Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original "Ninjago: Masters of Spintizu" characters, nor do I own the original settings. I only own Katherine, Beck, Nikkei, Doctor Alan McKullan, Hydro, Chandai, Khozah and Jack Davros.

TWENTY – "The Truth Will Set You Free...Except in This Case"

It was midnight by the time Katherine was banging on Alan's door, and beside her was a cloaked and very panicked Pythor. He hadn't said a word during the whole time Beck was driving them here.

Aside from the one plea he said to her after she had found him ripping off his own scales in the bathroom:

"Help me."

Now she and Beck were sitting in the waiting room of Alan's veterinary clinic. She leaned against the armchair, unable to get the image of Pythor holding his scales with that terrified expression out of her head. Her legs were crossed, one bobbing impatiently in the air from the long wait.

She looked at the clock; forty-five minutes had passed since they arrived here.

Katherine couldn't contain her worry. "Alan's been examining him for so long now..."

Beck, on the other hand, was leaned against the wall beside her, his arms crossed. He wasn't even half as concerned as Katherine was, if at all. They were still in their costumes from the party as well.

Beck sighed. "Snakes shed their skin, right? Maybe that's all that happened."

"Beck, I think Pythor is well aware his kind shed, but you didn't see, okay? There was a whole other layer of white skin. Even I can tell that's not normal."

Anxious, Katherine stood up and walked around the waiting room, wishing they could get some answers already. She finally took her hair out of the ponytail she had kept it in for her outfit, and then combed her fingers through her locks, trying not to let her jerky hand tear through them as the long wait was starting to get to her.

The pit in her stomach was growing the longer they had to stand around and wait.

"You should have seen his face, Beck." Katherine said, shaking her head. "Pythor was so scared. I don't think I've ever seen him like that before, even when I found him in that alley."

"You're sure it was a whole new color of skin?" he asked.

"I'm positive," she replied, looking at him. "I mean, with how darkly colored his scales are, it'd be pretty hard to miss any white on them, don't you think?"

"And you didn't ask him what might have caused this?"

"No," Katherine said, trying not to snap at her friend, "I was too busy trying to calm him down, Beck. Then we hopped into your car and drove here. At what point could I have started questioning him?"

"Because it's the one damn thing you haven't done since you found him!"

Katherine internally jolted at Beck's heated retort, but she didn't back down. She kept her gaze hard, watching as he approached her while trying not to yell and alert Alan in the other room.

"You've been beating around the bush for a whole month with this guy and for what? The second you let him into your apartment, all he's done is use you as a security blanket and acted like some...some wounded misunderstood guy to gain some sympathy points from you. The most he's told you is that the guy that released that giant monster on our city is gone and he has no idea where the other Serpentine are hiding."

"Because he doesn't – "

"And I don't buy it for a second!" hissed Beck, quietly.

Katherine rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but he was persistent.

"Come on, Kat. You're gonna stand here and tell me that you are one hundred and ten percent positive – without an ounce of doubt at all – that he isn't lying to you?"

"Why does it matter?" Katherine argued. "You're so damn hung up on this, Beck. When are you going to see that Pythor isn't that bad of a person?"

"He's a Serpentine, Katherine! A Serpentine! The guys that we were at war with years ago, remember? The same ones that also nearly leveled our whole damn city with a giant monster that they summoned – remember that?"

"Of course I do!"

"Obviously not – because you are so determined to see the good in that one snake you've forgotten about the other really, really bad ones."

"That he's not one of!"

"You're really sure about that? One hundred and ten percent?"

"Yes!"

"Let me guess, you two had a heart-to-heart at one point and he confided to you about his past, about how he's so innocent and had nothing to do with what the other snakes were planning; that he's just a victim that got caught up in all the chaos." He looked at her for a moment, meeting her fiery glare with his own. "That's happened, right?"

Katherine's fist was tense, shaking almost. She felt a burning in her chest, one that traveled into her bottomless stomach and made it hurt. As much as she wanted to valiantly answer with another bold 'yes'...she had to turn away from Beck's gaze, unable to hold her ground against him any longer.

She had nothing to stand on anymore.

Beck backed off a moment, knowing that the stress between them was boiling too hot right now. He sat down with a heavy sigh, hanging his head.

"...What if it's him?" he asked her then, looking back at her.

Katherine blinked at the question. "What if he's what?"

"The guy responsible for – "

The sound of an opening door broke through, snatching both Katherine and Beck's attention. They watched as Alan exited the back room, heading for his sink. He removed his medical gloves, tossing them in a garbage can hidden under the sink's cupboard.

Once that was done, Alan began washing his hands. There was something about his demeanor that worried Katherine...

So she didn't hesitate, hurrying up to him. "How is he, Alan?" it was obvious she was more than concerned, asking every question that had been hanging over her head like a dark cloud during the long wait.

"Is he okay? What did you find out?"

It was a long and heavy sigh that Katherine received from the once doctor as a response to her many questions, followed by a slow removal of his glasses, where he rubbed his face. From the moment Katherine brought in the Anacondrai, Alan carried the expression of sheer bewildered...and even now he still wore the same face, but now there was something else weighing on him.

Which was something Katherine was afraid of.

"...In terms of pain," he replied, after gathering his thoughts for a moment, "Pythor is in none. Which is good, considering this...physical abnormality he's going through."

Katherine felt her brain to a whole back-flip at the word. "'Physical abnormality'?"

"It's the best way I can describe just what exactly is happening," Alan explained. "Serpentine are almost no different than an average snake – biologically speaking. They shed two to four times per year, depending on the species at least. But...never have I seen a snake shed into a brand new color."

Katherine's eyes widened at that, and she naturally turned towards the back room door, almost wondering if she should go see him...

"His new scales are completely white." Said the doctor, getting Katherine's attention again. "Granted, it's just the ones that have shed around his injuries, but at this rate...I have a feeling that it's only the beginning. Hence is why I'm calling what he's going through some unknown form of 'physical abnormality' in his complexion."

She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach at that, looking down at the floor as she absorbed his examination.

Then Alan added: "And it's not just his scales."

"What?" questioned Katherine, looking back at Alan, who once again removed his glasses to rub his face. "You can't be serious."

"I'm afraid so. I noticed it while I was examining the scales around his wounds. There's some red spreading from around his pupils...given time, I feel even his eye color may completely change as well."

Katherine was frozen to the spot, staring at Alan with her mouth almost agape.

She heard Beck from beside her. "How the hell is that even possible?"

Alan shook his head in defeat, shrugging lightly. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Wait, you mean you don't even have an explanation for this?" blinked Katherine.

"What scientific explanation could I possibly deduce from something so abnormal? The most I can offer is that his body is undergoing a rare mutation unheard of in his species, but Pythor has no idea as to what could have caused this to happen."

"He's positive about that?" asked Beck, crossing his arms. But his tone indicated anything but confusion.

He sounded doubtful, which bought him a warning look from Katherine.

Alan, noticing something odd from them, looked between the two. "Something I should know about?"

"No," Katherine answered, looking away from Beck. "It's nothing. How's he doing?" she asked, nodding towards the back room.

"He's...taking this all in as best as he can. But I don't doubt he's feeling quite a heavy concoction of emotions right now. I would dare say I successfully petrified a Serpentine into pure silence."

Katherine looked towards the back, holding her hands close to her body as she nervously asked, "Can I see him?"

Alan looked at her for a moment, noticing her body language and the tone of her voice when she asked him this. He then nodded, gesturing a hand towards the back room.

"You can't miss him; I doubt he's barely moved since I left."

Katherine didn't say a word as she entered the hall leading to the examining room in the back of the veterinary clinic.

Alan gave another sigh, rubbing his face once more.

Beck looked at him. "Is it spreading through his whole body?" he asked, curious.

"I...have a feeling that by the time his wounds are healed, his whole body is going to bleach completely into white. If not sooner, if he sheds off more scales from now."

Beck nodded slowly at that, teetering with a question weighing on his mind. Now that Katherine wasn't here, he felt safe to ask:

"Hey, Al, uh...Pythor wasn't, y'know, acting weird while you were checking him out, was he?"

The old man gave a confused look. "How do you mean?"

"I mean, like, he wasn't dodging any of the questions you were asking, right? Or maybe playing dumb towards you? Something like that?"

"He seems to be in shock, mostly." Alan answered, honestly. "I'm sure his brain is racing a thousand miles as to what could have caused this."

"Yeah, but, Doc. C'mon. You really think this kind of thing just happened outta nowhere? I mean, you're a doctor for crying out loud – "

"Was a doctor, Beck. I was a doctor." He corrected, a hint of warning in his tone at the young man. "But even if I still was, there would have to be numerous tests performed on Pythor to get an answer to what's happening to him. It would all be one massive process, one that would require knowledge of his species to even figure out."

Beck sighed now, rubbing his neck. "Look, all I'm saying is that I don't think the guy's being truthful, okay?" he said, deciding to confide into Alan. "I get vibes from him, Al. Bad vibes."

"Beck..."

"And Kat doesn't wanna listen 'cause he's got his hooks in her and she's blindly giving him the benefit of the doubt. I don't know what else to do."

"You have to trust in Katherine, Beck. That's what you, me and Nikkei have been doing."

"Trust in what? The fact that she's choosing not to look at the big picture just 'cause she feels sorry for a Serpentine? Something could happen to her, Doc, and I'm not gonna stand by and let that happen."

Alan put his hands on Beck's shoulders, getting the young man's full attention. "Beck, listen to me, I understand what you're feeling. And, on some level, I completely agree with you. I've been worried about that exact thing since the moment I saw Pythor in Katherine's spare bedroom. But I put my worries aside and helped someone in need, because in spite of everything the Serpentine have done to us, Pythor was no different than a patient in need in my eyes that night."

Beck looked into Alan's eyes, seeing that there was no shred of dishonesty on his wrinkled face. He felt his grip on his shoulders tighten slightly.

"It's not easy, I know, but...trusting in Katherine's judgment is all we can do right now. She is the one who made the choice to help him, even after the horrible tragedy our city suffered because of his kind. Katherine...sees something in Pythor. And I see it too, after he took care of her when she was ill. Never in my lifetime would I ever believe a Serpentine would do that for a human...but he did, Beck. If Pythor was truly using Katherine for his own gain, I believe he would have abandoned her long ago."

He didn't say anything to that...knowing Alan did have a point. Although Beck was by Katherine's side as well when she was sick, it didn't change the fact that Pythor was there with her as well. Not to mention that he was even the one who called after she had collapsed.

Beck was never upfront about it, but even he felt a slight bit of gratitude at the Anacondrai for that.

"But do you really trust in everything he tells you?" asked Beck, wanting full transparency from the old man.

"In everything? No..." he admitted, relaxing and bring his arms back to his sides. "I'm an old man, Beck. I can only believe so much in what a person tells me. I had to weed out the honest ones from the liars all the time back in the medical field. But I've come to believe that actions speak louder than words, Beck. So until Pythor shows signs of being a threat to others or Katherine, I'll help out however I can. For now, I trust in Katherine...and, in turn, I'll trust in Pythor as much as I can."

Slowly, Beck placed his hands in the deep pockets of his jacket, leaning against a wall as he took that in. He glanced towards the hall that Katherine had gone into to see Pythor.

He kept thinking back to the costume party; their closeness as they danced still bothered him. Katherine's smiling the whole time at Pythor, while they held each other in their arms like the couples on the dance floor around them...

As much as he didn't want to, he felt he needed to put a stop to whatever was about to unfold out there. He still thanked his lucky star that he had enough cash on him to persuade the DJ into changing the music to abruptly when Nikkei wasn't looking.

Even if Pythor wasn't a threat to Katherine...whatever was sparking between them on the dance floor was just a whole new can of worms waiting to be opened. And, for her sake, Beck would make sure that can stayed sealed.

He knew the Anacondrai was hiding something. And he had to find out...or Katherine would never be able to let him go.

To say Pythor was in a state of shock was an understatement.

He sat alone in the examining room in complete silence with his back to the door, unable to quiet his screaming thoughts as the rustling panic was now a symphony inside him.

Alan had re-bandaged his wounds, even though they were almost entirely healed. But he had asked Alan to do it, just to cover up that horrible color.

White.

Pure white.

"You're certain you don't know what might have happened?" the old man had asked him, among many other many questions that Pythor had to answer, without giving away the...more than likely ugly possibility.

Each time he answered with uncertainty, wanting to keep Alan as far from the truth as he could, even though there was no way he would ever be able to guess what might have caused this change.

Pythor's claws covered his face, as he internally battled with his panic and wrestled with his thoughts. He clenched his jaw, his fangs almost grinding. Every muscle in his long body was tense.

You idiot...you idiot. You idiot. You idiot. You IDIOT. He shouted as himself in his mind. You should have left as soon as your injuries started healing. You've long overstayed your welcome here, and now your actions are coming back to haunt you. How long can you hide now?

He froze and sharply turned when he felt a vibration behind him. That sharp turn of his head brought his gaze right to Katherine, who jolted at his fast movement. Just looking into her eyes alone made the Anacondrai freeze.

He hadn't expected to see her so soon.

And in the middle of his wallowing, no less.

Katherine had a nervous hand over her chest, and she swallowed. "U-Um..." she struggled with what to ask, able to tell by the look on his face that he was anything but all right. "Sorry, I...didn't mean to scare you."

"You're...quite all right," he replied back, stiffly. Pythor turned his head away, now even more anxious than before.

But he was doing well to keep it hidden, giving Katherine his back.

She took a moment to study his demeanor, making note that his shoulders were slumped, and that his head was low. It flashed her back to that first night she found him. Pythor looked just as broken and defeated as he did back then, if not worse than before.

Her hand moved from her chest, moving without thought. It reached out towards Pythor, her fingers just a few inches from his shoulder. But then she hesitated...and then silently pulled it back, wrapping it around herself instead.

Katherine's feet shifted, trying to think of something to ask him. Dozens of questions bounced off the walls of her mind. None of them felt right to ask...

She swallowed again.

"Alan told me everything...how are you holding up?"

Pythor rubbed an eye crest. "I've had better nights, to be honest."

Katherine frowned a bit at that. "I'm sor —"

"I know." He said, catching her off guard. "But you don't need to be, Katherine. You don't have to feel sorry, for my sake."

Her frown became heavier at that. She sat down on the examining table beside him, with her back just meters apart from his.

He glanced her way when he felt her sit down. Was it possible she was just as lost as him, Pythor wondered. Not that he could blame her. This situation was anything but digestible.

Pythor didn't want to give her the truth...and Katherine didn't want to wrangle anything out of him.

They sat in silence, both of them unsure what to say to each other.

The quiet was so thick, it could have been cut with a knife.

...But, to Katherine's surprise, it was Pythor who broke it after a minute.

"Do you wish to ask me if I'm positive I don't know how this could have happened to me?"

Katherine looked at him, seeing his head was slightly turned her way. She nodded then, answering in inquiry.

His eyes shifted away at that...this could be it, he realized.

This was his moment to admit the truth.

To tell her that he was the one who unleashed the Great Devourer on her city.

That he was the one who rallied the Tribes together to fight back against her kind.

That he was using her as shelter until he was well enough to stand on his own.

Pythor – should he decide to – could confess it all right here, and for once be honest with Katherine. Not dodge the question or lie.

Yet the more he thought on this decision, the more he felt...unusual.

For some reason, he wanted to lie. Wanted to say that he didn't know why this was happening to him; that he was just as confused and shocked as they all were.

Even though Pythor wasn't one hundred and ten percent positive, he had a strong feeling in his gut as to why this odd physical change was happening to him.

While it was true that those eaten by the Great Devourer never lived to tell the tale...that didn't mean survival was impossible. He was living proof of it.

Even that old man, Wu.

His hand slowly curled into a tense fist on his lap and his head hung low. It would have been so easy to lie, but Pythor found himself in a place where he didn't want to lie to this woman anymore.

Perhaps some of that human sympathy was starting to rub off on him, for Pythor also knew that should he confess all his lies to Katherine, here and now, he worried for her sake.

How would she feel if he told her the truth? How would Katherine feel towards him, if he did?

And, for a reason he couldn't quite make sense of, that terrified Pythor just as much as being punished for his crimes.

Suddenly, he felt something touch his wrist, gently pulling him from his mind.

Pythor looked, seeing Katherine's hand placed over his. When he turned to her, he found her gaze pouring into his. Their eyes locked on each other.

"It's okay," she assured, her voice soft, "if you don't know, then you don't know."

"..." Pythor was still quiet, simply staring into Katherine's eyes.

"We'll figure out what happened," Katherine promised. "Alan's smart. He'll find out what might have caused this. I'm sure of it."

Pythor gave a dry chuckle, shaking his head a little. "I never took you for an optimist..."

Katherine returned with a smile. "Surprise," she giggled.

He reflected her smile with his own, chuckling again at her. It was light, but genuine. And he needed it right now.

Yet this was exactly why he could never tell her.

For some reason, he began to cherish these moments with Katherine. Telling her the truth would devastate everything. And these moments would fade into memories...

He just...needed to keep the lie up.

At least a little longer.

Beck watched the two from behind, his back against the wall and his arms sternly crossed. His eyes narrowed at them, at Katherine's hand over Pythor's.

He saw the way they were smiling at each other...

He snorted and looked away. Maybe it was time he stopped sulking and did something with his suspicions...

Hydro stood motionless before an empty hole in the ground, his black cloak blowing and cascading in the heavy desert wind.

He had been standing there for almost fifteen minutes now, staring into the hollow cavity of sand with a deadpan expression. He noted the old tracks of footprints all around the area.

Slowly, his hand curled into a tight fist. It was so tense that not only did his arm begin to tremble, bit his claws pierced his own tough scales; a small stream of blood cascading from between his fingers and onto the golden colored sand beneath him.

Without saying a word, Hydro slithered around the now disturbed grave, fixing the wooden plank that looked to have been knocked over. It had an old red band tied around it.

Once he reset it, his hand never dropped from the wood.

He stared at the red band...memories from long ago flooding back to him. And Hydro was helpless to repress them.

This place was the final resting place of many brave Anacondrai warriors – and it was her final resting place beside them.

Marna.

Even the shield he had buried with her was gone, along with any bone of hers left inside that hole.

Hydro's jaw tensed, and he doubled over a bit as he felt a boiling and constricting feeling from his chest down to his stomach.

This act had humans written all over it – he could still smell their lingering stench all around this area. They walked over dozens upon dozens of graves with their filthy feet, defiling one of them with their greedy hands and taking her back to their repulsive city!

"Damn it...DAMN IT ALL!" roared Hydro, pounding a fist into the sand.

What had been the purpose of his half of the Tribe hiding so far into the Sea of Sands? Only a human would have to be foolish to endure such heavy heat and constant sandstorms to venture out into the outskirts here.

He thought they were untouchable here.

He was certain they would be safe from them!

Hydro's claws dug into the sand, dragging across the grains as he tensed his fist again.

It seemed no place was safe from humanity.

Then Hydro started to chuckle, laughing at his own negligence. Had all his efforts to protect him and the others been for nothing? Was he merely preventing the inevitable all this time?

There was no winning when it came to humans, that he knew. But Hydro had hoped that, at least, fading away for all these many years would have made them forget about his Tribe...

Hydro gathered himself together, inhaling a deep breath and straightening his back. He couldn't be emotional now, couldn't afford to have his judgment clouded.

Something needed to be done now, while there was still a chance to fix this.

He knew Marna's remains were out there somewhere. He just had to look.

...And he knew exactly where to start.

When Hydro returned to his Tribe, he said nothing; spoke to no one.

He made his way to the lower depths of their home, where everything was dark, damp and cold. He slithered down a long and bending entryway, into what he considered their 'dungeon area'. It was a hall full of many thick, barred doors hinged to the stone walls by reinforced metal that only a Serpentine of his caliber could pry off.

Hydro stopped at one of these doors and peered in through the bars, finding the two trespassers that wandered into their territory.

It was a male Hynobrai and a male Fangpyre.

They both looked up when they heard Hydro slither to the door.

He eyed them for a moment, his eyes shining brightly in the dim lighting of their cell.

"...You two mentioned you're both from a unified Tribe quite far from here."

The two nervously glanced at each other.

"What else can you tell me about it?"