Three days.
That was how long Lloyd had been inside this alternate realm. Even the very thought was gloomy.
Everyone but him had gone out for some reason, and although he didn't remember why, he didn't mind being alone. It was a good opportunity to just hang out for a little while.
It did make him think about his family, though. FSM… he missed them. He couldn't tell Annalise, she'd only start to insist he take the Realm Crystal and go home. That wasn't going to happen. He was going to help her defeat her brother or die trying, and that was all there was to it. He couldn't leave her alone, not when she needed him so much. If Lloyd was one thing, he was loyal to his family. She definitely counted as family now.
That didn't mean he didn't miss his family, though. The last time he'd been separated from them like this, he'd almost cracked and shattered into a billion pieces from all the pressure. The only reason he hadn't broken was because of Nya.
All he had to do was wait for Lloyd to come back so Annalise and him could tag team to take him down, and then he could go home. That wasn't so hard, right?
Slowly, he got up from the table, putting his plate in the sink and rinsing it off. Just after he finished washing it and putting it away, a shrill alarm went off, almost like a bomb siren.
What in the world did that one mean?!
Putting a hand over his ear, he raced to the door and went out into the streets, grasping for his sword, looking for his sister.
Thankfully, she wasn't too hard to find. She was over by the artifact vault, directing citizens, her sword in her hand.
"ANNALISE!"
She whipped around, raising her hand defensively before realizing it was only him. "Thank the Master you're here! Just give me a second to lock the vault, then we have to get out of here!"
"What's going on?! What's with the alarm!?" He ran over to her, helping her close the heavy steel door.
"One sec, just gotta-" She smacked a button, engaging the lock. "Alright, we've got to move and cut him off."
"Wait, him?! Anne-" He grabbed her arm, fighting down panic. "What exactly does this siren mean?"
She turned to look him in the eyes, dead serious. "Somehow, my brother got down here and triggered an alarm on the staircases. If I had to guess, I'd say that he's on his way over here right now."
"What?!" Lloyd released her arm, the shrill alarm making it hard to think. "Okay, what do we need to do? He's either going to go after the people or the crystal."
"Probably both, but if we hurry and get his attention, he won't be able to drain anyone and we can keep his focus on us instead of them." She swung her sword and bit, bolting off down the street. After a second, Lloyd followed, wincing at how loud the siren was.
"Can we route him here and then portal away with the crystal? We could lock him in the vault or banish him to the Departed Realm."
"That would require him holding on to it, and then he'd have control of it. I don't think that's even close to a very good idea to give him that kind of control."
Lloyd spun at the sound of a woman calling for help, taking the time to try and think through another option. "With the crystal from my realm, we could get people through a portal. I could get him close, summon it, and punt him in."
"How many people do you think we'd be able to get out of here?" Annalise asked, quickly directing the woman on where to go and helping her get moving.
Lloyd frowned and shook his head, looking around for anyone else who might need them. "Ugh… not enough. We wouldn't have enough time. Maybe only Cole and Kai, certainly not the general public. What's the evacuation plan?"
"Zane, Pixal, and Jay are supposed to get them all out of here and towards the mountains. The further the civilians are, the better chance they have of not falling if this place were to collapse."
"Except that if we fail…"
"Yeah. Lloyd's gonna go after them and get rid of all of them."
Lloyd groaned, desperately trying to think of something. "We don't have enough resources or time to get everyone out. That means that we can't fail, or we're all done for."
Annalise nodded, opening her mouth to respond. Before she could, though, a harsh laugh interrupted them, breaking over the sound of the siren.
"He's right! Give the man a prize, he's realized what my dear sister realized ages ago." The other Lloyd appeared from around a building, already glowing a deep, angry green. He smirked. "Once I get my hands on that Realm Crystal, I will be able to go anywhere, do anything! The only things standing in my way are you two."
Lloyd huffed, glaring at him. "How are you here already? The siren only just-"
"Oh please, give me a bit of credit. These streets are practically identical to the streets of Ninjago, it's not too hard to navigate. I only had to follow the path that my old team was trying to keep me off of and it led me right to you." He turned and pointed at the vault with his sword, his hands and arms glowing. "Am I correct in assuming that the crystal is in that vault?"
"Even if it is, you won't be getting to it." Annalise retorted. "Where's my team?"
Across from them, Lloyd shrugged casually. "Oh, they got distracted trying to fix those amazing supports for the city. I'm quite sure the fire would be a bit troublesome too."
Just as he said it, the smell of smoke drifted across from wherever the fire was, leaving behind a scent of danger.
In an instant, Annalise's expression went from confused and angry to worried and rage-filled. "What did you DO?!"
"Now now, dear sister, there's no need to get so upset." Her brother grinned, his eyes glowing especially bright. "Personally, I don't plan on being here when the top collapses and crushes you all. However, while we wait for that, I'll be taking the Realm Crystal off your hands."
Annalise growled, raising her sword and pointing it at him. Her hands and eyes started to glow purple, her destruction energy responding to her anger. "I won't let you take it. Not while there's still breath left in my body."
Her brother laughed, summoning up a dark green orb. "You say that as if you could possibly stop me!"
"Watch me!" Before he could throw anything at her, Annalise shot a blast of destruction energy, windows shattering at the pure amount of force.
With an angered growl that Lloyd could hear all the way across the street, her brother blocked it, sending a beam right back at them.
Annalise tackled Lloyd out of the way, knocking him to the ground and sending a sharp blast back at her brother. "Careful!"
"Yeah yeah." He grunted, getting up and allowing his energy to fill him before turning to her brother. "You're so conceited, Lloyd! What did you do, get up this morning and have a nice bowl of Ego Boosters?"
He scoffed, setting up a shield against one of Anna's blasts. "Well, you're a total pest. Where did you even come from anyways? I may have to visit there first."
Lloyd growled, dodging a quick blast. Behind him, he heard an explosion, a wave of heat hitting his back as it set the building behind him on fire. "Like I'm gonna tell you. I get that a lot, though. Kai tells me that all the time. It's a big brother thing."
"Ah yes, Kai. His energy was-"
"Pitiful compared to how much he loved and cared about you." He interrupted. "You don't really care about all that, though." With a quick gesture, he drew from the fire behind him and manipulated it towards the other Lloyd, glad he was able to use the elements around here.
"Not at all! He was a fool."
"Shut up!" Annalise cried, dodging a blast of dark green flame and shooting a beam of destruction back at him. "You killed him!" Her anger and grief made the purple even more bright as she summoned an orb and tossed it at him, exploding it before it touched him.
Lloyd smacked a second orb away, barely even seeming to pay attention where it flew. "Yeah, I don't care. At all."
"Really? Not even a bit?"
"Not even a bit." Annalise's brother blasted the door to the vault, only getting a bit of connection before a shield flew up and blocked him. He whirled around and glared at Annalise, who let the shield drop as soon as his attention was away.
"You're a terrible liar, Lloyd." Lloyd allowed his palms to fill with green energy, warmth diffusing through him. "I should know."
"Oh yeah, right. Like I should believe you! The less people who are stupid enough to stand in my way, the better! Kai was in my way, therefore, I eliminated him." He dodged Lloyd's energy blasts, shooting the door again.
Around them, the fire was spreading fast, jumping from house to house. Almost too quickly, they were surrounded by an eerie orange glow, only adding to the atmosphere.
He spotted Annalise pressing her comm, a look of almost frantic worry on her face. "Team? Is anyone there? Anyone on comms, please respond!"
"Don't even bother, they won't answer. They're still busy trying to keep the civilians safe." Her brother turned and blasted the door again, grinning when the door began to bend.
"Ann-! The roof is- can't supp-" Pixal's voice cut in and out over their comms, static replacing the majority of the message."
Lloyd growled, dodging a falling block of rubble from the ceiling above their heads and shooting the other Lloyd again, trying to keep his attention. "Come on!"
"Pixal?!" Annalise asked from the side, hand to her comm. "Are you guys okay?"
"We- evac- structural integrity is- time-!"
"You-!" Annalise turned to her brother in shock and anger, her eyes starting to glow a dangerous red. "You weren't lying! You are such an idiot, you're gonna crush yourself along with us!" She raised a hand, dark purple destruction energy surrounding her. "You're not walking away from this!" With that, she attacked, trying to keep him away from the vault door.
Her brother stumbled back for a second, surprised by the attack. "Well, now you have to choose what's more important. Is it best to keep me here, or to keep all those innocent civilians safe? Your choice."
"Okay, that's it!" Lloyd interrupted. "Annalise, your people need you! I'll handle him." His hands lit up with green energy, the crackling of the fire behind him giving his powers an orange tint. He quickly dodged another blast, returning fire easily.
"No way! You need me here! You can't protect yourself against his powers! My team has the people, I need to be here."
Their comms crackled again, Pixal's voice coming through. "Not able- collapse- need you!"
Lloyd blasted her brother, distracting him. "Go! Get Kai and Cole out of here first!"
Annalise ducked under a blast, taking two steps backwards. She ran over to Lloyd, bending down to touch the ground and set up a shield so they could talk without getting interrupted. "If he breaks through here, I want you to take the crystal and get out of here."
Not a chance.
He didn't say that out loud, though. Instead, he nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Fine, but you have to go. Now!" He glanced at the other Lloyd, muttering, "I'm gonna punt that loser into the Departed Realm so hard that Morro beats him up."
Annalise took him by the shoulders, drawing his attention back to her. "You have to promise me. He can never get that crystal!"
Lloyd looked her in the eyes, forcing surety into his tone. "Okay, I promise. Now go! They need you, Anne."
She nodded, releasing him and giving him a quick hug. "Good luck."
"You too," he murmured. Then, she took two steps backwards and bolted, the shield dissolving as soon as she disappeared around a corner.
He sighed, turning to face the other Lloyd, barely even acknowledging his self-righteous smirk. There was no way in heck that he was leaving with that crystal. As soon as it left the realm, Lloyd would go berserk, killing and destroying everything and everyone in his path.
That would include Annalise.
He couldn't sentence her to death like that. His goal was to keep Lloyd from getting it, even if that meant he had to destroy it.
Being stuck in this realm forever wasn't the worst of fates.
He put his hands up defensively, already powered up and ready to destroy the other him. "You and me, Lloyd."
Lloyd smirked, his hands glowing a dark green. "Just you and me. I actually need your opinion on something. You would know best, surely." He easily dodged a blast, summoning a sword out of what seemed to be nowhere and striking for Lloyd's undefended side. "I think it's safe to assume that your family is not so different than mine was… so, I need your opinion on who to drain first when I get to your realm. Kai? Nya?" With each name, the power behind his strokes grew, his sword seeming to flicker with stronger and stronger energy. "Oh, I know. How about your girlfriend? Yes, I think I'll go with that." He grinned, enjoying the look of shock and horror on Lloyd's face. "Oh yes, I think that's a brilliant idea."
"Don't you dare touch them!" Lloyd growled, the very thought of his counterpart even touching Harumi making him angry. "The only people you're going to see when you leave this place are the ghosts of my enemies. Trust me when I say this; they are gonna have a blast."
Lloyd seemed to not even hear him, casually defending against his angry strokes. "I really think that's a good idea, starting with your girlfriend. Do you think she'd like to hear how you died?"
With another growl, Lloyd launched himself at his counterpart, determined to protect his family. "You won't need to tell her!" With a quick movement, he launched the other Lloyd into a building and collapsed it on top of him, anger making his powers stronger. "You won't even meet her!"
With a deafening boom, the building exploded, Lloyd in the center. Around him was a dark green energy shield, protecting him from the flying pieces of rubble. He laughed, and with a wave of his hand, Lloyd was flung against a wall. "I think she'd at least want to know how you died. Besides, it'll be so easy to drain her, barely even a challenge at all. Her anger will be fun to completely drain away."
"FUN?!" Getting to his feet, he allowed his energy to course through him, erasing the pain from hitting the wall. Lloyd just knew how much he must have been glowing, but at that point, he didn't care. No one threatened to hurt Harumi. "Harumi could more than take you on. You'd regret crossing either of us."
"I can see it already…" The other Lloyd continued, seeming to almost not hear him. "Harumi, mad that I killed you, makes an attempt to defeat me. Obviously, it doesn't work, and as she dies, her last thought is only of excruciating pain, and then… nothing. Not to worry, once I win, you'll see her very soon."
That was what made something inside of him snap. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" He jumped towards him, allowing an explosion to rock the ground and the buildings around them.
"There it is!" His opponent cheered, dodging his extra blasts with ease. "I've been looking for that signature Garmadon rage. I was almost sure that you had all but stamped it out."
Lloyd tackled him, green fire spreading from him to the other Lloyd. "You ARE NOT allowed to touch Harumi, or anyone in my family!" He lifted Lloyd up easily, slamming him into the ground hard.
His sudden ferocity took Lloyd completely by surprise, but not for long. He grabbed Lloyd's arm, forcibly stealing his energy and making him let go. "You can't win! In the end, I hold all the cards. Admit it, I am much, MUCH stronger than you!" He threw Lloyd off of him and into the vault door, stealing his energy again. "I'm going to win, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!"
Lloyd slumped to the ground, biting back tears of pain. For a split second, he honestly didn't think he could get up. It would be so much easier to just lay there and let him win… He was losing too much life force too fast, and eventually, he wouldn't be able to get up, no matter how much he might want to.
Ninja never quit.
He had to get up. If he didn't, he would definitely die. There was no way to avoid it.
Slowly, painfully, Lloyd forced himself to his feet, reaching out for his energy again, depending on it to be able to stand, even to breathe. "Never. Gonna. Happen." He managed, his hands shaking.
He had to do this.
Annalise's brother blinked, a bit surprised. "It changes nothing." With a quick shrug, he blasted the door, trying to get through.
In the process, his energy latched on to Lloyd as well.
Lloyd braced himself against the door, feeling his own energy start to stutter out, just as the door started to bend behind him. "I'm full of surprises, and my next one will be taking you down." He forced himself to move, shooting a quick blast at Lloyd's feet to knock him off balance. The accompanying dizziness almost made him pass out, but another quick dip into his elemental energy pushed it away for now.
The problem was, his elemental energy had to recharge. Normally, he could go for a long time without needing to allow it to do so, but because of the stupid life force draining, he couldn't push himself like that.
For now, skill only. No powers.
"You can't stop me!" The other Lloyd coughed, getting to his feet painfully. "Look at you, you can barely even stand, much less fight! You must realize that you can't win this battle." He shot the door- and Lloyd- again, his eyes glowing. "Your futile attempts to stop me are laughable, at best."
Lloyd grunted as the door was knocked inwards even more. "Then why aren't you laughing, huh?"
"Oh believe me, I am." He grinned, shooting an even stronger blast.
With a boom, the door exploded, the force of it throwing Lloyd across the room and shattering the glass protecting the rest of the artifacts.
Lloyd stepped into the room carefully, sweeping past the broken glass and over Lloyd, who was trying to get to his feet. He examined the final door for a second before shrugging and simply shooting the keypad that locked it.
From right behind him, Lloyd looked up, every inch of him screaming in pain.
"NO!" He shouted, forcing himself to his feet and tackling Lloyd just as the door slid open, revealing the Realm Crystal, encased in glass and obviously protected by alarms.
For one split second, the sounds of chaos and the fire outside seemed to fade. Lloyd got to his feet, keeping the other Lloyd pinned beneath him. Annalise's words flashed through his brain, and in that moment, he found that he couldn't do it.
He couldn't leave her to deal with him on her own. He couldn't walk away with that crystal and doom these people to extinction.
In a split second, he made his decision.
He bolted to his feet, running to the case and smashing the glass with a quick energy blast. Then, he snatched the crystal, ignoring the alarms that went off because of the broken glass. Bending down, he picked up his sword, slinging it onto his back.
The other Lloyd got to his feet as well, trying to snatch the crystal from his hands. "Don't you-"
Lloyd switched the crystal from his right hand to his left, ducking under Lloyd's arm and kicking him backwards. "Watch me."
Then, he bolted, dodging a huge block of rubble that fell from the ceiling. It was obvious that the ceiling wouldn't hold up much longer, and the fire was making the air around unbearably hot. Rocks and dust fell, only cementing what was bound to happen.
The ceiling was going to crash down on all of them if they didn't move quickly.
The other Lloyd growled, turning and chasing after him. He shot blast after blast, trying to knock the crystal from his hands.
Lloyd dodged the blasts almost frantically, managing to stay ahead, but not by very much. Every single blast went all over the place, hitting buildings and supports. Wherever they hit a building, a new fire started, leaving destruction and a suffocating smoke that made him cough.
He had to find Annalise… Between the two of them, it was more likely that they'd be able to overpower him.
He glanced over his shoulder and scoffed. "Pathetic! Is that the best you can do?"
Finally, he made it to one of the many huge courtyards, where he saw Annalise. She was standing by a pillar that was webbed with cracks. She had a golden glow surrounding her, and her eyes were closed in concentration. Her creation energy was beautiful, almost alien, in a way.
At the sound of her brother's energy blasts, though, she whipped around. "Lloyd?! Do you have the crystal?"
"Sure do!" He panted, showing her. "Help me corner him!"
She jogged over, summoning twin orbs of destruction and shooting them at her brother. "I thought I told you to leave if he broke through!"
"I couldn't do that. You'd have no way out of here."
"That doesn't matter!" An explosion rocked the ground, and she was forced to duck out of the way as a huge chunk of the ceiling came crashing down on them. "You promised!"
He turned to look at her, holding her gaze. "Annalise, I'm not leaving. You are my sister, and I love you, and I want to protect you. Please let me do that. I am not leaving because I care, and I want you to be able to enjoy life without him." He gestured towards Lloyd, taking the opportunity to blast him into a building.
She sighed, looking down. "Fine. Subject dropped. Now… let's go deal with him."
"Oh, what a sweet exchange." Lloyd mocked, his voice floating over from where he was just getting out of the building Lloyd had blasted him into. He was glowing green, a deep, dangerous green. "I suppose that means you're disowning me, then?"
Annalise turned towards him, summoning an orb of destruction to her hand. She looked calm on the outside, but from the vibrancy and color of it, she was fuming. "I would say a resounding yes." With that, she shot two blasts at him in rapid succession, beginning to glow purple instead of gold.
One exploded seconds before touching him, knocking him backwards a bit. The other one was closer to hitting him, but he batted it aside and into another support pillar, which splintered and collapsed. "I don't care. You haven't been my sister for years."
"I think you haven't been family since you murdered Nya and Uncle Wu." She retorted, moving closer to him.
He didn't respond to that, just threw a bolt at her. Annalise managed to block it, but not the flurry of kicks and punches that followed.
From across, Lloyd could only watch helplessly as his counterpart grabbed her arm and drained some of her energy before throwing her into a pillar, causing it to collapse on her.
"Annalise!" Lloyd shouted, her cry of pain hurting him deep inside. Frantically, he looked around for any to help her before finally settling for opening a portal behind the other Lloyd. "Hey!"
The other Lloyd glanced behind him, rolling his eyes at the portal. "Do you really think I'm going to fall for that? You're about as delusional as you seem to think I am." He dove for the crystal again, shooting a blast at Lloyd's hand to get him to drop it.
Lloyd quickly dodged to the side, tossing the crystal up in the air and catching it smoothly. He shot Lloyd back and kicked him into a pillar. "Maybe even dead wrong, hm?"
Annalise's brother slammed into the pillar with a groan, taking a second before he got to his feet again and ran for Lloyd, fists alight with dark green energy.
Lloyd easily summoned up a portal between them, purposefully not picking a specific place for it to go.
The other Lloyd's eyes got wide, and he put up a quick shield, just barely managing to stop himself from crashing into the portal.
Back behind the protection of the portal, Lloyd shifted his grip on the crystal, his palms sweaty. He spotted Annalise get up from where she had fallen, her skin and eyes glowing gold. Then, she got to her feet and ran for her brother, grabbing his head and flipping him over her shoulder and into the ground. "I am so done with all this!" She snapped, pinning him to the ground. "I have given you all the chances you deserve and then some. What happens next is your own doing. Only one of us is walking away from this, and it won't be you."
For one second, her brother seemed at a loss of what to say, then he grabbed her arm, sweeping a leg under her and slamming her into the ground. Then, he began to drain her, ignoring Lloyd's bolts. "You can't win! I am getting that crystal, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!"
"You're not going anywhere, do you hear me?" Lloyd retorted, his heart breaking at the sound of Annalise's cries. Why wasn't it working?!
He summoned up another bolt, wishing he could tackle him. "You're not winning this battle, not while I'm still living!"
"Now that can be arranged!"
"The only place you're going is somewhere where you can't hurt anyone anymore, and I'm going to be sure you stay there." Lloyd glanced up at the ceiling, noting the wide cracks and dust falling on them. Its integrity was failing, fast.
Across from him, Lloyd's eyes began noticeably glowing from the energy he was stealing from Annalise, who was still struggling to get away from him. As he watched, she slumped, her head smacking against the dusty ground.
"Anne!" He shouted, blasting Lloyd as best as he could with only one hand.
It didn't even seem to bother his opponent, who just set up a shield to block the blasts and shot a bolt right at Lloyd's hand, trying to knock the crystal from his grasp.
Lloyd dropped it for a second and caught it midair, trying to blast him again. "Leave Annalise out of this! Your fight is with me now!"
"Is it really? From where I'm standing, it looks like my fight is with both of you."
"So what? I'm the one holding the crystal!"
As Lloyd watched, Annalise made one last attempt to struggle free, trying to summon some Destruction to her hands to force her brother to release her.
Her power flickered, but didn't manifest except in harmless purple sparkles that fell all around her, doing nothing to help.
She was dying, and there was nothing he could do to help.
Frantically, he touched the shield surrounding them, trying to break it down.
Nothing.
Then, he tried to tuck the crystal into a pocket so he could use both of his hands, but that didn't work either.
Inside of the dark green shield, Lloyd's eyes glowed, almost sparking from the amount of power he was absorbing. Annalise barely reacted now, her head slumping. Lloyd laughed, his grip on her arm tightening. "It's so much more than that, though. I've been fighting my sister for over five years now, and I haven't been able to win. As soon as I completely drain her, there will be nothing to stop me from leaving this realm. You may have the crystal now, but just you wait. You won't have it in a few minutes."
"And- well, what if I leave. What then?" Lloyd managed, almost in shock by what was happening. He couldn't just leave her! He couldn't!
Her brother scoffed. "You won't do that. You're far too sentimental."
"Get- out-" Annalise managed, her voice weak and pained.
"You don't know me. You have no idea what I would or wouldn't do." Lloyd tightened his grip on the crystal, his mind racing. He had to do something! Annalise- his twin sister- was dying! "I could leave right now and you couldn't stop me. Let her go!"
"I do know what you wouldn't do, you idiot. We're the same person."
"So I won't spare my family? I won't listen to my conscience?" Lloyd frowned, glaring at his counterpart. This was not how this was supposed to go. With each passing second, Annalise was fading. "I won't have any qualms about murder?"
"No, you just won't be able to leave. It's not in your nature to leave a man behind, especially when it's your sister." He grinned, sounding smug. "I've got you all figured out."
Annalise moaned, her eyelids fluttering shut. She was so pale...
Lloyd scowled, summoning another orb and blasting his counterpart again, wishing desperately that he could tackle him. The shield prevented him from even getting close to them, though.
The other Lloyd smacked it aside easily, causing a pillar to collapse from the impact. "You feel like you have to help her, that you can't leave, because that would be abandoning your family." He paused, gripping Annalise's arm tightly. "You're right in that."
Annalise forced her eyes open and caught his gaze, looking like she was about to start crying. "You can't come back, Lloyd."
"No." Lloyd said softly, gripping the crystal tightly. "I'm not leaving without you."
"You- you have to. They need you."
He shook his head, mind racing. He needed to distract her brother. There was no way he was leaving now.
She wasn't going to die today.
Annalise smiled at him a little, encouraging him to leave her. "I'll be okay, but you have to leave. Right now."
Her brother chuckled darkly, but didn't say anything. His grip on Annalise's arm loosened a bit, and that was where Lloyd saw his chance.
Lloyd needed her to be able to defeat her brother, so he had to distract him enough- or maybe even get him angry enough- to let her go so she could recuperate.
It wasn't much of a plan, but it was something.
"Fine! I can't leave! I'm not going to abandon you, Annalise. I care about you too much to walk away and let you die." He stepped closer to the shield, summoning his power to his left hand. "Especially at the hands of this idiot."
"That is the ultimate problem, isn't it?" Her brother mocked, seeming to thoroughly enjoy all this. "You care too much, I don't care at all, we're all enemies." Almost deliberately, he released Annalise's arm, letting her fall to the ground carelessly. "That decision is going to spell doom for your realm, you know."
"I don't care." Lloyd growled, hating how pale Anne looked. She barely even looked alive, and that made him mad. "I said I was going to put you somewhere where you were never going to be able hurt anyone again, and I'm a man of my word."
"I'd quite like to see you try." He snorted, allowing the shield to fall from around them. He wanted to fight. "The more energy I get, the harder your Ninjago is going to fall."
Lloyd tightened his grip on the Realm Crystal, watching his counterparts' every move. He was going to win this battle, and Annalise would be fine. This ghoul wasn't going to win. "Fine then. If that's what you want to think, go for it. I won't let you win."
With a growl, Lloyd stepped over Annalise, his arms and eyes lighting up with dark green energy, even more vibrant than before.
Not today.
In one quick movement, Lloyd allowed his green energy to fill him and pulled up a portal, ducking behind it. "Why are you doing this?! Where's the logic in it all? Ruling an empty and dead world is completely pointless!"
With a scoff, the other Lloyd shot a blast at him, smoothly avoiding the open portal. "Why would I want to rule it? That's absolutely ridiculous."
"Why else would you be doing this?" He retorted, ducking under the blast and returning one of his own. "None of your motives make any sense."
"It's quite simple. They wanted me to be a villain, so that's what I gave them." Another blast flew into one of the last standing pillars, which fell into a burning building, rocking the ground under their feet.
Lloyd couldn't help but briefly wish the ceiling would fall already. Right now… all three of them dying would be better than any other alternative.
Refocusing back on the fight, he dodged a huge piece of rubble and held the crystal close to him, away from Lloyd's reach. "There's something very messed up in your head, Lloyd!"
"I need that crystal, and you can't stop me from getting it!"
"On the contrary, what you really need is a freaking therapist!" He spotted Annalise starting to stir, relief going through him for a few seconds before he had to move out of the way of another blast.
It was right then that he realized just how much danger they were in.
Every single building around them was on fire, and they were surrounded by chunks of the ceiling and rubble. The smoke and dust was making it steadily hard to breathe, and there was a slight rumbling sound that made one thing incredibly obvious.
They had minutes, maybe.
He frowned, ducking around a chunk of rock, calling to Lloyd. "Weak! FSM, you're losing your touch!"
Lloyd growled, running for him. He didn't get very far, though, because he was tackled from behind by Annalise. She had fire in her eyes as she tried to pin him to the ground. "Fancy seeing you here."
Relaxing his grip on the Realm Crystal a little bit, Lloyd coughed, only just now realizing how much his lungs were burning. "Anne! We have to get out of here!"
She glanced up at him, grimacing a bit. "Move!"
He looked up, diving out of the way just as a piece of rubble collapsed just where he had been standing. "I'm serious, Annalise! We need to get out of here before the whole city collapses on us!"
Annalise smacked her brother into the ground, knocking the wind out of him. "I know, but I can't let him leave."
Lloyd ran over to her, pulling her to her feet. "He won't, but if we stay, we're going to get crushed."
She pressed a hand to her side, looking around at what had once been her home. Then, her eyes flickered to him, and she nodded once. "Quick, we need a portal to your realm."
"What? Why?"
"All the staircases are blocked off, and we need a quick way out. We can go there and go back out on the surface." She glanced back at her brother, who was beginning to move. "You have to trust me."
Lloyd frowned worriedly, but did as she asked.
A portal home.
Annalise looked around again as a rumbling sound filled the whole cavern, accompanied by the crashing sounds of wood and dirt and rock. She touched his arm, looking more determined than he'd ever seen her. "You've helped me save a lot of people today, but I need you to keep a promise."
"Absolutely not-"
"He's my responsibility! I have to make sure he won't walk away from this!"
Lloyd shook his head, grabbing her hand with his free one and pulling her with him towards the portal. "I'm not leaving without you, and if you think I'm going to go back on that, you need to get your ears checked."
The rumbling surrounded them, and she smiled, quickly checking to be sure he was holding the crystal. "Let me save your life just this once, okay?"
He growled, determined not to allow her to do any of this. "Not this time. This time, you're coming with me."
She pushed him backwards a little, keeping hold of his hand. His one insurance that she wasn't going to stay. "I can't… but thank you so much. You gave me hope."
Hope…
Lloyd opened his mouth to argue, but before he could, she twisted her arm, forcing him to release her hand, and pushed him backwards even harder.
"I love you."
"NO, ANNE-"
He tripped and fell, the portal back home enveloping him.
The last thing he saw was Annalise turning to face her brother, glowing a deep purple. Just before it closed behind him, the rumbling filled all his senses and the world seemed to collapse.
Dead.
FSM… Annalise was dead.
The portal dropped off at a meadow, somewhere in Ninjago. He fell hard, his sword digging into his back painfully.
It was… quiet, so different from the noise and stimuli from only seconds ago. He took a deep breath, the cool air free of smoke and dust and-
Oh Annalise.
Lloyd touched his cheek, barely even surprised to find it wet with tears.
His watch vibrated, startling him a little. What was-
Oh. It was just the tracker turning back on.
Slowly, he began to notice little bits of details of the world around. The sky was a vibrant blue, so blue it almost hurt his eyes. A breeze came through the meadow he was lying in, ruffling the grass and flowers around him.
It was so peaceful, so painfully different from everything he had just come from.
He sucked in a breath, a sob starting to build up in his throat.
Where was he, exactly? Why was it all so peaceful when Annalise was gone?
His comm buzzed, and Nya's voice came through, louder than it normally was. "Lloyd! You're back!"
Same channel as everyone else's comms had been back in Anna's realm…
"Ny- Nya?" He managed, his voice trembling. He couldn't move, exhaustion making his eyelids heavy.
"Are you okay?" She didn't even really wait for a response, correctly assuming he was too out of it to talk much. "Okay, stay right there and keep your tracker on. We'll be there in a few minutes. Take a deep breath and if you can, sit up. Don't hurt yourself, though, and try your very best to stay awake."
"Okay." He murmured, not able to say anything else.
His right hand started throbbing, and a quick glance showed him that he was still gripping the Realm Crystal tightly, the edges of it starting to cut into his hand quite painfully.
Slowly, he relaxed his fingers, allowing it to fall from his hand and roll away a little, glowing brightly.
He had to breathe… just like he'd told Annalise to do. In for three, out for four.
Even the thought of her name made him want to cry, tears slowly falling down his cheeks and dripping to the ground.
She was gone…
She couldn't be gone. That wasn't how it was supposed to go. She had come through with him and had followed what he'd asked her to do.
She wasn't dead.
Despite Nya's instructions to stay awake, he kept drifting off, his eyes slipping shut under the peacefulness of the meadow around him. He didn't even try to sit up, his heart hurting too much to care whether or not he could be easily found. He was just so exhausted…
Maybe falling asleep would dull the pain in his chest for a little while.
A shout jolted him out of sleep, panic starting to race through him. What was going on, where was the danger?
"Kai! I found him!" Cole shouted, sliding down the hill and skidding to a stop right next to him. "FSM, Lloyd, are you okay?!"
Right behind him, Kai also appeared, his amber orange eyes worried. "What happened? You look really terrible, kid."
Lloyd shook his head a bit, not able to find the words to respond. Even just the very act of sitting up made his hands start to shake, and there was no way he could control it.
Cole looked him up and down, visibly worried. "We need to get you back to the-" Then, his eyes landed on the Realm Crystal, only a bit away from them. "Oh my FSM, is that a Realm Crystal?" He slowly moved, gingerly picking it up. "Where did you-"
"Not the time, Cole." Kai interrupted, helping to keep Lloyd upright. "Lloyd, talk to us. What happened?"
"She's- she's dead." He choked out, his voice breaking. "I lost her. She wouldn't listen-" Before he could finish his sentence, he slumped, his vision flashing white.
With a slight yelp, Kai caught him just as he passed out, keeping him from hitting his head on the ground. "My gosh. What in the world happened?"
"No idea." Cole tucked the crystal into a pocket, exhaling a bit. "He's out, though. We need to get him back to the Monastery and get his vitals checked." He bent down, gently lifting him up, looking incredibly worried.
"Yeah… he really doesn't look so good. I hope he's alright." Kai frowned a little, matching Cole's expression. "I guess we'll find out soon enough…"
Cole just nodded a bit, already heading to their vehicles. With a slight sigh, Kai followed after him, trying to think through what was wrong.
Lloyd almost never shut down like that… whatever had happened to him, it was bad.
A Realm Crystal from another realm did not bode well to the circumstances.
*blows a horn* Surpriseeeeee. Two chapters in less than a week! Like I said, I had this one written down completely, it only needed to be transcribed! 7,336 words later, here we are!
This one was actually quite difficult for me to write and transcribe, actually. Between the action, keeping the two Lloyds separate, and trying to progress it the right way, it was difficult. Even so, it's here now, and I'm quite pleased with it! As always, if you liked it, lmk what you thought! I love to read your reviews :)))