Ninjago OneShots

Nonexistential Crisis (Glacier Zangst)

It's late at night with all of the Ninja asleep except one, Zane. He's laying on his back in his bed, staring at the ceiling with his body at ease, slightly stretched out. His blanket is on the floor beside his bed. He's been thinking of his creator, Dr. Julien, because he overheard Kai and Nya talking about their parents earlier in the day. Zane's eyebrows rise and his mouth slightly frowns while his glowing icy blue eyes occasionally blink. "You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves," Zane remembers hearing a smiling Dr. Julien say this. Zane grins a bit, also looking back on when he was told Julien was resurrected, making him feel grateful for what he has now.

Then something sparks Zane's interest, despite the good feelings he so seemingly felt. He was once told that he is real, but if he really was, how could he not truly feel any pain? His lips curl back downward as he sighs and whispers to himself, staring at the ceiling, "Why couldn't I have been real?" His lower eyelids squint up a little.

Zane sits up to get out of his bed and enters the bathroom furthest away from the rest of the Ninja, turning on the lights and locking the door behind himself. He examines himself with the mirror on the wall, opening his control panel. He looks for the memory switch and flips it off. He shuts down and falls back lifelessly with his head tilted forward, resulting in a loud thud and his control panel becoming shut. His body rested in a slump as if he fell asleep facedown on the floor. No one notices it.

Cole wakes up later in the night and walks to the furthest bathroom where he keeps his cake stash, not paying attention to the rest of the Ninja as he walks out. He tries pushing the door open, but it's locked. He doesn't notice any light through the door. "What the..?" Cole cringes in confusion. He pushes it harder. "Dumb door. Maybe it's stuck," he groans in disappointment. "Can't be loud though.." He slants his lips then stands back a little bit to summon his orange glowing strength to quietly break open the door.

Once that's done, Cole looks surprised. "Zane, buddy? You awake?" He asks, gently knocking on Zane's shoulder. "Hey, wake up, tin can," Cole chuckled a bit, his eyebrows lifting in a childlike manner. "Uhh, Zane?" They lower back. He pushes Zane over and immediately notices his blank expression. "Zane?!" Cole gasps and takes a step back. "What happened to you..?" His voice softens and his heart drops. "Zane..." Cole squats down and opens Zane's control panel, investigating it."Oh no.." He tries flipping the switch on, but nothing happens. He flips it back off and on again and again. He hops up and runs to go find Nya while staying silent. Tears began forming in his eyes.

Cole pushes Nya awake. "Nya! I need help!" Cole whisper yells.

"What?" Nya yawns and looks up at Cole, remaining in bed. "If it's about your cake, I finished it, now go back to bed..." She speaks quietly and rolls her eyes, shutting them back and turning over.

"No, it's not my ca- hey-! Nevermind that, there's something more important than that! It's Zane!" Cole whiper yells more, tears rolling smoothly down his cheeks.

Nya turns back over to sit up. "Zane? What happened?"

"I don't know! Just help!" Cole demands, wiping his tears away.

"Okay, okay!" Nya gets out of bed to stand, but Cole immediately takes her by the hand and rushes her to the bathroom doorway, letting go of it afterwards.

"Zane isn't turning back on!" He cries out and falls to his knees next to Zane.

"Have you tried the switch?-"

Cole interrupts Nya. "Yes, I've tried the switch!" Nya looks into the control panel, trying to figure out what's wrong. Cole sniffles and Nya peeks up at him.

"Cole, have you been crying?" Nya questions.

"Naww, I've been dancing around with joy! Pff- What's it to you?" Cole crosses his arms and looks away from Nya, now looking at Zane's legs. He forces himself to stop crying. Nya sighs and Cole calms a very little bit, putting a hand on Zane's closest leg. 'Please be alright.. We'll get you fixed,' Cole thinks to himself. "Have you found out what's wrong yet?" Cole breaks the silence.

"No, not yet- wait..." Nya thinks back on something.

"What?" Cole glances over at her, placing his hands on his lap.

"Remember when I had to fix Zane the last time? He never got completely fixed..." She admits.

"What?" Cole scoffs. "What did you forget?!"

"To check his power source for bugs after I finished everything else.. There was a lot of difficulty getting him to reboot," she tries defending herself.

"A-are you saying there's no chance for him to be repaired this time?.." Cole shakes in fear.

"I can try-" Nya is interrupted again.

"Is trying the only thing you can do?!" Cole punches the floor, cracking a small area partly open. "Let's just go try getting him back online.." He gets up.

"Will you please carry him for me? You know how heavy he is to me without the mech.." Nya frowns.

"Whatever.." Cole tries to summon his strength once more but can't. "What?-"

"Is something wrong?" Nya tilts her head to the side.

"Besides the obvious situation, no," Cole huffs and thinks about how much he wants Zane back, drawing strength with that. He then tries his luck again and his arms begin glowing again. He feels relief and picks up Zane. Nya leaves and Cole follows closely behind her.

A few hours later after many attempts of resolving the problem, Zane is pronounced broken. Cole falls into a depression, his heart hurting and feeling heavy. However, he remains strong for his dear Zane. The rest is history.

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I hope you enjoyed this! It took me an hour and 34 minutes and 993 words to write. :'') <3

Sensei Garmadead
Your dead Sensei loves you.