There we were, ready with our vehicles to storm the city. The Golden Master was inside, and he had the power to move mountains like I had been doing before. He was at the strongest that we'd ever seen him before, and we were going to finally end this.

Borg contacted us before we made our way into the city. Apparently, after the Golden Master had released him, he'd made his way to something called the Temple of Fortitude. According to my dad and Wu, it was a temple that the Overlord had created during his battle with the First Spinjitzu Master and, ironically, it had a seal that would repel the Golden Power. Borg claimed that he'd brought something with him that could help defeat the Golden Master, but we had to get there in order to use it. Our objective was set clear. I find it a little weird that we'd never noticed a big massive temple in the middle of Ninjago City, but I guess it was one of those historical sites that you never pay much mind to until you either visit it or are forced to flee being vaporized in it. It's also a weird to mention that Borg was, again, captured and freed from the Digilord's control, but by now I've mentioned how strange this whole situation was.

Because of the fact that the Golden Master now not only had my Golden Power but also the Golden Weapons, it meant that even getting near him wasn't an option. Just one touch to him, and we'd be done. Over. Gone. We'd quite literally vaporize, just like that robot (which I still wonder about). It was a bumpy road to get here, but we were going to end this.

As soon as we made our way towards the city, the buildings not only moved together to form a wall, but somehow, they seemed to grow up from the ground. I didn't need to hear the rumbling to know that my own power was going to be used against me. Jay and Cole blasted a hole through a parking garage to let those of us on the ground in, while the others fought the rising buildings to go over. Just breaking into the city was already a hurdle, and as we burst out into the streets, it was clear we were no longer fighting for the city, but the city itself.

On our way through the streets filled with broken down cars and Nindroids firing at us from all directions, Nya got hit and taken out of the sky. The smart thing would likely have been to actually have just one of us go after her, but for some reason we all decided it would be best if we all went together. In the heat of battle, it's not always the easiest to make the smartest decisions. We formed up and decided to make one big push through the defenses to get to her, but that's when we first came face to face with the Golden Master. Our vehicles were destroyed, again… making me question why we were given cool vehicles if they were just stripped away from us again.

When I fought the Overlord, he was far less unnerving as he was simply menacing. He was a giant dragon, and having known dragons, I wasn't terrified of his actual form. But what we saw on top of that weird mech of his was something that nightmares are made out of it. His essence seemed to be writhing and crackling underneath his robes, as though my power was all that was keeping it together. His limbs and face looked like they could suddenly melt at any moment, sort of like a metal that had just barely started melting. That body was pressed up against the Golden Armor forged from the weapons themselves, and the strange thing looked like a ribcage trying to just barely, hardly, contain what was already unstable. His eyes were the only thing that didn't change when we looked at him, as though they were the only solid thing about his body. He was a horrifying thing to behold, and even more terrifying knowing that touching him of his mech would spell instant doom for all of us.

As though to taunt us even further, he decided to attack us using Spinjitzu. I think he was the first person after Misako and Nya to use it in front of us, which I admit, only added to his terror. And, even more confusingly, the longer that he stayed out in the open, the more he started to grow in size. The tornado sucking up matter into it was almost adding to his bulk, and as we fled towards the temple, we weren't able to help Nya. We had to leave that to her while we were just trying to fight for our lives.

As soon as we passed through the gate to the Temple of Fortitude, dad and Wu were already waiting for us. They shut the gates and activated the 'seal,' which was more like this big forcefield that surrounded the entire building. Oddly enough, the temple was also filled with all sorts of other traps for the stairs, under the big dragon head, a cannon, a zip line escape feature… I'm not sure why the Overlord needed all of this back then, but he had them and we were currently too terrified of what was going to happen to us to really think about how to use any of them. I guess if this place was a toy it would be cool to have them to attack with. Not very practical in reality.

Just getting to the Temple had nearly killed us. It was perhaps only a few minutes, but catching our breath inside took a long time just to calm ourselves down from it all. The Golden Master not only held the advantage now, but he could easily kill us all if we weren't careful. And with Nya still down and out in the city, we had to come up with some sort of plan. The sheer size of his Spinjizu, the terrifying way that the gold from his powers seemed to drive away everything else when we were near him, it was too much for us to take on with just our fists.

This was also another situation where the battle would have been lost if Borg hadn't been released from the Golden Master's control. Inside the temple, he'd brought with him a dieting pill which, apparently, had the ability to shrink anything that ate it. Also inside the temple were old Stone Army suits of armor that could help us resist the Golden Power so we weren't destroyed upon touching it. While the pill ended up being pointless, had we not had the armor, we wouldn't have even managed to get close to the Golden Master. It's ironic that we would use the very things the Overlord used to fight the First Spinjitzu Master to help take down the Golden Master.

I'm not sure why the seal itself was a forcefield, but the Golden Master summoned all of the Nindroids in the city to help take it down. I guess since the Nindroids were connected to him, they counted as being repelled by the seal. While they were attempting to break into it, we had to come up with a way to deliver the pill to the Golden Master, since we weren't going to be able to just walk up to him and make him swallow it. That's when my dad and Wu suddenly started remembering that, apparently, at some point in their past they'd played baseball. They didn't call it baseball, but given the fact that dad said he was pitching and Wu was 'threading the needle' and they had a team name called the 'Templegate Tigers,' I'm pretty sure they were playing baseball. It was… a little strange to suddenly come up, but it wasn't important at the time. We needed to get the two of them close enough to deliver that pill to the Golden Master.

While we were forming this plan, the seal around the Temple of Fortitude broke, meaning I guess it wasn't very Fortuitous in the first place. I mean, it's one of the many places that we went to and never visited again, even if we used it to literally save our lives, so I guess it isn't worth going back to anyways. Like I mentioned, it's like the vehicles that the ninja used to escape the city and then… blew up, were basically blown up again after having them back for another five minutes. I guess we can add the hacked vehicles, Hiroshi's Labyrinth and the Temple of Fortitude to the 'places and vehicles we used once or twice and never again!'

Anyways, Nya had managed to somehow overpower Cryptor by exploiting the fact that Cryptor had been bullying a smaller Nindroid he called 'Minidroid' to help defeat him. She commended the Destructoid -which I admit is kinda a cool name- and used it to help clear a path for us to get out of the temple and out into the city again. Zane offered for Pixel to come with us, but she declined saying that he was more important. That was the last time that the two of them spoke, and when they did, it was saying they'd see each other again. Knowing what came next… I wonder what Zane was thinking.

Apparently, Golden Power could also control inanimate objects, or at least possess them, since banners and rocks were immediately thrown at us by the Golden Master as soon as we left the temple. Just like we were told, however, our new armor protected us from the blasts. It came at us so fast, I didn't even realize that I could have been ended right there by touching that power until after we'd already been hit by them. But that also made us all realize that now, we had a fighting chance. We could beat him now that he couldn't take us out with just one touch anymore!

The Golden Master had decided to use Borg Tower as the place for him to command the battle from, and so we were making our way towards the landmark. While we were on our way there, as soon as the Golden Master realized that he wasn't going to be able to take us out with just his powers, he decided to start attacking the people instead. Because of the fact he'd turned the city into his personal playground, the people were trapped holding onto ground that could erupt at any point. We were terrified that we'd have to stop and abandon the mission, since there'd be no point in saving Ninjago City if the people were taken out while we tried.

That was, all things considered, the first time that I saw that the Serpentine other than Pythor existed again. Apparently, the ninja had gone to them to find out more about Pythor when he was still the Stranger, and somehow, they'd managed to break open their tomb. I'm not sure how, given that Misako's scrolls said the tomb was supposed to be made to permanently seal away the Stone Army that remained in Ninjago after the split, but I guess if you throw enough snakes at t, you can eventually break anything apart. Skales had been watching the battle, and after the ninja asked for his help, he'd been considering trying to see what he could do to help. Since they had apparently renounced their war lineage, he decided to help us by evacuating all of the citizens underground while we continued to make our way towards the Golden Master.

Everything was happening fast. The further we went, the harder it got to get closer. And because of that, dad said that we were close enough once we were close enough to see his face again. Just as promised, the two of them stopped and got ready. Dad threw the pill in the air, and Wu knocked it towards the Golden Master. Given that we were not only a few blocks away, but were also under a time limit, the fact that shot looked ready to actually make it into his mouth would have put the two of them in line for the Ninjago Sports Hall of Fame.

That's when Pythor ruined our plans. At the last second, he dived in front of the Golden Master and swallowed the pill instead. He shrunk down to barely bigger than my hand, which was insanely satisfying to see in hindsight. The fact that Pythor, the one that tricked me, double crossed me, then used what I'd started to unleash the Great Devourer, somehow escaped what we thought was certain death, and then directly captured me to drain me of the Golden Power, was shrunk was just… it does make me smile, I'll admit. He was, in a way, my very first true villain that I had to fight, and now we'd beaten him. The Falcon, which I'd forgotten had existed at that point, captured him while he tried to flee.

Right then, however, it was having our hope almost literally snatched away from us at the last second. Our plan, which we'd been basing all of our hopes on, had been completely ruined in the span of a few seconds. In the few moments of shock that we had seeing Pythor ruin our plan, that's when the Golden Master struck. We were captured in the air by street signs and banners, almost like we were towels being hung up to dry. As soon as we were caught, I felt it. We were so close to the Golden Master that his power was starting to crack the armor. The armor had a duration it seemed, and it didn't look like we had long. We were caught. None of us could escape, and within a few minutes, we'd be vaporized and the last hope of Ninjago would be gone.

That's… when he did it.

There's a difference between winning a fight, and having a victory. You can win a fight, and lose everything. A victory is when you win on your terms. When we go into a fight with allies, we have an, assumption that we don't even think about until it's in danger: all of us are going to be going home together. We'll end the fight, and we'll all be okay. None of us had ever truly felt the fear, gotten so close to the idea that one day, one of the five of us wasn't going to be coming home that night. We'd never considered that one of us could… die.

That day wasn't a victory. We won, yes, but we didn't achieve victory. We were down and out of options, We had nothing, we could do nothing. Our trump card was played and now, we were just waiting for the moment we showed our losing hand. It hadn't sunk in yet, but my chest had started to go cold as I realized that I'd really, and truly, failed. I'd failed Ninjago. I'd let the Golden Master take my power, I'd failed to stop him from getting the Golden Weapons, and now I'd failed to minimize the threat to Ninjago. I'd lost.

What happened is something that I'll never forget. I don't care that he came back. I don't care that most people in Ninjago now don't even remember what he was like before he rebuilt himself. To us, Zane wasn't a robot. He wasn't just some machine that looked human. We'd fought with him, we'd grown with him, trained with him, we'd come to see him as far more than just some sort of machine that could imitate us so well. Zane, was our brother. And so when he managed to escape for a few seconds, he wasn't fighting with the knowledge that he'd make it out. He was going to save us.

My gaze was fixed on the Golden Master. Zane asked us to support him for one final time. We all heard it, but didn't know what he meant. At first, it seemed he meant it literally, since he used our heads to jump his way to the Golden Master. But when he grabbed hold of the mech itself, taking on the full power of the Golden Weapons and Golden Power at once, I knew what he was doing.

Earlier, he'd mentioned critical mass. Zane was pouring out literally every ounce of power he had in himself, every bit of ice, and everything that he was to contain the Golden Master. He wasn't trying to stop the Golden Master, he was trying to fully end him. I was too stunned to say anything outside of the fact he wasn't letting go. He wasn't trying to escape, or fight back. He was doing the one thing that he could do to save Ninjago… to save all of us.

All of the power in the city started to suck right up towards him. Zane was taking on the power of the Golden Master into himself to trigger his critical mass. When I'd beaten him, I'd left a small part of him, the smallest embers of his spirit stuck in the ground. Zane wasn't going to do that. I'd made that mistake once, and he was going to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Pieces of Zane started to break off just trying to contain the power going through him, but he refused to let go. When he froze the Golden Master in place… that was when I realized we couldn't stop him. He was determined to save us, to save his family. To save all of Ninjago. He was going to do the job that I had been tasked to do. Zane was going to die for me.

I used... I used to tell myself it should have been me. I was the one that messed up, Zane. I was the one that let the Golden Master exist. I let him grow powerful, I let him win. I let him beat me and now, now he was going to beat us once and for all. But whenever I told myself that, I knew I couldn't do anything. I'd already had my chance, and lost it. I gave up the Golden Power. I gave. It. Up. I had never been forced to step out of the ring and let someone else fight for me, but now that I had, I was seeing what it was like when I wasn't strong enough.

The snowstorm began to completely cover the city, making even seeing him difficult. We were forced to go underground just to avoid being frozen. Every part of my body screamed to stay still, to do something to save him. I wanted to somehow form my dragon and rush up to save him, I wanted to somehow go and help him. But if I tried, I'd stop him. Even as my limbs felt as frozen as the air around me, I had to run. I had to let someone else take the fall. The last time I ever saw Zane was right before we had to close the manhole, just before the ice fully encased him.

There was an explosion. Everything shook. And then… then there was nothing. It felt like time had just suddenly frozen. I was huddling underground, surrounded by my friends, and we couldn't hear anything anymore. When we moved back up to the surface, everything was covered in snow. There was nothing. Borg Tower was half encased in ice. There was no Golden Master, there was no Zane. All we found was a piece of Zane's face, the shell that broke off the first time that they fought the Great Devourer. Zane, was gone….

...

It's hard to describe, what it's like when it sets in that someone you care for or love has died. When it sinks in, it's like your brain can't fully process it. None of us think of death as it being something that's right on top of us. We like to think about it down the road, something that we're either trying to avoid or pushing down the line. But when it hits you, when it sinks in that death has finally come for you or someone close to you, it's like all of the air in your body is sucked right out of you. You go cold, you freeze, you can't move. The others were crying and holding each other… I wasn't able to move a muscle. I could barely even process what was happening.

I know my dad tried to say something to me. He tried to comfort me, to tell me what I needed to hear. Everything anyone said to me felt like I was underwater. I couldn't make them out, I couldn't process what was going on. I couldn't even think about anything but Zane. The only thing I could think about was the image of Zane, clinging onto the Golden Master. Clinging onto him and giving literally everything he had for us. How he stood where I should have been.

Everything that happened to him, that happened to the city, it was my fault. I'd killed Zane. If I'd been stronger, if I'd resisted the Digilord when he was draining my power, if I had trained harder with my powers, maybe he wouldn't have done that. Maybe instead, this wouldn't have happened. If I had just done the job right the first time and followed up with it, I wouldn't feel this way.

It doesn't matter to me that he came back. It doesn't matter that he actually managed to find his way back to us. The fact that he doesn't look like the Zane that I met in the beginning, the fact he's still the same person even after everything that he went through, it doesn't erase the fact that he died. Everyone now, they've all gotten used to it. Most kids now don't even know the fact that Zane wasn't always like this, that he wasn't a Nindroid when I first met him…

I couldn't even bring myself to say anything at his funeral. All of the others wrote a speech, gave it in front of a statue that Borg erected just for him. The Titanium Ninja was what Borg decided to call it. I couldn't find the words. I felt so ashamed while I was there, that I couldn't bring myself to speak. I tried to get myself to say something, to stand up and shout how much I missed him, how it should have been me that did it, how he died for my mistakes… to tell him. To tell him just how sorry I was. How sorry, how utterly, deeply, just… just how sorry I was. To apologize for how he died for me, he died for what I did. I couldn't… I couldn't even think of anything else other than how horrible I felt. And the fact it was at his funeral, the fact I was thinking of me while we were trying to honor him, only made me feel even more cowardly.

I didn't even say a word when the others decided to split up. Kai told me that he couldn't face being a ninja anymore when he'd failed Zane. As soon as Kai said that he wasn't going to be around anymore, Jay and Cole were quick to say they were gone too. While they were all saying their goodbyes after the funeral, I couldn't… I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even say goodbye to them. I was still so angry at myself, it didn't even register to me what they were doing until it was over. It wasn't until I told my dad afterwards, that they were gone, that it sank in.

Kai went off to join an underground wrestling ring started by some Serpentine that weren't content with being underground anymore called the Slithering Pit. Jay was approached by several people that wanted to use his status as a ninja to put him on the air, and soon he had his own TV show. Cole wanted to just get as far away from the city as possible, so he went off and became a lumberjack. I guess this meant Wu had to close the school since he no longer had teachers, but I never even heard about it again.

Since I wasn't the Golden Ninja anymore, there was no point in doing any sort of tours. I wouldn't accept any rewards, anything for saving the city. Because I hadn't saved the city, Zane had beaten the Golden Master. I didn't do anything. I just sat by, while Zane… while he saved us. I turned down everything the city offered me. I kinda of wish they did more of that today.

Borg offered a room in the newly rebuilt Borg Towers. My dad offered me the chance to move in with him, so I decided to do that instead. I couldn't stomach being in the city. I spent nearly two weeks once I was at the monastery just inside my room, barely thinking. The others were off doing things, and I was laying there, unable to bring myself to save anyone anymore. I had all but just given up. Zane was gone, so what was the point of doing anything anymore? What was the point of trying, when I wouldn't be strong enough? I'd never be the Golden Ninja again.

Each day, my mother and father would come in and ask me to go and train with them. I thought my dad would try to push me to go and get better, but he said that I needed time to heal. He said that I had to heal by finding the wound inside me and stitching it together myself. If I didn't, I'd never be able to move past it. I had to find a way to get over this myself. And at first, I wasn't even trying to. I was just laying there, in my own pity, in my own hatred for myself.

Everyday, my anger towards myself grew. Each day I'd get more angry. My guilt felt like it was boiling over, and was going to consume me. All of it was my fault, all of it was my fault, that's all I could think about. Soon I was angry enough that I destroyed the bed I was using. I didn't know my own strength. Dad told me that the anger was natural, but I had a choice. I had to either control it and use it to rebuild myself, or burn in it. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't listening to him. Soon the room was a mess and I was barely holding it together.

At the end of those two weeks, I was a wreck. I wasn't looking like myself, or the Green Ninja. If anyone saw me like, they'd never think of me as a hero. When I finally was at the breaking point, when I'd finally gotten it into my head that I'd lost, I'd hit that lowest point. I had to make a choice as to who I was going to be, make a decision as to what person I was going to be. I didn't feel that at the time, but I felt that I had to do something. Because when I finally saw a mirror, saw what I looked like, I couldn't take it anymore. I can't even say what I did, because I only saw one glance before I looked away.

I wish I could say that I made some big grand sweeping change, made some big announcement or did something powerful to get back on my feet. The thing is… it doesn't really work like that. All I did when I saw myself like that, was make one promise to myself. One thing that I would hold with me, that I'd never forget, that I'd never let get away from me again.

I'd never be too weak to protect my friends ever again.

It took another week before I was fully back in shape and back to training, but when I did, I took that promise to heart. My dad gave me a staff and had me carve my promise into the wood. By physically putting it into something like that, I couldn't forget it. I'd never forget the promise I made to myself as long as I had it. And for the next month, all I did was train with that staff. I threw myself into my teachings with my father. I pushed myself to grow as strong as I could. I told him not to go easy on me, and he didn't. The training that I'd been undergoing while on the run was back on. I was back to being the Green Ninja.

And for those months, I trained. I strengthened up the parts of myself that made me feel weak, and I honed the parts that I already had. Soon, my dad was coming at me full force in training. Later, I was able to actually dodge his attacks. I trained my Spinjitzu until my feet were ready to burn off, I trained my swordsmanship until my arms refused to move, and I pushed my brain to memorize new tactics, new ideas, whatever it took. I made a choice to become the Green Ninja that day. I was going to be the hero that Ninjago needed.

At the end of those months, I was stronger than I had ever been before. I was exhausted, I'd pushed harder than I ever had before, but I was better for it. I was now the Green Ninja of legend that everyone wanted me to be. Borg called me in one day to test the layout of where he had hidden the retrieved Golden Armor that the Golden Master had worn, and so I did. And when I did, I realized how much I'd improved. The Nindroids that had once been so powerful to me, were now like the training equipment I trained on. I came just shy of taking it in the simulation, and the fact I made it so far told me what I needed to know. I had gotten stronger.

Yet for all of my strength that I had, it would soon be put to the test all over again when Ninjago fell under attack. This time, it wasn't some ancient evil, some warrior race, or a reincarnated devil. It was just one man, his followers, and a noodle empire. This time… it was Chen.


"Zane…?" Lloyd asked as he looked down.

Zane had his arms wrapped tightly around his torso. Lloyd looked at him curiously, but slowly moved and hugged him back. Zane remained silent for a long while, simply hugging Lloyd. When he finally pulled back, he had a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Lloyd." Zane spoke warmly.

"What?" Lloyd blinked, "What for?"

"Hearing the struggle that you went through for me, hearing how much that I meant to you, and how I helped push you to become the man that you are today… it is something that has reassured me that all my decisions that I have made were worth it," Zane closed his eyes and sighed softly, "It has affirmed that I indeed am important to you."

"What?" Lloyd sat up, "You were always important to me, Zane. You're part of my team. I wouldn't lie about how much you meant to me."

"You misunderstand," Zane shook his head, "I know that I am your friend, but it is hearing how much you indeed cared for me that reminds me of the fact that I am your brother," Zane moved his hand over where his heart was, "When my father passed, and I was unable to remember him, I still felt the desire to have those close to me, to have a family again. When I met you, and we were brought together to help save Ninjago, I still had worries that you all still did not truly see me as your brother. And as I rebuilt myself, made myself look less human, I worried that was still the case. I have always managed to push those fears away, but hearing you say those words, it is as though you have removed a burden from me I have been neglecting."

Without hesitation, Lloyd moved and put his hand on Zane's shoulder, "You've always been a brother to us, Zane. It doesn't matter if you were in this body, a toaster, even just a program on our computers. Being family is more than that. Being a family is about protecting and caring for each other. You've shown us over and over again how much you care about us, and I hope that we've made sure to show you how much we do too. No matter what happens, no matter what you look like, you'll be a brother to each and every one of us."

Zane closed his eyes and slowly sighed, reaching out to put his own hand on Lloyd's shoulder. After a few moments, he opened his eyes with a newfound look of assurance in them.

"Thank you, Lloyd," Zane smiled, "I believe I have a suggestion that I would like you to take, then."

"A suggestion?" Lloyd asked, "What suggestion?"

"I believe that you should record these chapters with the others, and not just myself," Zane dipped his head, "I can give them a program that will transcribe your words as they listen. The more that I hear about your side of events, the more I feel I understand you. I believe that the others should be allowed to share in that experience as well."

"Are you sure?" Lloyd rubbed his hands together unknowingly, "I mean, I thought that you would be the best since, you wouldn't interject or judge me for what I was saying, you know?"

"I do," Zane stood up, "And that is why I believe that you should include the others. You have already had Kai sit in on one of our sessions. I believe as long as you tell them you wish to say your thoughts before their comments, they will understand."

"I don't know…" Lloyd admitted, "But… I'll trust you, Zane. If you think it'd be worth it, then I will."

"I will inform the group then," Zane stated, "Do you have an idea of who you would like to work with next in mind?"

"Hrm… not right now, but I'll think about it," Lloyd sighed, "We have to talk about Chen next, so I need to think about that."

"Indeed," Zane walked towards the door, "Oh, and, Lloyd?"

"Hmm?" Lloyd stood up from the chair and paused in curiosity.

"I would still like to train with you after your sessions," Zane smiled, "It is a good habit for us, and I believe that it is a good way to help you relieve tension after these meetings."

"Sure Zane, sure," Lloyd chuckled, "I'm getting pretty close to beating you, after all."

"We shall see about that," Zane chuckled back, "We shall see."