Season 10 Au with obvious plot holes addressed. Warning, character death.
"Lloyd there might be another option," said Zane, running through his calculations
"What?" asked Lloyd
"If the cloud of darkness only affects human, logic would dictate that a nindroid would have a higher chance of survival," said Zane
"No, I'm not risking you," said Lloyd
"Lloyd, you are the green ninja, the hope of the world rests on you, my element is Ice, not only is it an element of creation but it is also a dark enough element that it might stop the oni, I will go with Garmadon to destroy the realm crystal," said Zane
"No, I won't risk any of you," said Lloyd
"Lloyd, listen to me, not only am I one of your protectors, I am a nindroid, a machine, I may be human enough to all of you but to the enemy, I am only a machine, I am the most expendable of the team," said Zane
"No Zane, I'm not losing you again," countered Lloyd
"The nindroid is right, he stands a better chance than any of you," said Garmadon. Zane took out half his power source and handed it to Pixal,
"If I should not return, Pixal, my only love, I need you to take my place on the team," said Zane
"You better come back to me," said Pixal, hugging Zane
"I will try, my love but you know that there are no guarantees," said Zane.
"Zane, if you pull another stunt like you did facing the Overlord then so help me you are not leaving the monastery for months," said Kai hugging his brother. Zane looked at Garmadon,
"I know you get your powers from fighting, you aren't getting a weapon till we are on the ground, then when we face an oni, you can fight them," said Zane
"At least one of you is smart," said Garmadon.
"I will be sending my visuals through the communications feed of the bounty," said Zane
"Don't you need a parachute?" asked Cole
"I will use my element to catch me," said Zane
"Be careful," said Pixal
"I will," said Zane. He and Garmadon jumped, the darkness was blinding but Zane used a long ice slide to safely reach the bottom. When they came across a frozen Borg, Zane promised that he'd fix this but logic dictated that they had to keep moving. They came across Oni guarding the doors.
"Give me a weapon droid," said Garmadon
"I have a better plan," said Zane, shooting a blast of ice at the onis
"You don't get a weapon until I say so," said Zane holding a shuriken to Garmadon's throat.
"Then why didn't you come down here yourself, and be the hero," said Garmadon
"Because you keep your friends close but your enemies closer," said Zane.
"You think like a villain, I like it," said Garmadon
"My element is ice, people don't like the cold very much, many would see the element as evil, but I believe it is irony that makes it an element of creation," said Zane
"Indeed," said Garmadon. They made their way to the basement, Zane keeping Garmadon ahead at sword point.
"You are obviously the smart one, why are you not the leader?" asked Garmadon
"Because as a nindroid it is difficult to think outside the realm of logic and fact, it is hard for me to develop crazy ideas that just might work, humans can do that without having statistics blaring in front of their eyes," said Zane. They got to the realm crystal and Zane shot a blast of ice at it, hoping to prevent any more darkness from seeping in.
"That won't hold them for long, we need to destroy it," said Garmadon
"I have analyzed my memory banks and scanned the situation, destroying the crystal will only prevent more from coming through, it won't stop what is already here, we need to destroy it then come up with a step 2, these archives hold many artifacts including the golden armor, you are the only one capable of touching it, the last time I did so I blew up," (Authors note, did anyone notice how season three and back made a big deal about no one being able to handle the power of the weapons all at once yet now in season 10 anyone can hold the armor with no consequence. Plot hole much?) said Zane
"And after we get the armor?" asked Garmadon
"We bring it back to the monastery, we forge it back into weapons using Kai's fire," said Zane
"Now that's a plan," said Garmadon.
"First the easy part, destroying the realm crystal," said Zane, the Omega came through the mist but Zane blasted the ground with ice freezing the thing from the ground up, he then hit the crystal with his sword.
"Your actions are not that of a young adult, more like a middle-aged man," said Garmadon, noticing that Zane's actions were not stubborn but cautious and analytical.
"I am nearing my 42 birthday, and I tend to act my age, now focus on the task at hand," demanded Zane. Garmadon chuckled. The crystal shattered and Zane hit the omega with Ice once more.
"We have to get to the armor," said Zane
"Indeed," said Garmadon. Zane froze a wall till it broke then the next and the next until finally, he found it, the Golden armor.
"How did you break those walls?" asked Garmadon
"I froze them, Ice can destroy and create, it all depends on how it's used, quickly grab the armor, I can't touch it but you can," said Zane. Garmadon grabbed the armor and they ran out the door, Zane looked back and saw Oni chasing them.
"Nya, come in, lower the zip line," Zane said into his com.
"Zane I have locked onto your location, the others went to investigate a distress call, I am inbound on your location," said Pixal. She swooped in to grab them but she was running low on fuel.
"Pixal, there is a way to conserve your fuel, but you have to trust me and just get Garmadon and the armor to the monastery," said Zane.
"NO! I know what you are going to do, and I don't want you to, I can't lose you," said Pixal
"Pixal, it is the only way, if the worst should happen, you have half my heart and you know how to do spinjitzu, you've seen me do it enough, I will see you again when this is over, one way or another, goodbye my love," said Zane before he climbed out of the mech's grasp and kissed her cheek before letting himself fall into the cloud. The ninja were distraught to learn that they had lost Zane and Cole in the same day. Zane was overtaken by the Oni, he knew his chances were zero, he closed his eyes and let the blades of the Oni, pass through him, everything went black. He awoke in a field, he had been here before, back when he defeated the overlord he had been given a choice, go to the great beyond, or go back home.
"Welcome back Zane, are you ready?" asked the first spinjitzu master. Zane saw shard waiting by the golden dragon.
"I don't have a choice this time do I," said Zane
"Sadly not, this is the end of your time, and not early this time, this day was always meant to be your last," said the FSM.
"Could I stay in this place for a while longer, I feel like I have to wait for someone," said Zane
"I have to wait too, there is a friend of yours I must speak to in a matter of hours," said the FSM. Zane sat on the grass and looked at his surroundings, shard wrapped her body around him.
"Sir, will Pixal and the other's be alright?" asked Zane, worried about his love and his family,
"That is for them to decide," said the FSM
"Sir, if I may ask, what realm is this, it is clearly not the departed realm, but it does not seem to be a normal realm," said Zane
"This is the field of choices, it is like a ship dock, depending on if you are eligible to choose if you live or pass, you can." said the FSM. Back in Ninjago, the ninja were happy to see that Cole had survived.
"Where's Zane?" asked Cole,
"He fell, well jumped off the mech into the darkness, I was low on fuel and he chose the safety of Ninjago over his own life, again. I am to take his place," said Pixal, copying the motions Zane always did to shoot ice from his hands. She seemed like she was just trying to focus on the task at hand and not that she had lost the love of her life. The ninja decided to use the tornado of creation.
"But I have never performed spinjitzu without Zane, the chances of this working are slim," said Pixal fearfully
"We have no choice, Pix, and I know you can do this, you have half of Zane's heart, you have his shurikens, you are the mistress of ice now, you have to feel him with you," said Lloyd. Well the tornado worked but the ninja were flung everywhere, Lloyd awoke in the field. He saw the golden dragon next to a familiar white and light blue dragon.
"Shard? What are you doing here?" asked Lloyd. The dragon looked at Lloyd before a voice caught Lloyds attention.
Insert conversation here
"Sir, what is Shard doing here?" Asked Lloyd
"Ah, I suppose your friend fell asleep, go wake him will you?" Said the FSM. Lloyd walked over to shard and saw a pair of white shoes sticking out from under the wing, he knew those shoes.
"Zane?" He asked.
"Hello Lloyd," said Zane. Lloyd pounced on his brother, hugging him tightly.
"Zane, I thought we lost you," cried Lloyd, burying his face into Zane's shoulder
"Lloyd, I am gone but I chose to wait here in limbo before going on, your grandfather said I could wait while he talked to you, but Lloyd even though I'm gone I will always be with you all," said Zane
"Lloyd, you can either go on to the next adventure with me and Zane or you can stay with your brothers and take up your duties as the green ninja," said the FSM
"Go where?" asked Lloyd
"That is up to you, but you will be happy there," said the FSM
"And my brothers?" asked Lloyd
"Lloyd, you have the same choice I did back when I destroyed the Overlord, I chose to go home, but this time I don't have that choice, I have to go on to the next great adventure, I know our brothers won't be able to handle losing us both on the same day, make sure Pixal knows I love her and I will always be with her, please Lloyd," said Zane
"I will, Zane, I'll go back, for you," said Lloyd, hugging his brother tightly and for the very last time, etching the feeling of Zane's hug into his memory.
"Lloyd, you will think this place was a dream and eventually forget about it, but you will remember this time with Zane," said the FSM. Lloyd knew this would be the last time he would hug his brother, the one who was always there for them all, the steadfast constant in their lives, the one even Cole relied on. All that pent up grief and anger over the overlord incident, Zane taking Lloyd's place in destroying the realm crystal, every ounce of anger he felt over Harumi and his dad and, never truly winning against evil, Lloyd cried, he couldn't let go of his brother, he clung to Zane, sobbing.
"I can't lose you, not again," cried Lloyd
"I'm sorry Lloyd, I don't have the choice this time, but you do, you can go back to our brothers, back to your mother and uncle, please Lloyd, I will be happy where I'm going, but you are so young, your time isn't up yet, mine is, go, home brother,, tell everyone I love them all, especially Pixal, take care of her Lloyd, for me," said Zane as he let go and got onto shard.
"You can either ride with me back to Ninjago of Zane will drop you off," said the FSM.
"I want to ride with my brother," said Lloyd, Zane took Lloyd's hand and helped onto shard, Lloyd clung to Zane as they flew back to Ninjago, he didn't want to let go of his brother. They hovered out of sight of the ninja,
"Go, Lloyd, our brothers need you," said Zane, Lloyd hugged him for the very last time before going back to his body. Zane directed shard to follow the first spinjitzu master, to places unknown. Meanwhile, the ninja was overjoyed that Lloyd was alive.
"Where am I? The First Spinjitzu Master and Zane" started Lloyd
"You must have hit your head pretty hard," said Cole
"Lloyd did you really see Zane?" asked Pixal, she looked like she had been crying
"Yeah I did, he told me to tell you that he loves you," said Lloyd
"Is he alright?" sniffed Pixal
"He and the FSM brought me back here, then they left to the next great adventure, he's ok," said Lloyd.
"At least he'll be at peace," sniffed Pixal
"We should probably go to the city and find his body, before some kid finds him," sniffed Kai
"Yeah," sighed Lloyd, They found him close to where Cole had driven through, Cole felt guilty that he hadn't stopped to rescue his brother. That night the ninja had closed the door to Zane's room, they put a shrine in front of it to honor their brother.
"This time we stay together, just because he's gone doesn't mean we abandon this team," said Lloyd, knowing Zane wouldn't want them to split up. They would see him again one day. Lloyd looked up to the sky, wondering where Zane was now.