moral of the story | a ninjago highschool fanfiction

[24] we would all die for ryu, let's be honest

"There was a myth I was very intrigued in when I began the process of forming your exoskeleton. I knew that I had to find a core for you that would work to my measurements and specifications. The myth dictated that inside the centre of the Labyrinth, there was a jewel. There were few notes on it, but what I found indicated it was a clean, renewable power source. Not enough to power the city or a house, I'm afraid. But enough for you."

He slid the second sheet across the desk, and tapped on the image printed there. A glittering jewel, uncut and radiant in the jungle light cast over it.

"I almost gave up on it, but I had created you in my mind with so much detail I just couldn't give up. At that point, investors were getting mad at me for not producing new goods for the public, they even threatened to revoke their stocks and stop investing in Borg Industries, but I was so close. It took two and half years and forty five scouting missions to pinpoint the exact location, and the extraction had to be done carefully. As I predicted, it was perfect for you."

He gestured to her chest at tears pricked at her eyes. He'd done everything for her, risked losing investors, profits and everything that he'd worked so hard for just to find her core.

"Have a look for yourself."

Pixal stepped into the bathroom and peeled off her sweater and shirt, hands shaking as she discarded the tops next to the skin. With the blueprints in her left hand, she found where the magnetic spring release would open her control panel. She pushed lightly on the estimated post and let a soft gasp escape her lips as the panel sprung open. Inside was a neat maze of wires centered around her core, right where her heart should be. It glowed a pale minty green around the outer edge, fading into a pastel lavender focused on the centre.

There were also a few gold plated switches. One was a memory switch, and the other two were unlabelled. Her hand hesitated over the memory switch. Could she forget everything and go back to believing she was human? The thought was swiftly countered by the thought of losing everything she had right now. And forgetting Zane. Sweet, caring, her boyfriend Zane who was going through the same turmoil as she was. She closed the panel with a sense of finality and acceptance, allowing a small smile to cross her face.

She'd once said to Zane that you had to go with the flow until you had the power to stop it yourself. She certainly didn't have the power now, but she was stronger than before. And that's all she needed really.

kai

"I'm sorry, you got us a...puppy?" he shrieked. Said puppy yipped at the loud noise and Ray sent Kai an admonishing look. He quietened down reluctantly as the puppy, Ryu, his dad had said, yawned sleepily.

Nya was already cooing over the drowsy puppy in the most un-Nya like way, and his mother had joined in too. Kai spluttered to himself internally, and then the puppy yipped again and slowly opened his eyes, revealing doleful orbs of chocolatey brown and suddenly he was patting Ryu and making cooing noises too.

Ryu wriggled in Ray's crooked arm, yawning once more and Kai felt himself melt over a tiny puppy. The internal battle between it's just a freaking puppy! and, it's a freaking puppy! continued as his fingers brushed over silky soft fur, rubbing Ryu on his belly. Ryu responded by nipping at his fingers with tiny teeth that barely grazed over calloused skin.

"What breed is he?" Nya asked, tickling Ryu under his chin much to the tiny puppy's excitement.

"A Newfoundland pup," declared Maya with a smile. Ray set Ryu on his feet gently so he could toddle around. "Be warned, he's going to drool a lot when he gets bigger."

"Exactly...how big is he going to get?" Kai inquired with a nervous laugh.

"Pretty big," Maya admitted. "I used to have a Newfoundland when I was kid, and he got to seventy centimetres tall."