Over stared at the boy in front of him. The image of Sun was one that brought that deep terror inside of him welling up even faster than his own loathing. He stood up by reflex, his hand opening to allow for his weapon to form from the Dark Matter inside of him and slowly slide out of his palm. Only one of his blades, however, emerged, jutting out from his wrists as though bones ripped out for combat. The blade dripped and swirled in color as the shaking wrist held it up in front of him.
"No…" Over shook his head, "No, no, no. I refuse to allow the dead to rise from their graves. You are not even the dead. You have never existed."
"That is true, Emperor," Sun nodded his head, "But I am not truly risen from the dead, am I?"
Over stared Sun down. He took in the sight of him, watched the way in which he moved. The boy was exactly as Over had last seen him, right down to the damage to his robes, the glowing light under them from how Kinetic Overload had evolved. His right sleeve was torn slightly from where his fall into the underground chamber must have struck. The more he looked at him, Over slowly lowered his blade.
"You are not here, then," Over looked down, "No. You are my own memories, come to haunt me after the sins I have committed. I knew one day this would happen. I never expected it would be from you."
"Does that mean you never believed I would truly fall?" Sun smirked, "If so, let that be the first thing we have shared our opinion on, fell Emperor."
"I am not fell, I am fallen," Over glared Sun down, "You know that as well as I do."
Sun didn't respond at first. Over let his blade fall to his side, at which point it dissolved into Dark Matter and splattered onto the floor. Slowly, it absorbed back into his body. Sun watched the display, a look of ambivalence on his face. The boy crossed his arms, starring Over down, his pupils into the vast abyss of purple Over's own held.
"Yes, your kingdom is no more, and those who suffered from your tyranny are no more," Sun nodded his head, "The darkness that had corrupted the light of Ninjago has rescinded back into its cave from wench it crawled forth. Perhaps it is appropriate to say that victory was indeed mine, Emperor."
"No!" Over snapped, "Victory was never yours, nor was it mine! We both know that the only victory that day went to the Twins!"
Sun's smile momentarily dipped into a frown, "This is true. I wished for salvation of my people, and took up my blade to protect them. Yet I would never have wished for them to be freed by the embrace of the void. There is nothing there for them. Those who were once under my protection, are lost. It is fitting, then, that I was among them."
"Fitting?" Over spat, "In what way was that fitting? How could someone like you ever bow to that fate? How could you not have tried to fight on? Would you not have been as equally suited to this role I've been thrust into?"
"... I cannot answer that question," Sun's smile returned now as a grimace, "After all, fate has decided the recourse of our lives, has it not?"
"No!" Over shouted, "It never decided your fate. The only one who determined our fate was me! Your Dark Emperor! Are you not some twisted figment of my memories, come to drag me into the abyss of my own soul? Why are you not angered at me for this?!"
"Perhaps, had our paths never crossed, my fate would not have been what it was," Sun placed his hand on his broadsword, "Yet if I am indeed something of your memory's construction, does it not stand to reason that you knew me better than even my own perception?" Sun narrowed his gaze, "Do you truly believe that I had not fully devoted myself to my cause?"
"It does not matter that my path was altered by your own desires," Sun frowned, "To dwell upon what might have been, what we may have achieved, is futile. We can only learn so much from gleaning behind us. It is why I strived to always continue forth, to never allow for my mistakes to bring me down. I devoted myself to the people. And I did not devote myself knowing that I would come to regret how fate would pull me along. Even now, if I was able to truly comment upon what had happened to me, I would say it was an end that was fitting for me."
Over's eyes widened. His entire body seemed to light up and fizzle out. To burn up and die out. The words he heard he knew were not ones that he wanted to hear. He knew they were not from the actual Sun, the one that he had truly seen slain in the most horrific of ways that day. It was from his own mind. In a way, he could feel his own lips moving in time to Sun's own. He could feel how his own mind was working to drag him down into an abyss of his own making.
"No…" Over shook his head, "No. No, no I will not allow for you to say that, be you from my own making or not! I will not allow for Sun to go quietly into the night! A light as bright as your own did not deserve to be flickered out as though a simple spark within a dampened flame! You were not the one who deserved to fall to fate that day! It was not you! It was ME!"
Over's body began to shift, his hands growing into dragon claws, "It was I who took away your life. From the moment I saw you in the Monastery on that day, I could not keep you out of my sight. To see you, taking what was rightfully mine! To see someone living in such bliss of ignorance, it fueled my will to move on. The venom in my veins was given fuel simply by your drawing breath! It was you who drove me to find the only being I could find to continue my twisted amalgamation of an existence!"
Over's teeth grew as his voice dipped deeper and deeper, "If I had faded into the night, you would have lived the life that I once did! Yet your hardships would not have been so single minded. You'd have grown into a man capable of handling everything, one who could look upon any foe and strike them down, even if the first strike missed! I warped you, Sun! I let my grief warp you into someone that would have been looked upon with fear by the one whom never met me. I took your life from you, Sun, to fuel my own!" Over's body twitched and dripped as though melting as he shook his head again, "And then that ghost had to trade your life for mine in the moment where you most deserved to take my OWN!"
The projection of Sun looked upon the image of Over, his visage of a dripping beast of shadow, stuck between the grieved man and the angered dragon. Almost a horror in his own right. Yet Over had already become a horror before. He had allowed his emotions to finally, and fully, take him. Now, instead, Sun stepped forward towards him, even as Over's claws grew large enough to rend his arms from his torso and his eyes trembled and shook.
"And you believe you have done the same to the boy, then?" Sun whispered to him, almost pitifully, "You truly believe that you have failed him too?"
Over's eyes shut at those words. The emotions inside of him burned through him all at once. He raised his claws to his sides, all four arms now sporting them. And with a single, pained cry more akin to a draconic howl, Over slashed all of his arms forward into Sun.
Instead of touching flesh, however, Over's claws tore into the bed. The frame and sheets were torn apart in an instant, shredded to nothing by all four sets of blades. The sound crashed through the room, sending splinters and bits of fabric across the space. Over's eyes, however, saw Sun was no longer there. Instead, he saw only the destruction that his hands had wrought. Hands that had brought the death of nearly everyone who called him their ally.
Over fell forward onto his knees. His form slowly colheased together, his anger burned away to leave only the grief. And in turn, only the man. As he kneeled among the shards, the door to the room opened. The two guards outside, one bearing colors of green and the other orange, held up spears as they looked around the room for intruders. Instead, they saw only Over and his destroyed bed. Slowly, Over turned his head to look over his shoulder at them.
"Leave me," Over whispered, "I mean no harm to you. Leave me alone to grieve in peace."
For a moment, the two guards hesitated. Yet neither of them saw anything there to confront. Slowly, they backed from the room, closing the door behind them. Over looked over to the wall to see the flickering crystal lamps of the Light Tribe that cast its glow on the room. Slowly, Over raised his hand, willing the shadows under it to reach up and hide it away from his sight.
Not even the shadows listened to him. Over looked down at his hands. Slowly, he raised them up again. The two guards outside the door stiffened as they heard the noise of blows landing among the shattered bed, cracking and breaking it apart even further. They both were silent as they heard the noises of exertion from Over as he brought his hands down further and further upon the broken place for him to rest, well and truly.
Even to someone like Monty, being able to see the sky above them in Harumi's world was one that brought him a confusion he couldn't quite fully comprehend. As the three of them slowly floated down towards the ground that was actually on ground level, an unnerving feeling began to flow through the ghost. The sheer amount of time it took for the three of them to land down on the ground gave him enough time to comprehend the fact that what they were seeing was hardly even the Ninjago that any of them could place.
The massive tower that bore the symbol of the Time Twins was not the only one. Far off in he distance,Monty could see at least three more, faint glimpses on the horizon as they were. The tower they were floating down in front of, however, was the largest of all of them. If he was to compare it to Borg Tower, he'd say it was roughly a quarter taller. Yet it bore none of the simple and sleek design of Borg's tech. Instead, it looked far more akin to a massive war fortress, sculpted from sharp and hostile metal as the Iron Doom's armor had, with the windows to look outside the world almost hidden by all of the twisted shapes and metal upon it. The massive symbol was suspended as a flickering hologram atop the tower, framed by what looked to be scrap-metal molds of two Vermillion snakes twisting together in an arch around the symbol, ready to devour each other the second they touched.
The tower itself appeared to be surrounded by a small city, one that was also surrounded by a massive metal circular wall that completely enclosed it. The entire design reminded him of looking at images of medieval fortresses, as outside the wall were homes that looked to be, at best, carrying small electric lamps with them. If the Tower and small city together were the castle, then the area they were about to touch down outside the wall was the village.
Given that there seemed to be almost no modern technology outside of the walls, the entire world was incredibly dark. Whether or not the gray clouds overhead were of the Twins making or simply a natural weather pattern, Monty didn't want to say. The moment they did land, they were on a large dirt path. There were no modern roads in sight, only a simplistic muddy path that went out into the distance and towards the village surrounded the wall. When the three did land, Mage took a deep breath and put his hands together. He focused, attaching the invisibility to them just as he had the form to himself and Lulloyd long before with a fierce grip on their shoulders. With that, Mage let out a long breath, huffing a bit as the three of them were able to look out across the expanse.
"That… is this even Ninjago?" Mage asked.
"Has to be," Monty put his hand on his hip, "But it clearly doesn't look like it anymore."
Monty turned to look at Harumi, as Mage's invisibility thankfully didn't hide them from each other. He expected to see Harumi breaking down, freaking out, or something that was generally more or less what he assumed someone seeing their world completely different would have. Instead, Harumi looked down and slowly inhaled, then stepped forward. Her expression was hard and emotionless. Given the circumstance, Monty couldn't even say he blamed her.
"There's a village down the road," Harumi pointed down towards the houses, "We should go and investigate."
Mage and Monty decided not to speak. Any words they could say to her wouldn't be worth it. The path down to the village was long, and only once did they see any signs of life on it. A single cart on wooden wheels, being wheeled along by a walloper, passed them without even slowing down. The sight of it was out of place even in Lloyd's world. The sight of something so old fashioned in a place previously covered in skyscrapers reaching hundreds of stories into the sky… he had to stop making that comparison.
There is a sickness about this place,The sword shard spoke up to Monty, I do not know what has happened here, but something about this world is rotten to its core.
Monty didn't respond, not the least of which because he didn't want to alert anyone that they were there. Soon, the three reached the edge of the village. The homes looked as though they'd leapt straight out of images of the old Ninjago, before Ninjago City was established. Bricks and mortar holding them together, yet without windows and roofs that showed the wearing of age on them. Yet this was no painting or historical image.
Mage, seeing the people wearing simple leathers and working clothes, slowly focused, trading the power of light for the power of form to guise the three of them in it instead. Monty, however, held his hand up and instead snuck his way to the edge of the village. Seeing a young man standing near the perimeter of the town, Monty stepped forward and grabbed him, wrapping his hand over his mouth and quickly fading his body down to possess him. A moment later, Monty dropped the shard of the SoS into his hand, having him tuck it down into his trousers as he turned back and nodded to his disguised companions. He picked up Ebony and Ivory and tossed them at Mage, who strapped them to his back alongside Aevum.
"Hold onto those until we get where we're going. Alright, let's see what he's got here…" Monty leaned forward as Harumi and Mage joined him, "... Okay, so. It looks like the that huge tower up there is the one where the actual Twins are," Monty looked up to the massive fortress in the sky, "And towers like that are all over Ninjago. Seems they have a bit of community planning going on."
"What do you mean?" Harumi asked.
"Well, this guy here, name's Mark by the way if anyone asks, he's training to be a sculptor so he can get a job inside the wall over there," He pointed to the wall enclosing the area around the tower, "It looks like only a few people with skills are allowed inside the wall. And from what this guy knows, the place inside there actually looks like Ninjago City."
"So… inside the wall is all the machines, and outside the wall is all this?" Mage looked around, "This looks like the early stages of some of the Tribes."
"If I had to guess, Lloyd said all Krux cared for was the older days and Acronix was obsessed with the new tech," Monty grunted, "Looks like they both get what they wanted this way. It looks like every major city in Ninjago is like this."
With that line out of the way, Monty guided 'Mark' towards the center of the village. All around them, people milled out with their daily tasks. Some swept the inside of their homes, revealing a lack of anything even remotely modern inside. The only light around them came from the electric streetlamps erected about, guiding them through the winding homes. There seemed to be no planning to the placement of houses, as the path they were on wound in and around several of them. The contrast of warm yellow electric light against the deep gray of the homes around them was almost hard to believe.
"Look," Mage gestured forward. The three turned to see a massive statue erected in the middle of the town. People walked around it, not paying it any mind. One man, however, was slowly working to replace one edge of it. The edge of a particular two-pronged weapon. One being held in the hand of two beautifully sculpted figures.
"Ah, Mark!" The man working to repair the statue nodded his head, "Come up here and give me a hand, will you?"
"Not today," Monty responded through Mark's voice.
"Come on, you know if the inspectors see this thing broken they'll have my head!" The man sighed, "Storm last night knocked time of the blade off here," The man waved his hand.
"Not my problem," Monty responded back, making his way around the statue. As soon as he did, however, he immediately froze. The sight of three armored figures walking towards them kept him still and on alert.
"Looks like it is now," The man groaned out, "Just let me handle this."
Monty, Harumi and Mage recognized those three figures immediately. The one at the front was none other than Commander Blunck, flanked by two deep red Vermillion. As the three made their way across the square and towards them, the three non-Vermillion quickly stepped away, their bodies tensing up as the three made their way towards the statue. The clanking of their armor as they walked was only offset by the sound of their snakes slithering inside of it.
"You!" Blunck pointed up at the man working on the statue, "Why have you not finished your repairs yet?"
"I'm so sorry, sir," The man lowered his head, "It will be finished by tonight."
"Of course it will," Blunck hissed out, "Because otherwise, it will be more than your weapon you'll lose come next storm, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir," The man bowed his head.
"Are there any other repairmen among you?" Blunck asked with a hard hiss, "Some of the buildings in the Upper District were hit. We came to find them."
"We are!" Mage stepped forward, gripping Monty and Harumi, "We can help fix the damage."
"Really?" Blunck narrowed his gaze at them, "None of you particularly look like workers."
"Do you have to look like one to do work?" Monty responded. Blunck's eyes narrowed.
"You best watch your tongue, human," Blunck paused, "But… I guess that is true. Fine. Come with me then. You'll be rewarded for your work."
Harumi silently looked towards Mage and Monty, as though asking if they knew what they were doing. The two of them didn't spare a look at Harumi, ensuring that nothing was given away from it. With a small nervous glance, Harumi stepped forward and began to follow the three Vermillion throughout the small village.
As the warriors guided them along, people everywhere quickly scrambled to move away from them. The fear that just the sight of a Vermillion put into them was enough to cut through with a blade. Monty didn't bother to say anything, simply adjusting his shirt as he walked. The dull glow of streetlamps shone in waves across the Vermillion's helmets with each step through the dirt paths through the village.
Soon enough, the three crossed a small stone bridge over a creek that may at one point been a river, yet not was reduced to a deep brown slimy trail that wound down the way. Crossing the bridge lead them into homes that grew more sparse, yet the bricks and stones looking no worse for wear as they did. The massive wall that separated the tower from the village rose up into the air in an imposing gray and red, painted with several symbols on it that likely spelled something out if Monty took the time to look them over. But for now, he just resigned himself to following along as he was told.
Eventually, their walk through the old village ended when they reached a single door. Blunck stepped forward and held up his arm. One of his component snakes slowly slithered up and into a hole beside the door. After another moment, there was a flash of blue and a noise that sounded like some kind of scanner. The door opened, revealing a blue field that surrounded a large walkway through the wall.
"Leave all your tools and things here," Blunck commanded them, "You aren't allowed to bring anything into the Upper District, understood?"
"Yeah…" Mage nodded. Monty was the first to walk through the field. The sensation was the same as being scanned at something like Borg Tower. Lights on the inside of the passage turned green and allowed him to pass. Harumi was next, passing through without problems. Mage waited for the Vermillion to be far ahead, then took a breath and puffed into smoke to fly past the sensor, reforming a second later past it with Monty's guns and Aevum still on his back, currently hidden from sight with form. The system had no reaction, allowing him to pass as well.
"You three probably haven't ever seen this place before, have you?" Commander Blunck laughed as they walked along, "You best savor the time you get to spend here, because it won't be long."
A few moments later, Blunck stepped forward and out from the passage. As the three disguised travelers stepped forward, the world around them seemingly changed in an instant. Paved roads stretched out in front of them, and into buildings built out of metal and glass. Indeed, they had stepped onto a path that looked more like a simple block of Ninjago City. Blunck turned to see their awed faces as a small hovercar flew past them, grinning at them.
"Hah, I guess you haven't even seen a hovercar before, have you?" Blunck turned his back to them, "If you work hard, one day you might be allowed to live here."
Monty said nothing to that, just following Blunck along as he walked them down the street. It was indeed a city, but other than the hovercar, there was nothing about it that looked as futuristic as the one that Harumi normally lived in. It was far more akin to the city that he and Lloyd knew well. As they walked along, Monty looked around for anyone. If this was a city, it was oddly devoid of any life.
Blunck led the two down to an intersection, where indeed some people were standing. There were two men and women, waiting to cross the road. The moment they saw the Vermillion, they froze in place and made way for them. Blunck led the three across the street. There was no litter anywhere, no traces of even the slightest hint of filth. The city was as sterile as it was empty and lifeless. And all the while, the contrast between the people who now wore simple shirts and clothes, versus that of the people outside the wall that lived in such older times, was giving them more than enough emotion to make Blunck think they were, indeed, awestruck.
Soon enough, Blunck rounded the corner to show them a small grassy area that had been planted. Several trees had fallen down, leading to a few benches and such being broken and bent inwards by them. Blunck nodded his head and then pointed towards a small barrel of tools nearby.
"Clear away these trees, then repair the bench, my men will give you what you need," Blunck hissed out, "You have until sunset." Monty looked up to the gray sky, unable to tell what time of day it even was.
"Alright," Monty nodded his head, "Then we'll get to it."
Blunck gave them another long look, then he turned around and waved for one of the two other Vermillion to come with him. The one that stayed behind simply walked over to the nearby barrel of tools and waited for them. Monty slowly walked over towards it, looking at it for a few seconds, then taking hold of a saw. Mage and Harumi took hold of a hatchet and saw themselves. They quickly moved into the park, moving behind one of the fallen trees. The Vermillion warrior didn't care to look at them, instead just looking out towards the street.
"So, they keep all the modern stuff inside these small walls, and everyone else lives like they're back in old times," Monty groaned, "That sounds on-brand enough."
Harumi didn't say anything. She reached up to try to saw a branch off, but her hand trembled so hard she couldn't get her grip. It slipped off the branch two more times before Monty reached out and took her hand. Harumi said nothing as he did, instead just dropping her arm down to her side.
"...It's all gone…" Harumi whispered, "Everything is… everyone is…"
"We don't know that," Monty frowned, knowing if he lost Harumi now it would be worse, "We should get to that tower. There has to be something important in there."
"..." Harumi just drearily nodded her head. Mage looked towards Harumi for another moment, then he looked up and towards the Vermillion watching them. He still was turned away, not caring to watch them work. After a moment, Mage nodded.
"Can you change how this guy looks?" Monty asked, waving the arm of the body he was in.
Mage nodded. He stepped backwards, focusing. Slowly, the three of them began to twist and shift, light distorting around their bodies as he shifted their forms. After a short while of Mage straining to focus, he held his hands back and struck both of them with his knuckles. All at once, they turned to look exactly like standard Vermillion footsoldiers.
"T-There…" Mage huffed out, "N-No more disguises though. I can't keep this up."
"Then let's get moving," Monty stood up, "We got all the exposition from the other disguise as we could, let's go get some more."
Mage and Harumi followed him. Harumi looked down as she did, her body tensing up with each step. Monty walked the three out the other side of the way, out back onto the street. They quickly turned to look towards the battle tower in the sky in front of them, nodding to each other solemnly. Soon, they began their walk towards it.
Despite how large the wall around the tower was from the outside, the inside of the space was perhaps only five blocks out in any direction. The tower itself was planted right in the middle of it all, and all the buildings around it seemed to either be places to live or small factories. As the three made their way along, people who weren't ducking in and out of darkly colored buildings would flee away from them or freeze in place, waiting for them to pass. The sight of it was telling as to what sort of order the Twins imposed here. It wasn't that long of a walk towards the tower, and that fact alone made it somewhat even more unnerving.
The tower had only one massive entrance, doors sculpted to look like the outline of the Iron Doom. As they approached, the doors were already open. Vermillion wandered in and out of the space in large groups of four, taking up most of the stairs as they went. To match them, Monty and Mage walked side by side with Harumi behind them. Harumi looked up towards the metal tower, the pointed and dagger-like armor all around it drawing in her gaze. A moment later, she lowered her head.
None of the Vermillion dared to stop them as they entered. Once they did, they found themselves in a massive circular chamber, one that looked eerily similar to the tower in which Over had built in his own world. In fact, as they approached the middle section, they saw a series of small discs that moved through the air, acting as an elevator up towards the tower's top. The atmosphere, however, was far less dark and mysterious from that which Over had created. The walls were all metal and stretched up towards the sky with no decoration, no signs of life or anything else. If Over's tower was a symbol of power, this felt lifeless and still in comparison.
The feeling didn't go away as the three slowly walked forward, stepping onto one of the discs. For a moment, nothing happened. Instead, two other Vermillion marched over and stepped on it with them, giving them a look before one of them used their snakes to slither into a hole in the platform. A second later, another hum like that on the wall sounded from it, and the platform began to rise. Monty, Harumi and Mage tensed up as the Vermillion stood beside them, inches away from them with their wicked red blades on their back.
On the underside of the small disc, hover pads were placed, allowing them to rise up towards the next floor. As they rose, it became clear that this tower was not one that was lived in by humans. Each floor wasn't one that had some trophy or room to it. Instead, each floor was instead a massive tank of Vermillion snakes. As though looking through the glass in some twisted museum, they could see hundreds of vats of Vermillion. Small metal walkways allowed for warriors to walk above them, poking down at them with their blades if snakes got out of line. Each vat was large enough to outfit an entire army on its own. And as they went up, they saw even more of them. Vat, after vat, after vat. It was enough to fill up an Iron Doom… several times over. Possibly even hundreds.
Eventually, the Vermillion that had activated the lift for them stopped, stepping off onto one of the catwalks and looking towards them expectantly. The snake was still inserted into the small slot to move and began to slither out. Mage looked down at it, focusing the power of mind onto it. Knowing the Hive Mind would likely rip his own head apart if he tried, he simply tried to force the snake to go back down. The snake obeyed, causing the lift to continue upwards towards the top of the tower.
It was far, far too long for comfort by the time that they reached the end of the vats. The lift came to a stop at seemingly the top floor of the tower. The room they were in looked far more lively than anything else they'd seen so far. The walls were decorated with massive banners of the Time Twins, with small display stands showing various helmets and artifacts that they didn't quite understand. But what was important was that there were two massive stairs that looped form one side of the room and up towards another massive set of doors. The door was shaped like a top-down view of a Time Blade.
"...What is this place?" Mage whispered to himself.
"Hey!" An actual voice startled the three, "You three!"
The group turned. Walking towards them was someone who had a face they hadn't seen for a long while. The face of none other than Morro walked right at them. He wore armor that looked near identical to that which the Twins wore, with its sharp curves and green sash against his back. His hair was the same parted look as always, and as he came towards them, he held a small digital pad in his hands.
"Did I just hear you speak, soldier?" Morro asked the disguised Mage. Mage, realizing his mistake, froze solid, "...Well?"
Mage didn't say anything. Morro looked across the three of them, taking in the sight of them. He looked down towards the floor for a moment, then he sighed, "I see," He turned away from them, "...Why are you up on this level? I don't remember anyone sending for you."
The three were quiet once again. Morro looked them up and down for another second, then he crossed his arms, "Vermillion! What brood number are you from?"
There was no answer. This time, Morro reacted. He reached down to his side and drew a small blade from his hip, then rushed towards Mage. He swung his arm and struck Mage in the gut, then tackled him onto the floor. A second later, Morro moved to point the blade at his neck, "...You're not Vermillion, are you?" Morro growled, "I'm taking you three in for questioning-"
Morro heard the sound of a gun cocking. Monty had drawn his guns off from Mage's back, holding them up towards Morro's head. The power of form couldn't hide the weapons as Monty growled out towards him.
"I would step away from him if I were you," Monty spoke his normal voice, "Before we figure out just who you are."
"...Monty?" Morros eyes widened. His grip on the knife loosened and he dropped the knife. A second later, Mage reached up and grabbed his arm, throwing him off. As Morro stumbled backwards, Monty nodded to Mage. The disguises they had faded away. Monty, still possessing the man he was, kept his normal voice up as he held out his guns.
"Guess the Twins inform their servants well," Monty growled out, "Bit odd they decided to keep you around, you're a lot younger than you should be."
"What?" Morro blinked, "...You two," Morro looked towards them, "The boy I don't know but… Harumi. I remember your face. You were there, when the Twins took me."
"You're… you're not the Morro from this world?" Harumi asked.
"Sorry, but I don't take chances on people telling the truth," Monty growled out, "I don't think-"
"It is me!" Morro put his hands out in front of him, "I'm from your world, Monty!"
"Mage," Monty hissed, "Check him."
Mage reached up with his hand, probing at Morro's mind. Morro stiffened up at the alien sensation, but endured it for the sake of the moment. When Mage pulled his power back, he nodded to the others. Slowly, Monty growled as he lowered his weapons.
"Maybe this will help too," Morro nodded. He took a small breath, focusing his power around him. Slowly, he formed a green aura around him, one that then collected together into a ball taht shot up into the air. A beautiful, glistening Chi hawk would form in the air, swooping down and gripping hold of Morro's shoulder to perch there. A moment later, the hawk would shut its eyes and fade back out of existence, "I'm from your world, Monty."
"I thought the Twins were using you as a battery," Monty frowned.
"The Iron Demise is too big for me to power alone," Morro shook his head, "They stripped my power from me and used it in the core of that machine instead. They've kept me around because of my 'loyal service' to them."
"Really?" Monty frowned, "So you've lost your power, then?"
"Yeah," Morro frowned, "It felt just like when Chen took it. I don't know where they're keeping it, though," Morro paused, "Why are you three here?"
"We're here to get information on the Twins," Mage informed him, "We need to know what they've done to this world."
"You mean… her world?" Morro looked over at Harumi, "Right?"
Harumi didn't say anything. Even now, it was nearly impossible for her to speak. Seeing that expression, Morro stepped towards her and reached up, putting his hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, Morro nodded his head.
"I'm so sorry for what happened," Morro nodded, "If there is anything I can do to help get it back, ask."
"Who said we wanted your help?" Monty spat.
"The fact that I've been listening to the Twin's plans for months now," Morro frowned at Monty, "And the fact that now I know you're all still alive, I can help you defeat them."
"You'd be willing to help us?" Mage asked.
Morro was about to speak, only for him to hear the doors above them to open up. Without hesitation, he grabbed Harumi and Mage, shoving them towards the stairwell . They pressed up against the wall between the two curving stairs, hidden from immediate view. Monty blasted up into the air with wind, pressing himself up against the ceiling. Morro turned towards the door, putting his hands behind his back.
"Morro!" Prime's voice cried out from the door, "Where are the Twins?"
Monty looked down to see Prime standing at the doors, behind him a massive chamber. The chamber was filled with massive pillars that each reached up towards the ceiling with snake designs curled around them. At the end of it, situated between massive torches, were two thrones. Prime crossed his arms as he looked down from his perch atop the stairs, a few feet away from seeing Harumi and Mage hiding below him, locking Morro in his gaze.
"I told you, they aren't here," Morro frowned, "They don't stick around."
"I didn't ask you if they were here, I asked you where they were!" Prime shouted back at him, "I need to speak with them."
"If you need to do it in person, you may need to wait for them to return," Morro shook his head.
"Hrmm… fine then!" Prime groaned out, "Has Ophiod come to see them either?"
"I haven't seen him," Morro responded back plainly.
Prime gave Morro another look, then let out a long sigh, throwing his head back and nodding, "Then I'll wait for them." He gripped the edge of the stairs and leapt over them, landing nimbly with a roll mere inches away from Harumi and Mage. The two held their breath as Prime walked over to the disc to take him to the bottom of the tower. Seeing a snake already stuck inside, he gave it a tap with his foot. The snake was forced to lower the disc down, leaving a hole in the floor and the three hidden people inside a chance to breathe.
"He seemed pretty familiar with you," Monty commented as he floated down from the ceiling, "How does he know you?"
"I just met in him in person recently," Morro shook his head, "But I've known about him since the first time the Twins recruited him."
"If you just met him recently, then how is this world so… far along?" Mage asked as he stood up, "How long have the Twins messed with this timeline?"
"At least twenty years from what I've gotten," Morro checked that the elevator wasn't coming back up before he began to walk towards the stairs, "Follow me."
Slowly, Monty and Mage began to follow after Morro. Harumi, however, took a bit longer to go with them. Monty watched her have to shake her head several times before moving along with them. She trailed behind them as Morro made his way up to the palace doors.
"Don't worry about the Twins being here," Morro muttered, "They only come here to check in on affairs. They leave all of the actual ruling to the Vermillion."
"You said twenty years, right?" Monty asked Morro, "Why so specific?"
Morro paused. Instead of answering, he opened the doors to the throne room and ushered them inside. As the doors shut behind them, the boom of it illuminated the dull, still air of the space. Torches lit the entire space, creating patches of darkness behind the large, twisted metal pillars. The entire room was perhaps the most spacious they'd seen. The walls behind the pillars had massive windows on them, allowing them to look down upon all of the area around them. They could see so clearly here how the world inside the wall and outside the wall were so different.
"Because they wanted to wait for a time in this world when their actual selves here were already dead or defeated," Morro pointed out, "They said something about waiting for 'her' to do it for them."
"My mother…" Harumi spoke up for the first time in a long time, "...When she was still being trained by Garmadon, he had her prove his strength by taking care of Acronix when he emerged from the Time Vortex."
"They wanted to make sure that they left no loose ends," Morro muttered, "...Harumi. This is your world. And I am so sorry for what they've done with it. Are you sure you wish to see all of the things that they've done?"
Monty paused, letting Harumi catch up to them. When she did, she stood in front of the two thrones. There were about ten steps that went up to them, making it hard for her to even make out the thrones themselves. She looked over towards Mage and Monty for a moment, taking them in. Then she looked over towards the two thrones again.
"...I don't know," Harumi whispered, "I don't know what else there is."
"Then… Monty, come with me," Morro turned to him, "If there's anyone here who can handle the truth, well. You and Ronin are probably the only ones I know."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Monty scoffed, "Lead the way then."
Harumi took a step away from the thrones, Mage reached out to hold her. As he did, Morro stepped forward, walking up towards the thrones. He sat down in one of them, reaching his hand out to begin typing a sequence into the armrests. When he pulled his hands back, a slot opened up inside the stairs, folding back and into the floor. Morro walked down towards it, revealing a pitch-blakc passage.
"Follow me," Morro nodded, reaching his hand up. Energy began to collect around his body, slowly fizzling up and then right into his hand. A moment later, with a flash of Chi, a brilliant hawk flew up into the air and around him. It flew towards Morro and perched on his arm. The energy that the creature let off was enough to provide a faint light into the passage.
Monty stared at Morro's Chi, but said nothing about it. Instead, he just made his way into the passage after him. Behind them, the stairs closed back up. Monty almost drew one of his guns from the sound of it closing, but Morro shook his head. After a second, Morro illuminate stairs that led down into some area.
"...I'm glad you're here, Monty," Morro walked down the way, "If anyone can stop the Twins, it has to be you."
"Yeah, since I've been doing the hard word so far," Monty frowned, "Why are you even still here? Surely you tried to break out."
"I didn't," Morro shook his head, "I knew one day, someone would come for the Twins. Someone has to, after everything they've done. And after how long you've been fighting them, I knew it would be you."
"How long have you been waiting?" Monty asked. Morro stopped on a stair.
"... Ever since they built the Iron Demise," Morro raised his head, "The Twins left their Vermillion behind to do their dirty work while they moved forward in the timeline. I went with them. It's been… almost six months now since they left me here," Morro looked back towards Monty, "I could have escaped if I wanted to, but the Twins would have tracked me down again. They keep me around because they think I'm some symbol of everything they've been fighting against," Morro's Chi hawk gripped his arm fiercely, "I'm alive because of their arrogance, and I refuse to squander that chance."
Monty didn't ask anything else. Morro continued down the stairs, with Monty watching him. Even now, Monty couldn't stand to be in his presence. He was surprised the sword hadn't tried to comment on that fact just yet. Instead, both he and it were quiet as they followed Morro.
When the passage ended, they entered a large room. The room was filled with treasures, all of them thrown haphazardly against the wall. Morro dismissed his Chi as instead torches once more kept the room illuminated. As Morro stepped into the room, onto a velvet carpet underfoot, he looked back at Morro.
"All I know is the Twins made sure that their Vermillion took care of anyone in the past that could defeat them," Morro looked down towards the floor, "Which means…"
Monty narrowed his gaze. In front of them in the room was a massive table like something out of a museum. Under the pane of glass separating them from it, were a number of trophies, set up like displays. A turban, a set of red belts, purple body armor, and staff with dead vines wilting from its tip, and others, all laid out across the surface in a perfect line. And, sitting above that, was a torn set of green gi, stabbed into the wall with a dagger.
"Every other elemental master, and their family," Morro muttered, "Everyone that Harumi knows… no longer exists in this world."
"W-What?" Harumi asked quietly.
"I'm saying that the reason you were never born is because the Twins made sure all of the Elemental Masters died out," Monty informed her flatly.
Harumi stared at Monty, wanting to ask more. Yet she already knew what that meant. Slowly, her entire body seemed to slump down on itself. She fell down to her knees, completely silent. Monty watched her, having resigned himself to be the bearer of bad news. As Harumi raised a trembling hand over her mouth, Morro moved over and gently got down on his knees beside her.
"Whatever the Twins have done, I swear to you that I will do everything I can to fix this," Morro nodded his head solemnly, "The Twins freed me, and I intend to make sure to use that chance. If you all need my help, then you need just ask."
"Like that'll amount to much," Monty scoffed.
"Monty!" Mage snapped, "We can't just throw away allies like that! If Morro here is willing to help, doesn't that mean we have someone on the inside now?"
"Yeah, someone who got captured by the Twins and used as a battery for months," Monty growled out, "Besides, what help can he even be?"
"If you give me a way to contact you, I can keep you updated on anything that the Twins do," Morro nodded, "They keep the Iron Demise somewhere else, but the bulk of their army is here. If it moves, you'll be the first to know."
"Monty," Mage stepped in front of him, "I don't know what your issue with him is, but we can't just turn down help right now!"
Monty looked down at Mage, hoping to break him down with his stare. Instead, Mage met him with an equally fierce one. Mage reached back, putting his hand on Aevum's hilt. As the two stared each other down, the will to fight inside Monty died. Monty threw his hands behind his back and rolled his eyes.
"Fine, whatever," Monty grunted out, "Do whatever you want."
Morro, still trying his best to comfort Harumi, nodded to them, "Do you have something that can let me talk to you in other worlds? I know that you can travel between them."
"Harumi's the one that made these," Mage held up his wristband, "I'm uhm, not sure how to even start making one."
"I'll handle it," Monty groaned, opening his wristband and entering new coordinates. He walked over to the throne and opened the passage back to the trophy room again, walked a few feet inside of it, and added new coordinates to his device. Once the device gave a small chime ot show it'd been added, Monty nodded, "Right here, you leave messages here and I'll pick them up."
"Then that is what I'll do," Morro affirmed. Monty gave him another look, then just scoffed and walked back towards them.
"You should leave now," Morro told them, "The Time Twins have eyes everywhere. I'll make sure they don't find out that you were here. But the longer you stay, the more likely they'll find out you were. Don't take them lightly."
"We won't," Mage nodded "Do you think you could also keep an eye on Prime, Ophiod and Oni? We haven't seen them ever since… we saw the Iron Demise."
"All I know is that Ophiod went back home and Prime has been looking for the Twins," Morro nodded, "But I will see if I can find them."
"Alright, then it's time for us to leave," Monty looked down to Harumi, "We have to go."
Mage and Morro both gave Monty a tense look for his tone, but Harumi ignored them and slowly stood up. She looked hollow inside, as though she'd been drilled into far more than she thought she had. The three all took a long look at her, then she slowly raised her watch and opened a portal back to the Time Tribe. Without another word, she slid into the void.
"Don't mess this up," Monty growled at Morro. A moment later, he took hit his watch and caused himself to fall into the void. Mage followed a moment later.
"I won't," Morro nodded, "...Or else there won't be anyone left who can stop them." Morro let out another long sigh, then turned around and made his way back into the palace in the twisted world the Twins now called their own.