Chopping his way through the jungle, Lesovikk continued to call out, hoping someone would answer. As he ventured further, he heard what sounded like an engine revving. Not only that, but he also heard hacking and slashing coming in his direction. While it was nice to know he wasn't completely alone, he kept his guard up. There was no telling what kind of being he was about to run into.
To his surprise, the new arrival wasn't a person, but a futuristic motorcycle with no rider. Its frame was black and lime green while its wheels were teal. Mounted just behind the front wheel were a pair of teal katanas. But even more peculiar than that, it had a pair of eyes on what he thought was the seat.
Even more surprising than that, the bike spoke. "Wha- What the hack are you!?"
"What am I? What are you?!" Lesovikk asked back.
"Hey, I asked first!" the green bike shouted.
"Okay, fine!" Lesovikk sighed, taking a second to choose his next words, "My name is Lesovikk, and I'm…just a man who's gotten lost."
The green bike wasn't convinced, "Nice try, but I know for a fact that there's nothing like you on this whole planet." The katanas on its wheels flicked into a forward-facing position, "You get one more chance to be honest."
Stowing his own sword, Lesovikk held up a hand, "Alright, alright. I don't want to fight you." He took the opportunity to turn this standoff into a bargain. "If you take me to the nearest settlement, I'll tell you everything you want to know."
"…Okay, but no tricks," the bike warned. It turned around, with Lesovikk following.
"Does anyone else see that thing?" Blaster asked.
Millennium peered into the distance, "It looks like a dead human in a small rowboat."
"Wait, what?" Lesovikk perked up at the news. "I'm checking this out for myself." With an air-powered jump, he quickly moved from the ship to the rowboat. Taking a close look at the little, blond, human girl in a yellow dress, he saw that she was still breathing, making him sigh in relief. It would've really soured his mood to stumble across a corpse. Picking up the child, he leapt back to the ship and set her down on the ground.
"Why would you bring it aboard?" Millennium asked sternly as he and Blaster gathered round. "We don't need cargo. Throw it overboard,"
Lesovikk wasn't fazed by the red and black robot's tone, "First of all, I don't take orders from you. And second of all, she's still alive, so I wasn't going to just leave her for dead."
Blaster started poking the girl with his two right arms, "Well, if she's still alive, then let's wake her up and find out where she's from. We can drop her off."
Lesovikk nodded and shot a glare at Millennium, "See? He gets it."
Millennium just crossed his arms, not bothering to respond this time.
With his poking not working, Blaster began gently slapping the girl in the face, "Boot up already, would you!?"
That did the trick, and the little girl shot up from Lesovikk's arms. "Stop that, you j-" the girl stopped screaming and when she saw her "rescuers."
"I think she's broken," Millennium snarked, seeing how wide the girl's mouth was hanging open.
The girl shot to her feet and ran behind the mast.
"What's wrong with her?" Blaster wondered out loud.
Millennium sighed, "I doubt there's anything else in this world that looks like us. I imagine we've caught her off-guard."
Nodding in agreement, Lesovikk faced the girl and raised his hands placatingly, "Look, I know we seem strange but we're not going to hurt you."
The child didn't budge, making the three aliens exchange glances. "I'm retaking the helm. You two can deal with this on your own," Millennium droned.
"I don't have any ideas, do you?" Blaster whispered, leaning over to his acquaintance.
"I think I have an idea," Lesovikk whispered back. He stepped away from Blaster, "Make me several disks." Once he had the disks he'd requested, he tossed one back to Blaster, "Now throw it back at me."
Blaster complied, and the two began a two-man juggling routine, throwing disks back and forth. Out of the corner of his eye, Lesovikk could see the girl come out from behind the mast, a smile forming on her face.
"Hey, she's-" Blaster began, but the distraction caused him to miss a disk, resulting in him getting hit in the face.
This worked to their advantage, as it made the girl laugh out loud.
Lesovikk set his disks on the ground and walked over to the girl, getting down on one knee, "Do you feel any safer now?" She nodded. "I'm Lesovikk. What's your name?"
"My name is Apis."
Blaster reached behind his back and pulled out their map. He held it out for the girl to view, "Just point us where to go and we'll drop you off."
Apis nodded and pointed to a small spot on the map, "Right here. It's a place called Warship Island."
"Hmm, that's not too far away," Lesovikk observed as he looked over the map. "If I make us some wind, we can get there in no time."
That made Apis tilt her head "'Make some wind?'" she repeated, "What do you mean?"
Lesovikk chuckled, "I'll show you." He took his place beside Millennium and started blowing wind into the sails.
Apis gawked in amazement, but before she could comment, a gigantic, reptilian serpent rose from the water right in front of the ship.
Everyone screamed in terror as Millennium spun the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding the serpent. The group's relief was short-lived as more and more serpents popped up one after another. "What kind of sea is this!?" the red and black Slizer shouted.
Thankfully, they made it through without getting sunk or eaten. "You're from this world. Can you explain that?" Blaster asked Apis.
She looked at them all, confused, "You don't know what the Calm Belt is?" They all shook their heads, so she explained, "Calm Belts are sections of ocean where there's no wind or currents, so it's easy to get stuck there. They're also breeding grounds for Sea Kings."
"It would've been nice if that'd been marked on the map," Millennium complained.
"At least we're through the worst of it," Lesovikk pointed out, trying to see the bright side. "Let's just get to Warship Island."
"Uh, how are we gonna find it with that fog rolling in?" Blaster pointed into the distance, showing there was indeed some fog coming up.
"We still have a compass, you fool," Millennium pointed out.
Blaster growled at the insult. Fortunately, Apis distracted him with a question.
"So, Mister, why do you have two rights arms?"
"Well, I use my left arm for shooting," Blaster explained, raising his gun for display. He then held up his two right arms, "This way, I can still throw two disks at once." Suddenly, he perked up as a thought occurred to him. "Do humans have any powers, or do you just rely on weapons?"
"Well, some people train hard to get strong, and others can gain powers with Devil Fruits," she explained.
"I don't know what those are," Blaster said, making her sigh.
In the time it took Apis to explain what Devil Fruits were, they finally arrived at Warship Island which, to the aliens' surprise, really was shaped like a warship. Once docked and came ashore, they were greeted by a bunch of villagers armed with spears.
"Alright, you-" one of the villagers paused, "Wow, I was expecting pirates, not…whatever you are."
Apis came out from behind her new friends, "Everyone, calm down!"
"Apis? How'd you get back here? And what are these things?" a mustachioed villager asked.
"I escaped from the Marines! I was stranded at sea for a little while, but then these guys picked me up!" Apis explained happily.
"But what if the Marines come back for you?" a third villager asked nervously. "They took you before and they wouldn't even say why."
"Is it safe for us to have her here?" "What do we do with her?"
The mutterings of the crowd tempted Lesovikk to speak up. She'd just gotten back to her people, and now it sounded like they might kick her out. The nerve of them!
"Apis, is that you?" an old man asked. "Come to me."
"Grandpa Bokuden!
'What's a grandpa?' the Slizers wondered.
"I must thank you for helping my granddaughter," Bokuden said happily. "Please, would you join us for a meal?"
"Don't bother," Millennium declined harshly, "We don't need your kind of fuel, and we only came to deliver the girl. We'll be leaving now."
As the big-footed Slizer turned to walk away, Lesovikk grabbed him by the shoulder, "Hold on a minute. This nice man extended an invitation. We shouldn't just dismiss him like that."
Millennium stood silently before relenting, "Fine." As they all began walking, he muttered, "It's not like we know where to go anyway."
Once the "team" assembled at Bokuden's house, made somewhat difficult due to the Slizers' bulky builds, he began cooking some pork buns. To Lesovikk's dismay, they would take hours to be done. "Is something on your mind?" the old man asked Blaster.
The yellow and black Slizer snapped out of la la land. "Hey, now that I think about; Apis, you said you got away from the Marines. Why would they have taken you in the first place?"
"I don't know," the girl shrugged.
Millennium crossed his arms, "Oh, come on now. There must be some reason." He leaned in close to her, "You're not a criminal, are you?"
"What!? No!" Apis waved her arms frantically. "I don't know why they took me!"
"Oh, really?" Millennium asked, obviously skeptical, "You expect us to believe that the Marines just showed up to this island and abducted a random girl for no reason?"
Lesovikk interjected, hoping to ease tensions, "Let's not rush to any conclusions." He turned to Bokuden, "Is there anything on this island the Marines would want? Something only Apis could help them get?"
Bokuden shook his head, "Nothing I can think of. The only thing this island has is a legend."
"And that legend is?" the green warrior asked.
"It's said that the people of this island are the descendants of the sunken island, Lost Island," Bokuden began, "It was also home to Millennial Dragons. The bones of those dragons are called Dragonite. They're also called the Elixir of Life."
Lesovikk nodded, "I see. The Marines you met must've been gullible-"
"-and corrupt," Blaster added.
"-And corrupt enough-," Lesovikk corrected himself, "-to take the legend seriously. Then they took Apis because they thought she could help them obtain it."
Millennium shook his head, "But we still don't know why they singled out Apis, so we're back to square one." He turned back to Bokuden, "How does this legend go? Maybe there's a clue."
He came to regret that request when Bokuden launched into hours-long history lesson that had no end in sight.
Lesovikk was trying hard not to fall asleep when Blaster tapped him on the shoulder.
"You think we should sneak out like Apis did?" Blaster whispered.
That woke the green warrior up all the way up, "Apis snuck out?" He looked around the room to confirm that she was indeed gone, "Where'd she go?"
Blaster shrugged, "I don't know, but I'm gonna go look for her."
"I'm coming with you," Millennium said as he opened the door, "Anything to avoid this lecture."
The three other-worlders exited the room, with Bokuden too wrapped up in his own story to notice.
"Apis!" Blaster called out as he scanned his surroundings, "I don't see her. Do either of you?"
"No, but I do have an idea," Lesovikk said. With a boost from his powers, he jumped high into the air for a better view and saw something useful. Landing back on the ground, he reported his findings, "There's a trail that begins near here. That could lead us to her."
And so, the trio followed the trail, going around or through any obstacles in their way. They did have a brief delay when they came across a small gorge.
"I'll handle this," Lesovikk said, getting behind his two companions, "Just jump when I tell you to." On his signal, the two Slizers jumped, with Lesovikk lightly blasting them across the gorge before jumping himself.
Their quest eventually led them to a cave where they heard Apis talking to someone.
"Apis, why'd you sneak off? And who are you talking t-OH MY GOODNESS!" While Lesovikk screamed in shock, Blaster and Millennium were too stunned to say anything at all. Why? Because, sitting behind Apis was a big, furry dragon!
Millennium quickly broke the silence, "I think you have some explaining to do."
At first, Apis said nothing, but a light moan from the dragon prompted her to speak, "Okay, Grandpa Ryu says we can trust you guys, so I'll tell you." She went on to explain how she'd met this Millennial Dragon through the power of a Devil Fruit she'd eaten, the Whisper-Whisper Fruit. After talking with the dragon, whose name was Ryu, she agreed to help him reunite with the others of his kind at Lost Island but had had no luck figuring out where it would reappear. She also revealed that that the Marines had taken her because they were obsessed with finding Dragonite.
"That's all very fascinating," Millennium said, clearly not interested. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Now, let's go."
"I'm not going."
Millennium stopped in his tracks, "What?"
Lesovikk turned to face him, "I'm going to help Apis and Ryu."
Apis gasped, "Really!?"
"I'll help too," Blaster pitched in, "I like this kid, so why not?"
Grinning widely, Apis wrapped her little arms around the two of them as much as she could, "Thank you, Mr. Blaster! Thank you, Mr. Leso!"
The two of them chuckled awkwardly at the nicknames they'd now been given.
"And I can't sail a ship all by myself, leaving me no choice but to help as well," Millennium admitted with a sigh. "I hate you both."
Blaster chuckled at the insult before inspecting Ryu, "This thing seems heavy, but I bet the three of us can carry him back to the ship."
"Let's just get this over with," Millennium said.
Together, the three of them hoisted the Millennial Dragon overhead and began carrying him back the way they came. However, they were forced to pause when they came across the gorge once again.
"In the several days I've known you, you seem to be full of ideas," Millennium said to Lesovikk, "Any clue for how we'll get the dragon past here?"
"Yes, actually." First, Lesovikk blew the Slizers across the gorge. Then, he blew Ryu across, with the Slizers catching him on the other side.
Resuming their trek, the group made their way back to the village. They stopped before they got to the harbor, though.
"Are those Marines?" Blaster asked, peering into the distance. "What are they doing here?"
"Maybe one of their ships caught a glimpse of us when we were sailing here," Millennium speculated. "This could make things difficult."
As the group set Ryu on the ground, Lesovikk analyzed the situation, "It's doubtful we can get to our ship without being spotted. At least one of us will have to cause a distraction while the others board our ship."
"Even if we do that, they can-" Millennium paused as he came up with an idea. "That's it. I'll distract their ground forces, you can disable their ships, and Blaster escorts the girl and the dragon to our ship."
"I hate giving you credit, but that's honestly a good plan," Blaster nodded. He looked at Ryu, "but I can't carry you all by myself. I know you don't have the strength to fly, but can you at least walk?"
Ryu answered by weakly pushing himself to his feet.
"Perfect. Now, this will be a shock-and-awe strike, so I'll need to prepare myself," Millennium said. Suddenly, in the span of a few seconds, his legs disassembled from the knee down and reassembled themselves into a red and black motorcycle. This left him with short, scrawny legs with triangular feet. His upper torso remained mostly unchanged, the only adjustments being that, instead of those strange protrusions on his back, he now had plates of armor similar to shoulder pads.
Apis gawked at the transformation while Lesovikk gasped, "I didn't know you could do that."
"I did," Blaster stated casually.
"Well, I'm off to commit vehicular assault. Wish me luck!" the now-short Slizer said as he drove off.
The remaining members of the team looked amongst themselves before exchanging nods and making for the harbor.
"Hey, anyone hear that noise?" a soldier asked, putting a hand to his ear.
"Uh, guys?" another soldier pointed off into the distance.
The Marines around him followed his finger and saw something approaching at high speed.
"Is that a robot?!" "I thought those were just science fiction!" "What's that bike its riding?! I've never seen that before!"
In their shock, the soldiers failed to set up any defense, and were easy target for Millennium as he charged in, running many of them down.
Millennium made a quick turn and drove straight at another group of Marines. As he drove around, he saw that some of the Marines were getting their bearings and aiming their rifles at him. He spawned disk after disk with his left hand and threw them at anyone who looked like they were about to fire.
Some soldiers did manage to get a shot off, but they all missed due to how fast the Slizer was.
"Someone call the Lieutenant-Commander! Someone call Eric!"
As if on cue, Millennium heard the sound of wind blowing followed by something striking his bike in the side, making him wipe out. Pushing himself to his feet, he inspected his bike, "What was that? I didn't hear a gun being fired."
"That's because it was no mere bullet."
Millennium turned around to see a skinny human in a gray suit. He had lavender hair done up to look like a hook and wore thin shades to cover his eyes. "And you are?"
"Of course. Where are my manners?" the skinny guy asked rhetorically. "My name is Eric the Whirlwind, and once I put an end to you, we're taking that girl."
"Whirlwind?" Millennium repeated. "You look like a human to me."
Eric gained a tick mark on his head, "It's not literal, you idiot! It's based on what I can do!"
Millennium nodded as he processed things, "So you can generate wind?" He spawned a disk in each of his hands, "Sounds manageable."
"You'll eat those words!" Eric declared. "Sickle-Sickle Whirlwind!" He clawed at the air with his index and middle fingers creating what looked like a gust of wind.
Judging by the size of the gust, Millennium felt it was small enough that it wouldn't blow him away and opted to power through it. This turned out to be a mistake, as the wind left several scratches on his chest. "What the!? But how!?"
"I ate the Sickle-Sickle Fruit, so I'm a Sickle-Man. Now I can make wind sharper than any blade!" Eric explained gleefully. "Now take this!"
Now that he knew the attack could actually damage him, Millennium leapt to his right and threw his disks. Eric simply blew them away with more wind. Figuring the same thing would happen if he tried again, he changed tactics. The black and gray Slizer ran and grabbed a nearby Marine. Using said Marine as a shield, he advanced on Eric, hopping his luck would be better close combat.
Eric sidestepped the clumsy swing and slashed Millennium's arm at point-blank range, leaving a deep cut in right forearm.
Seeing that his idea was hurting him more than helping him, Millennium gave ground, only for Eric to pursue him.
If Lesovikk had to guess, he would say he had the easiest job out of everyone in his motley crew. All he had to do was storm each Marine ship by himself, jump from mast to mast and slash up the sails, and move onto the next. Even better was how the Marines were actually helping him in his task. They would shoot at him, miss, and the bullets would make more holes in the sail. Easy.
He hopped into the crow's nest of the latest ship he was on to get a view of how his allies were doing. Blaster, Apis, and Ryu were boarding the ship, so Millennium's distraction was working. Speaking of Millennium, he seemed to be losing a fight against a human with ridiculous hair.
Figuring that he'd sabotaged their enemies enough, Lesovikk decided to intervene and save his comrade. He leapt from the crow's nest and hit the troublesome human with a diving kick, leaving him stunned on the ground. "Let's go!" He ran for the ship, beckoning for Millennium to follow.
The small Slizer wordlessly mounted his motorcycle and got to the ship in seconds.
As he ran, Lesovikk aimed his hand and fired a mini cyclone at the enemy forces to cause further confusion. Once that was done, he made it to the ship. Seeing Blaster was already at the helm, he got up on the quarterdeck and blew wind into the sails, getting them moving.
Millennium merged with his bike back into his big-footed form, "Now that we're on the run, I'm noticing how slow this ship is."
"Well, what'd you expect? This is a cruise ship," Apis pointed out. "No offense but, why would you guys go sailing in this thing anyway?"
"We got it from some slavers we stopped, so we weren't picking from a selection," Blaster explained.
Lesovikk nodded as he looked over their ship, "This ship is a bit small and plainly designed. Maybe they had it like this to keep a low profile."
The journey resumed in silence until Blaster raised a question, "Hey, Apis, we heard you call that old human at the village 'grandpa,' and I heard you call the dragon 'grandpa' at least once while we were sneaking around. What is that, some sort of rank?"
Apis giggled before laughing out loud. After catching her breath, she started explaining how family worked.
Blaster and Millennium got so invested that Lesovikk actually had to take over steering from Blaster, much to his amusement.
Partway through Apis' explanation, the little girl paused and turned to face Ryu, eyes wide. She got a smile on her face, "Guys, we need to head west!"
"I take it that's what the dragon told you?" Millennium guessed.
Apis nodded, "Yep! Talking about family must've jogged his memory!"
"Great," Lesovikk said. "Now, can someone take over for me? It's hard to steer and propel us at the same time." Thankfully, Millennium took over for him, allowing him to focus on what he did best.
Unfortunately, even after an hour of sailing, there was still no island in sight.
"I'm beginning to doubt our resident dragon's information," Millennium deadpanned.
Blaster nodded, "Yeah, we've been at this for a while, and the only thing in sight is that black fog that's shaped like our ship!"
Lesovikk and Apis perked up at the yellow and black Slizer's words and moved to the bow of the ship. To their shock, there really was a fog exactly like Blaster had described. "I don't need to study the weather to know that fog shouldn't be black," the green warrior commented.
"I would agree with you, but I'd like to remind you that we have literally nothing else to go on," Millennium said, an annoyed tone to his voice, "So I say we give it a try."
Once the ship got close enough to fog, it phased right through it, leading the crew into a massive storm.
"Good idea, smart guy!" Blaster snarked through the pouring rain.
Millennium shrugged him off, "Lesovikk, use your powers to get us through this!"
"Even if I did, what direction would we even go!?" Lesovikk called back
Ryu groaned, which Apis translated, "There's a light in the distance! That must be it!"
Lesovikk nodded, "Millennium, raise the sails! Apis, take the wheel! Blaster, follow me to the stern!"
Everyone nodded and got to their positions. At the stern, Lesovikk had Blaster dangle him over the edge. The green warrior focused his power and unleashing a massive jet of air, blasting the ship in the direction of the light. Reaching the light, they found themselves in what appeared to be a massive eye of the storm.
Millennium walked to the bow looked off into the distance, "Please tell me that's the island we're looking for."
"We won't know until we land," Lesovikk panted. "Lower the sails again and I'll get us there."
Once the team made it ashore, Lesovikk took a seat on a rock.
Blaster and Millennium tilted their heads in confusion. "What's wrong with you?" Millennium asked coldly.
"Just tired," the green warrior explained, "Using my element that much was a bit exhausting. Give me a minute and I'll be ready to carry Ryu."
Soon enough, the group was on the move again. As they walked, Apis made conversation. "Hey, Mr. Leso? You said 'your element' earlier. Can others like you use other elements?"
"Others like me are called 'Toa,' and yes, they can use just about any element you can think of," Lesovikk answered.
"Wait, 'Toa?'" Millennium repeated, "So that's what you are? How come you've never mentioned that before."
Lesovikk suddenly looked crestfallen, "I don't feel worthy to call myself that…And before you ask, I'm not comfortable talking about it."
Respecting his ally's wishes, Blaster changed the subject, "I don't think we know where we're going. Could you ask some of the animals around here, Apis?"
Apis nodded and walked out into a grassy field where some birds were circling overhead. "Do you know about any dragon nests around here." Getting her answer, she returned to friends, "The birds said there's a building with a dragon emblem on it!"
Her alien friends nodded and followed her to the peak of the island where they found the building they'd been seeking. They set Ryu down only to find there was no obvious entrance.
"I don't see a handle or a keyhole. Should we just break the door down?" Millennium wondered.
"Leave that to me," Blaster said smugly, spawning a disk in one of his right hands.
Millennium growled, "Hold on. I suggested it, so I should get to break it."
"Like you even can. I hit harder than you, remember?" Blaster asked, getting up in the other Slizer's face.
"Oh really? Then maybe explain why you've never beaten me?" Millennium taunted.
"You've never beaten me either!"
Apis and Lesovikk shared a glance at the two's petty argument, but they became even more concerned when they heard a cracking noise. Looking down, they saw the ground breaking apart. Before anyone could do anything, they all fell through the ground.
Lesovikk was the first to get up. Observing their surroundings, he saw that group was now in the ruins of some ancient, underground structure, with the main draw being a mural on the ceiling. "Do you all see that?"
"I do," Millennium commented. "You see that building on one of the murals? Doesn't it look kind of like the building we were just in front of?"
Blaster pointed at the mural, adding his own observation, "And I see humans beside it. You they're those ancestors that the old man rambled about?"
Millennium's voice took on an annoyed tone again, "I see dragons on the picture across from where we are, and that picture resembles Warship Island."
"So the nest is back where we just came from?" Blaster realized, "Then what was the point of coming here then!? I'm smashing something over this!"
While his fellow Slizer threw a tantrum, Millennium sighed, "Okay, new plan. We get back Warship Island and search for the nest, preferably before my patience runs out. Sound reasonable?"
"I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere." Everyone turned to see Eric standing at the hole they'd fallen through. "I don't know where the dragon's nest could be on Warship Island, but if I take your dragon now, that should save me the trouble of searching," Eric stated with a grin.
"Who's that?" Lesovikk asked.
Millennium answered, "That's Eric. He's a Sickle-Man."
Apis gasped, "Sickle-Man!? I heard about that from Grandpa!" She faced Eric, "You should really see a doctor!"
That made Eric facefault. "I sickle powers, not sickle cells!"
"Either way, I'll enjoy getting back at you," Millennium said. He spawned a disk in his hand and took a step forward, only for Blaster to get in his way.
"Oh no you don't. I'm still angry that we came all this way for nothing, and this guy is a convenient target," the yellow and black Slizer growled.
With Blaster ready to stall Eric, Lesovikk looked for a way out of their situation. There was a hole in the wall that Blaster had made while he was throwing a fit. He walked over to survey the environment but found that it was over a hundred-foot drop straight down. The only way down was the tons of giant roots. The vines didn't seem like a very safe option, but they didn't have much choice.
All they needed was a way to transport Ryu, but all they had on hand were rocks, bricks, and roots. He turned around to see Millennium. Just like that, Lesovikk's mind started working. Rocks, bricks, pieces, assemble, reassemble. "That's it!"
Millennium was understandably caught off guard, "What it? All you did was look outside, then look at me."
Lesovikk ran around, picking up rock and bricks. "Apis, help me gather materials! Millennium, you grab some vines to tie things together!"
His companions quickly got to work. "How are you so quick about these things?" Millennium asked as he grabbed a vine.
"I used to be the leader of my own team. And I've had thousands of years to learn to think on my feet," the Toa and Air replied.
Once the team had enough supplies, they got to work tying the rocks together with roots. As they worked, some energy bullets flew overhead.
"Watch it, will you!? You're trying to hit the human, not me!" Millennium scolded.
"Sorry!" the other Slizer called back.
Everyone continued working until they'd finished the project, a makeshift slab big enough for Ryu to lie on.
"What exactly are we going to do now?" Millennium asked with a shrug.
"We push!" Lesovikk instructed.
Seeing what his teammates were doing, Blaster abandoned his fight with Eric and charged, giving the slab one great, big, push.
Apis screamed in terror as the slab landed on and slid down one of the vines. While he wasn't in hysterics, Millennium had something to yell as well, "Was this really the best plan you could come up with!?"
"Well, why didn't you come up with anything!?" Blaster snarked. He looked behind them and, to his dismay, saw that they hadn't lost Eric. The Sickle-Man was simply sliding down one of the vines after them.
Eric swung his arm. This time, instead of a whirlwind, he launched a large crescent of wind at them.
Lesovikk slashed the blade away while the Slizers threw disks in retaliation. Eric blew those away, so they were forced to be creative. "Blaster, shoot him!" Millennium ordered.
Following the instruction, Blaster fired his blaster. Unable to deflect energy bullets with wind, Eric was forced to leap over the shots, distracting him long enough for Millennium to hit him in the chest with another thrown disk.
The team watched as their foe fell down to the ground and resumed sliding. They quickly skidded to a stop once they reached ground-level themselves.
Blaster summarized their situation, "Now what do we do? I don't think that sickle guy is done for yet. If we try carrying the dragon again, he might catch up to us."
Ryu shifted, flexing his wings a bit and groaning, making Apis' eyes widen. "Grandpa Ryu has an idea, Mr. Leso! You can make a big gust of wind and he can ride that all the way back to the ship!"
Lesovikk's eyes widened, "That's a great idea! Everyone, grab onto Ryu and I'll send you flying." Once his team got firm grips, he let out a blast of wind for Ryu to glide on. He was caught off guard, though, when Millennium hopped off to rejoin him on the ground. "What are you doing?"
Millennium transformed into his bike-and-rider mode. "Giving you a lift. Now, hop on."
The motorcycle was obviously meant for just one person, but the duo made it work. Driving at high speed, the two made good time in getting back to the ship and rejoining the others.
"At least we know what we're in for this time," Blaster took the helm, "Lesovikk, you think you can blast us all the way past the storm this time?"
Lesovikk moved to the stern of the ship, "Yes, I can. Millennium, hold me over the side." The plan worked perfectly, with the cruise being sent flying straight through the storm they'd encountered earlier.
To everyone's shock, they found a whole fleet worth of Navy ships waiting for them on the other side. The ships were all linked together with chains, completely blocking any forward passage.
"Something tells me they're not going to just sit there and let us move around them," Millennium snarked.
"What do we do!?" Apis panicked.
Blaster chuckled nonchalantly, "Easy, we just sink them all. Lesovikk, can you blow them all away.
The Toa of Air shook his head, "If I made a blast that big, the blowback could sink our ship too…and possibly kill you all." He ran to the mast and unfurled the sails, "Apis, Millennium and Blaster will be defending us from cannon fire, so you'll have to steer."
"W-What?! I've never steered a ship before!" the little girl protested.
"So what? All you've gotta do is hold the wheel and turn it sometimes. It's easy," Blaster argued.
Not having a comeback, Apis reluctantly took the helm. And so, the cruise ship advanced on the fleet. The Slizers threw their disks at any cannonballs that would've hit their vessel.
"Blaster, I have a plan that both of us will hate," Millennium stated as he spawned some more disks.
Blaster groaned, "Don't tell me-"
"That's right, we need to combine our powers," the big-footed Slized nodded.
"I hate every word of that sentence," Blaster grumbled, "But I guess we have no choice."
Blaster's disks glowed yellow while Millennium's disks glowed gold. Each Slizer threw their pair of disks. First, each pair combined into a single disk, then those two disks combined into one large disk. The disk struck one of the warships, causing an explosion so big it capsized one of the neighboring warships.
Lesovikk was speechless at the sight while Apis' jaw dropped. "YOU GUYS CAN DO THAT!?" the little girl yelled.
"Yes, we can," Millennium said like it was no big deal.
"And we're gonna do it again!" Blaster declared.
Given how big the explosions were, Lesovikk stopped blowing the ship along to ensure they didn't take any splash damage. After a minute or two, he stopped his teammates, "Alright, I think that's enough." He walked to the edge of the deck before looking back at the rest of the gang, "Please don't attack until I return. Just defend."
With that, he leapt to the deck of the Navy flagship with an Air-powered jump. "Okay, which-Oh." The Toa of Air paused when he saw the morbidly obese human sitting on a throne on the deck. "Uh, someone? Anyone?" he beckoned.
Against his better judgement, one of the Marines nervously walked up to the intruder.
Lesovikk huddled with the guy and pointed behind them at the fat man, whispering, "That's a human, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then why does he look like…that?"
"Uh, buddy? Much as I'd like to give you a lecture on health, I feel like you came here for another reason," the Marine pointed out.
"Oh, right," the Toa remembered. Parting with the Marine, he pointed at the fat man and asked, "You there. I assume based on that throne that you're the leader of this fleet?"
"That's right! I'm Commodore Nelson," the Marine leader announced, "And I hope, for your sake, that you've come to surrender the Millennial Dragon."
Lesovikk shook his head, "On the contrary. I'm here to negotiate a ceasefire."
"No way! I'm taking the Dragonite and getting the elixir! End of story!" Nelson shouted childishly.
"Please, think about the situation," Lesovikk pleaded. He gestured to all the destroyed and capsized ships, "Look around you. My comrades have killed off so much of your forces. If you continue, we'll fight back, and you'll lose your whole fleet. Is that really what you want?"
Nelson clearly didn't care about the warning, "What I want is the Elixir of Immortality, and I won't stop until I have it!"
Lesovikk sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some of the Marine grunts flinch at Nelson's stubbornness while others looked at the wreckage of their forces' other ships. The sight gave him an idea. He addressed them all, "Is this what any of you want? To throw your lives away for a fairy tale?"
The Marines looked amongst themselves, uncertain, only for Nelson to yell at them, "Don't you listen to that green whatever-it-is! I am your commodore, and you will do as I say!"
"Being a leader doesn't automatically make you right," Lesovikk shot back. "You abducted a young girl. Is that what Marines do?"
"Shut up!" Nelson yelled, "Men, shoot this thing now!"
"No, sir."
Nelson and the rest of his men all looked at the naysayer, a random soldier with a black goatee.
"This whatever-it-is is right," the guy said angrily, "I signed up for this job to help people, not get myself killed because some fatso wants to live forever!" His words proved effective as other soldiers started agreeing with him one after another.
"Yeah." "This isn't our fight." "This whole thing is crazy." "I grow tulips."
Nelson looked amongst his men, panicking that he was losing control of things, "Why you, I'll have you-"
Everyone became unsteady as the flagship started shaking. For a second, Lesovikk thought one of his Slizer companions had destroyed another ship, but the shaking didn't stop, meaning this was more than just an explosion.
"Uh, guys? We've got land coming up," a Marine reported.
"But that's impossible! We haven't moved!" another Marine shouted.
"That's the thing. It's coming up from under us!" the first Marine said.
The deck split as a rocky surface broke through from underneath. Everyone scrambled about, not knowing what else to do. It did little to help, and many of them were thrown overboard by the all the shaking. Thankfully, everything stopped soon enough.
"What-What is all this?" Nelson asked as he lied on the ground.
Lesovikk shook his head to clear his senses and looked around, seeing what look like a rocky terrain littered with tidal pools.
"Lesovikk!"
The Toa of Air turned around and saw Millennium approaching in his biker form. As the shrunken Slizer dismounted, Lesovikk asked, "Are the others alright?"
"They're fine," Millennium informed him. He then pointed off into the distance, "But more than that, look!"
Lesovikk and the Marines all followed his arm and saw a whole flock of flying animals. Squinting for a better view, they saw that the flock was made up of dragons, all more youthful looking versions of Ryu. "Then that means…this land is Lost Island?"
"It seems like it," the shorter alien shrugged. Scanning over the Marines, he spawned a disk in his hand, "You need any help with these fools?"
"No, no, that won't be necessary. I convinced them to stand down," Lesovikk gently grabbed his ally's arm and lowered it.
One of the soldiers perked up, "Speaking of standing down." He took out a pair of handcuffs and walked over to Nelson, "Commodore Nelson, you're under arrest for unlawful imprisonment."
"Wait, but aren't we guilty of that same thing?" another one pointed out.
"We can sort that part out later," the soldier with the cuffs said.
"Incomiiiiiiiing!"
Suddenly, Blaster landed in the middle them all. "Bad news. The sick old man blew grabbed Apis and blew me all the way over here!" he reported.
"What!?" Lesovikk shouted in dismay.
"You fool! You had one job!" Millennium scolded.
"Never mind that! Both of you! Give me a toss in his direction!" Lesovikk ordered.
Millennium chuckled as he transformed back into his larger form, "Oh, I think we can do even better than that. We just need to move a little closer."
The alien trio ran for a minute before spotting Eric in the distance. He had Apis by the hair and was standing in front of Ryu.
The dragon had several large cuts and wasn't moving. That and Apis' crying made Lesovikk fear the worst.
Each Slizer grabbed one of Lesovikk's hands. "Blaster, are you locked on?" Millennium asked.
"I'm locked on," the yellow and black Slizer replied.
Millennium nodded, "Then throw!"
The two robots coordinated and threw Lesovikk straight at Eric. The Toa of Air snatched Apis out of Eric's grip as he flew by. He then spun around and landed on his back while holding her tight. After skidding to a stop, he let go of her and got up to face Eric. "You've been a thorn in our side for long enough."
"I could say the same to you." Eric swung his arms, launching a big blade of razor wind. He grinned at first but started gawking when the blade harmlessly phased through the Toa.
"That's an interesting trick, shaping wind into a blade like that," Lesovikk said as he casually strolled forward, "But Air is mine to command, so I'm maybe the worst opponent you could ever face." He stopped and drew his sword, "Time to end this."
Panicking, Eric sent more wind blades at his foe, only to get no result like before. As Lesovikk swung his sword, the Sickle-Man froze like a deer in the headlights and took the slash right to the chest, rendering him unconscious.
Lesovikk sighed as he stowed his sword, "I'm glad that's over with."
"I can't believe he did that so easily," Blaster commented as he and Millennium walked up. "What does that make us? Are we weak?"
"We're not weak. He was just better prepared than we were," the red, grey, and black Slizer soothed him.
"Grandpa!"
The three aliens all looked as Apis ran to Ryu, hugging him with tears in her eyes. Other Millennial Dragons began landing around the group, making Blaster ask, "You guys think these things are friendly?"
Lesovikk elbowed him, "Quiet. Can't you see Apis is mourning?"
"No," both Slizers shrugged.
Not paying her new friends any mind, Apis wept over her dragon. Hearing a cracking noise, she turned to see some dragons standing over a hatching egg. The egg hatched, revealing a baby dragon. Looking at the baby for a few moments, Apis started crying all over again, "Welcome back."
"Back? What are you talking about?" Millennium asked. Apis smiled at the team as she explained how Millennial Dragons were reborn after death.
The gold-headed Slizer nodded as he put a hand to his chin, "So these creatures recycle their software into new units? Interesting."
With the whole ordeal finally resolved, the three otherworlders returned Apis to her village. While there, they had some questions. "Do any of you know of any way we could possibly get back to our own worlds?" Lesovikk asked.
"I'm afraid not," Bokuden shook his head. "You're only hope is to head for the Grand Line."
Blaster tilted his head, "Grand Line? What's that? And where is it?"
"It's a stretch of sea that loops around the world. I've heard tales that it's a place defying all logic. Perhaps there, you can find a way back," Bokuden explained.
Lesovikk sighed, "Then I guess we have no choice."
Millennium held out a hand, "Please tell me you have a map."
Bokuden chuckled and waved a hand, "No need. We're rather close to the Red Line. It's the entry point to the Grand Line." He pointed in a direction, "Just go in that general direction. You can't miss it."
"But be careful," a random villager warned, "I hear the currents there are crazy strong. If you mess up, that cruise ship of yours is done for."
Nodding, Lesovikk began walking back to the ship, followed closely by the Slizers.