Echo Zane - Tumblr Posts
i drew the one and only, echo zane
i miss him :(((
that weird au again but this time i added Ronin and Echo Zane to the weird mix
this makes absolutely zero sense timeline wise but who give a <3
it could be see as a separate au idk and idc
ah yes, Ronin and his children; the undead dramatic, egoistical, ansgty teen that has wind and ghost powers, the shark humanoid he found in the beach, the neglected robot who's a replacement for another robot, and the evil but not really child that stole his wallet.
What a family.
It’s Echo! This is for day sixteen (clocks/time) of ninjinktober! Get it? Because he has a clock... (wait. Why DOES he have a clock??? It’s in the same place as Zane’s power source soooooo.... does Echo get power from time itself?????? Or does the clock turning power him or something???? Idk.... I chose to believe that he runs on time.)
(Idk. This was the first thing I thought when I saw the prompt.) This is for day seventeen (dragon) of ninjinktober! It’s if Echo ever had a dragon... Idk
Trying to nail down Echo's characteristics in my writing so I keep him consistent.
Echo Character Traits
● Likes to be around others and is excited to meet new friends
● But after being alone for so long, he sometimes is quickly burnt out socially. He also values his alone time
● Tries too hard sometimes to be likable. He doesn't want his new friends to leave him
● Curious but definitely very cautious
● Is often confused. But who can blame him honestly? Ninjago City is a wacky place. Much different from the lighthouse.
● Likes to read books and share facts with his friends
● Doesn't understand a lot of common phrases. Not necessarily because he's an android, but because he was removed from society most of his life.
● Likes Pistachio ice cream. (Because I said so!)
● He WILL tell you random bug facts. There is no stopping him.
● Dislikes violence, but you mess with any of his friends, you better square up!
● He did a lot of cleaning in the lighthouse, so it kind of bugs him when people (Cole, Jay, and Kai) leave stuff lying around the monastery.
● He's not very confrontational, but if you do tick him off, expect to find a very loquaciously written note on your pillow when you go to bed. He finds he can articulate what he's feeling better in writing than in speaking sometimes.
● He's pretty content, though, so he doesn't get mad too often.
● He kept a journal in the lighthouse to pass the time. Mostly, it's just entries about the weather, what kind of birds he saw that day, and speculating about when the seagull eggs in the rafters were going to hatch.
● He is 2 years younger than Zane.
● He sometimes grapples with his feelings of being a replacement for Zane, and Zane, on the opposite side, grapples with the thought of being replaceable.
● In the beginning, they both hesitate to share their feelings with each other, but eventually open up and have a few good teary eyed, brother therapy sessions.
Most of this won't be super relevant in the actual story, but I thought it was important to get his characterization figured out.
But this is just how I see him. I would love to hear your thoughts!
You know what? I think I headcannon Echo as shorter than Zane.
Like, Dr. Julien probably used the same blueprints, but it seems to me that since he was building vehicles for Samuki, Echo was probably built out of whatever spare parts he could salvage from those projects.
I mean, I don't know about you, but if I had a hostage building stuff for me, I would only give him the parts and tools that were necessary, lest he build something to help him escape.
So, to me Echo is shorter than Zane because Dr. Julian was working with limited materials.
This has been, Random Ramblings with Nexu.
Finding Balance
Chapter 1 : Multiple Suprise Visitors
(For @ninjago-fic-fest)
Chapter 1 - Chapter 2
Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.
Chapter 1
Multiple Suprise Visitors
Zane was scrubbing at a particularly stubborn dark spot on one of the lighthouse windows. He scowled at the mark and pressed with the rag a little harder. The mark still didn’t budge. He decided to give up with the rag and started scraping with his fingernails. After a couple of passes, the mark was gone.
Zane stood back to admire his handy work when there was a loud thumping sound from downstairs.
“Thump, thump!”
He paused; certain his audio receptors were glitching. His only other companion, a small cleaning robot named Ty-Dee, was in the far corner of the room dusting away some cobwebs. What could possibly be making noise downstairs?
The noise sounded again.
“Thump, thump!”
It sounded a bit like someone knocking on a door.
But that wasn’t possible of course.
Nobody else had been on the island for years. Not since the day his father left.
And he had disappeared years ago.
Zane remembered it very vividly.
It was like any other normal day. He had worked on inventions with his dad, had some lunch, gone downstairs to his room to work on his own personal invention, and then went to sleep. But when Zane awoke the next morning, his father had vanished.
He hadn’t left a note behind explaining where he was going or anything.
Just like that, gone.
And from then on it had just been him and Ty-Dee.
The sound came again, louder this time, “THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!”
That was definitely, a knock at the door.
Someone was here, Zane thought. Someone who could finally get him off this rocky island of solitude. Someone was here to rescue him!
Had his father returned? He barely dared to hope.
Zane raced down the stairs, two steps at a time; Ty-Dee rolling along after him, clunking down the stairs one by one. Upon reaching the bottom, Zane bolted toward the front door.
And then he paused, his hand clutching the door knob mid turn.
As excited as he was at the prospect of seeing people again Zane also found he felt a bit nervous. He hadn’t seen a human being in years. His mind started to wander. Who was on the other side of that door? Were they really here to rescue him? Or had they stumbled upon the island by accident? Would they be friendly? He certainly hoped so.
Only one way to find out.
Zane slowly opened the door, just a tiny bit, “Hello?”
“Oh good, Echo you’re here!” an excited voice responded.
Zane jumped a little at the sudden exclamation, but then opened the door a little wider to see who had spoken. A young man dressed in blue, greeted him with a small wave, smiling warmly. There were five other colorfully clad humans standing behind him on the wide stone steps that led up to the lighthouse door.
One of the blue stranger’s companions, a girl with dark wavy hair, must have noticed Zane’s caution and stepped forward.
“It’s okay Echo,” the young woman said gently, “We’ve come to take you home.”
Zane looked back and forth between her and the first stranger. They were both smiling at him. But their eyes were darting back and forth and they both shifted from foot to foot. They almost looked as nervous as he was.
Examining the two closer, he felt a strange sense of Deja Vu.
But then in a blink the feeling was gone. Odd.
No matter, Zane was much more interested in the name the girl had called him. “Echo”? Who was that? He opened the door a bit wider.
“Echo?”, Zane asked, finally stepping out of the lighthouse. “I’m sorry, but no one by that name lives here.” And then, not at all eager to be left behind he added, “But, um, maybe I can help you find who you’re looking for?”
The blue stranger looked confused for a second before the girl elbowed him in the ribs and whispered something Zane couldn’t quite catch.
But before he could begin to wonder what she had said, a movement from behind her caught his eye.
One of their companions was coming closer, traversing the last couple of steps. The young outsiders who had first greeted him stepped to either side, creating a space on the last step for the new arrival.
Now, he and this third stranger were standing face to face.
He was clad in white, and a bit taller than the first two strangers. He had short cropped hair and a confused look on his face.
And he wasn’t human.
The stranger was mechanical.
Zane had never thought he would see another human being ever again. Let alone an android like himself.
But this wasn’t just any android…
Zane’s eyes widened even further as he realized that the other android looked just like him.
It was like looking in a mirror. The shape of the face, the cropped pieces of curly wire for his hair, the lines down his cheeks where the sheets of thin metal had been welded together. The only differences being that this android was a shiny silver, instead of the brass and copper of his own rusting metallic skin. He was a bit taller as well, and his eyes were a brilliant blue in contrast to his hazel. But other than that, they were exactly alike.
Zane took a step back in surprise.
After a few more flabbergasted seconds he finally worked up the courage to ask,
“Who are you?”
The other android blinked twice, as if confused as well, before he answered, “I am Zane. I was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves,”
A heavy silence hung in the air.
Until, finally, Zane found his voice again.
“But I am Zane,” he replied.
The silence again, was thick.
And then another thought occurred to him. If this looked like him, then did that mean…
“Do you know Dr.—”
“Julian. Yes,” the stranger finished, “He was the one who made me. He was my father,”
And then the visitor’s eyes were shimmering with oily tears. Zane hadn’t quite expected that.
And then, the stranger leapt forward and wrapped his arms around him.
He jerked back in surprise, but the stranger who looked like him only pulled him closer.
And suddenly, the pieces fell into place.
If father had built this other android…
“A-are you, my brother?”, Zane whispered.
“I think so,” the stranger replied through his tears.
He had a brother?
Why had father never told him?
Zane felt his own eyes wet with tears.
Finally, after all this time. Someone had come for him.
His brother had come for him.
Now both androids were sobbing as they slumped to the ground.
They clung to each other like their lives depended on it.
“I’m so glad I found you,” the taller of the two whispered.
Zane only hugged his brother tighter.
After a minute or so, he pulled away still holding tight to his new brother’s hand, his smile wider than he ever thought it could go. The taller Zane smiled back, wiping away his tears with a baggy, white sleeve.
A large man dressed in black approached the two. The sleeves of his gi looked to have been ripped off, his muscly arms on full display. Zane thought he looked rather intimidating, but his voice was soft when he spoke.
“Are we ready to go Zane?” he asked.
The two androids turned and spoke in unison.
“I think so,”
“Yes please,”
They looked back at each other in surprise and then started to laugh.
“This could get a little confusing,” the stranger in red chuckled. His hair was spiked almost straight up from his head in a way that Zane thought looked rather silly.
“So, what should we do about this brother?”, the silver android asked, ruffling the other’s curly copper hair. “Do you want a nickname?”
Zane thought for a moment.
He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do.
He was Zane. He had always been Zane. He had stated that matter a factly not two minutes earlier.
But with the sudden appearance of his brother, he wasn’t so sure if the name was really his anymore.
Nobody had called him “Zane” in years. There hadn’t been anyone around to call him by any name actually. He admittedly had started to feel a bit disconnected from it.
Maybe a nickname would be nice.
Suddenly he remembered the name the stranger in blue had called him earlier.
Echo.
There was the strange feeling of Déjà Vu again. Weird.
He thought he rather liked the sound of that name though.
He wasn’t sure why, but he felt connected to it somehow. He had no memory of it that he could think of, but at the same time it felt familiar. Like when you wake up from a dream and can only remember the feeling of it but not any of the details.
“Oh, but …you don’t have to decide right now or anything. Or we can keep calling you Zane if that’s what you want, or um…” his brother spoke up again, stumbling over his words.
“Actually, a nickname sounds nice,” Zane interjected.
Maybe “Zane” could be his middle name, he thought with a smile. He wasn’t sure he wanted to let go of the name completely. It was what his father called him after all.
“How about Echo?”
I'd love to hear about your WIP "Finding Balance"!
Of course!
This one is for the Ninjago Fic Fest. I was so happy to find an Echo prompt so I could put my own spin on his story!
It's honesty kinda weird how the story developed. The prompt was just to have Echo explore Ninjago and learn more about himself along the way. But then I realized that to get to Ninjago, he had to get off the island first. So I had to write that bit, and then the middle went in a different direction than I had originally planned.
Like, the complete opposite direction.
The original idea was that Echo wanted some alone time after being rescued by his new family. (Imagine living alone for years, and then all of sudden, you're in a crowded monastery with people around every corner. You might want a break from it after a while.)
But time alone is not at all what I ended up writing for Echo.
I was about to rework the middle bit to better fit the theme I had originally intended when I realized that just because the themes I had going were completely opposite each other, didn't mean they couldn't exist together.
It's awfully interesting that the prompt involved Echo discovering more about himself on his adventures because that's what happened to me while writing.
I love to spend time alone. I feel like I can truly be myself. And a lot of my hobbies are single person activities.
But at the same time, I love spending time with other people! Going to get ice cream with friends, or seeing people at church, or talking and joking with my coworkers, I love it!
I didn't realize how much I loved it until I spent a little too much time alone and ended up feeling really sad and lonely.
And then, on the flipside, if I'm around people for too long, I get mentally drained.
I realized it was all about finding that balance. Hence, the title of the story.
Just like me, Echo is going to have to find that balance in this story.
Luckily, he has his big bro Zane to help him out with that. 😊
Finding Balance
Chapter 2 : Cupcakes and Questions
(For @ninjago-fic-fest)
Chapter 1 - Chapter 3
Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.
Chapter 2
Cupcakes and Questions
Over the next couple of weeks, Echo was showered with affection from the whole team, as they tried to make him feel at home.
First things first Zane took his brother down to the workshop underneath the monastery. There Echo met P.I.X.A.L.; another android, like him and Zane. She had seemed very confused upon seeing him, but after hearing Zane’s explanation of the situation, she got right to work. She sanded down Echo’s rusty arms and legs until his metal coverings were once again shiny. She carefully applied oil to his joints and even fixed that rouge gear in his chest that always seemed to slip out of place. P.I.X.A.L didn’t say much while she worked, but her smile was warm and kind.
“Let me know if that gear gives you anymore trouble, okay?” she had told him once his repairs were finished.
Jay introduced him to video games, which he picked up pretty easily. It was funny to see Jay’s overly animated fake outburst when Echo won. He also gave him some soda to try, but Echo found it felt funny on his taste sensors.
Nya showed him the art of painting. Echo ended up painting a sunset over an ocean view. It was nice to be off the island, but he found himself missing the sea sometimes. Nya seemed to understand that a bit, and showed him some water tricks she could do with her element. She floated shiny orbs of water in the air and swirling streams all around the room.
He got to help Cole bake his very own “Welcome Home” cake. It turned out a little dry, but Cole didn’t seem to mind. Echo really enjoyed frosting it too. They both ended up on the floor covered in frosting and laughing their heads off by the end of it.
Kai gifted him a pair of sunglasses and then tried to teach him some cool looking Spinjitsu moves. Echo had to reattach his arm multiple times during Kai’s crazy lesson but he had a lot of fun nonetheless. Kai also told him that having siblings was totally awesome, and that Echo was going to love it.
Lloyd showed him the obstacle course and how you could hang upside down from the rings. He also gave him his old Fritz Donnagen comic books. He then proceeded to go on a rant about easter eggs and plot inconsistencies and other stuff that Echo didn’t understand. But seeing Lloyd excited got him excited too. And it felt nice to just listen when he couldn’t think of much to talk about himself.
Master Wu was very glad to have another member added to the family. He welcomed Echo with open arms showing him around the monastery and gifting him a large pile of books from the library. When Echo asked if he should put them back when he had finished reading them, Wu smiled and said that they were his to keep.
Zane always seemed to be hovering near him. He followed him around, asking if he wanted anything, and he always seemed to be offering him food for some reason. Being a “nindroid” as Echo now knew he was called, he didn’t necessarily need food to survive, but he supposed the extra energy he got from it was nice. Not that he was complaining. Zane’s food was always delicious, especially since the only thing he had in the lighthouse after Dr. Julien had left was a bit of tea now and then.
It seemed to Echo, that Zane was worried about him. He wasn’t quite sure why though. He was quite happy here. Kai told him it was an older brother thing.
“Older brothers worry about their little siblings. It’s just something that we do,” he had reassured him.
But he didn’t really elaborate beyond that.
After a few weeks, things had settled into kind of a new normal. Everyone went about their daily tasks as usual, and even Zane had started to be a bit less clingy.
But even though everything was calming down, Echo was feeling a little claustrophobic. As big as the monastery was, he always ran into someone. There always seemed to be someone there.
He found himself spending more and more time in his room away from the common areas. He would turn the corner when he saw someone coming down the hall, and he was much quieter during mealtimes.
Sometimes, it felt like he was trapped. Like he was stuck in a new, albeit different, prison. But that didn’t make any sense.
This was all he ever wanted. To have a family, to be around people again. He loved his brother and his new friends. They were all so nice to him. So why did he have the sudden urge to hide away?
Maybe Zane could help him.
Echo found him in the kitchen stirring batter in a bowl.
“Hi Zane. What are you cooking?” Echo asked.
“Oh, hello, brother!”, Zane turned to him, “I’m making cupcakes. Would you like to join me?”
“Maybe not today. But I do have a question.”
“Fire away.”
Echo took a deep breath.
“Do you enjoy living with so many people?”, he said slowly.
Zane looked thoughtful. He set the bowl of batter on the counter and turned to Echo.
“The ninja are my friends, my family. I cannot imagine life without them,” he said.
“Ah, yes. Of course,” Echo turned to look at the bowl of cupcake batter, not wanting to meet his brother’s eyes.
But then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Zane smiling down at him.
“But I know how you feel Echo,”
“Huh?”
“Sometimes they can be a little much for me too,”
Echo stared quizzically at Zane, who winked at him knowingly.
Oh.
Echo felt a mite embarrassed. He thought he had been hiding his feelings pretty well.
“Oh. Um you noticed then huh?”
“Of course I noticed. You’re my little brother!” Zane said in mock exasperation, before pulling Echo into a tight hug. “Now, how can I help,”
“I just don’t understand it,” Echo sighed, as Zane released him. “I didn’t like living alone on the island. So why do I want to be alone now?”
Zane hummed in thought before answering, “Spending time around people is good, but it’s also important to spend time by yourself. It’s a balance. You can’t have too much of one without the other,”
Zane grabbed the spoon out of the bowl of batter and proceeded to balance it lengthwise on his index finger. It wobbled a bit as Zane tried to keep it balanced, stumbling forward to follow the movement of the spoon.
Echo was laughing hard as Zane circled the kitchen, swaying this way and that with the spoon, almost tripping a few times before he finally plopped it back in the bowl, splattering chocolate batter on the kitchen wall.
Zane smiled warmly when he saw that his antics had had their intended effect. “Just like that!” he laughed.
When Echo had let out his last chuckle, his brother slung an arm over his shoulder and pulled him close.
“It’s okay to want some alone time, Echo. Being around a lot of people is new for you. It’s normal for you to feel this way,” Zane said softly.
Echo nodded to show he understood.
“You know what I do when I need some time to myself?”
“What?”
“I go on a walk. Sometimes in the park in Ninjago City, sometimes just around the monastery. It helps clear my mind.”
Echo thought a walk sounded nice. And he would love to explore Ninjago City. Yes. That’s what he’d do, he decided.
But then again, Echo thought, he hadn’t really left the monastery since arriving two weeks ago. And he had the distinct feeling that his brother wouldn’t be too comfortable with him exploring a huge city all by himself.
Well, the only thing to do was ask him, he supposed.
“Can I go on a walk in the city?” Echo asked his brother tentatively.
Zane seemed a bit startled by the question and his face suddenly tensed. There was that worried look of his again, Echo noticed.
“Um, well, I mean I figured, just around the monastery would be…”
“Oh! Please don’t worry, brother!” Echo pleaded. He was so tired of being cooped up in the monastery. “I’ll be really careful, I mean it!”
Zane walked over to the kitchen counter, picked up the mixing bowl, and continued to stir the batter. He tapped his foot for a few seconds, apparently trying to make up his mind.
He let out a long sigh, “Ok, you can go,”
“On one condition,” Zane amended with a smile.
“Yes! Thank you, Zane!”, Echo rushed forward to give his brother the biggest hug he could.
Finding Balance
Chapter 3 : New People, New Places
(For @ninjago-fic-fest)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 - Chapter 4
Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.
Chapter 3
New People, New Places
Echo felt his pants pocket for about the tenth time since leaving the monastery. Yep, the communicator was still there.
He’d probably forget to check in as much as Zane wanted him to, but he promised himself he’d call his brother at least once on his outing.
At some point.
But not right now, there was too much to see!
And this place was like nothing Echo had ever seen before.
The streets bustled with cars and motorcycles of all shapes and colors. Tantalizing smells wafted from street vendors and out of restaurant doors. Bright signs advertising sales and 2 for 1 specials, sat outside of businesses, trying to bring in as many costumers as possible. People lined the sidewalks, arms full of the wares they had bought at the previous store, headed to the next vendor on their list.
It was so beautiful. The city was filled with more life and color than Echo thought possible.
And the buildings were all so tall! Sure, the lighthouse had been pretty sizable, but these buildings were ginormous!
Echo craned his neck to see the top of a particularly large building that looked to be near the center of the city. It’s shiny glass sides shone in the sun. The walls kept going up and up and up; crowned at the tippy top with a shimmering blue hologram that looked a bit like a stylized letter “C”. The hologram shimmered and warbled with static as a bird flew through the center of the digital image.
There were quite a lot of birds around, actually, Echo noticed. Pigeons strutted through the streets, larger black birds, probably crows or ravens, soared through the spaces between the many buildings. There were even some robins perched on some of the power lines that lined the roads.
Echo was looking at a particularly large black bird perched comic-ly on a rather small streetlight when a kid on a bike almost crashed into him.
“Wwhhhooooaaa!!!!” the kid yelled and swerved at the last second as Echo stumbled in the opposite direction. Both the bike and the kid fell to the pavement with a crash.
When he had recovered his balance, Echo rushed over to the kid sprawled out on his back and offered a hand to help him up.
“Are you okay?”, he asked urgently. He sincerely hoped the boy was alright; it had looked like a pretty nasty crash. But the kid suddenly jumped up from the street unaided, as if nothing had happened.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m fine!”, he exclaimed, “I’ve crashed my bike hundreds of times!”
The boy looked a little disheveled, but he didn’t seem to be hurt too bad.
“Hundreds of times?” Echo asked, flabbergasted.
“Well, maybe not that many times, but I do crash a lot,” the kid answered, “I’m Nelson by the way, what’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m Echo,” the android replied, and stuck out his hand for a handshake like his brother had taught him to.
Nelson accepted his hand and shook it enthusiastically, “Nice to meet you, Echo! And um, sorry I almost ran you over,”
“It’s okay. I am glad that you are fine as well,”
“Thanks!”, Nelson replied with a smile.
Then his smile broadened, and his eyes widened.
"Whoa…sorry - this is - I just have to say – I can’t believe I’m meeting a real life nindroid!”, Nelson stuttered out, “This is so cool! I’ve seen some nindroids around town, but I’ve never actually met one before,”
Echo smiled wide.
He didn’t think anyone had ever called him “cool” before. It felt good. And from the sounds of it there were other nindroids in the city as well. That was an encouraging thought.
Pausing their conversation, Nelson crouched down by his bike to examine it.
“Oh no…” he groaned, “my mom’s gonna kill me...”
Echo gave Nelson a concerned look.
“Oh! Not really. It’s just an expression,” Nelson added with a laugh, seeming to understand Echo’s confusion. “She keeps telling me to be more careful when I bike in the city. So, she’s not going to be happy when she sees this,” he gestured to the overturned bike.
Echo took a closer look at the bike and saw the reason for Nelson’s distress. Not only had the chain come off the gears, which in and of itself would have been an easy fix, but the gears themselves were missing entirely!
He looked around for the missing gears, and finally spotted them scattered on the sidewalk a few feet away. He quickly retrieved the bike gears and went to hand them to Nelson.
“Are these what you’re looking for?” he asked.
“Oh, you found them! Thanks Echo!” Nelson exclaimed excitedly. And then he paused, seemingly deep in thought, “Now, how do I reattach these…”
Echo squatted down next to Nelson to get a closer look at the problem.
If there was one thing he knew, it was mechanics. He had reattached his own arm multiple times and had kept Ty-Dee in tip top shape over the years in the lighthouse. Echo figured he could reattach the gears easily.
With the right tools.
Which he didn’t have on hand.
“Hmmm. I think I can fix it, but I don’t have the tools right now…”
“You’ll help me fix it? Aw man you’re a life saver Echo!”
Echo stood up and considered their options.
“If you would like, we can take your bike back to my house and I can fix it there,”
“That sounds great! But I’ll have to ask my mom first,” Nelson rolled his eyes, “She doesn’t like me going to other people’s houses without her permission,”
“Hm. That seems like a good rule for her to have” Echo replied.
“Yeah, I guess,” Nelson admitted, “I’ll ask her and maybe I can come over with the bike tomorrow,”
“Sounds like a plan,” Echo nodded his head in agreement, “I suppose I shall see you tomorrow. It was very nice meeting you Nelson.”
“It was nice to meet you too,” Nelson replied with a smile.
Echo waved a quick goodbye and was just turning to leave when Nelson interrupted.
“Hey, I was headed to the Dairy Dragon for some ice cream. Y’know, before I almost crashed into you and all. But it’s kinda boring eating ice-cream all by yourself. Do you want to come?”
Echo considered the offer. The whole reason he had wanted to explore the city was, ironically in a city this size, to get away from people. But honestly, after talking with him for a bit, Echo kinda wanted to hang out with Nelson some more. Who knows? It could be the start of a new adventure.
“I would love to accompany you. But, um, what is ice cream?”
“You’ve never had ice cream before?!”, Nelson blurted, flabbergasted.
Echo thought back to all the different meals he had tried with his new family. Ice cream. Like the cream cheese frosting on his welcome home cake?
“Um. Is it like cake?”, Echo offered in response to Nelson’s bewilderment.
“If you like cake, you’re going to love ice-cream!”, Nelson replied, “Be prepared for deliciousness my friend! It’s this way!”
Nelson gestured for Echo to follow him as he wheeled his bike down the sidewalk towards a row of small shops.
Echo didn’t move from his place on the concrete.
Friend. He had made a new friend.
Echo stood smiling for a moment longer before Nelson shouted back to him.
“Are you coming, Echo?!”
“Coming!”, Echo shouted back and ran to catch up with his new friend.
It wasn’t exactly the alone time he had planned for the day, but that was okay.
He was glad to have met someone as nice as Nelson.
Whoa yes I'm here for this
Zane researching sibling and parent/child relationships the way he did with detective work.
Zane reading books to Echo at bedtime (children's books or like Paradise Lost? I'm undecided)
Zane and Echo baking together
Zane teaching Echo to ride a bike
Zane gifting Echo a plant and gardening together
Zane sewing Echo his own apron
Zane checking in on Echo every night to make sure everything is okay
Zane and Echo starting their own prank wars, just between the two of them
Zane and Echo baking all night because they don't need sleep
Zane getting nervous that Pixal and Echo won't like each other, but they love hanging out, so sometimes the three of them will stay up all night baking or fixing mechs.
Good timeline where Echo Zane was rescued by Jay and Nya immediately after skybound and after processing how fucked it is that his dad left a whole ass boy alone in the basement of his lighthouse and never told anyone Zane resolves to be the best older brother on the goddamn planet. He consults Kai for advice (because he's the current holder of that title, obviously). Kai already has a PowerPoint ready he's been waiting his whole life for this
Echos
So Jay and Zane are sitting on the edge of the Bounty, watching the sunset and cuddling. Jay thinks it's just a normal date, but then something happens.
Zane: Jay, may I ask you something?
Jay looks at Zane.
Jay: What's up, Flurry?
It gets quiet as Zane thinks through what to ask next. Should he ask Jay about his vision? It was a good idea to at least let his boyfriend know.
Cole said it was anyway.
He took a shaky breath before looking at Jay.
Zane: Last night, I...had a vision.
Jay looked shocked ( pun intended) Lately, Zane hadn't been having any visions. Why now?
Jay: Wait, really? What was it about?
Zane: It showed me my father's prison at the lighthouse. You and I were there, during a storm. Then I saw another version of me. He looked to be made of...copper or rusted iron.
Jay, whispering: ......Echo?
Zane: You know him?
Jay slowly nodded.
Jay: Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just wasn't ready to walk over to you and say ' oh by the way, your brother's stuck at the lighthouse '
Zane stands up.
Zane: I'll go and find him tomorrow. Would you like to come with me, Sparky?
Jay: Of course!
What an adventure they would have. After dinner of course.
It's pride month! So, I'm gonna update my headcanons (if I don't mention something, then it's automatically cis or het) :D
Lloyd: Trans, aromatic asexual (he/him)
Kai: Bigender, bisexual (fem pref) (she/he)
Zane: Non-binary, demiromantic pan asexual (they/any) (not it/its)
Cole: Gay, greysexual (he/him)
Jay: Transmasc, intersex, bisexual, demisexual (he/they/any/zap)
Nya: Bisexual (she/her)
Pixal: Transmasc, cupioromatic, queer (he/they)
Skylor: Trans, lesbian (she/her)
Vania: Demigirl, Sapphic (aer/she)
Morro: Non-binary, lesbian (she/he/they)
Echo: Transfem, neptunic (she/it)
Harumi: Trans, lesbian (she/her)
Akita: Wolfgender, intersex, pan (woof/she/it)
Sora: Transfem, lesbian (she/meow)
Arin: Non-binary, bisexual (they/them)
Wlydfyre: Intersex, unlabeled (any/all)
Geo: uranic (he/him)
Scott: Trans, gay (he/him)
Mr. Frohicky: Gay (he/him)
Wu: Bisexual, asexual (he/him)
Garmadon: Gay (he/him)
Misako: Pan (she/her)
One Wrong Word (Calypso AU)
Hehehe I had fun on this one. For context, this is based on the Calypso AU for @kittydemon9000‘s story SPBNR- essentially, instead of S2 Kai/Smith getting wished into the M!verse, it’s S8 Smith tackling Mr. E (who in this AU is Echo Zane) into the summoning ceremony portal and taking the masks with them, ending up in the M!verse. Mr. E/S!Echo decides to use the name Calypso and makes a deal with Smith not to hurt the M!ninja in exchange for getting to keep the oni masks.
There’s a lot more to the Calypso AU that can be found in the discord, but that’s the basic summary for this particular fic.
Deciding to follow Mr. E, one of the new vigilantes and a much more violent one than Shogun, Red (M!Kai) dons his backup secret identity of Heatstroke and sneaks after him.
Unfortunately for M!Kai, things don’t quite work out the way he was hoping...
Enjoy :3
Kai Smith was furious.
It was by simple chance that he spotted the figure following Mr. E- Calypso, as he wanted to be called here out of costume- though it wasn't because the spy was stealthy. Far from it; it was a miracle no one else paid them much attention. Considering they were in a city that got attacked at least once a week, that was both an expected and sad thing.
No, what was interesting about this figure was not how badly they tried to subtly follow Mr. E- though that in itself was familiar- but rather their chosen attire. At first Shogun thought it was perhaps some fan of Mr. E, what with the spray-painted motorcycle helmet and the jacket, but the rigid spikes of fire from perhaps some kind of cosplay caught his attention the most.
Fire. The bad stealth. Stalking Mr. E.
It was one of the ninja. And Kai could guess in one try who it was.
Mr. E, who would have to be the worst (not as in 'evil', but in 'really bad at this') SoG member ever not to notice Red's (as Kai had taken to calling the other Kai in his head) attempts at stealth, finally had enough, it seemed. He vanished into a crowd and Red's movements stalled, unsure where to go next. The helmet visor- seriously, why was he dressed like some villain and not in his normal ninja gi?- swept back and forth.
Then Mr. E appeared behind him, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him into an alleyway.
At this, Shogun leapt down from his actually hidden perch (though he still suspected Mr. E knew, because of course the bastard would) and stormed into the alleyway after. The two had a deal, after all, and it thankfully covered idiotic reckless teen shenanigans.
He wasn't a moment too soon either as Mr. E had Red pinned to the wall. The firejet spikes were shuttering and puffing smoke, and the helmet was cracked as if he'd been slammed into the bricks behind him. Red clawed at Mr. E's arm, but Kai knew from experience that the nindroid wasn't going to move.
"Enough!" Shogun barked out, catching both of their attentions.
Red's reaction was a little slower, which Kai hoped was just because Mr. E had the reflexes of a nindroid and not because Red had some kind of concussion; the SoG member could hit pretty damn hard, hard enough to take down Titanium Zane, so there was no question what he could do to a regular human who probably wasn't wearing a supportive, semi-shock absorbing gi (though Kai didn't know if that's how the Ninjaforce's worked in this universe).
"You don't get to interfere," Mr. E snarled back at him, the lights of his own visor narrowing. "I caught this one trying to follow me fair and square."
"We had a deal," Kai countered, closing the distance between them with a few steps. Up closer he could see cracks in the brick and shattered pieces of metal laying at Red's feet- or where his feet would be if Mr. E didn't having him dangling in the air by the scruff of his jacket and the wall.
Like a stubborn kid, Mr. E replied, "Deal doesn't count for street punks."
"But it counts for the ninja."
Mr. E scoffed. "That's not a ninja."
"Yeah? Look at him." Kai gestured at the still flailing and very panicked teen in Mr. E's grip. "It's Red."
Mr. E leaned close to Red's face, bumping the two helmet visor's together as the latter tried to lean away only to be pushed further against the wall he was trapped against. "...How about I make sure-"
Shogun sighed. "No, E, you can't take his mask off."
Red, who stopped his pawing at Mr. E's arm in favour of trying to brace himself against the wall, coughed out a weak, "p-please don't-"
Shogun levelled Mr. E with a glare. "Put him down."
Mr. E glared back. "No."
"E."
Mr. E's grip on Red's jacket collar tightened, earning another cough. "No."
Shogun stepped forward with one fist balled. "I said. Put. Him. Down. Or the deal is off."
Mr. E snarled but let go, unceremoniously dumping Red on the ground. The teen sputtered weakly and Kai winced, noting the sharp metal fragments on the ground. "I didn't say drop him!"
"You said put him down," Mr. E said. "You didn't say gently."
Kai scowled, but there was nothing he could do now about it. He balled both fists and adjusted the twin katanas on his belt (one of the only things he'd brought with him through the portal as he'd grappled Mr. E). "Whatever. You know the deal. You don't hurt them, and I don't try to take that from you. Not like how you took everything from me."
Mr. E lashed out, grabbing the front of Kai's gi not entirely unlike how he'd been holding his counterpart moments before but without the lift. "You don't get to tell me what to do, Smith."
Shogun ignored the way Red's gaze snapped to him. He wouldn't let Mr. E see how much that stung, having his hard secret-keeping work flung in his face intentionally or not. "Last chance, Cal."
With an inhuman growl, Mr. E let go of the fabric and stepped back. Good. One thing dealt with.
Kai turned to Red, missing how his fiery gaze made the other wince and shrink back like a flower curling away from a wildfire. "And you. What were you thinking?"
"I- I just wanted to-"
To help. To prove he was the green ninja. To prove he was a good leader. To prove his parents were- good? bad? Wrong in their decision to leave him and his sister behind, Time Twins or not?
Kai felt something hot and nasty bubble in his chest.
"To what? What excuse could you possibly have?"
Red cut himself off with the audible click of a jaw slamming shut. But Kai wasn't done yet; the building storm in his chest had only just started. "You wanted to show you can be the hero, huh? Follow Mr. E anywhere, even somewhere obviously dangerous, just to prove you could take him in a fight, huh? Left everyone behind in your stupid little stunt?”
His words burnt his own throat, the taste of smoke think on his tongue like ash. "You left them all behind. Let them to get hurt in your absence. For no possible reason other than your own impulsiveness. Did you really think you were strong enough to- to-"
To deal with the portal. To stop Mr. E, stop the Sons of Garmadon, stop the Time Twins, stop Morro, stop Master Chen, stop the Overlord, stop Garmadon, stop the Devourer, stop Samukai.
Kai slammed his fist into the wall with a sharp groan of anger and frustration, leaning closer to the reflection of his furious face on glass pressed against the brick. “You can’t do this, Kai! There are people counting on you, people who care about you! You can’t afford to be reckless! I know you think that throwing yourself out on the line in front of them will keep them safe, but it won’t! You need to be there for them, and the only way you can really help them is if you’re going to help yourself!”
His chest was burning, a consuming black hole that broke every wall of the carefully crafted compartmentalization boxes. “You never once stop to think, do you? You could have gotten Lloyd killed!”
A volcano, a blade, a cage.
“You could have gotten Nya- your sister- killed!”
A chain, a flaming sword, a dragon and a temple and a shadow.
“You could have gotten Cole killed!”
He did, he let it happen, let the curse claim his brother until he nearly faded away as a ghost, only getting him back by a slim chance, a roll of the dice.
“You could have gotten Zane killed!”
The Overlord, the Golden Master, and then the Sons of Garmadon, Mr. E, Chen’s island, so many close calls.
“You could have gotten Jay killed!”
He couldn’t remember, didn’t remember, and yet some feeling in his gut told him something had happened, something to do with the sky or pirates or both.
“You could have gotten Sensei Wu killed!”
In the time stream, gone, gone, who’s to say they were gonna get him back, if he even was back, what if, what if-
“You could have gotten them all killed, and it would have been all. your. fault. You and your stupid, reckless, impulsive, hot-headed actions where you try to play hero and take on every role yourself, and yet someone always has to take your place instead and get hurt.”
His family, hurt over and over again, cuts and bruises and busted lips and fractured ankles and still, oh so still chests.
He was panting, smoke curling out of his mouth, eyes ablaze, fists tight as embers threatened to spark from his palms. The word deep in his soul, etched there even since he feared he couldn’t take care of Nya by himself, spat from his lips like hot poison. “Useless.”
He was so close to the shiny visor he could see through it, past his furious reflection at himself. Past to the face under the helmet.
Like staring in a mirror.
A mirror with the scar on the wrong side. With eyes so wide, pupils so shrunken and glazed and reflecting the glow of Kai’s look of pure anger, encased in a ring of hurt like a deep, oozing cauterized wound-
The wave of anger washed away as if Kai had been doused in icy water. Dimly he was aware of Mr. E staring at him with- what was that prickling sensation? Surprise? Shock?- but all he could see was Red, poor Red, who was a Kai but wasn't Kai-
Red, who's breath hitched and chest heaved without air, who had thick globs of transparent tears running down his face, who looked to all the world as if Kai had struck him across the face and then stabbed him with one of Mr. E's knives twenty eight times. Because in a way, Kai had.
"Red- Kai-" Shogun's voice betrayed him, cracking on the name, but it fell on deaf ears as he stumbled back. "I'm- I'm so, so sor-”
Red bolted, scrambling down the alley so fast smears of blood from freshly cut palms and the metal shards in his legs and back studded the walls and floor. Pieces of his get-up were tossed aside without a care, helmet cracking as it hit the far wall, and then he was gone, for once vanished so swiftly that not even Shogun would be able to spot him.
Mr. E was still staring at him.
Kai took a shaky step, dawning horror slamming into him over and over like the relentless tide. Only one thought echoed in his mind:
What have I done?
T^T I CAN RELATE TO ECHO IN THIS FANFIC
Amazing fanfic by the way
Stars
The duo sat on the roof, watching the stars.
“Every time a person passes away, their soul will join the many others above them. Those are the stars, Echo.”
“Stars?”
“Yes. Each star is special. Do you see the one that is flying very fast? That is a shooting star. You can make a wish, and the angel will make it come true! Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. But who knows? We can just try.”
“Hmmmm—I wish for you to be with me forever and ever!”
Dr. Julien smiled. “I believe the angel will try, my son.”
They spent nights talking about the stars, and their wishes they had made. Some were funny, like Dr. Julien wishing for some noodles, or Echo wishing for ketchup.
They enjoyed the time they had together.
The duo sat on the roof, watching the stars.
The Destiny’s Bounty hovered in the sky, clouds drifting by.
“You seem tired, brother,” Echo said, watching his brother. “S-should you go back inside?”
Zane shook his head. “I-it’s alright…” he mumbled, watching the clouds bob by them. “I…just wanted to show you the stars tonight…” He tilted his head to the sky. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
Echo smiled a bit, nuzzling against his brother’s side. “Mhm.”
Zane sighed, watching the stars instead. “Do…you recall father telling you about the stars?”
“That each star is a fallen soul which is starting a new journey in the sky?”
Zane nodded, playing with the hood of Echo’s hoodie. “Y-yeah…I…I think I…it’s nothing.”
“Are you alright, brother?” Echo asked, looking at Zane with worried eyes. “You seem more tired than usual.”
Zane chuckled. “I’m alright, I’m alright. I…just wanted to tell you something…about that….the stars…”
“Yeah?” Echo asked, snuggling closer to his brother.
“That…everyone will join the stars sometime in their life. Father told me…before he left us…” Zane stated, looking down at the city. “And…I think that my time is going to come soon.” He looked at Echo, a small smile on his face. “Echo…I-I’m going home,” he mumbled, eyes dulling a little.
“N-no!” Echo shouted, realizing what his brother meant. “I am not letting you do this! You are home! With us! With the team!”
“Father…is also up there…”
“I don’t care! You’re my brother!”
“Heh…not everything can stay, Echo…not even family…”
Silence resumed between the two brothers. Zane rested his head against Echo’s head and sighed, his breath becoming slower. Echo hugged Zane tightly, burying his head in Zane’s chest.
“I…don’t want you to go…” Echo said, artificial tears starting to form.
“D-do you want me to tell you a bit about the stars before I go…?”
Echo looked up at his brother. Zane was struggling not to pass out, but he was still smiling. Echo bit his lip, and then nodded.
“Okay.”
They talked about the stars, and the wishes they had made in the past. They talked about the angels in the skies, and about the constellations. With every sentence, Zane’s words were becoming slurred and softer.
Echo noticed.
But he didn’t want to let go just yet.
“Do…you wanna go to sleep, brother?” Echo softly asked, looking up at his brother. Zane smiled a tiny bit and shook his head.
“I…want to stay here with you…” he mumbled, his voice barely audible.
“You don’t have to,” Echo replied, looking away. “You’re tired. You stayed here for me when I needed you.”
Silence. Something slumped against him.
Echo blinked and looked over to his side. Zane was slumped against him, eyes closed. His breath was heavy, each breath having the potential to be his last.
“I…I’m sorry…Echo…” Zane mumbled, coughing a bit. “Guess my power source finally ran out…huh…”
“I love you, big bro,” Echo softly said, holding Zane tightly. “I’m sorry. For making you stay up. But it’s alright. You can go to sleep now. It’s alright. I promise.”
Zane smiled. “Hmm…” He relaxed in Echo’s grasp, head resting on top of his younger brother’s.
“Z-zane?”
The master of ice opened his eyes a bit, the dull throb in his chest fading away, numbness replacing it.
“Mhm?”
“D-do you think you can tell Dad I said ‘hello’ and I miss him?”
He could feel everything slowly stopping. Gears grinding, coming to a halt.
Zane chuckled. “Of course, brother…”
I promise.
He sighed, relaxing.
He could finally rest peacefully…
Silence.
Echo sat there, watching the stars fade away. Zane was still resting next to him, no longer moving.
He didn’t mind.
Zane was happier now.
As the stars faded, a small shimmer caught Echo’s eye. It was a small pale blue star, unlike the others.
He hoped Zane was up there.
With the stars.
aaaaaaaaagh
it is 10:20 pm and my eyes are red from sobbing my heart out.
who wants to cry along with me
mistymiddiana
ladysoulless
anyone