Chapter 17
Movie Ninjago
When they saw the Ultra Dragon suddenly pull into a sharp dive, Nya immediately knew something had to be wrong.
Already turning her mech in the same direction, she turned on her radio and said into it, "Zane, I'm patrolling off the coast. I just saw you make a dive, is something wrong?"
Zane's response was immediate. "Attack on the beach! In a hidden cove!" he said.
Then his next words chilled her to the bone. "They have Skylor!"
Nya had never made her mech go faster, using her own powers to propel them even past full throttle.
"Get your hood on," Nya said, not caring she herself was out of uniform.
Behind her, Jay complied, reaching around his back to get his nunchucks ready as well.
The Water-Strider Mech leaped out of the water to see the Ultra Dragon hovering in the air over the cove, Zane and all four heads blasting at several men with their elements, who were trying the best to dodge. One of them, a dark-haired man in a lab coat, threw a figure into the sand before darting towards the vehicles with far too many blades sticking out of them the bad guys had apparently arrived there in.
As for the thrown figure now sprawled in the sand, it only took a glance at the dark red hair for Nya to know that was Skylor, and the lifeless way she now lay filled the Water Ninja with dread.
Then rage coursed through her, and while she'd normally not go after people in her mech if they didn't have a vehicle too, these jerks hurt her friend. It. Was. On!
And she made that very clear by having one of her mech's legs punt the closest goon into the ocean.
"Let me out," said Jay. "I'll start beating them back so Ultra can land."
"You got it," said Nya, opening the hatch of her mech, allowing Jay to leap out.
His feet barely touched the ground before he was whirling in his electrified spinjitzu tornado, picking up bad guys and flinging them every which way.
With the beach rapidly clearing, the Ultra Dragon finally had enough space to touch down in the surf, and Penny leaped from the dragon the moment it did to race across the sand, scoop up Skylor, and carry her to safety between Nya's mech and the dragon, which both lowered to crouch protectively over them and Zane and Jay helped Ultra provide cover fire (and other elements) to keep anyone from stopping her.
Nya was just about to jump out of her mech when a loud whirring sound caught her attention.
Looking up, she had to stare as where a set of bladed vehicles ones stood, a mech was now rising up and swinging its blades in a saw-like motion as it stomped towards them.
Realizing what that meant, Nya called over the radio, "That man! The one who had Skylor! He must be a Master Builder!"
Jay, who was now backing away from the encroaching mech, said, "Oh, just great! Another awesome power used for evil."
"Well, if there is anything battling Garmadon has taught us, it is how to smash a mech," said Zane from atop the Ultra Dragon, urging the dragon forward, for once too serious to even attempt a meme or movie quote. "Nick, do me a favor and protect the girls while Nya and I deal with this."
"No arguments here," said Jay as he backed towards where Penny was holding Skylor protectively. Once he was defensively between them and the mech, Nya brought hers upright again and stepped over them to fight.
The enemy mech was clearly a rush job. Its movements were jerky and its steps were uneven. Still, it was big, heavy, and sharp, and none of the Ninja wanted it anywhere near the girls.
The mech twitched and jerked in place for a moment as if considering them, before breaking into a shambling run in their direction.
Getting hit with four dragon breaths, three Ninja elemental blasts, and one swift kick from Nya's mech, and the thing collapsed into pieces on the sand, still twitching.
Sadly, while it didn't put up much of a fight, the mech served its purpose, as when the three Ninja looked around they realized the men, including the one who built it, had all fled.
Nya leaped out of her mech, and Zane jumped down from the Ultra Dragon to run to the others.
Jay was already crouched next to Penny to look at Skylor, but they glanced up when they approached.
Penny, who had the redhead cradled in her arms, seemed unable to speak with worry, and Jay was wringing his hands in equal concern.
"I don't know what's wrong with her," he said. "She doesn't seem hurt, but…" he waved his hand helplessly at Skylor, and they could all see the reason for his distress.
While Skylor seemed conscious, her eyes had a glazed look to them, and her body was completely limp aside from the occasional convulsive twitch. If it weren't for her shallow breathing and blinking every now and then, they would have thought she was dead.
Without being asked, Zane, crouched down activated his health scan, sweeping it over Skylor's body and studying the readings.
"She seems to have some kind of drug in her system, likely induced through the injection wound in her neck. I am unsure what the drug is composed of, but my readings show it is temporary," he said.
Penny let out a sigh of relief and hugged Skylor's limp form closer to her. "Do you know when it will wear off?" she asked.
His eyes still glowing with his health scan, Zane glanced up at her and said, "Possibly an hour or…" he trailed off and his eyes widened as his scan registered Penny as well, and he was floored at what the readings said.
Not realizing what had happened, and worrying he had stopped because of something wrong with Skylor, Penny said, "Zane? What is it? What's wrong?"
Zane quickly shook his head. "No, nothing," he said, quickly turning off his scanner. "She will recover shortly. We should take her someplace safe and keep her warm until she does."
"Let's get her into my mech," said Nya. "Nick can keep her steady in the back while you guys ride back on Ultra."
"If it is not too much trouble," said Penny, her expression still pinched in concern. "May I be the one who rides with Skylor? She is my friend. I want to see for myself that she comes to no harm."
Nya glanced at Jay, who shrugged. "That's fine," she said.
"Guess I'm riding with you, Pep," said Nick patting Zane on the shoulder.
Zane jerked distractedly before nodding. "Yes, right," he said, quickly reaching down to help lift Skylor up. "We should get off this beach. Those men might come back."
Chalking up Zane's strange behavior as worry, Nya simply snarled, "Not if they know what's good for them."
They carefully put Skylor and Penny into the back of Nya's mech, and she drove with far more care than usual back to the warehouse, Zane, and Jay flying behind her on Ultra.
Huddled behind Nya, Penny did her best to keep Skylor comfortable on the trip back, though it was difficult to tell how successful she was with how limp her friend was.
Her friend was hurt in front of her, and she could do so little about it… Just run and hide while the others fought.
She held Skylor gently but firmly as Nya drove them through a rough current, and made a small promise to herself.
These friends were dear to her. Some way, somehow, she would find a way to protect them.
Show Ninjago
Why did he protect her?
It was something that was weighing heavily on Pixal's thoughts
The White Ninja.
The Master of Ice.
Zane.
He was outdated but important. His elemental power made him irreplaceable. So much so that they were seeking to improve his mechanics rather than build a new Zane to take his place when he became obsolete.
And yet, despite being such an important android (or nindroid, as he preferred to be called), he had still risked his life to save her.
It made no sense.
Should anything happen to him, the element of ice would be lost forever. She, however, was merely an assistant android. Easily replaced. She was not worth risking one of the Four Elements of Creation for by spades. The logical thing for him to have done was to let her be crushed to keep himself safe, use his abilities to make that ice pillar to attempt to save her at maximum but to do any more would be a foolish and unnecessary risk.
And yet… it was a risk he took…
And all for her!
Why?
Trying to decipher this puzzle would not leave Pixal's mind.
Much to her irritation at herself, this constant contemplation caused her to be distracted and make mistakes in her assistant duties that day. Something she had never done before, as she prided herself on efficiency.
Needless to say, her distraction was noticed, and she soon found herself being called to Cyrus Borg's office at the end of the day as the rest of the workers left.
Expecting him to be angry or disappointed with her, Pixal was surprised to instead see him wheel over to her with concern evident on his face.
"Pixal, are you alright? You have been making errors that are so unlike you. You weren't hurt during the accident yesterday, were you?" he asked in a worried tone.
Pixal blinked her optics at him as she tried to think of an answer. "No," she finally said. "I am undamaged."
"Then what seems to be the problem?" asked Borg.
Pixal hesitated. Should she really be bothering her creator with such trivial matters?
As if reading her mind, Borg said, "You can tell me anything, Pixal. I created you, and know you better than anyone. I'd be happy to listen to whatever you feel is wrong."
Well, if he was sure…
"I am… confused," she confessed. "Yesterday, Zane saved my life, even though doing so would put himself at risk. I cannot understand why he would do such."
Borg stared at her as if he couldn't understand why she was confused. "Why wouldn't he?" he asked.
"With his elemental abilities, he is important. However, I am not important," she replied, making Borg jolt in shock. "You created me and gave me life. If something should happen to me, you could do so again with a newer model."
Borg looked at her like she'd just slapped him across the face.
"Oh, Pixal," he said, trying to find the words. "I- you-... I never wanted you to feel like this."
"Like what?" asked Pixal, even more bewildered than before.
"Like you are replaceable," he said earnestly. "Because you most certainly are not."
Pixal blinked at him in confusion. "Was I made with some rare component I was not aware of?" she asked.
Borg let out a sound like steam escaping a tea kettle, and buried his face into his hands.
"Cyrus?" she asked, growing concerned for his reactions. Perhaps it would have been better if she'd never said anything.
"Pixal," he said, looking back up at her and his voice very serious. "When I say you are not replaceable, I do not mean your body. I mean you are not replaceable. Yes, I could build another assistant android, but I wouldn't because he or she would not be you!"
Pixal stared at him. "I do not understand."
Borg sighed. "Think about it this way. You have met both Zane and Echo now. Two Nindroids of a similar design and built by the same man. Disregarding their mechanics and parts. If you were to talk to them without ever seeing them, would you say Zane is the same as Echo? Or that Echo is an exact copy of Zane?"
Pixal shook her head. "No," she said. "They are quite different. Echo is very shy and seems a bit immature, while Zane is calmer, kind and seems very friendly."
"And if he were able to pass on his powers if something were to happen to Zane, do you think Echo could take his place? Do you think the rest of the Ninja would accept him as the 'New Zane' and carry on as such?" asked Borg.
Pixal frowned thoughtfully, before shaking her head. "No, I do not believe so. From what I have seen of the Ninja during their visit, they treat the two very different, and are very fond of both, but in different ways. Even Dr. Julien treated them differently, caring for both of them, but not as if they were the same droid."
"And what about you?" asked Borg. "Would you accept him as a replacement for the Nindroid who saved your life?"
Pixal's frown deepened as she tried to picture timid little Echo built with better parts jumping to save her from the falling screen and saying such sweet things so earnestly to her. She found it was not something she could visualize, nor did she want to. Echo seemed nice, but he wasn't Zane. "No," she replied again. "I would not want him in Zane's place."
"Echo can not replace Zane, and the same would hold true the other way around, and Zane could not replace Echo should something happen to him," said Borg, he then looked at her firmly. "So why would you believe that I could replace you so easily, Pixal?"
Pixal felt something inside her warm at the words.
"The answer is, I cannot," said Borg, pulling up Pixal's blueprints on his screens for her to see. "I may have used these plans to bring you to life, but now that you are here, your life is your own. Your opinion matters and I want you to do things that will make you happy."
The warm feeling grew as she looked over the work he had put into her. "You… really want that for me?" she asked.
"Of course," he said. "It's what any parent would want."
If Pixal could blush, she would. A parent! He saw himself as… her father! She'd had no idea…
"As for Zane," continued Borg. "I would imagine he saved you because he cares for you. He's made it clear from the start he wishes to get to know you better. He sees you as a person worth knowing."
Pixal turned away to hide the pleased smile on her face.
"Isss that ssso?" came a hissing voice behind her.
The voice was like a bucket of ice water onto both of them, and that was the only warning Pixal got before she felt something long, strong, and invisible coiling around her legs and a floating blow torch suddenly flew up to her face.
"PIXAL!" cried Cyrus Borg. He grabbed the wheels of his chair and tried to push himself forward, but stopped as the blowtorch turned on and was held ready to burn Pixal's face at the slightest movement.
Pixal was too frightened to move as her attacker shimmered into view.
A Serpentine, an albino Anacondrai if she was not mistaken, glared past her at Borg with a mad glint in his eyes.
"If she is ssso dear to you and the Ninja, then you wouldn't be opposssed to doing me a little favor to sssave her pretty metal ssskin," said the Anacondrai.
"Please, don't hurt her," said Borg desperately.
"Then do as I sssay," hissed the Anacondrai.
Borg kept glancing between Pixal and the blowtorch, and asked, "What? What do you want?"
"I want a weapon," the snake answered. "No, an army! SSSomething to take revenge on the ninja for doing thisss to me."
Pixal risked a glance over her shoulder at her captor, and from what she could see, there didn't appear to be anything wrong with him.
Her creator seemed to agree. "Do what?" he asked before realizing that was probably a bad idea.
The Anacondrai glowered at him. "Are you blind? Look at me! My complexion isss ruined! All because thossse horrid ninja fed me to the Great Devourer."
Pixal blinked as it finally clicked who was holding her captive. "You are Pythor!" she said. "The Serpentine who released the Great Devourer." And in her opinion, only caused himself to be eaten by it rather than the Ninja.
Pythor gave a nasty grin. "SSSo you've heard of me," he said teasing the blowtorch closer to her. "Good, good. Then you know there isss nothing I wouldn't do to get what I want."
"But an army?" asked Borg, floundering for some way out of this without either of them getting hurt. "How would I even begin to give you that? There's just no way-"
"Oh, isssn't there," said Pythor with a nasty grin. "I ssseem to recall the Ninja coming recently for repairesss for their metallic membersss. You have the meansss to create more, and thisss time make them loyal to me!"
Cyrus Borg paled beneath his glasses. "N-No, I don't!" he said. "Dr. Julien took the plans with him when he left! We only used paper copies due to his… illness. They are not my designs, I don't have them on file!"
Pythor, clearly not liking that answer, snarled and slithering closer to Borg while dragging Pixal along with him.
Realizing what he might do to him, Pixal blurted out, "I have them!"
Pythor froze, and Borg looked at her in dismay.
"Oh, do you?" the snake asked, once again focusing his gaze and blowtorch on her.
"I-I scanned Zane when he entered Borg Tower the first time," Pixal explained, desperate to keep his attention on her and not on her creator… no, her father. "I know how to make more Nindroids."
The nasty grin that spread across Pythor's face would give her nightmares if she were able to dream. He then threw her forwards onto the ground.
Pixal scrambled to get back to her feet, but by the time she did, Pythor had already darted over to Borg and was holding him at blowtorch-point instead.
"Do it!" he hissed. "Or you'll find yourssself a little orphan android."
Feeling there was no other choice, Pixal tensely walked towards the computer terminal and brought up the security feed of the factory downstairs, and the necessary program to input in commands for it to begin building.
Plugging herself into the computer, Pixal prepared to upload her scan of Zane's mechanics before something else caught her eye.
It was her own blueprints. The ones Borg had brought up to show her. Ones he'd created based on Dr. Julien's work.
Suddenly, an idea formed in her mind. It was risky, but if she did it right…
Taking her own plans, she used the outer parts Zane's to modify them just a bit. Making the final results male in shape, dressed in ninja garb, more equipped for fighting than office work, and (at Pythor's insistence) unyieldingly loyal to the malicious Serpentine.
… And housing one specific flaw that Dr. Julien's Nindroids did not have.
Finishing her modifications, Pixal sent the results down to the factory, and they all watched on the screen as the machines came to life.
One by one, they built ninja-like androids. Sinister looking things with glowing red eyes and a variety of deadly weapons.
The menacing smile on Pythor's face grew as he slithered away from Borg to get a closer look at the screen. "Excellent!" he crowed as he watched his army grow in numbers. "Thossse ninja won't know what'sss coming for them. Revenge will be mine!"
As he began laughing maniacally at his coming victory, Pixal took his distraction as an opportunity to slip around him and make a run for her father.
If she could reach him, she could get him out of there, and then-
A long tail slammed into her side just as she came within inches of her father's wheelchair. The force of the blow was enough to send Pixal crashing through the window and falling with a rain of glass out of the current top floor of the building.
"PIXAL!" shouted her father, reaching after her, but before he could move his chair, Pythor was on him again, keeping him still.
Pixal, meanwhile, had to take a moment for the static in her head to clear, but once she registered she was falling, she acted.
Activating the grapple within her wrist, she shot it at a nearby building and hooked it onto a ledge. She then used the momentum to shift her fall into a swing, before landing safely on her feet on the street below (screaming all the way, not that she'd admit that later).
Looking back at the building that was her home, she saw Pythor looking down at her from the broken window. He sneered and turned his back on her, clearly not seeing her as a threat.
And he was right. By now, the building would be crawling with his new army of evil Nindroids. There was no hope for her to be able to fight her way through them and save her father.
But she knew those who could.
With that thought, she turned and began racing down the street, trying her best to make it look like she was running away in fright, rather than a destination with a plan.
She just hoped by the time she reached them it was not too late.
A/N Things are coming to a head in both worlds now. At least Skylor's away from her abusers for now, but whether or not she tells the truth of her situation depends on if she thinks it's safe to do so. Given what she's suffered at the hands of Chen and Clouse, she's been convinced there's no stopping them. Penny, meanwhile, comes to realize she wants to do more to help than just stand on the sidelines, so we'll see where that goes. As such, she doesn't notice how Zane is now reeling from his accidental scan of her. In the show-verse, Pixal is puzzling out why Zane risked his life for her, and Borg is able to give her at least some of that talk the Juliens realized she needed to hear. Too bad it got interrupted like it did. Kudos to EMPFangirl02 for being able to guess that the saboteur in the Show world was Pythor, and now he has an army. Still, if it wasn't clear, these aren't quite the Nindroids from the show, as they were made with Pixal's blueprints, not Zane's. Still, they outnumber the Ninja by a lot, and Pythor is not afraid to fight dirty. Taking them down won't be easy, but don't worry, Pixal has a plan. Does anyone have a guess what the flaw she mentioned is?
Massive thanks as ever to Kay Hau who was a big help in writing this chapter. Much of what came from Pixal and Borg's conversation was from her or things we'd discussed, and she was a big help in editing some mistakes I made. It was also partly her idea for Zane to accidentally scan Penny and come to a few realizations.
Next Time: The Ninja Force regroups after the attack on the beach, and Skylor is faced with a difficult decision. How much of the truth should she tell?
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