Lloyd was hastily packing a bag.
He occasionally threw a fleeting glance over at the TV, where their veteran reporter Gayle Gossip stood, in front of a particularly unsettling scene. It was almost unbearable to watch the news report for any longer than a few seconds. Every time he did, he saw another one of his friends get hurt.
Because of him.
Lloyd was certain that knowing that it was all his fault, made everything a thousand times worse. After all, he'd seen news reports like these before, but had previously always watched them while cheering his friends on, like the rest of the city. Maybe part of the reason was also the fact that they couldn't even be cheered on this time. They were losing, badly, that much was clear to even the smallest child. Then again, they were losing this badly because of him, so the assumption that the whole it-being-his-fault thing made everything worse, checked out.
"It looks like this isn't quite the fair fight. Our villains of today seem to gain magical powers when putting on some strange looking masks," Gayle Gossip spoke, before turning to look at the scene behind her. The camera panned to a big guy wearing an orange mask that was currently making Cole and Jay float in the air and banging them against each other. Somewhere in the distance, police sirens wailed annoyingly.
As if they would be able to do anything - or even try to.
Lloyd quickly shook his head to get rid of his bitter thoughts and directed his attention back to folding up his clothes. He was trying to fit as much of his valued possessions and life essentials in the bag as he possibly could, since he didn't know how long he would need to run for. Usually, the ninja would beat whatever villain was posing a threat within a few weeks tops, but it looked like this time, they would need more time than that to even heal from their injuries.
"Ah, alright- I'm getting word here that these masks are the infamous Oni masks, of which one had been on show at the palace until recently. Another one was kept safe at Borg Tower. Both masks hold immense power, and have been stolen from their depository not too long ago." Gayle Gossip turned back to look into the camera as she spoke to her viewers. Lloyd hated how she was just as powerless as the rest of them, watching the screen with dread, to do anything about this whole situation.
He hated how it was all his fault.
"We're getting messages in our news app from people who suspect that Princess Harumi - or, the Quiet One, as it turns out she's called - managed to gain inside information by approaching close allies of our beloved ninja. This is quite the good theory. If anyone knows more about this, please contact us at-" Gayle was interrupted by one of the thugs waltzing into the view of the camera and snatching the microphone away from her.
Lloyd knew that if they were moving onto the civilians now, that could only mean awful things for the ninja - his friends.
"Hey! This is a violation of the media's right of free speech!" He heard Gayle yell at the guy, but it was muffled, only being picked up by a microphone that stood a bit too far away. The camera caught another glimpse of the ninja, who kept looking worse and worse for wear. They weren't going to win this time, unless they had some secret magic trick up their sleeve. The problem with that, was that Lloyd had tattered about all their secrets to the very girl that was destroying them right now. They had no more secrets cards to play.
YOU ARE READING
Masked Mania
Fanfic"If anything ever happens to us, you have to leave the city, alright? You have to leave the city as soon as possible," Kai had always told him. Lloyd finally understood why. If anything ever happened to them, the villains would move onto the next t...
