Enter The Ninjaverse

by Bionic Stars

The Time Twins have returned, and with it they have brought a new threat: the loss of Lloyd's elemental powers. With Lloyd's powers taken, the Twins escape. Not the Time Vortex, however, but instead a rip in the very fabric of the universe itself. Lloyd's quest to stop the Twins leads him to new worlds, new faces, and new revelations into himself.

33. Chapter 33

"You said you finished him off!" Acronix grabbed hold of Krux''s chest armor, dragging him up from the control console, "Did you lie to us?!"

"I have never lied to you!" Krux' spat back, shoving Acronix off him, "He's simply harder to deal with than the others!"

"He's seen the Iron Doom now, you fool!" Krux growled at him, "Do you realize this means that if he is not killed here, our plans will be for nothing?!"

"I'll take care of him," Krux' turned back to the controls.

As soon as he did, Krux gripped his arm to stop him. Krux' looked up, only to be thrown hard across the room. As he smashed into the metal plates behind him, the plates began to open up and snakes amoved up to grab hold of him. Krux' shouted in terror as he was suddenly yanked into the floor, his vision being swallowed up by red as teeth and slithering bodies enveloped him. He continued to sink further into the floor, until a voice rang out around him.

You will get a chance to correct your mistake, An amalgamation of Krux and Acronix's voices rang from around him, Until then, you will stay here!

"You must be the other Acronix and Krux!" Mage shouted, leaping into the air with one eye copper and the other gunmetal as his foot turned metal. In his left hand, he held Aevum, the blade glistening with energy and pulsing angrily. His left arm was bandaged from the knife wound. He swung Aevum down on the Iron Doom's head. The head was enveloped in time energy, and the ground underneath the Iron Doom cracked as Mage transferred gravity directly into the Iron Doom. The ground began to creak with the sheer force of his attack.

"You know of us?" Krux asked calmly, even as his hands gripped the Iron Doom's console.

"You two have faces I'm already really FAMILIAR WITH!" Mage shouted, leaping backwards from his kick and spraying massive jets of flames from his right hand. The ground under the massive machine went bright red as the flames burned across the surface of the Iron Doom. The heat was enough that several snakes inside were melted where they slithered.

The metal of the Iron Doom, however, was only slightly singed. As Mage drifted back to the ground with gravity, the behemoth whipped around, sending the spiked tail flying straight towards Mage. Mage saw the tail at the last second and held Aevum out, catching the tail with it. The tail slowed in time with a blue glow stretching over most of its surface, but the impact sent Mage flying backwards off the edge of the plateau.

"It seems what they say is true…" Krux muttered, adjusting his neck and the snake attached to it, "He truly has the ability to use every element."

"Hmmph," Acronix scoffed, "I think we should test if he can truly use every element!"

A massive slide of ice shot up the side of the mountain, stretching up into the air and bending over like an arch. With a flash of the element of speed, Mage shot up the ice and up high into the air. As soon as he was, his body turned metal, sending him plunging straight towards the machine. The Iron Doom reached onto its back, drawing out a crudely cobbled together but deadly massive double bladed staff it took in both hands and shot up into the air to face the oncoming boy. Mage had one hand on Aevum's sheath, with a finger ready to slide Aevum out.

Just as Mage was about to connect with the staff, his body turned back from metal. Wind rocketed from his feet, sending him straight over the staff. The Time Twins let out a collective growl as Mage flipped around, thrusting his feet out and releasing jets of fire that blasted him down towards the Iron Doom. The machine turned to stop him, but Mage wasn't stopping.

With a single motion, Mage sliced through the Iron Doom's head. His body turned into a thin line that ended with him behind the Iron Doom on the ground, Aevum fully extended. The machine rocketed for a few moments, then let out a massive wail of pain as a gasp appeared on the side of its head. The Iron Doom swung its staff backwards, attempting to spear Mage into the ground. With its head enveloped in slow energy, however, it misjudged its speed and swung past him. Mage turned to smoke just before it went overhead.

When Mage reformed, he reached out with one hand and yanked a massive pillar of earth straight into the back of the machine. The Iron Doom staggered forward, letting go of its staff with one hand to grip the side of the mountain the now closed off cave entrance was in. Mage drew up two more pillars to strike its chest, snapping it back upright. He sheathed Aevum again to reach out with both hands and blast the torso with frigid ice to pain the snakes inside.

Mage's eyes went brown as the Iron Doom turned towards him. Pillars began to erupt from the ground like fists, rapidly striking the ice and shattering it. The Iron Doom was knocked from one direction to another, each impact of the pillars breaking the rocks apart and sending massive boulders, some the size of Mage himself, flying off into the air. Mage placed his hands on the ground and growled. The onslaught continued, snapping the behemoth backwards until one massive pillar rose from the ground.

"ORA!" Mage thrust his own fist forward, sending the pillar soaring straight into the Iron Doom's torso. The machine let out a cry of pain and finally toppled backwards, the impact cracking the rocks and snapping its head over the side of the plateau. A massive ring of where the rocks Mage had used to strike him was torn into the ground underneath the Iron Doom's base, stretching all the way to its lower back.

Mage panted heavily, sweating pouring down his forehead. He'd used up at least a quarter of his elemental power in that onslaught, maybe a sixth if he was pushing himself to his limits. He could feel the massive force of life coming from that machine, if only for the massive amount of heat all of those snakes were putting off. With that feeling still there, he didn't flinch as the Iron Doom pushed itself back up to its feet.

"That was a good one, boy…" Acronix's voice rang from the machine, "You clearly have some combat experience. But the Iron Doom is a machine that not even you can surpass!"

Mage sensed the projectile before he even knew he was dodging from it. A black cocoon shot straight out from the Iron Doom's right shoulder, exploding into the ground and leaving a small crater from it. Mage saw another being loaded and ran forward. As it soared towards him, he drew Aevum again and swung upwards. The cocoon was split and slowed as Mage raced forward with it, unabated.

The Iron Doom sent its fist soaring straight down towards Mage. Rather than attempt to meet it head on, Mage turned into a shadow and used the shadow of the Iron Doom's arm to make his way underneath the arm and torso. Mage saw a massive flap on the front with marks that seemed to indicate it'd been welded back on at some point. Thinking fast, he reached out with metal, gripping hold of it and giving it a massive yank with his powers.

"Not again!" Krux's voice shouted out. Mage, so focused on tugging, was too slow to avoid the hand moving to grab hold of him. His body was sent soaring into the air, the g-force of being picked up weighing down on him and making the world spin. When he stopped, he took in a deep breath and looked down to see he was being held so far in the air it would give most people vertigo. In his confusion, he'd dropped Aevum.

Mage didn't wait to see whether or not he'd be dropped or crushed. Instead, he electrified his body, sending it straight into the hand of the Iron Doom. The fingers convulsed and yanked open as he did, sending Mage tumbling through the air. Mage sent water out of his hands to steady himself, then turned his body to spray down the front of the Iron Doom with it. His other hand shot lightning straight out into the Iron Doom, shocking the entire machine as he did.

The Iron Doom roared in pain as the lightning was sent straight up its body. Mage had no way of knowing, but he had hit some of the main electronic components in doing so. The machine doubled over as it attempted to use its snakes to ground the current inside of it. Krux and Acronix both sputtered as their control panel started to rapidly spark and burst, sending little arcs up into their hands as they did. Mage landed on the ground, his breath heaving hard.

"YOU!" The Iron Doom screeched, sending its fist down towards Mage once more. Mage steadied his stance and then reached out with both hands, gripping the fist coming towards him with metal. He strained as hard as he could, causing the first to stop in midair and begin to shake. He raised one arm up into the air, his palm open and facing the air. The massive fist trembled violently and began to rise up. The Iron Doom tried to sling its other fist, but Mage twisted his hand upside down in the air.

The fist caught in Mage's element suddenly squealed, then it snapped as the forearm was twisted a solid 90° away from it sbody. The machine screamed out in pain, jerking its arm free and out of Mage's grasp. An exhausted Mage saw the fist still coming at him and leapt backwards, ice spreading out along the ground where he landed sending him skidding backwards. As he leaned against a rock and forced himself to catch his breath, the fist struck the ground and was sent down into the earth, shattering rock which would have surely crushed his body had it hit.

"I'M SICK OF THEM ALWAYS ATTACKING THE ARMS!" Krux shouted through the Iron Doom in genuine rage, "I'll rip your arms off for that, you insolent child!"

"If you had let me instal the laser cannons before we left that stupid girl's world, we wouldn't have this problem!" Acornix shot back just as angrily.

"That modern technology has removed your ability to think of solutions with what we have!" Krux spat at his brother, "You think far too small, just throwing punches!"

"I'm the one controlling the footing, you're the one focusing on attacking!" Acronix countered, "Which you should be doing right now!"

"I am!" Krux turned back to the viewport, only to see Mage floating in the air with copper eyes.

Mage, despite sweating profusely from exerting so much power at once, placed his hands on his head. Suddenly, both Krux and Acronix slammed their heads onto the console as an intense and painful scream was going off inside their heads. It didn't seem to be coming from anywhere except inside of their heads, making it impossible to drown it out. Both brothers cried out in pain as the scream only intensified, seemingly threatening to deafen them and break their minds.

"H-He's trying to kill us!" Acronix shouted.

"Vermillion…!" Krux strained, slamming his fist down on the console, "Take this noise… out of our heads!"

Both Twins connected themselves to the hive, and, within seconds, all of the snakes in the Iron Doom were sharing that same scream. The scream was dulled enough that both Twins could look up with eyes filled with pained rage. Mage felt it happening too late and saw the arm of the Iron Doom he'd broken suddenly twist back into place with a heave and come right form under him in an uppercut. He went soaring up into the sky, his body searing in pain. Thinking quickly, Mage drew Aevum and struck his leg with the flat of the blade. His body was slowed in time, giving him enough time to see where he'd land. When he struck the ground, metal vanished from his legs that absorbed the impact. With or without it, though… taking those punches would easily break all the bones in his body.

The twins, however, weren't going to give him time to think. Several Vermilion leapt out of the Iron Doom and straight towards him. Mage brought his hands together and increased their gravity, sending them down towards the ground just as they all swiped at him. He held Aevum out with a pant and then his body flashed with speed. It was a single straight line, but gave him enough time to end up behind them and bring the sword down on them as they landed.

Mage held one leg out, then he fired wind from it. He focused, spinning his body around as he did. The wind rapidly kicked up and began to swirl around him, drawn in from the area with a suction force that grew and grew against the Iron Doom. Soon, Mage started to lift in the air as a massive vortex formed around him. The darkened tornado that soon surrounded him, with a single spark from his hand, was suddenly consumed in flames. The massive deadly fire whirl continued to grow and grow until it was nearly as tall as the Iron Doom itself, casting a deadly red and orange light over the beast.

The Iron Doom reached out to try to grab Mage inside of the tornado, but the sheer force of the flames scorched its arm and the machine bellowed out in pain as it removed its now blackened hand. The fire whirl grew larger and larger as he forced more and more wind into it. The Iron Doom warbled as the force of the tornado began to suck its body towards it. Massive rocks and debris along the mountain were rapidly sucked into the tornado, only to be either incinerated or burned as they entered. The Iron Doom plunged its staff into the ground just to give itself something to hold onto as the pull began to actually overtake it.

"This is insanity!" Krux shouted, "We are the Hands of Time! We cannot… lose to a child! This… we have a solution for this!"

"Indeed… indeed we do, brother!" Acronix shouted, clinging to his console as hard as he could, "And it is, far more simple than I believe you think it to be!"

Mage screamed in effort, twisting his fire whirl to the point it lit up the mountains for miles across the flat plains. The Iron Doom's grip began to loosen around the staff as its tail was sucked into the flames. The Vermillion screamed in pain as it scorched and incinerated snakes left and right inside of the machine. Krux started to show fear in his eyes, gripping the console tightly.

"Brother!" Acronix shouted, drawing himself back up from the viewport, "Do you trust me?!"

Krux opened one eye. Acronix held the reversal blade in his hand, clutching it like his life depended on it. Krux stared at it, then he nodded his head. With approval, Acronix focused and suddenly the blade activated. Time slowed down, stopped, and then suddenly began to reverse itself. Acronix felt the flow of time reverse for him and grow faster as he did so. He focused on the images he was seeing, holding on until he finally found the moment he needed.

The blade released its grasp on time, and Acornix found himself back inside the cockpit of the Iron Doom. Mage was floating in front of them, just readying his sonic attack on their minds. Acronix grabbed the Iron Doom's console and tapped buttons quickly. The head of the Iron Doom bent down, the eye shining towards Mage. Mage, too focused on preparing his attack, didn't hear the laser charging up from the eye until it had already fired.

Mage shrieked in pain as his body was sent flying from the air and down into the ground. The impact kicked up a massive dust cloud he went flying out of, smacking against the ground and each time carving a rut into it. When he stopped, finally, Acronix saw that Mage's body was partially metal. Mage's clothes were burnt from the laser impact, however, and his robes showed a massive angry burn across his left side and chest.

"Brother?" Krux turned to Acronix, "What were you?"

"I asked you to trust me," Acronix smirked. Krux blinked, then his eyes narrowed and gave a small snicker. Acronix snickered along with him, then stood up from the console and looked down to the Time Matrix.

"It's been too long since I've had a real fight," Acronix cracked his neck, reaching down to pull the forward blade out of the Iron Doom, replacing the slot with the reversal blade, "I'm going down there to finally have some fun!"

"Don't you favor that power too much?" Krux raised his eyebrow, "I believe you should utilize more of our might. Regardless of his injury, he is still a powerful foe."

Mage was already starting to drag himself up to his feet, coughing at the dust in this throat. He extended Aevum out, the massive blade shining in the air. Acronix rolled his eyes and reached out with the other hand, pulling out the slow mo blade as well, "There, I'll use both of my powers. How about that, brother?"

"That is better," Krux agreed, "Get him lined up for a finishing strike from the Iron Doom. I will ensure that when the time is right, he will be struck down."

"Good!" Acronix laughed, "I will be claiming that sword of his when this is over! It's like a time blade sword… a time sword!"

Without hesitating, Acronix leapt out of the Iron Doom's cockpit. As he soared through the air, Mage stumbled up to his feet, coughing hard and wiping away blood from his mouth. Acronix fired the slow mo blade at the ground right before he landed, forming a bubble that, when his feet entered, slowed his descent and allowed him to land on the ground fully. When the blade's effects wore off, the impact on the ground released a loud thud and made several rocks quake on the ground. Acronix stood up and looked to Mage with a deep grin.

"I think you should see this as an honor," Acronix raised his two blades, "You're about to be killed by one of your future rulers! With you out of the way, we'll have no one left to really oppose us. I heard you were a kid, but I didn't realize you hadn't even hit puberty yet!"

Mage panted hard, clutching his burn and forcing his back to straighten up. Slowly, he formed a ball of water and held it against his burn, tensing hard and closing his eyes as he fcooled the wound down. Once he knew it was okay, he formed a light layer of frost over the burn with the water on top of it. It wasn't the best idea, but it dulled his pain enough to put it out of his mind. He gripped Aevum in both hands, staring down the blade's length.

"Sadly, I don't think you have a good concept of what a fight entails yet," Acronix smirked, "I admit, you managed to almost get the better of us. I mean, a fire tornado! I never even realized you could do that. But hey…"

Acronix disappeared into the air. Mage tensed up, taking a fighting stance with his fists in front of his chin and moving up onto his toes. He swung his left knee up in front of his gut, blocking Acronix's kick to him. Acronix leapt back onto the ground, running forward and locking both time blades with Aevum, giving Mage a genuinely impressed glare.

"Not many people can predict where I'll end up…" Acronix paused, "Where did you learn how to do that, boy?"

"I had a good teacher," Mage spat.

Mage threw his body backwards just as Acronix forced his arms apart, blades swung out like claws. Mage used the move to bring his foot into the air, trying to kick Acronix. Acronix dodged by moving his head, landing on the ground on all fours by the time Mage had his footing. Mage inhaled, then he thrust his head forward, spitting acid straight towards Acronix. Acronix brought the blades in front of him, hearing the liquid splatter over the twin blades harmlessly. He looked down to the dripping liquid and then looked to Mage with slight disgust.

Instead of acknowledging him, Mage formed a ball of light in front of him and let it loose to blind Acronix. Acronix managed to shut his eyes in time, but when he opened them he was surrounded by what looked exactly like him. A circle of Acronixs were around him, each of them raising their fist. Acronix jumped, then popped into the air using the forward blade just as each of the Acronixs underneath him fired jets of flames at where he stood. Acronix twisted to lean down and fire the slow mo blade, hitting the center of all of them and spreading out in a bubble to catch all of them. Acronix landed on the ground and picked up a rock, chucking it into the circle.

The bubble of slowed time faded, and the rock passed through one of the people, shimmering like a mirage. Acronix smirked. With that in mind, he ran over to the large ring where Mage had pummeled the Iron Doom with rocks and scooped up a massive amount of dirt, flinging it into the circle. As each of the Acronixs turned to him, he watched them all shimmer until one just to the right of the closet one didn't. As soon as he saw that, Acronix disappeared in time and reappeared behind the true one, slamming him into the ground.

The power of form burned off of Mage like flames. The true Acronix raised his blades to plunge them into Mage's head. Mage turned into smoke, floating up behind Acronix. Acronix shot the slow mo blade behind him, sending a bubble of slowed time to envelop Mage. The blade faded in color as its charges were out. Undeterred, Acronix looked up and willed the Iron Doom to flung its arm down towards the ground.

When the bubble expired, the gust of wind the Iron Doom produced blew the smoke off away from its normal course. Mage rapidly pulled himself together, panting hard as his heart pounded from his smoke nearly being scattered away. Acronix, not bothering with using the last of his forward blade charge just yet, flew straight towards him and knocked his shoulder into Mage, driving him directly back into the mountain. Mage coughed up blood as he slid down the wall in pain.

"You know how to think on your feet," Acronix smirked, "But you're a child! How long can you keep this up against me? I've been trained to withstand wars. You look like you can barely stand on your feet anymore!"

"I'm the one that stopped the war…" Mage coughed, stumbling fully onto his feet and gripping the rock behind him to hold himself up, "I'm the one that saved everyone!"

"And look where it's gotten you," Acronix pointed the still recharging slow mo blade forward at Mage, "Weak, beaten, and alone! You can't take us down, no more than you could take down that other Krux," He scoffed, "You're going to die here, boy. Your corpse will still be warm as we turn that former war into a happy memory. We will dominate your world!"

"I won't let you…" Mage coughed, "I won't let you hurt anyone else! You made my Krux hurt his brother!" Mage called on the power of earth to move rocks up his body to help steady himself, "You hurt Skylar, all of the guards that were hurt protecting the Summit, and now me…" Mage lifted his head up, his eyes filled with determination, "I will be the last one you two hurt!"

"Hrmph," Acronix shrugged, "Then prove your actions with words!"

Acronix thrust his fist out, and the Iron Doom slithered forward to strike the wall above where Mage was pressed against. The action caused it to crack, sending rocks down towards him. Mage, feeling that trying to control them would leave him wide open, called upon speed, flying past and around Acronix as he did. Acronix responded by using his forward blade, the blade's charge fading as he appeared in front of Mage. Mage turned his right arm to metal, raising it to block Acronix's blades. His left hand awkwardly tried to fumble to draw Aevum, letting Acronix easily knock him back.

"Why do you keep sheathing that blade, boy?" Acronix pointed to it, "It's not good form to do that in battle!"

"Because I don't want to get impaled by it if I go flying!" Mage hissed, "And it's easier to focus elements if I use both hands."

"Ah… so you haven't learned how to fight with a sword yet," Acronix sighed, "And here I thought you were almost cool."

Mage redrew Aevum seeing that the blue blade Acronix held was starting to spark again. He thought quickly, his body turning into shadows. Acronix blinked in momentary surprise, and when Mage reappeared in his shadow with a spinning kick, Acronix was stumbled. Mage followed up by increasing Acronix's gravity, rooting him momentarily to the spot as he moved to cleave Aevum at Acronix. Acronix caught Mage's wrist with the prongs of the time blade as the sword hovered in front of his chest. He grinned in victory, only for Mage to bring his other hand, encased in ice, right into Acronix's gut. Acronix was sent down onto the ground, striking it even harder than the punch due to his gravity accelerating him faster.

Acronix fired the slow mo blade to save himself, catching Mage in it. Mage's body and perception of time slowed down, giving Acronix time to react. The Iron Doom spun its tail around, striking Mage and sending him skidding across the rocks once more. The tail entering the time meant that it slowed down, and Acronix cancelled the bubble. The tail stopped, showing Mage using both hands to hold Aevum out and stop the tail. The slowed time effect transferred into the tail again, giving him the ability to hold such a thing back.

Acronix, feeling the gravity effect vanish, stood back up and panted to catch his a grin, he walked forward towards Mage, holding his blades up in the air. Mage continued holding back the Iron Dom's tail, unable to feint away yet.

"Did you think that was enough to take me out?" Mage growled, "I've been training with elements for a long time. I'm not ready to pass out just yet!" In reality, his body was starting to go numb in a few places for how much he'd just poured out of him.

"You know, boy, I think you should hear a saying that my brother and I have used for a long while," Acronix smirked, "Would you like to hear it?"

Mage responded by leaping into the air, sliding over the Iron doom's tail as it flung by. Acronix disappeared in forward time. Mage spun about, feeling Acronix behind him. Acronix continued to attack him with his accelerated time strikes, each one making him thrust his head back and forth to meet them. Mage didn't take time to plan counterattacks, instead focusing on dodging. Acronix would strike in and out of time, freezing any elemental blasts in slowed time to prevent them from attacking him. Flames, ice, lightning, water and acid flew about in all directions as Mage desperately called on all of the ones that he could use.

"It's one you would do well to remember!" Acronix skidded to the ground in front of Mage, grinning hard, laughing as he shouted, "CONTROL TIME..!" Acronix disappeared in forward time.

Suddenly, Mage grinned. He sheathed Aevum. Mage thrust his left arm out, focusing until his Time Matrix's two hands had turned to the right. Just as Acronix appeared in front of him, he held his palm up, firing a beam of blue light. The twin was caught in time, flying through the air towards the boy who spoke calmly.

"...Control Everything." Mage finished.

Mage delivered another icy punch directly into Acronix's torso, shattering the time around him and sending him flying backwards. Mage panted, but the smirk on his face remained. It grew even wider as Acronix raised his face with a mixture of pure livid rage and twisted confusion.

"W-What?!" Acronix sputtered, standing up and clutching his chest, "You… you!"

"That's not the full saying either," Mage panted, raising his arm, "That's only half of it," The two hands of time on his arm turned down, "Control time, control everything-

Mage blinked forward in time, appearing right in front of Acronix. Mage reached out and grabbed hold of Acronix's shoulder and smashed his knee into Acronix's chest, making Acronix wheeze as the air was kicked out of him. Mage lit his other fist on fire and grabbed ahold of Acronix's other arm, burning the armor and slamming him into the ground.

"-Lose control, lose everything!" Mage finished with a triumphant grin.

"You could use that this entire time, and you didn't?!" Acronix sputtered, "WHY?! You could have ended this entire fight already!"

"I have been," Mage gestured to Aevum," You have to be using that thing constantly under forwarded time just to get it to move normally. I've trained an awful lot with someone just like you," Mage lowered his eyes, "Someone…. Someone you hurt badly…" His smile completely vanished back into that almost feral growl, "One I'm planning to pay back in full. I'm not supposed to ever use time against people..."

Acronix tried to move his hands, but Mage gripped harder to threaten him. Mage looked up to him and spat directly to his face.

"But you two aren't people, are you?" Mage growled darkly.

"BROTHER!" Acronix shouted in true terror.

Krux, standing atop the Iron Doom, aimed the reversal blade directly for Mage. Mage's clock hands turned down as he shot his hand upwards. The combined effects of Mage forwarding time and Krux reversing it collided in the air together, sparking out and fizzling into the air once they did. The action, however, let Acronix scramble away from Mage.

"Tssk!" Krux spat, "Stupid thing!"

Mage attempted to turn his matrix hands to slow, but Acronix was faster. He had blinked forward in time and tried to get away from Mage. Mage reached out with his hand and used a metal palm to grip the metal armor he wore and trip Acronix. Acronix, as he fell, managed to just barely fire off a slow mo shot that slowed Mage down from selecting another power of time to use as he got back up to his feet.

Once the bubble of slowed time faded, Mage landed on the ground and held his arm out. He had maybe two minutes of using his time powers like this before he would pass out. Krux' knocking him out earlier meant that he'd almost gotten back to a full charge of elements before this… but all of this meant he was about to pass out. He had to end this quickly.

"What's wrong?!" Mage taunted, "I thought you two were masters of time!"

Acronix hooked the time blades into his belt, then he brought his hands together. Mage watched as suddenly he formed a disc in his hands, the exact same that Harumi formed. Mage ran forward and leapt over it with a small application of gravity, the disc curving off into the distance. Having watched Harumi during training, he saw the disc turning in the air to go right back at him and turned the clock hands to the right to fire and catch the disc in slowed time again.

The twin fired off several more discs of desperation, each one dodged or caught in time by Mage. With Mage closing in, Acronix suddenly struck the ground with his fist, causing the rock shelf to turn into bricks. Thanks to the cracks, it seemed the slab was no longer one large sheet of studs. Acronix built a hasty set of haphazard stairs and jumped into the air. Mage followed him up the stairs, but the Iron Doom's fist swung out to catch Acronix and barely miss striking Mage.

Mage shot his hand up to once more to try to slow time to catch hold of Acronix, but Acronix had already fired off the forward blade as soon as he saw Mage's clock appear. The two effects once more met in the air and cancelled out, sending a ripple through the air that made the hairs on Mage's arms stand up. Mage, grunting, turned towards the Iron Doom as Acronix climbed up onto the arm.

"I think you should wait before you try anything else!" Krux shouted, "Look!"

Without thinking, Mage turned to see what Krux was saying. As soon as he did, his eyes widened as soon as he saw what was there. Morro was suspended in the air by snakes, his body limp and fangs plugged into him. No… the closer he looked, that wasn't his Morro, but it looked just like him! Was he like Monty and the others?

"I should have you know any damage to the Iron Doom is damage onto him!" Krux smirked, his hands shaking as he played their leverage, "And no matter how fast you forward through time, the Iron Doom can kill him faster than you can reach him! I suggest that you stand down, child, unless you want both yourself and him to die!"

Mage stood in front of the Iron Doom, looking up towards the sight in front of him. As he did, his blood started to run cold. He didn't know if the Twins were bluffing, but he couldn't take the risk and find out. He had to play this safe, and that meant he couldn't dare risk that Morro's life. Acronix stood up on top of the right fist of the Iron Doom, catching his breath. Mage tried to look for a solution, he rapidly let the hands switch on his time dial, but he couldn't think of anything.

Finally, Mage lowered his arms. Almost immediately, Acronix blasted him in a bubble of slowed time. Acronix, finally getting himself back from the rattle, leapt back down to the ground using the forward blade behind Mage. Acronix trained both blades on him as he looked up to his brother.

"That was annoying," Krux growled, "I think it's finally time we end this. Bring him up!"

From the floor panels, the snakes retracted Morro into the machine and instead brought up their earlier guest. Krux' was shot back onto the floor, coughing hard as he did. He looked over his body, checking rapidly that there were no bites of marks on him. Before he could truly get himself oriented, Krux had reached down and forcibly dragged him to his feet.

"It is time for you to correct your mistake!" Krux thrust Krux' against the console, "That red button will fire the Iron Doom's laser. It was the only thing so far that actually put a stop to that pesky boy. Finish the job you failed to do earlier, and we will forgive you."

Krux' looked down over the console, his expression plain as he looked to the boy, trapped within time so slow he wouldn't be able to move out of the way before the laser caught him. Krux' looked to Krux, who held the reversal blade still. Krux' sighed and nodded.

"Fine, fine…" Krux' turned, "He's more trouble than he's worth anyways."

Krux smirked and nodded. Krux' stepped forward, reaching out with his hand and pressing the button down just as told. The Iron Doom's eye glowed, pulsed, and then charged. The button glowed for a few moments, blinked, and then went solid. Krux nodded, and Krux' reached out and pressed it again.

The laser fired out from the Iron Doom. As soon as the red light passed by the cockpit, Krux' turned towards Krux. His foot swung straight up from underneath him, kicking the reversal blade straight from the hand of Krux. As the blade went into the air, Krux' caught it and then held the blade out of the viewport, sending a blast of reverse straight for the laser. The laser, slowed by entering the bubble that surrounded Mage, was mere inches away from him before the effect caused the laser to reverse straight back into the Iron Doom. Acronix's slow mo blade charge faded from overuse.

Krux shouted in rage, leaping forward to try and tackle him to the floor. Krux' quickly twisted to the side, letting Krux grab hold of the console instead. Krux' swung the flat of the blade out, backhanding Krux hard enough he went down against the chair. He shoved Krux down into the chair, then he smashed his foot to hold Krux down while training the blade at him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Krux spat at his double, "What do you hope to gain from this?!"

"To finally rid the world of my misdeeds," Krux frowned, then he shouted as loud as he could, "LLOYD, LESSON ONE!"

Mage turned to see Acronix readying his other time blade. His memory flashed back to what Krux was saying, then he reacted. Mage flashed with speed, carrying himself away from Acronix. Acronix, unable to see where Mage was, was forced to simply appear where he had been. When Mage reappeared, he blasted Acronix off his feet with time.

"Lesson one!" Mage shouted, "It's best to fight time without ever touching it!"

"You… you planned this…" Krux stared up at Krux', "You did this! You planned for this to happen. You convinced us to divert our forces to intercept their plan so we would be forced to fight him head on instead of with our armies!"

"I had to make him come alone," Krux' smirked, "Lloyd can't go all out if he has to worry about people around him."

Krux tried to get up, but the foot pushed him back down, "You're the reason that boy knew where we were! You injured his friends to get him angry enough to come here alone, and now you betray us when you see us at our most vulnerable!"

"I left a little message inside Skylar," Krux' informed him, "He'd been here before. He just needed to hear it to realize you were hiding the first time."

"Has this all been your doing?!" Krux growled, "Our losses, our victories, have you engineered everything?!"

"Since the beginning, but not every moment," Krux' shook his head, "Only what I needed to. All I did was wait for my moment to strike. As soon as I saw what you two had become when you broke me out of my prison, I knew that if I were to walk your path I would end up as ruined as you two are. You're nothing more than hollow husks, using the veil of power and birthright to justify your insanity. You two were made for each other…." Krux' sighed, "I simply wish I had seen it sooner."

"We're the Hands of Time!" Krux shouted, staring Krux' down, "You will never win against us!"

"For one that claims to have mastered time," Krux' narrowed his gaze, "It looks like time wasn't kind to you."

Krux snarled at Krux'. As he did, the panels of the Iron Doom began to open once again, the snakes rising to swallow him whole. Krux' looked down at them, giving Krux enough time to lunge for the blade. While Krux' pushed him back down, the snakes were able to lunge for him. To avoid them, Krux' leapt backwards, giving Krux time to get to his feet and open more panels using the hive mind to attack him.

"You've made a grave mistake crossing us," Krux growled as Vermillion warriors began to rise from the Iron Doom and panels open to attack him, "You will die for your transgression."

Krux' backed up, watching his odds get worse and worse off. Then, just before he was about to be attacked, he shouted, "LLOYD! LESSON TWO!"

Krux heard something from outside. Mage had rocketed up to the cockpit of the Iron Doom using wind in his feet. Krux turned towards the sight, but it was too late. Krux' smirked and ran forward, directly into a Vermillion warrior. Just before he collided, the hands on Mage's clock went down and Krux' was enveloped in forward time energy. Krux' appeared beyond the warriors, saluted, and leapt out of the Iron Doom.

Mage reached out with his arm, catching Krux' in it. He immediately drew Aevum with the other hand and flung it towards the ground. Just like the time blade, the sword formed a bubble of slowed time that caught the two as they fell to it. Mage fell to the ground once the bubbl faded, heaving for air and working to get air into his exhausted lungs to gather up what little energy he had left inside of him. Krux' turned away from him.

"How… long…?" Mage gasped.

"...Since the beginning," Krux' held up the reversal blade, "I had to get you to come here alone so you could use your powers without worrying about your friends. This blade will heal my brother and your friend. That's why I had to wait for the moment to take it"

"You, you nearly killed them," Mage crawled back up to his knees as the Iron Doom began to twist towards them again, "You could have killed them..!"

"I knew you'd read Skylar's mind to hear my message," Krux' stated with another sigh, "I needed to convince them I was on their side. We have them alone and cornered. I need you to use your power to rip that thing apart."

"I can't…" Mage coughed, "I can barely move!"

Krux' turned, firing the blade directly into Mage. Mage suddenly felt his body's energy being restored, as if all of his efforts were reversed. The reversal blade ran out within a few seconds, but it was enough to give Mage enough of his energy back to fully stand.

"There, you have enough power now, I'll need some of this for myself after all," Krux' stated flatly, "That thing is too fast for you to use your metal on. That thing runs on snakes. If you can take out the snakes, it won't be able to move. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I… do," Mage growled, his mistrust still flaring, "Don't lose that blade, or I'll lose you."

"I'll hold you to that," Krux' chuckled, "Well, you'll need time to pull this off. I'll buy you that time. And leave my brother's sword," He frowned, "I'm certain he didn't give that to you."

"I needed something to give me an edge," Mage grumbled, "Thanks to you."

"And I'll be telling him later just about that," Krux' informed him.

"Your fight is not over yet!" Acronix called out from behind them, "You've simply shifted the tide!"

Acronix appeared behind them, his forward blade swiping with a rage towards Krux'. Krux' twisted and reached up, clashing their time blades together. The pulse of time elemental power between them caused the blades to crackle, sending out sparks that illuminated Acronix's livid rage. Krux' looked up to him, then a smile trickled over his features. Reversal power pulsed in the blade, and when Krux' blinked, Acronix was back to where he started.

"Your fight is not over yet!" Acronix called out from behind them, "You've simply shifted the tide!"

This time, when Acronix appeared, Krux' simply twisted his body to the side and reached out, grabbing Acronix's right arm and heaving him directly over his shoulder using the momentum of Acronix's leap. As Acronix slammed into the ground in front of them, Krux' turned to Mage and gave him a nod.

Mage looked up to the Iron Doom, his eyes narrowed and determined. Mage gathered up his newfound energy and rose up into the air using gravity, hovering between the entrance to the cave -the slab now being cracked enough it wasn't fully serving its purpose- and the Iron Doom. The Iron Doom turned towards him with a hiss, a very angry Krux still at the controls. The elder twin looked down towards where Acronix's blast of slowed time had been knocked aside by his alter, then back to Mage angrily.

"What do you think you can do against us, child?" Krux snarled, "A true warrior can be stabbed in the back and keep swinging into battle. Just because you have gained an ally does not mean we have gotten any weaker."

"If you were a warrior, would you always be running away?" Mage threw back, "Your warriors always ran whenever we beat them. If you really want to say that you're as powerful as me, then you should stand and fight!"

"Oh, I will," Krux reached out to grip the controls for the Iron Doom, "Your time is up, boy!"

"Speaking of time," Mage gestured, "Your machine runs on snakes, doesn't it?"

Krux didn't respond, instead bringing both of the Iron Doom's arms up to fling out and sling their fists towards Mage. Mage, instead of attempting to block them, shot up into the air with a burst of flames from his feet. He flipped in the air and reached out with earth, pulling out a platform for him to stand on at the top of the cave mouth. As the Iron Doom raised its fist from striking the slab, the slab fully shattered, revealing the cave mouth once more.

"Just so you know!" Mage shouted, "I've never done this before, so you better be ready!"

On the ground, Krux' turned his head from looking at Mage's declaration by dodging another rapid strike by Acronix. Right now, all he was doing was playing defensive, and it seemed that either Acronix didn't care or was just ignoring it. Acronix slung bursts of slowed time at him, each time making his charge use up itself that much faster. It seems he'd tilted the two Twins as well, which was definitely according to plan. As Mage reached his hands out towards the Iron Doom, Krux' pulled his hands into his chest as Acronix thrust both his blades forward to send him sliding backwards across the ground. When Krux' looked up, it was with a grin that was all-too-familiar to Acronix.

"I should mention that I spent years locked away with my brother under a dragon's watch, unable to leave. And that was without ever being allowed to touch our powers!" Krux' grinned, "Seems like you two didn't exactly want to take the time for that training."

"Those sorts of things will get you scrubbed from my memory even faster once you're no longer breathing!" Acronix spat, disappearing in forward time again.

Krux' reached onto the ground and picked up a rock, throwing it far ahead of him. When Acronix appeared and clashed blades with him, Krux' let off another charge of reversed time. Rather than it striking Acronix -which Acronix flinched thinking it was- the charge shot out and struck the rock in the air. Krux' twisted his blades in the air, rotating Acronix's arm in a painful angle to force him to break off his attack. Krux' immediately grabbed Acronix's shoulder, throwing him in the path of the boulder. The rock reversed straight into Acronix's face, striking him hard enough to make him shout in pain.

"You…." Acronix growled, turning around only to see Krux' had thrown more rocks. This time, however, they were up in the air. As Acronix looked up, he saw the rocks covered in reversed time and soaring straight back down towards him. He dodged out of the way, only to be met with Krux' with a rock in hand swinging for his face. Acronix managed to blast his arm with slowed time just long enough to dodge it.

"Not bad," Krux' smirked, "But my brother is faster. And I didn't fail to beat him."

"Don't compare me to someone that you bested," Acronix rubbed his face where the rock had struck him, "It's an insult to a warrior!"

"Oh, but insulting you just helps me buy more time!" Krux' laughed, "It's all about time, isn't it?"

The Iron Doom let out a long groan that Acronix had never heard before. Acronix turned towards the machine, seeing that its body from the neck down was bathed in green light. When he traced the source, he saw Mage, his hands extended, with the clock on his right hand having the hands turned down. The green energy was bathing from his hands, his eyes shut and his focus centered clearly on the machine.

"What do you think you're doing, boy?!" Krux shouted through the speakers, "You have no chance to beat us! You've left yourself wide open for-"

As the Iron Doom moved to raise its arm, the machine seemed slower than normal. Krux looked down at the machine in confusion, attempting to force it to move. The sword cleaved down towards Mage, but as it did Mage reached out with one of his hands to thrust it aside with a burst of metal. As the arm was sent off course, Mage returned right back to his focus.

"What?" Krux looked down, "The machine shouldn't be this slow!" He looked down towards the metal of the machine, "...The machine itself isn't aging, that must mean…"

"Don't you know?" Krux' asked coyly, "Living beings can be accelerated on their lifespan by forward energy. I believe my brother called it… the time strike?"

"TIME PUNCH!" Acronix screeched.

"Are you always punching them, though?" Krux' asked with a smirk.

"...YOU!" Acronix shouted, throwing himself towards Krux'. Right before they connected, however, he used the last charge in his time blade, causing his body to instead turn and appear at the base of the Iron Doom. He reached forward as soon as he did, ripping open a small hatc to look at the snakes inside.

"BROTHER!" Acronix shouted, placing his hand on his head, "The snakes are aging! The longer you let him use his powers, the faster they'll age!"

"The hive mind is moving in accelerated time!" Krux shouted back over their bond, "They're hearing our orders later than we're giving them!"

Acronix gave an angry tssk and shot his body towards where Mage stood. He scrambled his way towards Mage, only to suddenly find himself back where he started. Krux' looked down to his depleted reversal blade and shrugged, walking towards Acronix and shaking his head.

"Now I can't have you doing that!" Krux' declared, "You're the Masters of Time, aren't you? Well, he's the Master of everything. And I do believe that you, right now, can't afford to waste your own time."

Acronix brought his hands together, forming several Rhotatae discs that he fired off towards Mage. As the discs soared through the air, Mage made no move to block them. When they got close to him, the discs disappeared within time, only to appear behind him. Acronix fired more discs, but each time they skipped forward past him. The field of forward time had fully surrounded him from outputting so much.

"The Iron Doom will collapse if this continues!" Krux declared, "We have to get out of here!"

"How?!" Acronix shouted back.

Krux looked around the battlefield. The Iron Doom would be nothing more than a fancy statue if the snakes died, and Mage had already done a fair amount of damage to it, more than he was willing to admit. Mage was too powerful for them to take on like this, or at least when he had that alter with him. He tried to send another strike towards Mage with the Iron Doom, but it skipped across his forward time field.

Suddenly, the Iron Doom began to crackle. From behind Krux, Morro was raised up once more, unaffected by the aging process. If the boy could even target Morro outside of the hundreds of snakes, he was even more of a threat. Krux held his hand over a button, then with a wince he struck it. Morro's eyes shot open as suddenly the snakes began to force his green power to emerge once more, flowing through them wires until it spread throughout the Iron Doom.

"Get on!" Krux shouted, "We're LEAVING!"

"What?!" Acronix protested, "We can't! We have to-!"

The blue lines began to trickle around the Iron Doom. Acronix turned to see a swipe of Krux' once more, and as he did he dodged to see the Iron Doom starting to float. As soon as he did, he grabbed hold of its side and hoisted himself up onto it.

"What about the reversal blade?!" Acronix protested.

Krux, in the cockpit, looked to Mage. Mage opened his eyes to see the Iron Doom beginning to float. In confusion, he looked up into the sky, only to see a strange portal in it. They were trying to run again. They were going to run. Like those warriors ran. Like they made everyone in the Summit. Like everything they did. Either run, or make them run. He couldn't let them run. His eyes flared again with newfound purpose as he reached out.

"I won't let you run away!" Mage shouted, "You've caused enough pain to this world!"

Krux' leapt towards the Iron Doom, attempting to climb aboard. Acronix swing his body to the side and then kicked him off, sending him off towards the ground. Krux' landed, coughing as he did. Acronix pulsed the last two charges in his forward blade, making his way up the Iron Doom until he was at the cockpit.

"We can't do this, brother!" Acronix shouted, "We're winning!"

"We don't have enough Vermillion out there to run the Iron Doom!" Krux shouted back to him, "We have to leave, now! Regardless of if we win or not, we cannot afford to lose this vessel!"

Mage felt a shift in the Iron Doom. A cracking blue portal, swirling with black energy that opened to what looked like an empty void of nothing was now above the Iron Doom, and it was heading towards it. Some force, unlike anything that he'd felt before, was pulling the Iron Doom in. He had to hold it in place. He had to do something to keep them from leaving. From running.

With a loud shout, Mage's robes began to shake. He thrust his hands up in the air, and the ground from around him shot up like hands to grab the Iron Doom's hips. While he did, he poured even more power into it. His Time Matrix turned to slow and he shot a beam out like a whip, catching hold of the bottom of the Iron Doom. The wind itself shot down from the portal to try to drag the machine back. Mage's eyes began to crackle and pulse with power as he pulled them down. Gravity tried to weigh it down. Metal tried to grab at its body. He burned through his energy harder, faster, more and more, all to keep them from running. As many elements as he could summon, as many as he could use.

"I...I'm not!" Mage shouted in effort, feeling the waves of exhaustion pulsing over him again, "I'm not… letting… you… LEAVE!" His voice reverberated, "I AM THE DRAGON LORD! AND YOU! ARE! MINE!"

The portal crackled harder. Mage shouted, thrusting his hands out and pouring all he had in him into the hold. Right at the point where the Iron Doom was being held in its elemental grasp, the top half began to creak and twist. The force pulling it up into the sky was now acting right at that point, and metal began to twist and creak as it was stretched.

"He'll rip us apart!" Acronix shouted, "Do something!"

Mage began to pull his arms down. The sheer force of it was enough that it felt like he was pulling the actual Iron Doom down. The Iron Doom's weight increased threefold as he poured everything he had into his pull. The creaking of the Iron Doom didn't stop as he began to pull away from the portal and towards the ground, its shadow looming over Krux'.

"Let me give you a hand there, Lloyd!" Krux' smirked, raising his hand up towards the Iron Doom. As he readied the last charge in the reversal blade, Mage pulled the Iron doom even closer. They were going to either break the machine, or stop it from leaving. Mage was hovering off the ground now as he pulled down. The portal seemed to grow more violent, more angry. He was playing tug of war with some sort of void. Krux' knew with this one charge, everything would be over.

Suddenly, Krux' felt something. His vision blurred. He looked down, then coughed. Something… something was pouring down his chin. Was… was that blood? His eyes saw it. A sword in his chest. As he stared at it, the spear suddenly thrust forward, sending a spray of blood across the rocks. Krux' tried to gasp, but instead he coughed and spat more of it up onto the ground. He turned to see who had stabbed him, only to have an armored gauntlet grab his head and slam him into the ground.

"I apologize for my tardiness," Machia stated coldly as she pulled the spear from Krux', "Let us finish this escape, shall we?"

As Krux' gurgled along the rocks, Machia calmly walked forward. Behind her, the squad of Vermillion she had detached from her two idiotic underlings was with her. She'd had a feeling that this would go south somehow. She'd gotten caught up on the way. Thankfully, the group that encountered them wouldn't be doing it a second time.

"Oh Dragon Lord!" Machia shouted, picking up the reversal blade, "I believe you should let my masters go!"

Mage barely heard her through the raw power he was sending through him. He only turned his head down because he saw something on the rocks. When he did, he realized what it was he saw. It was red. Red of someone on the ground. Red like blood. Someone's blood. His Krux's blood. The blood of someone he cared about. The blood of someone… someone else.

His vision flashed. His breathing quickened. His eyes faded back to normal as his hands trembled. The force of elements stopped on the Iron Doom, only the pillar of earth holding it into place. Vermillion scrambled up the pillars. Mage's breathing quickened. That sight. It looked like them. He saw Acronix in bed, barely alive. Skylar, beaten badly as she was. The man that had apparently been working for him. Another ally of his was gone. Another one.

And the one that did it looked just like the one Skylar described to him.

With a scream of pure anguished rage, the rock underneath Mage burst apart. The Iron Doom was all but forgotten to him. Instead, he soared straight towards Machia. Machia turned the reversal blade towards him, but Mage was faster. He hit the ground with a crunch and then rammed right into her. He knocked Machia straight onto her back, holding her down with a tears in his eyes and rage everywhere else.

"I would let me go, Dragon Lord…" Machia grinned, "The only way for you to save your friend is to use the blade… and look at that…" Machia turned her head to a warrior that had picked it up and was beginning to climb the pillars towards home, "It's getting away."

"You think that's the only thing that can use reverse?" Mage formed the Time Matrix over his wrist, "You think I'm not strong enough to do that?"

Mage thrust one hand out. The rock the warrior with the blade was climbing on was suddenly ejected out and onto the ground. It burst apart when it landed, sending the blade sliding neatly towards Mage. Mage took it in his right hand, then pinned Machia's arm down with it.

"My masters are still getting away," Machia remained calm, "You really should…"

She trailed off. The hands of Mage's matrix were turning to an odd orientation. They turned upwards to 12'o'clock. When they landed, the matrix began to spark violently with orange. Mage looked down at her, his expression unchanged as in that moment, he had only one thought he voiced aloud.

"Skylar didn't get her chance to take her revenge…" Mage whispered, "And I don't need control over my power to get it for her."

"L-Lloyd….?" Krux' gurgled, shifting himself enough to look at the boy.

Mage's hand pulsed, sending reverse energy into Machia. Suddenly, the Vermillion villainess began to scream. Mage's expression went unchanged, focusing down on her as he poured untapped, pure reversal energy into her body. Without the time blade, he couldn't control his power. Hence why he never needed to use it. Machia writhed under him, screaming more as she felt what was happening to her. Mage kept going. He didn't need control for this.

Machia's snakes began to get smaller. Machia's continued to writhe, the sound of her shrieks dying out. She was de-aging. She went past the point she had her intellect, leaving her as nothing more than snakes, all writhing and shaking with the terror of knowing something was wrong. Krux' watched on in horror as Mage just kept going. He refused to stop. Machia's eyes soon were lost. Her armor emptied out as the snakes aged back to the point of requiring the egg to survive. He continued to pour his power until, finally, there wasn't anything left of Machia. After a long few shakes of his hand, Mage finally let go. There was nothing left of Machia but her armor.

Suddenly, the earth pillars holding the Iron Doom snapped. Debris rained down on Mage as the Iron Doom began to accelerate up. A few of Machia's group that had failed to get on board in time were thrown off and into the mountains. Mage saw Krux and Acronix in their cockpit, looking down at him as they went upwards.

Mage stood up, reaching out to grab out onto them. When he did, his vision pulsed. He gasped, falling forward onto his knees. He… he'd used too much power. Controlling raw time energy… it was the last of it. He'd burned through all that Krux' had given him back, and then some. It was… it wasn't enough. He looked up towards the Iron Doom as it accelerated towards the portal. He… he had to stop them! His arms, however, refused to move.

"KRUX! ACRONIX!" Mage shouted, "THIS ISN'T OVER! I WILL COME AFTER YOU! I SWEAR ON MY HONOR AS DRAGON LORD!"

There was no response from the Iron Doom. Instead, the machine vanished into the air. When the portal closed, it was a with something that sounded like a soft screech on the breeze. Mage was left on his back, staring up at it. He wasn't able to pass out. His body was in that state of almost numbness from overuse. Again. But he still had one more thing to do.

Krux' was coughing blood and his breathing was slowing. Mage pointed the reversal blade at him.. He'd used too much energy, so much power. He'd failed to stop them, he had to do something. He had to save him. Krux' had done so much to… to try to win. Even if it was horrible things, things he wasn't okay with… he had to try. The blade glowed.. Mage fired it, holding its field over Krux' until he saw the wounds retreating. When Krux' was healed, he dropped the blade onto the ground. He tried to turn the blade towards himself, but his energy failed him.

Even everything he had, hadn't stopped those two from running away again. Mage gritted his teeth at the sky. He failed. He would have to go after them.

"I swear it…" Mage whispered, "I swear… I will come after you… if it's the last thing I do…"

---

Author's Note:

And thus, we hit a conclusion to one of the most in-depth arc I've created in NV. This fight was one I planned from the very beginning of the fic's inception over a year ago, and I'm so happy to finally be able to post it. I'm hard at work on the next arc, and i hope you will all stick around to see where the story continues to go!