The Enchanted DVD Player (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 14 - Loopy Lloyd

"L-Lynn? Is that you?" Garmadon asks in disbelief as his son summersaults into the scene, aiming a blast of energy at him.

Lloyd pales and looks behind him. The rest of the team is still catching up to us; they aren't quite in earshot yet, so they didn't hear what Garmadon called him.

"Yeah," Lloyd said with a small laugh. "I've grown a little since you last saw me. And it's Lloyd, Dad."

"Nuh-uh! L-Y-N-N. I named you."

I pick up a rock and chuck it at Garmadon's head. "It's his deadname, you dumbass!" 

The villain looks back and forth between me and Lloyd.

"I have a son??" he finally realizes, his jaw dropping. "Fantastic! Wait, wait, hold on--let's start this again."

Garmadon spins in a circle, then gets into a fight stance. "L-Lloyd? Is that you?"

Lloyd stares at him with his mouth agape for a few seconds before retaking control of the situation. In one swift motion, he conjures up a small sphere of green energy and fires it his father. 

Garmadon looks scared—haha! Take that, loser!—and runs inside. Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane appear behind us as we walk into the swirling room.

"What's happening?" Kai asks. 

"He's going back in time!" I yell over the wind.

"Wait, how'd you know that?" Jay yells back. Luckily, Cole asks a different question before I can answer.

"Where's all this sand coming from?"

"If Garmadon went back in time, he must be changing the events of the future!" Zane concludes. "He's trying to make sure Lloyd never becomes the green ninja!"

"I... I can't feel my hands," Lloyd says, turning them over. I've always found it strange that he goes numb so soon—Garmadon shouldn't have made any changes yet—but I'm still concerned for him.

"You have to go after him!" Sensei cries. "Go! Before the portal closes! And remember, you change anything, you change everything!"

"Come on, hurry!" Jay yells, as the portal starts to close. "Go, go, go!"

I make a leap to get out of the sand, but, unfortunately, I'm barely any taller than I was before I aged up. Kai notices and tries to help me out. By this time, everyone else had already gone through the portal.

"Crap!" Kai cries, as the portal starts to close.

"Go!" I order, knowing that he should get himself through and forget about pulling me from this f*cking pile of sand.

He jumps, but the portal closes before he can pass through.

"Sh*t!" I cry, knowing this isn't good.

"Y/n, language!" Nya says.

I turn around and flip up my middle finger.

I hear a sharp exhale of pain, and turn to see Lloyd gripping his chest in agony. I rush over to him, knowing the cause.

"Do you think they'll save the future?" Nya asks Sensei.

"They have to."

"Wellllll..." I start, realizing there has been a major change to the script. "I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news, but we have a slight problem."

"What?" Kai demands.

"The problem is that you are still here," I say, pointing to Kai. "You were supposed to be with the other ninja. But now you're not, and now there's no one there with them to explain the significance of Nya's capture."

Everyone just stares at me with a confused expression. They blink at me a few times, and they don't even make an effort to understand, so I continue explaining.

"The only reason why you became a ninja, Kai, was to get your sister back from the Skulkin.  But only you—not the you of the past, but the you of the present—knows this. Garmadon's gone back in time to make sure Nya is never captured, which will set off a whole chain reaction that leads to the team never being complete. Since you aren't there with the ninja, you can't tell them how to fix the mess. And even if the events play out the way they should just with only Jay, Cole, and Zane as the ninja, Lloyd still won't become the green ninja, because it's Kai who ends up saving him from being burnt in the lava after that whole shebang with the fangblades."

"I'm not even going to pretend to understand what you just said," Nya says.

"Long story short: Kai needs to be with them."

"Hate to break it to you, but that's not going to happen," Kai responds. "There's no other way to go back in time except with Garmadon's megaweapon. And I haven't told anyone else why I joined the team, so they won't recognize that Nya has to go with the Skulkin."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

...

We decided on taking Lloyd back to the bounty, who is currently fading in and out of consciousness.

"Keep talking to him, y/n," Sensei orders. "He listens to you."

"Why me, specifically?"

Sensei clicks his tongue. "No reason. Now, speak."

"Lloyd? Can you hear me? You need to stay with us," I encourage while he lays on the couch. His eyes flutter open, but he doesn't look so good.

"Blink twice if you're in pain."

No response.

"Blink twice if you can hear me."

Still nothing.

And with that, he closes his eyes again, and continues to be unresponsive.

"Dammit Lloyd!" I hiss. "This is all my fault. If I was strong enough, Kai wouldn't have had to help me, and he could have gone through the portal!"

Lloyd mutters something, and his eyes flickering open again.

"Lloyd! Stay with me! Keep your gawd damn eyes open, you hear me? Don't you dare close your eyes again!"

I hold on tightly to his hand, demanding over and over again for him to stay awake, but he just keeps fading in and out of consciousness. I can feel my stomach churning as I beg the First Spinjitzu Master to not take Lloyd away from me. My heart pounds dangerously fast at the thought of losing him.

"Nya, help me sit him up," I say, gently pulling on his arm. With the two of us, we're able to get him to a seated position. We sit on either side of him to keep him propped up.

Lloyd's head slumps onto my shoulder.

"You good, there, buddy?" I ask.

"My head hurts."

I give him a sympathetic look as I brush the hair off of his face. I reposition myself to put an arm around him.

"You'll be okay. I know you will."

"You're wonderful," he says, his words slurring. "You have a boyfriend?"

"Uh... Nya, why does he sound drunk?"

"B*tch, you think I know?"

"Is this what love feels like?" Lloyd whispers. He reaches up in the air as if he's trying to catch a butterfly.

"No, it's not love," I say, feeling butterflies in my own chest. "You're not well—our teammates are messing with your timeline and it's making you loopy."

"Are you sure? Cuz I feel this way whenever I'm with you. Fluttery. And peaceful. It's nice."

I'm not sure what to do with that information. My face feels warm, but I figure that it's just worry. I pat his head awkwardly, like he's a puppy or something. I don't know what else to say so I just pull him in close to me and tell him everything will be okay.