Zane felt like he was falling…and falling…and falling. Then his feet suddenly touched the ground. His sensors immediately detected a change in temperature. It was freezing.

Is this an Ice Emperor memory? he wondered, and his fear circuits quickened.

Rowwwwwwwwwr!

The memory appeared in front of his eyes. An enormous blue Ice Dragon thrashed its head. Its body glowed with frostlike energy waves. Bright white lights glowed behind its narrow eyes. Sharp teeth that looked like silver icicles gnashed in the creature’s mouth.

The Ice Dragon was in a large, dark cave. Cowering against the wall, he saw himself, right after he had become the Titanium Ninja. He wore a simple white uniform, and his face and arms gleamed with the brightness of the new, superstrong metal that formed his body.

I look so afraid, Zane thought. The details of how I transformed from the White Ninja to the Titanium Ninja are very sketchy. My memory banks were damaged when it happened. But I do remember this: Master Chen imprisoned me in this cave. I experienced strange, terrifying visions and dreams. I did not accept that I had become the Titanium Ninja.

Inside this memory, he watched himself struggle with fear and doubt.

“I am not the White Ninja. I am just a replica,” Memory Zane said. “I’m…afraid. My powers can’t stop him!”

Memory Zane cowered as the dragon roared again.

Watching the memory unfold before him, Zane remembered that P.I.X.A.L. had communicated with him through this whole event.

“Close your eyes,” P.I.X.A.L. had said. “Close your eyes and see there is nothing to fear.”

Memory Zane closed his eyes.

“I am not the White Ninja. I am not the White Ninja,” he said.

“Who are you, then?” P.I.X.A.L. had asked.

Memory Zane stood up. He gazed down at his shining metal body. And then his eyes flashed. He understood.

“I am…the Titanium Ninja,” he said slowly. Then he raised his voice. “I am the Titanium Ninja!

Memory Zane went to the dragon, smiled, and placed a hand on the creature’s neck.

Then the image of the memory blurred and cackled with static. Zane felt like he was falling again. The scene became clear, and he found himself in a new memory. He was standing in front of Master Chen’s palace, looking out over the island. The ninja and the Elemental Masters stared at the sky as Master Chen and his goons took off in jets, stranding everyone there.

“I’ll go alone,” Lloyd was saying.

“And take on his whole army?” Nya asked.

Lloyd threw up his arms. “I’m the only one of us who can summon an elemental dragon.”

“Not anymore!”

Zane looked up. The Ice Dragon swooped down from the sky, ridden by Memory Zane. The ninja and the Elemental Masters cheered.

“Zane, you gotta tell us how you did that!” Jay said.

“I faced my fear,” Memory Zane replied. “I realized that it wasn’t something in front of me holding me back. It was something inside me!”

Zane watched as the memory ended happily as Kai, Cole, and Jay all created their elemental dragons, too.

To truly become the Titanium Ninja, I had to overcome my fears, Zane realized. Is fear what is holding me back now?

Zane tried to think about what he might be afraid of. Then a thought echoed in his circuits.

I am just a replica.

That’s what Memory Zane had said before. But what did he mean?

I have been many things, Zane thought. I have been the son of Dr. Julien. I have been the White Ninja. The Titanium Ninja. The Ice Ninja. The Ice Emperor.

I have been all of those things. But who am I, really?

Then the memory went black.