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[Lord Koji]

Book 1

Chapter 1: An Underwater Threat

“You have done so much for us in the past,” said Hoji, “But what are these things?”

He was of course referring to the new pieces of armor that each of the Toa Cyril wore on their left forearm. Each of these pieces of armor was different in design and style, but each of them was the same in a single regard. Each of them was inset with a crimson crystal, burning with power. They could all feel immeasurable strength and energy within, but weren’t sure of what to do with it, or what to make of it.

“Those are a rare find,” Gorma stated, “A very rare find.”

“Rare, we get it,” muttered Magis, “Just what do these things do, other than look good?”

“Of course you would say that, Magis,” Cesare said, looking at his crystal. As the newest member of the team, and a former enemy of the original five Toa Cyril, even after serving alongside the Toa for one month after the defeat of Bandiaca – the witch – he still didn’t feel like a true member of the team. He felt like only some of them wanted him to be there. He felt out of place with the already established bonds that these other Toa had with each other.

“I have a right to complain,” Magis told him.

“No one’s saying you don’t,” Eri pointed out.

“If you would be quiet, I would tell you what they do,” Gorma said.

“Finally!” Magis exclaimed.

Gorma shot him a look, so Magis didn’t say anything else.

“Those are called ‘Nova Crystals’. They are a very rare find, as I already pointed out. It was only by pure luck that I happened upon them in the market. A sailor sold them, unsure of what they were. I of course paid him as well as I could, above his asking price. It was only fortunate that I purchased them for the right reasons before someone did for the wrong, if they knew what they were or not.”

“What do they do,” Rei questioned, “I think that’s what we all want to know.”

“They will bolster your power immeasurably,” stated Gorma with pride, “With them, you will never lose a fight. I can almost assure you of that.”

“Almost isn’t a certainty,” Agri said.

“It’s the best I can do for you,” said Gorma.

“Will these give us the power we need to crush Bandiaca for good,” Hoji asked.

“I fear that I cannot tell you that,” Gorma said.

“It is up to us, is it not,” asked Hoji, “Our own fates are those we craft for ourselves with our own hands, with our own powers. We cannot be told by another. Am I correct?”

“Very wise words, Hoji,” said Gorma.

“Bandiaca has been quiet as of late,” Agri pointed out, “I wonder what her plots are…” Quietly he wondered if her plots would involve Dai, his old instructor turned warrior for Bandiaca. He wanted to fight Dai again, and finally have a proper end to their duel. But he feared that a proper end could only mean that death awaited one or both of them. He didn’t want to kill Dai, but knew he may have to.

“With luck, she’s trying to raise a fighting force,” Eri put in, “Then we have time to crush her before she regains power.”

“But we’ve checked her base,” Hoji said, “No signs of her.”

“If she’s moved, then it’s not our problem,” Magis said without thinking.

“It’s a problem for others! That’s enough to make it our problem,” Agri said, “Because we will have failed in our duty to stop her here.”

“I get that, I do,” Magis said, putting his hands out, “But you can’t tell me that we stood too much of a chance of a quick win, can you? We didn’t. Maybe wherever she goes next, the next batch of warriors can end her life; can end her reign.”

“It should be us,” Agri said, “We stood against her; we should have ended it.”

“You like killing too much, it sounds like,” said Magis, shaking his head, “We may ignore the Toa Code…but you sound like you wanted to kill.”

“If it saves others from having to, then I have no problem with it,” Agri admitted.

“Guys, look,” Hoji put himself between them, “We have our own jobs to attend to. Let us worry about Bandiaca later and for now just get on with our lives and patrols.”

“What’s the point,” even Rei had to point out, “We patrolled before Bandiaca, yes, but there was never anything. Only during her attacks was there a true reason. I may be your second in command, but I don’t see the point, Hoji.”

“She will return,” Hoji said matter-of-factly, “That I’m sure of. We must be ready! We must face her if and when she returns!”

The Toa looked to each other and walked out, deciding that Hoji was indeed right in what he said. Patrols now would probably help them later on.

As the Toa headed out, Gorma left with them to attend to meetings with other Turaga. There was still no clear sign of who would take control of the Isle of Cyril Nui, but he was still hopeful, despite Fides still being ahead of everyone else through some great miracle.

But as everyone was departing, screams started to rise up from among the Matoran citizens. The Toa all looked to each other and nodded, running off, certain of Bandiaca’s return. As they arrived in the street where the screams originated from, they didn’t see the usual Anaroids or Batsuroids, but instead they saw a horde of beings in dark and light blue armor. Clawed feet with strong looking legs, with light blue above the knees and blades coming down. They had thickly armored shell-like torsos with some slime dripping down, dark blue armor and spikes covering parts of their arms, with their gauntlet armor being light blue. The right hands held triple bladed claw weapons. Their faces were fixed in a usual position of a screech, fangs bared.

“What are these things,” questioned Rei.

“Disgusting,” answered Magis bitterly, “I’m not looking forward to striking them.”

“They look…from the sea…” Eri trailed off.

“The sea,” questioned Hoji, “But what are they?”

“They are the Bashaa,” said a new voice.

The Toa looked around, searching for the source. The creatures known as Bashaa stayed in partial crouches, waiting to be ordered to strike. Soon the Toa could see a new figure approaching all of them, almost looking like one of these Bashaa creatures.

His leg armor was thinner, but he still had clawed feet and blades coming down, though the blades were different. He had the same shell-like torso as they did. His body was completely blue, with bits of other shades of blue and some other minor colors throughout. His right arm had the claw weapon like the Bashaa did, while his left had a gray, smaller claw weapon. He had blades running off of his shoulders, and had a thick head that looked shelled with two crimson red eyes staring out.

He didn’t look imposing, but carried himself highly. But of course, after all the fights the Toa had had with Bandiaca’s warriors, they knew that even if an enemy looked imposing, they didn’t always have to be. It could have just been an act they put on to make themselves feel better, or to intimidate the opponent.

In this case, the Toa were sure that they were just trying to be intimidated, or something like that. This guy didn’t seem like he would be very hard.

Hoji shook his head, “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?”

“The Toa Cyril,” he pointed out, “My name is Raia. I am the second in command of my great masters!” He threw his right arm out to his side as if to try to prove a point or something, “None can defeat me! I am undefeated in all battles I have every fought! You haven’t any hopes to defeat me. Abandon any! You cannot win!”

“We’ve heard it all before,” Agri told him simply, “Save it for someone who cares.”

“Or someone it’s new to,” Eri put in.

“You doubt my powers,” Raia was actually shocked, then shook his head, “I will show you all, then!”

Hoji threw his right arm forward, snapping his fingers, “The burning heart of passion! Toa Hoji!”

Agri brought both arms up, bringing them together and passing both in front of his chest and face in almost a full circle, turning his closed fists up and his blades out to the sides. He brought them to rest by his hips, bending his elbows there, “The overpowering strength of the ground! Toa Agri!”

Eri held her right arm out, spinning her weapon around her hand. As she did this, she brought her other arm up, bending it underneath her outstretched right arm, bracing it as she lowered the weapon down, pointing the tip at the enemy forces, “The serene and soothing waves! Toa Eri!”

Magis span around, throwing his arms out to the side, using his powers to send some leaves at his feet around his body. He reached his right hand up as he lowered his left, brushing his fingers across the forehead of his Kanohi. He cast his arm sideways after that, “The magnificent gale! Toa Magis!”

Rei went next, sending both arms forward and making a circle with them in the air in front of her body, stopping when they reached each other again. A small spark danced between her hands, “The sizzling sensation of lightning! Toa Rei!”

Cesare took the hilt of his sword in both hands, swinging it out, looking over the angled blade at Raia, “The frozen justice! Toa Cesare!”

“Six Toa now one, determined to destroy the evils plaguing this island! We are the Toa Cyril!” Hoji shouted out, throwing his arm forward and moving it from right to left.

Raia shook his head, “Bashaa, do it,”

The Bashaa mobilized, all of them racing forward at the Toa Cyril. The Toa all took up arms; all of them using their personal Toa Tools, except for Hoji, who utilized his Blade Blaster in the sword mode.

They all ran forward in order to meet the attack head on. They began to cut down the ranks of the enemy Bashaa with swift efficient blows and with great ease. This was no contest; they were extremely weak.

Their shell-like bodies couldn’t prevent a single blow. The Toa cleaved straight through. Any claws or parries they attempted were stopped when the Toa sliced their weapons apart on contact. There was nothing that the Bashaa could do, nor could Raia do, if he was as weak as his minions were.

“You are good,” Raia muttered as he watched the Toa cleave through his soldiers.

Hoji slashed through another one, ending up outside of the Bashaa grunts. He glanced at the nearby Raia and lifted his sword.

“You’re mine,” said Hoji, “Come on; let’s do this.”

“How good are you,” Raia pondered, “I wonder if you have the skill to move this island.”

“What is that supposed to mean,” questioned Hoji, “Some sort of riddle? Joke?”

“It means what it sounds like,” Raia said, “I have the power, do you? Do you think you can possibly stand a chance against someone like me?”

“See the corpses of your warriors all around,” Hoji spread his left arm out, showing the corpses of the Bashaa off, “They stood no chance, so neither will you.”

“Cocky, eh,” Raia smiled grimly, “I like that.”

“I’m a professional,” Hoji told him.

“Is that supposed to frighten me,” He asked back.

“No. It’s supposed to show you why you got outclassed,” Hoji said, switching to blaster mode and lifting the weapon to his shoulder, tapping it against his armor three times, “My turn!”

He shot his arm out, opening fire, unleashing multiple shots into Raia before he had time to dodge. Each blow connected; sparks flew from the impacts. None of the wounds darkened Raia’s armor, however. Was his armor really this powerful? Was he this strong?

“I already told you, you cannot defeat me,” Raia said, walking towards Hoji. He lifted both arms, showing off his various claws. He ran forward, slashing rapidly, catching Hoji across the chest with each move. Sparks flew from contact every time, and soon, Hoji was overcome by his foe’s strength and was taken down.

“Hoji!” cried Agri, running over. He didn’t stop to check Hoji’s body, but instead ran at Raia. He threw a flurry of punches with his iron knuckle weapons, but none of them could even scratch the armor, let alone send many sparks flying.

“You’re weak,” Raia pointed out, slashing Agri twice in quick succession, causing sparks to fly both times. Agri stumbled back, and then fell to a knee. He threw his fist out, sending a fist of Earth shooting up, but Raia took the blow and didn’t complain.

Cesare cut down three more all around him and then ran out of the group of soldiers, facing Raia on his own now, since Agri’s attack had failed to do the necessary damage. He span his weapon around and hit the hole, opening the blade as he span it back around. He drew three cards and slashed them through the blade of his Rouze Blade.

“Lightning”

“Slash”

As he pulled his sword back, it was covered in Lightning. He ran forward, shouting, and slashed rapidly, but his elongated, overpowered slash was evaded each time as Raia continued to dodge back or block, somehow, with his hands.

“You are weak,” he told Cesare.

“What?” growled the Toa of Ice.

“But in a different weak than my Bashaa were,” He corrected, “They were intentionally weak; I intentionally chose a weak lot just for this mission. Now that I know your strengths from watching fights, I can get serious.”

“Does that include our fight right now?” hissed Cesare.

“Yes, certainly,” He replied, slamming his knee into Cesare’s head. Cesare stumbled back and looked up; taking two quick slashes, sending sparks flying from each one. His chest shield offered no protection; he felt the pain through the armor, due to the armor smashing into his normal armor.

Cesare fell back. Next, as the rest of the Bashaa fell, Magis, Eri and Rei emerged. Without speaking, they all rushed forward, with Eri and Magis combining their powers into a Storm, unleashing it on Raia, but with no effect, while Rei unleashed bolts of Lightning from her hands, to no effect either.

“I am too powerful, am I not?” He questioned as he approached them, his words hanging in the air around the six Toa.

“He’s too strong,” Magis muttered.

“What can we do other than hit him again and again,” Rei asked.

“We’ll find a way,” Hoji said, “We always do!”

He reached his arm up. Dragon Missile flew down, affixing itself to Hoji’s arm. He lowered the weapon and fired, unleashing the flaming destructive bolt of Fire powers. It smashed into Raia, but didn’t do much damage.

“Cyril Buster?” Agri questioned.

Hoji nodded, “Everyone! All together,” Hoji shouted. Everyone else moved into position, attaching their weapons to the cannon. The five original members lined up with Hoji at the helm, his arms out, powering the weapon as the other Toa’s powers also flew in from their positions. Cesare kneeled beside the Cyril Buster, throwing his arm out to his side, out to it.

“Fire!” The six screamed, unleashing their attack on Raia.

“We face an enemy unlike any other. Already we have failed to defeat Raia, who claims to be what ‘Forte’ was to Bandiaca. How do we stop him? Next time: “Chapter 2: Break the Limit!” My turn!”

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Edited by Lord Koji, Jan 15 2012 - 09:44 PM.

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 2: Break the Limit!

The combination attack flew towards Raia, who stood, smiling. He didn’t fear the combined burst of pure Elemental Energy. Was he a fool who thought too much of himself? Or was he confident that he could survive, because he was that powerful? As the second in command of his group, as the bodyguard and top warrior of his masters, he knew he was powerful enough.

“I am Raia,” he screamed out, throwing his arms to the side, taking the full brunt of the strike to his chest, “I am the second in command of the Phantasmal Raiders! I am invincible in the eyes of you Toa!”

As the attack died down, the Toa were astonished by Raia’s survival. He hadn’t even seemed to have taken any damage. He walked towards them, a smug expression on his face for surviving such an attack without so much as a scratch.

“What do we do,” asked Eri.

“What can we do? This guy is too much,” muttered Magis.

“We pull out for now,” Hoji hated to admit.

“But he’ll be a threat,” Rei hissed, “How can we abandon the Matoran to this man? We can’t!”

“We must,” Cesare agreed with Hoji, “I could try to find a combination that could hold him off, but what good would it do? We can’t win this fight. We need to regroup and think about how to do this.”

“And leave the Matoran to his mercy,” questioned Agri with disgust, “How can we? We have to protect them!”

“We can’t as we are now,” said Hoji, “Let’s move!” He lifted the Cyril Buster to his shoulder and started to flee. The others slowly followed him. Their only surviving foe at this point was Raia; the drone species known as the Bashaa were finished.

Raia grinned as he watched them flee. He looked at his body, and then shook his head, “I’m drying up,” he muttered to himself, “Might as well report.”

Raia walked away, heading in the other direction, towards the sea. He was planning on rejuvenating himself in the Silver Sea and then reporting directly to his commanders in the Phantasmal Raiders. The three leaders would be most interested in the developments on the island that Raia had seen.


The Toa returned to the temple, finding Turaga Gorma waiting for them. Magis threw his Topgaler scythe to the side and stormed towards the Turaga of Air.

“What did you think you were doing,” shouted Magis, lifting his arm up, “These Crystals did nothing for us! You told us that they would give us power, but we got crushed by the enemy!”

“What was this enemy,” asked a curious Gorma, sitting down, ignoring Magis’s complaints.

“He said he was of a group known as the ‘Phantasmal Raiders’,” explained Eri, “Have you ever heard of them?”

“No,” said Gorma without any thought, “That name is completely new to me.”

“He used a squad of grunts, just like Bandiaca would use with her Anaroids,” Cesare explained, “However…these weren’t machines. They were living creatures; a swarm species, or something. Called the Bashaa. What of that name?”

“Never heard of it,” Gorma once more said.

“They were a sea-dwelling species,” Eri pointed out, “All of them, even Raia, the second in command of the group.”

“Sea-dwelling,” questioned Gorma, shaking his head, “I haven’t any ideas to give to you; I’m sorry.”

“Now can you tell us about these Crystals,” complained Magis. He still got no answer.

“How did you fight him,” asked Gorma.

“We tried a Cyril Buster attack,” Agri said, shaking his head, “It wasn’t enough to even scratch him!”

“His shell must have been too thick,” Rei put in.

“If he had a shell, I’d imagine that,” Gorma nodded.

“Can you answer my question, please,” shouted Magis in frustration.

“Right, sorry,” apologized Gorma, “The Nova Crystals…they aren’t meant to give you overwhelming, raw power to defeat your enemy with. That wasn’t why I gave them to you all.”

“But they are powerful; you said as much earlier,” Hoji said, “Why give them to us if they wouldn’t make a difference in a battle like that?”

“Because they can make a difference, if you want them to,” Gorma said, “But only as a last resort, I fear.”

“A last resort,” questioned Cesare, “Is it that dangerous? Could it kill us?”

“It very well may,” Gorma leaned heavily on his Badge of Office as he rose to his feet. He looked up into the faces of all six members of the Toa Cyril, “I am sorry; I gave them to you in case you would ever need them, and so that you could use the minimal power boost they provided you. I hoped that the boost would be enough to meet any situation.

“I never wanted you to come into a situation where you were required to surpass your current limits. I never wanted you to think that you needed the overwhelming and raw powers of the Nova Crystals to defeat an enemy. You have won so many times in the past, sometimes against superior enemies. You have always found a way. I hope you don’t think that the Crystals are the way you must go.”

“We have always found a way to win,” Hoji agreed, nodding, looking into the Turaga’s eyes with a burning passion befitting his title, “But this time is different. We used all of our raw power against him. We used tactical attacks against him,” he was referring to Cesare’s Lightning Slash, “we did all we could, and nothing worked. Nothing even scratched him!

“As much as I am sure it pains you, we require a greater power to defeat Raia. He is the second in command, so I am sure that the enemy will fall easier after we defeat him. I am sure that the bulk of any forces that these Phantasmal Raiders have can fall to us with greater ease. But right now we need the power, or we are going to lose. For all we know, Raia is out in the streets at this very moment, killing innocent Matoran! And we’re wasting time here discussing this! Please, Turaga Gorma, give us something we can use! Tell us how to use the powers of the Nova Crystals, whether we become lost to their power or not. Please, tell us!”

Gorma looked at the floor. The others could tell that he didn’t want to tell them, while knowing that he was going to. He was just drawing it out, fighting it out in his mind if he should or not, despite already knowing that he would tell them because they would need to know.

Finally, he looked up and looked them all in their eyes, judging each member of the Toa Cyril in turn. He finally nodded to the group as a whole.

“I will tell you how to use the great and unstable power that I have given to you all,” he said with apprehension, “But please…forgive me if it ends up killing you.”


Raia walked through the underwater caverns that sat undisturbed in the Dome of Cyril Nui. As he walked around, he noticed Bashaa all around him, going about their duties, whatever they may be, or simply training, or moving around in sheer boredom.

There were plenty; enough for a constant, stable supply of subordinates.

As Raia reached the end of a tunnel, he found what he was looking for. It was a large bubble-like structure. Air and dryness were inside, sealed against the wet and the cold of the ocean floor. The members of the Phantasmal Raiders could breathe either air or water; they were all amphibious. Most simply preferred air.

Raia walked inside, his body drying as he pushed through the bubble. He looked around the dark, dimly lit structure, with the overhanging stones adding an ambiance to the entire base of operations for the Phantasmal Raiders. It was an imposing sight overall as Raia walked through, noticing his three commanders standing and awaiting him up ahead.

He stopped and bowed before the three of them. They were all similar, all of the same species. They all wore dark blue, silver, and gray armor, but in different styles and patterns.

The first member was Uva, who had silver legs with some blue overlay and blue feet. He had blue armor above his knees, but had silver curved armor as well. He had a silver chest piece over his gray torso, and then had silvery arms down to his elbows, which then became blue. Like all of them, his hands were gray armored. He wore a sleek silver Kanohi mask, and wielded a sharp and somewhat long blade with a dagger hilt.

Next was Sagarc, who had silver clawed feet with two claws, and primarily silver legs which were thinner, but had thicker, spiked armor overlaying blue armor above his knees. He had a gray chest with blue overlay. His arms down to his elbows were blue, but had silver overlay. His arms were then thin silver with gray hands. He carried a hooked, heavy sword, and wore a sleek silver Kanohi mask.

Finally, there was Gamel. He was the shortest by the look of it. He had fully silver legs, except for the blue overlaying above his knees. He had a small blue piece overlaying his gray chest armor, and had silver down to his elbows. From there to his gray hands was blue armor. He wore a sleek silver Kanohi like the others, and wielded a double ended trident weapon.

“What have you to report,” questioned Uva.

“The weakness of the Toa of the island,” Raia stated, “Cyril Nui will fall to us with great ease, Masters. I give you my word as your most trusted warrior and second in command.”


Raia was once more on the surface of the island. He had been ordered to conquer the island this time; to see to it that Cyril Nui fell to his power. If the Toa couldn’t even scratch him, then how could they stop him from doing as he pleased? They couldn’t. He would win, and Cyril Nui would belong to the Phantasmal Raiders.

As he walked through the streets with his squad of Bashaa, no one stopped him. The Matoran fled any direction they could. The sight filled all with fear.

“Come out, Toa,” Raia shouted, “Emerge and make my job easier! When you die, you will be at peace! You won’t be as long as you hide from me!”

A wall of Fire burned up a handful of Bashaa. Raia glanced towards it, watching as Hoji led Magis, Eri, Rei and Agri towards him. Hoji lowered his hand, “Your end is the only one that will bring peace,” Hoji threatened, standing in line with the others down his sides.

“Where’s your sixth,” Raia questioned, “Afraid?”

“No,” stated Cesare as he walked out of a street at Raia’s side, “I’m just different; look at my armor. I stand alone against you at this moment.”

“What,” questioned Raia, “I don’t get it.”

“It’s time,” Hoji said, lifting his left arm. Everyone did the same, “It is time for us to break the limit!”

Everyone drew their right hands up to the Nova Crystals on the silver pieces of armor. They all looked at Raia, and saying a silent prayer, shattered the Crystals by snapping them.

Massive power erupted from the shattered Nova Crystals, bathing the bodies of the Toa Cyril in their raw and destructive energies. Raia watched the five, and then glanced to watch Cesare, and then back and forth. He stood so he could watch both at once, each out of the corner of an eye.

And then, when the energy faded, they all lived. They all stood to oppose him; the destructive powers hadn’t claimed their lives.

“Let’s make this quick,” said Hoji, lifting up his new weapon; a curved sword that had appeared when his armor changed.

All of the Toa had had their armors changed and warped. They all stood more powerful than ever, each of them with their own changes and new weaponry; though all still wielded their Blade Blaster sidearms without change.

Agri was sleeker armored, wielding a small blaster with triple rotating barrel. Magis wore lime and dark green armor with claws along his legs on the fronts and back; with a claw grip weapon in his right hand, and a large blade in his left. Hoji wore dark and light red with orange armor, with new jets on his arms and sleek fins coming off of parts, along with a curved sword. Eri wore dark and light blue armor; more thickly armored than before, with a fin-blade attached to her left arm, trailing back, and a large blade in her right. Rei wore white, dark blue and yellow armor, with thicker armor, a Kanohi with a scanner left eye, and a new rod-like weapon instead of her six daggers. And finally Cesare still retained his shield in silver, but wore new silver claws on his legs, along with a pure white body, and a new Kanohi with a scope on the left eye, and an axe that replaced his Rouze Blade, but retained his Rouze Cards.

“Toa Cyril Nova,” Hoji shouted out, lifting his blade, “Let’s go!”

The Toa were swift in cutting down the Bashaa as Raia simply stood by and watched. They were quite adept at using their new weapons, and seemed used to their powers, using enhanced speed and strength with seemingly no strain on their bodies. It was as if they had already learned how to do everything.

As three or four minutes passed, the last of the Bashaa fell, leaving only Raia to oppose the Toa Cyril Nova. Hoji threw his arm up, snapping his fingers, calling forth his Dragon Missile, which flew to him as usual.

“This doesn’t look good,” muttered Raia. He had gotten a feel for their powers, and didn’t like it. He started to flee, to warn his Masters about the new strength of the Toa.

Magis attached part of his large blade to the back of the Missile, providing a back support, while Cesare put his axe in the bottom center, providing more support. Hoji and Eri’s swords acted as support for the two ‘arms’ that came off of the Missile, while Agri’s blaster was attached atop it, with Rei’s rod being placed in the top barrel.

Hoji lifted the massive weapon in both hands, holding it in the center of his chest. As Raia fled, his team stood at his sides as usual, while Cesare stood before it, and then ducked down, still providing his power.

All six screamed it at once, “Fire!”

The massive outburst of energy from the six Elemental Powers flew out from the main body of the Dragon Missile as well as from the blaster atop it. They intertwined, smashing into Raia from behind, cracking his impossibly hard shell.

“This isn’t possible,” screamed Raia as he stumbled away, still alive, still fleeing towards the sea so he could give his Masters a warning.

Cesare ran and leapt up. Small energy wings protruded from his chest shield, allowing him to flip over and land in front of Raia, axe in hand. He lifted the weapon, facing one of the two crescent blades in the face of his foe.

“Bad move, fleeing,” Cesare told him.

“You won’t kill me,” screamed Raia, rushing with his claws at the ready.

“Fire,” screamed Hoji. Even without the axe, he was still firing again.

Raia span around in shock. He turned back to flee, but Cesare had leapt back, using the energy wings to float up. He had swiped a card along one tip of his axe.

“Kick”

His foot glowed with energy. He shouted as he shot down, smashing his powered kick into Raia’s chest as the Cyril Nova Buster blew into him from behind.

Raia went down screaming as he died.

“Toa Cyril Nova…we are victorious!” Hoji shouted out to them all.


“We have used our new powers to slay Raia, the second in command of the Phantasmal Raiders. But this enemy is swift; they have replaced him with one even more powerful…and what? What is this? He claims to be…but…is he…? Next time: “Chapter 3: Forte’s Return!” Here I go.”

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[Lord Koji]

Chapter 3: ‘Forte’’s Return!

Uva, Sagarc and Gamel walked around the battered and broken body of the mechanical warrior that had fallen into the ocean not too long ago. Based on what they knew, this was the second in command of the warrior who had attempted to conquer Cyril Nui before them; Bandiaca, the witch. This man was ‘Forte’, her greatest warrior and second in command.

Now he had been abandoned to the ocean. After being blasted by the Cyril Buster, he had been abandoned, so the Bashaa had taken him on behalf of Raia and the leaders of the Phantasmal Raiders, all of whom desired a strong fighting force to help them conquer the island. This man would be a powerful asset.

“What do we need him for? You have me,” a gruff voice barked out.

The three Phantasmal Raiders turned to watch the approach of a blue and gray armored individual. He had long arms that dragged out longer than his body was tall; even if it wasn’t hunched. He had an elongated, ribbed head with two crimson eyes keeping focused on his goal of the Phantasmal Raiders, rather than darting around, watching for Bashaa or warriors who would try to stop him for whatever reason.

He was the new second in command. He and Raia had been of equal position, but whenever possible, Raia had been used instead. They preferred Raia by far, due to the unstable nature of this man, the unstable aspects that he brought to battle. As a second in command, he didn’t do much; he was more concerned with fighting, with proving his skill. That was why his only weapons were small dagger-like blades.

“Jaki, what do you want,” questioned Uva.

“I want to know why you need this foolish little mechanical man,” he barked, “I am so much superior! Why not just use me in battle?”

“This warrior has fought the Toa before,” Gamel commented, “We can use him.”

Jaki scoffed at the idea, “Use a mechanical man, rather than a real, living warrior? Ha! What pathetic notion is that?”

“Raia is dead, if you’ve forgotten,” hissed Sagarc, “Evidently he wasn’t skilled enough to defeat the Toa.”

“He beat them once,” Uva picked up, “They came back with more determination. That has to have been it; how else did they get stronger? They knew what to expect and overcame him.”

“People do grow stronger,” Jaki hissed, “Hence my strength. But that they could get strong enough to shatter Raia’s shell? Something had to have happened there.”

“As we said, we believe it to have been the result of their growing urgency to eliminate him,” Uva said, “Determination.”

“Possibly,” shrugged Jaki, “I will find out as soon as you allow me to go and fight them.”

“We have this man,” Sagarc said, shaking his head, “You aren’t needed, Jaki.”

“Too bad,” Jaki turned around, spreading out the large fins on his back, “I’m going, and that’s all there is to it!”

“Jaki, doing this is a sign of treason,” warned Uva.

“It is no treason,” Jaki commented, “You have none who can even reprimand me! What a great idea it was for you three to pick someone stronger than you to be your second in command!” He laughed as he departed.

The three turned their attention to the broken and battered ‘Forte’. They stood around him, ignoring Jaki, and lifted their weapons up. They pressed the tips together over his battered body, allowing pure power from their bodies to flow down and bathe ‘Forte’ in the healing and watery light that they created.


“Ryuki, go on ahead,” Jaki barked.

The black, humanoid clam warrior nodded, opening the shell chest it had, revealing a single white eye. It ran off ahead with the Bashaa following it, causing damage as they went. Jaki believed he made the right choice in bringing Ryuki with him; Ryuki may have seemed weak, but he had great power when it came down to it.

A vehicle slammed into Ryuki, tossing him aside with ease. Jaki watched as a Toa of Fire dismounted, his orange and dark red armor standing out against the gray sky and buildings. His body was covered in extra layers of armor, but not enough to make him look bulky, and he wore a red and orange Kanohi mask. Jets were on his arms, and fins were on different parts of his body for the sake of aerodynamics, or something. Jaki didn’t care. As he lifted his curved sword, Jaki lifted his daggers, ready for a fight, then let them drop and drag behind him again; his arms too long to constantly support.

As Jaki was preparing for a duel, he saw others arriving. A gray and black armored Toa of Earth in fairly basic armor; light and made for swift combat, but durable. He wore an elongated black Kanohi mask and wielded a blaster weapon with three rotating barrels.

Then there was the blue, white and yellow Toa of Lightning, with basic, thick armor, and a Kanohi that had some sort of scanner eye that looked ridiculous. Her weapon was pathetic in his eyes; a small weapon that didn’t even deserve to be called a staff; more like a stick.

Then a Toa of Air in lime and dark green armor. He looked hideous with that color combination, and the Toa didn’t seem thrilled about it either. His armor was a bit bulky along the chest, and his sword in his left hand was pretty big; something that he didn’t look like he cared for carrying around. He carried a small claw weapon underhand in his right hand. It looked like he had claws on the backs of his legs, but they wouldn’t serve any purpose.

Then the Toa of Water in bulkier armor. She had basic light and dark blue armor on, but it was added on in a way that showed bulkiness, rather than sleekness, like the Toa of Fire’s. She carried a large blade in her right – smaller than the Toa of Air’s, however – and a fin weapon was rested on the underside of her left arm.

Finally, a Toa of Ice appeared, with a Kanohi with a left scope-eye. He wore a silver shield over his chest and arms, and carried a large axe. His armor was more like the Toa of Fire’s; thick, but not too thick to make him bulky.

“You’re the Toa,” hissed Jaki, “You’re not the ones we saw when we collected our information.”

“We changed,” the Toa of Fire commented, slashing a few Bashaa down with ease. He lifted his left arm, pointing to Jaki, “This is how we beat your second in command! With this raw power!”

Jaki smiled grimly, “Guess my rank,”

“What,” questioned the Toa of Fire.

“Guess my rank,” Jaki said once more.

“I don’t get it,” the Toa of Air commented, lifting his large blade up to his shoulder as he walked near the Toa of Fire.

“I’ll tell you,” Jaki said, “Raia was second in command. I am his equal; I am also second in command.” He shrugged, “They don’t like deploying me… I’m… I’m too wily, I guess you could say. Too…out of control for them to use. I am superior to Raia in every way!”

“I bet your defense is lacking.” The Toa of Ice said, striking the side of the head of his axe. It opened, revealing various cards. He grabbed one and slashed it across one of the two blades of the axe.

“Lightning”

He span the axe around, swinging his right arm behind his back, staying in a partial crouch. Lightning crackled around the end of the weapon. He shouted and ran forward, swinging it up and spinning it around overhead before swinging it down on Jaki.

Jaki parried with his dagger, but Lightning erupted through it, into his body. He didn’t falter, and followed up with a punch from his left hand, throwing the Toa of Ice back.

“Weak,” Jaki commented.

The six Toa regrouped as Ryuki stumbled towards Jaki. The remaining Bashaa also went to his sides, ready for an attack.

The Toa of Fire swung his sword out to his side, twisted his wrist so the blade was up, and then slashed it down at an angle across the front of his body; the sword covered in flames. He looked up above the flaming sword, “The exploding heated passion! Toa Hoji!”

The Toa of Earth stood with his feet together, his right side facing the group of enemies. He lowered his weapon, looking out over the top barrel. He span around, dropping to a knee, lifting the weapon and bracing his left arm against the guard of the blaster weapon, looking up at them, “The exploding strength! Toa Agri!”

The Toa of Air crossed his arms, sighting, showing no enthusiasm, yet he mustered up the strength in his voice as he brought his head up, “The exploding gale! Toa Magis!”

The Toa of Water lifted her left arm up and drew her sword across the fin weapon; running the flats together. As her blade went above the fin weapon, she drew her left arm down and slashed the blade down, looking over the edge and the tip, “The exploding waves! Toa Eri!”

The Toa of Lightning lifted her rod weapon, summoning a bolt of Lightning to come down and strike it. She drew it down and up across the bottom of her raised left arm; perpendicular with her body. She swung her left foot back, twisted her body, and lowered the rod weapon, “The exploding sensation! Toa Rei!”

The Toa of Ice swung his axe out to his side, his arm behind his body. His left hand came up, clenching into a fist in front of his face. He threw that arm out to the side, span around, and as he lifted his axe, slashed it down, looking up as he slashed down, “The exploding tundra! Toa Cesare!”
“Six Toa now one, determined to destroy the evils plaguing this island! We are the Toa Cyril Nova!”

Jaki muttered and then laughed, throwing his head back in uproarious laughter. He looked to Ryuki, “Do it!”

Ryuki ran forward, throwing his arms to his sides. His chest opened, revealing the eye. A void began to form on the inside of his shell, drawing the Toa closer. They fought for footing, but his powers were too great for them to stop, even by having Magis counter them, or digging their weapons into the ground.

As they got closer and closer, they still had no moves to try. Then Cesare and Hoji looked to each other and both nodded. Cesare let go, flying forward. Two small pieces on the back of his shield span; the openings now up. Energy wings spread out from them, throwing him forward with his momentum; not Ryuki’s. He slammed a series of kicks into the eye, avoiding the dangerous parts. Ryuki was thrown back, not opening the shell anymore after the wounds.

“You weak worthless little…,” Jaki didn’t finish. He span around, watching a figure approach; clad in blue and silver armor, looking very dangerous. Much like him, this being seemed to be one who craved only combat and danger.

He had blue feet with silver legs, with blue blades coming down. Blue armor was after that as Jaki looked up his body; overlaying silver. He had a blue torso with silver claws hooking around the front, partially obscuring his body.

His arms started with light blue, but were overlaid by silver blades. He had dark blue arms after that, each of them tipped with thrusters and silver armor on top of that. His gray hands each held a different weapon; the right a large shell-like shield, and the left a large blade with another claw – like on his legs – on the bottom.

His back had silver claw-like armor down the back, with two large silver fins emerging; one of them going straight up, one down. Jaki figured he must have been good at swimming if they didn’t serve any purpose to help him. Perhaps to propel him faster, along with the arm-jets? They weren’t helping with traditional swimming, that was certain, so he must have been good, being a sea-being.

His head was a large maw of razor teeth; silver to offset the blue of the rest of his head. He had a single crimson eye within, staring out through the maw.

“Who are you,” hissed Jaki, lifting his arms, “You dare to interrupt? I see the…”

He didn’t see anything. He assumed he would see malice, desire to fight, anything in the single eye of this strange warrior. But as this being walked towards him and the Toa, Jaki realized that he saw nothing, as if this eye was not a window into the man’s soul.

“Just what are you,” he hissed.

The being glanced to Jaki. The Toa were all ready for a fight; all of them expecting this warrior to be a hard opponent. But Ryuki was nearly dead, thanks to Cesare’s swift attack. They had killed Raia. They had the power of Nova on their side. They knew they could win.

Hoji lifted his sword, “Let’s make quick work of them. Cyril Nova Buster!”

The Dragon Missile flew down from the sky, hovering in front of Hoji. They were swift, adding their weapons to the Dragon Missile as Hoji gripped both ends, holding up the monstrous weapon. He aimed it at Jaki and the newcomer, firing, unleashing the combined Elemental Powers of all six Toa in one destructive burst.

The being pushed Jaki aside and walked into the blast, shaking his head as he approached, unfazed by the strike. The crimson eye set itself on Hoji, and the sword arm went up.

“What is this guy,” Hoji shouted, firing another round, but again, no effect.

“You are my worthy opponent,” the being hissed. He continued to walk forward. Why was his voice so familiar?

“Hoji! That’s…,” Cesare began.

“I know…,” Hoji answered, “That…that thing is ‘Forte’!”

“Are you sure,” questioned Rei.

“Can that really be ‘Forte’,” questioned Eri.

“But he doesn’t look like that,” Agri put in, “How did he change?”

“Looks like he’s like me,” muttered Magis, “A change for the worse…if that is him.”

“Stay on guard,” ordered Hoji, sending the weapons back to his teammates. He nodded to Cesare, who opened the side of his axe, taking some Rouze Cards.

Hoji held his hand out, taking four of them for the moment. He slashed them all through his sword and drew it back.

“Fire”

“Water”

“Ice”

“Slash”

As red, blue and white energy filled his sword, Hoji ran forward, shouting. He leapt up, coming down on ‘Forte’, expecting the sword to parry.

The shield did. It stopped the attack.

“What,” hissed Hoji, realizing something was wrong. He kicked off of the shield and slid away from his foe, “You’re not ‘Forte’! ‘Forte’ would never resort to a shield in a swordsman’s duel!”

“I will crush you,” said the new ‘Forte’, lifting the sword, walking forward with his monotone voice tearing through Hoji’s soul, for it had no soul. The voice of the once proud swordsman, the soul that had filled his words and actions, was gone. Replacing it was the monotone, emotionless shell of a voice that now suited the owner of the same values.

“If he’s not the true ‘Forte’ anymore, then you don’t have to fight him,” Cesare said, lifting his axe and taking his Blade Blaster in his left hand, keeping the blaster mode, “Allow me. You can focus on Jaki.”

Hoji nodded, “But if he reclaims who he once was…he’s mine,” Hoji looked at Cesare with dead seriousness in his eyes, “Got that?”

“Understood,” Cesare nodded.


“Who dares to strip away the honor of ‘Forte’? He may be an enemy, I realize, but he is also a man, and a warrior. A warrior shouldn’t have their rights stripped from them. I know he’s our foe! But he’s more than that to me… Next time: “Chapter 4: Raging Hoji” My turn!”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 4: Raging Hoji

A dank cave was the current setting for Bandiaca and her warriors. They had abandoned the spires that she had created in favor of another spire that had a cave facing away from the island, allowing them to remain hidden as she spread out the room itself under the sea for her warriors. Such minimal changes would go unnoticed by the island inhabitants.

“Any luck yet,” Bandiaca questioned M’hou.

“None, I am sorry…I’m a failure,” M’hou said, expecting to be struck or reprimanded for his inability to locate ‘Forte’, even this long after his disappearance.

“Mirai!” She barked.

The crimson and green armored swordsman approached the two of them, “What do you require,” he questioned, “A trip to the island?”

“The Toa have grown in power,” Bandiaca stated, “I’ve felt it. What I want you to do is go and engage them. Do what you can, and find ‘Forte’!”

“I shall do my best,” Mirai bowed, rising and walking away from her, towards the entrance.

Bandiaca waved her staff out. Energy enveloped Mirai as well as the standing troop of Anaroids that M’hou was tempted not to let go of. He was tempted to keep them around, since they had such a short supply. Without proper equipment or parts, what could he do? Nothing. No more Anaroids or Batsuroids, let alone his mechanical warriors that were currently being designed to fill Bandiaca’s ranks.

Her power overtook them and sent them along with Mirai towards the island.


Cesare swung his axe around with great speed and skill, but ‘Forte’ was faster at every move. He managed to continually parry with his shield and get a blow with his sword in, sending sparks to fly from Cesare’s armor on impact. He stumbled back and ducked, allowing Agri to jump over his back, opening fire with his new blaster weapon.

The three barrels span around, each of them firing on the single point of ‘Forte’. Rei leapt over his back in turn, unleashing a stunning bolt of Lightning from the end of her rod weapon, blasting him aside.

The three Toa were going to wait, but they didn’t have to for long. In moments ‘Forte’ was back on his feet, seemingly unfazed.

“Let’s try something,” Cesare said, crouching down, holding his axe out. Agri crouched behind it, resting the barrels atop the long shaft of the axe. Rei put her rod in the barrel that was currently lined up with the shaft.

The three of them focused their powers into the attack and had Agri pull the trigger. The rod, powered by all three of their powers, flew down the shaft like a projectile, slamming into ‘Forte’, but it only managed to puncture him slightly. He tore the weapon out and rushed them, lifting his weapon.

Meanwhile, Magis and Eri were cutting down Bashaa resistance. Eri was swift, using her fin weapon to parry blows while using her sword to cut them down. She would spin around, with her blade out and using her fin to cut down warriors that her blade missed.

Magis slashed a few times with his large blade, and then parried a close strike with his claw grip weapon. He pushed back, hesitated, and didn’t kick. He span around, slashing it with the sword instead, taking it down.

“A hideous body…,” he muttered, shaking his head in revulsion of both the Bashaa and his own, new form. “I have a hideous body just like them, and I still can’t strike them!” He shouted in disgust.

“You’ll be dead soon,” hissed Jaki, throwing Hoji’s battered body aside. He approached the two Toa, lifting his long arms up, getting his daggers ready. Magis and Eri drew up their weapons in preparation for this battle.

Hoji coughed and struggled up to his arms, holding his sword tightly in hand. He shouted and swung up, clipping Jaki in the side. The superior enemy glanced down at him, hardly feeling the wound. He lashed his long arm out, throwing him aside.

“Hoji!” Eri and Magis screamed out.

Hoji struggled up to his feet, shaking his head, “I won’t go down that easily!” He began to scream as his jets activated. Fire enveloped his entire body. He shot forward with greater speed than before, lifting his flaming sword out of the mass of Fire.

“Oh? Interesting,” Jaki grinned, throwing a fist forward to meet him.

The momentum of the punch tore through the fire, connecting with Hoji. Hoji cried out as he was thrown back, his flames gone. He rolled around on the ground, unable to get back up. He tried, but his body wouldn’t respond.

“Weak,” Jaki muttered.

Eri and Magis put the tips of their swords together. The power of a Storm began to form, lashing out as a concentrated burst from the tips at Jaki from behind.

Jaki span around, taking the full brunt of the attack to his chest. Even for his strength, he couldn’t stand such a direct blast of power, of Lightning, of the power of nature itself driving at him.

Hoji managed to rise and stumble over to Eri and Magis. Magis got in front of them, hooking his gripper weapon on his side and drawing his Blade Blaster as a sword in his right hand. He drew both blades up, “I’ll watch him,” he said.

Eri was on the ground where Hoji had sat down. She began to use her Water powers to heal him, running the healing waters over him.

“You’ll be fine soon,” she said.

“Faster,” he muttered, “Please.”

“I’ll try,” she murmured, “I’ve had problems speeding the process before.”

“We’re stronger now,” he said, “You should be able to do it.”

“Let’s hope,” she said.

As the power washed over Hoji, he could feel himself getting stronger again. He managed to stand along with her as she continued to heal him. Jaki had rushed towards Magis, swinging his daggers around, but Magis was throwing Air around as buffers, blocking his strikes for the most part.

“You can’t stop me forever!” Jaki screamed.

“I know that,” Magis commented, spinning around to avoid him. He flipped his Blade Blaster into firearm mode and opened fire on Jaki’s chest, peppering him with energy blasts. None of them seemed to do much damage.

Eri leapt up, coming down and slashing Jaki across his chest. As he stumbled back, she nodded back to Hoji, “You’re free to do what you want. You know what you want; do it.”

He nodded in understanding and ran, cutting down Bashaa as he passed them. He leapt up, coming down on ‘Forte’ from behind, slashing his mechanical rival down the back.

‘Forte’ span around after slashing Rei aside. He threw a punch with his shield, but Hoji blocked with his sword, feeling the true strength of his foe’s shield.

“You’re just as strong as ever,” muttered Hoji.

No answer. ‘Forte’ wasn’t speaking.

“You’re not like this,” hissed Hoji, “You’re a proud swordsman! Using a shield is against your beliefs, is it not?”

No answer once more.

“Answer me! ‘Forte’!”

Cesare, Agri and Rei ran around his side towards Hoji. Cesare spoke quickly, “You can have him; we’ll deal with Jaki.”

“Got it,” Hoji muttered, “Let me break ‘Forte’ free of this!”

He slashed hard, knocking ‘Forte’ a few steps back. He shouted and took three steps forward, following up with a slash up ‘Forte’’s body. ‘Forte’ stumbled back and followed up with a slash, but Hoji parried.

He took a shielded punch to the face, being thrown to the ground. He came to his knees, shaking his head, “You…fight like you used to! Don’t let yourself be controlled!”

‘Forte’ continued to approach him, lifting the sword in his left hand. The blade almost seemed thirsty to slay Hoji.

Hoji came to his feet, shaking his head. He drew his sword to his side, screaming. Fire erupted around the blade, but then was gone. The blade was now shimmering with intense heat. He ran forward, slashing once across ‘Forte’s chest before his foe could block.

The heated slash cut a deep wound into ‘Forte’. The mechanical warrior stood frozen for a few moments, and then stumbled away, dropping the shield and nearly the sword. He held tight after that. He threw his right hand to the wound and looked to Hoji with his single optical eye.

“You…my rival!”

“You’re back,” Hoji muttered with some relief. He hated to see a swordsman as great as ‘Forte’ be reduced to a mindless mechanical slave.

“What…what happened to me…,” muttered ‘Forte’, looking at his body, getting a feel for what he now was. He looked up to Hoji, “What happened to me?”

“We blasted you into the ocean when you and Bandiaca attacked,” Hoji said, lifting his sword, which was now normal again, “I guess the Phantasmal Raiders changed you.”

“Changed me,” screamed ‘Forte’ in questioned, shaking his head, “As long as I can fight with a sword, like a proud warrior…I don’t care!” He didn’t reclaim his shield. He switched his sword to his right hand as he approached Hoji.

“It looks like my rage at what you were brought you back,” Hoji commented. He had chosen his title in rollcall as ‘heart of passion’. There was a reason for it. He believed that he could change people, as he had in the past. His passion, his fiery, burning passion – and by extent, his lack of passion; hate – sometimes allowed him to achieve things he normally wouldn’t achieve.

He guessed changing ‘Forte’ back was one of those things.

“I don’t know what happened, but I will not stand for it,” ‘Forte’ hissed as he approached, ready for a duel.

“Let’s make this one to remember,” Hoji said, fully intent on defeating ‘Forte’ for good now that he was back to normal. If he survived and got away, the Raiders may change him again. Hoji hated to think of ‘Forte’’s strong will being stifled by their control. He wanted to help. Help would be killing him while he was still as he wanted to be; a warrior.

As the two ran to meet each other in combat, a blast of energy stopped them. They glanced to Hoji’s left and ‘Forte’’s right, watching as a squad of Anaroids led by Mirai approached. Mirai was shaking his head as they entered the scene, drawing his right hand to his left arm, gripping the hilt of the sword he kept sheathed on the shield he wore.

“Anaroids, attack,” he said, sending them in the direction of the remaining Bashaa and Ryuki, who was being handled by Agri. His absorption powers were being overcome by such rapid fire of both of Agri’s firearms.

The Anaroids rushed to do as ordered and deal with their counterparts. Mirai approached Hoji and ‘Forte’, “Who is this, now?”

“It’s ‘Forte’,” ‘Forte’ said, “I’ve been changed against my will.”

“Very well,” Mirai said, lowering his blade, “Then I should eliminate you, lest whoever changed you comes back for you.”

“They won’t come back,” ‘Forte’ hissed, “I will never rejoin them!”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Mirai said, glancing between Hoji and ‘Forte’. He lifted his sword, “Now, let’s do this.”

“I’m not going to betray Bandiaca! I only fought for them because they changed my mind! It was only this Toa that could break my mind free!” ‘Forte’ shouted.

Hoji nodded, “You may both be my enemies, but ‘Forte’ is an honorable warrior and rival,” he told Mirai, “He may be my enemy, but he does deserve to be understood.”

Mirai didn’t listen. He lifted his sword and ran into battle, slashing at ‘Forte’, who lifted his blade to parry. They continued to meet their blades, parrying and slashing at each other. Hoji decided to jump in, rushing forward and slashing at Mirai’s side, but Mirai span around, managing to parry the blow and still move his blade fast enough to stop ‘Forte’’s strike without resorting to using his shield.

“Be pleased with this, ‘Forte’,” Mirai said, “I’ll only use my sword to defeat you. My shield will never touch your blade.”

“Mirai…I know you’re good. I know you’re probably Bandiaca’s best warrior, even when I was there, now that Geki is gone. I know you can probably defeat me. But I will not allow it!” ‘Forte’ leapt back and ran forward, gaining momentum. He slid forward, rolled despite his fins on his back, and went under Mirai’s slash. He came up behind and span around, sending a side slash out.

Hoji leapt in, shouting. He slashed down at Mirai’s right side, hoping to defeat this warrior and fast.

Hoji was angry. ‘Forte’, even as an enemy, deserved better. His rage, his passionate rage had broken ‘Forte’ free of the control of the Phantasmal Raiders, but now he deserved to be at least understood by his former comrade. He didn’t deserve a death like this.

Hoji was certain that Mirai could kill ‘Forte’.

Mirai was swift. He span around, parrying ‘Forte’’s sword and pushing his left arm behind his back to remove the temptation to use it. He span around, sidestepped to push ‘Forte’’s sword in front of himself, and then parried Hoji. He pushed Hoji’s sword back and span around, slashing both of them across the chest, causing sparks to fly out from both of them.

Both Hoji and ‘Forte’ slashed rapidly at Mirai’s chest, but Mirai was swift, making swift arm movements in order to parry both blades to the ground time and again. He span around, slashing them once, and then twisted his wrist and slashed the other way, taking them both down. He stood over them, ready to eliminate ‘Forte’; his sword to the mechanical warrior’s eye.

“For Mistress Bandiaca,” Mirai said.

Cesare shouted out, coming in with his energy wings spread out. He kicked Mirai in the side, tossing him aside. Cesare rolled and span around, lifting his Blade Blaster into hand and leveling the blade towards Mirai.

“I’ll pull out, if you’re going to protect him,” Mirai muttered, “I will be back.”

As ‘Forte’ rose to pursue, to go after and defeat Mirai, Hoji grabbed his arm. ‘Forte’ looked to him; he was shaking his head.

“No,” said Hoji, “Don’t, or you’re going to die.”

“You brought me back to myself,” ‘Forte’ said, spinning around and slashing Hoji three times across the chest rapidly, taking him down. Cesare ran forward, slashing, but ‘Forte’ parried easily and kicked Cesare aside. “The problem is that Bandiaca isn’t going to support me anymore. The only thing I can do is side with these people. You!”

Jaki walked away from the downed Toa, towards ‘Forte’. He grinned viciously, “What do you need?”

“I want to know who did this to me. Who you work for,” ‘Forte’ glanced to Ryuki, who was on the ground, dead from a Storm, no doubt, due to the burn wound.

“The Phantasmal Raiders will welcome you with open arms,” Jaki hissed, “You and I…we shall lead them to a new age of victory over this island!” Jaki laughed, walking away from the battle with ‘Forte’ in tow. No Bashaa or Anaroids remained.

Hoji crawled to his knees, watching ‘Forte’ depart, knowing he failed.


“An enemy who wants to repent? An enemy who has become ashamed of his faction? His story strikes close to home, and no matter what, I will do what I must in order to help him. No matter what the others say. Next time: “Chapter 5: Passionate Eri” The waves crash!”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 5: Passionate Eri

“You have a desire to work for us,” questioned Uva.

‘Forte’ nodded, looking at himself, “You did this to me,” he hissed, shaking his head in revulsion, “My old comrades don’t want me anymore; they can’t trust me, they say. I have no place other to go than you.”

“Very well,” Uva nodded, smiling, “Welcome to the Phantasmal Raiders, ‘Forte’. We shall show you the respect that you once had as one of Bandiaca’s warriors. You and Jaki shall share the position, as Jaki once shared it with Raia.”

“Very well,” ‘Forte’ said, nodding his head, “I shall serve with pride and honor. But only if you allow me to fight the Toa of Fire.”

“Very well,” Sagarc put in, “He shall be yours.”

Jaki grunted, “He should be killed by whoever gets at him.”

“You want him?” questioned ‘Forte’.

“No,” Jaki said, explaining, “If he gets in my way, I don’t want to have to avoid him just so that you can kill him. I want to remove anyone in my way!”

“He’s mine,” ‘Forte’ hissed, “I will not take it well if you would kill him. If any of your warriors kills him,” he directed at the Phantasmal Raiders themselves, “He is mine!”

The three Raiders nodded. ‘Forte’ turned and walked out of the area, out into the sea. They looked amongst themselves, with Sagarc bringing up a complaint.

“Why,” questioned Gamel.

“The Toa of Fire broke him free,” Uva stated, “We can’t control him if he faces the Toa of Fire. He can…break down our mental conditioning on that man.”

“Then we should have him killed,” Gamel said simply.

“Yes,” Sagarc nodded, “I shall send someone to deal with him.”

“Who do you have in mind,” questioned Uva.

“Hibiki,” stated Sagarc.


The warrior in question, Hibiki, was clad in primarily red armor with some gray and black. He had two long legs which he usually kept out so he would walk lower; bending at the knees. He had two claws on each foot. He had a crimson chest with spiked armor – like the armor on his upper legs – and had his two, small crimson eyes on his chest as well.

He had four arms coming out; the bottom two being longer than the top two. All but his lower right hand ended in claws. His lower right ended in three tentacle-like whips. From the back of his body down to under him were two sharp protruding tusk-like spiked blades, acting as a beak of sorts for this squid-like warrior.

Hibiki walked through the streets of Cyril Nui with a guard of Bashaa with him. His mission was to destroy as much as he could in order to simply divert some of the Toa’s attention. Meanwhile, ‘Forte’ would hit another part of the island, while Jaki would hit a third. Hibiki was chosen for his ability to hold off multiple attacks at once with his four arms, as well as his natural resilience.

It seemed to be working thus far. He could hear a vehicle approaching. He didn’t want to fight; he never wanted to fight. He hated working for the Phantasmal Raiders, but who else would take him in? Help him to survive? Only them.

He saw a blue armored Toa of Water dismount from her cycle vehicle and approach him and his Bashaa. She lifted a sword up, drawing the blade along the edge of the razor fin weapon on her left arm. She swung it forward at that point, at them, before entering her single rollcall.

The Toa of Water lifted her left arm up and drew her sword across the fin weapon; running the flats together. As her blade went above the fin weapon, she drew her left arm down and slashed the blade down, looking over the edge and the tip, “The exploding waves! Toa Eri!”

“Go,” hissed Hibiki.

The Bashaa flooded forward at Eri. She moved swiftly, using her sword to cut down those in front of her while parrying at her left with her fin weapon. When she kicked one away she reached to her hip and took her Blade Blaster, opening fire on both sides while clearing a path at Hibiki with her blade.

Hibiki was getting worried. He was counting on the Bashaa to deal with the Toa. He didn’t want to fight her, but as she got closer and closer, he knew he would likely have to.

He lifted his tentacled arm and ran at her, shouting and swinging his arm around, sending the tentacles writhing out at her. She rolled under all of them, getting right into him and blasting him pointblank with her Blade Blaster, causing multitudes of sparks to fly from the damage, causing him to stumble back.

Eri realized that he hadn’t tried using all of his claws on her. She saw that as odd, but didn’t question it. Not right now. She would think about it more later. For now, she snapped her Blade Blaster to sword mode and crossed her blades, racing at him.

Hibiki shouted and ran at her, trying to overpower her. He slashed all of his clawed arms down, but she parried two with each blade, and blocked the third with a knee. She pushed with her knee, knocking him off center, and then span around, slashing him twice across the chest.

As he stumbled back, he started to pant in pain. The Bashaa continued to attack Eri, but she continued to counter them with her superior swordsmanship techniques, cutting them all down, leaving only Hibiki.

She lifted her sword as she approached him, “This is all for you, Phantasmal Raider!”

“Wait!” pleaded Hibiki, holding all four arms up, “I mean no harm!”

“You’re a Raider,” she hissed, “It seems to me that you mean harm, coming here with a troop of Bashaa, and all.”

“I’m not here of my own will!”

“Oh? Then of whose will are you here for?” questioned Eri.

“My superiors!” he shouted, “They forced me to come and serve as a distraction o split the ranks! I have no desire to fight you! I have no desire to fight at all!”

“Let me guess, you’re a victim of circumstance,” guessed Eri, “Someone who no other would take in. So you joined the only people who would take you in; the Raiders. Am I right?”

“You are!” he said, “Please, believe me! I don’t want to fight!”

Eri span her Blade Blaster around, switching modes and holstering it on her side. She sheathed her large blade on her right hip as she walked towards him, nodding, “I do believe you, believe it or not.”

“Really?” he asked with joy.

She nodded, “I was once a Dark Hunter, but not against my will. I made bad choices in my life, and sort of gained a sense for when others are in bad situations, or when they’re doing things that they know they shouldn’t be, or don’t want to be doing. I can feel that with you…”

“Hibiki,” he introduced.

“Eri,” she told him.

“Well, Eri…what do we do now?” questioned Hibiki.

“The others may not believe me about you,” she said, “Ok…you were sent as a distraction. For what?”

“Jaki and ‘Forte’ are attacking elsewhere,” Hibiki said, “I was supposed to draw fire away from them.”

“Ok, so we have to go and help the others,” said Eri, “Where are they striking?”

“Two other points of the island. The areas near shore. I don’t know exactly, but not this side.”

“Right, we have a lot of ground to cover, then,” Eri said, walking to her vehicle, “Get on. We’re going.”

As Hibiki got on, gripping with all four arms whatever he could, Eri asked him, “Why were you sent? Did they just want to get rid of you?”

“No. I’m actually a good warrior…I just don’t like fighting,” Hibiki said, “I was chosen for my natural resilience and my combat skills…especially my four arms.”

“I see,” Eri replied, “Now, they’re each hitting a different area?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s go,” Eri said, speeding off to circle the island.


‘Forte’ bashed aside the large blade that Magis was using as well as Hoji’s sword. The two Toa shouted and ran at him again, putting more power behind their next slashes, but ‘Forte’ managed to stop them again, reflecting once more.

“You’re both weak,” ‘Forte’ hissed, holding his sword in both hands and swinging hard, smashing the ground open when Hoji rolled to evade.

“What’s wrong with you?” shouted the Toa of Fire, “I saved your mind, yet you would go back to them? What’s the point in that?”

“It’s the place I find acceptance,” ‘Forte’ hissed, “Mistress won’t have me any longer, so I will go where I know I have comrades!”

“Then join us!” Hoji pleaded, “We’ll have you!”

“As if,” Magis muttered, “No one but you will agree to that. Not even Eri!”

“She’s the acceptance of your group,” muttered ‘Forte’, “The passionate one. She helped you guys accept Cesare, didn’t she?”

“You know that?” questioned Hoji.

“I know a lot,” replied ‘Forte’, lifting his sword and racing at the Toa of Fire.

Magis put his weapons together, crossing them. He unleashed a tornado with his Air powers, sending them rippling out into ‘Forte’’s side, blowing him away. He skidded across the ground, trying to dig his blade in to slow himself.

“Hoji!” shouted Magis.

Hoji nodded, spinning his sword around and running his hand along the side where it curved by the hilt. It opened, shooting Rouze Cards out. Hoji grabbed two of them while the rest were sucked back inside, folded up once more. It snapped closed as Hoji slashed both of his powers with his blade.

“Air”

“Blast”

As Air focused around the length of his blade, he drew it back. Magis drew his weapons back at the same time, plunging them forward just as Hoji pushed his blade forward, unleashing the blast of Air alongside Magis’s Air release.

The two attacks slammed into ‘Forte’, bringing him to his knees. He gripped his sparking chest in his left hand, hissing, “Next time!”

“You won’t win next time either,” Hoji said.

“No,” he hissed in reply, “Next time…don’t use such a cheap trick. Fight properly!”

As ‘Forte’ fled, Magis glanced to Hoji, “What do you think?”

“I think that next time, I owe him a proper duel,” Hoji answered.


Rei, Agri and Cesare all attacked Jaki at once, but the long-armed creature was too strong and fast, parrying every slash, every swipe of their weapons, with his daggers. As Agri leapt back to use his blaster, Jaki would move much faster to evade. They couldn’t do much damage due to his monstrous strength.

“Cesare?” questioned Rei.

He shook his head, “I’m not sure what to use,” he replied, wishing he had his Air Rouze Card at this moment. Regardless, he slashed two.

“Ice”

“Drill”

Ice began to encase the axe, and then started to spin out like a drill. He thrust his weapon forward with a shout, sending it flying off of his weapon. Jaki evaded, but Cesare threw his arm out, manipulating the Ice, sending it out to wrap around and freeze Jaki.

“Now!” shouted Rei.

She put her rod into one of the barrels of Agri’s weapon while it was lined atop of the axe that Cesare used. They all focused their powers and released them, sending the projectile rod forward, focused with Earth, Ice and Lightning powers.

The attack crashed into Jaki, breaking him free of the ice. He stumbled aside, hissing and fleeing from his wound.

“You guys got him?” shouted Hoji as he and Magis ran towards them.

“We got him,” commented Cesare, nodding.

They could hear Eri’s vehicle approaching. When they saw her Anverius X3 approach with Hibiki, they were all on guard, despite the fact that they trusted Eri, and whatever she was doing they should trust. But what if she was captured and forced to take him around, or something?

“What’s happening?” hissed Hoji.

“This is Hibiki,” Eri said, “He’s an ally. He doesn’t want to be a part of the Raiders. He wants to help us! Fight by us!”

“Is he manipulating you?” Rei questioned in her cool, accented voice.

“No!” Eri snapped, “He genuinely wants to fight by us!”

“You guys trusted Eri about me, after a while,” Cesare put in, walking towards her, “I say I return that favor and trust her. I think we should all trust her.”

“Thank you,” Eri told Cesare.

“I owe you, after all,” Cesare said.

“If Cesare is trusting, then so am I,” Hoji said. When Hoji agreed, Rei and Agri fell into line, and then even Magis, who held out, fell into line with them. They accepted Hibiki.

Hibiki shouted out, his crimson eyes flashing. He stumbled back, gripping his head in his three clawed hands.

“What is it?” Eri shouted in alarm.

“The Raiders!” he screamed, lashing his tentacles out and smashing Eri aside. He roared like a beast as they took their control over his mind, just as they had done to ‘Forte’. But unlike programming, this was more of mind control.

“Everyone!” shouted Hoji, “Neutralize!”

They all drew their Blade Blasters and aimed them at Hibiki. Eri rose and shouted that they could free him another way, but as Hibiki ran at them like a beast, they had no choice. They couldn’t afford a fight against a mind controlled warrior, especially one who had gotten this close to them. Who was to say that they could permanently break the control? This was for the best.

Hoji held his weapon out in one hand in front of his body. Cesare did the same, but braced his arm just before the elbow with his other arm, bent. Agri held his weapon in his right hand as he faced his side at Hibiki. Rei held hers in both hands in front of her body. Magis turned to his side, facing his right at Hibiki and holding his weapon in that hand.

Eri shouted once more, “No! Spare him! We can save him!”

But for all of her passion in the soul of a man like this, who was like herself in some regards, she couldn’t save him. All five Elemental bullets flew forward, crushing Hibiki’s body. No mind controlled screams emerged either.

Just death as Eri fell to her knees in shock and pain.


“I know I didn’t help Eri out much, even after all she’s done for me. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be on this team. I must do what I can to help her! Who are you people who stand in my way? Next time: “Chapter 6: Shining Cesare” Here I go.”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 6: Shining Cesare

“Eri!” shouted Cesare, running after her.

Eri had come to her feet after falling to her knees for a few moments. She was simply leaving them without a word. Only Cesare was concerned enough to chase after her. The others knew her well, but Cesare probably had the best chance of fixing things.

After all, Cesare and Eri had a stronger bond than the others. She had helped him join the Toa Cyril. They had similar pasts. They were probably best off working together. At this moment, Cesare was best off seeing Eri.

“Leave me alone!” snapped Eri.

“I’m sorry!” Cesare shouted after her, getting in front of her and grabbing her shoulders, looking into her eyes, “I’m sorry that we had to kill Hibiki. He may have been good; an ally for a time…but they changed him. Don’t you see? It wasn’t our faults! It was the fault of the Phantasmal Raiders!”

“No, it wasn’t,” hissed Eri. “We could have saved him from their influence! Look at ‘Forte’! Hoji saved him!”

“How were we going to pull Hibiki out of it?” questioned Cesare, shaking his head, “Look; Hoji was able to break ‘Forte’ free because of their past. You and Hibiki hardly had enough of a past together, enough in common, anything, for him to be broken free in the same manner. Death was the only option.”

“Cesare, move,” hissed Eri, pushing him, but Cesare stood his ground, keeping her there.

She managed to push his arms aside and push him aside. She walked past, but he ran after her again, “Eri…”

“Cesare, stop trying to be my shining knight,” Eri muttered, “You can’t fix this.”

Cesare stopped as she kept going, presumably going back to the temple. He walked away, away from her and the other Toa, down another street so that he could think.


“We need a new plan,” commented Sagarc.

“Should we just smash them with power?” questioned Gamel.

“I like that,” Uva admitted, nodding thoughtfully, “Yes…we should smash them with power…”

“Why would you go with Gamel’s plan?” demanded Sagarc, “You know he’s bloodthirsty like that! This isn’t the best plan.”

“I know,” replied Uva, “You see, the best way to do this is to overwhelm them with cannon fodder. We throw as many at them as we can, and when they get sacrificed, we send in our stronger men. Jaki and ‘Forte’.”

“Fine,” agreed Sagarc.

Gamel nodded, grinning since his plan was chosen.

“Good,” Uva said, walking down the pathway, “I’m off to seek our troops.”


Cesare walked alone, looking down into the ocean below. The Silver Sea beat at the coast of Cyril Nui. Somewhere beneath those waves, beneath the chaos of the waters, were the Phantasmal Raiders, plotting, planning the downfall of the island.

Cesare needed to do something, but what could he do? He was no Toa of Water. He couldn’t breathe underwater. He was no powerful swimmer who could make it around fast enough. He couldn’t fight underwater…

Things continued to add up against him.

“What do we have here?” questioned a sly, somewhat androgynous voice.

Cesare looked to his side, rising and drawing his axe up. He was ready to fight, and this was obviously an enemy from the Phantasmal Raiders.

“My name is Zolda,” the figure said.

Zolda had a sleek blue armored body, with fin-like blades coming down his legs and off of his shoulders. He had a sleek blue and gray fin coming from the back of his unadorned, gray head. Clawed feet and dagger-like weapons in his hands, along with spiked armor on his legs gave him a fiercer look. His shoulders were a translucent green color. He stood as an elegant and dangerous looking figure.

“I’m not in the mood,” hissed Cesare, “We’ll have to make this swift.”

“Swift?” smiled Zolda, dashing forward, too fast for Cesare to see. Cesare cried out multiple times as sparks flew as the daggers bit into his body with every move Zolda made. Zolda came out of his faster movements and span around, delivering a kick to Cesare’s chest, throwing him aside.

“You’re weak,” Zolda said.

“I’ll show you weak,” hissed Cesare, hitting his axe, summoning a Rouze Card. He threw it up and slashed it with his axe.

“Mach”

Cesare drew his axe back and was gone, dashing forward with incredible speeds that would exceed the ability to be seen. He slashed multiple times, but Zolda was always able to block with his daggers.

“Like I said…weak,” Zolda said.

“What?” hissed Cesare, dashing back, “You could keep up with me?”

“It’s not hard for someone of my caliber,” Zolda commented, shrugging as he walked forward, “Now, come on and die.” He lifted a dagger, pointing the tip menacingly at Cesare.

“I’ll still take you down,” Cesare said, summoning and slashing two more.

“Rapid”

“Fire”

His axe lit ablaze with flames. He ran forward, slashing rapidly, creating physical afterimages it seemed, due to each image being him moving at a rapid rate of slashing. But the dagger parried every move. Zolda kicked him back just to rub his speed in.

“You’re hardly an opponent who would suit me,” Zolda said, rather bored.

“I’ll show you worthy,” hissed Cesare, running forward.

“Gouki!” snapped Zolda.

Gouki was like a sea beast, a giant shrimp. All dark blue with minimal light; he had a large flat head with fangs jutting out and crimson eyes. His back legs were morphed into one that ended in a tail, while the front had a double limbed arm on each end, one of the two double limbs ending in three claws, while the other in a simple razor-fin. Blades lined various parts of his body, and he had various joints all along his body.

Gouki slammed a claw down, taking Cesare down. Cesare struggled, unleashing as much Ice as he could in an attempt to freeze the massive creature over, but he was unable to. Somehow Gouki’s shell casing must have been protecting him from such a strike, or from pressure and temperature. That seemed more likely to Cesare.

Zolda walked towards Cesare, shaking his head, “I was given command of a troop of soldiers who can be sacrificed for the greater need,” he said, but was interrupted.

“Are you sure you’re not one of the sacrificial soldiers?” hissed Cesare.

Zolda smiled down at him, “Yes. I am sure.”

“Ok, so you have a troop of disposable soldiers. No different from Bashaa, right?” questioned Cesare.

“More competent than Bashaa,” Zolda said, “But I have them too.”

Sure enough, Bashaa were emerging from side roads, keeping their eyes on Cesare, ready to rush in and attack at a moment’s notice. Zolda did seem to be worthy, and not a sacrifice. He really seemed on top of things, and his speed really made him seem like the type who wouldn’t be a worthless sacrifice of a soldier.

“Ok,” said Cesare, “You told me about who you are; leader of a troop condemned for death, essentially. Why tell me? So I don’t feel bad about killing your men?”

“Because I want you to see how weak you are,” hissed Zolda, “You are arguably the strongest Toa Cyril Nova, due to those Rouze Cards of yours,” he must have known the name from ‘Forte’, “so I want you to see how much of a difference exists between our factions. The weakest of the Raiders eliminating arguably the strongest Toa!”

“That won’t happen,” Cesare hissed, “I will win! I will kill all of you!”

“I think not,” said Zolda, walking over and crouching down, looking into Cesare’s eyes. Dagger was quickly at Cesare’s throat, ready to eliminate the Toa of Ice.

Cesare acted quickly, activating the energy wings of his armor. They smashed Gouki aside, allowing Cesare to shoot forward, avoiding the edge of the dagger. He tackled Zolda into the ground and punched him quickly to the face before running and throwing Ice darts into the Bashaa around them.

“Kuuga! Tohki!” shouted Zolda.

Kuuga was a shell-like beast, small and compacted. Blades emerged from all points of the front of its body. When opened, a crimson eye was present. The various horns and blades along with the ability to move quickly made it dangerous, while the thick armor provided ample defense. He appeared from seemingly nowhere; a side street, perhaps, nearby Cesare.

Tohki was like a large crimson spider, but with four legs. All of them ended in crimson and white spiked blade-like limbs. The limbs themselves were long and crimson, lanky, with multiple joints. The head was inset with a crimson spiked piece of armor over the top, and a crimson inset eye. No doubt he also appeared from a nearby street or alley.

Tohki leapt forward, slashing legs at Cesare. Tohki didn’t seem intelligent, but like Gouki, seemed a one-of-a-kind beast. Not a Rahi, but not something intelligent either. Perhaps a mutation? It didn’t matter. Cesare threw an Ice dart into Tohki’s chest and slashed quickly, then span around as Kuuga floated after him, diving in to impale him. He parried each blow as fast as he could.

Gouki raced forward, leaping up and coming down with claws. Cesare span around, spinning his axe in an arc, slicing through Gouki’s underbody, causing it to cry out in a primal hiss of rage and pain. But it didn’t move again.

He saw Tohki and Kuuga get together. Tohki went onto his back legs, grabbing Kuuga in the front two. Kuuga was launched forward like a missile, flying through the air at Cesare, ready to rip through him.

Cesare threw his left arm aside, causing a wall of Ice to rise up to stop the attack. The thickness prevented penetration, keeping Cesare safe.

Tohki leapt over the wall, coming down behind Cesare. As he span around to face the threat, Zolda appeared at his side with Bashaa, while more Bashaa appeared on his other side. Cesare leapt forward, ramming the end of his axe into Tohki, knocking that beast aside before spinning around, knocking out Bashaa on both sides of himself. He leapt at Zolda, but the leader was gone too quickly.

Tohki made one final attempt and lunged forward, the front two legs ready to rip through Cesare. Cesare span around and slashed once, cutting a vital part of his foe’s chest, ending Tohki’s life. He span again, parrying the blades as Kuuga came through the wall. He kicked Kuuga aside and froze the shell creature over in a casing of Ice for good measure.

As various Bashaa approached, Cesare slashed in all directions, cutting them down as fast as they appeared. They were weak, but there were many. Occasionally a stronger one would appear, providing a problem for him when he expected a one blow win. He took various minor wounds from the entire process of this fight, but was able to put them all down without too many injuries. At this point he turned his attention back to Zolda, who was the only one left standing on the enemy side.

“You got them,” Zolda commented, shrugging, “But you are good.”

“Come on,” hissed Cesare. “Let’s put this to an end.”


Eri walked through the streets alone. Matoran were out and about at this moment, due to work being done for most of them. None commented on a Toa being in their presence, or their being in presence of a Toa. Though they did notice her, and it was rare to see the Toa, they didn’t comment.

This dystopia broke them. Why should they be excited?

Maybe Cesare was right, Eri thought to herself, thinking about all she did to help Cesare in the past. All he was trying to do was help her now. She knew deep down that what was done had to be done.

Maybe she should go to him? See him? Apologize for things she had said, her general anger, and everything else. She decided yes, she would. It was the least she could do to make things right between them.

But where would he be? Eri continued the way she was going, certain she would soon find him.


Zolda approached Cesare, smiling grimly at the Toa of Ice. He was confident that he could win, that one Toa would fall on this day.

“What are you, anyway?” questioned Zolda.

“What?” Cesare asked back.

“I mean, are you leader? Second in command? You fight so well, I figure you have to be something,” explained Zolda.

“I’m neither rank,” Cesare stated, “I’m just a Toa Cyril.”

“Is that so?” shaking his head, Zolda lifted his blades, “Well then, a pity that one such as you will die without rank to accompany him to the afterlife.”

“You can’t take things with you,” Cesare stated simply.

Zolda nodded, “Well said,” he commented.

“Tell me something, are you of rank?” questioned Cesare, “Or were you simply chosen for your speed, or something, to lead this attack?”

“I am not of rank, but I will be,” Zolda hissed.

“What?”

“When this is over, I will go back, victorious, with your heads. I will utilize your Rouze abilities, and I will use my own latent abilities. Together, I shall crush the Phantasmal Raiders and claim leadership!”

“You’re trying to usurp your leaders?” questioned Cesare.

Zolda nodded, “I will lead the Raiders onto even greater things than those three ever could,” he hissed.

Cesare span his weapon around, drawing a card from it. He slashed it, “First time using this one,” he hissed, “It’s going to put an end to you, despite your speed.”

“Light”

“What? Light?” hissed Zolda, dashing forward with his immense speed, ready to end this battle in one move.

Cesare swung his axe back, then swung forward, the weapon covered in brilliant, shining light. A light blade erupted from it, smashing into Zolda, blinding him at the same time, making his speedy body out of control as he lost sight of where he was going. Cesare raised his weapon into the air, unleashing a pulse of Light, slamming it into everything around him, taking down the few surviving Bashaa that had joined the fight, and striking at Zolda, also signaling to Eri where he was.

Zolda collapsed, his body cracking. The sea based warrior couldn’t handle the intense heat and shine. His body was drying out, and he was coming to an end.

“That will show you never to underestimate the power of the Cyril,” Cesare said.


“I know that the team respects me. They hold me to be a dear comrade and friend. We all are. We all look to our allies and friends for support…so why won’t they listen to me? Why do they ignore me and exclude me from the conversations about the enemy? Next time: “Chapter 7: Petrified Agri” Stand tall or fall!”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 7: Petrified Agri

“You have betrayed us, Zolda,” hissed Sagarc.

“Yet you may be of use to our overall plans,” Uva commented.

“I did what I felt was right,” Zolda hissed to them, “I struck out when my chance came! It’s survival of the fittest, is it not? I wanted to survive.”

“And by staying with us, you wouldn’t survive?” questioned Uva, shaking his head in disapproval, “You are a fool, Zolda. Yet you are a useful fool.”

“What?” hissed the defeated, enchained warrior.

The three Phantasmal Raiders stood around Zolda in a triangle, lifting their hands. Power flowed around their outspread hands, surging into Zolda, causing him to scream in pain.

“You were fighting Cesare, who holds the Rouze powers,” Uva stated, “He used the power of Light against you. To dry you out that much, to do that much damage to you is quite something. That power has to have seeped into your body, Zolda. Do you know what we’re going to do with those remains inside of you?”

Zolda was screaming too much to provide any sort of answer. Sagarc picked up as a result, not that they figured Zolda would be able to speak from the start.

“We’re going to copy the Rouze powers inside of your cracked and battered body and give them to another. We’ll modify them a bit, but it’ll all work out in the end.”

“Ibuki!” growled Sagarc.

Ibuki had a white and gray body. Primarily white with some gray parts along the limbs, including the arms, and some armor over the lower legs. Curved blades were along the sides of the feet, which were larger and gray. Claw-like gray armor covered his chest, while he had an elongated gray head with two burning crimson eyes inset. In place of hands, he had a large pincer instead; two pincer blades on each hand, long white and crimson, with serrated spikes emerging.

“Ibuki, take these powers,” hissed Uva, throwing his hand towards Ibuki along with the others. All three powers swirled into the pincer warrior, causing him to throw his head back and hiss in pleasure as the power radiated into his body. He looked down at them, smiling grimly, his burning crimson eyes narrowed as he felt the power filling him.

“Now, Ibuki, wait for a bit to see if those powers kill you, or something,” Uva said, “Don’t go out immediately.”

“Not planning on,” Ibuki muttered, snapping his pincers a few times, feeling this new, raw power surging through him as he tried to focus them, “Do I have a target?”

“Not the Toa of Ice,” Uva stated.

“Take out the Toa of Lightning,” Sagarc stated, “She’s second in command. Eliminate her first to show a precision strike against them.”

“Precision strike,” Ibuki grinned, looking at his pincers, smiling.


“Looks like Eri and Cesare are good again,” Rei told Hoji as the two walked out of the temple.

“It’s my patrol,” Hoji commented, “Why are you coming?”

“To talk about the situation,” she said.

“You already told me that they’re on good terms again, what else is there?” questioned Hoji.

“You don’t like talking, do you?” she asked, “That’s not like you, Hoji.”

“I do like talking, but what is there to talk about right now?” Hoji questioned her.

“Well, according to Cesare, there are some strong opponents out there,” Rei stated.

“That Zolda guy is dead, though,” Hoji told her.

“Well, he never got the kill blow,” Rei said, “He may have mortally wounded that Zolda guy, but he didn’t kill him for sure.”

Hoji shrugged, “Well, we know he can be defeated,” Hoji told her, “That’s what matters.”

“What about the big picture?” questioned Rei.

“Big picture?”

“The enemy is clearly strong. They have ‘Forte’, Jaki, guys like Zolda…”

“We always knew that the enemy was strong,” Hoji told her.

“But now we have a better idea of just how strong,” said Rei.

“What can we do about it?” Hoji asked.

They turned a corner. Agri was approaching, the end of his shift approaching. He stood before them, desiring to talk to them.

“Agri, we’ll talk later,” Hoji said, “I’m in the middle of something right now, sorry.”

Agri wanted to say something, but he nodded, “Fine,” he said, allowing them to walk past and continue their discussion. It was Hoji’s turn to go on patrol, so why not invite Agri to be a part of the situation? From what he could hear of it, it wasn’t secret, it was just a general discussion about the enemy. And then he could raise his points after they were done. So why ignore him?

Agri wasn’t the type of person who let this sort of thing get to him, but it annoyed him. He shook his head and walked towards the temple, ignoring it. He had other things to attend to, and he would deal with Hoji later. It still just annoyed him for some reason.


The next day, Ibuki slunk out of the water, watching it run off of his body, out of the crevices in his armor and actual body, watching it run down as he scaled the wall that rose up from the sea to the island itself. He crouched down, watching the Bashaa rise up through the piers, rather than climb like he would. He ignored them and raced forward, keeping low, keeping hidden away while his Bashaa continued off in another direction.

They were the diversion. But that was obvious. If the Bashaa without a commander were sighted by the Toa, they would no doubt realize it was a diversion. They would go out looking. But that’s what Ibuki desired; he wanted them to find him. He wanted to fight, to test out his new powers.

As he walked around, he ducked, watching the black armored Toa of Earth walking with a multi-barreled blaster weapon hanging from one waist, and another handgun weapon from his other. He was paying attention as he walked, and would soon see Ibuki. Ibuki didn’t want that, not yet.

He hid back, watching as Agri passed by. He remained in the shadows as best as he could, focusing energy between his claws. When Agri walked past, he stepped out, throwing the energy bolt.

Agri was ready. A wall of Earth rose up, taking the shot. As it dropped, Agri was on his knee, both weapons aimed at Ibuki, who had his claws open, one of them ready to go for Agri’s neck.

“Looks like we’re in a stalemate to me,” Agri hissed.

“I’d have to agree,” Ibuki replied, “I could try to take out your throat, but your blasters would kill me as I did it.”

“Now what?” Agri questioned him, ready to smash a fist of Earth into him at a moment’s notice to throw him aside, and then open fire.

Ibuki showed a grim smile, “Do you know why I was sent?”

Agri wanted to hit him, but decided to wait and see what his foe had to say.

“I was sent because I have the Rouze powers, to an extent,” he hissed, his eyes glowing with power. Before Agri could realize it, he took a burst of energy to the chest and was thrown into the wall behind him, sparks constantly flying from his armor as it was burned.

He lifted his weapons to fire, but Ibuki was faster. He threw his energy bolt from between his claws, striking Agri, who didn’t have time to scream out.

His body was covered quickly in stone as he was petrified. Ibuki smiled as he approached, opening and closing his claws every so often. He was ready to kill Agri, but heard something. He turned, watching as Rei and Cesare were running towards him. He cursed softly; he didn’t want to fight.

Should he kill Agri and flee? No. He decided it was better, more fun, to watch them react to their stone companion. He turned and fled, but slowed when he saw Eri and Hoji in his path, leveling Blade Blasters at him in their firearm modes.

“Where do you think you’re going?” questioned Hoji.

Ibuki shook his head, hissing, “I’m not in the mood for a fight,”

“Yet you’ll turn one of our companions – friends – to stone?” shouted Eri.

Rei was generating Lightning into her rod weapon, “One bolt should be enough to paralyze him and leave him at our mercy,”

“Oh!” Ibuki grinned, “Interesting situation. You can’t kill me, because you won’t know how to free your friend here!”

He saw that the alley where he entered was his best escape. He was slowly moving as he would turn to speak to the Toa. Soon he would have his escape.

“We’ll free him,” Cesare stated, “I don’t know what you did, but my powers should save him!”

“I used a copy of your powers,” Ibuki said to buy himself some time, “I don’t think you can save him with yours.”

“You copied them?” Cesare shouted n outrage.

“Zolda’s body had some,” Ibuki shrugged. Almost there…

“Hoji?” Eri questioned.

“Disable him!” Hoji ordered.

“There’s my cue,” Ibuki stated, turning to flee.

Magis slammed a hurricane down into the alley, impeding the escape. Magis dropped down, lifting his claw and blade and slowly approaching Ibuki, “You want to flee that way?” he shook his head, “Bad move.”

Ibuki hissed, “Why do you want to trap me like this? Don’t you trust your own abilities when it comes to your friend?”

“That’s not going to work out for us,” Hoji said.

“What?” Ibuki questioned.

“You see, if we would eliminate you, we wouldn’t have a sure way to save our precious comrade,” Hoji said.

“Precious comrade?” questioned Ibuki.

“You don’t understand loyalty to your comrades?” Cesare questioned, shaking his head, “Right, I doubt you people have comrades.”

“We don’t,” Ibuki said, “We have our own allies, but we don’t have true comrades.”

“Allies, but no comrades?” questioned Eri, “Even as Dark Hunters, we had comrades in arms amongst ourselves. You people don’t?”

“We have one goal,” Ibuki said, “It doesn’t really apply to us.”

“If it applied to the Dark Hunters, it should apply to you,” Eri told her.

“It doesn’t,” he replied.

“So, this is what we’re saying,” Cesare said, “We refuse to kill you, because we care about our comrades, our allies.”

“We want to be certain that we can save him,” Rei commented.

“If we killed you, we would have no sure way to save our precious comrade,” Hoji told Ibuki.

“We can’t leave a man down,” Magis told him.

“Toa, at least, have a sense of caring over our own, unlike you people,” Eri said.

They all aimed their Blade Blasters at him, charging their Elemental bullets.

“You would kill me? Even after all that talk of precious allies?” hissed Ibuki.

“We need to save Agri,” Hoji stated, “He never said what he was going to say yesterday. That’s one reason to save him.”

“We may have ignored him at the moment,” Rei agreed, “So he can’t die knowing that we don’t care. It was just a matter of business at the moment; nothing personal. We can’t let him die without knowing that.”

“What are you talking about?” hissed Ibuki.

“You see, that’s what allies are,” Cesare said, “Allies are precious people who can’t allowed to be hurt by their other allies for even a moment. No matter what, they must know that we care. Agri must know that we all care.”

“I’m going to tell him something when he comes out,” Hoji said, “You see, Ibuki, we’ve been having discussions. The order of command is changing.”

“Hm?” questioned Ibuki.

“I’m standing down,” Rei said.

“I’m becoming second in command,” Cesare said.

“So why does he need to know, or would care?” questioned Ibuki, getting into this conversation a bit, to his surprise.

“Because he’s now third in command,” Hoji said, “He should know that. He should know that we all trust him enough to lift his rank, to make him our tactical leader.”

“I’m field leader,” Cesare commented.

“I’m overall leader,” Hoji said, “That’s what I’ve always been. Agri will be our tactical planner.”

“You people sicken me,” Ibuki muttered, lifting his claws, “Ok, I’d rather fight than listen to you guys go on.”

He raced forward, slashing at the Toa in front of him. He span around, slashing to keep Magis at bay. He span around, parrying Cesare’s axe and Rei’s rod. They both leapt back to allow Hoji to leap in, discharging his Elemental bullet.

The attack exploded into the ground in front of Ibuki, sending him reeling back. He span around, slashing rapidly at pointblank range, managing to manipulate his blade even that close to his foe, for he was a pro.

Ibuki managed to lift his claws, grabbing the Blade Blaster sword to keep it at bay. Hoji kicked him, span around, and drew his other sword from his back. He held it in his left hand with his sidearm sword in his right. He ran forward, slashing rapidly, sending sparks flying with each blow.

Ibuki fell back, stumbling around for footing. He looked up as a blast of Fire overcame him, throwing him to the ground again.

“Release him,” hissed Hoji, lowering both blades and crossing them over Ibuki’s neck in warning.

“I refuse,” Ibuki hissed, “Kill me!”

The other Toa gathered around, keeping their weapons down to keep Ibuki from moving anything. He looked at all of them, hissing, smiling grimly, “I won’t free him!”

“Then we’ll cut limbs off until you do,” Hoji said grimly.

They heard a shattering sound behind them. They span around to see Bashaa striking the statue, shattering it. They cried out, but to their surprise, they saw Agri standing there, unharmed.

“Guess your Rouze powers were flawed,” Agri said, swiftly lifting both weapons and firing rapidly on the downed Ibuki, cutting him down. He span around, cutting down the scores of Bashaa with both of his weapons, showing his abilities without taking another hit.

“Thanks, everyone,” he told his friends, hooking both weapons to his waist, “I could hear it all. Thank you, sincerely.”

Hoji smiled and walked towards him, grabbing his shoulder, nodding, “Agri, any time. Any time we will always be there for our allies. As the Toa Cyril, that is who we are.”


“The mind is a powerful thing. I’m not an angry or violent person, but with the proper sway, could I be? With the proper mental conditioning, could anyone change into their opposite? Next time: “Chapter 8: Violent Rei” Come!”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 8: Violent Rei

“I have a proposal for you,” Sagarc hissed.

“For me?” he hissed from the sea prison in which he sat. A grin emerged, “Do the others know you’re here?”

“Of course not!” Sagarc said, “They wouldn’t appreciate it if I was.”

“Both, or just Uva?” he hissed.

Uva was their leader, their tactical commander, as well. Gamel wasn’t as smart, and was more of the muscle. He had some great combat abilities, and his powers were beyond theirs. It was jokingly theorized between Uva and Sagarc that the powers the three of them had were linked to intelligence, hence theirs being weaker.

“So, why come to me?” he questioned.

“It’s an emergency,” Sagarc said.

“Emergency? Really?”

“The Toa we fight are too strong,” Sagarc told him.

“Too strong? Did you use…”

“We’re using Jaki!” he snapped, “Jaki can only do so much against them! Even he isn’t enough to actually crush the six of them,” he muttered in disgust.

“So you call me out instead of using Kiva?” the being questioned.

“We’re waiting on using Kiva,” Sagarc admitted.

“Waiting for what? If you’re calling me out, I figure it’s time for Kiva,” the figure stated.

“I could agree, but the others don’t want to send Kiva out yet,” Sagarc replied, “And you…you can do this so much better!”

“Then why lock me up?” the figure demanded.

“Because they fear you!” Sagarc said, “But not me! I don’t fear your powers, Agito! I want to use them for the better of the Phantasmal Raiders!”

The figure known as Agito smiled within his dark cell, “Then why did you allow them to imprison me?” he asked softly.

“Because it was either that, or my head,” Sagarc stated, “Partner…”

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that,” Agito told Sagarc, “You calling me your partner…us even talking to each other! Ah, Sagarc! What happens when I win? Will they imprison me again? Kill us both?”

“We’ll kill them,” Sagarc said softly, “We’ll use our powers and we will slay the others! We will take command of the Phantasmal Raiders. Agito…you and I shall lead them all to victory!”

Agito nodded, “I like that plan, Sagarc. Yes…let’s do that,” he looked around his cell, “I shall need my weapon and Bashaa.”

“I know,” Sagarc said, nodding. He slashed the lock off with his silver, hooked sword. He watched as the door swung open, and for the first time in hundreds of years, his former partner emerged; ready to lay waste to the Toa Cyril Nova.


Rei was going for a morning walk. The overcast gray skies were hideous at times, but in the morning, they felt glorious, for some reason. Maybe because they were supposed to look like that, and it felt natural? Maybe because the rising, orange light of the “sun” of the Dome of Cyril Nui caused a new color to come to the clouds? Whatever it was, it was glorious, and a time that Rei truly enjoyed. She was truly happy right now

Sure, she was no longer the second in command, but that freed her up to enjoy times like these. She enjoyed her time as field leader, as second in command of the entire team, but she knew that Cesare deserved that rank that he now held. He really did deserve to be second in command of the entire team. He had really proven himself, and as field leader, they would be unstoppable.

They had Hoji as the pro who led the entire team. They had Cesare, who was nearly unstoppable with his Rouze weapons as the field leader. They had Agri, arguably the smartest member and most reserved, as their tactical leader. Everything was fine. The team would get through anything now.

Besides, even without a formal rank, she could be very happy. She never got to do anything like these walks when she was second in command, as she had to be in meetings a lot, with Hoji or Gorma usually, discussing matters. Now it would be Cesare’s time to discuss things like that, while she got to enjoy herself.

She stopped when her Doite began to make her hear something approaching. She looked around, hearing many footsteps. They had to be Bashaa, based on the weight of the steps. Not heavy enough to be Anaroids, which had yet to appear since their first appearance after the Phantasmal Raiders attacked, and too heavy to be the light footsteps of Matoran. Bashaa, no doubt.

And she was right. They soon surrounded her, but why her? Were they going after Toa one-by-one? Whatever the reason, she drew her Blade Blaster and switched to sword mode, waiting for the amphibious warriors to come at her.

“One of the Toa, I presume,” muttered a figure.

She looked around, “Where are you?” she hissed, “I know you have to be the leader; where are you?”

“My name is Agito, and I’m not telling you where I am,” he told her, “Who are you?”

“Rei,” she said.

“Second in command, I believe,” he stated.

“Your intelligence is out of date,” she said, “I’m not second in command anymore.”

She continued to look around, while using her Doite as well, but couldn’t get any fix on his location.

“Bashaa, attack!”

They ran forward on all sides. Rei cursed, lashing out with her blade, dodging around in all directions to attempt to avoid their strikes. She unleashed random bursts of Lightning, contemplating sending one straight up, but not yet. She could handle this without getting the others involved.

She rolled away from the Bashaa, forming her blaster mode. She opened fire, watching sparks fly with each successful blast. She span around, kicking one away before returning to firing into the bulk while firing a small blast of Lightning into that one that came at her from behind once more.

She rolled into an alley, ready to attack them as they came in one at a time. She cut them down with Lightning bursts as they came; lifting her blaster to take down ones that survived her weaker attacks. She span around, firing as they came around. They were fast to get around the buildings that quickly to enter from the other side.

Fast, or devoted to killing her?

She cursed, firing in both directions, not paying attention as she fired behind her with her Blade Blaster. She knew they were still coming; she could hear them with her Doite.

“Are there no end to you?” she hissed.

“I have plenty of soldiers,” again, Agito’s voice didn’t seem to register a location.

“Where are you?” she screamed.

She felt her right hand – her Blade Blaster hand – being lifted, useless as it could no longer fire behind her anymore. She cursed and glanced back, seeing the figure that must have been Agito thrusting her forward.

Agito had a white armored body with some pale blue and gray on his limbs. His right arm was white, while his left was the pale light blue, along with his fists and feet. He had clawed white armor coming off of his legs, along with darker blue armor over his chest, with fins extending off of it. He had a shark-like fin down his back, along with similar fins and blades on his arms. His head was blue and curved back, with no visible mouth, and a horn of some sort. Two green eyes stared out, partially enclosed by blue armored casing as a part of his head. The head sloped up, ending in a claw. His weapon was a massive shield with a blade at each end, with the bottom having two large blades that looked like wings going out and down at an angle, while he had serrated blades curling partially up to partner with the top blade.

“So, you’re my foe,” Rei hissed, firing a blast of Lightning at him.

He parried with his shield weapon, shaking his head, “Won’t work!” he laughed, throwing the attack aside. He ran forward, his left, pulsating blue arm being thrust forward, grabbing at Rei’s face. She cried out as some sort of power overcame her body, forcing her to her knees.

“You’ll see my power,” he hissed, walking away after a few moments, calling the Bashaa to stay there, waiting.

As Agito seemed to simply vanish with his powers, the Bashaa waited as Rei rose to her feet. She smiled grimly, lifting her rod weapon up. She screamed out and ran forward, smashing it into the faces of various Bashaa, unleashing Lightning at pointblank into them on some occasions. As they rushed her, she cut them down without mercy.

Agito had awakened an inner violence. His powers were great; able to manipulate the inner feelings and workings of the mind. By finding her innate, locked away violent side, he was able to have fun. Just by finding it, it was at his mercy. No mind could protect itself from him. He liked to think that even a shielded mind would fall to his powers.

His left arm, capable of unlocking emotions, or sealing them. It was truly a wonderful power in the right situation. The Phantasmal Raiders feared it, so they locked him away. And that wasn’t even mentioning his right arm…

As he watched, he saw a bolt of Lightning go high, skimming off of the head of a Bashaa. He cursed; that would bring the other Toa. He wasn’t ready for her to fight them, not yet. He always liked to watch how his victims performed for a few minutes before sending them after their comrades.

But by the time they arrived, no doubt those few minutes would have passed. That was the upside that Agito saw.

And in the time of a few minutes, the other five Toa were arriving, weapons drawn. They dismounted from their cycle vehicles and ran towards the burning Bashaa corpses, looking at Rei in shock at the carnage that she had caused.

“What did you do?” questioned Hoji, grabbing her shoulders.

Rei looked into his eyes, unleashed hatred in her eyes, violence burning at the cores. She kneed Hoji in the chest to knock him back, and then lowered her rod, unleashing a bolt of Lightning straight into his chest, causing sparks to scatter in all directions and for a starburst pattern to burn into his chest. He fell to his knees, screaming out in pain, while his comrades shouted his name and raced towards him.

Rei glanced at them, unleashing a rapid Lightning strike down to impede their progress. She drew her Blade Blaster and opened fire on them, forcing Agri to raise a barrier of Earth.

“Ok, we need a plan,” he whispered, taking up his duty as the tactical leader.

“You got anything?” questioned Eri.

“Not yet,” he admitted.

“I’ll get Hoji behind this barrier,” whispered Cesare, “Can someone cover me?”

“I’ll do it,” Agri said, nodding in approval of this basic bit of plan. He liked to have multiple small plans, instead of one large one. If this “objective” could be completed, he’d create a new “objective” to be solved, and so on.

Cesare ran out of the cover as a small entrance was made. He dove for Hoji, firing one warning shot with his Blade Blaster. He managed to pick Hoji up into his arms, his axe strapped to his back and Blade Blaster hanging loosely in hand. He fired one more shot before rushing back for the small Earth hut.

Agri closed it and began to raise more Earth to soften the impact of Lightning against it. As Hoji was set down, Eri kneeled before him, healing him with her powers as quickly as she could.

“Next?” questioned Cesare.

“Our next move is, at the least, to stop her hands,” Agri stated, “Then she can’t use her Lightning. Don’t incapacitate her yet.”

“I’ve got it,” Cesare said.

“I’ll cover you,” Magis replied, rushing out of the two new entrances. Cesare raised his hands, attempting to freeze over Rei’s hands, but she ran forward, punching him to break his concentration, then slashed him across the chest with a blunt strike from her rod.

She span around, smashing it into Magis’s face, sending him stumbling aside. He cursed and threw his hands up, unleashing a small hurricane with his Air powers. It slammed into the ground around her feet, slashing up the ground, causing her to back away towards Cesare, who was still getting an Ice attack ready.

She span around, firing off bolt after bolt of Lightning, all of them aimed at Cesare’s head. He cursed and continued to dodge, rolling aside. He came to his knees and leapt up, energy wings deploying. He shot down at her, ready to use his attack.

A bolt of Lightning lashed out for his throat. He braced himself with his arms, but the shock of the attack, threw him away, taking him down for the time being.

“Just me,” Magis muttered, running forward, discarding both of his weapons. He grabbed Rei’s shoulders, “Rei!” he shouted.

She rammed a knee into his chest, causing him to stumble back, but he held tight to her. She rammed her rod up into his jaw, causing his head to go back. He ignored it and rammed his head into hers, just to buy some time.

He didn’t think an attack like that would hurt so much, though. He shook his head as he started to see spots of light in his eyes.

She drew her arms away and slammed two punches into his chest. As he stumbled back, she leapt forward, sending a kick into the side of his face, causing him to stumble. She span around, giving a mule kick to his chest, throwing him onto his back.

She generated Lightning into her hands again, firing at his face while he was on the ground. He shouted, but felt a moment of relief as a blast of Water intercepted, bending the electrical attack away and into the ground.

“Rei!” Eri shouted, throwing another blast of Water as she got rid of the Lightning infused Water.

Rei ducked and ran forward, slamming the long side of her rod into Eri’s chest to knock her back. She span around, slashing at Eri’s head multiple times, making contact about five to seven times, making her stagger around, gripping her head in pain.

Agri rushed out, tackling Rei. Rei responded with a knee to his chest and a punch to his face, causing him to roll off due to the unforeseen strength behind her attacks. He drew his Blade Blaster on instinct, but let it go.

He had no plans. What could they do? She was an ally. They had risked things to save him the other day, they had given speeches about allies, about comrades, precious comrades. What could he do?

“Cesare!” he shouted, attempting to trap her in an Earth prison for at least a few moments before she would blast her way out.

Cesare wasn’t on his feet yet. Rei’s violent side had beaten him down too much. Agri felt like he couldn’t stand much longer either.

Why was her violence so strong? What was driving her this hard? That’s what Agri wanted to know, and that’s what Agito found amusing.


“This enemy dares to think he can take one of our own and not receive retribution? Well, he doesn’t know about how we operate. He certainly doesn’t know about my talents. Next time: “Chapter 9: Magnificent Magis” Feel the Magnificent Gale!”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 9: Magnificent Magis

Agri lashed out with his powers, attempting to trap Rei inside an Earth prison, but she blasted her way out in a moment, as he figured she would. The next bolt exploded into his chest, sending him flying back with a shout of pain, causing sparks to fly in all directions from the point of impact, causing a dark burn mark to appear on his chest.

He stayed down, but reached for his Blade Blaster. He gripped it, but lost the strength in his fingers, losing his grip of the weapon as he lost the ability to fight.

"My turn!"

Rei span around, watching Hoji drop down with his Blade Blaster sword extended. He slashed rapidly, but Rei parried each blow with her rod weapon, spinning around to gain distance on him before unleashing a bolt of Lightning from her hand.

Hoji parried and slashed, sending the captured attack out to his side, watching it explode into the street. He raced forward, shouting, slashing rapidly, holding the hilt in his right hand while using his left to grip the flat of the blade itself, attempting to use that grip for the sake of close combat.

She managed to avoid each short blow that he gave out, only parrying twice, while simply dodging every other blow. Hoji leapt up and threw his left leg out, striking her in the chest with an unexpected and admittedly rather clumsy strike. It worked, though, and she stumbled away from him.

He span around, gathering flames around his hand as he span. He threw his left hand forward at her, unleashing a torrent of fire, surrounding her body rather than burn her directly. He raced at her, shouting, leaping through the flames, holding his blade in both hands. He slashed as hard as he could, ignoring the fact for a moment that she was a comrade, a friend. He saw her in this moment as simply a foe.

The slash threw her through the flames, knocking her onto her back. He walked towards her, sword down at her throat.

As Agito watched, he considered using his powers on Hoji. He seemed very interesting, after all. He would lash out at his own subordinate, his own comrade and friend without a moment's notice, it would seem. He was the leader, yet he didn't really care for their wellbeing, except when they were normal? Was he just against traitors, even if it wasn't their fault? Well, Agito knew what he would do while inside that man's head. He wouldn't just unlock a powerful emotion to manipulate, he would dig a bit.

Hoji glared at the downed Rei, then shouted quickly, "Magis!"

Magis nodded, throwing his hands forward, crossing the open hands over each other. A wall of wind tore out of his hands, slamming out at Agito's position, despite his still being concealed. How was that happening? How did they know where he was?

Agito leapt free of his concealed position, throwing his weapon up to defend himself. He parried with the shield, sliding back, struggling to hold his ground as Magis unleashed so much power at him.

Agito slid again, then stopped. Then slid again. Was Magis using varying amounts of power against him, or something? Why was he suddenly gaining, and then losing?

"What's with this power of yours?" Agito hissed in question.

Magis smiled and threw his hands to his sides, letting his fingers splay open as he raced down towards Agito, ignoring Rei and leaving her to the others. Apparently he was tasked with bringing down the true enemy.

"One Toa against me?" hissed Agito, shaking his head, almost laughing, "You're weak!"

Magis leapt up, slamming his hands together. Wind blades erupted from between each of his fingers, slamming down and crossing over each other, cutting Agito's body in thousands of places, each one being a small wound. Agito stumbled back in shock at the attack, then looked behind him, expecting to see something there.

"Wrong!" Magis screamed as he fell towards his foe, throwing a punch. A massive blast of wind erupted from his fist, slamming into Agito, throwing him back, knocking him onto the ground.

Magis walked towards Agito, shaking his head, "You are a fool, whoever you are," he said simply.

"How am I a fool?" hissed Agito in question.

"You see, when you make one of us turn against the others, then you've really done it. You've really angered the team, caused the entire hatred to focus on you and you alone. Not the normal hatred of an enemy who will slaughter the innocents, but rather, a new, unfathomable hatred. You're done, you have no chance to escape alive," Magis threatened.

"Oh, don't I?" hissed Agito, laughing, "Do you know who I am?"

"No," Magis said.

"The great Agito!" Agito screamed, throwing his right arm forward, dropping his weapon. His arm pulsed and unleashed a quick burst into Magis, who had no chance to protect himself. But this wasn't an attack; it was a chance into Magis's mind.


Agri and Cesare pinned Rei down with Earth and Ice on her limbs, while Eri used her powers on the trapped Toa of Lightning. Eri shook her head, "No; I can't break through whatever this is on her. It's not something my healing abilities can overcome. Maybe it's mental?"

"Mind control?" questioned Hoji.

"Perhaps," she replied, "I don't know."

Hoji drew his sword up, drawing a Rouze Card, "I'm going to take a shot at that enemy of ours. If we can defeat him, we can save her with ease, don't you think?"

"I believe so," replied Eri.

Hoji nodded, slashing two cards quickly.

"Scope"

"Ice"

Hoji lifted his sword, looking down the blade as a scope displayed before his eyes. A powerful burst of Ice focused on the tip of his weapon, and then was released, flying down the alley towards Agito.

"Do it!" hissed Agito.

Magis stood in front of the attack, throwing his arms to his sides to completely shield Agito. He was ready to die for this attack. But why?

Agito grinned, "You can't kill me! I have subordinates! Your own comrades!"

"You're the fool," hissed Hoji.

Magis took the dart to his chest, stumbling back, but making no moves. The blow wasn't lethal, fortunately, but the force may have ripped too much of his body apart, unfortunately.

"You see, my control is complete when I get into someone's mind," hissed Agito, throwing his arms out to his sides to show his grand scale, "This man is mine!"

"No, he's not," hissed Hoji.

Magis span around, ramming his palm into Agito's throat. Agito glared down at him in shock and anger. Then he questioned, "What are you doing, slave?"

"You caused my body to become marred?" hissed Magis, "I may hate this body, but I won't allow it to take such a grievous wound! For such disgust to be displayed upon my armor! My body!"

A massive blast of Air tore out of his palm, slashing through Agito's throat. He stumbled back, gripping his throat in his hands, gasping out, crying out in pain. He fell to his knees, "How…how was my control bested by such a foolish mindset?"

"You're the one who plays mind games," muttered Rei, rising to her feet as the prisons were withdrawn. She lowered her rod at him, "You may play mind games, you may manipulate emotions and the mental states of people…but you fail to understand the personal drives and convictions of each of us, don't you?"

"What?" hissed Agito.

"What caused that violent streak in me?" questioned Rei.

"What?" demanded Agito.

"What did you do to me?"

"I found violence inside of your mind, and released it, multiplied it. That's what," Agito told her.

"What violence?" Hoji questioned Rei.

"I got sick of all of you asking if I was ok with losing the second in command position. All of you questioning me if I was lying when I said I was
ok with it, that I was even pleased to be relieved of that position. It was small anger, but he caused greater violence to come out of it. Magis, what did he do to you?"

"Different ability, I think," Magis stated, holding his wound as Eri ran over to heal him. He nodded to her and then looked up to Rei, "He simply seemed to control my mind. Completely different."

"So, he's a manipulative one, is he?" questioned Hoji, drawing his sword up and ignoring the Rouze Cards that he had stored. He walked forward, aiming his tip at Agito, "Look, you play mind games, but I don't believe you truly know who we are, do you?"

"I know you are my enemies, but that's all," Agito admitted, "I was recently released to fight you. I don't know much."

"Then shall we?" asked Rei.

Magis nodded his thanks to Eri and threw his hands out, drawing his weapons to himself with his Air powers. They all stood in a line, facing the mortally wounded Agito. If he was a mind game player, someone who thought of himself as a higher being who didn't understand who the Toa were, or what they were about, or indeed, who his enemies were, then they would show him. They would make sure he knew before he died.

Hoji swung his sword out to his side, twisted his wrist so the blade was up, and then slashed it down at an angle across the front of his body; the sword covered in flames. He looked up above the flaming sword, "The exploding heated passion! Toa Hoji!"

Agri stood with his feet together, his right side facing the group of enemies. He lowered his weapon, looking out over the top barrel. He span around, dropping to a knee, lifting the weapon and bracing his left arm against the guard of the blaster weapon, looking up at them, "The exploding strength! Toa Agri!"

Magis crossed his arms, sighting, showing no enthusiasm, yet he mustered up the strength in his voice as he brought his head up, "The exploding gale! Toa Magis!"

Eri lifted her left arm up and drew her sword across the fin weapon; running the flats together. As her blade went above the fin weapon, she drew her left arm down and slashed the blade down, looking over the edge and the tip, "The exploding waves! Toa Eri!"

Rei lifted her rod weapon, summoning a bolt of Lightning to come down and strike it. She drew it down and up across the bottom of her raised left arm; perpendicular with her body. She swung her left foot back, twisted her body, and lowered the rod weapon, "The exploding sensation! Toa Rei!"

Cesare swung his axe out to his side, his arm behind his body. His left hand came up, clenching into a fist in front of his face. He threw that arm out to the side, span around, and as he lifted his axe, slashed it down, looking up as he slashed down, "The exploding tundra! Toa Cesare!"

"Six Toa now one, determined to destroy the evils plaguing this island! We are the Toa Cyril Nova!"

"Am I to be impressed?" hissed Agito, taking up his weapon and racing forward, despite the pain telling him to stop.

Cesare rushed forward first, slashing two Rouze Cards. They rang out as he reached Agito.

"Lightning"

"Slash"

A massive slash of Lightning crashed through Agito as Cesare stepped through. Agito cried out, gripping his chest in his free hand. He looked up at Agri, who was next, leveling both of his blasters into his foe's chest.

Agito took it all from the four barrels firing simultaneously into his chest. He was thrown back as Agri rolled aside. Eri rushed up next, slashing her large blade into his chest, followed up by a jab from her arm mounted blade.

Agito stumbled forward, and then came Hoji, shooting forward on his jets, using his power to propel himself. He held his blade in both hands and slashed through the wound, cutting past Agito, causing more sparks to fly from his chest. As he stumbled around, he lost his grip of his weapon. He looked up to see Rei in front of him, ramming the tip of her weapon into his chest, unleashing Lightning pointblank.

"This is for what you did to me!" she screamed, blasting him back, towards Magis, who was standing back behind him, near Cesare.

"This is for controlling me!" he shouted, leaping forward, slashing with both his claw and his large blade, using some of his Air powers to spin and slice at Agito, dropping him to the ground. He span around, leveling his blade down in Agito's general direction, "No one controls me! No one impedes my duty in life!"

"Duty in life?" hissed Agito, "I didn't see that in your mind…"

"My duty is to be magnificent. To do what I do with a certain level of flair and greatness," Magis said, "You wouldn't find that, because it's simply habit now, not a thought."

"I've seen many minds, but yours is the first like that," Agito muttered, managing to rise again, "I'll find it this time!" he threw his arm forward to reach out for Magis's mind, to get himself a new puppet.

Cesare leapt up, his energy wings flying out. He came flying down at Agito, sending a powerless kick into the enemy, who stumbled towards Hoji, who had his hand up.

The Dragon Missile flew down into his grip. He rammed the curved, claw-like end into Agito's chest, shaking his head.

"Goodbye," he said coldly, pulling the trigger.

The massive eruption of Fire remained just a bright, shining light as it struggled to overpower Agito. He held his ground, keeping the flames confined very closely to himself and to Hoji. But soon, they overcame him, washing over his body, burning him to nothing.

Only his weapon remained where he had dropped it. Already Rei was crouching to examine it, when something fell out of the center.

"Hoji!" she called.

He threw the Dragon Missile into the air, where it flew away from him. He rushed over, crouching, "What is it?"

It was a square object filled with strange carvings, much like the cylindrical object that Hoji had found. There were no signs on this object that it would fit with the cylinder, except for a small groove on each of the ends, but that told them nothing.

"Another one of those objects?" questioned Agri, "But why would this guy have it?"

"I don't know," Hoji replied, standing up, "But we'll find the rest of these things, and we'll do our best to find out."

Magis grabbed Rei's shoulder, nodding to her, "Come on, let's go."

She nodded to him and followed. She had shown her true feelings to her team that she was indeed fine with her replacement, while Magis had revealed that he had transcended thought in more ways than the team thought he could have, showing each of them a bit of his hidden depths.


"All things must come to an end. Bandiaca's attacks met their end, someday the Phantasmal Raiders will realize they are at their end. Or is that time approaching, with their quiet? But for now…let us let the Three Virtues guide us. Next time: "Chapter 10: Changing the Guard" My turn!"

Review

Edited by Lord Koji, Jan 31 2012 - 08:42 PM.

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 10: Changing the Guard

“Who released Agito?” hissed Uva, looking at Sagarc and Gamel. His gaze lingered on Sagarc for a few moments before continuing onto Gamel, where it lingered for moments, then returned to Sagarc.

“You think I did it?” questioned Sagarc in irritation, “Why would I upset the status quo by releasing that monster?”

“He was your old partner,” Uva reminded, “There’s a reason.”

“He’s a manipulator who plays mind games too powerful for his own good,” Sagarc told Uva, “I would be a fool to release him. When our partnership ended, I took that away from it. I would never release him.”

“Then was it Gamel?” questioned Uva.

“Who is this Agito guy?” Gamel questioned.

“See?” Uva replied.

“He’s playing an act!” Sagarc snapped.

“You wish to formally accuse Gamel?” questioned Uva.

“What are you saying about me?” growled Gamel.

“He could be playing an act,” Sagarc corrected, “Look, maybe it wasn’t one of us. Maybe it was another of our warriors.”

“How many know where Agito was imprisoned?” Uva challenged, “Jaki and Raia. Raia is dead.”

“Someone could have found him,” Gamel commented, despite not really knowing much of the conversation.

“That is true,” Sagarc nodded, “Then it becomes a matter of finding whoever did that.”

“Why would he go after the Toa?” questioned Uva smugly, smiling as he realized it, “Why wouldn’t he come after us for revenge? I sealed him, after all. You betrayed him, Sagarc, and I used my powers to seal him. You helped. We’re both targets. What did the Toa ever do to him?”

“Maybe whoever freed him convinced him to try to get on our good side again,” Sagarc offered, shrugging, “I don’t know!”

“Would we let him back on our good sides? No,” Uva shook his head, “Why would he want to be on our good sides anyway? What could he gain from being a soldier, when he could have been a leader?”

“Fine, I see your point,” Sagarc said, “Are you accusing me yet?”

“I do think it was you…but I trust you,” Uva said, shaking his head, “For now, I’m watching you, but no harm was done to our ranks. But you did show that you could be plotting against us,” he referenced himself and Gamel, “If it was you, that is. I’m watching you.”

“I would do the same,” Sagarc said, “In fact, I’m watching you now! You may have released him!”

“Me?” Uva hissed.

“Yes, you. You’re trying to throw suspicion away from yourself by accusing us! So I’m watching you as you watch me.”

“Very well, then,” Uva stated, walking away.

“Where are you going?” Sagarc questioned.

“I’m going to check in on our armies,” he replied, “Maybe get ‘Forte’ ready to attack. I don’t know. We need to do something, though.”

Uva walked away, leaving Gamel and Sagarc alone. Sagarc walked out another way, “I’ll prep Bashaa for the attack,” he said.

Gamel didn’t know what to do, but he left anyway to find a warrior, perhaps, or to ask someone about Agito, since he was curious.


“I don’t know what it is,” Turaga Gorma replied, looking at the strange object in hand, “Just like last time, I haven’t an idea.”

“I figured as much,” Hoji admitted, sitting down, fingering both objects, but not seeing any relation to any carvings or anything about the objects.

“Hoji, could you join me for a moment?” Gorma asked, walking to the sand circle that they used for ancient traditions. It was in this circle that they found that Destiny desired Cesare to serve with them on the same team. Now, Gorma wanted to do something with it once more, and needed a Toa to help him.

“What are you trying to do?” questioned Hoji.

“Something’s been annoying me in the back of my mind,” Gorma admitted, “I want to see what it is.”

“You think this will tell you?” Hoji asked.

“Don’t question the powers of the circle,” Gorma told Hoji.

“Sorry,” Hoji apologized, “I won’t.” He had seen it do things that defied physics and gravity when they were trying to see Cesare’s destiny. Or at least, it came close to defying physics and gravity if it never did.

The two sat on opposite sides of the circle. Six stones in the center, each representing one of the Toa Cyril. But what possible purpose could they being playing now in this pit of sand where Destiny revealed Itself?

“Destiny can be personified,” Gorma stated, looking across the sand into Hoji’s eyes.

“Personified?” questioned the Toa of Fire.

“Yes. I believe Destiny can reveal everything It wants, if only people would listen. Destiny is always speaking.”

“Is that what that feeling you got was?” questioned Hoji.

Gorma shrugged, “We’re going to find out if that was Destiny talking to me,” he said, looking at the sand pit. He held his hand out, “Each stone is marked with the symbol of your Elemental Power,” he told Hoji, “If you Toa are involved, we find out here.”

“Why would we be involved?” questioned Hoji, “Something good or bad? So things aren’t going to continue?”

“Things aren’t going to continue as they have been,” Gorma said, “If this is Destiny, no. Now, let’s find out exactly what is happening.”

They watched the stones for a few moments, and then three of them simply fell. Hoji sprang to his feet in shock at this event, for they all fell at once, and three new stones rose from the sands.

“Those weren’t there before!” hissed Gorma.

Hoji crouched back down, reaching for the three fallen stones. He looked at them all in turn, then looked up to Gorma, “Eri, Rei, and myself,” he commented, “What does it mean?”

“I think it means…Destiny doesn’t want you here anymore. Stay…stay and die…” Gorma muttered.


“Why did you call us here?” questioned Magis.

The six Toa stood near the circle of sand, but none paid attention to it. They didn’t really like the mysticism of it, or the idea that Destiny spoke through it. For the most part, it just disturbed them by thinking about it.

“Look, something happened,” Hoji commented, holding up the three stones.

“Were you guys playing in the sand?” questioned Magis irritably. The sand and stones were what caused Cesare to join the team while he was against it. Sure, things were different now, and he appreciated Cesare, but he still had a sore spot for that pit.

"We must remove ourselves from play," Hoji said, "Destiny has nothing pertaining to us in this fight anymore. If we hope to win, the three of us most go."

“Three?” questioned Rei.

“Yes,” replied Hoji, “You, Eri, and myself.”

“Me too?” questioned Eri in shock, “Why? This island…this island is my penance! I can’t go!”

“I think Destiny is stronger in will,” replied Hoji, “I don’t think Destiny or whatever you’re giving penance for will mind too much…if it’s Destiny, after all.”

“What makes you decide we’re going?” questioned Rei, “Some stones? This is our home! Our place to prove ourselves and protect the people!”

“I’d love to stay,” commented Hoji, “But we can’t. If we do, I fear Destiny will correct itself and see to our deaths. At least this way we can live and do good on other islands, and hopefully return someday.”

“Fine,” said Eri, “But what about our replacements?”

“I believe this is where I come in,” said Gorma, pointing to his Kanohi, “The Noble Fexuba will allow me to find those who have the destiny to become Toa. I can find them.”

“Three replacements…,” muttered Cesare, crouching by the pit, looking at the three new stones, “Unmarked.”

“Then the first three we find are our new teammates?” questioned Agri.

Hoji shrugged, “I would assume so,” he walked towards Cesare, “I guess you’re leader now.”

“That makes me second,” Agri said.

“I’m going to go and begin the search,” Gorma said, “Please, come with me, everyone. It may be the last time we’re all together.”

The seven figures walked out of the temple for the last time together as they were now. Maybe they would do it again to see their three friends off, but things would be different then, if that’s how it went.

“Tell me something,” Hoji said to Gorma, “How goes the political system?”

“I’m losing,” Gorma said, “Fides is still winning.”

“You’ll win,” Hoji said, “You will become Turaga of the island. I’m certain of it. We’ll help you, if it’s the last thing we do on this island.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Gorma told Hoji.

There was silence among the seven figures as they walked through the streets, a truly unusual procession. Some Matoran were going off to work, some returning, some going to buy supplies and the like. As they walked through the slightly crowded streets, Gorma continued to shake his head.

There was a lot of island to cover, but after the first twenty minutes, it became disheartening as there was nothing.

Finally, a signal.

Gorma ran ahead, forcing the others to run after him. They all stopped in front of a Ki-Matoran, a Matoran of Crystal. This Matoran looked up, rather confused by the group gathered around him.

“May I help you?” he asked as he was walking towards a residency, an apartment in the large buildings where many Matoran lived.

“You have the ability to become a Toa,” Gorma said.

“I do?” he questioned, his dull eyes brightening. Then he shook his head, “How do you know that? You’re one of the Turaga vying for power, aren’t you?”

“He’s telling the truth,” Hoji said, “Turaga Gorma here is the best choice for the island, because he’s honest! His Kanohi is telling him that you’re to become a Toa! And…and we need more Toa.”

“A mission of danger…and of respect from the other Matoran?” questioned the Matoran, looking down for a few moments, “How…how do I know you’re all telling the truth, and haven’t just sold out to a Turaga?”

“Because we’ve protected all of you for so long, please, trust us,” Eri said.

“Ok,” he said, nodding, “I’ll come with you. I’m Garren, by the way.”

They continued to search, Garren now in tow. They hoped to find the other two quickly, and were pleased to find their next new Toa within about five minutes. He was a He-Matoran, a Matoran of Storms.

“Chalice,” he introduced himself, “Toa? It sounds dangerous…so it sounds fun. I’ll come with you guys,” he said, smiling the entire time, while the Toa wondered about his comment, and if he was Toa material, but they couldn’t judge the Kanohi Fexuba.

Finally, they found a Ga-Matoran by the opposite side of the island, looking out to the ocean. She turned to them, surprised by the group standing there.

“You want me to become a Toa?” she questioned, her eyes brightening. She leapt to her feet, “Yes! I’ll do it! Yes! Oh, I’m Larc. Thank you! I don’t know how this works…but thank you!”

As they walked back towards the temple, Gorma went on ahead with Garren, Chalice and Larc, leaving the six Toa to the back, to speak alone for perhaps the last time.

“What do you think of them?” questioned Cesare.

As Hoji returned his borrowed Rouze Cards to the Toa of Ice, he shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“I like them…except for Chalice,” commented Rei.

Eri nodded, “Yeah…and Larc, she seems too excited for this job. Doesn’t she know what it entails?”

“Well…everything is up to them now,” Hoji said solemnly.


Hoji, Eri and Rei held out their hands, focusing their powers into three stones before them. These Toa Stones would be where the three Matoran gained their powers and forms from, but it would cost Hoji, Eri and Rei more than any of them wanted it to.

But surprisingly, as their powers drained, they returned to normal. Not Turaga, but rather the Toa Cyril, only losing their Nova powers. They looked in shock at their bodies, which still had their new weaponry, but otherwise, they were normal again.

“Do you want to stay and watch?” Gorma asked as the three Matoran prepared to transform.

“Yeah, we’ll stay,” Hoji said, gripping his curved sword. He turned to Cesare, holding it out, “A parting gift, from one leader to another.”

“Then have my Rouze Axe,” Cesare said, removing all of his Rouze Cards and gripping the sword that Hoji offered. Hoji took the axe from Cesare, nodding and smiling as a last gesture between friends.

As he slung the Rouze Axe onto his back, and the Dragon Missile flew over to him to depart with him, the three Toa watched as the three Matoran gripped the Toa Stones. Power flowed into each of them. As the power transferred, each of the three Toa reflected back on moments of their pasts on the island.

Rei remembered finding the island, finding Hoji, after losing her friends. After failing her duty. She remembered finding comrades here, and how she was accepted, only to now have to leave.

Eri remembered finding this place as penance, and growing to love it and have to defend it, not as a penance, but as a duty, as something she cared about. She would grow to truly miss the sins that this place had.

Then Hoji. He recalled his first finding of this island, and how it meant a chance to repay his losing of his friend, Hyak. But now Hyak was dead, and he was leaving this place. Maybe it was time to move on.


“An enemy who threatens to utterly destroy our new team appears! His name is Kiva, and he may just do as he was sent to do. But we’re Toa…we can stop him. I know my words are naïve, but with these rookies, sometimes they must be. Next time: “Chapter 11: The Strongest Power, Part 1” Here I go.”

Review

Edited by Lord Koji, Feb 06 2012 - 07:00 PM.

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 11: The Strongest Power, Part 1

Chalice, Toa of Storms, appeared with orange armored feet, gray legs with orange armor above the knees. On top of this was light brown armor, with a gray body above. Overlaying his chest was orange armor, where the center of the chest had yellow armor over the top. His arms were covered in primarily brown armor, with some yellow just below the shoulders, and yellow armored hands. He had brown neck armor along with a sleek, brown Kanohi mask.

In his right hand he carried a large mace-like weapon. The thick end span around as he would generate his powers, and below the hand there was a curved part of the shaft, with a blade on it. The longer blade continued down at a bit of an angle, while the shorter came out just a bit farther past the hand.

In a moment, he transformed into his Nova form, utilizing the remaining powers of the Nova energies to transform him from a normal Toa into much more.

Now his orange armored feet were more defined and larger, with yellow ankles and gray legs, with the same orange and brown armor as well. His chest was still gray, with a thick piece of bladed orange armor just off of the legs over his lower chest, while he had a rounded piece above that, ending around his breast area. He had a brown neck, leading up to a sleek orange Kanohi mask.

His arms started with brown armor as before, but were now more muscular looking below. He had yellow armor just above the elbows, and yellow gauntlets. His weapons were two curved and serrated shortswords, curved out with the serrated blades facing out, the actual blades of the weapons on the inside.

Garren became a blue and white armored Toa of Crystal. His feet were white, and then his legs blue, with white armor overlaying just before his knees. He had light gray armor after his knees, with blue overlaying. He had white armor low and blue high on his chest, with a larger white sheet of armor overlaying it all. His arms were blue with larger white overlay, and then white with gray gauntlets. His neck was white, with a blue and silver streamlined Kanohi with a fanged mouth.

In each hand he wielded the same weapon; a hooked blade curling down, with the actual blade on the inside, for more of a blunt punch. In a moment, however, he began to change into a Toa Nova.

He had wide and strong blue feet, with white armor going up to his knees. Just above his feet he had bladed blue armor curving over the sides, hanging down. His armor above his knees was light gray, with blue armor on the sides, sleek in design. He had white armor, then blue on his upper chest. He had a large white and slightly clawed piece of armor overlaying his entire chest, with blue armor on his upper arms, blue lower arms, and gray hands. He had white claw armor curling back off his upper arms, and white armor overlaying his inner arms after the elbows.

He had the same sleek silver and blue Kanohi, but it was larger, more ‘mature’, with larger fangs and more detail. In each hand he held a shield-like weapon of two curled blades, creating what could be called a square, utilizing them as a cutting, punching and defensive weapon in each hand.

Then there was Larc, Toa of Water. Light blue, wide feet with small claws with dark blue, thin legs rose up to the light blue armor above the knees, with triple bladed fins running down. She had dark blue chest armor, with a wider piece of dark blue armor over the top. Her arms were light blue armor with wider, flat dark blue armor on the sides, and muscular dark blue armored arms below the elbows. She had light blue gauntlets, a dark blue neck, and a dark blue sleek Kanohi mask.

In her right hand she wielded a transparent sword with a large, almost wedge-like blade, with a sloped guard coming over her hand. But in a moment, the Nova energies were taking over, transforming her once more.

As a Toa Nova, she carried more armor and a more commanding presence. She had the same feet, but her legs had become more powerfully built. She had the wide, flat armor on the sides above her knees, rather than the fins coming down. She had a wide blue piece of armor giving her more protection over her chest, with breast armor coming and sloping in.

Her arms began as light blue, with thick, pointed armor above the elbows, and dark blue armor below the elbow, with light blue gauntlets yet again. She carried a double sided blade that curled out, almost like a bladed bow. She had a strong looking Kanohi mask on her face in dark blue. Not as sleek as before, but sturdier, like her armor.

And with that, the new guard had arrived, and the old guard of Hoji, Rei and Eri were departing the island.


“I need someone strong to go out,” Uva hissed.

“So you came to me,” commented a gruff voice, “You made the best choice you could have, Uva.”

“I believe Sagarc is attempting something. What, I don’t know,” commented Uva, “But whatever it is, I don’t fully trust him.”

“And you think I hold no pre-standing arrangements with Sagarc or Gamel?” questioned the shadowed warrior, standing beside a large piece of coral which was currently providing him his darkness in which he thrived.

Uva looked at him, his eyes studying the familiar outline of this warrior. He nodded to him, knowing that to lie to this man would mean his death. He had to admit everything, or he was doomed. Lie and be discovered, and not even his powers could save him from the wrath of Kiva.

“I do fear that Sagarc could have done something, yes, I admit that,” said Uva with some reluctance, not wishing to overplay his hand should Kiva be working for Sagarc, and should Sagarc be planning some sort of coup d’état. But he had to say something, that much was a certainty. He had to say more, in order to attempt to gain the trust of this warrior, in order to attempt to sway him.

“I also believe that you are our strongest warrior, Kiva,” Uva stated, “There was Agito, and someone released him. I believe it was Sagarc. He won’t admit to it, however. We’re at each other’s throats. If one Raider does something, then the others are going to jump on him as a traitor for acting without consent.”

“A very bad position for all of you to be in. Teetering on the edge of life and death itself. One wrong move ends a life, either the life of the supposed traitor, or the life of the attacker, in self defense. Regardless, it comes down to speed, ability, and sharpness of one’s blade. Like all things in life. But tell me, Uva, is your blade sharper? Is your ability greater? Is your speed the highest?”

“Should Sagarc attack, I could kill him,” Uva hissed in annoyance. He was the one in command here! How dare Kiva think he could talk like this to him! He was nothing but an underling! A soldier! He knew nothing of the politics, of the balance of power that the three Phantasmal Raiders held with each other!

“Are you absolutely certain that you could do that?” questioned Kiva, “You may think yourself a warrior, but you are not one,” Kiva shook his head in the darkness. The outline of him against the dark shadow of the coral stood out to Uva, “You are a leader. But again, not a good one.”

“Whose side are you on?” shouted Uva, lifting his weapon in threat, though he knew it would be no good. His powers also weren’t going to be enough. Kiva was faster and stronger; he would strike before Uva could do anything.

“I am on my own side!” growled Kiva in anger, the tip of his blade emerging from the darkness, the silver tip showing a small shine.

“Fine, fine,” Uva said, taking a few steps back, “Will you help me, however?”

“I shall help you,” Kiva growled, walking out of the shadows, “What is the first move I am to make?” he questioned, ready to take orders. He was his own man, his own warrior, but he was unfamiliar with the current situation. He didn’t follow the conversations of the Phantasmal Raiders or the others. He didn’t really care. But now was his time to fight, so he would take the information and fight.

“We have some knowledge to give you,” Uva told him, “Knowledge that none before you will have had.”

“How is that so?” questioned Kiva with interest glazing over his crimson eyes.

“That is our secret. A secret shared by the three of us Phantasmal Raiders,” stated Uva, smiling grimly, like a smug snake, “But I can give you the information that we now have. I know it will be of use.”

“Then tell me,” Kiva stated.


“Two days and nothing!” complained Chalice, Toa of Storms, as he returned from his patrol, shaking his head in dismay and disappointment.

“You want a fight?” questioned Larc calmly, shaking her head.

“How were you chosen as a Toa?” questioned Garren, Toa of Crystal, “You only want to fight! You only want danger! That’s not what being a Toa is about!”

“We’re supposed to protect the Matoran. I want to do that. I can’t protect them if there’s nothing to protect them from!” Chalice shouted.

“You want a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts, then?” questioned Larc, “You want a fight just so you can do your job? You can’t take relief in the fact that there are no threats, and the Matoran are genuinely safe? What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m a man of action! I always have been!” Chalice said proudly, “That’s why I want something to happen!”

“Something will happen soon enough,” stated Cesare as he walked towards them, Hoji’s sword on his waist. He kept his hand resting on the weapon’s hilt, as if to remember his former leader. He was the leader now. He had to keep these new Toa in line as best as he could. But he felt that Hoji could do it better. Hoji had done it before, but Cesare was just as scarred as he was, in some ways. Hoji had lost a friend; Cesare had fallen to the enemy for the sake of doing it.

They both had their own scars. They both had their own setbacks in life. If Hoji could take his and turn them into fuel for leading a team, then so could Cesare.

“If you really want a fight,” Cesare said, drawing his sword free and facing the curved tip out at the three new Toa, “Then fight me.”

“I’m not going to fight you, Cesare,” said Chalice, backing away a bit.

“What? You want a fight, so why not me? Am I not good enough? Am I too good? Do you doubt your skills that much?”

“I don’t want to fight my leader!” Chalice shouted at him.

“You need to keep your skills sharp,” Cesare told him, “So fight me.”

“I hate to interrupt, but we have a situation,” Agri said, rushing in with Magis at his side. Agri was second in command now, having moved up in rank when Hoji, Eri and Rei left the team. He was drawing his blaster weapon, “Big trouble,” he stated.

“What sort of trouble?” questioned Cesare.

“Bashaa, a lot of them. And a large soldier,” Magis told him, “The usual. Except the soldier is bigger, as I stated, and there are more Bashaa than usual.”

“Right,” Cesare said, looking back at the three Toa, “Chalice, you wanted a fight, here it comes for you!”

The three Toa ran after their three teachers, into the structure next to the temple. They each mounted on their cycle vehicles, shooting off into the city.


“That’s right,” hissed Kiva, “Destroy everything!”

The Bashaa were all around, slashing at buildings, attempting to cut away at the structures, but they weren’t doing much. They were breaking into the buildings, pulling Matoran out and executing them in the streets. Any strugglers were killed inside their homes or businesses.

As the six Toa arrived and dismounted, they ran forward, getting a look at the enemy known as Kiva. He was a large black and silver armored whale-like warrior, the most powerful looking enemy that any of them had seen yet.

He had large, thickly armored legs in black and light gray, with large two pronged clawed feet. He had thicker black armor overlaying his legs, strengthening them. He had silver armor on the sides, mixed in with the extra black. From his lower body, he had a large sheet of black and gray armor curling down, protecting the tops of his legs, as well as the weaker part of his chest. He had another piece of the same armor overlaying it, covering his thickly built black chest.

His arms were thickly built and muscled, with each one having a large silver blade like a claw curling back, along with armor on the sides to give extra protection. In his right hand, he held a sword with a thick guard. The blade itself was fairly small, like a dagger to this warrior. The left hand clutched a large curved shield, that looked like it could double as a fist weapon.

His head was elongated, with silvery tentacles coming off of the back, but only two of them. He had a few razor-sharp fangs coming out of his wide mouth, with horns coming off of the top of his head, and two crimson eyes inset partially on the sides of his head, burning with rage, anger, and the desire to kill, as ordered.

“I’ve got this guy!” Cesare shouted, slashing a Rouze Card, and then a second.

“Lightning”

“Drill”

A drill of Lightning erupted around his sword. He slid forward, thrusting the weapon in at Kiva’s chest, ready to end it in one move.

Kiva didn’t show anything on his face. He didn’t move to block the attack or do anything. He took the powerful Lightning attack to his chest, but didn’t flinch, didn’t show pain.

No sparks flew as contact was made. No burn marks from the damage. Kiva simply looked down at his foe, his burning eyes showing no rage, just the desire to fight.

He threw his shield forward, smashing it into Cesare, knocking him back. He thrust his weapon forward, but Kiva lifted his sword, blocking. He punched again, knocking Cesare back, and then lunged forward, slashing his weapon down, cutting Cesare down his chest. Sparks flew from the first moment the blade touched Cesare’s armor, to the last moment when it left his armor. He fell to a knee, a dark burn mark running down his chest. He was panting, glaring up at Kiva and lifting his sword, thrusting it forward with a shout.

Kiva kicked Cesare, taking him down before contact could be made.

“Cesare!” screamed Chalice, running forward. He leapt up, coming down with both of his curved blades facing at Kiva, ready to drive the serrated blades into the sides of Kiva’s neck. He was powering his weapons with some of his powers; Lightning flickering around his weapons, winds erupting around both of them, buffeting Kiva.

Kiva whipped his left arm out at the last moment, smashing his shield into Chalice’s chest, throwing the Toa Cyril Nova of Storms aside, smashing him into a building. Shards of brick flew out on impact, landing as rubble all around Chalice, some of it landing atop him, starting to bury him from the pure impact and damage caused.

Kiva ignored the two downed Toa, moving towards the other four, ready to continue his mission.


“Kiva has defeated us. There is nothing we can do to stop him. We’ve tried all we know, but he appears to have no weakness. How can that be? But we must persist. We must…use the strongest powers of our arsenal. Next time: “Chapter 12: The Strongest Power, Part 2” Here I go.”

Review

Edited by Lord Koji, Feb 09 2012 - 10:54 PM.

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 12: The Strongest Power, Part 2

Garren ran at Kiva after punching through a Bashaa. He leapt forward, shouting, spawning Crystal blades from each fist, utilizing his shield-like weapons as ‘hilts’ for his newly spawned blades.

He thrust them forward, but Kiva blocked each with one of his weapons. He plunged his arms aside, smashing the Crystals with brute strength. He kneed Garren once in the chest, then backhanded him with the guard of his sword, knocking Garren to the ground, unconscious.

“Rookies shouldn’t try me,” Kiva growled to Garren.

“How does he know that Garren was a rookie?” questioned Magis as he and Agri fought back-to-back against a troop of Bashaa, both of them using their Blade Blasters in sword mode.

“Maybe the Raiders told him who the team was, and since he doesn’t see three of our number, he just guessed,” Agri suggested, “I do agree, it is odd.”

“I don’t know if that’s how he figured it out,” muttered Magis, cutting a Bashaa down. Three more took its place, rushing in, “There’s no end to these guys!” complained Magis with a shout of grief.

Next it was Larc’s turn to attack. She was the only Toa still standing who could actually reach Kiva. She lifted her bow weapon, dropping to a single knee and firing, focusing her Water powers, creating arrows of her element, sending them flying at Kiva. As he approached, no attack did any damage. She cursed and drew her Blade Blaster into her left hand, opening fire, but the energy blasts did nothing.

She flipped it into sword mode and ran forward, slashing with both her bladed bow weapon and her Blade Blaster, but Kiva blocked both on his shield. He shoved her back and then slashed her down the chest, taking her down with a shout, creating a shower of sparks on the moment of impact, leaving a long burn line down her chest as she fell to the ground.

Kiva pushed onward, towards the only two remaining Toa. Agri and Magis ended their fights quickly, creating bursts of their powers to cut down the attackers. They both rushed towards Kiva, keeping distance. Agri opened fire with his blaster, sending the repeating blasts at him, while Magis unleashed blasts of Air, sending pressurized bursts forward.

The attacks continued to strike. Nothing happened. Agri even threw in blasts of Earth, but nothing happened. Kiva was too resilient to their attacks, somehow. Nothing even scratched him. How could that be? What sort of power did this warrior have?

Kiva was like an avenging spirit, come to haunt the Toa for slaying so many of his comrades in the past. How could they fight that, if that was what he truly was? As absurd as it sounded, Magis and Agri were starting to wonder if that could be the truth as they continued to back away and open fire constantly. Kiva never increased his pace. He continued to take blows, but nothing ever happened to him. Was he even a mortal being?

The Bashaa weren’t doing anything anymore. Most were dead. Because of Kiva’s pace, the two could pick off Bashaa as they went, making sure that the undersea grunts wouldn’t continue to murder the Matoran. It was the least they could do, if they couldn’t do anything to Kiva himself.

Soon, Chalice was back up and rushing at Kiva from behind, shouting a battle cry, actually giving himself away with his shouts. Kiva never turned.

“Do you know who I am?” Chalice screamed, throwing the tips of his weapons together, unleashing a massive Storms blast at Kiva’s back, interlacing all of his powers into one burst.

“The surging force of nature! Toa Chalice!”

The blast didn’t do anything to Kiva. He was far too resilient, even against such a powerful attack.

Larc was beside him now, shouting her cry, “The crashing surge of the ocean! Toa Larc!”

The combined power of Water didn’t do anything. It didn’t even make him less resistant to the electrical powers of the Storms attack.

Garren was now at their side, “The refined finite cut! Toa Garren!” he screamed, sending shards of Crystal forward to impale and cut through Kiva, but nothing.

“Stand back,” Cesare hissed to them, getting beside them, drawing a series of Rouze Cards as Kiva continued on, not even turning to look at the three Toa who struck from behind. He slashed his cards in turn, hoping that this combination would work.

“Lightning”

“Fire”

“Ice”

“Air”

“Slash”

The first four together triggered a technique that Cesare referred to as the Elemental Barrage, his strongest technique. As it was, it would be a massive outburst of the four powers to be released as it was; a pointblank slash. With the Slash card, he would extend the powers as a massive blade of energy, allowing for a more powerful and ranged attack. Cesare ran forward, lifting his sword high as it glowed with yellow, red, white and pale green energies. He slammed the blade down at Kiva’s head, hoping to do some damage.

Nothing happened.

“My strongest power…it didn’t work…,” cursed Cesare, dropping his weapon as the power returned to his Rouze Cards, “What…what can we do?”

“Nova Blast?” questioned Chalice.

“No. That would kill too many innocents,” replied Cesare simply, shaking his head, “We need a new plan. Fast.”

Magis shouted, throwing his hand forward, attempting to cut off Kiva’s air supply, but it didn’t work. As soon as he tried, Kiva raced at him, beating him with his shield and the hilt of his sword, making him drop his concentration to allow Kiva to breathe again. In this time, Agri would dodge back and fire, not that it would actually do anything.

“This guy is just too strong!” shouted Agri, “We need to fall back! Now!”

Cesare nodded, “Yeah! Everyone, retreat! To base!”

“But…that’s not what Toa do!” Chalice complained, “We have to keep fighting!”

“We die if we fight this guy!” shouted Cesare, “Not right now. Right now, we retreat and plan. Got that, rookie?” he growled, grabbing Chalice by his shoulder, drawing him in close, looking with outrage into his subordinate’s eyes. Cesare wasn’t one to anger that easily, but these rookies, especially Chalice, were getting on his nerves as of late.

“Got it,” muttered Chalice as Cesare released him. They raced back to their vehicles, driving off. Magis and Agri were the last to escape with their vehicles, but they got away while Kiva continued to walk. He simply walked. He didn’t even pay attention to which way the Toa were going.

He knew where he was going.


“Turaga, do you have any advice?” questioned Larc quickly as Gorma paced around.

“Silent, child! I cannot think with you constantly asking me!” Gorma snapped, shaking his head to her in dismay at her impatience. She was a Toa of Water. She should be calmer, shouldn’t she? And she was a rookie, so he should have been able to forgive her quick questioning, her almost demanding tone, with how dire the situation was. But he wasn’t in the mood.

“Do you know where he is?” Cesare asked Magis again as the Toa rushed back into the temple to give his report before he would go out and keep watch again, all the while thinking of plans while out alone.

“He knows where we are. That’s certain,” Magis said, shaking his head, “He’s on his way here. He’ll be here in maybe five minutes. We have to stop him! But…”

“What?” questioned Cesare.

“How vulnerable is he to all of our weapons?” questioned Magis, “I’d rather not touch him; his armor looks a bit slimy. But, he took all of our ranged attacks, yet he blocked Chalice’s melee attack. Do you think that means he’s vulnerable to melee attacks?”

“It’s a good theory,” replied Cesare, “We’ll have to try simple melee attacks on him. But we still need another plan, in the chance that that doesn’t work. Anything, anyone? Give me some good news!”

“No joy,” Agri muttered.

“I’ve got nothing,” Garren agreed.

Larc and Chalice shook their heads to Cesare.

“What about a new combination?” Gorma asked Cesare, finally looking up from the ground, where he looked where he had been thinking.

“New combination?” questioned Cesare, “What do you mean, Turaga?”

“Your Rouze Cards,” he clarified.

“I used my strongest attack, and nothing,” Cesare told him.

“I’ve never heard you comment on your strongest attack before,” Gorma told him.

“I’ve never actually used it, except for once to test it, but that was before Cyril Nui. It was after I got them, but before Bandiaca. The first practical use was against Kiva. Nothing happened.”

“Why did you never use it before?” questioned Gorma.

He shrugged, “Hoji had some of the required cards, for one. And while I was with Bandiaca, and before we defeated her? I don’t know.”

“But what if you and I looked at your cards? There has to be something he’s vulnerable to!” shouted Gorma, “Everyone has a weakness!”

“That doesn’t befit you, Turaga,” muttered Agri, “Such a naive belief. Sure, it seems like everyone should have a weakness, but that’s just wishful thinking. I’m sure you wished that we six had no weaknesses, so that we could better protect the island. But the sad truth of the matter is that we do have weaknesses. I’m certain that Kiva has some, but there’s no point in hoping. After all, what can hope do for us? Matters are already decided; hope can’t do anything.”

“Hope can shape Destiny,” hissed Gorma, “You’d do well to remember that, Agri!”

“Just shut up!” Cesare shouted at them, “Turaga, take my Rouze Cards and do your own looking!” he threw the pile at the Turaga’s feet, “Everyone, keep working on plans. All we have so far to go off of is that he could be vulnerable to physical attacks. The key word being ‘could’. We don’t know anything with any certainty. Remember that! Magis?”

Magis nodded, rushing out. He stopped before getting far, “He’s…he’s here,” he muttered, lifting his claw and large blade.

“How did he know to come here?” muttered Cesare, drawing his sword, “I don’t think the Raiders know where this place is!”

“He obviously knows,” muttered Agri, Blade Blaster extended in sword mode.

The other three stood behind the three more experienced Toa. They had weapons at the ready, all of them ready to make a stand to defend their base.

“We became Toa Nova to defeat stronger enemies,” commented Cesare, “If we can’t defeat this man, we’re a disgrace to the powers that we have been given.”

The others nodded simply. They all raced forward, ready to rush Kiva and hope for a strike to connect, for damage to be done.

Kiva continued to walk towards them. As Cesare, Magis and Agri slid towards him, all of them slashing, he parried. The shield parried Magis’s double slash, while his sword parried first Cesare’s slash, sending his sword aside, where it parried the Blade Blaster.

Larc, Garren and Chalice leapt off of the backs of the other three Toa, each of them ramming a blade into Kiva. The blows connected, but did nothing.

“If…if he’s immune to our physical attacks…then what?” muttered Larc in absolute shock as her blade touched him, but did nothing, even as she pushed all of her strength into it, even backed by momentum.

“None of you can do anything to defeat me,” Kiva told them, “I was chosen to kill you for a reason. I can do it! Easily!”

He pushed them back, rapidly slashing to keep their blades and selves away from him. The Toa must have realized by this point that he had simply blocked physical attacks to either give them false hope, or just because he felt like it. It didn’t actually mean anything.

There was no hope for them. But as Gorma said, hope could shape Destiny, and Destiny governed everything. Destiny decided who would win this conflict. Perhaps hope was what they needed, for without hope, what could they do against someone as powerful as this warrior, Kiva?

Gorma ran out, “Cesare! Take these!” he threw a handful of Rouze Cards forward, but by no means were they all of the cards.

Cesare glanced back as Gorma threw them. He realized that they were only a specific number of cards, and could see Gorma gripping the rest. Why?

Then it hit him. Gorma had figured something out. Cesare ran at Kiva, leapt forward and kicked off of his shield as it went up defensively. His wings projected off of the back of his armor. He shot back, plunging his sword’s tip through each Rouze Card.

“Light”

“Rapid”

“Mach”

“Slash”

“Air”

The combination seemed very strange to Cesare, but Gorma was no fool. He must have chosen it for a reason.

His body erupted into brilliant Light, and his body increased in speed. He flew up on his wings of energy, realizing that anyone could use this combination if they used the Float card as well. He shot forward with immense speed through the air, Light and Air erupting around his body, around his blade, which was enhanced and strengthened by his Slash card. With Rapid aiding his weapon, and Mach his body, he came down, unleashing a rapid series of slashes into Kiva, utilizing the burning, immense power of Light, as well as the cutting abilities of Air to his advantage.

Perhaps this strike would have worked better substituting Rapid and Slash for Kick? But Cesare drove that idea out of his mind. He would attempt that version of the attack another time, or again, if this failed.

But the power was working. Light and Air were a deadly combination, especially with his skill with the blade. The shining weapon cut Kiva down in one move. However, it burned out Cesare’s wing generators. He knelt on the ground behind Kiva, who was falling slowly apart. Cesare raised his head as he heard the chunks of his foe’s body hitting the ground.

“God Strike,” he said, naming his new strongest technique. He rose, turned towards the others and drove his weapon to its home on his waist, “Ok, first order of business. Why did the enemy know where our base was?”

The Toa and Gorma watched Cesare, however, awestruck by his appearance when he had used the God Strike. The shining warrior that he was…it was impressive to have watched. By the awe on their faces, Cesare would have never guessed one was a traitor.


“I must face demons of my past and determine my own future, and be ready for anything when an unfortunate Ga-Matoran gets in the way. Next time: “Chapter 13: Moral Larc” Show me!”

Review

Edited by Lord Koji, Feb 16 2012 - 10:17 PM.

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 13: Moral Larc

In the early morning hours, despite it not being her patrol, Larc left the temple, heading out into the streets. She ran, just to move quickly, but moved with caution, so as not to be caught out of place by some early waking Matoran.

She dodged through the streets, knowing them all instantly, even though unmarked, only using the towers around the island as landmarks. After a few minutes, she arrived at a fairly secluded area near the ocean, looking around.

“I’m here,”

She turned to see a figure walking out of the shadow of a building. This figure was slithering across the ground towards her.

“Psyga,” she greeted simply, without a flash of fear or panic in her eyes. She knew this man, and she expected him. They were having an arranged meeting here. It wasn’t a run-in between enemies, as it may appear to any others. This was an arranged meeting, in order to trade information.

Psyga was a merman-like being, with a long thin blue body. Blue and black legs were merged into one which ended in two fins; one on each side. A silver piece covered the area around where the body and legs joined. Silver armor was also around the shoulders, along with silver claws tipping off the blue arms. Silver fins were on the back, acting like razor-sharp weapons. Psyga’s head had two projecting fangs, and inset crimson eyes.

“I hardly recognize you as a Toa,” Psyga admitted to Larc.

“I hardly recognize myself,” Larc said, looking around cautiously, afraid that a Matoran may come out of one of the streets.

“We’re fine,” Psyga said with his smooth voice, “I’ve been watching for many mornings. None come here.”

“I hope you’re right,” Larc told him, “I can’t afford to have a Matoran see me talking with you.”

“You can’t let them find out that you’re a traitor, is that it?” questioned Psyga, grinning, “It’s a miracle you were to become a Toa.”

“Yes. Destiny seems to want the Phantasmal Raiders to gain an edge in this fight,” Larc remarked.

“I hate Destiny,” scoffed Psyga, shaking his head with sickening dismay, “I hate the Three Virtues that you people hold so highly. I have my own three.”

“Oh?”

“Claws, Blades and my own Mind,” Psyga said, “That’s all I need. No Unity, Duty, Destiny.”

“I imagine that your three have gotten you far in life, Psyga,” Larc said, holding out a tablet to him.

“What’s this, exactly?” he questioned.

“Information on Cesare’s Rouze Cards, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the new members, as far as I’ve been able to evaluate thus far. With this information, none will be able to defeat you, or whoever the Raiders send out to fight.”

“They defeated Kiva,” he growled.

“I had nothing to do with that,” Larc said, “All he knew was that I was a spy, and that was it. He didn’t pull his punches with me. He hurt me just like he hurt the other Toa,” she told him, “I’m still in some pain, and that was a week ago.”

“The temple was undamaged, though?” questioned Psyga.

“Unfortunately,” Larc replied, in the mindset of a spy now, rather than a Toa working and living out of the temple. She had no friends in there, only marks. Marks to gather data on for the Phantasmal Raiders, who hired her when she was a Matoran. When the first attack had come in, she was offered a position, and she took it, rather than die. She had attempted to get close to the Toa, but had failed. Until now.

“I’ll see to it that the next does damage,” Psyga said, “Mezool or Ohja, I’m considering. Their cannons will be enough to do some serious damage.”

“If they can get close enough,” Larc reminded.

“Yes, yes,” Psyga said, “They will.”

He slithered towards the edge, about to plunge back into the Silver Sea, “Larc. I give you a warning. Don’t get too involved with these other Toa.”

“I don’t plan on,” Larc told him, “I know my mission, and I won’t take it so far as to become their friends, or something like that. I will always have it in mind that they are simply marks that must be gotten close to, then eliminated.”

Psyga nodded. She felt no remorse for doing this. She had sold her life already, nearly three months ago. No remorse, no feelings of regret. Had she expected them, she would have just killed herself by Bashaa, during that attack. But Raia had offered her a job, which she had taken. She didn’t want to die, and would have willingly died if she cared enough about this island.

She didn’t care about this island, however. She would gladly spy and gather information for those who would be called the ‘enemy’.

Before Psyga went, he turned back once more, “Larc, kill that Matoran,” he hissed.

Larc span around, watching a Ga-Matoran in the street, as if she was just getting to work on the docks. She watched their meeting, shocked, trembling in absolute shock and surprise.

“Well?” Psyga questioned, “Kill her! She’s seen us! She knows you’re a traitor!”

In a flash, Larc had her arm up, arrows of Water resting on her bow, ready to fly, ready to cut down the helpless Ga-Matoran standing there. The sky was gray, with minimal light shining through, casting the usual gray light on everything. A soft breeze drifted through the streets, between Larc and this Matoran. It wasn’t warm, it wasn’t cold. It was just there.

“Do it!” Psyga hissed, floating towards Larc, “Or do you want me to?” he lifted his claws, looking at them with relish.

“N-No! I can do this!” Larc snapped at Psyga.

“Then do it!” Psyga shouted.

The Matoran wasn’t fleeing. She wanted to, she desperately wanted to, but her legs wouldn’t work properly. Larc was about to release the attack, but then lowered her arm, letting the water fall to the ground at her feet.

“No,” she muttered softly.

“What was that?” Psyga hissed.

“I said no!” Larc shouted, turning to him. The water at her feet, as minimal as it was, slammed up into Psyga, sending him reeling back. He growled and floated forward, slashing his claws down, but Larc parried with one of the blades of her bow.

“Do this! Kill her and I’ll forget what you’ve done here today, Larc,” Psyga hissed, “Final chance!”

“I don’t like ultimatums,” Larc told him.

“You made one before! Join the Phantasmal Raiders or die! Remember?”

“That was different,” she said.

“Different? How so?” he demanded.

“I like life. I like living. I may be a traitor, a spy, but I’m no murderer!”

“Tell that to all of the Bashaa you’ve slain with your comrades,” hissed Psyga, “To your small part in the death of Kiva. You’ve killed!”

“But I won’t kill an innocent Matoran. There’s a difference, Psyga,” she hissed, pushing harder on her weapon, but he wouldn’t move. She looked to the Matoran, “Run! Run if you want to live!”

The Matoran stumbled and started to run. Psyga growled in annoyance, breaking through her grip and slashing her across the chest with his claws. Sparks flew from her chest; three dark streaks were left along her chest, running down at an angle from her left shoulder to right hip. She stumbled back, panting in pain. She watched Psyga shoot off after the Matoran, ready to silence her himself, then no doubt return to finish this job that he had just started.

“I won’t allow you!” screamed Larc, racing after him, despite the burning pain of her wounds.

As she pursued Psyga through the streets, she realized this Matoran was like her. She knew where she was going instantly, and was able to avoid Psyga for the most part. But soon, she made a wrong turn in panic, running into a lost Psyga.

“Found you!” Psyga screamed, slashing his claws down.

A wall of Water shot up between the two of them when Larc threw her hand out. It receded back into a spiral around Larc’s left arm. She ran forward, shouting, throwing a punch, spiraling her Water into it, slamming both her fist and the element into Psyga, sending him into a wall. He hissed and cursed, lunging at her, slashing her across her left shoulder with a bladed fin along his back. Larc cried out, falling to her knees.

“Are you ok?” the Ga-Matoran was asking frantically, now at Larc’s side, looking at the wound. Larc looked up as Psyga span around, coming in for another strike.

“Move!” Larc shouted to the Matoran, slashing her double blades out, meeting the fin with one of them. They slashed off of each other with a small rain of sparks as Psyga continued forward, missing the Matoran.

Larc pulled the Matoran back with her good arm, “Come on. Run! Get to the other Toa and bring them here!”

Before the Matoran could run off to do as she was told, Larc grabbed her again, “Why are you doing this? You saw everything!” Before she could say ‘You know I’m a traitor!’, the Matoran answered her.

“You have to be spying against them, right? Gaining information for the Toa, just pretending? I know a Toa would never betray their island, even an island like this. Right? That has to be it!”

Larc didn’t have the heart to say that the Matoran was wrong. That she was a spy. That she had betrayed her island like this, so she kept silent, nodding, almost heartbroken by doing so.

The Ga-Matoran ran off, leaving Larc alone to defend against Psyga, who was skidding over the ground for her again. Larc started to fire off arrows of Water again, but they were doing nothing to impede Psyga’s progress. He was fast and strong, probably too much so on both accounts to be able to even slow him down.

Rei released her bladed bow weapon, drawing her Blade Blaster into her right hand, focusing energy blasts on his head, but once Psyga was rushing someone, there was no point in trying to stop them head on. Someone would have to strike from the side, or release a much stronger attack from the front than Larc could do on her own.

Psyga smashed into Larc, sending her flying into a wall. She cracked it on impact, sliding down to the ground, her vision flashing with spots of light. She shook her head, attempting to clear them away.

Psyga was before her, claws at her throat, while her Blade Blaster was lying too far out of reach. She was dead, and she knew that Psyga would execute her. He had the information she had given him. She could see it affixed into a spot on his armor. She couldn’t do anything to stop him. She only hoped and prayed that the others would stop Psyga before he could give the information to his employers.

She may not have been against the idea of joining the enemy, but now she was regretting it. She was regretting not being able to properly defend her island. It was one thing, as a Matoran, to give out small bits of information. It was another entirely to be giving out much more detailed information while also being a guardian of the island. She couldn’t bare this anymore. She almost wanted Psyga to kill her, just as a form of repentance.

But she wanted so desperately to live! Just like when they had made their offer, she had wanted to live so badly that she betrayed her people. It was the same here again. She wanted to live. But she wouldn’t betray them any longer.

A flying weapon slammed into Psyga’s side. He was knocked away from Larc, leaving a cut in her armor with one of his claws. She stumbled up to her feet, going for her Blade Blaster. She lifted it, opening fire.

Garren ran past, picking up his weapon into his right hand. He extended a blade of Crystal, utilizing the weapons as a hilt. He looked to her, “I was on patrol,” he explained, “A Ga-Matoran sent me your way.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“She also told me that you were spying for us against the Phantasmal Raiders. I don’t know anything about that. I’ll leave that to Cesare to figure out,” Garren said.

“I…I need to tell you all about that,” she said, pointing to Psyga, “That tablet in his armor. If we can’t kill him, we need to at least destroy it.”

“What’s on it?” questioned Garren suspiciously.

“That’s not important right now,” Larc said.

“Fine,” Garren muttered, running for Psyga. As Psyga attempted to use his claws, Garren ducked and span around, slashing him with the side of his left weapon, the one without the blade. Psyga stumbled forward in his glide. He twisted his body, plunging the Crystal blade through Psyga’s back, mortally wounding him.

“I won’t let this stand!” Psyga screamed out, gasping for air. He twisted around, beating Garren in the chest with his fin tail. Garren fell back, pulling his weapon free of his foe’s back.

Psyga stumbled to the ground, struggling to get back up. He shot forward, aiming his charge at Larc, in one last attempt to kill her and avenge himself, and the Phantasmal Raiders.

Before he could reach his mark, a blast of raging energies smashed into his front, causing him to scream as his arms and fins were being torn and slashed at by buffeting, raging winds and Lightning. He screamed out a few more times as the attacks continued to vary in ferocity, until he was no more.

“Chalice!” exclaimed Garren.

“The others sent me out. Thought it would be best for me to go in first, test myself. I of course didn’t object to that.”

In moments, Cesare, Agri and Magis were following him, weapons at the ready, but they saw that they hardly needed them. The threat was taken care of.

“Just what happened here?” questioned Cesare.

“I don’t know, but I killed him!” Chalice was pleased with himself.

“A Ga-Matoran sent me this way. Said something about Larc spying on the Phantasmal Raiders for us, and her cover was blown.”

“Is that so?” questioned Cesare, eyeing her suspiciously, “I don’t recall giving any such orders.”

“Well…then what happened?” questioned Garren.

“You’re a smart boy, Garren. You tell me,” Cesare said.

All eyes fell on Larc, who was trying to figure out what to say. She clearly had something to tell them, but was keeping it in.

“What is it?” Cesare questioned her.

“I…,” she shook her head.

“Come to the temple,” Cesare said, “We’ll discuss matters there. I imagine there are many things we must discuss.”

“There are,” Larc admitted, “Many things. Things I’m not proud of, and things that must be told, no matter how hard.”


“Larc may have told us everything, but can we truly trust who she is? It is up to all of us to decide, and then we’ll see where we all stand, and if Larc has a place with us. Next time: “Chapter 14: Actions and Consequences” Here I go.”

Review

Edited by Lord Koji, Feb 16 2012 - 10:25 PM.

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 14: Actions and Consequences

Standing in the temple, amongst her peers and Turaga Gorma, Larc looked nervous. Her wounds weren’t tended to. She had told them not to do anything for her. For one, she didn’t know how to use her own healing abilities yet. She also didn’t feel like she deserved healing. Not with what she had done. Not with the truth about to be laid out before everyone.

“There is much to tell, and not much time, as far as I’m concerned,” Larc said, “Because the sooner I tell it all, the easier it’ll be. The more I hesitate, the more I buy myself time, the harder it’ll be to say it all.”

“You’re buying time right now,” Magis muttered, pointing out.

“I’m sorry,” Larc said.

“Again,” Magis commented.

“Just start talking,” Cesare pressed, “Just tell us everything.”

Stripped of her weaponry, Larc felt naked standing before them. Ever since becoming a Toa, she had had at least one weapon’s worth of protection. Now she had nothing. She didn’t like it, but she understood that it was for the best that she had nothing. She wasn’t going to use any of it to fight, to attack, but she would have just liked it for the sake of having it.

“When I was a Matoran…three months ago, this story starts. When the Raiders first began to attack the island. Their first attack was Raia, their first second in command, remember? You were unable to defeat him, and had to fight him a second time. That first time…he had his Bashaa remnants and himself start to kill anyone in his way. They dragged the corpses into the ocean, for the sake of studying. I think one of the Raiders may have had interest in physiology. That, or just to make a point.

“I was among the ranks of the Matoran who were there at the beginning. I was there when Raia was slaughtering innocents. I was about to be killed. I…I remember looking into his crimson eyes, begging for my life. I didn’t want to die. I still don’t want to die. I just wanted to go on with my life and live on for many years into the future.

“So Raia, seeing that in my eyes, seeing the desire to live within me, made me an offer. One I couldn’t refuse. He told me that if I spied on the island, on you Toa Cyril, that I would be allowed to live. I was to bring information once a week to a specific area to meet with a member of the Phantasmal Raiders. It was always Psyga. He always took my information – never much – and took it back to his commanders, always letting me live.

“On one occasion, he took me with him, showed me where the base was. There are large underwater air bubbles down there, which houses the main base of the Phantasmal Raiders. There are three of them. Bashaa are all around, along with other warriors for the Raiders. I was taken to them, and they told me that I was doing them a great kindness, betraying my own people as I was.

“I despised that, but I couldn’t do anything about it. It was my chance that you guys found me and found the potential to be a Toa in me. I was elated at that fact, but also hated it, realizing that as a Toa, I would have to continue to betray my people, the people I was now sworn to protect. I still wanted to live, so I gave out information, including the exact location of the temple.”

“That’s how Kiva knew!” Agri exclaimed.

Larc nodded, continuing, “I continued to give out that information, just wanting to save my own life. I attempted to find a way out, but couldn’t. If I killed Psyga, that would solve most problems…until they sent someone else to take his place, or expose me as a traitor, and let you be my executioners, if you believed them. I didn’t want that to happen, so I gave out as little as possible.”

“What was in that last message?” questioned Cesare.

“Your Rouze combinations, and the weaknesses and strengths of Garren and Chalice,” she told them.

“The tablet burned with Psyga, correct?” Cesare questioned.

“Correct,” Larc said, “Well…that’s all there is to it. But…when I couldn’t kill the Ga-Matoran who saw us together, Psyga was going to do it, and he attacked me. I realized that I couldn’t bring myself to kill someone I was meant to protect! So…Psyga attempted to kill me instead. I managed to hold on, and even if I was going to die, I needed to kill him. I knew that. I knew I couldn’t die without at least destroying the tablet.

“I tried to make amends by telling all of you this. I made peace with myself and my decision when trying to stop Psyga, and I realized that I was wrong. That I took the cowardly approach. I’m attempting to make amends, and I will do it.”

“How?” demanded Magis, “We put our trust in you, and you broke it! You betrayed the trust of all of the Matoran of this island!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is that going to bring back the lives of all of the Matoran who are dead, no doubt partially from your doing?” demanded Magis.

“Magis,” Agri said, trying to calm his friend.

“No! She deserves to hear this!” he shouted, “She put the lives of so many in danger! To save her own life, she handed the lives of many others right to the Raiders! Can’t all of you see that? She not only betrayed their trust, but betrayed our own! If Turaga Gorma hadn’t figured out the God Strike combination, then Kiva would have killed us all! And she led him straight here!”

“Please! I didn’t know what was going to happen!” she shouted.

“Is your ignorance any reason to forgive you?” Magis hissed, his beautiful voice thick with acid, “No! You knew something would happen. If not the lives of the Matoran, you would have had our lives taken! No matter what, someone was dying! You claim no responsibility? You don’t deserve the mantle of Toa!” he slammed a small table sitting beside him to the floor, sending her weapons scattering on the stone floor of the temple, “Bring Eri back! At least we could completely trust her!”

For Magis, this was a fairly sore spot. He liked Eri, she liked him. They were a powerful combination, especially with the power of Storms at their combined disposal. Magis was no doubt hoping for someone just as good in Larc, someone he could form a combination with. But now, with these revelations, he would never team up with her. His combination wouldn’t work with her, because he would never trust her again. He would never willingly combine his powers with her.

He valued beauty above all else. That included internal beauty. Her sick mental ways made it so that her mind was impure, filthy, to him. He wouldn’t want anything to do with her, her soul in disgrace and dirtied.

Magis walked out. No one was going to stop him from leaving the temple and going on patrol. For all he knew, she was a distraction while an attack was going to go on. He wanted to be nowhere near Larc. He wanted to be out, searching the streets.

“What about the rest of you?” she asked softly, “What are you going to do with me?”

“We’re going to take everything you’ve said, and we’re going to hold a discussion on the matter at hand. We know Magis’s opinion already. He wants nothing to do with you. We’re going to hold his vote. That’s one vote to have you removed,” Cesare said coldly.

“Removed? What does that mean?” she asked piteously.

“Removed from this island. Perhaps sent away to a prison somewhere. We don’t know yet,” Cesare admitted.

“How are you going to figure this out?” she asked, “Just say your opinions on me?”

“Pretty much,” Cesare said, “Who wants to go first?”

“I will,” Agri said, walking towards her, “Eri, your predecessor, was kind of like you in some ways,” he said, “She was a former Dark Hunter. She had abandoned them, because she was less of a Toa being one of them. She wanted, with the urging of her friend in the ranks, to become a proper Toa.

“She made amends for everything. She made things right by joining us here, finding penance here. We accepted her for her sins, and allowed her to stay here. She never did anything questionable like this. She was always a pleasure, bringing with her her abilities from the Dark Hunters, hiding the truth. But she, as Magis would put it, was always beautiful in her own ways. They were a powerful combination. You replaced her, and he doesn’t choose you as a teammate, as a partner, as he chose her.

“You betrayed us. Eri may have had her problems in her past, but she was fully dedicated. She didn’t tell us about being a Dark Hunter right away, but at least it didn’t come back to hurt us at some point. You should have realized your sins and told us! We could have helped, and we wouldn’t have completely held it against you. You would have had no choice, and your information as a Matoran was limited, minimal. We could have forgiven you! But you chose another way. A way of silence and cowardice.

“My vote is for your removal.”

Silence after Agri’s long words. He shook his head and stood back.

“I’ll go,” Chalice said, “We’ve only known each other since we became partners in this team, and never as Matoran. You’ve been a good woman. I’ll give you that much. But that’s all I can really give you. I like you, Larc. You made some mistakes. I make mistakes by rushing headfirst into things. I do foolish things like that. You did a foolish thing as well. I have to forgive you, even though how severe this is.”

“I’ll go,” Garren said, “I have to agree with the things said by Agri…and by said and not said by Magis. You should have said something. You shouldn’t have kept this hidden. I like you, just like Chalice. Like Chalice, I never knew you prior to this, and you seem like a very good person.

“You’ve found redemption by fighting Psyga. You didn’t kill that Matoran. You were ready to die to protect her. That says something. I…I don’t want to forgive you, but I feel I have to. I feel there’s no other way around it. I forgive you, Larc.”

That left only Cesare to speak. His word would decide it. Magis and Agri were for her removal, while Garren and Chalice wanted her to remain on the island, and believed that she had found redemption. Now was the moment of truth.

Larc didn’t know what she wanted him to decide. If he decided she was to be removed, and she went to a prison or into exile, she would easily accept it.

But if she were to remain, she would enjoy her time. She would be happy, but how could she fight alongside her companions when two of them didn’t accept her? It was a hard position to be in, but she would take whatever was given unto her.

Cesare regarded her for a long few moments with cold, uncaring eyes, characteristic of him. He was a man of simple words, who was mostly silent, speaking in a smooth tone. His voice retained that quality as he decreed judgment upon Larc.

“Larc. We need soldiers. We need people who are willing to fight against the Phantasmal Raiders. We would still have Hoji, Rei and Eri, but Destiny says they cannot be here to fight anymore. That is a problem. A serious problem.

“As such, we must take you three. We will need you to fight. Eri and the others entrusted their powers to you. You must not let them down. You must fight alongside us. We cannot turn you away, no matter your sins, as great as they may be. And, you told us something very important in your story.”

“What was that?” Larc questioned him, feeling as if he would undoubtedly decide that she was to remain.

“You told us that you have been at the Phantasmal Raider base. That is very important,” Cesare told her, “We can attack them, if you would lead us to the location.”

“Of course I will,” Larc said, “If you will have me as your guide, and a companion for one final mission.”

“One final mission?” Cesare questioned, “You think we are to die attacking?”

“Cesare?” Agri growled.

“What?”

“Are you seriously saying that we will keep her, no matter what, as long as we survive this battle that is approaching?”

“Yes, I am saying that,” Cesare said, “If we live, you are to remain with us, for giving us this information. Larc, you are to remain our ally, for you hold the powers of our old comrades within you. That’s very important to us. You are to remain, as far as I am concerned.”

Larc showed some signs of relief, then Cesare told Agri to retrieve Magis, no doubt to let the two of them have their moments of grief over his decision. Cesare was meanwhile coming to Turaga Gorma, who had been silent the entire time, asking for his help in treating Larc’s wounds.

“If we are to attack their base, filled with Bashaa and their warriors, we need you healed,” he informed her.

“I don’t want to be healed,” she said.

“Your penance can begin later,” growled Cesare, “Right now; we need you in fighting condition!”

“Ok,” she said, nodding in forfeit to his decree.


About an hour later, the team was standing, looking down at the ocean before them. Larc was in the lead, working with Magis, who hated it the entire time. They were forming a water bubble filled with air for the journey, since not all of them were strong swimmers. They would need this for the sake of speed, and having air on their journey.

As they walked off of the docks, into the bubble, Larc sealed it, silent the entire time, especially around Agri and Magis. She and Magis kept up their control over the internal workings of the bubble, and sent it along, towards where Larc said the base of the Raiders was located.

The journey would take only a few minutes, but they would be a tense few minutes, dodging the attacks of Bashaa and any warriors who attempted to stop them. But soon they had broken through and smashed into the larger air bubble, stumbling out, onto dry land under the waters. They looked around, all of them with weapons drawn and at the ready, for at any moment a foe could strike.

“Where are the Raiders?” hissed Agri in demand to Larc.

“I…I don’t know. They should be here!” she said.

“Or you’re still working for them!” growled Magis.

“No! They…”

“They probably saw the bubble coming and fled for their own safety,” Cesare said logically.

“Very good,” growled a figure, walking out. It was Jaki, his claw weapons ready.

‘Forte’ was beside him, sword in hand, “Where is Hoji?” he growled.

“Gone,” Cesare said, drawing Hoji’s old sword, “You’ll have to settle for me instead.”

“What do we do? These guys are field leaders, right?” Garren questioned.

“They are,” Cesare replied.

“We fight them! That’s what!” Chalice said, fairly pleased, “I’ll show them what Storms can do!”

“Don’t underestimate us, brat,” growled Jaki.

“We’re Toa. We’ll win,” Garren said, no matter how illogical that statement was.

“Don’t count on that,” growled Jaki, as their battle began full force.


“In the aftermath of the battle, what can we do but plot what we will do the next time the enemy appears? But it turns out we don’t have any time, and we’re thrust into what could be the final battle. Next time: “Chapter 15: Full Fledged Assault by the Phantasmal Raiders” Here I go.”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 15: Full Fledged Assault by the Phantasmal Raiders

Needless to say, it didn’t go well. As soon as the Toa began their attack on the base of the Phantasmal Raiders, they learned that they were not welcome there. It wasn’t that the enemy knew that they were going to invade, rather, it was that the enemy was always ready, always keeping a defense up in case the Toa would attempt such a foolish move. Or if any enemy would ever try such an attack.

It wasn’t that there was a small army waiting for them of combatants. That would be a problem for any of them, no matter how good all of them were. It was that they had a large army instead. A large army that was made of Bashaa, led by two specific soldiers that none of them had ever seen before, that none of them could have expected to have ever met. It wasn’t because they knew of these figures; rather, it was because the enemy was so strong.

Both of them were similar warriors. They fought as a powerful combination, a powerful tag team. The Toa had attempted to fight them off, as well as the army of hundreds of Bashaa – more than they had ever seen on the island, in their natural environment – and had lost. There was no way they could have won that fight.

Nursing their wounds in the temple, Cesare looked around the group. His wounds weren’t a problem. He hadn’t taken too much damage, thanks to the extra protection that his shield offered him. However, he didn’t care about his wounds. He was battle hardened, and pain didn’t really bother him too much, not after how long he had fought, especially alone in battle, long before his Rouze Cards and his great gain in power.

Then there was Agri. Agri had a terrible wound on his right shoulder and his chest. A combination of burn wounds, as well as blade wounds and some blaster wounds from one of the green warriors. He was holding his right shoulder in his left hand, cradling his wounded gun arm. He could fight with his left hand, but he didn’t do as well. But he showed too much pride to complain about the pain, or ask for healing. He would rather put up with it and let it naturally heal, or wait for a later date before asking for healing. He knew that other healing came first and foremost.

Then there was Magis, who was nowhere to be seen. With the wounds he had taken, he had complained about how terrible he looked. Granted, from the start he hated his armor after becoming a Toa Cyril Nova, but he still couldn’t’ stand it being marred by the weapons of his foes. He was out in the streets somewhere, no doubt looking over himself while sitting on a rooftop, in his element.

Then there was Garren. Garren was a great man, and one who would no doubt be a good leader someday. He had taken charge during the battle, and had done his very best to fight off the enemy while shouting orders to his two peers who were also new to being Toa. They had responded well under his leadership, but Garren seemed to care too much. He took their blows for them, no matter how wounded he was. He was loyal to the very end, but it was too much for his own good.

Then Chalice. The Toa of Storms was a powerful warrior, with great offensive abilities. However, his offense had led them through waves of Bashaa, but were useless when confronted with attacks from behind. For all of his offensive abilities, he was useless at defense. That’s not to say that he didn’t defend himself, but rather, he just couldn’t take a hit. Especially not from one of these warriors.

Finally, there was Larc, the former traitor. She had used her powers over Water to crush many foes by utilizing all of the water around them. Granted, that meant she was the first target. For all of the foes she slew with her great powers, it didn’t do any good if she was taken out within the first few minutes of combat.

Now they were alone, still licking their wounds from their loss.

“Fighting Bandiaca wasn’t this bad,” Agri muttered.

“Granted, you guys never took the fight to Bandiaca,” Cesare said, “She always brought the fight to the island.”

“You raise a good point,” Agri nodded.

“Well, for all the problems that it was, it gave us a good insight into the power of the enemy,” Garren said, “If only the Raiders were there!” he clenched his fists in anger, shaking as he clenched them harder.

Chalice smiled, “It was fun, at least.”

“Fun?” exploded Agri, “You think this was fun? This is life and death! I thought you’d have learned by now, Chalice!”

“I have!” Chalice shouted, “It…it’s just that old habits die hard, ok?”

Cesare nodded, “I know what you mean. I still go out in search of fights sometimes, just for the sake of challenge.”

“You’re awfully silent, Larc,” Garren said, looking to the Toa of Water.

“I just don’t know what I can say,” Larc admitted, “I betrayed all of you as a Matoran. I was given another chance and led you into the battle against the heart of the enemy. I was in my element! We were a surprise attack, yet they still expected something! The Raiders were even gone! I can’t help but feel this is somehow my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” Cesare said, “How could they have known? How could you have done anything, unless you yourself told them. And we know you didn’t. I, at least, believe that you have changed, Larc.”

“Well, that’s all well and good, but what do we do next?” muttered Magis, walking into the temple, ignoring the wounds on his body as he walked proudly in, head held high, despite his vanity. He just wanted to forget his wounds it seemed and go onto their next job, their next decision.

“What can we do?” Garren questioned him, “Would you have us go and try to fight again? I figure that for now, all we can do is sit here, heal, and prepare for our next battle. Isn’t that right?”

Cesare nodded, “The matter of healing comes first.”

“I’ll begin. Who do I heal first?” asked Larc.

Before she could get an answer, there was an explosion as the side of the temple rocked, and mortar and bricks exploded inside the temple. The Toa took cover, but the wall was still standing. Only some of it had been blown away. They ran outside, looking across the moat around the temple, to the street that was to the side of the temple.

It wasn’t close by any means. It was fairly far away. At least a block or two. Of course, the temple was fairly large, but the shot had been accurate, dead on in the center of the temple. And following the line of sight, there was no way to hit that side of the temple, as a building was there. No hole, no window, nothing on the building. The shot was made from an awkward angle, from an expert hand.

There was only one being they knew of who could have done that.

“It’s one of those green guys!” cursed Agri.

“Fun!” Chalice grinned, then realized what he had just said, “Sorry,” he apologized, drawing his Blade Blaster into his right hand, into sword mode, rather than use his own blades.

“Larc, use the water around us to return the attack,” Cesare said, rushing off down the land bridge that acted as their way to the temple, “Garren, Magis, with me! Agri, Chalice, remain back here and cover us with fire!”

Garren and Magis took off after Cesare, while Agri, Chalice and Larc remained back, with Larc creating a wall of Water to protect from the next explosive shots, while Agri – with his left hand – and Chalice returned fire, but the angle proved to be problematic for them.

As Cesare’s group reached the end of the path, they saw a swarm of Bashaa shoot up from the moat, slashing at their sides and backs, thoroughly exposed.

“How did they sneak up on us in the temple?” cursed Magis, shouting, slashing out with his small claw weapon, tearing through one’s throat and flipping another aside when he struck the chest. He whipped around, utilizing his larger blade to cut two down in a spray of sparks.

Cesare was utilizing his powers of Ice to freeze them over, rather than cut them own. He whipped around, kicking one in the chest, knocking it into one of its fellows, shattering the frozen one and knocking the living one into the water. He drew his blade, cut one down with a slash across the throat, and span around, driving his sword through the chest of the one in the water.

Garren was using his two Crystal swords as usual, cutting them all down with ease. He matched every one of their moves with swift, fluid movements of his arms. He span around, getting away from two, and then lunged forward, driving both blades through the chests of his foes.

As the last of the Bashaa fell, a large warrior leapt forward, shouting and slashing a large scythe-like weapon. The three Toa dodged back, but the spray of stone as it collided with the ground smashed into the Toa, taking them down.

There stood the leader of the two green warriors. He was large, thickly armored in dark and lime green, with blazing crimson eyes.
He had large green feet, thick green spiked armor over his legs under his knees, and thinner, curved and bladed lime green armor above his knees. He had thick mixed colored armor on his chest, with spikes coming off of the chest. Over his arms were massive pieces of armor, doubling as shoulder armor, with large green and black spiked claws coming up over the sides. He had thinner, dark green armor over his arms, with thicker lime green armor shielding them. His gauntlets were lime green in color, his left holding no weaponry, while his right held a massive weapon.
It was a long shaft weapon, with a blade coming off and curled down the back, with a large blade coming off, for resting on the ground. He had a hooked blade coming up above that, for getting at opponents who were close, with a guard over his hand that was spiked and curved. Coming up was a scythe, the primary part of the weapon. His head had razors coming off of the tops, with deep red and light green fangs, and his blazing crimson eyes.

“You never caught my name last time, Toa,” he said, his voice rustling like dead leaves rubbing together, yet with a slightly bubbling quality to it, to represent his aquatic affinity, “My name is Leangle.”

Coming from behind him was a similar warrior. His partner, the sniper who had attacked the temple. Clearly the other three were unable to keep him pinned down, and with good reason; his angle and skill made it hard to strike him. As a sniper, he knew how to move, and move while sniping. But his weapon, closer to them now, looked less like the weapon of a sniper, and more like the weapon of someone who wanted to shoot them down from any range, by any means necessary, to just cut his foes down quickly. The large sword he carried wasn’t his forte, due to the awkward way he carried it.

He appeared of the same species as Leangle, but was smaller in stature. He had elongated, clawed green feet, with green, thicker armor over his legs, especially above the knees, otherwise his armor looked to be made for speed, rather than defense. His chest was covered in a lime green plate of armor, lying over the dark green. He had a clawed piece of armor resting over his chest, with a thicker piece overlaying the bottom of it. The claws didn’t look like they were combat ready.

His right arm had a dark green piece of armor over his otherwise lime green arm. From that piece of armor above his elbows, he had green prongs erupting, perhaps feelers for the water. He had a green armored hand which wielded his thick blade on top, and a large, curved and serrated blade beneath in a double sided fashion.

His left arm was technological, and obviously fake. He had a lime green arm, just the same, but he lacked a hand, which was just a dark green sheet of steel and robotics instead. A claw was affixed, but it didn’t look very useful. On his shoulder, trailing down, was the black projectile weapon he used, with a crimson sight affixed to it. A generator was built on his arm, and on the weapon, creating a concussive blast between the two for launch down his arm, which was built specifically for the task.

His head was the same, slicked and spiked, even the fangs were the same, except his green fangs pointed down instead of in. His right eye was blazing crimson, while his left was an optical replacement, with another scope affixed inside, for double aim.

From the weapon came a crimson tube, plunging into his back. Whatever that did for him, the Toa didn’t know. When he spoke, his voice sounded more high pitched and whining than Leangle’s.

“My name is Sasword,” he hissed, lifting his arm, generating his energy. He was prepared to unleash it and kill Cesare, Garren and Magis in one move.

“Now!” Larc screamed, running down the length of the path with the other two Toa in tow. Larc was throwing her arm forward, drawing lengths of water up from both sides of the moat around them, slamming them like twisting snakes at Leangle and Sasword, but she knew it was too late to stop his energy attack.

But that was what Cesare was waiting for. He threw his hand forward at the same moment as Garren. Combining their powers, they both raised a wall, intermixed of Ice and Crystal. The energy attack slammed into the wall, bouncing off of it, smashing into the two warriors, tossing them aside. But they never made a sound or a scream or curse of pain as it happened.

“Do you know why we’re here?” hissed Leangle, pushing himself up and leaping forward, smashing through the wall with a swing of his weapon. It shattered around his feet. He span it around and thrust it forward, smashing it into Magis, tossing him with a shout into the moat.

“To fight? To try to claim our heads in the names of the Phantasmal Raiders?” demanded Larc, creating arrows of Water in her weapon, ready to release them.

“No,” Leangle answered, “We’re here as the vanguard to an attack.”

“An attack?” hissed Cesare, “What are you talking about?”

“This if the final battle, you fools,” hissed Sasword, walking a bit closer, “This is our moment to shine! We lead the attack that will bring your heads to our great masters under the depths of the ocean!”

As they looked past the two green warriors, they saw hundreds of Bashaa rushing around, and could now see fires starting. They heard explosions rocking the distance. They could see smoke rising up all around them as attacks were breaking out everywhere.

“You may have caused some damage at the base, but we had enough manpower to lead this strike,” Leangle said, “This is the last stand for Cyril Nui! Soon this island will be ruled by we creatures of the sea! We can throw off the oppression of the depths, the darkness, the cold! We will have a proper civilization!”

“If you’re of the sea, then why do you hate your home so much?” hissed Garren.

“Have you lived beneath the waves, Toa of Crystal?” demanded Leangle, “Do you know what it’s like down there? Of course you don’t! If you lived down there, if you knew what it was like, then you would understand why we do this!”

“We can make peace!” shouted Garren in an attempt to reason with his foes, “We can share this island! But you made the first moves and brought violence with you!”

“That is our way,” growled a new voice.

They looked beyond the two warriors, watching Jaki approach, his long arms dragging behind him in the streets. Near him was the now amphibious upgraded ‘Forte’. He lifted his sword towards them, ready for a duel with Cesare or Garren, the swordsmen of the team, now that Hoji had left.

“I desire a proper duel,” he hissed towards them.

And then the Toa realized how bad this was about to become.


“I…I don’t understand. My friends…what are you doing here? Wait…what happened to me? What happened on this island? I…I don’t understand any of it. But…but we’re all with one another. That’s what matters, my friends. Next time: “Chapter 16: Refined Garren” Grace like the rain.”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 16: Refined Garren

Burning. Why was there burning? What was this sensation alongside it? The feel of a blade cutting him? But why would someone be cutting a simple Ki-Matoran? That’s what Garren wanted to know.

And then he opened his eyes, blinking a few times, and then looked around the room.

In the room he saw three of his friends whom he shared a building with. On Cyril Nui, Matoran traditionally lived in groups together in the same housing structure, for the sake of saving space for buildings and factories that would be of use to the island itself, as well as for room for when new spires would inevitably be needed, so areas were squared off for such a time, limiting space some more.

This room had Garren, a Ga-Matoran named Hina, a Po-Matoran named Giru and a Ta-Matoran named Ankh. They all lived together, always friends, always together, as much as they could be. They managed to all end up working at the same factory, producing textiles for various areas of the island. The island was misery, as usual, this dystopia, but at least they had each other and were all together.

“Is something wrong?” Hina asked him, looking at his fearful eyes after waking from his dream of pain.

“N-no,” he said, shaking his head, “I’m…it was just a bad dream, that’s all.”

“What was it like?” Giru questioned him. To the point as always.

“I…no. It’s nothing,” Garren said, but to be polite, he explained anyway, “I…I dreamt I was made into a Toa and fought alongside the team. There was myself, Cesare, Agri, Magis, a Toa of Water named Larc, and a Toa of Storms named Chalice. Like me, Chalice and Larc had just become Toa…”

Cutting him off, Giru spoke, “You? A Toa? Did those three need get really desperate, or something? I mean, why you? You’re too…well, I don’t think you could hurt someone like a Toa needs to!”

Three…

The number seemed to mean something to Garren, but it quickly vanished from his mind before he could figure anything out about what it could possibly mean. He shook his head, “See? Nothing. Just some silly, foolish dream.”

Ankh had a fairly smug smile on his face, “So, you dream of being a hero? Are we not good enough for you, Garren?”

“No, you guys are great!” Garren quickly said, trying to defend what he had said.

“Stop teasing him, Ankh!” Hina scolded, “It sounds like a good dream, Garren. I imagine you could be an amazing hero, an amazing Toa.”

“I was!” Garren said, smiling, “I think Cesare considered me to be third in command. In command of Chalice and Larc, at the least. I think I beat out Magis in rank…”

“How did you fight?” questioned Ankh, though he didn’t seem to actually care. He just wanted to make conversation.

Ankh, like always, not really caring, yet showing care and friendship. Why am I your friend again? Oh yeah…

“Well, I had these ring-like weapons with razor edges. They weren’t shields, but slashing weapons for close quarters. I rarely used them like that. I used them as hilts and created blades of Crystal from them, using two swords like that.”

“Just swords? Did you shatter them and send shards flying?” Giru asked, getting into the conversation.

“Just swords,” Garren said, “I would slash, stab, parry, etcetera.”

“How good were you?” questioned Ankh.

“Pretty good,” he answered, “I was able to do a lot of damage to the warriors sent to fight us by the Phantasmal Raiders.”

“Raiders? What?” questioned Hina.

“You mean Bandiaca, right?” Ankh questioned him.

Wasn’t it the Phantasmal Raiders? Sea based warriors…ghost pirates? I thought that the witch was defeated a while ago. Wasn’t she…?

“Yeah, Bandiaca.”

“These…Raiders, is that what you called them?” Hina asked, “What were they like?”

“Sea warriors,” Garren explained, “They were ghost pirates, kind of. I don’t think they were really ghosts, though. I guess they went around to different areas under the sea and attacked different islands, and just settled here for now. They had three leaders, but I never saw them before. I don’t know what types of powers they had. They just had a variety of sea creatures at their disposal to fight for them. Various powers, various creatures.”

“You think they’re stronger than Bandiaca’s lot?” Giru asked.

“I don’t know,” Garren said, “It was a dream, after all. I have no idea how to gauge between reality and a dream.”

Why was he calling it a dream? Sure, they had insisted that it was a dream, they had brought evidence that made him realize it was a dream, by reminding him of what was happening on the island, but that still didn’t’ seem right. He wasn’t completely convinced that it was a dream by any means.

But then what? He couldn’t argue with them. They were his friends, and why would they try to hurt him? This had to be true, right? He didn’t want to push the issue, not with his friends. He didn’t want to argue with them. He was a kind, refined Matoran. He wouldn’t push such an issue.

“Well, can you try?” asked Hina, “I think it would be interesting to know, even if they were just a dream.”

“Well, I don’t know which group is stronger,” Garren said, “In my dream, Bandiaca had been defeated for a time, but still persisted and attacked a few times. The Raiders were never defeated by the time I woke up, but we were facing a full island attack. If I had to guess, Bandiaca was stronger, because of her magic.”

“What about the magic of the Raiders?” questioned Giru. Hina and Ankh cast quick glances to him.

Magic of the Raiders? What?

He must have told them that they apparently had powers, potentially bordering on the same magic that Bandiaca used in battle. He just didn’t remember telling them, but he must have. There was no other explanation on how they knew that, so obviously he had to have said something.

But again, he didn’t want to press the issue. He figured he must have said something, so he kept quiet now. He didn’t want to push issues. Friends didn’t do that with each other, after all.

“I don’t really know much about it. I only heard vaguely about it from the other Toa, specifically Larc, I imagine,” he said, shaking his head, “I can’t remember. Sorry. I must have told you everything I know about it already.”

“That’s fine,” Hina told him, “Just go on.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Well, the Toa Nova. What did you find out? I imagine you sparred,” she said.

Bandiaca…but the Toa Nova were just around for the fight against the Raiders, right? Or did they become Nova fighting Bandiaca, and that just carried into my dream in a different way?

“Well, what do you mean?”

“You ever beat one in battle?” questioned Ankh.

“Certainly, yeah.”

“How did you do it?” Giru asked him.

“Well, Larc was dependent on her…wait. I dreamt her up,” he said.

“Go on anyway,” Hina said, “Please.”

“Right. Well, she used a bow as her weapon that doubled as a blade. All I ever had to do was stop her Water arrows and get in close. She wasn’t that great in close quarters, it turned out. Then there was Chalice, who used two small swords to fight. He was dangerous when he used his powers of Storms, but after getting around his savage attacks from a range, he was pretty much done. He couldn’t take a hit.

“Then Agri. He used his powers of Earth and his blaster weapons with great effect. Dodging his Earth attacks was a bit of a problem, but once you got in close, and could cut anything, like I could, he was done.”

“What about from a distance?” asked Hina.

“Well, he would use an Earth wall,” Garren said, “Why?”

“Just wondering,” she replied.

“Go on,” Ankh said.

“Well, then there was Magis. He used Air attacks to protect himself and used close range attacks. If someone dodged, he would send Air slashes after his attacks. That worked really well for him. Then Cesare. He was a lot harder to figure out.”

“Harder?” Giru asked.

“Yeah. He fought depending on the situation, and used new powers based on each situation with his Rouze Cards. He’s really hard to figure out.”

“Well, that’s interesting to know,” Ankh said, “That the leader fights differently depending on the situation. Everyone else is fairly static, are they not?”

“Yeah…why?”

Ankh showed one of his smug smiled, “Oh, nothing.”

Garren had an idea. He didn’t want to be rude to them, but maybe they wouldn’t pick up on this. Or maybe they would, just enough for him.

“Cesare’s style got really interesting, different, after Hoji left,” he said.

“Hoji?” questioned Hina.

Garren was on the right track, “Yeah. Hoji told him to take care of that staff that he always envied that Cesare had.”

“Ah, the staff,” Giru said, “It is nice, isn’t it?”

He had an axe, but now has a sword. Hoji’s sword. They commented that there were only three Toa, but also commented on Hoji’s existence. Why did they leave, then? Or him, at least? What’s happening here? And then, I made that up completely about the staff. Axe, then sword. So…how could I have guessed that? Unless that really was all just a dream and I knew innately that he used a staff. But why the axe then sword in my dream?

Something was clearly wrong.

“I have a question,” Garren said, “What are we supposed to be working on at work today?”

“We’re making boats again,” Giru said, straightforward, “Then fishing after making two more.”

They shot him looks, but it told Garren everything he needed to know.

“Who are you three?” he hissed, dropping his kindness. These weren’t his friends. He didn’t know who these people were, or what was going on.

“Well, you managed to see through the charade,” Ankh muttered, ignoring the fact that they could have tried to bluff him into thinking nothing was wrong. But they all knew that there was no point in continuing.

“You just betrayed your allies,” said Hina, smiling grimly.

Giru was laughing without saying anything.

The three of them flashed. The world around him flashed and changed. Now, standing before him were the three Phantasmal Raiders. He looked around, up at the gray sky. Why was he looking at the sky with them above him?

He looked at his chest. Burns, blade wounds. No wonder he had been feeling them. They were there.

He looked around. Parts of the city were in ruins from the attack that the Raiders had launched onto the island. Burning everywhere, Bashaa everywhere, warriors everywhere. The three Raiders had weapons poised at his chest and throat, ready to eliminate him.

“We’ll kill you now, then eliminate your allies, with your information,” hissed Uva, who had become Hina.

Gamel, who was Giru, grinned, “You should have realized it! You looked like such a big fool!”

“You’re the fool,” Sagarc muttered to him, “Quiet.” Sagarc had clearly been Ankh.

“I can’t believe I let you use me,” muttered Garren, trying to rise, but finding he couldn’t. His weapons were still in hand, but they didn’t help him. He tried to focus, to use his powers over Crystal to get at the Raiders, to end the threat at once, but he couldn’t do anything.

“You let us use you,” said Uva, grinning viciously like a beast of prey, “You could have stopped talking at any time.”

“But I wouldn’t,” Garren said, “Not when talking to my friends like that.”

“Why?” Sagarc questioned.

“Because my friends and I aren’t like that. We talk, we’re open with each other. You guys laid the perfect plan by pretending to be them. I would never have stopped talking.”

“Yet you tried to trick us,” Uva said, “And apparently succeeded.”

“I didn’t really try to trick you guys,” he said, “But as your personas, you didn’t know what I was talking about. I could have lied, said I confused reality with my dream. So yes, I did act against how I usually do, but it could have been quickly covered by a lie.”

“Tell me, what is it that you did as a Matoran?” demanded Sagarc, glaring at Gamel for blowing it in that regard, but knowing that none of them knew. Their illusory powers only gave them so much information about the personas they adapted.

“Textile production,” Garren told them, clenching his fists tighter, wishing to strike out at them.

“Doesn’t matter anymore,” Uva said, “Die.”

He screamed out, attempting to rouse his powers. Crystals shot up from the ground around him, raining up, slashing at the three Raiders as they came in at him. This blast of Crystal from the ground would only protect him for so long, however. He rolled onto his stomach and crawled to his feet, struggling to make his arms work for him.

Leangle and Sasword must have done a lot of damage. He was sure these wounds were as a result of an encounter with those two.

The Raiders put the tips of their weapons together, unleashing a blast of power forward, using everything they had that they could combine. Their powers were at their greatest when together, yet their individual powers did clash.

Garren threw his arm forward with all the strength he could muster, managing to raise it. A wall of Crystal shot up, protecting him, but not deflecting the attack, just holding the attack at bay.

“Do you really want to fight me?” Garren shouted over the wall, over the attack, “You just took on the forms of the people I care about the most! You tried to make me thing you were them! People I’ve grown to care about so much! Now, tell me, do you really want to try me? Do you really want to see what I can do when enraged?”

The attack stopped. He swept his arm out, dropping his Crystal wall, looking around.

The Raiders were gone, nowhere to be seen. It seems they had taken his advice and fled, rather than face the angered Toa of Crystal.


“I love danger, that’s what makes me a good Toa. That’s what I think, anyway. The others may disagree with that, but that doesn’t matter to me. I know who I am, and who I must be. That’s why this enemy must fall, for he wishes to rob me of that. Next time: “Chapter 17: Rampaging Chalice” Let’s make this showy!”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 17: Rampaging Chalice

In the chaos of the battle, Chalice was stumbling about through the streets. Disorientation filled his brain; his vision was blurred. He could smell the acrid burning of muscles, his lungs pumping furiously.

He was burning. His organics were being burned by his armor. His armor was imprinting onto them, burning with intense heat. His body, other than that, was completely battered. He had no hope to escape the battles. He could see Anaroids fighting against Bashaa.

Anaroids? Why were they there? Did Bandiaca get involved in the battle? But why would she? What purpose would she have for fighting this fight? Or did she want to take a shot against the Phantasmal Raiders?

But why? Because they had taken her place in attacking? Because they were getting closer to winning than she had been? But he had heard that Bandiaca tried a similar tactic and lost. He hadn’t known the extent during the attack, but the Toa told him about how large it was. This seemed to rival that attack. Was she afraid it would be successful where hers failed? But then again, there were three rookies fighting this time, unlike last time.

Maybe she saw this time as beneficial, unlike the last.

Chalice slumped against a wall. He watched two Bashaa rush him. He cursed and drew up both of his swords, slashing both arms forward, unleashing a burst of Storms power from both tips, slamming rampaging, unchecked powers into each of them, ripping them apart rather than just subdue them.

“I like that,” a voice behind him said.

He span around, the wall exploding. He was hit by a few pieces of rubble, stumbling to and fro, but he managed to remain on his feet, facing the figure whom had just burst through the wall he had leaned on. He drew his blades up, getting ready to unleash a Storm attack on him, but he paused.

Why did he pause?

That instant was all his foe needed. The being moved forward, slamming his palm into Chalice’s chest. There was a thump; a burst of intense heat radiating between them, a shockwave, but never sound; only sensation. This sensation filled Chalice’s entire body, causing his eyes to shoot open as a silent scream escaped.

“I’m Mezool,” the figure said, “Who are you?”

Chalice was in too much pain to answer. He fell on the ground, writing in pain. He looked up, getting a look at his foe.

Mezool was silver and blue armored. Silver clawed feet with silver overlaying blue legs, with silver and spiked armor above. The body was dark blue with some silver overlay, with blue and silver arms as well as silver clawed hands. A rounded silver head topped off Mezool’s body, with a single green eye glaring out. A large shield-like shell covered Mezool’s back, providing a powerful back defense.

Mezool continued to look down, then shrugged, stepping on him with a powerful clawed foot, crushing him into the ground, causing cracks to appear. Chalice tried to shout in pain, but again, couldn’t.

“Your strength will return to your voice soon,” Mezool said, looking at his claws, “It always takes some time for my victims to…regain their strength, after I’ve touched them. Their strength has to be diverted elsewhere first, then sent right back into where it’s properly needed. For you, your strength is being sent to your entire body; but that’s still not right.

“The strength moving around your body like that isn’t natural. You see, the strength that you need in order to move your body isn’t the same strength that I just caused to move around inside of you. It’s different, since it was touched by my powers. It’ll only take a few more moments, and you should be able to move again, and speak.”

Mezool took a step back. Chalice had found the strength to rise to his feet. He swayed for a few moments before finding his core, staying standing, perfectly still.

“What do you feel?” questioned Mezool.

“Rage,” Chalice hissed, his voice cracking as he attempted to keep it under control. His eyes were glazed, glazed with ravaging hate, with roaring desire, passion. The desire to crush Mezool where he stood.

“My victims feel enraged at first. It’s natura…”

Mezool didn’t finish. Chalice had cast his weapons aside, gripping Mezool’s head in one hand, slamming it into the cracked wall behind the Phantasmal Raider warrior. He continued to beat until Mezool moved no more. Then he let his deceased foe drop.

Chalice reclaimed his weapons and walked away from the site, looking around the battle. He lifted his weapons, unleashing blasts of Storms in all directions, letting his powers twist around, take on paths of their own choosing as he released his control, letting them smash into enemies everywhere, of both factions.

As he continued to walk, he saw a figure up ahead. He stopped.

Mezool.

“I see,” Mezool muttered, “I don’t know what happened.”

“How are you alive?” screamed Chalice.

“You didn’t kill me, obviously,” Mezool said, fully expecting that to be an adequate answer. He wasn’t being smart or coy with Chalice, wasn’t trying to give him an insult to his intelligence. He was just answering the question.

Chalice screamed and threw both arms forward, unleashing twin blasts of Storms from his blades. Mezool ducked, taking the shots onto his back, protecting himself with his large shell-like shield. He rose again as the power failed to smash through his defense, turning to face Chalice.

“I fully intended to leave something in you. It would have been an overwhelming emotion; one of defeat. I wanted you to face absolute defeat, Toa. But…what is this? Rage? How did this happen?

“It’s not an aftereffect of my powers; that would have worn off by now. You don’t seem to have the mental conditioning to forcefully redirect the goal of my powers once they are released. What did you do? Tell me!”

Chalice could provide no answer. He ran forward, slashing wildly, dancing with death itself. Every blow missed as Mezool expertly dodged and weaved, intent on keeping his head on his shoulders. He span around, letting a blade glance off of his shield, sending a thin stream of sparks out from the impact. He took a step forward, punching Chalice once, then slashed him with his left claw, sending three trails of sparks and three dark marks on Chalice.

Chalice shouted and kneed Mezool in the chest. Hard. Mezool stumbled back, taking a punch from Chalice to the face. As he stumbled, Chalice leapt forward, slamming both swords down, catching the serrated edges on his shoulders. He gave a shout and pulled down as hard as he could, causing showers of sparks to fly as each blade dug into Mezool’s armor, causing the turtle-like warrior to cry out in pain.

“Bashaa!” he screamed, calling out for backup.

A handful of Bashaa started to emerge, racing for Chalice. He paid them no heed. Mezool was the object of his hate, of his rage. He drew a sword back, screaming as he slammed it down for the kill.

A Bashaa parried, using its own body as a shield. Needless to say, it died. But not only that, it was torn in half from the blade’s brute strength. He shouted, throwing the corpse aside and driving his second blade for Mezool’s chest.

Mezool took the blow, crying out as he was slammed through a building. The Matoran cowering for their lives inside screamed and fled. One was crushed under the rubble, dying instantly. Chalice walked over the rubble, stepping on an armored hand that was sticking out at an awkward angle, never noticing it.

His rage was focused on Mezool.

“I’ll stop you!” Mezool screamed, drawing his hands up to his optical eye. Energy gathered between his hands from his eye. He cast his hands forward, sending the energy blasting forward, into Chalice’s chest. He took the shot and was thrown outside of the building, staying down. A large black burn was on his chest, sizzling, steaming. But in a moment he was on his feet again, coming for Mezool.

Nothing could stop him.

Bringer of death.

That’s what he was. For Mezool, at least. Mezool knew it, too. He had unintentionally created a monster.

He threw more energy bolts forward, but every time after that first shot, Chalice used his swords to deflect them into the ground. He drew his arms back and ran forward, doubling over to keep low, to keep wind resistance down as he ran. What wind – inside of a building – he didn’t know, but he felt right doing it.

He leapt as he reached just short of Mezool, spinning around, slashing with both blades as he came down, sending showers of sparks flying from Mezool’s chest. The turtle-like warrior cried out, then slumped forward in a dull shout of pain as Chalice plunged his sword through his foe’s chest.

Bringer of death.

Death wrought.

Chalice pulled his sword free, letting Mezool slump on the ground. He walked towards the other wall of the building, unleashing a blast of his powers to crush the wall before him, allowing him to walk right out. He didn’t bother to look back at the Matoran shouting at him. He didn’t care about them.

Matoran wouldn’t put up a fight.

Granted, Bashaa, Anaroids and Batsuroids were beneath him, but they would fight, at least. But then he thought. He had never faced a Batsuroid before…maybe it would be fun.

Anaroids and Bashaa launched attacks at him as he passed. Every time they would meet firm wind resistance, and if they proved to be worth his while, he would turn and slash them across their throats in one swift move, putting them down. Sometimes he would switch to his Blade Blaster and fire at them in their faces, point blank.

Nothing could oppose him. Mezool had caused this, and now Mezool was dead. Not even the death of the caster could return the emotional stability of the target. It was effective in some regards, but this wasn’t one. Not for Mezool, not for the Raiders.

He stopped when he heard a name. A familiar name being shouted. But what was the name?

He realized it was his own name being shouted from a hoarse voice. A familiar voice, but the familiarity couldn’t be placed to a face, to an identity. He turned to see the figure of Cesare running towards him, slashing an Anaroid across the chest with his sword.

Chalice watched him for a moment. He watched as Cesare proved his swordsmanship by dancing with death, causing all of the Bashaa nearby to fall to their deaths as they attacked in a cluster from all sides. The Toa of Ice seemed a worthy foe.

Chalice plunged his right sword into the ground. He lifted his hand, curling it into a fist. Lightning danced and crackled around his fist, begging for release. It screamed for it. It ached to feel Cesare’s body as it lanced into him.

Chalice let it have its wish, releasing the strike of Lightning as he simultaneously released strong winds and clouds, attempting to pin Cesare down and keep him in the path of the Lightning strike.

Cesare saw the cloud coverage and fog coming in at his sides. He tried to move when he saw the Lightning, but couldn’t.

He didn’t panic. Why didn’t he panic? Chalice wanted to see the panic. It would make this worthwhile.

Instead, Cesare drew a card from his sword, slashing it. The words echoed around them for a moment, just coming over the sound of the crackling Lightning.

“Float”

Cesare shot into the sky, avoiding the Lightning at the last moment. He shot down the corridor of heavy winds, slamming his legs into Chalice, sending the Toa of Storms crashing to the ground onto his back. He rolled over, grabbing his sword from the ground, ready to rush Cesare and take him down.

He stopped as soon as he was on his feet. The tip of Cesare’s sword was in his face. One more move and he would kill himself.

One move and he was sure Cesare would kill him to defend himself.

“I don’t know what’s happened, but if you really want to kill me, then do it with the sword entrusted to me by Hoji,” Cesare said, throwing the sword up, catching it by the tip. He held the hilt out to Chalice, the eyes of the Toa of Storms filled with obvious murderous intent, with his building rage, willing to be released.

Chalice dropped both of his weapons, took the sword into both hands, drew it back, and plunged it forward with a scream, going for Cesare’s head.

Cesare didn’t move. It was about to be over.

And then something unexpected happened. Cesare ducked, thrusting a hand up, holding a Rouze Card. The card was pierced, the power activating.

“Light”

Light erupted from the sword, causing both of the Toa to be blinded. Cesare, at least, expected it and had shielded his eyes. He glanced over as soon as it had faded, looking at Chalice, on the ground, from the shine.

He took his sword back up, putting the tip to Chalice’s throat, “Chalice, answer me or I’ll run you through.”

Chalice didn’t answer. He moaned in pain.

“Last chance.”

“Cesare…that hurt,” Chalice grumbled.

A thin smile spread to Cesare’s face, “Good. Looks like the power of Light broke whatever hold was over you,” Cesare said, hooking his sword to his hip, helping the Toa of Storms up, “Just don’t strain yourself and within ten or so minutes you’ll be fine.”

“What…what happened?”

“An enemy made you go on a rampage, it looks like,” Cesare said.

“The…”

“The swordsman and sniper?” Chalice nodded, “They’re…around. I don’t think it was them.”

“It wasn’t. Killed who did it,” Chalice answered.

Cesare nodded, “I see. You also did quite a job on the Bashaa and Anaroids around.”

“Do you know why those robots are here?” questioned Chalice, his vision returning finally.

“No,” Cesare said, disappointed by his own lack of knowledge, “I wish I did. But whatever the reason, we can be sure it’s not good. But at the very least, they’re fighting the Bashaa, not supporting them. And Bandiaca lost a lot of her forces; if she’s making another bid at the island under the cover of the Raider’s attack, I don’t think it’ll work very well.”

Chalice nodded, “But…she’s a witch. Her powers may be superior to the Raiders powers.”

“Let’s hope that if they are, they kill each other,” Cesare muttered.


“I don’t know much about Bandiaca, other than that she’s a witch and a magic user. But the Raiders are magic users as well, or so it would seem. Both command armies, both have similar powers. Who would win, I wonder? Next time: “Chapter 18: The Pirates and the Witch!” Show me!”

Review

Edited by Lord Koji, Feb 26 2012 - 06:50 PM.

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 18: The Pirates and the Witch!

“Are you sure this is what you want, Mistress?” M’hou asked, cowering away from Bandiaca. He didn’t like her when she was like this. When her rage ran unchecked like a storm lashing out at a ship stuck at sea.

He felt like that ship, being near death, begging for it to stop. Her dark temper had caused her to loose some of her powers, just enough to cause him to be at ease. Probably enough that they would eventually kill him if he didn’t walk away soon.

“I shall divert the resources and activate the projects, then,” M’hou said. The projects were built, but just waiting to be activated. The activation alone would cause them to lose their squads of Batsuroids. But these machines would be stronger than the Batsuroids, even if there were only two, compared to the fifty or so Batsuroids.

The Anaroids were already on Cyril Nui, raging war against the footsoldiers and the warriors utilized by the Phantasmal Raiders. The Anaroids were able to hold their own, but not defeat some of the more powerful enemies, the commanders.

“Have Dai and Mirai ready to leave with them,” Bandiaca hissed.

“Only the two of them, Mistress?” M’hou asked.

She nodded, “Yes. Just the two swordsmen. They’ll be enough to fight through the forces of the Raiders. They’re the only two who aren’t under my command; who will think for themselves the way they must in order to achieve victory.

“They are the only two who can do this job for me. Two enemies of ours are too much for my mindless soldiers, no matter how many we throw at them. We need these two, since we’ve lost ‘Forte’. Have them mobilized with…”

“Kaixa and Faiz,” M’hou said, “Kaixa and Faiz.”

M’hou hurried away, dodging around Mirai and Dai as they passed him. Dai’s sword currently had a larger guard affixed to it, allowing a stronger swing due to more weight, and for his hand to have more of a grip.

This would allow him to cut down more enemies with great ease.

As the two swordsmen stood beside Bandiaca, M’hou returned with his two warriors in tow. The first, Kaixa, was a blue, silver and black machine warrior. A bit taller than a Matoran, it had clawed silver feet with black building up into the strong, blue legs. Silver armor filled out above the knees, with large sheets of blue armor over the chest, with some gray armor underneath it. Silver, claw-like armor came up over the shoulders, sloping back, with black armored arms and blue and silver tipped claws made up the arms of this warrior, while silver wings projected from Kaixa’s arms for flight. A small, silvery wire tail lashed around on the ground, acting as another weapon for this machine. A blue head came up with no detail, and a glowing crimson eye took in every detail it could. A jetpack was mounted on its back, allowing for the wings to be used for flight.

The second machine that stood beside M’hou was Faiz, wearing mostly silver armor. Feet with two claws emerged at the bottom, with large plates and claws coming off of the back for affixing Faiz to the ground. Strong silver legs opened up to large silver armor above the knee. The chest was the only gray on the body, covered in a plate of silver, with some silver hanging down like a fin underneath the body itself. Sleek silver armor came back off of the tops of the arms, with small silver arms, but strong looking at the same time. The left hand ended in claws – two, like the feet. The right ended in a large crossbow that would fire rapid energy bolts forward, with another blaster attachment atop it for drawing energy from the environment into the weapon. A sleek silver helm covered the head, with two optical eyes staring out.

Mirai, Dai, Kaixa and Faiz stood before Bandiaca, awaiting her absolute orders. She lifted her staff high overhead, energy glowing from the tip.

“Today is the day we take the island of Cyril Nui!” she decreed to the four of them, to her personal messengers and warriors, “Today we slay the Phantasmal Raiders, and we deal with the Toa Cyril! We win on this day!”

“What of the Raiders themselves?” Dai questioned her, “I believe we could defeat them, but they have…powers. Mirai and I may not be able to handle them, if they were to unleash attacks on us from a distance, or something of the sort.”

Bandiaca smiled grimly, “That is why I am leading this attack personally,” she hissed, “I shall deal with the Raiders. They may think their powers are enough to win the island…but no. My magic is superior! I shall show them that they are nothing to me! They are like a candle to the roaring flame that is me.”

Mirai and Dai nodded to her. The machines said nothing, as they could not speak. They did nothing but stand there, awaiting orders.

“Go,” she hissed.


“The worms are hiding,” muttered Uva, leaning his long sword against a destroyed wall.

After their run in with Garren, they had been unable to locate any other Toa. They saw destruction all around from their forces, from Bandiaca’s forces, and deaths that could be the result of either Bandiaca or the Toa.

It was hard to tell what was going on.

“We’ll flush them out,” Sagarc said, lifting his large crescent sword. He pulled a Matoran out of the rubble of a building – his hiding place hadn’t been effective – and held him by the throat, using his powers to lift the Matoran into the air. He lifted his blade to the Matoran’s throat, “Scream out for the Toa or I’ll cut your throat,” Sagarc hissed.

The Matoran started to scream out, causing a smile to spread to Sagarc’s face. As the screams carried through the rubble, nothing happened.

Disgusted, Sagarc cut the Matoran’s throat, dropping the corpse that had almost no head.

“Let’s try again, amplify the screams,” Sagarc muttered, looking to Uva and Gamel.

“We don’t want to slaughter all of them,” Uva reminded, “We need workers.”

“Then why kill them at all?” Gamel questioned, looking to the corpses of some as a result of the Bashaa hunting them down.

“We needed to provoke the Toa into fighting,” Uva stated simply, “How better than slaughtering some of the Matoran?”

Gamel grunted his approval of the tactic, simple as it was.

Uva took his sword up again, “Let’s move,” he muttered, heading away from the other two.

“And when we find the Toa?” Sagarc called, “I realize, we don’t know your plan!”

“I don’t have one,” he muttered back.

“You expect our powers to be enough?” questioned Sagarc.

“What was your plan if the Matoran’s screams had brought them here?” questioned Uva.

Sagarc nodded, “Our power would be enough.”

“You had hope alone?”

“I know it will be enough,” Sagarc replied.

“How do you know that?”

“When the three of us join for a common cause, you know we’re invincible,” Sagarc answered.

A burst of Lightning tore through the ground around the Raiders. It never struck them, only tearing up the ground around them, sending rubble flying everywhere. They braced themselves, looking around for the source, but not finding it.

They stared straight ahead. They saw the area before them warp as a figure took form. Bandiaca, having hidden in plain sight, lowered her staff, Lightning still dancing dangerously around the end of her weapon.

“Your powers are impressive,” she hissed, “Without doing anything; you were able to stop my attacks.”

“Our powers react accordingly with yours,” Sagarc said, “Didn’t you know that? We knew of your power and built ourselves up a defense against you. We knew we would fight you eventually. I found a way to negate your powers.”

“You were hoping you could defeat us, weren’t you?” hissed Uva, lifting his blade, “Your powers are nothing to us!”

The three pooled their powers. A fist of air slammed through the air, sizzling with power. Bandiaca could feel it flying forward, lifting her left hand up, palm facing towards the oncoming attack.

It stopped.

“I can annul your powers as well,” hissed Bandiaca, throwing her hand forward harder and farther. A kinetic explosion tore through the air, flames belching towards the three Raiders.

Gamel took two steps in front of the others, swiping his double ended trident in front of himself. The flames stopped, as if hitting an invisible wall. They moved, as if striking the aforementioned wall, then redoubled back towards Bandiaca, Lightning racing forward as well as Gamel threw some of his own power into the attack.

She smiled grimly, throwing both arms out to her sides. The attack vanished.

“What’s your next move?” questioned Uva, getting ready to strike.

She smiled grimly as Uva started to choke. He cried out, his throat closed, unable to draw any breath into his body. He couldn’t even scream.

Sagarc slashed his sword towards Bandiaca. A brilliant wave of shimmering light blasted forward, Lightning dancing around the outsides, twirling around into the point of a spear. It struck an invisible wall of power Bandiaca had thrown out in front of herself.

“I may not be able to overtly strike, but your companion will soon be dead,” Bandiaca hissed, “You’d better figure out how to stop my covert attacks, or you’ll all die in time.”

The Raiders knew she was right. “Gamel!” barked Sagarc, slashing his sword towards Uva, getting ready to kill Uva by the look of it.

Gamel nodded, throwing his weapon forward. A wave pulsed off of it, striking the ground, causing dust to be thrown up to eliminate Bandiaca’s eyesight. By the time she dispersed it, she saw Uva catching his breath, a wound in his side from Sagarc’s weapon. Somehow Sagarc had cast away her choking attack.

It didn’t matter. Her forces were in place.

“Die,” she hissed, “Die like the scum of the bottom of the ocean that you are!”

“What?” hissed Uva, regaining his breath.

A blast of Lightning struck the three of them, causing them to scream out in pain, all of them thrown aside. They struggled up, using weapons to support themselves. Mirai walked towards them, tip of his sword glistening with Lightning.

“Magic? No,” he hissed, “Power. Pure power. You may naturally stop the magic of Bandiaca, but not my powers.”

The Raiders would have to take time in order to stop him. They would have to change their defensive powers, but then they may be weak against Bandiaca’s magic. One couldn’t stop Mirai while two stopped Bandiaca, or vice-versa. None of them alone had the strength in order to stop Bandiaca. All three had to do it.

While one stopped Mirai, Bandiaca would pick off all three of them in one fell swoop.

“Ohja! Get out here!” screamed Uva.

A figure crawled out of the darkness of a rundown building that was nearby. This was Ohja, the only guardian that the Raiders had brought with them.

Ohja looked like a silver and gray turtle. Silver clawed feet covered the back legs, with silver claws coming down the legs. The front was shield-like limbs which provided roots as it walked, as well as defenses. A sleek silver head stared out, showing intellect. A large cannon was mounted over the shell on his back, acting like a magnetic cannon that could turn in any direction.

The cannon swiveled, unleashing a blast of power at Mirai. He sheathed his sword on his arm shield and lifted it, parrying the attack. He cast his arm aside, sending the power flying into the ground. He cast a glance to Bandiaca, “Faiz will deal with this,” he stated.

“What are you going to do?” demanded Bandiaca.

A blast struck the spot where Mirai was just standing; he had just flipped out of the way. He pointed his finger towards the street parallel to them, “The two enemies you worry about are over there, Bandiaca,” he said, racing off towards Leangle and Sasword.

Bandiaca snapped her fingers, “Faiz!” she snapped.

The silver machine appeared quickly at her side, lifting the large crossbow weapon it carried. Ohja turned the cannon on the new arrival, firing off a bolt of Magnetism.

Faiz was fast, able to dodge with ease. The machine was being drawn to the spot that had been hit by the cannon attack, but was lifting the bow, opening fire, drawing on the magnetic powers around itself to power the weapon.

The crossbow energy bolts continued to strike Ohja, but none of them seemed to do the desired damage. The hunched down, shielded turtle warrior was too resilient.

Bandiaca could have done something, but she was keeping an eye on the Raiders. They had decided to rush her, all of them readying their weapons for a quick kill.

She swept her staff aside, sending Lightning between the three and herself, keeping them at bay. They dodged back, keeping their eyes on her. They withdrew the Lightning with their powers, but couldn’t get any closer, as she would quickly throw another defense up.

“It’s only a matter of time until we can reach you,” hissed Uva.

“I have more power than you could ever dream of having, you little scum,” she hissed, “My power is going to be enough to keep you all at bay until one of my men arrives to behead all of you. I know I can’t do it,” she cast her hand forward, finding that her covert magic hadn’t worked, even though she could have easily slipped through any defense they had set up to stop generic attacks of hers. They seemed to have made a stronger defensive wall around themselves.

Bandiaca continued to watch. Ohja was downed, dead. Faiz span around, opening fire from behind, silently.

The Raiders all cried out, stumbling around as they took hits. Bandiaca cursed; the Magnetic attacks had damaged Faiz’s optical sensors, causing the fatal hits to be glancing instead. That was a problem.

But enough fire would soon eliminate all three of them.

Faiz was downed instantly, however. She saw a Bashaa had run Faiz through from behind with its blade. She threw her hand forward, sending Lightning rippling from her palm at the Bashaa, wiping out the warrior.

An idea flashed in Sagarc’s eyes, “Bashaa!” he screamed, throwing his weapon up, calling out for the footsoldiers.

Bashaa started to appear all around them. They all raced for Bandiaca, causing her to strike them down one by one, unleashing slightly more powerful spells to cut more down this time, wiping out the first wave quickly.

“We have you!” shouted Uva.

As more came, she lashed out, but her attacks stopped short as the Raiders lashed their own powers out, canceling hers out, stopping the attacks from touching their soldiers. She cursed, trying to lash more out, but they all stopped short, unable to hit their targets.

What was happening?

Bashaa were upon her, slashing at her, causing her to stumble, scream out in pain. She lashed out with her staff, catching a few, but she wasn’t strong enough to stop them all. She took a stab to the chest, screaming out. Her powers were canceled the moment they came out, meaning no matter how short, it couldn’t strike.

She was going to die.


“All he ever wanted was a worthy opponent, and that was Hoji. Now he’s a lost soul, searching for an opponent. Let’s all give a moment of silence… Next time: “Chapter 19: ‘Forte’’s Final Fight!” Here I go!”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 19: ‘Forte’’s Final Fight!

Where was he? Where was the man who used the sword of his rival? ‘Forte’ demanded to fight Cesare, but after some explosion occurred, their duel had drawn to an end, and the Toa of Ice was nowhere to be seen.

A swordsman. A worthy swordsman. That’s what ‘Forte’ desired. That’s all ‘Forte’ wanted. A rival. A duel.

Every one of the Toa was a swordsman. All of them had a sword as a result of their Blade Blaster. Some of them had swords as their personal weapons, in some regards. He knew that Chalice had two swords, that Larc had a bow/sword combination, and that Garren always changed his weapons from slicing weapons into the guards of swords.

He’d even settle for Garren as an opponent.

He saw Bashaa all around him. His sword was feeling heavy in hand, as if desiring, thirsting for vengeance, for something to cut. He shouted, cleaving a Bashaa in half with a single blow. None of the Bashaa around tried to stop him, nor did they take notice.

He started to slash at other Bashaa, slaying them. When he saw Anaroids, he felt joy. He raced forward, dodging the attacks they used, cutting them down, meeting only two swords during these attacks.

They were worthless opponents. They couldn’t stop him or his sword.

“Why can’t I find a proper opponent?” he screamed, slashing a wall. A cut went through the bricks of the wall. The entire wall fell, sliced all the way through; the entire building itself. The wall he had slashed, the wall connecting at the corner, the wall perpendicular to the one he had slashed.

The pure force of his slash had severed three walls, when he had only touched one. Such was his power.

“Oy!”

‘Forte’ turned, looking at the figure whom had spoken to him. It was Leangle, scythe leaning on his shoulder. He walked towards ‘Forte’, shaking his head.

“What do you want?” spat ‘Forte’.

“You need to find an opponent and fight,” Leangle stated, “You’re not doing us any good killing our own men!”

“What about you?” demanded ‘Forte’.

“I’m searching for an opponent,” the green warrior stated, “I’m looking. I’m not wasting time. I know Sasword found himself an opponent.”

Leangle looked out at the destroyed streets around them, “This island has never looked better,” ‘Forte’ muttered to him.

“What do you mean?”

“This island is a dystopia, you know that, right?” A nod. “This island has stood as a symbol of life. It tries to look like a proper civilization, a place for proper life to flourish. It isn’t. This way it looks like it should. A torture for the Matoran living here.”

“And you care about the Matoran?” questioned Leangle.

“No, I’m stating that it’s poetic, in a way. When they had peace in dystopia, it looked unlike it should. When war comes, and they’re in fear, it looks like it should.”

“You need to find an opponent. Fast,” Leangle muttered, shaking his head, “Your deep thinking really isn’t befitting you. It makes me embarrassed to know you as one of my comrades.”

“You want to be my opponent?” hissed ‘Forte’, lifting his sword, “I thirst for someone to face me.”

“I’m no swordsman,” muttered Leangle, “I’m a killer. There’s a difference.”

“Yes, I know that,” the robotic warrior nodded, “I just need a foe. Only Hoji could ever give me the fight I wanted.”

“You realize that Bandiaca is attacking us, right? She’s brought some warriors with her. Swordsmen. Maybe you’d like to fight them?”

“Do you know their identities?” questioned ‘Forte’.

“Mirai and Dai,” he answered, “Or so our intelligence tells us.”

“You mean what I told you?”

“Yes.”

The two men stood in silence. ‘Forte’ lifted his weapon to his shoulder and started to walk off, “Well, I’m going to go and search out a foe, if you wouldn’t mind my leaving.”

“Go. Do our job and kill!”

‘Forte’ nodded grimly as he walked away.


Mirai slashed, but Sasword parried with his large blade. Sasword wasn’t a good swordsman, but he was capable of utilizing his blade for defense. It annoyed Mirai that such a weak warrior could put up such a defense against him.

He ducked under Sasword’s swing, driving his sword up. The blade just scratched Sasword’s chest as the green warrior dodged back, turning and lifting his weapon. Energy built up in the blaster, flying through the air, sizzling as it lashed out at Mirai.

Mirai lifted his arm, using his shield to parry the attack. The concussive blast threw him back, causing him to dig his feet into the ground, trying to gain his footing. He drove his sword into the sheath, taking two quick steps forward, and drew his weapon, sending a blast of Fire sizzling through the air, smashing it into Sasword, causing him to scream in pain and stumble back, his armor burning.

“I’m too strong for you,” Mirai said, “I’m a swordsman, you’re a gunner. There’s an obvious difference in our skill levels. You’re far beneath me.”

“You think I’m weak because I use this?” Sasword shouted, showing his mechanical arm. He leapt forward, swinging his large sword down, but Mirai blocked it with ease with his sword. He kicked Sasword in the chest, causing him to stumble back. He lifted his weapon up, getting ready to open fire.

Mirai expected it. He ducked on instinct. The blast went down, as expected, due to his duck.

Mirai pushed all of his strength into his legs, jumping the attack. He came down, slashing down with all of his might. His strength filled every part of his body, strength drawn from his weapon. By drawing on the elemental and energy properties of his combination of sword and shield, he diverted the attacks that he could have used away into pure energy and strength for his body.

The blade touched Sasword’s head, cleaving him in half. The two halves of Sasword fell to either side of Mirai. He showed no emotion for his win. He simply knew that he had been superior, and meant to win.

He turned, “Ah, ‘Forte’. You’ve changed,” he drew his sword towards the mechanical warrior, “Shall we dance with death?”

‘Forte’ grinned, “Yes. I’ve been wanting a good duel for a while. You will do.”

Mirai sheathed his sword, putting his hand to the hilt, getting ready for an attack. He watched as ‘Forte’ lifted the tip of his sword towards Mirai, waiting to spring into action.

They circled around each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Then, ‘Forte’, desiring to duel, lunged forward. He thrust his sword forward, but Mirai dodged, rather than strike it.

“Draw!” screamed ‘Forte’.

“No,” Mirai muttered, spinning around and kicking ‘Forte’ in the chest, knocking him back, “You’ll duel the way I want to.”

“Draw!”

The sword came down. Mirai span around, dodging back and throwing his other leg up as a kick, slamming his foot into ‘Forte’’s side, causing him to stumble. Mirai pushed forward, driving his knee up into ‘Forte’’s chest, causing him to stumble back again.

Then he drew his sword for the first time, not channeling any powers. He slashed once, causing sparks to fly from ‘Forte’’s chest, causing a dark wound to appear. He lifted his arm, turned the blade, and slashed down, missing the head, but glancing the chest, causing sparks to fly again, causing another dark wound to appear.

‘Forte’ lunged forward, but Mirai lifted his sword to parry, letting his foe’s blade dance off of his. He twisted his wrist, plunging forward, but ‘Forte’ dodged. ‘Forte’’s blade came forward, but Mirai blocked with his shield. He pushed back, span around, and kicked his foe in the chest, causing him to stumble back.

“We’re not getting very far like this,” muttered Mirai.

“I know,” hissed ‘Forte’. He leapt forward, slashing, but Mirai span around, running down the street. He slid, dodging ‘Forte’’s lunge.

Then ‘Forte’ saw it. He saw Bandiaca, attempting to fend off Bashaa, using her powers to keep the Raiders at bay while Anaroids and Kaixa fought off the Bashaa around her. She was covered in wounds, panting with exhaustion, her life and her energy draining away as she continued to cast attacks forward.

“Look,” Mirai told ‘Forte’, “Do you remember the honor you felt fighting for Bandiaca? You were her right hand. You were her bodyguard. Her greatest warrior, some said. Yet you would abandon everything?”

“You guys hunted me,” ‘Forte’ hissed, “You turned against me! Do you want me back now that you’re losing?”

“We’re winning,” Mirai stated.

“Then why do you want me now?” hissed ‘Forte’ in question.

“Because you’re a survivor. You truly want to fight. We could use someone who breaths combat on our side. We have none without you,” Mirai explained, “Join us, ‘Forte’. Bandiaca can use her magic to return you to normal, I’m certain. You can join us and rule! I still have a soft spot for you, no matter what I’ve done to you. Take your last chance, ‘Forte’.”

“No,” he hissed without a thought.

“You’re content with the Raiders?” questioned Mirai.

‘Forte’ nodded, “I am, surprisingly.”

“Then we have no need of you,” Mirai replied, whipping around, throwing his sword out. ‘Forte’ managed to parry and stumble back, surprised by Mirai’s strength.

“Mirai!” screamed Bandiaca.

Mirai turned to his commander. He shook his head, “Another day,” he told ‘Forte’, rushing off, leaping into the Raiders, fending them off with his sword, while they were just able to defend themselves with their powers. He raced past them, quickly cutting down the warriors who struck at Bandiaca.

‘Forte’ watched, clenching his fist tighter around the hilt of his sword. Mirai was a worthy foe, but why had the man left? He would be back…but he needed a fight. Now!

What was this? When the Raiders had changed him, he had been under their control. He had served only them. But…what was this, then? Was this a result of gaining his own mind back? Was this somehow his mind fighting the innate programming he had within himself? Was this insanity, this drive to fight, the result of the Raiders and his own wills colliding?

Were they calling to him to join them? Activating his old programming once again? But would that provide a fight? It would.

It wouldn’t be his type of fight. It would be because of programming. It wouldn’t be the duel he sought.

It wouldn’t be one he would enjoy enough.

“I’m not surprised that you’re here,” said a familiar voice.

Dai. He knew without turning.

“Will you be my foe?” questioned ‘Forte’.

“Come with me,” he replied, pointing towards a ridge overlooking this part of the island, using his sword – Onyx Kardas – to point.

“Fine,” ‘Forte’ replied, watching as Dai departed. ‘Forte’ ran at the enemies before him, cutting down a few of the Anaroids, his sword cutting through Bashaa just the same.

He ignored the shouts of the Phantasmal Raiders. He didn’t care. He span around, pointing the tip of his sword to them.

“I don’t care about you people,” he hissed, “Send Jaki after me if you want. I don’t care. I want a duel. At this point, Mirai won’t provide it for me. I need Dai, who waits for me.”

The Raiders didn’t answer him. He could feel it in the air that they were preparing to launch an attack at him. If he was going to become a wildcard, they would have nothing to do with him. They were ready to kill him.

He wouldn’t let them. He turned and started off in the other direction, towards the duel.


“This is it,” Dai said, lifting the tip of his black sword.

‘Forte’ put the tip of his to it, “For you.”

The tips of their swords touched for a few moments, then both swung back, swinging forward, their swords meeting. They pushed, but Dai was stronger. He had the guard to push his hand against, and also the weight associated with it, forcing ‘Forte’’s sword down. He ran it up the length of his foe’s sword, and in one move, it was over.

‘Forte’ collapsed onto his knees, clutching his chest. Sparks flew from his mechanical parts inside of his body. He looked after Dai as the warrior walked away, sheathing his sword.

“I’m not done!” screamed ‘Forte’.

“You are,” replied Dai, “You can no longer fight. Lift your sword.”

‘Forte’ couldn’t.

“What use is a swordsman without his sword arm?” Dai posed as a question.

‘Forte’ screamed, unable to lift his sword. His life. He couldn’t let it go, however. He was a swordsman until the end.

He felt the tip of the black blade in his back. He looked down, “Are you going to end it, Dai?”

The blade was between the fins running along ‘Forte’’s back. A plunge, even right here, would end it.

“I’m sorry. I always liked you,” Dai said, and then it was over.


“What’s this, then?”

A mechanical body of blue and silver armor, looking like a sea beast. It clutched a sword hard in its unmoving hand. It had died a warrior. Died fighting.

This man was a warrior. Part flesh, part machine. More machine than most. He was a cyborg by nature, that much was apparent. A cyborg didn’t feel the pain of any other being that lived in this universe. He would feel pain, but he would be an effective warrior.

The will to keep clutching that sword, even in death, was proof of this.

“I need a second,” the figure said to himself, looking down at the battles raging on the island below this ridge. It was chaos, three sides fighting, by the look of it. And by the look of all of the ocean creatures, this warrior was one of them.

The figure lifted a staff over the fallen mechanical body. Power erupted from the end of the weapon, seeping down into the battered, broken body of this oceanic cyborg. After a few moments, energy shone through the wounds on the body, through the mortal wound on the back and the minor wounds across the rest of the body.

“What is your name?” he questioned as the figure rose, the crimson eye flashing to life.

“I am ‘Forte’.”


“All we’ve been fighting for comes to this. Will we win? Will the Raiders? Bandiaca? Who has Destiny on their side? Who has the strongest Unity? Who thinks their Duty is to this island? Regardless, we’re about to find out. Next time: “Chapter 20: The Perilous Depths” Grace like the rain.”

Review

[Lord Koji]

Chapter 20: The Perilous Sea

“Fall back!” screamed Mirai to the Anaroids. They were lifting swords, firing into the groups of Bashaa approaching. Bashaa fell, but were quickly replaced. Mirai swung his sword forward, sending a burst of Fire into the crowd, burning through more of their ranks.

Dai had recently rejoined them, but he wasn’t doing anything for them. He could only fight in close quarters. No enemies got close enough.

Bandiaca raised her staff, calling a Lightning strike down. As usual, the pooled powers of the three Phantasmal Raiders negated her attack, keeping their ranks safe. They had the benefit of numbers. The Anaroids had the benefit of ranged attacks.

Anything the Raiders threw forward was negated instantly by Bandiaca and her powers. Kaixa was able to fly in and out, using his wire tail to strangle Bashaa and throw the corpses into the oncoming masses, taking some down with the blunt throws. Kaixa was forced to keep distant, though, or it would be destroyed.

The battle was slow moving. The Anaroids didn’t fall often, but the Bashaa fell en masse and were replaced by reinforcements. If Sasword was still alive, he could have evened the fight up a bit more.

Leangle was rejoining the fight now, along with Jaki. ‘Forte’ was nowhere to be found, but Dai knew that he was dead, unable to fight. If anyone got close to the Raiders, then he would have done a lot of damage. Not it was Leangle and Jaki alone who had to do it.

The rest of the warriors for the Raiders were off elsewhere, fighting the Toa. If they had fallen into rank, then ranged attacks would puncture deep holes into the ranks of Bandiaca. She wasn’t going to lose ground; she wanted the island. She was going to hold it at any cost. No matter how many men she lost, as long as she had one left by the time the Raiders and their forces were crushed, it would be worth it.

Cyril Nui was an island that wasn’t worth much. The fighting between those in power, the Turaga, the conflicts, the dystopia…nothing gave this island any worth. Bandiaca had heard Matoran speaking of promises of a man named Fides. The Matoran were hoping for Fides to be able to create some defense for all of their sakes.

Fides this. Fides that. She didn’t know who he was, nor did she care. She heard other Turaga mentioned. Gorma, the Turaga aiding the Toa. He was another popular one, since he could provide the help of the Toa. But that was about all he could bring to the table.

Then the game changed. A blast of power erupted through the ranks of both sides, wiping out the grunts that both factions were using as the bulks of their armies.

“It’s time we put an end to this.”

Cesare walked out of the shadows of a dilapidated building, lifting his sword. He pointed it high, as it to let light glint off of the steel, if there were light. If the clouds weren’t permanently covering the skies over the island.

“We’re going to bring this fighting to an end,” Cesare boasted.

“Impressive, if you can pull it off,” Uva hissed.

“Boasting doesn’t befit you, Toa,” Sagarc said.

“I know better than to disregard boasting from these Toa,” Bandiaca told the Raiders, not as a friendly warning, but a warning in general, her voice dripping with acid.

“They defeated you. I get it,” Sagarc said, shrugging, “We’re a bit stronger than you, Witch.”

“You may have forced us to gain great power than ever before with the Nova Crystals, but you’re nothing compared to Bandiaca,” Cesare said.

“I’m touched,” Bandiaca muttered mockingly.

He shot her a glare, then looked to them all, “Raiders, Bandiaca has power that you could never believe, that you could never rival. You may have some similar powers, but she is your superior in every way.”

“We’ll prove you wrong!” boasted Gamel, lifting his dual trident high, sending a stream of Lightning crackling for Cesare.

A wall of Crystal took the hit, then faded. Garren nodded to Cesare, “It just occurred to me. This is the first time we’re doing this.”

“Doing what?” demanded Bandiaca.

Cesare swung his sword out to his side, his arm behind his body. His left hand came up, clenching into a fist in front of his face. He threw that arm out to the side, span around, and as he lifted his sword, slashed it down, looking up as he slashed down, “The exploding tundra! Toa Cesare!”

Agri stood with his feet together, his right side facing the group of enemies. He lowered his weapon, looking out over the top barrel. He span around, dropping to a knee, lifting the weapon and bracing his left arm against the guard of the blaster weapon, looking up at them, “The exploding strength! Toa Agri!”

Magis crossed his arms, sighting, showing no enthusiasm, yet he mustered up the strength in his voice as he brought his head up, “The exploding gale! Toa Magis!”

Chalice swung both swords down, crossing the blades. Sparks crackled between the tips as he raised his swords overhead, swinging them down to each side of his body, the sparks surging around his body like a radiant sun sparkling behind his body, dark clouds rolling at his sides in a moment, “The surging force of nature! Toa Chalice!”

Larc swung her blade behind her body, spinning, flipping it between her fingers. She thrust it forward as she faced towards the groups of enemies again, stopping the spinning of her weapon when it was vertical, “The crashing surge of the ocean! Toa Larc!”

Garren drew both arms up in front of his body, flipping his ringed weapons around his hands, then slashing them down to his sides, swords of Crystal spawning out in an instant, digging into the ground, “The refined finite cut! Toa Garren!”

“Six Toa now one, determined to destroy the evils plaguing this island!” screamed Cesare.

“We are the…,” said the other five.

All together.

“Toa Cyril Nova!”

“A three way war?” Bandiaca hissed, looking to her two main warriors, “Fall back! We’ve already met them in battle enough. Let the Raiders see if they’re good enough to end the threat of the Toa!”

Dai and Mirai kept their eyes on the Raiders and their forces while Kaixa, the Anaroids and Bandiaca headed off. The two brought up the rear and ran off after them, leaving it to be a fight between a small army of Bashaa, Leangle, Jaki, and the three Raiders themselves.

“We won’t lose this fight,” Uva said, “As leader of the Phantasmal Raiders, I will not allow us to be defeated by you Toa!”

“You won’t allow it?” questioned Cesare, “Then you don’t know what it means to be a leader. You don’t have what it takes!”

“Are you saying a leader should accept defeat?” demanded Uva.

“I’m saying that a leader should be prepared to meet defeat, but shouldn’t expect it one hundred percent. You expect victory with no thoughts of defeat. We always carry thoughts that we could lose, but don’t let it get in our way.

“You’re too full of yourselves, of your perceived abilities. That will not bode well for you.”

“What do you know, Toa?” demanded Uva, “Are you a leader of people? You have five in your command! I have legions! I need to have absolute victory in mind!”

“Five or five thousand, there’s no difference,” Cesare said, “Your mindset will not bode well for your regiment, Raider.”

“Kill them!” screamed Uva, pointing his sword towards the six Toa.

The Bashaa raced forward, with Jaki and Leangle waiting in the back, waiting to make their move.

“Go,” whispered Cesare.

The five Toa raced into battle. Agri rolled among the ranks, lifting his arm with great speed, firing three quick bursts with each pull of the trigger. Two at the least fell with each pull. He pulled his Blade Blaster with his left hand, opening fire with that as well, cutting down enemies on both sides of his body.

He rose to his feet and leapt forward, kicking a Bashaa in the chest. As it stumbled back, he threw his left hand forward, fist clenched tightly around his weapon’s grip. A fist of Earth rose up, smashing into that Bashaa, sending the shockwave through the body, into the Bashaa collected behind it from the collision, taking them all down.

Magis ducked and dodged, slashing with his large sword. He span around, cutting them down all around himself, using his Air powers to help with his spin, to give Air beneath his feet. He drew his claw weapon up, slashing at a few Bashaa that got too close, taking them down. He threw his large sword away from himself, drawing his Blade Blaster into his right hand, slashing with the sword with elegant strikes, his body always moving in a graceful dance of death. His claw weapon tore into throats with great precision, dropping anything that got close.

Chalice slashed wildly at both sides, throwing himself into the thickest part of the Bashaa. He span around, slashing his weapons against each other, sending a shockwave of all of his powers forward, taking down a large chunk of Bashaa as the Lightning spread through bodies, taking more and more down each moment.

Larc rolled between men, rising and slashing on both sides. She ran forward, her double sided weapon out in front of herself, cutting them down on both sides. She leapt, kicked off of the shoulders of one, and flipped around in the air, unleashing a horde of Water arrows, each being bent by her will, by her control over the element. The arrows each dug themselves into a Bashaa, killing it.

Garren walked slowly forward, his swords dragging. When one enemy reached him, he slashed up and down, cutting it down in two strokes. They attacked from all sides, making him slash faster than he ever had before. He showed dedication, never breaking form, doing what worked. That may have been a problem before, and would be one in the future, but at the moment, it was working. It didn’t drain much of his strength, and it cut them down with certainty. It was all they could have asked for.

Cesare ran into the crowd, his energy wings spawning off of his shield. He shot through the Bashaa, killing the wings as he shot forward, kicking Jaki multiple times in the chest, tossing the warrior back.

Jaki lifted his long arms up, holding his knife weapons, “Come on!” he screamed, racing forward, uncontrolled. Jaki loved nothing more than a good fight. This would be a good fight for him.

He slashed wildly, but Cesare was able to block with his sword in one hand, his Blade Blaster in the other. He span around, having switched modes during the spin. He dropped to a knee, opening fire, striking Jaki continually in the chest, knocking him back, sparks flying from each shot.

Leangle’s scythe came crashing down at Cesare’s side. Cesare couldn’t stop it in time. It hit a dense pocket of Air, and then a wall of Crystal materialized around it, keeping it pinned. Magis and Garren both cut down opponents on each side of themselves and raced forward, using Blade Blasters to fire on Leangle.

The green armored warrior shouted in pain and swung his arm to the side, shattering the Crystal. He swung his weapon overhead and slashed down as hard and as fast as he could. Garren blocked with a wall of Crystal while Magis rolled forward – glided, was more accurate. Cesare noticed he never touched the ground. As much as he hated his armor, he didn’t want to roll to dirty it – and slashed Leangle up the chest with his claw, getting it rooted into a gap between his foe’s armor.

“Now’s the chance!” Magis shouted, hammering Leangle with heavy winds to keep his limbs at bay.

Garren extended a Crystal sword again and slashed once, severing Leangle’s weapon. Leangle looked to his foe in shock. Just as his weapon had been cut cleanly through, he knew he was next.

The blade stopped short.

“I’m a Toa. Here, Toa are killers. I’m no assassin, so I’ve met you in open combat. In open combat, people die. You’ll be one of them, and so will I, perhaps, someday. Today, I’m not your killer,” Garren muttered to Leangle.

“Then what are you doing, boy?” Leangle hissed.

Agri leapt off of Garren’s back, opening fire with his revolving weapon into Leangle’s face. Leangle cried out, stumbling back through the winds, his armor tearing on the claw, opening his chest and the organics that were there. Magis fired alongside Agri, both of them doing serious damage, puncturing through and clipping lungs.

Leangle cried out, then slumped back as he ran himself through Cesare’s waiting sword. Cesare kicked him off and rolled forward, avoiding a wild swing of one of Jaki’s knives. He rolled up, span around, and delivered a kick to Jaki’s face, sending him stumbling back.

The Raiders and Jaki stood together. Their Bashaa were mostly wiped out, with the survivors keeping well away from the Toa. But Bandiaca’s warriors were seeing to them, picking them off from a distance. Even Bandiaca would launch a strike, and the Raiders were too distracted to stop her magic.

Each Toa lifted his Blade Blaster in the firearm mode, except for Cesare, who was too busy swiping cards.

“It’s over! Don’t make us kill all of you!” screamed the Toa of Ice. Clearly the others were charging elemental bullets for a quick kill while he was preparing something big.

“Light”

“Rapid”

“Mach”

“Kick”

“Air”

“God Strike!” he screamed, power building rapidly into his foot.

The Raiders looked to each other, casting their weapons forward, their tips touching, forming as powerful of a shield as they could muster. Jaki hid behind it, but in front of them, ready to give his life. He may not have done it when he started this battle on Cyril Nui, but he knew they had to survive to keep him alive. If he could stop the dulled God Strike, he could be healed. If not, the strike might kill the Raiders and stop him from getting healing if it hit him too, leaving him to die.

He was more resilient, so he could take more than they could. It made sense to him.

The blasts flew forward while Cesare took to the air, coming flying down, powered kick ready.

Then nobody remembered what happened. None of the Raiders, nor Jaki, anyway. But they were forced to retreat into the ocean all around them, the Bashaa slithering away along with the warriors brought. The Raiders and Jaki were the last to go, having lost too many forces. They had to regroup, they had to reorder themselves, gain more soldiers.

Their campaign against Cyril Nui was over.

“We win yet again,” Cesare said, “Whether it be Bandiaca, or these Phantasmal Raiders. We win. Cyril Nui will not fall. This we all vow!”

The island may have been in ruins, but it was safe. Bandiaca had decided to retreat, the Raiders couldn’t fight again. Things were looking up.

If only the Toa knew that ‘Forte’ was meant to have a corpse. If only they knew he hadn’t retreated. If only they knew that another figure walked the island. One who would challenge them once more.

One who commanded Thunder, one who mastered Emotion. One who was Eternal.

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