They were too late.

Lloyd watched with a heavy heart as the monastery burned below them. He could faintly hear the ninja shouting, Cole giving orders, but all he could do was watch as the ninja's home went up in flames. It wasn't as if he had all that much attachment to the building, but... he could feel the grief from the rest of his family. Especially Wu. It had been his home for many years.

The dragons touched down, and Cole wasted no time in vaulting off his mount's back and sprinting for the burning stables. He threw a lever, releasing the remaining two dragons and letting them flee from the blaze that consumed their home. The rest of the ninja dismounted as well, and Zane commanded his dragon to put out the fire. Lloyd watched blankly as the dragon obeyed, leaving a charred husk where the monastery once stood.

"Our home." Kai voiced softly.

"Our training equipment." Cole's voice was mournful as he clutched at his injured arm. "It's gone."

"Our video games!" Jay cried out. "Gone!!"

"The Hypnobrai must have come to reclaim their staff." Wu murmured. "They succeeded." Lloyd hung his head. He could have prevented this.

"I'm so sorry." His voice had the ninja turning towards him. "I should have seen this coming, I- I should have stopped this. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Kai responded. Lloyd blinked, looking up in surprise at the thought of Kai defending him, but he was far more shocked by what he said next. "It's Zane's."

"What?" The white ninja turned around.

"This is your fault!" Kai snapped, turning on him. "If you hadn't followed that silly bird, none of this would have happened!"

"Kai," Wu broke in warningly.

"No, Sensei, he's right." Jay joined in. "Because of you, my high score has been deleted!!"

"This is a teaching moment." Zane protested, stunned. "We must learn from this."

"A teaching moment?? What's wrong with you??" Cole spat. "Don't you get it? Everything is gone!!"

"Stop it!!" Lloyd cried out, drawing their attention back to him. "How could you say things like that to him?? It's not Zane's fault any more than it's any of yours!"

"Lloyd is right." Wu's voice was stern. "We were all deceived by the Hypnobrai. Zane is your brother, and you would do well to remember that." Kai ducked his head a bit, looking ashamed. "Apologize at once." When Lloyd looked back to Zane, he found him facing the other way, head lowered.

"Zane?" He called softly.

Zane collapsed.

The other ninja shouted in varying degrees of alarm, scrambling to check on him with Lloyd close behind. Cole carefully turned him over to lay on his back, patting his face, and Lloyd's heart stopped when he spied the clear dent in Zane's chest.

"Oh-" Jay seemed to have spotted it an instant later, as he shoved himself back, covering his mouth.

"He must have broken a rib," Cole managed. "Or- is he breathing??"

"No, he-" Lloyd pushed in between the red and black ninja, kneeling beside Zane and starting to unfasten the top of his gi. The dent looked even more unnatural once it was exposed, exactly as you would expect metal to function. "That's not... exactly the case." Wu came closer, kneeling down on Zane's other side before looking to Lloyd for an explanation.

The blond swallowed. "He's a robot."

—

Jay leaned back, holding up a broken cogwheel. "Found it!"

"Oh, good." Lloyd brightened up, jogging over to investigate. "Do you know where we can find a replacement?"

"Well..." Jay made a face. "I do, but..."

"It's for Zane." Lloyd reminded him. Jay sighed.

"Yeah, we can find replacement parts at my parents' junkyard. But I'm sure they're asleep by now." He shrugged a bit, setting the chipped wheel aside.

"Yeah. We can go tomorrow." The blond looked down at Zane's motionless body, wincing a bit. It wasn't the first time he had seen his brother... nonfunctional like this, but...

The ninja had taken shelter inside the dragon's stables, which remained the most-intact part of the monastery. It was snowing outside, the wind whipping around the mountaintop, so they desperately needed the walls and roof around them. Of course it would be preferable to go somewhere else, but Lloyd was afraid that moving Zane would damage him further.

Lloyd sighed, sitting down and drawing his knees up to his chest. "This didn't happen in the original timeline." He mumbled into his knees, watching as a small light pulsed in Zane's chest.

"What did happen?" Jay asked curiously, carefully poking around to make sure there was no more damage. He had already managed to straighten out the dent, but the cogwheel had apparently skipped and caused Zane to shut down. Lloyd was impressed that he lasted as long as he did.

"Well..." Lloyd shrugged. "I heard all of this secondhand, 'cause I wasn't there at the time, but... today, the monastery burned down." Jay saddened a bit at the reminder. "Zane left, he saw the falcon again. Which is, I assume, what he would have done if he hadn't fallen." Lloyd added. "You guys went after him and took shelter in a desert, where he met up with you again." Jay nodded, looking down at Zane again.

"Does he... he doesn't know, does he?"

"About this?" Lloyd gestured to the open hatch in Zane's midsection. "No."

"When does he find out?"

"Later. I wasn't there then, either, but I heard that the falcon led him to the workshop of the man who built him." Lloyd sighed. "I hope this doesn't screw anything up..."

"Well... we don't have to tell him, do we?" Jay suggested. Lloyd shook his head.

"One of us would slip up eventually. It would be better to just be truthful."

"Alright."

"Hey." Cole's voice had them both looking up as the earth ninja sank down next to them. "How's he doing?"

"I found what's wrong." Jay held up the gear. "My parents' junkyard should have plenty of spare parts. I just wanted to wait 'till daylight to go."

"Alright." Cole patted Zane's knee. "Hang in there, buddy."

"Where's Nya?" Jay asked, craning his neck to look for her. "I asked if she could help me with Zane, and she said yes, but she never showed up."

"Oh. Um, I think she's pretty shaken up." Cole winced. "Because of the monastery and now Zane's hurt... and... not human..."

"Oh." Jay ducked his head. "I get it."

"Is there anything more you can do for him?"

"Not without more parts. I mean, maybe I could find a place where the hardware isn't entirely optimized and cannibalize a gear from there, and get him running again, but-"

"No, yeah, let's wait." Cole interrupted. "How about you get some rest? I'll sit with him."

"Yeah." Jay wiped his sleeve across his brow, tossing away the damaged gear. "Sure. Thanks." It was all but pitch-black outside, Lloyd noted as the blue ninja stumbled off to find a place to sleep. He eventually plopped down next to his dragon, who tucked a wing around him as he passed out.

"How are you holding up, Lloyd?" Cole addressed him. Lloyd shrugged, feeling sleep weighing down on him. Unfortunately this body was much more needy than the one he was used to.

"I'm fine."

"Alright." Cole glanced at the exit. "You should sleep, too." Lloyd didn't answer, staring down at Zane's peaceful face. Cole watched him for a few moments, then sighed.

"How's the arm?"

"Fine." Lloyd answered automatically. "How's yours?"

"Aches, but I can manage." Cole studied him carefully. "Okay, what's wrong, then?" Lloyd looked up.

"Huh?"

"You're obviously stressed, and it's about more than just Zane." Cole pointed out. "C'mon. Talk." He paused. "Unless there's- it's not me, right? I don't turn evil in the future or something, right?"

"No, no." Lloyd assured him hastily. "I just... I feel..." The blond gestured to Zane's prone form. "This didn't happen in the original timeline, and I feel like it's my fault."

"Your fault??" Cole echoed in surprise. "No, no Lloyd, not at all. If anything, it's mine." Lloyd frowned up at him. "Look, even if you hadn't come, the Hands of Time still would've showed up here, wouldn't they?" Cole pointed out. "So they still would've hurt- or - damaged Zane. It's not your fault." Lloyd hugged his knees.

"I guess."

"I was there." Cole continued. "I was supposed to lead them, and I screwed up. I couldn't keep him safe." He rested a hand on Zane's arm. "But... it's fine. He's gonna be fixed, it's gonna be okay." His grim face contradicted his words, and Lloyd realized that they were looking at this the exact same way. Lloyd was the leader of his team, he had a responsibility for them - except, he wasn't yet. Cole was.

"I'm sure you did your best." Lloyd murmured, shifting back to lean against the wall. "And yeah, he's gonna be fine."

—

Jay chewed his lip as he leaned over Zane's open chest compartment, a pair of pliers in one hand as he maneuvered the new gear into position. He slipped into place, pressing down gently until he heard a click.

"There." He sat up, leaning back to get the cricks out of his back. "Good as new." Lloyd leaned in, studying Zane's face intently. No movement.

"So why isn't he awake?" He asked after a moment. Jay clicked the hatch shut, tugging Zane's gi back into place.

"I dunno. Maybe he needs a minute to reboot."

"Sometimes you gotta give 'em a good wallop to kick 'em into gear." Jay's father, Ed, suggested from where he stood by the doorway. "Works for the generator! Heh."

"Dad, I'm not kicking my friend." Jay rolled his eyes.

"Well, give him a while, maybe he'll come back on, maybe he won't." Ed stepped closer, rubbing his chin. "He's really a technological marvel, I'll give 'im that. Who woulda thought!"

"Oh, I'm sure you and mom could build a robot that can pass for a human any day." Jay waved him off. Ed looked thoughtful.

"Hey, now, that's an idea."

"Can we focus?" Lloyd cut in. "Zane should be fixed, but he's still asleep. Jay, is there anything going on in there?" Jay shrugged, leaning down to press his ear against Zane's chest.

"I don't hear anything." He reported. "So... yeah, he might... need some kind of shock, of some sort." He looked uncomfortable. "But I don't want to hurt him worse."

"Well, let's give him some time to rest." Lloyd swung his feet slightly, sitting on the edge of Ed's workbench. He didn't like feeling this helpless.

A tapping sound came from the window, and the three men turned to look to find a falcon sitting on the windowsill outside.

"The falcon!" Lloyd slid off the desk, hurrying over to open the window.

"Now wait just a moment!" Ed protested. "I don't want just any animal flying around my-"

"It's a robot." Lloyd interrupted, struggling to lift the pane. "It's like Zane." He managed to get it to open a slit, and the falcon hooked a foot under the door to help him, wiggling through the gap and making a beeline for Zane's side.

"The bird is a robot??" Jay echoed. "Oh, that explains... a lot." The falcon landed on Zane's arm, tilting its head this way and that. Finally, it reared its head back, and smacked it into Zane's head with a dull clank. Zane's blue eyes flew open.

"Ha! See?" Ed exclaimed. "I knew it." Zane pushed himself up, blinking around in bewilderment at his surroundings. He looked at Jay, then Lloyd.

"I heard." He said at last. "I heard you while I was asleep." Lloyd and Jay exchanged a glance. "So," Zane looked down at himself, then to the falcon, whom he smiled at. "I'm a marvel of engineering."

"That you are, my boy." Ed agreed. "I'll go tell the others the good news." Jay's father strode from the trailer, leaving the three ninja alone.

"How do you feel?" Lloyd asked quietly, listening to Ed's footsteps retreat. Zane sighed.

"Confused." He patted the falcon's head. "But... I suppose I've come to terms with it." He gave Lloyd a pointed look. "You knew." Lloyd winced.

"Yeah, I'm... sorry."

"No, I understand, believe me." Zane assured him. "Change anything in the past, and change everything in the future, right? I understand you did not want to risk adverse effects." Lloyd nodded.

"I hope you'll understand if I don't tell you what else I know, then."

"I do." Zane pulled his clothing into place, pausing to note the outline of the hatch on his chest. "Though I do long to know more about my past. At least now I understand why I've never fit in." He gave a small smile. "Thank you, Jay, for fixing me."

"Y-yeah, no problem." The blue ninja stammered out. "How do you feel?"

"Well enough. I feel..." Zane patted the hatch. "Fully functional."

"Good!" Jay said brightly. "That's great." At that moment, the other ninja arrived, piling through the door.

"Zane!" Nya rushed to throw her arms around him, and the falcon was forced to jump to another perch to avoid being struck. "You're okay!!"

"Of course." Zane patted her back. "I was in good hands."

Cole and Kai stayed by the door, Lloyd noticed, a grin on Kai's face and a relieved smile on Cole's. Even if they didn't fully understand Zane, they definitely cared about him.

"Breakfast is served!" Edna's merry voice floated through the open window. "Come on out before Ed eats it all!"

"Zane, wait," Nya leaned back. "Do you... eat?" Zane shrugged.

"I can, but I probably don't need to."

"Better safe than sorry." Jay grabbed his hand, pulling him off the workbench. "C'mon, before it gets cold." The ninja hurried back outside, and Lloyd followed, a small smile on his face. He wanted to be happy that Zane was alright, but that relief was overshadowed. All he could do was wonder what he had just screwed up.

—

"Ssseriously?" Skales' second-in-command hissed. "The Fangpyre? Are you sssure about this?"

"Sssilence." Skales rebuked him, slithering into the Cemetery of Souls. "Fangtom is an old friend of mine. By ssstroke of good fortune, we were released, and I wish to ssspread this good fortune to him." Skales looked down at his map, then up, at a mutated tree with two trunks. "There." He pointed to a button on the hatch. "Don't be ssshy, open it." A minion scuttled forward to obey, and Skales backed up, watching as the stone hatch creaked open.

Immediately, red snakes were flying from the open hatch, causing the Hypnobrai to hiss and huddle together. Skales held his ground, waiting, until a two-headed Fangpyre slithered from the graveyard mist.

"Skales, my old friend!"