#ler!wu

It had been a very quiet day at Garmadon’s monastery. With the all current threats taken care of, there wasn’t much for Garmadon to do aside from teach classes, keep his monastery in order, and keep his mind clear. And all of those things had been done.

Peace could be boring, Garmadon reflected, from where he was on his third walk around his grounds today. And while he would never forget how treasured peace was, boredom was a foe of its own. Luckily, he had a son to spend time with.

It wasn’t hard to find Lloyd. He didn’t leave the monastery very often after what had happened to Zane. He was taking the loss the best out of all his brothers, but it was still a marked difference from when he had been traveling all over Ninjago just a few months ago. His son was in the training room, running through exercises that he had learned yesterday.

“Good morning, son. Care for a sparring match?” Garmadon asked, setting his staff and shoes to the side.

“Sure,” Lloyd said. He rolled his shoulders. “No powers, right?”

“Take mercy on your old father,” Garmadon chuckled. “Give me a fair chance.”

Lloyd grinned back. “Sure. Try not to throw out your back.”

“Oho, so that’s how it’s going to be?” Garmadon circled his son, settling into a loose fighting stance.

“You said it first,” Lloyd said with a shrug. He lunged, sending a flurry of punches at his father’s face and ribs, and then dropped low to try and sweep his feet out from underneath him.

Garmadon blocked every blow, hopped over his leg, and sent him sprawling with a gentle cuff on the head. “Too slow.”

Lloyd sprang back to his feet, pressing another attack. This time it was a series of kicks, but he stayed in constant motion, spinning and dodging and ducking to avoid any retaliation from Garmadon. Again, his father blocked every one, but this time, Lloyd was able to block Garmadon’s blows as well. They began to go back and forth, chasing each other across the mat.

“I see you’ve been working on your footwork,” Garmadon said, blocking an elbow from Lloyd and driving him back with a knee.

Lloyd batted his leg away, trying to get him off balance. “Along with everything else. That all you got?” When his father grinned sharply, he knew he’d made a mistake. Garmadon caught his next punch and slung him to the ground, pouncing on him before he could recover.

“Dad?” Lloyd giggled nervously, trying to wriggle away. He was pretty sure he already knew what this was about. “I thought we were sparring.”

“Sparring, training; it’s basically the same thing,” Garmadon said, cracking his knuckles.

“I don’t think this is training,” Lloyd said, catching his hands when he began to lower them.

“On the contrary, my dear boy,” Garmadon said. “Think of it as endurance training. This is a terrible weakness of yours. If a villain were to ever exploit it, you would be done for. I cannot in good conscience, as both a father and a teacher, allow you to go out into the world unprepared.”

“Dad, noHOHO!” Lloyd’s words were abruptly cut off by a loud squeak as his father batted his hands to the side and began to squeeze his sides.

“See? Weakening already,” Garmadon said, clicking his tongue. His fingers were working their way up Lloyd’s ribs, digging gently into his skin.“That’s no good. I think we should play an endurance game.”

“Nohoho!” Lloyd squealed, pulling his arms in and trying to turn over onto his side.

Garmadon merely extracted a hand to spider along the back of his ribs. “But you’re having fun!” He stopped abruptly, catching Lloyd’s wrists and hauling them away from his sides. “Here’s the challenge. I’m going to let your arms go - stop laughing - and if you keep them up for thirty seconds, you may go. If not, we start over.”

“Are you sure you’re not still evil?” Lloyd giggled, wrapping his arms around himself. He made no real effort to escape.

“Forty seconds, just for that comment.”

“Dad!”

Garmadon leaned over him, grinning. “Arms up, son.” Lloyd considered his options for a few seconds, and then slowly folded his arms behind his head. His father struck quickly and without warning, tickling his sides. The Green Ninja’s arms crashed down immediately.

“I wahasn’t reheheady! Not fahahair!”

“Fair? Your enemies won’t be fair,” Garmadon chuckled, focusing his attack on Lloyd’s belly. His son curled in, laughter pitching up. “Your enemies will be ruthless and cruel.”

“Dahahad!” Lloyd tried to turn onto his side, grabbing at his hands. His laughter got significantly louder when Garmadon clawed gently at his stomach, pulling him closer so he couldn’t escape.

“What is going on in here?”

Garmadon looked back, noticing his brother standing in the doorway. “Good morning, brother!” He dragged Lloyd into his lap, walking his fingers up his son’s ribs.

“Good morning,” Wu said, raising an eyebrow. “Training?”

“Hehehehelp!” Lloyd cried, drowning out any response Garmadon could have given. He was grinning widely, pressing back against his father’s chest to try and escape his hands. “He’s killing mehehehe!”

Wu set his staff to the side and approached. “Don’t do anything rash, brother,” Garmadon said, grinning slightly. He stopped tickling Lloyd, but his hands didn’t move from his son’s ribs. Lloyd made no attempt to escape either. Wu sat down next to them, eyeing Garmadon warily.

“So what exactly is going on here?”

“Endurance training,” Garmadon said, settling his chin on Lloyd’s head. “If I had remembered to use this technique, I probably could have beaten your students.”

“You have a point,” Wu said, nodding.

“What?” Lloyd said, eyes widening.

“However, I think I should even the odds a bit.”

“Try me,” Garmadon challenged, straightening up slightly.

Wu merely smiled and waved a hand. “Relax, brother. That’s not what I meant.” He reached out, poking Lloyd in the side. “Are you paying attention, nephew? This is important information.”

“Yes! I’m listening!” Lloyd yelped, batting at his hand.

“If you want to know how to beat my brother in a fight, you must first learn where his weaknesses are.” Without warning, Wu began squeezing Lloyd’s sides. The Green Ninja squeaked, immediately bursting into laughter and trying to wriggle away. “His sides are his worst spot,” Wu explained. His fingers darted to Lloyd’s stomach, causing him to squeal. “His stomach is also quite bad.”

“You’re on thin ice, brother,” Garmadon threatened playfully, spidering his fingers over Lloyd’s neck and ears.

“I am merely contributing to your lesson,” Wu said almost innocently. His fingers climbed Lloyd’s ribs, digging gently into the bone. “His ribs are also quite ticklish. From there his sensitivity usually drops. Seeing as you are no match for either of us, I would recommend attacking him with strength in numbers, and to go for his worst spots first. Understand?”

Lloyd’s only response was near hysterical laughter. He couldn’t curl up to push away his uncle’s hands without exposing his neck and ears to his father. “You’re going to have to speak up, son,” Garmadon chuckled.

“Understood!” Lloyd yelped, trying in vain to roll onto his stomach. “Uncle Wu, plehehehease!”

“His tolerance really is low,” Wu said, tapping his fingers on Lloyd’s stomach. Garmadon nodded, doing his best to look genuinely concerned. It was hard to do when he couldn’t stop grinning.

“Whahaha- what about the others,” Lloyd giggled, trying to grab Wu’s hand.

His uncle paused to let him breathe, tilting his head. “Are they as bad as you?”

“For sure,” Lloyd said nervously, giggles increasing as Garmadon slowly walked his fingers down his arms toward his sides.

“They shouldn’t miss out on this learning opportunity,” Garmadon said. His fingers stopped next to Lloyd’s sides. “But you won’t tell them, will you? After all, they need to be prepared for a surprise attack.”

“My lips as sealed,” Lloyd said, nervous laughter becoming near frantic.

Garmadon hummed, thinking and looked at his brother. Wu nodded after a few seconds, and patted Lloyd’s stomach. “Thank you for the recommendation, nephew. But understand that your tolerance needs to be brought up.”

“Yep, completely understand,” Lloyd said, slowly turning onto his side and away from their hands. “Later though, right?”

“Later,” Garmadon agreed. “But this is only the beginning.” He grinned mischievously at Wu. “Tell me when you’re ready to start.”

“I will,” Wu said. “You should finish training normally so they don’t suspect anything. I’ll be back after breakfast.”

After Wu left the room, Garmadon rolled Lloyd back onto his back, leaning down to examine him. “Still alive?”

“Yep,” Lloyd said. He was still smiling.

Garmadon ruffled his hair. “Good. Do you want to go get breakfast?”

It was a cool morning in Ninjago. The sun peaked over the mountains, the birds singing their morning songs, meanwhile Wu was meditating outside, waiting to hear the ninjas loud and dramatic voices.. nothing.

He sighed, standing up and walking inside. He looked in the kitchen to see if they were still finishing up breakfast, he didn’t see them, he didn’t even see any plates in the sink. He walked into the living room where they would play their games to help wake themselves up, the controllers were on the console untouched, and the room was completely empty.

He came to the conclusion that they were still asleep, he always thought he got them out of the ‘sleeping in’ phase, but he also seemed to forget that he was in a monastery full of teenagers. He stroked his long white beard, thinking of how to handle this. Then, it struck him. How had he not thought of it before? All he knew was the ninja were getting up either way, and hopefully not in a grumpy mood.

He decided to get Kai up first, he was usually the grouchiest one out of the 6, so he’d figure he would get him out of the way first. He slowly walked to his room, his feet light on the wooden floorboards while he turned the knob, slightly cringing at the creaking of the door. He walked over to the bed where the master of fire was knocked out. He gently placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to shake him awake. “Kai.. Kai are you awake?” He mumbled softly. He saw as Kai’s face scrunched up in annoyance, putting his pillow over his head. “Mmm… five more minutes..” He hummed, a smirk appearing on Wu’s face. “We don’t have time like that Kai, don’t make me have to take extreme measures.” He gently poked Kai’s side, a hard flinch coming from him. He seemed to realize what was going on faster than Jay’s lightning as he immediately sat up. “I’m up! I’m up!” He shouted, already smiling nervously. “Too late, I made up my mind.” Master Wu quickly skittered his fingers on Kai’s sides, causing a squawk to come from the red ninja as he immediately curled in on himself, snorting and laughing. “MAHAHAHASTEHEHER!!! NAHAHAHA!!-“ He squealed, cackling madly when Wu started prodding at his ribs. Wu smiled and rolled his eyes, finally showing mercy to the hothead as he stopped his tickling while he helped rub the ghost tickles away. “Now go out in the courtyard before I have to do any more.” Wu said with a chuckle as Kai sped out of his room.

Next on his list was Jay. He opened the door to his room which was covered with starfarer and video game posters. He immediately noticed Jay hidden under his covers, trying to hide his giggles. Wu couldn’t help but smile, it reminded him of when the ninja were younger. “Hmm.. I could have sworn I had seen Jay in here somewhere..” He said, only causing more giggles to come from the blue ninja as he walked around, observing the room until he finally got to his bed. “Hmm… I feel that he may be right.. Here!” He pulled the covers off of Jay’s head.. only to find it wasn’t Jay, just a fake him that he had made. Just then, Wu had realized that Jay was in the closet as he smiled. “Alright, that’s it for me.” He opened the closet doors, grabbing Jay as a loud yelp came from the ninja. He immediately began squeezing the ninja’s sides, causing a near shriek to come from him as he squirmed around relentlessly. Wu was impressed he hadn’t gone deaf from Jay’s shrill laughter yet. He gave him one last quick squeeze on his hips before letting him go, giving him time to recover. “Now, how about you head into the courtyard with Kai before I have to teach you another lesson.” Wu said with a playful glint in his eyes. It didn’t take Jay long to get up and sprint out of the room, even crashing into a wall on the way as Wu laughed, the ninja were certainly special.

Now there was Cole. He was an easy one to catch off guard considering he slept like a rock.. huh, never thought he’d make such a corny pun like that. Wu opened the door to his room, walking over next to Cole who was fast asleep, laying on his stomach. Wu didn’t want to give him a heart attack, so he just gently traced a few fingers on his back, causing soft giggles to come from him and a few jerks when he reached those specific areas. “Cole, it is the crack of dawn and you are still asleep.” Wu said, gently tickling the back of his neck, causing Cole to scrunch up his shoulders and giggle. “You’re not good at pretending, y’know? Maybe I should give you all a lesson on that..” He quickly moved his fingers over Cole’s ribs, a squeak coming from the black ninja followed by loud giggles while he struggled to get away from Wu’s quick fingers. “Lehehehet mehehe sleehehehep!!” He yelled, turning over on his back. “And let you get away with missing out on training? Now you’re just trying to insult me.” He shoved his fingers into Cole’s underarms, a loud yelp coming from the master of earth as he cackled loudly, squirming and pressing his elbows into his sides. “NAHAHAHA!! GEHEHET OHOHOHOUT!!” He squealed, snorting and squirming. “Well, you have my fingers trapped, you know that, right Cole? So I have no other choice but to continue until you let me go..” He held back a smile while Cole’s face flushed in embarrassment while he shakily raised his arms, in which Wu slipped his hands out. “I believe you need to go into the courtyard with the others now. Wouldn’t wanna miss out on training, would you?” Wu said with a smile. Cole chuckled, rubbing away ghost tickles as he got up, leaving his room.

Next up on the list was Zane, he was gonna be a tricky one.. Although, he felt a presence behind him as he smirked, closing his eyes. “3…2…1…” He counted down quietly before quickly darting out of the way when Zane lunged at him from behind in which Wu took the opportunity to pin him on the ground. “Very sloppy. I could practically feel the cold air from you.” He tutted playfully, he decided this one time to use his powers in a rather… irresponsible way as people may put it. He placed his hands on Zane’s ribs, his creation energy zapping all throughout Zane’s body as he nearly shrieked. He broke down into loud robotic laughter, kicking and slamming his fists on the ground while Wu tickled him with his powers. “MAHAHAHASTEHEHEHER!! I-IHIHIHIT TIHIHIHIHICKLEHEHEHES!!!” He yelled, squeaking when the sensation made its way to his back. “Well, atleast your observation is on point..” He held back a smirk, moving one hand to the back of Zane’s neck, causing a series of snorts and squeals to come from the titanium ninja. Master Wu didn’t want to have to leave Pixal to fix up his gears from laughing too much, so he got off of him, helping him up. “Your little stunt was brave, but foolish.” He chuckled. “I probably should have taken more time to calculate it.. I’ll just go start making breakfast.” He mumbled. If he had real human flesh, his face would’ve been burning up.

Now, there was Nya. He was wrong when he said Kai was the grouchiest, she definitely takes the cake for it. Although, just as he was planning his attack, he found that someone else was doing it for him. “KAHAHAI!! IHIHIM GOHOHOHONAHAHAHA KIHIHIL YOHOHOHOU!! GAHAHAHA!!!” Nya cackled out while Kai scribbled his fingers under her arms. “Hey, Master Wu said it’s time to get up! I’m just doing his job for him!” He teased, moving up to her neck, earning some soft giggles from her. “Doing my work, are you?” Wu finally said as Kai and Nya whipped their heads around to him. “Yup! Wanna help?” Kai offered, pinning Nya to the bed to prevent her from getting away. “Hmm.. I believe you have this situation under control. Besides, I have one more person I need to visit.” He smirked, walking away as Kai turned to Nya. “Wahahait! Kahahai ihihm uhuhup!-“ She protested, but Kai was already squeezing her hips while squeals and cackles filled the room.

Lloyd heard it all. The laughing, the shrieking, the snorting. He couldn’t help but feel scared and excited at the same time when he heard footsteps approaching his room. He hid underneath his covers, although adjusted the blanket a bit to where his side was visible as he heard the door open.