3. Dark Sides: Tournament of Elements

Chapter 25 - Out of the Frying Pan

A/N: Oh boy, school's about to start up again. Anybody else? I know you're probably tired of being asked this, but how are you all doing school? I at least have a couple face-to-face classes. I hope your all staying happy, healthy, and safe!

(Wow do we really only have ten chapter's left? That's crazy!!)

Oh and just to clarify, the NInja Roll stuff happens at about the same time as this, so that's why Garmadon's in the beginning, he's about to go and watch Seliel's round. 

. . .

Of course Lloyd had known how much trouble he would be in if he was caught sneaking away from home. But he had just kept telling himself that he wouldn't be caught. And now . . . he was actually starting to regret running off.

It seemed that after all the hugs and kisses and asking if he was alright, he was to be endlessly chastised. His parents kept telling him how bad it was that he ran away, and at this point he would have promised to never do it again if they would promise to never speak of it again.

Not to mention how he'd been virtually trapped in Skylor's room for the past few days, bored out of his mind. To say the least, his plan to come and win the tournament hadn't gone exactly the way he had thought it would.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Lloyd said, crossing his arms and shrinking into the hood of his cloak. "I just wanted a chance to fight like the girls do. And I was invited."

"Just because you were invited to participate in an underground fighting tournament doesn't mean you get a free pass to run away from home," his father snapped.

The plan now was for Lloyd and his mother to sneak off of Chens' island unseen, go home, and wait there to find out whether or not his friends succeeded in stopping Master Chen. Basically, he was going to be completely removed from the action and pushed aside to worry and wonder and probably to do more training. Being the Green Ninja really stunk sometimes.

But Lloyd hadn't always had a prophecy hanging over his head. His parents had been training him to fight for as long as he could remember, but the whole prophecy about the Green Ninja was still a little new to him. Lloyd had never really wondered why his parents wanted to train him even though Ninjago was peaceful. He just wanted to learn to fight like them, so he didn't think twice about it. But then, when his father had a premonition about Uncle Wu returning for the golden weapons, Lloyd's parents had come clean to him about the prophecy.

He still didn't understand why it upset them so much to talk about it. Most of the time they acted like the prophecy didn't exist, although Lloyd's training had since intensified. He'd learned to do Spinjitzu and had even tapped into his green element a bit, although he had yet to unlock any of the other elements he could supposedly control. Lloyd was proud to be the Green Ninja, and yet, he wasn't even allowed to talk to the girls about it. His parents seemed to think that if they never talked about it, then it wouldn't really happen.

Lloyd was stirred from his thoughts by his father's voice. "Maybe I should go with you. The girls have done well on their own, and I can come straight back once you two are safe."

Lloyd's mother shook her head. "They've managed to get this far by themselves, but they still need you. Even if not for your experience, then at least for moral support. They're still young."

His father shook his head. "That may be true, but I hate to let anything happen to you."

His mother pursed her lips. "I can take care of myself, you know. And nobody but nobody is taking my baby from me."

"Mom," Lloyd groaned.

"Alright, alright," His father nodded good-naturedly. "But I still won't be happy until I know for sure that you're both safely off the island."