Chapter Description: The ninja talk. It's long overdue, in Pixel's opinion.
A/N: Ugh, this is bad. But might as well. (Please review. I'm such a dang review-hog.)
The three ninja sat in silence, Pixel having long gone back to Zane. Cole opened his mouth, then closed it. But Kai bit his lip, and the bullet.
"Are we actually that bad?" He asked quietly, and returned to biting his lip right after. Cole sighed, abandoning all attempts at communication to put his head in his hands.
"Apparently," Jay responded, voice laced with hatred that was, evident by the way he dug his nails into his palms, directed at everyone and everything except the two androids. "if Pixel says anything, it's probably true. We messed up." Cole took his head out of his hands, groaning.
"Obviously," said Cole, glaring at the floor. "how long have we been doing this? Ignoring him?" Kai gulped, looking up into the lamp.
"It's not that we're been ignoring him," Lloyd spoke for the first time in an hour. "it's just that we've been ignoring his feelings." The other ninja glared at the golden one, who was making his best attempt at glaring at himself.
"Not helping!" Jay snapped. But after a moment he sighed. "We've also been ignoring his need for comfort." Kai looked at him, gaze searching for something. Then he also heavily sighed.
"Sensei Wu said to fix a problem, we should get to the root of it. What else have we done?" His voice was much too loud in the otherwise silent space, as if he were trying to talk over someone else. But for the quiet area, it was as if he were screaming. After another minute of utter silence, he spoke again, this time, voice quieter but much heavier. "If we're going to fix this, we need to know."
"We attend to his injuries last," Jay began, fidgeting with his gi. "I think they hurt the most." Everyone paused at this, recollecting their memories of when Zane was hurt- his arm ripped off a few times, wires frayed many more. And half of his face was torn off on multiple occasions. His power source, too, was often messed with when he was captured or surrounded by enemies. They now understood one reason Zane loved Pixel so much- she attended to him, she gave him that much needed love and care he lacked in other people. His family, his friends didn't even bother to repair him when his arm was torn off, instead bandaging their legs for the eighth time.
"Uh," Kai began, leaving his mouth open while he comprehended his incoming words. "we haven't thanked him for dying yet." The air grew thicker and thicker with each statement.
"That's so messed up," Cole groaned. "why hasn't Zane talked about this before?" Lloyd bit the inside of his cheek.
"He's an android. He might've thought this was normal, but it's obviously had an effect on him. Pixel probably talked with him." Replied Lloyd, and the air was suffocating.
"Pixel talked with him," said Kai. "we're going to have to next."
