Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs: Chapter 33 — The Great Snake

It was quiet on the ship after Wu and his students had left. Quiet and cold and empty. There had been a brief moment, up on the top deck, when Garmadon and Lloyd were standing near each other, alone. In that moment, Lloyd had wondered if his father was going to say something. He wondered if maybe they were going to do something while they waited. The thought was quickly killed.

Lloyd went downstairs to eat something and rest some more.

Garmadon stayed up on the deck for a while.

The fight with the Serpentine would undoubtedly be starting soon. Wu and the others would be in terrible danger. The fate of Ninjago could very well hang in the balance, but what did Lloyd care? That wasn’t his fight. If anything, he really should use this opportunity while he was unsupervised to slip away, just like he planned. It would be all too easy… but what if his father tried to stop him? Would he? Garmadon? Did he care enough to? Lloyd could always try and sneak away when he wasn’t looking, just incase, but… No, that wouldn’t work. Garmadon was a skilled warrior, even in his old age. He would be able to hear a clumsy kid with wooden feet hobbling out of the bunk house from a mile away.

He felt uneasy. His foot tapped over and over. The ship rocked.

Maybe someone on the team of ninjas was hurt…

Maybe Pythor had been hurt, wouldn’t that be a satisfactory bit of karma?

He almost wished he could be there, just to see that…

Eventually Lloyd fell asleep. In his dreams, he saw visions of snakes biting at Wu’s ankles. He tried to convince himself it was mere coincidence that he would dream such a dream tonight, one that made him worry about his uncle. There was no way he actually would be worried about the old man, though. He didn’t care…

Some time during the night, Lloyd was frowning because his sleep was being disturbed. There was this terrible clanking noise and it was making him flinch every time he heard it. He wished it would shut up so he could sleep… but the more he thought about it… the more it had sounded like cans of food. And he could have sworn someone went in and out of the bunk house. And there was only one other person on the ship—

His eyes suddenly popped open.

He forced himself out of bed and up the stairs to the top deck.

He stopped and leaned against the nearest wall.

“Stop!” he called to the shadowy man, standing on the edge of the ship. “Where are you going?”

Garmadon remained very still and did not breathe a word. Lloyd could see the pouch of supplies in his hands, full of food and weapons he had stolen, no doubt. His father was leaving again.

“Why are you leaving?” he asked, hoping that Garmadon might answer one of his questions for once.

His father didn’t turn around as he said, “Far be it from you to ask such things when you already know the answer.”

Lloyd swallowed hard. His chest felt tight. “I can’t believe you.”

Now Garmadon turned enough to reveal the red of his eyes. “What?”

“All that talk of wanting to be better… you’re still the same liar you’ve always been.”

“You understand nothing.”

“No I understand everything just fine. Go ahead! Leave your one and only son behind! Again! It’s not like he cares or anything! It’s not like he’s felt completely alone all his life!”

“And where is this sentimental speech coming from?!” Garmadon suddenly snarled, turning around and dropping his sack. “Last I knew, you were sick of looking at me! Sick of me being near you! I thought you wanted me gone!”

“What I want is a dad who actually cares about me!!!” Lloyd was feeling breathless now. He had jumped out of bed so fast, then confronted his father without a second thought… he didn’t have any time to compose himself or his thoughts. Everything was simply being laid out in front of him, messy and ugly. “What’s your plan, anyway? Run? Lay low? Start another war?”

“I’ve heard enough,” said Garmadon darkly, and he took a step closer to his son. “I do what I must. I have no other choice.”

“Yes you do!” Lloyd snapped. “You even being here is proof! Why else would you willingly partner with Uncle Wu?! Why else would you come and rescue me?!”

“I said, enough! If Wu and his students fail this mission, the end of Ninjago is assured, and I don’t intend to be around when that happens! I’m leaving.”

“Without me?” said Lloyd bitterly.

Garmadon just stared back coldly. “Yes. Without you.”

Lloyd felt his eyes beginning to sting. “…Why?”

His father gritted his teeth, as though he was fighting off a headache, and then he shouted at the sky, “AAAAGH!!! I TOLD YOU!!! I—HAVE— NO CHOICE!!! There is poison in my veins… poison that has… and will… hurt you… my son.”

Lloyd was gritting his own teeth now, unsure of what to say.

“I am going now,” said Garmadon. “Alone.”

“Yeah?!” Lloyd erupted again, his fists clenched. “Well I’m staying! I’m staying and I’m going to go help Wu, even if you’re too scared to!”

“What?!” Garmadon cried.

“That’s right! I’m going to go stop Anguis from returning! Then you’ll have no excuse to run!” What was he saying? Why didn’t he ever think things through? This was exactly the kind of impulsive, emotional thinking that got him into this whole mess in the first place.

“I forbid you to go anywhere near the Serpentine ever again!” Garmadon was standing at his full height now, trying to intimidate him, but Lloyd was too rash to be intimidated so easily.

“Then stay and stop me!” Lloyd fired back. “Or take me with you.”

Perhaps this was the moment Lloyd had been waiting for. The moment where his father was forced to choose. He wanted to know exactly how Garmadon felt about him—no blustery speeches or other such nonsense—just the raw truth. Would Garmadon stay… or would he go?

After several painfully long moments of quiet… Garmadon shifted and said quietly and tightly,

“Do as you wish… it is of no concern to me…”

Lloyd felt cold as he watched the man who called himself his father turn, pick up his sack of supplies, and jump off the side of the ship. He landed in the water below, then swam to shore. He disappeared into the countryside after that.

Lloyd felt red in the face.

Filled with a burst of angry determination, Lloyd jumped into the water feet first, jolting at how freezing hold it was. Then he started to swim. Thankfully, the waves were pushing him to shore, and he had his heavy feet on the sand in no time at all. But he would need a change of clothes before continuing, unless he wanted to catch a cold like Ann and Keaton.

It was easy enough to destroy his wet rags, and easy enough to make himself new ones, though he did have to bite back a gasp of pain when he used his creation power, as always. When he was finished, he was wearing a pure black robe very reminiscent of a shozoku, bearing the same crest that Wu’s robes always did. Two small white flowers on either side of his chest. He hadn’t been thinking very hard about what the clothing would look like while he made it. This was just what naturally came to mind. He tried to ignore it as he started slowly running.

The Serpentine had been digging tunnels all across Ninjago for the past few months. As one of those scaly idiots once said, it’s the fastest way to travel on foot, and since the desert shouldn’t be too far away from the coast, he was bound to find one of the tunnels if he looked in the right places.

His course was set. He was going to pay back Pythor for what he did. He was going to rub this in his father’s face. He was going to do it… or else he would burst with another type of unpleasant emotion, and he would never be able to live that down.

Little did he know, however, that not too far away, someone was watching him. In fact, he had been watching Lloyd since he made it into the forest. He had no intention of going far. Not really. He was too much of a coward to make good on his promise to leave… and he cared too deeply to let Lloyd actually throw his life away.

This wouldn’t be easy… in fact, this would probably haunt him the rest of his natural days… but Lloyd was right. He hadn’t just come from the Dark Realm on a whim. Perhaps… yes, perhaps there was one thing in this world more powerful than Anguis’ venom.

In the distance, what few people lived out in that part of the country were suddenly woken by the sound of a strange, monstrous roar far off in the distance. They had no idea what it was, only that it was unlike anything they had ever heard before.

* * *

The tunnels were still shaking and pieces of the ceiling and walls were still crumbling as Cole, Jay, Nya, and Kai ran through the hideout, looking for any trace of the Fang Blades. The Slither Pit room was empty, and most of the halls outside were empty too. The Serpentine must have evacuated once that explosion went off. Not knowing what else to do, Cole drove the Scythe of Quakes into the ground and listened for vibrations.

The snakes were gathering on the surface.

“Are you still sure you want me to stay close?” Nya asked after hearing that.

“Yes,” Kai swallowed. “Take this, too.” It was a dagger from his belt.

Nya looked at it a moment, flashing back to when she took that dagger with her into Ninjago City. This time, she grasped it firmly.

‘I will do what I must. For my brothers,’ she told herself. She gripped the handle tighter as she repeated it to herself. That one sentence would have to be the only thought in her mind, or else she would succumb to fear and hesitation.

With that having been resolved, the four of them started up the large staircase to the surface.

“So what exactly is the plan?” asked Jay.

“To hold on,” said Cole as they exited the tunnel.

Immediately right outside was a horde of Serpentine, all very confused to see the ninja alive, and all hissing and snarling threateningly at them. But the moment Cole had the space to do so, he lifted himself and his friends up, up, up on a plateau of stone.

“Woah!” Nya cried, almost losing her balance as they rose.

They didn’t need to go too high. Just high enough to be out of reach of the Serpentine, and to have a bird’s eye view.

“Do you see the blades anywhere?” asked Cole, surveying the area. The sandstorm had died away, and now all of Ouroboros was clear for them to see in the moonlight. A large, circular city, mostly all ruins now, and the streets were crawling with hundreds of snakes, all lit by rows and rows of fiery torches. Some had weapons, but it was impossible to tell if they were the Fang Blades or not.

“There!” said Kai, pointing toward the center of the city. There was that pesky purple snake with the long neck, and he was holding something that looked a lot like a blade.

“Guys!” Nya was looking over the edge of their little high rise and could see several Serpentine clawing their way up to them; persistent as cockroaches.

“Let’s move!” said Cole, running forward. Before anyone could be alarmed or ask questions, Cole already had another platform raised. It was only big enough for one person at a time, so they started following Cole single file, running from one raised stone platform to the next, while the Serpentine started to chase them.

Down below, Pythor saw the ninja coming after him, and his eyes bulged. He quickly made himself invisible, though he could not hide the Fang Blades in his hands. That was all Cole needed to see.

SHOOM

SHOOM

SHOOM

Cole created platform after platform after platform, running at top speed. Jay was right behind him, Nya behind him, and Kai behind her, shooting flames any time he felt the Serpentine were getting too close on their tail. They were cutting through the crowd like butter, and Pythor was visibly beginning to panic.

That’s when—

TWANG

Jay heard it—the sound of an arrow being loosed—and in a flash, he had grabbed Nya by the wrist and pulled her down with him as an arrow whizzed through the air, right where her head had been.

Unfortunately, pulling a move like that is not advisable while you’re running across all those platforms. Jay and Nya quickly lost their balance and began to fall. More arrows came at the group, forcing Kai and Cole to dodge as well, and they found themselves in a very similar position.

Jay grabbed Nya and they rolled onto the ground—the wind almost being knocked out of Jay’s lungs from the impact—but intense fear of the snakes that now surrounded them forced them to get to their feet as quickly as possible. Jay already had the Nunchucks out, ready to strike the first Serpentine who dared to get close to Nya. Kai landed after that, surrounded by bright flames, then Cole—

BOOM

—landed so hard he shook the earth.

“MOVE!!!” he yelled at them, and at once he created a large wave of earth to push back the ones that were a little too close for comfort. Only problem was, the Serpentine could still climb. After only a few seconds, they were grabbing hold of the earth wave and scrambling over it, slithering wildly at the ninja after that.

“Let’s do this,” said Kai darkly as he shot forward, his sword hot.

Jay was right on his heels.

The streets were glowing red and blue as blast after blast of lightning and fire washed through like clouds of smoke. No Fangpyres were going to get close enough to bite them. They kept their enemy at arm’s length. No Hypnobrai were going to trip them up. No Constrictai were going to tunnel up beneath them and strangle them. Cole made sure of it. The Venomari, however, still did pose a threat, and at every turn the ninja felt a pang of fear that the horrid green substance would get sprayed right in their face. Kai especially had no desire to relive that experience. Long distance attacks were the way to go.

The Serpentine knew that too.

More arrows shot down at them from atop the crumbling ruins. They would come whizzing through the air and then lodge themselves into the stony ground at their feet, occasionally ripping their clothes or even—

“AAGH!!!”

—hitting Jay in the upper arm. It was poking clear through the other side.

“Jay!” Kai called.

“I’m alright!” he replied. “Just gotta handle these knuckleheads!”

Spinning the Nunchucks around like a slingshot, he began to generate hundreds of tendrils of plasma all around him. Large ones, too. The next time an arrow shot through—

BANG!!!

—it exploded before ever reaching them. As an added bonus, if Jay concentrated, the tendrils could reach as far as the archers themselves, and shock them until they dropped their weapons. It was severely limiting his ability to focus on the Serpentine right in front of him, though, so Cole and Kai had to take up the offensive.

Cole was practically flying through the air, whipping up more dust and dirt with every move he made. Kai couldn’t help but notice it. He almost looked like Sensei Wu, the way he used Spinjitsu with his powers.

POW went a large stone.

FWOOM went a wave of fire.

BANG went another arrow.

Down went another Serpentine.

The ninja were gaining ground, but not nearly as fast as they would have liked. Pythor could be anywhere by now.

* * *

Wu had Ann by the wrist and Keaton slung over his shoulder as he ran at top speed through the labyrinth. The stones were falling around them so fast they frequently brushed up against their skin, and dirt and dust were constantly getting in their mouths and eyes. But they were still alive. Wu was weaving them expertly through, pulling Ann along when she started to slow down, or making her duck when necessary. He knew both girls had been affected by Venomari spit somehow—the symptoms were plastered all over their faces. But they would be fine so long as he could get them out of here, and then make the antidote.

The tunnel was becoming more and more claustrophobic. More and more rocks were baring their way. They weren’t going to make it!

Ice suddenly covered the rocks.

CRASH!!!

A huge glacier appeared around them, protecting them from the rest of the falling boulders, and—more importantly—blowing a hole through the wall in front of them.

Wu, Ann, and Keaton ran straight on through, and were finally able to breathe. The shaking was dying down, and this tunnel seemed far more stable than the previous one.

“Are you alright?” asked Zane curtly.

He stepped into the torch light, having appeared to come out of nowhere, still holding the Daggers tightly.

“Zane,” Wu sighed with relief. “We’re fine—mostly. Will you hold Keaton while I administer the antidote?”

Zane looked down at the little ninja, looking almost tipsy as she wobbled on her feet.

“Im… the biggest parrot in de world…” she mumbled sleepily.

In a flash of golden light, Wu was administering a clear liquid to Ann, who started to come to her senses the moment she smelled the potent concoction.

“Ack! What on earth is that?!” she gagged after the first sip was down her throat.

“Ann—can you see me? Can you hear me?” asked Wu.

“Yes Sensei… ugh… that tasted like beans and burnt hair.”

Next came Keaton, who needed a decidedly larger dose.

“Are you hurt at all?” Wu asked Zane while he worked.

“No,” was all he said.

Keaton’s eyes began to focus and she stood up on her own. “Oooooh… what in the… what happened?” she asked in a small voice, looking very lost and confused. “Sensei?”

“I’m here, little one,” he said at once, holding her tight. “Everything’s alright. You’re safe.”

Keaton hugged him back and she seemed to relax some.

“We need to… find the others,” said Ann, stilling rubbing one of her temples. “Get the Fang Blades.”

“They’ve already gone to the surface,” Zane informed them. He didn’t explain how he knew, though.

“The Serpentine will be there,” said Wu in a tense tone. “That’s where the entrance to the tomb is.”

“Then we have to help them,” Ann said at once.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” asked Wu, and suddenly the air between the two of them changed. Ann seemed to almost change expressions while she looked at him, suddenly becoming stiff.

“I can handle it, Sensei,” she said with forced calmness.

Wu caught the tone in her voice and quickly looked away. “Very well. This way. We’ll beat them to the center.”

More darkness lay before them—darkness lit by fire and Wu’s golden light. Nothing much happened while they ran together, and no one spoke. That odd chill was still hanging about, mostly emanating from Ann.

She had not forgotten her vision of the Great Devourer, and when Wu had asked if she felt up to it, the inflections in his voice made her think that he wanted her to stay behind. Why? Well, if she had not received her vision, she might think it had something to do with her recent demotion. Could this all be an attempt on his part to keep her from danger? To remove her from the possibility of being harmed? But with the vision for context, Ann felt she knew the real reason. There was a distinct possibility that Wu would not survive this next battle, and they were both fully aware. That could only mean one thing…

Wu was trying to get her to stay behind so she wouldn’t have to see it.

Well, Ann had no intention of sitting in a dark hole while her sensei risked his life for her. Besides, that vision was not set in stone. She could make a difference. At the very least, she wasn’t going to give up before she tried. So she ran with Wu and Zane through the tunnels, prepared for anything.

The exit into the surface of Ouroboros was much smaller than the one they had entered by, and when they could see the sky again, dawn was ever so slightly beginning to reveal itself; cold and greenish-grey. A storm was moving in from the south. The wind was picking up.

The center of the city was close by, large and empty—likely a plaza—but to get to it, they would need to take care of a rather large horde of angry snakes. Ann’s eyes were set on their weapons and their fangs, instantly sending her into her fight stance, but Wu must have spotted something else. He lunged forward into the crowd, aiming for one spot in particular. Ann didn’t catch it at first, but there was some sort of invisible force there, pushing the other Serpentine out of its way.

Ann sensed the Fangpyres moving toward her before she saw them, and unleashed a powerful wave to push them back. Keaton and Zane did likewise, and together they were able to run to their Sensei who was currently facing down… Pythor. And he had the Fang Blades! All four of them!

“I thought the last Fang Blade wasn’t supposed to be here for much longer?!” Ann blurted angrily.

“What can I say? This has just been my lucky day!” answered Pythor, his grin freakishly wide and excited.

Wu lunged forward, almost striking the snake with his staff, but Pythor dodged like a king cobra. “We shall see!” Wu answered him, and at once their death match was set.

In a moment, Pythor had turned invisible, and he and Wu began chasing one another through the crowd. Ann wanted to follow—she tried to—but the horde of snakes was pressing in from all sides. She nearly let a Constrictai get too close while she was distracted, trying to get to Wu. She couldn’t allow that. She needed to focus. But she also couldn’t let Wu out of her sights.

“Zane!” she called, “Can you—? Zane?” But Zane wasn’t nearby, and he wasn’t listening to her. He was off fighting the Serpentine in another corner of the city now, having slipped away in all the commotion.

Ann bit back a curse. What was he doing?!

“ANN!!!” Keaton suddenly shrieked, but Ann had a bubble of water around them both in an instant. That Venomari spit wouldn’t touch them again. Instead, she took that water—now laced with the spit—and showered it over her attackers. It worked like a charm. Half of them were wobbling around in daze, the other was screaming in fear of imaginary beasts.

“Blow them back!” Ann ordered her sister. “I’ll take it from there!”

“Aye aye, captain!”

They were making good headway, considering the fact that they were both still swaying in their feet slightly. Ann only wished that battles were more orderly affairs. She was still having trouble finding where Wu had gone, and now she’d lost sight of Zane as well. The only thing that was allowed to be on her mind at the moment was the swarm of fangs and slitted eyes aimed at her and her sister. Always another to take down. Always wriggling out of her water’s grasp. Always trying to ambush her from behind or below.

Just then, she felt a rumble in the earth and she had to pause. Somehow, that rumble felt familiar.

Next, she heard voices. Shouting, annoying, but very welcome voices.

“Boys!” she shouted when she saw them—Cole, Jay, and Kai tearing through the crowd of Serpentine, making their way over to them. Nya, she soon noticed, was there as well, ducking for cover most of the time, warning Kai of incoming attacks the other half.

“Are we late?” Jay asked.

“We didn’t miss any of the fun, did we?” asked Cole, and for some reason, Ann could tell that he was smiling under the mask.

“We’ve only just started!” Keaton called back to them. “We need to get to Wu in the centre of town!”

“Pythor has the Fang Blades!” Ann added, emphasising the urgency of the situation.

“Got it!” the boys hollered back.

‘Get to Wu,’ she told herself. ‘Whatever it takes, get to Wu!’

* * *

“Just as bloodthirsty and vicious as the stories say,” Pythor tried to say through his bloodied lip. Wu could hear the quiver in his voice, hidden behind the mocking tone. Now if only Pythor wasn’t so good at throwing his voice while he was invisible, then maybe Wu would be able to hit him more often with his staff.

Wu rushed forward and struck again, but only hit cold air. Pythor had led the both of them into the heart of the city, a wide circular arena littered with rocks and sand. Perhaps at one point in time it would have been an impressive market place, but now the rocks had been scraped clean of all their detail, their legacy lying face-down in the dirt. But there was more to this place than what was visible on the surface. Wu felt it the moment he set foot in the city. There was something directly below them—something that made Wu’s skin feel cold and his fingers weak. The Great Devourer was near, which meant that Pythor could not be allowed to progress any further.

“Enough games!” Wu shouted, creating a large amount of blue paint which he flung around him in every direction.

Pythor shrieked in disgust when it hit him, and Wu pounced.

WACK!

Pythor’s chin had a new welt.

CRACK!

Wu had barely managed to stop Pythor’s tail from pegging him in the stomach.

Back and forth they went for a while, blocking each other’s blows and pushing one another across the open space so much that it almost made Wu wish he was fighting his brother instead. His body wouldn’t be able to take this much abuse for much longer, he could feel his arms and legs beginning to shake already. If only his powers could create new muscles, he lamented.

Pythor struck again, managing to grab Wu by the collar of his robe and throw him to the ground! Wu felt his spine press into the hard ground as Pythor leaned onto his chest, making sure it hurt.

“Face it, you Spawn of Beasts!” said Pythor, his smile very much gone. “The age of humanity is at an end! This will be your due punishment for the Serpentine Wars! For locking us away for hundreds of years! For trying to exterminate us!”

Wu lifted a weary hand and forced himself to create a chain around Pythor’s neck and yanked him back! Finally, Wu could breathe again, but he would only have a moment in which to strike. Pythor was already squeezing his way out of the chains and preparing to hit him again!

“We offered you peace!” Wu cried as he tripped Pythor up and sent him rolling several feet in the sand. “We gave your kind every opportunity for coexistence!” His staff hit the side of Pythor’s head, and the Fang Blades fell from his scaly hands. “The Anacondrai attacked peaceful villages! We had no other choice!”

Before Wu could strike again, Pythor suddenly turned invisible again and Wu’s staff hit the stone ground loudly. While he had this chance, Wu eagerly looked down at the Blades, reaching for one of them.

“Just because you bear his likeness, you humans think you are entitled to everything he ever made!” said Pythor as he tackled Wu from behind and snatched the Blades back. “The First Spinjitsu Master created us too! But that fun little fact never seems to make it to the history books, now does it?!”

“Perhaps because you betrayed him!” Wu seethed through gritted teeth.

“We betrayed the weak-willed imps he left in charge after his departure!” Pythor shot back.

Before Wu could do anything else, Pythor had him lifted up by his tail, and was throwing him clear across the plaza! Wu barely had enough time to slightly soften his landing—dodging the rocks and crumbling columns—but it was still rough. He would be feeling this fight for weeks to come.

When he finally looked back up, Pythor was gone again. He started running forward, listening for the sound of his slithering tail. Where was he? Where was that slimy little snake?!

“Sensei Wu!” Ann called behind him.

Still running, Wu turned to look back at her and saw the angry army of Serpentine following her and the rest of his students. Everyone was spilling into the plaza now, all after the same thing: the Fang Blades. Wu felt a brief spike of panic. He wasn’t sure yet, but an instinct told him that the children should not be here, and his instinct was usually never wrong.

“Behold, Master Wu!” Pythor suddenly yelled, revealing himself at last. “The end of your world as you know it!” He was standing on the far side of the plaza, beneath a massive sculpture of a snake with his mouth wide open. There were stairs and platforms all along this statue, leading up to that big, empty mouth. For a moment, Wu thought that perhaps age was what removed the fangs from the carving, but as Pythor brought the Fang Blades closer, he realised that this was no ordinary statue, and that there were four perfectly sized holes in the mouth for the Fang Blades to be inserted into. Wu had always known that the Blades were the keys, but he only now realised that this statue was the lock.

“KEATON!” Wu yelled to her. “LAUNCH ME!!!”

At once her wind was whipped up, flying like a rocket toward her teacher! Wu’s feet slipped away from the dirt of the ground and he lifted his staff as he cut through the air, straight at Pythor’s screaming face! He was so startled, in fact, that he forgot to dodge completely, and he and Wu collided spectacularly!

The Serpentine and the ninja continued to battle below them, the sound of fighting echoing around the large space, but Wu barely noticed. All he could focus on were those forsaken Fang Blades, now scattered across the massive statue. He wrenched Pythor back and leaped for the first Blade he could get his fingers around, finally grasping it in his hand. The moment he turned around, Pythor had one of his own, and they locked weapons.

“JUST GIVE UP ALREADY!” Pythor screamed at him, his tongue flailing and eyes twitching from exhaustion.

“Never!” Wu retorted, slicing up Pythor’s cheek and jumping up the statue, looking for any more Blades. “This is my father’s country! I took an oath to protect it, and I will uphold that oath!”

There! He had spotted another Blade! But right before he could grab it, something scaly had wrapped around his ankle. He was pulled down, unable to catch himself this time. Still trying to steady his breathing, Wu turned at once and stabbed his Blade into Pythor’s tail!

“AAAAAHHHH!!!!” Pythor wailed as the wind picked up and the sky grew steadily brighter and the clouds overhead began to swirl.

Wu’s ankle was free now and he stood, prepared to push back Pythor again. But this time, Pythor didn’t lunge or attack, he grabbed Wu by the wrists and started dragging him up the statue! Along the way, he sniffed out and grabbed each of the fallen Fang Blades and refused to stop moving until he was back up at the top, inside the open mouth of the statue. Wu had tried several times to escape, or break Pythor’s arm, but his strength was waning fast. Now, all he could do was try to delay Pythor as he placed the first Fang Blade.

“Stop!” he cried. “This is madness! Don’t you know why Anguis was sealed away!?”

“All that matters is that she will exact our revenge!” Pythor spat back. “This world will be consumed!”

“And you along with it!”

Pythor seemed not to hear him as he placed the second Blade.

Wu tried to hit Pythor again, but this time he was struck across the face, and he staggered back. His foot slipped for a moment, and he reached up to catch himself on the roof of the statue’s mouth. He had very nearly fallen several stories.

Pythor instantly rushed forward, their faces uncomfortably close, his wretched claws trying to pry the third Fang Blade from Wu’s hand.

“This world deserves to die,” said Pythor with chilling steadiness. “Now… die.”

With one final hiss and a push, he shoved Wu over, forcing his hands to let go of the statue, forcing him to lose his balance, and forcing the Blade out of his hand. Wu began to fall through the air, bruised all over and winded, unsure if he would be able to catch himself.

“WU!!!”

The air beneath him swirled, and gradually he slowed until the impact of the ground was unnoticeable. Wu’s head snapped up, not to Pythor, but to his students, all rushing toward him. Yes… his instincts had been correct… this was the last place he wanted them to be.

Pythor placed the third Fang Blade, and was at that very moment preparing to insert the fourth. It was really about to happen. The end of the world.

“STAY BACK!!!” Wu shouted, and at once his golden power surged!

* * *

Ann’s body never stopped moving for a second, but her mind and heart froze at once. Why was Wu telling them to stay away? Why shouldn’t she come to his rescue? Why shouldn’t she try to stop Pythor? Sure, she was still so far away, and she might not be able to reach him in time, but for pity’s sake, he was about to place the final Fang Blade! She felt that if she didn’t try to do something the fate of the whole world might hang in the balance of her decision! So she kept running—no, she increased her speed! She was going to get to Pythor while the others helped Wu, and then they would escape with the Fang Blades and laugh about this whole mess in the years to come! That must be the future! It must be!

“NOOO!!!”

With Wu’s final cry, a swirl of golden energy erupted from his fingertips. It hit Ann first, pushing her like no other object or force she had ever known could push her. Like some sort of magic, it gripped her and sent her careening back the way she had come, her hair flying in her face and her outstretched hand becoming further and further from her beloved Sensei.

She could hear the others all around her—they had been swept up in this strange golden energy too.

“WU!” Cole was yelling, struggling against this strange force.

“WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Jay was screaming.

Kai might have said something as well, but it was drowned out by the sea of shouting coming from the disheveled Serpentine.

All of them were pushed back to the entrance to the plaza, hundreds of feet from Wu and Pythor, and hundreds of feet from being able to do anything about what happened next.

Pythor had placed the final Blade and a hush came over the crowd. All eyes were fixed on the snake statue, waiting to see what would happen. For a few moments, there was nothing but silence, and Ann briefly hoped that Pythor’s plan had been thwarted long ago… but then the eyes of the statue began to glow a subtle red.

The ground shook.

And kept shaking.

Ann could barely stand on her feet.

Many Serpentine knelt to the ground, at first to keep their balance, but then to welcome their queen.

The ruins began to crumble to rubble.

The wind and sky had turned into a proper storm.

The plaza began to change.

The wide open space before them—so wide that Wu on the other side looked like a speck in the distance—began to disintegrate. The very ground was falling away, chunk by chunk, into what looked like an endlessly deep, dark hole.

Ann saw flashes of her vision. The darkness. The fear. The two impossibly large, blood red eyes that had appeared down below them, looking right at them. And Wu… Wu disappearing behind a wall of ivory teeth.

There in the very real blackness, two red eyes did appear, and they started to rise as more and more of the city crumbled away into dust. With every passing moment, Ann thought to herself, ‘Now the Great Snake will emerge and will be this size,’ but those eyes continued to rise. They grew larger… and larger… and larger… until they were about the size of a small car, and still Anguis had not touched the light of day.

Across the plaza, pythor was laughing.

“Cole, do something!” Ann yelled, just barely remembering that she had a voice.

Cole blinked once, then lifted his scythe and swung through the air. The hole heard his command and began to collapse in on itself until those terrible eyes were hidden from view. Surely, anything down there would be crushed under the weight of those rocks and boulders.

The edge of the hole started to crumble even more, prompting the ninja to take a step back, but they refused to stop watching for any sign that the Great Snake was still alive. It had to be dead. It must be dead.

“What?” said Pythor distantly when the hole had finished collapsing and still no snake had appeared. “No!”

Ann actually felt her chest lighten and a smile had barely begun to show on her face when—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!”

Everyone fell from the power of the quake, and everyone had to cover their ears because of the sheer skull-rattling roar that had been let loose by a creature so large, it had just broken through a mile’s worth of stone as though it was paper. It’s body was almost the same diameter as the plaza itself. It’s head soared above them so quickly, Ann was afraid they would get carried off in the updraft. It’s eyes… it’s eyes were, in fact, closer to the size of a small house and its mouth was large enough to eat one whole.

The sky trembled.

The wind shrieked.

The Great Devourer had been awoken.