(Brielle)

CREAK!

I looked up, expecting to see Arachne with a new sort of torture device. But instead, two sleek, blue Arachneions, whom I recognized as Pouncenari, zip into the room, lightning fast, with hand cuffs in their arms.

"You're coming with us," one of them said. This one had eight purple eyes, whereas his colleague had acid green.

"Where?" I asked.

"That's classified, Silver Ninja," the green eyed one hissed.

Then, they stormed over and unlocked the cage. Before I had the chance, the two zoomed in and had me handcuffed, and had already pulled me out of the cage and into the narrow hallway. The purple eyed one walked in front of me, a spear clutched in one of his six arms, the green eyed one was behind me, holding a dagger in between my shoulder blades. There was no escape from the sides- that is- unless I could walk through a wall of solid rock, which wasn't happening.

"Walk faster," The Pouncenari hissed from behind me. "Az, I hate walking so slow!" he moaned.

"Well, there's no running permitted in this hallway, it's too thin, remember?" the apparent 'Az' mumbled.

"Oh yeah," the one behind me huffed.

~*~

After some time, we came across a rather large wooden door with a huge, clear crystal spider over it. The doorknobs were intricately carved out to have a spider web pattern on their brass surfaces.

"Zul, you open the door," Az said, fear in his voice. What could be inside that he was so afraid of?

The purple eyed spider whom had been in front of me and Az sighed, as he must have been 'Zul'. Closing all eight of his eyes, he rapped a claw-hand on the thick oak door.

"Come in," beckoned a raspy, feminine voice from inside.

Arachne.

Zul turned the brass knob, and with a faint click!, it creaked open slowly, to reveal a vast cave with a huge crystal chandelier that glowed a faint purple around its golden light. It was encased in spider webs, as well was most of the high ceiling. You could see the tiny spiders scuttle around. I shivered. The floor, for the most part, was stone, but the center of the room held a large ornamental rug with a mural of the five Arachneion clan amulets. The walls held dozens of detailed tapestries, telling the tales of things that dated back to when Ninjago was very new. One, that looked worn and faded, told about the first Spinjitzu Master, and the four elements... but this mural had five.

This tapestry included five ninja. A black one, with the symbol of earth next to it, a blue one, with the symbol of lightning, a white ninja was next to the symbol for ice, and a red ninja was beside the symbol of fire. And then, there was a Silver ninja in the center of the four, holding its arms up, the symbol of air in between them. On the bottom corners, I almost swore I saw two more figures. One seemed to be wearing purple, the other gold, but I couldn't tell. They were both scratched, faded, and overall worn away. I couldn't make out their symbols. What were these two for?

Had Sensei known about this? Does he now?

The furniture was ornate and ancient. There was a large bed against one wall, with a black canopy that had many large holes in it. There was another door next to it, with engravings on it that I couldn't read. Also in the room were a giant loom of sorts, a vanity, a vast wardrobe, a large basket of string and dye, a few chairs and strange books, and numerous other things.

Arachne sat on a plush maroon chair with golden swirls. She wore a long black gown, her hair pulled into a stiff bun, two curls hung loose, framing her red eyed, black face. She had on a large jeweled necklace, her typical thorn-and-bramble crown perched atop her head. Her red lips curled into a smile, flashing her pearly white fangs.

"I see you have brought the Silver Ninja successfully. Excellent." Arachne stood, striding over to the engraved door. "Please, take her in here."

Az and Zul nodded, dragging me over to the door. I frowned, wanting to say something, but just... unsure of what exactly to say.

The Spider Queen opened the door to reveal a sort of ancient laboratory. A large cauldron bubbled in the center of the room, rows of vials littered the shelves lining the walls. A glass cabinet held jars of things that made me sick to my stomach, a rack hung different ladles and pouches. On one end of the room, there was a chair with hand and leg cuffs on it. Great.

"Over there," Arachne gestured to the chair.

In seconds, I was now cuffed to the chair, any means of breaking free quite impossible at the moment. Arachne beckoned for the two Pouncenari to leave, and they did, shutting the door behind them. With another fanged, demonic smile, Arachne locked the door and stepped over to the cauldron.

"What are you going to do to me?" I questioned.

Arachne looked up. "Ah, you see, Brielle, I have come across a realization. I have discovered that one of the ninja has fallen for you, and will most likely do what you say. I have also put two and two together, and it seems that this certain ninja is the team's leader, so the other three will usually follow him. So, if I were to, say, get into your head, I could have you lure the other ninja here so I can destroy them. Then, they will be out of my way, and I can achieve my goal."

I was horrified. "Which is?" I pressed on.

"To, of course, take your power and be rid of you, and then, take over Ninjago, once and for all!" Arachne cackled, her maniacal laughter ringing through the air.

"That didn't totally answer my question," I said. "What are you going to do to me?"

Arachne took a flask from one of her shelves. It glowed a shocking purple, swirling around in the bottle.

"This, my dear ninja, is Poisoniti poison, straight from Venom, the clan leader, himself. It, once injected into your body, will cause you to do whatever I please," the Spider Queen explained, dumping the purple liquid into the concoction bubbling inside of the black cauldron.

I wriggled about, unable to get free of my shackles.

"And, when mixed with the ingredients that I have already added to the mixture," Arachne gestured to the cauldron, "It now will cause you to have an intense drive to destroy the ninja, to do whatever I please."

My eyes grew wide. "This is insanity."

"Oh, but my child, it is not. It is very real, and about to happen to you. Right now."

No, this couldn't be happening! I can't get out... what the hell am I going to do to get out of this mess? I couldn't use any of my elemental power- I didn't have my weapon or any energy to spare. I was stuck. Trapped. Doomed to face fate.

Arachne now took a ladle off of the rack and dipped it into the liquid, pouring it into what looked like the container for a shot that your would get at the doctor's office. Next, she attached a needle to the end. This was like a shot that you would get at the doctor's office. Except... this one did much more harm than good.

"Now, I hope you don't mind needles!" Arachne cackled, walking over to me. "Now," she said, sounding like a nurse, "This is only a little pinch!"

And the needle went in as I cried out in pain. I could feel the venom coursing through my veins, getting to my head, manipulating my mind. As I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to fight the potion, it was too powerful. It had taken over my brain. I could feel the change happening, something going on in my head. It was fighting a battle with myself, my darker half. Then, a small voice in the back of my head erupted, taking all control. Bring the ninja to Arachne, bring them to her, dead or alive. Stop at no costs. Bring the ninja to Arachne. I winced, trying to push it back. But the voice just grew stonger. Bring the ninja to Arachne, bring them to her, dead or alive. Stop at no costs. Bring the ninja to Arachne. Over and over again it repeated, I couldn't fight it any longer.

It had taken over.

I opened my eyes, to find, from the gleam from the cauldron, that they had went from a cloudy blue to a bright red. I opened my eyes, to find, that my mind was only focused on one thing, that that one thing should be a reality.

That the ninja must be destroyed.