It was getting worse. Ignoring it wasn't working.

What was wrong with him? He wasn't crazy. He wasn't. Yeah, hearing voices no one else could wasn't a good sign, but it wasn't like the voices were telling him to kill everyone or that everyone was out to get him or that the squirrels were preparing to rise up and take over. Or maybe they were, and Lloyd just couldn't make out the words.

The voices didn't seem… bad though. He wasn't getting an evil vibe. It wasn't friendly, exactly, but it wasn't malicious. It felt like something was reaching out to him, but he didn't know why or who.

He sounded crazy even to himself.

"Well, good news," the doctor announced cheerily. "Your ears look just fine." And there went that last shred of hope.

"Oh, that's a relief," Lloyd said with a strained smile. He'd made up a story about worrying his ears might have been damaged in the field to get the doctor to look at them. He didn't know what he'd been hoping the doctor would find.

"Yes, you said you weren't having any symptoms or ill effects, but it's always good to check if you have concerns," the doctor continued. "Fortunately, your ears are the picture of health."

"Yep, thanks."

Lloyd stared down at the sidewalk as he trudged his way back to the Bounty. What else could he do? That had already been a bottom of the list idea. He supposed he could go to another doctor for a second opinion, doctors were wrong all the time, but, deep down, Lloyd had already known there was nothing physically wrong with his ears. Another doctor visit would just be a waste of time and money.

So what did that leave him with? Hoping it would eventually stop? Seemed unlikely, it was only getting more frequent and louder (no more understandable though). Was he just supposed to ignore it? That would be easy enough if it were just a sound, but he did want to-

No.

Lloyd shook his head sharply. None of that. Absolutely not. He was staying right here. He already had other things he was dealing with; he was not dragging himself and his family into something else. Because it had to be something, no way whatever-it-was was just trying to say hi. It had to be something evil trying to lure him into a trap, or something that would turn into a whole big thing, or someone who needed hel- no,no, not that one. And if someone did need help, someone else could help them for once. Lloyd was not leaving. Even if the voices made his heart thrum, he was going to stay put.

The voices did seem to be coming from an actual place, it was one of the things that had convinced Lloyd the voices weren't just something his own brain was making up. As far as he could tell, they were coming from the northeastern part of Ninjago. He couldn't pin an exact location from the points he had. It was a very large area that he'd only be able to narrow down by following the voices, which he was not going to do. So all his efforts to charting down the voices' directions as he traveled around Ninjago wasn't turning out to be that helpful.

"Lloyd?"

Startled, Lloyd jerked his head up to see Zane looking at him from further up the path.

"Oh, hey, Zane," Lloyd greeted, feeling guilty even though he hadn't done anything wrong. Nothing technically wrong. They were still a little way out from where they'd parked the Bounty. Zane must be going into town for some reason.

"I was not aware you were in town, I would have suggested we meet up," Zane said, coming closer. "I thought you were in your room." Was that an accusation or not? It was hard to tell with Zane sometimes.

"I was just kind of walking around," Lloyd shrugged, answering the possibly unspoken question. "I wasn't really doing anything. What're you going to town for?" Hopefully, that question would distract from any weirdness from that no one had seen Lloyd leave the Bounty and from wanting to know exactly where Lloyd had gone.

"I wanted to get groceries before we take off again," Zane explained. "We are low on quite a few produce and ingredients."

"Oh, cool, you want some help?" Lloyd offered.

Surprise flashed across Zane's face. It wasn't that Lloyd had been avoiding the others recently exactly, but between dodging their 'concern' and trying to hide the hearing voices thing he hadn't spent as much time with them as he usually would. He shouldn't have anything to worry about with this though. They'd be in a public place most of the time so no talks and he'd gotten used enough to the sudden voices popping in that it wouldn't throw him off if it happened.

"I would appreciate the company and the extra set of hands," the nindroid confirmed.

"Cool," Lloyd said, "so what do we need?"

As they walked, Lloyd did his best to fill any awkward silence. It was harder than usual, he had to flail for any random topic. Birds, the weather, the town's architecture, anything his eyes landed on was a potential talking point. Zane talked back, but he didn't start any new conversations. Was this some kind of strategy to make Lloyd crack? Did Zane think he was suddenly going to burst out talking about his problems if given the silence? Sure, Zane wasn't the chattiest of their group, but he talked more than this. Or could Zane not think of anything not touchy to talk about? Both options weren't good.

Thankfully, things got more normal once they were in the store. It was easy to talk about what they needed and what Zane planned to make with them.

"What did we use so much coriander on?" Lloyd asked, raising an eyebrow. With how little of the spice recipes usually called for it seemed like the jar should last forever. And they'd had to replace basically everything since the Bounty had been destroyed. He couldn't imagine how they'd used up a whole jar in just three weeks.

"I used the last of it in the noodles last night," Zane explained, grabbing various other spices off the wall. "I didn't get much of any of the spices to start out with. Now that everything in the Bounty is more settled, I'm ready to fully restock."

"Yeah," Lloyd sighed. "It took me hours to-"

"Oh my gosh!" an excited voice cried out. "Is that Zane?!"

Lloyd turned to see three teenagers, two girls and a guy, watching them from the front of the aisle. His heart sank at the sight. There was no way they were going to mistake Zane for anyone else, he was the only robot dude running around Ninjago. And once they knew who Zane was they'd also-

"And is that the green ninja with him?!" the other girl whisper-shouted. Did they seriously think they couldn't hear them?

Lloyd was used to getting recognized in public at this point. He could avoid it, especially outside of Ninjago City, but it usually took a little effort on his part. Hoodies were a big help. Not wearing green also really threw people off. Zane could escape being recognized quite easily, if he used his holo-science whatever to look human. The robot form was always immediately recognized though. The people of this village already knew the ninja were here, but Lloyd still would have-

"Thanks for everything you guys do for us," the guy called out, hanging back out of either respect or shyness. The girls were more bold.

His hackles rose as they rushed up to them. "Wow," the brown-haired girl exclaimed. "You're actually here! I mean, I heard you were here, and I saw you on the fire ninja's socials, but I thought you'd already left!"

Lloyd groaned internally. Of course Kai had posted something. Lloyd didn't use social media much himself. Really the main reason he ever went on was to monitor what Kai was posting. His older brother wasn't stupid, he didn't constantly post where they were and what they were doing, but he did need to be reminded to reign it in a bit sometimes.

"We will be leaving shortly," Zane informed them. "The bad guys have been dealt with and your town is now safe. We are just doing some errands before we depart."

"Can I take a picture with you guys?" the black-haired girl with purple highlights asked, already taking out her phone.

A mix of unease and suspicion crept through Lloyd's skin. What did these people want? Were they actually fans or did they have another reason for pretending to like him? Why did people always want pictures? Why couldn't more people just be like 'oh cool' and leave?

"Oh, er," Lloyd hesitated. It felt mean to say no. There wasn't really a reason to refuse. Their location wasn't a secret at the moment, and he was dressed fine, his hair wasn't a mess or anything.

"I apologize," Zane broke in, moving to stand between Lloyd and the girls. "Due to the nature of our work, we must be selective with when we allow pictures. Now unfortunately is not a good time."

"Oh…" The girls deflated but didn't try to argue. A wave of relief rolled over Lloyd. He hoped Zane could sense his gratitude.

The guy who had been staying back before had crept forward to rejoin his friends. "Well," the brown-haired girl said, "it was still cool to meet you." The other two nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, thanks," Lloyd replied, always unsure of what to say with this kind of stuff. The automatic response was 'thanks, you too,' but that didn't make sense.

"Good luck with Garmadon," purple highlights called out before the group disappeared from view.

They'd been well meaning. They hadn't even been that intrusive, immediately backing down when they'd been told to. He shouldn't be feeling as annoyed as he was. He'd dealt with more obnoxious fans in the past and been fine. He was being unreasonable. He knew he was. So why didn't the feeling go away?

"I am sorry, Lloyd," Zane said.

"For what?" Lloyd asked, turning back and grabbing the shopping list Zane had written out from the cart. "They were fine."

"They weren't the worst," Zane agreed, "But they did not properly account for your feelings."

Lloyd scowled down at the list. "My feelings are fine. I don't need people tiptoeing around me." Damn, his eyes were so dry and itchy. He really did need more sleep. Or some eyedrops. "If anything, I'm surprised they even wanted a picture with me. I'm basically a walking battery to the bad guys. I'd probably be more useful to Ninjago if I took a sudden fall off a steep cliff."

When Lloyd glanced up again, Zane was looking at him with a horrified expression that many would think a robot incapable of making. Confused, Lloyd rewound his words in his head.

"Lloyd!" Zane whispered harshly, a rare anger sparking in his frosty eyes. "What are- never say things like that! That isn't true! You know that isn't true. Ninjago would have been lost long ago without you. We would have been destroyed."

It all finally clicked in Lloyd's sleep deprived head. "What?! NO!" he rushed to correct as he realized how his last sentence might have sounded. "No, I didn't mean it like that! I just worded that badly." He understood his powers were necessary. It was one of the main reasons he'd never tried to leave. He just hated that the bad guys so often seemed to be able to easily drain his powers and take them for their own. "I just- was frustrated. I didn't even mean to say anything at all. I've never even considered doing anything like- that."

Zane's eyes bore into him for a few seconds longer before the nindroid relaxed. "Lloyd," he sighed, placing a firm hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "When we return to the Bounty, get some sleep. No excuses."

"Yeah," Lloyd mumbled, gazing down at the floor. "Okay." He'd try at least. The one benefit these voices gave him was that they distracted him from all the other bad stuff in his life. And he'd heard the voices just an hour ago so he should have time before the next batch of nonsense.

"Good," Zane said, returning to their cart. "We're almost done with the shopping. We just need some produce from the dairy aisle. And while it is not on the list, I believe some candy would be a nice treat."

A small smile tugged at Lloyd's lips. "Well, if you say so."