Prompt #6 - Animals

Summary - One of my crackhead braincells said yes to the dress, and now you all get to suffer the consequences.

Dedication - RubyRed883, here's your oneshot. I hope you like PIXane in animal cracker form.

***(Zane's POV)***

I attempt to move one crummy leg. "PIXAL?"

"Yes?" her voice replies from my left.

I scoot my entire cracker-body around to view her head-on. I seem to no longer possess a neck.

"Is there a logical reason we've somehow been transformed into animal crackers?" I ask, assuming she's the dolphin-cookie with purple sprinkles.

"Negative," she sighs, wiggling toward me. "But perhaps our current form is due to some spell Cole and Jay were playing around with. You know they've been pouring over the pages of the ancient spellbook we found buried yesterday."

I stifle a groan. "It'll be a few hours until the others get back and discover our predicament. Cole and Jay are probably too absorbed in their newfound hobby to ever realize our absence."

"Lloyd was on surveillance," PIXAL pipes up. "He should be back any time - "

As if on cue, the door to the kitchen swings open to reveal our young leader. He rubs a hand over his stomach and approaches the kitchen table where PIXAL and I are stuck.

"Lloyd!" I greet him. "Thank goodness you're here! Cole and - "

"I wonder who left the animal crackers out," Lloyd mumbles, picking me up between two fingers.

"It's Zane," I try to explain. "And I'm not a cracker. I'm - "

"I guess I am pretty hungry," he goes on, not hearing me. "Might as well clean up this mess and have a snack at the same time." He lifts me precariously close to his mouth.

"Wait!" I cry. "Lloyd, wait! I'm your teammate! Do not - "

Just as Lloyd drops me in his mouth, the screen freezes and Ronin's voice resounds throughout the viewing room. "Reading may be the first step to every adventure, parents, but keep an eye on what books your kids are into. You never know when the youngsters might cause more than their share of trouble from an innocent hobby."

The credits roll across the screen as soft elevator-style music plays in the background.

Dareth pops a chip into his mouth. "I have to say, Ronin, letting you help produce some of these 'reading is fun' commercials was an excellent decision on my part." He dangles his arms at his sides lazily.

Ronin smirks. "I actually have quite a few ideas for scripts. This was just an original one I thought you'd - "

"It wasn't your idea," a girl with dark hair pipes up from the corner. "I'm the one who suggested this, Ronin, because Dareth kept reusing the same dialogue every time!"

Dareth waves the girl off. "Settle down, Beep. You're just jealous because you're the secretary of the greatest filmmaker in Ninjago City. Your ideas are comparable to a guppy's in a pool of decaying frogs." He frowns, thinking about the implications of that for a moment.

The girl sputters, then suddenly peels off one heel and tosses it at Dareth. She proceeds to grab the other and throw it at the projector screen.

"You know what?" she snaps. "You know what? That's it. I'm tired of being condemned as some mindless counterpart of yours. I quit!" And she stomps away, yelling raging insults at Ronin, Dareth, the film industry, and male chauvinism.

The rest of the team and I just look at each other.

"Can we go to the arcade now?" Jay asks.

***SEE WHAT I MEAN BY CRACKHEAD BRAINCELL-***