Darkness from Within #4: Fading (A Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 28

The ninja were gripped in a stunned silence as Lloyd hung up the call. They glanced at each other, wondering if they could believe their ears.

    "I don't like this," Garmadon finally spoke. "It was too easy."

    Wu rubbed his beard. "I know what you mean," he murmured. "But this is what we wanted, isn't it?"

    Garmadon furrowed his eyebrows. "So after years of trying to convince Lloyd to come back, he suddenly agrees on the spot?"

    Wu rested his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I know you don't trust Lloyd," he said. "But what choice do we have?"

    Garmadon took a deep breath. "I guess you're right," he sighed. "But don't expect an apology from him or anything."

    Wu gave a curt nod in agreement before turning back to the others. "Okay, everyone," he announced. "Lloyd's coming home!"

* * *

    Zane, Jay, Kai, and Cole bustled around Lloyd's bedroom, fixing the furniture and picking up the shatters of glass. Wu had told them to clean it out for Lloyd before he arrived.

    Jay grunted as he pushed the night table back on its four legs. "Can I be honest with you guys?" he started.

    "Fire away," Kai answered.

    "I'm not really feeling as excited as I thought I would when Lloyd came home," Jay went on. "I thought that after all our hard work, I'd feel relieved. But I just feel... confused."

    "That makes two of us," Cole grunted. "I mean, can it really be this easy?"

    Zane emptied a dustpan into the trash. "As do I," he admitted. "Now I'm just thinking... 'now what?' We saved Lloyd, so what else is there to do?"

    Kai picked a picture frame off the ground and turned it over, revealing himself, Cole, Jay, Zane, and Lloyd. He sighed as he looked over the broken frame before hanging it back on the wall. "Do you think we can be like that again?" he murmured.

    The others gathered around him and looked up at the picture.

    "I hope so," Cole breathed. "But a lot has happened in the past two years. I don't know what'll happen when Lloyd comes back."

    Zane laid his hand on the black ninja's shoulder. "We can at least try," he murmured. "Lloyd is still the same Lloyd we used to know, he's just buried beneath the surface. If we just give him time to adjust back to normal, everything will be fine. Like how it used to be."

    Jay stared disbelievingly at the picture frame. "I know you're the nindroid, Zane, but after everything that's happened, I'm beginning to doubt if that wish will ever come true."

* * *

    Thwack!

    Lloyd's fist hit his opponent's face. The scrawny man staggered backward, but quickly recovered and came at Lloyd again. The green ninja grabbed the man's arm as he tried to land a blow and twisted him forward, locking his arm around his opponent's neck. Panting angrily, Lloyd held him there as the man quivered. Then he kicked his legs against Lloyd's, freeing himself as well as making Lloyd stumble.

    Lloyd grunted as he felt a blow to his back and he whipped around, swinging his arm at the man's face. Before his opponent could recover, the green ninja sped at him again, stabbing at his stomach before clutching his arm and flinging him across the alleyway into a pile of rubbish. Anger boiling inside of him, Lloyd was about to rush forward to finish the man off when someone tugged his arm from behind.