Archive of Our Own

However, as a crowd gathered around the heroes, one man turned away. Dr. Julien felt his energy rabidly draining and walked himself behind Ultra, leaning on him for support. 

"Father?" 

Zane reached his father as the man sagged to the ground. 

"I don't think I have much time left, son."

"What," Zane felt his world shattering around him, "I... I don't understand."

"I will always love you, Zane," his father smiled, weakly grabbing his son's arm, "but I... I need..." 

"What?" Julien was quickly fading away, fighting to keep his eyes open, "What do you need, father?"

"I need... you... to..." Julien couldn't finish, resting against Ultra's leg. He was gone. 

"Zane! Why'd you disappear, Bud?" Cole was coming up to them, "Everyone's about to go-"

Cole froze, mouth hanging open, seeing Zane holding his father's body. 

Kai and Jay appeared behind them, laughing and joking. That came to an abrupt stop as they took in the sight before them. 

Jay bolted as soon as he registered Julien's lifeless form, unable to handle the sight. Kai, to his credit, recovered quickly, telling Jay to keep Lloyd and Nya away as he called for Sensei Wu.  

And Zane... Zane didn't believe it, shaking his father's arm, calling for him to wake. Tears began falling when the man wouldn't stir and Zane begged for him to wake up, to speak, to move, to... anything. 

He was sobbing by the time a wrinkled hand grasped his shoulder. Zane was turned to face Garmadon. Garmadon, the man who had ordered his father's revival, and sentenced him to live on that island for the rest of his life, whose magic kept him alive. 

His magic kept him alive. 

The magic that was gone now, along with the Great Devourer's venom. 

"I'm sorry, Zane," he barely registered Garmadon's words, "This is all my fault." 

Zane didn't respond, instead he collapsed into the older man's arms, Garmadon stiffened, but didn't pull away as Zane sobbed into the front of his robe. 

Garmadon ushered Zane away from the scene as people gathered around. Dareth's dojo was near by, the ninja took refuge there away from the crowd.  

Cole had locked himself in the bathroom, saying he was going to be sick. 

Jay paced across the floor, fumbling with his hands and frantically murmuring to himself. 

Kai and Nya sat against the wall with a firm hold on each other and downtrodden gazes. 

Lloyd was in the corner with his mother, begging her to explain to him what was going on, what had happened. 

Garmadon deposited Zane on Kai's other side, and the master of fire rested his arm across Zane's shoulders. Zane in return, held Kai's shirt in an iron grip as he went near catatonic. Nya wrested her hand on top of his to offer some comfort. 

Garmadon moved to Lloyd. 

Jay calmed down when Wu announced the paramedics came and left, Julien was gone. Both offering apologies and condolences. 

Cole returned shortly after, looking paler than usual. 

"Hey, buddy. Sorry for losing my cool there," he whispered and took a seat next to Zane, resting a hand on his back, "Are you okay?"

Zane didn't respond. 

Over the following week, Zane finally understood why his father chose to erase his memories the first time he died. He had wanted to spare him from the grief. From the moment he left Julien behind, Zane felt the grief suffocating him, despite not needing to breathe. 

It was too quiet. 

No one dared raise their voice out of respect. Everyone would speak in hushed whispers as they huddled together on one side of the room. 

Zane hated it.

He desperately wanted things to go back to normal, for the familiarity to return and distract him from the unbearable grief. 

Then there was the Garmadons and how they seemed to avoid him. If he ever approached Lloyd, the young ninja would become teary-eyed and apologize, as if he had killed Zane's father. Then Misako would come and try to comfort them both. 

Garmadon wouldn't even look at him. 

"I do not blame you," he said, breaking the quiet. 

Garmadon finally looked at him, a puzzled expression on his face. 

"If anything," Zane continued, "I am grateful. Despite your intentions at the time, you allowed me see him one last time. I thank you for that."

Garmadon let out a breath, "Your father raised a good son, Zane. Thank you for being so patient and forgiving,"

"There is nothing to forgive," he replied, "Not here."

This time was so different from last time. Last time happened on a quiet day. Last time, Zane knew what to expect. Last time, Zane got to say goodbye.

This time, they had just come off the adrenaline of battle, excited smiles on their faces. This time, Zane's father was collapsing in on himself. This time, his father was gone before he was ready. 

His last words kept echoing through Zane's head.

He wasn't ready.  

But last time was only a memory in his head, this time was an experience. 

Last time, Zane was alone.

This time, he had his brothers and Nya and Wu and the Garmadons. Each came to support him in some way. 

While Jay and Lloyd had never had much experience with death, especially the death of a loved one, they were there for Zane, ready to be the brothers he needed. 

Kai and Nya didn't have experience with death, per say. Their own parents had been missing for years. Kai admitted that he believed them to be dead now and it was something he had to accept. He had to be strong for Nya. Zane supposed he would be able to come to terms with it and be strong as well. 

Wu and Garmadon had lost many friends and allies in their years. Something Zane hoped he would never relate to.

"Death is something everyone must face, as yourself or of those you love. When you lose someone, you must keep those you have left close to you, otherwise you'll lose yourself to the grief." Wu said, hoping Zane would take it to heart, "Now is the time for you to be with your brothers. Let them heal you as I know you would heal them."

Cole knew first hand what Zane was feeling, losing a parent right in front of you. And he told Zane about the day his mother died. 

Zane had been alone, he'd been alone a lot since hi father passed. But he was glad, because this time he was alone with Cole. He apologized for "acting like a total freak," when he ran into Zane and Julien that day. Cole explained that it brought up some bad memories. 

"It wasn't pretty," he said, "as sick as she was.

Mom was always so strong. Literally, she got me into working out, you know. We would work out together, kid workouts, at least. And then after she would make awesome food so we could get our calories back! And she would tell me these awesome stories about a great hero. And when I was a kid, I used to imagine that hero was my mom because she was the coolest person I knew. My mom was cool and strong and brave enough to face dragons!" Cole smiled a little at the memory of his childhood fear.

"I wish we could have gotten to meet her," Zane pat Cole's back.

"Yeah, me to, Buddy," Cole's smile fell, "It would've been great. 

But then she got sick. It was like, one of the bad guys from her stories put a curse on her. Mom didn't workout anymore or cook. And then one day she just stopped getting out of bed. Didn't eat as much. Dad didn't know it, but she used to sneak her food on my plate, and I let her because she always said she wasn't hungry."

Zane had only ever seen a picture of Lilly Brookstone once, while at his father's house. It was taken long before she had gotten sick, Cole seemed to be a toddler at the time. The two were frozen in time, Cole being thrown into the air and Lilly about to catch him. They seemed so happy. Healthy.

Zane didn't like to imagine it, but it was so easy for him to. Lilly, thin as her bones, wrapped up in bed. It reminded him of the last months of his father's first life. Having to take care of him as the days they had left counted down.

"Sometimes I wonder, what if I didn't?"

"Cole," Zane asked, hesitantly, "You don't blame yourself for your mother's passing, do you?"

Cole threw his hands up in defense, "Of course not! She was sick! There was nothing I could do about that! I just... I wonder if she would've been able to fight more if she had more strength.

She stopped looking like mom. I couldn't recognize her. It was like the curse was turning her into one of the monsters from her stories. She wasn't happy anymore, even if she pretended to be. She would get really sad or mad for no reason. Dad told me to never hold it against her. She was mad because she was sick. 

...Still, it was scary to see mom like that.

But mom was never scared, not infront of me. No, she was scared when she thought I was asleep and couldn't hear her. Seeing mom afraid, was so much scarier than seeing her mad.

Mom and Dad talked a lot at night. They would even fight sometimes and I hated it. I hated it so much!

It was such bullshit! Why did mom have to get sick? Why couldn't she get better? Why wasn't she strong enough? It's unfair.

Just like your dad. It's all unfair bullshit!"

"I suppose it is," Zane agreed.

"The day she... died, I found her. All by myself,"

Zane wanted to say something, anything, but found he couldn't give Cole comfort.

"Some kid pulled the fire alarm at school," he explained, "So I got home before dad...

I remember thinking she was just asleep and I would get to tell her all about school later. But I realized she didn't take her medicine, yet. So I tried to wake her up so she could take it real quick...

But she didn't wake up. Mom never woke up again."

Cole curled in on himself. Zane never imagined he would see the master of earth crumble like this. Cole had always been a strong support for their team, all the way back when he first led them.

Zane realized Cole was crying. He'd never cried before.

"I was there with her for two hours," Cole's voice was surprisingly calm, despite his tears, "I don't remember much after that, just a lot of crying."

"I'm sorry you had to experience that, Cole," Zane pulled him into his side.

Cole seemed to find himself, throwing his head back and slapping his hand over his eyes. 

"Gah! What am I doing!?" He scolded himself, "I'm over here crying, while you're going through your own shit!"

"Never apologize for talking to me, Cole!" Zane reassured him.

In a horribly morbid way, Zane was glad he could feel that solidarity with Cole. If Cole could recover and find peace of mind once again , Zane could too.

Zane wanted to bury his father back in Birchwood. He'd never made it back home when he was alive, he should at least be able to rest there in death.

Unfortunately, Birchwood was not ideal for a burial. The snow that covered the ground left the dirt frozen and hard to dig up, if you could even dig deep enough. No, it would be better to just bury him in Ninjago City. 

To Zane's surprise, his brothers disagreed with his reasoning. 

"If you want to take him home, then you should take him home," Kai said.

"We can help you, Zane," Jay added, "you just have to ask."

They worked together to bury Julien, despite not having powers. That is, until Lloyd stepped in to make it easier on them.  

No, this time wasn't like last time at all. This time he wasn't alone. 

This time he had his family. 

Meeting Echo wasn't the happy reunion it should have been. 

One minute, Zane is bellow deck, confronting Nadakhan alone. The next, he's in the sky, recovering from what ever Nadakhan had done to him. 

That's when Zane saw him, Echo, his double. 

In the brief moments they had, Echo was able to explain how he has been left on the island, how their father would hide him from the monster below. Jay and Nya had found him and when Jay later asked Echo to join him, he jumped at the chance to fulfil his purpose and finally meet his brother. 

Brother... Yes, Zane like that word. Quite a lot, actually. 

In the few minutes they had known each other, Zane felt drawn to Echo in the same way he was drawn to his brothers and sister. They were compatible in a way that was different from him and Pixal, but similar. 

...Pixal

Pixal! 

Pixal was gone, erased from her hard drive. How had he'd not noticed sooner when she never appeared in his vision?

He kept Pixal in his processor to keep her safe, it was his duty to protect her while she had no body to protect herself. Yet, it was all his fault she was gone.

He never should have faced Nadakhan alone! He should have listened to her! He should have-

"There is water falling from your eyes. Are you damaged? Is something wrong?"

Echo...

Zane wiped his face and replied, "I've just realized that I've ruined everything. I've lost someone vital to me and it's all my fault."

 "I doubt it's your fault," Echo reached out to pat his shoulder.

"Perhaps not," at its core, Nadakhan was to blame, "but that doesn't change anything. And it was my actions that led to her being erased."

"You can't bring her back?"

"No, Echo, I can not..."

"I'm sor-" Echo started before his jaw abruptly fell off.

Zane watched as Echo bent down to retrieve it, and he saw him in a different light this time. 

When they first met, Pixal had once said Zane was made of spare parts. Looking at Echo now, Zane realized how untrue that statement was. Echo was made from rusted scrap metal and pieces that didn't fit quite right. Cogs stuffed together, bolts sticking out in odd places. He looked to be moments away from falling apart at all times.

Still, Echo fought with every bit of his being, always ready to try and fulfil his purpose. 

As Echo popped his jaw back on, Zane made a promise to himself. He'll take care of Echo, his brother. He'll protect him when he needs it. He won't fail him like he failed Pixal...

"Jay, are you okay?"

Jay and Zane were below deck on the bounty. Zane was about to prepare Jay a birthday dinner and was going to ask him what he wanted. That's when Zane noticed Jay was looking uncharacteristically depressed. When Zane asked him about it, Jay confessed his parents had told him he was adopted over lunch.

The odd part was, Jay had already knew. He had asked them about it.

And suddenly, Jay found himself realizing that, what he had thought was a dream, was real.

"It's all addin' up! It's all- It's all making sense!"

Then he was venting to Zane about how they had all fought pirates in the sky, and a djinn took them all out one by one, and Nya had supposedly died.

"If I had just- If I had never- I'm such a prick- I should've-" Jay cut himself off, rapidly switching between thoughts, "She wouldn't've..."

"Jay, slow down," honestly, if Zane wasn't a nindroid, he wouldn't be able to understand Jay at all.

Jay closed his eyes as he hyperventilated, hugging himself as Zane rubbed circles on his back.

Jay suddenly threw his head up, as if he's suddenly remembered something. He grabbed Zane's arm, keeping his full attention.

"I gotta tell you- I-I gotta tell you," he forced himself to say, "I gotta tell you b-before I forget!"

"Tell me what, Jay?" 

"Echo! Yo-Your dad... He left Echo!"

"Who?"

"H-he's like..." Jay struggled to find the right word, "He was like... your... brother."

Zane stilled for a moment, absorbing what Jay had said, before he resumed rubbing Jay's back.

"Okay," he nodded, "We can talk more about that, later. When you've calmed down." 

Jay nodded back, not saying anything else.

"Oh, Jaaaaaaay!" A voice came from down the hall, "Where you at, birthday boy! We've gotta surprise for you!"

'That's Cole,' Pixal alerted him, 'He'll be here in a few moments,'

Jay looked at Zane with wide eyes, frantically shaking his head no. 

"Don't worry," Zane reassured him, "I'll take care of it."

The door began to open.

"Happy bir- Oh shit!" Cole stopped in his tracks, a large birthday cake in his hands and the rest of their family behind him, "What happened?"

Zane looked to Jay, it wasn't his place to tell them.

'Tell them the truth,' Pixal said, 'Just not the whole truth.'

"Jay isn't in the mood to celebrate, today," he said, walking to the door, before whispering, "He found out he's adopted."

Everyone's faces changed from concern to understanding, and they quietly turned to leave.

"Can I talk to him?" Nya asked.

Zane looked back to Jay, who shook his head yes.

Zane let her in. As he turned to close the door and leave, he saw Jay mouth 'Thank you' to him.

Three days later, Jay and Nya gathered their family at the dinner table. They confessed to everything having to do with Nadakahn and sky pirates and time travel. Nya confessed that she didn't think it was real until Jay had started freaking out.

They told everyone everything.

The next morning, Zane found the courage to ask Jay to go to Lighthouse Island with him.

"You would know where he's hiding," Zane explained, "and there is a chance he may remember, as well. I don't want to scare him."

Pixal gave him a thumbs up, he was saying it the exact way she coached him to. This was a very sensitive subject for Jay and Nya, Zane had to be delicate.

Jay hesitated for a moment... two, before saying, "Yeah, okay. He's my friend, I'll go with you."

And so the two rented a boat to got to Lighthouse Island. It would have been easier to take the Bounty, but Zane felt it would be a bit... intimidating. Especially, considering last time the Bounty was there, it whisked his father away.

They reached the island with ease, luck and the weather appeared to be on their side. They climbed up the creaky stairs together and reached the lighthouse door. Zane hesitated and turned to Jay.

"Is it rude to go in without knocking?" he asked, "It is his home after all."

"We didn't knock last time," Jay gave a small laugh, "but we also didn't think anyone would be here."

"I see,"

'Knocking IS the polite thing to do,' Pixal advised.

Zane held his hand over the door, after a moment he finally knocked.

There was no response.

He waited another moment and knocked again.

Still nothing.

"Maybe he's hiding," Jay said, "He hid from Nya and me."

Zane nodded and pushed open the door.

They walked to the far wall, where Jay pulled a lever only he knew was there. It opened up to reveal a basement. The room his brother was hiding in. A room he had been hiding in for years.

Brother... it felt strange to say. But Zane liked it.

The two reached the bottom of the stairs to the basement. It was a mess of boxes and junk. Is this all his brother has to spend time with? Would he not try to leave? Did he never go outside?

"Echo," Jay called, "Echo Zane... Its me Jay... Your friend, remember?"

There was no response.

"Okay, maybe he doesn't remember," Jay whispered as he walked toward a particularly large pile of boxes and spare parts next to the wall, "Um... Zane is here, too! Your brother!"

Still nothing.

Jay pushed the boxes back to find...

nothing.

Echo wasn't there.

"He was right here last time!" Jay said, "This exact spot!"

"Pixal," Zane called to the AI in his head, "Do you see anything?"

Zane scanned the room for a moment, before looking up to scan the whole lighthouse.

"I detect no signs of life," she sadly announced, "Artificial or not."

"No...." Jay looked dejected, "No! He has to be here! Why wouldn't he..."

Jay trailed off, his hands clenched at his sides.

"This is all my fault!" He cried, "When my wish reset the timeline... when I brought Nya back... i-it must've taken him! Djinn magic is screwed like that! You can't make a wish without s-s-something going wrong! 

He's gone! He's gone and it's all my fault! Just add it to the list of things Jay messed up!" Jay buried his face in his hands, shaking uncontrollably.

Zane was at his side in an instant.

"Do not blame yourself, Jay!" He consoled him, "You did what you had to do to save Nya! You couldn't have known...

And I'm glad you did it." He finished quietly.

Jay looked up at him, shocked, "How? You should hate me right now! I-I practically killed your brother! How are you so okay?!"

"You did nothing of the sort!" Zane chided, "and while I don't wish this fate on anyone, I would never trade Nya's life for someone else's. My brother may be gone, but you saved my sister, Jay. For that I am thankful."

The two sat on the floor for a while. Jay sobbed as Zane comforted him. Jay felt it should have been the other way around. 

Of course Zane was upset, he'd lost a family member, but how do you mourn a brother you never knew? One that never really existed? 

Zane didn't get much time to reflect on it. A few days after they had returned home, a new enemy had shown up, another army of snake people, one that could reform themselves and was virtually indestructible. Zane had his job to do, his purpose.

Perhaps after the battle is over, he will return to Birchwood and add a statue next to his father's, one for the brother he never had.

Zane hated Mr. E.

He nearly died trying to infiltrate the Sons of Garmadon, all because E might be the Quiet One. Gaining E's trust, betraying his family, it had all been for nothing. He had been found out and E nearly killed him for it. 

E being a nindroid made the failure sting even more. 

Zane wanted to give him a chance, E was like him, they could be allies. 

They had the same weaknesses and E used them to his advantage. He bugged Zane, which in turn hacked Pixal.

And Zane couldn't help, but blame himself since it was his plan that had led to this.

Now the Bounty was wrecked after a crash landing. She wasn't completely destroyed, thanks to Nya, but it would take a lot of work to get her flying again. Zane could only hope Pixal was alright.  The computer had been offline ever since the crash.

"Zane!"

That didn't come from the computer...

"Pixal?"

Zane turned around and there she was, Pixal in physical form dressed in the Samurai X armor. Pixal was Samurai X this whole time!

They'll get E later, right now Zane had Pixal in his arms and she was all he needed.

"Yeah. Yeah, dad, I'm... Dad, I'm going to talk to everyone about it! Just keep it... keep it somewhere no one else a can get it. Yes... yes I know, dad. Yes, dad, I'm brushing! Hey, I gotta go! Tell... Tell mom I love her! No, wait! ...Hi mom. Yes, ma... I-I gotta go! Okay... Okay! I love you, too. Gotta go, bye!" Jay hurried to hang up the phone before his parents could continue.

"So what was your dad so excited about?" Nya smirked.

"Remember Mr. E? His body was dropped off in the junkyard today." Jay said, "My dad's kinda freaking out about it."

"Does he want us to come get him?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, kinda," Jay answered, "He's not comfortable having him there."

"So what're we gonna do?" Kai asked, "Pick him up and drop him in a different junkyard?"

"I wanna know who's under that mask!" Cole jumped up.

"I am curious, too," Zane agreed, "It doesn't seem like the SoG could have built him, so I'm wanting to know who did?"

So it was decided, they would all go ang retrieve E together. 

With the Bounty gone and the monastery no where near being complete, the ninja had nowhere to bring him. With Cyrus Borg's permission, they brought him into Borg tower to be examined.

Pixal took the lead, it was her father's building they were in, after all. 

E was laid on a table, broken into multiple pieces. Cables and wires were ripped apart and stuck out in odd ends. A few fingers were missing from each hand and one of his legs had been completely crushed. Whatever had happened to him was irreversible. Who ever did this to him, didn't want him to come back.

"There's no way someone from the resistance did this, right?" Jay asked, nervously.

"No way," Lloyd answered, "They would have said something. I'm willing to bet this was done by my father himself."

"Oh... that's comforting," Jay really hoped Garmadon's prison cell was strong enough to hold the half-oni forever.

Everyone gathered around the exam table, bubbling with anticipation. This was it, they were about to unmask Mr. E. 

Nya stood at the head of the table, hands grasping both sides of the bike helmet. She slowly lifted it up to reveal...

Nothing.

A blank faceplate laid before them, unblinking eyes being the only feature on it. The faceplate seemed to be a new addition, one that was hastily welded on. There would be no way to see what was underneath.

"Whelp," Cole said, "That answers that, I guess."

"I wonder why the SoG would do this?" Lloyd thought aloud.

"It's weird, right?" Nya agreed, "He wore a mask anyways. Why go through all the trouble to hide his face?"

"Who did they not want us to see?" Kai wondered.

"Only one way to find out," Pixal said, taking out her tools.

With great effort, she opened E's chestplate, which was a new piece of metal that had forcefully hammered into place. E was made out of a mixture of old, rusted spare parts and new metal, none of which fit properly together. Parts were welded on to keep them from falling out, wires frayed at the ends, his circuitry was fried, honestly, Zane was surprised that E was such a good fighter. Maybe if he tried harder in their fight, E would've been the one deactivated at the bottom of the canyon. 

Pixal, Jay and Nya all crowded together to try and take E apart and see his circuitry. Cole, Lloyd and Kai knew nothing about robotics and fell back, waiting to see what the others found. 

Zane couldn't help feeling incredibly disappointed. That was it? E was just a faceless tool for them, ready to be disposed of at a moments notice?

"His voice box has been tampered with," Pixal announced, "It was irreversibly changed so he could only speak in those encrypted messages. He couldn't speak to anyone if he tried."

Carefully, Pixal lifted the voice box out of E's chest cavity, setting it aside to inspect the parts below. Zane's gaze remained fixed on the box as something familiar caught his eye.

There, stamped on the side of the box, was his father's mark. The same mark on the inside of the bunker door, and on the back of the Birchwood security droid. That mark had been stamped onto the falcon's chest plate and was present on the bottom of both the falcon's and Zane's blueprints. That mark had once been present on the inside of Zane's very own chest plate. So why did E have it?

"It can't be..."

"Something wrong, Zane?" Lloyd asked. 

"This stamp," Zane lifted the voice box to show it off, "This is my father's signature."

"What does that mean?" Kai asked.

"It means Mr. E was built by my father."

"We don't know that!" Nya interjected, "The SoG could have stolen it from him!"

"When would they have done that?" Cole asked, moving closer to the deactivated droid.

"And why would they just steal a voice box?" Zane added.

"It's not just the voice box," Pixal said, removing more rusted parts, "All of the older parts here bare the same mark. The new ones do not."

"So did they steal a fully built robot from Dr. Julien?" Lloyd asked.

"Where would they steal him from?" Kai added, "This isn't the robot from Birchwood and there was nothing left on Lighthouse Island."

"Could he have been with Samukai?" Cole offered.

"Samukai needed vehicles," Nya countered, "Besides, why would Garmadon have a nindroid in his ranks and never use it?"

Zane had a thousand questions in his head, all of which were seeming to be asked by his friends. That is, until Jay asked one he never considered.

"Nya, you don't think this could be... Echo, do you?"

Nya's jaw dropped, she looked at E's body with wide eyes, then to Jay, then back to E.

She sucked in a breath as Pixal removed a broken clock that had once served as nindroid's heart. It had been forced to the side to make room for a newer, stronger one.

"Holy FSM... Do you really think it could be..."

"Hold on, Echo?" Cole asked.

"Remember that alternate timeline we told you about? Echo was Zane's..." Nya trailed off, unsure what to call him.

"He was my brother." Zane finished. 

"But I thought Echo was gone when you two went to look for him," Lloyd said, "Like erased gone."

"Maybe he wasn't erased," Jay said, "Maybe he was taken before we could get there."

"There's no way to know for sure," Pixal stated, "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Zane asked.

"I can't say for certain if it will work, it really depends on E's hard drive, but we could, theoretically, build him a replacement body and transfer his consciousness there. Much like you and I have done before," Pixal hesitated before adding, "At least then we would get some answers."

"Hold on," Kai interjected, "This guy was a Son of Garmadon, remember? Isn't it better for Ninjago if we just leave him like he is?"

"Kai, I understand your concern, but," Zane said, "There is a chance that this could be my brother. We may not be flesh and blood, but we're brothers all the same. And I'm willing to take that chance for family. I know you would take that chance for Nya."

"Shit," Kai muttered before saying, "I'm sorry. I know this is more complicated than just the right thing or the wrong thing."

"It is alright," Zane smiled, "I know there is a risk that I'm wrong. If so, I'll deactivate E myself."

Asking Cyrus Borg to use his facility to build a known criminal a new body was... daunting to say the least. So you can imagine Zane's surprise when Cyrus not only allowed him to, but was very enthusiastic about it.

 "You don't even have to ask, my boy!" Cyrus exclaimed, "Anything for family."

Zane was too nervous to ask him what he meant by that.

The ninja had free range of the building and were allowed to use whatever they needed. Pixal, once again, took charge of the procedure, being the most familiar with building droids.

As Pixal worked on the body, Nya and Jay worked on the hard drive. It was incredibly old and slightly damaged, but if they were careful, it could work. Pixal would have to go over it later, using her sensors to spot any lingering damage, but for now Nya and Jay were doing more than enough.

Zane wished he could help more. He was the one who requested this, after all, he should be putting more effort in. Despite being a nindroid, Zane knew next to nothing about robotics or mechanics in general. Nya and Jay were always good at that, and Pixal, now that she had rejoined them. 

Zane was only able to rebuild himself because Cyrus Borg's systems were automated. He suddenly felt useless compared to the others.

He's a nindroid! He of all people should know about this!

Maybe he'll dedicate a few gigabytes to the subject. 

Zane paced up and down the hall. It felt cowardly to leave everyone else, but he couldn't just stand and do nothing, he'd rather walk and do nothing! First master, he should have went to get food with Cole or go to Wu with Lloyd. 

The whole process felt like it was taking too long. Granted, it took Zane a few days to be fully rebuilt and functioning, but still. This was long enough for Zane to start doubting himself. 

This is a bad idea. What if it isn't him? Why'd we decide to use my blueprints, again? If it isn't him, then it would just be awkward! Or what if it is him and he doesn't like it, then it would be really awkward!

Get ahold of yourself! This is no different than Cryptor or Mr. Borg's security droids! It'll be fine...

"How you doin'?"

Zane's train of thought was cut of by Kai and, honestly, he was grateful. 

"I'm fine," Zane never really liked lying much, but he doesn't need anyone to worry about him. 

"No, you're not," Turns out, if it's not related to a mission, Zane is a terrible liar. 

"What makes you say that?"

"You just found out the brother you thought was dead, might not be. No one's just "fine" after that,"

"You sound like you're speaking from experience,"

"That's because I am."

Zane hesitated to respond. There was only one thing Kai could be referring to. 

"Chen's island?"

"Yup," Kai said with a pop and sighed. They never really talked about what happened back then. They didn't talk about a lot of things that happened after the big missions. The taxing missions. 

Zane knew his death had broken their team up, knew Jay had been some sort of t.v. host, but that was about it. How did the others try to cope? Were they even able to?

Then there was the island. Everyone had been stripped of their powers, they lost Garmadon, Kai... Kai almost lost himself. 

"You know, all we had was a vague message and instructions to go to the docks," Kai said, "but we jumped at the chance anyways because if it meant getting you back, then it would all be worth it."

Zane felt himself smiling as Kai continued. It felt nice to hear how much his family cared for him, even if he already knew it. 

"We knew there would be risks, the whole thing looked sketchy as hell, but we took the chance for you, Zane. Because, honestly, we were lost without you. Our family wasn't complete without our brother."

"I'm sorry," Zane's gaze fell to the floor, he'd hurt his family so much.

"What're you apologizing for?" Kai turned Zane toward him, "You saved our lives, Zane! Why would you have to apologize for that?"

"It's just... hearing about how you all missed me, seeing Pixal so... heartbroken, none of you should have felt that,"

"Death is something everyone must face, as yourself or of those you love. When you lose someone, you must keep those you have left close to you, otherwise you'll lose yourself to the grief."

"That's what Master Wu told me after my father died,"

"He said it after you sacrificed yourself," Kai said, solemnly, "We did it all wrong. We should have listened to Wu and Lloyd, but we didn't and we did lose ourselves. We lost our team. That was our fault, Zane. Not yours."

Zane wiped his eyes on reflex, he hadn't even noticed he was crying. 

"Look, I didn't come here to make you all emotional or make you feel guilty. I just wanted to set the record straight," Kai patted his back, awkwardly. 

"Set the record straight?"

"Yeah, that I would take that risk for you, any of you, all of you guys. Not just Nya," Kai smiled at him, "You're all my family. We might not all be flesh and blood, but you're family all the same. What we have, it's thicker than blood. I'd risk it all for you, so I'm glad you're taking this chance for Echo."

"Thank you, Kai," Zane smiled back at him, "I'll be honest, I was beginning to doubt my decision."

"That's understandable," Kai shrugged, "You think I haven't doubted a lot of the shit I've done? Especially since most of my plans are pretty stupid. But you gotta still do it anyway. For family."

"Alright," Zane nodded, "I will."

And the two sat like that for a moment, Zane didn't even know when he had sat down, until the intercom broke the quiet. 

"Zane Julien and Kai Smith, please report to downstairs workshop. Zane Julien and Kai Smith, please report to the downstairs workshop." Pixal's voice rang out. 

The two got up and silently made their way back to the workshop. 

"It's ready," Pixal announced once the duo plus Lloyd, who they ran into a long the way,  arrived. Cole was there too, bags of take out sitting on the desk behind him. 

E's new body sat lifeless on the work bench, wearing a black sweat suit. Ironic, how he ended up wearing an inverted version of Zane's first clothes. 

"I want to reiterate that I'm not entirely sure this will work," she continued, "Although, Jay and Nya did a good job at repairing the hard drive, if Garmadon did do this, there's no telling if his magic affected it or not. And I didn't want to test it in the computer and risk... you know."

Didn't want to risk another digital Overload incident, or at least something similar happening. 

"Fair warning," Pixal said, walking behind the body to insert E's hard drive, "Upon starting up for the first time, he may experience temporary memory loss, disorientation, imbalance, or mental and physical delay."

Zane braced himself as Pixal inserted the hard drive. This was it. Time to find out the truth. 

E's eyes flickered and lit up, blinking slowly. His head turned ever so slightly, taking in the entire room and everyone in it.

Pixal... Nya... Jay... Cole... Zane.

E stood up as his eyes locked with Zane's.

He took a shaky step towards him. Two. Zane watched in silent anticipation. 

Then he jumped on him.

Though weak and not having full control of his limbs yet, E tackled Zane to the floor with all the strenght he had. E's fingers frantically pulled at Zane's shirt, trying to quickly reach his power source. He wasn't able to get much farther than that, the ninja were quick to pull him off of their brother.

"What the fuck!?" Kai's voice shouted over the thumping in Zane's ears.

"Someone hurry up and turn him off, already!" That was Cole's.

Pixal was at E's back in an instant, ready to rip out his hard drive. 

"Y-you," E snarled.

"What about me!?" Zane shouted from the floor, making Pixal pause.

"You took him away from me," E glared daggers at him, "You killed our father!"

Zane's eyes widened, a mixture of anger and surprise surged through him.

"So you were built by him, then," Zane kept his voice stern, "Who are you?"

"I'm you,"

E's words cut through Zane like a knife. He sincerely regretted using his blueprints now, E's appearance made it worse. 

"No way!" Jay shouted from Zane's side, "You're not Echo! I refuse to believe you're the kind nindroid from Lighthouse Island!"

"Echo," E laughed, "Yeah, that's all I was. Just an echo of the son he really wanted. The son he tried so hard to turn me into!"

"That's not..." Nya tried, but failed to counter, "He was lonely! Of course he wanted replicate what he was familiar with!"

"He abandoned me the second he got you back!" E once again tried to lunge at Zane, but he couldn't break from Cole and Kai's hold. Pixal was quick to finish him off, ripping the hard drive from his head.

Zane shuddered as the nindroid fell limp and lifeless.

"What. The. Fuuuuuuck..." Cole whispered, mainly to himself. 

Lloyd placed a hand on Zane's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Zane didn't respond.

Zane sat at the table quietly, waiting for Pixal to finish with her work and for everyone to leave. She checked the handcuffs one more time, making sure they were tight and secure, before turning to him.

"I'll plug him in, but I'm not leaving you alone with him,"

"Pixal-"

"I promise I won't say a thing," she said, defiantly, "but I'm not leaving you alone, Zane. How many times has he attacked you now, I seem to have lost count."

"That's what the handcuffs are for,"

"Zane, as smart as you are, you are incredibly stupid," she glared, "You don't have to do this alone."

"I need answers, Pixal," he replied, patiently, "And, while I mean this as a compliment, you can be quite intimidating when you want to be."

"Good, I hope he's intimidated," her voice was colder than Zane's ice, "He's lucky we never met on the battlefield, so I could repay what he did to you in that canyon, tenfold."

Zane sighed, this was getting nowhere.

The other ninja stood awkwardly by the door, not used to seeing the two argue.

"Zane, how many times have I been right in a situation like this?" She asked, rhetorically, "Every time. Every. Time. I'm not saying he will attack you. I'm saying it's safer for me to be here if he does."

"Alright," he relented, "If it'll put you at ease, then you can stay. Please, just... let me do the talking."

Pixal took his hand and smiled at him, "I promise,"

"We'll be right out here if you need us," Lloyd announced, preparing to shove all the other ninja out the door.

"Not eavesdropping or anything," Jay laughed, nervously, "Just, you know, keeping watch..."

Cole rolled his eyes and turned Jay to the door, "Just holler if you need us, we'll hear it,"

Kai walked over to Zane and placed a hand on his shoulder, "While I think this is really dumb, and that's coming from me, I'm glad you're taking my advice."

"I'll admit," Zane sighed, "I wouldn't be doing this, had I not talked to you."

"Well, I guess that officially gives Pixal permission to beat me up if something bad happens,"

"She wouldn't," Zane chuckled, "but she would definitely think about it."

Zane waited patiently all the ninja left, until it was just him, Pixal, and E's body in the room. 

E? Was that what Zane should call him? He didn't seem to like Echo, so what else would he call him?

Now's not the time to be thinking about that!

Pixal once again walked behind E, preparing to insert his hard drive. She placed a hand on his shoulder, her hold firm.

E once again flickered to life, once again taking in the room. His eyes once again locked with Zane's.

Pixal pushed his shoulder back into the chair, "Don't even think about it."

"Pixal," Zane scolded.

"I'm done," she released E's shoulder and moved to the back of the room. 

E didn't make a sound, instead he examined the cuff around his wrist. He idly pulled it, lifting the other cuff as high as it would go. Being that it was attached to the table leg, it only lifted a few inches. 

He was definitely stuck. His question was, for how long? E would very much like to go back to being dead. 

"Why did you restart me?" he asked, calmly. No point in waisting his energy to act aggressive. 

"I want some answers," Zane replied, "and while it is a peculiar situation, I do consider you family. And we always give family a second chance."

"Family..." E grumbled, "You're no family of mine. Why should I do anything for you?"

"Because, sadly, I think you're right,". Zane said, stoic, "Our father was wrong. He never should have left you on that island."

"And like I said," Zane added, "I want to give you a second chance. Lord Garmadon was given one, as well as Skylor Chen, there is no reason for Mr. E to not also get one."

"How charitable of you," E rolled his eyes. 

"Let me help you, brother," Zane reached out for him. 

E pulled away, "Don't call me that!"

"Fine," Zane's eyes flickered to Pixal, who was more on guard at the outburst. She visibly relaxed after Zane held her gaze for a moment, "If you can at least answer a few of my questions, we can negotiate your sentence with the police. I cannot guarantee anything, you were apart of a terrorist organization after all, but-"

"I'd rather die,"

Zane's eyes widened, "...What?"

"I would rather your friend deactivate me right now, she seems more willing than you, and put me out of my misery,"

"Misery?"

"There's nothing for me in this world," E stated as if he were bored, "There never has been."

"You're saying that because father-"

"Because he abandoned me? Yes," E rested his chin in his free hand, "The only people I had were the Sons of Garmadon, and even they abandoned me."

"Were they ones who..." Zane struggled to find an appropriate word, "attempted to dispose of you?"

E glared at him, reluctant to answer Zane's question. After a moment, he relented. There was no point in fighting, Zane seemed ready to keep him there as long as it took.

"No... Emperor Garmadon was disappointed in me," E's brow furrowed at the memory, "He used me as an example for what happened when you failed."

E's fists clenched as he continued, "No one stood up for me, but Harumi. And where is she now? I doubt the prison."

Zane and Pixal looked at each other again. With a nod, Zane gave Pixal permission to answer. 

"She was caught in a building collapse," she informed, "She did not survive."

"And here I was, expecting execution," E chuckled to himself, "As you can see, I have no one, not even the one person who stood up for me."

"That's not true," Zane shook his head, "I stood up for you, even when it was deemed safer to dispose of you, twice."

"Which is incredibly stupid for a super computer," E smirked, "Did you miss the part where I attacked you on sight?"

Zane sighed, "I don't blame you for hating me, it was unfair for you to be made in my image, to constantly be compared to someone else, but I know you can be more than that. You can be better."

E looked at him, considering what Zane had said. He caught a bit of his reflection in Zane's titanium skin and said, "You're a hypocrite, you know that?"

If he could, Zane would have flushed from embarrassment, "I apologize, it was also unfair to use my blueprints to rebuild you."

E snorted, "As long as you know it," he looked away and said, "Fine, I'll answer your questions, but I want you to make good on your part. I want freedom."

"I trust you won't attempt to free the other Sons of Garmadon from prison," Pixal piped up from behind E.

E turned to Pixal and replied, "No, I don't care enough," with that he turned back to Zane, "I want to get away from all of this. If I'm going to live, it's going to be by myself. Away from you."

"I will do everything in my power to give that to you, but cannot give you any guarantees," Zane couldn't just let him go, but if Lord Garmadon was given leniency, why couldn't he?

"Figures," E grumbled, "Whatever. What could you possibly want to know?"

Zane gave him a small smile for being so agreeable, "I would like to start by clarifying, this is not an interrogation about the Sons of Garmadon. This is my own personal inquiry. You will be questioned by the police later."

"Yay," he said sarcastically.

Zane's smile fell. It was hard to imagine the happy and helpful droid, Jay and Nya had once described, being the same droid sitting in front of him.

"How did you leave the island?"

E  looked away, curling his free arm into himself, "The SoG were just getting started, Harumi was going around to try and find Garmadon supporters. She found me when she was looking into Samukai's old hiding spots."

"And when was that?"

"A little over a year, maybe a year and a half ago," E scratched at the table, idly, "It was right before some big disaster, kept your attention from the SoG forming right under your nose."

"Before the Day of the Departed?"

"What is that? The candy holiday?" E thought for a moment, trying to remember, "Yeah, I guess so. I was going through some modifications at the time, so I don't remember that well. Why do you care, exactly?"

Zane smiled once again and answered, "Because I found out about you right after the Day of the Departed and began looking for you."

E gave him a skeptical look, "You were looking for me? How did you even find out about me?"

"One of my friends told me," Zane replied, "It's a bit hard to explain. I promise to tell you all about it later."

E furrowed his brow and Zane couldn't help, but smile to himself because he knew E wanted to know more. He hoped E's curiosity would win over and convince him to keep talking to him. 

"Why did you stay with the Sons of Garmadon?" Zane continued, "Did you ever think about leaving?"

"The SoG were all I had," E glared, "but yes. I did think about leaving, in the beginning."

"Could you tell me more about that? What stopped you?"

E didn't answer for a long time, glaring down at the table with his lips sealed. If Zane didn't have advanced hearing, he wouldn't have heard E mumble his response. 

"I had wanted to find you,"

Zane's eyes widened at that, he was so sure he had always hated him.

"Don't look at me like that!" E snarled, "He used to go on and on about you, is it really so surprising that I would look for the only person I knew would be out there?"

"I'm surprised you wanted anything to do with me at all," 

E looked away again, "I didn't always hate you... I stayed with the SoG because Harumi said, if we bring Garmadon back he might be able to resurrect father again. She told me your team was responsible for his death, since you defeated Garmadon in the first place. And I hated you for it.

But as time passed, they helped me realize how unfair he was to me. I realized that I didn't want him back. Because I knew he was ashamed of me and I began to hate you for that, instead."

Zane was quick to reply, to defend his father, "That's not true... He wouldn't-"

"If he wasn't ashamed of me, then why did he hide me away? Why didn't he bring me out the day you arrived?" E pointed, accusingly at Zane.

Zane couldn't respond because he was right. There was no good reason to hide him. Not when his father knew they would be escaping from the island that day. He just sat there, gaping like an idiot, trying to respond. 

"Zane?" Pixal spoke up, "A word, please?"

Zane snapped out of his gaze. After processing her request for a moment, he let out a sigh, and got up to leave.

"I won't be long," he promised as he and Pixal made their way to the door.

Outside, Zane found most of his family waiting in some chairs. Most because Kai and Jay were standing suspiciously near the door, trying to look inconspicuous. He didn't mind, the tower's wall were practically sound proof. He doubted they heard much more than E's shouts.

Cole muttered, "Idiots," before Lloyd stepped up.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, "Do you guys need help?"

"I need to speak with Zane," Pixal explained, before his gaze darted to Kai and Jay, "Privately." 

With that, Pixal walked Zane down the hall, speaking to him in a hushed voice.

"Stop this!"

"Stop what?" he asked.

"Stop torturing yourself with this!" she chided, "I can see it on your face! You're blaming yourself!"

"I-I am not!" he lied, "Is it wrong for me to feel sympathy!"

"No, but you're not just feeling sympathy are you?"

Zane gave up, after years of being in his head, Pixal could see right through him.

"He was hidden away, Pixal," he relented, "from ME."

"That is not your fault," she placed a firm hand on his chest, "Your father was human, humans make mistakes."

"Echo is not a mistake,"

"I never said that," she smiled, "It is admirable for you to be so protective of him so quickly, but you are too quick to defend him. You think you have to defend him from yourself, don't you?"

"I'm the source of all his pain-"

"No you are not!" Pixal interrupted.

"But he sees me that way,"

"Then prove to him and yourself that you aren't," she emphasized, "You've done so much for him, you're different from your father. You won't leave him behind. I assure you, he'll come around."

"How are you so sure?"

"I'm not," her smile widened, "but as I've heard your whole team say, multiple times over, ninja never quit.

You're not going to quit on Echo now, are you?"