Skales x Pythor: My Loyal Number Two

Chapter 5: A most devious trap

"Well, what are you waiting for? Throw him in!" Pythor commanded, this time with the Hypnobrai following his order without complaint. He grabbed the boy by the arms, who tried to wriggle free, before throwing him into the cage. Lloyd barely had time to stand, before the cage was closed, fully cementing his status as a prisoner. In a desperate attempt to escape, he tried to pull at the bars, to no avail. Skales was impressed that the metal hadn't rusted away to dust, after having been buried in the sand for who knows how long.

"How do you like it, Lloyd? I hope it's not too uncomfortable." Pythor asked mockingly, his disdain against the boy completely overshadowed by his glee at seeing him in such a position.

"Perhaps you would like a blanket? Maybe a pillow?" Pythor continued asking, before bursting into laughter, with the other snakes that had gathered around them joining in. Even Skales allowed himself some satisfied chuckles.

"It's a shame really, that you don't have any friends. Then maybe someone would come and rescue you." The Anacondrai said, and from the expression on Lloyd's face, it seemed to affect him greatly. So much so, that he for the first time opened his mouth.

"Maybe someone will come and rescue me!" He yelled defiantly, gritting his teeth at Pythor, who only looked more amused at his comeback than anything else.

"Oh really? And who should that be?" Pythor asked jokingly, before letting out another chuckle.

"My friends, the ninja! Oh, just you wait, for when they come, they're gonna kick all your butts, you hear that! HAHAHA!" Lloyd let out a comically bad evil laughter. It was only once he had opened his mouth that Skales remembered how little he had wanted anything to do with him. Even seeing him locked up didn't fill him with enough satisfaction to overshadow his contempt.

"Pythor, can we move on with thisss? I'm sssure we have more important thingsss to discusss, and thisss child's voice is ssstarting to irritate me." Skales remarked while giving Lloyd an antagonistic look.

"Hold on now," Pythor said while signaling him to stay quiet. "I think our 'guest' just said something, very interesting."

A devilish smile curled up on his face as he moved closer to the cage, practically pressing his face against the bars. The boy let out a scared yelp, before backing away, though the small jail didn't allow him much room to move. The Hypnobrai and the other Serpentine observed quietly, all confused about where Pythor was going with this.

"Did you say you were friends with the ninja?" The Anacodnria asked, with an uncomfortable cheerful tone.

"Uhh..."

"And that they were gonna come and, ohh, rescue you?" He continued asking, as the cogs slowly started turning in Skales' head.

"Uhm...yeah! So you better let me go, or else they're gonna-" Lloyd didn't have time to finish his sentence, as Pythor pushed the cage away, making it move back and forth, as he let out a victorious laugh.

"Marvelous! Just marvelous! You are certainly an annoying pest, but you're a most excellent tool as well."

"What are you talking about?" The boy asked, with a hint of distress in his voice.

"Oh, my boy, you see, it's in my best interest to get rid of those troublesome buffoons, as they have a history of meddling with our affairs. And that's where you come in, as you have just provided me with the most efficient way to eliminate them once and for all." Pythor explained, his eyes going wider as he waited for the human to realize his plan. The other Sepretine and Skales as well were waiting, as they had already come to the realization that evaded Lloyd.