[A/n: sometimes when I have a lot of dialogue like in this chapter, I forget to put who said what. If I ever do that please tell me so I can fix it.]
"March is coming! Run for your lives!"
"Who's March? You keep mentioning him."
"You'll see. Oh, phew, you've got your weapons handy. But don't kill him if you can help it; he's probably not himself if he attacks," The Hypnobrai, barely 4 feet, ran behind Cole.
"What are you doing?!" Cole said, turning around. He didn't see the snake, but then he heard its voice, "Hiding. Say you found him on your own, I didn't help!"
"Okay..."
"I didn't know snakes could be clowns." Kai had caught the first glance of the approaching Serpentine and was laughing. The snake had glowing red eyes, but that wasn't what was funny. Its skin was a checkerboard of purple, blue, black, and green.
"We're supposed to be scared of that?" Cole asked once he had seen it.
"He's an accident-"
"Snakes can be accidents?!" a hoarse voice said jokingly. [A/N: It's a stupid joke, I know. If you don't get it, please don't ask me.]
"Jay?" The ninja and Nya looked over at him. Jay had sat up, his eyes flickering around to take in all of them.
"But March bit him; I saw him," the Hypnobrai whispered in confusion. "Wait, if he can still talk, then... You have longer than I thought. You're stronger than the others were. They were paralyzed by now, I think." That last part was said to Jay.
"Thanks, I guess, but why don't you slur your s's like the other snakes?" Jay asked him.
"That's what stupid Rattles wants to know. He thinks it would be helpful for us to pass as human, and they were going to make me mate before we ran away."
"Mate?" Cole said, shocked.
"It means to pair him with a female in order to reproduce."
"I know that, Zane. But they were going to make you do it?!"
"Why are you so surprised? You humans do the same to other species, don't you? Anyway, March helped me escape; he's really a nice guy, but sometimes if he's gone too long without eating properly, he sorta goes crazy and bites the first thing he sees. Unfortunately, this time it happened to be your friend. Really, if the purebloods didn't treat the mutants like inferiors, we never would've had to run away in the first place, and I wouldn't be dealing with the 3rd person he's bitten."
"Mutants?"
"Yesss, mutantsss." Cole whirled around at the new voice and saw the rainbow snake had finally arrived. "Though that'sss not an accurate term. Hybridsss would be better. And I know you're here, Cody; I heard you talking." So that's his name, Cole thought. Cody sheepishly stepped from behind Cole, now visible. "I'm sssorry. It isssn't my fault I'm like thisss. I was sssuppossse to be Venomari and Fangpyre, but no! Sssome idiot 'accccidently' put everything in there and I end up like thisss-" the colorful snake gestured towards himself- "without a sssingle power! I get sssome dumb poisssonousss bite that ssso many normal little snakesss have."
"You're poisonous! And you bit me!" Jay shouted.
"Keep yelling like that, and you'll lossse your voiccce, boy. Wait? You haven't yet?"
"I can talk! What's the big deal?"
March almost answered, but Cody reached up and covered his mouth. I should bite him, March thought. Nobody said a word until Kai broke the silence.
"So, if you're a little bit of everything," he said the first part to March, "then what are you?"
"Hypnobrai egg, Anacondrai DNA," Cody replied like he'd been expecting this question.
"If you came from the egg of a Hypnobrai, wouldn't you have the DNA from it as well?" Zane said to Cody.
"Alright, Mr. Smartypants. The original egg and the DNA added to it was how they classified us. Usually we look like the tribe of the egg we came from, but the power could come from either. I'm pretty lucky, I've got-"
"Cody!" March yelled.
"-my power from the Anacondrai tribe! I'm so lucky because invisibility is great!" Cody finished hastily.
"You're lying."
"Just take your friend and leave," the blue snake said coldly.
"Wait! I have to give them the riddle!" March suddenly shouted.
"No you don't!" Cody hissed.
"Kid, you're the one who made me promissse to tell the family of anyone I bite, and you know I'm a sssnake of my word," March said to Cody. "Now, thisss isss gonna sssound pretty crazy, but hear me out," he started, now talking to the ninja.
"We're used to crazy, " Cole replied.
"'If the sssnake of many colorsss bitesss, you mussst travel to the land of iccce and find the flower, sssmall and white, but if you wish to guarantee hisss ssstay, you mussst find it in under 8 daysss. In the land of iccce, remember thessse 3 thingsss: beware of trapsss, ssstay away from ratsss, and never take a nap.'"
"Don't take naps?" Cole repeated.
"I told you it was crazy."
"Come on, let's go! Let 'em figure it out themselves," Cody growled, a second later walking off in the direction March had come from.
"Guarantee hisss ssstay meansss don't die!" he whispered before catching up with the smaller snake.
Cole was getting confused about these two snakes. At first he had thought Cody was just an innocent little kid (er, snakeling?)and March was some monster, but after Kai had accused him of fibbing, it started to seem nearly the opposite.
"You traitor," Cody muttered to March as they walked, "I can't believe you helped the ninja."
"You were the one blabbing our life ssstory, kid."
"But if I had lied, it would've risked me messing up and them not trusting me! I wasn't expecting them so soon!"
"And that worked ssso well," March said sarcastically.
