"WHOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Unlike his counterpart, who had limited experienced hopping dimensions, Lulloyd was caught completely off guard and didn't know what to expect. The sudden acceleration instilled a sense of fear in him. For a moment, he thought he understood what it must have been like to be one of his father' formal General Number Ones. At least there was no lava involved, or so he hoped.
He was still shouting when the two of them arrived. When he was suddenly halted, he nearly fell off balance. Instantly, before his eyes even adjusted to the light, something felt wrong. The ground beneath his feet felt wrong. There were no studs beneath him. And it wasn't even that he was walking on vertical surfaces either. Whatever he was standing on felt unusually soft and squishy. His feet weren't locking into place even when he moved his body forward to move his right leg forward.
Finally, Lulloyd was able to see, and take in the sights around him. He was definitely not in his Ninjago City anymore. Just at a quick glance, he couldn't tell what anything around him was made of. Nearly everything looked like one continuous piece. It took him a moment to realize the difference, and when he did it sent an uneasy feeling to him. Everything was organic, akin to the Jungle he'd gone through. One couldn't take the area apart easily and certainly not put it back together in creative ways. Even when he squinted his eyes, no part numbers appeared over them.
What this static scenery entailed was a lot of natural greens. Trees, plants, and grass. But, the grass looked weird to him. Everything looked weird to Lulloyd, by the grass especially. It was many tiny individual blades. The ground itself wasn't flat either, it sloped in angles that would normally require hinges to obtain. Even the ground he stood on know wasn't perfectly flat.
Once the shock of all the strange sights around him finally wore off, Lulloyd was able to piece together that they were in a park. All around them citizens walked enjoying their days, leisurely strolling and relaxing in the park. Lulloyd instantly took note of how they were moving. They all moved like those Time Twins did. As well as the other Lloyd.
"Is this your dimension?" Lulloyd asked, slowly turning a circle as he looked around, "Everyone here's got the same, liquid limbs you have."
"I don't think so," Lloyd commented. He was less stunned by this park that Lulloyd, for this type of world was normal for him, "Look at this statue of the First Spinjitzu Master."
"Um, I thought this was the statue of the First Master Builder?" Lulloyd partially asked and partially corrected.
"Look at this statue of Grandfather," Lloyd picked a term that he knew both of them could relate to. "It looks different than it did in either of our universes."
Lloyd gestured to the statue in the center of the park the two of them had appeared at. The man it depicted was certainly the man they both called their grandfather, despite having never been met by either of them. The hat, beard and general age all lined up. But unlike Lloyd's own universe, where he was quite clearly doing Spinjitsu, or Lulloyd's universe where he was Master Building, this grandfather was doing something different. His hands were cupped together, a disc formed between them. His stance appeared to be winding up to throw it.
While Lloyd was in the middle of pondering what this meant, his thoughts were cut off by Lulloyd shouting, "Is that a flying car?!"
Lloyd's head snapped to where Lulloyd was pointing above them, and sure enough, there was a flying car flying overhead the park. In fact, there were several. It appeared as though a whole sky street was running overhead. Lulloyd gave Lloyd a curios glance, to which Lloyd nodded. The two quickly followed the cars overhead.
As they trailed after the cars, the two of them got closer to the city itself. Lloyd's eyes widened as he made out what he felt silly for not noticing before: tall buildings. The heights of the buildings were so tall that seeing their tops was near impossible from this height. Each one was sleek and meticalic, their shapes smooth and immaculate. Their colors were far removed from dull grays and blues; pink, deep green, electric blue and even muted yellows mingled evenly amongst all of the sights. These colors were accented by the flashing screens and lights hung all across them, with signs flashing about and images going by the two couldn't make out yet.
Seeing the sights, however, were somewhat barred by large glass bridges and walkways. At various levels on the buildings were said overhangs and bridges that seemed to form sidewalks for people to casually walk along. The buildings formed large lanes with their gaps, in which all the cars were flying above and blow the bridges in semi-organized lanes. The arrangement reminded him of the 'layers' of Ninjago City, but with far more of them and far more people on them.
"This place is amazing…" Lulloyd marveled as his head looked straight upwards and took in the sights of the city, "It's like, the future. Not even the upper levels of Ninjago City look like this."
"My Ninjago City looked a bit like this once," Lloyd remembered the brief period of time between the Overlord's defeat and the takeover of the Golden Master, "But, this is way more advanced than it ever was. I think it's safe to say we're not in my universe."
"Golden Master?" Lulloyd blinked, "What's that, some sort of golden ninja?"
"No… but I was gold when I was the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master for a little while," Lloyd smiled slightly, "It's kinda a long story."
Lulloyd took the cue and nodded his head, turning his attention back to the streets. The park led to the actual ground level streets, where little cleaning cars were going around with robotic drones sweeping up trash. As the two walked, it appeared as though they were touring the basement level of buildings, as the concrete foundations could clearly be seen rising up covered in posters and graffiti alike. Doors opened and closed from the buildings for vehicles to fly up into the air from, making the streets almost feel like landing strips for planes. The sidewalks were littered with people, many of which that would stop for the cars to take off.
As Lulloyd walked, nobody seemed to pay him any mind. Given that he seemed to be the only one that couldn't move his legs outwards, he expected some odd looks. Many of the people around him, however, were wearing something that hung over their ear and extended a screen over their eyes. From the glowing panels that were flashing on it, it looked like some combination of a phone and computer. Many of them were talking and laughing into it, which implied the phone part. Lulloyd nearly found his head knocked into by the feeling of a citizen making a dramatic flourish to someone on the other line.
"It's, uhm, kinda crowded down here," Lulloyd grimaced, "Think we can find a way to get to those walkways up there?"
Lloyd narrowed his gaze, looking around for an entrance. After a moment, he saw vertical glowing tubes that had little circular platforms that elevated upwards. He gestured for Lulloyd to follow. As soon as they arrived, a little screen came up, an arrow pointing towards a money slot.
"Did you bring any money?" Lloyd asked, fishing around in his back pocket. Somehow, his wallet has stayed throughout all of the battles thus far.
"I only got these," Lulloyd pulled out a large 100 dollar bill,, "It looks a little too big to fit in there."
"Well… let's hope the currency hasn't changed," Lloyd dished out a few coins, letting them fall into the slot. The screen lit up green, and the entrance to the tube slid open.
After a quick travel up into the air, the platform stopped at the bridges roughly thirty stories up in the air. Having his large mechdragon brick and sword on his back made the fit rather tight. Lloyd didn't say anything, but he himself adjusted his swords on his own back. As they rose, large machines that looked like vents were situated at each level they rose to. Once they stopped, Lulloyd could see from a large label they were 'oxygen suppliers.' It certainly explained how people were this high up without suffering from a thin atmosphere.
The two stepped out onto the walkway, finding that the surface was oddly opaque from above but transparent from below. Now that they were up in the air, Lulloyd could see something out in the distance. A large building stood with what looked like a diamond on the top of it. Curiously, he pointed it out to Lloyd, who just smiled.
"Borg Tower," Lloyd sighed, "Last time I saw that thing it was destroyed by my dad. I wonder if the ninja finished moving all our stuff into it."
"That does sound like something dad would do…" Lulloyd sighed, "I just realized I'm gonna have to clean up all that mess he made with his shark the other day, heh."
The bridges themselves were narrower than the streets, and seemed to wrap around the buildings to offer several more entrances. There were far fewer people at this level, but still a enough to make a general flow of traffic. Lulloyd had only ever seen this many people during city-wide events. The sheer number of people living in this city was staggering.
Lulloyd looked over towards the side of one of the bridges. When he made his way over, he took the chance to hoist himself up so he could look over the edge. Beneath him, cars flew by suspended by four circular blue discs where the wheels would be. The sound of them all rushing by reminded him of the sound of the Shark Army approaching the city, but far less sinister.
"So, we are in Ninjago City," Lloyd walked up to his companion, holding up a brochure he'd taken from a stand nearby, "But I was right, it's not my Ninjago City."
Lloyd pointed to a little date on top of the brochure, which so happened to be electronic and responded to his touch by enlarging what he tapped. The date illuminated on screen.
"This is almost twenty-five years in the future for me," Lloyd frowned, "But, this all shouldn't be here. The Golden Master made Ninjago agree never to let technology take over like that again. Borg had to work all the time to ensure any product wasn't hackable. Something must have happened differently here."
"Thirty years?" Lulloyd looked Lloyd up and down, "So, uh, does that mean that you'll be, old, in this place?"
"I'd be at least fifty," Lloyd commented dryly, "And I've already experienced what it's like to be as old as Wu, or, kinda. I'm sure I'm still in fighting condition here."
Lulloyd watched the cars flying by for another moment, then he looked to Lloyd once more. He looked around to the massive crowd of people.
"I don't even know where to start," Lulloyd admitted. "Where should we even go first? This is the first time I've ever been, you know, in another dimension. Wu didn't let us go on field trips cause, well, dad. How do we find those Time Twins?"
"Well as far as I can tell, there's no wanton destruction or panic going on yet," Lloyd took note of the happy and peaceful demeanor of all of the futuristic citizens around him. "So that means they're probably laying low, for now. Which is good."
Lloyd also noticed something about the citizens of this Ninjago City besides the numerous unfamiliar gadgets they were casually using. A decent amount of them he saw weren't human. Some were obviously Androids, proudly displaying their mechanical features. Others were quite obviously Serpentine. Yet they walked among the streets without causing panic. Some were even talking directly with humans. A Fangpyre even was holding hands with a human.
"Well if that's the case, then I think we need to take some preemptive measures while they still are." Lulloyd had to keep himself from making hand gestures while he talked. He felt very conscious about his movements and how out of place they were in this dimension, "We should find the Secret Ninja Force of this universe and warn them ahead of time. That way they're not caught off guard like my friend and I were."
"That's a good idea. Or at least we should find ourselves first." Lloyd paused and then added on "I mean literally. Not in a Sensei Wu way."
"Before you find what you're looking for, you must first find yourself." Lulloyd put his hands together and did his best Wu impression. This earned a laugh from both him and his alternate dimension counterpart.
"But in all honesty I'm not sure how we're even going to do…" Lulloyd was about to express his doubts, but he was cut off by a voice familiar to both of them.
"Well hello there strangers!" Both Lloyd's turned around to see a man dressed in brown robes approach them. His hair was greyer, his skin more wrinkly, but both of them would recognize that smirk on his face anywhere.
"Dareth?" They boy said in unison.
"Why yes, it is I, the Grand Sensei Dareth," Dareth obviously enjoyed this instant recognition from whom he perceived to be two strangers, "Aka, the Legendary Brown Ninja. And you two, my friends, appear to be lost."
"Lost?" Lloyd and Lulloyd looked at each other, confused on how he could know that.
"Yes my friends, lost. For you see, you're about as far away from the Grand Library as possible. I know this is where you want to be because you two are obviously fans of," Dareth took a pause to punch the air a couple times. "The Green Ninja! The book signing is at the Grand Library right now!"
"Oh um, yeah!" Lloyd went with what Dareth was saying, realizing that this would be the best way to accomplish their goals without having to explain too much right now. "We're huge fans of The Green Ninja. We made these costumes to, show how much we appreciate all they've done for Ninjago."
"Yeah!" Lulloyd picked up on what Lloyd was doing quickly, "In fact, everyone in our class is. They're always screaming The Green Ninja is the greatest ninja ever! Go Green Ninja! Go Green Ninja!" If Lulloyd was attempting to hide any fantasies he was living out, he was failing miserably. Lloyd gave him a sideways glare.
"Well you're in luck then my friends. I just so happen to be on my way to the Grand Library myself. Follow me and I'll get you two to that book signing." Dareth ushered for them to follow him to the bus stop.
"You have Dareth in your dimension?" Lulloyd whispered to Lloyd as they followed him.
"Yeah," Lloyd whispered back. "And he's pretty much the same as he is now."
"Same, actually," Lulloyd whispered, "His Mojo Dojo is pretty popular."
Dareth moved surprisingly quick for how much older he appeared. He led the two through the throng of citizens, getting a fistbump from a Venomari and a few citizens waving at him as he walked by. The three arrived at a loading station, where a flying bus was parked and hovering for them to get on.
"They're with me," Dareth told the driver as he swiped his pass. The driver nodded and waved for the two to get on.
Despite how futuristic the world appeared, the bus interior was as standard as they came, save for the neon lights lining the ceiling. Dareth took them to the middle of the bus near one of the doors, at which point he gripped a railing. The two found themselves surrounded before the bus lurched once and the two were off.
Lulloyd couldn't help but look out the window to take in more of the city sights. Signs everywhere showed several adverts, each of which came and went in seconds. Some were advertising a show based around what, to him, appeared to be the Secret Ninja Force.
"They made a Starfarer movie?!" Lulloyd gasped as he saw one sign flashing Starfarer V: The Galaxy's Finest Hero along with an image of an actor posing with his ray gun.
"Oh yes, I find them all great movies," Dareth smiled, "Did you know that they switched to Cliff Gordon's son after movie three? Hardly tell a difference!" He smirked, "I even know him personally."
"Wait, Jay?" Lloyd squinted at another sign flashing by. As he took it in, he could see the tip of orange hair poking out from the obviously dyed hair of the actor.
"Why yes," Dareth responded, "Jay said he was going to continue the legacy that his father went on. It was a risky move adapting the side series for the TV show, but he hit it big with all of that. I even made a cameo in Starfarer III as one of the citizens of Centura Six!"
"Wait, there's a Centura Six?" Lulloyd paused, "But I thought the Centura system was under the control of General Hypaxxus-8. And weren't the Galaxy Squad getting ready to launch an assault to free Centura Three? Amset-Ra had an alliance with Hypaxxus-8 and was using the power of the Ancient Artifacts to keep them from landing on the planet!"
"Wow, you're really behind," Dareth thrust his hand out, "No worries, I will not spoil anything! But I recommend you catch up pretty soon. Here," Dareth held up his watch and a hologram displayed, "Don't tell anyone I told you this, but I can give you a website where you can read them all for free."
"Really?!" Lulloyd gasped, "Oh gosh, thank you!" Hearing his excited cries only made Lloyd realize he hadn't read Starfarer ever since he'd gone to the Dark Island.
Lulloyd continued to take in the sights from outside the bus. He saw several advertisements for new chain locations for something called Chen's Noodle House, several ads for products and strange thing he'd never seen before, and even saw an image of someone that looked like Cole showing off some sort of fancy cologne product. The sheer number of things to take in were almost overwhelming.
"I have been meaning to ask," Dareth turned to Lloyd, "Your costumes are very abstract. I've never seen those styles before. Can I ask where you got the inspiration for them?"
"Oh, well…" Lloyd thought fast again, "We saw some uhm, artist interpretations of the Green Ninja's outfit and we decided to base ours on that."
Dareth looked the two up and down for a long moment. The intensity of his gaze for a moment worried them both, though Lulloyd couldn't place why. Then Dareth nodded his head in approval.
"They are very good costumes," Dareth pointed the swords, "Those are real swords too. That's pretty impressive. Though I would warn you that you likely won't be able to take those into the library."
"Speaking of the library!" Lulloyd called out, "I think I see it!"
Lloyd rushed to the window to see where Lulloyd was gesturing. The Grand Library was a massive golden building that stretched from the ground level all the way to the tops of some of the smaller buildings. Large spotlights cast little cones of light over the walls, making it seemingly sparkle. The bus was running parallel to it, giving both of them time to take it all in. The size of it was perhaps four times the largest shopping mall Lulloyd had ever seen, then stacked on top of itself tentimes. The architecture came up into points, and the two large towers in front were clearly meant to evoke something. As Lloyd muttered, it was clearly a homage to something called the Temple of Light.
The bus flew around a few more buildings and landed at a station that was at the bottom of a massive set of stairs that led up to the library. As the people disembarked, Dareth waved them over. The library created a massive enough space the two could now fully see that it was nighttime above them, something the previously clumped buildings made nearly impossible to tell. Just walking up the steps to the library took almost two minutes, something that wasn't very welcome after two days of battles. Lulloyd gripped the railing tightly, as each step felt like a slippery slope he was falling down.
"So, Dareth," Lloyd asked as the two got to the top of the stairs, "How big is the city?"
"How big is it?" Dareth looked backwards towards the buildings, "You two must be tourists, right?"
"Yep, big tourists, here from… Jamanikai Village," Lloyd picked a location at random, "Think you can tell us about it?"
"Ah, Jamanikai, I've been meaning to go there myself! Tour of Ninjago and all, you know, if I ever get around to it..." Dareth looked out across the landscape, "When I first moved into the city, it was only a fifth of the size it is now. After the Ninja helped make sure the land was safe to build on, the city kept growing outwards. Once Borg Tower was built, that was when all this came around," He gestured to the cars above their heads.
"Where's your Dojo?" Lulloyd asked curiously.
"I haven't called it the Dojo for awhile," Dareth shrugged, "If you mean my Mojo Studio, it's not to far east from here. Would have come straight here but I had some errands to do. Heh, I did get to meet two new freinds though, so I think I got a bit out of it."
"Studio?" Lloyd pressed, "Like, is it not a Dojo anymore?"
"The Ninja helped me get a much bigger space, so now I can teach even bigger classes! Figured a change of space deserved a good change of name. As great as Mojo Dojo was, Mojo Studio felt a little more appropriate. You, uh, know?" Dareth responded.
"Really?" Lulloyd smiled widely, "That's awesome! We should probably do that too…"
"This is probably a dumb question," Lloyd paused, "But, uh, what exactly happened with the Golden Master?"
"Golden Master?" Dareth looked confused, "Never heard of him. Now, if you're talking about the Overlord… well, that was years ago. After he was defeated, that was when all of this really sprouted up. The book signing today is actually about that."
"Then let's go up and get one," Lloyd nodded firmly, "We really wanna learn about the history of this place."
"You seem like an avid learner," Dareth smirked, "I like that about you. Only those that are willing to learn will ever succeed in the climb of the mountain of knowledge."
Along with a massive throng of people, Dareth and the two entered through the large doors. Once inside, Lulloyd turned to see that they had entered a large cylindrical section, with large squares on the walls etched to look like scenes of various points in time. Lulloyd tried to get a bit more of a look at it, but Dareth was still moving.
"Excuse me, citizen," A spindly robot on wheels suddenly appeared in front of Lulloyd, startling him, "We have detected that you are carrying weapons into the Grand Library. As per the policy of this location, weapons of any kind are not allowed. We will return them to you on your way out."
Lulloyd hadn't even seen where they'd been scanned for them. Lloyd nodded to him, though, and drew his twin katanas to hand them over. Nervously, Lulloyd handed over his curved blade. The robot attached them to a slot on its back and moved off. Lulloyd was somewhat thankful his dragon wasn't taken, given he wasn't sure he could rebuild it anyways.
"Heh, I did warn ya," Dareth shook his head, "Sorry, the security here is really strict. The Ninja often do meetings here, so they can't allow anyone to come in with weapons."
"That's fine," Lloyd responded, "Can you take us to the signing?"
"Sure thing," Dareth took the lead in front of them, "It should be mostly over by now, so you two might get the chance to get more than just a book signed."
Dareth guided the two into the main lobby of the library, which was just as crowded as the streets. He cut his way through the circular area towards a series of elevators set up around it like spokes on a wheel. Behind the elevators, long rows of books extended backwards, holographic displays showing the aisle number.
Once the three were on the elevator, Dareth hit the number on the top floor. The elevator lurched and took the three up, which appeared to be at least fifty stories. How such a massive library was compiled in such a short amount of time, Lloyd couldn't figure out. Lulloyd was marveling at the small size of the books; they were small enough to fit under someone's arm here. Dareth watched the sights as they ascended floor after floor.
Finally, the elevator stopped. The floor they were on, surprisingly, had no books on it. Instead, again set up in a circular fashion, doors led to various rooms. One room had a large banner on it that had a copy of the book signing in question. Lulloyd read it off to himself as Legacy of Green: A Garmadon's Story. The door to the room was open, and soft light was pouring out of it. Dareth guided the two towards it.
The room was set up like a lecture hall, with several rows wrapping around different levels. The room was mostly empty by now. On the stage at the bottom of the room was a large table with a single stray copy of the book in question on the table. A lone child was in line, holding a copy of the book with shaky hands.
Lulloyd felt Lloyd stiffen up beside him. He turned to see Lloyd's expression had gone from determined to nervous. The action was enough that Lulloyd looked a bit more at the signer, at which point he had to ask.
"Is, uh, something wrong with that?" Lulloyd asked.
"They're… gi, it's… I got that when I was on the Dark Island. It doesn't have, happy memories attached to it," Lloyd paused, "Something's wrong."
Lulloyd wasn't following, but looked a bit closer. The gi the signer was wearing was indeed a set of black robes accented with green decorations and a set of gold shoulder guards. At first, it didn't look strange, until he truly looked. He took a few steps forward, at which point he was able to make it out more clearly. The gi had a massive hole ripped right into the dead center of it from the bottom of the chest to the middle of the belly. Around the outside of the hole was stitched in an Ouroboros, almost making it seem intentional. Lulloyd could see skin underneath the hole as well.
Something else was off as well. Lulloyd and Lloyd both had blonde hair, but the hair of the person signing books was white. A beautiful, brilliant white, like a swan. The hair in the back was tied up with a green ribbon to form a miniature ponytail. Once they stepped forward down a good number of stairs, looking at the face of the Green Ninja proved a startling realization.
"There she is," Dareth pointed down to the girl sitting at the desk, whose head was buried within the book she was signing for the child, "The Green Ninja herself. Harumi Garmadon."
"She?" Lulloyd was taken aback by the pronoun.
"Harumi?" Lloyd was more shocked by the name.
"Yep! Well come on, don't be shy. She's real nice," Dareth walked down the stairs of the lecture hall and towards Harumi. Nervous and confused, the Lloyds followed.
"Well there's my little author!" Dareth outstretched his arms when he got up to Harumi. Harumi passed on the book to the child, who ran out of the room with hurried thanks to a parent waiting at another entrance. She looked up at him once she heard him and smiled widely.
"Uncle Dareth!" Harumi instantly got up from her seat and hugged him. Her hug must have been tight from the way Dareth let out tiny wheeze.
"Heh, easy there kiddo," Dareth chuckled, "I may be grand but all masters must eventually face the marches of time. I brought you two more fans who would like a signed copy of your book," Dareth gestured to the two Lloyd's, who nervously waved.
"Alright, I got one more right here. Could you go see if the library has another one?" Harumi asked with a long sigh, "Think you can get me some water too? They said the AC system up here broke this morning."
"Sure thing, Rumi," Dareth waved goodbye and walked up the stairs.
Now the two were left alone to stare at her. Lulloyd's mind was racing as to why he was now a girl in this universe. Her outfit was closer to his than the one Lloyd was wearing, but was still radically different. Lulloyd, however, seemed far less confused and stunned than Lloyd, who was already beginning to look frozen in place. He wanted to say something to help, but Harumi was faster than him.
"Those are great costumes, by the way," Harumi commented, "Very abstract. Reminds me of some of the stuff my dad used to wear. They're some of the best I've seen all day. Almost look real," She opened the book and put her pen on the front cover. "So, who am I making this first one out to?"
"Making it out to?" Lloyd asked. When Harumi raised a curios eyebrow and tapped a book in front of her, he quickly perked up, "R-Right, book signing. Sorry, just a little nervous. You know, meeting the legendary Green Ninja!"
"Right," Harumi chuckled, "I still need a name though," She smirked and let out a tiny chuckle.
"Um...right, a name. Uh... Lloyd Garmadon," Lloyd figured that it would be good to get everything out of the way now.
Apparently his choice wasn't a good one, because Harumi stopped dead in her motions. She was completely still and silent for a second, before looking up at the two of them. Her smile from before seemed to twitch a bit.
"Alright," She had her eyes closed tightly and was forcing a smile, "It's cute that you're dressed up like him. But, um, actually saying that you're him is big time crossing the line here. I get the whole in-character thing but that's not cool with me. Sorry, I know cosplay and all but it's just too close to home for me. So, why don't you tell me your real name so I can make this out?"
"That is my name," Lloyd responded, at which point Lulloyd awkwardly shifted in place, "I'm Lloyd Garmadon."
"And um, I'm also, Lloyd Garmadon." Lulloyd nervously raised his hand, afraid of making the situation worse, "Uhm, probably shouldn't have said that…"
Harumi's forced smile quickly faded. She stood up from her seat and put her hands onto the desk. She glared right at Lloyd, her eyes sharp and firm. Lloyd almost felt like stepping backwards to get away from those yes.
"Ok, since you two clearly must be 'super hardcore roleplayers' here," Harumi spoke coldly, "Let me explain why neither of you can be Lloyd Garmadon. My father never wore whatever it is you're wearing," She gestured to Lulloyd, "And his hair never looked like that," She gestured to Lloyd's hair, "But most importantly, he died seven years ago. Now you two have one more chance to drop this sick joke before I get really mad."
"Father?!" Lloyd gasped.
"Died?!" Lulloyd gasped.
Lulloyd was starting to paint a bit of a picture here, but at the same time he suddenly felt like he'd stepped onto a minefield. It reminded him of when one of his friends were upset and he had to navigate his way around not upsetting them more. Except here, it seemed that Harumi was far more than just 'upset.' He gave a bit of a pleading look to Lloyd.
"Harumi, listen to me," Lloyd stepped forward, "I know this is hard to understand. But I'm telling the truth. We are both Lloyd Garmadon. This, is going to sound really strange. We're both from alternate universes. We're here to warn you about a threat by Krux and Acronix, they're coming to take over your dimension and probably steal your elemental power. We need your help to stop them."
Again, Harumi was silent. She took a deep breath and let out an aggravated sigh. "You two really must be really into LARPing. You even looked up some of my dad's old enemies just to make up this sick story. Okay, I'll play along and tell you two that you can't be that either."
Harumi pulled a small disk out from her pocket and held it up. The two could see the back of a blue hologram in front of her face, but the contents on the other side couldn't be gleaned. Harumi used her hand to scroll through something on the screen.
"I admit that you have a look of being 'from another universe' down," Harumi gestured to Lulloyd, "But I've been on movie sets and I know how practical effects work. Krux and Acronix have been in jail for over thirty years now. Elemental power can't be stolen just like that either. The whole universe thing just sounds way too far fetched too."
"We're telling the truth!" Lloyd shook his head, "Harumi, just, pull up some images of your dad when he was younger."
"I think I know what my own dad looks like, but sure thing," Harumi tapped a few buttons on her screen, "Yep, right here. See? You two don't even look like…" Harumi stoped at the picture she was looking for. "...Him…"
She shook her head, "You… you two just really did your homework. Okay then. But just because you look like him, doesn't mean…"
Lloyd had raised his fist and summoned a green flame. It was most of what he could manage from what was drained out of him. Harumi stared at it and blinked. Lloyd then brought his hands and stretched the little flame out into his elemental shield, which was now no larger than his head. The green power, however, was clearly on display.
"See? I have the green power, just like your father," Lloyd stepped forward towards her again, "Only you should have that power, right?" His hand enveloped into a green energy ball, "Harumi, I'm your father, from another universe. I'm… we're… there's something coming, we need your help to fix it."
Harumi looked at them, then back to the picture, then to them. Her eyes focused on the energy ball. Then she fainted.
Harumi's head knocked into the table as she fainted, causing a thunk as she went down to the floor. Immediately, Lloyd shouted and jumped over the desk, turning her over on the floor to look at her. Lulloyd looked around the room to see if anyone had heard that.
"She fainted!" Lloyd put his hand up to her neck, "She's got a pulse… and she's breathing!" He felt a small sigh of relief, but the large mark on her forehead from hitting the table didn't instill much confidence. He slowly shifted her limbs so she was laying completely flat.
"I-I really hope that wasn't on camera… that'll look so bad if it was on camera…" Lulloyd looked around for any visible cameras. Despite seeing none, his nerves didn't go away.
"Maybe we should have, handled that better…" Lloyd muttered to himself," Here, we should go see about finding some help."
"What's going on?" From atop the stairs, both Lloyds turned to see someone standing there. As she moved into the light, the two could see she was clearly an android. She wore purple and white robes that hung from her shoulders. Her arms were completely exposed, showing that along her forearms, metallic braces were in place. Her deep blue hair had a perfect comb against her head, leaving a little bridge on her forehead. She had one of the devices that fitted over one eye on. It retracted away, showing off her deep green eyes as she took in the sight of the stage.
"Harumi!" The female android shouted as she ran down the stairs. As soon as she was at the bottom, her eyes scanned her. "She appears to be unconscious, but unharmed. Conclusion: She fainted due to shock or exhaustion. Most likely shock."
Before either of them could protest, she then looked at the Lloyds and scanned them. There were flashes in her eyes, and within three seconds she appeared to have analyzed the data, "You two are 96% similar to the deceased Lloyd Garmadon. Genetic variations present in second specimen. Conclusion: you are either clones, or alternate dimensional counterparts."
"That second one, actually," Lulloyd held up his hand, "That's, kinda cool that you got all that."
"Heart rate readings indicate you are not lying," She stood up with Harumi in her arms, "Then I shall proceed with greetings and introduction. My name is Olive. Offspring Living in a Virtual Environment. Age analysis indicates you are from timelines not in sync with this dimension. You two are perhaps more familiar with my parents, who are named Zane and Pixal."
"Whose Pixal?" Lulloyd asked. Lloyd ignored the question.
"I know them, they're both apart of my team back home," Lloyd raised his hand to his chest, "It's nice to meet you, Olive."
"The feeling is partially mutual," Olive scanned Harumi once more, taking note of the hologram on the floor, "Scene analysis indicates shock to be most viable diagnosis for fainting. Your presence likely awoke memories of her father's death. Administering treatment."
The metallic plate on Olive's arm separated from the skin portion, allowing for small robotic hands to emerge from the gap. A small syringe moved forward and slid under the sleeve of Harumi's gi. A little blue liquid was injected into her.
"Treatment successful, heart rate is stabilized," Olive laid Harumi down once more, scanning her one final time, "She will be fine after approximately one to two hours of rest. Indicators suggest that critical information is lacking." She turned to the two, "Assuming you are indeed from another dimension, why are you here?"
"We needed information about this universe," Lloyd replied, "And, uh, we ran into Dareth on the way and figured this would be a good place to start."
"You are currently lacking in information on our timeline then," Olive nodded her head, "Energy wavelength scanning complete. Deviations detected, likelihood of dimensional transit: 85%. Would you like to have more information?"
"Yes!" Lulloyd stepped forward, "Please, I'm really confused about all this."
"Yeah, Dareth didn't know about the Golden Master…" Lloyd shook his head, "I don't know how, he knew about the Overlord, so why not that?"
"Data banks receive 0 results for Golden Master. Conclusion: Golden Master is likely a construct only applicable to your dimension," Olive shook her head, "Connection between Overlord and Golden Master recorded. The Overlord's destruction was carried out by Harumi seven years ago on this day. No emergence of the Overlord sighting detected since the invasion."
"Harumi defeated the Overlord?" Lloyd turned to look at her sleeping form, "But, what about me, erm, Lloyd?"
"Data recount is unoptimized in this fashion," Olive concluded, "Solution found: I will take you to my parents. They lived through the events and can explain everything to you in a far more streamlined system. Is this option viable?"
"Yeah," Llulloyd agreed, "We don't exactly have much to go on here. And we can't really do anything until Harumi wakes up."
"I will arrange a ride for us," Olive closed her eyes, then opened them with a flash, "Ride scheduled. Ride will arrive in approximately five minutes. Dareth located in vicinity. Please allow me to give the situation to him."
Olive turned around and made her way to the door where Dareth had exited from. It so happened that he was walking through with a small box of books and a water bottle. As he looked into the room to see Harumi asleep, he turned to Olive in confusion.
"Harumi was exhausted from continual hours of book signing in overheated room," Olive stated before he could start, "I will take her someplace to rest.. I am heading out to my parent's residence. Harumi can rest there until she feels better."
"Well, okay," Dareth said somewhat uneasily, "I didn't realize the room was that hot. She looked fine earlier."
"Heat exhaustion can easily be hidden," Olive explained, "Harumi is not in critical condition. She will require rest. I have something I wish to give her as well. A present. I would like to do so in person."
"Alright," Dareth looked to her again, "Make sure she messages me when she wakes up, okay? If something happens, let me know right away."
"Of course," Olive bowed, "Thank you for your cooperation."
As Dareth turned around to return what he had found, Olive made her way back into the room. She picked up Harumi and then motioned for the two Lloyds to follow her, "My parents will explain all that is required when we arrive. We will take a back exit to avoid confusion. Please follow me."
Taking one of the doors at the bottom of the room, Olive led the two out through a small hallway. Lulloyd almost felt nervous, given that the hallway had sparse lighting. Soon they came to a door that was opened with a loud rush of wind and noise, enough to make Lulloyd flinch.
"Before we leave," Olive turned and punched something into a screen on the wall, "Records indicate the seizure of Katana, 2, and Curved Sword, 1, upon entrance. Since we are now outside the library, these will be returned to you."
Before the two could react, the wall to the left opened like a slot. From dark holes in the walls, their weapons suddenly appeared. Slowly, Lloyd sheathed his swords while Lulloyd awkwardly strapped his own to his back alongside his mechdragon brick.
Olive had indeed arranged for a car, but it was one that had no driver. On what appeared to be a tiny landing pad, their ride awaited them. As the three carried Harumi inside, Lulloyd noticed there were no driver seats, and instead was only a wheel that had a sign on it warning that the wheel should only be touched in emergency circumstances. The back was set up with two sets of seats facing one another. Harumi was laid down onto one of those rows of seats, while Lloyd sat on the floor so Olive and Lulloyd could have the other two seats.
"It shall take five minutes and thirty seconds for us to reach my parent's home," Olive explained, "I may answer any other questions about the city you may have in the meanwhile."
"I think I'll save those for Zane," Lloyd looked out the window as the sights began to speed by.
"Oh, I have one!" Lulloyd leaned forward, "Did, this place have a shark army?"
"Shark Army, 0 results found in database. Sharks are present in the local oceanic ecosystem, primarily found in the southeastern coast of the Endless Sea. Most common variety: Great White. Hammerhead Sharks recently appeared as well."
"Nevermind…" Lulloyd felt even more confused hearing all of that. Was this universe anything like his own? Just looking out the window made him wanna find out even more.
Olive gestured to the window, revealing them to have arrived. In front of them was a massive building that looked almost like it was completely made of ice. Large frothy white waves emanated from it, making it appear as though it was in a sort of haze. It was a large series of icy pillars that all came to points shaped like tiny hexagons. Large walkways connected each pillar together, each at different elevations than that of the ones on the regular street. The car swung around a massive window, showing what appeared to be a classroom.
"After the defeat of the Overlord, my father decided it was time to pass on all that he had learned. Alongside my mother, they opened the Sensei Zane Academy. The current curriculum includes general studies, music, art, psychology, history, teaching, martial arts studies, all associated STEM careers, a specialized robotics program, and many others. Current enrollment has exceeded 15,000 students," Olive spoke her last line with a hint of pride in her tone.
The car landed on a small landing strip, allowing for the group to disembark. Olive took hold of Harumi once again. For a moment, Lloyd .reached out to take hold of her body stopping. Lulloyd, meanwhile, was struggling to get out of the car without losing his mechdragon in the process. As the car started to move, a sudden burst of fear of being hauled off into the city caused him to kick forward, falling flat on his face as the car zoomed away.
"Please follow me," Olive pointed to a large set of double doors directly in front of them, "We will proceed directly to my father's residence."
Nodding his head, Lloyd helped Lulloyd up to his feet, at which point the two follow Olive off into the icy building.