Well… Here it is. Here's the end. It's kinda bittersweet. I like this ending a lot, some people might disagree, and I understand, but it's what I want it to be, so that's all that matters. The two things that this fic was built around were chapter 6, and the image of Pixal walking through the snow in triumph. It first came to my mind when listening to this song, which I think sets the tone for this chapter really well. Anyway, this is the last official chapter, but I will be writing an epilogue because I have some ideas about how Zane and Pixal would reunite after all of this that I don't want to go to waste. Anyway… here it is!

Happy Reading!


P.I.X.A.L.

I sat alone in a launching room, where my mech was stored, with Nya, fixing a couple things before I flew off. The room was strangely quiet. No one had anything to say, so no one said anything. I knew Cryptor was out there waiting for me. Or someone at least. He killed me once. I know how he does it, he manipulates your mind. I know every piece of technology he has, I know his blueprints, the only thing he had over me was emotional ground. But I've taken that back. I don't have that weakness for him to hit anymore. He's used my identity against me, he's used Zane against me, he's used my past against me… what does he have left?

"When we were repairing you I equipped you with a visual cloaking device," Nya interrupted my thoughts. "The same that… was in Zane's systems."

"I expect that will prove to be quite useful."

"Yeah, I figured. I was just wondering if you had a preset you wanted to use. I know you probably haven't thought much about what your human alter ego would look like, but-"

"Green eyes. And brown hair. Dark brown."

She paused for a moment. "Oh. Okay, cool. Any particular reason why?"

I glanced down at the fading purple star on my palm. "I just… have a feeling that's what I look like."

"Alright. I'll get that set for you." I stepped back from my work, glancing over the machinery one last time. The Falcon landed next to me as if prompting me.

"I suppose I should go now."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"I'm sure." I held out my arm as the Falcon jumped to rest upon it. "I've got this guy to look out for me. I'll be fine." I gently pet the bird, smiling at Nya.

Nya smiled back, halfheartedly. "Yeah. Be careful, okay?"

"Of course. You stay alive as well."

"Why?" She rolled her eyes jokingly as I began to climb the mech, the Falcon following me.

"You know, for… when Jay gets back."

I could see her tear up as I reached the cockpit. "It's okay. You don't have to pretend. How about just… for when you get back."

I thought for a moment. "For when we're all together again."

Nya gave me a slight nod as I smiled. I turned my attention to the open doors in front of me. Only a second and I had left the building and was headed towards danger. Cryptor was holding a mass of bikers behind him only a few yards away from Zane's memorial statue.

So, he was playing the emotional card again.

Flakes of white fell gently around the sky, nicely accenting Zane's figure, watching over the land. The Falcon flew in front of my vision. Cryptor sat atop his bike looking up at us as if we were his pray. I began to land the mech between him and the statue, and ejected myself, rolling as I hit the ground, standing as the mech touched the snow behind me, the falcon circling above the rest of his men.

"I would suggest you leave," I told him.

He dismounted off his bike and held up his hand, restricting those behind him. He slowly approached me. "Fancy seeing you here… alive."

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Is it really you? Take off your mask."

"Only if you take off yours."

I slowly lifted the helmet from my head and dropped it to the snow. He followed as promised, and lifted his off, revealing his face. His helmet shortly found a home next to mine. The men behind him seemed surprised that both of us would shed our helmets for the other so casually. Maybe they were right to be surprised. Neither of us liked our identity open, and to lower myself to do it for him was slightly appalling. But at the same time, I didn't mind. Cryptor was something to be reckoned with. I respect him too much to insult his intelligence by hiding my face from him.

"You need to leave, or you need to make a move. It's your choice."

"Well, we're not leaving," He shrugged.

"I get it," I rolled my eyes. "You're a distraction, I know that, you know that I know that. I'm your distraction, you know that, I know that you know that. You want to keep me busy, I want to keep you busy. Kill me again if you want to, but know that if you do I'm going to take down at least half of your men with me."

"I don't doubt you." He shook his head. "That's not what I've come here to do."

I looked at him in confusion for a few moments. He had to be lying. "What do you want from me?! I come to you wanting to talk, and you kill me, I come to you ready to die, and you spare me. What are you getting at?!"

This made him nervous. He glanced behind himself at his men. "Hold your ground." He held his hand up and then began walking towards me, his expression growing increasingly uncomfortable. His steps took him increasingly near to me, the Falcon trailing closely behind him. His body was soon standing right in front of mine. I took a step back from him.

"I don't like you that close to me."

He stepped forward again. "Look, Pixal. The truth is… I don't have it in me to kill you again."

I studied his manor again. He wasn't lying. "So, what? You're going to have someone else kill me?"

"No. I don't want you dead."

I crossed my arms. "What do you want?"

"I don't know anymore." He shook his head. "I don't know why I'm here, I don't know what I'm doing. Harumi offered me life, and I took it. I enjoy causing chaos and all, but nothing feels right when it's with her. I… I want to do it with you."

"You're out of your mind."

"No! Listen to me!" He grabbed my hand. "If you don't come with me now, Harumi is going to get to you, she'll capture all of you, she'll deactivate you, or reprogram you. If you come with me now, you still have your free will."

"I'll die before she catches me."

"Come on. Think of how great a team we used to be. We could do that again!" He took my other hand. "I'd have a crazy idea to rage war on someone, you'd keep me in check… you always were the goody two shoes."

I smiled, looking down at his hands.

"Come on. Don't you miss this?"

I looked back up at him, breaking his grasp. "Actually Cryptor, I miss a lot of things. I miss my home. I miss my friends… I miss Zane. You? You're at the bottom of the list."

"You'll come back. Eventually. No one can ever change that much." He turned to walk back to his men.

"You know what? Maybe you're right! I haven't changed. But that's because I was never like you. I was never a mindless, chaotic, droid! I was Cyrus's passion project! I had love put into my designs! I was valued! You will never know what that feels like!"

He stopped and turned to look at me. "Excuse me?"

"Borg never loved you! Not the way he loved me!"

"That doesn't matter anymore! I will never change! You will never change-!"

"Yes, I will! My whole purpose was to change! To fit the needs of those around me! To overcome!"

"And what are your teams needs now?! You just lost four of your most powerful elemental masters! You can't adapt to fill that! They're gone!"

"We lost them, but we have power to overcome that! I have power to overcome that! Zane's heart still beats in my chest! His energy runs through me! He powers me! He powers me so that I can overcome their loss!"

Cryptor laughed. "So poetic, yet so stupid! What does his power actually do for you? Show me! Show me how having a dumb light in your chest can replace Zane." My eyes clouded with tears as he continued to scream at me. The men behind him were getting restless, and his patience was proving to be very thin. "Show me you can change! Show me you can fill the gap that he's left!"

My eyes fell to the ground. The white flakes that stuck to my eyelashes, and piled higher and higher on the ground. My eyes met with the falcon, sitting at my side, looking up at me with hope. With assurance. We had been Zane's closest family. We knew Cryptor was right. There was no replacing him. Nothing could make up for Zane. The falcon stared at me expectantly. Maybe to do something, say something back? No. Something else. He was waiting for me to think something, feel something… realize something.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. Maybe Zane didn't need replacing, but his legacy needed to stay alive. I was the person who had the power to do that. I had a piece of him ingrained into my being. We were two halves of one whole. How could I abandon that? We had been the same person, shared a body, and a life, and a soul. He would want me to continue that soul. He would want me to take the power he had given me.

Power… Zane gave me power… Zane gave me his power.

I placed a hand over his heart. He gave me half of himself…

I rose an arm for the falcon to rest on. The weight of the bird on my arm felt good. It felt right. It felt like something Zane would have wanted. I looked up at Cryptor, waiting expectantly for me to speak, move, anything.

"I can't replace Zane. But I can carry on what he started."

"And what's that?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I smirked before turning around. The falcon flew in front of me - towards the statue. I began taking slow steps. The soft snow beneath my feet cradled me as I moved. Specks swirled around me and the wind took my hair off my neck. I closed my eyes and focused on the energy within me. It grew. It intensified. And yet it was calm. Peaceful. Still.

I opened my eyes and gazed up at the statue. Zane. "I know what I am now," I whispered. "Thank you."

I closed my eyes again, letting the energy inside me take over. I heard voices behind me. Screams. Cryptor's screams. A roar of people behind me. A wave of destruction now headed towards me. Ready to kill me.

But I wasn't ready to let Zane die.

I wasn't ready to let us die.

I wasn't ready to die.

Not this time.

I felt my body. It felt lighter. My feet felt light. My head felt light. My arms felt light. Almost like I was floating. I felt the air. It was cold. The air around me was cold. The air in my lungs was cold.

But my hands…

My hands were colder.


Thanks so much for reading! If you're looking for more, my next big project is

If I Were Here

Another Pixane angst fic that takes Zane's perspective.

I've really enjoyed sharing this with you guys, and hope to share more with you in the future!

Thanks a bunch!

- Maya (Parachutingkitten)