? ??????? ? {Ninjago}

?S1 E3: Snakebit (1)?

Taking up his toolbox, the old man headed towards a giant robot. "Oh, sweetie. You've been working on that thing day and night," the other old lady said, starting towards a trailer.

"Ed and Edna, I'm guessing," you whispered to your brother, hiding in the shadows. He considered it for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Well, you never know when Jay may show up," Ed chuckled nervously. The Fangpyre general was already eyeing the large machine with both heads. They turned to you for a split second before waving their troops to split up around the junkyard.

A moment later, you realized your hand was in the air. Did I tell them to go?

"Oh, you're right," Edna smiled gently. "You never know." Closing the door, you saw the lights inside the van light up. Although small, it looked... homely.

Not that you'd ever known what a home was really like. The best home you'd had so far was in Lloyd.

Ed pulled out a few tools, such as a metal face mask and a blowtorch, preparing to continue work on the robot. The sounds of sparks filled the night air, giving you a slight sense of peace. It was almost like music in its own strange way, but also not. Your eyelids slid closed.

"Uh, Edna? Was that you?"

The old junkyard keeper's high, tense cry pulled you from your meditation. He had his mask up, searching warily around the yard.

Edna poked her head out of the cabin, shouting, "What, Ed? Are you hearing things again?" Quietly, Lloyd tapped your arm and tiptoed away. You followed, heart pounding.

"Uh, you uh, you turned on the security alarm before you left, didn't ya, hun?" Ed called, voice even more terrified. It almost made you feel sorry for him.

Almost.

The lady walked, straight faced and slightly trembling to a power box. You clapped a hand over your mouth and Lloyd's, breath hitching. That was close. "Uh, must be broken," she stammered after fiddling with a few things in the box.

You grabbed a thick wire and yanked hard.

The lights all around the yard flickered out. You grinned at Lloyd under your (F/C) hoodie, whispering, "Jackpot."

"Whoever's there, my son knows Spinjitzu!" You cocked your head to the side, trying to reprocess the word. Where had you heard that before?

Ed ran over to his wife as some of the Fangpyres starts hissing. It sent a roll of both terror and adrenaline through your body. "What is it, Ed? Oh, why are the lights out?" The woman sputtered, edging closer to Ed.

Such cowardice.

You heard a snip behind you as Lloyd cut another cord. "Good thinking," you whispered, seeing that it was the telephone line. The two of you silently crept up a stack of trash, ready to make a dramatic entrance.

"Call Jay, hun," Ed begged, holding onto her shoulders. "Someone's broken in!"

You judged your brother. "You do the honors," you snickered.

"How about we wait until he calls you?" Lloyd laughed, holding up the phone and broken cord. As he laughed as evilly as he could you and the general skunk up behind him, smiling at the two like cats over mice. "Ed..!"

The husband held his wife, saying, "Be strong, Edna. I won't let them hurt you."

And yet he still shook like a leaf, easy for me to pull down.

"If we plan..."
"...to attack..."
"...the Hypnobrai," the general hissed at you and Lloyd, a mysterious glint in their eyes.
"...we'll need to grow..."
"...our army."

Your (E/C) eyes flicked down to the couple before turning back to the snake. "I'm excited to see how that'll happen."

Both heads smiled at you. "Let'ssss just sssay..."
"...we Fangpyre bite off more..."
"...than we can chew."
The first head turned to the junkyard, joyously shouting, "Have at it, boyssss!"

The whole rest of the Fangpyres erupted from the trash, fangs bared. You held your breath as they sunk their teeth into multiple vehicles-a car, a motorcycle, a helicopter, all trashed-and injected their venom into the metal. At first it looked like a sort of corrosion spreading over the dented surfaces, but the air was soon filled with green gas.

When it cleared, the vehicles were totally transformed. The paint job was totally redone, and they were good as new. In fact, they seemed to be in even better shape than before. Your eyebrows arched.

"My creations," Ed cried, shocked and petrified. "They're turning them into-"

"An army?" The general hissed, slithering beside them. You followed, grinning wide at Lloyd.
"You are correct."

Rubbing your hands together, you said, "Does it work on... people?"

The general looked at you, both excited and mildly terrified. Hissing, the snakes slowly closed in on the shaking couple. A cold sense of relief and euphoria flowed through your veins, drowning out any sort of rebellion in your thoughts.

Dad would be crazy to ignore this.

And so you watched, eyes mildly crimson, as the Fangpyre descended on the trembling couple.