"Skales!" Ophiod shouted, "Now!"

Ophiod lifted his tail up, bunching it up between the space between their backs. With a swift strike, he pushed both himself and Skales away from each other. The two Serpentine stopped and slid to face one another, putting their backs to their enemies. Mage quickly tried to move to ready an elemental strike, but Ophiod bunched up his tail and struck the ground to send him soaring back towards Skales. Skales went running right at him, jumping into the air just before the two crossed paths.

"By the might of the Serpentine!" Ophiod grabbed Skales' arm.

"For the strength that we carry!" Skales shouted, mirroring the motion.

"By the force of our wills combined!" Ophiod threw his other arm out.

"Turn our drive into rotation's strike!" Skales mirrored Ophiod.

"NINJA-GO!" The two Serpentine suddenly disappeared as a massive tornado formed around them. The unmistakable glow of Spinjitzu soared around them as the two Serpentine formed the tornado together, rapidly spinning around with one another with motions in perfect harmony. The light of their tornado cast a deep blue and copper glow across the clearing, growing in strength as their Spinjitzu grew in size. Their tornado grew until it was almost double the height of Lloyd, and large enough to surpass anything that Lloyd had seen performed before.

"What the heck is that?!" Forte shouted. She moved to strike her hand down on her keytar, causing the sound to translate into massive sound waves she pointed directly into the tornado. The waves struck the tornado and were dissipated by the force of the winds.

"That's… that's Spinjitzu!" Lloyd took several steps back, "But, how?! I've never seen two people make a tornado like that before!"

Ophiod and Skales' Spinjitzu only continued to grow. The massive light that the two gave off was enough to almost blind the onlookers. The sound of it was enough to wipe away even their own breaths. Lloyd shielded his eyes, gathering himself for battle. He drew his swords, running right for the tornado.

"You're not the only ones who can, apparently, do Spinjitzu!" Lloyd shouted, bringing his swords to his chest, "NINJA-GO!"

Lloyd twisted into Spinjitzu, his tornado rockting right across the gap towards the much larger one. Lloyd struck the tornado hard with his own, causing a sizzling of energy to form at the point they met. Lloyd felt a massive power pressing against him, leaving him barely able to press back against them. The power that he felt coming from them was unlike anything that he had ever felt before. The larger tornado bore down on him, almost as though the light it gave off was threatening to swallow him whole. Lloyd felt a raw rush of panic, biting his lip and then shouting as he pushed even harder against them.

Suddenly, Lloyd felt a moment of clarity. The swirl of Spinjitzu faded, causing him to momentarily just see a world of green and orange around him. He looked forwards, seeing Ophiod and Skales. The two were holding arms together, Skales' head pressed against Ophiod's chest. Ophiod slowly looked up, his eyes opening to see Lloyd. The moment that he did, his face turned into a shocked scowl.

"What are you doing?!" Ophiod shouted, "You're actions will cause the both of us to burn up! Begone!"

Lloyd was about to open his mouth to speak, but Ophiod just shut his eyes and gripped Skales harder. Suddenly, the normal sight of Spinjitzu was around him again. This time, the force that pressed on Lloyd was even more powerful, almost like some massive punch thrown right against his entire body. His struck the ground and slid away, gasping out in pain as he did.

"What the…?" Lloyd looked down, "Did… did I just… connect Spinjitzu with them?"

"Lloyd, DOWN NOW!" Harumi shouted through his comm. Lloyd flipped around to see the massive tornado was still coming towards them, having to shield his eyes again. Over his head, several Rhotatae discs went flying through the air, swallowed up by the encroaching tornado. Lloyd felt something snag his shirt, dragging him back. When he landed, he saw the glow of a Rhotatae disc fade, with Forte nearby having her arms extended with a nervous smile.

"Alright, girls!" Harumi shouted back over the comms, "Mizuko, let's do this!"

Suddenly, Mizuko went flying into the air, water pillars having shot her up into the air from a nearby pond. Ren shot forward as well into the clearing, calling upon the power of form to turn herself into a massive hawk that went flying into the air. The Spinjitzu tornado the two Serpentine had created continue to grow in size, forcing her to fly up above it. Once she was above it, she turned back into her regular form, reaching her arm out grab the top of the fountain's decoration behind the two snakes and swung around it. Lloyd blinked as he saw her land behind the fountain to yank a panel open from the side, grabbing a valve inside and turning it as hard as she could.

All around the tornado, small openings in the ground began to shoot up into the air. Mizuko landed on the ground and held both her hands up, willing those small streams to turn into pillars. Just as the tornado shot out towards her, she raised three large pillars of water in front of her. The Spinjitzu struck it, causing Mizuko's eyes to bulge as she felt the sudden strain it put on her. She groaned hard, her hands trembling as she attempted to hold it back.

With a burst of light, a large pillar of flame shot out from Carnelian's hands to strike the other side of the tornado. Carnelian nodded to Mizuko, who dug in and gave one hard shout as she forced the water to slash the tornado like whips and throw it backwards. She raised more pillars up from the holes, creating a circular cage of water around the tornado to trap it. Carnelian rubbed her hands together and shot a pillar of flame into the water, creating a massive steam screen around them.

"Good work, girls," Harumi emerged into battle by Carnelian's side, "Since Raiden isn't here… Mage!"

Without even hearing her, Mage shot out a burst of lightning that struck the water, causing the area inside to become electrified. Harumi looked through the smoke to where Mage stood, a small growl on his lips as he blasted the water with lightning. Between him, Mizuko's water cage, and Carnelian's fire, the tornado was subjected to their full might.

With a little stutter, Ophiod and Skales slid to a stop, both of them panting as they looked out towards the group. At once, the water and lightning went away, giving way to the sight of Mizuko, Ren, Carnelian and Harumi all holding Rhotatae discs, fully charged, at them. Mage stood by Mizuko, rubbing his hands together to form sparks in them as a warning. Lloyd stumbled to his feet and gave Harumi a nod before walking forward towards them.

"I don't know why you would work with the Time Twins," Lloyd shook his head, "Or, how they managed to recruit you so fast, but they're our enemy. They've destroyed an entire world. Why are you working with them?"

"That is a question that we have to answer for ourselves," Ophiod straightened his back, "If you believe I don't know who I am working with, you are wrong."

"If you know they're evil, then you shouldn't do this!" Mage shouted at him, "They've done nothing but hurt people! We… we just saw them hurt too many people! How can you stand to work for them?!"

"As I said," Ophiod raised his strange staff up into the air, "You must answer that for your-"

With a tssk, Mage shot his hands forward, blasting Ophiod with lightning. Rather than dodge, however, Ophiod held one hand forward. A strange orange aura surrounded his body as he began to chant something that Lloyd had never heard. As soon as the lightning struck him, Ophiod's body remained rigid as he continued to chant. The lightning went up his arm and into his head, causing the sides of his head to gain brilliant blue frills to them that crackled with lightning. The accents on his body went neon blue. When Mage finally stopped, Ophiod stood as a Serpentine that appeared to have absorbed the element into his body.

"That was the wrong move," Ophiod focused, "Vah!"

All at once, the four girls present fired discs at him, attempting to blast him off his feet. Just before they connected, the lightning that he had absorbed suddenly began to glow. In a massive burst, a wave of lightning shot out from his body to throw everyone facing him back. Lloyd, Harumi, her friends and Mage all were thrown down and given a shock as the burst of power went through and past them. The wave faded as it began to reach the edge of the treeline, but the action was enough to give them all a different sort of shock.

"W-What…" Lloyd twitched as he sat up, "What was that?"

"I suppose this world doesn't have Vipers anymore," Ophiod sighed, "Your elemental attacks won't work on me. Our bodies naturally absorb elemental energy."

"Viper…?" Harumi rubbed her head, "What?"

"I have heard this word," Ren stood up despite the pain she was in, "In the museums. They are said to be the ancestors for the Serpentine. A race that gave rise to the five tribes."

"I am not ancient," Ophiod nodded to Lloyd, "You are I are rather close in age, from what I have heard."

"But, how?" Carnelian helped Harumi up, "Seems uh, kinda weird for an ancient Serpentine to be here attacking you."

"Alternate Universes…" Harumi groaned, "The impossible can be possible. Just… don't question it."

"So… so you're a Viper?" Lloyd asked, "You're not from this universe?"

"No, I am not," Ophiod shook his head, "You would do well to remember that."

"Whoever he is," Carnelian punched her fists together, "Nobody gets away hurting my friends!"

"He didn't come here for you!" Skales spat at her, "We came to deliver a message. You were the ones that threatened us!"

"How can you do Spinjitzu?" Lloyd shook his head, "No other universes have had it!"

"If anything can be possible," Ophiod looked over to Lloyd with a sigh, "Maybe you shouldn't rule out the idea that your powers are unique to your own world."

"What's your response?" Skales hissed.

"To… what?" Mage cocked his head.

"The message!" Skales spat, "Do you back down from your crusade?"

"Of course not!" Mage threw back instantly, "They destroyed Over's world! We can't let them get away with that!"

"I see," Ophiod nodded his head, gripping his staff, "Then I believe we have no further business with you here. Prepare for unforeseen consequences, Lloyd."

Ophiod chanted something under his breath, causing a circle of symbols to open behind him. Once the circle completed, an orange light filled the inside. With a small bow, Ophiod slithered through it, causing him to vanish as he touched it. Skales gave them all a harsh look before doing the same. The circle vanished a moment later, leaving them all alone once more.

"What… what was that?" Lloyd turned to Harumi.

"I… I don't know," Harumi shook her head, "I, guess the Time Twins have recruited some new friends."

"But, how?" Lloyd shook his head, "They left only a few minutes before us!"

"Didn't you say the Iron Doom was a time machine at some point?" Mage chimed in, "Maybe that explains it!"

"But, if they can do that, then…" Harumi gripped her fist, "If they have a time machine, why haven't they attacked us directly?"

"Because the last time they tried that," Lloyd shook his head, "It didn't work out for them. You heard what that Ophiod guy said: the Time Twins aren't interested in us anymore."

"But, what were they talking about with consequences?" Carnelian cocked her head, "Seems a little random to me." Before any of them could respond, Ren did so for them.

"Harumi!" Ren had a hand on her ear, "There's been an attack in the northern downtown district!"

"An attack?" Harumi spun around, "Where?!"

Ren went silent for a few moments, then bit her lip, "Your home. The reports are saying that a massive machine attacked…"

Lloyd felt his blood run cold, which was to say nothing of Harumi's expression. The pure shock that she held on her face was enough to freeze a boiling sea. Carnelian felt the same fear grip her, causing her to turn and grab onto Harumi's shoulders. Mizuko put a hand up to her face, while Ren gripped her fist and then raised her head.

"We need to get over there!" Ren declared, "Harumi!"

"Let's… Let's go!" Harumi shook herself, forcing her tone to remain firm, "Carn, get us a shuttle!"

Carnelian locked eyes with Harumi, seeing the fear in them but also the need to keep moving. She gave her lover a small nod before reaching down into a pocket and pulling out a key. Upon hitting it, a light flared up. Harumi turned and began running towards the entrance to the park as quickly as she could, forcing the others to keep up with her. Naturally, Ren, Forte and Mizuko fell into line with Harumi, with Lloyd and Mage having to keep up.

The small key's light went out, and when the group arrived at the entrance to the park, an open-topped hovercar was waiting for them. The car was longer than normal, with seats for six inside. Harumi threw herself into the driver's seat, with Carnelian sliding into the spot beside her. The rest filled into the back seat.

With a twist of the key from Carnelian, the car suddenly unfolded two circular engines from the back, raising up and setting into place like a spaceship. They both fired out, letting Harumi take off. As soon as they were in the air, Lloyd felt himself pressed back with the sheer speed in which they were moving. Forte and Mizuko, however, didn't seem to mind.

"H-Harumi!" Lloyd shouted, "A-Aren't you going really fast?"

"Worry about speed later!" Carnelian shouted back.

Harumi suddenly swerved them hard to the right, making Lloyd feel a moment of weightlessness that didn't sit well with him. For now, he fumbled for a seatbelt to slide on, which seemed to just be for his lap. Mage simply had his fingers turned to metal and clinging on tightly, while also using, of all things, poison to keep his stomach from turning. Forte and Mizuko were fine, along with Carnelian, who was keeping a close eye on her girl. Harumi was focused on the roads as she weaved them in and out of traffic, no doubt breaking laws in the process.

Soon enough, the group sped up from between a large intersection and into the open air that let them see the apartment complex. As soon as they did, Harumi's face paled. The building that Dareth lived in, and her home, was smoking. A massive hole had been ripped in it, exposing multiple apartments at once. There were strange dents in the side of the building several stories down, almost like footprints that were used to climb further up to the place. While the apartment was undamaged other than the wall, there was something important that she realized.

"UNCLE DARETH!" Harumi looked around, trying to gauge where he was, "He's gone!"

"I know, I know working on it!" Carnelian unfolded a high tech monitor from the dashboard and began to plug various things into it, "I'm patching into the security cameras in the area, I'll have some feed of the-"

With a massive roar, the Mechdragon crested the top of a nearby skyscraper and then shot straight down the other side. Harumi and Carnelian shared a look, nodded, and then Harumi shot them right up for it. It seemed that Lulloyd was in pursuit of them as well, even if they weren't sure how long it'd been. As they soared up towards it, Forte moved to extend her power to Harumi's earpiece, nodding to her instinctually.

"Thanks," Harumi hit her earpiece, "Lulloyd, come in! Are you there!"

"Gah!" Lulloyd's voice popped up as oscillating waves on Carnelian's screen, "Harumi! Some guy just came and kidnapped Dareth! Monty and I are-"

"I know!" Harumi shouted back, "Who did it!"

"I-I didn't see!" Lulloyd shook hi shead, "This, this gigantic fist just punched in the wall and grabbed him. I-I was, trapped under some-"

"He got knocked out," Monty's annoyed voice came over the comm, "I had to possess him and force him to wake up. He's got some weird insides… or lack of them."

"Let's not worry about that!" Harumi gave another hard shove to the gas, sending them firing forward, "I'm on your tail, keep going and I'll follow after you!"

"O-On it!" Lulloyd stammered out, getting his nerve before ending the transmission. Another loud roar from the Mehcdragon let Haurmi slam them around the side of the skyscraper and quickly see where the dragon was going.

Quickly, Lulloyd angled the dragon down towards the lower layers of the city. Harumi, not questioning it, went after them. Lloyd found himself gripping the seat belt even harder, feeling like he was on some messed up roller coaster. As they continued to soar down, Forte and Mizuko stood up.

"Harumi," Forte grinned, "You and Carn go and handle this! We're going to get everyone else together and search for that snake!"

"W-What?" Lloyd shouted. Harumi, however, just nodded. Much to Lloyd's horror, both girls just leapt off the side of the car. Lloyd turned and saw them both go flying down, firing off Rhotatae discs that they kept landing on like stepping stones. When they both neared a layer, they fired one more that they hit the glass layer with, rattling them but making them land safely with most of their momentum. The two looked over towards each other, nodded, and took off running in opposite directions.

"W-What sort of adventures are you getting into that means you know how to jump off this thing?!" Lloyd shouted.

"Oh, you know," Carnelian waved her hand, "This is a pretty big city! It's basically like one big thing of crime! We spend all day fighting in this place!"

"Less talking!" Harumi shouted, "I'm concentrating!"

With another jerk of the wheel, Harumi suddenly brought them up towards the tail of the Mehcdragon. From this distance, Lloyd could see Lulloyd holding the controls and Monty standing behind him. Monty turned around towards them, an annoyed expression on his face. Lloyd looked down towards the buildings, trying to see what was going on.

"If it's something down there, then maybe-" Lloyd started, but in an instant he was cut off.

A massive laser, almost the hovercar's width in diameter and glowing a brilliant blueish white, shot straight up in a beautiful beam towards the hovercar. Harumi swung her controls to the side to avoid it, narrowly avoiding burning a hole in the underside. The beam shot up into the sky and faded out. A sizzling sound filled the air as it went by. The sheer size of it was enough to make Lloyd's entire body numb in shock.

Another beam shot straight up towards the Mechdragon, causing Lulloyd to weave around it with the dragon's rippling body. Just as he thought he'd dodged as well, however, the sound of gunfire filled the air. Trails of orange shot up and filled the sky in a deadly rain rising up just for them. One bullet struck the side of the car, ripping open a hole the side of Lloyd's hand. Mage quickly used his control over metal to try and yank it closed.

"We have to go down!" Carnelian shouted. Harumi, still focused, nodded her head. Quickly, Harumi sent them diving down towards the source, while Lulloyd followed suit.

More gunfire filled the air as the two vehicles descended. Harumi barely managed to dodge it, while Lulloyd instead opened his dragon's mouth and tried to return fire with it. The group was quickly descending down towards the ground level, namely towards a massive and empty street that was filled with little more than trash and elevators to go up. As they lowered to ground level, it was easier to see a point at which the fire was coming from. They both quickly were flying through a corridor, with buildings for walls on either side.

"Just a little further!" Harumi shouted, gunning the accelerator.

As soon as she said that, however, she saw a flash of blue light indicating a beam was going right for them. She let out a gasp, just as Carnelian and her two friends saw the same. There was no room for them to dodge in the confined space. Lulloyd rapidly went about unfurling his weapons, but it would be too slow to stop it.

"I got this!" Mage shouted, thrusting his arms out and focusing. From his palms, he called upon the power of earth. The ground under them ripped up into claws that reached up to try to grab at them. The hovercar smashed into several of these, but the effect of stopping their momentum was achieved. Lulloyd hit the button to deactivate the Mechdragon, while Monty grabbed him and blasted him up into the air so they would hit the ground at a less deadly speed. As soon as the hovercar slowed down, the four bailed from it, rolling hard on the ground as the beam fired mere inches over all of them heads.

In an instant, the hovercar was incinerated, leaving nothing behind as a massive and almost deafening boom sounded overhead. Lloyd covered his ears and shook his head, trying to shut out the noise. That thunderous sound gave way to a small sizzling as the air itself heated up and rose. All of them were on the ground, even Monty.

"W-Why are you hiding?" Lulloyd asked with a goran.

"I didn't want my cape to get fried off," Monty flipped his cape back nonchalantly, standing up with Lulloyd.

Slowly, the other four moved to get to their feet, with Harumi clinging onto Carnelian to stand. Lloyd rubbed his back as it felt as though it's just been smacked repeatedly on the ground. Mage was the only one that didn't look worse for wear. As soon as they all stood, a voice rang out from the source of their attacker.

"You've done well to make it this far!" The voice shouted, "But I'm afraid your journey ends here."

Suddenly, the blue light began to form in the alley again, and this time lowered to point right at them. Lloyd looked around, but the buildings around them were solid walls without any entrances to speak of. Harumi and Carnelian shared a worried look, while Lulloyd thought of what to do. The light, however, charged up fast then they could come up with a plan for. Mage, the blue light reflected in his eyes, was the one to act.

Mage ran forward and drove his two hands into the ground. With two cracks, a massive wall of earth rose up in front of them, with large pillars firing up on both sides to prop it up and block the alley. Mage focused as hard as he could, building the wall up higher, higher, and higher still. Just as it's shadow began to block out their view, the beam fired and struck the wall.

The smell of burning filled the corridor. Lloyd, Harumi and Lullyod all covered their faces, unable to stand the sudden heat that was being pelted out at them. The wall began to melt down, the force of the beam's heat threatening to shatter it. Mage, however, dug in deeper, giving a massive shout as more and more pillars of earth rose up to stand in the way of the beam. Monty shot up into the air with his wind. Mage began to visibly sweat as he poured more and more of his power down into the earth, focusing on maintaining the shield and stopping the beam from progressing and burning through them all. As his body began to tremble, the bit of wall in front of him turned red as the beam was about to come through.

From the sky, a massive dot of black shot down. The dot raised up a massive staff and sent it plunging down into the beam, cleaving straight through it as the figure shot down towards the ground. When he hit the ground, he turned his staff and began to rapidly spin it like a disc, causing the beam to be held back by the sheer force of rotation. The wall crumbled as Mage slumped down to the ground, revealing the figure that was holding back the beam.

Overlloyd held all four arms out, spinning his staff so fast it looked as though just touching it would cleave one's hand off. The blue light was stopped there, casting a massive shadow behind him. As his body began to slip, his shadow rose up with massive spikes that shot out and drove into his back, forcing him to remain upright. Overlloyd closed his eyes, then let out a scream of rage as dark power sparked up at the ends of his staff, causing his spinning circle to gain a massive purple ring. This power shot down into the beam, as though trying to rip it apart. Then, with a massive blast of wind, the beam shattered apart, leaving Overlloyd to slump forward on that very same staff on one knee.

"O-Overlloyd?!" Mage gasped out as he sat up. Overlloyd turned towards him and then back towards the source of the blast.

"...Don't get any ideas," Overlloyd spat out, a bit of purple blood dripping from his lip, "I didn't come to save you."

"Oh?" The voice rang out again, "That isn't very heroic of you is that, Emperor?"

From the distance that the beam had been shot from, something began to walk forward. The shadow that it cast was enough to cover the entire group by the time it got close enough to make out all of its details. As soon as it was close enough to them, however, Lloyd immediately felt very, very small.

A glistening metallic green mech stood in front of them. The mech was perhaps forty feet tall, and at present it was currently crouching. The mech was sleek and elegant, with thin legs fitted with sleek pointed armor akin that of greaves. Its arms were similarly slender and plated with armor that appeared to be gauntlets over the hands. Its torso was fitted with a sleek cuirass that would bend and rotate in perfect sync with its movements. Upon its hips were sparkling armor fashioned akin to tassets set over a cuisses, and its shoulder were armored-sleeves shaped elements that gave the shoulders a sleek design. The face was designed with a helmet with a large crest emblazoned with a very familiar ninja symbol. Only its glowing deep blue eyes could be seen, as the rest of the head had a large metal face mask in front of it.

The thing that drew Lloyd's eye the most, however was the fact that the mech held a massive rifle, one that looked almost militaristic with the massive barrel, huge scope and flattened end. Just the size of the barrel was one Lloyd could climb into. On both of his hips were two massive guns that looked like scaled up versions of Monty's semi-automatic rifles. Hanging on the back of the mech's waste were two small knives, or at least small in terms of the mech's scale. The mech slowly moved to place the rifle on its back, instead moving to cross its arms and reveal they, too, had massive built in cannons.

"I've never seen a single person shrug off blasts from Invictus," The mech's voice projected from behind its mask, "I have to commend you for that. You must be strong to do it."

"Let's forget formalities," Overlloyd hissed back, "I have tracked you here. You called me Emperor. Tell me, are you friend or foe!"

"That depends!" The voice echoed again, the mech not even moving to try to look at them, "Did you receive Ophiod's offer?"

"I did, and I reject it," Overlloyd spat, "The Time Twins destroyed my world, do you think I would so quickly go to follow them?!"

"Ophiod came to you too?" Lloyd spoke up. Overlloyd shot him a glare that froze Lloyd, letting Overlloyd turn back to the mech in question.

"Perhaps we extended the offer too early to you… but you were the one they least expected to take it," The voice sighed from the mech's speakers, "Not that I wasn't ready to fight either way."

Overlloyd thrust one of his hands out, causing it to crackle with dark power that shrunk in his palm and then blasted out in a beam to strike the ground by the mech Invictus's feet. The mech didn't even budge.

"Before we fight," The voice laughed out, "I think you should know what I look like. I don't do this for monsters… but I don't like fighting people without getting to see their faces myself."

The midsection of the mech suddenly let out massive amounts of steam. A portion of the cuirass broke into four small rectangles that retracted into the mech. The opening showed a bubble-shaped interior, with the walls displaying the sights of the city around it. In the center of what was undoubtedly the cockpit, a figure stepped forward. Large holographic projections around him faded as he stepped forward, floating in the center. The walls faded to a dull blue, and a set of lights mounted near the exit revealed the figure.

"...Great," Monty sighed, "Another one."

"I'm sure you all already know my name," The figure stood in the lights, his body illuminated in them. He wore a glistening metallic green jumpsuit that conformed to his body, revealing himself to be rather thin and lean. He placed his hands on his hips and gave a wide grin. His hair was blonde and cut neatly against his head in a side swipe, with the tips at the end of the brush fraying towards the end giving his hair both a tame and wild look. From the shape of his eyes and features, he was clearly Lloyd, an older version, but him nonetheless.

"What?" Lulloyd blinked, "B-But, but-"

"You wonder how Lloyd could work with the Time Twins?" The mech-wielding Lloyd sighed, "You'll understand in time. But for now, I think you likely need another name to speak to refer to me.. Since I'm already used to the name… call me Prime."

"You're working with Ophiod, then?" Lloyd shouted to Prime.

"I am!" Prime nodded his head, "And I suggest you remember it! The Time Twins have gotten tired of your meddling. It's our job to make sure that you don't cause anymore issues for them. And to that end," Prime took a step back into Invictus, "I'm afraid that makes us enemies."

"Do you know this guy?" Carnelian hissed out, "I thought it was just those guys in that big mech, thing! This isn't them!"

"That isn't…" Lulloyd took a step back, "We need to get out of here, now!"

"And go where?!" Monty spat, raising his rifle as the mech's cockpit shut and the eyes of the mech shone.

Overlloyd slowly pulled himself upright, wiping away the blood on his body. He slowly focused, then he shot his head back towards the group. When he did, his eye had started to change shape, gaining a strange slit within the normally pupiless eye.

"I will buy you time," Overlloyd hissed, "Get back to the apartment."

"But, Uncle Dareth!" Harumi cried out.

"Dareth is not here, I can't sense him," Overlloyd growled, a snapping sound following his head jutting upwards to look right up to the sky, "Go, now!"

Invictus leaned back and drew the two knives it carried. A hissing noise indicated they had connected into the mech's hands. Once connected, a massive charge of power shot down the arms of the mech's tubes like veins. The swords suddenly grew into massive energy blades, with the base only acting as a conduit for its shaping. Within moments, the mech held two massive blue energy swords that it lowered and pointed towards the ground.

"RUN NOW YOU IGNORANT FOOLS!" The Overlord shouted at them from Overlloyd's body, "OR DO YOU WISH TO DIE HERE?!"

Monty reached forward and grabbed Harumi's shoulder, holding his other palm out and blasting wind from it to send them flying up. Mage grabbed Lulloyd and shot up into the air with flames firing out from his feet. Lloyd twisted into Airjitzu, sending all of them up and away. As soon as they were out of range, Overlloyd snarled.

"Now we can fight fairly," Overlloyd hissed, his staff dissolving back into his body, "Prepare yourself."

Invictus responded by drawing both blades up into the air and slashing them down towards where Overlloyd stood. They struck the ground, cleaving down into it in perfect rivets. From said ground, however, one of the swords didn't come back up. As Invictus pulled, a slight layer of dust from the ground dissipated to reveal Overlloyd perfect intact, his body seemingly half melted into shadows. From the torso down, his body was a mirth of shadow that looked to be injected into the ground. In front of him, however, was a massive circle of shadow that came up from the pavement. None other than the dragon head of the Overlord had shot up from the circle like rising from water, its massive jaws clenched around the swords. Overlloyd stared at Invictus, then turned his head to the right. The dragon head twisted and thrust the sword to the side, causing the entire arm of Invictus to do the same. The head then disappeared back into the ground, the shadows fading and Overlloyd's body returning to a solid state.

"Not bad," Prime's voice echoed from Invictus, "Your body truly isn't limited to one form, is it?"

"You took the liberty of guiding us away from people," Overlloyd turned half his body to shadow again, causing circles to open on either side of the buildings framing the alley and allow two massive legs of the dark dragon with sharpened claws to emerge, "I will exercise that freedom."

Invictus swung again, but once more both swords were caught by both of the clawed feet emerging from the dual shadowy circles. Overlloyd then used the two arms still on his own body to charge up dark power and blast straight towards the cockpit of Invictus. The power struck home, blasting against it with a flash of light. When the light faded, however, there was no mark left on the surface. Overlloyd raised an eyebrow as another stream of blood began to trickle from his mouth.

"So your armor is strong," Overlloyd nodded his head, "Let us test that."

Overlloyd recalled his shadows and reformed himself, launching up into the air and hovering there just before Invictus launched a burst of energy from the swords to strike the ground where he stood. Invictus deactivated its swords and elegantly slid the knives back into holster, in turn switching to its two smaller guns to fire a spray of bullets at Overlloyd. Overlloyd countered with his spinning staff as he hovered higher and higher into the air by letting out power in his feet, making Invictus aim higher and higher. The bullets were redirected in all directions, blasting holes apart in either side of the building to rip through concrete and steel alike.

Just as the mech's shadow grew to the size Overlloyd needed, he focused and called upon his weapon ability. Shadow Control began to bubble up from the shadow, raising chains that took several seconds to form. When they finally did, they both launched out and grabbed hold of the wrists of the mech, yanking them down towards the ground and sending the bullets to churn up the pavement. Overlloyd focused hard, his body trembling as he raised one hand up. The chains jerked, twisting Invictus around. The mech fought for several moments, pitted against Overlloyd's concentration. Overlloyd won out, twisting the mech to smash down on its back. Overlloyd snarled and raised his staff up with all four arms, then shouted as he shot down towards the ground and drove the staff hard right down into the mech's head.

For a few moments, Overlloyd felt no movement. It was only his own reflexes that caused him to leap backwards just before the arm of the mech nearly threw him away. As Overlloyd landed, more blood poured out of his mouth, making him reach up and cover it with one hand.

"We did not have time to heal before this battle," The Overlord informed him, "Can we win this on anger alone?"

"If Sun could power himself up with the feeling of his own desires alone," Overlloyd got out through his hand, "Then we should be able to as well."

"Perhaps basing on chance of winning on a dead man isn't the smartest move to make," The Overlord stated as he saw Invictus began to climb up to its feet.

"Better than to misplace it on a failure," Overlloyd wiped his mouth clean, then readied his staff. Invictus's armor suddenly rippled outward like pistons, running down the length of its arms until the force broke apart the shadow chains. Overlloyd felt his body grow unsteady seeing it. Doing that had taken almost everything he had. This battle could not be won in his current condition.

Invictus, now freed, lowered the guns and began firing. Overlloyd quickly began running from the mech, holding the staff behind him and spinning it to deflect the bullets. Each strike burned his arms and rattled his body, yet he continued to run. As he came towards another building that formed a dead-end, he let out a simple 'tssk' and darted to the right. He quickly began to jump off the opposite sides, forcing himself to keep going. Inches from where he landed, bullet fire would churn up the wall. He forced himself to go further and further up, until finally he saw one of the large catwalks called 'layers' in this world. He landed on one, startling the people around him that had gathered to hear the sound of fighting down below. The people quickly began to run away as soon as they saw him.

Suddenly, Overlloyd heard something behind him. He turned around to see Invictus shoot up into the air, then grab onto the side of a building and shatter several stories of glass before it came to a halt. The mech folded back large thrusters into its ankles and then hefted the gun up, firing away at Overlloyd. Overlloyd spun around and began spinning his staff, but the bullets were faster than him and threw him down against the glass. The bullets began to strike down into the layer, causing it to crack, splinter, and then shatter.

With a growl, Overlloyd turned around and began to run, transforming his staff into the four individual blades that made it up. He ran to the edge of the layer and then leapt up, driving his four blades into the side of a building. Invictus let go of the building and unfolded the thrusters again, hovering in the space and readying to aim at him. Overlloyd waited for a moment, shaking his head.

"Are you not a hero?!" Overlloyd shouted, "The people here will be hurt!"

"There's been an evacuation order issued for this district," Prime shouted back to him over the speakers, "Ophiod has taken care of that. This battle is just between us!"

Overlloyd gave a hiss, just before the gun that Invictus held was sent going off at him. Overlloyd looked around, then turned his weapons back to Dark Matter and began to fall. He hit the layer beneath the shattered one, gasping out in pain as he did. He looked up at the falling glass and quickly moved to run from it, towards Invictus. The mech turned towards him, switching the gun for an energy sword. Overlloyd kept it in the corner of his eye as he kept running, his vision getting hazier as it became more and more difficult for him to go in a straight line.

Invictus raised its arm, ready to send the sword down towards him. Overlloyd judged the distance, knowing that he had the time to make it. That, however, was when more mini-thrusters in the mech's arm activated, causing the arm to swing down faster. Overlloyd barely managed to use his own shadow to grab hold of him and stop his momentum before the sword cleaved down through the layer and caused it to begin to creak and fall.

"Wings!" Overlloyd shouted, "Where are my wings?!"

"You're too injured to shift forms," The Overlord responded back, "If you tried, you'd break our body apart."

Overlloyd tssked, turning to try and run his way towards the edge of the layer. The angle of the creaking metal, however, was enough that he began to fall. He reached out and gripped the layer, but Invictus had already raised its sword again. He turned towards Invictus, seeing the sword ready to come down at him. He turned away, his mind thinking of what to do.

With a roar, the Mehcdragon shot forward just underneath the sword strike, its jaws grabbing hold of Overlloyd. Overlloyd gasped out as the Mechdragon shot up into the sky, piloted by Lulloyd and with Lloyd, Harumi, Monty and Carnelian all clinging to the spines on the back. Overlloyd looked up to them, his body limp in the jaws of the bricked beast.

"Where's Dareth?!" Harumi shouted over the roaring wind. Invictus moved to draw the massive beam-firing rifle at them.

"You…" Overlloyd closed his eyes and coughed a bit, "...Northeast from here… the mech dropped him off, his signal isn't moving…"

"Lulloyd!" Harumi shouted. Lulloyd nodded, turning the dragon down towards the direction Overlloyd indicated. Monty stood up, looking over them all and nodding to Lloyd.

"I'm off," Monty drew a pistol and the SoS, then jumped. The Mechdragon continued forward while Monty used wind to hover in the air and then shoot off towards Invictus. The rifle was charging up, aimed at the dragon. Monty turned and directed his wind to carry him down towards the mech's head, firing his pistol to hit the eyes. While the mech didn't take damage, it turned to face him.

"Hi," Monty floated down to plant the SoS down on top of a building, "Been awhile since I've done this, but let's have fun."

Monty leapt forward into the air, right towards the mech. With a burst of wind, he hit the mech and then vanished right into it. His goal was to immediately possess the mech, an action which he immediately sought to find the core system.

Instead, Monty came face to face with the cockpit. Prime stood in the middle of a massive spherical dome, with a large virtual control console in front of him and shining lights on his suit that moved the mech as he did. Prime blinked and froze, raising his head -and thus Invictus' head- as though he felt the action himself. Prime then lowered his head, giving a small grin.

"Are you trying to possess my mech?" Prime raised his head, "Now that's interesting. Someone tried to do this to me once. I think you don't realize something though…"

Suddenly, Monty felt an intense pain, all throughout his body. In the center of Invictus, a glowing green core, a large sphere that was suspended in the air and pulsing electricity from all sides, burned with light. The light seemed to hit Monty directly, causing his control to slip. Monty found his body go flying straight out of the mech, landing directly on the building he'd jumped from. As he used the SoS to stand up, Invictus hovered in the air and held its arms cocked to both sides as it seemed to glow with light.

"JUST WHO THE HECK DO YOU THINK I AM?!" Prime shouted, just as Invictus shot its arms towards Monty. Small discs in the palms glowed, telling Monty he needed to move. He jumped into the air just as those palms released two large blasts of energy that shot out and blasted apart the rooftop, turning it to little more than slag.

"Someone who needs to pick a better reference…" Monty hissed, angling his body off to the side. Invictus quickly moved to follow him.

This sight was witnessed off in the distance by Lulloyd, who was following Overlloyd's directions. The Mechdragon hovered in the air overtop of a small white pod that was stuck in the side of a building. The pod had similar markings and the sleek design of the massive mech. Harumi leapt down from the dragon and landed on the closet layer, rushing forward and seeing a control pad on the outside. She plugged her watch in and rapidly began to type code, causing the system to crash and open up.

"Woaaahhhh…" Dareth stumbled out of the pod, which, from the single chair inside, looked like something of an escape pod, "Where's that… that weird guy… I… Harumi?"

"Dareth!" Harumi embraced Dareth hard, hugging him tightly and pressing her head into his shoulder, "You're okay!"

Carnelian leapt down from the dragon, rushing over to Harumi and giving a sigh of relief. Dareth blinked a little bit and looked around, unsure what was going on. When he looked over to see flashes of light in the distance from Invcitus chasing Monty, he immediately felt a massive chill go down his spine.

"H-Harumi, you need to get out of here!" Dareth gripped her shoulders tightly, "G-Go find your friends, you need-"

"Uncle," Harumi cut him off with a sad smile, "Carn's gonna get you somewhere safe, okay? I'm going to lead that mech away from the people."

"W-What?" Dareth blinked, "N-No, Harumi you can't do that!"

"The mech's after her, not you," Carnelian pointed out, "Sucks to say it but… he'll follow them." Her fist gripped tightly, "...And I know she needs you safe more than backup."

"Where are you going?" Dareth asked. Harumi lowered her head.

"We're going to jump out of this world again," Harumi frowned, "It's too dangerous to let him stay here! We need to lead him to a world we can fight in! I-I know I just got here, I'll be back! I promise!"

"Wait, Harumi!" Dareth tried to shout, but another explosion caused him to squeal and cover his head. Carnelian grabbed his hand and yanked him upright. She froze for a moment, then shot out and gave Harumi a hasty kiss.

"Be back soon, okay?" Carnelian smiled sadly, "Don't take months this time."

"I-I won't!" Harumi shouted to her. As Invictus shot out from a corner, gunfire trying to take down the flying ghost, Carnelian grabbed Dareth and began to drag him along. Dareth looked back at her, shouting 'Don't get hurt!' as his voice was drowned out by the violence.

Harumi gripped her fist, drew in a breath, then ran over to the side of the layer and jumped off, landing on the Mechdragon just before it took off. Lulloyd looked back to her in worry, but Harumi instead just pointed forward. Mage reached out and gripped her arm with a worried frown, and Lloyd gave her a knowing glare. Harumi turned her head form them all, her face screwing up in pain but forcing herself to point forward all the same.

Monty came flying from around the side of another building, dodging fire from Invictus. Upon seeing the Mechdragon, he blasted his wind to intercept it and grab onto its back. As soon as he was on, Lulloyd pulled a lever to cause the boosters to unfold and fire out, giving them a blast of speed. Invictus responded immediately, the massive mech turning to rocket towards them.

"Take us into the air!" Lloyd shouted, "We can't have him hurting the people!"

Lulloyd responded by climbing them higher and higher, causing the air around them to start thinning. Mage reached out with his power over wind to increase the concentration, giving them something to breathe on instanct from riding on his dragon for so long. Monty climbed up towards them and fired off a few gunshots at the pursuing mech, but it was like firing pellets at a mountain. The mech kept coming, forcing them to spin and weave in the air to avoid it.

"Do you… intend to make it back to the apartment?" Overlloyd coughed out, still being held in the dragon's grip.

"Yep," Lulloyd stated as confidently as he could, "I can get us there fast!"

"For your sake," The Overlord hissed out as gunfire nearly took off the dragon's leg, "You should do so quickly."

Lulloyd shouted for them all to hang on, right before he sent his dragon down into a spinning downward shot. They were going right by Zane's Academy, namely the spikes. There was a gap in them that was just large enough for the dragon, and taking it would mean Invictus would be forced to go around. Any small amount of distance was worth it. As they went down towards the massive icy building, Lulloyd turned to see Invictus withdraw its weapons, unwilling to fire like this. Instead, he drew his sword, holding it forward to drive into the dragon.

"I-Inner Piece!" Lulloyd shouted, "INNER PIECE!" The Mechdragon shot down towards the hole, spinning straight through it in an action that broke off two of the spines on the back. Lloyd, Mage and Harumi all had to flatten down and cling on tightly, hearing the woosh as the ice was just barely over their heads. Lulloyd shot them off in another direction, causing Invictus to skid to a stop as it withdrew its sword to avoid slicing through the building at them.

"Inner piece?" Monty asked, standing up beside Lulloyd as they flew.

"I-It's just something that I started saying when I did something dangerous," Lulloyd whispered, "E-Especially flying through dad's training courses," He shook his head, "I-I'll get us there, soon!"

Invictus shot up into the sky, trying to track them as the dragon began to weave in and out of the tops of buildings. Soon, Lulloyd had them going right towards the apartment complex and the hole that they needed to get in. Lulloyd looked over to Monty, who gave a nod of his head and began to glow with golden aura. Mage stood up and focused, enveloping all of them in metal. Lloyd blinked in shock as his body turned to metal, seeing Mage twitching and shaking as he forced the transformation on all of them, including Overlloyd and excluding Monty.

"T-This will hurt!" Mage shook his head, "B-But the metal will protect you!"

Invictus shot up far closer than they would have liked behind them. Lulloyd shot them towards the apartment, his hands in a death claw around the controls. Invictus raised a sword to strike, ready to take them apart. As soon as Lulloyd could see the wall they needed to portal through, he turned the dragon back into a brick.

The sword cleaved through thin air, far too close to the ground for comfort. Monty shot his chi out towards the wall as their forward momentum carried them towards the apartment. The dragon hit the wall and opened the portal just before all six of them were sent hurtling into the apartment. Lloyd struck the sofa, his body spinning before he was thrown right into the portal. The rest of them similarly struck some part of the apartment before being thrown into the portal by their speed. Monty landed, turned to Invictus, and shot forward into the portal before it shut a moment later.

Inside of Invictus, Prime sighed. He turned off his control of the mech, rubbing his neck and stretching out a little bit. He reached out calmly and tapped a button on the console, causing a holographic display to form in the air by his right ear.

"It seems like our targets are on the run," Prime crossed his arms, "Ophiod, I'm coming to pick you up. Where are you?"

There was a moment of silence before the Serpentine's voice came on the other end, "Thanks to the chaos you've caused, most of the transports up to the higher levels are out. I'll meet you on top of the building with the red lights," Prime looked up to see a flashing radio tower Ophiod referred to, "Avoid anymore damage."

"That's why I had you get everyone out before I fought," Prime shrugged, "They're a lot weaker than I thought," He smirked, "I didn't even have to sync much with Invictusf or this one."

"Don't let your guard down," Ophiod responded back, "I will see you shortly."

Ophiod lowered his hand from his ear, fading away a spell to communicate with the mech. Skales looked at him, then nodded. The two began to slither towards one of the tubes that would raise them up towards the upper layers. They currently stood on the bottommost one, with a terminal broken open that Ophiod's spell had used to issue the evacuation order.

"As if evacuating the people is enough to save them," Skales hissed, "We would have had them if we were chasing them," Skales gestured to the staff Ophiod carried, "You never touched the scroll."

"Prime went too far," Ophiod informed Skales, "We were meant to deliver a message. I only engaged them because they made a threat to me," Ophiod shook his head, "We can't let our desire to fight override our orders. And I will use it when I must. For now… my own magic should be enough. We will complete our mission soon."

"A Prince shouldn't be taking orders," Skales hissed out, "Those Twins should know better than to treat us like an underling like that."

"Be that as it may," Ophiod sighed, "We have a mission, and we will complete it. We'll finish this mission quickly. They don't seem like the bunch that can hide forever."

Ophiod and Skales made their way over towards the tube, preparing to step inside. Just as they were about to, however, a whistling sound from above caused Ophiod to wrap his tail around Skales and pull them both backwards. A figure landed in front of them, clad in a massive set of heavy looking white robes that covered all of their body other than their face. The figure raised their head to reveal themselves as a female, one that had part of their face covered in a glowing mechanical eyemask over their left eye and cheek.

"Target confirmed, sending data analysis," The girl droned out in a mechanical tone, "Data analysis sent. Acquisition confirmed. Relaying coordinates." After a moment, the figure leaned up and smacked their face, causing the mask to stop glowing.

"Gah…" The girl rubbed her head, revealing some orange locks spilling out from inside the hood, "I hate using that. Need to get this thing recalibrated."

Ophiod extended his arm to stop Skales from jumping at them, "And who would you be?"

"Index," The girl smirked, "Just kidding. The name is Yuka. I'm here to help beat up a bad guy."

"Grrr… is this who Karlon going to destroy?" Ophiod turned to see a man clad in distinctive black and gray armor emerge from the shadows.

"Seems like this is the right one," Forte grinned, hefting up her keytar.

"What do you think, sis?" Raiden grinned cockily, "how should we approach this fight?"

"The same way we take on any fight," Mizuko stepped forward beside her brother.

Ophiod slowly lowered his head, holding his staff in both hands. Skales put his back to Ophiod, holding his own curved blade out. When Ophiod raised his head, he let out a single sigh.

"Elemental Masters, are you?" Ophiod frowned, "You made a mistake fighting me. Let's see how well you can stand up to a Viper."

Author's Note:

Greetings Readers! Yes, any references here were purely intentional. I do watch a fair amount of anime. And yes, these are not the only ones I've made in story so far…

I wanted to take this quick chance to plug my Tumblr, bionicstars, If you want to get updated about the work of such! If you would like to ask me questions or talk t me directly, please do use it! Either way, I'm getting hard at work on the Autobiography of a Legend Chapters, and hope to have those completed soon! Thank you all for reading, and NINJA-GO!