Lightning didn't really know why he still stuck around Yoyle City.
The Battle for Dream Island was over. There was nothing left to fight for there. There was no need to continually revisit all those painful memories; of not being seen as a good enough candidate to join, then being stuck in a metal box for ages for even thinking about auditioning. After the capricious hand of fate finally looked favorably upon him and let him be the one randomly selected to get teleported out of the Tiny Loser Chamber, he had the whole world opened to him once more. He could go anywhere he wanted, do whatever he wanted, and there was *absolutely* nothing anybody could do to stop him. After all, he had the power to dispose of anybody he pleased through immediately sending *massive* quantities of very dangerous electricity all throughout one's body. Who could stop him? *What* could stop him? The world was his sandbox. There's a life out there to enjoy. So... why does he keep being a nobody, still stuck in this abandoned city?
It definitely wasn't the BFDI veterans, the one that decided one day to let him out of that terrible prison. Besides that one act of kindness, they... didn't bully him? Maybe? After getting him out of there, they just... moved on with their lives. Got back to their daily routines, interacted with their usual friends and partners. These were people that had bonded over many years, with most of those years being full of intense, action-packed, nigh-traumatic competition and aggression. After all of that, they were obviously *very* much keen on settling into a more peaceful, more calming way of life; and *any* threat to that whatsoever, including the addition of a brand person into their lives, was ignored at best and dealt with at worst. There were the few that helped them adjust to their new life, those that still had a shred of empathy and goodness left in them. But after that... That's really it. Lightning still saw most of the original contestants as strangers; he looked up to them, knew their names, knew their faces, but that's really it. For the most part, he'd just watch them go about their lives, having all sorts of adventures that were *infinitely* more exciting than his entire lifetime.
Well, there was *one* contestant he had a somewhat-tangible relationship with, but that's something for later.
It definitely wasn't his fellow newbies either, his fellow inmates stuck in that prison known as the TLC. Being stuck in a cramped metal box with no chance for escape isn't exactly the best environment to make friends. Common sense dictates that *inevitably* all of them would put aside their differences, realize their strength in numbers, and use their collective efforts to break through the metal and find their own freedom. But, *again*, cramped metal box. There wasn't much room for yourself in there, let alone a little bit of wiggle room. Lightning got lucky, being able to fly and thus capitalize on the *vast* real estate that is the high ceiling, but most of the others didn't have that luxury. When they finally got out of there, the absolute last thing *any* of them wanted was to be with them a moment longer, and would go to very dangerous lengths to ensure that; that's the main thing the veterans that bothered worried themselves over.
So, that's the situation. Lightning was all alone, seemingly chained to this abandoned city with no future, surrounded by people that couldn't care less for him, and was most likely going to idle around there until... who knows.
So, again... *Why*?
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It took more time than he'd like to admit to find the place; things can look *really* different when you see them from above.
That aforementioned exception to that thunderbolt's lack of interactions with the others was Golf Ball. The unlikely bond turned out to be quite the surprise; in fact, it's rather hard to say which of the two of them were *more* astonished by this statistical anomaly. GB was quick to rationalize this seemingly inane decision: he could fly, which could do all sorts of wonders in her quest of gathering knowledge. He can zap anyone she hates, and she obviously has an extensive list of those people. And also, for whatever reason, Lightning seemed to be *just* fine with carrying out all the tiring, exhausting, *boring* work that the team tyrant has him do. There's probably some in-depth, interesting reason as to why that is, but the bossy-bot had the common sense not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
