Author's Note:
As someone who is way too invested in Ninjago Lore, I know that many of you might not know the exact name of each vehicle I mention here. To be explicitly clear, the Proto Sam-X is the car from Season 3 Lloyd and Garmadon used, the Samurai XVL is the car in Season 7, and the Salvage MECH is Ronin's mech in Day of the Departed!
Monty raised his hand up and brought it down in a violent burst of wind, scattering sand in all directions. Lloyd and Lulloyd rushed behind him, both holding their respective swords. Monty reached out and drew the SoS, holding up a shotgun in his other hand.
Before the sand cleared, Ophiod shot through it, his body enveloped in the orange glow of his magic. Lloyd grabbed Lulloyd and shoved him out of the way, crossing his katanas to catch Ophiod's staff on them. The force of stopping Ophiod was enough for Lloyd to feel he just snapped his back. Ophiod's tail came up from under his guard, striking his chest and knocking him back into the sand. Ophiod spun the staff to point the blade down at Lloyd and thrust.
Lulloyd's sword caught the tip of the staff, holding it in the air. Ophiod shot his gaze to look at him, making Lulloyd sheepishly smile. With a long backflip, Lulloyd knocked Ophiod's staff up into the air. Monty raised the shotgun towards Ophiod before he could recover, firing it and sending the gun flipping back in his grasp. The aura of magic around Ophiod concentrated around Ophiod's chest, letting the pellets strike and then scatter in all directions. Monty tssked and let the shotgun fly off, instead moving to draw a pistol as he raised the SoS. The sand kicked up by Monty's wind settled.
With a flash of gold, Skales' blade shot out and struck Monty's gun, knocking it from his hand. Skales went to slash at Monty, blade passing through him. Monty growled and swung the SoS, knocking Skales' blade back and going to jab at him. Ophiod's tail came out to catch the blade, his scales hardening to take the strike. Skales recovered and lunged at Monty, locking blades with him. Monty growled and looked down at the SoS as they did, his eyes flaring with anger as he saw nothing.
Lloyd, finally up from his knockdown, crossed his swords and spun into Spinjitzu, racing across the sands and kicking up a small cloud as he hurled towards Ophiod. Lulloyd turned to run behind Ophiod. Ophiod spun into Spinjitzu himself and moved left, avoiding Lloyd's trajectory. The moment Ophiod moved, however, Lulloyd jumped right into Lloyd's Spinjitzu. Lloyd spun Lulloyd around and then let go, sending Lulloyd flying straight at Ophiod. The speed of his foot hitting Ophiod knocked him out of Spinjitzu, throwing Ophiod onto his back as Lulloyd went tumbling in the sands.
As Ophiod curled his tail under him to summersault onto his feet, Monty unleashed a blast of wind at point blank into Skales' face. This pushed both Skales and the SoS away form each other. Skales slid back on his feet, holding his blade out. Monty locked his arm to stop the sword and reached into his armor to draw another pistol. When he pulled it out and pulled the trigger, nothing happened. He looked to see it was coated in sand, eliciting a curse.
"Let's go!" Lulloyd shouted, grabbing his Mechdragon brick and throwing it. The dragon unfolded out in the sand as Ophiod fully got back up, seeing Lulloyd and Lloyd rushing towards it. Monty, seeing this, reached out with wind and wrapped it around Skales, throwing him over so the two Serpentine collided. Monty raced for the Mechdragon, tossing the SoS up into Lulloyd's waiting hang before possessing the tail of the dragon. With a large roar, the brick built dragon took off skimming the sand.
"Where is it?!" Lulloyd shouted. Lloyd squinted and looked around the dunes, spotting a large skeleton in the distance.
"There!" Lloyd shouted. Monty's body emerged from the dragon's back, reaching onto his belt to hit a button. The large, landmark skull in the desert slowly creaked open. With a roar of engines, Lulloyd arced the Mechdragon down so it shot through the opening the skull made just as it grew wide enough for them.
With a loud screech, the Mechdragon scrapped against the stairs that led down into the Samurai X Cave. Lulloyd disabled the boosters and instead turned the dragon to twist onto its side. Both Green Ninja jumped off and bailed as the Mechdragon crashed into the main floor of the Samurai X Cave, ruining the immaculate design across it. As the dragon came to a halt, Monty leapt out of it, grabbing the SoS from the dragon's cockpit and immediately running over to the computers and diving into them. The screens rapidly turned green and began to execute long lines of code, causing the entrance to seal shut with a large hiss.
Lloyd scrambled forward, ignoring the pain of having bailed from the machine, and grabbed the computers. One turned to an external security feed, showing the sands around the entrance. With a flash of orange magic, Ophiod and Skales dropped out of the air, right in front of the cave. Lloyd watched from the overhead view as Ophiod appraised the structure in front of them.
"Are… Are they here?!" Lulloyd gasped, his heart beating hard in his chest.
"Yeah… they're just… standing there…" Lloyd panted himself, "...Menacingly…"
Monty emerged from the console, causing the screens to blur and return to normal, "This place is on lockdown. Nothing is getting in or out. Certainly ot those two."
The three stared at the security feed. Ophiod slithered up to the skull in the video feed, placing his hand against it. Skales walked up with him, doing the same. Ophiod's eyes widened as he drew the staff back and swung it down on the skull, causing the entire thing to rumble. Off in the distance of the cave, the two heard it shake. A blast of orange magic rippled through the air with the strike, but nothing happened.
"Can he… Can he get in?!" Lloyd gasped, "Why isn't he teleporting in like just now?!"
"Bet it's like… the comics..." Lulloyd explained, "Can only… teleport to places… been to before… or can see…"
Ophiod gave the skull several more strikes of magically enhanced swings. He reached out with his magic to try to force the skull open, but nothing happened. He attempted Spinjtizu to break through it, but nothing worked. Realizing there was more to this skull than just appearance, Ophiod gestured to Skales to follow him. The two walked away from the skull, eventually walking off screen from the camera.
"Is… Is he gone…?" Lloyd asked. Monty groaned.
"Of course he isn't," Monty waved his hand, "But it means my plan wasn't stupid. This place is the best one to hide in."
"How'd you get it to open?" Lulloyd asked, "Doesn't, this place belong to Nya?"
"Mhm," Monty tapped his belt, "Ronin and I hacked her security months ago. Figured it might be useful as a place to lay low if we get in too much heat."
Lloyd just grimaced hearing that. The three were currently in Monty's world, and, as per the plan, had made several consecutive jumps to and from Monty's world until, finally, Ophiod arrived. The three had made a mad dash towards the Sea of Sand. Their trip here had been interrupted by a blast of magic from the sky. Having just gotten away from him, Lloyd felt a chance to relax for now.
"Why didn't we go to Ronin?" Lulloyd asked, "Aren't you two like… partners?"
"Yeah, and I don't want to involve him in this," Monty shot back, "I already told him to run if he sees trouble, and he's not someone to go back on it. Besides, we just need to hold out here until those three get done with their job."
"Well, it looks like they figured out we split up again," Lloyd shook his head, "I didn't see any sign of Invictus. It's just those two."
"Which is more than enough for me," Monty loudly groaned, "I, for one, aren't looking to get blown up by that annoying toy robot."
"Well…" Lloyd looked around the Samurai X Cave, "I guess we should just stay here then."
With his two companions giving their agreement, Lloyd walked over towards the toppled Mechdragon. Lulloyd walked up and hopped on top of it, ensuring none of the pieces had broken off. After collecting a few spines and pieces of the head, he rebuilt the creature and collapsed it into the brick he hefted on his back again. Once he did, he looked around to the various platforms with Nya's machines on them, his eyes squinting in thought.
"Do… you think Nya would mind if I, uh, used this?" Lulloyd gestured to the Samurai X Suit, "If, we do need to get out of here fast, I think I can build something."
"Is your dragon not enough?" Lloyd asked.
"Uh… it's, fast, but it's not really made to be durable," Lulloyd chuckled, "Jay's Lightning Mech was made to do that. I, uh, would always go right for my dad."
"I already told those guys they aren't ever allowed to speak to you or me ever again," Monty called out from behind the large computer screens, pulling out wires from a hatch, "Please, take everything they own."
Lulloyd gave an awkward smile at that, opting to do just that as he needed. He ran his way over to the Proto Sam-X and hit it with his fist. He jumped around the vehicle and turned it fully to bricks, then breaking them apart. He tossed the pieces towards the main walkway, then raced around. Lloyd saw the prototype to what was clearly the Samurai VXL, which Lulloyd also broke down. Lulloyd went to where the Samurai X Suit -recovered and freed from possession- was, which Lloyd quickly perked up at.
"Not that one!" Lloyd shouted. Lulloyd paused, then hopped his way over to two small red bikes and broke those down instead. Monty rolled his eyes from behind the console. With everything piece wise together, Lulloyd began to rapidly piece together a build before they reverted.
"What are you doing?" Lloyd asked Monty. Monty didn't emerge to respond.
"Getting Nya's secrets, obviously," Monty muttered, "She's got some file blocked in here I couldn't get past with my possession. I'm just gonna brute force it here instead. Just a bit of overload to the system and I should be able to get at it."
"Won't that open the cave?" Lloyd asked. Monty groaned.
"Which one of us does this for a living?" Monty shot back. Lloyd decided not to pursue that line further.
"Can we at least see if Ophiod is still around?" Lloyd asked. Monty looked towards him and let out a long growl.
"I'm working," Monty spat, "Blame Nya for not having wider cameras. If he's gone, he's gone. If not, he's not. Let's worry about things one after another right now. We're here to buy time not defeat those two snakes." Monty grunted, "It's like you literally can't listen to one objective for more than 10 minutes. How did you save the world again?"
"Alright!" Lloyd snapped, throwing his hands up, "Let me see if I can help Lulloyd!"
Lulloyd was in the middle of his building process. He'd created the front of some vehicle, essentially having turned the Proto-Sam X into the main bumper. He'd doubled up the wheels and added in some suspension, which he occasionally kicked with his foot to check. He was working on the cockpit, which was giving him a decent amount of trouble. Lloyd watched his form flurrying around the mass of pieces and smiled.
"Hey," Lloyd waved his hand, "You need help with that?"
"Uh…" Lulloyd froze, holding up a piece of pipe, "I uh, don't think so right now. I'm trying to think, make something that we can use to get away. It's gotta be strong and fast. And, since Monty doesn't need a cockpit I can combine them…" He paused, "How was it that Batman did it again…?"
"Right," Lloyd smiled, "Uh… I'll just be over here then, alright?"
"You uh, don't have to go!" Lulloyd quickly spoke up, a bit of guilt in his voice, "Uh… I mean, sorry. I'm not, really good at this, Master building thing…" Lulloyd leapt down from his half-finished creation, currently half of some sort of tank-offroader hybrid, "I mean, erm-"
"What do you mean you're not good at it?" Lloyd leaned in, "You know, you're really quick to downtalk yourself, Lulloyd."
"...Am I?" Lulloyd rubbed his hairpiece, "It's, more that I don't want to hype myself up that much. I mean… if I'm standing next to my father then…" Realizing he was doing it again, Lulloyd went quiet.
"Your father isn't out here running around the multiverse, you know," Lloyd smiled to him, "And I mean… you're a lot easier to talk to than him. I don't think you're gonna blast me out of some shark."
"...Volcano," Lulloyd muttered, "And, erm… yeah, I guess, that's true. I guess, I really am nothing like him."
Something about the way that Lulloyd was talking didn't sit right with Lloyd. He narrowed his gaze, trying to take in the way that Lulloyd was talking. Seeing that Lloyd was scrutinizing him, Lulloyd looked away for a moment, just in time to see the loose bricks were starting to revert.
"I'm not done yet!" Lulloyd shouted at the bricks, jumping up and quickly moving to build them together into something random. While the front of the vehicle looked complete, Lulloyd suddenly had a rather haphazard and undrivable back half. With a grumble, Lulloyd landed on top of it and looked down at the pieces, trying to puzzle his way into a solution.
"...I uh, it's just, something that I've been thinking about," Lulloyd leapt down from the car, "Not even from just, all this. It's… ever since he's really started teaching me and my friends," Lulloyd walked up to Lloyd and frowned, "You… know what he calls me, right? The… the name?"
"Huh?" Lloyd wracked his brain, "Wait, you mean General Number Son?"
"...Y-Yeah," Lulloyd frowned, "I… I don't know why. But the more that he calls me that the more that… that I think that he wants me to actually be that. Even though, the whole reason that we fell out, when we were at the Temple of Fragile Foundations was, I didn't want to be that to him."
"I got some of the story from your friends," Lloyd pointed out, "But he does want you as a son, right?"
"Y-Yeah, that's why he's, calling me that. He's trying!" Lulloyd put on a small smile, "But, I don't know how much he, always knows what he's doing. I want to be, I want to be a ninja. But… but back when I was in the Summit, when it was under attack, I had to save Rena and… well…" Lulloyd rubbed his arm, "I don't know why but… I started acting like my dad. Calling myself her general and, I got her to move by… talking to her like my dad would, to us."
"So, you're worried you're becoming like him?" Lloyd asked.
"Not, worried, really," Lulloyd frowned, "Just, more confused. I don't know why I'm doing it. I mean, I don't have powers, or any cool abilities like you guys. I have my dragon, I'm fast and I can make some cool builds from time to time. But, all of you can do the best things and then, I'm here just, worrying I'm just playing with bricks…"
"Lulloyd… Lloyd," Lloyd addressed him properly, "I think I get what you mean. When I was training to be the Green Ninja, I wasn't sure who I was becoming. Because, I was growing to be someone entirely different. I'm nothing like that kid that opened up those Tombs. And sometimes I worry that I'm changing too."
"And… how do you, deal with the fact, you aren't sure about what you're, changing into?" Lulloyd asked quietly.
"I look at my friends," Lloyd told him firmly, "And as long as I'm Lloyd to them, I know that the change is good for me."
Lulloyd stared at Lloyd for a moment. Then, a smile fully crept onto his face. Said smile began to devolve until he was actively chortling, and, eventually, leaving him at a point of laughing. Lloyd blinked in confusion until Lulloyd got his handle back on himself.
"S-Sorry, that, that was rude…" Lulloyd was beaming, "Harumi said, you could be really corny sometimes. I'll have to use that one when Wu asks me for a good lesson."
"Uh… thanks?" Lloyd blinked, "Wait, Harumi said that to you?!"
"She mentioned it," Lulloyd smiled, "We uh, we just talked a little bit here and there. When we were all resting back home. She was talking about you and, all that."
"What did she say about me?" Lloyd asked, suddenly nervous.
"That… you're a really good friend," Lulloyd informed him, "And uh, that I should get to know you a little more. You know, even though you're, me."
"I think we've been around each other long enough to know that we're not really like each other," Lloyd shook his head, "Even if we did start in the same place."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lulloyd turned back towards the build he had going, "I'm, gonna get back on this, alright? Uh, thanks, Lloyd. I feel a little better now that I kinda, got that off my chest."
"If you need to talk, just tell me," Lloyd informed his alter, "We're all here in this together. The only way we're beating these guys and the Twins is by working together."
"Harumi was right," Monty called out from across the room, "You really are corny."
Lloyd just gave a small sigh at Monty's words, walking his way around the Samurai X Cave while Lulloyd got back to work. While Lulloyd worked to rebuild the back into something more worthy of being called a vehicle, Lloyd toured the place. To this day, he still didn't know how Nya did all this herself. If she had the power of Master building, he could understand it, but this was her excavating a cave and turning it into this place. The more he thought about it, they hadn't even touched the cave in a long time. Sure, it'd been the SOG making them avoid all the places they were known to go, but Nya hadn't tried to go back in a long time. He'd have to make sure she was still using the place.
Eventually, this made Lloyd loop back around to the console. When he did, something caught his eye. The camera that was pointing at the direct outside of the skull covering the entrance was moving. He blinked and rubbed his eyes as he looked at it, but at first he didn't know what it was. The skull in the corner of the footage wasn't moving, but his eyes knew something was. After he squinted for a moment, he started to see it wasn't the image itself moving, but the sand.
"What the…?" Lloyd shook his head, "Monty1 you gotta see this."
"Really?" Monty's body emerged from inside the console, stepping through Lloyd and turning around to face the screen, "I can't just do anything in peace now, can I-"
Monty seemed to notice what was going on just as Lloyd had. For a moment, he looked at the screen a few times, then turned and walked away. Lloyd was left confused as Monty, leaving the SoS by the console for the moment, walked all the way up to the front door of the cave and turned back to look at the two of them.
"I'll check it out," Monty faced the shut door, "You two stay here."
Without waiting for them, Monty walked straight through the door, passing through the wall until he'd emerged from the cave. As soon as he did, a massive breeze whipped up around him. The wind was strong enough that, had he been corporeal, he'd likely have been blown right off his feet. Instead, Monty raised his hand and calmly called over his mastery of said wind, forcing it to slow and create a pocket around him for him to walk forward through and see more clearly.
Just one step forward was almost a two foot drop. Monty looked down in confusion, only to see the sand itself was being sucked down into a massive vortex. The vortex was wide enough that Monty couldn't see the other side of it, only the long, long way down to the bottom where the dirt itself was being churned up. Monty tssked and looked around for a moment, searching for the cause of this unnatural whirlpool. As soon as he did, however, he saw the two of them right at the epicenter of it all, at least ten feet below the normal sand level.
Ophiod held both hands on the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu, its edges flaring orange and causing his head to burn with orange fire. Skales stood beside him, looking calmer than any sane snake would have in the middle of a sand whirlpool. Ophiod was chanting something, something long, deep, and orange magic slithering out of his mouth into the ground under him. Monty took a few steps closer, reaching out with his wind to try to carry the sound to him.
"Krakua za va ya, enzuyga kokoro va!" Ophiod's words almost sounded hate filled, "Spirit of Fang, reach my voice and heed my call! Gurange saaassshhaa bohrok vo!"
"Alright," Monty stated calmly while stepping back through the cave wall, "That isn't what I expected."
As soon as Monty was back inside the cave, he immediately walked back down to the console, reaching out to pick up the SoS and sheath it on his back. He looked down at the floor for a moment, then gave a groaning tssk. When he looked back to Lloyd, he looked even more annoyed at life than usual.
"Alright, forget what I said about this place being safe," Monty growled, "He's got some convenient sand magic going on. Looks like he's about to break in."
"What?" Lloyd shook his head, "With what?!"
With a massive crash, the entire cave shook, dusty sand falling from the ceiling over them. All at once, the camera feeds on screen went out. Lloyd turned to face it in shock, while Monty just gave a low growl. Lulloyd rapidly spun his arms to remain upright on his creation.
"I don't know and I don't quite care," Monty turned to Lulloyd, "Is that thing ready to go yet or what?!Yyou're gonna have to get us out of a sand whirlpool, just so you know!"
"What?!" Lulloyd shouted back, "I was building this thing for a chase, not for, that!"
Another massive crash threw Lloyd right onto his face. The cave felt as though it was being struck from all sides at once. When Lloyd looked up towards the entrance to the Samurai X Cave, his eyes widened. The large door had been completely bent inwards, with a dent several times larger than he was. A second later, another crash only caused it to grow in size.
"Well then figure it out!" Monty shouted, "We're leaving! If that thing gets in here we've just trapped ourselves!"
Lulloyd looked down at the car and gave a grimace. The creation he'd made was, interesting to say the least. It appeared to the Proto Sam-X and Samurai VXL slammed together back to back, with pieces of the many bikes Nya had holding them together and creating greebling across the build. In the middle of the car, the turret of the Proto Sam-X had been overhauled to now feature four cannons on each side, with the seat now having a covered screen. The wheels of the car had more guns mounted on the sides of them. The cockpit in the front had two seats. The other cockpit was in the back, facing behind them for some reason. The wheels had been doubled up on all four axles, with the additions of the smaller wheels in the middle also holding it together.
"I-I uhm... " Lulloyd coughed, seeing Lloyd looking at it funny, "I was trying to make the Ultimate Batmobile, okay?!"
"I'll take the gunner," Lloyd didn't respond to the remark, instead hoping up into the turret and letting the new canopy slide over him. Taking hold of the stick in front of him caused the turret to rapidly spin around until he adjusted to the sensitivity.
Another loud crash punched the door in hard enough that sand had begun leaking in through the gap. Lulloyd opened the cockpit and leapt inside, with Monty hopping into the seat behind him. Lulloyd turned on several computer pads by twisting studs, in turn firing up the engine. For a moment, the car sputtered like it wasn't going to move. As it fired up for real, Lulloyd inhaled, then exhaled with a determined glare.
"Alright, let's do this!" Lulloyd plugged his Mechdragon brick in behind him and gripped the control sticks. Just before he pushed forward, he gulped.
The brick vehicle shot forward, its wheels spinning against the ground for a few seconds before they shot forward. As they drove up the exit ramp, whatever was outside gave one more crash to break open a hole in the doors. Seeing it was too small, Lloyd spun the turret forward and hit a red stud to fire. At once, all the guns on the turret fired, blasting right into the half-broken door and weakening them. The car approached the door as the two living beings braced themselves.
With a massive crash of their own, the doors and the now broken skull to the Samurai X Cave went flying apart, sending them right out into the open. A moment later, they struck something hard, and sand exploded right in their faces. Lulloyd gained a fierce growl as he fought to see beyond it. The car soon succumbed to gravity and fell, striking and driving straight down the side of the whirlpool. Once they were moving, Lulloyd twisted the sticks in opposite directions, causing the car to rapidly spin to its right. Once oriented facing out of the whirlpool, Lulloyd thrust forward and sent them driving up and out as fast as they could.
The car ascended the sand, churning it up as they drove. Lloyd turned the turret to look down behind them as they did. Doing this let him see the sand settling down in the bottom from whatever they'd hit. To his shock, however, it began to slowly churn up and rise up in a large pillar. Seeing this was enough to explain to him what was hitting the door.
"Go!" Lloyd shouted anxiously. Despite being unable to hear him, Lulloyd heard him well and true enough. With the turn of a button, Lulloyd activated small jets on the back of the car. The force was just enough to get them accelerating forward, letting them ascend up and blast over the lip of the whirlpool, hitting the sands and flying forward with an immense speed.
"Where's Ophiod?" Monty asked. Lloyd squinted. From the whirlpool, the sand was still rising up. The sand pillar spilled over the side of the lip of the whirlpool, forming up in a large shape. Lloyd watched in awe as the sand began to form a massive snake. The snake was the size of a small building, with a beautiful elegant cobra-like head and curled squared scales for its body. Despite being made of sand, the snake opened up two wide, slitted eyes to show they were glowing orange. Large flaps spread out from the side of its head all the way down towards the middle of its body, sand pouring in waves at its edges to maintain the snape. Atop the head, Ophiod stood, Skales clinging to his arm as Ophiod raised the staff with his own hand.
"Spirit of Fang, servant to the Royal Family!" Ophiod shouted, "I have felt your spirit here, long slumbering! Defeat my foes, as is your duty to my blood! They are your prey, Sand Fang!"
The serpent opened up a mouth filled with sandy fangs and let out a hiss of anger. Bending forward, the snake slithered across the sands like a bullet fired from Monty's guns. Its body, composed of sand, seemed to sink and melt across the surface of the desert. Lloyd, seeing this, grimaced and just sighed.
"Found him," Lloyd grunted.
"Lloyd!" Lulloyd's voice buzzed from a speaker in the car, "Can you hear me?!"
"Yeah, I can!" Lloyd called back as Sand Fang barreled towards them.
"He's chasing us, isn't he?!" Monty snapped through the comm.
"Yeah," Lloyd gulped as he saw the sand snake hurtling towards them with Ophiod perched perfectly balanced atop its head, "It's… a giant snake."
"Of course it is," Monty spat, "Lulloyd, go south, we'll hit the edge of the desert faster!"
Lulloyd twisted the car to the left, driving perpendicular to Sand Fang. Ophiod held his staff forward like a lance, slowly aiming it towards the car. Sand Fang responded in kind. Lloyd, giving a long groan of his own, twisted the turret towards the snake and fired. The four cannons blasted energy straight towards the snake, blasting chunks in its body. Ophiod and Sand Fang remained unphased as the sand simply moved to fill in the pieces he blasted apart.
Despite their initial head start, Sand Fang gained on them at a remarkable speed. With a vicious lunge, the sand serpent shot its head forward, striking its head against the left side of the car. The action was enough to nearly flip them over. Lulloyd groaned hard as he tried to force the car back down. Lloyd, seeing his chaunce, twisted the barrel to fire the cannons right at Ophiod. Ophiod held the staff out in front of him and formed an orange magic shield, causing the blasts to fizzle out against it.
Sand Fang reared its head back and struck the other side of the car, trying to flip them that way. Lloyd continued to fire the cannons at point blank, trying to break the snake apart. He could see at this distance orange magic was pounding from under Ophiod's scales and down into the sand, maintaining his connection to it. With another hiss, Sand Fang struck the back of the car, momentarily bending it up enough Lullyod could see what was on their tail. Once he did, Lulloyd wished he hadn't.
Lloyd fired off a lucky shot, hitting the side of Sand Fang. The action caused Skales to lose his balance. Skales gave a shout as he fell from Sand Fang. Ophiod's eyes widened as he turned away from the car, reaching out with the staff and sending a blast of magic that enveloped Skales' body. A beam of magic connected the two, which then pulled Skales straight back onto the snake. Ophiod wrapped his arms around Skales and hugged him close, clinging to him. The action distracted them long enough to let Lulloyd speed up and put distance between them.
"Those two really like each other, now, don't they?" Monty spat, "Almost makes me reconsider shooting them."
"Well shooting them isn't helping!" Lloyd fired more blasts towards the regenerating serpent, "That thing is made out of sand, I can't slow it down!"
"I'm going, I'm going!" Lulloyd shouted back to the two of them, his hands in a death claw-grip on the controls. The car bumped up and down the dunes, cutting through some and sending blasts of sand in the air. Nothing they did, however, was able to truly outpace Ophiod and his magic.
Seeing them getting away, Ophiod let out a growl and turned out plunge his staff into Sand Fang's head. The Scroll flared up brightly, spilling magical light out. The action caused Sand Fang to open its jaws and show an orange glow inside of it. Lloyd, knowing what that meant, went to aim his turret to blast the mouth of the snake apart. No amount of it, however, could stop Sand Fang.
"Lulloyd, watch out!" Lloyd shouted. Sand Fang thrust its head forward, hurtling a massive ball of orange magic at them. Lulloyd swerved to avoid it, causing it to blast a massive hole in the sand beside them. Lulloyd rapidly swerved to avoid more blasts, with Sang Fang rearing and thrusting its head forward again and again to hurl magical energy at them. Each blast rocked Lloyd in the cockpit, making his body rock around and lose his focus. He tried to aim the turret, but he couldn't get it focused.
"Dad was right! Why does this thing have so many weapons," Lloyd jerked the stick, "If they don't do anything?!"
A blast of sand cleared, letting Lloyd see Sand Fang had gained on them and, more importantly, was aiming its energy blast right at them. Lloyd turned and fired the turret just as the ball was about to hit them. The dual impacts caused the ball to break apart in the air, sending a shockwave of energy right into the car. With a shout, the car was jerked upwards and struck a large dune. Lloyd had just enough time to hang on as the car flipped over, the ground and sky switching places for Lloyd and, sadly, the ground coming closer.
With a loud crunch, the car hit the sand. The turret Lloyd was in broke apart, and Lloyd ducked just in time to save his head from that fate as well. Small pieces broke off as the car flipped twice in the sand, each time bringing Lloyd to a massive shake as the car hit the sand. The car finally crashed into another dune, leaving it up on its left wheels but upright. Somehow, the car stayed intact.
Once they came to rest, the seat Loyd was in fell out, causing him to gasp as he was sent plunging off the car and into the sand in front of them. Lloyd's world lit up with the pain of being rocked around inside of that thing. Slowly, he planted his hands in the sand and tried to sit up. Doing so let him look up to see that Sand Fang was bearing down on him, the shadow it cast eclipsing both him and the car. The snake's mouth no longer glowed, and instead it had bowed its head so Ophiod could show himself to them. Skales still clung tightly to him in a side hug.
Lloyd turned around. Lulloyd was knocked out, slumped against the console and stuck inside of the cockpit. Slowly, the cockpit hissed and cracked open, wedged open just enough for the SoS to roll out. Monty stepped through the vehicle, picking up the sword. He walked up to where Lloyd stood, not saying a word. He raised the SoS up, holding it defensively and charging wind in his hand. Despite the throbbing in his head, Lloyd looked up towards Ophiod with a pained, defiant glare. In his hands, green power slowly sparked up.
"I'm sorry it had to come to this," Ophiod bowed his head, "I hold no ill will to either of you. Unlike Prime, I will take no pleasure in doing this," Ophiod sighed, "But I gave you my warning. You knew the risks. And now, you must face the consequences."
Ophiod slowly turned his staff around and plunged it down into Sand Fang's head. Once more, the snake opened its jaws and began to charge that orange power, ready to blast them right then and there. Lloyd slowly held his hands out in front of him, forming a weak elemental shield. Monty did no such thing, instead just waiting, holding the SoS. Both knew this fight wasn't one they could win, but both were going to fight. They had come ready to fight, knowing what it could bring.
Ophiod inhaled, "Goodbye, Ll-"
BANG. With a sudden jerk of his head, Ophiod's body was thrown straight off of Sand Fang as a bullet collided firmly with his skull.
Lloyd's eyes widened as Sand Fang suddenly dissolved. The snake turned back into the sand it was made from. The staff Ophiod held went falling onto the ground, along with a shocked and confused Skales. Ophiod was crumpled into the ground, bleeding from the side of his head. A small spell surrounded the spot, the orange magic flickering off to reveal the long bullet that slid off of his head and into the sand.
"A sniper?" Monty turned to Lloyd, "Get down!"
With a blast of wind, Monty sent Lloyd sliding backwards towards their car. Monty hissed as he looked around, trying to find the source. Ophiod slowly twitched and began to heave himself upright, his entire body shaking and refusing to obey him. Monty scanned the sand dunes, trying to locate the source.
"OPHIOD!" Skales shouted in distress, grabbing his staff and racing over to the fallen Viper. As Skales slid to his knees and grabbed Ophiod's arm to help pull him up, Monty kept looking. After a few seconds, he finally traced the bullet's path back to someone. Someone far, far off in the distance, laying atop a dune.
"Hey, kid," Monty's comm flared to life in his ear, "Looks like investigating that girl's cave alarm was worth it after all."
"Ronin," Monty hissed, understanding sliding across his face. Atop the dune nearly 800 meters from where they were was Ronin. The bounty hunter had his hands on a long, smooth black rifle, his eye pressed into the scope. Slowly, he pulled his head back, holding one hand on his ear.
"I thought I told you to stay away!" Monty shouted into his comm. It seemed his effort to disable the Samurai X Cave alarms through the console hadn't worked. Of course Ronin would have picked it up right away.
"How was I supposed to know it was you out here giving the ninja trouble?" Ronin responded back on his com, "I thought I could just rob the goods off ya when you got done. That or save the ninja and get some good points with them. What's my angle?"
Ophiod fully raised back up onto his tail, his body quaking with pain. With a shaky inhale, Ophiod struck the sand, pouring his magic back into it. With seconds, the sand swirled up around him and collheased together to reform Sand Fang. Ophiod now clung to Skales not out of worry, but out of necessity to remain upright. He plunged the staff back into the sand snake's head, holding on as he moved to angle the serpent towards Monty.
Monty narrowed his gaze and sighed, "Move half a degree south."
Ronin slowly inhaled, moving the gun in the direction Monty indicated. Ophiod had just climbed back up Sand Fang, holding the side of his head. With a long exhale, Ronin pulled the trigger. A loud boom went off around Ronin as the bullet flew straight across the sand. Ophiod turned his head in just enough time to cast a magical shield in front of him. The bullet struck right where his right shoulder was, breaking the shield and throwing him onto his back with a pained yell.
"Still got it," Ronin chuckled, "Your guns doing alright there, kid? Didn't see you try using them."
"Filled with sand," Monty growled.
"You should take better care of them," Ronin informed him, Monty hearing shifting over the comm, "Don't worry, I just finished a little pet project of mine for you."
Ronin disappeared. A few seconds later, None other than the Salvage MECH stood up from the sand dunes, previously half buried in a dune. Ronin sat in the cockpit, taking a few steps forward with it. All around it, several guns bristled, raising up in the shoulders, forearms, left hand and missile silo in the left arm. Ronin reached down with the right hand and opened the cockpit, hefting a suitcase up into it. Once inside, the mech gripped the case, pulled its arm back, and flung it straight at Monty across the sand.
Monty didn't waste the chance. He shot his left hand up, grabbing it with wind. Ophiod willed Sand Fang to try to bite at it, yet the jaws closed on the stream of air instead. The suitcase burst through the sand snake and right into Monty's hand. Ophiod turned to face Monty just as Monty ripped the case open, seeing what was inside, grabbing the contents and dropping the case to the ground.
In Monty's hands, he held two massive pistols. The first was the smaller of the two, a mixture of red and white, with the two colors moulded into the casing itself to make it look like red wax smoothly curved with white. A carving of smooth, pristine wings on either side extended out from the barrel back towards the hammer. The other was much larger, almost a pure deep green that molded into black at the bottom. It had a shorter barrel and the rounds chambered were almost double the size. The gun was far heavier, and this had the carving of jagged, rougher wings extending back. Monty hefted them around in his hands for a moment.
"What the heck are these wing things for?" Monty twisted the guns around in hand.
"Since I took so long makin' em, I gave 'em names! Doing that stuff on the casing wasn't hard at all" Ronin declared proudly, "Small one is the Ivory Angel, larger one is the Ebony Devil. You know, angel's the one that fires more, less punch? Devil hits harder but slower? I'm proud of the names. Figured they'd be pretty good, eh?"
"Yeah… no," Monty sighed, "I'm just calling them Ebony and Ivory. Let's see…" Monty tossed both up in the air, holding his arms out to catch them, "Weight feels good. Colors are a bit much. You really make these yourself?"
"Yeah," Ronin chuckled, drawing the Salvage MECH's blade, "What'cha think?"
"That your usual quality control sucks," Monty sighed, looking up to Sand Fang bearing down on him, "But I think I can give these a test drive and see if they pass the test."
Ophiod, anger in his eyes, thrust his staff forward, commanding Sand Fang to swallow Monty. The sand serpent launchd forward, wrapping his sandy mouth around the ghost and fusing with the ground to seal him inside. A moment passed, then a massive spherical blast of wind blasted the face of the serpent apart. The face rapidly began to reform as Monty shot up in the air, brandishing Ebony towards Ophiod and firing.
Skales twisted and turned his blade to defend them. The force of impact was enough to throw him backwards into Ophiod's arms, growling at Monty. The ghost wasted no time in blasting up into the air, aiming Ivory at the two and letting loose. The pistol unloaded almost four rounds in the time it took Ebony to do one, and in turn Ophiod threw up his magical shield and caught the bullets on them. The bullets melted on contact, and Ophiod will3d them to form together into a blade he sent hurtling towards Monty. Monty let the blade pass through his body, narrowing missing the SoS on his back. Before Monty could take aim, Ophiod opened his hand, causing the blade to morph back into the four bullets that, now controlled with magic, aimed to knock the new guns from Monty's grasp.
An explosion went off behind Monty as Ronin lowered the arm of the Salvage MECH. Ronin attached the mech's large staff into the right arm, turning it into a crossbow which he loaded a several feet long black bolt into. The mech took aim and fired. Ophiod thrust his arms out, forming a magical circle around him from which magical blades rapidly revolved around him from. The blades shot off and blasted into the bolt, knocking it off course to fly just a foot above Fang's eye. Ronin grinned and raised the left arm, aiming the missile silo forward and letting off a volley of seeker missiles at him.
Ophiod went to raise up a shield, but this time it was Monty's turn to strike. The ghost blasted up in the air and did a somersault above the two, raining fire down with both of his new pistols. Skales threw his blade up to try to defend them, but the sheer force of Ebony's rounds knocked his blade aside and made him clutch his arm in pain. Ophiod was forced to wave his staff above them, letting out a trail of magical flame to melt the bullets on contact. Ronin closed the gap with this to slam the mech's left arm into Fang, rocking the sand serpent back. The magically formed sand beast turned to slam its head back into the mech, to which Ronin just grinned and tapped his comm.
"Hey, kid," Ronin smirked, "You try out those things on the riders, I'll take the ride. How's that sound to you?"
"Like I wasn't going to do that anyways," Monty scoffed.
Ronin chuckled just as Sand Fang went in to try to wrap its jaws around the mech's cockpit. Ronin raised the left arm and hit a button, letting a massive net out wrap around the snake's mouth and muzzle it. Sand fang violently hissed out and tried to break it apart, but it was of no use. Ronin took the chance to reach out with the right hand, grabbed it's face and held it still to blast it full with lasers. Sand Fang reared back as sand went flying in all directions, the net breaking open.
Ophiod, balancing impeccably on top of the rearing beast, went to command the snake to attack. Monty reached out and yanked his hand back, wind wrapping around Ophiod's neck and yank him onto his back. Monty fired Ivory at him, the multitude of rounds flying right for him. Just before they struck, Ophiod whispered another word, teleporting to the back of Sand Fang. Ophiod shook his head to orient himself, just in time for Monty to fly down and try to backhand him with the sheer weight of Ebony.
To Monty's shock, Ophiod reached up with his free hand, catching Ebony and gripping it tightly. His other hand had the staff plunged into the sand snake's back. Monty and Ophiod started each other down for a few moments, their pupils meeting as ghost and Viper silently declared their intent. Monty threw his arms out, his cape billowing behind him as he swung Ivory around to fire point blank. In turn, Skales' blade went soaring down to knock Ivory backwards. The blade disappeared into the snake's body and was carried back up through it to Skales' waiting hand. Ophiod, likewise, had his body carried back up to the top of the snake's head by letting off a blast of orange magic in Monty's face. The ghost danced back in the air, readying himself to take aim again.
Sand Fang advanced on the Salvage MECH again, ready to take it down. Ronin, sensing he was too close, leapt the mech backwards. The snake barely missed him. From the back of the mech, a small aircraft launched up, guided by AI to fly straight towards Sand Fang's face. Just as predicted, without the master to command it, the snake bit down on it and stopped it in its tracks. Just as it did, Ronin launched a small light blue pod that stuck to the craft and caused it to suddenly flare up with electricity. This time, the orange light behind the snake's mouth was struck, and Sand Fang roared in pain.
"So it's one of those things, eh?" Ronin detached the crossbow piece from the right arm to grab it as a staff for the mech, "Kid, you see that?"
"I'm busy!" Monty spat, flying circles in the air around Ophiod and letting off fire. Monty threw his hand back, his cape flying away into the air just before magic burned it up. While he had no need to dodge Ophiod's attacks, he couldn't get a shot off on them that hit. Ophiod's magical shield would catch, melt and/or reflect the bullets back at Monty.
All four combatants, however, were made to turn as the sound of the makeshift car Lulloyd had cobbled together started up. Lulloyd, head still hazy from the crash, was now in the cockpit with Lloyd. The two took control together and began to speed away, the car rattling as it did. Ophiod's eyes widened as he realized what was happening, plunging his staff down into Sand Fang again. The snake suddenly snapped to attention and ignored Ronin rushing at it in the mech. Instead, teh snake shot across the sands, pursuing the fleeing car.
"Great," Monty spat, "Follow them!" Both he and Ronin quickly took off, one flying through the air and the other running the Salvage MECH.
Rather than rely on the turret, which was now broken and useless, Lulloyd was driving them as fast as he could get the thing he'd built. He could see in the distance mountains, which would give him the perfect excuse to unfurl his dragon and carry them where Ophiod couldn't follow. Without sand, Sand Fang would fall apart. Lulloyd angled the car towards them, kicking up a massive sand cloud as they drove as recklessly as they could.
"I see what they're doing," Ronin spoke to Monty, "Kid, we gotta get their attention. Any ideas?"
Monty growled, slowly gaining on Sand Fang. Ophiod wasn't even looking at them anymore. Skales was firmly wrapped in his arms, and the two were single-mindedly pursuing Lloyd and Lulloyd. Monty slowed his speed enough to fly right beside Ronin.
"They can't control that beast if we knock them off," Monty shouted to him, "And that magical ball in its mouth must be what's fueling it. If we do both at the same time, we got this in the bag!"
"Hrmm…" Ronin nodded, "Alright, I can do that. Kid, you go with your friends! I'll get them off your tail. Do what you gotta do!"
"Don't make it sound all dramatic," Monty growled, "Retreat once we get away, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, I don't need that whole speech from you again," Ronin laughed, "How are those things doing for you, by the way? Feels like this might be the best chance to ask."
"I just got them," Monty sighed, "But they feel good enough. I'll keep them, if only to shut you up."
"All I wanna hear," Ronin winked, "Alright, I'm making my move. You catch up to your friends!"
"Monty, we're sending something your way!" Lloyd's voice rang in Monty's comm, "Ronin, you take care too!"
Monty watched as the back of the car Lulloyd had built, namely the rear-facing windshield, suddenly hissed and detached. A small bike, barely larger than the windshield itself, was sent flying backwards across the sands. The windshield rotated open to reveal one seat inside. Monty narrowed his gaze and focused, flying straight towards it. Ophiod, seeing the detached vehicle, commanded Sand Fang to snap at it. The serpent, without losing speed, lunged for it.
Just as the snake was about to bite down, Monty shot straight into the cockpit, possessing the thing. The windshield shut, showing the two new pistols and the SoS laying in the seat. The detached piece spun around, narrowly dodging Sand Fang. With the speed of the bike, Monty drove the thing back up to connect back with the main vehicle. The ghost reappeared in the seat once attached, watching what was to happen next.
Ophiod, his face looking more and more determined, commanded Sand Fang to open its jaws and let out another blast of power. The moment it did, something hooked into the side of its mouth. Ronin's mech clung to a large chain with a hook on the end, now linked into the beast's mouth. Ronin gave the disappearing car one last smirk before planting another of the electro-charges on the chain and letting it loose. The electricity shot in both directions, making Ronin grunt as his systems went haywire and Sand Fang roared in pain. The snake slowed down, letting the car speed off. Ronin forced his mech to move aiming to grab at just the right time. Sand Fang slowed down until Ronin had caught up to it. Before Ophiod could react, Ronin twisted the mech into spot to jam the left arm into the snake's still open mouth, and the other charging up a blast right at Ophiod on the saddle, the Viper's eyes widening.
"Consider this payback for messing with my partner," Ronin fired both arms at once. The left arm let loose its volley straight into the magical core of Sand Fang, while the right arm blasted straight into Ophiod and Skales' shield on the saddle. Sand Fang screeched for a single second, then the magic in its eye went out. The snake burst apart in a massive cloud column of sand, the force knocking Ronin's mech backwards. Skales and Ophiod went flying through the air off the saddle, crashing into the sand before the cloud overtook them as well. Ronin was blinded in the cockpit as his systems went on the fritz from the discharge right in the mech's face.
When the sand finally cleared, the Salvage MECH was dead where it stood. Ronin waited for the sky to be visible again, then went to jerk and tap on the consoles in front of him. He yaned on it and smacked the control sticks until they finally turned back on. He forced the mech to stand up, looking around the area. He turned the mech to watch the car reach the edge of the desert and slam to a stop. A green dragon suddenly appeared in the air, flying straight through the mountains and escaping rapidly. Ronin watched until it was gone from sight, then let out a sigh.
"Kid's gonna have to make it up to me for all these damages," Ronin chuckled, looking around at the beaten up mech, "Wish he'd tell me what he's doing though. Guess even he has his secrets-"
Suddenly, a large orange magical blade speared straight through the right shoulder of the mech. Ronin grunted and looked down to see Ophiod, a hardened gaze on his face, summoning another magical blade overtop of his staff. He hurled his arm forward, sending the other magical blade to impale the other shoulder. Warning lights flared up in the cockpit, and Ronin knew it was time to bail. He reached back and grabbed his sniper rifle, then kicked the glass door open and leapt out. He hit the ground and rolled just as the mech crashed into the sand behind him.
"You," Ophiod hefted up the staff, the scroll burning orange along with his head, "You helped my enemy escape. I have no desire to fight you," The sand around Ophiod began to swirl, "But I will if I must."
"Well then," Ronin chuckled, slowly getting up and raising his large rifle in his arms, "Looks like we still got some beef to pick with each other."
"Know your place," Skales spat, "Do you think a lowly bounty hunter like you can stand up to a Viper and his personally trained partner?" Skales spun his elegant blade in his hands and held it forward at Ronin.
"Don't know much about Vipers, but I do know something about guys that thing way too highly of themselves," Ronin scoped in on Ophiod, "And if you're after my partner, well. Looks like we understand each other a little too well now, don't we?"
With a blast of magic, Ophiod hurled sand towards Ronin. Skales rushed him at the same time, blade ready to strike. Ronin smirked and took in a breath, aiming the gun at them once more.
"Sorry, kid," Ronin inhaled, "Looks like I'm not running just yet," Ronin pulled the trigger, the round echoing across the desert. A pair of eyes watched as the sand obscured the three combatants, leaving their battle unwitnessed.
In the distance, Lulloyd steered the dragon away as quickly as he could. Almost ten minutes had passed since they'd escaped, and by now they had left the desert behind them. With so much distance between them, it seemed they were safe now.
"Is he going to be okay?" Lloyd asked as he clung to the back of the Mechdragon.
"Don't take him lightly," Monty spat, "Much as I hate to admit it, he taught me everything I know. So he's at least half as good as I am. He'll make it out."
"Where are we going?" Lulloyd wove the dragon through the mountains as much as he could, hoping to throw off anyone tracking them, "I don't know how much longer we can buy time!"
"Pretty sure that ship has sailed," Lloyd told them, "We just have to keep going until Harumi and the others finally get done."
"Well we can't stay here," Monty growled, "We're bailing. If they're not done then that's their fault."
Just as Lulloyd rounded a large mountain, Lloyd's wrist watch began to beep. Looking down, he saw lights flaring up on the screen. He smirked hard when he saw it.
"We don't need to, let's go!" Lloyd nodded, "There's a peak in dimensional energy, that's the signal!"
Without another word, Lulloyd stopped the car and leapt out. Quickly, the three set their watches for Lloyd's world and activated them. Portals opened up in front of them on the rockface, and the three leapt through them. They once more flung through the void, landing firmly down in none other than Dareth's Dojo. The moment that they did touch the ground, the comms in their ears flared up as the signal connected.
"L...L… Lloyd!" Harumi's breathless voice came through, "You're here?! Where are you?!"
Lloyd tapped his comm, "We just got back home. Ophiod put us on the run. Did you get the plans?"
"Yes, we did," Over's deep voice came over the comm, "We're currently being pursued by Prime. We're going to keep him on our tails. Get to your group and get ready for us!"
"On it!" Lloyd turned to Monty and Lulloyd, "Let's go!"
The three quickly opened up another portal, this time to a place in this universe. With another flash, the three appeared in the air in the middle of a different part of the desert. When the three landed, Lloyd looked up to see a familiar sign in front of them.
"This better work," Monty growled, looking up to the flashing sign of Ed & Edna's Junkyard.
"It will," Lloyd quickly sprinted across the ground. His two companions followed him. Once they got in sight of the trailer inside the place, Pixal in her Samurai X attire stood there, holding up a large blueprint. Once they reached her, Pixal nodded to them. The three had returned to Lloyd's universe.
"I have brought the plans, as you requested," Pixal held them up, "If the plan has worked, then the one in the mech should believe that Harumi currently has them. I have used the diversion to gather the rest of the ninja, as per your request."
"Perfect," Lloyd panted, "Let's go!"
The four of them rushed into the junkyard. Ed and Edna stood in a circle with the other five ninja, all of whom were looking around in confusion. Once they saw Lloyd approaching, they immediately perked up.
"Lloyd!" Kai shouted, "He's back! Already!" Lloyd breathlessly thanked him as he arrived with the rest of them.
"So good to see you, dear," Edna beamed, then turned to see Monty and Lulloyd, "Oh! And you've brought more friends! I wish you'd told us sooner, I'd have made snacks!"
"Now now, dear, we can't go making snacks for all of Jay's friends, we'll run out of food!" Ed chuckled, "But, ah, it is good to see you again, Lloyd."
"Guys!" Jay turned towards his parents, "I told you, you gotta leave! We're gonna be fighting a giant mech here!"
"Oh, we've dealt with you bringing all sorts of danger in here before, son!" Ed laughed, "We'll just go hide in the bunker we built after that time with the skeletons!"
"So," Nya put a hand on her hip, "What's this plan of yours for taking down the mech? Pixal only told us she had some plans for us."
Lloyd didn't have the breath to respond. Instead, he grabbed the plans from Pixal and spread them out over the ground. The assembled group all gathered around and looked over it. Seeing it made Nya's eyes widen.
"This thing is gonna be huge…" Cole gasped, "Can we even make this?"
"Last time we made something like this, we only had four of us," Zane informed them, "With Nya and Lloyd's Spinjitzu combined with ours, our Tornado of Creation will be much larger."
"It's been a longgggg time since we've used that trick!" Kai stretched out his arms, "Let's make it count!"
"Lloyd, do you have faith this device will work?" Zane asked. Lloyd nodded.
"It has to," Lloyd beat his chest for a moment, "It'll work. Borg designed it to take down Invictus. Once he gets here, we'll make it right away. Our goal is to take him down so we can destroy the core inside of his mech. This will just stun him long enough to do that."
"So uh…" Jay rubbed his chin, "How long until he gets here?"
As if fate itself was mocking Jay, a loud crash sounded outside the main gate. Harumi, Over and Mage came sprinting inside the gates as Invictus loomed over them, casting a shadow over the group. The three skidded to a stop with the large group. Upon seeing the mech, Ed and Edna gave Jay a hug before quickly racing off to safety.
"Gotta… gotta do it now!" Mage gasped, "Can't… can't run any longer…"
"No use in running now!" Prime shouted, using Invictus to point a finger at them, "It's over now! It's time to meet your punishment for defying the Twins will!"
"Alright, team!" Lloyd shouted, "It's now or never! Let's do this!"