Chapter Text
“Hey, green bean.” Kai said, coming up from behind the younger ninja-in-training. He ruffled his hair, much to the latter’s dismay.
“Ready for training today?”
Lloyd let out a groan, but followed the red ninja off the Bounty and into the nearby forest. It was a rare weekend of no Garmadon attacks, so they could afford to leave the city, if only for a short while.
“So what are we focusing on today?” Lloyd asked as he was jumping across the boulders along the edge of the path. Granted, the others had to go on patrol just to be sure, but still. It wasn’t often they could leave the city at all.
“Well, we’ll do a bit of the usual balance and stretching and what not,” Kai started. “But then I was thinking we could have some fun.”
“Really!” Lloyd exclaimed, almost falling off the rock. His eyes were bright with excitement.
“Yep.” Kai said, popping the ‘p.’ “You may be the destined savior of ninjago, but you’re still a kid.”
As they came into a clearing, Kai set down the bag he’d brought. Inside was some food and water, as well as a few other things.
“ And , since the others are on Garmadon Duty, we have almost the whole day.” Lloyd was practically vibrating at this point. Even though Kai was sharing his excitement, he couldn’t help but feel a little sad for the ninja-in-training.
Ever since Kai had( stupidly, oh so stupidly ) revealed Lloyd’s destiny, he had practically the entire world on his shoulders. Training, day in, day out, with usually only an hour to goof off and just be a kid. It…..it reminded Kai so much of his own childhood, or lack thereof. Taken away far too soon.
Kai clapped. “Well, let’s get started. The sooner we finish, the more time we’ll have.”
And shockingly, with Lloyd so motivated, he flew through training in record time. Four hours and a very tired Kai and Lloyd later, it was time. The sun had long since risen, being around midday.
There in the middle of kickball, and Kai would’ve been lying if he said he was going easy on Lloyd. He was just so fast and small, Kai stood no chance.
“Hah! Got ya again!” Lloyd cried out as he made yet another goal. Kai laughed.
“That you did.” He ruffled Lloyd’s hair, giving the boy a bright smile.
But then Kai felt a prickle on the back of his neck. The same kind that he got when he was being….. watched.
In a smooth movement Kai picked up Lloyd, much to his excitement, and spun him around. In the split seconds when he was spinning, just fast enough for the world to not blur too badly, he made out a single glowing yellow eye with a black slit in the darkness of the wood.
Venomari. And more importantly Garmadon.
“Lloyd.” Kai whispered as he placed him down. “When I say ‘go,’ I want you to run back to the Bounty as fast as you can. Don’t stop, no matter what.”
The young boy nodded, a look of slight confusion. He didn’t know what was happening, but he trusted Kai.
“How about we play a game of hide n seek?” He suggested aloud. “But don’t do too far, okay. We won’t want you getting lost.” With his back to the Venomari, he gave Lloyd a quick wink, just in case.
A look of slight fear flashed across Lloyd’s face, but it was quickly replaced by the same wide-eyed happiness he’d shown thus far.
“Got it!”
“Okay.” Kai almost comically turned around so he was looking almost directly at the Venomari. In fact, if he hadn’t been looking for someone he probably would’ve missed them completely. Their eyes blended in almost perfectly with the bright yellow flowers.
“Go!” He shouted, making a show of covering his eyes. “One! Two! Three!”
Behind him, he heard Lloyd bolt . Good.
“Four! Five! Six!”
In front of him he could hear the quiet footsteps of the Venomari.
“Seven! Eight! Nine!”
They were heading right for him.
“Ten!”
On the number, Kai ducked and rolled out of the way, just barely dodging a blast of Venomari venom. Not even a second later, he tackled the snake in it’s stomach and forced them back into the flowers.
Quickly, he straddled it, using his knees to pine down it’s arms with one hand firmly clamped around their mouth with the other around their neck.
For a few seconds the Venomari squirmed, spitting quite a bit of their venom on his hand(gross) before stopping and giving him a smug look.
Uh oh-
Before Kai even had a chance to finish the thought, he felt a sharp pinch on his neck. When removed his hand from the Venomari’s throat to feel it, he felt a blow dart.
“Crap.”
It was mere seconds before his limbs felt like jelly and he collapsed onto the snake. The Venomari easily shoved him off, standing up and brushing themselves off.
“Took you long enough!” The first one said. A second snake, also a Venomari, stepped into Kai’s very limited view.
“Well would you rather me not shoot him? Aiming’ssss hard. I don’t know why they didn’t assign Dendro or Asssp. They’re the bessst stinkin 'shots in the tribe.” The Venomari mumbled the last bit as they kicked a rock. Kai would have laughed if he wasn’t paralyzed. “Besidesss, the boss isn’t gonna be happy we didn’t get the green one.”
“Eh, at leasssst we got the red one. Wasssn’t he gripping for hourssss about how the red one sssstole his ssssson’s love?” The first Venomari knelt down next to Kai. “Isss that true? Did you sssteal the green one’s love?”
The second one gave him an incredulous look. “He’sss still awake?!? I could’ve sworn I used the right…..wait….wait, no I usssed to wrong one. My bad.” He said sheepishly.
The first one rolled their eyes. “It’ssss no wonder they ssssent the two of us on this mission. The tribe tricksssster and the tribe sssscrew up. It’s as if they wanted ussss to fail and kick ussss out.” They added sarcastically.
“Okay, I definitely got the right one thisss time.” The second Venomari said. Kai felt another prick, this time on his arm, and the world started quickly growing black.
“There we go! Now he’ssss definitely loosi- cons-nessss”
The world faded quicker, feeling as though cotton were being pressed on all his senses.
Hopefully Lloyd at least got back to the Bounty. It would suck if he didn’t.
When Kai woke up he was on his knees, with what seemed to be a bag covering his head. The overwhelming smell of herbs and the forest assaulted Kai’s nose, practically making his eyes water at the overpowering odor. Some sort of adhesive was keeping his mouth clamped shut and held fast when he tried to open it. Thick cuffs pinned his hands behind his back. Kai gave them a quick tug, disappointed when they barely moved a few centimeters before pulling taut.
“Hello, Kai.” Kai’s head snapped upward, eyes desperately searching behind the sack for something he couldn’t see.
Garmadon.
“I will admit, I wasn’t pleased that those useless snakes were unable to capture my son, but you are the next best thing” A warmth like nothing Kai had ever felt before got close. Far too close to his neck. It felt like the power of the Sword of Fire, but magnified a thousand fold.
“It would be so easy to kill you right now. A simple tap and you’ll disappear, not even a body to be found by the ninja and my brother. A warning to stand against me.”
Kai felt his breathing start to grow shallow and quicken in pace.
He could die. He could die . If he died, who would help Zane with chores when he tried to put too much on his plate? Who would quadruple check Jay’s blueprints when he wasn’t looking, checking for anything too dangerous or crazy? Who would check up on Cole to make sure he wasn’t staying up too late perfecting their latest plan to stop Garmadon?
Who would….who would watch over his little siblings?
Who would make sure Nya didn’t feel sidelined when they went on missions? Who would stop her from creating an impossible device that could get her hurt, or worse? Who would make sure Lloyd has time to just be a kid ? Who would let him snuggle in bed with them at night when he had nightmares?
“But,” The overwhelming power of the Mega Weapon left Kai’s throat. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“Lloyd would be quite devastated to learn of your death.” Garmadon took a few steps back before seeming to pace.
“However, I can’t just imprison you. You’re much too crafty, and lord knows these snakes are no match.” Kai could’ve sworn he heard some quiet angry hissing from behind, but Garmadon didn’t seem to notice.
“Aha. I know what to do.” Garmadon took a few more steps until he seemed to be a few feet in front of Kai.
“Mega Weapon.” Oh no. Oh First Master no!
“I wish for Kai to be sent to a place where he cannot leave, but cannot die, and where he won’t pose a threat to my plans.”
Nononononononononononono-
A scalding beam hit Kai straight in the chest, making him cry out behind the gag.
Then it was gone. And so was the quiet of wherever he had been.
The faint sounds of the city sounded below him, and the bright lights shone through the bag. Kai tried lifting his hands again, finding the chain that had kept him bolted to the floor was gone.
Kai quickly rolled over and carefully worked his cuffed hands in front of him. He practically ripped off the bag, only to be blinded by the sight before him.
Ninjago City. Or, at least he thought it was Ninjago city. It was lit with every color of the rainbow, drowning out the stars above. The buildings all around him were the size of the tallest buildings in Ninjago City, but they didn’t even come close to the tower in the middle of the city.
Where in Ninjago was he?!?