Steal the Mask 2

[Onaku]

Resurrected by the mask once more, I glide along the sand dunes, flying in the air, keeping a watchful eye on Tohzak, not as a predator, but as a protector. I cast an invisibility field over Tohzak, wave to him, then fly away, holding a fake mask, which EVERYONE (aside from Tohzak) thinks is the real mask. So as far as everyone else is concerned...

 

... My mask.

[Pupwa21]

I strangle you with a bow tie.

 

My mask.

[Onaku]

I smile as you attack my bomb-rigged decoy. KABOOM, my friend.

 

My mask.

[Pupwa21]

I put on my troll face as you just killed a nuke linked me.

 

My mask.

[Kopakas Kool Kompanion]

Link smashes all of your pots and kills all of your chickens. What're you gonna do now?

Well, while you're thinking of what to do, I just steal the mask.

My Mask.

[JAG18]

I have a professional football team tackle you.

 

My mask.

[Kopakas Kool Kompanion]

I have a marching band trample the football team. (You do mean American football, right? If not, highlight below.)

I cut off all their legs as they charge me, thus proving them useless, and kick the ball at your head, allowing me to take the mask.

My mask.

[JAG18]

I did mean American football and I hit you in the head with the football.

 

My mask.

[Onaku]

I destroy the football field with preemptively placed explosives. The entirety of the field collapses, just as a single footballer scores, and escapes falling and being blown up. I then shoot him with a simple pistol to the head.

 

My mask.

[Pupwa21]

I jam your pistol when you try to shoot me, I use my reliable Fists to kill you.

 

My mask.

[Kopakas Kool Kompanion]

I remove all of your guns and slice you in half with my shamshir.

 

My mask.

[JAG18]

I cleave you in half with my Zweihander.

 

My mask.

[Pupwa21]

I murder you with a needle.

 

My mask.

[OmiChron]

Changing to past tense to make it easier for me to write. Sorry, hehe.

 

Tohzak trudged onwards, making his way towards the Black Spike Mountains. Desert sands gave way to forests and rivers, a result of the Great Spirit reforming and rejuvenating Spherus Magna.

 

Concentrating on the mountains in the distance, he knelt down and activated his Kualsi. A flash of light, and he stood himself up to look down over New Atero, the great capitol. Another flash and he was by the gates.

 

Huge sandstone walls were raised up in a ring around the city, six spires challenging the mountains for height. Matoran and Agori bustled through the streets, moving from building to building, shopping, cleaning, working. Glatorian mingled amongst them, while a party of Toa stood by one of the massive gates. Ussal crabs and Agori vehicles passed through the gate, but catching Tohzak's eye was the blue-armoured being. Whilst not as tall as the beings around her, she certainly carried an air of authority, and the other Toa looked up to her, albeit not in the literal sense.

 

The Toa turned to face Tohzak, wise eyes scanning him and resting on the golden object in his hand.

 

"Toa Helryx," he called. "There has been a... development."

[Pupwa21]

Present day.

 

My mask.

[Onaku]

I take the still totally legit mask away from pupwa, and carry on with the totally sincere act of keeping the mask to my self.

 

My totally legitimate mask. Try to take it from me, I will totally sincerely want to get it back at all costs.

[Kopakas Kool Kompanion]

I take the mask without any problems, just a corpse.

So, you're dead and it's now

My mask!

[Pupwa21]

I use genetics to make you into a Brony.

 

My mask.

[JAG18]

Nuparu opens up a hole in the earth right where your standing and you fall in (but I grab the mask at the last second).

 

My mask.

[Pupwa21]

You go to the center of the earth for no good reason. I take it from your vault you keep it in.

 

My mask.

[Kopakas Kool Kompanion]

I hit you with a large print volume of Journey to the Center of the Earth, knocking you out cold. I then proceed to cast your body 20000 leagues under the sea where you can drown.

I also take an 80-day vacation around the world, but that's somewhat irrelevant.

My mask.

[reptile3607]

It's my birthday, preciouse.... And I wants it....

 

My mask

[fishers64]

Somewhere in the deepest parts of the earth, a wise and convoluted being watched the futile quest before him. Beings fighting over a mask, using powers and explosions.

 

"Haven't you ever read Bionicle canon?" he grumbled, outraged. "The Mask puts a curse on all beings not destined to touch it. Using The Mask costs you your life, and is against the rules of the Game."

 

"Worse" he continued, "the Mask, despite its disadvantage, is desired by many, who are willing to kill to get it. To obtain the Mask is illogic, for it not only is a useless thing, and not only does it cause damage to one's person, but it also is a quick ticket to a questionable and painful death."

 

"It doesn't even increase your post count" added a nearby rabbit.

 

“Why would anyone want to obtain The Mask?” asked a nearby girl, sitting in front of a computer. “Why does anyone do anything, if not for some perceived benefit? People wear themselves out to get riches which they can’t take with them when they die, and which, when they do get it, they have to waste time organizing it in investment accounts and retirement plans.”

 

“The FDIC needs to be higher,” commented the rabbit.

 

“People do waste time playing video games” grumbled the sage. “What a useless waste of time that is.”

 

“It’s a mental exercise,” added a gerbil, who was running on a spinning wheel as he spoke. “And wasting time on that prevents people from getting excess wealth which they have to organize.”

 

“I thought that was LEGO,” the girl said.

 

“No, that’s Bionicle” grumbled the sage. “LEGO generally uses weak storylines to appeal to weak minds.”

 

Zane stuck his head in the door, looking insulted.

 

“Bionicle,” the sage said, “was a story that required work to understand. It was a story that inspired children to think. It was Lego’s epoch, the glory of the 21^st century and the modern age. It was a story without equal, a toyline beyond class. It included GEAR FUNCTIONS. It made BZPower and complaint topics and long storyline discussions. But it had one major failing, its one bane. “

 

“For it included The Mask.”

 

“For you see, without The Mask, the whole convoluted 2006-2007 plot, which was basically just filler and screentime for miscellaneous ancient warlords, Dark Hunters, and Order Agents, would have never happened. The Toa Nuva would truly have returned in 2006, and they would have awakened the Great Spirit without resorting to The Mask, which would have been truer to destiny.”

 

“Without The Mask, Mata Nui’s spirit would not have been banished, thus lingering in the robot for valiant heroes to find. The Bara Magna story, which everyone hated, would have never happened either. And…many girly screams would be avoided. You have no idea.”

 

“But knowing the purpose of the robot was important to the story.” the girl put in.

 

“They could have found a much better way to do it. If there is a will, there is always a way. No, not the Mask, anything but The Mask.”

 

“This is a futile argument” said the gerbil. “It is foolish to argue with what is, only what can be changed. The story is immutable, set in the iron rules of canon. You cannot ret-con The Mask.”

 

“How dare you contend with the universe,” said the rabbit. “Beings who do that end up dead.”

 

“Or end up turned into snakes.” the girl added. “Or fried by the wrath of BZPower, and given how bad that is, I’d rather be a snake.”

 

“That’s illogical,” intoned the sage. “If you are disgraced, you can still talk.”

 

“But nobody listens” said the girl. “But we are getting off topic. The Mask.”

 

“The Mask does not deserve one second more of my attention.” said the sage. A pony walked by, the mask strapped to its back. A toa was chasing it with a flamethrower.

 

“No, no, get it out of my sight! This insanity must stop!”

 

“All things must end.” said the rabbit.

 

“Including illogical statements,” said the sage. “I must end them.”

 

“What is the point? What can one being do? There will always be fools who steal the mask,” the girl said, gesturing to Pupwa, who had just taken the mask from the pony.

 

“That isn’t any of our business,” said the rabbit. “Our job is to analyze, not to judge. Why does Pupwa want The Mask?”

 

“It’s shiny?” offered the gerbil.

 

“There must be some deeper connection.” pondered the rabbit. “Perhaps there is a positive assoiciation with shiny things, inherited from childhood.”

 

“I think it is more likely that he gets emotional highs from ponies and ships and enjoys bringing them into The Game,” the girl added. “There is some emotional highs to be derived from destruction, after all.”

 

“But wouldn’t that also be futile?” the sage asked. “Wouldn’t he eventually run out of things to destroy?”

 

“Not if this Mask regenerates them, which it does.”

 

“That makes it doubly futile. What is the point of destruction if what you destroy doesn’t stay destroyed?”

 

“Permanent destruction comes with pain” the rabbit said. “Regeneration would annul that pain, making smashing things that much more fun.”

 

“So the point of this is positive emotional energy?” the sage said. “But it is futile! Couldn’t more positivity be derived from actual, un-futile productive work?”

 

“Isn’t that useless too? We already established that productive work just creates more stress and headaches,” the girl said. “The universe is futile. Get used to it. And since it is, why not steal the mask?”

 

“But why steal the mask? It’s an expenditure of effort which is entirely unnecessary.”

 

“Positive emotional energy. You have the one-over on your opponents, if only for a few moments. If everything is futile, why not embrace this and have a little fun?”

 

“There must be a better way.”

 

“I’m sure there is, but can’t we have all the ways? More positivity is a good thing, regardless of where it comes from, right?”

 

“There are lots of evil ways in which positivity can be derived which are harmful to one’s self or others in the long run,” the girl said. “This might qualify, although given that all players in The Game regenerate, it is a subject open for debate.”

 

“That makes killing pointless,” complained the sage.

 

“Weren’t you listening?” grumbled the gerbil. “Everything in the Game is pointless. And repeating that point is as pointless is everything else is, seeing as everyone already knows it already, and if they don’t know it isn’t going to influence their actions anyway.”

 

“I’m not playing The Game,” said the sage. “I’m just trying to understand why anyone would subject themselves to futility.”

 

“Maybe because their lives are futile anyway?” said the gerbil.

 

“I disagree with that,” said the girl. “We all exist for a reason. Without a reason, we wouldn’t exist. Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we don’t understand all the reasons, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Assuming that there are no reasons is a cheap cop-out – it’s giving up. It’s trying to hide from the fact that there might be reasons we don’t like.”

 

“And right now,” the girl continued, “there is a reason. In the far distant past a group of beings won this game. Everyone is playing this game in hopes of being the winner in the far distant future. No, this game is not meant to be won – but we always sidestep futility. We take futility and give it meaning. It may be the wrong meaning, and probably the wrong answer, but we always must have meaning, even if it is only an illusion.”

 

“In truth, it is the illusions that are indeed futile. The Game is a delusion. Truth is productive. That is what provides true meaning in a world of futility. And the desire for truth and explanations is a part of us, and we all know that truth is good and useful.”

 

“The orgin of this game was a sadist” concluded the rabbit.

 

“No” said the sage. “He meant to teach us a valuable lesson. Illusions only waste time and are futile and pointless to entertain.”

 

“People play this game to hide from the truth, if only that they have a long school assignment that they don’t want to do,” the girl said. “It’s an escape from uncomfortable truths. But like all good illusions, it only works for a short time before it is blown to pieces.”

 

The room fell silent. Pupwa looked up nervously over the mask, the pink pony next to him wearing an expressionistic face of delight. It batted its eyelashes at the girl, who turned away in annoyance.

 

The sage shrugged. “What are these two doing in here?” He pushed a nearby button, and Pupwa and the pony blasted away into outer space.

 

The Mask clattered to the floor.

 

All was still.

 

Slowly, the sage, the gerbil, and the rabbit faded away, going back into my imagination from which they had come. I sat in the room, watching the glowing currents of magma flow by.

 

There was a truth that I had failed to tell my imaginary projections. There was a reason beyond my reasoning. For the truth, as I knew of it, was painful. This was true of all so many other beneficial things in life. Embracing it tore you apart – and put you back together again, less likely to be hurt again.

 

And the truth was, that Mask wasn’t going to remain on my floor for very long. Somebody would come for it. Would it the valiant guardian of the mask I had read of a few posts back? The creature that enjoyed eating everything in sight? The sadistic Toa with many weapons? The windrider of legend? Or would Pupwa and his ponies somehow manage to make a return?

 

But perhaps, instead of dreading this truth as a loss, perhaps I could learn to accept this truth. The real appeal of the game was the mystery: who would be next, and what would they do? Admittedly, this matter mimicked real life: people are largely unpredictable, and it adds up to a fun mystery.

 

Like any great story.

 

No sense on making it easy though. I rigged up a pedestal, loaded it with explosives. Whoever touched the Mask would explode both them and the Mask, and I carefully concealed them to make sure that no enemies could ever see them. The trigger wires too – a few words could take advantage of such a weakness – were built on the inside and fused with the metal of the pedestal.

 

True, I could have destroyed the Mask right then and there, but I didn’t feel like it. I knew that whatever method I used would just be overcome in the next post anyway, so it didn’t pay to give it too much thought. Although I couldn’t imagine how anyone could figure out, logically, that there was a series of bombs in the pedestal, but I was sure they would find a way. The Game is not made of logic, as I’ve already established by the last 1,853 words.

 

So then I sat back on my couch to await my impending death. It would come one way or another, by the exploded mask or my enemy, whoever or whatever it might be. I sat around, read a bunch of books, finished three programming projects, ate 5 sandwiches and watched 3 movies.

 

Nothing happened. Had I exited the Game? What was going on?

 

And then I remembered the most important thing of all. I walked across the floor, the floor rolling with the magma around it, and reached the pedestal. I almost grabbed ahold of the pedestal for support before remembering what a bad idea that would be, and instead dropped to my knees, bracing myself on the doorframe. I leaned toward the Kanohi and whispered softly…

 

“My Mask.”

 

The room was still. A shadow lurked in the distance. I stood up, ready. Come and get it.

[OmiChron]

Tohzak was befuddled.

 

Mere moments ago, he had stood beside Toa Helryx. He had handed her the Kanohi Ignika. She had opened her mouth, eyes filled with worry.

 

And then it stopped.

 

Not just Helryx. Not just him.

 

Everything.

 

Nothing moved and nothing was.

 

Spinning in the nothingness, the Toa became more disoriented. He turned his head to face where he presumed there to be ground - to say he looked at the ground would be a lie, yet Tohzak could certainly feel an existence below him. The nothingness around him was vacant of features, yet he could stand. Vacant of breeze, yet he could breathe. Vacant of light, yet he could see himself. Vacant of meaning. Yes. At least, no meaning the Toa could yet fathom.

 

A low hum began to come from the walls of absence around Tohzak, a violent, angry vibration in the nothingness. Tohzak felt himself begin to buzz, an ache deep in his body, a pain spreading through him. He grasped his mask, closed his eyes.

 

Ignika.

 

And then it stopped.

 

Not just the pain. Not just the noise.

 

Everything.

 

 

 

 

Tohzak opened his eyes. Smooth, grey, stone walls formed a natural corridor, the stone sloping below towards a cavern, a heated glow. Waves of warmth flowed from the room beyond, a beckoning heat. The hissing, burning, broiling of volcanic molten rock.

 

A figure in the doorframe, facing towards the orange light.

 

A whisper.

 

"My Mask."

 

 

 

 

Tohzak checked himself once over and hefted his spear. He concentrated on the corridor around him and the room ahead. No Earth. Wood, stone, lava, the faintest trace of stifled air, but no element to lend its power to him.

 

He ran one hand down his own mask; still intact. Tohzak may have been out of his elements, but he still had his Kualsi.

 

Focussing on the platform ahead, he activated the Kanohi. A blink later, and he stood in the room, facing the figure. And between them, lying cold on a pedestal, was the Mask.

 

Ignika, Tohzak thought.

 

Fishers, it replied.

 

With a start, the Toa looked up. He swept his green eyes over the figure opposite him.

 

"Feeshers," Tohzak attempted. "The Ignika."

 

The shadow in the doorway tilted its head. Tohzak couldn't make out much of it, but it was Toa-shaped.

 

He went on: "The Ignika is a curse. I have been summoned to each place where it is fought over. I do not know why. I can only surmise that I should return it home. It blessed my people and left. I owe it its peace."

 

Still silence.

 

Shuffling backwards, Tohzak lowered his staff to the ground, pearly tip reflecting the heat. He raised himself from the ground, stretched his palms before him, and waited.

Edited March 22, 2014 by OmiChron

[Onaku]

It was night, and the desert sands were endless. Looking towards the horizon, I could see nothing, in any direction.

 

Well, might as well get it over with. I started performing the ritual, drawing massive lines into the sand, creating a gigantic circle with symbols and shapes into the desert surface. I finished, and looked over my work. Perfect.

 

 

Only moments later, when Tohzak had lowered his staff to the ground, did I materialize in front of him. I immediately recognized him, and I was distressed. Did this mean that my protection had failed? Had he... lost the mask?

 

I turned and saw the pedestal, where upon the mask lay. I looked closer, and saw the trap which Fishers had laid. I frowned, and raised my hand.

 

Immediately, the bombs appeared, then vaporized. I walked up to the pedestal, and took the mask into my hand.

 

 

I turned to Tohzak, and reached my hand out, holding the mask.

 

"I believe you have a mission to accomplish?"

 

Tohzak's mask?

Edited March 22, 2014 by Toa Onaku

[Pupwa21]

I am lazy, therefore I nuke you all and get done with it.

 

My mask.

[Ehksidian]

...

I walk up to Puwa, and calmly bludgeon him to death and return the mask to Tohzak.

Tohzak's mask...again?

[Onaku]

Which is possible due to my precautionary energy shield, which I put up as a precaution. I then open a rift for Tohzak, and send him back home. After that, I repeat my charade, and make everyone believe that the mask I am holding in my hands is the actual real mask. So in those terms...

 

My mask.

[Pupwa21]

I use a plasma cutter on your head.

 

My mask.

[Rahkshi Guurahk]

I drop a large pile of my instruments on Pupwa, and notice its a fake.

Tohzak's mask?

[JAG18]

I clunk you over the head with a heavy Oak branch.

 

My mask.

[Onaku]

I slowly beat you to death with a teaspoon.

 

My mask.

[JAG18]

I slowly decapitate you with a plastic knife.

 

My mask.

[Ehksidian]

I slowly cut you into itty tiny bits with a television screen.

My mask.

[JAG18]

I rapidly drown you with water.

 

Cause that's what hoses do.

 

My mask.

[Onaku]

I cause an extremely localized earthquake to bring the building down on you. I survive. You don't.

 

My mask.

[JAG18]

I cause an extremely localized rockslide to sweep over us. I survive. You don't.

 

My mask.

[Pupwa21]

I use a Zeonizer to morph and knock you out.

 

My mask.

[JAG18]

I fire my eyeball out of my skull and it strikes you square in the head. BOOM HEADSHOT!

 

My mask.

[Pupwa21]

I crush you with my giant robot.

 

My mask.