Through the large and winding gaps between the large buildings of the futuristic Ninjago City, Invictus flew by. The mech had its guns drawn, holding them in both hands. The space around them lacked much natural light, instead colored mainly in simply blues, purples and small tinges of red from the more beautiful and vibrant buildings behind them. If Prime's guess was right, this was an industrial district. Given it was night, most people seemed to be off in the main city. The buildings here were simply skyscrapers, rather than the behemoths that made up the main city. Thus, the main light was produced by the blue glow of Invictus' jets and the blue that shone along its body armor.
"Come on out, Over!" Prime's voice blurred through the speakers on Invictus, "Come out and let me get a good SHOT!"
Invictus fired a blast from the mech's arm-mounted cannons. The massive blasts of white soared across the ground, lighting up the world under it. The concrete foundations of each building shone as it flew past them, sizzling its surface. It struck the side of a large wall between two buildings, vaporizing the wall down to nothing and exposing several large production vats inside.
Over hid behind one of the nearby buildings. He panted hard, clutching the side of it as tightly as he could. Invictus slowly began to fly through the air after him, looking for where he'd made his hiding place. Over held his staff firmly, waiting for the large mech to fly past him. His breath came in tiny gasps as the massive, beautiful form of Invictus slowly emerged from the gap in buildings to his right.
With a silent flap, Over's wings brought him to slash hard across the back of Invictus. His staff slashed right into the armor, trying to dent it. Before Over could finish, however, Invictus' right hand reached back and backhanded him. The sheer force of it sent Over careening through the air, striking one building and hurtling into the one opposite it a moment later.
"Nice try!" Prime taunted, "But you won't get away with something so by the book!"
Invictus instead drew its two smaller guns and hefted them up to where Over was falling. Over opened his eyes just in time to see it, giving a sharp inhale just as the guns went off. The sound of massive shells firing over, and over, and over was all that penetrated the space. They churned up the sides of the buildings, ripping them open to reveal the large workspaces where people no doubt would find utterly ruined when the morning shift started.
Over's wings flapped hard, trying to bring him up and over the spread of bullet fire. He held his hands down, letting out concentrated blasts of dark power to send him flying up into the air higher. Invictus' movements, however, were far more practiced than that. Over sent himself spiralling, trying to get higher before his eye momentarily widened to see a shell the side of his torso ready to blast through him.
With another hard churn, Over brought himself to slam backwards against a building, tumbling inside to dodge. Invictus rocketed straight up to the opening a moment later. When he did, though, Over raised his hand and blasted the ceiling, shattering all the lights. The entire space went completely dark.
Invictus had only a few seconds to process this grave error before Shadow Control gripped the space. A massive hand, the size of Invictus' chest, made completely of shadow shot out from the opening in the wall. It grabbed hold of the mech's left arm. Small ridges, almost like daggers, stabbed down into the arm, gripping it with a ferocity unmatched. Shadows dripped down from it like melting flesh as Over held his own hand out towards Invictus within the dark space.
Prime, warnings blaring on his screen, drew a knife and blazed up his sword with his mech's right arm. Before he could try to cleave through the shadowy claw, the side of the building still intact grew a massive purple portal. The large, demonic head of the Overlord dragon shot outwards, opening its mouth to show the various rows of teeth that reached out to grab hold of the mech's right armo. The shadows from the buildings interior and the dragon yanked in opposite directions, wrenching the mech's arms apart. The shadowy claw holding Invictus' left arm began to churn, small hands reaching out and up from its length. Each claw reached up and out towards the mech's torso, like the clawing desperate gasps of the dead reaching up from purgatory to wrench those unlucky enough nearby down with them.
Invictus twisted and jerked, trying to break free, but the shadowy growths grasped its torso to hold it still. Invictus' screens flared up warnings after warnings. Prime, unphased, made a small 'tssk' and threw his body back in a perfect backflip. Invictus' legs shot upwards, their jets smashing hard into the building's wall to free more of it. The shadows inside writhed and slithered around, all firing up from a single point of complete vantablack in its epicenter to fuel the hand still clinging to Invictus. Prime stood back up and thrust his arms out like Invictus' own, then yanked them down. He twisted his wrists until the arm cannons were twisted just close enough to fire off right down into the middle of the space. He twisted his wrists and gripped his fists, letting loose all the energy stored in them into it.
The shadows absorbed most of the impact, but that wasn't his aim. The floor, instead, was split into pieces and, with a few lucky shots, cracked and caved in. All at once, the head of the dragon head roared and was yanked down into its portal to reform back into Over's body as he was yanked down by gravity. The shadowy hand faded as Over's concentration evaporated, letting Invictus yank free and draw its guns once more. The mech fired as hard as it could down into the space of the building, ripping apart its entire foundation. The building rocked, bits flying each which way until cracks formed on its walls. Just as it began to cave in, Invictus gripped the smaller guns on its hips, threw them into the air, drew its swords, and brought them down on the collapsing building with a loud cry from Prime. The sizzling energy weapons imbedded inside the collapsing structure. Invictus let go of the sword and held its hands up to elegantly catch guns and fire into the structure where Over was, illuminating the space with muzzle flashes to chase away the shadows. As the entire building truly began to cave in, Invictus holstered its guns and yanked its swords out just in time to hover int he air as Over was buried inside.
Prime slowly landed Invictus in front of the rubble, using the mech's systems to blast the dust cloud away. He waited patiently, looking across the devastation with a simple glance. He lowered the mech's arms towards the rubble, the cannons training on it in their reticles.
Just to the right of where he was pointed, a massive dragon claw blasted up through the rubble. Over came launching out of the hole it created a second later, the claw shrinking into his lower left arm. Invictus twisted and fired at him, the massive white lasers narrowly missing the side of another building and arcing off away from the city. Over clutched one of his arms, dragging his staff along with him. He dissolved it back into Dark Matter to sink back into his body, focusing on his wings.
"He's bold to attack us inside the city!" The Overlord shouted over the sound of wind rippling by their head, "Does he have no care for his people?!"
"His hatred for me will override all logic, it seems," Overlloyd pointed out back to him, hissing in pain from taking an entire building on top of him, "I will use that to my advantage!"
Over was forced to roll himself to the left to avoid another laser blast from the mech's arm cannons. He and Mage had destroyed the mech's rifle at Borg Tower in Lloyd's world, but these cannons were just as annoying. He could take more hits from them, but it would put him in a bad spot if he didn't fight right. And doing so in the presence of people would bring them in the crossfire as well.
With his mind made up, Over snapped his wings, causing him to soar up in the air. He changed directions by tilting his wing, carrying him towards the east. That would take him further into this industrial district, further from the people. He flapped as hard as he could, even as Invictus continued to fire its cannons at him. The lasers soared off past him as he dodged each one, the light fading off in the distance.
Over twisted his body around, flying backwards as he summoned his four swords. He held them out in each hand, even if the one dangling limp made him wince. He forced all four forward and charged dark power inside them, gathering it in a large swirling mass between them and firing it off towards the shape that was pursuing him. Invictus dodged the return fire much as Over did, giving return fire with his cannons. Over let his wings snap shut, throwing him down towards the ground in a free fall. He continued to blast off at Invictus, keeping the mech's attention solely on him. Some of them managed to hit Invictus, but none to penetrate the mech's hide. It was truly a machine of war.
Just before Over was about to hit the ground, he flared his wings out to slow his descent. When he hit the ground, he took off running. He let his momentum carry him forward through what looked to be a large back alley between several buildings. Invictus landed with a thundering crash a few seconds later, its shadow barely managed to reach out towards where Over had ran. The mech took a few steps forward after Over.
Just as the mech tried to aim at Over, the two buildings beside it began to froth and writhe. Spikes of shadow erupted along the walls upright as Over skidded to a stop and summoned his power once more. The shadows speared the mech from head to toe, bouncing off the mech's armor when they hit but forming an effective cage. Over gave a long inhale, then turned to face Invictus. Summoning this much shadow to command pushed him to his limit, but he would keep going.
The ground under him writhed, and in turn launched him up into the air in a large pillar of shadow. Over angled himself forward, soaring towards Invictus. Before he hit the ground again, another pillar launched him up. As Invictus struggled, Prime yanked his arms and legs furiously to break free. Over's body launched up towards the side of one of the buildings, where shadowy spike shot out to form stairs he elegantly ran up. The shadows melted in and out of the wall to form the perfect point to him to finally jump into the air and bring his staff over his head right at Invictus.
Over's staff plunged straight down into the left cannon in Invictus' arm. A few inches of his staff was sent down into the thing, and in turn Over charged the thing with dark power and sent it hurtling into the machine. The blue energy running through Invictus began to turn purple, then the two colors mingled the mech's arm shook. Over yanked his staff out and slashed the spot twice more before launching himself into the air, just in time for the cannon to explode.
Prime was rattled in his cockpit, but remained on his feet. Over took off into the air, flying hard and away from Invictus. The spikes that bound Invictus began to melt away, giving Prime more than enough time to launch into the air and pursue him. The mech raised the broken cannon to see the thing was blown wide open. Prime took a few more moments to focus and steele himself, then he let out a massive growl and shot into the sky after him.
"You won't get away from me, you dark beast!" Prime roared. The sound of Invictus' jets droned out any and all sound as he chased after the dark Emperor, fleeing through the city and away from the plights of his allies.
"I'm counting on it," Over grunted out, "If I am a reflection of your darkness, you are an easy foe to manipulate," With that, Over took off, putting out of his mind how the others were faring as he, instead, led the massive machine far away from the other conflicts surely happening.
Mage plunged Aevum into the ground in front of him. People around him stared at him in shock, and right now Mage didn't have time to care about that. He looked down, seeing his left side was a bloody mess. Being blasted through a building didn't afford him the same damage that someone like Over would take, it seemed. He let out a long whine, then pressed his hand to the wound. He inhales sharply, letting his fingers splay out and cover the thing in ice. Soon, his left side was coated in a thin layer of permafrost. At least until he could get it looked at, that would have to do.
"Y-Young man…?" A man in a business suit walked up to Mage, extending his hand, "Are you… alright?" Notably, everyone was staring at Mage's fingers and expressive eyes.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good!" Mage yanked himself upright with Aevum, stumbling a few steps forward, "Doing perfect, actually. I've had a lot worse. Been blown through at least… three mountains by Skylar! I'm gonna do just fine…"
"Are you so sure about that, boy?" Mage heard a voice that made him turn. Standing at the entrance to the hallway Mage had dragged himself down was none other than Skales. The two legged snake slowly drew his elegant curved golden blade, the lights of the hallway glittering off it.
Mage's mind flashed quickly. He didn't see Ophiod. They must have split up. He focused, trying to turn into smoke, only for his wound to burn through him. He'd taken too much damage in escaping from the cave. Fighting Skales right now would be futile. He had to run.
"...You know what, I'm not fine," Mage shook his head, "I'm actually in big danger right now. You need to get out of here, now."
"What?" The man shook his head, "Young man, you're injured, we need to call a medicar immediately!"
Mage sighed, "I'm really not fine, in fact!" Mage inhaled sharply, then his eyes opened red. His entire body was engulfed in roaring hot flames, ones that lit up the hallway in their light, "IN FACT YOU SHOULD LEAVE RIGHT NOW, CAUSE I'M ON FIRE NOW!"
All around him, the employees on this particular business all shouted in terror and raced to leave the room. The man that had extended his hand clamped it over his watch and began to tap in rapid instructions to call for help. As the hallway cleared, Mage let the flames die down. His clothes remained unsigned, but his layer of ice had burned away. He winced, slowly getting up and drawing Aevum out of the floor.
"Hmmph," Skales took a few steps down the hallway towards him, "I would have assumed someone named the Dragon Lord would be far more… elegant."
Mage inhaled sharply, opening his mouth and letting out a sonic screech. Skales took the blast head on, his body and ears ringing with the impact but remaining upright. He continued to walk forward, straight on through it. Mage, seeing this and blinking in fear, focused. His entire body began to cover in green. He shook himself like a dog, splattering the hallway in acid. He took off half running, half limping to get away from Skales.
The Hypnobrai, as soon as Mage began to run, raced straight through the hall. He leapt into the air and rolled right through the layer of acid Mage had laid down, snapping upright and running straight off towards him. Mage turned and blinked in confusion, but Skales was advancing on him. Without thinking, Mage activated speed to try to send him off the way. When he opened the door to the stairwell, however, he found himself going far too fast, throwing himself down the stairs and coming to a crash on the next landing with a painful thud.
"Ughhh…" Mage whimpered, rubbing his head. The door to the stairwell opened to show Skales, staring down at him with those red swirling eyes filled with a simple singular goal in them. Mage, not wanting to stick around to find out what that was, scrambled down the stairs, blocking out what pain he could.
When Mage landed on the next floor, he found himself in a completely different business. People were beginning to stream out of what looked like a printing shop, or more so a shop that was converting paper into digital scans. Without much idea of what it was, he looked to see a door that led to the outside. Skales slid down the railing to gain on him, and Mage didn't hesitate. He raced forward through the people, ignoring their stares as he threw himself out the door and into the world outside.
The loud, overwhelming, cool air of Ninjago City met him. Mage looked around, trying to get a gauge on where he was. A sign showed he was on layer 30. The crowds outside were watching the building in confusion as to what was going on. Mage came stumbling out, and quickly that attention turned to him. Mage reflexively tried to use form, but doing so caused his wound to burn in pain. He instead turned it take a defensive stance with Aevum, forming his time matrix to wield the thing as Skales came walking out of the building with a slow, regal walk.
"Running will do you no favors," Skales declared to him, "Your friends will be hunted down as we speak. I know you're a child, but even a hatchling knows when they should give up."
"Well," Mage shook his head, "This isn't the first time I've been cornered. Or even the last. And unlike those other times, you forget something important about the Dragon Lord."
"Oh?" Skales growled, "And what is that?"
Mage looked down behind him. The thirty story drop to the ground below was massive. He knew he wouldn't take that impact well. He backed up until his back was up against the glass railing that separated him from it. A few stray hovercars flew behind him, making small noises in his ears. People around them began to creep in to try to see what was going on.
"I can fly!" Mage shouted, gathering wind in his feet. He launched himself up into the air, trying to fly up to the next layer. Skales, however, snapped his body and twisted into Spinjitzu. He raced across the ground right to Mage, and the force of his tornado grabbed Mage and yanked him into it. Mage's world was surrounded by blue. Then, with a kick, Mage was thrown out and down onto the layer he'd tried to escape from. Skales ended his Spinjitzu with a small flourish of his head.
"And I can see past the moves of a child," Skales frowned, "Even if you can't see through mine."
Mage slowly pulled himself up off the ground, coughing as he did. By now, the crowd was beginning to get the idea that this wasn't just some street fight and back off. Mage looked down to Aevum, trying to summon his Time Matrix. His mind, however, was too focused, causing the sword's power to leak out and make it move in slowed time. Without much choice, Mage yanked its holster off his hip and slid the sword into it. He slowly stood up, gripping the sword holster and hefting it towards Skales.
"Are you serious?" Skales chuckled, "I know how that sword works. Are you telling me you can't even use it?"
"Maybe you'll find that I'm just getting started," Mage smirked, hiding his nerves, "Come at me, Skales!"
Skales didn't grant him another moment. Just as Mage gave his command, Skales leapt backwards in the air, landed on his hand, and twisted into Spinjitzu. The Hypnobrai came roaring at him, and Mage held on until the last second. Just as it was about to hit him, he flashed with speed to his right. Skales ended his Spijitzu as soon as he saw this, but Mage used the chance to swing his weapon towards Skales' back. The Hypnobrai managed to get his blade in the way in time, but by then Mage had taken a deep breath and opened his mouth to show it was filled with flickering flames.
Skales leapt backwards to avoid the jet of fire. Mage took off running, trying to put as much distance between him and Skales as he could. Skales shrugged off the look and quickly took off after him. After a few steps, Skales once more twisted into his tornado, and soon Mage had him gaining on him again. The crowds of people darted out of their way as Mage ran by.
Soon, Mage came up to one of the large tubes with hovering discs that served as elevators. Just as Skales was about to hit him, Mage darted inside and struck a glowing red button, causing the door to shut. Skales struck the tube and cancelled his Sipnjitzu, looking up in anger as he saw Mage getting away by moving up the tube. Looking around, Skales saw another one nearby. Mage watched as Skales rushed over and grabbed the man that was about to jump inside. When the man pushed back, Skales' eyes flashed and began to swirl, causing the man to go limp. A second later, Skales was after Mage once again.
Mage had to think here. He didn't know this city. He wasn't sure how long this elevator was going to go up, but he needed to get away from Skales. He looked down at his left wrist, focusing. If he could just get Aevum to work, he could easily stall Skales and get away! But he didn't know what he could do otherwise. He didn't know this city and that was his biggest issue!
The tube stopped as it reached the top of its ride, depositing him on layer 70, meaning he was now 70 stories above the ground. Mage looked around, trying to figure out where he could go next. He quickly noted the fact that the buildings got thicker towards his right, and took off in that direction. About ten seconds after he'd taken off, Skales was already after him. Skales kept no anger on his face, only took off after him. Mage shouldered his way through the crowds, while Skales elegantly wove his way through them like someone used to pursuits like this.
Soon, Mage found himself at a massive plaza. Hovercars above and below them wove by, nad people all throughout the plaza were milling about and chatting. Mage rushed into it, making for the center. Skales soon entered after him.
"What good will all this running do for you, Mage?" Skales shouted at him, slowing from a run to a walk as Mage stumbled into the middle of the plaza, "Did you really think you could get away from me? Ophiod has marked you as his target. And I, as his knight, will take you down!"
Mage slowly turned to face Skales. At the start of this chase, he'd been relatively alright. Now, all this running had just made his wound sting even more, and by now he wasn't sure he could keep running. He looked around, looking for something that he could potentially do.
Suddenly, the entire plaza lit up. The glass layer under skales and Ophiod turned blue and red, and shimmered with a strange pattern on it. The people in the plaza instantly began to back away and evacuate. Both Skales and Ophiod looked around in confusion, right up until the sirens started. The noise of them was deafening, and both covered their ears. When Mage looked up, the entire plaza had been surrounded by hovercars bearing the distinctive black and white coloration of cop cars. They completely surrounded the plaza. With a crackling of energy, each car formed a square force field in front of it, connecting up with that of the ones next to it until they'd encircled the plaza with them, leaving just Skales and Ophiod inside of them.
"This is the police!" A gruff yet young sounding voice came from the head car, "If you do not put down your weapons now, we will open fire! You're under arrest for disturbance of the peace, carrying unlicensed weapons and general recklessness! Put your weapons down!"
"Are you…?" Skales grunted, "You're kidding. Did you summon them!?"
"Huh? No?" Mage shook his head, "I have no idea who they are!"
Mage decided to ignore them, turning to face Skales. The moment that he did, however, he heard something click behind him. A young man with a black set of hair, hard eyes and bushy eyebrows had trained what looked like a white laser gun on him. Mage turned to look at him in confusion, cocking his head as he did.
"I'm trying to defend myself here!" Mage protested, "Why are you aiming at me?!"
"You're under arrest! Do you not know how this works, weird kid?!" The police officer grunted, "Put the sword down and put your hands up!"
"But it's my sword!" Mage protested.
"I won't stop until I've finished my mission, Mage," Skales hefted his own blade at Mage, "No matter what the interlopers will try!"
"Uh… what do we do with them, Commissioner?" A young cop with orange hair in the car beside the one aiming at Mage asked.
"...Firing on a kid would look really bad…" The young Commissioner shook his head, "Kids, you got ten seconds before we open fire! Ten! Nine! Ei-"
Skales and Mage ignored them, launching themselves right at each other. Skales brandished his blade, hefting it up and twisting into Spinjitzu. Mage let his arm on fire and readied himself to attack Skales with it. The two raced right across the flashing plaza, readying to fight.
With two clicks, the gun the young Commissioner had went off. An invisible laser went through the air and hit Mage in the back. All at once, Mage's body went completely numb. He collapsed to the ground, dropping Aevum. Skales was subdued by two more shots from the young Commissioner, dropping his own blade. Both combatants flopped on the ground as they tried to look to what had just happened to them.
The young Commissioner leapt down off his car, walking calmly across the space and adjusting his hat. When he reached the two, he pulled out a small pair of metal cuffs. When he placed them on Mage, the cuffs bound tightly and a field of energy came up to bind Mage's hands behind his back in an arm binder. He repeated the process to Skales, ensuring neither of them could so much as move their arms.
"How am I going to explain this one…?" The young Commissioner sighed, "You boys are under arrest. Hopefully your parents are around to get you out of this one!"
Lulloyd sped through the city as fast as he could. He wasn't sure what had just happened. Everything had just gone so wrong. Forte had been controlled to take Ophiod to them, then Prime showed up to nearly stop their escape, Mage had gone on the run to try to divert attention and now… now he wasn't sure where Over or Monty were. He'd flown his Mechdragon away from the scene of the attack as quickly as he could, not sure what he was supposed to do. His dragon just continued to soar through the skies gracefully and powerfully to carry him to his destination.
"I-I have to find the others," Lulloyd tapped the screen of his dragon, trying to see if any of their comms were online, "Lloyd! Harumi!" He tapped again, "Mage? Monty!" Nothing came back at him, "Where are you guys?!"
There wasn't a response. Lulloyd felt like he was about to panic. He didn't know where his friends were, he was flying through the city blind, and he had nothing he could use to help himself other than his own dragon. He didn't know what was happening to him!
Suddenly, the screen in front of him crackled. Lulloyd stopped, looking down at it in shock. He slowly pulled back on his dragon's sticks, trying to focus on it.
"Guys?!" Lulloyd asked.
"..That should do it," The voice that came through it was nothing like Lulloyd expected, "Hello, Lulloyd."
"Ophiod?!" Lulloyd went to turn the comm off, but it wouldn't, "How are you?!"
"It's rather easy to use a simply scurrying spell and modify it to fit with communications," Ophiod shook his head, "Have you not questioned how I discuss with Prime?"
"But…" Lulloyd steeled himself, "You, I don't know what you're doing right now, but-"
"But you do," Ophiod cut him off, "I am not playing some game here, Lulloyd. I am fighting you to stop you. I have split your forces and am hunting you down. What part of that makes you confused? What else must I do to prove my point to you?"
Lulloyd looked around. Ophiod had to be nearby. His dragon was only short range, and given how much interference this dragon must be getting in this city, he had to find Ophiod. He slowly twisted his head around, trying to locate him.
"I don't, want to fight you, Ophiod," Lulloyd explained as he searched, "I just, want to keep my home safe. Don't, you want that too?"
"My desires are my own!" Ophiod exclaimed back to him, "I do not have to consider this. You are the one that has disobeyed the orders of those stronger than you. And now I am here to carry out their will!"
"And is that all you are, Ophiod?" Lulloyd continued, "I-I mean, are you just, some underling, carrying out your general's orders..?"
"I am a Prince, Lulloyd," The Viper explained through the comm, "This is for the betterment of my people. I am going to be the one that is victorious here. You are going to fall, and I will take you down for it. I will prove myself the strongest of Serpentine, the one that is worthy of carrying the title of Prince!"
Lulloyd saw a flash of magic out of the corner of his eye. With a kick of his controls, his dragon swerved out of the way. When he looked up, he saw Ophiod standing on a layer above him, retracting his fist from him. Lulloyd took a moment to inhale, then he thrust his control sticks forward.
"Then, you'll have to go through me!" Lulloyd shouted, flying right through the air. Ophiod charged up another blast of magic, but Lulloyd yanked a stick back to cause his dragon to fire off its head missile. The thing flew through the air and smashed into the layer Ophiod stood on, shattering the glass. Ophiod fell through it, his body surrounded by a thin layer of protective magic. The Viper landed on the layer beneath him with a thud, watching the shards fall through the air.
Lulloyd leapt off the dragon, leaping into the air as his dragon converted back into a brick. He spun in the air and kicked the brick, sending it right into Ophiod. The brick hit Ophiod's chest, yet the Viper didn't move. Lulloyd then shot through the air with one leg extended, hitting the brick and driving it home into Ophiod. The brick flew into the air as Ophiod slid backwards. Lulloyd landed and did a hard backflip, corkscrewing in the air to catch his brick on his back and land with his sword drawn.
Lulloyd then ran at Ophiod, spinning his sword several times. Ophiod hefted his staff in the air and called on its power, touching the fringes of its magic. He slammed it down, sending out radial blasts of magic. Lulloyd sidestepped each of them, sliding back and forth before jumping into the air and slashing his sword across Ophiod's guard, then twisting around and spinning his sword to launch right into Ophiod's body. Ophiod caught his sword on his staff.
"Your speed is… commendable," Ophiod thrust Lulloyd back, "As is your skill with the sword!"
"Yeah, well, your staff isn't half as bad as my dad's!" Lulloyd launched right back at Ophiod, "And you're pretty slower than him, too!"
Ophiod tried to call on more magic, but Lulloyd was faster than him. Instead, Ophiod simply cancelled his magic and brought his tail in front of him and struck out with it. Lulloyd blurred into a slash through the air as he dodged each strike. Ophiod spun his body with each thrust, gathering torque to slam his tail harder against him. Lulloyd took one of these strikes head on, being swept in an arc across the ground towards the small glass wall at the edge of the layer.
Instead, Lulloyd reached out and grabbed hold of the tail. Ophiod blinked in confusion, and Lulloyd leapt off the wall and right towards Ophiod. He yanked the tail along with him, dragging Ophiod forward and onto the ground. Lulloyd then hit the ground and spun, running back at Ophiod and leaping into the air. Ophiod thrust himself onto his back and held his staff up, his tail and hands holding the staff up. Lulloyd slashed rapidly away at the staff, each strike making his body blur as he attacked with the speed and ferocity of a stinging bee.
Then, with a twist of his sword, Lulloyd dug deep and shouted, throwing Ophiod upright with his staff. Lulloyd inhaled, then struck Ophiod in a combo-like attack. He shot Ophiod up into the air, slashing away at him with his sword. Each blow shot Ophiod higher and higher into the air, Ophiod's staff striking out to try and stop the attacks. When Ophiod had reached several feet off the ground, Lulloyd shouted and twisted his sword over his head, then struck Ophiod hard to send him hurtling towards the layer. When Ophiod hit it, the glass splintered with the impact. Lulloyd landed, a look of a skyward dragon in his eyes.
Finally, Lulloyd raced forward and held his sword forward, thrusting it hard like a rushing boar. Ophiod looked up and thrust his palm forward, a magical mark forming on it and a blast of an orange mist filling the air. Lulloyd's attack missed as Ophiod darted backwards and closed his fist, causing the blast to ignite. Lulloyd's senses picked up on this just as it happened, and he drafted out of the cloud just before it caught him in it. Something yanked on his hand, however, and in turn Lulloyd's sword was blasted out of his hand.
"I will not lose to you, Lulloyd!" Ophiod spat, "Fancy attacks will do nothing to deter me!"
Now it was Ophiod's turn to attack. The Viper rushed him hard, and this time he was on the full attack. Lulloyd brought his arms up defensively as Ophiod it him hard off the bat, with his staff swinging hard in from the left. Lulloyd took the blows, steading his body with his core even as Ophiod worked him backwards. Ophiod, however, took each blow head on and attacked back with a ferocity in his swipes.
"Do you think that you can take me on, Lulloyd?!" Ophiod taunted, "I was trained by the greatest Anacondrai to ever live!"
Ophiod's tail struck Lulloyd's hands, breaking his guard apart. Ophiod reared his tail back, ready to give one final blow into his head.
"Fall, Lulloyd!" Ophiod hissed out, "Give in before you lose your chance!" Ophiod's tail shot out.
Suddenly, Lulloyd shut his eyes. His left arm shot up and caught hold of the tail. Ophiod's entire body froze in that moment, seeing Lulloyd slowly open his eyes with a fiery determination. Lulloyd rotated his body and grabbed hold of the tail with both hands. Before Ophiod could stop himself, Lulloyd spun his body and swung Ophiod's body into the air, causing him to crash into the layer with a splintering of glass.
"I'm more than fancy tricks," Lulloyd panted out, "And I don't need a sword to beat you!"
Ophiod recovered from the stun with a hard cough, but the moment he was up on his tail, Lulloyd shot forward. His fists swung forward, each impact hard enough to make Ophiod's scales sting from the strikes. His body didn't slow down a single moment from it all. Ophiod threw his tail up defensively, tensing it to guard himself and hide from Lulloyd.
Lulloyd leapt backwards, grabbing hold of a small stand of digital pamphlets. When Ophiod lowered his tail to spin his staff, Lulloyd grabbed the stand and spun his body on one foot, sending the thing crashing into Ophiod's body. The impact stunned the Viper from its ferocity. He looked up in time to see Lulloyd falling from the sky. Lulloyd grabbed hold of Ophiod's shoulders and spun his entire body, piledriving Ophiod into the layer and further shattering the glass underfoot. Ophiod gasped out from the sheer force of impact.
Not to be outdone, Ophiod held his staff out and spun his entire body. Lulloyd jumped over the staff and up onto the thin sliver of barrier between the layer and the several hundred foot drop to the ground layer below. Ophiod briefly twisted into Spinjitzu to stand upright, holding his staff out in a magical blast of fire. Lulloyd leapt down from it, dodging the blasts before throwing his fists up again. Ophiod huffed out, anger filling him as he shot forward to attack all out.
Lulloyd focused on his attacks. Ophiod's swipes weren't strong at first, but he used his speed to his advantage. Lulloyd, however, was even faster. He spun his body from spot to spot, taking each blow to cancel out Ophiod's own momentum. He went in for a punch, but Ophiod had curled his tail forward and lashed out with it again. Lulloyd dodged it, but Ophiod had already rushed him and taken him right on again. With a headbutt, Ophido sent Lulloyd back towards the edge of the layer. Lulloyd hit the small glass wall.
Ophiod thrust his staff forward. Lulloyd dodged the tip impaling him by feinting right, but Ophiod's tail came up and grabbed hold of Lulloyd's neck. Ophiod readied to throw Lulloyd off the layer, but instead Lulloyd grabbed the tail and flashed a glare at Ophiod. A moment later, Lulloyd threw himself on his back, yanking Ophiod towards him. Ophiod, unsteadied, was met with a violent kick on his back, the impact making his tail uncurl. Lulloyd leapt upwards, ready to deliver a blow to Ophiod.
Instead, Ophiod opened his eyes and spun his body around. Another blast of magic fired from his staff, sending Lulloyd through the air and over the edge of the layer. Lulloyd didn't even have time to cry out as he was sent hurtling down the drop through the layered city. Ophiod grunted as he planted his staff into the cracked layer, slithering over to the edge of the layer. For a moment, Ophiod reached up to tell Prime he'd succeeded.
That, however, was when he remembered the fact that brick wasn't just a brick he was carrying around. A moment later, the Mechdragon shot through the air, carrying Lulloyd on its back. Lulloyd no longer had a smile on his face. Lulloyd drew his hood over his face, then trained his aiming reticle on screen at Ophiod.
"Being thrown off Ninjago Tower was apart of my training!" Lulloyd shouted, hitting the fire buttons. The dragon let loose its barrage of weapons, hitting the ground right in front of Ophiod. Lulloyd aimed carefully, blowing up each bit of the cracked layer piece by piece. Ophiod threw up a magical shield and took several blasts head on. The explosions, however, rattled the glass as, with a blink of confusion, the glass under Ophiod shattered and sent him falling through the air.
Lulloyd hit a button on his dragon and leapt out into the air. He rapidly grabbed hold of the falling chunks of glass and swung them at Ophiod like daggers, each one striking his shield and cracking it. The two fell down towards the layer below them, another glass walkway that connected two massive skyscrapers. Ophiod landed hard, the glass momentarily cracking but holding. Ophiod's shield cushioned him from most of the fall, but splintered further. He spat in anger, hefting his staff up to try to summon more magic.
Instead, Ophiod's eyes widened as he saw Lulloyd's mechdragon catch Lulloyd in the air. Lulloyd hit a button, causing one last missile to fire off. Ophiod leapt into the air to avoid damaging the layer, taking the full brunt of the impact. The Viper's shield shattered as he was sent hurtling towards the building at the edge of the walkway. He landed against it with a crushing blow. A small bit of glass walkway wrapped around the building, giving him purchase to slowly and painfully stand up on. The Mechdragon, however, was ready to fire.
Ophiod turned tail and began to slither as fast as he could away. Lulloyd let off his trigger and instead aimed in front of Ophiod, letting his missiles rip apart the ground in front of him. When Ophiod turned around to try to go back, Lulloyd blasted that apart open too. He trapped Ophiod up against the building, and instead trained his weapons on the Viper. He fired off a warning shot that hit right in front of Ophiod. In turn, Ophiod spun his staff behind him and lit it up with magic, ready to call on it at a moment's notice. The Viper's body shook in pain.
"Go ahead!" Ophiod shouted, "Fire!" A circle of orange magic flared up around the Viper, "I assure you, it won't go well for you!"
Lulloyd readied himself on fire. He had his hand over the red button. But when he tried to, he stopped. He looked down to Ophiod, standing there with his staff drawn, his body tensed and his magic ready to attack. For some reason, Lulloyd found himself hesitating. When Ophiod realized this, he growled.
"Go on!" Ophiod shouted, "Attack! Show me your conviction!"
"I don't want to!" Lulloyd shouted, "I don't want to fight! I don't want to hurt you!"
"You have no choice!" Ophiod growled, "If you will not attack, then I will!"
"Why are you doing this?!" Lulloyd shouted, "You don't have to attack us! Whatever you think you'll get out of this, the Twins won't give it to you. You… you won't get anything like power-"
"Power?!" Ophiod shouted back at him, "What do you know about Power, Lulloyd?"
"I know that you're trying to get it!" Lulloyd shouted, "You, you think if you can get that scroll to work for you, then you'll be strong enough to free your father, and-"
"My father?" Ophiod froze, "How… how do you know about that?! What do you know about me?!"
"Your mother told me!" Lulloyd shouted, "She wants you to come home!"
Ophiod completely froze. Lulloyd knew what he'd said. He kept his hand trained on the button to fire, but refused to. He took his time in trying to ready himself, to get himself to plan out his next move. Ophiod, in the meanwhile, just gripped his scroll harder.
"So… so Prime was right, you did to go my home like you did his…" Ophiod raised his head, "What gives you the right to do that, Lulloyd?!"
"The fact that you don't belong here!" Lulloyd shouted, "This battle is between us and the Twins. They're just using you! Do you think that unlocking that scroll is going to do anything?!" Lulloyd rotated his head, "Lloyd told me that the scroll is dangerous. And, and that you might get hurt using it! And, and… and I can tell you that you won't get anything by having its power! The Twins will just, cast you aside when they're done with you!"
"Is that what you think…?" Ophiod gripped his staff, "And what would you know about any of this? You don't know what it's like to live life like I have, Lulloyd. You do not know what it is that I have gone through. Nor do you have a right to speak to my mother. You… whatever you thought that she said, you do not understand!"
"I know that you have a loving mother and, and Skales, and Arcturus!" Lulloyd shouted at him, "You don't have to do this! You don't have to hurt us! Please! Please don't do this. I promised her that I wouldn't hurt you!"
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK TO ME!" Ophiod shouted, "I am the Prince of the Serpentine. I am someone that will one day take the throne. I must be strong enough for that day. I… I must prove myself. Nothing I do will ever be enough for them. I need to prove myself further! Something that will take more than just words! And convictions!" Ophiod slammed his staff into the ground, "I will not be swayed by you!"
"And what if you get hurt?!" Lulloyd shouted, "Please! I, I know how easy it is to want to get angry and, and to make people pay for things. But, I know that those people don't deserve it! You may think that, power is what you need but, but-"
"SILENCE!" Ophiod shouted, spinning his staff and sending a massive wave of magic at Lulloyd. By pure instinct, Lulloyd fired off his missiles, striking it head on. The two blasts cancelled each other out and kicked up smoke. Lulloyd flew overhead of it, trying to locate Ophiod, but the Viper was gone.
Lulloyd looked around, but there was no sign of Ophiod having been anywhere. He couldn't find where he'd gone. He looked to his radar, but the city was so filled with things, he couldn't locate it. He tried to figure out where Ophiod might have gone, but there was no trace. Lulloyd looked down, seeing his sword having fallen from the layer above them on the walkway. He flew the Mechdragon down to retrieve it, sheathing it on his back.
"I…" Lulloyd gulped, "I'll find the others," With that, Lulloyd spun about, rocketing off into the city to try to find where the rest of them had gone.
Being bested by a snake was already bad enough, but knowing that he hadn't even had the decency to chase him made Monty more upset than anything else.
With a gust of wind, Monty landed in the middle of a large district full of people. He brushed past a Serpentine couple, walking straight through them and letting the SoS' hilt smack them as he went by.
"Work you stupid thing!" Monty smacked his wrist device, trying to get the thing to turn on. No matter what he did, though, it wouldn't turn on. Ophiod must have fried its power somehow, but it meant he had no choice now. He managed to remove the faceplate, but once he did he had no idea what the stuff underneath looked like. He was used to fixing REX after Ronin's stupid ideas, not something that could power unviersal travel.
"Great… just great…" Monty grunted hard, "I have to go find the brainiac just to get this thing fixed again, so we can keep running away from them…" Monty spat, "And it's not like communications are working either. Wow, I feel like I'm really fighting to stay alive!" That last line just made him smack his head at his own horrible joke.
"I need someone around to talk for me," Monty spat, "Ugh…"
Right now, Monty needed to find out who it was that the other girls had gone off to find Harumi at. If it was any of his luck, it'd be some place incredibly obscure and he'd never find them. Then again, the collective brainpower of everyone around him didn't operate on that high of a level, so if it was something else, then it would likely be the last person he expected…
"Halt!" A robotic voice caused Monty to turn around. What looked like walking trash cans came up to him, flashing several signs on their screen, "We have detected you are carrying an unauthorized weapon. Please come with us immediately."
"Or?" Monty kept his back turned to them.
"We will contact authorities," The other device spoke.
"Really?" Monty shrugged, "Then I guess maybe I'll use it for something else then."
Monty plunged the SoS into the layer underneath him, letting it stick upright. Thankfully, his guns were still concealed. The moment that he did, he walked over and through one of them, possessing the machine near instantly. The security encryption on the device was advanced, but nothing he could brute force his way through.
"Let's see here…" Monty spoke through the robot's sensors, "Alright… now who would be important enough for that…"
Suddenly, an alert flashed in the screen. Monty blinked and leapt out of the machine a few seconds before something smashed into the layer in front of him, causing a massive blast of wind around him. He held his hand up to cancel it around him, and in turn he saw the entire layer in front of him had looked like something had blasted into it. Monty narrowed his gaze, and in turn, he saw the face of someone he didn't expect to see at all.
"You are not who I expected to see," Oni pulled the SoS out from the layer, hefting it up in his grasp, "But it seems that I was not incorrect in guessing that this area had merit for me."
"...Give it back," Monty's eyes narrowed as he pulled out Ebony and Ivory in both hands. The two machines on the ground began to blare as soon as they saw this. Two quick bullets caused them both to spark and fizzle down.
"I told you before, I believe that I could use this sword far better than you could," Oni pointed the sword forward, "And perhaps now, I should test that fact against you."
Ophiod pressed his back to the wall behind him. The last flashes of his teleportation spell faded behind him. His breath slowly began to come back to him, letting him start to get his breath back to him. He dropped his staff in front of him, looking down at it with a long twitch throughout his body.
"He… he…" Ophiod shook his head, "He met her… and she… she…"
Ophiod wrapped his arms around his chest. For some reason, the idea of knowing that his mother had demanded he be home… he knew that was what it would be, but right now it didn't feel right for him. He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts back, trying to stop himself. But for some reason, he slid down the wall. He couldn't think right now.
"I can't… can't even beat him…" Ophiod gripped his fists, "He's nothing more than… he's powerless. How… how, how, how?!"
He looked down to the staff. With a surge of anger, he pulled the thing up into the air, ready to throw it, smash it, do something with it. Instead, his rage began to slowly fade, and in turn he just pulled the thing up against him and held onto it tightly. His hands dragged down it, like he wanted to rip it apart, but in turn his arms embraced it. He knew he couldn't afford to get rid of it. He couldn't get rid of this thing. He had to have it.
"What do you need from me…?" Ophiod sputtered out, "What?! What do you need?! You need my desires? My will? Tell me!" Ophiod shook his head, "I have to know. I have to use this magic. I must!"
Ophiod slammed the staff down into the ground. He clutched it tightly, slowly dragging himself upright with it. He just held onto it. He just held it there. What could he do with this thing? He looked at hte scroll, unfurled and slowly blowing in the breeze that these unnatural buildings created in them. He didn't even know where he was. He'd just opened a random portal and jumped through. Ninjago City was just so massive here, he happened it just land here.
"I… I need you," Ophiod muttered, "Tell me, what do you want from me? What do you want need?" He shook hi shead, "Tell me! Tell me now! I need to face them! I need your power!"
The scroll began to glow. Ophiod's eyes widened as he inhaled sharply. He raised his head, his slitted eyes slowly focusing on the glow of the staff. As he did, he looked down. His right arm was covered in magical symbols. Symbols that looked to be ancient in their design. They reminded him of the characters in ancient magical texts. Characters that one needed to learn to read the ancient spells. He focused on it.
"Devotion…" Ophiod read off his arm. Slowly, he raised his body up, holding onto the scroll tightly.
"Devotion…" Ophiod slowly gripped the staff in both hands. He gave a small inhale. What was his devotion? What was it that he wanted with this scroll? What was he going to do with it? He gripped it tighter.
"It's not desire… it's a devotion that it requires…" Ophiod's eyes hardened, "You want my devotion, then? I… I have but one devotion…"
Ophiod slammed the staff down again. When he did, the scroll began to flare up and burn in a way that he hadn't seen yet. The magical symbols consumed the entire staff, and his entire right arm. The symbols glowed against his scales as he held the staff up in the air. Power began to trickle down into him, slowly at first. He slowly lowered his head, opening his eyes firmly.
"I know what I am devoted to… I devoted myself to my people long ago," Ophiod growled, "If you want my devotion? Then take it! My devotion is to my people! That is my will, my strength… my power!" Ophiod held the staff in the air, "Give me power so that I may fulfill that devotion. I will prove myself! I will become strong enough to stand up as the Prince of the Serpentine, and erase those that would defy my will!"
Ophiod's body exploded with magical power. The scroll flared up, and the symbols on Ophiod's arms glowed brightly. Ophiod traded the staff for his left arm, holding up the glowing right one. With a simple flick of his wrist, a massive portal opened in front of him, no longer an ugly rip, but a clean tear. He turned around and shouted a magical world, forming a beautiful, glistening scepter of magic in his hand that he sliced through the layer beneath him with a clean slash. With a long inhale, Ophiod's determined gaze turned to his portal and slithered forward.
"I will defeat you all," Ophiod declared, "No matter what it takes."