"The Time Blades?!" The angered noise of Krux came up on Invictus' comm, "Are you sure of that?!"

"Yes, I am," Prime informed him, "I just sent you the footage I took of our last battle."

Prime stood in the middle of Invictus, hovering now above the ocean. After the battle in the city, he had to leave quickly in order to avoid detection. With a simple cloak and deceptive maneuvers, he was safely hidden from the police, no doubt searching for his wanton destruction of public properly. On the screen of Invcitus' display was none other than Krux and Acronix inside of a dark room, in front of a beeping console. A small window showed Ophiod and Oni's names to signal they were apart of the call.

"I can't believe this…" Krux spat on the other end of the comm, "Our intelligence said that the blades were useless in that world! I knew we should have taken that pesky place out when we had the chance!"

"Now now, brother, just because you have an irrational hatred for anything with a screen doesn't mean that entire city deserved to be raised!" Acronix smirked, "Yet."

"Regardless, this is a development we cannot simply ignore," Krux frowned, "For what reason are they collecting those things?"

"I do not know," Oni informed them, "But I would guess that it is some plan, similar to the one in which I was last apart of."

"They did not say anything to me during our fight," Ophiod informed them, "But they were attempting to find something. I would wager they've collected many of the blades already."

"So, attempting to smoke them out has taken so long, we've given them time to think…" Acronix mused, "Well, that can be fixed. Raze the city then, they'll come and fight you then!" Acronix chuckled, "Heroes can't ignore that sort of thing."

"I think we should see what their plan is," Prime put forward, "And let them carry it out."

"What?" Krux narrowed his eyes, "Project Red Dawn is almost upon us, Prime. If you intend to interrupt that-"

"I agree," Oni informed them, "If we attempt to attack again, they will likely hide and enact it again. We must find a way to force their hand in a different fashion."

"What are you suggesting?" Acronix narrowed his eyes, "We do not have the time or resources to spare for this! This is your job, not ours!"

"I have a few ideas," Prime smirked, "We want your permission to tamper with another world."

"You have already meddled enough that permission is not needed," Krux narrowed his gaze, "But what is it that you are planning?"

"You will see," Oni informed them, "You will see."

With a hard screech of hovercar repulsors, six very squished and very frazzled girls came to a stop at a small stop at a random parking garage. Harumi was gripping the wheel as hard as she could, looking over her shoulder and panting heavily as she did. Forte was half leaning out the window, and Carnelian, in the front seat alongside Harumi, looked ready to jump out and attack someone. Ren and Olive were calm, but on their guard, and Mizuko, currently riding in the trunk, was waiting as well for a queue to go.

"Go, go!" Harumi shouted. She had no idea if Ophiod was still after them. But this was a place they could park. The five funneled out the front doors, while Mizuko popped the trunk from the inside and leapt out, her hands raised and ready to fight. The six scattered across the parking garage, running up and down stairs and then jumping out into the open from various floors and spots. They formed their dragons and shot down towards the ground, hiding by weaving in and out of buildings as best they could. They went out in random directions, then began to weave their way in simple paths until they soon were in sight of the half-constructed building they called the Base.

One by one, the six of them funneled inside of the hanger doors. The hovercar would be something they had to get later on. Harumi was the first to arrive, panting as she watched the opened doors with worry in her eyes. Carnelian came next, barreling inside and then sliding forward in front of Harumi, Rhotatae charged in her hands and ready to attack. Ren and Olive were next, the two riding on Olive's dragon and landing gracefully. Mizuko was far less graceful, coming in hot and slamming into the floor to then go rolling across it. And finally came Forte, who landed with her keytar at the ready. The doors to the hanger slowly closed, letting them all take a few deep breaths and catch themselves.

"Is… is he gone?" Harumi asked, gasping for air.

"Yeah…" Ren nodded, "I believe so. I did not see him follow us past the Teardrop Gardens."

"Did we lose him, or did he find something else?" Carnelian asked, "Those mean different things."

"I don't know!" Mizuko panted, "That, that was really intense though. Like… super intense…"

"Given that we do not see him now, we will likely be safe," Olive nodded, "The Base is fortified in the event of an attack. I will ensure security protocols are in place, however."

"Good," Harumi nodded, "I… just hope that Lloyd is okay."

With a small hiss, the door to the stairwell up into the other floors of their base opened. Almost instantly, Carnelian turned and sprayed a jet of fire from her hands that nearly melted the frame of the door itself. When she lowered her hands, a twinkling green shield was up, and behind it a very tired and very nervous Lloyd.

"Lloyd!" Harumi gasped, racing over to him. Lloyd blinked in surprise and barely dropped the shield down before Harumi gave him a tight hut. Lloyd gasped out and shook a bit as his air was cut off.

"Oh… uh, sorry," Carnelian rubbed her neck, "I'm a bit on edge."

"It's not as though you haven't done that before," Ren slowly walked forward, giving Carnelian a glare before looking to Lloyd, "Lloyd, you made it. Are you alright?"

"I am," Lloyd nodded, "And, I got something important to show you."

Lloyd reached back into his ninja robes and slowly pulled out a glowing blade. None other than the Reversal Blade was present in his hands, glowing very faintly but indeed in his hands nonetheless. Harumi blinked in shock as she saw it, but then quickly smiled widely and turned to her friends, that happy smile one of both mixed relief and joy about what she had seen.

"You found it, good," Olive blinked, "Preliminary scans indicate elemental energy levels are almost at critical levels. Did you use the blade, Lloyd?"

"No, but I almost had to," Lloyd shook his head, "It was stuck under a tree. I got it, but then Skales showed up and I had to run. I made it out of the exit and got here as quick as I could. Skales didn't find me so, I don't think I was followed."

"Ophiod was chasing us with Skales, but he doesn't seem like he got us," Forte smirked, then her smile fell, "Though, last time we thought that… right."

"Hey, that wasn't your fault, you were under a spell!" Mizuko raced over and hugged Forte tightly from behind, "Trust me, it happens! Sometimes we just get a little sidetracked and end up spilling coffee over the side of a building!"

"...Yeah, sure," Carnelian rolled her eyes, "Well, that makes one. What about the other three?"

"Nobody else has showed up yet, but they might at any minute," Lloyd looked over the group of girls, "We should rest right now. We don't know when they'll get here and we should be ready."

"Olive, I need you in the lab!" Harumi turned to her friend, "I need you to find a way to reverse the algorithm that we created for our wristbands…" Harumi turned to Lloyd, "Actually, give me your wristband. I need to patch in comms that'll work off the thing. I'm hoping it's as simple as just, putting one inside and running it on the same program."

"...Whatever you say," Lloyd undid his wristband and tossed it over to Harumi.

"Reverse the algorithm?" Olive blinked, "Then, you are attempting to instead bring something to another universe, rather than drawing yourself to one?"

"Yes, we're going to use the Time Blades to drag the Time Twins out of wherever they're hiding and fight them," Harumi informed Olive.

"...That was what this was about?" Carnelian blinked, "Wait, really? We finally get to take those guys on again?!"

"How do you plan to do that when you have Ophiod and Skales after you?" Ren asked.

"Well, the plan was to do this before they managed to find out…" Harumi shook her head, "But, that isn't it anymore. They kinda got in the way. We have to just, fix this ourselves."

"Hold on, then what's your plan?" Forte crossed her arms, "Just cause your concert got rained out doesn't mean you can reschedule."

"Was that metaphor necessary?" Carnelian asked with a roll of her eyes, "Just ask if it's smart to do this now that we have these guys on our tail again."

"We can't wait, the longer we do the longer they might tell the Twins that we have the blades and might come after us," Lloyd informed them, "This isn't ideal, but the plan has to go forward. Right now, all they know is we're going after something. If we manage to do it then. Well. Then we do it. Let's figure out if we can even do it first."

"Then I suggest we get to work immediately," Olive informed them, "I will begin the processing. I will need your help to assess the algorithm, Harumi."

Harumi and Olive both moved to get into the door Lloyd had come from, Harumi sighing at the burnt edges and making Carnelian smile in apology as the two went up. A few moments later, Lloyd and the others all stepped inside and walked their way up to the second floor from the top, the lounge area. Harumi and Olive slipped into the lab while the group all found uneasy setas in chairs, couches and various other spots. It was an uneasy silence between them all as they rested from the intense mission. The floor was as Lloyd remembered it, with a few sofas, chairs, a coffee table, mounted screens on the walls, and a small kitchenette area to make food. For now, the girls occupied the sofas while Lloyd fell into a chair beside the table.

Lloyd thought of talking to the other girls at first, but all of them were similarly tired and just thinking about relaxing right now. For a bit, Lloyd wondered if this place was even safe. He didn't think that Prime had figured this place out, and neither had Oni nor Ophiod been given any amount of information about it. So, he had to hope that he wasn't in any danger. But he took his time, regardless, to lay back and try to rest his head, even if he wasn't able to help but adopt the 'one eye open' mentality with it.

Suddenly, a loud noise emanated from the screen on the wall of the room. Lloyd leapt up from his chair, along with the others. Ren walked over calmly to a screen and tapped it, causing a small bit of security footage from the exterior of the building to play.

"It's Lulloyd," Ren informed them, "And it seems he has his friend with him."

"Really?" Lloyd sighed, "Okay, good. Let's let them in."

Ren nodded, hitting a button to open the hangar door to the garage. A few minutes later, the door to the lounge area opened up, and in turn Lulloyd and Over stepped through into the room. Lulloyd had his hood up, pulling it back to show his always-ruffled hair, while Over had his hands behind his back and walked with his perfect posture as he always had.

"It seems that you are here already," Over informed them as he entered, "Where is Harumi?"

"The lab," Lloyd nodded, "Floor just below this. Bring her your universe traveling things. She's going to put communicators in them."

"Very well," Over paused, "Ah, and, just to show that we have indeed completed our mission…" Slowly, Over formed his body into a bit of shadow, letting the two time blades leak out of him and into his hands. He held both a red and glistening blue time blade up into the air, letting them sparkly down onto his hands. As soon as he saw them, Lloyd blinked in shock.

"Yes!" Lloyd smiled, "That's good. You even got the other one! Okay, that just leaves Monty then!"

"Yeah," Lulloyd smiled, "It, wasn't that bad. It uh… was just having to find them, really."

"You didn't run into anyone?" Lloyd asked. Over and Lulloyd shared a look.

"No one that is of any note," Over turned his head away, "Come, Lulloyd. We will deliver these to Harumi personally."

With that, the two of them departed the room. They descended the level and, after a few moments, they came back up to the main lounge. Over walked over and took a standing position beside Lloyd's chair, while Ren gestured for Lulloyd to sit down on the sofa with them. Lulloyd sat down with them as another silence filled the room.

"Who was it that you encountered?" Over asked.

"Ophiod," Forte rolled her shoulder a bit, "He was stronger than last time."

"Stronger?" Lulloyd blinked, "How?"

"It appears something was happening with the staff he was using," Ren informed them, "It was almost as though he was channeling power from it."

"The scroll?" Lloyd blinked, "...According to Master Wu, the scroll feeds on your desires. If he's using it that way then… he's letting it consume him."

"What does that mean?" Carn asked, "How does something 'feed' on what you want?"

"None of us are bold enough to attempt to find out," Over informed her, "But, regardless, we should consider Ophiod as a greater threat. Does anyone know what might have caused this?"

The room was silent. For a moment, Lulloyd's eyes flashed to the last encounter he had with the Viper. Ophiod had sounded upset and angered. Had… had that been the catalyst to push him over the edge? Lulloyd wanted to ask the group, but attempting to find the words for it made him go silent. Even if it was the case, how was he supposed to tell them?

"Well, we did at least give him a fight!" Forte chirped out, "Don't worry, we made him pay for attacking us!"

"Meaning you defeated him," Over surmised.

"Well… no, but we did a lot of good!" Forte smirked, "I totally paid him back for that mind thing he did to me!"

"Yeah, by bravely running away," Carn rubbed her neck, "And I was the one that did a lot of the work in our attacks, you know."

"Only cause you're the Master of Amber and Fire!" Forte shot back, "It's not my fault you got born so lucky! You get two awesome powers. I only get my voice."

"You could do so much more with your power if you put your time into it," Ren informed her, "Sound is far more versatile than you imagine. It propagates in waves, much like any disturbance. If you mastered that outside of the simple use case, you'd be far stronger." Forte glared at her friend, stuck her tongue out, and lazily flopped back and began to play on her keytar.

"You know, I figured you were, but how did you manage to get two elements?" Lloyd asked Carnelian, "I thought everyone could only get one?"

"Well, I think it's cause I'm a special case," Carnelian planted a hand on her chest, "Dad doesn't intend to go and have anymore kids. Actually, mom said after she saw how hard it was raising me she didn't want to do it again. So I guess since I was already going to get Amber from mom, and since Amber can copy powers, I just got fire too. Since, you know, it'd have nowhere else to go. That's what I've kinda assumed."

"That, sounds right," Lloyd paused, "So, where are the other elements? I haven't seen speed, nature or light."

"You haven't met Tyanda," Ren informed him, "She's the master of light and… well. She doesn't exactly play by our rules."

"Meaning she's a total criminal," Carnelian added, "She runs a small gang in the underground. You know, dark side of the city and all that. Only time we've ever allied up is when she gets something out of it. Harumi was the one that met her. The rest of us haven't gotten to."

"We haven't been able to seek out the other masters yet," Forte shrugged, "Most of us kinda came here on our own when we figured it out. Or, well, all our parents kinda knew each other. Harumi was the one that really worked to get us all working together though. So you'll have to ask her. She says she thought she found the master of speed but, nothing came outta that."

"I see," Over nodded, "I suppose that sounds correct. Most things in life are never truly linear, only appear as such. To think generations would work the same is beyond me."

"What about Cole?" Lloyd asked, "I never got to see him."

"He is currently living in Shintaro, as an... 'assistant' to Queen Vania," Ren informed him, "If he had any children, we do not know of it." Carnelian and Forte both shared a long snorting giggle between them at Ren's words. Lloyd blinked in confusion, the names meaning nothing to him. He'd vaguely heard of Shintaro before, but nothing concrete in the slightest. Out of fear of thinking he was being spoiled for the future, he was silent.

For a bit, the room was quiet again. That was, until Lloyd saw Lulloyd shifting around in his seat. Mizuko had been silent this entire time, staring right at Lulloyd as though a child ogling a toy at a toy store. Lulloyd had tried his hardest to ignore it, but found nothing to really say about it the entire time.

"Uh… is something wrong..?" Lulloyd asked Mizuko, "You're… uhm, starring. I don't mind but like.."

"Oh, sorry!" Mizuko blinked and shook her head, "I was at first and got preoccupied. I was thinking about what your world must look like if you look like that!"

"Uh… I mean, it's not that different form here. It kinda operates differently but, it still is a big city and, all of that. I mean, aside from the volcano…" Realizing he didn't want to explain that bit, he pivoted away quickly, "B-But I swear it's more normal than you think!"

"So, what do you do there?" Mizuko cocked her head.

"Uh… normal things?" Lulloyd blinked, "Like, we just kinda, do normal things? I train with my dad, go to school, do some piano lessons with mom, hang out with friends, go to the arcade a lot…"

"Wait, you play?" Forte perked up, then held her keytar up, "You wanna prove it?"

"Uh… I haven't ever played a keytar before," Lulloyd shook his head, "I don't think I'd be any good at that."

"Oh? You can play?" Over paused, "Well. Given that we have time to kill…"

Over raised his hand. Suddenly, the shadows around the room began to rapidly come together, forming up into a bubbling mass and, eventually, becoming a beautiful jet black grand piano, complete with a full bench. Over even adjusted the bench and pedals to be more in line for Lulloyd. When the room looked at him in shock, Over sighed, "What? Did I not tell you that Shadow Control can do more than form spikes and weapons?"

"...Uh, right, it's not what I'm used to but… I think I'll make it work," Lulloyd blushed, "Uh… what do you want me to play?"

"Lulloyd: play a haunting piano refrain!" Mizuko chirped out, "Yeah! Showtime!"

"Right," Lulloyd ignored what she was saying and sat down on the shadow-piano. The thing felt like the real thing, even if it wasn't made out of bricks. Lulloyd slowly looked around the room at all the eyes on him, then he let out a small sigh. He leaned forward and slowly placed his claw-hand down on the keys. In a motion that was as captivating as it was confusing, Lulloyd rocked his hand back and forth to play sequential keys, while his arms rotated in and out of their sockets to play a bridge. He took his time in a small warmup, then slowly began to play.

If the group had expected Lulloyd to flounder, they were blown away. Lulloyd's hands rocked back and forth along the keys in an elegant motion. The song started off slow, with his hands working slowly, and the left hand gradually building in tone. Once he had finished the intro, his left hand shifted up an octave, giving the piece more of a power behind it as he repeated the same melody. Lulloyd went as far as to close his eyes after a moment, inhaling deeply as he rocked his hands back and forth. Slowly, his playing came down to a deep, impactful and quiet playing.

Then, Lulloyd opened his eyes. With a few hard key presses, his right hand shot up towards the higher octaves and his playing slowled to a crawl. Lulloyd took a hard breath, then he began to play faster and faster with it. Over's eyes traced them on the keys, watching as Lulloyd's hands and arms seemed to move faster than was even possible. His playing grew in intensity, building up, and up, and up. And when he hit his apex, his piece cut off, going back down and quieting out again. The group was quiet as Lulloyd raised his hands from the keys.

Suddenly, a new instrument entered the mix. Lulloyd turned in shock to see Over had formed a violin out of his shadows, and, with it propped in his upper two arms, began to play the same melody Lulloyd had. Lulloyd watched as Over repeated his notes with a passionate grace, his eyes shut and focused purely on the feeling of the strings on his hand. Lulloyd waited for him to hit the next verse, and then jumped back in himself.

Somehow, the two of them had almost no issues in syncing with each other. Lulloyd shifted to focusing on the lower notes, bringing out Over's impeccable playing. All of the room was silenced as the two played, the harsh and deep trills of the keyboard accenting the refined and hollow strings of the violin. The two played for a bit, then met their gazes with each other. As soon as they did, Lulloyd raised his hands up, ready to strike his notes and bring their harmony into-

"What the heck is going on here?" Monty grumbled as the door to the room opened.

"GAH!" Lulloyd struck the piano in the wrong notes, causing Over to wince. He lowered his bow, causing the violin to melt into shadows again, as well as the piano. Lulloyd hit the floor as the bench disappeared. Monty and Mage stood in the door, Mage holding the green glowing blade as he did. As the group turned to him, Lulloyd winced and sat up.

"Hey, Monty…" Lulloyd grunted, "Uh… it's nice to see you."

"Yeah, I know," Monty rolled his eyes, "Why exactly were you two making eyes at each other and playing that music? I don't see any clowns anywhere."

"Nice to see you as well," Over narrowed his gaze, "I see you were successful." Mage looked up to see Over was staring at him.

"Oh, yeah, we were!" Mage held the blade up, "We had to fight Prime for it, but we got it!"

"You fought Prime?!" Lloyd stood up, "And, you're okay?!"

"Barely, but yeah!" Mage nodded, "We got away just in time. We didn't see him try to follow us. I don't think he saw us escape!"

"Hey!" Harumi's voice came up from behind Monty, "Olive and I are taking a small break. I heard music, is Forte making you all to a new…"

As Harumi stood to see Mage and Monty, she blinked in shock, just in time to see Mage was carrying the blade. She immediately blinked and took a stride forward, taking the blade form Mage and holding it up. The moment she did, a look of utter relief filled her face as she hugged it tightly.

"That's the last one!" Harumi gasped out, "Yes! We, we should have everything we need now! We can make it now! I… we got them!" She smiled warmly, turning to Lulloyd. Lulloyd blinked at her, then he gave a warm smile. The two shared that smile, one that the others weren't able to partake in.

"Yeah, we did," Monty nodded, "You're welcome. We even made sure it was the real thing."

"You… what?" Harumi blinked, turning to look at Monty, "As in, you used it?"

"Uh… yeah, we did," Mage blinked.

"What?!" Harumi gasped, "But, why?! Do you know how important these are?! Their powers aren't regenerating!" Mage shrunk behind Harumi's words. Monty huffed out and stepped in front of Mage.

"Hey, it wasn't his decision, I used it," Monty growled, "We were getting away from Prime. You all haven't seen the news about him blowing up half a mall just to get to us?"

"What if you'd used up all the power it had left?!" Harumi growled out, "Then we wouldn't have anything left for, well everything we need it for!"

"Calm down," Monty sighed, "Just because you lost them, doesn't mean you get to take it out on me." Harumi's body tensed in a hard wince at those words, lowering her head.

"She didn't lose them, Oni attacked us and that's how they got everywhere!" Lloyd informed Monty, "We have all of them, and that's what matters. Now we can figure out how to use them."

"Are we still even considering that plan?" Monty narrowed his eyes, "Last time we talked about it, we weren't being hunted down again. The entire point was to do this without them knowing we were doing something. Now they have to know. You want to fight all of them at once?"

"We have to do something," Lloyd told Monty, "What else are we going to do?"

"Harumi," Olive's voice rang out from behind them, "There is something you must see."

Harumi turned around, looking at the doorway before quickly rushing down. Lloyd quickly followed, followed by Over and Lulloyd. Mage looked over at Monty, who just sighed and groaned out as he followed them. The other girls followed soon after.

Once down in the lab, Harumi and Olive were in front of a large table. Currently, the three time blades were plugged up into a small device that seemed to be running scans on them. Beside the table, the wristbands the group had given them were being modified, with a large box of parts nearby. Over directed Monty and Mage to place theirs down as instructed.

"What's the problem?" Harumi asked. Olive pointed to the blades, specifically to a small screen reading a few numbers on it. All of them were rather low.

"There is something wrong with the blades," Olive informed her, "I have attempted to determine this, but I am unable to. It appears that the blades are hemorrhaging power. Over the last ten minutes, they have dropped 0.1% of their current elemental readout."

"What?" Harumi turned to look at Monty, "That, that can't be right. Why are they losing power?!"

"I do not know, but it means that we do not have much time," Olive frowned, "If my calculations are accurate, at the rate of acceleration the power loss is occuring at, we will have no more than 16 hours before they are completely empty."

"...N-No, no, that can't be right…" Harumi shook her head, "We haven't even managed to figure out how to use them yet!"

"There is more to this," Olive continued, "Due to this, I will be unable to acquire a power source. The core that we utilized to create the devices you utilize for interuniversal travel cannot be recreated. Therefore, I will require these devices in order to power whatever we create with the blades."

"Meaning we will be unable to escape, should we attempt to use the device," Over surmised.

"In the event that the worst case scenario occurs, yes," Olive responded, "I have, however, been working on constructing the algorithm since Harumi first devised the plan. Therefore, I believe that I will be able to complete it to run on your devices as another protocol. The issue is I am unable to complete optimization for searching for the target of the program."

"She means that we can't just find them with a single scan," Harumi informed them, "I came to the same conclusion. The device will have to go along the entire path of everything they've traveled to in order to find where they are now. Which… could be any number of minutes or even hours. And since, the blades are losing power…"

"We don't have time to sit here and talk about it," Lloyd informed them, "We have to figure out where we're going to draw the Twins out, and fast."

"...Ah, okay, so we're being forced into this, perfect," Monty groaned out, "Wonderful."

"So… where are we going to do it?" Mage asked, "We… we didn't decide before."

The room was silent for a moment. Olive turned to Harumi and tapped her shoulder, "Go and discuss this with your friends. I will continue the repairs on your watches, install the comms and complete the algorithm. I will require one hour before I will have enough working code for it."

"...Thank you, Olive," Harumi inhaled, then quickly turned and gave her a hard hug, "Thank you so much."

"You are welcome," Olive hugged her back briefly, then let her go, "Go. You must determine this. I believe we should let them discuss in private as well, everyone."

"Yeah…" Carnelian moved over and gave Harumi's hand a squeeze, "Are you planning to go off on your adventure again?"

"I don't know yet, but, I'll tell you all before I go," Harumi inhaled, then nodded her head, "I love you, Carn," She leaned in, giving her a small kiss. Carnelian smiled warmly and let her hand go after that.

The six dimensional travelers moved to travel back up to the very top of the building, to the assorted chairs, large skyview to the rest of the city, and the plastered walls of Forte's concerts. They all took a seat, with Over and Lulloyd on one seat, Monty and Mage on another, and Harumi and Lloyd on the other.

"So… this situation has progressed drastically, and has given us no pause nor rest for the weary," Over raised his head, "What location is it that we should summon the Twins?"

"I could ask my dad to mobilize the army," Lulloyd blinked, "That might work?"

"Your place is out," Monty pointed at Lloyd, "And so is is yours," He pointed at Harumi.

"Why not mine?" Lloyd asked, "I could ask Master Wu to help. He'd be able to get all of our allie stogether, and-"

"Because they know your place too well, we need somewhere they don't," Monty frowned, "Or at least a place that they don't have a vendetta against. And her world is way too dense for us to do this without causing more trouble than it's worth."

"There are places outside of Ninjago City, you know," Harumi frowned, "What about you, Monty? Your world is about the same as Lloyd's when it comes to location."

"Can't, if they still have Morro then they might end up contacting Wu again," Monty sighed, "And as much as I love getting to take him out, I don't think we want that."

"...If we go to my world, we can get all the tribes together and attack like that," Mage told them, "What, if we did that? We could get a huge force, and-"

"That's the same as asking Lullyod's dad to help," Monty cut him off, "Which we decided wasn't a good idea."

"Then we have ruled out all of our homes," Over frowned, "We do not have time for such a decision. I would offer mine if I had one, but I do not. We must choose, and soon."

"We, have to make sure that whatever world we choose, we do it carefully…" Lulloyd frowned, "I, I mean, what if… what if we lose?"

"We'll be in the same boat we are now," Lloyd frowned, "We can't worry about that. We have to think about this. Come on, everyone, what are we thinking?"

The room was silent for a bit. Lloyd was trying to think of the best course of action. If they went to his world, then he'd be able to call in his friends to help. But, then again Ophiod and Prime were already familiar with it by being there. Lulloyd wasn't a bad choice. The Shark Army could be useful in this. But the Twins also knew how to Master Build, which made it risky. Monty was right in that them still having leverage over that world's ninja was worrying. And with how many people there were here, Lloyd didn't know if he could put Harumi's world at risk or not. Not right now. Mage… was it okay for them to put his world in danger again? The Twins had spent so long there, they knew more about it as well. In truth, all of the places had upsides and downsides!

Suddenly, Forte began to shuffle into the room. Harumi turned around, seeing her walking towards them in a bit of a daze. Harumi stood up, ready to ask what was going on. Just in time for Forte to open her eyes and show they were glowing a deep, deep orange.

"Hello, Harumi," Ophiod's voice emanated from Forte's lips. The room instantly froze. The other girls rushed up behind Forte. All of them surrounded the girl as she spoke with her body half limp and her eyes still glowing with magic.

"Ophiod!" Lloyd growled, "What have you done to her?!"

"Nothing, she is asleep," Ophiod responded to them, "I am simply using her as a vessel to deliver a message to you. If you listen as I require you to, I will have no reason to harm her."

"That's a nice possession you got there," Monty added, "What, can you make her dance too?" Harumi was about to snap at him, but realized Monty was asking a different question.

"All I am doing is willing her with a charm to relay my voice, nothing more," Ophiod responded, ensuring them in a sense Forte was a not in danger, "I have come to tell you that whatever plan you are concocting, you will cease it at once."

"What plan?" Over frowned, "There is no plan here that we know of."

"Do not lie to me," Ophiod hissed out, "It has come to our attention you have collected this universe's Time Blades," Harumi froze hearing that, "And therefore, you have done so for a reason. Whatever it may be, you have four hours to deliver them to us."

"Or what?" Lulloyd asked, trying to hide his worry.

"Or we will finish what the Twins started in another world," Ophiod informed them, "...The boy's world."

The moment that he heard that, Mage's breath caught in his throat. A white hot blaze of fear shot through him, making his fingers twitch and his breathing pick up. Over let out a hard snarly, while Monty gripped his fist. Lulloyd looked at Mage and nervously walked up to gently take hold of his shoulder, while both Lloyd and Harumi were struck with too much confused shock to respond.

"I'd have thought the Prince of the Serpentine would be far more honorable, rather than threaten to destroy an innocent people," Over growled out to him.

"This is war, Over, and in war there must be sacrifices," Ophiod responded, "You have heard us. Four hours. That is your time frame. After that, we will launch an attack on the Time Tribe. I do not think you need imagine what will happen then."

With that, Forte's eyes slowly began to seep orange, and wisps of magic rose up into the air. As it drained out of her, Forte collapsed forward and fell onto her knees. Ren and Carnelian shot forward to grab her.

"D-Dang it…" Forte coughed out, "I-I thought that he was… I thought he was done with me…" Forte hung her head, "I'm sorry, Harumi…"

The weight of the weight of the information delivered was one that brought Lloyd's core down to a shimmering frozen state. The last time they'd been in Mage's world, they'd had to repel the Twins from destroying everything by using the Raiders to drive them apart. That had taken weeks of effort and planning just to try to drive them back. Now, to imagine the sight of Invictus, stomping across the horizon and firing just one blast towards the Time Tribe…

"W-We can't, I can't let them…" Mage gripped his chest, panting hard, "I-I can't let them get hurt, I can't. I-"

"We, we can't give them the blades, can we?" Lulloyd asked, "We can't. We'll… we'll lose our shot at this plan if we do."

"But we don't have enough time to fake them out either," Monty reminded him, gripping his fist and spitting out, "Screw them. Even I wouldn't stoop to threatening a kid."

"Then… then what do we do?" Mage hugged himself tightly, "I-I can't do that. I can't let them get hurt. I-I failed them once. I let the Twins get away. I-If they get hurt now then, then that's…"

"Mage," Harumi quickly strode over, giving him a hug from the side, "Calm down. Focus. We can't make any decisions if we're panicking." Lloyd noted that, despite Harumi's calm words, she was shaking just as badly as he was. Thankfully, she quelled herself before Mage fully calmed down and nodded, taking a few deep breaths.

"...We have had our hand forced," Over scowled, "It appears that our plan must go forward now in Mage's home."

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded, "That's the only option we have."

"If we try to use them anywhere else, they might attack the tribes…" Harumi looked down, then inhaled, "Then it's settled. That's what we have to do."

"...We won't, have time to get any help…" Mage gulped, "We'll have to do this alone. I… I might be able to get Acronix and Krux there but…"

"We'll see how much time we have," Harumi frowned, "That's just it. I… I didn't want to do this, but it looks like I messed up and… we'll have to defeat all three of them before the Twins show up."

"Is that wise?" Over asked, "I can take Prime, but Ophiod has apparently learned of the scroll's secrets. We still are not fully aware of what Oni can do with his powers. We will need to tread carefully."

"Then we do what needs to be done," Monty growled, "We don't need help. Haven't before, don't now. We took Invictus down once, now let's do it again."

"...Then, we have what we have to do," Harumi frowned, "But, it'll take time for the device to actually find where the Twins are and pull them in. We don't know how long we'll have to defeat them. What if, the Twins show up before we can?"

"That, and the face we'll need to use the wristbands to actually power the thing means we can't just, run away," Lulloyd frowned, "Once we summon them we're… we're stuck there."

"Then we discuss our strategy," Lloyd nodded, "We figure out what we have to do. Olive said she needed an hour to finish the code, right? Then we finish the device, figure out our plan, and then we attack with everything we have. That's the plan."

Lloyd looked around the room, trying to gauge for any objections. He wasn't able to find any. Instead, he just saw the faces of everyone readying themselves for what was to come. They all had their things to do, and their roles to play. And now they were going to have to play them. Lloyd inhaled, then he took a step forward. It wasn't their plan. IT wasn't an ideal plan. Bt they would go through with it. It was all they had.

"Then let's go and build that thing," Lloyd frowned, "And draw the Twins out once and for all."

Inside of a dark room of shimmering metal sat two twins. The two were humming as they tapped away at a console in front of them, one rather happily and the other rather filled with exasperation. After a bit, the younger of the two turned to his twin and smirked at him.

"What's wrong, brother?" Acronix asked, "Are you still worried about those blades?"

"Yes, I am," Krux snarled, "To think we managed to overlook that… I was certain our intel said that the blades were useless there!"

"Our spies said they weren't useful anymore, so we ignored them," Acronix rolled his eyes, "They were hidden away somewhere we couldn't find, so we diverted all of our resources to the project instead."

"Do you know the dangers that this poses?" Krux threw his hands up in the air, "Project Red Dawn is our most ambitious yet. We will require far more than just will for this. We have set all of our plans in place, and yet now those meddling little bugs have decided to try to topple our mighty tree!"

"More like a skyscraper!" Acronix laughed at his brother's metaphor, only to sigh as he saw Krux's scowl, "Nothing will stop us now, brother. Once they retrieve the blades, nothing will be able to! And if they don't, we still get to wipe those annoying imposters away once and for all!"

"I suppose you are right," Krux hissed, "To even think that my alter had the nerve to defy my will! I have far many more words to have with him by the end of this. But I suppose that can wait until the project has been completed."

"Oh, it will be soon, Brother," Acronix laughed, "And then, nothing will ever be able to touch us again. Now then… let's sit back and reap the reward for all of our strife."

"Indeed," Krux smirked. Slowly, the two twins began to laugh. Their laughter echoed across the metallic room, filling the space with it. The noise soon spilled out into the world around it, traveling further and further until none could see the source. All they could hear were the laughter of two men, their plan, and the impending dawn they would bring.

Author's Note:

So! A small tangent here with this chapter. I've been writing NV for so long that I've outlasted both S12, S13 and S14 at this point. However, since I don't actually write each chapter week to week and instead use a backlog system, this was written around the conclusion of S13. That's also why Aspheera and the Vipers weren't included until later on in the story, since at the time of starting NV, the most current season was S10. Just a small anecdote I figured was interesting to say! Hope you are all still enjoying the story, and NINJA-GO!