Trust and Happiness (A Ninjago Fanfic)

Chapter 6

It was dark. No, dark is only putting it simply. Think of the blackest night, with no stars to be seen, and the moon's glow, vanquished. Combine that with the blackness of tar, freshly stirred and sticking to everything it touches. That is what this was. It stuck to him, made it impossible to see. He couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.

He wasn't dead. No, he knew that. Just...shut down. The state he was in was more of a comatose than death. But it might as well be. He couldn't escape it. It clung to him with its sticky, black fingers, pinning him, preventing him from reaching the surface.

That's another good way to describe this sensation. He was at the bottom of the ocean, hundreds of miles beneath the surface of the waves that not even a pinprick of light penetrated the inky darkness.

He moved around, sluggish. He wasn't walking, he was more...gliding. He couldn't feel his body. He didn't think he had one. He was a stream of consciousness, a soul without a home, wandering in the space between life and death. The ancient black hole that existed before time.

"Zane."

Zane. That name was familiar. Did he know someone with that name? No, it had a more personal tone than that. Was it his name? Yes, that seemed right. Zane. His name was Zane.

"Zane, it's me. P.I.X.A.L."

P.I.X.A.L. Just the sound of it made warmth spread through him. What was this feeling? It was tingly, and warm, and made him feel like he was floating on a cloud. Happiness? No, not quite. Happiness was simple; you knew exactly how it felt, what it was. It was a basic emotion. This was complex, deep, like a pool, swirling with different colors. It wasn't one solid emotion, it was more, multiple, swirling and combining like the colors to make one, vast, feeling.

Love.

Yes, that was it. This was love. He loved P.I.X.A.L. He couldn't quite remember her, but he had flashes. A purple dress, silver hair, green eyes, and a hand on his chest. He couldn't recall her face, and it annoyed him. Why couldn't he see her clearly?

"Zane, you must remember. Think of your friends. They need you."

Friends? He didn't remember any friends. He saw colors though. Red. Black. Blue. He felt the blue meant the most to him. Then a lighter blue, one that seemed to radiate a tough stubbornness. And then one more. He couldn't quite make it out. It was Green, no, Gold. It was both, split in half, like a Yin Yang symbol. The Gold was fierce, ancient, powerful, while the Green was more...gentle, more accepting. They couldn't be more different, yet they were one. Both were strong. Both cared for him deeply. He sensed that about all the colors.

There were other colors, too, but not quite as clear as those. There was another Gold, yet this one was more...rusty. Old. More a copper now. Then there was a deep Purple. It was almost a scary color, threatening, and just as powerful as the coppery Gold, but there was a kindness and a wisdom in it. There was also a great sense of lost, like the person this color belonged to was gone.

The last was a Silver. He couldn't feel much from this color, as if he wasn't quite attached to this one as the others. But this one danced alongside the previous two, emanating a powerful wisdom together.

No, wait, there was one more. Brown. He sensed a goofiness to this one, and a laziness, but a great protectiveness, like he had someone to look after.

What was his color? The first that came to mind was white, but something felt...off. He sensed a deep connection to this color had been severed, only to be replaced with something new.

What was it?

Not a color...

A metal.

Titanium.

All his memories came flooding back. He remembered being Zane, the original Zane, chasing after a strange falcon that danced for him. He remembered discovering the Destiny's Bounty, and the Serpentine. He remembered discovering what he was, that he wasn't a real human. He remembered outwitting the Great Devourer by tying it in a knot around Ninjago City. He remembered the Final Battle, evil clouding his mind as the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master and the Overlord fought.

He remembered the birth of New Ninjago City, and the school he taught at. He remembered going to space. He remembered sacrificing himself for his brothers, overheating his heart and blowing up, only to rebuild himself and be captured by Chen.

He remembered seeing Cole for the first time in months, with new eyes and a new body. He remembered his reunion with Jay, Kai, Lloyd, and Garmadon. He remembered Garmadon's sacrifice, banishing himself to the Cursed Realm to save his son.

He remembered the more recent battle with Morro, and Cole's loss of his physical form. He remembered his love, P.I.X.A.L.

Most importantly, he remembered who he was,

The Titanium Ninja.

He wasn't Zane anymore, not completely. Sure, they looked the same. They shared the same memories and feelings. But he was new. He was a different person. He had different thoughts, different way of viewing things. But some things they both had. Like the love of his brothers, Nya and Sensei Wu. And falling head-over-heels for P.I.X.A.L.

"Zane, do you remember me?"

"Yes." He could barely speak, yet his voice rang out in the darkness around them, echoing endlessly.

"Oh, thank goodness! When I tell you, you need to try and wake up. Okay?"

"Okay. Wait, P.I.X.A.L.?"

"Yes?"

"Why is it so dark? What happened?"

She paused, and did not speak. "P.I.X.A.L.?"

"You shut yourself off. You flipped your power switch. Jay's trying to fix you now...Go! Wake up!"

Startled, he jumped, only to find himself slowly sinking back to his original spot. This was like the ocean. He pushed, swimming up slowly. He felt like he was swimming through syrup, the matter pushing back at him, trying to force him back down. But he refused. Only when his arms started to get tired did he see the first signs of light. It was small, just a tiny little dot, but it was enough to make him shield his eyes and float back to the bottom.

"No, Zane! You must keep going!"

He had to keep going. For his brothers. For P.I.X.A.L. For himself.

He, determined as ever, kept making his way to the surface, the light growing, but still very far away.

Suddenly, a little, gray, fish-like creature swam up to him. It was hard to see; it was only a shade lighter than the rest of the world around him.

"No, Zane, stay away from it! Don't let it touch you!"

"But why," he replied, confused. He reached a hand toward it. It opened its mouth, and, quick as a flash, bit him, and held on tight.

He didn't scream. He didn't even register the pain. He stopped pushing up, and began the slow descent back down.

The fish's touch flooded his mind with a deep, raspy voice. It whispered nasty things to him, whittling down his already poor self-esteem. It was nothing he didn't say to himself every day.

"You're weak," it said. "Pathetic."

More fish flocked to him and locked on to parts of his body.

"Scum."

"Coward."

"You can't do anything."

"Worthless."

The fish scattered, leaving him in a slight state of shock. He shook his head, and began pushing up again, faster now, trying to make up the lost distance.

"No one messes with my Zane."

He could hear faint voices now. Actually, it was one voice, mumbling to itself. He knew that voice. It belonged to Jay, the Blue Ninja, Master of Lightning, and his closest friend.

The light, which had been so far away not long ago, surrounded him, and he broke the surface.