Bright white light engulfed the world around the Time Twins as the Iron Doom’s system failure alarm rung out loudly in the background. Then, it went silent. And the pure white world faded to black. Krux opened his eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the light. He didn’t know how long he’d been out for, but by the control panels sparking and the size of his headache, probably not too long. He was belly down on the floor of the Iron Doom’s cockpit. That was the last place he remembered being, so it didn’t surprise him. However, something felt very wrong; and it wasn’t his aching body. As much as it hurt, he was more terrified about the silence. It was completely quiet.

‘Acronix is never quiet.’ He thought.

It was painful, but he managed to sit up and look around. His twin wasn’t there. Krux felt his heart race as he began to have flashbacks of waking up alone those 40 years ago. He had panicked after realizing that Acronix wasn’t with him. As the years passed, he had begun to think that he had somehow perished in the time vortex. The terrible image of his poor brothers beaten, dead body floating around in the rift came flooding over him once more. But no. Not again. There was no way that he’d truly met that awful fate. It was impossible. Krux used the destroyed control panel to stand up, and began to look out of Doom’s mouth at the landscape. It was grasslands as far as he could see; no signs of civilization, or implication of when they were. Selfishly, he sincerely hoped that it was the past, so that he wouldn’t have to deal with technology. Under him he could see one of the robot’s arms busted on the ground, along with quite a few other pieces that had been ripped off. Krux scanned the ground only to be met with a wave of horror washing over him. Sticking out from under a bunch of debris, he could make out one of his brothers’ arms. In a panic, he made his way down Doom and rushed to his crushed brother. Krux didn’t care how much pain he was in, his only goal was to dig Acronix out of his suffocating prison. He cleared out most of it, now revealing his twin’s top half. His face was pained, and he was unconscious. Krux tried desperately to remove the last and biggest piece of metal off, but it was too heavy, and he was far too weak. A large pipe was crushing Acronix’s torso, making it difficult for him to breathe. The more Krux struggled with it, the more desperate he became. Where the pipe was squashing him most, was a wound that was still bleeding. He may have not died a terrible death in the time vortex like he feared, but he was certainly about to do so here. In a final desperate attempt to save him, he rammed into it at full force. The metal finally bugged, and Krux pulled his brother out; panicking. Acronix let out a few coughs as he gasped for air. It was clear that his wound was causing him immense agony. Krux normally wasn’t one to show emotion, except maybe anger, but the situation was breaking him. He felt his heart throb with tribulation as he watched his poor brother struggle. Then a memory smacked him in the face. Right as they were getting the Iron Doom ready, he spotted Acronix load a bunch of stuff into one of the compartments in the cockpit. It was seemingly random junk that you’d pack on a camping trip. Blankets, water bottles, snacks, etc…
“We’re going to battle, not a campsite!” he remembered scolding.

“But these are all necessities! Time travel still counts as a trip, and the internet would never lie to me about the necessary things to bring on one!” Acronix had countered.
Oh, how ignorant he was. But then again, he had also dragged a hilariously large medical kit along with it. It was the size of a small suitcase, and his excuse to drag that along was-
“Just in case something went wrong in the battle.”
And truly, something did. Something VERY wrong. “Brother, your useless junk might not be so useless after all!”

After digging around for a moment, he found the kit and used it to help Acronix’s wound. It was bleeding quite heavily, which scared the heck out of Krux. He was in danger of bleeding out. As Krux tried to help stitch up the injury, his brother kept yelling out in pain.

“Acronix, please…” He begged.
“I know it hurts, but you have to stop. Haven’t your poor lungs had enough already? You need to understand that I’m trying to help you! Please calm down…”

Then, his cries slowly stopped, his tears were still rolling, but he mostly fell silent. Krux took a brief sigh of relief, thanking him for finally being quiet. Then it hit him again.

‘Acronix is never quiet.’

Krux darted his attention to his twin’s face. He was still breathing rather heavily, but his expression showed more exhaustion than before; he had stopped squirming too. The time twin quickly hurried and finished treating the wound. He was all bandaged up, but only time would tell if it was any help. Afterwards, he was able to get them into the cockpit and out of the rain that had just began to fall. Utilizing the stuff Acronix had packed, he was able to get the heat lamp going. Krux watched the slow rise and fall of his brother’s chest in melancholy. He was covered by a blanket and his head was resting on a blue travel pillow. Even in sleep, he still somehow managed to look like he was about to cry. Krux looked out at the downpour, wishing he could take several moments back. There were times he took for granted, but he never realized that those were the ones he’d regret or miss the most. Thinking back on the Serpentine War, he admitted that he rather enjoyed being with the other elemental masters. Libber, the master of lightning, had way too much energy and enthusiasm for his taste, but Acronix and her would absolutely love throwing puns at each other; even on the battle field. Krux surprisingly got along pretty well with Garmadon. They were both pretty chill compared to their siblings, and would enjoy coming up with the plans of attack together. He had also been really close to Usi, master of smoke. Tragically, she was lost on the battle field not too long before the war actually ended. Krux still missed her from time to time. She was funny and hopeful like Libber, but was more sarcastic and chill about it. Something about her made him feel good. But… she was gone now. She had been for a very long time. So, there was no point in feeling bad about it now. The dark, foggy, dismal atmosphere was only partially broken by the heat lamp’s orange glow. The sound of rain smashing against the Iron Doom’s metal armor echoed through the giant. Krux took another long look at Acronix, then laid down on the cold, metal ground. A slow sigh exited his lips as he drifted off to sleep.

Days passed by, with no sign of Acronix regaining consciousness. Krux had decided to venture out on the third day, to see what he could find. He found an abandoned, overgrown village that held plenty of useful resources; appearing that it had only been fully abandoned not to long ago.

Why it was left behind, he had no idea, but it was certainly helpful. He gathered some pots, bowls, utensils, and picked up a useful cloak, which he wore back to the Iron Doom. Every day he would venture out, then come back and sit by his brother. Krux didn’t usually care for showing emotion or affection, but no one was around, and Acronix was still out like a light, so he didn’t mind. He sat right next to him stroking his messy black hair; reassuring him that he was trying his hardest to keep him alive. While still unconscious, Krux would periodically get him to drink something. In comatose or not, he still needed to water to stay alive. Krux didn’t care if he couldn’t here what he would say, it made him feel better taking to him. Eventually, he became convinced that he COULD hear, because he gave a slight smile when Krux cuddled up next to him and said that he loved him. After a long while, something finally happened.

The sun shown down through the clouds and into the Iron Doom. Acronix let out a few coughs as his eyes fluttered open. He was sore, but his aching body felt better under the warmth of the blanket. Dizzy, he glanced around at where he was.

‘Huh.’ He thought. ‘What’s going on? Where are we? Speaking of WE- where’s Krux? Did he think I was too far gone and leave me?’ A million thoughts swarmed his mind as he laid there. No. It was impossible that Krux would just leave him for dead. They were brothers! But then again, ditching him wouldn’t be too out of character nowadays; he’d become a lot colder in the 40 years he was absent. So many thoughts scared him, but he needed to stay calm. Panicking never solved anything. Besides, he felt too weak and tender to move anyway. So, he just let himself stay put for the time being. About an hour later, Krux made his way into the control room with his dirty cloak blowing in the wind behind him. He was covered in dirt, and the few bandaged parts of him were coming loose. He threw a dirty satchel on the floor and plopped down against the wall with a sigh. Acronix peered at his twin through the sliver his eye was open. He was pretending to still be unconscious so he could examine Krux. He glanced over at Acronix and walked towards him; sitting down beside him. “I’m sorry.” He sighed. “I don’t know what to do. I’m driving myself crazy.” Krux stroked Acronix’s arm in sorrow. The way he did was rather soothing to his aching muscles. It felt impossible not to sigh in the relief. Acronix peaked up at his brother, who had his eyes closed. Then, a single tear rolled down his face and onto the ground. Wow… The younger brother couldn’t remember the last time he saw his twin cry. Even in the war, he’d sworn off showing emotion like that; especially in front of others. Even though it was a single tear, he looked like he was desperately trying to hold back more. “I already thought I lost you once, PLEASE don’t make me lose you for real…”
Okay, now Acronix just felt awful for playing him, so he faked a few coughs and pretended to wake up for the first time. Krux watched in shock as Acronix opened his eyes and questioned what was going on. He lunged down, hugged him tightly; not wanting to let go.
“You’re ALIVE!!! Oh, thank the First Spinjitzu Master you’re awake!”

Acronix smiled as he buried his face in his brother’s shoulder. “I missed you Mr. Grouchypants!” The younger brother joked. His voice sounded raspy and drained, and his smile was also very tired, but he looked genuinely happy to be in the embrace. He sighed a breath of relief feeling his twin’s heartbeat against his. Feeling each other’s warmth made them both never want to let go. It’s just like the saying-

"you don’t know what you have until you lose it."

And Krux had enough of almost losing him. Krux pulled back from the gesture and helped prop his brother up against the wall. “How do you feel?”

Acronix winced as he shifted positions to make himself more comfortable. “Oh. A bit sore, but I’ll probably be fine. You on the other hand, look like a mess.”

The older brother smiled. “Well, truthfully, you’ve been out for about a week. I’ve been trying everything to keep us both alive. Glad to see it was all for something.”

“Thank you… for everything, I mean. I’m glad we’re together this time; whenever it is.”

Krux sat beside his twin. “Yeah. I’m glad you’re here too.”

Acronix leaned his head against his brother’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “I love you Krux.” He yawned.

The elder brother couldn’t hold back his smile or tears anymore. He cuddled right back, wrapping his arms around Acronix and smiling. “I love you too… brother.”