Chapter Text
Lloyd lost his arm when he was eighteen.
It was a horrific accident no one saw coming that occurred during the reign of Emperor Garmadon. Lloyd doesn’t fully remember what led him to lose his arm, he only remembers the moment it happened.
Though, from what P.I.X.A.L. told him, it was when they were spotted on a patrol by the Sons of Garmadon.
It was supposed to be a simple mission to get food and supplies for the warehouse after they’d exhausted their supply, but the Sons of Garmadon were tricky to evade. The Sons of Garmadon spent most of their time terrorizing the locals and searching for the ninja. Or, well, what was left of the ninja. Lloyd and P.I.X.A.L. decided to be the ones to carry out the mission, but weren’t careful enough. They had been spotted by a biker.
Lloyd was fleeing for his life, breathing heavily as his exhausted body pushed itself into overdrive to get away from Ultra Violet, who was right on his tail. He’d ducked into a tight alley and scaled the walls, using the clotheslines to pull himself up faster as the roaring of motorcycle engines blared in his ears. He reached the top of the building, panting as adrenaline fueled his pounding heart. He didn’t stop. Didn’t even take a moment to breathe as he jumped from roof to roof. They had to lose them before they accidentally led them back to the base.
Ultra let out a scream rivalling a banshee, and redirected herself to drive towards where P.I.X.A.L. was fleeing in the street. Lloyd saw she was about to be surrounded. Bikers wielding swords and axes circled her like sharks. She threw herself at an unsuspecting biker, nearly throwing him off his bike. He reoriented himself, though, and latched onto the nindroid’s curly ponytail. He began to drag her behind him, accelerating his bike to dangerous speeds as P.I.X.A.L. thrashed wildly behind him. The bikers cried out and laughed at her expense, and Lloyd cried out.
“No!”
He leapt off the building, landing on an abandoned car and launching himself at the first biker that passed. Lloyd’s weight offset the biker’s balance, and the biker wiped out onto the road with a surprised cry. Lloyd rolled expertly across the street and stood up, dodging a katana that was aimed at his neck with a gasp. Ultra was laughing once more, the sound grating Lloyd’s ears.
P.I.X.A.L. managed to wrench herself free from the man’s grasp, rolling painfully and skidding to a stop in the middle of the road. Lloyd could see some sparks flick off her metallic skin. Lloyd grit his teeth, dancing around charging bikers and making his way towards P.I.X.A.L., who had pulled herself up and begun high-kicking bikers off of their vehicles—said vehicles sliding into unsuspecting drivers and causing them to also wipe out.
Lloyd punched a downed biker, who had scooped up her axe and tried to make a swipe at P.I.X.A.L. If only Lloyd had his powers—
“Lloyd, you have to get out of here!” The nindroid said, grabbing a biker’s arm and flinging him into another woman donning a spiked ball chain. “I can fight them off.”
“No,” he said breathlessly, dodging a sword and kicking the man so hard in the face Lloyd thought he saw a tooth fly out of the man’s mouth.
“Lloyd–”
“No, Pix! We’re doing this together!” Lloyd insisted.
In his moment of distraction, a heavy chain wrapped around Lloyd’s arm and pulled. Similar to P.I.X.A.L. a few moments ago, Lloyd was dragged across the jagged street concrete with a wail. Rocks cut through his gi and scraped every part of his body. His stomach and legs felt like they were being shredded with street burn. Lloyd could hardly hear the shouts and cackling of onlookers over the deafening motorcycle, not to mention the putrid exhaust that blew into his face.
The biker slowed down slightly to give the chain some slack, only to kick the vehicle into full gear and turn quickly to the right. Lloyd’s body was jerked to the side, and he heard a sickening POP and RIP over the noise around him.
It took no more than a millisecond for Lloyd’s arm to feel like it was ripped out of place before a hot flash of searing pain overcame him. He was flung away from the bike, having somehow escaped the chain. He rolled over and over on the unforgiving street before he came to a screeching halt. Stones and rocks bit into his skin as he caught his breath, reeling from the whiplash of being dragged like a limp doll. He was sure various parts of his body were covered in street burn.
The bikers went silent.
Lloyd shifted uncomfortably, sore from the bruising of the “trip.” The pain in his arm worsened every second until he was writhing on the ground and screaming. All of his senses flooded with hot flashes of pain and panic. Something was very, very wrong.
He couldn’t feel his arm.
He didn’t realize P.I.X.A.L. was by his side—or that his eyes were closed—until he felt a brush of cool metal cradling his face. He could register her frantically whispering, but he wasn’t sure what she was saying, or even who she was saying it to.
P.I.X.A.L. brushed his face with her fingers over and over again, and Lloyd realized he was still screaming.
The motorcycles revved all around him, and people were shouting and running around them. Lloyd became delirious with pain, unable to do anything but cry and shake and wreck his voice. At some point, between P.I.X.A.L. comforting him and his body tuning back into the world around him, his crying began to die down and an odd sense of numbness overcame him. The pain he felt lessened—or did he just not feel it as much? His crying stopped, and he began to chuckle.
Man, he was the king of overreacting. He felt fine enough. Sure, his arm was numb, but he probably just hit it real hard or something. How embarrassing. Lloyd shook his head, unable to stop the wave of laughter that made his head feel fuzzy.
Why was he laughing? Lloyd didn’t know. He just felt…suddenly euphoric. He felt almost good. He was grinning widely, his laughs coming out involuntarily. Deep down, Lloyd knew the laughing was inappropriate at this moment, but any attempt he made to stifle it only made him laugh harder. He should apologize to P.I.X.A.L. for his overreaction.
Then, Lloyd’s smile dropped, and he suddenly felt very tired. His eyelids drooped, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
“He’s going into shock—Lloyd? Lloyd!” P.I.X.A.L. shook his arm—the one he could feel—and brushed his face with her fingers. They felt cool against his face. “We have to get him back now.”
Lloyd was lifted under his arms by strong hands, and his head lolled to the side as he groaned. “I know, just hang in there, buddy,” a new voice said.
“S…Sky…?” Lloyd slurred, his vision out of focus.
“Yeah, it’s me Greenie.” Skylor sounded very serious. “Can you move your legs for me?”
Lloyd blinked, her words not fully processing in his mind. “My leg…ss..?”
“I think you have to carry him,” Skylor said, urgency in her voice.
“Right, give him to me.” P.I.X.A.L. and Skylor held Lloyd up—his legs didn’t seem to be working at the moment—and then all of a sudden his feet weren’t touching the ground.
His head fell into the crook of P.I.X.A.L.’s neck, his legs dangling in her arms. “What’s happening…?” His eyes were lidded and unfocused.
Skylor, for some reason, was holding his right upper arm very firmly. “We’re going back to the base, Lloyd.”
Skylor squeezed something tightly around his arm, and Lloyd moaned in pain. “You’re hurting me,” tears pricked at his eyes again.
“I know, I’m sorry, just hang on–”
“We have to go now.” P.I.X.A.L.’s tone was dead serious. Lloyd felt a pit open in his stomach. Did he make her mad? Was she mad because of his overreaction to the bikers?
“‘M sorry…” his voice was hoarse.
He heard P.I.X.A.L. exhale sharply. “It’s okay, Lloyd. We’ve got you.” She sounded a little panicked.
Lloyd blinked, his eyes having a hard time focusing. He wanted to rub his eyes, but his body was completely limp. “The…Sons of Garmadon…”
He was so tired.
What happened?
“They’re gone,” Skylor said curtly. “Just–keep talking to me, okay?”
“Gone?” Lloyd’s vision blurred. “Did we win…?”
He didn’t receive an answer.