{On Hiatus} Snapshots :: Sugar & Spice | Lloyd Garmadon

05. Whiskey

   Mission after mission, call after call, it wasn't like he could say no... but was it worth running himself into the ground? Thoughts of these things plagued his mind as he went through the various traps and obstacles, his mind was not fully focused on this test.

Even with his mind not fully on it, his body acted on instinct, the training drills that he worked so hard on were nothing but muscle memory for him... though because he wasn't focused, he messed up-

The armor disappearing before his eyes, the training simulation over. One thought was in his mind, gritting his teeth he called out. "We need to redo, I wasn't paying attention." as the doors of the test room opened to Borg and his Uncle Wu.

"For not paying attention, you got farther than I thought you would." The older man said, his tone full of concern as he looked at the broken mechanical guards that laid at the green clad ninja's feet. "Then again, I didn't think you'd be so hard on my security droids..."

"Well, anyone trying to steal the armor wouldn't go easy... so why would I have?" Lloyd asked, walking towards the man in a wheelchair and his uncle, whom he towered over. " I'll make some notes to make it harder to get through, we can't have anyone stealing that armor."

Wu looked up at his nephew, his white eyebrows knitted together in concern... the poor boy had been working himself to the bone... "Lloyd, where are the others? I asked for everyone to be a part of the test."

"Don't know, haven't seen any of them in weeks." Lloyd huffed while pushing Borg's wheelchair for him. "Besides, I'm enough to tell whether or not that system will work."

"Lloyd, you can't keep doing this on your own, think about yourself a little." Wu tried to reason, though Lloyd only snorted, so Wu added. "Think about your family."

That seemed to strike a nerve for the young man as he let out a soft sigh, shaking his head as he answered. "I'll give it one more shot, for Reagan's sake/."

"That's a good boy."

***

Another show, another fake smile, another night spent in his dressing room. Jay rested his body against the vanity, glancing at the pictures of his friends that were on the mirror before looking at himself, makeup hiding his freckles and the gel becoming useless to hold down his curly brown locks. He let out a sigh as he grabbed the makeup wipes and began to wipe off his face.

"Ninja never quit, right Zane." He muttered to himself, before slamming his fist against the wooden vanity. Opening his eyes to see a dark figure in the corner of his room, glowing red eyes staring back at him in the mirror. "How'd you get in here, Lloyd?"

He knew how, he just didn't care as he scraped off the makeup that coated his face, glaring at the youngests member of his former team. He hadn't seen him in months, though he knew those red eyes anywhere.

"I'm a ninja." Lloyd's voice was deeper than he remembered... how long had passed... "I'm getting the team back together."

"Not happening Lloyd." Jay snapped, turning to face the boy... only to look up. He had grown so much in the past few years... watching as he pulled the dark mask from his face, revealing the two scars that now cut into his face. In the dull light, he could see the boy's arms were also covered in scars, causing his heart to sink. "I'm retired, I have responsibilities to do."

"Oh really, what about your responsibility to the team? To the city?" Lloyd raised his voice, a subtle growl in it as he towered over Jay. Jay couldn't help but take a step back, running into the vanity causing the contents to shake. "Ninja never quit, Jay, never, and all you're doing is running away and being a coward!"