Author's Note:
If you're into reading scenes with music, I recommend Give Me All Your Love Final Remix at the point starting with ** and ending with **! All of TWEWY's soundtrack is incredibly underrated.
The Teardrop Gardens, or the Hanging Gardens as many people called them, were somewhat innocuous as one approached them on the back of, say, a flying dragon. A massive glass tubular skyscraper extended up into the sky, and aside from an odd green lighting, nothing seemed strange about it at first. However, as the group approached it, Lloyd saw that inside the building were massive teardrop-shaped glass structures hanging from various points inside of the building, almost like water sliding down the inside of a pipe. Each of the strangely shaped glass structures had a series of floors in them with fauna growing both on and through them. They almost looked like enclosed ecosystems, filled with plants that were unlike anything Lloyd had seen before aside from remote places in Ninjago. A series of elevators ran up the middle of the building, with large spiral stairs that ran down the outside of the building to each of the individual teardrop structures.
"I… what?" Lloyd blinked in confusion, "What is this place?"
"Approximately five years ago, this building was initially constructed with the goal of preserving endangered plants," Olive flew up close to Lloyd's dragon to call out to him, "However, due to a large and increasing demand for tourism, the building was retrofitted to this design to attract customers."
"But… why is it shaped like, that?" Lloyd gestured at it, "It's like, what?"
"The person who made this place really like rain, I guess!" Carnelian flew over and hugged Harumi a bit more, "It's nice to go to. I hear this place got super popular with schools!"
"We went once on a mission," Harumi explained to him, "Someone was using this place to transport illegal goods. Something about a plant that can cure everything? Roka? Locaca? Something about a plant that could cure something by exchanging something else."
"How is that plant appraiser doing, by the way?" Forte called out from her own dragon, "We never talked to him after he showed us how to find it!"
"Doesn't matter," Ren shook her head, "We are here for a mission. Let's do this quickly, girls!"
The group shouted in affirmation. As they approached the entrance to the building, Carnelian suddenly sent her dragon into a massive spiral, heading right for the ground. As she did, the dragon turned into a spiral of flames, licking back in a brilliant cone that lit up the world around it. The others quickly went into a dive after her, including Lloyd. As Carnelian neared the ground, she grinned and turned her dragon's wings. The entire cone of fire was suddenly shot in front of it, creating a pocket of hot air they crashed into and shot them up into the air. Carnelian grabbed Harumi and jumped off, doing a twirl in the air before firing Rhotatae from her free hand. One of her feet caught the disc and used it to spin in a circle down to the ground, landing just as her dragon did behind her and let out a roar of fire. Carn raised her hand and gripped her fist, causing the dragon to fade away into nothingness just as she dipped Harumi into a swoon. The large circular-shaped entrance to the building's main lobby and elevators was lit up with red and then faded away, drawing the attention of all the visitors to Carnelian with her hand pumped into the air.
"Boom!" Carnelian laughed to Harumi, "I finally perfected that one! No broken bones this time! Did you see that?"
"Oh my gosh!" One of the patrons shouted. Carnelian smirked.
"See?" Carnelian put her free hand on her chest, "I knew that trick would-"
"It's FORTE!" Another patron shouted. Carnelian blinked in shock as the group of ongoers all raced around her and Harumi to instead find their disembarking friends. Forte stood at the front of them, hefting her keytar in front of her just in time before a group of teens and young adults were surrounding her.
"We heard about your concert!" One of the girls gasped, "That sucks so much!"
"I was at your show last week, you were amazing!" One of the guys shouted, "I have all your albums! All of them! And your merch! And-"
"Is that your actual keytar?!" Someone else yelped out.
"Hey, it's great to see all of you guys!" Forte rubbed her neck, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm on business. Sorry!"
"Business?" One of the adults piped up, "Are you planning a show here?"
"Really?!" Another young boy waved his hand, "I know a great spot if you are!"
"Please let us know when!" Someone else gasped. The crowd devolved into excited gasps.
Forte smiled apologetically at them, but the group was beginning to surround her. She turned to Lloyd and Ren to give a small grimace. Ren slowly sighed and stepped behind Lloyd. Slowly, she shifted her body until she had turned into the stereotypical image of a security guard, a large man with dark sunglasses and suit. She stepped forward, using her huge body to grab hold of Forte's arm and give a tug.
"Come on, ma'am, we have to continue our business," Ren grunted out to her in a deep voice. Forte gave a small laugh and waved to the crowd.
"Sorry guys, I gotta go!" Forte waved a few more times. Ren pulled her along through the crowd, soon entering the building. Carnelian, still shocked at the display, pulled Harumi up and off into the building. Lloyd, Olive and Mizuko followed after them obediently.
Once the seven were inside, Lloyd quickly found that the building's exterior really was just a shell. The floor was rather barren, with only paths that led towards the main four elevators that went to the top of the building and the teardrops at the top. A few random terminals were set up to download information to one's Borg Watch, but other than there the only staff member was a young lady in a deep green outfit, waving her hand at them.
"Welcome, welcome!" The worker chirped out, "My name is Jenna, and I'll be here to help you with any… Mizuko?"
"Jenny!" Mizuko waved her hand, bounding out of the group to run up to the girl she apparently knew, "How you been? This place still treating you well?"
"Yeah, it's been alright," Jenna smiled at Mizuko, reaching out to take her hand, "What about you? Still running around?"
"Nah, I work too much for that," Mizuko giggled. The two shared a long laugh.
"Well, what brings you here?" Jenna asked. Mizuko looked back to her friends and smiled.
"We're here to look for something, you know, the usual," Mizuko nodded, "Just something! Shouldn't be too dangerous. Maybe. Hopefully. 50% chance."
"Well, for old time's sake I'll let you guys go up, on me," Jenna walked up to the elevators, tapping a button on it and causing a small force field to go down from it, "Just don't stay too long, we only have an hour until closing."
"Huh?" Lloyd looked up, "Isn't it nighttime?"
"During the day they have to darken the glass due to some of the species being photosensitive," Ren informed him, "They're open at night only, or at least only a few of them are during the day."
"Let's go, team!" Mizuko pointed forward. Slowly, the group piled into the elevator. Jenna and Mizuko shared a few more words before she popped in with her friends. Soon, the seven were rapidly ascending up the building.
"So, good news!" Mizuko nodded, "Looks like Jenna said something happened in the third one from the top. Some system fluctuation, nothing they have looked into yet. Looks like that might be where whatever that Time Blade thing is might be!"
"Perfect," Harumi nodded, "Let's get in there and get it before-"
Harumi's watch beeped. Harumi looked down and slowly pulled the message up, reading over it. As she did, her face fell. She looked up to her friends with a nervous look on her face.
"What's up?" Carnelian blinked, "Bad signal?" Harumi shook her head.
"Andrus said his map was wrong?" Forte asked. Harumi looked down.
"You got a message from your other friends?" Mizuko blinked. Harumi shook her head again.
"We tempted fate," Ren frowned, "One of those guys is after you again."
"Commissioner Jr. said his station was attacked, and it looks like Ophiod got Skales back," Harumi raised her head, "And… he was asking about this place."
"What?" Lloyd shook his head, "How did find it?!"
"Likely the same way that you did, if they have anything like Andrus' tech," Olive informed him, "The possibility of such is high. I have been running scans myself and have located one of the areas without implementing a rigorous algorithm."
"That means he's on his way here," Forte gripped her keytar, "Wait, you said Ophiod?" Mizuko tensed up as Forte frowned, "Then it's time for a rematch!"
"I want to say we can avoid a fight, but Ophiod is relentless," Harumi gulped, "And, once he finds us, we'll have to fight."
"No more splitting up," Carnelian shook her head, "We stand and fight together this time. I won't let him get the best of us. I want him to have to face us all together. You hear me?"
The girls all looked around at each other. Slowly, they nodded. Olive raised one of her hand, surrounding it in a frost. Mizuko did the same with water, a long strand of it wrapping around her shoulder like a sash. Carnelian's eyes began to flicker with flames. Ren cracked her knuckles. Forte played a chord on her keytar, causing her hair to flare up with the sound wave. Harumi inhaled, then summoned Rhotatae in both of her palms. Lloyd looked to all of them, then let power begin to build in his body all the same.
The elevator finally stopped at the top portion. The area was a large circular disc of metal, with one path that led to the top of the first drop-shaped atrium. The other path led to a spiral set of stairs that were to start taking them down the outside of the building. Without waiting, the girls all took off, Lloyd in tow. They ran down the stairs, going around the outside of the drop. From it, Lloyd could see that it was set up like a temperate climate, with beautiful oak trees, large ponds, and more. Just rounding the outside of it was bizarre enough, but none of them had time to take it in.
They had been running for almost a minute, having started to round the second platform to the second atrium, when the entire building shook. The moment it did, Harumi had to grip the railing on the stairs and huff to stop herself from pitching forward. None of them took more than a moment to just do, then keep running. They didn't look back, even as a soft alarm began to blare to say that something was wrong. They didn't look down to the floor they'd entered on hundreds of feet below either, knowing that Ophiod was likely there. It wasn't worth it.
"There!" Mizuko stopped them at the third atrium. The three took off across the platform and inside. The moment they did, the entire world shifted. Lloyd swore that he'd suddenly stepped into the middle of Hiroshi's Labyrinth itself. The entire air was humid, and sweat began to coat him under his ninja suit. The trees were filled with massive circular-shaped leaves that turned downwards, spilling water down off them in little trickles. Aside from the door behind them they entered in, nothing about the space allowed them to see outside the contained space. The trees were too high, filling in a deep canopy that filtered what light came through the top of it. There was a path in front of them that led further into the atrium, which the group took off down quickly.
As they ran deeper into the jungle, Lloyd swore he lost track of where the entrance was. The path wound in and out of the trees, and soon the canopy was too thick to make sense of where the outside of the atrium was. The mud around them, the dampness of the air, the sound of rustling leaves and life, it all sounded as though it was an actual jungle. There were even large pools of water around, with giant, gnarled roots reaching into it to try to sip more of it. The group soon reached a spot where the path began to arch downwards, and with it they had reached a metal platform which appeared to be at the very edge of the interior of the inside of the glass structure. In it, they could finally see outside of the jungle, and off into the empty air of the building.
"Where's Ophiod?" Lloyd asked, "Where's the blade?"
"I have been scanning for both and have found no sign of either," Olive informed them, "I do not know. But I am certain that we will find them soon. I did not have time to perfect an algorithm that could determine a precise location."
"I know we tell you to be more lively, but now is not the time for snark!" Forte grunted.
"It is not snark, the probability of us running into them grows the longer that he is allowed to search this building," Olive informed her.
"Where's the blade then?" Forte huffed, "I don't like this place, there's too many places for someone to hide!"
"She didn't say where the disturbance was," Mizuko gulped, "Let's at least get away from the glass!"
The girls collectively nodded, and quickly ran off down another path. Lloyd wasn't sure why, but they seemed to pass down onto a completely separate layer of jungle. It seemed that there was a layer of dirt and the path passed right through it. They descended further into the atrium, trying to look around. The jungle around them once more sprung up in a thick canopy which made seeing anything above them impossible. The group ran until the path they were on took them into a grove of trees, one with benches set up for those wandering through to sit on.
"The blade has to be around here somewhere," Carnelian looked around, "...Ugh! Why'd you have to pick a place like this? I can't burn anything here!"
"If you need to burn things, you aren't really searching, are you?" Ren huffed, "We're all wondering that, Carn, there's no reason to get upset."
"It… it has to be in here…" Harumi blinked, "There are only two floors of plants here. If we didn't see it up there, then…"
There was a massive rumble behind them, and the group turned to see there was a strange light coming from the path they had come from. It was clear what was going on. Harumi thought for a moment, then she turned to Lloyd.
"Lloyd, keep going," Harumi frowned, "If he doesn't know you're with us, then you can keep looking. We'll take him on."
"Wait, but didn't Carnelian say to stay together?" Lloyd shook his head. His words were broken as a massive blast of pure orange power shot out from the path, heading right for them. Olive's superhuman reflexes kicked in as she shot a wall of ice in front of the path, causing the wall to take the impact and shatter.
"Yeah I was referring to us, sorry," Carnelian brought her fists up in front of her, "You're good to go. We'll watch your back."
Lloyd wanted to protest, but Harumi looked at him. There was a glare in her eyes, one that he recognized. One that he knew he couldn't shake. And so he nodded his head, "Alright. I trust you, Harumi. When I find the blade, I'll get out as fast as I can."
"Don't wait up for us," Ren took a fighting stance, pointing a palm forward, "We'll meet you there, no matter what. We'll see you at the Base."
With that, Lloyd was gone. Harumi slowly walked forward to the front of her group. Ren and Carnelian moved behind her, ready to fight. Forte ran her hand across her instrument. Olive scanned the area, then stood firmly behind Harumi. Mizuko held her hands out, causing the moisture in the air around them to condense around her arms in thick bands of rippling waves.
From the bits of scattered ice on the path, Ophiod emerged. Harumi, however, at first didn't recognize him. His entire body had strange symbols all across his scales, glowing a deep burning orange. His right arm, in which he held his staff, was covered the most in them. The symbols moved up the staff to the scroll fully unraveled. As if the symbols had grown from the scroll itself, thick trails of orange magic were leaking out of the scroll into Ophiod's arm. And when Ophiod spoke, his words were filled with a deep reverb.
"So I finally find you," Ophiod slowly growled out, "And now, I can finally test my will against all of you."
"Where's Skales?" Harumi asked him, keeping her voice firm, "You normally don't do anything without him."
"You have a habit of splitting up, so he's currently making sure that we won't be interrupted… and I want to test my abilities, alone," Ophiod raised his staff behind him, "Now that I have finally found the key to this scroll."
"What, you didn't before?" Forte jabed at him, "I didn't know you just learned to read."
"...We have fought before," Ophiod narrowed his eyes at Forte, "Did my last encounter not send the message? I offered you mercy last time. This time, I am no longer at liberty to do that."
Harumi cut him off by raising her hands, firing a Rhotatae disc right at him. Ophiod raised his hand, causing a shield of magic to raise in front of him. When the disc struck it, the shield suddenly splintered apart, and then shot forward towards the group like daggers. Olive raised a wall of ice once more, but just as the daggers struck it, they lit into a magical blaze, melting right through it. Carnelian reacted by yanking Harumi and Ren down to the floor. Mizuko used her water to blast backwards and behind a tree. Olive jumped in front of Forte, letting the bits of magical shield bounce harmlessly off her body.
"It will take more force than that to penetrate my refined alloy chassis," Olive raised her arms up, the shredded fabric hanging from them, "...Though perhaps I will need to consider clothing in that design."
"Get him!" Carnelian shouted. Harumi was already on it, firing a Rhotatae disc at Ophiod charged with her power. Just as she launched it, the ground under them rumbled. The girls scattered as the root sunder their feet ripped from the ground as whirling snapping claws, trying to grab for them. Ren immediately vanished. Forte rammed her keytar, sending a soundwave out that shredded most of them apart. Ophiod held his hand out, causing a tree behind her to animate and one of the branches to launch out and grab her left arm.
Ren appeared behind Ophiod, swinging her leg around in a roundhouse to deliver right into his side. Ophiod twisted the staff to connect with her leg, stopping her. Ren grunted and spun around, trying to go from the other side. This time, Ophiod caught her leg with his hand. A blast of magic went right through Ren's body. The world blurred as her vision and sense of balance were shot. Ophiod dropped her to the ground as she stumbled to get up.
A column of fire rose up just beside Ophiod. Carnelian crossed her arms over her chest, summoned two Rhotatae, then swiped her arms back open to fire them. Ophiod twisted his hand, chanting a spell that caused the air to thicken up and slow the discs until they petered out of energy. Harumi leapt up from behind Carnelian, landing her on her girlfriend's extended hands to vault her into the air. Harumi rapidly let off disc after disc into the air, landing her feet on them to run right over Ophiod's head. The last disc she landed on arced in a spiral behind Ophiod, letting her charge up two handfuls of green balls to fire at him. The Viper formed a net of magic in the air, enclosing around them and dissipating them with a harsh squeeze. Harumi leapt away as soon as she landed to avoid his tail coming at her.
A shadow fell over Ophiod. He looked up to see Mizuko hovering in front of him, a massive spiralling shaft of water connecting her feet to the ground and raising her up into the air. Mizuko shot her hands out, causing the water in the trees around them to condense together and lash out as javelins towards Ophiod. Ophiod inhaled, then a thin layer of orange hardened over him like a shell. The attacks hit the layer and absorbed into it, rattling his body slightly. Mizuko formed a spear out of water and used her water shaft to thrust her body forward at him. Olive clapped her hands together to form a slide of ice to head right for him. Harumi and Carnelian charged up their respective elements and went right for him. Ren dragged herself off the ground to go right for him.
Just as the girls reached him, Ophiod's eyes widened. The moment one of their attacks struck him, the shell inverted and then blasted out in all directions as a wild mass of magical thorns. Ophiod was launched into the air by it, his hands extended as the thorns struck all of the girls and slammed them backwards into the dirt. When Ophiod landed, he spun into Spinjitzu, twisting around the space and sucking each of them up into the tornado. The five were thrown clean away from him all at once, landing right at the feet of Forte, finally freeing herself from the tree that had grabbed her.
"Girls!" Forte gasped, getting down on her knees and helping to pull them up, "Hey, hey, get up! Are you okay? Were those thorns?!"
"...Of agony, yeah…" Carnelian groaned, clutching her side as she got up onto her knees.
"Do you see now?" Ophiod raised his hand, causing small, crackling balls of orange power to form in the air around him, "Even together, you cannot stop me. My magic has grown. I have the scroll. I will show you what I can do!"
Harumi raised her head groggily, just in time to notice that one of the crackling orbs had shot through the air at her. She dodged it just in time for it to break apart on the ground where she laid. Slowly, the other girls got up, eying Ophiod curiously.
"Is he normally like this?" Forte groaned.
"No, something's off," Harumi eyed Ophiod, "He hasn't attacked us physically yet. His magic is stronger than before. Something happened to him."
"Well, what do we do?" Ren rubbed her shoulder, shaking off the effects of her magical stupor, "We can't even get close to him."
"Yeah, he's getting annoying," Mizuko rubbed her neck, "I think he threw my neck out there."
Harumi thought carefully. Ophiod formed more orbs of magic in the air, ready to fire them off towards the group. The six of them stood together, most of them wobbled, thinking of their method of attack. What they were doing before wasn't working. They needed a plan. Slowly, Harumi thought back to everything that she could do. She had all of her girls here. She had to think of something, now!
"Forte," Harumi turned to her in her peripheral, "Play song four."
"What?" Forte blinked, "Oh! ...Ohhhhh," Forte grinned, "You think that'll work?"
"We aren't doing anything attacking separately, so let's try this all together now," Harumi gripped her fist, "You ready, girls?"
"As always," Carnelian grinned.
"You didn't have to ask me twice!" Mizuko added.
"Loading battle plan," Olive nodded, "Battle plan acquired. Ready."
"I trust your judgement," Ren stretched her arms out.
"Hit it, Forte." Harumi inhaled, then her body glowed with magic.
Forte raised her hand up, "You got it!" Forte's hand came down and hit the opening chord of a song. **
"Whatever you're planning, it won't work," Ophiod growled. The orbs he had gathered fired off, heading right for all of them.
Just before they impacted, Harumi and Carnelian turned to each other and locked hands. The two formed a massive elemental shield of fire and green. The other girls each ran towards the shield, giving Carnelian a grasp on the forearm. Mizuko and Ren went to their left, and Olive and Forte to the right. The orbs struck the shield Harumi and Carn had up. The moment the barrage stopped, the two let go of one hand and stood next to each other.
Ophiod turned, ready to try to blast the girls attempting to flank him. Mizuko shot water out towards Olive, and ice vice versa. The two formed a perfect slide of ice right in front of the lovers. Harumi and Carnelian formed Rhotatae in their free hand, then leapt forward to slide straight down the ice slide. The two slid straight towards Ophiod. Ophiod raised his hand forward, forming a beam of magic to blast them with.
Just before the two reached him, Carnelian's feet erupted in ice, sending them right up into the air. The two girls let go of each other, firing their Rhotatae towards the other. Harumi charged the one at her feet with green, and Carnelian with fire. The two landed on either side of Ophiod and fired. The Viper, as anticipated, put up a shield again around his body.
Behind Ophiod, Olive and Mizuko appeared. The two shot forward and grabbed Ophiod, throwing them forward onto the ice slide. Ophiod dug his staff into the ground to stop from sliding, spinning his entire body around with his tail extended like a whip. Olive shot in front of Mizuko, taking the hard strike on her metal body. Mizuko then grabbed Olive, causing water under their feet to pool up and send them away from him.
Next it was time for Ren and Forte. Forte, still playing the music, raised her keytar up and let out a blast of sound waves, causing the entire canopy to rattle. The sound of the leaves rustling disguised Ren flying down from the sky as a hawk, landing on the ice slide and dashing forward. She slid with one leg extended, toppling Ophiod as she slid right through him. Forte held one hand out and grabbed Ren's hand, swinging her around to let Ren deliver a punch right into Ophiod's side. The Viper turned with an angry glare and spat a word of power, causing the ground to try to erupt and grab them. The two ran away, but the ice slide broke apart.
When Ophiod raised his head, however, the six girls had surrounded him in a perfect hexagon. All at once, they each raised their hands and sent a blast of elemental power right at Ophiod. Ophiod responded by forming a shield around him that once more shattered and raced out to attack them. Carnelian ran straight for Harumi, who grabbed her lover's foot and flipped her into the air. Carnelian spun twice, just in time for Ren to fire a Rhotatae disc for her hand to land perfect on. Carnelian used it to do another flip. Forte played a hard arpeggio, letting the rippling sound wave act as yet another platform for her to use to roll through the air. When Carnelian landed, Olive threw a massive tree branch at her, and Carnelian caught it just in time to catch Ophiod's staff in a strike.
"You think you can impress me with acrobatics?" Ophiod hissed, "I was trained by-"
Suddenly, 'Carnelian' shimmered, and the power of form melted away to reveal that it was none other than Olive. The girls around him suddenly shifted, revealing their positions had shuffled. Most importantly, the real Carnelian was where Olive had been. The real Olive gave a robotic whirl and thrust the stick forward, momentarily throwing Ophiod back. Carnelian grinned and suddenly, the water in the air around Ophiod turned to hard chains that wrapped around his body, grinding his hands to his side. Those chains froze over instantly. Carnelian shot forward and grabbed hold of Ophiod's tail.
"Let's see if I can beat my RECORD!" With the power of form, Carnelian's arms beefed up substantially. Carn gave several hard swings of her body, spinning Ophiod around her. When she let go, the Viper was hurled several feet through the air, landing on the ground and shattering the chains. Before Ophiod could get up, Forte turned and blasted him with sound again, staggering him in full.
"Now, girls!" Harumi shouted. Just before Ophiod could react, all of them charged up their Rhotatae. The discs all fired off as they unloaded on him, firing glowing disc after glowing disc. The discs arced in a beautiful mass of streaks, hitting him from all sides. The girls continued to hit him over and over again, their discs pelting him and obscuring him behind the burst of light each one caused when they hit him. When they finally stopped, there was nothing left but the dull darkness of the canopy around them.
"How far as what?!" Carnelian gasped as she lowered her now sore arms, "The throw?"
"Approximately 5.6 meters," Olive informed her, "Though I do not know his weight in order to calculate what the optimal distance would be."
"I tossed the last guy like that 7!" Carnelian scrubbed her head in frustration, "Oh come on!"
"Do you think that's it?" Mizuko asked in confusion.
Ophiod's body suddenly glowed a brilliant orange. The ground around him seemed to burn up and vaporize as his body shot up into the air. Glowing swirling rings of gold appeared around his tail and forearms, violently spinning as they raised him right up into the air. Magic began to pour out of his hands, and from them, massive sparkling crackles of power formed all around his body. The dulled colors of the jungle around them vanished as it was replaced with an almost blinding glow of orange.
"That was your turn," Ophiod's distorted voice sounded off, "Now it will be mine!"
Suddenly, Ophiod began to chant another spell. The moment she heard it, Forte's eyes widened. As Ophiod reared his hand back, Forte grabbed her keytar and used it to yank Harumi and Carnelian up against her.
"RUN!" Forte shouted. The shout caused the wave of sound to throw herself and her friends backwards. Olive, without waiting for explanation, grabbed hold of Mizuko and Ren and blasted away on ice. Massive trails of magic shot out to grab them, and the hands barely missed grabbing hold of Ren. Forte struck the ground with her friends once they were out of range, stumbling to her feet.
"What?!" Carnelian grunted, "What was that?!"
"That spell!" Mizuko answered as Olive deposited her and Ren beside them, "I saw it! Ophiod used it to suck the power out of us!"
"Out of me!" Forte huffed, "You were just watching! It really hurt!" The popstar drew out quarter-note shaped shurikens and held them up defensively, throwing the keytar on her back.
"Then I think it's best if we run," Ren huffed, seeing the orange glow growing behind them, "And fast."
Without waiting for another explanation, Olive froze the path in front of them, "Then follow me. There is an emergency exit at the bottom of this structure we can use. We will lose him in the city."
The girls quickly jumped onto the ice, sliding forward and away from Ophiod. Harumi was the last to go, waiting for Ophiod behind them. When his glowing, flying form blasted out from the trees, Carnelian grabbed her arm and yanked her forward, "Let's go!" The girls made their escape just as the path behind them was blasted into a smoldering mess by Ophiod's violent magic. As the girls left, Ophiod hovered over the spot they once were and hissed.
"Ophiod!" The trees rustled nearby. Ophiod turned towards the spot, ready to blast them with magic. Instead, the form of Skales emerged from the treeline. His blade was drawn, and dripping with plant matter from hacking away at the underbrush.
"Skales," Ophiod's battle snarl softened as he saw him. The Viper hovered in front of him, his staff drawn, "Did you find anyone?"
"I saw someone, they were carrying something glowing," Skales shook his head, "But they were too fast. They got away before I could stop them."
"So they were after something," Ophiod nodded, "Come, Skales. We must go after them."
Ophiod extended his hand to Skales. Skales looked over his glowing body, tracing the symbols that emanated all over him. After a moment, Ophiod stretched his hand out again. Hesitating again, Skales slowly reached forward and took it. At once, Ophiod yanked him up to his body, holding onto him tightly. The Viper's magic sent them firing forward after the group, clinging tightly to him as they pursued the fleeing team.
Harumi and the girls raced their way down the path, running through the jungle as it gradually sloped down. Harumi looked for Lloyd as they went along, but couldn't see him. She hoped that meant he'd gotten out. The six soon were running all the way towards the exit. Ophiod was still flying after them, in a way that was both terrifying and confusing with the spinning rings around his appendages, but Harumi didn't care. She was at the front of the pack, with Carnelian at the back. Carnelian was doing all she could with the girl's combined powers to keep Ophiod off of them. Each ice wall she threw up, blast of sound she used, or even attempting to make the trees shift with form to look like the path was covered didn't work. He just flew right through them, now carrying someone she didn't care to comment on.
Finally, Harumi found an exit door that led back out to the exterior of the atrium. She shot out and gasped, trying to get her breath about her. The others soon followed. Carnelian slid out on one leg and then violently froze the entrance over, then blasted it with water just to freeze even more. She panted as she hoped it would slow them down. Instead, a single blast of orange magic heated it up, then the ice seemed to cave in on itself and snatter apart.
"There's an exit there!" Mizuko pointed to an emergency exit about halfway down the building. The path to get there would take too long.
"Alright, then we bridge it!" Harumi charged up her Rhotatae, "Go!"
The gang all charged their Rhotatae, then fired it. Harumi landed gracefully on her own and rode it through the air like a small hoverboard. Carnelian shot out two and clung on to them more like a zipline. Ren balanced on one foot on her own as she went down, spinning along with it. Mizuko just launched another disc into the air and grabbed it, swinging back and forth and using water to propel herself. Olive didn't bother with a disc, instead leaping off and then sliding on a bridge of ice, then leapt off onto a disc she launched once she ran out of space. Forte shot out two discs, threw her keytar onto them, and then rode it like a surfboard down. Ophiod and Skales blasted out to see them already halfway to the exit.
Knowing he had to attack, Ophiod snarled and slowly began to chant a spell, much like the one to suck their power, but instead meant to blast out in all directions and attack them. Harumi made it down to the exit and kicked it open, triggering another alarm as she did. Seeing that something was going on, she went to charge up her power. Instead, Carnelian saw this and turned around, finally smirking and unleashing a massive wall of fire from her hands to blast at Ophiod. While the blast didn't hurt him with his magical shield, it did create smoke, and therefore his vision was reduced. Before Ophiod could get himself to fly forward towards them, the girls had already all left the exit.
"Was waiting to do that!" Carnelian shouted as she slid out of the exit, "Where do we go now?!"
"Get to the hovercar at the Sim!" Harumi shouted, already forming her elemental dragon, "We'll just have to hope Lloyd gets there! Split up and meet there soon!"
The girls nodded, each leaping into the air, forming their dragon with a blast of power, and going in wildly differing directions. Ophiod and Skales shot out just in time to see Forte go last, playing a few taunting notes on her instrument before she was off into the distance. Ophiod hissed as he looked around, specifically for Harumi. When he saw her, he looked down to Skales.
"Let's go," Ophiod hissed, "We need to see where they're going!" Ophiod shot after Harumi, readying to follow her through the city. All Skales could do was cling on and nod as they chased the fleeing girls into the city. **
By now, Lulloyd was beginning to get used to flying alone like this. Granted, he was used to this already given that he often was blasting down Jelly Subs and Manta Ray Bombers like this, but he wasn't exactly sure this was the smartest thing to do. Given that he didn't know if someone was going to be coming after him at any moment, he wanted to find Over as soon as possible.
"Harumi said he… if he flew into the hydroelectric system then he'd be… coming out… where?" Lulloyd squinted at the map that Harumi gave him. The map didn't display right on his screen. The thin green screen that looked suspiciously like a book cover wasn't able ot use any of the 3D effects of the map that Harumi did. So he was looking at a purely top-down view. And given how much of the city looked like one mass of visual clutter, he wasn't sure he understood it.
"I… I passed the building a bit ago… o-or was that this one?" Lulloyd squinted a bit more at the screen, "Or, uhm, no that was it… I, I think, and.." He groaned, "I, why was I the one that had to go after him? I mean, I've seen Monty fly! Isn't he used to hunting people down for money or something?!"
Lulloyd flew past an opening in the ground under him. A figure shot out from it, flying after him. Lulloyd slowed the dragon down to a halt in the middle of a massive intersection of layers. People that were walking all around him looked up towards the sight of the toy-like dragon hovering in the air. Lulloyd took a moment to gather himself, ignoring the shocked looks of people seeing something out of this world, literally.
"I… okay, no I got this," Lulloyd smiled, "I, I know this. I, I could find my dad in the Ravine of Ravenous Reapers and, and when I got lost in the Unchartable Fire Forest, and, yeah. I-I got this. Okay. I just gotta think of what dad would say," Lulloyd deepened his voice, "Okay, look, Lulloyd. If you wanna find someone, you gotta know them. Really figure them out. Once you know them, you can really go for their throat, and they'll never hide from yo-"
"Are you quite finished?"
Lulloyd's eyes widened as his radar pinged behind him. His entire dragon whipped around, the mouth opening up to load a missile in the tongue to fire. The tongue-missile went off, hurling into the air. The missile was enveloped in a massive cocoon of shadows, which expanded as the missile went off, then deflated as smoke rose from it. Lulloyd looked up just in time for the smoke to clear and show him who he'd seen.
"O-Over!" Lulloyd yelped out, "T-There you are!"
"Yes, and apparently, you are happy to see me as well," Over hovered the smoking ball of exploded shadows to his hand, "Do you share your father's propensity for saying hello?"
"What? No! I-I mean, you startled me and, well!" Lulloyd leaned over the dragon's console, "I was looking for you!"
"Yes, I have been for the rest of you as well," Over held one of his hands out, "I have recovered something important."
Lulloyd was about to ask what, but his breath was taken from him by the sight. Over held the Pause Blade up into the air, letting the red glow of the thing highlight against his darkened skin. The glow was dull and faint, nothing like the blades that they have encountered on the Iron Doom, but there was no mistaking it.
"Y-You found it!" Lulloyd gasped, "Harumi was right!"
"Found it?" Over narrowed his gaze, "It dropped from the sky and saved me from Prime. I even verified it was, indeed, the real thing."
"You used it?" Lulloyd blinked, then gasped, "W-Wait, no! Harumi said not to! They aren't regenerating elemental power, so… so once they're used up, they're used up!"
"Is that so?" Over frowned, "She did mention that Krux and Acronix were imprisoned in this world, or so I assumed. I suppose the connection between them and the blades have been long severed then... " Over nodded, "Yes, that would make sense. A time spent away from power, and said power moves along. The First Weapon Master truly knew what he was doing, didn't he?"
"I, uhm, I guess so? The First Master Builder wasn't really from my world. He uh, kinda was from a lot of them? I think? I'm still not sure how Ninjago is connected to Sistocolpyseburg…"
Over blinked in confusion at the name, but said nothing more aside from a small sigh. Slowly, his wings flapped him over to land on the seat behind Lulloyd on the dragon. His wings folded back into his body, and with a small shimer, his top two arms retracted into his torso to reduce him to the same height and appendages as Lulloyd. He reached up to brush his hair back, then nodded down at Lulloyd.
"Go," Over ordered him, "We must regroup with the others. If you have spoken to Harumi, then you must know of where she is."
"Uh, before that…" Lulloyd pulled the map up on his screen again, "Harumi asked me to find you and, then go and, get another blade. There's one by the docks and, we should get it while we're here."
"Is that wise?" Over held up his own blade, "We have this. If we were to be attacked, we stand to lose double what the others do. I would imagine Harumi split up her forces again to collect the others… and assuming that she guessed that I retrieved this one, something I wouldn't put past her similarly astute and emotional mind, you are aware of the danger?"
"I am," Lulloyd informed him, "But, do we have a choice? If, those guys figure out what we're after, then… well, that's a problem. I would rather risk getting it now then, trying to risk them figuring out where we are. I uh, I mean apparently the guy who made this map found it by scanning for them so, I bet Invictus could do the same."
"...That is very true," Over rubbed his chin, "Your logic is sound. Fine, I am convinced. Let us go at once."
Lulloyd wasn't sure what had done it, but he wasn't going ot waste the chance. Once he saw Over was clinging to the small bar behind his chair, the mechdragon gave a roar and rocketed forward off into the distance. The two were sent flying off along the colorful, glistening walls of Harumi's city. The layers of people watching them go along, the glowing neon lights, the beautiful wells of hovercars, strange buildings and more, they were all things that made Lulloyd divert his attention to and from the mechdragon. For a long while, Lulloyd was ilent, trying to focus on his task. Over sat down after a bit of flying, moving to place his hands in his lap in a meditative pose.
"Speak," Over commanded him, much to Lulloyd's shock, "You are not normally this quiet."
"Oh! I uh, I mean… sorry, I'm just focused on getting there as quickly as we can," Lulloyd gripped the control sticks again, "I'm just, worried, that's all."
"Really?" Over sighed, "I suppose that is logical enough. But I do not think you have much cause to."
"Uh… why?" Lulloyd binked.
"You are the most capable ally in this alliance, therefore I have no reason to doubt you," Over informed him dryly, "You will get there when you do. And not a minute more. Your worry is expected, but not needed."
"Capable?" Lulloyd looked forward, "I uh… I don't think that's the word to describe me. Harumi is far smarter than me, Mage can do a lot more, you're just, scarily strong and…"
"I do not lie," Over frowned, "You are capable. Far more than I believe you know."
"Heh, you're, just trying to make me feel better," Lulloyd looked down, "I, know I'm the weakest one here. And that, I don't really fit in. I uh, appreciate that you say that but, I'm just used to hearing that and…" Lulloyd frowned, "I, don't want to feel pitied."
Over gave Lulloyd a long look. After a moment, Over scoffed and turned his back to Lulloyd, looking up at the sights of the city. He took his time to slowly reach his hand up, clasping it and then letting it go.
"You have not failed a task you have been given," Over spoke up after a long bout of silence, "You have shown yourself able to think on your feet. Even if you do not have power, you make up for it in patience and diligence. You are quiet, but you spend it thinking. You have fused your training as a ninja with the strategic thinking of your father. Seeing what chaos your home is like, it is a miracle you are as normal as you are. Yet, looking at you, you have taken that experience with the unexpected and used it to guide your decisions, not overtake them. You can look at a situation like this, in which the pieces and gears have moved in ways that not even the wildest of imagination could have thought of, and reacted calmly and rationally. Harumi allows emotion to guide her, Monty is resilient to offer guidance, Lloyd approaches things as though the situation is not long term, and even Mage, for his power, cannot perceive all he must. If I were to take someone into battle, it would be you," Over nodded, "An Emperor acknowledges the grace and accomplishments of his subjects, even if you are unwilling to yourself. Do not take my praise lightly."
Lulloyd was left completely stunned by all of it. It was something that he hadn't expected to hear from Over, of all people. Maybe from Lloyd or Harumi, and stretching it maybe Mage, but not Over. Just the idea that Over saw him like that was enough to make him unsure what was right to say back. So he just kept flying his dragon, thinking of the right words.
"Uh… thanks," Lulloyd muttered, "I'm, not sure that anyone has ever said that to me before…"
"Haven't they?" Over sighed, "For as… infuriatingly obstant as your father can be, he speaks highly of you. I have not seen even my own original father praise me to the degree that he does to you."
"What?" Lulloyd blinked, "In what way?"
"He calls your General Number Son," Over responded, "And given his focus on his warlike ways, I think that is perhaps the highest praise he can give to you, in the only way he knows how."
Before Lulloyd could respond, the mechdragon began to beep, signalling they had arrived at the docks. Lulloyd landed the dragon in the nearest corner of a building that he could, putting them on the actual ground level for once. Over moved to slowly focus his body until he was mostly shadow, and with that, he began to morph from dark spot to dark spot. By now, the late night was starting to give rise to morning, but thankfully the rays of light hadn't yet penetrated the entire shipyard yet.
At first, the shipyard looked as one would expect. Instead of the large freight rectangular containers that would litter the area and create oddly specific corridors for both sneaking and ambushing (or so Lulloyd thought), the containers were all cylindrical, almost as though they were gas tanks. However, from opening sliding doors in many of them, he could see there was regular cargo inside. They were stacked on small sliding robotic clamps on the ground holding them in place, creating pyramid shapes all around. As the two made their way through, aside from a few touchscreen pads mounted in front of areas for inventory, for once it seemed the city hadn't somehow injected the future into basic things.
That was until the two emerged from the corridors to see the actual ships themselves. There were no docks; instead, the two found that they were in an area that backed up to a massive wall hundreds of feet high that likely acted as the outskirts of the city. A grid-like shape of canals went right up to this wall, and various bits of robotic appendages were present all along the adjacent parts of the wall to the canal. There were no wooden or traditional docks. At first, it looked odd, as aside from the area where the cylindrical containers were stored, there were no ships docked at all. It almost just looked like an odd sort of design pattern.
A loud horn sounded to show a ship was coming. It barely looked like one, however. The entire thing was broken into two parts: a massive cylinder like the ones that they were hiding among, only this was hundreds of feet long with a scaled diameter to boot, and a small rectangular bridge that looked pasted on the top of it. The cylinder portion was what the ship was floating on, half submerged into the water. The ship pulled into one of the canals until it reached the wall and stopped. With a hydraulic hiss, the water under the ship began to bubble, until large claw-clamps hooked down and around the massive cylinder portion. The cylinder was then slowly pulled so that the cylinder was being slowly pulled upwards on the wall. The bridge of the ship rotated to remain upright relative to the ground. One it was fully up on the wall, the top of the cylinder suddenly was unscrewed almost akin to a water bottle. Large, circular holes dotted the entire inside. Tubes lowered down from the top of the wall, and from them, the cylindrical containers that Lulloyd and Over were on were sucked out. The main part of the ship was hollowed out, and nothing more than used to slot the containers inside. Once the ship was empty, the tubes retracted and the top was screwed back on, allowing the ship to descend back down into the canal. The bridge, rotating back to rest flush with the top of it, sent the boat slowly back out of the harbor.
"...So, these are the docks, then?" Over frowned, "Quite uneventful, if I say so myself."
"Yeah, well, we should be careful," Lulloyd looked around by rotating his head, "There is too much open space. We'll be seen if we leave these, container things. We should be careful, and-"
"He's here," Over's shadowy mass manifested an arm to point towards a spot nearby.
Lulloyd turned, trying to see what Over did. Sitting at the very edge of one of the canals, his feet dangling down into the water, was none other than Oni. The part human, dragon and oni was working on doing something Lulloyd couldn't make out. When he squinted, he saw that he was working on carving something. He could just faintly make out wood shavings beside him. He had his back turned to them, but what was more interesting to him was the fact that, amidst the shavings, was none other than a blue glowing blade.
"He's found the Time Blade already, then…" Over growled, "Wonderful."
"So...what do we do?" Lulloyd asked, "Do we, sneak up on him?"
"I don't think that's going to work," Over looked around, "He's picked a location with no hiding spots. I think it's best if we go and speak to him."
"What?" Lulloyd frowned, "I… guess that's not a bad plan but, are you sure?"
"As sure as I am that this will work," Over fully reformed his two-armed body and took a step forward, then sounded out before Lulloyd realized the contradiction in his phrasing, "Come."
For a moment, Lulloyd considered drawing his sword. Over placed his hands behind his back, but didn't summon his own staff. Therefore, Lulloyd decided not to come off as antagonistic, and instead moved to just follow behind him. The two walked fully out into the open, Lulloyd rocking from leg to leg while Over took graceful, long strides. When the two were within a few feet of Oni, they were able to see more of what he was doing.
Oni held a half-painted mask, one that was a deep blue with long, green swirls for the eyes. Lulloyd instantly recognized it as in the style of the masks that they'd first seen him in. Oni didn't turn to face them, even if the shift in his shoulders meant he heard them. He just went about his work, carving, carving, carving. He slid a small chiseling tool back and forth across the surface, carving the details of the cheeks and eyline. More important for Lulloyd, however, now that they were closer, he could tell that Oni indeed was sitting right next to the Slow Blade.
"Oni!" Over shouted, his voice commanding, booming, with the might of an Emperor, "We have come to take that blade from you."
The carving man took a moment to pause. Slowly, he turned around and looked at them. His eyes were as dull, lifeless and mysterious as ever. The lack of emotion was almost as terrifying as seeing someone ready to fight them.
"So you are," Oni turned his head back to his work, "...Then, let us get started."