All aboard the angst train, everyone. It's a rough one:(
Thank you, FrozenSoapbubble for your review! I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Ugh, I saw the clip too:3 It was so sad! I watched it and was like: oh, crud T-T. So excited (nervous) about the new season!
Enjoy!
Ok, you know what? Self-preservation be darned.
This guy was going down.
Pixal stiffened as the man stepped over Zane, crackling blue cane inching closer. "You know, it'll be easier on the both of us if you come quietly, sweetheart. You're just making more work for me-"
Yuki screamed and pounced on the thief as he lumbered past the workbench, clawing up his long coat up to his ugly face and dragging his claws down the side of his neck. The thief shrieked and flailed his arms around his head as Pixal dashed for the elevator.
Blood dripped down the thief's throat as Yuki fought him with furious desperation. He was not going to take Zane and Pixal away from him. Not if he had anything to say about it.
But the surprise of the cat's attack was quickly wearing off. The man gripped a fistful of fur and yanked. Hard. Pain ripped through Yuki as he saw the crackling blue electricity slam into him and send him flying across the room, cracking his head against the glass window, and crumpling to the ground.
His vision fuzzed in and out as he tried to stand up, his left paw buckling under his weight. His gaze focused on Pixal, fumbling to punch in the key code to the elevator while the thief stalked closer, stumbling from his injuries and swinging the cane back and forth.
A horrible feeling of déjà vu flooded his senses when he saw Lloyd's—Pixal's eyes widen as the snake crept up to her, and this time, there was no Kai to come and save the day. Yuki watched in helpless terror as the thief closed in, hooking his arm in a chokehold around the droid's neck and digging his cane into the side of her head. Pixal cried out once before slumping in his grasp.
The thief settled Pixal down to the floor and straightened, proudly surveying his handy work. Yuki watched as he whistled out three shrill notes and took a quick step back toward the opposite wall.
For a minute, Yuki's pounding head didn't quite register the growing noise rising behind him. The only warning he got was the shadow bleeding over and around him before the window at his back erupted in a spray of rippling glass shards, slamming into the cat and sending him flying. The force sent Yuki tumbling into the metal frame of machinery, knocking the breath from his lungs and leaving his diaphragm spasming.
Yuki didn't know anything could hurt this much. The burn on his side, the glass lodged in his back, the jagged pain in the back of his skull, his burning lungs, he wanted it to stop. He needed it to stop. He gingerly twisted his neck to see Zane still on the ground. He needed Zane.
"Why don't you break a little more of the window, Rex, see if we can wake the dead, huh?" The thief scowled, throwing his hands up exasperatedly. Yuki probably imagined it, but he thought he heard the engine of the ship rev apologetically.
Yuki tried to stand, but every time he tried pain erupted from every part of him so bad it made him want to curl up and die. The thief was having his own struggle of getting the two nindroids on his ship, grunting from the strain as the sun began to peek above the horizon.
Yuki must have passed out for a minute because the next time he lifted his head both Zane and Pixal had disappeared into the cargo hold. He blinked as reality came crashing back into him. He had to get on that ship now. If he didn't, he'd never see Zane again.
That thought scared him worse than anything he'd ever felt.
He somehow managed to get all his shaking paws underneath him, though he didn't remember how he did it. Keeping his front left paw suspended as best we could, he hobbled toward the whirring ship, whimpering quietly as the rest of his paws were torn up by the broken glass, leaving a little trail of blood from the machine to the open starboard side.
The thief had vanished into the cockpit, leaving a clear path for the cat. He just had to climb up the open side of the craft, then he could sleep. Then he could rest. He attempted a jump. The ship seemed to shutter hesitantly as Yuki slipped off the step-up with a strangled yelp, as if it weren't sure whether this stowaway should make it on board or not, or whether it should do anything about it.
Meanwhile, Yuki was heaving on his side, seriously struggling to stay awake. His vision swam and the burn flared so much so he couldn't move.
The engine ignited again and the ship's blades began to rotate, sending his fur rustling. This is it. I'm never going to see him again. I'm never going to see any of them again.
The thoughts swirled around his head, swarming him like gnats. He rested his cheek on the marble and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block everything out.
His eyes flew open as something metal slipped underneath him and lifted him up, sending another shockwave of pain through his body. He turned his head to see the ship, Rex he remembered blindly, scoop him up by the gangplank and letting him roll limply into the cargo hold, Zane and Pixal tied up in a crumpled heap in the bottom.
Yuki tumbled down onto Pixal's left side with barely a sound, too exhausted to cry out, to say nothing of processing what just happened. It didn't make sense, one minute he was alone outside the ship, the next he was somehow exactly where he wanted to be.
All he knew was that he was with Zane. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he was with Zane. Zane would make everything better.
He crawled over to the titanium ninja, still unconscious, a nasty scorch mark burning through his side. Yuki nuzzled up underneath his chin, now officially his favorite spot to hide, and breathed out deeply. Then, and only then, did he surrender, letting the pain and exhaustion sap away the last of his adrenaline and leave him balled up safe, listening to Zane's humming heartbeat.
The next couple of hours were a blur for the cat. Sometimes he could blink blearily upwards at the sunrays filtering into the compartment, other times it hazed out, probably by clouds mulling over.
The last time he woke up the harsh smell of salt assaulted his nose and the sound of waves crashed in his ears. For a second he thought he was just taking a nap with Dr. Julian in the old house. Then Yuki looked over at Zane and Pixal, and it flooded back.
With some of that bone-wearying tiredness ebbing, Yuki ignored the surging pain, climbed with great difficulty up the side of the compartment, and peeked over the rim at the thief sitting comfortably in the pilot seat, handling the controls with one hand while gazing out the windshield. Peering beyond the thief, Yuki thought he could just make out a hazy strip of green on the horizon.
The ship pitched forward, sending Yuki tumbling back down. He felt his stomach roll as they began a descent, the faraway scent of jungle foliage wafting in. The ship began to slow down, thrusters rotating towards the water's surface in a controlled landing.
The water suddenly cut away to a beach, which gave way to green ferns and trees, which in turn gave way to a stone courtyard with dozens of tiny figures milling around far below. They flew over a massive monastery, deep red and decorated with gold accents, finally landing on a balcony overlooking the ocean sunset.
Dust billowed all around as the motors shut off, making Yuki sneeze. The thief's boots thumped around the craft as he shut everything off and jumped off the ship, Yuki could just hear his smooth voice address an unseen visitor, "Chen, long time no see. How's business been?"
An oily voice scoffed, "That's Master Chen to you, Ronin." He said the thief's name as if it was a dirty word.
Ronin continued, undaunted, "Clouse, looking sleep-deprived as ever I see."
A movement behind him caught Yuki's attention. Pixal's circuits on her cheek flickered and her fingers twitched.
"Oh, enough with the chit-chat!" A new bubbly voice broke in impatiently, "Where is the ice master?"
"As you requested," Yuki heard Ronin climb back onboard, unlatching the slotted trapdoor and hoisting it open with a grunt. "Got you a little something extra too, a bonus, if you will," Ronin added quickly, "for a price that is."
Yuki heard Clouse scoff again, swishing his tail agitatedly as Pixal's eyes fluttered. Instinct urged him to hide beneath the nindroids before Ronin spotted him.
He heard two more pairs of boots step onto the ship and flattened his ears against the back of his head when Chen, Clouse, and Ronin stooped down to see the two nindroids. "Who's the other robot?" Clouse asked, looking sternly at the thief.
Ronin shrugged, bending down to untie Pixal's hands, "Don't know, don't care," he said. "Found her with the ice master, figured she'd be good for something. But double captives means double price, right?"
Chen waved his hand dismissively, a snake hide swinging side to side around his neck, "I have no use for her, she is inconsequential. You will be paid what we agreed."
Ronin coiled the rope and tossed it into a corner, "Aw, c'mon, Chen. Help a guy out, will you? Times are tough. Besides," he pointed to his face, "I'd like a little compensation for my troubles."
Clouse snickered, "looks like the robot kicked your ass."
Ronin pointedly ignored him.
Chen sighed and turned away, hopping off the ship and out of view. "very well. You'll be paid what you're owed. Clouse, have one of my men take the androids to a cell. We will have to wait for Skylor to return to the mainland before we get started."
Ronin gave a smug grin to Clouse as he lit another cigarette, leaning easily against his ship, "Pleasure doing business with you."
Almost no time had passed between the time Clouse barked at a passing guard to help than a pair of painted hands reached into the hold to retrieve the nindroids. Yuki didn't have time to process them taking Zane away before another hand reached out for Pixal.
Yuki abandoned his hiding spot, arched his back, and bared his teeth at the hand. The guard recoiled, startled.
"What's this?" Clouse, moving much more quickly than the guard, grabbed the scruff of Yuki's neck and held him up for a better look. Another bolt of pain, coupled with heart-stopping fear, pulsed through the cat as he stared eye to eye at Clouse.
"Heh, don't suppose there's any chance of a bonus for it, huh?" Ronin asked sheepishly. Clouse turned over his shoulder and gave the thief a withering look.
Turning his attention back to the trembling cat in his grasp he grinned, sunken in eyes glittering in a very serpentine-like way. "You'd make a nice little snack for my snake."
Yuki tensed, his breathing picking up but still far too weak to fight back as he twisted and squirmed. He was really getting tired of being called snake food. All he could really do was give a weak little hiss.
Thank the first master, he didn't have to. Clouse's snarky remark was cut off by Pixal landing a sharp kick to his kneecap. His leg buckled with a cry as he clutched his knee, letting Yuki drop on instinct. Yuki lost no time in limping away as fast as his legs could carry him, diving behind a collum and peeking his head out. Clouse turned and sent a look of pure hate at the robot sitting up on her elbows, returning his glare with gusto. "You talk too much." She said simply.
Yuki loved Pixal.
"Guards," Clouse snarled, straightening with difficulty and pointing a damning finger at Pixal, "take this droid to the factory, I'm sure you'll find some useful spare parts for our machines."
Pixal's eyes widened as the guards grabbed her arms and hoisted her up. She struggled and bucked in their grasp, but nothing could break her free. Clouse's mouth curled up in a sick smile as Pixal was taken away.
No, no, nonono, Yuki's heart felt like it was being wrenched in two. He had to help Pixal, but Zane also needed help. What could he do? Zane could take all the guards down if he were awake, he seemed like the obvious choice. But, Pixal needed help too. Right now.
Yuki squeezed his eyes shut to think.
If Yuki could find Zane, he would find Pixal, he reasoned.
Yuki was useless now; he needed help.
Yuki needed to find Zane.
The cat opened his eyes and turned to face the foreboding palace-like structure in front of him, praying he wasn't making the wrong decision.
Yuki wandered down the maze of corridors for what seemed like forever, avoiding the puddles and cobwebs littering the corners. He knew it wouldn't be forever, it would be comparatively easy finding Zane this time around; all he had to do was follow the scent of the two guards who took him this way. But the pain kept flaring up, each time worse than the last. before long, Yuki had to stop and lean against the wall to support himself when the torture got so bad. But he had to keep going. he had to keep going.
Zane's scent was growing stronger, however faint it was to begin with. the heavy bolted doors lining the wall were all nearly identical, forcing Yuki to stop at each one to sniff. Most were empty, and some had the awful smell of decay coming from the other side, but one locked door with a small barred window had exactly what Yuki was looking for.
He pushed back the next wave of nausea and climbed up the splintered wood, slipped through the metal bars, and dropped to the ground. He wasn't able to stop himself from landing on his injured paw and let out a strangled mew as he clutched it close to himself.
When he looked up he could just make out the glow of two blue eyes powered on, illuminating the dingy cell, if only slightly.
His head tilted in confusion at the irregular breathing coming from the master of ice, eyes far away, panicked even. Something was very wrong.
"No, just shut up!" His scream resounded off the cell walls and ricocheted down the hall in an eerie echo.
I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll post the next chapter soon!
Hope you enjoyed, leave a comment if you liked:) Now go have a lovely day!
