Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Morro honestly didn’t know what to make of the situation he had gotten himself into, or how to escape from it.

That’s kind of a lie. He didn’t know what happened to cause this situation, but he had a decent idea on how to get out of it. Just pack up and run away! Like he had to his adoptive dad years ago! It seemed to have worked last time!

Unfortunately for him he did grow rather attached to the small cafe he had made for himself with the money he managed to scrape together, to the point he was using the wind he swore off of using just to keep it safe from his ex-uncle's attacks, so moving away was not an option.

He should have known this was going to happen eventually, letting his posture melt into a more relaxed one as he stared at the six people sitting at a table, laughing and joking around with each other like they were the only people in the world. Morro knew this was a mistake, that he should have kicked Lloyd out like all the other owners of the restaurants nearby did, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Sure, he hated Lloyd like everyone else did, but his reasons were personal, not that the kid knew that. And despite how pissed off he was at his adopted dad, he couldn’t take his anger out on a child, that would make him the same as all those other assholes in the street, and he couldn’t put the kid through that.

“Order for Kai and the rest of the merry band.” Morro placed the six separate drinks and pastries on the counter, watching as the kid wearing red and the kid wearing black both got up to gather everything, making an attempt to not drop all of Morro’s hard work on the floor.

“Thanks Morro! I swear your stuff gets better every time!” Kai laughed and grinned at the adult behind the counter, watching as Morro simply rolled his eyes, joking with Kai that flattery would not get him free food, making the red clad teen groan with disappointment and shuffle back to the seat, where his sister laughed at him.

Morro couldn’t remember when the six started becoming regulars. It was probably after they realized he wasn’t being hostile towards Lloyd, easily the most hated of the six, but he knew it had been long enough for him to basically get the teens down to an art. It had also been long enough for Morro to figure out why the teens were so stressed about Garmadon all the time.

In all honesty, Morro was surprised the six weren’t figured out sooner. Like, come on they’re even colour coded the same as the ninja! Morro figured it out after the ninja came into his store after a tough battle and ordered the exact same things as their civilian counterparts. Hell they even played that weird game the teens did to figure out who had to pay for everything, and that led Morro to roll his eyes cause it was Kai almost all of the time. That and the fact that Kai almost called the green ninja Lloyd when asking what the green ninja wanted led to Morro being able to make the connection pretty quick after that.

At first he was surprised, after all, those dorky kids who he had grown attached to were the ninja he had hated since he laid eyes on them? He couldn’t believe it! He had made it his game plan, to ignore the kids until they stopped showing up. But unfortunately for Morro, the “magic of friendship!” was too strong for him, and the six wormed their way into his cold undead heart.

“Are you guys staying after closing again? You know I don’t have a problem with it but if you keep doing my work I might have to actually pay you.” Morro joked as he looked at the teens struggling with school work. As Morro was the only person to allow their group inside, they basically took refuge in the ghostly themed cafe to do their school work and escape the bullies from the outside world, or their parents much to Morro’s concern.

He watched as Jay perked up at being addressed, before sharing a look with the other five. Morro chuckled softly as he watched Jay wait for approval before confirming with Morro. Always an anxiety bug that kid was, but Morro knew better, knowing damn well that Jay might as well be a wind up toy with how fast he could talk when he wanted to.

“Maybe you should start offering up jobs Morro! I know I’d work here if I could.” Kai shrugged as his attention wavered from his school work to the dark haired adult, who shook his head and waved off the suggestion with a chuckle. “And actually bother to pay people? You wound me Kai. I can’t afford that.” He pressed his hand over his chest, earning an eye roll from the teen.

“That’s why we stay to help!” Nya grinned and closed up her schoolbook, tossing it in her bag. “Can’t have this place go bankrupt before we get out of school!” Morro rolled his eyes as the rest of their little six man band agreed

“Well I’m closing up now, so if you want to make yourselves useful I recommend getting started now before I lock you all in here.” Morro was joking of course, but most of them had a hard time figuring that out or not considering he had locked them in before. It was an accident, but they wouldn’t let him forget it, so he just embraced it. This led the six to quickly pack up their work and start cleaning up the cafe as Morro did his daily task of cleaning out the register and doing other boring business owner stuff. He raised his head a little upon seeing Zane walk over. He smiled at the definitely normal teenager and handed him some work, remembering how Zane seemed to have an endless plethora of knowledge of any given topic. His head went back down to the rest of the now much easier paperwork

Morro looked up again as Cole came over and sighed. “Did you make a new mixtape again?” He chuckled as Cole nodded, grinning as he told Morro all about it, at least until Morro shut him up by telling him he could put the mixtape on as long as it didn't distract everyone from getting out in an hour.

Morro sighed as he watched the six, mostly five, Zane was very dedicated to Morro’s paperwork, joke around, dancing and singing to the mixtape as Morro contemplated how he managed to let this happen to him. He was upset at himself. He wasn’t supposed to get attached to the ninja, but now he couldn’t imagine what his day would be like without the six ninja coloured teens in his shop, singing along to the song. He promised himself he’d hate them, after all they were students of his old father, but his cousin and friends wormed their way inside. He had gotten so soft that he added a music player specifically for Cole and his weird taste in old music. Okay he lied Cole’s taste was pretty good, he just wasn’t giving the teen that satisfaction.

However, it was getting late. Despite the extra hands being very appreciated, Morro did in fact want to keep a normal sleep schedule. He let it slide for a while though, Koko would call Lloyd eventually. Besides, he didn’t mind watching the six have fun. They were just teenagers after all. Even if they save the city on a daily basis they still needed fun in their lives. Morro was only giving them what he lacked under Wu’s guidance. What's so wrong with that?

He let the kids stay in the shop for an hour past closing, just wanting the six to forget about the worries of the world and the threats outside. He was cold, not heartless after all. This would have continued, at least until Lloyd got the inevitable call, reminding the blonde that it was a school night. Morro grinned at the smile disappearing from the teens faces, the six slowly turning around as they heard the sound of Morro shaking his keys. This of course caused a domino effect as the rest of the group scattered to finish cleaning up the cafe for Morro and get out before Morro locked the doors. He rolled his eyes as the kids ran back to their separate homes, yelling goodnight to everyone.

Yeah, he knew how he ended up here.

Morro closed the doors and walked back inside the shop, dragging his feet up the stairs to the apartment just above the cafe. He looked at his phone and winced at the time, reminding himself there’s a reason closing was at the time it was. He simply groaned and went through the motions needed for him to get ready for bed, before he finally flopped into the warm embrace of the bed.

Morro looked at his phone screen and hummed. Tomorrow was Lloyd’s birthday, maybe he should get him a gift? Sixteenth birthday was important after all. He shrugged, maybe just some free drinks would make the boy happy. He sighed and got comfortable under the covers, closing his eyes and letting the soothing abyss of sleep take him away, listening to the wind as it played around his ear.

Chapter Text

Morro sighed softly and rubbed at the cup he has been trying to clean for the past hour, glaring at the stain that clung to the cup like a disease. It was a very slow day as usual, unfortunately Morro’s spooky ghost aesthetic meant most people would ignore the shop in favour of the more soothing aesthetic of other cafes.

It’s not that Morro minded, not at all really. He’s heard he’s become an urban legend of sorts, leading people to believe he’s actually a ghost just haunting the cafe which is how it stayed standing. Morro thought it was funny, and if he contributed a little to these rumours by adding a green coloured light above where he stood, who was going to stop him?

The silence was quickly interrupted when a kid practically ran inside the cafe, slamming the door shut behind him and ducking behind the counter, refusing to make eye contact with Morro. Before he could ask questions however, another group of kids walked inside, scanning the place before landing on Morro, who had gone back to his cup

“Hey! You wouldn’t happen to have seen a certain son of the great villain ever come in here would you?” The middle one responded. He seemed to have been their leader, considering he was in front. Morro was thankfully a quick thinker and figured out what was going on, so he shrugged

“Depends, I tend to see a lot of things. Can’t figure out what’s real or not y’know?” He chuckled and knocked on the side of his head. “Maybe you guys saw a ghost?” Morro blew a quick breeze next to their heads, watching as the group shivered.

The one behind the middle one, the second in command Morro assumed, grabbed onto the leader. “Let’s get out of here, he’s dead anyways if he stays in here with the creep over there.” He listened to the grumbles of the kids as they made their way out of the shop, before sighing and glancing at the kid on the floor.

“They’re gone.” Morro looked down to the kid shaking in a small ball just beside him

He watched the kid unfold himself before looking up at Morro, looking at the adult with confusion and concern, something Morro was awfully confused with. Before he could say anything again, the kid started apologizing and basically crumbled upon himself again. Morro felt himself deflate and stare at the kid in annoyance

“Kid kid, listen. I get it, I was bullied too. It was no big deal I promise.” Morro raised an eyebrow at the kid as he slowly looked at Morro in shock, before he slowly stood up. “What? It’s really okay?” He frowned and scrunched his face up in confusion. “Are you sure?”

Morro laughed and waved his hand, trying to dispel the negative wind surrounding the two of them. “It’s fine, I promise. Repay me by buying something hm? What’s your name?” Morro watched as the kid slowly shifted to go in front of the register, looking up at the sign

“Uh- can I just have a muffin? Blueberry please.” The kid smiled sheepishly, obviously, at least to Morro, the kid hadn’t ordered without someone else there before. Morro just nodded and handed him the muffin. “What’s your name kid? I need it for the order.”

Morro witnessed the boy freeze up, looking down at his feet as he tried to mumble his name. But eventually he just sighed and looked at Morro.

“Lloyd Garmadon.”

Ah.

There it was.

Morro rolled his eyes and sighed. “That’s why they were chasing you hm? Cause of your dad?” He raised an eyebrow as he watched Lloyd look at him in shock, again. Did the kid have any other emotions?? It took a second for Lloyd to register what Morro said but eventually he nodded quickly

“Yeah! I keep trying to tell them I’m not associated with dad at all! But they keep comparing me to him! Like! All the time!!” Lloyd groaned and rubbed his face, not noticing the emotions Morro was switching though

Well, Morro’s first thought was that Lloyd had definitely grown up from when he saw him last

Morro remembered his ex-aunt showing off the little bundle to him, saying that the two would officially be cousins since Wu adopted him. Morro was so surprised! Lloyd was so small! All he wanted to do was protect the boy, his little baby cousin…

He shook his head and stared at the boy in front of him. Wow, had he ever grown up. He couldn’t help but smile at Lloyd. Of course he knew Lloyd wouldn’t recognize him, so he decided to keep the secret of their now official second meeting to himself.

“Well Lloyd, welcome to the Ghost Cafe. And hey, hide here whenever you like hm? I know what it’s like to get bullied for something you can’t really control.” Morro grinned as he watched the emotions cycle through the kids face, before landing on excited and grateful. Huh. He did have other emotions!

Morro waved him off to a table and went back to cleaning dishes, waving a goodbye at Lloyd when he left a bit later

After that it was a domino effect.

Lloyd would come in each day with a new member of his little gang it seemed. At first, it was this freakishly tall, definitely normal, teenager named Zane, who seemed to study Morro like he was trying to guess if the rumours about him being a ghost were true.

Zane was nice, he ordered a simple doughnut most of the time, but never actually ate it, at least until Morro looked away, then the doughnut would be gone without a trace. He’d stare at the two in confusion only for Lloyd to laugh it off and say that Zane was a nervous eater.

He was also stupidly smart. One time the duo came in while Morro was doing some paperwork, something to do with his taxes?? What were those even???

“Hey Morro! We’re back!” Lloyd grinned and waved at the dark haired adult behind the counter, who only groaned in response, sitting up and looking over. He watched as the two approached the counter, before Zane spoke up

“Are you struggling with work Morro? I can assist if it’s that difficult. As a definitely normal teen, I have a plethora of knowledge in a variety of subjects!” Zane happily informed, grinning just a bit too wide to be normal, but Morro was not about to question Zane at this moment

“First of all, no one says plethora, second of all, it’s nothing I cant handle. Its just this weird taxes thing or whatever, don’t worry.” Morro waved it off and tossed on his apron, tying the back of it quickly before turning back around, and witnessing Zane standing there just casually doing his taxes.

Since then, whenever he can, Zane will pop in with Lloyd and assist Morro on any paperwork the other was losing his mind over

The next person Morro was introduced to was actually two people, twin siblings.

Kai was decently friendly. He seemed to care about Lloyd quite a lot and upon seeing Morro joking around with his unaware younger cousin, he warmed up real quick.

Kai always ordered something hot, and was the one paying for most of the trips to the cafe, due to him being the worst at this little game the four made up. So Morro swore he said Kai’s name at least five times on a regular week.

“Hey Morro, give me a bit of mercy huh?” Kai laughed nervously as he lost the game yet again, smiling nervously as he turned to look at the cafe owner. Morro just grinned at him and offered him the card reader, making Kai groan with disappointment

Nya was a little harder to win over.

Nya didn’t trust Morro at all. Which was fair enough. He couldn’t blame her one bit. No matter what he did or how Lloyd defended him, she never bothered to even care for Morro, at least until she showed up on her motorcycle with Kai, in which Morro looked at it with stars in his eyes.

“Hey Nya, is that your bike? It looks fantastic.” Morro grinned and looked over at Nya who seemed shocked at the fact that Morro brought it up, before grinning brightly when she realized Morro actually knew things about motorcycles

This was when the group of four learned Morro really liked motorcycles, and that he actually had one of his own that broke a while back that he couldn’t afford to take to a mechanic. This led him and Nya into an avid discussion on motorcycles, both of them seemingly excited at the idea of the other knowing just as much as they did.

It was safe to say Nya didn’t hate Morro after that.

Then, the final two of the group actually showed up on their own. Morro almost didn’t realize they were Lloyd’s friends until Cole mentioned why they were at the cafe

“My name is Cole and this is Jay. We wanted to come by ourselves just in case it was too busy.” Cole smiled and looked at Jay who nodded and smiled nervously. Morro just nodded and shrugged.

“You two are in luck. Other than your little friends almost no one shows up. And if they do, they don't tend to stick around. You should be okay.” Morro looked at the two who seemed surprised at this

Later Morro learned that Lloyd and the others sung his praises so much that the two thought the cafe would be constantly bustling with people desperate to get some of Morro’s amazing food and coffee. After hearing that Morro laughed so hard he was concerned he pulled a muscle

After finally meeting all of them, they would come in almost every day for some drinks and food, courtesy of Kai, and study for whatever schoolwork they had to do. It was a nice rhythm, and Morro certainly wasn’t going to ignore the new entertainment he just gained

It was peaceful

Until the ninja came in

Now Morro didn’t have a problem with the Ninja because they were Ninja, he had a problem with it because he knew who was training them to become Ninja.

Master Wu.

Morro sent death glares to the group, not really trying to hide them but it seemed like they didn’t care. It was then when his life turned upside down

He watched with wide eyes as the six teens started to play the game to decide who had to pay.

No

Fucking

Way.

All of a sudden everything started to click into place. Why they seemed to run out of the building whenever Garmadon attacked, why Lloyd would have bruises he tried to hide from Morro, the colours, the inside jokes that sounded like they were actually fighting Garmadon, it all made sense.

Hearing Kai mess up and almost call the green ninja Lloyd had been the breaking point for Morro.

Lloyd was the Green Ninja

The reason he left Wu in the first place

Morro definitely was off his game for the next few days. He swore he’s hate the ninjas until the end of the earth, but Lloyd, who he promised to try and keep safe, was the very person who ripped everything from him.

Morro was pissed.

He didn’t know what to do now! Lloyd took everything from him! He had wanted to train so hard to prove he was worthy of being the Green Ninja in the first place, just because he saw how much that title mattered to his dad, and he had the opportunity! But then he was able to control Wind, and the eyes Wu looked at him with would haunt his dreams for years

Disappointed.

He made his father disappointed in him, all because he could control the wind instead of the stupid green or whatever the Green Ninja did

But Lloyd being the Green Ninja…

It almost felt like torture. Like destiny personally gave him the middle finger and told him to go fuck himself. Of course his baby cousin would get the title. Did that mean he wasn’t worthy? That he was less worthy than the son of the guy who was trying to take over the city once a week?!

This change didn’t go unnoticed by the teens, who were all asking if something had happened to get Morro in the mood he was in that day

And when Lloyd looked at Morro with such scared and concerned eyes, Morro decided right then and there that even if Lloyd was the reason he no longer had a family, he was still going to protect the kid with all his might, even if it was only from bullies.

———

Morro smiled at the six sitting at the table, sighing softly at the memory of meeting the six. It was Lloyd’s birthday today, and the six popped in to say hi before Gramadon attacked. The news did say a 95% chance.

“Hey kids, you know I love your company but school starts in thirty minutes and I need to prepare.” Morro chuckled and watched the six scramble to get their things, reminding Morro that he should probably just get an alarm clock for the six so they wouldn’t have to run to leave.

He waved goodbye and shouted a happy birthday fo Lloyd as he left, making the green clad teen grin and wave bye to Morro before running off.

Morro simply took in the science, taking a deep breath to remind himself to stay calm. Lloyd was a capable fighter, he would be fine.

At least it took a few hours for the attack to start again. Noon seemed to be his favourite time at this point.

With a sigh, Morro quickly started using his wind to protect his cafe from the attacks, hoping that the kids he’d unfortunately grown attached to were okay.

Chapter Text

Morro shouldn’t have been so surprised that the six came in later than usual.

He literally witnessed the entire battle from the TV he had set up in the corner so being surprised was the last emotion on his mind

But when he witnessed the six walk in an hour later than they usually did, looking like death was literally breathing down their neck, it was the only emotion he could muster

“FSM-  you guys look like you just died! That’s my thing! Are you good?” He shuffled over to where he kept the first aid, trying to keep an eye on them just in case they ended up collapsing right in the middle of the cafe

All Morro got in response was grumbled answers of being tired due to school and the attack. While not entirely the truth, Morro accepted the response anyways 

He pulled the first aid down and walked over to the six, handing it over to Lloyd who just accepted it, knowing Morro wouldn’t let it drop until he was sure the six were all patched up

Morro then started work on the orders he had permanently engraved into his brain before he looked up and saw them playing the game. He rolled his eyes and laughed at the fact that Lloyd actually lost this time, Kai literally cheered at the fact he won, making him be the one to have to pay. 

“Hey Greenie,” he ignored the way Lloyd froze up at almost being called his code name, “no need.” Morro placed the drinks up one by one. 

“It’s your birthday, these drinks and food are free today. And I even made you a small cake.” He grinned at the stunned looks on the faces of the teens. Morro has expected them to be happy about not having to pay, but instead they all started fighting

“What?! We can’t just let you give us free food! We’re like, your only customers!” Nya basically slammed her hands down on the counter, making Morro jump 

“Yeah! You need the money to keep this place running! Even if I complain I still pay full price!” Kai joined in right next to his sister, one hand on the counter the other in a fist, like he expected Morro to start physically fighting them about this

“Not letting us pay once would be highly illogical. You wouldn’t have enough money by the end of the month.” Zane frowned in concern and simply stood next to Kai, trying to mimic the concerns of the twins, and failing but Morro wouldn’t tell him that.

“Yeah man, we can’t just let this place shut down! We come here like every day after training! No where else let’s me play my tapes dude!” Cole stood behind Kai, crossing his arms, almost as if he too was expecting Morro to fist fight them so they’d eat for free

Jay nodded, standing next to Nya and huffing. “This is my favourite place! It can’t just poof!” Morro was more shocked by the fact that Jay was actually speaking loudly than the fact that he was defending the fact they they needed to actually pay

Lloyd nodded and pulled out his wallet. “It’s okay Morro, I can pay for it. Just the cake is enough for me.” He smiled at Morro who just stared at the six like they were insane before laughing and shaking his head

“Jeez, you kids are crazy. And I do have other customers y’know. Would be out of business if I didn’t.” He laughed and leaned on the counter a little. “You just don’t see them often because-“ Morro ended up getting cut off as Kai spawned a shit eating grin on his face

“They’re ghosts?”

The seven went silent before Morro laughed, very loudly. He hunched over, placing a hand on the counter and the other on his knee as he laughed at the joke

Kai grinned smugly at the others and mentally added a tally to the board he kept to track who Morro’s favourite could possibly be 

“Ah geez- no no, they come while you’re at school. Late start y’know?” Morro grinned and let out a few stray chuckles from his previous laughing fit. “Well, this was supposed to be Lloyd’s birthday gift anyways, so tomorrow I’ll actually buy you something, okay Greenie?”

Lloyd seemed stunned but nodded quickly and grinned. “Thanks Morro! You didn’t need to do that!” He watched Morro wave away his concern. He seemed to do that a lot, just wave things away. Lloyd was jealous of that ability 

“Ah whatever, just pay me already so I don’t have to worry about being beat into submission for not accepting money.” Morro meant it as a joke, but seeing the other six just nod made him awfully concerned that they would actually beat him up if he refused their money.

The routine was kept decently the same, at least until Morro came out with candles and cake. The cake was ninja themed since he said the six “always seemed to like the ninja”, and he took satisfaction in the expressions on their faces as they just laughed it off as a cruel Morro joke

Morro smiled at the six and joined in the ugly singing of Happy Birthday. This was the second birthday he got to celebrate with Lloyd, he wasn’t going to miss it or mess it up this time. Which is why when the others were celebrating, Morro smiled at Lloyd and ruffled his hair

“You got a good family going for you.” Morro watched as Lloyd looked at him in shock, then to confusion, as he just tilted his head. “No I don’t, dad literally tried to take over again today.” The genuine confusion makes Morro laugh, shaking his head

“I didn’t mean that family.” He smiled softly and looked at the other five, who were messing around again, singing loudly and dancing without a care in the world. “I mean this once.”

Lloyd looked over at the five and it seemed to click what Morro was talking about. He just smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I think I do.”

Morro snorted and patted his back. “Now hurry up and go up there! Don’t want your mom freaking out again because you got too sad to party!” He watched as Lloyd ran to his friends after Morro mentioned his mom, joining in on the singing and dancing

Morro just smiled fondly at the teenagers and went back to his counter, getting ready to start the closing process

And if he stayed up a little later than usual so they could enjoy tonight more, who was going to call him out on it?

———

Alright, Morro was aware Lloyd was dumb.

In fact, he’d say he’s very much acquainted with how dumb the Green Ninja could be.

But summoning a very scary monster to take down the entire city with just one swipe of its paws?

Yeah that was a new limit.

Morro looked at the six teens in front of him. They had come up to the shop a bit ago, just to tell Morro that they wouldn’t be coming in. Morro couldn’t help but smile at the fact that they didn’t want him to worry about them.

Morro’s shop was still standing, of course it was, and they basically told him that until Meowthra went away, they couldn’t see him. Which when translated through the “I know damn well who you are” translator, basically meant the six of them were going to go out and solve the cat problem. And also based on the fact that they were kinda avoiding Lloyd and making small jabs at him, meant that this was not going to be a fun trip for his cousin

He gave them small versions of the drinks they loved so much, Kai paid again , and sent them out on their way, wishing them luck for the journey ahead, watching them try to figure out if he meant that literally or not

Now really, he had two options. 

One, stay his ass there and wait until the six get back, praying that they’d be safe through their long journey to god knows where just to find some weapon. He could make sure his cafe was protected then, but he wouldn’t be able to figure out if they were safe or not until they got back or didn’t.

Or two, go grab his old gi from upstairs and put it on, following them just to make sure they were actually safe and get the most entertainment possible instead of just stressing about it. His cafe might get destroyed that way, but he’d at least be able to protect them so they wouldn’t get hurt, at least too bad.

Against his better judgment, he chose option two. He walked up the stairs and pulled out an old dusty box that lay hidden in the back of his closet. He blew the dust off it it and stared at what was waiting for him

It was still decently intact, probably just needed a wash to get rid of the dust smell, something he could do thankfully quickly due to his wind. It was a light yellow gi, which definitely clashed with the colours Morro picked after he ran away, but back then it was one of his favourite colours. 

Yellow. It was bright and pure, a symbol of the sun and the flow of the wind, a breeze that stayed calm and happy throughout the day. Even before he was adopted he enjoyed the colour, getting happy every time he saw it

It was one of the only good things that happened to him after realizing he could control the wind.

He sighed and picked it up, quickly taking it to get washed before the six could go too far. He wouldn’t get too far behind thankfully, if anything they were going to meet up with their families before they left, considering they had come to Morro just to warn him they’d be gone. 

So after tossing it in the wash by itself on a very quick setting that he’d regret later, he used his wind to dry each piece before getting all dressed up in the gear. 

It still fits.

The thought made Morro laugh as he stared at himself. He almost couldn’t recognize who he had become since he had left. 

The green streaks at his bangs, the scar across his eye, the copious amount of eye makeup he put on his face just to hide his similarly almost yellow eyes, it was all a change from when he was a teenager. It felt liberating at first. This was his body, and he could control it.

He shook his head and glanced over at the window, watching the city basically collapse upon itself from the attacks of Meowthra

He remembered hearing stories about her from Wu. That she could hop realms, and could only show up in certain realms if she was summoned by the Ultimate Weapon. Morro wanted to summon her out of spite for his old dad, but decided against being a complete supervillain that time.

He shook his head and climbed up to the top of his building. He pulled the small bit of his hair back just so it wouldn’t get too messy and pulled on the mask that thankfully covered most of his face. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and used his wind to try and find the other ninjas

He forgot how fun the wind could be.

Chapter Text

Lloyd really didn’t know what to do.

He was zoned out as Garmadon tried to convince his team to bring him along, not bothering to listen, just sitting there silently as he thought about his life up to this point

As Lloyd Garmadon he only had a few things going for him, with a lot of negatives to combat that

Lloyd Garmadon had his mom, one of the nicest people he’d ever met. She was caring and kind, always making sure that Lloyd was hopefully safe and had a nice home to return back to, even if she left him in his uncle's care for a while, but he couldn’t blame her. He was too young to remember that anyways so it’s not like he could hold it against her. Besides, she had just divorced Garmadon. That was dangerous even for her

Lloyd Garmadon had Uncle Wu. His uncle had always been the voice of reason in his life. And while yes he was strict, he always made sure Lloyd knew how to defend himself, and gave him a hobby that could let him get his anger out without hurting innocent people or FSM forbid, himself. Uncle Wu would offer him tea, tell him legends about things like the serpentine, and other wacky things just to entertain the now sixteen year old. 

Lloyd Garmadon had his friends. Lloyd makes it no secret that his friends are some of his greatest supporters when it comes to navigating school and the world outside of costume. Ever since they figured out each other’s identities, they’d clung to each other like lifelines, even if it meant their reputation got dragged. They were lucky to be pretty popular in each field before hanging around Lloyd, so no one really messed with them.

Kai was head of the soccer team, which wasn’t shocking when he really thought about it. Kai didn’t seem like a leader type, with how he rushed into battles, but when it comes to soccer he’s a huge motivator for the entire team, often pushing through any obstacles in his way. When he started talking to Lloyd, the soccer team mentioned kicking him off, but thought against it when they realized that Kai was the reason they won most of their games, so he was able to keep his head afloat 

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Zane was vice president of the student council. He used to be president but after talking and befriending Lloyd, he only got pushed down to Vice President. Zane was insanely smart when it came to statistics and things, but his inability to identify emotions meant he wasn’t very good at identifying whether people liked the ideas or not. Either way, like Kai he was able to keep his head afloat.

Jay was more or less the same but with tech. Jay was the president of the Robotics club at school. He was the one to repair Zane whenever something happened, and to repair some of the mech parts. Jay didn’t really sink lower when he started talking to Lloyd, most assumed it was because of Lloyds connection to Garmadon and the mechs he used, assuming Jay was just interested in the schematics of them all. 

Cole is the only one who’s reputation didn’t really change as a result of talking to Lloyd. Other than Jay, he didn’t really have any other friends. He kept to himself most of the time and always had his headphones up, barely talking. Some people theorized he was a drug dealer, and honestly Lloyd was very intimidated by him when he first met him after the identity reveal. But he turned out to be a softy with a thing for sweets

“ And Kai” Lloyd thought, snorting at his joke

Nya was pretty popular, mostly just because she was intimidating. No one really wanted to mess with her, so anyone under her protection was considered off limits. Because of her, Lloyd wasn’t getting as many death threats as before. Beforehand though, she was told a lot of lies about Lloyd hurting people she cared for, so realizing that Green, this nerdy kid who really just acted like a proper teenager, laughing and having fun, it was the hardest for her to change her mind. But when her so called friends confessed to having lied about him… well

Lloyd Garmadon also, strangely, had Morro.

Morro was a random, curveball thrown into his life that he didn’t know how to deal with. Not only did he lie for him, he offered him food and a place to stay if they ever came back. It felt almost too perfect for it to be true! But low and behold, almost half a year later and he could safely say that his entire friend group loved Morro. Morro just always knew what to say and what he was feeling. A lot of Morro advice ended up helping in battles sometimes. It was almost like he was speaking from experience. But that couldn’t be true. 

Unfortunately for him, Lloyd Garmadon also had the entire city hating him down to his very guts. For as long as he could remember, they’d hated him. Until the ninja mask reveal, he had no one at school, they had all hated him. Then he gained friends and they were unfortunately part of the harassment too. Cyan was even one of his bullies for crying out loud! He got many apologies from his team when Lloyd mentioned how it affected him, but in moments like this he felt like they could just go back to hating him with a toss of a coin.

The Green Ninja had Sensei Wu, a way more stricter version of his uncle. He trained with him after school and after attacks, training his ninja skills and trying to learn the Spinjitsu his uncle could do. He was entirely convinced his uncle just wanted to punish him for things he did as a kid.

The Green Ninja also had the Secret Ninja Force. Red was hard headed and aggressive, going into most fights without a plan with the attack first ask questions later mentality. Black was their pseudo leader when Green wasn’t there. While Cyan was his second in command, she wasn’t good at being upfront in the leader spot, so 

Black, their rock, tended to step up in Green’s absence. Blue and White were both good strategists. Blue was good at coming up with ideas on the fly, while White would read the statistics of whether the idea would work or not. And Green was of course the leader, the final sayer in whatever happened. Whatever he decided happened and he dished out the locations on patrols or fights.

He couldn’t ask for better friends

Yet here he was now, those same friends debating on whether he should bring his dad with him or not. 

Yay.

Before the debate could continue however, the wind started to pick up, almost swirling around the six ninja. Before anyone could even blink, they were being lifted into the air by the wind. Of course they all tried to escape, but how could you escape the very thing that surrounded everything all at once? 

Just before he could think of an idea, it stopped. They were dropped a few feet away from the bridge

Kai was the first one to get up, and the first one to start yelling for whoever did it to “show themselves if they weren’t a coward!”, only to hear distant laughter in response, a noise that was slowly getting closer.

Lloyd looked at his father quickly enough to see his face pale and drop, looking around wildly, muttering under his breath “it couldn’t possibly..”

Just before Kai could start yelling again, a figure jumped down from the bamboo and landed in front of the six, in between Garmadon and the Six ninja. Unfortunately this only seemed to pick up more questions than it answered, as the seven, including his dad, looked at the new comer with shock on their faces, jaws practically on the floor

“Well, that’s about what I was expecting for my entrance.” The newcomer shrugged and crossed his arms, not even being the slightest bit phased by the expressions the others, including Lloyd, wore.

“Yellow?!” His father screeched out, grabbing onto the bars of his container, shaking it wildly like he just needed to get out to pummel the other to the ground

That’s where the familiarity came from!

Lloyd could remember that before he became a ninja, there was another one. The Yellow Ninja, the Elemental Master of Wind. He disappeared before Lloyd was approached by his uncle, offering a new position among a team. He was excited to meet Yellow, the ninja had been his hero! But Wu sadly informed him that Yellow would not be there, as Yellow left his teachings behind to pursue normal civil life. 

Lloyd was extremely disappointed, along with the others that slowly joined as Wu scouted out more kids to join them in the group. Turns out a lot joined for the same reason he had, to meet Yellow, their idol. But Wu always had this melancholy look in his eyes whenever it was brought up, so he would warn the new kids not to ask about Yellow again

Yet here he was now, standing in front of the group. He didn’t look any different, in fact, almost the exact same. Lloyd recognized the original gi that they wore when they first started, before it got upgraded to the ones they were wearing now. He could tell the gi hadn’t been cared for in a while, but he didn’t bother to point that tidbit out. 

Yellow simply bowed like a dancer would, before standing up and looking at the ninja. “So you’re the new students Wu decided to train? Ah, the elemental masters of life, lightning, fire, water, earth, and ice.” He hummed and brought a hand to his chin in thought. “I thought you’d be older.”

Lloyd glanced at the others on his team, and they all seemed to be going through the same thought process he was. This was the legendary Yellow, who had come out of retirement because of Meowthra? It made sense.

“My name is Yellow. Though based on your reactions I’d wager you knew that?” He snorted and used the wind to close their jaws. “I’m the Elemental Master of Wind, and I’ve come to help.”

Lloyd was stunned

———

Oooookay maybe that entrance was a little much.

Morro smiled nervously under his mask as he stared at the six teens who just seemed to be in awe. Which he couldn’t exactly blame them for, but he could still say it was creepy.

Originally, he wasn’t supposed to even introduce himself. He was just going to watch them from afar, make sure Wu didn’t lead them to their death, and get the hell out of there before they could get back to the shop and witness him be gone. It was flawless!

But then Wu fell over the bridge. He groaned into his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose as he knew exactly what his old dad was doing. He was trying to get them to learn a valuable lesson and decided to be dramatic as all hell. He’s surprised it’s still working on them. Morro stopped believing his dad after the third or fourth time this happened. 

So against his better judgment he decided it was time for the ninja to meet Yellow. 

He used his wind to take them away from the bridge before jumping down in front of them as Kai started yelling.

Seeing the looks on their faces were hilarious, especially as they realized who he was, and if he had a shit eating grin as he closed their mouths, who would say otherwise?

He stumbled back as Jay ran up to him, asking him a million questions at once, followed by the others who ran up with their own questions. In all honesty, it made his head spin. 

“Okay okay!” He used the wind to push them away gently. “One at a time! I’ll answer any questions you have.” He laughed and crossed his arms, watching again as the group thought of questions they could ask for the ex ninja standing in front of them

He turned around to look at Garmadon in the cage as they thought. Morro shot him the dirtiest look her could, trying to say “mess with the kids, mess with me” which seemed to have worked as Garmadon went to the back of the cage and crosses his arms

Morro sighed and shook his head before looking back at the others.

“So, do you have any questions?” 

Chapter Text

Morro may have made a mistake.

He wasn’t aware as to how popular the Yellow Ninja really was, and yeah that was the kind of thing he maybe should’ve looked into before jumping in front of six teenagers dramatically

Even he could admit he just wanted to show off a little bit.

So when they all ran up to him and started asking any question that they could conceive off the top of their heads, he felt his world sway.

“Who are you? Why did you leave? Are you here to help us with the Meowthra? Oh my god I can’t believe I’m finally meeting you! This is great!” Jay spoke up. Morro seemed surprised at his reaction, stepping back and laughing nervously

“Jesus kid, alright alright. You’re not getting my name, I left due to personal reasons, and yes, I’m here to help!” Morro laughed nervously at the group of children. 

“You’re all decently new at this, hell you haven’t even unlocked your elemental power, which let me tell you is strange to all hell, that’s the first thing I did when I got taken in!” Morro chuckled and crossed his arms, looking at the kids, thankful he actually has their attention this time

“Your elemental power is inside of you, it’s just not exactly easy to access. When you’ve gained your element's respect it’ll allow you to use it.” Morro demonstrated this by using some of his wind to mess with everyone’s hair and clothes just for a bit. “The wind is my oldest and best friend, and really only showed itself when it needed to. But now as you can see, I can handle it perfectly fine.”

Morro looked over at them all and hummed. “Water, Ice, Fire, Lighting, Earth, and Life, or Energy. Those elements are all inside of you, just waiting to come out. The Ultimate Ultimate weapon will help you find those.” 

“Wait wait- Life or Energy?” Lloyd spoke up. “Master Wu said it was just Green.”

Morro winced, taking in a breath through clenched teeth as he realized what Wu’s plan really was. He sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, that’s what it’s supposed to be. The Green Ninja is supposed to represent those things, but it’s unsure how exactly that works, so most people summarize it to just be “Green”. Hence Wu telling you your element is Green. We aren’t even sure if Life or Energy is an element yet.”

Lloyd’s posture immediately dropped which left Morro feeling guilty for ruining the younger mood. Either way, Morro had something to do and something to return to. So he turned around, crossing his arms and making sure the wind made him look cooler than he felt so the kids would listen to him

“We have a journey to do! With Wu gone, I shall take up the mantle of your mentor throughout this journey!” Morro turned back over to look at the six. He gave a thumbs up to them, and was thankful when they took to his motivation like a fish to bait.

Morro didn’t know how long he could keep up this facade for

———

Turns out, Garmadon was the kind of person to get under everyone’s nerves. Morro should have remembered this. He was the one arguing with him on a daily basis years ago 

Garmadon seemingly recovered once he realized the others were still bringing him, which Morro while against, didn’t actively fight against it, which was a mistake as he was now realizing

Morro did not take lightly to the shit Garmadon was pulling when it came to Lloyd. In fact, he had even been called out for it by Kai when it had happened

Lloyd, for all his never ending patience, was trying to make everyone stop joking with his dad. Morro thought this was reasonable based on all the things he had gone through, but the rest of them kept pushing which only pissed Morro off while Lloyd slumped forward and gave up 

“Would you guys shut up?” Morro hissed through his mask, glaring at the six behind him. The rest of the ninjas just paused and looked at Morro in shock. This caused Morro to realize what he did and make him step back, groaning into his hands

“You guys do realize what you’re essentially doing right? What you guys are doing right now is no better than anyone else in that damn city. Sure, Lloyd messed up, but so much shit has happened to him and he’s barely what, sixteen now?” He looked over at Lloyd who looked stunned. Lloyd just nodded dumbly as he watched Morro defend him

“You guys are all just- FSM are you even friends? He messes up once and you guys decide to screw this guy, but let’s be buddies with his dad who has arguably done worse? Who, scratch that, has done worse!” Morro pinched the bridge of his nose. “So just- shut up. I’m not wanting to hear this anymore.”

Morro turned back around and started walking again, causing the others who were in shock, to rush forward to catch up with Yellow

“That seemed oddly personal Yellow.” Kai mentioned, frowning at the Yellow clad ninja, who only shook his head and sighed

“I knew Lloyd as a baby. He stayed with Wu when he was young so he could be safe and I would babysit sometimes. So yeah, hearing some people who are supposed to be his friends be assholes to someone who I knew when they were a baby is kinda the reason I don’t leave my home often.” Yellow waved his hand, trying to dismiss the conversation, but of course Garmadon piped up again

“You babysat Luh-Loyd?” The Oni grabbed onto the bars of his cage and looked at Yellow with fake curiosity 

“Yeah, it’s not like he could be left with his father.” Yellow looked back over at Garmadon and glared. “You’re only here because I’m kind enough to not send you flying over the edge of the river, so while you’re here maybe you can think about how much you fucked his entire life over.”

“What did I do?? I wasn’t even there!” Garmadon put one of his hands on his chest, almost as if he was faking being shot by Morro’s words, which just caused him to roll his eyes. Before he could speak up however, the others did

“Uh dude, do you seriously not watch the news? People hate the kid.” Kai spoke up, shrugging

“Affirmative. Lloyd is statistically the second most hated person in Ninjago City at any given moment.” Zane nodded, copying Kai in his shrug

“Yeah dude, just being nice to him can kill any shot of popularity you can get at school.” Cole hummed, looking away from the others

“Yeah.. I almost got kicked out of robotics..” Jay looked down, frowning at the ground 

“Just by being your son people hate him, even if he’s not associated with you.” Nya piped up, crossing her arms and looking down

Morro was pleasantly surprised that the others even bothered to speak up about it, and was even more surprised when Garmadon went quiet to actually think about what he was told. Morro just looked at Lloyd and ruffled his hair, grinning at the boy behind the mask.

Lloyd just looked at him with a smile on his face, tears barely lining his eyes as he realized Yellow’s aggression came from a place of protection. He looked away and kept going forward, making Morro chuckle and walk up beside him, happy now at the silence that graced the party of eight 

———

The Crossroads were definitely a mistake

Morro knew that using the shortcut was a bad idea, but these kids clearly needed something, and they needed to get to the end rather quickly. So unfortunately, he decided that the group was going to go on the shortcut route. While the others were confused at first, hearing the adults reasoning for going through the scary forest made them agree eventually 

Morro knew the generals were there before everyone else did, yet also knew they weren’t anything he couldn’t really handle. Unfortunately for him those bastards seemed to realize he was the most powerful one, so when he jumped in front of the group to protect them, he was whacked right in the head. From what, he couldn’t really remember. All he knew was that when he had woken up, he had two thoughts

The first one was just him complaining about how much his head was pounding. Like seriously it almost sounded like marching

And that was the second thought. He shot up and looked around, realizing he was in the cage that they kept Garmadon in. Not only that, he was in there with Garmadon

Thankfully, he realized Lloyd was there too so he didn’t necessarily need to murder Garmadon just yet.

“Did you seriously fire all of these people???” Morro glared at Garmadon who just stuttered while trying to explain that he definitely had very valid reasoning for what he did

Morro simply groaned into his hands and stood up, holding onto the cage as he realized the three of them were in fact currently at the edge of a platform overlooking lava

Morro was seriously going to kill Wu himself after this.

Chapter Text

Morro had never wanted to murder someone this much before.

The entire way to the volcano the two were arguing, Garmadon having a lot to say about how Yellow embarrassed him because he left his job to kids, and Morro having a lot to say about how Garmadon ruins peoples lives every single day just because some people called him creepy once . Because of this, Morro didn’t get a chance to try and escape until they were at the edge of the volcano

Morro glanced over at the Generals and glared, trying to get the wind to pick up so he could toss them off the side of the cliff. Unfortunately Lloyd stopped him, saying that they were just innocent people

Morro was going to scoff at Lloyd, brushing him off by simply saying they hurt the both of them and as such, deserved it. But when he looked at Lloyd, who had the most pleading look in his eyes, begging him to not hurt the generals that badly, all his anger seemingly melted away. 

He couldn’t let one of his kids watch that. 

Wait, what did he-

Morro looked at the volcano around them, trying to figure out how to keep Lloyd safe and if the others were somewhere around. He had assumed that they got caught too, but he only saw the three of them around. He assumed that if they captured him and Lloyd, that they didn’t care who they were with, so seeing them not be around made him calm down a bit

Sure, he didn’t know where they were, or if they were even alive, but they weren’t here. They were decently safe. They wouldn’t have to watch them get tossed into the mountain. Just knowing that brought a little bit of the calm back inside his brain. 

His kids were safe. 

Wait-

Lloyd had poked his side, asking if Morro could get them out of the situation, only for Morro to unfortunately say no. The wind around the volcano was too hot, if it started moving towards them he could burn the two of them. He mentioned how he didn’t care about Garmadon.

Morro was so very tempted to pull down his mask right then and there. It was too damn hot! He couldn’t handle heat that well! But he didn’t want Lloyd to think this was him giving up. He had been adamant that he wouldn’t pull down his mask or give his name, simply saying that he’d like to keep his peace, and while he enjoyed the six’s presence, he really didn’t want them to go up to him randomly while he was shopping or something. If he pulled off his mask now, Lloyd might think that he was giving up. That he was pulling off his mask because the others wouldn’t live long enough for Morro’s worries to actually happen. 

He didn’t want Lloyd to worry. Lloyd deserved to feel safe. And while a volcano isn’t the best place for Morro to try and reinforce that, he still didn’t want him to worry.

Morro tried looking for a way out as Lloyd and Garmadon had a heart to heart. He tried not to listen in on the two, knowing it was a private moment. While he didn’t like the idea of Garmadon trying to talk to Lloyd at all, he knew that this unfortunately needed to happen. Either way, Morro was definitely killing Wu for only making this thing unlockable from the outside. He knew that that was the point, but that didn’t mean he had to enjoy it

Morro frowned and looked at the generals. Was there less than there was before? He squinted and looked at the edge of the hoard and noted that the generals just seemed to be disappearing randomly. It took him a second to figure out what was going on, but when he did, Morro laughed. They actually bothered to learn some ninja techniques! He watched as the five slowly made their way towards the cage, until at the last moment the generals pushing the cage were knocked out, and in front of Morro were five ninjas. 

Morro laughed and grinned brightly as the five got the three freed. He patted them all on the head and looked at them all. He felt so proud that they were able to get out of the situation all on their own. 

He was so proud of his kids

Wait, his kids?

Morro glanced at the six of them, each of them trying to come up with an idea as to how to get out of there. They all looked so serious and ready, each trying to get out of the situation without any bickering, just listening and trying to put plans into action. 

Morro couldn’t help but be proud of how far they’ve come.

Yeah, he could accept calling then his kids.

He shook his head and nodded, accepting the plan that his kids made up. He ran off to help gather bricks for the helicopter thing. While he hated Garmadon being so close to Lloyd, he was happy that whenever he glanced over Garmadon seemed to be happy as well, teaching Lloyd how to throw bricks and even helping him get better at it! 

Morro couldn’t help but cheer Lloyd on as he started throwing like a star baseball player. He caught some things being tossed and quickly put them in the correct spot, looking at how they were building this vehicle rather fast. But just as he got distracted, he heard Garmadon yell a warning to Lloyd. He looked over and saw Lloyd falling off of a tower, with one of the generals falling after him

Morro was pissed

He jumped off the helicopter thing and ran over to Lloyd, thankful that Kai ran over that general, cause he didn’t think he’d be able to stop himself from doing something he’d regret. Morro looked at Lloyd and just froze. The boys arm was very clearly out of its socket, laying limp at his side, with the only movement it could get was from Lloyd holding onto it, trying to make sure his arm was still there

Morro couldn’t help but stare at the injury his cousin received. He knew deep down that injuries happened to Lloyd and the others all the time, and that he realistically shouldn’t be this thrown off about it, but he couldn’t help it. Morro didn’t know why but he was hit with an overwhelming feeling of guilty for Lloyd’s pain at the moment

If he didn’t argue with Garmadon, if he didn’t choose the shortcut, if he didn’t try and figure out how upset his cousin really was with Garmadon, none of this would have happened. Morro had sworn to protect his baby cousin with all he could, yet he wasn’t doing anything as his cousin freaked out over his arm, just standing there and staring at him, not hearing anything around him besides the blood rushing by his ears

All he could feel was immense amounts of guilt pushing him down. He barely even registered that someone, Garmadon he assumed, managed to put the arm back in its socket. He could feel someone grabbing his arm and taking him to the thing the group had built. He only really managed to snap back into existence when he felt the wind around him due to being in the air. He blinked and looked around, watching everyone around him joke and cheer over the fact that they actually managed to get out of there. 

Once things had started fading more into the present, he whipped his head to look at Garmadon and Lloyd. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when he saw the fact that Lloyd was okay. His arm was back in its socket, and it seemed like it barely hurt anymore. Morro was even able to see Lloyd and Garmadon start to get along properly, like a good and proper father and son

Morro took a deep breath and leaned back into his seat, allowing himself to melt into the cushions that the group managed to gather. He glanced over at the others, just to make sure they were safe, and once that was confirmed, he allowed himself to relax

His kids were safe, everyone was okay and escaped with minimal lasting injuries. Morro couldn’t help but grin, sending some wind to mess with everyone’s hair, watching as they all freaked out and tried to fix it up. Morro laughed at their faces and once they realized Morro caused it, were quick to laugh with him

Morro sighed softly and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath

All he could think about was how much he would have regretted it if he had really stayed behind at his cafe

Chapter Text

Yellow was oddly familiar

While Lloyd could, in theory, explain it by knowing Yellow when he was young, it didn’t feel like that

Yellow acted and sounded really familiar. It feels like the connection is right there for him to grasp, yet there was something missing

It was like he had every single piece to the puzzle, but he couldn’t figure it out. It was starting to get frustrating. What was even worse, is that Yellow definitely knew who they were

Yellow would ruffle his hair, similarly to how Morro would, he snapped at his friends to defend him, and he constantly did this thing where he brushed the wind by their heads to remind them that he was there, and he was willing to protect them without a second thought, if him jumping in front of them all to protect them from the generals was any distinction.

He just didn’t act like someone who didn’t know who they were. Or at least didn’t know them well.

There were many small things that started to pile up, like him knowing what school they go to, that Kai and Nya were twins, that Lloyd liked blueberries, other small things like that. Lloyd just couldn’t wrap his head around how Yellow knew any of this stuff. Yellow was an enigma that Lloyd couldn’t figure out. 

And then the real kicker had been when his shoulder was dislocated

While he was focused on his dad and trying to get the pain to just subside and go away, he took a glance at Yellow

Yellow was frozen there, refusing to move from where he was despite the constant yelling around trying to fend off the generals while Garmadon fixed his arm. He almost looked like a statue, just standing there with his arms at his side, doing nothing but look at Lloyd. But Yellow being frozen wasn’t what scared him

All he could see was Yellow’s eyes, yet that’s all he needed to see the pure fear and horror that was on his face. Yellow had such a look of unbridled fear on his face that Lloyd felt himself grow scared just from seeing it

He couldn’t place why Yellow would have that expression to begin with. Sure Yellow knew him as a baby, but it just seemed like he babysat a little bit, definitely not enough of a connection to get that expression on his face for Lloyd dislocating his arm. What was it then?

Lloyd looked back at the six of them, each messing around with Yellow’s power and trying to figure out what else he could do. He seemed to have gotten better once they were up in the air, and he left this in a mental note at the back of his head. 

Eventually however, the questions started to pop up again. A lot of them were smaller thugs, not really wanting to overstep his boundaries this time. They were still curious however, so this time Zane asked the question about Yellow’s retirement

“Alright, I’ll tell you an abridged version as long as you guys tell me how you got your sweet mechs. Okay?” Yellow glanced at everyone, seeing them all nod seemed to satisfy him. He leaned back in his seat, sighing as if he was trying to bring up shitty memories

“On my last mission, I got ambushed. It was just after Garmadon attacked, and I was trying to help clean up. I chased after someone I thought was injured and scared, I thought she just got scared off and I went to go bring her to safety since the city was still crumbling. I kept running after her, and eventually I came face to face with one of the most powerful people in Ninjago. Or at least she used to be. You all know her as the Preeminent.” Yellow winced when most of the people on the vehicle gasped. Even Lloyd couldn’t suppress every noise of surprise that came up 

Lloyd had seen the devastation of The Preeminent as he got older. She was this cruel woman who ran this huge cult called The Cursed Realm. It was the last time anyone had seen the Yellow Ninja. The devastation her minions brought on Ninjago was horrifying, so much so that Garmadon teamed up with Wu just to defeat her. Her minion’s identities were kept secret, due to them all basically being heavily influenced by her to do such things, and so eventually you’d get news about a random person being part of the cult and telling their story. They always chilled Lloyd to the bone

“When I first saw her, I had been having issues with Wu. He promised me something he couldn’t give me, and as such I was bitter and angry. So when I saw her, and she promised me I could get what I always desired as long as I stayed by her side, I accepted it.” Yellow put his head in his hands, covering up the last bit of skin that was showing through the gap in the mask. It was clear to Lloyd he felt ashamed of what had happened, and that this was decently hard to think of. Lloyd went to say he didn’t need to say more, but he kept going on

“I stayed as her right hand man for a while, slowly being indoctrinated into that cult. I trained, and trained, and it’s how I got so good at my wind. It just didn't feel like my wind. I was forcing it, making it do things it didn’t want to do. And the memory of that now haunts me. I still feel it every time I use my wind.” Yellow looked at his hand and moved his hand around, feeling the wind twist though his gloved hands. It looked as though he had perfect mastery over it, but Lloyd could also see the pain in his eyes as he looked at the hand

“Eventually, she thought I was okay enough to fight against Wu, so I could officially cut off all ties I had with everyone in the outside world. When I got there, I started trying to attack him. I was so angry and wasn’t attacking like a ninja, more like a demon or a ghost.” He chuckled as if saying a funny joke, but the others didn’t get it, and neither did Lloyd.

“But Wu was understanding. He told me that she wasn’t the only answer I had to my dilemma, and that realistically nothing she could do could change my destiny. So he extended his hand to me again, and I accepted. For my betrayal against The Cursed Realm, I had to lose something.” Yellow sighed and took in a deep breath as he reached down to his leg. Lloyd had been expecting a scar or something, maybe it was nasty or something he wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t expecting for there to be metal

Yellow had a prosthetic leg. The Preeminent took his leg as a consequence to leaving the cult she tried to manipulate him into

Lloyd didn’t know why, but anger bubbled in his chest as he looked at the leg. He wasn’t sure why he was getting so angry over someone he really only knew for like, an hour or two tops. It’s not like it was easy for him to get angry, in fact it’s usually the result of buildup due to suppressing his emotions, but this wasn’t like that.

He looked back at the others and went wide eyed when he realized they all had similar emotions on their faces. Anger mixed with confusion. So it wasn’t just him feeling like he was attached to Yellow? But that means the babysitting thing wasn’t the reason he felt so attached. What was it then?

“Ah, I remember that battle well.” Garmadon looked back, looking at the group whose attention was now on him. “It was the battle where Wu lost his son. It was why I didn’t attack before you guys started fighting.”

“Wu had a son?!” Kai spoke up, looking at Garmadon with a shocked look on his face. Lloyd looked back over to Garmadon and saw the regret on his face as he seemed to realize what he said. He also saw Yellow tense up and look over to Garmadon

“The reason I had helped Wu in that battle despite me obviously being able to handle it on my own, since, yknow, I’m so strong and stuff,” Lloyd rolled his eyes. “because in that battle Wu lost his adopted son. Good kid he was. He would’ve been around your age by now I think, maybe younger. Definitely an adult now, that part I know for sure.” Garmadon looked down in thought. “What was his name again?”

“You don’t remember his name?” Yellow looked over at Garmadon, and Lloyd could’ve sworn he could see Yellow get mad at the idea that Garmadon couldn’t even remember his nephews name

“No no no, I swear I got it, it was a weird name I know that. Something with an M…” Garmadon started making noises to try and remember the name, and Lloyd could see Yellow get more and more upset at each missed attempt 

“Either way, he had drowned when The Preeminent figured out who he was and dragged him into the water. I’m not sure if he lived or not, it’s just what Wu told me.” Garmadon shrugged and looked back out the window, leaving the rest of the ninja, minus Yellow, to think about the new information they were just given

“There were no records of Wu having a son.” Zane thought, running through every database he could get his robotic hands on. Lloyd glanced over at Yellow when he chuckled softly and shook his head

“That won’t work. The adoption was unofficial.” He glanced at the others who were looking at him expectantly. He laughed nervously and crossed his arms. “I don’t know much else, Wu tended to keep his personal and ninja life separate so I barely saw the kid.” Yellow quickly tacked on the last sentence, watching as the rest of the kids in the flight slumped over, realizing they wouldn’t get more information unless Garmadon miraculously remembered the kids name

The conversation shifted after that. Once Yellow covered his leg, he started asking about the mechs and how Wu even trained them, since they were subpar ninjas when he first started watching them. Knowing he saw that only made Lloyd blush of embarrassment, along with the others. 

Nya was thankfully able to talk about the mechs, and once she did Jay wasn’t far behind. Zane even ended up joining in. Kai immediately started zoning out, and while Cole tried, new technology seemed to escape the teenager, so he just talked with Kai.

Lloyd had to admit it was a rather peaceful ride, but it did give him a lot to think about, especially with how Yellow tells and stores information

Yellow knows about Wu’s kid, clearly enough to want to defend him when Garmadon mentioned he didn’t know his name, he specifically told them he was leaving out information regarding his retirement, yet told them about his leg which no one had known about so clearly what he was keeping was more important than the fact that the Yellow Ninja had a fake leg

Was Yellow friends with Wu’s kid? Lloyd assumed it would make sense

The way Yellow clearly knew who he was and the protective nature, Yellow would want to protect the cousin of his friend who passed away too young, Yellow knowing things about Lloyd and his friends would also make sense, if Yellow again was watching over the only family of his friend he could, since Yellow wasn’t that big of a fan of Wu still, it all made some sort of sense.

If Yellow and Wu’s kid were friends, like Lloyd assumed, most things that he was confused over would make sense and slide into place perfectly!

Unfortunately his distracted mind meant he didn’t see a goat on top of the mountain until it was too late. This led him to scramble to try and not crash the vehicle, and with Yellow helping to stabilize it, most of the passengers thankfully only for minor whiplash from the rough landing

Lloyd looked over to his dad and saw Garmadon leave the Vehicle. 

“Behold! The Temple of Fragile Foundations.” 

Lloyd and the others followed his father up the stairs, as he went on and on about how the temple was now unstable, he wasn’t entirely sure. He just took a glance at Yellow, who was now hanging out at the back, making sure no one fell off the stairs or anything, in fact his hands seemed to be ready to go catch them if they did. It made Lloyd happy knowing that Yellow was so concerned for them

He took a glance up at the temple that lay before them, worrying as dust and debris seemed to fall off the roof due to the shaky landing from the helicopter vehicle thing. 

Maybe his thoughts could simply wait for another day. As long as they got the ultimate ultimate weapon, everything would be okay 

Right?

Chapter Text

Morro had heard of the horrors of the Garmadon House. 

He got told stories when Wu was feeling sentimental over his younger years with his brother, and in return Morro told Wu stories of his old homes before he found his new official dad

The joy filled memories only bring pain now.

Seeing the house he had heard so much about was almost like a punch to the gut. This was the place he heard so much, yet so little about. This was where his grandfather had lived

Would his grandfather be disappointed in the person he became?

Morro didn’t like to think about that.

He glanced over at Lloyd, who was looking back at him with a concerned look on his face. It made him frown to see that expression on his cousin's face, but he knew it couldn’t be helped. His cousin was a hero, being concerned for the innocent was what he did best, even if Morro was anything but innocent

The memories of his time at The Cursed Realm were not ones he wished he could remember. In fact, one of the reasons he had left was so he could throw his old life and everything that was associated with it behind

He looked down at the gi he was wearing. 

He wanted to burn it when he first settled in. 

When he first opened up the cafe, he was putting everything he owned away when he saw the gi laying on top of his clothes. All it did was make him angry all over again. 

The gi was everything he hated about himself. His happy go lucky Yellow Ninja persona he put on, the role Wu wanted him to play, the power that The Preeminent wanted to harvest from him, it was one of the reasons he refused to have the colour Yellow appear in his cafe

But when he stared at the gi with such anger he hoped it would spontaneously combust, he also couldn’t help but feel sorrow

He mourned over his past self, how happy he was when he first unlocked the wind, how he played around with Wu after training, baby sitting Lloyd and teaching the toddler how to high five, everything. That childhood had died with him the second he accepted The Preeminents offer. 

He died a second time when his back hit the water, staring up at his dad and Her, watching as his dad charged at The Preeminent before he passed out in the water, slowly getting submerged

Morro had just put the gi in an old cardboard box, slowly filling his closet with things he enjoyed, covering over the sins of his past

And now he was here, wearing the damn thing and protecting his replacements from falling debris because his father decided it was time to fake his death

Wonderful .

He glanced up as Garmadon took out the key from under the mat, dramatically revealing that this house was his childhood home. Morro couldn’t help but be a little bit excited. He heard many stories of his grandfather and father, and now he was seeing the place they all happened in. He couldn’t help the excited grin that was making his way onto his face as the doors opened. He thought he could hear Garmadon saying something about this place being dangerous, but before he could finish the lights got turned on

“Oh okay so you were rich.” Morro looked around the room, watching as the others ran off to explore the old temple. Not that Morro could blame them, hell he’d do the same if he could. Instead, he followed behind Lloyd and Garmadon, trying to make sure they weren’t doing anything strange

All Morro could do at first was look at the photos on the wall. He snorted at the pictures of baby Wu and Garmadon. He kept walking along the wall, accidentally leaving the two alone, but he didn’t notice. The lives of his father and uncle were much more important in his eyes. Morro just looked at all of the photos, in shock by how many there really were. He supposed it was a habit passed down, as he could briefly remember Wu taking photos of him all the time when he was a kid.

Morro paused at the end of the hall, looking at the final photos there on the wall. It was the oldest one there, seeing as how Wu and Garmadon were the oldest they had ever been in the photos. Morro couldn’t help but brush his hands along the photo. 

Morro recognized how his father looked of course. He assumed this was barely before he showed up in Wu’s life, but the two men barely looked alike

The Wu in the photo looked stricter. He didn’t have the joyful smile on his face that Morro remembered so well, as it was the only time an adult showed happiness around him. His dad looked nothing like the man he remembered, yet he was so similar at the same time. 

Morro smiled at that thought. That he brought joy into Wu’s life 

His thoughts got cut off when someone yelled that they had found the weapons. Morro glanced over at Garmadon and Lloyd, watching as the two walked over to the other five, looking like father and son

Maybe Morro could let his guard down this time.

As he opened the door, he saw the six of them hold their pieces of the weapon. He couldn’t help but feel pride for all of them. They managed to do it!

“You guys found it! Congratulations!” Morro winced at how cheery he sounded. Jeez, did these kids really make him that happy?

He watched as the seven cheered happily before putting them back in the box and letting Lloyd carry it out to the main room. He joined the conversation with the other five kids, listening to stories about what each of them wanted to do when summer vacation hit. Morro chimed in with what he used to do when he was in highschool, and got concerned looks when Zane told him what he did was illegal and not morally correct .

“It was still fun” Morro shrugged and watched as the definitely normal teenager tried to argue against that. He laughed with them, at least until he heard Lloyd start to yell

“No.. I don’t want to be your General Number One!” Lloyd stepped away from Garmadon with a look of disgust on his face

“But just imagine it! We can rule Ninjago! Together! Come with me Luh-Lloyd. We have so much lost time to make up for. And since I'll no longer be attacking the city no one will hate you anymore! And I'll never forget your birthday again, because we'll celebrate your birthday every day! And think of all the things I could teach you! Tie a tie, ride a bike, conquer a city!” Garmadon took the chest from Lloyd, stepping away from him again when he noticed the others moving closer behind Morro

Eventually it clicked what was going on. Morro glared at Garmadon and shuffled over to Lloyd, watching the other five box Garmadon in to try and stop him from leaving with the chest. His heart hurt when he heard the desperation in Lloyd’s voice, basically begging for his father back

Morro looked around the temple. He wanted to use his wind but he could seriously destabilize the entire place, but when Garmadon started to fight he couldn’t help but at least try

He used his wind to catch anyone that was getting tossed, making sure they landed safely or actually hit their mark. He was surprised at how well his wind was able to incorporate itself into the team. Maybe he should’ve taken up that team offer. Morro simply shrugged at the thought and just kept going

Morro watched as the chest flew through the air, each of the ninjas being surprisingly good at tossing it around. Yet when he watched Lloyd go to catch it, he just knew deep in his heart that it wouldn’t work

He winced when Lloyd fell on his face, trying to offer words of sympathy before Garmadon decided to speak up

“Oh, Luh-Loyd..” Garmadon spoke up before he quickly turned around and knocked the rest of the ninjas onto the ground. Morro didn’t have enough time to react before Garmadon grabbed the chest

“Dad!” Lloyd reached out for Garmadon as he went to the door, simply looking back at the six with a stoic look on his face.

“I should have taught you how to catch.” Garmadon closes his eyes and closed the door, locking it behind him as Lloyd quickly scrambled up, running to try and open the door his dad locked

Morro managed to try and stand up, almost falling over again as the place started to shake violently. He quickly ran to the middle of everyone and started using his wind to stop the debris from crushing them. Usually this wouldn’t be an issue, but he had been using so much of his power the entire journey, he was exhausted. He tried to stay standing, but fell to one knee as he kept trying to keep his wind going

Morro looked over at Lloyd and just smiled at him. “Lloyd! Remember what Master Wu told you!” He winced and went back to paying full attention to the debris. It took only a few seconds before Lloyd shouted out again 

““Inner piece”, inner piece! Guys! Guys, we don't need those pieces! The Ultimate Ultimate Weapon is inside of you!” Lloyd yelled out, looking at the rest of the group. He made eye contact with Morro who simply smiled and nodded

“Yes, you have the power! Look within. Harness what you already have inside and let it out! I believe in each of you! Nya, you can create water. Kai? You can make fire.” Lloyd grinned brightly, somehow grinning brighter when Kai agreed with him. He got closer to Morro and the others stood around, each trying out the routine Wu told them about earlier

“The power is inside of all of you. Now calm your mind, concentrate, build up your power. Just think about Earth! Fire! Water! Ice! And you, Jay! Lightning, baby, do it! Jay, you got the power! Say, “I’ve got the power”!” Morro glanced over and watched as sparks started to fly off of the kid. Even he could find himself grinning when he watched Jay knock the door down with his lighting. He felt Lloyd grab his arm as the entire group made a break for the exit

Morro watched as each of them used their elemental powers to escape from the temple. Cole stopping debris from falling on them, Nya and Zane using their ice and water to make a bridge, and Kai, somehow making everything worse.

“Master Wu?” Lloyd looked around, clearly hearing something the others couldn’t at the moment. He looked back at the others, making sure they were all hearing him. “Guys, I can hear the dead. And Master Wu says... Jump!” Morro made sure he was holding onto Lloyd as he jumped with the others, closing his eyes tightly and bracing for an ugly landing. But surprisingly they didn’t fall too far before the feeling of solid ground once again returned to them

Morro groaned and looked towards the helm, watching as Lloyd reunited with his uncle, and the rest of the ninja to their master. Morro simply smiled and stood up, brushing off his now dusty gi. He was intending to wait until he came face to face with his dad again, but he could barely even stand before he heard a simple word, yet it stunned everyone on the ship.

“Son?”

Morro whipped his head towards Wu, who looked at him stunned. Morro simply smiled and nodded, sighing softly and fixing up his mask and gi

“Hi dad.” Morro smiled softly and looked at the other ninja, who looked at Morro with pure shock on their faces

“You’re Master Wu’s son?!” Kai pointed at Morro and simply stared, mouth open in shock. Morro rolled his eyes and closed his mouth

“Yeah.” Morro laughed softly and looked at Wu, who simply looked at him with a longing and happy look in his eyes

“What are you doing here? I thought you..” Wu trailed off, looking at Morro who just stood there. He shrugged and laughed, rubbing the back of his neck through the gap between mask and gi 

“Well, I heard of Meowthra and realized you might be taking the new ninjas to defeat her. I wanted to check to see if they were going to be safe on this journey, but you had to pull your “gonna pretend to die so I can teach a lesson” thing so I felt it was only right to not leave them by themselves with a warlord.” Morro shrugged, saying the explanation like it was the simplest thing in the world. He looked at Wu and walked over, looking at Wu as if silently asking permission. When Wu opened his arms, Morro simply hugged him, basically collapsing in his arms.

“I’m sorry dad..”

“You did nothing wrong. I don’t want to hear apologies from you.”

“Okay…” Morro rubbed his eyes, laughing softly when he backed away from the hug. He glanced back at the others and chuckled. “Trying to catch flies?”

Lloyd was the first to snap out of the initial shock, simply shaking his head and grinning brightly at what that implied

“I’m cousins with the Master of Wind!?”

Chapter Text

Morro couldn’t help but laugh 

After letting go of the hug with Wu, he walked down inside the ship that Wu had used to fly over to them. Wu let all the ninjas sit down at the table with Morro so they all could talk and think of strategy, while he went to steer the ship. Morro had a feeling his dad just didn’t want to be present for questions. Honestly he was debating making an excuse to go up there with him, the room's atmosphere was so tense he could almost taste it.

Almost as soon as Wu closed the door behind him, Morro was immediately hounded on by the rest of the ninjas, each now asking brand new questions about his life with Master Wu

“Are you really Master Wu’s son?” Nya spoke up first, crossing her arms and looking at Morro skeptically, which was fair in Morro’s book

“Yup.” He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck again. “He adopted me when I was about eight I think.”

“Why didn’t you say anything about that?” Kai was next to speak up, sitting next to Nya on his right and Lloyd on his left, who was looking at Morro in awe

“Well I didn’t think I needed to. I’m not planning on sticking around this long. I have a job and kids to feed.” Morro laughed internally, knowing the kids he was supposed to feed were right in front of him

“You have kids?!” Jay looked at Morro in shock, who simply winced as he realized the poor choice of words he used prior. He laughed and shrugged

“Technically no, they aren’t my kids, though I feed them every day to the point they might as well be mine.” He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms again as he looked back out to the group

“Wait- You’re not staying? But we could use your help to get control over these powers!” Kai again spoke up, now leaning towards Morro and looking at the adult with an expression that looked like it was between concern and anger

Morro simply shrugged, looking at them all. “Listen, I think you’re all great kids and I’d love to stick around, but I’m not exactly the best person ever. Master Wu is going to be able to help you more than I could.”

He watched as the kids slumped in their seats, knowing there was very little reason to fight against it. Morro started to feel guilty looking at their faces, feeling the band the group wrapped around his heart grow taut. He groaned and covered his eyes

“Alright alright, I’ll pop in every now and then okay? Stop looking like kicked puppies.” Morro peaked through his fingers as the group cheered. He just laughed and lowered his hands, happy the tense atmosphere from earlier had faded at this point 

“Is that why you’re so oddly protective?” Zane spoke up once the laughter had died down, reminding everyone else they did, in fact, have more questions for the ninja at the head of the table

 Morro nodded and chuckled. “Well, my reaction to Lloyd should be obvious now, I’ve actually been watching you guys for a while. I see how nice you are to him and how you protected him in my place and I couldn’t help but feel indebted. He has a wonderful family.”

Cole frowned and leaned forward, looking at the ninja in confusion. “Wonderful Family? His dad literally robbed us!” Morro glanced at the other ninja who had all nodded in agreement with Cole

Morro looked over at Lloyd and chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t mean that family.”

“You mean this one.” Lloyd looked at Morro, the look of recognition flashed in his eyes for a second before it got cut off by Kai wrapping an arm around Lloyd’s shoulders

“Awwwweee you think of us as your family?” Kai started ruffling Lloyd’s hair. Morro watched as the younger teen struggled to get out of the hold Kai had on him, the rest of the table laughing as they each called themselves one of Lloyd’s brothers, sister in Nya’s case.

Morro crossed his arms and smiled at the little group of kids, his kids , his brain helpfully supplied. He simply sighed and shook his head, letting himself laugh with the rest of them as they announced what they would do as a family

“If you’re Lloyd’s cousin, why didn’t you stay around?” Cole asked this time, and it caused Morro to slump in his chair, sighing.

“Do you guys really want the full story?” Morro looked across the room at the rest of the teens looking at him expectantly and nodding, making Morro laugh

“Alright, well first of all, the colours five of you are wearing were obviously predetermined for you. Elemental Powers are typically passed down from parent to child. So Nya and Kai, your mom was Water, your dad was Fire.” Morro paused his explanation to look at their faces, he looked at Zane who was only looking confused, but he continued 

“Cole, your mother was Earth, and Jay, your mom was lightning.” He frowned and looked at Jay, who seemed oddly confused at Morro saying his mom was the lightning ninja before him. 

“What? My mom isn’t the master of lighting! I would’ve noticed if she was! She especially was not a ninja.” Jay shook his head furiously, which only made Morro upset when he realized he had to be the bearer of bad news.

“Jay I mean… your real mom. Her name was Liberty, but everyone called her Libby.” Morro sighed softly and rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the shocked faces of everyone around. Cole, who was closest to Jays wrapped an arm around his shoulder in a side hug

“She was a nice woman, but didn’t think she could raise a kid with how dangerous her life was. She wanted you to grow up happily, so she left you with Ed and Edna, old friends of hers.” Morro sighed softly and felt himself full with guilt the more he watched Jay’s expression change

“Is she..?” Jay looked at Morro, who shook his head no. Jay just took in a deep breath and looked at the others, then back at Morro. “Can I talk to her?”

“I’ll give you her number when I can.” Morro simply nodded at Jay, who seemed more relaxed now that that was out in the open. That left only two people really confused.

“What about me?” Zane spoke up, looking at Morro

“The previous Elemental Master of Ice was friends with your father. Depending on how you interpreted it, he was really good friends with him, but that doesn’t matter. He was old and didn’t yet have a kid of his own, so when your father built you, he placed his elemental powers inside of you. I’m not sure how, and it’s rather fascinating at the same time.” Morro put a hand to his chin in thought, and Zane went silent to register what he had been told

“You said five, what about Green? And what does this have to do with you?” Lloyd frowned and leaned forward on the table, making the others turn towards Morro in hopes of an explanation 

“Well, as I’m sure you know by now Lloyd, neither of your parents are Elemental Masters. Garmadon is in this weird nebulous, same with Wu, but for all purposes he’s not an EM. That’s because Green is a destiny thing. Uh I can explain it like this, anyone could’ve been the Green Ninja. Even your highschool bullies. Green is thought to be the element of Life, or Energy depending on how you look at it. It’s the element that binds the others together.” Morro paused his explanation to look at the six, who were trying to process the information they were just told. Once they all nodded and grimaced at the thought of those cheerleaders being the Green Ninja, Morro was able to continue 

“When Wu was raising me, he thought I would be the Green Ninja. He trained me every day in hopes of me being the one that was destiny’s golden child, but instead when my element was drawn out, it was Wind.” Morro sighed softly and rubbed the back of his neck

“The reason I didn’t stick around was because The Preeminent used my desire to be the Green Ninja to turn me against Wu. So when I lost my leg due to the fight with her, I decided that I wanted to pack up and leave the Ninja life behind. A while later I figured out that Wu had found the Green Ninja, I didn’t realize it was you.” Morro sighed solemnly, looking away from the others in shame. Just admitting what really happened seemed to have taken a toll on him. So the rest of them decided to steer away from the Green Ninja questions

“Garmadon said you died?” Jay peaked over to look at Morro, who relaxed in his seat when the conversation started to shift

“I might as well have. She shoved me off a building into water after she shattered my leg. The only reason I was able to survive was because Wu rescued me and took me to the hospital just in time. But I woke up not feeling like myself. I felt like a hollow shell of my former self, another part of why I left.” Morro shook his head and waved his hand to dispel the bad air around. He barely missed Lloyd’s look of suspicion 

“Can we see your face?” Lloyd looked at Morro. They each looked over to Morro expectantly, and all Morro could do was hesitate. They were already upset at him for lying before, he could only imagine how upset they’d be if they realized he’d been lying about who he was the entire time

Morro simply took one look at Lloyd’s expectant expression and his worry immediately crumbled. He laughed and covered his eyes, before finally nodding.

“Alright.” He grabbed the bottom of his mask and started lifting it up, but before he could fully get it off, the door opened and Wu announced that they were back at Ninjago

The six teens got up and ran over to the hull, almost immediately forgetting about the conversation beforehand. Morro looked at Wu who simply nodded at him. “The time will come for them to know your face son.” And all Morro could do was nod

He ran to the deck just as some of the Generals started shooting at them, blasting into the side of the Bounty. Wu shouted at them to hold on as the ship started swerving and dodging attacks. Morro would’ve been impressed if he wasn’t completely terrified and holding onto the railing of the Bounty for dear life. When Wu had parked them upside down, he saw some of the ninja jump down, yet instead of just going like the rest, Lloyd looked over at Morro

“Are you not coming?” Morro winced at the notably upset tone in his voice, but shook his head no either way.

“Sorry greenie, but my powers are almost completely drained. I wouldn’t be much help.” Morro just gave him a reassuring thumbs up after. “You can do it. I promise I’ll catch up as soon as I can. Now go stop that cat!”

Again, Lloyd’s eyes lit up in recognition but then shifted to confusion. But the boy simply put on his mask and nodded to Morro. “I’ll make you proud!”

Morro couldn’t help but laugh as he saw Lloyd go to meet up with his friends. He was sure at this point that he had dropped enough hints, but even now Morro couldn’t be completely sure Lloyd knew who he was. He shook his head and hopped off beside Wu. He watched as the ninja slowly faded from view, and all he could do was smile proudly.

“Family is not by blood, rather, it’s the connections you make and the choices you pick out.” Morro looked over at Wu, who simply smiled and nodded at him. “Come along son, we don’t want to miss the epic final battle.” Morro couldn’t help but laugh

Morro and Wu got to the cat just in time to see Garmadon get eaten by the cat, and all Morro could really do was laugh. He knew it was his uncle in there but come on it was at least a little karma for almost crushing him under a building.

Morro watched as the six tried to figure out how to defeat the ninja, but instead of Lloyd joining in the conversation, he simply looked back at Wu and said that he knew what he needed to do as a son of Garmadon. Morro then watched as Lloyd took off his mask in front of everyone. He couldn’t help but feel so proud of Lloyd as the teen walked over to the cat despite everyone’s protests. 

Morro watched with bated breath as Lloyd approached the cat and started talking to it. It was just loud enough that the rest of the citizens could hear what Lloyd was saying, and Morro felt himself relax more and more when he realized the cat wasn’t going to eat or harm Lloyd. Morro looked over at Wu and Koko, who had a silent conversation that clearly included her going over to Lloyd and running as far away as possible with him in her arms. He shook his head and looked back at Lloyd

Morro couldn’t help but grin as Meowthra coughed up Garmadon, and Lloyd was able to be reunited with his dad, similarly to how Morro did earlier with Wu. He then watched as Koko ran over to Lloyd and the two had a heart to heart. Morro looked at Wu who started walking over. Morro looked at the ninjas standing in front of him and simply laughed, making the five of them look over to him. Morro just did a shoo motion, which caused them to scramble over to Lloyd and the others. Morro followed them up at the rear 

Morro could briefly hear the conversation the group was talking about, but when he heard his own name he quickly shuffled over to the group to listen in more obviously 

“We should go tell Morro we’re back!” Kai mentioned, looking at Lloyd as the boy thought and nodded, saying that if anyone deserved to know about their second lives it would be the cafe owner. Morro couldn’t help but laugh

“You seven should go. I will stay here with Garmadon and Koko.” Wu nodded towards the seven of them, and then watched as each of them broke into a sprint to go on the street that the six had memorized at this point. 

Morro looked back over at Wu who simply nodded at him. Morro knew then, it was now or never

“So who’s Morro?” Morro grinned behind his mask, just wanting to hear what the kids thought of him. He knew it was rude but it would be oh so helpful later. 

Morro listened as each of the kids talked about the spooky cafe owner, each telling a little story about Morro and their interactions with him. Morro couldn’t help but feel his heart swell with pride 

However, when they got to the cafe, they were met with a devastating sight, one Morro knew was likely to happen without him there to protect things with his wind. 

Morro was practically the breath that held the cafe together, and without him…

The Cafe they all loved so much had been destroyed.

Chapter Text

Morro should’ve expected it.

After all, he knew it was a high likelihood that without him the cafe wouldn’t stay standing. The only reason it had was because of his wind that he’d use to protect it. But it still hurt to see the cafe he spent so long building up from literally nothing be a pile of rubble on the ground.

But if Morro thought he was hurt, he could only imagine what his kids were feeling. He looked over at each of them as they started trying to dig through the rubble, each yelling for another to use their powers to clear away any major debris covering the door so they could at least try and get into the place and see the damage. 

Morro could feel the guilt eat at him as he realized his kids were looking for him . They thought he was still in there. He could only watch as the six walked inside of the shop, calling for Morro. He took a deep breath and slowly walked inside behind them. He stood in the doorway and looked around at all the damage. He felt the tears start to form in his eyes. 

This was his first home, something he had built up without any help, this was the place he recovered from all his past grievances, where he finally managed to get happy and healthy after what had happened to him when he was just a teen, and the entire thing was collapsed and gone, he didn’t know how he could afford to repair everything. He took a deep shuddering breath and turned his gaze over to the counter, just praying that his gift was still intact.

Before he left, he had left Lloyd’s new gift on the counter, he was planning on telling Lloyd that he was his cousin and he wanted the truth to be revealed on his own accord. He didn’t want to lead Lloyd around the truth just to hope he maybe somehow got it, cause that would be a coward's move. Yet he was doing that right now wasn’t he? Dropping enough hints and hoping Lloyd will just make the connection on his own? He sighed softly and walked over

The previously neatly wrapped gift box was now crushed under some rubble, the edges of the photograph barely showing out

Morro had decided to give Lloyd one of the only photos he had of the two of them before everything went down. He went out to grab a frame and everything just so Lloyd would have something that reminded him of his cousin that always cared for him, even when he was gone

Instead, the photo was crushed, ruining it forever all because he just had to go out and make sure they were all safe. He ruined his one chance to make his reveal his own, take his destiny in his hands. Now he was going to have to show all of them, because they were crying his name thinking he was dead, and he was still hiding from them.

He fell to his knees next to the photo, looking at the parts of the photo that remained out. Oddly enough, none of the parts of Lloyd got crushed, just Morro. It's almost ironic, as if the photo knew how much Morro was going to hide from Lloyd despite how much he desired not to. He rubbed his hand over the top of it before he stood back up again and tried to move the rock on top, but his body was weak from exhausting his wind so much so it didn’t budge. 

Yet he didn’t give up. He was telling Lloyd how he wanted to, no matter how much destiny fucked with him. So he kept pushing, trying desperately to move the thing just a little bit so he could grab the photo. He could almost feel the tears come to his eyes when it refused to budge, simply sitting there stubbornly. 

Until he suddenly felt it start to shift, and a voice sounded out next to him. 

“Guys! Come over here and move the rock!” It was Cole. He had moved beside Morro and was trying to help Morro move the rock. He made eye contact with Cole and simply smiled at him. Cole just gave a thumbs up and kept trying to push the rock away. 

Eventually, the others started to join in too. Kai next to Cole, Jay and Nya on Morro’s other side, Zane and Lloyd both trying to pull the rock away from the back. Morro couldn’t help but feel joy and excitement build up inside of him, knowing that he was here with his kids, the same kids who lit up his damp cafe whenever they walked in, the same kids who stayed behind late just to clean up the store or help Morro out with work, and the same kids he had grown to care for over the past year. He couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face. 

Morro kept pushing with all he could until the rock finally started to shake and move backwards, away from the photo and crushed up gift box, just enough so Morro could grab it before the other ninjas could try to see what it was

The photo was one Master Wu took. Morro was holding Lloyd protectively against the couch, the other being just a baby, and they were both sleeping. Wu stated that he only took the photo because Morro would’ve been embarrassed otherwise. While Morro was still upset over having his photo taken, he couldn’t help but agree with his dad. He loved this photo, often taking it from its nice place on Wu’s shelf just so he could go and show it off to people, telling them that that was him and his baby cousin and if anyone hurt him he was going to hurt them back twice as hard. 

Morro was given this photo before he had left Wu’s home, Wu having just told him he’d find a use for it soon enough. He couldn’t help but smile at the memory of his dad. 

The photo was crushed, basically ruined from its perfect state that Morro constantly left it in, due to it being stuck in a book he refused to pick up just because anything that photo touched seemed to become cursed. He couldn’t help but laugh sadly as he stared at the ruined photo. But ruined or not, he had a mission. And that was to tell Lloyd what was going on.

He looked at Lloyd, who had walked out from behind the rock panting slightly from the amount of effort he had to put in to try and move the rock. He slowly folded up the picture, once, then twice, then he couldn’t stop his feet from moving as he slowly made his way towards his cousin, who would officially know who he really was as of today, no more secrets.

When the Ninja looked up at him, with confusion lacing his eyes, Morro couldn’t help but feel his heart freeze as he registered what he was really about to do.

He didn’t know what to do now. Lloyd had the right to know, he had the right to know that his favourite barista was his cousin and had known about his activities for a while, but Morro didn’t want to lose him. Lloyd could very much become disgusted with Morro, hating him for never telling him the truth and making him think a random stranger he met one day was secretly his cousin, so of course Morro loved and cared for him, who else would it be?

Yet his hands moved before his brain could shut up, simply extending the photo to the younger in front of him. He watched Lloyd’s face morph into confusion, but slowly accept the photo from his outstretched hand. This was it, Lloyd was going to know who he was, and he did it on his own terms.

“Happy Birthday Lloyd.” Morro smiled at him as Lloyd slowly opened up the photo. He watched Lloyd’s face as it slowly went through many emotions, anger, confusion, realization, and some Morro could barely even recognize himself. He made eye contact with Lloyd who looked at him with a final look of acceptance on his face.

“Lift up your mask.” Lloyd looked at him, the simple words catching the attention of the other ninja who were all trying to figure out where Morro could be. Morro couldn’t help but laugh at the simple words but nodded and slowly but surely lifted the mask off his face. He closed his eyes as he did so, but opened them when he left the mask sink into his back similarly to a hoodie. 

“Hey greenie.” Morro smiled at him.

Lloyd couldn’t help the smile that broke through on his face. He laughed and quickly hugged Morro tightly, almost knocking the taller one off his feet. Morro just laughed and hugged back just as tight, just happy to finally be able to hug his cousin.

“You’re the Yellow Ninja?!” Jay shrieked and pointed at Morro, who simply looked up at the rest of them and laughed, nodding at them

“Yup. Sorry for not telling you all. But I didn’t think it would get this complicated.” Morro looked at them and slowly let Lloyd go of the hug, simply patting his head and letting Lloyd cling for a little longer

“I wasn’t even going to talk to you. But I.. didn’t want you guys to be alone with that guy.” Morro shivered and shook his head

“Wait wait wait, that means you knew!” Kai joined Jay in pointing at Morro, who simply snickered in response

“Yup. I’ve known for a while now. You know you guys play this stupid game when you come in? Well the one time you guys came in as ninja you played the same game. I caught on pretty quickly after that. Especially since you’re all still colour coded the same as your ninja counterparts.” Morro simply laughed, enjoying the look on the others' faces as they realized with embarrassment that they were not as subtle as they could’ve been. Nya then turned over to Zane

“How did you not know about this???” Nya frowned in confusion, looking at her icy companion who simply looked at her with confusion written across his face

“I did know. I thought it was obvious. His voice was the exact same.” Zane shrugged as the others started hounding on him, asking why Zane didn’t bother telling the rest of them, but Zane simply responded with “you guys didn’t ask”, and the others just groaned

Morro snorted and laughed, rubbing at his eyes that had tears build up in them, but he couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face. Cole looked at Morro then thought about the previous conversations, slapping his hand to his face and just groaning as the dots started to connect

“You knew what school we went to because we did school work in your shop, you knew Lloyd likes blueberries because he always orders a blueberry muffin, you knew who we were under the mask because you knew beforehand.” Cole groaned and rubbed his hands against his face. “It was so obvious!”

Kai just patted Cole’s shoulder, nodding solemnly as he too realized that it was literally right in front of them

“So those kids you had to feed?” Jay looked back over at Morro who simply snickered into his hand, nodding

“It was you.” Morro watched as the five of them descended into different versions of groans and moans as the realization just kept piling up on them. Morro heard Lloyd snicker from his place against Morro, and all Morro could do was pat his head and laugh

Morro looked at the six of them who were now kinda just standing there awkwardly. They were obviously relieved Morro was okay, but now they didn’t know what to do. So Morro rolled his eyes and opened his arms again, simply opening the invitation to join the hug. The rest of the ninjas had slowly shuffled over and hugged Morro as well, before it just became this big group hug with the eldest at the center 

“Wait, is that why your cafe would stay standing? You’d use your wind?” Jay questioned from his part of the hug. Morro just nodded

“I use my wind semi often. Usually during Garmadon Attacks, but I’d also use it to just scare you guys or shitty customers away.” Morro shrugged and watched again as the group groaned as the realizations descended upon them, mumbling about the ghost rumours now making sense. Morro did remember them questioning it earlier in the year but he just shrugged it off

Morro just sighed and looked over at the rest of the cafe, looking at it with a sad look on his face. “And now it’s gone… I don’t have the money to even think of repairing this. I make enough to keep it running, not completely remake it from scratch.” Morro groaned and covered his face with his hands as he tried to figure out what he could do. But he didn’t need to think for long before he heard the sound of a staff knocking on the metal frame of the door

Morro looked up to the entrance of the door, his face lighting up when he saw the three adults standing outside. He couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his aunt and uncle's faces, just smiling brightly. By this point the hug had dispersed, and even Lloyd had let go. So he just waved at the two adults

“Hi Auntie Koko, hey Uncle Garmadon.” Morro laughed at the stunned look on his aunt's face, before laughing harder as Koko ran over, hugging Morro tightly when she recognized who he was. Garmadon was just standing at the door and groaning at how it was so obvious, the rest of the ninjas nodding in solidarity with him. 

Morro grinned happily as Koko checked him over, making sure he was safe and joking about how much he had grown since she last saw him. Morro couldn’t help but feel happy at the care she clearly expressed, even when she went back in for a hug. Morro looked up at Wu who simply laughed softly and stroked his beard

“Well, this very simply won’t do. If this place is so important to my students and son, it will have to be fixed.” Morro couldn’t help but go wide eyed when he realized what Wu was implying, his mouth dropped open as he looked at Wu

“Are you saying..?” Morro looked at Wu in shock as the older guy nodded and looked at all the ninjas, including Morro. “I will pay for your cafe to be rebuilt, exactly how it was before.”

Morro just looked in shock as the others cheered around him, each laughing and hugging each other as they realized this place could in fact be revived. Morro couldn’t help the tears that built up in his eyes. He walked over to Wu and hugged him tightly, thanking the elder over and over again, Wu just hugging back just as tight, if not tighter, and saying it was for all the birthdays he’s missed with Morro since the boy left.

“If you do not have a place to stay while this place gets rebuilt, I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind if you stayed with us at the warehouse for a while.” Wu suggested, putting his hand on Morro’s shoulder once the hug had let go. Morro had looked at the others who each gave their own version of “yes, please stay”, even if they didn’t outright say it. 

All Morro could do was nod, and smile at his brand new, and kinda old, family. 

He hoped his grandfather was proud of him, because his father, brothers, cousin, aunt, and uncle, all certainly were.

Chapter Text

To say Morro was stressed was an understatement 

Weeks had passed since the ‘Meowthra Event’ occurred, and few things made Morro realize his typical schedule of before was going to be interrupted way more often.

For example, while he was waiting for his cafe to get fixed, he stayed with Wu and sometimes on weekends he got to stay with Lloyd and Koko. Because he was staying with Wu, the other ninjas decided that meant Morro could teach them instead of Wu. 

So to the despair of Morro, he was waking up early just to train a bunch of teenagers on how to use their elemental powers. Fantastic.

Well it wasn’t all bad, he got to properly meet people that he could really only meet in passing, people like Zane’s younger brother, Echo, and his girlfriend PIXAL, who he recognized from her getting coffee that one time for her boss, who he had also met. That entire interaction left him wondering how many nindroids were walking around Ninjago just casually. 

And no, he definitely didn’t have to figure out that Nindroids wasn’t what they were actually called, and that it was a term coined by Jay, that would be ridiculous.

Either way, his interactions with the Ninja had increased tenfold, and he was often being taken on adventures just so the teens could say they had an adult with him. For example, Morro had to be the one to bail them out when Kai accidentally lit the arcade machine on fire for “ obviously being rigged, you should be glad I burnt it! No little kids getting scammed on my watch, that's the ninja way!” and that went about as well as you could expect

Morro especially knew he was thankfully getting closer to Lloyd. His cousin had clung to him like a leech during the first week, which often meant the two had sleepovers and sparred together. It wasn’t like Morro minded, although he would have to get used to getting called “ Mo ” instead of “Morro”, but all in all it seemed like a fair trade, after all he’s been out of Lloyd’s life basically all his life! It made sense for the boy to be clingy

Lloyd had especially gotten clingy during the “Family Get Together” that Wu hosted, saying that “two members of the family had returned, they should celebrate”. So basically it was Lloyd and Morro trying to avoid Garmadon until they could get a proper apology. Although that may have been what he was trying to do, but Morro wasn’t risking it.

He did get some more quality time with his aunt, who was happy to tell Morro how upset and cranky Wu turned after losing Morro, and how Wu never closed the doors completely so the wind could always sneak in. It made his heart soar to hear how much his uncle cared about him even when he had left abruptly. It warmed his heart to hear how welcome he was despite his errors.

Another thing he was grateful for was the amount of gossip he was now able to get.

Turns out being ninjas meant overhearing a lot of things, and having a lot of things happen on their missions that weren’t documented, since they weren’t fights with Garmadon. And wow, yeah Morro definitely didn’t give them enough credit for things they did.

For example, he had heard of their first major mission, which was when they realized Lloyd was the Green Ninja, because apparently Wu said their identities would remain secret from each other. Realistically he knew Wu probably wanted to protect his nephew, it didn’t mean he necessarily agreed with it.

Anyways, their first real mission had been against this group called “The Serpentine”. Morro was very excited to hear about that adventure first hand, especially when it came to light that there had been this entire puppet master behind everything, some guy named “The Overlord”, to which Morro laughed, very loudly, at the name. He got to hear all about how they were all unmasked one at a time, and how each member was reeling from learning each other's identities.

Morro briefly said he knew some things about that event, after all Lloyd had come into the coffee shop during that time, so now he was busy connecting dots over what Lloyd said back then, to the story he was now hearing. He also realized that when he first saw the ninja, it was just after the epic serpentine battle

Huh, who knew.

Either way, Morro was having a blast. Now that his identity was out in the open, he was finally able to bond with the ninja in ways he wasn’t able to before, and for that he couldn’t be more grateful for.

When the cafe finally got rebuilt, the ninjas were all the first ones on its doorstep. Morro was inside, getting everything set up before his gaze locked on the group of kids outside. They were all talking between themselves, amped for the reopening of their favourite cafe ever. Morro couldn’t help but roll his eyes and look around his newly rebuilt cafe

It was an almost perfect replica, it just didn’t store the old memories.

There wasn’t a dent in the wall, one of the chairs wasn’t missing a back piece, there wasn’t scuff marks on the floor surrounding the table the group usually sat at, none of that.

‘ But’, Morro thought to himself, smiling as he grabbed his keys and made his way over to the door. ‘ That just means I get to make new memories to take their place.’ 

Morro unlocked the door and opened it, looking at the group outside. It consisted of the ninja, Echo, PIXAL, her boss, Cyrus Borg as he figured out, now that was a conversation, and the rest of the crazy family he was still a part of.

Garmadon of course couldn’t make it, he was basically locked to his volcano for house arrest, but Wu made sure he at least sent his good luck. 

Morro let them all inside, watching as the kids cheered at the place being back to its former glory. He watched as they all grabbed chairs from other tables and shifted them over to the one table they usually shared so everyone could get in, except the three adults, they sat at the table next to the ones the kids were sitting at.

Morro started making the orders he had now practically ingrained into his memory, before asking what the newcomers would want, and quickly making those as well. It was a rhythm he had gotten used to, and now he was back. He was sitting here making his drinks again, with new friends and family. He couldn’t help but be excited.

Maybe it was why he didn’t notice someone else walk in until they were right at the counter, 

Maybe it was why he didn’t make a note of her face when she had asked for a drink,

Maybe it was why he didn’t notice anything was off until she was long gone, fallen into the shadows of Ninjago City.

He looked at the note she had left behind, a simple thing really, with only a few words on it. Morro usually wouldn’t have given it a second glance, but when he had made eye contact with it, he couldn’t help but feel disturbed to his very soul, as if the note in front of him was just void.

He didn’t know what was wrong with it, after all it had seemed like just a normal piece of paper, maybe that was just the excuse he was giving himself, but truly, no one could’ve known what it meant at the time.

Morro picked up the note, flipping it over to see if it was a trap or anything, but no. It was just a simple piece of paper with typed up words on it, just so Morro wouldn’t be able to find out who exactly it was.

The words were simple after all, but held so much more weight than Morro could’ve ever been prepared for, and it was especially hard to read while the people this message was for were laughing in the other room.

“ He will rise again, Ninja. 

You will not survive this.

-The Quiet One ”

Morro could feel his heart pounding in his chest, staring at the note and reading it, over and over and over again. This was clearly just a prank right?

Morro looked over at everyone having fun, each of them laughing and making new happy memories as all their worries and fears faded away. Morro couldn’t be the one responsible for tearing that happiness to pieces. Besides, what if it was fake? It was just a simple note, especially since Lloyd had been revealed as the Green Ninja, he’s been getting a ton of fake threats like this 

But Morro could feel deep in his gut that something was very wrong. He could almost feel the evil pour from the notes and drop to the floor, like it was as simple as running ink.

He folded up the note, and tucked it inside his pocket. He would tell them after the party, again,  or wanting to ruin the moment for everyone just because he got some bad vibes from a piece of paper.

After all, if it was really something to worry about, why would she give the note to Morro? 

That decision single handedly was the entire reason Morro was stressed.

He was standing in his gi on top of a building, the note still laying heavily in his pocket as he watched over the museum. He just wanted to confirm that the rumours he was hearing were true, and The Quiet One was really someone he should’ve worried about.

So he walked back and forth across the roof he was standing on. He couldn’t help but feel stressed, it was like his body physically didn’t have any other option right now. He just prayed, waited with baited breath that the note really didn’t mean anything, and he could go home.

That prayer got interrupted by an explosion, one that Morro almost got sent back by. When he whipped his head towards the source, he saw parts of the museum in bits and in flames.

He couldn’t help the breath that got caught in his throat as he watched a truck pull away from the scene of the crime, realizing that what he just witnessed meant the note was real

All of a sudden the note weighed even heavier now.

He had to tell the Ninjas.