Work Text:
Morro was heading back after picking up some materials for his latest project when he saw it. H̶i̶s̶ h̶o̶m̶e̶ The ninja warehouse was destroyed. The walls had collapsed and chunks of the roof caved in with fire scattered about. The mechs were destroyed beyond repair, crushed under each other or debris, torn to pieces or in the dragon mech's case completely missing leaving only a broken head. The floor was a mess of shattered concrete and pieces of metal. The area that had been turned into a living room was nothing but char with the couch in the middle still burning. Everything was just… gone.
Morro was frozen. He stood there looking at the destruction unable to move or react or even really think. His mechs… his weapons… his vehicles… all his plans and paperwork… gone. Just like that. He didn't breathe for a while but when his body forced him to again he fell to his knees and screamed. Not a scream of fear but one of complete agony and despair. It was a lot like the scream you would hear from a parent who had just stumbled upon their child's corpse. Years and years of his life's work burned in front of him and all he could do was cry.
The shock quickly wore off however and as soon as it did Morro started to act. He rushed in headed straight for his office, desperate to salvage anything that might have survived. He dug through the debris not caring how much his hands scraped and bled because none of that mattered. He had to save his work.
He picked up scattered papers and blueprints and anything else he could, tossing away rubble and broken creations until… there! Under that... thing! The plans for his current project that he had been so excited about working on. He grabbed the small object on top of the paper and tossed it over his shoulder without realizing what it was until it was too late. He turned to see and confirm but there was no time to protect himself from the bomb he just threw as it hit the ground and exploded, sending debris and fire straight at him.
Morro fell to the ground and just… laid there. Everything was gone and he couldn't do anything about it. His life’s work, years and years of projects and materials and time and memories gone. He didn't get up. The physical and emotional pain was so much and he just sobbed. He wailed and wailed until his body was too tired to continue and unconsciousness claimed him.
---
The ninja had just gotten out of school, chatting and messing around as they headed to the warehouse ready for another day of training (and terrorizing Morro if your name is Kai or Lloyd). Today was a good day for the gang. They'd been left alone by bullies for now, their pop quiz had been canceled and Garmadon hadn't attacked for weeks! Needless to say the skittles squad was in a pretty good mood as they made their way towards their headquarters… until they actually got there.
“What… happened?” Cole was the first to speak, though they already knew the answer.
“Garmadon” responded Kai.
“I knew it was too good to be true. There’s been no sign of him for weeks and we just found out why.” said Nya.
The group stood there for a while, too stunned to speak or maybe they just didn't need to. Their home base and only defenses against Garmadon had just been destroyed and they couldn't do anything about it. What was there to say? Apparently at least one thing because the silence was soon broken by a panicked Lloyd.
“MORRO”
“oh SHIT”
The ninja rushed inside the broken building, spreading out but mostly headed towards the office where they found him. Unconscious and wounded, bleeding over papers and blueprints.
“ZANE GET IN HERE!” shouted Cole
Zane rushed over and quickly started scanning Morro’s vitals.
“Is he okay? What's the damage?” Lloyd questioned
“He's alive. The damage is bad but nothing life threatening. If we can get him to a hospital he should be okay, though not without scarring.” said the nindroid.
“What are we waiting for? We need to call an ambulance!” shouted Jay
“Wait!” said Kai “If we call an ambulance then they’ll know our identities and where our base is, and they might try to take what's left. We can't risk it.”
“So then what are we supposed to do? Just let him lay here bleeding? Try and treat him ourselves??” Lloyd was growing panicked as his cousin continued to lose blood.
“Of course not.” said Zane “he needs medical attention, but it's safe to move him a bit right now. If we stop the bleeding we can take him somewhere more public and call an ambulance from there while keeping our identities safe.”
“Okay… okay.” Lloyd started to calm down, and quickly switched to what his team likes to call leader mode. “Zane. Grab the med kit and some water. We’ll take care of him here and then bring him to the edge of 4th street where we can call for help. Jay, contact master Wu and let him know the situation. Cole, Nya, Kai I want you to spread out and grab as much of Morro’s stuff as you can, anything still intact or salvageable.”
“Right!” came the replies from the ninja.
---
Morro woke up to a much too bright light overhead and his head throbbing. It wasn't unusual for him to wake up in a hospital after a not so successful experiment but that doesn't mean it ever got more enjoyable. He blinked and blinked again until he adjusted to the lighting and then slowly and carefully sat up and looked around and… yup. There was Wu, sitting next to him reading a book. Morro let out a sigh of relief or pain or maybe stress and that was when his dad noticed him.
“Good morning little one. I’m glad you're awake. How are you feeling?”
“Ow.”
“That seems appropriate. The doctors say you have a concussion and severe burns on your right arm and back, along with some other minor injuries. You’ll be alright with time though it will take a while to feel pleasant again. May I ask… what happened?”
“The warehouse.” Morro sat up and started to breathe faster “It's gone. It's destroyed. The mechs, the weapons, all my notes and trinkets and explosives they’re gone. I left and when I got back everything was destroyed I tried to save what I could but I knocked over a bomb and-”
“Shhh. It's okay Morro, just breathe. You’re alright.” Wu tried to calm him but it didn't help much.
“No. no no no nononono it's GONE. My work… my life’s work… no no no I can't I CAN'T I-”
Wu hugged him. It probably hurt but it was the only thing he knew to do to stop morro from spiraling. Morro closed his mouth, took some deep breaths and started crying. He sobbed and wailed into his dad’s shoulder like a child and Wu just hugged tighter, whispering words of comfort. Eventually Morro ran out of tears and sobs and fell silent before speaking again.
“Thank fuck I backed up my files. Time to implement plan to take down Lord Garmadon #28”