I am back, and ready for a new decade! Raise your glasses for 2020, this is my last update for the 2010's, and it's a MUCH bigger chapter then the last few!

A lot happens in this one, just so you are aware.

Y'all know the drill, I own nothing.

Chapter 11: Revival

The room was silent. The silence echoed throughout the entire Pyramid. The air was stiff, as not a single being, Serpentine or human, moved before granting Aspheera her time to bathe in the shock emanating from her kinsman. It took her all of a minute for her to stop her despotic laughing and look at those around her, before she focused on the long-necked albino in front of her.

Scepter in hand, she slithered forward towards him, inspecting every scale of the specimen that had orchestrated her freedom. "Pythor?"

The Anacondrai smiled. Not a wicked smile, or even a mischievous grin, but a genuine smile. "It is me, my Queen. The one in your dreams."

The Viper moved her right hand to his face, caressing his side. "It has been so long since I have felt anything... or anyone. Pythor, my King... thank you." She brought her face closer to his as they closed their eyes and touched foreheads, the common gesture of romantic dedication towards one another in Serpentine culture. The surrounding warriors all cheered lightly, witnessing a sight they clearly had hoped to see.

Misako, on the other hand, was starting to lose her grasp on reality as she turned to the Mechanic. "HEY, half-face! Just what the hell is happening?!"

The disgruntled engineer looked to Ronin first, who in turn shrugged in in an oh well manner, before they both turned to face their captives. "Well, Ms. Misako, King Pythor has been mentally linked to the entombed Aspheera for some time now. How, we have no clue. He orchestrated this whole operation in the hopes of their, heh, partnership, and so that her skills will bring a new level of muscle to the Dark Army."

Clutch stared at him confused. "And just why are you telling us all of this?" Ronin chuckled as he stepped forward and leaned to the adventurer. "Because you were going to find out eventually, and we were never the types of guys for patience."

Returning her attention to the newly-freed Aspheera, Misako could see that Pythor was once again conversing with her.

"It is my pleasure to serve, my Queen. For the greatest good of our kind, and for our allies." He circled around as he gestured his staff towards all that surrounded them, bringing attention back around to Clancee with the Realm Crystal and Tablet still in hand, Master Chen with his staff of powers in one hand and the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu in the other, and the Corpse of General Char.

"Naturally, Pythor." The Viper Sorceress approached Clancee first, who did his best to stand proudly in the presence of a Serpentine Legend. But she noticed his struggles on the peg leg, and put her hand on his shoulder to ease his worry. "After all, anyone who is so willing to serve the greatest good for their kind, especially through a crippling wound, deserves the highest rewards."

With the purple glow of her Scepter, Aspheera backed away and shot Clancee with a spell, enwrapping him in a bright light. For a brief moment, the entire room was blinded by the light, but they were quickly widening their eyes in bewilderment.

Clancee now stood on both legs, throwing his peg leg to the side. As if he never had it, his slouch had disappeared, making him stand an entire six inches taller, and his pirate Raider armor was reinforced with magic. He looked down to see another gift: Fashioned after the swords used by the pirate raiders of old, Aspheera had granted Clancee a specialized Anacondrai blade with green markings, to represent all three aspects of his identity: The Venomari, the Anacondrai, and the Pirates.

"My Queen..." The reborn warrior bowed his head and kneeled to her. "Thank you!"

"Rise, Clancee. Stand, for these are gifts I want you to use." He nodded, giving her a final look of gratitude, before she moved to Chen, eyeing his staff. "Now... what do we have here?"

Standard Nindroids were not built to lurk about the desert for long periods of time. Although he was no standard Nindroid, General Cryptor was no exception to the rule. It had been well over an hour since Machia and all the other Serpentine-related footmen entered the fortress. Judging from the sudden spike in noise levels within the Pyramid, then their immediate silence, he had concluded they found Aspheera.

Then why the hell was he, and everyone else, still standing outside when they could be heading back to base?!

"You there, scout!" The nearby Stone Warrior turned to the Nindroid General in confusion, but approached him nonetheless. Cryptor admired that; although they were very different beings, he appreciated how they were both created by the same Ultimate Master, and thus had the same respect for order and discipline. Factors that the other factions scarcely exhibited, to his great annoyance.

"I want you and three other scouts on lookout; It is quite likely we will be on the move soon, and I don't want any surprise attacks from the Ninja when we are loading up at our most vulnerable." The Stone Warrior saluted him and ran off, carrying out his orders. Under the mask, Cryptor smiled, looking at the sky. Hmmm, the sun will be down soon.

"...and that is how we would become Anacondrai warriors; strong, loyal, emboldened, and ready to continue the Legacy of the first Anacondrai." Chen had said, bowing his face in humility. Aspheera stared at him and his cultists for several moments before looking up at the large Anacondrai Serpent, then back to Pythor.

"And you are satisfied with this proposal?"

He inclined his head with his classic grin. "At first I greatly opposed it, but I have come to understand the necessity of it. They will continue my tribes legacy, and bring about Anacondrai spirit back to its own full strength."

Considering this, she turned back to Chen. "Hmmm. Very well, I will do it." After a quick cheer, she held up her hand. "So long as... you swear loyalty to not only the Dark Army, but to myself and Pythor as Queen and King of all Serpentine."

"Of course, great Aspheera!"

"Excellent. Now, There is one thing you said that I must correct... As a rather practiced Serpentine sorceress, I do not need to obtain every Element you collected to complete the ritual..." She placed her left hand on the staff's crystal. "I simply need to copy them!"

With a rainbow of light emanating from the crystal, a flow of energy went through the Serpentine Queen and into her scepter, lighting it up. "And I also do not need to read any incantation, not require any essence from Pythor or the Serpent to make such a metamorphosis permanent! I am a professional, after all! Now approach."

Chen and every other Cultist did so, with the others making space for them. Soon, all 300+ members knelt before her as Misako and Clutch struggled to see what was happening. The only context of the situation they had came from Ronin's cryptic comment to The Mechanic: "Heads up, it's somehow about to get even more scaley in here."

Whispering, the old archaeologist turned to her guide. "Clutch, what is happening?"

"I can't tell, but if worst comes to worst, we cannot let them take off with that sorceress."

"Well, it's not like we have a lot of our own options at the moment!" Clutch snickered at the comment; unbeknownst to all but him, he had been using a rough file he kept up his sleeve to naw at the rope ever since they were tied. It was only a matter of time now before he could strike. Come on, COME ON.

Aspheera stretched out both of her arms and stared up at the crowd. "FELLOW SERPENTINE! FOR A MILLENIA, I WAS LOCKED AWAY, TRAPPED, UNABLE TO REACH OUT TO THE OUTSIDE! IN THAT TIME... MY OWN PEOPLE HAD DIED OFF! IN THAT TIME, YOU, THE DESCENDANTS OF THE VIPERS, WAGED WAR, RESULTING IN ANOTHER SORE LOSS FOR OUR PEOPLE. IN THAT TIME, THE SINGLE GREATEST SERPENT OF OUR KIND, THE GREAT DEVOURER, RAN AMOCK AND HAD LOST ALL CONTROL OF ITSELF. IT IS HERE AND NOW THAT I SAY... ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"

The crowd ate it up. Roars of approval filled the halls. "FOR NOW... NOW, WE REBUILD OUR GREAT EMPIRE. AND WE START WITH THE ANACONDRAI! Scrubiu, chalata, seeju! Yosau, tonaka, madief! Bela, meedem, hurrem! QUALSU, FRENDA, XIELDO!"

Her voice began to bellow and echo throughout the chamber, and the tattoos on all of the Cultists began to glow.

The heat of the desert was beginning to get to the Master of Water. Although Nya had yet to assume the title and mantle, she already began to exhibit tendencies one would expect from such a position. Most important of which was her preference to calmer climates.

Unfortunately for her, they had disembarked from their vehicles and walked on foot up a hill of sand to see the Pyramid in the close distance, leaving them to the mercy of the sun. Fortunately, nightfall was fast approaching.

Zane and Kai led the party uphill, closely followed by the orange-clad woman who introduced herself as Skylor. "This way, everyone, and quietly!" Once near the top, the two of them crouched down so that only their eyelines could see the Pyramid and it's guarding party.

Nya followed their example, as did the rest. "Damn, they destroyed the Ultra Sonic Jet. Clutch and Misako must be captive!"

Nya held onto Cole's hand in reassurance when Kai responded. "I see it Cole. But they aren't out here; they must be inside. Zane, how many do you count are out there?"

The Nindroid took several seconds to scan before responding. "63 hostiles total reside outside; 12 Skulkin, 15 Sons of Garmadon, 16 Stone Army Warriors, 20 Nindroids. However, based on the total count of Vehicles and the heavy tracks that lead within the Pyramid's entrance..." Zane halted his sentence, as if he was buffering. Everyone stared at him confused, until Skylor was the first to speak up.

"What is it?"

"... It appears that every single Serpentine warrior is inside the Pyramid. And then some. There are thousands of heat signatures within the structure."

The news came as a blow to the group. Gathering her thoughts, Nya looked to her brother for guidance. "What do we do?"

He gave her a calm look before looking back Zane, then everyone else, then finally at the wrecked Ultra Sonic Jet. "We will not allow another one of us to become a Martyr." He turned to look at Skylor specifically. "No more death. The only advantages we have over them are our powers and our unknown presence."

He backed downhill so that he could stand up fully without any Dark Army scouts seeing him, which was then followed by example by everyone else. "The sun will be down soon. Once it is dark, we will launch our attack on the party outside. Once they are distracted, Zane and Myself will go inside to rescue our friends."

The Elemental Master's and other Ninja nodded at the solidity of the plan, save Skylor. "Why just you two?"

"A smaller party would have a better chance at avoiding detection, and the two of us have more training at the arts of subtlety." Begrudgingly, Skylor nodded at the logic.

"It's settled then."

Above the skyline of Ninjago City, over the clouds and just within the light of the setting sun, Garmadon stood in the lone gunship with his eyes closed. "Hmmm." The Quiet One noticed his sudden change in attitude during his "meditation." Clouse noticed it as well.

"Is something the matter, my Lord?" This broke his concentration slightly, but he did not turn to face them, nor did he even open his eyes. "No, Quiet One. In fact, everything is proceeding exactly as designed. Clouse... prepare yourself."

"For wha- OH!" A sudden jolt of unexpected energy burned in his chest. he pulled his collar down to see his snakehead tattoo was glowing. Realizing what was happening, he smiled with joy. "They-they found Aspheera! Yes!"

But his smile dissipated moments thereafter, replaced with a panicked look in his eyes and his mouth hanging wide open as he squirmed on his knees in frustration. Harumi stared in confusion, whereas Garmadon barely looked over at him, instead focused on the sky line in front of them.

"I-its working!" Clouse's skin began to morph into a purple hue, old wrinkles being replaced by scales. His legs stuck together as they stretched out, forming a long purple tail. Although his head shape remained the same, his clothes tore with the transformation. "It worked!"

Harumi smiled, looking to Garmadon. "Then it seems Aspheera is as good as you said, my Lord. I suspect the Ninja and their newfound allies will be ther soon, if not already, just as you said they would be." But the Dark Lord didn't respond. He wasn't even listening, as all the noise was tuned out so that he could listen to something else entirely.

Soon. He thought to himself. SOON.

The New Anacondrai basked at their newfound glory in disbelief; after decades of scheming in isolation, years of noodle-making, and months under a new allegiance, Chen and his army have finally made their dream a reality. Chen himself, whose head kept its initial shape, approached Aspheera with glee before bowing.

"MY QUEEN! Oh, thank you! Thank you!" His other cultists followed his lead, and soon, so did everyone else. The Viper Sorceress basked in the sight of so many loyal to her, and turned to Pythor, making a motion for him to rise, before announcing to everyone else.

"Arise, all of you! These gifts are but a fraction of what we can accomplish together, and with our allegiance within the Dark Army, nothing will stand in our way!" Cheers echoed, the gratitude of thousands beckoning their Queen to continue. But the Viper had nothing more to say. Pythor noticed a hint of sadness in her eyes, and followed her gaze to the coffin of General Char.

Leaping to action, the Anacondrai banged his staff on the stone surface, calling attention to him. "Silence!"

Once the noise died down, he looked to Aspheera. "Much of early Sepentine history has been lost to time. While your legend lived on through generations, almost no mentions of General Char survived to today. But ancient writings lead us to discover his resting place in an old Serpentine temple, where he rested in isolation."

Aspheera had already come to the conclusion of his story. "He was condemned for following me."

"Yes. But if it were not for his dedication to you, we would not have obtained the tablet necessary for your release." He bowed his head and moved aside, making way for his Queen to approach the coffin. She lurked over the corpse, clearly upset by the sight of her most loyal servant's body.

she closed her eyes, speaking in a low voice. "You did not deserve this, Char. You never abandoned my side, despite the cruelty I had shown towards you." After opening her eyes again, she only then noticed the markings he had written on his torso. The language of Serpentine. FIRE.

"By the First Spinjitzu Master..." She looked back at Chen's staff, then to Pythor, who stared at her confused, then to The Mechanic. Scepter in hand, she sped up towards him in a threatening manner.

"The Scroll! Give it to me, NOW!" Panicking, he nodded and reached his hand out with it, allowing it to be sharply snatched away.

"My Queen, what is it?" She didn't answer Clancee, instead slithering up to Chen's staff. "I apologize, Chen. I will have to take ONE element out of here permanently."

"Uh, of course, my Queen."

The Sorceress placed her hand on the staff's crystal, which slowly glowed red, then transferred that glow into her hand. "Yes!" Her hand began to glow brightly from red to gold, then her arm did as well, then her entire body. "It is working!" Her entire form now emitted a light golden glow, and her tail and neckline had a radiating flame around them.

She put the Scroll back in hand, attaching it to her Scepter, before approaching the coffin once again. "With the power of the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu, for your unwavering loyalty and dedication, ARISE, GENERAL CHAR!"

With a slight tap of the Scepter, the corpse jumped to life, and General Char rose from his coffin, coughing out smoke. His black scales kept their dark hue, yet like Aspheera, his neckline and tail also had a light radiating line of fire on them. The Serpentine warriors all around stared in disbelief, as did the two mercenaries and captives.

"*Cough*Cough* Whew... I must have been out for a while! *GASP* Aspheera, my Queen!" He bowed down in humility, but was caught off guard by her effort to dissuade him of his actions.

"Rise, Char. Without you, none of us would be here. And I see you had discovered how to be brought back."

"Fire, yes! After your disappearance, I traced elemental masters in hopes of finding a way to free you. In my search, I discovered the tablet and your magic, along with the combined power of the Fire Element, you could resurrect dead Serpentine! I was discovered by Wu and Garmadon eventually, however, and was buried alive within a temple."

"Well, the deceiver Wu is dead, and Garmadon is our ally now, as well as thousands of others who make up the Dark Army." Allowing Char the chance to remove himself from the coffin and get to her left along with Clancee, Aspheera beckoned Pythor to her right side, along with Chen. "Serpentine, our time has come! At last, I will be free of this tomb, and we shall make our might known to Ninjago!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Clutch whispered. Misako turned towards him in confusion. "What?"

But he didn't respond. Instead, he broke the last of the rope with his blade in hand, allowing hi to rapidly remove the one around his ankles. "I am going to make sure her power never leaves this room!"

"Wait Clutch, don't-" Misako's efforts were useless; running past Ronin and the Mechanic, the renowned explorer torpedoed through the crowd of cheering serpentine. He jumped over an Anacondrai's tail; he slid under the flaying arms of a spazzing Vermillion; he zipped around the Constrictai General, who would have for sure stopped him in his tracks. Just as Aspheera began to notice the commotion from the side, Clutch jumped up towards her, blade in hand, aimed right for her eye...

Only to be stopped midair by Pythor and Char's staffs.

Clancee ran forward and held onto Clutch's arms tight, holding him down as he dropped the knife. Almost bewildered by the human's bravery and foolishness, the Serpentine Queen peered down at him. "You tried to kill me."

"...Yes."

"Your knife would have likely done the deed, too. At your speed, it would have penetrated straight through my left eye and into my brain. Killing me slowly, but surely." Gulping out of nervousness for his own misfortune, Clutch continued to stare at her.

"But thanks to the brave efforts of my King and General, I am still here. You did not kill me, so why should I kill you?"

Both Clutch and Misako sighed with relief; even The Mechanic and Ronin eased up at the news.

"However... what kind of leader would I be if I didn't teach a valuable lesson from such an event? Perhaps, to make this fair, I should consider the unspoken law of... an eye for an eye?" She approached him, picking up the blade.

"Wait-" But it was no use to protest. The rugged knife went straight into his left eye. "AAAUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!"

"NO!" Misako struggled to free herself. Ronin and The Mechanic were stunned at the cruel show. The Serpentine stared with pride at the sight of the crouching man, blood oozing out of his eye socket.

"Well, I think our business is done here. Everyone, let's move-" The sound of an explosion erupting outside the Pyramid interrupted Aspheera, causing everyone to turn their heads the opposite way.

"Well, it appears we may have company."

The attack was easy enough. As soon as it was dark enough, Ash called on some smoke to surround some of the vehicles, turning the attention of most of the Dark Army soldiers to them. Once distracted by that, Kai and Skylor hurled two massive fireballs at the vehicles, causing a massive explosion, knocking the surrounding warriors to the sand.

"GO!"

With everyone back on the vehicles, the Ninja and Elemental Masters raced downhill towards the small encampment, evading every shot fired at them. The Tumbler, piloted by Karloff, plowed through several bikes and heavy armored Serpentine vehicles, knocking them to the side. The DBX swerved to a halt in front of a dozen warriors, getting sand in their eyes, allowing the Ninja inside time to disembark and engage the enemy in hand-to-hand. The Destiny's Shadow headed straight to the entrance of the Pyramid, giving Zane and Kai the opening to run inside as the Masters jumped off and fought the incoming enemies.

Cryptor, however, noticed their movements with his advanced X-ray vision.

Oh no you don't.

"This way, Kai!" Zane lead the way through the halls and down the stairs, careful to avoid the Serpentine warriors. Stopping at the bottom of the stairway, both Ninja saw shadows and moved back up.

"The way is too exposed. Even is we are silent, there is no way to go without being seen!" Thinking quickly, Kai looked to his Nindroid brother. "Yes there is! I can extinguish the flames, and we can run through without them seeing!"

"You can do that?"

He nodded. "I have been practicing." Kai closed his eyes and reached his hand out in an open motion, before quickly making a closed fist. Zane looked to see the lights emitting from the room dim before it became pitch black. The shrill accented voice of a Venomari cried out. "HEY! Who turned out the lights!?"

"Now!" Both Ninja took ahold of the opportunity, dashing through the room and hallway, Kai repeating the same move on his feet with every torch they approached, evading the detection of several hundred Serpentine in the process.

Sensing a much more condense presence of Serpentine ahead, Zane stopped and whisper-shouted to Kai. "There! Stop! They are in the main room ahead of us." the Red Ninja nodded. Crouched down, they both crawled towards the entryway into the main room, and peered on the side at a stupendous - and horrific - sight: Thousands of Serpentine gathered in one room. Not only were the four major tribes and Pythor within the room, but an entire small army of Anacondrai, as well as man-snakes made up of hundreds of snakes of red and orange color. A single anomaly of a serpentine also held onto Clutch, who they could see was bowing his head and squirming. off to the side was Misako, tied up and guarded by two odd-looking humans. And in the center were two Vipers, one black and one gold, both of which had lines of fire emanating from their necklines and tails.

Zane noticed the golden female holding a scepter with the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu. "It's Aspheera."

"There are too many to fight. What do we do?"

"This." Without so much as a warning, Zane stood up fully and walked into the center of the entryway. "Aspheera!"All heads turned to the entryway to see the White Ninja in a fighting stance, aiming his bow at the Serpentine Queen. "Give me my friends, and I won-"

He never got to finish his sentence before the long blade of General Cryptor rammed through his back, eviscerating his core processor, and out of his chest, killing him instantly.

AAAAAAAAND THERE WE GO! Last chapter of the year. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF YOU, COMMENT AND GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS!