The next day, we were watching Zane beat the record for holding his breath. He would normally sit at the bottom of the ocean for at least 5 minutes, but today, he was doing way better than that.
"Ten minutes! He broke his own record, the guy's inhuman!" Kai gasped. We all watched the timer in awe as Zane erupted from the deep blue water.
"Amazing!" Cole cheered. "Yeah dude! Totally awesome!" I shouted. "We're not worthy!" Jay bowed. "I broke the record?" He asked. "You destroyed it!" Kai said as Zane climbed onboard.
"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 of all we've accomplished!" Jay said as we remembered the half cool, half stupid things we'd all done.
Kai ran across about 50 feet of hot coals, Jay used himself as a lightning rod, Cole lifted like, 500 pounds, including Jay, Nya, a sandwich and a full size chicken!
I had powered the clock tower in Ninjago City by doing Spinjitzu to pull a bunch of resistance bands, and they didn't pop for 30 feet!
"The question should be raised. Perhaps we have reach our full potential!" Zane said.
"I bet we have!" I agreed. "Yeah but are you sure?" Jay asked as we walked to Sensei's room.
"Well, every morning I do 500 push-ups!" Zane told us. "500? Try 1,000!" Kai bragged.
"I've never seen you guys do either of those things. I do like, 1,000 sit ups every morning before sunrise!" "Yeah, I do 1,001." Jay chuckled.
"What is this, amateur hour? Sounds like my warm up!" Cole said as we entered Sensei's room. "Sensei, what does True Potential look like if-" Cole stopped, mid sentence.
We clasped our hands and bowed in respectful apology. "Our apologies, Sensei. We've interrupted you." Zane said.
"I'm sorry if I've been distant lately. My mind has been elsewhere since Lloyd has gone missing." Sensei accepted our apology. "What can I help you with?" He asked us.
"Sensei, what if we've done enough training? What if we've reached our full potential? What if we're ready?" Cole asked. Sensei laughed.
"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 gave a fighting chance to stop the serpentine from releasing the Great Devourer." Sensei finished.
"There's more to the Great Devourer than you've let on, isn't there, Sensei?" Zane asked.
He sighed. "I too have obstacles within my own heart. There's a story I've never told you." He began.
"Long ago, when I was a young boy, Garmadon and I were more than brothers, we were the best of friends."
Jay suddenly, but expectedly, interrupted. "Wait a minute. Now I know you two are brothers, but really? The King of Cruelty, the Doer of Destruction, the Captain of Chaos, and you two were, friends?" Jay asked.
"Please, no interruptions!" Sensei continued.
"You see, he did not always have a wicked heart. One day, I lost this very katana. Knowing our father would be mad, my bother told me to retrieve it, but I refused.
He told me not to put if until tomorrow 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 consumed. A
great evil had found its way into my brothers heart, for the snake's venom could turn the purest of things wicked.
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.
"So the Great Devourer turned your brother into the Dark Lord." Kai summed up.
"It was all my fault. You five have finished your training. You must now focus on stopping Pythor from collecting the four Fangblades. But never lose focus on the obstacles that lie within each of your hearts, that hold you back from true greatness. Unlock your True Potential." Sensei finished.
"But how are we supposed to do that, sensei?" Zane asked. "It is up to each of you to discover. Now I must go on a personal journey of my own." Sensei said as he began to walk out.
"Where are you going?" Jay asked as we followed behind him. "A place you cannot follow." Sensei sighed.
"If your going for Lloyd, the city of Ourobouris is filled with hundreds of serpentine. You'll never do it alone!" Cole pleaded.
"I am going to find someone who can be of aid. The serpentine have united and grown stronger. We need all the help we can get." Sensei said as he walked in deck.
We all followed and watched as Sensei left. We all went back to our room and discussed what Sensei told us.
"What did he mean, it's up to us?" Jay asked. "I don't know." I said bluntly. "But how will we get the fang-thingies?" Kai asked. "You mean Fangblades." Zane corrected.
"Yeah, that." Cole agreed. "We could make posters." Jay shrugged. "That's a horrible idea." I criticized. "Actually, that might work!" Cole said.
"I told you the idea was gold!" I smirked. "Oh brother." Kai rolled his eyes.
We headed off towards Jamanakai Village and we're putting up the posters when Zane realized. This really was a suckish idea.
"This is silly." He groaned. "You got any better ideas?" Cole asked. "Hey, maybe Sensei is going to get the Samurai for help." Jay suggested.
Nya and Kai looked nervous, much to my suspicion. "The Samurai? I'm sure she's, I mean he's looking for the Fangblades as well." Kai stammered.
"You know you stutter and talk real precise when your lying?" I looked at him slyly. "Is everything alright?" Cole asked.
"Yeah! Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Kai persisted. "One hundred percent! We're not hiding anything!" Nya added.
"Both of voices get higher too." I stared at them hard.
Then we noticed Zane looking off into space and a store keeper yelling at him.
"Hey weirdo! You're making a mess in my storefront! Yoo-hoo? You got a problem? Maybe I should teach you a lesson on manners." He started to go after Zane.
"I'm sorry, sir. Sometimes our friend is in another world." Kai explained as he grabbed the man's arm. "He's littering all over the place!" He complained. "We'll pick it up. So sorry." Cole apologized.
We all bent down and picked up the fallen posters. "Zane? What's the deal?" Jay asked.
We walked over to where Zane was to find him pointing at the falcon. "Oh my gosh! It's the falcon! Every time we follow it it leads us to good fortune!" Jay gasped.
We all ran off after it, leaving Kai behind. We ran through the Sea of Sand and into the Glacier Barrens.
"I guess good fortune is really far away." Kai observed as we ran. We were climbing the Mountain of Impossible Heights, when Jay needed to take a rest.
"Keep going, I'll catch up to you later." He gasped.
We reached the top about an hour later and found a pass in between two cliffs. We found a log and ran across, but Cole didn't follow.
"I'm good, just taking a breather. I'll catch up with you shortly." Cole assured us.
We continued to run after the falcon, but I was seriously tired. We were just entering the Birchwood Forest, when Kai stopped for a second.
"Good thing we're in peak, physical, condition." He gasped. As we got further into the forest, Kai and I stopped from exhaustion.
"That bird just keeps going! What do you make of this?" Kai asked, pouting to a sign. "I am not familiar with a treehorn." Zane shrugged.
"Probably just some wild squirrels." Kai shrugged. The falcon shrieked. "Well don't lose him! We'll wait for the other guys to catch up." He collapsed.
Zane ran off after the mutant bird, and I stayed there and tried not to die. "You know, I've heard Treehorns are very dangerous." I panted.
"How can squirrels be dangerous?" Kai asked in a muffled voice. "Their legs look like trees, and you won't see them till it's too late." I warned.
"How do you know that?" Kai picked his face up from out of the snow. "I have my sources. Like you and that Samurai." I looked at him, trying out my most powerful gaze.
"Why do you keep asking about this?" Kai plopped his head hack into the snow. "Because I want to know. Iron sharpens iron, remember?" I placed my hand on his back.
"I'll tell you tomorrow." Kai grunted. "Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today." I smirked. He sighed. "Fine. The Samurai is-" he was cut off by footsteps behind us.
"Hey guys. How's it going?" Jay asked. "Fine. Kai and I we're just discussing the Samurai. But, now we're done. We should find Zane." I changed the subject.
"Yeah. Let's go!" Kai led the charge. Cole ran off after him. We all followed until we found a metal door carved into a tree.
"What do you think this is?" Jay asked. "Well, Jay. It's obviously a door." I rolled my eyes. "I know that, Jittery. But what's inside?" He continued.
We all looked in to see Zane sitting on the floor. "Zane?" Kai asked as we looked down from the staircase.
"Whoa! Would you look at this place?" Jay said excitedly. "Zane? What's wrong?" Cole asked. "Are you hurt?" "You ok, buddy?" I asked as we ran down the stairs.
Zane picked up a piece of paper, tossed it on the ground, and reached at his ninja suit, but what happened was, unexpected at best.
He, uh, how do I say this, he opened himself! Gosh that was weird! We all screamed in horror. "You're, a robot?!" Kai shrieked.
"All this time, and I never knew." He sighed. "I guess this explains why you're always acting so weird." Jay said nervously.
We looked at him angrily. "The reason I never had a sense of humor is because my funny switch wasn't on." Zane stood up and pushed a button inside of him.
Next thing I know, weird music is playing, and my oldest, most seriously mature brother was sing and dancing around the tree like a crazy person.
Well, it could be worse. We could be in public. Jay was doubling over with laughter.
After the little humor stuff was over, he just sat back down and sighed. "It's ok. Don't worry about it." I tried.
"Yeah! It just makes you more special! You're still the same Zane, just more, gears." Cole said, trying to find the best words.
"No matter what you're made of, you're still our brother." Kai encouraged some more. "Really?" He asked.
"In fact, I bet it makes you an even better ninja!" Cole added. "You bet!" I punched him in the arm, causing myself some pain.
"And how cool is it that I can honestly say, my brother is a nindroid." Jay chuckled. "A nindroid?" Zane asked, confused.
"Now come on. Pythor is still out there, looking for the first Fangblade and we need you." Cole told him.
"You'll have to go without me. I just, don't feel right." Zane kindly shooed us away. We walked out, surprised by everything we'd seen.
"We just need to give him some time. No pun intended." Kai said. "No pun taken. I'm not blasting the guy." I responded.
"I don't know what I would do if I was told I was a robot." Kai said sadly. "You mean a nindroid." Jay corrected. "Yeah, whatever." Kai sighed.
"How the heck do we get out of this place?" Cole looked around. Then, I heard a stomping noise. "What was that?" Kai asked.
"Cute, tiny, birds?" Jay said nervously. "Did you see that?!" Cole panicked. "See what?" I said, eyes darting. "I don't see anything!" Jay shrieked.
"I just saw it to!" Kai yelled. "Treehorns!"
We all flipped in our masks and readied our weapons, as we saw a fallen robot. "Oh great. I think that thing was supposed to protect this place." Kai groaned.
We attacked individual targets, but were quickly beaten. I was rushing in on one as it kicked me, spinning me backwards, and then another got me right in the face!
I was down and out for the count. I could feel snow piling up on top of me, but then, Kai's fire helped me out!
Then I saw Zane, running around, taking down several of these monsters! "What's gotten into him?" Jay asked.
We merged into our pentagon formation. "I don't know, but I like it!" Kai exclaimed. "Ninja-GO!!" We all yelled as we took on the treehorns.
We had then on the run, but the victory was short lived. "Are they regrouping?" Jay asked.
Just then a treehorn about two times bigger appeared. "What is that thing?" I asked in horror. "Their queen." Zane grunted.
He slowly approached the hideous beast, reading his icy, kill shot blow.
"You will not hurt my friends! There is nothing that can hold me back! I know who I am!" He shouted.
Then, something awesome happened. He started floating!
"What's happening to him? Was he programmed to do that?" Kai asked. "To... awesome." I said in awe.
"I've never seen a robot do that." Jay said. "You mean, nindroid." Cole corrected. "Yeah. Whatever." Jay sighed in shock.
Zane was glowing an icy shade of blue as we all realized what was unfolding before our eyes.
"Zane's unlocked his True Potential!" Cole said in awe. He fell from the sky, Spinjitzued around the Treehorn Queen, and levitated back up while catching the shurikens he had thrown.
Ice shot out of his heart, freezing the Treehorn Queen in place! He fell, and we ran to help him up.
"What was that?" I asked Zane. "I've never seen anything like it!" Cole exclaimed.
"I found out where I came from and I feel stronger for knowing." He told us.
"I'm so jealous! His powers are so cool." Cole yelled. "That was awesome!" I shouted. "We have out very own Nindroid!" Jay yelled.
We all jumped into each other for the ultimate chest bump! "Watch out, Pythor. We're coming to get you." Zane smiled.
We all went home on our vehicles, and ordered a celebratory pizza. Finally, we went to bed, knowing that we were a lot closer to stopping the snakes.