Hidden Away || Ninjago AU

Chapter 29

"Well, we've got everyone, OG," Cool reported.

"That's great," Lloyd said, getting up. "Now we can get the ball rolling. Lance, have everyone wake up. Nat, you and Cool can return."

"If it's okay," Nat suggested, "We don't mind staying."

"In case you collapse, that is," Cool added.

"I'll be fine," Lloyd assured them.

Cool cried as he slowly began to fade into Lloyd, "We're going to miss you, OG."

"Dramatic to the very end," Nat laughed. Lloyd smiled and bid them farewell.

Groans from the others attracted Lloyd's attention. They were all waking up. It was a relief for Lloyd, seeing as he could finally end everything.

"What's going on?" Misako asked, standing up. She placed her hand over her head and tried to gain her balance. Soon, everyone else followed suit.

"You!" Red said to Lloyd once he gained full consciousness. "Why have you brought us here?!"

Red banged on the bars, trying to break it down but to no avail. Water placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"Well?" Morro said, "Finally ready to answer our questions?"

"Yes," Lloyd answered, "I would prefer if you could keep the questions to a minimum. We don't have all night."

"Alright then," Wu answered, "I believe the first question should be what is going on here."

Lloyd heaved a heavy sigh. "Well, the plan is to take the memories of Lloyd from your brains and replace them."

"What?!" Most of them said in unison.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Everyone, please calm down," Lloyd said, trying to get their attention.

"Why should we calm down?!" Blue asked, panicking, "You have us locked up! What's more?! You want to replace parts of our memories?!!"

"Blue, calm down," White urged, "Everyone, please."

"Lloyd," Skylor said, "You'd better have a good reason for having us here."

"Yes, Skylor," Lloyd assured, " First things f- ugh!"

"Lloyd!" Misako called out.

Lloyd collapsed to his knees, his arm clutching his chest tightly. Lance rushed over to him and bent over. He helped Lloyd stand up. Everyone fell silent, wondering what was going on.

"It's okay, everyone," Lloyd said as he stood. "This happens often."

"No one cares," Red said in anger, "Explain yourself."

"Ouch. Well, firstly, I'm not Lloyd," Lloyd said, "Well, I am Lloyd, but I'm also not. You can address me as OG. Although, I prefer sticking with Lloyd."

Everyone murmured in confusion.

"He means he's a clone or a duplicate or whatever," Morro spoke up. "Lloyd can create clones of himself based on his personalities."

"A clone?" Black asked. "And that guy standing beside Lloyd?"

"He is also a clone," Morro replied with certainty. "And, I'm pretty sure with his incredible abilities, every Lloyd we've ever met is a clone."

"That's silly, Morro," Misako said, "Are you saying I may have never met my son?"

"It's different in your case, Mrs. Koko," Morro explained, "For you, me, and Skylor, it's possible that at some point in our lives, the Lloyd we knew became a clone."

"This is confusing," Blue stated, "Just let us out of here."

"I can't do that," Lloyd said, "However, I'm allowing you guys to ask me questions. Soon, the real Lloyd will be here, and he won't even bother to look at you. He'll take your memories and go."

It was quiet for a moment, each person pondering what to do next.

"Where's Green?" White asked.

"Hmm," Lloyd said, "That's a difficult one to answer."

"Where's Green?" Red asked.

Lloyd stood quietly and closed his eyes. Lance held his shoulders to help support him. Suddenly, in front of everyone, a clone appeared, a clone in the Green Ninja suit.

"Meet Green," Lloyd said, feeling exhausted. "I believe that's what you guys call him."

"No..."

Green waved before immediately returning to Lloyd.

"Sorry, that's for as long as I can bring him out," Lloyd said apologetically.

"No!" Water said, "You're lying!"

"There's no way..." Black said with disbelief.

"It's true," Koko admitted, "My son is the Green Ninja."

"Tell me this is a joke," Red said, hysterical, "Tell me that there's no way that the son of the evil Lord Garmadon is the Green Ninja!!"

Lance and Lloyd looked away, both feeling awkward.

"The goddamn Golden Weapons rose for that piece of s***!"

"Bro..." Water said, trying to calm him.

"Don't 'bro' me!" Red said. He pulled off his hoodie and slammed it on the ground, revealing his identity. "I worked with that... that... that... ugh!!!"

The red ninja sat down against the metal bars. He sat quietly, his blood boiling at the truth of Lloyd being the green ninja.

"Kai..." Blue said softly but still shocked.

 Lance and Lloyd looked awkwardly at each other. "Guess we owe Nat and Cool 20 bucks now..." The two laughed dryly. Lloyd cleared his throat.

"Sorry," Lance said, "There was no intention to deceive any of you. That was how the situation found itself."

"If you were Green," White asked, "How did you know who I was?"

"That's classified."

"Why?"

"Anyway," Lloyd said, "Next question. There isn't much time left."

"Uh... sorry, where's the bathroom?" Blue asked.

"Really, Blue? Really?!" Black asked, shocked, "Gosh, now I can't decide who to be more in disbelief over. You or Lloyd?"

"I can't help it!" Blue said, insulted. "It's mother nature, not me!"

Five facepalms later.

"I have some questions," White spoke, "Where is the real Lloyd? Why is he doing all this? What is your role in all this?"

"Well, Lloyd's somewhere in Ninjago City heading this way," Lloyd answered, "And he's doing all this because he might die. My role is to be a storage. However, since Lloyd was delayed earlier in the evening, I am answering any questions you would have for Lloyd. Think of it as closure before we take your memories."

"What do you mean my son might die?" Misako asked worriedly.

"Ah, um..." Lloyd looked to Lance for help. Lance turned away apologetically. Lloyd sighed. "Lloyd has too much dark matter in his system. I am temporarily holding some of it, and so are two others."

"What does that have to do with taking away part of our memories?"

"Well, Lloyd needs the means to expel the matter from his body, and he found out wiping memories uses a lot of dark matter. Also, think of how much dark matter he could get rid of if he took memories from an entire city."

"So, it's not just us," Red said quietly from where he sat.

"Correct."

"What exactly will you be taking away?" Skylor asked, "What will you be replacing them with?"

"Just everything about Lloyd that you know," Lloyd answered, "Then he'll repair them and return them. As if Lloyd never existed."