"So… that's our plan," Lloyd finished his speech.
Master Wu sat on the steps of the Monastery, sipping tea as he had when he oversaw their training all those years ago. Around him stood his friends. Nya, Cole, Zane, Kai, Jay, and Pixal. All of them listened to Lloyd intently, hanging on each and every word. He'd spent the last few hours telling them everything. Every little detail he could think of. Everything from the moment they'd used the Tornado of Creation to the moment that he'd last spoken to Over. Saying it all out loud made it almost seem unreal, but he knew it was.
"Wait… so, you're telling me that you're planning on bringing the Twins, here?" Kai asked, "As in, here-here? Ninjago?"
"Yes, Kai," Nya sighed, "That's what he just said!"
"Hey, we've been on the bench this entire time!" Kai pounded his fists together, "I want my chance to finally get to show them up for all they to Lloyd!"
"Hrmm… your plan is one that has many variables to account for," Zane rubbed his chin, "Do you believe that the forces you are gathering will be enough to withhold the Vermillion forces?"
"I don't know what Over's doing, but if we have the combined forces of the Shark Army and the Elemental Alliance -erm, Mage's alliance that is- then I think we can," Lloyd gripped his fist, "We have to try."
"But, how many Vermillion did you say they saw?" Jay asked, "In just, one of those weird towers? Right?"
"It doesn't matter how many snakes they got!" Cole scoffed, "Long as we can just keep pounding them out of their armor!"
"Master," Zane turned to Wu, "What do you think about this plan?"
Master Wu took a long sip of his tea. For a moment, Lloyd felt a pang of regret in his chest. He should have run this by them first, shouldn't he? He wanted to say something, but Wu planted his staff in the ground and stood up. When he did, it made Lloyd's words freeze in his throat.
"Too long have I allowed for my pupil to fight my battle for me," Wu raised his head from under his conical hat, "This will be unlike any battle that we have fought before. However…" Wu stepped forward, "It will give us the chance we need to fight this army not as a representative, but as a whole," Wu put his gaze firmly on Lloyd, "We will support you in whatever way we can, Lloyd."
"Thank… thank you Master," Lloyd rubbed the back of his head, "I mean, I knew you guys would understand, but, well… we made this plan before I got the chance to run it by you."
"We understand, Lloyd," Nya smiled at him, "You've got a lot on your plate."
"By my calculations, we will need more forces if we are to hold them off long enough to isolate the Twins," Pixal nodded, "Master Wu, is there any other source that we can draw from to supplement our strength?"
"Hrmm… I believe it is times like these we must speak to the Serpentine," Wu raised his head, "If we are bringing an evil to their home, then it is our duty to ask them to either fight beside us, or tell them they must be prepared to defend themselves."
"You mean… talking to Skales?" Lloyd asked, a weird feeling in his gut.
"That would be the logical solution," Pixal informed her, "I have received word that Borg is also intending to commit his resources to the battlefield once they have finished their excavation of the Dark Island."
"Yeah, about that," Cole turned to Lloyd, "What's all that about?"
"He didn't tell me, other than he says it'll help 'control the battlefield,' whatever that means," Lloyd shrugged his shoulders.
"There is one other than I suggest we contact," Zane stepped forward, "One that can aid us in this battle."
"Who?" Lloyd asked. As he did, everyone turned to look at him, including Master Wu. As he did, Lloyd slowly felt his understanding dawn on him, "...Oh."
"Under any other circumstance, I would say he remained locked up," Pixal bowed her head, "But we do not have the luxury of doing that now, do we?"
"I…" Lloyd frowned, "I should be the one to talk to him, then. He won't listen to anyone other than me, I don't think."
"I will go with you," Master Wu informed him, "Zane, Pixal, I entrust you with the mission to contact Skales and see if you retrieve his aid. Kai, Jay, Cole, go to Borg and aid him with whatever you can. If this 'vessel' is as large as Lloyd described, it will need all the help that it can get. And you, Nya," Wu nodded his head, "For now, remain here at the Monastery to defend it in our absence. When Zane and Pixal return, you three join the others with Borg."
"Yes, Master!" The assembled group of ninja and nindroids shouted.
"Then let us be on our way!" Master Wu declared.
"Yeah… let's go," Lloyd frowned, not looking forward to the conversation he was about to have.
At the base of the mountains where the Time Tribe lay, Skylar held her arms up. They currently burned with a flickering fire in one first, and a water glove in the other. Behind her was the opening to the path that led up to the city. Around her, several other members of the Time Tribe, each panting and similarly tired from their long bouts of fighting, held up weapons that glowed in varying shades of blue and red. A row of archers stood behind them, arrows notched orange and green, ready to fire over them into the small army of Vermillion in front of them. Skylar pointed her arm forward.
"Fire!" The young woman shouted. The arrows let loose, flying up into the air and raining down on the first wave of Vermillion. Roughly half of them went down, and the rest were suddenly beset on by the line of tribesmen. Skylar smashed apart several Vermillion with blasts of fire and water, while the others cut down them with their spears and swords. As soon as the next wave of Vermillion were ready to strike, the entire group of men retreated backwards to in front of the archers.
Before the snakes could slither into the armor, Skylar held her hand out, pulling upon the metal that she had learned. All of the armor came flying towards her as though she was a massive magnet, and in turn she held her hand up and threw it up and overhead the archers. As it crashed behind them, she watched in satisfaction as the Vermillion snakes, not knowing what to do, slithered back and into the others behind them.
"Alright… just gotta keep this up!" Skylar panted, "We'll take them down!"
Even as she said that, Skylar saw the next wave of Vermillion marching towards them. Putting her hands up again, this time she filled them both with fire. She'd gone so long without using some of her powers that the mimicry was beginning to fade. Other than fire, water and metal, she didn't quite keep up with the rest of them enough. She bounced back on her feet, readying her muscles to take the next wave before they hit her.
"The Dragon Lord!" One of the archers shouted. Skylar blinked in confusion, turning around and looking up towards the sky just long enough to see something hurtling down from the sky. The Firstbourne flapped her wings powerfully as Mage dove down off her back. Skylar put her hands up in front of her as Mage landed on the ground with a swift flash of earth through his body, causing the entire ground to ripple in front of him like a wave and into the Vermillion.
"It's about time you got here!" Skylar smirked at him, leaping forward to stand beside him, "What do you think we should give them?"
"This!" Mage raised his hands up, sparking them with a white light. Skylar, eyes flashing with understanding, raised up her own hands. Together, the two formed balls of light they sent flying out towards the Vermillion, which struck the ground and exploded in a blast of lasers in all directions. The Vermillion not struck covered their eyes.
"Fire!" Skylar shouted. The archers gathered their arrows and fired, striking down several Vermillion where they stood. Skylar continued to grin to herself as she leapt forward, turning her arm metal and grabbing hold of a fallen piece of Vermillion armor, molding it with metal to turn into a sword she stuck onto her metal arm. Said arm swung out and cleaved apart Vermillion before they even knew what hit them.
Mage, in turn, drew Aevum, summoning his Time Matrix and turning the hands down to glow it green. He leapt into the air, slicing the sword down over his head and sending a beam of blue energy out from it. Vermillion fell before it, either slowed down as they were cut apart or dodged into their fallen comrades. Mage rushed forward and swung Aevum from his hip, then twisted upwards to send a helmet of severed snakes flying. The line of men behind them raced towards the two leaders, weapons ready to cleave right down into the line of Vermillion.
Instead, one Vermillion stood up in the middle of the crowd, his eyes glowing. The rest of the snakes all picked up their weapons and retreated, fleeing down the path and then out into the plains around them. Mage and Skylar both cleaned up those that tried to run, and in turn the other warriors did the same. Soon, the Vermillion were little more than just a red mass still feeling in the distance.
Without hesitation, Mage opened up the ground under the Vermillion, forming a massive pit that they all fell into. Skylar helped him, shifting the earth to a slope and causing the snakes and armor to fall inside. After all of them had filled the gap, the two both brought the earth overtop of them, sealing them under the ground.
"Alright!" Skylar pumped her fist, "You all did great, men!"
The archers and spearmen all let out a small murmur of victory, then slowly moved to set up a small defensive line around the perimeter and tend to the wounded. Skylar panted after a moment, then she slumped backwards and flopped onto the ground.
"Skylar?!" Mage gasped, planting Aevum back in its sheath and getting down on his knees.
"Phew… glad you came when you did…" Skylar groaned out, "I've been holding that line all day. These Raiders just don't like to quit now, do they?"
"Nope…" Mage smiled in relief, "I'm just, glad to see you're okay!"
"Of course I'm okay," Skylar groaned as she sat up, "I'm just as strong as you are, you know!"
"Doesn't that mean you should be a Dragon Lord too, then?" Mage asked coyly.
"Dragon Lady, thank you," Skylar waved her hand, "Not that I'd want that. I couldn't handle all the complicated politics and stuff."
Mage, sighing at her, held his hand out towards her. Skylar, looking at him with a chuckle, reached her hand up and wrapped her hand up with his. Mage helped pull her upright, and in turn the two got rather close. Mage blushed slightly for a moment, then waved at rocks nearby.
"Let's sit down over there," Mage suggested, "You should rest."
"Yeah, unlike you I've had to do all the actual work!" Skylar rolled her eyes. She let Mage guide her over towards the rocks, sitting down with a contented sigh. Around them, the other soldiers went about their own resting, some using their spears to stay upright, others repairing their bows or getting their wounds treated.
"So…" Mage rubbed his hands together, "How… how have you been doing, Skylar?"
"Been doing?" Skylar asked, "Well, in all honesty I've been pretty busy. I've been trying to build some houses so when I start getting people coming to me, they'll have somewhere to stay, you know? I didn't know all of this Raider stuff was going on again until the traders told me."
"Yeah… I figured," Mage nodded.
"I heard you were around the Time Tribe, but your father contacted me through Firstbourne," Skylar looked up in the sky, seeing the majestic dragon hovering around in the clouds, "Said he needed my help. We spent awhile just defending your home from the snakes."
"They made it that far?" Mage asked in shock, "I... I'm sorry I didn't contact you. I was so busy helping all the other tribes and, then there was Prime and…"
"Don't worry about it," Skylar informed him, "It's a big world out there. I'm sure you had stuff to do, right?"
"Right," Mage nodded. His hands began to wring together, fingers sliding in and out of each other. Seeing this, Skylar leaned forward towards him.
"Alright, something is on your mind," Skylar cocked her head, "What is it?"
"Huh?" Mage blinked, "I… uhm. Well. I know what I wanna say but, I don't know if right now is the right time for it…"
"Well, if it's something you have to say to me, then you should," Skylar leaned back, "Since I'm right here and all."
Mage looked down towards the rocks, then he slowly inhaled, "I'm… I'm sorry."
"Sorry? For what?" Skylar asked him.
"For… for everything I did to you… with, Machia," Mage mumbled out, "It wasn't right of me to take revenge for you. I… I did that without considering that you might not want that. And… and it's taken me until now to really… to really get that," Mage raised his head, "And I know that you never said anything about it but I've been really busy and I needed to say this now before… before I didn't get the chance to say it again!"
Skylar was silent, staring at Mage with confused and wide eyes. Mage turned his head away from her, his face in a blush and nervously reaching down to fiddle with the strap to Aevum on his hip. For a long while, he readied himself for Skylar to reprimand him, to tell him an apology wasn't enough, that…
Instead, Skylar moved to plant her arm on his shoulder and lean against him, "Mage, you take everything really seriously, don't you?"
"What?" Mage lifted his head up, "I… I thought that, you would be…?"
"I was shocked and confused, yeah," Skylar paused, "But I've thought a lot about it, you know. Had a lot of time to. And… I get why you did. You had to stop her, after all she'd done. It's really okay, I understand. And… well," She sighed, "Just knowing that you at least get why I was like that is enough for me, got it?"
"I… yeah," Mage nodded his head, "I'm, really sorry. I know I should never have done that. You're, you're just, you know… you don't deserve to have to worry about that anymore."
"Well… I guess I can forgive you," Skylar pointed at Aevum, "If you can tell me since when did you start using Acronix's sword!"
"Aevum?" Mage nudged the blade on his hip, "Oh! I uhm. Well. After I left I… kinda promised I wouldn't use my time powers on anyone so, he let me take it to have something to defend myself with," Mage ran his hand along the blade's handle, "And, well, Lloyd taught me how to use it!"
"That's the one who looks the most like you, right?" Skylar asked, "Sorry, it's been a bit."
"Yeah!" Mage nodded, "Do you want me to show you what he taught me?"
"Well, I'm not good with a sword," Skylar shook her head, "But you're welcome to if you want."
"I can teach you!" Mage chirped out quickly, "I can, I promise!"
"After you've had that thing for how long?" Skylar smirked. Mage blinked. It'd only been a few weeks, but it felt like years to thim.
With that said, Skylar chuckled and stood up, sighing as she stretched. As she did, Mage watched her with relief in his eyes. The way that she looked, standing in front of him, her muscles on display, her hair flowing behind her, the light of the sun above them shining on her, it made Mage blush all over again. He stood up a moment later, resting his hand on the hilt of Aevum as he did.
"I need to ask you a favor, Skylar!" Mage blurted out.
"Huh?" Skylar spun around, her hair splaying out around her back as she did, "What for?"
"I… well…." Mage smiled, "It's a long story… maybe we should be sitting down for this."
Skylar blinked, but she didn't say anything for the moment. Instead, she let Mage dive into his story. Mage did his best to convey everything that had happened after he'd met the others, skipping over some details like what Invictus was and such. As he began explaining, some of the men around them, still resting up from battle, began to listen to him. Skylar's face went through a wide variety of emotions the entire time.
"Wait… wait," Skylar shook her head, "You came back here to stage a battle and you didn't even think to call me or your dad?"
"We were under a time limit!" Mage protested, "And… it wasn't our smartest move, I admit."
"Smartest? You just said it nearly got you killed!" Skylar shook her head, "Mage, do you understand how important that is?! What would we do if our Dragon Lord died? How do you think I'd feel about that?"
"I know, I know!" Mage sighed, "I know it wasn't smart. But we finally have a plan in motion, and I need your help. I need you to help me gather all the leaders together, as fast as possible."
"Hrmm… that's not the easiest thing to do," Skylar sighed, "How do you intend to get to all the tribes in a day?"
Mage raised his arm, showing his borrowed wristband, "I can get to all the tribes in no time with this. But I need you to help them all get to your land."
"If you let me use Firstbourne, then I can do that," Skylar nodded, "But what do you intend to do when we get them all together?"
"I'm going to hold another Summit," Mage nodded, "And put together an army."
Skylar looked at Mage with confusion in her eyes for a bit. Then, she slowly put her hand on her hips and let out a sigh, "You're crazy, you know that?" She smirked, "I like that about you."
"Then we don't have any time to lose," Mage raised his hand, causing the Firstbourne to start descending towards the ground, "Meet me at the Smoke Tribe!"
Skylar rolled her eyes, but soon enough she leapt into the air, using wind to land perfectly on the back of the Firstbourne. Mage activated his borrowed wristband, causing him to fall through a portal and off to the other tribes.
"About face!" Lulloyd shouted.
With a loud chant of affirmation, a small group of shark army hammerhead soldiers turned around on the stud they were planted on, facing away from Lulloyd. Each held their weapon perfectly straight up in the air, the warm azure fish that they were stuck into shining in the light of the sun. They stood at the very outskirts of the city, a small lip beside them that led to the ocean, and a few small apartment buildings around them with people looking on at the display with a mild confusion at worst.
"Forward MARCH!" Lulloyd thrust his staff forward.
The small platoon of soldiers began to march forward, moving until they reached the end of the street. They stopped at an intersection, looking up towards the stoplight there. Cars flew by in front of them as they waited. When the light finally turned green, then quickly began to march forward again, showing no signs of stopping.
"You don't have to use that much energy," Garmadon rotated his head as he moved to put his hand on Lulloyd's shoulder, "All you have to do is command their attention. A good leader can command without ever having to raise his voice!"
"But, how else do they all hear me?" Lulloyd asked in confusion.
"That's why you have your squad leaders, son," Garmadon informed him, "You give them the orders, they handle your men," Garmadon smirked, "Even I can't give orders to a thousand men at once!"
"...Right…" Lulloyd gulped, nervously gripping onto his warlord staff in his hand.
A few moments later, Lulloyd turned to see the small platoon marching back towards him, having looped all the way around the block back towards him. Lulloyd turned to face them, seeing the Lieutenant Angler in the front. The man held his weapon up, a silver fish rather than the normal azure, causing them all to halt in front of him.
"Alright, now, let's get ready for a mock battle," Garmadon grinned, "You ready?"
"Uhm…" Lulloyd blinked, "No?"
Garmadon suddenly put his hand to his lips, letting out a long whistle. At once, three jelly subs shot up from the ocean that bordered their road, spinning their massive orange chains and charging up their missiles. Lulloyd's eyes widened as he spun the warlord staff he held, leaping backwards and quickly assessing it as best he could.
"Men, form up and defend the front!" Lulloyd shouted, "Target the main sub!"
Three hammerhead soldiers stepped forward, hefting up stud shooters and firing with several overlapping 'pew pews!' The main sub rotated itself backwards, letting the chains swirl up and knock their blasts right aside. Lulloyd thought fast and pointed his staff forward.
"Men, charge!" Lulloyd shouted, "Commandeer the main sub!"
Lulloyd leapt in front of the small platoon, hefting the staff behind him and racing forward. Lieutenant Angler did the same, shouting for the other men to charge. As they neared the edge of the water, the subs flew backwards away from them, two of them splitting off to surround the small group. Lulloyd, however, had other plans.
Grabbing hold of Lieutenant Angler's arm, Lulloyd planted his staff into the ground and flipped the man over his head. As soon as the Lieutenant landed, Lulloyd used him to flip himself forward, throwing the staff he had right down into the nearest sub. It broke the glass cockpit, causing it to burst into studs and cheese slopes. Lulloyd landed on the lip of the exposed cockpit, reaching inside and grabbing hold of the gunner inside and throwing him into the platoon. They quickly put the shark army gunner on the ground as Lulloyd grabbed hold of the controls, spinning the sub around and targeting the two other subs in front of him.
With a quick flash of his arm, Lulloyd hit a red button, launching off the missiles on the sub's arm and blasting apart the other two subs in the air. The pilots fell out and onto the ground as the subs broke apart against the nearest wall. The platoon quickly moved to subdue them as well. Lulloyd steered the sub over to the ground, causing the four 'legs' to slowly fold down and land, letting him leap out and onto the road again.
"Good work, General Numer Son!" Garmadon laughed, leaping out of the ocean with the staff Lulloyd had thrown, "You almost lost this, though, a good warlord never leaves his staff behind!"
"Yeah…." Lulloyd gently picked the staff out of Garmadon's hand, looking away.
"What's the matter, Lulloyd?" Garmadon asked him, "You don't seem to be given this you all!"
"I'm fine, dad," Lulloyd muttered, "Let's just keep working on drills."
Garmadon looked his son up and down, then he turned to the platoon, "Go and take a dip for a minute, we need to discuss something in private!" Garmadon barked. The entire platoon saluted him, then rather gracefully leapt off the edge of the road and into the ocean, swimming in a beautiful shark-like formation away from shore.
"Alright, spill it!" Garmadon pointed towards the wrecked jelly subs, "I can see something's wrong, let's not drag this out!" Lulloyd sighed, walking over as the two both sat down on one of the wrecked builds.
"I'm… I dunno. I'm fine," Lulloyd mumbled out, "There's nothing wrong."
"Mhmhmm… I've been in my fair share of training sessions, son, and if there's one thing I know, it's when something is making my men not work their absolute best!" Garmadon grunted solemnly, "A sound spirit dwells within a sound mind and a sound body."
Lulloyd blinked in disbelief at that, but instead just gently sighed, "It's… it's just. I don't know. I don't know if I should really be… doing this."
"What?!" Garmadon gasped out, "What do you mean?! You're General Number Son! You're the only one that I'd ever let this army besides myself!"
"...That's just it," Lulloyd mumbled out, "I don't know if I… if I'm. If I should."
Garmadon blinked, "Why? You're perfect for the role! You were taught by me! Pretty sure you won't be getting any better education out there."
"Because… because until now I…" Lulloyd put his hands on his head, "I… I know you've been, giving me training to be a warlord and, and that I already know all these strategies and things and… and…" Lulloyd bit his lip ,"I-I'm not sure if I can…"
"I see…" Garmadon paused, "Actually, no, I don't! I don't understand what the issue is here, son! You're doing great in drills! You have the reflexes and strength to keep up with me! What could possibly be stopping you from leading the charge right at those Twins that tried to take everything from you?" He blinked, "Is it the army? Is it too blue? I don't know if we have enough time but I'm sure we can put more green in it. Hrmm, or I could-"
"No, dad, that's not…" Lulloyd rotated his head, "I don't. I don't know how to put it into words!"
"I can't help you if I don't know what's bothering you," Garmadon informed him, "Come on, I can't revise our battle strategy if you won't tell me what's making you hesitant to charge!"
"Can… can we just stop with the lessons for today?" Lulloyd asked, "I… I know how to command them, I do. I just. I just wanna stop."
Garmadon paused, "We don't have that much time left though, son. You need to be ready by the end of the week. Take today off, but you need to go and figure out what's bothering you."
"I'll try," Lulloyd sighed, standing up and handing Garmadon back his staff.
Lulloyd was in the middle of finding his discard mechdragon brick when Garmadon stood up, "Son," Garmadon sighed, "I don't know what's hurting you, but I think you need to go and talk to your mother," He pointed towards the volcano, "Whenever I was having issues I couldn't fix, she'd always seemed to figure them out. Even the really complicated ones. Actually, it was always the really complicated ones."
"Like how to scale a wall the right way?" Lulloyd asked him with a sigh.
"No," Garmadon closed his eyes, "Things like, what it meant that I wanted to be by her side."
Lulloyd blinked at that response, then he sighed and slowly straightened himself up, "I'll go and talk to her then, dad. I'm… sorry that I'm being so weird right now."
"Never apologize for your emotions," Garmadon informed him, "Just make sure you know what you're feeling so you know what they're trying to tell you next time."
Once more unsure of how to respond to that, Lulloyd unfurled his Mechdragon and leapt up onto it, letting the thing roar before shooting up into the sky. Its body beautifully undulated back and forth as it flew across the ocean spanse connecting Ninjago City and his father's volcano, now his home. Garmadon watched him leave, then turned and barked at the men still swimming laps in the water to come back up and help him rebuild the subs.
As Lulloyd neared the volcano, a small hatch opened up, allowing him to slowly fly into the hole and land at a small pad. All around him, he could see the Shark Army was mobilizing. Even as he landed, the space was quickly being used to put together even more ships for the army to utilize. The ninja quickly leapt his way through the crowd and down onto one of the various catwalks throughout the volcano, letting them all go about their tasks as he moved along himself.
"If you're looking for Lady Iron Dragon," One of the private puffers called out from above him, "She's in the lab!"
"Oh, thanks," Lulloyd gave the man a wave. The soldier gave him a salute, then was off. As he walked through the massive group, several others of the shark army called out to him.
"Ah, General!" Crusty, the current Crab Division General, gave him a long salute as he walked by, "Off to see the Dragon of the Iron, eh?"
"I'm just going to talk to her," Lulloyd informed him.
"I see, I see," Crusty chuckled, "Well, you have fun with that."
"Will do, Crusty," Lulloyd smiled at him weakly, stepping around him into a rather barren elevator. A few other nearby soldiers stepped inside, twisting their hands around to hold their weapons closer as they piled in. Lulloyd let them each mumble out their floor for him to punch them in. By the time he was finished, the array of floors lit up like a shark fin.
After a rather lengthy ride, Lulloyd stepped out into a large white room. The room was currently filled with scientists racing around and quickly tapping in whatever they had in their heads onto computers. Small robotic arms hinged and twisted around on ball joins to put together small mini-scale models of things, only to break them apart after a nearby machine beeped with a red 'X' on the screen. One woman nearly rushed right into Lulloyd with a laptop clipped into one hand, giving him a hurried apology before she was off herself.
"No no, you're losing at least 10% of the troops you can fit in the carrier that way!" Coco's voice rang out inside the room, "You can't just add more guns and think that's everything!"
"Ma'am, the last few times that we attempted to deploy these carriers," A man with a head completely covered in hair began.
"And I'm saying the last time doesn't matter, you have to make sure that next time isn't affected," Coco sighed, "Okay, what if we removed the guns here and moved them onto the-"
"Hey, mom?" Lulloyd called out, rounding the corner to the source.
As he rounded the corner, Lulloyd saw his mother, currently pointing out a small mini model constructed on a desk, plucking off some small cheese slopes and moving them about. She wore her normal sparkling green work vest, white undershirt and her brown pants. The desk had her bright red purse piece firmly planted into a stud. Upon seeing her son, Coco smiled.
"Lloyd!" Coco waved her hand, "Come on over here. Are you alright? I thought you were training with your dad."
"Yeah, uhm… didn't get far with that," Lulloyd mumbled, "I wanted to come talk to you."
"Oh?" Coco blinked at that, then turned to her colleague, "Find a way to move the guns without sacrificing the troop carrying space. I'll be back later. Have some results for me, beardy!"
"The name is Bundy," The scientist sighed, picking up his model and moving it off into the lab. Coco gave him a wave before pointing towards a set of chairs by a large window overlooking the massive hollow interior of the volcano. Lulloyd plopped his feet into studs alongside his mother.
"So," Coco leaned forward, "What's happening?"
"It's…" Lulloyd sighed, "It's… it's something I don't know. I'm feeling, weird, and upset."
"Hrmm… sounds like something's eating at you," Coco cocked her head, "Do you know when you started feeling this?"
"...When, dad told me that I was going to lead the army?" Lulloyd put forward.
"I see," Coco smiled, "You think that might be it?"
"Kinda… I… I don't know?" Lulloyd mumbled out, "I… I don't know what it means, for me to even be leading an army…"
"What it means to be leading an army?" Coco asked him, "I don't know, what would it mean?"
"I… I don't know!" Lulloyed rotated his head, "I've been, I've always been raised, to be a ninja. Uncle Wu taught me how to fight the Shark Army. And my dad. And now that he's in my life again, now that…. Now that I'm being asked to lead it… what does that mean for me?"
"It means that you'd be the General in your father's army," Coco smiled, "What's the problem with that?"
"There… there isn't a problem!" Lulloyd looked up, "That's the problem, mom. There's, there's nothing that I should be upset about! I'm, I'm going to. I'm going to help everyone. I've been wanting to do nothing but help defeat the Twins ever since they got here! That's been, everything. I've been the one that can't do anything, who, who just…" Lulloyd put his hands to his head, "I-I should be happy. I should be, really, really happy about this. But, but I'm not. I'm, I'm acting selfish and, and bad, and…"
Coco stood up and walked over to her son, gently moving to press his head into her shoulder. She reached out and gently patted his shoulder, giving him a quiet shush. Lulloyd looked up at her for a moment, wanting to say he wasn't a kid anymore. Instead, he took it quietly.
"From what I'm hearing, you're saying you don't think you're ready to take on the role of General Number Son, right?" Coco smiled, "I tried to talk your father out of that name, you know."
"It's not the name…." Lulloyd groaned out, "But… it is pretty bad."
The two Garmadons shared a small laugh together. Coco sat back down, looking at him as she let Lulloyd's thoughts start to settle down. As she did, she thought very carefully about what she wanted to say to him. After a bit of time to think, she leaned forward and gently leaned against the window.
"I think you're finding that you're about to do something that's very grown up, Lloyd," Coco told him, "And I think your father pushed you to become a Warlord way too quickly. He's been doing it ever since he came back to us, right?" Coco waited for Lulloyd to mumble 'yes' back to her, "You're all worried that if you go and do this, you can't be a ninja anymore, right?"
"I… guess that's it…" Lulloyd grumbled out. Even then, Coco's motherly intuition was going off.
"I know that you and your father don't always see eye to eye, but I know why he's doing this," Coco told him, "I don't think you know how big a deal it is for him to hand off his army to someone else. It took him a long time just to let me lead a squadron. But even then... " Coco smiled at him, "Your father wants to find a way to be in your life, Lulloyd. And he's seizing this opportunity. You know that he's always thinking of things like he's still in the past… but he's trying. And right now, him pushing you to be General Number Son, is his way of saying that he thinks you're ready for this."
"But… but I'm not ready," Lulloyd closed his eyes, "Dad, my friends, Over, Mage, even Harumi… they'd be better choices for it."
"But your father didn't choose them," Coco put her hand on his shoulder, "He picked you. He looked at everyone that he knew, and he said, 'I want my son to be the one to do this.' He didn't pick you because you were his son. He picked you because he thought you were ready. And I think if he thinks that you're ready, then you should at least trust him a bit."
Lulloyd was quiet for a long while, letting her words sink in. As he did, he felt his own mood starting to shift a bit more, if only slightly. He looked up at her for a few minutes, then stood up.
"I'm… I think, I know what you're trying to say," Lulloyd groaned out, "I don't know if I'm as ready as you think I am, but…" Lulloyd smiled at her, "I'm going to do my best."
"That's all anyone can ask of you, son," Coco beamed at him, "Now, I might have some snacks here if you're hungry."
Lulloyd smiled, ready to go and take her up on that offer. Instead, he heard a sound behind him. Mother and son turned together to see none other than Monty walking forward through the lab, the glimmering SoS on his back. He had his hands in his armor's belt, walking around with a long groan on his lips.
"Why does your father have to have an entire volcano to himself?" Monty asked with a roll of his eyes, "This place makes no sense to navigate. Where are we even inside this thing?"
"Monty?" Lulloyd asked him in shock, "Why are you here?"
"Because Harumi needs you," Monty groaned out, "And unfortunately, thanks to those two, we're down two comms, so apparently I'm the one that they think should be running errand boy."
Lulloyd blinked, then nodded his head. With Over and Mage having lost their own devices, they had been making due on using the four of them. Since he and Harumi were doing their own things, it'd only made sense for them to lend their own devices out. It meant, however, that he hadn't heard anything from the others since they left.
"Well, you better take care of that," Coco smiled at her son, "I'll let your father know." With that, she swiftly left the room before any of them could say anything.
"What's going on?" Lulloyd asked.
"Harumi says that she needs all six of our devices to power whatever she's making, and thanks to them, we're short on them," Monty sighed, "Come on, we need to find them."
"What? Where even are they?" Lulloyd asked in confusion.
"Right now? Probably with that snake, since he's the one that took them," Monty sighed, "But of course we have no idea where Ophiod might be, so that complicates things. Mage said that his mom spotted him outside the city, so I figured we'd start there."
"And, we're going right now?" Lulloyd asked him.
"Do you have anything else going on?" Monty shot back.
Lulloyd thought about that for a moment. In truth, he should be going and training more with his father. But his mother also said she would cover for him. It was a bit of a sudden development, but Lulloyd knew that what Monty said was important.
"No," Lulloyd told him, "But, is it safe to go back to that place?"
"Who knows, who cares?" Monty sighed, "Let's go."
Without waiting for his response, Monty took hold of Lulloyd's arm and activated his wristband. The two of them suddenly were flung off into another world, with little left behind to say that they had been there at all.
Harumi slowly walked through the path that led away from the Time Tribe city of Tempus. The wall behind her was intact, and the people, while rattled, were at the very least safe. From what she understood, it seemed the Vermillion really had pulled back, just like Morro said that they would. As she made her way through the path, though, she wasn't thinking about most any of them. Instead, she was thinking about why she'd been summoned.
"Harumi," Acronix' called out to her, sitting in a small dip that laid beside the main path. Harumi, seeing the man, slowly made her way over towards him.
"Acronix," Harumi nodded to him, "You had Mage come get me, right?"
"Yes," Acronix' nodded, "Mage has made a rather bold move. I asked him to contact your other friend to bring you here," He paused, "I am not causing you trouble, am I?"
"No, I can afford a small break," Harumi paused, "But… why are we meeting out here and not in your tribe?"
Because I do not wish for any spies to hear this, regardless of who they are," Acronix' frowned, "Do you recall what we last spoke about, Harumi?"
"About… my plan to go back in time," Harumi nodded, "I do."
"Then you recall my opposition to your plan, yes?" Acroinx' asked her.
"I do," Harumi followed up, "But I intend to follow through with it regardless."
Acronix' was silent for a little while. On his hips, he had his two new swords, in place of the normal one. They were both shorter than Aevum, almost like a matching pair of daggers. One was engraved with blue runes, and the other green. Given how Aevum worked, Harumi wasn't surprised at the sight of them. Acronix' rested his hand against them as he thought very carefully as to how to proceed with his words.
"Harumi. Do you understand the risks?" Acronix' asked her, "You are asking for me to send you back in time, in a timeline that you are no longer connected to. What we did to hold your existence together, it is tenuous at best," Acronix' shook his head, "If I am to send you back, as you ask of me, then you would be putting your life at risk, and none of us could help you."
"I know that," Harumi responded quickly, "I'm, very aware of that. But the Twins have corrupted my home, Acronix. They took everything from me… but it isn't gone. Not forever," Harumi nodded, "As long as I know that, I'll be able to do anything."
"Then, I have your conviction," Acronix' asked her firmly, "I have your will? You will do this, regardless of the risk?"
"You have it," Harumi nodded, "I know that before, I wasn't in my right mind. Right now, though. Now I'm ready to face the Twins. I'm ready to do everything it takes."
Acronix' thought about that for a long while. Thinking long, hard, and trying his best to see what he would need to say. After a few moments, he turned to face her, his eyes stern and burrowing deep into her.
"I've spoken to our dragon," Acronix' informed her, "I know how I can send you back to that time. It is not as complicated as I assumed."
"You… can?" Harumi's eyes lit up in both anticipation, and trepidation, "How?"
"The strange things you use to move between worlds, they will be my conduit," Acronix' informed her, "They have been within the timeline that you want to return to, yes?"
"I built them back home, if that's what you mean," Harumi told him.
Acronix' nodded his head again, "That is what I need to know. When I touched your timeline, I was able to see into it. I believe that I will be able to send you back to a specific point. Once you know when the Twins altered your world, I will send you there to correct it. And then…"
Acronix' reached out and handed her a small stone that glowed with a green energy, "This. Once you have repaired your world, crush this. I have infused it with as much forward energy as I am able," Acronix' nodded his head, "This, combined with your own timeline repairing itself, will return you to the present in your world."
Harumi took hold of the stone, slowly rolling it around in her hands. It felt soft and light, almost like concrete. A small squeeze, though, told her she would be able to break it if she tried. She slid it into her robes, nodding her head at him.
"We'll find out when the Twins caused the disturbance," Harumi told him firmly, "And after that… I'll make sure I put it right."
"I'm putting my faith in you, Harumi," Acronix' told her firmly, "If the Twins have rooted their evil into another world's time, then I cannot forgive them. I cannot go myself… but I know that you are able to. I will support you now, whatever it takes, and however long it will take."
"Thank you, Acronix," Harumi nodded her head, "That means more to me than you know."
"I think I do," Acronix' sighed, "And that is what worries me. But I suppose there is no use in worrying anymore," He smiled gently at her, "I must depart now. Mage has called a meeting of the leaders. How he intends to get them all together in less than a day's time, I will not claim to know. But I must be there to support him."
"That's Mage for you," Harumi smiled gently, "I'll leave you to that. I have to continue working on my own project."
"Then I wish you luck," Acronix' informed her, nodding as he turned to draw one of the swords, the one that glowed green. He flashed the weapon, and suddenly he was gone.
Harumi decided to follow up with a teleporter, taking her borrowed watch and activating it. Mage had contacted Over, who lent his watch to her for her to use. She fell through a portal and, moments later, fell into the planning room of Borg Tower.
"Harumi," Over immediately spoke up to her, "What did Acronix want to tell you?"
Harumi looked around the room to get her bearings. Borg was gone, but in his place there was a hologram of a massive ship in the middle of the room. Over stood behind it, his face obscured slightly by the blue light. She padded over through a floor wrought with discarded papers and designs, moving to stand across from Over.
"Acronix said that he can send me back," Harumi informed him, "Our plan might work."
"Then that is good news," Over paused, "You seem less than pleased."
"It's not that…" Harumi sighed, "I'm just, not sure what to make of it."
"Ah, apprehension then," Over bowed his head, "Understandable."
"I know that I shouldn't be…" Harumi shook her head, "This is me getting my chance to save everything the Twins took from me, and… and I'm not sure if I can do it."
"I believe that each of us have shown that we can do the impossible when prompted," Over told her firmly, "And that means we will have our chance to take back what we've lost."
"Mhm… assuming that this works," Harumi looked up, "I sent Monty and Lulloyd out to get back what Ophiod stole. We need them for this design."
"We'll find them," Over nodded, "That is certain. We will prevail, Harumi."
"I know," Harumi told him, "I'm just still coming to grips with everything... " She paused, "Is this design ready to go?"
"Borg has already assigned all available factories to begin production," Over pointed to the massive ship, "It appears that we will soon be ready to begin our departure."
"Hopefully sooner, rather than later," Harumi nodded. The two looked towards the design they had co-opted, their eyes focused on it. No matter what, this battle had to be the last. No more stalling. No more losses. This would be it.
In a dark corner of a darkened room, Prime slowly raised his head.
"I know what I must do," Akita called out, "Kota shall be my vessel to do what I must."
"You don't have to be so serious all the time," Prime chuckled back at her.
"I am not always serious," Akita responded, "You are simply not serious enough."
Prime curled his hands up around his head. His eyes were completely hollow. There weren't tears for him to give anymore. He slowly inhaled as he kept hearing the words coming. Making him shudder. Making him shiver.
"I'm always serious!" Prime launched back, "I have to be!"
"Your defense speaks against you," Akita sighed, "...But perhaps that is where this charm you wield has come from."
"Charm?" Prime asked.
"Yes, you wield the hearts of those around you. There is nobody that has seen you fight that does not cheer for you upon their next sighting," Akita told him.
"... And yet…" Prime whispered, "Yet you weren't…"
"I'm the voice of the people, Akita, I'm the one that has to stand up and fight for them," Prime told her plainly, "My friends support me. You support me. But at the end of the day… the only one that can wield the power to fight back the darkness, is me."
"I know," Akita responded, "There are times that I wish I could be the one to wield it. The burden it places on you, it is one all can see. Yet we see how strongly you stand up even with it. The strength you use to wield both your mech, and yourself. And it is that reason that we fight for you, Lloyd."
"You fought…" Prime curled up tighter, "Why did you fight?"
"I only ask, that you allow me to support you," Akita continued, "Please. Allow for Kota to be my sword, and my shoulder to be your rest. I ask this of you, Prime. I wish to help defeat the darkness… I wish to help you defeat them."
"If that's what you want," Prime mouthed along with the recording, "Then I'll be sure to look for you whenever I need you, Akita."
Prime went silent. Slowly, the recording device, the log of all the time he'd spent with her in this room, building her mech, helping to guide her into the battlefield and onto his own mission, came to an end. The audio stopped, and the voice of the one he loved the most, that he fought for the most, was gone. There was no noise in that room. Only darkness, a cold chill, and his own silent breath.
The recording began again. Prime closed his eyes as it did, letting the sound of his past failure wash over him again, and again, and again.