angels - a ninjago fanfiction [complete]

sixteen · jade

LLOYD

It was late night and early morning at once. Wide awake at 4 am, Lloyd leaned over the railing of the Bounty, watching the land speed by beneath him.

He had always hated being alone, but now was no exception. He found himself clinging to Sensei or Cole, afraid to leave their side. His worst fear was to wake up and find that they too had left him, and he would be completely alone.

Cole and Wu were asleep or meditating. Lloyd thought that he'd be the most helpful by just staying quiet and keeping his insomnia to himself, even if it was giving him anxiety. Bothering them with his sleep issues would only make things worse. He could bear being alone for a few hours. Besides, that was what everyone expected of the Green Ninja. Life sucks, so deal with it.

Like many other nights before, Lloyd went to the part of the Bounty that was the furthest from the sleeping chambers. He usually would go there and begin an intense training session, but this time, he didn't want to train. Training used to be something he would do with the team, but the team was now broken beyond repair.

There was darkness above and below as the Bounty flew. With luck, they would find a way to evade the Omega... then figure out where to go from there.

Lloyd's mind wasn't on the future, but rather it was stuck in the past. His grief was changing to a numbing rejection of himself, scolding and blaming himself for his friend's deaths. He should have been there for Jay, helped Pixal and Zane, and stopped Nya and Kai. Because he failed to be a leader, the others were gone, watching him from the Departed Realm. He used to be able to pick himself back up after he was broken, gluing his shattered pieces back together. Now it felt like parts of him had crumbled away with his friends.

He felt a splash of water on his hand and looked up, expecting there to be a rain cloud over him. Instead, he only saw a clear sky, and realized that the water had come from his eyes.

Lloyd wiped his face, realizing his tears were from anger as well as sadness. He had learned, from numerous betrayals in his lifetime, to only trust himself. But now he didn't trust himself. He only trusted Cole and Wu to lead him, fearing that he would ruin something by taking charge.

But what if you mess up again, even if you're not the leader? a dark voice in the back of his mind whispered. What if you make a small mistake, and it all comes crashing down?

"Stop," he said aloud. "I- I don't want to think about that."

The voice continued. It had always been there, since he was little, feeding on his doubts and fear. He once asked Wu about it, and they both suspected it was the rather nondominant Oni side of him. Usually he could block it out and eventually it would go away, but now it was impossible to ignore the Dark Lloyd inside of him.

What if you end up killing Wu and Cole, just like you did to the rest of your teammates?

"I'm not going to do that. Stop it." He tried to say it with confidence, but it didn't work. His voice cracked, and the Green Ninja couldn't help but wonder if his dark side was right.

Lloyd always messed things up. He made Harumi a villain. He unleashed the Serpentine. He let down his walls, allowed himself to be vulnerable, only to bring himself and others more hurt. He used to be able to use his failures as fuel to move on and resolve things, but now he was losing his way. He didn't know where to go now.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't realize the sky was lightening up. As the inky night became a soft blue, footsteps came from behind him. Frantically, he tried to mop up the evidence of crying before turning around. "Oh Cole, I didn't know you were up yet-"

The Oni standing before him was definitely not Cole.

It wasn't the Omega, but any Oni was dangerous. As a Ninja of Creation, anything that serves Destruction did not wish you well.

Lloyd's blood ran cold and he lifted a hand to his comm. Oh no, no, no... This is not good.

"Think again," it growled, moving aside to point its weapon at the young woman slumped behind it. She was unconscious and deathly pale, her hands tied crudely with a black rope, and most of her face paint was gone. Her white bangs and long hair was tangled, dusty, and dirty, as if she had been trapped under a collapsing building for weeks.

Which she had been.

"Harumi?"

As much as Lloyd knew he shouldn't, his instincts wanted him to check on her, see if she was still alive. He watched her still form, well aware of the Oni's eyes on him, and gasped when he saw the faint whisper of a breath on her chest.

Somehow, she's alive.

---

He wasn't sure if he would call her survival a miracle or a curse.

"Let her go," he said instinctively. He could see a purple-black color seeping into her skin from where her bindings were. That was not a good thing.

Instead of answering, the Oni gathered a mass of darkness in one hand, brandishing its weapon in the other. Lloyd gathered a ball of energy in his hands, ready to hurl it at his opponent, but hesitated. It would hurt for sure when it hit the Oni, but what if the Harumi it had brought onboard was the real deal? She might get hurt.

Part of him wanted to just ignore the Jade Princess. She was a villain and had broken his heart, betrayed his team, and tried to kill them. At the same time, Lloyd's kind nature refused to let the innocent get hurt. In this situation, Harumi was innocent.

The Oni took advantage of Lloyd's hesitation and threw concentrated destructive energy at the Energy Ninja. Caught off-guard, he was hit firmly in his midsection. He cried out as he was slammed to the floor, the Destruction making his stomach feel like it was burning him inside out. Art of the Silent Fist, he reminded himself. Use your opponents against themselves. Just like Dad taught me.

Ironically, his father's lesson had backfired on him when Lloyd used it years later, depleting Garmadon's dark powers. Maybe the same would work on this Oni.

When the Oni charged at Lloyd, he was a bit more prepared. He ducked as one blast was aimed at his head, flipping over another. He tried to dodge a massive charge aimed right at his midsection, but it struck him in the shoulder. For some reason it didn't hurt, and he looked over. A black mud-like substance was dripping down his arm, glittering violet. Somehow, the Oni had found the darkest substance in the world.

Dark Matter.

One drop could make a man's heart turn as black as night.