They'd tried to get back into the city once they landed. All five, had been struck down in some form or another and now they'd fled into the Temple of Fortitude. What would the next move be? With the barrier up and a brief moment to relax and think, it seemed they were all racking their brains for a plan.
Deity rushed over to Cole and hugged him, burying her face in his chest. She was short, but stood up on her tiptoes in slight excitement. She muffled a few words, shoulders shaking as her fingers dug into the back of his gi.
Cole chuckled a little and looked down at his girlfriend. "Woah, woah there Songbird. What did you say?" He gently patted her shaking shoulders in an attempt to soothe whatever had her so tense, but he had an idea.
Deity lifted her head and looked to Cole, staying silent.
One phrase from earlier that had shook everyone to their core was still fresh in her mind.
It had been Kai that said it.
"The ship is destroyed. We're not coming home."
Deity began to tear up, fingers digging more harshly into the back of Cole's gi. She'd been terrified. Not only had she almost lost Cole, but she would've lost her family too. A fear that had been present since she became part of the team.
That fear was almost a reality.
Cole gently wiped away stray tear that had escaped her eye. "I know. We thought we'd be stuck up there too. We're here now though. I'm here." He didn't pry her fingers from his gi. Instead, Cole slipped his arms around her and gave her a brief hug, shutting his eyes. Pulling away, he now looked to the other ninja.
They were talking among themselves, and Zane was talking to Pixal. As Pixal went over to Borg, Zane looked...conflicted. As though he sensed something.
Cole gently nudged Deity. "Hey...can you go talk to Zane? He keeps looking over at us and the others."
"Hm?" Releasing her grip on Cole's gi, she frowned and looked over to Zane. "You're right." She gently patted his chest in reassurance. "I'll be back."
Zane lifted his head from his thoughts as Deity approached, eyeing her carefully. "Hello, is something the matter?" He paused, looking around the temple briefly, and then back to Deity.
Deity shook her head. "Nah, I was about to ask you the same thing, though. Cole said you kept lookin' at all of us. You all right?" She gently put her hand on his shoulder, concerned expression present on her face.
"No, I'm alright. I just..." Something about this was...familiar? Was that the word? Zane couldn't put his finger on why, not yet. Surely this hadn't happened before in their lives. Something nagged at him from the depths of his memory banks. Had he heard of this in other Ninjago's he'd been to via the rifts?
Finally, it hit him.
Zane stilled, forcing himself not to express the mix of emotions plaguing him at the moment. This was it. This was what all the other, shiny titanium Zanes he'd met told him was so painful. He glanced at Deity, watching her concerned face.
She didn't know when.
She didn't know how.
She only knew he'd pass, thanks to that...fusion.
Deity noticed her brother pause, a frown crossing her face. "Zane? Are you sure you're okay? You're very...quiet."
Zane snapped himself from his thoughts, watching Deity carefully. "Of course I am. I suppose I am just thinking of all the variables. This is a high stress situation after all." It wasn't entirely a lie. He was thinking of the variables...one of them.
Himself.
"Zane..." Deity wasn't too sure if Zane was okay, but she knew it was best not to pry. They were all stressed from everything that had happened, and was currently happening. "As long as you're sure. Try and relax, we have a moment to breathe because of the shield. I'm just glad you all made it back from..." She didn't want to say it.
The fear hadn't left yet.
"Space." Zane nodded, taking her hand and patting it reassuringly. "We are home now, so don't worry too much. Everything will be alright in the end, I promise." He looked to the side, then to Deity as he pulled her into a brief but tight hug.
Deity was a little caught off guard by the sudden embrace, pausing for a moment before carefully hugging him back. "I missed you too, brother."
Maybe he was right.
Maybe everything would be alright.
After the hug ended and the other ninja had dug out the stone armor, Cole paused. There were only five sets. Looking to Deity, he held it up to her. "Do you-"
She shook her head. "Nah. I'll be careful. You keep it, Babe. Now come on, we got a bad guy to get rid of." Deity gave him a grin and patted his arm, heading toward the front door with the others.
Soon, the seal around the temple had broken and they were on their way. Leaping across rooftops and breaking through the Overlord's defenses, It seemed the stone armor was doing it's job.
The citizens cheered as a frustrated cry left the Overlord, his attacks clearly useless against the protection of the stone armor. A brief glance from the rooftops had shown that the Serpentine were guiding the citizens into the sewers to protect them from further attack. As the ninja launched their first attack, it seemed as though they would succeed.
Something went wrong.
Pythor, in an attempt to prove his loyalty and protect the Overlord, had jumped in front of his mouth just as the shrinking pill neared-and had swallowed it.
The Overlord cackled, glaring down at the ninja on the rooftop. "That was it? That was all you've got!?" His golden web strands sped down toward them, grabbing them by the legs and around the torso.
The ninja struggled in his grasp, and Cole seemed the most confused, daring to speak. "The armor! Why isn't it working?!"
The Overlord's raspy voice replied, a grin crossing his face. "Because your time, is over!"
Deity huffed as they all struggled. "Shut it you overgrown ball of galaxy slim-" She was cut off by a rough strand of webbing wrapping around her head and covering her mouth to silence her.
The ninja grunted as Zane began to jump over them, using them as stepping stones to get to the overlord.
What was he doing?
Was he distracting The Overlord?
Deity watched as Zane suddenly held onto the Overlord, seeing his body strain and struggle against the force of the golden weapons that had been melted down into the Overlord's appendages.
What was going on?
As Zane kept his grip, the webbing holding the others turned green and loosened, causing them to fall to the ground safely.
Every inch of Zane's body burned. He knew what would happen, but he hadn't told them. He was sorry for that, but right now he had to focus. He could feel his powersource surging in his chest, as his 'heartbeat' went erratic.
Dusting themselves off as they got up from the ground, the ninja all looked up at Zane struggling.
"Uh..." Lloyd began, worry clearly present in his voice. "He's not letting go!"
Deity slowly looked up from fixing a bent finger, fear creeping into her body.
Lloyd was right.
Zane wasn't letting go. He was still gripping the golden appendages as tightly as he could.
Jay stepped forward to try and get a better look at the situation. He watched Zane's body strain harder and spark occasionally. "His heart! It's reaching critical mass!"
Fear soon began to feel like panic, or maybe it was a mix of both.
Deity could feel her heart race in her chest as the others spoke, keeping her eyes on Zane. Everything the others said sounded muffled to her.
He was going to let go, right?
"If his heart overloads, he'll blow! He'll never survive!" Cole shouted, as though he were trying to talk sense into his teammate-though he knew Zane wouldn't hear him.
Kai ran forward, cupping his hand to his mouth as he called out to the suffering nindroid. "Let go of him, Zane!" He sighed in frustration, putting his hand down when he realized his attempts to reach Zane were futile. "What is he doing?!"
Deity could only stare, eyes beginning to water. Her voice was quiet, as though realization had struck her. "He's protecting us..."
Zane could feel his powersource surging harder as he readjusted his grip on the Overlord. Never letting go, he only pressed his fingers tighter to the gold.
He wouldn't let go.
He couldn't let go.
Everything was slowly going numb.
He only had one shot.
So he took it. Zane finally ripped his hands off of the golden appendages, blasting the Overlord with as much ice as he could.
"What are you doing? Let me go you fool!" The Overlord began to wobble, hissing in pain as the ice made him unsteady on his golden web.
Deity ran forward, screaming as she called out for her brother. "Zane! No don't-"
Cole yanked her back, holding her in his arms while she struggled. "Deity, we can't stay out here!"
She writhed against him, shaking her head violently. "No! Let me go!" Her eyes stung as she squeezed them shut, tears slipping down her cheeks.
"We have to get out of here, now!" Cole yelled, dragging Deity toward the sewer where the rest of the team was hiding.
Once they were inside, all anyone could see was the glow of Zane's body as his heart reached critical mass before they closed the lid.
Zane shut his eyes as he did his best to keep the ice going.
Everything would be alright in the end.
He'd promised, hadn't he?
Zane smiled as a brief memory of his father flashed into his mind from his memory banks.
"You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves."
He had accomplished what he was built for. His heart finally flat-lined and he exploded, pieces flying in multiple directions.
The explosion was muffled under the sewer lid, but they all heard it-and felt it too- as the sewer lid suddenly crusted over with ice.
Deity wrapped her arms around Cole as best she could in the cramped space, burying her head in his neck. She dug her fingers into the soft material of his gi, starting to shake. She had no idea what was going on up there, but she was terrified.
They slowly pushed the lid up and off of the sewer, climbing out. Beginning to search through the rubble and ice, it was Cole who'd found something.
Cole slowly picked up a piece of Zane's faceplate, looking over the slightly scorched synthetic skin on it.
Deity's chest burned as she looked at the only remaining piece of her brother. This is why Zane had avoided talking about it when she had questions. She hadn't known how or why or when, but now she did. A sob freed from her throat as she hugged Cole, burying her head in his chest for comfort.
Cole gently rubbed her back. "He protected us, Songbird. It's going to be alright." Truthfully, he was trying to make himself believe that as well.
Falcon swooped down and rested himself on Deity's metal shoulder as soon as she pulled away from Cole to wipe her eyes. He let out a soft chirp and rubbed against her cheek.
Deity watched the bird, still wiping at the seemingly never ending tears that slipped down her cheek. She gave it a gentle pet on the head, watching it soon fly off. "I...I don't know if you're right, Cole."
Cole bent down, picking up the old black scarf of his that had come off of Deity's wrist during the fighting. "I know it hurts." He gently took her hand and tied the scarf back around her wrist. "Right now though, the city needs us to help it rebuild." He squeezed her hand, pulling her closer and gently kissing her forehead. "I'm going to go help the others and get the citizens out of the sewers, okay?"
Deity nodded, watching him turn and leave to go to the sewers. "Okay." Leaning down and picking up the faceplate piece that Cole had put back down, she looked it over and then looked to the frozen chunk of Borg tower where the explosion had occurred. "I understand why you didn't say anything." Deity cleared her throat and wiped at her eyes again. She just didn't know if the others would understand if they found out that she knew the things she did.