lloyd

"Don't be stupid! Go right go right go right rightrightright!"

"I'm going right!" he yelled back, hunched over his controller with his eyes blazing madly. "Jay, get out of my way!"

"Try again green bean!" Jay whooped back triumphantly, bumping Lloyd's car out of the way and zooming to the finish line.

"NO!" he whined, throwing down the controller in a fit of rage. "Jay cheated, Nya!"

"No, Jay's just got talent." smirked Jay cockily.

Lloyd threw himself over the edge of the couch and landed on the beanbags with a dramatic moan of pain.

"I'll never drive again! I'll be like Doc from the Cars movie and hide in a small town until one day, when I'll take on a worthy protégé—"

"Tea time!" announced Pixal cheerily, walking in with eight teacups of steaming tea on a tray.

Lloyd rolled onto his back and leapt to his feet, reaching for the tea and then reclaimed his spot on the floor, relishing in the warmth and clarity the tea brought as everything around him was muffled. He let out a relaxed sigh, watching as Skylor asked Zane to chill her tea. Zane responded, concentrating hard, but only produced a spark of ice before it fizzled out.

"I apologise," frowned the android. "My powers have not been working effectively recently."

"Neither have mine," Kai admitted, throwing his hand out expectantly. "See? No fire at all."

Cole jumped around the room like a hyper bunny and gestured wildly at the floor. "No rocks either."

Everyone looked to Jay, who was hogging the plate of butter cookies.

"What? Nothing for me, I just get electrocuted less when I touch anything." he mumbled through a mouthful of cookies. Lloyd snatched one off the plate and scrambled back to his place with a quick glance to Pixal and Skylor. AKA, the 'no-power-signs-or-really-no-power-at-all' gang. Apart from the strange day when his father had shown up, nothing else had happened.

"I fear it is the work of my brother."

"Uncle Wu? How'd you get in here—" Lloyd choked on his cookie, looking up at his uncle starting at him from above. Wu silenced him with an authoritative glare.

"My brother, as you know, is the leader of the infamous Sons of Garmadon gang that runs havoc in our city's streets." He paused there as if to check if everyone knew who Garmadon was. Of course they did, but it was just plain awkward having his brother and son in the same room. "I've received word that he's received a 'top secret weapon', which I infer as another elemental master."

"Who?" everyone blurted immediately. Wu shook his head.

"Who is an entirely different question. Why would be a better query, for my brother has never been one with good intentions. He is ruthless, and merciless." Wu gave Lloyd an apologetic look which he ignored. The thing about having a criminal lord as your father was that it was incredibly easy to pretend that he was anything but. "He's been sitting in the dirty streets of power now, and he, undeniably, wants more."

"More as in?"

"More as in Emperor."

Lloyd started wheezing and rolled off bean bug clutching at his stomach. "No way, sorry Wu, but you're obviously deluded."

"I am not deluded, Lloyd. My brother stops for nothing and he grows impatient on a throne that does not fit him anymore. Lord Garmadon will rise and he is—" Wu's voice caught there. "My brother possesses the element of Destruction. He knows nothing but it and I have experienced his wrath."

Wu pulled on the shoulder of his robe and everyone sucked in a gasp. A cruel scar crawled across his shoulder, aged, definitely, but it looked painful. Lloyd closed his mouth, seeing the pain in his uncle's eyes. He'd known his whole life that his father was a bad man, but just knowing he had the power of Destruction, something so dark and desolate... if he could change his last name, he wouldn't need second thoughts.

"What can we do? To stop him?" Cole demanded, shooting determined looks to everyone. "We have the power, the elements to stop him, we can do something about him."

"We're just teenagers, Cole." Jay replied, casting an uneasy glance around the room for allies. "We'd be risking our lives, even Master Wu couldn't defeat Garmadon. No offence, Master."

"I may take some, young Walker, for I was naive when I tried to stop my brother's rule. I was brash and I needed to stop him. Despite that, Jay is right. You're just teenagers, your powers are only showing signs and Garmadon has a powerful elemental on his side. I am taking careful measures to delay this until your powers are strong enough that you can use them, but for now, cultivate what you can get, and drink your tea."

"What is tea going to do?" Kai scoffed, yet he still drank from the cup in his hands. "It's just tea."

"Tea is never just tea, Kai." Wu reprimanded strictly. "For example, the shavings in this blend? It's from a black stone named Amnestone, closely related to Vengestone, a material that nullifies powers if used as chains and such. But Amnestone does the opposite. It speeds up an elemental master's growth to their power, and as you've experienced, mutes everything around you so you can focus. Pixal has been helping me with the shavings."

Pixal nodded. "Amnestone is certainly interesting. There are no scrolls or texts on it because it's such a recent discovery."

"Which reiterates my point. Shortly after your return to Ninjago High, I will be embarking on a journey to find a powerful relic that may be able to stop Lord Garmadon. Pixal will take over your meditation and exercises while I've been gone, and you can use that nifty room of yours behind your lockers."

"You know about that?" Lloyd spluttered. And the beanbags I stole from you to put in there?

"Why do you think I assigned you that corridor?" Wu asked dryly. "Your training is important, and everything you can use should be valued greatly."

"Right." he mumbled, curling in on himself. Wu left the room silently, leaving it considerably more awkward than when he'd entered.

Someone's phone started ringing loudly and Skylor sighed, shuffling outside to pick it up. Nya and Pixal exchanged a glance as Lloyd's gaze landed on the abandoned controllers.

"Anyone up for a game?"

astra

"Stop trying to kill me!"

"No!"

"Aw man, c'mon Rip—fuck!" Astra weaved to one side as the blade flashed past. Her mentor flicked his wrist back, sheathing his training katana easily. "Why can't Troya come back and train me? She's been on the mission for like, four days."

"It's up near Jamanaki Village, Rea," Riptide gestured for her to store away her sword and to wipe down the mats and pick up her bow. "It's a four hour drive there and back, and she wants to make the most of her trip there."

She nodded lightly, changing her stance to ready for shooting. Astra was currently using an optic, but Tellum earlier had stated that once she was comfortable with it, she'd be doing without one to lose weight in battle. Plus, it was good to gauge distance with just the naked eye even when she wasn't shooting. Astra cocked the crossbow with a grunt, and loaded the barrel with a training bolt, aligning the vane with the barrel channel. The arrow was longer than normal for a crossbow seeing as she needed the bolts to double as arrows when she switched over to a normal bow, but Tellum had given her a pouch of shorter bolts to use if need be.

"Stance." Riptide warned from the sideline. Even though he was currently mentoring in the art of the katana, Tellum had been too busy making and inventing new weapons to train her after introductory lessons. She adjusted her shoulders and legs instinctively, lifting the bow up so she could peer through the optic. Sucking in a measured breath, the crossbow stopped wavering and stilled as she concentrated on the target and once her confidence assured her she was in line, she squeezed the trigger.

"Follow through." Riptide reminded her again, and Astra did exactly that, only checking the target once she'd completed the finishing sequence. The bolt had pierced the board in the seventh ring, the outermost of the red zone.

"Could be better." Riptide remarked, striding over to peer at her shot. "Not bad on your stance, just watch your shoulders. You're doing well, kid."

"A rare compliment! What shall I do?" Astra replied dryly, yanking the bolt out. "Thanks, anyway." Riptide, funnily enough, had become something of an older brother while Cassie had been away.

He swatted her on the back of the head. "Get back to shooting. You aren't half as good as—"

"Yes, you, Mr Supreme, I get it." she drawled as she stalked back to the line. Obi was doing something special with her cast, slowly taking off layers since the healing process was almost completed. Now Astra could walk on it, and her crutches were in the past.

She ended up taking twenty more shots with the crossbow, then switched over to her normal bow and did twenty shots with those, rotating between the two bow types and distances for several rounds. They finally finished at four-thirty, cleaning the equipment and Astra stored her bow and katana away in her locker, her next destination cafeteria before her elemental training.

Astra walked the passage to the cafeteria in contemplative silence when a loud clanging drew her attention away from plotting to get out of training. There appeared to be nothing on the wall from where the noise came from, but a few steps forward confirmed it was coming from there. The clanging persisted as Astra poked experimentally at the panels on the wall, half hoping a door would pop open so she could tell whoever was banging away to shut the hell up.

"Come on." she pressed her fingertips harder to the right of the panel and jumped back as the panel opened just a centimetre wide. "Secret door. Nice."

She opened it fully and shut it carefully behind it and finally caught sight of the room where the clanging was coming from. It was a sort of workshop, with sound paneling on the walls which evidently did not work, and lots of large tables and boxes overflowing with metal parts. The only other person there was wearing a welding helmet, setting down the hammer to pick up a welding gun. They were kitted out in the generic SOG attire, easy to move in clothes, a shirt and pants, but a dark apron covering both.

"Hey uh—"

"Crap! Where did you come from? I thought I turned on the sound proofing..."

"Well, you didn't." Astra snorted, taking a cautious step closer. "Who are you? Does Big G know you're here?"

"Big G? Oh, you mean Garmadon, yeah he knows I'm here. I'm Titanium. Who are you?"

"I'm Reaper. What are you doing here?" Astra stood on her tippy toes to see over him but he was lanky and tall, and swiftly stepped to cover his project.

"Just working on some stuff."

"Stuff?" she narrowed her eyes, searching the room for other clues. Small things, Thorn, her GA mentor had said, especially if people are in a rush, they'll panic.

"Animatronics." Titanium revealed easily, stepping aside. Astra arched a brow at the quick collapse of secrecy, but looked closer. A metal duck stood on the tabletop, the beak gleaming under light and made out of metal, like the rest of it was.

"And you made this for what?"

"Dunno. For fun, I guess. I finished working on a couple of hounds last week so Lord told me I could get the week off."

"Cool." Astra moved away from the robot duck, making a mental note to keep it in her peripheral incase it came to life and attacked her or something. "I've never heard of you around HQ."

"I've never heard of you either." he said, much more amiably than her suspicious tone.

"New recruit."

"Ah. I'm in my workshop most of the time and I don't sleep in the dorms, I have my own quarters. That's probably why, plus I'm not training to be an assassin or a super soldier or anything."

"Who said anything about me being an assassin?" she barked out in laughter. "No, I just got into some trouble and I didn't want to be home, so I'm here, I guess."

"Oh. Well, I'm just an inventor for the Sons of Garmadon so I doubt you'll see me much."

"I'll come visit," she offered. "These animatronics look cool and you seem to be the only kid around my age who doesn't seem like a violent killer." Her glance changed to her watch. "Shit, I gotta go. Elemental training and stuff."

"Wait, you have an elemental power too—"

"Goodbye weird duck making guy!" she yelled over the top of him, sprinting out as fast as she could so Garmadon wouldn't make her do extra exercises.

o o o

Five minutes later Astra rose from sitting on a zafu, eyes closed and breathing steady.

"Reaper, I'd like to know why you were late."

Ah, crap.

"I was just meeting someone."

"I gather Titanium showed you his duck?"

"Dude? Are you psychic or something?"

"No, I simply assumed that since he was banging away without his soundproofing that you'd find out. Rotate."

By his last words, Astra, still with her eyes closed, hopped on her right leg ninety degrees to the right, her arms outstretched with rocks balanced in the palms of her hands. This was supposed to centre her or something, but she was still confused why there was a boy in the walls with a metal duck. Nothing had happened since her outburst that nearly hit Obi at her check up, but Garmadon insisted her power was there - and that it was indeed Death.

She found just accepting it and everything else weird that had come into her life worked well as a coping strategy, and rotated once again before the exercise completed. Astra sat down again and watched carefully as Garmadon pulled out three picnic baskets, except she was pretty sure what was in there wasn't food. A shame, but her interest piqued as Garmadon commanded a strand of Destruction to melt away the cover on the first basket.

"Hold this." He threw her the rock and she struck out an arm, catching it just before it hit the floor.

"Now think of your parents."

"Why—"

"Think of your parents."

Deciding not to argue with the man polishing a katana at the moment, Astra cupped the rock in her hand and let her mind flit back to a memory of her parents.

"Weakness is not appreciated for losers, Astra. Cassie's awards are proudly standing in the front hall, yet you..." Her mother let out a tight sigh. "What money did you make from bake sales? Enough to cover your rent?"

She looked down at the measly crumple of cash in her hand. "No. Sorry, I—"

"You can cook the rest of the week's dinner and do the laundry, and extra of your chores, that should make up for it."

Like Astra didn't anyway, her parents were too busy and occupied with themselves and yelling at each other to bother cooking or doing household chores. "Sure."

"Young lady, the disrespect I can hear in your tone is unacceptable. God, why did I have you?"

Astra considered answering, but her mother shoved her into the kitchen, her acrylics digging into her shoulder painfully.

"Get going, if there's one thing bright about your future, it's that you can cook and stay in the kitchen like you belong."

"What the hell does that mean?" she blurted out, wrenching her shoulder out of Mother Harlow's grip. "I'm meant to be in the kitchen? I like cooking, and I'm not about to do it for some man who won't even appreciate it."

"You will if you know what's good for you. That's all women are good for, Astra, and since you can't live up to Cassie, your grades, or your clubs, or your behaviour or awards? That's all that's left for you. Pathetic little thing, I can't believe I—"

"SHUT UP."

Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up.

"You've done well."

Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up.

"Open your eyes Astra, and witness what your power can truly do."

Worthless, you are nothing, pathetic little bitch, get back in the kitchen, waste of space—

"CONTROL IT." Garmadon yelled suddenly, and Astra screamed as her eyes opened, purple flames the size of a bonfire roaring and tearing at the floor wildly. "Only you can control it, your element is untamed and it—"

"Shut up shut up shut up shut up."

I can't do this. I can't do this. Please stop it. Someone stop it, it's killing me, it's killing me—

The thunder in her ears stopped, cleaved by a blade of silence. And disappointment, it was disappointment lingering in the air, she knew what that felt like and she refused to open her eyes, drawing in shaky breaths as she rocked herself back and forth, desperate for something that had a pattern, or a beat and some routine to comfort herself in.

"Troya arrived five minutes ago." Garmadon finally said. "You are excused from elemental training today."

Cassie. Cassie was here, she could help her. But Cassie - Cassie was the reason why Astra's parents were so shit. Then a twang of guilt in her chest. How could she blame Cassie for arguing and abuse she couldn't control? She opened her eyes and stared at her hands. They looked completely normal, void of the terrible dark flames that had almost devoured the room.

"Thanks, Big G. Really gonna help." she eventually muttered in a croaky voice. "I'm not doing this again."

And then she left.

A/N: bitches be like: dommie???? You used that basket exercise in cos??? Why are you reusing it??? Because i dont have the braincells, duh. I didnt even finish it, we love angst instead. Big g really got some plans up his sleeve, but like why nearly kill bro? I uh. Writing this rn were' on 3.13k which compeltely amazes me and i am also here to tell you that this book is gonna be 40+chapters without announcements i just realised god im shit at planning lmao.

Titanium is a close friend's oc, and you'll see plenty of him soon and in lmu, so cheers to that! Have a great day everyone!

-dommie out