Chapter Text
Green was weird. This was a well-known, established fact among the group. They all saw it, staying up on late-night phone calls sharing worrying stories, and debating whether or not they should kidnap him and switch him between their houses like divorced parents (barring Kai and Nya). However, ultimately deciding that would be a bad idea, they were forced to devise another solution: beg Master Wu for information.
“I don’t know guys, this feels like an invasion of Green’s privacy,” Zane said, blocking the entrance to the Bounty. “He’s set extremely clear boundaries! I don’t want to damage his trust in us.”
“I don’t care whether he trusts us or not,” grunted Kai, trying in vain to push Zane’s body to the side, “I care that he’s safe and doing well, which, by Morro’s text, he’s obviously not.”
“I second that,” said Jay. “Green never misses! Whatever happened today to make him miss training isn’t a one-off thing; this has been building up.”
“Don’t you think we should trust Master Wu and Morro on this though?” asked Cole. “They’re the only ones who know him out of the mask. Their silence in the matter is important.”
Kai yelled in frustration, slamming fists against Zane’s shoulder. “I don’t care about their opinion, their opinion is wrong. ”
“Okay, okay!” Nya yelled, her hands coming up in a calming gesture. “We ask Wu for information, and if he says nothing, then we drop it. Deal?” She raised a challenging eyebrow, not waiting for an answer. “Deal.”
When Zane stepped aside, the group shoved her way past the door, stumbling into the Bounty’s control room. In their year of being Ninja, they’d seldom been in here, respecting it as Wu’s space. The only people who frequented the Bounty other than Wu were Green and Morro (another mystery).
“Hello, disciples,” said Wu, calmly flipping down in front of them from the ceiling. “I couldn’t help but overhear your debate outside.”
“Well?” asked Cole.
Wu wrung his hands nervously. “I see your point. Ll- Green is strong, the strongest person I know. Probably the strongest I will ever know, but,” he sighed, “you all are right. He cannot do this alone.”
“Does this mean you’ll tell us who he is?” Kai asked.
Wu scrunched his face up, quickly hitting Kai over the head with his wooden staff. “Haven’t you listened to anything I’ve taught you? Trust in your team is the most important quality a team can have! It is what makes you able to defeat Garmadon every time!”
Freezing some ice for Kai’s head, Zane looked up in confusion. “Then what do you want us to do, Master Wu?”
Wordlessly, Wu marched into the next room, robe billowing behind him.
“FSM,” Nya said, verbalizing what everyone else was thinking, “He is so dramatic.”
Shrugging, everyone followed Wu into the next room.
This room looked more like a personal family room. Knick-knacks, books, and photographs were scattered across the room, along with a laundry drying station in the corner. There were bright green and black decorative pillows on the couch, clashing with the rest of the interior. Probably Morro’s doing, they decided. It looked homey.
Walking over to a side table, Cole picked up a photograph. On it was a younger, clean-shaven, Wu and a dark-haired man that looked like him. “Who’s this?” he asked.
“Ah,” said Wu, peering over his shoulder at the picture. “That is my brother, Garmadon.”
A beat of silence passed before all of the Ninja collectively started to shout for clarification.
“Garmadon?!” Jay shouted, gesturing wildly. “We’re thinking of the same Garmadon, right? About yay-high, four arms, crown of evil on his head, pitch black skin?”
“Wait, no," Cole interrupted, "are we just going to skip over the fact that The Lord Garmadon is Master Wu’s brother?!”
“Yes, this is, as you put it, Cole, ‘The Lord Garmadon,’ ” said Master Wu, putting air quotes around the title. “As you can see, he was not always evil. Before he turned evil,” Wu continued, making his way across the room to a framed photograph hung up on the wall. The photograph was of a young blond boy, six at the most, giggling while sitting on top of Wu’s shoulders. The picture was taken mid-laugh, Wu’s hands sneaking up the boy’s thighs to tickle him while the boy threw his head back so far his bright green eyes could just barely be seen by the camera. “he had a son,” continued Wu, “This son is named Lloyd Garmadon, my nephew.”
Collectively, the group’s mouths dropped. Lloyd Garmadon? The same Lloyd Garmadon that was rumored to steal candy from babies and idolized his father’s every move? The one who was a serial kleptomaniac and graffiti artist? The same Lloyd Garmadon that was always picking fights and skipping detention? Related to Master Wu? The beacon of light that saved them, gave them a family, and turned them into The Ninja? No, incomprehensible. Incomputable. Impossible, even.
The boy in the picture looked nothing like how the group had imagined Lloyd Garmadon, nor what they’d seen of him at school.
“Why… are you showing us this?” Cole asked. “What does Lloyd have to do with Green?”
“Because,” Wu said, choosing his words carefully, “Because Lloyd is related to Garmadon. And so are all of you, in a way.” He clasped his hands together, turning to look back at the ninja with determination set in his brow. “I will not tell you who Green is, I would not betray his trust like that.”
“So?!” exclaimed Kai, throwing his hand up in the air. “So what was all of that even for?!”
Wu gave him a stern look, saying “Do not be so quick to anger.” He turned his attention to the rest of the group. “I’m sending you on a mission, a mission of the utmost importance to your goal of helping Green.”
At the group’s nod, he continued, “Your next mission is to befriend Lloyd.”