Chapter Text
“Well, this seems familiar.”
Lloyd groaned as he was awoken by a sharp pressure in his head. He was completely surrounded by darkness, and in a strange way he could sense that he was in a large empty room. As he sat himself up, he noted that he was not tied up or restrained in any way, and now that he was upright he could see himself perfectly fine, just not his surroundings.
A dream, then?
A second wave of the strange pressure hit him, but this time it felt…directional, somehow, like it was coming from somewhere nearby. Rising to his feet, he began walking toward where he thought the feeling came from.
This dream space was weird, he noted to himself. He could sense himself making progress and moving forward, but it didn’t feel like he was going anywhere. The only way he could tell that he was even headed toward anything was the small, steady pulsing of whatever that pressure was. As he got closer, the discomfort grew strong enough for him to finally put a name to the sensation.
Anxiety.
There was something else in here that was radiating the emotion. Except, he still sensed that this insanely huge area was completely empty.
The farther he walked, the more the emotion built up until he started feeling undertones of other emotions: sadness, anger, loneliness, faint hope. Sometimes these would fluctuate until another emotion was the dominant pressure, but anxiety always stayed steady and consistent. At one point the weight of it all got so overwhelming that he hesitated, wondering if it was even worth it to keep pursuing the source. But with literally nothing else around but himself, his curiosity got the better of him and he pressed on.
After what felt like an eternity of walking, he stopped in front of an unusual wall that had materialized in front of him, stretching as high and as far as he could see. It was an opaque gray-blue-purple color that shifted and swirled in iridescent fashion, and the surface physically rippled with small waves that seemed to originate from a particular spot near the ground to his left.
According to the storm of emotions, whatever was emitting them was on the other side, but there were no visible doors anywhere along the length of the barrier. He put a hand on the wall in an attempt to feel for any hidden buttons or indents underneath the ripples, but he recoiled instantly.
Images. The wall had started to show him images.
He hesitated, hand hovering over the shimmering surface for several seconds before taking the plunge and replacing his hand.
The scenes spread across the wall again as if playing a movie, and he recognized several of the locations displayed. A snippet of Kai and Jay goofing off in the ice cream shop, an interaction with some cheerleaders in what looked to be a school, a flashing knife by the factory building. “These must be his memories…”
Suddenly the images stopped again and the ripples disappeared from the bottom of the wall, moving exclusively to his own hand, and he noticed that the emotional pressure had mysteriously disappeared as well.
“…hello?”
That wasn’t from an image.
The masculine voice sounded distorted, almost like it was underwater, and Lloyd realized that it was probably the source of the emotional turmoil. “Hello? Who’s there?” His palm had started pushing into the wall, so he removed it and watched as the ripples completely stopped.
“Are you here to finish me off?”
That got Lloyd to pause. He didn’t like that tone of voice. “Why would I be here for that?”
“I mean, I’m already stuck in this wherever it is, trapped and helpless to do anything except watch this Monty me live my stolen life. For all I know, you’re some random business owner who’s finally done with my existence.” The voice sounded like a hollow shell of a person, resigned to his fate. “Just, please make it quick? I don’t want mom to suffer knowing I was tortured to death.”
“Suffer? A mom’s going to suffer knowing her kid died no matter the method! What are you thinking??” The blond started looking harder for a way through the wall as a bad feeling about the other person started gathering in his stomach. “I’m gonna help you get out of there, okay? Just have to figure out how to get through this wall.” He poked several spots on the wall trying to feel for a button or latch, then when nothing came of his search he tried summoning his element. Panic started to seep into him when it didn’t respond and eventually he slammed his fists against the shifting surface. Instead of sinking into the goop, it hardened and repelled the force, causing him to cry out in pain.
“The wall works like oobleck. Light touches are absorbed but anything with more force makes it go stiff.”
Lloyd cradled his hands to his chest and scowled at the wall. “Yeah, I kinda figured that out.” Dream or not, everything about this whole situation was just…wrong. First the wide open room, then the freaky physics-defying wall, and now this guy who just casually talked about his own murder as if it were inevitable? “Who are you anyway?”
A long silence stretched between them before the voice spoke again. “…you won’t like it if I tell you…”
That was all it took for the mental gears to finally click in place. How had he been so blind? The memories should have been the obvious answer, on top of the disturbing expectation of hatred and harm toward himself…
“Morro’s gonna kill me,” Lloyd murmured as he stared at the wall blankly. All this time, and he had blindly thought that the inconsistencies were the result of a messed up memory.
He shook his hands out and stepped back a bit. “Alright, listen. You’ve been here for a while, right? What else have you figured out about this wall?”
A faint grunt of confusion escaped the other before he complied. “W-well, it isn’t completely oobleck. There’s some sort of hard surface about…half a finger deep underneath.” His voice hesitated a bit as circles began rippling out across the surface for a few seconds, and a small burst of uncertainty hit the blond. “I dunno, maybe if you can figure out how to scoop some of the goop off, you can make a clearing to see if the inner wall can be broken somehow.” He was silent for several seconds before speaking again, much quieter than before. “…This is the first time I’ve heard a voice from the other side, so maybe things are different over there.”
Lloyd began to grab and scrape at the strange material in earnest now. “Try the same thing on your side. Maybe with two of us it’ll do something new.” He watched the waves of his prodding spread out along the wall until a second set of ripples joined them only a couple inches away. Nothing else happened for a few seconds, until suddenly the ripples began to synchronize, causing a pale light to form spiderweb cracks in the elastic surface until a shower of iridescent goop rained on his head and faded away.
All that was left was a clear glass-like wall that stood between him and a perfect copy of himself.
They both stared at each other for a couple seconds before Lloyd quickly pulled his hand away and shook it out as if it had been burned, while his doppelgänger stumbled backwards before tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. “You! Y-you’re Monty!” The other teen just sat where he fell, eyes wide with confusion and fear. “What are you doing here?!”
“Believe me, I’m just as-” He paused, slowly processing the other’s words. “Wait, what did you just call me?”
His doppelgänger blushed slightly and averted his gaze. “W-well, calling you Lloyd is just weird, and Montgomery was too long, so… Monty.” Green eyes snapped back to focus on him again, exuding apprehension.
Lloyd tested the name in his mouth a couple times before shrugging. “I can live with it.“ He then experimentally pounded on the transparent barrier, trying to determine whether it could be broken or not. “Alright, now that the goop is gone we need to get you out of there. Come put your hand on the other side of mine; I wanna see how thick this thing is.” He paused when he noticed a weight of frustration settle over him and his double’s expression morph into something more wary. “What?”
“Stop confusing me! First you take over my life, and now you’re trying to give it back? Make up your mind! Are you a bad guy or not?”
The blond wanted to sigh when suddenly a feeling of weightlessness washed over him and the ground beneath him fractured into pieces. As those pieces one by one broke off and fell into a bottomless pit below, he caught a glimpse of his counterpart’s alarmed face before falling into the hole himself.
“…I’m just a kid who wants to go home.”
- - - - -
Lloyd opened his eyes to a dark, blurry assortment of grays. His vision still swam, making it hard to pick out shapes from his surroundings, but from the sounds around him he could tell that other people were in the same room.
He moved experimentally to get a feel for his situation, and even without his messed up senses, he knew escape would be difficult.
Using his powers was out of the question. Something touching him, likely the chains keeping his hands behind his back, was made of vengestone. He could feel the weakened pulse of his element in his veins, and unleashing it would be impossible until the element-blocking mineral was removed from his person.
The chair he was tied to was digging into his back, so he shifted slightly to reposition himself. As he did so, the beeping of a large vehicle backing up blared in his ears and he smelled the musty scent of petrichor. Blinking his eyes cleared up some of the blurring and he started to make out the outline of a cargo truck on the other side of the large room, accented by its rear lights.
Someone behind him started roughly tugging on the chains around his wrists, startling him. “Hey!“ The chains released from the chair and he was lifted up and set on his feet.
“You either walk or I drag you,” a gruff voice snapped at him, and the blond looked up to see Killow glaring down at him. The big man gave him a shove forward that almost knocked him to the floor, but he somehow managed to stay upright as he clumsily stumbled in the direction of the truck.
The red lights shone brightly in his eyes as they got closer and he had to squint to lessen the harshness of them. Once he was able to see the details on the paneling of the truck, its loading door opened and an inner light revealed two rows of seats against the walls. They reminded him of ones that would be found in a limousine, except much more utilitarian.
Killow ended up lifting him less-than-gracefully into one of the seats and Mr. E readjusted the chains, using their length to attach them to a ring on the floor. As soon as the silent nindroid finished, the Quiet One herself stepped out from behind him and dismissed the two underlings. The door slid closed behind them and the girl positioned herself in front of Lloyd. He resisted the temptation to glare at her as she bent down to meet him at eye level.
“You are a curious one, Lloyd Garmadon.”
A nervous unease washed over him as he felt his counterpart’s emotions again. Deciding to come back to that later, he let his own anger at the girl rise but stayed silent. She seemed to accept that he wouldn’t be talking and took it as her cue to continue. “It seems a lot can change in the span of a couple weeks. After all, it’s not every day one comes face-to-face with an elemental master, let alone a newly awakened one.” She put her hand under his chin and lifted his head, forcing him to make eye contact with her. Now looking her in the face, he noted the comparisons of this Harumi versus the one from his realm. The largest difference was the lack of red makeup covering the top half of her face, and while her hair was long and white like her counterpart’s, it was styled in a simple braid that hung over her shoulder.
“But that’s not the only difference, is it?”
A cold chill moved down Lloyd’s spine as fear began to accompany the anger. “What are you trying to say?”
A familiar cruel smile twisted her lips as she stepped back, allowing gravity to take over and forcing Lloyd to hold his head up on his own. “For a stranger, you’re awfully familiar with me. Not even my own people knew my real name, and yet when the son of Garmadon finally crossed my path that was the first thing you said.” She sat down in one of the seats opposite him as the truck started moving and began casually inspecting her nails. “And the fact that the Realm Crystal, despite it being a relic of legend that has practically no literature remaining about it, is important enough to you that you would infiltrate our base of operations and threaten me to try and gain access to it is more than a little coincidental.” Harumi then picked up a small device from a seat pocket next to her and examined the screen. “Whether your father allowed it or you acted of your own accord, you have traveled between realms and gained the power of an elemental master.” A quiet laugh escaped her as her eyes flicked back to him, glinting maliciously. “Fate truly did bring you to me. You will teach me how to use the Crystal.”
Lloyd’s brain screeched to a halt. It didn’t help that the truck drove over a particularly bad bump at that moment, jolting away any thoughts trying to form. “I’m sorry, what?” It was just too much information at once. She had pieced together that he’d done some realm traveling before, and now she wanted him to help her learn to use the Realm Crystal? She mentioned his father… was it with Garmadon?
‘She’s creepy. Is she like this in his world too?’
Huh. Getting rid of that wall must have allowed for him to actually hear his counterpart. He thought out a simple “unfortunately, yes” in answer, but paused when he didn’t get a reply; could he not hear his thoughts? Would he have to respond out loud every time? Harumi was still staring at him and he couldn’t think of a way to test that out without making it seem like he was talking to her. Waiting to acknowledge his counterpart until later, the blond returned his glare to the girl. “And why would I do that?”
“Because I’m sure you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your ninja friends, would you?” She pulled his cell phone out of another pocket on her person and held it next to the first device as it began to beep. “Or maybe I should get in touch with your poor, sweet mother. I’m sure she’s worried sick about you by now…”
That struck a nerve with the blond and he tried to stand up against the restraints, his vision flashing with red. “If you dare touch even a single hair on her head, I swear I will make the rest of your life a living nightmare!”
Harumi simply laughed as the little device did its thing.
The rest of the ride was relatively quiet aside from the occasional random comment from his doppelgänger and the steady beeping of whatever Harumi was doing with his phone, leaving him to stew in his anger. He tried not to be surprised by the girl’s cruelty, but a part of him had hoped that she would be different in this world.
Eventually the vehicle slowed down to a stop. Harumi unstrapped herself and put on a white and blue kabuki mask before suddenly throwing the cell phone to the floor, shattering it completely. She stomped on it for good measure before pocketing the other device. “I have everything I need. Wouldn’t want your little club interrupting, now would we?”
The cargo door soon slid open and the girl jumped out of the truck while Mr. E unchained Lloyd from the floor and rewrapped the links around his wrists.
If he could time this just right…
The nindroid released his hold on the chains for just a second to readjust, and Lloyd pounced on the opportunity. He sprang from the seat, kicking his captor out of the truck and sprinting outside. It was dark out, but he could see the outlines of several sharp rock spires silhouetted by a giant volcano in the distance. He didn’t allow himself time to see much more than that before immersing himself into the situation.
The gang members were scattered around in a sort of haphazard group, but someone was close enough to have seen Lloyd’s escape and yell warnings about the escaped prisoner. Taking advantage of his smaller size, he pushed his body to the limit as he ran under, leaped over, and overall evaded the Sons of the Oni. He finally made it through the loose perimeter of the group and took off in the only direction left available: toward the volcano.
Thanks to the rough terrain, the only way anyone would be able to follow him was on foot, and they were still trying to recover from the chaos and reorganize.
Once there was a considerable distance between him and his captors, he started trying to unravel the chains that were already hanging down and threatening to trip him up. “Hey Lloyd? Keep an eye on our surroundings for me. I’m gonna try to get these off and get us away from here.”
A feeling of surprise hit him as his counterpart fumbled for words. ‘W-wait, you can actually hear me now??’
“Yup. Found that out on the ride over.” He unwrapped two, three loops before reaching the final snag. “Aaagh! I need a knife or a stick or something pokey-!” An idea formed in his mind and, taking a quick glance back to make sure no one was on the verge of overtaking him, he stopped briefly to take advantage of a stone spike jutting up from the ground nearby. Using the tip to push the chain around, the knot loosened until the whole thing finally slid off his wrists. “Finally!”
He left the vengestone in a pile on the ground as he started running again, experimentally summoning a green ball of sparky fire before quickly extinguishing it. With a full moon out, he couldn’t exactly hide in the darkness very well, but he could at least not make himself more obvious.
‘How’d you get those powers? Is it like a secret ninja technique?’ A pause elapsed before a small gasp escaped the other. ‘…or are you like Morro?’
Before Lloyd could answer, the ground gave way from under him and he yelped as he was suctioned through a strange transport tube. Moments later, it ejected him into a dark room with windows along one wall and a grated floor that revealed the hot glow of lava underneath. At the other end of the room, in front of a stylized fireplace filled with flowing lava, stood the other person he least wanted to run into.
“Luh-Lloyd?”