"So, right now, the world is burning, right?" Ethan asked. Skales nods. Ethan sighed. They were now inside the tomb, and it was actually serene and calm. Water was flowing through some of the rocks, like a river of some sorts, grass was growing from the ground, the place was lit up by these lanterns and candles all throughout the place.
Next time I want to go on vacation, I'm staying here, He thought.
"Well, if you guys are attacked, I will do my best to protect you," Ethan said. He never figured he'd be saying that to old enemies, but if they really did change for the better, then he's willing to help.
Skales looked a little shocked to hear that, but nodded. "Thank you,"
"No problem," Ethan said.
Ethan heard footsteps. Very close, too.
"Shh!" Ethan put a finger to his lip and pulled out his gun.
"It appears the seal has been opened," He heard a voice say… kinda familiar…
Ethan rounded the corner, gun aimed at the group of people before him. "Hands! Now!"
It was the ninja. Again. Nya was with them this time too, so there's finally a voice of reason within them.
Nya had black hair with a bob cut, red lipstick, something that looked close to a red jacket that went to her knees, with a stripes consisting of a gold stripe and a slightly larger black strip on the ends of the jacket, something Ethan would say is "cloth belt" with the sign of the Phoenix, and red pants with red shoes.
Zane was as he was before, but his clothing was vastly different. He had a white bandana, something that seemed to be a mix between a white kimono and a robe, black gloves, a symbol of the left side of his chest with a Japanese character on it, with light blue sparks of electricity going out from it. It looked like his Obi was tied tight.
Kai's hair was spiky, as per usual, but his clothing was different as well. He had a red kimono-like robe with flames, black gloves red cloth wrapped around his chest under the kimono-like robe with a golden medalion with another Japanese character on it, and his Obi was tied tight as well.
Jay and Cole's clothing were similar. Jay's was blue, and Cole was black. They both had kimono like robes, both had some sort of cloth going from their shoulder and down to their lower left part of their chests, and right below that was another cloth going across his waist. Both Jay and Cole had different Japanese characters on the first cloth. Jay's outfit had lightning bolts on it, whilst Cole had brown rocks on it.
Skales jumped, yelping in surprise. "Ah! Not you again!" Ethan lowered the gun, but kept an eye on them.
Cole glared at Skales. "Skales. Something told me you were behind this. Search his bag,"
Ethan stood next to Skales, holsters his gun and clenches his fists.
"This is harassment! I've done nothing wrong!" Skales exclaimed, holding his bag tighter.
"Except steal the hard drive," Jay accused. "Where is it? What are you hiding?"
Kai reached for the bag, and in a split second, Ethan kicked Kai in the stomach. Kai staggered back, clutching his stomach.
Everyone seemed shocked. Ethan chuckled and cracked his knuckles with a little psychotic smile.
Who knew the venom made me quicker? Ethan thought
"Touch my friend here, and you'll be in a world of pain," Ethan snarled.
He stood in between them and Skales. He gave a reassuring look to Skales. "I said I'd protect you, didn't I?"
He heard footsteps to his side, and he looked. At the entrance to the village, he saw a serpentine kid with a dark blue face, some sort of hood as some snakes would, but this one is grey with blue and yellow patterning going down the middle and the back. He had a light blue hoodie and his legs and feet were a light grey.
Next to the kid was a pink hypnobrai soldier, if Ethan remembered correctly. She had the same markings, that's for sure. Her head was similar to Skales, but the hood was slightly smaller, there was grey patterning going down her chest where on the edges of the pattern there were spirals and the center there was a square of pink, then white line, then pink square, and so forth. It got thinner as the patterning went down, and eventually stopped at her knees. Her arms were white, and her hands were a light grey. She had a pearl necklace around her neck.
The kid looked frightened. "Daddy? Are you okay?"
Daddy? Ethan wondered. Skales had a kid?
The pink hypnobrai ushered him inside. "Stay inside Skales, Jr.,"
The ninja looked confused, and Ethan smiled.
"Skales Jr.?" Kai asked. "You have a son?"
"Well duh," Ethan said. "Kinda obvious," Kai growled at him.
Skales slithered over to the pink hypnobrai. "We've been busy since you last left, and we intend to keep it that way,"
I bet, Ethan thought.
"Is this about the Golden Master?" Skales Jr. said from behind the pink hypnobrai. "Is he going to hurt us?"
Ethan gave Skales a confused look.
"That's just a legend," Skales assured his son. "They were just leaving,"
I wasn't planning to, Ethan thought.
"Golden Master?" Zane asked. "Is this about Lloyd?"
Lloyd. The name rang though Ethan's head. The small kid who was captured by the serpentine? He's alive?
"Like you, we have our own legends," Skales said. "But I guess in ours, you're the bad guys,"
"What legend?" Nya asked.
"Hopefully one with a happy ending," Ethan said. "Those are very hard to find,"
"They have a right to know," The pink hypnobrai said. "If we're going to shed a new skin, we must open out home to others,"
Skales sighed. "Oh, alright. Lets go, surface dwellers. If you'd like to hear about the curse of the Golden Master, follow me,"
He slithered inside, and the group walked in. Ethan thought he heard Kai say something, but he brushed it off.
Ethan followed behind the rest of them, looking around.
Serpentine kids were running around, laughing and playing. He also noticed that they were getting unsure, almost nervous, looks from other serpentine.
"After a humbling scrap with those indestructible Stone Warriors," Skales said, "We've made amends with our warring past and found ways to help better ourselves,"
Stone Warriors? Ethan thought. If they're stone, give me a sledgehammer and I'll be fine,
They passed a group of serpentine kids, and Ethan just heard one say "You're not thugs, you give hugs,"
That brought a tiny smile to his face.
"So you got a few snakes to go straight," Kai said, "Doesn't mean there not one bad apple. Fangpyre have white scales, don't they?"
"White scales?" Ethan echoed. "What does this have to do with the color of one's scales?"
"There was a hard drive stolen," Zane explained, "It had the digital imprint of the Overlord,"
"And there was a white scale at the scene of the theft," Ethan mused, "So you think someone down here did it?" Zane nodded.
"Ah, the Overlord," Skales said. "Glad we weren't around for that mess. No, we have no desire to meddle in the affairs above. We only want what's best for the next generation," They slithered up to a fire, and Ethan saw Acidicus, lead general of the Venomari, if he remembered correctly.
He had four yellow eyes, white spikes on his head, dark green scales, a yellow patterning with small, black lines intersecting every so often, and red ovals on the sides of the black. He had a dark green snake staff with glowing red eyes.
"Have a seat," Skales said, "You could learn a thing or two about your beloved Golden Master,"
Ethan shrugged and sat down, resting an arm on his knee. He was a little interested in learning about the this Golden Master, but there were other things running through his head. How is he going to find the Doctor? And if he's planning to help, how can he help?
"Hello, hatchlings, and camouflaged land dwellers," Acidicus said. "Do you wish to learn about the Curse of the Golden Master?"
Not sure I'd be camouflaged, Ethan thought.
"Tell me! Tell me!" Jay begged with childlike wonder. Ethan chuckled a bit. Acidicus rolled his eyes.
"Then everyone come closer," Acidicus beckoned. Everyone scooted forward. "When the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, deep in the ground, he created the serpentine. Since the first dawn, our elders knew of the Curse of the Golden Master, when he who had the powers equal to the First Spinjitzu Master would rise and usher in the last of the setting suns. With no equal adversary, his power will go unmatched. His destructive rule will change the face of the world, and he will not stop till every man, woman, and serpentine are enslaved under his control,"
Sounds morbid, Ethan thought. Is this who Lloyd will become?
"Is he referring to Lloyd?" Zane asked. Kai shrugged.
"Quiet!" Ethan said lowly. Kai shot a glare at him.
Acidicus shot a look to the three of them, but continued. "The serpentine tried to warn the land dwellers, but they wouldn't listen. They thought we were the enemy, though we were only trying to prevent the prophecy of the Golden Master's terrible reign. After the Great Devourer failed to scare the unbelievers underground, it is we who retreated beneath the soil, promising to never return, even now that the end is inevitable,"
So the prophecy is still in effect, Ethan thought. Maybe there's a way to stall the end,
…
The Doctor finished helping Cyrus. Cyrus was a nice man. He had neat, combed black hair, a pair of glasses, a black glove on his right hand, a grey sports jacket, comfortable grey pants, and a black shirt. His wheelchair was a standard one, not really flashy.
They were connecting wires to P.I.X.A.L. She was an android, with her name standing for "Primary Interactive eX-ternal Assistant Life-form,"
She had silver, metallic hair in a ponytail, a white body with purple conduction tracks, and glowing, green eyes. She wore a purple uniform with a red and grey trim, with a grey belt. A part of the top was rolled up to show a part of the breastplate, mainly for easy repairs.
"What were you doing in the sewers, Doctor?" Cyrus asked. The Doctor gave a cheerful smile.
"Kind of a long story," He said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, not really long, but confusing,"
Cyrus connect P.I.X.A.L to various wires, and the Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to fasten them.
"First patch into the mainframe…success!" Cyrus said giddily. "Suppress bandwidth for a wider connection… we have power!"
The lights flashed on. Cyrus looked around. The office was very tidy, which was a little impressive.
"By glory's grace, my office has clean, untouched-by-evil power!" Cyrus exclaimed. That part confused the Doctor a little, but he didn't bother asking. Just letting Cyrus have this moment.
Cyrus looked at the Doctor. "Thank you. Now we can use this to track the Nindroid presence, and they won't see it coming!"
"No problem," The Doctor said, tossing his sonic screwdriver in the air and catching it.
"Sir, you created me and gave me life," P.I.X.A.L said to Cyrus, "I belong to you. Yet, Zane saved my life. When I was with him I felt… a connection. I felt… free"
"Sounds like someone is in love," The Doctor said with a small smile.
"P.I.X.A.L, remember this: you belong to no one," Cyrus said to her. "If you want to be with Zane, then you should be with him,"
There was a loud beeping sound. The Doctor looked at a monitor, and saw flashing red dots, right on them.
"Power signatures," The Doctor said. Cyrus wheeled himself over and looked at the screen.
"This is impossible," He said. "It says they're right here. 12 feet, 8 feet, this makes no sense,"
"Unless they're beneath us," P.I.X.A.L said. The Doctor's eyes went wide.
Ethan is still down there.
