#i sadly broke pixals leg by accidently stepping on it when i was changing for gym class one day

[timepunchrr]

I'm going to Florida in 4ish days so I ofc have to bring the gang w me

I'll document my trip whenever I'm able to :3

I'm bringing Lloyd, jay, kai, Cole, nya, pixal, Zane, Sora, Arin, wyldfyre, cinder, Jordana, and ofc the little riyu

[kelphero47]

The Marvelous Adventures of Echo Zane - Chapter 7

Another chapter for whoever is still reading this.

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It was safe to say that setting down the Bounty somewhere outside Ninjago City would have been a better idea than trying to avoid crushing cars in their current situation. The group had decided to go shopping since they were running low on food and other necessities. Nya was at the controls as Cole and Kai lent over the rails on deck giving her directions, yet somehow even with three people involved the task was no easy feat. Echo was certain they had already scratched five cars.  

Nya huffed in annoyance as her said 'left' yet again before saying 'right a little', this was getting old. Before either of the ninja on deck could say anything, she cut power to the engines allowing the ship to finally rest on the ground (squeezed between a couple of cars). She may have heard the sound of at least six car alarms go off as the ship shook the ground but she chose to ignore it.

The Ninja gathered on the deck together in a line with Echo standing behind his brother. Wu stood in front of them, "We all know how this goes. We shop for what we need then leave, quietly, and try not to destroy the store... Again." Echo already knew the story of what happened at the graciously named, 'Battle of Bargain Bin', in which the Ninja had accidently wrecked the store after another group of teens insulted Kai and then put gum in his hair. They hadn't been allowed back since, mostly because the store was still trying to repair the giant hole in the roof.

The group nodded, with Kai looking sheepish at the mention of said mishap, and left the ship quietly. They stood in front of the store as Lloyd spoke seriously, "We all now our missions?"

"Me and Cole are on sanitary duty." Kai looked over the list he'd been given, why they needed so many different soaps was beyond him.

"And snacks!" Cole added enthusiastically as he held up another list of his own, this one somehow longer than Kai's.

"Echo and I will be handling groceries." Zane smiled as Echo nodded in response, the younger being distracted by all of the people passing the group. He still wasn't used to big crowds.

"That leaves Jay and I to get everything else." Nya held up their list, turns out 'everything else' wasn't all that much.  

Jay took the list from her hand the glance over it quickly, "Who wrote 'coffee machine'? I thought we already had one, did someone break it?" He looked over his friends questioningly.

"I broke it by accident." Cole admitted quietly before continuing, "I was trying to make coffee and my hand kept going intangible so I ended slapping it off the counter." The others fell into an awkward silence at his admittance, making the black ninja shuffle nervously.

Lloyd cleared his throat to get back on subject, "Anyway, since we all know what we're doing we should get going."

"Wait, what are you doing Lloyd?" Echo asked as the green ninja turned away from the group.

"I've gotta get this stuff for Sensei at the store down the street, so I'll see you guys later." Lloyd replied holding up his own list. He left the others to watch him cross the street and disappear behind another building. None of them really knew what to say so they left it alone and instead proceeded to finally go inside.

The store itself was quiet. The few people that were milling about moved at slow, relaxed paces as they went about their tasks. Without much prompting the remaining Ninja split up leaving Echo and Zane on their own with their shopping cart. Echo took the job of pushing it alongside his brother as the older gathered the items on the list and instructed him where to go next. The pair fell into a comfortable quiet, exchanging words only when needed, as they shopped.

After a while Echo lost interest in just solely looking at the cart and the various objects placed in it. There was so much to look at in the store that he just couldn't help but wander off, if only for a moment.  He stepped cautiously down the aisle and moved into the next. With how quiet the room was he could faintly hear the sound of a generic pop song playing in the background, which given his solo circumstance was actually kind of unnerving.  

Turning yet another corner into the next aisle Echo chanced upon a lady struggling to reach something from the top shelf. Echo watched for a moment as she gripped the edge of the shelf, as if to try and boost herself up. Not wanting to allow her to struggle he closed the gap between them to reach over her head for the can she had been reaching for. She gave a huff returning to her normal height as Echo held out the can in front of her.

Echo smiled apologetically as she took the can from him. "I apologise if my actions insulted you in any way, but you seemed to be struggling."

The lady laughed waving him off, "No harm done, I appreciate the help. My wife usually grabs the stuff from the top shelf but she ran off earlier. Leaving me with half a shopping list." She gestured to the basket on her arm, "Most of it was on the lower shelves. The name's Jean and you are..."

"Echo, it is very nice to meet you." He held out his hand which she shook slowly.

"Say, have I seen you somewhere?"

"Most likely, my brother is one of the Ninja." He watched as her face lit up with recognition.

"Oh yeah, the white one. My nephew loves them." She nodded, then looked at the list in her hand frowning.

"Is something the matter?" Echo spoke in concern as Jean shook her head.

"It's nothing..." She sighed before glancing at the top shelf, "I'd hate to bother you but... Would you mind helping me with some of this?"

"I would be happy to help."

**With Zane**

He had only turned for a second. A second. Echo was gone. His little brother was missing in a place where who knows what could happen. He'd been pacing next to the cart of who knows how long before he was suddenly jerked back into reality by the realisation that his foot was stuck. Frozen in ice, to be more precise. "Okay..." He spoke to himself taking in shaky breaths, "Okay... Just calm down... And breath."

After a couple of seconds of listening to his own instructions and doing just that he watched PIXAL pop up at the edge of his vision. She looked worried, reaching out in front of her as if she wanted to comfort him, and he smiled in return. They fell into a comforting silence for a while before the sound of someone walking quickly came from around the corner. The sound was followed by the appearance of Kai and Cole skidding past the corner entirely and out of Zane's line of sight. The couple smiled as the pair came back into view nearly tripping over themselves.

Cole was nearly hidden under a mountain of soap, hair products and various kinds of snacks while Kai leant on the side of the cart. Neither ninja spoke for a minute as they caught their breath. Kai was the first the recover looking at Zane worriedly, "You okay man? I felt it get cold in here for a second and thought you might be in trouble."

"I could use some help..." Zane gestured to his still frozen feet, "I let my emotions get the better of me for a moment."

"Woah, what happened?" Cole asked as Kai moved to thaw out his friend's lower legs.

"Echo is missing."

"Wait, what?!"

**Back with Echo and Jean**

"So, you're telling me you lived on an island by yourself for months and never considered leaving until last month?" Jean questioned as they wandered through the aisles. They'd discussed various things, including Jean's wife among other things, and were now onto talking about Echo's life. The android nodded silently, not really knowing what to say. The pair fell into a tense quiet as he passed her another thing off the list, almost jerking away in fright when she spoke again. "Why?"

"I... Um... Just didn't really question my father's departure and rather chose to accept it." He looked at the floor in interest, somehow unwilling to look at her.

"What about a mother or something?"

"Well, there was Gizmo but he wasn't much for conversation. I'd compare him more to a dog but don't tell him I said that..." Echo explained growing quieter with every word, "I never actually had a mother." He finished as a whisper, feeling that lump in his throat he'd previously felt at the interview. He finally looked up at her to see Jean smiling sadly at him with tears forming in the corners of her eyes.  

She reached out to pat him on the head lightly before enveloping him in a hug, "Well if it makes you any better, I'd be happy to be your mom." She whispered back pulling back to look him in the face and let out a small laugh as Echo stood there in shock. "Well technically you'd have two moms since there's my wife, who you still have to meet."

"Okay..." He nodded at her drastic change in emotions, humans were so confusing sometimes. Yet the thought of having more people to call him family made somewhere inside him radiate with warmth.

"Oh, I just had a lovely idea! We should have you round for dinner someday, I make a mean Mac n' Cheese." She nudged him playfully in the side with her elbow making them both laugh, "You'd have to ask your brother of course."  

Those words brought all of his other thoughts to a grinding halt. He has completely forgotten about Zane and the others. What if they'd already left? Finished their shopping and went back to the Bounty without him. The idea didn't sound like something they'd do but they hadn't come to find him yet so... What if they had? The thought made Echo's legs feel less stable, as if someone had replaced them with paper. His distress must have been written on his face because Jean was shaking his shoulder to try and snap him out of his own thoughts. "You okay?"

Echo spoke shakily as if his voice wanted to match how his legs felt, "I'm fine... I just expected to see Zane by now, and..."

"And?"

"Do you think they left without me?" He felt stupid for saying it out loud, his fears were completely unfounded but somehow he just couldn't help it. Echo put his head in hands as his legs finely gave out allowing him to sink to the floor. Jean followed him down as she kneeled in front of him, she smiled at him despite everything. "It's okay to doubt things you know." Echo looked up from his hands at her statement, "Like people do it all the time, it means we have insecurities... Fears. I'm no psychologist but I think it's sweet that you care enough about your family that you're afraid of losing them."

"Really?" Echo seemed unconvinced.

"Of course, why else would you be on the floor of a not too busy store with me otherwise. Besides from what you've told me about your brother he's probably in here looking for you right now." Jean spoke as she got up and dusted herself off. Not knowing what else to do Echo followed her lead with standing up before she patted him on the shoulder. "Now, since you helped me I think it's only fair I help you. And so... We're gonna find your brother."

"You don't-"

"Pfft, no buts." With that she looped her arm around his and with a surprising amount of strength began dragging him down the aisle. "Now if I was a ninja where would I be?"

Echo took a moment to recover from yet another drastic change in emotions from the other. Feelings are so complicated. Yet he found comfort in the fact she was willing to help him and smiled, "Produce."

**With Zane, Cole and Kai**

The three sped through the store Zane hastily grabbing items from his list while Cole tried to sneak more things into his cart without Kai noticing, the second task being easier than the first with the fire ninja more preoccupied with finding Echo. They'd already had to stop him from climbing on the shelves to get a better view, Zane insisting they wouldn't be able to support his weight. So they settled for speed walking past people to cover as much of the store as they could.

"Do you see him?" Cole asked as Kai looked around the corner into the next aisle.

"No..." Kai sighed putting his hand under his chin in thought, "I don't get it. We've checked everyone aisle and he isn't anywhere."

"Perhaps it would be wise if we stayed in one placed and waited for him to come to us." Zane suggested crossing off things on his list, "Since I have finished my portion of the shopping there is no reason for us to move now anyway."

"I guess it could work." The trio stood there waiting for something to happen, the low chatter of the store surrounded them. Cole began humming as the minutes went by this then developed into tapping his foot, patting the side of the cart and nearly reached him singing before Kai cleared his throat beside him. The earth ninja sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry." They fell into a quiet again, Cole still lightly tapping his foot.

Zane however was focused on his surroundings as he glanced up and down the aisle they were currently situated in. An overly excited female voice caught his attention as another meeker voice replied in kind, a voice resembling his own if not slightly gravelly due to the lower grade speakers used in his construction. He watched in tense anticipation as a duo came from a nearby aisle wrapped in a conversation, despite it seeming quite one-sided.

Echo giggled at Jean's story as the two of them walked through the store. She was about to continue when she gasped. He was going to ask if she was alright but instead focused on the direction she was looking. Jean was staring at none other than Zane, as the nindroid stood beside a pair of packed shopping carts along the ninjas of earth and fire (both of whom seeming very bored).

Neither android hesitated in moving towards each other to meet in the middle for a hug, before Zane quickly pulled away to inspect his brother for injuries. Echo smiled at Zane's protective nature as he was given a thorough look over only to brought back into another hug. They parted for the second time as an 'aww' sound was let out behind Echo. They both turned to see Jean smiling at them and shyly waving as they focused on her.

Zane glanced between his brother and the strange until finally settling on Echo, "Where have you been? Do you know how worried I've been?"

Echo smiled sheepishly as he looked at Jean, "I've been helping Jean with her shopping. I'm sorry for wandering off..." Zane sighed as Echo watched her walk over at the mention of her name.

"It's my fault really, your brother was helping me reach the top shelves." Jean admitted, "But he's safe and sound, I promise."

"I can see that", Zane patted Echo on the shoulder. "Thank you for watching him, things like this don't happen this often."

"It was no problem, a pleasure in fact. He's a helpful young man, you should be quite proud."

"I am." Zane smiled admiringly at Echo as the android gave his best impression of a pout. "We best be going now, thank you again." Zane turned to leave while Echo gave Jean a small wave goodbye.

"Oh wait!" Jean made them pause as she pulled out her shopping list and a pen from her pocket. "Almost forgot... This is my phone number, if Echo ever wants to come around when you guys are busy just call." She handed the slip of paper to Zane, "I'm usually free." The ice ninja nodded before leaving with his brother to meet up with Kai and Cole, who were sitting on the floor waiting.  

Kai looked up at the pair before glancing quickly behind them to see Jean leaving as well. He smiled at Echo, "Looks like someone made a new friend." Echo nodded to himself thinking, 'And maybe something closer'.

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Shopping is the best and worst thing ever.

Until next time...