Zane stepped out of the portal, looking around the room. Cool grey stone brick covered the walls. A rickety, wooden staircase followed the wall, spiralling up the tower to a small hatch. All seemed old yet familiar to Zane.
It was the lighthouse.
"How peculiar."
Zane started up the stairs. How did he get here? Did Mr. Borg's invention not work as he had planned? Zane would have thought he was simply in Ninjago, but his communicator wasn't working. He paused, pulling it out to look at it. No signal. As if the receivers didn't exist.
He froze at the sound of footsteps above him. His scanners then picked up a life form on the top floor. He frowned momentarily before realizing who it might be, especially if this was another dimension.
His pace then doubled, climbing the stairs to the upper floor. As he reached the top, he finally saw the other person who was present.
It was his father. The man had his back to him, welding something Zane couldn't make out. Dr. Julien paused, turning off the torch and setting it down.
"Oh! Zane!" He spoke up, lifting his mask as he turned around. "Did you find the iron castings I sent you for? Oh my! What is this?"
Dr. Julien stood, looking Zane up and down in confusion and worry. Then he stepped closer before starting to circle Zane. The tinkerer's eyes scanned him as he tried to understand what happened. Zane's scanners picked up his father's rapid heart rate. Panic.
"Nonono, this is bad, very, very bad! They can't see you like this! If they think I repaired you, they'll break you! What did you do?"
"I don't think I understand. Who can't see me like this?"
"The skulkin. They could be here any time now."
"The Skulkin? Apologies, but I thought they were defeated a long time ago."
"Has your memory drive gone on the fritz again? Oh dear- The Skulkin-"
Both of them went silent as a door slammed open downstairs.
"They're here; you have to hide," Dr. Julien urged, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"I do not understand. Why am I supposed to hide?"
"Julien, you better have it ready!" a voice boomed behind Zane.
Having instantly recognized the voice as a threat, Zane spun around and pulled his shurikens out. He watched Samukai emerge from the staircase, his eyes immediately locking onto the nindroid—a smirk formed on his face.
"Well, isn't this a welcome surprise? Gave us a new punching bag, huh Julien?"
Zane glanced over his shoulder at his father. Dr. Julien had gone pale, looking back and forth between Zane and Samukai.
"P-please- I-"
"You know the rules, doc."
Samukai pulled out his dagger and approached the nindroid. Zane stood his ground, watching his opponent's every move.
"Now, be a good robot."
Zane flicked his wrist, launching a shuriken at Samukai. Only, it thunked into the wooden floor at Samukai's feet.
Samukai scoffed, "You missed."
The skulkin looked up at Zane, seeing the smirk on the nindroid's face. Samukai growled, about to charge when he fell over. He looked down to find his legs encased in a thick coating of ice. He growled, using his dagger to try to shatter it. He turned, glaring at the other skulkin near the stairwell.
"What are you standing there for?" he barked.
Two skulkin scrambled to his side, attempting to break him free. Zane stepped back, keeping them in sight as he approached his father.
"Are you alright?" Zane asked.
"What was that?" Dr. Julien gasped, looking between Zane and the half-frozen skeleton.
"Elemental power," Zane replied. "I'll explain everything soon."
The ice cracked and then shattered as Samukai broke free. He huffed, glaring at Zane across the room.
"So you learned some new tricks," Samukai growled. "Big deal."
He spun his dagger around in his hand, the two other skulkin at his side pulling out their weapons in response.
"Just means it'll be more fun to tear you down."
Samukai then charged at Zane. Zane shifted his stance and tucked his shurikens in his sleeves, quickly reading Samukai's motions. Samukai wildly swung at Zane without landing a single hit, getting more and more frustrated with each swing.
Zane ducked under another swipe, dropping his hand to the floor. The floor under the two iced over, allowing Zane to slide away from him.
Samukai slipped, attempting to get his balance with the sudden loss of traction. He managed to get his footing on the ice, although very uneasy.
Zane stood across the room at the top of the stairs, laughing. Samukai growled and attempted to charge. He didn't have traction and slipped and fell on the ice.
He looked at the other two skulkin who followed him in. "Get the inventor. Maybe he'll give in then."
Zane's attention quickly shifted to the other two, seeing them turn to Dr Julien. Zane quickly froze them in place, not allowing them to take more than a few steps.
Samukai smirked, seeing Zane distracted and turned his attention to the inventor. He aimed and launched his dagger.
Zane felt panic set in the moment he turned back to Samukai. He saw the dagger fly from his hand and thanked the First Spinjitzu Master for his reflexes. He pulled out his shurikens moments before the blade was sent flying. He threw his shuriken between his father and the skulkin, intercepting the dagger.
Both weapons landed on the far side of the room with a clatter. Zane looked at his father, making sure he was alright.
"Zane!"
With the nindroid's attention on his father, he couldn't react when Samukai tackled him. Both toppled out the hatch on the floor. Zane clipped the staircase before falling approximately two stories to the bottom of the tower. Zane kicked Samukai away before impact, although he couldn't catch himself. He landed hard on his side, tumbling slightly before finally getting his feet under him.
The skulkin chuckled under his breath, making Zane look up.
"You think you can win this?" Samukai taunted. "You don't realize how outnumbered you are."
That's when Zane realized Samukai landed in front of the door. The door that was thrown open to reveal several members of the skulkin army. Zane stepped back, his heart skipping a beat in his chest.
The last time he had to fight this many, he had the others behind him. He wasn't alone. But now, it was just him.
And several more years of fighting experience.
But fighting wasn't exactly needed here—just a good scare.
Zane smirked before he darted up the stairs.
"You can't run for long!" Samukai shouted after him.
Several footsteps echoed behind Zane, but the nindroid was focused. He had a plan; he just needed enough time to make it work. He reached the top and looked for Dr Julien. He ran towards his father, grabbing his hand as he continued towards the window.
"Zane! What are you doing?!" Dr Julien cried.
"Just trust me," Zane replied.
Dr. Julien yelped as the two of them launched out the window
"ZANE!"
Zane pulled his father close, protectively guarding him if anything went wrong. Which they shouldn't with Zane's calculations. Zane quickly summoned his dragon, allowing them to take off into the sky.
Screams echoed below them as the skulkin ran scared at the sight of the dragon. Zane smiled as Samukai followed the others, running in fear.
"What is happening? What did you do?"
"I am from another realm."
"What? Another realm? I've heard about those."
"I don't know what happened entirely, but if my theory is correct, the Zane you know should be in my realm and safe."
"Ok, but how are we on a dragon?"
"It's my elemental dragon."
"Your what?"
"Let's get somewhere safe; then I'll explain everything."
Dr Julien nodded, although shaken. Then a low rumble sounded from the water below them.
"Oh no, it knows!" Dr Julien cried.
"What?" Zane questioned, then realized. He didn't account for one thing. "Oh no, the leviathan!"
Zane pulled up on the reigns, guiding the dragon towards the clouds. Once they were above the clouds, they'd be home free.
But the Leviathan wouldn't make it that easy. A tentacle reached up, grabbing the dragon. Zane panicked and lost his focus. His dragon disappeared from under him, and the two began falling. Zane reached out, pulling his father close and spinning into airjitzu.
He guided them down, and they landed on the lighthouse's roof.
"Are you alright, Father?"
Dr. Julien looked up at Zane.
"I'm ok," he nodded. "Although I have some questions. So many questions."
"Let's get out of here first," Zane spoke up. "I'll be back."
Zane ran toward the edge of the lighthouse. He dove off the edge, flying through the air and into the water. He'd done this before. He knew what he was doing.
He swam deeper and deeper into the ocean. He saw the base surrounded by starteeth. He swam towards the chains, grabbing a few starteeth. He placed them on the chain, allowing the starteeth to eat away at the metal.
Zane smiled to himself and then started swimming for the surface. He reached the surface as the chain broke. He watched the leviathan test its freedom before turning to attack the skulkin.
The tentacles hit the sand, causing the skulkin to run screaming.
Zane watched as the leviathan reached down and scooped up Samukai. Samukai shouted but couldn't do much as the leviathan swallowed him and swam away.
Zane swam to the shore, seeing his father had managed to get inside the lighthouse and was waiting on the steps.
"Is it gone?" he asked.
Zane nodded, "it's been freed. It won't bother anyone again."
Dr. Julien smiled as he walked down to the beach.
"I need to get back to Ninjago," Zane spoke up. "My friends are likely here too, and I don't know what danger they could be in."
"Oh," Dr Julien seemed disappointed.
"Don't think I'm leaving you here," Zane frowned. "You're coming with me. You can start your life in Ninjago City until your Zane returns."
Dr Julien smiled. Zane turned and summoned his dragon again. He helped his father onto the dragon before the two took off towards the mainland.
Zane could feel Dr. Julien clinging to him, his head between Zane's shoulder blades. Zane didn't mind all that much. It reminded him of taking Pixal for her first ride. She loved the view but wasn't a fan of the height, especially knowing the dragon would disappear if Zane lost his focus for a second.
But he had control now. It had been years since then, and Zane had much better control. They didn't use their dragons as much anymore, but it didn't change the years of practice.
Zane patted his father's leg as they approached the mainland. Zane couldn't help but smile at the view. Dr Julien looked up after the tap, and gasped at the sight.
"This is incredible," Dr Julien mumbled.
"It's a great view, isn't it," Zane replied, dropping down to be closer to the terrain below.
Zane slopped, turning to fly north towards Ninjago City. He felt his father's grip tighten as they turned but loosened as soon as they levelled out.
"Where are we going?" Dr Julien asked.
"Ninjago City," Zane replied. "I figured it's a good place to stay safe and get settled until I figure out what's happening."
"Fair enough," Dr Julien replied.
Zane shifted, looking out at the terrain. It had turned from the desert into rolling, grassy fields with the silhouette of Ninjago City appearing on the horizon.
"So, you aren't Zane, are you?" Dr Julien asked.
Zane contemplated for a moment. He wasn't entirely sure how to answer that.
"Looking at technicalities, I am Zane, just not from this world," Zane replied. "We were helping to test an invention, and I believe we swapped places with our versions of ourselves from this world. So your Zane would be in my world, safe and sound."
"And what's your world like? Is it anything like this one?" Dr. Julien asked, his curiosity winning over his fear.
"Similar yet different," Zane replied, watching the grassy lands below them shift into small farms as they neared the city limits. His dragon flapped his wings several times as they closed in for landings.
They landed on the ground as the dragon faded from existence.
"How is that? What's different?"
"Well, a lot," Zane hummed, thinking about it. Only now did he realize he was cloaked from the battle and shifted to his android look. He heard his father gasp, turning to see a look of amazement. "That's different."
"That's incredible!" Dr. Julien was awed. "You have been upgraded with a cloaking device to change your appearance. What else can you do?"
"Well, my elemental powers aren't exactly because I'm a nindroid," Zane started explaining, walking down the road they landed on towards the city.
"A nindroid? Do you mean android?"
"No," Zane smiled, remembering the moment Jay came up with the name. "When I discovered I was a robot, one of my brothers, Jay, called me a nindroid. Part ninja, part android."
"You have brothers?" Dr Julien gasped. "Like, actual brothers?"
"Not biologically," Zane shook his head. "We think of each other as brothers and see ourselves as a family."
"Are they here too?"
"Most likely," Zane nodded. "I should find them, but I must get you somewhere safe first."
Dr. Julien nodded, still taking in this new information.
"When we get where we are going, would you mind if I look you over?" Dr Julien asked. "I'm curious about your upgrades and system."
"Of course, Father," Zane nodded.
"Sounds like a plan."