The End of All

Chapter 1

{Zane}
Zane watched as Kai wandered the halls of Destiny's bounty, poking his head into doorways.

"Zane," the fire ninja called, "Stop hiding, Sensei wants to see us." He had watched his friend look for him, and felt now it was time to do as his sensei had said. Zane dropped from the ceiling behind Kai. The dark-haired boy turned, startled by the ice ninja's sudden appearance. It was reminicent of their first interaction, minus the toothbrush.

"You will have to catch me first." Zane dashed at Kai, landing a few hits on his unsuspecting friend before running down the hall.

"Hey, wait!"

Kai chased Zane through the halls, sparring every once in a while. Eventually Zane ran up to the deck, Kai lagging behind.

"Zane... this... this isn't... funny..." Kai gasped. Zane watched his friend from his place beside Sensei Wu. The scarred boy was struggling to catch hish breath. Seconds later Jay sprinted up followed by Cole, and then Nya ans Lloyd.

"It was not supposed to be funny. Sensei Wu asked us to do this." Jay and Nya giggled, and Kai shot them an evil glare. Cole and Lloyd seemed fine, a bit worn out but otherwise fine. His eyes lingered on Cole, shirtless and sweaty. If he'd had an actual heart, it would have skipped a beat. Or at least be beating harder than usual.
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{Cole}
"You should have been prepared to fight. The overlord may be gone but there is still darkness in the world." Wu stated, but Cole was only half paying attention. He'd been training already, so the words were more for Kai. Instead he was focused on Zane, almost flaunting the fact he had been working out. He saw the way Zane looked him over as he subtley flexed. He was about to move over to the ice ninja when Jay cut him off.

"Hey sensei, are we done for today? I still need to finish cleaning up Cole's last cooking disaster." Indignantly, Cole began to chase Jay around the deck, not noticing the arrival of the other adults. He stopped when he noticed Zane slinking back to the stairs.

"Hey Zane! Where you off to?" And do you want me to come, Cole thought to himself. Zane turned and Cole could see how unhappy he was.

"I will be in my roon should you need me." Was his short response before the ice ninja disappeared into the belly of the ship. Cole huffed. Not only did he blow another chance with Zane, but his friend looked absolutely miserable.

"I'm getting worried about him. He spends all his time in his room, and the times he is out he barely talks to us."

"Maybe you're just making it weird." Kai started flexing. "Ooh Zane, like what you see? Do you like this Zane, do you think it's hot?"

"I'm serious. I'm really worried."

"I am too. What's he even doing in his room?" Nya peered down the stairwell. The others peered down as well, growing serious. Cole knew that no matter how much the others tried to play it off, they were worried too.

"I can keep him out of his room if you would like to take a look." Cole nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to see Dr. Julien beside him.

"You'd be ok with that?" Cole couldn't understand why Zane's father, of all people, would help them with that.

"Of course. You two aren't the only ones who noticed how odd Zane has been acting. I've tried talking to him but he's been giving me the cold shoulder... pun intended."

"When could we do it?" It was clear that Lloyd was eager to see what the ice ninja was hiding. Cole couldn't blame him. Curiosity was gnawing at him as well.

"Right now if you'd like. I have a project he can help me with, so that'll leave his room open." The group agreed, only to be interrupted by Sensei Wu.

"Just remember, Zane is your brother. He has just as much of a right to privacy as you do."

Yeah, our brother. Cole thought bitterly. He didn't want to be Zane's brother, but it wasn't like he could just tell their Sensei that. The others figured it out, but explaining it to their Sensei would be too confusing. Dr. Julien simply shrugged and started down the stairs.
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The group stood silently together in the closet across the hall from Zane's room. Cole was pressed against the door, listening to hear when the two left. He heard Dr. Julien's voice, then Zanes. Before long two sets of footsteps moved down the hall. Carefully, he opened the door and peeksed out. Empty.

"They're gone. Let's get this done and go." The earth ninja wanted to know what was going on with his friend, but at the same time he felt guilty for poking throught the other's things.

Zane's room was perfectly organized- everything in its place and spotlessly clean. The others riffled through the closet, bookshelf and drawers as Cole turned his attention to Zane's desk. It was just as neat as the rest of his room, but a small leather book sat on it. He sat in the desk chair and inspected the book. The leather was cracked and rough along the spine, and the pages were filled with neat handwriting. Zane's journal.

"Guys I found something." A lump formed in his chest. He was basically betraying his friend, the person he cared the most about.

"Come on, read it," Jay whispered.

"I... I don't know. It feels wrong." He felt like he had a piece of the nindroid's soul in his hand.

"Look, we've come this far. And if you don't want to read it I will." Kai's statement made up his mind. Cole flipped through to the more recent entries and started reading.

"For a while now only dark thought have filled my mind, stemming from growing close to my team. No mater what they say I will always be an outsider, and it prevents me from growing closer to them. It would be unwise to anyways. I am a robot, but the people I care the most about are human. Eventually I will be the only one left after watching their lives pass by. They accepted me as one of their own, and I do not think better friends exist in the world. All I wish is that I could be a human as they are, to be able to live my life without worrying about watching them all leave me forever in the future with no way to join them."

"Poor guy. I-I never realized he was hurting like this." Nya looked how Cole felt: completely devestated. "What should we do?"

"For now we should get out of here. We've been here long enough." Lloyd made his way out, followed by the rest of the group. That left Cole, who held the book in his hands another minute before returning it to its spot on the desk and following the others out.