Lord Garmadon and His Not-Dead Friends Plot A Few Murders

by ZeBaji

Summary:

After coming back to the present, armed with his newfound knowledge of the future, Lord Garmadon begins to plot his next murder with the help of his Serpentine crew, some very old friends... and Pythor.

Except he first needs to take care of a threat he thought he dealt with decades ago– Old Man Krux.

Notes:

Because it's been exactly a year with 500 kudos and I feel bad <3

Pythor hates rats. 

They are disgusting and furry, and he’s never had a particular taste for mammals, so eating the dastardly vermin is even worse. But here, trapped in a dark sewer, rats are the only thing large enough to appease his hunger. Small lizards and insects don’t do the job, and Pythor has tried luring a stray human or serpent into his… er– humble home, but he can’t get close enough to civilization without being extremely careful– even when he turns invisible!

Curse those pesky Ninja.

Curse that old man and Lloyd for ruining his plans.

Curse Skales for being plain annoying.

Curse the Great Devourer for not doing as he commanded.

He should be in charge of Ninjago, not hiding deep in the ground where he couldn’t even get a proper meal!

Pythor grumbles to himself, wandering deeper into the tunnels, in search of anything more entertaining than his bitter thoughts.

A putrid smell fills the air, and Pythor glances around the sewers, intrigued. He is at a dead end, but there is a small grate in front of him, and through it, Pythor can see trees.  

He takes no time in popping the grate open and taking a breath of…well, not fresh air, but it is cleaner than what he was currently breathing in. He cautions himself out of the small hole, and when he realizes he is in a large swamp nowhere near Ninjago… well. Pythor grins to himself as he ventures further into this new terrain.

Perhaps now, he can plot to take over Ninjago without being fearful of people being around him. If he could just get some food, then he’d be the happiest serpent in all the sixteen realms. Pythor chuckles menacingly, ignoring his rumbling stomach, and something rustles in the bushes.

“Who’s there?” He snarls out, twisting around to come closer to the bush. He doesn’t fear anything, not the Ninja, not Garmadon, and certainly not anything hiding in the bushes. “Come out of there,” He demands, and much to his surprise another serpent peeks out.

Well… Perhaps he should say another person covered in thousands of smaller, less humanoid snakes, wearing an odd set of armor, with small snakes poking out of the helmet, all in a disgusting color of orange-red. And that was saying something since the acid of the Great Devourer had bleached out Pythor’s beautiful purple scales into a washed-out white.

Pythor’s stomach growls, and the snake inches backward looking terrified.

“Well, hello there,” Pythor puts on his most charming smile and commands his stomach to be still. Yes, he was starving, but perhaps this snake wasn’t alone and could lead him to more food snakes– unless this unique-looking snake was alone, well too bad for them.

“You’re not a Vermillion warrior!” The multiple snake-man squeaks out, and Pythor’s grin widens into a gruesome look.

“Oh no,” he shakes his head before bowing his neck lowly. “Pythor B. Chumsworth, the last Anacondrai, at your service,” He says, and the snake-man, or Pythor should assume, Vermillion Warrior, looks at him wide-eyed.

“You’re a real serpent?” The dozens of snakes that make up the warrior’s face squirm around, and Pythor looks at them hungrily.

“I am, my friend,” He confirms, inching closer, grinning as the warrior doesn’t back away. “Now tell me, are you alone in these swamps?”

“No,” The snake shakes his head. “I’m on guard duty– actually I just finished my shift, but you scared me!”

“Oh?” Pythor raises his eye. Guard duty meant an establishment, and if it was an establishment of snakes, his plans of getting an army and food seemed to be coming to an end.

“I'm terribly sorry for surprising you. Could you lead me to your leader? I’ve never seen a snake formed out of multiple snakes before, and I must say, most impressive,” He notes and grins as the warrior puffs his chest out. 

“Of course, my leaders would love to meet a real serpent, I’m Trax by the way!” The Vermillion warrior introduces, and beckons Pythor to follow him through the swamp.

“Lovely to meet you, Trax,” Pythor’s stomach grumbles.

---

“So uh– Where are we going?” A Hypnobrai asks hesitantly, as Garmadon finishes instructing the helmsman of their destination. “I thought we were looking for a Grundle.”

The Black Bounty trembles as it leaves Ninjago City airspace– and as much as he wants to go check up on his son and make sure he is still ten and innocent and not a traumatized teenager, Garmadon has to deal with the first threat that isn’t pre-determined by destiny.

Chen.

The man that had caused his death.

The man who had made his son an orphan– Garmadon cannot allow that to happen. Especially not when he knows that death will not be the end for him and he will be resurrected only to die by his own hands.

Chen must be the first to go, He has already decided– the only matter now is how to convince his crew that they must make a detour before returning to Ninjago.

“How much do you know about the Serpentine War?” Garmadon wonders curiously, once the city disappears on the horizon, and his thoughts have mostly calmed from the sudden shifts in time. 

The serpents exchange confused glances, and remain silent, until Skales speaks up, with a roll of his eyes. “Only that before the war, there was much fighting over the truth of the Golden Master,” He scoffs, probably wondering why Garmadon has asked of the past when it is common knowledge that he had lived through the war.

"The serpentine tried to warn the humans of his rising– but they turned us away. It divided not only us from the humans for decades but divided the tribes too," Another serpent steps forward too, once he sees that Garmadon has not thrown their former leader overboard for saying the wrong thing. Garmadon tends to do it a lot, and he really needs to stop, before it becomes a habit.

"But the war was the first time the Serpentine ever united!” A Fangpyre says, almost excitedly as he shares his species’ history. "Our ancestors came together to fight a common enemy!"

“I don’t know why you're proud of that,” a Constrictai rumbles out, crossing his arms at the Fangpyre. “Look at where that got us– entombed and left to rot underground for countless decades.”

Garmadon nods, “Yes,” he says, eyes narrowing when everyone stills to listen to his words. “And your tribes would never have been buried alive had it not been for a man named Chen.”

“Chen?” Snappa asks, scratching his head. “The one who helped unify our tribes, and helped lead our battles?”

“The very same,” Garmadon grimaces, confirming that the man the serpents had praised for decades, had been the reason they were trapped in the first place. 

The others around him stare at him in shock but Garmadon continues. “He orchestrated the entire war for his own amusement, and now he plots to steal Elemental power from the Ninja and others like them, to become an Anacondrai serpent.”

He lets his words sink in and quietly grins when the serpents share disgusted and revolted looks at one another. 

“The man who trapped us in tombs, wants to become one of us? ” The Constrictai growls in outrage.

“How dare he!” 

Here comes the anger, and Garmadon relaxes a miniscule. He may have been omitting some truths (such as, he had been a core reason for misleading the serpents into listening to Chen) but history was always being changed. Garmadon could tweak it slightly to get his revenge, and no one would be none the wiser. 

“Why are you telling us this?” Skales asks curiously when Garmadon becomes silent, listening satisfied to the shouts that ring aboard the ship.

“Because,” Garmadon allows a smirk to creep on his face, as he stares at his crew. “Not only is this a revenge for his past deeds on the Serpentine and humans, this is also how we begin our path to ruling Ninjago,” he explains, basking in the excited looks his crew exchange with one another.

“In order to remove an unnecessary enemy to Ninjago, we are going to eliminate Chen, so he may never try to overthrow us and commit crimes to both humans and Serpentine alike, ever again,” Garmadon announces, and the serpents make noises of approval. 

This is a cause they could get behind, and even if it didn’t affect them personally, this man had trapped their elders in tombs– and his death could be justified in the serpents’ eyes. 

Garmadon grins inwardly, now that their goals are aligned, he doesn’t need to fear a mutiny anytime soon. Even Skales looked properly outraged, and if the snakes didn’t follow Garmadon with this plan, then it would still be completed with Skales.

“How?” Is the first question he hears, once the ship has quieted down, and he lets out a laugh, something that usually terrifies the serpents, who have only heard it when someone is about to regret being born.

Now it is a reassurance, because the laughter is being aimed at a terrible person who wants to become them, and they refuse to allow that possibility to actually happen. 

“First we have to unite the five tribes, all under a common goal,” Garmadon tells them, once Snappa brings out a pad of paper to take notes.

Assassinations must be planned out after all. 

“This means locating Pythor,” He continues, and some of the crew sigh and roll their eyes– and Garmadon is right there with them.

“Pythor is necessary to find because Chen will also be looking for him,” He explains, but he still sees a majority of snakes grumble under their breath about killing the last Anacondrai along with Chen.

It’s not a terrible idea, Garmadon acknowledges and has Snappa write it down on the pad of paper.

They are over the sea now, once Garmadon has finished explaining his plan. They first will locate the unchartable island, chart it, form a serpent army, and then storm Chen’s palace.

Then Garmadon will slit his old master’s throat, and feed Clouse to his pet snake.

The thought fills Garmadon with satisfaction, and he smiles darkly.

Preventing his own death along with avoiding a ghost invasion is not even the main reason for ending Chen’s life.

To Garmadon, Chen was the beginning of his separation from his family, Wu, Lloyd, Misako, and even Mistaké. It was the beginning of his own demise, the evil festering deeper into his skin, into his bones, corrupting everything he tried to protect.

So yes, Chen needed to be removed, if only for his own closure.

But first, he must survey the area, gather resources, and make sure Pythor was in his control.

Perhaps he can locate the Anacondrai Serpent, while the few serpents on his ship can do reconnaissance. That would allow for them to be unlinked to Garmadon if they were to get captured, and he could get to Pythor quicker.

He shares this idea with those aboard, and Skales is quick to form a team that will traverse Chen’s Island. Garmadon warns them of traps, but Skales smiles wickedly and tells him they have it covered. He has no choice but to trust them, but with the calculated gleam his second in command has, Garmadon thinks the team will survive it much better than his once-skeleton army.

As night falls, Garmadon begins to feel fatigued from the time travel, and after using the Mega weapon to kill his future self, meeting his young adult son, and traveling back only to begin planning a takeover– he is well and truly exhausted.

So he excuses himself from the crew and enters his quarters with a heavy mind, allowing himself a sparse thought of his wife until Lloyd’s voice enters his mind with thoughts of betrayal. No, he still will not think of Misako.

But his son, he can openly think about. He will change things, he vows to a son older and younger than their time. He will not forget his family. He will make Ninjago safe for them.

Then maybe he can think about his failures as a father, husband, and brother. Perhaps he could change it.

He sleeps after that thought, dreams of a better place filling his head. But all too soon he wakes and must begin his planning, abandoning his hopeful distant dreams for the dangerous reality that his present is. 

The Mega Weapon gleams in his hands, and Garmadon ponders at it. Perhaps he can use it to find what he is looking for.

---

Pythor spots the small house filled with noise and warmth and loses all of his self-control. 

It’s not entirely his fault, he assures himself, but he’s been slitering around the swamp for hours and Trax the wide-eyed Vermillion warrior looked so tasty, Pythor is genuinely impressed it took him this long to cave into his hunger.

With a huge swallow, Trax is gone, and Pythor’s stomach is full. He takes a moment to digest, then clears his throat, making his way to the warm shack.

Good first impressions were a must, and now that he was no longer hungry, Pythor is sure he can negotiate or eat his way into taking over the army that Trax had so nicely shown him. Yes, they were still in eggs, but Pythor can wait. He’s been waiting and plotting for decades now, what more was a few more years?

He knocks on the door, smooths out his tattered cloak that he found in a trash bin, and puts on his most friendly face.

Then the door opens, letting the scent of a forge and metals waft out, and his face falls almost immediately as he recoils backward. “You,” Pythor hisses dangerously, just as the person in front of him stumbles back in surprise.

“How?” The man, not a snake, but a man, stares at him wide-eyed in shock and fear. The man who had trapped him in that infernal tomb. The man he had sworn to kill if he ever saw him again.

“We trapped you–” The man starts out, face pale, reaching out, probably for a weapon, but Pythor stops him with a quick flick of the tail.

“Yes,” he hisses, “You did, but now I am free. Now, I’m going to kill you,” he says, mouth wide, his fangs gleaming. He was full, but he wasn’t too full for dessert.

“Ray?” A woman’s voice rings out, and Pythor grins widely. Both of them were here? Together? The two had trapped his entire tribe in a too-small enclosure and made them resort to cannibalism to survive.

Oh somebody was looking down on him today.

“Maya, run!” The man shouts, looking back into the home, but Pythor wraps his tail around the man’s throat.

“There is nowhere to run,” he murmurs, his eyes gleaming, as the man chokes. “Don’t have a flute on you, do you?” He sneers with a long smile, squeezing the life out of the man.

A crack of thunder sounds behind him, and Pythor whirls around prepared to attack anyone who would try to help this man. He could take them, he thinks arrogantly, until he looks at the person looking back at him, and he lets out a tiny squeak.

Perhaps someone was not looking down on him…

Lord Garmadon stares at him coldly. “Why is it, that when I use my Mega Weapon, someone is always getting choked to death?” He demands, pointing the huge gold stick at Pythor.

The question means nothing to Pythor, but Garmadon catches sight of the man still trapped in Pythor’s tail, and he looks at the Anacondrai serpent with murder in his eyes.

“Rats,” Pythor curses, and the last thing he sees is a flash of gold coming his way.

---

Garmadon looks at his dead best friend, who apparently isn’t dead, and wants to kill the snake he just knocked out.

“Ray?” A familiar woman hurries out of the house, holding a well-crafted sword, and Garmadon sinks to the ground, partially because of exhaustion from the Mega Weapon, and partially because his best friends were alive. Alive!

Maya looks at him and the knocked-out Anacondrai serpent, seemingly trying to figure out where to put her sword.

“Are you alright?” She asks her husband, and Garmadon stares at the two of them in wonderment. Alive, breathing, and safe. Or somewhat safe, considering they’re prisoners here and have no means to escape. But that could easily be changed now that he was here, he tells himself determinedly.

“I’ll live,” Ray sits up, rubbing his throat gingerly. The couple turns towards him, eyeing Garmadon hesitantly, taking in his four arms and Mega Weapon. 

Kai had told him that their parents had been alive, hadn’t he? Garmadon was too preoccupied with the other things, such as Lloyd being knocked out and his brother being an infant to truly process that. But now, Garmadon can hear their son’s voice, somewhere in the far future telling him that the siblings had grown up without parents because of Krux and Acronix.

The words flood through Garmadon’s ears, and all he can do is stare in wonderment.

“Thank you…?” Ray says slowly, no doubt unable to recognize Garmadon after so long. Who would expect to see a lifelong friend with four arms and electrocuted skin?

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already,” Garmadon still teases, pulling himself up with the Mega Weapon. Alive! “It’s only been…what? A decade since we last met?”

“Garmadon?” Ray asks hoarsely, staring at him in disbelief, and Garmadon raises his arms with a smile.

“In the very flesh.”

“How did you find us?” Maya asks cautiously, as Ray walks forward and grips him in a tight embrace. “Wu told us you died!”

Garmadon shakes his head, already annoyed at his brother’s antics, as Ray pulls away. “I will explain everything to you– it is quite the tale– but first we must deal with Krux,” He promises, looking around the clearing as if the man would conveniently appear out of the foliage.

“How did you– Never mind. He is in Ninjago right now. Come inside, and we will share our stories and then plan an escape. The house is guarded by Vermillion Warriors and My powers have disappeared while Maya’s have weakened considerably. Our plans need to be adjusted,” Ray explains, gesturing for Garmadon to follow them into the said house. “We’ll explain after you tell us how you have four arms!”

Garmadon chuckles and enters the home, as Maya pulls out some rope and ties Pythor up. It’s warm and welcoming and has food still steaming on the table. “It’s a long story,” he points out, and Ray pulls out another stool and gestures for him to sit.

“We have time,” his oldest friend says with a smile, and despite everything, Garmadon smiles back and begins his tale.

An hour later, or perhaps it is two, Garmadon finishes explaining his story from when he had seen his friends last, and both Maya and Ray are still processing his words. Garmadon doesn’t mind, taking a bite out of Maya’s delicious cooking. He hadn’t had a home-made meal in a long time, especially one made out of genuine love and caring, and was willing to wait the silence out with something that tasted so incredible.

“Let me get this straight, you tried to steal the Golden Weapons and failed, so Wu banished you to the Underground?” Ray finally asks, looking extremely overwhelmed. 

“And then later escaped to the Realm of Madness,” Garmadon agrees, nodding sheepishly.

“So you could grow out your Oni arms permanently,” Maya clarifies, frowning slightly as she leans forward, and eyes him warily, “To wield the Golden weapons?”

“Yes,” Garmadon nods his head, and gestures to the Mega Weapon. “And I succeeded after killing the Great Devourer. The map you left in your shop was very helpful.”

“Right,” Ray nods, looking not as perturbed as Garmadon expected, since the whole reason the map existed was to keep the weapons out of Garmadon’s hands. “But during all this, your son, which makes me an uncle by the way, became the Green Ninja?”

“Yes,” Garmadon says again. The word doesn’t feel like a word in his mouth, he’s been saying the same thing for a while.

“And as you were searching for a way to stop him from fighting in the Final Battle,” Maya leans back and examines Garmadon with a careful eye. “You accidentally went into the future and killed yourself. Why am I not surprised to learn this?” She asks with a sigh, rubbing her head when Garmadon gives her an awkward nod. 

“Yes to the accidental time travel, but I did intentionally kill myself,” he corrects, with a shrug and an embarrassed smile. “I had severely lost my way, and I’m not even sure that it was truly me. Also, Wu was a baby– and any future where that happened should not come true.”

“So now what?” Maya asks, as Ray nods his head in agreement– Wu being an infant was never good news, he was barely coherent as an adult, let alone a baby. 

“Our children. You said that they inherited our powers?” Ray interrupts, looking eagerly at Garmadon.

“Yes. Kai is the elemental master of fire, and Nya will eventually become the master of water. She hasn’t discovered it yet, she’s still the Samurai X at this time, but from what I saw in the future, she is a formidable warrior,” Garmadon grins when Ray and Maya share a look.

“And they are well?” Maya asks, looking at him with tears in her eyes, “Safe and healthy?”

“Yes,” Garmadon says softly, “They are well. They are Ninjago’s heroes.”

The couple share another watery look, and Garmadon averts his eyes, taking another bite of the meal. 

He could understand the pain– he feels the same with Lloyd, and although he's going to try his best to keep Lloyd from what his son’s future could become– he still feels pride in what his child had turned into. He just wished it hadn’t come at the cost of everything.

“So,” Ray coughs, breaking the silence. “Once we get out of here, are we to go back to Ninjago? We have been away for far too long.”

Garmadon nods, “Yes,” he says, “Of course. I can have my crew drop you off at the ports before heading towards Chen’s island. The Ninja live in the city, near a place called Grand Sensei Dareth’s Mojo Dojo. Please don’t ask me to say that again, I think I threw up a little in my mouth,” Garmadon grimaces, washing his throat out with a sip of tea.

“Chen? Why are you going there?” Maya asks, looking startled. “Don’t tell me he has started another war.”

Garmadon smiles grimly, “No. I fear this is a bit more personal than that. He causes my death which results in a series of events that lead to my resurrection, and I truly don’t want to get resurrected into that… creature, ” He shudders, and his two friends nod with a wince.

“Understandable,” Ray says, looking thoughtful. “Perhaps we could help. You’ll need all the extra hands you can get– no pun intended,” He smirks, gesturing to Garmadon’s extra arms, and Garmadon rolls his eyes playfully before looking at them seriously.

“Are you sure? You must want to be with your children after all this time,” He asks carefully, but Maya and Ray shake their heads.

“You’re getting us out of here– it’s the least we can do to prevent your death. And that way we can all go back to Ninjago and our children together,” Maya explains, and Garmadon smiles warmly at them.

“Thank you,” he says, full of gratefulness, before pausing with a frown. “But how exactly did you end up here? Surely escaping this swamp would be simple, even without your powers?”

“You’d think,” Ray snorts, shaking his head, and twists himself to show a small scar on the base of his neck. “Bastard had us chipped. We leave a certain range– Boom! We explode.” He mimes an explosion, facing them again, and Garmadon’s familiar feeling of murder returns.

“What?” He demands with a hiss.

“Apparently when you trapped Acronix and saw the blimp in the sky, Krux saw it as well and decided to lay low and wait for the perfect opportunity,” Maya explains, “Which was a few months after we thought you died. Dr. Saunders– Krux’s new identity– told us of the Devourer eggs he had found. Obviously, we had to destroy it. He lured us with that information to his museum, trapped us with Vengestone, and threatened to attack our children if we didn’t cooperate.”

“Devourer eggs?” Garmadon asks, feeling uncontrollable rage bubbling inside of him. “How? And why?”

“He’s creating an army– the Vermillion Warriors. Imagine a bunch of snakes all twisted into a human-like form, Ray explains, “We are forced to create armor for them, and he plans to unleash them into Ninjago once Acronix appears.”

“We need to destroy these eggs. We cannot allow this to continue,” Garmadon says, and his friends exchange a look.

“Agreed. But the swamp is huge, we don’t know how many eggs there are.”

“We could torch the entire place,” He suggests, and Ray shrugs, a small grin spreading on his face.

“I don’t have my powers anymore, but I’m sure I can manage,” He hums to himself looking thoughtful, and Garmadon ponders what his next step should be. Krux needed to go– he had not only imprisoned his closest friends but also used something that needed to be destroyed– he hadn’t even known that the Devourer had eggs.

“Let’s set fire to the place after we deal with Krux,” Garmadon stands up and walks over to the door, a sadistic grin creeping up on his face. “And I know just the person who can help us with this.”

---

Krux sighs and pulls off his fake white mustache. 

Another tireless day of dealing with the public– why exactly had he chosen this wretched profession again? Probably because it was the only job that would let him stay in the past, he concedes to himself. Especially since that wealthy inventor/businessman has begun his plans to ‘upgrade the city into the future.’

Oh, how Krux despises Cyrus Borg and his futuristic ideals of what Ninjago should be.

He walks into his secret room deep within the closed museum, wondering how the realm came to this insanity in less than half of a century. This generation, he grumbles to himself, eying a few of his unhatched vermillion eggs in satisfaction. It was only a matter of years before his brother would be released and he could enact his plan to take over Ninjago and reform it back into its glory days. 

There were still a few things he needed to do first, and one of those things was to collect enough of the Devourer’s venom that had sunk its way into Ninjago’s earth. He wanted to see if feeding the venom to his own snakes would make them even more invincible and stronger than they already were, and so that he could examine the side effects.

Perfection couldn’t be created in a day after all, and Krux was a true master of patience. His graying hair was a testament to the feat of waiting decades for his perfect revenge. He considers heading to his swamp to check up on things before collecting more samples of venom but catches sight of something moving in his peripheral vision, and he goes still.

There was someone else in here.

 Krux grits his teeth and whirls around, taking a sharp knife from a nearby counter and gripping it tight in his hands. His eyes dart to the corners of the room, scowling when he doesn’t see anyone. He knows what he saw– despite what some would say, his vision is not worsening with age! He simply prefers using glasses to keep his alter ego separate from himself.

“Who’s here?” He demands, not bothering to use his Dr. Saunder’s voice and mannerisms. If they had already made it to his hidden room in the museum, then whoever was here had to know who he was. “Show yourself!”

Silence fills through the empty room.

It was simply Krux and the unhatched Devourer eggs. No one else.

His eyes narrow deeper than they already are as he fiddles with the knife in his hands. Perhaps he should reconsider the medicine for his brain, his doctor had prescribed him. It seemed he was seeing things that were not truly there. Krux scowls, but as soon as he thinks that horrible thought, a humanoid figure materializes near the egg tank, causing him to jump back in alarm.

“Fascinating,” A white-scaled Anacondrai serpent mummers to himself, studying the eggs as he ignores Krux’s incredulous spluttering. “I tried to release the original, unruly thing that it was, but perhaps I should have been looking for her eggs. Seems to be much more controllable.”

“Who are you?” Krux demands, mentally debating whether he should attack or talk his way out of this unexpected circumstance. He hadn’t planned to be found out, not yet. But Krux is nothing if not prepared and slowly inches his way to a far counter to hold all of his anti-pest sprays.

The Anacondrai turns to look at him, looking startled as if Krux had just walked into the room. “Oh, do forgive me,” He says bowing his neck lowly, a calculating gleam flashing in his slitted eyes. “Pythor B. Chumsworth, I do believe we have something in common.”

“And what’s that?” Krux asks, his fingers curling around the spray of bug repellent. Maybe it would work on snakes too.

“We both want to take over Ninjago, both despise the old sensei, have a… fascination with the mother of all snakes,” Pythor lists off, and Krux doesn’t ease his grip on the canister.

“What are you saying?” He asks, narrowing his eyes at the snake.

“We should team up,” Pythor slithers closer to Krux and offers him a hand. “Take over Ninjago together. With your army of snakes at my command, we will be unstoppable!”

“Unfortunately for you, I already have a partner in Ninjago’s demise,” Krux says, not liking the way the snake doesn’t seem to be bothered by either the knife or repellant in his hands.

“Oh? Well, what if I told you, as a friendly piece of information, that Lord Garmadon was in your…facility, attempting to rescue your armorers?” Pythor smirks, when Krux releases the bug canister in alarm.

“Garmadon is here? He’ll ruin everything!” He yells, rushing past the amused serpent and heading over to press a button that will lead him to his swamp, but not before grabbing his chip remote that can stop Ray and Maya if he has to.

Garmadon had found him? How? Krux had ensured that after Garmadon’s return from wherever he was banished, he would be under Garmadon’s radar until Krux was ready to unleash his army. So how had Garmadon found him?

Krux grumbles to himself, storming through the sewer passages, and making his way onto the cliff that overlooks his unhatched eggs. “Where is he?” He demands, wielding his knife at Pythor, who has followed him into the swamp. “What does he want?”

“To free his beloved ‘friends,’” Pythor spits out, “But worry not– he is weakened. His staff has depleted him of energy since he used it to find this place. We can take him!”

Krux eyes the serpent. “Why are you being so helpful?” He asks carefully.

Pythor grins, “We both want the same thing– Garmadon gone. After that, we can discuss a partnership.”

“...Alright,” Krux agrees begrudgingly. “He’s at the forge?”

“No,” A voice says from behind the two. “I’m right here.”

Krux whirls around, facing Garmadon, Ray, and Maya. “How–” Krux starts before glaring at Pythor. “You’re working with them?” He demands. “They imprisoned you and Garmadon entrapped your generals!”

“Oh I know,” Pythor sighs, slithering over to stand behind the three angry Ninja. “I asked the same thing– “Working with humans, especially the humans that trapped me?” No, thank you! I told them I’d rather take my chances with you, the old man, who managed to trap them. You seemed to know what you were doing, but–”

“I hit you in the head. Twice,” Garmadon brandishes his golden staff at Pythor, who shrinks away from it, looking wary. “You don’t need to explain your thought process.”

Pythor looks away with a sniff, and Garmadon returns his sights on Krux, who prepares to fight for his life and wonders if any of his snakes are ready to be hatched. All the ones that were hatched were on patrol and wouldn’t be able to aid him on time.

“Krux,” Garmadon bares his teeth into something that resembles a deranged smile. “I thought we killed you forty years ago. The years do not look good on you, my friend,” he says, and Krux scowls, gripping his knife.

“You are not my friend. Never have been, even if we once fought on the same side,” He growls out, but Garmadon simply shrugs.

“That was such a long time ago, you’re too old to remember that,” The four-armed man dismisses, sharing a humorous look with Ray and Maya. “For being the Master of time, time doesn’t seem to be your friend– after all your hair is all white and you are more wrinklier than Wu! Ray is older than you and he can fight without breaking a hip!”

“It’s true,” Ray says, looking serious. “Can you even hear us in your age?”

“Or has your vision weakened?” Maya tuts sympathetically. “Perhaps the tattoos that you got after the bar fight with Libby have something to do with that.”

“What?” Krux demands, feeling lost. What game was Garmadon playing? Why were they not fighting? Ah well, it gave him time to wait for one of his warriors to find him.

“You were right, Ray,” Garmadon turns to look at the former Fire Ninja. “He does have hearing loss.”

“It happens to the worst of us,” Ray reassures Krux, walking over to pat his back. Krux lets him, feeling absolutely befuddled. “I’m sure there is something we can do to fix that.”

“I hear Cyrus Borg has released a line of state-of-the-art aids for all types of disabilities,” Pythor offers, and Krux glowers at the name of the well-renowned inventor.

“Or perhaps you have simply gone senile,” Maya suggests with a raised voice, not letting Krux get a word of protest in. “I hear talking like a crazy person can actually turn you into one.”

“He’s probably not safe to be around kids, let alone offering school tours in that museum of his,” Ray nods his head, and Krux stares, stupified to argue back.

“What?”

“Oh, well there you have it,” Garmadon claps his two top hands together. “We’ll get you hearing aids, and send you to a nursing home.”

“What?” Krux splutters again. “All of you are older than me! I refuse to be put in a nursing home!”

“Well, it’s either a nursing home or death,” Ray says, holding out the remote that controls the chips in Ray and Maya’s neck. When did he get that? Krux is at too much of a loss to truly question it.

“I would rather die here and now than play bingo with drooling geriatrics!” Krux hisses, and Garmadon shrugs, snatching Krux’s knife into one of his many hands.

“Wu tells me he enjoys bingo,” Garmadon protests, fiddling with Krux’s prized possession, “Don’t worry, I’m sure I can convince the Ninja to volunteer and tend to you in shifts,” he says, just as something explodes in the far distance.

Before Krux can demand what that was, Ray waves the question away. “Don’t worry, that’s just the explosives destroying your life’s work. You won’t need to worry about all that when you're in the Old Man home,” Ray explains cheerfully,  ignoring Krux’s wide eyes and sinking chest.

Everything he had done for the past forty years was crumbling before his very eyes, a fact solidifies itself when another explosion happens and everything becomes engulfed in flames.

Krux gulps when he realizes that he is now surrounded by enemies who would not simply be at peace with him in a nursing facility while he is defenseless and without any leverage, and Krux slowly comes to terms with his fate.

“Oh, just kill me now,” Krux whispers, closing his eyes in despair, and silently giving his brother an apology before Garmadon happily obliges to his final request.

---

“My Lord!” A snake salutes as Garmadon boards his ship, ignoring the fire below him. “Did you find him?”

Garmadon nods, helping Maya over the steps. “I did,” he says, gesturing to Pythor, who is eying all the glaring snakes with a frown.

“I suppose you’ll lock me in your bridge?” The Anacondrai sighs, looking unimpressed and Garmadon nods.

“You suppose correct,” He agrees, gesturing for two members of his crew to take Pythor below deck.

“My lord!” Snappa makes his way to the three of them, as Pythor goes with the crew, muttering darkly under his breath.

“Skales and his team have made it to the island! He plans to send a map in two days if everything goes according to plan,” Snappa reports, and Garmdons smiles, baring his teeth.

“That is wonderful news! Prepare a room for my guests here, and chart a course for the island,” He orders to his crew before turning towards his friends, who look around the sky in awe. Garmadon smiles, he's sure that freedom is sweet. “If all goes to plan and Chen gives up as easily as Krux, we should be back in Ninjago in less than a week!”

The three of them share a smile and turn to look at the burning swamp. Garmadon grins, feeling satisfied when he watches as the eggs become devoured by the inferno.

"Free," Ray murmurs, as the Dark Bounty leaves the fire and begins to make its way over the ocean. "We are free."

“Free and close to reuniting with your children," Garmadon says. "We will be flying over Ninjago City if you want to see them now," he offers, but Maya shakes her head.

"We're doing this together Garmadon," She declares with a finality, and Garmadon nods his head. "Though I wouldn't mind a weapon to attack Chen with."

Garmadon barks out a laugh. "We will get you an armory for you to choose from," He promises. "And then we shall murder Chen and go home,” He says, smiling darkly, and his helmsman is quick to set course for the north. 

Notes:

It has been exactly a year since Lord Garmadon Is Not Impressed With The Future, and while I didn't really want to write a follow-up to this fic, I already wrote half of a continuation a few days after posting it. Yeah, you heard me, a few DAYS after it.

"So why exactly did it take me a year to finish it?" You may be asking, and good question! The answer is that I completely forgot about it _-_
I got distracted by writing other stuff like You Never See the Golden Ninja, Lloyd Garmadon, Chat Noir, and Adrien Agreste in the same room at the same time and A Wish to Be Great, so I APOLOGIZE, and hopefully, the next installment will not take as long as this one did. :D Thank you for reading!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of The Adventures of Lord Garmadon