She was fully aware of Lloyd next to her as she cleaned her daggers. Hands expertly gliding over the metal with a special cloth.
"I meant to thank you." The young blond broke the silence as he sat down next to her. "Zane told me the shield was yours."
Despite her sour mood the corners of the redhead's mouth couldn't help but twitch up. "Well... someone has to be the competent one." She grinned.
"He also said you nearly fainted."
This made Calli groan. "C'mon kid, let me have one."
Lloyd just laughed, glad he managed to cheer her up somewhat.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" She asked as a way to change the topic as she put the daggers away in their sheaths.
Lloyd pouted, obviously not happy with her pointing it out. The girl replied the face with a grin. "I know the pout strategy, kid. It ain't gonna work. Now, c'mon, I think both of us could use a good night's sleep."
Calli grinned under her mask as she sat perched high on one of the rooftops. Eyes focused on the snake running away trough the darkness. The Hypnobrai suddenly came to a halt and backed up slowly.
Zane had blocked his way out. The white Ninja tossed his shuriken in the ground, effectively freezing it and making the snake slide over the substance like a baby deer.
The blue snake hadn't even made it off the ice when he was hit with a jet of lightning from Jay, who appeared behind him, He rounded a corner, trying to lose the ninja in de alleyways only to stop once Kai appeared in a blaze of fire.
The Hypnobrai scrambled to his feet and tried to run out, only to smack face first into Cole, resulting in him falling to the ground.
"Ouch, that must hurt." The redhead commented as she nimbly landed next to the Black Ninja.
Cole gave her a raised eyebrow. "It didn't hurt that bad?"
She grinned under her mask. "I was talking about the snake." She teased.
"Nice to see you care about me." Calliope giggled at his response.
Kai let out a high-pierced whistle as the snake let out a gag, snapping both heads up to the rest of them. "Oi. Lovebirds! Hate to break it up but we have a snake to interrogate."
Cole sheepishly cleared his throat and hoisted the snake up, holding it in his neck to make sure the humanoid reptile wouldn't escape.
The others held their weapons to its throat.
"Thought you could joyride through out city and not be noticed, eh? Where is the last Fangblade?" Jay demanded. His nunchucks buzzing with electricity.
The snake chuckled nervously. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." He hissed.
"You know what it is." Kai scoffed, not having any of its lies. "The fourth Fangblade. When Pythor finds them all he plans to unleash the great devourer."
"Oh, that Fangblade." The snake hissed before laughing. "You're too late! Pythor is already there now! He's probably already digging it up! If I where you I'd start preparing for the worst, because when the great devourer is awakened, there is nothing it won't consume!" He cried in triumph.
Calliope raised a skeptical eyebrow and gave her nails a bored look under her mask. "So, that would mean it'll consume ya as well." She stated matter-of-factly causing Jay to snort and hold in a laugh.
The serpentine's eyes widened and if snakes could pale she was sure he would be white as a sheet by now.
"Please! You have to stop him, that snake is crazy! I don't want to unleash the great devourer! I'm a snake! Not food!" He cried out.
"Is it really too late from stopping Pythor from getting the last Fangblade?' Demanded Kai.
"Y-You're days behind him! There must be something else you can do!"
At this the group shared an uneasy look. What else could they do?!"
"The venomari is right." Nya sighed as she and the rest eyed the map. "By the time we clear sail to the other side of Ninjago, Pythor will already have beaten us to the last Fangblade."
"Oh, C'mon guys! We only need one." Jay exclaimed, throwing his arms around. "We gotta get it. We gotta think of something!"
Lloyd suddenly interjected from his place next to Calli. "All we have to do is get OneFangblade to stop him. Why don't we take back the other three? Pythor won't risk having all of them on him. He must have hidden them somewhere while he looks for the fourth."
"That's so simple." Cole exclaimed.
Kai agreed. "Why didn't we think of that."
"That could work, but we'll only have one shot at it." Calli bit back a smart remark to the Red Ninja's statement to agree with the idea. At the looks she got she decided to elaborate. "It was a standard technique I used to use when I…" She cleared her throat. "Still lived in Stiix. But if it failed security tightened even more then it had already and we all know it will be more dangerous to go after the Fangblades then Pythor. If we fail, no doubt the security will be upped to the max."
Kai took this as a challenge. "Finally! I don't have to hold back." This got him a few warning looks.
Garmadon took this opportunity to burst the collective bubble. "Even if you could steal the other three. You don't know where they are."
"He's right, for the past few weeks there have been almost no serpentine sightings. How are they moving around? It's like they're ghosts." Wu agreed with his brother.
"Ye'r kidding me right?" Calliope deadpanned. "Don't tell me you haven't been looking underground?"
She was answered by blank stares before Nya snapped up. "Bridge, give me a sonar sweep of Ninjago."
"Nothing." Kai noted at the still empty map. "It's just like sensei said."
Nya shushed him with a single look. "And just like Calli said, they don't travel above ground. They're snakes, Snakes burrow. Bridge, Now give me a sonar sweep of Ninjago but 20 feet below the surface."
The map once again sprung to life and this time something showed up.
"All the Tombs are interconnected." The red ninja stated.
Cole closed in on the map as well. "One massive underground fortress."
"And all this time right under our noses." Huffed the blue Ninja.
"Or rather, Under our feet." Zane stated – though no-one could tell if he was serious or not – as he took a closer look at the layout.
"There!" Kai pointed. "That's the most protected area! The fangblades must be held there!"
Sensei Wu turned towards Nya. "Then what are we waiting for. Nya, Set the course!"
The Black-haired girl gave a grin as she started typing. "Already on it! We'll be there by sunrise."
She used the daggers with expert precision, despite claiming she was rusty. But even so, she was holding back, making sure she didn't hit any of them and steered clear of their faces. Kai grinned under his mask as he charged towards her back. She kicked Zane in the stomach and dodged the Golden Scythe when she noticed him coming and whirled around tossing her hand out.
His sword collided with a very weak shield.
"Yes!" The girl exclaimed enthusiastically, a massive grin on her face.
"Hey nice job." Cole complimented, making the girl blush.
"I didn't think that would work." She answered honestly, still smiling and with a grin she pulled up another one.
Sensei interrupted the fight. "Good job, but there is no room for error. The serpentine have shown they have great powers and to combat them you must turn their greatest strengths into their greatest weakness.
Kai! How do you defeat the Hypnobrai?"
The red Ninja grinned. "Their hypnotizing powers are useless if their opponent can fight without relying on his eyes." He demonstrated some moves with a blindfold he quickly slid over his eyes.
Sensei nodded. "Jay!" The blue ninja straightened. "The Fangpyre is fast and it's bite strong-"But if he can't bite trough your skin-" He knocked his Nunchucks on the extra metal armor. "You won't turn into one."
Sensei then turned his attention to the Black Ninja. "Cole! The constrictai are strong." The elder man quickly pushed a button, this activated a canon that shot a net towards the boy, trapping him into it. "And they will not let go."
"But- " The ninja groaned. "instead of fighting back, try to relax." He relaxed his body and the tight net fell to the ground. "And a little soft-shoe doesn't hurt."
"The venom of the Venomari can make you see things, cloud your perception."
The white Ninja nodded. "Then I'll use my new falcon vision." And with that his normal grey eyes turned a lighter shade of blue as they lit up.
"And I'll stick to my mask." Calliope pointed to the object on her waist.
"Very good, I have trained you well. You are all ready."
"What about you, Sensei?" Asked Kai. "Will you fight? We need all the help we can get."
"My concern is that my old bones can't keep up, But I will be there in spirit."
He hadn't even finished the sentence or a new voice joined the conversation.
"Arriving at the mountain of a million steps... You'll want to see this." Nya's voice sounded trough the intercom.
The bounty closed in on the mountain and the ginormous piles of dirt strewn about. Jay wasted no time commenting about it as he and the others made their way to the side of the deck. Kai narrowed his eyes at the sight.
"What are those snakes up too?" He wondered out loud.
The doors to the deck opened as the resident green-eyed kid ran outside. "Wait for me!" He cried.
"This is not your fight." Wu told his nephew. "The Green Ninja is too important for a future destiny. You will stay with me."
Before Lloyd had any room to interject the familiar hum of the engines of the samurai X suit brought attention to themselves.
"Well. He's gonna have to look after himself." Nya stated as her compartment opened. "We made room for you."
Kai sided with his sister. "Well, you said you were concerned you couldn't keep up, So Jay and Nya re-jigged the design so you could come along, What do you think."
"I think." Sensei started as he stared at the suit. "Shotgun!" And with that he jumped into the chair.
Garmadon joined the conversation. "I will stay here with Lloyd. I never thought I would say this but… Good luck."
Calli jumped down the mountain first, landing on her feet with ease. Seconds later a rope fell down and the others followed.
"We had a rope." Kai whispered.
"Why be difficult when ye can do it the easy way?" She answered as she put on the mask.
"I thought you said this place was heavily guarded Zane." Jay changed the subject.
Zane gave a quick side-glare. "Forgive me, even Nindroids make mistakes."
By now Cole decided to look around the cave, seeing if he could find a way in. "Look at this." He called everyone over.
Jay scoffed as he saw the engravings of what looked the ninja. "Pfft, that doesn't even look like me."
"They're gonna pay for that." The Red Ninja agreed.
Cole huffed as he brushed the carving. "At least give me a decent mustache."
Calli snorted behind her mask. "No, Just no."
Before anyone could interject, the wall moved and opened.
"Eh... I meant to do that!" The Black Ninja defended his actions.
The group shared one look before dashing in. following the narrow hallway to the center of the tomb.
"Sso what will happen when the great devourer is unleashed, will it really consssume everything?" The Fangpyre general asked his fellow snakes.
The constrictai general let out a laugh. "I hope sso, if only to teach the surface dwellers a lesson for locking us up below ground for years."
"Who knows if the legend is even true." The venomari general interjected. "I for one am curiousss to ssee what happenssss."
"Keep alert!" Skales interrupted any further arguing. "Pythor should be back ssoon."
Kai sighed as he looked at the others. "There is too many to deal with at the same time, I'd say we travel by shadow."
"We're right behind you." Nya grinned, obviously glad for some action.
The group gave a collective nod and snuck down to the ground.
I'm sorry this is so short. I haven't been in a writing mood and this is my last backup chapter... so yeah Like i said... Updates will be slow... very slow. I have half of the next chapter and half of the one after (because screw chronology) so I have no clue as to when i will be updating again.
Anyhow, let's go to the reviews :)
MightyShipper: Thanks for the compliment but i'm sure i'm not that amazing. I'm just a Gal doing what she likes.
Pappilie: I'm glad you like it so much :) Be sure to share those theories when you finish ;) I'm really curious :D
Aurro sister of Morro: I'm trying but i'm not making any promises on that :(
Anyhow I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next chapter!