Dr. Sanders Saunders groaned as he fiddled with his mustache. Why he'd chosen to make his disguise something that required so much hassle to put on was something he questioned every day. Putting on this act as a dopey old man that cared only for how the museum looked was as taxing on Krux as it felt to try to stick his mustache on each morning. The museum was the perfect cover for him, a place that nobody would look twice at what he was planning, but it had its own disadvantages associated with it. Namely, the effort it took to keep his persona going was as draining as manual labor at times.

"Time simply can't move fast enough," Krux muttered to himself in his normal voice, "Just a few more months, then we can move forward with the plan. I just need that pesky thing to open back up for me. It'll be my reward for spending so long in this place!"

Well, the museum wasn't all bad. Even if his persona was ridiculous, the people of Ninjago needed to learn about history. So many youth were growing up not knowing the struggles their forefathers had fought to give them the peace that they had. Steering people towards learning of the past for the sake of their future was part of why he'd chosen to work in this museum. If he was going to make a disguise, it might as well be one that he enjoyed doing the work for.

Speaking of people, Dr. Saunders turned a corner to see someone standing in front of a painting at the end of one of the many hallways. Specifically, it was the painting of the battle at the Monastery he and his brother had waged against Garmadon and his pathetic brother Wu. The man was wearing a coat, his hand stuck in his pockets and his face obscured. Seeing someone look at that painting was enough to make him eager to go over and talk.

"Is museum cold?" Dr. Saunders asked in his high pitched voice, "Museum kept at even 68 degrees, no want to harm artifacts we have here! There are many priceless things in these walls."

"Oh, I think it's perfect in here," The man responded in a raspy voice, "I was just admiring your painting here."

"Ah, this thing?" Dr. Saunders turned to the painting, "You have good eye. Sadly it is no big importance to history. I hang it here because it is minor skirmish at best. The artist do very good job interpreting the scene!"

"They truly did," The man reached his hand out to point towards Krux in the painting, "Is everything here accurate to what happened?"

"Oh accounts vary, little detail to go off of!" Dr. Saunders waved his hand, "Entire story could be simple exaggeration by eager storyteller. All we know is this happen right after the Serpentine Wars! Big battle between Hands of Time. Very accurate depiction from what I've seen!"

"You know… the more I look at this, the more I don't think it is," The man turned towards Dr. Saunders, face shrouded in shadow, "You see, this painting shows Wu and Garmadon holding the Time Blades to the left side of the Monastery. The thing is…"

The man reached up and threw his hood back, showing the grinning face of Acronix, "...We both know they sent us into the Time Vortex in front of the dragon statue, brother."

"Acronix?!" Dr. Saunders fumbled out of his normal voice, "You back! I mean, agh! Stupd thing!" Krux ripped the mustache off and tossed the glasses aside, staring at his brother in shock, "You're… you're back! Brother, I thought you would be arriving later!"

"Oh, I had a chance to get out a little… early," Acronix smirked, "How have you been doing, brother?"

"I've, I've been doing well!" Krux fought to get over his shock, "In fact I've learned quite a bit about Ninjago now. I've been working on a plan to get back at those pathetic brothers. It looks like time has gone and taken our chance to get Garmadon, but we still have a shot at Wu!"

"Wu?" Acronix laughed, "Oh, brother… our ambitions have gone far beyond simply taking out that pesky brother Wu."

"What?" Krux blinked, "Whatever do you mean? Our goal has always been Wu! What more is there than that?!"

"I was thinking… the universe," Acronix smirked, "And, sadly, there isn't room for two of you."

Krux suddenly gasped as something stabbed into his back. He looked down at his red robes, seeing blood begin to blossom in two spots. When he turned, he saw someone holding the reversal blade. What he saw was enough that it made his eyes widen. He tried to turn to grab at him, but the man pulled the time blade out and stabbed him again. The action drained him of his strength, causing him to fall to the museum floor.

"I almost would like to say I would have been more prepared than that," Krux raised the bloody time blade in his hand, "But I'll instead use this as a learning experience," Krux looked down at his now dying self and scoffed, "Was such a dramatic play necessary, brother?"

"I just wanted to have a little fun!" Acronix smirked, "We've been planning for so long, I'm eager to put it into motion! Speaking of which…" Acronix gestured to the snake statue nearby, "I believe he won't be needing his little collection now, will he?"

"No he will not," Krux stepped towards the statue, turning his back to his fallen self, "It's time for us to finally get what we rightfully deserve."

With a crackle, the portal that Monty was using to ferry everyone around opened in the backroom of Dareth's studio. From that portal, both he and his newfound tagalong emerged. Once they were out, Monty looked around the room and nodded.

"Looks like this place is the same, crappy studio and all," Monty turned to Over, "Alright, first rule of business. Don't go trying to take over my place. I don't care what you do with Morro but that'd be bad for the setup Ronin and I got. Got it?"

"Do you really think so little of me that you think I would abandon my goal of revenge to take over so imitation of my own world?" Over scoffed, "I told you and that girl, it is my intention to fight alongside you until the Twins are defeated. That is my resolve. Do not make me demonstrate it to you."

"Fine," Monty looked around, "First thing we need to figure out if how we're going to get out without everyone panicking when they see you."

"You overthink things," Over scowled, "Do not laugh at me."

Slowly, Over focused. His body began to turn partially into shadows, then his armor on his body began to reshape. He shrunk in height to have only two arms. Said armor became rather large and oversized, with large bits jutting out over the shoulders in wicked blades, with a similar design for the front. His hair moved to be perfectly slicked back in a long drape around his shoulders. A similar pattern of armor formed over his legs. When he was done, he looked almost like a cartoon depiction of a dark evil warrior.

"...I'm not laughing, I'm more confused than anything," Monty pointed out.

"I wasn't talking to you," Over scowled, "I was referring to him."

"Of all the ones to go from with that absurd comic series, you pick him?" The Overlord scoffed from his lips, "He was only a minor villain."

"Yes, but he's recognizable" Over frowled, turning to Monty, "Surely you've read Starfarer."

"What? Of course I haven't," Monty rolled his eyes, "Ronin would have never let me get over it."

"I see…" Over sighed in defeat, "Currently, I look like Lord Abyss from Starfarer issue 34. He was a minor villain, but the backstory they gave him made him famous. I used to read them in my previous life, before I was reborn," Over crossed his arms over his needlessly spike-filled armor, "People will assume that I am cosplaying."

"...Right," Monty sighed, "Well, we've spent too much time on this overly long ploy. Let's just get through this city. I need to go and meet up with Ronin and then talk to someone."

"Might I ask who this, 'someone' is?" Over asked.

"No, you can't," Monty walked up to the door out of the side room, "Now come on. If I timed this right Dareth is in his break between classes, we can avoid having to talk to him."

"Funny," Over stepped forward through the door along with Monty, "I would assume all of you would be ecstatic to meet Dareth."

"They love him, I literally couldn't care less about him," Monty walked across the large expanse of Dareth's studio, the massive room currently empty of kids, "He put on a helmet, to me that's all he did. Wasn't like anybody else could have."

"...I'm going to let that comment slide," Over frowned, "Simply because I know you are trying to provoke me. Just know that even the Overlord respects him for what he accomplished."

"If anyone else had put on that helmet, from what I saw in his memories, he wouldn't have won," The Overlord confirmed, "And I myself am not petty enough to deny a victory when I see one. Even against me. It has provided me endless entertainment seeing the absurdity of his previous life."

Monty didn't respond, instead opening the doors to the main street. He could see that the parking lot was currently roped off with construction signs, and the spots of pavement where Invictus had crashed down in the initial chase were in the process of being filled in. Monty ignored this, instead just letting his body hover over the large cracked spots. Over walked around them, placing his hands behind his back.

"WOW!" A young boy wearing a Green Ninja shirt gasped from the sidewalk, "Is that Lord Abyss?!"

"That's like, spot on!" Another boy beside him nodded, "That's so amazing!"

"I told you it would work," Over stated as the kids fumbled to begin taking pictures with their phones.

"Doesn't make you look any less ridiculous," Monty scoffed, "Don't you have any dignity?"

"Dignity is for those that retain some form of power," Over frowned, "It would be far less just for me to pretend that I have any, given what has happened to me. I am being practical."

"Pratically stupid," Monty groaned, "Walking around with you just makes me look worse."

"Is there a reason that a ghost even needs something like an image?" Over scoffed, "Everyone can see right through whatever image you cast."

"At least I'm not trying to be the living embodiment of angst," Monty spat, "You want me to play you a deep song on the world's small guitar?"

"As much as I love listening to you two," The Overlord suddenly cut in, "I would prefer we stay focused on this mission. Ghost, take us to where we need to go!"

"...Fine," Monty hissed, "Let's just be quiet then."

"Perhaps we should," Over agreed, "We have a trip ahead of us."

Monty turned his head away from Over, moving to throw one arm out so his cape flared up behind him and billowed. The cape this time was actually a deep upside down V shape, meaning that the two flaps moved independently and, while not covering up much, they made noise to make themselves known. The action just drew more ire from Over. He'd picked up on Harumi's dislike of him, and at this point he was beginning to feel like he was sharing it.

Aside from the people gawking at Over's body, the first thing he had to take in was the widespread use of Chi. Monty hadn't used his aside from the portals, which made him wonder many things about the ghost. But he didn't dwell on those. He could figure out many things just from the way that Monty spoke about himself, and what he didn't know, he didn't need to remember. He just needed to focus on getting himself to wherever Monty had to go. Aside from moving his head out of the way of a few stray animals that moved around their owners, Over had no issue with navigating the city.

Monty led them to what looked like an abandoned subway tunnel, at which point he went down inside and fidgeted around with some loose stones in the side. He pulled one out, revealing a key hidden behind the brick. He took said key and then went back up from the tunnel, going towards a large parking garage. Once he was on the second floor, he looked around until he saw a car. He pointed to it and tossed Over the key.

"Drive us to Stiix, shouldn't be more than a few hours," Monty got into the passenger seat, "And don't lose that key, it's Ronin's secret one."

"You want us to travel by car?" Over narrowed his gaze, "Isn't that rather obvious?"

"Lulloyd isn't here with his convenient dragon, and I don't have my comm to call Ronin to pick us up," Monty put his feet up on the dash, "Stop complaining and get in. You can drop that dumb look too."

Over said nothing. Instead letting his form morph back into his regal appearance, only keep the two arms for now. He sat down in the driver seat and started the vehicle, then directed them out and onto the streets of Ninjago City. It was only a small matter of time before they were out of Ninjago and out on the open road that would get them close to Stiix.

Just as Monty predicted, nobody seemed to pay them much mind. Once they were away from other cars, the worry was all but negated. Over leaned back in the seat as he drove, focusing in on driving. Monty leaned over to turn the radio on, and Over moved to quickly swat his hand down. Monty tried twice more before Over was forced to focus on a large turn, letting Monty turn it on and set it to a random station.

It's time for trainin' and we're getting started! It's time you know. Now we wanna see you-

"Ugh, not that song," Monty quickly went to change the station, "Play that thing every ten songs."

Monty scrambled through the stations, but couldn't find another song. With a groan, Monty turned it back to the station and let the song start playing again, turning in his seat to begin begrudgingly singing along under his breath.

"Jump up, kick back, whip around and spin…" Monty grumbled out.

"...and then we'll jump back, do it again…" A voice continued.

"Ninja-GO… Ninja-GO…" Monty mumbled.

"Come on, come on, come on and do the Weekend Whip." The voice finished.

It wasn't until the song went into the bridge that Monty realized what had just happened. He sat up from the chair, turning to look directly at Over. Over didn't move, focused on driving and not even taking the time to turn his gaze to look at Monty. Monty stared firmly at him for several moments, trying to gauge what was going on. When he couldn't find any words to respond to the current situation, Monty just gave up and sat back, letting the radio just pass on to the next song in silence once again.

It was indeed several hours before the car arrived at the town nearest sto Stiix. Given how backwater the town was, there weren't any roads that led into it, just a path wide enough for some bikes or something that could go offroad. Monty had Over parked the car at the town and then took the key from him, guiding him to a path that led out of the city and hook onto the main path of Stiix. It wasn't long until they had once more arrived at the city on the water.

Just like always, Stiix never changed. It was remarkably similar to how Over had left the place in his own world. The people there looked to be anything from hard workers to gruff fighters to criminals, with every combination there in between. The only difference was how the buildings there were slightly new, given that the Preeminent had wiped them out. Given how he had removed that possibility from happening, the Stiix that Over remembered was even worse since the buildings were old and rotting from too much exposure to moisture. The people looked the same, though, which seemed to be where most of the character of the place came from either way.

Coming to Ronin's rebuilt shop was a bit more of a surprise. This was something that was both familiar and new to him at the same time. It was clearly a new construction, but built to replicate the style of the old. The old would have been destroyed by the Preeminent, if Over remembered the timeline of events correctly. Why there was a house built on the opposite side of the walkway that led to Ronin's shop was beyond him, though.

"Ronin!" Monty shouted as he threw open the doors to the shop, "Get in here, we need to talk!"

"Ah, kid, that you?" Ronin called from deeper into the shop, "Finally back from saving the world or whatever? Great, you can help me with repairing this place!"

Monty looked around the shop. The damage from the fight with Morro's ninja had been repaired when the others were temporarily trapped in this world, making Ronin's words a bit confusing at first. Monty took the time to look around, trying to locate where he was referring to. His eye landed on the counter that he normally laid on, currently broken into bits of wood all over the floor.

"Here we… go!" Ronin slid his body through the door to the main shop, carrying several pieces of lumber in his arms and turning to see who was there, "Got a friend? Great, he can help out! Think you can help me here?"

"With… what, pray tell?" Over asked, a bit surprised at Ronin's nonchalant reaction.

"Just hold these things up, that'll be enough," Ronin turned to Monty with an apologetic grin, "Heh, sorry, kid. Those guys we stole those replica blades from? They came around wanting them back. Got into a bit of a fight, threw the big guy into here and he broke it."

"...Of course they did," monty growled, "Great. Just. Great. Is there anything else in this shop that you wanna break for me?"

"Don't say it like that, it wasn't my fault!" Ronin protested, "Those guys weren't leaving until they got what they were looking for. Good news is we still got the blades. I let them run off with some cheap swords I pawned off that guy with the big scar on his face. It'll be a few weeks before they realize their mistake."

"Those things are just cheap knockoffs anyways," Monty growled, "Why do you insist on holding on to junk? If we can't sell it in the first month, it won't sell. Period. Might as well let them take it instead of just finding new places to hoard it."

"I'm not a hoarder, trust me," Ronin chuckled, "My dad wouldn't have let me be a hoarder. He used to tell me-"

"Over, fix the counter before I smack him," Monty spat.

Over stepped forward, putting his arms behind his back and lowering his gaze to look towards the counter with malice. The shadows around the shop suddenly began to writhe as he called upon his Shadow Control ability. Said shadows moved to lash out with hands made of shadowy murk, They yanked the wood that Ronin had and began to assemble it until the hands were holding all of the pieces together in the counter. Over walked up and summoned his power on the tip of his hand. His dark power burned a small dot into the wood that would be the counter itself, then matched it to the pieces below to make a mark for reference. He removed the top, then simply let the shadows hold up the wood for the support.

"There," Over turned towards Ronin, "You should be able to construct it now."

"You know, normally I'd ask about all, this," Ronin waved to the shadowy hands, "But I've seen some weird stuff here ever since Monty started hanging out with friends. I'd rather not discourage him from making them."

"A wise decision," Over turned away from Ronin, "It is best not to question that which you do not understand until you are prepared to know the answer."

"He's not my friend," Monty groaned out, "I'd rather go be friends with the ocean outside than him. He's just an ally I picked up on the way."

"An ally, huh?" Ronin was already hard at work hammering the held up boards into the floor, "Thought you were coming back since you were done saving the world and all that."

"If I was, I wouldn't be coming back with someone else," Monty groaned, "And I'm not saving the world. I'm helping these people so I can get them off my back and stop getting dragged along in all this," Monty placed one hand on the hilt of the SoS, "We need to talk about that."

"Can you wait till I finish this?" Ronin asked him, "It'll be a few minutes."

"Fine," Monty groaned. Over continued to use his ability to let Ronin work on securing the boards into the floor. Almost five minutes later, Ronin nodded his head and Over retracted his ability.. Ronin smirked as he saw it, making the job easier.

"Alright, what's the matter?" Ronin asked Monty.

"Those Twins that I'm after got away," Monty informed him, "And they killed a lot of people. Right now, they're posed to kill you too. If you see anything here that looks odd like him, anything that looks dangerous, I want you to pack up shop and run."

"What?" Ronin frowned, "Come on, kid, are you serious? I can't just leave the shop!"

"You don't get it," Monty took a step towards Ronin, "These twins are bad. They killed an entire world just out of spite. They're not above trying to kill you too. And it's not the kill and get a chance to come back thing. It's a kill and you never existed at all thing. If you see them, run."

"...You're really being serious here?" Ronin asked.

"Yeah," Monty crossed his arms, "I came all the way here to tell you that, so you better listen. I can survive that sort of thing, but you can't. And we agreed we wouldn't let each other ever be used as leverage. So don't make me have to do that whole stupid thing of them kidnapping to get at me, got it?"

"Mhm," Ronin nodded his head, "Alright, I can tell you mean it. If I see something weird, I'll get out. But I won't let them just take my shop, got it?"

"Fine," Monty sighed, "Thanks for that. Alright, that's all I came around for. Let's go, Over. We're taking REX, Ronin."

"Ehh… REX is a bit out of it right now," Ronin shook his head, "Leak in the storage box, completely floodded. I'm working on it today. You'll have it for next time."

"Are you serious?" Monty facepalmed, "If you didnt store it underwater, you wouldn't have this problem."

"And if you didn't take it for joyrides, you wouldn't have this problem," Ronin pointed out, "All comes back around."

"Ugh, whatever," Monty turned around, "We'll just go back the way we came! Let's go."

"Actually!" Ronin stopped Monty, "Someone came around to talk to me. Just came by today. He's still here, actually. You might wanna hear what he told me."

"Well don't keep me waiting," Monty crossed his arms again. Ronin gave him a little smile and went into the back room. Over moved to stand behind Monty, watching with interest. While Ronin was the one that went in, it wasn't him that came out first. The one that Ronin brought out was someone that both of them knew, but one that shocked Over just to see around.

"Ugh, I can never understand why you live in this horrid place!" The white-scaled Pythor P. Chumsworth slithered out into the main shop, "I could understand more if you were not prone to danger by living in this place!"

"Pythor?" Over and the Overlord's voices blended together in a simultaneous surprised comment.

"So you know of me, well that's good, I do hate wasting time with introductions," Pythor gave a small bow to Over, "I've worked hard to make myself a recognizable name in this place, even if they have yet to realize my…" Pythor trailed off as he looked up and saw who he was talking to, "...Oh my."

"Good, this is who I was looking for," Monty stepped up towards Pythor, "What have you found for us?"

"...Well it's, a small bit this time, but something I think you might know something about," Pythor worked to get his tone back in line, "...You have a rather odd choice of companions, Monty."

"Come on, he isn't that shocking," Monty scoffed, then turned to Over, "Found him after a big bounty was put on his head after Chen's whole plan. We made a deal. We make sure nobody collects on that bounty, and he shows up and tells us what he hears around Ninjago," Monty turned back to Pythor, "Spill it."

"You know the Museum, yes? The one in Ninjago City," Pythor narrowed his eyes, "It appears that there's been a rather ghastly murder there. Horrible thing, done without any sort of skill. They left the body of the kind old director just laying there for the police to find. They can't seem to find anything about how it happened. I normally wouldn't think much about it, but then I heard some of my informants with the rest of my kind saying they saw a man that looked just like the museum director in the sewers after the murder happened."

"...Great, they've already been here," Monty sighed, "Alright, well at least this speeds things up. Pythor, you got a new mission from us. Keep your eyes open for those two. If you see them, you tell Ronin right away. I'm after those two, and they're pretty good at the disappearing act."

"If that's what you insist," Pythor nodded his snake head.

"I know what this means," Over informed them, "We should get back to the Museum immediately."

"Hey, we agree on something," Monty turned to leave, "You stay here for now, Pythor."

"Is there a reason?" Pythor asked, "I have other things to do, you know."

"Because I said so," Monty told him coldly as he opened the doors, "And I got about three life sentences to collect on with you if you make me mad." Monty waved his hand at Over, who gave Pythor a look that the Serpentine could only call 'hungry' before the two had left once more.

When the two arrived at the Ninjago City Museum after several hours of driving, with Monty complaining they should have heard about this when they first arrived here the entire way, the Museum was completely sealed off and surrounded by various police cars. None other than the Commissioner was talking with two of his men on the front steps, with the entire entrance currently roped off with yellow tape. The parking lot was deserted, forcing them to park a block away so as not to attract suspicion.

"Well, I can get in there just fine," Monty turned to Over, "You might as well just wait here."

"I don't think that will be quite necessary," Over stood from the car and focused on his back, "I'll enter through the roof. You can get in the way you want. I will meet you in the main hall."

Monty didn't have another say in the matter before Over had once more sprouted large dragon wings and then shot up into the sky, leaving a small wake of wind that billowed Monty's cape. The dark being shot from the side of one building to the top of the other and glided from spot to spot, circling around the museum to avoid the looks of anyone else. Monty watched the display, sighed, and walked straight towards a nearby coffee shop.

As Over glided across the sky to land stealthily on the museum roof and slip his way inside a door access, Monty shifted the SoS on his back so he could simply walk straight through the cars and the tape surrounding the building. Once he was on the Museum steps, his unguarded approach was enough to make the Police Commissioner turn towards him and immediately move to point at him.

"Monty!" The Commissioner shouted, "Is this your doing? I haven't seen you and Ronin for awhile!"

"Trust me, I literally want as little to do with this as you do," Monty walked straight by the Commissioner, passing the coffee cup to him as he went by. The ghost simply walked through all of the tape and barriers, shifting the SoS a bit to do so.

"Wait, Monty you can't!" The Commissioner tried to yell at him, but Monty had already passed out of earshot.

"Should we try to stop him, sir?" One of the men asked as he watched Monty disappear.

"No use trying…" The Commissioner groaned, immediately moving to start drinking from the coffee, "Sure he gave us this for a reason… let's just head back to the station, boys."

Monty walked his way deeper into the museum, ignoring the other police that all knew him by name enough to know they couldn't stop him either. He made his way into the main hall, where a massive statue that had once been the Giant Stone Warrior was now simply a large rendition of Morro. He stared at it with contempt for several seconds. Those seconds turned into him simply planting his feet and remaining still.

The last time he'd seen Morro, it'd been him being plugged into the Iron Doom yet again. Yet even that couldn't take the hatred he felt towards the one that took his role in life from his mind. His hands gripped into fists that began to leak compressed air the longer he stared at the statue. Everything that he was meant to be, was Morro's life now. He'd seen waht Lloyd had turned into. If that was meant to be him, it wasn't right of Morro to get it.

Does someone who can't move beyond his past self truly have the right to claim he's something new? The voice of the word of Sanctuary flared in Monty's mind. Monty spun around by instinct, only to remember it was coming from his own back. He growled and drew the golden blade to stare into it.

"So you're talking to me now?" Monty scowled, "Thought you were content to just stay quiet and make me mad."

Unlike you, I only wish to talk when I have something to say, The sword, despite talking to him, didn't show any sign of life, You hold resentment towards him. But does he even know why you do?

"How exactly are you getting all this, I'm not an open book like the rest of them," monty rolled his eyes. He was working to hide his growing anger.

I've listened from the start, since the moment that you took me in hand, The sword responded, I know your feelings towards Morro. Yet Morro has no basis to understand them. He's someone you should stop your petty feelings of anger towards.

"I'm not sure where you think you got the right to start talking about my own grudges," Monty spat, "In that case, maybe you should drop your petty feelings towards me."

When you give me reason to, perhaps I will, The sword responded curtly, Until then, my powers are sealed from you, my Master.

"Then be a good sword and stop talking," Monty glared at his reflection in the sword, "Or I'll go forward with that threat of turning you into a toothpick."

"Talking to swords now, are we?" Over's voice cut through the air around Monty as he slowly floated down from the ceiling.

"Do you have to enter a room as dramatically as possible?" Monty sheathed the SoS on his back and crossed his arms, "Nothing you need to worry about."

"Funny, then," Over landed as his wings retracted back into his body, "You seemed quite upset when the sword refused to work for you the last time you tried to use it. Is there more to this than your eyesight faltering?"

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Monty turned away from Over, "I'm using this thing just fine, thank you very much. It was stolen for me, I'm the sword's master just like I should be. Let's go see what happened here."

"As cagey as ever, I see," Over walked past Monty towards the back of the museum, "Come. I know this place better than you. It seems you have yet to experience everything that I was able to."

Monty didn't say another word, namely because Over had just pushed him to the point of wanting to spit venom at him again. He followed his obnoxiously composed companion as he led Monty towards a hallway in the back of the place. When they came to the entrance, it was taped off in several areas, preventing access. Over summoned the tip of one of his blades in his palm and sliced through them, letting them enter.

In front of a massive painting that Over recognized was a massive dried pool of blood. Tape had been put down in the shape of a man collapsed on the ground, which was more than enough for Over to make his conclusions. Monty walked up and looked around, seeing a rather eclectic bit of displays. The only ones that drew his attention was the massive snake statue and the painting, the latter only bcause of the implied murder that had occured there.

"You may not know this, but Dr. Saunders is Krux," Over began as he walked up to the painting, just skirting the red smear on the floor, "He was ejected from the Time Vortex minutes after he jumped in, meaning that he has been in hiding for forty years. He assumed the identity that you know of and has hid here. The only ones that would know that he was that man are ones that are still cowering uselessly inside a swamp. Which means that a murder like this was preempted only by one particular group of interest."

"Quit the narrating like this is some drama," Monty hissed, "I want to know what's going on here."

"Then I will show you," Over walked up to a seemingly innocuous portion of the wall nearby. From his four arms, he extended his four blades, then plunged them into the stone. His strength was enough to drive them solidly down to the hilt. With a pull of his arms, the entire panel was ripped from the wall. His blades slid back into his body as he dumped the useless piece of wall aside, revealing an entry to a space behind it.

"...You're telling me that Lloyd knew of this exact place the entire time he was here, for months, and never even told me about it?" Monty growled, "When I get back, I'm going to pistol whip him."

"Harumi was the one that likely stopped him from action, at least above a vague threat to the man," Over explained as he bent over to step inside, "She would be the one to realize the damage to your timeline that it could cause if something like this were to happen. Sadly, it seems our little killers here don't share that same sentiment."

Monty stepped into the room along with Over. The room was almost completely empty. There were several tables set up in various places, all askew and with only disconnected wires left behind. A large tank was on one side of the room, but had been smashed open and the water spilled out over the ground. Aside from that, there wasn't anything in the room that made Monty understand what was going on at all.

"So it's an empty room, great evil lair," Monty put his hands behind his head, "Let me guess, there was something in here?"

"Yes… this is worrying," Over took several steps around the room, scouring it for anything and finding nothing, "This was where Krux bred the first Vermillion. It was here that he was building his plan and the parts needed for the Iron Doom. If they are gone, I believe the identity of Dr. Saunders' murderer is obvious."

"And why would the Twins come here without trying to destroy the place?" Monty asked with a scoff, "What's so special about this?"

"The Twins are careful about their escapades," Over explained as he walked to the other side of the room, "They would not needlessly meddle with a world. The moment they entered this place, they became part of the flow of time. What happened to my world was a result of their broken machine. Destroying a world like yours would give them nothing… but," Over went and touched a panel on the wall, causing it to slide open into a large tunnel, "If they were to alter the flow of time in your world… they could risk their own lives."

"So we made a big deal about them having the ability to mess with time in our world, and they won't do it?" Monty asked as he walked towards the tunnel, "Seems like we're getting worried over nothing."

The tunnel itself was something that Monty only vaguely recognized as old sewer tunnels. The new sewer systems were fully built by Borg for efficiency, meaning these had been decommissioned long ago. From what he got, these were just used for stormwater now. But seeing that it backed right up into the museum like this made him wonder several things about this place.

"I didn't say that," Over frowned, "These Twins are petty. They may wish to get back at us all the same. The trick they are pulling with this Ophiod and Prime are just to buy them time. For what, I don't know. But if they have come to this place for something… I think I know what it is already. You can use your wind, follow me."

Over crouched down, causing his wings to sprout from his back and give a powerful flap, sending him soaring down the tunnel. Not to be outdone, Monty gathered wind in his hands and fired off, rapidly moving to keep pace with him. Over didn't even take the time to turn around and watch, just merely soared down a likely memorized network of tunnels. Given the level of oversight he'd had on his Empire, it made sense that he would know this place, even if Monty was annoyed at how he'd just been left behind like that.

The winding tunnels soon began to turn into a far more straight path, one which Over took as a chance to gain even more speed. Soon Monty was even pushing what his own wind could carry him at. His own memory of the Overlord dragon had been one of a sluggish brute that only was fast when Morro was the one attacking him. He still followed after him, trying to catch up as quickly as he could. Just before he overtook him, Over threw his wings out to stop himself, causing Monty to cancel his wind and draw two pistols, holding them in front of him and firing several times. The force caused his weightless body to flip backwards, landing perfectly on the ground with his guns helds straight out. He stood up and spun the guns in hand, then slotted them back into his armor with a tilt of his head, causing his hair to flip and settle in place.

"Well then," Over nodded to the display of unnecessary skill before pointing forward, That is why we are here, Monty."

Monty stepped around Over, passing his shoulder through Over instead of shouldering him to the side. They were at the entrance to a massive swamp. There were wooden bridges built everywhere that led to a large massive structure. One that was currently on fire. The structure had been blown open, with massive flames pouring up into the sky in a small plume of smoke. Other than that, Monty took his time to look around the swamp. From Over's expression of surprise, it was all Monty needed to know what was going on.

There was nothing there. The swamp was entirely empty.

"Kid!" Ronin called out as Monty entered the shop once more, "You find what you were looking for? I got Pythor here if you wanna talk to him."

"Oh yes, because that is my worth now," Pythor grumbled as he moved to sweep dust into a pan in front of the newly built counter, "Being used as a common shopkeep while waiting for liberation by my overseer."

"Your own fault for committing crimes and not being smart enough to get away with them," Monty rolled his eyes as he and Over entered the shop.

"Of course it is," Pythor put the broom down and slithered over to Ronin, "There, I've finished your sweeping. Might I be let go now to continue gathering the information that you have so generously kept me around for?"

"Well, with that attitude, I might just wanna keep you around," Ronin himself was polishing a large vase, "Always good to have another ray of sunshine around the shop."

"Oh go bite a bullet," Monty growled.

"Meh, not the biggest fan of how lead tastes," Ronin shrugged, "I'm sure you'll figure out a way to make our good old pal here have it, though."

"Oh, I would rather avoid such notions," Pythor waved his hand, "Being shot is such a… brutish way of getting things done. I prefer to simply find someone else willing to do it. Pulling the trigger yourself is such an old-fashioned way to do battle."

"Really?" Monty drew one of his pistols out and spun it in his hand, "The Serpentine have been around for awhile, haven't they? Pretty sure you might know about how these 'old-fashioned' tricks work. Should we test how good you are at them?"

"Ronin, I would appreciate it if your assistant was kind enough as to not threaten to shoot me," Pythor turned towards Ronin, "He's too temperamental to handle."

"Hey, hey, you two knock if off!" Ronin thumped his hands on the counter, "Let's all play nice like good partners, huh? Monty, stop threatening to shoot Pythor. Pythor, you stop making him want to shoot you."

"Making him want to?!" Pythor spat incredulously, "Both of you are downright-"

"Yeah yeah," Monty suddenly wrapped his hand, pistol included, around Pythor's shoulder to make him go immediately silent, "Well, the information you gave us this time was useful. So good on you. Got anything else for me?"

"W-Well…" Pythor was keeping one eye on that gun on his shoulder, "T-There was one thing that I dismissed as rumor at first. I assume you may want to hear it now?"

"Go ahead," Monty nodded his head.

"R-Right," Pythor cleared his throat, "Y-You see, after the events that transpired, actually not long after, one of my informants said they saw someone… strange around the sewers."

"Yeah, you said a guy that looked just like the dead director was down there," Monty frowned, "Not new to us."

"No, something more than that, give me more credit!" Pythor moved his neck to face Over, "Someone that looked like that fellow there. They said he simply appeared there, looked around, and then left as soon as he came. They almost didn't believe they saw him at all, really. I thought it was just rumor."

"Right now, anything that's out of the ordinary is important," Monty declared, "Anything weird, you make sure it gets to Ronin. It's about more than just our little schemes, got it? Could mean your own tail. Don't let your idea of a 'rumor' make that happen."

"I will remember that," Pythor groaned, "Now may I leave?"

"Go for it," Monty let go of Pythor. At once, the snake moved to slither out the door. As he passed by Over, he turned to see if that strange look he saw earlier was there. When he saw that same hungry expression, he immediately doubled his speed and slitehred quickly back out into the salty air of Stiix, disappearing around the corner and off into whatever things he had to do.

"Right, now that's done," Monty turned to Ronin, "We need to be heading off. We gotta pick up those other guys you saw me with."

"You sure?" Ronin leaned forward on the counter, "If you need something, I might be able to help."

"Right now, no," Monty shook his head, "Later? Maybe. But for now, you remember what we said. Don't write me off. I mean it."

"You're never that serious with me, kid, I won't forget," Ronin shook his own head, "If I see something wrong, I'll stay away from it."

"Good," Monty stretched his arms out, "Well, that's all I had to do. I'm off."

"Have fun saving the world!" Ronin called out. Monty gave Ronin a death glare, who just rolled his eyes at it and turned around and went back to cleaning off his vase.

Over watched all that had happened silently, while the Overlord inside his head was snickering at the exchange. As they left the shop, Monty turned to start going back towards the car, already grumbling about the whole situation of having to drive back.

"Are you certain you don't need to talk to him more?" Over asked him, "It's been weeks since you left. You were rather… curt with him, don't you think?"

"He knows what's going on, and that I have it under control," Monty shook his head, "No need to drag it out. I told him what he has to know, now we can get back to it."

Monty made his way off into Stiix, fitting right in with the crowd despite sharing some very distinct things none of them did. As he watched him go along, Over heard a snickering inside of his head.

"What?" Over asked himself.

"Those two remind me of how we were when we first were learning this body," The Overlord answered him, "Only talking when we had to. I wonder how they'll grow?"

"Not in a way you need to see," Over responded. The Overlord went silent, allowing him to focus on following Monty. The two were off to pick up the others, and to begin the next stage of their journey. As they went through Stiix to depart from this place, Over was forced to wonder what was going to happen now. So many of the pieces were falling into place… and he had no idea how long it would be until they all came crashing down.

On the deck of the studded Destiny's Bounty, Monty and the others had all returned from their trips. The collective information they had gathered painted a picture that had changed the very nature of their quest. Just having the thought of it all in their minds was enough to bring even Harumi to questioning what they were going to do.

"So it seems that this Prime and Ophiod are being manipulated, just like they did to me," Over nodded his head, "What are we to do about this?"

"...Right now, we can't think about that," Harumi shook her head, "Prime and Ophiod are just obstacles right now. We have the core," Harumi held up the stolen piece of tech she'd taken with her, "I need to go home and use one of Borg's labs to make this into something we can use to teleport around with."

"And then?" Monty asked, leaning casually against the main mast, "What's that going to do?"

"After that, I need to figure out something of my own," Lloyd stepped forward, "This… Aspheera said that we needed someone that knew of the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu, right? Master Wu would know about them. I need to know more about Ophiod."

"And then?" Mage asked nervously, "What do we do after that?"

"Then… we make a plan to defeat Ophiod and Prime, and figure out why the Twins stole all of Monty's Vermillion," Harumi stated firmly, "That's what we'll do."

"So, we're just running from one step to the next?" Lulloyd asked, "Is that really all we can do right now?"

"It's what we have to do right now," Lloyd assumed Lulloyd with a grip on his shoulder, "We can't go into battle without knowing our enemy. We know almost everything. And once Harumi gives us our advantage, we'll be able to face them on even terms."

"So even after all that, we're playing a game of catchup," Over nodded his head, "Truly a fun game to play."

The six shared a moment of silence together. They'd learned more of their enemy, but it was information they weren't sure what they thought about it. The sun rose and set on Lulloyd's Ninjago City as they made their plans, and their path towards the next step. For now, all they could do, just as Over had said, was play catchup.