"I'd get ready, if I were you," Yuka's robes began to float up all around her. From the shadows under the fabric, a multitude of slender nails moved to hover in the air in front of her, forming perfect and deadly rows in front of her, "We've been told you're rather dangerous."
"Is that so?" Ophiod asked, glancing around, "Unfortunately for you, that is correct.."
With only a glance, both Ophiod and Skales twisted into Spinjitzu, going off in opposite directions. Ophiod spun towards Karlon, his tail striking out from the tornado to hit Karlon in the chest and knock him over, sliding out across the ground out of his Spinjitzu form. Raiden shot forward with lightning, causing Ophiod to twist his body backwards unnaturally to dodge it, his tail then slicing out to force Forte to jump over it. Skales spun towards Yuka, catching the nails that she shot out towards him in the tornado and scattering them. Skales flung his own blade at Yuka, but Mizuko shot out a whip of water to grab the blade and knock it aside. Skales stopped in his tracks and turned towards Mizuko, letting Yuka grab several nails in each hand and rush at him.
Skales tried to swing at Yuka, but Yuka jumped off one foot and was sent floating in the air. She gave Skales a wink before drawing her hands together and flinging them out, causing the nails to hurl in two arcs at him. Skales leapt backwards, only for Mizuko to turn and fire water at him. Skales' balance was shot, but he managed to turn to Mizuko and focus. His eyes started to swirl, causing Mizuko's body to lock up as she felt drawn into them. It was only a moment, but Skales capitalized by throwing her down by striking her with his shoulder.
Raiden turned to see his sister in trouble, but the moment he did Ophiod's tail was on him. The tail wrapped around his wrist, curled tight, and then hurled him overhead into a wall. He turned himself at the last moment to avoid major damage, but the impact still rattled him. Forte took a step back and began to play a long tune, causing sound waves to fire out at Ophiod, the impact of which was like a mechanical punch. Ophiod flattened his body to the ground and slithered forward so quickly it was almost terrifying. He shot up in front of Forte, swinging his staff and knocking her back into the wall. Before he could follow up, Karlon howled and wrapped his gauntlets around Ophiod in a crushing hug.
Ophiod, before his breath was gone, began to whisper something. Suddenly, the scales on his arms began to detach and slither from his arms onto Karlon's own. When they stopped moving, then dug in like violent bites. Karlon winced in pain, and that was enough to make Ophiod gave a ripple of his body and throw Karlon off. Karlon shook his head and tried to scrape the scales off, only for Ophiod to raise his arm and whisper another word. The scales shot back to him and reaffixed to his arm.
With a hiss of another word, Ophiod opened his mouth and then a mist of purple shot out around him. The mist hit Karlon, Forte and Raiden, all of whom felt nothing. When they looked at Ophiod, however, the image of him was distorted and misshapen. The shape darted about and moved in their vision oddly, allowing Ophiod to close in on Raiden again. Raiden responded by electrifying his whole body, making Ophiod stop and instead duck before Raiden sent a blast at him. The blast shot out and nearly hit Forte, who yowled in alarm.
"Hey!" Forte shook her head, "Well, who needs vision to play this?!" With that, she moved her hands and began to play a peppy and upbeat tune. The action caused the sound waves to move around her and ripple like a force field, one that grew in size until it enveloped Karlon as well. Raiden slid forward and into the field. With the three now seemingly protected, Raiden and Forte both seent forward blasts of their element at him. Ophiod went to dodge, only to feel his body was immobile. Wires had erupted up from the ground, still sparking on some ends. Karlon was grinning as the metal coated wires wrapped themselves around Ophiod's arms. Ophiod looked towards them as the blasts came at him, then sighed.
The lightning struck first, dispersing around his body and making Ophiod twitch. Raiden grinned, just before Forte saw her own sound waves strike him. As the lightning faded, however, Ophiod stood unharmed. The three looked on in confusion as Ophiod sighed at them.
"You clearly have not seen Vipers in your world," Ophiod jerked his arms to snap apart the wires holding him, "Or you would know that our bodies are immune to your powers. Give me enough of it," He narrowed his eyes, "And I can assimilate it."
Forte scoffed, then sent a long riff of chords, causing a massive blast that hit Ophiod. Ophiod opened his palm and uttered the word he'd used against Mage, causing the sound waves to hit him and begin to drain into his body. Forte suddenly felt her body go woozy as her element kept coming out, making her force field start to fade. Raiden yanked her hands off the keytar, causing her to stop sending out her element. As she started to pant, Ophiod's body began to glow with a light cyan accent, with small rippling flaps where his crown was traveling up and down his head.
"W-What was that?" Forte held up her hand, "I-It felt like he was sucking out my element!"
"Only those of us that know the ancient magicks can do that," Ophiod informed her, raising his hand up, "That is the last of information I'll give you. We now have a fair fight."
As Ophiod stared down the three shocked opponents, Skales was in the middle of a fight of his own. It seemed Yuka had run out of nails, which there had to be at least fifty of, and was now sucking them back from the ground with what he could only guess as Gravity back into her hand to throw them again. Wherever she threw them, they landed with near perfect accuracy. That would have been hard enough to deal with, yet Mizuko was constantly on him with her water, leaving him with little options to counterattack.
"You won't do that little trick on me again!" Mizuko grinned, "I'm friends with a Hypnobrai! I've had this happen to me before!"
Skales dodged one of her water lashes, right as Yuka threw more nails towards him. Skales twisted his body out of the way, then set his eyes dead set on Mizuko. Rather than work his hypnosis, he instead just made a run for her. Mizuko, naturally, raised her water up in the air to blast him with. Right as she was about to fire, Skales jumped into the air.
Mizuko instinctually raised her head to look at him. Skales then flung his blade at her, causing her to dodge to the right. Yuka readied nails to fling at Skales, but Mizuko's water was now being sent right at Yuka. As Yuka was knocked off balance, Skales landed on the ground and ran forward, throwing a punch into Mizuko's chin. As she stumbled back, he yanked his blade out from the wall and held it up to her neck.
"Bold of you to assume," Skales hissed out, "That I'm just any other Hypnobrai." With his eyes at point blank range, he sent the full force of his hypnotic power into Mizuko's head. The girl twitched a few times, then she stiffened up and slid down to the ground, half limp.
"Mizuko!" Yuka growled, looking around the battlefield. Seeing the state her other friends were in, she looked around to see what else was around them, "Dangit… fine!" She reached up and tapped her mask, causing her to go stiff.
"Assimilating maps of local terrain… scanning," Yuka droned out, "Calculating optimal location for battle… computing…" Her mask glowed a bit brighter, "Location determined."
Skales, undeterred by her seemingly droning ramble, rushed her. As soon as he got close, Yuka's head jerked to face him in a robotic way. She raised her hand up and swung at Skales in a perfect arc, nearly catching him. As it missed, Yuka instead brought up her leg and nearly swung right into his gut. Skales backed off, making Yuka's mask blink.
"Determining optimal route," Yuka droned out, "Location derived."
Suddenly, Yuka thrust her hand up into the air, causing the ground under them to increase in weight dramatically. Ophiod turned to look at her, but in that moment the ground cracked. In a few seconds, all of them had gone tumbling down a hole in the ground. They fell for several seconds until they cracked into a massive, open chamber. The chamber had a large drainage river running through it, along with a massive circular structure and massive observation-style deck attached. Each of them landed on that deck, Yuka helping her allies land safely. Mizuko was left up top. Skales and Ophiod both used Spinjitzu to hit the ground and land with minimal damage.
"What is this place?" Forte asked with a huff.
"Underground hydroelectric power plant," Yuka answered in a dull tone, "Locations are scattered throughout the city. Area was determined optimal for fighting for both spatial advantage and minimization of risk to public structures."
With a hard yank of her hand, Yuka hit her mask through her robe, causing her to jerk and groan out as she stumbled forward a bit. Her mask turned off, making her groan and rub her head as she looked around. She gave a weak smile to the others.
"That thing is useful but… man, does it hurt…" Yuka looked towards the two regrouping snakes, "Let's do this!"
Ophiod slowly planted his staff down into the ground, standing up as he did. Skales did the same, moving to stand beside him. Both Serpentine looked towards each other, then Ophiod banged the staff on the ground. At once, the scroll on the end began to unfurl and glow with an orange light, one that began to glisten as he looked across the four elemental wielders that challenged him.
"Skales," Ophiod nodded his head.
Skales nodded, then raced right towards the group. At once, Ophiod aimed the staff down and fired a strange, crackling beam from the tip. The blast hit the back of Skales and consumed his body in a glowing aura. His blue and gray skales turned to the same blue and copper colors that Ophiod had. His blade he held began to grow and glisten until it looked to be a beautiful curved edge fit for a royal king. He held the blade in both hands, then turned his head to look towards the group and swing.
Yuka levitated two nails into each hand, crossing them into an X and catching Skales' blade on it. Her entire body felt as though she'd tried to stop a moving truck. The sheer strength that Skales had in one swing was almost more than she could bear. She dug her heel in just before she could be thrown all the way back, turning an eye to the others.
Raiden rubbed his hands together, forming a spark and throwing his hands backwards. The underground river that their platform overlooked was sent glowing with a light blue energy. The large generator beside them began to hum almost deafeningly. Raiden darted over and placed his hand against it, taking in a breath before focusing on drawing out the electricity from the generator. His body became a sink for it, using the excess power from exciting the water and generator to then blast straight towards Skales.
Skales flung his blade forward, throwing Yuka onto her back as he turned and tried to intercept the blast. Before he could, however, something whistled through the air and knocked into his blade. A strange shape bounced off it, knocking his hand aside and meaning the blast hit him square on. Skales' body locked up as the electricity shot through him, coursing back and forth in him until the concrete under his feet could ground it. When he raised his head, he was twitching in a few areas and smoking, but not knocked over. Skales turned his head to see the object was a shuriken, shaped like a double quarter note. When he looked over to Forte, she had strapped her keytar on her back and was holding one of the music-themed shurikens in each hand.
"Those are some interesting souveniers," Skales hissed out.
"Oh these?" Forte grinned, "These are for fighting! I give out temporary tattoos of these for fans! You know how parents would react if I gave their kids weapons?"
"Clearly not as much as your own," Skales hissed, then tried to run forward. He stopped in his tracks, twisting down to avoid more of Yuka's nails soaring through the air.
From the shadows behind Skales, having waited for just this moment, Karlon let out a cry and rushed forward, winding up a punch to deliver right into Skales' back. The impact cracked Skales' head back and nearly blasted him off his feet. The sound made an audible impact that cracked through the entire space, reverberating.
Karlon panted, having expected for Skales to go down with such a brutal strike. Instead, he was left staring in shock as Skales simply turned around and swung his own punch. The impact sent Karlon shouting out as he struck the ground, digging his gauntlets in to stop from sliding. He got back up, seeing Skales casting him a disapproving glance.
"You should learn to understand spells," Skales looked across the four allies, " Perhaps you should consider that magic can do far more than attack… it can also," Skales' eye widened, "Enhance."
"So you're just a tough snake," Yuka rolled her eye, "Big deal!" She was thankful the low light of this chamber hid the worry on her face. A full strike from Raiden and Karlon hadn't done anything to him!
"What's your friend doing over there?" Forte asked, pointing one of her shurikens at Ophiod. Skales turned around to look at his ally, standing still with his staff held in both hands, eyes closed, and chanting words under his breath. Skales looked back towards Forte and shook his head.
"Nothing that you won't soon know," Skales replied darkly, "You should surrender."
"We're the protectors of this city," Raiden shook his head, hiding his nerves behind bravado, "We've already heard about your little mech friend running rampage after our leader. After that, we couldn't turn a blind eye to you even if we wanted to."
Yuka's mask flashed something to her. She surreptitiously looked up to see Mizuko, clinging to the edge of the hole that Yuka had made to get them down here. She was panting slightly, but looking at the underground river they were all beside. Upon seeing that Yuka noticed her, she pointed to the river, Raiden, Skales and Forte. Yuka blinked one eye at her to show she'd understood. She looked around to her friends, who each seemed to understand the plan
"Now that's a shame," Skales hissed as he raised his blade, "We'll need to adjust your thinking when it comes to all of this, then…"
"I don't think so," Yuka lobbed back, "I'm pretty sure that you're supposed to be a blue snake now, aren't you? Let's see what that weird buff magic is made of!"
At once, Karlon, Yuka, Raiden and Forte all readied and fired Rhotatae discs. Skales held his blade out, taking the impact of them all on it. The second that he moved, Forte flung her two shurikens at Skales. Karlon reached out with metal to guide them so the notes slid perfectly over each of Skales' wrists and magnetized together, turning them into effective handcuffs. Skales looked up as Forte then drew our three more and flung them into the air. She swung her keytar over her shoulder and began to send out a catchy pop tune, the soundwaves moving up and bouncing off the notes and amplifying with each strike. The waves then shot right down into Skales, causing his body to vibrate with the intensity of the waves.
Mizuko shot her hand out with water, drawing up to massive streams of water that she sent hurtling towards Skales. The two water spouts hit him head on, just in time for Raiden to jump back towards the edge of the water and hurl his element right into it. The spouts became electrified blasting that too right into Skales. Forte slid behind the shocked serpent and began to play a more bass heavy tune, causing the sound waves to build up until she played an upper chord and sent a massive wave right into the back of Skales' head. Yuka sent her nails up and into the water spouts, both electrifying them and sending them finally to their mark. The blunted ends struck him like mini punches. Karlon finished off the combo by roaring and racing into Skales' back, delivering a series of hard and fast jabs into his back over and over again with a roar of effort.
Slowly, the group ended their combo assault, slowly stepping forward to look at where Skales lie. The snake was back to his normal blue and gray colors, down on all fours and his blade laying unused at his side. He huffed and groaned as he tried to get his wits about him. Yuka levitated her nails up and into the air to strike down into the ground around Skales' arms, warning him not to move. As she outlined him, Forte walked forward and grinned.
"Victo-RRRYYY!" Forte played out a loud tune, "Whew! That was pretty hard."
"We're not done yet," Raiden warned as he shook his head, "Now we have to deal with his-"
"Friend?" Ophiod finished for them, causing them all to jump and look at him, "I commend your teamwork… but not much else."
Ophiod stared at the four warriors, his eyes glancing over each of them. His staff was now glowing a strange and sickly purple, replacing the more welcoming orange of before. As he looked over the group, he let out a growl and thrust the staff out in front of him. The staff sparked and pulsed angrily as Ophiod began to hiss out guttural sounding language none of them could understand. The staff responded by twitching and glowing more intently. When it looked ready to burst, Ophiod shouted and brought the staff onto the ground.
All at once, the purple power split into four trails that shot out and struck the chests of Forte, Raiden, Yuka and Karlon. The second it touched them, the spell grabbed hold of them and froze their bodies solid. They each fell to their knees in a silent scream as their strength was drained straight from them. Their bodies felt as though their energy was being sucked straight out of them, flowing straight from them into the staff. Karlon collapsed first, his face pale and completely limp. Raiden tried to pull his hands up to launch something at Ophiod, but just an inch felt as though raising thousands of pounds. He, too, soon collapsed.
Forte turned to see Yuka's eye roll into her head as she fell to the ground. Just as she felt the world start to haze over, she reached down and struck a key. The sound wave shot out towards Ophiod in a last-ditch attack. She watched as a semi-translucent circular shield appeared just in front of Ophiod, dissipating the attack. Forte stared at him in terror as the last of her consciousness faded, sending her to the ground.
Skales slowly stood up, his body feeling not much better than the others. He stumbled over to Ophiod, hissing as he fell against the larger snake. Instantly, Ophiod wrapped his arms around Skales and held the Hypnobrai's head to his chest.
"Are you hurt?" Ophiod shook his head, "I can heal you if you need it."
"I'm fine," Skales groaned out, "I wasn't ready for that finishing move of theirs… speaking of which," Skales weakly looked up to see Mizuko's petrified face looking over the lip of the hole. Once they made eye contact, she turned and scurried away as quickly as she could. Ophiod looked up at the sight, but didn't move.
"Leave her," Ophiod shook his head, "You're hurt. She'll tell her allies not to pursue us. These four won't be helping her for at least a few days," He nodded to the downed warriors.
"You're too kind to them…" Skales groaned out in Ophiod's arms, "They… they fought to kill. You should do the same."
"No, they fought to subdue, like true protectors do," Ophiod turned his head towards the four, "Our mission doesn't concern them. I will not cause undue suffering. Even if they hurt you, I won't do the same to them."
"Arcturus says that will… be your downfall," Skales sighed, stumbling out of Ophiod's arms to retrieve his blade, "Are we going to meet up with that annoying one?"
"Prime is likely waiting for us at the rendezvous," Ophiod turned towards an access ladder back to the surface, "We shouldn't keep him waiting."
With a flash, the six universal travelers went careening across the floor on Dareth's Mojo Dojo. The action of the five solid metal beings crashing into the floor tore up the mats and scattered dust into the air. Lulloyd's body went hurtling into a large trophy stand, crashing into it and breaking it apart to spill a variety of mismatched trophies down onto his lap. Mage went rolling so fast he struck the opposite well, ending up upside-down and his head spinning as he tried to get his balance. Momentum, it seemed, wasn't affected by traveling in the void.
It took Lloyd several moments just to be able to get his bearings back. Slowly, the metal casing over the living beings faded, and in turn Lloyd was able to feel the pain of striking the floor at that speed. For several moments, his body refused to move. He only began to do so when Monty's foot phased through his arm as he walked over towards the two large sliding windows to throw them open and glance out into the streets.
"Doesn't look like any world I've seen yet," Monty pointed to a massive set of scaffolding on top of Borg Tower, "Not sure what that is."
"We… We came here when… we tested your travel method…" Lloyd coughed as he sat up, seeing the construction and sighing, "This… this is my world."
Steadily, the others began to rise. Lulloyd rotated his arms behind him and did a flip to land on his feet, drawing his sword as he looked around in terror, his Mechdragon brick by his foot. Mage clung to the wall that Monty now was looking out of and pulled himself upright, huffing as he looked around the streets. Harumi held her head as a splitting headache coursed through it. Lloyd looked around to see they were all accounted for, then turned his sights to the heap of the black-skinned being on the ground.
Overlloyd waited far longer than the rest of them to stand up. Any amount of healing he'd been able to do in the limited time since escaping his own collapsing universe had been rendered void by taking on Invictus. Blood was caked onto his face and chest, the purple rivets standing out starkly on his black armor. As he dragged himself up to his feet, it looked more like a child attempting to lift a 500 pound weight, more so than the being of power and malice they'd come to see him as.
"I'm at my limit…" Overlloyd groaned out, his hand reaching out to clutch at his chest, "Anymore of your insane maneuvers like that will push me over it. For your sakes, I pray you do not tempt what fate would befall you should you try."
"Can it," Monty growled at him, "You should be thankful we dragged you out of that fight."
"That was not my fight to win," Overlloyd gripped the wall with two hands, trying to support his weight as best he could, "It was yours to fight. You challenged a foe several times stronger than you. I would need to be at… full power to beat him," Overlloyd winced, "The reason I am not now owing to you."
A flash of green light turned Overlloyd's head towards Harumi. Harumi was panting heavily, staring at him intently and charging a Rhotatae disc infused with her power to send right towards him. Overlloyd looked at this threat and directed a weary gaze towards her. Seeing this, Lloyd tensed up as he saw the confused and worried look in Harumi's eyes.
"Why…" Harumi gulped, "W-Why did you come to save us?"
"Is the light show truly needed?" Overlloyd asked, turning his gaze back down towards the ground, "I am in no shape to fight you."
"I saw what you did!" Harumi shouted at him, "You summoned the Overlord dragon! If that's what you could do when you were weak, what can you do to us right now?"
"I believe you've asked the wrong question," Overlloyd turned a glowing eye towards Harumi, "The question is rather, if that was what I did when I was fighting alongside you, what will I do if you make an enemy out of me?"
Harumi fired the disc, causing it to strike the ground right by Overlloyd's foot. The dark figure didn't flinch. Harumi charged another disc, aiming it right towards him. Both Emperor and descendant stared down one another, one unflinching, the other terrified.
"The enemy of my enemy, is my friend," Overlloyd stated plainly, "Take it at that."
"Don't lie to me," Harumi trembled. Seeing how on edge she was, Lloyd felt his own nerves starting to skyrocket. He, too, had seen Overlloyd create the head of the beast that had enslaved Ninjago. The sight of him doing that to stop such a massive machine in its swing was a terrifying sight from a distance. The thought of seeing it up close was enough to make his fists grip unknowingly.
"Girl," The Overlord spoke out from the black body, "You would do well to remember who it was that saved your life. It would have been just as simple to leave you to die in that blast."
Monty drew two pistols, cocking them and stepping forward. He pointed one at Harumi, and the other at Overlloyd. Both turned towards the ghost, expecting him to look angry and trigger happy. Instead, Monty looked as annoyed as he could be.
"Right now, really?" Monty growled, "Really? We just escaped a gigantic mech chasing us down with a stupid amount of firepower, and the first thing you do is try to tick off the guy that let us survive the opening shot?" Monty stared daggers at Harumi, "The least you could do is hear him out. For the daughter of the Green Ninja, you're pretty quick to mistrust people."
"I concur," Overlloyd nodded his head, "Even.. that knight attempted to hear out what it was I wished to say."
"I didn't say that you were a ray of sunshine," Monty growled at him, "Maybe cut the poetic final boss act here and she won't be so quick to think you're about to blast her off the face of Ninjago, huh? Why don't you go ahead and tell us about why you were there so I don't need to waste bullets on making fully grown adults calm down?"
Overlloyd's glare turned from respectful to utterly angry in the span of Monty's words. For a few moments, he seemed to be considering the best way to dismember a ghost. When he stopped, he let out a small sigh, turned around, and slid down against the wall of Dareth's dojo.
"The snake came to me," Overlloyd groaned out, "He and his strange blue companion. According to them, the Time Twins had seen the full display of my powers, and wished to put them to a better cause. He said a friend of his was already helping to take care of you, and I was welcome to join. If I pledged to help hunt the rest of you down, then they would spare my life and grant me their blessings."
"And… you said no?" Lulloyd finally found his voice amidst the tension.
"I threw him into a wall and took off to find the companion that he spoke about," Overlloyd sighed, "It wasn't difficult to track down the trail that gaudy machine left behind."
When Overlloyd didn't speak, Lloyd stepped forward, "Does… Does that mean you're allying with us?" Harumi turned to Lloyd in shock.
"Currently, I am simply at a point of not having anything to gain by making myself your enemy," Overlloyd growled, "I felt it. My world is gone. The only reason I was not dragged down with it was because of the untimely intervention of your undead companion. The Twins murdered all that I had spent so long to build. Every ounce of Dark Matter I dredged up from the depths of the Dark Island, every hour I spent crafting my empire… gone. Gone all at once. And then to have the audacity to offer me a position to work for those that so senselessly murdered my Empire…" Overlloyd's tone darkened, "There is little more that I can think of to truly enrage me such as that."
For a moment, the others were silent. Harumi looked just as terrified as when they'd first started talking, while Lloyd and Lulloyd were more so pondering what was said. Monty simply looked towards Overlloyd with a neutrally annoyed expression. After thinking of what Overlloyd had to say, Lloyd slowly stepped forward and swallowed down his fear to speak.
"If you're willing to fight alongside us," Lloyd extended his hand, "We could really use your help."
"Lloyd!" Harumi gasped out. Overlloyd looked to the hand that was extended to him. He gave Lloyd a long look, then gently reached out with one of his four own to grip Lloyd's hand and bring himself upright.
"You know far more about these Twins than I do," Overlloyd frowned, "For them to break free of the destiny that befell them is truly an anomaly. Do not take this to mean that I am in partnership with you. We are mere allies, Lloyd," Overlloyd spoke that word as though it hurt him to say, "I shall help you in battle if you intend to help me."
"We're not asking to be friends, but we need allies," Lloyd nodded his head, now having to look up to make eye contact, "We need to work together. If you're willing to work with us… then we'll work with you."
Overlloyd nodded his head, letting go of Lloyd's hand and stumbling over towards the open window. He gripped hold the lip, slowly panting as he looked up towards the sky. The night sky gave the city a peaceful air, with many of the lights having been turned off. Despite the damage that lay strewn around the city, visible even from this cozy view, Ninjago City looked proud, strong, and peaceful.
"We're glad to have someone as strong as you, Overlloyd!" Mage chirped. The action made Overlloyd scoff.
"Such a name is one I wish not to hear," Overlloyd frowned, "Let us not confuse my name. Refer to me as Over, if you must. For I was once the one Over all." The newly christened Over sighed and placed a hand on his chest, focusing on his regeneration.
"Lloyd," Harumi turned and grabbed Lloyd's shoulders, "What are you doing?! He's the Overlord! He imprisoned us and was going to torture us for information! He's… he's the embodiment of evil! We can't trust him!"
"I don't trust him," Lloyd shook his head, "But… you saw what happened. The Time Twins have another Iron Doom, and they have the four Time Blades they need. I don't know who these Ophiod and Prime guys are but, Overllo- Over is right. We… we'd be goners if he hadn't saved us. I don't like it more than you do but… but we can't ignore the fact we need help."
"Lloyd…" Harumi's grip tightened, "You didn't, you felt it. You beat the Overlord, just like me. You… you know what he's capable of. What's to say that he doesn't just wait until he sees the right moment and… and betray us? Just like he did to your father!"
"We have to take that risk," Lloyd shuddered, "It's better than the risk of not being powerful enough for when the Time Twins come for us."
Harumi looked deeply into Lloyd's eyes, trying to convince him through her emotions she poured into him alone. Despite feeling that Lloyd shared them, despite feeling how he was tense and just as cared as she was, she was unable to get him to budge. Realizing this was the case, Harumi stepped back from him and nervously gripped her fists.
"Does Dareth even live here?" Monty asked as he turned and looked around the dojo, breaking the train of thought in the room, "This place looks really dusty."
"Oh, uh, well Dareth runs a bar now," Lloyd informed Monty, "He doesn't use this place as much. He bought the whole building with the money we won doing the Ninjaball Run though, so he keeps the place for when he does classes on the side now."
"Dareth… has a bar?" Harumi blinked, "Uncle Dareth, did always say that he wanted to have one. Maybe, we should go sometime?"
"Uh, I can't drink," Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck, "And the Sons of Garmaodn kinda took it over for awhile."
"Same here," Lulloyd added, "My mom would kill me if she found out. Literally."
"Nice try, but I can drink alcohol," Monty rolled his eyes, "And I only go if Ronin is with me."
"We have far more pressing matters than inebriation," Over pointed out the window.
The group turned to see a blur coming for them. Mage was running with the element of speed, sliding to a stop outside the window. It was only upon seeing him Lloyd realized that Mage hadn't been there with them. He gripped onto the window and panting heavily, drawing in breath and pointing down the road.
"They're, they're here!" Mage gasped out, "They're here!"
"Who?" Monty asked as he walked up to Mage. A loud crashing sound came from the direction Mage was pointing.
"The snake and huge guy!" Mage gasped out, "They're here!"
"What?!" Lloyd gasped out, rushing to jump out the window. The rest of them, sans Over who was too weak to, did the same. The group clustered on the street to look down the way and see none other than the massive form of the mech Invictus slowly walking down towards them.
"B-But… But how?!" Harumi shook her head, "The only way we've been able to travel is by using constants! We would have seen them arrive!"
"I don't think it matters!" Mage nervously raised his fists, "They're heading right towards us!"
"We need to leave," Lloyd turned, "I don't know how they're following us but we can't put the city in danger!"
Suddenly, an orange portal opened up behind Lloyd. When Lloyd turned to look, Harumi yanked Lloyd backwards just before a staff struck him. Ophiod and skales slithered out from the portal, closing it behind them. Monty drew the SoS and pointed it at Ophiod, while Mage was still focused on the mech walking towards them. Harumi instantly fired three Rhotatae into Ophiod, which were knocked aside by Skales lunging forward to swing his blade and deflect them. Lulloyd drew his sword and jumped off the wall to spin and land in front of the two.
"How, how did you?!" Lloyd gasped.
"I would assume you have encountered magic before," Ophiod brushed his hand through the scroll hanging on his staff, "If not, then you just have."
"Why are you following us?" Lulloyd growled out at them, trying to keep his nerves under control.
"Firstly, to say that Prime's attack was unprovoked," Ophiod spoke firmly, "We were meant only to deliver a message. He went and decided to force an attack when our deal fell through."
"Let me guess," Monty looked into the SoS, "The second thing is you're here to kill us?"
"I'm here to demonstrate our power to you," Ophiod shook his head, "Not kill you," He turned to Harumi, "I have already shown my power to your friends, after all."
"What?" Harumi charged another disc, "What did you do to them?!"
Suddenly, Ophiod seemed to slide right across the ground. His tail shot up like a dart, striking both of Harumi's hands and knocking her form off. Just as Harumi tried to bring her fists in, Ophiod bunched up and sprung into her, using his shoulder to knock her backwards. His hand reached out and caught her wrist, grabbing her as his body spun like a top. Harumi shrieked as she was flung into Lulloyd, sending them both into the already demolished trophy stack.
Lloyd barely even saw what Ophiod was doing. He drew his twin katanas and crossed them, catching Ophiod's staff just before it hit him. Ophiod's strength forced him to plant his feet, giving Skales the perfect chance to get behind him. Skales delivered a kick to Lloyd's knee, making Lloyd jerk in pain and letting Ophiod heave his staff to send Lloyd into the opposite wall. No sooner had he done that did he feel a sharp pain in his arm as he saw the scales parted from the path of a bullet Monty fired.
Monty looked down into his golden sword, yet nothing reflected. He let out a hiss of anger and lunged towards Ophiod with wind, skating across the floor with it. He fired his gun several more times, making Ophiod slither in the opposite direction to dodge. Monty baited Ophiod in a full circle, then shot across the diameter to go right for him. He shot a bullet point blank on Ophiod's staff, the boom monetarily making Ophiod's hearing buzz and causing the bullet to slide off and strike his shoulder, grazing him as the previous one had.
Skales let out a shout out rage, diving towards Monty and impaling him with his blade. Monty looked down at the blade in his torso and then gave Skales an exasperated look. Skales' eyes began to glow as soon as he did, making Monty look even more annoyed. Ophiod took this chance to slither away and grip his wounded arm, groaning as he looked at Skales.
"You DARE to hurt him!" Skales shouted as he swung his blade at Monty again, "I'll kill you for that, you pathetic human!"
"If you can manage that, I'd be impressed," Monty turned towards his sword, hissing out, "If only you could."
As Skales leapt away to rejoin Ophiod, Lloyd, Lulloyd and Harumi were all back up and ready to fight. Overlloyd was slumped against a wall, too tired to partake in the fighting. He and Ophiod locked eyes for a moment, as though both mutually agreeing focusing on each other was a waste of time. Lloyd was about to go and attack when he heard a massive rumbling from outside.
Mage was in the street, struggling hard as he raised the earth in front of him into a massive pillar. Once it was raised, he focused and began to cover it in ice, trying to add to its strength. His efforts were completely wasted, however, as a single slice of Invictus' sword cleaved off a clean top half. Mage caught the falling portion before it struck a nearby building, but when he turned his head he saw the end of one of Invictus' guns in the other hand, pointed at him. Mage barely managed to yank it in front of him before the bullet tore it to pieces, sending shards of ice and rock in every direction as Mage ran.
"Prime," Ophiod raised his hand, causing a small orange circle to appear by his head, "We are not to kill them. This is a demonstration of our power. Be more mindful of your own restraint!"
"I got it, I got it!" Prime shouted back to Ophiod loud enough the others could hear, "This one is strong, he can handle some firepower! Unlike you, I'm used to fighting around people. Besides!" Invictus traded the gun for two swords, "I can't help it if Invictus has so much to show off! I even managed to beat that Emperor guy!"
Over, hearing that, growled and tried to pull himself up to his feet. This time, it was truly impossible. Both he and the Overlord could feel their body was running on fumes. They could pass out if they weren't careful. In this situation, that was as good as death. For now, he just stared at Ophiod, keeping his gaze locked on him in a silent promise of future retribution.
Invictus brought both of its swords down towards Mage, who's eyes widened in terror before he leapt backwards with a panic blast of fire. He tumbled on the ground before coming to a sliding stop, seeing the two massive gashes in the pavement that made him look tiny. Invictus charged both swords with power, causing them to glow as he drew them out of the now criss-crossed street and activated the boosters on the mech's ankles. He was sent sliding straight towards Mage. At the last second, Mage flashed forward with speed between the legs of the mech before both swords plunged down to where he last stood.
"Going after a kid is pretty low," Monty growled out, "And trust me. I'm used to doing even lower things."
"You brought him to this battlefield," Ophiod threw back, "Whatever happens to him is your responsibility."
"Just like what happens when you get shot by me is yours," Monty sheathed his useless sword and opted for the twin pistols to try to attack.
Ophiod went on the defensive, doing his best to dodge the strikes. Lloyd took his chance to nod to Lulloyd and Harumi to attack. The three lunged forward, causing Ophiod's eye to seemingly dilate. Ophiod flattened himself to the ground, letting Skales leapt over him and clash with Lulloyd. Harumi fired two discs at him, but Ophiod weaved between them and delivered a punch to her jaw to send her back. He slid his body out of Lloyd's sword slash and then curled his tail around Lloyd's throat and send him flying back into the wall again. Monty tried to pump him full of bullets, but Ophiod hissed out a word and caused an orange shield to form in the air in front of him to catch each of them.
Outside, Mage wasn't doing much better. He blasted his way up to the top of a small building nearby with fire, then tried to spit poison at the mech. Despite sizzling, there was no damage left by the toxic liquid dripping down the mech's side. The mech tried to reach out and grab him, an action that was swiftly stopped by Mage jumping off the building. He landed back on the street, now too close to the mech's foot for comfort. He tried to jump away, but the mech instead simply swept its foot at him. Mage barely managed to turn the smoke and land on the ground in time, his heart pounding in his chest.
A massive explosion went off on the side of Invictus' head. The mech tore focus from Mage and looked up into the sky to see the floating Destiny's Bounty, cannons trained on it. The ship fired several more times, and in turn Invictus raised its left arm. A small rectangular blue shield shot out from a disc in the side, catching the blasts in a burst of smoke. He reached down to try to grab his gun and return fire, but the Bounty fired an arced shot to make him reconsider.
Something jumped from the Bounty, soaring down towards the ground and landing right in front of Dareth's Dojo. Lloyd looked out the way to see it was none other than the Samurai X mech, piloted by Pixal herself. Despite the decent size of the mech, Pixal's famed suit barely went up to Invictus' knee. Pixal drew a sword and then pointed it down towards the shop.
"Halt!" Pixal shouted through Samurai X's helmet, "You are under arrest for- Lloyd?"
Lloyd turned, making eye contact with her. Pixal retracted her helmet's face guard, letting him see her surprised face underneath. Ophiod tssked and held his hand out, letting out a burst of magic at her. Pixal sliced through it with her sword, pointing her cannon arm towards the Dojo in turn.
"Friends of yours?" Pixal asked. Lloyd, too nerve-wracked to care for her sarcasm, just nodded his head. Pixal turned to look towards Invictus, still shielding fire from the Bounty.
"Pix!" Lloyd shouted, "Tell the others up there to force that big mech away from us!"
"Relaying," Pixal nodded her head, "Do you have need of my services?"
"Yeah, just give us one minute!" Lloyd turned to Ophiod, "We need him out of the way for us to get out of here!"
"That will be easier said than done for you!" Ophiod turned to swing at Lloyd. Lloyd dodged and lunged at him, along with Lulloyd and Harumi. Ophiod and Skales locked arms and shouted together, twisting into Spinjitzu and throwing them all backwards as they did. Monty backed up, firing bullets into the tornado as it approached him. When Monty reached the lip of the window, he phased through and gripped the cable on his belt, throwing it towards them. It was sucked right into the tornado. Ophiod and Skales ended their Spinjitzu, revealing that Skales was smugly holding the cable.
Monty detached the cable and threw it towards the Samurai X mech, attaching it to the chest and barking at her to go. Pixal turned on her jets and blasted off, causing Skales to be yanked forward out of the Dojo. Ophiod leapt out after him, catching Skales before he could be thrown down to the ground. As soon as they were in the open, Pixal shot out a blue whip from her mech's arm, wrapping tightly around Ophiod and Skales. Monty gave them a wave before leaping back into the store.
"MAGE!" Lloyd shouted, "WE GOTTA GO!" Lloyd turned to Pixal's mech, shouting, "Tell the others I'll be back once we shake these guys!"
"Wait, Lloyd!" Pixal tried to shout, but Monty had already throw his chi at the wall and formed a portal. Harumi looked back and jumped through, right after Lloyd. Lulloyd ran over to Over, looking down at him nervously before hesitantly reaching down to pick him up. Over groaned out as Lulloyd dragged him towards the portal and into it.
Mage turned to see the source of the shout, nodding his head. He ran straight towards the Dojo. Invictus was still preoccupied with the Bounty, dropping its arm shield to take up the massive rifle and fire back at it. Ophiod, seeing Mage escaping, hissed out a spell that caused his scales to glow and detach from his body, firing out like little bullets. They struck the blue whip and expanded until it broke apart. He turned and grabbed his staff from the ground, firing a blast of magic at Mage's escaping back. Mage jumped into the Dojo and slid straight into the portal. Monty looked back towards Ophiod for a moment before he jumped inside, causing it to vanish as he did.
In the waiting room of Dareth's Studio in Monty's world, the six figures emerged. Lulloyd all but fell forward from carrying Over's weight, while both Lloyd and Harumi rushed forward towards the door and out through the studio. There was a class of kids being taught by Dareth, whom Harumi gave a long smile before they both rushed towards the entrance. They began fiercely looking around for anyone coming for them. Monty and Mage emerged last, with Mage quickly moving to help support Over. Monty moved into the main room as he approached Lloyd and Harumi.
"Are they coming?" Monty asked.
"H-hey!" Dareth gasped out from the room of students, "What, where did you guys come from?"
"Leave," Monty told him firmly.
"What?" Dareth shook his head, "I can't leave! I'm teaching a class."
Monty rolled his eyes and drew the SoS, "I wasn't asking you, Dareth."
"...A-Alright kids, we're going to go out the back door and continue our session somewhere else!" Dareth moved to rush the kids out of the room. Harumi saw the one girl with the spider chi from the last time they were here, giving her a little smile as she gave Monty a terrified one. The building was soon cleared out, letting Monty sighed and sheath his sword.
"I don't… don't see them," Lloyd squinted, "How are they following us like that?"
"Don't know, but they probably aren't having to run to Dareth's whenever they want to flee," Monty growled.
Lulloyd and Mage stumbled out of the back room, carrying Over, who by this point was unconscious. Mage looked worried as he nudged at Over, who just continued to be limp in their arms.
"We need to get him someplace safe!" Mage frowned, "Like, we need to get him there quickly!"
Suddenly, a crash from outside revealed Lloyd and Harumi to be looking at the legs of Invictus. A few seconds later, Ophiod and Skales landed in front of the entrance, staring down at them. Lloyd formed an energy shield just before Ophiod blasted through the window with magic, sending him reeling.
"Go! Go!" Lloyd gasped out as he scrambled to his feet. Ophiod and Skales smashed through the door as they all raced into the backroom. Monty formed the portal as Ophiod blasted at the door. The six soon reeled through the portal, disappearing again. Ophiod simply huffed as they disappeared, slithering back towards the mech outside.
This time, the six appeared at Dareth's spa in Mage's world. Mage gasped as he landed on familiar feeling ground, rubbing his hands over it as he did. The others quickly looked around in terror, with Lloyd nursing a now injured arm from his rather hard tumble.
"How?!" Harumi gasped out, her hand shaking as she clutched her chest, "How are they?!"
In the distance, something came rocketing towards them. It didn't take a genius to quickly make out it was none other than Invictus, making its way up the mountain to go for them. The group backed away and towards the still open portal.
"A-Are they just going to keep following us?!" Lloyd trembled.
"...I-If… If they are…" Lulloyd gulped, "M-Monty! Take me home! I-I might have an idea!"
"You sure?" Monty asked him. Invictus soon became close enough they could hear the jets.
"DO IT!" Lulloyd shouted at him. Monty reformed the portal without a second through, letting them all jump back in and avoid the mech.
Just as planned, the group soon found themselves entering an incredibly cramped small Dojo on the side of the Ninjago City Docks. There was no one inside the place, and even with it being made out of bricks and studs, it was still clearly Dareth's home. Lulloyd hit the Dojo running, leaving Over to Mage. Lulloyd jumped out of the shop, throwing his Mechdragon brick into the air and unfurling it. The beast did a flip in the air and then hovered in front of the Dojo.
"Get on!" Lulloyd shouted. Lloyd and Harumi jumped onto the back, while Monty did the same. Mage heaved Over onto the dragon's back and jumped on, nodding his head.
Lulloyd gunned the dragon's controls, sending them soaring out over the docks. The water under them shimmered and shone as various boats were going through it. Unfortunately enough, it also reflected the sight of Invictus coming right for them, and not far off at that. The others looked to Lulloyd, who was focusing as he shot them over the ocean and straight towards a volcano in the distance.
"Dad!" Lulloyd hit a button on the screen for the Mechdragon, "Dad can you read me?!"
"What? Son?!" Garmadon's scratchy voice sounded on the other end, "Is that you? Where've you been, it's been like mon-"
"Dad! Great White!" Lulloyd shouted, "WE'RE AT GREAT WHITE HERE! THREAT LEVEL GREAT WHITE!"
There was no response on the other line. At first, the others looked at Lulloyd in terror as Invictus gained ground on them. Lulloyd brought the Mechdragon over the ocean, causing the feet to kick up sprays as they did. Invictus moved to draw the rifle, aiming one shot to send them all into the ocean itself. Lulloyd looked off the water, while the others all looked down and braced for the blast to tear them apart.
Instead, another noise came forward, causing Invictus to halt and turn to look. In front of the volcano, two lines suddenly formed in the ocean. The group looked up as the lines spread apart, parting the water in the shape of a massive shark head. The waves themselves parted to reveal a massive underwater hanger, and one that was filled to the brim with ships. Lulloyd shot his dragon to the right to skim around the opening, letting the group see the hundreds of ships that were down there. And each and every one of them was colored the blue and gray of the shark Army.
From the middle of the hanger, a pillar rose up to reveal the Garma Mech, the black mech shining in all its glory. With arms crossed, the mech pointed right towards the oncoming Invictus. All at once, members of the Shark Army poured out into the hanger, rapidly racing to mount their vehicles. Lulloyd skimmed right towards the volcano as the ships rapidly took off, flying up into the air towards Invictus. The sun was blotted out as the vehicles launched from the hanger, flying up from the ocean itself to fill the air in a swarm.
In the span of a minute, the entire Shark Army was mobilized. Jelly Subs trained their missiles straight on the mech. Manta Ray Bombers readied their bombs to deploy and attack. Hammerhead dropships held entire hangers filled with jeering hammerheads, puffers and jelly troopers. Even more vehicles continued to rise up into the air, forming a massive dome that pointed their weapons right towards Invictus. The simple sound of them all arming was heard through all of Ninjago City. Speaking of the city, massive Shark Army cannons rose up from the buildings, jutting out of small apartment windows or manholes to each aim up at Invictus. Invictus stopped in the air as the entire overwhelming force of the shark Army.
"ALRIGHT YOU!" Garmadon's voice rang out from the Garma Mech, "ARE YOU READY? SET? AND PREPARED TO FACE THE FULL POWER OF THE SHARKS?!"
The entire Shark Army let out a massive cheer. Lulloyd shot the Mechdragon up into the air, right towards none other than Destiny's Bounty, hovering in front of the volcano. His dragon reverted to a brick as the six all came to land on the deck. Garmadon stood on the edge, talking into a microphone projecting his voice through a laptop. Lulloyd turned his head in terror towards Invictus, which was now hovering in the middle of the entire force his dad had to offer.
"NOT TALKING? WELL, THAT'S JUST TOO BAD!" Garmadon laughed, "I LLLOOOOVVVEE TO HEAR THE SCREAMS OF MY ENEMIES WHEN I STAMP THEM OUT WITH MY RAW MIGHT! LET ME JUST ASK YOU ONE THING!" Garmadon inhaled, "WHAT'S MY NAME?!"
"GARMADON!" The Shark Army cheered.
"SAY IT AGAIN, I DON'T THINK THESE GUYS QUITE HEARD YOU!" Garmadon cackled.
"GARMADON!" The force of the Shark Army's cheer rocked the entire city.
Onboard Invictus, Ophiod stood beside Prime, who was looking around at the force that was assembled against him. Ophiod looked out with concern masked under an angry scowl, while Prime simply looked contemplative. His mind was running the amount of power it would take to take them all out versus what he had.
"Can you get to them?" Prime asked Ophiod.
"No," Ophiod scowled, "I can't feel magic in this world. I felt it the moment we entered, just like that boy's world. The only way I can get close is by you dropping me off."
"Hrmm… that's a bit of a problem," Prime sighed, "We can take the hits, probably. But it might be better to back off and let me outfit Invictus a bit more for this situation. Thoughts?"
"Go ahead," Ophiod nodded. Prime grinned and reached up to tap a holographic button and let out a speaker.
"It seems you've bested me!" Prime laughed over Invictus' speakers, "Fine! You've shown your might to me rather well, Sharkadon, was it?" Prime sighed, "Just know this, travelers! We can find you, no matter where you go. We have the same power you do, but even greater! So long as you stay in this world, we won't come for you. Until then… consider this our temporary parting. Let us hope we never see each other again."
With that, a strange blue glow began to overtake the mech. The group watched as, from the mech's waist, a green glow expanded out to mingle with a blue aura that overtook the mech's surface. With a single flash, blue and green burst out. When the lights faded, the mech was gone. In its place was the loud roaring of all the Shark Army mechs in the sky, buzzing and hovering with weapons now trained on empty space.
"Are… Are they gone?" Lloyd asked in confusion.
"...I-I don't…" Harumi gulped, "I-I think… I uhm…"
"So they've backed off," Monty sighed, "Good for us."
Garmadon turned and put down the laptop and megaphone, stretching himself out. The Shark Army slowly began to filter back down towards the hanger, which started to close up as the last of the ships filled it. As the ocean once more came back together, Garmadon grinned at the group and crossed his arms.
"You know, normally I'd be so mad about them messing up my name like that, especially after I just shouted it at them… but Sharkadon sounds pretty cool, I might use that one," Garmadon grinned his toothy grin, "Oh man, I haven't gotten to call out the army like that in so long! It feels good. Good like finally breaking down the wall of your enemy's castle! You ever heard that, Lulloyd? It's the perfect sound. One big 'crack!' just as they start to come down. Oh, I need to take you out conquering with me sometime."
"...D-Dad…?" Lulloyd slowly stepped towards him, his eyes wide and body quivering, "I-It's you, right?"
"Only one of me!" Garmadon laughed, "Well, unless your mother can track down that one amulet that lets you split your soul in half. Really painful, I don't recommend it."
Lulloyd smiled warmly, "I-It's really you…" Then, with a single step, his body fell forward into Garmadon's arms. Garmadon looked down in shock as he moved Lulloyd up to embrace him with his four arms. Once he did, he could feel Lulloyd was shaking. Lulloyd looked up with tears pouring out his eyes, his arms reaching out to embrace his dad.
"Dad it's, it's really y-you, I-I'm home," Lulloyd sniffed out, "D-Dad I-I, I'm sorry, I-I'm sorry I made you do that, I-I wasn't, I wasn't strong enough. D-Dad s-so many things happened, I-I messed up, I-I messed up big time. Dad please, please don't leave me, please tell me it's you. Please don't let go of me, d-don't… don't…"
Instantly, Garmadon hugged his son as tightly as he could. The others went silent as Lulloyd cried into his dad's chest. Garmadon didn't say anything, just holding onto him as he closed his eyes and gently began to rub at his back.
"T-They're gone dad, they're all, they're all…" Lulloyd sputtered out, "I-I couldn't stop them, I-I couldn't, I-I got them back I-I did. Dad they, they killed him, t-they killed everyone, t-they did it, they-"
"It's okay, son," Garmadon reassured him, "Whatever you did out there, you did it with all the honor and pride you can have. Whatever happened, whoever got hurt, whoever tried to hurt you, you're safe now. I got you now. You're back from the frontlines. Now is the time to hang up your sword and forget about the next battle."
"Dad… Dad…." Lulloyd continued to sniffle out, "I-I'm so sorry, d-dad I'm so, I'm so sorry…"
"There's nothing to be sorry for," Garmadon reached down to wipe away Lulloyd's tears, "You're my son. I'm proud of you, Lulloyd. I'm proud of you for making it back. I'm so glad you're back," Garmaodn hugged him again, "I know I don't say it as much as I should, but, I love you."
"I-I l-love you t-too…" Lulloyd gasped out between sniffles and cries. Garmadon slowly guided Lulloyd towards the access hatch to the bottom of the ship, wordlessly pushing past all the others. The others were left stunned to silence as Garmadon moved to take his son to the bedroom and gently lay him in bed. None of them made a move to go after Garmadon, instead just letting whatever was happening, happen. After so long of running and chaos, now was the first time they truly had to reflect on what had happened.
In what felt like forever and far too soon, Garmadon emerged from the hatch. Wordlessly, he replaced the grate and moved to stand on the edge of the deck, overlooking his volcano. He took a cup and gently passed it from hand to hand up his body, then took a long sip. When he turned around, his expression was hard and firm.
"My son is sleeping now," Garmadon stated, "Looks like he stressed himself while working too hard. He'll be down there for awhile. Just enough time for us."
"Just… enough time for what?" Mage asked.
Garmadon turned around. For a moment, he simply looked at them. Then, he placed the cup down on the side of the Bounty and his eyes flared with flames in them.
"For you to tell me what the brick you've been doing with my son."
Author's Note:
This is probably my favorite chapter I've written so far, hands down. At the very least the ending. I hope you all are enjoying the fic! Please feel free to leave comments, reviews, or questions! At my friend's request, I'm considering opening up a discord server for Enter the Ninjaverse! If you'd be interested, please leave a comment or follow my tumblr, BionicStars, for any potential updates! Thanks for reading, and NINJA-GO!