#fangpyres could be form since they change things into other things

[crying-over-cartoons]

seriously considering making a ninjago AU comprised entirely of speculative biology about serpentine because their whole everything is pretty inconsistent but I really like snakes so I wanna fix it up a bit

[aweebwrites]

Move on Dragons Ch3

Eternal thanks to the light of my writing life @thelucariosfish for beta-ing!

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'Alright. This is it. Hiroshi's Labyrinth. Miles and miles of unexplored territory. I think Mr. Borg had an old base here a few of you can use as a den. Maybe your Cole could widen it a bit.' Kai suggested as the thunder of dragons focused on him where he was still perched atop Garmadon's head.

'Perhaps you could show us this… Base.' Wu requested, the large white and gold dragon focusing on the half dragon and Kai scratched the back of his head, having no clue where it was.

'I'll take care of that.' They looked over to the hovering Bounty where the Oni that was Lloyd had spoken from, his hand absentmindedly petting the small black dragon taking a nap around his neck.

The dragon version of himself flew over and without prompting, Lloyd hopped out on his back, startling the smaller dragon around his neck. The wide eyed black dragon looked to where they once stood on the Bounty then back to their place on the back of a far larger dragon than he. The small dragon began chittering and nipping at Lloyd as if reprimanding the Oni for doing something so risky.

"Ow! Ow! I'm fine! No need to bring teeth into this!" Lloyd yelped, pulling his face back from the cranky black dragon.

'It's strange that he is obviously kin but yet… I cannot understand him.' Draconic Lloyd says as he flew him over to his uncle.

'It's odd to me too.' Lloyd says back, apologetically petting the black dragon's head. 'I could understand Firstbourne and while she's in the same dimension as I am, she's in a different realm. Well. That's assuming that this little guy is from this dimension.' He added, remembering that other dimensions were a thing.

"Well, lead the way." Kai says to Lloyd from his pace atop his dragon self's back.

The Oni nods then told his dragon self to fly straight ahead, the rest of the dragon nation following.

"We should follow too." Cole says to Nya from the Bounty and she nods, navigating the Bounty behind them.

Zane kept his focus, even as Jay poked and prodded at the microscope he was using while waiting for the results of the blood test he had ran. Looking at something at a microscopic level was beyond his abilities as a Nindroid after all. Though, what he was observing at this point does prove to be… Worrying. Zane sat back with a frown, professing all he has observed so far. Back then, years ago, Nya had said there was a theory that elevating one's heartbeat could cure the bite of a Fangpyre. It was all theoretical though. They should have known to give Jay a full check to see if the venom was truly gone. It wasn't gone, only had been lying dormant in Jay's very DNA all this time. Being exposed to the draconic dimension and its ways of mutating humans by simply being in that dimension for long had triggered it. 

Zane was just guessing here but the changes from human to draconian started the very second they crossed over to the dragon's dimension. It's just an incredibly slow process that gets faster over time. But while the change may have run smoothly in Cole and Nya, it must have ran into some trouble with the dormant Serpentine venom spread out through Jay's body. He imagines that both may have clashed for a bit before the stronger rose up- the stronger being the venom in Jay's DNA since the draconian influence would have been very weak at that point. The venom must have overpowered and used what little energy drive the draconian influence had to become active again, starting off as sluggish as it was now. But within a few days, a week at most, Jay would be almost completely Serpentine. He would retain most human features Zane felt sure of, but yet again, this was all theory. He can't say for sure this is the direction in which things will go.

"I take it that you've found something?" Zane looked up at Sensei Wu as he approached him.

He breathed out slowly then nodded.

"Yes. I have." He says, gaining Nya and Cole's attention as well. "I still need the blood work to say for sure what changes to expect but… The venom he had taken in from pricking his hand against the Fangpyre skull years ago hadn't disappeared with unlocking his true potential. Rather, it had became dormant. I theorize that the exposure to the Dragons' dimension is the trigger of why it's suddenly active again," Zane explained.

"I don't get it. Didn't it take Kai a month or two in the dragon dimension to start showing changes? And how does being in a dragon dimension turn one into a Serpentine?" Nya asked, confused.

"A change as big as going from human to dragon isn't a sudden thing. It's more logical for the change to start from the moment one enters the dragon dimension and slowly proceeds from there. My hypothesis so far is that once the influence of the dimension met the dormancy of the Serpentine venom in Jay's blood, there was a bit of a struggle between both genetically-changing forces. The venom which was more likely the stronger of the two forces must have overpowered the draconic influence and took it's drive to become active again," Zane explains then looked towards Jay who was only half listening. "From what I've seen so far, Jay will be completing his change by the end of the week." He added and they gasped.

"But- but if he's been bitten by a Fangpyre, surely we can just meet up with some Serpentine and make some antivenom, right? Right?" Cole asked and Zane frowned.

"We could try… But it's unlikely to work. The venom was from a skeletal system that dated back almost a hundred years. Serpentine now have evolved much since then. Their venom may not be the same. The antivenom may not have the components needed to cure him. Moreover…" Zane explained then looked over to Jay as the blue ninja smiled at him, cheeks in hand. "The venom has been in his system so long that it has become apart of him- apart of his very DNA. That alone is enough to almost guarantee that even if the antivenom is correct, it wouldn't be able to do anything." Zane told them and the others frowned.

"No need to look so glum!" Jay says cheerfully, gaining their attention. "I'm just becoming a snake man permanently is all! You guys can just kick me off the team if it comes to it. No biggie." He shrugged and his teammates looked at him in disbelief.

"As if, you damn airhead!" Cole snapped at him, leaving Jay to blink at him curiously. "We're gonna try everything we can to keep you normal and even if that fails, you'll still be apart of the team! Serpentine or not! Does it look like we give a damn what any of us become?! That won't stop us from being family! From being Ninja? No, so shut your damn mouth before I make you!" The Earth ninja says as he took a threatening step forward.

"Yeah! Cole's right! Heck, we could all become inhumane and I still wouldn't care! I didn't care that you were being Serpentine back then, and I sure as hell don't care now," Nya says, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at Jay.

Said ninja blinked at them then smiled.

"You two sure do get worked up easily, huh," Jay jokes but Cole, Nya and Zane's eyes widened once tears fell down their blue brother's cheeks. "Still, it's a nice thing to hear. Thanks." Jay says softly and for a moment, he seemed like a completely different person, smiling and crying as he was.

"Come here you big-" Cole cut himself off to hug Jay instead, the blue ninja hugging back tightly, smile still in place, even as he buried his tear-stained face into Cole's shoulder.

Nya joined the hug, then Zane himself, though he had something else Jay-related on his mind…

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'Here it is.' Lloyd says, looking down at the small clearing that hardly looked like anything else was around.

That was because the base was underground.

'The entrance might be a bit small for you guys. First, let me check if he still has traps out and about,' Lloyd said and his dragon self nodded then lowered to the clearing.

The green-eyed Oni hopped off before his dragon counterpart could land, earning more reprimanding from the tiny dragon traveling with him.

"Ow! Ow! I'm fine, aren't I?" Lloyd hissed then took him off from around his neck, leaving the small black dragon to coil around his hand. "Jeez. I know what I'm doing. I'm a ninja for crying out loud." That didn't appease the small angry bundle of scales it seems if the little guy's hisses and chittering were anything to go by.

"I'm not as careless as you think you know." Lloyd huffed as he walked towards the base on his hind legs.

The unimpressed look he received from the dragon had Lloyd sputtering.

"Ok, so maybe I'm not the best with self care but I'm getting better." Lloyd huffed and the small black dragon crawled his way back up around his neck, rubbing against Lloyd's cheek with a purr that made the Oni boy smile.

He then dropped down on all fours, shifting as he does to his full Oni form then took off, deciding not to keep the dragons waiting.

Kai in the meantime felt a bit guilty to not have come here all those years ago. If they had, would it have made a difference? The fire ninja only shook his head. He blinked once he caught wind of a few dragons murmuring to themselves.

'Why should we live underground like Oni scum?'

'Be grateful. These humans are willing to share their world with us.'

'But at what cost? To hide and burrow like snakes? If it were up to me, I'd-'

'You'd what?' The toxic dragon froze once he gained Garmadon's attention. 'Conquer this world? Do as you please?' The large black dragon asked, turning around to face the cowering toxic dragon as the others parted away from the grass green dragon.

'You're better off listening to your brethren. We are here out of courtesy and we will not cause the humans any trouble or harm outside of self defense. If any of you find yourselves unable to follow those simple terms for our very survival, then you will be sent back to our home world.' Garmadon declared and all of the dragons visibly shrunk at that.

They all knew going back would mean death. Even if they manage to find corpses of animals, the air quality would be so low and the waters would soon be impossible to drink, that it wouldn't ever be possible to live for long. They knew better than to test that claim. Of the two brothers that lead them, Garmadon was not only more strict, but he was never one to go back on his word. The toxic dragon swallowed thickly then flew back, head bowed in submission and acknowledgement.

Kai leaned against one of Garmadon's fabled horns of destruction. He hadn't even considered them wanting to overthrow humanity. He closed his eyes then crossed his legs. He still won't. Garmadon was different. They all were. They were good. Kai rubbed his cheek against the massive dragon's horn, a low purr leaving him- a sign of trust. He blinked his eyes open once he felt him lowering from the sky, landing quietly moments later. Kai shifted then slid himself down on Garmadon's nose, watching as large, red eyes focused on him.

'The base is more of a start. You guys don't have to stay underground. We expect you all to spend almost all of your time on the surface as the dragons you all are. We're prepared to help you all build a sort of home base anyway.' Kai shrugged, wanting to clarify with his adoptive dragon father. 'I mean, you will all be here for a while anyway. Might as well get comfortable.' He says, prodding at a large scale on his snout.

Kai was unphased when Garmadon tilted his head down, allowing Kai to slide right off his snout to land in his waiting paw.

'We will forever be in your debt,' Garmadon rumbled softly and Kai shot him a wide grin.

'What do you mean? You're paying your debt as we speak.' Kai says, confusing the elder dragon. 'You're surviving, aren't you?' The fire ninja asks, tilting his head to the side, grinning wider once Garmadon's eyes widened.

'That's Kai for you. He always has a way with words.' Kai looked back at the bright green dragon with gold horns that was Lloyd who was looking at him amused from his place seated before his father, at the perfect level with his father's paw.

'I wouldn't know about that…' Kai says, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

'Course you wouldn't. It would take away the appeal. You know?' Kai looked up to see the dragon version of his sister coming in to land, the rest of the dragon version of his family coming in too.

Before Kai could make a bashful comment, Lloyd returned, still on all fours. Kai hopped out of Garmadon's paw, using his wings to glide down to the ground, folding then against his back once he landed.

'There were a few that were still active but I've disarmed them. We're good to go.' Lloyd reported as he looked up at Kai, getting up onto his hind legs a moment after.

'Sounds like it's my time.' They looked back to the dragon version of Cole then nodded.

'I'll supervise,' Zane says as he walked forward, narrowing his slitted, icy blue eye at his fellow dragon who flicked his tail at him with a huff.

'I'm not some kind of out-of-control dozer bull.' Cole huffed and both Kai and Lloyd snickered, looking up at the dragon.

'It's called a bulldozer.' The small Oni corrected, amused.

'Let's go. We have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it.' Zane says, looking up at the sky.

It was getting close to midday already and they had to make a settlement there so everyone could rest.

'You guys go ahead. We'll get our Cole to help.' Kai says, taking Lloyd under the arms.

"Are you sure you can-" Lloyd's question was cut off when Kai beat his wings a few times, lifting then off the ground. "Oh. You've been working out?" He asked as Kai flee them towards the ship.

"Yeah. Since I'm the only one of us that can fly, it's only natural I work up the muscle strength to carry one of you guys." Kai says then beat his wings faster the strain getting to him. "I just… Can't carry you for long yet." He got out then almost dropped him on deck.

He set him down gently then blew out a breath of relief, flexing his wings a bit.

"Hey Cole-" Kai cut himself off, noticing the upset yet determined looks on everyone's faces.

"... Did we miss something?" Lloyd asked, shifting back to normal as he looked amongst them all.

"... I'll catch you up on things." Zane says as he walked over to them.

Minutes later, both Kai and Lloyd shared the same upset yet determined expression.

"We won't know unless we try. Skales is our ally so I'm sure he can convince a Fangpyre to spare a few drops of venom." Kai says and Lloyd nodded.

"The change is still in progress so maybe if we get him the antivenom before the change is complete, it'll have a better chance of turning him back!" Lloyd says and Zane only nodded.

He had major doubts but he won't dismiss the slight margin that this might work.

"You both need to stay here to help the Dragons settle in and you need Cole for it. Zane and I will head to New Ninjago City to talk to Skales." Nya instructed and they all nodded.

"But who will look after Jay?" Zane asked, taking the microscope from the spacy Ninja.

The team shared a look.

"I'm sure Lloyd and I can multitask. Besides. We should probably talk to him about this anyway." Kai says, looking to Lloyd who nodded once.

"Alright. So we're set then. Zane and I will take the Land Bounty. We'll be back soon." Nya says before both of them took off.

Lloyd looked Jay of as he hummed to himself, smile unwavering. He walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Jay. Things will turn out fine, human or Serpentine. You'll see." Lloyd reassured quietly.

Jay looked up at him with clear blue eyes then grinned.

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(Update! We're finally starting off somewhere! Yeah starting considering that this will have a lot of chapters. I have something else working on but it's,,, nsfw so that'll go on Ao3. Anyway, thanks for reading!)