Enter The Ninjaverse

by Bionic Stars

The Time Twins have returned, and with it they have brought a new threat: the loss of Lloyd's elemental powers. With Lloyd's powers taken, the Twins escape. Not the Time Vortex, however, but instead a rip in the very fabric of the universe itself. Lloyd's quest to stop the Twins leads him to new worlds, new faces, and new revelations into himself.

76. Chapter 76

"...Are you certain this is the right path to pursue?" Ophiod asked as he turned to Prime, "I do not wish to drag innocents into this."

"It's a scare tactic," Prime informed him, "We won't actually launch an attack on any tribe. If we have to, we'll make them think that we did."

"Indeed," Oni nodded his head, "We will ensure our victory so that no lives must be lost."

"Yet you have been willing to drag innocents in already," Ophiod gripped his staff, "You know that you will be involving more than just them in this. If we fail, then the Twins may kill them all, without a thought. You know as well as I do now what the Twins did to Over's world."

Prime slowly raised his head. The three were standing firmly inside of Invictus' cockpit again, which seemed, by now, to be their default meeting spot. It was hard for it not to be, with its large interior and shifting floor to give them places to sit and enjoy themselves. Outside of the viewport, they could see the oddly shaped and colored world that Mage lived in. The soft lines, the strange landscape, the world still looked like something out of a picture. It put Ophiod and Prime naturally on edge seeing it.

Oni was holding a blue mask, one that no longer had anything unpainted on it left. Ophiod was gripping his staff, the symbols having retreated back down to just his arm for now. Skales stood beside Ophiod, his eyes trained and focused on that staff with a worried look in them. Prime looked the most normal of all of them, but even then, his eyes were slightly distant now.

"We've failed to capture them… and we've made the Twins upset," Prime turned to face them, "Do you all not know why we're here? What the point of all this is?" Prime looked down at his hand, "I can't fail. I can't let this be where it ends. This is the first chance I've had in a long time to finally make everything better. Not just for me, but for everyone. I can't… I can't let this be it."

"We have all the advantages," Oni nodded, "We can chose the battlefield. We can fight the battle we wish to fight. And even if they attempt to escape, we will not let them," Oni turned to Ophiod, "You have grown your magic. I can sense it. You will ensure that they will not escape."

"How?" Ophiod narrowed his gaze.

"You create a shield over yourself, do you not?" Oni asked him, "Create one over us all. One that they will not be able to breach. That they cannot hope to break free from."

"That would mean we cannot escape," Ophiod explained, his other hand reaching to wrap around Skales, "...And trapping a wounded animal only makes them that much more dangerous."

"I have finally completed my new mask," Oni raised the deep blue mask up in his hand, the deep green eyes almost shining in the texture of the wood, "I will ensure that they do not have a chance to do so."

"You'll do it, Ophiod, won't you?" Prime stepped forward, reaching his hand out, "We're friends, aren't we? It's easier to watch your back if you're in there with me. I'll watch yours… you watch mine. Got it?"

Ophiod looked at the outstretched hand. He looked up to Prime, trying to gaze into his eyes to see if there was something else there. There was nothing but Prime's normal smile, that ever present grin. Ophiod took his time to ascertain it. Skales looked up towards them, and finally, Ophiod reached out to take his hand.

"I'll do it, as long as we do it where there is no one around to get hurt," Ophiod informed him.

"I know a spot that it'll work," Prime smirked, "It's one I thought of the moment we decided this plan."

"Then we should prepare," Oni turned to Prime, "Take us there at once. We will begin our preparations then."

Prime nodded, turning and forming his little holographic indicators over his hands to begin walking Invictus along. As the cockpit lurched, Oni moved to stand beside Prime, saying nothing. Prime took some time to look at the new mask, but said nothing in response to it. The world of elements walked by them as Prime found a spot to take off and launched them into the air to fly faster to their destination.

Ophiod felt something tugging his arm. When he turned, Skales had already turned and moved over to the edge of the cockpit. Ophiod slithered after him, confusion on his face. Skales looked up, then he made a tapping motion on his head. Ophiod slowly cast as pell to cancel their sound to anyone not under the spell's effects. Once Skales confirmed with a loud throat clear they were silent, Skales turned to half face away from the group.

"I don't like this," Skales informed him, "I don't like what Prime was saying. Something is going on with him. Even if he says that he isn't willing to hurt innocents, he seems to be cavalier in battle. Do you truly trust him?"

"I do," Ophiod told him, "And I trust him because he is my friend. We are more similar than I first thought and… and I wish for us to be friends that can watch each other's backs."

"That's what I am here for," Skales turned so his golden blade shone on his back, "You forget that I'm the one that normally does that. I don't think you've listened to me once since the start of our chase in the girl's home…" Skales turned his head, "Since you've used that scroll, you barely spoke to me, Ophiod."

"You were separated from me," Ophiod countered quietly, "There was no chance."

"After that!" Skales pointed to the staff, "You haven't told me what is going on with that. What are those marks? What have you done?"

Ophiod slowly held the staff up in his hand. The thing was still glowing, magic power drifting in and out of it, making his entire body burn slightly with it. Even now, his arm and staff were warm to the touch. Ophiod lowered it, thinking back to it. His loss to Lulloyd, and his desire to win at all costs to save his father, his people. The power that had granted him, and the chance he finally had to use it.

"I have finally found how it works," Ophiod informed him, "I give it my desire, and it will respond. That is all I must do. And that is all I can do, Skales. I have more magic now, I can do far more. I will be able to maintain a barrier with ease."

"Your magic doesn't work in worlds like these!" Skales spat, "There are no realms here! Nowhere to draw power from! You mean to tell me that your staff will give you all the power you need? That you can fight in this place? There was a reason we first refused to engage them in that brick world!"

Ophiod's mind drifted back. Magic in Ninjago, was something unique. It drew power from other realms to fuel a spell by turning that energy into something else. By the use of a spell, one could obtain things that weren't normally done. But in that brick world and this one, there was nothing to draw from. Nothing but the scroll that he held. Nothing but the seemingly unlimited well that was there, leaking into him slowly and keeping him feeling as powerful as ever.

"I'm sure I will, Skales," Ophiod reached his hand out to gently cup his cheek, "I know you worry for me. I want you to never need to do that again. I'll do whatever it takes to end this… but I won't let myself be hurt, or you. Everything I do is for my people, for mom for…" Ophiod nodded, "For you."

Ophiod leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. Skales slowly relented with a huff, doing the same. Ophiod wrapped his tail up around Skales, brushing his shoulder. Slowly, the two shared a gentle kiss, a soft one that was nothing more than a touch. But it was more than enough to make Skales calm down. When Ophiod pulled back, Skales just grunted out.

"Fine," Skales sighed, "But if it comes to it, I watch your back. Not him. Understand?"

"I won't forget it," Ophiod responded firmly, "We should rest before we arrive and think of our strategy. And in the meanwhile, I can hold you," Ophiod tensed his tail. Skales rolled his eyes.

"Your mother did you no favors in being romantic," Skales groaned out, pressing his body to Ophiod, "...Alright. Then just hold me. I need to know that you're here, and not… not drifting away from me after all of this."

"Never," Ophiod informed him, "I would never."

Skales took that as a sign for him to finally relax. He closed his eyes, letting the unnatural warmth the scroll gave Ophiod slowly seep into him and relax him. He did his best to drown out the sensation of the mech's walking, of the confusion of the situation, and instead just let his breathing become his only focus. The group flew high above the skies of a distant world, readying for a battle they knew would come, and knew would be the deciding factor of many things, and many lives.

---

"Is everyone ready?" Lloyd asked the assembled group.

The group all stood assembled in the top floor of the Base, the couches pushed aside to let them all stand there. On one side, the six universal travelers. On the other side, the five that would be left behind. Between them was Harumi, perfectly situated there, waiting for the moment that she was going to finally leave, and finally try to end this battle.

Lulloyd slowly slid his sword and brick onto his back, blinking in affirmation. Mage gripped the hilt of Aevum on his hip, his fingers winding up and down the runs and ready to draw it from its sheath. Monty had the SoS on his back and held Ebony and Ivory in his hands, cleaned, polished, locked and loaded. Over his staff turned into four blades again, each of which he held ready and waiting to use. And, finally, Harumi was holding Carnelian's hands tightly as she smiled at her.

"Don't worry," Harumi nodded, "I'll be safe. Lloyd will watch my back."

"Are you sure?" Carnelian gripped her hands more firmly, "You said that you would be okay before and now, well, I've gotten to tangle with that snake. I don't know what's going to happen to you if you go."

"Do you honestly believe you can win?" Ren asked, her tone soft and worried, "Against them, do you have a chance?"

"We have all that we need to defeat them," Over declared, "We must simply use it to our advantage."

"Once we get there, we separate them, and we fight to truly defeat them," Lloyd affirmed, "We can't afford to lose. But more importantly, we have to win."

That line of logic didn't seem to make Ren happy, but she nonetheless remained silent. Mizuko was oddly silent, looking around the room as though waiting to hear something. And, all the while, Carnelian wouldn't let go of Harumi, still clinging to her as though it was the last time that she'd ever see her.

"I'm worried, okay?" Carnelian looked up, "You all are strong but, those guys are crazy. And I don't want you to go. I wanna go with you. Do you at least think you could try?"

"Finding out how to do that would require a lot more time that we don't have," Lulloyd told her, "It's, not that we don't agree with you, we just… we have to do this before the Time Blades are drained up, that's it."

"Yeah," Monty turned around, "Speaking of which, where even is that thing?"

"Right here," Olive's voice came from the door. In her arms, she held a device that looked almost like some sort of large antenna. The device was taller than even Over, and completely made of shiny white metal. Blue lines of power traced up and down its body. A massive computer was put down at waist height at the bottom, with a large set of slots above it. There was a holder for the blades at the device's middle section, which were firmly slotted inside. Large wires were plugged into them, as though leaching power from them. When Olive handed the device to Harumi, it almost made her fall over. Over grabbed it with one hand and clutched it.

"When you arrive, plant the device in the ground, and plug your traveling devices into the slots," Olive informed them, "That will begin supplying power. With my algorithm installed, it will target the Time Twins and draw them into the spot in whatever universe you are in. At present, I believe you will require thirty minutes for the device to complete itself, give or take an unspecified margin currently."

"So we have to defend this thing for an entire half hour?" Lulloyd asked, "That's… hard, with how big Invictus is."

"No, we have a half hour to defeat them all," Monty corrected him, "The infection is spreading, better go and off those three dreamers so we can break into their heads for the real final boss. " Lulloyd looked at Monty for a long while with an exasperated look.

"Then we should go," Lloyd nodded, "We still have an hour to show up, we should do it now. If we get there on time they might be upset."

Harumi turned to go. Carnelian, however, gripped her arm, her eyes downcast into shadow. Slowly, the other girls all bunched up and hugged Harumi tightly, wrapping their arms firmly around her and trapping her in a ball of their shared worried affection. Harumi blinked in confusion as they all began to talk over one another.

"Stay safe, dear Harumi," Ren mumbled, "We would go with you if we could."

"You have done everything for me, Harumi," Olive informed her, "I know you can do it for others as well. Keep safe so you can do so."

"We're be here the whole time, Harumi, we're all rooting for you!" Mizuko sniffed out.

"You sure as heck better get back before my next performance, else I'll blast you right out of your apartment with my singles," Forte spoke, unable to keep up her joking tone.

"...I love you, Harumi, don't you ever forget that," Carnelian whispered, "No matter what happens… I'll love you no matter what."

"You… I'll be safe, girls," Harumi smiled, holding back tears, "It won't be that long, okay? I'll be back before you all know it."

Slowly, all of the girls let go of Harumi, one by one. Carnelian didn't want to let go. For a long while, she held onto her arm, her grip oddly warm as fire seeped out of her. She gently opened her hand, and even then didn't want to move for a long while. Harumi had to back away from her just to be able to see her face again. When she walked over to her friends, Lloyd reached out and took her other hand as a sign of comfort.

"Let us be off," Over commanded the group, "We must take this device and use it promptly. We must defeat the Twins."

"Yeah, let's do it," Mage muttered. The boy had been quiet thus far. Without waiting for another word, he tapped his wristband and he fell through the floor into a large portal.

One by one, the rest of them jumped in. Monty simply floated down into his own, Lulloyd flipped backwards into his, and Over opened one beside him and walked through it. Lloyd gave Harumi a warm smile, then he opened one above him and jumped inside. Harumi looked back to her girls, then nodded and turned away from them. With a tap of her own wristband, she was off into a portal opened by her feet.

For the first time in what felt like a long while, Harumi flew through the void. The nothingness around her was, for once, more of a comfort. Knowing where they were going was going to be something none of them could see, knowing it would soon become something they wouldn't be able to truly face, an embrace like this was almost serene. There was nothing here. No danger, no conflict. Only an infinite abyss that they were hurtling through, as a thoroughfare to somewhere more important. The trip would be far less terrifying than the destination.

However, it wasn't long before Harumi felt the pull of the void falling away from her. Instead, she landed on solid ground, as a dull morning sky greeted her. The world was gray as clouds gathered on the horizon all around them. The six had appeared at the apex of Dareth's inn, the warm, animated world around them looking just as they'd last seen it. There was nobody on the path in front of them. None were out this early just yet. The world of elements, for once, was quiet.

Lloyd took a step forward in front of Harumi. His fists were gripped tightly. He looked back to the allies that he'd brought with him. A fallen Emperor, a young elemental prodigy, a forsaken ghost, an in-training ninja warlord, and a girl from days yet to pass. All of them were here, ready for this. Lloyd took a long inhale. Then exhale. Then a longer inhale. And finally, he reached out and drew his sword.

"Mage," Lloyd nodded, "Do it."

Mage nodded. The boy stepped forward, rubbing his hands together to generate a spark. Slowly, fire and ice began to wrap around his arms, surrounded by earthen rocks. Blasts of wind and poison were caught in it as he forced them together into a ball in his hands. More and more elements began to form in his hands until he finally shouted and threw his hands up in the air, causing it to burst apart in the clouds and send out a loud ripple of noise. Mage looked to his friends, then nodded his head.

Lloyd leapt forward off the rock face, landing on his elemental dragon. Mage ran forward and leapt onto the back, fixing his feet in place with gravity and nodded. As those two took off, Lulloyd slung his brick out in front of him and leapt into the rapidly unfolding beast. The mechdragon roared and took off. Over sprouted wings on his back and took off after them. Monty simply blasted off with wind. Harumi formed her own dragon last of all, giving it a warm pet on the head before she leapt into the air and flew after them.

"Testing," Lloyd's voice rose up from Harumi's wristband, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, we can," Over's voice came up as well, "It appears as though these communicators will work as intended."

"Not that we can use them once we plug them into that device," Monty lamented into his, "But whatever. When we get there, everyone good on the plan?" A round of affirmation came through from them all. Harumi added her own exhale to the mix.

"We'll have a half hour," Lloyd confirmed, "To do this. We'll all play our part. Understand?"

"I do," Harumi nodded, "We'll defeat them, and then the Twins. For once, we'll be the ones on the attack for them."

"Then let's not keep talking," Mage responded, "And focus on the fight."

The group slowly went silent. Harumi just focused on holding onto the reins in front of her and flying there. It was a straight shot towards their destination. They would make it there with just enough time to spare. For now, she focused on ignoring the lack of sunlight, and instead on the battle. She knew her part to play. She knew what she had to do. This was going to be important.

As the group flew, Over looked over towards Lloyd's dragon, and to the boy in golden robes standing at the back of the dragon. Slowly, Over raised his wristband up and twisted it to move to a private channel and spoke up, "Mage, you must not let your emotions cloud yourself in battle."

"I'm not," Mage responded back to him right away, "I know what I have to do."

"That's not what I am saying," Over frowned, "Your home is in danger, but that does not mean that you can afford to focus on your anger. You must be clearheaded."

"I am," Mage dropped the anger from his tone, "I'm thinking about this all. You're the one that has to be careful."

"I have had my emotions in control for a long while," Over informed Mage, "You do not need to worry about me."

"Then you don't have to worry about me," Mage fired back, "I said that I would fight this fight with you. And that I'd do what has to be done. I'll protect everyone. I'll fight for them… not for revenge. To protect them. You should understand that more than anyone."

Over said nothing more, and allowed the conversation to slowly fade away. He flapped to bring himself towards the front of the pack, soaring through the early morning light. He knew where they were going without even saying it. It was the only place that made sense to go.

It was a long while before they finally managed to see their destination. The charred remains of what used to be the Summit soon came into view. What was once a shining beacon of the pride of the tribal alliance was now nothing more than a massive pile of blackened glass, rock and dirt. Blast marks from the battle were still present all around, and the sight of it made Lloyd lower his head in shame. The pillar of earth Mage has risen it up on had been brought back down, yet the ground was still depressed and broken up around it as a sign of Mage's effort to save them all. Not more than a single floor was left standing, and at the center, the massive crystal that once served as their symbol, was now scattered amongst the debris.

However, what they wanted to see was already there. Standing at the center of the ruins was none other than Invictus. The shining mech was all too easy to see. It had both a sword and gun already drawn. At the feet of the mech sat Oni, who held in his hands the newly completed mask. The two alone were enough of a threat to warrant their caution in circling as they came on the approach towards them.

"What's that?" Lulloyd's voice rose from their comms. Harumi looked down to see that Ophiod was completing something. A massive circle had been drawn around the entirety of the ruins of the Summit, almost a half mile in diameter. The symbols were unlike anything that Lloyd had ever seen before. Ophiod finished drawing the last bit with his staff, then looked up towards the sky. With a flash of teleportation, Ophiod moved to stand beside Oni. Skales walked up behind him, drawing his blade as soon as he did.

"Let us greet them," Over ordered "We do no good in surveying like this."

Slowly, Over guided them in a spiral towards the ground. The others followed suit, spiralling down through the air. Over landed with a soft flap of wings, said wings retreating into his body. He gently moved to heft their device from his back, holding it up as he would his staff. Lloyd and Harumi landed their dragons, with Mage leaping down before Lloyd. Lulloyd leapt out of the air and landed with a swipe of his body, catching the brick and sliding it onto his back again. And, finally, Monty landed, taking a few steps forward to stand behind Over.

"So… you finally arrive," Ophiod slithered forward. His entire body was covered in symbols once more, each of which pulsing with the same glow as the scroll. He narrowed his gaze at them, "I see you have brought what we have asked for."

Over looked down to the device in his hands. Slowly, he ran his hand up along the Time Blades inside. He looked up towards Ophiod, then he inhaled.

"Tell me, young serpent," Over's voice boomed out, "Was it the Twins that demanded these?" There was a long pause from Ophiod. He turned to look towards Oni. The hybrid nodded his head.

"Yes," Ophiod nodded, gripping his staff, "For what reason do you ask?"

"For confirmation," Over informed him, "And to know that what I am about to do next will result in our victory."

Without waiting for another moment, Over slammed his arms forward, driving the device into the ground. All at once, the others took off their wristbands and tossed them into the air at him. Over surrounded them all in shadows and slowly floated them into the slots on the machine. All at once, the blue light moving up te white metal device began to spark, and prongs opened up at the top. A simple blue light shot up into the sky, touching the clouds. A small portal opened up against it. Rather than the wind sucking into it, however, the winds howled and blasted a harsh breeze down onto them.

"Is this your answer?" Prime's voice boomed out from Invictus to meet Over's own, "What are you planning there, worthless shade?"

"Something that you will never know," Over informed them, "But will soon enough."

The others all nodded. The decision to plant the device in front of these three was one they came to together. They needed to be as close to it as possible when it completed its task. And they have no idea how long this battle would last. It was a show of power and resolve on their part, a promise that they would defeat the allies of the Twins.

"Then allow me to give our own answer," Ophiod raised his staff, causing his entire body to glow from the symbols on them, "KRAATA VA!"

Suddenly, the circle Ophiod drew around the Summit lit up. The group turned and watched as they shone with magic, then their glow hardened into a deep orange frothing substance that filled the patterns. Once all of the circle was connected, Ophiod twisted his staff and planted it into the ground. He inhaled deeply, then slammed the staff down once more. When he pulled it up from the ground, the symbols blasted light up into the sky.

"This is a seal of binding, created to ensure that prisoners of my kingdom would never escape… but the power of this scroll lets me bind all of us," Ophiod raised his head, "You cannot escape the seal. If you truly insist on fighting us, then we will not allow for you to escape again."

Monty looked over and Ophiod, then turned away from him and raised Ebony. The massive pistol fired, causing a large bullet to fly through the air. As it passed over the ring on the ground, a yellow light formed over it and blasted it off into the dirt. Monty let out a simple 'tssk' and turned back towards Ophiod.

"What have you done with the scroll?" Lloyd asked. He pointed to Ophiod's body, the symbols that now covered it.

"I finally learned how to use it," Ophiod narrowed his gaze, "It works upon the user's desire… and now that I've allowed it to connect to it, I can finally access it."

"You're being consumed by it then!" Lloyd shouted, "Master Wu said so!"

"And yet you have not held it in your hand, have you, Lloyd?" Ophiod hissed out, "There is power contained in this scroll. It enhances my magic. It would enhance your powers. Or simply the strength of a common snake. I have finally learned how to use it. I will not allow you to persuade me otherwise!"

"We don't want to fight you," Harumi shook her head, "We know why you're fighting. You can't lie to us. What would the Queen say if she saw you like this?"

Ophiod was silent for a moment, then his tone rapsed out, "She is not here, though. And regardless of what she would think, I am doing what I must to prevail. You no longer deny what you have done. For that reason, I will consider you still an honorable opponent."

Ophiod slithered backwards, reaching his hand out to Skales. The Hypnobrai took his time, then took hold of his hand. At once, Ophiod shouted a magic spell, and Skales' body began to turn the colors of a Viper. When Skales let go, his body had grown to navy and copper, and his blade was glowing with power. He drew it and narrowed his gaze at the assembled group.

"What of you, Oni?" Over shouted to him, "Do you intend to fight now, when you wouldn't before?"

"Before, I did not know that you could plan to upset the balance," Oni stood up, "I now have reason to fight. You intend to find the Twins. I must be here to stop you now."

"So, you're entire thing is being contradictory, then?" Monty stepped half through Over to look at him, "I thought I smelled hypocrisy."

"You," Oni took a step forward from his previously frozen stance, "Your blade. You still wield it, then? Even after I proved to you that you could not hope to unlock its true power?"

"Funny thing about me, if I listened to what people said I had to do, I'd never have gotten anywhere," Monty waved Ivory around in hand, "And I'm sure not going to start listening for someone that can't even keep their own motivation straight."

He is right, though, The SoS spoke to Monty, You will have no chance of ever wielding me as he could as you are now.

Monty ignored the sword. Slowly, the groups went into silence. Prime was oddly silent, not willing to boast about what he was planning to do here, or any grand speech about his motivation. For once, they were all quiet. The device hummed and whirled, the portal in the sky above them slowly growing in size as it worked at its task. All of the wind and distractions of the battlefield, however, were almost silent, leaving them to simply wait and plan for their move.

"Can't think of anything cool to say here," Prime called out, "So… let's just go with-"

Invictus shot its arm forward, raising the gun up and firing directly at the assembled team. Like clockwork, Over leapt into the air and did a corckscrew, landing on the ground with one leg outstretched into a massive spin that his staff joined, creating a whirling mass that the gunfire hit and bounced off of. Lulloyd shot over towards Lloyd and grabbed him, just as Lloyd twisted into Spinjitzu. The two of them took off across the ground together. Monty blasted up into the air while Harumi fired two Rhotatae across her body and jumped on them as they crossed across her legs, just in time for Monty to reach down with wind and yank her forward in a hard thrust into the battle.

Ophiod and Skales immediately linked hands, their bodies twisting into a Spinjitzu Dyad that shot up and grew in size, its power arcing out as they spun to meet their attackers. Lloyd changed his course of Spinjitzu and went forward to meet them. Just as they were about to collide, Lloyd's tornado faded and the two launched themselves to either side of it. They both rolled as the snake's tornado attempted to suck them up. Lloyd got up and blasted green power straight off into the tornado, but it refused to slow down. The tornado turned back around and shot towards them in an approaching onslaught of powerful unity.

Over finished deflecting Invictus' bolts, then grew his wings again and spun into the air. Prime attempted to shoot him down, but Over's staff refused to let any bullets pass. Instead, Prime activated the mech's own rockets and fired up into the sky after him, bringing his sword across the mech's body to slash out and knock him out of the air. Over spun his body at the last moment, letting him slide horizontally over the slash, before sending his body into a dive to snap his wings out from. When he slowed down, he flapped to fly towards the formally north end of the Summit, guiding Prime away from the others. Prime took the bait, flying after him in an attempt to shoot him down.

As the mech flew overhead, though, Monty sheathed both of his pistols and instead drew the SoS, landing on the ground right in front of Oni. Just as he reached up to start putting on his new mask, Harumi's Rhotatae shot out from behind him to knock both of them off into the charred ground. Oni snarled and turned to look for Harumi, but Monty shot forward with the SoS, bringing it down towards his hands. Oni shot his clawed hands up, grasping the sword to stop it just before it hit his head.

"You would still fight me, knowing that once I have your blade you can do nothing but watch me wield its true potential?" Oni hissed at Monty.

"For someone claiming to be all balanced, you really don't know how to keep your anger in check," Monty spat at him, "Or use it like I do!"

Oni's claws sunk down around the blade, ready to wrench it from Monty's hands. Instead, Rhotatae flew out and struck his forearms, weakening his grip. Oni opened his claws and let the blade slide out, just in time for Monty yank it backwards and thrust it forward in a vicious thrust. Oni swung his body to avoid it, but his side was struck by yet another disc as Harumi kited around him, charging up disc after disc for him.

Monty used his wind to slide across the ground, spinning the SoS to gain momentum and then slash up towards Oni's left arm. Oni turned his arm and let scales on it take the brunt of the hit, even as his body was knocked backwards. He turned his head to see Harumi charging another disc, ready to hit him. The hybrid dropped down to all fours and launched towards her, his eyes flaring up with an animalistic drive. Monty attempted to slice his sword down and knock Oni aside, but his speed made the sword miss its attack.

Once Oni reached Harumi, he leapt towards her, his claws extended towards her. Harumi formed discs in her hands and slashed forward with them, knocking into his chin and sending him sliding onto the ground. Oni lunged at her again, and the two discs struck him and knocked him back. He jumped back up to his feet and slashed at her, causing Harumi to send two blasts of green power at him. The two traded dodges as Harumi's power and discs continued to keep him at bay as she swung in and out of his slashes.

Monty put his hand on the ground, summoning his wind in a funnel around his arm he threw behind him to blast himself forward. He skated across the ground with his wind, twisting the SoS backwards in his hand. When he reached Oni, Harumi saw him at the last moment and threw herself backwards, avoiding Monty's slash as he drove his body hard into Oni. He spun his entire body rapidly, causing his sword to slash backwards without putting strain on his arm. Oni threw his arms up in front of him to guard himself, the scales slashing into the sword and deflecting it. Monty continued to slash at him, but Oni soon threw one arm back, bearing the brunt as he reached to launch forward and grab the sword.

Seeing this, Harumi fired a Rhotatae disc at the ground and leapt on it. Borrowing a move from Carnelian, she shot over the ground with its power and then leapt backwards at the last moment. The disc struck Oni's knee and unbalanced him. Harumi kept sliding, driving her foot into his knee a moment later. Oni fully fell onto the ground, down onto all fours as Harumi rolled away and slid up to her feet. Monty stopped spinning and instead brought his sword up above his head, ready to ram it down into Oni's arm. Instead, Oni bounded away and up again, twisting around to face them with his claws extended.

"He's… he's like some animal…" Harumi panted.

"Yeah, that's why we're doing this together," Monty huffed out, "You doing good so far?"

"Me? Never better," Harumi shook her head, "Without his masks he can't hurt us. Don't let him get to them." Her eyes noted the location of the orange and blue masks scattered across the ground now.

"Oh look, she's learning," Monty held his sword out, "Then don't slow me down."

Harumi didn't give Monty another look, instead just charging up her Rhotatae and readying to take on Oni again. Oni was already up onto his feet and running at the orange mask. Monty grabbed him with a gust of wind to knock him backwards, but Oni dug his heels in and picked up running again. Harumi moved and formed her shield over her body and leapt in front of him, taking the impact of it and knocking them both down again. Oni got up first, but that stalling let Monty rocket over with the SoS in a strike to force him to leap away. Harumi got up and charged her power in her hands, throwing beams of them towards Oni and tracking him as he dodged. Monty waited for him to move towards the mask again to launch over at him, slashing at him to force him away again.

The stray discs that Harumi fired acred across the battlefield and towards the massive swirling Spinjitzu Dyad that was still attempting to consume the two Lloyds. Lulloyd drew his sword and did several flips to dodge, while Lloyd simply ran. A large chunk of rubble soon blocked his escape. Lloyd focused and pressed his hands together, twisting into Airjitzu and flying up into the air. When the two snakes attempted to catch him with a lunge, Lulloyd unfolded the mechdragon and loaded its missiles. Lloyd spun through the air just out of the range of the blasts as Lulloyd unloaded on them. When the barrage ended, the two snakes had ceased their spinning, yet Ophiod's shield had spared them any damage. Lloyd landed on the ground opposite of Lulloyd from Ophiod.

"Fitting that we cross paths again, Lulloyd…" Ophiod hefted his staff up, "What say you about me now, hrmm? Are we truly similar now? Do you share any feelings with me, now that I have ascended even higher than you have?"

"This isn't what I was talking about!" Lulloyd shouted at him, "You're, I don't know what this is but, this can't be good! It's, it's dangerous isn't it? You're hurting yourself by doing this, aren't you?"

"I'm hurting no one!" Ophiod shouted, "My desire is to win this battle, to aid my people and to make myself the one that can do it! I will stand up to them all! I am stronger than all of you! And if you won't believe me, then I'll just have to prove it!"

Ophiod gave a swipe of his hand. A line of glowing blades erupted from the ground towards both Lulloyd and Lloyd simultaneously. The two leapt away from them, but Ophiod gathered his magic and shot towards Lloyd in a slash, trailing magical fire as he did. His slash of his staff nearly took hold of Lloyd, who drew his katanas as the last minute to catch them. Skales ran full pelt towards Lulloyd, slashing his blade out faster than any normal Serpentine with his magically enhanced speed. Lulloyd, however, was able to catch it, making Skales blink at him.

"You're more powerful than you look," Skales hissed, "A pity that you couldn't have been born a serpentine!"

Lulloyd spun his body to break the slash, but Skales was already on him. The two slashed their blades at one another, looking to break each other's guard. For once, Lulloyd slashed at someone that could match his speed in force. The two traded blows, their bodies zipping and cracking their blades against each other as they attacked. The sparks their weapons created almost looked like a show as they blurred across the battlefield, each one launching away to try to gain a moment's advantage. Lulloyd refused to give Skales an inch, and in turn Skales refused to give him anything.

Ophiod, however, turned his full attention onto Lloyd. The Viper spun his staff, generating magical trails of fire that attempted to burn Lloyd at each strike. He thrust his hands into the air, conjuring balls of power that shot out and spun towards Lloyd, tracing his moves to attempt to strike him. When they hit the ground, they burst into thorns to limit him that much further. Ophiod's swings were as fast as they always were, and yet now he was far more dangerous than before.

Ophiod slid backwards, then his tail snapped out. Magic formed a row of spikes across it, which he then swung towards Lloyd. Lloyd jumped over it. The spikes then shot out from the tail in all directions, forcing Lloyd to leap forward and hit the ground to try to avoid them. The ground began to glow with hot magic, and Lloyd twisted into Airjitzu just before large blades shot up from it to attack him. As soon as he was in the air, Ophiod formed two rings of magic that violently spun around his body, moving up and down past each other, and then spun through Ophiod and towards Lloyd. Lloyd dropped to the ground, only to have a tail strike his chest and knock him away. Lloyd's back hit rubble, giving him just the moment he needed to look up and see a massive row of blades firing towards him. He threw his shield up, but as they burst on impact, he was knocked down to the ground regardless.

Ophiod thrust his hand out, and in turn magic colheased into a whip. He shot that whip out and grabbed hold of Lloyd's leg, ensnaring it and yanking him up into the air. He smashed Lloyd into the ground, then twisted into Spinjitzu and began to whirl him around. Lloyd's katanas were stripped from his hands by the centrifugal force. Lloyd thought fast, gripping his ankle and forming a green ball around it. The shield pushed the whip away from him, and he shoved against it to be free of it. He flew through the air just in time to get his bearings and wave his arms to land on a remaining chunk of the second floor of the Summit's ruins.

Lloyd hit the ground running, just in time for Ophiod's whip to slash down and tear apart chunks of the remaining wall as Lloyd ran. Ophiod reared his arm back and continued to slash at him with it, trying to catch him again. Lloyd ran to dodge his attacks, trying to find his next move. A hole in the floor in front of him presented itself. Lloyd dove forward into it just as Ophiod's whip barely missed his ankle. When he hit the ground beneath it, he focused his green power and stuck his hands against the wall, rotating them to blast a roughly circular patch out of it. Lloyd then ran around the wall and right at Ophiod. Ophiod reared his whip at him, and Lloyd dodged. The whip instead struck the patch he'd ripped out and circled around it, dragging back towards Ophiod. In the moment it took Ophiod to cancel his magic, Lloyd closed the gap and sent a blast of power into Ophiod's face that knocked him backwards.

Seeing Ophiod go down, Skales attempted to break the lock from Lulloyd and rush after him. Lulloyd grabbed his mechdragon brick and slung it out across the ground, breaking Skales' stride and dashing across the ground as a stinging bee. He avoided the attack and instead put himself in front of Skales, slashing at him and locking blades with him again. The enhanced strength kept Lulloyd in check, but Skales growled at him as his glowing body attempted to push past Lulloyd.

"Sorry, but you're facing me right now," Lulloyd growled at him, then slashed his sword away and launched into another attack. As Ophiod and Lloyd grappled on the ground, the two of them were locked once more in a fight that, currently, neither of them could push past.

Above all of their brawls, massive laser blasts from Invictus' cannons arced past them all through the sky. Over spun through the air with his staff, blasting away each of them in a sort of strange dance. His wings snapped and twirled his body around, bringing the staff back and forth to each of them. Prime continued to fire off his cannons until Over's body twisted through the skies straight up and out of their range. With a harsh snarl, Prime ditched his cannons and instead drew both of his swords, soaring in to slash at him.

WIthout waiting, Over turned and focused, causing his staff to begin charging up dark power at the tips. The twisting blade became a whirling conduit for his power, even as Prime shot towards him. Just before the mech crashed into him, Over folded his wings down and fell through the air, sliding just under the massive slash Invictus gave. With a loud shout, he snapped his wings open and drove his flaming staff into the right leg of the mech, slashing a gouge in the armor.

"Hmmph, I've told you time and time again, Over!" Prime's voice boomed as he spun his mech's legs to angle back towards Over for a downward slash, "Nothing you do will ever overpower Invictus!"

"I know," Over snarled, "But I'm grateful that you were willing to so easily fall into position for me."

With a massive roar, a shadow of red formed in the sky above the mech. Prime looked up just in time for the clouds to part and, from them, a rain of white hot orange magma to blast down towards him. He raised the left arm of Invictus just in time for the magma to strike it and cause his arm to burn. Prime gave a harsh hiss as the magma condensed around it, turning into a deep stone and causing the cannon to display red on his screen. The mech's hand began to short circuit, and the energy supplying the sword stifled. After a moment, the sword returned down to the simple combat knife.

Prime twisted his mech to attempt to blast at the shadow, but a flash of red was hurtling straight towards them. Just before he could put up any defense, the Firstbourne slammed her body straight down into the mech, driving it down towards the ground with brutal force. Once it was in sight, Mage stood up on the back of his dragon and surrounded himself and the dragon in gravity, lightening them to let go of Invictus. Invictus crashed down into the ground with a thunderous force, its body snapping upright as it worked to destroy what little of the ruins were left. The force sent a ripple across the ground, knocking Harumi, Skales and Lulloyd onto all fours to remain in place. Ophiod threw up a shield around himself and Lloyd, protecting them from it before throwing Lloyd off of him.

Inside of his cockpit, the floor rose up to catch Prime before he was slammed all the way backwards. Once Prime had recovered from the force of being slammed into the ground, he rubbed his head and slowly inhaled. In front of him, the screen showed Over hovering in the air beside the Firstbourne, the two of them readying to fight.

"Guess that seal of binding doesn't stop things from getting in, does it?" Prime groaned out, forcing Invictus to stand up. As he did, he took a deep breath and looked over to the mech's now encased arm.

"You think summoning a dragon is going to deter me?!" Prime shouted, fueling his own fire as he slammed his foot down once the mech was upright, "I'm Prime! The one and only! Throw me one or a hundred dragons! You won't get past ME!"

Prime shut his eyes and focused. In front of him, a 'SYNC' meter on the screen slowly began to rise, climbing to roughly 60%. The core inside of the mech began to flare up, sparking green lightning in all directions at a seemingly unparalleled rate. Prime gripped his fists, feeling his body beginning to burn with power. He laughed and slowly raised the mech's encased arm up towards the sky.

With a pure blast of energy, Prime forced the system to overload through the arm. The magma encased there was blasted apart, leaving behind the now scorched and cloudy armor. The cannon began to charge up. Mage took that as his time to grip the Firstbourne and yank upwards. The dragon shot up into the sky as Over followed. Prime shot into the air after them, the mech's power beginning to arc up and down across the arm as he reformed his swords to attack.

Once Prime broke the cloud layer, he found Over and Mage were perfectly situated across from one another. Prime brought the swords over his mech's body, then inhaled sharply and slashed out at Over. Over flew out of the way, giving the Firstbourne the chance to race right towards the exposed back of the mech. Prime countered by swiveling the mech's waist to bring the sword towards it. The dragon snapped her wings open and soared around it, letting Mage leap up into the air and off of her head. Mage surrounded his fist in metal and grabbed out for the mech, digging his fingers into the metal there. The metal bunched up in his grasp, letting him cling on tightly. Mage raised his other arm, drawing his sword and surrounding it in flames. He slammed it down into the mech's shoulder, superheating the metal as he violently plunged it in and out of the mech's shoulder.

Prime shouted in the cockpit, his shoulder burning in pain. He snarled and attempted to move left hand up to blast him away, but Over soared back in and slashed his spinning staff across it to gouge the armor again. Prime shouted in anger and turned to fire at Over as he flew away, the shots arcing off course as Over spun through the air like a drill. A massive force crashed into his side, the Firstbourne driving her claws down the mech's leg. She opened her jaws and sunk it down into the right shin, digging it as hard as she could before wrenching a chunk out of the machine. For the first time, bits of metal fell towards the ground as she flapped away from the beast.

Now with his right leg burning in pain, Prime snarled and twisted his attention around. He brought his arms over his chest and focused on the core, sending raw power coursing through the entire mech. The power concentrated in the wounds Mage had created, venting out and blasting Mage down onto the mech's body. Mage's grip was lost as he and his sword went flying off from the mech. The Firstbourne swooped in to catch him. Mage thrust his arm up, sucking the blade back into his hand, his Time Matrix active as he held it behind him as he got his bearings once more.

Over turned his staff into the four blades, charging each of them with power and hurtling right towards Invictus. Prime, now free of distractions, traded swords for his guns, sending streams of gunfire straight towards Over. Over held his arms forward, blasting power from each of them and swirling his body around the streams of orange light. He curled through the air, returning his fire and blasting the mech's shoulder, legs, cockpit, head, and anywhere his shots could go. Prime continued to fire at him, even as Mage directed his steed in, the Firstbourne opening her mouth to fire shots of magma at him. Prime aimed one arm at her, and the other at Over, flying through the air and trading blows of dark power, magma and gunfire high above the battlefield.

Lloyd, still on the ground from Ophiod throwing him off, watched as the three began to disappear into the clouds. He tore his attention away from it and instead leapt upright and twisted into Spinjitzu. Ophiod snarled and twisted into it in turn, arcing straight towards him. The two struck Spinjitzu on, green and copper violently grinding against one another. Sparks of power shot off in all directions from their attacks. The two rapidly began to spin in and out from each other, clashing faster and faster as they attempted to break the other's form first.

With a massive burst of power, Lloyd's was the first tornado to break. He was sent flying backwards as he hit the ground, rolling just in time to see Ophiod's tornado still coming right at him. Lloyd, however, saw one of his previously discarded katanas nearby, stuck into the ground. Thinking fast, Lloyd ran out and grabbed it, yanking it from the ground and charging it with his power. As Ophiod came towards him, he narrowed his eyes, remembering just how Wu had done this before. Lloyd waited for the moment he felt the pull about to take him and thrust the sword straight forward. The sword struck Ophiod's torso, breaking his form and knocking him out of the tornado to slide across the ground. When he looked up, he had just enough time to meet Lloyd's slash with his staff.

"Glad to see the trick still works!" Lloyd shouted, breaking the lock and jumping into the air at Ophiod. Ophiod blinked in shock and formed a charge of magic in his palm, holding it up. As it hit Lloyd's sword, the magic violently exploded, sending both of them away from each other. When Ophiod landed, he planted his staff in the ground and panted hard, doubling over as he inhaled sharply.

"Ophiod!" Skales shouted. He turned to Lulloyd, who had just gotten up from the impact of Invictus. Before Lulloyd could slash at him, Skales leapt up from the ground and raced over to Ophiod, grabbing his arm. Ophiod looked up, seeing Skales' determined glare at him. Ophiod took a deep breath, then he sat upright, putting his back to Skales. The two raised their weapons, goading their opponents into attacking.

Lloyd and Lulloyd locked gazes, then the two nodded. Both of them held their swords, then raced forward. Lloyd clashed with Skales as Lulloyd darted across the ground in a zig-zag to attack. Ophiod threw Lulloyd back with a spin of his staff, while Lloyd broke the slash and instead charged up green power in his free hand.

With a single breath, the four combatants attacked. Lulloyd shot at Ophiod with a ferocious speed, throwing everything his body could into the snakes' attacks to give him no quarter to charge up his magic. Lloyd and Skales traded blows faster than Lloyd had ever felt with a Serpentine. Ophiod ducked down and slashed his tail across the ground to throw Lulloyd's balance off. Lulloyd leapt into the air and instead landed beside Lloyd, grabbing him to throw him into the air back to where he'd stood. The two traded their opponents as Lloyd let his blasts of green power arc by Ophiod's head as his sword attempted to keep up with the Viper. The sounds of their blades clashing was one that filled the air and created a rhythmic cadence the four clashed to.

Skales thrust his blade out at Lulloyd. Lulloyd sidestepped it and instead slashed his own sword, knocking Skales' blade to the ground and then delivering a harsh kick to Skales' face. When Skales fell backwards, Ophiod bounced his tail up and hit Skales in the back, recovering him and letting Skales grab his blade up from the ground as he rolled forward. Lulloyd dodged the slash and hit the nearest chunk of rubble, reducing it to bricks. He rapidly began to sling the bricks towards Skales, who dodged them and instead went on the attack again. Lulloyd evaded Skales' slashes as he continued to build his bricks, piling them up and up. Skales managed to grab his arm and throw him over his shoulder, making Lulloyd landed with a hard thud. The impact, however, transformed another bit of rubble to bricks, which Lulloyd added to his pile. Skales had enough time to see a hammer drop in front of them before Lulloyd kicked it, causing the massive hammer to fall down towards the ground at them. The impact rattled the snakes, letting Lulloyd jump off the jumbled pile and deliver a jump kick into Skales, knocking him down onto his back and the blade from his hand again.

Ophiod planted his staff into the ground to avoid being knocked down. Lloyd took advantage of this to instead try to slash his sword into Ophiod's side. Ophiod gripped his staff and used his tail to swing his entire body around the staff, arcing around to smash his tail into Lloyd's back. The tail curled around him a second later, letting Ophiod lift him in the air with it and slam him down with. Ophiod pulled his staff up, aiming the point down towards Lloyd's head. Lloyd instead formed a blast of green power in his hand just like Ophiod had, meeting the tip with it. This time, with Lloyd in the tail, the impact instead knocked only Ophiod backwards down into the ground. Lloyd slid out from his tail and pressed his hands together, charging a full beam of power. Ophiod got up from the ground just in time to see it and throw up a shield. The power broke the shield on impact, blasting him backwards and into a chunk of wall with a hard grunt.

"Why…" Ophiod inhaled, hissing as he looked up towards Lloyd, "Why can I still not overcome you?!" Ophiod's eyes widened as he raised his staff in the air, "Why is my magic still not ENOUGH?!"

Ophiod struck the ground, sending out a shockwave of magical power. Lloyd jumped in the air and spun horizontally over it, landing on all fours. When he held his hands up, he charged another beam of green power at Ophiod. Ophiod's eyes narrowed as he shouted in anger, slashing his staff through the air, each time sending a slash of power at him. Lloyd charged forward recklessly, slamming his body right into Ophiod and knocking the staff from his hand. At once, the symbols on his body faded as Lloyd and the Viper grapled on the ground, grasping their hands together as they each tried to attack the other.

While the two grappled on the ground, Monty and Harumi were still playing keep-away with the masks on the ground. Oni made another attempt to dart for his new mask, but Harumi slid in front of him and blasted him with discs to slow him down. Monty intercepted him in that small window, still spinning the sword towards him in an attempt to distract him. Oni, however, wasn't letting them land a hit on him for good.

"You continue to attack me with this sword," Oni used his forearm to clash with Monty, "You have no right to hold onto that sword!"

"And you don't have the right to call yourself anything at all!" Monty spat back at him, "You're just a hypocrite trying to act like he's something more special than he is!"

The two slashed at one another. Oni's attacks continued to grab for the sword, trying to wrench it free of Monty's hand. But each attempt he was given, he would have Harumi knock his hands away. He couldn't get close enough to steal the thing, to take it for his own. And the entire while, Monty continued to rain down both his attacks and his insults.

"You don't know what you want, do you?!" Monty spat, "Acting like you're on some high horse by helping the Twins, like somehow you're better than us for it. What even is balance? You're just some messed up freak that decided he had to be better than everyone else!"

"You know nothing about me," Oni growled at him, "You know nothing of balance!"

"You're not pretty on balance with getting so angry at me, are you? Or is acting like a wild animal somehow supposed to be positive?!" Monty growled at him, "What, you think you're being clever here? Being smart? You're not even able to beat one of us, let alone all of us!"

Oni snarled, leaping from the ground on all fours to attack Monty. Monty let Oni pass through his body, then he slammed the hilt of the SoS down onto his back. Oni hit the ground and scampered away, looking up at Monty with a harsh growl.

"I am balance! I gave up my humanity to truly become what I must!" Oni let the light above catch his horns, his dragon-like limbs, his human face and torso, "I am the Hybrid, I the epitome of creation and destruction! I have taken the traits from them all, and become something new!"

"Then why do you need masks for your power?!" Monty laughed, "You can't even grab a single one, can you? All we have to do is just keep you running around, and you can't even hit us. Some big thing of balance you are."

Oni's face was turning to pure livid feral snarling. He raised his hand, and in turn a small aura began to gather around him. The aura started as golden, then shifted to black, and finally settled on a deep violet. When he held himself upright, the strength in his body seemed to fully condense and grow in power. When he leapt towards Monty, his hands grew so the claws that gripped hold of the SoS were larger than before. Monty didn't flinch as Oni's voice grew deeper.

"Do you think that I am without the powers of those that I found?" Oni spat at him, "I banished humanity for true creation, true destruction. My powers of the Oni are simply deep within me, I will not allow you to belittle me. It is my sword, it is my right! IT IS MY POWER! I WILL SHOW YOU TRUE POWER!"

Oni threw the sword aside, with the force enough to make Monty actually stagger. Oni then ran straight through Monty, his body shifting. The human elements began to slowly alter, becoming far more Oni in their structure. Soon, even his face began to shift, turning into the dull, blackened carapace that all the Oni shared. His horns grew in their size, becoming regal and powerful. He barreled right for Harumi, and in that moment, Harumi wasn't sure if she could stop him. Monty, seeing this, blasted Harumi with wind, knocking her out of the way just before Oni attacked her.

With a slide across the ground, Oni grabbed hold of the deep blue Oni mask he'd created. He gave a long huff as he did, turning towards them. His eyes shone as he stepped forward, his dragon elements slowly shifting out of existence. He took several more steps forward, and in turn white beads formed over his torso. As he continued to walk forward, his voice became distorted and powerful. The aura around his body began to grow in its power and size, and in turn, it began to leak out around him like some sort of smoke.

"Do you believe you can truly overcome me?" Oni's distorted voice roared out, "Then let us see what you fear. If you hope to ever be more than yourselves, you must be more than the fear that lingers in your mind. Let this power purge you to who you are, and purge you down to the roots of which you were meant to be!"

Harumi and Monty both raced towards him, but it was too late. Oni slammed the new mask onto his face, and in turn his entire body's aura flared up in raw power. The aura then burst out into smoke, violently pouring out in all directions. Oni's body became lost in a deep black and purple haze, still pouring out from his body over, and over, and over again. He roared out as he threw his head back, the mask's eyes glowing hard and soon becoming all that could be seen of him. The smoke covered Harumi and Monty completely, blowing them backwards and causing their vision to go black.

The cloud grew in its size, consuming the entire Summit. Ophiod looked up, attempting to shield himself. The smoke, however, climbed over the shield, its tendrils forming to wrap around his throat and cause him to collapse to the ground. Lloyd, Skales and Lulloyd all turned to run, but a kiss of eternal cold hit them as the smoke enveloped them, and their vision went black. The cloud continued to expand until it hit the seal around the Summit. The orange shield flared up to meet it, causing the smoke to be repelled. Instead, the cloud grew into the sky, reaching up with dark tendrils towards the others. The Firstbourne roared as the cloud grabbed her legs, dragging her down and pitching Mage over the side, Aevum flying away from him into the darkness. Over soared around and above them, but the tendrils did not respond to his power, nor to his strife. Soon, their tendrils grabbed his wings and pulled him down, his hands clawing up before they were consumed in the smoke. Even the mighty Invictus was brought down, the tendrils fighting against them and slithering up into the mech itself. Prime attempted to blast further into the sky, but the tendrils soon filled his cockpit and grabbed hold of him. As Prime collapsed onto the floor, the mech began to power down and was dragged into the cloud. The smoke consumed the battlefield, and at its core stood Oni, falling to his knees as the mask pulsed with power.

"Reveal… reveal to me your true selves…" Oni huffed out, his body shaking as the smoke continued to leak from him uncontrollably, "Return to your weakness, and fall to it…"