Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Zane barely made it into his room and locked the door before he collapsed.

He needed to do something.

The memory- that stupid memory of him being r̷i̷p̷p̴e̸d̷ ̸a̴p̷a̷r̶t̷,̴ ̸t̶h̸e̴ ̶u̶n̶b̷e̷a̸r̸a̸b̷l̷e̵ ̴h̸e̴a̶t̷ ̸r̷i̴s̶i̸n̴g̴ ̷i̴n̶ ̴h̸i̸s̶ ̷c̷o̶r̵e̵ ̶a̵n̵d̵ ̵e̷x̸p̴l̷o̸d̷i̴n̸g̷ ̸f̷r̸o̷m̷ ̷t̴h̸e̸ ̶i̸n̵s̵i̴d̸e̵ ̸o̸u̸t̸.̶ ̶

Oh how Zane wishes he had his human body again. He might be strange to others but he would have thrown up with all the pressure bubbling inside of him. An output. 

Why couldn't he have just been human.

 He wanted to throw up, cry, anything! Anything to get rid of this stupid memory and all the pain it brought with it.

 But now he’s in a titanium shell, unable to do anything with these feelings.

He would do anything to get rid of- oh OH!

Maybe his metallic nature can save him. Maybe he can be free of the memories. Be free of all the pain.

He didn't want to delete the memory. As much pain it has, the love he felt for his friends, no family was too big, too great to completely get rid of. He would choose to sacrifice himself over and over again, no matter the pain if that meant he could protect his family. 

But he was useless like this. Barely able to fall asleep, and even if he manages to all he dreams of is the very thing that keeps him awake. What else could he do?

As he thought, flashes of pain hit his core. He was dying. Holding onto the armor even as he burned his hands. He was going to die. He was going to be ripped apart and die. He was-

“Zane, are you alright?” Pixal asked in a calming voice. Slightly panicked but calm nonetheless.

The pain stopped. He was in his room. He wasn't going to die. Pixal was in his head, talking to him. He wondered how he was going to do everything without being Pixal into it. Zane didn't want her to leave but he knew she didn't deserve Zane like this. No, she deserved someone at least mentally stable. Not after being so kind and polite. Not after dying for him. Not after seeing Zane die in front of her. Not after-

Zane took a deep breath. He had to be okay for now. For Pixal’s sake.

“Y-yes” he croaked out, trying to block other thoughts.

He wanted to say more but a burning feeling lingered in his arms. All Zane could do was lay on the floor useless. He wished he had just stayed dead. Maybe then he could be useful and-

“You are not.” Pixal states firmly, like telling a child that they have to pick up after themselves. 

“Why did you lock yourself in your room when you needed medical care?” 

“I do not need medical care.” Zane answers under his breath.

 The pain was reduced to just faint buzzing on his palms. He takes another deep breath. 

Pixal sighs. “Your anxiety levels were the highest I've seen Zane. You didn't even hear me this time.” 

Zane freezes. Pixal was calling his name? He thought it was just him at the moment. He needed to fix this. Fix all of this. He needed to make sure he could help people again. That he can help his family. How was he supposed to make dinner, or have late night talks if he is so caught up in his own pain that he doesn't even realize anybody is even there. Maybe he deserved to die. The thoughts clouded his mind again, a snowstorm of suffering.

The pain came flooding back. His arms screaming as he holds the golden armor. He felt that sicking power overflow his sensors. He had to hold on, no matter the pain. For his family. He had to hold on.

H̴e̷ ̴h̸a̶d̴ ̷t̷o̴ ̶h̷o̴l̴d̸ ̸o̵n̴.̸

H̶̛͙ë̶̠̼̫́̀̓̔̑̏̋ ̴͇̤̱̝̣̟̲͔̭̎̑̄̑̈́̍̇͘h̷̢̬̭̞͔͍̅̔̈́̍͛̈́̕ḁ̶̞̳͐͌́̅̄̃͜͝d̴̛͙̅̒̄̍̓̾ ̴̥͎͈̰̟̤̜̚͠ț̷͚̰͉̖̗̯̪̻͗́͌̆́̕͝͠ǒ̵͇̲͖͓̭̻ ̷̘͓̫͕̟͎̿̀̓ḧ̷̙́͑̈́̎̈́͋́̀o̶̫̲̠̬̝̿̌͌̾̃̽͘͝l̷͙̘̙̬͔̝̺̹͕͋̈̇̄̋̾̀̉ḏ̸̛̼͕̆̀̿̿̍̃̑͝ ̶̧̖̩͕̹̎͌ó̶͓̟͚̗̉̀̈́͋̈́̇̒͑͜ͅn̷̰̻̔̊.̴̛͎̺͈̦̫̖̭̫̞͋̍͛͐̏ ̸̦͍͔̻̠̽̏͝ͅ

H̷̨̡̛̛̰̟̻͈̪̮͈̫̟̬̞̱̘̞̤͙͇̥̗̦͎́̓̋̑͂̀͊̓́̏̽̓̆͗͌͂̾̋̆͗́͗̍́̀̐͐̊́̿͊̎̀̕͘̕̕͘̚͜͜͝͠ȩ̷̥̫̯̥͓͔͈̪̮̪̝̜̦͖̘̥̘̹̮̗̗͂̽̊̕̕-̷̢̨̢̨̡̪̫̱͉͇͉̭̙͈͎̻̱̝͙͕̎̏͂̊̂̿̈́̅͂̂͜

He was in his bedroom. Pixal was saying his name again. Why was he curled against the door? Why did everything hurt? Why-?

“ZANE!” Pixal screamed from his head

“Pixal?” He mumbled back, his head reeling from Pixal's calling his name. This is the first time his had a headache in this body. It was painful but calming in its own way. He could feel like a human again.

“Oh thank the FSM you are okay!” She said, visibly relaxing on his HUD as soon as Zane responded.

“Wha-?” Zane stuttered as he slowly remembered what happened. He is home. He is safe. He wasn't a few seconds ago.

“You were stuck in some sort of memory, I believe. It lasted for about 5 minutes. I was about to call the others-” 

“NO!” Zane shouted. He took a sharp breath, surprised by his own sound. “Please.” He asked in a much quieter voice to not make the others aware of this situation.

“Fine.” Pixal eventually says. “But if this gets worse then I will.” 

Zane felt his whole body relax with that news.

“Thank you Pixal.”

—------------------------

Zane closed his bedroom door. It was approximately two days since his last panic attack and he had barely managed since then. Every second feels like agony. He needs to do something. Anything.

So he does.

Puzzles. So many puzzles. He can hide all of those horrible memories in something as simple as a puzzle. Puzzles that to open, you needed to know a significant amount of information about him and his family. Perfect. 

Now all he had to do is lock up that line of code. The line of code that brought him so much pain that he could barely process. He just needed Pixal to leave again. He has no idea why she left his systems but sharing a body with someone with his current mental state couldn't be fun.

…Check for other entities…

…Select to confirm…

<Yes>

<No>

…You have selected <Yes>

…No other entities have been found…

Good. She must have gone back to the main computer. Zane quickly moved all his puzzles to a file and encrypted the memory. 

…Lock memory O̵͙̅v̶̻͎̋ȇ̸̮̚ŗ̵̂͛ḽ̴̳̋̈o̶͑̈́͜r̷͉̱̽̊d̵̩͙̆.̵̡̣̑è̶͎̦x̸̦͝ẹ̵̽]̷̠̜̂ ̸̲̀in file [Ninjigma]...

…Select to confirm…

<Yes>

<No>

…You have selected <Ỳ̸̢̯̦͔͓̩̞̖̤̬͉͓̪́̉̋̎͑́́͂͐̕ḛ̸͌̐̅̍̓̐͌͘̚͝s̷̛̲̜̻̞͇͛͆̀̐̆͘≯̡̮͔̠̝̗̲̀̉̄͜

Huh.. his code was being even more glitchy then he remembered. Should he ask Pixal or-

...Task c̷̡̄o̴̫͊m̷̰̈́p̵̺̅ḷ̵͘ę̵̃t̶͈͝e̶̬͐d̸͍͂…

The subtle buzz of pain disappeared. His hand no longer felt like they were holding that golden-thing. What was he holding onto? Zane couldn't even remember the details. It was bliss. He sighed as he fell against his bedroom door. Everything was okay again. He was okay again. No more late nights, no more muffled screams, no more pain. 

‘I can..be u̷s̴e̴f̴u̸l̸..again’ was his last thought before everything went black, into a dreamless sleep.

—------------------------

Zane groaned, pulling him up from the door. Maybe he should have waited to get into his bed before anything. He doesn't even remember what he was doing.

…Access Memories Files [last night]…

…Select to confirm…

<Yes>

<No>

…You have selected <Yes>

…No new m̸͈͒e̷̯͌m̸̈́ͅo̷̠̅r̴̾ͅy̶͊ͅ files were added [last night]…

That's…unusual. Unless he passed out earlier? That must be it. He wouldn't have deleted his memories, not after what his father did. Zane was certain. Besides he didn't have time to worry! He had breakfast to make, and he was already running-

He quickly checked his clock on his HUD. Huh. Why wasn't it showing up? Maybe he did have a glitch. He tried clicking on his clock again, and thank FSM it worked again. It flashed black and purple lines as it quickly fixed itself back to an icy blue. He would have to talk to Nya or Jay about this. 

The clock reads 8:28. 

Wait. He took a double take. It was basically 8:30! Today was his 6:00 mediation too. 

He quickly changed into his Gi and headed to the kitchen, hoping he wasn't too late but no matter how much the nindroid dreamed, you can't make up an hour and a half by wishing.

“Hey there sleeping beauty!” Kai said, rummaging through the fridge.

“Uh- Hello.” Zane replies, “did I miss anything this morning?”

“Dude it's still morning even when the sun's out when you wake up.” Kai joked, “but you missed you and Lloyd’s mediation and I believe he was waiting until you woke up. Catch.” 

Catch? He reflexes understand better then his brain did, as he caught the egg carton with his left hand. 

“Put it on the table, would ya. I'm making my homemade extra spicy noodles!” 

“Still I would recommend you to be careful” 

“Ya ya, I'm the carefullist person on the team” 

“I do not believe carefullist is a word, Kai.”

Kai turned around with the rest of his ingredients in hand. No wonder he threw the eggs at him, he had no way of carrying it. A deep sigh slipped out of his throat. Zane carefully placed the eggs down on the table-

His vision was p̶̥̂u̵̪̔ŗ̵̅p̸̘̆ḽ̶̅e̵̠͆. No light. No shadows. Purple. He scrambled backwards, losing the eggs. But that wasn't important. What was important is that he can't seem to feel his arms or chest, except the w̸h̷i̵t̸e̴ ̵h̸o̷t̷ ̴p̸a̷i̷n spreading from his palm.  

Then like a light switch it turned off. He could see again. The pain faded to the past. It was back to normal. Thank goodness.

Well, minus Kai standing over him is fear and shock, trying to process what Zane himself doesn't understand.

“FSM are you okay?!?!” Kai asked quickly, kneeling beside his friend.

Zane stood up, a bit wobbly but standing again.

“Yes. Thank you.” He asked leaning on the counter for extra support.

“Uhhh-are you just going to train after falling like that?”

Zane looked at him, like that wasn't even a question. “Of course. I'm sure it's just one of the systems that got too full. I am guessing on my memories.” Zane wasn't going to tell him he had no recollection of last night. Kai looked worried enough.

“I'm calling Nya.” He said, grabbing his phone out and pressing her contact. Zane couldn't even argue before Nya picks up.

“Hey bro! Whatcha calling me for!” Nya’s voice crackles in the audio. 

“Zane needs a check up, his systems are acting weird or something.” Kai replied, not giving Zane a chance to deflect at all. He was fine. He needed to mediatie with Lloyd or at least make up for skipping.

“Sure! I'm in the Samurai X cave, so he can just come down” 

“Thanks sis. Love ya”

“Love you too”

When Kai clicked the end call button his fate was sealed. He was stuck in a lie, he couldn't remember what's causing everything and now he has to get a check up.

Today was not his day.

Chapter Text

The cool feeling of the metal table against his hand calmed him as he sat down. He really didn't want to be here, at least he wanted to be here willingly. But Kai insisted, and walked with him to the Samurai X cave. He loves his brothers but why do they act like he’s so fragile? They acted like that since...they found him. In the cold dark basement. After he-

[̷̧̛̱̲̞̺̐͑̽͝È̴̪̩Ŗ̶̜̫͖͇̈́͐̆́̎͝R̷̛̚͜O̴̰̭̣̓͐̃̕͝Ȑ̸̡̘̮̬͍̥͚͍͛̍͐̀̑̎̉]̵̡͙̩̺̥͈̒ͅ

Huh? Why couldn't he remember? A vague memory of pain flashed in his mind but he couldn't grab onto it.

“So Zane, why did Kai force ya down here again?” Nya asked politely, snapping Zane out of thought. Kai probably has left now, so it's just him and Nya in the cave. He must have zoned out. Nya looks at him, patiently but still expecting him to explain himself. Kai was overprotective but he was extremely good at seeing if someone needs help then forcing them to get better. Aggressively.

“I-uh think my memory files are acting up, I should probably download them to the main computer to free up space” He lied. Well it wasn't lying if some of it was true.

“Alrighty,” Nya walked over to the computer and grabbed a dark red cord, pulling it as she turned back to Zane. “Ready?” She asked in a soft voice.

Zane nodded. He laid flat on the cool hard table. Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

“3…2..” Nya called out.

Then everything faded to darkness before he could hear the last number.

—------------------

Zane blinks away. Well not physically. The digital world was an interesting experience when it comes to comparison to the physical world. You feel like you are blinking when you have no eyes or eyelids to do so. He sat there for a second, processing the changes.

“Zane?” Nya asked from the world outside. He heard it like she was talking through a speaker.

“I am here.” Zane responded. He brought up all the memory files like one would raise an arm. He didn’t enjoy the digital world as much as the physical one, but he had a job to do.

The earliest and fuzzest memory he has is waking up for the first time. He was in a child's body making Dr. Julien tower above him.

………………memory playing…………………..
“Hello there,” The man asked, adjusting his glasses. His warm brown eyes were so comforting as they carefully inspected the newly built android. Zane tilted his head, taking in the lab. He was sitting on a wooden chair, papers all around his feet.

“I'm Dr. Julien, and your name is Zane,” he states calmly.

Everything filled Zane’s senses. The musty wood smell hugs in the air, making Zane feel relaxed. He felt at home. His hands graze the chair, letting himself focus on just the texture. Dr. Julien's voice sounded gentle. Home. He would find a better word one day but everything just felt right.

“Why don't you try and say your name?”

“Z-Z Ann-nE” He stumbled out. The words thick on his tongue.

A warm smile spread across Dr. Julien's face. He inches closer, holding Zane’s hand. The heat makes him flinch but then leans into the warm touch. The warmth felt good.

“I love you, my son”
………………memory ending…………………..

If Zane could still cry, he's certain a tear would streak across his metal face.

He had about 16 years of living with Father, 16 years 8 months, 24 days and 12 hours to be exact before his memory switch was turned off. The carefree days were something he would never get back no matter what. Now he is a ninja. A protector. But Zane can't help but be selfish, wishing back when he was just an inventor's son. It was a simple life, but a good one.

………………memory playing…………………..
“I have a gift for you, my son,” Father said, patting the spot next to him. Zane still felt so small, barely able to sit in the tall bed.

“I've built you in a child's body, however you've been with me for 15 years now. How would you like to have a bigger body?”

Zane thought his processors were malfunctioning when he first heard this. He could be bigger! He could help father with more things! Maybe he would even be able to go outside! He nodded.

“Yes.” His voice is still monotone no matter how much he wants it to be full of emotions. He wanted a lot of things but just being with father was enough. He would love his father and he would love him, even if he couldn’t show it on his face. Besides he had years to show how much he truly cares. He would-
………………memory exited ……………………

Zane exits the memory, quick to leave.

He knows that his naive mindset wasn't good, especially for a ninja but he can't help but miss it. And Father…Maybe one day he can finish all of the memories, but today is not that day. Besides, it's just a routine checkup. He clicked on another group file.

………………memory playing…………………..
“I believe you have great potential Zane,” Master Wu says.

Zane tilted his head, confused. He didn't understand why the old man had been offered to let him stay. After all he is an amnesiac teenager with barely any memory of where he came from. He couldn’t wrap his head around why Wu wanted to train him to be a ninja. The last two days have felt like a never ending fever. However, Zane just went with it. It's not like Zane had many other places to go afterall.

Wu opened the gates to the monastery.

“Welcome to your new home Zane.” The old man says, proudly showing him the courtyard.

He slowly walked in, scared of what he might find. When he was working odd jobs he had met some children who would pull ‘pranks’. From what he remembered it's tricking people in a ‘funny’ way. Maybe this was all a joke he doesn't understand.
He didn’t understand a lot of things anyway.

Zane walked into the courtyard.
………………memory ending…………………..

Now Zane felt bad for how he thought of Wu. Sure, the man has caused some trouble, but they all have at this point. He flipped through his memories, going back to all of the team's crazy adventures. He quite liked just looking through them.

“This is what you wanted help with? I didn't know Nindroids kept diaries.” Nya asked startling Zane from his thoughts.

He didn’t know she could see any of this. All Zane could do is hope she didn’t see anything about Father.

“This is not a diary. It’s my memory files.” He commented.

“I’m guessing we are going through all your memories?” She asked.

“I suppose so.” Zane didn’t want to be here, but if he was going to be, he might as well check. Maybe he would remember what he was forgetting, even better yet, find out why his HUD is glitching.

………………memory playing…………………..
“Are you our new teammate?” Jay asked, pointing right at him.

“I’m pretty sure he is. Wu brought him here and said ‘This is your new teammate’, dumbass.” Cole added with an eyebrow raised, and elbowed Jay in the stomach.

“Ow! That's not the point, I’m just trying to get him to say something!”

Zane was so confused by these new people. Jay, the one with fluffy brown hair, was jumping around a lot while the other one, Cole who had black hair, was staring at him waiting for him to do something. How was he supposed to react to this? Not that Zane had been a very expressive person to begin with.

But something about this felt right. He hasn’t felt like this for a while but maybe this could be his home. Zane liked that idea. He liked it a lot.
………………memory ending…………………..

“That’s how you met Jay and Cole?!?” Nya asked, slightly dumbfounded. She stared at the screen where the memory had played. She loved Jay and found Cole very supportive but she couldn’t see them acting like they did in the memory. Well maybe just a little bit.

“We have all grown as people from when we met.” Zane said with a sad smile. He was proud of who he is but missed how carefree he and his brothers were. It’s been so long since they were all friends. Life recently has felt more similar to a soldier.

Zane made a mental note to do something fun with the group soon, maybe a game night. He just had to prove to Kai and Nya that he was f̵i̷n̶e̴.

………………memory playing…………………..
“I’m not going to be a ninja forever. I’m going to save my sister and then I’m going back.” Kai huffed and turned around to face the wall in his bunk bed.

“I don’t need friends”

Muffled tears fell from Kai's face, a soft sound but loud enough for Zane to hear. Cole was already asleep and Jay had stopped talking, meaning he was either asleep or ignoring the argument all together.

Zane creeped out of his bunk bed with his blanket, using the limited ninja training he had to not make a sound.

He placed the blanket on Kai's shaking body, then climbed back into bed. He was definitely going to be cold, but Zane enjoyed the cold anyway. Kai’s cries stopped, and being satisfied with that, Zane's eyes grew heavy.
………………memory ending…………………..

“Oh.” Nya gasps, processing what she has just seen. Zane continues to smile, but Nyas eyes are glued to the screen making it go unnoticed. Zane still has no regrets, he would do anything for his friends. No, his family. He would do anything for his family.
………………memory playing…………………..

“Hello,”
……………………………………………………

Nya blinked as she recognized her own voice.

…………………………………………………….
“I’m Nya, uhhhh Wu said I could stay here.” The girl said, not really sure what do say.

Zane nodded and showed her the empty room in the monastery. He gave her a polite smile and opened the door.

She was Kai's sister, he guessed. Kai was so insistent on finding her as soon as possible, and was happy she was safe, though he sensed that wouldn’t last long.

“Thank you,.. Zane?”

He nodded again. “ I am glad you are safe.”

“Me too,” Nya sighed as she walked into her new room.
………………memory ending…………………..

“That's when we first met!” Nya exclaimed.
“Indeed,” Zane replies, “I'm playing back the time I met my family for the first time.”
“That's sweet!” Nya says as the next memory flashes on the screen. This was turning into more of a movie night than a check up. Not that she was complaining.

………………memory playing…………………..
“Put me down this instant! I am the feared Lloyd Garmadon!” The young Lloyd yelled, as he hung from a lamppost.

“Crime doesn’t pay, kid. Maybe you should learn!”
Kai mocked, Cotton candy in his hand.

Zane thought that is was a little rude, but the child was stealing and causing a scene. Zane ate his bit of chocolate and started to walk with the rest of the group.

As they all walked away, the threats of the child were heard, “ I’ll GET YOU BACK, NINJAS!” his voice squeaking on the last word.

Zane turned around but quickly joined back with the group. He wondered if they might see this child again.
………………memory ending…………………..

Zane smiled at the memory. Lloyd was probably the most changed because of their adventures, both physically and mentally. He was so rude when he first met him. Now Zane would d̶i̸e̷ for him.

“Lloyd was definitely a brat when he was younger.” Nya points out, laughing at the scrawny blonde kid on the screen. She walks over to the computer, and starts to type.

“I will give you that.” Zane says playing back a few memories just for himself. He felt exposed with Nya watching his memories, but it was better than Kai babying him for a month.

An image of the great devourer flashed on screen. It was the first big attack on the city they had to deal with, he could almost hear the s̷̥̑c̸̫̏r̷̫͛e̷̻̔a̴̝͑m̷͐͜s̴̛̞.

Wait, it wasn't from that memory…..

Where was i̷̜͋ț̴̎ coming from….

“I'm noticing some resolution downgrading in these older files.” Nya stated calmly unaware of Zane's internal panicking.

Zane sucked in a deep breath, or as close as you can get in the digital world. He had to focus and get this over with.

“It is quite possible that injuries from battle and multiple system wipes had an impact on the data” Zane managed to get out, trying to make Nya leave it alone. He had to find what was causing the screams. It was so loud.

“Hmmm…Just to be sure, I'll have the Samurai X computer run a diagnostic scan, but let's keep going with the memory just for a physical test. So- ah crap I need a screwdriver.” Nya added,
“Zane I’ll be right back, I think Jay has my screwdriver” She quickly jogged to the elevator, muttering about how she is going to get him back for messing with her tools.

And just like that Zane is alone.

………………memory playing…………………..
“Lloyd is the green ninja!” Wu announces to the group. Zane was relieved that he didn't have to keep up the act of wanting to be the green ninja, after all he hated the idea of competing for a title. However the face on the small child was one of confusion and fear.
………………memory ending…………………..

…Diagnostic 20% Complete…

Destiny was not a kind thing, and Zane couldn't stop thinking about all what one moment had caused. Everything bad that's happened to Lloyd came from that moment…

…D̷i̴a̷g̸n̵o̵s̸t̴i̵c̴ ̵4̶0̶%̸ ̸C̷o̶m̶p̷l̸e̷t̵e̴…

Zane couldn't help but feel distraught. Like there was a soft buzzing underneath their skin. Did he mess up? If so, did he remember? His head throbbed with pain.

………………memory playing…………………..
Lloyd ran to hug his father, human once again. A small smile creeped on Zane’s face watching the two reunited. It was like when he saw his father again. He never had fully understood love. Was it a feeling in your chest or similar to an exchange?
………………………………………………………
…D̶̥͑̿i̷̫̍͝ä̴͔ǵ̴̙̆n̸̯̈͘o̶͉͆̚ş̵́ͅt̶̛͕͙i̸̗͗c̷̯͂̒ ̷̣̽6̶̡̞̃͘0̵͕̮̏%̴̨̈́̽ ̷̡̉̚C̷̖̔͝o̴̱̱̓̇m̸͍̗̓̈́p̵̹͐l̸̠̖͗͝ȇ̶͕ͅt̴̀͘͜ë̷̼́ ̶̨̩̿̈́….
………………………………………………………
It always bothered him that he was always uncertain about what love is. But now, seeing Llyod and Garmadon cry as they hugged each other for dear life, he thinks he finally understands. It’s more than a feeling or action. It’s both a sacrifice and a gift. Everything and nothing. The feeling fluttered in his chest like there were still butterflies in his systems.
………………memory ending…………………….

…D̴͖̖̂̃̇ǐ̶̤a̸̟͍͌̂͂g̴͎̿͝n̸̢͍͛ȯ̶̡̺̽͝s̴̳̓t̴̝̉i̴̘̙̜͋c̴͚̩͇̎͑̊ ̸͉̠͊̽̕8̶͎̱͗̅͒0̷͓̦͝%̵̞̰̇ ̶̖̈̈̂C̵͙̤̳̀o̷̯̓̇̈́m̶̡̙̟͌p̸̙͙͐́̋ḽ̷̹̞̍̇͘ȅ̶̫̇̊t̴̘͇͓̓͠e̴̠̱͛̓ͅ ̴̹̪̞͗̊…

Zane clicked on the next memory file.

…E̷̮̖̬̠̫̺̐̈́͌̊̆͜ͅR̷̨̫̹̦̟̬͔̮̦͍̓̆̐̒́R̷̤̤͇͇̘͚̩̘͋͘͝͝͝ͅỘ̴͓͓͈̙͙̩͉Ŗ̵̨̡̛͙̠̳̤̱̫̠̤͚͉̟̿͋͐ [NO MEMORY FLIES DETECTED]…

What? He checked the rest of his memories, no way they were just missing? The most recent memories he found was in a noodle factory with Cole. He blinked in surprise. That's…a really random place. Never minding that he kept searching. No way he lost around 3 months of memories. He didn't even have a memory switch anymore! Wait. How did he change from looking human to….not.

...D̷̖͙̠͖͙͙͓̬͔̣͎̙̳̘͕͔̙̱̀̾̾̄͒̓́̓̓̈́͒̒̂̾̄͜ĭ̷̡̧̡͙̩͚̠̮͙͙̮̘͙͔͉͍̻̰̰͕̌͜ͅa̸̖̠̳͕̥͖͓̳͗͂̀͆̎͒̋̾̾̋̈̀̀̿̏͘͜͝͝͠g̴̤̝̝̳͎̟̼̪̈͗n̴͖̫̲̹̳̯͇͌̿̈ò̸̢̡̢̲͙͍͔̞̤̥̠͓͎̳̙͈̻̪͉̣̯͎̞͙͔̫̦̑́̏͐͗̋̍̅̅̅̓̈́̿̂̈́̇͊̕ͅs̸̨̲̭͔̼̤̹͇̺͚̥̲̘̤͙̲̲̰̰͈͕̩̪̱̺̬̈́́̃͒̂̈̈́̑͋͊͐̈́́̋̆͆̐͒̉͐̀͆͑́̑͒̊̉̚͠t̴̜̜̭͍̝̘͎̺͓̳͓͎͔̞̤̱̘͉͇̩͊͌͌̈́͛̾͌̄͘̚͘͜͜͝ͅͅͅį̴̛̣̗̯͔̩͇̼̹͙̠̝̩̪̬̳̖͓̦̼̭̥͍̮̬̿̽̅̈̍͐̾͊̉͑̆̔̃͜͜ͅͅč̴̢̘̜̬͕̦̙̭̜͔̥̪̗̱̼̹͖͈́͘ͅ ̴̧̢̡̘̟͚͕̪̮̪͕̒̓̎ͅ1̸̛͇̫͖̠̞͇̦͚̳̲͆͐̑̀̉̋̂̓̅̈̋̓̓̇̇̎̊̔̏̏̊̊̓̚͜͜͠͝ͅͅ0̷̩͚̥͖̹͐̂̀̒̋̀̀͂͑̉̃̍̿̒͘͘͝͝͠0̵̡̢̡̢͈̗̩̞̟̜̱̗̱̼̮̣̣̜̞̦̤͎͚̈̽̃͐̇̀̆́̃̅͗̚̚%̴̢̢̞̟̟̦̘̗̮̥͉̯̯̹̲̤̪̞͉̘̰̼̰̟͈̩̀̽̓̌̏̔͐͋̔̈̄̆̊̆͆̽́͌̃͑͘͜͜͠ ̶̗͎̭̮̪̗̝͇̤̥̺̦̙̞͈͉̥̆̓̅̈͑̐̽̑́̄̂̽̀̏͌̈̐̿̌̅́̎͠͝Ç̵̡̡̨͍̠͙̯͕̬̙͙͎͉̱͚͖̰͉̞̰͎͚͉̘͈͂̎͌͋́̀̆͝ͅo̵̢͕͈͈̞̗̩̻͙̫̦͎̩̦͎̫̐͆͜͜ͅm̴̧̖̜̳͖͈̠̬̟͍̣̼̲̯̗͈͈̘͖̗͖̃̇͐̆̀̔̿͐͛́̐͆͌̍͌̐̿̕͜͜͝p̸̢̮̱̞͕͍̣͕͈͉͍͖͈͒̔̈́͊͌̆̀͐̀̀̎̾̉͛̉̈́̉̍̿̄̎̈́̇͝͠͠͝l̶̨̡̢̳̗͍̣̖̤̹̮̥̬̘̻̎̒̈́̃̎͐̈́̋͋̂̒̀̐̏̑̈́͐̇́͂̓̓̇͘͝͝ë̵̳͕́̐̅̄̃͐̏̈́̑̅̐̒͛̋̔̈̾̿̒̇̚̚͝t̵̡̗͎͓̙̖̉͐̀͗͌̓̈́̋̓̍͊͌̊́̉̈́́̀̅̈́̕̚̕͠ḙ̸̹̱̟͙̘͉͒̌̍̍͐̒͋͐̚͘̕͠͝͠͝…

What happened to him? Why is everything so glitchy? What was going on? Zane wanted answers, he needed answers.

…[N̴̨̧̰̦̯̪̜̻̥̹̝͑̽͊̄̄͘i̸̛̤̖̮͇͒̂͒̅̄̍͗͗̊̓͠n̸̳̻̝͕̫͓͕̠͙̤͙͓̳̮̪͍͜͝j̷̮̹̼͔͌̒̓̍̒͂͝i̷̢̞̜̠͙͍͍̫͈͓̒͊̏̎̈́̉͋̑͐̋̀̆̆̒̀͠͠g̸̢̟̪͍̗̥̝͙̟̫̻̀͆̆̄͒͆̆m̷̧̢̬̮̠̣̣̝͔̥̩̭̻̲̈́̐͐̔͊̏̐̓͛̀́͘͜ͅą̵̧̢̟͕̖̪̞̰̗̯͔͙̣͒̌̀̈́̂̀̉̅̊͋̈́̋͊̄ͅͅ] Activated…

What? What the heck was a Ninjigma? What the heck was going on?

….Shutting Down….

Wait. WAIT. NONONONO-

Everything went pitch black.

Chapter Text

The elevator gave a small click when it reached the Samurai X Cave. Nya walked out with a screwdriver in hand, smiling. She sat in her rolly chair, typing on the computer. Just a few checks on Zane's firewall and he should be good to go. Maybe even get Kai of his back and-

Huh…

A new file appeared on the screen, blocking her out of the rest of Zane’s code. File.Ninjima.exe.? What does that even mean?

“Hey Zane, can you let me look through your code? A weird file is blocking me.” She called out to the nindroid. 

….

Nya got silence in response. The quiet settled around the cave, making her heart race. Anxiety crawls up her spine as she turns around. Zane still was laid down on the table, however he wasn’t responding.

“Zane?” Nya asked, her voice wavering with every word. “You here?”

….

He didn't move, reminding Nya too much of a corpse for her own liking. He was either sleeping or shut down. She begged the First Spinjitzu Master that he was sleeping. 

One thought nagged at the back of her head. Zane had never felt comfortable during check ups, and never enough to fall asleep….

FSM this is what she gets for leaving Zane! She was a horrible person and a horrible friend. What could she do? What could she do? She had to fix this.

She raced back clicking the button for the elevator, panic rising every second. Jay might be able to fix this. Nya was not letting Zane die again. Never again.

—-----------------

“JAY, COME NOW!” Nya screamed, as soon as the elevator opened. 

Jay dashed to the elevator, with a ham sandwich in hand. She pulled Jay in and pressed the button, heading back down.

“W-what do you need,” Jay said, breathing heavily. “I gave back your screwdriver.” Nya’s scream sent chills down his spine.

“This is something a bit worse….” Nya said, worry creeping into her voice

The doors open once again, and she leads him to Zane.

“I left for a few minutes, and - and he's gone!” She explained bouncing up and down nervously, pointing at Zane.

“Uhhh he looks not gone?” Jay suggested, looking at the nindroid laying down on the metal table. He was- very very still. A bit unnerving, even when he did most of his physical repairs. But he wasn’t ‘gone’.

“Well not physically, his CPU is gone. However I found this weird puzzle thing. I can’t believe I let this happen….”  She clicks on Zane's memory files, making an angry buzz fill the air and the ‘ninjigma’ fill the screen. The dark blue cube glowed in the dark cave with neon blue lines. 

“Whoa….”

“The puzzle seems to be part of some security protocol. I tried inspecting it from my terminal, but Zane's blocked outside users from messing with his code, meaning the only way to solve the puzzle and find Zane is from the inside.” Nya stated, with a hopeful glint in her eye.

“Okay, I hear you and all but how?” Jay questioned, staring at the screen. He wanted to help Zane, but everything felt a little unreal currently. They just saved Zane a few months ago, and he was acting completely fine before….all of this. 

“Remember how you defeated the Overlord?” Nya asked over her shoulder, grabbing wires and metal.

“Well yeah, we went into the ‘digiverse’ or whatever it was called.” Jay answered, now fidgeting as he thinks. What did this have to do with helping Zane? If it was as bad as Nya says, they need to help him now.

“Well, I think I can do the same thing but with Zane's subconscious, but you would have to be careful. Like mess around and dead situation.” Nya suggested 

“That's crazy…it might work though!” Jay commented. 

He wondered if he would be dead or Zane…

He shook off the thoughts.Nya gave a determined smile as Jay sat in a chair, shaking his leg nervously. She grabs some wires, trying to remember how Cyrus Borg’s machine worked, or that's how Jay saw it. She crouched down, messing around with wires and metal, hopefully making something that will work.

“This is going to be risky, but I’ve got this.” She half-muttered to herself as she made a scrap metal version of the machine.

“We’ve got this.” Jay told his girlfriend, taking a deep breath. He was going to find Zane, and make sure he’s okay. Then he was going to eat a sandwich. Very important plan.

He was supposed to be the funny, annoying one, but with the way Nya was acting maybe he had to take this seriously. Well not super seriously, after all Zane was always okay after all of these things. He never really brought up anything with the Overlord. Zane was fine. Everything was fine.

“Okay…..ready!” Nya calls out, snapping Jay from his thoughts as she takes her hands away from the finished machine. It was mostly wires with small pieces of metal holding it together in a long string connecting to Zane’s head. 

“Okay, it's similar to Borg’s machine by using the electrical signals from your brain into something a computer can understand but it's just a rope that you can hold instead of the chair.” Nya explains, giving Jay the rope.

“You should still be able to hear me,” Nya says and she backs away towards a switch.

“Operation save Zane for the millionth time is a go.”

—----------------------

Jay wakes up in a dark void. No shadows or light except the giant blue glowing cube in front of him. Lines of cyan light shaped the royal blue cube as it floated in front of him. 

“Someone is ̷h̴e̵r̶e̶….” A whisper called. 

Jay's blood ran cold. He knew that voice. The whispers grew and grew, not just addressing him but talking in general.

“I did what I was  ̸̙̈s̸̭̃u̶̧͘p̶͗͜p̶̹̕ọ̷͆š̵̙e̸͈̐d̵̞͐ to do…...”

“Why don't you c̸̱͌a̴̮̓r̴̪̈́e̷̱̓?......”

“ẅ̴͙́͜͠h̶̛͇̖͎̙̃̉͠o̴̭͇̪͑̆ am I?.............”

Different voices of Zane surround him, some more metallic and others more human. Jay stepped backs, trying to find out where it was coming from. It moved around him, drowning him.

“ Do you know w̴͔̟͂̈h̸͗̽͜͝ọ̵͉̪̐͘ I am?.........”

“Where did  ̵͇̠̐̆̕͝͝ͅt̸̪̟̋͊̽̀̽̓h̵̺̝̺̤̘̓̈́͊̌̇e̶̢͈͚͕̜͑̇͂͊͜y̷̖̝͕̬̼͊  all go?......”

“Maybe I am too d̸̢̧̧̤̜͙̦̩͇̯̘̓̈́į̸̦̼̬̼̈́̅͗͑̽͌͑̋͋̓͝f̷̬̟̞̫̘̟̰̪̥̔f̸̧̡̺̦̗̮̗̜͈̟͈̘͓͒̈́ȩ̴̨̢̞͇̟͓̺͍̩͚͕̱̦̺̓̈̊̐͒̅̈̈́͌͂͝͠͝ŗ̵͖͈̯̪̦̰̦̤͉̃̑̄͑̌̃̀ͅè̸̢͉̦̳̬̜̞͉͈̽̾͗̃̀̊̆͘͝͝͝ͅn̶̢̖̱̑̾̃̈́̂̿̐̇̀͘̕̕t̴̡͙̟̖̙͗̒͊͊͛̄…...”

Jay turned around over and over again, calling out for his friend. His friend who he let down. Again.

“Zane!”

“Maybe I should l̵̯͌ė̸͉a̵͙̍v̴̳̔ė̸̮ for good…”

“Zane it's me!” 

“ I must p̴̗̉r̴͔̔o̸̘̚t̴͓͗e̵̲͊c̶̮͗t̶̼̿  them…”

“ ZANE !”

“It's the only  ̶̡̻̹͑̋͂͜ẅ̴̩̬͙́͒̐͆a̶̧̮͉̓̊͜ỹ̵̗̤̋…”

“ZANE!”

The whispers died down, leaving Jay in the darkness. A silence echoed in the void, making the heavy breaths of Jay's seem like screams. He had no idea what happened. Something not good, that's for sure. He had to find Zane. Zane had to be okay.

“Jay.” A voice called. This one wasn't like the others. 

“Are you okay? You were screaming.” Nya asked from the sky. Her voice came from above, unlike how Zane’s surrounded him. 

“Yeah…,” he gasps. “I'm fine….what do I have to do.” Jay wanted to get out as soon as possible. This whole thing freaked him out. Maybe he would have a chat with Zane later. Yeah, he would make some hot cocoa and they would talk about whatever that was. He would make two sandwiches.

“There should be a cube nearby.” Nya announced.

Jay looked up, the cube in front of him. In all honesty he forgot about it. The cube glowed ominously, towering over him.

“It should open somehow. It's a puzzle cube I think.” Nya suggested above Jay. 

“I'ma touch it.” Jay calls, walking slowly towards the cube.

“Jay..?” 

He taps his index finger in the middle and steps back. The cube shakes and starts shifting like how Jay's rubik's cube does, twisting and turning. It glows brighter and brighter, making Jay flinch and close his eyes. As the light dies down, Jay slowly peeks out.

The cube flatten out, making a picture display. 

“It looks like a car….like blue prints…” Jay calls out, wracking his brain for an idea what vehicle it was.

“I can see, I can see what you see on the computer.” Nya sighed, wishing Jay paid a bit closer attention when explaining.

Jay walked around, tilting his head to get a better view at the puzzle. The faint whispers picked up, making Jay shiver. 

If this was Zane's subconscious, he hated it.

He hated this. He hated this whole situation. Zane didn’t deserve this. Why couldn’t he be okay for two seconds. Jay just wanted everyone to be happy. He loved hearing people laugh and seeing them smile. When was the last time he had heard Zane laugh? Seen his smile? Be happy? The realization made him shiver.

Jay blinked tears back and took a shaky breath. Focus. He had to focus. For Zane. 

“Okay… how do we solve it?”

“It looks to be a sliding puzzle.” Nya points out.

Jay looks back, seeing how it was cut up into pieces and was missing a square. He walks over and gently places his hands on it, sliding a piece down to an empty spot. A small click echos, as the pictures change. 

“What the hell?” Jay muttered under his breath. It rescambled itself, into a whole new puzzle no less. Jay moved another piece to right over the empty spot, testing a theory. It once again changes fully, now to mech blueprints. “It’s rigged!” Jay exclaims to himself.

“It can’t be. Zane had this for security protocol for a reason. Zane always liked technical problems, you have to think outside of the box.”

“Thanks for the totally helpful explanation.” Jay replied straight faced, looking up into the void.

“What else do you want me to say?” 

“Well preferably, don’t worry Jay I’ll bring you into the real world and by the way Zane’s good now so you don’t have to be stuck solving an unsolvable puzzle.” Jay asked. He hated this. 

“I’m trying here. Name vehicles, maybe that’ll help?”

The whispers grew making his skin crawl, sounding desperate and lonely. He really did leave Zane all alone. He just wanted to be the silly fun friend, the comic relief. Instead he was here, hearing his friend pleas for help. And he could do nothing. 

“I came back….something is w̶̺̗̮͚̅̈́̉̂̄ř̶̙̳̘̳̐̓ŏ̶̮̹̤͛ñ̴͙̠͚͚͖̰̔͝͝g̶̨͖̰̣̈͊̕ͅ .”

“I'm n̸̟̬̳̩̝̾͜ò̶̮̍̉̌t̸͈̱̎ who I was..”

“H̸̯́̓͌̿̌e̵͇̜̬̩̪̦̾̆ ̴̮͙͈̊̍̈̎̿̓n̴͍̗̙̞͂̈́͛̎e̴̡̼̞͖̿̽͂͝͝v̴͍̲̈́̀̈́e̴͕͑̒r̸̨̪͗̈́̀̓̿͊ ̷̨̫̰͙̗͒͜l̸̬̝̼̖̳̍e̴̩͐̔̀͗f̵̧̫̓͗̀̚t̶̨̰̚͝.̷̬̠͝”

Jay froze at the last whisper. Who was Zane talking about? Who was still here? More questions rushed through his head, his hand shaking.

“Jay?” Nya asked, concerned clearly in her voice.

“I-I’m fine…” Jay choked out. He forced himself to focus, he had to figure this out. He needed to solve this stupid stupid puzzle. 

 “Kai's Fire Mech had that weapon hand. Does the puzzle have a weapon?” Jay suggests, quietly collecting himself.

“No, no weapon hand. Maybe the puzzle is the first person who had a mech in the group.”

“Cole?”

“No.”

“Me?”

“No!”

“The First Spinjitzu Master?”

“Jay! It was me!”

“Oh.”  He wasn’t paying that much attention. The whisper still stuck in his head.

He never left. What in the realms could that mean?

Jay places his hands back on the puzzle, shifting the pieces around hoping something will happen. The picture shifted over and over, with every piece moved it looked more scrambled than how it started. Did Jay ever say he hated this? If not, he definitely hated this.

“I think I see some wheels now. Maybe it’s a motorcycle.” Nya suggested.

“Ugh, it just keeps changing! Now there are wings! Wings?” Jay cried. He wanted to get out, and now it gave him wings? He tapped his foot, biting on his nails. The whispers floated around him, surrounding him in pain. Zane’s pain. It took all of his willpower from breaking down. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t allow himself when Zane was on line. 

Why couldn’t one of the others do it? Cole was strong and dependable, Kai was passionate and confident and Zane was kind and compassionate. He was horrible at this type of stuff. He took a deep breath and tried to focus again.

“Morro's Ghost ship?” Jay suggested, picking at his nails. The whispers clawed at his feet.

“We're looking for an aircraft and you think boat?”  Nya questioned 

 “We've been on at least two flying pirate ships.” Jay says, recounting the times in his head. 

“You have a point. So many of the vehicles we've encountered have been...unconventional.”

“Remember when the Fangpyres had an evil wrecking ball?” Jay pointed out,”How could a wrecking ball be evil?” 

“Definitely a weird one.” She agreed 

“What about my Storm Fighter?” Jay asked, trying to think of something positive.

“How is that unconventional?”

“It's not. I just really love it.” He admitted. 

If they keep talking he can’t hear it anymore. He just needed to keep talking. He could do that.

“Stop suggesting your own vehicles!” 

“My parents' jalopy?”

“Or your parents' vehicles.” 

“But they have so many!” Jay whined. He wasn’t wrong too, knowing the last time he visited them they had about 5 currently built. 

“You're not helping.”

“Sorry. I'm just suggesting vehicles.” He said sheepishly. He couldn't get mad at Nya, but this whole thing was getting on his nerves. He hated this. He probably shouldn't keep saying it over and over in his head but he did.

It reminded him of something. Something that should matter. It never happened anyways. He was fine. He was going to make sure Zane was too.

“Wait..! Every time you move a piece, it changes, except the piece showing the pilot. I think it's Zane!”

“Hmm. I mean, that would make the most sense.” Jay says, a bit embarrassed from not realizing that all. He still hates this, but after this puzzle they'll find Zane and get out. He still wanted to eat his sandwich. Maybe he'll make three and they can talk about this whole thing. Just one more puzzle.

“But look. He's wearing a coat, " She pointed out, making Jay zone back in.

 Coat. Coat. Where did Zane wear a coat?

“That's it! The Wailing Alps! It's gotta be his Titan Mech.” Jay called out “Yeah, this has been fun, but to get out of here.” 

The puzzle seemed to allow Jay to solve it, letting the blueprints show that he was correct. The piece gave a small click as he slid it into place, grinning. He stepped back, waiting for something to happen. The puzzle changed into a new puzzle, but Jay wasn’t paying attention to that.

He waited for Zane to come back. Anything.

“Jay…” A v̸o̴i̵c̷e̶ called.

He turned around, over and over again, trying to find him. 

“ZANE!” 

“Help me…p̸̙̰̾̈́̍l̴̨̢͔̯̻̞̰̞̭̯̹̦̯̞̞̠̩͍̟̰͖̼̆̓̽͑̀̏̓̋̇̇̓͠ȩ̵̛̛̺̗͕̩̙̟͖̦̟̤͔͙̺̣̣̹͍̭͈̽̒̂͐̆͆͑̀̆̀̈́̎͑̄̍̔͊͊͌̃́̂̌̕͜͝a̵̩̽̔̑͒̍̐̓͛̎̽̎̉̽͊̄͒̐͆̍̚̚͘͝͝͝ͅs̸̪͇̜͕̦̙̝̣̮̾ę̷̻̞͕̫̹̥̣͙̮͔̫̫͍̜̦̺͇͚̑̔̏͂̇̈̆̎̍͆̊̋͐͆̊̃͛͘̕͜͝͠?” Z̸a̴מ̵e̶ asked, his voice faded at the last word into the rest of the whispers.

Jay wiped a few tears from his face as he nodded, hoping Zane could see him and stared back at the new puzzle. He hated puzzles.

Chapter Text

Zane blinked. Where was he? 

He looks down, wires of code twisting around his body. His wrist and legs, strung up like a puppet.

The wires were a light blue, similar to the color of his eyes but with a dark purple tint. He pulled his hand down, trying to bite the string, but it glitched and pulled it back up tighter. It wrapped around his wrist crawling up his arms, growing tighter at every attempt to escape.

Everything was spinning, he moved his arms around faster, hoping to have some kind of control. That didn't matter as it wrapped its way around himself. He stopped moving, gasping for breath, as it started to cover his mouth.

He was a fly in a web.

—----------------------

“Hey Jay! Wanna play Lava Zombies?” Cole yells from the living room, fiddling with the controller.

“Jay?” 

Cole gets up, placing the controller back onto the coffee table. Jay can usually hear him from his room, and pretty much alway responds after a few seconds. But it was quiet. Way too quiet for Jay to be around at all. Or anyone for that matter. To be honest, now that he thinks about it, he hadn’t seen Jay all day.

Maybe they went out for something? Probably. 

He was still determined to at least try and find out where Jay was. Nya was almost always in the Sam X cave, and no doubt she knows exactly where he is. Besides if Jay isn’t home, he’ll ask Kai but there’s no issue with at least trying. He heads down in the cave, hearing a conversation of some sorts. 

“Any ideas?”

“How stupid this thing is!”

“That’s an opinion…”

Cole listened in as the elevator went down. That was definitely Jay and Nya! 

The elevator made a small ding as it reached the bottom, and opened the doors. Cole blinked a few times to process what he had just walked into.

“What in the First Master…”

Nya’s head turned to him, staring, obviously tired and confused. There seems to be a puzzle or code on the computer that Nya was hunched over. It has a floating cube and Jay-. 

Wait.

A tiny icon of Jay was on the screen. He looked around for the real Jay, to find him slumped on a chair, sleeping? He was holding a long wire, made of smaller ones twisted together in his hands. His eyes followed the wires to Zane’s head. He was laying down on the work table, eyes closed. 

What?…..

“Cole, this is perfect!” Nya exclaimed with a smile. 

“What now?” Cole took a small step backwards, a little nervous about how positive she was while all of….this was happening.

“Zane is in danger and we need to solve a puzzle to save him and you can help!” She blurted out, the words almost too quick to process.

Everything froze. Zane was hurt again? So many questions flooded his brain, video games completely forgotten by a single sentence. He stands there for a few seconds, looking back and forth from the floor and Nya’s creepy smile.

“What…..happened?” Cole says, careful to not let his panic show through. He had to help, but everything about this made no sense. Why was Zane’s hurt? What can he do? Why is Jay sleeping? 

One major question is still floating around, taunting Cole. He stares at Zane's still body.

Cole ignores it, not even giving it the luxury of being acknowledged. Besides, if this is true he had a lot more important things to do.

“What do I have to do?” Cole resigned, ready to do anything for his brother. Zane was more than a friend, a brother to him at this point. And he was going to let him suffer.

“Okay so, Jay is in Zane's code trying to solve some kind of security system that Zane had in place. Its interfering with his reboot.”

Cole caught about a fourth of that. What did she mean Jay was in his code? And what security system stops you from waking up? Everything about this felt wrong.

“What do I do..?” Cole asked Nya, who was already turned around working on the wire Jay was holding, twisting some of the already connected wires with new ones that branched off. “Nya…”

“Oh, yeah. So you're going to join Jay and solve the puzzle and get Zane back without any issue whatsoever.” She said, in a nervous over-confident tone. Cole barley realized how Nya was acting, more scared by her words.

“Like….possession…” He said more like a statement than a question. Cole bit his lip and picked his nails, for a reminder of pain. He was here, with no ghosts. He wasn't a ghost. It's been a while since that. He takes a deep breath. 

“Well I guess, but it's a lot more technological than that.”

Cole takes another deep breath. This was for Zane. His friend, his family, his brother. He had to do anything it took to save him, no matter how horrible it would to not have a physical body and- 

“I'm ready.” Cole mustered, sitting on the floor next to Jay. He was anything but ready. 

A cool wire was placed in his hand. He gripped it, fiddling with it around his fingers.

“Three. Two. One-” 

Cole felt himself leave his own body once again.

—---------------------

Cole’s vision was hazy, as he blinked. He was standing up, in a wide area. He kept blinking but the dark didn't seem to leave. Was this a void? 

“This is stupid!” Jay exclaimed. “Oh hi Cole.”

Cole stared at the blue ninja, who apparently was standing behind him in the darkness. Why the-

He looked up to a huge tech..thing. It was flat displaying some kinds of locations…

“I don't know what to tell you.” Nya announced. “I'm struggling too.”

“Very helpful.” Jay rolled his eyes. Cole just stared, he knew all of the places. 

“Listen.” 

What? Did Jay say that? It definitely wasn't Nya, and it had a metal tint. It sounded strained. And if he was right, that meant…

He looked around, franticly. He has to be here somewhere, in the vast area. But it was completely dark. His eyes barely adjusted to see Jay, for was a foot away. He shifted, trying to see if this area still worked with his power.

“Doesn't work.” Jay says to him, still looking at the cube. “I tried using my lighting for a light source, but it doesn't respond.”

Well that's fantastic. Then what the hell did listen mean, if it's not listen to the ground?!

 A high pitched beep made him look up at the glowing thing. The puzzle glitched, the screen flashing another code at them.

01000100 01101111 01101110 11100010 10000000 10011001 01110100 00100000 01110100 01110010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101000 01101001 01101101 00101110 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100001 01110100 11100010 10000000 10011001 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101110

How does that possibly relate to the puzzle before? This had nothing to do with pictures or locations or anything of the sort. 

He looked around, on screen, hoping for any clues

“It looks like the Airjitzu Temple.” Cole states. He has some memories with that place. Memories he would rather forget.

“Ahem. Temple of Cyclon-Do?” Jay corrected. As desperately as Cole wanted to punch him, he let him have it knowing how stressed Jay was getting. He has small tells, like bobbing up and down on one leg and fidgeting. A delusional Jay would make everything so much harder than it already was.

Cole took a deep breath, trying to find out what this thing meant. It didn't even have a puzzle mechanism. He was the strong friend. He had to solve  this and save Zane. He has to be strong, and face his fear of the temple. Why the hell was it the temple anyways? Did Zane’s subconscious hate him? 

The puzzle was a bunch of locations, in a three by three grid. It looks like it didn't even have a button or anything. 

“Maybe it's matching?” Jay suggested staring at the huge screen. He was picking at his nails and biting his lips, eyes searching for something the use.

“Maybe but it keeps switching…I mean sometimes it's the Ghost Temple and other times it switches times to when it's our monastery. And sometimes it switches places completely!” Cole pointed at the pictures. 

“Trying here..” The blue ninja muttered, switching his attention back to the cube. Screen? What the hell was it called? 

“Ok, what the heck is that called though. I'm so damn confused.” Cole exclaimed.

“Ninjigma. It was written in the code.” 

Ninjigma? For some reason, that doesn't sound like something Zane would name. He tended to be simple with names or just end up doing numbers for simplicity purposes. 

“Written in the code?” He asked.

“Yeah..” 

“I don't know about you, but that sounds suspicious..” 

“This whole thing is suspicious. According to Nya, he just randomly shut down. That's the equivalent to randomly falling into a coma.” Jay said, matter of factly. 

“What?!” Cole’s head turned to face him. Zane was in a coma? He didn't understand anything with how Zane worked or really any technology in general other than a phone. And here he was, stuck in his head while Zane was in a fucking coma?! Cole already has issues when people are sick because of past…experiences. But a coma?

“I’m not letting another person die in my hands again. We’ll figure this out.” Jay huffed. It was almost scary to see Jay like this. He usually screams and panics but he seemed…calm? No, not calm but definitely on the verge of a panic attack. He kept pulling his sleeve down and looking behind him like someone would just randomly appear out of nowhere.

He stared back at the screen. Nothing made sense…

“What if I click on the one that doesn’t belong…?” Cole suggested. From the looks of it, there were different significant locations to Zane, but the top left one was the Ferris Wheel. Zane never liked the fair, the sounds were always just a bit too loud for Zane to be comfortable there. 

“Cole don’t-“ Nya burst out, terror clouding her voice.

As he pushed his hands on it, it bathed the void with red. The ground shook, growling at the light. 

“No…” Nya exclaimed, clicking through the files and from what Cole could hear, pacing as well. “Zane’s memory files…some of them are gone..”

“What?!” Cole quickly got his balance again, looking at the sky. Jay's hands covered his mouth, looking like he would throw up. Zane memories were gone.

Gone.

Zane loved his memories. Cared for them, carefully preserving each moment like it was gold. Because to him, it was. It was worth more than any gold bar in Ninjago. After finding out he lost them because of his father, he carefully wrote down any moment he wanted to remember in a small journal. Zane said it was so he would always have them, no matter what.

Cole bit his lip, staring at the puzzle. 

Something, something, anything. Why did Zane make this so difficult! 

“This is impossible, Zane is going to die or lose his humanity and die that way and it’s all my fault!” Jay sat on the floor, tears tracing his face as he gripped his hair. “It’s all my fault…”

Cole sat down next to him, hugging him tight, his tears joining Jay’s. This happens way too much. Whether it was Zane or Lloyd or Wu, everyone is always in danger. It was tiring to say the least. 

“Guys…” Nya's voice cracked from above. 

“Yeah..?” Jay asked weakly, picking his shaking body up from the ground.

“I’m not sure our power source is stable, you guys need to hurry up.” She was obviously distracted, trying to fix the issue. This whole thing was starting to get on Cole’s nerves.

Cole picked himself off the floor as well, wiping his face, glaring at the pictures. 

Museum of History, Aquarium, The Destiny's Bounty, Music Hall, The apartment in Ninjago City, The Monastery, Ferris Wheel, Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master.

“Wait, why is the Bounty on here?” Cole pointed out.  

“It was our home!” Jay elbowed him. He looked like he was trying to hold himself together, so Cole didn’t comment on it.

They stood in silence as Cole thought some more. It didn’t make sense. Unless? 

“If this is a security thing, what if it’s information few people know, like say the places we live?” Cole suggests, staring at it. He was close to begging the first spinjitzu master for an answer. He just wanted Zane back. 

“ Well what’s the order then?” Jay looked confused and scared. He didn’t want anymore memories gone. Cole almost sensed Jay had gone through something similar. Cole took another deep breath, trying to stay strong. Just a while longer.

“Uhh, the order in which we lived there? I mean that makes the most sense?” Cole added. Zane was always a logical guy, so the puzzle had to be logical too right? He could only hope.

“....are we sure?” Jay bit the end of his nail, trying to stay stable. Cole could tell that the fact Zane has already lost memories because of them was weighing heavy on his mind. To be honest, it was on him too.

Cole pushed the thoughts away and nodded. Slowly but surely he clicked the order.

The old monastery. 

The tiles changed. No red light. They were safe. Another deep breath as Cole took his hands away and clicked the next one.

The Destiny's Bounty.

Same reaction.

Then the apartment.

And finally the remodeled Temple of Airjitzu.

A new shade of green covered the area.

“Oh thank the first spinjizu master!” Jay said, shaking. He was still on edge but definitely doing better. They were fine. Zane was fine. Everything was fine.

Cole smiled. He had solved the issue. Zane would be back and he could get his real physical body back!

“Uhh, we might have a problem..” Nya's voice crackled overhead. Cole's head shot up, still not used to hearing Nya's voice come from the god forsaken heavens.

“What do you mean!?” Jay shouted. There goes all hints of calm.

“Well When you unlocked the next puzzle, I traced the operation commands to a line of foreign code. Zane's not malfunctioning. He's being hacked.”

The ground glitched as a version of Z̷̫̠͍̭͆̚ă̴̩̠͎̬ň̸͎̦̱̟̈́͜ë̸͕́̇́̍’̶̖͈̐͊̽̒͘ṡ̸̢̯̻͉̒́ voice crackled underneath.

I̴̡̡̢̨̧̟̭̻͖̖̰̙̺̻̺̲̤̥̞̳̳̬͇̟͗͆́̏̿̿̒̓̈̔͊̐͒̍̈́̒̐̐̆́̇͛̆̕̚’̸̨̡̞͖͍͎̞͇̬̟̖̗͔̲̩͔̪̜͍̠̻̖͉͎͐̎͗́̓̑͐̍̃͌̇́̉̐̎͆̂̄̏̊̄͊̕̚͝͝ͅm̷̧̛̼̱̣͙̯̥̲̣̹͔̹̜̫̤̜̭̥̰̅͒̑̈́͗͑̂͂̑͌͊̿̒̈̇͌̀̇̒͌͘̕͘͝͝ͅ ̷̧̨̻̫͉̭̫̠̲̲̞͉͉͚̖͈͍̭̪̗̣̘̣͕̘̰̜̲͐̏̑̇͜ͅͅḣ̴͎͔̻̘̟̺͔̼̣̳̳͇̲̳̱̦͔̭͉̖͙̙̮̻̙͂͋̍̈̈́͛͋̓̀̍̽͒̉͜͝ͅę̶̧̦̥̣̱͕̪͈͍͔͈͔̪̒̂̓͆̐̀̔́̒̊́̈̑̏̑̅̑͋̄̓̄̅̆̀͝r̶̢͇̱͎̣̩̖͙̹͉̳̱̍͌̽̈́é̸̡̧̢̨̥͇̲̱͇͖̗̫̯̫̠̬̮̟͗̐́̌̄͐͋̐̌̈́͒́͋̽̒̋́̅̇̃̌͂͌́̔̚̚͝͝ͅ