Enter The Ninjaverse

by Bionic Stars

The Time Twins have returned, and with it they have brought a new threat: the loss of Lloyd's elemental powers. With Lloyd's powers taken, the Twins escape. Not the Time Vortex, however, but instead a rip in the very fabric of the universe itself. Lloyd's quest to stop the Twins leads him to new worlds, new faces, and new revelations into himself.

100. Chapter 100

Author's Note:

1 year, 9 Months, and 26 Days. The time between when I published the start of Ninjaverse to today. To those of you who are reading this… thank you.

It's time to enter the scene that I've been wanting to write ever since I introduced Prime and Ophiod. This scene, stretching across Chapter 100 and 101, was one that I have planned for over a year. And now, we're here.

If there is one song that I can use to describe this chapter, it's this: Between Heaven and Earth. I recommend, more than any other recommendation, that you read it with that music on loop. It perfectly encapsulates every mood, every plot thread, everything that's led to this.

It's time for the Ninjaverse to come to its head. It's time… to Ninja-go.

One last fanart to add from hwompy, thank you again!

blog/view/hwompy/658696522762944512

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Upon the battlefield of Ninjago, three armies stood ready for battle.

The Iron Demise stood over them all with its pure and powerful glory, one born of the raw fear and terror that such a device could bring to all those who stood just within its shadow. The behemethod reached up into the very clouds themselves, almost obscuring the massive head of the machine. Even now, its four arms undulated ever so slightly, creating a ripple of light around them that made not focusing on them nearly impossible. Each of their massive replica Time Blades would be large enough to crack Borg Tower apart. The machine seemed to writhe and pulse like a living, breathing being, owed to the thousands of snakes that were needed just to keep the thing standing.

Standing firm at the front of the Corridor of Elders was none other than the Shark Army. The assembled forces filled the skies with their vehicles -bombers and subs- spinning and hovering in the air as they awaited their chance to finally attack. On the ground, mechas stood with their massive shark launchers ready, piloted by men hidden behind their massive jaws. Crab walkers and Piranha mechs lined the massive rows of troops that each stood clutching their weapons, their posture uneasy as they looked towards the machine that would soon spell their end if they didn't fight with all they had.

A third army stood poised. Standing towards the eastern edge of the battlefield, the Stone Army dominated the horizon, still as statues, with eyes that glowed with hatred and malice to be turned on their foes. The archers readied their massive bows, the swordsmen held up their blackened blades and shields, and the warriors heaved up massive hammers and curved butterfly swords that gleamed against the early morning sun. The glow of their eyes, glowing against their statuesque faces, made them appear almost demonic with how they each waited so patiently.

Inside of the Iron Demise, there stood a small assembled group. Krux and Acroinx both stood at the controls to the Iron Doom, the slots in front of them currently powered by the Time Blades inserted into their controls. These blades were born of a world that no longer existed, yet stabilized the very existence of their own lives. Skales stood behind them, alongside his lover and charge, Ophiod, who clutched his staff and scroll powerfully with a grip to nearly break the thing. Oni stood beside them, his body shifted to appear human from the waist up, with the Mask of Dominance and Mask of Deception on his hips. Prime stood along with them, his jumpsuit the same as it always had been, yet his eyes now showing a craving for battle that even those that had destroyed infinite lives found amusing.

At the front of the Shark Army, a massive shark stood firm. The Garmashark 2.0 was outfitted with enough cannons to nearly rip the fins off from their sheer weight. The shark was nearly doubled the size of the original, and the small platform that extended from the head was now a massive control panel. Standing at the front of the panel was Lulloyd, his sword and brick on his back. His face was surrounded by a helmet of massive green dragon jaws, and his body armor a mixture of that same motif down to the golden claws on his boots. Behind him stood Garmadon, the warlord and conqueror of Ninjago City, and his wife in full Lady Iron Dragon garb, hefting up her black bow and arrow and sword. Father, Mother and Son stood poised at the front of their troops, awaiting the very word for their conflict to begin.

And finally, at the front of the Stone Army stood General Kozu and Over. The Emperor of a land that no longer existed, a land that had been ripped from him and the one that protected it, stood proud with his massive staff summoned in his hand. His normal armor had shifted into a massive breastplate mirroring that of his own general, with massive greaves now on his arms that each pulsed with the sickly glow of Dark Matter. Kozu himself, with memories of a world long since lost, readied his blades as his own stark cherry red armor separated him distinctly from his brethren. Though their army was the smallest, little more than three hundred strong, each warrior waited with the poise of a trained elite soldier.

Finally, within the Corridor of Elders itself, stood a combined force of Serpentine and Nindroids, both from this world where it had all begun. They were the last line of defense should the Vermillion break through the Shark Army. The four generals held up their staffs, a weary look in their eyes even as their tails tensed for combat. A few sparsely converted vehicles of the Fangpyre had been placed behind the rocks themselves, ready to blast those who tried to make it through. The rocks that formed the canyon walls were lined with white-plated Nindroids, holding rifles ready with the order to destroy all not marked as their allies. Remotely from Borg Tower, Cyrus Borg sat in his office with the screens surrounding him to command his own robots.

"Is this it?" Acronix smirked as he looked down over the assembled army, "This is barely even a single corps! Hmmph, do they really treat us so lightly, brother?"

"Perhaps… but they have been crafty before," Krux waved his hand, "You may lead the battle, brother. I shall stay here and ensure that the Iron Demise is ready for when we need her strength to end their resistance."

"I must join the battle," Prime declared, putting his hand to his chest with a trembling heart, "Let me board Invictus. I've had it outfitted for war. Please, let me lead the charge!"

"Now now, Prime, you'll get your chance," Krux waved his hand, "You deploy when we give you the signal to. Which… given how their forces look, won't be rather long," He laughed.

"Sir," Morro appeared from a small tube-like elevator that led to the massive cockpit, "The Vermillion are ready to deploy."

"Then it's time to show them the true despair that they now face," Krux spun around in his chair, "Deploy the Vermillion!"

Across the battlefield, there was a massive hiss of air as the Iron Demise began to move. The sound was deafening, like the boom of a jet as it cracked through the skies. All those living felt their wills immediately snapped to their breaking point as they watched the doors to the Iron Demise begin to open. The sheer sight of plates beginning to crack and shift about, an alien motion that revealed the muscle-like snakes holding the machine together, made the threat of the battle burn forward more powerfully than it had until now. Even Over felt his chest thrumming with tension as he watched it happen, his troops the only ones spared from such fear.

"Hold!" Lulloyd shouted to the Shark Army, "Do not show fear! Whatever comes out of that machine, you will not yield to them! Stand your ground!"

Lulloyd's words did little to assuage the fear that his troops felt. The massive panel, nearly the size of a building itself, began to gently unfold from the front of the Iron Demise. Massive pistons large enough to lift entire street blocks slowly rotated the massive sheet of metal up the machine's maw, revealing a massive black gap of void inside of it. The darkness inside was akin to a sinkhole that had swallowed the earth itself, now poised to instead swallow any who charged too close. Lulloyd half-jumped as he watched small lights begin to flicker to life, illuminating small parts of the interior to show massive tubes that ran down the back of the area, each of which was filled to the breaking point with snakes.

From the bottom of the tubes, a small hole shaped roughly like a Vermillion soldier was present. The maw of snakes being poured down from the depths of the Demise quickly slithered towards it, sending out a pile of a writhing, frothing fanged and scaled mass. Flanking each of the tubes were a set of robotic arms that moved like a conveyor belt, delivering each mass their required armor. The piles slowly formed up, a cloud of dust spreading around them as they fitted themselves into the typical gunmetal gray armor that comprised the Vermillion warrior. Once they stood up and their red eyes flashed in the pits of their head, another arm delivered them their weapon. Spears, angular swords and hammers were handed out as Vermillion marched down in rows out into the battlefield, the ground swallowed beneath their mass.

Lulloyd raised his hand to give command to his aerial forces. The Iron Demise moved. A whirling of mechanical and organic muscle filled the skies. Each of its four arms and their faux-Time Blades charged up with pure red power, sparking between the prongs of their weapons. Krux, smirking inside of his cockpit, shifted them to point towards the fleet of ships that hovered about the army. Lulloyd froze as he got the message loud and clear: moving now would evoke the Iron Demie's response, one he wasn't sure his army could survive.

Thus, Lulloyd bit down on his lip in anger as he watched the Vermillion assemble. It was nothing more than a pure display of power and might, something to simply make their armies lose hope before they had a chance to swing a single sword. The Vermillion that streamed out from the Demise formed perfect, orderly rows, their own Hive Mind making sure not one of them could fall out of place. The shear rate at which they moved was inhumanly fast, lining up faster and faster. They formed row after row, marching further forward to make more room for each one. The urge to attack grew stronger and stronger inside of Lulloyd, even as his father reached out to touch his shoulder and tell him silently to steel his nerves.

It was almost ten minutes before the Vermillion were assembled. Ten minutes of torture, of waiting for them all to simply form up and dominate their space. The once brown landscape had been utterly transformed into nothing more than a red sea of Vermillion soldiers. No one had to count to know there were no less than 500,000 of them. The sheer number of them, lined up so they spanned the entire length of the plains chosen so carefully for their battle, made them almost as intimidating as the Iron Demise itself. With the Iron Demise's shadow cast over the battlefield, however, the two sights worked together to build a near petrifying intimidating terror.

As the last of the Vermillion exited the Iron Demise, a small platform extended out from the machine's massive insignia of the Twins in place of where the Time Matrix once lay. From the tip of the little hand of the clock,the catwalk extended first, then railing around it. Acronix slowly walked out, holding nothing more than a Vermillion sword. He stood hundreds of feet in the air, stories above all of those below. From here, he could truly see how much of an advantage that he held against the rest of them. On the back of his neck, the snake that bit so deeply into his spine, that let his own mind connect to the Hive Mind to control the snakes down below, glimmered in the last vestiges of morning dew that clung to the battlefield.

Acronix closed his eyes, then opened them to reveal the distinctive red flash of Vermillion pupils. The back of the Iron Demise unfolded, another panel that none could see but all could hear, causing a massive fleet of ships to deploy out into the air. Small metal-built jets, with swept-back wings and small laser cannons on the front of each all styled in the same fashion as the Vermillion bikes and tanks, swarmed into the air like locusts. Acronix grinned as he held his hand up, causing them to form up around the head and shoulders of the Demise. Smaller panels opened up at the base of the Demise, letting tanks and bikes rapidly swarm out and fill out more ranks behind the Vermillion troops themselves. The noise of them driving out of the machine brought a rumble to the very earth itself as Acronix formed them up.

Amongst the Vermillion horde, two commanders stood out. Commander Blunck hefted up his massive hammer with a sickly red blade made of crystal so deep it almost looked to be blood, while Commander Raggmunk simply hefted two swords and crossed them. Both of them closed their eyes as they felt Acronix flashing their commands to them. Their distinctly orange bodies were some of the only points of distinction among the Vermillion hordes.

"I will give you but one chance to surrender!" Acronix began. His voice was projected through each of the hundreds of thousands of Vermillion that opened their mouths and wrangled their own necks to form vocal chords, "I see that you've somehow managed to traverse the boundaries of the universes themselves. I'm impressed! But it won't be enough for you to defeat us here!"

Lulloyd could see his troops flinching at the sheer sound that washed over them. He, however, could not flinch. His expression only hardened as he forced himself to stay upright as his ears rang. His father gave him a small nod of approval, while his mother just smiled at the display.

"So… what do you say?" Acronix leaned forward against his railing, waving his sword, "Do you want to just finally give up? Can you really put the lives of everyone on the line just for your own selfish goal to stop us?"

As the blast of sound washed over them all, Lulloyd and Over both looked up towards the massive machine in front of them. Compared to that thing, for the first time in a long while, they were reminded that they were truly little more than ants compared to its power. They were nothing more than a squabbling mess of desires, hopes, and aspirations that had manifested in what little they could hope to organize to finally defeat what they had chased for so long. But the thought of what Acronix said was not one that they could ignore.

Behind the two of them stood hundreds of men. Men that had come from universes of all kinds, men that had given up nearly everything to be there to fight for them. Even now, the weight of standing at the front of the Shark Army weighed heavily on Lulloyd's shoulders. Over, used to the feeling, knew the sensation of dread that battle brought with it. They were asking for others to finally fight this battle for them. They had failed, and now they had to ask other people, other worlds to do what they had failed to… for them.

And yet as they looked upon the Iron Demise, the thought they had focused. If they failed here, if they let the Iron Demise flee, nobody would be safe. No world, no power would be able to stop them. They would rip the void into worlds themselves, just for a single infraction. They would overwrite the pain and hardship, the love and friendship, the path of history of other worlds if it suited their needs. They weren't asking for other people to fight their battle for them. They were asking them to fight the battle for their homes, their worlds, everything that they were and everything that they could one day be. Right here and now, between heaven and earth, they would stop the Twins. It was the only hope they had.

Lulloyd raised his sword into the air. Over charged up power in his upper right hand. Lulloyd thrust his sword forward with a massive bellow of "FIRE!" The Garmashark 2.0 rotated forward and sent a volley of rockets into the air with a loud blast of 'kcchow!' Over snarled and thrust his hand forward, blasting the tip of his staff and amplifying his power to fire through the air in a beautifully guided missile.

Faster than any of them could have predicted, one of the arcing lines of red lightning from the Iron Demise's weapons blasted outwards, intercepting both of their attacks in the air. The explosion sent a massive shockwave of sound through the air that left the assembled armies in complete stun at the act of defiance. Like a spell being washed over them, the men that had previously been welded to the ground in terror turned to look to their commanders, both of whom held their weapons extended and pointed right towards where Acronix stood far above them.

As the smoke of the attack faded, Acronix came back into view. While none could see it, his smile had slowly faded into a disappointed sigh. He straightened his posture and planted his sword down against the platform below him, waving his hand.

"It looks like not even fear can make you see reason," Acronix lamented, "Vermillion! Ready yourselves for battle!"

All along the Vermillion lines, each warrior stiffened up, holding their weapon aloft. In those moments, Blunck and Raggmunk readied for their charge, both of them having an evil look on their faces. The tanks lowered their catapults back, loading cocoons to fling across the battlefield. The massive swarm of Vermillion fighters, ready to claim the air itself, each readied their own weapons. The bikes revved up to charge across and into the other side of the battle. Acronix grinned as he felt the sheer power that he held in his hands in this moment.

"Lulloyd," Over's voice rang out in the general's comm, "Allow me to handle the first charge."

From his perch in front of the Stone Army, Over stepped forward. The dark being slowly held his staff up in front of him as he did, taking a long and deep breath. When he opened them, he focused his sight on the Vermillion horde.

"Hundreds of years ago!" Over roared out, "The First Master waged his war against the Overlord. The battle was perfectly balanced between them, until the day that the Overlord created the Stone Army. Now I stand here, born of forsaken light and embraced darkness, to defend the land on which he stood on. I declare this now to you, Acronix, Krux, and to all who stay in their service! Ninjago, nor any world in which it exists, will ever fall to you so long as I draw breath!"

The Stone Army let out a massive grunt of affirmation. Kozu stepped forward, holding his swords up and slowly giving Over a long look. Over slowly inhaled and nodded, looking up towards the sight of Acronix.

Acronix watched the display in front of him, a small amused grin spreading over his lips. The Stone Army took several steps forward, letting out a thunderous cry as their feet fell against the ground. Over stood defiant there, readying everything that he had towards the man. After a small moment of thought, Acronix raised his hand, then he just sighed.

"How cute," Acronix waved his hand, "Kill them all."

Suddenly, the Vermillion army lowered their weapons in front of them and charged. They held their points forward as they pounded hard across the battlefield, their feet clanking with each step their metal armor made. The tremor the sheer power of their feet falling over the ground shook the very earth itself. As they charged, the swarm that flooded towards them was a sight that could chill the bones of any man.

"Wait!" Over roared out, holding his staff up. Kozu let out a guttural cry and made his men hold their position. The Vermillion charged even harder, the gap between the armies shrinking. The Shark Army began to tremble as they saw such a horrifying sight of death and destruction hurtling towards them. The plain they had selected for their battle was massive, but each second made it seem to shrink as the Vermillion closed the gap that much more.

"WAIT!" Over shouted again. The Vermillion charged even closer. He waited for them to come closer to him, to see more of the detail in the first line. As they crossed the halfway point of the battlefield, Over drew in a breath.

"STONE ARMY!" Over shouted, "LEAVE NONE ALIVE TO DEFY YOUR EMPEROR!"

"EEK VAIL!" Kozu shouted, thrusting his swords forward. Over's back sprouted powerful dragon wings that shot him into the sky, carrying him high above his men. Kozu let out several more screaming cries to his men, each of whom sounded less intelligent than the last. As the Stone Army raced out to meet the Vermillion, Over's eyes glowed powerfully just as he slammed himself down towards the ground, plunging his staff into the rocks hard enough they cracked and splintered apart.

All around the Vermillion, the ground began to instead rumble against them. Several of the Vermillion stopped just in time to see the very earth begin to ripple and shake. Acronix raised his eyebrow just in time to see massive chunks of the earth begin to split apart and ripple all amongst Vermillion's first charge. Those that stopped to look down into the growing cracks would be greeted with the sight of a deep purple and black glow before they saw something rapidly rising up to meet them.

Chaos and disarray broke free among the Vermillion as spikes of Dark Matter itself rose up from the earth. The spikes reached up to the sky with pointed tips, skewering Vermillion unlucky enough not to move in time. The spikes seemed to rise up completely randomly, destroying entire lines of their charge. They grew in size the further into their ranks they broke from, each one ensuring several Vermillion would meet their end in turn. The cries of snakes alongside the very ground itself erupting was a sight that was fit for someone that wore the demonic visage of the Emperor.

Over pulled his staff from the ground, seeing the fruits of his labor with Borg. He shot into the air once again, this time spinning his staff around his body before catching it to point it forward. The power at the tip of it glowed powerfully, causing the Dark Matter spikes to do the same. He shut his eyes tightly, focusing on them in turn. The spikes began to rip holes in the ground as they pulled towards one another, crushing Vermillion in their wake. Over gripped his staff as he formed those spikes into massive, makeshift walls, their surfaces molding together to form a solid surface in which to hide behind.

As the Vermillion attempted to recover from the shock of the attack, Kozu slammed into their right flank. The Vermillion were cut down as the stone swordsmen leveled their blades into them, their strength greater than any man nor beast could hope to fight. Their blows rent the armor they wore in half, blasting snakes apart onto the ground. The archers formed a line behind them, firing arrows down into the Vermillion to rip their very helmets apart. Stone warriors followed behind them, smashing apart those Vermillion that attempted to reform behind their ranks. Kozu stood at the head of all of them, his blades an unrelenting force as he ripped and tore into those that even dared look his way.

Over shot through the air, his wings carrying him to hover over his forces. He leveled his staff forward, directing the Dark Matter Borg had planted for him underground as he commanded. He commanded the spikes to rip up from the ground to blast apart those Vermillion too densely packed from the first attack. His warriors went through their first wave with deadly precision and efficiency, just in time for them to look up as they saw Acronix holding his hand forward to command the second wave to charge them.

"Lulloyd," Over calmly relayed through their comms, "Your time has come!"

Over didn't need to say it to prompt Lulloyd to action. The young general… the young warlord felt it in his chest. He looked towards his mother, then his father and took a long and deep breath. He stepped forward towards the front of the Garmashark's command platform, seeing the chaos unfolding. The sounds of battle were distant, yet constant to him now.

"Son," Garmadon grunted out, "A good Warlord always rallies his men before the charge."

Lulloyd turned towards his father, "I know, dad," Lulloyd growled out, "Give me your staff."

Garmadon, blinking in surprise at the deep power in Lulloyd's voice, relented. Lulloyd snatched the massive weapon out of his father's hand, holding it in his left and drawing his sword in his right. He kicked a small piece of the platform below him, causing a megaphone to rise up on the panel in front of him. Seeing it, for a long few moments, Lulloyd remembered every single battle he'd had with his father. He remembered every speech he'd heard him give from the top of his shark. And in those moments, he could finally feel the deep and raw power that his father had within him, a power that rose in his throat and powered out through his very lips.

"SHARK ARMY!" Lulloyd shouted from the depths of his chest, "YOU LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW! NO MATTER WHAT THOSE SNAKES DO, YOU WILL HOLD! YOUR! GROUND!"

All eyes were drawn up towards Lulloyd. Both Garmadon and Coco blinked in utter shock at the sound of their boy roaring with such a fiery passion. Lulloyd raised his father's staff up, spinning it around as hard as he could before slamming it into the platform. The very bricks nearly broke apart as the crushing sound was sent through the megaphone, echoing across the entire battle itself. Even the Vermillion looked up at him as Lulloyd threw his sword at his father to grab the megaphone and leap on top of the control panel to put himself even higher than his father.

"I CAN FEEL IT NOW, YOU'RE ALL SCARED OF THAT THING, AREN'T YOU?!" Lulloyd shook his head, "IF THAT THING HAS TAKEN YOUR WILL TO FIGHT, WHAT PRIDE DO YOU HAVE TO CALL YOURSELF A MEMBER OF THE SHARK ARMY?! LOOK AT THEM!" Lulloyd thrust his staff out, "THEY'RE JUST A BUNCH OF SNAKES HIDING IN ARMOR. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK A WEAK THING LIKE THAT CAN DEFEAT SOMEONE LIKE YOU?!"

Lulloyd took another deep breath, "IF YOU CAN'T FACE THEM WITHOUT SHAKING, THEN YOU PICK UP YOUR WEAPON AND YOU TAKE BACK YOUR PRIDE! THE ONLY WAY THOSE THINGS WIN AGAINST US IS BY MAKING US STOP SWIMMING. BECAUSE WE! ARE! SHARKS!"

A powerful thrum began to rock through the army. Lulloyd took a deep breath to steady himself. Slowly, the men that had previously shuddered underneath the might of the Iron Demise began to feel the power of their commander, their warlord, their general thrum through them. Hammerheads picked up their fish-sticks. Crab walkers gripped their controls and snapped their pincers. Jellies raised their hand cannons. Octopi raised their rocket launchers.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT SHARKS DO WHEN THEY FIND SOMETHING IN THEIR TERRITORY?!" Lulloyd continued, "THEY RIP THEM UP AND LEAVE NOTHING BEHIND FOR THE NEXT ONE! IF YOU THINK YOU'RE FACING SOMETHING YOU CAN'T DEFEAT, THEN YOU JUST RIP INTO IT AND KEEP GOING UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT FOR YOU TO RIP UP! DO YOU HEAR ME, SHARK ARMY?!"

The Shark Army let out an audible cheer. The sheer felt powerful enough to rock Lulloyd off of his perch, but he stood his ground. He took another few breaths, even as this throat burned from the effort. Behind him, his father's eyes shone with so much pride he looked ready to break apart at the hips. Coco looked at him with a supportive smile, holding up her sword as he did.

"NOW THEN!" Lulloyd couldn't help but grin, "I'M YOUR GENERAL NUMBER SON! BUT I THINK I NEED TO HEAR IT FROM YOU. WHAT'S MY NAME?!"

"LLOYD!" The army cheered.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Lulloyd laughed, "I SAID, WHAT'S MY NAME?!"

"LLOYD!" The army cheered even louder.

"SAY IT AGAIN!" Lulloyd held his staff up.

"WHAT'S?!" The shark mechas raised their cannons.

"MY?!" The skies thrummed to life as the Jelly subs spun their legs and the bombers cocked their guns.

"NAME?!" The entire force of the Shark Army raised their breath together as one.

"LLOYD! LLOYD GARMADON!"

"AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!" Lulloyd roared, "YOUR GENERAL NUMBER SON COMMANDS YOU DESTROY EVERY! LAST! ONE! OF! THEM!"

With that shout, the Shark Army began to charge. Lulloyd took a long and deep breath, doing his best to clear the pain in his throat. With that said, Garmadon grinned and leaned forward, putting his hand on the shark's control and gripping a lever to command it to begin the walk forward.

"Lead them, son!" Garmadon laughed, gesturing to the Garmashark control sticks. When he looked up, however, the look on Lulloyd's face wasn't one ready to take the controls.

Lulloyd took a deep breath, then he shook his head, "I lead from the front."

Before Garmadon could stop him, Lulloyd flung his Mechdragon brick into the air, unfolding it into the mechanical beast and leaping aboard it. He took his sword back and held both warlord staff and curved blade, kicking the controls with his foot. The repaired Mechdragon roared in affirmation, then shot through the air, unfurling its jets to reach its maximum speed immediately.

Acronix, watching as the Mechdragon pulled ahead in front of the rest of the charging Shark Army, pointed his sword towards Lulloyd. All at once, the swarm of Vermillion aircraft arced down towards Lulloyd's dragon, firing their lasers at him. As they neared the ground, they leveled off just above the charging Vermillion, blasting a massive and deadly web of lasers straight towards Lulloyd in turn.

With a trained calm only a son of Garmadon could poise, Lulloyd used his foot to guide the Mechdragon through the near touhou levels of fire. The lasers struck various points along the dragon, leaving scorched stickers across its surface. Pieces began to break off as Lulloyd charged closer and closer to the onslaught, kicking the red button to send his own volley of missiles and cannons out towards the oncoming fighters. Several craft were destroyed where they flew, careening into the ground and smashing apart their brethren as they came to a tumbling and violent crash.

One craft reached forward, yanking a lever to cause a cocoon, packed with explosives, to launch from the back of their craft and soar straight up into the air. Lulloyd, unable to dodge it in time, threw his body forward as it slammed right down into the midsection of his dragon. With a powerful rippling blast that tore through it, his dragon was blown in half. The back legs and tail were sent flying backwards, smashing apart as they struck the ground. Lulloyd slammed his knees back against the dragon's seat, holding on as he felt the dragon go down. The front legs were eviscerated upon contact, leaving him skidding across the ground on the dragon's shoulders and neck. Thinking fast, he fired off the head missile, sending it soaring up into the air to blast apart several more Vermillion craft.

Just before the neck came to a halt, Lulloyd leapt off and hit the ground running as fast as he could. The neck came to a rolling halt just behind his run with a cloud of dirt. Lulloyd continued to run, his face twisted into a violent yell as he saw the first faces of the second charge of Vermillion directly in front of him. Behind him, jelly subs skirted the ground and flew low, their dangling orange chains ready to tear through the snakes. Lulloyd let out one more battle cry just as he hefted his staff up behind him and slammed down into the first Vermillion he could find.

The shockwave of Lulloyd's attack threw three other Vermillion backwards. Lulloyd tossed the staff into the air and caught it on its end, spinning his body around with a powerful heave of it. The staff's reach caught several more Vermillion in it as he spun them into each other. He kicked off into the air above him, turning the staff downwards and plunging it powerfully into the Vermillion. Their armor crushed their snakes from the sheer weight of it, forcing them to break apart. Lulloyd spun his sword around to knock back another Vermillion, spinning his body again to use the staff to heave him into the air. Said Vermillion was then caught on the spinning orange chains of a sub, his body ripped apart into snakes on contact.

"Bomber squad Caudal!" Lulloyd shouted into his comm, "Lay down air strikes on their left flank! Jelly squad Dorsal, churn them up and don't let them regroup!"

In the air, a squad of ten Manta Ray Bombers suddenly arced down to his left, flying in low. Gunners took hold of their massive guns and let out rapid 'bbrrttbrrttbrrtttt!' to fire off orange beams of bullets into the Vermillion fighters that flew above them. The main pilots rapidly hit their red buttons to drop the two massive bombs that they carried, each of which would crash down with a spin of their propellers and let out several 'tick tick tick tock' before they erupted. The bombers descended and ascended in a perfect line, their payloads erupting into an explosion of brick flames and rocks that blew holes in the Vermillion waves where they stood.

Just as Lulloyd commanded, the jelly subs flew close to the ground, churning up massive spots within the Vermillion as though they were the blades of a blender. With the space created for them to operate in, Lulloyd turned and swung his weapons around, knocking Vermillion after Vermillion into their general direction. As he did, he turned to see the blasts of hand cannons firing off their studs to break apart more Vermillion that refused to go inside. Lulloyd turned and swung his staff around several more times just as the rest of the Shark Army arrived to assist him.

"Jay, Kai, Nya, Zane, Cole!" Lulloyd shouted his next command, "Let them have it!"

From the backline of the Shark Army, Lulloyd's team emerged. Kai charged forward in the Fire Mech, brandishing them and blasting apart Vermillion in the sky and on the ground. The Earth Mech played itself in on massive turntables as it rolled forward on one wheel, smashing apart waves with its smooth fists. The Water Mech leapt across the battlefield, slasming down and charging up cannons to blast apart the ships in front of it. The Ice Mech froze a track for it to skid down, its massive treads spinning as it churned up more snow. In the air about, the Lightning Mech charged up a pulse as it shot straight into the sky and blasted apart several Vermillion in a massive cloud of lightning.

"Is that Lloyd?" Ninja Force Nya asked as she leapt across the battlefield, "He sounds, stronger."

"Affirmative," Ninja Force Zane responded to her as snakes smashed into his windscreen.

"Woah, I totally gotta get him something to match his new 'tude," Ninja Force Cole scratched a disc in his cockpit, "Not sure what would fit him right now…"

"Come on guys, we gotta focus!" Ninja Force Kai shouted to them, "Totally can't get distracted right now!"

Seeing his first two waves being met with heavy resistance, Acronix slowly raised his hand again, then pointed down. IThe Vermillion waves, still waiting to charge, slowly parted, making way for the tanks to roll forward and load more explosive-packed cocoons into their catapults. Lulloyd looked up to faintly see them from far across the battlefield and moved to quickly try to issue a command, only for a Vermillion to lunge forward and grab his staff. As he grappled to get it back, Lulloyd saw the catapults pull backwards and fire.

Lulloyd kicked the Vermillion backwards, smashing him apart with the staff he tried to take. He looked up, trying to gauge where they would land. Just as they reached the apex of their arc, however, Lulloyd saw several sharks fly through the air. The sharks snapped at the cocoons, breaking them apart in the air with a bloom of orange. The sharks fell down towards the ground and landed with jaws already open and snapping at the Vermillion around them, several of whom just blinked in utter confusion as the sharks managed to squirm about on land.

"I need crab walkers in here now!" Lulloyd shouted into his earpiece, "Bombers, get as close as you can to those tanks and take them down!" As soon as Lulloyd gave the order, overhead he could already see the bombers moving to make a run above the Vermillion. The Vermillion fighters, however, weren't giving them much of a gap to fly through. A small squadron of Jelly Subs moved to flank them as they shot forward through the air, spinning rapidly about and blasting apart the Vermillion as they went.

A massive shark foot came crashing down right beside Lulloyd. The moment that he saw it, Lulloyd gripped it and swung his body around the ankle, kicking apart several Vermillion as he went. He threw his body up into the air, gripping hold of several bits of tub before being able to finally land on top of the Garmashark's massive snout. With one last leap backwards, he landed back on the small command deck alongside his parents.

"Keep pushing them!" Lulloyd shouted, "We can't afford to let them push us back now! We need to take them both down before they send in the next wave!"

"Son!" Garmadon gasped out, "What you did there was reckless, crazy, thoughtless…" Garmadon suddenly sniffed, "And I couldn't be more proud of it! Haha! I can't believe you managed to pull that off! Honey, did I ever do something like that?!"

"You did something like it with a siege machine, dear," Coco smiled at him, "Your father was right, son, that was reckless."

"I know," Lulloyd suddenly blushed, "I-I just knew I had to draw fire off the rest of the army and… I-I meant it when I said I wanted to lead from the front!"

"You're doing it right now!" Garmadon cackled, "We'll smash whatever they send us right apart! After a rally like that, I'd be impressed if anyone didn't think that too!"

A loud battle cry rose up from their left. Lulloyd turned to see the first of the Stone Army breaking through the first wave of Vermillion and rushing to the air of the Shark Army. The stone statues rose up and slammed their weapons into the Vermillion, aiding in throwing them to the subs. Sensing they had a grip on the situation, Lulloyd quickly gathered back his fire and ordered the subs to support the bombers. The jelly subs rose up into the air and quickly joined those defending the Manta Ray Bombers that attempted to break through to the Vermillion tanks.

"Don't let them get by us!" Lulloyd shouted, holding his staff forward. A few lone piranha mechs moved past the Garmashark 2.0, marching towards the Vermillion with their awkward shuffle. One Vermillion reformed up behind the mech, slashing at its foot and causing it to careen forward. Several of their bombers were shot down, their pilots ejecting on a yellow raft and sliding to a stop on the ground. And in turn, a few sparse jelly subs were similarly shot down. Lulloyd watched as their pilots grabbed poorly stashed weapons and leapt back into battle, leaving behind their downed craft.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lulloyd asked his parents.

"Let's do this!" Coco leapt straight down off the Garmashark. Behind them, a gunner stepped up and took hold of the controls as Lulloyd and Garmadon leapt down in turn. The three landed in front of their shark and rapidly shot out in blurs to the downed ships.

"Get me 1x2 technic bricks!" Lulloyd shouted as he leapt down from the shark.

"I need a round 2x2 with open stud!" Garmadon roared back.

"I have a bottom forward curved 6x8 fuselage!" Coco called out, "Any takers?"

"Here, use a modified offset 1x4!" Lulloyd called back.

"I have curved 1x2 slopes to spare!" Garmadon spat, "Ugh, why aren't they in sand blue?!"

"Use a technic pin with tow balls, honey!" Coco yelled out, "You're wasting time with those modified 1x2s!"

"Nobody needs the 4x4x2 hollow cones?!" Lulloyd asked.

"Nope, nope, nope! Ugh, no 1x3 plates?!" Garmadon spat, "What do I do now?!"

"Faster honey, they're almost on us!" Coco smirked, "Just make a 2x3 work!"

The three warriors shot across the battlefield, blurring themselves into bricks as they shot around and rapidly began to build their bricks together. The ships that were shot down were either rapidly spun back into being made airborne or added into their creation. Their bricks stacked higher and higher as they continued their rapid Master Building, slamming them together until their creation continued to grow.

A massive wall formed in the middle of the confused Vermillion lines, filled with teeth and massive spikes that dug into the earth where it stood. Slots opened up the higher they went, sliding out missile launchers that blasted their bolts out into the Vermillion horde. As they reached the top, the struck slammed backwards on supports that held it up at a steep angle. Massive turrets slowly rose up over the side, each one in the shape of a shark head eating a gatling gun. From the middle of the wall, a massive cannon made from the spinning chains of the jelly subs formed a massive laser on a ball joint, one that rapidly charged up and blasted a single laser out into the Vermillion hordes. Several were blasted apart where they stood.

Finally, Lulloydl landed on the top of the wall, landing in a partially-rebuilt cockpit of his Mechdragon. The dragon's jaws had been now turned into a massive claw, one that spun rapidly as Lulloyd revealed it to be on the end of a massive stick. With a rapid yank of the control levers, the claw's stick slid forward, sending it lunging into the ground below the wall like a grabber arm. A button push caused the Vermillion that it caught to be crushed into snakes, leaving only their armor behind. With another yank, though, the stick was pulled back by massive gears, causing the claw to slam back shut against the cockpit.

Lulloyd leapt forward, yanking one of the angular Vermillion swords out from the claw's clamp. He put his normal sword on his back, then reached back and picked up his warlord's staff. His father landed on the wall beside his cockpit, while his mother drew her bow and arrow to fire several times and nail three Vermillion without even looking.

Just beside them, Lulloyd felt a massive rumbling. Over landed down hard beside them, his eyes glowing. The earth under him ripped up and rose into the air in a massive wall of Dark Matter, mirroring the design that the three warlords had built. He rose up until he was right on the same par as Lulloyd, turning to give him a nod of approval. Lulloyd gave him a blink, then looked up towards the Iron Demise high in the sky. With a defiant growl, both leaders held up their weapons, pointing them firmly towards Acronix.

Acronix, still standing on his perch, watched as the Vermillion waves that he had sent were held back. His hands gripped powerful against the railing, his lips curled into a small snarl. Slowly, he took his own sword and pointed it straight towards those two far, far down below, taking a deep breath as he simply held it there. The three warriors stood on their own sides of the battlefield, pointing their weapons towards each other as they came together in the chaos of war.

The fight for the right to save their worlds had truly begun.