Hey everyone, happy Friday and time for a new update. This is it. The final chapter for our Ninja of Ice with his adventure as Iron Man. But I doesn't mean I'll stop with the updates of other stories I'm working on. But enjoy the chapter. And I have a soundtrack to go with this. So the link is, watch?v=DO8iQPSUnm4 and when you see the mark, enjoy it. Thank you for the reviews and staying with the story. And big thanks to my sister, KaitouKiwi with the updates.

Epilogue: The Falcon Leads

Crickets chirped through the night and the smell of sea salt wafted into the nindroid's olfactory sensors, prompting him to open his eyes from his meditation. The moon and stars shone directly above him, encasing him in a cool glow of light, the chill of the wind brushing his neck. He shivered briefly, being dressed in only a white long sleeve shirt and jeans. He couldn't focus on meditating any longer and pulled himself off the tatami mat before walking towards the ship's bow. He leaned against the railing, staring down at the ruined lot where his father's estate had once stood, leaving him feeling more despaired. Why hadn't Jay fixed the Bounty's engines yet? Staying here was making him feel more depressed than he already was.

A week after the death of his brother and the end of the war, Zane had experience and overwhelming sense of loneliness. He was the only Julien left in Ninjago. Of course, he wasn't the only android anymore since he'd found James, Melody, and Kiwi, but the isolation was still there. He could tell his family was worried about him, Xander had died in his arms, but Zane knew he shouldn't feel as lonely as he felt. He still had people that cared for him. But that had been his biological brother. After the loss of Xander, the Arc Reactor had migrated away from the center of Zane's chest and rested back in its original position. He sighed and rested his chin on his arms, staring down at the sea.

The sound of rustling and squawking drew the white ninja's attention to the bow. He took the short trip up the stairs and smiled. On the dragon figurehead, a slender figure was perched. The feathered, dark blue-grey robotic falcon gazed at Zane with golden eyes, twisting its head around in curiosity. "Hello, old friend," he greeted the falcon as it picked at its feathers, mimicking an actual bird. "Where have you disappeared to for almost a week? I was starting to worry about you." The falcon gazed at him, suddenly fluttering its wings and soon circled the Bounty. Zane studied his feathered friend with a raised brow until something dawned on him. The falcon always knew exactly where to take him. Lloyd's treehouse fortress with the Hypnobrai, the Bounty, his home in the Birchwood Forest. It must have had something new to show him.

Maybe it was good news?

*Without hesitation, and without telling his family he was leaving, the Ninja of Ice leapt over the railing and pursued the falcon. Where was it leading him this time?

"I never knew much about my brother, nor did I remember him after we reunited," Zane said to the press at Spark Industries. He didn't bother with the flashes of cameras temporarily blinding him. This was a memorial for his brother, and he didn't know exactly what to address regarding him. "But my memories of him have slowly resurfaced. Xander was my older brother, but I never knew he was the Mandarin until the very end. He was too blinded by power to ever realize what he meant to me. And, now, I am the last Julien, heir of Spark Tower and Spark Industries."

The chorus of news reporters shouted question after question at Zane, flashing their cameras in his face. He shook the sudden blindness away and raised a hand to end the frenzy. He pointed at one of the reporters to start answering questions. "Since you are the final Julien, are you going to take over Spark Industries?" Gayle Gossip asked. "Or are you going to shut it down?"

Zane paused and thought it over. He didn't know the first thing about running a company, but he didn't want to close it and let hundreds lose their jobs. He had a responsibility to protect Ninjago from threats and danger. His dark blue eyes glanced away from the crowd and landed on Iris as she sat on a chair next to his. A smile crossed his face as something came to him. "No, I won't be closing Spark Industries, but I also won't be running it," he replied, leaving the crowd confused. "I don't know much about running a company, but I know someone who does. She was my brother's secretary for a long time." Iris looked up at him curiously. "The new C.E.O of Spark Industries will be Miss Iris Rock."

The once secretary was baffled. She couldn't believe what Zane had just said, but the media was now swarming her with questions. She couldn't find her voice, but sheepishly smiled as Zane lead her to the podium. "Thank you," she said quietly.

The dead, fallen leaves of autumn crunched underneath Zane as he ran through the Forest of Tranquility. His eyes continued to dart upward, keeping an eye on the falcon while watching where he was running. Zane never felt fatigued as he just ran, trying to keep pace with his feathered friend. Where was it leading him? They'd started out heading north and now they were going south-east. Where. . . ?

The falcon finally stopped and perched on a branch, squawking to let Zane know where he was. The ice ninja gazed around and saw nothing, but looked up at the bird to it focusing on something. He followed the falcon's gaze and found a knot in a nearby tree. He walked over to it and reached his hand inside, feeling around until his fingers brushed against something. As he pulled it out, he raised a brow and stared at the golden colored three by three grid pattern plate. "Is this what you wanted to show me?" he wondered, turning to his friend. The falcon did a small dance and soon took flight again, circling above the treeline. The nindroid had a suspicious feeling that it wanted to show him more. He placed the grid piece in his pocket and took off running again.

"I really wish you hadn't done this," Iris said to Zane as the two stood on the roof of Spark Industries. The sun was setting, casting a warm glow as the two gazed at the beauty. A slightly chilled wind caused the new C.E.O to shiver and turn to Zane who was mesmerized by the city skyline. "I really don't know anything about being a C.E.O, just like you. I'm going to fail."

He pried his eyes away from the sun and stared into Iris' worried brown eyes. He took her hands and smiled. "You will not fail, I can promise you that," he stated. "Xander told me that Kiwi, James, and Melody are still alive and they are going to help you. James is well studied with the marketing and Kiwi has always been part of the engineering and science department of the company. As for Melody, she would be happy to watch over Korinna since she is studying to become a pediatrician. You will not fail as long as you have people you trust help you. Spark Tower is yours to take care of."

She could feel her anxiety rising, her heart accelerating. It was a good thing that the Extremis had been purged from her body, or else she'd probably have a meltdown, literally. Running Spark Tower was a big task, but Zane was right. She had people and androids to help her. "But still," she continued, "this is too much."

"I know it is," Zane agreed, "but I know you can do this. And, to help you out more, I did something that will make you and Korinna happy." Iris gazed at him now. "I made a call to Ninjago Security and discussed a certain man's innocence . . . let's just say that Markus Rock will be released sometime next week, and he will be with you and Korinna."

Her eyes grew wide with glistening tears as a quivering smile formed on her face. She lunged into Zane's arms, wrapping him in a tight embrace. She couldn't hold back her tears of joy. Her cousin was coming back into her and her sister's lives. She cried happily on Zane's shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much."

Rocks tumbled as he carefully slid down another rocky slope, preparing to jump from a ledge to another mountain. Once he reached the ledge, he quickly bounced off of it and leapt over the chasm below, performing Spinjtzu to help him gain altitude. Soon, he was hugging the rocky wall. Above him was the falcon, circling and landing. Zane realized something important was at the top, quickly scaling the wall to reach the ledge the falcon was situated on. He pulled himself up and looked around for any clues until his eye caught something glistening in the moonlight. Below him, he saw something golden in the crevice of the ground. Zane dropped to his knees and pulled out another golden gridded plate. He pocketed it as he heard the falcon squawk and take flight once more.

"You going to be alright with everything, Zane?" Laurie asked. The Ninja gathered around together on the deck of the Desinty's Bounty because they knew that Zane needed comfort. Yet, he seemed fine, a small smile on his face. They were worried about him. "But, seriously, are you going to be alright? Everything that happened with Xander and just recently at Spark Industries. . ."

The soft smile remained on Zane's face as he thought of everything he'd done to make sure Iris and Korinna had a future while he remained a ninja, but he sighed lightly as remembered the events at the shipyard. "I am fine," he replied. "I never meant for this to happen, and though I will not forgive myself, I will still be alright. I know I have made the right choice. I have been destined to be a ninja, it is my job and oath to protect Ninjago. As my father once said, I was created to protect those that cannot protect themselves. I think I have proven that by trying to protect Xander from ruining himself more. I will miss him as much as I do my father."

Small smiles formed on the Ninja's faces as they saw where Zane's heart had guided him. Even Sensei Wu was proud of his student. "We're proud of what you did and that you're sticking with the team," Cole said. "You know where your heart lies, and it's with being a brother and a ninja."

"Not to mention that it'd be boring if you were gone," Jay added, receiving a smack on the head from Kai. "Ow! What did I say?!"

Kai ignored him and turned ti the blonde teen, smiling at him. "You may have lost Xander, but don't forget that we're your brothers too," he smiled. "We're elemental brothers and sisters, we protect each other. Iron sharpens iron, but family sharpens family."

Zane nodded with a smirk. "As always," he said, "I am Zane Julien, the Ninja of Ice, and I have taken an oath to be a Spinjiztu Master with my family."

The sand underneath his feet shifted as he slid down the dune. The smell of sea salt wafted into his nose as he ran up the slope, seeing the ocean come into view. He carefully slid down and rushed over to the shoreline. The full moon shone above him, illuminating him as he searched for the falcon or another golden plate. The falcon gently landed on his shoulder, talons softly gripping the fabric of his shirt as he scanned for another piece. His foot tapped on something hard and he dropped to his knees, digging in the wet sand until he fished out the third grid plate. Something caused Zane to pull out the other two he'd found and all three magnetically connected together, a golden Rubix's cube.

Zane studied the cube, seeing strange markings on certain squares while others were blank. His eyes scanned them, realizing they were forming a symbol in his processor. He started shifting and turning the magnetic cube to form the symbol carefully. He stopped when the symbol had been formed and he stared at it quizzically: the ancient Ninjago symbol for "Brothers".

His brow raised curiously as he stared at the symbol, tracing his finger along the lines as if he was writing it until it started to glow. The cube split open from the center. Zane was surprised as he realized the box was something his father must've created. He noticed something inside and pulled it out. Confusion swam through his head as he stared at the small program chip and turned to the falcon. It squawked, turning its head sideways as its eyes glowed brightly.

A strange light spilled from its eyes, displaying a holograph of a person, flickering until the image finally cleared. Standing in front of Zane, was his father, riddled with age in his pressed shirt and khaki pants, a lab coat draped over his body. Zane couldn't find his voice as the hologram shot him a smile. "Zane, I knew one day you would find these pieces and you'd want to know why I made sure you'd forgotten about your brother," his father said. "This is a recorded message I programmed in the falcon for when the time was right and you were ready for the truth. Honestly, I did everything to protect you." This made the ice ninja raise a brow. "Xander was slowly becoming dangerous from having the Arc Reactor installed. When he created his own Arc Reactor with a dangerous compound I had created, it had an effect that could counteract yours. As the years passed, the compound somehow consumed him. He was dangerous around you, using strange abilities to cut items like plasma. In that moment, I realized he was the man in my nightmares, why I'd spent many nights creating the Iron Man suits."

"I'm sure by now you are starting to remember him, or he's gone," he continued sadly. "However, in your hands are his old schematics and programming that I had downloaded before he lost himself. He shall be normal again and he'll need a new body. You two were the best creations, and sons, that I could have ever had and I shall miss you both. Take care, Zane and Xander." The hologram disappeared.

Tears cascaded down his cheeks as he cried softly, staring down at the chip. He was happy to know the truth of not remembering Xander while he wiped away the tears. He figured the Extremis compound had corrupted him, but he was annoyed that his father had made him forget Xander just to protect him. Of course, he forgave him as he stared down at the chip. Xander's programming chip was right there, in his hand. His smile quivered as fresh tears formed. Zane stared at the ocean with his falcon. "Someday, brother," he said quietly. "Someday, we'll be reunited with Father again. I sense it."