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.

2. Chapter 2

When Garmadon threatened to destroy the city, WE WERE THERE!

When the city actually was destroyed, WE WERE THERE!

When something that may be mildly interesting to the network arises, WE ARE THERE!

This is… GOOD MORNING NINJAGO!

"Gggggoooddd morning Ninjago! I'm Michael Strahan and this is Robin Roberts, super excited to be bringing you all the newest news!" EXCITEMENT!

"Robin, I think we're gonna have to be bring up an old favorite of ours, the Garmadon Attack Forecast, because our city is once again under attack!" ATTACK FORECAST!

"But wait a minute, Michael! This means Garmadon has gone back to his old ways, right?" WRONG!

"It appears a new mechanical menace has attacked the city! And just to make itself even more notable, it's a massive snake! What is it with all these animal-themed vehicles, Michael?"

"I'm not sure, Robin! But this new menace is even BIGGER than the Garma-Mech! Why, I bet if it slithered its way up to our news building right now, it'd be able to pluck us right out of our seats just by reaching forward!"

"Wait, what's this Michael? I'm getting word the Ninja are riding into battle alongside Garmadon!" TEAM-UP!

"Right you are, Robin! Today we're not seeing double dragons, but rather a dragon and a shark! Both deadly creatures, both super dangerous! It's a showdown of land, sea and sky, and don't any of you worry, G-M-N will bring you every single blow from our cameras still installed from Garmadon's previous rampages!"

"Right now it seems the Garma-shark is charging straight towards the bay! Don't any of you even think about going outside right now, unless you want to see what happens when a shark steps on yyyccczhhzhzhzhzhzhz-"

The broadcasting radio sparked and died as the massive vibration from the foot of the Garmashark knocked it into the pavement. The terrified couple listening to it shrieked and ran in the opposite direction, abandoning their meal in favor of trying not to find out what the Garmashark had recently stepped in.

Off in the distance, the Iron Doom let out a massive bellow. It stood with part of its lower body submerged into the Ninjago City Docks. Several buildings were already turned into blocky rubble by hand of its swords, and as it seemed to undulate and twist unnaturally to all those who hadn't run away fast enough. The behemoth's raw power caused citizens to run as fast as their rectangular legs could carry them.

"Ugh, I'm telling you, General Number Son!" Garmadon huffed as he leaned over the edge of his control panels, "Young couples always eat outside the restaurant. They don't just sit inside, no no they go outside even if its raining and eat their food there! I mean, your mother and I did that whenever were in the middle of a siege, but that at least had reason!"

"Dad!" The strained and sharp voice shot out from the other end of the receiver, "Dad come on, we got this! Let us defend the city!"

"Son, your father has put his foot down on this one! I mean, I mean just LOOK at that thing!" Garmadon thrust all four of his hands forward, "I mean really, that's just… that's just… it's all an insult!"

"Insult? I have literally no idea what you're talking about with that," The voice stuttered, "You can't take that thing all on your own! Just look at how it's moving!"

"Son, you just don't get it, do you?" Garmadon sighed, "And here I was, thinking I'd imparted all the knowledge I had knocking around in this head of mine. Well, at least the Warlord stuff, I have to wait until you're older for some of it. But getting off track!" Garmadon growled, tightening his claw hand over the control stick, "Tell me, what was the name of the forecast that news channel you all love so much used?"

"The… Garmadon Attack Forecast?" The voice awkwardly answered, "Why...?"

"That's right! The Garmadon attack forecast! I'm the only one with exclusive rights to demolish this city whenever I please! And, and now this thing comes in here, looking like some massive snake that decided to go get some big robot chicken arms and slither its way into my territory! I just can't stand for that!"

"Sharks do not have legs by default," A filtered male voice cut in on another channel, "By your logic, your own steed is on equal level of realism with this new enemy. That is to say, highly unrealistic."

"I told you to stay off this channel, white one!" Garmadon slammed his lower left hand into a red button to silence him, "General Number Son, I want you to stay back until I give the order! You go that?!"

"Dad I'm sure we can help!" The frustrated voice emanated from the console again, "And please, my name is Lloyd! You just pronounce it with one ell!"

"Lulloyd, I'm not getting into this discussion again with you! If you have problems then wait until you mother gets here and take it up with her!" Garmadon groaned out.

"Oohh, Lady Iron Dragon is coming?!" A feminine voice excitedly shouted on the channel, "Garmadon, you gotta let me show off what I've learned! I found this new trick that can totally-"

Garmadon's fist came down on the button again, "Lulloyd, after this battle is done we're going to have a discussion about proper communication channel order! Tell the silver one to stop talking!"

"And we, we talked about this, dad!" Lulloyd groaned, "You gotta start learning everyone's names! That was Nya, N-y-a! Come on, you can remember my name just fine!"

"Because I named you that way so I wouldn't forget!" Garmadon scoffed, "Look, son, once I get over to these posers, I'm going to let loose, and trust me, you do NOT want to be around a Warlord when he shows his true colors. I know you've seen in all those cartoons where the big hero suddenly starts screaming a lot and then just wins?" Garmadon started to grin, "I just win, but I won't be the one doing the screaming."

"Uhm, did he just imply that he's going t-," Jay was cut off by another button slam.

"Okay, okay dad just…" Lulloyd sighed over the intercom, "Just, tell us if you need us, okay?"

Rather than respond, Garmadon reached down and hit a button on the underside of his semicircular control panel. A thin ray of light shone in his face, then quickly expanded as the hatch to the Garmashark's head opened. After a moment, a lurch upwards caused the panel to begin rising out of the shark's forehead, elevating him upwards until he now stood higher than the massive blue dorsal fin of his mech.

The dead shining eyes of the flagship shark mech stared off to either side. It's massive claws dug into the pavement, causing cracks to form in it as cars wildly swerved and began driving away at high speeds. Clotheslines, barrels and anyone with an unsecured connection was knocked over as the shark raised its right foot and slammed it down hard into the pavement. Several pieces of now broken pavement went flying.

"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP YOU SNAKES!" Garmadon shouted his boisterous voice through a megaphone in his upper right hand, "I WANT YOUR NAMES RIGHT NOW SO I CAN KNOW WHAT I NEED TO ADD TO MY HALL OF DEFEATED FOES!"

At first, the Iron Doom didn't move. It's one massive pulsating red eye stared across the city, looking right over the head of the Garmashark. The behemoth's outline on the horizon was alien, sending the fleeing citizens even further away from the docks in a horrifying panic.

In response to being ignored, the Garmashark leaned backwards, pointing its fins upwards towards the rotating dial on the Iron Doom's chest. A flurry of missiles flew out from them, slamming directly into their mark. The smoke obscured the entirety of the Iron Doom's face for a few seconds.

When its red eye pierced the mist, Garmadon gripped the microphone to the speakers on the Garmashark, "YOU HAVEN'T EARNED THE RIGHT TO IGNORE ME! I DEMAND TO KNOW YOUR NAMES NOW SO I KNOW WHAT TO CALL YOU WHEN I RIP YOU APART!"

Slowly, the Iron Doom leaned its head down. The shadow it cast covered the Garmashark. Once Garmadon was shrouded in darkness, however, he pulled a switch that caused the eyes of the Garmashark to flare up with a brilliant blue light. The shark let out a massive mechanical bellow at the Iron Doom a moment later.

"Is this your city's defender?" The collected voice of Krux cast out across the city, "Is your city so weak as to rely upon a deranged madman to defend it?"

"OKAY, AT THIS POINT I'M STARTING TO THINK YOU'RE REALLY IGNORING ME!" Garmadon shouted once more, "NAMES!"

"The Hands of Time have no time for such a foolish display!" Acronix took the microphone from his brother, "Let it be known that once we have conquered your defender, we will not hesitate to demand your obedience! Compliance will be necessary, on risk of death."

The Iron Doom leaned his mighty head back, letting out the twisted amalgamated screech of thousands of snakes crying out at once. Those in the city that had no already fled were reduced to terror as the strangely moving mechanoid beared down on them.

"Dad!" Garmadon turned to see the face of his son hovered beside him. Underneath Lulloyd was his massive green mech dragon, its jets keeping it aloft. Behind him, the fire mech, quake mech, water mech, lightning mech and ice mech all found places behind the Garmashark.

"Lulloyd! I told you to stay away from here!" Garmadon shouted, gritting his teeth together upon seeing the ninja behind him, "Don't you understand anything?! You're my General Number Son, you know what example this sets for the rest of the group?!"

"Oh, yeah, yeah like you listened to me? That thing is going to level the city!" Lulloyd countered, "It's our city too, we need to be here to defend it!"

"No, don't you get it?!" Garmadon huffed and turned his head around, "You were supposed to be my backup forces! I was going to drive him back towards you and have you help finish him off! What, did you think I was going to completely neglect the fact I have six units in reserve?!"

"Uhm… yes?" Nya's voice rang out on the comm, "You haven't exactly been super clear what the battle plan is."

"Or what exactly we're supposed to be doing outside of stay behind?" Jay followed up.

"It seemed more reasonable to assume you didn't have a plan, and were simply trying to save face by ignoring us entirely until it was too late." Zane added.

"I thought my brother did something right for once," Garmadon sighed and put a hand to his forehead, "I though he taught you to be patient and wait for orders like good little soldiers. But no, he couldn't even do that…" Garmadon sat up, "You want orders? Fine!"

"Such a pitiful sight!" Acronix's voice rang out, "Not even this city's defenders can communicate with one another. Truly, this city is in great hands!"

"Lulloyd, silver, white, red!" Garmadon shouted into his own comm, "I want you on the Junk Depot Docks immediately! You will wait there until I've driven the Iron Doom towards you! Black, blue, you two fall back to your little mech storage place, if this thing breaks through, then it'll be up to you to stall it. You all got that?!"

"Yes sir!" The five ninja on the comm all shouted simultaneously, each of them dispearsing towards their designated area. Lulloyd, however, remained still.

"Nya, Zane, Kai, you go on without me," Lulloyd gripped his two red control sticks tightly, "I'm staying up here with dad. He needs aerial support!"

Garmadon opened his mouth to say something, but it seemed the time for discussion was up. As soon as the mechs began to disperse, the Iron Doom had reacted. Using its massive copper blade, the mech swung its weapon towards the now retreating machines It cleaved its way through the tops of buildings with ease, causing the rectangular floors to fall towards the ground in perfect square chunks. The mech stuck the Fire Mech directly in the back, causing the two massive canisters on the back to explode. Billows of brick clouds and flames went up into the sky as Kai went down into the streets as his mech broke into pieces upon hitting the ground.

"Lulloyd, sword, NOW!" Garmadon ordered before he pulled a switch. His platform retreated into the Garmashark, the hatch closing up above him. The second he had, the shark bellowed once more. The artificial land aquatic fish darted forward, its jaws ratcheting open. The entire head of the shark suddenly hissed as it rotated ninety degrees, allowing is jaws to directly clamp around the midsection of the Iron Doom.

At the same time, Lulloyd's mech dragon unfolded a set of secondary boosters, giving it incredibly speed as it soared into the sky. Lulloyd yanked his control sticks backwards, making his dragon's mouth open. Its tongue turned into a massive cone mounted over several cylinders, which fired off as a massive rocket into the hand of the Iron Doom. His mech dragon banked right as the missile made contact, causing a massive explosion. The tail of his dragon fired backwards with another twist of the control sticks, slamming into the same place.

The Iron Doom's arm trembled as the sword shook inside of its grasp. The machine growled towards Lulloyd as he spun his dragon into a drill, soaring right between the right arm now coming directly at him. The secondary thrusters retracted, and in its place, each of the spines on the dragon fired off. They shot up towards the cockpit of the machine, smashing into the massive dial in its chest.

At first, the twins only smirked. Yet the time it took for them to see what was going on underneath of the missiles gave the Garmashark time to plow directly into the torso of the Iron Doom. The shark's fin went just up past the Iron Doom's midsection, meaning such an action hardly rattled it. Then the shark head hissed and twisted independently of the body again, turning perpendicular to close its jaws around the massive plate over the lower portion of the mech. The metal bent inwards as the jaws ratcheted closed.

In response, the Iron Doom bellowed again, bringing its fists down onto the head of the shark. Bits of white brick flew in several directions, yet the jaws continued to close. The large metal plate creaked as the jaws had gotten a firm grasp on the metal. The shark hissed as the body began to step backwards, revealing a line of black pieces with ratcheted segments over them, by which three large gears were forcing the head and body apart.

The mech dragon soared up above the top of the Iron Doom, its feet pointing down towards the large massive eyeball of the mechanoid snake. All four feet launched off, plowing into the glowing orb. The machine let out a low growl, yet it remained unmoved.

"Dad, this thing just keeps taking hits!" Lulloyd shouted into his comm, "You're a warlord, where is its weak spot?!"

"Forget about a weakspot!" Garmadon shouted back in Lulloyd's ear, "Aim for the top of the piece I'm yanking off!"

Immediately, the mech dragon twisted downwards, its body snapping about to turn in such an arc. The dragon's eyes shrunk into its head, then launched outwards as the two green orbs had been turned into missiles of their own. They flew directly into the top of the metal plate the Garmashark had seized, causing an ear-piercing screech as the metal weakened from the impact. A second later, the shark's head thrust backwards and reconnected with its body, the plate having been wretched open and now laying across the pavement in front of the shark.

"There we go!" Garmadon shouted, this time his mech being the one to launch several tiny white missiles from between the 'gills' of the mech, "Alright snakey, let's see how you fall!"

The darkness cast by the Iron Doom shrouded the interior of the mech in shadow. The missles connected directly with their target… yet no explosions went off. Instead, the missiles seemed to be swallowed up into the darkness. As soon as the flicker of light from the end of each missile was just swallowed up, the darkness appeared to be moving.

From the panel's now exposed interior, snakes began to pour out. Each of them moved organically, slithering out onto the street. The citizens that were still close enough to see the strange creatures shrieked and fled in terror as the unnatural serpents began to contort and colhease around each other. The alien creatures moved unnaturally and poured out over the streets in a horrifyingly sickening display. Snakes brought together tiles of pavement and chunks of building, bringing them together to form a crude shell. Large chain mail armor spilled out of opening as well, which snakes promptly filled and colehased together.

"It appears we cannot teach you obedience without you first seeing the extent of our army!" Acronix laughed, "Fall beneath the might of the Vermillion!"

Within seconds, tens of soldiers had formed out of the mass, with the massive shell towering over the men. The soldiers ran forward and brandished swords from their backs, jumping up onto the Garmashark's large legs. Their swords hacked about at the metal, crawling up the mech as their went.

"Hey, hey, hey! Hands off the shark!" Garmadon shouted. His mech suddenly turned about and slammed itself up into the side of a nearby building. As bricks fell onto the street, the shark leapt into the air and spun about, attempting to throw the soldiers off of it. The Vermillion clung tightly to it, however, only a few losing their grip and being flung in all directions.

The shark's spinning, however, was interrupted by the massive hand of the Iron Doom gripping it by the tail. The shark was slowly hefted up into the air, the Iron Doom adding its other hand to the grasp. The midsection of the behemoth hissed, its top torso rotating rapidly about in a perfect arc. The shark was sent spinning about in the air, the wind whipping against it. As soon as the Iron Doom let go, the shark was sent soaring over the city.

Said shark howled as it soared through the sky, breaking off antenas from rooftops and smashing into anything unlucky enough to be built high enough. The side of Ninjago Tower was plowed into, finally stopping the momentum of the mech. A perfectly shark shaped hole cut from slopes and curves showed the exact point of impact, glasses turning into broken shards and panes as it flew to the ground. Several floors were completely caved in as the Garmashark was planted firmly into its walls.

The shark's jaws ratched open before hanging there, its body covered in stray plates and sparking tiles. The distance from the tower to the dock was nearly a third of the city, and the sight of a flying shark only earned terrified calls over the comms.

"Lloyd, do you have a visual on your dad?!" Nya shouted, "I'm on my way!"

"Garmadon has given us our posts," Zane countered, "Lloyd is is best position to intercept."

"Uh… I'm kinda inside a building, what just happened?" Jay asked sheepishly.

"I'm on my way!" Lulloyd shouted, "Anyone got visuals on Kai?!"

"I have him with me," Nya answered, "He's currently knocked out though, so he isn't going to be of much help right now."

"There are a ton of snakes coming from that thing… at least, I think they're snakes!" Lulloyd informed the group, "Zane, I need you to get out there and freeze them in their tracks!"

"It will be just like old times," Zane responded, "I am feeling so nostalgic. I am beginning to feel a desire to return to the old days. Ice, ice baby."

"Just get there!" Lulloyd shouted, "I gotta go get my dad!"

Within seconds of impact, the Tower began to creak and groan as it leaned forward. The large supports in the front had been severed by the shark, and slowly, the top half of the building began to cave in forward towards the city streets. Citizens below yelled out in terror as the building that housed the mayor's desk was soon about to deliver itself atop their heads. Said desk began to slide from the top of the building, accelerating towards the edge.

Just as gravity began to take hold of the top half, Lulloyd's mech dragon slammed up into the very top of the building. Its front claws dug into the top, turning tiles into slopes as it bent them inwards from the force. The secondary boosters kicked in, forcing the top of the building back into an upright position. As it slowly did so, a black blur shot out from the cockpit and onto the roof, taking a moment to jam a brick in front of the desk before breaking open the door to the stairwell.

Lulloyd rushed forward into the stairwell, leaping over the railing of the stairs and falling directly through the rectangular gap between the rows of stairs. As soon as he saw a severed piece of stairs, he thrust his sword out to catch the lip of the railing. The force bent his sword downwards elastically, which then flipped up into the air. He landed on the broken bit of stairs with only a small impact of green flash.

Immediately, Lulloyd rushed out. The ninja turned into a rectangular blur, grabbing pieces from all around the room and quickly building something in the large gap the shark created. When he finished, a large jack had been built right up against the two floors that were open to the sky. Quickly, Lulloyd threw together several bricks, slamming them down onto the hammer to force the jack upwards. The entire building lurched as the jack forced the building back upright.

Quickly, Lulloyd leapt over the head of the Garmashark and back into the stairwell. With a few more bricks, he built a platform to cover the gap in the stairs. As citizens began to rush down the stairs, Lulloyd realized the stairs were still out. As one poor worker stopped, another collided into him from behind ,then another, and another until the man was sent shouting forward.

From an assembly of potted plants, pencil holders and broken chair bottoms, a makeshift javelin speared the floor under the man, catching him before he could free fall. Lulloyd leapt down and grabbed hold of him, leaping back up and placing him on the top of the stairs. Looking around, he focused as pieces began to rapidly fold and unfold into blue outlines. He disappeared once more, slamming together paintings on the office floor walls, cubicle dividers, and hinges to form a makeshift slide down to the next portion of stairs.

"Go, go, go! Get out of here, get out to the streets!" Lulloyd pressed a hand to his comm, "Nya, I need evac! Ninjago Tower!"

"Zane's still clearing a path, but we're on our way!" Nya replied, "Should be there in twenty seven seconds!"

"Good, keep that coming!" Lulloyd hopped over onto the hatch of the Garmashark, quickly wrapping his claw hands around the wheel, "Citizens are out top priority right now! Jay, Cole, you two are still on backup, if that Iron Doom tries to move inland you turn it back or turn it to ash, got it?"

"I believe we have a problem," Zane's voice suddenly interrupted, "Whatever soldiers attacked the Garmashark are flooding the streets. I believe we require the Fire and Quake mech for this."

"Lulloyd!" Garmadon's voice pierced out of the cockpit, followed by massive coughs, "Lulloyd, quick, I need a tail!"

Studs shifted aside as the hatch to the Garmashark finally opened, allowing the Warlord to crawl out onto the broken floor. As he looked around, he scoffed, "Still so glad I got out of this stupid place."

"A what? Zane, once you've cleared that path turn back and defend the people, I don't know what these two want but I don't like it!" Lulloyd pulled his hand off his comm, quickly hopping down from the shark and turning towards the stairwell.

"Those imposters took my tail!" Garmadon shouted, turning towards the tail end of the shark Sure enough, what was once a massive tail was now nothing more than a large stump of pulled apart plates and a few hissing from ruptured oxygen tanks.

"Dad, forget about the tail! Those snake things are starting to get into the city!" Lulloyd pointed out to the Iron Doom, who was staring straight at the building with a patient gaze.

"And to do that, we need to stop them at the source, and I can't have a shark mech that doesn't have a tail! A shark without a tail is like a dragon without wings!" Garmadon paused, "Which reminds me, we need to rework your mech when we get back."

"Dad, I can't, what are you talking about?!" Lulloyd turned around, "Make your own new tail!"

"I need you to make me a new tail so I can fix the mech!" Garmadon shouted back, "Make me a new tail and then fly me back! I need to teach those two a lesson! This is an order!"

Lulloyd look back towards Garmadon, then to the Iron Doom before he sighed. Garmadon just grinned as he disappeared back into his cockpit, the hatch creaking as it sealed back up. Lulloyd became a blur again as he scavenged any and all pieces he could from the building, quickly putting together disparate plates to form the general shape of the Garmashark's tail. As soon as he had it in place, he delivered a hard kick to the connecting plates, setting the tail into the mech.

Lulloyd disappeared up the stairwell. Within moments, the mech dragon soared down back to the rooftops. Lulloyd burst out into the light, leaping forward and climbing into the cockpit. It arced down around the building and shot through the hole the Garmashark had made. Its large jaws reached in past the large jack and took hold of the torso of the shark, dragging it out of the building. As soon as the shark began to leave the building and fall, the four feet wrapped around the shark and picked it up.

"Lloyd, uhm, I know this isn't the best time, but uh, the snake guys are getting kinda close to the warehouse…" Jay's nervous voice came up onto the comms, "We should probably go and-"

"You stay right where you are blue!" Garmadon shouted, "If you disobey my orders I'll make sure the only shock you'll be feeling is from the eels!"

"Eels?" Jay coughed, "Uhm, okay, Master Garmadon. I was just wondering, cause, they're getting kinda close…"

"I already took care of that," Garmadon scoffed, "You're my last line of defense. You have aerial fighting on your side. I need you back there when I call for you, got that?"

"Yes sir, Master Garmadon, sir!" Jay saluted on his end of the radio.

The Garmashark flew over the rooftops it had until then destroyed, its right leg hanging somewhat limp while the mech dragon carried it. Beneath them, the streets began to gradually be flooded with Vermillion soldiers, each growling and spitting as they ran for anything and everything in their way, their swords cutting through the obstructions. As the Iron Doom sat there, still pouring men out, the two edged closer back towards their previous fight.

"Dad, they're going to get to the evacuation point if we don't do something!" Lulloyd turned towards the streets and frowned, "Let Jay handle them!"

"Wait for it…" Garmadon growled.

Lulloyd opened his mouth to shout again, yet instead he heard a buzzing sound. A buzzing sound that was far, far too familiar to him. His eyes widened as he looked to his right, only to have to duck down as the large yellow pod of a Manta Ray Fighter nearly knocked him clean out of his cockpit. A loud apology was shouted back at him before several others began to swerve out of the way to avoid colliding with him.

The mech dragon quickly hefted the Garmashark further up into the air to avoid the massive columns of fighters flooding the air. Several Flying Jelly Subs were stacked up within their ranks, men in full Shark Army gear clinging to the spinning tendrils. The aircraft soared down towards the streets and unleashed a barrage of bombs into the advancing Vermillion ranks, scattering bits of snake and armor into the nearby buildings.

Immediately following the bombs, the Shark Army ground troops dropped to the streets in their places. The Jellyfish squad lined up with blasters at the ready, firing into the ranks. As they fired down into the red mass, both the Great White and Hammerhead Shark squads brandished their fishes and flung themselves into the stunned snake-men. Once down, the snake-men would begin to reform back into their human forms, only to be struck down and dispersed by more enemy fire into their armor.

"What?! But, mom, she was!" Lulloyd gasped out.

"Eh your mother wanted to teach them life skills, so she did!" Garmadon grinned inside his cockpit, "But no self-respecting warlord doesn't keep a standing army they can't call on within an hour! So your mother and I compromised; she'd teach them better battle tactics and life skills, I'd use the money that were pouring into building new war machines to help give them a good start on life. So this way, we both win!"

"For Garmadon!" The Shark Army chanted, "For Ninjago! For freedom!" The Army dove into the masses in their organized ranks, cleaving down the reforming snakes, "FOR RETIREMENT!"

"For… what now?" Lulloyd stuttered out.

"Any man who makes it back to the Volcano after this, they get an increase in their Retirement Fund rate. Heh, you'll never see anyone work harder then when their retirement is on the line!" Garmadon laughed back.

"Do you think you have bested us?" The loud twisted voice of the Iron Doom rang out once more over the city, "Simply because you have an army? If you truly are a Warlord, then you should know that your army is only as strong as its commander!"

The Iron Doom's head suddenly began to creak like the sound of a bridge lifting up. The large eye of the Iron Doom began to glow brighter, the head lifting up to level itself up with the two's flight path. Before either of them could react, the 'eye' suddenly blasted outwards as a large glowing projectile towards Lulloyd and Garmadon.

With a mechanical scream, the mech dragon was pierced directly through the midsection. Lulloyd let out a scream of his own as the dragon lurched hard to the right, dropping the Garmashark towards the city streets. The Garmashark twisted hard in the air, landing on top of a sushi restaurant. Lulloyd yelled out as he fell towards the streets, disappearing into the red horde.

The hatch of the Garmshark opened, yet before the platform had risen, already Garmadon had leapt out and onto the root of the building. His eyes were wide as he reached out with two of his hands towards the streets. Yet all he could see were the soldiers slithering and squirming their way up towards where his army held them back, without the sight of his son within them.

'Lulloyd!" Garmadon shouted, pressing his hand to his comm, "Lulloyd, report in! Lulloyd, report IN!" There was no response.

As Garmadon scanned the sea of red for any trace of green. The Iron Doom turned its attention to the Garmashark, wobbling about on its weakened leg. The broken mech dragon had smashed into an apartment complex, its head now resting in one apartment's living room and the midsection going through several others. For a few moment, he scanned the building for something. Yet he couldn't see anything.

"LLOYD!" Cole shouted over the comm, "G, what happened to Lloyd?!"

"He got shot down!" Nya responded, "Garmadon, do you have eyes on him?!"

Garmadon didn't respond. He was still scanning the horde of snakes, attempting to parse where Lulloyd had landed. Nothing came to him.

"Haha! Haha!" Acronix laughed over the loudspeaker, "I didn't even think that would work! Look at him, he's reaching and everything! Oh this almost priceless!"

Garmadon's lower arms gripped tightly on the railing. After a low creak, the metal bent inwards. As he straightened his back up, the entire section of railing was separated from the rest. He tossed it aside and turned his attention to the Iron Doom, his eyes now burning with flames within those intense red orbs. His upper hands reached up and gripped his blue Warlord robes, ripping them off and throwing them out into the wind.

"Alright then…" Garmadon's voice dripped with malice, "Alright then you dirty… you filthy snakes, I guess it's time to show why a Shark has so many teeth."

Garmadon shot into the air, kicking the connecting ratchets on the wobbling leg of the shark into place with a resounding snap. From there he leapt back into the cockpit of the Garmashark, the hatch closing. The shark stomped it feet into the building and reared forward, letting out a mechanical bellow to match that of the Iron Doom's own.

The Garmashark dug its feet into the roof, causing to crack. It launched itself into the air, caving the roof in and sending itself hurtling towards the Iron Domo's chest. A massive copper blade swung into the air to try to intercept the shark; a two large cannon barrage from underneath each fin of the Garmashark stalled the arm's descent long enough for the head of the shark to crash into the Iron Doom's massive time dial. The Iron Doom was sent skidding backwards from the impact, its tail flopping into the Ninjago Bay.

The Garmashark landed with a resounding thud. It leaned forward and ran at full speed directly towards the Iron Doom once more, this time its massive dorsal fin being primed to strike. The Iron Doom planted its swords back onto its back, reaching out with both hands and grabbing the Garmashark's fin. The two pressed into one another, grappling for the smallest of distances as they pushed back and forth among the edge of the streets.

A loud creaking showed the fin of the Garmashark beginning to give. The two pilots smirked and diverted more snakes towards the arms, beefing up the power being supplied to them. The creaking continued as the Garmashark began to lean towards the left. Said shark snapped its jaws shut and dugs its claws into the street harder. The left fin of the shark began to press into the balconies of the buildings nearby.

Massive explosions to the Iron Doom's back caused the pressure to halt. Several Manta Raw Bombers had joined in with Piranha Walker units on the streets, firing away at the back of the Iron Doom's head. The distraction gave the Garmashark enough time to reset its cannons, firing into the massive gap that it'd previously torn open. The dual barrages let the shark stamp its feet into the ground and lunge forward, giving the Iron Doom another strike that sent it fully toppling into the bay behind it.

As soon as the Iron Doom splashed down, several small fishing boats were sent into the air and, the Garmashark was atop of it. Its jaws began tearing apart metal from the upper body of the snake, sending bits of alien scrap metal in all directions. Waves rose into the air in bricked curves as the Garmashark pressed down against the snake, pressing it into the sandy bottom below. Manta Ray Bombers began circling the airspace, firing off gunfire shots with loud sounds of pew-pew!

The Iron Doom's arms finally untangled from being sent into the water, raising up and grabbing the jaws of the Garmashark to hold them open. As the shark began to twist its head back and forth to break free, the Iron Doom's lower half slithered until it had a purchase on the ocean floor underneath it. With the hole that the Garmashark had previously torn slightly submerged in the water, it used the new purchase to fling the Garmashark away from it back towards the streets.

The Garmashark stood up from the crash barely phased. Now within the water, its feet retracted up to rest against its underbelly, all five jets kicking in to send it speeding through the water. With its blinding speed, it once more rammed the Iron Doom with its nose. The Iron Doom swung its fists at the Garmashark, yet more artillery fire continued to pepper its back. The snakes inside were quickly burning up, their numbers thinned out by the Vermillion flooding the streets.

The Iron Doom quickly reached out into the water, snagging several smaller one-person fishing boats and slamming them into the Garmashark as it passed again. The Shark only shook itself in the water before looping around for another pass. Another few boats were tossed up into the air, sending them into the lead Manta Ray Bomber and causing the rest of spiral out. Several men bailed out, all drifting out towards the ocean with small affirmations of, 'I'm okay!'

As soon as the bombers went down, the Garmashark leapt out of the water using its legs, smashing its nose directly into the Iron Doom's right shoulder. As the snake stumbled in the water, the Garmashark spun about once it was above the Iron Doom to smack its head with its newly rebuilt tail. The Iron Doom reeled from the shark slap while said shark landed in the water for another pass.

"I can do this AAALLL day, you two hear me?!" Garmadon's voice shouted out from a megaphone as he popped his head up form the cockpit, "Sharks are kings of the water! All you snakes will do is drown! Last chance to tell me your names for my defeated foes hall! You guys may be insulting coming down here into my city like this, but you've been fun nonetheless!"

"Was this not the man that just saw his comrade fall into a horde of snakes?" Krux spat, "He seems rather chipper for all this!"

"The Vermillion haven't reported finding anyone yet," Acronix responded, "Perhaps his… ally didn't get captured just yet?"

"Either way," Krux began projecting his voice once more, "Relent to us now, and perhaps we may return the one that you watched fall to their death!"

For a moment, the Garmashark was silent. Then blistering laughter came over the megaphones, "So you DID buy that! Oh, oh my gosh, I have to tell Coco that someone actually fell for that charade! I was more upset that we'll have to repair Lulloyd's dragon again after what I did to it a week ago!"

"Wait, Lulloyd?!" Acronix grabbed the mic away from his brother, "Is your ally the Green Ninja? The one that holds the green power?"

"I'll tell you when you two manage to actually take me out of this fight!" Garmadon laughed, disappearing into his cockpit again, "You can pry the words from my cold dark lips!"

The Garmashark flew into action again, soaring through the water towards the Iron Doom again. A swift dodge to the left meant only the right find clipped the torso of the Iron Doom. As more snakes were cut in half, warnings began to blare to the Time Twins. They were approaching the minimum amount of snakes required for the Iron Doom to function.

"Brother, help me grab that ship!" Acronix pointed towards a massive fishing boat that was now broken over the dilapidated docks. Both brothers focused their minds into their helmets, and in turn causing the Iron Doom to slither away from the Garmashark towards the boat. With the weight of the water against them, forcing the depleted number of snakes to move with all their strength meant continually pressuring the Hive Mind to move with all of its force.

Sensing that its foe was retreating, the Garmashark stalled in the water at the far end of the bay. From its back, two air canisters shot off into the water and sent air flying into the back of the shark. With its own jets, it shot through the water at top speed towards the two. Waves were kicked up on either side several tens of feet into the air as it barreled straight towards the Iron Doom.

Ignoring the rapidly approaching foe, the arms of the Iron Doom reached out towards the ship. The speed of the shark meant that every foot gained by them was perhaps ten gained by the shark. Both brothers were reaching out with the full extension of the mech's arms to grab for the ship as soon as possible. With the tips of its claws, the fingers snagged hold of the rigging of the ship.

Immediately, the Iron Doom spun around to face the shark, holding the sheets of rigging up within its hands. Snakes poured out of the lower half of the Iron Doom and crawled onto the rigging, tightening and hardening their bodies against it. The Garmashark bellowed as it shot its feet down into the water, launching directly up towards the Iron Doom.

Just as the Garmashark was about to collide with the Iron Doom, the rigging shot up into the air and wrapped around the Garmashark's dorsal fin. The sheer speed that the Garmashark was moving at meant that the impact caused the entirety of the fin to rip apart from the body, flying backwards into the bay. The entire shark lurched upwards on itself, sending its tailfin into the air. It flipped directly over top of the now ducking Iron Doom, flipping over itself rapidly before it crashed down into the beaches with a sickening sound of snapping.

The Garmashark dug into the sand on impact, both of its side fins snapping off and impaling into any remaining pieces of dock left standing. It lurched in the sand, trying to use its now broken legs to try to get back up and fight. As soon as its tail began to lift up from the beach, one of the copper swords of the Iron Doom tore through it and broke it apart, impaling what was left of it into the ground. The shark screamed out as if it was in pain, but its cry was interrupted as the Iron Doom's fist was sent pummeling into its right eye.

With the shark down, beaten into the beaches, the Iron Doom was free to pummel its face further into the dirt below the sand. As if built for the very purpose of punching, the fist rammed back and forth against the Garmashark's face. Teeth and bits of sand blue brick went soaring into the air, the eye turning into wedges that then scattered across the bay. Every punch sent fewer and fewer bricks flying, yet seemed to put the shark further and further beneath it.

The hatch went flying off with one last massive punch, revealing a Garmadon yanking angrily on the control sticks to get the shark to move once again. As soon as Garmadon was revealed, the Iron Doom took hold of its other remaining sword in both hands and raised it up to plunge it into the cockpit. Garmadon frantically kicked the controls, causing the shark to twist at the last moment to catch the sword in its mouth, rather than in its skull.

Before the sword could plunge right through the center of the shark and send it splitting in two, the jaws of the shark closed tightly around it, biting down with all its remaining strength to keep it from skewering it. The resistance on the control sticks controlling the mouth caused Garmadon to grunt out and pull the sticks together with all four hands. The sword keeping the lower half of the Garmashark pinned to the beach began to creak as the shark started to snap at the midsection from holding the sword back.

Both Time Twins forced all available snakes into the arms, adding pressure down against it. The Jaws of the Garmashark started to heave as the force was starting to let the sword slip down towards its throat. Garmadon's groans turned to desperate shouts as the sticks started to wiggle out of his four-armed grasp.

CCZZTTTTT This just in, Garmadon appears to be on the defensive! Robins, what do you make of this? Garmadon's head snapped to a broken radio atop a destitute parasol.

Oh my oh my, it looks like the Ninja are on their way to help! But it looks like this showdown of the grounds has proven land to be the superior of all of them. All citizens should evacuate with the ninja immediately. And don't worry, all those Shark Army guys are ready to get you out of there before you can say Garmadon!

Garmadon's expression darkened. His eyes were hidden under the shadow of his helmet. He reached up slowly with his right foot, reaching out for a button. He kicked it hard, causing a microphone to lower in front of his face.

"HEY NINJAGO!" From all radios across the entirety of the Shark Army's vehicles, Garamdon's shouts rang out, "ARE YOU COUNTING ME, GARMADON, OUT OF THE FIGHT JUST YET?!"

Garmaodn huffed and grinned, "COME ON NINJAGO, TELL ME! WHO IS THE ONE AND ONLY WARLORD THAT IS ALLOWED TO CONQUER YOUR ONE AND ONLY NINJAGO CITY!"

"garmadon…?" A half hearted cheer rose from a lone man buried in the beach's sand.

"WHO IS THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE GREATEST THREAT THAT ALL OF NINJAGO CITY HAS EVER FACED?!"

"Garmadon." The answer rose from a few that stuck their heads from their buildings nearby.

"AND WHO IS THE ONE THAT IS GOING TO SHOW EXACTLY WHY SHARKS ARE NOW BANNED ACROSS ALL OF NINJAGO?!"

"Garmadon!" The cheer rose once more, rising from the streets and drifting out towards the bay.

"WHAT'S MY NAME?!"

"GARMADON!"

"SAY IT AGAIN!"

"GARMADON! GARMADON! GARMADON! GARMADON! GARMADON! GARMADON!"

"I MEANT ONCE BUT THAT WORKS TOO!"

With a hard smirk, Garmadon let out a loud yell of exertion as he brought the jaws of the Garmashark together. With a loud creak, the sword of the Iron Doom was rapidly bent inwards on itself, then it snapped in two. The jaws slammed together with enough force to shake the surrounding beach and send sand up into the wind.

"GARMADON! GARMADON! GARMADON!"

The Garmashark bellowed and reached out, stamping its foot hard into the sand. Several members of the Shark Army poured down into the beach, dropped from Jelly Subs, and began to swarm over the mech, quickly repairing its leg. The Garmashark stood slowly, the men yanking the massive sword out of its backside and carrying it away quickly into the city. As soon as the shark stood, Garmadon grinned hard as his Shark roared again at the Iron Doom.

The Garmashark shot forward, rearing its head towards the Iron Doom. Both arms of the Iron Doom gripped its head, stopping its momentum. The second they did, the Garmashark thrust its head to the right, knocking off the grip of its left hand. In the few seconds that the hand was disconnected, the Garmashark seized it within its jaws. With snakes still pouring back into the lower half of the Iron Doom, the Garmashark grained a firm purchase on the arm's wrist.

The Iron Doom rapidly struck the side of the Garmashark's face, yet this time the shark did not budge. Instead, the shark began to thrash its head back and forth, snapping the arm back and forth with it. The Iron Doom planted is right hand against the shark's head and pushed hard, yet the Garmashark's purchase would not be broken. Snakes rapidly tried to pour into the left arm instead, yet without the ability the move its lower body, the Garmashark was free to yank as hard as it could.

With a loud wrench, the lower half of the right arm of the Iron Doom was ripped apart. Pieces and wholes of snakes were sent scattered into the air as the Garmashark held its prize within its jaws. Before anymore snakes could escape the severed portion, the Garmashark bit down and squeezed the section shut, then tossed it aside onto the beach.

While the Iron Doom was still reeling with pain from all sectors of the hive mind, the Garmashark shot forward and sunk its jaws into the entire left shoulder of the Iron Doom. The Iron Doom finally lurched backwards, yet this only allowed the Garmashark to thrust its head backwards and sever the remaining half of the Iron Doom's left arm. The Garmashark likewise crushed and threw the piece aside, planting itself into the beach in front of the now screaming Iron Doom.

"I said earlier I'd tell you why sharks have so many teeth, didn't I?!" Garmadon laughed, "It's because sharks are the best at ripping every single opponent limb from limb!"

The Garmashark lunged once more, this time aimed directly at the throat of the Iron Doom's massive head. It kicked up sand underneath its feet as its broken and battered body ran forward, ready to deal the killing blow to its opponent. Just as its twisted its head again to line up with the neck, Garmadon himself drew three katanas and leapt out of the shark's head, his decent going straight for the cockpit of the Iron Doom.

The warlord landed on a small piece of the shark's side, placing him level with the cockpit of his foe's mech. He looked into it, a mad smile on his lips as he stared right into the eyes of the Twins. Krux snarled to him, looking towards him with an expression that could only be described as unfiltered malice. With a grin, Garmadon leapt forward, his free arm grabbing the top of the viewport to hang in front of the two with his mad smile.

Garmadon heard a skidding outside. He jerked his head behind him, seeing his Garmashark covered in a bright orange aura. The shark seemed to fly backwards in the exact same arc that is had launched, including the motion of its feet scrambling on the ground. It continued to run backwards until the severed half of the left arm was sucked back into its mouth, where the aura stopped and the shark proceeded to toss the arm away again.

"OH SERIOUSLY?1 TIME MANIPULATION?!" Garmadon shouted as soon as the Shark was back onto the ground, "Of all of the cheapest tricks in the book, you two decide to use THAT?!"

"A good warrior like yourself should know that honorable fighting is only as valuable as it is foolish!" Krux threw his green side cape aside to reveal a glowing blue blade. Garmadon had just enough time to see it and swing his blades before his body was blasted with the blue aura, causing his entire body to move at the pace of a snail.

Krux rapidly thrust his leg outwards, kicking Garmadon out over the controls and back out into the open air. The effect dissipated, leaving Garmadon to shout and flail as he found himself now without ground under his feet. The warlord quickly looked to both sides, seeing the remaining right arm of the Iron Doom. He flung his sword out towards the arm, impaling it into a piece between the armor, catching the hilt right as he flew by it. He spun himself around in an arc upwards, landing on the arm with his swords up in the air and left arms on the metal.

No sooner had he landed, a green blur in front of him turned into the grinning face of Acronix. Acronix threw his Vermillion sword directly at Garmadon, who slung his lower sword in front of him to catch while the second swiped out at Acronix. The tip of the forward time blade caught hold of the sword, stopping its momentum. Garmadon thrust both swords out and stepped back, letting Acronix gain another strike towards him. Garmadon threw his lower sword into the air, which struck Acronix's sword and sent both swords spiraling into the air. Garmadon shot his hand out towards the spinning sword, yet another blast from the time blade sent the sword's arc over the side of the Iron Doom's arm.

"I don't think you belong here, Garmadon!" Acronix put his new free hand to his helmet and focused, "Perhaps you should become acquainted with the ground once more."

The entire arm of the Iron Doom began to move, sending Garmadon off balance. Acronix, his feet planted in place by snakes wrapped around them, thrust his Time Blade out, forcing Garmadon to dodge yet again. The action sent him further down the tilting arm, and thus made him lose his footing. He plummeted towards the ground, landing in the sand with a shout of pain. .

No sooner had Garmadon landed, however, the streets above the beach were graced with the sound of treads. The Ice Tank emerged, its massive cannon placed directly towards the Iron Doom. From behind it, the Quake Mech rolled up, knocking its fist together. Across the bay, the Water Strider skidded its way up towards the beach, its guns pointed firmly towards the Iron Doom. All three vehicles primed their weapons, revving up to fire at a moment's notice.

"Garmadon!" Nya shouted over her comm, "The citizens are with the Shark Army, we're here to assist you!"

"Ugh…" Garmadon coughed, sitting up in the sand, "You ninja… never listen… do you…?"

"Want us to beat this guy down?" Cole asked, "I'm pretty sure we can take this thing out before I have to put on another track!"

"We are very probability-wise likely to succeed," Zane added, "I'm sure we can go ahead and give them the cold shoulder."

All three of them all groaned out at Zane's nonsense joke, Garmadon standing up using his remaining swords. He held his sword out to his side, looking up at the massive Iron Doom. His Garmashark stood behind him, wobbling on its legs but ready to charge once again. Garmadon twisted his head back towards the Iron Doom, chuckling to himself as he nodded his head.

"Alright you ninja!" Garmadon laughed out, "Show these guys what you all can do with me as your commander!"

"NINJA! GO!" Nya, Zane and Cole all fired their weapons, aimed firrmly at the Iron doom. Ice colheased on its right arm; blasts of water jammed holes into its left side, and weaponized sounds waves knocked it off of its feet. Garmadon ran hard towards his mech, hitting a button on his wrist that caused the shark to bend down for him to leap inside. The ninja fired off their second barrage just as he got into the Garmashark's cockpit, the shark rearing back up and preparing a charge.

The two Time Twins made their way back to the cockpit, both assuming controls. Their number of snakes had fallen below critical levels, yet without an arm it seemed they were at the perfect amount. Krux turned to Acronix, holding up his time blade. Acronix held up his own as the two nodded in tandem.

Just as the Garmashark charged, Acronix shot the Quake Mech, Ice Tank and Garmashark with the slow-mo blade. As soon as the three vehicles were charging, their momentum was completely slowed. At the same time, Acronix jammed the forward blade into the side of the Iron Doom, causing the entire mech to flash forward as it moved at an accelerated rate of time. Within seconds, the Iron Doom was gone.

After five seconds of the Iron Doom vanishing, the slow-mo blade wore off. All three mechs were sent hurtling in a collision course, one of which only Zane was able to process fast enough to stop himself. The Quake Mech and Garmashark collided, shattering the skull of the Garmashark and causing the massive wheel of the Quake Mech to fly off into the beach. Both mechs tumbled together, the Garmashark's legs going flying whilst the Quake Mech struggled to use its massive fists to stop their momentum.

The two mechs came to a stop when they were just shy of destroying a beachfront property. Both mechs cracked and shuddered as they came to a stop. Slowly, both pilots began to open their cockpits, groaning out as they clamored to their feet.

"What… what was that?" Cole shouted out towards Garmadon, who had again used his sword to steady himself, "What was that light?"

"They slowed down time on both of us, then accelerated time on themselves so they can escape…" Garmadon groaned and clutched his chest, "Ugh that just… that just is insulting… only a coward turns to something like that to win a fight! It's just a cheap crutch for an opponent that can't do that themselves already."

A large wave of ice formed between the two, by which Zane skidded up towards them. Quickly, he surveyed the scene and spoke to Cole, "I assess both mechs have sustained enough damage that I would call them, totalled. Where did the assailants go?"

"Gone," Garmadon waved his arm dismissively, "Doesn't matter where, they're already somewhere we can't get to them. They're clearly not from around here either, so we won't see them again until they need to attack."

"What were they after?" Nya asked over the comm, "Seems weird they just decided to outright attack the city instead of, you know, attacking the mayor's office."

"Again, probably not from around here. I'd even wager that they're either cursed by something… or they might be from somewhere outside of our reality," Garmadon huffed, "Now, tell me, where's Lulloyd?"

With a long groan, Lulloyd opened his eyes. One of his eyes was obscured in darkness. For a moment, his head panged with the idea that perhaps he'd gone blind, that he'd have to learn to live with an eyepatch. His claw hand reached up, only to feel his hood had been shifted slightly over his eye.

Removing the hood from his head, Lulloyd slowly sat up, groaning softly to himself. The mech dragon was nowhere to be seen around him. Instead, as he tried to sit up, he saw the face of a bright green hood directly in front of his face.

"Easy, you took a big fall," Lloyd smiled under his hood, "Trust me, I've taken a lot of those myself. Just take it slow."

Lulloyd shook his head and lifted his arm up to rub his hair towards the side, "Ugh… what happened? I thought I was about to get eaten alive by snakes?"

"You were, I caught you," Lloyd reached up and pulled his hood off his face, "I need to ask you something though."

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a second… ugh this is worse than Cole's music lessons…" Lulloyd slowly lifted his head up, then blinked blearily until Lloyd's face came into focus.

"W...What?" Lulloyd slowly sat all the way up, "I didn't know there was a fan club… I thought I was still least popular ninja…"

"Fanclub?" Lloyd asked, "Wait… are, you, Lloyd Garmadon?"

"Yeah… the one and only, least hated ninja…" Lulloyd groaned, "Who are you?"

"I'm… a friend," Lloyd replied cautoiusly, "Come on, we need to get you up and moving. Uh… is anything broken?"

"Uh… if something on me was broken then I'd be in way worse shape… owh…" Lulloyd slowly reached out, "My… my sword, is it around?"

"Here," Lloyd reached out, handing him the curved blade, "You dropped it when you fell, I grabbed it for you. Figured you would want it back."

"Y-Yeah… mom would kill me if I lost it…" Lulloyd planted the blade between tiles, pushing upwards and slowly forcing his legs to rotate under him. With effort, he pulled himself to stand completely upright.

"How'd you catch me…?" Lulloyd asked awkwardly, "The only way you could do that is if you were, you know, some kind of… ninja…"

Lulloyd's vision had finally focused once more. As he took in the sight of Lloyd in front of him, something was very wrong. His body, it looked strange. Like his, but weird. He was… smooth. He had slopes to his body, almost like his limbs were made of liquid. His suit was clearly that of a ninja but with the colors of green and black reversed from his own gi. Just looking at him sent a shiver down his spine.

"You… you look like…" Lulloyd gently moved to point his sword forward, "Who are you?"

Lloyd opened his mouth to speak again, but this time a sword was pressed against his throat. Slowly, Lloyd lifted his arms up into the air, turning it slightly to see the darkened frown of Garmadon holding the sword.

"Garmadon..?" Lloyd whispered out without thinking.

"Lulloyd, get over here, now/" Garmadon ordered. Lulloyd looked to Lloyd for a second, then quickly hopped over by his father and drew his sword. He turned his body to point the sword at Lloyd.

"Krux and Acronix… so you know the names of the ones that were attacking us…" Garmadon lifted his sword up, forcing Lloyd to his feet, "And you have the same broken arms as they did."

"What? My arms aren't broken…?" Lloyd moved his arms slowly to emphasize his point. Just him moving his limbs at the elbow caused Garmadon to shudder slightly.

"Lulloyd… what did he say to you?" Garmadon asked, staring directly into Lloyd's eyes.

"He… said that he caught me right before I hit the ground. He called the snakes the Vermillino too… I'm pretty sure he knows about what that just happened to us," Lulloyd answered, "But, he said he saved me too."

"Hmm…" Garmadon pressed against Lloyd's neck, "What's your name?"

"It's… uhm…" Lloyd paused for a moment. Garmadon pressed the sword a bit closer, causing him to slowly cough out, "It's Lloyd. Lloyd Garmadon."

"But… I'm Lloyd Garmadon," Lulloyd blinked and shook his head, "Come on, this isn't funny. What's your real name?"

"Hold on one second, Lulloyd," Garmadon shook his head, "I know a liar when I see one, and those aren't the eyes of a liar…"

Slowly, Garmadon moved his sword down Llloyd's body until he saw the bump in his pocket. A quick slash caused the pocket to spill out the Realm Crystal onto the streets. It shone a little blue glow across the pavement. Upon seeing it, Garmadon's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"You're coming with us, Lloyd," Garmadon hissed, ignoring his son's bewildered expression, "We're going to see exactly what it is you know, and what it is you came for."