Chapter Text
The ice cream was finished rather quickly; the heated discussion, however, took longer to wrap up and Cole and Jay eventually started corralling everyone out of the booth and onto the sidewalk outside. The street roared with midday traffic as the lunch hours were already in full swing, nearly drowning out any conversation still going on. Lloyd looked around anxiously anytime he heard the rev of a motorcycle; with Harumi actively trying to abduct him the night before, there was every reason to believe that he was still in danger.
If anyone noticed his jumpiness, they didn’t comment on it.
Nya had been grounded from her motorcycle for taking it out before she officially had her learner’s permit (“It’s literally a week away,” she had complained to him earlier. “Basically already time anyway. I don’t regret it.”), so they all ended up walking. Not that Lloyd minded; having all of his friends surrounding him made him feel safer.
The conversation bounced between several different topics, but eventually the topic of Starfarer came up and this was not a discussion he was going to miss out on. By the time the group arrived at the warehouse, Jay and Lloyd were deep into comparing nuances of the different storylines.
As soon as they entered the building though, the blond caught sight of the dragon mech still in pieces on the floor and he got an idea. “Hey guys, do you think we could work on fixing my mech?”
“YES!” The shout from Nya was almost ear splitting, and before anyone else had a chance to respond she had practically started bouncing. “Absolutely! No offense to anyone else’s mechs, but yours is my favorite of them all to work on.” Lloyd could almost see the stars shining in her eyes as her voice took on a special tone exclusively reserved for talking about her projects. “Plus, that’ll give us a chance to see how much master builder skill you still have.”
“Master builder?” Lloyd’s brows lowered as he scanned through his memories for any references of the term. “I’m not familiar with that. Is it like an elemental power?”
That earned him a look of confusion from the girl as she ran to the tool cart and started wheeling it over to the dragon. “Huh? No, it’s like…the ability to build anything without instructions. Like you just look at a bunch of pieces and instantly come up with your own blueprint for a build.” As he followed her, she stopped the cart in front of the dragon’s face where a large part of the damage had been done and gestured to the mech in general. “I mean, you master built this all by yourself!”
It was his turn to get starry-eyed for a bit as he saw the green mech in a new light. “…I did? By myself?” Then he shook his head and laughed. “That may take me a while to figure out again. You and Pixal were the ones who always built everything in the dream, but not in a master builder-y way. At least, I don’t think so.”
He picked up a random brick from off the ground and turned it this way and that, trying to see…whatever master builder things he was supposed to be seeing.
“Who’s Pixal?”
The blond paused, brick still clutched in his hand. “She was a friend of Zane’s who became part of the team. I thought I hadn’t seen her yet because she was just too busy or something, but maybe the dream made her up…” He hesitated, mind suddenly remembering what Morro had said the night before, and decided to test the waters a little. “Hey, what do you guys think about alternate realities?”
Both Jay and Zane perked up at the question and started excitedly rambling off streams of words that got lost in the overlapping vocal chaos. When they realized they were speaking at the same time, Jay sank into his scarf and deferred to the nindroid.
“Alternate realities and the multiverse are fascinating concepts. The idea that there are other universes that could potentially contain alternate versions of ourselves is a topic scientists have debated for centuries.” Zane’s excitement dampened a bit as his eyes widened in realization. “Ah, you’re curious as to whether your unique situation is the result of an alternate universe rather than simply a dream.”
Jay couldn’t keep quiet anymore, his investment in the topic clear as he practically vibrated in place, brown curls bouncing as he began making animated gestures. “I’ll bet you and another you got knocked out at the same time and somehow your memories got swapped. Oh oh oh! Or, maybe like in that one Starfarer arc, you and the other you unknowingly shared memories through your dreams! Oh! Or, or…” His voice trailed off, face twisting with discomfort as he had to take a few moments before hesitantly speaking again. “I once read a theory about alternate selves that speculated when a version of you dies, you have a chance to get their memories…” The boy nervously fiddled with his scarf, twisting it around and picking at random pills of fabric. “…d’you think he died?”
That last theory hit a little too close to home, and Lloyd winced. Master Wu’s warning that performing the Tornado of Creation carried a significant risk of danger shone to the forefront of his mind, and a pang of grief twisted in his chest as he found himself mourning with the dream—no, alternate ninja. What if his counterpart had died? How badly would the team fall apart this time after losing not only their brother, but their leader?
“I dunno, Jay. I don’t know.”
A somber silence fell over the space. Each of the teenagers wore a look of discomfort, and Jay continued to fidget with his scarf, looking as if he wished he had never spoken up.
Eventually they all remembered the task at hand, and Lloyd climbed up onto his mech while the others grabbed random tools and brought them over to help.
The majority of the time he just watched Nya as she worked, piecing together the insides before having Lloyd replace the external armor. Everyone else had found something to do to assist with the repairs, and the black-haired girl started explaining to him different details about how the mech was put together or designed. All notes from himself, she assured him. That didn’t make him feel any less awkward about it, but it was cool information to know.
Soon the mech began to look like the tatsu it was modeled after. Like Nya, Jay and Zane had been working on internal parts, though farther down along the body. Kai helped weld on the armored plating, and Cole was ferrying tools and plating between the piles on the ground and the ninja along the mech. All in all, the job only took a couple of hours. Jay especially seemed relieved at the short completion time, expressing gratitude that they had been able to do some of the repairs the previous week.
Once everyone had clambered down and the leftover scrap was moved to the junk pile, they stood back and admired their work. If Lloyd thought that the dragon looked cool when he first saw it, that was nothing compared to seeing it finally whole.
It had a majestic air to it, the detail still somewhat reminding him of his elemental dragon, and a sense of pride and accomplishment swelled in his chest. The number of parts that doubled as a missile was slightly concerning, but the others reassured him that he had designed it carefully.
Suddenly he was pulled away from the tatsu (Jay was making known his irritation that the blond had been staring at it for several minutes, but it was just so cool!) and dragged to the living area between the fire mech and the ice tank. He allowed himself to be plopped into the faded red couch as Jay handed him a controller and bounced onto the cushion to his left. Kai wheeled the TV over and turned it on, grabbing a few game cartridges from a drawer in the stand and holding them out to the group now gathering around them. “What are we feeling today? We’ve got Beat-‘Em-Up Battle Buddies 2, Lava Zombies, Pik Pak, and Galamorph X-Post.”
When Lloyd shrugged, the brunet popped in a random cartridge then took a seat on the blond’s other side as the upbeat yet epic music of what appeared to be a PvP fighting game began blaring through the TV’s built-in speakers. Lloyd didn’t recognize the game as one he knew, but the controls weren’t too difficult to learn and the colorful cartoony characters made things more interesting and chaotic.
It started out as just Kai, Jay and himself playing, but the game allowed for all of the ninja to play at once, so Nya joined in after the second round, followed by Cole and finally Zane.
They were in the middle of an intense sudden death match when there was the bang of a door and a shout rang through the warehouse. “Helloo~?”
Lloyd involuntarily stiffened at the voice while the others perked up excitedly. “Over here!” Kai called out, still focused on trying to shove Nya’s character over the edge of the map.
What was Morro doing here?
His apparent cousin soon came into view from behind the ice tank, stopping next to the couch to spectate the rest of the round. As soon as the victory screen appeared and Kai had thoroughly rubbed his win in his sister’s face, Morro stepped into their line of sight with his arms crossed. “Sorry guys; I need to borrow Lloyd’s attention for a bit.” The blond’s discomfort must have been clearly written on his face, because the man quickly made eye contact with him and added, “They can stay if you want, but we need to talk about what happened last night.”
An awkward hush fell over the group, and Lloyd could feel their concerned stares before he even saw them. He had managed to get this far without having to talk about it, and from their reactions he gathered that it was a group effort. He figured someone would make him spill it eventually, but he really didn't want to be stuck alone with Morro...
Thankfully, he was saved from having to answer immediately by Cole's blunt inquisitiveness. “Why exactly do we need to talk about that?”
Morro sighed as he hit the power button on the TV and plopped himself onto a nearby folding stool. “You guys know I'm a ninja too, right?” When they all nodded (minus Lloyd), he continued. “While you guys are the public face, going against Garmadon and the more visible threats, my role is more…behind-the-scenes. As part of my day job I gather info on suspected criminal activity, and then my ninja job is going after those leads.”
"So that's why you're the Ghost Ninja!" Jay exclaimed a little too loudly in Lloyd's ear, causing him to wince from both the volume and the information. “You're like a real secret agent!”
That earned a small laugh out of the man. “Something like that, yeah.” Then he looked back at Cole. “But in other words, aside from just wanting to be a good cousin and put whoever tried to hurt him in their place, it's literally my job to go after underground gangs like this one.”
“Ew, I always forget you're an old man with a real job.”
The others started to snicker while Morro sputtered indignantly at the red ninja. “Excuse me? Twenty-four is still young, thank you very much. You’re like, what? Two? You're not allowed to call me old."
Kai's smirk grew wider. “Plus fifteen, but you're excused. I know your memory isn’t what it used to be.”
As Morro let out another offended sound and the two continued squabbling, Lloyd couldn’t help but be conflicted about the scene in front of him. On the one hand, the name Morro still carried a significant sense of unease and discomfort. On the other hand, everything he had seen from this human version was the opposite of what he had experienced from the ghost.
The fact that the other ninja were comfortable around him helped a little, but-
“Lloyd, can you believe this slander?” Morro’s sudden comment interrupted his train of thought and his mind stalled as he tried to figure out if he was supposed to actually answer. After a few seconds with no response, Morro realized what he had done and his smile fell, replaced by flashes of anger and sadness before settling on determination. He cleared his throat and the laughter quieted down. “Going back to why I’m here, the area I found you in last night is the territory of a biker gang that calls themselves the Sons of the Oni. I’ve been keeping track of them for some time now, and while they haven’t really done any sort of organized crime yet—mainly just random robberies and vandalism—they’ve been awfully quiet the past couple weeks.”
Cole’s eyes widened. “And you suspect that there’s something bigger going on.”
The man nodded. “Exactly. So,” he said as he turned back to Lloyd, “are your friends staying?”
Looking around at his friends one more time, he sighed and resigned himself to his fate. “Yes please.”
Morro readjusted himself in his seat and took out a pencil and small notebook. “Let’s start with how you ended up there.”
And so the story began. He explained how his phone had run out of battery while trying to find his way home, causing him to wander through the city until he ended up in the industrial district. “Then I got really panicky around one of the old factory buildings and Harumi showed up.”
Morro blinked at the sudden name-drop. “You got a name?”
“…not exactly. I kinda already knew her from the dream. Er, the other world. Uhh…” His hands flopped around in exasperation as he struggled to describe the origin of the knowledge. “From the other memories. Sure, let’s go with that.”
Pencil scratched something out onto paper as the dark-haired man motioned for him to continue.
“Yeah, uh, she really didn’t like it that I knew her name. But if she’s anything like the one I remember, she’s the leader of the group.” He could feel his face getting warmer as he thought about the white-haired manipulator. He would never forgive himself for letting his guard down around her.
Jay then perked up and turned to him, thankfully keeping his voice at a non-ear splitting volume this time. “Wait a minute! If you know her from the other memories, then maybe that could help us figure out what she’s trying to do here! Like a weird time traveler’s knowledge situation or… something like that…”
Lloyd tilted his head, trying to puzzle out how effective that would actually be. “It doesn’t really fit right. In my memories the group was called the Sons of Garmadon, and Harumi’s goal was to resurrect the evil side of Garmadon.” Not for the first time since the accident did everyone stare at him with horror and more-than-mild confusion. “…it’s a long story. Anyways, her goal there was to get revenge on us ninja for a giant snake that left her an orphan-” the horrified stares got stronger somehow, “-and unless there happened to be a Great Devourer incident here too, I can’t really use it as a precedent. Everything’s too different.”
“Maybe it does work a little bit, though.” Nya’s voice cut through the air as all eyes landed on her. “If the Sons of Garmadon wanted to bring back Garmadon or whatever, what if the Sons of the Oni are trying to bring back the Oni?”
That revelation sent the blond’s mind reeling. It did seem to track, hiding their goal in plain sight like that, and if it hadn’t been such a terrifying thought he might have laughed at the stupidity of it. His heart rate began to quicken as the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place, shattering all hope he had in…well, anything. “W-well, she did call me their ticket to the Realm Crystal…” Images began flooding his mind; the black fog, the trip to Borg Tower with that twisted version of his father, the shattered crystal that did nothing to stop the invasion. Something was clawing at his throat, making every word a fight. “…and in the memories, that’s what the Oni used to…get into Ninjago…”
A pair of warm arms wrapped around him and pulled him close. “Don’t worry, lil bro. We got your back. Whatever’s going on, it’s not happening without a fight. We’re ninja, after all!”
Lloyd let his head rest against the red ninja’s chest, soaking up the comfortable heat. The rhythmic thumping of his brother’s heartbeat was calming, and the tightness choking off his voice was already disappearing. “And ninja never quit.”
He looked up and saw Morro staring at the fire mech, his hands clenched tightly. The blond felt a little bit guilty for shying away from his cousin, but trust took time to build. Especially when that trust had already been shattered by an evil version of him from apparently another realm.
That didn’t mean he liked seeing that hollow look on the man’s face. An expression that the ghost had never worn; never had a reason to wear.
He gently pushed away from Kai and opened his mouth to say something to Morro, when all of a sudden a blaring alarm reverberated throughout the building.
Everyone else jumped up and immediately went over to a computer console tucked in the corner next to the lockers. The green ninja held his hands over his ears and awkwardly stumbled after them. Zane pushed a button and the noise stopped, but the tension in the room had not let up. “What was that?”
Six voices echoed the same phrase, and every syllable brought chills to his spine.
“Garmadon’s back.”