When we got back to the Bounty, I had immediately gone to the railings of the ship and screamed with a rage I didn't know I had. The Ninja were immediately at my side, questioning me on why I had screamed so loud, but my glare as enough for them to understand. Kai had picked me up as I started to sob, and the others left to go get Wu, no matter how much I said I didn't want him.

"Shh, Y/N, it's alright. We'll get him back soon, it'll be ok. Shh." Kai whispered to me, those words calmed me down enough to get me to stop screaming.

"I just got him into my life, and then he was taken from me! It's not fair, it's not-" I cut myself off with another wracking sob.

"Kai? Sensei wants to see Y/N." Jay said, approaching with the old man in tow. I tried to get away, my tired ten-year-old brain decided that if I buried my head in Kai's chest, the old man couldn't get me.

"Sorry, Jay, she doesn't want to see him. She never does." Kai replied, holding me further away from his Sensei and brothers. Cole walked over to us and gently took my shaking form from Kai, just swaying from side to side until I cried myself to sleep.

~~~

I had fully recovered from my cry fest, and was currently sitting on the railings with Kai, Cole, and Jay right next to me, waiting for Zane to resurface.

"Ten minutes! He just broke his own record. The guy's inhuman!" Kai exclaimed, looking at his watch. Zane finally resurfaces and we all cheer for him.

"Amazing!" Cole said, helping Zane onto the ship.

"We're not worthy." Jay added, bowing on his knees to Zane.

"I broke the record?" Zane asked, excitedly.

"You destroyed it!" I said in sync with Kai.

"Okay, okay. Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking? We've been training for so long, I don't think we can get any better. Just think about all we've accomplished." Jay asked, thinking on the Ninja's accomplishments in the past week.

"The question should be raised. Perhaps we have reached our full potential?" Zane said and they head inside the Destiny's Bounty to find Wu. I followed in the shadows, but I was a bit late.

"So the Great Devourer turned your brother into the Dark Lord?" Kai queried.

"It was all my fault. You four have finished your training. You must now focus on stopping Pythor from collecting the Fangblades. But never lose focus on the obstacles that lie within each of your hearts that holds you back from true greatness. Unlock your True Potential." Wu said, standing up.

"But how are we supposed to do that, Sensei?" Zane asked, following his sensei.

"It is up to each of you to discover. Now I must go on a personal journey of my own." I smiled brightly at that response. The old man was leaving?

"Where are you going?" Jay asked, hoping for an answer.

"To a place you cannot follow."

"If you're going for Lloyd, the City of Ouroboros is filled with hundreds of Serpentine. You'll never do it alone. Besides, that's something I would expect Y/N to do, not you." Cole said, and I gave a small smirk. Damn right that's something I would do.

"I am going to find someone who can be of aid. The Serpentine have united and grown stronger and we will need all the help we can get." Wu said, cryptically. The Ninja dropped him off at the top of a mountain and he was on his way.

~~~

Nya hangs up a missing Fangblade poster as I helped Cole put one on a tree.

"Oh, this is silly." Zane whined.

"You have any better ideas?" Cole asked the ice ninja.

"Yeah. Go in there, weapons drawn, and take my brother and their map by force." I snarled. They all looked at me, sadly. Jay suddenly perked up.

"Hey, maybe Sensei is gonna go get the Samurai for help." he suggested, excitedly. Kai and Nya's eyes widened, while I remained with my usual poker-face.

"The Samurai? I'm sure she's—I mean, he's busy looking for the Fangblades as well." Kai said. Man, he sucked ass at lying.

"Uh, is everything all right?" Cole asked, looking at the master of fire, strangely. I grabbed his hand, not liking the looks I was receiving from the townsfolk.

"Yeah, yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" Kai said, trying to reassure the others.

"One hundred percent. We're not hiding anything."

Ok, so neither of them can lie. Got it.

Zane suddenly dropped his flyers, alerting a shop keep.

"Hey, weirdo. You're making a mess of my store front. Yoo-hoo! You got a problem?" Zane only walks away, further angering the store owner, "Maybe I should teach you a lesson on manners." I growled at him, ready to sock him in the face, but Cole pulled me back as Kai rushed to stop the issue.

"I'm sorry, sir. Sometimes our friend is in another world." he apologized for Zane.

"He's littering all over the place." the shop keep stated, glaring.

"We'll pick it up. So sorry." Cole said, rushing forwards to pick up the flyers with Jay. I looked at the ice ninja, concerned.

"Zane, what's the deal?" Jay asked before noticing a falcon, "Ah! It's the Falcon! Oh, my gosh! Every time we follow it, it leads us to good fortune."

"Head back to the Bounty and wait till you hear from us. Keep Y/N safe." Kai instructed his sister, pushing me over to her, gently.

"But where are you going?" she asked, grabbing my hand. I glared at the ground.

"We're gonna follow the bird. Who knows, it could lead us to the first Fangblade." he then ran off with the others.

"Come on, Y/N, let's go back to the Bounty." Nya said, gently. I shook my head.

"Screw that, I wanna know what the deal is with the bird." I said before sprinting after the Ninja, ignoring Nya's calls for me to return. I quickly caught up with them and followed the bird.

"I guess good fortune is really far away." Kai huffed. We ended up climbing a mountain as we followed the bird, and yet they still hadn't noticed me. We reached the top and Jay collapsed from exhaustion.

"Keep going. I'll...I'll catch up later." he panted, finally noticing me. He let out a noise of confusion but did nothing to question me. Cole was the next one to stop after we crossed a log.

"I'm good. Just...just taking a breather. Uh, I'll meet up with you shortly." he said, collapsing as well.

"Good thing...we're in...peak...physical...condition. Gosh, that bird just keeps going." Kai pants heavily, stopping upon noticing a sign.

"Hey, what do you make of this?" I asked, making them jump at my sudden appearance.

"What are you doing here? I thought Nya had you!" Kai asked, still out of breath. I shrugged, wiping the small amount of sweat that had formed on my forehead.

"I wanted to know about the bird." I replied. He looked ready to collapsed, and did nothing but nod.

"I am not familiar with a Treehorn." Zane said, wearily, looking around.

"It's probably just some wild squirrels, heh. Well, don't lose him. I'll wait for the other guys to catch up." Kai says. Zane nods and I follow him after giving Kai a hug.

"Where are we going, my mysterious friend?" Zane asked. The Falcon suddenly falls from the sky and twitches, with sparks coming out of it, making us gasp as we came to a hard stop.

"You're a...a robot?" he puts the Falcon next to a tree when suddenly, a laser shoots pass us.

"Intruder! Intruder! Prepare to be terminated!" another robot says, shooting at us.

"Ninja, go!" Zane partially buries the robot with snow. I glared at it before jumping onto it's back. I ripped out the wires and it was disabled. I noticed it had the same symbol on the Falcon.

"Zane, look! It's the same symbol." I said, pointing to the Falcon.

"Where have you brought us, my Falcon friend?" he asks, picking up the mechanical bird. I saw another symbol on a tree and walked towards it, opening a hatch and revealing a hidden workshop.

"So, this is your home, my mysterious friend." Zane asked, walking inside with me close behind. We go down the stairs and he uses a blueprint to fix the bird, "You brought me here, but why?" I pulled out another blueprint from under the Falcon's and gasped, looking at the familiar figure on it.

"Z-Zane? Look." I whimpered, handing him the blue paper. His eyes widened in shock and he fell to his knees.

"No! It can't be. No! Noooo!" he screamed, clutching where his heart was supposed to be.

"You're still you, Zane! It doesn't matter what you're made of!" I said trying to cheer him up

"Zane?" Kai's voice echoed throughout the hollow tree.

"Zane, what's wrong?" Jay asked, running down the stairs and over to where Zane lay, his head in my lap.

"Are you hurt?" Kai asked, touching Zane's arm.

"You okay?" Cole asked. Zane sighs and looks at me before looking at the blueprint again.

"Hey, what's-" everyone screams when he stood up and opened his chest, only to reveal a control panel.

"You're a robot?" Kai asked in disbelief.

"All this time, and I never knew." I hugged the robot's waist, comfortingly.

"Uh, guess this explains why you're always acting so weird. Right? Hehe." Jay asked, nervously.

"I will throw you to the Treehorns if say another word." I threatened, and he shut his mouth, quickly.

"The reason I never had a sense of humor was because my funny switch wasn't on." he turns it on and starts singing, "Hello, my baby. Hello, my honey. Hello, my ragtime gal. Send me a kiss by wire!~" Jay falls to his knees, laughing, while Zane turns the funny switch off and sighs, shutting his chest panel.

"Uh, it just makes you more special. You're still the same Zane. Just more, uh, gears." Cole says, not knowing what to say with this new information.

"No matter what you're made of, you're still our brother." Kai clarifies.

"Really?" Zane asked, hopefully.

"Probably makes you an even better Ninja, and that's saying something since you're already so good." I said, smiling. Zane picked me up and held me to his waist.

"Yeah, and how cool is it that I can honestly say "My brother is a Nindroid"?" Jay cheered.

"A Nindroid?" Zane asked, confused by the new term.

"Now come on. Pythor is still out there looking for the first Fangblade, and we need you." Cole said, pulling Zane a bit. Zane pulled his arm back, looking at the ground as he set me down.

"You'll have to go on without me. I just don't feel right." the others nod and leave the workshop.

"Just know, you are who you chose to be- not who others make you." I said before leaving him alone.

"How the heck do we get out of this place?" Cole asked, and a sudden roar was sounded throughout the forest, "What was that?"

"Cute tiny birds?" Jay suggested, hopefully. Something moved in the trees, and Cole's head whipped in the direction of the sudden movement.

"Did you see that?" he asked cautiously.

"I don't see anything." Jay yelped, taking out his nunchucks.

"I saw it too." Kai said, his sword in his grasp.

"Treehorns!" I screamed, ducking from the giant hoof that tried to squash us. The robot I had dismantled earlier twitched.

"Oh, great. I think that thing was supposed to protect this place. Guys, it's up to us. Ninja, g—" Kai was knocked away by a Treehorn, "Ugh, ow!"

"There's just too many of them." Cole yelled as the Treehorns quickly overpower them. I growled and took out my dagger, running in-between them swiftly, making some of the beasts trip over each other and fall to the ground with a mighty crash.

"Leave my friends alone! Ninja, go!" Zane yelled, jumping from the workshop.

"What's gotten into Zane?" Cole asked, excitedly.

"I don't know, but I like it." Kai responded, smirking.

"Ninja go!~" the cry, and the Treehorns start to back away.

"Are they regrouping? Who's that?" Jay asked, slight fear lacing his voice.

"The queen." Zane took a deep breath, glaring at the beast, "You will not hurt my friends. There is nothing that will hold me back. I know who I am." he starts to glow a light blue, and my insides felt frozen as my blood ran ice cold.

"What's happening to him? Was he programmed to do that?" Kai asked, looking at his robotic brother.

"I've never seen a robot do that." Jay responded, smiling. I felt my knees getting weak as my entire body felt frozen. I've never felt this before- why am I getting cold? I never get cold.

"You mean Nindroid." Cole corrected.

"Yeah, whatever." Jay chuckled, pushing his comrade in black.

"Zane's unlocked his True Potential." Cole clarified, smiling brightly. I fell to my knees, hugging myself, trying to keep warm. Zane freezes the queen and falls to the ground. The freezing feeling went away as soon as he made contact with the snow.

"What happened?" Zane asked, dazed.

"That was awesome!" Jay exclaimed, helping him up.

"You should've seen yourself." Kai continued, smiling.

"Heh, I've never seen anything like it." Cole finished.

"This must be what Sensei meant by unlocking our hearts. I remember now. I remember everything. I remember my father and how he cared for me. I remember where I came from. And I feel stronger for knowing." Zane smiled

"I'm so jealous. His powers are so cool." Cole said to the others. I shakily stood up, leaning against a tree, a small groan escaping my lips. It fell upon deaf ears as they continued to celebrate Zane's new powers.

"We have our very own Nindroid!" Jay shouted in excitement.

"Watch out, Pythor. We're coming to get you." Zane said, looking out into the distance. My knees gave out from under me once more and I grunted, catching their attention as I mad contact with the snowy terrain.

"Y/N!" they all cried, rushing towards me. I got on my hands and knees, waving them off.

"I'm fine, guys. I'm alright." I said, shoving their hands away as I stood up. I then walked away without another word, leaving them all staring at me with concern.

Sorry, guys, but I don't want anyone worrying about something that doesn't need to be worried about.