I hope that you guys are having a wonderful day and I hope you enjoy! Also, thanks to a certain someone for making this happen! I'm not going to officially reveal you yet until this "plot" is all over so their won't be many spoilers and so that the readers can figure out who everyone is and stuff (I'm sure ya'll will know who it is) but know that I'm very grateful! (Like seriously, really really grateful, love you girl) <3
While it's like mid-day where I am, and when this chapter is posted, I am so freakishly tired. I literally make the stupidest grammar mistakes. It took me at least 10 minutes to figure out the right spelling for color because calor, colur, and coler didn't seem right. Also I kept spelling use as youse. Please send help. (oh, and more motivation. I'm a slacker when it comes to writing, oh and if you could, food sounds good too, especially desserts. This could all be a corona virus care package for your lovely author of this story)
Word Count: 4160
A gang of bellowing 20-year-olds sat in a circle on hard wooden floor, paper plates layered with pizza grease and red plastic cups were scattered across the floor. Next to the group sat a leather couch with a passed out dog, using the couch leg as a head rest. A monopoly board was settled between the eight pajama-wearing bodies, money was scattered in piles that were any definition except neat. A pair of dice rolled across the plastic board of the monopoly set and a game piece was plopped into a new square.
"Rent is 14 plus the 1...2... 3 houses! You're total comes out to 550 dollars." Y/N chirped, amused. The outcome of the roll favored her in the end of the turn. "Hand the goods over, Dragon Boy."
With a distraught groan a young man in green clad pajama pants reluctantly handed over the said amount. Oh, and a green shirt, because why wouldn't he not have a shirt on? The young adult folded his arms and pouted, "You guys are teaming up against me!"
Kai raised both of his hands up innocently, "No we're not!"
"I have 240 dollars left! You guys keep stealing all my money!" Lloyd stressed, his voice raising an octave.
"Shouldn't've spent all you're money at the beginning, kid," Cole stated before using the yawn trick to wrap one arm around his girlfriend who was thrilled to accept his snuggles. Lloyd stuck his tongue out in response to Cole's smug look. Unbothered by the child-like actions, Cole nodded towards him, "You rolled doubles. Go again."
Lloyd's brows furrowed before he plucked the dice from the board and rolled again. A 5 and a 2. He swatted his hand against the air and trained his eyes on the team water-bender, "Nya move me 7 spaces."
"You're literally only 2 feet away!" One look at his stubborn face and she grudgingly moved the metal top hat forward.
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDIN' ME!" Lloyd protested when his pawn reached its destination. He covered his face in shame, dragging his hands down his cheeks, groaning in agony.
"13 hundred dollars, Lloyd" Zane stated lethargically, palm outstretched. Lloyd's bangs fell flat over his eyes, with an angry huff and breath, Lloyd blew them away only for them to stick back to his face. His face scrunched.
"Why am I always the first to go in board games?" Lloyd whined, shaking his head, before handing Zane the remaining scraps of money he had left. Zane only added it to his stacks of money, organized by color and amount. "My life is over! It seems like the world hates me today! I've got nothin' to live for anymore thus I must sit here and die because that's what you guys want too! To see me suffer," Lloyd sulked. Y/N's face distorted as she turned to Lloyd. Her mouth opened slightly as if she wanted to say something before it slowly closed. The team snickered.
Lloyd got up off the ground and sluggishly picked up his trash to go throw away in the kitchen across from the lounging area where they set up the game in. He crumpled his plate into a firm, smaller piece and tossed it into the trash can.
"Guys, I'm gonna head to bed. I'm getting pretty tired and this game is too boring to stay up for," Lloyd proclaimed, as Jay moved his metal Scottie dog a couple of spaces forward, passing Go and collecting 200 dollars.
"Are you sure you it's not because you lost?"Kai asked. Lloyd glared at the large smirk that covered his features when the two connected eyes.
Lloyd's face beat red, stomping his foot like a child whose toy got taken away, "I'm not a sore loser! It's not my fault you guys rigged the game to get me out first and steal all my money!"
"Sore loser!" Jay laughed in a sing-song voice. Nya shook her head, palm resting on her face but smiled nonetheless at her jokester boyfriend..
"That's it! Goodnight guys! See me never!" Lloyd exclaimed throwing his hands up, turning on his heel and walking out of the lounge.
Y/N dived for his legs before he could get too far, coiling her arms around the left one she trapped in her bear hug. With her best puppy eyes and saddest voice she could muster, she looked up at him, "Don't leave me alone with these crackheads!"
Lloyd looked back to the loud chatter of his team, Zane and Nya were taking orders for more drinks and pizza while Cole, Jay, and Kai were throwing the remains at each other creating stains and chaos. His Uncle was so going to kill each and every one of them when he wakes up to find pizza stains on the carpet.
"Y/N! Your turn!" The girl's best friend called out from her boyfriend's lap. The duo bringing the couple energy to the group for the family game night. Despite whatever duo was lovey-dovey, Kai always managed to gag, except, of course, when Skylor was around. That fire was never dying out no matter who tried, and trust me, they've tried.
Y/N unhooked herself from Lloyd and crawled back towards her spot, forgetting of her sad puppy mood. With a roll of the dice and hard math calculations of adding the two numbers, she moved her cat game piece two spaces forward landing on the community chest. She drew a card and with a roaring 'whoop whoop' she took 300 dollars from the bank. "HA! Now I'm richer than you Nome-"
"If you can't fight 'em, join 'em" Lloyd muttered. He lazily threw his hands behind his head and stalked off to his room, not before giving one last look at the love of his life. The person he would die for, the one who, on many occasions, almost died for him as well. He hated her determination and willingness to help people, especially when it came to him but then again, he loved it all the same. He fell in love for that women and he loved every part of her. That part of her was nothing different, it was admirable and courageous and he couldn't have been more proud.
Keeping a greedy smile to himself, Lloyd strolled towards his room and plopped himself onto his bed with a sigh not caring about the colorful stains on his bed. Colors that were littered from his many and yet few years alive. His room was both messy and dirty but it was his physical home nonetheless. The home of his heart however was still outside where the roaring laughter was heard echoing through the monastery he spent his tween and teen years growing up in.
Lloyd wearily threw his legs onto the bed and then tucked his legs under the covers. He had closed his eyes while he brought his green blanket up to his shoulders and nestled himself comfortably in the warm sheets. A feeble smile grazed his lips as he brought himself deeper into sleep.
His weight pushed down on the mattress creating a comfortable dent where he would be brought to dream land. The room around him was dark, the light of the moon was dim as it cast onto his floor. While his doorway was opened, he had turned off the lights in the hallway providing as little light as he could into the room. While the Green Ninja was known for his elemental power of energy, sometimes Lloyd needed a break from the brightness and energetic that came with that thus when he went to bed he usually did like it dark and serene.
As Lloyd fell further into sleep, his brain began to block out the yells and cries emitted from across the monastery. The room became quiet, the only noises were his soft inhales and exhales slowly letting breath course through his body. The air conditioner rested as well, and quite frankly it was chilly in his room. Lloyd liked to keep it that way so that he could snuggle into his blanket or a person, a specific person if he felt like it, and quite frankly he always felt like it.
There was a peaceful atmosphere in the room. Falling asleep was similar to that of meditation. He felt relaxed with himself, letting the worries from the outside world fade away. If just for a moment, he could forget about the troubles him and his family were given over the past years. There were so many, it felt like they would never stop and yet these few moments gave him hope. He could whisk them away and let his inner thoughts dictate his night in dreams and give him peaceful rest. It wasn't these moments where he would wake up sweaty from nightmares, he was too relaxed for that. He would most likely dream of a candy haven with his girlfriend. That dream seemed to come around recently, it was weird, like many dreams are, but it created a memory, one he would cherish.
Lloyd was still, awaiting sleep to consume him and replenish his energy for another day of work, not all fun but all worth it. He rested comfortably with the small smile he didn't realize he had stationed on his figure. He was ready for sleep, he was ready for comfort, he was ready for a replenish, he was ready for an escape. An escape from all his troubles and worries, and it was finally here.
Then his leg twitched. Lloyd groaned in annoyance as he re-situated himself to gather the comfort that he had lost. A numb feeling washed over his body reminding him of the sleep he almost grasped. Lloyd frowned and tried to go back to sleep. He groaned and re-situated himself more times than he would like.
After what felt like forever, he shot up into a sitting position rubbing his sleepless eyes. Lloyd swung his legs over the side of his bed, deciding to get a cup of water and then going back to try and conquer sleep once more. He anticipated for his soles to hit the near floor but his body tingled when he felt nothing. Confused, Lloyd looked down at his feet where the floor should be.
His pupils dilated and his eyes grew large. Underneath him was a swirling purple void of nothingness centered in the middle of his room. With a yelp, Lloyd swept his feet up onto the bed. He hastily crawled backwards, his hands underneath him, until his back hit his wall. Lloyd hooked his arms around his legs, toes curling underneath him.
"Guys!" Lloyd called out. No answer.
"It's ok, it's ok, you're the Green Ninja! There's nothing to be afraid of," Lloyd weakly reminded himself, hoping to boost his confidence. He slowly inched towards the edge of his bed, curiosity and fear glistening in his green eyes, "Everything is going to be ok, you're going to find out what this thing is and then your gonna be awesome just like you are all day every day!"
Lloyd timidly peaked over his bed side, his eyes the only thing visibly from the vortex's view. The large circle replaced more than three quarters of his room, though nothing fell in. It was almost like a magical carpet that swirled a rich purple mixed with some blacks and emitted a faint glow.
Sparkles sparked out of the circle and bopped his noise. Lloyd squeaked and lept back. His eyes fluttered shut, "If the guys see me like this they will tease me to know end," He whined. "I've got this, I've got this, I've got this," Lloyd repeated to himself, going back towards the void thing. Lloyd crawled closer towards it and reached a hand over his bed to place it into the mysterious circle thing.
Lloyd giggled like a child opening a present on Christmas day when the sparkles surrounded his arm creating a tingling feeling encasing his arm. It was a mixture of warm or cold such as wind on a hot summer's day. The sun would beam down on you but then the wind would encase you in a cool bubble, taking away the heat before disappearing only to come back once more.
Lloyd reached more and more of his arm in as he furthered his discovery. It was a fuzzy feeling, nothing harmful at all. At shoulder deep, Lloyd knew he should stop messing with the portal saying, "If you die, the world will be in shambles and some evil bad guy will most likely take over Ninjago thus don't die and you shall be fine."
Lloyd reluctantly brought his arm out of the portal. Except there was one problem, his arm wouldn't budge.
Instead, like a magnet, Lloyd was drawn into the portal. It sucked his arm deeper into it and he fell head first. He took a large gasp and held his breath, awaiting the mystery behind the void and preparing himself for whatever would be on the other side of the portal. He let out a shrill yelp before he was fully indulge in the portal.
Footsteps were heard jogging into Lloyd's bedroom. Y/N's head peeped inside from the outside world. Lloyd's bed covers were messy and tousled, per usual. There were the same crayon scratches on the bottoms of the walls, many of two different colored ninja and even more of disheveled red and pink hearts. On the dresser next to the bed was a picture of Lloyd and his girlfriend. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the room still had a slight stench of Lloyd and his sweat. The sweat Y/N just absolutely adored so much.
"Thought I heard something," the girl murmured before taking another sweep of the room with her eyes noticing the absent Lloyd, "He must be in the bathroom." With a shrug she left and returned back to the game she was dominating in.
Three figures slammed onto the littered road of an alleyway in Ninjago city. Gang signs and other artwork were displayed by graffiti on anything the spray paint could touch. Trash bags overflowed the large green bins and were carelessly laid on the side, some garbage spilled out of tears and rips in the bags. There were those black stains on the ground from where gum was thrown down.
"Um, guys? Where are we?" The boy with the blond hair stated as dusted off the green plaid pajamas that he was wearing, looking at his two friends and then up at the purple sky that reigned darkness. He rubbed his eyes, with confusion, making sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"I am not sure Lloyd. There is no known virus in my system yet all my scanners are telling me that we are in Ninjago City?" One of the diamond eyes that belonged to the platinum blond twitched, sparks emitting.
"All I can remember is being on the verge of sleep but last time I checked, the night sky didn't look like that and my bedroom didn't look like an alleyway," The boy in green said as he help out his female friend who was picking herself up from the ground.
The girl thanked the blond boy before taking out her ponytail and redoing it to fix the mess that was going on in her hair. "That's what I remember too, well not going to sleep. This can't be a dream. We were having a fun family game night, you obviously had gone to bed being the sore loser that you are not being able to stick around for the finishing of games. Me and Zane over here were in the kitchen collecting food."
Lloyd's lips formed a pout but he did not try to argue with Nya. Lloyd's head tilted down, thoughtfully, "I almost fell asleep but then my leg twitched and I woke up and wanted water then there was the portal- the portal- THE PORTAL! That's how I'm here! I fell through it! Did you guys see one too? Did you guys fall through?"
"There was one in the kitchen too!" Nya recalled, excited that they were getting some where to solve this mystery, "It was there while me and Zane were getting more food for the group. It like, sucked us in sorta."
"We were drawn into the portal like two magnets being pulled together. The portal was the receiver and we were the donor being brought towards it" Zane elaborated for the girl, explaining their situation to Lloyd.
The screams of a mother and her child focused the Ninja away from their conversation and towards the cries of distress. Lloyd gritted his teeth, the sounds of the helplessness brought back some not so fond memories of his. He shook his head, "Guys, we will solve this later, for now we've got to help them!"
"We can't do much with out our gis!" Nya reminded him.
Lloyd huffed and sighed, "I know, I know. Let's go check it out anyways," Lloyd rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb, 'How 'bout we do-- Grey 1? That sound good- yeah? Awesome!"
Nya rolled her eyes, "You know you could just say 'Let's split up!' right?"
Lloyd swatted her off like her question was coming from the dumbest person in the world, "Nonsense, code names are cooler! Besides, why would I waste all that time teaching you different code names if we are not gonna use them." Lloyd continued to ramble on, "These code names are going to be the coolest thing that's every happened to you! There all the greys such as grey 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 which states that we will split up and how many people each group that is split will have. Also our code numbers! Don't forget our code numbers, those are amazing! I'm 5, your 6, Zane's 2, Cole's 1, Jay's 3, Kai's 4, and Y/N's 7! Super freakin' cool if you tell me!"
Nya let out a heave of breath whimsically. With a chuckle at the boy's ecstatic ramble she stated, "Jay is a bad influence on you."
Lloyd stuck out his tongue before leaping away like a gazelle and climbing the nearest fire escape to the roof. Zane and Nya's eyes followed his body as he dramatized his exit, splitting off from the two of them. Once he was out of sight, they turned back to each other and shrugged their shoulders, waving goodbye when they parted and began different routes in the same direction of the cries, surveying more area.
Lloyd expertly hopped his way across roof tops, his training over the years serving him well as he used his surrounding to stay out of sight. He took note of a giant machine he had never seen before facing the opposite direction of him. When he saw his two companions hop up onto two different buildings, he pointed them towards the large machine. They nodded, understanding his gestures for them to head towards the presumed danger.
The closer they got, the more civilians they saw. Some where lined up and some were sitting in rows rocking their children back and forth muttering sweet words into their ears. Two common factors he noticed: 1) They all either were sad, mad, or both, 2) At least one tall skeleton looking figure was watching over a group of the humans or an individual.
Lloyd's eyes widened thinking it was the same skeletons his father appeared with whenever he was making his first entrance as the Green Ninja. You know, the one where he was going to save the ninja who were capture by Pythor. The one where the lil' version of himself was practicing his Ninja rolls up the mountain and going over his child-made tactics on how to stop all the snakes and get the fangblades back. The one where he tumbled all the way down the rock hard stair case because he tripped on the top step. Yeah, that one. However, these skeletons were nothing like those idiots. The aura they held was darker and deader, if deader was even a word.
They were more organized as well, their movements precise and with purpose. The larger skeletons with beady black eyes and torn capes barked out orders to the surrounding monsters patrolling the areas where the humans were held under their captivity. The citizens under captivity moved like dominoes, when one broke it was a chain of others around them breaking as well. The stress both emotionally and physically seemed to burden all of them. A question surrounded the 3 ninja. What had happened here?
As much as Lloyd wanted to further examine the havoc that reeked within the city he was familiar with yet didn't look all that familiar, his eyes fell upon the large mechanism in the center of this beaten battlefield. It was at least 4 stories tall and was layered with weapons of all kind.
Nya and Zane looked over the street with wide-eyes and up to the same mech that had stolen Lloyd's attention. While their eyes were already widened from the disorder around them it seemed as though something new that never failed to surprise them every second appeared. They saw seven people who looked eerily like themselves but younger, the same thing with their teammates who didn't fall through the portal. The teenagers in the cages had lifeless looks apparent on there face with the exception of one they knew well, one who they knew would never give up. A small glimpse of hope, a hope not shared by the rest of the team. From the way the metal reflected the light, and the dulled color they new immediately what hated metal it was. One that they all could say that they despised due to many past incidents, vengestone.
While they were focused on the teenagers Lloyd examined the four people in the cockpit. All people he had to face in his past, some of them turning good, other's dying a tragic death, one of them dying a well deserved death. The one with the well deserved death and the one he considered to be his worst enemy, the Overlord. The Overlord stood in the cockpit with the same menacing smile Lloyd remembered in some of his dreams. He hated that moment, that responsibility, he was glad it was over and done but seeing him here right now, looking more sadistic than ever, Lloyd's breath hitched. Looking away from the old enemy was one he could consider his worst nightmare, Morro. However, Morro looked different than the person he remembered. This Morro seemed darker, fulled with more hatred than the last. The one he remembered came to terms with his fate, this one was still fulled with what could've been. The other, he could consider his worst "friend." Harumi. That one in itself was self explanatory.
And last, there was his dad. Garmadon. When he saw him standing up in the cockpit of the mech, he saw him in the way he never wanted to see him ever again in. Evil, destructive, dangerous, corrupt, immoral, hateful, the list could go on. It was better that Lloyd never had to think of his dad that way, he remembered the good in him, the willingness to help, the father figure he wanted as a child. The person standing before him was not his dad. It couldn't be, he vowed it would never be. He thought this was forgotten. What kind of nightmare had he actually fallen into.
Lloyd's eyes met with his team, all three pairs of pupils were widened as they surveyed this different area. None of this should be possible yet it was. There was hope that this was a dream, but then there was the crushing feeling of the truth. Lloyd let out a dry laugh, unbelieving of the reality of the moments, "Shi-"