Back to Ninjago city, in the desert:
Skales was leading the Serpentine back to Ouroboros. The sun had set already, but they were able to find... eh hem... steal some flashlights from hitchhikers.
They went to the center of Ouroboros. It was quiet, but something was different.
"Hm... ssssomething'sss not right," Skales said, as he looked around the arena.
"Yeah. It'ssss very dark," Skalidor said, as Acidicus smacked him over the head with a flashlight.
"Of courssse it'ssss dark, the ssssun jussst sssset," Acidicus said, as Skalidor rubbed his head.
"I'm jussst ssssaying it issss," he replied.
"Sshh, quiet you foolssss," Skales said, as he listened to hear some shifting in the sand.
He flashed his light in the direction of the sound... nothing was there. Then he heard giggling and flashed his light up to the stands... nothing there either. Then he heard something from behind landing on the sand, which all the snakes heard as they turned around. There was a person with black hair who stood there silently with their head looking down. They had medium-length brown hair, and wore black pants and a green shirt with a black, torn jacket on. The woman stood there as Skales approached her through the crowd of Serpentine.
"Hey! Who are you, and how did you get here?" Skales asked.
The woman said nothing, as she smiled.
Then Skales said, "A human issss not welcome here amongsssst usss Ssserpentine."
The woman replied, "Well, then it's a good thing I'm not human..."
"Huh?" Skales said, as he looked at the woman curiously.
Then she raised her head up and revealed her red-ringed eyes and vampire teeth. All the Serpentine gasped, as they slowly backed away.
"What issss she?" -Venomari
"Why doessss she look like that?" -Constrictai
"Issss she real?" -Hypnobrai
"Where'ssss my juice?" -Fangpyre
The vampire female slowly approached the Serpentine, like a lion towards their prey.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you soo much," the woman grinned, baring her fangs and hissing, as the Serpentine looked at her in surprise.
"What are we doing?!" Skales said, as he slithered forward and said, "There's only one of her, we have nothing to fear. We are Ssserpentine!"
The other serpentine agreed, as they stepped towards the woman. The woman just smiled and said,
"Who said I was the only one?"
Right after she spoke, torches suddenly lit up, as the Serpentine looked around and saw that they were surrounded by people with red-ringed eyes, and sharp, pearly-white fangs. The Serpentine gathered closer together, as their fear from moments before crept back into their spines.
As the Serpentine feared for their lives, Marcell stood not too far off in the darkness, unseen by the Serpentine. Next to her stood Pythor, who looked at his Serpentine brethern in surprise.
"So, more of your kind came," Marcell said in a calm, solemn tone.
"Well, thissss indeed issss a ssssurprisse. Last I heard, they went underground and never returned," Pythor replied.
"Hmph," was how the Vampire Queen responded, as she took a few steps forward.
"I have no use for them. I guess they'll be on the menu for my people," Marcell replied with a smirk.
Pythor's eyes widened, as Marcell stood with a devious smirk on her face. Then Pythor slithered next to Marcell and asked,
"Oh, well, your highnessss. I mean, these Sssserpentine are of my kind. I would abssssolutely feel dreadful if your people jusst feasssted upon their blood. Issss there not a way for them to have a purpossse under you sssso that their livesss may be ssspared?"
Marcell thought about this...and then she looked towards Pythor and said,
"Alright slick, why don't you convince those Serpentine of yours to follow under me and I will spare their lives."
Pythor nodded gratefully and said, "Yessss, thank you your majessssty."
As Pythor was about to slither away, Marcell said,
"Oh and uh, I grant you to be in charge of them, unless they disagree..."
Marcell smirked darkly and added, "than you can join them for dinner."
Pythor looked at Marcell in a fear and gulped when he saw her eyes glowing with red rings. Then Pythor immediately slithered forth towards the Serpentine.
"Pythor?!" The Serpentine yelled out, once they saw the large purple Anacondrai emerge from the darkness.
"What?! How are you ssstill alive?" Skales asked in shock.
Pythor just smirked and slowly approached the Serpentine, passing by the vampire brigade.
"Well my friendssss," he said, as he raised his arms up.
"I've been living in ssssolitude lately after the Great Devourer wassss defeated. I came to realize what a misstake it wasss to sssummon forth that creature without acknowledging it'ss truly terrifing power, and ssssize. Sso I wish to reconcil with you Ssserpentine, and for you all to once again make me your King ssso that we may live alongssside the Vampiressss in peace."
The Serpentine whispered amongst themselves, as Skales stood forward and said,
"Are you kidding me? You nearly got ussss all devoured lassst time. You are a foolish leader who nearly led usss to our demisse. There isss no way we're going to follow you. Bessidess, I'm the king now!"
The other Serpentine began to whisper amongst themselves again.
"Well, I hope you realize..." Pythor slithered closer to the Serpentine and looked off to the side to see Marcell's piercing red eyes, eager to see what happens next.
Then Pythor whispered, "If you don't make me your king and follow under the Vampire Queen, she'll sssserve usss assss dinner for all the other vampiresss!"
The Serpentine's eyes widened, as some of them gasped and others almost fainted.
"Are you joking? Dinner?" Skales asked in disgust, as Pythor nodded.
"Look, I don't want to get on her bad sssside, it wasss only by chanccce she let me live becausse I agreed to ssserve her. I even asked if she would sssspare all your livess, or she would've let her people finish you all off!"
The Serpentine looked at one another in fear. Then Pythor straightened up and asked,
"Well, have we come to an agreement, or do you all wish to be vampire food?"
The Serpentine looked towards Skales, who signed in defeat. He removed his crown off his head, as he looked around at the numerous red-ringed eyes surrounding them. Then he stood in front of Pythor and bowed holding the crown up while saying,
"All hail Pythor, King of the Ssserpentine!"
The other Serpentine bowed and said the same thing, "All hail Pythor, King of the Ssserpentine!"
Pythor smiled in triumph, as he took the crown and placed it on his head. He turned towards Marcell, as she emerged from the darkness. The other Serpentine were surprised to see Marcell. They also noticed a small crown on her head of gold with blue and pink gems aligned across the top, with one large white, oval-shaped gem in the center. She stood before them with a stern expression, and her hands behind her back. Then Pythor turned to Marcell and bowed as he said,
"All hail Marcell, the Queen of the Vampiressss!"
The Serpentine followed their new/old king, as they all bowed as well and said the same thing. Skales just stood looking at Marcell as she smirked at him and growled baring her fangs. Skales jumped back, as he immediately bowed and quickly said,
"All hail Marcell, the Queen of the Vampiressss!"
Marcell looked at all the Serpentine with her hands still behind her back, as she smirked darkly and thought,
'Oh, now Ireallycan't wait until I show the Viporeons... but first, I have a call to make...'
Now, back to the Ninja of Awesomeness:
The next day, many of the ninja tried to sleep in, until Sensei was able to ring a large gong that a Viporeon rolled over to him.
"Come on everyone! Wake up! Just because Ryan broke in yesterday doesn't mean you can sleep in! It just means we should definantly train harder!" Sensei yelled out.
He chuckled, as he heard the moans and groans of the ninja as they woke up. Apparently, Sensei was standing between the buildings where everyone was sleeping so it wasn't like they could ignore him. The guys woke up and started getting ready. Most of the girls were up already, except Flare and Christa, who both jumped when they heard the gong, and they signed when they heard Sensei Wu's voice.
"Where on Earth did he get that gong?" Flare asked, as she stepped out of her room fully dressed, as she approached the other girls, who were all dressed and ready in the hall.
"Probably a Viporeon had one. You know they have almost everything for some reason," Christa said, as she stretched her arms upward.
"Come on, let's meet the others," Misako said, as the other girls followed her, except Raven who actually stood up in the castle in her room to sleep.
As the girls exited the guest house, the boys also exited the guest house they stood in. They all decided to walk to the front of the castle doors to wait for Raven and King Terrin to come down. Of course, Sensei took this opportunity to make the ninja do morning stretches and warm-ups.
Up within the castle, King Terrin and Raven were descending the stairways down to meet the Ninja crew.
"Um, daddy?" Raven asked, and her father replied, "Yes, my child?"
Raven thought for a moment before speaking,
"Daddy, um, before we came here... Sensei Wu told me about a dream he had."
Terrin looked towards his daughter with interest, as he said "Go on."
Raven pushed her hair back, as she told her father about the vision,
"He said that he saw a room with a candle lit in the center. It was very small, but then it started to grow bigger and brighter. Then he saw me and Lloyd dancing under a spot light. After that, he saw me backed up against a wall as a darkness was creeping towards me, and I was screaming out to the darkness to stay away. Then the last part showed me laying on the floor unconscious, and Lloyd was trying to protect me from a hooded person surrounded by darkness. The hooded person was holding the Viporeon pearl, but the pearl was a pale purple and it wasn't glowing."
Raven looked towards her father, as he was looking down, trying to decipher what his daughter had just told him.
Then Raven asked, "Dad, what do you think it means?"
Terrin stood silent while he pondered this awhile longer. Then he looked at Raven and said,
"Well, the candle and fire growing may represent how your bond with Lloyd is growing since you two were dancing together right after that part. Hm... the next part disturbs me though. You seem to be in trouble in the third part, and the last part..."
Terrin became a little more stiffened when he thought about the next part. Raven noticed, but she stood silent as her father continued to speak,
"The last part bothers me since you seem injured, and Lloyd is in trouble as well at that point. The Viporeon Pearl also disturbs me, especially in the hands of the enemy. Truly troubling."
Then Terrin placed his hand on his chin.
"I wonder what connection this hooded person has with the pearl, but for the pearl not to glow than that means that..."
Terrin became silent, as Raven tilted her head to the side and asked,
"Daddy?"
Terrin signed, and said, "We have a certain bond to the pearl Raven. I noticed thissss especially with you, after you were born... The pearl hassss a connection to your well-being Raven, and if the pearl'sss light is going out..."
"Then so is my light," Raven said, completing Terrin's sentence.
Terrin looked towards his daughter sadly, as Raven looked down, taking in this information.
"Raven," Terrin said and continued, "If thissss vision provessss true, then-"
"That will not happen papa!" Raven said, as Terrin's eyes widened.
Raven looked right into her father's eyes with a fiery determination.
'Reine... she has your eyes...' Terrin thought of his wife, and then Raven said,
"Dad, for some reason these people are after me. They want to snuff out my light for some reason... but then, there has to be a reason right? Why they would go through so much trouble-"
"To chasse a child across the world unless she had ssssomething powerful to show," Terrin finished off her sentence.
Raven nodded and said, "Daddy, I know you want me to be safe no matter what, but I can't hide forever. More people will get hurt if they try to help me hide, and... if these dark people want my light..."
Raven walked towards a window before continuing,
"Then they'll have to fight me for it, and I won't let them take it, ever!"
Terrin thought about that, then he smirked and walked next to his daughter. He put his hand on her shoulder, as she looked up at him.
Then Terrin said, "Raven, I know you can do it, and you won't have to fight alone. We'll all fight with you... My light, your light, and their light."
Terrin pointed out the window towards where the Ninja crew were gathered.
"We'll all lend you our power to fight thesse dark people, and..."
Terrin started walking back towards the staircase, as Raven followed behind him.
"You could all use some more training."
Raven looked towards her dad and smiled, as he smiled back.
As King Terrin and Raven exited the castle and headed towards the ninja near the fountain, the ninja and the rest of the crew stood up and looked at the King and the Princess heading over towards them.
"Good morning your majesties," Flare said, as she bowed her head before the king, and the others did as well.
"Yes, good morning to all of you. So, are you all ready to train?" Terrin asked.
Everyone looked at the King a little confused.
"Wait, training?" Jay asked, as the ninja looked towards Sensei Wu, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes, my dad said it's ok for us to train here. Especially for the secret meeting, remember?" Raven said.
The five male ninja were confused at first, then Flare stood in front of them and said,
"Hello? Remember? Lloyd got the message from Ryan when he first met him."
Four of the boys remembered that time... except Jay who asked, "When was that?"
Flare just stood looking at Jay sternly... very sternly, until Jay took a step back and held his hands up as he said,
"I'm just kidding, y-you know. Of course I remember! We all had to run though the forest, and the flyer had the tickets with it."
"Speaking of which, where are the tickets?" Cole asked, as Misako flipped out two golden tickets from her pocket and said, reassuringly,
"Don't worry, I've been keeping them safe, just in case."
"Yeah, one ticket, four people each. So we have to decide who goes and who stays behind with the Bounty, you know, in case we have to make a quick getaway," Kai said, as everyone started to think about it.
"We still have some time to think about that," Sensei Wu said, and then he continued, "For now, let us train here until the time comes to attend the meeting."
The others looked towards each other, nodded, and then they looked towards Sensei Wu and nodded once more. Then, just as Terrin began leading the way to the arena, a hissing sound was heard as well as footsteps and a yell.
"Your majesssty. Your Majesssty! There issss an intruder!" A Hypnobrai Viporeon called out, as she ran and stopped before the king, trying to catch her breathe.
"Where?" Terrin asked, and the Viporeon answered,
"In the arena. They have been apprehended, though they wish to sssspeak to you, they ssssay they bring a messsssage."
Terrin thought about that, and then he looked towards the Ninja crew, who looked towards the king to lead them on. Then Terrin turned towards the Viporeon and said,
"Lead the way."
With that, they all began hurrying towards the arena.
Uh oh... Who is the intruder? Friend or Foe? Find out next chapter.