Onyx and the Rise of the Snakes

Rise of the Great Devourer

Onyx was training alone, practicing her swordfighting footwork. As she lunged, Lloyd suddenly walked into the room directly in front of her. She just managed to spin around and avoid jabbing him with the wooden practice sword. "Lloyd," was all she said. It was uncomfortable, standing there alone with him. He fidgeted slightly. "Are you mad at me?" He asked. Onyx tilted her head, confused. "No, why?" She asked. "You keep acting weird and avoiding me," Lloyd explained. 

Onyx thought quickly. "Oh. I'm just... trying to get used to you being the Green Ninja," she said after a moment. The lie rolled off her tongue smoothly. It was strangely easy, really, to fool someone. "Oh." Lloyd kicked a training bag. The silence was unbearably awkward. "Hey... um... do you want to train together?" Onyx asked after a minute of it. "Yeah!" Lloyd agreed quickly. The two worked together for a while, eventually sitting against the wall to take a break. "What would you do if I was a bad guy?" Onyx asked suddenly. Lloyd looked at her, confused. "But you're not," he said. "But what if I was?" Onyx pressed. Lloyd frowned at the floor. "Then I'd help you. You wouldn't just be evil for no reason," he said. "Thanks Lloyd," Onyx murmured softly. His words helped take a weight off of her chest.

Even though they'd finished the conversation, Lloyd still looked troubled. "What's wrong?" She asked. He rested his head on his knees. "What if my dad doesn't love me?" He asked. 'Oh. That's what's been bothering him.' "He loves you," Onyx said. "How do you know?" Lloyd asked. "He saved you from the lava, even though it was dangerous. If he didn't love you, he wouldn't have done that," she answered. Lloyd shrugged. "Yeah, but he still left," he said.

Onyx had to think for a minute before responding. "Well... you asked him to leave, and he listened. Maybe he thinks that it'll hurt less when you fight him if you don't know him as well," she said finally. Lloyd traced circles on the floor with his finger. "What if I don't want to fight him?" He asked.

Onyx leaned back against the wall. "Whether the battle of destiny happens isn't up to me. It's up to you and your him. You chose good. Maybe you can help him do the same. I mean, not all prophecies come true," Onyx said. Lloyd's eyes narrowed in thought. "Maybe. It might happen, so I have to try," he said, determination in his voice. Onyx grinned at him. "There. Feel better?" She asked. Lloyd stood up. "Yeah! Let's train some more," he said.

As the two stood, a familiar voice suddenly spoke from behind them. "Well as much as I hate to ruin this wholesome little moment, I do have a job to do." Onyx and Lloyd whipped around. The air shimmered and then solidified into Pythor's form. "Pythor!" Lloyd shouted, trying to kick him. Onyx whipped around and dashed for the door, trying to get help. Before she could make it, Pythor swept his tail at her, sweeping her feet out from under her and knocking her flat on her face. "Ah-ah-ah. We can't have any tattletails, can we?" He murmured, using his tail to pick her up by the feet and dangle her in front of him.

Onyx swallowed hard as Pythor's red eyes bore into her own. "Put her down!" Lloyd shouted, punching Pythor. The indigo serpent gave him an unamused look and picked him up by the collar. "I do so hate children," he sighed, unwinding a long piece of rope from around his waist. As hard as Onyx and Lloyd struggled, they couldn't prevent him from tying the two of them to a punching bag.

Onyx started shouting for help. "Cole! Zane! Help-" Pythor whipped his tail into her stomach hard enough to make her gag and promptly slapped a piece of duct tape onto her face. "You're not going to get away with thmmph!" Lloyd's voice cut off as Pythor did the same to him. The snake chuckled. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. As they say, out of sight, out of mind," he said, vanishing.

Onyx and Lloyd struggled, trying to wriggle their way out of the rope binding them to no avail. After another good twenty minutes, the two stopped struggling, exhausted. Their only option was to wait for someone to find them. Onyx shivered nervously. Being stuck and unable to do anything was killing her.

Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the ship lurched, causing the chain holding the punching bag to snap and send Onyx and Lloyd rolling across the room, coming to a stop near the doorway. There was a rubbing sound, then Lloyd spoke. "Onyx, can you reach the intercom?" He asked quickly. Onyx stuck her leg out and managed to push the button on the intercom. "Mmm!" She tried to make a confirming sound. "Pythor's on board!" Lloyd shouted as loud as he could. The sentence echoed around the ship. "Let's try to slide off the top of the bag," Lloyd said.

Onyx and Lloyd worked together, shimmying up the bag until they slipped off and the ropes were loose enough for them to escape them. Onyx immediately jumped up and pulled the tape off of her mouth, giving a small yelp as it pulled on her lips. "Are you okay?" Lloyd asked as he took a bo staff from the weapon rack. She nodded. "Yeah, fine. You?" She asked, snatching up her katanas. Lloyd nodded. "Then let's go," she said, taking off down the hallway, Lloyd close behind.

They ran out on deck and immediately came face to face with Pythor. ""Where do you think you're going?" Lloyd challenged. "Ah. A little cliché, don't you think?" Pythor asked dryly. "Uh... cliché?" Lloyd murmured questioningly. Pythor sighed. "I wouldn't expect a child to understand." Onyx narrowed her eyes. She understood him perfectly well. "Hey, I've grown up a lot," Lloyd said challengingly. "Yeah! We're not gonna let you get away with this," Onyx agreed. The two ran at Pythor, weapons aimed at him.

He easily countered the two with his tail. "Hm, puny strength, no fundamentals, and sloppy footwork. You think you can defeat me?" Pythor taunted. "I'm not trying to defeat you. I'm just distracting you until the Calvary arrives," Lloyd said. Onyx raised her sword to slash at Pythor's throat, but before she had the chance to lunge at him, Lloyd swung his staff wide, managing to hit Pythor and draw a gasp of pain from him. "Haha! Guys, I hit him!" Lloyd cried triumphantly. "As much as I would like to play with your overgrown toys, I have a ride to catch," Pythor said.

"No!" Onyx shouted when he leapt from the side of the ship, landing in the open side door of a rattlecopter. "Get back here!" Lloyd yelled at him. The only response the two got was a mocking wave from Pythor. Suddenly the Samurai X mech flew up over the edge of the ship and landed, dropping the other ninja and Wu onto the deck. Kai stumbled to the edge of the ship, just in time to see Pythor, Skales, and the Fangblades disappear around the side of Torchfire mountain on a Rattlecopter. He slammed a fist onto the railing. "No!"

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It's happened, guys. My obsession with The Phantom of the Opera has resurfaced. I am now working on a cosplay of him, and it will be good quality and also the only costume I'll wear to anything until it wears out completely. I just rewatched Love Never Dies, and now that I'm older I love it so much more. And I have also discovered that I can sing Christine's vocals. Apparently I might be better at soprano vocals than I thought. I'm so upset I won't be able to go and see it on Broadway though... well, maybe in 25 years it'll reopen. I hope so.