I have internet now so I'm going upload this chapter. Though I will be a bit behind as I didn't trust myself writing the chapters only for them to not save then having to rewrite them
'Thinking'
"Speech"
"Whisper"
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(Akira POV)
"So let me get this straight. You want the serpentine to build a giant tree house filled with booby traps? ...Okaay." I said. A piece of my younger, mischievous self coming out. "So... how big you want it?" I asked, giggling softly.
"As big as possible, it needs to be big enough so I can rule Ninjago from." He said. I smiled softly as I ruffled his hair. "Okay little one, you'll get your tree house."
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(Location change)
(Forest)
Several days had passed since Lloyd's grand treehouse initiative. I had to admit, the structure was... surprisingly sound. Three thick ropes, impossibly sturdy for something as large as the treehouse, held the main platform. There were a distinct lack of lower supports other than the stairs the serpentine used to get up and down, which made me nervous, but the structure proved its worth. I had tossed a jagged stone at the main support beams, aiming for the weakest looking point, and the structure had not even wobbled. 'Well, at least he won't fall to his doom.' I thought.
"Hey! If we plan to rule Ninjago from here, this elevator needs to have a trap door. I want more booby traps! He exclaimed at the general.
As time passed, day turned to night as the treehouse was nearly complete.
"If I see one girl in here, I'm gonna go ballistic." Lloyd said. I was on the lower floor of the tree house when I heard him. 'He does know that I'm a girl right?' I thought, anyway I need to get him to sleep. "Lloyd! It's time for you to go to sleep!" I yelled to him from above. "What! I'm Lloyd Garmadon, I don't need sleep!" He yelled back. I narrowed my eyes, not that he or anyone else could see it behind my cloak. "If you don't get up here and go to bed then you'll be no candy for a month!" I yelled out.
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(The next day)
The treehouse was about 85% complete. The Hypnobrai are annoyed with having to sleep in a treehouse, some of them just straight up decided to sleep on the ground below, too uncomfortable with being so high up.
"Watch it! ...No, bigger! Come on, we don't have all day. It's not time for a lunch break." Lloyd exclaimed to the serpentine.
The Hypnobrai were hard at work, using the elevator to bring up medium to large sized logs that were too heavy for the stairs. I was at the top floor with Lloyd when I felt a subtle shift in the treehouse, a tremor that ran through the wooden planks like a ripple in the water, unnoticeable to everyone else. My senses sharpened. I discreetly looked around my eyes narrowing and noticed both white and blue ninjas climbing one of the trees, their movements swift and silent. The blue ninja almost lost his footing, his arms waving around, trying to regain his balance, but the white ninja's swift grip prevented a fall.
I heard them behind us, the rustling of leaves and the soft thud of their footsteps, and I got closer to Lloyd, my hand hovering near his shoulder, ready to shield him if they decided to do something.
"Hehe. It's almost finished. Soon, my fortress will be complete. You!" He said to a random serpent, who grunted in response. "Hold up that sign for me." Said sign said NO GIRLS OR NINJA. Lloyd pulled a lever out nothing seemed to happen, and the serpent laughed, a low, guttural sound, right before the trap door opened from under him. "Booby trap!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the treehouse. I wasn't worried about the serpent, even if I was he was more than durable enough to survive the fall.
My senses sharpened further, a prickling sensation warning me of imminent danger, but not for me no, for Lloyd. I watched, my eyes narrowing once more and my pupils becoming thin slits, as three of the ninja, their movements swift and coordinated, targeted the main support ropes. With a surge of speed, I instinctively grabbed Lloyd's hand, my grip tightening just as the first rope snapped.
Shift! Crash! The treehouse lurched violently to one side, sending a wave of panic through the Hypnobrai. then as another rope was cut, it tilted further downward, a cacophony of splintering wood and panicked hissing filling the air. with only one rope somehow holding it up. One of the serpentine lost footing and tumbled off the side, his scream cut short by the distance. Lloyd would have if I wasn't already holding him securely.
Lloyd looked up, his eyes wide with confusion and fear, and saw the red ninja. "I said no ninja. Attack!" He commanded, his voice trembling slightly. But one of the Hypnobrai, Skales I believe, his eyes gleaming with a cunning light, suddenly overrode his command. "Everyone, retreat!" Skales yelled, his voice laced with authority. Those who weren't already scrambling down the collapsing structure started to flee, some of them falling through the gaping holes in the floor. I noticed that Skales had somehow taken of the black ninja and was him to fight the others.
"Don't go. We have to protect my treehouse fortress." Lloyd said, his voice laced with desperation, as he was still in my grip. "Your treehouse? It's about time we did this, I noticed him about to pull a lever and I held Lloyd closer. " Skales said, his voice dripping with malice, as he moved towards a nearby lever. "Did what?" Lloyd asked, his eyes wide with confusion. Skales pulled the lever, and opened the floor beneath us trapping Lloyd and I in a cage. I could've easily escaped with little effort, ready to tear through the flimsy bars. But then I overheard Skales plan: they were going to the monastery to get the staff, and then they were going to burn it down. My mind raced. The monastery possibly held the locations of ancient artifacts and forgotten knowledge, including the scrolls of forbidden spinjitsu. If they burned it, all of that would be lost. "I'll stay with you," I said to Lloyd, my voice calm, through my mind was a whirlwind of calculations. "We'll see what they're up to."
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(Small time skip)
(Akira POV)
Once we reached the monastery the Hypnobrai started tearing up the place looking for their staff. In order to try and find what I was looking for I decided to use the elemental power of time to look around without worry. "Hey, you want to see something cool?" I said with a smile. My eyes starting to glow, making them visible in the shadows that covered my face. "Uh, okay." Lloyd said with a bit of confusion.
My free hand began to shimmer, the four colors of time - green, copper, blue and red - it looked like they were moving around my hand as if they were alive, a mesmerizing dance of temporal energy. With a sharp snap of my fingers a wave of energy pulsed outward, and the world around us froze. Not just Ninjago, but all sixteen realms, suspended in the stillness of paused time. The air itself seemed to thicken, the silence amplifying the faint hum of my power.
Lloyd's eyes widened, his gaze darting between the frozen Hypnobrai. He reached out a hesitant hand, his fingers twitching towards a Hypnobrai's outstretched arm. "Whoa! They're like statues! What did you do?"
"I used the elemental power of time," I replied, my voice echoing slightly in what Lloyd might think was unnerving silence. "Everything in Ninjago and beyond, is frozen except for us."
"What's an elemental power?" He asked, his eyes filled with curiosity.
"An elemental power is simply put, the ability to control a element. For example, fire, ice, earth, lightning—"
"Really! Do I have one? Which one do I have? Is it something cool like the one you just used?" He interrupted, his voice brimming with excitement.
"What you have isn't an elemental power, but what's called an elemental essence," I explained. "And before you ask, an elemental essence is a elemental power that can be used by multiple beings, such as destruction, or can become and/or wield the properties of other elements without actually having said element. Yours is energy."
He looked at me, his brow furrowed in thought, then nodded slowly. "Energy... cool!"
I began to move through the monastery, my gaze sweeping over the chaos the Hypnobrai had wrought. Scrolls lay scattered, furniture was overturned, a destroyed game console, and the air would've been thick with the scent of smoke if not for the time stop. I was searching for anything that might offer clues about the scrolls of forbidden Spinjitsu, or any other artifacts of significant importance and power.
'Where is it? Did they destroy them? Let's see, oh what's this. Source Dragons, the coalesce... yet nothing on forbidden Spinjitsu? Hopefully the scrolls weren't destroyed, might as well take what I've found.' I thought. As I rifled through the remaining drawers and cabinets, my fingers brushed against a folded piece of fabric. I pulled it out, revealing a green ninja GI, its golden dragon design similar to the other four ninjas, looked as if it was shimmering even in the paused time. 'Perfect' I thought, a wry smile tugging my lips. 'Lloyd's been wearing those rags for days without cleaning them.' I decided to take it, intending to shrink it down to his size later. 'Though the irony of him wearing this is... interesting.' I thought.
"Lloyd!" I called, my voice sharp, as I slithered back into the precise spot where time had paused. He was busy, his small hands rearranging the Hypnobrai into comical poses, fingers stuck in noses, legs splayed awkwardly, and one poor snake receiving a swift kick to the... well you get the picture. "Stop messing with the serpentine and come here. We need to be in the exact positions we were in before I unfreeze time."
He paused, a mischievous grin fading from his face. "Why? They won't know, will they?"
"No," I admitted. "but I'd rather not give them any reason to suspect you of your... creative redecorating."
He shrugged, a hint of guilt in his eyes, and scampered over. I took his hand and carefully adjusted his stance, making sure his feet, arms and head were positioned just as they had been. With a final glance, I snapped my fingers, and the colors on my hand pulsed, fading into nothingness.
Time resumed its flow. The Hypnobrai lurched, their limbs tangled, some colliding with each other, others scratching their noses in confusion. One unfortunate snake doubled over, clutching his midsection with a pained hiss.
Skales emerged from the burning monastery, the staff held high. "We have the staff! Return to the tomb!" He commanded. The Hypnobrai, their momentary disorientation forgotten, began to descend the mountain, flames licking at the monastery's walls behind them.
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(Time skip)
(Hypnobrai tomb)
We were through in the tomb, Skales, who still held the staff led the group. "Do something, general. You're still under my command, right?" Lloyd whispered to Slithera. "Enough! I am the general, you will return my staff at once." Slithera ordered Skales, who inspected the staff and looked back at the general with defiant eyes. "No." He said, the other Hypnobrai gasped at this. "You dare challenge my command?" Slithera asked, his eyes narrowed.
"Slither pit, slither pit, slither pit,slither pit." The other Hypnobrai started chanting. "I guess we will have to fight for it. In... the Slither pit." He said with a bit of exaggeration, the other serpents started to cheer.
Lloyd and I were tied to an ice pillar near the arena. Both Slithera and Skales across each other as a random Hypnobrai grabbed the staff from Skales and went up above the arena. "Winner gets the staff and leads the tribe. You know the rules: there are none, but in the slither pit, whatever I say goes. Alright fight!" He said. Slithera and Skales began to charge at each other.
The "fight" commenced, a clumsy (at least to me) display of punches, lunges, and grapples. I stifled a yawn, my gaze drifting across the chanting Hypnobrai. Their reliance on hypnotic tricks rather then skill was frankly, underwhelming... though Skales is actually more skilled at it then Slithera.
Lloyd suddenly started to pull the rope we were tied to, I looked over and saw him reaching towards a map, his fingers barely touching it as he tried to grab it. I slightly tugged the rope getting his attention, I motioned him to stay were he was and stuck my tail out of my cloak to use it to grab the map. He was of course surprised by it, not knowing I was a serpentine. My tail wrapped around the map and pulled it out from its icy pocket and gave it to him. While surprised he kept quiet as to not alert the Hypnobrai, he put the map in his pocket. "Go, general go!" He exclaimed, a Hypnobrai looking at him strangely.
Slithera tried and failed to hypnotize Skales, Skales using what one of the Hypnobrai called fang kwan do to defeat Slithera. "Uh, get up. Get up." Lloyd yelled at Slithera, but he was too exhausted to get up. "We have a winner." Said the random serpent, who then gave Skales the staff.
Skales, staff in hand began to have a shimmering yellow aura around him with Slithera having a light blue one. The yellow patterns on Skales body began to disappear as his legs fused with his small tail and became one long tail, the same happened to Slithera only his tail became two legs and one small one, his scale patterns becoming more similar to the average Hypnobrai. Skales yellow patterns returned only more detailed and intricate. "Skales! Skales! Skales! Skales! Skales! Skales!" The other Hypnobrai began to chant.
"You will be loyal to me now." Skales said. "I will do as you command." Slithera said, in a low voice. "You two, leave and never return." He said towards us.
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(Small time skip)
We watched from afar as the ninja ate happily in their new home, an old pirate ship, its weathered sails stark against the setting sun of the desert sky. Lloyd sighed, the sound heavy with a child's despair, and turned walking away, his small figure a silhouette against the harsh, shimmering heat. I followed, my scales rustling softly against the dry, cracked earth.
"So... you're a serpentine?" He said, his voice barely a whisper, his eyes wide with a mix of awe and uncertainty. "You're not going to leave me, are you?" He asked, his voice trembling slightly, a flicker of desperate hope in his gaze. My heart ached for him. "No Lloyd," I said, my voice gentle, my smile reassuring. "I'll stay with you as long as you want, I promise."
"Come." I continued, leading him away from the ship, towards a secluded cluster of jagged rocks and stunted desert shrubs, where the shadows offered a sliver of respite from the relentless sun. "Let's go a bit further that way. I'll make something for you to change in, and get you out of the sun." I held up the green ninja GI.
He looked at the garment, his brows furrowed. "A ninja GI? But... isn't this Uncle Wu's?" He asked, recognizing the distinct style, and golden dragon design.
"Indeed," I replied, a hint of a smile playing on my lips. "And now, it can be yours. Consider it... a gift. You can be an evil ninja, and I think green suits you perfectly."
He hesitated, then a small grin spread across his face, the harsh lines of worry softening. "An evil ninja... I like the sound of that!"
"Good." I said, my voice warm. "Now, let's get you out of those rags." I held out my hand, my scales from my hand to the end of my forearm glowed a pure shimmering gold, and the air around us shimmered. The dry, cracked earth began to rise, and desert vines wove themselves into a frame. With a flick of my wrist, wheels formed from hardened sand, and the cabin took shape, a small cozy shelter against the harsh desert environment.
"It will be a small cabin with wheels similar to how horses moved people around. It will be big enough for us both, and to get you out of the sun." I said, as I finished the creation, the dry desert wind whipping around us.
"How will you move it?" He asked. I looked at him with a slight mischievous smile. "You'll see tomorrow... after you get some sleep."
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This is the third chapter. I'm going to try and make one chapter for each episode, though there will be some I skip that I think will be uninteresting or I wouldn't be able to fit much of Akira in, like when the ninja follow Garmadon to the past. Though I will try and put that at the beginning of the chapter for the episode after that.