The ninja followed Ari through the forest(again) until they reached a large body of water. On the other side of the large lake sat an old looking castle that looked like one large tower in both width and height.

"There it is boys" Ari says pointing to the castle "that's the city of rats"

"City? More like a castle" Kai says

"It is a castle of sorts" Ari tells him "once belong to a wealthy man but soon became infested with Rats that the nobleman and his family fled in fear. It now serves as the place for the guardian of the gem of fire"

"You said it was a Hydra right?" Lloyd asks

"Mhm" Ari nods

"Your family is all sorts of strange, creepy, and scary" Jay says

"Uh, you know I'm in that family right" Cole comments somewhat annoyed

"Yeah but it's not like you share the same blood... right?" Jay questions nervously

"Yes Jay" Ari replies

"Aria's still my cousin, blood or not" Cole says

"Alright everyone, I think we should make camp" Ari suggests

"Make camp?" Lloyd looks at her "but we're so close, it's right there"

"Yeah but the sun's going down" Ari looks at him "we can go after a good night's rest"

"But we need to hurry" Lloyd argues "who knows what's happening in Ninjago"

"I understand that, but rushing in and getting ourselves killed is not going to save ninjago" Ari explains

"We won't" Lloyd says with a smile "we're gonna be fine"

Ari shakes her head "no"

"Look you can stay here if you want, but we're gonna go" Kai says "we're ninja, Lloyd's right, we have to go"

The ninja follow Lloyd across the water.

Ari sighs "Those idiots"

-

The ninja make their way through the dark halls of the building, Kai used his fire to light the was as it was pitch dark in there.

"Doesn't anyone else find it creepy how not a single window or light is in here?" Jay asks nervously

Zane looks at him "Yes, but I'm more concerned why they call it the city of rats"

"Yeah, where are the-"

Cole stopped talking when he caught a glimpse of red. He stopped and looked where he saw it but it was gone.

"What's wrong?" Lloyd asks

"I thought I saw something" Cole shrugs

"Please this place is empty" Kai says annoyed "I haven't seen a single thing, not even the monster that's supposed to be here"

"Well it's gotta be here somewhere" Lloyd says

"Or maybe this is a trap" Kai suggests "Think about it, we got the first gem but what if that was just a ploy to deceive us. For all we know Ari could actually be Aria"

"I highly doubt it" Lloyd says "Ari isn't my Aria, I know that for a fact"

"Right, Ari's way different then our Aria" Cole agrees

"Huh.. then I guess we're just stupid" Jay says

The ninja all look at him annoyed. Then, they heard a squeak.

"What was that?" Lloyd looks around

"I have scanned the area their's are exactly 7,358 small creatures surrounding us" Zane tells them

"...rats" Cole says

"Oh no" Lloyd says

"We can't go out like this!" Jay falls to his knees

"Pull yourself together Jay" Kai grabs him by the hood and pulls him to his feet

The ninja look up to see dozens of Rats gathered on the ledge around them. They suddently start jumping down and the ninja took off running.

"This was a horrible idea!" Cole shouts

"Idiots the rats are afraid of fire!"

The ninja saw a fireball heading right towards them and they quickly ducked. The fireball struck the rats and they started scattering. The ninja looked up to see Ari standing on the ledge.

"Ari!" They shout happily

"Let's go!" Ari shouts to them and jumps down

The ninja follow after her until they reached a room to rest.

"Looks like you saved us again" Kai says

"I've had to save you guys so many times I'm starting to think you want to die" Ari sighs "This place is crawling with rats and the moment one spots you they'll all gather"

"So creepy" Jay shivers "I hate rats"

"Let's head to the center room, that's where the Hydra is" Ari says

"How do you get there?" Lloyd asks "this place is like a maze"

"Exactly, the building was designed that way" Ari replies "Just follow me"

Ari takes off in a direction and the ninja follow. They soon reach a room where light was barely coming in, it was finally daylight outside. In the middle of the room layed a giant snake with a crown on it's head where the gem of fire was.

"Great it's on it's head, that should be real easy to get" Jay says sarcastically

Suddently the giant snake opened it's eyes and raised up.

"Oh nice Jay you woke it up!" Cole looks at him

"Me and my big mouth" Jay whines

The snake glares down at them "Who dares enter my chamber!?!"