Mouth of Lightnin: Glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I hope you are still enjoying the story, even with such infrequent updates... Anyways, I hope you like this slightly more experimental chapter!

Spacey no Ocean: I will certainly continue!

ProfessorYeti: Everything has a plan for this story, and I'm sure it'll go in some unexpected directions...

Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy the chapter -Chin


Cole was falling once more into the black cloud of the Oni. He didn't know how he had gotten there, but he knew that his life was over. He knew that this was the end. Nobody could save him now. Cole was sweating, terrified of what was to come. His breathing was rapid, irregular. His arms and legs flailed, it felt as though he were falling in slow motion. He couldn't die. He was afraid to die.

He fell through the cloud, and it was dark. So very, very dark. Cole could barely tell if his eyes were open. He shivered as he fell, the cold air piercing through him. The ground had to be close, he could feel it creeping closer. He was falling. He would die.

And Cole was in combat against Yang. The old master was throwing everything at Cole, the Yin blade slicing through his sword as though it were nothing. Cole tried to use his Earth Punch, but could not find the strength. Cole wasn't strong enough. He was too afraid to die.

Yang knocked him to the ground, and gave a harsh laugh as he flew towards the rift. Cole lunged at Yang, but missed. He pounded the ground as he watched Yang fly from the Temple. Cole put his arms behind his head and began to break down. His friends would never see him again. He would be forgotten forever in this horrid place, forgotten and alone.

And Cole was on a staircase, alongside Kai, Jay, Zane, and Lloyd. One of the Green Ninja's legs was broken. They were ascending a tower, a massive black dragon perched atop it. Their foe seemed impossible to defeat. Suddenly, Cole was hit by some sort of missile. A dark purple goo surrounded him, and he felt his mind begin to rip away from himself. He couldn't feel himself. He was just angry, and scared.


"Is anybody there," asked PIXAL. She could not see anything for miles across the flat, plain environment she was currently standing in. Standing wasn't quite the right word, though. PIXAL had no body. She was just a programmed entity, no physical form, in the vast atmosphere of Zane's mind. She didn't like being lost here. She did not care for it at all.

She loved Zane, she always had, but once she had been disassembled by Chen, she never would have expected it to be this way. Being a bodiless mind is no way to live. She couldn't speak to anybody, not even Zane, lost in the depths of his enormous mind. She could not feel. She could not walk. She was lost, perhaps forever. Yet, she would never die. She barely even existed.

And that terrified her.


Ronin gasped for air. He was being dragged down into a great abyss but thousands of withered, decomposing hands. They all wanted him to be destroyed. Perhaps he should be. He owed them. He had made many mistakes in his life, never considering the consequences. Perhaps now they had caught up to him. He had let every one of them down. He had failed them.

From the sea of hands, four rose out. One clad in green, one in red, one in black, and one in blue.

"You let them find us," said black, "I suffered because of you." Suddenly, the figure in black began to convulse, his visible skin beginning to decompose. He toppled to the ground, the other three toppling alongside him.

Another figure rose, this one wearing white.

"You killed me," he said, "You sold me. You caused so much pain." He fell to his knees, and began to fall apart. His arm fell off, and a leg, and, finally, his head fell from the socket, oozing a dark black oil. The oil reached Ronin's foot, and he backed away, breathing heavily. He bumped into a sixth figure from behind, jumping into the air and turning to face it.

It was a woman, wearing a gray and blue Gi, her face zombified, distorted and mangled almost beyond recognition. But Ronin knew who she was.

"Nya?"

"Yes, Ronin," said the zombified Nya, "You will fail me, as you have failed all the others. I will die, and you will not be able to stop it."

She lunged at Ronin, who fell backwards, writhing on the ground in a state of pure panic. He had caused so much pain.


The villagers screamed for mercy. They begged to be spared, but the Ice Emperor did not heed their demands. His informant at his side, the Ice Emperor slaughtered every last one of them. He watched as icicles stabbed through their hearts. He murdered mothers in front of their children. He killed entire families. He destroyed the houses, eliminated all signs of civilization, tore apart their books and their food and any memory of what the once were. None would betray his power. Vex smiled at the Emperor.

"Well done, my Lord," he said, in his silky voice, "But we have much more work to do. We must be sure to maintain your rule forever. All of your people have betrayed you. Next, we shall destroy the Formlings. They have proven to be disloyal to your rule."

The Ice Emperor smiled. Somewhere inside, he knew that this sentiment was a lie. Zane knew that this was wrong, that he was murdering innocents. But he did not fight for control. He just allowed this to happen. For once, Zane could take the easy way out. Always, he sacrificed for his friends. He had been torn apart and put himself back together. For once, he let someone else take the reigns.

And an entire world died for his selfishness.


Jay began to sob. After all he had been through, he couldn't save her. Nya was dying in his arms, venom drenching her chest. She gasped for air, and Jay couldn't save her. How could he? He was always the useless one. He couldn't save Zane from dying at the hands of the Overlord. He couldn't stop Cole from becoming a ghost. What had he ever accomplished in the team? Anything he did, the other ninja could do better. Lloyd had saved the world. If he was Lloyd, Nya wouldn't be dead. Nadakhan would kill them all. Jay was going to have to watch the world burn, knowing it was all his fault.

He was a failure. He was useless.

But wait.

This isn't where it ended.

Jay had gotten out of this before. Somewhere in his mind, a memory stirred, one of triumph, of victory. He had saved Nya. He had saved the world. Nadakhan had been lost forever, because of his final wish. Jay had won. If he was so useless, how could he have beaten such a formidable foe? Jay had to stop feeling sorry for himself. It did not do him any good. He was a pivotal piece of the Ninja team. He was not useless. And he heard a scream of defeat coming from some far part of his brain, as a great burden left his soul.


PIXAL's consciousness was drifting further and further apart. She couldn't feel herself. She was just becoming part of the machine, a piece of the system rather than her individual self.

"PIXAL," a voice called out from the void, "You are not alone. We are here."

"Zane?," asked PIXAL, her spirits once again rising, finding her soul once more. And she rose up, out of the darkness, the nothingness, and once more into the world.


Ronin was backed against a cold, stone wall, the zombified figure of Nya above him, taunting his failures.

"You're nothing, old man," said the apparition, "You have failed all of Ninjago. Do you really think any of us would ever forgive you? After all that you've done. You truly are worthless. YOU ARE W—"

A blade sliced through the chest of the zombified ninja, as it fell to the floor, vanishing in a puff of dark smoke. Another figure stood behind them, a slightly blood, stained blade in their hand. They dropped it, and Ronin heard it clatter to the ground.

"You owe us nothing."

The figure reached out his hand, and Ronin took it. He felt himself flying upward, reaching reality and leaving his dark fears behind.


And Cole was falling once more, from a small cliffside. Jay was standing above, a look of horror on his face. Below Cole was a pool of water. It was a serene setting for the most part. Birds were singing, and the sun was shining. But Cole was dead. His ghostly form meant that the water below would mean his demise. Cole had never before felt such terror. He knew he was dead. He had to accept that. But he couldn't.

"You won't die today, Brother."

Cole heard the voice of his friend, as a hand grasped his own, preventing his fall into the lake. He wouldn't die today. He couldn't die. He looked down at himself. His body once more became whole. He was mortal once again, and he felt the crystalline floor beneath him once more. He looked up to see Jay standing above him, PIXAL and Ronin right behind.

"You're okay, Cole," said Jay, smiling at his friend, "You're okay."

"How did you get out?", asked Cole, "Umbra put us all under his hypnosis. How did you break free?"

"I just realized that my greatest insecurity was a fiction," said Jay, "I took control of my mind by facing my fear. That was enough to drive Umbra out. And it was enough to save my friends."

"Where's Zane?", asked Cole, suddenly aware that the Nindroid was not with them. Jay pointed across the cavernous maze, toward their friend, who was in a ball upon the ground, quivering in fear, particles of ice flying around his body. PIXAL gasped, and Cole ran to him, but was blown back by a gust of cool air.

"I couldn't get to him either," said Jay, "Whatever he's seeing must be really bad."

"I know what he's seeing," said PIXAL, "I'm sure I can reach him."

"How do you know?," asked Ronin.

"Just trust me," responded PIXAL. She walked toward Zane, getting dangerously close to the sharp shards of ice that surrounded the air around him.

"You did not kill them," she said, "It was not your fault. You were tricked. Vex deceived you! That is a burden we must carry as Nindroids. We can be reprogrammed, but we shall always remain. Remember, Zane, the Overlord corrupted me all those years ago. But you saved me! And Lloyd saved you in the Never Realm! Yes, people are dead at your hand. But they are NOT dead because of you! You were just a vessel, used by a man of evil! Zane, you must believe me. I have known you for so many years now, loved you for so many years. Truly, you must understand that I would never lie to you. If you will not save yourself, do it for me. I can't live without you Zane. When I thought we lost you, I could not sleep. I could not live. Please, you are worth living for. I need you Zane. I need you." She began to break down, falling to her knees, crying, though no tears could come out.

"I need you Zane. I need you"


The Ice Emperor heard PIXAL's plea. Zane heard her plea. He was a fool to think that he could let Vex take control, that perhaps, he wouldn't be missed. He wanted to survive, though not because he was worth it. Because the one he loved needed him. He would not live in self-loathing, he would not be that selfish. He would survive. If only for PIXAL, he would survive. And Zane returned.