Hi, everyone. It's me! Brand new FanFic user & ready to charge right into this one! Okay, so, this fanfic starts out on the Bounty after the Overlord is defeated. Unfortunately, Wu is dead, because he died of old age, having completed the part of his life he needed to stay alive for. (I did this because I didn't think I could keep track of so many characters and balance out their roles so much!) This is a first part to the six-part series I will be completing, called, (which also probably will be changed, b.c it sounds totally lame right now) "Nightmares of the Ninja."

Pretty much the next part, Part 2, will be posted today as well. (I kind of already wrote that one, xP) It focuses on some pretty awful events that start happening to the ninja while they're trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives, now that Lord G. and the Overlord are dead, and the snake tribes are locked underground…until one very sneaky, very sly villain comes back to bite them. Awful things begin happening to each of them- -And the ninja are forced to choose sides throughout the series. (AND I MEAN THE SIDES OF GOOD AN EVIL, not the sides of, you know, vamps and weres and crap.)

(And sorry, it's kind of long. Once I get going, I have so many ideas it's hard to stop!) (And PS, if you see words with random capital letters, don't fear…I wrote this all on my iPod! XP)

So, that's kind of my intro! So I'll shut up now so you can read on. Enjoy the first part to my six-part series, "Shadow Dancer"!

Shadow Dancer

Chapter One: A Broken Powerbox and a Clogged Windpipe

Cole set down the heavy-weighted bench-Press weight, laying beneath it in a heap of exhausted warmth and sweat. Man, did it feel good to just lay there and not have to worry about something dangerous attacking him, or having to focus on training Lloyd, or try and force Kai to move off the couch so he could at least SIT for a moment. It felt good. Peaceful. Easy. I wasn't a feeling Cole had experienced at all in the past three years.

Any normal person would've been content with just being able to lie down, work out, shower, and BE without the burden of a heavy fight lying over his head, looming like a deadly snake about to strike. But to Cole, it made him feel weak.

He slid out from beneath the bar, sitting up, gazing around him At the empty room before him. The wooden planked walls were thick and dark with the sacrifices the Bounty had suffered through, such as The defetion of the Overlord, or The terrible sacrifice of losing the worlds greatest sensei to the winds of time.

It was months ago that Sensei Wu had finally given in to the monster of old age. Cole was happy he'd died a natural, easy death, crumbling to sweet ash in his sleep, rather than having to face a deadly, hell-driven creature prepared to rip his throat out. But no matter the cause of his demise, Cole would forever have a thick part of him missing that had once been so graciously inhabited by Wu.

Everyone else, well, they handled it in their own ways. Kai sunk into an eerie silence short after Wu's death, his voice chained to his voicebox without the option of being released. When he actually spoke, it was cracked and raw with unuse. Cole figured he was cursed by shock- -after all, the ninja had loved Sensei like he was their father. After a little helpful coaching from Jay, Kai was getting better at talking again- -but he'd sometimes still stare at someone without answering when asked a simple question.

The tragedy of Kai's renewal in his permit for speech was awful, but Jay had fallen away, too. The funny, sarcastic voice of Cole's beloved- -yet most distant- -brother had become small, cold. Although he still spoke and tried to maintain a positive attitude while being thr supportive coach for the others, everyone could see beneath the facade he enchanted himself with around them. His hair, which was usually so well kept and clean, had become matted and unkempt. The one who had to constantly remind him of his need to stay normal-looking was Nya, his year-long girlfriend, well protector of his heart. Cole couldn't wait to hear a quite missed joke come out of his mouth. He hadn't heard one in so long.

Zane, on the other hand, was the most normal of them all. He was still positive, charismatic when needed, and a supporter. Cole couldn't really tell what Zane was feeling- -he knew somewhere deep inside, the loving nindroid was in pain, but his programming told him that he needed to be strong. He still cooked in his pink, flower-embroidered apron, serving meals good enough to be featured in the finest restaurant Ninjago City could offer. He still always had that blank look on his face, even when he was just standing there. He still had a poor- if any- -sense of humor.

Cole was just glad Zane was still Zane. He couldn't say the same for himself. He felt different somehow. Not as... Physically fit. He forced himself to do more than his average weightlifting routine. More push ups, sit ups, longer runs, more bench pressing. He forced the workouts on himself. He needed to fill the emptiness inside of him with heat and strain, resulting in four gallons of sweat and a satisfied feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Cole grabbed the white rag on the floor beside his shirt, patting down his face. His breath was ragged. "Lord," he mumbled, and stood. His arms burned. It felt great.

He shuffled down the hallway, the dim lighting adjusting his eyes to its smoky attire. Everyone must've been upstairs. He Pushed open the bathroom door, into the rush of the golden candlelight. He stared at his reflection in the foggy mirror. Shadows danced across his face. He'd lifted those weights for two hours. Why didn't he feel accomplished?

Cole stepped into the shower moments later. The hot water was refreshing, but not filling.

He felt clean as he walked across the hall into his bunk room, wearing a single white towel across his lower half, dangling low on his hips. It felt like the ugly sheen had been scrubbed off his skin. It was an amazing feel.

As Cole dug through The trunk at the end of he and Zane's bunk bed, he thought about the others. What were they doing? Zane was probably baking something. Jay and Nya were probably staring at the TV seeing nothing, watching a romantic comedy that they werent comprehending. Kai was probably...

Cole frowned. He realized he had no clue what Kai could be doing.

He found a pair of jeans and a gray sweater. He was just about to unfold them when he heard a voice from somewhere above him. He raised his head to see Lloyd's round, childish face peering down at him. Although he was fully grown now, sometimes Cole would catch a glimpse of An angle of LLoyd's face and see the familiar child inside him, hidden deep beneath the surface. He experienced that just now.

He smiled pleasantly at him. Lloyd was staying on the Bounty for a few weeks, to visit, and give his reuniting parents time alone.

"Hey,squirt," Cole said just to irritate him.

"Sorry I'm laying in your bed," said Lloyd, resting his chin on his folded arms, unfazed by Cole's half-nakedness. Cole untangled his pants.

"No biggie," he said softly. "Where're the others?"

Lloyd seemed to Think about it for a moment. "I'm not quite sure how it came about, but last I saw, Zane was having a panic attack."

"Panic attack?" repeated Cole dubiously. He dropped the towel.

Lloyd's eyes squeezed shut immediately. He buried his face in his arms. "Dude, I really wish you'd warn me next time."

Cole grinned and tugged on his pants.

"But anyway," continued Lloyd slowly after Cole patted his arm, signaling the show was over, "Zane just kinda dropped in the middle of cooking and sat on the floor rocking back and forth. When Kai found him he was hysterical. He even burned his cake."

"He burned the CAKE?" Cole gasped, then shook his head. He could mourn over it later. "Why didn't anyone come get me? Is he alright?"

"He's okay," Lloyd rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. "I came down here because Nya told me I was looking kinda pale and needed a rest. Dunno. It's all so weird."

"Hear, hear," Cole repeated softly, then said, more loudly, "Come on. Let's go see what's up."

NYA

Nya rubbed Zane's tense shoulders. For a nindroid, he sure had stiff muscles. He leaned back his head, letting out a soft, satisfied moan. It was as close to the portrayal of emotion that anyone would ever experience from the glorified nindroid.

In the living room, it was quiet, still. Jay sat beside Zane, arm draped lazily over the back of the couch, but with the sneaky provision that he would also be able to graze Nya's wrists every so often with his fingertips. It was one or the gentle, loving little things that Jay did that made her love him so much.

Kai was too emotionless to even notice. He sat on the floor in front of Zane, playing with the laces of his sweatshirt absentmindedly. His distant behavior was starting to hurt Nya. She so desperately wanted her old Brother back, even if he was a hotheaded, overprotective, impulsively irrational person. She loved him. And seeing him in so much pain was starting to wear her down.

"Does that feel better?" She asked Zane, leaning closer so she could hear him.

"Very much," Zane replied. His eyes were shut.

Jay touched Nya's wrist again, sending a sickly sweet wave of warmth through her body. With her heart pounding like bricks being dropped off a building, she gave him a knowing smile, loving the way his eyes softened and his body relaxed at the sight of her. She wanted to reach over and touch his face, feel every defined contour of his skin. A desire she often felt every time their eyes met.

Ever since the death of the Overlord, Nya was able to rest better at night, knowing Ninjago was safe and she could begin anew, with a whole new take on life and the perfect experiences to get her through it. Now she was free to relax with the boys and invent and fix things the majority of her days, with a special, much-longed-for relationship on the sidelines.

Nya's face heated at the thought. Jay, so sweet in his unique way, being the perfect boyfriend she could ever ask for. He was always so gentle, often- -but not always- -chipper. She blushed deeper. And his kisses... Well, those were a completely different subject. Her heart thundered.

She loved him. She knew it. She could feel it in her bones, in her heart, in the heat of her cheeks. She purposely took his hand for the fraction of a second, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I love you," she mouthed, just because she could. Jay smiled and mouthed back, "I love you more."

Zane fell into a coughing fit suddenly, jarring Jay and Nya out of their trance and startling Kai into a reality awakening. He jumped back in disgust. "Since when do robots cough?" he asked while Zane hacked into his fist. Nya gently rested her hand on his shoulder. She didn't know what else to do. She'd never seen a robot cough before.

Just then, Lloyd and Cole waltzed into the room, arriving just in time to witness the fit of odd behavior Zane had fallen into. Cole's Eyebrows disappeared beneath his damp, shiny black hair. Lloyd Stared in confusion at Zane.

"You alright, Tin Man? You're not looking too good." Cole leaned on the arm of the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. He frowned in concern when Zane coughed again.

"I am all right," Zane said computedly. "I fear something may have fallen into my gears, forcing their rotational functions to cease their usual actions. The opposite conjunctional may have cause a reaction that results in dust traveling up my throat and out my mouth, for they have been working improperly for an extended period of seconds and minutes, perhaps hours."

Jay's jaw dropped.

"So..." Kai said slowly, leaning back onto his palms, extending his feet outwardly. Nya could see his muscles flex lithely like a cat's beneath his pants. "You basically just said something got caught in your powerbox and now your windpipe is full of dirt?"

Zane blinked. "Is that how you see it?"

Jay leaned forward, tapping on Zane's chest. Zane turned to him, momentarily startled by the other boys random appearance. "Let me have a look," he said softly. As Jay peeled apart Zane's hatch, Cole took the moment to turn to Nya for guidance.

"Panic attack?" he asked.

"Oh," she said quietly. "Well, I guess I'm not sure what happened, exactly. We heard Kai yelling for us in the kitchen, and when we got there, Zane was on the floor, all curled into a ball, Rocking back and forth. He had this awful, deranged look in his eyes. He kept mumbling stuff about..." Nya paused, trying to remember.

"Snakes," supplied Jay. When Nya turned to him, she saw his head cocked sideways, a pose struck solely when he was thinking hard. He had his pocket wrench out and was working on some part of Zane's chest she couldn't see.

"Right. Snakes," she turned back to Cole. "He said he'd had a 'vision' of a snake standing in the doorway. He described it as tall, blackish blue, with wide, evil green eyes, and fangs longer than his forearm. He said it laughed at him."

"It sounded like Pythor," said Zane distantly. Everyone's gazes averted to the nindroid, sitting ramrod straight, hands folded neatly in his lap. Jay's eyes flickered to Zane's face momentarily before falling back on his work. "I could've sworn to you the fearful creature was there with me. His laughter sounded so real, my sixth sense even alerted me there was a presence in the room that I needed to see. When I turned, it was there for a brief moment before it disappeared. But I committed its physical features and characteristics to my hard drive and the memory chip Jay installed with the assistance of the microscopic photographing lenses in my eyes."

"Camera, Zane," Kai said incredulously. "It's a CAMERA."

"Wait, so doesn't that mean we could just pull it up on Nya's oversized flat screen on the main deck?" said Lloyd, crossing his arms. Nya still noted he looked paler than normal, but decided to let it go.

"I would suppose so," Zane said after a moments pause.

"So whip that sucker out and show us the pictures!" Lloyd said as though it were obvious. "Maybe that way, if it's a REAL enemy, we'll know what to expect!"

"Let's just hope it's not an actual enemy and just your hard drive malfunctioning," Kai mumbled under his breath.

Jay grabbed ahold of something inside of Zane's "powerbox" that made the nindroid wince. "Careful, brother," he murmured. "My equipment is getting old. You must be gentle with it."

No one said anything, but the silent pain was still hanging in the air even after Jay closed Zane's panel shut and announced he found no issues, not even so much as a spec of dust. The thought of everyone getting older brought on the subject they'd been so conspicuously avoiding all these months since the Overlord's death: What would they do now that their ninja career was drawing a near close? They didn't want to separate ways, but the threat hung over their heads like dangling knives. They couldn't stay on this anchored ship forever. They'd have to move on eventually...

...And in the dust, a reminiscent of wars past, battles once fought, and victories gained rightfully would always be Zane, doomed to teenagerdom the rest of his mechanical, programmed life.