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Today seemed like a relatively chill day in New Ninjago City with not much really going on for the ninja to do, sure there might've been a fight between the Mechanic and Kai with Nya having to help her brother, but other than that there wasn't much else really going on.
"What is with today dude?" Kai groaned as he held his right arm, "I'd rather be at home beating my highscore!".
"So getting burned on your arm by the Mechanic isn't exciting enough?" Nya sighed as she inspected the bandages on her brother's arm.
"I could've handled him" Kai muttered.
"Yeah yeah ego-hair" Jay witted.
"Please be a bit more careful Kai" Cole sighed, "You were lucky you only got a minor burn going at the Mechanic alone like that!".
"I do agree, that was a bit selfish and foolish" Zane cut in, "If it were more than just the Mechanic, then you would have been in much more trouble".
"Yeah Kai" Lloyd chipped in, "You shouldn't be going in blindly like that alone. Could've been a trap for all you knew".
"... Sorry for making you guys worry".
The police scanner they were listening to crackled to life.
"Lost some robbers down by the warehouse district, 10-4" a voice reported.
"Well there's something we can do" Jay said with a smile, "Simple robbers to track down and bring to justice, maybe that'll help your ego Kai?".
"HEY!" Kai hissed.
"GOTTA CATCH ME FIRST" Jay yelled as he rushed off, "RACE YA!".
The ninja raced off to the warehouse district where most of the storage in the city was close to the docks and harbor, and they didn't have to look long to find a band of robbers going over the spoils of their ill deeds in a larger warehouse.
"HEY!" Cole yelled, "Put the items down and we can end this civilly!".
"SCATTER!" one of the robbers screamed as he grabbed some of the loot and ran.
The rest of the panicking robbers followed suit grabbing randomly from the pile of loot and running in random directions.
"Well here we go again" Zane said shaking his head as he went to chase some of the robbers.
"Careful guys" Lloyd warned while side-eyeing Kai, "Don't get too far from everyone, you never know what could happen".
"Alright alright I get it!" Kai huffed as he jumped down to chase some robbers.
"I'll keep an eye on him" Nya sighed before she ran off.
"This should be quick at least" Cole muttered as he ran off as well.
Lloyd was about to run after some of the crooks as well when out of the corner of his eye he saw some movement in a side hallway of the warehouse, something... White? He shuddered for a moment as he quickly turned his head and saw something white on the ground disappear around the corner of a hallway.
"Oh hell no" Lloyd muttered as he slowly walked over with his sword at the ready but slightly shaking, "Maybe it was just an albino rat?".
He peeked around the corner to see an open doorway with the room within in pure darkness with no sign of the white thing, and Lloyd couldn't help but feel that he shouldn't go in.
"... Maybe I should go get one of the others" he thought as he squinted to try to see what was in the room without moving any closer.
He saw something shining inside the room like a light-blue gemstone of some kind higher up like it were on a shelf or something, but there wasn't enough light to really make it out.
"A gemstone? Maybe this is a storeroom for the thieves?".
He made a ball of energy in one of his hands to light the way as he slowly crept inside the room, and it was completely dark besides his light and seemingly devoid of anything or even any furniture; he walked all the way over to where he thought he had seen the gemstone, but there was nothing on the wall that could've held a gemstone at the height he had seen it and there was no gemstone at all? A feeling of dread washed over him as he started slowly backing up to the door looking around frantically, but the hair on the back of his neck stood up straight as he felt a presence with him; the door suddenly slammed shut and Lloyd's ball of energy started to flicker in his hand. His element never just flickered like that, there would only be option for this; he went to sprint for the door when something flew at him from the dark hitting his legs and wrapping around them with a CLANG as he crashed onto the floor.
He tried to conjure another ball of energy in his hand to light up his surroundings and try to see where his attacker was, but nothing happened not even a spark of energy; he looked down at his legs to find that they were wrapped up in ropes with little solid balls at the end of them that had tied themselves together, and the little balls were covered in little yellow-orangeish cracks.
"VENGESTONE?! OH NO NO NO!" he thought in panic as he went to cut the ropes with his sword, but then he was struck in the side by something that wrapped around him with a similar CLANG sending him onto the floor once again and making him drop his sword from the sudden hit; he struggled in panic having various flashbacks to when he had been captured over the years, and in turn it made his panic much worse.
A chilling, familiar laugh filled the air as a small light flipped on in the middle of the ceiling only held by a simple wire; seemingly floating in the air above Lloyd was the light blue gemstone he first saw, but now that he could see it clearly he felt that there was something far more sinister about it. Two redish-pink eyes opened seemingly in the middle of the air staring right down at Lloyd, and they were eyes that Lloyd knew all too well.
"Been a while hasn't it old chum?" the familiar voice chuckled, "Did you really think I'd be gone for long?".
"Pythor" Lloyd whispered as his heart-rate soared.
"In the flesh" Pythor greeted as he made the rest of himself visible, "And oh how lucky I am that such old tactics still work on simple-minded elemental masters, and the chosen child of prophecy".
"What is it that you want with me?!" Lloyd hissed.
"Oh what I've wanted since I first saw you in my tomb" Pythor sighed.
Suddenly Pythor whipped his tail around and coiled it around Lloyd from his legs to his neck, and then he suddenly began to constrict and lifted Lloyd off the ground.
"To kill you".
"HOW DID COLE GET OUT OF THIS WITH THE CONSTRAI?!" Lloyd thought in panic as Pythor as steadily crushing him with that long tail of his, "Something about relaxing?! HOW THE HELL DO YOU RELAX IN THIS SITUATION?!".
"Ah that look of panic in the eyes, how I've missed seeing that since the war" Pythor reminisced, "I don't see it too often these days unless i get hungry, and I certainly didn't once that Sons of Garmadon cult brought that monster around and I had to lay low for a bit; but oh seeing you get beaten to a near pulp in Kryptarium it reignited something in me, so I've been waiting for just the right moment to strike!".
"Real... Clever" Lloyd tried to hiss, but Pythor quickly upped the constriction to cut him off.
Any attempt to breathe was made futile as with every exhale Lloyd made Pythor kept increasing the pressure, making every attempted inhale impossible much to Pythor's twisted amusement as he grinned wildly; Lloyd's lungs burned reminding him of every time he'd nearly been drowned or crushed, but he could feel and hear his body creaking and cracking and with the ropes he couldn't struggle properly.
"Ah how I love that sound so much" Pythor hissed with glee, "People tend to forget the sheer strength of the Anacondrai being just as, if not more so, powerful than the constrictai! Many soldiers on the human side of the Serpentine War went 'missing' purely because of my tribe's superior intellect and abilities! Oh I've lost track of how many I killed during the war, hearing those final cracks in their bodies before they died, oh what song it is to me! Some of the others called me insane and the generals would scold me, but I guess they were right about me being cracked in the head".
"You... Monster!" Lloyd croaked.
Pythor chuckled as he used a bit more of his tail to coil around Lloyd's body and kept squeezing and squeezing as Lloyd tried to call for help, but no one could hear his weak voice.
"Ah tut tut tut" Pythor teased, "Still think someone's going to come to your rescue? They've left you alone, and you're useless on your own don't you agree? Oh I think that princess did a good job messing with you, even if she refused to give ME credit for releasing the Devourer! But oh well, I'm glad that your stupid little luck had brought you this far, and now I get to be the one to take your miserable life; on the bright side you won't have anything to worry about anymore".
Lloyd could feel any remainder of his strength starting to fade as the crushing coils continued their assault on his body and desperately tried to fight them off as Pythor watched with those eerie red eyes, but his bones were cracking under the pressure and he started seeing dots in his vision as darkness started creeping in.
"Ah now there's the look I'm looking for, blue in the face and eyes unfocused and hazy! You still feel my strength don't you? Every scale on my tail digging into you, every attempt to breathe or move squashed, your element is useless with vengestone upon you. I can still feel your heart racing. You are nothing but the weak child that was foolish enough to open my tomb, and right now I'm starting to get a bit hungry".
Lloyd's panic flared back up again, but he lacked the strength to even move anymore.
"N-No!" Lloyd thought, "Not like this... Please...".
"I see that you're still alive, impressive admittedly given that you've outlasted many I've killed like this, but if the lack of oxygen doesn't kill you in a few moments then my stomach certainly will" Pythor hissed in glee as he licked his fangs, "You forgot that Anacondrai can eat people haven't you? I bet your friends didn't wonder what happened to that judge I ate at that talent competition ages ago hmm? Or the missing people in the city over the years hmmmm? Oh well, at least I'll enjoy this meal. Never tried oni-dragon hybrid before".
Kai sighed after having lost the robbers he was trying to flank with Nya, but something seemed off to him as he looked around and saw that everyone was there in the warehouse except for Lloyd.
"Hey, anyone seen Lloyd anywhere?" he called out.
"Nope!" Jay yelled as he finished tying up a robber he'd caught.
"I have not!" Zane reported.
"I haven't seen him either" Nya muttered.
"Where could he have gone to if none of us saw him?" Cole asked suddenly worried, "Spread out and look for him!".
The ninja quickly scattered looking for their missing member while Kai tried to remember where he last saw Lloyd.
"Okay so last I saw him was right where we entered right?" he thought as he returned to where they'd entered the building, "Did he not follow us? Did he break off?! Why did he break off?!".
He found a hallway off to the side near where they had entered and wearily walked down it with Nya following behind closely and looking equally weary, and when Kai rounded the corner of a hallway and saw a doorway to a dimly lit room; he could see something white and scaly from where he was, but he was alarmed to see Lloyd's sword on the floor right in front of the door. Kai's heart began to race as he sprinted to the doorway and was horrified to see Pythor standing in the room with something or someone trapped in his tail coils and Pythor's mouth stretched over something at the top of the coils; Pythor's eyes were originally on whatever he was trying to eat looking eerily satisfied with whatever he was doing, but upon Kai's arrival they quickly landed on him in sudden panic.
It barely took a moment for Kai to notice something at the bottom of Pythor's coils contrasting against the white and purple of Pythor's scales; two green feet dangling and trembling in the coils.
"YOU GET THE FUCK OFF OF HIM!" Kai screamed in panicked anger as he lunged at Pythor's main body with his swords, "LET HIM GO!".
Kai practically slammed into Pythor with enough force to actually pierce the Anacondrai's hide and go into his sides, causing the lone Anacondrai to release his jaws and scream in pain just as Nya rushed into the room and saw what was happening.
"GET OVER HERE! HELP!" She screamed before she began to attack with her sibling.
Pythor proved overwhelmed by the rage of the two siblings and threw Lloyd across the room and making him hit the wall and floor with two sickening thuds, and while Kai was entirely enraged targeting the injured Anacondrai like a shark in bloody water Nya rushed over to Lloyd as she heard the others nearby likely trying to figure out where Nya and Kai's yelling came from.
When she rushed over the first thing she saw was that the top of Lloyd's head was stained red with his own blood with lacerations and bite marks on the skin on top of his head and smaller ones on his face, but his head was also covered in some clear substance; his breathing was far too shallow for Nya's liking as he tried to gasp for breath and he trembled almost constantly.
"Oh my god Lloyd" she muttered in horror, "Wake up! C'mon kid!".
Lloyd's eyes thankfully peeked opened although looking exhausted, scared, and hazy with little light within them, but upon seeing Nya those barely flickered even brighter.
"N-Nya" Lloyd coughed.
"Yeah I'm here kid, I'm here" Nya cooed, "Take it easy, breathe".
Nya quickly noted the ropes and vengestone balls at the end of them and swiftly cut the ropes and threw the vengestone balls at Pythor for further insult to injury as Kai kept attacking the snake mercilessly; Pythor however was attacking back as he hissed with his fangs covered in Lloyd's blood and elected to bite Kai in the arm, the same one Kai had burned earlier, and trying to coil him up for a crushing death.
The others sprinted into the room with Cole and Jay going to defend and help Kai while Zane elected to help Nya with Lloyd, but as soon as Pythor realized that the fight was no longer in his turn he released his holds on Kai and tried to turn invisible though his wounds from Kai were still bleeding.
"YOU COWARD!" Kai hissed despite the pain of the bite wound, "I WILL KILL YOU IF ITS THE LAST THING I DO!".
"What happened?!" Jay spat before he was knocked aside and Pythor presumably rushed past him out of the room.
"THE FUCKER TRIED TO EAT LLOYD!" Kai cried in a mix of shock, anger, and worry as he shook from the adrenaline, "TRIED TO EAT HIM ALIVE WHEN WE WEREN'T LOOKING!".
"That explains the lacerations on the head" Zane quietly muttered as he inspected Lloyd's head as gently as possible, "Thankfully you stopped him before he could get any further progress. His injuries are dire though, he'll need further medical attention immediately!".
"Oh god" Cole muttered in horror.
Jay fainted abruptly falling to the floor limp.
Zane quickly called for Pixal as Jay quickly regained consciousness and offered his hood to help control Lloyd's bleeding and Zane quickly tied it around Lloyd's head while Nya tied her hood around Kai's arm wound; Cole kneeled silently next to Lloyd trying to help the best he could and comfort him while Zane tried to diagnose as many problems as he could before Pixal arrived with a stretcher.
Lloyd either fainted or passed out before Pixal could arrive, but he was still alive nonetheless despite what he had just been through; when Pixal arrived with the stretcher she knew that herself and Zane had a lot to do in order to hopefully allow for a full recovery for Lloyd before they carefully and gently set him on the stretcher, and they quickly got him onto the Bounty and into the medbay. The nindroid couple quietly ushered the others out so they could do their work but Zane quickly tried to treat Kai's bite wound as Wu and Misako were told by Nya what had happened, as Wu was treating the wound and told Zane to go help Lloyd Kai sat still shaking and stared at the medbay door blankly; the nindroid couple worked for hours while the others waited for any news on Lloyd's condition and Kai didn't talk much at all.
Finally when the medbay door opened the two nindroids walked out looking exhausted but content.
"He'll be okay" Pixal sighed, "He's in a medical coma for now, but his element is responding and helping with his regeneration already. His recovery will take some time".
"... Kai?" Zane quietly asked snapping Kai out of his still trace as he shook his head and looked up at Zane tired, "You did well to act as you did, and he'll live because of your efforts".
"... Thanks" Kai said with a weary smile.
"Right now he cannot accept any visitors, but he will soon I promise" Pixal cooed.
Two months later light shone through the windows of the medbay as Lloyd slept with an oxygen mask on his face and beeping machines all around him, and for once he didn't have nightmares this time of that damn Anacondrai trying to eat him alive again. He initially woke up two weeks ago to the nindroid couple beside him happy and greeting him warmly before they explained that he needed to take it easy for a while and rest, and they were there every time he woke up. This time though when he woke up he had his mother and uncle on one side of him and the rest of the team on the other side of him, but they were asleep apart from Kai.
"Hey bud" Kai quietly cooed, "You doing okay?".
"Yeah" Lloyd whispered with a smile, "I'm okay now, as long as nobody mentions a certain snake".
"Don't worry, I won't say it" Kai cooed as he gently held Lloyd's hand, "But what was that about not going on your own?".
"Oh please don't remind me" Lloyd sighed, "Bad enough as is".
"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood, but don't you ever go ANYWHERE alone like that again alright?".
"Alright".
"Do I have to get the child leash from back when you were small and put it on you?".
"Oh FSM no please".
"You know Nya will probably act on it too-".
"I'm aware".
Barely two months later Lloyd was back on his feet and training with the others in the final stages of his recovery, but Kai stuck by his side constantly and quite frankly wouldn't leave him alone for long; part of Lloyd was annoyed by this, but the rest of him was thankful for it. He didn't really like being alone after that near-death experience and he promised everyone that he would never break off like that ever again, and he would stick to it this time; Pythor got away so there was the chance he was going to come back and finish what he started, but with the others he felt safe again.