4. Dark Sides: Rise of the Anacondrai

Chapter 25 - Never Trust a Snake

Pythor worked his jaw, sore from being stretched open for so long. The two frauds that Chen left him with had finally milked him dry. It had only taken them the better part of a couple hours since they had no idea what they were doing. They had nearly choked him on more than one occasion, and they talked endlessly. It was all "Master Chen this," and "Master Chen that" and "moving up the ranks" until Pythor was ready to bit their heads off for more than just man-handling – make that snake-handling.

Pythor shook his head to loosen his neck. He would surely be stiff for days. The two idiots were high-fiving each other proudly for having extracted a full jar of venom. But it would take far more than that to sustain Chen's entire army. Pythor didn't intend to stick around that long.

Casting another look around the underground hideout, Pythor identified the tunnel through which he had seen Chen lead his troops. Now the hideout was abandoned, save for Pythor and his two moronic captors. Only a few of the gaudy vehicles remained, but that was it. Pythor turned his attention back to the two men who were still gloating to each other.

"Check us out!" one of them was saying. "A whole jar of venom. We'll be heroes!"

"First we got to guard Master Chen's daughter, and now the last living Anacondrai! He totally trusts us!"

"Or he just wanted to get you out of the way," Pythor mumbled to himself.

He must have spoken louder than he intended, because the two idiots turned to him. "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Pythor smiled amiably. "This all must be so exciting for you two. I don't suppose you've ever come across any other Serpentine before?"

"Eh, not until we did the spell." The one idiot turned to his friend. "Dude, you were the first Serpentine I ever saw!"

"And you were the first Serpentine I ever saw!"

Pythor refrained from mentioning that he meant real Serpentine. The fools probably thought all Serpentine looked alike. Instead he said, "You know Ninjago has changed so much since I last saw it. I'm doubtful Master Chen will really be able to conquer it all."

The one holding the jar waved it carelessly in the air. "Pfft, he practically already has. Who's gonna stop him, the ninja?" They both snickered.

"Yes, Garmadon's spirited little troupe. I had an encounter with them in the desert. Now there's something that hasn't changed. Their dreadful alliance is just as irritating as ever."

"Heh, not much of an alliance if you ask me," declared one imbecile.

"You said it," the other agreed.

"Oh?" Pythor asked curiously. "Fragile tensions perhaps?"

"Mainly between Wu and Garmadon's ninja. They're only working together because they don't like Master Chen."

"I bet they'll go back to trying to kill each other first chance they get."

"I bet they're already at each other's throats!"

Now this was news to Pythor. It seemed that Garmadon and Wu had butted heads enough times that they finally split ways. Most likely due to the younger brother's corruption by the venom of the Great Devourer. The Serpentine had long considered it a victory when word spread that the First Spinjitzu Master's son had been bitten. However, it still remained to be seen whether it was really to their advantage or not.

But two groups of ninja? Just one was already too many. Clearly there was much about the modern age that Pythor had yet to uncover.

For now, he would return his attention to the problem at hand. "I didn't realize that Master Chen had become quite so powerful. Especially with such esteemed fighters as yourselves, no ninja or Serpentine could stand a chance."