Zane
Zane managed to convince his friends that to come to the ancient forest, filled with trees and plants as far as the eye can see, and seemingly devoid of any other humans. It was the biggest nature park in all of Ninjago and one of the few untamed places left in the world, and it was almost magical where they were sitting, hanging out between the wondrously tall trees.
There was just one little problem.
The earth below their feet was extremely fertile or something like that, because the plants didn't need Zane's help to take hold of objects, people and animals.
What was magical only a few seconds ago, had turned into a scene from a horror movie as Cole got grabbed by his feet and trapped in a cocoon made of tree and a root. Kai was fighting with a thorny bush to get Lloyd back, but it was clear that he was getting dragged in as well. Jay had hovered mid-air for a little while, as he was known to do at times, only to get pulled into the overgrown grass by some little pink flowers.
Even the falcon was grabbed.
Even Zane got grabbed.
If it weren't for his powers, Zane would've been toast.
He managed to coax the plants to let go of him, but they ignored him when he tried to make them let go of his friends.
Because of that, he had to resort to helping without his powers.
It only made sense to free Jay first, as he could help using his telekinetic powers, but Lloyd's panicked screams made him think otherwise.
He was just a scared little boy, and he didn't even have any powers to help him. Besides, it wasn't as if Kai, who had been knocked unconscious by something and dragged into the grass, was going to help anyone at the moment.
"Hold on, Lloyd!" Zane called into the thorns as he crawled in after. "I'm coming!"
Lloyd just cried some more, which was both annoying, and useful. Zane followed the distressed cries through the dark, ignoring the thorns that were scratching away his skin a little at a time.
Then he struck something soft and fluffy, which he knew wasn't the bush, because the bush was hard and thorny and the something felt like human hair.
"Lloyd, I have my hand on something soft! Is it you?!"
Lloyd could be heard sniffling, then he finally spoke in a frightened little voice. "You got my head," the little boy whimpered.
Zane leaned in deeper onto the thorns and grabbed Lloyd by the collar of his shirt, pulling him out by it and wincing as the boy kept going "ow" as he was getting pulled out.
Somehow, it was more uncomfortable getting out than it was getting in, which Zane didn't really think was possible. The branches were more aggressive with Zane now, trying to keep Lloyd to itself.
They were drowning in thorns, swimming towards the light as fast as they could, when all of a sudden, both of them were spat out.
With Lloyd in his arms, Zane deemed it necessary to get the injured boy to a safe place as fast as possible. Unlike the others, he was completely helpless when it comes to defending himself.
And to make matters more complicated, the forest was alive, and not with wild animals. Zane felt absolutely terrible for bringing his friends here, but it was too late to feel sorry for himself.
Then they came across a tree that wasn't moving. When Zane got closer, he realised that it wasn't a tree at all, but some kind of shelter that was made to look like a tree. Thankfully, the entrance was found easily and thankfully, it was unlocked, which allowed Zane and Lloyd to enter.
The plants couldn't get in, but Zane could hear them banging on the metal walls.
"Where are we?" Lloyd asked out loud.
The tiny blond was set down on a table that was also made of metal and Zane found a First-Aid Kit under one of the two beds on the corner. It was needed for Lloyd's injuries. Pure alcohol was found inside the kit and Zane poured a little of the foul-smelling liquid on a ball of cotton before pressing it against one of the many punctures on Lloyd's tiny body. Lloyd winced and let out a muffled scream as he did so.
"I don't think the plants can come in," Zane told Lloyd, "so you have to stay in here while I go out and try to retrieve the others. Keep pressing this against your injuries to clean them. Once everybody's safe, I'll try and see what I can do."
Lloyd didn't say a word, but instead, he kept staring at Zane's arms, where the thorns scratched away his skin.
He looked more surprised and confused than worried, so Zane checked to see what he was looking at. Did he have some kind of weird markings on his arms or was there some gross slime on him or something?
There were no weird markings or anything like that, which Zane was thankful for, but where he got pierced by the thorns trying to save Lloyd, there was no blood but instead, something that upon closer inspection revealed itself to be metal.
Something was wrong…
He had to sit down.
No, wait, he had to go and get his friends. He had to go save his friends first, then he could sit down.
He wasn't…
He wasn't human.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by Jay mentally screaming at him.
Get over yourself! We have bigger issues out here and I can't breathe!
Actually, Jay was being so loud, Zane had to look around to see if he was inside the shelter, maybe hiding somewhere.
I'm on my way. Maybe I can coax these strange plants to…
You can't! There's something else controlling them! I can hear it humming! I think it wants to eat us!
I'm on my way! Stay where you are!
Zane headed for the door, but he was abruptly stopped when he saw some rather strange blueprints on a table.
The machine looked like Zane.
Same features, same build, same name.
There was another blueprint for a robotic falcon.
No.
Zane couldn't breathe. He looked down and lifted up his shirt.
How did he not notice that panel on his chest before? Was it because it looks just like the rest of his skin, or was it because he was programmed not to notice it?
There were so many questions running through his head.
The first thing he could remember was waking up a couple of thousand miles from this crazy forest.
Zane opened the panel in his chest, ignoring Lloyd's surprised gasp.
There were all kinds of switches and knobs inside, one for each function he had.
The humour switch was off, and he was going to leave it that way. There was a strange power-scourge that was glowing green above his memory switch, a switch that Zane was considering turning on, but decided against as well.
Turning the switch on would answer so many questions, like who he was, for instance.
But it wasn't necessary.
Zane closed the panel in his chest and left through the door, leaving behind Lloyd, telling him that he was going to be back with the others as soon as he was done calming the plants down.
He walked through the angry trees and shrubs and weeds, using his powers to calm them down.
All the way back to his friends.
Right where he left them.
Wrapped up in planty cocoons.
Right in front of him, there was a creature that had tree trunks for legs, readying itself to eat Zane's friends.
He knew what it was.
A treehorn. A vicious, blood-thirsty monster that was known to eat travellers that got lost in the woods and apparently had the ability to control plants, just like Zane.
The plants spat out Cole. Then Kai. Then Jay. Then the falcon.
They were okay. Just unconscious.
Zane turned his attention to the treehorn once it lowered itself down to eat Cole.
"Don't. You. Dare." Vines wrapped themselves around the treehorn's long, long legs. They wrapped themselves around the monster's body.
Kai made some weird, inhuman noise, proving that he wasn't dead.
The memory switch in Zane's chest popped into his mind again.
He didn't have to turn it on. It didn't matter, at least, not to him.
With one simple movement, he had the ability to remember everything about his past, but he already knew who he was. He was Zane.
The Master of Nature.
Sure, he was a robot, and so was the falcon, but that didn't change a single thing. He's been a robot since the day he woke up so many miles away, all lost and confused, with no memory of his past.
Vines continued wrapping themselves around the treehorn.
Tighter and tighter.
Zane felt himself lift up into the air, hovering as if Jay was lifting him up with his telekinetic powers, but this was different.
Leaves spun around him, like a tornado of leaves. He could feel every plant around him, every vine and every root, as if they were extensions of himself.
It felt amazing.
Then the treehorn exploded in a gross green goo, and Zane dropped to the ground, just as covered in sludge as his friends. The plants stopped reaching out to grab everybody and started acting like normal plants, as if they had never come to life before. Zane had no explanation for what just happened, but it felt as if he had been locked up in a cage all of his life and had finally been set free.
Now all that was left to do was to carry his friends back to the tree, tend to their injuries, and explain what he found out once they woke up.
Cole was going to be so disappointed. Zane knew that his money was still on "fairy".
Italics and underline: Zane being telepathic
Italics: Jay being telepathic
Poor Lloyd's probably scared of plants forever now. Maybe he'll try and get revenge on them by eating all of his vegetables LOL.
Jay can use his telekinetic powers on himself if he tries real hard or gets very stressed. Zane won't turn on his memory switch until much later and the others (except for Lloyd, who's new, and the ninjas) knew that something was up with Zane the whole time, because he doesn't age, being a robot. They confronted him about this and had different theories on why he doesn't age, but robot wasn't on anyone's list.
Please say in the reviews who you want to unlock their true potential next.
