The Revenge of Ice

Prologue

Zane sat alone in the unusually quiet courtyard of the dojo, the occasional song of crickets and the blinking dance of fireflies accompanying him every once in a while. A cold and gentle breeze blew past sending Goosebumps across his pale artificial skin. Shivering, he rubbed his bare arms and looked up. The moon hung high in the sky, a perfect silver disk, bleaching the land into a ghost-like replica of daytime. What was supposed to be a beautiful night became plain and bland for Zane. It just wasn’t the same anymore. Without his best friends, nothing would ever be. Everything was just… monochromatic.

He missed them dearly and the memory of that fateful day would never be erased from his database. Unless he chose to forget everything. But doing so would also erase all the bittersweet memories he had with them when they were alive. All those times training together, fighting evil side by side, would be lost forever with no hopes of recovering them should he choose to flick the switch. Zane was starting to feel conflicted. To forget or to not forget? Should he cherish the memories of his friends and live on or should he let the bubble of grief encase him and trap him in this hellish reality until he slowly dies painfully from depression?

Zane clenched his fist in anger, his body shaking with frustration. Why were all these trials and tribulations happening to him now? Was there something he needed to do? And if so, why did destiny choose to leave him alone with nothing? That couldn’t be right… He closed his eyes, emptying his mind from all the questions bombarding his mind. He needed to calm down and think. He needed to meditate. Running a hand through his platinum blond hair, he took a deep breath and positioned himself in a meditative pose. He needed to stop thinking about what had happened in the past and concentrate on what he should do in the future.

After 10 minutes, his effort proved to be futile. It was as if he expected all of his friends to walk out that door behind him, laughing and making jokes like there was no care in the world. He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering back into the past. He just couldn’t let it go. His brothers, his sister… He lost them all and it was all his fault. He was right there, so close yet so far. Every single detail of what happened that day started flooding back into his mind, replaying the whole thing again like some kind of sick movie. Zane couldn’t escape the flashback into the past as it hit him like a tidal wave engulfing his entire being, drowning him...

He should’ve seen it coming. As the team’s ‘sixth-sense’, he should’ve warned the others about the impending calamity that would soon befall them. Unlike the previous missions, he felt different when the team embarked on this one. He was on edge, his heart thumped faster than usual, he was nervous and worried but he didn’t know why. Annihilate a whole gang of Ninjago’s most wanted criminals, ‘The Puppeteers’. It was a dangerous mission, anyone could see that. It was normal to be on edge but that tugging sensation at the pit of his stomach just wouldn’t go away. Cole had reassured him that everything would be fine but little did he know that it was going to be the last time he’ll hear him say those words again.

Everything happened so quickly Zane didn’t have the time to register what had happened. They were ambushed, like clueless prey walking blindly into the claws of the predator. The Puppeteers managed to separate them and the next thing he knew it, he was fighting for his life. Not fighting to kill and annihilate. They were too strong and he needed to get to everyone else. They needed to get away, alive. Zane managed to decapitate his enemy but it took every ounce of his skill and energy to kill the man. His snow white gi now torn and scarlet with blood, stuck onto his overheated body. This was not good. He was already running low on energy, roughly at 20%. He needed to find the rest before his body shut down automatically.

Zane ran as fast as he could whilst his eyes scanned around for any sight of his comrades. Nothing but fallen debris of buildings scattered everywhere. He was starting to panic. Where were they? Where were the enemies? It was too quiet. Something must’ve happened. The cold air nipped at his skin as he breezed past the warehouses and fallen buildings. Zane inhaled sharply at the sight that greeted him. His heart stopped beating and his eyes widened with disbelief. There, in front of him, were his five best comrades, Lloyd, Kai, Cole, Jay and Nya, hanging dead. The words ‘Ninjago’s Greatest Heroes have Fallen’ were written in red, presumably with blood, on the wall behind them.

The grotesque lifeless bodies of his friends hanging before him was a sight he would never forget. The image was burned into his mind. Their heads were lolled to the side, their eyes which were once filled with so much life were now hollow and lifeless, their skin was as pale and grey as the pavement below his feet but the blood… They were drenched in it. That memory immediately jolted Zane out of his flashback, back into reality. Head tilting towards the ground, his body shook as he cried.

No matter how much he tried to convince himself that he would be fine, he just couldn’t live without his friends. They were the closest thing he had to family and just like that, they were ripped away from him. The thought of those ‘monsters’ still running loose in the city angered Zane. They needed to be annihilated but before that he needed to get stronger. No one in the world should deserve the same fate as his friends. No one deserves to lose someone they care deeply about. No one deserves to be alone. Zane felt as if the fog had lifted from his eyes. He knew exactly what he was going to do next.

‘The strong feed upon the week. It’s such an obligingly simple rule but in this world, my friends tried to be strong… If you win, you live… If you lose, you die… If you don’t fight… You can’t win! Cole, Jay, Kai, Nya, Lloyd… I will get the mission done and avenge your deaths… I’ll protect those who cannot protect themselves. Your memories shall live on within me. I’m sorry I couldn’t reach the conclusion earlier but I know now what I must do…  Rest peacefully my friends… I shall see you all soon…’ Zane muttered to himself as he stood up. With a new resolve, he walked back into the dojo and the door closed quietly behind him.