Koko sighed as she looked over her son eating his breakfast. He was hardening before her very eyes. Every day he withdrew a little more, despite her best efforts for him to be true to himself. And now he was attempting to hide from even her? Fat chance.

"Sweetie, take off your sunglasses while you eat."

"Mo-om," he whined.

She just gave him her perfected mom look. Not angry, not impatient, not upset, just casually waiting for obedience which she knew would come because he loved her.

It came, slowly and a little shakily, but it came. The sunglasses came down, revealing those fiery green eyes that she loved so, a green version of his father's. Glowing and flickering and expressing every emotion tenfold. Right now they were dancing away from her in shame. She couldn't have that.

Koko reached out a hand against her son's cheek, smiling fondly, then leaned over and kissed his forehead with a smack. She leaned back into her chair and frowned slightly at the all-black ensemble he was sporting today. When did he even buy black sneakers? At least the outfit was pretty normal, no lace or chains or anything, just so... black.

"What happened to your green hoodie, sweetheart? I thought you loved it."

He shrugged, not answering. His fangs flashed despite his best efforts as he took another bite of his omelet.

"High school," he finally explained. Well, sort of. "Pretty judgey."

Koko bit back back her sigh. She'd adored how the hoodie brought out those beautiful eyes. At least he wasn't dying his hair. Yet. Did all parents go through this at some point?

She reached over and took one of his hands. "Love, I know you hate looking different. Looking-"

"Like my father," he grunted, not meeting her eyes.

"Well, not really," Koko chuckled, squeezing the hand she still held. "Your eyes aren't red, and you only have those two little fangs. Green eyes and pretty blond hair don't really have the same effect as a menacing shadow." Her voice was teasing, but her boy looked doubtful.

"Promise me you'll leave the sunglasses home," she said softly.

"Mom!"

"Please. This is important to me. Please, don't hide who you are."

"As if anyone will ever look," he grumbled, but slid over the glasses case.

At least he wasn't being bullied, Koko tried to comfort herself. If anything, her handsome boy had the opposite problem.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

"LLOYD!" screamed the usual fangirls crowded at his bus stop.

"Do the green fire thing!"

"I just love his eyes!"

"Isn't he soooo cute?!"

"Hey, hey! Back off!" ordered Rod, one of his self-appointed guards. There were three this morning. One nerd, two minions. The gang was growing. Crap. It used to just be Rod, then Marvin, and now tiny Jet was falling into place. He used to not have to deal with this sort of thing until he got to school.

"Lloyd?" asked Jet timidly. "I made cookies. Would you like some?"

And crap, crap, crap. There go the puppy eyes. The nerds were the worst.

Lloyd rolled his eyes but snagged a couple. The nerd beamed in delight and eagerly offered the rest to Rod and Marvin.

Another one. Lloyd casually bit into a cookie, resigning himself to the dramatic sighing and squealing of the fangirls as they spotted his fangs.

"His fangs are sooooo hot!"

"Bite me, Lloyd!"

People are weird. Lloyd tucked the second cookie into his jacket pocket, unwilling to give the weirdos any more of a show.

"Show us the green flame, Lloyd!" shouted another.

This time every eye turned to him hopefully, even Rod, Marvin, and Jet. He expected it from the fangirls, but come on guys.

"Green! Green! Green!" The group at the bus stop started chanting. He knew from experience that they would. Not. Stop. Until they got what they wanted.

Lloyd groaned, rubbing his head. "You guys are soooo annoying," he grumbled, but pulled a hand out from his jacket pocket to light it up with his green energy.

Delighted screams, oohs, ahhs, the usual. One fan fainted dead away.

He tucked his hand back into his jacket as the bus pulled up.

As usual, "his" seat was wide open, along with the rows in front and behind for his gang. Most of the adults glanced at him in horror then deliberately averted their gaze.

Lloyd was never sure what was worse. The fangirls, the gang he never wanted, or the fear in the eyes of everyone else.

He slumped in his window seat, putting in his earbuds and ignoring the world. Rod sat in front of him, Marvin and Jet behind him. More would join on this bus route, and the rest would be waiting in front of school.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

"Ugh. Lloyd Garmadon's here," grumped Nya as the fangirls' squealing started.

"Does he have to cause such a ruckus?" Kai added his own complaint, covering his ears with his hands.

"I do not know, guys," commented Zane. "He does not appear to enjoy the attention."

"And he took out Bull and Rex!" piped up Jay. "Those guys made my life hell - so cut the guy some slack! Not his fault girls are gaga for him."

Cole just shrugged. "He defended his turf. Not sure how praiseworthy that is, bro."

Nya blinked at Jay in disbelief. "Seriously, Jay? He's the head of a gang!"

Jay folded his arms stubbornly. "It's just a clique."

"He smokes!"

"He does not," negated Zane. "I've only ever seen him with lollipops."

Kai rolled his eyes. "He's at school! Of course he doesn't pull out the cigarettes here."

"He has freaky glowing eyes and actual fangs and creepy powers!"

"It's just another element. Sheesh, like we can talk?"

"It is true that he never does his homework, is always in detention, and is very disrespectful to the teachers."

"Zane! I thought you were on my side!"

"We have sides?"

"He's just bad news. In five years, we'll be fighting him instead of his father," grumped Kai. "Speaking of, any of you heard about Green? He took quite a hit in that last fight."

"Master Wu says he's fine," replied Cole with a shrug. "We'll probably see him later for training."

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

"Mr. Garmadon! Get down from there immediately!" shouted the principal. "You have detention, young man!"

Lloyd groaned. He'd finally lost his gang, and the fangirls hadn't spotted him. Until now, of course. Now they were all squealing and breaking out the phones to take pictures of him lounging in the open trusses of the cafeteria ceiling. He crunched down on his lollipop in annoyance and sat up to swing down.

"Two days, Mr. Garmadon!" called out the principal.

Sighing, he dropped the fifteen or so feet to the floor, landing easily on his feet to the cheers of most of the student body.

"Three days for recklessness!" hissed the principal, turning on his heel and stomping out.

How did he think Lloyd got up there in the first place? It wasn't like his powers were secret. Everyone knew he jumped higher and ran faster than even the pros. He'd have a few records under his belt, but some bigwigs saw to it he was excluded "for reasons of non-human heritage".

They could at least be honest in their prejudice and call him a monster half-breed.

He rolled his lollipop to the other side of his mouth, ignoring his gang as they clustered around him. Eager to complain about the principal and defend their idol. Happy to have found him and not caring at all that he obviously wanted to be left alone. Or maybe they thought that was just the way he always looked? Huh, maybe it was.

At least his next class was history. He could sleep right through that one without the teacher bugging him. She was terrified of him and didn't bother him as long as he passed every test.

Then math, with the nasty teacher always out to humiliate him and always furious when Lloyd knew all the answers already. That one he'd have to be mostly awake for, since the jerk could call on him at any moment.

Last would be physics. With the crazy teacher determined to treat Lloyd the same as any other kid. They were supposed to be assigned some sort of group project today, with the teacher picking the groups. Crud, he hoped she wouldn't place him with a couple of his fangirls. Or any of his gang - they always tried to do all the work for him, and really, nine times out of ten he could do much better himself.

Then he had detention, as always, which was really just another hour of napping, and after he could FINALLY ditch everyone and make his way to the warehouse and Uncle Wu for ninja training.

Unless his dad decided to invade. That would be nice. Skip right to the good stuff. Kicking butt and being invisible.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Kai's mouth dropped open in horror. This could not be happening. No way.

"Oh, cool," commented Jay. "You and me are together, Kai."

"And Lloyd Garmadon. Crap," groaned Kai. "We'll be stuck carrying a freeloader!"

"It will be fine," laughed Jay. "I told you. He's pretty cool. We talked a bit after he blew up on Bull and Rex."

"Jay. He put them in the hospital. I don't know how he escaped juvie for that, but-"

"Hey! They were gonna put me in the hospital! Good riddance!"

Kai rolled his eyes but decided to drop it. Jay was notoriously blind about Lloyd Garmadon since he'd been "rescued".

Whatever. He resigned himself that this was going to be hell. Maybe the teacher would cut them some slack.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Huh. Lloyd hadn't expected that.

He'd been on the Ninja Force for a couple of years now, hiding his eyes with wraparound sunglasses (with a special strap so they wouldn't slip - bought them from a ski shop) and with the usual mask covering his mouth. He could see just fine, and those watching could get an impression of where his eyes were, but nobody could get a view of the giveaway green glow.

Kai, Nya, Cole, Jay, and Zane were totally cool, even though he never spoke to them as "Green" (and honestly rarely spoke as Lloyd either). They always included him, to his bewilderment, for movies and video games after training or fights, probably thinking he was mute or something. After all, he communicated with them in sign language and handwritten notes. There were notepads and pens scattered all around the warehouse just for him. (He didn't dare offer them his cell number. Way too easy to trace back to him.)

Lloyd considered the Ninja Force his only real friends, though he doubted they returned the favor. He was more his real self as the mute Green then he ever was as the bad boy Lloyd Garmadon.

And now he was being teamed up with two of them for a physics project. He'd never even spoken to any of them except Jay. And then it'd only been along the lines of "You okay?"

Wow, he was so glad Jay had the other ninjas to hang out with. If he'd been a loner, he probably would have joined the gang. At this point, nearly half the count was made up of bullied kids he'd rescued in basically the same way. The idea of Jay as one of his, followers? Clingy sycophants? Pet nerds? Was extremely distasteful.

He was pretty sure Jay would be fine to work with. Would let him do his own share of the work without expecting too much or too little of him. Wouldn't mind sitting at the same table as him or having to meet up in the library or after school somewhere to work on the project.

He wasn't so sure about Kai. Yeah, he liked Kai. Maybe loved him, as a brother. Could trust him with his back, with his mech, with his life.

But he was pretty sure Kai hated Lloyd Garmadon. He wasn't sure why. Jealousy? Ignorance? Was it personal, or more about his father or the fangirls? A lot of guys hated him because of the fangirls. Most adults hated him because of his father.

But Kai was cool. And Lloyd secretly longed to have his real friends at his side in school, even if it was just temporarily. It would be... pretty awesome. Being able to actually talk to them. To not worry about his mask slipping and exposing him. To laugh without any fear that his voice or a flash of his fangs would give him away.

Oh. Crap. He wanted this. He squeezed his hands into fists hidden deep in his jacket pockets, focusing more than ever on keeping his face a blank slate. With forced casualness, he made his way to the table assigned to their group.

Kai glared at him, but Jay beamed and gestured him to the third chair.

And they got to work. Breaking up the assignment, working out who would do what, when and where they would meet up. Kai seemed uncomfortable at the thought of coming to Lloyd's apartment, so he let it slide and suggested the library.

Jay kicked Kai under the table. "No, Lloyd. Your place is fine. Tuesday, then?"

Lloyd blinked and a small smile flickered over his mouth. He quickly looked away and straightened his face. Lloyd Garmadon Did Not smile.

"Sure, around 5:30. My mom gets off at 5, so she'll be there, but it should be cool."

"Why so late?" asked Kai, confused. "Why not right after school?"

Lloyd slowly blinked and glanced between his two teammates. Yeah, they didn't get it. "Detention."

"Just don't get detention," grumbled Kai.

"I always have detention," replied Lloyd, glowing eyes flickering with a strange sort of annoyed resignation. "I've learned to just plan for it."

Kai opened his mouth to say more, but it looked like Jay kicked him again. Kai glared at him, but let it drop. After all, he had been wrong, so far, about Lloyd being completely lazy and uncooperative.