Ninjago: Illusionary.

Episode 1: Sweet Dreams

Many hardships dissolved after the fall of the Overlord and his Crystal Invasion on Ninjago. The True Final Battle had ended, and a lot of work still needed to be done to repair the damages left behind, including crystal debris from the Crystal Island and the environment around it, as well as the complete destruction caused by the Overlord. Among the people helping was Harumi, who still beats herself up about being the villain she was, under the patrol of the Ninja as they help rebuild a building.

"GRR…!" Harumi groans as she helps fix a pipe in one of the buildings. "Seven floors down, many more to go…"

"Are you certain you want to do this alone?" Nya responds. "Sure, you did a lot of nasty things in the past and want to pay for it fairly, but don't you think you're working yourself a bit too hard?"

"Yeah, I mean it's a surprise you're still not exhausted!" Kai responds.

"And by my calculations, you are almost close to burnout and fatigue based on your movements and decrease in energy," Zane replies.

"I know!" Harumi grumbles. "I just did a lot of stupid things for stupid reasons. I just want to fix everything I caused. Y'know, atone."

"We know that, and we know you don't want anyone to suffer like you did, but that doesn't mean you should work yourself out," Lloyd replies. "You can't fix all of this damage by yourself in one go. Take your time. Rest. We can handle it."

"F-fine…" Harumi responds with a promise. "Just to let you know, I'm not going to just stop this, okay? I am going to pay for my crimes in full."

"Like with money?" Jay asks, with everyone glaring at him in confusion. "What? Damages cost money."

"He does have a point," Cole responds.

"Still, there are other ways to repent," Zane responds.

"Well, maybe I can set up a foundation to help people recover from this," Harumi responds. "Like you said, I don't want another person to end up like me."

"Well, I'm still not ready to forgive you for all that stuff you did," Lloyd responds. "But, I'm glad you're putting in the effort to change."

Suddenly, the Police Commissioner walks up the steps with two other officers.

"Alright, Princess," the Commissioner says as he brings out handcuffs. "It's time to go back to Kryptarium."

"Okay!" Harumi responds as she walks over and willingly lets the officers place the handcuffs on her.

As she is guided out of the building and into a police van, Lloyd gets a good feeling that Harumi will come out a better person—if the prisoners don't harden her heart after all the stuff she pulled.

"At least she's got the desire to repent," Nya responds.

"But the way she's doing it is…" Kai replies while trying to find the right word.

"Self-destructing?" Zane asks.

"Yeah!" Kai responds.

"Well, it's sort of better than her trying to destroy us," Lloyd replies. "She just needs guidance on the right path. But still, she needs to be in Kryptarium Prison for all that stuff with the Sons of Garmadon and the Crystal Invasion."

"Here's a what-if scenario: What if Harumi did decide to help the Overlord but secretly spied on him and gave us the information to defeat him?" Zane replies.

"What do you mean?" Cole asks.

"I mean, if Harumi chose to side with the Overlord but secretly had been helping us like Garmadon did when warning us about the Overlord… I mean, as a scenario that could have happened if Harumi didn't choose—" Zane starts before a piercing and painful feeling strikes both his chest and his head.

It was a burning feeling like a thousand fangs piercing into his titanium skin at the same spot. He began to groan and fall over unconscious. And before he closed his eyes, he could hear his friends screaming for him. Zane found himself in an endless void. The floor beneath him shimmered like water, rippling faintly with each step, though the surface felt solid. A dense mist clung to the air, muffling his sensors and obscuring his vision. The silence was absolute, save for the faint echoes of his own movements. His titanium core buzzed with unease, though he could detect no energy, no life, nothing to explain the palpable dread enveloping him.

"This place..." Zane whispered, his voice swallowed by the void. "It feels... wrong."

He pressed forward, his footsteps slow and deliberate. The void seemed infinite, yet somehow oppressive, closing in on him as he ventured further. Then, like a mirage emerging from the mist, shapes began to materialize—trees, their pale trunks speckled with black patches, unmistakably birches. They were eerily familiar, reminiscent of Birchwood Forest, the place of his creation.

Zane's gaze darted around, his scanners now alert. The stillness was broken by the faint rustling of leaves, though there was no wind. Then came a low growl, primal and menacing. Emerging from the mist were three Treehorns, their long, spindly legs blending seamlessly with the birch trunks around them. Their red eyes glowed like embers, and their mandibles clicked with hunger.

Zane stepped back instinctively, raising his arms to summon his ice powers. "Stay back!" he commanded.

He unleashed a blast of frost, aiming to immobilize the creatures, but the ice dissipated before it reached them. His sensors flickered with error messages.

"What? My powers—"

A Treehorn lunged, its massive legs crashing down where Zane stood. He rolled aside, narrowly avoiding the impact. The ground shook beneath him. Another Treehorn lashed out, its kick sending him hurtling into a nearby tree. The collision left him dazed, but his resolve burned brighter.

"I won't fall here!" Zane growled, summoning his shurikens. He hurled one at the nearest Treehorn, aiming for its legs. The creature stumbled, its unnaturally long limbs collapsing like a house of cards. With a swift jump, Zane landed on its back and slammed it into another tree. Both the creature and the tree disintegrated into ash, which scattered into the mist.

Zane took a moment to catch his breath, but the remaining two Treehorns closed in, their movements eerily coordinated. Thinking quickly, he tied his shurikens together with a wire from his utility belt, creating a makeshift bolo. With precision, he threw the weapon, entangling the Treehorns' necks. He yanked hard, pulling them together, and with one powerful strike, he felled them both.

As the creatures disintegrated, the forest began to vanish, tree by tree, until only one remained—the birch that marked the entrance to his father's hidden workshop. Zane's heart—or its digital equivalent—ached with a mix of nostalgia and foreboding.

"What is this place trying to tell me?" he murmured.

He approached the tree and found the familiar marking on its trunk. The door slid open with a mechanical hiss. Expecting the familiar spiral staircase leading down to his father's sanctuary, Zane was met instead by a gaping, inky black pit. The darkness within was alive, pulsating like a heartbeat, drawing him closer.

"This isn't right..." Zane muttered, his logical systems urging caution. Yet, something deeper—a force beyond logic—compelled him to leap.

As he descended, the air grew colder, denser. The darkness was suffocating, clinging to him like tar. When he landed, the ground felt different—solid, yet unnervingly slick. He could see nothing, yet his sensors detected faint vibrations ahead.

Two lights pierced the void: one icy blue, the other crimson red. They danced and clashed violently, their movements echoing like the cries of unseen beasts. Zane squinted, his optics adjusting to the spectacle. As he approached, the lights resolved into shapes—a blue falcon and a red peacock, locked in a ferocious battle. Their screeches reverberated through the void, though Zane's scans still registered no energy signatures.

The fight was brutal, chaotic. Feathers of light scattered with each impact. The falcon was agile, darting and weaving, while the peacock was elegant yet ruthless, its movements precise and calculated.

Then, with a swift, devastating strike, the peacock pinned the falcon to the ground. The falcon let out a final, haunting cry before dissolving into a pile of metallic scrap—pieces that Zane recognized with a cold jolt as fragments of his own body.

"No... no, this can't be..." Zane whispered, stepping back in horror.

The red light began to shift, condensing and expanding until it took on a new form—a towering woman. Her figure was draped in an elaborate black dress, its fabric resembling peacock feathers. A mourning veil obscured her face entirely, yet her presence was overwhelming, radiating authority and malice. She held the falcon's remains in her hands, examining them as though they were trophies.

Zane's breath—or the simulation of it—quickened. He tried to move silently, but his foot caught on an unseen obstruction. The noise was faint, but it was enough. The woman's head turned slowly, unnaturally, toward him. Though her veil hid her features, Zane felt her gaze pierce through him, unraveling his very essence.

The void began to tremble. The mist thickened, swirling like a storm. Zane's processors screamed with warnings as the fabric of the dream unraveled. The last thing he saw was the woman stepping toward him, her figure dissolving into the mist, before everything collapsed into darkness.

Zane awoke with a jolt, his head pounding. "Ugh..." he groaned, massaging his temples. "My... head…"

"Zane!" PIXAL exclaimed, rushing to him and hugging him tightly in relief.

"What happened?!" Jay asked, his voice filled with concern.

"I don't know," Zane replied, still groggy. "I just had this... nightmare."

He looked around, realizing he was back aboard the Destiny's Bounty.

Wu entered the room, followed closely by Garmadon.

"I heard that you fainted," Wu said, his tone tinged with concern. "And quite uncharacteristically so. What happened?"

Jay was quick to respond, his worry evident. "We were out on patrol when Zane suddenly just… collapsed. One minute, he was fine, and then—bam—he hit the ground like a ton of bricks."

Kai added, glancing at Zane, who still appeared disoriented. "It was like something hit him out of nowhere. We didn't even know what was going on until we carried him back here."

Zane nodded weakly as Cole chimed in, his voice serious. "He looked normal, but then his face changed—like something really bad was happening in his head. And then... he just dropped."

Nya frowned, her arms crossed. "It wasn't exhaustion. It was... different. We couldn't figure it out, and it wasn't a programming issue either—this was something else entirely."

Garmadon raised an eyebrow, his expression both skeptical and intrigued. "A ninja fainting without being exhausted? And a Nindroid at that? 'Uncharacteristic' might be an understatement."

Wu nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed. Zane, do you remember anything?"

Zane hesitated, trying to process the vivid nightmare he had just experienced. "I... I don't know," he said quietly. "It was like I was somewhere else. It felt real, more like a vision than a dream, even though I know I was unconscious."

Wu's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of unease crossing his face. "Rest now, Zane. We will discuss this further later. There is clearly more to this than meets the eye."

"Wait—fainting spells are a thing?!" Jay exclaimed, bewildered.

"Clouse cast many of them on me when I trained under Master Chen, in his attempts to make me fail," Garmadon replied curtly, his tone matter-of-fact.

The room fell silent as everyone exchanged uneasy glances. One by one, they left to allow Zane the peace and quiet he needed to rest.

A few hours later, as the other Ninja enjoyed their meals, joking, eating, and talking, Zane emerged from his quarters and approached Master Wu and Garmadon in the captain's cabin, ready to recount the full extent of his nightmare.

"Zane," Wu greeted him gently, "are you prepared to explain what happened in this nightmare of yours?"

"Yes," Zane replied, his voice steady and resolute. "I am."

"Hmph. Took you long enough," Garmadon muttered under his breath, though his eyes betrayed a hint of curiosity.

The three of them sat on the floor in the traditional manner. Wu poured tea into their cups, the calm ritual meant to ease the tension lingering in the air. Zane sat cross-legged, his posture rigid, his gaze focused despite the unease still simmering within him. Wu and Garmadon sat opposite, their expressions intent and focused as they awaited his account.

"Master Wu, Lord Garmadon," Zane began, his tone measured, "I need to share what I experienced during my collapse. It felt like more than a dream—more akin to a fragmented vision. Difficult to interpret, but vivid."

Wu gave a slight nod. "Tell us everything, Zane. Leave no detail out."

Zane exhaled slowly, recalling the nightmare with precision. "It began in a void—an endless, dark expanse. The ground beneath me was shallow water, and a low mist hung in the air, obscuring my view. Despite my scans, I detected no energy, no life. The emptiness itself was oppressive, suffocating."

"An unnatural place," Garmadon murmured, his eyes narrowing. "Continue."

"As I ventured further, I found myself in a forest. The trees resembled the birches of Birchwood Forest, near my father's workshop. That was when I was attacked by three creatures—Treehorns. They were relentless, and my elemental powers were ineffective at first. Only through strategy and perseverance was I able to defeat them."

Wu's brow furrowed. "Treehorns are known to be guardians of Birchwood, not aggressors. Their presence in your vision is... unusual."

Zane nodded. "After I defeated them, the forest dissolved, leaving only a single tree—the one marking the entrance to my father's hidden workshop. I opened the door, expecting to find the familiar spiral staircase, but instead, I was met with an inky black pit. Against my better judgment, I jumped in."

"You willingly leaped into darkness?" Garmadon's voice was sharp, almost disapproving. "Even you should know the risks of such a choice."

"I do," Zane admitted, his tone firm but tinged with frustration. "Yet something compelled me—a feeling I cannot fully explain. When I landed, I was engulfed by darkness. It was suffocating, yet... familiar."

Wu leaned forward slightly. "Familiar in what way?"

"It was devoid of life or energy," Zane said, his voice quieter. "But then, in the distance, I saw two lights—one crimson red and the other icy blue. They clashed violently, their forms taking shape as a red peacock and a blue falcon. The sound of their battle was deafening, but my sensors detected no energy signatures."

"The peacock and the falcon..." Wu murmured, stroking his beard. "Symbols of Avilin. Their simultaneous presence is unprecedented."

"Avilin?" Zane asked, confused. "I have no records of this. What is it?"

"Nothing," Garmadon said brusquely. "Continue."

"The falcon was defeated," Zane said softly. "It was pinned beneath the peacock. When the mist cleared, the peacock transformed into a towering woman dressed in a black aristocratic gown. Her head was obscured by a mourning veil, and the falcon... the falcon was reduced to my scrap. She exuded a terrifying presence, overwhelming and suffocating."

"Did she act against you?" Garmadon pressed, his voice sharp.

"No," Zane replied, shaking his head. "But when I made a sound, she turned toward me. The void began collapsing, and I awoke."

Wu sat back, his expression grave. "This vision is significant, Zane. Each element—the void, the creatures, the duel of opposites, and the veiled woman—carries meaning. We must unravel this."

"It felt as though she could see through me," Zane added, his voice unsteady. "Her silence was more terrifying than any attack."

Garmadon crossed his arms, his expression calculating. "The peacock and falcon suggest balance disrupted. But her presence—there is more at work here."

Wu nodded solemnly. "I will consult the ancient scrolls and meditate. This may be a warning—or a reflection of something hidden within you."

Zane lowered his gaze, processors whirring with unease. "I will do whatever is necessary to understand this."

Wu placed a reassuring hand on Zane's shoulder. "You are not alone. We will uncover the truth together. Rest now, Zane. Prepare yourself for what may come."

As Zane stood and bowed, leaving the room, Wu and Garmadon exchanged grim looks.

"The peacock and falcon," Wu murmured.

"It might not be Avilin," Garmadon said. "Dream Tea or other forces could be at play."

"Or..." Wu hesitated. "Visiora?"

"That cursed crystal ball vanished at sea before the Serpentine Wars," Garmadon said dismissively. "Impossible."

"You're likely right," Wu agreed, though his tone remained troubled. "Still, we must narrow this down. These visions are far from ordinary."

Outside, Zane overheard their conversation and accessed the records in his databanks.

Visiora: a crystal ball crafted by Soviel, capable of manipulating perception, visions, and dreams. Lost at sea during a hurricane before the Serpentine Wars.

Avilin: [No further information available.]

The Bounty sails into the vast horizon, its crew unaware of the ominous presence trailing them. The moonlight reflects off the ocean, casting an eerie glow on the ship's deck, where Zane stands silently, processing his fragmented vision. Though his friends laugh and chatter below, the weight of the unknown hangs heavy in his circuits.

In the distance, cloaked in shadows, the observer watches, their crimson optics flickering with intent. The reverse-spoken robotic voice whispers once more, echoing into the void, as if they are speaking to someone:
"The target is observed. Commencing phase one."

As the mysterious figure vanishes into the darkness, Zane feels a faint chill, as if sensing the unseen eyes upon him. For now, peace remains aboard the Bounty, but the cracks are forming, and the illusion of tranquility is about to shatter.

The journey has only begun. So has the nightmare and truth Zane was about to suffer.