Chapter 4
Cole awoke with a groan, and his vision started to return. "Where am I?" he asked.
"The city of Ouroboros, most likely," was Zane's response. He was sitting next to Cole. "Or rather underneath it, in one of their prisons."
"Wait, those snakes took us prisoner?" Cole asked angrily, getting up. "Oh, they're going to pay for this."
"Unfortunately, there is no easy way out," Zane said. "And some have been here long enough to have tried everything."
Cole sat up and looked around, and became aware of the other prisoners that were with them. Most of them were citizens from all around Ninjago, and many looked like they had spent more than a few days in the underground dungeon.
"Are these all the people who have been disappearing?" Cole asked.
"Most likely." Cole turned and noticed the Mailman sitting next to them. "I got kidnapped shortly after I delivered your letters," he explained. "But I was hoping for you ninjas to come rescue us, instead of just joining us down here."
"Oh, we're going to break you all out!" Cole said. "In fact, the Serpentine just made it easier by bringing us here, since now we won't have to make the journey ourselves!"
"But its worst than that," Zane said. "They took our Golden Weapons, and we can't fight back without them."
"Then we'll have to use our other ninja skills," Cole said, rubbing his hands together. "Okay, everybody, gather around, and let's plan a jailbreak."
Above ground, the Serpentine gathered in the stages around the Slither Pit. In the center of the arena stood Pythor, with the other four Serpentine Generals at his side. Piled in front of them were the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu.
"Today is a glorious day for the Serpentine!" Pythor shouted to the rampageous crowd. "We have defeated the ninjas and taken their greatest advantage away from them. Now the Golden Weapons belong to the Serpentine, and we shall use them to punish everyone in Ninjago for imprisoning us!"
The Serpentine hissed and cheered, but they were silenced by the roar of an engine, and a crimson giant dropped from the air and landed on the edge of the arena. It was the Samurai Mech, and out of it jumped Kai, Jay, and Nya.
Pythor narrowed his eyes at the new arrivals. "I thought you said that the ninjas had been taken care of!" he snapped at Acidicus.
"I am as surprised by their arrival as you are!" Acidicus said.
"It sure was a long trip back here," Kai shouted to the Serpentine. "But now we're all rested up and ready to beat some snakes!"
"Hand over the Golden Weapons now," Nya said, drawing her butterfly sword.
"I still can't believe you learned how to fight behind our backs," Kai grumbled, even as he drew his own powerless katana.
"You'd be surprised at how inattentive you guys can be," Nya said.
"Still, I'm just now noticing that we're outnumbered," Jay pointed out, clutching a spear. "Again."
"Except it looks like we're about to receive reinforcements!" Nya said. "Look!"
On the other end of the arena, a group of prisoners burst out of an underground tunnel, led by Cole and Zane. Pythor was beside himself with anger. "How did they escape?"
"We may not have our weapons, but we've still got our ninja skills," Zane said.
"That, and some ninja strength," Cole added. "It didn't take much for me to rip the prison door off its hinges."
Pythor narrowed his eyes. "Very well. But you're not home free yet, ninjas! We still have your Golden Weapons, and we'll beat you down again."
"That sounds like a challenge!" Cole shouted, grabbing a fallen sparring pole. "Ninjas, attack!"
The four ninjas rushed forward towards the Serpentine Generals, and each attacked the one that was holding his Golden Weapon. Jay charged Fangtom, who wielded the Nunchucks of Lightning. With a powerful swing of the nunchucks, Fangtom knocked the spear right out of Jay's hands, and then he aimed to strike down the ninja himself. However, Jay dodged back and forth, and Fangtom missed his mark every time.
Cole attacked Skalidor, the General of the Constrictai, who was holding onto the Scythe of Quakes. Skalidor's swings were slow but powerful, and when Cole tried to parry with his sparring pole, it got snapped in half. Cole stepped back, searching for a new weapon, even as Skalidor advanced forward. Cole sighted a large rock, and used his strength to pick it up with ease and toss it at the Constrictai General. Skalidor just managed to knock the bolder out of the way with the scythe, but before he could go on the attack again, he had to defend against another bolder thrown by Cole.
Acidicus threw his Shurikens of Ice at Zane, who neatly dodged them and returned fire by throwing small stones that struck the Venomari with great accuracy. Kai, meanwhile, was locked in a sword fight with Skales, the Hypnobrai General, who had the Dragon Sword of Fire. Kai was an excellent swordsman, but Skales was exceptionally good with a blade, and held his ground with the ninja.
Pythor was about to go assist his generals when a blade sliced the air in front of him. He turned to see Nya advancing, with her butterfly sword in hand.
"Now, now, I couldn't possibly fight a girl," Pythor said mockingly. "Even I would recognize that as an unfair advantage. Everybody knows girls can't fight."
"Let's test that theory," Nya said, thrusting her sword forward.
Pythor swiftly dodged to the side and drew his own katana. He swung it, and stuck his blade against Nya's. Nya followed up with a wide swing, but Pythor neatly parried her blade. They fought again, and the clang of blade on blade was heard all across the city. But for all Nya's skills with a sword, she couldn't match Pythor's strength. He locked blades with her, and with a quick swing to the side wrenched Nya's sword from her hands and sent it flying through the air.
"Looks like I won…" Pythor started, but Nya was already charging again. She leapt in the air and kicked at Pythor's hand, knocking his blade away as well. She continued with a swift punch to Pythor's neck. Pythor drew up his arms to try and block Nya's attacks, but he was not as skilled in martial arts as she was, and many of her strikes hit home.
Pythor switched tactics and spun around, using his long tail to try and knock Nya down. Nya saw it coming and jumped over it, but this gave time for Pythor to lunge forward and restrain her arms. But Nya wasn't going down that easily, and she kicked up with her legs into a back flip. She broke free of Pythor's grip, sailed above his head, and landed behind him. Before Pythor could even react, Nya kicked him hard in the back, sending him sprawling across the floor of the Slither Pit.
Pythor stood up wearily, and glanced around. The other Generals were also getting pushed back from the ninja's attacks. "Group together," he called. "Attack them as one."
The Serpentine Generals and the ninjas split and regrouped. "Okay, everybody, we're going to need to work together if we want those weapons back," Cole said.
"Perhaps a Tornado of Creation would be a beneficial tactic," Zane suggested.
"Good idea," Kai said. He turned to his sister. "How about joining in? We could use the help."
"You're asking me to be part of the group?" Nya asked with a sly grin.
"I saw you fight, so I know you're pretty good," Kai said. "You might be my littler sister, but you're also just as good as any ninja."
"Nya as a ninja!" Jay said. "Wait... what if Nya's supposed to be the Green Ninja we've been talking about!"
"This probably isn't the best time to talk about that," Kai said, as the Serpentine Generals started to advance.
Cole and Zane, however, were intrigued by the idea. "That is an interesting hypothesis," Zane said. "And with her skills, it holds merit."
"We'll have to see if the Golden Weapons glow around her," Cole pointed out. "But to do that, we'll need to get them back first."
"Alright, let's do this!" Jay said, smiling at Nya. "Ready?"
"I've been ready for quite a while," Nya said. Then, along with the four other ninjas, she cried out "TORNADO OF CREATION!"
The five of them started spinning in Spinjitzu, and their five individual cyclones merged together and formed a large tornado that swept across the arena. The Serpentine Generals tried to retreat, but they were quickly caught up in it. The next thing they knew, they were being thrown through the air at high speeds, and crashed into the stands with the other Serpentine. As the Tornado died down, it revealed Nya and the four ninjas, who were all holding their Golden Weapons again.
"Now that's what I call a victory!" Cole shouted.
"But the fight's not over yet!" Nya said.
Upon seeing the defeat of their generals, the entire audience of Serpentine rushed out of the stands and charged towards the ninjas. Cole pressed forward, and raced to where the rescued prisoners were waiting. "We don't have time to fight them; we need to get the civilians out of here!"
But that was easier said than done. The Serpentine army quickly surrounded the ninjas and civilians, and threatened to block them in. The ninjas swiped their weapons at the advancing Serpentine, but they knew that they were about to get overrun by the snakes yet again.
"We need to use our elemental weapons at full power," Kai called out.
"No, that's not an option," Cole said bitterly. "We're too close to these people, and they might get hurt!"
"Then we'll just keep fighting to the very end," Kai said, swing his Dragon Sword of Fire. But as he took a step back, something strange began to happen, and the sword started to give off a green glow.
"What the..." Jay gasped, as the other three weapons also started to glow.
"We must be within close proximity of the Green Ninja!" Zane exclaimed.
"Is it Nya?" Jay asked.
"Can't be," Nya said, swiping her retrieved sword at the oncoming Serpentine. "They didn't glow around me earlier."
"Then who?" Kai asked, turning around to face the civilians. He pointed his sword at one, and the glowing got brighter. Kai blinked. "You're the Green Ninja?" He was looking at the Mailman.
The Mailman looked confused. "Now what's a Green Ninja?"
"Only the most powerful Ninja in the world!" Jay said, knocking back a Serpentine spear. "And we could really use his help right about now."
"Well, I could give it a try," the Mailman said, stepping forward. "My Spinjitzu's a bit rusty, but I was pretty good back in the day. I'll need a weapon though."
"Here, take my sword," Nya said.
"No thanks, miss, you're doing just fine with it," the Mailman said. "But this fellow could still use some practice with his, so I'll borrow it for now." Before Kai could respond, the Mailman yanked his Dragon Sword of Fire from his grasp.
"Now, how does the saying go?" the Mailman wondered. "Oh right... Ninjago!" He suddenly burst into a green cyclone, and sped into the oncoming Serpentine army. The Serpentine who tried to attack him were quickly knocked backwards by his formidable Spinjitzu powers. As he continued the attack, the other ninjas pushed forward and created an opening between the Serpentine, and quickly led the civilians outside the city of Ouroboros. Once they were in the clear, Cole and Zane transformed their weapons into vehicles, piled the civilians on top, and sped off towards civilization. Jay, Kai, and Nya continued to fight with the Serpentine until the Mailman finished his Spinjitzu attack. Then they escaped using Jay's jet and Nya's Samurai Mech.
Pythor shook his fist as he watch the ninjas' vehicles disappear over the horizon. "This isn't over ninjas! We Serpentine will get our revenge!"
"How will we do that, boss?" Skalidor asked.
Pythor narrowed his eyes. "It's time to unleash the most evil of the Serpentine on Ninjago. We must awaken the Great Devourer!"
The Serpentine around him gasped, but Pythor merely chuckled. Someday soon, revenge would be his again.