Your POV
You lay on the floor on your back, the ninja around you. Zane put his hand on the arrow that was stuck in your leg.
"Y/n, do you-"
"Just pull it." You bit your lip and braced yourself. A shot of pain wen through your leg as Zane moved.
"Kai, you have the bandages, right?" Zane looks up at Kai.
"Yeah."
"Do it, Zane. I'm not leaving this stupid thing in my leg." You put your face in your hands, getting impatient with the suspense.
"Alright." Zane lets out a breath, then he yanks the arrow out. Your clothes were soaked in blood quickly. You covered a scream with your hands and immediately felt light headed. Jay put his hand on your shoulder as if to comfort you.
Kai wraps the bandage around your leg. He ties it tightly, and you let out another groan of pain.
"Throw this away." Zane gives Cole the bloody arrow. Cole takes it gingerly and goes outside.
"Y/n, calm down." Jay pats your head as Zane wipes the blood up.
"Uhhhhhhggh... I'm calm." You lift your head up and blink hard a few times. "I'm gonna faint."
"Please don't." Kai mutters. He wraps a second bandage around your leg. You didn't feel like standing up yet.
You sit up and wince loudly. The second layer of bandages was only pink, not deep red.
"Sit here for a while." Zane throws the blood-soaked papers away.
"I don't wanna sit here forever." You touch your bandages gently. A faint throb of soreness went through your leg.
"We'll get you later. We're gonna go train." Jay leaves your side and heads for the door.
"What, I'm gonna be so bored." You look around the empty room. There's nothing for you to do.
"Sleep." Kai suggests, wiping his hands on his red gi.
"Guys-"
The door already shut. You were left alone in the room with nothing to do.
"I'll just... meditate." You scowl and lay back down. You stare up at the ceiling, trying to calm your nerves. You fidget with your Silver Weapon, changing it into different objects. You got tired after using your power for thirty minutes and closed your eyes.
"..."
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
You woke up to the sun shining brightly in your eyes and a very hot wound.
"Ughh..." You sit up and take a glance at your leg. The bandages were soaked with red liquid.
"Must be 6:45." You thought aloud. You use your other leg to stand up. The strain was painful.
You had a brilliant idea to makes crutches out of your silver power. You might get tired again, but it was worth walking. You made a pair of crutches and hopped out of the room and to the deck.
The ninja was awake and slowly training. They were talking more rather than fighting.
"Guys?" You clear your throat.
"Huh? Oh, Y/n!"
The ninja finally notice you and run towards you.
"How's your leg?" Cole was the first to ask.
"I'm okay. I'll change the bandages by myself later. Thanks for your help." You take a look at them. They looked like over excited puppies. "What're you talking about?"
"We're just planning some training ideas." Kai nodded.
"Jay wants to get struck by lightning." Zane prompts.
"W-what? No! I'm not gonna get struck." Jay stutters as he speaks quickly.
"You guys are crazy." You chuckle. "But how's that gonna improve your training?"
"We're testing our abilities." Zane explains.
"There's a lightning storm tomorrow!" Jay piped up.
--
You were sitting inside the ocean beside Zane in a protection bubble. He was meditating under water for about... a long time, let's say that.
You had your leg re-bandaged seven times over the time span of four days since the fight. You always had to use crutches to get around, but you could slowly walk if you needed to.
You watch a few fish swim by. Zane pet one and began to rise up. You follow him. Once you reach the surface, your shield pops.
"Amazing!" Cole exclaims.
"We're not worthy." Jay bows on the deck of the Bounty.
"I broke the record?" Zane treads water. You jump onto the Bounty.
"You destroyed it!" Kai yelled, gripping the timer tightly.
"You didn't even break a sweat!" You said, dusting yourself off. Jay helped you onto the Bounty.
"Okay, okay. Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking? We've been training for so long, I don't think we can get any better. Just think about all we've accomplished." Jay chuckles. Cole was doing some fancy flips and shadow boxing in the background.
"Oh really?" You raise an eyebrow.
Flashback~
"Kai, is this a good idea?" You stand with your hands on your hips, doubtfully watching Kai stretch. You helped set up the trail of hot coals for him yesterday.
"Have some faith in me." Kai stretches his legs. He hops up and down, creating some fire with his hands.
"Alright..." You sit down beside the finish of the trail of hot coals and wait.
Kai lets out a breath and runs straight across the hot coals.
He finishes without any injury or burns.
"See?"
You roll your eyes but smile. "Again."
--
"Jay, are you sure about this?!!" You yell from the top of the radio tower. Lighting flashed and crackled in the sky, but there was no rain. If Jay was struck, you were there to use your powers to help him right away.
"I'll be fine!" Jay does a double front flip and landed on top of the radio, keeping a strong one-handed handstand.
Lighting flashed everywhere, but no matter what, it didn't hit Jay. The chance of that was like, 10%.
"Hehe." Jay climbed down after five minutes.
"I could've pushed you over." You nudge him, flipping your hair out of your face.
"Don't you dare!"
--
You sit cross-legged on the ground. Cole was placing four weights on each side of the weight lift.
"This isn't enough." Cole said to himself. You shrug. Cole got an idea and fetched Jay and Nya.
Jay sat on top of one side of the weight lift while Nya sat on the other. They both held various objects and more weights. You were balanced between them on their shoulders. Cole lifted you all up with little effort.
End of flashbacks~
"The question should be raised. Perhaps we have reached our full potential?" Zane inquired.
You shook your head, but the ninja already went inside to tell Sensei. Sighing, you follow them.
"Well, every morning I do five hundred push-ups." Zane was saying.
"Five hundred? Ha, try a thousand." Kai scoffs.
"Hahaha, I do a thousand and one." Jay crosses his arms. You started to get tired with their boasts.
"What is this, amateur hour? Sounds like my warm-up. Sensei, what does True Potential look like if-"
Cole goes silent once he realizes they've invaded on Sensei's privacy and quiet time. Sensei Wu was sheathing a katana.
"Our apologies, Sensei. We've interrupted you." Zane said right away. The ninja bow respectfully, and so do you.
Senseis sighs and nods in acknowledgement and puts the katana down. You've seen that katana several times and heard the story dozens of times. "I'm sorry if I've been distant lately. My mind has been elsewhere since Lloyd has gone missing. What can I help you with?"
"Sensei, what if we've done enough training? What if we've reached our True Potential? What if we're ready?" Cole asks for everyone. You lean on the doorway, thinking about yourself. You might not have an Element of Creation, but there could still be a True Potential for yourself. You don't actually know.
"Hm. You might have reached peak physical condition, but you've yet to reach your inner potential. In each and every one of us, there are obstacles that hold us back. Only when you conquer that fear will your heart be free. Only then will you reach your True Potential. Only then will we have a fighting chance to stop the serpentine from releasing the Great Devourer."
"There's more to the Great Devourer than you've led on, isn't there, Sensei?" Zane walks closer to Wu.
"I too have obstacles within my own heart. There's a story I've never told you."
You purse your lips. Not this story again. You've memorized every word of every minute. Sensei sensed your impatience, but continued anyway.
"Long ago, when I was a young boy, and I were more than brothers. We were the best of friends."
"Wait a minute." Jay stopped the fourth wall flashback. "Now, I know you two were brothers, but really? The King of Cruelty, the Doer of Destruction, the Captain of Chaos, and you two were friends?"
"Please, no interruptions." Sensei resumed. "You see, he did not always have a wicked heart. One day, I lost this very katana. Knowing our father would be mad, my brother told me to go retrieve it. But I refused. He told me not to put off what can be done today and went to get it himself. When my father found him, he was very ill, for he was bitten by a legendary snake that would grow forever as long as it consumes. A great evil had found its way into my brother's heart, for the snake's venom could turn the purest of things wicked."
Your thoughts wandered off. What would happen if the Great Devourer bit itself? Probably nothing. Or what if it bites a plant? Plants are alive. Maybe they could mutate or something.
"The snake is the same one the Serpentine want to reawaken today. It is the snake that took my brother away from me." Sensei finished the story.
"So the Great Devourer turned your brother into the Dark Lord?" Kai asked in a whispery voice.
"It was all my fault." Wu closed the case to the katana and lifted it up. "You four have finished your training. You must now focus on stopping Pythor from collecting the Fangblades. But never lose focus on the obstacles that lie within each of your hearts that holds you back from true greatness. Unlock your True Potential."
"But how are we supposed to do that, Sensei?" Zane said. He's usually the one to ask the questions everyone's thinking.
"It is up to each of you to discover. Now I must go on a personal journey of my own." Sensei walks out of the room but the ninja follow. You speedwalk to Sensei's side.
"Where are you going?" Your expression changes to one of concern.
"To a place you cannot follow." Sensei answers.
"Actually, I've been to almost every realm-"
"If you're going for Lloyd, the City of Ouroborus is filled with hundreds of Serpentine. You'll never do it alone." Cole jumped to conclusions.
"I am going to find someone who can be of aid. The Serpentine have united and grown stronger and we will need all the help we can get." Sensei Wu explains.
Jay steers the Bounty to a mountain where Sensei said to take him to. Sensei walked off the Bounty and onto the mountaintop.
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
After Sensei left, the ninja came up with a kinda stupid idea to put flyers of the missing Fangblades all around the city. You managed to stick three until you gave up on trying.
The flyers were simply made with the phone number of 555-122091-1.
"Oh, this is silly." Zane says, readjusting his grip on the stack of flyers.
"You have any better ideas?" Cole's tone suggests that he was desperate for something better as well.
"Hey, maybe Sensei is gonna go get the Samurai for help." Jay guesses again for the fifth time. A flurry of nervousness arises in you at the subject.
"The Samurai must be too bu-"
"The Samurai? I'm sure she's—I mean, he's busy looking for the Fangblades as well." Kai interrupts you. He grins sheepishly. You punch him in the arm so hard he staggered.
"Uh, is everything all right?" Cole notices something is wrong.
"Yeah, yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" Kai chuckles.
"One hundred percent. We're not hiding anything." Nya says in an assuring tone, but her face was nervous as well.
Zane was standing in front of a store, staring at something in the sky. A gust of wind blew by and the flyers in his hands flew all around the street.
"Hey, weirdo. You're making a mess of my store front. Yoo-hoo! You got a problem?" The store owner marched up to Zane. Zane didn't pay attention to him and completely dropped the stack of paper.
"I'm sorry, sir. Sometimes our friend is in another world." Kai runs up to the man and apologises.
You let out a sigh.
"He's littering all over the place."
"We'll pick it up. So sorry." Cole bends down to pick up the papers.
"Zane, what's there?" You look up in the sky and see the falcon.
"Ah! It's the Falcon! Oh, my gosh! Every time we follow it, it leads us to good fortune." Jay gasps.
"Head back to the Bounty and wait till you hear from us." Kai says to Nya.
"But where are you going?" Nya looks disappointed she has to clean up the mess.
"We're gonna follow the bird. Who knows, it could lead us to the first Fangblade." Kai turns on the corner, then he's gone.
"I'll go too. Sorry, Nya." You create a motorcycle with your powers and speed after the boys.
You drove slowly alongside the ninja, stopping a few times to allow them to catch up.
Kai groans, running up a sand dune and stopping to catch his breath.
"Y/n, can't we hitch a ride?" Jay whined. The falcon gave them no breaks and continued to fly.
"I would, but it looks like we're going far. If I make something big enough for all of us, I'd run out of energy and pass out." You said.
"Good point." Jay takes a deep gulp of air and chokes on dust particles.
--
It's been about an hour, and we're currently in the snowy weather. You could barely see through the flurries of snow. All you could see was the bright colored gis of the ninja and the dark silhouette of the falcon.
"I guess good fortune is really far away." Kai tries to peer ahead, but he can't see anything.
--
Now, you had sore arms because of the climbing. You couldn't drive up a mountain, so you had to climb with two arms and one leg.
You could tell the ninja were exhausted but determined to follow the falcon. You, on the other hand, was barely tired. Except the fact your bandages were lost in the wind of the snowstorm, so you had an open wound.
It takes a while until Zane manages to get on top of the mountain. Jay sits on a branch five feet below, breathing heavily.
"Keep... *huff*... going. *huff*... I'll...I'll catch up later."
Another thirty minutes goes by.
The falcon flies over a canyon with a tree as a bridge. He waits for the ninja to cross.
You had to drag yourself over the tree on your stomach, hands sore from gripping the branches hard.
Cole stops in the middle of the tree-bridge, panting.
"I'm good. Just...just taking a breather. Uh... I'll meet up with you shortly." Cole sighs.
It wasn't long until we reached flat ground covered in snow. Zane still didn't look tired yet, but Kai was light-headed. Kai stops and doubles over, breathing deeply and heavily.
"Good thing...we're in...peak...physical...condition." You pat his back, making your crutches disappear for a second.
"Yes, peak physical condition." You repeat, slightly teasingly. He rolls his eyes and starts running again. You make a motorcycle again and go after him.
A forest begins to thicken with white and black streaked trees. The falcon dodges the branches easily. Kai and Zane try not to fall behind, while you have to slow down to keep with them.
"Gosh, that bird just keeps going." Kai stops once more. Zane reads a sign in the ground. "Hey, what do you make of this?"
You read the words 'Beware of Treehorns'.
"I am not familiar with a Treehorn." Zane looks around for any other signs.
"Me neither." You said. It was odd that you weren't familiar with something in Ninjago. You knew tons of creatures and monsters from different realms, yet a 'Treehorn' was new.
"It's probably just some wild squirrels, heh." Kai is still tired af. The falcon screeches, and Zane looks for it. "Well, don't lose him. I'll wait for the other guys to catch up."
You pat his head and go after Zane on another silver vehicle. At this point, an ache to lie down and sleep awakened in you.
"Where are we going, my mysterious friend?" Zane says to no one in particular. The falcon stops flying, spins in the air, and lands on the ground. It looked kinda dead. Zane took off his hood and hurried to inspect it.
^ lmao
You bend over to take a look. The falcon sparks and twitches. It's mechanical? This whole time?! My life has been a lie.
"You're a...a robot?" Zane gapes in disbelief at the falcon. You stay stoic, but still shocked. Whoever made that falcon must be super smart.
Zane grabs the falcon and sets it down at the base of a tree. A strange sound caused the instinct of alert to spark in Zane.
You readied your powers and look around cautiously. More robot thumps come all around in the forest. Zane puts his fists up and wait for something to come out.
A golden robot with blue eyes is suddenly standing twelve feet away from you and Zane. It scans the area and says "INtrUdeR, InTruDeR."
A canon on its shoulder faces forwards and begins firing at Zane. You jump out of the way and land on your back, making a shield to protect you. Zane flips out of the way and pulls out his shurikens, turning them into the Snowmobile.
Wait, couldn't the ninja just use their vehicles to get here?
Zane drives away and yells something quick at you. "Get out of here, Y/n!"
"Ok!" You scramble to your feet and hear a boop. The weird fire lasers couldn't penetrate through your shield. You limp steadily away, safe from the robot. The robot gives up on you and focuses on Zane.
You see a strange carving in a huge, huge tree. It took you a while to realize it was a door. You open it and go inside the strange structure.
You go down a spiral of stairs, taking in the surroundings. It looks like...
"...a workshop."
You see lots of blueprints on the table and rush to them without falling. A diagram of the falcon is shown with all the parts.
"That's... cool... I guess." You grab the corner of another blueprint underneath it. The familiar outline of Zane is on the sheet with gears, buttons, and other robot parts.
You stare wide-eyed at the paper. Zane was a robot... which explains why he's so smart and strange. And this entire time... he didn't know?!
He'll be devastated if he found out. Worry for your friend erupts in your mind, and you grip the blueprint tightly.
The door to the workshop opens. Zane comes in view, holding the falcon. He sees you standing in the middle of the workshop, a shocked and panicked expression on your face.
"Y/n, what is wrong?" Zane puts the falcon on the table. He looks at you.
"Nothing..." You glance at the blueprint of the falcon. Zane does too and fixes the falcon easily. The bird comes to life and flies around, landing on Zane's arm.
"You brought me here, but why?" Zane questions the falcon. It flew above us and lands on a beam.
"Y/n, you still look distraught. Is there something wrong?" Zane faces you again. You shift nervously and give him the blueprint.
"Zane..."
He grabs it and takes a good, long look at the blueprint.
"No! It can't be!" Zane drops the blueprint, his tone changing to an upset one. You grimace.
"Nooo! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Somehow, he's on his knees. You kneel down and give him a hug without words. He loosely returns it.
--
A noise comes from above, and the other three ninja enter the tree and walk down the stairs.
"Zane?" Kai calls.
"Wow, would you look at this place?" Jay said. They notice that you and Zane were still in a hug. "Zane, what's wrong? Y/n?"
They reach the bottom of the stairs and waste no time to run to their friends.
""Are you guys hurt?"
"You okay?"
Zane lets go of you and takes a glance at the blueprints. The ninja look at them too, wondering what happened.
Zane stands up slowly, and so do you. He steadily opens a panel on his torso. A bunch of wires and switches were shown as a control panel.
There are a few screams of shock from the teens. Kai got a hold of himself first.
"You're a robot?!"
"All this time, and I never knew." Zane looks at his feet. You felt sympathy for the blond.
"Uh, guess this explains why you're always acting so weird. Right? Hehe." Jay tries to be optimistic and see the 'bright side' of the situation.
"The reason I never had a sense of humor was because my funny switch wasn't on." Zane switches his humor switch to 'on'.
He starts dancing in a way you've never seen before. His voice is altered to a comedic one.
"Hello, my baby~
Hello, my honey~
Hello, my ragtime gaaaaaal~
Send me a kiss by wirreeee..."
He finishes off with a few silly moves. Jay bursts out in hysterical laughter. You are temped to laugh as well, but you kept your mouth shut. It wasn't a funny situation; Jay's laugh was contagious. The funny switch is turned off and Zane lays on the ground with a sigh.
"Uh, it just makes you more special. You're still the same Zane. Just more, uh, gears." Cole tries to enlighten the atmosphere.
"No matter what you're made of, you're still our brother." Kai said firmly.
"We'll still love you the same way, robot or not." You assure him. Despite only knowing him for a few months, you felt the sibling relationship the ninja had with each other.
"Really?" Zane looks up.
"In fact, I bet it even makes you an even better ninja." Cole adds. You see the gears in his head turning to grasp the fact that the discovery wasn't so bad. He stands up.
"Yeah, and how cool is it that I can honestly say 'My brother is a Nindroid!'?" A made-up word comes out of Jay's mouth.
"A Nindroid?" Zane tilts his head.
"Now come on. Pythor is still out there looking for the first Fangblade, and we need you." Cole puts a hand on his shoulder.
"You'll have to go on without me. I just don't feel right." Zane turns to the wall, going silent.
"Let's give him some time." Kai walks up the stairs and out. The others follow him, but you stay.
Zane notices you out of the corner of his eye. "Thank you for staying, Y/n."
"No problem..." You limp over to him and hold his hand as an act of comfort. Even though Zane couldn't exactly feel it, he still recognized the gesture.
A comfortable silence filled the air. The falcon watches from above.
--
Zane is inspecting the blueprint again. You were sitting on the table, resting your leg.
"A...memory switch?" Zane opens his panel and switches it on. He goes into a state of semi-consciousness.
You stay silent, not wanting to disturb him. Why would the memory switch be turned off?
Something about this topic gave you a feeling of nostalgia. A memory switched off... then switched back on. You grip the table edge tightly, spacing out.
A tear drips off Zane's face and lands on the wooden floor. He can cry?!
A picture of Zane, the falcon, and an older wise-looking man stood on another table. The falcon lands on Zane's arms.
"Zane, what did you see?" You snap out of your own head and hop off the table.
"I saw... enough." Zane says softly. He runs up the stairs and out the door. "Hey, guys. Wait up!"
"Great, I'm just gonna crawl up these stairs."
You take five minutes getting up the stairs. You open the door and let out a yelp of surprise when a Treehorn is right in front of you.
You make a motorcycle and a wave of fatigue passes through you, momentarily stalling you. The Treehorn kicks you ten feet away before you could react. You feel a dark bruise on your ribs already.
"Uhh...-"
You stand up, feeling numb at the coldness. The Treehorn storms towards you, then stops. All the Treehorns go to a certain area and stop attacking.
"Are they regrouping?" Jay lowers his nunchucks. A huge Treehorn walks to the clearing. "Who's that?"
"Their Queen." Zane has no fear in his face as he stands in front of the Treehorn Queen. It has a lot of spikey teeth. It growled loudly and slowly lumbered to the ninja. They back away towards you. Jay helps you onto your feet.
"You will not hurt my friends! There is nothing that will hold me back!" A bright blue light appears in Zane's spots. He starts spinning his shurikens. "I know WHO I AM!"
His eyes flash bright blue and begins rising. His body is coated with a cyan light. The Queen stops, unsure.
"What's happening to him? Was he programmed to do that?!" Kai panics at the new sight. You knew what was happening to him, though.
"I've never seen a robot do that." Jay whispers.
"You mean Nindroid." Cole corrects him.
"Yeah, whatever."
"His True Potential." You finally answer, watching Zane do his magical icy stuff. A beam of ice comes out of Zane's chest. It freezes the Queen. The other Treehorns had already disappeared.
Zane falls to the ground when the blue lights disappear. "What happened?"
"That was awesome!" You and the boys run towards him, Jay's voice high pitched.
"You should've seen yourself." Kai awed.
"Heh, I've never seen anything like it." Cole exclaims.
"Your power is so strong, Zane." You lean on a nearby tree, putting the weight off your leg.
"This must be what Sensei meant by unlocking our hearts. I remember now. I remember everything. I remember my father and how he cared for me. I remember where I came from. And I feel stronger for knowing." Zane stands up and flips his hood off again.
"I'm so jealous. His powers are so cool." Cole excitedly compliments the Ice Ninja.
"We have out very own Nindroid!" Jay declares. The ninja all jump and high five each other.
You smile at their joy and brotherly relationship.
"Watch out, Pythor. We're coming to get you." Zane stares straight into the camera.
You think about your True Potential once again. What was holding you back?