The awesome response this story got as the first chapter was posted as a one-shot prompted the early release of the story to be continued on its own. RealtreeGal and I thank you for your immediate adoration of this story and we hope to make it one of the best we have ever written. Authors notes will be given at the beginning of each chapter, please read them before asking questions pertaining to the content of the story. We do not own Ninjago or any references to other forms of media. Thank you.

"Hot off the press! The mechanic is back, Ninjago!"

The Mechanic ran at Kai, hurling a ball of flame.

In a flash of panic, Kai grabbed the closest thing- which happened to be Zane- and pulled him in front, shielding him from the flames.

Zane only had a split second to realize what was happening before the fire singed his gi. He cried out as the heat burned his face and disfigured the metal on his torso.

The mechanic stopped and dropped back for another attack. Kai let go of Zane who stumbled. He saw the mechanic lunging for them and shot a blast of ice which enveloped the villain in a frozen block.

Zane's hand fell and he turned to Kai.

"Why would you do that?!" He seethed. "He could have severely damaged my vital systems!"

Kai pushed him away. "Be quiet, tin can, we can just fix you later. Now come on, I'm getting a message from Lloyd. He wants us all at Borg tower."

Zane scoffed before following the fire ninja. He couldn't believe Kai would do that to him! And to call him a tin can out of malicious intent? What in the world?

Zane shook his head to clear his thoughts. He would grapple with that later. Right now, what Lloyd needed was more important.

…

As it turns out, the royal family of Ninjago had requested the help of the ninja. It turns out the Sons of Garmadon, a crime ring that has recently risen to power, had stolen the Oni Mask of Vengeance from Borg Tower the night before. Later that day the Emperor was to give a speech to reassure the Ninjago citizens about the Sons of Garmadon. They feared they would be targeted because the palace housed the Oni Mask of Deception and the SOG would try to steal it during the speech. The ninja accepted the request, and it went without incident.

Later, Princess Harumi, daughter of the royal family, invited them to stay to protect the Mask of Deception. They accepted and were later shown around the palace grounds.

That evening, Zane was sitting on the bed of Jay's room. His chest panel was open as Jay poked and prodded at his inner workings and fixing what was damaged.

"Whew!" Jay said, wiping some sweat off his forehead. He shut Zane's panel. "I've done what I could." He looked down at the boiled metal of Zane's exoskeleton.

"But there's nothing I can do for that…" Jay trailed off.

Zane ran a hand over his mangled skin, feeling his blood boil as he recalled what happened earlier in the day.

Later that night, the ninja were patrolling the grounds.

"Okay," Lloyd said. He rolled out a map showing an overview of the palace. "Kai, Cole, I want you two to cover the west wing. Jay and I will cover the east wing, Nya you get the southern side, and Zane, you get the north."

Zane looked at the map.

"Perhaps it would be better if two of us covered the north wing and one on the East. By my observations, it would be more logical if we did so, due to the east side being more fortified than the-"

Lloyd huffed and turned to Zane. "Okay, you know what, if you know everything, why don't you find the biggest tree in the forest and cut it down with a herring?!"

Zane was dumbfounded at Lloyd's outburst. "W-what do you mean…"

"I don't know, I saw it in a movie, but it's a good idea if it gets you out of our way!"

Then the others turned and left, leaving Zane standing there, still trying to comprehend what happened. What did just happen? First Kai snapping at him, and now Lloyd?

Truly confused, all Zane could do was go to his assigned wing. He jumped up onto the roof of the palace, which gave him almost a bird's eye view of what was inside and beyond the castle wall, and the city beyond. The bright moon illuminated the dark palace courtyard.

Zane sighed. Today hadn't been right at all. He had been used as an expendable human shield to Kai and snapped at by Lloyd. Neither of them had done that to him before. What was going on? Was there something going on within the team that he didn't know about? Was the strain of Master Wu's absence becoming too much for them to bear? Or was it something Zane did?

The ice ninja was startled from his thoughts when there was a commotion right below him. He looked down just in time to see a cloaked figure jump out of the princess' window, carrying a bag over its shoulder.

Zane gasped. Some kidnapped the princess!

He leaped down from the roof and pursued the kidnapper. He chased him over the palace wall and through the city streets. The kidnapper jumped across the fire escapes of apartments, Zane on their heels.

The person swung across a dangling rope from one fire escape to the next. Zane tried to make the jump but realized he wouldn't make it.

Just as he was about to fall, the person he'd been pursuing grabbed his hand and pulled him up onto the fire escape. Zane was so confused until the person pulled back their hood.

"Harumi?" He said. "What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be back at the palace!" He noticed the sack on Harumi's shoulder. "And what's that?"

"As you know, there's lots of food at the palace." She told him. "But a lot of it gets uneaten and goes to waste. There's people who need it more than I do."

Zane smiled. "That's very kindhearted of you."

"Care to join me?" Harumi asked.

Zane felt his smile get even bigger. Of course, he had ninja duties, but after what happened today, some kindness was too hard to resist.

They took a short journey to the slums of the city, together passing out food to some of the children.

"People must admire you for being a princess," Zane said as he watched a child accept a slice of bread from Harumi gratefully. "You must live a great life."

"That's a common misconception, actually," Harumi told him as they walked along. "Being a princess is great at first glance, but in reality it's not as great as people think."

Zane raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying?"

Harumi sighed. "We have to live up to a role that was bestowed upon us. We never chose these mantles we hold. We have to live up to the expectations of others, but not to ourselves."

"I'm not even allowed outside the palace walls." Harumi continued. "It's not considered proper for a princess to be seen with other citizens in everyday settings. Plus it's dangerous. I haven't even seen the outside world except for these few times when I do things like this."

"But I must say, you must take pride in being a ninja. Being a hero and admired by all,"

"My brothers get all the credit," Zane huffed. He hated to say it, but deep down he knew that it was true. He looked down at his scarred metal skin on his torso and showed still through the scorched gi he was still wearing. "And like your life as royalty, there are...less pleasant aspects…"

"What happened?" The princess asked, her eyes full of concern. Zane sighed.

"We were battling an enemy of ours and my brother used me as a shield. I ended up getting burned."

Harumi frowned. "That doesn't sound like much of a brother to me…"

Zane didn't know what, but something about that made him stop and think. What she said couldn't be true, could it?

Zane shook his head. Of course it couldn't. He and the other ninja had done everything together. It was the last thing they would do.

Even though he tried to convince himself otherwise, a small part of him still made him rethink how his teammates felt about him.

He was startled from his thoughts as he suddenly felt a hand on the disfigured metal where the Mechanic had struck him.

He was shocked to see Harumi's hand over his "scar".

"Can it be fixed?" She asked him. She looked up into his eyes.

Zane was paralyzed. So many things were happening at once. When he saw the princess show concern...no...care for him, he realized how long it was since someone had done so for him. And when Harumi touched his scar, he realized how starved of physical contact he was. It was so foreign to him, he wasn't even sure if he liked it.

When Zane didn't answer, Harumi cupped his face. "Zane, what do they do to you? You don't deserve to be treated like this, and you know that…"

Zane looked at the ground, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. Harumi pulled the ice ninja into a comforting hug. He returned it hesitantly after a moment, he had all but forgotten what a genuine hug felt like.

"Why do you stay with them if they don't treat you right?" asked Harumi

"Because I have nowhere else to go and Ninjago needs me," said Zane

"Perhaps there is another option, but I think we should head back now, if I'm gone too long someone might find out I'm missing then all hell will break loose," said Harumi. Zane nodded solemnly and they went back to the palace in silence. He helped Harumi climb back into her bedroom window and bade her goodnight before resuming his watch on the roof. He looked to where the other ninja were to see if they noticed his absence. It appeared that they did not.

Zane breathed a sigh of relief. FSM knows what kind of trouble he would have been in if they were both caught.

…

The sunrise revealed itself in beautiful shades of red and orange as morning dawned over the royal palace. The ninja left their posts on the roof of the palace and met back up in front of the main entrance and went to go eat breakfast. Zane stayed silent, not wanting to risk any chance of angering his brothers by speaking out of turn.

"Kai maybe next time you can think about how much work it is for me to constantly have to fix Zane before you go using him as a shield from your own element, I'm getting sick of always having to fix him!" said Jay

"Sorry buddy," said Kai to Jay.

Zane swallowed his food and looked at the table, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He finished his food then wordlessly left the table to go back on patrol.

"And where do you think you're going?" asked Lloyd

"Back on patrol," said Zane

"I haven't given you an assigned patrol spot for today, sit back down and quit acting like you're the leader because you're not," spat Lloyd.

None of the ninjas noticed Harumi in the doorway. She gave a wry grin, yes Zane would be the perfect recruit, not to mention he was kind of adorable. She walked back down the hall.

"And with a ninja on our side, they will finally see what we are trying to accomplish," she schemed. She went back to her room to plan for tonight.

That evening, Zane and Harumi snuck out again to give food to the poor. Zane actually found that he likes spending time with the princess. She was kind to him and genuinely seemed to enjoy his company.

"Last night, you mentioned something," Zane said as he gave an apple to a homeless man. "What was it that you were going to tell me about this 'other option'?"

Harumi sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you. But you must hear me out."

Zane raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

"You join the Sons of Garmadon."

Zane gasped. Was she serious? They were criminals! And we was built to protect, not to destroy Ninjago's peace.

"I know you think it's not a good idea," Harumi said, seeing Zane's reaction. "But-"

"No, I would never!" Zane told her. He turned around and began to run back for the palace, but Harumi's next words stopped him.

"They'll treat you better. Better than your so-called 'brothers' ever will!"

Zane stood rooted to his spot, unsure of what to do. He couldn't do something like that. He had a purpose, and it was to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. It would go against everything he had ever known. He stood for peace, freedom, and courage in the face of all who threatened Ninjago. And the SOG was the complete opposite of all of that.

But yet, Zane hadn't been treated like a brother at all by his teammates. It seemed like lately all they viewed him as was an expendable piece of equipment that they could kick around. It seemed to him they didn't care about him anymore. He had always been fearful of not being seen as equal by the other ninja, but now his fears were coming true. Could the SOG really give him the equality and respect he sought?

Zane shook his head furiously. No. They were a crime ring. There was nothing respectable in that. And he was a ninja! He was better than this.

He continued to leave, but right before he vanished from sight, Harumi called after him.

"The offer is still open if you choose to!"

Harumi watched him go, a wicked smile appearing on her face. She saw his hesitation. It was only a matter of time before he snapped.

…

Zane lay awake in bed, thinking over the events of the last two days.

"Tin Can"

"-It's a good idea if it gets you out of our way!"

"-I'm tired of fixing him,"

He felt tears springing to his eyes remembering their words that had threatened to rip his heart in two. He rolled over and faced the wall. Would the SOG really be more accepting? Was turning against the side of good really a worthy price to pay to feel wanted? The first hug he had gotten in years had been from someone in a crime ring. Was the light really better than the darkness if the darkness would actually take care of him?

"I'll give them one more chance," sighed Zane.

He got up and went down to the banquet room for a glass of water. Not that he needed it, but simple things of that sort seemed to comfort him in times like this.

He walked through the entry of the banquet room and turned on the light, only to find Cole halfway through eating a whole chocolate cake to himself.

Zane stared at Cole, confused. He had told the team that he had given up sweets since Master Wu disappeared.

"Cole?" Zane asked. "What are you doing?"

"Eating cake…" He said nonchalantly.

"But I thought you said 'My body is a temple'?"

Cole swallowed his bite of cake and threw Zane a nasty look.

"Zane, for the love of the FSM, could you please just shut up for once?!"

Cole hadn't meant to be so harsh to Zane. He had been stressing out about this whole SOG predicament, and eating cake was his main coping mechanism.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. That was it. Zane had enough.

Seething with rage, he turned and left. Cole was too fixated on his cake to notice.

It was true. His lifelong fear was confirmed. His brothers didn't see him as equal. They didn't care about him.

To Zane, they weren't his brothers anymore. They were strangers- no- enemies.

He went up to his room and threw off his burnt gi. He found a fresh change of clothes, they were black and purple with only hints of white and pale blue. Unbeknownst to him they had been placed there by Harumi. He donned them before picking up his weapons and opening the window. Just as he was about to climb onto the roof, he heard Lloyd's voice.

"Zane, what are you doing?"

Zane turned to Lloyd, his blood boiling at the mere sight of his former teammate.

"Leaving." Zane hissed. Lloyd looked at him.

"What do you mean, you're leaving? You have a palace to protect!"

"Not anymore." The former ice ninja growled. "You have a palace to protect. This is no longer any of my affairs."

"What?!" Lloyd asked. "Why?"

Zane glowered at Lloyd, a look he had never seen from the once cool and collected nindroid. In Zane's eyes Lloyd saw hurt, anger- and hatred.

"I quit."

Before Lloyd could say anything, the nindroid jumped onto the roof and vanished into the night.

…

It wasn't difficult to find the Bounty. She was anchored on the outskirts of the city. Zane jumped up on the anchor and scaled the chain before swinging up on the deck. Once on deck he ran to the sleeping quarters and took everything he owned and stuffed it into a suitcase.

"Zane, what are you doing?" Came Pixal's voice

"Kai used me as a shield, Jay is sick of me, Lloyd pretty much told me to get lost, and Cole told me to shut up, I'm done, I quit," seethed Zane

"Ninja never quit, I think you are overreacting," said Pixal

"I should have known you'd side with them, you and I are incompatible after all," said Zane leaping out the open window. He ran to the poorer side of the city and found Harumi handing out food.

"I'm in," said Zane

"Excellent, would you mind helping me finish up here and then I'll take you to headquarters," said Harumi

"Of course," said Zane.

They finished handing out food until Harumi's bag was empty. Then Zane followed Harumi out of the slums.

"You made the right choice, Zane," Harumi told him as she led the former ninja through twisting and turning alleyways. "I've been witnessing the mistreatment you suffered at the hands of your so-called brothers. But now with us, you'll finally get the respect you deserve."

"Where are we going?" Zane asked her.

"To Central Station," Harumi answered. "It's abandoned, and your signal won't reach any of the ninja's locators if they decide to try and find you."

Zane nodded. "I see…"

Harumi came to a manhole in the middle of a dark street. She pried it open and gestured to it.

"After you." She said.

Zane and Harumi jumped down into the manhole. Below the street was an abandoned stretch of subway tracks. Harumi pulled a flashlight from her pocket and together she and Zane navigated the network of old subway tunnels until they came to a set of old metal doors. Loud voices were heard from the other end.

Harumi stopped the nindroid.

"Welcome to your new life, Zane." She told him. "Gone are the days where you're treated like nothing more than a piece of scrap metal. From here on out, you will be treated with nothing but respect as you deserve."

Harumi opened the doors and pushed Zane inside.

Inside the base was full of various SOG members, including Ultraviolet, Killow, Mr. E, and lower members. They all dropped what they were doing to see Zane standing at the doors, unsure of what to do.

Ultraviolet set down her drink and pulled out a knife.

"What is he doing here?!" She screeched. "Get him!"

The psychotic biker girl was about to lunge at Zane when Harumi stepped out from behind him. She held up a hand.

"Ultra, stop!" She said. "It's not proper of you to be scaring off new members, and you know that!"

Ultraviolet stopped and looked at Harumi, confused.

"New members?" She said. "What do you mean? He's a ninja!"

"Not anymore," Harumi said, smiling wickedly. She grabbed Zane by the arm and led him to the center of the crowd.

"Sons of Garmadon, I'd like to introduce you all to our newest member. Cast out by his teammates that had wrongfully treated him as less than an equal, I have brought him to us so he can finally get the treatment and respect he deserves. Everyone, meet Windigo!"