Hey guys! This one was suggested by AlessiaSkyler, who wanted to see Evil Zane. Enjoy!
"Zane, seriously? You could've had Jay pinned long before that," Kai laughed, and the Ice Ninja shrugged, taking a sip from the bottle of water marked with a 'Z' on the cap.
"Hey, I'm just having an off day today, alright?" Jay flushed pink, crossing his arms.
"Alright, when you're ready," Lloyd pointed his wooden staff at Zane, who nodded, returning to the circle drawn in sidewalk chalk.
As soon as the two started sparring, Zane knew something wasn't right. His vision darkened, the once vibrant blue of the sky turning ashen and muddled. His hearing went fuzzy, like cotton had been stuffed in his ears. His own breathing echoed in his head, the humming of his heart pulsing through him. He felt his knees hit the ground as they gave out beneath him, but there was no pain, only the thump that shook his legs. Muffled shouts of his name were the last things he heard before he slipped under, his head hitting the wooden deck as he fainted.
Zane woke up to the same grey sky, except this time he knew he was seeing clearly. He heard the rain hitting the ground beside him as he gathered his thoughts, sitting up. His gi should have been splattered with raindrops, but he was completely dry. He was on a bed of rock, seemingly in the middle of a field, with trees visible in the distance. There were footsteps approaching from behind, barely audible through the rain. He quickly rose to his feet, ready to fight if needed.
To his surprise, he was facing himself, although other him didn't seem to know he was there. The other Zane's face plate was slightly cracked, causing his right eye to glitch and flicker between the icy blue of his power source to a startling crimson red. The other eye seemed to be intact, however, and Zane chose to focus on that one. The other him clutched his shurikens in his hands, and by how hard it appeared he was gripping them, the joints in his hands were most likely protesting against the force.
Zane decided to think of this Zane as Alternate, to try and disassociate himself from the disheveled, glitching one in front of him. He decided to follow Alternate, and ran alongside his counterpart, although his footsteps were so light, he felt as if he was flying.
"Hello?" Zane tried to communicate, but Alternate kept running, the rain soaking through his gi even more as the wet grass stuck to his shoes and pants. The lookalike was mumbling something to himself, a tendency Zane had picked up from the others, so at least Alternate wasn't totally different. Eventually, Alternate suddenly stopped, and turned towards the sky for a moment. Zane skidded to a stop, and inspected Alternate more closely.
His gi was torn in quite a few places, and some of the knuckles on his fingers were spilt, showing glints of silver beneath the skin.
Funny. Zane thought to himself. Jay would have fixed that up pretty fast.
Quickly, Alternate began running again, ducking under a large rock nearby. Huh, they had wandered into an area with lots of rocks. Zane never really noticed that.
The Destiny's Bounty appeared above, and Alternate held his breath, scrunching farther under the rock, his eye settling on red for the moment.
Zane almost felt the need to hide too, but that seemed kind of pointless. Suddenly, the world around him shifted, a whirl of colors and lights, and he found himself on top of his ship, an exhausted team of clones minus Zane, Jay, and Nya peering out the windows and steering the ship.
Alternate Cole's eyes were vermillion and raw from either crying or excessive rubbing, the dark bags under his eyes a stark contrast against the blood around his irises.
Alternate Kai looked angrier than Zane had ever seen him, brown eyes seemingly burning with the desire to hurt.
Alternate Lloyd steered the ship, looking like he had aged a lifetime in the span of a day.
"Lloyd, are you..." Zane faded off, remembering they couldn't hear him.
Cole thumped his head against the window, letting out a shuddering sigh.
"It's no use," Cole sighed, voice cracking. "He's gone."
"The day we give up is the day I die," Kai spat out, but Cole and Lloyd flinched, the Earth Ninja swiping at his eyes.
"Kai, please," Lloyd said, his voice scratchy as well. "We both know how much you want to keep going, but we haven't had proper sleep or even time to grieve since..." The Green Ninja gulped, the sorrow painful in his throat.
"Look, I miss him too, Lloyd, but crying isn't going to solve this. Jay is dead, we can't undo that. The best thing we can do for Ninjago right now is get rid of the threat," Kai said, un unusual tinge of coldness to his words, and Zane felt like Kai had just punched him. Did Alternate kill Jay?
The world spun again, but Zane wasn't surprised this time. He came into focus on Jay, kneeling on the ground, holding his stomach. He followed the Lightning Ninja's gaze, and saw himself but with no injuries, and he might as well have been looking in a mirror. Jay was clearly in pain, an angry bruise forming on the side of his face, eyes wet with unshed tears. Jay pleaded something, but Zane couldn't understand it, but Alternate shook his head and raised his arms, burying blades of ice into Jay's gut.
Zane was crying now, kneeling beside Jay, wanting to hold him, but could only watch as the life drained from his eyes, his body falling to the floor as his knees gave out and blood dripped from his wound, dying parts of his bright blue uniform a brilliant red.
Zane looked up with a glare, tears still falling, to see Alternate looking straight at him.
"Watch yourself, Zane," He laughed, and Zane only had time to process the words before Cole burst in through the door, aiming a punch at Alternate's head-
Zane's vision went black.
Zane.
Zane.
Zane!
ZANE!
Zane woke up with a start, to find that his eyes were still wet with tears, a few stray ones still clinging to his face.
"Are you ok?" Lloyd asked frantically, leaning over him, blonde hair circling him like a halo.
"Oh, good, you're awake," Kai sighed. "Jeez, you can't scare us like that."
"How... how long was I out for?" Zane asked, a bit embarrassed that his voice portrayed his emotions, wavering and stumbling over his words.
"Only about five minutes, but then you started crying and we didn't know what the heck was going on," Kai explained, and Zane sat up, Lloyd and Kai sitting next to him.
"I had a vision, but it was so... unusual. I certainly hope it wasn't the future," Zane nervously fiddled with his sleeves. To tell or not to tell?
"Well, I'm going to go tell Cole and the others that you're ok. They went off to get some stuff in case you needed repairs or something," Kai stood, dusting himself off, and ran back inside.
"Zane, what happened?" Lloyd asked, his expression serious. Zane's visions were not to be taken lightly, as the crew had learned.
Zane wiped his face, clearing away the last of the tears, and looked Lloyd in the eyes. Emerald orbs stared back, and Zane sighed, turning his gaze downward.
"First, I saw myself, running through a field. I was in worse shape, my face was cracked and by knuckles were broken, and I was hiding from the Bounty, although I wasn't sure why. Then, I was inside the Bounty, and you, Cole, and Kai were looking for someone, I presumed it to be me, and Kai kept saying that crying wouldn't solve the fact that Jay was dead, and then I saw myself kill him, and I just-!" Zane buried his head in his hands, the sobs returning, but this time Lloyd put an arm around him, but Zane could sense his nervous heartbeat. Lloyd was scared.
"You killed Jay?" The Green Ninja asked quietly, and Zane nodded, lifting his head up, the sobs slowing down. "Zane, it's just a vision, it's not guaranteed to happen. We know you would never hurt any of use like that, ok?"
Zane swallowed hard, but murmured his agreement nonetheless. Lloyd helped him up, smiling as best he could at the Ice Ninja.
"Ok, let's get you inside and-"
"Oh thank goodness!" Jay exclaimed, running out to greet Zane a relieved smile on his face as he gazed up at the Nindroid, but it quickly faded as he saw Zane's condition. "Zane, bud, you ok?"
Zane just stared before hugging Jay so tightly the Lightning Ninja thought his ribs were going to pop. Images of Jay with ice embedded in his gut flashed through his mind, and he just locked his arms around Jay harder, afraid that if he let go that Jay would crumple to the ground in a pile of bruises and frost. Jay didn't ask anymore questions, and just let the Ice Ninja hold him until Zane felt comfortable enough to let go.