Lloyd chewed his lip as he gazed up at the monastery, watching as Kai and Nya's fusion dragon circled the Iron Doom.

"You're sure I shouldn't help?" He voiced at last.

"No, Lloyd." Master Wu, hunched over where he sat at the base of a tree, shook his head. "We must not affect the future any more than we can help."

"Alright." Lloyd itched to fly up the monastery anyway, but he held himself back. Kai and Nya would be fine on their own.

The Green Ninja had managed to get himself aboard the Iron Doom just before it had opened the temporal rift, but now he questioned his choice to do so. Kai and Nya were able to successfully imitate their parents, thus keeping the elemental masters from realizing how messed up the timeline truly was, but the sight of the fabled Green Ninja may tip them off. Perhaps it would've been better for him to stay in the present, to help deal with any resulting fallout from their battle.

Lloyd looked longing towards the battlegrounds again. Still, it would be nice to see his dad again, even if just for a moment.

As he watched, Nya abruptly launched herself from the fusion dragon, leaving Kai to struggle to control it on his own. Lloyd lurched forwards a step as Nya landed nearby, using a spray of water to slow her fall.

"What are you doing?!"

"Following a hunch!" She yelled as she sprinted past. "Stay there!"

"But-"

"Stay! Make sure nothing happens to Master Wu!" Lloyd's mouth snapped shut as Nya vanished into the trees, looking back to his uncle. Wu only gave him a similarly bewildered look. Lloyd set his jaw, looking back up the mountain. Kai seemed to be struggling with the dragon...

It was an excruciating few minutes before Nya returned, announcing her presence with a shout.

"I found it!" Lloyd turned to see his sister emerging from the trees, triumphantly waving a time blade aloft.

"The reversal blade?!" Lloyd exclaimed. "How?? Don't the Time Twins have it in the Iron Doom?"

"Yes! But they have the one from the future!" Slowing to a stop beside Master Wu, Nya pressed the tip of the blade to his shoulder. "And we have the one from the past." As Lloyd watched, an orange pulse of light went over Master Wu's body, and some of the deep wrinkles on his face began to fade. Slowly, his aged eyes opened.

"Master Wu!" Lloyd nearly shouted in his relief. "You're alright! I-" A loud boom cut him off, and he and Nya spun around to find the Iron Doom hanging halfway over the cliff. As they watched, it pulled itself upright again, and Lloyd spied Kai circling at a distance.

"Nya, should you help him?" He asked anxiously. Nya pursed her lips.

"I think he has it under control." Almost immediately, a beam of light enveloped the construct, dragging it up towards a fresh time vortex. "Or not."

"Nya-"

"Alright, come on!" Nya took a step, faltered, and turned back to Wu. "Master Wu, can you stand?" The bearded man braced himself with one hand on the ground, and slowly drew himself upright.

"I can do more than that." He assured her, eyes twinkling. "Come, your brother needs our help." Nya gave him a firm nod, and the trio ran back towards where the battle was taking place.

Lloyd tracked Kai through the sky as they ran, the two-headed dragon circling the mountain and aiming at the Iron Doom again. To his dismay, the Time Twins managed to duck out of the way in time, and Kai flew right past them. The dragon evaporated, and Kai fell.

"Kai!!" Nya shouted, putting on another burst of speed and pulling ahead as her brother hit the ground. Fortunately, he seemed unhurt, lifting his head to watch with growing dread as the Iron Doom vanished through the vortex.

"No!!"

"Kai!" Nya slowed as she reached him, stepping around to face him as he slumped to his knees.

"I failed everyone." His voice was so soft as he spoke that Lloyd had to slow to hear him. "You, mom, dad, and... Master Wu-"

"Failure is often temporary, Kai." Wu chose that moment to speak up, and Kai whipped around in shock as his mentor approached him. "It can be corrected, and, with effort, it can even be reversed."

"Master Wu!!" The fire ninja scrambled upright, a grin spreading over his face as Lloyd stopped beside him. "You're-"

"Cured of the time punch." Wu assured him. "Thanks to the three of you."

"And the reversal blade." Nya chimed in, lifting up the legendary weapon. Kai's eyes bulged.

"Wh- but how did you get it?? Where??"

"Remember what mom told us back at the swamp? How shortly after Acronix and Krux disappeared, she and dad found the reversal blade?"

"R-right." Kai stammered. "In the woods, near the monastery. But- she said they sunk it in the Boiling Sea."

"Yeah, but we're in the past." Lloyd spoke up, gesturing around them. "It hasn't been put in the Boiling Sea yet. It was still in the woods!"

"That's- fantastic!" Kai exclaimed in delight, only for his face to fall a moment later. "Though... Krux and Acronix got away. A-and we can't follow them, we're stuck here forever!!"

"Those who don't learn from the future are doomed to repeat the past." Wu spoke up gravely. "40 years from now, I will err by trying to win a fight on my own. Fortunately, we can correct this mistake, because..." He trailed off, and Kai filled in the blanks.

"We still have time!"

—

The feeling of time reversing around them was very disorienting.

Lloyd clung to the saddle of Kai and Nya's fusion dragon, listening as Wu shouted down to his past self to 'Find Mystaké, drink Obscuritea!' He had caught the barest glance of his father's younger self, but they had no time to linger. Krux and Acronix were escaping through the rift.

The dragon slipped through the gap the moment before the rift closed, and Lloyd squeezed his eyes shut against the flashing lights that now filled his vision. A thud nearly jarred him off the dragon's back, and he gasped, clinging tightly to the saddle as he eased his eyes open. The dragon was perched on the back of the Iron Doom, and Kai and Nya were already starting to clamber onto it. Lloyd hastily followed suit.

"Must we go to the future??" Came Krux's frustrated voice.

"If we travel far enough ahead in time, there will be no one who knows us!" Acronix responded confidently as the ninja and their master crept into the cockpit behind them. "No elemental masters, and best of all, no interfering ninja!"

"Wow," Kai caught their attention. "You just keep getting it wrong, don't you?" The Time Twins swiveled around, and Krux wasted no time in drawing his weapons.

"What?!" Acronix screeched. "No! It's impossible!!"

"This ends now." Wu announced firmly. "This battle has been 40 years coming, and we will end it together." Lloyd drew his sword, just in time as the Time Twins fell on them.

Skilled in duel-wielding as they were (was that a twins thing?), the twins managed to hold their own despite being outnumbered two to one. Kai and Lloyd focused on Krux, while Nya and Wu fought Acronix. Though they fought well, Kai managed to get himself forced up against the open windshield, and a well-placed blow from Krux sent him toppling out onto the outside of the machine.

"Kai!!" Lloyd cried out in alarm. Kai managed to get a grip on the outside, but Krux was already moving to knock him off.

"You'll never interfere again-!" Lloyd swept his legs out from under him before the elder twin could finish his sentence, sending him crashing to the floor. Not putting his back to him, Lloyd stuck his hand out through the windshield, waiting for Kai to grab on before pulling him back through.

"Thanks," Kai gasped.

"Thank me when we get back to the present."

On the other side of the cockpit, Acronix took advantage of Nya's momentary distraction to attack Wu, kicking him hard in the center of his chest and knocking him against the cockpit wall. Lloyd lunged to help him, but Krux was back up again, and it seemed that Acronix was more interested in them than Wu anyway. With their mentor momentarily occupied, Lloyd, Kai, and Nya held off the Time Twins, doing well until a well-placed strike sent Nya's sword flying from her hands.

"Nya!" Kai attacked Krux with renewed fervor, and Lloyd barely managed to keep Acronix from stabbing him in the back. Kai's reckless attack left him open, and soon his sword was clattering to the ground as well. Lunging for Krux, Lloyd was stopped in his tracks when Krux held his blade to Kai's neck.

"Not looking too good, is it ninja?" He sneered.

"Get off of him." Lloyd growled.

"Oh, I don't think I will."

Something hard smashed into the back of Lloyd's head, and stars flashed in front of his eyes before he hit the ground.

"Goodbye, children!"

"No!!"

Lloyd cradled the back of his head, looking up to see Krux and Acronix looking the other way. Master Wu was halfway out through the windshield, and as he watched he vanished over the edge. Acronix scoffed.

"Ha! There is nothing you can do!"

"Except what must be done!" The machine was jarred harshly, and Lloyd could hear it powering down as Wu reappeared - reversal blade in hand.

"No!!" Krux cried out. "Fool!! You'll destroy us all!!"

The Iron Doom was spinning uncontrollably in the expanse, and Kai seized Lloyd by the arm to try and keep him from falling. Lloyd caught his footing, gaping up at Wu as he dropped back through the windshield. The next moment, the windshield was below them, and Lloyd found himself dangling over the rift, Kai's iron grip the only thing keeping him attached to the machine.

"How'd you do that??" Nya demanded, clinging to Kai as well.

"Why did you do that??" Was the fire ninja's follow-up question.

"You will know when you arrive." Wu responded grimly. He tossed the reversal blade towards them, and Kai caught it.

And let go of Lloyd.

-

Lloyd found himself tossed helplessly through the vortex, eyes squeezed shut, shielding his face. Wind whipped past his ears, and he briefly questioned why the time vortex had air. At least he wouldn't suffocate.

Peeking out from behind his hands, Lloyd searched the colorful expanse for any sign of his friends, of the Iron Doom. Nothing. Only flashing colors as far as the eye could see.

And then the vortex became blue sky.

Lloyd slammed onto his back, air forced from his lungs as he hit the ground. Gasping, Lloyd struggled for a moment to draw in air, pushing himself onto his side to aid in the process. It wasn't until he could breathe somewhat normally again that he allowed himself to look around, try to identify where he was.

He seemed to be in a meadow, on top of one of many rolling hills. It was cool, and Lloyd moved to tug his hood over his head.

It wasn't until he'd already moved that he realized he hadn't been wearing a hoodie.

His chin jerked down as he looked at himself, lifting his hands. He was dressed in a black hoodie with white stripes painted on the front. His hands were small and soft, arms lacking the muscle he had spent years defining. Lifting his hands to his head, Lloyd could feel his uneven hair curling slightly at the ends, a scraggly bowl cut he had given himself out of rebellion back at Darkley's.

Darkley's. Kicked out. On his way to Jamanakai, to threaten the townsfolk into surrendering their candy.

Lloyd clutched his head between his hands, a soft breath escaping him in a much higher pitch than he was used to.

He was nine years old again.