It had been a year of fruitless searching and Lloyd was beginning to grow desperate. He and the others had yet to give in - their search for their Sensei would not be something to give up lightly. Or in this case, at all.
Lloyd sighed, slumping against the exterior of a shop. Another dead end. There was nothing about time loops, or fluctuations, or anything.
Everything was just - a mess.
Not to mention that he'd been so preoccupied with finding his uncle that he had all but cut communication with everybody else on his team. However, he did occasionally call Y/n when his phone was charged - that was some very little times. But the conversions were few in far between, and incredibly short. He could tell that Y/n was getting frustrated with him, and Lloyd was growing frustrated with himself.
He just didn't know what to do. He needed his uncle's wisdom. But who could he turn to now that he was still gone? He didn't have a leader to place his faith into- he is the leader. He didn't trust himself enough to have faith.
What to do?
Suppose he could still sulk around Ninjago City, stopping crime like some comic-book superhero. Like Batman. He was broody enough to be Bruce Wayne. Except he wasn't rich. And he had both of his parents. And wearing black was Cole's thing.
Lloyd sighed, perching on the edge of a rooftop and pulling off his mask, scratching his chin absentmindedly. The sun had set long ago, but the date was lost on him. There was some kind of festival being thrown in the streets below him, but for what? For who?
How long had it been since he last saw his team? Talking with Pixal in the comm didn't really count as actually being with his team. How long had it been since he was last home? He'd been scouring the streets for answers for months on end, eating fast food as infamous Lloyd Garmadon and watching from the rooftops as the Green Ninja, but nothing wielded answers. Dead ends started popping up in his nightmares.
Lloyd fell into a sigh, adjusting his legs so they dangled over the side of the building. His head pounded and his body hurt from the various uncomfortable places he'd found to nap. When was the last time he slept in a bed? Had a home-cooked meal? Checked his phone? Charged it? How long had it been dead?
He sniffed under his suit and retched.
"Ugh. I need a shower."
Lloyd stood, stretched and allowed a whimper to slip out from the multiple muscular knots he had. If he got home and was lucky, he could somehow bribe Demitri into giving him a much-needed massage. That'd be nice. After all this crushing defeat and disappointment and having the weight of the world on his shoulders, it'd be nice to relax.
Before he could go, however, something in the parading street below caught his attention.
Squinting his eyes, Lloyd leant down with a suspicious scowl. He was tired and he was hungry, but the guy in the green mask with the pair of katana strapped to his back didn't look all that friendly.
The green masked guy met up with another in a similar dark garb. The only difference in outfit choice between the chums was the newbie's colour of red.
Lloyd leapt up until he was crouching, following the two masked men with his eyes.
"Now, what are you up to?" he murmured to himself, tugging his ninja mask over his face and beginning his silent pursuit.
It wasn't long before the two were joined by the rest of their team - and Lloyd noted with mild humour that each member was colour coordinated to one of the ninja.
He followed along sneakily as the mysterious team made their way up to Borg Tower via a grappling hook. There were no surrounding buildings nearly tall enough to compete with the famous technological tower, so Lloyd was forced to swiftly climb the rope that was stationed high above the city below.
Lloyd sneaked onto the ledge that the team had disappeared onto, spotting the jagged circle that was cut through the glass. It didn't take a genius to know where they were headed.
