A Single Pale Garmadon

Harumi's a thot

Oh. That kind of mess. Physical and mental. It was... quite the graphic sight. A city in shambles. Small random fires in places, hazardous debris everywhere, and huge chunks of buildings simply missing. Leaving Wu to wonder what in the world happened here. But perhaps the most disturbing part was it quiet. An eerie, unsettling silence. Wu didn't know how else to put it, but something was missing from doomsday. He always imagined that sirens would blair, explosions would boom, people would be screaming, running for their life. But no. Nothing. Completely lacked any liveliness.

Except one, curled up kid in the middle of the open space between buildings. It was almost surreal, seeing the green ninja like this. He looked so... small. A little speck of green stained red in the middle of huge destroyed buildings and wreckage. Matted blonde hair stuck to his head in places with dried blood and sweat. His makeshift gi was torn and bloody in numerous places. The young warrior was curled up in a tight ball, his face buried in his knees and arms. Hiding himself from the world. Wu could still see streams of heavy tears running down the child's face whenever Lloyd moved his arms slightly. The green ninja's somewhat quiet sobs wracked his tiny frame.

Wu let his eyes wander, trying to get a feel for his intimidating surroundings, when he saw it. The exact same pattern of The Destiny's Bounty's sail was littered on the ground. Small parts of it that could easily fill the holes of the gnarled fabric that Wu had grow accustomed to back in the realm of Oni and Dragon. Wood from the broken ship was in smithereens everywhere. All the pieces left behind that made it all the more difficult to repair without the materials to make new parts. Everything seemed to come together for Wu in that moment. The realisation that this was where they teleported when magic tea saved their lives. His head turned back to his grieving nephew. He had to do something.

Wu made his way over, trying to avoid all the hazardous wood and other things scattered everywhere. Sitting awkwardly next to the boy, Wu realised he had no idea how to comfort him. He was never good at that. Good at providing wisdom, which was his way of helping and caring, but not being personable. Lloyd had a natural gift for that, clearly not inherited from him. Now Lloyd needed him, and he didn't quite know how to help. Lloyd didn't need a lesson, he needed comfort.

So Wu will try.

"So... I'm guessing this doesn't have to do with your phone?" Failed mission. That was terrible. The only thing Wu knew how to do was tease and joke and act mysterious when wanting to show affection. He wondered how many other times in the past that trait has gotten himself into trouble, especially with highly emotional people like Lloyd or Kai. They craved stability, not surprises.

Lloyd seemed too distressed to realise how stupid a comment that was. "No, it's Nya it's my family it's everything. What was I thinking? To run in there to fight my father alone, leaving my team behind... now I've lost them. Just like i lost my... what was it you said?"

"...Your cell phone?"

"mY cElL pHoNe." Ok, so his nephew was obviously hysterical. Not that he blamed the kid, after everything he's been through. Lloyd seems to be having a complete breakdown, as if he's been bottling it up awhile. As leader, Wu guessed the green ninja put a lot of pressure on himself, feeling that he had too much to take care of to worry about his own needs. Plus, being the youngest, it's not much of a stretch to conclude Lloyd also feels like he needs to do more in order to prove himself to be capable of his role. Sacrificing himself for others seems to be the only thing Lloyd knows how to do, which explains why Lloyd took all those crazy risks. In the end this turned out to be a quite toxic character flaw, given the end result.  Wu briefly wondered if Lloyd's bent out of shape because Nya got ticked at him, though he'd leave those questions for later.

"No no no, hey, it's gonna be ok. We're ok. You'll see us again. Heck, you're looking at me right now!" "No, there's no way they could've survived that. I saw it with my own eyes..." Lloyd countered, staring at what was left of his home with a haunted look. The smaller kid sighed, knowing it was hopeless. He was able to talk to Lloyd's past selves, but not change the past. Nothing Wu can tell Lloyd would affect him, or else he would create a past that didn't happen, which directly counteracted what Wu was here for. Wu should get back on track.