Thank you EchoJulien, Bookkeeper2004, Syren Nolbuluuki, Isabella camovic, JBomb17, Drawkill Vear and Lycaran, and Dr. Fluffmuffin for your kind reviews! You guys really brighten my day! I wasn't expecting "That Tickles!" to garner the praise it did, but Little Canadian was laughing xer head off and said it might be xer favourite chapter. :D
Isabella, I'm so glad you enjoyed the previous chapter! :D It was for you after all. I want to thank you for all the requests you send in. I do write them down. I won't be able to publish your latest requests for awhile, since I have a whole list I need to get to, but I promise I will get yours eventually!
JBomb17: Thanks so much! Your review was amazing! I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter!
Fifth Chapter: Even though they've removed the rust, Jay and Nya think Echo is ready for a full upgrade. After things go horribly wrong, Echo flees into hiding, plagued with glitches. The Ninja set out to find him, but how can they when Zane won't tell them where he is? (Warnings: I know zero about electronics, so experts reading this will probably cringe. I also allude to season 10 episode 97, "The Fall" in this chapter.)
Most people are afraid of going to the doctor. Sometimes the fear comes on its own, other times it's born out of trauma.
Echo sat on the edge of the table in the Bounty's workshop, bumping his heel against the table leg. He watched Jay and Nya prepare the tools and equipment they'd need for the upcoming procedure, including swaths of coloured wires and new metal plating.
He'd lived with the Ninja for several weeks, and honestly he could not think of a time he'd been happier. Every day he discovered and learned something new. Everyday the Ninja left him in awe, made him laugh, and feel. Being part of a family after being alone for so long... it felt amazing.
Gizmo blinked and bleeped on the floor below his feet. Echo smiled at him.
Well, he had not been entirely alone. And he was not the only one who'd been fixed up, either. Gizmo's body had been polished to shine.
Jay dropped something on his toe with a bang and hopped around with a string of made up curses.
This was it: a full upgrade. Despite the comic relief, Echo only felt tension. His smile vanished. It wasn't just a rust removal this time, nor new screws, nor an adjustment to his joints. This time his entire body would be remodeled. As he stared at Jay and Nya, he listened to the near silent puffing of steam inside him, as well as the heartbeat of his clock. The white light overhead flickered once.
Zane walked in the door and looked from Jay and Nya to Echo. He walked over to his brother's side. Echo glanced at him and went back to watching the other ninja.
"Are you nervous?" Zane asked.
"Nervous..." Were nerves what was bubbling inside him? Should he be nervous? The upgrade would help him work better. Everything he did would be easier. He would be a better protector, like the Ninja. He should be excited. He continued to kick the table with a soft clunk, clunk, clunk.
"Are you ready, Echo?" Jay smiled as he came over.
"Yes," Echo nodded as Nya joined them.
"Lie down, then," Nya said.
Echo did as requested. His favourite tan hoodie had already been taken off and folded, so he laid his head on it. His arms rested at his side, and he wiggled his feet. What would they feel like after everything was finished?
"This might feel a bit strange," Nya informed, as if reading his mind. "But when we're done, everything should run a lot smoother."
Echo settled down, readying himself to stay still for the hours he would be dismantled and repaired. Gizmo chattered under the edge of the table. Echo looked up at Zane standing over him. "Are you staying?" An involuntary tremor ran through him.
Zane smiled. "Of course."
"Ready, Echo?" Nya asked.
"Ready." Echo relaxed. Everything would be fine.
Screwdrivers in hand, Jay and Nya went to work removing the old, crusty steel plates encasing his inner mechanics. Echo's gaze flickered from person to person as they worked.
"First one off," Jay announced, setting aside the metal from Echo's collar bone. The first piece gone... Already Echo felt bare. Nya removed the metal covering his arm. Then from his ribs, revealing the cage underneath.
Zane watched every move they made. If Echo looked at him, he smiled, only to let it fall as soon as he looked away. With each passing moment, more and more of his brother was dismantled. He scanned him frequently.
Hours went by, the silence only interrupted by the scraping, clanking, and whirring of tools and metal, and the quiet communication between Jay and Nya. Echo said nothing as he watched them work.
At last, he was stripped of his metal shell, leaving him with a starved appearance. When Echo looked down at himself it felt like an out of body experience. Thin sheets of metal like sinews intertwined over each other; pipes, tubes, and wires running like veins over and under, leading to his core where they gathered around clicking gears.
"Is the electricity on?" Nya queried. Jay reached in and flipped a small switch. Echo giggled. Zane smiled.
Nya shut off the steam power, double checking the wires connected to Echo's "heart". Jay pulled a coil of wires onto the table, and, bit by bit, they removed gears and spools of tubes, replacing them with wiring, and leaving his clock hanging amidst strings of colour. Drowsiness settled over Echo. He rested his head on his folded hoodie, shadows blurring the corners of his vision.
A voice - he could not tell whose - sounded far away as it said it was time to replace his clock with an electrical box. He saw their hands working around his core, and blackness crept over his eyes, relaxing him. Hmm... this must be what sleep feels like. His eyes closed. The fading feeling only grew stronger, and he felt a flash of panic for one second before everything ceased to exist.
Zane watched his eyes close just has he received the results of his scan. Cold fear flared up inside him. He grabbed Echo's bare, thin shoulders, and his gaze snapped to Jay and Nya in horror.
"Stop!" he yelled. "Something is wrong! Stop now!"
Jay and Nya jumped, eyes wide, the fear spreading to them in a heartbeat.
"What? What's wrong?" Jay's voice shook.
"There is no internal activity! He has shut down one hundred percent!"
Jay dove to undo the damage, fingers flying to re-clip the wires onto Echo's clock. Nya leaped into action beside him. Her blood pounded in her ears and her head felt light, her hands stiff, as she helped reattach the couple of wires they had removed to make way for the more powerful energy source.
What have we done? What have I done?!
"Hurry!" Zane pleaded, eyes searching Echo's face for movement.
At their feet, Gizmo was going ballistic. Bleating, lights blinking, and zooming back and forth, adding to the chaotic atmosphere. Nya felt sick to her stomach.
Fingers slipping, precious minutes having ticked by, she connected the last wire to the clock. Jay had run wires up Echo's exposed throat and beneath his face plate and eyes. Power should be charging every corner of the nindroid's body.
"Nothing is happening." Zane's voice quivered.
With a grunt, Jay examined the clock with his fingertips, pressing on it, and feeling the flow of energy. Eyes hard, jaw working, he bent the electricity, occasionally asking Nya to adjust a wire. A loud buzz zinged in the air over Echo's lifeless form. There was a loud ZEET, and Echo's eyes flung open.
"Thank goodness," Jay sighed, sinking down on the table.
Echo blinked several times, then lifted his head. He stared at them. Maybe it was the impression of exposed muscle, but a strange, un-Echo like vibe came off of him.
"You all look familiar. Have we met before?"
"No..." Zane breathed.
Echo sat up and looked at all of their crestfallen, horrified faces. "Is there anything wrong? Perhaps if you t-t-old me," his voice spasmed, "who you were, I could hel-"
"You know who we are, Echo!" Jay cried with tight fists.
Echo frowned. "I cannot p-l-l-l-ace you in my memory." The glitch continued to tear apart his voice. "I believe you have mista-a-a-ken me for someone else."
"No!" Nya shook her head. "No, no, no! We made a completely different mistake, which I intend to fix right now!" She reached for his head.
"What are you doing?" He leaned away from her.
"Hold still." Zane rested a hand on his shoulder, wearing a pained expression. "She is going to help."
Bleebur, Gizmo bleeped from the floor.
Nya positioned herself behind him and searched for his memory bank. He didn't move, but tracked her movements out of the corner of his eye.
"There!" She connected the memory circuit to a few thin cords, bringing it up to date with the rest of his system. Echo's back went rod stiff, and his eyes went wide. After a few seconds, he sagged a bit, then stared at his knees.
"Echo?" Zane said quietly, leaning over to look in his brother in the eye.
Echo looked up at them, and the nightmarish fear - an emotion he'd never shown - racing through his eyes made Nya want to throw up.
"Are you okay?" Jay winced.
Echo studied his skeletal hands, examining each wire-like finger.
"Echo?"
"Please reassemble me," he said, not looking up. "Pl-l-l-ease."
"Alright," Jay agreed sadly, shoulders drooping.
He and Nya worked in silence, screwing the bright new metal on - gold in tint to remind them of he's previous appearance as well as to tell him apart from Zane. However, before they could cover his limbs or close his stomach/chest compartment, Echo slid off the table and fled from the room. Gizmo zoomed after him.
"Echo!" they called. He didn't respond.
"We need to fix those glitches! There could be more we don't know about, and because he's still open like that, things could get a million times worse!" Jay exclaimed as he tore through all the closets.
"We must find him," Zane stated, brows drawn in worry, jaw tense.
Nya peaked into the health ward, unable to relinquish her guilt. How could she have let this happen? Hadn't she learned anything after what had happened to Cole? Was she going to keep hurting her teammates like this?
"Let's just do only what's immediately necessary, and make sure he's okay," she managed to say past the tightness in her gut. "He's had a rough time."
They searched every room below deck. When the rest of the Ninja found out what happened, they were quick to join the search, too. Soon they'd scoured the Destiney's Bounty top to bottom with no results.
"No sign of him," Kai told the others. "It's like he just... vanished."
Everyone's anxiety levels spiked, causing voices to escalate as they hurried to form a plan. Zane wandered onto the deck. The Bounty had docked near Jamanakai Village to conserve fuel. He gazed at the small bamboo fishing boats resting near them on the smooth lake, a perfect flip image of each cast on the mirror-like water. Any athletic person could leap from raft to raft in order to reach the grassy shore. Echo must have connected the dots and left the Bounty.
Zane climbed onto the railing and sprang over to the nearest boat. With a series of aerial flips and springs, he bounded from boat to boat until he landed softly on the shore. The grass had recently been flattened by a roll of tracks and a pair of feet other than his own. Scanning as he went, he set off in search of his brother.
Echo hugged his knees and attempted to ignore the exposed joints and wire frame in his legs. He stared at the beetle tumbling over the twigs in the grass, slipping in and out of the dappled shadows cast by the bushes. The grove he hid in was devoid of bird song, but he could hear them flapping and rustling in the leaves, their tiny claws scratching the branches. As long as he watched - as hard as he listened - he could not forget.
The memory of darkness taking over him encroached on his mind. Shutting his eyes only made it worse, as it left him in darkness, even if only for a few seconds. If he was not careful, he relived the anxiety and the helplessness he had felt. He never wanted to experience such emotion again. He had felt vulnerable on the worktable before, but he had never expected anything to go wrong. Now he could think of nothing else.
He tore at the grass, a few bright green blades catching in the metalwork of his hands. He still did not dare close his eyes. He could not shut out the memory. Was it possible for him to delete memories? Should he ask someone? Was it a cowardly suggestion? A fresh wave of apprehension swamped him.
Something heavy forced its way into the thicket of bushes, crushing grass and snapping sticks. It emitted a small blurbing sound. Echo perked up as Gizmo rolled through the branches, water dripping off his square body.
"Gizmo!" He exclaimed. "How... how did you follow me? How did y-yo-ou get off the Bounty and cross the lake?"
Blurbeebleep!
"Well, I am glad to see you." He smiled wryly. The little robot sidled up next to him, and his presence calmed him. Back at the lighthouse, they had taken care of each other, both physically and mentally. It felt good to have his long time companion with him now. They sat in silence for a long while, each pointing to any interesting bit of nature that caught their eye.
The shadows had slanted on the ground when Echo's sensors traced the presence of a humanoid figure approaching. He crouched lower in the bushes, wincing when they scraped his metal body. Gizmo picked that moment to start chattering.
"Sssh!"
The person drew closer. Echo went completely still, his clock's sporadic ticking suddenly as loud as a hammer striking an anvil. Whoever was coming halted right by the thicket, his shadow darkening a patch of leaves.
"Echo?"
Zane. He felt a strange mix of hesitance and relief.
The bushes rustled and snapped as Zane pushed them open. Their eyes met through the branches, and Zane looked both relieved at having found him and heartbroken at the fear still lingering in his brother's eyes.
"We have been looking everywhere for you," he said, the branches cracking as he slid inside and sat beside Echo on the ground.
Echo ducked his head.
"Are you alright?"
He hesitated. "M-m-m-ma-aaaybe." The glitch claimed almost the entire word.
Zane's brows knit together. "We need to go back to get that fixed."
Echo's clock did an extra loud tick. "I w-w-wi-ill go back later."
The concern in Zane's eyes could not be ignored.
"I operate very efficiently now," he said, raising his arms to illustrate. One jerked higher than he wanted, and he quickly brought them back to his side. "I ran the whole way. Nothing came l-l-loose. I do not need another upgrade."
"I am more concerned that you ran," Zane said. "You do not need to hide your fear from me, Echo." He looked at him earnestly, and Echo turned away in shame. "Jay and Nya only want to make sure nothing is wrong."
Something is wrong. Something bad happened. For the first time in my life, I do not feel safe. That is wrong.
For a couple minutes, Zane did not intrude on his thoughts, allowing him to process things before continuing. "Do you want to talk to me about anything?"
"I died!" Echo choked, the words stabbing his brother with physical pain. He felt breathless somehow, his next choice words feeling restrained. "I forgot who I was! Who you were! I... died." He stared at each individual blade of grass, trying to get his mind to grasp onto anything - anything! - besides that dark nothingness, and never quite succeeding. He had experienced death, and it would not leave him alone.
Even in the short time he had known the Ninja, the definition of the word had become familiar to him, but until today he had not learned to fear it. Now he wished to hide, but he discovered one could never hide from the blackness.
He gasped as Zane pulled him into a hug, then he hid his face in the shoulder of his older brother's gi. He held on tight.
"I once died, too," Zane whispered.
The revelation startled Echo. Zane? Zane had died? But he seemed so invincible.
"How?" he croaked at last.
"While facing the Overlord. I will show you the mural some time."
Echo stared ahead at nothing, head still pressed against his brother's shoulder. "Was it dark?"
"Dark and very cold."
Echo shivered.
"But I woke up, and so did you." He hugged Echo tighter.
They both woke up... things did not stay dark.
"You are r-r-r-right."
"That glitch does not worry you?" Zane frowned, loosening his grip.
"N-n-n-no." He lied.
Zane took Echo's shoulders and held him at arms length, taking a minute to scan him thoroughly.
"I sense nothing horribly amiss, but I am unused to your upgrades and there is still unrepaired damage."
"I ca-a-an not go back!" Echo backed out of Zane's grasp. "When I lie on that table I feel... like a test subject. I have no control over what is happening. I sometimes do not know what is happening! And I do not want to d... black out ever again." He pulled his knees up to his chest. Gizmo laid a hand on his leg.
Zane's heart ached at what he heard. How had he allowed Echo to endure this hurt all this time? How was he supposed to tell Jay and Nya?
He looked back the way he had come. "I need to let the others know you are safe," he said. "They are still looking for you."
"Are you going to tell th-h-e-e-em where I am?"
"Well..."
"Promise not to tell? I will come back-ck! I am fine here for now." He put a hand on Gizmo.
Zane looked uncertain.
"Please?"
After a minute, he agreed. "Alright," he breathed. "I will let them know you're safe, but I will keep your location secret."
"Thank you." Echo allowed a small smile.
"Stay safe." Zane stood up.
"I will. I will return soon."
They nodded to each other, and Zane headed back to the Bounty.
When he arrived back at the ship, the others had split up to hunt for Echo, and Nya was about to fly the Bounty out for an aerial search. Zane climbed up and sent a message via radio before she could take off. "Lloyd, you can bring everybody back. I found him."
"That's great, Zane! We'll head back right now."
Nya sighed with relief as radio contact was cut. "Thank goodness. Where did you find him?"
"He, uh..." the Titanium Ninja avoided eye contact, tapping the corner of the control panel. "He asked me not to tell."
"What!" Nya's face contorted with anger. "Zane! You know he's in no condition to be out there! There's still damage we have to repair!"
"I scanned him. There is nothing wrong that cannot be repaired later." He turned to face her.
"There will be if anything gets inside him and rips out a wire. He's not sealed up!"
"He will be fine for now."
"You can't know that for sure." She stomped closer.
"I know he is afraid," Zane frowned. He and Nya stood only a metre apart. "He is afraid of going anywhere near the shop, now! And he is most afraid of being tampered with and being shut down again."
"I am afraid, Zane. I want to make sure I- he's okay. Where is he?"
"I will not tell."
"Ugh! You're not thinking straight! He needs help. He's a nindroid; repairs can't be avoided. What about you? What about all the times we had to fix you? Even you needed to be rebuilt."
"I rebuilt myself!" Zane snapped, taking Nya off guard. "And every time you have repaired me, I have been unconscious with no choice in the matter." There was a heavy silence. "I am sorry for getting angry. Do not think I am ungrateful. This isn't your fault, but Echo told me how he felt. And the fact that he... experienced death... will most likely make any future upgrades feel like torture."
Nya's expression crumpled with guilt. She burst, "But it is my fault! That's why I got so angry! I hurt him, Zane. I made a mistake - again! - and I hurt him. I just wanted... I just wanted to make sure I could fix things this time."
Zane placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Nya... everything is alright now. Don't beat yourself up when Jay and I are just as much at fault. Even after all this, Echo blames no one."
She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve.
"I'm so sorry, Zane."
They both hugged, and by holding on they let go of all the tension and anger and fear, trusting each other that all would be okay.
When they separated, Nya took a deep breath. "So what now?"
Zane shrugged. "I suppose we wait for Echo to come back."
"Then what?" Her was steady. "No matter how any of us feel, he still needs to be repaired."
"Or the minor glitches will only increase," Zane nodded.
"Upgrading a nindroid is harder than I thought. I'm not even sure if our equipment is advanced enough, anymore." Nya sighed. "Your father was a genius."
Zane smiled sadly. "I know."
They thought their own thoughts in silence, Nya examining the ship's controls, and Zane looking across the water in the direction he knew his brother was hiding.
"I have an idea!" Nya exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of this sooner? This will probably make things go so much more smoothly. We just need Echo to agree..."
Echo scaled the side of the Bounty, flipping over the rail and landing on the deck with a clunk. The last of the daylight glowed pale on the horizon. The sky overhead was a deepening shade of blue. Echo's metal skin was shaded dark copper under the shadow of twilight.
He set Gizmo down, then hung his head as he took a few tentative steps, eyes darting up and down the length of the ship. Nobody stood on the upper deck or in the doorway leading below.
What did they think of him running away? Were they embarrassed? Scared? Angry? What would they say?
Footsteps thumped from the stairwell. In the growing shadows he saw a silhouette climbing up to the deck. It paused, then Nya ran out and slammed into Echo, crushing him in a hug.
"I'm so glad you're back! I was so worried!"
"I am sorr-"
"I am so, so sorry!" she interrupted, not relinquishing her grip. "Zane told me how you felt. I never want to put you through that again. I am so sorry for everything."
"It is alr-r-r-ight."
She finally looked up at his face, guilt churning in her eyes.
She looks in pain. Echo had never seen that look in her eyes, and he hated it.
"What is wrong?"
Nya shook her head. "I made a mistake. It just feels awful that I hurt you." She looked up at him again and noted his concern. "But don't feel bad! You didn't do anything wrong. Now come on, there's something we want to talk to you about."
Echo let her lead him downstairs to their quarters, ignoring the slight twinge he felt around his clock. Except for Cole, who lay dozing on his bunk, everyone was up. They all turned when he and Nya entered the room. Zane smiled, and Jay uttered the loudest, most relieved sigh Echo had ever heard, and ran over to him. Whereas Nya had squeezed him, Jay seemed to collapse against his shoulders, arms around his neck.
"it's nice to have you back, Echo," Lloyd greeted. "We were worried about you."
"Next time Jay does something dumb, just come find me, alright?" Cole piped up from his pillow.
"Hey!"
"Everything is f-f-f-ii-ne." A smile tugged at the corner of Echo's mouth, and he relaxed. Nobody was mad. Nobody was even stressed. They were just happy to see him.
Zane put a hand on his shoulder, and Jay moved to his other side. "Did Nya say we had something to ask you?"
Echo nodded.
Zane and Nya moved to leave the room, Echo and Jay in tow. Lloyd walked over to the door and reached for the light switch.
"Alright, guys, lights out."
"Way ahead of you." Kai flopped onto his bunk.
"Technically, I was in bed first, so I'm way ahead of you," Cole corrected.
Zane, Echo, Jay, and Nya walked down the hall and gathered in front of the kitchen door. The hallway was cast in gloom. Behind them, a single square of grey light lay across the kitchen table.
"Nya had an idea," Zane said, "on how to help upgrade you while preventing what happened last time."
"But only if you agree to it," Nya added.
Echo felt a worm of trepidation.
"We have a really great friend, Cyrus Borg," Jay said. "He's a super genius, and he's got all the tech imaginable that could help you."
"Unlike me and Jay, he's already built a nindroid," Nya put in. "Her name is P.I.X.A.L."
"And I rebuilt myself using his factory."
"How will hi-i-is methods be any different?" Echo asked. How can I trust a complete stranger with my body?
"You will have to ask him, but he will not force you into any situation you are uncomfortable with."
"Will you at least give 'im a shot?" Jay asked.
Echo mulled it over, aware of a second twinge next to his clock. Something felt loose. Had he bumped it out of place? Then there was his voice glitch. He battled between two fears: facing the worst during another attempted upgrade, or deteriorating and facing the worst anyway. If he refused repairs, how far would the damage go?
"I would... l-l-l-ike to meet him," he said at last. Meeting someone wasn't the same as being disassembled by them.
Nya sighed with relief.
"Thank you, Echo," Zane said.
"You'll really like him," Jay assured. "And hey! You're one step closer to meeting everyone."
"I would like that." Since he hadn't been with the Ninja long, he had mainly remained on the Bounty or at the Monastery. Perhaps seeing a new place and making a new friend would be a pleasant distraction.
"I'll call him in the morning," Nya said. "Hopefully he can see us soon." In response to Echo's silence, she said, "Hey, everything is going to be fine. We won't let anything bad happen."
Because he was now unable to dismiss the 'wrong' feeling around his clock, Echo sincerely hoped so.
To be continued...
This chapter was so much fun to put on paper! (But dang, it's long.) I find it much easier to write angst and action than humor.
So I watched Echo's parts in Skybound again, and I think it will really help improve my stories. It's given me a clearer idea of what I want my version of Echo to be, and hopefully that's noticeable in upcoming chapters. I want Echo to be niave and childlike since he doesn't know much about the outside world yet, but not unintelligent or timid. He's brave, has a sense of humor, and is bound to his purpose: to protect. Looking back, I would definitely write all the previous chapters differently, but for the most part I'll leave them as they are so I can judge how I've improved. (Even if it makes me cringe)
A BIG thanks to anyone who's reading this. I'm honored to have captured your attention so long! Have a great day!