Flames of the Past #5: Lost Souls (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

"Hey, hey, it was a joke!" Lloyd heard Kai say to the crowd surrounding him, Jay, Nya, Zane, and Cole.

Lloyd muttered to himself from his end of the pub. I told those idiots to stay out of here!

Beside him, Chelsea blinked and followed his gaze. "Do you know those strange people?" she wondered.

Lloyd heaved a sigh. "Sadly, yes," he growled. Squaring his shoulders, he dug his hands into his pockets and stormed over to the crowd.

As he pushed through it, gasps came from the people around him and they moved out of his way. Lloyd reached the thick of the group, where a large, muscular man was taking hold of Kai. Anger boiled inside of the green ninja and he tapped the man's shoulder. "Excuse me," he barked.

The man turned his head, and in his alarm, he dropped Kai. The red ninja stumbled back to the other ninja as horror appeared on the man's face. "It's you," he gasped.

Lloyd stared up at him. The man's arms were covered in tattoos and he wore a bandana around his head. Suddenly, Lloyd realized he remembered him. In his last bar brawl here, the tattooed man had been the first to challenge him. He looked pretty much the same as he did then, except for the eyepatch covering one of his eyes. Lloyd smiled devilishly as he remembered stabbing a wooden plank into the man's eye.

"Miss me?" the green ninja sneered.

The crowd backed away from them, murmuring and gasping to one another. Lloyd raked his glare over all of them, satisfaction swelling inside of them at their fear. "That's right," he hissed. "If you know what's best for you, you should probably get out of here."

Some of the crowd scurried away, but most seemed to want to know what would happen next.

The tattooed man took a step back as Lloyd moved over to his team. "These... These imbeciles are with you?" he questioned, pointing at the ninja.

Lloyd smirked as he stared up at the man, laughing softly. "Of course," he chuckled. "They're my... friends."

The tattooed man grinned and the people around them chuckled menacingly. The five ninja moved closer to each other as the crowd closed in on them.

"Zane?" Jay whispered to the nindroid. "Define friend?"

"Friend," Zane obeyed. "A person whom one knows and with whom one had a bond of mutual affection."

"Then why do they all look like they want to kill us?" Kai exclaimed.

The tattooed man came closer and pointed at the red ninja. "Do you know what he said to me?" he growled to Lloyd. "He said I was a hideous, drunken bully." His blazing eyes switched to Kai. "And I should keep my nose in my own business."

Lloyd swallowed back his frustration.

Why couldn't Kai control his tongue?

"And I thought you weren't stupid enough to listen to that blabbermouth," he shot back.

Behind him, Kai's eyes rounded. "Lloyd, why would you—"

His voice broke off as Chelsea slapped a hand over his mouth. "If you want to make it out of here in one piece, you better keep your mouth shut!" she whispered urgently.

Kai looked at her in alarm and confusion before shoving her hand away.

Clearly enraged, the tattooed man squared up and balled up his fists, as if ready to fight. Lloyd copied him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned, his eyes stone-cold as he met his opponent's gaze.

The man seemed to hesitate.

"W-we're not looking for a fight," Jay broke in nervously.

"Zip it, Jay," Lloyd snapped without shifting his gaze.