Chapter I: The Shiny Inspector.
Word Count: 2,212 words total, 2,164 words in story.
Characters: Chase, Ronin, Robo-Butler, Echo Zane.
(Author's Note to Readers: In light of Episode 62 of the Ninjago Series I felt like writing something that involved Echo Zane, here's what I came up with.)
Where would Jay and Nya possibly be? That's what Chase wanted to know, that was what was important to him. He looked down at his hands, still metallic and without synthetic skin due to the hard journey of getting over to this old lighthouse. He hadn't seen it in ages. He looked down at the sand. "Heavy footprints from large boots, looking to be that of Privateers." He looked back at the tracks and saw they weren't even leaving from the ocean, "Six sets of prints and they're all headed for the steps. No signs of boats washing up means they either used traveller's tea to get here or. . . Sky pirates. Deep hole mark in the sane caused by multiple people means there was a struggle up the stairs."
Chase began to walk up the stairs. "small traces of sand from the beach on each step including right in front of the door which is not there." He looked to the side to see gears, wires and screws all about including a large spring and door on top of a large rock, smoothened out by the ocean a long time ago. "Why is there a giant hole in the side of the lighthouse?!" He was wide eyed and he soon walked inside.
"Traveller's Tea residue." He said in regards to the large purple stains all over the floor, dried for about three days now. He noticed sand paths all leading to the door. He pushed it open and saw a workshop with tools to repair and create machines. By the door, more purple stains. "There's not as much here as the other stain. I wonder why." He looked to the many flights of stairs, hoping to find an answer. He followed the tracks of sand in it and saw dust from a Djinn. "Hmmm. Why would. Djinn need Traveller's Tea? . . . Unless someone they were chasing was trying to get away from them. . . . Nadakhan." He started to piece the puzzle together with what he read from a police report. A Djinn named Nadakhan and his Sky Pirates which is why there were no boats there, had been terrorising Ninjago. Four of the six Ninjas had gone missing presumably inside of Nadakhan's sword which was seen using elemental powers a few days ago. He took out his phone and dialed someone once they answered he asked his question. "Ronin you see anything on the other side?"
"I see a few ladders back here which reach up to the top and I can smell smoke in the air. I'll check it out."
Ronin sat inside of REX which was hovering in the air next to the roof. He opened the hatch and climbed on top then looked around. "I see water marks on the roofs and a giant gaping hole in it. What you have on your end?"
"I'm seeing Traveller's Tea residue on the ground and I'm following sand tracks up the stairs." He followed them closely, staring at the sand as he walked up until his metal boot covered foot hit something hard. He looked up slightly to see a rested arm, it was on the last step of the fourth flight. A leg was next to it, on the platform just before the first step of the fifth flight accompanied by a body. The entire thing looked old and rusted, like it was about to fall apart anyways. "Ronin I see an android on the fifth flight, he looks like Zane I'm gonna handle it tell me what you find on the top floor." He leaned down next the deactivated droid. It was shut down and looked out of commision. "What story do you tell?" He grabbed the rusted hand, his titanium fingers lacing between the old metal he saw. "If Jay found you he probably rewired you to protect him and Nya, the love sick fool." He picked up the detached arm and leg then placed it on top of the droid's body, he picked it up and walked back down the stairs with it, the machine wasn't too heavy especially since his prothstetics gave him more strength.
As he walked towards the door his foot hit something again. He looked down to see the deactivated droid on the floor. "Pathetic, you two couldn't even fight drunken pirates. I'll fix that." He stepped over the busted droid then placed the Zane duplicate on the table. He picked up the smaller droid then placed it on the table as well when he heard Ronin's voice over the phone. "Talk to me."
"Come to the top floor it's important." Ronin said calmly.
Chase formed jets with his wind power, something he picked up on when he saw Morro do that. He noticed a large gash on the wall of the fifth floor and a giant hole as well. He arrived at the top. "What is it?" He asked.
"It looks like the room was set on fire Chase. But not by a match." Ronin said calmly as he looked at the partially burned curtains, the blackened dining table and the black spots of fire out out. "Look at the large spot from where we first walked in, it's going outwards, showing an EXplosion. By gunpowder." Ronin stared at Chase and sighed. "I think it was those sky pirates."
"I agree with you on that, I found a droid here, I'm going to repair him and see what I can find out." He began to make his way down the stairs."
"Alright but be safe down there!" Ronin yelled down.
"Yeah yeah Robin whatever dad!" Chase rolled his eyes and walked back into the lab.
He took the smaller droid first. It was robo-butler, he remembered the small droid and saw the exposed wires on its back and what seemed to be a cut from a sword. He grabbed a few of the replacement wires from a closet and ripped out the old wires which probably were rotting. The new wires were fresh and would last a few years. Chase began to implant them into the robo-butler until he felt it heat up from its activation sequence, he smiled and placed the last of the wiring in then closed the back panel then sealed it with screws.
The machine made a few noises but chase stopped it. "Help me fix him. He's busted." He pointed toward the duplicate laying on the table with a soft frown on his face. "And we need to get you cleaned up." Chase left the laboratory and walked over to REX. It had landed and had all his things in it. He took out the bottles of lemon juice, the twenty pound bag salt, a scrubber and a bucket. He walked back inside then saw the robo-butler go over to his feet. "Hello little guy." Chase chuckled softly and picked it up and shut the machine down. He went back into the laboratory then grabbed a large bowl. He poured the salt into it and a lot of the lemon juice, he stirred it into a strange looking concoction and submerged the robo-butler into it.
He walked over to the duplicate and examined the area where the leg had fallen off. "Jay forgot to check for rot. He's suppose to be the smart one!" He sighed and started to clip out the dead wires and inspect the Acetabulum where the leg and torso would join. It was cleaned and he chuckled the leg, noticing how the metal and wiring of the knee was exposed. "I'll clean you up too." He said softly then began to connect the leg and Ilium together. Once that was done he fixed the humerus of the arm and the Shoulder then reconnected them with metal and wiring from the closests, tables and anything he could find from the floor.
As he inspected the rest of the wiring on the opposite of the duplicate's body he thought of one question. What did this nindroid name himself? "Poor thing's power systems are fried." He looked at the closet and walked over to it, grabbing a few spare parts he walked back over and took off the gold tinted metal tube then placed a new one in. He took out the droid's gears which were rusted and likely stopped turning due to build up, he placed new ones inside of him. He noticed the speedometer used as a power source and he shook his head.
Chase went back out to REX and grabbed his bag of supplies. He knew he must've had something to power the droid for much longer especially since that old speedometer looked about ready to explode. He walked back into the lab and removed it then took out a small circular generator, it would fit inside of him perfectly. He did so and connected the power cord to it then added a few extras in case his main power cord shorted out, he would have back up energy. Chase smiled softly and activated the generator which would power the cogs and the cogs would power the generator. The black hollow eyes began to brighten up into a golden colour.
Chase's titanium hand laced with the fingers again then ran a hand through the makeshift brown-blondish hair and he watched as the creation soon sat up.
Echo Zane blinked a few times, what had happened to him? Wait he had deactivated a few days ago in an attempt to protect his friends and he lost his arm and leg. He remembered his last words, oh. Ahhhhh! Now he's awake and he's not sure where he is, he just knows that he feels metal against his own hand and a hand in his hair. He followed the appendage back to its owner. A man. He wears mostly grey robes, the sleeves are a light grey-nearly white, which copies that of the grey and black hood, mostly grey hood. He had a black vest with three golden laces and an owl on top of a tornado on the side which to him was the left. A light grey belt with golden tips and grey ropes tied around the lower thighs. Skybound Robes, he saw a man named Jay and a woman named Nya wearing them when they were here, his friends. He didn't even know where they were. "I am Zane, built to protect those who cannot protect themselves." He said calmly to the man in front of him. "Are you my friend?"
"Yes, Zane. Now tell me." Chase pulled his hand out of the hair and held up a photo of Nya and Jay. "Have you seen these two people before."
"J-Jay and Nya. . . My friends. You know them? You look like them." Echo Zane was excited to
Chase felt his tanned cheeks heat up happily. "I'm glad you've seen them." The smile he had was soon gone. "Do you know where they went?"
"No when I deactivated on the stairs they were fighting a floating man. . . I woke up to see you." Echo Zane looked down wishing he knew more to help this man find his friends, he wanted to see them. "They are not with you?"
"No. So do they call you anything other than Zane?" Chase wondered if there were any nicknames he would be able to use.
"Echo Zane or Echo. Either of them." Echo murmured out softly, shyly. He noticed the war paint had been cleaned off and his systems felt a little different, a good kind of different. "Did you repair me?"
"Yes." Chase said and gave him a gentle smile. "Anyways we have to leave, you can come with me and my Partner, Ronin if you want."
Then as if on cue a loud painful scream was heard. "God fucking damn it!" It was Ronin, most likely he did something to mess up REX their only way off the Island! Ronin walked inside of the lab. His hair was and stubbled cheek were sweating, the centre of his green armour had a dark mark in it. He took his scarf off and placed his red Kasa back onto his head then rubbed at his face with an aggrivated sigh. "I'm sorry, Chase, I'm so sorry. I fucked up REX! We're stuck here for a while we better fucking get comfy. . . Oh you got that droid working. Alright well I'm gonna start working on REX, get us out of here as quick as we possibly can, the fucking red kelp here is fucking with my allergies." He soon left with a soft groan.
"That was Ronin. I'm Chase." Chase said. He held back the noises of laughter he wanted to make from Ronin swearing.
"Oh." Echo said softly and he soon pulled his hand away and placed the rusty object on top of Chase's Titanium hand. "I have one last question about you."
"Go ahead and ask it." Chase said softly as he looked at Echo.
"Why are your hands shiny?"