Archive of Our Own ^beta

Destiny really hated Lloyd Garmadon.

He didn’t know exactly what he’d done to piss off Cloud Kingdom, but he must have done something, because normal bad luck just didn’t cover all the shit he’d gotten himself into.

Case in point, he was currently sitting in a cage after being kidnapped and possessed by, technically, his cousin. If any more villains showed up with mysterious ties to Wu and a vendetta against his family, Lloyd was going to flip his shit.

Speaking of.

Morro strolled casually into the room, spinning a mini tornado on one of his fingers. He looked up at Lloyd, his eyes half-lidded and a bored expression on his face.

“You,” Lloyd snarled, injecting as much venom as he could into the word, despite being at an obvious disadvantage in the situation.

The ghost didn’t seem put off at all. “Me,” he agreed cheerfully. His grin sent a shiver down Lloyd’s spine. “Did you sleep well, Lloyd? Hopefully you’ve been saving your strength; I’ll be needing it.”

“Let me out!” He rattled the bars of his cage, trying to summon an energy blast.

“Tsk. That cage is Vengestone, Green Ninja, like I’ve explained many times. You’re awfully feisty considering you have absolutely zero power here.”

“Haven’t you ever heard that ninja never quit?”

“Ugh. Spare me.” Morro examined his fingernails, which were coated in a layer of chipped black nail polish. “Do you think your little friends are going to try to rescue you again today? I hope so. My combat skills have been getting a little rusty, and I could use the practice.”

“They will come for me, and they will defeat you, Morro.”

“I’m sure,” he yawned. He turned and called to his ghostly friends. “Ghoultar! Bansha! Come in here and help me restrain the prisoner.”

The two ghosts entered and dutifully crossed to Lloyd’s cage. Bansha opened the cage and Ghoultar grabbed him, wrenching his arms behind his back and holding him there.

Lloyd formed a small energy ball in his hand and fired it backwards at Ghoultar, who released him with a roar. He tried to skirt around Morro and escape the room, but the ghost grabbed him in a chokehold and pressed the Sword of Sanctuary against his throat.

“If you’d like to keep your head, I’d advise you to stop,” Morro hissed. Lloyd ground his teeth, but stood as still as he could. He would like to keep his head, thank you very much.

“Fuck you,” Lloyd snarled. Morro dug the sword deeper into his neck, the cut stinging and burning. He hissed in pain.

“Bansha, hold this, if you would,” the ghost said, giving her the sword. He wrenched Lloyd’s arms behind his back and stepped forward into his body. The now-familiar icy pins and needles spread through Lloyd’s body as Morro took over. His limbs went numb. FSM, he hated this part. It was so weird and uncomfortable.

My friends will come for me, Lloyd insisted.

Morro ignored him. “Thank you,” he said, taking the sword back from Bansha and strapping it to his back.

They’re going to beat you.

“Could you shut the fuck up for five seconds?” Morro demanded. “First Master!”

“Is he giving you trouble, Morro?” Bansha asked. “Would you like me to take him outside and sort him out?”

Morro massaged his temples. “No, it’s alright. I have it under control. Just pissing me off is all.” He started for the door. “It’s time to teach a few ninja a lesson. I’ll be back.”

Leave them alone! What the fuck did they do?

“They’re your family, aren’t they? Accomplices. Do I really need a reason? As you so eloquently put it, I’m a ‘villain with mysterious ties to Wu and a vendetta against his family.’ I don’t need a reason.”

You need a reason to hurt people. No one’s born bad.

“Maybe I was. Maybe I was just damned right from the start. I was never going to amount to anything. Maybe it was always going to end this way.”

You can choose what you can be, Morro. You don’t have to be a villain. Let me go.

“Hmm. Interesting offer. It seems somehow familiar…maybe because you’ve been repeating it every five fucking minutes! How stupid do you think I am? Obviously I’m not going to let you go.”

Worth a shot.

“Shut up, Lloyd.”

Morro summoned Lloyd’s elemental dragon to fly to the monastery; it was a hell of a lot faster than any other means of travel.

He touched down in the courtyard. Kai, Cole, and Jay were already outside training. They all dropped into defensive stances at the sight of the possessed green ninja.

“Watch out, ninja!” Morro shouted, whipping the wind into a massive tornado that swept the ninja off their feet. They grabbed onto anything they could, trying to keep their footing. “Wouldn’t want to hurt your precious little Green Ninja!”

“Lloyd!” Kai yelled. “You’re stronger than he is! Fight him off!”

“Shut up!” Morro roared, sending a massive gust at Kai. The fire ninja shielded his face and then slashed at Morro with the Sword of Fire. The ghost jumped back and then stilled for a moment. He must have gotten an idea, because Lloyd could practically hear the gears turning in his brain.

What are you—

He didn’t even get to finish his question before Morro left his body. It felt like someone had peeled the top layer of his skin off, leaving him exposed and raw. He fell to the ground, shivering on his hands and knees. He retched, shaking as sensation returned to his limbs.

Jay and Cole sprinted over, each of them taking one of Lloyd’s arms and hauling him to his feet. He buried his head in Cole’s shoulder, tears soaking into his gi.

“It’s okay, green bean. We got you,” Jay murmured. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“Kai. Where’s Kai?” Lloyd asked weakly, his head still on Cole’s shoulder. “I want Kai.”

“You’re gonna have to wait a minute for that, kiddo,” Cole reassured him. “We got you.”

“What does that mean? Where’s Kai?”

A scream that very much belonged to Kai ripped across the courtyard.

——

Kai slashed at Morro with his sword as the ghost approached. It passed right through him, but he continued striking to no avail. Morro grinned evilly.

“Get the fuck away!” Kai yelled, shooting flames at the ghost. “Get away!”

“Your powers don’t work on me, fire ninja, if you hadn’t already noticed. You might as well give up.”

“Ninja never quit.”

“First Master, you ninja and your stupid sayings! It’s boring, where’s the originality?”

“Get away from me!”

“Hm. I don’t think I will, actually.” Morro lunged right at Kai. The ninja swiped at him, which did nothing. The ghost shoved him aside as if he were nothing more than a mild nuisance, his consciousness pushed to the back burner. Kai was so cold, colder than he’d ever been, and numb. He was the Master of Fire. If he was cold, something was deeply, deeply wrong.

A scream was ripped from him as Morro forced him back, severing his control completely. The ghost grinned using his face, which was an entirely different level of weird.

Take me, possess me, but just stay away from Lloyd! If you hurt him, I’ll fucking kill you and chop you up into little pieces!

“Hate to break it to you, Fireboy, but kind of already dead here, if you hadn’t noticed.” Morro sparked a flame in his palm. “Ooh. Hell yes.”

I’m serious, motherfucker. Leave him alone.

“Why are you protecting him?” Morro demanded. “He took everything from us.”

Us? First of all, there is no us. You’ve got your shit and I’ve got mine. Second of all, Lloyd didn’t take jack shit from me. Destiny decided his fate. He didn’t choose to be the Green Ninja. He doesn’t want to be it at all. Lloyd is my brother. I’m over it. I grew the fuck up. When will you?

Kai could feel Morro’s shock radiating from him. The ghost clearly wasn’t expecting that.

If you think for even a second that I’d do anything to hurt Lloyd, you have another thing coming. He’s my family, and I love him. You wouldn’t know anything about that.

“You little—”

“Morro!” came a shout from the other side of the courtyard. The ghost whipped around and growled. Lloyd was standing there, supported by Jay and Cole. He looked like he’d been through hell, but there was still a defiant spark in his eyes. “Let him go.”

“Ah, Lloyd. Did it ever occur to you that maybe he doesn’t want to be let go?” Morro grinned. “Maybe your brother was harboring more anger, more resentment, than he was letting on.”

No, no, that’s not true. Lloyd, please. Don’t believe him. He’s lying.

“Liar,” Lloyd growled. “I know Kai, and he knows that I never wanted this. If I could trade places with him, I would in a heartbeat. I never wanted to be the Green Ninja. It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. But I’m grateful for it, because being a ninja gave me a home, and a family. I accepted my fate, and from now on, I shape my own destiny. I’m not going to let people like you do it for me.”

Lloyd staggered away from Jay and Cole, barely able to stay on his feet, but he was glaring fucking daggers at Morro. He began slowly charging up an energy blast, swirling it between his hands. Morro roared and blasted him with a column of wind, but it barely affected him at all. Kai was silently cheering him on, drowning out Morro’s hateful ramblings with his own love for his brother.

Fuck him up, Lloyd! Kai cheered.

Lloyd released his energy shockwave with a scream, his eyes glowing bright green. The force of it knocked Cole and Jay to the ground and blasted Morro right out of Kai’s body.

The heat was scorching, searing Kai’s skin, but it felt good. Right. The numbing cold was gone, replaced by a familiar, comforting heat. Kai fired up twin columns of flame in his palms and nearly laughed out loud with relief. Morro was gone. He was in control again.

The ghost had been propelled backwards across the courtyard by the force of the blast. He laid on the ground, dazed. Lloyd dropped to the ground. An unspoken agreement passed between the three present ninja. Jay and Cole dealt with Morro, and Kai rushed over to Lloyd.

He caught the kid and lowered him gently to the ground. “I’m so proud of you,” he breathed into Lloyd’s hair.

“Kai,” Lloyd sobbed, gripping the back of Kai’s gi. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. And you’re gonna be fine too, green machine. You’re the strongest kid I know. You’re gonna be okay.”

Lloyd went limp. Kai freaked out for a moment, frantically checking his pulse, but he had just passed out. Understandable, considering what had just happened. He picked him up and carried him inside, laying him on the couch and pulling a blanket over him.

“I’m proud of you, little brother.”

Kai walked back outside, reading to give Morro a piece of his mind. He was going to be sorry he ever messed with Kai’s family.