"It seems as though my suspicions were correct after all," Fenwick smiled at the three, "Monty will indeed acquire the Sword of Sanctuary, though not by his own hand, it seems."
Lulloyd and Harumi's frozen state was quickly rectified by them backing their way against the opposite wall from Fenwick. Harumi formed two Rhotate discs in her hands. As soon as Lulloyd began to draw his sword from under his robes, however, Lloyd snapped his hand back towards him. Lulloyd blinked at the gesture, but slowly put his sword away. Harumi dissipated the discs in suit.
"So, you are aware that I am no threat to you," Fenwick chuckled, "I am just a writer. I'm certain I couldn't take all three of you, even with that sword. Youth is when we are at our prime, after all."
"Why are you here?" Lloyd asked. Just the sight of Fenwick sent his skin crawling.
"Why?" Fenwick slowly clasped his hands together and walked towards the sword, "Why indeed. Maybe it seems I was meant to meet you here. Destiny is, funny, like that, is it not?"
Lloyd eyed Fenwick with a gaze that betrayed his contempt. Fenwick only met Lloyd's glares with his calm and collected ones, his expression remaining completely unchanged. Fenwick made his way over towards display and with one hand, slowly moved his palm across the tip of the Sword of Sanctuary. He stopped once he saw his reflection glisten in the blade. After watching himself for several seconds, he turned his body so as to ensure the three could see said reflection.
"Do you know why we have kept this Sword so sacred to us for so many years?" Fenwick explained while continuing to smile, "When the First Chi Master entrusted us to be the heralders of destiny, he bestowed upon us this blade so that any that would attempt to defy our will would have their own destinies ended. This blade is almost a direct antithesis to what we here at Cloud Kingdom have worked hard to create. As the years passed by, we worked for years to control destiny enough to write its will upon the pages, and yet this Sword puts the destiny of those it faces on full display, completely out of our control. Even now, this could predict my every move in its reflection."
None of the three were sure how to respond. Lulloyd was confused as to why a middle aged man had been waiting for them as a last guardian for this sword. Harumi's mind was recalling everything that she'd ever heard about Fenwick in her own timeline, and how his actions endangered her father's friends. Lloyd was recalling all of this firsthand, yet like Lulloyd, he was confused as to why Fenwick, of all the citizens in Cloud Kingdom, was here.
"Of course, to hold the power of destiny means nothing as for your own abilities," Fenwick chuckled, "I could predict your fate within this weapon, yes, but could I counter it? Destiny is so fickle. It forever lies within a tangle with fate, both attempting to become the other but remaining forever apart. It's almost sad to think of. You must have realied the distinction of fate and destiny to arrive here. I am very sorry about that little trap. After the last incursion into our world, we were forced to add that."
"Just tell us why you're here," Lloyd demanded bluntly, "I want to know."
"Impatient?" Fenwick's hand had brushed down to the massive circular cross guard of the sword, "Well, I can understand why. You must all be wondering why, of everyone, I am here," Fenwick grinned, "Perahps I wrote in my own destiny that we would meet each other here?"
The group stared blankly at him. Fenwick chuckled to himself, "I'm sorry, that was a rather poor joke. No, I'm certain that if I was to look for your destinies, they wouldn't even be here. In fact, I would posit that none of you even were meant to exist in this world."
"What makes you think that?" Harumi shook her head, "Do you even know who we are?"
"No, I do not," Fenwick turned his smiling gaze to Harumi, his hand moving back up to begin tracing the blade's length, " I do have my reasons, however. Just yesterday, there was a massive disturbance felt throughout this entire Kingdom. We haven't written destinies in years, and yet, deep inside of our bones we felt something change," Fenwick's smile faded for a brief moment, "In fact, we felt the entire destiny of this very world shift in an instant."
When one of them spoke up, Fenwick continued, "Such a massive shift could only be the work of some outside force. And, given the way that your friend is moving, I think I am safe to assume you are not of our world," He gestured to Lulloyd's frame, "Am I wrong?" When more silence persisted, Fenwick smirked, "I will take that as I am indeed correct in my assumption, then."
Fenwick's hand moved down to the actual hilt of the Sword of Sanctuary. He traced its shape, right down to the gem imbedded in the bottom, then drew the blade from the pedestal. Lloyd and Lulloyd drew their weapons instantly, Lloyd crossing his katanas and Lulloyd spinning his curved sword about in hand. Harumi pulled her fists to her body. Fenwick, seeing this, let out a laugh that made Lloyd raise an eyebrow.
"That reaction proves the threat in this room is to me," Fenwick spun the blade around in hand and held the hilt out towards Lloyd, "Take it, that should prove that I mean you no ill will."
Lloyd looked back towards his allies, who didn't move or react to him. Lloyd slowly sheathed one of his katanas and extended his hand. Fenwick loosed his grip on the sword as soon as Lloyd took it from him, allowing Lloyd to spin the blade in hand and gaze into it. In it's reflection, he could see Fenwick taking a step backwards; and indeed, a second later, Fenwick backed away from him by one step.
"You never told us why you were here," Lloyd shook his head, "Why?"
"Oh, didn't I? I'm sorry, with age sometimes comes forgetfulness," Fenwick chuckled, despite none of them buying his words, "I'm here to warn you that what you are doing with Monty could have disastrous consequences for not only our world, but many others as well."
Lloyd and Lulloyd shared a long look between them. Lloyd sheathed his other katana, holding the Sword of Sanctuary against his hip. Harumi eyed the blade before her gaze drifted to Fenwick, eyes laced with suspicion.
"Oh?" Harumi crossed her arms, "Do go on."
"Whenever a new being is born, we here at Cloud Kingdom will learn of their existence. You three, however, produced a feeling unlike what we have felt before. It is through this feeling that I, and many of us here, have deduced that you are from other worlds. When you three entered our world, the entire course of our shared destiny shifted," Fenwick shook his head, "That has only happened once before, and when it did, we were forced to give up on writing destiny to avoid the future consequences of that happening again."
"Wait," Lloyd raised the blade in hand, "Isn't this not the first time this Sword was taken? Monty said Soul Archer got out of the Cursed Realm a few months ago, which I assume is when Morro was ... possessed by him to come take it from you. Wasn't that when you all decided to stop tampering with destiny?" Fenwick smiled once more.
"Oh no, no, no. We haven't tampered with destiny for years now. My, for strangers to this world, you seem to know a good deal of how events have played out," Fenwick gazed out beyond the group, "Indeed, Soul Archer stole the sword and the Ninja returned it, but that was not when we decided destiny was no longer ours to write. It was many years ago, in fact. The scars from when the destiny of this world was first unwillingly changed still remain. It took weeks for us back then to alter each and every destiny just to accommodate that. And now, with you being here, it means that our very world is in danger of disappearing."
"Uhm… how?" Lulloyd raised his arms up into a confused shrug, "We're, just here, that's all."
Fenwick seemed lost in thought for a moment. Then, he made his way over to one of the rice paper walls of the room. He slowly placed his hand up against it, looking back towards the group.
"Allow me to explain. Destiny is a force that flows similar to that of time," Fenwick began, "Disrupting destiny would have as terrible a consequence as destroying the flow of time," Fenwick slowly pushed his hand against the paper, "Imagine that the outside is the void. If you came to this world, you must have come through it. It is a place without time, without shape or form, and most importantly without the forces needed for life. Destiny is one of the many forces that shape the barrier between us, life, and outside, the void."
Fenwick pushed his hand against the paper. Slowly, it began to bend outwards, "The fact you have no destinies in this world, or so my guess is now, means you forcibly pushed through the void into this place. In doing so, you weaken the barrier. You forever alter destiny, as an element that was never meant to be added has now come," His hand pressed harder, making the area around it bow outwards, "If you were to leave now, then this damage would be minimized. Yet the longer that you remain here, or in any world where destiny must flow, the more pressure you place upon the world. And if you place too much pressure…"
Fenwick drew his hand back and thrust his palm through the spot. A small hole was ripped within it, causing the wind from the outside to whistle inside. Fewnick's face went grim, "...Then the very fabric of that world would be undone, permanently."
As Fenwick began to slowly pull the hole back together as best he could, the three looked to one another. Lloyd in particular seemed to look towards Lulloyd and Harumi with a newfound sense of fear, one that was mirrored in Harumi's eyes. Lulloyd's were drawn to Fenwick, and in doing so, he spoke hesitantly.
"But, we could repair any hole we make, right?" Lulloyd asked curiously, "We, could fix things, right?"
"You would need a great energy to do so, and must do so before the world is fully consumed by the void," Fenwick frowned, "You would need energies comparable… nay, surpassing that of the First Chi Master. And to undo the damage to the world would leave scars, which would need to be attended to. It is an impossible act for any that are not a god."
Silence once more befell the room. Lulloyd's mind was suddenly racing with worry as to what potentially would happen to his home, while Harumi's mind was wondering what damage the Time Twins were doing to this world just be being out there unchecked. Lloyd's sense of guilt flared up. .He was the one that let the Twins get away, and now, this world, and any others that he touched, could be at risk. In his mind, he could see the image, of a world being consumed by the blackness of the void, taking everything with it, and if they were trapped inside...
"Of course, that still does not answer how I knew that you would be here," Fenwick's uncanny smile was back once again, "Nor how Monty is involved. Was that you next set of questions?"
Lulloyd nodded before he could stop himself, making Fenwick exhale humorously, "Simply put, though we no longer write destiny, destiny still must be written. Destiny is now organic and is written by its own hand, yet we are still attuned to its flow. All of us here at Cloud Kingdom felt the disturbance when you three entered, and I in particular felt that it centered around Monty. And in his scroll, a new line was written: that he would obtain the Sword of Sanctuary yet again."
Lloyd grimaced, "But why would destiny want him to have the sword again?"
"I believe that is a question you might wish to ask him for yourselves," Fenwick smirked, "Monty is one that we here at Cloud Kingdom have had our eyes on for many, many years. You would do well to be wary of him."
"Wait, Monty?" Harumi shook his head, "You mean, Ronin's assistant? The ghost?"
"Yes, Monty's destiny was unlike any we have ever written before," Fenwick nodded, "Though, I believe that is something that would be best told from his point of view."
"Who is Monty?" Lulloyd asked quickly, "Like, how does he fit into all of this? None of us have any idea who he is."
"That is a question many of us here in Cloud Kingdom ask ourselves each day," Fenwick shook his head, "Yet again, I would be remise to tell the story myself."
Once more, the room was silent. Fenwick slowly walked over towards the door that the three had come through. Gently, he bent down and slowly wrapped his hand around a seemingly inconsequential piece of flooring, pulling up a door. A set of stairs led down into the building.
"Please, allow me to guide you to the bottom of the tower," Fenwick requested, "I have my personal ship awaiting us there. I will take you back to the entrance to Cloud Kingdom so you may deliver the sword to Monty personally. You should keep those robes you took on until we have left, we wouldn't want to cause a commotion."
"Before we go," Lloyd narrowed his gaze, "I have one more question for you."
"Then by all means, ask away," Fenwick smiled, holding the door open for them.
"If you knew that we were coming, why didn't you deactivate the trap for us?" Lloyd frowned, "These two nearly died getting up here."
"I can perhaps answer that question with another question," Fenwick replied, "If destiny is the destination to your journey, then who am I to hinder your journey? Destiny stated that Monty would claim the sword, not whom would do it. This kingdom must still have its safeguards. And only one of you needed to be here to claim the sword."
With that, Fenwick descended the stairs slowly, "Now, shall we return? I believe you all have many questions that need answering, and a specific spirit that can answer at least some of them for you. It's a long trip back to Ninjago, and I would hate for you to stay any longer than you absolutely must."
Fenwick stood in front of the gates of Cloud Kingdom, his arms crossed and smiling his unnervingly calm smile towards the group as Lulloyd and the others mounted the Mechdragon's cockpit. As the three slid back inside, Lloyd placed the glistening Sword of Sanctuary between himself and Harumi, his hand nervously still holding the hilt even as the dragon took off.
Even as the dragon ascended into the sky, the three had little to say. Harumi looked back to see Fenwick giving a small wave of his hand as the group flew off into the distance, remaining there even as clouds covered their sight. Harumi's watch beeped, projecting the path of the Blind Man's Eye onto the Mechdragon's translucent green loadout. Lulloyd dutifully steered the dragon towards the large gaping maw.
Going out of the Eye, as it were, was far easier than it was going in. The torrential winds and frigid temperatures weren't present in Cloud Kingdom, and as such, once they saw the swirling blue vortex, it was simple enough for them to shoot their way through it. Only a few handlebar grippening shakes followed as the dragon simply soared its way along the winds away from the mountaintops, soon descending in height and flying off towards the distance.
"So… uh, Lloyd," Lulloyd turned his head away from the controls for a moment, "Who, was that?"
"That was Fenwick," Lloyd stated solemnly, "You know how Ronin said that Morro was possessed by Soul Archer? Well… back in my world, I was possessed by Morro, Soul Archer was just one of his lackeys that Morro brought in to help. The others mastered Airjitzu so they could get into Cloud Kingdom through the Blind Man's Eye, but Bansha used Fenwick… somehow to get in instead. I don't really remember, Morro blacked out a lot of it for me. But, when I managed to come back to, I had just enough time to force myself to give Kai the Sword of Sanctuary before he blacked me out againi."
"So, he's a bad guy?" Lulloyd asked quietly. Lloyd hesitated at first.
"He's not a good guy," Lloyd sighed, "He let Morro into Cloud Kingdom, then locked the Ninja inside a room with a feral monster that tried to kill them. I don't know how but the Ninja said that the monster suddenly turned and started chasing Fenwick. So I'm trying to figure out how he's still around in this universe."
"Regardless of who he is," Harumi cut in, "I think it's more important we talk about the fact he was predicting that if either us or the Time Twins stay in this place long enough, it could puncture holes in the fabric of reality."
"Only if we start altering destinies drastically, I think," Lloyd paused, "I think, if we keep our interference to a minimum, maybe the world would be okay?"
"I, uhm, kinda took that as us just being here is a problem," Lulloyd looked down, "I mean… you were only in my world for a few days, and we only were in Harumi's for about two, but we've already done a lot here in was less time. That, and the Time Twins have a head start on us too. So, we should probably think about getting to them fast."
Lulloyd returned to steering, pulling up a map from Harumi's watch to guide them back towards Stixx. At this point, Harumi reached out and took the Sword of Sanctuary's hilt. Lloyd let it go, allowing her to gaze into its golden sheen.
"Right now, we should assume the Time Twins are searching either for a source of power, or buying time to rebuild the Iron Doom," Harumi sighed, "Karlon basically crushed the entire thing's shell. Assuming that killed a bunch of those snakes, they would need at least a day to breed more, right?" She gave Lloyd a look.
"Uhm… well, we never really got information on how they were being bred, but they had enough to move that mech after only about a week since we saw our first Vermillion," Lloyd thought, "They also have the forward blade… so, they could just fast forward the amount of time it takes for them to mature. Assuming they need to make repairs, we could say about one day before they were back to normal."
"Which we already spent getting this," Harumi raised the sword, "So we should say that they're at full strength now."
"They might want to look for the Green Ninja…." Lulloyd spoke up. When the two looked to him, Lulloyd shrugged by lifting his arms up, "My dad always said that, a failed warrior will likely try the same tactic again. Like, anger breeds insanity or something like that. So, they might wanna try to get more energy for their mech."
"They have your power and Lulloyd's right?" Harumi asked. Lulloyd turned his head away and then nodded by leaning forward.
"Y-Yeah… and, the powers of my team…" Lulloyd groaned out, "I, don't even really need my power. It's, life. It doesn't let me, do anything like you two can do. But, I need to get back the powers of my team. I didn't stop them fast enough and, all of them were who suffered…" Lulloyd's eyes looked up slowly, "And, I can't let that stand. So… so I have to do this, for my team. That's not what a Warlord, or Ninja would do." His eyes burned for a brief moment with volcanic fire, the reflection of which made Harumi lean back.
"Are, you a Warlord of a Ninja, Lulloyd?" Harumi asked. At this, Lulloyd winced.
"...My dad always calls me General Number Son, uh… he keeps saying that being a Ninja is a bad profession. So he's trained me as a Warlord," Lulloyd paused, "I haven't, done any conquering though, or, defended territory. So, I'm kinda both?"
Harumi didn't respond to this, and instead just blinked at him. Lloyd quickly stepped in by taking the Sword from Harumi and laying it over his lap again.
"We should just get this back to Monty as soon as possible," Lloyd looked down at the weapon, "If the Time Twins are looking for Lloyd, then we're ahead of them. We give the Sword of Sanctuary to Monty-"
"Can we uh, call it SoS?" Lulloyd asked, saying each letter out loud, "It's, a little awkward to say 'Sword of Sanctuary' everytime we refer to it."
"Uh… sure," Lloyd slowly blinked, "We give the SoS to Monty, we get the info, we get ahead of the Twins. How long until we reach Stixx?"
"With all these extra jets, about an hour,," Lulloyd pointed a the map, "I'm basically going in a straight line, but there are some mountains on the way there so, gotta avoid them."
"Then we should get some rest," Harumi slowly reached down, pulling her legs up until her feet were pressed together in front of her hips, "Next time we travel like this, we'll take my dragon so you can rest, Lulloyd."
Lloyd watched in curiosity as Harumi slowly braced her back against the wall behind her, rotating herself so that her back was slightly at an angle with the ground. Her hands were hooked into her knees, supporting her so her back wouldn't slide to the floor. Her eyes slowly closed, her breath shortening down to a few small whisps.
"If you encounter something, let us know," Lloyd told Lulloyd. After he gave a small confirmation, Lloyd slowly turned and leaned himself against the corner of the ship, using his arm to rest his head enough for him to start to drift into a little nap.
When Lloyd next opened his eyes, it was when the dragon gave a small lurch. He lifted his head up, looking outside the glass cockpit to see a thin haze of rain pouring down against it. Harumi was alright sitting upright, having pulled up with her hands when the dragon jerked and unfolding her body and brought her hands up in front of her. The two looked to one another, then down to the sword.
Having returned the robes to Fenwick, the three drew their hoods up over their heads, then Lulloyd opened the cockpit. The three were behind a series of rocks that lead to the main bridge to Stixx, allowing for Lulloyd to turn his Mechdragon back to a brick out of sight. As the rain poured over them, Lulloyd strapped the massive brick to his back and stumbled forward a step. Harumi looked at him for a moment, which made Lulloyd just take another step forward with a grimace.
The three made their way down the bridge, taking care not to slip into the ocean beneath them. The rain meant few people were on the prowl aside from those standing under building covers or inside of alleyways. The three once more drew gazes, yet none of them made any passes towards Harumi or Lulloyd's haul. The glittering sword that Lloyd held was of more interest to those passing by, but upon Lloyd partially drawing it on his back when a man made a motion for him, the three were swiftly left alone.
A long walk across slippery boardwalks brought the three to the dim light of Ronin's rebuilt shop. Without hesitating, Lloyd walked forward and threw the doors open to the shop. The three dripping Ninja stood on a small cheesy welcoming mat, and across the room stood Monty. The ghost was watching the window idly, turning his head up towards them. Once he did, he raised his right hand and suddenly unleashed a massive gust of wind that struck the three head on. Lulloyd fell over while Harumi and Lloyd stood upright by bracing themselves just in time.
"What was that about?!" Harumi hissed at Monty. The ghost frowned.
"Maybe you don't know much about ghosts, but if I get wet, I'm dead," Monty stated coldly from the counter, "So any guest that comes in today gets a free air dry courtesy of me." His eyes moved from Harumi down to Lloyd. As soon as he saw what they were carrying, he sat up.
"So you see we have the Sword of Sanctuary," Lloyd raised it up in his hand, "If you want to verify it's real, then you can test it out on me."
Monty slowly eyed the blade, a hungry look in his eyes, "I think I'll let you verify it. I'll throw an attack at you, dodge it using that sword there. Alright?"
"Alright," Lloyd gestured for Harumi and Lulloyd to step back. As he stepped forward, Monty remained still, his hands on the table. Lloyd focused on him for a few moments, holding the blade up in front of him in both hands. He trained one eye on Monty, and the other on the blade.
A flash in the blade's reflection in the dim synthetic light of the shop caught Lloyd's eye. Lloyd flung himself to the left just in time for him to avoid what looked like an electric disc firing from a small slot in Monty's right armguard. The disc hit the ground and fizzled for a moment, sparking widely before it shut down. Monty whistled and nodded his head.
"Well I guess that's the real deal then," Monty reached his hand out, "Give it to me."
Lloyd stepped forward, extending the sword in his hand. As he tilted the blade to place it in Monty's open hand, suddenly another flash in the blade made him tense. He swung his body to the left using his left food, narrowly avoiding a fist right into his gut. As he looked up to Monty, the ghost remained with a neutral face as he took the blade from Lloyd.
"And that was to test to make sure you weren't just lucky with that first test," Monty's green aura enveloped the SoS as he took hold of it, letting it rest on the table in front of him. From under the desk, he dug up a few tools, which he quickly moved and dragged along the blade. Like a collector inspecting a find, he tested its hardness, sheen, weight, and then flicked a lamp on beside him to peer into the blade's gleam. He could see Lloyd placing his hands on the table, followed by Lloyd doing just that a moment later.
"This is definitely what I sent you guys out for…" Monty looked up, "How'd you get all the way to Cloud Kingdom and back so fast?"
"How we got it doesn't matter," Lloyd stated firmly, "We brought you what you wanted. Now tell us what happened to Lloyd like you promised."
Monty didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up and walked over towards a curtain that lead to the back section, disappearing. Lloyd narrowed his gaze at the curtain, watching it for a few the curtain opened, Monty had returned. The sword was now sheathed on his back, and parted slightly to the right was a long thin yellow and crimson cape that flapped with each step that he took. Lloyd gave him a glare; Monty just went back to the table and looked forward.
"Well, I guess you did what I told you to do… so whatever, I'll tell you," Monty leaned forward, putting his chin in his hand, "Lloyd is dead."
Had this been before he went into Harumi's universe, Lloyd would likely have reacted to this news with more shock. While his eyes did widen, he didn't immediately withdraw. Instead, he leaned forward towards Monty, putting their faces close together before speaking up.
"What do you mean he's dead?" Lloyd asked, "How, when?"
"I don't know exactly how long ago," Monty shrugged, "All I know is I met him in the Cursed Realm. He was a ghost, and said that he wasn't supposed to be there. I hadn't been in the Cursed Realm that long, so the other ghosts captured the two of us and forced up into a massive duel with all the other ghosts for fun. During that fight, a portal opened up to Ninjago at the edge of the arena. We made a dash for it; Lloyd pushed me through at the last minute so I could get out. I was the only one that got out. And now that the Cursed Realm is gone, Lloyd is too."
Monty reached up to his back, drawing the sword. Feeling it get caught on the cape, he grumbled and began adjusting his cape and the scabbard respectively. Said cape was a completely different one, this one filled with holes and tattered at the edges worn down the whole back. Upon him not speaking any further besides his silent curses, Harumi stepped forward with her face twisted up in confused anger.
"That's… that's it?" Harumi blinked, "How did Lloyd get into the Cursed Realm?! How the portal open?! Why did they capture you two, why did you escape and not him?! How are you sure that he didn't make it out when the Preeminent emerged?!"
Monty stayed silent for a moment. He gave a hard yank, forcing the scabbard to move. With a swift motion, he sheathed the SoS and drew it once more. The action caused his cape to flap out behind him, and he gave a tiny grin of appreciation at the feat. Once the SoS was sheathed, he turned to Harumi and then shrugged his shoulders.
"I just told you. He was already in the Cursed Realm when I got there. And we met in the middle of us being captured, you know," Monty hissed out, clearly aggravated by the spite in his words, "If I knew anything else, I'd tell you. We didn't exactly get a lot of time to talk about each other while were fighting for our lives. Ghosts can hurt and even kill other ghosts, you know."
When Monty tried to go back to what he was doing again, Lulloyd stepped forward, "Uh… how did, you, get into the Cursed Realm, Monty..?"
"Me?" Monty looked up at the ceiling, "Well I don't like to count the years, whatever Ronin said and add like, three was when I kicked it. So… twenty years ago? I was a dumb kid trying to prove myself to everyone. Went out in the woods and challenged a few too many creatures. Got clawed to death and wound up in the Cursed Realm. From what I gathered, you usually go there if you get sentenced there by someone cursing you with strong enough magic. Guessed I pissed someone off."
"And, after you escaped you… left, Lloyd in there?" Lulloyd continued, "You're… you're sure he's gone? Dead and gone?"
"Ronin and I specifically hunted down all leads on any ghosts that got out of there. We even stopped a guy trying to use some dumb lamp," Monty shook his head, "If you want Lloyd, you're too late. He's gone. And nobody gets back from the Departed Realm."
"Keep telling yourself that…" Lloyd muttered.
"What was that?" Monty leaned forward, "Was that a 'Thank you, Monty, you told us everything we wanted to know'? Because if it wasn't, then our little transaction has been finished."
Lloyd's fists started to curl up. He was starting to understand why Monty was getting on Harumi's nerves so much. He stared into Monty's eyes for a moment, seeing if he could spot any deception. Anything that would tell him that Monty was lying to him. Yet Monty's entire body was casually focused on his blade. Not a single twitch, stammer, glint in his gaze, shift in his posture, nothing. Nothing indicated that he was lying. Monty didn't even bother to look at him for long, instead drawing the SoS and polishing it with a rag taken from a shelf behind him.
"Uh… I have one question!" Lulloyd thought quickly, "How, uh, did Morro become the Green Ninja?"
Monty paused in his polishing, "What do you mean? He was chosen by destiny to become the Green Ninja. I don't know how it works. Go ask Wu or whatever. Maybe you should ask Kai, you're pretty good about getting them to do whatever they want."
"We… uh, heard that Lloyd was the Green Ninja before Morro!" Lulloyd lied, "So, we were wondering, how Morro became the Green Ninja?"
Monty looked to Lloyd. His icy stare almost made Lulloyd want to back away. Despite that, Lulloyd slowly inhaled and walked a step forward. He forced his arms to remain at his sides and spoke up again with a slightly more definitive voice.
"Monty, if you met Lloyd, then did Lloyd tell you how Morro became the Green Ninja?" Lulloyd asked again.
Monty didn't move from where he stood. Instead, he met Lulloyd's gaze with a sudden bored and exasperated sigh. He leaned forward on the desk again and waved his hand.
"You guys went to Cloud Kingdom, ask them about it. I hear they deal with all that destiny stuff," Monty shrugged, "I'm sure if something happened to Lloyd they maybe changed something. Why not go back and ask about it?"
"I'm pretty sure we're not wanted there anymore," Lloyd stated solemely, "Right now we're asking you about this, Monty. You're sure that Lloyd didn't say anything in the Cursed Realm?"
"He told me his name, that he died recently, and that he didn't want to die again," Monty groaned out, looking down at the table, "That's all he could say before the ghosts were launching arrows at us. Soul Archer was the one we were fighting when the portal opened. Lloyd got shot in the back when he went to escape with me. I tried to drag him out, he told me to go. And he shoved me out. There, is that enough for you?"
Lloyd started to ask for more, but Lulloyd's hand on his shoulder stopped him. Harumi gave Monty an angry glare, then turned away from him. Slowly, Lloyd took a step back from Monty, realizing that getting this information was pointless. Instead, Lloyd looked to Lulloyd and then back to Monty.
"Do you know of any hotels in Stixx that are cheap?" Lloyd turned to the others, "We need to get a place settled before we go and get moving again."
"Cheap? You're in Stixx. Nothing is cheap," Monty scoffed at him, "I gave you your payment for the other day. Trust me, Ronin would never pay you anymo-"
"So, you got the kid what he wanted? Great!"
The quartet turned around to see Ronin walking in from the rain. In his hands he carried a box full of swords of various shapes, colors and sizes. His arms were wobbling slightly from the weight of the box, and he looked over to Lulloyd with a cheeky smirk.
"Heya, mind helping me with this?" Ronin huffed out, "Bit heavier than I thought it would be!"
Lulloyd sighed for a moment then raced forward, placing his hands under the box. Ronin leaned slightly upward, letting the two carry it back towards the counter. Monty looked towards Ronin, who just smirked at him as he jostled the box.
"Guess who got those brothers to finally part with all these?" Ronin let go of a corner to point at himself, "Get some of those old scrolls and that Stone Army guy we dug up, we're shipping those out for them once the rain stops. You get the Sword you wanted?"
"Yeah," Monty grumbled, "Somehow they did. It's the real deal."
"You guys went all the way to the Cloud Kingdom?" Ronin looked across his box at Lulloyd, "Great! How much would it be for you guys to give me a detailed map of where you went and how you got in?"
Lulloyd, who by this point was starting to pant from holding up the box, whimpered out: "M-Maybe enough t-to get a place to stay for the night and… and some meals?!"
"A place to stay?" Ronin paused, "Well, I got some room upstairs in a spare place. It's not much but hey, might be enough for your guys. And tell you what, I like what I see from that map, and I'll even go take you guys out for dinner again!"
"Don't be more noodles…" Monty groaned.
"How about some more noodles?" Ronin grinned. A second later, he turned to Monty with a scowl, "Kid, I'm pretty sure ghosts don't even need to eat. Why are you complaining?" He tilted the box upwards, causing Lulloyd to gasp.
"Because eating is still something I can do, you know, and when I do eat I prefer I put things in my mouth I actually enjoy!" Monty retorted, "You just want to eat noodles."
"Well I can't eat them with you around!" Ronin shot back, "I'm just trying to use a chance to treat people who don't get to eat there often!" The box tilted even further up, making Lulloyd lean backwards just to stay upright.
"I actually ate there a lot," Lloyd spoke up.
"Not now," Ronin said without even turning his head, "Kid I'm willing to put up with a lot but you need to start expanding your horizons a bit. I'm sure you'll find a lot if you go out and try things!"
"If I'm trying them with you," Monty spat, "Maybe I shouldn't bother."
The two stared at each other in silence, only broken by Lulloyd's huffs at holding up such a heavy box. After a few moments, their expressions softed somewhat and Monty slowly shrugged his shoulders.
"Take them to Skylar's if you want to," Monty grumbled, "I'll tag along if you do."
"Gotcha," Ronin turned, "Here, I'll call REX and then we can be on our way."
"Uh, we would prefer to eat someplace closer than that!" Lloyd interjected, "We just need a place to stay for the night and some food, we need to be leaving as soon as possible."
Monty gave Lloyd an angry glance. Lloyd tried to ignore it even as Ronin adjusted the box in his hands. This caused Lulloyd to stagger backwards, his back hitting the wall and his legs giving out on him, causing the box to slide into his waist and various swords to spill onto his face.
"Hey!" Ronin frowned, moving forward and rapidly beginning to collect up the swords, "Next time tell me if you're going to drop things! I paid good enough money for these!"
Monty rolled his eyes, reaching his hand out and releasing three small beams of wind. The wind curled up around the swords, lifting them up off of a panting Lulloyd and back into the box. As soon as Ronin went to pick it up again, Monty's wind formed a pocket under it to lift it up in the air. He gave Ronin a cheeky half-smirk as he levitated the box back beyond the curtain to the back of the shop.
"Should have just asked me to do that in the first place," Monty rolled his eyes, "You know I'm stronger than you."
"Being strong ain't everything, and besides," Ronin adjusted his hat, "If I did ask for your help I'd have to put up with that great attitude you got there."
"Better you put up with me than break all those worthless swords you bought," Monty scoffed, "We're still trying to sell all those shortswords after you said we just had to grab them!"
"We found them in the ruins of that ancient Anacondrai temple!" Ronin waved his hand, "How was I supposed to know they weren't ancient?"
"I can possess anything and tell you everything you need to know about it," Monty sat up, "Hey, Ronin, how about I show them what I mean so they know I'm not bluffing?"
"Kid, you know the max you can get with me is three seconds now!" Ronin leaned against the wall, "You used that trick a few too many times."
"Well thanks to me, Soul Archer couldn't possess you longer than that stupid message he made you send," Monty waved his hand, "But I guess I don't get thanks for that, now do I?"
As Ronin and Monty sniped back and forth at one another, Lulloyd slowly got back up to his feet and moved back over to Lloyd and Harumi. The three watched for a few more seconds, letting both of them go on until Harumi's eyebrow was violently twitching. Harumi raised her right foot up and brought it down hard on the floor, smacking the table in front of Monty at the same time. The two loud noises swiftly preceded Harumi's raised voice.
"How about we focus on getting dinner right now?" Harumi's voice boomed throughout the small shop, "I for one say we get take out and bring it here so we can draw you that map, Ronin!"
Lloyd and Lulloyd were left relatively silent. Monty and Ronin shared another look, then both of them turned away from one another. Ronin crossed his arms and nodded his head, while Monty used a hand to play with his cape.
"Sure," Ronin gestured to the table, "You guys write down what you want, I can be here and back in REX in a half hour. Monty, show them to that spare room and give them some paper to draw that map. Think it can be done by the time I get back?"
"Of course," Harumi's voice lowered but didn't lose its tone, "Lloyd, get that paper so we can write it all down. Lulloyd, go with Monty to the room, we'll be up shortly."
Monty gave Harumi a scathing look of anger, yet Harumi's expression didn't budge. Instead, he thrust a hand out, blowing the curtain open with a gust of elemental power, then looked at Lulloyd and nodded his head to him. Lulloyd slowly followed Monty past the curtain, leaving the three in shop.
Before Lloyd could even go to follow Harumi's orders, Ronin produced the paper from the table. Harumi wrote down everything the three had eaten down upon it, labeling each with a name. She handed it off to Ronin, who smirked at her as he pocketed it.
"Thanks," Ronin turned, "Well then, I'm off. Tell Monty he's watching the store until I get back."
"I think he already knows," Harumi responded dryly. Ronin grew a smile on his face in response.
"Oh he does, but he'll close the shop early if I don't remind him," Ronin called out as he opened the door into the rain, "Don't let him forget to get those scrolls and that Stone Army Guy, he knows what that means!"
Once the doors were shut, a few moments later the sound of REX flying away from outside the shop filled the air. As soon as Ronin left, Lloyd moved a hand up to his chin in thought.
"I, don't remember Ronin being this trusting…" Lloyd remarked, "Seems a little odd."
"He's not trusting us," Harumi remarked, "He left Monty here to watch over us. We fought for him against the ninja, so he's seeing how far he can trust us. I know people who try to do that."
With that said, Harumi moved and briskly walked back behind the curtain to the rest of the store. That 'rest' of the store was a small narrow hallway that had one door to the left and two to the right. On the furthest right door was a cape that had the word "MONTY" printed upon it, while the closest one had one of Ronin's hats hung on a hook. The door to the left had five different padlocks placed upon it, which Lloyd could guess led to storage. At the end of the hall was a tiny set of stairs that spiraled up to lead to an even smaller second floor containing only two rooms both on the right. One looked to be a bathroom, and the other Monty stood outside of with a scowl on his face.
"Here," Monty pointed inside, "We usually use this place for storage, but lucky for you we're still rebuilding our stock. I gave your friend some stuff to draw that map with. Make sure it's good."
"We will," Harumi stated, ignoring him otherwise as she stepped into the room. Lloyd followed suit after her.
Said room was relatively small, with only one small bed and the entire right wall cluttered up with various boxes. A small window cast blue light into the room, broken up by white flashes of lightning outside. Lulloyd sat on the bed, holding a piece of paper and looking to the two and holding it out as they entered. Harumi took the paper, then turned and handed it off to Lloyd, gesturing towards a box in the corner just large enough to use as a seat.
"Draw the map," Harumi ordered, "I'm going to try to search for anything on the Time Twins."
Lloyd was silenced from speaking by a look from Lulloyd. Lloyd took the paper unceremoniously and sat down on the little lip, using a nearby box lid for a surface. It had been awhile since he'd made a physical map, yet Wu was nothing if not a thorough teacher. Basic calligraphy and map making were skills he'd taught them after the incident with Chen's Island, mainly so that if they were to explore other parts of Ninjago, they could be recorded. So he sketched away, even as Harumi's critical eye drifted from watch to his work occasionally.
Lulloyd and Harumi looked at Harumi's watch, with Harumi typing in words incredibly fast. Lulloyd himself wasn't able to keep up, but he didn't have much else to do. The thought crossed his mind as to possibly polish his blade or work on his mechdragon outside, yet those options rapidly became impractical as more time went on.
"There's nothing!" Harumi pulled up a video of Gale Gossip reporting on a new animal sanctuary in Ninjago City, "Nothing in the news or any reports of something like the Iron Doom! I don't understand, where are they hiding a massive mech like that?!"
"I, think they're laying low so that they don't get our attention right now?" Lulloyd shook his head, "My dad did this training exercise once where every hour we didn't attack him, he'd get another blade. And, well, we at first thought it was smart to take him out early when he had nothing. But, we soon realized that if we waited him out, we would figure out he was making this kinda pattern of what blades he was using and where he was going. So, we waited for hours and…. Uhm…" Lulloyd trailed off as Harumi's gaze turned to him.
"Lulloyd, I don't think your weird dad's training is applicable here," Harumi looked down, "They've clearly already got a pattern on their hands. They show up, attack, and try to get what they want. The only reason that they didn't do so with your universe is because your dad was just too tough to beat straight up. Isn't that why they tried to ambush you guys?"
"They, did, successfully, but they did the same thing with your world, you know…" Lulloyd pointed out gently, "Like, I think they lured everyone out so they could take out all the most powerful beings really easily…"
Harumi's gaze had gone to the point Lulloyd felt like it was melting holes in his head. He was forced to look away. Harumi went back to her watch, tapping away and smacking it with her hand occasionally in anger. Lulloyd pulled his sword out and worked on twisting the tassel piece to be in line with the blade, then intentionally misaligning it just to do so again. Lloyd's pen continued to paint the map over the sheet of paper.
"You're not noting guard positions and areas of interest," Harumi muttered as she looked over her watch at Lloyd.
"What?" Lloyd looked down, "It's a map, Ronin just wants a map. Why would I give him that sort of thing?"
"Because whether or not we like Ronin or that partner of his, he won't let us stay if we don't give him what he wants," Harumi lowered her watch, "You're not even drawing it elevational changes. Just give me the map."
"It's not done yet, Harumi," Lloyd stated firmly, "I'm still placing everything I remember. We were kinda rushing to get the sword, remember?"
"I do remember, everything actually!" Harumi scoffed back, "My father taught me to memorize my surroundings at all times. How many doors total are these in Ronin's house, Lloyd?"
"It doesn't matter how many doors there are total, it matters how many escape routes there are!" Lloyd put the map aside, "You told me to work on the map, Harumi, so let me make the map!"
"If you don't make it right, what's the point?" Harumi seethed, "Give me the map and I'll fix it so we don't have to spend the night in the pouring rain!"
"Guys?" Lulloyd blinked, "Guys we really need to calm down…"
"I'm not useless, you know!" Lloyd gestured to himself, "I've done this sort of thing before. You know how many times my team and I flew around Ninjago and had to mark down where we went? We didn't always have the Bounty on us! You need to have a pretty good sense of the area you're in while you're flying on your dragons!"
"Which you can't do right now, can you?" Harumi crossed her arms, "Because someone let the Time Twins steal his power away and dragged us all into this mess!"
"Which I'm trying to fix right now!" Lloyd growled, "Why else would I be in a completely different Ninjago with two people I only met over the course of a few days trying to stop the Time Twins?!"
"Guys!" Lulloyd raised his voice, "We need to be finding Krux and Acronix!"
"You couldn't stop them, just like you couldn't stop the Overlord!" Harumi hissed, "Isn't that why you had that whole Golden Master thing? Give me the map so we can get to stopping the Time Twins before someone like Zane or Olive has to sacrifice themselves again!"
Something inside of Lloyd began to boil over, and he stood up to meet her energy. Mentioning Zane was enough to get him angry, and with that in mind, he felt his anger taking over. The last time he'd been this angry, it'd been with another Harumi. It seemed she really was Harumi's daughter. Harumi stared back at him, the tension in the air thickening until it could be cut by a sword.
"GUYS!" Lulloyd's sword did indeed cut through the tension, mainly by striking the floor to produce a massive bang that reverberated through the room. Lulloyd slowly pulled his sword up from the floor, sheathed it, and then looked to the two of them.
"Harumi, I don't know what's gotten you so, upset right now, but stop taking it out on Lloyd!" Lulloyd's voice had lost its stutter and spoke smooth and firmly, "We don't have time right now to start getting on each other! You said it yourself, we need to find the Time Twins! Lloyd can handle just, making a map!"
Before Lloyd could respond, Lulloyd turned to him, "Lloyd, you can't just fight with her! Even if you don't think she's being fair, at the very least you don't have to play into it! It doesn't matter if they started it, if you go along with it you're just as bad as they are! You can't let them get to you! Okay?!"
The two were left somewhat stunned by Lulloyd's sudden declaration, but both of them shared a small glance before Lulloyd's striking his sword on the floor again made them back off. The two slowly retreated to their previous seats, at which point Lulloyd sighed.
"What are you guys doing in there?!" The temporary peace was cut through by Monty's angered shout coming from behind the door, "If you break anything in there, you're paying for it!"
"We're fine!" Lulloyd called out, his nervous tone returning, "Just, uhm, moving some stuff around is all!"
"I know everything in that room, I stole most of it!" Monty fired back, "Don't think you can get away with breaking anything by moving it around!"
"We won't touch any of your stuff, Monty!" Harumi shouted loud enough to make Lulloyd and Lloyd flinch, "Just leave us alone!"
There was no further response from Monty, only the door suddenly rattling as though it had been struck by a massive force. From the cold air that floated into the room, the three could assume Monty had struck it with wind. From the way that Harumi's eye twitched, Lulloyd could piece together where her anger was coming from.
"...What if the Time Twins aren't in this universe anymore?" Lulloyd mused out loud, "Is, there a way for us to check?"
Lloyd slowly reached into his pocket, producing the Realm Crystal. Slowly, he closed his eyes and focused the rest of his power into the gemstone, exhaling as the green surface pulsed. After a few moments, he felt nothing, resulting in him slowly shaking his head.
"I'm not being pulled anywhere when I use this, so… I don't think so," Lloyd slid the artifact back into his gi, "But I also couldn't sense them."
"We already knew it isn't that simple,," Harumi shook her head, "I just don't get it! How do two megalomaniacal power mad freaks hide a mech the size of a building like this? If they landed where we did… what are they doing?!"
"Right now, I bet they're planning something," Lloyd sighed, "When we fought them, they basically only ever popped up when there was a time blade to get. And even then, we only fought the Vermillion. They just hid in a swamp until they needed to get what they needed. That was it. I guess they tried to attack outright twice, and now they're holding off."
"Then… what should we do?" Lulloyd asked, "I mean, we have to do something, right?"
"What can we do?" Lloyd pointed out, "Right now, we have to wait for them to reveal themselves. We don't know where to start looking with them. Did you look for anything with snakes, Harumi?"
"Tried that, also tried mech, twins, even green capes, nothing!" Harumi grumbled, "This time is so low-tech, there isn't even any streaming databases for me to find anything in! I can't even pull up any social media images and cross reference known images of Krux and Acronix! What is this time period?!"
"Like I said, we were that technologically advanced, then the Golden Master happened," Lloyd pointed out, "We're stuck here now. You know how many years it took for them to let Borg even sell his watches?"
"This Borg guy is… interesting?" Lulloyd asked, "Uh, my Borg is like, an eccentric video game maker. He tried to make this full dive Virtual Reality game call Swords Studs Online, and then like, something went wrong, people got stuck, now he like, is trying to make another one, but this time with fairies and, guns, it's kinda weird…"
A creak emanated from the ceiling. The three went silent, looking up towards the roof over them. After a few seconds of waiting, another creak came. Lloyd looked to the others silently, and they looked back just as much so. Slowly, the three reached up and drew their hoods over their heads.
The rain from the outside poured against the window to Ronin's room. The room was only lit by a single bulb overhead, meaning that the ceiling was mostly shrouded in dark. They could see the rafters above them, but not what lay above them. Without a proper ceiling and instead just a high roof, the three were on alert from two unlikely coincidental creaks.
Silence filled the room. Lulloyd and Lloyd both reached to grab for their weapons, while Harumi slowly put her hands together and formed a Rhotatae disc in hand. The three awaited anymore noises for a few moments, each with bated breath. When nothing came, the three relented.
The sound of a wolf roaring brought the three to their feet, weapons ready. The door to the hallway broke apart, and in its place, a massive white wolf marked by gray lines across its head and back stood. It was no taller than their waists, but with massive teeth barred at them, it wasn't to be trifled with. As the wolf stalked forward, a chill filled the air. Harumi fired the disc in hand at the floor in front of it, stopping its motion.
A second later, Lulloyd felt something at his throat. The ninja gasped out as he looked down to see a shuriken sharpened and pressed against his shoulders. Zane stood behind him, his black deepstone armor blending in to the air around him. His other hand gripped Lulloyd's right arm, causing it to begin to encase in ice.
Lloyd and Harumi turned to Lulloyd, but it was too late. A second later, two other figures had leapt into the room. One of them was Nya, shown by her bright maroon robes. The other was Jay, his hands spinning a nunchuck around. The two stood on either side of the wolf, glaring at the two.
"We don't want to hurt you," Zane stated calmly, "Give us the Realm Crystal and we'll let you go."
"The Realm Crystal?" Harumi hissed, "What makes you think we have it?"
"That's not for you to know, sister!" Nya spat back, "Give us the Crystal, now!"
Lloyd stood with his swords in hand. His mind was racing with many things. From the way the wolf stood, pointed directly at Lulloyd, as well as the chill, he guessed that was Zane's chi animal. He gave Lulloyd a glare, who was still holding onto his own blade despite his neck -or lack there of- held up. Harumi had formed two tiny discs in her hand, pointing one at Nya and the other at Jay.
"We don't have your Realm Crystal!" Lloyd shouted, "Let him go, Zane."
"We're not leaving without the Realm Crystal!" Jay shouted, "Just, give it to us! Please?"
"We can't give you what we don't have," Harumi looked to Zane, "Why are you here?"
The three didn't respond. None of them made any moves, however. Lloyd had just enough time to wonder why it was that Zane was holding Lulloyd up before he heard the sound of the floor clicking, and his eyes looked down to see that Lulloyd had kicked the floor he and Zane stood on, causing it to turn into bricks and sending the two through it.
Almost instantly, the wolf ran forward, barring its fangs at Lulloyd. He had enough time to grab a tile and knock it aside before his arm was bitten into. The wolf, however, changed its direction midair, and leapt right into Zane. Zane's entire body glowed a bright white for a brief moment, then the two struck the room below them.
Lulloyd slowly stood up, dizzy from tumbling through the air. He looked around, his vision slowly forming to see Monty standing in front of a massive mirror beside a wardrobe. He was staring at himself in the mirror, with a massive vampire-inspired cape on. He had his head lowered and his mouth open, hissing at the glass like a creature of the night would. When Lulloyd looked again, Monty had turned around with a look of horror on his face.
"W-What are you doing in here?!" Monty shouted, "Get out, get o-"
Before Monty could react, Zane stood up, his hands outstretched. Monty raised his own hands, his massive blast of wind meeting Zane's ice. Zane's speed, however, sent Monty flying back into the wardrobe. While him striking the wardrobe did nothing, his hands had still been releasing wind, causing the wardrobe to spin and fall onto its side.
Lulloyd blinked in confusion as capes flew out throughout the room. Capes of all sizes, all colors, and even styles. Monty emerged from the wall hovering above the ground, and upon seeing Lulloyd picking up the side cape that he'd been wearing earlier, Monty's expression went livid.
"Let go of that cape right now!" Monty shouted at Lulloyd, "And YOU!" Monty turned to Zane, "You touch any of these capes and I'll personally teach you the meaning of suffocation!"
"I'm not currently capable of suffocating, but I understand the sentiment," Zane stated, looking around the room at the capes splayed over the floor.
"Do… all these capes belong to you?" Lulloyd asked curiously as he used his sword to pull himself upright.
"That's not for you to know!" Monty spat, his expression fuming with an anger the apathetic ghost hadn't displayed yet to Lulloyd, "Get out of my room!"
"Not until we have the Realm Crystal," Zane shot back, "If you have its location, tell us now and we will leave you be."
Right as Zane finished his sentence, Monty had thrown his hands behind him and used his wind to thrust him forward. He raised his left arm up into the air, surrounding it in a massive swirl of wind and bringing it directly into Zane's face. The funnel exploded on impact, sending Zane flying backwards and into Monty's bed.. Splintered wood filled the air as he crashed against the headboard, his systems scrambled. The aura faded from his body.
"You didn't hear me, did you tin can?" Monty growled, "That wasn't a request," He reached down, drawing a small pistol from his hip and pointing it right at Zane.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Monty."
Monty suddenly froze. His entire body stiffened, and the gun in his hand shook. Monty swung the gun around until it landed on a figure just in front of the curtain to the front of the shop. An aging man with a long white beard and large bow staff stood there, his expression focused right onto the ghost. As soon as he made eye contact with him, Monty's nostrils flared.
"Master Wu…" Monty hissed, "What are you doing here?"
"We've come to get back what you're stolen," Wu stated calmly, "And without any further violence if we can manage that."
"No further violence?" Monty held the glittering golden blade up in front of him, "Sure, get out of my shop."
"I cannot do that, Monty," Wu slammed his staff into the ground, "My ninja and I are here to get back what you stole. Give it to us, and this can end."
"I never give back what I take," Monty raised the gun and aimed it right at Wu, "But let's make this quick then. I have a lot of cleaning up to do after this."
Happy late holidays Ninjaverse Readers!
Thank you all for reading this far in the story. We're about to go into the first battle that I actually ever planned in Ninjaverse. I spent a long time reworking the flow and structure of how Monty's world would go, and it took me a very, very long time to decide how I would structure it. Originally, I had this upcoming section before them getting the sword, but going from one fight to another felt wrong. I decided to trust my gut and organize it this way, mainly so I could conserve a feeling of tension in this world.
A quick note on how chi works: When a chi animal is summoned, elemental powers can still be used, but not as strong as without them. During fusion, access to powers is completely removed. It's a small detail I couldn't really fit anywhere else in the story, so I wanted to address it!
Enjoy the story!