Once again, I have returned. Let's get down to it. I update whenever possible.

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Chapter 12: A Thousand Gains, One Loss

The plan had worked to perfection. The Elemental Master's had created the perfect distraction, allowing Zane and Kai to run through the smoke into the Pyramid entrance. Vehicles burned, Dark Infantrymen scattered in fear, and they made their strike.

Dareth and Cole used Spinjitzu to knock the nearest standing scouts to their feet, as Nya put her own elemental skills to practice by hurtling a small cluster of water-daggers at a Nindroid. "Nice work Nya!"

She blushed slightly at Cole's compliment, but did not let it distract her. "NOW!" Skylor, Karloff, and everyone else ran down from the mountain of sand, ready to brawl. Staggering to their feet, a few Bikers and Skulkin grabbed their weapons in response.

"General Kruncha, what do we do?"

"Where is Cryptor?"

"ATTACK!"

And in the confusion, swords flung forward against the incoming elemental powers, while only a few miles away, a white jet was approaching the Pyramid at high-speed.

"I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Borg. Why do we need to stay here, when we could be out helping our Mentors against the Dark Army?" The genius mind of Cyrus Borg could only take so many repetitive questions before being worn thin with impatience towards small children.

"As I have said before, Bradley, there is no more "Dark Army," these factions are merely splinter groups attempting to regain their powers, which they only held for a day. The Ninja have everything under control. Besides, you are not ready to face them."

Bradley looked to his fellow students as they continued down the hall with Borg, until another spoke up. "OK, but what about-"

"And no, Nelson, I'm sure Sensei Lloyd's rush to action was merely a standard response for him. Let's not forget that he is an experienced Ninja, and he carries the burden of Ninjago on his shoulders. Now, we mustn't dawdle..." He wheeled into the center control room, where Mystake and Pixal had put the crate carrying the remains of the First Spinjitzu Master.

The Android looked up from the crate and her analysis sheets to her father. "Mr. Borg, Lloyd will be approaching the Pyramid in a matter of minutes. We have just lost contact with him, and-" She froze, dropping the tablet in her hand. "H-h-h-oh no..." Recognizing her distress, Cyrus wheeled forward towards her, as Brad and Gene ran to catch her from falling backwards.

"Pixal! What is wrong? Is there a problem with your processor?" She didn't answer. She was practically frozen in place, a look of shock taking over her faceplate, worrying the others. "Pixal! What is wrong? What happened?!"

"It's Zane." All heads turned to Mystake, who sat down as if a sudden wave of exhaustion overtook her, just as shock overtook Pixal. "Zane... has been killed."

Borg's eyes widened. The students began to shake their heads from disbelief. "No... NO. That can't be true!"

Looking to Bradley, who was still supporting her arm, Pixal nodded slowly. "I-it is. He is... gone. I don't kno-"

"WARNING! WARNING! ADDITIONAL TEMPORAL DISTURBANCE IMMINENT!"

"Another portal?! Quickly! Alert the Commissioner and his forces on the street, another one is coming!"

"I told you I, you are an outdated scrap Zane." Cryptor mocked the dead shell that still encompassed his blade in front of him. "This was only a matter of time."

Kai was still crouched down next to them both, horrified at the sight in front of him. Cryptor had seen him, but waited for him to make the first move. The Serpentine, on the other hand, were not so patient.

"GENERAL CRYPTOR! What is the meaning of this?!"

The Nindroid General pushed the body off his sword before acknowledging the Serpentine King, creating a loud CLANG that echoed throughout the halls. "I apologize for the intrusion, Pythor. The Ninja have managed to ally themselves with every elemental master left unaccounted for. These two managed to get through our defenses, and I had a score to settle with Zane."

"That is no excuse for- wait, two?"

Kai knew he had no choice now. He jumped out of his crouched spot, sword in hand, rushing at Cryptor. "AaaaAAA-"

But he froze in place. Before his blade got within a foot of Cryptor, a pink aura surrounded Kai's form, restricting any movement besides his eyes. He could see the spell that caused this emitted from the golden-fire Viper, Queen Aspheera. The Serpent Queen slithered forward towards him and Cryptor, pushing a still-bleeding Clutch to the side.

"It is no problem, General Cryptor. We were just about finished here, anyway..." Before making her way to Kai, she studied the dead body in front of her. "This was... Zane, you said? Master of Ice? Pity... It seems we will need to permanently remove one other element from the staff if our plan is to move forward, Chen."

The New Anacondrai Leader bowed in acknowledgement. "Of course, my Queen." Kai saw two humans, the only two besides himself, Misako, and Clutch, walk towards Clutch and carefully carry him back to Misako.

"Hmmm." With her tail, Aspheera sent Zane's body flying against the nearest wall, breaking it into several parts. Although it wasn't visible, she could see that angered Kai greatly as she approached him and put her scaly hand to his face, studying him. "But you... You are the Master of Fire. Oh, how delightful! I cannot wait for you to see what we have in store! I just love reuni-"

"INCOMING!" Cryptor yelled in an immediate tone of alarm, pointing up at the ceiling of the great room. Everyone looked up to see what he meant.

There was no reaction time.

From the outside, something crashed into the Pyramid's tip, plummeting through it and the room's ceiling, sending chunks of rubble down as hundreds of Serpentine ran in all directions, avoiding debris. The distraction broke Aspheera's focus on Kai, causing the spell that held him to lose hold.

The Red Ninja landed back down on the ground on all fours, breathing heavily from the distress. He could see the two other humans dragging Misako and Clutch behind the nearest pillar, away from the debris. As the dust began to settle, everyone gathered again with their weapons drawn, waiting to see what had interrupted them the second time. But Kai realized what it was before anyone else.

Through the cracked windows of the Ultra Sonic Jet, Lloyd spun up and out of the vehicle in his green tornado before landing in front of Aspheera, Clancee, and Char. Before Kai could get up to help him, Pythor and Cryptor grabbed him from behind, holding him in a tight grip.

The Serpentine Queen did not look impressed. "You must be the Chosen One: Grandson of the First Spinjitzu Master, son of Garmadon, nephew to the despicable Wu."

Taking his golden blade out, Lloyd stared back at her. "That's me. And you must be Aspheera: Usurper of Mambo the Fifth, power-hungry sorceress of the Vipers, sentenced to eternal imprisonment. I don't believe your sentence is up yet."

Unamused, Aspheera aimed her staff forward. "Kill him."

Clancee launched forward, his blade in-hand as it swung down. Lloyd dodged the first few attempts, then raised his blade in defense. That was his first mistake. Clancee's Anacondrai blade easily sliced through the golden one, creating a half-sword. In his shock, Lloyd made a stabbing motion towards Clancee's armor in hopes of penetrating it. That was his second mistake. The short blade bounced off of the magic-reinforced armor, blunting it. The energy that rebounded the blade put Lloyd in a confused state, causing him to lose focus. That was his third mistake.

But Kai still saw what was coming. "LLOYD, BEHIND YOU!"

The Green Ninja turned to see Char launching himself at him from behind just as Clancee did the same in front. A Buffmillion and New Anacondrai warrior did the same from the sides, surrounding Lloyd. Fortunately, he knew one thing the two of them did not. "Ninja-GOOO!" His green tornado absorbed the four bodies, and sent them flying to all sides.

"Nice try, Aspheera, but it takes more than a few cronies to peg me down. Ninja-GO!"

Kai smiled as the green tornado approached Aspheera. But the Serpentine Queen was not so easily started. "Hmm, perhaps you are right. Ninja-GO!" And to the horror of Kai, Misako, Clutch, and even the other two humans, a significantly-larger pink tornado surrounded Aspheera's body and knocked Lloyd back against the Jet.

Misako struggled through her bonds. "Lloyd!"

The pink tornado dissipated as Aspheera slithered forward, alongside Clancee and Char. "You see, Lloyd, I am no common villain. I am not a goddess, or a monster. I am the Queen of the Serpentine. And you will fear my wrath."

Sneers and hisses echoed throughout the room, as Lloyd tried - and failed - to pick himself back up. He saw hundreds of Serpentine footsoldiers emerge towards him, until they stopped dead in their tracks when their Queen held up a hand.

"But... you will know my mercy as well. There is a greater purpose you have yet to serve, Lloyd. And I would personally prefer to fight you fairly, not when your mind is so, well, scattered." Turning her attention to her surrounding loyalists. "Generals!"

Char, Skales, Machia, Chope, Fangtom, Eyezor'ai, Zugu, Acidicus, Kapau, and Skalidor all rushed forward and bowed. "Yes, my Queen?"

"Prepare to move out our forces!" Without another word, all of the footsoldiers and generals prepared to get in formation to head out. Pythor allowed Cryptor to hold onto Kai by himself as he went to stand alongside his Queen, and Char moved to the front of the lines with the large Anacondrai Serpent, preparing to lead them out. "Ready, company, and-"

"WAIT."

Again, all heads turned back to Aspheera, who now stared at the large Purple Serpent, thenn back at Char, who was confused. "General Char... you were the only true loyalist among the Vipers. That is why you are here, with me, in your entirety. But that doesn't mean that our fallen kinsmen cannot be a part of our New Legacy!"

Extending both of her arms to her sides, the Sorceress closed her eyes. "Arise, my brothers and sisters! Arise and serve the Serpentine cause once more, as the PYRO VIPERS!" Her staff and the Forbidden Scroll lit up as a red/purple aura shot from the blade on top and went out of the room, down into the Pyramid's level's below.

The aura sunk down the levels into the large, dead pit that was spread to lengths well beyond the actual pyramid. On the surface and across the walls were hundreds of thousands of Sarcophagi. As the aura touched each one of them, the contents within began to glow orange, until mummified fists burst through the doors of their coffins. The bodies of the Vipers were reanimated, but with dead minds to blindly follow their Queen.

At the base of the pit, hundreds of large, dead Serpents, which the Vipers rode as their "Fangs," also began to glow until fire emitted from their tail-lines. The Fire Fangs had awoken.

"Aaaahhh." Aspheera opened her eyes again, seeing the eager looks of her loyal enforces waiting. "I'd say that just about wraps up our time in this dead husk. General Char, lead us out of here!"

"You heard the Queen! Forward!"

Kai, Lloyd, Misako, and Clutch watched the entirety of Serpentine forces march out towards daylight, where their friends were still serving as a distraction. Eventually, the last of the forces had left, until it was just them, Aspheera, Pythor, Clancee, and the three non-serpentine captors.

"Well, chaps, this has certainly been a treat. Oh, Lloyd, I cannot wait to see you next time. What fun!" Lloyd managed to get up on his side to stare directly back at the King. "F...f... Fuck you, Pythor."

"Tut, tut. My Queen, shall we join our forces?" He made a polite gesture towards the entryway.

"Certainly, My King. Commander Clancee, take us down below." The green Half-breed nodded slightly, leading her and Pythor out. Leaving the Ninja and their friends in the hands of Cryptor.

The Nindroid General threw Kai to the ground, kicking him in the side to insure he wouldn't immediately get back up. "Heh. Y'know, I do want so badly to kill you too, Green one. But the Serpentine Queen is right. You can't die, just yet. And the rest of you... well, you just aren't worth my time. But YOU."

He grabbed Kai by the shoulder with one hand and picked him off of the ground, pointing at Zane's carcass. "I want YOU to tell Pixal that I did it." Lloyd looked to see where he was pointing, and gasped in shock. He didn't even notice Zane's body was there the whole time. "NO!"

"Shut up." Cryptor threw Kai into Lloyd. "Ronin, Mechanic, let's go! We don't want to be left behind." Turning to run out, he didn't notice the weary looks of the two humans as Ronin muttered under his breath. "Yeah, cuz' who'd want to miss this party?"

Outside the Pyramid walls, the last of the Dark Army footsoldiers fell to the ground, defeated. Karloff looked around and raised his large fists in the air. "We did it! We haff won!" The other Elemental Masters cheered in their victory, but Dareth noticed the uneasy looks of Nya and Cole.

"What is it guys?"

"Nothing, but... that was too easy."

"You call that easy?" Their heads spun around to Skylor, who had a huge smile on her face. "That took our combined powers to hold them off, and fromwhat Kai has told me, they are most likely only a fraction of the Dark Army forces. It's a good thing we are all here."

Then the ground shook. Elemental Masters looked around, confused. Dark Army soldiers picked themselves out of the sand and did the same. Until Nya saw several lights coming from the Pyramid entrance. Torches.

"Serpentine!" As she said it, hundreds of thousands of Serpentine soldiers from all branches and tribes marched out and around the Ninja and their allies, lead by a single Black-scaled Viper on fire, riding a large Anacondrai Serpent.

The Serpentine helped their allies get up from their defeat. Knuckal's body picked his head up and screwed it on so he could see their new allies. "Oh, WOW! But, erm, how are we getting everyone out of here?"

The black Pyro Viper chuckled. "Wait for it..." Within seconds, another wave of rumbling followed, but this time, as it got louder and closer, the air seemed to get warmer. All heads turned back to the Pyramid, and out of the side entrances came hundreds of large Serpents on fire, with a leading one carrying Pythor, a Golden Viper Nya could only guess was Aspheera, and a Green Serpentine soldier. Behind them were hundreds of thousands reanimated Pyro Viper mummies., all of whom got onto the backs of the army of large Serpents.

"Let's go, everyone! These are our tickets out of here!" Every soldier without a ride climbed onto a small Fire Fang, and the pilots and drivers of the remaining functional vehicles hopped on and started their engines. Pythor stared at Dareth, Nya, and Cole, making a mock-salute motion before their Serpent raced forward.

"YEE-HAW!"

"WHOOP WHOOP!"

"WAHOOOOOOO!" The jants and cheers rang as the armada took off, heading into a sandstorm Aspheera created to cover their tracks, until only a single Biker was left. "What's he waiting for?"

Dareth's question was answered as General Cryptor and two humans ran from the Pyramid's entrance and hopped on the back of the bike. "GO!" The biker nodded and raced into the sandstorm, leaving the Ninja and Elemental Master's in a state of Confusion.

Oh, no. Nya ran towards the Pyramid. "KAI! ZANE!"

In the streets of Ninjago City Square, the Commissioner and his men were on high alert at the warning from Cyrus Borg, gun's aimed in the sky, ready for anything. "C'mon, you bastards. Make your move."

In the control room of Borg Tower, students ran back and forth in urgency as the alarm blared, computers made calculations, and Pixal stood frozen. Cyrus looked to Mystake for support, who only looked down before staring out the window into the darkened sky.

In the clouds, a very agitated Anacondrai Clouse fiddled with his hands as he paced back and forth, annoying Harumi and Garmadon. "We have been up in these clouds for almost two days, Garmadon! What are we waiting for?!"

The Dark Lord opened his red eyes from meditation, and extended one arm forward out the open doorway of the gunship. "That."

Clouse and Harumi ran to see what he meant. Hundreds of feet away from them, sparks ignited out of thin air, just as they had before. "It's happening again."

The Commissioner called for attention towards the sky. "Ready, men! It's happening again!"

Mystake created a hush throughout the control room as she gasped. "Oh no... It's happening again."

The trio in the gunship saw a portal once again form in the skyline, only now, something was different. This one was slightly larger, and it seemed more stable. Furthermore, it had already lasted over five seconds, which was how long the first portal did before collapsing in on itself.

But that wasn't what caught Garmadon's attention. Although hundreds of feet away from the portal, he noticed a figure standing in it. The movement of the figure seemed familiar as it approached.

"No... It couldn't be..."

Harumi looked to her Master. "Couldn't be what, my Lord?" Garmadon shook his head and stood up. "Nothing! Now stand back. It's about to happen."

The two did as instructed, and looked towards the portal to see that the figured shape of a person griped in shock. Peering closely, they could see as a dark blue-and-red light rammed through the chest area, causing the figure to collapse to it's side.

But the light got bigger until they noticed it wasn't a blue-and-red light.

"Look out, LIGHTNING!" The two jumped to the sides of the ship, as Garmadon extended all four arms, embracing the impact of the now entirely red bolt of lightning. "YES. YES! DARK POWER! CALLED UPON FROM FORCES UNKNOWN!" The Lightning made it's way into the palms of Garmadon's hands, until the veins on his arms glowed red.

The three looked back out to the portal, which once again began to collapse. But this time, all three could see the shadowy figure pick himself up, and a glowing pair of yellow eyes stared directly at them as a deep, cackling laugh barked out, echoing through the air as the portal closed in on itself once again.

After several moments of listening to the echoes of dark laughter, Harumi approached the glowing Garmadon. "My... Lord, what was that?"

Breathing heavily, the Dark Lord panted through each segment. "That... Quiet One... was a gift to US. The time is almost upon us."

At the encampment at the top of the Golden Peaks, Krux and Acronix relished in the wave of power that washed over them. "Krux, the time is almost upon us."

Onboard a trader ship, within his imprisonment in the Teapot of Tyrahn, the voice of Nadakhan the Pirate Djinn chuckled. "Hm, hm hm, the time is almost upon us."

In the darkness of the Cursed Realm, Morro opened his eyes and smirked towards his fellow ghosts, calling upon the wind. "Finally! The time is almost upon us!"

In the bleak desert of the First Realm, the Iron Baron stuck his blade into an eye socket of the four-headed dragon his men just killed. "Yes, the time is almost upon us."

At the top of the Ice Mountain of the Never-Realm, Vex snickered at the sight of Grimfax's castle. "Soon, you will see. The time is almost upon us."

In a dark space, devoid of any true life, the Purple eyes of Omega looked to his legions of doom-bringers. "ONI, THE TIME IS ALMOST UPON US!'

THERE. WE GO! First chapter of the new decade, and this is one I was really excited about. Please comment privately to me if you know whose yellow eyes those were in the portal, AND PLEASE write a comment or review.

I will update as soon as I can!