A/N: *Flails uselessly in chair* I was typing this in Language Arts class. I had extra time on my hands, so why not? (So you can actually get some education, you git. And tunnels usually aren't this long.)
Shaddup, conscience.
-You Are Irreplaceable-
Zane was in the front, scanning the tunnels with Pixal. They'd already identified the location, but apparently, had to be more precise than the literal spot-on coordinates they'd supplied themselves. Their eyes flashed green, then blue, then green once more. They took control of the voice-box to talk to each other quietly as they completed the scan.
The ninja were observing their friend's face as the Nindroid and Pixal switched control. In one moment, Zane's gentle smile would be visible on his face. The next, it would belong to Pixal and the expression would change instantly, a different smile.
Once the scan was done, their friend turned to face them, walking backward. "My friends, is there something that troubles you?" The eyes were bright, icy blue once more, but the expression was more than enough to convince the ninja that this was indeed Zane. It was worry, in place of the usual cheery smile.
"No, no." Cole quickly replied, shaking his head. "We're fine. How are you?" The Black Ninja clearly didn't want Zane being distressed after his resurrection, something all of them would have to adjust to. Though Zane already seemed pretty fine with the new circumstances. The only thing that he really needed to get used to was the decreased body mass. The Nindroid had already stumbled quite a few times, and tripped many more. But he had adjusted much better than the rest of the ninja.
"I'm fine as well, thank you." Zane responded, before walking back to where his brothers were. Though he, in his new body with much shorter legs, had to walk quite a bit faster to keep up with his tall friends. It almost seemed like the Nindroid was running alongside his walking companions- sprinting, even. "What have you all been doing in my absence?"
The Ice Ninja's statement froze the rest of the ninja.
"Uh," Kai sputtered, him and the rest of the ninja team knowing that Zane would be quite unhappy with them quitting or dissolving into misery. Plus completely distressed.
"I trained and went on missions?" Cole lied warily. Zane stared up at him for one second, before moving his gaze to Jay.
"How about you, Jay?" He asked. Jay beamed at his friend, before bringing a lightshow to his fingertips.
"I started a show!" He bragged, the electricity dancing around his entire hand, now. "I flew! With ropes, but I flew!"
Zane turned his head to Lloyd, who was completely relaxed. For one, Zane was the worst at sniffing out lies. Two, Lloyd was actually the only one who did his job as a hero. He had nothing to fear. "I protected Ninjago, like usual." His addition to the sentence was directed at his fellow ninja, and quite clear in it's meaning. But Zane didn't catch it, thankfully.
"Kai?" Cole glared at Kai, the worst liar on the team, as if daring him to rat him out. "What have you been doing?" The Red Ninja- or Red Shogun- glanced around as if looking for another Kai.
"Uh," he stuttered, before a waterfall of words fell out of his mouth. "I-sort-of-stopped-being-a-ninja-and-went-to-an-illegal-fighting-ring-don't-get-mad-Cole-stopped-being-a-ninja-too," he muttered in one quick breath before Cole clasped his hand over the other ninja's mouth. Not quickly enough, though.
Zane blinked blue eyes once before frowning. "Losing me is not an excuse to quit the team, you two. I, after all, am only one fifth. I can be replaced." Kai and Cole looked moderately guilty, but a hard expression grew on their faces.
"That's not true, Zane." Lloyd reprimanded him. "You could never be replaced." Zane cocked his head, but when his eyes flashed green it straightened.
"Zane, you are special, and have been since the moment of your creation- both creations," Pixal soothed. It was a little odd witnessing the android pretty much talk to herself, but it was effective. "and you are special to us." Lloyd and Jay, fans of cheesy romance novels, grinned widely at this. The green of Pixal's eyes was replaced slowly by the familiar blue of Zane's, and the serene expression changed instantly to something more innocent and forlorn.
A beat passed in silence, save the quiet breaths of the ninja. Not even their footsteps resonated in the tunnels.
"I apologize." Zane said, hanging his head. Loose strands of synthetic hair that had broken free of the pony-tail fell over his face. "I did not realiz-"
Jay shushed him with a wide grin. "Of course. That's what makes you unique. There's only one Zane Julien."
The android was silent, before opening his mouth to speak. A question. "Zane⦠Julien?"
And the tunnels were quiet once more.
"What do you mean by that?"
