"Kryptarium Prison. Home of Ninjago's worst of the worst," Garmadon said gravely as they walked through the prison's halls.
"I don't get it. Who's gonna help us here?" Cole asked.
Huh. Well, at least one other person was confused like Zane was. Zane stepped a little closer to Cole, determined to stick close to the person he knew the best.
"If one must learn how to fight a snake, one must talk to one first," Wu stated.
Cole made an "oh!" sound, like he'd figured it out.
"Sorry I had to confiscate your weapons. Here we try to foster what I call 'an environment of encouragement,'" the man who was ushering them through the prison's halls explained then.
"I'll rattle your bones, Warden," called out one of the prisoners in the cell they were all passing. Zane peered into the cell, then he leapt back when he saw that the prisoner was a walking skeleton. That was really scary! Zane stepped even closer to Cole.
The man who was ushering them around beamed at the skeleton. "Very creative, Frakjaw. Love the puns."
"Pajama Men!" Another prisoner in a different cell called out.
Zane looked around. He didn't see anyone wearing pajamas. He decided not to think too hard about it. There were more than enough confusing things going on as it was, Zane didn't need to wonder why some random prisoner was talking about pajamas in the middle of the day.
"Easy, Soto. I'm the captain of this ship," the man who was ushering them around said with a little laugh. "Ninja ain't popular around these parts, considering you put most of them behind bars, hmm? But who you're looking for, he hates ninja the most. Last cell on the left, right here."
Zane stuck close to Cole as he and the other ninja, as well as Wu and Garmadon, headed into the cell the man who had been ushering them around had just unlocked. Looking around, Zane didn't see any prisoners in this cell, just a little toy house a bit shorter than Zane himself. Where was the person they were looking for?
From the little house came a funny voice. "Hmm, why yes, Pythor, this may very well be the greatest cup of tea you've steeped."
A slightly different voice answered, also coming from the little house. "Oh, you flatter me, Rodrigo, but do go on."
Zane frowned. Was there somebody hiding in the little house? They would have to be really small, way smaller than even Zane was in this short body.
Lloyd stepped over to the little house and peered through one of the windows. He stated, "We need your help."
Whoever was in the little house gasped. "Help you? The ninja? You fed me to the Devourer, defeated every army I've aligned with, even forced me to swallow your shrinking pill! Haven't you done enough damage to my diminishing ego?"
Zane scrunched up his face. What was this person talking about?
Cole stepped forward and turned the house around.
As the same voice from a moment before gave a short scream, Zane's eyes went wide. There was a little snake-man in the little house! Confused but interested, he stepped forward too, both to be by Cole and to get a better look at the little snake-man, who actually kind of looked like Skylor and Garmadon did at the moment. Huh.
The little snake-man gave an annoyed huff. "Well played. I suppose this is about that culturally-insensitive noodle baron and his ilk that are now Anacondrai. Imposters, if you ask me."
"You are the last remaining Anacondrai. You must know how to stop them," Jay pointed out.
"I'm not going to say another word until you can figure out how to make me big. And don't ask me to trust a ninja," the little snake-man stated.
Zane tilted his head to one side, studying the little snake-man. Why wouldn't the little snake-man trust them? They were the best. They had all been so kind to Zane, and they were trying to defeat all the bad guys and… Oh! The little snake-man was a bad guy too, Zane realized. After all, the little snake-man was in prison, where bad guys went, and the little snake-man had also said something about being defeated. Zane frowned. He decided he was no longer interested in the little snake-man. Well, at least not as much. He supposed he could still be a little interested.
As Zane thought this through, Garmadon slithered up to the front of the group, peering into the little house. "Would you trust a snake?"
"Garmacondrai? Oh, now my interest is piqued. Let's make a deal, shall we?" The little snake-man stated. "First, get me out of here and get a clue on where the imposter Anacondrai are. Then you get the spell book and I'll tell you their weakness, and then-"
Suddenly, a loud voice split the air. "There's been a breach in Sector 2! They appear to be Anacondrai and... Uh-oh, they're coming my way. They see me talking on the intercom. Oh, boy, here they come. Why am I still talking on this thing?"
Zane looked around in alarm, as did the others in the cell, while the sound of cheering filled the air from the cells around them.
"You led them to me? What have you done?" The little snake-man shrieked. "There's no escaping an Anacondrai!"
Zane looked into the little house to see the little snake-man slithering over to a small wardrobe and trying to open its doors. The doors refused to open.
"Curse this fraudulent furniture!" The little snake-man yelled, and he pulled a lampshade off of a lamp and stuck it on his head as if that would work to hide him.
Zane did not think it would work to hide him.
"Tell me!" Garmadon demanded, pulling at the tiny lampshade. "How do we stop them? What is their weakness?"
"Don't you get it? There is no weakness! They're Anacondrai!" The little snake-man shrieked, and he pulled the lampshade back over his head.
"Guys, we've got company!" Kai warned, pulling on his mask.
Zane turned to look where Kai was looking. He gasped and shrunk back against Cole. A pair of snake-people kind of like Skylor and Garmadon were slithering into the center of the prison, but unlike Skylor and Garmadon, Zane didn't think these ones were friendly.
"I'll handle this. Earth!" Cole shouted, pulling on his mask and jumping out into the center of the prison. He pulled some bricks from a tower and tossed them at the snake-people.
The snake-people dodged the bricks, which flew past them and dented the cell bars behind them.
Jay ran over to Cole, pulling on his mask and scolding, "We're trying to keep the inmates in, not let them out!"
Frightened and unsure, Zane watched Cole, Kai, and Jay rush at the snake-people. He didn't know what was going on, but he did know that he wanted to help. Zane held up his hands in consideration, trying to form some ice in them.
"Ah!" The little snake-man from the little house shrieked, and Zane looked up from his frosting-over hands to see Garmadon holding the little snake-man in one hand and the tiny lampshade in the other hand.
Something purple dripped from the snake-man's head and landed on Garmadon's hand, the hand that had turned back to normal. Then, suddenly, it wasn't back to normal anymore. Garmadon's hand was once again purple and scaly.
"Oh!" Zane stated, hurrying over to Garmadon to peer closer at his hand. "Was that supposed to happen, Mister Garmadon?"
"Was what supposed to-" Garmadon began, looking down at his hand too. "Ah! I'm fully Anacondrai again!"
"That may be why they've come for Pythor. What if he holds the key to making their transformation permanent? That could be why Chen hasn't attacked," Wu speculated.
"Then we have to get him out of here. If he's the key to preventing a war, we can't let him fall into the wrong hands," Lloyd said, then he paused and added, "Literally."
"Oh, I get it. It's literal because of my size. Haha, very funny. But I'm a little sensitive to all the size references," the little snake-man who Wu had called Pythor stated.
Garmadon chuckled. "A 'little' sensitive?"
Pythor sighed. "Okay, I stepped right into that one."
"Zane, stay close," Wu ordered, stepping to the edge of the cell. He called out to Kai, Cole, and Jay, "Keep the Anacondrai busy!"
"What do you think we've been do-" Kai began, then grunted as a snake-man (they were called Anacondrai, right? Zane thought so) threw Kai across the room.
"Get out of here already," Jay called, struggling in the grip of an Anacondrai. "It's not like we can hold them off all day."
That was when red lights started flashing and a loud beeping filled the air.
Zane squinted his eyes instinctively, startled by the sudden flashing. What was going on?
"Kryptarium's on lockdown. If we don't find a way out, we may never escape," Garmadon said grimly, and he dashed for a doorway which was rapidly being covered by a metal slate coming down.
Wu followed him.
Lloyd started to follow Wu and Garmadon, calling back, "Zane, come on!"
Oh! They had to go. Zane ran over to join Lloyd in following Wu and Garmadon. When they reached the doorway, Zane simply ducked under the metal slate, but Lloyd had to slide through. He made it under just in time as the metal slate made contact with the ground, effectively cutting off access either way.
"You okay?" Zane asked, holding out a hand to help Lloyd up off of the ground.
Lloyd grabbed Zane's hand and stood, saying, "I've been better. Come on!"
Zane and Lloyd raced after Garmadon and Wu, dodging traps and obstacles.
Over the muffled sounds of battle behind them, Zane could just hear Pythor complaining, "Oh, some heroes you are. And to think there's only two of them. Ahhh!"
Garmadon threw Pythor over one of the traps to Lloyd, who caught him easily and kept running, saying, "Sensei Wu said the greatest victory-"
"Has no battle, blah, blah, blah," Pythor stated. "Well, if they're imposters, you're cowards."
"That's not nice," Zane objected. "You need to be nice. It's polite."
"I must say, polite is pretty far down on my list of priorities right now," Pythor hissed.
"If we're cowards, what are you? There's a reason we never trust a snake," Wu stated, using his hat to stop an obstacle. "First the Anacondrai betray the truce in the Serpentine War, then you tricked Lloyd-"
"Are we still talking about the Serpentine War?" Pythor asked. "The Anacondrai had every intention of honoring the truce. It was Chen who told us your kind was going to betray us. We had no other choice but to attack."
"Chen said you were going to betray us!" Garmadon protested.
Lloyd groaned. "Ugh, sounds like Chen was playing both sides."
Zane still didn't know who this Chen was, but from the sound of it, he wasn't nice at all. Zane resolved that if he ever met Chen, Zane would have to tell him that he needed to be nice.
They ducked under another lowering metal slate and came out into a courtyard. For a moment, Wu, Garmadon, and Lloyd slowed to a walk. Zane slowed gladly. It was hard work, keeping up with people whose legs were twice the size of yours.
Then Zane looked up at the walls to see multiple Anacondrai, some in mechanical suits, others on flying vehicles, all staring down at them.
"Uh-oh," Zane said quietly.
"Again I say-" Pythor began dramatically, then he ducked into Lloyd's hand. "Cowards."
The Anacondrai began hopping down into the courtyard.
Zane put up his hands, summoning the ice into them.
"Protect Pythor," Wu called out to Lloyd.
Lloyd gave a sharp nod. "Ninja, go!"
Then Lloyd disappeared, replaced by one of those person-sized tornados. It whirled around the courtyard, taking down Anacondrai.
Zane turned to face an Anacondrai and raised his hands in his best imitation of a threat.
The Anacondrai laughed in his face.
Frowning, Zane concentrated, and a stream of ice flew from his hands to wrap around the Anacondrai, freezing him in place.
That's when Zane heard Lloyd shout, "Uh, I lost him!"
That wasn't good. Hadn't Lloyd himself said Pythor was the key to preventing a war? Zane looked around hurriedly, searching for Pythor.
"What do you mean you lost him? Find him!" Garmadon shouted from where he was battling one of the Anacondrai in the mechanical suits.
"There!" Zane called, spotting Pythor across the courtyard and pointing to him. "By you, Mister Lloyd!"
Lloyd dashed over and scooped up Pythor, raising him into the air. "Got him!"
An Anacondrai slashed at Lloyd's hand, and Pythor went flying.
"Don't got him!" Lloyd corrected himself.
Pythor began slithering across the courtyard, dodging Anacondrai left and right and shouting, "I really hate being small!"
Zane could empathize with that. He shot ice at another Anacondrai, stopping him in his tracks and keeping him from snatching up Pythor.
Instead, Wu managed to grab Pythor, picking him up off of the ground.
"Wu, my savior," Pythor stated gratefully.
A loud crash split the air, and a huge hole appeared in one of the courtyard's inner walls. Startled, Zane hid behind Wu, then peeked around him just in time to see Cole, Kai, and Jay jump through the hole.
"Do you have him?" Kai asked, rushing over to Wu as some prisoners started following through the hole in the wall.
Wu looked at his hands, which were now empty.
"They got him! We can't let them escape," Cole exclaimed, looking around at the Anacondrai, who were now fleeing in their mechanical suits and flying vehicles.
Wu pointed to the crowd of prisoners who were assembling. "No, we can't let them escape! No more smashing walls."
"Then how are we getting out of here?" Jay wondered.
"I've got an idea," Cole stated, and he raised his hands over his head. "Earth!"
Rocks erupted from the ground, forming a staircase that led up and over the outer wall.
"Come on!" Cole shouted, and he dashed up the staircase.
Zane needed no further encouragement. He quickly followed Cole, and from the sound of feet pounding behind him, Lloyd, Garmadon, Wu, Jay, and Kai were right behind them.
Reaching the top of the wall, Zane turned around to check if the others were up there yet, only to see some prisoners starting to climb the staircase as well. "Mister Cole! The bad guys, look!"
Cole turned. "Oh!"
Just as the last of their team, Kai, made it up the staircase and onto the top of the wall, Cole slammed his fists into the staircase, shattering it into pebbles. The prisoners who had just started up the staircase fell back down into the courtyard.
"There. Good job spotting that, Zane," Cole stated.
Even though now Pythor was in the hands of the Anacondrai and war was likely, Zane couldn't help but smile at that. His friend thought he'd done a good job.