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.

109. Chapter 109

"Let's take this battle somewhere more… appropriate." Acronix grinned.

Acronix held the Forward Blade up and struck them all with it. When they reappeared, they were outside the Iron Demise. The group found themselves in the middle of a massive cockpit of sorts, with the Iron Doom plugged in as the pilot. A large, deep V screen in one wall let in the light of the day, a single beam that illuminated their faces. A large, semi-circular panel of controls reached around the Iron Doom's chest, with its hands reaching up and manning them. The wires that were pouring energy from its head into the rest of the machine sparked with that same, powerful white light in the viewport. Their arena, as Acronix had put it, was almost as large as the Samurai X Cave itself.

"Couldn't have you messing with our plans," Krux haughtily elaborated, "You all have a habit of doing that. Quite annoyingly, I will add."

"We're giving you one last chance," Lloyd frowned, shaking off the disorientation of the change, "If you surrender-"

A massive flash of lightning shot out right by Lloyd's ear, lighting up his face in blue and arcing out towards the Twins. To Lloyd's shock, Mage walked past him a moment later, his arm still sparking as he spun Aevum around in his hand.

"I normally don't do this… but it's not worth offering them that now," Mage frowned, "We all know they aren't going to stop."

"So the boy has learned his lesson," Krux grinned, "Then have at us!"

The eight combatants took their stance. Weapon drawn. Faces hardened. Eyes sparking with pure determination. Around them, the arena was shaped from the malice, hatred, and bloodlust that the Twins carried with them. The six dimensional travelers were the only light that remained here, and all that could stop the Twins from truly destroying it all.

Over's eyes flashed. He drew his sword and staff at the same time, racing forward as he spun his staff fast enough to let it cut through the metal beneath him. The shadows of the room around the Twins shot up in spikes and claws, reaching out like the hands of those cast to the Underworld. The moment that they reached the Twins, Acornix hit them with the Slow Mo Blade as the two split off and raced alongside the group.

Krux put his blades down on his hips and instead put his hands together. An aura flared around his body, one that made Monty's eyes narrow. The aura flared up a deep silver, then shot up to form a massive fox in the air. The Chi creature landed in front of them and raced forward, snarling at the group as it moved to protect its master. Meanwhile, Acronix spun his hand around and formed a Rhotatae disc. A grim reminder sunk over the group that the Twins held the powers of those worlds they had taken.

Acornix struck at Lulloyd, hoping to blow him down with the disc. Instead, Lulloyd smashed his weapons together and took it head on, knocking them out and thrusting the disc away. He swung both weapons at Acronix, who laughed and leapt away from him. When the disc arced around to hit him, Lulloyd's eyes flashed as he spun in the air. He flung his sword around, catching the tip of the disc and throwing it right back at Acronix. The twin simply cancelled it in the air and grinned just in time to see Monty flash the SoS at him.

Harumi spun around and held her arm up, forming a massive wall of Rhotatae discs that she fired down at once at Krux. The fox snarled and leapt forward, passing through the discs and right out towards her. Krux smashed his foot into the ground, turning the metal panels into 6x6 tiles and grabbing hold of one like a shield. Both he and his Chi barreled at Harumi, who thrust her arm up in front of her with a massive beam of golden light. The two split up as Krux drew his reversal blade, thrusting it out and turning back time for Harumi until she had just summoned the wall of discs. Krux laughed as he landed and drove his fist into her jaw, throwing her back onto the ground and letting his fox jump atop her to maul her.

Mage swung Aevum with his full might, causing a massive shockwave of ice to form and slice out in a razor-thin edge at Krux. The Twin spun around and smashed his hand into the floor, rapidly master-building himself what looked to be a medieval shield. Harumi backpedaled from the fox as it barreled towards her. Monty spun around, seeing the thing and swinging the SoS right down into it as he held up his other hand to blast wind at Acronix. The SoS cut through the thing as it let out a howl of pain and vanished in thin air.

As the ice struck his shield, Krux flung the shield right at Mage. The boy dodged it with a flash of silver eyes, his body streaking forward with speed. Krux ran at him and dodged past both Harumi and Monty's attacks, instead smashing up more and more of the walls as he rapidly began to build something. He summoned snakes from the gaps in the floorWhen he stopped moving, he had formed what looked like a massive Iron Maiden, filled to the brim with snakes. He grabbed hold of Mage's arm, swinging him around and towards it.

Harumi thrust her arms apart, catching Mage in a net of gold and flinging him back into battle. Mage swung Aevum about, trying to catch Krux on it. Instead, Krux dodged nimbly and slid around on his feet, causing Mage to swing even faster at him as he lit Aevum on fire with a burst of red eyes. Krux drew his Pause Blade and held it up in the air, catching Aevum on it with one hand held behind his back. Aevum was frozen in time, causing Mage to jerk forward as his momentum halted.

Lulloyd's sword came flying across the room, right by Krux's head. Monty saw the flash in the SoS and spun around, grabbing the sword in the wind and, like a bungee cord, sent the sword flying right back towards Krux. The Twin threw his head back with another simple grin on his lips, then spun around and slowly leveled the Pause Blade at Harumi.

Harumi, seeing what was happening, formed Rhotatae discs as quickly as she could, sending them flying at Krux. The Twin, rather than bother with her again, turned and shot it right at Monty. The SoS was frozen in a red sheen as well, Monty's hands along with it. The ghost looked up with a long groan of anger.

Lulloyd drew his arm back from flinging his sword, spinning around to dodge Acronix as he continued to thrust and fling Rhotatae discs at him. The boy dodged in and out of his attacks, spinning back and forth from them and refusing to let them hit him. Acronix leapt backwards from him and right at Lloyd, hitting the deck and then spinning it around to point the Slow-Mo Blade at Lloyd's face. Lloyd knocked it out of position with his katanas.

Not one to be left out of the fight, Over drew his glistening blade and slowly held it up in front of his face. He took several deep breaths, centering his power. With it, he spun the sword around, causing a ribbon of darkness to form behind him. He launched himself forward right at Acronix, painting it through the air in a deep inky mirth that looked almost sickly to reach out and touch. When he reached the Twin, he swung his sword down as he activated his power. The ribbon burst apart in rippling blasts, sending his blade hurtling down at Acronix.

Acronix blasted a bubble of slowed time in front of him, catching the blade and slowing it back to normal speed. Over's eye flashed as second later, causing the shadows around Acronix to begin to bubble up and wrap around his ankles. With a simple roll of his eyes, Acronix held up his hand and used the discs already flying through the air to cut him free. He jumped away as Lloyd let out a blast of green power, narrowly missing him.

Lulloyd spun his staff around and, like Krux, smashed the floor apart. He quickly thrust the bricks into the air, speeding through it and rapidly putting together a massive metallic snake head. He kicked it off towards Acronix, metallic jaws open. Acronix was struck by it, but revealed a moment later he'd traded his blue for his green blade and appeared beside it. Lulloyd moved to plug the bottom of his staff into the back of the head a moment later, spinning the massive thing through the air like a club. Acronix let him send it flying off towards him, dodging by flashing forward in time. One last flash brought him right in front of Lulloyd, whose eyes widened just as Acronix tried to hit him.

Lulloyd's sword, which Monty had sent flying back at him, reached him just in time. Lulloyd dropped the staff to grab it, stopping the Time Blade just as it reached his chin. Lulloyd growled out and quickly spun around, knocking the twin back and then launching his own assault. He flashed forward, spinning his blades around and quickly shouting as he smashed his sword over and over against Acronix's guard until he almost looked to be going forward in time as well.

"Bbooorrrrrrring!" Acronix yawned. He grinned and gave a hard kick to Lulloyd's back, slamming him into the ground. Lulloyd, however, didn't go down, instead swinging himself around to try to trip Acronix.

Almost immediately, Acronix had to raise his blade to stop a blast of green and purple. Over and Lloyd held their arms forward, unleashing their raw elemental power upon him. Acronix grunted in effort as he held them back with the blade, planting his foot firmly into the floor. Lloyd, seeing he was distracted, spun into Spinjitzu, flying across the floor along with it. Over reached down and planted his hand on the floor, half of his body disappearing with it. Behind Acornix, a massive draconic tail shot out of a dark portal, the massive bladed and spiked appendage moving to hit his back as Lloyd hit his front.

Acronix waited until the last moment, then hit the floor. Vermillion snakes erupted from it, throwing him into the air and causing Lloyd's attack to hit Over's tail. The two cancelled it as they were both sent flying back from it, Lloyd hitting the floor and Over's tail snapping backwards. Acronix took a step back as he summoned three Vermillion in front of him, the Warriors hissing violently at the group. Over and Lloyd frowned in frustration.

Monty and Mage, freed from status, raced forward with their blades drawn. Monty shut his eyes and focused, causing the SoS to begin to burn with a holy blue light. When the two reached Krux, they both swung together. Krux held up his two Time Blades, catching them on each. A moment later, the newly acquired power of the SoS activated, causing Krux to feel a massive force strike him from the impact as he saw his reflection in the blade. Krux dropped to his knee as the unexpected impact rocked him.

Not wanting to give them the satisfaction of seeing his demeanor shift, Krux flashed the reversal blade, rewinding his position in time to end up behind the two, leaving their swings to strike the ground. Monty swung his head around to see Krux launch into the air, forming Rhotatae discs in his hands once he sheathed his Time Blades. He flung them out at Mage, who opened his eyes with Mind and caused Krux's focus on them to distort. The discs faded in the air as Mage tried to press further with it, his purple eyes burrowing into Krux before the twin called upon the Hive Mind in his head, pushing Mage out.

Monty, looking around the room, quickly held up the SoS. He called upon its new power, resulting in the world around him turning blue and white. He focused his mind through everything he could feel, letting every outcome of time begin to play out. Soon, however, he felt his mind becoming strained as the sights of Krux rewinding it and playing it back again began to exponentially increase the possibilities. The longer that he held on, the more he felt his Chi inside of the sword begin to burn low.

There, Master! The sword shouted at him. Monty opened his eyes, cancelling the power and running forward. He turned and grabbed Krux's feet in his wind, dragging him forward. With it. He shot under him and rapidly slashed up, forcing Krux to retaliate. When he landed, Monty spun around and caused Krux to slash at him again. When Monty stopped and Krux landed, he flipped the sword backwards and let Krux see his reflection, causing him to snap twice with half of his own vicious attacks.

With another hard growl, Krux turned and fired the Pause Blade at Monty again. Monty saw it in his blade and ran forward, following the path of destiny he'd witnessed. He raised the SoS and, as he'd seen, Krux turned and clashed with him. Monty spun the SoS and forced Krux into a duel, causing the Twin to slash back at him to defend himself. When it was all done, Monty struck him in the gut with the hilt and thrust Krux backwards, forcing him to see his reflection. The impact snapped his head back and caused him to strike the floor for a brief moment.

"That is a rather annoying thing you hold!" Krux spat, "And sadly, I can't kill you anymore to make you pay for it!"

"Not the first time I've heard that one," Monty held the sword up, "You wanna try your hand at it anyways?"

Krux was going to respond, but Harumi dropped from the air and swung a kick into his back. Krux swung his body around and dodged it, reaching out and grabbing Harumi's leg. Harumi spun her body around, causing her to rapidly light up with power. Krux let go just as she burst out with it. Krux stumbled backwards, his vision burning in pain.

Mage spun his hand around, causing it to form a massive chain of lightning around it. More importantly, however, he also caused a sense of magnetism to form as he called upon his power of metal as well. With the two sensations, he dragged the metal panels around the room to him, causing them to rapidly rotate about it like some massive energy cannon. Krux turned to see this and sighed, watching as Mage reached up and slashed Aevum in front of it to form a ribbon of slowed down. The metal shot away from him the moment Mage cut his power, the centripetal force causing them to fly at the older twin.

Krux didn't bother to dodge, instead he held up his blade and paused them in time. The moment he did, the Pause Blade flickered in need of recharge. Seeing it as his chance, Monty raced forward and rocketed about in wind skates around the room. Krux, knowing better this time, did his best to avoid him, but Monty's speed was faster than him. Krux was forced to twist his arms around and catch the weapons on them, causing the blade's power to hit him again.

Monty narrowly missed the follow up as Over leapt through the air himself and landed with a roll, swinging his blade about and painting more of his power in a ring around Acronix. Lloyd slammed his weapons against Acronix, trying to force him to stay in the same place. Acronix just continued to grin at him and thrust him back, refusing to let him have any ground.

"What's wrong, ninja?" Acronix laughed, "You're taking so long to defeat us! Don't you know that we're already on our way to a fully operational Demise?"

"We're fighting you to stop that!" Lloyd shouted.

"Apparently not hard enough!" Acronix laughed, "Your resistance is laughable, if not childish in the end! Just like everything you've accomplished!"

Lloyd felt Acronix push his attack. Acronix laughed as he saw Lulloyd and Over run at him, those ribbons and fierce attacks ready to smash into him.

"You watched an innocent boy die!" Acronix jumped over an exploding ribbon.

"Became nothing but your father's shadow!" Acronix caught Lulloyd's staff.

"Undid what we did to another world!" Acronix kicked Lloyd back.

"And ultimately!" Acronix flashed his blade, dodging their combined strike as he landed behind them, "You never even accomplished anything! You're still right here, still trying to destroy us even after all this time. If this was a book, it'd be a laughable one!"

"And yet here we persist!" Over swung at him, using his own shadow to whip him around for him to open dragon jaws and blast at Acronix with them. Acronix narrowly avoided it and laughed.

"Oh, but you never managed to get away from what we set out for you, did you?" Acronix grinned, "Tell me, did Prime cry when you ran him through?"

Over despite the bile rising in his throat, remained silent knowing it was exactly what Acronix wanted. Instead, he held his hand forward and caused the shadows behind him to roar and screech. Lulloyd ran right through them, holding up a massive brick-built spear. When he threw it, however, it opened up to instead reveal that it had a tiny hammer inside. When the spear landed, the hammer remained in place as the rest of the spear fired backwards out at Acronix. Acronix swung a Rhotatae disc into place with it with a little grin.

"Oh, how terrifying! You have a little toy!" Acronix laughed.

"Lulloyd!" Over shouted, "Perhaps we should show them what those toys can do?!"

Lulloyd understood immediately. Arornix held up his arms, grinning as he flexed his hands. Lulloyd leapt backwards just as the wall of darkness evaporated, and in turn, the shadows suddenly spread out across the floor, forming an inky sea under them from which no light was able to rise up from.

Over raced forward, swinging his weapon and engaging Acronix in combat. The shadows began to violently churn and rip apart the floor under them, spitting them into the air. Lulloyd leapt around and rapidly began to slam the bricks down into place, just as Over swung his weapon about and knocked Acronix back. As the twin stumbled for a brief moment, Over spun his sword and raced forward as Lulloyd finished building his contraption: a set of strange cannons loaded with small springs.

The cannons fired as Lulloyd snarled and leapt up into the air. Over's wings engaged as the two slammed into him in a Skyward Dragon, the cannons firing out and knocking Acronix into the air. Lulloyd raised a combo from the sheer number of hits, while Over's strikes continued to pull him higher and higher. The ribbon of darkness wrapped around them until, at the apex, Over grabbed Lulloyd and flapped away. The ribbon lit up as Acronix fell into it, causing him to be caught and rocked inside of the explosions. When Lulloyd and Over landed, Over hit his foot into the ground, causing the shadowy floor to erupt as a massive, shadowy dragon that caught Acronix when he fell and slammed him into the ground.

"Skyward Dragon of the Darkness Flame!" Lulloyd shouted. Over looked down, gave him a single nod, then spun around to face him.

Krux, seeing his brother was down, looked back just in time to see Harumi forming more discs. When he attempted to attack her, Monty appeared behind him and kicked him forward. Krux swung his blade out, hitting Monty's sword with the Reversal Blade and causing him to appear right next to Harumi.

"...Did you see them show off?" Monty growled out at her.

"Maybe," Harumi nodded, "What about it?"

"... Let's see if we can do better," Monty nodded.

Krux turned towards them as the two charged up their powers. Harumi began to glow with golden light, while Monty went ethereal with the blue of the SoS. Time froze for Monty as he activated his Chi again, feeling it burning low now inside his gut. Monty watched the scene play out in his mind, and after a moment, he gave a solemn sigh as time unpaused and knew the path of his actions clear as day.

Harumi held up her arms as Krux was suddenly trapped inside of a massive cage of glowing gold discs. Monty shot through them, holding the SoS just as they all shot out towards Krux. Monty swung his body out, striking him back and forth between his blade and his wind to knock him right into the path of the discs. The discs sped up in their sheer raw power, accelerating faster as Monty seemed to do so in turn. The world around Krux was sent into a mash of it all as Monty continued to blow him both against his weapons and smash disc after disc onto Krux's body.

Finally, when the discs stopped, Monty shot forward and gave Krux a massive kick in the jaw, grabbing his shoulders to drive his knee into his gut, then smacking him with the hilt of the SoS. When Krux finally stumbled backwards, he looked up in exasperation to see his reflection in the SoS. He gave only a single grunt before the sudden onslaught of raw power hit him as he was knocked about by half of every blow he'd just given.

With a blast of wind and darkness, Acronix and Krux were driven together in the room. Mage swung Aevum, causing a stream of slowed time to hit the Time Blades and stop them from immediately using them. In that moment, Mage turned to Lloyd as the others looked on. Lloyd's eyes were filled with shock at what his other friends had just pulled off. Mage's sparked with a moment of playful competition.

"Lloyd!" Mage shouted, sheathing Aevum and slamming his hands together. As raw elemental energy coursed through Mage, Lloyd nodded his head and sheathed his own blade and twisted his arms around his body.

"NINJA-GO!" Lloyd shouted. With a massive fling into Spinjitzu, Lloyd shot forward just as Mage moved to slam his hands together. The raw power of metal and fire came together as he superheated the metal and caused it to burst apart. Massive gusts of winds streamed out of them as he carved a path right for Lloyd and surrounded the Twins. When Lloyd was close enough, Mage grabbed the Spinjitzu in gravity and flung Lloyd into the air and down onto the Twins.

The moment that Lloyd sucked the Twins into Spinjitzu, Mage opened his eyes. All around them, a massive storm of water and lightning shot forward, striking down into the metal and up into the Spinjitzu. At the same time, Mage moved and held his hand forward, causing the metal around them to melt away as he drew the tornado back into the air. Lloyd dodged in and out of the beams as Mage slammed both the full force of Spinjitzu and the elements into the Twins trapped inside. As they rose up, Lloyd turned into Airjitzu instead, throwing them into the storm itself. When Lloyd came back down, Mage slammed the Twins down into a band of metal that wrapped over them, held them on the ground, and burst apart in a massive explosion of light.

Lloyd landed and quickly backed away, drawing his swords with his chest heaving. Mage, feeling the strain of so many elements at once, resisted the overwhelming urge to lean on Aevum. A moment of pure calm struck them as the six nervously waited in their respite. The Twins were down on the ground, for the most part not moving, still fiercely gripping their Time Blades. None of them believed it was truly over.

With a sudden flash of orange, the Twins stood up, their bodies healed of their wounds. With their blades drained, however, they stood up carefully, looking around at the six of them. A sense of regret and fear ran through Lloyd as he realized that everything they'd just done was for naught. The sentiment flashed through each of them, one of fear, annoyance, and trepidation.

"You… are all truly… a nuisance…" Krux laughed, "But this has been fun, at the very least!"

"Sorry, did you think we'd just stay down for the count?" Acronix cackled, "But you did well, you really, really did! I almost want to congratulate you…"

Suddenly, the Iron Demise shifted. The entire chamber was filled with the crashing sound of metal heaving as the behemoth began to move. The six felt a massive jerk in the floor that nearly threw them off their feet. The Twins grinned as the lights in the area began to light up again, displaying a bright red rather than just the sunlight trickling through the window high above.

"And it looks like your time has just run out!" Acronix howled, "Oh how perfect!"

Lloyd felt a primal fear take him as the Iron Demise began to twitch as more systems powered up. The massive control panel around the Iron Doom began to glow, and the machine itself looked ready to be piloted. If what they were feeling was true, they had just run out of it.

The others gained a look of similar fear. Harumi's confident gaze dropped into a horrified tremble. Over's calm gaze began to feel harder and distant. Mage and Lulloyd both struggled to stay upright. Monty looked up at the sunlight, then spat as he tried to imagine what to do next.

"Even when you win, you lose!" Krux grinned, "Now then, watch as we-"

Suddenly, there was a massive sound of crackling power. The combatants looked up towards the Iron Doom, seeing the light emanating from its viewport had lowered. A moment later, a faint twinkling of orange poured through it to replace it.

Ophiod stood up inside of the Iron Doom. Skales held him up, the two unable to walk without each other. The Time Blades from Over's world, now fully drained of their power, fell from the device, a dull gray. The two left a trail of blood as they walked, weakened and barely able to move. Yet they both knew what had just happened. They knew what had to be done.

Ophiod turned to look at Skales. The Hypnobrai nodded at him. The Viper raised his hands. Magical circles formed on them as he shut his eyes and reached out. He reached out further, following where the power was going to. Skales gripped a wire in his hand, holding it tightly and slowly letting Ophiod's magic pour through him into it. The two were nearly thrown onto the floor as the movement of the Demise jerked them again. They held one another harder.

"I… will not allow... " Ophiod huffed out, "You to hurt anyone… anymore…!"

The two focused. Ophiod's magic searched for where the power was being sent, tracing it like water in a stream. The two followed it until they could sense it all. Ophiod's weak magic strained to find it. Skales, however, held him up. The two used one another to find it. To see it. Divine it. And, with one last reach, Ophiod saw the destination of the power.

The Viper sent his magic pouring inside of it. All at once, the magic shot through the power all the way down to the core. Skales began to heave as Ophiod wanted to pitch onto the ground. Yet he held on. Like a stone in a river, he guided his magic until they reached that new core. The moment Ophiod felt it arrive, he let his magic loose.

With the sound of a massive explosion, the entire Iron Demise shook. The combatants down on the ground level shook on their feet as Ophiod slumped forward from the effort. Skales went down with him. The explosions continued to rocket off in the distance as the power, with nowhere to go, rapidly redistributed to other systems and caused them to burst apart as well. A massive alarm began to blare as the Iron Demise was sent into a state of panic.

"What the?!" Acronix gripped his blades, "What's going on?!"

Over turned and thrust his hand forward, commanding the Twins' shadows to thrust them back. As the two of them jumped out of the way, they looked around in shock. The rumbling and creaking of metal around them told them something was wrong with the Demise.

"Brother, we leave, now!" Krux shouted.

"No!" Mage shouted, jumping forward and slamming Aevum against them. He poured the raw power of slowed time into them both, preventing them from using their blades.

"Lloyd!" Master Wu's voice flared in Lloyd's comm, the system suppressing them vanishing, "What has happened?!"

"Everyone!" Lloyd shouted into his comm, "The Demise is shutting down! Get out of here, now!"

"Acknowledged," Pixal responded back, "We will begin evacuation procedures."

"Lloyd," Andrus spoke up, "It appears that you have stopped the excess energy flow that was powering the Demise. I'll offer you my congratulations. I'll also tell you that power was holding the Iron Demise up after suffering heavy damage."

"We know!" Lloyd shouted.

"Right now, the Iron Demise is going to fall forward," Andrus continued, "And I would hope I don't need to explain to you why that's a bad thing."

"Then make it not fall forward!" Monty spat, "Are you a genius or what?!"

"That would be impossible!" Andrus informed them calmly, "Find somewhere to anchor onto. This will not be a pleasant ride."

Outside of the Iron Demise, hovering in front of it like a mosquito, Andrus leaned forward and nodded to Millie. The Nindroid stepped forward and plugged herself into the Serpentus Bounty's bridge, causing her eyes to rapidly run code and programs. Behind them, the Chi Ninja quickly moved to man the other systems. Tye stepped forward and held his hand up.

The massie snake head on the front of the Serpentus Bounty opened, allowing the laser inside of it to begin to charge. Millie overrode the protocols of the ship, allowing them to charge it hard enough that the entire ship began to shake. The others contained it as best they could. Andrus remained unphased as he watched more pieces of the Iron Demise begin to burst open in smoke.

"Ready…" Tye frowned, "FIRE!"

The Serpentus Bounty unleashed its payload. The blast struck the side of the Iron Demise, pouring its full power into it. At the same time, the turrets on the ship rapidly began to fire alongside it, peppering it with all the force they could muster. With how heavy the machine was, it took several tense seconds before they began to see progress. The force of their blows, caused the Demise to begin to tip to its side instead, out of the way of their forces below.

Garmadon and the rest of the strike force emerged from the bottom of the Iron Demise just as the machine began to tilt. Once the Serpentus Bounty had it moving, gravity began to take hold. The sheer size and weight of the machine made it almost seem to fall in slow motion. The acceleration as it went down only began to truly take hold after several more seconds, at which point the tilt began to slowly rise the machine's tail off the ground.

Inside the cockpit, however, the others rapidly realized that they were going down with the ship. Over planted his staff into the ground and thrust his arms out, gripping his allies with tendrils from his own shadow to hold them in place. As the floor began to slowly angle under them, the other used the tendrils to draw themselves closer to Over.

"No!" Acronix shouted, feeling the Iron Demise falling as he started to slide on the floor, "I refuse to allow this to happen!"

Acronix turned to his brother, snatching the Reversal Blade and raising it into the air. Mage shot his hand forward, trapping the blade in slowed time with strained limbs. Acronix snarled and went to raise his other hand. The machine lurched forward, however, causing Acronix to lose his balance on the floor. The force yanked the Reversal Blade from his hand, causing it to fall through the now tilted chamber behind him. Before he could lament this fact, Acronix instead let out a shout as he was sent falling across the chamber, smashing into the side of the Iron Doom. The floor of the chamber gave way from the strain, and Acronix alongside the Reversal Blade were sent hurtling into the machine's depths. Krux, eyes widening in shock, gave the others one last snarl before he leapt forward and through the floor to fall after his brother.

Lloyd thought fast. Over and Harumi looked too exhausted to fly them out. They wouldn't have time to get out the viewport. They needed something that would act as a much smaller cushion of space. Somewhere they could brace themselves.

"Inside, now!" Lloyd shouted suddenly, pointing at the Iron Doom. The others, realizing his plan, nodded. Harumi formed Rhotatae discs under their feet and threw them into the air together. Mage jumped up into the Iron Doom, turning and using Gravity to help pull the rest inside. As soon as Lulloyd and Lloyd were inside, the group looked around for the fallen Ophiod.

Over raised his staff and brought it down, forming a massive elemental shield around them. Lloyd and Harumi added their power rapidly to it, a bubble around them and the fallen snakes. A few moments later, the sensation of gravity took hold as the floor fully threw them down into the wall. The last thing Lloyd remembered was the sight of it rushing up to meet him before he heard a single screeching noise and his vision went black.

---

When Lloyd opened his eyes, he was inside of a crater. In front of him was a sight that he hadn't known that he wanted to see, yet now wondered how he hadn't. The group was in front of the Iron Doom, now a mangled and twisted mess, sitting in the middle of the crater. One of its arms had been sheared off, while the other was twisted backwards and snapped open at the joint. The tail of the machine had been snapped forwards, and in turn the head of the machine was now angled awkwardly to the left. The massive hole in its side likely described how they had gone from being inside the thing to outside of it.

Inside of the hole in the Iron Doom, he could see the forms of Ophiod and Skales, holding each other tightly, faintly breathing. The strange device that had been draining the last of Over's Time Blades now was broken as well. Those blades had collapsed to the floor, their power drained and nothing more than useless husks of Chronosteel.

The sight behind it, though, was an even grander one. What almost looked like a massive wall of gray and red rose menacingly in front of him. When Lloyd took a closer look, he realized it was the underside of the massive tail of the Iron Demise. The tail had partially wrapped around as the machine fell. The sheer size of it on the ground made it almost look like a landmass in it of itself, one of twisted metal and empty husks. The hole that Over and Harumi had ripped open inside of the Iron Demise rose in front of him like a massive, gaping hole in a mountain, the darkness inside only broken by small sparks of electricity that lit it up for brief moments at a time.

Lloyd saw more bodies around him. Slowly,, the others began to rise from the ground. Monty was already standing and waiting for them, his grip on the SoS fierce and strong. Harumi slowly climbed up to her knees, sighing as she rubbed her head. Over grew his wings and flapped them to pull himself up, purple streaks of blood dotting his body. Mage used a pillar of earth to push himself up as he wobbled on his feet. Lulloyd did a massive flip, only to nearly pitch back down onto his face. They wordlessly saw one another, then looked towards the Iron Demise.

"Woah…" Mage looked up at the Iron Demise on its side, "...That's… even bigger up close like this."

"It's like an entire mountain…" Harumi shook her head, then her eyes flashed with recognition, "Is everyone alright?!"

Lloyd, realizing her fear, reached up to touch his comm. There was nothing but static. He quickly looked around, his chest tightening as he shouted out into it.

"Guys? Master Wu? Dad?! Come in!" Lloyd shouted in fear, "Guys, guys are you okay!? Is anyone there?!"

There was a grabled line of static on the other end from a voice he couldn't make out, "Ll… om… alr… lo...ca…."

"Hello?!" Lloyd slammed his hand against his comm hard enough his ear hurt.

"We warned them of the Demise," Over stepped forward, using his staff to walk, "We must assume that they did as we asked them to."

"But-" Lloyd began. Over shook his head.

"Our friends are strong," Over reached out, his grip on Lloyd's shoulder more heavy than reassuring, "They will be fine. We must… we must confirm the Twins have fallen."

"They fell into the Demise," Mage turned to look up at the massive machine, "I don't know how they could even-"

A noise caused the six to tense their tired bodies for battle. On top of the wrecked Iron Doom, with a flash of green, the Time Twins stepped forward. The sheer sight of them brought a massive dread to their collective chests. The Twin's cloaks were torn and their armor was now exposed. They looked down at the group with wild, angered eyes.

"Well…" Acornix sighed, "I suppose you think you're nice and clever now, don't you?"

Lloyd slowly took a trembling step forward. The battle had taken most of what he had. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to collapse. The Twins, however, were alone on top of their fallen titan. Over held his hand out, summoning his staff again. Monty and Mage held up their blades. Harumi formed a small wave of Rhotatae by her feet. Lulloyd smashed his weapons together.

"Brother…" Krux whispered to him, "The Reversal Blade does not have enough charge to restore the Demise."

"We don't need that thing," Acronix grinned, yet his words dripped with constrained malice, "We have the only thing we've ever needed…" Acronix raised the Forward Blade, "Each other!"

The group readied for battle. How they managed to escape the Demise, the six couldn't afford to think about. Right now, at this moment, they hadn't finished their fight. Ophiod was down for the count. They were beaten, exhausted, bruised and battered from the fall. This was their last moment together. Even now, they were prepared to fight until the end. Lloyd closed his eyes, resigning himself for one, last, desperate battle.

"Hey, everyone!" Forte's voice pierced through the wreckage.

Lloyd turned to see the entire hill behind them was filled with people. Forte stood at the front with the rest of Harumi's friends. Olive lowered her arm from tracking Lloyd's signal. Master Wu and Emperor Garmadon readied for the fight, the rest of Lloyd's team along with them. Ronin hefted his sniper rifle in his arms, grinning cockily. General Kozu stepped forward, the ground thundering under him. Garmadon and Coco raced forward, looking at one another with a grin for the renewed battle.

Lloyd looked around. The Twins were surrounded now, utterly and entirely. There were no Vermillion in sight for them to use. No machine to help them. It was just the two of them and their weapons. The two of them stood atop the wreckage of the Iron Doom, looking around. They saw the Shark Army lower their blasters and fill the air with manta rays and jellyfish. They saw men and women of the Tribes charge up their weapons and hold them forward with the look of victory in their eyes. They saw the Stone Army groan and growl where they stood, dead eyes filled with the need to break any that tried to stand to them. They saw Elemental Masters, leaders, dragons, ninja, nindroids, soldiers, serpentine and human alike. All of them pointed themselves right at the two of them, surrounding them now utterly and entirely in their vulnerable state.

"All you've ever had is each other?" Monty, for the first time in a long time, grinned, "Sounds like you aren't the only one."

Mage! Skylar's voice, her body filled with Mind, called out to him, They're getting the Dragon now. Don't let them get away! Mage projected her voice to Lloyd, who gave Mage a small nod. The last piece of their plan had yet to fully come to fruition. Knowing what had to be done, Lloyd inhaled and turned to face the Twins.

"Twins!" Lloyd shouted, the full force of every world, every life that the Twins had tried to ruin at his back, "Surrender, and we may have mercy on you."

"Mercy…?" Krux asked, "What mercy?"

"Don't try to fool us," Acronix snarled, "We aren't children! We all know that the moment you capture us, it's over for us!"

"Be that as it may," Over shook his head, "You must make your decision. Do you fight to the bitter end, or do you give in now and gamble with how kind those you tried to ruin are?"

The two Twins slowly stepped forward. Their eyes were wild with a worried fear that they were still processing. In that moment, they knew that they didn't have the upper hand anymore. Their Iron Demise plan had failed. Everything had failed them. And now, they had nothing left but their own will and their need to win this battle.

Krux suddenly dropped his head, letting out a small wheeze. His facade of confidence had begun to fully break apart. Instead, it was replaced with a harsh, cruel desperation. One that the group hadn't yet seen. One that even Acronix looked slightly concerned for. The Twin slowly raised his head, a tired, manic look filling his grimace.

"Control Time… Control Everything," Krux muttered darkly.

Suddenly, Krux held the Pause Blade high up into the air. Just as the assembled group realized what that meant, they each moved to stop him. Mage splayed his fingers out.

"AND IT IS NOT YOU WHO CONTROLS TIME!" Krux shouted. Acronix, seeing his brother's resolve, turned and blasted the blade with the two that he still held. Krux jammed his own blade against it, causing the Pause Blade to spark as it was overfilled with the pure energy of time itself. Just as Over's wings and Monty's winds shot the two forward towards them, Krux jerked the now sparking and wildly trembling blade forward and unleashed its power.

A massive bubble of pure, deep red shot out in all directions. The bubble grew in diameter seemingly faster than time itself. Just as it struck everyone around them, it caused them to gain the red sheen and freeze in time. Over and Monty were left hovering in the air, weapons drawn and racing right towards the two, the reflection of what Krux was doing still trapped on the SoS. Lloyd and Harumi had their hands held up to unleash a blast of power at them. Lulloyd had his mouth open in a command to fire on the two of them. Mage had his left hand held forward, Aevum in his other hand, his eyes widened. The red color passed through everyone else around them. Garmadon was left with his weapon raised in a throwing motion. All of Harumi's friends had their weapons or powers charged, stuck now in a pose of action frozen in place. The vehicles in the air and their pilots were trapped as well, some with missiles prepped to fire. Each and every person around the Twins was completely and utterly trapped within the power of time itself, frozen for them.

"...Well," Krux gave a small sneer as his blade continued to pulse in his hand, "That was a rather annoying battle, was it not, brother?"

"Indeed," Acronix heaved, "Even in the end, they're all such fools."

The two surveyed their work. In front of them, to their twisted eyes, it was almost like some kind of beautiful art. Everyone, trapped right now trying to stop them. Just like everything else, all their efforts, their power, their drive had been for nothing. It made the two of them almost giddy to see it, knowing how close they'd come to losing, and yet now were so very, very far.

"We will retreat until we find a way to escape this miserable world," Krux groaned out, "But not before we finish off these annoying little pests."

"I concur," Acronix bowed his head, "Give me the honors, brother!"

"Hrmm…" Krux nodded, "Yes. You can have the honor of finding the water we need to end the ghost. I'll make sure that the rest of them are made example of-"

There was a sound. Immediately, the two of them quickly spun around, their blades drawn. The sight they saw made them both blink in shock, then amusement.

Mage's fingers twitched. Slowly, his Time Matrix formed on his wrist, the hands twisting into a position that they never had before: both hands twisted to the left. Suddenly, the clock turned a glistening red. From his arm, like burning away a film, the aura around Mage's body began to melt away. When his mouth was freed, Mage let out a hard, terrified gasp as he stumbled forward.

"My, my," Acronix grinned, "So, the boy can use all of time then, can he?"

"What a disgusting sight," Krux growled, stepping down from his perch, "He truly is nothing more than a nuisance."

Mage stumbled forward a step. His arm twitched and jolted about, trying to maintain the connection. The sheer amount of effort it took to do this, to make time itself move for him and only him, was nothing short of the hardest element he'd ever touched in his life. Krux' had taught him not to ever use it unless needed for a reason.

"Dawww, he's like a little fawn, unable to stand on his legs!" Acronix grinned. Mage raised his head just in time to see Acronix's foot lash out and strike him in the jaw. He collapsed hard onto the rocks below him with a hard grunt.

"I will commend your gall, boy, but nothing more!" Krux spat, stepping down and kicking Mage in the gut, "What did you think you could do against us like this?!"

Mage slowly pressed his hands into the ground. He forced himself to stand up, painfully putting one foot under his torso and pushing himself up. When he did, he slowly raised Aevum, the sword weighing hundreds of pounds. With a hard yowl, he raised the blade and brought it down at the two of them.

"Whoops!" Acronix laughed, "Too slow, boy!" He swiftly dodged and swung his body around, kicking Mage in the side. Krux followed up by grabbing his robes and crashing his fist into Mage's cheek, sending stars in his vision. Despite every ounce of his body begging him to go down, Mage stayed standing.

"I… will not let… you hurt anyone…" Mage raised his head, "...I am… the Dragon Lord… and I will protect… my… people!"

Krux slammed a knee into his gut. Mage coughed up blood and fell backwards, clutching at himself. As he slowly strained to plant his hand on the ground and push himself up, Acronix jumped backwards and ran forward. With the glee of a child playing kickball, he swung his leg forward and kicked Mage's hand out from under him. Mage fell onto his back, gasping out as he saw the two lord over him.

Mage opened his mouth, summoning the only thing he could and letting out a blast of fire. Krux stepped forward and put his foot on Mage's jaw, pressing it shut. Acronix stepped forward and slammed his heel into Mage's wrist, making him scream. Acronix continued to kick until Mage finally dropped Aevum.

"What a wonderful sword…" Acronix lifted it up. To Mage's horror, he reached down and smashed the thing over his knee in a clean break. In a single instant, Aevum had shattered.

"We'll give you a choice for being so foolish," Krux leaned forward, putting his face right in front of Mage's own, "Release your power and die in an instant, or we'll make sure you feel every single moment of it."

Acronix slammed his heel down into Mage's other wrist. Krux moved his foot, letting Mage's scream echo into the frozen world. Tears fell from his eyes as Acronix continued to kick, his smiles slowly turning to annoyed frowns. Mage felt his wrist creak, twist, and then shatter. The pain of his bones being broken caused him to wail, a sound that almost moved the two of them to stop. Acronix kicked again.

"He won't let up!" Acronix looked down to the Time Matrix still floating about on Mage's wrist, "Well? What do we do?"

"I think…" Krux stepped over to the broken sword. He picked up the bottom half of Aevum, the power fizzling out from its seals being damaged. When he walked over, he held the blade to Mage's left wrist and grinned. He raised it up, taking a few practice swings. Mage continued to stream tears, even as he squashed down the sudden and terrible primal fear going through him.

"You… forgot what they told you…" Mage gasped out between sniffles, "And that's why… you'll never… beat… me…"

"So you say," Acronix grinned, "But you're not the one with the Time Blades, are you?" He nodded to his brother. Krux gave a small laugh, then raised up the broken sword. As Mage saw his muscles tense, he shut his eyes and turned his head to the side, suppressing his scream for help as he tried to block out the pain soon to come.

CRACK!

Mage opened his eyes just as he felt Acronix's weight leave him. With a hard shout of rage, Krux' swung the follow through on his punch. His red gauntlet struck Krux right in the jaw, sending him flying into the dirt below. Acronix' appeared in the air with a flash of green, a roundhouse kick sending his own counterpart flying. The two landed just in front of Mage, looking down at him with pain in their eyes.

"We finally arrived," Acronix' panted. When he saw the state of Mage's body, the Twin's eyes widened, then he shut them tightly to suppress his tears of guilt, "...I'm so sorry it took so long."

Slowly, Mage crawled upwards onto his side, pulling himself onto his knees. He let his left, broken arm dangle beside him, the power of time still flashing on it. As he tried to suppress his tears, the two brothers looked at him with shame. Slowly, however, they turned around to face their opponents, the ones who had just risen from their attack.

"...Of everyone…" Acronix spat, "Of every single person on this battlefield, every single world in the infinite abyss of time, it had to be you two, didn't it?!"

"Did you expect anyone else?" Krux' forced a smile. His counterpart snarled.

"So, it comes to this?" Krux shook his head, "A traitor and a coward, protecting a child who can't even hold his sword? I suppose this is just further proof of how deserving of annihilation every world that defies us is!"

"I wish I could say that this isn't how it had to be," Acronix' shook his head, "But it seems we both know your bloody path would never have stopped."

The two sets of Twins took their stances. Acronix' held up his twin blades, his green dagger and blue short sword. Krux' slowly inhaled and smashed his gauntlets together, letting them flare up a powerful orange and red. The world around them remained completely frozen in time. Mage was the only one to witness what was happening, and even that was through tears. Hearing his pained noises only made Acronix' wince, but he refused to take his eyes off his opponents.

"I suppose you think you can sway us with some 'you could have had it all' speech," Krux' spoke first, "Go ahead, try it. I need a good laugh after today."

"Oh no, we aren't going to do that," Acronix smirked, "We're just going to kill you."

"Is that so?" Acronix' sighed, "Even after all this time, you're truly nothing more than murders, liars, and cheaters. You should have returned to the dank pits of filth from which you climbed from long ago."

"Enough talk," Krux shook his head, "If you're going to put a stop to us, let's end this useless preamble!"

With a hard shout, Krux' leapt into the air and swung his gauntlet. The moment he did, Acronix' held up his swords and flashed forward in time, appearing for a moment to grab Krux' and disappear again. Acronix looked down at his own Time Blade and nodded, flashing forward with it and leaving his brother on his own.

Krux watched as the air was filled with the sound of their blows landing faster than the eye could see them. The air was disturbed in small pockets of shimmering distortion of light, still frozen and trapped in time as it were. Only brief flashes of shadow showed where the combatants were striking each other in accelerated time, generating only small wind currents to show their location.

Rolling his eyes, Krux hefted up the Pause Blade, still letting it spark with the energy of the other blades. He aimed carefully, waiting for a few precious seconds before he fired. Just because the stream of energy could hit them, Acronix' let go of Krux' in the air, causing his own brother to appear in the air. The Twin from the Time Tribe roledl across the ground and held up his red gauntlet, taking the blast and absorbing it into his weapon.

Krux' turned to see a small outcropping of rock unearthed in the crater. He swung his gauntlets around, smashing it into pieces. Acronix' then flashed out of time for a brief moment to swing his blue sword, catching all of the rocks that were bursting apart in the air in slowed time. Acronix appeared and viciously sliced at his face with the Forward Blade, resulting in the two moving back into accelerated time. Krux' turned towards the rocks and punched them as they slowly slid through the air, changing their speed just as the power wore off. The rocks then shot right out towards Krux.

At that moment, Krux' raced forward and raced right towards his counterpart, swinging his gauntlets at him. Krux continued to nimbly dodge, flashing his own blades out to try to hit him with either power. Instead, Krux' went down low and swung his leg, knocking Krux back. Krux' grinned and reached out to grab his shoulders, flinging him back. A moment later, Krux' held up his orange gauntlet. The rocks he'd launched suddenly glowed orange from stored energy, flying back now towards where they came from. Krux saw them and managed to dodge most of them, yet one managed to hit his back and knock him forward.

As Krux snarled and turned his attention to dealing with his far younger self, the two younger twins were still dueling inside of accelerated time. Acronix could feel his Time Blade was losing power, while Acronix' could feel the strain of keeping the fight going. Once more, the only sign of their battle were the small pockets of air they disturbed whenever they clashed.

Acronix thrust his blades forward, only for Acronix' to throw his weight backwards. Bringing his swords together, Acroinx' managed to slash out and cut open the shoulder armor that Acronix had on. As the metal broke off, it fell out of their accelerated time and hit the ground as Krux' and Krux continued to grapple together, trying to overwhelm each other with their power.

Acronix landed on top of the edge of the crater and slashed his blade through dirt. Acronix' managed to dodge the attack, but it gave Acronix just enough time to spin the Slow-Mo Blade and hit him with it. Speed and slow struck one another, cancelling it out and throwing Acronix' back into real time. He quickly crouched down and focused, listening for the sounds of accelerated time. Like the guards he sparred with at the palace, he waited for the moment that he felt the stream of air displaced on his cheek before her thrust his blades up.

To avoid the attack, Acronix stopped using his power in the air, the blades inches from cutting him. Acronix' and Krux' shared a momentary glance. Acronix kicked Acronix away, while Krux turned and blasted Krux with his orange gauntlet. The twins reversed their positions, and the two traded their targets.

Acronix' was quick to act, slicing at the momentarily distorted Krux. The elder of the twins blocked them just in time. He attempted to reverse time again to attack, but Acronix' smashed his green blade against the orange one. The two powers began to cancel each other out as a determined glare poured into the familiar face of Acroinx'.

Meanwhile, Krux' was narrowly dodging the harsh swipes and jabs that Acronix gave him. He held up his gauntlets, taking two kicks and a punch before he pressed the things together and held them forward. Thinking he was about to try to use them, Acronix jumped backwards and prepared to flash forward in time. Instead, Krux' ran right at him. The split second decision caused Acronix to hesitate long enough that Krux' was able to smash his red weapon into the Forward Blade. The moment he did, the handle inside of the blade was completely overtaken by a red aura.

Acronix stepped backwards, shaking his hand and trying to use the Forward Blade. Instead, no matter what, the blade seemed to remain frozen in time. With a hiss of anger, Acronix held up the Slow-Mo Blade and attempted to use that instead. He blasted several pockets of it in the air as obstacles as Krux' weaved through them with a snake-like precision. Rather than fight him on that turf, Krux' groaned and just took the blows onto his gauntlets.

When Acronix pulled back and tried to lure him inside, Krux' instead held up his orange gauntlet as though he meant to reverse time. Acronix, grinning now, thought he'd figured him out and instead rushed him. To his shock again, Krux' actually brought the gauntlet down and his Acronix with it. The Twin, and him alone, was reversed in time to just before he'd summoned the field of slowed time. When his perception returned, Krux' leapt forward and smashed his red gauntlet into the Slow-Mo Blade, freezing the handle in time as well.

"Brother!" Krux' shouted. Acronix', still grappling with Krux, gave a nod.

"What have you done?!" Acronix spat, trying to use his blades and finding them unwilling to respond to him. The blades were frozen in time. Krux' focused his concentration on maintaining the power on them, even as he felt it prickling at the back of his mind.

Krux' swung his gauntlet around into Acronix's back, a fierce punch that sent him stumbling over towards his brother. Acronix' slashed his weapons apart and knocked Krux back, dodging his attempt to hit him in reversed time again with a flash of his swords. Krux, seeing what was happening behind him, turned and quickly took a step back, holding up his weapons as his brother move to go back to back with him.

"Let's end this, brother!" Acronix hissed out.

"I concur!" Krux shouted, "It's time that we assert ourselves once and for all!"

"I won't let you!" Acronix' shouted, racing right at them. Acronix moved and held his frozen blades forward, forcing Acronix' to dodge them. This put him right in the way of Krux, who smirked and raised his blades to try to attack.

Instead, Krux' moved out and grabbed his brother's arm, pulling him out of the way and then pushing him forward to keep his momentum. Acronix' made it all the two to them before he locked blades with Krux. Krux' spun and, in turn, soon had his own gauntlets locked with Acronix.

The Twins rapidly shouted as they engaged in fierce combat. Acronix struck fiercely and without any mercy in his blows, while Krux held himself back and went on the defensive. Their counterparts simply fought back against them, even now as they knew this had to be the end of all this, one way, or another.

With a grin, Acronix spun around and aimed his blade at Krux'. Realizing he couldn't see it in time, Acronix' jumped at him to try to stop him. Krux then launched forward and punched him, sending him reeling backwards through the air. The two grinned as Acronix' hit the ground, clutching his gut in pain. Acronix jumped forward and knocked away the two swords that his counterpart held, holding him down.

The Twins expected to turn to see Krux' in shock or come to his rescue. Instead, they were shocked as they saw that Krux' wasn't even angry. Instead, he had a grin on his face.

With a flash of his orange gauntlet, the Twin reversed time, just far back enough to where he saw his brother charging forward. His brother felt the shift in time and nodded as he raced back towards them. Knowing now what they planned to do, Acronix' flashed forward in time, bringing him over instead towards Acronix at first. When the Twins turned around to try to separate them again, Krux' shot out and grabbed his counterpart. He poured the red power of paused time into the blades, freezing the handles inside. All four of the Twin's blades were now frozen in time.

With that accomplished, the Prime Twins turned and slammed their weapons together to initiate a fierce lock. Krux' starred deep into the eyes of Acronix, while Acronix' forced his gaze to meet that of Krux. The four of them slammed their weapons together, forcing them into a hard stalemate as they refused to let up.

"MAGE!" Krux' shouted, "DO IT NOW!"

The Twins turned to see Mage standing up, clutching his broken hand. With a scream of pain, Mage thrust his hand up into the sky, blasting all of his power that he could up into it. The Pause Blade sparked harder in Krux's hands, then with a massive flash, Mage's power shot into the sky with a powerful blast of red, arcing off and towards a spot in the distance. A moment later, the pain hit Mage as his eyes rolled into his head and he collapsed onto the rocks.

A moment later, a massive roar filled the sky. The Twins suddenly saw a shadow overhead of them. All at once, the Prime Twins spun around and flipped around the two of them. Acronix' wrapped his arms around Krux in a grapple, while Krux' did the same for Acronix. Krux' continued to hold his paused time around the handles of the Time Blades, refusing to let them access their powers.

"Let go!" Krux spat, "You annoying imbeciles, let us go, now!"

"Never!" Acornix' shouted, "Now is time for you to pay for what you have done!"

With a loud flap of wings and a crashing of rocks, none other than the Time Tribe Dragon, Muto, landed in front of them. The brown-scaled dragon slammed down, its body sparking with deep colors of time. It raised its wings up and spread them wide, causing a massive shockwave of energy from its body that knocked the Twins down onto their knees. The Prime Twins held them down still, Krux' refusing them access to their powers.

TWINS, Muto's ethereal voice echoed out, I JUDGE YOU. GUILTY.

Muto opened his mouth. In that moment, the bands of time flashing through its wings solidified, turning one wing a burning green and blue while the other went red and orange. As the beast opened its mouth, its tongue flattened down to reveal a massive, glowing white light in the back of its throat. The Twins shouted in rage and tried to struggle free, but in this moment, nothing would stop Acronix' and Krux' from holding them.

"NO!" Acronix shouted, "NO! WE ARE THE HANDS OF TIME! YOU WON'T DO THIS TO US!"

Muto let out a sound that sounded like a sonic scream. All at once, the Time Blades began to pulse and glow. The Twins had their hands jerked forward, their blades held in front of them. The colors in them began to rapidly pulse and shimmer like Muto's wings had. Then, the colors suddenly turned solid again. The moment that they did, Krux screamed.

"NO!" Krux roared, "NOOOOOOOOO!"

From the tips of the Time Blades, the raw power of time itself was sucked free from them. Acronix' and Krux' were forced to let go as the force of it being ripped from the blades threatened to pull them in. Acronix and Krux, however, fell to their knees and pulled on the blades with all their might. They held on as they watched the color drain from the blades and slowly slither through the air up into Muto's mouth. The sensation made both of them scream as they tried, for one desperate moment, to hold onto their powers. The sound of the blades being drained echoed through their ears, a sound of ringing hollowness, emptiness, and a soon to be formed regret that threatened to consume them whole.

Finally, the last of the power from the blades was sucked into Muto's jaw. The dragon slammed its mouth shut. All at once, the blades became nothing more than metal, and the Twins dropped to the ground with them. Muto opened its jaws and let out a primal roar, causing a blast of red to form from its mouth and strike the world around it. Time resumed for everyone there, their actions restored as everything that had just happened crashed down on them all at once.

"Mage!" Without missing a beat, Acronix' raced over to the fallen boy. Krux' raced along with him, the two skidding to a stop beside him as they watched Mage's eyes slowly flicker open.

"D...Did… did it work?" Mage asked quietly.

"It did… it did…" Krux' nodded, pressing his orange gauntlet to Mage's wrist. Slowly, Mage felt it reversing in time. He gritted his teeth as it pumped through him, bringing his wrist and arm back to normal. Slowly, Mage stood up as the rest of his friends all came back to themselves.

"Mage… you truly, idiotic, childish…" Acronix' couldn't finish his words. He dropped his weapons and turned and threw his arms around the boy. He gripped him hard, his body alight with worry and anxiety at what he'd almost witnessed. As the man tried to hold back tears, Mage simply smiled at him and weakly wrapped his own arms around him.

Slowly, the rest of his friends stepped forward. Monty and Over landed on the ground, looking at where they were about to land in shock. Harumi and Lloyd quickly cut off their powers from striking nothing, and in turn walked forward in awe. Lulloyd shut his mouth from giving the order, instead jumping forward with a few swift leaps to where the others were. Acronix' slowly helped pull Mage onto his feet.

"What… what happened?" Lulloyd asked, "The Twins, are they…?"

"It worked, is what happened," Krux' grinned, "Show them, Muto."

The group turned to look at Muto. The dragon nodded sagely, opening its jaws to show the crackling, sparking orbs of the power it had extracted from the Time Blades. With a hard slam of its jaws, the powers were sealed inside of its body. The rest turned to look at the downed Twins in awe.

"It's over, then…" Harumi smiled, "It's… it's over. We… we won?"

"It appears," Over slowly sheathed his sword, "That we have indeed won the day."

"It's about time," Monty sighed, raised his hands, and began clapping, "Congratulations!"

"Did Monty just give us a compliment?" Lloyd blinked.

"Don't get used to it," Monty sighed, "Especially you."

Slowly, the group all moved to stand together. In those moments, the feeling of victory began to fully strike them. It hit them hard, leaving them to realize that it really had worked. Their plan, every moment of hardship, anguish, suffering and worry, had finally worked. All at once, Lloyd turned and pumped his fist into the air.

"Victory is ours!" Lloyd shouted.

The feeling of victory began to spread through the air. First, Harumi felt the feeling deep in her gut and let out a shout of relief. Lulloyd smiled and shouted in turn, howling into the sky. Over held his arm up and the Stone Army all let out a loud cheer with him. Monty let out a little mumble of approval. Mage turned to the Prime Twins as they let out a victory cheer.

The sound spread through the army. Everyone began to shout. Garmadon laughed and cackled hard. Coco gripped him and held on. Ren and Carnelian hugged each other in relief as Forte slammed her hands on her keytar. Ronin let out a loud laugh of relief. Reina and Alacr slammed their weapons into the ground to make a rumble that spread through the entire Elemental Army. Andrus, Morro and the Chi Ninja onboard the Serpentus Bounty let out a loud shout of their own. The sound of victory that rang through it was louder than any sound the Iron Doom or Demise had ever made, and as it echoed throughout the battlefield, it was one that filled them all with a sense of shared joy, comradery, and most of all, victory.

"What do you think you're all cheering at?!"

The shouts slowly died out as everyone's sight was turned towards the fallen Twins. Standing atop the Iron Doom's corpse was none other than Acronix and Krux. Acornix panted out, shouting as his hair fell unkempt around his face. Krux kept his expression neutral, but the fury that was brimming under the surface threatened to burn them all alive.

"Fools!" Krux spat, "We are never truly defeated!" He reached back and pressed his hand to the snake embedded into his neck, "The Vermillion are never truly defeated! You all will pay for your misdeeds!"

"Are they serious right now?" Monty growled out.

"Determined to fight to the bitter end," Over nodded, "Just as I thought."

"We don't… we don't need our powers to defeat you!" Acornix's eyes went wide with a wild insanity, "The Hands of Time were able to do all this without even a single Time Blade! You… you think that… you think…"

"Hey guys," Forte leapt down into the crater, sliding down with her keytar. She turned to Lulloyd, "You mind giving me a speaker? I got a song for this."

Lulloyd blinked in confusion, but did as she asked. He scavenged up enough bricks to build a makeshift speaker. Forte slammed her foot against it and plugged her keytar into it, giving a little grin before she blasted the power of sound through it. She switched the setting on her instrument just as she began to play an opening rift on a simulated guitar.

"This one?" Harumi blinked, "I guess it's fitting."

"Everyone knows this one," Over grinned, "Shall we fight them, for one last time?"

Forte grinned and began to play the song in full. The six combatants stepped forward, their weapons ready. As the Twins stood on top of their wrecked machine, Over raised his hand up and called on the Dark Matter in the ground. A small ring of it formed around them, separating them from Forte and the rest of the army. Lloyd and Harumi both began to bob their heads to the beat as the Twins raised their now powerless Time Blades.

It's time for training and we're getting started..

The Twins charged at the group, their weapons raised in a war cry.

It's on, you know

Lulloyd swung his weapons, stopping them dead in their tracks.

And we wanna see you whip and shout it

Monty crashed into Acronix, smashing him to the ground with a blast of wind.

We rock!

Krux's shadow snapped him to the ground.

You roll!

Lulloyd's stinging bee sent Acronix hurtling over his brother.

They say, go slow

Rhoatae discs formed behind the Twins as they stumbled to their feet.

And everything just stands so still

The Twins held their weapons up as they were blasted backwards by the discs.

We say!

Mage appeared in the air with a flash of speed.

Go go!

Krux turned and caught Mage in the air.

We're ready for the fight, we know the drill

Mage's eyes glowed brown as the earth shot up and dragged the Twins to the ground.

Monday morning and we feel defeated, Seems so long ago

The ground under the twins swirled in a dark portal as the Overlord's eyes glowed underneath.

Tuesday's comin' we just keep on beating 'Til we're in our zone

The Twins dodged to either side just as the shadowy beast shot jaws up to snatch them.

They say!

Acronix whipped around to see Lloyd over him.

Go slow!

Krux opened his eyes to see Harumi fly through the air towards him.

And everything just stands so still

The two Twins stumbled to their feet as the two sent blasts of power at them.

We say!

Monty appeared behind the two with the SoS drawn.

Go go!

The two stumbled back as they saw Lulloyd jump towards them.

You're gonna see us rip into it!

The Twins let out a nervous exhale as the six surrounded them, Over's eyes glowing as he swung his sword out.

Just jump up kick back whip around and spin

Over shot out towards the Twins, smashing his weight into them and drawing a ribbon of darkness through the arena as he sent them flying back.

And then we jump back, do it again

Mage appeared from the shadows behind the Twins, grabbing them both and throwing them forward.

Ninja-Go!

Harumi's Rhotatae smashed into Krux's side.

Ninja-Go

Monty's wind knocked Acronix onto the ground.

Come on, come on We're gonna do it again,

Over landed in front of the two of them with a flap of dragon wings and let his eyes glow.

We just jump up kick back whip around and spin

Lloyd spun into Airjitzu, flying over the ground and whirling the two into the storm.

And then we jump back, do it again

The Twins were caught up in Spinjitzu, flung towards opposite ends of the arena.

Ninja-Go!

Acronix slammed his Time Blades against the SoS.

Ninja-Go!

Krux caught one of Lloyd's katanas.

Come on, come on

Over flung his sword right between the two of them as Lloyd and Monty got back.

And do the weekend whip! (Weekend whip!)

Over clutched his fist, causing the ribbon to explode all around the Twins, The two ducked under the wreckage of the Iron Doom, avoiding the blast and raising their heads to see Mage in front of them.

Ninja-Go!

Lulloyd leapt backwards and built a massive grabber claw to strike with.

Ninja-Go!

Mage thrust his fist forward with a blast of fire, lightning, earth and ice.

Come on, come on, come on!

The Twins were lifted up by their shadows into the air and forced forward into the blasts.

Monty held the SoS forward and unleashed a stream of wind.

Harumi slammed her hands together to fire a massive Rhotatae disc.

And do the weekend whip!

Lloyd spun into Spinjitzu and flung himself right at the Twins, drawing his blades just as the blasts all hit home and moving them under the snakes attached to the Twin's necks.

Jump up kick back whip around and spin!

With the last strike of Lloyd's blades. The two snakes that adorned the necks of the Twins were severed. All at once, their connection to the Vermillion Hive Mind was severed. The last threat that they could have to the group was gone. As the two of them collapsed onto the ground, the last thing they both saw was the six of them, posed in front of their armies now closing in, with Lloyd holding his swords down at them.

Lloyd shook his head, "Looks like you can't control anything anymore." As the two Twins finally collapsed, the day had well, and truly, been won.