The Master of Nature

It's... Complicated

"WHOA!!!! EXCUSE ME?! Will somebody please tell me: WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!!" screamed Jay.

"The Stone Warrior," said Misako.

"The Devourer's venom has awakened him!" exclaimed Zane.

Kai and Lloyd tried to destroy the Stone Warrior, but it was no use as it was indestructible. Even Lloyd's powers couldn't make any damage.

The whole group ended up getting tossed out of the room. Hope quickly caught Alyssa before she hit the ground.

"Ah! This is gonna be much harder than a bunch of bobble-heads, fellas," said Cole.

"Yeah," agreed Jay. "Well, then it's a good thing we're in a museum."

"Why is that?" questioned Misako.

"Cause we're all about to become history! RUN!!!!!" yelled Jay.

The group ran to the next room and shut the doors. But the Stone Warrior was slowly breaking it.

"That door ain't gonna hold him forever," said Kai.

"Then let's settle this like adults. With Rock, Paper, Clamp. Loser has to face him, so the rest can escape," said Jay.

When Lloyd tried to join in, Jay told him not to. Kai sighed. "On three. One, two..."

"Wait a minute, that's it!" Lloyd suddenly exclaimed.

"What's it?" asked Wu.

"If you guys can keep him busy, I think I know how to stop him," said Lloyd.

"Are you sure, LL?" asked Alyssa.

"LL?" asked Zane.

"Little Lloyd," said Alyssa. "It's... Sort of my nickname for him."

"I'm not little anymore," said Lloyd. "I'm taller than you are now."

"I say we give the kid a shot," said Cole.

Lloyd snuck through an air vent and Misako wished him luck.

"Thanks, Mom," said Lloyd.

"Alyssa, you should get out of here," said Hope. "It isn't safe for you."

"Why not?" asked Alyssa.

"Because there's a giant Stone Warrior who could crush you to death!" said Hope.

"I'm not a little girl," said Alyssa. "Besides, I'm your big sister. Isn't it my job to protect you, not the other way round?"

"I can protect myself now," said Hope. "Fine, I guess you can stay. But you're not going to be involved in the fighting."

"Deal," said Alyssa.

~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~

The ninja tried to distract the Stone Warrior by making a skeleton model fall on it. Of course, it doesn't faze the warrior one bit.

"You think Lloyd's ready with his plan?" asked Zane.

"I hope so," said Cole as the ninja ran away.

It turned out that Lloyd's plan was to place a huge piece of cardboard over the bottomless pit and standing on it. When the Stone Warrior spotted him and Misako, Lloyd taunted it so that the Stone Warrior would run up to them. Lloyd helped Misako dodge the Stone Warrior at the last moment and it fell down into the bottomless pit.

"Wow, that's a great plan," said Alyssa. "I would have never thought of that."

Wu asked Misako if she would stay with them, and Misako said that she would if Lloyd was fine with it.

"Hey. The more, the merrier," said Lloyd with a smile.

~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~

Five hours later, Lloyd wasn't smiling. He was sitting in his shared room with the boys. Hope and Nya tried to talk to him.

"Did you have a fight with your mother?" asked Hope.

"No," said Lloyd.

"Are you still angry with her?" asked Nya.

"No," said Lloyd."At least, not anymore."

"Then why did you run away when Misako tried to talk to you?" asked Hope.

"I don't know," said Lloyd. "I thought that I had forgiven her, but I kept remembering the day she abandoned me and all the painful memories keep coming back. And... I'm afraid that she might abandon me again. If she did it to a five-year-old boy, what's stopping her from doing it to a ten-year-old boy in a fifteen-year-old body?"

Hope sighed. "Lloyd, your feelings are perfectly valid. There have been times when I had hated my biological parents for giving me up. But then I would remember how much they had loved me and feel guilty."

"Sometimes I feel that my parents have abandoned me and Kai," said Nya. "But I had always held out... Um... Hope that we would be reunited. But I don't think that's possible anymore. They're probably dead by now."

"But that's the thing!" said Lloyd. "Hope, you always knew why your parents left you! And Nya, you don't even know if your parents abandoned you. They could have died in a freak accident!"

"I'm pretty sure that Kai and I would have found their bodies by now," said Nya.

Lloyd groaned. "Sorry," he said. "I don't know what's wrong with me.I didn't know that I had it in me to be so... Angry?"

"I think that the word you're looking for is moody," said Hope.

"Well, I didn't even know why my Mom abandoned me until today," said Lloyd. "I know that I was really little, but I already knew my Dad was evil. Why couldn't she..." Lloyd's voice suddenly trailed off.

"Because it meant that she would have to tell you that you are the Green Ninja," said Nya. "Look, forgiveness takes time. I know that your Mom seems sorry, but that doesn't mean that you will forgive her immediately."

"I'm so confused," said Lloyd. "I want to be angry with her, but I also want to forgive her. But I can't do neither of those things."

"Welcome to being a teenager," said Hope. "Don't worry. I'm sure that you can figure out your feelings one day. You just need to process them first."

"I guess," said Lloyd. "Can you girls leave me alone for a bit? I want to think."

"Sure," said Hope. She and Nya went outside. The boys were waiting for them.

"How did it go?" asked Cole.

"Lloyd is fine now," said Hope. "He just needs to process his feelings first."