The sharp clang of metal on metal and the smell of zinc filled the air. Only a split second of tense silence resounded before a smack and a sharp wine broke through it.

"Ow! What the heck, Kai! Did you just slap me in the middle of a sword fight?" Kai shoved himself away from Jay, wiping the sweat from his brow and huffing.

"You were getting ornery." He stated flatly, narrowing his eyes in annoyance.

"Uh, yeah!" The other boy said, leaning heavily onto his blade and gesturing wildly. "We're sparring- that's kinda the point!"

Kai pushed his hair out of his face before smirking, swiping a foot forward and knocking Jay's blade out from underneath him. The younger ninja lost his balance, squeaking as he tumbled unceremoniously to the ground.

"Go chill out," Kai laughed, stepping over the other boy as he made his way to the ice chest to grab a drink. He sat down heavily on the bench next to the door, grabbing a towel. He popped the cap off a water bottle and took a swig before dumping the rest over his head. Kai hummed complacently, using the towel to wipe off the excess water before he could get too hot.

Somewhere off to his side he could hear Jay beginning to bother Cole and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Ten bucks says Cole decks him in under ten minutes this time." He whispered to himself, jokingly.

Kai sighed, leaning back into the wall and letting himself relax for a minute. He absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the static thrum through his fingers. He frowned, looking back to the lightning master as he added another plate to Cole's weights, throwing the balance off just enough for the other to take notice. Although the tension had seemed to dissipate now, Kai was still surprised at how aggressive the other had gotten during their sparring session. Jay had been irritable all morning to be honest, not that he could really blame him. It probably had to due with the lack of breakfast.

The fire ninja grimaced, placing a hand over his own half empty stomach. Cole's cooking had only been mostly inedible this morning, which was sadly an improvement. On a normal day, Cole wouldn't even be allowed in the kitchen, but today hadn't really been normal. Zane had slept in.

Kai frowned again at the thought of his brother. The nindroid had gotten hyper fixated on his father over the past few weeks.

Kai couldn't help but feel like he was slightly to blame in this situation, as he and Nya had likewise been focused on their own parents. The two of them had gone back home to Jamanakai for a few weeks before continuing the search for Wu. It seemed the team had fallen into the single minded pursuit of searching any and every lead relating to the older man.

They had lost their families father figure, but...while Kai had gained back two, Zane had lost the last parental figure he had let himself get close to. He and Nya had their parents, Jay had his parents, Cole had Lou and the Blacksmiths, and even Lloyd still had Misako. Zane, on the other hand, seemed to be shying away from any interaction with older figures, even when Misako moved in with them.

Zane had undeniably gotten himself into funk, spending any free time that wasn't spent scouring for their Sensei, or P.I.X.A.L, cooped up looking through his father's old blueprints, specifically his own. He hadn't powered down till late last night if the coffee stains in his mug were any indication. Not that caffeine did anything for him, Kai thought humorlessly. The taste, Zane had once told him, was bitter enough to keep him focused.

A sudden click snapped Kai out of his thoughts as the door was opened, an exhausted looking Zane standing dazedly against the door frame. Kai was up in an instant, making his way to the others side.

"Hey Bro, you feeling alright?" Kai asked, eyebrows knitting together in concern. Zane blinked and looked to him in confusion for a moment.

"Uh…" Zane looked awful, plain and simple. His pale hair was messy, and his clothes were rumpled, falling loosely around his shoulders from being tied improperly. Even the nindroid's eyes were off, the normally soft blue light they gave off having been reduced to a dull, nearly grey glow.

"Yes." Zane replied after much to long a pause for Kai's comfort.

"Ah, no your really not, man." Kai took in the others face uneasily. His chest knotted up as the other moved forward towards the course, almost as if he hadn't registered Kai's protest.

"Zane, just hold up a second." Kai reached forward, grabbing the others arm only to yank his hand back in surprise at the heat spreading through the thick cloth.

"Holy shit- Zane." Kai spun the other around to face him, grabbing his shoulders and placing the back of his hand up against his forehead. Kai could feel the heat- which was a bad thing, considering he could stick his hand in boiling water with little to no problem.

"Zane, you're burning up."

"Am I?" Kai searched Zane's face for any hint of sarcasm but he seemed genuinely confused, dull eyes unfocused.

"Shit, man…"

Before Zane had… gotten his new body, it wasn't uncommon for the nindroid to overheat after too much physical or mental exertion. Jay had explained that it was like a computer that was left running for too long; the more delicate inner workings would overheat themselves because of the strain and the power they were exerting. However, Zane's cooling system wasn't as effective as a fan. Despite being the master of ice, it was still dangerous for him to cool himself off too quickly, as if ice formed directly inside of him, the delicate wiring in his chest could be damaged.

It had always been best in these situations for Zane to go lay down somewhere and cool off gradually while he rested. Kai however, was more worried about the fact that Zane hadn't once overheated since he got his new body, as it was able to endure much, much more strain. He could feel the worry in his gut continue to twist itself up.

"Maybe you should go lay back down for awhile," He tried gently, despite the look Zane gave him.

"Nonsense Kai," Zane said almost matter of factly as he tried to pull away, something akin to annoyance flashing in his dull eyes as he was held fast. "I've gotten at least eight hours of sleep. That should suffice for one night's rest-"

"Zane, you just need to go lay down until you've cooled off, alright? Or else you'll…" Despite his admittedly fatigued figure, the nindroid didn't seem amused. Knowing that the other man wasn't going to listen to him, he decided to skip the bull and go straight to the top.

"Hey, Cole!"

The earth elemental paused, looking up from Jay, who he currently held, squirming, in a choke hold, looking irritable before he noticed Zane's disheveled appearance. Cole dropped the lightning master, who squealed in surprise, and made his way over to the pair, wiping sweat from the side of his face.

"What's going on?" He asked asked tensely.

Before Kai could speak, Zane started, "Kai is just a little over concerned is all, Cole. Now I need to get training immediately to make up for lost time."

Kai could see the way Cole's forehead creased even through the thick bangs that stuck to his damp face. Yup, he was bothered by this too.

"Well, Zane, buddy, no offence or anything but you don't look too hot right now." Jay said, walking around Cole's much broader frame to get a better look at the nindroid.

"The problem is that he's too hot, Jay." Kai said, gesturing to Zane.

Cole shot him a look before mimicking his earlier actions and gently placing the back of his hand to the mechs face before pulling back with a hiss.

Cole looked back up to Zane, eye's serious.

"Zane, what will the weather be like tomorrow?"

Zane's face twisted slightly, "That's…" He clenched his eyes shut, rubbing a temple with his palm. "...not fair."

Cole looked slightly uneasy, but his tone didn't change. "I'd say that pretty fair. C'mon."

He took Zane's arm gently in his own. "You're on house arrest until you can access your weather scanners at the very least."

Zane made a noise of protest but it died out as he stumbled. Cole quickly steadied him, and he slouched onto the other ninja.

Kai made to follow them, but Cole flashed him a look. Go get Nya after we leave, he mouthed before adjusting his hold on Zane and escorting him down the hall.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Jay started talking.

"I think his Gyroscopes off. The heat probably loosened it. We'll need to re-calibrate it manually, but we won't be able to work inside of him safely until he powers down." Kai nodded, not really sure what that meant as he finished wiping himself down. Jay was doing the same next to him, although he was much less wet.

As they made their way towards Nya's quarters, Jay continued his rambling.

"I mean, safely for all three of us. Uh, Nya and me are included in that. And Zane, obviously. Safe for us because he'll be cooled down enough for us to actually touch him, and for him in case anything goes wrong, you know. Not that it will!" He added, catching the look Kai gave him. "He'll be fine, he's just a big baby when it comes to taking care of himself, you know?"

"Yeah." Kai said, knocking on his sister's door apprehensively.

"Just a minute!" Nya called, voice muffled by the thick wood of the door. "I'm changing!"

Jay's face went red next to him, turning away from the door, as if that would give her more privacy. Kai just sighed, leaning against the wall.

After a minute of muffled shuffling and thumps, Nya's door opened. She was in her new ninja gi, much to Kai's surprise. Although he had to admit, the black and blue color scheme worked a lot better then her old one. The red and blue had been a little… much on the eyes. It worked a lot better for stealth as well. He shook himself. He wasn't here to question his sisters fashion sense.

"Wow, Nya…" Jay began, dreamily. "You look really pretty."

"Aww, thanks Jay." She giggled, face flushing.

"Uh, anyways," she flushed, "what did you two need?"

"We need your technical expertise, sis." Kai cut in, nervous and impatient. "Zane went and overheated himself. Jay says his, uh, periscope is busted."

"Oh, gosh, that's awful- wait, periscope?" Nya asked, frowning.

"Gyroscope." Jay supplied helpfully. "It' helps him keep balanced."

"Ahh." Kai still wasn't entirely grasping that, but he didn't need to. "Cole brought Zane back to our bedroom to rest."

Nya nodded, rolling up her sleeves.

When they entered the room, Cole was struggling to get Zane comfortable.

Most of the nindroid's bedding had been tossed onto the floor, minus his pillows, which were being used to prop him up. By the pillowcases, it looked as if Cole had also grabbed his own.

Nya was by the others side in an instant, asking hushed questions. Jay shrugged to Kai, going in behind her and grabbing a tool box from under his bunk. Kai would have gone there as well, but he knew from experience that hanging out with a fire elemental wasn't the best for someone overheating. So instead, he hovered by the wall, watching concernedly as the two lovebirds gauged the damage. Cole made his way over to Kai, looking off put. The two stood in silence for a moment before Cole cleared his throat.

"This is my fault," He whispered to Kai. "I knew he wasn't taking care of himself, and I still-"

"We all knew, Cole." Kai hushed him, feeling just as guilty. "But it isn't anyone's fault."

"Just because I'm technically not the leader anymore doesn't mean I shouldn't be looking out for my team."

Cole looked darkly to the ground, emotions flashing through his eyes. Kai put a hand on the others shoulder, squeezing firmly. He didn't exactly know what to say to that. Cole had stepped down willingly for Lloyd to take over, but it was obvious the decision had bruised the older ninja's pride. Kai had overheard Cole confess to Zane he felt more helpless since he started taking a backseat role in the decision making, and he could tell the situation was bugging him.

"Well," Nya had walked over to them, her hands slightly red from the heat. "He's still not cool enough for us to work on him, and unfortunately, we have a deadline."

Kai raised an eyebrow and looked to Cole. The other man shrugged, turning back to Nya. She narrowed her eyes, obviously annoyed.

"You both forgot, didn't you?"

"Forgot what?" Kai asked, too tired to try to avoid the fact he and Cole were in the dog house for forgetting something important.

"Remember that charity thing at Dareths? The one we agreed to go to months ago?"

"The one we marked on the kitchen calendar and circled in red?" Jay added unhelpfully from next to Zane as he put a washcloth over the nindroid's head.

"Sorry, todays been…"

"A little off." Cole finished,putting up his hands in mock surrender. "but we can't exactly leave Zane alone on the bounty while we let the kids use us for playground equipment."

Jay wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, it doesn't sound good for a number of reasons."

"Why don't I stay with him?" Kai jumped, spinning to see Misako standing in the doorway, a tray of tea balanced in one hand. While the other held the door open.

Kai opened his mouth to respond when the tray was deposited abruptly into his arms. Misako made her way over to the nindroid, who hadn't even noticed her arrive, and held her hand an inch away from his face before frowning.

"I heard you all in one room and thought I would bring in some refreshments," she said, readjusting the towel. "I hadn't thought the occasion was this serious."

"I mean," Jay spoke up from beside her. "You could probably watch him if he was a human, but he's a nindroid. That means that he doesn't work the same way. Internally, I mean. And if anything goes wrong technically, you won't be able to help."

Misako frowned. Kai couldn't help but feel bad for her. She'd lost almost her whole family in under a year, and despite her presence on the bounty, she hadn't been able to get close to anybody but Lloyd and Wu. Maybe this was her way of trying to make up for lost time?

"You could always stay behind too, Jay." Nay suggested. Kai noticed the relief flas across his face, if only for a moment. "Plus, Lloyd should be back by tonight so if you need any extra help, you'll have it."

"Yeah! That could work! Alright, Misako we're all set!"
She smiled, her eyes crinkling up at the edges. "He will be in capable hands."

"Of course." Cole said, smiling back honestly. "Alright team. Kai and I smell awful, so it might be best if we freshened up and left early."

Kai punched him playfully in the shoulder. However, the tightness in his stomach remained... something in the back of his mind told him that something wasn't right.