The Master of Nature

An Awkward Reunion

A few weeks passed. Lloyd seemed to be improving and became a competent fighter. Hope's fighting skills were also improving a lot.

Nothing major happened, minus a time-travel incident which completely wiped everyone's memories of the Mega Weapon. Well, everyone except those who time travelled.

Lloyd's new age seemed to come with some teenage issues. His voice was still childlike, but everything else seemed to have changed. Lloyd wasn't as shy as he used to be and seemed to gain a sarcastic nature.

One morning, the boys tried to get Lloyd to do chores again, but Lloyd complained, "Aww, you might've been able to dump chores on me when I was smaller, but I'm grown up now. That's not fair!"

But after losing to a game of rock paper clamp/scissors, Lloyd had to take out the Ultra Dragon's poop anyway. He complained again about having to do the dirty work.

"Hey, having a pet dragon requires a lot of responsibility," pointed out Cole.

"Didn't your mom ever let you have a pet?" asked Jay.

Hope gave Jay a horrified look. Why did Jay have to bring up Lloyd's mother?

"I don't remember my mother," said Lloyd sadly.

Hope had not told anyone about asking Alyssa to look for Lloyd's mother. It was a very sensitive topic.

Luckily, the conversation was interrupted by Nya telling the ninja that something strange was happening at the museum.

It turned out that the Great Devourer's venom had seeped through the walls of the museum and were affecting some of the merchandise. The ninja had no problem dealing with it, but one figurine hopped away and Wu went after it.

Just as they had finished with the fighting (and destroying the gift shop in the process) Hope received a text.

Alyssa: Come to the Museum of Ninjago! I have news for you.

Hope: I am already with the museum with the other ninja. What's going on?

Alyssa: Oh. Maybe it's better if I tell all of you. Where exactly are you?

Hope: In the gift shop. Or what used to be the gift shop.

Alyssa gasped when she saw the destroyed gift shop. "Whoa, what happened?" she asked.

"The Great Devourer's venom brought some mini figures to life," said Jay. "But don't worry, we have already taken care of it."

"Oh," said Alyssa. "Well, this will come as a shock, but... I found Lloyd's mother."

"WHAT?"

"She's working here in this museum," said Alyssa. "Come, I will show you."

"Why did you..." started Lloyd.

"Because I told her to," said Hope. "I thought that... You would get some closure if you knew where your mother is."

"Well, I don't want to see her!" said Lloyd. Then his anger faded away and he became panicked. "Oh no, she is here? I have to go!"

But Lloyd ran out and almost bumped into Wu and a woman with glasses and grey hair in a braid.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Lloyd. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Suddenly, Wu said, "This is Misako, Lloyd's mother."

Everyone gasped, and Misako suddenly embraced her shocked son.

"Lloyd? My little boy. You're so much bigger than I remember," said Misako.

"Yeah, well, it's been a long time," said Lloyd.

Hope was surprised that Misako didn't act shocked that Lloyd was way older than he was supposed to be. Garmadon had been startled the first time he had seen Lloyd after he was aged up.

The conversation ended with Lloyd storming away. It was very awkward.

"That's the worst introduction ever," said Kai.

Hope hid behind Alyssa, suddenly feeling uncomfortably shy. Why did she always feel scared around strangers?

Lloyd was found at the bottomless pit exhibition. "That sinkhole doesn't have a bottom, son. It's where I found the ancient Stone Warrior," warned Misako.

"Uh, "son?" You've been gone my whole life! There's nothing you can say," said Lloyd coldly.

Misako sighed. "Well, I'm going to talk anyway. You wanna know what I've been doing all this time? Long before Sensei Wu ever knew who would be the Green Ninja, I knew it would be you. And I knew you would eventually have to fight your father. I dropped you off at the Boarding School so I could go learn everything I could about the prophecy, in hope of one day preventing the final battle. Of good and evil. All this time, son, I've been trying to save you and your father. Long before time had a name, Ninjago was created by the First Spinjitzu Master..."

"Yeah, yeah. We've heard this story a hundred times," interrupted Lloyd.

"But you've only heard half of it. In Ninjago, there has always been balance between good and evil. So you know about how the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, but what if I were to tell you in order for there to be light, there must be shadow, and within shadow, there is darkness. The blackest of darkness that existed from the very beginning. An evil spirit called "The Overlord." "

Zane asked Wu if he knew about it. Wu admitted that he did. "I had hoped if I'd kept the secret, that name would never be spoken again," said Wu.

"The balance was at stake, and their battle could have gone on for eternity. Each side powerful, neither could conquer the other until the Overlord created his indestructible warriors: the Stone Army. The Spinjitzu Master did what he could, but he knew he would soon be defeated. So instead of losing the war, he divided Ninjago in two. And lucky for us, since then there has been no trace of the Overlord or his Stone Army, until my recent discovery," explained Misako.

"So that's why the battle has yet to be decided. It was never finished," said Kai.

"But where is this Dark Island?" asked Cole. "I've never heard of it."

"Disappeared, I presume," answered Misako. "But the legend states that so long as the balance between good and evil remains even, the Overlord shall remain trapped from this world. I have always feared your father's ambition will ultimately lead to a shift in the balance. That is why he must be stopped."

"We have each felt the power of the First Spinjitzu Master, passed onto us in the form of the elemental weapons. But now that power has been inherited by the Green Ninja, which is why only Lloyd can defeat the ultimate evil, or else all of Ninjago will fall prey to its darkness," said Wu.

Misako then made eye contact with Lloyd. "Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But faced with saving you and the world, I had no other choice."

"Have you discovered a way to prevent me from facing my father?" asked Lloyd hopefully.

"I'm sorry, not yet. But I have reason to believe there's still hope," said Misako.

Hope turned a little red when Misako mentioned that. She went up to Lloyd.

"Lloyd, I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't know that you would react the way you did. I thought that having your mother around might help you cope at least a little."

Lloyd sighed. "I know that you were trying to help me," he said. "It just... I need some time to process this."

Unfortunately, the conversation was interrupted by a giant stone warrior.