Invictus loomed over the Junkyard, drawing its two large swords and letting them crackle with power. The assembled group of alpha ninja and dimensional travelers all gathered around the unfurled plans, looking up towards the mech with worry in their eyes. Just from the stance the mech took, with its arms slung back, the large swords ready for combat the eyes sparking, there was an annoyed frantic energy that filled it, as though any minute Prime would spring forward and try to cleave apart the junkyard.
"Did you at least manage to get away from him?" Monty asked Over with a huff.
"Yes, and then he caught up to us again," Over formed his staff in hand, rearing it back and crouching down to spring forward himself, "It seems they truly are tracking us somehow."
Before Monty could ask another question, there was a sparkle of electricity in the air. A moment later, the gates to the junkyard gently opened, and from them Ophiod and Skales walked in, carrying their scrolled staff and blade respectively. Ophiod planted his staff down in the ground, looking towards the group with narrowed eyes.
"It looks as though the efforts of your ally bought you time," Ophiod hissed out, "But clearly, not enough." Lloyd turned to Monty. The ghost had no change in reaction.
"Where's Ronin?" Lulloyd asked. Ophiod moved to stand beside the trailer and shake his head.
Skales let out a scoff, "If you thought he could truly fight the Prince and win, you are mistaken."
"He is alive, to answer your question," Ophiod narrowed his gaze, "But, with both the tenacity he and you all assembled have shown, I have only one last thing to say. I give you this one last chance to honor the deal that we brokered. Surrender to us, return to your worlds, and we will offer mercy. You have my honor and trust as Prince of the Serpentine on it."
"Woah… now that I hear him, he sounds really regal," Jay shook his head, "Are you sure that's you?"
"It's complicated," Lloyd shook his head. When he took a step towards Ophiod, Invictus slammed its swords together. A loud crackling noise froze Lloyd in his tracks.
"Mercy?" Prime projected his voice through Invictus, "They stole my gift to her. They've fled from us and they invaded our homes. Do you really think it's worth letting them go?!"
"I understand your anger," Ophiod raised his free hand, "But I have already fought hard enough today. The last thing I would wish to do now is to create more undo violence."
Lloyd gritted his teeth. Behind him, his friends readied for battle. Harumi slowly charged up a large Rhotatae in her hands. Lulloyd held his sword drawn, panting as he did. Monty held up his newly acquired pistols, crossing them over his left arm. Over, as tired as he looked, once more began to bubble the shadows around him to defend himself. Mage hit his chest several times and focused, then raised his head and drew Aevum with a shaky hand. His friends each drew their weapons and readied for battle, while Pixal had her hand over her wrist to call her mech.
"The Twins destroyed an entire universe, Ophiod," Lloyd shook his head, "We can't let that stand! They've put everyone's lives in danger. Not just us! The fact you support them is more than we can overlook! You can't tell me that you think they're going to do anything good!"
"I know what they have done," Ophiod gripped his staff tighter, "But I also know what they can do. And I know standing beside them is far safer for my people than against them. Prime understands this as well. Do you truly think you can stand to them, Lloyd? When you've already failed so many times?"
"It doesn't matter how many times we try," Harumi spoke up, "Because that's not what's important. It's about fighting until we can win! We're not just fighting for ourselves! All of the people we care about are resting their hopes on us, even if they don't know it!"
"You've, crossed a line in supporting them," Lulloyd rotated his head, "We don't want to fight you, but we will! That's, that's the duty we took on in becoming ninja. The duty we took on in training!"
"Speak for yourselves," Monty aimed Ebony towards Ophiod, "I'm just really looking forward to paying back that snake for ticking me off."
"I can't let my friend's hopes down," Mage reached up to grip his chest, hefting Aevum up onto his shoulder, "I already worked it save my world once! And, now I'm going to do it again. No matter what you throw at us. So don't tell us not to fight!"
"All actions have their consequence, and the ones for what the Twins have done to me is death," Over's eyes glowed as the shadows frothed around him, "And any that will stand beside them will incur that risk. You have made an enemy of your Emperor, now be taught your place, morsel."
The six of them all stepped forward, lining up and pointing their weapons towards Prime and Ophiod. The sun behind them had begun to set, letting rays of red light frame them against the sunset. As they stood there, Ophiod let out a tssk and drew his staff, the scroll flaming up. Invictus pointed one blade down towards them, the massive blade casting a shadow that almost reached where the six stood.
"Wow…" Kai nodded his head, "That was pretty cool, guys."
"He really has replaced us," Nya scoffed, "Well, I guess they're good enough."
"Guys!" Lloyd shouted, "NOW!"
Lloyd leapt backwards towards his ninja. At the same time, the five travelers shot forward towards Ophiod. Monty and Harumi converged on Ophiod from both sides. Skales leapt up from behind him, catching Harumi's discs on his sword, while Ophiod rose up his shield to block Monty's bullets. Lulloyd rushed towards the two Serpentine outright, sliding his sword up from the ground to send a cloud of dust up towards them. While the two covered their eyes in time, Lulloyd was able to land a kick on Skales' shoulder before leaping back.
Overlloyd and Mage both raced for Invictus. Over focused and reached out for the shadows lining the wall of the junkyard. His eyes opened wide as he called upon Shadow Control, holding his four hands out and focusing. The shadows shot up in a massive wall, blocking the view to Invictus. Prime slashed through it with Invictus' sword, which was right when Mage jumped into the air and kicked the sword with a flash of wind, metal and gravity all at once. Invictus was thrown back. When Mage landed, he gave a long pant and focused, turning his body into a massive lamp with light to strengthen the shadows around the wall for Over to continue to block the view.
"Now's our chance!" Lloyd jumped and landed on top of a pile of junk, "Let's do this!"
"On it!" Kai smashed his fists together, "FIRE!" His fiery Spinjitzu crackled to life.
"LIGHTNING!" Jay joined him.
"EARTH!" Cole shouted.
"ICE!" Zane boomed.
"WATER!" Nya cried out.
"ENERGY!" Lloyd spun forward, meeting the five tornados all at once.
The six combined forces of Spinjitzu rapidly began to blend together, fading into each other and the colors spinning up and down the bands. With a massive blast of light, the tornado doubled, tripled and quadrupled in size. A rainbow of the ninja's colors cascaded up and down the tornado, gold twinkling in along with it. The light spilled out around the junkyard, casting away the deep red rays of sunset to alight the junkyard with this light. The combination of their powers grew their Spinjitzu until the force of it began to lift the pieces of junk in the air and into their creation.
Ophiod's eyes widened seeing the sight. After a moment of shock, he turned to Skales with a worried glare. The other snake nodded his head, and the two linked arms together. Just as Monty and Harumi went in for another strike, the two twisted into Spinjitzu. Monty let his body partially slide through it and away, while Harumi struck the ground with Rhotatae to leapt away. The Spinjitzu Dyad shot across the ground, moving straight for the Tornado of Creation, its height growing to steadily begin to challenge the ninja.
Just as the two Serpentine struck it, however, the Tornado sparked a golden color. Inside, Lloyd, surrounded by his five friends, opened his eyes shining a bright green and thrust his hand forward. His friends let out a shout of 'NINJA-GO!' with him as they slammed the full force of the Tornado against them. Ophiod and Skales pressed against them, their bright copper and blue trying to overtake the golden rainbow. Lloyd inhaled, then gave one massive push with all he had. Ophiod and Skales were thrown backwards, their tornado destabilizing and sending the two sliding apart across the ground.
All around the junkyard, the bits and pieces of metal all sucked together and fueled the creation. The blueprints were sucked in as well, fueling the creation even further. Ophiod surrounded himself and Skales in magic and lifted them up into the air and away from the sight. The two landed atop another pile of trash, watching the spectacle. Invictus plunged its swords into the shadow wall and ripped it open, allowing Prime to watch the beautiful sight come to its completion.
With a few final twists, the six ninja slid to a stop. Sitting between them sliding across the ground was a massive bow and arrow. The thing was a beautiful sleek white and blue, the string made of woven metal fibers. A massive light blue arrow was already notched, and furthermore, the arrow was attached to a massive cable nearly a hundred feet in length to a massive generator. Emblazoned on the side of the bow were the letters S.A.D. (along with a small Borg logo). As the six turned to look at their creation, Lloyd's eyes widened.
"Wait a minute!" Lloyd shouted, "This isn't what Borg made!"
"Yeah, it's just a giant bow!" Cole shouted, "Why did we make a bow?!"
"Wait, it wasn't supposed to be a bow?" Jay asked. The five all turned their gaze to him.
"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A BALLISTA, JAY!" Kai shouted, "You know, something that we wouldn't need to pull back to fire!"
"Oohhhhhh!" Jay blushed, "Heh… sorry…"
"What are these letters?" Nya asked, "SAD?"
"Self-perpetuating Automated Destabilizer," Zane informed them, "According to the blueprint."
"Are you kidding me?!" Monty shouted, "I take it back, Morro's ninja are officially a few brain cells smarter than all of you combined!"
"...Did he just say Morro?" Kai asked.
The conversation the ninja had was abruptly cut short as Invictus swung its swords overtop the wall of the junkyard. The swords cleaved a massive chunk from the walls and seared apart the heaps of trash. Ophiod and Skales leapt down to avoid it. The now perfectly flat-topped piles were smoking as the heat from the swords charred them. Invictus raised its swords as Prime's voice boomed over them.
"So, even in your last desperate attempt, you cannot hope to match Invictus!" Prime shouted, "Just as it should be! You've been hiding for too long, Lloyd! Time to smoke you out!"
Prime pressed his swords together and formed them into the large sword, while drawing one of his smaller rifles in the other hand. He let loose a barrage of bullets straight through the junkyard, tearing apart the ground and forcing them all to scatter in both directions. Over leapt backwards from the wall and hurled a beam of dark power up to knock the rifle back enough to throw the next volley off to carve through the desert beside the walls.
"What do we do now?" Mage looked to the massive bow. The thing had to be at least thirty feet tall, and even with his full strength, he wouldn't be able to lift it, "What else do we have?!"
"That was it!" Lloyd got up, shakily holding his swords,"We'll, just have to fight the old fashioned way!"
Pixal, whom until now had seemingly disappeared, suddenly crashed down onto the ground with her Samurai X Mech. The blue mech tried to wrap its arms around the thing, but to no avail. After a few seconds of struggling, Pixal shook her head.
"I cannot lift it," Pixal declared with worry in her voice, "We must find another way!"
Invictus, however, wasn't going to wait for them. Ophiod looked to the mech, then let out a sigh and backed up with Skales. Prime raised his hands up over his head, clasping the single massive sword Invictus now held in both hands. The slight smoke wafting up from the junkyard let them all look up to the massive white and green mech hefting its sword up to destroy them all. Before Lloyd could open his mouth, Prime let out a shout and thrust his arms down. Invictus responding, sending its sword straight down to cleave straight through the middle of the junkyard.
Lloyd shut his eyes, ready to take the impact. Instead, a massive creak filled the junkyard. Lloyd nervously opened his eyes, and in doing so he saw Over. The dark figure was standing in front of them all, his body half smoke. From dark holes in the ground, two massive dragon limbs had emerged to grab the sword. The dark claws were wrapped around and holding the massive blade mere inches from Over's head. Smoke rose up from the sizzling of the shadows on the sword. Over lowered his head and gave a long growl. More of his body turned to smoke, causing the dragon limbs to grow in size and push up against the sword. With a large heave, Over threw the sword up and back.
"Truly, you can't do anything correct," Over's body turned solid as the dragon limbs retracted back into the ground and into his body, "I will take that bow. You must promise not to drop dead in fright with what you see, do you understand?"
Lloyd slowly nodded his head, the stunned rest of the group nodding along with him. Over took a deep breath, then clasped his hands together. Slowly, his body began to twitch and shake. For a few moments, Over's face twisted in pain. He let out several long growls, each one growing in intensity. Finally, with a loud beastial growl, his body fully turned to shadow.
"It's been a long time since we assumed this form," The Overlord's voice pulsed from the mass of shadows.
"And we will make it a worthy use of it," Overlloyd informed them, "Now, let us focus."
In the blink of an eye, the shadows suddenly broke apart and spread across the ground. The assembled group were forced to back up as the shadows spread up across the ground. Slowly, they spread out and began to crackle. They almost seemed to stretch like flesh, growing to expand even further than they began. Pure dark power started to course within the mass, stretching out to connect it all together. And then, with one last pulse, two slitted purple eyes formed at the front of the shadow.
The shadows released into four limbs. The limbs dripped with shadows until they were wiped forward to form four massive scaled legs. The shadows pulsed as claws as long as any of them were tall grew from each of them. The legs stamped the ground and pushed up, forcing the shadows between them to rise from the ground. A massive, black scaled body formed between the four legs, slender and lithe. The two front legs raised up and began to contort. Massive wings began to sprout from the shoulders of the body, fusing the front two limps into massive wings. Purple skin formed between the large, spindly bones of black that created the frame of wings. From the other side, shadows shot together to form a long purple spiked black tail that snappd through the air.
Finally, the head of the beast came together. The shadows rushed together to form an oval shaped head. The top and bottom jaw sprouted massive teeth that formed a web of sharp blades for the mouth. The purple eyes slid back on the head. Two long tendrils sprouted from the nose and raised up into the air, undulating behind the beast's head. The transformation complete, the beast stood up on its back two legs, reared its head back, and let out a roar that threatened to deafen all those that heard it. A spray of purple flames shot up like a pillar from its lips until the beast closed its lips of teeth.
"BEHOLD," The dragon roared, "THE TRUE FORM OF THE ONE OVER ALL!" Before them, stood the Overlord's dragon form.
Seeing such a thing was enough to make many of the assembled group back up. Kai, Cole and Jay each had gone white with shock, and almost dropped their weapons. Zane himself was stunned, unable to make words, just like his robotic companion. Harumi and Lloyd both felt waves of confusion, fear and terror wash through them seeing such a sight once more. Lulloyd was frozen to his spot. Monty and Mage seemed to be the only ones not paralyzed, and even then, Mage's fingers twitched as his eyes stared wide eyed at the shadowy beast.
"What…" Prime took a step back in his cockpit, causing Invictus to take a step back, "What… What are you…?" Prime's eyes widened as he watched the dragon spread its wings, casting a shadow across the mech. Prime's body went cold as he took another step back, causing his back to hit the back of his cockpit. Invictus took two steps back and remained firm.
Prime looked down. His vision was hazing over. He raised his hands, finding they were trembling. His breath began to suck through his lips in gasps, and seeing such a thing in front of him was enough to make his entire body go completely frozen. In front of his eyes, the view outside his cockpit began to shift violently. The darkening sunset turned to pure black. His hand shot up over his face as he watched the small dragon in the junkyard begin to consume his view. Shadows consumed the world around Invictus, and in the middle of it, Prime saw a pair of purple eyes glare through him. As he saw such a sight, his hand reached down and gripped the floor of his mech.
"N-No…." Prime clutched his chest, the other hand clutching his face, "N-No… no you're gone. You're, you're gone. You're gone! Gone! You're dead! Dead! I killed you! No! No! NO!"
Prime forced himself onto his feet. When he did, he looked out the cockpit to see Over's dragon launch from the ground and shoot right for him. The sight flashed a recognition in his eyes, a recognition that caused him to shout in terror. He thrust his arms in front of his face, just in time for Over to strike and throw invictus onto its back. The dragon soared up into the air and landed in front of the junkyard, letting out another roar. Hearing it made Prime cover his ears.
"SHUT UP!" Prime shouted, "DON'T MAKE THAT NOISE! DON'T GET NEAR ME!" Hearing his cries, Invictus' eyes began to glow a bright green. The core in the mech spun faster, and on the display in front of them, a meter labeled 'SYNC' climbed past a notch labeled 50.
Over shot into the air to make another attack. Invictus, however, moved unnaturally fast, drawing its swords as Prime thrust his hands in front of him. The swords charged up and fired a blast of green from their lengths, one that made Over snap his wings out to stop himself. The beast cast a dark shadow across the mech. As Prime raised his head to see the beast flying in front of him, dominating the mech's view, he let out another shout. The number climbed to 65.
Prime threw his blades out in front of him and slashed apart, trying to cleave through Over. The mech moved faster than even its normal speed, the blades nearly clipping Over's chest. The dragon flapped backwards back over the junkyard. Invictus stood up, gripping its swords and hunched over as Prime clutched his chest. His heart was pounding hard enough to almost hurt. His vision was still hazy. The cockpit suddenly felt small. Too small. He looked up, seeing his screen flashing with things previously not there. Messages, alerts, targeting systems, all things that overwhelmed him. He swiped wildly with his arms, trying ot hit Over. Over simply backed up until the mech was out of range.
"YOU HAVE DEFIED ME LONG ENOUGH, PRIME," Over's voice boomed from the dragon's lips, "AND NOW IT IS TIME TO BRING HOME YOUR REWARD FOR YOUR EFFORTS."
Over swooped across the sky. The darkness seemed to follow him as he did, making it feel as though night had already descended. The dragon flapped until it hovered over the bow, clutching it in its back talons and hefting it up. With the weight of its wings, the beast was able to heave it up and off the ground. Just as it began to leave the ground, the dragon let out one more word.
"MONTY!" Over shouted. Monty, watching it all happen, perked up as realization flashed in his eyes. The ghost thrust hte SoS into Lulloyd's hands, thrusting Ebony and Ivory under his armor and running at full speed for the bow. He dove in and possessed it just as Over fully lifted it from the ground. Once the two were up in the air, the cable connecting to the generator began to tighten.
"What's the plan here?" Monty asked from inside the bow.
"YOU WILL TELL ME WHEN MY AIM IS TRUE," Over declared, "AND WE WILL TAKE DOWN THAT MACHINE TOGETHER."
"Hmmph," Monty sighed, "Fine. How are you going to fire it with just two legs?"
With a loud roar, the dragon's wings seemed to split at the base. The wings shifted back along its shoulders, while two legs formed in the front. With its new front legs, the dragon leaned its body upwards and let its wings carry it into the air. Turning to face his side towards Invictus, the dragon hefted the bow up. With one massive clawed hand, it gripped the front, and the other the string and notched arrow. As soon as it did, the arrow began to spark to life as the generator sent power coursing through it.
"Don't fire until I tell you to," Monty told Over through the bow, "You're going to get one shot."
"THEN DO NOT LEAD ME ASTRAY!" The dragon growled.
On the ground, Ophiod finally got ahold of himself. Seeing the dragon in the air, readying a massive bow to strike down Invictus, his eyes flashed with his own understanding. Ophiod turned to the cable connecting to the arrow, understanding coming through his eyes. He brandished his staff and slithered straight for it. His free hand grabbed the still stunned Skales to yank him along.
Lulloyd landed in front of Ophiod, locking his sword with Ophiod's staff. Ophiod gave a growl of anger and thrust him back, looking around and dodging the followup strike. Skales, still almost glassy eyed with the sight of what had just happened, raised his sword to try to strike. In turn, Mage appeared from a flash of speed to slice the sword with Aevum. Slowed time transferred into Skales, making his world go sluggish. Ophiod, seeing this, frowned and grabbed Skales, opening a portal that the two, regardless of the time, ducked into before they could be attacked. The two appeared beside the cable up to the arrow in the sky, Ophiod raising his staff to cleave through it.
Just before he could, a blast of fire shot out and nearly fried his face. Ophiod turned to see Kai lowering a sword, his own body still shaking but unwilling to let him fight. Ophiod was then knocked back by a blast of water from Nya. Jay and Cole moved to surround him. Ophiod inhaled, ready to absorb their powers. Just before he could, he heard something behind him. A moment later, both he and Skales had been flash frozen by Zane's ice. The ninja looked up towards the beast they had fought to destroy before, now holding the weapon they made to win the fight.
Prime had climbed to his feet inside of Invictus again, breathing deeply. He forced his body down, his fear. His memories. He forced his hands to remove themselves from his ears, looking towards the dragon in the sky. He felt fear towards the thing. The thing that had taken everything from him. That had taken her from him. And, in turn, Prime focused all he had on the beast. Not his fear. Not his sorrow. But instead, the anger that he kept in the bottom of his heart. The anger boiled through him, letting him burn through his fear and fuel his passion. A passion that caused the SYNC meter to raise all the way to 70.
"N-No…" Prime thrust his arms to his sides, "N-No! I won't let you take me down! You won't win again, you dark beast! You monster! I will destroy you! I will take you down! As many times as it takes… as many times as I must. I will never allow you to take anything more form me! From the people! It is time for you to disappear!"
Invictus took hold of its twin swords once more, ready to attack. Prime took a few deep breaths. He could feel things. He could feel the ground under the mech's feet. The wind that buffeted it. The last rays of sunlight shining on the mech's hull. This was what it meant to be in sync. This was what it meant to fight with the core. And with that power, Prime charged. Invictus ran straight towards the dragon, the jets firing in its feet.
"...Wait for it…" Monty ordered, "Get ready to fire the… SAD? Ugh, stupid name. I got something better."
Over gave no such reaction. The dragon just held its stance. Waiting. The ninja all looked up as Invictus charged the mech, drawings its sword together. Invictus looked powerful. Battle ready. Moving more fluidly than any machine should have. Over waited, the dragon letting Prime charge him with all he had.
With a loud shout, Invictus fired its jets and leapt right up into the air, bringings its swords together to impale the dragon in the air. It moved so fast that Lloyd wasn't even able to see when it left the ground. The swords cleaved right through the air, ready to impale the dragon. Prime shouted in his cockpit, his eyes flaring green as he readied to destroy Over where he stood.
Just as the swords were about to touch the dragon's chest, the dragon's wings shot up through the sky. Prime's eyes widened as he watched the dragon move even faster than the mch. Even faster than he was. And the dragon twisted in the air, its wings firing itself down upside down behind Invictus. In those few seconds, the point of the arrow lined up perfectly with Invictus' lower back. Monty's eyes glowed.
"Now!" Monty shouted. Over drew the string back, the force of it far more than any machine could hope to produce. The arrow glowed and burned with blue power in the air, lighting up all along its length. Just as he drew the full length, Over let out a draconic snarl and let the arrow fly, "SHINY! ARC!"
The arrow fired straight and true. As soon as the arrow struck true, it penetrated all the way to Invictus' core. The moment that it did, all of the power it'd been storing up was shot straight into the spinning green orb. Prime's eyes widened as his entire body locked up as pain exploded all through his back. All of Invictus' body was sent alight with blue sparks as the energy was discharged right into the core, causing it to fully destabilize. Prime was thrown forward into the front of his cockpit, his body going limp the moment that it did. The lights inside Invictus turned off as the mech fully locked up, its jets failing it and falling from the sky.
With a loud crash, Invictus came to crash into the ground in front of the Monastery. The impact kicked a cloud up around it, momentarily obscuring the mech. When it cleared, all those inside the junkyard were made to look upon the mech's face. The eyes on it flickered for a few moments. Once last discharge through the wire connecting the arrow now lodged in the mech's back, however, caused the eyes to spark and slowly dim.
In the air, Over's massie dragon claws dropped the bow. Monty leapt out of it and hovered in the air, looking up. The dragon was heaving hard, and was starting to look as though it was melting. Over carried himself towards the ground, slamming into it himself when he did. Slowly, the shadows began to melt and turn to mist again, rushing towards the center of the dragon. When the shadows fully collheased again, Over's four armed form was together once more. Forming his staff in his hand, Over planted it into the ground and grabbed it, taking in deep breaths as he did.
"Why did you stop?" The Overlord asked from his lips.
"That form is one I will lose myself in," Overlloyd responded, looking towards Invictus, "And our work is not yet finished. I will show him my gratitude by finishing him off, personally."
Before Monty could speak another word, Over raised his staff and sent out blasts of dark power from his bottom two arms. He propelled his body right across the ground, aiming right for the cockpit of Invictus. When he reached the mech, he crouched and shot up into the air, spinning and heaving his staff in front of him. Bringing it down in front of him, Over gave a loud shout and prepared to plunge his staff straight down into the wound the arrow had opened. When he landed, he plunged his staff in hard and wrenched it open.
With the metal opened, he looked inside to see Prime's unconscious body. Reaching out, he grasped the body in dark power and hefted him up into the air. With his body extracted from his mech, Prime looked small. Small, limp, and unable to defend himself. With one hand holding him in the air, Over pulled his staff back with the other. The action was so fast that Lloyd had only just begun realizing what was happening.
"It is time to pay your price, foolish boy," Over growled, "I will ensure that I do not drag this out!"
"That… is enough."
A new voice cut through the air. Over turned his head to face it, just in time to see a massive chunk of metal come flying for his face. Over dropped Prime and leapt away, landing beside the mech. The moment he did, something slammed down atop the mech, looking down towards him. The figure was dark all over, bipedal and humanoid. They reached out down and picked up Prime, turning him to lay on his back. In contrast to the rest of his body, his face appeared orange.
"Who are you?" Over growled, raising his staff to blast them, "I will not take lightly-"
"I said," The figure raised his hand, "That… is enough."
Over looked around, seeing metal from all around him suddenly suspended in the air. Over leapt up and dodged as they all came flying towards him, guided in a perfect arc. Over landed on the ground in front of the junkyard, just in time to feel something slam into his back. Ed and Edna's trailer went spiralling off into the air, guided form hitting him. Over collapsed onto his knees, just in time for the figure to step forward through the gates and kicked his face, sending him sprawling into the dirt.
"Over!" Lloyd rushed up to him, bending down to look at him. Over simply growled and slowly pushed himself up onto his rear, looking towards. Lloyd turned to face the figure, anger overtaking his features.
"Who are you?!" Lloyd shouted, "What are you-"
As Lloyd got a good look at the figure, a feeling of cold dreaded familiarity overtook him. The figure's body was black, with a strange white necklace wrapped around his neck and covering most of his chest. He was just as tall as any of them, but seeing him brought with it a confused feeling that Lloyd couldn't place. But notably, was his face. Rather, the fact Lloyd couldn't see it, instead, he was wearing something. A mask. An orange mask.
"Y-You're wearing… that's the Oni Mask of Deception!" Lloyd thrust his sword towards the figure, "That thing was destroyed! Where'd you get it!?"
"I crafted it," The figure explained, his voice dry and emotionless, "It is merely an imitation of the real thing. One that is far more potent than the magic contained in the true mask. For I was able to craft it with the true power of what it wished to emulate."
"T-Take it off!" Lloyd shouted, "Take off that mask! Tell us who you are!"
The figure at first was completely silent. Then, slowly, they reached their hand up. They took hold of the mask on their face and slowly pulled it off. The horns of the mask slowly retreated back into it, and the figure placed it on his hip. He revealed a face that was similarly black, with small horns sprouting from his head. He had no hair, and instead black armor that almost seemed fused into his body sprouted from his shoulders. His mouth was small and filled with fangs, two of which curled up from his lower lip. But what stood out was his eyes. They were not black, nor purple like Over's. Despite the resemblance he shared with Over, his eyes were a shining, stunning, green.
"I go by many names. The True Balance. The Alpha. But I know you will know one name in particular," The face that was no doubt Lloyd's own spoke in a deep, booming voice, "I am Lloyd, the one and true Oni. One that has come to stop the destruction of the balance that you eight have perpetuated."
With how the group stared at him in disbelief, the self-proclaimed Oni paused, "Perhaps I shall take another form," Slowly, Oni brought his hands together and pressed them against his chest. A strange purple line began to pulse through his body, separating and sliding up his body. When the line passed through him, he changed his form. At first, he started to look human, showing skin. However, it quickly became apparent that that wasn't the case. Starting at his chest and running up his arms, green scales formed, almost dragon-like in their appearance. His entire torso was a fusion of dragon patterns of lighter green scales fading into dark green scales and then to skin. Said deeper green scales slid down his arms and consumed them as it did, making his arms transition from human to dragon, with his hands growing to massive four taloned claws and become fully dragon-like. The same happened with his legs, his feet similarly turning to dragon-like claws. The white necklace was still around his neck. He wore simple black pants, which appeared to be all he would. His face had the dragon scales reaching up either side of his cheeks, but didn't overtake his features. His hair transitioned from blonde to white, and from the front of his head, two green horns, identical to his oni ones, sprouted from his forehead. His eyes remained the same, deep green and pulsing. When he opened his mouth, he had sharp and animalistic teeth. He looked to be a perfect fusion of man and dragon. The Oni Mask reamined hooked on his belt.
"As you can see, I have accepted my dragon blood in my body as well," Oni changed his voice, sounding far younger at first and in one much closer to Lloyd's normal voice. His face, however, remained expressionless.
Oni's eyes darted to his side. Just as he did, he raised his clawed left hand and grabbed Mage's hand, freezing his attempt to strike him from behind with Aevum. Oni looked to Mage curiously, then pulled Mage towards his body. Mage shouted as the dragon claws dug into his left hand and lifted him up off the ground.
"That is a powerful sword," Oni starred deep into Mage's eyes, "But it is not yours," Oni twisted Mage's hand until he let out a pained screech, then threw Mage and sword off towards Lloyd, "Give that back to Acronix when you are finished."
Lloyd caught Mage just before he hit the ground. Mage's hand was bleeding, with three large bloody gashes now along the back of it. Mage growled and tried to sit up, freezing his left hand with his right and picking up Aevum with his right. Oni just stared at them.
"Wait, did you say Acronix?" Lloyd blinked, "How'd you know who gave him that sword?!"
"Because, I've been watching you since the moment you left that boy's world," Oni declared.
Lulloyd landed on top of the overturned trailer, hefting up a massive brick-built pair of tweezers. He clamped them down over Oni's body, then turned to try to move them. Oni flexed his arms, causing them to break apart. Lulloyd's eyes revealed his shock, letting Oni don the Mask of Deception once more. The moment he did, all the garbage around Lulloyd was drawn to him like a magnet, clamping down on him and letting Oni send him hurtling across the junkyard.
Over, finally having regained his breath, turned his staff into his four dark purple blades and rushed him. Oni opened his palm, letting purple magic bubble from it. A dark red Oni Mask formed in it, which he traded for the orange he wore. Lloyd watched as his body burned with orange veins and four red blades formed in his hands. Over's assault was met with the four blades of the empowered Oni Mask of Vengeance. Over slashed his blade apart, throwing Oni's guard open and ramming his head forward to throw Oni back several steps. Over pressed his advantage, readying his blades to attack. The two locked blades, and Over pushed with all his strength. For a few moments, Oni struggled. Then, a red aura surrounded Over's body.
"What is this?!" The Overlord growled out as the aura flared around Over. Suddenly, the strength in Over's body diminished. His already tired body now had nothing more to give. Oni looked down for a moment, then let out a long growl. The aura transferred from Over ot Oni, at which point it began to glow. Over realized what was happening a moment before a blast of red power sent Over rolling across the ground.
"The… The Mask of Vengeance couldn't do that," Lloyd shakily held his blades.
"I have already told you," Oni's voice was muffled by the mask, but still his own, "These are not made by impure hands. The Oni Warlords fashioned them as tools. I, as extensions of myself."
Lulloyd crawled his way over from the heaps of trash, looking roughed up but ready to fight. Lloyd, Lulloyd and Harumi all locked eyes together. Once they did, the three decided to throw their own hats into the ring. The three rushed from opposite angles, their swords and discs caught on Oni's weapons. The figure took a deep breath, then raised his head. The four of them rapidly slashed their blades together, Harumi throwing discs all over Oni's empowered form.
The other ninja, finally ready to help, each decided to add to the fray. Oni, seeing this, crouched down and jumped into the air, knocking his attackers back. He landed a few feet away, then raised his hands. Dark power, not unlike that Over produced, emanated from his hands and blasted out towards the group. Lloyd and Harumi threw up their shields, but were sent as projecticles to knock the ninja down.
Oni suddenly jerked his head up, just in time to drop two of his weapons to trap the golden glow of the SoS between his palms. The tip of the sword sunk into his mask, splitting it right down the middle and causing it to fall from his face. The blades and his empowered body vanished, returning him to his half-dragon body. His clawed hands, however, kept Monty's blade inches from his face, Monty hovering in the air from having blasted straight down from the sky.
"This… sword…" Oni's eyes flashed with emotion none of them had seen yet, "This… is the sword of destiny itself. Sanctuary. Why do you have it?"
"Who knows?" Monty scoffed. He tried to push the sword in further, but Oni refused to budge. Monty reached down and drew Ebony, aiming the massive rifle at Oni's left hand. With two blasts, two bullets crumpled against his scales but jerked Oni's arm. Monty yanked his sword back and landed in front of Oni, aiming Ebony at him in his left hand and the SoS in his right.
"I know who you are," Oni ignored the two scorch marks on his hand, "You are a reject of destiny. You are a scar upon the beauty the sword reflects. A wound that refuses to heal…" Oni lowered his gaze, "That sword should not belong in yours hands. I had hoped until now you were carrying a simple fake… but the glow, that cannot be mistaken."
"Yeah, yeah," Monty sighed, "You're not the first. Now then," Monty cocked Ebony again, "Tell us why you're here," Monty's cape flared up behind him, flapping violently in a wind of his own making, "I'm the only one that gets a dramatic entrance."
Oni stared at the SoS for several moments. The group slowly began to get up, each keeping a large distance from Oni. Only Monty stood anywhere near hurting him, and the ghost had already seen him stopping the SoS with just his hands at full speed. For a few moments, the two starred each other down. Oni finally relented first, bending down to collect the broken halves of his mask.
"...Monty, yes?" Oni looked up towards him, gesturing at the SoS in his hands, "That thing does not accept you. You've forced your will onto it. You are an impure vessel for it. You have not accepted yourself like I have. If I were to touch your sword, I would use it immediately."
"Yeah, right," Monty spat, "You think this thing is just going to-"
Actually, he makes a good point, The SoS' voice flared in Monty's head, He would make a fine Master for me.
Monty looked down at the golden blade, his eyes flaring with rage, anger, and some potent cocktail of emotions that would make most beings back down. The sword, however, had no reaction to him. Monty let that feeling persist for a few more seconds, then turned his attention back to Oni with a vile look on his face. Oni tucked the broken halves of his mask into his belt.
"As I have said, you eight are perpetuating a disturbance in the balance," Oni shook his head, "A balance that is more than just what you have limited your eyes to see. Any of us that can sense the balance can feel it twisting and contorting around you. The events that you have set in motion are ones that will affect far more than the worlds you have seen."
"And so, what?" Monty scoffed, "You're some sort of cop for this balance?"
"I am someone with the power to do something about it," Oni retorted, "Someone that is able to see more than just my own world. Someone that knows if the balance is not restored, things will be set in motion none of us can undo."
"But… but what are you talking about?!" Harumi shouted out, "None of us know what you mean!"
"I believe you do," Oni turned to face Over's body still lying on the ground, "You have seen the life in his world snuffed out, have you not?"
Hearing that was enough to make Lloyd freeze. Freeze in a way that he didn't quite understand. If what Oni was saying was true, however, he was piecing it together quickly. Oni seemed to know this instantly, as he turned to face Lloyd with eyes that, despite being similar to his own, felt far more intense than Lloyd had ever let his own be.
"You feel it," Oni raised his hand to point to Lloyd, "You are part Oni. None of the others here have the blood like you do. Theirs is diluted and lost. You know what I refer to, Lloyd. If balance is not restored, then other worlds are in danger."
With the way that Oni had captured everyone's attention, Ophiod, still frozen through the battle, finally made his move. His staff lit up with magic, melting the ice and freeing himself and Skales. He grabbed Skales and teleported the two to the wall behind where Oni stood. Ophiod intended to run and collect Prime. Instead, when Ophiod went to move, Oni appeared in front of him. Ophiod tensed up immediately, raising his staff up defensively. Oni, however, shook his head.
"Collect your friend," Oni informed him, "I must speak to the Twins. I require an audience, and you will introduce me to them."
Monty, who had his gun trained on Oni the entire time, wasn't quite sure where he went. In anger, he went to fire at Oni. Ophiod went to summon magic, but Oni instead raised his hand and formed a shadowy cloud in front of him. The bullets disappeared inside and vanished. Oni lowered his hand, then looked back to Ophiod.
"Take me to the Twins," Oni repeated.
"Wait a minute!" Lulloyd leapt forward, "You're talking about balance, and you wanna go to the guys that destroyed an entire universe?!"
Oni didn't turn to face Lulloyd, "Between your group, and the Twins, the Twins have demonstrated power sufficient to tip the balance of worlds. Therefore, it stands to reason that they have the power to balance it again. Be that destroying another world, or creating one."
"T-That's insane!" Lloyd stepped forward, "Do you know the Twins?! You've been following us, right? Don't you know who they are?!"
"I do," Oni took a few steps out of the junkyard, "I care not for the means here. Balance does not mean justice. It is my job to arbitrate for that which is far beyond what you have felt. And therefore, I must do what is right for it. If you had stopped the Twins before now, we would not have ever met in our lifetimes. Now," Oni stopped his step, "Ophiod. I request an audience with them. Take me to them. I will help you collect your friend."
Ophiod was frozen in place. Skales looked to Ophiod nervously, unsure what exactly was going on. The look on Ophiod's face, however, was one that knew the same. The Viper seemed to debate what the right choice of action was, and was asking if it was the one he wished to go with. In the end, however, he began to slither after Oni, with Skales pausing for a moment before doing the same.
"You think…." Over finally began to force himself back up again, "That we will… let you leave? And take our victory from us?"
"No," Oni stopped, "I do not. Ophiod. Stand in front of me."
Ophiod, unsure of what was going on, did so, holding Skales to his side. Over, ready to attack, launched himself forward, pushing himself again to try to take down the two. Oni, however, raised his hands and brought them to his face. His eyes turned from green to purple, and then his hands extended. A ball of purple shot from them, then soared over to strike the ground right in front of Lloyd. In a split second, the ball broke apart, spilling a purple smoke that covered the entire junkyard in its darkness. All of them, Over included, were swallowed whole by its darkness.
As soon as the smoke enveloped him, Lloyd felt his body go cold. The air felt thick, making his lungs strain. The world around him was nothing but purple and black, and even with his hand in front of his face, he couldn't see anything. Around him, the others did the same. The ninja fell to their knees and gasped as they tried to breathe. Harumi felt hazy and managed to stay on her feet, but Lulloyd and Mage collapsed. Over was frozen to the spot in confusion as the effects began to creep up on him, his sense of direction fading and leaving him unable to determine which was out. Monty was the only one not affected, and tried to blast his way up through the cloud.
Oni walked his way up to the downed Invictus, with Prime's body still slumped against it. Oni turned to Ophiod, who looked up to him with suspicion in his eyes.
"How is it that you have normally travelled?" Oni asked.
"I don't," Ophiod informed him, "Prime is the one that can do that. His core is able to calculate and determine how to move through the void, as I have been told."
"I see," Oni opened his hand and let power manifest in his hand, revealing a shining, brilliant blue crystal in his palm, "Then I will use this." Oni had Ophiod drag Prime and Skales inside the cockpit, while he himself stood atop the mech. Focusing, he poured power into the crystal, turning its blue interior to a burning purple. With a flicker of his eyes, a small bit of green infused into the center. All at once, the crystal reacted, and with it, the ground under them opened up into a massive portal. It grew and expanded until all of Invictus' massive form was covered, at which point Oni shut his eyes. The mech, his three escorts and himself all sunk into the portla, fading into the ground.
Gunshots rang out as Monty shot through the air, having emerged from the portal and trying to cut off their escape. His bullets were sent into the void as the portal rapidl shrank. He pulled the SoS back and thrust it forward towards the shutting portal. Just as it shut, the sword plunged into the dirt, gashing it as Monty's eyes trembled in rage. With his eye twitching, Monty shouted and fired Ebony several times at the ground, then tossed it aside to draw Ivory and do the same thing. It wasn't until both clips were empty he let his anger subside.
That was excessive, Monty's rage was rekindled as the SoS' voice rang in his mind, And such a display is wasteful.
"I don't remember giving a crap about your opinion," Monty spat at the sword, "Or seeing a single vision. You could have shown me he was going to block my attack!"
I have no reason to, The SoS spoke up once more before its voice began to fade, Just as you have no reason to call yourself my Master, Master.
Monty's eye twitched. For a moment, he considered trying to snap the thing over his knee. Instead, Monty thrust around and held his hands out, channeling his anger into a blast of gale force winds straight towards the junkyard. It ripped around the walls and through the junk, blasting the smoke apart and freeing the sight of all those inside. When he'd finally dispersed it enough for them all to see, Monty gripped his fists and yanked the SoS out of the ground, not bothering to clean it as he sheathed it on his back. He picked up his two pistols and slid them onto his belt, then slowly walked towards the junkyard.
All around the junkyard, everyone began to rise up. Lloyd and Harumi helped to pick Mage and Lulloyd up. Over was on all fours, his energy sapped form him. The ninja had to be helped up by the travelers. All of them slowly got to their feet, sans Over.
"I… I am the one.. Who rules over all…" Over gripped his hands tightly into the dirt, clawing up handfulls of it, "Why… why am I always being humiliated like this? I do not deserve this. I cannot defeat even a lowly Serpentine…"
"They're gone," Monty shouted as he walked into the junkyard, "Teleported away. They're off to see our mortal enemies."
"..." Harumi gripped her fists, "After all of this… all this planning... "
"We should've seen this happening," Lloyd muttered, "Should've… should've planned for it."
"But, how?" Mage rubbed his arm, "I never even felt that anyone was following us before…"
"Doesn't matter how, doesn't matter why," Monty growled, "All that does matter is they've gotten away. We're gonna be out on this mission awhile longer."
Hearing those words were enough to bring down the mood even more than they already had. The now ruined and trashed junkyard finally had the last rays of sunset strip from it, and instead the stars sparkled in the sky. Night had fallen, just as their plan had. Another party had entered this game, and it seemed their strife had just begun anew.
Author's Note:
I really wish that this anniversary had come one day later so this chapter of NV would have been released on it. Well either way, here's to 10 Years of Ninjago, everyone! If you haven't, please go check out the Ninjago Zine released for the anniversary! I wrote a small piece for it very much in the style of Autobiography of a Legend. Thank you all for keeping this fandom alive and kicking for this long!