Slamming his fists on the ground, a trail of spiked ice ran towards the assailant, freezing his legs, preventing him from continuing forward. He tripped, looking down to his now immobile legs. His eyes followed the trail of ice to the titanium ninja.
“Nice moves, Nindroid,” he complimented, “But I can do you one better.” With a grunt, he freed a leg from its icy prison. He raised it and slammed it against the ground. Spikes of jagged rock rose from the ground, making a path toward Zane.
Zane jumped to the side in an attempt to avoid imminent peril, but the rocks only followed him. He jumped back as the Earth spikes drew closer, slowly picking up speed. He found himself against a cliff, rock spikes now surrounding him. He had nowhere to run.
His assailant’s face grew an evil grin as the rocks trailed along the cliff wall. Suddenly a sharp pain pierced Zane’s chest. His eyes widened as he slowly looked down. A rock spike had struck him right through the heart, pieces of his power source littering the ground.
The assailant laughed maniacally as he began retracting the Earth spikes. Having nothing left to power him, Zane fell to the ground, still conscious, albeit barely.
The assailant began to walk off, speaking into a headset, “The metal one has been taken care of.”
In his last moments of consciousness, Zane set off his SOS beacon before falling offline. Permanently.
~~~~~~
Hours later, night fell, the Bounty flying over the canyon on the lookout for the source of the beacon. Its spotlights spotting a silver entity in the sand below. It was him.
Cole and PIXAL dropped down from the ship for recovery. The sand had buried the Nindroid. Putting his hands to the ground, Cole summoned a quake to shake off the excess sand and dirt, uncovering a hole straight through Zane’s torso.
PIXAL gasped at the sight, picking up the Nindroid to investigate. Where his heart once was, it was replaced by a profound cavity. Whatever was left of it was sprinkled in the dirt, broken beyond recognition. Zane was gone.
PIXAL held the now defunct Nindroid close, quietly sobbing to herself. Cole placed a hand onto her shoulder as he too mourned the loss of his friend.
The two carried Zane back up to the ship, the others shocked at the scene.
“Oh no, Zane…” the lightning ninja spoke with an upset tone, a hand covering his mouth.
PIXAL and Cole laid Zane down in the Bounty’s control room, the remaining ninja surrounding the three. Nya crouched down to investigate the hole in his chest.
“Is… is he-?” The green ninja spoke up, worried, unable to complete his thought.
“I’m afraid he is,” Nya responded quietly. “His power core. It’s been destroyed.”
“You can make him another one, right, sis?” The fire ninja asked desperately.
“Unfortunately, no. His power source. It’s one of a kind. Even if I build him a new core, I won’t have a power source strong enough to make Zane… Zane,” the water ninja shook her head.
Partially paying attention, PIXAL placed a hand over her heart. It took her a second to process it, but she had an idea.
“He can have mine,” she piped up. “Zane gave me half of his heart to save my life, it is only fair that I do the same for him.”
“But Pix, won’t you be-?” Cole interjected, only to be interrupted.
“I should be okay. I am rechargeable.”
Nya shook her head, “PIXAL, you- you won’t be… you anymore…”
“Zane’s heart. It’s what makes PIXAL, PIXAL,” Lloyd said to himself.
The samurai sighed, “I am fully aware of the risks, but this is the most logical solution. Zane is far more useful to the team than I. I was created to be an assistant. Please, allow me to assist with this.”
Nya stepped forward, placing both her hands onto PIXAL’s shoulders. “Pix, we can’t let you do this. You’re our friend. We can try to find another way.”
PIXAL looked around at her other teammates. Their faces showed that they agreed with Nya.
She looked to the water ninja. “If you were in a similar situation, I know you would do the same thing.” She placed her hands onto Nya’s shoulders. “Please, allow me to be useful.”
“For Zane.”
Nya pursed her lips in reluctance before sighing in defeat. “For Zane.”
~~~~~~
Throughout the day, both Nya and PIXAL worked together to create a new power core for Zane, the remainder of the ninja working to track down his assistant. Near the end of the day, the core was completed. Zane was almost repaired. Only one part remained for the repairs to be completed.
PIXAL sat next to the table Zane lied on, opening a compartment in her chest. Nya, wielding a pair of clamps, prepared to transfer PIXAL’s power source to their friend.
“PIXAL, before I do this, may I ask you something?” Nya asked.
PIXAL nodded.
“Why are you willing to sacrifice your humanity to save him?”
PIXAL looked down to Zane. “Even though it is one of my greatest fears, I am willing to do this because…” she reached her hand down to hold his. “…because I love him…” she responded quietly.
Nya smiled, “You’re a good friend Pix.” Even though she was about to lose a friend, she completely understood. PIXAL smiled back as Nya reached for her power source. As it was removed, she powered down.
Nya transferred the power source to Zane’s new core. Almost immediately, her titanium friend booted right up.
Quickly, Zane shot up, frantically putting his hands to his chest in search of the deep cavity that he just had. He took a few deep breaths as he processed the fact that he was okay, much to his confusion. He looked up to his female friend standing before him with a light smile on her face.
“Nya? You did this? But- but how?” he asked, confused.
“I had a little help,” she replied, her tone of voice wasn’t particularly cheery, nor was it upset. She turned her head to a now deactivated PIXAL who was slumped over in her chair.
“PIXAL!” Zane jumped off the table and rushed over to her. She was unresponsive. Desperately, she attempted to power her back on manually.
PIXAL’s eyes shot open as she booted up. She lifted her head to see herself face to face with the titanium ninja.
Zane sighed in relief. PIXAL was okay. Or so he thought. Excitedly, he hugged her. “You’re okay! You saved my life. Thank you,” he spoke with a combination of joy and relief. His happy expression slowly faded back into one of confusion as he noticed PIXAL wasn’t hugging him back.
“You are welcome, Zane. I am always happy to assist. Although, a hug is not required as a way of saying thanks. I was simply doing what I was made for.” PIXAL’s tone was monotonous.
Zane slowly backed away to be met with a blank-faced android. This was not his PIXAL. Worriedly, he asked, “PIXAL, do you remember me?”
“Of course, I do. You are Zane. The elemental master of Ice,” PIXAL answered.
Zane shook his head, his worry turning to sadness. “Do- do you remember… us?”
PIXAL thought for a moment. “I do recall having memories regarding the two of us, although, I do not understand them.” She showed a compilation of moments the two have shared together in the form of a projection. Zane simply watched, heartbroken.
She blinked, turning off the projection. “Zane? Were you and I… together?” She asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
Zane picked up her hand. “Yes, we were… compatible.”
The two shared a longing gaze as Zane help her hand in his. PIXAL tried hard to comprehend, but she just couldn’t. She pulled her hand away. “I… I apologize. I cannot understand. Perhaps we were compatible, but that does not appear to be true anymore.”
Zane took a few steps before he dropped his head, defeated. Nya, saddened by their exchange, placed a hand onto Zane’s shoulder.
“She did it because she loved you,” Nya commented, “I think she’d want you to know that.”
Zane smiled through his sorrow, “I wish she knew that I do too.”
Did@ice-emperor-zane ‘s pixal dtiys! First time on this blog so I hope I’m doing this right! But yes, it’s always a good time when I’m given access to every visible colour ever.
Watching all the scenes of the Mysterious New Samurai X in seasons 7 and 8 are like 200x better with the knowledge that it was Pixal all along. Pixal was the one messing with Nya by using multiple different voices in the X Cave. Pixal was the one who fought Nya while sitting in a swivel chair. God I love her so much
Seriously the fandom collectively has slept on just how badass that scene was, it was my favorite fight choreography in the entirety of HoT!
Written for Pixal and Zane’s photo album as part of the @ninjago-photo-album project. I was a caption writer to accompany this lovely drawing by @justanotherfangirlst that can be seenhere!
___________________________
It didn’t take long for Pixal to realize that becoming Samurai X came with quite a few accompanying changes. Including, but not limited to, greater responsibilities, an added sense of danger, and days full of action and adventure.
She often felt that these times could no longer compare with the days spent performing mundane activities for her father back at Borg Industries. So much time she had spent near the wide windows of Borg Tower, and never once did she take the time to look up from the piles of office work she had been assigned and take a look at the sky.
Things are different now.
Tasked with patrolling the city, the day had been a long one. Thankfully, it had also been relatively quiet as well.
Finishing up one final flyover of the city, Pixal was pleased to see that suspicious activity had still not been detected. There was a single beep indicating the change of hour, and Pixal smiled before finding the roof of an old industrial building and prepped for landing.
A loud hiss escaped into the air as the top hatch opened. Pixal flexed her fingertips, wrapping her hands around the assisting bar to hoist herself out of the mech. She looked around the rooftop, relishing the small moment of time she had alone.
Walking over to the edge, she gave a firm tug on the indigo kabuto and smiled as it slipped off, the last rays of sunlight instantly warming her face.
Placing the helmet onto the ground beside her, she continued, unsheathing the swords on her back and carefully placed them onto the concrete.
Quietly, as to not disturb the peace of the moment, she sat along the roof’s edge, her legs dangling. Something that probably would have evoked fear in her systems had she not already been accustomed to the heights she faced daily now.
Taking a proper look at the sunset, she brushed the hair behind her ear, feeling it loosely come back to its previous place next to her eye.
It had become routine as of late, spending her late afternoons watching the sunset. It gave her some time to sit, relax, and reflect.
Watching the gorgeous colors of the sunset swirl into a mix of reds and oranges, she felt a sense of contentment gradually come over her.
To have spent another day helping protect the city she cared for.
To be able to return to the friends and family she loves every evening.
To be able to feel the warmth of the sun in her own body.
To be able to see many more beautiful sunsets.
That her life had changed for the better.
As the sky began to darken, she became startled as her communicator beeped.
There was a brief moment of static before she heard Zane’s voice come through. “Pixal? Will you be home for dinner?”
“Of course, I am on my way now,” she replied, smiling.
Maybe she should think about bringing Zane up here sometime. It would be an awfully nice spot for a picnic.
