Legends of Ninjago Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine

Chapter 30: Slither Pit

"S-s-stop! Regroup! By the four fangs-s-s, I order you to—ack!" Chief Slithraa was getting nowhere in trying to calm the manic mob of snakes. They didn't even notice when their wild slithering around had knocked the chief over. What a night this had turned out to be! Why was it that any time he had even the slightest gut feeling that something bad was going to happen, literally everything would fall apart? First, Scales had shown up, boasting in his abilities and riling up the Hypnobrai, and then the ninja had burst in, causing a panic! Now, twenty minutes later, the chaos had yet to subside.
'First things first,' thought the chief. 'Where is Scales?'
Slithraa pushed and shoved his way through the flaming ant farm that was Main Street, barking orders at anyone who would listen as he went.
"Get back to the great hall!"
"S-s-stop lighting things-s-s on fire!"
"Get back to your pos-s-sts-s-s! All of you!"
Some listened. Some didn't. Most notably, the Fangpyres kept on doing as they pleased. Where was Fangtom, anyway? Was he still at the city hall? If he had broken their vow of indebtedness, then getting killed by one of the ninja would be the least of his problems.

* * *

Somewhere nearby, a sneaky, conniving Scales was trying to assert his control over Cole. He didn't doubt Ann's ability, but it's not like he could stay in contact with her anyway. It was Cole whom he needed to reel in. The fight with Kai had started to stir up the earth ninja's mind, and if the illusion was broken—the manipulation seen for what it was—then Scales would lose all his power.
As he stood, holding Kai by the tail, he felt rather confident that Cole would fall back into line. He had things under control again.
"Good work, Cole," he said. It was a simple trick, but it worked nonetheless. If all you ever called someone was a slave, then sooner or later, they'd believe it. Simple. It worked best, though, when the person in question began to call themselves a slave. Making them completely self-defeating. "Now—" All of a sudden, his tail felt like it was on fire. "AAAAAHHH!!!" he screamed, and he let go of Kai's neck so quickly that the boy fell to the ground with a loud, satisfying THUD. He checked his scales—no harm done, but still very painful. "Why, you little pes-s-st!" Scales hissed. One of the other Serpentine had left a spear idly sitting on the ground by his tail, so Scales grabbed it and was prepared to run the runt clean through! He'd get Cole under control AND be rid of another nuisance! Two birds, one stone!
"Burn to a crisp, lizard freak!" Kai suddenly shouted.
All Scales saw next was bright, yellow light as the skin on his right side began to burn. He fell backwards, screaming in pain, and trying to rub out the fire. When that didn't work, he starting fleeing the scene, to find some water or basically anything that would help.
"You filthy little human!" he called back. "You will regret this-s-s!!!" Indeed, Scales would forever remember this humiliating defeat. The next time Kai crossed his path, he would pay with his life.
Scales ran to the aid of his Hypnobrai underlings. Once they saw their Admiral, still flaming like a burnt piece of bacon, they rushed to find one of those fancy "fire extinguisher" thingys and before long, Scales was dripping in white foam.
All of a sudden, he felt Cole moving in his subconscious. He closed his eyes and entered back into the mental prison where he found Cole pushing, yet again, against his chains. That was it! Cole needed to be put in his place! Down came the red energy, and he almost smiled as he watched Cole writhe, but this time the boy didn't give up. He kept pushing. This was bad! Very very bad! The energy was only a mental illusion! If he pushed passed that, then he could break the chains!
Scales quickly resorted to the only weapon he had left. "STOP THIS AT ONCE, COLE!" he shouted. "YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO BREAK FREE! KAI WILL NEVER BE YOUR FRIEND! ANN WILL NEVER LOVE YOU! YOUR FATHER WILL ALWAYS BE ASHAMED OF YOU!" He threw one nasty comment after another, pulling out as many insecurities as he could find. If he lost Cole now, right after his brilliant speech, then he would lose the Hypnobrai's confidence for sure!
"You..." Cole said. Scales could feel a change in the boy's demeanour. Almost as if he had found where Scales had been hiding and was staring straight at him. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM!!!" That had felt like a literal slap to the face. Scales's mental grip was fading fast. If he could just—"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!"
WHACK! Scales had been launched out of Cole's head like a cannonball. He still tried to cling on, though. The remaining, dissolving connection between their two minds wasn't all gone just yet.
"NO! You need me!" Scales mentally shouted. "I can still give you all you ever wanted! You're a fool for letting go! You were safer with me! You... you..." but Cole was long gone.
"S-s-sir? Are you alright?" one the snakes asked, still holding his fire extinguisher.
Scales angrily reached for his neck with his tail and strangled the life out of him. When he fell to the ground, limp, Scales turned to the other two Hypnobrai he had found and said, "Find Ann Jing! Now!" The two snakes nodded with wide eyes, and slithered away as fast as possible.
While they ran their errand, Scales wiped the last of the extinguisher foam from face and inspected himself in a nearby window. His reflection was somewhat faint, but he could still make out the glaring, atrocious, ghastly scar which covered most, if not all, of the right side of his face. Actually, as he inspected his body, he saw that his right arm, right torso, and so on, were similarly stained raw, red. His beautiful scales were now melted and mangled and ugly, and it was all Kai's fault!
He slithered away from the window carrying the furry of a hurricane and he began grabbing stray Serpentine. With every new soul he found, his entourage grew, until he was slithering down the street with a sizeable mob. No one stopped to question him. They all simply stared, unsettled, at his horrifying face.
As Scales reached the end of Main Street, the two lackeys from earlier came up to him.
"Admiral S-s-scales! We couldn't find her. She's-s-s gone, S-s-sir," they said.
What? Ann was gone? He gritted his teeth and his face grew uglier still. Those ninja had undoubtedly captured her! Now how was he going to persuade the Hypnobrai to follow him? Back up the street he went, passing by the crowd he had amassed in the process. Everyone backed away from him as he passed by, not daring to so much as breath on him.
"S-s-scales!"
Scales slowly lifted his eyes and saw Slithraa standing several yards away.
"What have you done?!" the chief shouted as he came closer. "What happened to you?"
"What have I done?" Scales repeated. "What have I done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? OH GREAT AND POWERFUL CHIEF?!" Now, even Serpentine who were previously running around had stopped and were now watching events unfold. "Your army unraveled at the s-s-slightes-s-st crack! I don't s-s-see you in control of them! Where are they now?!" Slithraa stiffened and stood up straight. Scales hadn't intended for things to escalate this quickly, but his anger was in control now, not him. "You're weak! You're old! You're S-S-SOFT!" Scales spat.
"Are you challenging me?!" Slithraa spat back, getting within five feet of the scarred admiral.
"...slither pit... slither pit... slither pit!" someone started chanting. "Slither pit! Slither pit! Slither pit! SLITHER PIT!" The crowd was going now, from every corner of the street. "SLITHER PIT! SLITHER PIT! SLITHER PIT!"
"Let's-s-s give them what they want!" Scales shouted over the noise. It would seem that Cole and Ann had fulfilled their purpose after all.
The two challengers reached their tails up and intertwined them like some form of handshake. The crowd erupted into cheers and a handful of Hypnobrai came forward to clean a space in the middle of the road for them to fight. Within a matter of minutes, a great ring had been created, and the Serpentine crowd formed the wall that kept Slithraa and Scales trapped in mortal combat.
"Alright, you all know the rules-s-s," one Hypnobrai said, coming forward. "No biting, s-s-scratching, pois-s-son, outs-s-side ass-sis-stance, or mercy! Firs-s-st to pin their opponent is-s-s the new chief!"
"FIGHT!!!" The crowd all cheered, signalling the beginning of the match.
Scales and Slithraa began to slowly circle each other, staring the other down.
From the rooftop of a destroyed bank, someone was watching all of this unfold. A certain old man was stroking his white beard anxiously as he studied the snake known as Scales. He was quite the angry spirit, wasn't he? Bitter and violent. Exactly the kind of snake he didn't want leading the Hypnobrai. But what could he do about it? According to the ancient ritual of the slither pit, if Slithraa—or anyone else for that matter—receives outside help, then he is immediately disqualified and Scales would win by default.
Wu sighed and slowly pulled himself away from the scene. If nothing else, he could at least look for Lloyd while everyone else was distracted.
The city hall was first on his list, since that was where the leaders were first found. He checked every couch and bed in case he managed to sleep through the fighting, but every room was predictably empty. It was impossible to even tell if Lloyd had ever even set foot in the hall.
Just as Wu was about to leave, however, he spotted the large map set up in the main foyer. Curious, he stepped forward and scanned the large piece of paper up and down, his eyes landing on three red pins. He immediately recognised each location: the Sea of Sand, the Acid Swamps, and the Mountain of a Million Steps. Each was the resting spot of a Serpentine Tribe, and alarmingly, the closest was the Anacondrai tomb. Wu reached his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. 'Not again,' he thought miserably.
Well, there was no way to know for sure, but Lloyd could already be in the lion's den, and there was nothing Wu could do for him now.
Wu still checked all of Greta Junction from street to sewer, but he found no trace of his nephew. He swallowed hard as he accepted the reality of the situation and crept back over to the rooftop to watch the final moments of the slither pit. Scales and Slithraa were rolling around on the ground, grappling desperately with each other while the crowd cheered them on. Wu had never cared for this ritual, even when he was a boy. It was just so... barbaric.
"The Hypnobrai deserve a strong leader!" Scales suddenly shouted. "And I—" he grabbed Slithraa with his tail. "—AM—" he punched Slithraa in the stomach. "—THAT—" he finally slammed the older snake into the pavement. "—LEADER!!!" The crowd fell deathly silent as the same snake from earlier came forward.
He cleared his throat. "ALL HAIL CHIEF SCALES-S-S!!!"
Wu darted from the rooftop and dropped into the darkness of the alleyways in a heartbeat. He passed through the deserted suburbs like a shadow and crossed into the woods without so much as a grunt or misstep.
As he looked up at the boulder, getting closer, he suddenly wondered if the kids had been successful? We're they still alive? Injured? We're Ann and Cole still hypnotised? What would he even say to their parents if they had perished on his watch?
"Children?" he called out as he crested the boulder. He was met by five frightened faces, each holding a weapon of some kind and ready to hit the first thing that moved.
"Sensei!" they all cried.
"You're okay!" Wu said, sliding down into the darkness of the hiding place and grabbing the person closest to him. He laid a hand on his head and felt all his stress from before evaporate.
"I missed you, Sensei," Cole said quietly as he hugged his teacher tighter.
Wu let go and looked Cole up and down. He seemed alright, all things considered, but he would need treatment when they returned to the cove. Most the kids would, undoubtedly. And clean clothes. And probably baths, as well. And lots of rest. It was going to be a rough couple of days.
The Sensei went around the group giving quick hugs to all his students and looking them over as best he as he could in that brief amount of time.
"I'm proud of you all," he said after he had finished with Kai. "You've accomplished your mission." He was eyeing Ann and Keaton as he spoke and he quickly went to their side. Zane explained what had happened while Wu gently stroked Ann's forehead, feeling the ugly wound she had there. The poor girls. He had been pushing them too hard. He knew that sending them into the field had been a bad decision. Ever since that first day... the girls had never been the same. Things were going change, though. Ann wouldn't like it, and he was sure to get an earful from her, but this was for her own good.
Wu got to his feet. "Everyone suit up. We need to leave quickly."
"Wait, where's Lloyd?" Kai asked, stopping Wu in his tracks.
"He wasn't there," the old man replied, and continued strapping on his jet pack.
The only other words spoken that night were between Jay and Cole as Cole tried to figure out his jet pack. After that, there was dead silence in the frigid night air as the group flew over black forests and moonlit lakes, leaving the fire and smoke and sirens behind them. Wu was grateful for the silence. The dawn was quickly approaching, and he could feel his eyes glossing over, begging for sleep.
The group touched down some time later, as the sky was turning grey with morning light, and they all collapsed on the nearest sleeping mat, some even forgetting to take off their jet packs. Wu, however, needed to stay awake for just a little bit longer. The children were already half asleep on the ground by now, so he gingerly tiptoed around them and laid Ann and Keaton down comfortably on their own mats. Then, he got to work unstrapping Jay, Cole, and Kai from their packs. After that, he made sure they all had a pillow and a blanket, and re-lit the fire. Several minutes of gathering wood later, he set the kindling alight and finally had a decent flame going. Its crackling sound was a welcome distraction from Cole's snoring and Jay's muttering.
Wu looked over the heap of blankets and limbs next to him and realised how lucky they had been tonight. If even one thing had gone wrong... Well, that wouldn't be happening again. Ever again. He was over eight hundred years old, for crying out loud. He need to start acting his age.
He added a few more sturdy branches to the fire before finally, finally laying down on his sleeping mat.