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The night Garmadon was defeated was not the celebration many would imagine.
Of course, the immediate aftermath was filled with joyful reunions, but it didn't last long. Not with Nya's broken ribs and Skylor's sickness… and Kai's likely concussion. Not to mention the countless people in Ninjago City who needed immediate medical care.
Ambulances raced through the city, sirens wailing in the now quiet streets. Tents were hastily set up as people rushed for help.
The ninja were currently set up with two cots and a handful of folding chairs for now. They were among some of the first to be checked out, Nya's injuries being the worst of the bunch, she was carted away for more intense medical care and Jay was barely able to hobble after her on a bum ankle. They parted with the most heartfelt goodbye, you'd think one was dying. Nya even left him with a parting gift in the form of a dented orange pill bottle she'd kept zipped up in her jacket's front pocket.
Jay took one look at the bottle in his hands, eyes going teary, and yelled after her, "I LOVE YOUUUU!"
Nya replied just the same, though not as animated and Jay limped back to the others, rolling the bottle in his hands. He slumped down in his seat as he opened it up, finding the pills half crushed inside. Practically useless.
"What is that?" Cole asked with a raised a brow. The whole lot of them had seen the exchange and no one in this family could mind their own business.
"Amphetamine and dextroamphetamine," Zane answered after merely taking a glance.
Kai snickered, "Woah, Jay? You doin' crack?"
"It's adderall," Jay retorted with a glare.
Cole still looked confused, "Since when are you on prescription drugs?"
Jay shrugged, "I don't know. Since before Wu disappeared. Hasn't been that long."
"No wonder you were so out of it in the First Realm," Kai said, "Quitting anything cold turkey is a bitch."
"Not anymore!" Jay opened the bottle and poured a handful of the broken pieces into his palm. Cole quickly knocked it from his hands, making Jay yell out, "What the heck!"
"You're not just gonna take that shit. That's how you OD!" Cole snapped, "Just get your prescription refilled."
"I'm gonna measure it!" Jay snapped back, "Plus waiting for that would take forever!"
"You can't measure it just by looking!"
"Zane can!"
"Brothers, do not bring me into this…" Zane said tiredly.
"Yeah, can you guys shut up," Kai whisper-yelled. He was currently sitting on one of the cots, the green ninja pressed up against his shoulder. Lloyd was quickly losing a battle against sleep. He sat rigidly, exhaustion lining his body. His eyes were glazed and his head was passively bobbing, resisting the urge to actually lay against Kai as opposed to the way he was awkwardly sitting next to the red ninja.
Behind them, Skylor laid across the other cot, sleeping off whatever Garmadon's power had done to her. Hopefully, it'd be enough. No one in the realm knew how to treat… this. Not anymore, at least.
Cole and Jay lowered their voices, bickering on. Cole was probably the luckiest of the bunch, escaping the First Realm with a pulled muscle and a couple of chipped teeth. Then there was Jay and his twisted ankle. Lloyd was bruised, but not beaten. Not like he had been in Kryptarium. And Kai had a minor concussion. Not the worst he's had, but the head trauma adds up.
Zane and Pixal were the only ones who couldn't get help there. Only staying for moral support as everyone waited for one of the ninja's parents to come collect them. So far, it seemed Mr. Brookstone would be taking the lot home for the night, so long as he made it there first.
Zane had more than a few new dents and scratches across his titanium plating. He'd taken the brunt of damage during the dragon fight, ensured his brother's didn't.
And Pixal… Her damage wasn't as visible. She'd been shot out of the sky. A direct hit from Garmadon that sent her barreling down to streets below. The mech took the brunt of it. To which she was then drug out of her cockpit and thrown into a Kryptarium prison cell. The ninja didn't know this of course. And the one's who did were currently incapacitated. If thing's went her way, the other's wouldn't find out. She'd take care of it, just as she always had. She just had to hold out until—
Pixal jolted suddenly. Somewhere inside of her, wires crossed and sent a sharp jolt of electricity racing through her systems. She outwardly stiffened, practically pulling away from Zane’s arm around her shoulders.
"Pixal?" Zane asked, eyes wide and full of worry, "What happened? What is wrong?"
"N- Nothing!" she lied. But really, she had been fine. It had been manageable. She's just…
Lying to herself. That's what she's doing.
Garmadon shot her down with pure destruction. It tore the exterior of the mech too shreds. And what little of it actually hit her wormed its way inside an tried to rip her apart from the inside out. It dissipated before she even hit the ground.
She is lucky to be alive. She knows that.
But she has remained functional. It does not have to be made into a big deal. She doesn't want it to be.
But then, there was Zane. Staring at her— no, through her— so intensely.
"You are damaged," he said, blinking and finally meeting her eyes, "Pixal, why didn't you say anything?"
"I am fine," she insisted, "Functional."
"Pixal, you have berated me for less," Zane glared at her, "These damages are—"
"I can repair myself once I return to the Samurai X-cave."
"When will that be, Pixal?" Zane practically begged. He was right to question her. "You need help. Now."
Pixal relented, "Fine. If we can find some tools for you to work on me, then…" She trailed off. Zane looked askance, suddenly uneasy at the prospect.
"I don't trust myself to handle your repairs," he admitted, "I can barely maintain myself. I know surface level repairs. I don't think… I don't want to end up hurting you."
"I am not fragile," she insisted.
"I understand that. And yet I still fear that I would do it wrong. And then you'd need someone more qualified than me anyways. Not to mention the fact that I am also damaged, which could further affect my ability to repair you…"
Pixal smiled softly. Despite the subject matter, there was something endearing in watching Zane worry himself in circles. Just proved how much he cared, she supposed.
"Alright. Then how about…" she turned toward the others, who'd slowly gone quiet and were doing a poor job of looking like they were minding their own business. Not that it bothered her. It wasn't as if they'd been doing this in private.
"Jay?" she asked, "Do you think you could handle my repairs?"
The blue ninja instinctively sat up straighter, "Sure, as long as we can find the stuff for it, ya'know?"
Pixal nodded. Zane frowned. "You've just admitted that you've been off your medication for half a month and we've seen how it affects you. Even on the technical side."
Jay made an offended face, "Excuse you! Who designed a whole dragon plane while imprisoned!"
"Yeah, and then you got some of the calculations wrong and then blamed me for it," Cole argued, "No chance I gained weight while we were in the First Realm."
"Fine," Jay relented with a roll of his eyes.
While Jay and Cole continued making faces at each other, Zane turned back to Pixal, "There is still another option. We can locate Cyrus Borg and—"
"No!" Pixal exclaimed, shocking even herself. Everyone was looking at her again.
She folded her hands in her lap and quietly admitted, "I cannot face Cyrus Borg."
Zane furrowed his brow, "Why not? You've done nothing to—"
"I lied to him…" she corrected, "Just as I have lied to all of you and… I don't… He will not be happy with me."
She was acting childish, she was fully aware of that fact. But something about Cyrus had a way of making her feel like a child. That in and of itself is ridiculous. Illogical. She was never a child and would never know what it meant to feel like one. She should not have these feelings. So why—?
"I get it," Cole shrugged.
Pixal raised a brow, "You, Cole?"
"Well yeah," he nodded, idly picking at his teeth, "I ran away from dance school and became a ninja. So I totally get what you're feeling right now."
"You do?"
"Yeah! It was the most terrifying experience of my life. I'm lucky I got away with it for so long. That school should've reported me missing way before that." Cole laughed uneasily, "Dad was pissed."
Zane frowned, "I don't think that's very helpful—"
"It worked out though, right?" Kai prompted with a raised brow.
"Oh yeah," Cole nodded, before suddenly going quiet,"Until I had to tell him I died… That was uh… That sucked."
Everything was quiet again. Awkward as they all stared at Cole. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes fixed to the ground. "I couldn't even hug him because he was crying too hard. And you know… Tears. Water. Departed Realm."
"Oh…" Zane hummed, unsure how to move on from the somber mood.
Jay suddenly clapped his hands. "But you're not dead anymore!"
"Yep! I'm not dead." Cole nodded, spirits rising, "Just had to tell my dad I'm gay. That was pretty easy, actually. He wasn't that surprised."
Pixal nodded along. This conversation had been largely unhelpful.
Kai sat a little straighter, moving a now fully asleep Lloyd to lay across his lap. "Wait, hold on. You're gay!?"
Cole ducked his head, "Oh, uh… Did I not tell you guys?"
"No?!" Jay exclaimed, much to Kai's chagrin, "I think I'd remember if my best friend came out!"
"I have no memory of this either," Zane shook his head.
"Well I kinda just figured it out recently…" Cole explained sheepishly.
Kai shrugged, "It's not surprising honestly."
"I totally called it!" Jay cheered.
"You did not." Kai snapped immediately.
"How would you know!?" Jay retorted.
"Do I have to remind you of the dumb shit you put my sister in the middle of?"
"That was the past," Jay waved him off, "I'm a changed man now. Much more aware of other's feelings."
"Right…"
Pixal huffed. Absolutely nothing has been gained from this except for a better understanding of Cole's romantic life. Something she doesn't really care about in the moment.
"He's your dad," Kai said suddenly, moving on from Cole's impromptu announcement, "I'm sure he won't be mad at you. He'll probably just be happy to see you again."
"He's not… my father," Pixal corrected, uncertainty leaking from her voice, "Cyrus does not…"
But he did. Pixal knew that he did because she lied to him.
She knew so much that she wasn't supposed to. Words that weren't meant for Pixal to hear. Jay and Kai practice bad pick-up lines together. Zane talks to himself as if she were there. Cyrus loves her…
It was never supposed to be this way. Their relationship had always been strictly professional. Creator and machine. Genius and assistant. Master and tool.
But then she gained a heart and all sense of normalcy shattered. Suddenly she was feeling so strongly. Too strongly. She couldn't cope and yet, Cyrus was always there. Talking her through her own grief and allowing her to feel her emotions.
And then Zane came back and she disappeared. She wasn't supposed to see Cyrus beyond Zane's own vision and he wasn't supposed to worry about her.
Nothing was supposed to change, but destiny has proven it loves to play with them. Cyrus was kidnapped and Pixal… did not handle it well. She didn't handle a lot of threats to his safety well. Didn't know how to cope with it…
And so she left Zane, stole Nya's suit and took on an entirely new identity solely so she could save Cyrus. And she succeeded. She brought him home and…
"She was my greatest creation... Truly, I have never built anything better."
"You've built lots of great things, Dr. Borg."
"But none of them were Pixal. I can't even bring myself to replicate her, nothing will compare."
Cyrus loves her… An— And she might love him too…
It's scary… to be loved…
In her short life, she has experienced love in many forms. Her deep connection with Zane, the softness in his eyes when he looks at her and the kind tone that always seemed to be reserved just for her. He loves her, she's always known that on some level. And she has grown to love him so much more than she could ever imagine.
Her growing bond with Nya and Lloyd, one forged out of necessity and yet Pixal found herself fully willing to die for them should the time come. It never did thankfully and yet, she found that her feelings stayed the same. She found a sort of family in them when they lost everything. She loves them. She knows it to be true.
She's even grown to love herself. Her own personhood. She had been nothing. And if it were not for Zane she would have stayed that way. Over the years, she has discovered bits and pieces of herself. And ever since she became Samurai X, she really began taking large strides in it. There's still so much to learn and there's something so wonderful in that.
She has never known the love of a father…
Zane had told her many stories of his own father. Of growing up in Birchwood with only his father to guide him. It was he who set him on the path to protect others. Zane has him to thank for the person he has become today.
And she found herself trying to compare the two. While she never looked into Zane's memories to see his father first hand, she still took what he had told her and tried to apply them to Cyrus.
Cyrus did not teach her, she was preprogrammed with everything she needed to know. She was not designed with a far greater purpose in mind, she was designed with the sole purpose of being an assistant.
And yet, he still let her go. He did not argue or fight her on any of her decisions. He supported her full-heartedly. And when Zane died, he allowed her to stay at Borg Tower with him, not expecting her to resume her predestined role. He was patient with her, even when she acted irrationally. Lost in her own grief.
They're not comparable at all, she supposed.
"I have to find Dr. Borg," she decided quietly, sinking further into her seat.
Zane stood up immediately, likely scanning the surrounding area.
First Master, she didn't even know if he was still alive. There was no announcement of his capture after Garmadon overtook Borg Tower and they announced the mailman's arrest. He could've been hurt and left to die or simply cast away. But she wouldn't know because she didn't look. Couldn't bring herself to. She knew she couldn't handle another heartbreak, lest she shatter completely.
The wires crossed again. Electricity seized her body and left her heart feeling like it was going a mile a minute.
Cyrus' whereabouts were completely unknown. She may never see him again. Not alive at least. He'd never know she was Samurai X— that she became Samurai X for him. He'd never know that she loved him too. What was the last thing he even said to Pixal. She couldn't remember, but the very idea of that is nonsensical. She could remember everything. Her memory is completely intact, its just a matter of looking for it.
But she couldn't. Her head was spinning and her chest was heaving as the thought of losing someone else flooded her mind. She can't do it. She—
Zane put a hand on her shoulder, ripping her from those horrid thoughts. She schooled herself in an instant. She was still. No one would have known of her anguish if they hadn't just witnessed it first hand.
"He is this way," Zane pointed somewhere behind her, "It appears he's just arrived. There are others around him who were blocking his biometrics."
Pixal nodded, immediately moving to push herself out if her seat. "Thank you, Zane," she said as he helped her up.
The other's were watching. Staring. But no one moved to do anything. They didn't know what to do with her. Not even Pixal knew what to do with her.
When she was on her feet, Zane didn't let go. Instead, he said, "I will take you to him," and she was so grateful for it. She did not trust her eyes to find the way. Not while they were lost in her own head.
An indeterminate amount of steps later, Zane stopped. Pixal looked up, following his gaze. Cyrus Borg was sitting a mere ten feet away from them having his vitals checked and looking rather unimpressed by the whole ordeal.
"I told you I'm fine," he grumbled, shooing a medic off of him, "Go help someone who actually needs it."
But Pixal knew at a glance that his blood pressure was raised. He weighed less than the last time she scanned him only a handful of months ago. He looked tired, but that was how Dr. Borg always looked. It never bothered him much, he always greeted the next day with as much enthusiasm as the day before.
Zane gave her hand a squeeze and Pixal ripped her eyes away from the man ahead. He smiled at her, "I'm going to check on Nya's condition," he informed her, "Contact me if you are in need of assistance."
She squeezed back. "I will."
They reluctantly released each other and Zane wandered off into the surrounding crowd, weaving his way between tents and other small groups of people.
She stood there for a moment. Unsure of what to do or say.
Soon enough, she gathered her courage and took a few steps forward, clearing her throat to announce herself. Cyrus turned her way and froze, eyes wide in disbelief.
"P— Pixal?"
"Hello, Dr. Borg," she managed a smile.
He wheeled his chair around, closing the short distance between them. "Look at you!" he exclaimed, adjusting his glasses, "How— How are you here?"
"I don't think that's needs much of an explanation," she said almost bashfully.
Cyrus blinked, looking down at the rest of her body and the armor that adorned it. "OH! We— Well, you've been rather busy as of late, haven't you?"
She ducked her head, "Yes, sir."
"Oh, none of that," he admonished, "You do not work for me. There's no reason to be so formal."
"Of course, Dr. Borg."
"You can call me Cyrus."
"…Of course."
A tense silence fell upon them. Cyrus' eyes never left her.
"I am sorry," she said, "For lying to you…"
Cyrus raised a brow, "Lying? Pixal, there's no reason to apologize—"
"You of all people deserved an explanation," she explained, "I built a new body using your machines. Your materials. I did it because of you. I should've—"
"Pixal, I have always trusted your judgment," he said, reaching out to take one of her hands, "If you felt the need to lie, then I believe it is what was right at the time."
The wires crossed. Pixal braced herself on the arm of his wheelchair and Cyrus pulled back, giving her space. "What's happened?" he asked.
"I am afraid I'm in need of some repairs," she said through gritted teeth.
"Of course. Come. Come sit," he agreed, hands hovering around her as if he'd actually be able to lift her up and carry her. He couldn't of course. Pixal righted herself and made her way to nearest seat. A bench on the edge of the sidewalk. Cyrus sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Now. I don't have any of my tools on hand, but I'm sure I can at least find the root of the problem. Ehm… May I?"
Pixal nodded, moving to remove her chest plate. Her spaulders had been long removed. Heavy armor wasn't all that comfortable, especially after wearing it for multiple days.
She pulled up her undershirt to allow Cyrus to open up her chest cavity. He took one look and frowned. "Pixal, what in the world has happened to you?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle," she reassured him, "My fighting and self defense have greatly improved since you last saw me."
"I'm quite sure of that," Cyrus chuckled, "You've been very busy lately."
"Yes…" she agreed uneasily.
Cyrus reached into her chest cavity, "Well, at the very least I can fix some of this wiring. It'd be much easier if I had some pliers though…"
Pixal watched as he carefully separated the two wires that had been causing her so much distress. It felt as if an extra pulse had been quieted inside of her. There were still pieces missing inside of her and parts grinding painfully together, but for now, there was one less ache.
Cyrus reattached one of the wires to its original counterpart, trying off the other one away from the mess to be fixed later. The only reason Pixal didn't argue with him using his hands was because he primarily used the prosthetic. "There," he sighed, "Not quite good as new, but it should be much more manageable now."
"Yes, thank you… Cyrus."
"I promise, once the tower is deemed safe enough to enter, we'll go get you fixed up first thing."
"And Zane," Pixal added, "He needs repairs too…"
"Of course," Cyrus smiled.
It was nice. Too nice. It felt as if it were something she didn't fully deserve.
"I am sorry…" she repeated.
Cyrus shook his head, "Pixal, we just went over this."
"You should be angry with me."
"Never."
"But I was right there," she emphasized, "You told me things. Things I shouldn't have heard."
"I— Oh…" his eyes widened with sudden understanding, "I suppose I did."
Pixal nodded, eyes fixed on her lap.
"Does that bother you at all?" Cyrus asked, "I understand if that sentiment makes you uncomfortable—"
"No!" she shook her head, before it lowered again, "Not at all. I just… should have allowed you to tell me that."
"Pixal?" he raised his hands to cup her cheeks, "I don't care if I have to say it a thousand times. You are my greatest creation. I could be more proud of you and how far you've come."
Pixal met his eyes. His were shining.
"You've become so much more than I ever could have imagined," he continued, "And if you will allow me, I'd love to always call you my daughter."
Her powersource felt heavy in her chassis. It was odd. She had heard it all before and yet, it still felt brand new. It was the first time this had been said to her after all.
She nodded, "I think I'd like that. Very much."
His thumbs traced the markings on her cheeks. "You're so beautiful… I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see you again."
"I feel the same way, f- father." The word felt strange in her mouth. Foreign. Never meant to be uttered, and yet there was no better word for him.
Cyrus looked taken aback for a moment. And before Pixal could even think that she had done something wrong, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Held her as tight as she imagined any father would.