Chapter Text
It took a little bit of time to figure out how to get outside, but eventually they ran into Koko who led them back to the beach. As everyone headed to the Lightning Jet and Water Strider, Morro briefly stopped Lloyd before he could decide who to go with. “You’re riding with me. We need to talk.”
“Huh?” While he knew this Morro was not the same person as the one that had possessed him, he still couldn’t get himself to feel comfortable spending one-on-one time with him. Kai had also stopped nearby, watching them, and Lloyd remembered what he had said earlier about having to ride with Koko. “Oh, uhh, sure, but only if Kai comes with too.”
Morro closed his eyes and sighed heavily, then glared over at the red ninja. “You’re lucky I have room for the both of you… Hot sauce, I know you heard that! You’re coming too, but you’re silent as a mouse. Got it?”
An uncharacteristic solemnity flashed over Kai’s face as he hummed in agreement. When Morro turned away to lead the way to his jet, Lloyd leaned over to Kai with a whisper. “What was that about?”
Kai shrugged and started to follow the man. “I dunno, but probably something to do with his weird protective streak toward Lloyd.”
As Lloyd tried to keep pace with Kai, his doppelgänger explained. ‘There was an incident when I was little, and ever since then he promised to protect me however he could. Sometimes he gets a little…too passionate about it. He’s a lot better about it now than he used to be, but it’s still a work in progress…’
The trip to Morro’s ride was a little bit longer than to the lightning jet or the water strider since it was still parked by the crashed manta jet, and by the time they reached it Kai was practically carrying Lloyd. Loose volcanic pebbles were not an ideal surface for walking with crutches. Thankfully they ended up making it inside without more issue, and Morro took off some distance behind the others.
An awkward silence hung inside the cabin for the first couple minutes as Lloyd waited. He wasn’t exactly sure what the wind master wanted to say, but he couldn’t bring himself to start the conversation.
“So,” Morro started with a deep breath. “In your world, I…died.”
Oh. This conversation.
“…yeah.” Lloyd felt awkward now for asking Kai to be here.
“And you said that I- that your Morro possessed you.” The tension was palpable as Lloyd anticipated the inevitable question. “Why would… what happened between us?”
Why indeed, he thought sourly. “We don’t have the same relationship there. He was Sensei Wu’s first student from years ago, long before I was born. I didn’t even know he existed until he came after me.”
He couldn’t see Morro’s face, but the scoff that followed was bitter. “Figures. Typical Wu.”
“He…picked me for a couple reasons. The first was because he was looking for the Realm Crystal, and only a spinjitzu master can access the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master where it was hidden.” Lloyd hesitated, trying to push back the unbidden thoughts that were surfacing; he could almost hear the ghost mocking and taunting at his weaknesses. “The second was…because of my title. He trained believing that he would be the Green Ninja, only to be rejected by the Golden Weapons. He ran away and ended up in the Cursed Realm, and when he escaped he found out about me.”
It was quiet for several moments before Morro swore. “Your world sounds all kinds of messed up.”
“Yeah, kinda.” He let out a humorless snort and looked outside. The bright lights of Ninjago City in the distance contrasted harshly against the dark of the night sky, and it made him miss the clear view of the stars they had at the monastery. “…anything else you want to know?”
“I just wanted to see if…” Morro sighed, hands clenching the steering wheel tightly. “I don’t want to ever hurt Lloyd like that. We’ve had some rough patches, yeah—who hasn’t?—but… I can’t get it out of my head that one day, I could go too far or say too much and become someone like that. Like him.” His voice trailed off and he cleared his throat. “Yesterday, when we got back to the apartment… I never want to see that face looking at me again.”
‘Morro… I never knew…’
Lloyd was surprised. If not even his counterpart knew this information… “Why are you trusting me with this?”
“Because you two are connected, and that means you’re included in that now.” The man gave an amused hum and shook his head. “Believe it or not, I actually enjoy hanging out with my nerdy baby cousin, and… well, someone has to start undoing what the other me did.”
“But back at the warehouse… You’re just okay with me now?”
Morro scoffed again, though this time it was much less harsh. “Don’t mistake this for acceptance. I will never be okay with your…situation. But I do know how to make the best of a bad hand.” They were getting near the city now and the wind master began a course farther inland. “Consider this a conditional olive branch. You work on finding a way to get back home, and I’ll work on not killing you. Deal?”
That was a very Morro way of saying he’ll be nicer, but Lloyd understood the weight behind it. “Deal.”
The man was willing to give him a chance. The least he could do was show the same trust in return.
An air of relief flooded the cockpit, as if a weight that Lloyd didn’t know existed had been lifted. He watched as the coastline passed below them, sand abruptly ending where the city began.
“One of you will have to call Koko to come and pick you guys up. I am not shoving both of you on my bike.”
The blond blinked and then groaned. “It’ll have to be Kai. Harumi kinda did something with my phone and then smashed it.” He turned to look behind him, where the red ninja sat wearing a pair of earbuds and bobbing his head to whatever music he was listening to.
He heard Morro hit a switch that caused a little red light to flash onto Kai’s face, and the brunet removed one earbud with a questioning look as the wind master spoke. “Kai, you’re free from muteland. Call Koko and let her know she’ll have to come get you guys. She knows where my hangar is.”
Flashing a cheesy smile, Kai gave an exaggerated salute before pulling out his phone. “Aye aye, captain!”
The flight ended without much fanfare. Kai got ahold of Lloyd’s mom and received an estimated time of arrival from her, then made light conversation with the two until they landed. Morro kept them company until Koko arrived with Nya, and then they all went their separate ways.
After dropping the siblings off at their home, the car ride home was mostly silent, though as they turned into the parking garage of their apartment Koko spoke up. “I managed to convince Garmadon into letting me borrow the Realm Crystal.” Lloyd’s eyes grew wide as his attention snapped to her, his heartbeat quickening with excitement. “You’re going to get some sleep first, obviously, but we can try visiting your world whenever you’re ready.”
So many thoughts began rushing through his head. How would the others react? What if time worked differently here and everyone back home was old and gray by the time he got there? Would the Realm Crystal even take him to a parallel realm? He shoved his racing mind aside and focused on what she was asking first. “Wow, um... I didn't expect this so soon. Do I, uh, have to give an answer now? I'm not sure I am ready yet...”
A soft smile crossed Koko’s face as she nodded her head. “Of course not. Get some rest and we'll talk about it more in the morning.” She parked the car and helped Lloyd out, and together they carefully made their way up the elevator to their apartment.
Once inside, Lloyd felt the full weight of the night drop onto him like a bag of bricks. He hadn't heard anything from his counterpart in a while and wondered if he had already fallen asleep.
Lucky.
Koko gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and a good night wish before disappearing into her own bedroom. He followed her example and retreated to his room, and being too tired to climb up into his bed with an injured ankle, he dropped himself into the large beanbag chair in the corner.
He fell asleep near instantly.
- - - - -
Unfortunately, Lloyd's ankle decided to answer Koko's question for him, somehow managing to hurt worse than it had the day before. Both he and Koko decided it would be best to wait until the injury was healed more before doing any sort of realm travel. This gave him a whole lot of time to kill, and Other Lloyd made sure he used it well. They practiced that awkward middleman communication until it was no longer awkward; he tried—and failed—to learn how to do well in school for his counterpart, which he hated every second of (because no matter what Other Lloyd said, letters do not belong in math, thank you very much); Morro even came over a few times for some impromptu exposure therapy.
Before he knew it, a week had passed and his ankle was feeling well enough to walk on. Currently he was standing in the middle of their kitchen with Koko and Morro, who had been invited along by request of his counterpart. Koko handed him the Realm Crystal, and suddenly he felt very self-conscious. “You both ready? I, uh, don’t know exactly how to direct where we come out at…”
Koko put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. “If we get lost, we’ll find our way back together. Right, Morro?”
“Don’t worry, kid.” His counterpart’s cousin moved to his other side and nodded. “We’ve got your back.”
‘And for what it’s worth, I’m here too.’
Taking a deep breath, Lloyd held the crystal in both hands and envisioned the Monastery of Spinjitzu in his mind’s eye, then held the crystal out in front of him where a portal formed. “Here goes nothing…” With the two family members at his sides, he stepped through the vortex and hoped for the best.
What he saw on the other side, however, was not the monastery. They had ended up in a hospital room that was currently occupied by a pale figure in a bed and two people sharing a couch in the corner. At the sudden intrusion, the two jerked their heads up and one of them jumped out of his seat into a fighting stance before the room suddenly erupted with voices.
“Lloyd?!?”
“Kai!!! Nya!!!”
As the portal closed behind him, Lloyd rushed over and practically tackled Kai with a hug as tears started welling up in his eyes. “I missed you guys so much!”
The brunet, on the other hand, was desperately trying to push himself out of the embrace. “Okay, who are you and why do you look like Lloyd?” Nya was also standing at this point, but Lloyd wanted to stay put for a few more moments before he started explaining.
“What are you doing here??? You’re supposed to be dead!!!”
Okay, maybe he wouldn’t.
“No, wait! Stop! He’s not our Morro!” He extracted himself from Kai and moved between Nya, who already had water gathered around her fists, and Morro, who had stepped into a defensive position in front of Koko. “Please Nya, give me a chance to explain first?”
She hesitantly looked between Morro and Lloyd, in which time Koko used to step forward next to Lloyd. “I apologize for the intrusion, but we’re here for a very specific purpose. Could we have a moment of your time?”
The siblings glanced at each other, having a silent conversation before Kai relaxed his stance and crossed his arms. Nya, more tentative, eventually mimicked her brother and held up her forefinger toward Lloyd. “You have one minute.”
And so, Lloyd spent the next sixty seconds explaining a truncated version of everything from his meeting with the First Spinjitzu Master to the talk with Koko after the fight with Harumi.
“That does sound like the kind of trouble Lloyd would get into… But how do we know you’re who you say you are? Because from our perspective, Lloyd is right there.”
At Kai’s words he turned toward the bed, finally getting a good look at the figure on it and almost doing a double take. Lying still against the white hospital sheets was his own body, hooked up to a ventilator and at least a dozen other wires and tubes. He briefly winced before turning back to the two. “Kai, remember when you saved me from that underground river? And how you wouldn’t leave my side for like a month after the, uh…Stiix event?” He then turned toward his sister. “And Nya, remember all those nights we trained together in the Resistance, after I lost my element and we lost the other guys? You never gave up on me, even when I gave up on myself.”
Kai and Nya were silent for several moments until finally Kai shook his head. “This is crazy. What is our life?” He looked back and forth between the two blonds several times in disbelief. “You're really our Lloyd?”
Lloyd couldn't help but snort. “If I'm not, then my grandfather has a lot of explaining to do.” Out of morbid curiosity, he stepped closer to the hospital bed to get a better look at...well, himself. Blond hair lied neatly against the pale forehead, while different tubes ran through his mouth and nostrils to various accompanying medical devices and an IV line connected to his upper right arm.
He looked almost…peaceful.
On the other side of the bed, Morro stared at the bedridden body before looking back at Lloyd. “You two really do look identical...”
Absentmindedly nodding, Lloyd watched the artificial rise and fall of his own chest as the ventilator did its job, when a question popped into his mind. “Wait, so I didn't actually die?”
“Oh, you definitely did. We're pretty sure your heart had stopped before we pulled you out of the rubble, but your element decided to kick in and restart it.” The brunet reached over and ruffled through his hair. “Guess we know why now.”
Frowning, Lloyd brought a hand up and lit it with green energy. “But I have it right here...”
The next second, a faint green light appeared over the unconscious body's heart, gently pulsing like a beacon. The green in his hand shifted to match the same frequency and his counterpart gasped, feelings of excitement and anticipation filling his chest. ‘Could this mean...?’
“Only one way to find out.” He carefully put his hand over his body's heart and watched as the light grew brighter and brighter, eventually washing out his surroundings and obscuring his vision.
The light slowly changed from green to a soft white, and suddenly he found himself in an empty void with Other Lloyd as an ethereal voice began to speak.
“Sons of Garmadon. My grandsons. Death came for each of you separately, and yet despite all odds, together you have lived. Lloyd of the monastery and Master of Life, your increased proficiency with your element allowed it to unlock the healing characteristics of that for which your element is so named, preserving your bodies. Lloyd of the city and Master of Green, your mental acuity and fortitude in the face of great trials became a pillar of support for a weary soul, anchoring your minds.”
“But, I didn't even do anything...” Other Lloyd said as he stared at the ground, fidgeting with his fingers nervously.
The First Spinjitzu Master chuckled softly. “The expectation of living the rest of one's life in an unfamiliar world is not a pleasant feeling. Without prompting, you selflessly took up the burden of preparing him for success in that possibility. So yes, you did indeed ‘do anything.’” His voice paused briefly before resuming, a pleased warmth emanating from it. “You both have done well. I am proud to call you my grandchildren.”
The white around them began fading to black and Lloyd scrambled to ask a question. “Wait! What happens next?"
A spark of amusement laced the voice as it echoed and faded into the distance.
“I will leave that for you to decide.”
- - - - -
The first thing Lloyd noticed was the heavy weight of exhaustion that spread through his entire body. Whatever he had felt waking up from the coma before was nothing compared to this. But the second thing he noticed as his eyes fluttered open was the fact that he was no longer in Other Lloyd's body.
“It..worked. I can't believe it actually worked! Mom, Morro, I'm back! He did it!!” His counterpart's excited voice bounced around the small room and he tried to do the same before stumbling and nearly crashing headfirst into Koko. “Oh, ow. I was not expecting my ankle to hurt this badly...” Lloyd tried to laugh, but with the ventilator tube down his throat he was unable to make a sound. Still, he gave a small smile and watched as his counterpart's family held their Lloyd tight.
In the meantime, Nya and Kai had gotten closer to his bedside and he moved his eyes over to get a good look at them. Nya already had tears rolling down her cheeks as she carefully squeezed his hand. “You're really alive...” Kai took a quick look at his sister and back at Lloyd then quickly ran out of the room, cell phone in hand. Within minutes, the rest of the team was crowding the room and bombarding him and the Other Ninjago family with questions. Even Master Wu and Misako had come, and he did his best to answer questions around all the hugs with the little mobility he had in his neck and head.
Eventually a doctor came in and kicked them all out of the room for overwhelming the patient, but as more medical personnel arrived and began working, Lloyd couldn't get rid of the teary smile on his face even if he wanted to.
He was home.