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The first time it happened, Lloyd was grateful.
Granted, he was more focused on the fact that he was way too freaked out to regain control of his dragon and was plummeting to the ground way too fast when the metal hands scooped him up and put him back on the ground next to the Airjitzu temple.
He had even thanked them.
"Well, Samurai, whoever you are, thank you."
"Samurai, whoever you are?!" Nya screamed as they flew off, "stole my suit!"
"Yeah, and saved my life."
But as the team dissipated to search for Master Wu, leaving Lloyd by himself to fight the crime in Ninjago City, he got used to Samurai X being around more often.
The help was appreciated since the two of them had some sort of understanding for each other, even though the samurai only talked when necessary, but now that The Mechanic had gotten out of prison once again, that's when things started to get...annoying.
"Agh!" Lloyd yelled, throwing a blast towards the criminal, watching as he dodged out of the way. "You're seriously becoming a pain in the neck!"
"Likewise, ninja. So let's finish this once," the man stopped, and Lloyd nearly got burnt with his fire gun thing, falling to the ground instead, "and for all."
But before Lloyd could manage to get off the ground, that's when the rush of wind from the blasters hit him, and he watched as the Samurai trapped the mechanic in one of their nets before flying off with him, leaving Lloyd on the street by himself.
Lloyd pulled himself off the ground and lifted up his hood before wiping a hand across his face.
He couldn't bring himself to be angry at the new Samurai X, even though he was only nine when that whole thing happened, he remembered watching as the team grew bitter towards who they would later find out was Nya, and although majority of the whole "iron sharpens iron" thing had to be explained when he was saved from the snakes, he still remembered it vividly.
Mainly because that was also the same night he found out that he was the green ninja in the first place, and the idea of people targeting him without knowing who was under the mask was something he hated the idea of.
But after having his butt saved twice by this new Samurai… He had to get to the bottom of who this was.
"But first," he realized as his stomach growled and he pulled himself off of the street, "I've gotta find some food."
•••
Skylor couldn't even hide her happiness when the little bell on the door alerted her to Lloyd's arrival.
It had been a rough day, with four people insisting that their orders were wrong even though she knew that they were right and her newest hire quitting on her right before the dinner rush, so her aching body was excited.
"Hey, Lloyd," she smiled as he sat down at the counter, but her smile faded when she saw his frown, "rough night?"
"Yeah, can we talk?" He asked, finally looking up at her, "I need...a friend to talk to."
"Yeah, totally. You want your usual?" She asked, seeing his nod before turning her head to the second chef she had hired and yelled, "hey, Evan! I'm making a number six and then I'm taking my break!"
"You got it, boss!" His yell rang back to her and she threw the towel she had wiped the counter with over her shoulder before winking at the teen clad in green.
"Give me fifteen, tops."
•••
"-And I really don't want to be mad at them, cause who gets mad at someone who's saved them multiple times? But I-"
"Can take care of yourself?" Skylor supplied before bringing a spoonful to her lips, and Lloyd nodded, "have you considered asking them to team up with you?"
"They always leave before I can get a word out. They just...poof!" Lloyd groaned, running a hand through his hair, "I just wish that Nya was here, or Kai," he watched as her face fell, and he winced, "you haven't heard from him either, huh?"
"I haven't heard from any of them since Nya said she was going undercover in that village to see if the farmers were being forced to work."
"Yeah, me either," Lloyd sighed, trying to keep his longing at bay before looking back to the master of amber, "any ideas on what to do?"
"Besides continuing to put yourself in danger?" Lloyd tried to glare menacingly, but considering she couldn't hide her laugh, he knew it wasn't all that threatening, "if they want you to know who they are, they'll tell you. Until then, you know your uncle would tell you that iron sharpens iron and that this is good for you."
'I know he would, but he's probably…'
"Yeah, I know. I've heard the story many times," Lloyd smiled for a moment before standing, "thanks for dinner, Sky."
"Hey, you saved my butt on my dad's island, it's the least I could do," she insisted before setting her hand on his shoulder gently, "I miss them too, but if you need to talk again, I'm all ears."
Lloyd smiled a genuine smile before leaving the restaurant, a plan slowly coming together in his head as he started to make his way to the apartment that Borg was paying for him to live in.
'Time to bring out some good old Darkley's knowledge and trap a Samurai.'
•••
Lloyd hadn't picked up much from Darkley's; after all, he had been kicked out for "lacking the amoral ambition to become one of tomorrow's masterminds", but he was good at traps.
So setting up the Samurai trap was easy, but how to get them to where he was, that was the hard part. 'It's not like I can just release a criminal to attack me.'
But as he continued to work out the kinks with the trap, that's when it hit him. 'I don't need a Kryptarium level threat, I just need a bounty hunter.' He reached for the phone and dialed the number he had been given last month for the latest burner phone.
"Hey, Ronin. How much money do I have to pay you to attack me?"
"Lloyd, you can't bribe me to hurt you. You're a child, after all, and I could go to jail." Ronin insisted, but Lloyd had prepared for the fact that it seemed like everyone he knew that didn't hate him had a soft spot for him.
"Don't worry, it'll be fake. I'm just trying to figure out who the new Samurai X is."
"Now you're talking, greenie," Lloyd couldn't hold back his smile as he heard the enthusiasm in the bounty hunter's voice, "I'm busy tonight, finishing up my latest job, but after that, I'll take 160."
"Deal," Lloyd agreed without a second thought, "meet me outside the construction site where Darreth is building his karaoke club tomorrow afternoon. And be ready to cause a disturbance."
"Copy that, Garmadon jr."
Lloyd shook off the nickname quickly as he heard the dial tone before setting his phone down and continuing to finish the trap.
'Hopefully I can convince Mr. Borg to give me 160 tomorrow.'
•••
"I've got you now, green ninja!" Ronin shouted, shooting a grappling hook at Lloyd's foot, which he dodged with ease; Ronin was getting into character perfectly and he could already hear the woosh of the jets on the Samurai Mech approaching quickly.
He dodged another blast, seeing as the blue and grey mech touched down on the ground and started to go against Ronin with ease, giving Lloyd the chance to pull the rope under the mech's feet, pulling it upside down and a few feet in the air.
"Wow, that actually worked." Ronin admired as Lloyd approached, watching as the person inside rapidly clicked the buttons on the mech to no avail before finally looking Lloyd dead in the eyes.
"Let me down now." Their voice was obviously distorted, and Lloyd was not having it.
"Tell me who you are, now," He demanded, pulling his hood up so he could see clearly, "and I'll let you go."
The person inside sighed, clicking a button on the side of their helmet before responding with anger in their voice, but the voice shocked him to his core.
"Master Lloyd, this is highly illogical and I request that you let me out of here as soon as possible."
'Pix?'
Lloyd set to work on getting her down as Ronin piped up "wait, so we did that whole thing just for it to be your robot friend?" Lloyd rolled his eyes and helped her down.
PIXAL took off her helmet, no longer angry but she was visibly stressed as she turned to the two of them. "Not a word about this. Either of you."
"Look, I'm getting paid, I have no reason to tell anyone." Ronin insisted as he held out his hand towards Lloyd.
Lloyd dug into his pocket and pulled out the money, putting it in Ronin's hand and waiting till he left before finally turning to his friend, grasping for words. "How long have you…"
"Had a body again?" He nodded, "right before Acronix attacked Master Wu."
The two went silent as they got the mech down from the ropes before PIXAL spoke again. "I am sorry for not telling you, but I did it to protect you. All six of you."
Lloyd looked down at his hands, trying to work through his thoughts quickly so he could respond. 'Why didn't she trust us? How much does she know? How could she keep this from Zane? Did she know how alone I felt? How much I've needed someone since the others left?'
"I am positive that you have many questions, and I am willing to answer them whenever you are ready to ask."
"Why do you continue to stay in the computer?" He asked, still looking at his hands as his mouth went dry from forcing back a choke; that wasn't the first question he wanted to ask, but knowing the logistics, maybe that would make him feel a bit better about the whole situation.
"My new body doesn't have the same power source as my old one, and I have a limited amount of time I can use it before I have to recharge. I haven't spoken to my father about it yet, and as far as he knows, I am still located inside of Zane's head."
Lloyd nodded; he was all too familiar with withholding information from people, but something about being on the receiving end of it...it made his heart hurt. He finally mustered up the courage to ask the question that was weighing heavily on him.
"Do you know how alone I've felt? I don't know where my uncle is, if he's even alive, my mom went looking for him almost immediately after and I haven't heard from the others for months…" he stopped, finally looking at PIXAL's face, her green eyes reflecting similar emotions to his own, "how much I've needed someone to talk to?"
"You could have talked to me through the computer." She offered softly, her hand grazing over Lloyd's wrist, but he pulled away, trying to reel in his anger. "I was still there."
"It's not the same, PIXAL. I know you meant well, but...it's not the same," he rubbed a hand over his face before pulling fully away from her, looking off towards the storm clouds rolling in, "you should go recharge. I have to patrol."
"Very well then, Master Lloyd," PIXAL spoke, her voice seemingly void of all emotion, "I will see you back at the apartment."
And with that, the Mech was flying through the air and disappearing into the darkness, leaving Lloyd outside of the unfinished bar where he sat down on the pier, looking out towards the rows and rows of buildings.
For the first time in months, as the first strike of lightning hit, he allowed himself to curl up into a ball before tucking his head against his knees and letting the tears he had been holding back for so long out.