Alacr, with a loud growl, slashed his sword straight through a Vermillion. The warrior was bisected and went flying back into the trees. Meanwhile, Griffin sped through the group, the speed of the ball on the chain swinging cleaving apart heads and scattering snakes across the ground. The scattered snakes began to slowly make their way back to their component body, leaving them standing like dolls until their bodies reformed enough to begin swinging again.
"Speed Sword!" Alacr held his sword out and spun on one foot, causing his body to rapidly accelerate before he slammed the sword into the ground and knocked away several Vermillion, "AceelStrike!"
"Tempo turnaround!" Griffin wrapped the end of his chain around one warrior, then yanked backwards. The warrior was spun like a top, flying straight into another and breaking them both apart.
"Do they both name their attacks like that?" Ray grunted, bringing down another volley of lightning to warriors around him.
"I-I think it might be a family thing…" Dorian gasped out, holding several arrows in the sky under slowed time, "N-Naming your attacks is important!"
The rock shelf the group were fighting under rumbled havily. Dust spilled down from the roof above them, causing Dorian and Ray to share a nervous look. When the rock didn't collapse, they both took a sigh of relief and went back to fighting the group. The two caught a brief sight of Skylar lifting up a metal arm, having just struck the ground to try to destroy Machia.
"S-She's too powerful to name all her attacks," Dorian mumbled, "L-Lucky."
The 'lucky' girl atop the rocks was anything but. Machia held her foot up and caught Skylar's arm with it, then yanked her foot to the side to stomp Skylar's left arm into the ground. As Skylar hissed in pain, Machia attempted to grab her neck. Skylar's other hand grabbed Machia's wrist and deflected the grab to her shoulder. Skylar's hand then heated up with fire, paying back the pain she felt. Both let go and took several steps back to save each other.
"Why are you so hard to kill?!" Skylar growled out, slamming her foot down onto the ground to draw up rocks for her to punt at Machia.
Machia's snakes in her feet shot out to wrap around the rocks as she brought her arms up to guard herself. The first two rocks she dodged, but the third hit home. The rock shattered upon impact with her arms, causing the metal to cave in. The gauntlets on the other side burst open from the pressure, and both fell off. Machia's snakes brought her back to standing, and Skylar now saw the extent to Machia's body.
"Because," Machia opened her ams, showing the snakes slithering and tensing around each other, almost like muscle flailing and undulating in the arm between her armored hands and upper arms, "We will consume all those weaker than us!"
Skylar, horrified at the sight, channeled that disgust into her next attack. She ran forward, then leapt into the air and began to spin her body to add power to her kick. Her foot filled up with water, which, when she struck Machia, burst out onto her face. Machia didn't move, but the water instantly froze over into a chunk of ice on her head. Skylar, sensing her victory, leapt up on one foot to deliver another spin kick to shatter the ice and break Machia's head.
Suddenly, Machia's left glove burst out and a massive cone of snakes shot out from her. Skylar's eyes widened as the snakes shot up and onto her face, smothering the flesh and making her stumble back. Machia's stump of an arm reached out with more of her snakes, her right arm growing limp, connecting with the mass on Skylar's face and driving her to the ground. Machia, her arm looking like it's grown to suck Skylar's face off, writhed.
A single snake from under Machia's armor moved and, with its fangs, picked away at the ice until it weakened. With a shake of her head, it fell away. Machia's eyes were wild with delight as Skylar struggled beneath her. The snakes smothered her, their fangs going for her face and lighting terror in her as she saw some going for her eyes.
Without thinking, Skylar shrieked. She mimicked sound in that moment, causing her mouth to carry with it a sonic force. The rumbling and vibrations overpowered the snakes inside Machia, and her sucker-arm burst apart. Snakes scattered about the rocks as Machia backed away, almost looked like her arm had been blown clean off. She looked down at the stump on her arm in momentary shock, the few snakes still connected to the shoulder writhing as if in pain.
Skylar thrust herself onto her hands and knees, gasping out as she tried to rid herself of the feeling of those snakes' slimy bodies on her face. She spat, rubbing her face viscously. The sensation didn't go away, and that only made her rub harder. While Skylar stressed out, the snakes began to move back to Machia and slither into her legs, gradually 'growing back' her arm. Machia's shock began to gradually fade as her body started returning to normal.
"If that is all it takes for you to be rattled," Machia smirked, "Then you stand no chance against me."
"Don't worry…" Skylar forced herself to stand up, "I'm just, getting started. I'll tire you out eventually."
"Tired? That is the strength of the Vermillion; we never tire, and we never falter," Machia laughed, "You can fight only as long as your muscles last. We will devour what we need and keep going. Each one of you that falls will fuel us. We have gotten a taste for your flesh, and now we hunger for me. You will never- Do not speak about the plan that way, you IDIOT!"
Skylar, having readied another kick, paused. The general put both hands to her head, for a moment looking like what Neuro did to focus, but soon devolving into her rubbing at where her temples would be. Skylar took a step back, unsure what was going on with Machia.
"A surprise strategy is nothing more than a simple plan if you shout it for the world to hear!" Machia hissed quietly, "...I do what I have to in order to manage you two buffons. Did you manage to capture any of the leaders? ...You failed. It seems even Blunck is having more success than you! Ugh, I should have thought of this. Go support Blunck so we can have as many to take back to the supreme leaders as possible."
"I didn't realize you were crazy on top of being evil…" Skylar scoffed, "You're just one big messed up pile of snakes, aren't you?"
Machia continued with a dark slant to her tone, "Do not be followed. We cannot allow our position to be revealed. When you've finished there, divert all your warriors you do not need to the staging point. We will crush that symbol of their 'union' in one fell swoop. ...Are you dense enough not to use the hive mind to find where they are? Follow them you ignorant waste of snakes!"
"Symbol of their union..?" Skylar muttered, "What are you… you… talking… about…?"
Machia, finally taking her hands away and looking to Skylar again, noticed the slant in the girl's words. Machia put that calm smile back on her face and moved forward, placing her hands behind her back. When she stopped, she picked up the top half of her battle axe long since broken, hefting the thing in hand and deciding it was good to use.
"I had intended to use this later on, but it seems you are smart enough to figure this out," Machia turned to Skylar, "Right now, while you all think you were being oh so clever, your precious little Summit is being torn down. By nightfall it will be nothing more than ash. It's so easy to move forces when you scare every single person into their villages with just a few little burnings."
"You're… you're going after the Summit…?" Skylar's eyes narrowed, "You're not serious."
"What reason would I have to lie?" Machia ran her hand along her axe, "Right now we've battled to a stalemate. Even you, who has the power of so many, cannot truly defeat me. It seems I cannot defeat you either, however. It's almost as though you're holding back on your elements, even when you were so very angered to see me… I think I know why."
"I'm not listening!" Skylar growled, thrusting her fist forward and sending an arc of lightning forward into Machia's head. Machia let her axe take the brunt of the shock, though her body still rattled and smoked from the impact.
"You clearly know nothing about us Vermillion," Machia sighed, "I've seen this tactic before. All I did while I awaited my duties was to study the battles that had come before. Your actions were too suspicious. I believe you think you can force us to retreat, and then find where our main force is, yes?"
Skylar felt rage flaring up inside of her again. She moved to attack Machia, but the Vermillion blocked with her axe. Skylar pulled a move from Mage and lit her body up like a flashbang. Machia was stunned, and Skylar managed to throw her backwards. Machia rolled across the rocks, gasping out as she struck a rock and dented her back
"I haven't been holding back…" Skylar opened her hands, letting crackling lightning flow through them, "I've just hated you so much I haven't been able to focus properly. You're doing wonders in clearing my head."
"Then… perhaps you should realize this fight is pointless for you," Machia purred out even as she staggered up, "You could win, yes… but by the time you do, you will have lost. Your Summit is your symbol for this land. Do you think any tribe would support you, if they saw their precious peace be razed down?"
"You're just saying that cause you know I can end you right now!" Skylar thrust one of her hands out, causing the lightning to go right into Machia. This time, Machia did visibly shake and go down on one knee. Skylar knew it wasn't long before Machia was down for the count. These Vermillion may not tire, but they could be in pain.
"You can think what you want, but the point remains clear," Machia's eyes glared into Skylar's own, "Your revenge on me will do nothing for you. In fact, this will only make you know that you could have saved all of those people in that precious, silly place you call your union in. How much time do you have before it's all gone, Skylar? How much time do you have before what that little boy that saved you worked so hard to build crumbles around him… just like the world did for you?"
"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!" Skylar went in to try to electrocute Machia again, but she heard a sound. She turned around to see five Vermillion warriors had climbed up the rocks and were moving in on her. Skylar shot her angry glare back to Machia, who just gave her a deep grin as her eyes glowed red.
Skylar flung herself to Machia again, her anger having built back up. She was stopped halfway by two warriors leaping out to grab her and yank her backwards. Skylar turned to smoke and appeared behind them, panting heavily as she threw them aside. She moved to attack Machia again, but the warriors kept coming. Machia joined them, attacking Skylar with her axe. With all of them on her, Skylar didn't have time to focus an element to mimic and fight back.
Suddenly, there was a white flash. Alacr appeared in front of Skylar, catching Machia's axe on his sword. He let out a long snarl, then a shout of determination as he slung her back. He swung several more times, putting Machia on a calm defense. He immediately put his back to Skylar, panting heavily. Skylar could see he was covered in cuts and bleeding enough his normally pristine robes were covered in red.
"I heard what she said," Alacr panted, "You… you need to go, Skylar…"
"Not until I take care of that Machia…" Skylar snarled, pointing her finger towards the smug commander, "She needs to pay for what she's done!"
"Idiot!" Alacr growled at her, "She's just wasting your time! She wants to keep us here as long as possible to stall!"
"What?" Skylar shook her head, "She's lying, she couldn't be!"
"You think it's chance that Machia showed up to this one tribe, in this one place, right now?!" Alacr shouted and threw a Vermillion back with a speed strike, "This was all a setup! The attacks, attacking Acronix, this was all to draw us away from the Summit! Right now, you're the only one that can get there in time with your elemental power!"
Skylar shook her head, "No! I need to stay here and fight with you, and fight until she's taken down! I can't leave you!"
"We were fine without you before," Alacr growled, "We'll be fine without you again! Go! Now! Get back to the Summit! There's a speed car system in the Water Tribe! GO!"
Skylar looked to Machia, who smirked at her. Skylar wanted her revenge. She wanted to pay her back. She wanted to take her down, wanted to make her feel all the pain she'd felt, make her suffer for what she did.
On the other hand. She needed to save people. She could be the only one that knew about the Summit. She was the only one that could make it to the speed cars alone in time. She had to do this. She had to save them. Even… even if it meant… putting her anger on hold.
"I'll be coming back for you!" Skylar shouted at Machia, "You better be ready when I do!"
"I'll make sure I remember your face," Machia bowed her head, her smile still present, "Safe travels then, daughter of Chen."
Skylar wanted to say something, but Alacr's determined glare forced her to focus.. With a shout of anger, Skylar burst into the sky with wind and then leapt off towards the distance. She bound her way through the trees mimicking gravity, forcing down her anger with each leap. Alacr watched her go, then turned to Machia. The Vermillion was grinning.
"Thank you for your help convincing her," Machia raised her head, "For that… I believe I'll take you all alive. I could use some leverage for our future experiments."
The sounds of the battle raging in the jungles of the Nature Tribe was long lost to Skylar, including Alacr's screams of pain as Machia brought the force of her warriors to bear on the group.
Lulloyd's ears were ringing.
He didn't know why they were ringing, or why his body felt like something was pressing down on it. He was barely able to twist his head to the side so he could look around him. Dust and debris filled the air, so attempting to see what was around him seemed to be a bust. He coughed hard as he tried to push himself up, but whatever was pushing down on him was far stronger than he was.
Lulloyd knew he was in an outer hallway of the first floor of the Summit. He'd heard Monty going outside to go practice shooting again, and he'd had been going to find him. He'd gotten into the hallway, turned to see something in the window and… and now he was here, underneath a bunch of stuff. It looked like the walls, the more he looked.
"C-Come on…" Lulloyd coughed, "G-Gotta… gotta get… get up…!"
Struggling, Lulloyd tried to strike the things on top of him to cause them to turn to bricks. The angle he was pinned, however, made it impossible. He groaned hard and tried again, but the things wouldn't move. After a few pathetic strikes behind him with his hand to try to move it, he shut his eyes and leaned his head into the floor.
"H-Help!" Lulloyd shouted, "I-I'm pinned! I need help! Is someone there?!"
There was no sound from anywhere. Lulloyd tried to pull himself forward, but as the rubble on top of him shifted and caused more dust to flood the small pocket where he was laying, he coughed and quickly decided against it. He instead shouted again into what he assumed was left of the hallway.
"S-Someone, help me, please! I'm trapped!" Lulloyd tried to pull himself forward, "I can't move! Please, someone!"
Lulloyd stopped as he heard someone coming. He was able to just barely twist his head to see that someone was coming down the hallway. He was about to call out again, but that was when he saw that there were two, and both of them didn't look like any of the guards. In fact, they were red and gray.
Two Vermillion warriors slowly stalked down the hallway, looking around with their swords held up in the air. They looked the same as they had the last time Lulloyd saw them, but, having been months since he'd seen one, he felt his blood run cold knowing they were close. They slithered their way towards the rubble, looking for where the sound had come from. Looking for him.
Panicking, Lulloyd quickly tried to strike the rubble to move it once more. The action caused it this time to jostle, and the blue spark formed over it partially for a brief moment. Lulloyd struck it again, but nothing seemed to happen. The action alerted the two warriors, however, and they began to stalk slowly towards where Lulloyd remained pinned.
"S-Stop!" Lulloyd shouted, having already been found out. He frantically tried to push, strike, anything to the rubble so he'd be able to move, but nothing worked. The two Vermillion arrived at the gap that he was seeing through, starting to look down towards him.
Just before the two could see him, however, the two suddenly shouted as their bodies were thrust hard straight up into the air. Lulloyd blinked in confusion as they then suddenly went flying into the opposite wall, the force of impact enough to break them apart. The snakes gathered the armor up and slithered away, just as a guard rushed forward in front of the rubble.
"And stay away you demons!" The female guard spat, turning towards the rubble. Reaching her hand out, Lulloyd quickly gathered she must be from the Gravity Tribe from the elegant copper armor she wore. The rubble slowly began to lift up into the air and move away piece by piece. Soon enough, Lulloyd was able to slowly crawl his way out of the rubble, gasping as he rolled down and away from it. The guard let the rubble drop with a small rumble.
"Are you alright, sir?!" The guard helped him to his feet, holding onto his shoulders, "You… you're the first person I've managed, managed to find. This, the entire building is overrun and, I thought, thought you were all!"
Lulloyd stumbled about on his feet. The guard helped him stand straight. She was a very pretty girl, with an orangish-red hair that she had drawn into two tails behind her head fitted through her helmet. She was wearing plate armor painted with the eight pointed arrows of the Gravity Tribe on them. She was thin, small in proportions, and from the way her eyes darted about, terrified. She looked beaten up, confirming her words that the place had been attacked.
"The entire building…?" Lulloyd coughed out, "How… how long?"
"I… I don't know…" The guard shivered, "I'm, I came to, I was checking in one of the rooms. They, those things were already inside and… and then they were…" She stopped, trailing off and just whimpering instead, "T-They've already… k-killed…"
"They can't, they can't see me, or Monty, or, Lloyd, or Harumi," Lulloyd coughed over her, "If they, if they see us, the plan is ruined."
"The plan? The… the reason all those soldiers were here" The guard asked, holding Lulloyd up as best she could with one arm, the other holding a plain sword, "You're… y-you can't be worried about a plan when this is all!"
"I need, I need to get to the planning room," Lulloyd looked up, "That's where, the others will go, I'm sure. We… we have to get there, without me being seen. Or… Monty will kill me…"
"Sir… the entire building is overrun," The guard shook her head, "We should flee this place and regroup!"
"No!" Lulloyd shouted, causing the guard to flinch, "We, we can't just abandon this place! How many are there, have you seen?"
"There, there are at least a hundred, there are likely many more," The guard shuddered, "These gray pods burst open and, these snakes curled up inside of armor and swords it dropped. I, I watched one of them just… rise up from all of that. And then, then I fought my way out but I couldn't find the other guards, and I heard your voice and, and then…."
"Well, nobody is here right now, so, I guess we're not totally overrun," Lulloyd sighed, "We, we need to get up to the third floor, where the planning room is. If you're gravity, you could do what you did to those two guys and help us get up there."
"I'm, not that skilled with gravity," The guard admitted, "This, what you saw is the extent of my abilities. W-We should flee, those things, they don't look human. They'll capture us, and, they might kill us, or eat us, or-"
"What's your name?" Lulloyd asked suddenly.
"...I, my name is Adriana, but my friends call me Rina," Rina explained, "And, you are… Sir Lulloyd, yes?"
"Just Lulloyd," Lulloyd nodded, "Alright, well, Rina, we're going to get our way through this building, together. We're going to do this, together. Come on… just, help me up, and let's get going."
Lulloyd took a single step forward, and then fell flat on his face. He let out a long groan and tried to see what had tripped him. Rina, however, gasped and put a hand over her mouth.
"What?" Lulloyd asked, only to look down. His right leg had come off, and was currently standing straight up in the rubble where he'd stood. The guard stared at it and pointed to it in complete shock.
"I-I… I know basic medical skills!" Rina gagged out, "I… oh... I'll… I'll help you… hhluck…"
Lulloyd grabbed the leg and moved up against the wall. With a simple shove of his body, his leg popped back into place. He slowly stood up using the wall and gave his foot a few rotations to see it was okay. As the guard stared at him in total shock, Lulloyd smiled gently.
"Uh… I uh, would have to lose my head to worry about things like that," Lulloyd chuckled, "The rest of my body can kinda come apart like that. It's not good for me, though," He turned to her, "... It, uh, it kinda, grossed me out the first time too. Let's get moving, we need to at least get started."
Rina didn't say anything. Instead, she simply walked forward, stunned, as Lulloyd took point and made his way to the edge of the hallway. Since they were on the outermost hallway, one of the hallways that led to the main meeting room was near them. He placed himself at the edge of the hallway entrance and slowly leaned his body over to see over the lip. Just as he thought, there were three Vermillion slithering their way down the hall.
"I need you to take those three out and make them retreat," Lulloyd pulled himself back, "I don't know how, but I need you to. If they see me, it's over."
Rina gave Lulloyd one last nervous look, then steeled herself as best she could. She gripped her sword and leapt out in front of the hallway, grabbing the attention of the warriors. She thrust her hand out, grabbing the three of them with her elemental power and throwing them straight up into the air. They struck the ceiling and their heads were sent caving into their chests. Rina' chest heaved from the exertion as she let them drop and they broke apart, slithering away as she swiped their armor away with her sword.
"Okay, let's move," Lulloyd looked around the hallway, seeing an open door. When he opened it, he saw one of the guest rooms had been completely ransacked. Thinking quickly, he took hold of the bedsheet that lay torn in half and wrapped it around his body as best he could. It wasn't much, but it meant if he was accidently spotted, it wouldn't be an immediate giveaway. Once he was ready, he took point and began to lead Rina throughout the building.
Just as Rina had said, the hallway was crawling with Vermillion. After the three they had encountered, Lulloyd soon found that any corner the hallway had would contain at least four more. They seemed to be stalking through to find anyone still inside the building, making avoiding them difficult. With how much Rina was shaking, Lulloyd wasn't willing to get them involved in a much larger conflict.
Thus, Lulloyd instead opted to slide in and out of doors to hide in rooms to let the Vermillion pass. After they arrived at the small stretch of hallway that led to the main meeting room, Lulloyd ducked into one room with Rina. The hallway was absolutely crawling with Vermillion, at least twenty of them, and perhaps even more nearby. The two slowly inhaled and tried their best to remain calm as Lulloyd thought.
"Okay, I'm, gonna try to Master Build the ceiling, okay?" Lulloyd pointed up, "Just, take a few steps back, alright? I got this."
Rina wasn't sure what he was saying, but stepped back just as Lulloyd asked. Lulloyd slowly inhaled and leapt up into the air, striking the ceiling with his fist. The blue spark formed, but the ceiling didn't turn into bricks. Lulloyd blinked in confusion and struck it again, confused as he turned to Rina.
"What is the ceiling made of?" Lulloyd asked.
"What?" Rina blinked, "It's, I think it's, rock? We get them from the Earth Tribe. Maybe metal?"
"Uh, let me be more specific," Lulloyd shook his head, "How many pieces is the roof made of?"
"Pieces?" Rina cocked her head, "It's, all one big piece. I helped lay it down. It's all just one big giant slab, why?"
"That's… a problem…" Lulloyd grimaced, "I, can only Master Build stuff in pieces. I, was hoping to get close to the center of the building and then go up through the ceiling…"
"Oh," Rina turned, "We, can't stay long, there are those, Vermillion everywhere. Could… we try for the stairs?"
"We might have to," Lulloyd turned, "Alright, the nearest stairwell is, near here, right? We just need to get to the stairwell. That's our plan, you following me, Rina?"
"Y-Yes," Rina turned, "It's, just down the hall. Right… behind all those Vermillion."
"Yeahhhh…" Lulloyd turned, "...Alright, let's try for one that's a little further out, right? There are three of them, I think. We have two more we can get to. Come on, let's see if…"
Lulloyd poked his head out the door, looking back the way they came. The second he did, he felt a long twang of fear. The Vermillion had dispersed out, filling the way they had come and kept them almost completely blocked off. Lulloyd tried to look for another way, but the only other hallway branch was already behind the Vermillion. Just outside the door, they were in the middle of a massive swarm of Vermillion.
"...Okay, so, we can't go back…" Lulloyd turned to Rina, "And, if we try for the stairwell that's further away we might get caught… we're… gonna have to go for the one that's down the hall."
"W-What?" Rina took a step back, "N-No, no no no, we're not doing that! Sir, I don't, Lulloyd, we'll get captured! They'll see us! We should just stay here, the rest of the guard will, they'll get here eventually!"
"I don't think so…" Lulloyd turned to her, "Think about it; the Vermillion likely invaded the bottom floor, so all the guards are probably up on the third floor. So, we can't hope for them to just, come get us. I, really don't wanna but, we're gonna have to do this ourselves."
"L-Lulloyd, I'm just a guard, I can't fight all of those things!" Rina shook her head, "I… you, you might make it, I saw you during the training sessions. You're fast, they won't catch you. You, you go. I'll, I'll stay here. I'll be fine. I'll…"
"Rina!" Lulloyd raised his voice, only to lower it quickly in fear of being heard, "I'm not, I'm not gonna leave you behind. I told you, we're getting out of here together. Together. Now… let me think for a minute, okay?"
Rina nervously gripped her sword, steadying herself. Lulloyd slowly peered out the door again. The Vermillion were in the hallway, and they were all looking around almost aimlessly. They didn't look very smart, but they were more animalistic to make up for it. It meant that they were likely going to be just, looking around. And, if they tried to go through them, they'd be completely caught. But, if they couldn't go through them, what way could they go…?
"Over them…" Lulloyd realized, "Rina, can, you use your power so we can remain on the ceiling?"
"Huh?" Rina looked around the broken room, "Maybe? Not for very long."
"The Vermillion, they're all just kinda, dumb snakes," Lulloyd pointed up with his arm, "If, if we use your power and float above them, quietly, we can make it to the stairwell. We can do this. Rina, I need you to levitate us onto the ceiling. I'll make a noise, and the Vermillion will rush in here. We can slip out while they're distracted."
"That's, that's just crazy, Lulloyd!" Rina gasped, "No, no we should just, we should stay here!"
"Rina, please, I need you right now," Lulloyd stepped forward, "I can't get back to my friends without you. If we stay here, we're going to be found eventually. We have to get somewhere safe. I'm sure we'll be safe on the third floor. I need you to listen to me…" Seeing that Rina's terror wasn't fading, Lulloyd thought more.
"Uhm… hey, Rina? I want you, to think of me as… as a warlord, okay?" Lulloyd felt his body quaking with embarrassment, "Not, not a sir but… I'm your warlord right now."
"A… A warlord?" Rina blinked, "Uhm… sure…"
"Right now, I'm a warlord, and you're my General Number One," Lulloyd reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, "Now, as my General Number One, you have to listen to me. I need you to trust me that as your warlord, I wouldn't do anything that would get you hurt. I need you behind me. The battle, it's gonna happen. We're behind enemy lines and we gotta get back to the staging point. Now, you're my general, got it?"
"S-Sure?" Rina affirmed in shocked confusion.
"You're warlord is going to keep you safe," Lulloyd patted her shoulder with a shaking arm, "Now, I want you to follow me, alright? I wouldn't pick just any random person as my general. I picked you. You, someone that can manipulate gravity! Do you know how cool that is? You can make someone fly around the room like, like some sort of plane! Now, come on, it's time to obey your orders, and help us get out of here!"
"I...I'm your general…" Rina inhaled, "I'm, I'm your general. And, I'm going to get my warlord back to safety…" Rina straightened her back up, "Alright, Lulloyd, I'll trust your judgement. Let's, let's do this."
Rina stamped her foot on the floor. In an instant, both she and Lulloyd were completely weightless. The two slowly floated up into the air, gently bumping against the ceiling. Lulloyd felt like some sort of balloon. It reminded him of the movies he'd seen with astronauts. Rina sheathed her sword so as not to have it moving around, then gave Lulloyd another nod.
Lulloyd focused, then he floated his way towards one of the walls. He swiped his sword out, knocking over a small figurine atop a table. The figurine hit the ground and burst into glass, sending a massive sound throughout the room. Lulloyd crawled back to Rina just in time for the door to burst open and five Vermillion to flood the room. The snakes spread out throughout the room, looking around and hissing hard as they searched for the source of the noise. The two floating figures held their breath as they watched them stalk around, swords in the air.
As soon as they had dispersed out enough, Lulloyd grabbed the lip of the opened doorway and pulled himself through it. Rina followed him slowly, holding onto his leg with one hand and using the other to push her along. The two were almost swimming in the air, and once they were out in the hallway, they rose a few inches until they were bumping against the ceiling once more. The stairwell entrance was around a corner down the hallway. That was where they had to go.
It seemed there were even more Vermillion underneath them now than Lulloyd had accounted for. Rina began to sweat both from the exertion of her element and the soldiers that were hissing just a few feet underneath them. Lulloyd didn't waste time, slowly pawing his way across the ceiling. The two made sure to skirt the lights so as not to cast a shadow down on the floor under them. The soldiers milled out and marched down the hallway, oblivious for now. The fact that they could suddenly be very aware of the two in an instant, however kept them both breathing very, very quietly.
The entry to the stairwell was a good thirty feet down the hallway. With how slowly they were moving, however, it took them nearly a minute to get there. One of the hallway junctions housed the door just on the inside of it, making it impossible to even see the entrance. Lulloyd slowly inched his way there with Rina beside him. The longer that they floated, the more Rina trembled from the stamina needed to maintain this. She dare not let either of them fall.
Soon, the two rounded the corner. As soon as they did. Lulloyd's mood fell even further than it already had. The door was shut, and in front of the door were three Vermillion that were looking around as though waiting for orders. The door didn't appear to be locked, but opening it would cause a noise. Rina looked to Lulloyd in fear as soon as she realized it, and Lulloyd gave her a plain look back. He knew if she panicked, they'd be done for.
The door had a simple push handle on it, meaning that he simply needed to push down to make it open. A plan slowly formed in his head. He pointed to the opposite wall from the door, and Rina nervously floated over towards it. Lulloyd slowly floated until he was directly over the door, looking straight down. He could see the small edge of the door handle he needed to open. With a deep quiet breath, he drew his sword and gripped the lip of the door frame with one hand to pull himself down.
Reaching out with his sword, Lulloyd placed the tip over the door handle. It slipped on the first attempt, causing Rina to wince as she readied for the sword to make a noise. Lulloyd barely managed to save it, and instead he slowly pushed down with it once more to try to open the door. The point remained on the handle and, slowly, Lulloyd pushed down. With the hand holding onto the frame, he slipped the curve of his cup hand to hold onto the lip of the door.
Pushing down fully, the handle gave the tiny click that showed it had opened. Lulloyd inhaled and pulled with his other hand, opening the door inward just slightly. The three Vermillion seemed none the wiser. With precision Lulloyd knew a surgeon would approve of, he both held the sword point down and opened the door. Rina's brow began to quiver and sweat dripped down her arms from holding them up so far. Lulloyd pushed the door further and further open. Just as he felt it was open enough, he shot his sword up and wedged it between the door and frame.
Without any time to lose, the two of them quickly shot forward into the open door frame. Lulloyd went in first and pulled Rina inside through the slit they had opened. Once they were inside, Lulloyd slid his sword out and shot down to grab hold of the handle. He slowly closed the door as silently as he could. Rina continued to shake as she held them up. Once the door was closed, she forced the two of them to float down slowly. As they both touched the ground, Rina let out an instinctual large gasp for air.
Almost immediately, the Vermillion outside the door hissed and turned towards it. Lulloyd pressed his body hard against the door, holding it shut as the Vermillion began to pound against it. Rina's eyes lit up in shame and shock as she looked to the stairs behind her. Lulloyd held the door shut as the sound of the warriors pounding on it made the door jerk slightly open before he could force it closed.
"Go!" Lulloyd shouted, "Get up there! I can move faster than you can! GO!"
Rina looked at Lulloyd for a few seconds, then to the door that was getting increasingly louder with more and more Vermillion pilling onto it. After a few moments, Rina quickly rushed up the stairs. Lulloyd held his back against the door, digging his feet into the ground. The smooth floor, however, afforded him little purchase. He slammed himself against it again, trying to hold it back as much as he could. The hissing and snarling only grew harder and harder.
Finally, a massive shove sent Lulloyd flying. His back struck directly into the stairs, sending a massive burst of star wands into his vision. He collapsed, his makeshift cloak draping over his face. Vermillion rushed into the small room, pointing their blades directly at him. Lulloyd slowly looked up, trying to reach for his sword. The blade, however, had already flown across the room from the impact. With a wince, he shut his eyes and turned his head away as they raised their blades.
A massive shout above Lulloyd made his eyes open. Rina screamed in exertion as an entire chunk of stairs was sent hurtling straight down towards the entrance. The Vermillion were unable to move before the stairs landed directly atop them with a massive crash. The snakes were crushed underneath them, hissing in pain before being squashed. Lulloyd looked up just in time to see Rina land in front of him and grab his arm.
The two shot straight up into the air, floating past the now ripped apart stairs up until they had reached the third floor. Rina landed them directly on the small platform and then pushed them both through the door. She shut it behind them, then collapsed down onto the floor. Lulloyd slowly turned to her and looked back to the shut door.
"You… you used your gravity to rip part of the stairs off..?" Lulloyed asked, "You… you saved me…"
"Of… of course I did…" Rina gasped, "A...A general wouldn't leave, their warlord behind… that's, that's how that works… right?"
"Heh… I uh, was saying that cause, you seemed pretty freaked out, you know…" Lulloyd rubbed his head, "I'm not actually, you know, your warlord."
"I don't care if you are or not," Rina slowly pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, Lulloyd seeing that all of that element usage had taken away most of her strength, "You, you were going to get hurt and, I wasn't going to let that happen, general or not…" She paused, "Did they, see you?"
"Huh? No, I don't think so…" Lulloyd reached up to tug on the sheets he had on, "They were covering my face. I dropped my sword, though…"
Rina didn't say anything; instead, she forced herself up onto her feet and opened the door back into the room. She looked over the edge and held her hand out, huffing as she focused. A few seconds later, his sword came floating up into her hand. She tossed it to him and smiled before stumbling backwards towards Lulloyd. He quickly moved to catch her.
"I think… that's my limit…" Rina coughed, "Come on, let's, get to your friends…"
Lulloyd nodded, letting her lean against him as they walked. The third floor hallway seemed to be relatively clear of anything, much to their relief. The two stumbled down the way towards where the war room was. After a bit of walking, they soon heard voices. Lulloyd helped Rina stay on her feet as he soon carried her to a group of similarly dressed guards.
"Lulloyd!" Harumi's voice came from the throng of guards, who quickly raced forward to grab hold of Lulloyd's arm, "Oh thank goodness you're okay! We were worried you might have been caught!"
"Almost," Lulloyd chuckled, "But, thanks to Rina, we managed to get here. She's pretty exhausted, though, are we safe up here?"
"For now," Harumi nodded her head, then turned to Rina, "Thank you for keeping him safe. We have the other wounded soldiers inside the other rooms, you can rest there."
"Thank you," Rina sighed, "I, want to help more but, I had to use my power to get up here and, I'm pretty exhausted from it."
"You got Lulloyd up here safe and sound, that's more important than anything else," Harumi affirmed, "Now just go rest, we'll handle it from here."
Lulloyd slowly carried Rina into one of the many rooms. He gently laid her down onto a bed, letting her rest. Rina gave a small smile, then reached out and gripped his arm. Lulloyd turned his hand to cup her wrist and give the same gesture. The two shared one last nod of mutual respect, before Lulloyd made his way to the planning room down the hall.
Unlike normal, there were perhaps thirty guards crammed into the small space, many lying down or leaned up against the wall. Monty was standing by the doorway with a rifle drawn and his gun bag on the floor beside him; Lulloyd doubted he'd ever let it disappear from his sight at this rate. Lloyd was at the planning table, looking around the room as though he was trying to make sense of what was going on.
"You're finally here," Monty groaned as Lulloyd entered, "Took you long enough. I was about to go looking for you"
"I, was pinned under a bunch of rubble on the first floor…" Lulloyd sighed to Monty, "I barely even made up here!"
"I knew you would," Monty turned around, "We're all accounted for. Did they see you?"
"No, I made sure they didn't," Lulloyd stepped forward, "Is… this as bad as it looks?"
"It's worse than bad," Lloyd shook his head, "They came out of nowhere and attacked us. They started throwing in pods into the building that let the Vermillion get us from the inside. We got as many guards as we could up here, but this entire place is overrun. We tried to get out but we didn't manage to get far."
"Wait, really?" Lulloyd blinked, "Why?"
"Because…" Harumi shook her head, "Krux is here."
"Wait, like, this universe's Krux? That Krux?" Lulloyd asked.
"Yes, Krux is here, Lloyd and I both saw him leading their forces," Monty growled, "And he had a Time Blade too. So it's clear he's working with the Twins more than ever."
"Wait, but, what do we do then?" Lulloyd looked around, "We, what are going to do?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out!" Lloyd shook his head, "It's, they must have guessed our plan to find their base! I don't know how they did! They… they must have attacked Acronix to scatter us, and hit us while we were like this."
"We can't worry about that right now," Harumi looked to the guards in the room, "We managed to have Acronix and a few guards escape on the speed cars, but they destroyed the lines right after. We can't use those to get out. And they're all around us. They've completely surrounded the building."
"We need to get out of here," Monty looked up, "We need some sort of distraction to get everyone out. Something like that."
"Like what?" Lulloyd blinked, "I'm, not following."
"Like us," Lloyd inhaled, "We… we'll just forget this whole plan. If we go out there the Vermillion will be sure to relay to the Twins we're here. We can cause enough comotion to get everyone out."
"Nope," Monty shot back, "Not doing that."
"What? Now isn't the time to be worrying about plans!" Lloyd stepped forward towards the door, "We can't let these people get hurt! You saw what the Vermillion did! Harumi saw it! They'll…" He trailed off. Harumi turned her head away at the painful memory.
"We can't give up," Monty growled, "You two made a plan. Stick to it."
"Not if it means that people who aren't involved get hurt!" Lloyd took another step forward, "I'm going, you can't stop me!"
"So you want to roll the dice again?" Monty walked up to Lloyd, "You want to just hope and pray that the next universe will let us get as far as we did here? Do you understand that you've been coasting on luck so far? You got lucky that Lulloyd's dad fought on your side, you got lucky you landed in my world, and right now, you're lucky that this world was already under so much distress they let you start enacting your plan. The next world may not be so lucky. We might end up in a world where the Twins have every advantage. We're in a tough spot right now, but that doesn't mean we can keep hoping that we get a good streak here. You don't gamble unless you think the odds are in your favor, you hear me?"
"I don't care!" Lloyd turned, "They need my help. I'm going to help them. Ninja never quit, and that means we don't quit trying to help people either!"
"...I agree with Monty," Harumi spoke up as she entered, staring at Lloyd dead on, "I hate to say it, but he has a point, Lloyd. You've been lucky with us so far. We need to follow this plan if we want to have a chance of taking them out."
"So, you're saying we just sit here and let everyone here get hurt?" Lloyd asked.
"No, I'm saying we need to listen to Monty and think about this before we make any decisions," Harumi turned to the other soldiers in the room, "We can figure this out. We have a choice to make: we can either wait for the leaders to come back or we can find a way to get everyone out ourselves. We have to make that choice."
"We don't know when the leaders will get back," Lulloyd pointed out, "I don't think it's a good idea to wait."
"Then we think of a way to get out," Harumi turned to Monty, "What options do we have?"
"What, you don't already have your brilliant escape plan, Emma?" Monty narrowed his eyes, "We could always set the place on fire."
"So we don't have any ideas," Harumi sighed, "Then we need to think of some. If you can't change your surroundings, change yourself."
"Now you sound like Wu," Lloyd sighed, "Okay, so, what do we do?"
If you can hear me, answer me.
"What? Skylar?" Lloyd blinked, "Am I the only one that heard that?"
I hope not, otherwise you're going to sound like a crazy person.
"Skylar!" Harumi sighed, "Wait, why are you here? Where are you?"
I'm inside the building. I fought Machia again. She let slip this place was under attack. My… my group told me to get back here and help. I'm mimicking Neuro right now to talk to you from the first floor here.
"Skylar," Monty perked up, "How many Vermillion do you see?"
More than you want to know. A whole army at least. Where are you?
"Third floor, trapped in the planning room," Lloyd spoke up, "Skylar, can you create a distraction for us?"
If by 'distraction,' you mean rushing in and blasting up this entire place, then sure. What are you thinking?
"The cafeteria is the place that's the most overrun," Monty took over, "Skylar, if you get in there and cause a ruckus, we can use the stairwell on the other side of the building to get all of these injured guards out of here. We just need you to keep them busy for about fifteen minutes. Can you do that?"
Already on it. You guys get ready. When you hear the explosion, you know I've started.
Radio silence from Skylar filled the room. Less than a minute later, the entire building rumbled as the sound of an explosion went off. Monty facepalmed and groaned, muttering something obscene to himself. Lulloyd gave him a long look for it.
"She's definitely Chen's daughter," Monty grumbled, "Alright, get everyone ready to move, we have fifteen minutes to get out! Come on, let's go!"
Skylar burst up into the air with wind, sending several warriors scattering about. As the Vermillion raised their swords and spat at her, Skylar pulled her right fist back and concentrated fire into it. With a shout, she slammed the fist down into the floor, causing a massive burst of flame to fire out from her palm. The Vermillion around her were thrown away or burned from it, writhing on the floor in pain.
"I don't think any of you were invited here!" Skylar's eyes went white as she kicked her foot out, causing a massive burst of ice to shoot out across the cafeteria. She flipped over herself and landed on it, raising her fists up and firing blasts of water from her hands out towards oncoming Vermillion. As one of them got close enough to swing their sword, Skylar grabbed the sword and flung the warrior into the air.
Skylar shouted and slammed her fists down into the ground through the ice. Suddenly, the entire floor rumbled and rippled like waves, causing the Vermillion to get thrown from their feet. Her eyes went silver as she whipped out into the crowd. Once in the air, she delivered a hard roundhouse kick into the ground to cause a shockwave that threw even more of them away from her.
As much as she bemoaned it, if her father had taught her one thing, it was that switching element to element was useful. Chen had forced her to train extensively with every new element she learned, making sure she knew the basics of each one. The only reason she was still standing after using so much power to fight Machia was due to his constant teachings. She'd had to fight her way in when the speed car she took was derailed on the track, and already she was feeling a bit short of breath from it.
More Vermillion closed in on her. Skylar put her hands together and shut her eyes, hiding her eyes. Summoning the power of metal, her entire body turned gunmetal as she swung her now empowered fists right off into the Vermillion. The stunned snakes were broken apart by sheer force. Once she began to encounter more aware snakes, she activated gravity to float into the air. Once there, she once more slammed down with earth to knock them back.
"I got plenty more where all that came from!" Skylar shouted, still running on anger fumes from being forced to leave her battle with Machia, "Who wants some?"
"I believe I could stand to see a bit more," A calm voice sounded out, "If you know what I mean."
Skylar had just enough time to turn to see a green blur coming towards her. She turned her body back into metal just in time to receive the blow. The sheer force caused her to hack out, however, as the impact went straight through her body, and she coughed up a few blood droplets. She went flying across the room, tumbling on her side. When she came to a stop, she took in a deep gasp and used gravity to levitate herself back to her feet.
"Daughter of Chen, correct?" The sinister sounding voice came from in front of her, "It seems like you're eager to show us what you're capable of…"
"Krux?!" Skylar gasped as she took in the sight of the twin in front of her, "But, you're, why are you?"
"Have you not already figured that out?" Krux raised his hand up in the air to show a strange blade, "I already met the ones that you're so futility struggling against. And I believe that I stand a better chance with them than I ever did with Chen!"
Krux suddenly disappeared again, causing Skylar to look around in shock. When Krux reappeared behind her, she saw him out of the corner of her eye a second before his punch came. She was sent onto the ground once more as the stabbing pain shot through her. She slowly got up to her hands and knees, coughing up a bit more blood. She slowly reached up and wiped her lips with her hand.
"Oh really… now?" Skylar stood up, slowly taking a fighting stance. As soon as she did, her eyes began to glow as her body pulsed with raw elemental energy, "Care to prove it?"
"Indeed," Krux raised his blade, "Your father caused my downfall… it is only fair that I return the favor to his next of kin."
Author's Note:
Hello everyone! This is a quick note about two of my fics. I've recently published a new fic that updates on Mondays named The Furthest Realm. The fic is about Lloyd and Akita in the Never Realm, specifically as Akita asks Lloyd the question if he truly wants to return home to Ninjago. I've already completely written it and thus updates are going to be completely regular on Mondays. I would very much like for you all to check it out. Chapter 1 is now up!
The other is for Autobiography of a Legend. I'm several chapters in now for the Season 5 leg of the story, and I plan to have that completed sometime next week, meaning that, if the schedule holds, I am tentatively looking to begin posting again this coming Wednesday, 5/20.
Thank you all for reading again! Ninja-GO!