—

"This is a disaster!" Jay shouted, his voice on the edge of hysteria. "That staff is the only way to cure my parents, and we have no way to get to it!!"

"Now Jay, honey, we're okay." Edna tried to reassure him, her forked tongue flickering out of her mouth as she did so. "Jussst having an odd craving for rodents."

"The staff isn't actually the only way to cure them." Lloyd cut in, sitting with the infected junkyard owners. "If we can raise their heart rate high enough, it should cure them."

"Heart rate?" Jay paused momentarily, then resumed pacing. "We don't have time for 'should'!! My parents are going to turn into snakes!!"

"Here," Nya put a hand on Edna's arm, prompting her to stand. "How about you two come sit in the trailer with us? The boys will figure something out."

"Sssure." Ed lisped, standing up. He was a bit unsteady, trying to account for the sudden addition of a new tail, but he and his wife allowed themselves to be herded towards their trailer. Lloyd glanced at Jay before following them, shoulders slumped. He should have insisted they check on them sooner.

Had the Hypnobrai released the Fangpyre? Skales and the Fangpyre general were friends, he remembered that. Maybe Skales has sought them out after taking over as General. They still hated the other tribes, right?

"Well Edna, at leassst we won't be having any more mice problems." Ed told his wife cheerfully as they clambered into the old trailer.

"Oh Ed."

"Hey, you won't be snakes forever." Nya tried to assure them. "We'll figure something out. Staff or no staff."

"Oh, you're sssuch a dear." Edna patted her arm. "Jay did sssuch a good job with you."

"Thanks- wait, what?"

"Oh my!" Ed exclaimed, looking out the window of the trailer. Lloyd turned to look, and spied Jay shooting off with his golden-weapon plane. He let out a disbelieving laugh.

"I can't believe I forgot about that." He remarked.

"About what??" Nya watched in bewilderment as the other ninja summoned their vehicles and took off after the serpentine army.

"The golden weapons can turn into vehicles," Lloyd explained. "Don't ask why. I don't know."

"Forgot?" Ed echoed. "How'd y'know that in the firssst place, ssson?"

"I'm from the future."

"Oh." Ed did not look pacified in the least.

"I'm going out to talk to Sensei. Sensei!" Nya hurried out the door again, leaving Lloyd with Jay's parents.

"Ssso." Edna began. "Future, eh?"

"Yeah." Lloyd finally tore his gaze from the scene outside, leaning back against the windowsill instead. "About six years in the future."

"Tell usss how that works, will ya?" Ed suggested. "Looksss like we have some time before the boysss get back." Lloyd tucked his arms behind his back, looking at the two for a few moments. Ed and Edna weren't particularly important to the timeline, were they? Telling them what he knew probably wouldn't screw anything up.

"Sure." He agreed hesitantly. "Well- what do you wanna know?"

"What's Ninjago like in sssix years?" Was Ed's first question. "What'sss changed?"

"To be honest, a whole lot." Lloyd hoisted himself up to sit on the windowsill. "There's a technology boom that happens in about... a year? Year and a half? Though a lot of that progress is somewhat reversed by what happens not long after." Ed and Edna looked on with curiosity as he spoke. "After that, it's really... not all that different than it is now, I guess." Lloyd shrugs a bit. "With some residual technology. But uh, a lot of big events are coming in the next few years."

"I sssee." Ed mused. "Can ya tell usss a bit about 'em?"

"Oh!" Edna exclaimed. "How doesss Jay fare with Nya? Poor boy, he's ssso shy." That coaxed a little grin onto Lloyd's face.

"'Shy' isn't exactly a word I'd associate with him." He admits. "But, um..." He leans forward a bit, crossing his ankles. "I guess I could tell you a bit-"

"That'll have to wait." Nya's voice made him jump, and Lloyd looked up as she poked her head inside the trailer. "Mr. and Mrs. Walker, Sensei says we need to get you back to the Bounty."

—

"Comin' in hot!" Jay yelled, skidding through the doorway into the bridge with the other three ninja hot on his heels. "We pissed off a lot of snakes!!"

"And you lead them here?!" Nya demanded, incredulous.

"What else were we supposed to do?!"

"We got the staff, anyway." Cole lifted it above his head, and Nya hurried over to take it. "Boys, come with me, we need to keep the Serpentine off of the ship!"

"No way, we're way too outnumbered." Jay protested. "I have another idea. It should be ready." Rushing over to the control panel, Jay lifted the cover off of a large, red button, and pressed it with a small flourish. The ship shuddered, but didn't move. "Drat!! Why isn't it working?"

"Let me sssee, ssson." Ed lisped, now greener and scalier than ever. He jogged over to the control panel, getting down to access the wiring below it. Lloyd looked out the window, and his heart jumped at the sight of a small army of Serpentine vehicles coming over the hill.

"Guys," He called, getting their attention. "Is there any way we can slow them down??"

"No need! I got it!" Ed called, straightening up and wiping off his hands on his shirt. "It was jussst a few wires crossssed." He assured his son. "Give it another ssshot." Jay nodded, hit the button again, and this time the mechanism kicked into gear. Lloyd watched through the window as the sails lifted and the rockets shifted into place, the old airship shaking as it rose off the ground. Most of the Serpentine were bound to the ground, fortunately - but one group had a helicopter. Surely they'd be able to handle it?

"Mr. and Mrs. Walker, you just sit down." Nya was saying. "I'm going to make an antidote from this." She hurried off into the other room with the staff, while the ninja gaped out through the window of the view of the desert from the sky.

"This is what I meant about us not being in the desert for long." Lloyd spoke up after a minute.

"Cooooool." Kai breathed. "We can go anywhere in Ninjago with this!"

"Yeah!" Jay cheered. "Man, talk about our luck finding the only abandoned flying airship in all of Ninjago." Lloyd caught his gaze, and Jay backtracked. "Or, uh, I guess it wasn't exactly luck."

"Not exactly." Lloyd agreed. "Not this time, anyway."

"Guys, we've still got one pursuer." Cole pointed out, grabbing his scythe and heading towards the deck. Indeed, the Fangpyre helicopter was approaching rapidly, considerably quicker and more agile than the Destiny's Bounty. "Looks like they want their staff back."

"We have to hold them off!" Jay gripped his nunchucks as he followed him out. "At least until my parents are cured!"

"No worriesss, ssson." Edna assured him cheerfully. "We're in good handsss."

"I'll keep them off." Zane lifted the sacred flute and hurried out after them. Not wanting to be left behind, Kai quickly followed, leaving Lloyd alone with the Walkers.

"Y'know," Ed remarked. "You'd sssure think that being bitten by a Fangpyre would make usss red 'n white, like them."

"Oh, you're right, dear." Edna agreed. "It'sss awfully ssstrange."

"I got it!" Nya hurried back into the bridge, carrying two cups. Lloyd watched as she handed them over to Jay's parents and instructed them to drink, which they did without complaint. Within moments, the effect of the venom was reversing, leaving them just as human as they ever were.

"Oh!" Edna exclaimed. "Splendid. We ought to tell Jay."

"I think he's busy right now." Lloyd looked out the window again, and flinched as a Serpentine warrior slammed into the glass. "Uh oh."

"They will not give up until they get their staff." Wu announced, entering the room. "If we want them to cease their pursuit, we must give it to them."

"Sensei!" Nya exclaimed, aghast. "Really?? If we have it, we have a reliable source of antivenom!"

"Yes, but we will never be able to rest." Sensei shook his head. "Even if we drive them away, they will find a way to come back stronger." Nya sighed, looking at the floorboards and wringing her hands.

"Fine." She said at last. "I'll get it." She hurried out of the room, and returned a moment later with the golden staff.

"Throw it over the side." Wu commanded. "They will abandon us in pursuit of it." Nya nodded, heading out onto the deck.

"Hey, snakes!" Lloyd could hear her shout. "Fetch!" There was a flash of gold as the staff went overboard, and the Fangpyre scrambled back to their helicopter to chase after it. Within moments, they had lost them in the clouds.

"Was that the staff??" Jay demanded as Lloyd collected the Walkers, leading them out onto the deck. "What about my parents?!"

"Oh, we're alright!" Edna called out. As soon as he'd spotted them, Jay dropped his weapons and rushed to greet them.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry!" He threw his arms around his mother, squeezing his eyes shut as his father gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I knew it, I knew I should've come sooner! We could've avoided all of this!"

"Oh dear, don't worry about us." Edna patted his back. "We're right as rain, and had quite an adventure. Just take us back to the junkyard, and we'll be out of your hair."

—

"I don't think that's going to be an option." Cole said grimly, leaning over the railing on the side of the ship. Below them was Ed and Edna's junkyard, looking nothing like how they left it. A large portion of it was a sickly green, evident of the Fangpyre's influence, and the rest of it was crawling with snakes. The Walker's home had been, in such a short time, repurposed into the Serpentine's headquarters.

"Oh dear." Edna murmured sadly, one hand on the railing and the other clutching at her husband. Ed didn't say a thing, but his grief was clear on his face.

"Oh, don't fret, Edna." He tried to assure her. "Those beasts'll move on eventually, and, when they do, we'll fix the place right up. There's always more junk to be had, after all."

"If you're sure, Ed."

"In the meantime..." Ed shrugged slightly. "I have a second-cousin-twice-removed in Ninjago City. Maybe they'll let us stay with 'em for a while."

"There's no need for that." Jay spoke up hastily, looking up from the junkyard as the ship began to drift away. "You can stay with us! We have room."

"Oh Jay, are you sure?" Edna exclaimed. "We wouldn't want to get in the way."

"Sure I'm sure!" Jay grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. "I'm sure the others won't mind." He shot a glare at the rest of the ninja, as if daring them to argue, but no one did.

"I for one would be delighted to have you here." Zane spoke up cheerfully. "A pair of skilled mechanics would be most beneficial to keeping this place up and running."

"Besides, you two are lovely people." Cole assured them. "I can't think of more welcome guests." Jay made an ehhh face, but turned back to his parents.

"See? You're more than welcome."

"Oh, you're all so sweet." Edna squeezed his hand. "Of course, we'd be happy to stay."

—

"So," Kai's voice had Lloyd looking up, standing up straight from where he was leaning on the railing. "Another tribe of Serpentine is free."

"Yeah." Lloyd turned back to the clouds. "I... guess the Hypnobrai freed them."

"Which you were supposed to do." Kai confirmed. Lloyd nodded.

"I was."

"And were you supposed to free any other tribes of Serpentine?" Kai's voice was... not as harsh as it had been, but it still sounded like an accusation.

"One." Lloyd's grip tightened on the railing. "The Anacondri. The other tribes hate him, they don't want anything to do with him."

"Him?" Kai echoed.

"There's only one left. His name is Pythor." Lloyd's heart thudded as he remembered his first interaction with the conniving snake. If Pythor hadn't been convinced that he could be useful, Lloyd could've been eaten on the spot. "There should be no way that he escapes."

"You said that about the Fangpyre, too." Kai pointed out. "And the Hypnobrai."

"Yeah." Lloyd sighed. "Destiny has a funny way of getting around me." He straightened, heading towards the bridge. "We need to check and make sure he's still imprisoned. Now."