THE LIES YOU WEREN'T TOLD
Ten: Presentation
The stands in Ouroboros were nearly overflowing, both with Serpentine and shouts of anger.
Pythor and his 'friend' had disappeared, and so the 'third'-in-command was left to his own devices. They had said they would be back within a day, and to stay in Ouroboros in the meantime.
Skales didn't want to obey. He was rallying an army of his own.
"Pythor and that thing have brainwashed us!" he hissed at the crowd. "They think that it is for the best that we become their servants!"
The crowd jeered at the concept.
"They are keeping secrets!"
The Serpentine protested from above.
"They are telling us lies!"
Liquid rage, hotter than lava, poured from the stands.
Skales didn't know why he was so angry at them.
He didn't need a reason.
Dae sat in the spinny chair behind the main desk of the Ninjago City Public Library, playing solitaire on the computer that was meant to be used only for item lookup. Of course, he could have cared less – he had a feeling it was going to be another slow day, with no one else coming inside except for he and his coworkers.
He lost the solitaire game, and judging from the statistics it displayed, it was about time for him to do something else. He decided that he might as well get a bad sci-fi novel off one of the shelves and read that for the rest of his shift. Just as he was about to get up, though, a voice spoke to him.
"Hello, Mr…?" someone asked him. He looked up and saw a person that had a black ski mask on somewhat backwards, such that only one eye was revealed and a tuft of dark hair stuck out from the other eyehole. Matched with it were a black sweatshirt and, Dae assumed, black pants and shoes.
"Just call me Dae, okay? My parents were idiots and gave me an overly complicated name that I can't even pronounce. I can't get rid of it since I don't make enough money here," he explained. "And what's with the ski mask? There's a bank across the street. If this library had money, they could actually pay me something decent."
"Well, then. Hello, Dae," the figure answered. "As to my appearance, it is none of your business. I am wearing a ski mask because I am wearing a ski mask. Is that satisfactory?"
"Fine," he grunted.
"And I was not seeking money, either," Ski Mask continued. "I am looking for the Ninjago City Conference Center."
Dae wasn't amused. "Ninjago City doesn't have a conference center. There's one in the suburbs, not the city. And it's not called the Ninjago City Conference Center, either. Sure you aren't looking for Sea Winds Conference Center northwest of here?"
"Information on it, I meant," the other continued, revising their query. "It burned down fifty years ago, I believe. I want to find its old address."
"Shouldn't you know, if you've heard of this place?" Dae asked. He sighed, and looked at his lap. "Look. I'm sorry, sir, I'm having a bad day. I can –"
"Be quiet," the figure said. Dae figured it had hopped the desk to stand behind him. Some kind of cold blade was pressed against his neck. "If you call for any of your friends or co-workers or whoever else, I will cut your head off right now and find another pitiful library to show me what I want to know. I want you to bring up some old maps of the city on that computer. When I release you, I want you to say that you can help me find some maps. If you do not obey me, I will kill you."
The cold metal was withdrawn, and Dae was able to breathe again. "I c-can probably help you find some m-maps, then. Here…"
He opened up the lookup system and entered his username and password into the boxes that came up. The program then brought up the 'Item Checkout' form, but he scrolled down the sidebar and clicked on the 'Search' button.
Dae typed in the query fast, sensing Ski Mask's impatience. He made a spelling mistake twice out of anxiety, and went back to fix them each time it happened. He set the search to show him only items older than forty-five years, and the sort to show him the newest first. Once he triple-checked everything, he searched.
The results came back quickly. The first was fifty-two years old, and the figure behind him seemed to show intense interest in it. "Click on it," he whispered.
Dae obeyed, and was redirected to the item's information page. A blurry preview image dominated the page, and basic stats ran down the page's right side.
"Show me this one," Ski Mask suggested forcefully, and Dae frantically searched the screen until he found the item's identification number. Once he found it, he quickly memorized it and set off for the maps section, with Ski Mask following a few feet behind him.
He found it without too much trouble, but the threat of the blade lingered, and he fumbled with the document before he pulled it out and set it down. Ski Mask came up behind him and scanned the old paper with him. Eventually, Dae found it, and pointed it out to the man.
"I-it's right here," he said. "Corner of Twelfth and P-park."
"Thank you," Ski Mask told him. "You've been very helpful. It's almost a shame you have to die."
"What?"
In one clean movement, the blade went through him. Dae fell to the ground as he started to bleed.
He saw clear white liquid fall from above him, but couldn't move his head because of the pain, the pain, the pain…
A spark fell through the air momentarily before his eyes.
The flame caught.
The library burned.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Julien picked up the phone. It was strange; he never got any calls. "Hello?" he asked.
"It is time the truth comes out, old man."
He didn't respond.
"You know exactly where you need to go."
He began to nod, but then realized he was on the phone. "Y-yes," he said nervously.
"Go," the voice at the end of the line said. "We will be waiting."
Click.
If you would like to make a call, please hang up and try again.
"Why does he always have to run off like this?" Kai ranted to no one in particular. "He's going to miss the battle!"
"Just forget it, Kai," Cole said. "Zane's been through a lot lately. He just isn't himself right now."
While the others were debating, Nya pulled up the Falcon's visual feed on the screen and took another look at the Serpentine horde. The Falcon was circling high up to try to stay out of view, so the picture was small and pixelated. Something was going on that she couldn't make out.
"We'll be there in ten minutes, boys," she announced.
Skales now had an army. The crowd had mostly turned to his side; he was the leader of the Serpentine now, and when he had the chance he would prove it. He would take back the throne from the one who stole it from him twice.
Pythor emerged from a chamber underneath the stands and the crowd roared in anger. They sensed a Slither Pit about to begin; they began to fight each other in the stands, to attack those that did not agree on who would win.
"Pythor!" Skales called out. "You no longer control us!"
Screaming. Cheering. Cries of pain.
Pythor appeared taken aback. "I am your leader!"
"Not anymore!"
Without warning, a dark cloud exploded into existence. At its center, electric energy hummed.
"Correct," the Overlord announced. "I am the leader now."
The dark cloud moved over toward Pythor, and all was chaos.
Smoke drifted through the city.
Zane wandered.
A man ran along the sidewalk across the street.
He recognized him.
He followed as quickly as he could while remaining unseen.
(A/N): Everything after this point, up to and including every last detail, is completely planned.
Now it's time for the hard part: actually writing it.