Nalia is gonna need a long break and nap after this whole thing. XD
Also, Nalia is not happy about seeing Pythor again.
____________________________________________________________
*The Elemental Masters fly on their dragons with Nalia flying in the air back to Ninjago.*
"Chen and his Anacondrai army have a day's start on us. Be prepared for anything and everything." Lloyd told the others.
"How did we lose so much time?" Kai asked.
"You know, you took an oath never to leave a man behind." said Dareth.
"And we're not all quick learners. Mastering your fear to create Power Dragons takes time." said Jay rolling his eyes. "Well except for Nalia, I'm still surprised that she can now fly in the air without a dragon."
Nalia gave a light giggle while flying in the air. "This feels like the times when Momo would use his powers to get me in the air."
"Well, we're running out of that. There's Ninjago City. Hurry." said Nya.
"Hurry's my middle name. Hyah!" said Griffin picking up speed.
"Remember, whatever happens down there, we're stronger united. We fight as one." said Lloyd.
"Let's do this!" shouted Jay.
Suddenly the sound of Nalia's phone started ringing, causing the others to glance over at her.
"Oh mangos." Nalia pulled out her phone with a nervous smile on her face. "It's my manager."
"Seriously? Now of all times?" Jay questioned.
Nalia picked up the call and answered. "Hey Mr. James, what can I do for you?"
"Miss Starlight! You can't just up and disappear like that without tell me! I'm your manager by god's sake!" shouted Mr. James through the phone. "Not to mention, I had to cancel all of your appointments on your schedule!"
The ninjas all just stared at Nalia, as they could hear her manager clearly from how loud he was shouting from the phone.
Nalia laughed nervously. "Sorry Mr. James, something else came up and I Just couldn't ignore it."
"Starlight you are a singer, what can be more important than your career?" Mr. James asked in a frustrated tone.
"... My family needed me." Nalia answered in a firm tone.
"Oh... still, you should have at least informed me ahead of time. I could have changed some of your schedule. That way we wouldn't be talking right now." Mr. James said a little calmer now.
"I know... but there just wasn't time for it." Nalia glanced around at the others. "Anyway, I'm in a bit of a hurry. But I promise I'll call you back Mr. James."
"You're not one for breaking a promise. So I'll believe you for now. But I do wanna hear back from you soon. This is your career we are talking—" Mr. James spoke before cut him off by ending the call.
"Did you leave your job without letting them know? Even your own manager?" Cole asked.
"Well Nalia was never one for thinking much when she set her mind on something. Even if it's very dangerous." said Zane.
Kai lands his dragon, and a woman sees Skylor. "Serpentine!" Everyone screams and panics.
"I wish I still had the power to change." said Skylor with a sigh.
"You have changed. You're with us now." said Kai trying to cheer her up.
An old woman honks her car horn. "Could you be a dear and move your dragon?" Lloyd does as asked so the woman get past. "Thank you, young man."
"If we're the first ones they've seen, where's Chen and why hasn't he attacked?" Garmadon questioned.
"We have to get you and my father off the streets before we alarm everyone. Everyone else, stick together and watch over the people." said Lloyd to the ninjas.
Nalia pulled out her sun glasses and tried using her scarf to cover her face. Last thing she needed right now, were to public to notice her let alone the paparazzi.
Skylor notices her hand is going back to normal.
*The ninja, Nalia, Garmadon, and Skylor enter the Samurai X Cave. The Falcon screeches and lands on 's arm.*
"And hello to you, my old friend." Zane greeted his Falcon friend.
"Ah. You're all back. Zane, look at you. You're all...shiny." Wu laughs.
"Sensei!" Nalia ran over and pulled Wu into a hug. "It's so good to see you again."
Wu laughs as he felt the wind almost getting knocked out of him from the hug. "It's good to see you too, Nalia."
Nalia had a bright smile on her face when she pulled away from the hug.
Wu gently patted her head while giving a soft smile. "I see that you've grown a little since I last saw you."
"But where's your father?" Misako asked her son when looking around for Garmadon.
"It's me, Misako." Garmadon slithered forward in his Anacondrai form and Misako gasps.
"Don't worry. We have a reason to believe the spell may be wearing off." Skylor quickly reassured Misako.
"But if that's true, it only makes Chen more desperate to act now. Everyone, this is Skylor, Chen's daughter." said Kai, introducing her to the rest.
"You're amongst friends, Skylor." said Misako with a gentle smile.
"Thank you for looking after my Misako." said Garmadon to his brother Wu.
"As any good brother should." Wu told him.
"Yes. A good brother." said Garmadon feeling somewhat guilty.
"There isn't much time. Our friends are on standby but we don't know where Chen will strike first." said Lloyd.
"And if we're not all there to stop him when he first attacks..." said Cole but unable to finish his sentence.
"Ninjago will succumb to war. Our greatest fear will come true." Garmadon told Wu and Misako.
Nalia had a concerned look on her face while trying to ignore how tired she was feeling. Though a small yawn still escaped from her.
"Then the greatest victory will be that which has no battle." said Wu before noticing Nalia seeming a little sleepy.
"But how do we prevent a war? How do we stop an enemy we know so little about?" Jay asked.
The Falcon flies over to a screen, opening an image of Kryptarium Prison.
"We find someone who does." said Wu.
"Who?" Nalia asked confused.
*They use their dragons, except Nalia, to travel.*
"Kryptarium Prison. Home of Ninjago's worst of the worst." said Garmadon.
"I don't get it. Who's gonna help us here?" Cole asked.
"Yeah, I'm still pretty confused." said Nalia.
"If one must learn how to fight a snake, one must talk to one first." Wu explained.
"Scales?" Nalia guessed.
"Sorry I had to confiscate your weapons. Here we try to foster what I call "an environment of encouragement." " Noble told one of the prisoner.
"I'll rattle your bones, Warden." said Kruncha.
"Very creative, Frakjaw. Love the puns." said Noble optimist.
"Pajama Men!" shouted Soto when seeing the ninjas.
Nalia smiled at Soto and waved back at him while walking by.
"Easy, Soto. I'm the captain of this ship. Haha. Ninja ain't popular around these parts, considering you put most of them behind bars, hmm. But who you're looking for, he hates ninja the most. Last cell on the left." said Noble when turning his attention to the ninjas and pointed them in the right direction.
Pythor as Rodrigo. "Hmm, why yes, Pythor, this may very well be the greatest cup of tea you've steeped." Back to normal voice. "Oh, you flatter me, Rodrigo, but do go on."
"We need your help." said Lloyd.
"YOU!" Nalia narrowed her eyes as she spoke in a venomous tone. "I thought you were fucking dead."
The ninjas slowly moved Nalia behind them before she did any serious damage.
Pythor gasps. "Help you? The ninjas? You fed me to the Devourer, defeated every army I've aligned with, even forced me to swallow your shrinking pill! Haven't you done enough damage to my diminishing ego?" Cole turns over his cell, which is actually a dollhouse. Pythor screams. "Well played. I suppose this is about that culturally insensitive noodle baron and his ilk that are now Anacondrai. Impostors, if you ask me."
"You are the last remaining Anacondrai. You must know how to stop them." said Jay.
"I'm not going to say another word until you can figure out how to make me big. And don't ask me to trust a ninja." said Pythor crossing his arms.
A low threatening growl came from Nalia behind the ninjas.
The ninjas grew nervous and pulled out a random mango, as they had a feeling she wouldn't be all that happy about seeing Pythor.
Nalia ignored the mango and just stared deadly at Pythor, just about ready to pounce and bite him.
"Would you trust a snake?" Garmadon asked, taking the lead as the ninjas kept Nalia in check.
"Garma-Condrai? Oh, now my interest is piqued. Let's make a deal, shall we?" said Pythor surprised to see Garmadon's as a snake.
"I thought you should be aware that someone has been poking around at the Kryptarium database with an interest in your, shall I say, little friend." Pixal told Zane.
"Chen?" Zane asked.
"I don't know, but be on your guard. You may be expecting unannounced visitors." Pixal warned him.
*An invisible Anacondrai Cultist hands the guard a pair of binoculars.*
"Thanks." The guard sees Kapau waving to him. "Huh?" He is knocked unconscious.
Noble looks up to see a "floating" prisoner's outfit. "Ooh, that's strange." He tries to turn on the alarm, but was stopped by Kapau.
"Hehe, so gullible. Everyone knows there's no such thing as ghosts." Chope takes the keys.
"Then you get the spell book and I'll tell you their weakness and then—" Pythor went on explaining.
Noble on an intercom. "There's been a breach in Sector 2! They appear to be Anacondrai and—uh-oh, they're coming my way. They see me talking on the intercom. Oh, boy, here they come. Why am I still talking on this thing?"
All the prisoners except Pythor cheers.
"You led them to me? What have you done? There's no escaping an Anacondrai!" Pythor tries to open a wardrobe. "Curse this fraudulent furniture!" When it won't open, he hides under a lampshade.
"Tell me! How do we stop them? What is their weakness?" Garmadon asked.
"Don't you get it? There is no weakness! They're Anacondrai!" shouted Pythor until he glanced at Nalia. "Well, except for her for some reason. Yeah don't think I haven't forgotten you breaking my arms with your bites!"
Nalia growled as she showed her sharp teeth in a warning.
"Guys, we've got company." said Kai.
"I'll handle this. Earth!" Cole tosses some bricks at them, but it dents some cell bars.
"We're trying to keep the inmates in, not let them out!" shouted Jay.
Garmadon grabs Pythor and some of his venom lands on his hands, turning it back into Anacondrai.
"Your hand. That may be why they've come for Pythor. What if he holds the key to making their transformation permanent?" Zane suggested.
"That's why Chen hasn't attacked." said Wu.
"Then we have to get him out of here. If he's the key to preventing a war, we can't let him fall into the wrong hands. Literally." said Lloyd.
Nalia gave a light giggle, whatever Lloyd meant to be funny or not.
"Oh, I get it. It's literal because of my size." Pythor rolled his eyes and said sarcastically. "Haha, very funny. But I'm a little sensitive to all the size references."
"A little sensitive?" Garmadon pointed out with a smug smile.
"Okay, I stepped right into that one." Pythor realized.
"Zane, keep them busy. Nalia, stay close by should we need backup." said Wu.
"Uuh, okay." said Nalia but found it a little weird for why Wu would have her as backup instead of stay back and help the others.
"Ah. What do you think we've been do—" Kai grunts.
"Get out of here already. It's not like we can hold them off all day." said Jay.
*Noble finally presses the button for the alarms.*
"Kryptarium's on lockdown. If we don't find a way out, we may never escape." Garmadon, Wu, Nalia, and Lloyd go under a door.
"It ain't fair. Why is it they've got weapons but we don't?" Cole complained.
"Everything's a weapon in the big house." Jay grabs a toothbrush and fights Chope with it.
"Oh, some heroes you are. And to think there's only two of them." Pythor screams when he gets thrown to Lloyd.
"Sensei Wu said the greatest victories—" Lloyd explained before being cut off.
"Has no battle, blah, blah, blah. Well, if they're impostors, you're cowards." said Pythor.
"And what are you? There's a reason we never trust a snake. First the Anacondrai betray the truce in the Serpentine War, then you tricked Lloyd—" said Wu.
"Are we still talking about the Serpentine War? The Anacondrai had every intention of honoring the truce. It was Chen who told us your kind was going to betray us. We had no other choice but to attack." Pythor explained.
"What?" Nalia looked at him and the others a little confused.
"Chen said you were going to betray us!" said Garmadon.
"Ugh, sounds like Chen was playing both sides." said Lloyd shaking his head.
"Chen is getting closer to the top of my list of people I really hate." said Nalia.
"Let me guess, I'm on the top of that list." said Pythor sarcastically.
"After what you put Lloyd through, yes!" Nalia exclaimed in annoyance.
"Nalia, calm yourself." said Wu grabbing her shoulder. "Right now we need to focus on getting Pythor out of here."
They soon see Warriors in front of them.
"Again I say...cowards." said Pythor.
"Protect Pythor." Wu told them.
"Ninja, go!" Lloyd uses Spinjitzu to attack the Cultists. "Uh, I lost him!"
Pythor on the ground. "Ugh. Aah!"
"What do you mean you lost him? Find him!" shouted Garmadon.
"I got him!" shouted Nalia as she quickly picked him up from the ground.
"I can't believe you of all these fools would be the one to protect me." said Pythor glancing at her. "And would you stop crushing me with your hand!"
Nalia used her sand powers to create a shield around them as she gave Pythor a eerie glare. "What did you do when I wasn't around?"
"I didn't do anything! And now isn't the time for interrogation!" shouted Pythor.
Nalia narrowed her eyes at him as the mole on her face slowly started glowing, a few loose scales fell from her face as Pythor for a second froze in shock at the slight change of appearance on her face.
"What in the world are you..." Pythor were almost speechless.
"Nalia! Are you doing okay?" Lloyd shouted from the other side of the sand shield.
Nalia snapped out of it as whatever Pythor saw of her face changed back to normal.
Suddenly she began feeling a heavy exhaustion as she lost her grip on Pythor and fell to the ground along with her shield.
"Lia?!" Lloyd rushed over while grabbing Pythor. "Got him! Don't got him!"
Lloyd tried shaking Nalia awake yet she wasn't waking up, which was probably the worst time to fall asleep. "Lia wake up!"
Pythor tries dodging everything while slithering away. "I really hate being small!" A Cultist grabs him. "What?" Wu saves him. "Wu, my savior."
"Do you have him?" Kai asked as he the others showed up.
Wu realizes a Cultist stole him.
"We can't let them escape." said Cole.
Lloyd, not able to wake Nalia up ended with picking her up on his back. "Worst time for a nap."
Wu sees prisoners trying to escape. "No, we can't let them escape! No more smashing walls."
"Leave this to me. Ice!" Zane makes a bridge leading outside.
"I'd hate to let anyone down, but... Fire!" Kai breaks the bridge once they're out.
"I encourage you to go back to your cells." Noble told the prisoners.
*The ninjas go back to the Samurai Cave.*
"We got here as fast as we could." said Kai.
"Twenty noodle trucks have been spotted heading toward Ninjago City just fifty clicks away." Nya told them.
"Let me guess, they ain't hauling noodles?" said Cole.
"Twenty trucks could hold two hundred Anacondrai. If they get to the city before we do, the city will be theirs." said Zane looking at the others.
Just like Garmadon did, Wu struck the same place between the neck and head of Nalia, causing her to quickly wake up and almosting biting Wu.
"I-I'm awake!" shouted Nalia sitting up and rubbing the back of her head.
The others looked at her, slightly concerned about what was going on with her.
"And they'll have achieved the pivotal first foothold in the war." said Garmadon.
"We have to stop them." said Lloyd.
"I've already warned the others to head them off at the pass. They should be able to hold the line until you offer support. I had them equip themselves so we could communicate." Nya explained.
Shade appears on screen. "We're in position. If they show up, we'll be sure to put up a fight."
"They're coming to your location soon." said Nya.
"I see them. Let's show them what we're made of. The trucks. They're going every which way." said Shade.
"What do you mean? Aren't they going to Ninjago City?" Jay asked confused.
"I don't know where they're going, but they ain't going together." Shade explained.
"There are over twelve densely populated villages within a ten-click radius." said Misako.
"They aren't planning to launch one attack, they're planning multiple." Kai realized.
"What do we do? You told us to stay together." Shade said.
"Chen knows you can't take you all on at once. He's trying to split you up." Garmadon explained.
"But even if just one of those trucks makes it to a village, the people won't be able to defend themselves." said Misako worried.
"We have to protect the people. Tell the Elemental Fighters we have to split up. We'll each intercept a truck and stop it from reaching those villages." Lloyd told the others.
"What ever happened to "we fight as one?" " Jay asked.
"This isn't a vote, Jay. This is stopping the end of our world as we know it." Garmadon told him.
The ninjas runs off to help. But Lloyd stops for a moment and turned to Nalia.
"I think you should stay back here this time, Lia." Lloyd told her.
"What? No way, I wanna help." said Nalia.
"You fell asleep while we were in the middle of fighting. You are in no condition to fight should that happened again." Lloyd told her.
"It wouldn't happen again." said Nalia.
"Is that something you can promise? Be honest." said Lloyd, knowing she was never one to lie.
Nalia opened her mouth to speak before closing it again.
"See, you can't promise that. So you stay bac—" said Lloyd before being cut off.
"I promise I wouldn't fall asleep!" Nalia exclaimed.
Lloyd were a bit taken aback by this, not expecting she would make such a promise. "Lia, why can't you just stay back where it's safe?"
"Come on! We are wasting time here!" Nalia grabbed his hand and headed out.
"What's my father up to?" Skylor wondering when glancing at the screen.
"Nya, ready the Bounty. We must prepare for the worst." said Nya with a nod.
Nalia flies off to stop a truck, then goes on the chase down to more, while trying to not fall asleep.
"What is wrong with me? Why am I so damn tired?" Nalia wondered after stopping another truck. "Maybe Sensei Wu knows, I'll have to ask him after this."
Shaking her head Nalia took off once more and headed towards a mountain that wasn't far from where Lloyd was, when suddenly Wu's voice appeared from the intercom. "Everyone, come back now!"
Lloyd's dragon disappears. "I'm not afraid. I can do this. I have to get back." He grunts while trying to summon his dragon, but can't as he keeps falling. "I can't. I'm too afraid."
"Lloyd!" Nalia flew over when she heard his voice and quickly caught him.
"L-Lia, thanks." said Lloyd with a relieved sigh.
Nalia gave a cheerful smile while taking a look around at where to land.
"There! by that truck." Lloyd pointed to the truck it saw.
Nalia nodded and flew down to the truck his saw.