Hello there! Sorry it took so long to repost, I hope you enjoy.
"Ten minutes!" Kai exclaimed.
Kai, Cole, Jay, and Ani stood, gathered around a stopwatch Kai was holding.
"He just broke his own record," the energy ninja stated.
"The guy's inhuman!" Kai yelled in awe.
Beneath the Bounty, at the bottom of a lake, Zane sat, meditating. A fish swam in front of him and the ninja gently stroked its back. The fish swam away and Zane, now very limited on air, planted his feet on the ground, and then shot to the surface. He broke the surface with a gasp; the sound of cheers greeted his ears.
Cole laughed, "Amazing!"
Zane grinned and splashed his friends.
"We're not worthy!" Jay backed up and bowed quickly.
"Zane, that was utterly incredible!" Ani peered over the edge and smiled down at him.
"I broke the record?" the white ninja asked.
"You destroyed it!" Kai exclaimed, showing him the time.
"Okay, okay," Jay spoke as Zane got up on deck, "Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking? We've been training for so long; I don't think we can get any better! Just think of all we accomplished!"
And, they had accomplished a lot. Kai had run down a road of hot coals for five minutes without tiring or getting hurt. Jay had stood upside down on the tallest building in Ninjago City for ten minutes, during a thunderstorm, without falling off. Cole had lifted the heaviest weights in the training room, as well as Nya and Jay. And even Ani had grown stronger, now able to run faster and jump higher than any human.
"The question should be raised," Zane stated, "Perhaps we have reached our full potential."
Sensei Wu sheathed a katana and sighed as Zane's voice rang outside, "Well, every morning, I do five hundred push-ups."
"Five hundred?" Kai laughed as the ninjas opened the door to the sensei's room and walked in, "Ha! Try a thousand!"
Jay smirked, "I do a thousand and one."
"What is this, amateur hour?" Cole walked in, "Sounds like my warm-up! Ani how many do you do?"
"If I tell you, you wouldn't believe me," Ani answered then called to her teacher, "Master, what does true potential look like if…"
The ninjas grew alert; there was something troubling their master, most likely them.
"Our apologies, Sensei," Zane addressed as he and the others bowed, "We've interrupted you."
The old man put away the katana and sighed again, "I'm sorry if I've been... distant lately. My mind has been elsewhere since Lloyd has gone missing... Wh…what can I help you with?"
"Sensei, what if we've done enough training?" Cole asked, "What if we've reached our true potential?"
"What if we're ready?" Ani concluded.
Their teacher chuckled, "You might have reached peak physical condition, but, you've yet to reach your inner potential…"
As he spoke, his students listened intently, "In each and every one of us, there are obstacles that hold us back. Only when you conquer that fear will your heart be free. Only then will you reach your true potential. Only then will we have a fighting chance to stop the Serpentine from releasing the Great Devourer."
Zane walked forward, "There's more to the Great Devourer than you've let on…."
He placed a hand on his sensei's shoulder, "…Isn't there, Sensei?"
The elder sighed once again, "I too have obstacles within my own heart. There's a story I've never told you…"
Two boys, one with blond hair and the other with brown, stood back to back, each holding a katana.
"Long ago, when I was a young boy..."
The boys began play-fighting.
"... Garmadon and I were more than brothers. We were the best of friends…"
"Wait a minute!"
Sensei Wu was pulled from his story as Jay interrupted him.
"Now, I knew you two were brothers," Jay intervened, "But, really? The king of cruelty, the ruler of destruction, the captain of chaos... and you two were… friends?"
"Jay, that's rude!" Ani snapped, "You should know better than to interrupt Master Wu."
"Please," Sensei Wu instructed, "No interruptions."
He went back to telling the story.
"You see... he did not always have a wicked heart…."
Watching the two boys, as well as polishing five golden weapons, was an old man: the boys' father. The boys laughed and fought each other playfully.
"One day, I lost this very katana…."
The boys frowned as the younger of the two accidentally tossed his katana. They turned to their father.
"Knowing our father would be mad, my brother told me to go retrieve it…."
The taller of the two boys, Garmadon, pointed to the wall and, not bossily at all, told his brother to get the katana. The smaller boy, Sensei Wu, scrunched up his face and shook his head, too scared.
"But, I refused. He told me not to put off what can be done today, and went to get it himself."
Garmadon said something to his brother, gave Wu his katana, and climbed up the wall. He looked around until he spotted the katana under a bush and reached down to get it. But, a green snake lunged out from the shadows of the bushes and sank its fangs into Garmadon's hand. Garmadon jumped in fright as his vision swirled. The snake slithered away. He swayed and collapsed on his side, passing out.
"When my father found him, he was very ill, for he was bitten by a legendary snake that would grow forever as long as it consumes…"
A vision of the snake, growing a bit larger and then roaring entered their minds.
"A great evil had found its way into my brother's heart, for the snake's venom could turn the purest of things wicked…"
Little Wu peered into his brother's room, where their father was leaning over his eldest.
"Leave it!" Garmadon shouted, pushing his father away, "Leave me alone! I don't need you! I hate you!"
Wu looked back into the hallway, terrible visions clouding his mind.
"The snake is the same one the Serpentine want to reawaken today."
"Ngh!" Garmadon growled in pain, "It hurts!"
The boy looked to his brother, his black eyes, which were widely common in Ninjago, turned red.
"It's all Wu's fault!"
Little Wu's eyes grew wide and he ran off.
"It is the snake... that took my brother away from me."
"So, the Great Devourer turned your brother into the Dark Lord?" Kai asked.
The very thought sounded horrible to the male ninjas. It's bad enough when someone you love turns dark and you must battle and possible destroy him or her, but when that person had little to no choice in deciding to be good or evil made the feeling all the harder. No one seemed to notice Ani squeezing her eyes shut, balling her fists and gritting her teeth, almost as though she was in deep physical pain.
"... It was all my fault," The mentor lamented, his eyes were full of sadness.
He closed the case that the katana was in, picked the case up, and turned to his students, Ani having reverted to a normal stance and neutral expression, lecturing, "You five have finished your training. You must now focus on stopping Pythor from collecting the five Fangblades. But, never lose focus on the obstacles that lie within each of your hearts. That hold you back from true greatness. Unlock your true potential."
"But, how are we supposed to do that, Sensei?" Zane wondered.
"It is up to each of you to discover," The sensei walked past them, "Now, I must go on a personal journey of my own."
His students followed him.
"Where are you going?" Jay asked.
His master simply answered, "To a place you cannot follow."
"If you're going for Lloyd," Cole warned seriously, "The City of Ouroboros is filled with hundreds of Serpentine."
Ani grabbed her adoptive uncle's shoulder, "You'll never do it alone!"
"I am going to find someone who can be of aid," The elder turned to face his students, "The Serpentine have united, and grow stronger. We will need all the help we can get."
The ninjas watched as Sensei Wu walked down a ramp from the Bounty, which was now anchored beside a rock. Jay waved slowly as Ani tried stifling her tears. She never liked the idea of someone seeing her upset. Old memories of her adoptive family played in her mind and she turned around and stormed to the ninjas' shared room.
The Serpentine were in the Constrictai's tomb, reading the paintings on the wall.
"It says nothing about where the five Fangbladesssss are hidden!" Skales hissed, "Have our ancessssstors left us nothing? Where are they?"
"This, here," Pythor turned and slithered to a marble platform, "Must be a clue: When five fangs unite as one, the path toward the Devourer has begun."
"Yes," Skales said impatiently, "When the five tribes unite... We've done all this! It means nothing! If you don't find out soon, the others will begin to ask questionsssss! And, soon, they will start to think you don't know what you are doing!"
"I know what I'm doing, fool!" Pythor snapped. "I'm trying to unleash the Great Devourer!"
His tone grew softer, yet it was still tinged with venom, "Legend spoke of a map showing exactly where the five Fangblades have been buried. There must be something around here... Keep looking!"
Nya pinned a flyer to the side of a building. The flyer read: Missing Call Ninja at 555-122091-1
In the middle was a drawing of a Fangblade.
Zane sighed, his arms had a stack of flyers identical to the one Nya had just put up, "This is silly!"
"D'you have any better ideas?" Cole asked.
"Hey!" Jay exclaimed, "Maybe Sensei's gonna go get the samurai for help!"
"Th-the s-samurai?" Kai stammered as he and Nya froze, "Oh, I'm sure she's- uh, I mean, he's busy looking for the Fangblades as well."
"Uh... is everything all right?" Cole asked.
"Y-Yeah! Why wouldn't it be?" Kai lied quickly.
"One-hundred-percent!" Nya said, smiling nervously, "We're not hiding anything!"
Ani narrowed her eyes, Kai and Nya's tone made it clear they weren't going to tell them anything, "Okay, if nothing's wrong..."
Nya and Kai nodded in unison. While his friends were talking, Zane felt something... unusual. He stared up at the sky. Papers fluttered from his stack, but the ninja didn't pay any mind to them. A man came out of the store Zane was in front of and noticed the papers.
"Hey! Weirdo!" The man nudged Zane roughly, but the ninja ignored him, "Yer making a mess of my storefront!"
He put his hands on his hips, when Zane didn't reply, the man grew annoyed, "Yoo-hoo! You got a problem?"
Zane dropped the rest of the flyers and continued staring up at the sky.
"Maybe I should teach you a lesson on manners!" the man snapped, now angry.
"Hey! Leave him alone," Ani came around the corner, her black eyes gleaming with unnatural anger, "That's my friend you're talking to."
"Wha...!" The man was taken aback, his eyes became wide, then they narrowed in fury, "Why you…"
"I'm sorry, sir!" Kai, Jay, Cole ran around the corner as well, "She, um, can be very overprotective and, uh, he is sometimes in another world."
"He's littering all over the place!" the man reported, "And she has absolutely no manners!"
Ani clenched her fists as hard as she could, which caused her knuckles to turn white, ready to pounce.
"We'll pick it up," Cole assured, "And we'll teach her to mind herself. So sorry."
He, Jay, and Kai bent down and started picking up papers while Ani and the man glared daggers at each other. Ani snorted angrily and helped pick up the dropped papers, the nerve of some people.
"Hey," Kai stood up with some papers clutched in one hand, and placed his other hand on her shoulder, "Cool down, we're the good guys, remember?"
The man went back into his store after glaring at the orange and white ninjas. When he was gone, the boys stood up.
"Zaaaane," Jay whined, "What's the deal?"
The white ninja had stopped beside the store and was still staring at the sky. His friends walked to him and followed his gaze. Up in the sky, flying in circles, was the falcon. Zane stared, mesmerized, and raised a hand in greeting to the bird.
Jay gasped as he and the others ran to Zane, "It's the falcon! Oh my gosh, every time we follow it, it leads us to good fortune!"
He, Zane, Cole, and Ani ran towards the falcon, while Kai turned to Nya.
"Head back to the Bounty," he ordered, "and wait for us."
"Wh-where are you going?" Nya asked worriedly.
"We're gonna follow the bird," her older brother replied, "Who knows? It could lead us to the first Fangblade!"
He ran off and Nya face-palmed, sighing.
The falcon led the five ninjas through a desert, through a field, over a snowy mountain. It showed no sign of slowing.
Kai stopped for a moment, looking through the blizzard he and his friends were clambering through, "I guess good fortune is really far away."
The falcon flew to a cliff and its followers began climbing up. Right in the middle of the cliff, Jay settled himself onto a protruding rock, panting.
His friends looked at him until he panted, "You... you g-go on... I'll catch up later..."
Kai, Zane, and Ani ran over a fallen tree acting as a bridge over a deep chasm. Cole was lagging behind. His teammates made it over, but Cole was literally dragging himself forward. Zane and Ani turned in concern.
"I'm good," the black ninja said between gasps. "Just... takin' a breather! I'll... I'll meet up with you sh-shortly!"
Kai stopped running and put his hands on his knees, pressing down on the red cloth of his suit.
"Good thing..." he panted, "We're in peak... physical... condition..."
He shook his head and sighed heavily, then ran after Ani and Zane, neither of whom hadn't slowed down at all.
The falcon flew through a snowy forest, still going quickly.
"Gosh, that bird just keeps going!" Kai panted as he and Zane stopped.
"What do you make of this?" Ani pointed to a large sign that read: Beware of Treehorns.
"I am not familiar with a... Treehorn," Zane stated.
Kai waved it off, "Probably just some wild squirrels..."
"I'm not so sure about that," Ani reminded him, "Somebody went through a lot of trouble putting up a sign for 'some wild squirrels.'"
The falcon cawed and Zane looked to it.
"Well, don't lose him!" Kai said, "I'll wait for the other guys to catch up."
Zane and Ani both nodded and began running again.
"Where are going, my... mysterious friend?" Zane panted, running after the falcon.
Suddenly, the falcon began beating its wings furiously. It stopped flying, then fell to the snowy ground, its chest sparking. Zane headed for it, then stopped when the falcon twitched and sparked again. Zane and Ani's expression changed to ones of horror.
"It's a... a robot?!" Ani harshly whispered.
Zane gently picked up the falcon and carried it to a tree, then set it down softly.
A sharp noise, though, forced the ninjas' heads to snap up. They looked around, aware of a robotic-like sound... almost like mechanical legs moving. They raised their arms in defense and began moving in a circle, Zane keeping his back to the falcon the entire time.
And then... it was there. A large, golden robot with aqua-blue optics. Beams of light pulsed from its eyes, locking on the ice and energy ninjas, who quickly tugged on their hoods and prepared for battle.
"Intruders! Intruders!" A computerized voice issued from the robot, "Prepare to be terminated!"
A laser gun rose from the robot's shoulder and began firing at them, who dodged each of the attacks. The white ninja took out his shurikens and transformed them into his motorcycle. Ani hopped on as he drove off away from the robot, which kept firing at him.
Zane grit his teeth as he dug his feet into the metal of his motorcycle. The robot, though, fired a shot at them that knocked the ninjas off the motorcycle. As they flew through the air, Zane got a good look at the robot's back: right where its battery pack was located.
Zane and Ani landed on the snowy ground and he grabbed his shurikens as they flew back to him. The robot turned to look at Ani and Zane and the ninjas beckoned it forward with a taunt.
The robot took on the challenge and aimed a gun at Zane, locking onto him perfectly, causing the ninja to become worried. With agility, the two went to a nearby tree and climbed it as Ani fought back with energy blasts, then jumped to the ground and yelled, "Ninjaaaaa-Go!"
Using their Spinjitzu, Ani and Zane flung snow at the robot and immobilized it.
Zane ran up to the robot while it got out its gun and fired. He jumped and the shots missed him by a few inches. The robot tried to target Zane again, but was unable to due to the ninja's agility. Zane ran up to the robot again, hoping to make his mark, and when he jumped, he landed on the robot's back. With his shurikens, he hacked at the battery pack. With each hack on the glass protecting the batteries, the robot did a curious dance before it finally gave the world a salute and fell to the snowy ground.
"The same symbol..." Zane observed, looking at what was left of the battery and climbing off the robot.
He went up to the falcon and picked it up.
He walked up to the tree with the same symbol and asked the falcon curiously, "Where have you brought me, my falcon friend?"
The white ninja turned to Ani who just waved him off panting, "Its…okay…I'll just… Tell the…. Others… where you… huuuhh… went…"
He opened the door to the tree and peeked inside. A spiral stair case leading downstairs caught his attention. He ventured inside and took off his mask. What he saw down below looked like a lab of some sort with a bed and a table that contained blueprints. Curiously, Zane went up to the table full of blueprints and placed the falcon on the table.
"So, this is your home, my mysterious friend," Zane said to the falcon, his words more of a statement than a question.
Zane looked over the blueprints of the falcon and then went to fix the falcon with ease. It came back online and flapped its wings.
It came to land on Zane's arm and Zane asked, "You brought me here... but why?"
The falcon flew off of Zane's arm as Zane turned around to look back at the blueprints. He looked through them and one in particular caught his eyes. He grabbed it and examined it with curiosity. Once he realized what that particular blueprint was about, his eyes widened in horror.
"No! No, it... can't be!" Zane yelled as he dropped the blueprint, then he fell to his knees screaming, "No! Nooooooo!"
Sensei Wu walked through Relic Village, his walking stick in one hand and the katana case in the other. He walked up to the two Skeleton generals, who were at the moment engaged in a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors. When they saw him, they panicked.
"Aahhh! Retreat!" one of them yelled as they ran away.
The old man simply ignored them and entered the nearby teahouse.
Cole, Jay, Kai, and Ani walked into the workshop-tree where Zane was lying on the floor.
"Zane?" Kai called out as the four went down the stairs.
"Wow!" Jay exclaimed, "Would you look at this place?"
The orange ninja rolled her eyes then looked down and spotted her other friend asking, "Zane? What's wrong? You got hurt?"
When Zane didn't respond, the ninjas began running until they reached him.
"Are you hurt?" Kai repeated Ani's question.
"You okay?" Cole asked.
Zane sighed. He turned to the blueprints, which were back on the table and grabbed the paper. The ninja looked at it for a moment, then reached down to his chest. With a small pop, a small door on his chest opened, revealing metal gears, wires, and switches. Cole, Jay, and Kai let out yells of horror, while Ani gasped and covered her mouth.
"You're... a robot?!" Kai exclaimed.
"All this time..." Zane said with a sad tone, "...and I never knew."
Jay's eye twitched slightly.
"Aahhh... Guess this explains why you're always acting so weird," he said in a shaking voice, "R-right?"
He laughed nervously.
Ani whacked the blue ninja's head, hissing, "Not… helping."
Zane gave them a sad look and murmured, "The reason I have never had a sense of humor is because my 'funny' switch wasn't on."
He put his hand to his humor switch and flicked it into the 'on' position. Instantly, he began dancing and singing.
"Hello, my baby, hello, my honey, hello, my ragtime gaaaaal~!" he sang, grabbing Ani's hand and twirling her around.
Zane spun and released Ani who then whirled around the workshop while he held an imaginary microphone and danced, "Send me a kiss by wiiiiiire~"
Jay burst into laughter and clutched his stomach, while Cole helped Ani, whose eyes were still rotating slightly, stop spinning. Zane turned around and flicked his humor switch again, then sighed and fell to his knees. This was not a fate he wanted, being a machine made him feel low. For one thing, it meant that he would be a teen forever and never be able to have children of his own; secondly, he may live on while his friends pass and fade away. And finally, knowing what he knew now made him doubt whether he was truly a good person who became a ninja to help others, or if he was just doing what someone else wanted him to do.
Cole stepped forward and tried to sooth his metallic friend, "It just makes you... more special! You're... still the same Zane, just more... uh... gears."
"No matter what you're made of," Kai stated, walking to his friend, "you're still our brother."
Zane looked up and asked, "Really?"
He got to his feet, and then his female friend greeted him with a hug.
"You're more human than any of us," she assured him, then spoke in her usual rude manner, "But if you ever sing or pull me into your comedy again, you're gonna lose some pieces."
"In fact, I bet it makes you an even better ninja," Cole declared.
"Yeah!" Jay joined the four, "And, how cool is it that I can honestly say 'my brother's a nindroid.'"
"A nindroid?" Zane looked confused.
"Now, come on," Cole put a hand on Zane's shoulder, "Pythor is still out there, looking for the first Fangblade. And we need you."
Zane faced the wall, "You'll... have to go on without me. I just... don't feel right."
"We just need to give him time," Ani insisted as she and the others walked out of the metal tree.
"Yeah," Kai agreed, "I don't know what I would do if I was told I was a robot."
"You mean a nindroid," Jay corrected with a smug smile.
"Yeah, whatever," Kai rolled his eyes.
"Hey, how the heck do we get out of this place?" Cole asked, gesturing around at their surroundings.
The four were quiet for a moment, until a soft pounding reached their ears.
"What's that?"
Jay put a hand to his ear and listened, while Kai and Cole looked around. Ani merely stepped back, her fear kicking in.
"Cute, tiny birds?" Jay said hesitantly as he and the others pulled on their masks.
"Did you see that?" Cole cried, spotting a few tree trunks move as if they were legs.
"I didn't see anything!" Jay took a step back.
"I just saw it, too!" Kai confirmed.
The ninjas watched in horror as the trees all began moving, revealing them to be not trees, but...
"Treehorns!" Ani shouted, "That's what the sign was warning us about1"
Kai, Cole, and Jay got out their Golden Weapons and the four went back to back as the Treehorns surrounded them. Kai opened his mouth, about to speak, but a robotic mumble and a spout of nonsense interrupted him. The red ninja turned to see a golden robot lying on the snow, its back sparking,
"Oh no," Kai moaned, "I think that thing was supposed to protect this place! Guys, it's up to us!"
"Fan-flipping-tastic!" Ani cried in sarcastic anger, "Of course that thing just had to be protecting this place! And, conveniently, we find this out after Zane and I destroy it for attacking us!"
Jay brandished his nun chucks and charged at a Treehorn. He swung the nun chucks at the Treehorn's legs and knocked it over, but was trapped by another behind it.
"Ninjaaaaa-G- Oof!" Kai was kicked in the middle of his Spinjitzu and slammed to the ground.
He shakily got up and crawled to retrieve his sword, but a small group of Treehorns surrounded him and proceeded to continuously knock the air out of him.
Cole grabbed the foot of a Treehorn and swung it around, hitting any others near him, at least until he let go and many more surrounded him. They pinned the black ninja down.
And Ani? The orange ninja shot energy-arrows until she realized they weren't working and resorted to using energy blasts. Unfortunately both her plans of attack did little damage and soon she too was struck to the ground as a Treehorn swatted her with one of its long legs.
"There's too many of them!" Cole yelled.
Zane looked at his blueprints sadly. He traced a finger over his designs.
"A... a memory switch," he said softly.
The ninja opened the door on his chest and located the memory switch. Instantly, his head was filled with once-lost memories.
"Hello, Zane," a middle-aged man with slicked-back brown hair and black eyes under worn glasses softly greeted, waking up the "teenager" for the first time.
Zane remembered his creator helping him walk to a mirror, and seeing his reflection. Then came the memory of Zane kicking a ball happily at the wall, only to be knocked down; the older man rushed to his side and smiled when he saw that Zane wasn't hurt. He remembered his creator nodding approvingly at his attempts to cook.
Zane found more memories, of him hugging a small toy bird lovingly, which soon lead to one of his creator building and activating the falcon, of playing with a little toy car as the falcon sat on his arm. He saw a memory of his creator taking a picture with him, Zane, and the falcon for a family photo.
He remembered being loved and giving love. His maker became his father, teaching the lad everything about being human, most importantly how to be brave, kind, and a true friend. All for Zane's original purpose: helping those who can't help themselves.
But, he also remembered when his father had passed on. The now old man told Zane he loved him one last time, making the future ninja smile even though Zane still didn't entirely understand what was happening, then the man opened the door on Zane's chest and pushed the memory switch into the off position. Then, as Zane's memories started fading away, he had died. Zane instinctly and unknowingly shut the door on his chest and started looking around, not knowing where he was nor why he was there; he didn't even remember who he was.
Zane stood still as a single tear trickled down his face. The ninja slowly turned around and pulled a cloth off of a hidden picture frame. In that frame was the family photo his father had taken long ago. His father had loved him... and so did his friends. So what if he wasn't physically human, the ice master was still everything a hero was: compassionate, loyal, courageous, friendly and most importantly, willing to do anything to help his friends. And he had free will, something the larger golden robot definitely lacked. Like Ani said, he was more human than most people.
Zane allowed the falcon to land on his arm, then he took off running up the stairs.
"Hey, guys!" he shouted, "Wait up!"
He ran out of the workshop, a smile on his face, but that smile quickly disappeared when he saw his friends' limp bodies being pummeled by moving trees- Treehorns.
Zane pulled on his mask and yelled, "Leave my friends alone!"
He ran to the nearest Treehorn and jumped up, then struck the bottom of its lower jaw. He then moved onto the next creature. As he fought, his teammates slowly sat up.
"What's gotten into Zane?" Cole asked numbly as Jay helped him up.
"I don't know," Kai said, standing up, "But, I like it!"
"Let's do this," Ani yelled, pounding a fist into her hand.
The five ninjas formed a back-to-back circle and shouted, "Ninjaaaaa-Go!" then spun into their Spinjitzu tornadoes and fought off the Treehorns. Cole knocked them down with his scythe. Jay stunned them with his nun chucks. Kai set them ablaze with his sword. Ani distracted them with her energy balls and pushed one with her powers.
And Zane? The white ninja was fighting like there was no tomorrow. Knocking them to the snowy ground, stunning them senseless... He was certainly doing a brilliant job. All of them were, until the Treehorns began to fall back.
"Are they... regrouping?" Jay asked, hesitation in his tone.
A loud, ear-splitting roar reached their ears. The five ninja turned to the sound.
"What's that?!" Jay cried.
"The queen," Zane answered.
The ninjas looked up at the giant Treehorn. It was much, much larger than the others, with dozens of bright red eyes.
"Oh… kay," Ani muttered, "I have a bad feeling about this."
The queen Treehorn let out a roar again, causing the ninjas to snap into fighting positions.
"You will not hurt my friends!" Zane yelled determinedly.
He spread his arms protectively as the other four stepped back.
"There is nothing that will hold me back!"
He pulled out his shurikens and spun them around in his hands, forcing them to glow a light blue. Energy surged from the golden metal and his eyes started glowing.
"I know who I am!"
With a blinding flash of blue light, Zane was floating in the air, his eyes completely light blue, and his shurikens spinning wildly. The queen took a few big steps backwards, mildly startled by the human.
"What's happening to him?" Kai wondered aloud, "Is he programmed to do that?"
"It's amazing!" Ani said in awe.
"I've never seen a robot do that!" Jay exclaimed.
"You mean... a nindroid," Cole corrected without looking at him.
"Yeah... whatever."
"Zane's unlocked his true potential!" Cole realized as Zane's light grew brighter.
Zane threw his shurikens to the side and dropped into his Spinjitzu. He swirled around the queen, confusing the beast. The ninja flew back into his blue light and smashed his shurikens together, creating a huge beam of ice. The beam hit the queen right in the center of her chest and ice instantly began forming all around her. When she had frozen completely, Zane's arm fell to his sides and his head lolled slightly. His glowing eyes faded back to black and he fell to the snow.
Jay, Kai, Cole, and Ani gathered around their friend as he slowly got up.
"Ugh... what... happened?" Zane asked wearily.
"That was awesome!" Jay cheered.
"Zane, you did it!" Ani cried in amazement, hugging him from the back.
"You should've seen yourself!" Kai said excitedly.
"I've never seen anything like it!" Cole admitted.
"This must be what Sensei meant about unlocking our hearts," Zane mused, looking at his hands. He stood up, pulling gently away from Ani's embrace, and faced his friends, and pulled off his mask "I remember now… I- I remember everything. I remember my father and how he cared for me. I remember where I came from. And I feel stronger for knowing."
"I'm so jealous!" Cole raised a fist slightly, "His powers are so cool!"
"We have our very own nindroid!" Jay cheered.
With that, the ninjas jumped into the air and high-fived at once. Zane pulled on his mask again and walked away from the group.
"Watch out, Pythor. We're coming to get you!"
Fangtom opened his two jaws, "Where are…"
"…the five Fangblades?"
"What if there issss no map?" Acidicus hissed from Pythor's right.
"I know, I know!" Pythor yelled irritably, "But, I don't know where to look!"
"Then, I am taking my staff back!" Fangtom hissed, grabbing his staff.
"Me too!" Acidicus followed the Fangpyre general's lead.
"Me three!" Skalidor grabbed his own staff, knocking the back of Acidicus' head in the process.
Said Venomari general grew angry and beat the top of Skalidor's head. The two staffs were forgotten as the generals began fighting. When the staffs hit the floor, the antidote for their powers leaked out onto the ground and mixed.
Pythor growled and forced the two generals to stop fighting, then slithered over to their staffs. His pinkish eyes widened at the sight of the mixed antidotes.
"That's it!"
"What's it?" Skales was startled by Pythor's sudden outburst as the latter picked the staffs up, and then placed them around the platform so the antidotes would be able to leak out onto the marble.
"The Map of Fangs! It's been right in front of us this whole time! When the five fangs unite as one, the path toward the Devourer has begun! It's not speaking of the five tribes! It's the venom in the five staffs!"
He put a piece of paper underneath the staffs, then waited. They dripped and dripped until the entire map was formed. Pythor pulled the paper back out and held it up triumphantly.
"Behold! The locations of the five silver Fangblades! Soon, the Great Devourer will be unleashed! And Ninjago will be ours!"
Sensei Wu closed his eyes and sighed. He was sitting at the top of the highest mountain in the Mountains of Impossible Height. The tea kettle he had purchased was sitting in front of him, boiling in a small fire. The sensei pressed in hands together in meditation, then stood up and gently picked up the kettle.
He walked around the fire and poured out the tea as he walked. When he had finished, the bright orange flames of the fire changed to blue in a burst of sparks. The old man picked up his walking staff and his katana case, just as a glowing portal appeared before him.
He then walked into the portal slowly, leaving behind the kettle and the blue fire, which changed back to orange as the portal disappeared.
The master yelled as he tumbled through the portal's tunnel, only to be spit out onto a murky gray ground. He brushed himself off, and then stiffened as a familiar, unnerving, evil laugh echoed in his eardrums. Coming to this place was the easy part, now for the hard part; it was time for an overdue family reunion.
Ooooohhhhhh, (creepy witch voice) very in-ter-est-ing…. (end creepy witch voice); now, confession time, I didn't go into much detail was I usually do because (a) I didn't want to for reasons which are my own, (b) it involved snakes, or (c) needed more flare.