Lulloyd slowly opened his eyes. When he looked around, the setting at first confused him. He wasn't in some random bed, or curled into a corner. He wasn't in the halls of the Summit he'd learned so much about, nor the cramped walls of Sun's Bounty. In fact, he wasn't in his normal bunk bed in his mother's apartment either. After thinking for a few moments, he realized he was in the bed onboard the Destiny's Bounty, namely the one that belonged to Master Wu. As he rotated the sheets up to slowly slide his way to his feet, he thought back to what had happened.
"Did I… did I fall asleep?" Lulloyd asked himself, trying to think of it all. He slowly began to walk through the small collection of various trinkets that Master Wu kept for reasons that were beyond him. Some of them were beginning to look oddly familiar to him, but that wasn't the important thing. He made his way over towards the ladder at the other end that led up to the deck.
As Lulloyd made his way out of the room, he began to hear a small voice emanating from the top of the Bounty. Slowly, he moved to hop up onto the deck, looking around to find that it was all but deserted. Even the training room with the (now empty) shrine to the Ultimate Weapon was devoid of Nya normally battering away at the dummy or Kai testing out the multitude of sharp objects Master Wu loved to stockpile. He made his way past those and up to the ladder that took him to the main steering wheel, looking past a small map table and sliding under the large brown awning to find the source of the voice.
Lulloyd opened up the small golden window shutters, leaning his head out and letting him look at the vast expanse of Ninjago City's ocean. The voice was coming from below. He leaned his body out until he saw the source of the song was coming from Harumi, sitting in a little alcove behind the training room. Normally, Cole would be jamming to tunes there. She was leaning up against a telescope pointed skyward, looking up towards the sky with sad eyes. Lulloyd listened in as she was singing a rather upbeat song:
Closer to me than any sound that I've heard, your voice rang out, but I could not hear a word.
Though it's been forever since we've been together, you and I have at last been reunited once again.
Sister's Nois-!
"Harumi?" Lulloyd asked. The second he startled her, he was forced to throw his head backwards as a Rhotatae disc shot up to nearly nail him in the face.
"Lulloyd?!" Harumi gasped out, "Oh gosh, are you okay?! I didn't mean to! I was waiting for you to wake up and found this little spot to relax!"
"Y-Yeah, f-fine!" Lulloyd nervously poked his head out the window again, "That's Cole's jamming spot, a-actually. U-Uhm, can I come down?"
"Of course!" Harumi nervously nodded, letting Lulloyd slide out the window and flip his way down the side of the Bounty to grab the telescope and land firmly on the platform.
"I uhm, heard you singing," Lulloyd smiled to her, "It sounded like a pretty song."
"...Y-You heard that?" Harumi gulped, "I-I mean… it's, not like, I mean i-it's not like it's, weird for you to so uhm, I guess that… y-yeah."
"Huh?" Lulloyd blinked, "Uh… why, wouldn't it be weird for me to, hear that?"
Harumi looked down, biting her lip as she did. After a moment, she slowly stepped forward and gently raised her watch up to Lulloyd. As he looked down at it, Harumi reached out and took hold of his wrist with her other hand.
"Don't… tell the others, okay?" Harumi bit her lip, "I normally wouldn't care, but if Monty found out about this he'd never let me live it down."
Lulloyd blinked, but gave a small understanding nod. After a moment, Harumi played a muted video on her watch. It was a live recording of what looked like a large concert. He instantly recognized Forte on her keytar, playing a long opening song on a massive flashy stage. She was in what he could best call an explosion of bubblegum pink dress. She pumped her fist and shouted something. A massive burst of lights on the stage caused two small platforms to rise up on the stage, showing two girls. One of them was Carnelian, wearing a flashy orange dress mirroring Forte's own. The other girl was in a flashy deep green one of the same design.
"...Wait, that's…" Lulloyd looked up, watching the three girl run up to each other and begin to sing, "...Harumi you're… uhm, what are you?"
"Forte.. well long story short, I owed her a favor," Harumi muttered, "Ugh. See, she used to have other backup dancers, then they left after a fight with her and she ended up bringing us on. Said that after what happened with the Overlord, Ninjago could use a big boost and, we were kinda famous."
Lulloyd watched as Ren and Mizuko both rose up, Ren in a purple and Mizuko in a baby blue varient of Forte's dress, "I uhm… I see. You… learned how to sing and dance for this?"
"Forte calls us every once in awhile for tours and stuff," Harumi explained, "But… then after that she wanted to try to make us like, I don't know, merchandisable? I think? I had to fight her not to try to make money off me. I agreed to be apart of her group."
"Do uhm, you have a name?" Lulloyd asked.
"...Five Element Time," Harumi mumbled out.
"That's… actually a good one, kinda catchy," Lulloyd smiled a bit, "You uhm, you know this isn't anything to be ashamed of, right? You have a really good singing voice."
"I normally, well I'm used to being recognized for being the Green Ninja and all…" Harumi sighed, "They're always like 'a girl with white hair, wearing a green uniform like that, with that Rhotatae…' and then know it's me. But Monty wouldn't let me live this down if he found out."
"I won't tell anyone, but uh, you could probably tell Lloyd," Lulloyd told her, "Uhm… you probably couldn't tell Mage, he'd keep talking about it. He's, kinda like a kid."
"He is one," Harumi stretched, "And I won't. I can trust you, right?"
"Of course," Lulloyd smiled, "Don't worry. Whatever Monty does, he won't find out."
"Good," Harumi sighed, "Well, come on. The others are waiting in the waterfare room."
"The uh… the waterfare room?" Lulloyd blinked, "Like, the warfare room?"
"Your dad insisted on calling it that, you'll see why," Harumi gestured to him, namely to a large set of scuba gear against the opposite wall of her little perch, "It's a bit of a swim, your dad left this here in case you woke up."
Lulloyd had long since learned to stop questioning anything that his father did, instead sliding the gear on and swapping his ninja mask for a scuba helmet. Harumi wasn't able to wear the outfit, so instead she used a trick she'd learned earlier and formed a large bubble of green power in the air and then stuck her head in it. She jumped off into the water, surfacing a moment later with a stingray-shaped water skimmer. Lulloyd just jumped in and took hold of the side of it while Harumi turned and pushed the handlebars to drive them under the water.
The sheer volume of ships Lulloyd saw under the water was massive. All of them were from the Shark Army, patrolling the area constantly and scanning for things seemingly at random. Several jelly subs ended up tangled together and were subsequently ripped apart by the hammerhead dropships twisting its head like a brick separator. Piranha and crab mechs all crawled along the ocean floor as well, pinching and snapping as they did. Harumi ignored all of them, while Lulloyd tried his hardest to see just how much of the army was still out.
"Harumi," Lulloyd asked her with his helmet as they dove down, "How long was I out?"
"You passed out yesterday," Harumi informed him, "You're not the only one of us that slept hard, though. None of us have gotten much sleep after… everything that happened to us."
Lulloyd went silent. Harumi guided them until they reached what looked like a massive head of a shark jutting out of the surface of the ocean floor. She hit a button on her skimmer, causing the shark eye to glow green and the jaws to wrench apart to reveal a large cylindrical center inside that went deep down to the ocean floor. Harumi guided them inside, passing by some trans-blue 1x4's that then caused the jaws to close up and the water to begin draining out through hinged opening slits along the length of the shaft. The water level lowered as they just floated on top, eventually ending in the last of the water draining to reveal them at the bottom of a large jellyfish shaped landing platform. Two angler soldiers rushed in and marched the skimmer off while Harumi dispelled her bubble and Lulloyd took off his helmet, letting his hairpiece out again.
"How did my…?" Lulloyd stopped himself, "I shouldn't ask. My dad's pretty efficient when, you know, he wants to be."
"He rebuilt an entire army to attack your city every week, right?" Harumi asked him, "He probably has some sort of system in place."
"You're uhm… you're right," Lulloyd sighed, looking at a catwalk that led to a large sliding door, "Let's get moving."
The two entered the door, leading them to a massive room that was a mixture of both elegant and industrial. The back half of the spherical room had a large sitting pad, table filled with various drinks, small shrines with various weapons on them, and steps that one had to walk up to get to them. The other half, however, was a massive rectangular table with gray chairs and a large great white mosaic taking up the table's surface. The walls were all glass, letting them all see a large aquarium filled with random sealife that swam around them. It was a strange mash of styles, one that only served to highlight the four-armed warlord sitting on the mat even more against the table with his friends. As Lulloyd entered, Monty turned from the table and frowned at him.
"Make sure everyone here knows I'm here under protest," Monty grumbled.
"Lulloyd!" Mage shouted, jumping up to his feet and jumping off the table to rocket over and tackle him in a hug, "You're okay! We were so worried about you!"
"W-Woah!" Lulloyd pressed his back to the glass as he awkwardly hugged Mage back, "Y-Yeah, I'm good! I'm fine, everyone! I uhm… I'm sorry for acting like that. That was, kinda childish, of me."
"Don't worry about it," Lloyd smiled to him, "This is a pretty stressful situation. If I'd met up with my friends, I'd probably have done the same."
"I don't really have any need to pass out anymore," Monty scoffed, "But being alive has its downsides as well as its perks, I guess."
"Yes…" A voice that made Lulloyd straighten up as he heard it sounded from the other end of the table, "We cannot afford to lose anymore of our forces at this point."
Lulloyd turned to see Over seated at the edge of the table, one set of arms on said table and the other propping his chin up. His body looked hurt, with large patches of it cracked open to reveal what looked like a gas underneath. Lulloyd watched as that gas solidified in one patch on his arm, slowly stitching itself up until it was perfectly healed. Just the sight of it was enough to make him want to shudder. Harumi, noting Lulloyd's sudden lockup, moved to help him sit down, along with Mage and Lloyd.
"You look shocked to see me," Over frowned, "Is there a reason why?"
"I uhm… no I just, you know. You're uh, still new to us?" Lulloyd tried to smile innocently, "Still uh, getting used to it."
"Let us forgo any sense of pleasantries with this," Over stood up, making Lulloyd push back in his chair, "As I told you before I lost consciousness, I intend to fight alongside you. I do not need any sort of power to sense the fear you hold for me. The girl in particular reeks of it," He turned to Harumi, who met him with a determined gaze and shaking hand, "Now that you are awake, we have time to review what we have discovered, and to plan what has become of our now shared objective. Are there objections to that?"
"Since when did you decide to take control of us?" Monty scoffed, "You're still healing from getting your butt kicked harder than even I've done to someone before."
"Because the rest of you are filled with apathy, underconfidence, trepidation, curiosity, and inexperience," Over glared to Monty, "And besides. I already had a rather long talk with Lulloyd's father. He will be the one that guides this meeting."
"That's right!" Garmadon stood up, grinning from ear to ear, "Now that General Number Son is here, we can get this war meeting underway! Whew! It's been awhile since I've done one of these. Feeling a little pumped up! Ahem. Well, as mister copycat just pointed out, I'm in charge here!"
"I am not copying you," Over frowned, "We are from entirely separate worlds. That we evolved to look similar is a result of happenstance."
"Alright, sharkless ripoff," Garmadon stepped forward and turned to look at Harumi, "You there, female! Tell the group what you discovered!"
"It's Harumi," Harumi sighed, slowly moving to take her watch off and place it on the table. She hit a few buttons, causing a display of her dimensional wavelength scanner up. She looked around before beginning to press buttons.
"After we entered Mage's world, I set my watch to continually start recording dimensional wavelengths around us. I figured if we came into contact with the Twins or the Vermillion at some point, I'd be able to find out when. I was going through the records of yesterday and… I saw this," Harumi pulled up three wavelengths side by side, "The one on the left is Lloyd. We all have a base wavelength, essentially, that links us together. I don't know if it's because we started moving around in universes, or if we just have it. This middle one is from the first time we encountered Ophiod, and the right one is for Prime. I ran some analysis on this and…"
Harumi hit a button, causing the three graphs to overlap. Lloyd's wavelength was highlighted in green. She hit play to let all three of them begin oscillating. Slowly, the wavelengths began to filter down, until all three perfectly overlapped, "This confirms that what Ophiod and Prime said was true."
"So, the Twins really hired two other, uhm, counterparts to attack us?" Lulloyd picked the word carefully. Harumi nodded.
"Wait, does that mean that Monty has the same wavelength as us too?" Mage asked. Harumi suddenly thought back to a particular glave, brought back by Monty suddenly turning to her with a hard gaze in his eye.
"Counterparts don't have to be like us!" Lloyd blurted out for her, "Monty is unique. He isn't like us but, he can come with us!" For a few moments, Lloyd was left in fear as to whether the glave's curse on them would be activated. Mage, however, gained a small glint in his eye and just smiled.
"This means we won't just be fighting those stinky Twins anymore," Garmadon rasped out, "You all got yourselves some rivals."
"Rivals, is that what you call them?" Over asked. Garmadon ignored him, much to Over's ire.
"Ophiod said he was the crown prince of the Serpentine… and he had Skales with him," Lloyd muttered, "But, how? Like, how is he just like us and… how was Skales with him?"
"The Time Twins can bring the Vermillion with them," Monty pointed out, "Pretty sure if you had something like the Iron Doom, you'd be able to bring people with you. Obviously."
"Invictus, I think that's what Prime called his big beast!" Mage perked up, "If that thing is like the Iron Doom, maybe that's how they're traveling just like us!"
"It would make sense," Harumi nodded her head, "Since, unlike us, they can teleport out of a world wherever they want. There's no other explanation as to how quickly they found us right now." The others nodded.
"Those guys are… like us," Lulloyd looked down, "Does that, make anyone else here, a little uneasy?"
There was a moment of silence in the room. Lloyd and Mage in particular looked rather upset for a few moments. Harmi simply kept a rather cold expression on her face. Monty looked indifferent, while Over buried his mouth behind his hands.
"So what?" Garmadon flippantly cut in, "So they're alternate versions of you, what's the difference? If they're trying to take you out either way, ain't no reason you gotta go easy on them!"
"But, dad," Lulloyd gulped, "This, this isn't like facing the Twins! These guys are… they're not just, evil, or, I don;t think they are!"
"Did they shoot at you?" Garmadon asked.
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Try to kill you?"
"I, guess they did some things that could have…"
"Say they were working with your enemies?"
"I uhm, wasn't there to hear it but, I'm pretty sure they did."
"Mhmm… see, that's my three question test to determine if I consider a new force that shows up someone to turn the war machines at," Garmadon declared sagely, "Looks like your new foes just failed 'em. I say turn the sharks on them."
"Believe me, I attempted to," Over growled, "It was a futile effort. They wield a level of power we are not yet equipped to deal with." Garmadon once more refused to acknowledge him.
"The bigger issue here is the Twins…" Harumi looked down, "That Iron Doom they had, it had the Time Blades in it. And, it looked like they reactivated it. If that Iron Doom works like my dad said it did then… they can travel in time and universes now."
A long and cold dread filled the room, one that none of them truly knew how to respond to. Saying something felt like a denial of the statement, when each of them knew that they couldn't. Even if the Twins didn't have that power, they'd missed their one window of the Twins down and out for the count. Now? Now they were back to square one, with even more dire straits.
"Clearly, they do," Monty sighed, "There's no other way they could have gotten both of those guys on our tails in the span of an hour. I'm betting them took their sweet time picking someone they could manipulate into their goals. Let's not kid ourselves here."
"But… then why exactly are we all still here?" Lloyd sat up, "When they changed the past in Ninjago, it changed in an instant for us. I'm, still not sure why we were affected but… we were. It happened. Why haven't they tried to remove our worlds yet."
"Pride," Over spoke up again, "A vain pride that has consumed them, and made them now believe their treatment of us is a mercy."
"It's pretty simple," Garmadon placed his hands behind his back, "You're in a bad spot, Lulloyd, I won't lie to you. You got your backs against the wall, enemies at your gate, and they've got some nasty looking plans for you once they got that surrender. You need to build that white flag of surrender, and they stole all your white bricks. All that power is going right up on to their head. Right on up there. Like, so far up you don't even want to know how far up it went. And now they're gonna let you go, cause they think you've gotten beaten enough you won't try again. Pretty standard tactic for making layovers for your army in wartime. I've done it once or twice, pretty standard stuff."
"I was willing to overlook the first times," Over glared daggers at Garmadon, "Do not think my injuries will prevent me from displaying my tolerance for this."
"The Time Twins are letting us and our worlds go… because they think they've won?" Lulloyd asked, "Then… that means the only reason we're still here is… because of their egos?" That thought sent another long and deep cut of dread through the group.
"...It's okay!" Mage stood up, "We, just have to do what you guys did to help me! You know, we fight them on the sidelines and, we make sure they don't find out! It's just like before!"
"The risk is a lot bigger than that," Harumi reached out and put her watch back on with nervous hands, "The risk we stood to lose back then was them getting away. Now… now we could lose our worlds, Mage. They… they could… they could erase everything we know, just like that."
"There's another problem," Monty sighed, "We've been coasting after the Twins by just following the tracks they've left us. I opened up a portal earlier to try to see if I could find something new that might tell us where they went."
"And?" Lloyd asked.
"Nothing," Monty frowned, "Just the same old paths we've been taking. There wasn't any sort of path either for those two freaks that attacked us either. The Twins have basically gone dark."
The implications of that were strong. The Twins had not only gained a time machine, but somehow managed to cloak where they were in the universe. Without a path to follow them, they were stuck floundering in the dark.
"Hmm…" Garmadon nodded his head, "Alright, pretty simple solution to me."
"Wait, what?" Lloyd turned to Garmadon, "Are you serious? This isn't just some conquering quest! This could mean you don't exist anymore!"
"That doesn't mean we don't plan!" Garmadon scoffed at him, "What, do you think I repurposed this old tunneling operation into a waterfare room and wasn't going to actually plan for war in it?"
"This old, uh, what now?" Lulloyd asked.
"Eh, old plan, flood the city underneath, send up some mutant shark-rays, didn't work out, don't ask," Garmadon rotated his head, "That's not important! This is a battle you all are in! A battle for a lot more than just you all now! Sure, you failed. You failed like, what, six times? Well, six if you count each of you once, otherwise it's like, twenty one times? Whatever, numbers don't matter! Point is, you don't stop swimming because you lose your fins! You swim your way to a shark that has fins, rip them off, replace yours, and then take his territory for being so slow a finless shark could catch up to him!"
"...I don't get it," Mage blinked.
"You'll learn!" Garmadon shouted, slamming his hands down, "Are you all giving up on me?!"
"Of course not," Monty scoffed, "I don't have much to lose at this point."
"I made a vow to go after the Twins and stop them for what they did to my people," Mage pressed his hands to the table, "And I haven't even gotten close to that yet! I know I haven't done as much as I've wanted to, but, I need to! I'm still in this fight!"
"I was the one that let them get away the first time," Lloyd looked up, "I have to correct my mistakes. No matter what it takes. I'll do what I can."
"I will too," Lulloyd took a deep breath, "I… I'm not sure I'm ready for this but. But I made clear when I started this that, that I was in this for the long haul. And… and even if I'm scared I have to do this. Because, I owe it to everyone here that has believed in me."
"They took my friend from me," Harumi muttered, "They threatened everything that my dad gave me. I can't let them do that to someone else."
"It was foolish for them to leave me alive," Over's voice dipped into that of the Overlord, "I intend to make sure they suffer the same pain that I feel now."
"Hrmm… decent speeches!" Garmadon grinned, "If you were generals, I'd consider keeping you. Except Lulloyd, he's always got his spot. The rest of you are just corporals for now! Maybe sergeants. Prove yourselves to me first."
"Right now, the Time Twins know where we are," Harumi nodded her head, "They know what we can and can't do. If what Prime said is true, they're watching us. We need to plan our moves carefully, from now on. Any move we make, we have to do it knowing it could backfire, at any minute."
"We'll do this for everyone that those Twins have hurt!" Mage declared, "For my people!"
That name sent a long reverbnation through the room. Slowly, each of them stood up. Mage leapt on top of the table, his feet slipping over the edge of a stud briefly. Lloyd and Lulloyd stood next. Harumi took to her feet next. Monty let out a long groan before begrudgingly getting up. Over was last, lost in thought at the name before slowly, almost painfully standing.
"For Olive!" Harumi declared.
"For Ninjago!" Lloyd followed up.
"For my friends!" Lulloyd added.
"For whatever this is," Monty scoffed.
"For… For Sun," Over finished with a subdued voice. Lloyd extended his hand towards the middle of the table. Mage, Llloyd and Harumi placed their hand on top of his. Monty just hovered his hand inside of them with a roll of the eye. Over hesitated, seeing Harumi's mistrustful glare. The Overlord inside him gave a small chuckle, prompting him to sigh and place his hand on top. After a count, they all raised their hands, with Lloyd leading them in a large 'NINJA-GO!'
"Now that's some good spirit there," Garmadon laughed, "Alright, let's get this going! Time to make a plan to defang some snakes! They do still use snakes, right?"
"They do," Lloyd nodded his head, "Let's plan this thing!"
By the time they'd finished, they had no plan.
As Mage had seen, with little to no information as to their enemies other than what they knew, the exact capabilities of the Twins, the goal the Twins now had in their seemingly never ending mission, and more, planning had fallen rather flat. This had all but brought back that earlier sense of hopelessness they felt. Garmadon had pushed them to keep going long after that point, until he, too, found it hard to dredge up anything worthwhile from their time.
"Let's break and think of our own plans," Harumi had finally sighed, "We've all just gone through a lot. This… this might be our last chance to really have some, actual time to ourselves. We should savor it and, just, do what we need to do."
Without much in the way of other suggestions, the group had called in a submarine for Monty and then taken to returning to the surface. Lulloyd had said he was going to see if he could find Master Wu, while Lloyd and Harumi had decided to go and explore the city and perhaps look for the ninja that Lloyd had met when he first arrived. Over and Monty had said nothing and just vanished the second that Mage had taken eyes off of them. He could have probably hunted them down, but there wasn't that much need for that. Thus, Mage had gone to shore, found a place, and decided to gather himself.
The beaches of Ninjago City shone in the setting sun. Mage slowly reached down and focused, wrapping his fingers around the hilt of Aevum. With a swift pull, the glowing blue sword came right out of its sheath, the runes carved down the side glowing brightly in the dim sunset. Mage's Time Matrix formed on his left wrist, the hands pointing down to turn the whole thing green. The pouring of forward energy into the blade that slowed itself in time made the sword swing and hum naturally in Mage's hand.
Mage turned towards the distance, seeing the Destiny's Bounty as it sailed across the waves. Slowly, he moved the sword in front of him, leveling the blue blade with the ship's midsection. He focused, then brought the sword up and swiped down until it was extended out from his waist. He raised the sword and repeated the process over and over again. He knew little of swordplay, but he had watched Acronix practicing. He tried his best to replicate what he recalled, repeating each pose and swing several times before he moved on to the next. He did so with his eyes narrowed and his breathing focused.
With his body warmed up, Mage reached forward and called upon his power to raise the sand of the beach up to form the shape of a Vermillion. Unlike the rest of everything here, the sand wasn't actually studs, but actual sand he was used to. He formed it until he had the perfect shape of a Vermillion Warrior, face of snakes and all, with its arm raised to punch him. He took a step back from the sculpture and raised Aevum, bringing the sword in both hands against his right shoulder. With a shout, he swung the sword straight through the statue, causing it to explode into sand that burst apart in the air in slow motion. The particles moved, suspended in the air, slowly enough that Mage was able to rapidly carve through them several more times. A massive ball of slowly falling sand was left for him to see.
With a grin, Mage turned and began forming Vermillion at random from the sandy shore, repeating the process. He slid his body from warrior to warrior, sending Aevum through them each time. He used just the slightest application of speed to slide himself faster and faster, carving through warrior after warrior. Each time, a new ball of slowly falling sand was formed in the air. Mage impaled one warrior and grinned, racing forward as he formed one last one to end his practice.
All at once, Aevum's power ended, and the sand in the air fell to the ground unceremoniously. Mage froze as his sword was an inch away from a face he hadn't meant to make. He stared down the sandy sculpture of Machia, his hands shaking. His grip loosened, causing his Time Matrix to fade. All at once, the sword fell to the ground. Mage tried to pick it up, but it moved as though trapped in tar. He looked up to Machia's visage as he forced his hands back down to the hilt, trying to form his Time Matrix. When the sword refused to budge, as slowed in time as it was, he was left just growling as he tried to draw his blade.
"C-Come on!" Mage huffed, "Monty… Monty said I have… have to learn how to use this!" Mage shook his head, straining as he kept trying to use forward time, "Please! Just… Just…!"
It seems you have no need to wait for someone to teach you control, when you clearly have none of it yourself. Mage froze as a voice echoed in his head.
"I'm learning control!" Mage shouted against Acornix's words in his head, "I-I need to use this sword! I need to help them!"
You clearly still need to learn compassion, if it only takes anger to remove it from you!
"I know compassion! I saved Skylar! I saved everyone!" Mage put a hand on his head, "It was one mistake! Just one little mistake! Please! Let me use this!"
There was no response from the visage of Acronix he had in his head, only a stern frown that reflected all of the anger and fury that he'd never seen from the brother before. All of it directed at him. He looked down to his arm, trying to form his Time Matrix. As soon as it did, he felt a coldness in him, a shame that cut to his core. The clock flickered on his wrist. He focused, trying harder, trying to put it aside. The clock flickered out.
With an angry rage-fueled shout, Mage summoned earth and slammed his fists into the ground. The explosion of sand was massive, nearly ten feet in diameter. It was so large that water began to trickle in from the waves to fill up the newly made basin. Mage struck the ground again as he did, digging the sand in between his fingers. He gripped his fists tightly, working to let it slide in and out of his grip.
"I need to be useful to them… I-I need to avenge everyone that was lost to the Raiders…" Mage whispered, his eyes shut tightly, "I need power!"
"Kid, I'd say you got plenty of power already!"
Mage's eyes shot open as he spun around, forming a spike of ice around his arm he pointed forward like a sword. Standing inside the cockpit of a Piranha mech was none other than Garmadon. Well, not his dad, but someone… different enough he could tell them apart. It wasn't just because he looked like a toy, but then again he'd also seen Garmadon summon an army to rival that of the battle he'd helped stop. For now he slowly lowered his ice spike as he watched Garmadon jump down and slide into the basin.
"Hrmm…." Garmadon walked over and scooped up sand in his claw hand, "This is a clean blast. Even distribution, good depth… you know your stuff when it comes to making things explode!"
"Uh, thanks!" Mage blinked, trying to lighten the mood, "Master Lily taught me everything I know about punching things! I would've thought it'd be like, the Fire Tribe that taught me how to fight but turns out the Earth Tribe is the best if you want to learn to fight bare handed."
"Nah, fire types are always all flash, no substance," Garmadon scoffed, "They always make their fortresses as big and flashy as they can. Sure, maybe they have an impressive weapon, and maybe that weapon takes out your right flank, but the second you push them, they learn they didn't plan a way out of their now fancy tomb."
"You sound like someone I know," Mage chuckled, "Someone who really likes fighting."
"Because fighting is the rawest thing you can get!" Garmadon exclaimed, "Just putting yourself against someone else, throwing all you got at them. Digging in as deep as you can to light that fire inside you! Letting each injury make you feel even more alive. The best is if you can get into the state you aren't even in control of yourself anymore. I'm telling you, kid, once you let your body start moving on its own, you'll find whatever you got hidden inside your really squishy body there."
"...Sure!" Mage smiled awkwardly, "I'll remember that!"
"I'm liking you already," Garmadon gave a hard grin, "Alright, lay it on me, what was all that business you were having there with that sword you got? Body can't handle it? Too powerful? Cursed? If it's that last one, my wife has the best curse-removing gear. You'll have to give up a few days of your lifespan but it's totally worth it."
"It's, nothing like that," Mage sighed, "...I uhm, I'm not sure it's really all that smart to talk about. It's, pretty bad."
"Bad is my middle name, actually my third middle name," Garmadon laughed, "Right next to Volcano-lover and conqueror. Don't have a last name, though," He suddenly frowned, "To evoke the name of my ancestors would bring us both down a path you do not want to be messing with right now, unless you got something that can fight spirits."
"...I killed someone," Mage muttered, "And my mentor left me for it."
"Hrmm… so we're dealing with heavy stuff," Garmadon looked over to his mech, then jumped in the air and kicked it. It fell apart into pieces which he rapidly rebuilt into a half-mech, half bench using the top and bottom of the mech's head to create two large seats. He slid into one side and gestured for Mage to take the other. Mage blinked in confusion, but slowly moved to slide into the other makeshift seat regardless.
"Your mentor probably has a lot of faith in you," Garmadon told him, "You know he's a good mentor, cause he was able to let you go."
"Wha?" Mage blinked, "Wouldn't that be the sign of a bad mentor?"
"Nah, see, that's just the thing," Garmadon sighed sagely, "Good mentors, they'll be able to let their students go. And be able to say that they student broke a rule. If this guy just let you keep training after that, what does that say about him?"
"That… he'd be willing to let me break his rules, probably again," Mage sighed, "I… I guess I get it."
"Look, killing is a pretty big deal… between you and me, I hope Lulloyd never has to," Garmadon closed his eyes, "It's not something you can just brush off. You might think it's nothing at first. Find some way to help you sleep in your lava bed at night. But that's just the thing. The longer you go on, harder it gets. I had his mother when it got too rough for me. Well I mean, totally never happened to me, but if it did!"
"I have someone like that," Mage gripped his robes, "I killed her for them."
"Hrmmmmmm… that's a big ouchie right there," Garmadon sat up to look at him more directly, "Doing that for you? That's one thing. All on you, nothing to it. For someone else? Now they gotta think of it too. Not really something I wanna go thinking about."
"...But…." Mage began to curl up, "S-She hurt them. Really, really badly. T-Tried to kill the people that were really, r-really close to her. I-I was doing it because… b-because I… I needed to."
Garmadon, seeing Mage was starting to break a bit, sighed, "You know, I normally wouldn't talk about this with a kid like you. It's heavy. But I see something in you, Sergeant Mage. Something real good in there. I think you got a good heart. Trust me, I got a not so good one. The fact you've already decided to admit you did wrong? First step to reevaluating your plans. You know what the next step is?"
Mage shook his head, making Garmadon grin, "Next step is to get those nasty brains on something else! Like target practice! Come on, I'll let you drive a Jelly Sub! Those things are great, let me tell you!"
"I… I don't know," Mage shook his head, "My mentor was the only one that could teach me this, this really important power. If I don't have him then… then what do I do? I-I need that power so we can help take out the Twins!"
"Hrmm… I think you're missed something important there," Garmadon explained, "See, if you only got power for power's sake? You don't have much. You gotta be more than whatever overpowered ability you got under those golden robes and weird round body there. I haven't seen your friends acting like you aren't pulling your weight until now. I say that's a good place to be."
"B-But what happens when I need to do something more, when I need to… to help them?" Mage stood up, "I hear my mentor's words when I try to use my power! He, he was so ashamed of me. B-But if it's between them getting hurt a-and my using this power!"
"You're a smart kid, I'm sure!" Garmadon smirked, "You'll get something. Look, most of battle is just doing on the spot stuff. You gotta rely on your instincts. If you can't use something, figure it on out. You'll come up with something. No use boiling the lobster for it."
"I… I guess you might be right," Mage sighed, deflating visibly, "This is just the first time that I've really… been, like, had this done to me before."
"Then let's do something else you haven't done before," Garmadon smirked, "Come on, let's get off this lame beach and do some real fun stuff! I heard from Lulloyd you got some nifty powers. How about you help me with my new and improved Garmashark!"
For a moment, Mage wondered if he should go along with this. He wasn't sure if it was the smartest thing to be doing. After thinking for a bit, however, he realized it wasn't going to be worth just waiting around anymore. The others were doing their own things… he'd have to be able to do his own too.
"Uh… sure!" Mage smiled weakly, "What did you have in mind?" Garmadon grinned.
Mage soon found himself standing inside the large cockpit of a massive brick built shark. According to the ramblings of some weird guys in big white coats, this was twice as big as 'the original' and had 'twenty times the firepower' and a lot more. What he cared about was reading text on a strange glass in front of him that told him what to do.
"THAT'S RIGHT, NINJAGO CITTTTTYYYYY!" Garmadon stood on top of the Garmashark Tooth.0, positioned on top of Ninjago tower, "IT'S ME! YOUR NEW OVERLORD! I'VE FINALLY CONQUERED NINJAGO CITY! AND GUESS WHAT ELSE I GOT!"
Mage saw words on screen and responded. The Garmadon opened its mouth and let out a spew of flames, source from Mage himself. The shark rotated at its legs, spinning around hard to make a massive wheel of fire. Said fire was dispersed by electricity that shot out from all sides of it, dissipating the flames in flashes of blue arcs. Water sprayed from the shark's mouth, then an icy burst froze them and made the chunks start to fall. A large gatling gun on the fin manned by a shark army thug letting out a 'drrrrddrrrddrrrr' blasted them into studs. The shark struck the roof, sending a miniature earthquake through it.
"I GOT THE NINJA'S PPOOOWWEERRRSSS!" Garmadon taunted, "LOOK, LOOK AT THIS! I CAN DO ALL SORTS OF THINGS! WATCH ME NINJAGO CITY, WATCH WHAT I CAN DO NOW!"
Mage responded to a prompt by sending ice out. He froze a massive slide in front of the building the Garmashark Tooth.0 then leapt forward onto. It slid down and off into the air. Just as the weightlessness wore off on them, the shark's now massively improved legs rotated up and down, extending out massive jet boosters in the bottom. The shark began to fly through the air, zipping circles around the tower. Garmadon howled in evil, maniacal laughter as he did, He took the shark in a hard spiral down the tower, letting the glass reflect the shark beautifully.
"LOOK, LOOK, I CAN FLY NOW! YOU'VE SEEN A FLYING SHARK, NOW YOU'VE SEEN EVERYTHING, NINJAGO CITY!" Garmadon howed over his microphone, letting out another evil laugh.
The Garmshark Tooth.0 landed on the ground to tear up the pavement again. Cars were sent flying by the force of impact as the shark spread its now massive leg span and raised its head to the sky in a roar. The dorsal fin unfolded launchers down the middle that sent fireworks up into the sky, exploding in a glorious show of trickling down plates of blue, red and gray.
"BOW, NINJAGO CITY!" Garmadon laughed, "BOW TO YOU NEW-"
"Honey," Koko's voice cut him off, "Aren't you getting a little too into this?"
Garmaodn froze and turned his head to the side. Koko tapped his shoulder from behind, making him jump into the air and then rapidly jerk around to catch his megaphone. From the clothes she wore, she was clearly on a day off from work.
"G-Gah!" Garmadon huffed, "Honey, you're the only one that can still sneak up on me like that!"
"Wasn't that hard to," Koko plucked the megaphone from his hands, "A lot of people are trying to sleep for the night shift, dear. Let's let them rest."
"Oh come ooonnnnnn!" Garmadon huffed out, "I just got this thing! What, am I not supposed to take it for a test run! You know the first thing we did with new siege machines was siege with them!"
"You're being silly, honey," Koko stepped forward towards the hatch to open it, "I read your new schematics and this thing doesn't have elemental add ons. Which means…"
Mage raised a hand up to cover the light as Koko opened the hatch to look down at him. At once, she leaned down and waved her hand at him by rotating it.
"You must be one of Lloyd's friends!" Koko beamed, "I'm his mother, you can call me Koko! Just Koko, please, no Miss!"
"Hi, Koko!" Mage waved back, "I'm Mage! I was helping Garmadon!"
"I figured!" Koko beamed, waving as she started closing the hatch, "If you need anything, you come to me, alright? I live in that big volcano in the ocean, okay?"
"Alright!" MAge waved at her, "Thank you, Koko!"
Koko smiled and closed the hatch, "He seems nice. Not sure what's going on with his body. I'm glad Lloyd's making more friends!"
"Mhm," Garmadon smirked, "I'll wrap up with this and head to the volcano. How does that sound?"
"I'll be sharpening my sword," Koko grinned, "Do you think you can get yours past my guard?"
"Oh you know I'll make sure it goes right through it," Garmadon grinned back, "You won't be able to put up any guard ever again."
"I'll be looking forward to where you put it," Koko winked, "I'm off to make dinner, we're having quesadillas tonight!"
"Oh, YES, when you make them those are the best things ever!" Garmadon shuddered, "Seriously, how is food that's literally just bread and cheese taste so good?!"
"It's a secret!" Koko picked up her purse from the shark's head, "I'm off!" With that, she jumped from the shark and grabbed a clothesline between two building, using it as a makeshift rope to go swinging off into the distance. A few moments later, Mage emerged from the cockpit.
"She looks nice!" Mage smiled, "...I uhm, don't know my mother. She left when I was really young. I'm glad Lulloyd has one, though!"
"I am too," Garmadon sighed as he watched her go, "She's the best woman to ever have in my life." He turned to Mage in full, "Now then… I think you've earned a promotion."
"What?" Mage blinked, "How?"
"Your AWESOME!" Garmadon laughed, "Amazing! You're like, all those ninja rolled into one and then doubled! You're officially Lieutenant Mage now!"
"Yes! I'm a Lieutenant!" Mage beamed, "I don't know what that means!"
"It doesn't matter!" Garmadon pointed down the streets, "Let's test this baby out more! ...Before we have to head back to the Volcano, that is." The two shared a happy grin then leapt down to start their rampage through the streets.
Monty stood at the base of the Volcano, specifically on a large metal catwalk that overlooked a large hangar bay. The Volcano had a massive cave shaped like teeth at the base that fed into a hollowed out pool in which the Shark Army maintained its vehicles. Various ships were going in and out, none of them paying Monty much mind. After working for Garmadon for years, you began to tune out things like a ghost with a big fancy golden sword watching you dock. The Shark Army had more important things to do than worry about him, just as Monty had no care to worry about them. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
Quite unlike the one that Monty had in his hand. Monty slowly raised the Sword of Sanctuary, staring into its glow. He saw nothing in the reflection, not even himself. The longer that he looked, the more he saw nothing. As it had been doing since it first happened, he felt his anger building until he shot the sword forward and violently slashed it into the catwalk. The railing turned from a pipe into cylinders, which then fell down towards the water below.
"Stupid thing…" Monty grumbled, "If you won't work, why am I even keeping you around?"
"Well, for one, you look pretty cool with that sword!" Monty swung around, pistol raised up in the air at someone that had just leapt down from the catwalks above. Lady Iron Dragon, or just Koko as he'd come to learn, chuckled at him and shook her head, "You'd never hit me with something that moves that slow, you know."
"I really don't," Monty slid the pistol back into his armor, "This is the first time we've ever talked."
"You recognize me though, don't you?" Koko smirked, "Lloyd's just been talking all about me, hasn't he?"
"Lulloyd?" Monty rolled his eyes, "He never shuts up about you guys. I'm pretty sure you've given him some sort of complex at this point."
Koko took her helmet off, letting her orange hair flow transition into a new hairpiece, "Oh, his father is just a little spirited sometimes. I've been working on him, don't you worry."
"It's too late by now," Monty looked back at his sword with a growl, "Just like this sword with trying my patience."
"Hrmm… is that a destiny sword?" Koko stepped in and bent over to look more closely at the inscription on the guard, "Let me guess… I bet it's got some sort of predictive ability, doesn't it? Maybe a few seconds into the future?"
"...You want to tell me how you figured that out without even seeing it in action?" Monty narrowed his eyes.
"Well you've been staring into it for some sort of reflection, which you usually only do with swords related to destiny. I've raided a lot of valuable and cursed artifacts in my day!" Koko chuckled, "You start to see patterns in this after the fifth sword that's all about giving you immense power in return for part of your lifespan. All those old guys think of the same curses."
"...Right," Monty narrowed his eyes, "Is there a reason you're here?"
"Aren't you surly?" Koko paused in thought, "Oh, right! Right. Your friend was looking for you. The one that looks closest to my son!"
"Lloyd?" Monty sighed, "Where is he?"
"Former discussion room… oh, that reminds me," Koko drew a paper bag (a simple tile and hinge plate) and handed it to Monty, "Take these to your friends! I made some extra snacks the other day, thought you might want them! Dinner will be a little longer than I thought. And tell Lloyd not to sit on any of the seats from the third row back. The firing mechanism is a little touchy sometimes."
"I'm starting to wonder how Lulloyd turned out so normal," Monty groaned, gathering wind in his feet, "For the record, I don't need to eat."
Monty rocketed away to the catwalks above him, leaving Koko to watch him go and then just roll her eyes and chuckle at Monty's attitude. Monty soon found his way in front of a sliding door that led him down a long corridor. At the end of it was a set of two massive wooden doors that hinged open to reveal a large room filled with seats each marked with a different sea fauna symbol on them. Lloyd was sitting in the front row on the one that was printed for a shark. As Monty entered, Lloyd stood up to greet him, only to have the bag thrown right in his face.
"Snacks, thank Lady whatever," Monty waved his hand, "Eat them. I'm never hungry."
"Uhm… thanks?" Lloyd slowly opened the bag -which, oddly, made it turn into a 2x2 plate with vertical corner slopes- and pulled out several red barbs. Monty watched Lloyd like he was eating wood as Lloyd beamed upon chewing on the barb in his mouth, "Apple slices! Want some?"
"You're braver than me to eat plastic like that," Monty rolled his eyes, "This place is wrong in so many ways."
"It's uhm… I kinda figured out from when I was here that a piece can represent multiple things if you need it to?" Lloyd shrugged, "It's, just a little easier to roll with it."
"Is there a reason why you wanted to talk to me?" Monty asked with a yawn.
"Oh, right!" Lloyd shook his head, "It's about the Sword of Sanctuary."
Monty turned towards Lloyd with a pointed look, "What about my sword?"
"It's not been working, right?" Lloyd frowned, "I noticed it when we were fighting Ophiod, the snake guy. You tried using it and acted like it didn't work."
"Oh? And how do you know that I'm not just faking my enemies out?," Monty growled, drawing the blade and twisting it around in hand to catch the low light of the fireplace in the room, "I don't got into every fight blazing gunpowder and flashy swords, you know."
"Well," Lloyd leaned forward, "I remember that, when the ninja were training with the Golden Weapons, Master Wu used to say something to them. And, it's something that I think, might apply to you? I only just thought of it now," Lloyd cleared his throat, "'To truly master a weapon, you must first master yourself. A weapon is only as strong as it's master's will.'"
"Thanks for my daily cryptic Wu taunt," Monty scoffed, "And for saying I'm not strong enough to use this thing."
"It's more like… I mean, the sword is pretty powerful, right?" Lloyd asked, "Then it's probably really important that you remember that. And uh… I'm not Wu, I'm not sure where I'm going with this."
"So you just wasted my time with dumb advice, got it," Monty sighed, putting his hands behind his head, "Thankfully all I have is time."
"I didn't mean it like that," Lloyd frowned, "I know how much the Sword of Sanctuary is important to you. It's like, Master Wu's staff, it's your weapon. I just want to help make it work again!"
"Unlike you, I can do these things on my own." Monty snapped at Lloyd, "And I don't need you acting like I'm not contributing here. My sword is perfectly fine. And I'm getting ready to prove it to you in a way you won't like."
Lloyd frowned, but slowly nodded his head. Monty grumbled and took a few steps out of the room. When he stopped outside, he took a small breath and turned back to Lloyd.
"Let's make something clear here, Lloyd," Monty scowled, "I'm not you. I will never be you. The you that I could've been died in the Cursed Realm. I don't care what you or Master Wu try to tell me about who I am, you'll never understand me and you certainly shouldn't be commenting on my weapons either. I've made it this far without having a stupid sword like this," Monty gripped his fist "I'll go even further with it. Stick to reloading my guns and keep that stolen wisdom to yourself."
Before Lloyd could say anything else, Monty used his wind to slam the door, making his side cape billow in the breeze. He looked over his shoulder to the gleam of the hilt of the SoS, then down to his own hands. With a scoff, he turned and walked away, pushing his thoughts, for now, aside. There were more important things to talk about than a sword that didn't work, whether it was important to him or not.
"My Fude pen in my hand… is tremblin' once again… as I try to write to you my greeting card… and my overflowing passion, and unchecked action… Will burst my words into a shining star…"
Harumi felt her words die in her throat. She sat once more on the Destiny's Bounty, a choice that she was sure wasn't the smartest given the ship's unfortunate history. After the meeting and witnessing the sight of Lulloyd's father's shark jumping from the top of the city's tower, she'd decided it was best to just relax. She, however, had found that nothing had come from her attempts to pacify herself with music.
Her thoughts were scrambled. In the event of a few hours, everything they'd been doing had changed. For once, just one moment, it felt like the group had gotten the true one and only chance to actually stop the Time Twins. They'd been without powers, without support… without anything that had put themselves between them and her. That one window, that one chance… it'd fallen out of their fingers and shattered into pieces.
"...Not even singing our songs is helping…" Harumi muttered to herself, her fists tightening, "...Carn…"
Harumi couldn't get it out of her mind. The last time she'd seen Carnelian, it'd been her promising her to return. She'd managed to get home after everything. She'd been able to see her love, to relax for those precious few moments… and now, she felt farther away from her than ever. The force of Ophiod and Prime combined had driven her away from them.
"I want to go home…" Harumi whispered, slowly leaning forward against the side of the deck, "I never asked to get involved in… in all this. I just… I just wanted to. To avenge her. I-I'll help them but… but why, why did he have to come to my world of every world out there?!"
The Twins had taken someone from her. Someone she cared about. But even more than that, they'd forced her into a scale she'd never considered before. Multiverse theory was real, and she was living in it. She was forced to open her eyes, thanks to the Twins. To see the true vast, might and terror of the universe. To see the power that it could spawn, and the fierce retribution it paid on those that disturbed its balance. Stepping into other worlds like this, fighting for them, and knowing that everything in her life had all just been one individual drop in an endless sea… it was terrifying to the point of paralyzing her in thought.
"I want to go home…" Harumi whispered, "...And forget this ever happened."
"We all wish for that," Harumi heard Over's voice behind her, causing her to instantly lock up, "Yet not all of us have that luxury."
Harumi spun around to see the absolute last person she would want to talk to. Over stood with his body still cracked and healing, walking with his massive staff to help support himself. Harumi looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else around. Seeing that she was alone with him only heightened her awareness of the cold his presence brought on her. The fact she had to look up to make eye contact with him didn't help her feeling of dread.
"Why… why are you here?!" Harumi asked him harshly, "I came here to be alone!"
"Coincidence," Over sighed, "I was attempting to find a perch to rest and view the evening from. The fact we crossed paths is happenstance."
"Really?" Harumi asked with suspicion, even as her voice shuddered.
"Do you mean to imply that I had ulterior motives for being here?" Over scowled, "You aren't important enough for me to go out of my way to encounter."
"Right," Harumi turned around, "Fine. Just… just don't get in my way."
Over paused for a moment as Harumi kept her back to him. For a few moments, she believed that he'd gone away, leaving her to relax again. Instead, she saw him in the corner of her eye stand beside her, his arms behind his back. He was close enough she could see each healing crack on his body. Just that alone made her body flare with tension.
"You have harbored a fear for me since the moment that we met… I suppose that is not unusual," Over looked up towards the sky, "I'm quite used to that. You, however, hold one that surpassed that of your friends. It is something we must address if we are to be allies."
"The Overlord, he… he killed my father," Harumi gripped her fists, "I can't trust someone bound to pure evil like that."
"You can't?" Over turned to look at her, "Even if I am not the same being that did so to him?"
"It doesn't matter if you aren't!" Harumi turned to face Over, "The Overlord is pure evil! He's made to be the opposite to the First Rhotatae, Spinjitzu, Weapon, whatever Master!" Harumi tensed up further, "No matter what, he's just pure evil! There's nothing more to him!"
"That's a rather simple point of view," The Overlord spoke up to her through Over, "For someone so smart, you seem happy to hold just one viewpoint in mind."
"I…" Harumi still felt her breath freeze in her throat hearing that voice, "I don't need to think about that. You're meant to be evil. You're all the darkness in Ninjago!"
"I won't say that you are wrong," The Overlord paused, "But is that all to the story you know?"
"It is," Harumi stated confidently.
"Perhaps I should give you something to consider," The Overlord looked away, "You have such faith in the decision of your ancestor to banish me. Yet I was created by that which he used to create the light. I was his first creation, in the same way Ninjago was. I was as important as the land he formed… and yet I was the one that was cast aside."
"Because you wanted to take over Ninjago," Harmi growled, "That's what the legends say!"
"Legends are not written by their participants!" The Overlord hissed, "He created me. Then he threw me aside. He sealed me away, with land that was destined to crumble into the waves. In using his power to make the world, he created me as his equal from that power. And yet I was taken from Ninjago. Ripped from it. And treated like a stain, a black mark upon history. Ninjago abandoned me."
"And it was right to!" Harumi retorted, "You corrupted it! I saw it!"
"I did not," The Overlord spat, "The people of my kingdom, my empire, they were free. Free to live. They bowed to me, and I protected them. Was there a threat to the city that threatened to destabilize my rule?"
"You subjected them! We saw your torture rooms! Your… we saw everything!" Harumi countered.
"Did you see those rooms filled? Did you see the people in pain?" The Overlord hissed, "I know you will never see my empire as what it was meant to be. Yet you saw that the only source of conflict in the city was from the boy."
"It was an empire, and oppression!" Harumi took a step back.
"It was stable, powerful, and it was without this corruption you speak of!" The Overlord growled at her, "The only one in Ninjago that was willing to see my existence for what it was stands before you now. The only being willing to truly acknowledge me, to see me for what I am, is the one that was cast out from the world he saved. Decry us all you wish, girl! I will not allow you to-" Over suddenly reached up and placed a hand on his face in a smooth touch. At once, the Overlord faded back down.
"Enough, I believe she has the point," Over sighed, "Regardless as to how stubborn she is to receiving it."
Harumi had almost taken a fighting stance, expecting for him to attack. Over simply turned back to look out at the waves, ignoring her. Harumi took a long few moments to get her heart back under her control. When she finally managed to stand beside him, it took her a rather long while for her to truly begin to feel at ease enough to stop testing for battle. Suddenly, Over turned towards her. Harumi once more tensed up all over again as he glared at her.
"Harumi," Over extended his hand, "While it was not my intention, I now have my opportunity to tell you what I must. Now that the danger has temporarily loosened its jaws on us, I will explain the purpose of the chip that you hold."
"The… chip?" Harumi reached to touch her uniform over where the chip was inside it, "The… the one that Olive gave me? Why… why should I give it to you?"
"Because before the end, Borg discovered a secret to the chip that you overlooked," Over narrowed his eyes, "And if I were to tell you, you would not act on it. Hand me the chip, and I will show you."
Harumi slid the chip into her hand, eying it nervously. She looked up towards Over, giving him a long and harsh glare underneath her hair. Over didn't move, still keeping his hand extended. She looked down at the chip, then shook her head.
"No, I'll figure it out myself," Harumi clutched it back, "I need to do this myself, I-"
Over suddenly used his own shadow he cast to snap up a shadowy tendril that snatched the chip from Harumi's hands. Harumi shouted in protest as the chip was hovered in the air in front of her, then the tendril clenched. A small crunch caused Harumi's eyes to widen as the tendril hovered over her chest. Harumi opened her hand to cause pieces of the broken chip to fall into her hand. As soon as she saw them, her entire body went cold.
"T-That was…" Harumi looked up with slowly rage-filling eyes, "That was the last… the last thing my friend gave me before she… she!" Harumi snarled, "I'll-!"
"Look at the pieces," Over instructed her.
Harumi felt blinding anger fill her, causing that strange black lightning to once more form on her arms. However, she gently looked down to see as a last indulgence to him. As she laid eyes on it, however, her anger paused. In the midst of the broken black chip pieces was none other than a smaller white chip. It was incredibly small, barely visible, but distinct. Over nodded once he saw that she'd seen it.
"Borg discovered a program running in the background of whatever the chip ran when installed," Over explained, "And discovered there was another chip inside being masked by the fake chip. I am willing to bet your friend made some sort of copy of her memories onto that device. If I were you, I would ensure you keep that safe."
With that, Over turned to walk away. Harumi was left completely stunned, not sure what to say. To say that she was happy would be to dispel the manner in which he took the chip from her and crushed it. To say she was upset was to disregard what Olive had given her. If this was her way of hiding herself from the Twins, it was smart. She hadn't even thought of the simple secret. But as Over turned to walk away, Harumi felt her anger still present.
"This…" Harumi shook her head, "This doesn't change how I feel about you. You may be my ally… but I will never trust you."
"Hmmph," Over turned away from her, "If that is your stance, then so be it. Just know that we are leaping into the flames of battle soon. Do not be surprised if your petty hatred will spell your end. Remember that."
With that, Over was gone, having walked away and then formed dragons wings form his back to fly away. Harumi watched him go and looked down to the chip that he'd given to her. For a few moments, she cursed the fact it'd been him to give it to her. Yet as she laid eyes on it, she felt a small well of hope in her chest. For the first time in a long while, she felt some form of hope. She quickly ran inside of the training dojo, ready to analyze her chip.
The sun had set on the group's first day of respite. Soon, they would be entering a new fight. Whatever that fight would be.
Author's Note:
Yes, both references are intentional! Both some of my favorites and big inspirations for Harumi.
So! A bit of my thought process here with this chapter. Since Chapter 45 the fic has been almost nonstop action/things happening, with only a small lull in 48. After all that I wanted to slow down and do some things outside of action. Writing characters is far more important to me than writing action, since the latter doesn't work if the former is weak. And so I decided to write these next few chapters to cool down and take time to explore them. These six were always planned to be my main cast since the start of the story, and it's a relief to finally have them all together! Enter the Ninjaverse is going a lot of places, and I'm excited to see how you all enjoy it! Thanks for reading, and as always, NINJA-GO!