• 𝓓𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝔂 • {𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐠𝐨}

•S1 E3: Snakebit (I)•

    And then there were snakes.

    Hundreds. Tens of hundreds of snakes crawling from the tomb, hissing so loudly your ears hurt. You pulled Lloyd to the floor to avoid being knocked over, your flashlight landing hard and flickering out. Blackness. You could hear the snakes' breathing, confused and awed murmuring.

    'And who...'
    'May I sssay releasssed usss...'
    'From our captivity?'

    Two snakes? Lloyd was the first to look up, and from the strangled gasp he made, it wasn't good. You gripped his hand a little tighter before forcing yourself to look up. There was a red snake towering over you, holding another staff—he had two heads. Well. That answered some questions. The left head leered at you, and you dared to hold its gaze. He almost seemed impressed.

    You elbowed Lloyd. 'Uhm, Lloyd?' He stammered. You elbowed him a little harder, a little more personally. 'And [Y/N]! And [Y/N]. We released you. To make the Hypnobrai pay for betraying us.'

    His eyes narrowed on both heads, one with disgust and one with rage. 'The Hypnobrai?' The left head bristled.

    'Those hypnotising deceiversss,' the right head snarled.

    'Yes,' you said, drawing yourself up a bit. If there was already some conflict between them, then making them fight would be a breeze. 'We want to make the Hypnobrai pay. And if we take care of them, then we can spread to the rest of Ninjago... how does that sound?'

    The heads grinned.

    'It'll be...'
    'Our pleasssure.'

    You grinned. 'OK! Great. We'll lead you to their tomb. And after they're taken care of... there are a few other things I want to deal with.'

Like the ninja. A cold spike shot through you, and you shivered. No, you were not over what they did to you and Lloyd's treehouse.

A glint of surprised satisfaction flickered through their eyes. 'Sssoundsss like...'
'You know...'
'What you want,' the heads said, nodding. The other Fangpyres had begun to whisper among themselves more fervently, and you heard—again—mentions of the Virulent. You reached out, behind your back where no one could see, and squeezed Lloyd's hand. He squeezed back.

'But the Hypnobrai are numerousss, and ssstrong.'
'We are few in numbersss.'
'We need...'
'Reinforcementsss!'

You blinked. Reinforcements. You thought... they were the reinforcements. But you forced your face into a knowing, cocky smile and said, 'Of course! What are we waiting for?'

They nodded again, though as they passed, they gave you a striking side look. Not quite malicious, but not quite friendly. What do snakes have against—or for, even—me? You straightened. Maybe they know I'm a child of Garmadon.

The Fangpyres slithered from the graveyard, many marvelling and gushing about the sight of something other than dirt and rock. You felt a little sorry for them. Maybe a bit sympathetic. 'Hey, Lloyd?'

'Yeah?'

'Do you remember the first time we snuck out of Darkley's?'