Hey guys! This chapter is very different from the others, it primarily focuses on one character!

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SPECIAL SHOUTOUT to FireWriter316! I love and appreciate your support, hang in there for more chapters and resolved conflicts. Please know that what you read has been planned for a long time :)

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Chapter 19: Echo Zane, the Monster

*A Long Time Ago*

Utter blackness was all he could see. But he could hear so much, even though he didn't understand what any of it was or meant:

Gears moving.

The sound of waves crashing against a nearby shore.

Seagulls squawking.

Footsteps approaching.

Until finally, the first voice he could hear: "Wake up, Zane."

As if it was involuntary, the blackness opened up to the sight of an old man in a lab coat smiling down on him. "Wake up, Zane. I am your father."

"My... father?" The rusty android slowly picked himself up from the operating table, scanning his surroundings. They were in a basement, surrounded by stone walls and gears of all sizes hanging on them. One wall had an opening hall that lead upwards, out of which a small golden robot wheeled forward with a beep. The old man, his father, followed Zane's gaze to the little one with a chuckle.

"That's Tai-D, Zane. I suppose he is your brother." The statement confused Zane. "How can he be my brother? He is a..." As he pointed to Tai-D, he noticed his arm. It wasn't one of flesh. His voice also had a mechanical ring to it. Almost instinctively, he followed the trail of his arm to his chest, and almost let out a scream.

His chest was a mechanical panel, wide open with gears showing. "Father, what is going on?! What's happening? I don't understand!"

"It's alright, Zane! It's alright." He put his hands on Zane's chest, closing the panel as he guided him to his feet. "You are no ordinary being. You are extraordinary. Follow me, son." With Tai-D leading them up, the two walked up the hallway into the greater structure: Zane could tell it was a tower of some sort, with flights of stairs leading to the top.

"Watch your step now, Zane. I want to show you something." Once they arrived to the top, he could clearly see everything:

They were in a small lighthouse, on a miniscule island. Nothing but water as far as the eye could see. Zane turned to see his father groan as he sat himself down. "Father... may I ask you a question?"

Picking up a cup of tea from Tai-D, he looked up towards him. "Of course, son. What is your query?"

"What is my purpose?"

A dead silence followed. Even the crash of the small waves against the stone walls of the lighthouse seemed deafening to Zane as his father looked somberly into his tea, dep in thought for an appropriate answer.

"You... You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves, Zane."

This answer brought a smile to his face. "Like you, father?"

"Ha! Yes, I suppose so, son." The old man stood up and walked towards the empty windowsill next to him. Although he was smiling. Zane could tell that he wasn't entirely happy. Almost like a sixth sense. "Father, what is wrong. Why are we in this lighthouse?"

"Well, Zane... There are bad people in this world. Bad beings. Some of them brought me back from my rest to employ my genius, but I refused. As a result, they marooned me here, all alone."

"But you aren't alone, father! You have me!" Doing his best, he put a bright smile on his face, loosening the screws and causing the faceplate to fall off. The sight triggered a laugh from the old man. "Heh heh, yes, I have you. And you will have me until my end."

"Truly, father?"

"I promise, son."

Years passed on the lighthouse. Zane had done everything in his ability to make life easier for Dr. Julien. He took the risk of angering the leviathan by going out to fish. He helped cook meals with Tai-D, who eventually learned to understand. He even did his best to fix any inventions that occasionally malfunctioned.

But he couldn't fix himself. It didn't take Julien's high IQ to notice the second Zane's inferior designs were unable to sustain itself with the limited gears he had at his disposal. Constant upkeep was required to keep Zane from noticing his deteriorating state.

One stormy day, however, the damage to his leg-gears and voice box required a complete tune-up.

"*Sigh* Come on, Zane. Let's get you downstairs so I can see the problem." Though old, Dr. Julien was surprisingly capable at carrying the limp-legged android down the flights of stairs into the basement. And although Zane was unable to respond, the smile on his face expressed gratitude.

"Tai-D, I can do this on my own. You go back upstairs and re-charge." With a nod, the small robot rolled back towards the stairs as the old man placed Zane on the table. Taking out a small flashlight, he opened his chest panel to see the extent of the voice box damage.

"Ooh, this requires an entirely new gear, I'm afraid Zane. I can probably shape one, but it will take some time. In the meantime, you just relax right here, alright?" Without hesitation, Zane nodded and closed his eyes to rest as his father did his handiwork.

Minutes turned to hours as his father used his makeshift tools to build the gear according to his blueprints. Due to his old age, it took him far longer than he would have wanted. Eventually the storm moved away, leaving a clear blue sky.

And an incredibly loud CRASH, shaking the foundation of the tower. Gears fell off of the wall. Zane opened his eyes in alarm, but was unable to move off the table without flopping onto the floor. Dr. Julien rushed to the window to see what caused the quake. "Some sort of ship. Looks like they've crashed from the storm." He turned to put his overcoat back on, pointing to Zane. "Stay here, Zane. I will see who it is."

As he left the room, Zane heard the secret stone doorway shut behind him. After a few minutes, he heard a muffled yell. It was his father, but the tone wasn't one of panic or fear. He sounded... happy. Even though he couldn't tell what he was saying, Zane could tell he was happy.

More voices. Like Zane was at that moment, their tones hinted at confusion. Then shock. Eventually, he heard several pairs of footsteps enter the tower, making their way up the staircases. Father, what about me?

The next day felt like torture. Unable to move or make any noise without defying his father's orders, Zane sat their confused as he heard conversing continue above him. The voices eventually made their way back outside, including that of his father. Based on the exterior noises, it sounded like they were repairing damages to their crashed ship.

Good, then they can leave me and my father alone.

But it was not to be. To his dismay, he heard the sound of the leviathan screeching, then the screams of others, including his father. Finally, out of fear for his father, Zane picked himself up off of the table using just his arms and crawled towards the window. Rock by rock, he climbed up the wall until his line of sight met the windows edge.

And he never forgot what he saw next. The leviathan's long arm reaching out of the sea, three eyes staring up at a floating pirate ship. The ship itself was attached to a massive helium blimp made from the blankets of the tower. Focusing his sights on the ship, Zane stared quizzically at several strangely dressed teenagers in brightly colored outfits. The one in blue was standing next to a girl in a red kimono with short black hair. The ones in black, red, and green were standing beside two old people with a straw hat and an archeologist outfit.

But it was the last two that made Zane gasp inaudibly. His father was on the floating ship two, hugging the teenager in white. When the young man turned to face his friends, Zane got a perfect look at his face.

It was him. Next to his father was another Zane, but in flesh. His mouth was moving clearly now. The android zoomed in with his vision to read leaps.

"Because no one deserves to be imprisoned. Not even a monster." Then the fleshy Zane hugged his father, and the ship's engines ignited, causing them to take off. In one foul swoop, Zane was left abandoned.

Hyperventilating, the android stared in the nearby mirror at his broken reflection. Tai-D made his way into the room, beeping with surprise. "BEEP BEEP: What are you doing, Zane?"

They left me... He left me.

"BEEP BEEP: You should get yourself back on the table, Zane. Father will fix you right up."

That was the last straw. In pure anger, Zane grabbed Tai-D and smashed him against the ground, crushing his head's neural processor. Then he hurled the broken body into the mirror, shattering it instantly. He watched as Tai-D's eyes faded to black, leaving him to stare at the shattered remains of both him and the mirror.

If not even a monster deserves imprisonment, "Zane"... Then I'm worse than any monster you know.

He spent the next few weeks slowly repairing himself. With nothing but his arms to crawl him around at first, he took time to fix his legs. Once those were repaired, he needed to use the blueprints left behind by his father to fix his voicebox.

And that's when things began to make sense.

It was apparent that the blueprint's designs were based on a far more advanced model than he was. An layer of skin as an exoskeleton was even included in the original design. Based on this revelation, Zane came to the conclusion that his fleshy twin was the original, and he was just a copy.

No, not even a copy. Something twisted. An echo. Echo. The word had a nice ring to it.

Once his voicebox was fixed, he took out all his frustration on his surroundings. He trashed the basement. He punched the oven at the tower's top until it was flattened down. He threw the table out into the ocean. But as he watched the table fly down into the water, he noticed an approaching speedboat. At the boat's helm was a girl with bleached white hair waving at him. "HELLO! You are the android Zane?

Hmmm. "I am Echo Zane. What do you want?"

"To come inside, and offer you something you've never had before."

Zane tilted his head quizzically. "And just what is that?"

"Belonging, Echo." The girl's tone indicated sincerity. "Come inside."

The girl walked up the stone staircase towards the door. Behind her was another girl, dressed in purple biker gear and cackling maniacally. At the rear-end of the line was an enlarge man who shared the cackling girl's skin tone and clothing design, but with an orange hue. All three made their way inside. though the big man needed to break the doorway to fit. "Ooh, sorry about that."

Echo Zane simply shrugged. "I don't care. Now, what is it you were saying about belonging? And who are you?"

"I am Harumi, the adopted princess of Ninjago. This is Ultra Violet and Killow. We are like you, Echo: Abandoned, left behind in the ruins of the Ninja. I can tell you are confused by our presence. Perhaps this will help." She reached into her pocket and took out a hard drive. "I am going to put this in your head. Don't move for a second."

Despite his suspicions, he did as instructed. After hearing a small click, a series of images flashed in his head, each containing rich stories.

The creation of Ninjago.

The First Spinjitzu Master and his two Sons.

Garmadon's Oni side.

The Serpentine Wars.

Lord Garmadon's attempts of conquest.

The attack of the Great Devourer.

THE NINJA.

Garmadon's "redemption."

Harumi creating her own organization, the Son's of Garmadon.

The death of Dr. Julien, and Harumi discovering his journal leading her to this Tower.

"So you see, Echo. We are just like you. The Ninja are the cause of our pain, uniting us in our hatred. You have been wronged as well forgotten and left to waste. And yet, you survive. Because you are fierce, you are a survivor, Echo. And now, you can be one of us: A Son of Garmadon." Killow showed him a bag, in which he took out a black and red biker's uniform and helmet.

"What do you say, Echo?"

The android grinned as he picked up the helmet, staring at his malicious reflection. "I'm in. But if we are to do this, I'd want to shed this identity entirely. Start anew. Call me... Mr. E."

*NOW*

"...and that, dear brother, is my origin story." Echo knelt in the snow, still staring daggers at Zane as both he and Pixal aimed their weapons at him to keep him from moving. "You took everything from me when Father left."

Zane couldn't believe it. All this time, Echo was misguided by the Dark forces he was fighting. Echo killed for those forces. All because he was abandoned by their father.

No. He was abandoned by me. "Brother... I am sorry."

"You're SORRY? Sorry that, what, I was left alone? Sorry that I was made a lesser version of you? Or, and here's my favorite, sorry that I have become everything you could not? I am better than you in every way."

Pixal heard enough of his gloating. "You're wrong. Zane is pure, uncorrupted and just. Besides, if you are better, why isn't he the one on his knees? You have been twisted by your own jealousy." The evil Nindroid chuckled and raised an eyebrow at her. "And whose fault is that? I was abandoned by your hubby here before you were even programmed! Don't lecture me like you know my struggle."

With concerned looks on their faces, Zane and Pixal exchanged a brief look at one another. "Brother, you are right. But we can help you now. Help us understand."

Echo lowered his eyes and stared down at the gash pixal had made in his chest. Fluids began to leak onto the surface, creating a black spot in the white blanket of snow. "Heh, afraid not, Zane. Nobody understands my struggle. Hell, the only other being that can come even close to understanding my hatred for you is that insipid General Cryptor, and he was programmed to hate you!"

He looked back up at Zane, genuine concern in his eyes now. "I will admit, I was so relieved to hear that he had failed to kill you. Permanently, at least. But I can see now that such a deed may not fall onto me either. That doesn't mean that I won't have my revenge..."

Taking his hand out of his jacket pocket, Zane and Pixal watched in confusion as he pressed a small red button.

*Onboard the Destiny's Bounty, Flying Over the Sea of Sand*

The students did manage to fit into the lower hull, just as Brad suggested. Nelson and a few others had stayed in the rear end near the engines, ready to jump back out once they landed. The only light source were the dim red lights overhead.

One of the students ran to the back where they were to spread the word. "I just heard Gravis above us! He said we're 15 minutes away, so be ready!"

Nelson nodded, knowing Brad and Gene were preparing their own groups at the other end of the hull. "Alright guys, you heard him. Masks o-" He was interrupted by an incessant beeping coming from behind him. It was coming from one of the rear crates next to the engine. "INITIALIZING COUNTDOWN: 60. 59. 58..."

"What did you do, Echo?" Zane took a step forward hesitantly toward his rusty twin, fear beginning to show in his eyes.

but Echo acted as if he didn't hear him. "Did you know, Zane, that we had a spy inside your tower this whole time? Two, in fact. One was used to bring you all together, a crucial key earlier on in our plan as she helped Kai with the Elemental Masters."

Pixal gasped. "Skylor?!"

"But the second... Oh I'll tell ya, Zane... The second spy was our true prodigy. Sent in by both Lord Garmadon and myself, this one showed such promise. For the past five years, he's been secretly feeding us information, getting to know your systems and defenses more, all for when we arrived back home."

Nelson approached the crate slowly. "Stand back, guys." The others didn't respond as their Purple comrade lifted the crate's top off, revealing a container of highly reactive fluids. And in the center, a beeping bomb. "55. 54. 53..."

"OH SHIT! Guys, we gotta warn-" He turned to get his friends help, but stopped cold when he saw what happened behind his back. The six students in black lay dead on the floor, knives in their back. Two figures stood towering over them. One was Skylor, with red stains of blood on her orange Gi. The other was dressed in the standard black Gi of the students, a wicked smile on his face.

"Sorry, Nelson, but we can't let you do that. But if it's any consolation, I didn't want you here." The smaller figure threw another knife into Nelson's stomach, causing him to stumble back until he fell to the floor.

"Gene? Wh-why…" And the last thing the Purple ninja saw were the wicked smiles of Skylor and Gene, and the last thing he ever heard was the time bomb saying "45."

"Yes, young Gene was so anxious to help us. Really, he was quite instrumental in what is about to occur. By my own orders, he helped the copycat Cyrus Borg build your team a new Destiny's Bounty, which is currently carrying all of your Allies to the Golden Peaks. But I'm afraid they won't make it..."

Zane stared in shock, while Pixal opened a communication to Brad. "BRAD! CAN YOU READ ME? GET OFF OF THE SHIP NOW!"

Brad and the others heard Nelson's voice yell something before quickly being silenced. "Stay here, guys. I'll see what's wrong." He ran through the dark to the opposite end of the hull. But as the dim lights grew dimmer, his communicator muffled online.

"-zzt- BRAD! CAN YOU READ ME? GET OFF OF THE SHIP NOW! -zzt-" Confused, he opened the channel. "Pixal? how did you know we were-"

"-zzt- IT'S A TRAP, BRAD! GENE AND SKYLOR SET THE SHIP TO EXPLODE! -zzt-" His eyes widened from the revelation. Skyor? GENE? But before he could respond, he felt the hull get colder as wind came rushing out towards the back.

He ran to see what it was, and almost threw up from the site. Nelson and six others were lying on the ground dead, and the back hatch was open. Gene and Pixal jumped out.

"-zzt- Get out of there Brad! -zzt-"

"I need to tell the others!"

The booming voice of Karlof emerged from behind. "Tell the others what? That you snuck on board, Brad, or that-" As the Master of Metal turned the corner to see the sight that Brad saw, he stumbled backwards from shock. "Wha… Who did this?"

"Karlof! It was skylor and Gene! They've rigged the ship to blow, we need to tell the others!"

"OK, get to- wait, what's that sound?" They both turned back to the engine, focusing on the high pitched beeping through the wind. "8. 7. 6. 5..."

Karlof did not hesitate. "Brad. I'm sorry." The Master of Metal hugged the boy and turned him around, turning his skin to metal to shield him from the blast.

"3. 2. 1. Goodbye." Within seconds, the new Destiny's Bounty burst into a fiery explosion, killing hundreds of children and Masters of the Elements.

Pixal could only hear static through the communication now. "Brad? BRAD?!"

Echo closed his eyes. "Ah. I know you have a sixth sense too, Zane. Did you sense what I did? The deaths of innocents, yearning to help you, even in their final moments?"

He did. But unlike Echo, who seemed calmed by the deaths, The Master of Ice was shaking into a frenzy. He picked Echo up by the collarbone and raised him above the ground. "WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?!"

"Exactly what my master promised I would. I had my revenge, dear brother. I have been haunted by you since the day you took our father away from me. You took my one hope for a normal life away. Now, with a single push of a button, I have taken your hopes for a future away from you."

In anger, Zane spun himself into a tornado of Ice, hurling Echo into a tree. On impact, several small gears flew out of the gash made by Pixal, and the black fluids made a trail as the evil Nindroid began to cough it out of his mouth.

"*Cough, Cough* I... I guess it's true, huh Zane? No monster deserves to be locked up... But I am a worse monster than you could ever have imagined, created by your unconscious actions. I am your hubris, Zane. Behold." He laughed through coughs as he mockingly lifted his arms in a holy manner.

To Zane's surprise, Pixal stopped him from getting closer to his twin. "Don't, Zane. If you do this, he wins."

He knew she was right. This is what Echo wanted, to turn him into a monster, just as he was turned into one by him. "I'm sorry, Echo. But you lose."

The lights in the evil Nindroid's eyes started to fade, as did his smile. "P-p-pity. I g-guess that I won't live to see what c-c-comes next. But you will, Zane. You will see... just what HE has in s-store for yooouuuu…" As his voice trailed off, the malicious yellow glimmer in his eyes faded to grey, and his jawline broke off. Echo Zane was dead, leaving behind a warning that Zane nor Pixal understood.

But they soon will.

THIS was a sad one. A lot of backstory and death. This is the only chapter besides one more later on that will have flashbacks.

PLEASE review. If there is anything you especially like or dislike, let me know.

The next chapter is the BIG ONE!