Zane retracted the drill back into his arm and slumped against the wall. "I do not think my drill is able to cut through these chains, Miss Pixal."
"You can just call me 'Pixal,' Zane," Pixal told him.
Zane frowned. "I barely know you. It seems more polite to call you 'Miss.'"
Pixal sighed. "Right. Of course."
That was when a voice called into the cell. "Zane, is that you?"
"Huh?" Zane wondered. How did the voice know his name? Tugging at the chains, which were at least longer this time if they weren't breakable, Zane made his way to the door. He went up on tiptoe, trying to see out, trying to see who had called his name.
A face appeared at the grate in the cell door, a face split by a wide grin and covered in something powdery and white. "Zane!"
"Cole!" Pixal exclaimed.
"Cole?" Zane repeated.
"Yeah, it's me!" The face replied. "It's so good to see you."
"He is one of your friends," Pixal explained.
Zane thought about that. It was a nice thought, having another friend.
"But wow, you're silver! And, and you're short," Cole continued.
"I think it is titanium," Zane stated. "And yes, I am short. I do not like it. But you are all white."
Cole laughed. "There was a, uh, flour incident. Nevermind that. You look so great, it's unbelievable, even if you're shorter than you'd like to be. Once we get out of here, I bet we can all fix that."
"That would be good, both getting out of here and getting fixed," Zane replied.
"Hold tight," Cole stated, looking over his shoulder at something. "I'm getting you out of here. I'm getting us both out of here. That's a promise."
He stepped back from the grate and Zane did the same, listening as Cole told someone that he was going to make trouble along with making noodles, whatever that meant. Cole's voice soon faded away, and Zane stepped back up against the wall, staring at his chains.
"So he's my friend?" Zane asked, a little uncertainly.
"Yes. You are such good friends, you all call yourselves brothers," Pixal replied.
Zane grinned. That was an even nicer thought. Then he paused. "We 'all' call ourselves brothers? Do I have more friends, Miss Pixal?"
"Yes, you do. Many of them, although only some are such close friends that you consider yourselves siblings," Pixal stated.
Zane could hardly contain his joy. Bouncing on his toes, he exclaimed, "More friends! That is amazing!"
Pixal laughed. "Yes, it is, and not just because it is nice to have friends. I believe your friends will help us break out."
Now that, that was the nicest thought of all.
Gingerly, Zane took a step, then another, then another. He was almost there…
Then, a load roar, and the dragon awoke, launching itself at Zane.
Zane screamed, backing away quickly and pressing himself against the wall of the cave. No, no, no! This was too much, too scary, too real!
"Zane!" A voice called, and Zane's eyes popped open.
Oh. Right. It hadn't been real. It had been another dream.
Looking around, Zane's eyes lit upon a person standing right in front of him. The person was dressed in an orange uniform and looked somewhat familiar.
"It is Cole," Pixal told him excitedly.
Oh, that made sense. Now Zane could see it, although Cole was no longer covered in flour, which made recognizing him a little difficult.
"You came back," Zane said.
"Of course I did," Cole stated. He held up a set of keys. "I made a promise."
"And you got keys? You are going to get us out of here?" Zane wondered.
Cole grinned. "You got it in one."
Leaning in close, Cole made quick work of unlocking the chains. Then he held out a hand.
Zane stared at Cole's hand uncertainly. Just as Zane remembered that Father had taught him that sometimes people shook hands when they met, Cole grabbed Zane's hand and pulled him to his feet.
"You really are that short, huh?" Cole observed.
Zane pouted. "Not normally."
Cole laughed. "Yeah, I know. Now come here, you shiny new tin can."
"I am not a-" Zane began, but before he could say "tin can," Cole had pulled him into a fierce hug. "Oh!"
"Can you feel the love?" Cole asked, releasing him.
Zane paused. "I am afraid I do not know what that means. But I do know that the longer we stand here, the shorter time we have to escape."
Cole chuckled. "You know, you were always the smart one."
"I was?" Zane asked.
"Well, yeah. Don't you remember all the times you made a good plan into a great plan, or calculated the odds, or did all that clever stuff for us?" Cole asked, starting toward the door. His voice sounded like he was just teasing, like Cole was certain Zane remembered.
But Cole couldn't be certain, because Zane didn't remember. He said as much. "No. No, I don't remember. I don't remember that at all. I don't even remember who 'us' would be."
Cole stopped in his tracks. He turned back, eyebrows furrowing. "What do you mean? Of course you remember who 'us' is. You and me and Kai and Jay and Lloyd and sometimes Nya and Wu. Us. You know?"
"I do not know," Zane confessed. "Miss Pixal says that my memory drive is out of sorts and that I know you and her and other people too, but I do not."
"Wait. Hold on, there's a lot going on with what you just said," Cole stated. Then he was quiet for a moment.
Zane stared at him. He wanted to ask what he was supposed to hold onto, but he got the feeling Cole was realizing something important. Zane didn't want to interrupt.
"So you don't, you don't know me?" Cole asked.
Zane hesitated. Cole's voice sounded like he was on the verge of breaking down, and Zane felt much the same way. Zane wanted to stop that from happening, but he didn't know. So he admitted, "No. I don't know you. I'm sorry, but I don't. I don't know anybody except Father, and he is not here. But I am here, and I do not want to be here, and I do not want to be short, and I do not know what is going on, and I want to know what is going on!"
Tears sprung to Zane's eyes, and he let them fall, unsure of what else to do. He stared at the ground, not wanting to see Cole's reaction to Zane not knowing him.
"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, it's going to be okay," Cole said quickly. His footsteps came closer, and soon he was kneeling in front of Zane. "Can you answer one question for me? Can you do that for me?"
Zane nodded, sniffling.
"What's the last thing you remember before being here?" Cole asked.
"I was in the treehouse with Father, and I was playing cars, and we were going to have supper," Zane replied.
Cole sucked in a quick breath.
"Sorry. I do not remember anything else," Zane said miserably.
"Okay. That's okay. We'll work this out. You can tell me more, but we should get to a safer place first," Cole concluded. He held out a hand. "Come on. You ready to go?
Zane nodded and sniffed one more time, swiping at his eyes with his hand to get rid of the tears. He reached out and grabbed Cole's hand. "Let us go."
They left the cell and began making their way through the tunnels, turning this way and that, that way and this.
Cole began to turn down another tunnel, but Zane tugged on his hand. "Are we trying to go back to the cells?"
"What? No," Cole said.
"That way will take us back to my cell," Zane told him.
Cole paused. "Oh. Maybe you should be deciding where we go, huh?"
Zane managed a small smile at that, and Cole smiled down at him in return.
Then there was a low growling sound, and Cole's smile disappeared.
"What was that?" Zane asked. "I do not know that sound."
"I do," Cole said ominously. "We need to move, fast!"
Cole took off at a run and Zane tried to keep up, his too-short legs pumping at their maximum speed. Bewildered, Zane asked, "I thought I was deciding where to go?"
"Trust me, we want to just go right now," Cole stated.
Shrugging, Zane focused on trying to keep up, but then Cole skidded to a stop.
"Looks like a dead end wall," Cole panted.
"It's not a wall," Zane observed. It was too scaly and rounded for that. "It looks like… Like a really big serpent."
"Come on. We need to find another way, and fast," Cole stated. He started forward, but paused almost immediately, looking down at Zane, who had been struggling to keep up.
"What?" Zane asked.
Cole knelt next to him. "Climb on my back."
Zane frowned and said again, "What?"
"Just do it," Cole encouraged.
Confused, which seemed to be his natural state in this place, Zane obeyed, slinging his arms around Cole's neck.
Cole stood, looping his arms under Zane's legs. "All right. Now, let's move!"
Cole took off at a sprint, jostling Zane slightly as he went. It wasn't the most comfortable way to move, but at least they were moving faster now. Soon, however, they came to another serpent-wall.
"Another dead end," Cole realized, skidding to a stop.
"The serpent's strategy appears to be to surround us and coil inward," Zane stated.
Cole turned on his heel, saying, "Yeah, well, my strategy is not to be eaten."
Cole took turn after turn, coming to dead end after dead end. Finally, he turned a corner and froze in place. "Oh no."
Zane peered over his shoulder and gasped. At the end of a long hallway was the head of a massive snake, flicking its tongue in the air and focusing its beady eyes on them.
"It was nice knowing you, Zane. I think this really is our dead end. I don't suppose you can freeze him?" Cole asked.
"Freeze him? How? With what?" Zane asked.
Cole sighed. "Right. No memories. Well, that settles it. We're doomed."
The serpent began rearing back its head.
"Miss Pixal, could you look for escape scenarios?" Zane asked quickly.
"Pixal? You're mentioning her again? She's not here, Zane," Cole stated.
"Yes, she is. She's in my head," Zane objected.
"Escape route calculated. Activating explosive shurikens," Pixal reported.
"She's what?" Cole said.
Before Zane could answer, his hand shot out without him telling it to do so. It pointed at the ground and a panel opened in its palm, releasing a series of little star-like weapons. A hole opened in the ground and Zane and Cole fell into it just as the serpent launched itself forward. The serpent sailed over the hole, which was too small for it to enter.
Cole landed on his feet in another tunnel, staggering slightly but not dropping Zane. "Whoa. So, uh. Pixal? If that was you, good job."
Pixal laughed in Zane's head. "Thank you."
"She says thank you," Zane reported.
Cole shook his head. "Wow. Okay then. We'd better move. Tell me which way to go."
Zane directed Cole through the tunnels, taking many turns, before Cole halted before taking a corner. Cole pressed against the wall of the tunnel.
"What are you-" Zane began.
Cole shushed him.
Zane was quiet, and a moment later, he heard two voices, two slightly familiar voices, two guards' voices.
"They've ordered everyone after some Kabuki girl," one was saying.
"What about the escaped factory worker?" The other wondered.
The first scoffed. "Forget him. Chen will make sure the other workers pay for his actions. Poor saps."
The guards continued on their way, their footsteps fading into the distance, before Cole spoke. "'Poor saps?'"
"If I calculated correctly, the exit should be just ahead," Zane stated, confused again but learning not to mind it too much.
Cole sighed. "We can't leave. Or at least I can't leave. A ninja doesn't save himself. He protects those who can't protect themselves. I have to go back. I have to go back and save them all."
"Then I'll go with you," Zane stated, not wanting to leave his rescuer's side. Cole was being so nice to him, just like Pixal, and just like Pixal, Zane didn't want to leave without him.
Cole nodded. "We'll get off this island one day, Zane. But it's either all of us or none of us."