Onyx and the Tournament of Elements

The Greatest Fear of All

"Sorry I had to confiscate your weapons. Here we try to foster what I call "an environment of encouragement," Warden Noble said as he led them through the prison. Onyx gritted her teeth. He'd even found out about her sock dagger, and she felt vulnerable without it. "I'll rattle your bones, Warden," Kruncha growled as the Warden passed. The Warden laughed. "Very creative, Frakjaw. Love the puns," he said.

Soto lunged at the bars as they passed, reaching for Onyx's collar. She leapt back out of reach. "Pajama people!" Soto cried. "Easy, Soto. I'm the captain of this ship. Haha. Ninja ain't popular around these parts, considering you put most of them behind bars, hmm. But who you're looking for, he hates ninja the most. Last cell on the left," The Warden instructed. He was a bit too nonchalant for Onyx's liking, though she followed Lloyd, obeying his directions, finally arriving at a tiny dollhouse inside a cell, and within Pythor sat, having tea with a rat.

"We need your help," Lloyd said, looking down at Pythor as they all stepped into the cell. Pythor narrowed his eyes. "Help you? The ninja? You fed me to the Devourer, defeated every army I've aligned with, and even forced me to swallow your shrinking pill! Haven't you done enough damage to my diminishing ego?" He spat. Cole responded by kicking his dollhouse, sending Pythor toppling to the ground, where Onyx raised her foot over him.

Pythor curled his lip. "Well played. I suppose this is about that culturally insensitive noodle baron and his ilk that are now Anacondrai. Impostors, if you ask me," he hissed. "You are the last remaining Anacondrai. You must know how to stop them," Jay said, slightly desperate. Pythor crossed his arms and looked away. "I'm not going to say another word until you can figure out how to make me big. And don't ask me to trust a ninja," he said. Ori gave Onyx a confused glance. Onyx shook her head. "Long story. I'll tell you later," she said.

Garmadon slithered forward. "Would you trust a snake?" He asked. Pythor's eyes lit up. "Garma-Condrai? Oh, now my interest is piqued. Let's make a deal, shall we?" He said, eyes narrowing. Onyx crouched down and leaned in close as Pythor began to explain what he wanted the ninja to do. "Then you get the spell book and I'll tell you their weakness, and then-" before he could finish, alarms suddenly began to blare through the prison, and the Warden's voice came through the intercom.

"There's been a breach in Sector 2! They appear to be Anacondrai, and—uh-oh, they're coming my way. They see me talking on the intercom. Oh, boy, here they come. Why am I still talking on this thing?" Onyx leapt up, eyes widening as cheers rose from the cells. "You led them to me? What have you done? There's no escaping an Anacondrai! Curse this fraudulent furniture!" Pythor shrieked, panicking and trying to hide himself in a plastic wardrobe. When that didn't work, he shoved a lampshade over his head. "Tell me! How do we stop them? What is their weakness?" Garmadon demanded. "Don't you get it? There is no weakness! They're Anacondrai!" Pythor cried. Onyx gritted her teeth. Of course he had no intention of helping them.

"Guys, we've got company!" Kai warned as several Anacondrai cultists approached them. "I'll handle this. Earth!" Cole shouted, throwing a blast of rocks at the Anacondrai, only for them to dodge and the stones to dent a cell. "We're trying to keep the inmates in, not let them out!" Jay cried. "Then use lightning! Frying a criminal is excusable in this situation," Onyx said.

Garmadon snatched up Pythor and began to shake him. As he did, a tiny drop of violet venom landed on his hand, causing the scales to reappear. "Your hand. That may be why they've come for Pythor. What if he holds the key to making their transformation permanent?" Zane gasped. "That's why Chen hasn't attacked," Wu realized. "Then we have to get him out of here. If he's the key to preventing a war, we can't let him fall into the wrong hands. Literally," Lloyd said, adding the last bit vitriolically. "Oh, I get it. It's literal because of my size. Haha, very funny. But I'm a little sensitive to all the size references," Pythor snapped.