Alyssa didn't sleep much that night, and she knew it wasn't because she slept the entire day away. She felt guilty, the idea of Lloyd being in the Serpentines grasp had her stomach in knots. She should have kept a closer eye on the boy, who knows what he's going through now.

The second she knew Sensei Wu would be up, she left her room after a long shower and headed towards his mediating quarters. His door was wide open, so she simply knocks on the wall and bows respectfully, "Sensei."

The old man turns his head to smile softly at her, an old katana in his hands. "Alyssa, you may enter." He shuffles around to face her as she slowly walks inside the room, her curious gaze on the weapon. "I sense you have something weighing you down. Would you care to talk about it?"

"You know me," She breathes out a weak chuckle and takes a seat on a cushion nearby, crossing her legs underneath her, "I'm not the best when it comes to expressing my worries, even after all these years."

"You do not need to remind me." Wu copies her actions and takes the cushion in front of her, where an open case lays besides him. He carefully places the katana on his lap and begins to clean the blade with a cloth, old eyes shining back at him from the reflection.

They both sit there in total silence for a few minutes, Wu knowing that if Alyssa wanted to talk about it, she would, just in her own way. Finally, she sighs loudly and slouches her back, fingers toying with the sash around her waist. "Okay, I'm worried about Lloyd."

"Oh, really?"

"Wu." Alyssa sends the smiling old man a faint glare at his sarcastic tone. She rolls her shoulders and straightens her posture again, "I'm serious. What if something bad happens to him? How're we supposed to get him back when he's surrounded by every Serpentine alive?"

Wu finishes cleaning the blade of the katana and places the cloth inside the open case, his previous smile being replaced by a frown. She watches him stand shakily, and she quickly rises to grab him by the arm for balance. When he was on his feet he pats her hand in thanks. "That is why I am in here."

"I don't understand." She feels her eyebrows furrow as she watches her father figure take out a large red cloth from a cabinet. "Sensei-"

"Well, every morning I do five hundred push-ups." Zane's voice flows down the hallway and into their room, cutting off Alyssa's next words as their loud conversation continues as they get closer.

"Five hundred? Ha, try a thousand."

"Hahaha, I do a thousand and one."

"What is this, amateur hour? Sounds like my warm-up. Sensei, what does True Potential look like if—" Cole leads the others into Sensei's mediating room, only to freeze at the tense atmosphere in the area.

The four of them clasp their hands together and bow in respect, "Our apologies, Sensei. We've interrupted you." Zane frowns softly, bright eyes watching as Sensei Wu places the katana into the red cloth with a sigh.

"I'm sorry if I've been distant lately." He gently lays the katana into the open case, his back to them. "My mind has been elsewhere since Lloyd has gone missing. What can I help you with?" He still doesn't turn to meet their eyes, concerning Alyssa who furrows her eyebrows besides him.

"Sensei, what if we've done enough training? What if we've reached our True Potential?" Cole clenches his hands into fists, staring down at them in wonder. "What if we're ready?"

Wu hums and slowly spins to face him, "You might have reached peak physical condition, but you've yet to reach your inner potential. In each and every one of us, there are obstacles that hold us back. Only when you conquer that fear will your heart be free. Only then will you reach your True Potential. Only then will we have a fighting chance to stop the Serpentine from releasing the Great Devourer."

Zane senses something was missing and takes a step forward to place a hand on Wu's shoulder as he turns his back to them once again. "There's more to the Great Devourer than you've led on, isn't there, Sensei?"

"I too have obstacles within my own heart." Wu releases a tense breath, "There's a story I've never told you."

"Long ago, when I was a young boy, Garmadon and I were more than brothers. We were the best of friends."

"Wait a minute." Jay interrupts, making Alyssa glare annoyingly at him, "Now, I know you two were brothers, but really? The King of Cruelty, the Doer of Destruction, the Captain of Chaos, and you two were friends?" He chuckles out in disbelief.

Wu raises a hand to stop him, "Please, no interruptions."

"You see, he did not always have a wicked heart. One day, I lost this very katana. Knowing our father would be mad, my brother told me to go retrieve it. But I refused. He told me not to put off what can be done today and went to get it himself. When my father found him, he was very ill, for he was bitten by a legendary snake that would grow forever as long as it consumes. A great evil had found its way into my brother's heart, for the snake's venom could turn the purest of things wicked."

Wu stares down at the katana, memories filling his mind from all those years ago. "It is the snake that took my brother away from me."

Kai lowers his head and lets the new information sink in, finally understanding how Lord Garmadon came to be. "So the Great Devourer turned your brother into the Dark Lord?"

"It was all my fault." Wu bends down to shut the case with a small click and picks it up. With the case in hand, he turns to face them all with narrowed eyes. "You five have finished your training. You must now focus on stopping Pythor from collecting the Fangblades. But never lose focus on the obstacles that lie within each of your hearts that holds you back from true greatness. Unlock your True Potential."

He stares them all down and when his eyes lock with Alyssa's, she knows he wanted her to take in his words the most. She bites the inside of her cheek and tilts her head to face the window, knowing he could see everything she was hiding by looking into her eyes.

"But how are we supposed to do that, Sensei?" Zane asks softly, hoping he would guide them towards their True Potential, even if it was just a small push in the right direction.

"It is up to each of you to discover. Now I must go on a personal journey of my own." Wu grips the case tighter and squeezes past the group to head towards the door.

"What?" Alyssa snaps her head away from the window to follow Wu's retreating figure with wide eyes.

"Where are you going?" Jay was just as confused, quickly trailing after Sensei.

Wu pauses under the doorway and frowns, "To a place you cannot follow."

"If you're going for Lloyd, the City of Ouroboros is filled with hundreds of Serpentine. You'll never do it alone!" Cole raises his voice, almost bumping shoulders with Jay as he tries to be the voice of reason for the old man.

Wu shakes his head and looks over his shoulder to them, "I am going to find someone who can be of aid. The Serpentine have united and grown stronger and we will need all the help we can get."

His words left them all stunned as they followed him out onto the deck of the Bounty, where the ship had been perched on a mountain. Wu steps off the wood of the deck, case and staff in hand. He smiles as the others wave him off, though it slips a little when he notices his first student at the back of the group, looking almost lost.

He lets out a small breath and turns, knowing that this trip was desperately needed. He's only able to take a few steps before a voice calls out behind him. "Wu!" He pauses in his steps and goes to turn around when a body crashes into his, nearly knocking the both of them over.

Alyssa wraps her arms around him tightly, face buried in his shoulder as she clenches her teeth. "You're going where I think you are, aren't you?"

Her words were muttered so quietly that Wu almost missed them, and as he drops his staff besides him and wraps his arm around her, he nods. It was all she needed to confirm everything. He was going to a place that no one has ever returned from, and it scared her. She slowly pulls away to stare up at him, taking in his old blue eyes that have never once led her astray.

"Stay safe, okay?"

He smiles once again and gently pats the top of her head, "I will be home soon. Take care of yourself, and make sure the others stay out of trouble." Her weak chuckle was enough for him to leave without worry.

As Alyssa stood back and watched him walk away with his staff in hand again, her heart sunk. It was the first time he's left her side, the first time he wouldn't be around to listen to her worries or give her words of advice. It was the first time she felt truly alone.

Alyssa hands Nya a poster, the short haired girl smiling as she takes it. She sticks the flyer to a cream wall and takes a small step back to take in her work. Missing Fangblade.

"Oh, this is silly." Zane holds the stack of posters, frowning down at them.

"I agree." Alyssa sighs, turning around to place her small stack of posters on top of Zane's. "There has to be a better way of doing this."

Cole raises an eyebrow at the pair, "You have any better ideas?" The two slowly shake their heads.

Jay shrugs with a hand on his hip, "Hey, maybe Sensei is gonna go get the Samurai for help." He misses the instant look of panic on Kai's face.

"The Samurai? I'm sure she's—I mean," Kai clears his throat quickly, "he's busy looking for the Fangblades as well!" He chuckles lowly, arms crossed over his chest.

"Uh," Cole sends Kai a glance of confusion, "Is everything all right?"

Kai quickly nods his head as Nya joins his side, hiding her own panic better than her brother. "Yeah, yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" He hurriedly gets out, almost tripping over his words.

"One hundred percent. We're not hiding anything." Nya smiles widely, and mentally thanks the random man for speaking when she notices Alyssa eyeing both her and Kai.

"Hey, weirdo." The mans voice gains the attention of the others, who turn to see Zane off in a trance, his posters fluttering out of his hands. The man glares heatedly at Zane and shoves his shoulder, instantly annoying Alyssa who marches over to her friend. "You're making a mess of my store front. Yoo-hoo! You got a problem?" When Zane doesn't move and instead drops the whole stack of posters, the man hisses under his breath. "Maybe I should teach you a lesson on manners."

"You touch him and I'll make sure you regret existing." Alyssa shoves the man back harshly as Zane starts wandering off, dark green eyes glaring down at him as he stumbles back into the wall.

"Alyssa." Kai warns through his teeth as the others come rushing over, not wanting a clearly uneven fight to break out. He sends the man a small smile while Alyssa simply scoffs and follows after Zane. He places a hand on the mans shoulder, "I'm sorry, sir. Sometimes our friend is in another world. Please forgive them both."

"Why should I!" The man rips his arm out of Kai's grip to glare them all down, throwing his hands in the direction of both Alyssa and Zane, "He's littering all over the place and she was ready to assault me!"

Cole bows quickly, "We'll pick it up, sir. So sorry about all this." He kneels to the floor and hurriedly starts to clean up the mess, only to pause with a relieved sigh when the man huffs and goes back inside.

"Zane, what's the deal?" Jay groans, leaving the paper scattered on the ground to stand behind Zane, who points towards the Falcon flying ahead. "It's the Falcon! Oh, my gosh! Every time we follow it, it leads us to good fortune!"

"Looks like we're going on a journey." Alyssa grins towards Zane and spreads an arm out in front of her, "After you, Zane. Lead the way." Zane nods and quickly starts to run off in a sprint, the others following behind.

Wherever the Falcon was taking them, it was quite far away. It lead them through an empty desert first, and then through thick snow. They had been running for so long now, and they still had no clue where the bird was taking them.

Their next destination was a rocky mountain, the rock cold under their gloves as they climbed, the snow making it slightly more difficult to climb. Jay's desperate gasps for breath makes them pause, the boy waving up at them from his ledge. "Keep going. I'll...I'll catch up later."

With Jay catching his breath, it left the rest of them to continue forward. They balance their way across a fallen tree, a large ravine clouded by mist underneath them. With three of them safely on the other side, they turn to see Cole laying on the tree, breathing loudly. "I'm good. Just...just taking a breather. Uh, I'll meet up with you shortly!"

Another man down, but the rest pushed on, once again running through thick snow. Large and tall trees surrounding them, bare of any leaves. By now, both Kai and Alyssa are almost completely out of stamina, their breath coming out in puffs of mist.

Kai hunches over, hands on his knees as he pants out, "Gosh, that bird just keeps going." He slowly looks up and squints his eyes at a nearby sign, the words Beware of Treehorns carved into the wood. "Hey, what do you make of this?"

Zane frowns and reads over the words, nothing coming to mind at the warning. "I am not familiar with a Treehorn."

"I've never heard of a Treehorn before." Alyssa breathes out, hands crossed behind her head as she takes in the nippy air. She's never been this exhausted before, and the stitch in her side was an almost unfamiliar pain.

Kai shrugs his shoulder and finally collapses to the ground, the cold snow beneath him a welcome sensation. "It's probably just some wild squirrels." The call from the Falcon makes them all squint up at the sky, and he waves off to Zane When Alyssa does the same as him, "Well, don't lose him. We'll wait for the other guys to catch up."

They both watch Zane nod and run off after the bird, the sound of the snow crunching under his footsteps fading as he runs out of view. Alyssa groans and stretches her legs, the snow melting under her body heat. "I hope the others take their time to catch up. I seriously need a break."

Kai chuckles and lays back completely in the snow, eyes closed as he starts to regain his breath. "Me too." They both lay there in silence, too tired to speak to each other.

They were both almost asleep when footsteps are heard behind them. Kai pushes himself up with his elbows and twists his head to see both Jay and Cole strolling their way up to them. "They're back." He nudges Alyssa besides him, the girl groaning after being woken up from her nap against a tree.

"You guys good?" Cole raises an eyebrow at the pair, watching them both slowly get up off the ground at their own pace. "I'm assuming Zane went ahead?"

"That guy is not human, seriously!" Jay throws his arms in the air, already ahead of them all and following after Zane's footsteps. The others roll their eyes but quickly catch up to him.

It was easy to know where Zane had went. What other tree had a door on it? Entering the opening to the tree, the group began their decent down some rickety looking stairs.

"Wow, would you look at this place?" Jay takes in the inside of the tree, metal coating the walls. He looks further down and slowly frowns when he spots Zane hunched over on the wooden floor. "Zane, what's wrong?"

"Zane?" Alyssa quickly rushes down the stairs to check on the silent boy, unsure if she should touch him or not when he was in this state.

"Are you hurt?" Kai jumps down the last few steps with the others and kneels down besides Zane, trying to get a glimpse of his face.

"You okay?" Cole frowns, watching Zane sigh and glance over to a nearby table that had many blueprints scattered about. He slowly stands and takes the top blueprint, confusion them all at his silence. "Hey, what-?"

They all scream loudly and step back when Zane opens his chest up to them all, revealing wires and gears. "You're a robot?!" Kai was the first to sputter out.

Zane stares down at his control panel, his eyebrows knitted together. "All this time, and I never knew."

Jay smiles weakly and lets out a small chuckle. "Uh, guess this explains why you're always acting so weird. Right?" He looks to the others for some kind of reassurance, his chuckles dying down at their unamused glances.

"The reason I never had a sense of humour was because my funny switch wasn't on." He reaches into his chest and flips a switch, instantly switching personalities as he springs into song and dance, music coming out of seemingly nowhere. "Hello, my baby. Hello, my honey. Hello, my ragtime gal. Send me a kiss by wire!"

Jay laughs loudly when the show was over while the others had their mouths wide open, dumbfounded. Zane switches off his humour and sighs loudly, all happiness vanishing. He slouches back to the ground, head downcast.

Cole quickly steps forward to comfort his friend in anyway he can. "Uh, it just makes you more special. You're still the same Zane. Just more, uh, gears."

Kai nods and bends down to smile at Zane, even if he couldn't see his face."No matter what you're made of, you're still our brother."

"Really?" Zane lifts his head to stare at them all, not sure whether to believe them or not. Could they really still feel the same for a bunch of metal parts?

"Of course, Zane." Alyssa smiles softly down at him, "Nothing has changed, like Cole said. You're still our Zane."

Cole nods quickly and holds out a hand for Zane to take, lifting to boy off the ground. "In fact, I bet it even makes you an even better ninja."

"Yeah, and how cool is it that I can honestly say 'My brother is a Nindroid'?" Jay holds a hand to his chest, grinning ear from ear.

Zane raises an eyebrow, his frown turning confused. "A Nindroid?"

Cole reaches over and pats him on the back, "Now come on. Pythor is still out there looking for the first Fangblade, and we need you."

Zane shakes his head and steps away from them to face a wall, a hand clutched to his chest. "You'll have to go on without me. I just don't feel right." He stares down at the blueprints on the table in front of him, lost in his own world.

The four hesitate, debating if they should try one last time to break through to him before sighing. The walk up the staircase was silent, and the group only speak when the sunlight from the open door to the hidden workshop blinds them.

"I hope he's okay." Alyssa gives one last glance behind her, as if waiting for Zane to follow them up after a change of heart.

"We just have to give him time. I don't know how I would feel if I was told I was a robot." Kai rubs his shoulder, only being able to imagine what Zane was going through.

Jay scoffs and elbows Kai in the side, "You mean a Nindroid."

He groans and rolls his eyes, rubbing his side with a small scowl. "Yeah. Whatever."

"How the heck do we get out of this place?" Cole gestures around the area, only seeing snow and trees. Their previous footprints had been covered by now. With the small beat of silence around them, they're able to hear a loud sound somewhere in the distance. "What's that?"

A low growl rumbles loudly between some trees, and Jay just smiles nervously at them. "Cute tiny birds?"

Something moves in front of them, the colour of the creature blending in with the snow. Cole flips his hood over his face and the others are quick to do the same. "Did you see that?"

"I don't see anything!" Jay shouts out, huddling in closer to the others until their backs meet.

"I just saw it too. Treehorns!" Kai points towards one of the creatures, red beady eyes starring back at them all.

"I think we're a bit outnumbered!" Alyssa reaches for her katana quickly as a dozen more Treehorns emerge from the trees. Large white creatures with long legs and fangs surround them, their skin dotted with brown patches. No wonder they didn't spot them earlier.

A giant golden robot glitches under a pile of snow, freaking Kai out for a moment before he realises what it was. "Oh, great." He points his sword at it, "I think that thing was supposed to protect this place. Guys, it's up to us. Ninja, g—" Just as he started to run towards one of the Treehorns, another easily kicks him into a tree.

Everyone else seemed to be having just as much luck as he was. They each split up, Jay managing to knock two down before getting trapped between the legs of one, yelling out for help.

"There's just too many of them!" Cole strains out, pinned down by two of the Treehorn's thick legs. His scythe was just out of reach.

Alyssa grits her teeth as a group of the beasts surround her, eyes shifting between each of them. They were smarter than they looked, that's for sure. Purple sparks start to appear around her as she tries to summon her Spinjitzu, but she doesn't get far when one of the Treehorns roughly hit her in the back with their tail, sending her straight into another Treehorn that happily knees her to one of its friends, playing kick around with her body.

Through all of their pain, the ninja are just able to hear Zane's voice through the growls of the Treehorns. "Leave my friends alone! Ninja, go!" Ice blue Spinjitzu surrounds Zane, the tornado attracting the Treehorns attention from the others who now sport bruises.

Jay was the first to get up with a groan, a black eye making him squint. He shuffles over to Cole, helping him off the ground. Cole holds his side with a wince, watching his friend attack the Treehorns with a fury he's never seen before. "What's gotten into Zane?"

"I don't know, but I like it." Kai grunts out, pushing himself out of the snow pile the creatures had stomped him into.

Clutching her shoulder, Alyssa heaves herself onto her legs and hobbles over to the others, an annoyed and pained glare on her bruised face that was luckily hidden behind her mask. Zane, after giving them a small clearing, joins there side, making her nod at him. "Let's show these freaks what we're made of."

"Ninja, go!" Together, their spinjitzu flew across the snowy ground, knocking a group of Treehorns to the ground in a heap. They were fast to spread out, each taking care of any Treehorn that got too close until they suddenly start backing away.

"Are they regrouping?" Answering Jay's question was the rumble of a roar. The largest Treehorn they had ever seen marches up to them all, it's face close to that of a spiders as multiple red eyes glow brightly down at them. "Who's that?"

"Their queen." Zane narrows his eyes at the large creature, stepping towards it with no ounce of fear on his face. He points his shurikens at the queen Treehorn, his voice loud over her growls. "You will not hurt my friends! There is nothing that will hold me back! I know who I am!"

A blinding light fills their vision, making them all squeeze their eyes shut for a moment before the light dies down. When they could finally see, Zane had a glowing blue aura around him, one that shot up far into the sky. His body glows brighter and brighter as he begins to float up the beam of light, a pulsing power emitting from him.

"What's happening to him? Was he programmed to do that?" Kai stares up at Zane in disbelief, having to take a step back from the chill that seeped off of him.

Jay slowly shakes his head, breathless from just watching Zane. "I've never seen a robot do that."

"You mean Nindroid." Cole was in the same state, mouth open wide at the display of Zane's newfound power.

"Yeah, whatever." Jay didn't even have it in him to fight back.

"He's done it." Alyssa doesn't even care when her cheek starts to hurt from her growing smile. The pain was worth it knowing that her friend had accepted who he truly was. "He's unlocked his True Potential."

They all watch from the ground as an ice beam shoots out of his chest, encasing the Queen Treehorn in thick ice that has the other Treehorn fleeing in fear and failure. Zane's power flickers, disappearing, leaving him to fall to the ground with a groan.

He slowly sits up, shaking his head as he tries to blink the fogginess from his mind. "What happened?" He glances at the others who had raced up to him in worry and excitement.

"That was awesome!" Jay gushes, grabbing Zane by the shoulder and shaking him around.

"You should've seen yourself!" Kai grabs his other shoulder, squeezing it with a loud laugh.

Cole rubs the top of Zane's head, making his mask slip off his face. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"You basically fought off an entire army!" Alyssa grins brightly down at him, an aura of pride surrounding her.

Zane stares down at his gloved hands, "This must be what Sensei meant by unlocking our hearts. I remember now. I remember everything. I remember my father and how he cared for me. I remember where I came from." He clenches his fists and stands to face them all, "And I feel stronger for knowing."

Cole groans and throws his head back, "I'm so jealous! His powers are so cool!"

"We have our very own Nindroid!" Jay giggles, rocking on his feet as he punches Zane in the shoulder.

"Looks like Pythor is in trouble now." Placing a hand on Zane's upper arm, Alyssa lightly nudges him. "But for now, we should really get back. I think I've dislocated my shoulder."

Her words have them all feeling their own injuries, the adrenaline wearing off. With their loud complaints, Zane smiles softly at them all, feeling closer to not only them, but himself as well now. If he had to go through the day again, he wouldn't change a thing.