Other Side of Ten // Ninjago Echo Zane

Epilogue

NOTE: I have an animation available based on this story! (It's a lot less depressing then the actual story was)

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He lost everything until his heart ticked. His senses were still submerged. His body, floating, eyes dark, hearing muted.

1, 2, 3.

1, 2, 3.

He was stuck counting in threes. It was unclear why he was counting, and why he couldn't count past those numbers.

Pain was the first sense back. He inhaled sharply, the air puncturing his lungs on their way in. Air. Where was the ocean?

"He's awake." Said a muffled gravelly voice. His hearing was the next thing to return. The voice gave him a strange sense of Deja-vu. He didn't know how that was possible, as the only voices he ever heard was Father's, Samukia's, and his henchmen. He didn't know how, but it sounded like he'd spoken with this man before.

"Father?" Echo squeaked.

There was a pause. "Never mind. I don't think he's fully with us yet."

His heart was loud and cold. Air screeched on his metal pipes making his insides freeze. He wanted to hide under the tarps in the basement, or lay in the sand on the beach. But he was dead wasn't he? He doubted he'd ever reach the departed realm.

Under his lungs, a clash made him jolt. It was as if his gears were being tangled by rope and pulled apart. Burning pain flowed into his lungs like lava. Sticky and hot, his oil must've been burning.

"That hurts!" He squealed, his voice banging on the inside of his skull.

"See if he'll talk to you now. That might've jolted him awake." The deep voice said.

Footsteps approached. It was hard to hear it under his gasping.

"What were you doing in the middle of the ocean?" The voice. It was quiet. Gentle. Yet, it was so eerie it sent chills across his spine. Every sensation was so overwhelming that it hurt. But that must've been a feminine voice. Echo never heard a feminine voice before. "Answer me, Zane. We will make you talk."

Zane. That name made him grit his teeth.

"I am not Zane. He is my brother."

"Zane has a brother?" The gravelly one said. "Explains why this one looks different."

"Where am I?" Echo started to panic. He felt his head, lungs and heart but nothing else.

"Answer my question first. Why were you in the Endless Sea? We found a sea monster that washed you up on the shore." The quiet one said.

Sea monster? The Leviathan must've helped him live enough to reach the shore.

"I was trying to escape the lighthouse prison. I need to get to Ninjago to find my Father, Dr Julien and Zane. I need to bring them to justice for leaving me to rot."

Echo was reminded how cold his organs were. Breathing heavier, he tried pushing down the panic but it only made it worse. If he couldn't feel his legs or arms then were they even there? He tried moving them, it felt like it was working, but he couldn't tell for sure without sight.

"He's not looking too well, Quiet One. He might leave us again." The Gravelly guy said.

That made him panic even more. He didn't want to leave. He wanted more information about where he was, and how to reach his family. It was surprising he made it this far, but he was not about to have his chance ripped from him at the last moment.

Echo heaved. "This body I have. It's fragile and painful. Just please. Explain where I am."

"Yeah no kidding. You don't have much of a body right now. I'm surprised you are talking with us at all." Said the man.

Not much of a body? His eyes must've been missing, arms, hips, and legs. Yet, missing those limbs didn't bring more pain than normal. Instead, it was all concentrated in his head.

Echo ignored his pain. "Please. I answered your question, Quiet One. Now tell me where I am. Where is my family?"

"You are in Ninjago City."

He made it then. That made him feel a little bit better.

"And about your family. Zane is somewhere in this city. I am also trying to get revenge on him and his ninja group. Your father. He died many years ago."

Father was dead? He thought that news would delight him. But it left him feeling empty. That must've been because he got out of it easily. He got to run away with his first built son and die before he had to face any of the consequences.

"Lead me to Zane then. I need to destroy him." Echo said plainly, despite swallowing the burning of his organs.

"Not like this, you're not." The man said.

"I need to find him." Echo strained again.

"I may be able to make something work with you." The Quiet One said. "If you join me, you will have a better family. People who care about you. And you will be aligned to our goals, which is to get revenge on the ninja. I can help you."

He was unsure about having a family. That didn't work out too well for him in the first place. But if The Quiet One had similar goals as him, he would gladly join. Admittedly, he was in no shape to find Zane without help, let alone stay alive without their assistance.

"I will join you then." Echo quietly said.

"Welcome. You are now part of the Sons of Garmadon."

A son? The idea of being a son strangled his throat. He didn't know who this Garmadon was, but he shook his head. Finding Zane was most important now.

The Quiet One spoke to the man. "I'll pay you more to fix him fully, Ronin."

Ronin. That name... He felt like he heard it before. Before turning on his sensation, he was good at forgetting, so he was unsure how that name gave him a feeling.

Ronin sighed. "I don't know how on board I am with helping you take down the ninja."

The Quiet One hummed lightly. "You had a recent broken leg, didn't you Ronin? I heard it took a lot of time from you. Time you could've spent making money. What do you say? Can you follow the instructions we found in his chest?"

It sounded like a bag of money was raised by the clanking, and Ronin's gasp.

"I can follow instructions, but I'm no inventor." Ronin said. "Zane has a special power source. I can't replicate him to be exactly like Zane without it."

"That's not the goal." The Quiet one said. "He seems to be powered by something more powerful than Zane."

Ronin scoffed. "Oh yeah. And what might that be?"

"Vengeance."