The Great Devouror, the Oni's mightiest destroyer, their final plot to defeat humanity and lay waste to the first realm, was dead. The serpentine had managed to survive.
They really were lucky, Skales recollected. Lucky and strong. Any other race would be wiped out by now, be it at the hand of their imprisonment underground for decades or their near miss with death when the Devouror had been unleashed. But the serpentine were not weak, unlike this pathetic, snivelling humans who had only survived because Garmadon had saved them.
Skales lip curled into a snarl. Garmadon was a fool. He'd saved humanity, killed the Devouror, and now, he wanted peace. Well, he wasn't about to get it. As long as Skales had his wife, he was going to get what he wanted from that idiot man.
"General Skales." Skales turned to see two guards standing in the entrance to his tent. "Garmadon had arrived."
"Good," Skales grinned, "this should be good."
The two guards returned his grin, their eyes flashing. Not one serpentine among them held any sympathy for Garmadon, or for his wife, Misako.
The camp was a buzz of activity as Skales strode through, the sea of busy snakes parting as he walked among them. Everyone was doing something- fixing weapons, treating wounds, building vehicles. They needed everyone at full strength and as many weapons as they could make if they wanted to have a chance to defeat the ninja.
Garmadon was waiting at the edge of the camp, flanked by two guards, crossing his arms and scowling. Skales wondered idly how much restraint it was taking to keep himself from attacking them. When he caught sight of Skales, he sneered, unfolding his arms and leering forwards.
"Whatever it is you want of me, you won't get it," he snarled, "I've made it my policy not to deal with slithering traitors like you."
"Hello, Garmadon," Skales replied cordially, "it's lovely to see you, too."
"Dismiss with the pleasantries, snake," Garmadon snapped, "why am I here?"
"There's no need to be rude," Skales laughed, "but since I am a businessman, I won't keep you in the dark any longer. I will be frank with you, Garmadon: I need your help."
"He finally admits it," Garmadon smirked. He looked to the heavens, feigning thought. "But as I recall... oh, I'd say... thirty seconds ago? I told you I don't deal with serpentine." He laughed, turning to walk away. "A good day to you, Skales."
"I would stick around if I were you," Skales said, causing Garmadon to pause. "You see, I figured you'd do this. You've always been difficult."
Garmadon smirked again, but this time it seemed much less cocky. "It runs in the family." He frowned. "So what have you done to sweeten the pot?"
"Sweeten?" Skales chuckled. "More like bitter- please bring out the prisoner."
Skales' two guards both hurried into the nearby tent, and from within, a slight scuffling could be heard. Then, the flap was opened and out came the two snakes, flanking a wriggling, furious woman, bound and gagged, fighting uselessly to escape their hold. Garmadon gasped at the sight, then his eyes went dark and he lifted his hands and aimed them towards Skales.
"Let her go," he growled, "or I'll kill every one of you."
"Kiss your wife goodbye, then," Skales laughed, waving a hand in her direction. At once the two guards raised their weapons and pressed the blades to her throat. Misako gave a muffled gasp, staring at the blades in terror. Garmadon flinched, his eyes darting back and forth between Skales and Misako. The temptation to attack him, to let his wife die but satisfy himself with vengeance was obvious, but so was the fact that he was fighting it. There was a long, tense pause. Then Garmadon slowly lowered his arms, still glaring at Skales.
"What do you want?" He asked, his voice low and filled with rage. Skales smiled, clasping his hands together and sliding forwards to be closer to Garmadon. "As I said before," he said in a low voice, "I need you-- for the first, and hopefully the last time."
Garmadon folded his arms across his chest. With his extra two, he stood almost a foot taller than Skales, and given the expression of pure hatred on his face, and the way he was literally shaking with rage, Skales would probably be intimidated if he didn't have Misako held fast behind him. It was satisfying, he thought, like taunting a beast that was chained up, held back from biting at him by nothing more than an inch of air.
"So what is this mysterious favour?" Garmadon asked. "I'd like to get on with it, if you don't mind."
"The feeling is mutual," Skales promised, "but first-- bring Misako back to the prison tent. We can't have her overhearing our little plot."
As the two guards hauled a squirming Misako away, Skales slung an arm around Garmadon's shoulder and turned him around. "Let's talk," he said cheerfully, "let's discuss my little plan."
"Just tell me, you worm," Garmadon snapped, jerking out from under Skales' arm. The Hypnobrai chuckled, inciting a furious scowl from Garmadon.
"Alright," he said, "do you know of the statue in the Ninjago City Museum?"
"Oh, yes," Garmadon said sarcastically, "the statue in the museum. That narrows it down to about a thousand."
"There's one in particular that I have in mind," Skales explained, "the Grundle. You know it?"
Garmadon nodded. "It's old," he said, "it's been there for ages-- what do you want with it? Investing in some home decor? I would suggest hanging lights and--"
"You know that isn't what I mean," Skales snapped, beginning to feel impatient, "I picked that statue because it depicts one of the greatest, most feared land predators of all time." He sighed wistfully. "A pity they went extinct during the Dark ages."
"Ah, yes, I often long for a world where none of us are alive," Garmadon said dryly, "now, are you ever going to finally get to the point?"
"What I want," Skales said, "is for you to steal it." At Garmadon's incredulous snort, Skales lifted and hand to stop him from making a snide remark and hastily continued. "Not in the way you would think-- I don't want the statue, I want the Grundle."
"A living Grundle?" Garmadon laughed. "Skales, it's a statue, not a time machine."
"I'm aware," Skales said wryly, "but it will not remain so-- tell me, are you aware of the properties of your blood?"
"Yes," Garmadon said quickly, his tone suggesting that he did not want to elaborate on the subject, "ever since I was bitten, it's had powers of it's own."
"Yes," Skales said eagerly, "and are you aware that the Devouror's venom shares those properties?"
Garmadon rolled his eyes. "It's the Devouror's venom that gave me those powers, fool."
"But the venom is stronger," Skales went on, "it has powers of its own, powers you cannot imagine-- powers that some would consider unnatural, and they would do so rightly."
"Like what power?" Garmadon asked, frowning. Skales grinned madly, his eyes gleaming like a dagger in the moonlight. "Imagine... imagine erecting a statue of a beast, imagine carving it and painting it and furnishing it, striving to make it exact in it's every detail." Skales leaned closer to Garmadon, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Now, imagine if something... venom, for instance, oozing and green... could soak your creation, and your statue, still and silent and utterly dead... was alive."
Garmadon gasped. "You want... you want me to bring the Grundle to life?"
"Yes," Skales said gleefully, "I do. I want you to use the Devouror's venom-- and the only reason you must do this is because you are the only one who can touch the venom, and who can control it. You must bathe the Grundle in the venom-- or perhaps not. Perhaps a single drop will be enough." He shrugged. "Whatever must be done, it will be done." Skales grinned like a devil, and Garmadon felt his flesh crawling. "Or else that lovely wife of yours gets to fully experience the hospitality of the serpentine."
"Don't touch her," Garmadon snapped, glancing back at the camp, as if fearing to see Misako's corpse being dragged out, "I'll do what you want. I'll bring back the Grundle." He looked down at Skales through narrowed eyes. "Why is this what you want, anyways? Didn't you learn your lesson with the Devouror?"
"I learned to trust no one but myself," Skales replied lightly, "and I learned that sometimes, mayhem and death are the keys to success... and sometimes not." He smiled. "My motives are my concern, not yours. All you need to do is resurrect the Grundle, and your wife gets to live."
"And then what?" Garmadon asked. "Then will she be released?"
"No," Skales replied bluntly, "she will remain with me for as long as I deem the two of you useful, but I can promise you that she will come to minimal harm during her stay."
Garmadon scowled, looking like he wanted to blast Skales into oblivion, but he remembered Misako, bound helplessly and trapped in the serpentine camp, and he forced himself to remain civil. "I'll make your Grundle, then I'll be back for my wife," he snarled. Skales smiled.
"I will be eagerly awaiting your return," he said, waving as Garmadon stalked off, heading towards the city.
One of his guards came up behind Skales, holding his spear loosely at his side. "The prisoner is secure," he said, "she's getting annoying, you know. Maybe we should just bury her, leave her head above the ground or something?"
Skales laughed. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, "but for now, I have another way of satisfying myself."
"How's that, general?"
Skales snickered, pointing to Garmadon, striding away. "He's going to bring the Grundle back from the dead," he explained, "delicious revenge, this is-- he knows so much, yet he's missed one very important thing."
"And what's that?" The guard asked curiously. Skales laughed again.
"The Grundle," he said, "is much like the Devouror, in the sense that it is a creation of the Oni. That's why the venom will work on it-- and, it can smell the blood of those descended from the Dragon."
"His children," the guard mused. A wicked smile grew on his face. "General, you are clever... what a way to have them go!"
"I thought so," Skales said, "Garmadon will unleash this new terror on the world, and it will seek out and kill the two greatest threats to its existence-- Lloyd and Lexi Garmadon."
"Not that I don't hate the little rats," the guard said, "but why go to all this trouble to kill a couple of little kids?"
"It is not the children I fear," Skales explained, "but what they will grow up to be... Lexi is dangerous, my friend. She must be stopped, must be killed, by any means necessary."