Right Realm, Wrong World (Book 4 of the Enchanted DVD Player tetralogy)

Lloyd vs. Garmadon, Take 2

TW: themes of bullying and violence

-------Luh-Lloyd's POV-------

"Hey, Garmadork!"

I grimace. Not now, Chen...

"I'm talking to you, ugly!"

I continue to walk down the hall, trying to ignore him. I hear the bully speed up to I pick up the pace, but Chen grabs me by the hood of my sweater.

"Where's your little lady friend, huh?" he asks tauntingly. "She gave up trying to protect you, didn't she? You're so f*cking stupid, Lloyd. You don't have any friends."

"Leave me alone," I sigh, pushing away. I'm sick and tired of this.

"Listen to me, Garmaboy," he whispers threateningly, pulling at my hair. "Nobody cares about you, so stop thinking you can get away with embarrassing me like that the other day."

"I didn't do anything," I choke out as he continues to yank on my hair. "Y/n beat you up, not me."

"But you put her up to it, didn't you, scumbag?"

"No, I didn't--"

"Don't talk back to me!"

I fall to the ground as Chen slaps me across the face. He kicks me repetitively, and I cover my head so he doesn't knock me out. A few more minutes pass before something comes crashing through the window beside us and shatters the glass. It doesn't take an expert to figure out who's behind the damage.

"Attention students," the principal says over the speaker. "The school is now on lockdown. Return to your classrooms and remain there until further notice."

"You got lucky, Garmdork," Chen says, walking away. "We'll finish this after school."

As soon as he's out of sight, I get up and rush to my locker. My teammates are there a few moments later.

"Where've you been, Lloyd?" Jay asks. "You went to the bathroom and never came back."

"Lost track of time," I reply, shrugging it off.

We all jump into our lockers and get transported to our secret base. We rush to our mechs, and once we're all ready to go, we burst out of the building and stealthily head towards Garmadon.

"Where are you Green Ninja?" Garmadon hollers. "Show yourself! I'm dying to meet you!"

"I wish you'd say that about my other identity," I mutter.

I steer my dragon mech behind a building and wait for the right moment to attack. I see an opportunity, so I give the signal, and then we all charge forward. Our enemy shrieks in surprise as we all head towards him from different angles, but doesn't react fast enough to get out of the way. We all collide with him, breaking our mechs in the process.

My seat ejects me, sending me skidding across the ground. I groan as I get up onto my feet. I hold my left arm close to my chest; it hurts like hell.

"Is everyone okay?" I call, my throat hoarse.

"Owww..." Garmadon grunts, laying on the ground. "Thanks a lot, Green Ninja."

"Why'd you just assume it was my fault?"

"Everything is your fault."

"You're not the first person to tell me that," I mumble with a sigh as I hurry over to where Kai's mech had crashed.

I use my uninjured hand to pull Kai out from under the rubble, then rush over to Zane. Once the rest of our team is on their feet, we make a small circle around our enemy.

"Get up, Garmadon," I order, pointing a high-tech gun at him. "I'm sick and tired of you tormenting this city."

"Do you think that's such a good idea, Lloyd?" Jay asks, but not loud enough for Garmadon to hear my name.

"We don't have much of a choice. We have to put an end to this."

"We can't kill him!" Nya protests.

"Why not? All he's done is cause pain to everyone!" I say. "Zane, freeze his hands."

Zane does as I ask. "It is illegal to take another person's life. I advise us to call the police station."

"All the cops can do is send him to jail! And what if he gets out? He'll go right back to destroying the city!"

"Argh, stop bickering and just kill me already!" Garmadon says, rolling his eyes. "You guys are so lame."

"I didn't sign up for this," Cole says, then puts down all his weapons and walks away.

"Me neither," Jay agrees, following him.

"Guys?" I question.

"I know this is for the benefit of the city and all, but I don't think I can watch you kill him," Kai admits.

"Come on, bro," Nya says sadly, and the two of them leave.

"Where are you going?! We're a team!"

"That is correct," Zane says. "But you are not being a sensible leader."

I watch in betrayal as the ninja of ice also leaves me here, still pointing the gun at my father.

"Just do it, Green Ninja," Garmadon urges. "What are you, scared?"

"N-no," I stammer. Dammit. I sound like a sissy.

"Just shoot me already!"

I grip the gun tighter. My eyes start to tear up as a mixture of fear, anger, and sadness overwhelm me.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I... I don't know!" I yell, then drop the gun.

"What's the matter? Are you too weak to finish a fight?"

"I. Am. Not. Weak."

"Well... that's questionable."

Garmadon suddenly produces a purple sphere of energy with each of his four hands, breaking the ice surrounding them. He aims at me, but I don't react fast enough to dodge the blast. I get thrown backwards into the side of a building, which sends a massive wave of pain through my entire body.

"You've ruined my evil-doing mood, Green Ninja," Garmadon says as he picks up my gun. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got a mech to fix. Oh, and thank you for the new toy."

I'm in too much pain to get up and stop him. I try to pull myself up, but I accidentally put weight on my left arm, causing me to gasp in agony. My head is throbbing, and I'm covered in blood.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a girl come running towards me. She looks familiar, but my vision starts to blur before I can make out who she is. The last thing I remember is the girl catching me before my head hits the ground, and then I lose consciousness.