Pixane Appreciation Club!

Flurries, Snowflakes, and Mechanics of the Heart

{I dedicate this one to someone in the PAC Discord, who helped me with this prompt. You better enjoy this! XD

Trigger warning for knives/daggers and "blood" (it's oil, but)}

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"Look out!" Pixal yelled to Zane from across the empty courtyard covered with snow. Zane rolled under a sharp silver blade of a half-metallically-reinforced person. A blast of ice and another one of the Mechanic's henchmen fell. He had attacked Pixal and Zane when they were taking some time for themselves out in Birchwood Forest, away from the others for a few days.

It didn't matter how he found the couple, Zane just wanted him away from them. The Mechanic had always been after Zane and Pixal for their parts and special abilities, but the pair had always been able to avoid him--until today at least.

Early on, they'd been separated with mild jolts of electricity to their backs while they were strolling silently through the gentle flurry. The jolts had been just enough to startle them but not enough to put them out of commission. Now, they were fighting both a dozen of the Mechanic's henchmen and the Mechanic himself.

Being surrounded in ice strengthened Zane's powers but slowed his reflexes, as well as Pixal's. Clearly, Zane had the advantage, being in familiar territory and surrounded with his element. Now, he was trying to fight his way over to Pixal and protect her.

There were only two people standing between him and her--the Mechanic and one of his henchmen. The one Zane just knocked down tumbled over into the snow and he whipped around to look for Pixal again. What he heard made him freeze.

"Pixal!" He shouted and reached a hand out to her. She was too far away for him to stop it! Time slowed down as Zane watched the Mechanic's taser touch Pixal's back, right as she turned to see who it was. A piercing scream of "Zane!" broke through the air and everyone covered their ears, except him.

"Pixal! NO!" The Mechanic laughed lowly as Zane rushed forward to try to get to her. To add insult to injury, the Mechanic kept her standing up, drew his sword, and made sure Zane was watching before he took a swing right at her neck. Pixal crumpled to the ground as soon as the metal met her skin and dark silver oil soon stained the snow around her.

"NO!" Zane screamed and fell to his knees, still too far away. Tears welled up in his eyes and he shook his head in denial. Pixal had to be okay. She had to be okay. Satisfied with the damage he'd caused, the Mechanic chuckled and reached forward dragged Pixal up by the back of her shirt.

Only a few feet away still, Zane dared not move as the Mechanic held up a dagger to Pixal's central compartment, where all her vital functions were stored. "One more step and she becomes spare parts, as do you."

"No, please! Let her go. Take me instead!" Zane didn't hesitate to offer himself up {We all know what would be the first thing on his mind: to get Pixal out safely}. The Mechanic chuckled darkly and started to press the dagger tip into her abdomen.

"Nah, this works much better. She's much more valuable than you. You'll do whatever I want as long as I have her." The sight of silver "blood" dripping around the dagger digging into Pixal's skin made something inside Zane snap. The love of his life shouldn't be dangling above the ground with a knife in her and forced to be a prisoner just for his cooperation. Not while he was living and breathing.

White consumed his vision and a low growl came from his throat. He leaped forward and within a second he had the Mechanic pinned in the snow. The Mechanic had expected this reaction. He smirked and brought his dagger up to protect his face. Zane grabbed it straight with his hand and didn't even react when it cut deep into his own synthetically-skinned hand.