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It was another typical mission for the Ninja, being dispatched to a remote village reportedly being attacked by a group of bandits. Everyone was excited for it, because it sounded so simple. No end-of-the-world scenarios, no super powerful demons trying to destroy them, just thieves thinking they could terrorize a small village and get away with it. Not on their watch!
Perhaps having all six Ninja go on the mission was a bit overkill, but they weren't keen on separating after... certain events. Museum and fake-death related events, to be more specific.
Their arrival was quick, and so was the ensuing fight. By the time they'd gotten there, however, the village was already fairly trashed. Walls were broken down, market stalls were tipped over, spilled goods were splattered across the cobblestone paths... it all looked like a giant mess. Luckily for them, the thieves turned out to be easy for them to take care of. They were simple, lowlife bandits with no elemental powers or magical weapons. All they needed to do was drive them away, and all was well.
As the last one ran for the hills, dragging an unconscious bandit with him, Kai cupped his hands around his mouth. "That's right! Don't you ever come back, or we'll get all Ninja up on ya again!"
Nya stowed her weapons away before she gave her brother an incredulous look. "You have got to stop saying that, Kai. You sound stupid."
At that comment, Kai let out an exaggerated gasp. "You dare??"
"Years later and he still can't come up with a cool catchphrase," Cole commented, shaking his head. "Let's not forget the time you said 'not so fast' instead of something way cooler!"
"Wouldn't I be the one to say something 'cooler'?" Zane asked.
Cole rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean literally, Zane."
"This is a terrible post-victory conversation!" Jay shouted loudly. "Shouldn't we be high-fiving each other and striking poses?"
Silence stretched between everyone before Kai spoke up again. "Striking poses for who?"
"The villagers we just saved? Duh!"
Except, when the Ninja turned towards said villagers, they were all crowding around their leader. Lloyd was completely unaware of the light bantering his team was engaged in, instead talking to the people they had saved. They could hear them profusely thanking the Ninja for their help, and yet...
"Is it just me, or are they ignoring the rest of us?" Jay narrowed his eyes in suspicion, crossing his arms.
"I wish it was just you," Kai commented, taking initiative in leading the team towards the group of villagers. Thankfully - not that any of them had any reason to suspect otherwise - there were nothing but smiles and gratitude going around.
"Legendary Green Ninja, you have saved us all!" one praised, grabbing his hand and shaking it with glee.
"We thank you for your heroism, Green Ninja!"
Lloyd wore a sheepish smile on his face, getting a little overwhelmed by all the attention. The other Ninja noticed his increasing nervousness immediately, despite him hiding it from everyone else, but they thought little of it. They figured he was just being shy, which was true for the most part.
"I'm flattered, but I didn't work alone," he clarified politely. Right on time, he noticed the rest of the team approaching and gestured to them. "We all did our part here."
Another villager nodded, clasping his hands together. "Ah, yes! They did... but you led them, right? It was your plan that drove the thieves away."
Lloyd shrugged. "There wasn't really a plan besides just beating them up-"
"Nonsense! You're the Green Ninja. The great leader of the Masters of Spinjitzu. You must have thought this out before you arrived. How else could you have fended them off so quickly?"
"I-"
He was saved by Jay coughing loudly into his fist, somehow getting everyone's attention. "Yep, we definitely had a plan. All of us came up with it! All of us beat them up! You know... the entire Ninja team. Yeah."
The following moment of silence was awkward for everyone, though Lloyd shot Jay a silent 'thank-you' look. He really hadn't wanted to take credit for the entire thing. Being the Green Ninja came with a lot - that was the understatement of the century - and that included a sense of guilt. He never wanted to take anyone's achievements away just because of his title. He wasn't the only one saving the world all the time. The fact of the matter was, he wouldn't be here without his family. Hopefully everyone else would understand that in time.
"Apologies, Ninja." A voice broke the silence, originating from an older man dressed in dark green robes, with steely blue eyes and mostly dark hair, save for a few white streaks. The other villagers recognized his authority and backed away, clearing a path for him as he approached the heroes. He glanced between each of them with a calm smile on his face. "My people didn't want to interrupt your conversation, and your leader was free to engage with them. We didn't mean to discredit any of you."
Jay took a moment before smiling back at him, trying to save face. "Well, I never said that, but-"
"He's trying to say thank you," Nya helpfully interjected. Her boyfriend pouted silently in response.
The man gave her a respectful nod before looking at Lloyd in particular. "I am the village head. You may call me Celebrant. I would like to personally thank you all for coming to our aid, and for everything you've done over the years."
Each of the Ninja nodded at his gratitude, though most of them found it weird how his gaze seemed to linger on their leader. Lloyd took the lead in addressing him, reaching forward for a handshake. "Of course, sir. It's always an honor for us to help those in need."
His hand was firmly grasped, and he was given a joyful smile from Celebrant. Almost too joyful. "Please, Green Ninja. The honor is all ours. You have no idea how fortunate Ninjago is to have warriors like you to defend it."
Lloyd awkwardly glanced down at the hand still gripping his. Maybe it was just him, but he really hadn't intended the handshake to last this long. Thankfully, Zane stepped forward to interject, taking the subject elsewhere. "Celebrant, sir," he prompted. "Is there anything more we can do? The thieves have made a mess of your town."
Upon hearing the question, the man let go of Lloyd's hand and gave Zane an eager nod. "Indeed they have. We could use some help getting everything back to normal! If you Ninja wouldn't mind, of course." He held up his hands, his voice a bit guilt-ridden. "Unless you have to leave now. We don't wish to intrude on anything important-"
"No no, it's fine!" Lloyd quickly reassured him, looking over at his friends as he spoke. "We don't mind staying for another hour at least. What do you guys think?"
They took a few seconds to think about it, exchanging looks before coming to a decision. "Sure, we've got time to kill," Kai answered with a shrug.
Zane smiled politely at the villagers. "This place will be good as new in no time. We can promise you that."
The other villagers cheered in response, finally acknowledging the other Ninja by running up to them and shaking their hands in gratitude. Meanwhile, Celebrant clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! It shouldn't take long at all. If you have any questions at all, you're more than welcome to ask."
With that, he turned and motioned for the villagers to follow him. With the Ninja following not too far behind, they soon set about tidying up the wrecked village. Throughout the entire operation, Lloyd couldn't brush past the feeling of something being off. The way the villagers had praised him first before anyone else, and the way Celebrant looked at him... as if he were a god, perhaps?
He shook his head. He was definitely overthinking it. His grandfather may have essentially been a god, but he didn't see himself that way at all. He hoped it was all in his head.
Sure enough, the village was fixed up within less than a couple hours. It seemed like it would've taken much longer without the Ninja's help. Since the others were so focused on assisting the villagers, they didn't realize how much time Lloyd spent talking with Celebrant and a few starry-eyed individuals. He had wanted to help more, but the older man insisted on having a chat with him. He was allowed to join the others for the last thirty minutes of work at least.
Apparently, this village had looked up to the legend of the Green Ninja for quite a long time. He wasn't all that surprised; a lot of people revered the legend, even before he was revealed as the Green Ninja. It explained why they held so much faith in him. His previous paranoid thoughts were put at ease. It was admittedly nice to receive recognition.
When everything was cleaned up, the Ninja were invited to a celebratory feast. Cole was especially ecstatic to see a succulent, freshly-baked cake placed on the table in the center of a large outdoor dining area, complete with a wide pergola. None of them could turn down cake, especially not the Earth Ninja. After the work they did, they found themselves needing to fill their empty stomachs.
They all sat at the table in the center, watching the villagers making their food and chatting with each other at their own respective tables. Kai ribbed Jay with jokes as usual, while Nya scolded him before he could take it too far. Cole was too busy scarfing down slice after slice of cake to talk, while Zane was trying to help him watch how many calories he consumed. Lloyd was content watching them enjoy themselves, taking a bite of his cake slice every now and then.
By the time they had finished, the sun was setting below the horizon. It was time for them to bid the village farewell; they had spent more time there than they meant to, and they needed to get back before Lloyd's mother started worrying about him.
"It is a shame you can't stay longer, but we wish you the best on your trip home," Celebrant offered, bowing to the Ninja. His gaze lingered on Lloyd for a little longer than the rest, but it ended up going over the Green Ninja's head. They had hopped down from the Bounty some ways away from the village, so they would need to travel on foot for no more than fifteen minutes. They were sure they'd be home in no time.
And yet, as they departed from the village, each of them were feeling... strange. A hazy sensation enveloped their minds, weighing their limbs down. One by one, their vision blurred and their movements slowed. Cole was the first to go down, collapsing to the ground with a slurred groan. Just as Zane went over to assist him, Kai was the next to fall. Before he could properly panic about the mysterious ordeal, Jay's eyes rolled back into his head, and he crumpled to the ground. He was followed by Nya, who tried her best to fight the dizziness, only to lose consciousness in the end.
Lloyd was the last to collapse, panicked eyes unfocused as they darted in all directions. He heaved as he struggled to stand back up. An intense blue light filled his swirling vision, followed by a scream of pain from Zane. He whipped his head around to see his friend being electrocuted by a hooded assailant. More figures emerged from the trees as he was brought down, their faces also obscured by hoods. They were all wearing the same green robes Celebrant wore.
The Green Ninja's heart sank. "Wh...?"
"Apologies, Green Ninja," one of the figures whispered, looping their arms under his shoulders to pull him up. He dangled limply in their grasp. "The drug will wear off soon. We're here to bring you home."
Drug?
His attempts to fight back were extremely pitiful. Another hoodie figure approached him with a strange band in their hand; it took him a moment to notice it was made of Vengestone. They knelt down and fastened it around his neck. It was then he numbly realized... the food. The food had been poisoned. They'd all been drugged, except for Zane, who was forcefully shut down by painful volts of electricity.
Black spots danced in his vision as the figure holding him threw his body over their shoulder. He was forced to watch as his friends were dragged further away, abandoned in the woods while he was being kidnapped for some unknown purpose.
The boy tried to reach out to them, only for his strength to fade away and pull his consciousness into the dark void.
The next time Lloyd awoke, he was somewhere unfamiliar; or so he thought. His arms were tightly bound behind his back, wrapped around a tall, sturdy pole sticking out of the ground. As if that weren't enough, a chain was attached to the pole, linking up to the Vengestone cuff around his neck. Even if he could get his arms free, he would just be yanked back by the throat, and thanks to the Vengestone, he didn't have access to his powers.
He blinked the heavy fog out of his vision, lifting his head up to see several people in green robes surrounding him. They were holding torches lit with green flames, flickering and dancing in the night. Right next to him was a wide altar, its surface unoccupied for now. The effects of the drug in his system had faded away for the most part, so his mind was a lot more clear, and-
"Ah! You're finally awake, Green Ninja!"
That was Celebrant's voice. He was back in the village they had saved.
The village head slowly approached him with a bright smile on his face, as if they hadn't kidnapped him and knocked out his friends. Speaking of which, they were nowhere to be seen. He had no idea if they were still unconscious, or how far away they were. He didn't want to think about the possibility of them being dead.
Once the man had knelt down in front of him, he shot him a glare of defiance. "Why am I here? What do you want? How could you-?"
"Shh, one question at a time, Chosen One!" Celebrant scolded softly, holding a finger to his lips. If he had held it there for longer than a second, he might have given into the urge to bite it. Instead, he growled under his breath, pulling against his restraints. Whatever material the pole was made of refused to give way.
"You should stop trying to fight it. You're here to lead us to a new future," the man began to explain, standing back up with his hands behind his back. "For too long, Ninjago has fallen victim to tragedy after tragedy. The First Spinjitzu Master created this realm to escape the brutality of a never-ending conflict, yet it has fallen to a similar fate. The Darkness corrupted it, and from the Darkness came the Overlord."
A dark glint shone in Celebrant's gaze. "The balance cannot be broken here. This realm's chance at everlasting peace has been destroyed forevermore. We believe it is time for us to move on from Ninjago, and you..."
He grinned sickeningly wide at Lloyd, who shivered nervously in response. "You are the grandson of the FSM, am I correct? Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon?"
The boy's face paled as he stared up at the man in disbelief. He would've asked how he knew his full name when he never disclosed it to the public - his middle name, to be more specific - if the man hadn't seen it coming a mile away. "We've been keeping an eye on you and your fellow Ninja. Those thieves you fought today? They've been doing quite a bit of work for us as of late. Why do you think they ran away so quickly?"
"...The attack was fake. You tricked us into thinking you needed help." Lloyd let out a trembling breath, making another attempt to break through the ropes binding his wrists by yanking them forward. He froze up when pain shot through his shoulders, and Celebrant shook his head.
"Tricked you? No no no. Our pleas for help were genuine. We need help with the creation of a new realm, and with you having as much power as you do, you're the only one who can help us. It is your honor to help those in need, no?" He knelt down once more, grabbing the boy by the shoulders with a crazed light in his eyes. "We have been waiting for this moment for so long. Lend us your power, O Chosen One, and bestow upon us our new dawn!"
The other hooded figures - most likely the villagers the Ninja had met before - hummed with anticipation, eagerly looking to the Green Ninja for an emphatic agreement. Instead, he looked at Celebrant as if he were the dumbest person on the planet, narrowing his eyes at him while tilting his head to one side.
"Are you serious?" he deadpanned. "Do you know anything about how Ninjago was created? My grandfather didn't create it with his powers!"
There was a deadly moment of silence from the village head. His grip on his shoulders tightened, almost eliciting a gasp from him. "I beg your pardon?"
"Did you seriously assume he just snapped his fingers and made an entire realm with just his powers?" Despite the situation he was in, he couldn't help but chuckle. There was no humor to be found in it. "It took way more than that. I can't just make a new realm for you. It's not a power passed down through generations. I thought you would've known that basic information like everyone else."
He didn't elaborate further, leaving his sarcasm to hang in the air. He wasn't about to tell these lunatics about the Realm Crystal or the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu.
There were mumblings among the hooded citizens. Celebrant silenced them with a loud growl, right before harshly shoving Lloyd's back against the pole. "You're lying," he seethed, baring his teeth. "You're lying so you can go back to your friends and leave us to suffer!"
Lloyd flashed his teeth in response, leaning forward to challenge him. "I'm not lying! Look into it yourself and you'll see I'm telling the truth! I don't have the power to create new realms!"
"Stop lying. You do."
"No, I don't-"
"YES, YOU DO!" Celebrant practically screamed in his face, moving his hands from his shoulders to the front of his gi, grabbing fistfuls of the green fabric before yanking him forward. His arms strained painfully against the ropes keeping his wrists bound together. He stared daggers into his soul before releasing a drawn-out sigh of disappointment.
"I never thought the Green Ninja would stoop so low as to lie," he lamented, abruptly letting go of him. He nearly hit his head on the way back down to the floor. "We thought so highly of you... oh well. Maybe after this, you will change your mind. You can still save us. You just need some... convincing."
He snapped his fingers, and two of the hooded villagers stepped forward. They weren't holding torches like the others; rather, they were carrying a large black container. They set it down in front of their leader before opening it to reveal daggers of all shapes and sizes, designed for carving. Celebrant looked all of them over before choosing a particularly sharp one, turning it over in his hand.
"Hold him down," he ordered coldly. Lloyd was confused at first, seeing as his arms were already bound, but it was too late for him to figure it out when the hooded villagers knelt on either side of him and held his legs down. He tried to jerk away from their grip, but it was no use. The Vengestone collar, coupled with the remnants of the drug in his system, did a number on his strength.
Celebrant crouched in front of the boy, taking the dagger to his gi before cutting into it. Once enough of it had been peeled away, he pressed the blade to his chest, guiding it to slowly sink into his skin. Fresh blood dripped from the wound as he twisted it in. Lloyd flinched violently, his breath hitching at the burning pain.
"Forgive us, Green Ninja."