Chapter 17
When Ends Meet
"I-I'm here," Zane coughs under a pile of wood at the end of the little house. Pixal glances around, pushing through debris in her path such as bits of metal, wood, and fallen objects. Pixal's shoes crunch on shards of glass and she steps on a picture with a broken frame, but pays no heed to it and searches for her loved one.
"Zane, keep making sound so I can find you," she calls out to him.
"A-at t-the back e-e-end of the h-h-h-house," Zane's voice starts to become more and more uncoordinated and languishes as Pixal looks desperately for him. He shuts his eyes as darkness blocks his vision and a hand touches his face.
"Zane hold on," Pixal tells him. "I found him and need your help!"
"I'm coming!" Lloyd shouts from outside, rushing in.
"Zane, are you injured?" Pixal turns to the ice ninja, who opens his eyes, almost groggily and winces as he shifts his weight.
I fell off an electrical wire. Obviously I will be damaged. Zane doesn't tell her that and merely responds, "Y-yes."
"Where?"
"My entire left side and the majority of my chest," Zane says, finding his voice stronger.
"Where are you guys?" Lloyd asks, not knowing he is a few feet away from them.
"Right here," Pixal replies.
Lloyd shuffles over, shoving boards aside. A wood beam groans as others are moved out of the way, causing it to come loose and drop over Lloyd's head. "Above you!" Zane warns and Lloyd catches it with both hands, throwing it behind him.
"Thanks. How are you doing?" Lloyd questions.
"I was in the middle of being injected with a syringe, after Marcy had cut some of my wires off, disabling the function where the metal flaps close over my energy source, so technically-"
"Wait a minute. Why was she injecting you and why did she disable your only protection for your "heart"?" Lloyd interrupts.
"I'd rather explain later. Marcy could tell you better actually. Could you help me out of here?"
"Oh, yeah," Lloyd rubs the back of his neck, "Sorry."
"No pressure," Zane reassures him.
Pixal pulls Lloyd aside for a moment and whispers to him, "Although he isn't saying anything, you need to be extremely careful when you remove the beams. From what I can tell he is in an unstable condition and in great peril."
Lloyd nods, whispering back, "I get you."
In no time, Lloyd removes all the beams and picks Zane up under his legs and chest, carrying him outside with a bit difficulty. He sets Zane on the cold snow by Marcy knees and backs away from everyone; then sets both hands together and creates his green motorcycle. "Get on. I can't get off the vehicle or else it will disappear," he tells them.
"Where are we going?" Marcy asks as she and Pixal lift Zane onto the cycle as carefully as possible.
"To my house," Lloyd responds, "My dad and mom will help us take care of him.
At Lloyd's House
Marcy knocks on the door of the large monastery, with Lloyd, Zane, and Pixal behind her, still on the running motorcycle. Garmadon soon answers, "This is the Garm- what happened to him?"
"Dad, can you help us?" Lloyd says, "Zane needs attention right away. The house he was in collapsed while he was in the middle of an operation."
Garmadon calls Misako and all six of them carry the damaged Nindroid inside, and set him on the table. Zane screams in pain as Lloyd knocks his left side into a chair while he pulls it away. "Mom, can you get our tools?" Lloyd requests.
Misako rushes out of the room and Pixal looks at Zane's heart, dread creeping through her as the slightly thick liquid slides off the energy source, revealing a deep hole in the blue piece. Zane's eyes turn grey and he opens his mouth for no apparent reason. Misako hurries back in the room and hands the toolbox to Marcy. "I need anyone to leave if you cannot control yourself because he could shut down at any moment. Do you understand?" Everyone nods. "Pixal, I need your help."