In retrospect, the team could have left later in the morning and been perfectly on time. Leaving themselves three hours to get to Cyrus Borg may have been pushing what was reasonable, when they didn't have to be in Ninjago City until eleven o'clock. But the ninja were all so used to the traffic slowing any travels to a screeching halt, that they didn't even think twice.

It was unsettling, seeing the road winding through the desert to get to the towering skyscrapers (or what was now left of them) so empty. Not a single break light in sight, not one honk from an impatient driver to be heard. Only emptiness and the odd orange-purple sky that signaled the dawn of the coming day.

Zane watched the sunrise through the van window in the passenger's seat, as Cole drove along the vacant road. It was silent in the car, save for Lloyd's soft snores from the third row, and the occasional hushed whispers shared between Kai and Jay in the second. Nya had been left behind at the monastery, having felt too weak and sore to do any demanding physical activity. Zane had suggested a possible meditation in the monetary courtyard for relaxation, and although she gave him a smile at his suggestion, Zane knew she wouldn't do it. Nya was never able to be alone with her thoughts for very long; she would probably be tinkering the day away instead.

Truthfully, Zane wished he could have stayed behind as well. There was something about Cyrus Borg that he didn't quite like. Whether it was the man's questionable enthusiasm to get his name on every building rebuilt, or his inability to set Zane apart from his inventions, the elemental of ice did not know. But then again, mechanics and inventors always set the android on edge; he always got the feeling they wanted to figure out what made him tick, to poke and prod at him like he was a fantastically crafted engine in a vintage car.

"Hey," a voice whispered, pulling Zane away from the rising sun and mechanics. His seat jostled as Kai kicked it lightly from behind, "Hey, Zane."

Zane looked back at Kai over the seat, an eyebrow raised in silent question.

"Jay and I were talking and, well… Don't you think it's a little odd, what Borg is planning and all?"

"It just really gives me the willies," Jay added, rubbing his hands up and down his arms as if he were shivering just thinking about it, "I don't like the idea of building on top of the same site where the Overlord's own fortress was. It's just asking for trouble."

It did certainly seem that way to Zane. It was as if Cyrus Borg had never lived in Ninjago, and didn't understand he was practically asking for something bad to happen. It was like building a house on the site of an old bloody battleground, or living on top of a graveyard full of people your ancestors had wrongly killed; it was never respectful to build an empire on the backs of the people passed. Not that the Overlord deserved an ounce of respect, that was. But to build on the ashes of your enemies was an egotistical thing to do, no matter who had been the good or the evil.

"I do think it's a… curious move on Borg's part," Zane said, choosing his words carefully at that.

"But it's just an act of harmless symbolism, right?" Cole interjected, "Something along the lines of building our future from our darkest hour. And the Overlord was defeated, he's not coming back. It shouldn't matter that Cyrus builds there."

Zane, however, could tell that Cole didn't quite believe this, even though resolve was clear in his voice. Their leader was chewing his lip now, eyes tensely locked on the road ahead and knuckles white against the steering wheel.

There was a pause between all of them, an air of taboo about the subject, as if their discussion would cause the Overlord to appear in the back seat next to Lloyd.

"Lloyd… couldn't have missed, could he?" Jay whispered, leaning forward and dropping his voice lower, "I mean, the Overlord can die, we saw it happen… right?"

Zane looked past his friend's heads to Lloyd in the third row, who was still napping peacefully. The boy's mouth was slightly parted, his mop of blonde hair pressed up on the window he was resting against. Zane looked away to glance at Cole again, who he caught looking at Lloyd through the rearview mirror, before turning his eyes back on the road.

"There's no way that thing is still alive after what Lloyd did to it. Let's just forget about it for now. If we see something that's a cause for concern, we'll talk about it with Sensei," Cole stated, clearly labeling the conversation finished. Kai and Jay sat back in their seats, and Zane looked back out his window, where the sun had now officially peaked over the horizon.

The skyline of Ninjago City was getting larger and larger as they slowly approached. And even though they had all been there just the day before to witness the fall of the Overlord, Zane sighed in relief when, as the city came into focus, there was no sign of a large dark tower or black leathery wings. The team had been through very many things and had been through very many enemies. But something about the haunting final form of the Overlord had rivaled all other monsters they had ever faced. The menacing dragon made the Grundle and the Great Devourer look like friendly, loving, fluffy creatures.

By the time they began to enter the city limits, Lloyd was awake, and looking out of the van's windows at the city. It was too empty, too quiet. It was clear the citizens of Ninjago City had not begun to make their way back to their homes, to see the damage on what used to be their everyday life; to see what belongings had survived the wreckage.

It didn't take long for them to reach the center of the sprawling buildings. Cole parked the van in the small parking lot across the street from the wreckage. A dilapidated sign warned the parking patrons of using the lot without paying, but seeing as how no one was enforcing it, they left the van by its lonesome and crossed the street.

The site of the Overlord's demise was ironically one of the livelier parts of the city, if not the most. There were construction workers of all genders and sizes welding bars of steel, excavating the tainted soil, and huddling around blueprints under a canopy tent that shielded them from the sun. The clangs of hammers and shouts of workers were, every so often, accompanied by a light summer breeze. It was such a familiar setting, such familiar noises for the city, it posed the illusion that nothing had changed at all.

Weaving through the metal beams laying in hefty piles on the ground, sporting a bright blue hard hat, was none other than Cyrus Borg. He gave friendly smiles to each person he wheeled past and, when he finally spotted the ninja approaching the construction site, waved happily and sped his way to them.

He shook each of the ninja's hands with a dazzling smile and many words of gratitude. When he approached Zane, however, the handshake was awkward and Cyrus avoided meeting Zane's icy blue eyes. Clearly, their first meeting was fresh on the man's mind. Not that Zane had a problem with that. He certainly didn't want Cyrus Borg to pretend as though the interaction had not occurred. He hadn't gotten a very good first impression of the inventor, and even though Borg had apologized for viewing Zane as an object, the ice elemental didn't like him. There was a sort of air about him, and Zane couldn't trust it. He could almost say with absolute certainty that, if he were any less sentient, Cyrus Borg would pry him open and study him for hours. It certainly wasn't an inviting personality trait.

Yet, all his other teammates didn't seem to think anything was off with the man in the wheelchair. They all reciprocated his smiles and utter excitement. Jay looked particularly psyched, as if he hadn't had an inventor-to-inventor powwow in a while.

"Really, I can't thank you enough for agreeing to help," Cyrus repeated once more as he guided the group towards the beige canopy tent, "With your elemental powers, our project will be on its way to completion in no time."

Kai looked about ready to jump out of his own skin, vibrating with joy at the thought of getting to use his elemental powers. A couple of sparks shot from the tips of his fingers, much like when flint was struck against metal. Ever since they had fully uncovered their elemental powers, Kai would do this whenever he got excited. It had led to some complications a fair few amount of times. The most memorable mishap was when Kai had accidently sent a spark flying into Sensei Wu's beard. The older man had not been overly pleased.

As they finally ducked under the shade of the tent, Zane's gaze zeroed in on the blueprints laying on the table. It didn't take a genius or an inventor to immediately spot the shear difficulty and grandeur of the "project" that Cyrus Borg was creating.

It was towering skyscraper, much taller than any other building Ninjago City already had. Its presence in the city would make the buildings below it look like small apartment buildings, instead of the beautiful towers that made the city skyline that Zane so loved.

And not only was the simple size of the venture something to marvel; the building itself was a technological wonder. It was built with state-of-the-art everything, and had things Zane had never even seen before. Borg's inventions were incorporated everywhere he could have fit them, yet the design and the flow was immaculate. Dr. Julien himself could only have dreamed about making such a masterpiece. Zane was impressed. Of course, he still didn't like Cyrus Borg all that much, but he couldn't deny it where credit was due.

Jay's mouth dropped as they crowded around the table, and immediately grabbed a blueprint, observing the plans as though they had the answers to life itself. Jay, always the fanatic for inventions, was clearly in metaphorical heaven.

The lightning elemental's draw to the mechanical wonders of life never bothered Zane. Jay's interest in inventions never reached his perception on the android. When it came to Zane, Jay did not view him as an invention, or anything of the sort. He treated Zane like any regular human, with just some extra parts added here and there. Never once had the man asked to look over Zane's blueprints for fun, or poke around for knowledge's sake. There was a respect there that Zane treasured and was grateful for. And so, Zane watched on with a certain fondness as Jay traced his fingers over the white print on the sheet.

"I'm glad you find them so fascinating," Cyrus said to Jay with a beaming smile, before looking to the rest of them, "We'll be working on the base to the building today and, hopefully, with all of your help, get two stories of frame work done by evening."

Jay suddenly stopped ogling the blueprints to look up at Cyrus Borg, as if the man in the wheelchair had a third eye, "Excuse me? I don't like to brag, but I know some basic things when it comes to engineering, Mr. Borg. The base of the invention, or I guess the building, needs to be absolutely perfect in order for everything to function right. You can't expect us to finish the base, let alone two whole stories, within a day! With a building this size, the base itself should take a couple days at the least!"

Zane looked to Borg, who was smiling with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Normally, you would be correct, Jay. But you all possess extraordinary abilities, don't you? You can get this done without breaking a sweat," Cyrus Borg said, before giving a knowing wink and wheeling away. The group of ninja were left behind, giving each other weary looks.

"I'm beginning to think I know why he wanted us to help," Lloyd grumbled, "And I don't really like the idea of being used."

Zane had to agree with him. He wanted to like Cyrus. But everything the man insisted on doing or saying fit time and time again with his first impression of the man. Feeling as though he was being seen as a material good, instead of living being, was not becoming to Cyrus Borg's image. However, Zane didn't get a chance to say such things, for at that moment, a woman with a yellow hard hat walked over to the tent they were all still standing under.

"Hi all! My name's Marin. I'm here to give you your assignments for the day! First, I'll need you all to put on one of the hardhats from the stack over there. You know, safety first!" they all grabbed a yellow hat like the one Marin was wearing and, once everyone had donned the plastic safety gear, she continued with a quick glance at her clipboard, "Right. So, Kai, you'll be over in the actual construction of the building, helping to wield together metal beams. Jay, same place, but you will be helping to oversee construction instead. Cole, your job today is to do the heavy lifting. And Zane, your job is to – hold on, I lost my place – oh! Your job is to help out whoever looks like they need it!"

Marin gave them what was probably her most winning smile, seemingly thinking she was done with her job. But she had obviously left out someone from the list.

"What about me? Aren't I helping too?" Lloyd asked, and Zane could tell the boy held a slightly bitter tone on his tongue. After being left out so many times as a child, most times for valid reasons, Lloyd was probably exhausted of having to prove his capabilities. And having defeated the Overlord, there was no question on the green ninja's power.

Marin's delighted expression immediately fell, and she looked at the other ninja with a sort of guilty look on her face. Zane got the distinct feeling she had glossed over Lloyd on purpose, hoping that no one would have questioned her. And only someone who didn't want prying ears would make such a move as that. Her flickering gaze to each of the ninja in rapid succession only confirmed Zane's conclusion; she had been given orders to talk to Lloyd about his role in private.

This did not sit right with the android at all, and not simply because he already had a slightly biased opinion about the man in the wheelchair. Lloyd was the most powerful out of all of them, absolutely no questions asked. This meant he was equally the most susceptible to people wanting to use him for their own goals.

"Ah, yes. Right," Marin took a deep shaky breath before continuing, "Mr. Borg requests to speak with you personally while your teammates help-"

"Pardon me," Zane immediately interrupted. He usually tried to exhibit good manners, avoiding talking over people as much as he could. But his uneasiness could not allow him to remain silent, "I assure you, whatever Mr. Borg needs to say to Lloyd can be said to all of us. We are each his sensei, after all." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kai give a stiff nod.

Marin gaped at them, mouth moving as if she were trying to find the words she had been told to say. Clearly, Borg had not anticipated the heroes to have much minds of their own. Had Cyrus seriously thought he could ask for a private conversation with Lloyd and without a single eyebrow raised? They had just come from a war, a battle that almost cost all of them their lives. Letting each other out of their sight was not something any of them would be comfortable with just yet.

"It's okay guys," Lloyd assured them, giving Kai a reassuring pat to his shoulder, "I'm sure it's nothing. I'll catch up later."

Lloyd followed Marin away from the tent, and in the direction Borg had wheeled off to. The four looked at each other with slight worry, but there wasn't much they could do about the situation.

"I guess… Have fun?" Jay joked as they all parted ways to their respective posts.

"As much fun as we can have," Cole responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

The lightning elemental left the tent, with Kai in tow, towards the construction site. A couple of metal beams had already been put in place, but not nearly enough to be close to where Borg supposedly wanted the progress to be. Cole left for a pile of metal beams that a few of the construction workers were attempting to lift, jogging over to help before one of them hurt themselves.

Zane stood alone under the shade of the tent, watching the receding backs of his friends. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He hadn't been given a specific job to do, and ice wasn't necessarily the most useful element when it came to construction. Cole's brute strength and Kai's status of human welder were clearly the helpful assets of the team, neither of which Zane personally possessed. Of course, he was fine with this. His natural role always seemed to be the observer anyway, help finding him wherever it was needed most.

He stood under the canopy tent for quite some time, watching the construction slowly build as the sun rose higher. Soon, the heat began to take its toll on the world below. Shirts began to stick to skin with musty sweat, and the workers seemed to seek the refuge of the canopy tent with greater frequency. Zane made sure to keep a fresh supply of water working at all times for the people that he met under the shade. It was clear that out of all the jobs he and his friends had received, the role he had chosen for himself was the easiest. It took barley any effort to conjure ice and allow the sun to do all the melting work. Zane simply had to make sure he had enough cups at any given time, which he had found next to a cooler hidden under one of the tables strewn with blueprints.

Even his teammates came up from time to time to swipe a cup of water. Cole seemed to appear more and more frequently, and stay longer with each time he stole respite in the shade. Wether Cole wanted to be in Zane's company, or wanted an excuse to keep out of the sun, Zane did not know. The elemental master of Earth did indeed look exhausted each time he approached with a lopsided smile. His black, windswept hair was unusually curly and stuck to his forehead, as it always did when Cole exerted himself. Sweat ran down his dark skin, and on his last approach to Zane's makeshift water stand, he had taken an extra cup and splashed it over his neck, laughing with glee at the chill of it. If Cole's shirt hadn't already been sticking like a second skin at that point, it certainly did then. And although Cole was oblivious while laughing heartily at something Zane had said, Zane could see the few quick glances some of the workers sent the black man's way. The ice elemental was very familiar with this certain type of look humans gave each other; he had seen Nya look the same way at Jay many times, whenever he wore something the tinniest bit presentable.

As busy as Zane was, providing hydration to anyone who approached, he did not fail to notice the one person who had yet to grab a cup. Lloyd was still vacant from the construction site, an hour after his disappearance with Borg. Zane wasn't necessarily worried about the boy, in terms of any danger he could have been in. Cyrus didn't seem like the person to kidnap people of course, but Lloyd was also extremely strong. He didn't worry for a second that Lloyd could get himself out of a situation.

The ice elemental was quickly brought away from his own thoughts as the cheer of a small crowd direct his eyes towards them. Jay seemed to be showing off in the smallest of ways, using lightning speed to drill screws into the metal beams. He was saving them time, doing the work of 10 people in the span of a minute.

A spark above Jay's speed-blurred head drew Zane's gaze upward. Carefully balancing atop the growing array of the metal structure, Kai was welding together the beams set in place by the others. He seemed to be somewhat distracted, however, sending the occasional wink to a giggling brunette some ways below him.

Zane naturally searched for Cole, looking for the characteristic broad shoulders and calloused hands. He had been lifting materials for the workers only seconds ago, for Zane's unconscious had tracked the earth elemental's movements while worrying about Lloyd.

"Everything alright, Tin Can?"

Zane slightly jumped, having not seen Cole approach the tent to his left. The man was now shirtless, shirt having been misplaced who knew where. Sweat shown off his shoulders and back, the sun now merciless in its heat. The same lopsided smirk played upon Cole's lips, as it did each time he stole under the shade with Zane.

"Here for yet another water break? You were here just five minutes ago. Slacking off?" Zane questioned, causing Cole to laugh while pushing his curly hair off of his forehead. He really needed a hair tie or a beret, and Zane made a note to purchase one the next time it was his turn to shop.

"Was it really just five minutes ago? Gee, I didn't notice. This sun makes minutes feel like hours," Cole said as he swiped yet another cup from Zane's display. The man leaned against one of the tables covered in blueprints, creasing the corner of a paper caught in the crossfire.

"Or maybe you're getting tired? Afterall, it is common to become exhausted in old age," Zane joked lightly. Cole snorted into his water before surfacing with a wild grin

"I'm only twenty, Zane. Come back and talk to me when you hit eighty, won't you?"

Zane scoffed at this one, to Cole's amusement if his chuckles were anything to go by. Green eyes locked with icy blues, and Zane quickly looked away towards the construction once more. It was now just the two of them, no workers too thirsty to continue, no hasty flirts to be crafted by strangers towards his friend. Just them.

"How have you been?" Zane blurted before he could stop himself. It was an odd phenomenon for him, seeing as how he rarely did anything before thinking twice. But Cole simply smiled as if nothing had been odd about the question at all.

"I've been alright. Could be better, to be honest. My body still feels sore from that dark matter stuff, and I'm sure all this work won't be much help," Cole took another sip of water before continuing, "I've got this weird… I don't know, head cold? I guess? Just feeling sort of off. Heart beating fast at random times, fluttery feeling in my stomach- that dark matter couldn't have any lasting effects, could it?"

"I wouldn't know, dark matter consumption hasn't ever been clinically tested, so there's no way to know for sure. We could compare how you're feeling with how Nya's feeling, see if she's having any of the same symptoms?"

Cole nodded and looked to the dirt ground. It was hard to imagine that only a day ago, they had been fighting for their lives and the lives of everyone else on the exact same dirt they now stood upon. There had been a very real second where everything seemed lost, where the world seemed to be narrowing in on those specific moments. It had only been a day, and yet, it felt like worlds away. Some tourist could almost have been convinced that nothing happened the day before, as long as they didn't see the pile of rubble in the middle of the city, or the dark circles under the ninja's eyes.

"How are you?" Cole asked, pausing before he continued, as if he were trying out how the words fit in his mouth, "I don't get to hear a lot about what's going on in your world, you know… Do you get colds?"

"No, I don't," Zane laughed, watching as Cole's expression turned to one of embarrassment. Such an idea was preposterous to Zane, akin to the image of a domestic Pythor cooking dinner for house guests.

"Yeah, guess that was a stupid question. Because, you know. Nindroid." Cole was slightly flushed in embarrassment, quickly finishing off his water as soon as he spoke.

Zane's thoughts immediately jumped to that morning, during his first encounter with Cyrus Borg. Sure, Zane had sometimes thought about what it would be like to be human. To be able to love, to cry, to have a beating heart. He wouldn't even mind seeing what it felt like to have a cold. But he couldn't do these things, and yet his father had insisted he had some analogy to a heart. Maybe this was a concept only humans could understand.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you…" Zane began, but his voice trailed off has his eyes caught something moving off in the distance behind Cole. The earth elemental turned around as Zane's attention focused on something else, and they both watched as a brilliantly blond teen walked towards them.

It had been clear Lloyd had been somewhere air conditioned, for there wasn't a single drop of sweat on his face. He was squinting in the sunlight, as if he had just left somewhere that wasn't as bright. His hair shined like gold in the rays of the sun.

"Hey Lloyd!" Cole exclaimed, waving him over to where they stood. Zane would have expected a smile upon sighting his friends, but Lloyd only seemed puzzled. Only a slight frown played upon his lips. It was rare to see Lloyd without a smile, unless in the middle of battle. Clearly, something was troubling the golden elemental.

"Everything okay?" Zane asked once Lloyd joined them under the shade. He shook his head, brows furrowed.

"I… Don't know. I'm still not sure what just happened."

Zane and Cole shared concerned glances at this.

"Have you been brain washed? Do you remember who we are?" Cole interrogated, bending down slightly to reach Lloyd's height, looking into his eyes as if attempting to see their dilation. A technique they had watched in a movie a few months back, albeit a movie with little to no scientific reasoning.

Lloyd laughed uneasily, lightly pushing Cole away, "No, I'm not brainwashed, Cole. That's just stupid."

Cole opened his mouth, seemingly ready to defend his assumption of mind control, but Zane interrupted before he could begin.

"What happened? Did someone attempt to hurt you?"

"No. Seriously, guys, I didn't get hurt or anything," Lloyd paused and took a deep breath, brows knitting together in confusion once more, "Mr. Borg wanted me to be the face of the company, to promote the skyscraper."

There was a silence, in which Cole and Zane were emersed in confusion as well. Why in the world would Cyrus Borg need anyone to be the mascot to his corporation? The man was already making a name for himself off of his intellect.

"Did he mention why?" Cole questioned, eyes flicking to Zane in confusion before back to Lloyd.

Lloyd shrugged, "He didn't seem like he wanted to tell me. When I asked him why he couldn't use someone else, he went on a short tangent about how I was a hero. Then he joked that he wasn't a villain, wouldn't be trying to take my powers or anything-" both Cole and Zane opened their mouths in alarm, but Lloyd was quick to quiet them, "And I know you guys might be jumping to conclusions, but it really did seem like a joke! He was just really awkward about it. Like he wasn't quite sure of what he was saying."

Zane hummed in thought, trying to make sense of it all. Sure, Zane didn't necessarily like Cyrus Borg, but he was biased in his uneasiness around inventors. And although eccentric, Cyrus never seemed to have any malicious intent behind his words. Zane was fairly good at picking up that sort of thing.

"Well, I'm not sure what to make of that. You said no, right?" Cole asked.

"Yeah of course. He tried to change my mind, but eventually he took my no for an answer. Incredibly persistent, but he knew when to stop." Lloyd explained.

"That's… odd. I wonder what-" Zane started, but before he could voice his thoughts, there was a sudden yell from the construction site.

"ZANE! HELP!"

Kai had apparently been too distracted by the giggling brunette, because the beams that he had been working on welding were beginning to move like warmed putty; moving slowly but surely, curling in on itself as it turned to viscous liquid.

The conversation would have to wait, Zane thought, as he ran to go ice the melt.

However, the chance to continue the conversation never occurred, as all three of them became too busy to step aside and talk. And when the day's work was done, everyone was far too tired to discuss concerning things on the drive home.

When they arrived to the monastery they were currently housed, they all were surprised to see that the van the Garmadon's were supposed to leave in that morning was still there. The trunk was left open, packed with suitcases, and yet it had not left the driveway.

"Sensei? What's going on?" Lloyd asked as they entered the monastery. Wu seemed to have been waiting for them in the entrance room, a tired look on his face, "Are Mom and Dad still here?"

"There's been some complications…" Sensei Wu said, stroking his beard as he always did when stressed.

"Complications?" Jay echoed.

"The higher-ups on the council caught word that my brother was planning to leave the city. They came over to stop him, told us someone had to be held responsible for the destruction to Ninjago… There will be a trial held in two days." Sensei Wu said, voice rough in his throat.

The ninja stood stunned in the entry way. Of course, it made a sort of sense they would want to hold Garmadon responsible for what happened. But at the same time, Zane and the others had known Garmadon hadn't been himself in the end, and arguably had never been his true self for the majority of his life.

"Lloyd…" Kai began, watching the pained look in the green ninja's red eyes, his one stunning resemblance between him and his then-evil father.

Lloyd left the room without another word, avoiding the eyes of his peers, desperate to hide the tears welling in his eyes.