Other Side of Ten // Ninjago Echo Zane

Prologue

PLEASE READ:   Welcome to my first posted Ninjago fanfic! Yes, this is like an origin story of how Echo became Mr. E. Let me just warn you with this story it is not for everyone. The words I'd use to describe it are angsty, dark, and tragic. There are descriptions of body pain and some psychological horror (especially at the end) . I also made an animation based off the first bit of this story that is much more lighthearted. I will link it at the end of this fanfic when the story is finished being uploaded. I will try to post a chapter every other day!

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First he was nothing, until a gear ticked. The line between emptiness and existence happened so suddenly it caught him off guard.

He was alive.

Air filling his lungs felt like needles. A rhythmic beating sound resonating from his chest gave him a headache. Gears from his insides colliding with each other; his organs literally churning. Oil boiling under his frame, the heat exhausting his wires. Although he had just a few milliseconds of existence, all he knew was anguish.

There was no frame of reference to what a lack of pain was like, but he yearned for it.

Please make this pain stop. His first thought.

Even his consciousness laid heavy on his skull. Something he couldn't comprehend. How could he stop this? How to end this suffering? All he could do was exist. Now was all he knew. Change; a state of fantasy.

Pressure pounded down on his chest. His gears squealed as something shot down through his wires.

Suddenly his throat opened into a scream. His voice; deep, strained, coarse, and vibrating.

"It hurts!" He heaved out.

"Hurts?" Another voice said. It was deep like his, but calmer. "But that's impossible."

It was certainly possible. Reality of this pain made him exhausted. How long would he experience this? He cried, his tears stinging like lava as they flowed down his cheek.

"Hang on, I will fix this." Said the calm voice, contrasted by the torment happening all around.

A loud sound crashed into his auditory processing sensor. It was much louder than this calm voice, or even his own voice. It was as if his gears caught on his ears, the wires tangling into a disaster.

Metal on metal screeching. Oil rumbling as the sound vibrated his body. It felt as if his screws would come loose, into a cascade of more noise. His body started shaking uncontrollably, leaving every movement to cause more chaos.

"This should do it."

Everything settled down, as he inhaled deeply. At first afraid the large breath would burn, he was relieved it was clear. Calming down, this new state felt a lot like before he was alive. It felt like nothing. His shaking body relaxed into a carefree state. This was palatable.

A sound interrupted his state of nothingness. But it was gentle.

"What do you feel now?"

His body was like floating in a vacuum. Gravity didn't pull on him, neither did his consciousness. It was as if the table below him disappeared. He was disconnected.

"I feel nothing." He said. While his voice didn't deafen himself, it still bothered him. It was still a reminder of his existence. That was a lot to comprehend knowing he was nothing just seconds before.

"But you felt pain?"

"Yes."

Footsteps paced.