#Nya walking up to Zane who's eye is flickering colors: “here let me help you with that” *smacks the back of his head*

[stealingyourspins]

Ninjago Short Prompts #2

5 + 1 fic for 5 times the ninjas have had to fix Zane with percussive maintenance vs 1 time he fixed them with percussive maintenance.

[fanfalc-616]

(Master of Emotion) Can you write a day off for ninjas and Nya (add both Pixal and Skylor) after hard work and it can help the ninja get to know each other better,especially Kai ( maybe spa day)?

Sorry this took so long, I wrote much more than I expected.

((I’m gonna place this after s7, bc I haven’t seen the end of the whole Oni thing. So I can’t put Pixal here like requested, sorry about that))

(((Watch me spend thirty minutes doing research so I can put in a minor character that’s technically canon.)))

Kai rolls his eyes as Jay starts complaining again. “I really don’t wanna go to the spa, I’m so close to finishing this invention-“

Cole shoves him playfully. “We’re already here, Sparky. I’m not exactly fond of the idea either, but I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

“Skylor should be meeting us here...” Nya mutters, looking at her phone, starting to type something- likely a text message.

The six of them stand outside the Ninjago City Spa, and Kai feels himself internally dreading seeing Skylor. He had flirted with her in the past, but they never really went official- how could they have? Kai had realized he was in love with someone else, and now they haven’t really found closure from their kinda-relationship.

“Is everything alright?” Zane prompts, speaking in a low tone to avoid drawing more attention to them.

Kai internally groans as he realizes his clothes turned purple. Great.

“Everything’s fine.” He bites out. His clothes have started to shift more towards magenta, which is only a slight relief- it’s still obvious he’s worked up over something.

“Skylor!” Lloyd greets. He waves as the crimson-haired girl walks up. “Glad you could make it.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you all!” Kai doesn’t miss how she’s looking at him when she speaks, and he internally complains about everything as he realizes his clothes are turning a darker shade of purple.

The others have started to notice the color change, and he can tell that Lloyd’s about to ask, so he speaks up first. “Let’s do this! Spa day!” He flashes a smile that probably would’ve been convincing if his actual emotions weren’t plastered all over him.

… sometimes Kai hates his powers. 

Without waiting for someone to call him out on his bullshit, he heads into the spa, walking up to the reception desk. 

The woman behind it stares, wide-eyed as she recognizes him. Which Kai probably should’ve been expecting, they all are pretty famous.

He flashes a charming grin. “Hi, I’ve got a reservation for…” He trails off, frowning. Glancing back at the others, who have now stepped inside, he gives a nervous laugh. “Who was the reservation under again?”

Zane walks up to the counter, and Kai internally curses, backing away. Of course it’s Zane. Of course it is.

He doesn’t have the mental energy to deal with his stupid emotions. Warily, he looks down at his outfit to make sure it’s not pink.

Oh, thank the First Spinjitzu Master. He knows that he’ll have to tell him eventually, but today is not that day.

“The reservation should be under Lloyd Garmadon.” The nindroid explains to the receptionist. 

Still clearly in shock, the woman- er, Cathy, as her name tag says- types something into the computer. 

“Uh, yes, you seven can sit down in the waiting room, you’ll be taken back shortly.” Cathy informs them.

“Thank you.” Zane smiles. 

So they all go back to the waiting room, and Kai makes sure to sit as far away from Skylor as possible.

And since he was so focused on being away from Skylor, he completely missed who he was actually sitting next to: Zane.

Look, it’s not that he’s avoiding him or anything, he’s just… uh… 

Yeah, okay, he’s avoiding him.

Quiet conversations start, the ninja all chatting with each other, and much to Kai’s chagrin, Zane tries to speak with him again.

“Are you sure everything is alright? You seem very tens-“

“I said I’m fine, okay?!” 

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he wishes he could take them back. He shouldn’t have snapped at Zane, he didn’t mean it!

He barely notices when his clothes start to turn shiny- but really, he should’ve paid more attention, because that’s the first sign of his embarrassment, and- 

And now he’s invisible. There’s surprise on everyone’s faces as he suddenly vanishes from sight, and he quietly groans.

Today’s spa day is off to a great start.

—————————

They all realize it as soon as they’re about to be led back into the actual spa.

Zane smiles. “It’s quite alright, I don’t mind. I can just wait out here-“

Nya shakes her head. “No! Zane, you need to come with us-“

“A spa day would not be as beneficial for me; I am not an organic life form. I can wait outside for your return.” 

What annoys Kai the most is how little Zane seems to be bothered by it. He just doesn’t seem to care that he can’t enjoy things like they can.

Kai narrows his eyes, cutting off Cole mid-sentence by stepping into Zane’s personal space and grabbing his arm.

“You can still feel things, right?”

Zane frowns. “Yes, but I don’t have skin or nails that would be affected the same way a human’s would-“

“Not what I’m asking.” Kai interjects. “You can feel things. Would the spa treatments feel nice?”

Zane seems uneasy. “I- I suppose, they most likely would be at least somewhat enjoyable to my sensors-“

“Good. You’re coming in with us.”

“But there is no purpose-“

“Yes there is! You’re always concerned about other people, take a damn break and let other people take care of you for once! You’re just as much a member of the team as the rest of us, and I shouldn’t have to tell you that!”

The room goes silent. Zane stares at him with wide eyes, and while Kai is aware that everyone else probably is too, he doesn’t care about them at the moment. 

Kai let’s go of Zane’s arm and takes a step back, closer to the actual entrance of the spa. “Well?” He demands.

The nindroid gives a small smile and nods.

Kai smiles back. 

And then he’s drawn back to reality by the woman taking them back to the spa. They all start chatting again, although a bit softer this time.

Jay tugs on his sleeve. “Hey, uh, Kai?” He speaks in a low tone. 

“What.” He really doesn’t want to listen to whatever rambles Jay has at the moment.

“You’re pink.”

Kai blinks and looks down at his outfit. Pink?! He’s fucking pink?!

Okay, okay, hopefully they’ll think it’s platonic, it can just be platonic, it’s fine-

He turns invisible again. 

God damn it.

—————————

Kai has to admit, maybe the spa thing wasn’t such a bad idea. 

The aloe vera face mask is pretty nice, and when it’s taken off, he thinks he looks pretty good. 

He also gets a sugar scrub, and then heads into the sauna. Luckily, it’s the seven of them- and just them, so there’s not any strangers.

“So Zane, how have you been doing?” Cole prompts.

Zane hesitates a moment, and then sighs. “They attempted to give me a deep tissue massage.” 

There’s a beat of silence. 

Then everyone starts laughing. 

“But you’re a nindroid! You don’t have muscles to be massaged!” Jay giggles.

“FSM, how long before they figured it out?” Lloyd snorts. 

Zane shifts some, and Kai glares at the others. How are they not realizing that it’s making him uncomfortable?!

“It took a few minutes.” The nindroid admits. “It was frustrating for the both of us.” His smile is strained, and it’s obvious that he’s covering up his emotions.

Obvious to Kai anyway.

Thankfully, the topic changes soon enough.

“Jay, what’s up with your nails?” Nya frowns.

The lightning master gives a nervous chuckle. “I liked the shade of blue.”

“They’re sparkly.” Cole adds with a mischievous grin.

Lloyd shakes his head with a smile. “I got mine done too.” He holds out his hands to show off the dark green with a swirly gold pattern. 

“Ooh, those are pretty.” Jay nods. “I thought about getting a lighter blue design on top.”

“To look like lightning? That would’ve been pretty cool. Why’d you decide against it?” Cole frowns.

So caught up in everything, Kai doesn’t notice Skylor coming over to sit next to him.

Shit.

“Kai, we need to talk.” Her voice is soft, clearly trying to avoid drawing attention to them.

“I’d rather not.” Kai chuckles nervously, the robe he’s wearing flickering over to a dark purple.

She shakes her head with a sad smile. “It’s Zane, isn’t it?”

Kai freezes, his eyes wide. Then he sighs, running a hand down his face. “That obvious, huh?”

Skylor laughs. “To everyone except for him.” She confirms.

A quiet groan escapes him. “I hate everything.”

She pauses a moment, and then sighs. “I wish you would’ve told me.”

“At that point, I was still figuring it out myself.” Kai admits sheepishly. 

“Even if our relationship was kind of complicated, I think we could still be friends.” Skylor smiles.

Kai smiles back. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Much to his surprise, his outfit is now a light yellow. Happy. Huh.

While it started a little rocky, this spa day seems to have gone pretty well.

Kai looks back over to the others, and finds Zane watching him with a pained expression. But as soon as he turns around, the nindroid looks away and rejoins the others’ conversation.

Though he’s confused at that, Kai decides to join the chatter, and Skylor does too. 

By the time they leave the spa, Kai’s clothes are bright yellow. 

Today went well… 

But who knows what tomorrow will bring?

[eyeofthewolfe]

Ninjago Normal AU

A World Where Master Wu Never Trained ANY Ninja

Chapter Eleven: Power Source

He’s the power source.

That was the only thing that was repeating in Zane’s mind during his ride to Ninjago City. He wasn’t sure what the shorter freckled teen had meant when he said that in awe, but based on the shock of both the man in the wheelchair and the tall dark haired teenager, he could only assume it meant that they knew something about him that he didn’t. Since Zane had no memories of his childhood up to just a few years ago, he gladly agreed to go back to Ninjago City for testing. Or- whatever that meant.

The car was silent for most of the way home. Zane sat in the back next to the dark haired teenager named Cole, who was trying his best to unsuspiciously sit as far away from Zane as possible. And for a teenager whose muscles were that of a body builder, it looked like he was huddled by the window. The handicapped man named Cyrus was in the passenger seat while the freckled teen named Jay drove. Even in the peace and quiet in the car, his mind still screamed about him being a power source. What was interesting is that the two other teenagers in the car could call themselves ‘power sources’ as well.

While meditating under the lake, something in his mind alerted him of something unique. Something he couldn’t quite grasp. One thing was clear though – he somehow knew it was a part of the two teenagers he found when he resurfaced. And even now in the car, he could almost feel some weird power radiate off of them. And what’s even weirder: the power seemed to grow the longer he was with them.

Jay finally got the courage to ask Zane about his past, which Zane couldn’t answer much of. Parents? Unknown. Homeland? Unknown. How Zane found the village? He stumbled upon it. Where did he come from? Again, unknown.

“You really are a lot of unknows, aren’t you?” Jay had gawked. Zane had nothing really to say to that. He looked over to Cole, who was inspecting him with narrowed eyes. Their eyes met and Cole quickly turned back to the window. What is going on? Zane asked himself again.

They arrived in the city near the middle of the night. Zane had never seen so many lights in his life, and it was gorgeous. There were warm yellow lights that dotted throughout tall buildings, there were streetlights and stoplights at every single turn, and huge neon lights that were almost any color decorated the city with fantastic color. They pulled into a building that was taller than any other. Finally, they escorted Zane into an elevator that led to a lab. Jay gestured Zane to a chair.

Then the scary things began to happen. First, Jay asked permission to get really – and a huge emphasis on really – close to Zane. He promised it would help answer their question about how he was a ‘power source”. Agreeing, Zane took off his brand new G&B sweatshirt and his undershirt. Jay used a device to scan his chest, before the freckled teen gasped.

That’s when Jay had reached over and pulled open a hidden door on Zane’s chest, revealing hardware instead of flesh.

It’s hard to describe the feeling that went through Zane. One was a feeling of understanding, because this explains all the weird phenomena he had discovered he could do over the years. But another feeling -  a much stronger one - was one of pure fear.

Jay, Cyrus, and Cole had backed away from him like he was a monster. Instead of fixing his gaze on their scared faces, he looked down at the wires and switches inside of his chest. This whole time he was a machine, and not even a human.

Zane slammed the door shut, making the others flinch back some. “I’m…sorry.” Zane sputtered out. “That…was a huge shock.”

“Wait,” Cole had gasped. “You didn’t know you were a robot?” Zane honestly shook his head ‘no’ in response.

Jay’s face softened a little. “That’s… odd,” he murmured. “Now, uh, I’m sure you don’t want to test out-“

Zane pulled back from Jay. “Please….give me some time. I…need to think.”

“Of course,” Jay replied. “We will leave you alone, is that okay?”  Zane froze.

“I’ll stay,” Cole volunteered. Zane relaxed some. “I’ll just sit over here, okay?” Cole moved over to another chair in the lab and sat down. Jay and Cyrus nodded before they left the two alone.

It was awkward for a bit as Zane stared at his knees. He could feel Cole’s gaze on him, but he was too scared to say anything. Finally, Cole sighed.

“Look, if you want to explore, go ahead. I won’t judge.” Cole spoke honestly. Zane looked up at the teenager, who offered a small smile. Zane returned a smile before slowly opening his chest again. He craned his neck to peer inside at all the switches. “Alright,” Zane murmured to himself. “Let’s see what these do.”

__________________________________________________________

Nya had turned the corner a little faster than she should have. She flinched in shock as the teenager in the lab gasped in surprise at the sudden arrival.

“My bad,” Nya apologized as the teenager with oddly shaped blonde hair regained his composure. “It’s fine,” he said back. “You just scared me is all.”

Jay followed Nya into the room. She looked over at him. “Is this him?” she muttered under her breath. Jay nodded. She rose her eyebrows. He was eerily too human-looking.

“Oh,” Zane squirmed nervously in his seat. “Would you like to see inside my chest too?”

“Uh-“ Nya droned nervously. “If you don’t mind?” Jay responded for her.

Zane smiled a little and easily popped his chest open. Nya’s jaw dropped. She walked quickly to the robot. “Fascinating…” she murmured as she inspected inside. Her gaze returned to Zane’s eyes. “And you had no idea?”

Zane shook his head. “None,” he responded.

Nya let her fingers linger over some of the pieces in his chest. “Some of these pieces are dated-like really dated. I would say at least 50 years old.”

“Dang,” Jay said as he rose his eyebrows. “That’s really impressive.”

“Super impressive, actually. Wait…” Nya’s fingers paused as she lingered over a button. “May I?” she asked Zane.

“Please, go ahead.”

She lightly tapped the button causing triangle pieces of metal to fold out, revealing a glowing piece of blue metal.

“The power source,” Nya and Jay said in unison. Nya’s fingers reached to touch the surface.

“Wait. Nya don’t-“ Jay tried warning her, but it was too late.

Nya’s fingers came in contact with the glowing piece, and a jolt of electricity instantly surged into her body, giving her chills mixed with pain. Zane cried out, as if he was stabbed in the chest. The lights in the lab flickered and died.

Jay caught Nya as she fell back. She was panting and groaning from the pain. “Are you both okay?” Jay asked both Zane and Nya in the dark. The only source of light was the flickering blue power source in Zane’s chest. Zane looked over to Jay and nodded, but his hand was clutching his chair like he was too weak to sit up.

“I’m fine, but we need to get the lights back on.” Nya groaned through her clenched teeth. “Don’t worry about me, it’s a bad sting. It’ll go away soon.”

“Okay…” Jay looked around. “The back-up generator a few rooms over should’ve kicked in; I’ll go investigate.”

“I will watch over her,” Zane told Jay. Jay nodded and pulled his phone out for a flashlight. He turned out of the lab and began to walk through the hallway to the generator room in that floor.

To his prediction, the back up generator had not responded to the sudden outage. “Come on, you big piece of metal,” he groaned at the generator. He shined his light all over it to make sure it was still in working order. Eventually Jay concluded that there was nothing wrong with it, it just needed a jump to kick into gear. Jay tried the mechanic’s first move: kicking it. Nothing happened except Jay’s foot now being in pain.

“Seriously?” Jay slammed his palm against the cool metal. “Are you not going to work? I just need you to start-“ he banged his fist against it. Still nothing.

“Just TURN ON!” He bellowed as he slammed both of his fists on the generator. However, this time he felt something move down his arms and into his hands. Before he could register the odd feeling, sparks showered off the metal and it thrust Jay back into the wall.

The room exploded in light as the generator spewed energy into the floor like it was built to do. Jay’s vision was blurry because his glasses had flown off when he slammed into the wall, but also he had hit his head pretty hard. He blinked the light out of his eyes and looked down for his glasses.

His heart froze when he saw the sparks and bolts of crackling electricity as it popped and spewed out and around both of his hands.

[eyeofthewolfe]

Evil Zane Chapter 3

He’s here. 

Prologue and Chapter 1: here

Chapter 2: here

Chapter 3

Jay had barely enough time to react before Zane fired.

An electric shield absorbed the blast but it catapulted Jay into the far wall. Stunned and panting for breath, Jay tried to get to his feet but his sickness made in too lightheaded to stand.

Zane marched around the bed, arm still raised. “Zane, what…what are you doing?” Jay gasped for air as Zane approached the vulnerable ninja.

Zane narrowed his eyes, which were changing colors from the cool blue to a startling red. “Revenge,” Zane answered as he fired for the kill.

There was a flash of orange and Zane disappeared into the wall with a giant bang.

Jay, in shock, remained panting on the floor. When Jay finally caught some breath, he reached under his bed and grabbed his numchucks before crawling to the hole in the wall.

Jay screamed when someone jumped out. “Jay-chill! It’s just me,” Cole said, calming his friend.

“Cole-Zane…Zane almost killed me! He had a gun, his eyes were red, he said he wanted….Cole,” Jay stopped suddenly, noticing something on the Earth Ninja. “Are your hands orange?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but they both froze when they heard the rubble from the broken wall shift. They both peered into the darkness and saw the shadow of their friend rise from the broken wood, the only thing glowing were red eyes.

Cole pushed Jay toward the door. “Go get the others-I’ll hold him off.”

“But you’re hurt!” Jay rebuked.

“You’re sick,” Cole snapped back. “Hurry! We need Kai and Nya!” With that, the nindroid lunged at the earth ninja and they both went down. “GO!” Cole squealed.

After hesitating, Jay rushed out of the room, screaming for help.

 __________________________________________________________

Misako and Wu were almost to the bridge when Wu froze in his spot. “What is it?” Misako asked, looking at the old sensei.

After a long pause, all Sensei did was look at Misako with a devastated look. “I sense something terrible is about to happen.”

As if on cue, the floorboards under them quaked. They exchanged a look before dashing to the stairs.

 _________________________________________________________

“The trail went dead in the desert. We have no idea where that psycho cyborg went,” Kai complained as he and Nya walked into the bridge.

Nya shrugged. “At least we captured all of the Mechanic’s little goons. I bet they are having a blast in the brig right now.” Nya drifted off, her eyes fixed on something on the ground.

“Yeah, we better get to Kyrptarium as soon as possible. What is taking Lloyd so long?” He glanced out the window as Nya kneeled down and lifted a cord off the ground.

“Zane was running a diagnostic in here…..” Nya murmured. Kai turned and looked down at her. “He left in a hurry. But why?”

“I don’t know…..” Kai answered as his eyes drifted to the main computer screen. “Oh look- a ton of numbers.” He said sarcastically as he leaned on the console.

Nya stood and stared at the two sets of numbers. “What is it…”Nya murmured. The numbers were different, but the beginning and ending sequence were the same. Nya tapped a button and the screen came to life. The numbers scrolled quickly on the screen.

“They’re codes.” Nya finally said, turning to her brother. “Codes for what?” He asked with his face aglow.

The deck shook. Kai stood fast, his body tense. Nya also reacted quickly, and with a quick glance to the older sibling they rushed out of the bridge and down the back staircase to below deck.

As they descended the stairs, a shriek echoed down the hall. “Jay!” Nya cried out, recognizing the voice instantly. In full sprint the brother and sister took off down the hallway and turned into the side hall.

As they rounded the corner, Kai heard his name called and then ran into the source of the voice. “Jay!” Kai exclaimed. “You’re okay!” He started, and then realized he was mistaken. Nya materialized next to her boyfriend as he collapsed into her arms. His face was pale and clammy and his body was shaking. “Jay, what happened?”

Eyes fluttering, Jay started making noises that vaguely represented their language. “Zane….ray..ray gun….wanted to…wanted deactivate…..revenge….eyes..red eyes…” he stuttered. Nya felt his forehead, and then looked at Kai nervously. “His fever spiked. I’m taking him to a safe place-you figure out what went-“

Before she could finish, Cole flew out from the bedroom door and painfully hit the opposite wall and laid still on the floor. Zane emerged from the bedroom, and chills ran down Kai and Nya’s spine.

A miniature ray gun was hissing on his left arm. The glittering white ninja gi was shredded - no longer hiding his titanium chest. A few dents from what appears to be from fists were scattered on his arms and face, but the nindroid seemed unfazed. He wore an uncharacteristic scowl as he turned to the three onlookers. But what turned the fire and water ninjas blood to ice was the harsh stare from Zane’s blood red eyes.

“Zane….” Nya whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. “What happened to you?”

The red flickered but remained unchanged. The nindroid cocked his head and a tiny smirk played on his mouth. “I woke up.” The titanium voice responded before shooting a pillar of ice at her.

Kai instantly melted the ice with a hot fiery blast from his own hands. “Go Nya! I’ll deal with him.” Kai demanded, grinding his teeth. Nya nodded, lifted Jay and dashed down the hallway.

The red ninja eyed the black haired teen unconscious on the floor. “Zane, I don’t know what caused this but if anyone said that your cooking last night was terrible I’m sure they kidding.” Zane furiously shot another spear of ice to Kai, who again melted the frozen water. “Foolish ninja- how dare you mock me?” Zane spat.

Kai chucked, raising his arms in defense. “I don’t know who you are calling foolish, but you are the one shooting ice at the fire ninja.”

Zane instantly shot another quick burst of ice, but it was directed at Kai’s feet. He easily side-stepped it, but the ice hit the standing water on the floor and it instantly froze. “Whoa!” Kai cried out as he immediately slipped and hit the ground hard.

Zane sneered and drifted past him, only stopping to form an icecube around the red ninja. “You’re right, I am shooting ice at the fire ninja. If only he knew how to control his element.” Zane remarked before turning down the main hallway.

Kai focused on his element to surge through his body, but it would take minutes for the ice to thaw. With Cole unconscious, Kai frozen, Jay sick, and Lloyd injured, it was up to Nya to stop Zane. That was, until Kai melted the iceberg on top of him.

 ____________________________________________________

Nya dropped the blue ninja onto her bed in her quarters, her forehead beaded with cold sweat. Jay was gasping for air and his body temperature has risen drastically. “Oh Jay,” Nya whispered, gingerly brushing back his damp hair. She spurted some cold water on his forehead to help with the fever before rushing out of the room and closing the door.

Sensei Wu and Misako rounded the corner. “Sensei! Zane, he’s turned evil!” Nya quickly told the old man just as Zane rounded the corner on the opposite side of the hallway. The three of them turned, fists clenched. “What happened to Zane?” Sensei Wu yelled at the robot.

With his left hand hissing and his right hand steaming with frost, the nindroid slowly walked down the hallway. “I don’t know what you mean, Sensei. Nothing has changed. I am Zane!”

“No, you are not!” Misako growled. “Give us Zane back!”

Zane frowned, as if he was upset. “You aren’t pleased with me? Then you must be terminated.” He raised and fired his ray gun. Misako sidestepped the blast, but it blew a hole in the wall at the end of the hallway.

“Zane! Stop!” Nya yelled. “What do you want?”

“Revenge!!” Zane spat before charging.

Nya yelled and charged back, thrusting the ex-friends into a nasty fist fight. Nya had no idea how to defeat the titanium robot but she was not going to let him hurt anyone else. She punched the metal plating on his chest and face and tried to kick the legs out from under him. But the robot was stronger than steel. Every punch and kick weakened the master of water, and the blows she received were even worse. Punch after kick decreased the energy in her body until one final cross punch made her drop like a stone. Trembling from exhaustion, pain, and fear, she gazed up at the robot under her mess of black hair. Zane raised his ray gun, smiling, when a sword wacked the nindroid to the floor.

Jay lowered and dropped the sword, face pale and covered in sweat. “Look who the samurai is now…” Jay weakly laughed as he collapsed on top of Nya, coughing. Nya laughed weakly and kissed the top of his head.

Wu and Misako dashed to the fallen android. He was trying to get back to his feet, but sensei kicked him back on the ground. Misako grabbed the samurai sword off the ground and pinned it to the droid’s chest. “Whoever you are, you have been captured. Lower your weapons and comply to our command.” Misako stated calmly.

Wu glared at the silver ninja. “Tell us who you are and what you want.”

Zane smiled. “I am Zane, and I am here for revenge.” He said coldly. He grabbed the sword and bent the metal in his fist. “Revenge from what you have taken from me.”

“What did we take?” Misako asked, genuinely confused.

The red glow in Zane’s eyes intensified, unleashing a new color. The dark purple shined through, and the unexpected color pierced Wu’s soul. “You took everything away from me,” a new voice growled underneath Zane’s angry tone. “You and your brother and your brother’s son- all stripped away my fate and destroyed me. I’m here for revenge from everything you have done to me.”

Misako’s arm wavered with the sword. “Zane, we have done nothing-“ but paused when Wu softly touched her arm. “Misako…that’s not Zane. That’s-“

The nindroid lunged to his feet, kicking Misako to the ground. The Master reached for the sword but the robot was faster. He snatched up the sword and grabbed Sensei’s robes, pulling his neck up close to the sharp blade.

“Zane, I know you’re in there, fight back!” Sensei gargled. The robot smiled cunningly at the Master’s plea. “You really don’t understand, Master, don’t you?” The robot tightened his grip on the hilt and the cool metal touched Wu’s throat. “The Zane you knew no longer exists. His code has been overwritten.”

Wu felt a warm tear slide down his wrinkled cheek. He closed his eyes, sending a prayer of apology to his father before-

“Zane? What are you doing?”

Both Wu and Zane turned to a very surprised Lloyd, his casted arms raised in surprised. Zane stared at the ninja, the purple glow intensifying. “You.” He growled, sneering at the teenager.

Lloyd’s eyes flickered to a spot beyond Zane but quickly returned to Zane. “Yeah it’s me. You’re friend and leader. Put down Sensei Wu right now.”

Zane smiled, raising a metallic eyebrow but not moving otherwise.

Lloyd furrowed his eyebrows and marched up to the robot before slapping him across the face.

The cast clanged with the metal plating on Zane’s face, and a look of surprise was all Zane could express. “You-“ Lloyd commanded, pointing a cast at the nindroid. “Stop it.”

Zane narrowed his eyes, and began his speech again. “You don’t understand, Golden Ninja! I am Zane and I am here to-“

A blur of orange sent Zane hitting the floor with an ear-splitting clang. Cole stood above the silver ninja, panting with orange glowing fists. “You are here for revenge, we heard you the first five times.” He groaned as the orange glow died. Kai, his ninja suit dripping wet, stood just behind Cole, helping up his sister. Jay laid groaning on the ground, his face a shade of green.

Zane moved to get up, but Cole planted his foot on his back. “You aren’t going anywhere, tin can.” He spat, but it was obvious Cole was weakened. His face was pale and his body was shaking slightly. Wu helped Misako to her feet, but had a careful and somber eye on the nindroid.

Suddenly, the metal head spun in 180 degrees. Cole flinched but pressed his foot down harder. “Don’t give me that look, Zane. You aren’t leaving this spot until you answer our questions.” he declared.

Zane smiled. “Is that so?” He asked. Cole paused, but his reaction was too late. Zane’s feet morphed into a different technical device, and fire burst from the bottom of it.

Zane shot forward sending Cole tripping to the floor. The robot slid right out of the hole in the wall at the end of the hallway.

“No!” Lloyd yelled as he dashed to the hole, but he wasn’t fast enough. The nindroid shifted his feet and shot into the sky like a rocket until he was just a stream of smoke in the sky.

Lloyd turned to his team. “He’s gone.” Lloyd murmured, defeated. He looked up, and fell silent as he gazed at his broken team.

Kai was helping Cole up, but it was obvious the Earth Ninja was shaken hard. Kai had lost his addicting smile, and his clothes, hair, and spirit were dampened. Nya with bruises forming on her face and arms was lifting Jay off the ground, who looked ready to throw up. Misako was favoring her left ankle, and was sharing a look with Wu, who’s face told the worst story of all. He looked broken-hearted and scared.

The team slowly collected themselves. Eventually all eyes were on Lloyd, begging for comforting words or phrases of encouragement. The green ninja was trained in leadership skills of every kind, but they just experienced something that Lloyd was never prepared to face. His eyes, burning with tears, dropped down to his green casts.

“I don’t know what to say.” Lloyd started, his voice cracking. “But I’m sure we can figure this out.”

“With what?” Kai snapped. “The only proof that Zane went commando just flew out that hole.”

“The bridge,” Nya coughed. “There was something on the screen that might hold the answer.”

After great difficulty on some ninja’s parts, the team was gathered in front of the screen in the bridge. Nya leaned against the console, staring at the numbers. “I don’t know what that means.” Nya started. “But they are codes for something.”

“Codes for what?” Lloyd asked. Nya shrugged, and winced in pain.

“I wish we had someone here to help us,” Kai grumbled, his clothes starting to air dry but still forming puddles around him.

Suddenly, the screen blinked and buzzed. All the ninja flinched in surprise as a familiar face popped on the screen.

“Maybe I can provide assistance,” PIXAL spoke softly.

“PIXAL!” Everyone on the bridge cheered weakly. “Aren’t you programmed in Zane’s hard drive?” Jay wheezed, looking at the robot.

“I was,” PIXAL chimed, her gaze dropping. “I was able to transfer my own database over to the Destiny Bounty’s hard drive before….before….” The robot burst into tears.

The ninja, despite all of their injures immediately reassured the android. But Lloyd’s voice rose above the clamor. “Before what?” He asked.

PIXAL waved her hand, and the two sets of codes appeared on the screen. “The left side is Zane’s original code from before his explosion. The right side is his new code.”

Nya narrowed her eyes. “It should be duplicated though.”

PIXAL nodded through her tears. “That’s what I assumed as well. However, there was-is- a virus growing in his code that finally took over his main drive.”

“Do we know what this virus came from?” Cole asked.

She hesitated, and took in a shaky breath. Wu, in the back of the gathering, knew exactly what she was about to say.

“The Overlord.” PIXAL cried. “The Overlord slowly corrupted Zane’s code and now has control of Zane.”