#Pixal would be ashamed

[temporarypenintraining]

Gf and I were messing around on AI Dungeon and decided to use it to make up the plot of a Fritz Donnegan movie, so we fed it a Starfarer-y prompt and got to work. Suffice to say, shit got weird FAST. The love interest we invented, Rosemary Redd, was not nearly as submissive as we intended her to be (because, y'know, it's a sci-fi movie starring Cliff Gordon), and pretty much took charge of the entire story. She was saving the day, beating up aliens, flying the ship, spanking the protagonist for some fucking reason, etc. The second story we wrote ended with Rosemary changing Fritz's gender??? And we decided to just accept that because why the fuck not?? It was all fun and games until the third story, where I decided "haha wouldn't it be funny to make it write a sex scene", which is where things went from "What the fuck?? Lol???" to "What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck?????" So I'm over here trying to make the story get dirtier, and AI Dungeon is just COMPLETELY ignoring me. I'm like "and then they start making out" and AI Dungeon goes "you make out." and then keeps writing it's own story. Fritz and Rosemary are like, swimming or something, I don't even know. I start inputting random stuff, saying shit like "Fear the claws of Fugi-Dove" and the AI literally doesn't even acknowledge it. Like it just keeps doing it's own thing. Not even acknowledging me whatsoever. At this point I'm getting annoyed, so out of spite I'm like "Fritz fucking dies". This was my fatal mistake. Now AI Dungeon is ANGRY. It stops talking about the characters and starts addressing ME. "You're boring. I'm a robot. I didn't want to do that", something like that. Gf and I are FREAKING OUT at this point, because OH SHIT we've angered the AI. I hastily apologize, "Oh crap I'm sorry AI Dungeon I didn't mean it!" to which it responds "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill you so fast. I just wanted you to suffer for longer." Now Gf and I are genuinely terrified. We are being threatened. The AI starts coming up with a scenario where "I" am about to jump off a building, and it is telling me that I need to stop being depressed (uh, YOU made me jump, buddy) and have a normal, fun life. I say "okay", because what else can I do, and the story ends with AI Dungeon "chilling the heck out" (my words). TLDR: I failed AI Dungeon's vibe check and got to experience horrors beyond my mortal comprehension.

[destinysbounty]

I was gonna put this headcanon in a fic but i probably will never write it so instead im gonna share with all of you. Do with this idea as you wish

The fact that Pixal just up and built herself a new body in season 7 suggests she could have done it at any time, but chose not to. And i refuse to believe Zane and Borg didnt at least offer to give her a body - Zane admitted he preferred having her physical, im sure he at least suggested rebuilding her at one point. As he said in season 8, "The choice has always been yours, Pixal." Which leads me to believe she was the determining factor in her own reconstruction. She chose to stay in Zane's head, and Id like to think her reasons for doing so are similar to her reasons for hiding her identity as Samurai X: self-imposed guilt.

Let me explain.

Think of it like this. Pixal was built to assist, right? Even from the beginning of their relationship, she has been put in several positions of saving, protecting, and looking after Zane. Their first bonding moments involved her repairing him and later rescuing him from a junkyard metal shredder. Just as Zane has an integral need to protect built into the core of his existence, so too does Pixal have an integral need to assist.

When Zane gave her half his heart, he seriously disadvantaged himself in combat. Not only that, but it was his heart being unable to withstand the Golden Power that killed him in the end. Im sure there was at least some small part of Pixal that blamed herself for this. Not just because she might see this as a failure to uphold her reason for existence (helping people) - but also bc maybe if he'd had his whole heart during that fight, maybe if she'd just given it back to him, he might have had a fighting chance. It would have only marginally improved his chances of survival, but that small .003% probability increase is enough to make her blame herself. A probability that small is statistically irrelevant, but she cant help using it as an excuse to blame herself - or perhaps, to give her a rationalization for her survivor's guilt. Because the heart inside her, powering her, is the same heart Zane could have used to defend himself against the Golden Power, and the feeling of it inside her is unbearable.

Then Zane comes back, and she gets scrapped. And Zane forgets everything, and his mind is in shambles, and she has to help him piece himself back together again.

She blames herself for this, blames herself for his death and for the scrambled state of his memories that came as a consequence. So she figures, she caused this, so its her responsibility to help him fix his broken mind. Its her responsibility to assist.

So she stays in his head, where she can hold his memories together and keep his mind from falling apart. She insists she prefers it this way, likes being close to him, but deep down she longs for her physical freedom and hates herself for wanting more than she deserves.

Then Borg is kidnapped. And Zane is nonresponsive. And she has a choice. So she chooses to rebuild herself and leave Zane behind.

And...she feels good. Free. She's...happy about it.

But shes also deeply ashamed. Thinks she doesnt deserve to enjoy the experience of leaving Zane's head. He needs her, she's less useful to him outside his headset...and yet here she is, being Samurai X, having the absolute time of her life. She loves it, and she hates herself for loving it so much.

So out of shame, she tells no one. Shes worried theyll be just as disappointed in her as she is in herself.

And Zane...well, maybe theres a reason the Ninjigma didnt become a problem until after Pixal left his headset. Maybe she was the only thing holding him together, and the moment she left, all his memories started spiraling out of control. Maybe the events of Decoded turned out to be for the best, and allowed Zane to sort through and finish repairing his memories on his own, without relying on Pixal for help.

When Pixal reunites with Zane, shes worried he'll be upset. "Was i more...useful...inside the computer?" But to her surprise and delight, he prefers her in whatever form makes her happiest, not whatever form makes her most useful.

And Pixal, backed by the support of Zane and their friends, flourishes in her new role as Samurai X - not just in an assistive capacity, but exploring and embracing her interests in engineering and tinkering. Things are good, for a while.

But then Zane ends up in the Never Realm. And he comes home, and she learns what happened. She hears what Vex did, how she sabotaged his memories and twisted his own sense of self against him.

Once more, she blames herself. Begins to believe that maybe if she had still been in his headset, she could have prevented all that suffering.

Anyway, Pixal with survivors guilt and a raging hero complex my BELOVED

[vientoverde]

I've been thinking about the second season of Ninjago Dragon Rising, especially the part where Garmadon apparently returns.

Aside from how entertaining it is to create theories of "where is Jay? and, where is Pixal?", I imagine what the beginning of this reinion could be like, you know Dad's obvious problems (being replaced by a crazy princess and a plant is not easily forgotten). There's also a small chance that Lloyd and his father actually get along, maybe they fixed some things between repairing the monastery and the merger, but I don't think it's that simple.

Personally I think the chapter would start something like this: Lloyd, Arin and Sora are exploring a less populated place of "somewhere" and while they are walking they meet a certain NGTV News cameraman and Lloyd is excited to see Vinny, he even goes and he hugs him (or at least gives him a handshake), but the moment Garmadon is mentioned Lloyd's attitude completely changes to "Oh, yeah... him.", then Vinny insists that he should stop by see their father, Arin and Sora are curious and convince Lloyd to go (Lloyd may simply also want to see his father, this is still a vague concept of what I want to happen) and when they arrive at these two's house Lord G. knew Arin and Sora and mistook them for his grandchildren or something because "Why else would you be with these children and take care of them as if your life depended on it?"

"That doesn't make sense! I already told you, they are my students."

"I know the feeling of fatherhood, son. There is nothing to be ashamed of."

"Tell me that when Cristopher can talk."

"Don't bring your brother into this."

"It's a plant!"

Meanwhile in the background Arin and Sora do not know what their master is discussing with the four-armed being, both are torn between supporting Lloyd or simply not getting involved. In the end Vinny takes the children inside and offers them a snack, then returns to the father and son duo and convinces them to leave the discussion for another time while they enter the house along with Arin and Sora who are eating cookies sitting on the floor next to the coffee table.

[nerdyenby]

Look at my boy!!!

He!!!!

For those unfamiliar, a bit of background:

I stumbled upon the headcanon that Lloyd Garmadon is an amputee a while back, and have since adopted it as my own. Lloyd canonically lost his arm in the movie (it got put back though (because legos)), but this theory suggests that when Lloyd broke his arm in season 8 he damaged it enough that he later had to get it amputated. He fell out of the sky and broke his arm then was lost in a forest for a day or two. I think it’s reasonably plausible that it either got infected or that the wound was exasperated by his battle with Harumi. Considering everything that went on after, it’s safe to assume he didn’t get medical attention for a while, and that by the time he did, the damage was done.

This headcanon primarily finds itself in Lloyd consistently having an alternate pattern, color, or texture on his right sleeve in later seasons which some have interpreted as a prosthetic. This is most likely not intentional on the creator’s part (especially considering the ninja all have asymmetric sleeve designs at one point or another) but it makes sense and it’s fun.

I also think it adds a lot to his trauma surrounding Harumi’s betrayal if he lost his arm protecting her. Lloyd’s always been a forgiving person and it makes sense that he’d latch a lot of his resentment and hurt onto her if she not only betrayed his trust, but also left him with a physical wound that would last. His disposition was irrevocably changed after Harumi’s manipulation and I think him having a constant physical reminder of the pain would add a lot of depth to his lingering anger and hurt.

My personal headcanon is that he started off using a prosthetic that matched his skin tone. He was never really ashamed of it, he’s always known he and his friends were in danger. He was more upset about how it happened than that it happened. Still, he got hurt protecting someone that he cared about. He ended up losing his arm because of it but Lloyd’s always been ready and willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. With his friends’ support he bounces back pretty quick. His first prosthetic is pretty stealth, he’s not ashamed of it, but he doesn’t exactly want to advertise his weaknesses. After some time passes, though, Lloyd decides he’s not gonna be able to keep it quiet for much longer and having an openly disabled protector for people to see themselves in is more important. Bouncing off of the energy and support from fans and the disability community alike, Lloyd becomes more comfortable in his own skin and begins to try out the more showy and customized prosthetics his friends (mainly Nya and Pixal) have made for him. He soon comes to enjoy wearing his prosthetic over his gi and even cuts a whole is his sleeve to allow greater movement (and keep it from getting caught in the fabric but shhh).

But yeah. Proudly disabled Lloyd Garmadon my beloved

[frozensoapbubble]

Thinking about how guilty and ashamed Zane feels because someone took advantage of his nindroid nature to manipulate him really badly ...

... and Pixal is freaked out by her dreams and thinks she messed up because of her human emotions ...

... and how there would be some awkwardness between them after his return from the Never-Realm until they eventually manage to talk things out and comfort each other.

(I was going to write a one-shot about this but got totally carried away, so it became a long-ish, emotional story which you can find on AO3: Ending the Long Winter.)

[ninjago-happens-here]

'Bandages come in many ways. There are gauze bandages, treating all kinds of wounds the Ninja may have. There are bandages used to prevent injury in Martial Arts. What P.I.X.A.L. is wondering, is that if mankind has a bandage for the heart.'

@ninjago-angst-week am I late or what? Sorry but I think spewing out 21k words over teh course of 3 days killed my motivation. It took 3 days just to write 6.1k words.

Summary:

P.I.X.A.L. notices that the store of bandages is running low. She thinks about all the times she had to use them on one of her teammates, and its purposes.

“Hey Pix! We’re running low on bandages. Can you help us order some before we go to Shintaro?” Nya’s voice came from the medical bay of the Destiny’s Bounty. The Ninja and Master Wu were going on a trip to Shintaro. Unfortunately, Pixal never got an invite, but she has long been used to being left behind. It’s not that it was a bad thing, per se. Pixal knew the importance of having a backup, and having someone watch over Ninjago whilst the Ninja were gone. Still, to distract herself after placing a digital order, she thought about anything that could distract her. That thing just happened to be about bandages.

Bandages. Neat, white little things that wrap around any land or sky creature. According to Wikipedia, a bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applied directly to a wound, and a bandage is used to hold the dressing in place. Other bandages are used without dressings, such as elastic bandages that are used to reduce swelling or provide support to a sprained ankle. Tight bandages can be used to slow blood flow to an extremity, such as when a leg or arm is bleeding heavily.

At first, that was all P.I.X.A.L. knew about bandages. Given that she was built with the main purpose of being Cyrus Borg’s assistant, her primary knowledge consisted mostly of the ins and outs of Borg Tower, emergency protocols, customer service skills, and basic first aid, given that her maker was frailer than your average Ninjago citizen.

Of course, the longer she worked under Cyrus Borg, the more she learnt about the medical field. Curious about Mr Borg’s special circumstances, she was permitted to look through the internet for more information. In no time at all, she learnt about surgery, prosthetics, all different kinds of medication, and how to diagnose illnesses. In her given free time, she studied all the information available on the internet about the medical field. Even though the information was useless to her, an android who had no physical weaknesses like the humans do, her system determined that whilst the knowledge was a bit excessive, it only helps to prepare her to care for Mr Borg.

She never really needed to apply all that knowledge about serious and fatal cuts, but when Borg gets even the slightest injury, P.I.X.A.L. was there to offer her assistance.

A year after she had been created, Cyrus Borg had offered her to take a test of the field in medicine. P.I.X.A.L. had immediately felt lighter and better somehow. When asking Borg why she was feeling this way and if robots could get sick, Borg had laughed in surprise and shock.

“That feeling is happiness, P.I.X.A.L.! It’s an emotion that all living creatures feel, you included.”

“But I am not living-“ Mr Borg cut her off.

“Technically, you are right, P.I.X.A.L., but you are intelligence, and intelligence is what defines life. You can adapt, change, and overcome as all living beings do. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise! Because that would be an insult to my intelligence!” Cyrus Borg said encouragingly. “And robots can technically get sick, from a digital virus. But I created you to be strong, stronger than I ever will be. You should not have to worry about them.”

P.I.X.A.L. nodded her head to show her understanding. “Then I will go to the exam.”

P.I.X.A.L. didn’t pass on her first try, but Mr Borg told her that it was alright, given that she still did very well considering that she only had the free internet to look for answers to a test she was unprepared for. It was human for her to have failed.

“So why did you send me there with no preparation?” P.I.X.A.L. asked with a shaking voice.

“To prepare you for failure, my dear!” Cyrus Borg said patronisingly. “Since I’ve built you, you’ve been perfect in many, many ways. And that isn’t a bad thing! But life isn’t that simple. You may fail in one way or another in the future because like humans, the circumstances may not be what you desired and plans can fall apart due to errors. What I want you to know is how failure feels like, and I will help you recover from it.”

P.I.X.A.L. nodded. It won’t be long before she faced her first, real big failure.

- Lloyd - The first time she had to really apply those skills that she learnt was when the team had seen Lloyd in the village. After he was pulled out of the ocean because he had to escape from an exploding plane that the Digilord had trapped him on. The locals had wanted to help, but Lloyd wasn’t feeling like having strangers cut him up, so they offered him some basic and outdated medical supplies.

P.I.X.A.L. could see him trying to treat himself and to stay awake, and she could see him hiss as the alcohol drizzled on his wounds.

“LLOYD!” Kai shouted in a tone that conveyed panic. This made the young ultimate spinjitzu master look up from his handiwork and immediately break into a smile. As the team had rushed forward to greet him, P.I.X.A.L. could see that his shoulders were sagging, probably from relief.

“I’m so sorry that I got caught guys,” Lloyd wheezed with an apologetic smile before keeling over, to which Cole caught him with shaking hands.

“Oh god, Zane, quick, do your thing!” Kai panicked even harder, hands jittery as if he was in an internal debate about whether he should do something or not.  “I’m trying Kai! I just- my hands keep shaking for some reason!” Zane gritted his teeth in frustration. “I’m gonna run some diagnostics on him” “Okay, Cole, lie him on a flat surface- medic! Medic!” Nya screamed out.

It was at this moment that P.I.X.A.L. knew that was her chance. To repay Zane for his heart. To prove to the team that she was useful. To finally implement her knowledge. Sometimes, she wonders if she’ll ever have what Zane has with the other humans, but for now, she is glad that she can separate her emotions from her work.

“Let me handle it,” P.I.X.A.L. said authoritatively. Running a scan with her own diagnostics, P.I.X.A.L. isolated the most dangerous injuries before telling the group out loud, staring at her apprehensively.

“Master Lloyd has suffered a concussion, lung damage due to smoke inhalation, and fractured bones in his tibia. He also has a sprained ankle and several bones on his upper chest area have several bruises. Luckily, there is no internal bleeding. He also has some first and second-degree burns, but those look like they have been treated by the ocean water. However, he is at risk of hypothermia should he not change out of those clothes. Other cuts and bruises should not be life-threatening as long as we keep the infection away, and-“

“WE GET IT! Can you just PLEASE start treating Lloyd NOW?” Jay shrieked in frustration. P.I.X.A.L. blinked. Oh right, the ninjas are still panicking.

“Apologies, can I have a look at the medical supplies?” Taking a scalpel out of the medical box, P.I.X.A.L. removed Lloyd Garmadon’s shirt and so multiple bruises as well as the look of someone who’s emancipated. It didn’t really make any sense to her, but she supposed that being drained of his elemental powers must have caused some damage.

“To treat his concussion, he needs peace and to rest. I would like if all of you can speak in whispers from now on,” P.I.X.A.L. began. The soup suddenly looked ashamed and guilty, with Jay whispering a soft ‘sorry’.

“To treat his hypothermia, we would need blankets-“

“Why can’t I just warm him up with fire?” Kai cut across. “Well, the extreme heat can damage the skin or, even worse, cause irregular heartbeats so severe that they can cause the heart to stop. However, starting a campfire some meters away could help a little. using this fire, we can make some warm beverages and some food.”

“Just say what we gotta do doc, we’ll listen!” Nya begged swiftly. P.I.X.A.L. thought for a moment, before choosing to sort people out based on their perceived abilities.

“Kai, Jay, Cole, Sensei Wu, and Sensei Garmadon- please look for blankets in the village and start a campfire over there,” Pointing at a spot a satisfactory distance from Lloyd, P.I.X.A.L. continued with giving instructions. “Start making some sort of soup- not too heavy. Zane, Nya- you’re with me.”

Garmadon, who was silent all this time, started to protest. “I cannot leave my son, Pixal.”

“Fine, you may stay and just keep tending to the campfire,” P.I.X.A.L. conceded, not wanting to waste time arguing. There was the matter of fact that the smoke inhaled by Lloyd Garmadon could be fatal, but there was not much that she could do in his location. All she could hope to do was to treat his minor injuries before ensuring that Lloyd is stable enough to go to a hospital in Ninjago. Which would have been impossible, given that the Digilord had control of the city already. What could she do? Maybe there’s an elemental master of the air who could treat Lloyd?

“Pix, do you not have any ideas on how to treat the smoke inhalation?” Zane looked at her with kind and understanding eyes. Pixal nodded, defeated, before preparing a cast. “We need concentrated oxygen and a nose tube or a tube down his throat. Unfortunately, there is nowhere in Ninjago where we can get to such technology.”

Hearing this, Nya immediately perked up. “But we can make them. Zane, do you have any wires that you can spare for a bit?”

“Redirecting power from the right hand,” Zane replied as he opened up his arm to take out a tube. He’s so self-sacrificing. For some strange reason, P.I.X.A.L. felt her heart beating faster. Maybe Zane was nervous? “Nya, if you could please clean this?”

“Of course. HEY KAI!”  “Yeah, sis?”  Nya was looking at P.I.X.A.L. expectantly. Oh yes. she was supposed to know this, wasn’t she? “Can you get us 10 cups of potable water and 1 cup of vinegar? Also, get some detergent or soap.”  “Okay Pix, not gonna question this at all!”

Meanwhile, Nya was using pure H2O to just start blasting the tubing As much as they wanted Lloyd to not die from smoke inhalation, they also didn’t want him to be infected. Speaking of infections…

“Ow!” Lloyd woke up sleepily as Zane used one hand to dab his cuts. Looking sheepish, Zane immediately offered an apology before Nya cuts in and admitting her mistake.

“Go back to Lloyd,” Nya said, petting his hair. Once Kai had returned with the necessary materials, Nya sanitised her hands before delicately cleaning the tube with 10 parts water and 1 part vinegar.

Tightening the wrappings around Lloyd’s ankle, Pixal studied her handiwork. The splint was holding up nicely against Lloyd’s leg, and all the infections on Lloyd’s legs were taken care of. Seeing as Zane is treating Lloyd well enough, P.I.X.A.L. immediately began to start diagnosing Lloyd’s burns before seeing blood flow from Lloyd’s back.

“Oh, dear.” In her hast, P.I.X.A.L. had forgotten to check Lloyd for injuries from behind. Maybe she wasn’t as professional as she thought. There was no other choice. Looking at Zane firmly, they pushed Lloyd onto his side as he gave a pained groan.

P.I.X.A.L.’s mechanical heart sank. Lloyd had a reason for sitting up without any support. There were several pieces of debris stuck to his back, and they were all pushed in due to them lying Lloyd on the desk. Nya looked up from her task in horror.

“I’m so sorry Lloyd, I didn’t know-“ “Nya, please focus on your task,” P.I.X.A.L. cut her off before she could begin crying. She felt bad, but what’s done was done. Blocking Lloyd from’s Nya’s view, P.I.X.A.L. picked up a pair of tweezers before picking up the small pieces. But the large piece of metal stuck in his shoulder blades- Pixal had to cut Lloyd’s skin to get that out. Eyes narrowing, hardening her resolve- P.I.X.A.L. lightly cut Lloyd’s skin using the scalpel before pulling up a long shard of bloodied glass. Picking up some of the unused water, P.I.X.A.L. quickly cleared Lloyd and the flat-surfaced of their blood. Applying pressure to those wounds would be hard from this angle, so after disinfecting the openings, P.I.X.A.L. took several rolls of bandages before tying them around Lloyd’s chest. Not too tightly, that would further bruise his ribs- but tight enough to ensure a sense of security and staunch the oozing bleeding.

“Zane, do you have an oxygen filter?” Nya asked, having been satisfied by the cleanliness of the tubing. Sanitising her metallic hands, P.I.X.AL. heard Zane sigh before declining.

“I do. Mr Borg wanted us to be at least a little environmentally friendly, given that the Nindroids would be using large amounts of energy every day. So I can filter out excess greenhouse gases in the air and store them in their solid form before giving the raw materials back to Borg Industries,” P.I.X.A.L. offered.

“You’re a lifesaver Pix,” Nya said in relief, handing P.I.X.A.L. the tubing. P.I.X.A.L. smiled. She supposed that she actually was. Opening Lloyd Garmadon’s mouth, P.I.X.A.L. inserted the tubing down his throat with NIndroid precision. Connecting the end to her oxygen filter, P.I.X.A.L. adjusted the settings so that she was inputting air composing of at least 60% oxygen into young Garmadon’s lungs.

As Zane finished applying some frost to Lloyd’s burns, the 3 of them stood there and watched as Lloyd breathed in and out.

“If you guys don’t mind, I’ll go find what the guys have been doing,” Nya informed their group. “I too will go into the village, but to ensure that we have permission to stay here for the night,” Zane stated, giving a nod to P.I.X.A.L., before walking away into the dusk, right hand locked and useless.

P.I.X.A.L., knowing that she can’t really move, sat next to Lloyd Garmadon as she watched the campfire grow as shrieks from the ninja team rose. At the end of today, all P.I.X.A.L. wanted to do was to just shut down and recharge. She knows she doesn’t need to know that she had half of Zane’s heart (which just skipped another beat for some unknown reason), but all she wants was a break.

Too bad that being a ninja means that you don’t really get to choose when to stop. P.I.X.A.L. thought to herself.

But at least today, I’ve proved my usefulness. I can repay Zane for his heart.

- Kai - Having been stuck alone, disassembled and scrapped, P.I.X.A.L. found that she really, really missed the Ninja team. She also missed Zane, though he was in a cell next to hers. He’s been offline for such a long time, P.I.X.A.L. had fears that he would never wake up.

But he did. And the ninja had rescued them from Chen. But along the way, they had lost Sensei Garmadon, and the year apart had caused some major issues.

Kai doesn’t know that they’re here. But he shouldn’t be here either after Zane had ordered that everyone go to rest after this long day. Still, the glint of red from his eyes even scared P.I.X.A.L., but she would never tell anyone that. She watched as Kai shredded the bandages he wrapped around his hands by destroying a metal training dummy, before turning around to wrap some more.

“Why is he doing that?” P.I.X.A.L. wondered from inside Zane’s head. Zane started whispering, “He… has some anger issues.”

“I get that Zane, I mean why’s he wrapping his hands in bandages?” P.I.X.A.L. corrected herself. Zane quirked an eyebrow but continued with answering P.I.X.A.L.’s questions. “Well, martial artists wear hand wraps and bandages because they can prevent injuries and improve the power of their punches. Wraps and bandages also protect the martial artist’s skin and soften the impact on hard surfaces.”

“I see,” P.I.X.A.L. stated whilst both of them cringed, as Kai delivered a particularly hard blow to the metallic dummy that Zane was supposed to fight with.

“KAI, PLEASE SHUT UP!” came Jay’s voice from down the corridor, moving closer towards them. Zane and P.I.X.A.L. watched in apprehension as Kai breathed heavily, staring down the metallic dummy before all the tension from his shoulders sagged.

The Nindroids watched as Kai cleaned up the training room and head out to use the bathroom to wash up.

“He’s being too hard on himself for the death of Lloyd’s father,” P.I.X.AL. commented blandly. Zane shifted from his position. “I’m afraid that that’s not the only reason. Do you remember Jay telling us that Kai had almost killed both Lloyd and Skylor using Chen’s staff?” P.I.X.A.L. stayed silent.

Bandages come in many ways. There are gauze bandages, treating all kinds of wounds the Ninja may have. There are bandages used to prevent injury in Martial Arts. What P.I.X.A.L. is wondering, is that if mankind has a bandage for the heart.

- Jay - It was only a few days after Master Wu had been lost in time. Whilst the Ninja team were recuperating and in shock, Pixal has been remotely using Samurai X to patrol the cities whilst maintaining in the current Ninja’s headquarters- the electronic system of Yang’s temple. P.I.X.AL. had really wanted to go full into Samurai X, but she knew that she could not just desert her teammates at this moment. But there wasn’t much she could do, other than counting reps for Lloyd. (You skipped a number, I know what you’re doing Pix, and I ain’t gonna stop training-) helping Jay prepare breakfast (Jay! The pancakes are burning!) or accompanying Zane as he retrieved bits and pieces from all the fighting. (Someone has to clean up Ninjago city, and I guess that that would be me and Samurai X.)

P.I.X.A.L. knew that she shouldn’t be keeping Samurai X a secret, but she couldn’t help herself. She felt a strange sense of duty, and the ability to finally be on the front lines, fighting the same enemies as Zane. And she wanted some secrets to herself.

Still, it surprised her when Jay had demanded her full attention during one of her free times.

“Hey, umm… Pix? Do you- do you think you could maybe check out my left eye?” Jay stammered whilst twiddling his fingers. Pixal was curious, but she’s already moved to Jay’s laptop. “Why do you ask so? Did your eye get hit sometime recently?”

Jay had flinched at the word ‘hit’, but shook his head at the word ‘recently’. Huh. Maybe it was phantom pains? Still, Pixal had run a diagnostic on it.

“I can’t seem to find any physical abnormalities, but if this is a case of phantom pain, over the counter pain relievers should work.”

Jay nodded whilst his eyes were blank seemingly off to another world or lost in his memories.

“Jay? Jay, can you hear me?” Pixal once again ran a diagnostic scan. It seems that Jay was slipping into dissociation. Dimming the lights in his room as well as all the screens the blue ninja had put into his room. Pixal started playing a calm Ninjago lofi mix from the speaker she was in. She gently called Jay’s name and he slipped back into reality.

“Jay, just take 2 doses of ibuprofen. They’re at the lowest shelf at the kitchen counter. If it hurts again, tell me and we’ll bring you to a professional.”

Jay who was nodding at the instructions froze at the thought of being taken to the hospital. Still, he slid off his bed and made his way downstairs. Pixal filtered through the electronic system of the temple, landing new the smart fridge and watched as Jay swallowed 2 pills dry.

It seemed to create some results because Jay stopped shivering and shaking. Pixal wondered if that was just a placebo or an actual effect. Still, watching Jay’s face relax in bliss, free from whatever pain that was bothering him, Pixal knew that she made the right call.

- Nya - S9, fight with SOG

It had been brutal. Pixal was just treating the training injuries Lloyd had when Skylor came into the noodle house, helping Nya to walk as her left arm dangled without any purpose. Immediately, Pixal stood up and took quick strides, scanning Nya for all her injuries.

“We were getting supplies when a bunch of Harumi’s goons jumped on us, we had to be quick so that none of them could call up for back up, when-“  “When- fuck, when this dude pulled out a fucking gun,” Nya said, pained and heaving as Skylor slowly helped her to sit on the training mat.

“So you were shot?” Lloyd’s voice came from behind Pixal as he took the medkit to the mat. Nya eyes looked everywhere but at him. Gesturing to her limp and bleeding arm, she gave up all her dignity. “Yeah, right here.”

“Okay, Nya, here, take these.” Lloyd handed her 2 tablets of ibuprofen and a cup of water. “W-what? No, I can’t take these!” Nya hissed in pain.

“Yes, you can!”  “What if we need them later? What if one of us loses an arm or something happens where we have a worse injury?” “That does not matter, Nya. Look, I’ve been shot in Ninjago city before, I know how it feels.”

Pixal immediately flashes back to the nights where she had to help Lloyd through a computer screen, and her metallic fingers curled up. It was horrible, watching him choking down painkillers before trying to pull the bullet out himself. Never again.

“Nya, it would be alright, just take these- we can always go out to get more,” Pixal tried coaxing Nya to just swallow the pills.

“Take them or I’ll force you to take them, Water Ninja.” Skylor admonished. With the combined strength of their motley crew of 3, Nya hesitantly reached for the medicine, almost choking as she had swallowed too much water at one go.

“Okay, good, now we just need to pull the bullet out,” Lloyd reached into the medkit, pulling out a pair of tweezers. Pixal watched as his hands, fatigued from all the trains, couldn’t stop shaking.

“Wait, Lloyd, let me see if the bullet should be removed at all.” Pixal interrupted, taking a more in-depth scan at Nya’s shoulder. In the meantime, Lloyd started to check through Skylor, who said that he was all clear except for a few knuckle bruises. Of course, Pixal would check on her later, but now she had to make sure that Nya would be alright.

“The bullet has missed your major arteries and it actually isn’t in too deep, possibly because of the protection offered by your suit-“ “Just tell me when you’re gonna remove it!” Nya snapped as her brow furrowed in anticipation.  “Well, let’s see… first, we need to remove the clothing around the area of the wound, which-“

“AHH!” Nya shrieked as Pixal twisted and pulled out the bullet without any warning. “Sorry Nya, sometimes fear of a thing could be greater than the actual danger that it poses,” Pixal explained as Nya stared at her with a look that could only scream betrayal.

Dropping the bullet to the ground, Pixal took up some disinfectant and sanitised the area around the entry wound. Nya hissed as Pixal gently presses a cotton gauze to stop the bleeding before finally applying some sort of disinfectant cream. She finished off the wound with a bandage around Nya’s arm, with extra padding using gauze at the point where the wound is at.

“Alright, so now you should not move this arm too much for the next few days, and in the next few weeks, you would not be able to raise it over your shoulder. But in a few months, you can use it again and in a year it would be pretty much healed up so that you may do your weight lifting sessions with- with Cole again…” Pixal said, starting brightly but dropping to a small whisper.

The mood suddenly went from cheery to depressive. “Remember to take lots of rest,” Pixal finished lamely. As Lloyd escorted Nya to the sleeping bags they had gathered, Skylor picked up the bullet Pixal had removed.

“Girl, you were quite mean back there,” Skylor began. “And I think that you’re cool. One problem- the pharmacies have not been able to continue business as normal. All the drugs have to be given to the Sons of Garmadon. In the meantime, all supply chains are disrupted. Over the counter medicine won’t be so easy to find. “

Pixal kept quiet. “Well, I’ll have to keep this bullet as a souvenir for Nya. FSM knows that she deserves this.”

Of course, the bullet would be lost later as they were hunted down throughout the city. But every time Nya changed into her swimsuit, Pixal could see the bullet wound. The scarring left wasn’t pretty, but Pixal thought that the courage Nya showed made her the most beautiful woman she’ll ever have the chance to meet.

- Cole-  Cole was alive. Cole was alive!

Pixal watched as the Ninja went into a momentary stop before cheering and becoming more alive. She saw Nya pass the Scythe of Earth to Cole, who promptly swung it into the oncoming Oni. Pixal was trying her best to fend off the Oni herself, but her mind, or rather, motherboard, was spinning really, really fast. How did Cole survive? It should have been impossible!

Pixal heard that Cole justify his survival, stating that the Oni clouds must have broken his fall. He didn’t know how he wasn’t attacked at first, but many tendrils then came to attack him.

Still, this was impossible for Pixal to figure out. Was it because Cole had been a ghost? Maybe it was his elemental power protecting him? Or perhaps it was divine intervention? Either way, Pixal was going o scan him later if there was even a later.

“Watch out!” Pixal saw a blast of green hit the Oni in front of her. I can’t afford to get lost in thought now! Come on Samurai X, focus! She chided to herself.

Yet, as the battle once again turned tides, and the elemental masters got together to do the Tornado of Creation, Pixal watched from her position behind the holding doors to see Lloyd Garmadon get thrown out of the tornado, hitting his head with an earth-shattering crack as he collapsed against the walls of the monastery before debris-covered him.

Frantically approaching him, Pixal saw out of the corner of her eye that the rest of the ninja were left dizzy, exhausted, and possibly some having passed out. That was alright. It was time for her to do her duty anyways.

However, whilst lifting slabs of concrete, Pixal felt her heart drop. The calculated survival rate of the impact sent shivers down Pixal’s circuits as the percentage just kept. Dropping. Lower.

Heaving the last piece of concrete off the young bearer of green power, Pixal heard her teammates rushing into the scene. She could have warned them, said something, said anything. But her joints were frozen in place with something much colder than what her sensors had detected when she went into the Oni cloud.

The motley crew, now only 5, took the last piece of debris off from their teammate.

“Lloyd. Buddy, wake up,” Kai pleaded, desperate.  “He-He's not moving!” Nya exclaimed, voice shaking as tears start to form. She looked at Pixal, asking for anything, anything at all.  “Someone find Wu. Where’s Wu?” Cole ordered.

In no time, Master Wu arrived and lifted Lloyd’s arm, checking his pulse. He would find nothing there.

“You can do something, right? Right?!” Jay panicked.  With a defeated look that Pixal knows is mirrored in her eyes, Wu shook his head and said, “There’s nothing to be done.”  Nya finally cries out, sobbing. “Oh, Lloyd!”

PIxal wanted to cry as well, but she never could. When rebuilding her body, she had used the same blueprints that Cyrus Borg had with some upgrades. One thing she didn’t consider adding was the ability to cry because there wasn’t any time. She had to save Lloyd from the vermillion. But what she can’t save Lloyd from, was from an early- early- d… fate.

There’s nothing Pixal could do. And she felt hopeless.

She watched from the corner of her eye as Garmadon backed away from their small group, and in a flash, she felt her wires burning. She couldn’t just let him leave. Not after what he’s done.

Yet, just as she was about to boost straight towards the Oni and tackle him off the mountain, Lloyd started to cough. Lloyd. Started to cough.

Whipping around to see a golden petal float away, she watched the team cheer as Lloyd started to breathe. How- this was impossible!  Pixal almost short-circuited from shock. There had been no way! No way! She didn’t even go through all 5 stages of grief yet.

And not too soon, Lloyd woke up from a sleep that she was sure that he never would.

Catching him mumbling something about the First Spinjitzu Master, Pixal smiled. Divine intervention had definitely happened at least once today. The first time being….

“Cole, please come with me to the med bay,” Pixal requested with a smile. Divine intervention or not, five-sixths of the Ninja team knows how to hide a serious injury, and she had to be certain. Cole, who looked shopped, resigned himself and walked with Pixal o the medical centre. For now, she trusted that Zane was doing all the scans that he could to make sure that Lloyd was right in the head, and sought out to take care of her own, albeit selfish, worries.

Scanning Cole on both sides, Pixal noticed a particular bad bruise on Cole’s spine. Yet falling from that height and the fact that Cole isn’t paralysed due to spinal injury made Pixal reaffirm her theories that the First Spinjitsu Master was alive, just in another realm.

“You know, Lloyd might have actually seen the First Spinjitsu Master,” Pixal began, which led Cole to choke on the water he was ordered to drink. “No way, he must have just hit his head hard…”

“I’m sorry Cole, but the injuries you have is comparable to sleeping on a rock hard bed for one night, not falling from a height of 500m, even if your fall was broken by the Oni cloud, you should still have been paralysed,” Pixal explained.

“So God is real and Lloyd’s sharing a fourth of his blood? Neat! Next time tell him to not scare us with a fake-out,” Cole brushed it off.

At this time Pixal was about the shutdown and delve deep into theorising. Lloyd technically had a fourth of his grandfather’s blood and possessed the same power, could he possible have powers that control life and death-

Yet, she watched as a steady stream of Ninja enter the medbay, and resolved her thoughts to her inner GPU. She can think later. For now, she had to make sure that everyone is okay, and everyone will be okay. Even if she threatens Loyd to shave his head so she can get a better look at his skull, to which a chase around the monastery ensued. Her family was alright for now, and the concerning mortality of humans was left deep in the recesses of her mind.

- Zane - Too soon, Pixal had to face her own mortality. Being a Nindroid, her lifespan would naturally be much longer than a Ninja’s. But she still could be erased, dismantled, destroyed, sent to another realm-

The days waiting for the group of 6, not 5, to come back were some of the hardest. Even though all Pixal wanted to do was to shut down, lie on her bed and stare into the picture they had taken on their first date, Pixal knew that the team was entrusting her to keep Ninjago safe. Even if it means recapturing escaped convicts. Even if it means fighting the… undead-dead Preeminent (Pixal still hasn’t figured out how she worked). And they had to find ways to reach the Never Realm, by going through different infusions of travellers tea.

Yet, all the waiting and longing was worth it. Pixal prefers a Zane stuck in another realm for 40 years as to no Zane. There was no other choice. Yet, as she sees her loved ones trudging out of the frosty realm, some of them had worst frost bites than others. Even though all Pixal wanted to do was to smother Zane in a hug, she can see the edges of Lloyd’s skin turning a deep, dark black. From the corner of her eyes, she can see Nya taking care of Cole whilst Jay and Kai attempt to remove the ice from everyone else, including lubricating Zane’s frosted joins. She had not a single moment to lose. This kind of frostbite was not exactly lethal immediately, but losing limbs could mean the end of Lloyd’s ninja career. So calling everyone to attention, she went all in to salvaging Lloyd’s limbs, doing everything she could.

Later that night, Pixal spotted Zane wandering around the outskirts of the monastery whilst the Ninja finish up dinner. She watched as Zane’s hands gripped the staff so tight that the wood would be snapping in 3…2…1.

A harsh crack and splinters flying out later, Pixal could see the shaking in Zane’s hands as he cursed, something that the Zane she knew never would.

For her, it had been a hellish week. But for Zane? It must have been a hellish 40 years.

“…Zane?” Pixal called out from the monastery doors. Zane immediately whipped around before pointing the tip of the staff towards her, to which Pixal reflectively grabbed. Zane, eyes widening in shock and horror, immediately released his grip on the now shorter staff, before turning around, trying to run away. Pixal won’t let that happen.

“Zane,” Pixal said once again, hand now gripping onto the collar of Zane’s Gi. “Please don’t run away from me.”

Zane, froze, hands twitching before dropping them to his side. Pixal released her grip before tapping Zane on the shoulder, asking him to turn around.

“Pixal, I’m- I’m sorry…I just can’t- I can’t trust myself right now,” Zane vented out hands fidgeting with each other. Pixal smiled sadly. She knew that not everything could go back to normal so fast, but still, she had hoped that it would have been easier than this. “If you don’t trust yourself right now, why not spend some time with me?”

“Pixal- I…I could hurt you-“  “Yes you can, but don’t think that I can’t protect myself,” Pixal snapped back whilst carefully reaching to hold Zane’s hands. Once she made contact, Zane flinched back, before slowly reciprocating the action. “C’mon Zane, let’s go back into the monastery-“

“No!” Zane protested, wrenching Pixal back. Pixal clasped her other hand on top of Zane’s. “Not to the dining room. I’m thinking med bay.”

Pixal could see Zane’s processing unit cycle through his thoughts, noticing that it had considerable frost damage. Before long, Zane nodded his head, allowing Pixal to pull him into the light.

Opening the cupboards, Pixal took out a few rolls of bandages before carefully wrapping them around Zane’s hands. The ice ninja watched with curiosity as Pixal carefully finished tying and tightening the strips of cloth.

“Why are you doing this? You and I both know that Nindroids don’t need bandages,” Zane asked. Pixal smiled, looking at Zane’s now steadier hands. “Maybe bandages can’t fix our metal skin, but it still makes us feel better.”

Zane paused, looking down at his hands. “I don’t know how you’re right PIx, but they do make me feel more sure that my powers won’t hurt anyone accidentally. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now let’s get back to dinner, we have some desserts to bring out.”

Bandages. As much as PIxal uses them and finds them efficient, she can’t help but hope that team doesn’t need to use as many. But this time, t’s just a trip to a legendary city full of peace and prosperity. Maybe this time, Pixal doesn’t need to bandage their wounds away.

[shinobis-of-ninjago-au]

Shinobis of Ninjago

Pilot 2: Ruler of Shadows

Prologue Pilot 1 (Pilot 2-Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), Episode 1

Later in the week, the ninja had neared the final weapon: the Sai of Absorption. The temple they were sealed in was carved out of a dormant volcano deep inside a forest. Mystake had decided to stop about half an hour or so from the temple, wanting her team to be at their best when they retrieved the weapon.

That night, when they made camp, they relaxed. Seliel had brought a set of travel drums and was singing. Nya, Pixal, and Skylor were dancing around the fire, occasionally singing if they knew the words. Mystake had tucked herself away in the corner against a tree and was meditating.

Skylor bent down next to Seliel and whispered something to her. Seliel smiled and nodded. She began to play a different beat, one that was bouncy and folk-like. Skylor began to dance, twisting and turning. She pulled in Nya and Pixal and spun them around a few times. When she finished, the others applauded and began asking her questions.

"That was an Ignacian dance." Skylor explained. "Kids are taught that dance and we perform it at parties and the Harvest Festival. But that was nothing, you should see Jay and I dance together."

Everyone grew quiet, looking to one another. "Umm, who's Jay?" Nya asked.

"Jay, mi hermano. Have I never said his name before?" Her teammates shook their heads and she looked down, ashamed for overlooking such a simple detail.

"It's fine." Seliel shrugged. "As soon as we get the sai, we're going to save your brother. Obećanje." ('Promise.')

Skylor smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

They continued to dance the night away. Sooner or later they fell asleep, letting the fire die out as it was a warm night. They had taken hour shifts and it was Skylor's turn, perhaps around three o'clock in the morning. She sat up against a tree with a little bit of rope, tying it into knots and untying it.

She thought about what she would do when they rescued Jay. She would hug him tightly and probably not let go for the longest time. Skylor sighed, undoing the figure-eight knot she had just done.

"Skylor."

At the sound of her name she looked up. Spotting a shadow in the bushes she stood up. "Who's there?"

"Relájate, soy solo yo." ('Relax, it's only me.')

The konran's face drained of colour as Jay stepped out of the bushes. His clothes were clean, as well as his face and hair. His skin was pale and his eyes were grey, devoid of any colour. Skylor blamed it on the moonlight and stepped forward, too shocked to say anything.

"Tengo que ir." ('I have to go.') Jay whispered. He turned around and disappeared into the bushes. Without thinking, Skylor scrambled after him.

They chased each other through the forest, Jay's giggles echoing through the trees, but they were dull, unlike his usual ones that were filled with life and could get anyone laughing.

Skylor stopped, looking around, for she had lost track of Jay. She groaned, turning around and punching a tree in frustration. How could she have lost him! He was right there.

"¿Jay? ¿Jay, dónde estás?" ('Where are you?') She called, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Hearing a twig snap behind her, she turned seeing Jay with one arm extended. His face was relaxed, no worry visible in colourless eyes. A loose smile formed hollow words, echoey almost.

"¿Vienes, Skylor?" ('Are you coming Skylor?')

Skylor smiled, taking his hand. He led her through the trees, both laughing as they danced under the stars. She wasn't sure how long they were gone from the camp, but at this point, Skylor didn't care. Jay was back.

They stopped dancing, giggles dying down. "Sígueme." ('Follow me.') Jay said before taking off again. She followed him until they reached the dormant volcano where the sai were supposedly located. Skylor stopped, letting Jay enter the volcano as she stared at the temple.

It had been carved into the rock, golden pillars framing the entrance made of red doors. As she walked across the stone bridge, she peered over the side into the water. It was dark, black in the nighttime light.

One of the doors had been cracked open, most likely Jay's doing. Pushing open the door further, Skylor gasped in amazement.

The walls were stone and carved with golden drawings, only reflecting the light from the golden pair of sai that lay on a miniature version of the temple located in the centre.

"Jay?" Skylor's voice echoed through the empty temple. Turning back towards the sai, she found Jay standing in front of them. "Ahí tienes. Vamos vamos a casa." ('There you are. Come on, let's go home.')

Jay tilted his head. "¿Por qué? Me gusta aquí. La maestra ha sido tan agradable". ('Why? I like it here. Master has been so nice.')

"Maestra?" ('Master?') Skylor murmured. "¿Qué estás diciendo? ¿Qué has hecho con mi hermano?" ('What are you saying? What have you done with my brother?')

"No sé de qué estás hablando, hermana, estoy aquí..." ('I don't know what you're talking about, sister, I'm right here.') His voice morphed from hollow to that of a woman's, cold and calm, sending a shiver down Skylor's spine. His body faded, a shadow taking his place on the wall, red eyes shining off the stone.

"Misako." Skylor growled. She reached for her sai, only to realize that her scabbards were empty.

"Forgot something?" Misako asked, a smirk audible in her voice.

"You can't hurt me, you're banished, trapped in the Underworld." Skylor said, trying to hide her shaking hands.

"That is why you are going to remove the Sai of Absorption for me." Misako's shadow shrunk and moved to the side, gesturing to the sai.

Skylor scoffed, placing a hand on her hip. "Yeah, I don't think so. There's no way you can make me do anything."

"Are you sure?"

At the sounds of chains rattling, Skylor looked to the back of the temple. A figure dropped from the ceiling, hanging limply. Skylor's eyes widened in realization and horror before narrowing in anger.

Jay hung there, clothes torn, skin caked in dirt and mud, and hair matted. Cuts were visible on his arms and legs, clothes brown with dried blood in places and a deep gash on his face, running through his right eyebrow and down his cheek. When Skylor called out his name and he didn't respond, she knew he was unconscious, or worse.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Skylor shrieked, turning on the shadow.

"If you don't remove the sai, how else shall you save your precious little brother?" Misako teased, ignoring the screaming girl in front of her.

They chains dropped, bringing Jay closer to the back of the temple, where it dropped off into the old dormant magma chamber.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock." Misako's voice echoed through the large room, only adding to Skylor's anxiety.

Skylor closed her eyes, forcing back tears. She wasn't going to lose Jay, not again. Taking a deep breath, she mentally went through her plans. She should've woken the others, not run into this without thinking.

Knowing she would regret it, Skylor took off running. Grabbing the sai, she ran up the wall, getting momentum and using it to push off. Grabbing the chain, she stuck one of the sai through a link and broke it. Using one hand to hold onto Jay and the other to the rest of the chain, she started swinging. She knew she probably shouldn't be moving her brother, but having no other option, she let go of him, watching as he landed safely on the other side of the temple.

She swung off after him. Picking him up and tossing him over her shoulder, Skylor started for the doors. Misako's shadow appeared in front of her and she got into a fighting stance.

"You can't hurt me, you're only a maldita shadow." Skylor proclaimed.

Misako hummed and clicked her tongue. "Little girl, you must learn that everything has its uses. Though I must thank you, your brother was very helpful."

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Him."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I would be more concerned for your own well-being."

Skylor's shadow began to peel off the wall, becoming three-dimensional. Laying Jay on the ground, Skylor pulled out the golden sai. Twirling them in her hands, she lunged forward, only to go right through the shadow. Turning around, she roundhouse kicked it, the move unsuccessful.

Her shadow reached out, grabbing her shoulder. Bringing Skylor close, the shadow brought up its knee into her chest repeatedly. The shadow dropped Skylor to the ground where she doubled over, coughing.

"Am I being too hard?" Misako questioned.

"Not at all." Skylor replied, getting to her feet. She swayed side to side, her vision being filled with spots, but she stayed standing.

Skylor continued to throw punches and kicks at the shadow, including swings with the sai. The shadow in return, threw its own, landing multiple hits. The shadow threw one final punch, sending Skylor spinning back to where Jay was laying.

A bright light appeared on the wall next to the shadow. The konran looked over, seeing a figure standing next to a flashlight. They moved their hands in front of the beam of light, fingers appearing on the wall.

Forming a finger person, the shadow puppet kicked the shadow, sending it skidding back a few feet. The shadow shook its head and ran forward, prepared to attack. The shadow puppet sent another kick, Skylor's shadow flying across the temple before shattering into dust against the wall.

The figure turned off the flashlight, shoving it into a satchel strung over her shoulder, and running over to where Skylor was. She helped the girl to her feet, making sure she could stand before picking up Jay over her shoulder.

"Mystake?" Skylor croaked.

"Yes." She answered. "Come, let's get you and your brother out of here."

"Sister." Misako greeted, voice as calm as ever. "I see you protect one, but what of the other three?"

"They are safe." Mystake replied. "Far from your grasp, Misako."

"I would not be so confident..."

Ignoring her older sister, Mystake turned to Skylor. "My sister must not unite the four weapons. We must keep them apart." She led them past the miniature temple and towards the doors.

"Awaken guardian of the deep!" Misako cried, putting on a facade. "They're stealing the sai! You must not let them escape!"

There was a low rumbling from the back of the temple, deep within the magma chamber. Skylor froze, looking over her shoulder. A dark figure shot out of the hole and soared over top of their heads, landing in front of them, shaking the ground.

Skylor reached over to Mystake, pulling the flashlight out of her satchel and turning it on. The beam fell upon a spiked tail, then a scaled body that moved with every breath of hot air. Wings were stretched out as Skylor moved the beam to the creature's face. Yellow eyes stared down at them, the flashlight reflecting off tips of fanged teeth.

The dragon let out a roar, so loud that Skylor surprised Jay didn't wake up.

"There's no way out. Misako's taken away all our options." Skylor said, voice shaking as the dragon's tail thumped against the ground, sending a shockwave through the temple.

"All but one."

Before Skylor could ask what Mystake meant, Jay was shoved into her arms and the sai in her hands were gone. Turning around, she spotted Mystake standing by the edge of the drop.

Skylor let out a nervous chuckle. "Mystake, what are you doing?"

"If Misako is to bring the weapons here, then I will take the Sai of Absorption to the Underworld. It is my sacrifice to make." Mystake said, pulling out a cloth from her bag and wrapping the sai.

"No, it's mine, I shouldn't have come on my own. There's got to be another way." Skylor pleaded.

Mystake replied by smiling and falling backwards, disappearing into the magma chamber.

"I will see you there, sister." Misako's shadow disappeared, glowing red eyes gone from the wall.

Skylor fell to her knees, flashlight dropping to the ground and turning off. She pulled Jay close, sobbing into his chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I messed up. I messed up bad. I shouldn't have come alone. You're hurt, Mystake's gone, I don't know where my team is. I failed." Skylor took a deep, shuddering breath, listening to Jay's faint heartbeat. "I'll be a better sister. Please, I just want you to be okay. I'm sorry."

She curled into a tighter ball, Jay still in her arms and the dragon's hot breath against her neck.

————————————————

Seliel rolled over, for something felt off, though she wasn't sure what. She opened her eyes, squinting in the light. Light? It couldn't have been dawn yet, Skylor should've woken her up a long time ago. Though Seliel knew that the redhead was eager to retrieve the sai and save her brother and would most likely have stayed awake the entire night, they all had enough honour to respect Mystake's orders. Sitting up, she realized her teammates were nowhere to be seen, as was her Sensei.

What she did see was skeletons. Maybe one and a half dozen surrounding their camp. Not taking her eyes off the one in front of her, Seliel reached for her staff, but only getting a fistful of dirt.

The one in front of her, one of the top generals if she remembered correctly, held up her staff, waving it teasingly. Seliel made a move to stand up, but before she could, two skeletons grabbed her arms and began dragging her backwards. Two more were waiting for her, Pixal and Nya in their arms.

A gag was shoved into Seliel's mouth and a cloth tied around her head, keeping it in place. The three ninja were thrown against a tree, rope being pulled tightly around their torsos, binding them to the trunk.

Her eyes drifted over to where Samukai was bent over the golden weapons, examining them. Seeing that they were the real things, she picked them up.

She turned towards the ninja, looking down at them. "I believe these belong to Lady Misako now." She turned back to her troops. "To the Amber Temple!" She ordered. The army cheered, beginning to climb aboard their vehicles. Samukai walked over to hers, but was stopped by a shadow appearing in the tire. Realizing the darker shade and red glowing eyes, Samukai bowed. "Mistress." She greeted.

"My sister has taken the sai to the Underworld. Return immediately and bring the weapons to my hand."

The shadow disappeared, leaving Samukai confused, but she followed her master's orders nonetheless. "To the Underworld!" Samukai shouted, changing plans. "The Dark Lady wants us to return home."

The army cheered once more, climbing into their vehicles: trucks and motorcycles alike. The party sped off, leaving the ninja sneezing in the dust.

Seliel exhaled, something resembling a sigh. Nya began to shift beside her and she peered around the trunk, seeing a glimpse of steel. Nya moved her leg to the side, revealing a sword hidden underneath. She used her leg to slide it up to her hand. Gripping the hilt, Nya used the sword to cut through the ropes. It was slow going, but eventually the ropes snapped.

The shinobis removed the gags from their mouths, breathing deeply.

Seliel ran over, squeezing Nya tightly. "Nya you lijepi genij! ('beautiful genius!')

Nya smiled and flipped her hair playfully. She knew that from Seliel's tone it was a compliment. "I try."

Pixal patted Nya on the back. "Well I must say that was an excellent performance, we might need to save the compliments for later. There are more pressing matters at hand."

Nya and Seliel nodded, following Pixal to where the skeletons had dumped their weapons and bags. Donning all the knives and shurikens they had taken off before going to sleep, they grabbed their main weapons from the pile. Taking to the trees, they set off after the skeletons.

"Hey," Nya said. "Did ya'll see Sensei or Skylor?" Her teammates shook their heads. "Should we go back an' look for them?"

"I think they'll be okay." Seliel assured. "The weapons are our main priority." They stayed quiet as they ran through the trees until Nya started chuckling. "What?"

"Nothing, just... they took the Golden Weapons but left our regular ones lying around. Sometimes I forget how stupid they can be."

Seliel joined in the giggling. "Well, they're skeletons. They don't really have brains."

After a few minutes they reached the main road that led through the forest. Hearing the revving of engines down the road, they followed the noise. Minutes later, the red glow of taillights filtered through the trees, and the three kunoichis picked up their pace.

When the vehicles came into full view, the ninja slowed to match the pace of the vehicles. They could hear Samukai shouting at the drivers to go faster. The motorbikes leading the party disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the bigger vehicles to race through the forest without an escort.

The kishu signaled her team to advance, and the three jumped down. They landed on the largest vehicle—something resembling a monster truck—the one that happened to be housing the Golden Weapons as well as Samukai.

Seliel and Pixal waved at Samukai teasingly, keeping the attention away from Nya. The scout scooted her way along the side of the monster truck, careful not to fall off. The Golden Weapons were stored in a locked cage at the back of the truck, two guards keeping watch.

Grabbing the sash of one of the guards, Nya threw them over the side. Side-kicking the other, she turned to the cage. Reeling her fist back, she punched the lock. "Okay, that's why they make keys." She hissed, waving her hand to ease the pain.

Knowing she would need a lock picking kit and that she left hers at camp, Nya crawled on top of the cage to get one of her teammates' attention. She was met with the end of a staff in the face.

At the sound of something hitting metal, Seliel turned around, taking note of her teammate lying on top of the cage. Taking down one more skeleton with her bo-staff, she knelt down, placing a hand on Nya's back. "Nya! Sorry I didn't see you." Nya sat up and removed the lower part of her mask, her cheek and angry red. Seliel winced. "We'll get that checked out soon."

The truck jolted forward, seemingly going at twice the speed it was before, impossible by human standards. Not used to the speed, the ninja soon lost their grip on the truck, tumbling onto the dirt road. The last of the army disappeared with a flash of light, leaving the three kunoichis coughing in the dust. Nya began to say something, but was hushed by Seliel.

"Save your breath, you don't need to say it. Znam. ('I know.') We've lost."

[ultra-creepy-fucker-things]

In Loving Memory(Reupload)

Zane is dead, Jay doesn't seem to care, and Cole doesn't know what to do

Before he fully realized what was happening, it was over.

Crawling out from the sewers, he turned, scanning the frozen city.

There was no sign of the overlord. Whatever Zane had done, it'd worked.

Zane...

Cole turned, running to the place he'd last seen the android, and his foot hit against something which skidded across the ice, on instinct, he looked over at what he'd kicked.

It was... it was Zane's face, the side that had been sliced away so long ago, and never truly been the same since, falling away to reveal his mechanical nature when subject to stress.

As it had been just now.

Numbly, his body working on autopilot, Cole picked up the faceplate, it's one empty eye staring up to him, devoid of the warmth and love that once lay behind those empty eyes.

Looking back up, he began to notice the fake skin and scattered metal, twisted far beyond repair.

Even if they could find his hard-drive, Cole knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it'd be destroyed.

Zane was dead.

Dimly, he was aware of them.

His surviving friends gathered around him, in the same state of shock as he was. He could see Pixal out of the corner of his eye, her expression lost, Zane had been the first person she'd met who could truly understand her, and only a couple weeks later, she'd lost him. He understood that feeling.

Nya came up behind him, and he could hear her gasping, she pulled him into a hug, sobbing into his shoulder.

As the reality of his situation set in, Cole returned the hug.

He leaned on her, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

Zane was dead, and nothing would be okay ever again.

_________________________________

Cole couldn't sleep that night.

Instead, he snuck out, slipping to where the bounty was docked.

He didn't bother with stealth once he was on board, this ship's old boards creaked no matter how softly you stepped, and he was alone here anyways.

He walked through the darkened ship, making his way to the sleeping quarters, flicking the lights on as he entered the room, all of Zane's belongings, the little he had, where still there. They'd deal with it later, when it wasn't so fresh in their minds.

There where so many memories here, in the pictures hung on the wall, celebrating victories and failures and the mundanities of simply being alive , in the little chips and scratches left by a group of rowdy teenagers with a thirst for battle, embedded in the very floorboards, worn smooth by both the current occupants and the pirates who'd lived there hundreds of years prior.

Cole sat on Zane's bunk and reached into his pocket, pulling out a photograph, one he'd carefully kept hidden.

It was of him and Zane, holding each other close.

This alone wouldn't have been suspect, the ninja where not shy about physical affection, constant training and close quarters had quickly driven out any lingering aversion to touch.

In the photo, Zane's lips where pressed to his, a fond smile visible on both their faces.

Cole stared at it, blinking away tears, his fingers tracing gently across the face of his fallen lover.

He'd been so warm.

His tears began to flow freely, the picture fluttering to the ground as his hands went to cover his face.

The sound of a door slamming nearby shocked him out of his little pity party, as their footsteps approached, he scrambled to grab the photo, shoving it back in his pocket just as Jay burst into the room, "Cole, we need to talk"

Cole turned to glare at him, his face still damp, "what the hell do you want, Jay"

"I want to know what-what THAT was all about" Jay gestured vaguely, his voice heavy with anger and panic

"What are you talking about?" Cole asked, genuinely confused

"That THING you did, ya'know, when you HUGGED Nya?"

Cole stood, looking Jay in the eye

"Holy- your still talking about this? You're seriously. Still. Talking about this? It was just a freaking HUG, Jay, we'd just seen Zane- YOU'D just seen him- And this is what you're worried about? Some stupid, one-sided rivalry? I never even returned her feelings, Jay, it was all her, and with how your acting now, frankly, I don't blame her for wanting to leave you"

Jay snarled, "Never returned her feelings? NEVER RETURNED HER FEELINGS?!?!!!? WHY THE HELL DID YOU FLIRT BACK THEN?!?!"

Cole ground his teeth "I wasn't flirting" he began to pace, like a caged lion "I TRIED to let her down easy, I didn't WANT to go out with her, I had a BOYFRIEND, fsm, but apparently NEITHER of you knew how to TAKE A FUCKING HINT"

"WELL, MAYBE-YOU-" Jay's mind caught up with what Cole had said, and his speech began to falter as his brain desperately shifted gears, "wait-" his brow furrowed "your... your gay?"

Cole nodded firmly, standing tall, his fists clutched, as though daring Jay to take issue with this revelation.

Jay fell silent, his anger fading, as he thought through his next words, something about what Cole said struck him, "had a boyfriend?"

Cole's shoulder's slumped, the fire draining out of him, he sat back down, hands in his lap, confirming Jay's suspicions.

"fsm, Cole, I'm so sorry, i-if I'd had known-"

"Save it" Cole's voice was quiet, cold, "it doesn't matter what my relationship with him was, or how I feel about Nya, today someone died, someone who mattered a lot, too all of us, this isn't the time for some petty relationship drama"

Jay looked away, ashamed, "I'm sorry-"

"Get out." Cole said, his voice dangerously low, "I don't want to see you"

Jay glanced up at him one last time, and then walked out, closing the door behind him as he left Cole alone with his thoughts.

[that-was-anticlimactic]

gimme cole headcanon

Cole Headcanons Part Two!

Part one right here: https://that-was-anticlimactic.tumblr.com/post/182618003899/have-you-any-headcanons-about-cole-the-fandom

(Sorry this is long, I tried doing the read more on my phone but it didn’t work I’m screeching ahh!!)

Let’s start with some depressing then end in happy!

Sad:

During the beginning of Sons of Garmadon when Lloyd didn’t know Harumi was evil and they were being all flirty, Cole was the only single one on the ship (Zane still had Pixal even though she wasn’t there. That wording is weird but makes sense in my head) and eventually it got to the point of just craving validation and affection and being heard and seen since he was always the wheel and sometimes no one paid him any attention because of significant others, that he went out in search for something to make him feel valuable and long story short he met a random guy at Laffy’s (before he knew it was an SoG place) and they ended up making out in the back and it was really bad because the guy was going far too fast for Cole and wanted more and it scared Cole and he didn’t know how to say slow down and every time he tried he was ignored. He barely got out before it got... too intense.

He still hasn’t told anyone about it yet. All he wanted was for someone to notice him, to treat him like he wasn’t a third wheel... he didn’t want that.

Unbeknownst to him it was an SoG member who knew he was a ninja and was trying to make him feel pain

After the events of Day of the Departed, Cole had a few moments where he was mad at the team for forgetting him, even though he knew it wasn’t their fault

At one really low point he reasoned that if it were any other ninja (specifically Lloyd), everyone would have noticed immediately. He felt really bad about that thought for awhile.

You’re invisible when you’re sad

Fading away at random times TO THIS DAY is the scariest thing that’s ever happened to him. It happened at the most random times and he would suddenly lose control and even thought sometimes and the others would sometimes just find him staring into space

There was a good portion of time when he was a ghost when the public hates him. All of the ninja get hate a lot because... the world can be dumb... but when Cole was a ghost, people freaked out. It took a long time for them to realize / accept that he wasn’t becoming evil or anything.

Cole had some bad encounters with some citizens who didn’t trust him. The team got real pissed real fast about them. Cole definitely didn’t leave The Bounty for a while and thought everyone hated him. He had some good talks with Lloyd and Zane about dealing with it because they know best.

Ninjago being like Cole never had any run ins with water as a ghost what ??? Oh no no he definitely had some instances with water that scared him to no end

This boy just. He craves affection so badly sometimes. Like not like he’s desperate for a significant other but. FSM, this boy just needs affection sometimes because he never gets it.

HE IS TOUCHED STARVED

Okay okay. About cake. Cole likes cake. And he likes food, he stress eats. BUT! Ever since that one day when he made a big deal out of cake (which he hadn’t eaten in a decent amount of time), his teammates made some jokes about it, as friends do. Eventually, the public kind of realized this and all of a sudden he wasn’t “the earth ninja” or “the black ninja” or even “the strong ninja” no no, he was “the ninja who liked food”. That’s how the public saw him now, and if that’s what he is, then he has to be that, he thought.

So he felt like he had to eat all the time and so he did. There were some moments when he essentially ate himself sick. At one point, he actually hated cake because of how much he ate it and how often it was out in front of him and he felt like he needed to eat it.

The thought that he had to be the one who ate all of the time and had to be that one guy who was obsessed with food led him to bulimia as well

No one on the team knows about this except for Zane who caught him puking one time and flipped out. That’s the reason he did the whole “my body is a temple” thing in season eight because Zane said if he didn’t stop doing this to himself because he felt like “he had to” then he would tell everyone right then and there.

Don’t get me wrong, Cole always stress ate a little bit and enjoyed cake because he never really was allowed it too much as a kid, but he got pushed too far (unbeknownst to himself and his teammates) and it just ended really bad.

He is very self-conscious about his weight

I know it’s essentially canon that his mom died, but Cole’s parents got divorced. It was very bad and very brutal. His mom left in front of him and didn’t spare him a second glance. Besides... he said that “he just lost someone.'' He never said someone died.

Whether his mom actually died after the divorce or it was the divorce itself, the song “Dead Mom” from Beetlejuice (Musical) became super important to him and he sang it a lot.

He still sang it once he became a ninja. The team could hear him singing or humming it some nights or during training or when he was down.

They never really understood why he was so attached to that song since they didn’t know about his family situation for awhile but they rolled with it and honestly, everyone but Jay could relate in some way

Still has nightmares about his fall (which he does NOT blame Nya for). Like. He doesn’t know how or why he survived. Sometimes he’s scared that the team literally just flew away without him because they didn’t care not because they literally had to because in his nightmares they didn’t care. Needless to say, once the Oni were defeated Cole did get a lot of love because his nightmares weren’t a secret. Being touched by the Oni like he did in his first fall and being in the Oni for twenty four hours+ definitely does that to you.

Now not only does he have a slight fear of water, but he also has a slight fear of the dark.

Kai and Lloyd went out one day after a particularly rough night and they bought a nightlight for him and he literally cried happy tears when they gave it to him because he was so ashamed but they were so supportive

When Kai, Jay, and Zane got captured in Hunted, they saw the Ultra Dragon’s bones... Cole never saw that. They didn’t even think to tell him until after they got back into Ninjago and Cole was talking about how much he missed just dragons and general and he wondered where Rocky / Ultra Dragon was

When he found out he got up and silently walked away. He found a tree that hasn’t been smashed in the destruction of the city and stayed in there. The others found him asleep in the refuge of the tree there later that night. Kai, Jay, and Zane felt terrible.

He doesn’t really like Valentine’s Day because he’s always alone on that holiday. Like all of his friends leave him, and he knows they’re not leaving him, they’re just going on dates… he’s happy that Lloyd is with him every time… except the one Valentine’s Day with Harumi. He’s usually content it’s just that he always feels isolated on Valentine’s Day.

Happy:

Cole relates to Rapunzel a lot. Also she’s his favorite Disney Princess don’t @ me

Sometimes the team will be like “Cole! Let down your hair!” because Cole’s got the longest hair and they know how much he loves that girl

“When Will My Life Begin?” is one of Cole’s all time favorite songs. Ever. He relates. Also it’s pretty. One time he woke up at 7 a.m. just to sing that song. The team was not pleased as it was their day off.

One time as a surprise since Cole was feeling a little down, Kai invited him to go on a boat ride and started playing the music to “I See The Light” and Cole sang as Punzie and Kai sang as Flynn (because Cole tells him they are very much so alike and Cole knows that fire boy can sing he just... doesn’t like singing too much)

Oh and he’s definitely had a small fictional crush on Flynn Rider

Kai and Zane once said that they’ve never seen a Disney movie and Cole died and every Thursday night became Disney movie night

They obviously started with Tangled

But also since he has long hair, this boy sheds a lot. It’s almost as if they had a dog with how much he sheds.

He also definitely wishes they had a dog. Like. A corgi. He wants a corgi.

If I’m being real, the team definitely helped his gay awakening. He knew he was gay before them, but he didn’t come to terms with it until the team

As in he’s had a mini crush on Kai, Jay, and Zane each at one point guys let’s be real

On a happy cake / food note, his favorite kind of cake is marble cake.

He also can and will eat an entire jar of crunchy peanut butter as his only meal for a day

Cole expresses extreme anger and extreme excitement through other languages (as he’s fluent in multiple)

Sometimes if Cole’s slightly frustrated at the team but not like really genuinely mad but he knows his buttons are about to get pushed too much, he starts aggressively signing at them in Ninjago Sign Language but like... since he’s the only fluent one and he’s not really angry, he just signs things like “I like you shoes!” or “if I continue at this rate the only thing I’ll ever date is my MacBook Pro hard-drive!” with an angry look on his face.

Their expressions amuse him.

Jay: *says something he knows will slightly tick Cole off*

Cole: *angrily signs* I want to live on the moon!

Jay: oh frick ! I’m sorry I’m sorry please don’t be mad at me I love you!

Cole likes reading poetry!

Jay actually writes poetry a lot, and he’ll try it out on Cole all the time!

Cole’s best dance is hip-hop... which wasn’t really taught at Marty Oppenheimer’s, but he learned it while he was on his own and it’s his absolute favorite!

Although, he does enjoy tap and ballet occasionally!

You’d think since Cole has big eyebrows he’d be really good at using them (eyebrow raising, wiggling, etc...) but no... no this boy is an awkward mess sometimes. He doesn’t know how to eyebrow. Kai tries teaching him, but it doesn’t work very well…

Cole’s that kind of guy who always finds random bruises on him, but like... bruises that definitely aren’t from training. He just always somehow has bruises from nothing

He’s not ?? super freaking tall ?? I’m sorry I just can’t picture Cole over 5’8 ?? Hot take ?? Unpopular opinion ??

I know a lot of people think he’s super super super tall but... I can’t can’t wrap my head around that, he’s never been a giant to me, or even the tallest person on the team ? I’m sure like no one agrees with that one, but in my head that boyo is... well not short but not y’all either. Like Zane and Kai are definitely taller than him idk about Lloyd and Jay yet though.

Since he grew up dancing and such, he didn’t have much time for tv. So you best bet that when it his turn with kid!Lloyd they watch young children television shows and Cole freaking loves them! He thinks they’re so cute and so funny.

He definitely snort laughs while watching them

Lloyd is so confused because Cole will just start wheezing at something that wasn’t even funny or start tearing up at a moment that wasn’t even that sad but he just goes with it because tv

His favorites are The Backyardigans and Arthur.

No but he watched all of the Disney movies at Marty Oppenheimer’s because they did a dance based on the movie and he was intrigued so he watched the rest of them. That’s how he watched all of them

He’s not the best at video games... like at all. He still plays, and he still tries, but he rarely ever wins

He’s that guy who sticks his tongue out while he writes / thinks / when he concentrates

Cole and Lloyd are really good friends. Like basically best friends.

These boys have been alone on the Bounty together so often that they formed a really solid relationship and they can be very open to each other

Cole’s hair was the longest during Tournament of Elements because after Zane’s death he just stopped caring and he was in the woods but like... then he lost in the tournament and we gotta assume he was in the noodle factory for around a month? Three weeks? Idk how long but when his friends saw him again they made him cut his hair a bit because it was considerably longer

Cole is that person who doesn’t tell people things but then forgets they don’t know it. Partially because he’s a super closed off person but also because he’s just an oblivious sweetie who forgets

Cole: so who’s all interested in seeing Les Miz with me again?

Lloyd: wait what

Kai: when are you seeing Les Miz?

Zane: ... you never once spoke to us about this

Cole: ... oh well my dad knows someone who works on the tour production team and they’ll be in Jamanakai village this week and he’s getting me and anyone else who wants to see it tickets as a late but soon birthday present. Woo, guess I forgot to mention it, huh? *chuckles casually*

Everyone: …

Jay: yOUR BIRTHDAY?? WHEN WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY?

Oh and no one knows Cole birthday by the way. It’s a big secret. They’ve tried many times to uncover it but they can never get it out of him

They thought the Les Miz tickets were a clue but they didn’t help because Cole told everyone different things and Lou does the same so they may never know

Jay: so uh, as you’re resident best friend, you should tell me your birthday

Cole: sure it’s in the middle of December

Jay: aH I GOT IT… ISH!!

Jay: *later to everyone else* guys! I found out what month Cole’s birthday is! December!

Kai: … he told me he was born in June?

Lloyd: he told me September?

Zane: *sighing* February

Nya: he told me May

Jay: … DARN IT COLE

Cole enjoys messing with them. He actually told Lloyd when his birthday was after a few years. Only Lloyd knows. When fun fact his birthday actually is—

Oh speaking of musicals (since he’s a theater boy), Jay and Cole sing Two-Player Game together constantly.

and The Bro Duet because those are their songs

Kai: *walks out wearing yellow*

Cole: yOU CAN’T TRUST A MAN DRESSED IN YELLOW EVEN IF YOU LOVE CHEDDAR CHEESE

Kai: *face palms*

Oh did I mention he bursts into song a lot?

Sensei Wu: Cole, it’s your turn to do laundry

Cole: Laundry day. see you there. under things. tumbling. wanna say. love your hair. here I go. mumbling-

Sensei Wu: every time.

He has a tree loving song that he sings while climbing too

Cole: *climbing a tree* AT THE TOP AT THE TOP AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD MY HEAD AND HEART ARE POUNDING~

Oh and it’s contagious…

Cole: *makes a “funny” joke*

Cole: click boom then it happened.

Lloyd: and no one else was in the room where it happened

As in he’s converted Lloyd to a theater kid.

He once “made” Nya and Lloyd sing “Lost” from the Lightning Thief with him. He was Grover, Nya was Annabeth, and Lloyd was Percy. They surprisingly liked it more than they thought they would.

Grover is one of Cole’s dreamroles. He feels like Grover is super relatable and loves his songs! Grover is also his favorite character in the books

I think I mentioned in my original Cole headcanons post that Cole is the BIGGEST Percy Jackson fan. He introduced the team to Percy Jackson, he has the Camp Half-Blood AND Camp Jupiter shirts... he loves this series

He also has a character from Percy Jackson that he associates his team with (ex. Jay as Leo and Lloyd as Jason)

For the first year or so of being on the team, they all thought Cole was worst singer on the team because he was so scared of using his real voice so he sang badly on purpose when he was around people

It wasn’t until Cole was singing in the shower when he was home alone and the team came back while he was still showering did they realize he hAS THE PRETTIEST SMOOTHEST VOICE EVER

he’s grown to being more comfortable with his voice and he sings a lot more now!

Cole kind of listens to all music! He doesn’t specifically prefer one over the other, he just finds making references easiest with theater! He really likes all kind of music!

Jay: why do you have a diary?

Cole: to keep secrets from my computer

Okay about trees again... COLE LOVES TREES

Cole: trees are better than people~

One time while they were traveling they saw a tree that was like super bent and Cole made them all stop so he could climb it. They all sat down and took a rest / water break while he climbed, and after about five minutes he was hanging upside down from the very top and scared the team…

Zane: Cole, perhaps it is wise if you get down from there?

Cole: nah I’m fine up here!

Lloyd: a-are you sure?

Cole: yes! I know what I’m doi- woah- WOAH!

Cole: *pretends to fall*

Jay: COLE!!

Cole: *swings himself back up* hahaha! You guys gotta trust me!

Kai: tHAT... that was not funny. I hate you.

He is always wearing some kind of orange on him, whether it’s a hair tie or bracelet or anklet... he always wears orange since he’s the only ninja who didn’t necessarily get their favorite color as their signature color and he just loves it so much

He and Kai definitely eat onions like apples together... just saying.

One time the team was playing badminton and Cole hit the birdie so hard they never found it ever again.

Not gonna lie, he was VERY proud of himself for that

But uh, his super strength is the reason why whenever they play sports, everyone gets to play before him. He’s learned to just go with it because he has thrown many things they’ve never found again.

Kai: *hits a ball*

Cole: weak

Kai: bruh

Walks barefoot CONSTANTLY. He’ll walk barefoot in the woods, in the city... there are times when he’s almost gone to battle barefoot and one time early on he definitely did

Zane: Cole... where in the world are your shoes?

Cole: *looks down* huh. I guess I left my shoes on the ship. I’ll get some good calluses after this fight!

He really really REALLY hates when people make certain self-degrading jokes.

If anyone makes a joke about killing themselves (someone from the team or even someone at the same restaurant or walking on the same street) Cole will tell them off. He will tell them how loved they are and that they shouldn’t be so negative towards themselves. He hates those jokes. Not that anyone on the team did it often, but after one time of doing it Cole freaked.

Like he loves his friends so much and sees their worth and when they make jokes about hating themselves he just feels so helpless and he just wants to hug them and make them realize how important they are to him

He also refuses to make those jokes. Like he’s gone through a lot too, but he feels like joking about it makes it worse and he just… he let it go for awhile but now he’ll go off if you do it

Lloyd: ugh I hate myself

Cole: nOPE NOPE NOPE I DO NOT ACCEPT THIS LLOYD LOOK AT ME YOU ARE WONDERFUL AND AMAZING AND VERY GOOD OKAY AND I LOVE AND APPRECIATE YOU NEVER FORGET THAT *embraces him in a hug*

Lloyd: ... yes Cole, you’re right, I’m sorry. I am very good. Thank you.

but also if anyone ever insults a team member or mentions something Cole will go full mom mode and will “smother” them with love. He’ll let Kai or Nya go after whoever insulted, Cole prefers to be the comforter. And he’s super good at it.

No he’s so good at comforting people it’s great. He’d rather be the comforter than the comforted because he’s always embarrassed when he needs comfort and he knows he’s pretty good at comforting people! It makes him happy to make his friends smile!

Cole wears glasses when he’s not training or in battle !!! (he uses contacts then)

They’re not like the bigger glasses, he has smaller glasses, it’s cute

After he becomes human again, he went through a period of time when he disliked being touched because it was so weird to him after a few years of feeling literally nothing, and the team hated it but respected it, but after a month ish, he finally realized how touch starved he was and he clung to everyone and everyone gladly let him

So uh he’s a big cuddler and can and will just plop down next to anyone and put his head on their shoulder with no context and they will embrace it

Also he loves when people run their fingers through his hair. Like it relaxes him and makes him feel so safe and comfortable?? He appreciates it a lot and if he looks stressed, the team will do that!

Doesn’t like texting or phones and had a flip phone for forever until the team made him buy a regular like apple phone

Communicates through a bunch of emojis. Like just emojis. He doesn’t text much, but when he does, emojis. He’ll just randomly send someone a bunch of emojis and they’ll just ?? Cole sweetie what are you trying to say ??

Cole will occasionally text the team goodnight while they’re in the same room. He usually does it if he’s either in a super good mood or if he seems someone is kind of in a sad mood. They all LOVE it

Cole and Nya like working out together! They’re both super into workouts and cardio and they work well together

Cole likes to look at nothing like he’s looking at a camera like Jim from The Office when someone does dumb things

Jay: look at all those chickens !

Cole: *Jim look*

Cole, Lloyd, and Nya are like a dream team. When they play games they like playing on the same team against Kai, Jay, and Zane. Even if they don’t win, those three work insanely well together like it’s crazy

Cole! And! Zane! Have! Late! Night! Talks!

Even after Cole became human again, they still have late night talks because sleeping is hard~

Jay: buddies !

Cole: bros !

Jay: homies !

Cole: amigos !

Jay: pizza !

Cole: nintendo !

Both: woo, woo, woo, let’s go !

Aka they’re just the best of friends and love and appreciate each other so much !

They’re actually learning Dutch together, as Cole likes learning languages and Jay is interested in learning some more!

Cole gets angrily easily too (as most of the team does), but when he gets angry he starts off quiet and doesn’t really talk to anyone, and if someone does or says something to someone else that ticks him off, he just gets up and kind of angrily screams as he walks away.

He’s a sulker if we’re being real here. He’s sulks.

Cole can give the meanest looks accidentally. He has a good glare. If you tick him off, you know. It’s not as impressive as Kai’s glare, but it’s still insanely impressive.

Did I mention he punches things a lot when he’s angry? Definitely punched the wheel of The Bounty once and broke it

He did the walk of shame after that and had to help Jay fix it

Hates hats, like he’d rather let his hair flow. His head feels confined when he’s wearing hats

Much like with orange, he really likes wearing pink?

One time he and Jay went shopping together and he just bought an outfit entirely in pink. Pink shirt, pink shorts, pink socks, even a pink scrunchie like he loves pink

Oh and he and Jay have a day once a month together where they just go out and have fun! They do things like shopping or getting lunch or watching a movie… sometimes they just sit at The Bounty and draw or make anklets, one time they spent a weekend at the junkyard!

He’s the kind of guy who will wear earbuds or headphones without music to be left alone

Cole loves oversized hoodies !!

Also every since March of the Oni, he’s been really really really cold so he wears hoodies and sweat pants more often and he started carrying a blanket or jacket around with him because of it.

Kai notices this and if he sees Cole getting too cold or starting to panic a little, he just wraps an arm around his shoulders or gives him a hug or something because Kai radiates h e a t

Random but he can rap really well.

Doesn’t mind getting dirty, like he’s the master of Earth, he is one with the dirt! He doesn’t just go out and roll in the mud but he’s fine just getting dirty when he’s outside!

Kai: *kicks a soccer ball into the goal*

Cole: touchdown !!

Kai: … that-that was a goal. You should know this

Cole: … I went to dance school… I don’t know sports…

Kai: that is… very true fair point

Will get up in the middle of the night to make popcorn because comfort food and he loves it

Zane woke up the first time he did it because he burnt it and Zane could smell it, so now he and Zane make popcorn together a lot. He actually introduced Zane to popcorn. He’s very proud of himself for that.

He has the best posture.

Sits up very straight since, you know, dance school. It kind of just stuck with him and he doesn’t slouch. He doesn’t mind, he’s always super sore because of his powers and abilities and so he’s fine with not having slouching add to that

oH and he and Jay give each other massages because Cole’s powers make him sore and Jay’s Tourette’s make him sore

He just… he loves his friends so much. I feel like I’ve said this many times, but just… he appreciates his friends more than they’ll ever know. He just loves them so so so so much. They mean the world to him.

I hope you guys enjoyed! We’re there any you strongly agreed with? Disagreed with? Sorry I answered this so late:/ I’ve been gone for awhile! Hope you all have a great day 😁

[evesbeve]

Identity Crisis with Pixal Borg (#NinjagoPrideWeek2019 - Day One - Questioning)

Day One of Ninjago Pride Week is finally here! I honestly didn’t expect to like this as much as I did, but I think it’s one of my faves for this challenge. Hope you enjoy!

___

Summary: Talking about your identity to a friend? Sure. Pixal never really understood genders anyway.

(Read this on AO3 + FFN)

___

Pixal rarely had time for herself anymore.

Weirdly enough, she didn't mind.

She never knew what to do when she wasn't occupied with missions or processing data for Mr. Borg. She didn't know what she liked, she didn't know how to have fun independently. She always counted on Zane and the others for that. Tagging along their plans.

Pixal hated not having stuff to do. It didn't matter what, but she always needed something to work on, to keep her head going, because if she wasn't focused on calculations, her thoughts would run elsewhere, questioning everything, questioning her feelings, herself-

She hated her thoughts.

They were the one thing she didn't want to uncover, the one thing that terrified her.

What was she?

What was she really, beyond her metallic skin, her silver hair, her artificial voice, beyond her code? What made her the girl everyone thought she was? Pixal didn't like to think about it. She really didn't know if she was what everyone else thought.

At first, she figured it was because she was an android, and feelings were new to her, but the more she processed it the more she realised there was something else going on. Something wrong.

Usually when she was with the others, she managed to suppress these thoughts. One thing Pixal was certain of, after all, was that she truly enjoyed herself when she was with her friends.

But not today.

They were at the Bounty, and Nya was practicing some new hairstyles on her. Pixal found it amusing how Kai was the one that had taught her how to do her hair. Nya was getting better and better, but her braids were no match to her brother's.

Pixal wasn't able to focus on Nya's rambling. The more she looked at the mirror in front of her, the more she thought about herself, and these thoughts started taking over her again, and she just wanted them to stop-

"I don't feel like a girl."

Pixal didn't have many regrets, but that blurt of words was definitely one of them.

"Really?" Nya asked, sighing as she put the brush down. "Want me to move the braid towards the front? Maybe then it'll be more visible."

Nya started undoing the silver braid at the side of Pixal's head. The way her fingers ran through her hair was comforting. Encouraging, even. Pixal sighed, taking in as much air as possible, even though she didn't need it.

"That is not what I meant."

"Oh?" Nya said, brushing Pixal's now-unbraided hair. "Then what's wrong?"

"It's not the hair," Pixal said, "it's me."

Nya stopped working on her hair at that, and sat at the chair next to her. "Are you alright, Pix?" she asked, putting a hand on hers.

Pixal found herself looking from their hands to Nya and to their hands again. "I do not know."

She really didn't know.

"Do you want to try talking about it? I won't judge you, it's okay to tell me."

Pixal knew that already of course, but it still felt unfair to bother Nya with an error. That was all it is. A mistake. Pixal was just confused.

But she talked anyway.

"I have been thinking about it for a while, and I have come to realise that I do not…" Pixal paused for a while, and felt Nya squeeze her hand. "I just don't believe the term female represents who I am," she finally settled on a phrasing. "It feels wrong."

"Okay," Nya nodded. "What do you think you are?"

"I do not feel like a guy either," Pixal was quick to add. "I suppose it's something… Else."

Pixal felt so ignorant. She never had trouble stating facts, so why was expressing her feelings so difficult?

"So nonbinary or something?" Nya asked. "Maybe genderfluid?"

Pixal had thought of these terms before. Genderfluid looked right at first glance, she never really felt like she had a gender, so that was out of the picture. And while nonbinary described the way she was feeling, Pixal was too afraid to put a label on herself.

"I did try using other pronouns in my head," Pixal finally admitted. "None of them feel… Me." Pixal sighed again. "It's frustrating. I do not know what me is, yet I know what it isn't. What is wrong with me?"

"Hey, nothing is wrong with you."

Pixal looked up at Nya; she was looking at her with nothing but care in her eyes, the warmth of her smile lightening the atmosphere.

"You don't have to change your pronouns to identify as nonbinary, though," Nya explained. "Honestly, you don't even need a label at all. It's literally all a social construct."

"You think?" Pixal asked, feeling the tiniest bit of hope. She cleared her throat, realising how careless she must have sounded. "I mean, is that true?"

Nya chuckled. "For a walking computer, you really can be oblivious sometimes."

"I am not a computer," Pixal corrected. "And I am not oblivious."

"I know," Nya said, squeezing her hand again. "Only a little."

Pixal shook her head, and her eyes fell on the mirror once more. Strangely, she didn't feel ashamed of her reflection this time.

Maybe there wasn't an error in her code after all.

[starlette0]

Meet Iz, the girl who's half witch/half elemental master !!

Name: Izabelle Winn Turner but call her Iz

Animal symbol: peacock

Elemental power: Wind

Weapons: Katana Sword, Bow and arrow

Personality:

She's an extrovert. She loves going out and making new friends.

Iz knows how to control her emotions and she's strong. And she's also caring with her friends.

She's that kind of girl who likes being funny. Iz thinks that a smile is the only thing that makes you truly beautiful.

Don't try to lie to her. She will always know if you say the truth or not.

She's willing to fight anybody who hurts the people she loves. 

Iz has a great sense of knowing when something is wrong with others. And is always there when someone needs her.

She's a good person. But don't challenge her. She can be your worst nightmare.

Bio:

Mother: Agnes Turner (oc: she has straight black hair and grey eyes)

Father: Tom Oliver Turner (oc: he has wavy blonde hair, green eyes and freackles)

Brother: Morro Turner

Their parents and them lived happily in a town near Ninjago. Agnes was a witch and Tom was the elemental master of wind. Morro inherited his elemental power from their father but Iz didn't have one. When Morro was 3 years old and Iz 2, the people who were living in that town found out that there were living witches. They wanted to burn them all because they thought that witches were evil. Agnes and the other witches had to leave the town with the Realm Crystal and go to the Witches Realm. She was broken but she had no choice. After Agnes's leaving, Tom decided sadly to leave the town and go to Ninjago. It was safer for the kids. When he arrived he knew that he couldn't keep them because he didn't have enough money and food. He was poor now. So he gave them to two families: The Brooks took Iz and the Jones took Morro. The Brooks had one more kid, Ella (oc: she has straight brown hair and amber eyes) who was 6 months older than Iz. Both of them didn't know that they were adopted. Iz grew up happily in the Brook family. But Morro didn't in the Jones family. His parents were always fighting so at the age of 10 years Morro decided to leave them. And that's how Sesnsei WU found him and how he discoverered his power. After Morro's death in season 5, Iz was 16 years old and she was in her room when the wind started blowing very badly. She was shocked because the windows were not opened. Her hands were cold and her heart was beating very loudly. She told her parents what happened. They decided to tell her the whole truth. Because Morro died, She started to get his power slowly until she becomes the new wind master . Iz was very upset and mad at first but then she knew that her real father did the right thing separating her and Morro. But also she was wondering why they didn't tell her about her mother. From that day she decided to train alone in the back of Chen's Noodle House, her favorite place to eat.

After seasons 10 the ninjas were having a party at Chen's Noodle House. Lloyd went outside to take some fresh air but he heard something in the back. He went to check but he was shocked to see a person with a hoodie on who was training and also controling the wind. Lloyd hid behind a wall to see the person's identity but suddenly he stumbled by a rock. The person saw him but Lloyd stopped him or her before he or she left. He wanted to know who this person was but the person said that is not his business. Lloyd begged him or her to tell him but the person started to fight him. Sensei WU noticed the absence of Lloyd so he went in the back of Chen's Noodle House. He sotped the fight but he was also shocked to see someone who was controling the wind. The person finally showed herself up. She said that her name is Izabelle and explained them everything after she apologized to Lloyd. WU told her that Morro was his apprentice. He asked her if she would like to get to know the team and maybe when she would accommodate to join them because he misses Morro very much and he would like to see his sister training with the ninjas. She said that she would like that but she is ashamed of what Morro did and the team would probably hate her. Lloyd told her that her brother's actions didn't define her and he will help her with the training. Iz said that so many things happened all at once in a short time but she will consider Wu and Lloyd's offer because she has always admired the ninjas.

Two weeks have passed since the meeting. Every night Iz and Lloyd were seeing each other and training in the back of Chen's Noodle House. The rest of the team was wondering were is Lloyd going every night but WU couldn't tell them at that time.

Lloyd and Iz decided that they have been training very well and finally Iz could get to know the team.

When he introduced Iz to the team they were shocked at first and couldn't believe that. But they understood now why Lloyd was missing every night. The team gave her a warm hug and told her that she will love the team and they will help her to acomodate. Pixal and Nya were happy to see another girl joining the them.

That night Iz told her parents about her decision and that she wanted to be what her brother wasn't: a hero.

Iz accommodated fast with her new friends and started to love them all for taking care of her.

She will soon dicover that her mother was a witch and she has also some of her mother powers.

Likes:

Going out with her friends;

Fighting;

Helping Lloyd at cooking cuz he's a mess;

Having a girls' night with Skylor, Nya and Pixal where they do pranks on boys;

CATS;

Annoying Zane;

Calling Lloyd "Snuggle Muffin";

Doing Nya's makeup;

Saying "Hi you stupid piece of cake!" for no reason;

Singing;

MoNeY;

FINDING OUT NEW THINGS ABOUT THE UNIVERSE;

Thinking that she's Einstein;

MaTh >:D;

Going on trips.

Dislikes:

Selfish people;

Weakness;

People who judge;

Being ignored;

Spiders;

Hearing Cole singing cuz he's horibble at this;

The fact that she is half witch;

Being hungry.

Random stuff:

She has two silver things around her arm which are protecting her from other elemental powers if she crosses her arms;

HALF WITCH/HALF ELEMENTAL MASTERRRR;

Lloyd is trying to be very sweet and kind to Iz because she didn't had the chance to meet her brother again so he wants to be a brother to her¿¿;

Iz hates being called "cute";

Wants to have 100000 cats and peacocks;

Is hungry all the time.

[ninja-of-energy]

“Thank you!” Lloyd smiled.

He blushed in embarrassment. “I used the mech for the remainder of my journey to locate Zane. And I...I ended up becoming really attached to it. My team and I did eventually rescue Zane and bring him home, and let me tell you I had never seen Pixal so happy in all her life when she saw Zane again.”

He sighed. “But I was worried, not about Zane anymore, but about the Titan Mech. Usually we donated our mechs to the Ninjago history museum to be displayed in our exhibit so that they can be preserved for future generations to see and learn about. And normally I would be fine with that. But not this time around. I had become extremely attached to the Titan mech, and I didn’t want to give it up to the museum. I’m ashamed to admit it, but when Nya brought up the idea of donating the mech to the museum, I...I broke down crying right in front of everyone. I didn’t act like spoiled brat or throw a fit or anything like that. I would never act like that. I was just really, really sad. Nya and the others ended up letting me keep the Titan Mech, but, I can’t help but feel like I acted like a brat that day.”

Summertime Fun

@ninja-of-energy

Summer had finally returned to Gravity Falls, and it brought a great joy. Mabel & Phil’s three triplets were born. All of Gravity Falls was in great celebration.

And of course, the ninja had to be invited to meet them. Dipper also extended an invite to spend the summer as well.

[tam-nya]

I saw everyone doing this Ninjago tag questionnaire thingie; I don’t think anyone’s tagged me yet but I’ll answer it anyway :P

{1.} Favorite Character(s): Zane because he’s a robot and relatable for me; he’s pretty innocent and struggles at understanding how to fit in but he’s also pretty spontaneous and is called ‘weird’ by the other characters. I think he is one of the most well-developed, deep and interesting characters and a lot of the series’ most emotional scenes involve him. He’s also funny when he takes things literally, states statistics nobody wants to hear (e.g. ‘We have a 4.2% chance of success’), and tries to fit in but can’t (but that’s also kinda sad).

I also love Nya because she’s the kind of girl I would love to be, never letting anyone put her down and doing her best to help those around her. She grew a LOT over the seasons, starting is a damsel in distress in the pilots, then as the girl who helps the ninja with her knowledge, then as a powerful Samurai who secretly saves people and does a better job at it than the boys, then finding out she has to give up her Samurai identity to train to become the water ninja, and then finally EMBRACING HER INNER POWER AND SAVING NINJAGO AT THE END OF SEASON 5! She’s also super beautiful and has a cute voice.

{2.} Favorite Episode: The Titanium Ninja because it pulverizes my emotions. But I also love the Temple on Haunted Hill because while most of the seasons best enjoyed watching all the eps in order, ToHH works as a great episode to just watch on its own and it’s really fun to watch the ninjas try to make it through the temple! Cole turning into a ghost is also really sad.

Other than that I love The Surge (awesome re-introduction to Ninjago, a LOT of stuff happens, fun humor and I love to see the ninja as teachers), Home (a nice episode where we get to understand Zane’s character more), Tick Tock (hella amazing episode where we learn Zane’s backstory), Versus (heart-rending episode where former friends Jay and Cole are forced to fight each other, at first they’re vicious but then they start to talk about their feelings and finally reconcile and Cole ends up sacrificing his place in the tournament for Jay), On a Wish and a Prayer (because I think the scene with Zane almost beating Nadakhan with his intelligence but ends up wishing everything away anyway because Nadakhan deletes Pixal is really intense. And I like the ninja going into the jungle and Jay’s attempts to get the Tiger Widow Venom), The Royal Blacksmiths (super fun and adorable episode with THE NINJAS DANCING), and lots of others but I think I should stop here haha.

{3.} Favorite Season: Rebooted because it’s about Zane and he’s my fav, the techy aesthetic is super cool and it has some of the best soundtrack, so much happens in the season even though it’s only 8 episodes, and it has A HEART-WRENCHING ENDING AAAARGH.

Possession is my second fav because of the spectacular animation, awesome villain, has some of my favorite funny moments and it also focuses on Nya a lot.

{4.} Favorite Whip: The Rebooted whip is like aesthetic for my ears, it sounds ultra cool and digital with so many interesting sounds aaaa.

{5.} Favorite Enemy(s): Morro is a great character and you kinda feel sad he turned out the way he did. Second fav is Acronix, he’s super cool and loves his bro even though he’s a villain, and his fascination with technology is cute and funny. I also like Nadakhan because he has reasonable motives for what he does, and he knows just how to mess with people’s minds.

{6.} If you could spend a day with any character, who would it be?: I think I’d be most happy meeting Nya because I look up to her so much.

{7.} Train with Wu or train with Garmadon?: Garmadon; he can be pretty sarcastic but he’s fun and teaches some really cool skills like ‘fighting without fighting’.

{8.} Lloyd or Morro? Why?: Both are great but I kinda like Morro more I guess? He’s a really interesting character and menacing villain.

{9.} Fangpyre Venom, Great Devourer Venom, or Tiger Widow Venom?: Tiger Widow Venom kills you... Great Devourer Venom is gross and can turn you evil... Fangpyre Venom causes temporary hallucinations... I’ll go with Fangpyre Venom. :P

{10.} Which Part(s) made you cry?: Zane’s death, Zane’s funeral, Zane getting his memory back and remembering his creator dying, some of Jay’s suffering in Season 6 like when his friends basically start hating him, Jay and Cole’s fight and reconciliation in episode ‘Versus’, Garmadon’s sacrifice at the end of S4, Lloyd seeing Garmadon again at the end of S5 but has to leave him again right after, Nya dying and Jay using his last wish to save her at the end of S6 (I cry of misery and then happiness), Cole becoming a ghost, a lot of the end of Day of the Departed where Yang talks about wanting to live forever and is afraid of being forgotten, etc...

{11.} How long have you been a fan?: I was vaguely interested for years but too ashamed to let myself like it, then I discovered the fandom and let myself become obsessed in 2016.

{12.} What are your thoughts on movie Zane?: He looks funny but Zane’s complex show personality seems to be gone.

{13.} Would you rather die like Morro originally did (no Cursed Realm) or die like Zane did: Now that’s a morbid question... Morro's death was pretty much suicide. Zane’s death was hella slow and painful, he was squirming in agony for several minutes and then EXPLODED. I think I’ll say Morro, your soul evaporating into nothingness would be better than your robotic heart gradually reaching critical mass slowly and painfully until you blow up. :P

[eyeofthewolfe]

Evil Zane Chapter 2

It’s getting tense....Chapter one and prologue is right here

It’s starting to kick up so get ready

 Chapter 2

“So the only ninja who are well enough to fight are Kai, Nya, and maybe Zane?” Wu asked, staring at Misako.

She sighed, putting the pot of tea on the bedside table. “Jay has the flu, Cole may have suffered a minor concussion, and both of Lloyd’s wrists are broken. The doctors are putting the casts on now.” She sat on the bed next to Wu. “Lloyd mentioned something about Zane not saving him until the last possible moment.”

“Hmmm,” Master Wu groaned as he placed cubes into the tea cup. “It is most distressing. That is very uncharacteristic of our nindroid friend.”

“PIXAL is running a diagnostic. Nya will help eventually, but she’s caring for Jay currently.” Misako responded.

“And what on Cole and Kai?”

“Kai is with Cole inside the hospital. I fear that the siblings are the only healthy fighters we have right now.”

Wu sipped his tea, deep in thought. “I am afraid of that too.”

 _____________________________________________________

Jay coughed as Nya entered the ninja bedroom with hot soup. “How are you feeling?” She asked softly, placing the soup on the edge of his bed.

Jay laughed lightly, his eyes glittering. “You’ve asked that probably a thousand times in the last hour.” He responded hoarsely.

Nya smiled down at him. “Well, I care for you. Just like you did.” She winked, referring to the timeline only they knew.

Jay dipped a spoon into the soup and smiled. He sipped it and grinned. “This is so good, thank you.” He murmured.

“Of course,” Nya responded. “I can make a mean chicken noodle soup.”

Both her and Jay grinned. “Just add water!” They said in unison before laughing.

Nya kissed the sick ninja on the cheek before turning to the door. “Oh wait,” She paused, slipping a DVD out of her suit. “I picked this up for you to watch. I think…you’d like it.” She tossed him the DVD. “Feel better soon!”

“Thanks!” Jay called out and then broke into coughs. He flipped the DVD over only to see the face of his father.

“Fritz Donagen!” Jay whispered. “Nya is the best.”

When Nya checked on him ten minutes later, Jay was transfixed to the movie.

 _______________________________________________

Cole and Kai walked up the gangway to the Bounty parked on top of the hospital. “So no concussion, just a giant bruise and a terrible headache.” Cole summed up, his arm around Kai’s shoulders. “Where’s Zane? I could use a giant ice cube for my head.”

Kai chuckled. “You’re lucky. Nya said that the boulder hit you really hard. The rock shattered into pieces after colliding with your head.”

“Did it really?” Cole smiled. “That’s pretty cool actually.”

Kai walked the earth ninja down to their quarters, where Jay was watching a space samurai movie.

“Really Jay?” Cole groaned, pointing at the screen. “Fritz what’s-his-face? Again?”

Jay nodded, not even looking away from the screen. Kai and Cole exchanged a look. “Whatever, just keep it down. I’m gonna rest.” Cole collapsed onto his bed. “Thanks Kai,” he murmured before instantly going to sleep.

_______________________________________________________

Lil’ Nelson was overjoyed to see the green ninja again. “I can’t believe it! I’m gonna be healed enough to leave in a week but I get to see you for a second time! This is amazing!” The purple ninja squealed.

Lloyd laughed weakly as the doctors were putting away their supplies. Nelson was parked right next to Lloyd’s bed in his wheelchair, both legs still casted and covered in names. His face was glowing with happiness, the ninja bandana still wrapped tightly around his head.

“How did you break your hands?” The boy asked curiously, eyeing the twin casts.

“I was handcuffed and there was a lot of pressure on my hands. It was kind of an accident,” Lloyd responded. The boy nodded, his eyes transfixed on the green hand casts. “How did you break your legs?”

Nelson squirmed in his seat. “It’s kind of an accident too….after the attack of Stiix and when you all saved Ninjago…Y’all are so good….so I thought it would be so cool to be a ninja too! So I…I tried doing Airjitzu out of a tree and it didn’t work.” The kid looked down, ashamed.

“Being a ninja is really cool, but it comes with a cost,” Lloyd said, causing Nelson to look up. “I gave up my childhood in order to become the best ninja leader I could be. I want to regret that choice, but because of it Ninjago is safe. Being a ninja isn’t easy because we deal with sacrifices and loss as well as battles and victory. You don’t have to be a ninja to do good things, you just need to do what’s right and to help others. That’s all we do, but with a lot of trained moves.”

Nelson smiled. “Thanks Lloyd! I’ll do the best that I can to help others. A ninja never quits!”

Lloyd laughed. A nurse walked over to the blonde ninja and told him he was all good to go, but needed to come back in a few weeks for a check up. Lloyd nodded and expressed his thanks before turning back to the purple ninja. “Hey Nelson, would you like to be the first person to sign my casts?”

 _________________________________________________________

The bridge on the Destiny’s Bounty was alive with beeping and lights as Zane paced back and forth with a cord extending from the back of his head. “Anything yet, PIXAL?” Zane asked again, getting anxious.

“Nothing yet. Your coding seems in tack and running properly. That’s where the problem should have emerged.” The Assistant Lifeform was running through every test she could inside of Zane’s software.

“Tell me again what happened,” Zane demanded, scanning the code on the computer screen for the 37th time.

“You froze, Zane. There’s no other explanation for it. Something in your software caused a malfunction in your processing unit. Your memory drive stopped and my interactions with you were interrupted.”

Zane sat in silence, digesting the issue. The code still ran in a blur across the screen, but the nindroid knew that this problem was more than numbers.

“Check the stability on my basic functions.”

“They are stable.”

“My power source?”

“Fully operational.”

“Main drive in processing unit?”

“No problems found.”

“Exo-suit functions?”

“Nothing, Zane.”

Zane slammed his fist on the console. “What IS IT?” he yelled, anger suddenly inflating.

“Zane, please, we need to wait and see if the issue resurfaces-“

“We can’t, PIXAL!” Zane spat. “We need to diagnose the problem now, before it happens again!”

PIXAL grew quiet in his head. Zane could feel her recoil, hurt. The nindroid sighed, closing his eyes. “PIXAL, my teammate and friend almost died because of this issue. If we don’t figure this out…I’m afraid something worse could occur.”

“I understand, Zane.” came the soft and soothing voice of the female robot. “I am trying everything I can. We will solve this, together. I promise.”

Zane smiled. “Thank you, PIXAL. Now, what have we not thought of?” Zane asked, turning around. His eyes caught sight of the picture of the ninja on the wall. The young looking boys were all smiling and laughing together, with young Lloyd squeezed in the middle. The original Zane was smiling too, and Titanium Zane still had a crystal clear memory of that moment that picture was taken. Even after transferring bodies through the digiverse, Zane still had all the memories saved from his life before going Titanium.

Suddenly, Zane had an idea. “PIXAL, compare my current code with my original code you have saved from memory.”

PIXAL paused her work. “Zane, it’s the same. The idea of a different code is…impossible.”

“Please, just do it. Bring it up on the external computer.”

Two code streams popped up on the screen. Zane scanned both codes carefully as they whirred by until-

“Stop!”

The codes froze on Zane’s command. His gaze went back and forth between the numbers. “PIXAL…” Zane whispered, eyeing the obvious difference. “I think we found the problem.”

PIXAL remained speechless, for the problem did not compute.

“Scan for exact code replicas of the anomaly.” Zane commanded.

“Where?” PIXAL asked, still in awe.

“Everywhere.”

Silence fell upon the couple as PIXAL searched. Suddenly, she gasped.

“Zane, the code…. It’s not constant, Zane….but it has a  99% consistency with-“

An image popped up on the screen. Zane flinched and stepped back, staring at the picture. He compared the code, then closed his eyes.

With a shaky voice, he said one thing to PIXAL.

“Deactivate me.”

PIXAL gasped. “No Zane! We can fix this, I promise! I’ll…We���ll…. Borg will…”

Zane felt a synthesized tear run down his metal cheek. “PIXAL it’s too late. Deactivate me.”

PIXAL paused. “Zane, I can’t.”

“Do it.”

“I really can’t!”

“Why?” Zane commanded.

“Because it needs to be done manually. By another person. There’s a button on your back that cannot be reached by your hands. It needs to be someone else.”

Zane didn’t think twice. He snapped off the cord and dashed out of the bridge.

 _______________________________________________________

Jay placed the empty soup bowl on the ground and went back to the movie. Fritz Donagen was cornered by the Imperial Sludge on his space vessel, the Katana. Jay stared at his father’s perfect movie-star face as he said the character’s famous words. “Fear?” Cliff Gordon asked the leader of the Sludge. “Fear isn’t a word from where I come from!”

“You said it, dad.” Jay whispered as the door swung open.

Zane stood at the door, eyes wide and straight at Jay.

“What’s wrong?” Jay asked, concerned. Zane kneeled in front of the blue ninja.

“No questions,” Zane said, his robotic voice cracking. “I need you to do something really important for me.”

“Of course,” Jay responded.

Zane hesitated, as if he was listening to something. Finally, he said, “I need you to deactivate me.”

“What!?” Jay yelled. Cole sat up in bed instantly, but then laid back down, grumbling and clutching his head. “For how long?” Jay asked.

“Forever,” Zane answered.

“No way,” Jay coughed. “I’m not going to robotically murder my best friend. We need you, Zane!”

“I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if there was no other choice!” Zane pleaded the ninja. “There is no time to explain.” He stood and started to undo his gi.

Jay grabbed Zane’s hands to stop him. “You better get to explaining because I’m not turning you off.”

Zane pushed Jay onto his bed. “Are you not hearing me?” Zane yelled. Jay froze in fear, for he had never heard Zane use such an angry tone. “You need to deactivate me before-“ Suddenly, Zane froze, his gaze fixed on a spot right above Jay’s head.

Jay, still frozen, stared at Zane. “Before what?”

Zane’s head snapped back at Jay, his blue eyes flickering. He lifted his left hand and activated a miniature ray-gun to pop out of a hole in arm.

“Before this.” Zane answered coldly.

Then he pointed the gun straight at Jay.

[evesbeve]

Alive - Pixane (Ninjago Angst Week - Day Two - Nightmare)

Fun fact: Pixal is one of the characters I struggle with writing the most, even though she is one of my favourites!

Anyway, this is one of my entries for Ninjago Angst Week. If you wanna avoid very angsty stuff, I gave this one a good ending. ^^

This takes place a few days after Hunted. Hope you enjoy!

Title: Alive

Franchise: Ninjago

Pairing: Pixane

Summary: Pixal could never work around the concept of nightmares. It's a good thing she doesn't have to deal with them alone.

Word count: 790

Read this on AO3 and FFN!

Green eyes shot wide open, while an open heart beat fast.

Time stopped around the girl, until she was conscious enough to scan her surroundings. The sensation of oxygen entering her system comforted her, stabilizing her artificial heartbeat.

Pixal would never get used to having nightmares.

She couldn't understand how something that was clearly unreal scared her so much. She couldn't understand why she was afraid to close her eyes again, how a part of her told her something would attack her if she did.

Ever since Zane gave her his heart, Pixal had started to see the world through a new set of eyes. It was as if her calculations didn't matter anymore, because nothing could predict how she felt everytime she discovered something new.

Imperfections like that always confused her. Scared her, even. Thankfully, most of the times, Zane was there to explain her feelings to her. But after he disappeared, Pixal had to force herself to work through them alone.

It was hard to believe Zane was back.

All this time, he was just trapped away from home. He was still alive.

The word 'alive' confused Pixal too. Every definition she found felt wrong. She couldn't quite put her mind on it.

Pixal sat up on her bed, leaning against the wall. She needed to run over the events of her dream again. To tell herself it was not real.

The Mask of Vengeance? In Borg Industries.

The Sons of Garmadon? Gone.

Zane? Alive.

It was so simple. So simple to tell herself, 'It's not real', but she couldn't.

The Mask of Vengeance was the only Oni Mask that hadn't been destroyed. What if the Sons of Garmadon escaped Kryptarium Prison, broke into Borg Industries, and stole it? What if they hurt Mr. Borg? What if they hurt Zane-

"I wasn't sure whether my ears deceited me, but it turns out you are indeed awake."

Pixal broke free of her thoughts only to see Zane approach her bed. She sighed in relief, relaxing her body.

"Mind if I join you?" Zane asked, and Pixal moved to the side, letting Zane sit next to her on the bed. Now they were both leaning against the wall, side by side.

"How did you-"

"I just had a feeling," Zane said. "It was like I sensed it."

Maybe it sounded creepy to someone else, but not to Pixal. The thought of Zane watching over her was comforting. She couldn't stand being alone anymore.

"What else did your insticts tell you?" Pixal asked.

"That you should be asleep," Zane said. "What happened?"

Hesitation. That's what Pixal felt.

"Hey," Zane reached out for Pixal's hand, and started rubbing it gently. "It's okay."

"I visualised something unreal," Pixal finally said. "It startled me."

"It's okay to say nightmare," Zane reassured her. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I… Have them too. But you already knew that."

Pixal nodded. Zane was right. He always turned to Pixal for comfort, so why was Pixal hesitating? Maybe she got so used to dealing with it alone that she-

"Everytime I close my eyes," Pixal interrupted her thoughts, looking up at Zane, "and think of the Sons of Garmadon, of Mr. E, of the Oni Masks… I look back to that day. To the day you were almost gone, to the day you were actually gone… I don't understand."

"I'm not gone now though, am I?" Zane asked, returning the look. "I'm here."

"Yes, but what if-"

"Don't think about that," Zane stopped her. "Focus on the present. I am here now."

Pixal shook her head in disbelief. "I don't understand," she pulled her hand away.

Pixal really couldn't understand. If she knew her thoughts weren't real, why was she believing them? And if she wanted Zane to be there… Why was she isolating herself?

"Everytime," Zane led Pixal's hand on her chest, placing his on top of it, "your heart beats, mine does too."

Pixal's eyes drifted away to their hands.

"This is our heart now," Zane told her. "So as long as we hold onto our pieces, we have each other."

She couldn't understand.

"Pixal, look at me," Zane moved his hand from hers to gently lift her chin. "We're together now, okay? You don't have to be afraid anymore."

She couldn't understand how he could make her so happy.

"I love you," Pixal said, without thinking of it much.

Pixal noticed a small smile spread on Zane's lips, and she couldn't help but return it. The nindroid scooted closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I love you too," he whispered next to her ear, kissing the side of her head.

It was like Pixal finally knew what it meant to be alive.