good with people like you are. I don’t know how to get Lloyd to rest, because he’s going to break his body this way. Don’t get me started on Cole, who won’t open up to me at all. And I can’t out logic Zane. He keeps saying that since he’s a robot, he doesn’t need rest as we humans do.”

Kai stayed silent for a while, mulling over Jay’s words. Truth is, if he could, he would have done so already. What did Jay know about these kinds of relationships, anyways? In fact, when compared to everyone else on the team, Jay has the best relationship with his parents. So what was the point of this? Kai felt his hands curl up into a fist, bunching his bedsheets. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he breathed out to calm himself down before he could impulsively do something he’d regret.

“No can do, Jaybird. I don’t even know where to start,” Kai said regretfully. Kai honestly expected for Jay to slink out of his room, to go pester Nya to try or to get Lloyd to see sense, or to even get his best buddy to open up about his troubles. Kai did not think that Jay seemed to double down, taking several huge gulps of air, and one the edge of hyperventilation. He saw Jay’s hands tighten into fists before he spoke in a trembling voice.

“Kai… did is something that I really, really don’t want to share. It’s something that I keep wanting to erase out of my memories. But I can’t, because no matter how much I try to see it as just a prank- it’s the truth. I’m… adopted,” Jay finished in a hushed whisper. Immediately, Kai sat up straighter. He hadn’t heard this before. “Please, please, keep this a secret, Kai.”

“…so, when did you find out?” Kai whispered back.

“It was at the height of our popularity craze right after stix. A letter had come in, about how my father had died. Immediately, I went off to my Ma and Pa’s scrapyard, but it turns out that I had been adopted, and that my biological father was… Cliff Gordon,” Jay’s teeth had begun shuddering as tears came leaking out of his eyes.

“Oh,” That’s all Kai could really say. I mean, how were you going to reply to that?

“Of course, I felt all sorts of different emotions at first. Relief that my Pa didn’t die, confusion at why I was abandoned on my parent’s doorstep, realisation why neither of my parents had elemental powers, and eventually gratitude because my biological father had written me into his will.”

“But Kai, you don’t just easily forget the feeling when you thought that your parents died. I’m sure that if Cole was himself right now, he would have knocked some sense into you.” Jay stated with a small smile. “Our lives as Ninja are really, really dangerous. Yesterday, we lost Sensei Wu. Tomorrow… well, let’s just say that as a Ninja, you have to cherish time with your loved ones. Don’t put off tomorrow what can be done today.”

And Kai seriously was lost for words. Jay was… 100% right. There were no faults, no counterarguments. Danger was a Ninja’s job description, and too soon he could leave this realm without patching things up with his parents- his parents had almost done so too when his father had been struck by the Forward blade. If he couldn’t do it for himself, and his parents- well, he could do it for Nya’s sake.

Suddenly energised, Kai stood up.

“Thank you, Jay.”

And off he went to call his parents, checking in on them, holding a conversation that had a semblance of normality. They had talked about safe topics, about interesting areas Ray and Maya had visited, about Kai and Nya’s adventures, and about Kai’s team, Sensei Wu- anything, really.

Tears of joy fell down his cheeks before he decided to barge into Nya’s room, throwing open her curtains and rousing her from her slumber.

Because now, they had a chance. They could reconcile.

And then they can find Sensei Wu.

- Kai - It was their first machine in 6 months, and Kai had managed to lose his powers. Again. This time, however, the warmth and fiery spirit that Kai could always cling to were gone as well. He had always felt utterly powerless without his fire. But without his anger? Kai was more than useless. He couldn’t even defend the civilians from the fire snakes, because he was out of shape as well and had to rely on Jay to save him. Jay!

Severely discouraged by this fact, he told his team to just ‘go ahead without him'. He would not be of any help to them anyways. He would only add more onto their already full plate as they would have to focus on defending him too.

Slumping next to an overturned car, Kai hid his face in his hands. What if he never gets his powers back? Would they hate him? Forget him? Maybe he could become The Red Shogun again, maybe pilot a mech as Pixal does.

Kai’s jumbled thoughts were interrupted by a kid (seriously, how many disasters have Ninjago faced to let people carry on their normal lives whilst it’s raining fireballs?) handing him a journal, stating that Kai was his favourite Ninja and could he please, please sign his notebook?

“Sorry kid,” Kai huffed out. “I’m not really a ninja without my powers.”

“Well then, why don’t you go help your teammates?” The kid, Max asked.

“Because, I’m useless, that’s why!”

“Well- if you don’t help the ninja, I will!” And with that, Max stormed away and started to head for the scene of danger. Kai called out to him futile to come back and resigned himself to his fate. Picking up the notebook, Kai saw a cartoonish sticker of him in his ninja mask at the front, before coming to an epiphany.

His teammates didn’t like him for just his fire. Nor did the Ninjago citizens. He carried everyone’s hopes and dreams on his back and he can’t just turn around now and leave him to face the enemy alone!

What was he thinking?

Immediately, Kai rushed down the street to the Ninjago Museum of ancient artifacts.

Kai didn’t always have to run red hot. He didn’t need to perpetually be angry. Sometimes, it’s okay to mellow out. But now is not the time. Now, he has to save his family from one crazy snake lady who was fuelled only by revenge.

Kai couldn’t just be fuelled by his anger. Facing off with Aspheera taught him that. Being angry all the time was exhausting when he inevitably turned off the switch. Anger clouded his thoughts, made errs in his judgment, caused him to be impatient- all whilst ignoring the important parts of his life- his family. And from now on, Kai would only tap into anger when it was absolutely necessary. What matters the most to him isn’t feeling invulnerable, like nothing could hurt him, especially if he was protecting his teammates. Rather, it was the job that Kai had to do. Emotions in battle are a tricky thing, but all the times he observed Lloyd setting aside his feelings for the greater good had made Kai realise that emotions can be easily goaded. Manipulate, by enemies such as Chen and Harumi.

In a life or death situation, Kai couldn’t just rely on his feelings. He had to embrace his moral code, the values that he holds dear, and act upon them, even though it may seem impossible at times. And he shouldn’t get frustrated with his team.

Kai may be angry, but the only time he’ll properly deal with his emotions will be when the battle is all over, and then he will learn how to compartmentalise, how to sort through his emotions. Maybe he’ll take up blacksmithing part-time again.

All Kai knew that was in this instance, he refused to let his life be ruled over uncontrollable feelings, mostly of rage. He was the master of his own emotions.

And nothing will stop him from helping out his team.

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yugirl · 3 years

Text

@gxmonth

Day 1: “Hero Signal”

We’re kicking things off with everyone’s favorite hero Judai/Jaden Yuki’s birthday! Show the fluffy boi some love!

((Well I won’t but the others will show some long over due love))

————-

Aster gasped for air before sighing in relief to see that everyone was ok “looks like we all survived our trials”

“Sure did…” Syrus muttered before looking around “where’s Dyspia and Jaden?!”

The woman in question cackled before emerging from the shadows with a very stunned Jaden in tow.

“Well done children... You’ve been very good... what did you think Jaden...?”

“You... you came to rescue me?”

Dyspia sighed “don’t you see Jaden... if your friends really hated you they would not have come running to your rescue... and as you can see, you don’t need to rely on Jaden for every little thing to help you... you’re all capable of helping yourselves...”

“H-how do you know about that?!” Jaden stammered.

Syrus was confused “Jaden... thought we hated him?”

“I-is this about the dark world?” Alexis finally caught on “w-we didn’t mean it!!”

“Look it doesn’t matter if you didn’t mean it or you were under Bronn’s influence. The bottom line is Jaden **believed** what you said. Why do you think he’s been avoiding you all this time. He thinks you want nothing to do with him”

They looked to see the Slifer Student’s face, hollow and empty with sorrow.

“J-Jaden!! I-I-“ Syrus stammered

“You’re the ones who trapped Jaden in this labyrinth of despair…” Dyspia smirked “I just made it visible for all to see…”

The shadows lingered around as the ominous voices turned into ones that were familiar.

Their own…

“You’re the reason I’m here in the first place!!”

“Guess we didn’t matter to you”

“I thought we were friends”

“You did this to me Jaden! It’s your fault!”

Everyone was so shocked, they barely noticed Jaden sinking into the floor of sludge in despair.

“My fault… it’s all my fault… I’m dangerous… I’m all alone…”

Syrus was crippled by guilt at first, but then he saw Jaden sinking. He had time to pity himself later, his dark self had slammed him for how much of a bad friend he was already.

Without a second thought he lunged for Jaden and held onto him. Trying to pull him out of the sludge.

“Jaden!! I can’t let you die like this but if you do take me with you!! It’s my fault that this happened!! You’ve done nothing but help me and raise me up but all I’ve ever done is drag you down or expect you to get over this… a-and when you went against Bronn and needed the me the most I wasn’t there for you!! All because I was wrapped up in my own cowardice and jealousy… I’m so sorry I let you down Jay… but I’m not going to do it any more… not matter what I’ll be here… by your side!!” He sobbed “so if this really is the end then I’ll be right here… holding on… by your side to the very end because that’s what true friends do…”

Syrus tried to pull Jaden out but despite his change of heart it wasn’t enough. He struggled, He tried, but Jaden’s heart was still so broken.

“Hang on Jay!!” Chumley appeared behind the Slifer slacker and tried to pull him up. “Come in Sy! On three!!… and three!!!” As they struggled to pull him out the koala man poured out his own heart.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you Jay! Distance and burying myself in my work is no excuse!! You helped me realise I’m worth so much more than I thought I was but I couldn’t help you when you were in the same position I was… depression hurts… it’s scary and you feel so alone and isolated… but you made me realise that it’s important to remember that friendship and bonds help you over come anything… so let me help you!! It’ll be hard and it’ll be long but I’m not giving up!! Just like you never gave up on me!!”

Suddenly another pair of arms joined the effort. “You better not die on me! You got that slacker!?”

Chazz teared up as the desperation broke his mask. “I know I’m terrible at opening up. But there were so many times when I was supposed to help you and I let you down!! Getting possessed by the light, becoming a duel ghoul, becoming Bronn’s sacrifice… and not once did you ever resent me for it!! So what makes you think some mind control would make me hate you!! You’re my best fucking friend Jaden!! Never forget that!! I can’t let you die!! You have to get out of this!! So I can be there for you like you always were for me!! I’m sorry I let you down!! I’m so so sorry!!!”

“Hang on Sarge!!” Hassleberry joined in, trying to pull Jaden out. “I need to apologise too!! Not just because of what I said at the duel with Bronn but because I always treated you weirdly about the duel spirits!! I thought you were crazy and that wasn’t fair!! I should’ve believed you from the beginning!! Before we went to the dark world!! I’m sorry for not being the friend you needed Sarge!!! But hang on!! We can get through this together!! Like we got through everything else!!”

Bastion wasn’t too far behind. “Jaden you can’t let this destroy you!! Please!!”

He held onto the other as tears ran down his cheeks “when I became the King of the Light I blamed you for it but that’s not fair!! It takes two to tango!! I’ve should’ve been stronger… I should’ve trusted you more instead of the light… you’re the first person who ever made me feel like I mattered and were so open to forgive me…. So of course I forgive you for the duel with Bronn!!! But I’m also sorry I wasn’t better support for you!! You needed me and I wasn’t there!!! I’m so sorry Jaden!! I won’t let you down again!!”

Alexis reached out as well “they’re right Jaden!! I’m so sorry I didn’t support you… I see how much my words affected you… even if I didn’t mean it that doesn’t matter, I hurt you and I can’t forgive that!! But you have to know we love you Jaden! All of us!! We love you so much and we want to help you… please believe in us”

Aster grabbed at Jaden’s jacket and tried to pull with the others “you better not die Jaden! We have been through too much to let you give in now!! I know I don’t show it but… thank you for always supporting me… you were there when I needed you and when I didn’t!! I’d be a terrible friend if I didn’t do the same for you…”

Zane and Atticus joined in too “it wasn’t fair for me to put the pressure of being the top duelist onto you Jaden, I cracked under the pressure so expecting you to handle it is just cruel!! But you’re so strong Jaden! Stronger than you know… I always believed in you so believe in yourself and us ok!?”

“Zanes right Jay! You’re so strong and because of that we relied on you too much but not anymore!! Now it’s your turn to rely on us! Got that Jay?”

Jim, Axel and Jesse watched on. Seeing these people pour their hearts out, showing how much they all loved this once person. How much those three loved him too.

They join in as well, The whole group working to pull Jaden out of the swamps of sadness. All telling this one person how much he meant to them… then… the floor stopped sinking….

Jaden snapped out of his stupor, looking at them all with tears in his eyes. “D-do I really mean that much to you?”

“Of course you do Jay…” Syrus sobbed, nuzzling his oldest friend with tears in his eyes. “We just didn’t show it until now… we thought it was obvious how much we loved you…”

“But now we’ll show it every day!” Alexis smiled softly and kissed his forehead in a maternal fashion. “We weren’t being fantastic friends before… but we’ll do better from here on out…”

“You’re a part of us Jaden” Axel nodded “always will be”

Jaden started shaking… and then a sob escaped his lips. The others let go only to hold onto him into a tight, loving group hug. Comforting him as best he could.

“I love you all too…” Jaden sobbed. “I love you all so much… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“We’re sorry too Jaden…” Chazz mumbled, rubbing circles on Jaden’s back.

Dyspia watched the group reconcile, a smirk gracing her black lips.

Mission accomplished…. Her work here was done.

#gxmonth2021 #yugioh #yugioh gx #jaden yuki #bastion misawa #chazz princeton #yuki judai #judai yuki #misawa daichi #yu-gi-oh!#chumley huffington #aster phoenix #zane truesdale #syrus truesdale #atticus rhodes #axel brodie #jim cook #jesse anderson #alexis rhodes

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fanficimagery · 5 years

Text

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner [Part 2 of 2]

Summary: Imagine being the “baby” of the group. Now imagine celebrating your 21st birthday with the squad.

Words: 3.5K Warnings: You guys peer pressured me into writing pt. 2! I swear I wasn’t going to write this, but well.. I had a little too much to drink New Year’s Eve and here you go. Sorry if it sucks. Sequels are never good.

Also.. this took an unexpected turn. I’m not even a sorry.

Days before your party was to take place that your friends have planned for you, David calls you over to his house. You have nothing better to do, so you stop by to pick up some Chipotle before making your way over. Then when you get there, you're in the middle of kicking off your shoes when Natalie takes the food from your hands and Josh Peck rounds the corner. You've met him a couple of times, but it still blows your mind every time he addresses you.

"Alright, Baby, you should know the drill by now." He pulls a blindfold from his back pocket and your stomach drops. His smile widens at your nervous expression.

"Nooo." You whine, backing up for every step Josh takes in your direction. "Fuck you guys." You can hear David laughing, his laughter only getting louder as he rounds the corner with his camera. "You are not putting a scaly reptile on me. No. Fuck you, David."

"Baby!" He laughs. "Come on. Everyone but you has done it."

"I'm not about to die! I thought you guys wanted to party," you then pout at him. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"Dammit, Baby, just put the blindfold on!" Zane shouts from the other room.

"God I hate you guys."

"Lies." Josh gleefully blindfolds you when he realizes you're not going to fight it anymore, and then he ends up behind you with his hands on your shoulders to guide you. "Cheer up. You're gonna love this."

"Yeah? Well I'd probably love it more if I wasn't blindfolded and paranoid about instant death."

Your friends all laugh and then Josh guides you someplace, stopping where they want you. They tell you all who is present- David, Natalie, Josh, Heath, Mariah, and Zane- and your anxiety only rises as you can hear gasping and shushed giggling.

"Okay so what you're going to do," David starts to explain, "is hold your arms out at your sides. Then we'll guide your arms from there."

"If I get bit or attacked or whatever, you're dead, Davie."

He giggles. "You're not going to get attacked."

"Well.."

You immediately wrap your arms around yourself, stepping back at the unfamiliar voice. "Nope. Not doing it. You heard Stranger Danger, there's a possibility that whatever you're surprising me with will attack me."

Everyone laughs, but then Mariah's soothing, trusting voice pipes up. "Come on, Baby. Trust me when I say there's nothing to worry about." She grabs your hands and spreads your arms out. "Now just breathe and let it happen."

You groan but then go as lax as you possibly can. One moment everything is good and then next small, thin arms are being placed around your neck. You immediately tense, fisting your hands tightly. "No, no, no. Fuck you guys. What is that?" A heavy weight then settles against your chest and stomach, and your friends grab your arms. "Get it off. David, get it off." Your friends start cackling.

"Baby." Heath chuckles. "Open your hands. You need to cradle it."

"Fuck off, Heath. You cradle it!" Someone snorts, but then they're prying your hands open and making you cradle whatever is hanging around your neck. "I'm gonna die. This is it. This is how I go out."

"If it bites you, you get to bite David," Natalie says, giggling.

"Hey!"

Whatever they've made you hold has really course hair and you're super uncomfortable. But then the blindfold comes off and after letting your eyes readjust to the room lighting, you look down into the face of.. a sloth.

"Oh my god." Your eyes immediately tear up. "Oh my god! This is- it's a-"

"Surprise!" David laughs. "We know you've always wanted to hold one, so.."

"Oh my god. I love it so much." You nuzzle the sloth with your nose, silently crying as your friends all laugh. The caretaker- whose name is apparently John- hand feeds the animal grape halves. "It's so cute."

"That is honestly the ugliest animal I've ever seen," Zane says, shaking his head.

"I honestly can't believe you're crying," Mariah says. "I knew you'd love it, but not this much."

"You're lucky this isn't a baby otter. I'd be a blubbering mess if it were."

"Dammit!" David remarks. "I knew I should have gone with the otter."

You smile, using one hand to support the sloth's bottom while you run your other hand up and down it's back. "If you get me one of those baby wrap carriers, we can strap the sloth to my chest and I'll walk around in public telling everyone who stares that it's inappropriate to stare at my really hairy baby and will likely make him grow up with insecurities."

David laughs, beaming. "Let's do it."

The day of your party, you're in the middle of an outfit crisis when Matt shows up and tosses a bag at you. "The boys voted and they do not want an outfit repeat of your actual birthday." You snort as the blonde chuckles. "So we all got together and put together an outfit for you."

"Oh no." You groan and start to dig through tissue paper in the bag. "You guys probably chose footie pajamas or something." Then pulling out a black long sleeve crop top and a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, you grin. "Oh. I can work with this."

He chuckles. "You're welcome." Matt then follows you into your room, he lounging on your bed as you gather undergarments for your shower. "Don't dawdle in there, Baby. We gotta be at David's in an hour."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

- X - X - X - X - X -

When you show up to David's, you let them go through with the show of blindfolding you and escorting you inside. The party is not a surprise, but David's viewers don't know that so you film it as if it were. But really, the surprise you show as your friends all pop black and gold confetti blasters when you enter the living room is genuine.

"Oh thank god," is the first thing Heath says when he hugs you. "I was nervous you wouldn't agree to our outfit and we'd have to slap Todd and Ilya upside the head all night for staring."

You laugh. "You boys really need to stop being overprotective."

"Never."

"What's going to happen when I decide to date?"

"We'll get Jeff to kick his ass."

"Shut up."

You make your rounds hugging every one of your friends in the room, letting David then lead you to the back yard. Three very attractive fire dancers greet you, they putting on a performance that leaves your jaw dropping open in awe.

"Here. Hold this. I wanna try," David says. He passes over his camera and asks for one of the large wooden batons, he then twirling the flaming stick almost expertly. Almost.

You video him, grinning. "Hey, Davie, stick to your day job and let the fire dancers have their baton back."

He laughs. "You're so mean to me, Baby."

"It's only because I adore you."

- X - X - X - X - X -

You take shots with everyone, you letting them serenade you with an awful rendition of Happy Birthday and then nurse a bottle of Corona with a wedge of lime shoved down the bottle's neck.

You grind with the girls, singing and laughing and letting them keep you hydrated in between all the alcohol the boys keep pushing on you.

Jeff and Todd take turns herding you into a corner when they catch you dancing with the opposite sex, David giggling as he records the guys standing on either side of you with their arms crossed over their chests while they stare down other males.

Soon enough you end up back at David's side, sipping some water and smiling tiredly at his camera.

"Having fun, Baby?"

"Duh." You hip check him. "I always have fun when you're involved."

David giggles and presses closer to you, he angling the camera so it catches the both of you. Then addressing his would-be viewers, he says, "So I know I already surprised Baby with a sloth, but there was another present that I just couldn't pass up when the opportunity presented itself."

"What? David, no! You've already done so much for me."

A familiar tune that you know all too well because it's by one of your favorite artists starts to play, but you don't pay it much mind. David, however, merely beams at you and points the camera directly in your face, and laughs with the tip of his tongue stuck between his teeth.

Familiar words are then sung, but you're too caught up in a staring competition. After a few more moments, your mind recognizes that the music doesn't sound like the album version. It sounds live.

"And all the kids cried out, please stop you're scaring me. I can't help this awful energy. Goddamn right you should be scared of me. Who is in control?"

Your brow furrows and then widen, and your head turns so fast that David cackles. "DAVID!" You then whip around to stare at your friend. "Fuckin' Halsey?! What the fuck!?"

"Surprise! Happy birthday, Baby." Your expression crumples and he laughs some more. "Don't cry!"

"Shut up, you asshole. This is all your fault." You step closer to him, shoving your face into the side of his neck as your arms wrap around his waist in a hug. "You're seriously the best, bub."

"I know. Now go have fun. Mariah looks seconds away from having an aneurysm. No one, other than Natalie, knew I got Halsey to come here."

Stepping away from him, you sniffle some as your teary eyes meet his. "I adore you, Dobrik. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"I adore you too."

David watches as Baby joins the crowd, singing along with Halsey and just enjoying her time. As he records from afar and looks for any of his friends acting like fools, Jason sidles up to him.

"Halsey, huh? So when are you going to tell Baby you're in love with her?"

"What?! I'm not.. in love with Baby." David looks at Jason, hands holding his camera to his chest. At his best friend's expression, David's smile falters. "Come on, man. It's Baby. I'm not about to ruin anything between us."

Jason shakes his head. "How do you know it'll end up in ruins? Baby could be the one you're with for a very long time."

David shrugs. "It's Baby. None of us are good enough for her."

Jason watches as his young friend looks back out at the girl he obviously adores, he sighing and clamping down on David's shoulder. "For what it's worth, she looks at you the same way you look at her. You never know how something will pan out unless you give it a try."

As Jason walks away, David stares one last time at Baby before moving on to film the boys. There's just no way he can chance what he has with Baby.

But that doesn't mean his friends won't do it for them.

A few days later and it feels like you're still recovering from your party. David has surprisingly uploaded the video of your sloth surprise and the party, and you can't believe how many times he caught you saying fight me, you little bitch every time someone attempted to take your drink away or annoyed you. Natalie, Ilya, and Jonah were the unlucky three, they being the ones you attempted to fight when you weren't occupied by someone else.

It's nearing ten in the morning when your phone dings with an email, and since you're in between jobs and waiting to hear back from a few places, you immediately open it. Only the email is from Natalie and you're confused as to why she's emailing you instead of texting.

[Hey Baby, attached is some unedited video footage I thought you should see. David might actually kill me, but then again he might thank me. Both of you will. Text me when you're done.]

Clicking on the link attached, you watched the footage Natalie thought so important for you to see. It's of your party and the moment David surprised you with Halsey. You have to pause the video when the adoration shining in David's eyes catches you off guard, and you spend a couple of minutes just thinking what if. Your crush on David had completely caught you off guard and you blame those damn diamond studs he pierced his ears with on Black Friday. But David is David and you're you, and there's no possible way you can ruin that.

Hitting play on the video, you watch the rest in shocked silence. David zooming in on your ecstatic expression, Jason coming up to him and claiming David being in love with you, and David not denying it.

"Holy shit." Exiting out of the video, you bring up your texting app and create a new group chat. Heart now hammering, you text out a 911 to Natalie, Corinna, Mariah, Kristen, Carly, Erin, and Suzy. You tell them to meet you at a local cafe where they serve some great brunch and then hurriedly throw on some clothes nearly suitable for public.

You need to talk about this video clip as soon as possible.

- X - X - X - X - X -

Sitting in the cafe with an iced coffee and a half eaten breakfast sandwich, you anxiously await the arrival of your girls. Natalie is the first to get there, she grinning knowingly as she goes to place her own order before taking a seat at the table with you.

Carly, Erin, and Suzy all show up together, followed by Corinna, then Mariah and Kristen. The girls are all eager to know what's going on, but Natalie takes charge and tells them to order what they're going to order before getting down to business.

So while the girls all settle down, you sit there with your right knee bouncing anxiously under the table and front teeth clamped down on the straw of your drink.

"Okay so what's going on?" Kristen wonders.

Natalie smirks as everyone slowly digs into their brunch and you can't help the following words that leave your mouth. "I'm in love with David."

Corinna swallows wrong and chokes on her bite of food, and Suzy cackles at the following that takes place.

"I knew it!" Mariah points a finger at Natalie. "Didn't I tell you?"

Carly and Erin exchange money, Carly clearly the victorious one in whatever bet they had going on.

"What the hell brought this on?" Corinna finally asks, sipping on her orange juice.

"It's all Natalie's fault!" You then blurt. As all gazes dart to your friend, you slump in your seat with a small sigh. "She sent me a video clip that David cut out from the final product of his latest vlog. Jason confronts him about telling me he's in love with me and David- well he doesn't deny his feelings."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Mariah asks.

You shrug. "I don't know! On one hand I kind of want someone to tell David I like him and see if he makes a move, but on the other I agree with David. Why ruin what we already have by trying for something more?"

Erin smiles sadly. "I get that you're scared, but what if by being scared you're ruining any chance of happiness with David? We're young, Baby. This is the time to fall in love, make mistakes, and fall in love again. But who knows, maybe falling in love with David isn't a mistake? Give him a chance, Baby. I think I speak on behalf of everyone here when I say we're rooting for you."

"Do it, Baby," Corinna says. "It's about time that boy gets some action."

This time it's your turn to choke and the girls all laugh at your misfortune. "I hate you." Then looking at Natalie, you ask, "Was anyone else at the house?"

"Nope. David was just lounging in his room and going through footage for his second channel."

"Okay. Okay," you then say again after taking a moment to think. "Everyone steer clear of David's. I think me and him need to have a chat."

- X - X - X - X - X -

Showing up to David's with some In-N-Out, you call out for him once you enter and kick off your shoes.

"In my room!"

You nervously make your way towards David's bed, smiling when you see him sitting up against the headboard and his laptop cushioned on his lap. "I bring good food."

His own smile brightens as he sets his laptop aside, he making grabby hands for the bag in your hand. "You are the best, Baby."

"Duh. Now make some room. We need to talk."

"Uh oh. This sounds serious."

"It is," you chuckle. "Somewhat. Don't worry, bub. You're not in trouble."

"Oh. Okay then."

As you plop down on the empty side of David's bed, you pull one of his pillows into your lap and take your phone out of your back pocket. David digs into his food and you bring up the video Natalie had sent you.

"So what'd you want to talk about?" He asks after eating half his burger.

"Now don't get mad or shut me out," you start, anxiously biting the bottom corner of your lip, "but I kind of want to talk about this." You hit play on your phone and watch David's expression slowly fall as he realizes what you have.

"Baby," he sighs. "I can explain."

"It seems our friends really want us together." David cleans his hands off on a napkin as you then admit, "You do know Natalie wouldn't have showed me this unless my feelings were mutual. Right?"

"Natalie is- wait, what?"

David's head whips in your direction, gaze darting over your expression for any sign of deceit. "Apparently we both suck at hiding our feelings if our friends were able to figure it out and push us towards each other. Carly and Erin even had a bet going."

He laughs. "Goddammit."

"This is really awkward for me, in case you can't tell," you say, nervously plucking at invisible lent on his pillow. "I'm terrible at admitting my feelings and talking about them, but yeah. I like you too. A lot."

"Baby-"

"And it's all because of those damn earrings you put in your ears on Black Friday. I was fine being your friend and then BAM! You get your ears pierced and I'm suddenly wanting to climb you like a-"

"Baby!" David laughs some more, startling you. "You're rambling."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It's really adorable."

When you meet his gaze, you can't help but blush under his adoring stare. You groan, chuckling, and scoot down in his bed until you're flat on your back and pulling the blanket over your face. "God why am I so awkward?"

"Hey, we're both awkward." You can feel David shifting, he maneuvering himself so he's laid out beside you, supporting his weight on one elbow as he slightly leans over you. Then pulling the blanket off your face, he says, "We can be awkward together. That is if you want."

You stare up at him, gaze darting over every inch of his face. His smile falters, but you reach up and gently brush his hair out of his eyes. "I kind of really want," you tell him. "Promise that if things don't pan out, we'll still be friends?"

"We'll always be friends, Baby," he muses. "Always. Now can I at least kiss you before you start talking about us not working out?"

You laughing sets off David laughing, and you have no idea where the sudden burst of confidence comes from that has you leaning up and pressing your lips against his. All talking ceases and your heart swells when David pushes you down onto the bed in order to lean further over you.

Then after a few moments of testing the waters, he pulls back and gulps. "I think we can work with this."

"Mhm. Definitely." You agree. David snorts and you gently push him away. "Now finish your food so we can nap. I woke up early and then had one hell of a morning, and I kind of just want to cuddle you."

He mockingly gasps. "What will the others think?"

"Screw the others," you huff. "I'm pretty sure the girls all texted the boys by now, but I told the girls to steer clear of the house. Lets get as much sleep as we can before the boys show up and grill you about corrupting me."

Expression slowly crumpling, David collapses on the bed next to you. "Fuck. They're going to have a field day with this."

"Yep." Snuggling down, you pull the blanket up to your chin and close your eyes.

"Is it too late to book a flight somewhere and just enjoy us before they start messing with me?"

You giggle. "Buck up, bub. It won't be so bad."

#fanficimagery #imagine #vlog squad x reader #vlog squad imagine #vlog squad #david dobrik x reader #david dobrik imagine #david dobrik #matt king #jason nash #natalie mariduena #corinna kopf #mariah amato #erin gilfoy #carly incontro #kristen mcatee #suzy antonyan

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sibillascribbles08 · 3 years

Text

Who’s the Golden Master Now?

More changeling AU where stuff actually gets crazy

It was too quiet.

Lloyd stood in the middle of the city, his father and Kai by his side. The rest of the team had gone about trying to evacuate anyone, preparing for the Overlord’s assault.

But nothing happened.

Eventually with the lack of activity, Jay and Cole went to slip into the tower to see if they could find anything. Lloyd hated standing by, but someone had to be out here to interfere if their enemies showed up.

But it was still nothing. Not even any droids trying to launch an attack. The lack of citizens made the streets so quiet Lloyd almost wanted to panic from the silence.

His father must have sensed it, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Patience, son, we can’t act without any information.”

“I know.” Lloyd sighed. “But this is weird. It’s too weird.”

His stress wasn’t aided by his concern over Cryptor, despite what the rest of the team thought. Pixal said he could be fixed, but they didn’t have the time or resources right now, so the droid remained unconscious back at Nya’s Samurai X base.

Lloyd couldn’t pinpoint why he was worried, but he at least knew he couldn’t treat Cryptor like an enemy. Maybe it’s because he related to it. He and his father both aided the enemy in the past, and both of them turned away from it. It wasn’t impossible for Cryptor to decide to do the same.

Why couldn’t the rest of the team give him the chance.

The roar of an engine brought him out of his thoughts. He got into a defensive position before Jay’s roadster came into view. The blue ninja spun it onto the street before parking in front of them. The hatch opened, him and Cole both popping up.

“You guys will not believe what we found.” Jay laughed, but he also sounded worried.

Before Lloyd could ask, Cole reached into the vehicle to pull something out of it. In his solid grip was Pythor, the serpentine’s arms tightly bound together. The snake hissed and even tried to bite Cole before he was tossed onto the ground.

“He was trying to run for it.” Jay hopped out, lightning at the ready when Pythor tried to move.

“But why?” Garmadon pointed his staff at the serpentine. “Speak.”

Pythor scoffed before glancing at everyone. He must have decided he was outnumbered and cleared his throat. “Listen, I don’t want any trouble anymore. Just let me go.”

“We’ll let you go when we have answers.” Kai’s hands lit up. “Where’s The Overlord? Where’s Zane?”

The serpentine shivered. “I don’t know why you want your friend back in the first place.” He spat. “He’s utterly mad.”

“Explain.” Lloyd emphasized. “Tell us what happened.”

“Fine.” Pythor rolled his eyes. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

----

Soon. Soon enough the Overlord would claim the golden armor they forged and their assault on the city could begin. Pythor’s revenge was in reach.

All the nindroids were lined up. The armor arrived on a cart, since none of the droids could touch it, and it waited for the Overlord to arrive.

Sadly, in his state, he refused to let the others see him. The army was dismissed, save for Cryptor who refused to leave. Pythor was tempted to argue with him, but something about the droid unnerved him.

Finally the doors opened. The Overlord walked in, can in hand. His form still wasn’t completely solid, dark matter oozing off him with the same consistency of honey or oil. Pythor kept those thoughts to himself.

“Finally.” The Overlord’s voice still came out as a hiss and a croak. “The golden power is mine. Soon the city will be mine. Then the world.”

Pythor tapped his fingers together, trying to his his green. The Overlord reached out to the armor--

Clang.

Pythor blinked at the sound, seeing the black armored hand contrasting with the shining gold. He followed it up to Cryptor who stared forward, looking smug.

“Sorry.” The nindroid said. “But I decided against that.”

“What?” Pythor and the Overlord growled at the same time.

“Have you lost it, you bucket of bolts?” Pythor continued. “Need I remind you yet again that you can be reprogrammed.”

“Then try it.” Cryptor narrowed his eyes. “Without the Overlord in the digiverse you’re going to have a tougher time with that, right?”

Pythor opened his mouth but couldn’t find an argument fast enough.

“I thought about it.” Cryptor picked up a piece of the armor, tapping it against his face. “See, after switching bodies my head was so muddled, but it cleared up a lot after you got booted from the system.”

Switch bodies? What was he talking about?

“And I learned about the plan to find this stuff.” Cryptor gestured to the armor. “And how could I pass the opportunity for that upgrade?”

“Explain yourself.” Pythor snapped. “What do you mean ‘switch bodies?’”

“What, you haven’t figured it out?” Cryptor lowered the bottom part of his mask so they could see him smirk. “Did that other nindroid constantly insisting he was your general after the power plant got shut down not tip you off?”

Pythor flinched. “What? You mean he was telling you the truth? That’s--”

“‘Preposterous?’ Hardly. A simple switch of the harddrive when his guard is down.”

“Then you’re--”

“Zane!” The nindroid kept interrupting. “Or am I even him, I wonder.”

The Overlord growled. “Stop this nonsense. Get your hands off my armor. How are you even touching it?”

“What are you going to do about it?” Cryptor--no, Zane--tilted his head. “Going to fight me? I’d like to see you both try.”

Pythor still lunged, having faith in his strength. Zane’s grip around the piece of gold tightened before he held out his other hand. Lightning flew from his fingers, sending Pythor flying backwards. The static ran under his scales and he clutched his head to try and focus.

“How are you doing that?” The Overlord shouted. “Mere pawns like you shouldn’t be able to touch it, much less use it.”

Zane shrugged, picking up more of it. “I don’t know, nor do I care. Anything for a better upgrade, right?”

One more piece of armor and the nindroid started to glow, gold light coming off him in waves. Pythor thought he was done for, that in moments his body would turn to dust and their plan could continue.

Instead the armor warped, as if it was melting once again. It wrapped around Zane’s right arm, completely encasing it. Some of it wrapped around his chest and face like spider legs.

The Overlord roared and lashed out, his hand morphing into claws like he wanted to pry the armor off of the nindroid.

Zane caught his wrist. Golden light exploded. Pythor could only cover his eyes.

When he opened them again, the Overlord was gone. Only his cane sat on the ground.

“Well that’s a nuisance taken care of.” Zane dusted his gi off. “You’re not going to kick up a fuss, are you?” He looked at Pythor.

Pythor just shook his head, still at a loss for words.

“Good, then I’m out of here. Taking the rest of the nindroids with me. They’re wasting their time on your stupid little plans.” Zane headed toward the door.

“And what are your plans?” Pythor finally stuttered out. “Weren’t you supposed to be one of the heroes?”

“Why do you care? Do you want in?” The droid tilted his head back when he looked at Pythor. “Don’t bother. This ‘bucket of bolts’ doesn’t want anything to do with you. I’d count your blessings you’re still around, yeah?” He smiled. “See you around, Pythor.”

----

“You have to be kidding me.” Kai finally broke the silence that followed Pythor’s story.

“I am not kidding.” Pythor spat. “You can go look in the tower and see for yourself. Now let me go.”

“We can’t just let you go.” Lloyd growled. “You’re going to prison, whether you like it or not.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him.” Cole said. “Kai, Jay, you two go check the tower.”

“I’m coming too.” Lloyd insisted. Partially to see the answers for himself, but also just to get away from Pythor. “We should also get Nya to sweep the city looking for any nindroids.”

“He took them with him.” Pythor shouted after them. “They’re all gone.”

“Like we’re going to trust you.” Lloyd spat. Kai put a hand on his shoulder.

Lloyd sighed, picking up his pace and trying to ignore his own thoughts. Why did Zane do this? What did he mean by “or am I even him?” Lloyd was suddenly very frightened by the idea that their friend hadn’t been in there for a while.

But if that was the case then who was he? Where did he come from?

This was all too confusing. Part of him hoped Pythor was telling the truth, that this nightmare was over, but if that was the case it still left them with too many questions.

Most of which Lloyd may never get the answers to.

#scribbly fics #changeling AU #ninjago #bye Overlord you won't be missed

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notenoughscotty · 4 years

Text

A+ S.S

Hey I’ve got a scotty request! Y/n and him had a drunken hookup once and all the squad found out about it (they were loud and perhaps someone caught them asleep in bed the morning after). Afterwards they go back to just being friends, forgetting about the hookup and one day the group asked her how good scotty was and to mess with him she goes ‘High C, perhaps low B’ maybe joking that she faked it despite the fact it was mind blowing and Scott makes it his mission to show his A+ skills in bed😉

Warnings: Smut, Probably not good :I (also I’m so sorry this took so long)

I woke up to the sounds of people around me, my head hurt already, I had to force myself to open my eyes, the light only hurting my head more. But once I had, I realized a few things, first being that there was an audience surrounding me consisting of my friends. Secondly I was not in my room, I was in Scott’s room, and he was next to me, and lastly, I was naked. My first instinct was to make sure I was covered, I was. David was of course filming this, which only made things worse, I groaned, pleading for everyone to leave. When they refused, Scott was clearly in no mood to deal with them and yelled at them, which fortunately worked. He got up, then left the room, which gave me the time to get dressed, I only had my clothes from last night, and since I didn’t feel like wearing a tight crop top, I took it upon myself to borrow a shirt from Scott.

Scott returned with a glass of water and two pills in his hand, he said nothing, just handing it to me. I took it gladly, chugging the full glass of water with it. I thanked him quietly, he only nodded, clearly also dealing with a headache at the moment.

“Now to try and make my escape” I laughed slightly saying to Scott, he laughed as well and rolled his eyes as if to agree.

“Good luck with that, by the way I had fun last night.” He smiled and pulled me in for a hug, I hugged him back, he opened the door to his bedroom for me, allowing me to exit first, then following behind, and just as I expected everyone was shouting comments and laughing as he ushered me out, neither of us giving them any attention. I turned to say a last goodbye once we reached his front door, then walking out to get into my Uber.

Scott and I didn’t allow the events of that night to hinder our friendship, we are just as good friends as before. Not once was it awkward around him, we were even able to make jokes about it, and trust, we did often. Today just like any other day I was invited to hangout at Scott’s and I agreed since I had no other plans for the day. Walking into Scott’s, I took a quick attendance of everyone, there were quite a few people there, and of course, there he is, my friend and one night stand. I greeted the group as a whole and everyone greeted me back, I sat down next to Scott and made conversation with the group, I glanced to Scott and saw that he had what looked to be a pen mark on his face.

“Hey, you have something on your face” I mentioned to him, he tried getting it off but I decided it would be easier for me to just do it, so I grabbed his face, telling him I’d get it, I licked my finger and went to wipe his face, he dodged me quickly.

“Ew, that’s your spit!” He pushed my hand away, and I could only give him that look of ‘are you kidding me’.

“Scott, your dick was literally inside me like a week ago, shut up” I couldn’t even keep a straight face after saying that, and everyone else was laughing as well.

“Okay, you have a point.” Scott finally was able to calm down enough to respond. He also allowed me to get the mark off his face.

“Listen, I have to know, [y/n] how would you rate Scott in bed? Is he good” Zane popped the question but everyone, including Scott seemed interested, I thought back and he was honestly incredible, but I decided not to give him that satisfaction.

“Eh, I’d give him a high C, perhaps low B” I looked to Scott to see his reaction, his eyebrows were furrowed, eyes were squinted, and jaw dropped, he looked incredibly offended. I had to laugh at his response.

“It sure didn’t sound that way!” He exclaimed, and he had a point, I was pretty loud, but at this point I couldn’t let him have this.

“I was faking” I smiled, David of course was eating this up, clearly making for great content. Scott still was not taking this all that well, still offended. But after enough time the topic was dropped and nearly forgotten about. It was getting late but everyone was still having a great time just sitting around and talking, a few had left, and a few had joined since earlier in the afternoon. I excused myself for a moment to use the bathroom. I took a while just fixing my hair and investigating my makeup to ensure everything was still intact and looking good. Once I was satisfied, I left, turning off the light as I walked out, as soon as the light went, I was grabbed from behind, one hand on my waist and one over my mouth, I was understandably afraid, that is until I was spun around to be face to face with the supposed attacker. It was Scott, he slammed me against the hallway wall, pressing his body against mine. He uncovered my mouth, but he spoke before I could.

“C? You gave me a C? I will fuck you so good you’ll be screaming” His voice was so deep and raspy, it sent chills down my spine, and not to mention created a pool in my panties.

“Bet” I smirked, he took no time to pick me up over his shoulder and marched me back into his bedroom. He dropped me onto his bed, pushing me roughly onto my back. Then crawling onto the bed over me. He kissed me, the kiss was needy and hot, yet still conveyed so much sweetness. The kiss alone was making me wet. I reached up and pulled at his hair, which I knew he loved. He pulled away from the kiss, biting my lower lip as he did, making me shutter. He then moved down to kiss and suck at my neck. I could only imagine the bruises that would be left. I pulled at his shirt, telling him I wanted it off, he complied, smoothly pulling it off in one fast motion. Then he lifted my shirt up, I sat up and lifted my arms for him. He continued marking my body, now sucking on my collarbone, I took it into my own hands to remove my bra. He began playing with my breasts immediately, pinching my nipple, then sucking at them. It felt so good, I was already moaning. He continued to move down my body, until he was at the waistband of my pants, he stripped me of them, leaving my panties. Teasing me by rubbing me over them, while kissing down my thighs. My hips bucked, desperate for more. “Please, Scott” I managed to whimper.

“Mm, I love hearing you beg, keep going, tell me what you want me to do.” He kept eye contact, waiting for me to say something.

“Fuck, I want you to feel how wet I am for you, I want to feel your tongue, I want your fingers inside of me! Please.” I struggled to breathe out the words. But it got him to finally give me what I want, he smirked at me while pulling down my panties. He wasted no time, immediately rubbing up from my entrance, feeling how wet I was. He attached his mouth to my clit, licking, sucking, and gently biting. I tried my best to contain my moans, but as soon as he inserted a finger, I could no longer control it. His movements were perfectly hitting just the right spots, I felt as though I could cum already, I instinctively pushed myself away, even though I most definitely didn’t want it to stop. He pulled away once he felt me tightening around him, I was left out of breath and already sweaty. He barely gave me a moment to breath before kissing me again. Then quickly undressing himself, showing his massive cock. He pushed into me slowly, placing a hand at the bottom of my stomach. We both just watched as his length went inside me. He picked up the pace quickly, he brought my leg over his shoulder. Making it increasingly difficult not to just scream, I even put a hand over my mouth to stop myself. He quickly grabbed my wrist and pinned my hand down.

“I want you to moan, don’t hold back, I want hear you scream.” He groaned out between thrusts. I complied, mostly because I couldn’t help it. I was moaning so loudly, I’m sure everyone in the neighborhood could hear it. After that it didn’t take much longer for me to orgasm, and it seems he came at the same time. He collapsed on top of me, sweating, and I could feel him trembling. My legs were shaking, and felt almost numb, and honestly I don’t think I could move if I needed to. He rolled off of me so he was now next to me, both laying flat on our backs. “What would you rate that?” Scott laughed, still out of breath.

“A+ for sure” I giggled, once we both had fully recovered, we got dressed, we dreaded the awkward encounters that would follow but it was now or later and decided that we might as well get it over with, seeing as, well, we were hungry. Before I could open the door though, Scott took my hand and pulled me into him. I giggled slightly and looked up at him.

“Look, I really enjoyed this, but I was kind of hoping that maybe this could be more than just friends with benefits I guess, like maybe you’d go on a date with me sometime?” I could tell he was nervous by the way he stuttered. I placed my hands on either side of his face and made him look at me.

“I would love to go on a date with you, Scott, I really like you” I smiled at him and he smiled back. “Now are you ready to go out there and be completely humiliated.” I giggled while pointing to the door, he laughed as well, he leaned down and kissed me.

“Now I am.” With that, he lead the way to the living room where everyone was, and just as I expected everyone was laughing and making jokes.

“Why did you have to do that with us here! I’m traumatized!” Matt’s face was beat red.

“I needed proof that I am actually good in bed, tell them what you said you would rate it” Scott laughed and looked to me, I rolled my eyes.

“A+”

#scott sire #scotty sire #too much Scotty #scotty sire smut #scotty sire imagine #scotty sire x reader #scotty sire x you #scotty sire fanfic #scotty sire fluff #vlog squad imagines #vlog squad x reader #vlog squad #vlog squad smut #vlog squad x y/n #vlog squad fanfic #vlog squad fluff #smut #fluff #imagines

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vsquadgoals · 5 years

Note

Ok hear me out 22,25 and 29 from the smut prompt list with Jeff please. Also I’m literally in love with everything you’ve written -🥺

22: “You’ll be sore for days…”

25: "Nothing better than a nice beard burn between your thighs."

29: “Louder. I want him to hear you scream my name.”

Y/n just moved to LA about 2 months ago and until she can find an apartment she’s been saying with her best friend Zane, Zane just bought a house and he lives with his friends Matt and Todd and they had a spare room. Y/n, Zane and Heath all went to high school together and they convinced her to finally make the move to LA once her singing videos started taking off online. Once Y/n moved here the boys introduced her to the rest of their friends, she hit it off with them right away and they took her under their wing showing her around LA. She got closest with Matt and Jeff though she talked to both of them everyday and if she wasn’t with Zane or Heath she was with Jeff or Matt. The only difference was Y/n and Matt were just friends there wasn’t really an attraction for her there, but with Jeff she couldn’t keep her hands or eyes off of him and that’s what lead to them hooking up. Since she was new to LA she wasn’t really interested in dating anyone and her and Jeff were on the same page with that but they were definitely sleeping together. No one knew except Zane and Heath, she told them everything.

The whole group was supposed to be going to Saddle ranch tonight so Y/n invited Jeff over since they both didn’t really drink she didn’t feel like going and babysitting the guys. Y/n was sitting on the couch with Matt while Todd and Zane got ready. “Come on Y/n you don’t want to go out with us?” Matt groans from the seat next to her. She shrugs and shakes her head turning her attention toward him. “Nah I don’t feel like going out tonight, Jeff’s gonna come over and were gonna order take out or something.” She said nonchalantly, it wasn’t odd for them to stay back no one usually thought anything of it, they managed to hide the fact that they’re hooking up from the rest of the group pretty well. Matt sighs and stands once the guys come out of their rooms. “Okay fine we’ll see you when we get back.” She smiles and nods standing up, Y/n kissed Matt’s cheek and hugs him. “Go have fun Matty, try to pick up some girls or something.” She teases before kissing Zane’s cheek and hugging Todd. “Bye guys be safe please.” Zane chuckles and nods. “Yeah we’ll try. Come on boys the uber is here.” The guys leave and shes finally alone.

“Doll?” Jeff calls walking into the front door closing and locking it behind him. “I’m in my bedroom.” She yells from her bed scrolling through her phone. Jeff walks into her room closing that door behind him too. “You shouldn’t leave that door unlocked while you’re here alone.” He warns her kicking off his shoes and heading over to lay next to her on her bed. She rolls her eyes putting her phone on her nightstand. “You were coming I wasn’t worried.” She says shrugging before getting on top of him straddling his waist. Jeff hums noticing shes only in panties and a t-shirt. “Glad to see you were ready for me.” He mumbles and runs his hands up her shirt slipping it off over her head. “Well now this isn’t fair you’re wearing way more clothes then me.” She wines pulling his shirt off over his head and tugging on the waistband of his shorts. Jeff shakes his head. “Slow down Angel, we have plenty of time, I want to take care of you first.” Jeff flips them over y/n laying under him biting her lip, he pulls down her panties while kissing her lips, he runs his tongue over her bottom lip slowly before she opens her mouth slightly allowing his tongue entrance to tangle with hers. They kissed like this for awhile before he pulled away leaving her breathless, that boy can kiss, Jeff slowly kisses down her neck and chest stopping at her breasts, he takes one of her nipples in his mouth circling it with his tongue sucking hungrily. Jeff massages the other one with his hand twisting the nub in between his two fingers causing her to arch her back into his touch moaning. “Jeff.” She wines. “What angel?” he asks breathing against her hard nipple. “Stop teasing please.” She moans running her fingers through his hair pulling slightly.

Jeff smirks and places himself between her thighs kissing and biting the silky skin around where shes dying for him to touch. Y/n wiggles trying to get him where she wants him, Jeff wraps his arms around her thighs holding her against the mattress. “Patience Angel.” he breaths before he licks between her folds causing her to moan loudly, thank god the guys were all out she would die if they heard her. Without missing a beat Jeff’s tongue starts lapping up her juices and circling her sensitive clit, She tastes so good Jeff can’t help but devour her moving his head from side to side licking her sloppily. Y/n is a moaning mess her fingers holding onto his hair tightly. Jeff pulls away slightly after slipping two fingers into her, he looks up at her smirking "Nothing better than a nice beard burn between your thighs right Angel?” He asks before diving back in sucking on her clit, at this point her legs are shaking and shes ready to explode. “Jeff I’m gonna cum.” She moans grinding her hips against his face dying for release. “Cum on my fingers.” He mumbles against her folds pumping his fingers in and out of her faster and just like that shes cumming moaning his name at the top of her lungs pulling his hair.

Jeff lays next to her smirking and licking his lips and fingers clean. “God you taste amazing.” Y/n leans over and kisses his lips before laying her head on his chest trying to catch her breath. “That was amazing.” Jeff wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. “Come on lets watch a movie and order some food.” He says taking out his phone.

It’s 12:30 AM when she hears someone coming toward her room, Jeff and her are watching a movie and cuddling not expecting anyone for a few more hours, usually everyone is out until almost 4AM, she gets up from her bed putting on her t-shirt and panties. There’s a soft knock on the door, “Y/n/n” Matt calls softly, Y/n cracks the door enough for her to stand in the doorway and Matt not see into the room and Jeff laying on her bed naked from the couple or rounds they already have gone. “Matty? What are you guys doing back so early?” She asks smiling softly at him, Jeff rolls his eyes, he likes Matt they’re friends and all but Matt is practically inlove with Y/n and she has no clue, but shes way out of his league. He could never handle her, she was a wild one. “It’s just me, I took an uber home, I had a lot to drink and I just wanted to come and see you.” Matt confesses his eyes darting between her eyes and her bare long legs. “Jeff is still here, we’re watching a movie, why don’t you get some water and go lay down in your room.” She suggests rubbing his arm smiling. “Can’t you tell him to leave? I wanna sleep with you tonight and cuddle.” He slurs trying to keep his voice down so Jeff doesn’t hear but fails because of how drunk he is, Y/n shakes her head. “Go to sleep Matt, we’ll hangout tomorrow okay?” She kisses his cheek and sends him on his way closing her bedroom door. Y/n lays back down next to Jeff. “Sorry about that.” She says a little embarrassed, Matt was never like that, sure they would watch movies together and cuddle on the couch but he’s never been in her bed before, she was confused. Jeff smirks and shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, he wont remember it tomorrow.” He kisses her neck pulling her shirt off again. Y/n bites her lip once she sees his hard cock standing straight up again, she couldn’t believe he wanted to go again.

“What about Matt?” She whispers once he is removing her panties again. “Don’t worry about him, like I said he wont remember anything tomorrow.” Jeff mumbles into her neck lining himself up with her entrance. “You’ll be sore for days though Angel.” he promises before trusting into her roughly. He was gonna give Matt a show that’s for sure. He thrusts into her roughly pulling her legs over his shoulder. Y/n bit her lip hard trying to hold back her moans but it was getting harder with each rough hard thrust right against her g-spot. “Jeff.” She squeals arching her back biting her knuckles. Jeff grabs her hands pinning them over her head as he quickens his pace, she moans as her orgasm is already building “Louder. I want him to hear you scream my name.” Jeff growls bucking his hips as hard as he can, he can feel that shes close, her legs are shaking and shes so tight around his throbbing cock. “Jefffffff!” She screams as she finally lets go cumming around his cock, Jeff moans and is following right behind her releasing into her thrusting sloppily a couple more times before pulling out and falling onto the bed next to her. “Fuck that was so hot.” He says breathlessly looking over at her flushed face smirking. “Poor Matt.” She giggles shaking her head at a smirking Jeff.

A/n: Got a little carried away with this one haha

#vlog squad imagine #jeff wittek #jeff wittek fanfic #jeff wittek imagine #jeff wittek smut #toddy smith #zane hijazi #vlog squad #matt king #matt king imagine #matt king x reader #🥺

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mcfanely · 4 years

Text

The Ice Emperor and the Earth Dragon

After searching for any remaining presence of his powers wrought nothing but a hollow absence in his chest, Cole resigned himself to the fact that he could possibly be in that cell for a lot longer than he’d initially anticipated; and wanted. Yet even with his powers shut down, there’s still a use for him.

Chapter 10 - Earth’s Corruption, 4802 words

Cole wasn't exactly sure how long it had been since he'd woken up. Time was hard to measure when there was no sky to look at, no window at all to gaze out of, nothing accessible to figure out the passage of the day. It could have been the dead of night when he'd first woken up. Or even the early morning.

Also, the short stints of sleep that he'd managed to get in the meantime had thrown out any possible hope of figuring out the time, since who was he to know if he'd slept for half an hour, or a full eight hours? The only current seemingly reliable measure of anything was his increasing level of hunger.

Though honestly that wasn't very reliable either, the more that Cole thought about it. He'd eaten before he'd gone out fishing, but not when he'd gotten back for obvious reasons. But the pain and nausea that was caused by his injuries made it hard to determine whether hunger pains were actually hunger pains or something else.

So that left Cole trying to keep himself occupied in the cell, his mind flicking between possible routes of escape and taking some time just to focus on the situation at hand.

How long would he be kept locked up? What was going to happen to him?

The latter query was answered on what Cole had judged to be the third day, and it came in the form of a light clicking noise at the cell door, the welcomed sound of the lock disengaging.

Only that was followed by an assortment of armour clad guards filing into the room before Cole had even gotten to his feet. Bitterly cold hands grasped at his bare arms dragged him forcefully forwards, he had to stumble a step to make sure he at least stayed on his feet. His chest was all but roaring in protest to the sudden movements, the bruise tugging forced fire to torque around his body, Cole could feel these unknown people turning his wrists, messing with the frozen cuffs. He could feel a hand grip and drag at his hair, pulling it back. He made an attempt to buck free of the hold when he felt a thick strip of cloth placed over his mouth, tied far too tightly at the back of his head.

Yet, after supposed days sequestered away in a tiny cell, chained down, spending his time sleeping or resting his battered body; these people all working at a scary level of unison, each carrying out their supposed tasks to perfection, Cole couldn't fight back against it. Not really.

It didn't mean he wouldn't at least try though. When he felt one cuff click open and fall away from his wrist, he yanked his arm out of the guards hold and held it as far away from him as he could stretch it out, the only issue was that his other wrist was still resolutely chained.

Then a misplaced knock to his ribs ended any attempt at being an inconvenience.

His vision whited out in less than a second, and the pained gasp that was forced from his lungs was muffled by the cloth gag over his mouth.

Even still, it was an agonised shout, and unconsciousness wasn't fast enough to beat the wave of pain that overtook him.

When his head finally began to clear, he wasn't in his cell anymore. He was on the move.

Hands looped under his arms, keeping him more or less upright, if it wasn't for his feat dragging along behind him. Cole's head was still full of cotton as he blinked away the grey fog that still encroached in on his vision, but he did manage to get his feet back beneath him and take a few steps for himself.

The guards at his sides still didn't slow down their pace, and initially the general speed was punishing. Cole could feel that his legs were slow to respond, as was the rest of his body. His fingers were tingling sharply and his side was still ablaze with a near numb pain. It was almost pleasant, in a weird way. He wasn't able to focus enough to zero in on the constant pain his body seemed to be experiencing, he could just let his mind float.

Until his mind snapped back to reality to the fact that if they were moving, they were most likely heading somewhere. Somewhere currently unknown, for some reason or another. Not that Cole could figure that out, the past few days had been filled with nothing but confusion and wondering what situation he'd actually gotten himself into.

The hallway he was being led down seemed to just stretch on for ages. It seemed to be just as cold as every other part of the building too.

Puthers of cold air seemed to roll off the walls, leaving a light layer of chilled fog floating just above the floor. It was a sharp realisation that everything seemed to have a layer of ice encasing it, and if not ice then brittle blankets of frost took its place.

The seemingly one warm reds and oaken brown colours that the building used to have were dulled and masked beneath the sheer layers of cold. It almost threw everything into a negative state, warmth and colour being flipped for dark blues and bleak near blacks, the odd swatches of lighter colours and whites dotted about the darkened hall.

Ice seemed to permeate everything that existed inside the walls. Even the people. Cole hadn't realised earlier, what with the blur of movement that had been them coming into his cell; then blacking out from pain. These people, with their eyes trained blankly forwards, they were not free from the touch of the cold. Their skin was tinged with blues and greys as if they had long since succumbed to the effects of hypothermia, and yet they were still moving. Still alive, animated. Icicles clung to their armour and even to bare skin, some walking with spikes of ice framing their faces and arching out over their hair, possibly even freezing their helmets to their heads.

Cole couldn't ignore the eyes though. There was something so painfully familiar about them, a puzzle piece his mind immediately put together. The ethereal blue glow, even in the absent gaze. The pristine ice that coated every surface… He didn't want to think about what it could mean.

So he forced himself to focus on something different. That being, where he was being led. The hallway turned and curved and was vastly extensive, maze-like even, and still he wasn't sure what was happening. Though he would keep walking, maintain dignity. If whatever he was about to face was dangerous, then he would walk towards it instead of fighting against the situation. Since it wasn't like he was in any state to run. He wouldn't know where to go if he could, honestly. Yet, with the sheer number of guards flanking him and cuffed wrists, he wouldn't get far. One hit to his side and any escape attempt would be over in a second.

So he walked.

Eventually, the hallway opened out into a huge room. A throne room, if Cole could place one. Vast enough that his steps echoed even though they weren't heavy. Open enough that the lack of any place that would significantly provide cover. He was exposed, as much as anyone could be. Exposed and vulnerable.

The first person Cole clicked onto was Vex, in all his conniving and lecherous glory. Moustache covered with a layer of frost, as was most of his clothing, but he didn't seem bothered by it. He wore armour now too, a metal chest plate with shoulder guards, pitted with frozen fractals along its surface. As what he already came to expect, there was a large grin on the man's face.

Cole hoped that his glare gave off the sharpest daggers he could possibly summon, what with words not being an option. Though actions always spoke louder. He quickly pulled forwards in the guards' grip. He would throttle the man, all he had to do was get closer. Yet the hands around his arms and balling in his clothes held fast, and instead of breaking free he was forced down to the ground.

Knees flat, elbows held crooked so the chain between his hands was pulled taut, his head forcibly bowed forwards by an unknown hand in a false greeting.

Cole grit his teeth behind the cloth and forced his head back up against the hold. Vex just laughed, the sound reverberating.

"As much as I prefer this welcome silence." He stepped forwards, until he was temptingly close to being within Cole's reach, then stopped. "A one sided conversation is not what we're looking for."

Vex reached forwards, hooking one finger under the gag and pulling it down around Cole's neck.

"You bastard." Cole said instantly, only once the words were out did he take a moment to flex his jaw.

"That's no way to speak to your host." Vex stated plainly, his back held straight in a mockery of importance.

It made him bristle.

"Host my ass. Where's--"

The chime of splintering ice permitted the room. The sound of it chipping and falling away, seemingly from a great height since a larger shattering sound didn't happen for at least a second afterwards.

Then footsteps, hard and heavy. Metal on ice, Cole noticed. It bounced and ricocheted around the hall, and eventually the earth ninja moved his eyes over to the vast staircase that stood in the centre of the room. A smooth and incredible structure, but foreboding. With huge spikes of ice jutting out from the sides, a deep almost polluted black with ridges of blue fracturing through them.

Then he noticed who the footsteps belonged to. An armour clad figure with a chilling mask shielding the lower half of his face. The staff and the glowing scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu solidified in his head who it was.

It barely took a second for Cole to recognise his friend, even with the distance between the two of them.

He could feel his old run cold, and air escape his lungs in one long puther of fog.

"... Zane?" He whispered quietly, then turned sharply to Vex with a venomous expression, "What the hell have you done?"

Zane had reached the bottom of the steps, and Cole couldn't keep himself from staring.

The bright glow in the frown of his eyes, the white gi that he was able to see under all the armour, the fact that he still had his light blue belt tied around his waist. The sight… Cole couldn't pull his eyes away. It made it hard to pull in breath, it made him go stock still on the spot and just look because that was his friend. That was his brother.

He only returned to the present with a light sting at the back of his eyes and the inability to swallow easily when Vex began to talk.

Feigning innocence and confusion, the words struck right into Cole's chest because how could someone be like that? So uncaring about who he stepped on in order to get what he wanted. "I have no idea what you're talking about, boy. And this Zane you speak of, who is he?" though throughout, the smirk never left his face.

Vex was fully aware of what he was doing.

Cole put one foot flat against the floor and pushed himself up into a standing position, the chains clinking lightly with the movement. Yet it didn't last long. He watched as Zane simply lifted his free hand, palm out straight. The guards responded instantly, forcing Cole back down onto his knees with a grunt and a bit of resilience before he could even think of trying to break free and ring Vex's neck.

The cold of the floor was starting to get to him now. Seeping through his trousers and onto his bare skin beneath.

"You are quite the interesting creature." The voice that spoke was far too low, echoing and almost breathy to an extent that it took Cole a moment to figure out that it's actually coming from Zane. His eyes widened in response, and he knew that Vex had clocked the shocked expression if the minor look of achievement was anything to go by.

He just watched, staying still and moving his eyes to follow his friend as he advanced. Each step was measured and equal, the base of the staff striking the ground provided a silent beat to the movement. Cole's breath just fogged more and more the closer that Zane got, and it wasn't like he could back away as the cold increased.

Then Zane didn't stop his walk, he began to move in a small and slow circle around where Cole was lent, his eyes tracking up and down his form as if he was seeing it properly for the first time. In a way, he was.

"You look almost human." He said vaguely, easily, as if he was at a museum and admiring something that had clearly been lost to time. Something with such scarce information no one could make top-or-tail of what it was. Cole couldn't help but feel the slight wave of discomfort at the notion of being eyed the way he was, at the words.

"That's because I am human." He replied, as his brother finally came back into his field of vision on his left side, his steps still a chorus of noise in the otherwise silent room. "Zane--"

"I don't know of any Zane." Was the prompt reply, and Cole felt something heavy settle on his chest. It was just the same as before, just like when they'd fought. It had been days, presumably, and there had been no clear change of circumstances. No doubts about what was happening, no confusion or random surfaced memories. There was still absolutely nothing.

Though that notion wasn't going to stop him from trying as many times as it took to make his memory come back, "But you're--"

"My Emperor," Vex interrupted before Cole could get anything else out, "His time in the cells may have confused him slightly. Why did you even wish to speak with him?" There was an edge to his tone. He knew what he was trying to do, Vex wouldn't give him a chance.

Cole realised that the man had probably argued against bringing him out the cell. Not for the fact that if he got out then he was a possible enemy that he'd have to deal with, but that whatever plan that he had in place, Cole was a direct threat towards it. He was the one with all the information, all the memories that Zane no longer had. Being out of the cell, in the open, interacting with his friend; he had the ability to put a stop to everything, all he had to do was get through to his brother.

He was about to say as such, get the words into open air, hopefully plant a seed of doubt into Zane's head. Anything to make him realise that something was wrong. Anything to make him second guess his decisions or rethink what was happening.

Then the footsteps ceased just in front of him, and Cole looked up into the eyes of his waylaid brother.

"His show of power was quite… Astounding." Zane said, as if he hadn't seen them before. Though in his current state, he technically hadn't. Zane didn't know anything. The notion of that fact always seemed to force a lump to form in Cole's throat.

He was speaking to Vex, as if Cole wasn't even in the room, or he wasn't important enough for his attention.

Being brought out of his cell to be asked about his powers? Kneeling, face to face with Zane who couldn't have looked more different. More foreboding. With the glint of silver armour, reflecting the washed out blues and blacks of the surrounding ice. The fact that he could see any expression or emotion around the mask that it made it hard to judge how the situation was going, or where it was even leading.

What did they need to know about his powers?

Until Zane eventually turned his attention away from Vex and back to Cole, his eyes just barely more ablaze than before.

"So, Formling," The word sounded far too new in his mouth, "Might you show me your power again?"

"Formling..?" Cole frowned, his brow furrowed in confusion. What even was that? Though he met Zane's gaze and raised an eyebrow in contention. "You've seen my power already."

"We did." Vex nodded, his arms crossed over his chest, "An incredible ability to wield the earth." He almost sounded impressed.

Cole couldn't help but bristle at the words.

It wasn't as simple as moving the ground beneath his feet, not anymore. Not after what he'd discovered during his time behind bars. Any time not spent trying to get in at least a few hours of sleep on the cold floor, he'd spent it meditating. Taking a leaf out of Zane's book, if he was being honest with himself, but it was for his own means. He wasn't relaxing like the nindroid usually used the technique for, he wasn't collecting his thoughts. He was searching. Searching for whatever tiny spark he could find inside himself, any form of indication that there was still something, some elemental ability still left inside.

In all his hours of quiet focus, he hadn't found anything.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a dancing monkey." He spat out, glaring over at Vex. How simply looking at someone could make him so unequivocally angry, he didn't know. The fact that he held himself like he was the most important man in the room, that any time Vex grinned it made his blood boil and the drive to just jump up and try and land a solid strike against the guy’s face.

He balled his hands into fists in front of himself, keeping them tightly flexed and his arms tensed. He wasn't going to do anything. He couldn't. That didn't mean he couldn't make his hatred of the man clear.

"Even if I could, I'm not doing anything for you." Cole grit his teeth around the words that spilt from his lips before he could stop them, but Vex' face, his glare, the chipped teeth and wide grin, it was anger inducing. He wanted to frustrate him, not give him what he asked. He wanted to do anything to ruin what the man wanted to get from him.

In reality, he was really just giving away unwanted information.

"'Even if I could'?" Vex repeated in a curious tone, and looked far too intrigued. "Is something the matter with your abilities?"

Cole clamped his mouth shut.

Vex moved just a little closer, his words clipped, "I said, is there something wrong with your powers."

All the man received was a daggered glare in return. Then, in the corner of his vision, Cole saw a light flicker. It was small for at least a second, before the energy roared to life in a wild fervour.

His attention whipped around to the staff in an instant, to the scroll.

Internally, Cole knew that it was Zane who was wielding it, but currently that meant nothing. Maybe it was Zane's body, maybe somewhere deep down the Zane he knew was still in there. But at that moment, the person holding the staff, they weren't anyone Cole knew.

The level of power in a stranger's hands? It was unpredictable. It was highly dangerous and corruptive. Being chained down, knelt on the floor, injured and definitely not at his strongest; it was a volatile situation.

And if Zane decided to use the power on him again? Who knew what would happen? Who knew what else it could do?

Cole flinched at the light. Hard.

Any and all conversations fell silent at that reaction. There was just the sound of breathing, of the ever present crackle of expanding ice.

"Do you fear that light, my boy? Or do you fear the one holding the sceptre?"

Cole's eyes flicked between the burning light of the scroll, and Vex.

"You were ready to charge at it before," Vex took a short step forward. "To try and steal it from my Emperor's grasp. What changed?" He crooned.

There was no answer, the earth master wasn't going to grace him with anything. So he just stayed stock still where he was, fully focused on Vex in front of him and pushing the burning light of the scroll out of his mind.

Then, as the silence stretched on, something shifted in the man's expression. His own gaze went to the sceptre before back to Cole, though now he sported a far too knowing grin. Teeth bared.

Vex hummed softly, "The staff inflicted more than physical injuries, didn't it?"

Nothing.

That seemed to be all the confirmation he needed.

There was a brief shared glance between Zane and Vex, something that spoke far too many words. A talent that he and Cole had shared before… Before everything went wrong.

Vex and Zane both swapped places, his friend now situated directly in front of him with the scroll still in his grasp, eyes a blue fire. Vex was stood off to the side, out of the firing line should the scrolls power be used, simply observing.

"What occurred during your previous fight was quite incredible. The mastery of your skills and gifts." He almost sounded jealous. "But your little show at the end, Formling, you seemed just as confused and shocked as I was as to what had occurred." There was a short pause.

Cole wasn't sure where he was going with this point, but none of it sounded good. Though he kept his eyes on his friend before him, willing silently for him to just come back before things got any worse; if that was at all possible.

"I had my theories, but you…" Vex chuckled, "You've confirmed exactly what I had been thinking.

"Your earth powers, that was all you. Intrinsic abilities, presumably you've had them since you were born." It wasn't a question, more the man muttering to himself before he got back on track. "But the dragon. That wasn't you, not really. You didn't cause that yourself."

If at all possible, the sceptre roared even more to life. Cole could feel the sheer cold of the power that was expelled outwards, frost crawled sluggishly across the floor from the base of the sceptre. The ice that encased the metal and what had spread over onto Zane's armour was taking on a much darker tone. No longer was it a clear pale blue in the dim light of the room, it was turning black before his eyes.

Then suddenly, as a solar flare of power flickered off the scroll, Cole felt something sharp in his chest. This burning heat and pain, so sudden that he couldn't help the pained grunt that pushed past his lips.

As the light of the staff increased, so did the growing agony.

The weird thing was, the pain didn't feel foreign or unusual. It wasn't like a fractured bone or a torn muscle, there was something far too familiar about the roaring burn in his chest that it was almost a welcoming feeling.

It took a second for Cole to realise it was a more volatile form of the exact sensation he'd spent the past few days searching for. Though it wasn't a comforting spark of budding warmth, it wasn't like a perfectly placed ray of sunshine on a warm day. It was whipping, tearing almost. A sensation that bubbled and roared beneath his skin and in his chest, and as Zane moved closer, as the staff came closer, everything just got worse.

Agony stole breath from his lungs and forced tears into his eyes.

This was his power, this was his power. It was the earth and life and everything he'd been trying in vain to find since their fight.

Yet, Cole wasn't the one who had control of it at the time. It was reacting to the flickering staff, moving with the swayed movements as the sceptre grew closer until the bitter cold made ice form on his skin, dusting his eyelashes with frost and making his the right side of his face ache with freezer burn before it all too quickly started to go numb from the cold.

His powers were flourishing, growing and expanding outwards, all in response to the scroll. Only in response to the scroll. It was as if they couldn't act on their own accord, as if Cole had no influence over their use anymore.

That strike to his chest, the one that had concluded their last battle… The one that had arched through the beast he'd been crafting before him, forcing his elemental power back into his body along with a blast of glacial blue and white energy.

That single blast, the one that hadn't even left a physical mark, had been the most debilitating strike out of everything he'd experienced.

Cole was the Elemental Master of Earth, but his powers now only seemed to react to the scroll. When the light blazed, his powers bucked and writhed, when it flickered so did the energy in his chest.

They were intertwined, forced together. It was no longer Cole's power and the scroll, it was just the scroll.

Just the scroll.

His power, it was an extension of this corruptive force.

The burning fire that he knew was licking at Zane's hair seemed to escape the confines of his helmet.

The light was almost blinding now, the pain flowing into his limbs and settling like a fog around his mind.

Then the internal power exploded outwards.

Cole's vision whited out, but he knew what was happening. He could feel the shift. The

way it almost felt like his very being was ripping and distorting, the wave of pain was all encompassing. Though this time it faded away so much faster than it had before. This time he could actually take stock of the situation.

The way his elemental energy ebbed and flowed with the waxing burn of the scroll, the fact that when he blinked his eyes open and looked at Zane, he was no longer looking up from a knelt position. He was looking down.

Towering up on scaled legs, new near obsidian claws digging sharply into the frozen stone floor beneath him. Cole tried to keep a level head, to stay calm in an almost impossible situation, but it was hard. Every breath he took and expelled wrought a deep timbered growl from his throat; every movement of his head as he looked around the room from the shifted vantage point had so much foreign weight behind it that it almost threw him off balance.

He could feel the sharpness of the teeth in his mouth, the warped length of his jaw. Layers of ice had edged over the yin and yang of near black and opalescent white scale plates on the side of his face. He moved, took a brief step back and the floor shook lightly when he put his foot down.

Words weren't coming, they couldn't come. Not in that form, anyway. All that came out in their place were low drones, clicks and whistles, snarls.

This was what his power had become when corrupted by the scroll.

This was what he had become.

There was definitely panic now, simmering in the background. Cole didn't want this, he didn't want this. He… Stared down at the staff. The light held in Zane's grip.

One vivid amber eye, another a solid and hollow blue. Staring down at his lost friend and his--

No, their. Their manipulator, their captor. Zane may have not had his memories, but Cole did. They were both as trapped as the other, slit pupiled vision reflecting the blue energy.

All at once, a calming fog seemed to settle. Gazing at the scroll, he couldn't draw his eyes away. The dragon's swaying tail slowed to a stop, his head tilted forwards almost in a low bow as he could feel the wave of blurred fuzziness move over his body, into his mind. Any thought of panic, or even using this moment of his arms being free of the cuffs to escape, it all just faded away into the background.

Even with Vex standing just a mere few steps away, Cole couldn't bring himself to care, or even focus. It was just him, the power of the scroll, and the Emperor.

From the beginning

Ch 09 > Ch 10 > Ch 11

AO3

#The Ice Emperor and the Earth Dragon AU #The Ice Emperor and The Earth Dragon #cole #zane #cole ninjago #zane ninjago #cole brookstone #zane julien #General Vex #The Ice Emperor #ninjago #lego ninjago #lego #mcfanely writes #mcfanely aus

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lloydshoulddyehishair · 4 years

Text

I think I’m lost [1/3]

Remember the angst oneshot I was working on? It turned out to long so I decided to turn it into a multichapter fic

Also posted on: ff.net, ao3

Summary: He was thin. Oh, so thin Kai feared that if he went to hold him he might snap him in half. His once so shiny emerald eyes were barely anything like they'd been before. They were so empty and dull, holding no joy or hope behind them like how they used to. Like how they still should.

aka

Lloyd hadn't felt at peace for a long while. Ever since the Sons of Garmadon had made themselves known to be exact.

Trigger Warnings: Eating Disorders, Drug Use, Self-Harm, Referenced Abuse/Suicide/Abandonment

Lloyd hadn't felt at peace for a long while. Ever since the Sons of Garmadon had made themselves known to be exact.

Back then none of them would have expected things to escalate the way that they would later on. They all had just thought that they were just a silly little biker gang that they'd be able to stop in a matter of weeks.

They didn't expect that in the end half of the team would be stranded in another realm being hunted down by dragon hunters and the other half would still be in Ninjago being hunted down by the purely evil resurrected Lord Garmadon and the Sons of Garmadon, all while mourning the “deaths” of their friends and trying to save the almost completely destroyed city.

Ninjago never recovered completely from the destruction Garmadon had brought upon them. Of course most places were rebuilt but there were still huge holes in the streets from where the Colossi stamped it's feet into the concrete – those were things Lloyd could overlook though. What he couldn't overlook were the overfilled hospitals and orphanages. So many people had lost their lives, so many people he couldn't save.

And in a sick way it was almost funny. It was very ironic – Harumi created the exact thing she despised. She wanted to give Ninjago a proper ruler but in reality she just gave it more people who shared her pain.

But maybe that was her plan all along; making everyone feel the way she felt.

Now Lloyd was sitting at the window of his room on the newly rebuilt Destiny's Bounty – thanks to the Mayor and the city – staring at the grey clouds they passed through while listening to the thunderstorms. He had always loved thunderstorms, they seemed so full of rage but yet so calm.

'Much like yourself.'

Lloyd shook his head a little, letting the pen he had been holding in his hand fall to the ground while looking through the drawers of his desk. Finding his lighter, papes and the tiny green substance that had been making his days all the more easier.

For his whole life – which he wasn't quite sure how long it was because he didn't even remember his birthday anymore, was it in September or in October? He really didn't know – he never had healthy coping mechanisms. As a little kid, before the others had picked him off the street, he would just start to eat sweets when the sadness and pain he felt became unbearable, when he thought of his parents or Darkley's for example. Then when he lived with his uncle and his students he made it a habit to just refuse to eat. He felt unworthy of the food they offered. He had made them go through so many hardships and made their lives living hell. He really hadn't understood why they would take him in. But besides the others needed it more they were Ninja after all and needed to get as much energy as possible.

It was back then when the team slowly picked up on his unhealthy habits.

As he grew up because of the tomorrow's tea incident, whenever he would feel down or depressed he'd train as hard and long as he could, telling himself that it would make him stronger and his family proud. He barely noticed that he was actually just draining and destroying his body.

All the time his friends – his family said nothing. Always thinking his behaviour was just a phase and he'd grow out of it. Maybe they should have.

Now after everything that had happened, him losing his uncle, his team splitting up over the whole realm with him taking on all criminals in Ninjago alone, the Sons of Garmadon popping up, Harumi turning out to be the Quiet One and basically pulverizing his heart, his father being resurrected as a purely evil shell of Lord Garmadon, being humiliated on television across the whole country, his friends dying (or at least so he, Nya and the rest of the city thought), being literally hunted by the Sons of Garmadon and his father plus his technically-psychopath-ex-girlfriend and the list could go on and on – he lost it.

He could barely go a day without panic attacks just a few months ago, having mental breakdowns on the weekly making the energy in the city go out in a nasty blackout every time. His friends had noticed of course, it would have been hard not to. And they had tried to talk and reach out to him he the first three times it had happened. Lloyd didn't want to talk though, shutting them out completely and his family just – gave it up. Thinking he wanted to be alone and sort things out on his own. The young Garmadon thought so too. He thought he just wanted to be alone as well. But as he sat all by himself in the guest room he had been sleeping in – because he had refused to stay with his brothers – he had realized that loneliness was actually what pulled him down emotionally and what made him feel even worse on top of everything.

That didn't stop him from keeping on shutting his friends out anyways – old habits died hard.

And Ronin – who had obviously noticed the blackouts too – being Ronin and meaning well but... being Ronin, had offered him something to calm his nerves with, one day he had been over at the Destiny's Bounty, just in case he wanted to. Of course Lloyd didn't decline, he was desperate for anything that could make his pain go away, that could make him stop feeling, so he accepted the offer and shortly after found himself high with Ronin on his bed while spilling his heart out to him.

The thief loved the kid, really did, he had already protected him with his life and he'd do it again any other day. The other members of the Ninja team always knew that and respected him for it.

Yet he knew getting the kid weed to help him forget his sorrows wouldn't be left without consequences for him by them. Not that he cared though.

But if he had known what kind of behaviour Lloyd would spiral into shortly after he surely would have never made that offer in the first place.

And so here the blond was, standing in front of his (now) opened window smoking his second joint that day – just anything to numb his feelings with.

It was kinda funny to him how much of a hypocrite he was. He remembered how he had screamed at Kai to stop smoking cigarettes and how he shouldn't ruin himself like that and would you look at him now. Doing exactly the same, maybe even worse. Kai at least hadn't been high as a kite on the daily and Kai at least hadn't isolated himself like Lloyd did now.

“So much for the great Green Ninja.”, Lloyd hissed mockingly into the nothingness throwing the end of the joint out of the window.

Maybe he should go into the living room and talk to the others, spend some time with them. The last time he saw them was about 2 weeks ago? He had been avoiding them, mainly because he felt like the odd one out whenever they were together.

He couldn't bring himself to enjoy playing video games with Cole or laugh at Jay's silly jokes, he also wasn't quite interested in having talks about Ninjago's history and culture with Zane and he usually loved those conversations. Hell, he didn't even like to cuddle with Kai and Nya while mocking the other in a childish but affectionate manner anymore.

He didn't feel like himself anymore but instead just like an empty shell.

And Lloyd couldn't help but wonder

Was this how his father felt all the time?

-------

The blond made his way to the living room trying to ignore the way his limbs shook like he was about to collapse.

He had been feeling weak lately, probably due to malnutrition. Lloyd had been barely eating the past few days because- well it was a little difficult.

The easy answer would be that he just simply didn't have the strength or motivation to get out of his bed. Plus he had gotten used to the stinging pain in his stomach hunger caused and barely noticed it now. If anything he felt weird when it wasn't there.

The longer answer was way different than the easy one.

When his uncle had disappeared and his friends searched for him all over Ninjago he had been left feeling out of control because there was nothing he could do to change all of it. There was nothing he could have been able to do to bring his Sensei and his friends back.

He hadn't been in control of even his body at this point anymore. He had grown taller all of a sudden, his voice got deeper and he noticed how he had been putting on weight. Everything had been changing and Lloyd didn't like changes.

Back then the only thing Lloyd had power over was – even though it seemed cliché – food.

He could choose whether or not he'd eat, he could choose how to prepare the food and how to put it all together. It was satisfying – cooking food, getting it ready and then being in full control of his own body and mind and refusing to eat despite his stomach basically screaming at him.

It was control that made him feel alive and that reminded him of the fact that Morro was no longer possessing and using him as a pawn against his family and Ninjago. His need of being in control was probably also what had made him hit rock bottom during his father's reign over Ninjago – well that and being disowned and thrown through multiple concrete prison walls probably did the trick.

He had felt so horrible after Harumi's betrayal, his fathers resurrection, his friends' deaths and all of the other horrible incidents – but back then Lloyd hadn't even been able to control his food intake properly anymore because now Nya was there with him and she would make sure he'd eat.

She hadn't seemed suspicious on his eating habits, after all he was a normal weight even if he was on the slightly thinner part of the spectrum. The only reason she had made him eat was to make sure he'd stay strong in case he'd have to face trouble – like the Sons of Garmadon, Harumi or even worse his father – any time soon. If he'd just faint on the battle field that wouldn't have been too great. It had been a hard time for him and her and he was just glad all of that was over now, even if it hadn't been easy.

Now, something that wasn't easy either was keeping on walking towards the living room as he heard sounds coming from it. Talking. Laughter. And Cole's voice screaming at Jay for whatever the reason was. He didn't want to ruin their good mood. Maybe he should just go back to his room and come back later? No. If he didn't do it now he would put it off for another two weeks. He leaned against the wall with his arm, feeling like he was going to lose balance caused by the sudden wave of dizziness that hit him.

“Lloyd?”, he heard someone behind him call out. Turning his head slowly towards the direction the voice came from he saw an old man down the hall where he had just come from. He was wearing a rice hat and had a long white beard. His eyes looked at him with nothing but concern but Lloyd could have sworn there was something in them that looked haunted.

“Are you alright?”, he stepped towards the younger, the sound of his staff making contact with the wood floor sent chills down the Ninja's spine.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. The simple gesture made him feel warm inside like back then when he was just a kid and his father would do simple things like that while telling him he was proud of him.

But it was gone. All gone now.

He shook the thoughts off. He didn't want to start crying like a baby in front of him, especially since his father was a sensitive subject to Wu as well.

His gaze fell from his shoulder to the man's face, the concern in his features just increasing.

“Yeah, I guess so.”, he muttered. “Wanted to go see the others.”

“You've been locking yourself up in your room for a pretty long time.”

Lloyd snorted. “Haven't noticed.”, he quickly moved away from his uncle's touch and went inside the living room, everything suddenly going quiet.

He felt uncomfortable under the stares directed at him, felt like they were burning through his skin. But he didn't want to feel that way because of them. They were his friends, his family and yet here he was feeling so unsafe and helpless in front of them, as if they could see right through him.

“Uhm.”, he started slowly lifting his hand a little and waving awkwardly. “Hey?”

Maybe not his best introduction. He knew he sounded and looked emotionless. And maybe it was because he was, in fact, emotionless.

No. Who was he trying to fool? If anything Lloyd was completely emotional. Just waiting for the bathtub of kept in and hidden feelings and memories to overflow – to spill it all out.

Right now was not the moment though.

“Am I interrupting something?”, he asked as the looks on their faces shifted from surprise into something else, a look the Green Ninja had seen way to often in the past few years probably so often that he could sense it from miles away by now. Pity.

He wanted to throw up.

“Oh, Lloyd.”, everything stopped for a second.

There was something about Kai's voice, how he spoke his name, that irritated him. He sounded like back then when he saved him from the volcano when he was just a little bratty child or just like when he comforted him about his fathers death after the tournament or like when he had just been saved from Morro's possession or when- Oh.

Okay now he actually wanted to throw up.

“What has happened to you?”, his voice was careful, he didn't want to alarm Lloyd in any way. He wanted to make sure his little brother knew that he was safe with them and that he was loved and protected and there really wasn't a need to look at him like a scared and hurt puppy because that was exactly what he was doing right now and it made him go crazy.

They should have interfered sooner, should have called Lloyd out of his room instead of just leaving him, letting him succumb in his own darkness probably, like they had done after a while.

His little brother, his baby brother, whom he had sworn to protect more than anything in this world, needed him now more than ever because Lloyd was currently fighting a war that he wasn't going to win – at least not all alone. Kai had to protect his perfect baby brother from himself before he could do any more damage to his mind and body.

He was pale, so pale he might as well have been dead and he was thin. Oh, so thin Kai feared that if he went to hold him he might snap him in half. His once so shiny emerald eyes were barely anything like they'd been before. They were so empty and dull, holding no joy or hope behind them like how they used to. Like how they still should.

“What do you mean?”, the blond spoke out again, his voice small but yet so angry.

And it really took a bit for it to reach them but then Kai noticed the smell – the smell he was so familiar with from going to parties or walking through Ninjago City Park.

Kai's eyes widened and by the looks on his friends' faces they noticed to.

“What the hell, Lloyd?”, he called out, finally jumping up from his sitting position on the sofa, making his way to the blonde and grabbing his – way too thin and bony – wrists. The now slightly taller boy was too slow and weak to react in time though. Kai felt like screaming, eyeing the youngster's bloodshot eyes. “Are you smoking weed?”, his voice came out way louder than he intended to, but he barely had any time to really realize that because the next second his blood was boiling, because Lloyd fucking snorted and started chuckling.

“Is this a freaking joke to you?”, Lloyd really couldn't help but laugh and as he felt Kai's grab on his wrists loosening slightly, he took his chance to break free. He didn't bother to step back though.

“You are funny.”, the Green Ninja muttered and the grin on his face turned bitter. “I've been starving myself, cutting myself, have had panic attacks on the daily and you're-”, Lloyd felt like a maniac for laughing but oh well, maybe that was a trait he got from his father. “You're focusing on me smoking weed?”, he watched Kai's expression fall, as everyone else's in the room. Normally it would make him feel bad and sorry but right now he didn't feel anything but bitterness. “Priorities. Right?”

“Lloyd, we didn't kno-”

“Oh, of course you didn't.”, he interrupted Cole rudely and basically stabbing him with his glance, eyes turning red. “Because you didn't look. You looked away, away from everything. All of you. And maybe you shouldn't have. Even Wu knew that something was going on before you guys and he is basically a shitty excuse of an uncle.”, he breathed out trying to calm himself. “By the way, Wu, you can come out from your hiding spot, it's quite pitiful watching you hide behind that table.”

The old man rose from his kneeling position on the ground, no one really caring how he got there in the first place. His eyes though, didn't rise with him. Looking at his nephew in this state would just break his heart. Would remind him so much of his broth- Garmadon.

“And you know why you did that? Because I do.”, no one dared to reply, too scared to make Lloyd even more angry and hurt. Seeing their little brother like this broke their hearts and the worst thing about all of this was that he was right. They had looked away and had left him alone when he needed them the most. They had thought that he would be okay on his own, that he'd be able to pick the pieces of his broken mind up all by himself like he had always done. Turns out this time it had just been too much for him alone.

“You all looked away because you don't care. You don't care about me, you care about the Green Ninja. Not Lloyd Garmadon. Because Lloyd Garmadon is still just a silly, bratty child to you who just can't do anything right.”

He hated it. Hated spilling his heart out to his teammates like that, he never wanted to tell them all of this, wanted to keep it a secret he would take to his grave.

Seems like the bathtub overflowed after all.

With tears starting to stream down his cheeks and blurring his vision he found it difficult to look at them. He didn't want them to see him like this.

“And it sucks.”, he choked out, voice cracking. 'God dammit you are such a crybaby.'

“Every single day of my life sucks because I know there is no way to change it. To change the things I've done. People died because of me and there is no way to bring them back! There is no way I can 'redeem' myself, no matter how much good I do or how much evil I defeat! It doesn't bring them back! It doesn't put destroyed families together again and it doesn't give people the life back, that they deserved, that I have taken!”, Lloyd was just screaming at this point, falling to his knees and holding his fists to his chest, crying hysterically. “Ho-how many more children are out there, who-whose parents I-I have taken. Ho-how many pa-parents lost their ch-children be-because of me?! How ma-many more Harumi's a-are out th-there?!”

Her name tasted toxic on his tongue. And he despised himself for bringing her up in the first place because this really didn't have anything to do with her (except it did). She just made him realize of the consequences his actions caused, made him actually realize the weight of it. Technically he had probably killed as many people as his father at this point.

Day by day the blond noticed more and more how similar him and his father actually were. Though he didn't like it. He didn't want to be like him.

“And I can't do it. I can't live with that.”, he felt himself being wrapped in a hug and he didn't even have to look up to know that it was Cole who had rushed to his side, cradling him in his arms while he was still crying hysterically, pretty much unable to breathe at this point.

“Ssh.. Lloyd, listen to me. Focus on my voice. Can you do that?”, his deep voice was soothing, calming in some way, but it wasn't enough. “Breathe with me, okay? Come on, you can do it. 1... 2... 3... Hold. 1... 2... 3... And out. 1... 2... 3... In. 1... 2... 3... Hold. 1... 2... 3... And out. 1... 2... 3... You're doing great buddy.”, the teams leader felt himself relax more and more as the elder kept on reassuring him and holding him tight. Exhaustion soon took over and then compunction.

“I'm sorry.”, he muttered against his chest, grabbing tight onto his black shirt. “I'm so sorry.”, his eyes were shut, still not wanting to look at them and see their faces and the expressions probably full of hatred and hurt after his little pitiful speech.

“There is nothing to be sorry for.”, Lloyd wanted to punch Cole.

Nothing to be sorry for? Lloyd fucked up his own life and now here he was taking it out on his only friends and family while it wasn't their fault. None of his actions were their fault, because he had made them.

Of course there was something to be sorry for.

Cole watched his fellow teammates, still standing helplessly in the room, not knowing what to do and by the look on Jay's face Cole could tell that he really wanted to say something but wasn't too sure if it was either the time or the place to do so.

“Of course there is.”, Lloyd's voice choked out again and it sounded so broken and weak, Cole thought he was holding the little nine year old in his arms after his dad had left, once again. “It isn't your fault. None of this is and I am sorry for taking it out on you. I'm- I just don't know anymore. I-I'm so unsure of everything.”

“Lloyd, it's okay.”, Nya spoke out for the first time. “You were right, we should have done something. We are your siblings for heaven's sake and we left you alone with your pain. That's unacceptable.”, he felt a hand being placed on his knee and dared to open his eyes, staring right into Nya's bloodshot ones. She looked like she'd been crying- Oh. She probably had. “But we are here for you now. We are right by your side and we listen to everything you want to say. We are there for you and we love you for you, not for being the Green Ninja.”, Lloyd nodded slightly, blonde strands of hair falling in front of his eyes.

“Okay.”, he spoke quietly.

“Uh.”, everyone's eyes fell on the Blue Ninja who was playing with his sleeves. “You, uhm... Said some stuff earlier about you... cutting?”, Cole felt Lloyd tense up in his arms and could have sworn he heard the fire ninja curse as well. “Was that... true? I'm just worried you know... because if you are you totally don't have to feel bad about it! I swear! But I think it would be better if you let Zane or Nya check up on you? Just to make sure everything's alright! Well not alright obviously but- You know?”, he began to ramble, not wanting to offend Lloyd. He out of all people knew what it was like to feel so lost that you would hurt yourself just to get judged later on. He didn't want his little brother to feel like that.

“Yeah.”, the young Garmadon spoke, silently pushing himself away from Cole, yet still staying on the floor and not looking up.

“Yeah, to what exactly? Yeah, you're... cutting or yeah, you'll let Zane check you up?”, Jay asked carefully.

The blond looked up at his red-haired friend, his eyes had turned green again by now. “Yeah.”

“Oh my God, Lloyd.”, and he felt himself getting wrapped up in a hug once again just that this time he immediately took a step back.

It wasn't fair to Kai. Not at all. Lloyd was being stupid and selfish and he was being a brat. It wasn't Kai's fault that all these awful things have happened to him over the years, if anything it's Kai's fault that nothing more happened. If the Fire Ninja hadn't been there for him all this time he'd be long dead or would be bearing double the amount of traumatic experiences. He had always been there for him and always stood behind him even in the worst of hardest of times.

So it really wasn't fair of him to flinch back and push Kai away like that.

But he couldn't help it. Because he felt so, so guilty.

“I-I'm sorry- I can't- You can't do that-”

Something in Kai's hazel eyes shifted. Lloyd mentally slapped himself because he did it again, he hurt someone who was so dear to him once again just because he was being selfish.

“Lloyd, no, what do you mea-”

“You died and- and I-”, and what? How was he supposed to tell him that he was a little ungrateful brat and that Kai deserved better? How was he supposed to tell him that he should just leave him alone at this point because whoever was close to him eventually got hurt. Either by the hands of some villain or by Lloyd himself.

“You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.”

“But I have to or else I won't ever be able to looking at you and without feeling guilt!”, Kai just nodded understanding.

“When you died I- I was so sad and devastated and lost and-”, Lloyd sucked in a breath as he looked at Nya for a mere second. “We both were. But- but Nya was so much better at dealing with it than I was. Nya stood strong but- but I gave into grief and I was just so depressed and hopeless.”, Lloyd hated thinking back on it. Hated thinking back on the emotions he had to live through and he was so glad he had his family back, all of them.

But it was true. Nya was much better at dealing with their family's deaths than him because Nya was stronger, because Nya was great, because Nya was so much better than him. She should have led the resistance, maybe she should have even been the team's leader or the Green Ninja. Any of them would have been a way better fit for the role than him but Destiny hated him. Though in all honesty he was also somehow happy that he was the one who turned out to be the Green Ninja in the end because that spared them from lots and lots of pain. Of course that meant that he was the one who had to deal with it but if it was for keeping this burden from his friends he'd do it any day.

Lloyd placed himself on the sofa carefully next to Jay. “And when- when I thought of you-”, his eyes fell on Kai for a second before he buried his face in his hands. “I got so angry like I've never been before and I was thinking about ho-how you could just leave me like- like that and it-”, he felt himself beginning to shake.

This wasn't easy for him, because Lloyd was not just the Master of Energy or “Master Lloyd” but also the Master of 'if-I-don't-admit-to-my-issues-and-feelings-they-aren't-real-and-what's-not-real-can't-hurt-me-or-my-friends' and the fact that he was to admit to hating his own brother at some point was definitely something that could and probably would hurt him and Kai.

“I hated you.”, his words were rushed and for a second Kai thought that Lloyd wasn't being serious but then the emerald eyes looked up at him and it was clear he meant exactly what he had said.

“I hated you so much. I hated you for leaving Nya. I hated you for leaving Ninjago. I hated you for leaving me, when you had promised to always be there and to protect me.”, Lloyd tried his best to ignore the tears streaming down his face and the cracks his voice did as he went on. “I've grown so used to having you- to have a big brother. I didn't know how to live without one- and I still don't.”, he murmured the last part, eyes meeting the floor for what felt like the 600th time today.

Kai said nothing. Stayed completely still and silent, just listening to what his little brother had to say because he knew he just needed to get it all out now, but to Lloyd Kai's silence was one of the most terrifying things ever. Probably up there with the thought of him turning out like his father and being possessed again.

He had to continue anyways.

“And it isn't fair.”, he whispered sounding heartbroken. “And I know that. I'm selfish, I'm dumb, I'm ungrateful and you deserve better. I- I don't understand why you keep on pu-putting up with me.”, the crying had stopped right now and Lloyd was sure that it wasn't because he felt better but rather that there were just no more tears left for him to cry.

But with every word the blond broke out he felt himself getting calmer, the storm in his head slowly calming down. “It wasn't fair of me to hate you for something I technically caused. It wasn't fair of me to hate you for leaving anyways. You did so much for me over all this time. You all, but especially you, practically raised me. You risked your life so many times and have always supported me. And it's not even like you chose to leave. It wasn't your fault but all mine. But I was so selfish and only thinking of myself because-”, because I couldn't bear to loose anyone else and I couldn't bear having any more names on the list of people that died because of me. Lloyd ends up not finishing that sentence.

“I don't hate you. I love you with all my heart but when I look at you I can't help but think about how I did hate you and it makes me feel so- so guilty and awful.”, Lloyd let's out a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding because what he was about to say next was without a doubt the hardest thing for him to say out loud.

“If you, all of you I mean, hate me now that's okay, I get it.”, a sob escaped his lips.

“Lloyd-”

“I really won't judge you if you do-”

“Listen to me-”

“And if you want me to leave now, I will-”

“Please just-”

“If I were you I wouldn't want me to stick around-”

“Greenie-”

“As well-”

“I hate myself too-”

“Lloyd, don't you dare finish that sentence! Just listen to me!”, Kai rose his voice making the blond flinch and look up at him in shock.

Kai hated to see him like that, so hurt, so broken, so small, so young because in the end that's all he was. Their younger brother who had to grow up way too fast, much like Kai himself had to. Of course Kai also knew that his little brother wasn't a child anymore. He knew he was already seventeen but even that was way too young of an age for carrying the burden of being the Green Ninja and everything else that had happened to him.

“I'm not mad at you. It's completely natural to feel anger and sometimes even hatred when grieving. When I-”, Kai bit his lip for a second. Normally he wouldn't talk about it, wouldn't talk about his childhood and his parents absence. But he had them back now, everything turned out okay. “When I thought that my parents had died I was constantly getting into fights with random children to let out my anger. Because I hated them for leaving me and Nya all alone. So believe me I get it and I am not mad at all.”, he let out a sigh and sat down next to him pulling the blonde's head close to his chest. This time Lloyd didn't push him away. “I love you. You're my little baby brother and there is nothing you could ever do or say to change that or to make me hate you, I care too much about you for that. And don't you dare think about leaving us and don't you dare hate yourself. You are beautiful from the inside and outside. You've done so much good and you are so important to every single one of us, we want to help you and go through this with you together. Please just let us- let us help you.”, he felt Lloyd nod against his chest murmuring a silent 'okay'.

“We are going to get through this all together you just have to let us in.”, Nya smiling softly at the blond who nodded once more and sat up straight again.

“Thank you, guys.”

“It's what friends are for, Lloydie Boygie.”, the half-human scrunched.

“Jay, please-”

“Never say that again.”, Kai finished for him but couldn't hide his amused smile.

“So.”, Zane spoke up for the first time during the whole conversation. Lloyd wasn't mad at him for it, he knew how hard it was for Zane to comfort others due to his sort of blunt nature - it just wasn't his thing. “Should I look over your self-inflicted wounds now?”, Lloyd made a face and swore he could hear the others breathe in sharply. Yes, definitely blunt.

“Uh.”, he murmured while standing up. “Guess so. Med-Bay?”, Zane just nodded and made his way out of the kitchen being followed by the young Master.

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