Everyone thinks I’ve outrun my father’s shadow. That I’ve rewritten my story. That I’ve risen above the darkness that made me. That I’m a symbol of light—hope.

But the truth is… some things never really leave you.

I still feel it sometimes. That cold edge in my chest. The sharpness that doesn’t belong to me. I tell myself it’s gone, that I’m better, different, stronger.

But when the pressure builds, when fear creeps in… I wonder how much of me is still his.

And then she was put in danger.

Not by accident. Not as a casualty of the mission.
 Because of me.

They came for her—not because she’s a ninja. Not because she was in the wrong place.
 Because she’s close to me. Because they thought hurting her would hurt me. And they were right.

I lost control.

I don’t remember much of the fight—only flashes. A burst of green light. Shattered stone. My hands clenched around something that stopped moving.

The way she looked at me afterward—not afraid of me, but… like she saw something I’d buried. Something I didn’t want anyone to see.

I keep telling myself I did what I had to. That I protected her. That I kept her safe.

But the way I did it…

It felt too easy. Too natural. Like I’d stopped being Lloyd for a moment and become something else.

And I can’t stop thinking about it.

She tries to reach me. I can see it in the way she lingers after training, the way she hesitates like she wants to ask if I’m okay but knows I’ll lie. She’s patient. Strong. And somehow still looks at me like I’m worth something, even when I can barely meet my own eyes in the mirror.

But she doesn’t know the whole truth.

She doesn’t know what I felt in that moment—how satisfying it was to unleash everything I’d been holding back. How close I came to crossing the line. And how I might not step back if I ever go that far again.

I’d do anything to keep her safe. Anything. But what happens when anything starts to look like him?
 What happens when protecting her means becoming the very thing I swore I’d never be?

I’m the heir of Garmadon. I’ve always feared what that means.
 But now I’m starting to understand it.

And I don’t know if that should terrify me… or if it already does.