Chapter 26

Movie Ninjago

Needless to say, it was an eventful day of school when a dragon pulling a carriage suddenly lands in the courtyard.

Classes were completely forgotten, as the students all crowded by the windows to get a better look at the massive beast they'd seen on occasion flying through the city, and wondering who could be in the carriage. Some teachers attempted to regain their attention, but it was clear they were just as distracted as their pupils wondering what was going on.

Those of the Ninja Force who were in school at the time were quickly given permission to go handle it, as it was clearly there for them.

Zane was quick to call Cole and Jay and inform them what was happening. The two were cutting classes that day to patrol the city and make sure no bad guys took advantage of their leader's absence. Meanwhile, Kai and Nya, who had been sticking to Skylor's side like glue that day, quickly walked her over to Penny.

"We've gotta take care of this," Kai said to the girls apologetically. "Those guys wouldn't come over here like this unless it was urgent."

"Still, we don't want Skylor going off alone after what happened yesterday," agreed Nya. "You two mind sticking together until then? There's safety in numbers."

Skylor looked reluctant, and continuously cast curious glances out the window at the carriage, but Penny looked determined. "I will not leave her side," she promised.

The twins gave her a grateful glance, and Zane added, "Do not hesitate to call if you need help."

"Sure," said Skylor, still reluctant. "And you guys let us know what's up with the carriage when you get the chance."

"We'll see if we can," said Kai, implying this might be another ninja thing he can't talk to her about.

Leaving the two girls with the rest of the gawking students, they hurried over to the carriage and hopped inside.

"What's going on?" asked Cyan Nya as they took in the sight of the complete team of their counterparts sitting there looking serious.

"We've got a situation back in our world," Cliff Cole replied, looking grim. "We need our Lloyd as soon as possible."

The three local ninja exchanged glances hearing that.

"He and Luh-Loyd already left this morning," said Buddy Kai. "And that Serpentine city is too far away to just go get him."

"Not to mention super illegal to go near without permission," added Cyan. "Like, grounds to start a war illegal."

"Due to its great distance away, if we wish to contact them, we will need to go to the Warehouse in order to boost our radio signal enough to reach him or the Green Dragon Mech," said Pep Zane.

"Then that is where we need to go," said Zen Zane, who was not at all looking very zen at the moment.

"We'll meet you guys over there," said DJ Cole over the radio.

"So why do you need him?" asked Freckles Jay.

The visiting Ninja exchanged glances to try and figure out how to open that can of worms.

Somehow, they managed it over the flight to the Mech Warehouse, and by the time the carriage landed, Freckles was already at his supercomputer working to connect with Luh-Loyd.

"Okay, I'm boosting the signal to contact Luh-Loyd's communicator in his mask," he said as the rest of them approached. "But for some reason, I'm not picking up on anything."

"Is that bad?" asked Red Nya worriedly.

Freckles shrugged. "It could be a lot of bad things, the comm's busted, it got stolen, or it was broken in some fight even if it was working when I checked it yesterday morning," he said, but a pointed look from DJ had him quickly adding, "But more likely his comm's just too small to pick up the signal from this distance. I'll try the Green Dragon Mech, that's more likely to get us a connection anyway."

"Didn't he say he had to leave it outside the city last time?" asked Nick Jay with a frown.

"Well, yeah, but there's gotta be, like, guards or something around," said Freckles. "If they hear us screaming 'Emergency!' they're sure to answer or go get the others, right?"

As he said that, he finished connecting to the Green Dragon Mech, picked up a microphone and took a deep breath to prepare to start shouting.

But before he could get a word out, the communication system on the computer suddenly burst to life, causing Freckles to let out a wheeze as he stopped himself from shouting into it at the last second.

"Lady IronDragon to Ninja Force! Emergency! Come in Ninja Force!" came Koko's frantic voice through the speakers.

Seeing as he was the only leader of the two teams present, Cliff Cole stepped past a still coughing Freckles to take the microphone. "We're here. What's the emergency," he said.

What they heard Koko say next chilled them all to the bone.

"My sons and the Serpentine prince have been kidnapped!"


Pythor P. Chumsworth was not having a good time.

In fact, he was now wondering if his alliance with that vile human, Chen, was worth this much effort and discomfort.

The plan proposed to him by Chen's right-hand man had been simple. Abduct the prince and Charmer IronDragon's children and pass them off to Chen's gangsters outside the city. After that, he need merely use his invisibility to sneak back into the palace and pretend to be injured (not that he now needed to pretend with the shiner the Green Ninja had given him).

From there, oh, what a tale he would spin. How the Green Ninja had betrayed them. That he and the rotten clone brat had poisoned the guards and abducted the prince. He had tried to save the heir to the throne, really, he did, but what could he do against one of the greatest fighters in modern history, it was no use.

And, of course, the treacherous Charmer IronDragon must be to blame for the entire plot. Her sons were surely acting on her orders. They must have been lying to them this entire time trying to steal the Golden Weapons for themselves.

Everything Lady IronDragon's family had said would be brought into question, all their evidence of Chen's actions would become suspect, and by the time the patriarchy realized the truth, it would be too late! Chen's plan would come to fruition, and King Skales would fall, and all of the Serpentine high command would fall with him.

And with that, a new king would rise. Pythor would 'save' the Serpentine from Chen and take the position he'd always known he was destined to have. King of the five Serpentine tribes!

King Pythor P. Chumsworth. It had a very nice ring to it.

But sadly, it seemed Pythor would have to delay picking out his crown due to one small hiccup in his plan.

He had been seen!

It was only by a whim he decided to peek his invisible head back into the throne room to make sure the meeting was still going as planned.

Only to instead see a distraught Charmer IronDragon comforting a crying little Fangpyre girl while the King and Queen were giving orders to any Serpentine who would listen to search for the missing children or the Anacondrai who had taken them.

His ruse had been found too soon!

Things only got worse when he barely dodged a Constrictai guard as he rushed into the room to inform them that due to their swift discovery, the Royal Physician had saved the two guards Pythor had poisoned, and soon they would reveal the identity of the kidnapper.

It was only a matter of time until Pythor's identity was known and he would be hunted down by every Serpentine in the kingdom. He was no longer safe here.

"Why would they take your sonsss as well as mine?" asked Queen Selma, wringing her hands in worry. "To capture even one isss a great risssk. To take all three hasss to mean sssomething."

King Skales froze from where he'd been pacing. "The Golden Weaponsss!" he exclaimed. "Charmer IronDragon'sss sonsss know where it is kept, and mine could be usssed as leverage againssst the guardsss!"

Pythor cocked his head hearing that. The brats knew where the Golden Weapons were located? It seems he should have picked their brains a bit more before passing them on.

The king turned to Charmer IronDragon. "Come, we must sssearch the tomb for them!" he said.

Charmer IronDragon nodded, and she hurried from the room alongside the king with a battalion of guards at his tail.

Pythor ducked into a hiding spot when he saw General Arcturus was among them. Invisibility was a useful skill, but it sadly didn't work on other Anacondrai.

Fortunately, no one could have predicted Pythor to return to the scene of his crime, and so the general passed by him without seeing him.

Once the group of soldiers had passed, Pythor slid out of hiding and followed them.

If he wanted to survive this, he would need shelter outside of Serpentine lands. And if he could get his hands on the Golden Weapons, well then, it seems he'd found the perfect bargaining chip with which to tempt Chen. He did so covet them, after all.

He followed the frantic king and his entourage all the way to the Tomb of Kings Past. Through the traps and pitfalls protecting the place from intruders. In their haste to check the weapons and find the hostages, none of them bothered to check if they were being followed, allowing Pythor to easily slip through.

However, upon bursting into the Weapons' Chamber and finding the Golden Weapons still on their pedestals, and the guards protecting them looking bewildered at their entrance, they realized the weapons had not been the target, and the children were not here.

King Skales slammed his staff to the ground with a distraught expression on his face, and Charmer IronDragon placed her hand on his shoulder, sharing in his pain.

"I will contact the rest of the Ninja Force," she said. "We will find them." With that, she turned and raced back out of the tomb.

The king needed a few more moments to compose himself, and his loyal soldiers pretended not to notice the despair on his face.

From where he was hiding, Pythror sneered at his weakness. It was hardly behavior fitting a king. He was practically begging to be overthrown.

Finally, the king raised his head high again and turned to leave the tomb. "SSSearch the city, and all the landsss outssside it," he ordered to his soldiers as he went. "Charmer IronDragon isss right. We will find them if we have to turn over every grain of sssand in this desssert to do it."

"Yesss, your majesssty!" his soldiers replied, and they all returned to the surface, leaving the guards of the weapons to their vigil.

Guards of the weapons that did not have a single Anacondrai among their ranks, or so Pythor noticed.

With a smirk, the plan already began forming in his mind. He would have to act quickly, as the changing of the guard would be soon, and there was no guarantee he would be so lucky for it to be absent any Anacondrai guards when it did. He still had a bit of poison left. It would be so easy to slip some to these oblivious fools and make off with the weapons, using one of the decorative tapestries in the chamber to ensure he never touched the gold. After all, every Serpentine and their grandmother knew the stories of what happened when all four weapons were in hand.

With that plan in mind, Pythor slithered invisibly into the room to bring it to fruition.

He had a human to bribe, and a kingship to claim.


A/N Unfortunately, Pythor managed to hand the Lloyds and SJ over to Chen's men. Doesn't mean things are going as he planned, though. It won't be long now until he's branded a traitor to the Serpentine, and he's determined to burn his bridges on his terms. Meanwhile, the Ninja have to deal with the Lloyds being kidnapped... again.

Also, I added another chapter to Greener Pastures. Check it out if you like my oneshots.

Big thanks to Kay Hau for beta reading and helping to plan this chapter. She was a big help in catching errors on this one. She's also made an update to Greener Gift-Fics which is canon to this story if you haven't seen it yet.

Next Time: Chen interrogates Luh-Loyd to find the secrets of the power of Green, and Lil'Loyd is not happy to be locked in a cage again.

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