Please let me know how you like the chapter. The last segment of the chapter slowly starts to mention the crossover between this story, and FoulEncoder's so make sure to check his story out as well. The last segment was added due to me reading the most recent chapter at this time
Seriously, someone give the Cobra drone a name I've yet to think of one that fits.
Alt-title:
A Master of All Things Spinjitzu
"Speech"
'Thought'
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(3rd POV:Akira)
Akira was cackling with joy, having just destroyed both Lloyd and Garmadon in a 2v1 video game match where they tried and failed to gang up on her.
Lloyd looked bewildered and Garmadon was quietly fuming. "How did you beat us?" and "This game is most frustrating!" they complained in unison.
"Heh, heh, ha! You really thought you could team up on me and get away with it?" Akira's cackling slowly subsided.
Lloyd, and surprisingly Garmadon, pouted. Akira raised an amused eyebrow. 'How adorable. Like father, like son, I suppose.' Her thoughts were filled with amusement as she used her bent fingers to poke Lloyd's forehead.
"Ow."
Lloyd rubbed his forehead in annoyance at her teasing, but turned to see his father with a small smile. Garmadon ruffled his hair. "I am glad that you are happy, Lloyd." His gaze shifted to Akira. "I know I've said this before, but thank you for taking care of him." He said, bowing his head slightly.
Akira hummed, staring at his sinister, yet dim red eyes. "There's no need to thank me. I would've done the same for any other child, though I doubt they'd be as interesting." She snorted, pulling out a cup of coffee from nowhere.
Garmadon snorted in turn. "You're just like my brother with his tea when it comes to that coffee of yours."
She rolled her eyes before taking a more exaggerated sip of her coffee. "Don't hate it 'til you try it."
"Maybe. But not now."
The three of them sat in comfortable silence. The only sounds were coming from the gaming system, their breathing, and Akira's soft sips of coffee. Lloyd was fidgeting with the tip of Akira's tail that lay on his lap, and Garmadon had begun mindlessly looking through the game settings.
They were beginning to get bored as the ninja were out on a small mission, so the only other people here were Wu and Nya. This meant that Lloyd and Akira couldn't prank them either.
Suddenly, Akira audibly groaned. "I'm so bored."
"Me too," Lloyd huffed.
"We could switch out Wu's tea for hot water," Akira suggested.
Garmadon chuckled, closing his eyes and leaning back on the couch, his two upper arms crossed behind his head. "You'll have to be more silent than a—"
"Got it!"
Garmadon's red eyes snapped open. Akira was already holding his brother's teapot, which dangled from her tail above his face. He could hear the liquid sloshing around inside as she carefully waved her tail, before gently placing it on the coffee table.
Garmadon hummed with slight annoyance at how easily Akira accomplished the task. It was always incredibly difficult for him to steal Wu's tea back when they were younger, before he was banished to the Underworld.
"So, are you just going to replace it with water?" Lloyd asked with overflowing curiosity, opening the teapot.
Akira scoffed. "No," she stated before a crazed smile formed on her lips. "Change of plans. I'm going to replace it with coffee. Extra... sugary... coffee," she answered, with exaggerated pauses on the last three words.
Huffing, Garmadon stood up from the couch. "And what will you do with the tea? He'd be furious if he found out you dumped it."
Akira scoffed. "I'm not wasting his tea by throwing it away. I'll just pour it in here," she replied, pulling a pristine white teapot out of nowhere and placing it on the table.
Both Lloyd and Garmadon were surprised at the new teapot's sudden appearance but chalked it up to her usual strangeness. She had already begun pouring the tea into the new pot before quickly taking Wu's teapot to the kitchen to clean it and adding in the coffee along with copious amounts of sugar—so much that even Lloyd would say it's too sweet.
Just as Akira finished pouring the coffee, she paused as her eyes flashed with color, becoming heterochromatic: one orange and one dark purple, the exact colors of her dragon icons. Her eyes returned to their natural amethyst color as she pondered the information she'd just received.
"A girl with naturally red hair and a unique energy signature, and a mountain-sized creature far bigger than Thunderfang, along with any I've seen in the land of monsters. And it uses radiation, too. How interesting," she chuckled, closing the lid to the pot and grabbing its handle.
Her tail instinctively began wagging to match her barely contained excitement. "Oh, I can't wait for this to be done with. I'll leave after making sure that Lloyd... " she began speaking rapidly, before pausing to take a deep breath. "Okay, okay, calm down. I'll think more about this after I deal with the Devourer. Then maybe I'll even try to find Theo's mirror realm while I'm at it," she concluded, although she couldn't completely get her mind off of it.
Akira quickly rushed toward the bridge, careful not to spill the coffee, placing the coffee-filled teapot in the same place she found it before Wu noticed. To both Lloyd and Garmadon, Akira visually teleported next to them as they entered the bridge. What no one could see was that she just used the elemental power of speed.
Akira walked over to the counter and sat on it casually as she usually would. Lloyd sat on the floor next to her legs, his eyes flicking toward his uncle before going back to fidgeting with Akira's tail. And Garmadon, he just stood in the middle of the room—not far from the table where the teapot was—and he just observed with his usual grin.
Nya was at the computer when she caught Akira and Lloyd in the corner of her eye. "Oh, hey guys," she greeted.
Lloyd glanced at her, his nervousness more than obvious enough for Nya to notice. "Do you know when the ninja will get back?" he asked, a little too innocently.
Her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion as Wu walked over to his teapot to pour himself a cup of tea. "Pythor's recent activity has been quiet, so it is safe to assume that he's planning something sinister. But if they've found anything, they should be on their way back now, nephew." He took a sip from his cup before quickly spitting it out in surprise.
Wu looked down into his cup to see that it was filled with coffee before he opened his teapot to see the same. Garmadon chuckled at his brother's reaction as Wu turned to both Lloyd and Akira with a silent, but furious expression covering his face.
He took a couple of deep breaths before speaking with a scarily calm tone. "Lloyd, Akira." He paused. "What made you think it was a good idea to replace my tea with incredibly sweet coffee?" He asked. "And where's my tea?"
Akira waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry, I promise I didn't dump your tea. I simply poured it into a different pot," she said, before a mischievous toothy smile formed on her lips. "But it was Garmadon who was more than kind enough to give us the idea of swapping your tea out for coffee." Garmadon's eyes widened as Akira casually shifted the blame onto him.
"He told us how hilarious it would be if we did," she added, chuckling.
Wu glanced at his brother before glancing back at Akira and Lloyd. "We may not know each other well, Akira, but I know you well enough to know how to tell when you're pranking someone. You want them to know, so you make your smile obvious, and I can also tell that both Lloyd and Garmadon were in on it," he noted.
Akira smirked, before gulping down some more coffee.
(Scene break)
(Akira POV)
I sat atop the counter next to the espresso machine, fidgeting with my tail as the ninja, Nya, Wu, and Garmadon discussed the information they had gathered from a Venomari about a possible way to awaken the Devourer that could replace the Fang-blade in my possession.
"Oh, come on, guys. This is the last one. We've got to get it, especially when Pythor might have a replacement for the Fang blade Akira is keeping," Jay urged, causing everyone to ponder.
I also began thinking about what Pythor could have possibly found that could replace a Fang blade. Maybe an old piece of the Great Devourer's tooth, or even a scale. A tooth would make more sense because the Fang blades were forged from its teeth.
My eyes narrowed slightly as something came to mind before a slightly confused expression crossed my face. 'I... suppose that would make sense. Five Serpentine tribes, so... oh, but that would be so cliché and boring. Couldn't it be something else?' I mentally complained.
"Hey," My thoughts were paused as Lloyd suddenly spoke up, getting everyone's attention.
"All we have to do is just get one Fang blade to stop him. What if we take back the other three? Pythor wouldn't risk having them all on him. He's probably hidden them somewhere while he goes for the fourth," he suggested. "That way we could destroy them, Akira can keep hers, and whatever Pythor has as a backup won't be useful anymore."
A proud smile formed on my lips at his suggestion, with an amused glint in my eyes. He was a smart boy, even if most of that intelligence went into his pranks.
"It's so simple," Cole said. "Why didn't I think of that?" Kai asked himself. "It can't be that easy," Jay said, bewildered.
"Easy?" Zane began, pausing for only a moment. "My algorithms suggest taking the other three would be far more dangerous. Pythor would undoubtedly have them protected by his top generals," he added with some worry.
Kai chuckled. "Ha, finally, I don't have to hold back," he said, arrogance creeping into his tone.
"Even if you could steal the other three, you don't even know where they are," Garmadon pointed out.
"They're Serpentine, humanoid-snake-like beings. Snakes usually burrow underground," I stated, my tail whipping around. "So have the computer scan for things underneath Ninjago." I suggested.
Nya's eyes widened slightly. "Of course! Most snakes usually burrow underground." She realized as she replied, turning to the large screen. "Bridge, give me a sonar sweep of Ninjago as well as a second sweep 20 feet below the surface." As the computer obeyed her request, a 3D holographic image of Ninjago appeared just in front of the screen before moving to the center of the room.
"All the tombs have been interconnected," Kai noticed. "To make one massive underground fortress," Cole added. "And all this time, right under our noses," Jay quipped. "Or rather, feet," Zane joked.
I observed the map, seeing that the Constrictai tomb inside the mountain of a million steps was the most protected area, or at the very least, the area with the most Serpentine in general. Though I doubt that even Pythor would be stupid enough to have civilians near the Fang blades.
"There," I pointed out. "That Constrictai tomb has the highest chance of having the Fang blades, with how many Serpentine there are." I paused for a moment. "But, if all those dots are civilians... just leave them be," I added.
"Then what are we waiting for? Nya, set the course," Wu said.
Nya nodded, turning to the keyboard. "Already on it. We'll be there by sun-up."
Everyone began to disperse to get ready. I walked out of the bridge to head toward my ship when Lloyd stopped me by grabbing my hand.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Are you going to fight with the ninja?" he asked. "I already asked Dad, but he said that he wouldn't," he added.
I thought about it for a bit before giving him an answer. "No," I shook my head. "I will not be joining them this time. I have some things I need to finish up. But, I will help them if they get captured."
Lloyd nodded. "Okay. But, do you think that we could play some games before you go to your ship?"
My lips curled upward into a smile. "Of course we can. What I am working on is not too important. So let's play," I answered as I changed my direction to go below deck, heading toward the living room. What I was going to do really could wait; it's not going to explode or anything.
(Scene break)
(3rd POV)
Akira and Lloyd had been playing Sitar Legend, seeing who could get the most points by matching the rhythm of the available songs within the game. So far, the score was 137/106, in Akira's favor.
More minutes passed as the music continued to play, with the match eventually ending with a loud thrum of music as the points changed to; 152/122, still in Akira's favor.
Lloyd sighed softly in defeat. "How are you so good at this game?" She chuckled in response. "While it may seem like I'm almost always busy, I do play quite a bit of video games when I can." Lloyd pouted as he set the controller down on the table, he let a tired yawn from playing games for hours. He turned to glance at Akira. "Do you think we're there yet?"
Before Akira could give an answer, Nya had just notified their arrival through the PA system. "[On PA]: We're arriving at the Mountain of a Million Steps. You all might want to see this." After the announcement, Lloyd and Akira headed towards the top deck to meet with the others.
As She reached the top deck, Akira's eyes narrowed slightly as she saw the massive piles of dirt covering the mountain's natural surface. "Look all those piles of dirt." Jay stated. "They've definitely messed up the mountain since we've last been here." Cole murmured.
The Destiny's Bounty, along with the Shift-wing, flew around the top of the mountain before both slowly coming to a stop above the entrance. "What are those snakes up to?" Kai wondered, to which Akira side-eyed him, as simply calling a serpentine a 'snake' would be taken as an offensive comment.
Akira could see the excitement beginning to bubble up within Lloyd, so before he even got a chance to ask she immediately shot down the question. "F-No." She firmly stated, almost cursing instinctively. "Aw. How did you know what I was gonna say?" He asked whiningly. "I could see it in your eyes and your body language." She answered. "But you're definitely not going, especially since I'm not going with them either, so you will stay on this ship and will not leave under any circumstances unless you're in danger."
She narrowed her eyes as they became oval slits. "Am I understood?" Lloyd sighed softly. "Yes mom." He said unintentionally.
Akira froze at the title, unintentional or not, the fact that he'd call her that at all was slightly jarring to her. Garmadon, who was observing the tomb entrance with some intensity snapped his head in their direction, visibly surprised as well.
The ninja took glances, but didn't really think much of it. And Wu, his eyes widened with surprise, but his expression mostly stayed the same. He walked up to Lloyd, placing a hand on his shoulder, causing Lloyd to turn to his uncle. "Akira is correct, this is not your fight. The Green Ninja is too important for a future destiny. You shall stay with us."
Everyone turned at the sound of Nya's mech flying in from above. "Well, Akira's gonna have to stay with him solo," The mech's chest-plates opened, as she gestured to the specialized seat of its shoulder. "Because we made room for you."
"Well, you said you were concerned that you couldn't keep up, so Jay and Nya rejiggered the design so you could come along." Kai said, hands moving to his hips. "Well, what do you think?" He asked.
"I think." Wu didn't even take a moment of thought before he quickly jumped up into the air, front flipping, and landing on his new seat. "Shotgun! Ha-ha!"
Akira rolled her eyes. 'Old bones my ass. He's part dragon, he could probably still beat all the ninja, and Nya at once.'
Garmadon walked up next to Lloyd. "I will stay back with Lloyd and Akira." He stated, before begrudging saying." I don't enjoy saying this but... good luck."
The three of them watched as the ninja team jumped down into the tomb, before Lloyd and Garmadon began to walk away toward the bridge. Akira waited for a bit longer to make sure that the ninja didn't rescue from a trap, before she too, left, with her going below deck instead.
As she walked down the stairs, she clutched her sleeve with a glowing purple hand, causing her outfit to change from its original colors to a mainly black outfit with gold and purple trims, with the dragon design becoming silver.
"I don't really need this suit but," She rubbed her hand over the fabric. "It's nice." She mumbled. As she returned to the living room she sat down on the couch, her eyes flashing with the same heterochromatic colors as before, though this time she ignored it. "I should teach Lloyd how to cook." She randomly spurted out loud.
She laid on the couch, still thinking about how Lloyd called her; mom. Akira didn't really know how to respond to that, her tail waving mindlessly as she pondered. For the first time in a long time, she honestly couldn't tell whether he meant it in a way that he actually saw her as a motherly figure, or whether he was just mocking about how strict she was with his safety.
'I don't know how to feel about this.'
(Scene break)
Akira and Lloyd had been playing Sitar Legend, seeing who could get the most points by matching the rhythm of the available songs within the game. So far, the score was 137 to 106, in Akira's favor.
More minutes passed by as the music continued to play, with the match eventually ending with a loud thrum of music as the points changed to 152 to 122, still in Akira's favor.
Lloyd sighed softly in defeat. "How are you so good at this game?"
She chuckled in response. "While it may seem like I'm almost always busy, I do play quite a bit of video games when I can."
Lloyd pouted as he set the controller down on the table. He let out a tired yawn from playing games for hours. He turned to glance at Akira. "Do you think we're there yet?"
Before Akira could give an answer, Nya notified them of their arrival through the PA system. "[On PA]: We're arriving at the Mountain of a Million Steps. You all might want to see this." After the announcement, Lloyd and Akira headed toward the top deck to meet with the others.
As she reached the top deck, Akira's eyes narrowed slightly as she saw the massive piles of dirt covering the mountain's natural surface.
"Look at all those piles of dirt," Jay stated.
"They've definitely messed up the mountain since we've last been here," Cole murmured.
The Destiny's Bounty, along with the Shift-wing, flew around the top of the mountain before both slowly coming to a stop above the entrance.
"What are those snakes up to?" Kai wondered, to which Akira side-eyed him, as simply calling a Serpentine a 'snake' would be taken as an offensive comment.
Akira could see the excitement beginning to bubble up within Lloyd, so before he even got a chance to ask, she immediately shot down the question. "F-No," She firmly stated, almost cursing instinctively. "Aw. How did you know what I was going to say?" he asked whiningly.
"I could see it in your eyes and your body language," she answered. "But you're definitely not going, especially since I'm not going with them either, so you will stay on this ship and will not leave under any circumstances unless you're in danger." She narrowed her eyes as they became oval slits. "Am I understood?"
Lloyd sighed softly. "Yes, mom," he said unintentionally, before muttering an apology.
Akira froze at the title. Unintentional or not, the fact that he'd call her that at all was slightly jarring to her. Garmadon, who was observing the tomb entrance with some intensity, snapped his head in their direction, visibly surprised as well.
The ninja took glances but didn't really think much of it. And Wu's eyes widened with surprise, but his expression mostly stayed the same. He walked up to Lloyd, placing a hand on his shoulder, causing Lloyd to turn to his uncle. "Akira is correct, this is not your fight. The Green Ninja is too important for a future destiny. You shall stay with us."
Everyone turned at the sound of Nya's mech flying in from above. "Well, Akira's gonna have to stay with him solo," The mech's chest-plates opened as she gestured to the specialized seat of its shoulder. "Because we made room for you."
"Well, you said you were concerned that you couldn't keep up, so Jay and Nya rejiggered the design so you could come along," Kai said, hands on his hips. "Well, what do you think?" he asked.
"I think," Wu didn't even take a moment of thought before he quickly jumped up into the air, front-flipping, and landing on his new seat. "Shotgun! Ha-ha!"
Akira rolled her eyes. 'Old bones my ass. He's part dragon; he could probably still beat all the ninja and Nya at once.'
Garmadon walked up next to Lloyd. "I will stay back with Lloyd and Akira," he stated, before begrudgingly saying, "I don't enjoy saying this, but... good luck."
The three of them watched as the ninja team jumped down into the tomb before Lloyd and Garmadon began to walk away toward the bridge. Akira waited a bit longer to make sure that the ninja didn't need to be rescued from a trap before she, too, left, with her going below deck instead.
As she walked down the stairs, she clutched her sleeve with a glowing purple hand, causing her outfit to change from its original colors to a mainly black outfit with gold and purple trims, with the dragon design becoming silver.
"I don't really need this suit, but," She rubbed her hand over the fabric. "It's nice," she mumbled.
As she returned to the living room, she sat down on the couch, her eyes flashing with the same heterochromatic colors as before, though this time she ignored it. "I should teach Lloyd how to cook," she randomly blurted out loud.
She laid on the couch, still thinking about how Lloyd called her "mom." Akira didn't really know how to respond to that, her tail waving mindlessly as she pondered. For the first time in a long time, she honestly couldn't tell whether he meant it in a way that he actually saw her as a motherly figure, or whether he was just mocking her about how strict she was with his safety.
'I don't know how to feel about this.'
(Scene break)
(Lloyd POV)
After a while of staying with my dad in the bridge, I headed down towards the living room to find Akira. I had called her "mom." It just... came out on its own, but I didn't really mind it. I never knew my own mother, and Akira has been taking care of me for a while now, so she's been what I would think a real mother would be, or maybe an older sister. I just hoped that she didn't mind it too much either.
I slowly opened the door to see her sitting on the couch, unmoving, with the exception of her swaying tail.
"Akira, are you okay?" I muttered, pushing the door open and moving to sit down next to her. Her arm unconsciously wrapped around me and pulled me into her side. I could see her eyes were still slightly slitted.
I began to shake her shoulder. "Akira? Are you upset that I called you mom?" I asked, lowering my head.
"No. No, of course not. I—I was just surprised is all," she said, pausing for a few moments. "Did... you really mean to call me mom?"
"Did you not want me to?" I asked, my tone becoming apologetic.
She softly caressed my cheek, careful to watch her own claws. "No, no, it's fine if you do. But, you still have your birth mother. And while I know your relationship with her is completely nonexistent, there are multiple reasons—though no reason is truly valid for child abandonment—she could have had a... more reasonable one," she said, unsure of her own words. "There are much darker reasons for why she left you at Darkly's, such as her being hunted for being your father's wife. So she left to protect you."
My lips straightened as I thought about what Akira had said. The way she'd explained it made sense, but I couldn't help but feel hurt and betrayed, even though I never knew my mother.
"I guess it makes sense. But it doesn't mean that I'll forgive her without a good reason," I said, my voice cracking, but my tone cold.
Akira stared down at me with soft eyes. "Maybe you should ask your father. I bet he'll gladly tell you about her," she suggested.
I stayed quiet for a few seconds, leaning against her side.
"Okay. I'll go ask him," I whispered, getting up to go back toward the bridge. "I'll be up there in a few minutes, and... if anything you can call me your older sister or aunt if you want." she told me.
"Okay," I replied with an embarrassed smile.
(Scene break)
(3rd POV)
Akira had just arrived in the bridge to see Lloyd frantically pressing random buttons. "Lloyd," she called, "What's going on?"
"It's the ninja! They need our help!" he replied with obvious worry.
"Where's Garmadon?"
Lloyd turned to her nervously at her question, his eyes avoiding hers. "He was stealing stuff from the computer, so I made him leave," he muttered with some remorse.
Akira's eyes softened as she rubbed his back. "It's okay, Lloyd."
Just then, a static voice came from the speakers, with Nya's image plastered on the screen. "Lloyd? Lord Garmadon? Akira? Is anyone there?"
Akira pressed a button. "I am here, Nya. Garmadon... had left not long ago," she answered. "Are you alright? Are you injured?" She had to wait a few moments for an answer.
"We're fine, the only things hurting are our egos. Other than that, we're okay, but we're a little held up at the moment," Nya responded with less static. "Our weapons have been taken, and we're locked up in a large cage."
"A-and get this," Akira heard Jay begin.
"Pythor has a fifth Fang blade," Cole finished.
Akira froze, her eyes beginning to twitch violently in annoyance that her earlier prediction was correct. Her annoyance also caused her to miss most of Lloyd's reply to Zane's question about Garmadon's whereabouts.
"He was trying to steal secrets," he stuttered slightly. They were unable to properly hear what the other ninja said in response, so Lloyd continued.
"My dad's going back to where he came from. But don't worry, I'll save you."
"Oh, fuck no you won't!" Akira immediately shot down. The captured team of ninja could hear the profanity as Lloyd had not released his hand from the button.
"Aw. But why?"
"Because, Lloyd, Green Ninja or not, you are still just a child. A hatchling!" she stated with worry. "And whether you like it or not, you'll be staying here until I get back with the others. Got it?"
Lloyd nodded in response.
Akira's eyes narrowed into slits. She turned to leave before glancing back at Lloyd. "Stay here. I mean it," she said firmly as he sighed in defeat.
Akira grumbled in annoyance as she left the bridge. "A fucking fifth Fang blade. Of fucking course it was, because it couldn't have been something else." She reached the main deck by jumping over and down the stairs before quickly running overboard and dropping straight down into the tomb.
She saw the open entrance the ninja used to go further underground. As she walked through the tunnel, she could feel her elemental power slightly dampen by a minuscule amount. "The amount of Vengestone covering this place isn't even enough to affect the ninja," Akira commented. "No matter, even if it barely does anything to me, I have more than just elemental power. I've been wanting an excuse to use my magic for a while now."
(Scene break)
(Selma POV)
The Serpentine cheered with excitement as two warriors fought in the slither pits. I was standing next to the girls, watching the fight from a higher point when Thalia spoke.
"So, how'd you think Akira would react to Pythor finding a fifth blade?"
I pondered it for a moment before formulating an answer. "I think it would depend upon whether or not she actually has the Fangpyre Fang blade, which I have no doubt she does. But she'd probably be very irritated."
"Also, it's 'Lady' Akira," Lycora suddenly butted in to correct Thalia.
Thalia snorted, waving her hand in dismissal. "Come on. You know she doesn't care about that, so stop trying to be formal, Ly."
Lycora rolled her eyes with an exaggerated sigh.
"Though she can be a bit... crude with words, my sister is correct. There is no need to be so formal around her, unlike the generals," Aella said with a smile.
I sighed. "I know, I know. It's just—" I paused when I heard the faint sound of a swinging chain.
"What is it, Selma?" Pyralis asked.
"The red ninja is swinging on a chain," I whispered to them, pointing up at the swinging ninja.
"What do we do?" and "Do we warn Pythor?" Pyralis and Lycora asked in unison, the latter's tone being more nervous.
"What! Why would we warn him? Let them beat his ass for all I care," Thalia rebutted.
I thought about the options. On one hand, we could warn Pythor like any other Serpentine would. Or, I could try to help the red ninja by distracting Pythor, or as Thalia likes to call him, "The Cannibalistic Snake Bastard." (And yes, calling a Serpentine a 'snake'—depending on the tone—can be seen as an insult and taken offensively.)
I looked down at my pink scaled claws. Seconds passed before they began to glow in response to me summoning my elemental power.
I clasped my hands together, separating them as a small orb of plasma formed between them. It was about half the size of a golf ball, but all I could manage for now. I moved my palm toward my right, aiming at a few rocks on a lower level of the earthy fortress. The plasma orb followed my movements.
"What are you doing?" Aella asked.
"Making a distraction," I answered, releasing my hold on the orb as it quickly zipped past Pythor's back and struck its target, the rocks, shattering them into pebbles.
Pythor yelped slightly at the sudden heat before turning his head in the direction of the scattered pebbles. I quickly sat back down and continued to watch the fight before he glanced in my direction.
I shuddered as I felt his gaze wash over me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red ninja jump from the swinging chain and barely catch the ledge of the upper level before climbing up. Sadly, Pythor saw this as well, immediately slithering towards him.
"Trying to escape, are we?" Pythor asked rhetorically, holding his staff at the ready.
"We should help him," I suddenly suggested, surprising the other four.
"What? But, wouldn't that make us traitors?" Lycora worriedly asked.
Aella exhaled a sigh. "To be fair, most of the Serpentine would rather not follow Pythor, and even the generals are beginning to get suspicious," she noted.
"I mean, it's literally called; The Great 'Devourer'. You know, like devour everything it can," her sister added.
"Plus," Pyralis began. "I think we already chose to follow Akira if she was to lead the Serpentine tribes." We all nodded in agreement, some more nervous than others.
I was one of them, as was Lycora and surprisingly Thalia. Out of the five of us, only Pyralis and Aella were among the warrior class of our respective tribes. Thalia was a scout class due to her being a bit younger—much to her annoyance—though she was about to come of age to be able to take the test to see if she had the capabilities to become one.
Lycora and I were civilians. Though I am a ninja in training, and Ly has her venom.
My maw began humming with my elemental power as I aimed toward Pythor's back. I could feel Pyralis put a hand on my back, most definitely to help with the recoil.
It definitely helped as I was pushed back from the recoil, with Pyralis being the only thing keeping me from falling to the ground.
Pythor yelped in pain as my plasma shot hit him, knocking him to the ground.
I noticed the red ninja's eyes widen with surprise, and I have no doubt that the others who were still imprisoned felt the same.
By now, every Serpentine in the cavernous fortress was watching. While I couldn't really hear what they were saying, I could tell that they were shocked by a Serpentine having elemental power—something they could tell because my hands were still very obviously glowing a vibrant purple.
Pythor's eyes widened as well the moment he turned his head in our direction—keeping his body and staff facing toward the lone ninja, who was looking for a viable weapon—before his lips curled into a cruel smirk.
"Well, well," he snarled. "What do we have here? A Serpentine elemental master. How... hmm, what's the word? Tsk, tsk, tsk, oh whatever." He mocked, slithering backward just enough so that he could block an attack from either side.
"I suppose since those four didn't try to stop you, that they too decided to side with the ninja."
Surprisingly, it was the usually quiet Pyralis who snapped back. "We chose to side with Akira. The ninja just so happen to be against you as well."
Pythor's eyes flashed with annoyance and irritation. "Ah yes, her. Well, no problem, my dear traitors. I suppose I will just have to dispose of you with the ninja. Hmm, yes, that would do nicely."
My claws glowed brighter with power in response to the threat. That was when a loud sound similar to creaking metal was heard, causing everyone to cover their ears at the high-pitched sound.
I glanced at the cage where the other ninja were held to see that the bars were bent and broken, and the girl was beginning to enter the mech.
"I suggest that you take the Fang blades and try to escape with them, Pythor. Because when I get a hold of your neck, I'm not letting go." Everyone turned to see Akira at the main entrance.
(Scene break)
(3rd POV)
Akira was pissed... very pissed. At Pythor. At the fifth fucking Fang blade. At this point, she might just kill Pythor and summon the Devourer herself just so she can kill it. Because at this point, fuck keeping everything basically the same. As long as 'canon' events end in the way they're intended, it shouldn't matter.
And Pythor doesn't necessarily have to live in any of them as long as there is one living Anacondrai. And she was an Anacondrai, even if not by blood.
Loopholes are nice when you're the one using them.
She had used magic to free the ninja team, though she could see that Kai had already escaped. And that one of the generals, Skales, had just given Pythor a trophy-like short-staff that had four of the now (annoyingly) five Fang blades on the top.
"Let's at least make this a little entertaining for me," she muttered aloud, her voice shifting and distorting into a deeper, darker version of her voice in her dragon form with the same multi-vocal effect.
"Run." The Serpentine around her flinched in surprise at her sudden change of voice and slight melodic tone.
"Run." She repeated, walking slowly through the crowd. Most of the Serpentine moved out of her way, and for the ones that didn't, she used her magic to freeze them in place. It was a low-level stasis spell that would wear off in half an hour, courtesy of the Pyroviper surprisingly enough.
"Run, little Anacondrai, run. Slither away from the big bird as fast as you can." Akira purposefully made her maw flash with colored light as she sang for dramatic effect.
"Is she really singing right now?" Jay asked as he and the others began to get surrounded by Serpentine warriors, with the Samurai X mech—and Wu sitting on its chair—hovering in the air above the three ninja.
"I kind of like it, her voice reminds me a bit of my soft rock tunes," Cole said, slamming his scythe into the ground to cause a mini-earthquake that knocked most of their enemies off their feet.
"Based on what happened last night, it's safe to assume that she loves being excessively dramatic in some cases," Zane commented, kicking away a Venomari.
Wu jumped down from the shoulder of the mech and used Spinjitzu against some Hypnobrai. "Enough dally dallying and focus on the task at hand! We must get those Fang blades!"
"Ninja, go!" The three ninja shouted in unison before using Spinjitzu.
Pyralis grabbed Kai's arm, careful to mind her claws. "Come on. Let's get you to your friends, Red Ninja." Kai was shocked that a Serpentine was helping him but reluctantly nodded in agreement due to how the group she was with tried to help him earlier.
"The name's Kai."
Thalia snorted. "Well, Kai," she began, exaggerating his name. "We need to hurry the fuck up and get to your team or to Akira before we get surrounded by very pissed Serpentine," she urged, before sliding down the sloped edge.
The others followed suit, but not before the Cobra drone uncurled and slithered off of Selma's neck with a silent order that would've read: FOLLOW PYTHOR.
And it did just that, following the Anacondrai as he escaped with the Fang blades.
(Meanwhile)
Akira decided to stop singing, as the whole point was to creep out Pythor, who had already "escaped."
She roughly kicked a Serpentine who tried to rush her, though only hard enough to bruise.
She picked up a small rock, tossed it in the air a few times, then threw it after performing a short burst of Spinjitzu, transferring the energy into the object as it flew toward a cluster of warriors, sending them flying.
"Whoa!" Kai, Selma, and her group of friends had reached the bottom of the slope, ending up next to Akira as she used the technique.
'Needs a better name, something to do with focus perhaps?' she mentally questioned.
"What was that?"
Akira glanced at Kai for a moment. "Object Spinjitzu. Needs a better name to be honest, but it'll do for now," she answered while commenting about the name. "Also, don't ask for me to teach it to you. You still have yet to fully master the base form of Spinjitzu yet," she added with a mischievous smirk.
"Awesome!" Thalia exclaimed with amazement. She picked up a discarded war hammer from the ground before turning to hit a Venomari in the face, knocking out a fang. "Sorry, not sorry!" she yelled a false apology. "Anyway, can we learn Spinjitzu?" she asked, a hopeful glimmer in her ringed eyes.
"I could teach you," Kai gave Akira a strange look. "But you'll all have to earn it. Follow its principles. Such as never using it for nefarious purposes, yada, yada, yada," she affirmed.
"Cool."
"Wha?" [Snap] "You can't just—."[Snap]. Kai sighed in defeat as Akira just kept snapping her fingers in his face, before he caught his sword that Zane threw toward him and parried an attack from a Constrictai scout, spewing fire from the tip of the blade. "Fire!"
A cluster of Serpentine began to climb onto the Samurai X mech in an attempt to overwhelm Nya. Suddenly, a plasma shot knocked them off. She turned to see Selma's glowing hand aimed in her direction, before the pink Hypnobrai awkwardly waved. Nya had her mech wave back in response.
Akira used her armored foot to push a downed warrior into the ground before forcefully sliding him into another. She used Spinjitzu on a group of Fangpyre, before switching to Rising Dragon against a larger group of Venomari. Doing the same with Shatterspin on a cluster of Constrictai.
Hearing the sound of bones rattling, Akira turned toward the entrance she used to see the Skull-kin army charging toward the Serpentine, with Garmadon following close behind, weapons in each of his four arms.
"What! What is he doing here?!" Acidicus shouted before slithering to retreat.
"So, you've finally decided to join the party!" Akira shouted toward Garmadon. He rushed through the Serpentine in his way before reaching the now regrouped ninja team, with her standing next to him seconds later.
"Lloyd made me realize that I have a choice," he began, his tone slightly solemn. "That if anyone's going to conquer and rule Ninjago, it's going to be me." he stated factually.
Cole scoffed under his hood. "Yeah. Like we'd ever let that happen," he said, with Jay stifling his laughter.
Garmadon let out a quiet growl before turning to his brother. "Go. The Skull-kin and I will keep them busy here."
Wu nodded in agreement.
"Then we must move now. Hurry back to the Bounty! We must stop Pythor from reaching Ouroboros, or at the very least, get there before he does," Wu said, with the ninja and Nya rushing back toward the Destiny's Bounty.
Akira's tail wrapped around a Hypnobrai's neck before sending him into the ground. The Serpentine groaned in pain.
She turned to Selma. "I assume that you five will be joining us?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
Selma eagerly nodded, before pausing to turn to her friends. "I know you said that you'd follow Akira if given the choice, but are you sure?"
Surprisingly, it was Aella who snorted with her hands on her hips. "Even if we didn't, we don't really have a choice right now." Thalia laid her head on her sister's shoulder with a cutesy smile. "Plus, I know that we all want to go."
Both Lycora and Pyralis nodded in agreement. "So we should probably go now, yeah?" Lycora asked, sheepishly scratching her cheek.
"Then what are you fucking waiting for?" Akira used Spinjitzu, which began to grow bigger. Once she stopped and the tornado dissipated, she was in her smaller, true dragon form. Turning to look down at them, Akira lowered herself to allow them onto her back.
"Get on." Her voice echoed slightly, the movements of her jaws not in sync with the sound of her voice.
The five Serpentine climbed onto Akira's back one by one, and with a flap of her semi-transparent, multicolored wings, she launched into the air. Akira then charged and shot a stream of lightning into the cavern wall, reducing a portion of it to rubble as she burrowed through.
After breaking through the last bits of rock, turning her head to the left, she noticed the Bounty's thrusters beginning to power up further before she flew toward it.
(Scene break)
Driving across the sands of the vast desert was a Fangpyre venom-infected van that was surprisingly fast for its large size.
The van bounced slightly as it got onto the paved road. "Be careful how you drive, you bumbling oaf!" Pythor snapped at Skalidor.
"This thing's barely big enough for the four of us!" Skalidor snapped back, the speedometer moving toward maximum speed. "My tail is being pushed into the gas even when I'm trying to slow down." He added, turning the wheel to the left to avoid oncoming traffic.
"We must get to Ouroboros as fast as possible," Pythor said.
"We know," and "You've said that multiple times already," Fangtom stated with annoyance. The four generals were all irritated by the small space, having had to barely squeeze into the van in the first place.
What they didn't know was that on top of the vehicle, the Cobra drone had its metal fangs embedded into the roof.
(Scene break)
Akira, whose dragon form was slightly shrunken down, was lying on the top deck of the Bounty, allowing Lloyd, Selma, Pyralis, Lycora, Aella, and her sister to pet her snout. This was something she did enjoy, though would never admit aloud.
Her eyes snapped open when she sensed an intense burst of malice and killing intent aimed at Lloyd. Akira raised her head to the sky before letting out a snarl at a specific pitch that only a few could hear.
"I see you." Her pupils were thin slits, staring at a small, almost minuscule crack in the air that quickly closed as the malicious intent dissipated.
She lowered her head back down to continue receiving her snout petting, but not before leaving a mental note:
'I'm most certainly going to have to kill something or someone. In a very excruciatingly painful way.'
(Cliffhanger)
(End)
Something I forgot to add is that FoulEncoder is currently only publishing updates for just stories on Wattpad due to the loss of his WebNovel account. Don't know if he'll republish the stories on his new account through.