"Are we compatible now?"
Though physically impossible P.I.X.A.L.'s processors skipped a pulse. "Zane?" She whispered. "What...? How...?" The normally collected and rational robot couldn't articulate her thoughts.
Zane's face flickered on screen. P.I.X.A.L. gaped up at him. He smiled kindly at her. " I'm sorry P.I.X.A.L. I did not mean to cause you or the others grief."
"How did you survive?" P.I.X.A.L. whispered. Her logic processors told her that she was indeed looking at Zane's face, but she could hardly believe it.
"We used my code to enter the Digiverse. That act imprinted a portion of my consciousness into Mr. Borg's computers, effectively creating a backup. Though I didn't realize until it activated after my body's demise at the talons of the Overlord." Zane smiled sheepishly. "In all honesty I forgot about it in the chaos following our exit from the Digiverse and the Overlord's escape."
"So when your body came into contact with the Overlord, and you... the code in the Digiverse reactivated, bringing you back?" P.I.X.A.L. finished.
"Precisely."
"But the battle with the Overlord was weeks ago."
"During the period of inactivation after we returned, my code spread throughout the Digiverse. It took time to pull myself together, as it were."
"Zane I cannot tell you how much your sacrifice has affected the rest of the ninja. They miss you terribly. I am afraid they disbanded in your absence. It is true that no evil has filled the void that the Overlord left behind, but my algorithms indicate it is only a matter of time."
"I fear as much myself. That is why it is imperative that I build a body to rejoin my brothers."
"I will contact them immediately and we can begin the process."
"Actually..." Zane trailed off, P.I.X.A.L. looked up at him quizzically.
"Do you not wish for them to know you are alright?"
"I would like to surprise them once I regained my full form. It is somewhat selfish I know, but it will not take long. Especially if you would be willing to help?"
"I would be glad to." P.I.X.A.L. smiled. "Mr. Borg has his laboratory in the basement, as you are aware."
"Only too well." He chuckled as old memories resurfaced. "I will meet you there." He hesitated before adding, "I missed you P.I.X.A.L." The screen flickered black.
P.I.X.A.L.'s smile lit the room. "I missed you more."
Many miles offshore from Ninjago three figures gathered in a cavern deep underground. The most ornately dressed sat on an erected seat, pushing buttons and occasionally interjecting a completely irrelevant comment to the conversation. The other two figures, one clad in leather with an eye patch and the other in silken robes, stood beneath the dais all too accustomed to their boss's erratic behavior.
"As I was saying," Leather man started for the fourth time, "these so called "ninja" took down the Overlord on his recent return. Though it came at the cost of one of their own."
"Boring sob story. What of my invitations?" The man on the throne didn't bother looking up.
Gritting his teeth the man continued. "As I've told you Chen,"
"That's Master Chen to you." The silken man cut in.
"He's not my master anything!" The man shot back. A glare from Chen brought him quickly back to his report. "They've all been delivered, except to the ninja."
This grabbed Master Chen's attention. "And why not? If they managed to defeat the Overlord I must have their power!" He shouted waving his arms in the air.
The silken man walked up the stairs and placed a hand on the other man's shoulder. "I'm sure Ronin has a very good explanation as to why." He glared over at Ronin.
Ronin crossed his arms. "As a matter of fact Clouse, I do. These ninja and their sensei are do-gooders. Not your average masters for hire. They need a reason to come or their old teacher won't let them within 100 miles of this place just for the sake of 'glory.'" Ronin finished with air quotes.
"Baaaa who do they think they are? Some filthy flower children who don't think they can get their hands dirty without a reason?" Chen aggressively pushed the buttons on his consul causing a trap door to open inches from Ronin's feet. Ronin didn't even flinch, he just sighed tiredly. 'How do I get signed up with these nutjobs?' An image flashed in his mind of the paycheck he'd been promised when this was done. 'Right.'
"Well if they think they're too good you'll just have to give them a reason to come!"
Ronin narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
Chen laughed maniacally. "Oh I think you can figure it out. Find a reason or make one, but you had better be sure those ninja come or I'll make sure your debt increases!"
Ronin clenched his fists, but a hard glare from Clouse encouraged him to keep his mouth shut. Nodding stiffly, Ronin turned and strode quickly out of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These were the famed ninja? Ronin was hardly impressed. He sat in a balcony of a dimly lit room, keeping his hat low over his face. Below him a boxing ring of sorts sported two individuals- a serpentine and one of his targets. The Burning Shogun or whatever he was calling himself, looked completely ridiculous in his WWE spandex.
A bell sounded and the opponents squared off. The Hypnobrai circled Shogun hissing menacingly. The ninja watched with a board look on his face. Growling in frustration the serpentine launched himself at Shogun. With ease Shogun ducked out of the way. Stumbling from the momentum the serpentine left himself wide open to attack. Pressing the advantage Shogun darted in with a punch to the gut followed by a swift leg sweep. The snake didn't know what hit him.
"Let's hear it for the Flaming Shogun!"
'His skill is still there. Honor, eh not so much.' Ronin, confident he'd seen all he needed to, slipped out with a group of bikers. 'So that's where red went...' His thoughts were abruptly cut off as he walked by an electronics store. Several display tvs advertised a wipeout style game show. Sparing it a cursory glance Ronin was about to walk on when the host came on screen.
"Welcome back to Extreme Ninja Challenge!"
Ronin's full attention snapped to the blue ninja. Tuning out the rest of his words Ronin watched the ninja flop about the stage. Though he was exuberant, Ronin's sharp eye picked up how Jay's smile never quite reached his eyes. As he exited the stage Ronin could see the weary droop of his shoulders, even as he gave a cheeky wave to the crowd.
'That's a sadder career change than fire-boy. He'll probably be less trouble than the other ones.' Another query answered Ronin made his way to his motel room. With the day mostly gone he would restart his search for the remaining members in the morning. 'I don't think there will be as much trouble as I led Chen to believe.'
Two days later Ronin eating those thoughts. He still hadn't found the black or green ninjas. Well, to be more accurate he hadn't found anything in regards to the black ninja. He had gotten the occasional glimpse of the green ninja. It seemed that Lloyd was the only one taking being a ninja- 'or was it truly former ninja?'- seriously. He would swing in to help the officers with some petty crime before vanishing to Ronin couldn't find where. Not a fact the bounty hunter liked to admit.
'He obviously somewhere still in or around the city. I guess for now it's enough to know that he's still fighting, even if it's without a team. That last battle sure messed them up.' Ronin could relate to irrationality after a crisis, he'd done some pretty stupid things after his soul had been claimed, but these guys were taking the cake.
Research finally pinpointed some chatter about a strong new lumberjack working in the woods north of Ninjago City. With no other leads Ronin made his way out of town. Two hours later he made it to the outskirts of the operation. Keeping to the shadows Ronin slipped from tree to tree following the sound of whirring machines and shouts. He slowed upon seeing movement.
Men walked about a growing clearing, attending to various tasks. Ronin scanned their faces. 'Nope, nope, nope, definitely not. Hmmm.' One man stood apart from the others, a cap pulled low over his face. Though the air was chillier here than in the city he wore only a sleeveless vest. And he was strong. He appeared to be trying to downplay what he could actually do, but Ronin observed him move a 40ft log- with one hand- when he thought no one was watching. 'Now that could be an issue.'
His observations complete Ronin headed back to the city. One thing was sure - this was not the same team that defeated the Overlord. 'I wonder if that'll make it easier or harder.' Ronin mused later that evening as he sifted through more internet data on the ninja. No matter, he was up for the challenge. 'I just need to figure the angle to trap them from.'
Footage popped up of the white one's funeral. 'How does a machine die?' A hyperlink to grainy images of the final battle was provided. Ronin watched as the android came into contact with the Overlord, overloading his system and causing an impressive icy explosion. The video ended with the shockwave blacking out the camera.
'Well that'll do it.' Ronin thought, but a grudging respect settled into his mind. 'He was willing to give it all to save the world.' His conscience prickled slightly but Ronin was used to ignoring it. 'Good for them. Save the world. Yadah ya. I have to look out for number one.'
Returning to the funeral footage Ronin examined the faces of the remaining ninja. They were stone like, distant, stiff. 'So the white ninja's death really took a toll on them...' That would explain their wonky behaviors. He could use that, the only question was how. From all the reports Borg Tower was the focal point of the recent craziness the city endured. 'So that's where I'll head next.'
Stars twinkled high in the sky, barely visible amongst the city lights, but Ronin paid them no mind. The only beauty he cared about were the gold coins to pay back his debt. Scoping out the area Ronin made his way casually to the target zone. Borg Tower's security system was impressive, but a few snips here and a mini EMP there Ronin hacked into the system. Looping the feed, he effectively rendered himself invisible. Taking out a multitool he slid a small panel out along the wall and slipped into the vents. 'All that fancy tech and they still have such massive security holes. Typical big wigs.' Ronin scoffed.
The whirring and clanking of machines echoed through the ducts. 'Well, what is going on here at 2 o'clock in the morning?' Picking his way through the vents Ronin drew closer to the noises, noticing he was moving down beneath the ground. Periodic grates gave a slated view of the lower level of the building. He stopped upon seeing movement below him.
Metal arms buzzed this way and that creating something, an android from the looks of it. Ronin frowned, who was doing the building? Movement across the room caught his attention. Pressing his face as flat as he could, Ronin was able to make out the figure. Another android, a feminine form, walked to a control panel. She appeared to be speaking to... someone but the machines made too much noise for Ronin to hear her words. A screen behind her flickered and a figure appeared. Ronin didn't surprise easily but he certainly wasn't expecting the supposedly dead ninja to carry on a conversation with the female android.
'That was unexpected.' Content to watch for the time being, Ronin tried to puzzle through their actions. What was their purpose in working on and/or making a humanoid robot. His gaze flicked between the white ninja and the robot. 'Where they...?' The female hit a button and the machines ceased their activity. There was a moment of poignant silence.
"Are you ready?" She asked the ninja. He gave a firm nod. "Alright. Calibration is set. Commencing pairing sequence."
Suddenly the lights in the basement flickered sharply and the hum of electricity intensified. Blue sparks gathered around a wire coming from the screen that had been too small for Ronin to see until now. The screen flickered black and the sparks traveled along the wire to the robot. Electricity enveloped the automaton. His eyes flickered open, glowing a brilliant blue.
'I think I just found my in.' Pulling out a mini torch Ronin cut a hole in the duct and dropped below to the ensuing chaos.
Ronin lugged the heavy burlap sack into the courtyard. It clinked with every step. 'Just like my bank here soon.' Clouse was waiting for him at the entrance to the house.
"What is that?" He crossed his arms looking down at the thief.
"What the boss wanted. Go get him. He'll want to see this."
"You do not tell me what to do." Clouse spat out.
Ronin smirked. "Maybe not but how do you think he'll react when he finds out he was kept waiting from achieving his goal?"
Clouse scowled at him but retreated into the house, grudgingly beckoning him to enter. Silently they walked to the main hall where Chen sat idly fingering his staff. He didn't look up as Clouse cleared his throat.
"What is it now?" He whined.
"Pardon the interruption, master, but the thief has just returned from the mainland with something he's says you must see."
Ronin bristled but kept his mouth shut. Soon he would be out of here and wouldn't have to work with these crackpots again. No matter how much money they offered.
Chen raised an eyebrow and finally looked up, his gaze locking hungrily on the sack. "Oh do tell. What did you bring me?"
"Your motive." Ronin dropped the bag on the floor, the contents clanking loudly. "The ninja are a mess since their last battle, they might have come without prompting. But this will make sure they come."
Chen motioned to Clouse who warily approached. Opening the bag the inert face of a titanium man slid out.
"And what is that?"
With a flourish Ronin swept his arm down pulling the rest of the bag away. "The white ninja 2.0." The former nindroid lay motionless, a thick bolt sticking out of his central processor. Ronin whistled shrilly, and seconds later REX could be seen through a window hovering over the courtyard, lowering another sack to the ground. "And as an added bonus the she- android who helped them. Hence the delay. They put up a more impressive fight than I anticipated."
Chen's eyes lit up. "Oh wonderful!" A frown quickly replaced his glee as he focused on the nindroid. "You said he was destroyed. A fake won't give me his powers."
"It would still get you the ninja. However," Ronin smirked, "why don't you use your staff to see if he's the real deal?"
"If this doesn't work your debt is tripled." Chen warned.
Ronin shrugged and gestured to the body. Chen lifted his staff. A harsh white glow filled the room, followed by maniacal giggles.
He could hear something, someone? It was far away but sounded worried. Slowly he opened his eyes. Where was he? Another thought drilled into his sluggish mind, who was he? His surroundings didn't offer any information. A fuzzy small room, a door across from him with... bars on the window? He lifted his hands to his aching head, but they stopped just below his shoulder.
Confused he looked down to see thick manacles locking his arms to the wall behind him. What? Why was he in a cell? Had he done something wrong? He tried to think but he couldn't remember anything before waking up.
The other voice, it sounded like a female's, was still talking but his head hurt too much to follow. Something else though felt very wrong inside him. He looked down at himself and wondered if he should be surprised that he was metal, but that felt normal. No it was something else. Something was missing beyond just his memories. His heart felt hollow, part of himself was... gone. There was no other way to describe the feeling.
The voice became louder, more insistent, but he couldn't focus. His eyes drifted shut and his screen went black.