angels - a ninjago fanfiction [complete]

ten · breaking news and hearts

KAI

"There's Nom." Cole pointed.

"Looks like any other city to me," Kai said. The landscape from both five minutes ago and the day before looked identical, and this was no different. "How could you pick it out so easily?"

The Earth Ninja mocked offense. "Nom is distinctive by the factories and warehouses on the outskirts of town. Most of them are abandoned, but the city has fought against destroying them as they may be needed in an emergency. There's been riots and protests over the past years, especially with what happened with the Nindroids."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot of detailed politics, mister Brookstone."

"It's not really my fault, I keep in touch with the mayor."

Kai rolled his eyes. "You mean the mayor's daughter, Seliel."

The black ninja looked like a deer in headlights. "I- um- yes. I mean no. What?"

Lloyd and Kai said nothing and just smirked at each other.

"Stop looking at each other like that! That's- you can't conspire against me!"

"We didn't say anything!" Lloyd said innocently. Kai cracked a smile, and soon they were both giggling like they were ten-year-olds, to Cole's feigned annoyance.

The fuzzy moment burst when reality slapped them in the face, especially when Kai looked over and he saw Nya staring into the distance, tears leaving tracks on her cheeks. He leaned over and wrapped her into his signature big-brother hug, rubbing her back as she sniffled.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Sometimes reality can be a real killjoy.

They anchored the Bounty above the warehouse that Zane and Pixal's last locations were marked at. Kai noticed, with alarm, that Pixal's Samurai X mech had been shot down.

The remainder of the team slid down the anchor's chain, Kai jumping first. He raced to the mech, finding the seatbelt slashed, the cockpit empty, and the dirt stirred up as if there had been a fight.

Nya pushed past them and climbed into the cockpit, taking out a photo frame that had been secured next to the console. It was of Zane and Pixal standing under a cherry blossom tree, smiling and an arm around each other.

Her expression was unreadable as she put it away. Kai made sure she was okay before following the others into the warehouse.

The door had been smashed open, so they gingerly crept inside. As they approached it, a waft of freezing air whipped their faces. "What the heck?" Lloyd muttered, and all of them threw on their hoods. They hid behind the numerous stacks of boxes in the warehouses, creeping closer to where the main fight must have taken place.

There had definitely been a battle there. The center of the warehouse had been empty, like something had been put there, but it had been removed, bringing the life of the building with it. The empty floor was no longer empty, as jagged columns of ice shot up at odd angles, as if made in a frenzy. The walls were covered with frost and their breath puffed out in small white clouds.

Why is it so cold? Kai wondered as they neared the heart of the abandoned building. He lit his hand on fire and found a torch for Cole and Lloyd, splitting up in pairs to investigate. It didn't sound like anyone was in the warehouse besides themselves, but they had no idea what they might find. Better to be cautious and safe than rash and in danger-- something Kai's teammates had drilled into his mind over the years.

Nya, walking ahead of her brother, suddenly let out a cry and leaped onto a table, knocking boxes aside as she slid over the top, vanishing as she darted between the columns of ice. Kai followed, his heart pounding in fear. What did she find?

Lloyd and Cole heard their commotion and emerged from their hiding spots as well.

It took a second for the boys to realize what they were seeing. Pixal was lying flat on her back, pieces of her armor scattered on the icy floor, and Zae was crumpled on the ground beside her. Both Nindroids were badly beaten up, no longer shiny, and both seemed powered off as neither eyes were glowing.

This is not real.

Kai forced himself not to jump to the worst conclusion as he rushed to their sides. He went straight to Zane; he didn't necessarily ignore Pixal, but his bond with the Ice Ninja was far stronger than that with the Samurai. The Nindroids were right next to each other, as if they had fallen together.

Zane's bright eyes were not lit, as if he was turned off. Lloyd opened his main panel, and all four of them watched anxiously, hoping he would be merely powered off. Perhaps he could return to normal with the flick of a switch, and things would be okay.

"Um... Ja- Nya," Lloyd corrected himself. "Can you see what's wrong? You're the expert. Everything looks fine to me." His voice, steady as always, was laced with worry.

Nya remained quiet, something that Kai had grown used to over the past couple days. She checked the hatch, disconnected and reconnected wires, flipped switches, but nothing happened. Occasionally she would do a specific combination, wait, and when nothing happened she would try something else. A couple wires were taken out and put in different places. For a split second, Kai worried that his sister was doing more harm than good, but he quickly trashed that thought. Nya was a smart mechanic, her skills refined from years of smithing and living with Ninjago's saviors. She would actually have to try in order to mess up Zane's wiring.

She kept glancing at Pixal, as if she wanted to save both Nindroids at once, but worked diligently on Zane, ignoring the frozen orbs of water stuck to her face.

Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. "I- it seems to be that Zane's motherboard- main circuit board, programming, the same-- was somehow fried from the inside out."

"How did that happen?" Cole asked, then shook his head. "No, forget that. What does it mean?"

"He's beyond repair," Nya whispered.

Lloyd's eyes were brimming with tears. "So basic- so basically... basically... Zane is... Zane's gone?"

Nya bit her lip and couldn't say anything, and Kai realized the frozen water on her face were her tears.

"What about Pixal?" Kai rushed. "Maybe if... maybe if she's not gone, then Zane isn't either? Could we save his AI chip, as he did with Pixal?" It was insane logic, but he desperately hoped that was the case.

Nya turned to the female Nindroid, but everyone had seen that her hatch had been opened and frozen over, though shards of ice had been shaved away from her power adapter. It didn't take a genius to know what that meant.

"What happened here?" Nya whimpered and buried her face into Kai's shoulder. Cole grabbed onto Kai for support, and Lloyd did his best to hug the older boys, tears freezing on their faces as they mourned together.

Three teammates in three days.

Three teammates.

Three deaths.

Kai could barely stand upright but did so for his teammates. Three of his friends, three members of his family, were gone for reasons none of them truly understood.

OH MY GOD MORRO I AM SO SORRY LMAO this is very harsh payback. even if the writing isn't great imo. jeez i am sorry lmao - may 2021 skylar [original chapter was posted over a year prior]