Random Ninjago One-shots

5 Times Lloyd Saved the Others: Cole

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Cole reassured with a gentle squeeze.

Lloyd shrugged meekly. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this."

Even though he knew what Lloyd was going to say, Cole asked anyway. "Like what?"

His brother pulled away and Cole let him, but he kept his tired eyes on the floor. "Weak. Unable to protect anyone. Can't even stop my own—" he broke off, gaze boring into the wood underneath him.

Irritation sparked in Cole's mind. That's how Lloyd thought of himself right now? He shouldn't be surprised, given his brother's state, but he still hated it.

"Oh, buddy," Cole breathed. "You're not weak." He gently tilted Lloyd's chin upwards to meet his eyes, his brow furrowed slightly with concern at the utter exhaustion in his leader's green gaze. "Being upset doesn't make you a bad Ninja. It just makes you human."

Lloyd withdrew with a bitter scoff. "I'm not human, Cole." He thrust his wrists forward with a surprisingly angry glare. "This proves that."

"And those are...?" Cole prompted.

"These stop the Oni—my Oni—" his voice caught on the words "—and the dragon from controlling me." He flinched and closed his eyes, and at the same time, the green gems glowed brighter. In a quieter voice, he muttered, "They stop anyone from getting hurt."

Cole was silent while he processed the words. He recalled when Lloyd's powers had gone berserk when the Green Ninja saw Jay in imminent danger, making the Ninja's whole body glow, and his eyes — they'd shone with pure energy, a wispy green fire trailing from the corners when Lloyd moved. It was terrifying to see his younger brother lose control like that when he could destroy a city with one wrong step. If what Lloyd said about the Oni and dragon controlling him was true, the bracelets must be helping him control his powers so a similar outburst wouldn't happen.

After the mess with the Oni, Lloyd admitted to the Ninja his heritage as part Oni and part dragon. Cole remembered how the Oni craved destruction and the dragon, where their powers came from, controlled the elements. If they were both present in Lloyd's mind, it was no wonder he looked overwhelmed.

"They — you can hear them, can't you?" Cole guessed.

Lloyd nodded numbly. "They don't like the bracelets," he rasped, his hands lying limply on his knees and revealing the red markings well in the dim light. A moment of silence passed before: "It hurts."

Barely a whisper, but Cole heard loud and clear.

Lloyd was in pain, suffering silently while the others went oblivious.

Cole couldn't be angry at Zane for creating the cuffs; his brother meant well, and he was likely rushed in the process and missed a small detail that made the cuffs hurt. No, he was mad at something he couldn't fight.

Fate had thrown Lloyd around like a ragdoll; like a plaything for a sadistic divine force, only made to receive pain and torment. From Misako abandoning Lloyd when he was a kid to his hybrid blood, Fate would not give the kid a break.

Cole shoved his thoughts to the back of his mind when he heard Lloyd grimace in pain. The gem pulsed with light.

"It's happening now?" He predicted. Lloyd nodded sharply and hissed softly, pulling his wrists close to his body. "Can you take them off?"

Lloyd frantically shook his head. "No, don't!" He cried, jerking to his feet and stumbling into the wall, face pale.

Cole rose slowly, holding his hands up innocently. "I wasn't going to," he soothed. "But this clearly isn't working."