Dedicated to Isabella Camovic for her submission.
And thanks to everyone who commented on chapter 3! EchoJulien, Isabella Camovic, LittleCanadian, kiap kiap, Sunny Lighter, Bookkeeper2004, Dr. Fluffmuffin, LucyBrick123, nindroidzane, Syren Nolbuluuki (Wow, there's so many of you!) your reviews mean SO much!
Fourth Chapter: As Nya attempts to convert Echo over to electric power, the electricity sends Echo into a giggling fit. Zane gets a good chuckle out of it, but after he and the others tell Echo what tickling is, Echo spends the rest of the day ambushing people and tickling them.
Post Season 10! You've been warned! :)
"Okay Echo, hold still."
Echo sat rod straight, perched on the workshop table, chin tipped upwards. Nya knelt in front of him, peering into his open chest/stomach compartment. She reached toward the back, past all the pipes and gears, trying not to pinch her fingers.
Unable to resist watching for long, Echo looked down at her as she squinted her eyes and screwed up her mouth. She and Jay had been frequently opening him up to examine how he worked and to figure out a way to upgrade him. It still felt strange having a person prod around in his inner mechanism. He'd grown somewhat used to it, and he trusted Jay and Nya, but deep down it still unnerved him. He felt vulnerable. He never said anything about it, though. They were trying to help him. He wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them, so he chose to remain silent.
To ease the tension he felt, he asked, "Am I beautiful on the inside?" He smiled at his attempt at a joke.
Nya chuckled, briefly losing her spot. She adjusted her position and reached both hands around his gears, a tiny screwdriver in one hand, and a metal circuit in the other.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm trying," she shifted position again, "to see... if I can fit an electrical system back here. If we can slowly conform you to electric power, like Zane, you'll run a lot smoother."
"Ok," he said. He giggled, a tinny, glitch-like noise.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing." He giggled again, the same, metallic ripple of sound.
Nya looked at him chortling quietly to himself. "No, seriously. What's so funny?"
"I feel funny."
"Funny how?" Her brow furrowed.
"Nothing is wrong," he assured her. His laughter was robotic, yet light and echoey.
"Okaaaay..." Fresh nerves wriggled in her stomach. After making sure she hadn't damaged anything, she finished attaching the electrical circuit behind Echo's gears. Echo quieted, the 'funny' feeling seeming to have faded.
Nya attached a battery to the electrical circuit and spent the next few hours running wires from the circuit through Echo's limbs. At the same time, she covered his pipes and clock with rubber so electricity wouldn't mix with the water and metal and shock his system. When she finished, she disconnected his arms and legs from their steam power. They fell limp at his side, and he eyed his now useless limbs.
"Do you feel okay?" She asked.
Echo nodded.
"Okay," she sat back a bit, her pulse racing. "First test. When I turn it on give it a second, then try to move your arms and legs."
"I am ready."
She reached back in and switched on the power. It reacted with a small 'zap', and a green light on the battery blinked on.
So far so good -
Echo burst out laughing, his laugh ringing like a bell in Nya's ears. Hugging himself, he doubled over, legs swinging, almost kicking Nya in the face.
Nya fell back in shock, heart missing a beat. "What happened? What's happening?!"
Echo continued to laugh until his metal shook. "It is - it... oh ha ha ha!" His hands grasped at something inside of him.
Nya lunged forward and switched off the electricity, hands bruising against the jostling gears. She yanked her hand out.
Echo's limbs went limp. Still laughing, the same sharp, clear sound, he lost his balance and fell flat on his back.
"Are you alright?" Nya gasped.
"Y-yes!" Echo's fit dwindled down to tittering. "What - tee hee! - happened?"
"That's what I want to know." She stood, hands on hips. "You must have had a reaction to the electricity. I wonder how I could fix that."
Smiling at the ceiling, Echo chuckled. "That felt so strange! Not entirely unpleasant, but strange." He chuckled again, shutting his eyes.
"I'll reconnect your arms and legs to steam power."
Even after Nya had completed the task and Echo could move his limbs again, he couldn't stop giggling. Nya checked him over, but didn't see anything wrong.
"I guess it'll have to wear off," she said, shutting his stomach compartment. "We're done for now."
Echo jumped off the table, snickering through his teeth when his feet hit the floor. She handed him his tan-coloured hoodie, and they left the workshop and made their way up to the Bounty's deck, Echo giggling and squirming the whole way. The sun's white rays shone off Echo's smiling face.
"What does it feel like?" Nya asked.
"I am a nindroid, I have not felt much before. It is a fascinating experience." He glanced upward, smile twitching with supressed laughter. "It feels like static. Fuzzy."
Skyward came the roar of a jet. Jay's sleek blue Storm Fighter blared over the Bounty, thin smoke pooling around the engines and lightning snapping off the wings. It stopped, and vanished in a flash of light, the pile of ninja inside falling in a heap on the deck. They all groaned as they tried to untangle themselves. Jay was the first to get up, swinging the Nunchucks of Lightning happily.
"That's the dumbest thing I've agreed to in a long time." Cole cracked his back and stepped over Lloyd.
"I told you we would not all fit," Zane grumbled, pushing himself to his feet.
Nya and Echo strolled over to them.
"How was patrol?" she asked Kai as he got up.
"Better than the ride home," Kai said, dusting himself off.
Everyone on their feet, they all checked over their weapons or started to go their separate ways. As Zane came near, Echo emitted his blip-like little laugh, bowing slightly.
Zane smiled. "What is so funny?"
"I feel fuzzy!"
"Fuzzy?"
"Staticky."
"Staticky?" Jay, overhearing the conversation, frowned.
Echo giggled.
"I tried switching him over to electric," Nya explained. "He's had the giggles ever since."
Zane scanned his giddy younger brother, smiling when he sensed nothing wrong with him. "It will probably wear off soon. Does it feel ticklish?"
"Ticklish?" Echo asked with a grin.
"It makes you laugh and feel all squirmy," Jay said.
"Like this!" Cole grabbed Jay from behind and started tickling him under the ribs. Jay burst out laughing, wriggled and kicked. His feet flew off the ground but he couldn't escape. Echo laughed with him, surprised and delighted.
"Ok, ok! Ah ha ha! Ow! Stop!" He begged.
Cole let him go and he sagged down on the deck, lying gasping and grinning on the smooth boards.
Echo looked down at himself, and pulled at the front of his hoodie. "Aw, the tickly feeling is gone."
Zane laughed, then told a relieved Nya, "I told you it would wear off."
"Let's go inside. I'm hungry!" Cole pulled Jay to his feet.
Following his lead, everyone went below deck (except for Lloyd and Kai, who decided to have a sparring match; Kai claimed a Golden Weapon couldn't be beaten - not even by the Green Ninja.)
"Do you ever experience this 'tickly' feeling, Zane?" Echo asked as they clomped down the stairs.
"In different forms, I suppose."
"Jay's ticklish everywhere!" Cole beamed as he rounded the corner, making for the kitchen.
"Cole!"
"Why didn't I know about this?" Nya teased, eyeing her boyfriend playfully. "Though I wouldn't expect anything less when it comes to you."
Jay hopped away from her. Thinking he was out of all ticklers' reaches, the Lightning Ninja let his guard down, and Zane took the opportunity to nab his sides, causing him to squeal with laughter. He jumped out of his brother's reach and darted away, keeping a sharp watch on him, eyes dancing. Echo watched their fun while feeling a softer sort of fuzziness inside. They joked back and forth, mostly at Jay's expense, and Jay leaped out of reach with a wide grin when Zane got in close again.
"You're lucky you're only ticklish on the inside, Echo,"
"Come on, Jay, tickling can be so much fun!" Nya grinned.
"It looks fun," Echo said.
"It is." Nya put an arm around Jay before he could get away.
"I wish I could feel it." It was impossible without creasable skin. Metal couldn't flex or feel.
"That is why we do it to them, instead." Zane smirked at Jay.
"Don't you dare!"
Echo smiled.
Nya sat on her bunk, leaning over the little makeup mirror in her hand, and practically holding her breath as she applied wings around her eyelashes. The pencil left her skin, hovering statue still by her eye, before she sighed with relief and allowed her hand to fall away from her face.
She put her makeup kit away in the drawer under her bunk and pulled out a tube of red lipstick from her purse at her side, standing to leave. She and Jay were going on a date, but Jay hadn't told her where they were going yet. As she popped off the cap and lifted the tube to her lips, she smirked. Jay was so cute when he tried to be romantic and mysterious.
"Ha!"
Someone's fingers dug into her sides as she stepped through the bedroom door, and the lipstick careened across her cheek. She gasped and twisted.
"Jay!" The name flew from her lips, but when she turned around it was not Jay, but Echo standing there, still wiggling his fingers.
"What are you doing?" She tried not to sound flustered.
"Tickling you," he stated innocently.
"Oh!" Nya forced herself not to reach for the red streak staining her face. Alright, Nya, don't hurt his poor little feelings. "I'm sort of busy right now, but why don't you go tickle Kai?" A smiled tugged at the corner of her mouth. "I suppose this makes us equal... since I messed with your system, you messed with my makeup."
"Sorry."
"It's okay." At least he waited until my wings were finished! "Now go get my brother! Oh, and film it so I can watch when I get back!"
Echo grinned and dashed down the hall. Nya couldn't help but chortle at that.
"I told you the Sword of Fire would come out on top!"
"What are you talking about?" Lloyd grinned. "I won almost every time."
"Get outta here, Green Machine!" Kai elbowed him in the arm. They laughed.
Both Green and Red Ninja clomped down the stairs below deck, grinning from ear to ear, gis soaked with sweat.
"Your punches were pretty sloppy," Kai noted.
"And yet I still won." Lloyd's grin didn't waver. "As for my sloppy punches, I didn't want to wrinkle your outfit."
"Oh ha ha!" Kai rolled his eyes. "You couldn't wrinkle it if you tried. No one can touch me!"
"Touch!" Lloyd bumped shoulders with him, causing the Fire Ninja to bang into the side of the bathroom doorway at the end of the hall.
"Hey!" Kai laughed.
"Touch!" Echo jumped out of the closet and tackled Kai.
"What the heck!" Kai dropped to the ground with a thud out of pure shock. Echo was instantly on top of him, tickling his belly.
Kai screamed with laughter, clutching his stomach, eyes shut tight and leaking tears. When he tried to roll away, Echo pinned him down and kept up the tickle attack. Soon Kai was gasping for air. Lloyd clutched the doorframe to keep from falling over, laughing so hard no sound came out. He sucked in a breath, clutching his chest.
"Alright STAHP! STOP!" Kai wheezed. Echo got off him and Kai shakily sat up, still snorting. He looked up at Echo, unable to keep the grin off his face. "Why," he gasped, "why are you wearing the Go-Pro?"
"Nya said to film it," Echo beamed.
"Aw, NYA!" Kai flopped onto his back, head striking Lloyd's feet. All three of them laughed.
"You think that's so funny?" Kai grinned up at Lloyd. "Echo, get 'im!"
"No!" Lloyd cried, springing out of reach. Echo pounced toward him. They ran circles around the Fire Ninja on the floor, and soon a hilarious chase ensued down the hall.
"Kai! Call him off!"
"You're welcome!" Kai shouted after them.
Cole and Zane's heads jerked up when they heard the shrieks growing louder and closer, the recipe suggestions Cole was offering his disturbed brother immediately forgotten. A green blur sped into the kitchen, a copper one right behind him.
"Cole, save me!" Lloyd shouted.
"What?" Cole couldn't process the screams and smiles before Lloyd launched himself over the small kitchen table and behind the Earth Ninja. Echo dashed around the after him.
"No, no, Echo! Get him! Get Cole!" Lloyd exclaimed, breathless.
"No way!" Cole laughed, shuffling around the table, Echo hot on his heels. Lloyd leaned his weight on Zane, catching his breath, and they watched the two orbit around the table and chairs, feet thudding on the wooden floor.
"Come here!" Cole turned around and grabbed the nindroid in a bear hug. Echo still managed to jab him under the arms. "Okay, okay, you got me!" Cole laughed, setting him down.
Not easily tired, Echo poked him again, and then reached over and poked Zane's sweatshirt. He paused, remembering in that moment that, as a nindroid, Zane couldn't be tickled. But Zane beamed, poking him back. Both of them laughed, poking each other back and forth. Even with metal bodies, they both felt the affection that grew with physical touch. By the time the tickle fest ended, everyone in the room felt 'fuzzy'.
The lights below deck were off, leaving the rooms and hall dark. All was quiet except for the hum of the Bounty's engine as Nya guided the boat to harbour. She and Jay had come back late from their romantic excursion, and the others were either in or getting ready for bed. Zane padded down the hall, glancing through any of the open doors. When he came to the broom closet, he found it unlocked and opened it.
"Jay?" Zane's eyebrows rose at the sight of the blue ninja crammed in the closet. "I thought you were at the helm with Nya."
"Where's Echo?"
"I was just looking for him. What are you doing in here?"
"I'm the only one he hasn't ambushed today!" Jay hissed, peering down the dim hall. "He's after me next, and he never sleeps! There's not one inch of me that's not ticklish, Zane. I'm too irresistible!"
Zane smiled at him. "Go to bed, Jay. He knows not to disturb anyone after lights out."
Jay tip-toed out of the closet, looked both ways, and raced for their quarters.
Zane shook his head, smirking, and went above deck. Wisps of clouds breezed past the sails, and stars twinkled in the dark blue sky.
Echo's silhouette stood out against the stars from where he gazed at them from the railing. Zane watched him in silence for a moment before looking for Nya at the wheel. They made eye contact and smiled. The crisp night air calmed them. With a final glance Echo's way, Zane went back downstairs to his bunk, letting his brother stay to dream up another day of mischief.
If you like this chapter, thank Isabella Camovic for the idea! I will be honest, it gave me a bit of trouble at first and/or I wasn't feeling inspired, but after I hit a certain point, I did enjoy writing it. I hope it's alright. Humor/laughs are not my strong point. Isabella, I hope you like my spin on this. After watching Echo have the time of his life tripping up baddies in Skybound's final episodes, I figured he was a bit of a prankster at heart. :)
To everyone who has supported me so far, THANK YOU! Four chapters in, and I'm a bit astonished by all the reviews and praise I've gotten. It's really encouraging, and I want you to know that you are all AMAZING! If there's anything you see for me to edit/improve, PM me. I always like to go back and edit.
I hope you all have an awesome day! God bless!