The soil rumbled beneath the feet of the ninja as a pillar of rock shot up from the ground. It met the green and white ninja as they fell, slightly cushioning the near fatal fall. Then the column returned to the earth. Kai and Jay looked at one another with their eyes wide in awe. Cole walked up behind them with his arms crossed. His deep voice made both ninjas jump.

"Don't need me, eh?" The duo stared at Cole with a loss for words. He smacked the back of both their heads, and then walked over to Zane and Lloyd. Lloyd slowly pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, hovering over the defeated nindroid. His eyes searched Zane for any sign of life. He tried to say Zane's name, but the near death experience temporarily took his voice. Cole kneeled down and helped the green ninja to his feet.

"He can be saved," Cole began. "Jay's great with machines; Zane will be back up in no time." Lloyd could only nod, and Cole rubbed his shoulder gently. Jay and Kai met up with them and Jay assessed the damage done to Zane.

"His circuits are just fried," Jay said. "Easy fix."

"Maybe you can find out what made him flip in the first place," Kai suggested. Cole scooped up the limp ice ninja and threw him onto his shoulder before walking back to the ninjas' apartment. The others followed him.

Once they all arrived home, the ninjas cleared the kitchen table and Cole gently laid Zane onto it. Jay got to work on the mess of wires in Zane's robot stomach, while Kai helped clean up Lloyd's wounds. Lloyd kept his eyes on the floor. Kai frowned.

"Chill out, Lloyd," he stated. "You barely even touched him." Kai poured a little alcohol on a swab, and then pressed it against one of the open cuts. Lloyd took in air sharply and shut his eyes.

"No one should ever have to fight their brother in arms..!" Lloyd managed to say through gritted teeth. Kai thought about it and nodded.

"You're right," Kai admitted. "You fought well at least."

"That's all you care about?" Lloyd snapped. "I could have seriously hurt him!" Kai rolled his eyes and applied more alcohol to the swab, carelessly pressing it against another of Lloyd cuts, making him groan sharply. "You could have been seriously hurt," Kai replied. Lloyd said nothing in return. The silence became thicker and thicker as the seconds passed. Kai decided to cut into it by putting the bottle and swab down so he could wrap his arms gently around the green ninja. It surprised Lloyd, but he didn't object. It wasn't every day that Kai gave hugs.

"He's gonna be fine, Lloyd," Kai said definitely. Then Kai let go and walked to his bedroom. Lloyd sat for a few minutes alone in the bathroom while his stream of consciousness flowed. When his body felt as though it could do it, he got up and walked into the kitchen, simply sitting at the table, intently watching Jay work. Jay tediously replaced wires and tightened screws, glancing for split seconds at the concerned look pasted on Lloyd's face.

Jay could tell Lloyd was about to speak. Before he muttered a sound, Jay interrupted him: "It's going to take a while, bud." Lloyd merely released the air he had taken in to speak in a soft sigh. Cole, who stood next to Jay to help, watched Lloyd put his head down gently on the table. He frowned when the chosen ninja closed his watery eyes, and then turned his attention to Zane's cold, lifeless face.

"Lloyd," someone said softly. The blonde haired boy groaned softly, swatting at the hand that shook his shoulder. He then yawned and rubbed his eyes, sitting up. "Hm?" he murmured. Lloyd glanced at his fellow ninjas as they circled around the table, each staring at the boy with a smile to match their personality. "What's going on? Is Zane okay?"

"Perhaps you should be telling me, my tired friend," a voice rang beside Lloyd. Lloyd's head snapped in the direction of the words. Zane stood with a soft, caring, perfect grin. Lloyd seemed to be frozen by the ice's ninja's eyes. He could only utter a small, whimper-like sound before shooting up from the chair and instantly clinging to Zane. Zane held Lloyd close and petted his soft hair. "You had no need to worry, Lloyd." Warm tears ran down Lloyd's cheeks.

"It definitely took some work," Jay began. He smiled down at a grease-stained rag his hands fumbled with. "Zane isn't the simplest machine I've worked with." Lloyd quietly thanked Jay and gripped Zane's white ninja suit tightly. Zane closed his eyes, slowly stroking Lloyd's silky hair. The romantic moment was short lived, for the rumbling of Cole's stomach roared through the room. All eyes turned to him as he blushed slightly and swallowed.

"I…guess I'm just a bit hungry…!" he replied as an excuse, smiling sheepishly. Lloyd wiped his eyes and chuckled softly. Zane was happy to see Lloyd smile. He glanced at the others.

"I shall begin making dinner, then!" he said happily. Kai, Jay, Cole and Lloyd smiled excitedly. Kai pulled out a kitchen chair and slid into it, putting his feet up onto the table.

"While we have dinner, maybe we could discuss what we should do with our lives."

A crackle was heard throughout the cavern as the last rock was chipped away. The high pitched song of the flute under the earth loosened the rocks that trapped the snakes. Their leader, Pythor, was the first to slither out of the entrance to the cavern. He grinned wildly.

"This is it, boys!" he yelled back to his remaining army. They cheered to him as he said what they've waited months to hear. "This is our new beginning!"