Chapter 1

Alone Forever

"I am sorry," I hear Cyrus Borg's despondent voice speaking hesitantly, "I have tried all that I am capable of, but-he cannot be saved."

"What do you mean?" Kai demands.

"Is this my fault?" Pixal's soft voice inquires, "If I return Zane's heart to him, will he be alright?"

Cyrus responds quietly, "No, even if you returned his other half of his artificial heart to him, he would still, inevitably, die. We were too late."

"No, he can't die!" Jay's voice causes my ears to ring as I hear a scuffling noise and sobbing.

Am I going to die? What is going on? I try to open my eyes, yet strangely find them shut tightly; I feel weak; I cannot speak, but just listen in utter disbelief as my family discuses my coming demise.

"Please, Zane, don't leave us," I feel Lloyd's hand stroking my hair and hear his voice whispering into my ear, filled with sorrow.

"How could-how could I have forgotten about him and left him like that?" Cole blames himself.

"Why did we go to a remote area anyway?" Kai speaks indignantly, "This is not fair!"

I hear something shatter and Nya's voice about a few feet away, "Kai, please calm down."

"But, he doesn't deserve this! Why should he suffer for our mistakes? Zane can't die because of us!"

"I know Kai, but sometimes, life is like this. One moment we are here, the next we are gone. Zane is our family, but this is one of those times when we need to do what is best for him," Sensei Wu tells the fire ninja.

"What do you mean by that?" Kai shouts.

"He will die anyway, but if we do not pull the plug, he will die a very slow and painful death."

Pull the plug? They are going to kill me? I struggle to move or scream, or even lift a finger. Nothing; I might as well be dead already, but I don't wish to die. I wish to live. Lloyd moves his hand out of my hair and I feel a cold hand gently stroke my face. It is Pixal; I know it is her.

"I love you Zane. You understand, don't you?" she asks me.

I want to tell her something, to comfort her, to reassure her I do love her and understand, but I don't respond. "Zane, please understand why we are doing this, we love you, forever," Sensei Wu says solemnly. I sense everyone is gathered close by me and I know what this has come to. I will be turned off permanently, to be alone, forever. The one thing I never told my family is that if they do not use my switch to turn me off, I will perceive everything around me, but in a coma-like state, living on and on, with utter loneliness, not being able to respond.

If they are going to kill me, I hope they use my switch. Wait! I do not have one anymore after the incident with Jason and his droids. I feel a hand touching something connected to me being fingered, and slowly being pulled out. No! They pull it. I am gone, forever, in the blink of an eye. I am dead. I hear the others cry hysterically and tears dropping on my hands, hair, and face as my family laments over my enslaved body. Why, why, why?! I would rather be dead than trapped! I lay on some hard object-most likely a table-for who-knows-how-long, listening to their wails.

"Zane, Zane, Zane! No!" Kai screams, the sounds of his agony and loss ripping my dead heart to shreds. I slowly drift to sleep.

I wake up, but find I cannot open my eyes, nor can I move, nor can I speak. I suddenly remember that I am dead, yet I hear not a single trace of life. I lie here for a long, long time, straining for any noise from the others. All I perceive at the moment is the ticking of a clock. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, until I am at the brink of going mad; someone's footsteps move outside the room and a door opens. Something is being moved ;and then the footsteps recede and the door closes again with a click as it is locked. Whoever came in removed the clock, and now I feel even lonelier without any sound whatsoever. Nothing is here, not even an insect. They have abandoned me. I am alone.

So what do you think? This is going to be an extremely traumatic story. Please rate and review! :) Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago.