Darkness from Within #7: A Promise Broken (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 25

A few weeks passed. Since Hugh and Ronin's departure and Ariana and Lloyd's night together, Lloyd had started undoing the damage he had done. It seemed it only took Ariana's breakdown to make him see the bad choices he had made. He was still in charge of the Bend, of course, but after realizing how he had been following in the Overlord's cruel footsteps, he decided to change the way he had been ruling. The Baddies never experienced any leadership other than the Overlord's tyranny, and Lloyd wondered how they would react to his change of mind, but he had been surprised to see most of them had supported his ideas whole-heartedly. There seemed to be more to the Baddies than Lloyd had known even still.

The Bend was different, too. Some of the darkness seemed to have lifted, although in reality, the sky was as gray as it always had been. Maybe it was that now since the situation with the markings and the elemental weapons was out in the open and everyone knew they were in the same boat, the town felt more light-hearted and less tense than it had ever been.

After making up with his friends, Lloyd put together a group to help him lead, since he finally admitted it had put too much stress on him. Besides the fact that he had been drinking way too much because of it, it was also the cause of most of his rash decisions. The team consisted of Ariana, of course, Cree, and Phil, and Lloyd had to agree he felt better than he had in a long time. It had been years since he worked together with friends, and it felt like home to him.

The most important idea Lloyd had had was to start improving the Bend. The town was known for its run-down buildings, lack of food, dusty roads, and lack of technology—but did it have to stay that way? If the Baddies managed to work together, couldn't they shape their home into a proper place to live?

Lloyd didn't know, but he was willing to try.

His group had sent a team of strong Baddies out into the forest to chop down trees for lumber, which they would use to rebuild as many buildings as they could. While the school began to teach the Apprentices how to read and write, since, apparently, most of the young Baddies didn't know how to, Lloyd had remembered the doctor's office. The equipment was poor, which wasn't a surprise, and Doc was working there all alone. It wasn't like the Baddies went to the doctor's often, only when they were really, really injured—near-to-death injured—, but with all the other changes, Lloyd assumed that would change, too. A new program for the Apprentices was born for anyone who was interested in medical education, with Doc as the head. The Technicians got to work on figuring out a way to improve the doctor's equipment, with a little help from Lloyd, who had spent way too much time in Pixal's hospital room not to pick up tips.

Eventually, the Top Rankers' secret helicopter and base were revealed, and it was Phil's idea to get the Mechanics to plan out how to put together other vehicles. The goal was to become more civilized and "with the times," as Lloyd put it.

Some of Lloyd's ideas seemed to shock the Baddies. Most of them had never lived anywhere other than the disheveled Bend, and they hadn't known there was anything better than what they were used to. Some of them didn't even know what a helicopter even was, besides the lack of knowledge about television, fresh food, and sunshine. Lloyd never thought he had felt more pity than he did now. They didn't know the warmth of the sun on their back, the joy of racing through an open field—all they knew was snow, wind, and cold. Lloyd made a mental note to take the Baddies out in groups to see the real world later on, when it got a little cooler. He didn't want them to die of heat exhaustion or something.

As for the tokens, Lloyd raised the Baddies' pay back up again. He even got away with raising it a bit higher than it had been before. Besides food, weapons, and clothes, the Baddies were in desperate need of better blankets and pillows, which Joel had stashed away in the back of his shop; no one had known that. The retired Baddies such as Joel and the lady behind the tavern counter relied only on their shops for their tokens, but it hadn't really been working since barely anyone actually paid them and they found themselves eating their own merchandise. Lloyd hoped that with the higher pay, the Baddies would contribute what they were supposed to.