Some time later, Lorris took the whole gang to Ouroborous to visit the rest of her family except for the triplets Aranettis, Ethenaris, and Gloranellis, because the Triple Trouble weren't in Ninjago and were instead in Cloud Kingdom.
"Why are we even going? I thought Ouroborous was destroyed by the Great Devourer," Nya called. Nilla replied against the wind, "Well, after that happened and after the ghosts came, our sister Hyperfang came back to Ouroborous and rebuilt it. She was the empress of the Serpentine before she left for a bit and returned to find the tribes in a war with each other, so she left again to see what would play out. Now she's back, restored order, and she can shift between legs and tail. And she still sounds like a nine-year-old, just saying! The Reindeer are there too, and Hyperfang and the reindeer are called the North Sky Gang. Let's hurry!"
The dragons flew faster while the Bounty put more jet power in. They landed just outside of the gates of a now-built wall made of white marble. "How did they even get this done?" Cole wondered.
At the gate, the Venomari guards crossed in front. "Halt! What businesssss to the Ninja have here in Ouroboroussss?"
"They're with us, Snappa," Akira announced as she pushed to the front. "We wish to meet with the Empress."
"Well, if that'ssss the case, then you are welcomed. Open the gateway!" The iron gates swung open, and everyone was greeted with a magnificent sight. There was a huge pagoda in the middle of the city. In front of it was the Slither Pit. Around the place were stately homes and offices. The Serpentine went about their day like anyone else would, except that they looked even better than they had ever before.
"Hyperfang lives in that pagoda, called the Tartine Palanquin," Lorris explained. "Her advisors are Skales, Fangtom, Skalidor, and Acidicus. Her Grand Vizier was Pythor, but then she made him scrub the floor because he was too greedy. And whenever she goes on a trip, her sister Janina steps in. She looks and sounds like a three-year-old. NEVER call her cute because she could as soon bite your head off as play with a doll."
Though the outside of the Tartine Palanquin was radiant in the sun, it was nothing like the inside. Pillars, nobility rushing about, the Grand Hall was gilded in different stones and precious metals, and there were the most beautiful exotic animals in the courtyard. Including a lung dragon. (Chinese dragons. Always italicize lung.)
There was the throne room next. A pink Serpentine who was similar to Selma without the black eye markings, but with a long tail, sharp fangs a dress made of spring-green scales with a black velvet sash, and a huge grin, sat on the throne.
"Hello, Banana Bazooka and Cutifier! You brought the Fashion Designer with you? And those are the ninja, right?" Her tail switched into short legs (but still with the tail) and she skipped quickly over. "Hello! I'm pretty sure y'all know me as Empress Hyperfang, but I don't really like the title of empress, and since it's like that, just call me Hyperfang. Hey, guys! Come on over! We have guests!" she called at the window.
Nine Zootopian reindeer flew in. The bucks had red kilts and red criss-crossing faux-leather (with brass bells that didn't ring) that were somewhat like suspenders. The three does—Prancer, Vixen, and Blitzen—had different designs. Prancer's skirt was like rectangular plates a samurai would wear. Vixen wore a pleated velvet skirt. Blitzen had a plate-like skirt similar to long dragon scales. And it was all red. The criss-cross of leather was only around the belly area and the mid- to lower back. Above that was (for Chima people) what the eagle Eris wore (in Chima). And still red. Okay, this is a very long description, so moving along!
"Hi guys. You might already know me as Rudolph. And DO NOT sing that infernal and very inaccurate song." His nose glowed in irritation as he thought of it.
"Hi-I'm-Dasher-How-are-you-I-am-faster-than-Griffin-Turner-and-you-might-already-know." You couldn't even see his running.
"How's it goin', dudes? Call me Dancer." He had cool sunglasses on.
"Howdy, folks. The name's Prancer. Hyper, did you really allow a bunch of city-slickers here?" She whipped a lasso around in the air.
"Oh, hush, Prance! Please address me as Vixen, and be warned that I can turn into a fox any time I want to." Vixen had orange fur like a fox.
"¡Hola, mis amigos! I'm Comet, and I can go fast as Dasher! It is very nice meeting you all!" He had a tuft of blond hair on his head and emitted sparks.
"Hello, my name is Cupid. It's nice to meet you all." Cupid had a golden longbow and a quiver of golden arrows, with a *choke* charming smile and deep sapphire eyes. (Vixen: He already has who-knows-how-many fan girls!)
"Just call me Donner, which means 'thunder' in the German language." He had dark umber fur and a solid build. Not all muscles and that, just a strong build.
"Whoa, step back! This is a flask of hydrogen, and I don't want anyone getting burned. WAH!" KA-BOOM! "*kaff, koff* Okay, sorry about that. My antlers are cinders again. And my fur's cooked. I'm Blitzen Krieger, which means Lightning Warrior. Stop staring!" Cole had been staring because her eyes were an eccentric green that seemed to glow, and he was rapt because they were so ominous like a stormy night.
"You see why they call us a dysfunctional family?" Lorris asked the team. Jay nodded vigorously. "Yeah. You all have these cool abilities and stuff and are what, royalty? AND HOW DO YOU LIVE GETTING BURNT BY EXPLODING HYDROGEN?"
"Eh, it's just me because I've grown immune to it. I have a lab," Blitzen explained. "There are plenty of chemicals there. Anyway, what's going on with it, Terrors?"
"Oh, yeah. Well, we smell some Cupidity in the air. What level of Cupidity now, Agapos?" Nilla asked Cupid. The reindeer held up an arrow with silver streaks. "As of now, they're on level two, or new friends. But at this moment we are about to be interrupted, because my worst enemy is coming. Two of the bloodmares, Bloodlust and Hatred's Fire, are about to attack in three… two… one."
That was perfect timing because Acidicus barged into the room frantically, looking like he had seen a murder attack. "Your Highness! The bloodmares Bloodlussst and Hatred'ssss Fire are attacking the Ssslither Pit!"
"Round up the troops, Acidicus. Give everyone a red dart from the Infirmary. Those will stop you from siding with them when you inject the serum hidden inside," Hyperfang commanded. Acidicus bowed his head once and quickly left the room.
"Okay, while he's at that, I'm going out there," Cupid said grimly.
"WHAT! I thought that bloodmares were supposed to be the worst in the world besides the Deathmare!" Jay screamed. "I thought they caused horrible wars and stuff!"
"Well, take this red dart, and let's just fight them WITHOUT ANY BLOODSHED BECAUSE BLOOD'S WHAT THEY WANT!" Lorris screamed. She threw red darts from behind her back into everyone's arms. "YOW!" Well, at least they were protected now.
Launch, battle, and try to stay alive. Or… not. "YAAAH! A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Jay screamed when Bloodlust pounced on him and held him by his throat. Her razor-sharp teeth dug in and started sucking up red liquid.
"Hey! What are you doing to him?!" Nya shouted. She blasted some water at Bloodlust's face; she dodged and reared, causing Jay to hack and choke. "Don't get close! Or else your pitiful little friend goes to the Underworld and I drain his life by spilling his blood down my throat."
"She drinks blood?!" Kai exclaimed. Zane flipped backwards over a rock. "The bloodmares have an unquenchable thirst for blood. They'll never stop until everyone has been drained, and then still they won't be satisfied."
"Man, they're hungrier than me," Cole commented. "How do we defeat them without getting hurt? I mean, I know we have the serum to protect us, but—"
"Guys! HURRY UP AND GET ME OUT!" Jay shouted. "THIS REALLY HURTS!"
"Okay, that's it, let's save him! I'm getting tired of standing and doing nothing! NINJAAAAAA-GOOOO!" Kai bellowed, spinning into a blazing red tornado. The rest followed in pursuit. The Serpentine took care of Hatred's Fire.
Quickly the NSG leapt into battle, because Bloodlust was more out of control than Hatred's Fire. She had spit Jay out of her mouth, but he was out cold in Nya's arms. The bloodmare hissed, "Fools! Do you think you can stop me?" She crashed her front hooves into the ground, cracking the Slither Pit. And bellowed. Everyone cover your ears.
Once the dust cleared… "Hey, where'd she go?" Cole hollered. "Did she just turn invisible and leave?"
"Oh, great," Blitzen moaned, now clean and back to normal. "All nightmares can turn invisible and stay hiding, but when sagemares and bloodmares and the Deathmare do it, we can't see their forms except if we drink acid from the Toxic Bogs. Everyone must remain vigilant and keep an eye peeled. We have to drive 'em out of Ouroborous."
"So now it's the nightmare hunt instead of nightmare watch?" Jay sarcastically declared. Blitzen nodded. "Whatever you'd like to call it. Goodbye!" She flew off.
So far, nothing. The sniffing noses didn't smell any rancid odor or any manure. Unfortunately, when Akira checked in the kitchen, she was nabbed on the arm by some invisible force. She gasped, wrestling against it. It yanked back and snorted, "Don't try fighting me. Your brother will cause your sacrifice once we get to where you need to be." It turned into a dark mass of red that enveloped her and disappeared.
With Lloyd, he was snapped against the floor of the library and pinned down. He grunted, trying to get the invisible thing off. It hissed, "Don't resist. You are going to regret it once you realize that Hatred's Fire has gotten a sacrifice ready, and you won't be able to save them if you struggle." She whisked him off into the dark.
In the meantime, the Twins had split up. Nilla was walking down the hall when she heard Lorris roar, which was impossible for an ocelot. "Sis! What happened?!" she yowled. The doors to the relic room burst open. Out tumbled Lorris, roaring and fighting a mass of red in real ocelot form while it pinned her down. "Free 'em, Bloodlust! Or else take me and leave them be, because I'd rather die in their place."
"Very well then, feeble star. Your wish is granted." They vanished. Nilla's mouth had been open in shock. When she recovered… "BLOODLUST HAS MY TWIN!"
So everyone ran to the spot where she had seen them. "What happened?" Wu inquired. A much shaken Nilla whispered, "Bloodlust… took Lorris off… my sis said that she'd rather die in place of some sacrifices…"
"Hold on. Have any of you seen Lloyd or Akira?" Kai interrupted. They looked around. Jay called, "Okay, you two, this isn't funny! Will you come out of hiding?"
LE GASP! "They were the sacrifices!" Prancer frantically whinnied. Cupid set his mouth into a thin line. "Come on, follow me. I know where they're going."
