Chapter 23 - The Final Stand

With shaking arms, Lloyd slowly set his father's body down against the cold marble floor. Garmadon's warm blood had made nearly every inch of Lloyd's clothing uncomfortably sticky, but, at the moment, the ninja could care less. A mix of emotions pulsed through him. He felt angry. Discouraged. Broken. Lost.

Alone.

But, he couldn't stay where he was. He couldn't stay kneeling on the ground beside his father, waiting for the others to come and end this. No. If he waited, if he hid, his father would have died for nothing. And Lloyd wasn't about to let such a great sacrifice go to waste.

He walked forward, his legs reluctantly taking him to the spot where his glowing sword had landed. As he wrapped his fingers around the hilt, Lloyd gave a loud sigh. This world had done too much to him. Now it was time to bring it all to an end.

Lloyd pushed the door open.

Pythor sat upon his throne, a small purple dagger swinging back and forth from his fingertips. A sly smirk was carved into his features, irritating Lloyd even further. The king studied the young man as he stepped closer. There seemed to be no wounds on the boy, yet a substantial amount of blood was clinging to his clothes. It could only belong to Garmadon.

"I see you got past your father," Pythor stood, walking closer towards Lloyd. The boy watched him, sword raised, conflict in his eyes. "I didn't think you'd be able to. I didn't think you were cold enough to harm him. And yet . . . here you are. Bathed in his blood. I underestimated you, boy. You're no better than me."

Lloyd stayed quiet. A sick feeling twisted his stomach into a knot. Pythor was right, wasn't he? He'd murdered his father. Ripped his life away in a matter of seconds. Who was he to bring judgment down upon the king? Nobody.

"And now, you're here," Pythor continued. He wouldn't last very long against Lloyd in a fight. The king knew that well. But his venomous words were strong, and Lloyd's sanity was failing. He'd pushed the boy over the edge once. There was nothing stopping him from doing it again. "Are you going to murder me too? Go ahead. I accept my punishment."

Pythor held his arms out, leaving his chest unprotected. The purple dagger hung from the fingers of his right hand, pointed away from Lloyd. If the green eyed boy decided to attack, Pythor wouldn't be able to react fast enough.

Lloyd's breathing was louder now, and the sword felt heavier in his grasp. He couldn't kill Pythor. The very thought of it made him sick. Lloyd was a lot of things, but he didn't want to be murderer. He was a boy. He had no right to take someone's life away. No one deserved death. Not even the twisted man before him.

"I'm not going to kill you," Lloyd finally muttered, teeth gritted. "But you will be punished. You've wronged the people of Ninjago. And now your kingdom is at an end. You'll spend your life rotting away in your own dungeon."

"Ah," Pythor chuckled, putting his arms down. "Of course. You don't have it in you to kill me. You're still the same little coward you were before, hiding behind your pathetic friends. You won't ever win with that attitude, Lloyd. Not against me."

"You've been defeated! I've already won." Lloyd shook his head, letting his sword drop to his side. He'd made his decision. He wasn't going to kill Pythor. And he wasn't going to allow the king's words to affect him either. Not again. "The Stone Army will pulverize the skeletons any second now. You have nothing left, Pythor. Just hand over the crown."

"I don't like losing, Lloyd," Pythor removed the crown from his head, staring down at the precious metal, where his human reflection stared back at him. "Even when I begin to fall, I find ways to hurt my enemies. I brought back the Devourer, did I not? I might have been eaten, but I won. I did what I wanted to do."

Pythor held out the crown, and Lloyd reached for it, slowly wrapping his fingers around the metal, ignoring Pythor's words.

"And now you think I'm losing," Pythor smirked. "You think you've won. But there's one thing I'll be able to do."

"I will destroy you."

The former king pulled the crown back to himself, forcing Lloyd's body forward. The young man tripped, stunned, falling straight into Pythor's dagger. His green eyes widened as pain shot through his body, and the boy pushed back, kicking Pythor away from himself. He jerked the blade out of his body, a soft grunt escaping his lips.

Pythor fell back against the marble floor, laughing uncontrollably. Lloyd shook his head, staring down at the madman in disgust. He pressed the palm of his hand against the wound. It wasn't too deep, and the blood wasn't flowing out uncontrollably. The pain was nearly unbearable, but the wound itself wasn't mortal.

"I'm sorry to tell you that you failed," Lloyd hissed, forcing himself to stand taller. "It's going to take a lot more than this to kill me."

"You sure about that, boy?" Pythor sat up slowly. "That dagger isn't ordinary. It's made from the fang of a Venomari. Sure, in small doses it only causes hallucinations. But the venom that's now pulsing through your veins is enough to kill a grown man in a matter of hours. I assume you have less than a few minutes to live."

Lloyd staggered back, suddenly lightheaded. The room swam before his eyes, colors blurring and merging. He quickly blinked them back into focus. He wasn't going to die. He couldn't die. Not now, not here, not after everything he'd done. The prospect of death looming over him angered Lloyd, and he tightened the grip on his golden sword. It wasn't fair. Pythor didn't deserve to live. Not after this. The young boy walked forward, moving with the last of his strength. He raised his sword, pointing it at Pythor's vulnerable heart.

Pythor smiled, watching Lloyd's mind begin to crack. He didn't care if he died. Not if he managed to take his nemesis down with him. "Go ahead, Lloyd. Kill me."

It grew harder and harder to breathe. Each small breath clawed at his lungs, creating a constant pain on his chest. Lloyd was growing weaker. It was now or never.

He deserves it, Lloyd told himself, beginning to lean his weight onto the sword. He deserves to die.

Green eyes locked onto with Pythor's. For a couple of seconds, no one moved. Lloyd battled with himself while Pythor continued to smirk, enjoying every second of the boy's struggle.

Lloyd threw the sword across the room.

"No! No, I won't be like you." The green ninja stood tall, recovering his mind and pulling himself back together.

The door burst open, and the city's heroes trotted inside. Lloyd stepped back, hiding his wound with his arm. He looked back at the others, a small smile on his lips. "We did it, huh? The city is ours."

"Yeah!" Jay shouted, cheeks still flushed from the excitement of battle. His left hand was entwined with Nya's, tightly holding on, neither of them planning on letting go ever again. "Everything worked out. With the Stone Army, we defeated the skeletons in no time. Pffft, and you guys were worried things weren't going to work out. They always do! Positive thinking!"

"It was rather lucky. Many things could have gone wrong," Zane reminded them, but then smiled, a rarity in itself. "But, I suppose, yes, we have risen victorious."

"My question is," Kai hissed, staring down at Pythor. "Why is he still alive?"

"I can't kill him," Lloyd's voice wavered, and for a second, the world blurred out of focus. With a couple of blinks he managed to return to himself. He couldn't let himself slip away. Not yet. "It's not right."

"Maybe you can't," Kai growled. "But I would surely love to rip him apart."

"That's not the point, Kai." Cole shook his head, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "If we kill him, we would be no better than he is. If our kingdom is going to be a good one, we can't start its story with spilled blood."

"Fine," Kai said, then smiled. "If we're not going to kill him. . . am I at least allowed to show him the comforts of my lovely cell? A little dose of his own medicine, if you will."

"I think that's a brilliant idea." Zane forced Pythor to his feet, twisting his arm behind his back. Pythor hissed, stumbling forward. "I'll help you escort him to his new home."

Zane and Kai left the room with Pythor, and the rest of the group turned back towards Lloyd. The young man tried to keep a smile on his face, but he'd lost all control of his body. Black dots danced around the edge of his vision, and his body began to slump forward, quickly accelerating towards the ground.

A cold darkness overtook him.

"He's going to be fine. This is going to work. Now stop worrying!"

That voice was familiar enough.

"I'm not worrying. I know he's going to be fine. He better be. After what he did for us, I'd feel terrible if he just . . . died."

That voice was a bit deeper. Warm and caring.

"What we did is not totally fool proof. There is still a 78.9% chance that he will perish."

A cold, calculating tone. Still familiar.

"Zane, please. Shut up."

These words were more of growl, angry and protective.

Lloyd tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids were far too heavy. He tried to move, tried to make a sound, tried to do something, but his body wouldn't respond. Maybe he was dead after all.

He lost consciousness once again.

This time, when Lloyd returned to himself, his body was stronger. He was able to slowly open his eyes. . .

. . . He was lying back on a bed, one that was far too large for his body. Sunlight bathed the room he was in, revealing it to be Pythor's former living quarters. Lloyd sat up, feeling uncomfortable. This was a king's room. That would mean. . .

"Ha! See? I told you he was okay!" Jay was peeking in from the door, and once he made contact with Lloyd's eyes, he pushed the door open, allowing the others to come in after him. "How does the little king feel after his two week nap?"

Two weeks? Lloyd felt a shiver jolt him. He looked at Jay. "King? No, no, I can't be king."

"You're the rightful heir," Cole pointed out. "There's no one else to be king but you."

Lloyd chuckled nervously. "You're not getting it. I-I can't be king."

"Why not?" Zane questioned. "We will teach you all the necessary duties that you will need to take part in. You will be a fine king. Better than our last one in any case."

Lloyd opened his mouth, then shut it. He was going to have to take a different approach to this. "Well. . . how am I not dead?"

"You've got Zane to thank for that," Cole said. "He knew the venom inside you quite well. He was able to make an anti-venom in a matter of minutes."

"Me?" Zane shook his head. "No. If it hadn't been for Kai's control over fire, the potion wouldn't have been brewed in time. It is him you owe your life to."

"You've got it all wrong," Kai responded, playfully punching Jay's shoulder. "It was this guy here. If he hadn't used his lightning to force your heart back into beating. . . you would have been long gone, buddy."

"Ha! That's funny." Jay laughed. "Sure, I did that, but it was all Cole's idea. I would have never known to do that if it wasn't for him. So you owe him your life."

"Well. . . I guess you can say you owe your life to teamwork." The knight smiled. "And we wouldn't have been a team if it hadn't been for you. So. . . you owe your life to yourself."

Lloyd sat up a bit straighter. He had an idea.

"Teamwork seems to work pretty well with you four, doesn't it?" Lloyd said, looking into the eyes of every one of his teammates. "I think. . . I think you four could run the kingdom better than I ever could. Zane, you could be in charge of our armies, teaching every one of our guards the best ways to protect those who can't protect themselves. Kai, you could be the voice of the people. Speaking up when you see injustice, and making sure everyone has a fair chance to advance in life. Jay, no one could do a better job than you in keeping the people happy. Festivals, parties. . . all those things a good kingdom needs to come together. You could be in charge of it all. Cole . . . you've always known what's best. With that level head of yours, you could take charge of all of the kingdom's affairs, making sure money flows well and no one has to feel the pain of starvation ever again."

The four guys exchanged glances, unable to protest.

"I am the king now, aren't I?" Lloyd smirked. "Well, I order you four to do as I say. This is your home. Take care of it. Enjoy what you've fought for."

"Well, you heard the boy."

The four men swiveled around, coming face to face with Sensei Wu. Over the past few weeks, his wrinkles seemed to have grown deeper into his skin, but the aging man still managed to smile widely. "Go ahead! Go run your kingdom! It was an order from the king, wasn't it?"

Jay, Kai, Cole and Zane scurried out the door. Sensei Wu walked closer to Lloyd, placing a thin golden necklace around Lloyd's neck. At the end of it, was a small emblem, the symbol of Ouroboros. Lloyd held it on the palm of his hand, studying it closely before looking back up at his uncle.

"Never forget the lessons that you have learned here," Sensei Wu said with a stern tone. "Whatever the future holds for you . . . you will now have the strength to face it. Now, I think it was about time you returned to your own world, don't you think?"

Lloyd nodded. Returning home sounded nice. There was nothing left for him to do here. Reaching into his suit, he pulled out the small vial.

He tilted it towards his lips, drinking every bit of the glowing blue liquid.

"I promise you, Uncle, I won't forget."