angels - a ninjago fanfiction [complete]

six · missing

ZANE

"Pixal?"

"Yes, Zane?"

There was quiet.

"Zane, is there something wrong?"

"Yes, definitely. Can you- can you come to the Bounty? As fast as you can?"

"Zane, what happened? Zane?"

"Promise me you'll come straight home."

"I will. But what happened? What's wrong?"

He stared at the red dot marking her location. Numbly, he wondered if the mast had unfrozen.

The Ninja team buried Jay back at the monastery. They agreed it was the only safe place at the moment, with the Oni and Nadakhan loose. Zane didn't tell Jay's parents about his death yet, not like he could anyways-- after Jay died, the Omega returned to Ninjago, freezing everyone except the Ninja again. The eeriest part was that there was no ominous cloud of doom to watch out for; the Ninja just noticed that citizens were stone-frozen. Nobody knew how that worked. It only heightened the feeling that they were living the apocalypse.

Zane still had trouble coming to terms with Jay being gone. The chatterbox he had grown to be fond of over the years-- even if he did talk like he was running out of time--was never going to return, and Zane, being a Nindroid would never see him again. Even in the Departed Realm.

Jay's death was a hard blow to everyone because he had been alone. They were unable to help him enough and carelessly overlooked him being alone. It was the consequence of a mistake that should have never happened in the first place.

The Bounty was docked right next to the monastery. Nya spent most of her time off the ship, sitting next to Jay's grave and talking to him like he was still alive and they were just taking a break from training. Everyone kept their respectful distance and didn't bother her, letting her dictate the times when she would eat and sleep.

Pixal's dot stopped moving, then vanished.

Zane instantly panicked and tried to reach her, but there was nothing. He automatically assumed the worst, given the fresh loss of Jay.

She's probably fine, he told himself as he stared at the place where her marker was.

But why would she stop, and why would her marker vanish? That would only happen if her mech was destroyed since the location tracker is on her mech. Zane mentally berated himself. The tracker should have been placed in her suit instead of the mech. Now she could be fine or hurt, and I won't know.

Something was not right.

He forgot about the team's new rule of traveling in pairs. Zane grabbed his shurikens and swords for good measure and silently took a hoverjet to Pix's location.

It was difficult for him to pry his thoughts away from what might have happened to Pixal, so of course he made himself think about the next worst thing-- breaking the news to her about Jay.

As he swiftly headed towards her last known location, he forced himself to keep from thinking about the worst. That would be ridiculous- two team members dying right after each other? That wouldn't happen. That couldn't happen.

Zane hoped he didn't jinx it.

Pixal's location was last marked to be over a city called Nom. The four original ninja had traveled there once and discovered a massive Nindroid factory there, back when the Overlord was still around. The mayor had been kidnapped or something- Zane didn't remember all the details, it had been so long ago- and for a while, the mysterious Phantom Ninja was handling crime before the real Ninja could. They later found out the uninvited self-dubbed "ninja" was the mayor's daughter, Seliel. It had seemed that some chemistry sparked between her and Cole, but Zane wouldn't know. He was glad that Cole found someone to trust outside his family, though, and that was good enough.

He wanted to check in with Seliel and the mayor and see how Nom was doing but realized that they would be frozen as well. Trying to think optimistically (and miserably failing), he settled with reminding himself to visit Nom once the Oni were gone.

For a while, he flew around aimlessly until he pinpointed the exact location- right by one of the giant warehouses that was once, many years ago, a secret Nindroid factory.

It was very early morning, the day after Jay's death. His internal clock told him it was 3:17 am and the sun would rise at 5:39 that morning. At the moment, the sky was still dark and clear, revealing stars that blinked down at Zane. His Falcon flitted at the edge of his thoughts as he silently landed the hoverjet on the roof.

From this angle, he saw something alarming. A navy blue and gold mech was crashed on the ground as if it had been shot multiple times. Thankfully, Zane's sensors didn't recognize any intelligent life in the area, so Pixal was not in the wreck.

The roof to the warehouse was tinted glass, so he couldn't see inside. He pried open a window and prepared to drop down quietly on a rope.

Instantly, the second he opened the window, he was greeted with the sound of sword fighting as he opened the window. Sliding down on the rope, the Ice Ninja ducked behind some dusty crates and found what he was looking for.

Pixal was there, and thank the First Spinjitzu Master, she was alive. However, she was sparring a black-clad warrior dressed like a biker. Her opponent looked familiar, and as Zane crept closer he realized why- it was Mr. E.

There were multiple things wrong with him. For a start, the last time Zane checked, the biker was wrecked on top of Borg Tower. Somehow, he must have been rebuilt. Zane didn't question that. He'd been blasted to pieces but managed to come back even stronger. Hopefully the same things didn't apply to Mr. E.

The biker's eyes were glowing much brighter than when Zane remembered. They had a tinge of purple and orange to it, painfully reminding him of... the Overlord.

This infuriated Zane for some reason. He forced himself to not rush to Pixal's side to destroy the monster; he wasn't one to charge into battle recklessly. He wasn't Kai.

Instead, he waited for a lull in the fighting, a break in which he could intervene or smoothly join into the duel.

He did forget that they, like himself, were both Nindroids, They would never get tired.

Zane stayed crouched, perfectly still, for a good five minutes as the two sparred. Five minutes felt like forever when two blows could be delivered in a second. Neither Nindroid was able to get the upper hand over another. Pixal couldn't land a blow to the Overlord, and he couldn't do the same to her.

Pixal's face was covered by her Samurai helmet, but he felt the vibrations of her voice strengthen as he drew nearer, an unusual impatience getting the best of him. He soon was able to decipher what she was saying. Interestingly, her notoriously mute opponent was speaking as well, but in a way that would give anyone in the room chills.

"-I don't believe you." To those that didn't know the Samurai, her voice would sound bold, confident, and unwavering. Zane, knowing her better than most, was able to read through her mask of bravery and could hear the strain and worry in her voice, and his heart sank with hers. He was pretty sure he knew what they were talking about, and it worried him. How did the Overlord know?

"You should believe me. The Omega has told me so, and I have seen it myself. I do not trust the Oni-" clang- "but I would not trick you."

"Well, you just about did," she retorted. "You're telling me this because you want me weakened. I will not fall for it." She pressed her katanas against the red.

"Jay cannot be dead," she hissed, and Zane felt something that would equate to a lump in his throat.

"Is that what you want to believe?" the Overlord asked, his voice echoing from the biker's shell. "Why don't you ask your boyfriend? He knows that I am right. Hello, Zane."

I'm listening to "let me down slowly" (by Alec Benjamin) and now I'm really sad... plus, Pixal's chapter is next.

I want to say "hope you enjoyed" but you know... it's sad... so see you guys next time?