With a small flash, a portal opened up against a wall. It was a portal that the group had used before, yet different. Unlike the smooth boundary the portal normally had, the portal was jagged and uneven, like cracks splintered out on glass. The darkness inside was more wild and unrestrained, swirling and writhing in various spots to make looking inside more of a word truly becoming of the word 'void.' It made a horrible crackle as it remained there, one end stable and the other connected to a dying world.
A figure emerged. Lloyd Garmadon, the Green Ninja, stumbled forward out of the portal. His eyes were wide and his breath ragged, and a glance down showed his hands shaking. That wild fear made his breath heave, his body feel weak. Everything about him, felt lit up in true horror. He fell to his knees, planting his hands on the floor, not bothering to look around. He could hear his heart pounding. He could feel the terror that was making it beat.
A loud noise caused him to jerk up and turn around. One noise reminded him he wasn't supposed to be alone. He desperately glanced towards the portal, willing the others had come with him. For a moment, it seemed the void wasn't all there was, a violent portal and a writhing darkness.
Instead, with a flash, one by one his friends emerged. Harumi fell to the ground as soon as the portal all but spat her out, her eyes wild and his hands digging into the carpet. Lulloyd stumbled out and nearly ripped over Harumi, doing a flip over her to remain upright. He nervously adjusted his hairpiece as he looked towards the portal, his eyes wide with disbelief. Mage emerged far more gracefully, but that grace didn't show on his face. He was stunned, stunned to the point of trying to catch up to what was happening. All the while, Lloyd starred.
The portal began to crackle louder. The four scrambled away from it, each looking on at it in confusion. Lloyd's eyes flashed to the last thing he'd seen: the world, surrounded by destruction, wind ripping apart everything… a world that the portal was connected to. The normally pristine border of the portal began to crackle shut. It began to sinch closed. He felt relieved, seeing that it was going to seal away that strange sight inside. His mind, however, knew that Monty was still there. He hadn't come out yet.
Just as the portal gave another crackle and slammed shut out on itself, two figures came flying out of it. They both went rocketing across the room and into a sofa, crashing into it as the portal fully shut behind them. There were no words for a moment. The portal gave one last jerk, and then it sealed shut. And with it, a feeling of warmth seemed to radiate from it. Like a relief from having to stare at what lay beyond.
Monty slowly stood up, brushing himself off despite having no body to brush. In one hand, he held onto the SoS. In the other hand, he held onto the arm of the one he'd brought with him. The four rushed over to check on their ghostly friend, a confused and nervous look in their eye. As they saw the hand of the one that he was holding onto, however, they instantly backed away.
"What…?" Overlloyd groaned as he forced his body to stand up, "What… what has happened?"
Monty looked around. He'd opened a portal at complete random. The room they were in was one he hadn't seen before. It was a large apartment with a step down living room, filled with trophies and massive screens showing scrolling lines of text. The entire room was various shades of nugget to dark brown, all of which came together to show the room styled to one individual. A small window near the front door, a few feet away from them, showed a glimpse out into a world with lights flying back every second.
"Where are we?" Monty demanded, his voice as neutral as ever.
"H-Home…" Harumi stepped forward, "You… you opened a portal… y-you brought me home."
"Then this is Dareth's place, right?" Lloyd asked. Harumi gave a small nod.
With a loud clank of metal, Overlloyd planted his staff into the ground. The group, sans Monty, instantly leapt away from him as they watched the dark being grip his staff with all four arms and cling to it fiercely. He gave a painful growl as he forced himself up onto his knees. Just that action alone made his body burn as though filled with thousands of needles, all pointed at him. Lloyd and Harumi took several steps back as Overlloyd struggled to get onto his feet.
"The Dark Matter…" The Overlord's voice, one of distress, rose from his lips, "I cannot feel it. This… what has happened?"
"I can't feel… anything…" Overlloyd huffed out in pain, "I… I don't know what's happening…." He gave a hard inhale, "I can't feel it. The matter, our empire it… it is gone."
"That's because we're not in your world anymore," Monty declared plainly, "Because your world is gone now."
Overlloyd looked over towards Monty. As his mind began to catch up with what had happened to him, so too did his anger. As he laid eyes burning with purple flames on Monty, Overlloyd forced himself to fully stand up. A dark aura began to flare around him, an aura that seeped down to the very core of all those that looked on it. Harumi's eyes widened, and with a gasp and summoned two balls of power in her hands, training them on Overlloyd. Lloyd found his own arms nearly drawn up in the same position as the feeling of the Overlord's malice came down on them. The room itself seemed to lose color as Overlloyd's rage built at the sight of Monty.
"You…" Overlloyd spat, "You dragged me away from my own death. You…" He clutched his side in pain, "You refused my own demise. I had accepted that was the last I would ever see of my empire… and you…" Overlloyd hissed out, "You denied me. On what… on what grounds have you done this?!"
"Because you were able to stand up to the Twins," Monty stated firmly, "It was between you and Sun. I chose you."
Upon hearing that name, Overlloyd's eyes flashed to a last glimpse he'd had of Sun, the boy collapsed in the chamber that all of his had started in. He'd seen Sun just as Monty dragged him to his feet, a split second before being pulled away. Hearing that name caused Overlloyd to grip his fists, a well of rage filling every ounce of his body.
"AND WHO YOU WERE TO MAKE THAT DECISION?!" The Overlord shouted. With his upper arms, he sent two massive blasts of shadow at Monty. Monty dodged just in time to send the beams blasting fully out the front wall and cleaving massive holes into the apartment's wall. The beams stretched all the way into the hovercars flying around outside, nearly destroying two in the process. As the cars swerved and jerked out of the way, Overlloyd raised his hands for another strike. As he tried to, he let out a hard cough as purple blood spilled out from his lips and splattered onto the carpet below. Overlloyd planted his staff into the floor to remain standing.
The sound of feet rustling behind Harumi caused her to turn her head. She looked to see two people had rushed from the hallway, doors flung open from where they'd rushed. They were both people that caused Harumi's heart to freeze seeing them, and made the others look interested.
"What was that?!" Dareth asked, looking around the room frantically.
"I don't…" Carnelian began, flipping her hair back to see the group, "...Wait, Harumi?!"
"Carn…" Harumi whispered. She looked back to Overlloyd clinging so desperately to his staff, then over to Carnelian. A weak and tense smile built up onto her lips, one that only continued to grow as tears began to well up in her eyes. She took one step forward towards Carnelian, then her leg gave out as she dropped hard to the ground.
"Harumi!" Lloyd and Lulloyd shouted in unison. Mage rushed over and used gravity to gently help rotate Harumi around and lay her on her front. Her eyes had rolled into her head, her entire body having passed out. Lloyd and Lulloyd both took her shoulders and helped to sit her upright, just in time for Carnelian to race forward and shove both of them on their asses and grab Harumi up in her arms princess-style.
"Dareth!" Carnelian turned, "Get us a compress!" Dareth was already in the kitchen, throwing out both a hot pack to be warmed up and a cold pack for her head. Carnelian rushed Harumi quickly over into the door she'd burst out of, which, when closed, showed Harumi's name on it. Dareth came instantly rushing after her with medicine, the packs and towels in hand.
"We're gonna make sure she's okay!" Dareth declared, "You all can make yourselves…" His voice trailed off as he saw the massive holes in his apartment and the dark figure clinging to a massive weapon, "...Uh, actually I'm just, gonna be in here." Before they could respond, he slammed the door shut to care for his adopted godchild.
While the three Lloyds were left stunned at the sudden turn of events all at once, all three turned back to see Overlloyd struggling to stand again. This time, his body refused him, causing him to fall to the ground, his staff melting into Dark Matter. He weakly raised his hand up, causing the black liquid to slowly drift into his palm and diffuse into it. When it was all retrieved, Overlloyd fully collapsed.
"Our body has taken too much," The Overlord declared, "We hadn't fully recovered from that first attack from the Twins before all of this. Sun's attack has left us-"
"We share the same body, I know exactly what's wrong with me," Overlloyd gasped out, "Just… just… just give it some time," Overlloyd weakly drew his arms in, "We shall heal soon enough."
"Soon… enough?" Lulloyd blinked, "Wait a minute, do you… regenerate?"
"Slowly…" The Overlord hissed back, "They aren't as bright as I thought."
"We gave them no indication that we were hurt in the first place," Overlloyd groaned, "But yes, they all seem rather one track."
"So you're going to be like that for a little while now, right?" Monty sighed, "Great, now we all need to talk about what the hell just happened."
What happened, that was something that took Lloyd a long time to process. From the look on both Mage and Lulloyd's faces, they were having the same issue. Lloyd nervously looked around and slowly drifted over towards one of the couches. As soon as he put his hand on it, his legs went weak and he fell down onto the seat. He slumped down into it, his hands shaking as he gripped one of the armrests. Mage did the same next to him, though instead of shaking, he instead was looking around with a blank expression. Lulloyd sat down in a large recliner, quickly fumbling with the handle so as not to lean back.
"W...We all saw that, right?" Lulloyd started them off, "The… the Twins. They… they did something to the Iron Doom."
"Harumi said something about, about what Fennwick said," Lloyd turned to Lulloyd, "About, about puncturing holes in the universe and… and what happens when you do."
"The sky…" Mage muttered out, "The sky didn't look right. The… the hole the Iron Doom goes through, it didn't close and… and that was when it all started."
"Stop beating around the bush," Monty growled, "We all know what happened."
Overlloyd slowly dragged himself over to the wall that the portal had come from. The four watched him as he slumped against it, panting as he ran a hand along it. His face looked inquisitive for a few moments, as though trying to see if he could open the portal himself and make his way back where he came.
"...Ghost," Overlloyd clutched his side, "Open the portal."
"Why?" Monty raised his eyebrow.
"Just do it!" Overlloyd spat, clutching his chest with one arm again. Monty gave him a long, almost pathetic, look before nodding his head. Slowly, the distinct golden glow of his chi formed around him, which he then directed off into the wall. The dragon formed and then burst into the wall. Unlike before, however, nothing happened. Both Monty and Overlloyd looked at the wall, waiting for something to happen.
"...It's not opening," Monty narrowed his gaze, "I was able to just think of the place to go. It isn't working."
"Then… then clearly your power is not working as it should," Overlloyd hissed low, "Try again."
"It won't work," Monty told him again. Overlloyd raised his eyes, that dark aura beginning to well up around him as malice drifted from his eyes to Monty.
"...It really won't," Lloyd spoke up, drawing Overlloyd's attention, "If… if what Fennwick said was true, then the Time Twins ripped a hole between your world and… and the void. The thing we travel through to go from world to world. The void is just… nothing. I… I think that… that when the Twins charged up that Iron Doom with all of Morro's power it… it…"
Lloyd didn't want to say it. None of them wanted to say it. It was clear exactly what had happened. The hole that opened up to the void had started to suck the world into it. They'd each seen things touch the hole the Twins left and then completely vanish. The destruction around them hadn't just been for some sort of show. It'd been real, a real thing that meant something horrible. Something that explained why Monty couldn't open a portal.
"T-Then that means…" Lulloyd gulped, "S-Sun was still there."
While it wasn't just Sun, that name was enough to speak for everyone that they'd met. If the world had been drawn into the void, then that meant it was gone. Sun had been left behind after he attacked Overlloyd and stopped him from helping bring down the Iron Doom. That meant that Sun had been sucked into the void as well.
"You…" The Overlord's voice growled out, "Ghost. You stayed behind. We saw you, you looked for Sun before you grabbed us. You chose to bring us instead of him. On what grounds did you make that choice?"
That line was enough to make all eyes turn to Monty. Monty's normal apathetic frown slowly turned into an angry one. The slight shift was subtle, but enough to show that the question was something Monty didn't want to answer.
"Why?" Overlloyd asked Monty, his voice wavering as he spoke, "Sun was the obvious choice. He shares your light, your courage… he would have accepted your quest. Yet you took me instead, against my own will," Overlloyd gripped his fists, "Why?"
"The universe was collapsing," Monty shook his head, "He was down there, you were there. I wasn't going to risk myself for some weirdo with a sword."
"Monty!" Mage gasped out, standing up, "You can't say that! Not… not after…" Mage gripped his chest, "Not after Sun…"
Lulloyd turned his head to Monty, ready to snap at him. His bluntness wasn't helping. For a moment, he considered talking, until he saw Monty's hand. The ghost's hand was shaking. It was subtle, barely enough for anyone other than him to see. Despite that stoic expression, their undead friend was scared. Lulloyd slowly shrank back, deciding not to push Monty. Not right now. If Monty broke down, it would mean a lot more than another one of them scared.
Overlloyd slowly closed his eyes, looking down at the ground. For a few moments, silence filled the apartment. Then, steadily, Overlloyd began to chuckle. The sound was dull and hollow, yet somehow piercing with how it struck right down into the hearts of those that heard it. It was a sound of despair, mingled with mirth to dilute the feeling to make it tolerable to the soul. The chuckle turned into a small giggle, and then into a full laugh. A laugh that mingled together the voices of both Overlloyd and the Overlord together. Both beings in that damaged body laughed together until they were all but howling together.
"I see… I see!" Overlloyd laughed out, bringing a hand up to clutch his face to show only his eye, "You were too afraid to save Sun, so you grabbed me instead!" He continued to laugh through his words, "You chose my life because it was simply more convenient for you!" Overlloyd threw his head back with a another howl of laughter, "My life means as little to you as the choice of cape you seem to desperate to cling to!"
While the sound that came from Overlloyd was almost maddening, it carried with a strange sense of hurt and misery that made Lloyd reach up and claw at his chest. It was a sound that all but paralyzed him as he heard it. Overlloyd had been beaten by the Twins, lost his empire and everything that he'd ever built for. In that laugh, Lloyd could hear the sound of a man reeling with anguish over loss that he couldn't even comprehend. It was a horrible sound.
Slowly, Overlloyd began to stand up again. The action was so unexpected that Lloyd found himself tensing up as he did. Monty watched the former Emperor stagger upright and once more from his staff to make a walking stick with. He slowly forced one leg forward, stumbling into a step and leaning almost all his weight on the staff to remain upright. Each step he took looked almost… pathetic. Despite it, Overlloyd kept forcing himself to go forward.
"I am leaving," Overlloyd growled, "I don't belong here."
"What?!" Suddenly, Lloyd found it in him to stand up, "You can't!"
"I can," Overlloyd chuckled, "It isn't as though I have anything to keep me here."
"B-But…" Mage suddenly stepped forward, attempting to stop him. Monty, however, raised a pistol. The action made Mage take a step back. Monty looked to Mage, then Lulloyd and finally Lloyd. He spun the pistol twice, then slid it back into his armor.
Overlloyd said nothing to them, just staggered forward and towards the door framed by the two gaping holes he'd already blasted into it. He gave one look back towards the four of them, then threw the door open. The blast of wind that came with it nearly threw him back onto the ground, yet he refused to allow it. Slowly, his back began to turn liquid and ripple in place. With a twist of agony on his face, two black dragon wings sprouted out from Overlloyd's shoulder blades. The action was accompanied by sickening snaps and cracks that made Lloyd feel sick. Those newly formed wings slowly began to twitch, making Overlloyd grimace again. Then, with a single motion, he ran forward and off into the open air the hovercars flew in. A few moments later, they saw a black dot flying off into the distance.
"Monty…" Lulloyd paced towards the ghost, "Why… why did you let him go?"
"He's… he's fused with the ultimate evil of all Ninjago," Lloyd shook his head, a bit of worry creeping into his voice, "We can't just let him go free!"
"Because he won't hurt anyone," Monty sighed, "I know what it looks like when someone is going to hurt people. If we kept him here, we'd just piss him off until he snapped and actually did try to hurt someone. He knows he has to come back."
"But… what?" Mage cocked his head, "He… he threw us in a dungeon and talked about torturing us, and he like, enslaved everyone in his world! He's a bad guy! We can't let bad guys just, run around!"
"If it helps," Monty slowly fished a small blinking disc from his belt, "When we got here I shoved a tracking device on him… I have one on all of you, actually," He hit the blinking dial, causing it to change color and for Lloyd to hear a beeping from his shoulder. He pulled the fabric aside to see a tiny little disc stuck to the inside of his clothes that was blinking the same color.
"That's…. A little better," Lulloyd admitted, "Uh… can you, tell us next time you do?"
"Defeats the whole purpose," Monty sighed, "Point is, he's too injured to do anything. He'll come back after he's had time to heal and calm down. I do this with bounties all the time."
"Then… then what do we do?" Mage asked with worried eyes.
"Right now…" Lloyd raised his head, "Right now we need to make sure Harumi is okay, then we… we need to talk about what to do. The Twins pulled one over on us. We need to see the extent of the damage."
"Damage?" Lulloyd looked down, "...T-There isn't anything left."
That was enough for Lloyd to fully go silent. He had no other words for what Lulloyd had said, and Monty wasn't going to say anything. Slowly, the four sat back down, taking their time to think, to feel, and to dwell upon what had just happened. To dwell on the fact their mission had just become even more deadly than it ever had before.
Slowly, Harumi opened her eyes. She was laying in a green and pink bed, with a large and fluffy comforter that made her body feel warm and comfy. She had three large matching green pillows behind her head, as well as a large wet cloth on her forehead. She groaned out and gently lifted herself upright, planting her hands behind her and shaking herself a little to regain her bearings on the situation.
"Harumi?" A familiar voice drew Harumi's attention towards a girl sitting beside her. Harumi looked to see the fiery yellow and red hair of Carnelian, dressed in a tight orange tube top and matching set of pants, the fabric of which her hands were clinging to tightly. As Harumi made eye contact with her, her body began to shake.
"Carn-" That was as far as Harumi got before Carnelian had launched herself onto the bed and thrown Harumi's head back into the sheets with a hard kiss. Harumi's eyes slowly closed as her arms came up to wrap around Carnelian's back, drawing her harder into that kiss. Both girls shared their passionate moment together, with Carnelian clinging to her on top of the sheets while Harumi trembled beneath them.
Slowly, Carnelian pulled her face back, panting a little as she looked down at Harumi. Harumi shared a soft smile with her, just as tears began to prick at her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, right before Carnelian's hand had come down and smacked her hard enough to make Harumi's head smack the pillow.
"Where have you been…?" Harumi turned her head back up to see Carnelian trembling above her, "I-It's been almost four months, Harumi… where… where did you go…? How… how could you go and just leave me a note?!"
Harumi felt a sudden well of hurt inside of her gut as she found her voice could only muster a small, "I...I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" Carnelian shook her head, "N-Nah, that's not good enough right now. You can't… can't just leave for months like that and say sorry. You know how hard it's been for me and Ren to keep the others from freaking out over this? Do you know how much we've all been worrying?! Right after all that happened, you… you just. You just!"
Harumi shook a little more, "I-I'm sorry, Carn. I didn't know I would be gone that long."
"...You're such an idiot," Carnelian strained out, "I know what those Twins did to Olive was… was…" She gasped a bit and sniffed, "W-Wasn't worth you leaving me like that. They… the team found out about Olive, Harumi. I couldn't keep it a secret. Ren told them and… and just. We've all been worried that you're going to get hurt like she did and..."
Harumi slowly sat all the way up, staring deeply into Carnelian's eyes. She wasn't sure what she could say to pacify her lover. The events that had happened… the fighting, the chase, it had all just seemed to fly by. Everything had just come so fast that she'd been thinking of nothing but the Twins, Twins, and even more of the Twins. When she'd first left… leaving had felt like the right decision to make.
"I won't… I won't leave you again," Harumi whispered, "Not without telling you first. I… I'm not sure how long I'll be here. Carn I… I…" Her hands began to tremble, "I messed up…"
Seeing Harumi begin to quiver, Carnelian switched her mindset from angry to comforting, reaching out and taking hold of Harumi's hands in her own. She gently began to rub them back and forth as Harumi continued to tremble. Carnelian slowly scooted forward to bring them a little closer together as Harumi's words started to quake.
"I-It's been so much, Carn," Harumi sputtered out, "I-I went to this world that was like t-this one but in the past, a-and then I met this annoying ghost a-and I spent all this time, time with Lloyd and we talked and I-I felt better b-but then the Twins came a-and they stranded us there f-for months…. A-and then we went to this world like an anime a-and I met a boy and w-we just stayed inside and gave orders until he went and nearly stopped them and we went… went to…"
"Shhhh…" Carnelian gently pulled Harumi's head into her shoulder and began to rub her back, "Hey, you know I can't understand you when you're talking this fast. Cool your jets." She hugged Harumi a bit more, "So much for, being mad at you. Heh. You're staying long enough to tell me everything that's happened to you, got it? I don't care how long, I want every detail."
Harumi gently nodded her head, slowly inhaling before slowly spilling everything. As she clung to Carnelian, the yellow haired girl just held onto her and let her talk. She let Harumi cry and sputter her way through sentences, barely manage to get out words and then have to go back and retell entire chunks of it all. It made little sense to Carnelian, but that wasn't the point. The point was Harumi was hurting, and she needed someone to listen to her. She held onto Harumi until she finally had stopped talking.
"Wow…" Carnelian gave a nervous smile, "All I can say is… that was pretty rough," She scratched Harumi's back, "Are you... good?"
Harumi gave a tiny nod. Slowly, she moved to pull back from Carnelian, rubbing her neck from the strain of having it bent forward that long. Carn just gently wiped her shoulder a bit, ignoring any stains on it and instead just leaning forward to give Harumi's tear-stained cheek a kiss. The action made Harumi's face go a bright red, much to Carn's amusement.
"I've missed doing that," Carnelian sighed, "I've missed you in general, Harumi. I just… I need to know you're okay from now on. Please?"
"I-It's been a really long time…" Harumi nodded again, "I, I will. I don't know, what's going to happen. Stuff, isn't good right now. But, I'll be okay. I promise. Just… just don't, judge me for acting weird right now, okay? I'm dealing with all of them and…"
"Tell you what, I'm gonna get you some snacks," Carnelian informed her, cutting off her ramble, "You keep your cute butt in that bed until I get back. Got it?"
Harumi's blush refused to go down, which made Carnelian roll her eyes playfully. She went to open the door to the room, only to be greeted with the face of Lloyd. Lloyd sheepishly smiled apologetically at her and gently scooted out of the way, letting her pass. Before she fully went by him, Carnelian looked back to check Harumi laying down before moving and taking a threatening step at Lloyd.
"Just to be clear," Carnelian hissed at him, "She's staying here for the night. I don't care what sort of big thing that's going down out there. She's exhausted and needs someone to take care of her. Since you all sure aren't," She growled a bit at that last statement, "I will. If you're going to talk to her, then don't make her more upset than she already is. Got it?!"
"Y-Yeah," Lloyd nodded his head, "Totally… totally got it," He gulped a little, "I just, wanted to check on her, alright? I'll be in and out."
"Mhm," Carnelian gave him a long look, then disappeared down the hallway. Lloyd watched her go before slowly slipping into the room. Harumi sat up for a minute, looking at him in confusion before her face softened into a little smile.
"Lloyd," Harumi looked down, "Hey. I uhm… I normally don't pass out like that. I, I was so riled up from everything, seeing my family again just kinda… kinda…"
"You're fine, Harumi," Lloyd smiled to her, "I'm just glad to see you're okay."
"Not really okay but… I'm getting there," Harumi told him, "... Lloyd, you know… you know what happened back there, right?"
"Yeah… Lulloyd and Mage have been trying not to think about it," Lloyd told Harumi, "It's a lot to take in, you know?"
"Too much," Harumi whispered, "The Time Twins beat us… again."
Lloyd lowered his head. There wasn't any room to debate that. Even now, they'd already won again. It was a repeat, each time they got close they were thrown back. First, it was being trapped, then Mage had given into his anger and allowed them to get away, and now they let the Twins have everything they needed. Something that they couldn't allow. Something that was under no circumstances allowable.
"...Lloyd…" Harumi whispered, "That Iron Doom had Time Blades in it. If… if they were able to recharge Overlloyd's empty ones with the ones they had then… then that means…"
"Let's not think about that," Lloyd cut her off, feeling a pit of dread welling up inside of him, "We need to just worry about ourselves right now, okay?"
Harumi looked down, nervously nodding her head. She moved to grip the sheets for a minute, a clear line of fear curling her hands up. Lloyd couldn't offer her any advice, nor anything to really make her feel better. Right now, he had to sit back and let her relax like this, and let her feel herself. He looked aside, his own words stopped.
"Did… Carnelian scare you?" Harumi asked, "She means well. She uhm, she's just protective of me. She was the one that got to see… everything that happened that day. She's worried about me a lot after all that."
"It's alright," Lloyd smiled, "I'm just glad you have someone like that to worry about you."
"...I think you all do now," Harumi whispered with a small smile, "...Kinda feels like I've made a team outside of my normal team, you know?"
Lloyd nodded his head. In a way, it did feel like that. By now, he trusted Lulloyd, Harumi and even Monty with his life just as he would his friends back home. Mage was included in that, but being a kid Lloyd felt it more his job to protect his life if it came to that. In a strange way, this entire adventure had brought forward with it a strange new feeling of comradery.
"I think we'd need a sixth member to be a team," Lloyd chuckled, "It always seems to work out that way with my teams."
"Not always," Harumi waved her hand, "I have a lot more than just six in my team."
"Exactly how many?" Lloyd asked.
"Let's see…" Harumi paused, "Myself, Carnelian, Ren, Mizuko, Raiden, Forte, Souma, Karlon, Tynda, Somnan, Viperia, Umbra, Fang, Yuka… that's fifteen… wait, no sixteen, if you count… Olive." Harumi's tone fell as she was once more dragged down into the depressing reality that had befallen them.
"...Oh," Lloyd sat up, "Remember what Kozu said? Overlloyd figured out something about that chip Olive gave you. You need to talk to him about that."
"I… would rather just keep it as a memento than talk with him again," Harumi shuddered, "He's… wrong, Lloyd. Everything about him is wrong. I don't get how you could ever, I mean how he could ever even fall that far. Didn't he know going back in time would mess everything up?"
"I don't think he was thinking about the consequences," Lloyd gripped his fist, "I know what it's like to want my dad back. I've had nights where I think about what would have happened if he was never bitten. It's… not that far out there to think that there is a me out there that would try to act on it."
"But the Overlord!" Harumi protested, sitting up in full, putting her hand on the embroidered hole on her uniform, "Of every being to go to, why him?1 I know what the venom did to grandpa, but I don't get it! Even he never willingly went to the Overlord!"
"I don't think it's smart to really ask that question," Lloyd admitted, "It's not really for us to ask, you know? That was his choice and, we're just here to see what the outcome was."
Harumi had to relent to that, simply because she had nothing else to say. In truth, she was pulling at strings to find something to keep her mind off of what had just happened. Seeing Overlloyd come with them was perhaps the most startling thing that could have happened. If Monty was going to bring anyone… why hadn't he decided to bring Sun? That question was on her mind, and she was certain it was on Lloyd's mind.
"Alright, out!" Carnelian's voice came from the door, "I need to spend some time alone with her right now," The girl tapped her foot, "And if you don't leave I'll tell you exactly what I'm going to be doing with her."
Harumi's eyes went wide, but Carnelian was grinning knowing it was no doubt getting Harumi's mind racing. Lloyd, admitting that it wasn't the smartest idea to stick around, drifted up from where he sat and made his way over towards the door. Carnelian smirked and let him pass, and soon Lloyd had drifted back out towards the main room.
When he arrived, Lulloyd and Mage were in the kitchen, finding food for themselves. As soon as they both turned to see Lloyd, a look of shame filled Lulloyd's eyes, while Mage waved his hand to Lloyd.
"Hey!" Mage beamed, "Dareth said we could eat what we wanted! What even is all this stuff?!" He began holding up things.
"Uh, well those are potato chips," Lloyd pointed to the bag Mage held up, "Those are crackers," He pointed to the individual containers in the other hand, "And right now Lulloyd is holding a soda." Lulloyd gently twisted the can he held to indicate what Lloyd was talking about.
'I've never seen these before…" Mage whispered, opening the bag up by turning a fingertip to metal and swiping the top of the bag with it, "They don't smell like crops!"
"They're processed," Lulloyd informed him, "You uh, you know how you take raw metal and turn it into swords? Think of this as like… you take normal crops and then turn them into this stuff. It lets you make a lot more food."
"Well it's delicious!" Mage was already tossing chips into his mouth -totally not cheating by using the slightest bit of gravity to push them into his lips- as he answered.
Lloyd found himself rather hungry, which made sense. The last meal they'd eaten had been sometime on the Bounty, and Overlloyd hadn't exactly been that into supplying them food while in his captivity. Lloyd dove into the kitchen, and soon the three of them were leaning against the countertops and eating away at some freshly made sandwiches. Thankfully, the future hadn't devolved into just flavored mush just yet.
"So… what exactly are we going to do?" Lulloyd asked through a bite.
"We need to find the Twins and stop them!" Mage frowned, "We got too busy with all the stuff last time! We gotta try harder!"
"It's not going to be that easy," Lloyd looked down, "That Iron Doom they had, it had all the Time Blades inside of it. That means that the machine can do more than just travel universes… now it can travel in time."
"Time?" Lulloyd looked sickened, "I… I know they kept going on about being the Masters of Time but… I mean you said they did but, I never really… I thought the Iron Doom was sorta, just a symbol of power, like my dad's shark."
"No, it isn't," Lloyd informed him, "But the big thing right now is that we have no idea where they are… and they could easily be in the past or future too."
"But, there was that giant crack on that big dial, right?" Mage asked, "Isn't that something they'd need to fix first?"
"True," Lloyd nodded, "The Twins wouldn't just freely travel in time. They were really specific about doing it only with one single plan in mind. They wouldn't risk themselves right now without having a reason to."
"Are… you sure about that?" Lulloyd asked.
"To be honest?" Lloyd gulped, "I have no idea."
There was another silence that went around the table at that thought. Right now, there was nothing but uncertainty. The Twins were out there, and could be anywhere now. They could be in any point in time right now, and they'd never know. They were flying blind, and had no way of quite knowing what was going to happen yet.
From the corner of the room, there was a small buzzing. Lloyd turned to see a small black dot on a side table, which he retrieved to discover was a small comm. Pulling the one that he already had in his ear out, Lloyd slowly pressed the button on the other side.
"Carnelian!" Ren's voice came from the other end, "How many times must I tell you not to take out your comms!"
"Ren," Lloyd spoke up, "This is Lloyd."
There was a rather long pause on the other line before Ren spoke up, "Lloyd, as in… the one that I met months ago?"
"Yeah," Lloyd smiled awkwardly, "We're back, but we don't know for how long."
"Does that mean Harumi is with you?!" Ren's voice suddenly picked up in urgency, "Is she there?!"
"She's with Carnelian, we're here at Dareth's house," Lloyd explained, "You can head over if you want."
"I'm already on my way," Ren informed him, "I need you to pass on a message for Carnelian for when I arrive."
"Sure," Lloyd replied, "What is it?"
"Tell here there is a strange Serpentine here that's asking for an audience with Harumi," Ren informed Lloyd, "And that he's waiting to talk to her friends."
"What's so odd about that?" Lloyd asked. Ren's next words froze him solid.
"He says that he's here on business of someone named Krux and Acronix," Ren replied firmly, "And that you'd do well not to ignore that."
Gently, Harumi moved to sit the small hovercar down. Lloyd had, at first, found it a bit odd that Harumi knew how to use these things, until he was sharply reminded by Carnelian that Harumi was, in fact, four years older than him and learned how to drive years ago. The car was rather large, allowing for many of the group to tag along. For fear of this being a trap, Monty and Lulloyd were currently back at Dareth's apartment, guarding their escape from this world.
Slowly, a number of figures emerged out into the massive park that Lloyd had first entered this world from. Lloyd, Mage, Harumi, Ren and Carnelian each emerged. Waiting for them at the entrance to the park were two others, both of whom immediately moved to hug Harumi on sight.
"HARUMI!" Mizuko shouted, wrapping her arms around Harumi tightly, "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! You were gone for so long, what happened?!"
"Seriously!" Forte spoke up, "You can't just leave us like that! That's not cool!"
"G-Girls!" Harumi gasped out, "I-I'm fine, I'm really fine! It's okay!"
Both Forte and Mizuko stepped back. Mizuko crossed her arms but had a smile of relief on her face, while Forte held up a keytar and gave Harumi a knowing smile. Ren and Carnelian joined the other two, making four sets of eyes that were all looking at Harumi with a mixture of relief and worry.
"Where's this guy you wanted us to meet?" Lloyd spoke up, breaking the moment.
"In the park," Ren gestured, "By the statue."
"Alright," Lloyd nodded, "I'll go talk to him. You all know what to do?"
The others nodded. After what had happened last time, none of them were willing to take even the slightest chance in trusting this newcomer. Lloyd moved to begin walking forward down the path, while the others quickly dispersed through the area. Thanks to Forte's warnings, the entire park was currently abandoned. If this meeting was going to get violent, then Lloyd wouldn't have to worry about anyone else being hurt.
As the others got into position, Lloyd looked towards the statue of the First Rhotatae Master in the park. As he approached it, he could see there was indeed a Serpentine waiting for him beneath it. In fact, there was not one, but two. Lloyd looked at them incredibly suspiciously as he approached, making sure to have his twin swords on his back showing. He walked forward with confidence, even if right now he had nothing to give him that feeling.
Once he got closer, now Lloyd was able to see this Serpentine was like none he'd ever seen before. The Snake looked like a General class, with a massive tail instead of legs. Instead of having one of the five distinctive colors, however, the Serpentine was a deep navy blue with a light shade of blue for the stripe of scales that went down the middle of his body. At first it looked like he had flaps like a Hypnobrai on either side of his head, but on closer inspection that was apart of a large crown that went from the top of his head down to the base of his neck. His neck looked like stacks of square scales on top of one another, and on top of his flattened head he had beautiful markings of both gold, blue, and small accents of green inside of them. He wore a beautiful white robe that also had blue, brown and small traces of green markings inside of them, tied together with a belt at the center. On his shoulders, he wore copper armor that was shaped like two snake heads opening up over the shoulders, though it was thinner than armor tended to look. On his left arm, he wore a massive golden band around his wrist.
Standing next to this strange Serpentine was one that Lloyd knew well, though was shocked to see he did. He was a Hypnobrai, a second-in-command class. He stood with a large golden weapon of a serrated blade that curved upwards attached to a parallel hilt. He wore a similar band as the strange Serpentine, but on his right arm instead. Seeing him was enough to bring back memories for Lloyd, memories that he never thought he would need to remember.
"You wanted to speak to me?" Lloyd called out as he walked up to the strange Serpentine.
"I did," The Serpentine slithered forward. He leaned back and picked up a rather large staff, one that was rather tall with an elegantly straight blade at the top, with a small scroll that was wrapped around the top. He planted the staff in the ground in front of him, letting Lloyd take it in, "Do you know what this scroll is?"
"No," Lloyd stood across the gap of the small paved clearing for the statue, "I've never seen it before."
The Serpentine frowned, "Then, you should take the time to learn it." He let the scroll unfurl. There were strange symbols written all over it, but Lloyd was unable to make sense of what they said. For now, he wasn't focused on it.
"You said you came here on business with the Time Twins," Lloyd frowned, "I want to know why that is."
"Bite your tongue!" The Hypnobrai spat, stepping forward behind the Serpentine, "You should know that talking to him like that is-"
"Now now, Skales," The Serpentine shook his head, "He doesn't know who we are. We're here to introduce ourselves, after all."
Skales, so Lloyd's feeling was right. Standing beside this Serpentine was Skales, but not as Lloyd knew him now. This was Skales when Lloyd had first met him, before he'd ascended to the level of General. The fact he still had legs was something that was taking Lloyd a long while to adjust to.
"Then tell me who you are," Lloyd shook his head, "Since you needed to talk to me so badly."
The Serpentine nodded his head, "Very well," He slithered forward, the light from the buildings towering around him shining down on his scales. He raised his head, letting his eyes shine. He almost seemed to glisten in the light, a regal and refined sight.
"My name is Ophiod, Crown Prince of the Serpentine, prodigy of Arcturus and wielder of the ancient magicks," He raised his staff up and pointed it at Lloyd, "I am here to deliver a message, one that you should take great heed of."
Ophiod paused, then his eyes shone, "Abandon your quest to stop the Time Twins. Return home to your own world now, and they will have mercy upon the wrongdoings you have committed against them. Relay this message to your allies, so they may be spared as well."
Lloyd was taken completely aback by the declaration. He looked on at the two in complete and utter confusion, unsure of what to even say. Ophiod lowered his staff and planted it into the ground again, glaring deeply at Lloyd. Skales did the same, stepping forward and pointing his blade towards Lloyd. A moment later, Ophiod moved his hand to make Skales lower the weapon.
"That's... quite a message," Lloyd thought quickly on what to say, "Why are the Time Twins offering us mercy?"
"They have ascended to a power beyond anything that you could comprehend," Ophiod answered him, "They no longer have reason to deal with the likes of you. The only reason they now care for you is if you try to interfere with them."
Lloyd was wracking his brain. Ophiod? That name sounded too familiar. It didn't sound right. This was a Serpentine, but not one he'd ever seen before. He was here on business from none other than the Time Twins, which was something his mind was harping on. As soon as he realized that, he moved to draw his blades from his back, spinning them both and pointing them at Ophiod.
"You're like me, aren't you?" Lloyd shook his head, "You've traveled in universes."
"I have," Ophiod didn't seem phased by the show of hostility, "And it is a luxury that I am not soon to forget. I repeat again. Abandon your quest."
"You're working with the Time Twins," Lloyd charged his blades with his power, "And that's enough to tell me I can't trust you."
As soon as Lloyd's swords began to glow green, the others leapt out of their hiding spaces. Harumi and Carnelian came from around the statue behind Ophiod, both charging up Rhotatae to fire at a moment's notice. With a large and flourished rift, Forte leapt out with Mage on Ophiod's right. Ren emerged on their left with a simple calm step, hands behind her back, with Mizuko beside her drawing up water from the grass behind them. The group had completely surrounded Ophiod.
"Whoever you are," Harumi frowned, "I think you should surrender! We have even more of us coming!" It was a lie, but a hard one to dispute.
Ophiod took one long look around, seeing what each of them were doing and seemingly thinking. After a moment, he picked up his staff and gestured to Skales. The two went back to back, pointing their weapons out at the group. The stance they took was trained, refined and practiced. They molded to each other perfectly, surveying their enemies. Ophiod turned ot Skales, then gave a small nod of his head.
"I did not come unprepared to fight," Ophiod grip the staff he carried, the tips of the scroll beginning to burn orange as he did, "If you will not abandon your quest, even after such hardship… then I will make you submit."