The group had seen and been seen by Monty as many things since they'd met him. In terms of the latter, being annoyed seemed to be what Manty wished the primary response to talking to him was. For Harumi, Monty had pushed the others into seeing her in a far more aggressive anger than she'd been showing thus far. Monty let the others see him as apathetic, bored, ticked off, and apathetic. So, to see the ghost cowering inside of Lulloyd's cockpit, his eyes seemingly darting to every harsh smack of water against the glass, was somewhat triumphant feeling for the group. Harumi in particular, even if the other two didn't comment on it..
"…Fly faster," Monty stated firmly, his body jerking away from a large smack of rain that came down on the side of the cockpit's glass.
"What's wrong, Monty?" Harumi asked slyly, "Afraid of a little water? You live above an ocean."
"The Cursed Realm doesn't exist anymore," Monty hissed back at her, "So unlike all of you, I have an even bigger built in mortality check. And normally, I'm inside of a building. If I wasn't afraid of water, I'd be insane. Didn't Wu have some crap about fear making you stronger?"
"Uh… but like…" Lullyod made a motion with his hands, his dragon currently being flown by Lloyd, "Can't you, uh, surround yourself in wind?"
"That's what I normally do," Monty kept his eyes trained on the window, "Light rain won't kill me. It'd just put very, very painful holes in my body that take the better half of an hour to close them up. Harsh rains like this though?" Seeing the pattering rain made him grumble, "...I would be dead before I even felt the first drop. And I'm pretty sure none of you would like to see what it looks like to die a second time."
Lloyd turned his head slightly, "I've seen a ghost possess a mech and walk through snow, isn't snow just, condensed water?"
"If I took your hand, doused it in gas and lit a match, I'd melt your hand off," Monty explained curtly, "But a stovetop would just leave burn marks. Possessing something gives you an inherent resistance to water. The more water just makes it harder to stay attached to things. If I laid in snow it'd burn, but I wouldn't vanish. And I can eat and drink anything that's not entirely water based," Monty rolled his eyes, "I've gone drinking with Ronin before. Got any more questions, ghost expert?"
"How have you gone drinking?" Harumi narrowed her eyes, "You don't look old enough."
"Would you like to be the girl that cards a ghost?" Monty shot back, "If so, you'll also be the first one in history to shove that card right up your own-"
"Uh, guys let's change the subject!" Lulloyd quickly shouted, "We are on a mission, you know!"
Harumi grumbled and let it slide, instead looking at Lloyd at the controls. Lulloyd had at first insisted on driving, but Lloyd had countered that of the four of them, he had gone through the least punishment in his fight and he already knew how to use mechs. Harumi would normally have argued, but having gone through an endurance match and then blasting Wu with elemental power had left her in a state of exhaustion. She hadn't missed him eagerly eying them up like a long coveted dish at a restaurant. From Lloyd's expression, Harumi could gather he found it somewhat less exciting than it had initially appeared.
While Ronin hadn't lent them REX, he had pointed them in the general direction the ninja had come from. Given that they hadn't seen the Bounty, it was a safe assumption they were likely moving by ground. Sure enough, only a minute after taking flight through the city, they found tracks of bikes just outside of the entrance. From the tracks, it was clear to see they were heading almost due south.
"The only thing south of here is the Library of Domu," Monty had muttered dryly, "So they're in the middle of nowhere. All of this ain't like Wu. Something is up."
The three hadn't yet told Monty about the Time Twins. After seeing Wu's reaction, Harumi and Lloyd were almost certain that the Time Twins had something to do with them. The two had somehow figured out that the group was using the Realm Crystal to travel universes, and if they wanted it from them, they clearly wanted to try to stop the three from following them. The fact the Twins hadn't attacked them outright this time seemed proof they were plotting something.
"Lloyd!" Lulloyd shouted, causing Lloyd to yank hard up on the dragon's controls. Almost instantly, the dragon did a complete loop in the air, making Monty and Harumi's eyes widen. Harumi's hand gripped the edge of a plate creating the wall of the cockpit, while Monty slammed the butt of a rifle onto the floor and held on. Lloyd forced them back straight, making the dragon hover in the air. Upon seeing his sheepish smile, Harumi just gave him an angry glare.
"You, uh, put them straight when you want it to stop…" Lulloyd shook his head, "The tracks, they changed!"
"What?" Harumi turned her head out the cockpit, the rain having died down to let her see the nothingness of the landscape easily, "How can you tell?" She gestured to a set of two very clear sets of tracks in the path under them.
"Because it's too obvious," Monty cut in, "Clearly he actually has some tracking ability. Those tracks are too fresh since we can see them. Which means they made them intentionally to throw us off. It's stalking targets 101."
Lulloyd leaned forward, hitting a button on his dragon. From the mechdragon's stomach, two panels unfolded and a massive searchlight began to rotate about the ground underneath them. The harsh white circle of light looked around, searching for something. When he saw it, Lulloyd hit the button again, illuminating a path that went between two hills covered in brush. Monty rolled his eyes.
"That's… northwest though," Harumi shook her head, "Why would they go northwest?"
"If you're going due northwest from here, you'll cross the tip of the Sea of Sand and then you'll be into the frozen tundra…" Lloyd mumbled, "...The only thing in that direction I can think of is the Birchwood Forest?"
"Where the statue was?" Lulloyd blinked, "Uh… I don't get what's so special about that place."
"...The statue!" Harumi gasped, "We need to get there right away!"
"What?" Lloyd blinked, only for Harumi to open up her Borg Watch once more. She rapidly began to tap buttons into the interface, causing the mechdragon's screen to go static. She slid a small cable about of it and reached forward to tap her watch to the screen. The display suddenly shifted to mirror the watch. Another few buttons and the dragon had turned around, autopilot kicking in towards the destination.
"That statue could be key to us traveling universes!" Harumi shook her head, "Didn't you two appear in front of the statue of my great grandfather when you got to my city?"
"Come to think of it, I appeared in front of one of a guy that looked like he was building stuff in Lulloyd's world…" Lloyd mumbled, "...And there was that statue of him in Ninjago City near the Titanium Ninja Memorial in my home too."
"You all going to explain what you're talking about?" Monty scoffed, "I get you all think you're from other universes, but you're taking this joke rather far."
"That might be a reference point!" Harumi exclaimed, "Remember how I said Borg has a dimensional signature reader built into this thing?" She raised her watch, "Well, think about it! All of us are completely different, our energies are like functions plotted all over a graph. We need an intersect that all worlds share if we want to jump from one world to another!" She paused, "Have you guys ever read a book where a character that teleports has to see where they're teleporting to, usually having to have been there before?"
"Yeah… a few," Lulloyd nodded his head, "So, you're saying that the statue is like, the thing we need to 'see' when we jump?"
"Unless you want to scout out another dimensional constant, that's exactly what we need!" Harumi frowned, "Lloyd, you set your point when you first jumped!"
"But, I was on the Bounty!" Lloyd blinked, "I mean, we might have been over the park, I didn't exactly look."
"When you first jumped universes, you were in closest proximity to that," Harumi nodded her head, "And think about it! The Time Twins appeared there too, didn't they?" Harumi gripped the seat in front of her, "Lloyd, if they destroy that statue, then we might not be able to jump out of this universe at all!"
"What?!" Lloyd turned in his chair now to fully face Harumi, ignoring the console as the dragon flew them at near full speed, "But, how?! How do you know this, Harumi?!"
"It's less that I know, and more that I'm not willing to jeopardize what we don't!," Harumi spoke over Monty attempting to butt in, "Right now, we can only go to universes where Lloyd exists, was involved in defeating the Overlord, and where we have something to get into the universe. We're using our energies to go from universe to universe, but we don't even know what all the rules are yet! Break one we already know, we might be stuck here!"
"Okay," Monty nodded his head, "That really does do it, all three of you are clearly insane. I'm in the middle of a mechanical dragon made of plastic with a trio of maniacs."
"So… do you think the Twins are trying to trap us here then..?" Lulloyd asked. Harumi paused and shook her head.
"Right now, I don't know," Harumi grimaced, "But the Time Twins have been quiet. They're planning something. My bet is they'll be using the statue as leverage on us to give them our Realm Crystal. But then again, that might mean they can't leave either. So… I don't know!"
"Well how about we worry about the details when we get there," Lloyd turned back around, "Right now, we need to stop the Twins before they try to ruin yet another universe!"
"Right," Monty nodded his head, "Well, just to tell all you guys, I'm going to punch Wu in the face a few times, so while you're doing that, I'll be seeing if that beard helps absorb blows or not. After our last fight, I think I need to see for myself.."
Lloyd gave Monty a harsh look, only earning him a small shrug from the ghost. The sound of thunder out in the distance, however, brought Monty's expression down to its normal bored expression instead as the dragon rattled.
"If you just want to punch Wu," Harumi gestured to Monty, "Why are you bringing all those guns?"
Monty looked down. Including the rifle he was still using to stabilize himself, he had a total of two more rifles, two semi-autos, ten pistols hidden within various points of his armor, and a shotgun, all of which were wrapped around the hilt of the SoS. He looked towards Harumi and scoffed.
"Why aren't you bringing anything?" Monty pointed to Harumi's lack of anything on her person, "Aside from that hole in your gi you seem to love toting around."
"My father died in this uniform," Harumi hissed, "And I think the snake design I put into this is a nice memorial. It's a reminder of my failure as a ninja in the past, and a promise to look towards the future."
"You could have still picked something that didn't show skin," Monty smirked, "Unless you're trying to get noticed. If you are, I think that's going a little far."
"Monty," Lloyd hissed, "Don't antagonize Harumi, she saved your life back there."
"Wu's staff would have just gone right through me," Monty frowned, "I would have gotten out of that one alive."
"Let's, let's not start this, okay?" Lulloyd turned his head, "Listen, we're going into battle right now. We, we might be walking right into the Time Twins. We need to take our time and just, and just think! Can we do this without, attacking each other?"
Monty and Harumi shared another look, then both turned away from the other. Lulloyd sighed and leaned his head back, moving his hands up to his face to rub his eyes. Despite her desire at the moment to see if it was possible to smack a ghost with her Rhotate, Harumi reluctantly relaxed. This would be her second fight with the twins. Her second fight with them after… after Olive.
The thought made her hand start to tremble, and her expression turned towards Lloyd again. None of this would have happened if Lloyd had stopped the Twins in his own world. She'd be at home right now, likely seeing if Carnelian had any new moves to try out, or seeing what was new with Mizuno, or perhaps even just seeing how Forte's tour was going. Instead, she was stuck here, in a cramped cockpit with an alternate younger version of her dad, someone that looked more like a toy, and a ghost that seemed determined to be a wedge in the group. She could be teaching a class at Zane's academy, but instead, here she was, flying blindly into battle against the ones that had taken out Olive.
Olive. Harumi had put the thoughts out of her mind for now. She let her hand shift down to feel the chip that was still within the pocket of her uniform, the last thing that Olive gave her. In all the confusion, she hadn't even gotten the chance to see what it was. She… she hadn't even gotten the time to mourn her friend.
The silence was making it harder to push out her thoughts. Why was she here? Harumi felt her thoughts drifting towards that. Her decision to come with the two of them, it was sudden. She knew why Lulloyd was here, his powers were gone just like Lloyd. But she had no stake in this, aside from Olive. Had she truly come, simply out of a need for… vengeance?
She looked to Monty. Maybe it was him that was making her think about this. His fate, was in a sense almost tragic. Trapped in a state of being that left him unable to feel, to enjoy life in the same way, because of his own youthful ambition. Unlike what she knew about Morro, he'd simply been trying to show Wu how far he could go. He'd hadn't been rejected. And that, to her, made her think, think about everything that she'd done because her father had asked her to.
Those thoughts wrestled in her mind, leaving her unable to truly rest. But the trip would be at least a half hour, and she needed to rest. So she turned, resting her head on her shoulder and steadying her breathing. Withina minute, her forced rest had brought her to sleep.
"Hey, Lloyd?" Lulloyd spoke quietly as he saw Harumi beginning to rest.
"Hmm?" Lloyd turned in his seat, "Yeah, what's wrong, Lulloyd?"
"Nothing's wrong, but, uhm…" Lulloyd looked down, "Listen, I'm not saying this to make it sound like you're not a good fighter, and I really do mean to say this in the nicest way possible… do you have a plan to beat them this time?"
"A plan?" Lloyd blinked, turning back towards the controls, "Yeah, we get there and we beat the twins."
"That was our plan in Harumi's world…. And, we lost that one, badly," Lulloyd looked back towards Harumi, "If we'd won there, we wouldn't have had to drag her along with us, you know."
"I know," Lloyd grimaced, "And I'm working on making sure we don't drag anyone else into this. We get there, we use the dragon to get into the cockpit, and then we get out powers back and trap them here."
"Yeah but, my dragon can only go so fast, and that was our plan in my home too," Lulloyd sighed, "I'm just saying that, look, my dad always said that a warrior without a plan is like a shark without a-"
"Do you have to talk about your dad so much?" Lloyd cut him off, "I know you're close to him but I know what I'm doing."
"...Uhm… sorry," Lulloyd gently shrank back, "I'll, let you handle the plan."
A few seconds in silence passed, the only sound made by Monty's shifting in his seat to cause his guns to rub against one another. Harumi made barely a sound as she slept, and the rain stopped, meaning there was nothing aside from the cloudy night sky above them to give them company.
"That, wasn't cool of me," Lloyd sighed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I just… my relationship with my father is way more complicated than yours and, I wish I had what you and your dad had."
"It wasn't always like that," Lulloyd shook his head, "Until these past few months… everyone hated me. My father was always attacking the city and I always had to defend it. Wu trained me to do it but, I had to do it in secret. So, in a way my dad made my life miserable. And when I actually got to know him at first… he annoyed me a lot. He still treats me a bit more like a general to teach more so than a son too, so, I don't think it's anything like you told us before but I think, I get what you're going through."
Lloyd paused to consider that. He didn't know that much about Lulloyd, or even that much about Harumi. He knew the basics, sure, but what did he really know about them as people? The more he thought about it, he knew more about Monty as a person than he did the others. And that alone made his stomach start to churn.
"You don't have to relate to me," Lloyd shook his head and forced a smile, "You have it good with your dad, you don't need to feel bad about that. I had a few months of him as a good guy, so I got to spend time with him then. I had my chance to learn what I could, and I didn't always take advantage of it. But that's what I have to worry about, not you."
"Uhm… okay then," Lulloyd nodded, "I don't want to come off like I don't care though."
"I know you care," Lloyd leaned over, putting his hand on Lulloyd's hard shoulder, "And that really means a lot to me. You don't have to wield a sword to be a warrior, you know."
"Wait, you Wu says that too?" Lulloyd blinked. Lloyd gave him a grin, and the two shared a small chuckle together.
"So…" Lloyd looked to the screen, they still had almost half and hour of flight before they arrived, "You uh, said you had Starfarer in your world too?"
"Yeah," Lulloyd perked up slightly, "I do trivia nights with Mother Doomsday. I actually, uh, have a replica of the blaster that Fritz modified from General Hypaxus 8's mothership. Won it in one of those big nights," He sighed, "It's, amazing how much time you have to do that sort of thing when you don't have friends to hang out with."
"Wait, really?" Lloyd leaned forward, "I just got caught up with it a few months back! Okay, wait, I have to see, has he already taken down the alien commanders from Mars?"
"They're not from Mars, they're from another planet and so happen to have been on Mars before we got there," Lulloyd twisted his head to shake it, "But yeah, actually that story just wrapped up. Have you gotten that far, I don't wanna, you know, spoil it."
"He modified one of the Alien Infiltrators to carry him off to the nearest spaceport after giving the Claw Tank driver his busted engine so they could fix it and get home. Did any of them have names in your comic?" Lloyd asked.
"No, actually… and yeah that sounds like ours, but uh, well he gave them the pieces for it in mine," Lulloyd chuckled, "Did uh, your comic have that one weird one where they crossed over with the Doctor?"
"Doctor who?" Lloyd questioned.
"Uh, you probably don't then," Lulloyd chuckled awkwardly, "But it's neat that we have the same comics."
"Yeah, kinda helps us sync up," Lloyd paused, thinking of something else, "So… you ever go to the Arcade?"
"Yeah, a lot actually," Lulloyd smiled, "Not to brag but, I hold the record on almost every machine there by a lot. I'm really good at some of them, but I mean, I've also been going since I was six, so I've had a lot of practice."
"Since you were six?" Lloyd shook his head, "I had to wait until I was old enough to go to there, but then again I kinda had to sneak out of school for that."
"I got pretty good at that," Lulloyd chuckled, "But Kai was the one that really got into parkour. Like, we had to talk him out of lining up cranes so he could climb up one, jump to the other as it swung, and then jump off to hit the top of a building and use the speed to jump across two more. He uh, well, thankfully Nya and Cole were able to get through to him."
"Kai always does manage to get himself in those types of situations, doesn't he?" Lloyd groaned, "This one time he managed to wreck a self driving car. A self driving car! Pixal still is secretly funneling money to pay for it."
"How do you manage to do that?" Lulloyd blinked, "The, car was driving itself."
"By jumping onto a tanker full of jet fuel," Lloyd stated with a frown, "And then throwing fire at it."
The two paused, then began to chortle. It brought their attentions away from the present for a moment, a moment of brevity that Lloyd felt his chest unwind upon feeling. Tension he hadn't even known was present seemed to melt away as the two settled back down into their seat, Lulloyd ensuring they hadn't woken Harumi.
"Actually…" Lloyd paused, "I think I have a plan now."
"Really?" Lulloyd turned in his seat, "What's the plan?"
"Monty," Lloyd turned around, "Can you possess the Iron Doom?"
Monty, who had taken his time to start disassembling his rifle with carefully rotating vortices in place of traditional tools, looked up from the deadly weapon with an expression that betrayed his previous concentration, "You two need me? Thought you two were gonna start telling bad jokes up there. A joke is bad if not all parties get it, you know."
"The Iron Doom," Lloyd repeated, "Can you possess it?"
"How big is it?" Monty raised an eyebrow.
"About as big as a building," Lulloyd answered, "Like, uh, I wanna say at least ten stories."
"Best I could do with that is hold it still," Monty shook his head, "Bigger the object the more time it takes to learn it. I can only do it with REX after years of practice."
"Can you get onboard it without being seen though?" Lloyd leaned forward, "I need you to get us two big green crystals."
"That's not specific at all!" Monty shook his head, "I'm sure I could get on there easily enough, but I'd need a distraction. If Wu and the others get there before us, they'll be expecting me, so they'll know to expect a ghost to get in."
"We'll handle that, and you'll see it when you get to them," Lloyd explained, "It's a huge green glowing crystal and a smaller one right beside it. Pull those out and get them to us and we win, the Twins can't escape without them."
"Okay, so your plan is for me to sneak onto a mech the size of a building, grab two random green crystals, get them to you, and then that's it? We win?" Monty raised his eyebrow, "You did say they were the Time Twins, right? That mean anything?"
"They have four blades called the Time Blades," Lloyd nodded his head, "Well, three, I knocked one out when I first thought them. All you need to do is avoid letting them grab one. They're plugged into a huge dial on the front. Trust me, you won't miss them."
"Sounds like you got this all figured out then," Monty looked back down to his rifle, "I'm telling you now though, if I get caught in there I'm shooting my way out."
"It's a big empty mech with snakes in the walls," Lloyd countered, "Shouldn't be that hard for a ghost to get through."
"You're making this sound better and better, you know that?" Monty raised an eyebrow, "But fine, I'll do that little plan. I'm going to pretend I understand everything and just go along for the ride."
"That's all we're asking," Lloyd affirmed, "Trust me, I've worked with a ghost before."
"Well aren't you special," Monty muttered, once more applying his wind as he went back to carefully cleaning his firearms.
Lloyd rolled his eyes and leaned back on the controls. If this plan worked, he and Lulloyd would have their powers back and the Twins would be trapped in this world. Regardless of it the Twins knew about Monty, they couldn't know that Monty would be coming with them. This plan could work, simple as it was. If Monty was on their side, they had an advantage.
The remainder of the flight was spent in silence. Lulloyd idly tapped his hand against the side of the dragon while Lloyd tried to make it look like he was flying said dragon instead of an autopilot. Harumi slept, and Monty reassembled his rifle and began to work on a pistol produced from seemingly nowhere. The landscape turned snowy as, just as the path predicted, the trees soon turned to birch.
The moon had begun to kiss the horizon when the dragon emerged from between two large hills. Even in the low light the sight of the Iron Doom was unmistakable. The behemoth stood massive trees, framing its mass against nature itself. Behind the Iron Doom was the statue of the First Chi Master, almost tiny and insignificant by comparison. Parked nearby the machine's tail was the Destiny's Bounty, one of the massive swords of the Iron Doom planted firmly within its deck, pinning it to the ground. The sight of the ship skewered into the ground, however, was nothing compared to what they saw in front of it.
The Iron Doom had ripped up a massive clearing in front of itself, trees tossed casually aside like sticks. Standing in the middle of the clearing were the Twins. Nothing obscured them, nothing so much as hid them from the light breeze of snow blowing into them. Their hoods were drawn, one sitting on a tree stump and the other standing beside it. There was nothing so much else to suggest they were waiting with anything other than anticipation.
"Should we try to sneak up on them?" Lulloyd asked, reaching back to gently shake Harumi awake.
"They've likely already seen us," Lloyd paused, "Monty, we're going to make a pass and let you slip out before we land. Can you get onto that thing?"
Monty, sliding the pistol he'd finished with down underneath his armor, looked out towards the massive mech and then made the silent motion of cracking his neck, "Already said I would, honey, are you used to people backing out on you?" While Harumi fumed, he turned to Lloyd, "Just make it fast."
"Yep," Lloyd nodded, reaching out for the control stick, "Just make sure you get those crystals. And, Monty?"
"Yeah?" Monty asked, standing up and putting his hand on the SoS on his back.
"Stay safe, okay?" Lloyd asked, "We're counting on you."
Monty didn't respond. The ghost gave him a long look instead, then he turned towards the side and looked up out the window. Lloyd gently drew the Mechdragon in a small arc, letting it fly in a circle around the Iron Doom. As the group passed around it, the behemoth didn't so much as move. If they hadn't had any experience with it prior, it would be easy to assume it was a lifeless husk. Yet the thousands of serpents that lay within it, sleeping and writhing about, would soon activate, and Lloyd felt his hands grip tighter around the controls.
Now even closer, Lloyd saw snstead of the rebuilt Garmashark arm on the machine, in its place was an arm that carried with it the colors of multiple types of metal melted together and reformed, thus making both arms symmetrical in shape again. The entire apparatus had been repaired as well, leaving none of the gaps that the Garmashark had ripped into it. It looked battered, but no less imposing.
As soon as the group was behind the Iron Doom, Monty drew the SoS and hit the windscreen with the hilt, causing it to open briefly and for him to leap out. As soon as he was airborne, the ghost fired wind from his hand, allowing him to orient himself and blast towards the machine's back. Within seconds, he was gone from view.
The Mechdragon circled back in front of the Iron Doom, at which point its feet pointed horizontal and fired jets from them to gently bring it down to the ground. A massive puft of snow billowed up as it landed, only clearing once the jets had been turned off. Gently, Lulloyd stood up and pushed the cockpit windscreen fully open for them to stand up.
"Harumi, did you hear the plan?" Lloyd asked without looking back. Harumi gave a small murmur of affirmation.
"Good," Lloyd turned to Lulloyd, "Let's go get out powers back."
The three drew their hoods over their faces against the cold breeze. They leapt from the cockpit of the dragon, the dragon then rapidly reverting into a brick. Rather than take it, Lulloyd gripped it and planted it deep in the snow. He turned, drawing his sword from his back. Slowly, the three walked through the snowy drifts, weaving in and out of trees. In the distance, the cries of longhorns echoed over the wind. Lulloyd turned towards the noise, but quickly drew his gaze back to the Iron Doom. The walk for them was only a minute, but the time felt far longer. When they finally stood within the clearing, the Twins stirred.
Acrnoix, notable by his black eyebrows, sat against a tree stump, casually waving his forward blade about like a toy. Krux stood straight with his arms behind him and back impeccably straight, his own hands empty. His gray eyebrows withered with age betrayed his narrowed eyes as they came into light.
"Ah, ninja!" Krux shouted over the wind, "I'm so glad you could finally join us."
"Give it up, Krux," Lloyd spoke first, "You two don't have the skills or the power to take over another universe."
"Normally I'd try to say we don't have to fight," Harumi growled, "But you've already shown you only know how to,," Her hands gripped into fists, "So there isn't really a point to trying."
"Thanks to him, girlie," Acronix pointed to Lloyd, "You're a tag along, just like your little blocky friend over there."
"We can end this right now," Lulloyd twisted his hips to step forward, "You give us back our powers, surrender, and we won't have to fight you. Neither of us want that."
"On the contrary, my many years of waiting in a museum for something to happen has left me weary for battle!" Krux laughed, "In fact, I feel as though I'm more ready for a fight now than ever before!"
"What good is fighting even going to do you?" Harumi continued, "Why not go to a universe where you don't exist and take over there? Why fight your way to the top?"
"Well, interdimensional travel doesn't work that way, girl-" Acronix began, but Krux cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"We are not here to weasel our way into power," Krux shook his head, "We are owed power. And those that are owed things have a right to demonstrate it. It is our birthright as the Masters of Time. Tell me, do any of you know what happened during the wars that opened our eyes, the atrocities we watch be committed? Do you know anything about us, little ninjas?"
"We know all we need to know," Harumi growled, "You're murders, horrible people that want nothing more than to laugh over seeing your opponent stamped into the dirt. You're monsters."
Krux and Acronix said nothing. Instead, Acronix slid from his seat and stood beside his brother. The two looked back to the Iron Doom for a moment, then waved their hands. The Iron Doom shuddered, the snakes moving the arms to draw the massive copper blade from the destroyed Bounty with a loud splintering sound that pierced the wind itself. Where the ninja were on said ship was unaccounted for. The two swords raised into the air and plunged down, striking the ground beside the Twins. Neither of them flinched as the sheer force shook the ground, unsteadying the three.
"It was in this very woods that we had our eyes opened," Krux sighed, "In this very spot, in fact. When we watched the Master of Earth raise his powers against us. We watched a battle that should have won us the war turn into our greatest defeat. Do you know what happened to us that day? We retreated. And who was it that called that order to retreat? Wu, as the coward does."
"But not all of us made it," Acronix shook his head, "Of, for me the memories are still so fresh, brother. We were placed in chains, our powers sealed by the stone they were made from. We spent months within the Anacondrai camps. They tortured us, threatened us, each day our deaths were dangled in front of us. None of you could understand the pain of what those snakes did to us. We have the scars that not even time can take away."
"And do you know who never came for us?" Krux spat, "Take a guess, ninjas. I'm sure you already know."
"We escaped on our own," Acronix threw his arms into the air, "For weeks, we let our only thoughts be of escape. When they beat us, we were counting their blades. When they bled us, we were noting their positions. And when they tormented us, we were assessing every option to escape."
"Do not think it was easy!" Krux shook his head, "My brother broke nearly every bone in his hand to free himself from those infernal things, and then broke even more of mine to get us out. And even at our full might, we were facing an entire squadron of those things on our own…" Krux's tone faltered, "Some nights, I wondered if we died there."
"When we made it back to Wu, he smiled at us, and said he was happy to have his allies back…" Acronix gripped his fist, "His allies returned. Not that he was happy we were alive, or that we had any information on the snakes. No. All Wu cared about was that he had his numbers. We did what nobody else could, we fought past the things designed to do nothing more than fight us back!"
The twins took a step forward. Then another. The Iron Doom bent forward, lowering its head cast the red light upon them. Both brothers drew their hoods back, letting their hair blow in the snowy winds. The light behind them made their bodies appear like shadow, making their gazes even darker upon the group.
"We escaped, we fought past them all, and we survived!" Krux bellowed, "WE were the ones that kept those battles from turning into slaughters! WE kept those villages from burning under the snake's rule! And WE were the ones that at the war's end had the strength to carry on the duty to protect our lives! WE LIVED NINJA! WE, THE HANDS OF TIME!"
"Call us hypocrites!" Acronix laughed maniacally, "Call us fools even! You can deny our rights, and we will show you what we deserve! We deserve a kingdom of our own making, built from the ashes of the weak that couldn't fight for themselves! The Iron Doom stands tall above all, just like we should!"
"And if you cannot see that…" Krux hissed, "Then it is you who should fall."
Both twins brought their hands together. Lulloyd and Lloyd didn't react, but Harumi's eyes widened. Her own hands shot together, and mere inches from both of their faces, pairs of Rhotate discs exploded into light. Harumi managed to barely deflect the oncoming discs. Krux kicked the snow behind him, causing the reversal blade to fly up into the air and into his hand. Both twins took one step forward and pointed their blades at the group together.
"Y...You can learn…" Harumi's words were hollow with confusion, "How?!"
"Did you not see our aptitude in our last battle?" Krux grinned, "Our horde grants us the powers to learn things even your friends cannot!"
"This Rhotate is incredible, too!" Acronix smirked, "This is almost as useful as that Master Building!"
"Speaking of which…" Krux turned, "Are you think what I am thinking, brother?"
"Oh I most certainly am!" Acronix leaned forward, placing his hand on the ground, "Let's see what we can build!"
"Oh no you don't!" Lloyd shouted, "NINJA-GO!"
Lloyd leapt into the air, spinning into a green tornado that kicked up snow as it raced towards the twins. Acronix raised the green blade, firing a green stream directly at him. Lloyd broke his motions a mere second before it hit, causing his tornado to release and send him running along the ground past Acronix. Harumi leapt to her right, firing three discs that arced towards the twins. Krux simply blasted her with an orange light, reverting her and her discs to before they were fired. As he lunged to stab at her, Lulloyd shot in front of her and spun his sword, knocking Krux back.
The twins rushed forward towards Harumi and Lulloyd while Lloyd recovered. The two raised their respective arms, then both feinted to opposite sides. Acronix blasted them both with another burst of his blade, accelerating them to them both striking a birch tree. The tree flashed blue and revealed itself to be made of several brick cylinders stacked atop one another, alternating black and white. The twins paused for a brief moment, allowing the three to attack.
Lulloyd's speed allowed him to rush out and slice at Acronix's head, countered by the forward blade. Acronix thrust upwards with his knees, sending the sword back, but Lulloyd had already spun his body on one foot to begin attacking again. Acronix's time blade deflected each one as best he could, each attack making his footing more unsteady. Seeing this, Lulloyd leapt backwards and then jumped into the air, bringing his blade down for a jump strike.
Acronix suddenly smirked, flashing his body with the forward blade to disappear. Lulloyd's blade hit the tree, causing the bricks to separate from the sheer force. Acronix appeared behind Lulloyd and brought the blade down on his back, sending him into the ground. His hand grabbed Lulloyd's sword arm and spun him about, the two flashing green as Acronix sped up time to spin his faster. When he let go, Lulloyd was sent soaring through the air with a massive cry, his body hitting the tree Krux had punched and reducing it to bricks as well. Acronix raised his blade to attack, but then scoffed as he saw he'd used up his charges.
Harumi slung several discs out towards Krux to knock the reversal blade away, but Krux was faster than her discs. He and Acronix turned to one another and nodded, then began to build. Lloyd, who had finally rushed forward with his swords to attack, watched as they reconstructed the trees into something resembling a ballista. The Iron Doom suddenly stirred, shaking off the snow accumulated on it as it reached out, taking hold of the apparatus like a crossbow.. Snakes emerged out from between the mechs fingers, curling around each other to form a string for it to draw 's eyes widened as pieces that had formerly been tree trunks were launched down towards the ground. The impact of a piece was sent several feet into the ground less than a foot away. He sheathed his blades and ran, dodging the aim of the Iron Doom that tracked him as he ran.
Harumi, in the meanwhile, saw Krux racing towards her to stab her through with weapon. She fired a disc from her left hand on the ground, the force sending her body flipping around to her right. The action allowed her to dodge Krux's slice, and she followed up by twisting her body to raise her right hand to blast him in the back. Krux's leg, however, came to swipe her leg out from under her, sending her into the snow. As Krux brought his slice around to jab at her chest, her hands shot forward and fired a disc right towards him. Krux batted it away, giving time for her to get back up.
As Lloyd ran from the Iron Doom's strikes, Acronix was coming towards him. The warrior stopped and slice the snow upwards, forming a brief moment of obscurity for him to disappear. Lloyd jumped forward to avoid another piece nearly caving his head in, sliding into the snow. When he scrambled to his feet, Acronix was in front of him. As the two clashed blades, the green glow had faded from it.
Lloyd swung both katanas towards Acronix from his right. Acronix dodged by blocking one with the time blade and the other by grabbing Lloyd's wrist. Acronix twisted, straining his hand to try to make him drop the weapon. Lloyd grimaced through the pain and drew the clashing katna towards his chest, forcing Acronix forward. He was prepared to swing again to shove him back, but by attacking Acronix he'd forgotten the bigger issue. The sound of the Iron Doom firing at him once more made his eyes widen in fear.
The fired trunk, however, never hit him. The trunk instead crashed into the ground as a massive baseball bat of bricks sent it down into snow. Lulloyd shout hard and flung the bat like a javelin into the makeshift crossbow right after, shattering it both to pieces. Lloyd leapt backwards away from Acronix to see Lulloyd heaving and hand extended from the throw. He turned to Lloyd and gave him a nervous smile, showing he wasn't done yet.
The ninja raced forward, scaling up one tree and his breath heaving as he looked down at the branches. The Iron Doom reared its fist towards him, making Lulloyd jump fast to another tree. The machine struck the tree and felled it. As soon as its arm was extended, Lulloyd punched his tree, turning a fair bit into bricks he raced forward with, using the branches to act like bars of a cage. He raced from tree to tree to rapidly build them up until the arm was trapped with its hand stuck between bars supported by several trees. Lulloyd leapt down from the trees onto the ground with a hard thud, forcing the mech to yank backwards for several seconds before it broke free. The mech slid backwards from the force, staggering it.
Lloyd didn't have anymore time to appreciate this. Acronix's drew his hands back to his side, forming a Rhotate disc and thrusting it forward at Lloyd. The ninja brought his swords together in front of him, sending it awry. Acronix was soon on top of him again, trapping the two swords between the prongs of his time blade. Lloyd tried to circle his blades to send the time blade away, but Acronix was stronger.
Lulloyd shot forward, his sword swiping down to knock Acronix away. As Acronix withdrew, Lulloyd panted heavily, looking towards Lloyd as little sweat studs appeared on his face. He turned back to Acronix, blade raised in the air as Lloyd did the same. Acronix simply took a fighting stance with his time blade over his chest. Within seconds, the green glow had returned, causing him to grin.
A stray disc of Rhotate drew Lloyd's sight towards Harumi. Krux fiercely swiped and jabbed at her with his time blade, each one either knocked aside by Rhotate or dodged with a swift slide. Harumi was fully on the defensive, her own attacks being swiftly countered by the seasoned veteran. Krux's punches would frequently break apart her Rhotatae form, leaving her to use only a single hand to form small attacks.
Krux swung his time blade with the blunt edge, striking Harumi in the side of the head. She let out a cry of pain as she was flung to the ground, her vision dancing as her cheek chilled from the snow. Krux's foot struck her in the jaw, rolling her over with another bout of pain. His time blade raised up, reversing time to bring her back around to kick her again. The second kick rolled her twice as hard, and Krux laughed as his hand gripped her suit, dragging her to her feet and slamming her into a tree.
Harumi's world was spinning. Her reflexes were all that saved her as Krux tried to impale her right in the gut, using her foot to yank her body around the tree. She brought her hands up to shove Krux away, stumbling away and panting hard as she looked up towards him. Krux still refused to let up, firing another Rhotate at her that hit her dead on in the chest. It exploded on impact, sending her staggering about as pain lanced through her body. She looked up towards him again, forming a green energy shield to deflect the next few shots. The precious seconds she gained blocking his attacks allowed her to concentrate a beam of energy right at him, burning a hole in a tree beside him as he dodged.
"How… how did you learn?!" Harumi panted angrily, firing another beam towards him. Krux once more simply dodged to the side.
"The Vermillion were bred from the Great Devourer," Krux boasted, "Just as the Devourer grew in size from its appetite, the Vermillion grow in power! My brother and I discovered this while we were stranded in the Time Vortex! Anything that the Vermillion eat, the hive mind can obtain! Sadly, our snakes have barely begun to learn their new abilities, while we grow far quicker!"
"You're not Vermillion!" Harumi shouted, another beam arcing towards Krux like a laser, "How could you possibly learn?!"
"My brother and I have far more willpower than any of you," Krux narrowed his gaze, "Do you wish to see what it is that grants us this power? See what our strength has allowed us?"
Harumi didn't respond, instead she thrust her hands backwards, firing energy out to rocket towards Krux. The sudden motion caught him off guard, and Harumi formed a disc in front of her chest as she flew through the air. Krux twisted his body to try to jump away, but Harumi was far too quick for him. The disc arced forward, curving so it plunged straight into his back.
Krux let out little more than a groan as he staggered forward. Harumi landed behind him, bringing her hands up to strike him again. As he eyes landed on his back, however, her own hands were frozen. His clothes had been torn, revealing something attached to his back.
A Vermillion snake slithered against Krux's back, the red serpent looking almost like it had sank into it. It was not that, however, which made her pause. The snake had its fangs buried firmly in the back of Krux's head, veins spreading out angrily from the contact. The snake looked lodged in tightly, and from the discolored skin, the snake looked almost as though it had bitten right into…
"You… you're mad…" Harumi whispered, "I thought, I thought the Vermillion were a hive mind!"
"Oh… they are!" Krux turned around, straightening his neck, "Acronix and I have forced our wills upon the hundreds of serpents within that machine. Our wills are stronger than all of those snakes combined!" Krux grimaced, "We no longer need helmets to control our machine, just as we no longer are separate from our soldiers. We are as apart of the snakes now as they are us."
Harumi felt her stomach turning just at the sight of it. The snake's fangs, imbedded right into his head. The thought of what Krux was saying, it was all insane. The twins had forcibly impressed their will upon the entire hive, drowning out the snakes all to gain control. The agony that would be, she could only imagine. And that only made her stomach feel rockier as she thought as to what this meant.
"That… doesn't explain how you learned Rhotate!" Harumi shook her head, "Even if you learned it from… from something, you can't have mastered it!"
"The Vermillion obtain more than skills," Krux nodded his head, "They can absorb memories from the brain. Why, don't you remember when your friend was eaten?"
Harumi's entire body froze. Krux's lips curled into a wicked grin as Harumi's mind flashed to the sight of Olive, ripped into pieces in front of her as the snakes took her life. The very feeling of it made her body begin to quake.
"Oh, you do remember!" Krux laughed, "I thought your galavanting around in this world would have made you forget. I can even tell you the last thing she felt before her life was crushed out! Did you think it was a noble feeling of sacrifice?' His lips curled into a sadistic grin, "No. It was pure and utter fear. The only thing she felt in those final moments was terror as the life that her father had given back to her was snuffed out!"
Harumi's breath rasped as she seemed frozen to her spot, unable to process what she was hearing. Seeing her freeze, Lloyd tried to shout to her, but Acronix had already disappeared and forced him to thrust his head aside to look for him. Lulloyd was sent flying as Acronix struck him from behind, and Lloyd barely managed the same fate with a well timed slice.
"We can see her entire life, right in front of us," Krux smirked, "All those years of training to perfect Rhotate, now they are all ours. It is a shame that the Vermillion don't seem to absorb Elemental Power… the Masters of Time and Ice! Hah! It rhymes!" Krux turned his gaze to Harumi, "My, you look a little upset there. Have you realized your own weakness led to your friend's death?"
Harumi's body didn't move. Krux kept going, "This is just like with your father, wasn't it? You weren't strong enough to save him, nor your friend. You'll never be strong enough to win anything, won't you? Not without your friends having to die just so you can see the path to victory!"
"Stop it..." Harumi whispered. Krux shook his head.
"Come on, girl! Attack me!" Krux threw his arms wide, "Attack me and show me what you really know how to do!"
"Harumi!" Lloyd shouted. He knew of the Twins manipulations, and seeing her frozen only made his fear rise. Lloyd twisted his head in time to see Acronix on him again, his hand raised to make a shushing motion. Lulloyd dashed in from behind him, and Acronix ducked, forcing Lulloyd to skid to a stop to avoid hitting his ally. Acronix thrust his arms out to send them back as he disappeared again with his final charge.
"Weak," Krux threw his cape aside, "You're weak, Harumi! Come now, show me your true strength, show me what you really can do!" His eyes narrowed, "Or do we need to murder more of your friends to get you to truly fight?"
Harumi let out a scream. Tears streamed out of her eyes as her hands shot together, forming a Rhotatae disc. The disc sparked and crackled with green energy, violently trembling and shaking as she did. Yet unlike Krux's discs, something else was present, something foreign. Black lightning seemed to arc and burn from it, as if trying to escape. Harumi didn't notice and let it loose. The force of it firing pushed Harumi back into the snow. Her hands didn't let up, firing again, and again, again and again, each time getting slid back further and further still.
Krux simply laughed, sliding his body left and right, batting aside each disc or sidestepping them entirely. The discs flew off into the distance, leaving a harsh streak of light in their wake. Harumi fired her discs out in even more directions, each one going right for Krux. The man just laughed and batted them away.
"I think my brother was a bit preemptive in calling this Rhotate a powerful art! It's no better than Spinjitzu!" Krux smirked, "So simple it's nearly worthless! You can't even-"
Suddenly, Krux felt a warning from behind him. He gasped and slid his body to the side, but it was already too late. His left arm struck the side of a Rhotate disc that had arced around back towards him, cutting the fabric and dissipating as it struck him. Harumi dropped her arms.
"You insolent little!" Krux spat, his entire demeanor almost instantly shifting, "Such underhanded tricks show your true colors! Your fighting spirit isn't even…"
Krux paused. Something was on his face. Something, strange. He raised his hand up, blinking as he felt… tears? He looked to Harumi, and then to his wet hand. He was… crying. His lips quivered as he felt emotions begin to well up inside of him, feelings he could clearly distinguish. Sorrow, anguish, and… anger. Anger, that was not his own.
"What have you done to me?" Krux shouted, even as he continued to cry uncontrollably, "What sort of power have you been hiding?!"
Harumi screamed again. Her eyes shot up, and this time they weren't filled with determination. What Krux saw was eyes filled with rage, a form almost as pure as what he'd felt so long ago. Harumi ran forward, her body faster than he'd seen it as she formed another disc and violently swung it down towards his head. The disc cleaved straight through a tree beside him, causing the entire top portion to slide off.
"Harumi!" Lloyd shouted again, but Acronix wouldn't abandon his attempts. Lulloyd turned and began to run straight for the trees. The Iron Doom responded by raising its arm and bringing it straight down towards him. Lulloyd only continued running, assured he could make it well within time.
Lloyd threw Acronix away from a clash. Acronix, out of charges, was forced to instead leap at Lulloyd, swinging his blade at him. Lulloyd countered with his sword sliding off and stopping to trade blows. Acronix smiled and then disappeared again, leaving Lulloyd stunned. He looked up, however, to see the Iron Doom's arm was now far further along. Lloyd stopped and darting back, pushing Lulloyd back and out of the path of the arm as it crashed into the ground with slam that nearly threw them backwards.
Krux, meanwhile, was now on the defensive. Harumi's discs suddenly had turned from annoyances to a worry, and her movements had gone wild and almost feral. Her swipes with her discs were long and drawn out, filled with power behind them that sliced trees and cleaved ruts in the ground. Krux attempted to fire the reversal blade into her once again, but Harumi only responded by doing a side flip and bringing her foot down on it to knock his arm aside before firing another disc at him.
"Must you be so uncivilized?!" Krux shouted as Harumi shouted at him with rage again, forming a spinning disc in hand and swinging it in an uppercut at him. Krux barely slid his torso backwards from what would be a saw right through his abdomen.
Harumi's assault continued, forcing Krux back into the treeline. Lloyd and Lulloyd watched over the Iron Doom's arm as they disappeared into the treeline and out of sight. Lloyd twisted into Spinjitzu and used the momentum to try to soar over the Iron Doom's arm, but Acronix turned and his eyes focused on the arm. The massive metal arm shot upwards, striking Lloyd and sending him flying back down into the ground.
"Tssk, tssk…" Acronxi walked over, picking up one of Lloyd's fallen swords, "You opponent is me, Lloyd!"
While Lulloyd once more made a run for Acronix, Krux's back hit a tree. His head snapped back, but then he saw Harumi coming at him with a rapid charge. Thinking on his feet, he dropped down to his knees, letting her Rhotatae-enhanced palm strike into the tree. After a quick breath, Krux raised his time blade, blasting Harumi in the chest with its power. Harumi was sent backwards, and Krux watched her reverse to the start of her run.
When Harumi resumed her charge forward, this time Krux slid to the side and grabbed Harumi's arm, thrusting her into the tree beside him. Her eyes snapped open as the pain went straight through her torso. She looked towards Krux, who brought the blade right down onto her face. The pain sent her down into the ground, too stunned to move.
"Hah… hah… foolish…" Krux panted, his body quivering from such an intense brawl, "Your emotions… I'm shocked your father trained you to let them have so much sway over you. A warrior that cannot let his mind enter flow is nothing more than a dog with dull teeth…"
Krux stomped his foot into Harumi's back, holding her down. He raised the time blade above his shoulder, aiming it towards Harumi's back. With a smirk, he readied his shoulder.
"Any last words, girl?" Krux laughed, "I'll be sure to tell your friends back home when we go back and conquer them!"
Harumi didn't say anything, too dazed to do so. Krux shrugged, then brought his hand down.
Three loud bangs sounded off into the air right before three strikes hit the blade. Three bullets slammed into the time blade, causing it to go flying off with three perfectly vertical smoking dots across its surface. Krux's hand snapped back violently from the recoil, forcing him to let go as the reversal blade soared off into the snow.
At the edge of the treeline, barely visible to Krux, Monty stood with a pistol drawn, the barrel lightly smoking. He fired his gun three more times, aiming for Krux's chest and legs. Krux leapt off Harumi, scattering away without any defense. Monty continued to fire until his gun was empty, each shot making Krux dance backwards.
"Maybe next time you should leave the plan to me," Monty turned towards Lloyd and Lulloyd, "I'm the only one here that can survive a knife to the back."
Lloyd was about to speak, but Monty pointed his gun upwards. Lloyd looked up to see something that made his own eyes widen. Hovering high up in the air, suspended by wind, were three crystals. Two were glowing green, and the third a combination of other colors. All three were directly over the center of the battlefield. Monty opened his hand, and suddenly the crystals were in free fall.
Acronix's eyes shot open in shock as he raced straight towards the three falling objects. Monty threw his pistol aside and drew one of his rifles from his back and turned his body to the side, firing the gun with one hand. Acronix grunted as the bullet swept past him, making him skid to a stop. Monty twisted his body the other way, revealing another pistol he'd prepped in the time it took him to fire the first gun. Monty shot several more bullets, kicking up snow that blinded Acronix as he hissed and clutched at his eyes.
"Lloyd!" Lulloyd shouted, looking upwards. Lloyd nodded his head. Lloyd raced towards Lulloyd, who held his arms out as Lloyd jumped onto them. Lloyd was boosted up into the air, and as he did his body began to rapidly twist into the Airjitzu form. He turned his body towards the crystals, sending him soaring straight towards the three glowing gems.
Lulloyd looked on as Lloyd flew towards them as fast as he could. Lloyd focused, dropping his form and reaching out with his left hand. He turned his focused to the largest crystal, gathering up what little power he had left. With a shout, he sent a thin beam of green power straight into the crystal.
A brilliant flash of green light filled the air as the crystal shattered into shards that flew about the field. The green aura it gave off pulsed for a few brief seconds, then descended. Lloyd's body filled with green energy, freezing in the air as the raw energy forced itself back into him. His eyes glowed as green power raced back through him, flowing out through his hands and sending jolts of rejuvenating through his body. His hair momentarily rose up into the air as he found himself unable to contain a grin.
With a burst of green light, Lloyd's elemental dragon flapped in the air, thrusting itself into a spin and then twisting into a dive towards the two remaining crystals. The air rushed around him as he went into the dive, waiting for the last moment before the dragon flung its body vertical. The force of the dragon's body snapping sent Lloyd flying off, grabbing the two crystals and falling towards the ground. His dragon spun and soared under him, catching him in flight with a thud into the saddle. Looking down to Lulloyd, he picked up the remaining green crystal and sent it hurtling towards him.
Lulloyd caught the crystal, looking at it with widened eyes. Without another moment of hesitation, he sliced his sword straight through it, the green energy arcing out of it and soaring up into his body. He leapt into the air, spinning and kicking about rapidly as he felt it race back into his body. When he landed, Lloyd stood beside him, placing the third crystal into Lulloyd's hand. Lulloyd inhaled deeply before placing it in his suit.
Acronix was on the ground, finally able to open his red eyes to see what was happening. Monty paused in his shooting long enough to allow him to stand. Lloyd stood up on one foot and filled his fists with green power, striking a fighting stance. Lulloyd did the same, bent forward with legs spread apart and sword held across his body. The ghost slowly walked his way until he stood halfway between the Iron Doom and the treeline, one gun trained on Krux and the other Acronix.
"The plan worked!" Lloyd shouted, his voice filled with hope. He turned to Acronix, his tone dropping into a serious force, "You've lost, Acronix! We've taken away your ability to travel in universes! You will answer to us now!"
Acronix stared at them for a few moments. He looked to them both, leaning back on his ankles as he did so. He remained silent, his eyes training on Monty for a few moments. He looked to Monty, to the two of them, and to the Iron Doom. When he stopped looking, he nodded his head once.
Then Acronix began to laugh, bending forward and laughing hard. Lloyd and Lulloyd blinked in utter confusion as he reacted so strangely, his laughs filled with what sounded like genuine mirth. When he finally managed to stop, he looked to the two of them still hunched over.
"You ACTUALLY did it!?" Acronix howled, "You did the EXACT thing we thought you would?! We didn't expect you'd use the ghost but WOW! I thought you would have at least some variety, I can't believe this! I seriously, cannot believe this! BROTHER! THEY DID IT!"
Krux smirked, turning towards Acronix. Steadily, Krux began to laugh as well, taking his attention off Harumi. Gathering up her strength, Harumi blasted the snow with both hands with Rhotate, launching herself away from him. Her eyes were no longer filled with rage, and instead they were trained upon the time blade now lying in the snow.
Krux, however, was faster. His hand struck a tree to reduce it to bricks, which he rapidly turned into stilts. A single massive kick was enough to force Harumi onto her guard, bringing her arms over her chest and being knocked away from her path. Monty drew the second rifle and fired it four times, breaking apart the stilts. Krux grabbed the pieces as they fell, building them into a simple wall on the ground as he landed. The cover gave him time to scramble and recover his time blade still pulsing in the snow. Monty traded the rifle for the shotgun, firing just as Krux flipped over the top of the wall. A single thrust of the time blade caught the pellets in time and reversed them back at Monty. The ghost simply stood still as they flew threw his body and struck the straps holding his guns on his back.
"Now… let us show them what has truly transpired here today!" Krux shouted, raising his blade and beating his chest with it a few moments.
Lloyd suddenly felt his back burning. He grunted and turned his head around, only for another burn to send im onto his knees. As he did, he noticed blue lines traveling on top of the snow he hadn't noticed. From those lines, strange blue sparks shot up from the ground, striking him until he was sent onto his back. Soon those blue lines traced around his body in a rectangle, pinning him in. Lloyd's eyes flashed with recognition as soon as he saw the lines up close.
Lulloyd wasn't given the same treatment. Instead, something smashed into the back of his head. Studs burst into his vision as he fell forward, the handle of Cole's scythe pressed into him. From the snow behind them, Zane's wolf leapt from the ground, snarling as it ran forward and disarmed the two. When the wolf stopped, it faded from view, and moments later balls of ice were around both Lulloyd and Lloyd's hands. Jay walked forward from behind a tree, his wasp floating beside him and extending those blue lines around Lulloyd as well. Both ninja had their hands frozen and were trapped inside the lines of Jay's chi.
Gunshots filled the air as Monty fired at something over Lloyd's head. Wu leapt from the snow behind the two fallen ninja, batting away his bullets. Monty scoffed and threw his pistol aside, giving Acronix time to blast him with the forward blade. Monty's entire motions accelerated until he had already fired his weapon, leaving him blinking as the gun was now empty but no bullets seemed to have come out.
Before Monty could do anything else, rings of water formed from the snow underneath him, rapidly encircling him and constricting in to force his arms down. Monty's eyes narrowed as Nya walked up from behind him, her eyes trained on him fiercely. As Monty tried to move his hand to blast wind, Nya tightened the water so it was like a sheen right over his body. Monty was forced to remain still or risk having it fully converge on him.
"Ah, nicely done Wu!" Acronix laughed, "Your little ninja do have a use, even in this world!"
"What are you doing?!" Lloyd shouted, thrusting against the ice, trying to draw his newly retaken powers to melt it. The rapid freezing in his nerves took that option away from him. In front of him, a staff planted firmly into the ground.
"...I am truly sorry," Wu's voice came from above Lloyd's line of sight, "...Know that I would not do this, if the circumstances were different."
"Yes, yes, you're honorable and we're not, now," Acronix held his hand out, "Give me their Realm Crystal."
"No!" Lloyd shouted, struggling even harder. Wu paused for a few moments, looking back towards Acronix. Krux walked over to join his brother, his blade pointing at Wu and waving at him. A smirk from both of them made Wu turn back around.
"Forgive me… please," Wu muttered, "I cannot lose another student."
Lloyd shouted, but Wu bent down, reaching into Lloyd's pocket. From it, the green Realm Crystal emerged. Wu held it in his hand, slowly turning it back and forth to see its full shape. Not a few seconds after he had it, however, he walked over and planted it firmly in Acronix's hands.
"So, our little theory was correct…" Acronix passed the Crystal to Krux, "You should really thank Harumi for her universe having such amazing resources for all sorts of questions. For example, 'how could one travel universes?' Speaking of her…"
From the treeline, multiple Rhotate fired off, but this time without the strange black lightning. Krux fired his reversal blade to negate them, then raised his arm. Harumi shot out from the treeline, green power sparking in her grasp. A shadow fell across her, however, as the arm of the Iron Doom slammed down. The fist snapped several trees apart, felling them right in her path. Harumi managed to fire a burst of green power to throw herself out of the way, but as soon as she landed, Zane had thrown a shuriken into the ground beside her hip, rapidly freezing her to the ground.
"Harumi!" Lloyd shouted, struggling once more. This only made the Twins laugh.
"Oh wait!" Acronix grinned, "We're not done yet!"
Krux moved his hand to reach into his own pocket. As soon as he did, he drew out something more. Another Realm Crystal sat in his hand, one that was blue. The elder twin held both crysatls in his hands, making sure all three of the travelers could see them. It had to be the crystal of this universe. Lloyd's blood ran cold as soon as he realized what that meant.
"Thank you for weakening the defenses at their vault… Monty, I believe it was. Now, Lloyd, perhaps you should see that your actions have consequences!" Krux raised the crystals overhead, kicking away snow until he saw dirt underneath "Consequences that affect more than you! Know that whatever happens here today is nothing compared to what will happen now that you have interfered! And it is not us who will not follow you, but you who will never see us again!'
With that, Krux threw the crystals down onto the ground. Both shattered on impact, releasing a massive burst of blue-green riddled energy that sparked out across the ground. Lloyd's eyes widened as it did so, the energy previously inside crackling and slowly fading away as the shards turned into nothing more than glass.
"NO!" Lloyd shouted, trying with all his power to worm his way free. Krux and Acornix simply smiled at them. Lloyd watched those little shards dance about on the snow, slowly mingling along with them just like his hope of ever getting home. Lulloyd's eyes were widened, his mouth hanging open as he processed what had just come to pass.
The sound of Wu's staff hitting the ground brought their attention back to the present, "You have what you came here for. Now, release Morro!"
"Morro?" Harumi shouted, barely hearing them over her shock, "What about Morro?!"
"Oh… you want your little student back?" Krux smirked, "Why, we'll go get him for you. Yes, in fact, we'll let them all see why you all have acted so out of character even!"
Both brothers signaled to the Iron Doom, which caused the snakes on their necks to writhe as the entire machine slowly bent forward. It seemed to lean forward on its own stomach, bringing the viewport down towards the ground. For a few moments, the viewport was nothing more than two chairs and a dark interior, framed by the broken shards still blowing in the snow in front of Lloyd and Lulloyd's faces.
Then, the plates in the floor began to slide apart. A mass of snakes, all slithering and floundering atop one another, began to rise from the floor. The mass dripped snakes onto the floor that would slowly rejoin the horde, making the pile appear bigger and bigger. Once it was several feet in the air, snakes in the front rapidly began to slither aside, and what it showed made Lloyd and Harumi gasp.
Morro, the green ninja, was currently suspended amongst the snakes. Snakes all along his body had their fangs sunk into him, leaving his clothing in taters. His eyes were shut and his body was limp, yet his hands were pulsing with green power. The energy seemed to flow like a conduit through the snakes, going deeper into the machine around him. Veins not unlike those the Twins sported on their necks were now crisscrossing whatever surface they could see.
"Morro…" Wu raised his staff, "Return him to me, return him at once!"
"Actually…" Krux snickered, "I think our deal has changed."
"There was no deal!" Wu shouted, "Morro was to be returned to us if we obtained you their Realm Crystal, and we have! There is no reason for him to die!"
"Oh, but you see… you did give us the Crystal, but our timetable has changed," Acronix continued, "You were a fool to think we would ever hold our end of the bargain."
The twins began to walk away. Panic shot through Lloyd's body. He turned his head, trying to see where Jay was behind wasn't paying attention, looking way in shame. That meant his chi wasn't on guard.. He barely managed to turn his head to Lulloyd, who had his gaze trained on the Iron Doom. The Twins climbed their way up into the viewport once more, turning back around to face those on the ground.
"KRUX!" Wu shouted, "You're no better than you were before! Give me back my student!"
"Oh… but you see, I think you're forgetting something, old man," Acronix slotted his forward blade back into the dial under the viewport, "What was it we used to say?"
"Control time, control everything?" Krux shook his head, "That's a bit too vague now, don't you think?"
"I think so, brother, I do," Acronix reached down, "I say… Control the Universe, Control Everything!"
With that, the dial spun and Acronix shot his hand down. A tinged blue glow shot from the Iron doom's dial, and suddenly the entire battlefield was enveloped within its blue blur. Wu's staff had barely begun to raise before it was reduced to a snail's pace, his body beginning to turn. Krux slid his forward blade back into its slot and climbed into his seat, gesturing for his brother to follow. Acronix slid into his seat, smirked and reached over, tapping Morro's chin.
"All good, battery?" Acronix smirked, reaching out to tap the panel in front of him, "Don't worry, we're keeping you alive and healthy. After all, elemental powers are at their strongest when you're at your peak!" Acronix raised his hand, "Not that you'll see it, though."
Acronix lowered his hand, and the entire mass of snakes dragged Morro's limp body back down into the Iron Doom. As soon as the tiles were back in place, a green glow emanated from between its cracks. The Iron Doom slowly bent forward, raising itself upright. The hand struck the area behind Harumi, breaking the ice and sending her into the bubble of slow-mo. As soon as she entered it, her body began to float through the air as though she was underwater slowly sinking to the bottom.
"Goodbye, ninja!" Krux sneered, "This world is similar enough to your own you should be happy here! So happy you'll never leave!" Large beams began to form around the Iron Doom and be sucked into the air, "Let us hope this is the last time we'll ever see each other again!"
As the Iron Doom rose up within the air, the blue bubble began to flicker and fade. Within seconds, the entire effect wore off as the Iron Doom was now fully airborne. Harumi completed her arc, rolling across the snow. She took one look at Jay, then the chi, and fired two bursts of green power into her hands. One struck Jay and the other Zane. Both ninja went onto theri backs as the lines faded. Lloyd concentrated, sending as much green power into his hands as he could. The power concentrated through the numbing hands until it burst, breaking apart the ice. Another burst of power from his broke apart Lulloyd's hands.
"I'm not letting you get away again!" Lloyd brought his hands together with a flash, his elemental dragon forming under him again. Lulloyd raced forward, leaping up onto it wordlessly. Harumi moved to form her own dragon, but Cole threw himself towards Lloyd to stop them. Harumi, thinking fast, tackled him to the ground.
The Iron Doom bellowed as its speed began to accelerate within the air. Lloyd's dragon flapped hard, bringing itself up into the skies to try to catch up to it. Once the Iron Doom was gone, they had no way of following it. Lloyd had to make it on now, he had to or else never make it on another place again. Harumi looked up towards them with fear in her eyes before Cole had pushed her off. As she landed, she tried to form her dragon, but her power was all but exhausted now.
The mechanical monstrosity looked down towards the dragon soaring towards it, raising its sword and sending it through the skies. Lloyd thrust his dragon to the side, the world spinning into a corkscrew as he barreled past it. A snap of his reins translated the momentum across the dragon's wings, making it shoot up into the sky above the blade. Lulloyd turned back towards the blade and eyed it nervously before the wind thrust him back into the saddle.
Lloyd leaned forward. The Iron Doom was rising. The portal was above it again and it was readying itself. They were hijacking this universe's green ninja to do so. His heart pounded. The sword from the Iron Doom raised again. Lloyd saw it too late, forcing him to arc away to avoid it. The lights around the Iron Doom were growing stronger. He had to get aboard.
"It's getting away!" Lulloyd shouted. Lloyd turned his dragon again. The Iron Doom had turned to face him, its eye glaring upon them. The mech began to glow. It was about to leave.
"NINJAGO!" Lloyd shouted, sending his dragon forward. The beast beat its wings as hard as it could, sending both of them flattened to its back simply to stay upon it. The massive swords came towards them once again, and the dragon snapped its body hard side to side to avoid tis strikes. The viewport came into view, and Lloyd leapt from his dragon, Lulloyd in hand.
The Iron Doom disappeared.
Within a second, the mech had vanished from the air. Lloyd's mind immediately panicked, sending him into a free fall still clinging to Lulloyd. His mind rapidly tried to form his dragon again, but the sudden lack of anything under him forced his entire body to panic. That panic prevented him from his dragon, and the ground under them began that much closer.
"AAAHHHHHHH!" Lulloyd twisted his head towards the trees, but they were coming in too fast. Both of them knew at this speed they would likely hurt themselves trying. Lloyd tried again to spark up his dragon. Nothing worked.
A roar suddenly caught their attention. A golden glow formed around their body as a long, serpentine golden dragon twisted around both of them. The beast was small compared to any dragon Lloyd had ever seen, and from the strange aura it gave off, he knew immediately it must be chi. His eyes shot down to see Wu with his staff pointed towards them and sweat at his brow. The chi dragon began to circle down towards the ground, carrying them to safety. Both green ninja landed upon their feet in the snow.
A burst of wind caused the group to look towards where Monty was pinned. Water had splattered out in all directions around him, and he had Nya pinned to the ground with one hand. He looked down at her with narrowed eyes before slowly sitting up, reaching out to draw the SoS and hold it to her chin. Nya raised her arms in surrender.
Harumi stumbled over towards the group. With her element, Rhotate and energy now depleted, she looked worse for wear. The other ninja slowly made their way towards Wu, who had his head bowed in shame. No one could speak, for no one had any words to say. Lloyd and Lulloyd looked at the snow with thousand yard stares for a long while.
"We… we're sorry for deceiving you," Zane finally attempted to speak, then turned his head in shame, "Our friend was in danger, and the Twins, they showed they could kill him without a single world. We… we had to do what they said."
"Where are they?" Kai followed up, "Where'd they go?"
"They… they left," Harumi groaned, taking another shaky step forward, "They're, gone. They're off to another universe."
"Another universe?" Monty stepped forward, his gaze focused half on Harumi and half on Nya, "You're serious?"
"Yeah…" Lloyd looked towards the glistening shards on the ground, "...and those crystals were the only way we could follow them…"
Lulloyd turned to him with a pleading and questioning gaze. Lloyd nodded his head, "It… it means we're trapped here. We're… stuck here, permanently."
The frigid winds of the Birchwood Forest chilled those that didn't feel the weight of his words. As the snow around them blew against them, so to did the dread of what Lloyd's words meant. The howling of the forest seemed to carry upon it the terror of his words, and the laughter of those that had left them behind.
This chapter went through at least 7 hours of revisions. With it, we have reached the conclusion of the first arc of Ninjaverse! This is an important note, so PLEASE READ!
This marks the beginning of the First Hiatus of Ninjaverse. I write my chapters in their arcs; when I finish one arc, or get close enough to finishing it, I'll post it. As of writing this, I am on Chapter 29. I post by getting a backlog of chapters, then editing them before doing a brief read over each week to post them. It allows me to be consistent, and have chapters to fall back on if I can't write for a time. This hiatus was planned from the beginning of plotting out the story, and I will plan many more along the length.
This doesn't mean I won't be posting Ninjaverse content! From the beginning, I have planned a side story called Enter the Ninjaverse: Universal Deviations! These will be chapters that focus on one of the leads of Ninjaverse: Lulloyd, Monty, Harumi, and others to come. They aren't required reading, but are more so bits of their past I couldn't fit into the main story in a natural way. The chapters take place before Ninjaverse timeline-wise and will get updated during the story hiatuses. If you want to read more Ninjaverse, that will be your place to do it! The first few chapters will begin going up next week.
I can't say thank you enough to all my dedicated readers. Ninjaverse is a passion project of mine that I've worked on extensively. The fact that so many people continue to read it is a wonderful thing to see. I love reading the comments you all leave, and to everyone that has left a comment, kudo, review, or rating, thank you so much. I intend to keep this story going for a long time, and in that time, I hope all of you stick around to see where I take this story! Ninja-Go!