Just a thought I had...
Lloyd, Nya, and Morro, thousands of years after the Ninja have all died, find themselves back before the Green Ninja gets revealed.
Lloyd says no to destiny.
“... All of my training to become the best ninja wasn't in preparation to become the Green Ninja. It was... to protect him,” Kai says with a sad smile, and everyone turns to look at Lloyd, who takes a deep breath, frowns and crosses his arms, before changing the entire timeline with one single word.
“Nope.”
Everyone around him frowns, “What do you mean ‘nope’?”
“I mean I’m not going to be the Green Ninja,” Lloyd clarifies, hating that his voice sounds squeaky and childish. Seriously, he was ten again! He’d think after years of never aging or even comprehending age at all, he’d be glad to be alive, even if he was ten. Which was definitely not the case– Can he go back to the Departed Realm please? Someone really didn’t like him, that was for sure.
“Can you just decide that?” Jay asks as everyone taller than Lloyd exchanges confused looks. Well, except Nya, who’s trying to hide her smile by looking like she’s swallowed a lemon. “We don’t even know for sure if you are the Green Ninja.”
“Great!” Lloyd beams at him, giving Jay a toothy smile and nothing else. He’s acting like a child, but Lloyd doesn’t mind it as much as he did when he actually was one. He hasn’t been a kid in a very long time and while he may have the brain of a dead twenty-five-year old that has thousands of years of memories in the afterlife, nobody else knows that and he’s going to take advantage of that.
“So let’s just not make sure I am, and we can all be on our merry way!”
Silence fills the Bounty.
“I think we should double check. Just so we know…” Cole trails off with a shrug, when Lloyd glares at him with all the annoyance his ten-year-old self can muster. It’s not a lot, much to his dismay, so he allows for the weapons to be placed around him, just as Wu looks at him carefully.
“But why do you think you are not the Green Ninja, Lloyd?” He asks with a gentle carefulness.
Lloyd shrugs, “I just don’t want to.”
I’m done fighting, he says silently. I’m done with losing everything because of destiny. Also, I already lived this life and I’m not in the mood to relive it.
The Golden Weapons float up, crackling with green energy, just like it had hundreds of years ago, and Lloyd scowls when everyone looks at him in awe or in Garmadon’s case– despair.
“Lloyd is the Green Ninja. I had thought it would be one of you, but it was him the whole time. It all makes sense. Not only have you four been chosen to protect the Golden Weapons, but also to protect the Chosen One,” Wu says reverently, and Lloyd shakes his head, probably looking like a brat, but this was his decision.
And he says, “No. I’m not going to do it.”
“Can he do that?” Cole turns to the other adults in the room, “Say no to destiny?”
“Of course he can,” Zane interjects, “He shouldn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders yet,” He says, and Lloyd grins, relieved that someone was taking his side. “But the Golden Weapons have confirmed it, and there is no avoiding that Lloyd is the Green Ninja.”
Lloyd’s makes a face, “It’s not me,” He insists. “Because I don’t want to be.”
He doesn’t want to fill everyone with hope. Or despair, when Lloyd casts a helpless look at his father. It had been a very long time for Lloyd to see his father like this– staring at Lloyd like he was the only thing that mattered.
“If he doesn’t want to be, he doesn’t have to,” Garmadon clears his throat, pulling Lloyd closer to him. “Our family shall not be dived anymore than it has to.”
“Okay, fine! But who’s going to be the Green Ninja?” Kai throws his hands in the air. “If it can’t be one of us, and Lloyd doesn’t want to, who?”
Nya walks up, a small grin on her face with sparkling eyes that have seen too much of life as she shares a look with Lloyd. “I mean we could always ask Morro.”
Wu’s staff clatters to the ground, and half of the group turns to look at Wu alarmed, and the rest looks at Nya confused.
“Who?” Kai asks his sister, just as Wu pushes away Cole, who had handed the old man his staff, and turns to Nya. “How do you know that name?” He demands, his face pale, gripping his staff like he’ll drop it again.
The smile that Nya gives Wu is filled with mischief and daring, as she shrugs. “Oh you know, Wojira’s descendants all sort of know each other. It’s a weather thing.”
It was very much not a weather thing. It was more of a ‘falling in a rift out of the Departed Realm, thousands of years after Lloyd thought he was done with living.’ They had been trying to prank Kai and Jay, only for the prank to go stupendously wrong and Morro, Lloyd, and Nya falling into the time stream.
They didn’t even know if Morro was here, but Lloyd hopes so. They had come a long way since Morro had possessed him back when he was sixteen. Well, Morro had apologized and made up for it, but that was hundreds of years ago, and it was all water under the bridge in their very long dead lives.
Now, or at least before the three of them had fallen into time, they were in a decade long prank war with Jay, Cole, and Kai, as they waited for Zane to join them in the never ending party that was the Depared Realm.
Wu looks pained as he stares at Nya. “He died seventy years ago,” He whispers, his eyes turning farway and the Bounty turns solemn.
“Who was he, brother?” Garmadon asks carefully and delicate, but Wu shakes his head and straightens upwards.
“And what do you mean ‘ask Morro’? Why are you talking to dead people?” Kai demands to his sister, but before Nya can say ‘A few minutes ago I was dead,’ or something along those lines– Lloyd is definitely going to say it when he gets the opportunity to– Wu looks at her, pain in his eyes.
“Exactly, Nya. He is at peace, and has been, for much longer than you have been alive. How would we even be able to contact him?”
Nya shrugs, and points upwards, “The wind,” she says with a shit eating grin, as a huge portal appears out of nowhere, and spits out a very angry ghost. The ninja gasp and grab their weapons, running out to the deck, while Wu stares out the window, eyes wide.
“Show off,” Lloyd mutters to Nya, “There is no way that was a coincidence!” But she just laughs at him, before Garmadon grabs him protectively. There is no way that was planned. None! Or maybe they had an alliance within an alliance, and he should get allies behind their backs. Yeah, that’s what he’ll do.
Lloyd wiggles out of his dad’s grip, grabbing Nya’s hand. “Come on!”
The two run out to the deck, as Garmadon follows them, dragging Wu along. “Lloyd, wait!” His dad yells, but Lloyd's grinning like a mad man, as Morro lands on the Bounty, which is swaying violently in the wind, as he rants to the poor Ninja who look increasingly confused.
“Who’s fucking idea was it to put fifty snakes into an errupting volcano?” Morro demands, “I was going to wait until Garmadon showed up, but I swore I wasn’t going to do paperwork in the Cursed Realm ever again!”
“Morro!” Nya grins, waving at him, despite Kai’s command for her to stay back. “You’re here! And super early!”
“Yeah. I’m not doing paperwork for the fucking serpentine, when I could just come through the rift they made,” Morro scoffs, only talking to Nya and Lloyd, and is very pointedly ignoring the weapons aimed at him and Wu’s face, which is twisted in so many emotions, Lloyd is worried his uncle may collapse right then and there.
Lloyd winces, “Sorry dude, that sucks.”
“Yeah,” Morro’s frown deepens, “How far back are we?”
“I’m not the Green Ninja!” Lloyd beams up at him– ugh, he’s so short too, this is the worst– and Morro gives him a very long and hard look.
“Can you just do that?” He asks, and Jay throws his hands up in relief.
“See? Even the ghost agrees with me!”
Morro smirks, ignoring the other’s spluttering, and asks, “Does that mean I can be the Green Ninja now? I have my powers back,” he says, the wind swirling around the Bounty for extra effect.
Lloyd shrugs, “Go for it,” he says, “But maybe talk to Wu first, I think he’s about to pass–”
Cole and Kai yelp as Wu falls to the ground in a dead faint.
“–out.” Lloyd finishes with a giggle.
