Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 26- Tracking trouble

C O L E

"Make it stop, Pixal!" I yelped, diving out of the way as the machine whizzed past me again, sending sparks of electricity flying in every direction. It was out of control, and I was getting way too familiar with how bad it could sting when it made contact.

"Im trying!" She shouted, her voice barely audible over the chaos of crashing and zapping.

She scrambled around the workbench, trying to figure out how to stop the damn thing, but it was like trying to take a bull in a china shop.

The machine flew around the room like it had a mind of its own. Sparks crackled from its core, lighting up the whole workshop in a faint blue before fading again. One zap hit me right in the shoulder, and I barely held in the curse that almost slipped out.

This was just getting embarrassing now.

Pixal lunged forward, her arms reaching for the machine, but it spun out of her grasp with surprising speed, nearly knocking her flat. I ducked just in time to avoid the tail end of the machine's random, thrashing movements. It was like some sort of mechanical beast, and at that moment, I wasn't sure which of us was the prey.

"Pixal!" I shouted again, as the machine shot another arc of lightning in my direction. This time, I was ready, jumping just out of reach and rolling behind a nearby metal crate.

"I thought you said this was supposed to help us find Jay!" I yelled from behind cover, rubbing my arm where the last zap had left a singed mark. "Not try to kill us!"

I probably smelled like burnt toast, but at least I wasn't getting electrocuted anymore.

"I didn't design it to... uh... do this," she replied, a bit of panic creeping into her usually calm voice. She was frantically typing on her console, trying to override the machine's system, but the thing wasn't listening to her. The screen flickered, and the machine bounced off the workbench, sending a few tools scattering in all directions. I heard one screwdriver clang against the wall, and then another zap shot out like a rogue bolt of lightning.

"Maybe we shouldn't be using this thing," I suggested, crouching low as it skimmed past my head, narrowly missing me. I didn't want to find out what would happen if I got hit any more times. I wasn't sure how much more I could take.

"I know!" Pixal snapped back, her fingers a blur on her console, but the machine was proving to be far more unpredictable than either of us had anticipated. She stood there, watching helplessly, as it ricocheted from one side of the room to the other, zapping anything in its path. Even the walls weren't safe.

I ducked behind another crate, grimacing as another crackling bolt shot past me, frying the corner of the workbench. "Just... just turn it off, Pixal!"

"I'm trying to!" she yelled back, anger creeping into her voice. I was helpless, she was the only one who could override its controls. And by the looks of it, it wasn't working.

It let out another high-pitched whine, and the lights flickered. Then, with a burst of energy, the thing shot across the room and straight into a pile of tools, knocking over several heavy-looking boxes that crashed to the floor. Sparks sprayed everywhere.

I groaned, rubbing my face in frustration. "Pixal, please. It's going to blow up the entire workshop!"

Finally, the nindroid seemed to get an idea. She stepped forward,  grabbing a hammer from the workbench and running up to the machine which was currently tangled in a mess of tools and cloth. She wacked it around the side, sending it flying across the room and crashing into a crate.

The machine stuttered to a halt, and for a second, everything was eerily silent. I peeked out from behind the boxes that were protecting me, only to see the machine's once erratic movements suddenly stop, its metal parts now slumped against the floor like a lifeless heap.

"Well, that's one way to do it.." I muttered under my breath, wiping some sweat off my brow. I felt like I'd just run a marathon. I could still hear the faint hum of the machine's last burst of energy.

Pixal exhaled in relief, her hands still shaking slightly from the chaos. She walked over to the machine, inspecting it warily. "That should've shutdown like I programmed it to..." she muttered, but I could tell she was mostly relieved it was done.

"Well, I don't know about you," I said, rubbing my singed arms as I walked back toward her. "But I'm not exactly itching to try this again."

Pixal turned toward me, her face softening. "It was supposed to help us locate Jay, Cole. But it's clear we need more fine-tuning before we can get it working properly."

"Yeah, no kidding," I said, giving her a playful nudge. "Maybe next time we can build something that doesn't try to electrocute us at random."

She chuckled, the sound more relaxed than it had been in a while. "We'll get there, I promise."

I stepped back, my gaze lingering on the machine. I'd almost forgotten why we were doing this in the first place. Jay was still out there, somewhere, and if we were going to find him, we had to be ready to face whatever came next. Even if that meant building a machine that tried to kill us along the way.

But hey, at least we were getting closer to finding Jay. And, hopefully, staying alive long enough to help him.

The door slammed open, and in burst Wu and Kai, both looking slightly disheveled and wide-eyed from the noise. They paused in the doorway, taking in the chaos around them: the completely wrecked workbench, scorch marks sizzling on the walls, crates destroyed, tools flung over the floor, and the tangled mess of wires and parts that used to be Pixal's tracking machine.

"What in the name of Ninjago-" Kai started, his voice loud enough to cut through the buzzing sparks still popping in the air. His hand was already reaching for his sword, probably ready to fight off whatever danger he thought was causing the destruction.

"Pixal's machine went rogue," I groaned, stepping out of the way to avoid another stray bolt of lightning. "We were trying to track Jay's energy, and... well, I think it developed a mind of its own."

"Why did it go bonkers?" He asked, looking at Pixal for an answer. She didn't respond right away, but soon thought of an idea. "I think it's because lightning is too hard of an element to control. It's unpredictable, fast and dangerous, and I guess it will need a lot of adjusting and safer measures to make sure this actually works. If we can get it working at all.."

I stood, wiping my hands on my pants and looking at the damage with a rueful smile. "I think we need to take a break."

Wu's gaze flicked to the machine, and he let out a long, exasperated sigh. "I'm glad you're trying. To succeed, you must fail first."

Kai looked at the wreckage and grinned. "Well, this is certainly one way to keep Wu busy."

"This will be Pixal and Cole's mess to clean." Wu smirked, shaking his head good naturedly.

I shook my head, half-amused, half-exhausted. "I think we've done enough for one day."

"Yeah," Pixal muttered, nudging the smoking remains of the machine with her foot. "Definitely no more 'tests' for a while."