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Vanquished Alliance


Irrie

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Review topic: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/18931-review-vanquished-alliance/
 
This epic is about the Kanohi Force, but if any non-members want to make an appearance, I'd be more than happy to include you. Just shoot me a PM with your character information.
 
A cold breeze blew through the night. On a grassy hill stood a figure clad in a lavishly decorated scarf that streamed in the wind. Poised upon his face was a silvery Miru that gleamed in the dead of the darkness. His name was Finbarr. He opened the palm of his hand and gazed onto it. 
He beheld a lone pebble. It was the last surviving piece of the Kanohi Force headquarters since its destruction. 
He remembered it well. It was the day after he had submitted his application to the force. Nobody had seen any of the members or leedurz for over a month, and so the only way he was able to apply was by throwing the paper into one of the windows in the form of an airplane. Of course, the next day involved several explosions happening from within the tower and an army of replica Bohrok marching out of the structure (said Bohrok had coincidentally disappeared from a storage building a few weeks earlier). Then many of the Kanohi Force members began to engage in elemental combat, followed by some more explosions which eventually toppled the whole thing over. 
The moderators had to bring in an entire squadron of Kranua, the most elite of the Vahki models. And even they had a hard time containing the situation, the conflict extending all day, into the night, and was done by daybreak the next morning. 
The end result went down like this: Three of the leedurz, Pohatu, Gukko Lord, and Dallior were captured by the Kranua and incarcerated. Arzaki escaped from the carnage and was never caught by the enforcement. Jakura was killed in among the conflict. T1S and Ghidora disappeared earlier that month and have not been seen since then. 
As for the Kanohi Force’s other members, things were not too different. Petewa and Sharkydane were found within the tower’s sub-levels while the law enforcement was scavenging through the wreckage. They were arrested, however no public files have been released on their status. Irrie was seen leaving the tower a few days before its falling. Kovika also left the tower, however this was later, during the battle between the leedurz. Both of them have been spotted at different towns throughout BZ Nui, however neither have stayed there for long, and they haven’t been seen together in the same place. This left Dragon and Tahu. Dragon escaped into the wild in a fashion similar to Arzaki in that he hasn’t been seen since his disappearance. Tahu was the only one to not escape, be killed, disappear, or be incarcerated. He was questioned by the law enforcement, however didn’t provide enough information, and was released back into the public. He then pursued a job in the growing medical and pharmaceutical industry and spent his days looking at gross bugs through a microscope and watching a weird skinless being hover in front of him to display how the circulatory system works. 
 
Now why did Finbarr know about all of this? Was he a historian that was obsessed with learning as much as he could about a long-forgotten organization so that he could write a bestselling work on it? Nay, he was simply curious, however extremely so. But it wasn’t his fascinations with disbanded factions and guilds that grasped his interest. No, it was the very composition of the tower itself. 
You see, after the Kanohi Force was scattered, the tower was destroyed by the Vahki. All remains of the structure were incinerated in the furnaces. All but this pebble, which Finbarr found wedged between two cracks in a sidewalk that was just outside the former location of the tower. 
But why this pebble? What was so special about the building? 
When Finbarr first picked up the pebble, he felt something odd about it. Not odd in a way that one can describe, but just...different. He took it home, and being the inquisitive individual that he was, sampled it. 
Finbarr has a master’s degree in geology, so he just had to have a testing kit lying around, which is both convenient for him and the plot. After doing intensive diagnostics of the stone, he made a most disturbing conclusion. The rock wasn’t there, none of the analyses that he did yielded any results. He began to research more and more into this interesting phenomena. Over the course of three years of diligently looking through old dusty books that had a bunch of boring stuff about rocks in it, he discovered that the rock was really there, but it was the energies within the pebble that weren’t. They were energies that came from the void between universes, a place only accessible via a Kanohi Olmak. And the only Olmak in the BZ Nui universe was within the palace of the moderators, a place heavily guarded by all forms of security. What did the Kanohi Force, a band of comedians formed in the depths of the Creative Archipelago, have to do with interdimensional travel? Finbarr set out to learn more. 
His first goal was tracking down Tahu, seeing that he was the only remaining member that was active in society. However that was easier said than done, as Tahu worked in a very obscure section of the pharmaceutical business.
Finbarr decided it wouldn’t be worth the effort to schedule a meeting with him, since he didn’t want to be too conspicuous. So he started with the two ones that roamed the wild, Kovika and Irrie. 
He had received notification from an old acquaintance of his that there was a strange rahi spotted on the outskirts of the Legends of Chima Discussion section of the ‘Nui. That part of BZ Nui was largely deserted since the ending of the Chima line decades ago, now the only folk that travel through those lands are criminals and social exiles. One of Finbarr’s friends that was involved in BZPower’s sketchier side had gone to that part to look out for any signs of the former Kanohi Force members. Of course, his friend did this in exchange for a pet dermis turtle named Vlastimir, the Destroyer of Worlds. 
And so here we have Finbarr, standing on a grassy hill on the outskirts of the civilized lands of BZPower. He turned his back to the city’s burning lights and walked into the wind that came from the wild. 
The wild. A realm that is whispered through the walled cities of BZPower, a land that has developed into mere myth and legend. Many citizens of BZ Nui took to taking populated roads and highways in order to go to the different forums, but seldom does one venture into the wild without a malicious intent in their mind. Children are raised to fear for the wild, rumors about horrible things that happened to those who didn’t return spread like wildfires. Such is the reason why the moderators did not send their Vahki patrols out after the escaped Kanohi Force members, as they saw no need to. They were probably dead anyway.
But that was not how Finbarr saw it. Nay, he perceived this as an opportunity. He began to trek over the grassy plains that was the border between the civilized and wild lands, the sounds of ferocious and untamed rahi howling into the wind. But he kept going. He saw silhouettes of Kavinika walking about on distant hills against the moonlit sky. And yet he felt no fear, as he knew that they wouldn’t dare come near him if he didn’t try to steal any of their food. 
He kept on walking deeper and deeper into the night. Hills upon hills he walked up and down, his legs growing numb from the constant sensation of grass swishing against his knees. Hours upon hours of walking continued, his shoulders slowly beginning to ache more and more from the weight of his pack. He then saw the sky in the east begin to glow yellow. By the time the yellow disk of the sun emerged, he was fast asleep in among the tall grasses, hidden from sight. He slumbered through the day and awoke at dusk. He gathered his meager belongings and sat off once more through the wild as the sun set and the moon rose. He could now see something in the far distance. It was a hill, but a little taller than the ones around it, and it seemed to have something positioned upon it. 
He grinned. This was what he was looking for.

Edited by The Irrational Rock
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Finbarr sat down among the grasses once more and sleep overtook him. The day passed swiftly and gave way to the night with the rising of the waning gibbous moon. He returned to his feet and strolled toward the structure on the horizon. As he drew closer to it he saw that it was a tower-like building. He walked onward for hours upon hours of time. And then, when he saw the distant light of the sun rising, he came to the foot of the great hill. 
He recalled this place very well. It was the last standing building of the old Krana discussion forum. The city was abandoned long ago after it was remade into the Krana & Kraata discussion. After it was evacuated, a fire started shortly afterward for reasons unknown. The entire settlement was burned to the ground and it took months for the Vahki to clean up. Although they took a long time, their work was thorough and not a single fragment of a building was left. All except for the storage tower, a building made from rock and stone from the deep places of the world, built to withstand any sort of bombardment to keep the Krana safe. And its design proved to be efficient, as it survived the inferno that scorched the region. Thus is the reason why the area around the lost city is clear of trees; they were felled by the fires. 
Finbarr walked up the sloped hill. The tower had four corners and tiny slit-like windows the lined the sides. The entrance was arch-like with lichen and cobwebs hanging down from the top. Brushing them aside, Finbarr entered the long-forgotten structure. 
The room was square-like with indentations into the walls which once housed Krana. The room went up to the very top of the tower, a spiral staircase wrapping around the inside of the building. The only illumination came from the narrow windows and the occasional gap in the bricks. He walked toward the bottom of the stair and began to ascend them. On the walls were empty crevices in the interior of the wall that once housed the parasitic Krana. He continued climbing until he felt his that his foot touched something. He tripped over it and landed onto the staircase. The ancient bricks gave way and he fell down two stories to the solid ground. 
He was stunned for a few moments but his armor had mostly protected him. He stood up and gazed at the rubble. He spotted a dark object that was partially buried by the bricks, it was the object that he had tripped over. He knelt down and examined it. 
It was a Krana Bo. Its color was black, signifying that it had belonged to a Nuhvok but had gone dormant. 
“I was forgotten ages ago,” said a voice behind Finbarr. He immediately sprang to his feet and spun around. There stood a being clad in brown robes that enveloped his body. On his fact was not a Kanohi, but a strange mask made of some material that was not protodermis. It was blue and had three eyes and a crown of skulls on its head. It was a horrifying sight to behold. 

UIUoEl9.png

“Who are you?” asked Finbarr. 
“Nobody of importance.”
“Sounds sketchy.”
“Your mom sounds sketchy.”
Finbarr knew that dank sense of humor anywhere. 
“You’re part of the Kanohi Force, aren’t you?”
“Am I? Or am I not?”
“I’m pretty sure you are.”
“Oh really?”
“Yah really.”
“I suppose so.”
“I suppose so.”
“Yes.”
“So you’re in the Kanohi Force?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Or should you? I could be an imposter?”
“Yes, but the Kanohi Force members are the only ones known to be out in these wild lands.”
“Are you sure of that? I could just as easily be a criminal or a wandering exile that would be shunned or beaten if I returned to civilization.”
“That could be the case for any of the Kanohi Force members.”
“Nyet, comrade. I am not of the Kanohi Force. I have spoken with them, tho.”
“Really? Where could you say that I might find them?”
“Now that’s when I stop answering your questions.”
“What?”
“You come here to solve mysteries that you have discovered. Listen to me now, the Kanohi Force dissolved long ago and should stay that way for the good of us all. Those fools tampered with power that they had no business toying with and it rightfully brought them to their demise.”
“Elaborate, please.”
The being charged forth at incredible speeds and wrapped their hand around Finbarr’s neck. 
“Listen to me now, Finbarr. If you wish to reunite the Kanohi Force it will lead to your own undoing. And if you choose to ignore me, I will ensure that you meet your demise before you can achieve your goal.” 
The being took a step backward, releasing Finbarr from its grip. It then started to shimmer and it then vanished completely. 
After taking a moment to contemplate what had just happened, Finbarr shrugged his shoulders and kneeled down to pick up the Krana. He put it in his knapsack and then left the building. 
He had originally gone to the tower so that he could survey the landscape to see if he could find any clue of where anyone might be. But he no longer needed to do so, as he spotted something on the horizon. It was a Kahgarak. And on its back was a white-armored being.

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Finbarr looked behind him and made sure that the strange person was actually gone and then ran after the Kahgarak. His bright armor seemed to have captured the rider’s attention as he shouted out a command in a language that he didn’t know, which caused the giant Visorak to stop. The being leapt off of the giant spider and landed on the ground with surprising agility. 

“State your business!” he called. Finbarr sped up to a jog until he was within talking distance of the person. 

“Greetings,” said Finbarr. “I come here on an errand to find certain people of whom I must ask a few questions.”

The white-armored being tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Finbarr, Kovika.”

Kovika’s eyes widened and he took a step back.

“How do you know my name?”

“I’ve read about you.”

“They’ve made books about me?”

“No, but I’ve read the police report about the demise of the Kanohi Force.”

Kovika clenched his fists. 

“Why are you here?” he said.

“I already told you, I need to ask you a few questions.”

“About what?”

“The Kanohi Force.”

Kovika spat on the ground. 

“Those fools. I’m glad I no longer have any association with that lot of jesters. Why do you want to know about them?”

“There are...certain things about the Kanohi Force that just don’t seem right.”

“You mean the mental sanity of everyone there?”

“Well yes. And some more secretive aspects of their existence.”

“You couldn’t get any vaguer, could you?”

“I’ll explain later.”

Kovika then turned around to this Kahgarak and climbed back into the saddle. 

“Hop on,” he said. “We’ll talk while we ride. I don’t have much time to lose.”

Finbarr climbed and sat in the back saddle of the Kahgarak. Kovika said another alien word and the giant golden Visorak began to walk once more. 

“So,” said Kovika. “You want to know about the Kanohi Force. Ask away. I was just a guard at the tower, not a Leedur, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to give you much insight. But if this is what you want to know about, I’ll try my best.”

“Excellent. First off, how familiar are you with the construction of the tower?”

“Not really. I wasn’t there to witness it, but I know that it was an accident that involved Pohatu.” 

“Anything else about the tower?”

“Eh, nothing comes to mind.” 

“Hm, okay. What do you know about the reasons for the Force’s civil war which ultimately lead to their disbanding?”

Kovika leaned back in his saddle and folded his arms.

“Be warned, this will be a long tale. But I have no problems with sharing it, so listen up and listen well. 

“Let’s see. It was several decades ago if I’m correct. It was just a typical day in the Kanohi Force tower. I was on guard duty with Tahu completing rounds on the third floor of the building. However Dragon then came down the hallway and told us we were requested to be present in the Leedurz’s chamber. We followed him up to the thirteenth floor where we found some extra chairs positioned at the table. This meant that they were calling a convocation, where all of the Kanohi Force members were to participate in a discussion. The last time this had happened was with the Great Potato Outbreak that had occured several years prior, so we knew that this was serious. The three of us took our seats and Dane, Petewa, and Irrie joined us a few minutes afterward. 

“The first thing I could tell from the setting was that there had been a few arguments in that room before. The tensions between the Leedurz was so strong you could almost feel it, particularly between Ghidora and T1S. This was very surprising to me, as they had normally been good friends. T1S then called the convocation to order. He told us that recently, a deposit of a antidermis was discovered deep below the ground of the tower. However what made this so special was that it was energized antidermis, something that was thought to not exist naturally and could only be made synthetically. 

“T1S then explained that Ghidora suggested that we sell it for profit, as the Kanohi Force had had a few minor monetary problems in the past few months. Selling the energized antidermis would have given us unbelievable wealth due to how rare it was. However he then said that he did not believe this was a good idea, as the substance was extremely unstable. It could have easily detonated if we tried to extract it, and we had no idea what sort of possibly nefarious purposes our buyers would have used it for. 

“The first emotion that I felt was anger. It was clear that this dispute had gone on for quite a while due to the tension of the situation and the rest of the Leedurz knew about it as well, however they never trusted this knowledge with myself and the five other members. I was about to question T1S about it but then Ghidora stood up. He told us that it was essential for us to sell this substance for us to financially stay afloat. We could prosper and become powerful with this much money at our disposal. 

“At this point both T1S and Ghidora had their blood boiling. It was clear that the rest of the Leedurz had also been divided. Arzaki, Jakura, and Dallior were on the side of the table with Ghidora, while Pohatu and Gukko Lord were with T1S. 

“Ghidora then seemed to remember that we were there and he sat down. T1S then did the same. He addressed us and asked for our input. He said that the vote was currently 4 - 3, in his favor. 

“Irrie was the first to respond, saying that he didn’t believe that we should extract the resource. That made it 4 - 4. Dragon and Tahu voted for Ghidora, and Petewa and Dane voted for T1S. That tied the vote again at 6 - 6. 

“I tried to bring a compromise by saying that we could only extract half of the deposit and ensure that the people we were selling to were reliable and trustworthy. That seemed to go over well with the members, but the Leedurz were already devoted to one of the causes. They rejected my proposal, so I abstained from the vote. 

“T1S then dismissed the meeting. He said that the Leedurz would discuss this once more and then call another convocation. Two or so weeks passed when it was assembled. During that time, I had noticed that Irrie, Dane, and Petewa had done a lot of talking together. Often they’d retreat to a corner of a room and talk in hushed whispered while shooting glances at anyone that was watching. Dragon, Tahu, and I had continued on our duties as normal, however we hadn’t seen any of the Leedurz at all during that period. 

“When they called the next convocation, the tension was even higher in the room. However the two heavyweights were missing. Ghidora and T1S were nowhere to be found. When I inquired about this, Dallior informed us that T1S said he needed a vacation and left to visit one of our associated and his cousin, Meyres, in his oceanside estate. Ghidora had agreed to meet with one of our ex-members, Onaku, to discuss with him about him rejoining. Both of these claims were extremely dubious since neither of them would have left during a time of such strife. 

“This time it was Arzaki that lead the meeting, as he was third in the line of authority. He began to explain the decision that they had come to, which was to extract the energized antidermis. Gukko Lord immediately rose to his feet and challenged him, saying that they were ignoring their voice. He demanded that they hold it to vote again, just in case any of us members had changed our ideas. We informed him that we have not reconsidered, and now he was beginning to get frustrated. He began insulting the other three Leedurz, each one getting more personal than the last. Dallior and Arzaki ignored most of them, however Jakura’s blood began to boil. He eventually lost his temper and flipped the table over, roaring at the top of his lungs. He leapt at Gukko Lord and blows began to be exchanged. Dallior, Arzaki, and Pohatu immediately joined in also. At first they tried to separate them, but they soon began to join in the fight themselves. Irrie, Petewa, and Dane had instantaneously slipped out once the fighting began, leaving myself, Dragon, and Tahu watching in awe. We eventually left ourselves, letting the Leedurz sort themselves out. 

“And if things didn’t get dramatic enough, the next day was very odd. Irrie called a convocation. This was the first time a member called one, and since the Leedurz never made a rule against it, it was technically allowed. When we arrived in the chamber, we found that Irrie, Petewa, and Dane were not actually there. We were about to leave when the three of them entered into the room, flanked by several Bohrok. He informed us that the three of them had acquired a small swarm of these machines and had them positioned in several places throughout the tower. Nobody was allowed to leave, and nobody was allowed to challenge their authority. He said that the Leedurz were unfit to rule the Force due to their disputes and that they had taken matters into their own hands. Essentially he, Petewa, and Dane were performing a coup d’etat. 

“This didn’t go over well for any of us. Jakura was about to fire a bolt of fire at Irrie when he was struck by a blast of cold by one of the Kohrak. He was partially encased in ice and it took several hours for him to thaw out. 

“This made the rest of us reluctant to challenge the three madmen. The next few days were spent under their rule with the constant eye of the Bohrok on us. On the fourth day I was contacted by Dragon. 

“He informed me that these Bohrok were replicas stolen from a warehouse a few weeks ago, undoubtably by Irrie. He then told me that he learned of a stone that was also kept in the warehouse that when held, created a telepathic link between whoever held it and the swarm. Whoever had it had the ability to control the replica Bohrok. The only logical conclusion was that Irrie, Dane, and Petewa had this in their possession. We then contacted Tahu and the three of us devised a plan. 

“Tahu was to go to Dane’s quarters and tell the Bohrok guards that he needed to speak to him about a problem with the building’s electrical workings. I was to go to Irrie’s chamber and tell the guards the same, while Dragon went to Petewa’s. Whichever of the three of them had the control stone, we were to grab it and take control of the swarms ourselves. 

“The three of us set out that night. I spoke with the Lehvak guards at Irrie’s room and told him of the problem that I discovered. They let me pass, thankfully. Once I was inside, I saw him sitting at a table with the stone on it, his left hand placed on its surface. He asked me why I was here and I immediately dove for the table, snatching the stone into my hands. I felt acid burn into my back armor as the Lehvak attempted to stop me, but I soon took control of their functions with the stone’s power. I mentally commanded the entire swam to subdue Irrie, Petewa, and Dane. Somehow Irrie managed to avoid the blasts of acid from the Lehvak and he used his power over Earth to blow a hole into the side of the tower. I watched him jump out of it, landing in a tree next to it. He then fled into the streets and off into the distance, the Lehvak pursuing him, but returning empty-handed. 

“I then found two Nuhvok and two Gahlok approaching me with Petewa and Dane in tow. I ordered them to be sent to the prison that we had below the basement and for them to be constantly monitored. I left them to go find Tahu and Dragon to talk to them about what we were to do next. But while I was walking down one of the hallways I was attacked by Jakura, who had somehow learned of our plant to take control of the Bohrok for ourselves. In the process he knocked the stone from my grasp and it shattered upon impact with the floor. The Bohrok then deactivated and I was at the mercy of my attacker with no backup. I turned and fled back in the direction that I had came from. I jumped out of the hole that Irrie had escaped through and I escaped into the city and eventually to the wild.”

The two of them were silent for the next few minutes, Finbarr taking in all that he had learned. 

“Have you ever encountered Irrie since then?” he asked.

“No. I’ve seen traces of him such as his footprints here and there, but we’ve never met before.” 

“Hm. And if you don’t mind me asking, where did you get this Visorak from?”

“Ah, yes. I had had good relations with the Visorak long before I joined the Kanohi Force. Once I was lost in the wild, this Kahgarak here offered to carry me since he could take me further than I could on my own two feet. We’ve been traveling together ever since.” 

Finbarr frowned. Kovika’s tale had answered a few question, but had created many more. He leaned back in the saddle and pondered these things as they rode on for the next few hours. 

Edited by The Irrational Rock
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Finbarr awoke when he felt the saddle shake. 

“Sorry about that,” said Kovika, “he just lost his footing for a moment and slipped.”

Finbarr laid back in the seat and looked up. The sun was at its peak, high noon. He felt a gust of wind charge across the flatland, blowing through the openings in his mask.

“So,” he said, “where are you going?”

“To investigate.”

“Investigate what?”

“Something that’s been troubling me for the past few months or so.”

“What’s that?”

“I will sometimes see a figure on the distant horizon. He’s always walking away from me, thus I’ve been following. Yesterday I made an interesting discovery. I saw him walking past that tower back there,” he said while gesturing toward the Krana storage building with his hand, “and he turned out to be a lot taller than I first estimated. At least ten feet or so.”

“A giant?”

“I’d say that’s a reasonable title.”

“Have you seen any other features about him?”

“Once I saw him during mid-day. That was probably the closest I’ve ever been to him before. I could make out a combination of black and white plates of armor on him. But I haven't seen any other defining details yet.”

“Odd.”

“Very.”

Finbarr looked back up at the sky. Dark clouds were rolling around in the south, a storm possibly forming below them. He then remembered something that he needed to ask Kovika.

“If you don’t mind me inquiring me any more on this subject, I have another question for you.”

“Ask away.”

“Do you know of the fate of the Kanohi Flashbaki?” 

“Alas, no. I've only ever seen it once and that was back when I first joined. I'd reckon T1S had something to do it before he left since he was so fixated on that thing.”

Finbarr thought it all over again. He eventually nodded off once more to the slow rhythm of the Kahgarak’s footsteps. He awoke once more at dusk when he was tapped by Kovika.

“Hey, Finbarr. Get up, I need to show you something,” he said as he slid off of the saddle. Finbarr did the same and he followed the Toa of Ice to the edge of a large cliff. He couldn’t see the other side of the chasm, nor could he see any sides. 

“This is the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead. It’s a gigantic circular crater in the earth that was formed during the Vahki coup d’etat on the BZPower government back in the era of VahkiPower. The civilian resistance organized a raid on a Vahki outpost that was located around here. Little did they know, the outpost had large stores of explosives hidden underground in case of an attack. When the Vahki realized that there was no hope of saving the outpost from civilian occupation, they activated the self-destruct mechanism which destroying the building and the territory surrounding it, creating this chasm. All of the civilians were incinerated in the explosion, hence the name of the crater.”

“I thought the only way to die in BZPower was to be banned?”

“This is true. However when the moderators use the ban function it destroys the three parts of your being that are connected to the BZPower dimension, your body, mind, and spirit. The explosion rendered their bodies destroyed so their spirits were set free and still roam the valley to this day. Pity it is, really. They are without a physical form, cannot contact anyone in the material world, and are without the eternal rest that comes with death.”

“Shouldn’t they have awakened back on Earth when their bodies were destroyed?”

“Yes. However in order for you to 'die' in BZPower, your body, mind, and spirit must cease to exist. The explosion destroyed those people's bodies."

"And what of their minds?"

"Over time their minds decayed, which is what happens when there is not a body to house them. This left leaving only their spirits to tirelessly roam without purpose or goal. And since the location of their bodily destruction was here, as well as where their minds decayed, they are bound to dwell in the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead forever by spirit.”

“That’s terrible.”

“It’s definitely one of the lesser beneficial aspects of life here. Now as I was saying, the fire created by the explosion spread through the forest surrounding this place and burned down the ruins of the Krana Discussion Village.”

“So that’s what caused the fire?”

“Yep. However strange things have happened in the valley during recent times. The Valley of the Shadow of the Dead has historically only been crossed in the most dire of emergencies. Usually the worst thing one would encounter in there was a lost spirit drifting in among the grasses and shrubs, but nothing that posed a threat to your life. That is, until a few decades ago. One of my fellow wildmen ventured into it because he was chasing a Kane-Ra for food. He lost the bull in the valley, but he himself never emerged. Someone went in after him and they didn’t come out either. A few disappearances later, every wildman learned to fear the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead.” 

“So are we going around it?”

“Nope.”

“Back?”

“Nope.”

“Through?”

“Correct.”

“Nice.”

“The black and white armored giant must have entered here. There was no sight of him on the crater’s rim, which is several miles away if I may add. Our best chance of finding him is in here.”

“And what if we get kidnapped or murdered by someone?”

“Don’t worry. If we need to get out in a pinch, the Kahgarak can send us to the zone of darkness. He’s been there plenty of times so he’ll know which way is out.” 

The sun now set on the plains, engulfing them in shadows. The sky was cloudy and neither the moon nor a star could be seen. 

They descended into the valley. They saw withering grasses surround them on the slopes. Half-buried fragments of brick lay about, most likely remnants of the ancient Vahki outpost. They kept descending further and further. Withered trees with long gnarled strands of roots anchored themselves into the side of the ciff. They kept going, deeper and deeper. There seemed to be no limit to the depth of the gaping hole in the earth. And then they saw it. Out of the mist drifted a spirit. 

It looked like a Toa, however was without a mask or armor. Its feet did not touch the ground but rather it drifted about like a ghost. There was no light within its eyes and it looked old and decrepit. 

“There’s one of the resistance members that died in the explosion.”

“How many others are there?”

“Around a few hundred or so. It was a pretty large company that attacked.” 

They passed the spirit and continued going deeper into the valley. 

“If the black and white giant was here, wouldn’t we have seen him by now?”

“Nay. The valley is expansive and extends to the deep places of the world. We’ve still a long way way to go.” 

They continued down into the chasm. It was essentially the same scenery over and over again, but the gathering darkness would get thicker and thicker. The air was denser and colder. Hours went by of nothing but riding and riding into the gloom. Finbarr felt his mind tearing apart in madness in among the overwhelming shadow of the valley. He was just about to let out a ferocious scream of insanity when he saw in the distance a light. It was pale white. Not very large, just a tiny speck of it. Kovika seemed to have saw it too as he prodded the Kahgarak to move faster. They kept going toward the light, slowly gaining in size as they moved. The Kahgarak seemed to be intrigued too as it was now at an almost running speed toward the light. They drew closer and closer until the Visorak came to a dead spot, frozen. Kovika leaned forward in the saddle and tilted his head. Finbarr could hear it also in the distance. It was like a shouting. But not in fear or panic or joy. Nay, it was shouting like it was ordering a command. The Kahgarak now sprinted forward under Kovika’s order. Five minutes of running later, the light was now in front of them. It was a lantern hanging from a tree branch. 

The white light of the lantern allowed them to see a little bit around them. And what they saw was something that they would have nightmares of until the end of their days. Toa and Matoran stood frozen like statues. There were scores and scores of them, uncountable by both of them. They did not do any move to acknowledge their presence but rather stood there like statues, their eyes glazed over. They all held weapons that varied from thornax launchers to giant axes to wooden boards with nails in them. 

“Hello?” said Finbarr. None of them moved. 

“Well this is odd,” said Kovika. “Almost as odd as the black and white giant.”

“I’d say it’s a lot more odd than that.”

“Meh.”

Then they heard a third voice. 

“You certainly will not find this odd in a minute.”

In the light of the lantern they saw a withered figure approaching them, weaving between the lines of frozen Matoran and Toa. His back was hunched and he had a gray and green robe that encased his body. He leaned on a gnarled staff and bore a Kanohi Kualsi. When the being looked at who was riding the Kahgarak, he frowned. 

“Kovika. Dare I ask what brings you to the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead?”

“That errand is none of your business, Arzaki.”

Finbarr’s eyes widened. Questions boiled up within him but he didn’t want to interrupt the confrontation so he held his tongue.

Arzaki laughed. It was a weezy, cackling sound that was one of the most bizarre things that had ever entered Kovika or Finbarr’s ears.

“I must say, you’ve let yourself go,” commented Kovika. 

“It’s the atmosphere of this valley,” replied Arzaki. “This darkness is not natural, you know. Strange factors are at work here and it can do weird things to body when you’ve been here for as long as I have.”

“Mind sharing why you are here?”

“Where else could I marshal an army?” he said, using his staff to gesture to the lines of frozen Toa and Matoran.

“This was your doing?”

“Oh yes. I’ve learned a thing or two down here in among the wandering spirits. Did you know that there is a procedure of rituals that you can do to remove the spirit of a person while keeping their body and mind intact? When you do they become empty shells like these guys,” he said while knocking his fist on the armor of a Toa. “They’re completely soulless and without will. They’re the perfect fighting force, no questions against authority!” 

All three of them were silent for a moment.

“Arzaki, do you realize how messed up this is?”

“How so?”

“You’re removing the spirit of random travelers so that you can use their bodies to do battle for you?”

“It’s not like anybody who comes down here will be missed or anything. They’re either social outcasts, bandits, or exiles. People who have done so much crime that they’re literally thrown out by the moderators because banning them would be too good for ‘em are who these are.”

“Why do you even need people fighting for you, what are you doing with them? ”

“I cannot tell you, however I can assure you that it will be for both of our interests.”

Kovika folded his arms. 

“Where do you keep the spirits of your...soldiers?”

“In the basement of my hut. It’s a few miles over there,” he said pointing in a seemingly random direction. 

“Arzaki...this is wrong on so many different levels…”

“Ugh, you’re just like him. He didn’t approve of it either, but all of you will see once you see their prowess!” 

“Who is ‘he’?”

“Somebody that stopped by earlier. Unlike you two, I was expecting him.”

“Would he happened to have been black, white, and abnormally tall?”

Arzaki narrowed his eyes. 

“Kovika, you haven’t been let in on this loop for a reason. I’d suggest that you leave the valley.”

“Is this matter related to the Kanohi Force?”

“Get out!” 

“Arzaki, I am not here to antagonize you.”

“Clearly you need to rethink your goal, because that’s what you’re achieving right now. Leave now, or my soldiers will make you.” 

“Arzaki, I can help you.”

“Leave!”

“No!”

The withered Toa grumbled. 

“Who is your friend?” he asked, gesturing to Finbarr. 

“His name is Finbarr. He found me and asked a few questions about the Kanohi Force. I figured I’d let him tag along in my pursuit of the giant.”

Arzaki frowned. 

“Sounds dubious.”

“I can assure you that I am not here with malicious intention,” said Finbarr. 

“Your word means nothing to me, stranger.”

“He can offer more help that you think,” said a voice from behind them. Into the light of the lantern walked a being with a white mask of air. He had a gray cloak wrapped around him. 

“Gukko Lord!” said Kovika, “I thought you were imprisoned by the Vahki!”

“I was,” he replied with a smile, “but I broke out using only a plastic spoon and a toothbrush.”

“Gukko, I told you not to enter into conversations I have with wanderers,” said Arzaki.

“That’s a shame,” he replied. “You’d probably let me do a lot more things if your mind wasn’t driven mad by the fog of this valley.”

Arzaki muttered something below his breath before walking away into the darkness.

“Excuse him,” said Gukko, “his body isn’t the only thing that’s shriveled since he retreated into here.”

“Gukko, how did you escape?” asked Kovika.

“I already told you, with a toothbrush and a plastic spoon.”

“Are the others here?”

“No, it’s just me. I was going to bring Pohatu, Dane, Dallior, and Petewa with me but there wasn’t enough time to contact them and tell them my plan before the Vahki found me out.” 

“Interesting. Well I suppose that you can tell us the reason for all of this?” he said, holding his hand out to the scores of motionless Toa. 

“This...this is something that Arzaki’s been working on ever since he retreated here. He was planning on using these people to bust the five of us out of prison, but recently his mind has been so muddled that he’s having dreams of taking over all of BZPower with it.” 

“How is he doing this?”

“Not even I know that, I’ve only been down here for a couple of weeks and he hasn’t found any new victims in that time frame.”

They stood in silence, feeling quite uneasy from the eternal gaze of the spiritless beings. 

“Who’s your companion?” asked Gukko.

“I am Finbarr. I’m here because I have a few questions about the Kanohi Force.”

“Those must be some important ones if you’ve come this far.”

“Important to me at least.” 

“Interesting. We can talk on the way out of here. I’ve been meaning to leave the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead for a while now since Arzaki has everything under control here. I sort of know my way around here, I’ll show you two how to leave.” 

Gukko whistled. It was a long, clear call that struck through the darkness like a knife through bread. Out of the misty gloom flew a gukko bird. He mounted it. 

“I’ll fly at ground level so I can lead you,” he said. The Kahgarak followed them through a part in the soldiers. They marched onward into the darkness, the only noise coming from the footfall of the Visorak and the wings of the Gukko.

Edited by The Irrational Rock
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Finbarr dozed off several times during the trip to the exit of the valley, the monotonous landscape not striking his mind with such intensity as it had before. After hours passed the darkness eventually started to clear up so that it was nothing more than a mere mist. At last they spotted the other rim of the valley and they passed over it and back onto the plains.

The gukko bird slowed down so that it was in pace with the Kahgarak. 

“So, Gukko Lord,” said Kovika.

“Please, call me Aerixx,” he replied.

“Aerixx? You have a name?”

“Correct. I only told it to the other Leedurz, but I suppose you can know now that the Force has scattered.”

“Well, Aerixx, I believe that my friend Finbarr has a few questions for you.”

“Really? Tell, what are they?”

Finbarr cleared his throat.

“You see, I’ve been doing a little research and I’ve found some...odd things about the Kanohi Force. I’m trying to investigate a little further, but I first need to know the events that lead up to the Force’s demise.”

Aerixx nodded.

“Kovika has already filled me in on everything up until he escaped the tower. You remained there after it fell and during the fight, could you please tell me what happened then?”

“Well, I could try. Tension was strong back in those days, so I’m not sure that my account will be very clear. But I’ll try regardless. 

“Let’s see, the first time I heard of Kovika’s escape was from Jakura when he told the rest of the Leedurz that you had attacked him in the hallway with several Bohrok and attempted to make him give in all of his armor, weapons, and his mask. Then-”

“Wait, he told you what?” exclaimed Kovika. 

“He told us that you attacked him.”

“Speak of Karzahni, I wonder what other lies that fiend has told about me!” 

“What do you mean?”

“I never attacked him! I was going down the hallway with the control stone when he jumped me, shattered the stone in the process, and chased me out of the hole in the building that Irrie made!” 

“Well we can’t change anything that’s already happened, m’kay? Now let me resume. Let’s see, Jakura arrived in the room to deliver the news. He also informed us that Irrie had fled and that Dane and Petewa were in contained thanks to the efforts of the Bohrok. Next it was Arzaki that spoke up.

“‘Our numbers are dropping by the boatload! If you fools can’t keep your act together, I’m out of here,’ he said as he made for the exit. Then Dallior reminded all of us that there was a deposit of antidermis below the base and that if we extracted it we could piece back our members.

“That backfired on us all. As it turns out, Jakura and Arzaki had all along wanted to have the antidermis to themselves so they didn’t have to split the profit with the rest of us. I suppose that they assumed that this would be a good time to secure it from the other members, as they immediately they sprinted out of the room and down the stairs, myself, Pohatu, and Dallior in pursuit. 

“Now remember, myself and Pohatu were against the idea of extracting the antidermis due to the danger it could have posed to the buyer. Dallior wanted it farmed, but for the money to be distributed among the entire Force, and Jakura and Arzaki wanted it for themselves. As you can imagine, some fighting broke out on the stairs. First it was just fists and tackles, then it got to elemental blasts, and finally we got our weapons and mask powers involved. It wasn’t long before the stairwell gave way and we all plummeted down several stories to the basement. 

“After that it was a mad dash to the tunnel that lead down to the antidermis vats. After several long minutes of fighting, Pohatu had managed to wall off the entrance to the tunnel and I had created a vacuum around it. Unable to access it, the goal of getting the antidermis was forgotten and Arzaki retreated back up the stairs, followed by Jakura who was maddened with rage. They battled throughout the tower, destroying room after room as they slowly made their way up the levels.

“Meanwhile Dallior had begun to chase them but he detoured and visited the weapons storage on the second floor. He brought out a crate of dried thornax and littered them all over the seventh floor. Don’t ask me why he thought this was a good idea, but one spark from Jakura’s flames managed to blow up the top half of the building while igniting the bottom half. 

“In among the inferno, Pohatu and I made our way to the third floor. There we found Tahu and Dragon, who were observing the confrontation between Dallior, Arzaki, and Jakura. Don’t ask me how Jakura, Arzaki, and Dallior didn’t get destroyed by the explosion either, because I have no clue. There they stood, forming a triangle on the floor. Dallior was the first to move, and then it was Arzaki that was on top of him, followed by Jakura. This lasted for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes. And then we heard them. The Vahki were marching up the stairwell, their attention lured to this spot by the explosion and the fire. 

“Immediately Pohatu and I got to work sealing off the entrance to the third floor, but the others offered no help. As soon as we turned around they were immediately on top of each other once again as if they were enemies since they met. 

“The next few hours were a blur to me since everything happened so fast. I think that Pohatu and I managed to fight off the first wave of Vahki, but then the they were replaced with a new onslaught of Kraahu. I think that the other three managed to fight their way into the weapons closet because another explosion induced from the dried thrornax fruit occurred, destroying the tower’s foundations. I believe that this also took out the Kraahu in the process, however there were lines of Kranua right behind them. 

“When I came back to consciousness, I was in a field of rubble and flames. The sky above me was blackened from the smoke and I could barely see in front of me. But then, out of nowhere, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw someone walking toward me. At first I did not know who it was, but I did see that they were flanked by a Kraahu and a Kranua. 

“When he approached me, I could see his facial features and make out who it was. And when I did, I knew the fate of imprisonment that awaited me. It was GSR, a banhammer held in his right hand. He stood before me and told the Kraahu to subdue me. However before the robots advanced I heard a screeching noise and saw Jakura leaping out from behind a chunk of rubble with a sword in his hand. Blood was splattered all over his body and half of his right arm was missing. Like a wild animal, he slashed at GSR, however the moderator was too fast for him. He ducked below the blade and then lunged, slamming his banhammer into the side of Jakura’s face, knocking him to the ground. I saw his eyes go dark, his heartlight flicker off, and his body fade away into thin air. I then felt the Kraahu’s stun gas enter my nostrils and I was knocked out once again. 

“Turns out that I was unconscious for the majority of the battle between Dallior, Jakura, Arzaki, Pohatu, and the Vahki. And probably for the best, since the the three of them were pretty bruised and battered by the time I met them in prison. 

“Over the course of many long decades we slowly made amends in prison. Pohatu, Dallior, and I forgave Dane and Petewa for their attempted coup, although it took a while.”

For the next minute they moved in silence.

“Do you know why Tahu wasn’t incarcerated and why Dragon escaped?” asked Kovika.

“Tahu somehow managed to get the Vahki to let him go by convincing them that he didn’t know anything they already didn’t. He also managed to prove that he was not responsible for the destruction of property in the tower so he didn’t serve any jail time. Don’t know how he did it exactly, but I sure would have wanted to know how during my interrogation.

“As for Dragon, the last I saw of him was on the third floor. I believe that he fled the scene early in the battle. I don’t think that Tahu participated in any of the fighting either, but he remained on the location.”

“And what of Arzaki? How did he escape the Vahki?”

“Don’t know, he refused to tell me. I think it might be because he can’t remember due to the maddening effects of the valley.”

“Interesting,” said Kovika.

“So Aerixx,” said Finbarr, “how did you escape from prison?”

“Well I received a tip from a visitor who just happened to be Meyres, one of our former operatives and T1S’ cousin. He told me that he, Arzaki, T1S, and Ghidora were working together in secret to reassemble the Kanohi Force. I was to break out of prison and meet the four of them in the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead, which I did, and now we’ve been working together ever since.”

“Hm. But how did you get out?”

“I’ve told you this twice, with a toothbrush and a plastic spoon.”

“What did you do with them to escape?”

“Stuff.”

“Stuff?”

“Stuff.”

Kovika spoke up. 

“So does this mean that Ghidora and T1S are still alive?”

“Well...sort of. You’ll see what I mean in a little while.”

“What?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Here’s another question: why wasn’t I let in on this operation? Or how about Irrie or Dragon?”

“Well we don’t know where Dragon is. And you and Irrie were not to be allowed in on this until the Leedurship board was reformed.”

“Why?”

“Because we couldn’t risk one of you trying to take over the board again so we needed to make sure there were enough of us to prevent one should it have happened.”

“I never performed a coup against you guys! It was to overthrow Irrie, Dane, and Petewa!”

“We couldn’t run the risk, alright?”

“That’s preposterous! I could have helped you and you refused to let me in on it because of something that wasn’t even done to you?”

“Kovika, what’s done is done and we can’t change it! It wasn’t even my decision, this was before I was let in on it. We all had our times and yours was to be later than the rest of the Leedurship’s.”

Kovika scowled and turned his head away from Aerixx. Finbarr sat there, rather confused as always. 

The group kept traveling on and on down the seemingly endless grasses. On this side of the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead there were much less hills on the plains but rather flat land. It proved easier for the Kahgarak to traverse, however the scene was much more mundane. 

“So do any of you know where Dragon is?” asked Finbarr.

“No,” replied Aerixx. “We’ve searched for him through sources and connections and found none. The last trace of him was when he fled the scene of the battle.”

“And what of Irrie?”

“Irrie is currently crossing the Bleak Lands.”

“Why is that fool in the Bleak Lands?” exclaimed Kovika. 

“Nobody knows,” replied Aerixx, “we don’t want to go there to ask him.” 

“What are the Bleak Lands?” asked Finbarr.

“The Bleak Lands,” said Kovika, “are the most desolate place in the entire wild. To say it’s a desert is an exaggeration. The Bleak Lands is a chunk of land that’s filled with cracked and dry earth and that’s it. No stone formations like on Mata Nui, no sand dunes like on Earth, just miles upon miles of hard ground.”

“Why does nothing grow there?”

“Something to do with the atmosphere above it. I think the heat that comes from the sun gets trapped in it or something which makes it too hot for even desert plants to grow there. And it has never rained there for all of recorded history, so that just makes it even worse.”

“Well whatever Irrie’s business there is, we shouldn’t worry about it until it’s time to retrieve him.”

They continued riding. 

“Smell that?” said Aerixx, “it’s salt water. We’re nearing the sea.”

“Did we just cross the entirety of the wild?” asked Finbarr.

“Not at all,” replied Kovika, “the wild in this area is very thin, which is why we could cross it in just a few days. Up north it broadens exponentially. Up there you have the Great Wold, the Bleak Lands, the Dull Mountains and the Dragon’s Teeth. Ah, and who could forget the bejeweled caverns found deep in the Spiteful Jungle, home to the Consortium of the Roaring Falls!”

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“The Consortium?”

“Ah, yes. The Consortium of the Roaring Falls was established back in the age of 2006. Originally it was formed by a band of Bo and Onu-Toa, however they’ve allowed people of different elements to join them in more recent times. They left the busy city-life of normal BZ-Koro to reconnect with the natural world and to seek a new perspective on existence. Their hospitality is warm and they’re always willing to raise a mug of ale to their guests amid the roar of the fireplace. I’ve been there once before in my life and I sure will cherish the day when I can return.” 

“Hate to interrupt your story, but we’re here,” said Aerixx. 

The Kahgarak and the Gukko stopped at the edge of a sharp and jagged cliff. Beyond it lay and endless stretch of ocean water. 

“Why have you brought us here?” asked Finbarr.

“You are going to meet with Ghidora and T1S,” he said as he dismounted the bird. Finbarr and Kovika did the same. They followed Aerixx to a pathway that was just below the edge of the cliffside. They slid down onto it and walked down the switchbacks that lead to the pebbly beach next to the ocean. 

“They’re in there,” he said, pointing at a large cave in the cliffside. They walked inside. The slope of the cave was upward, and so they marched higher and higher until they arrived at a circular room. Stone columns were positioned on the inner circumference of the room while painted tapestries hung down from the ceiling. 

However this was not what held Kovika and Finbarr’s attention. For seated in the middle of the room on a throne of stone was the black and white armored giant.   

 

Edit: W00t, 1,000th post! 

Edited by The Irrational Rock
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This was the first time that Finbarr saw the giant, and he noticed that there was something else about him that Kovika didn’t mention. The giant’s head was golden. Not a dull gold like on most gold-painted masks, but a rich and gleaming kind. 

“Explain,” said Kovika. 

Aerixx walked forward and stood next to the Toa of Ice.

“This is GhidoraT1S. He was created by a fusion between Ghidora, The 1st Shadow, and the Kanohi Flashbaki.” 

Kovika looked down at his feet. A droplet of sweat slide down his head as he clenched his fists and faced Aerixx. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he hissed. 

“Tell you what?”

“That two of the Leedurz were fused together! You didn’t make any contact with me while you were off planning to rebuild us! I could have helped you!” 

“We couldn’t trust you!”

“I never did an offence against you, if anything I was helping you by disposing of Irrie, Dane, and Petewa!” 

“It wasn’t your time to know yet!”

“What do you mean it wasn’t my time? Did you intend on letting me in on this at this moment?”

“No, actually we planned on doing it in several weeks-” 

Kovika punched Aerixx across the face. 

“I could have helped you!” he shouted. “But no, Kovika can’t be trusted. Kovika is suspicious. Kovika could turn on us at any moment.” 

“Kovika, we did this to protect both of us! I was only let in a few weeks ago and Arzaki and GhidoraT1S have been planning it for the past few decades!” 

“That’s because you were in jail!”

“Well you couldn’t stay in one place for long enough before going off with a pack of spiders!”

Kovika tried to land another punch but Aerixx ducked and jabbed him in the stomach. Kovika staggered backward a few steps, hissing behind his mask. He lunged forward and landed a haymaker across Aerixx’s face, however the Gukko Lord returned with an uppercut to his jaw after Kovika’s arm was lowered. Kovika, falling backward, launched a kick to Aerixx’s thigh while pivoting on his foot. He landed on both feet and swung a hook around the Gukko Lord’s head, however Aerixx ducked and launched a jab into Kovika’s stomach, knocking him down to the floor. 

Kovika looked up as he saw Aerixx standing over him. He scrambled to his feet and backed up a few steps. He spat on the ground and turned, facing GhidoraT1S. 

The giant seemed to have taken no notice of the fight, but rather sat contently on its throne. 

“You,” said Kovika, “can you talk?”

This caught its attention. The titan looked down at Kovika and uttered a low rumble as it folded its arms. 

“I can speak if you desire it,” it boomed. Its voiced echoed throughout the chamber and sounded as if three people were talking at the same time. 

“Right...well mister GhidoraT1S, care to explain whatever it is that you wanted to tell us?”

The titan leaned forward in his throne. 

“You are frustrated,” it said. 

“No dip, Sherlock.”

“I will speak to you once your mind has been cleared,” it said. It turned its golden head to Finbarr. 

“Speak for him,” he said. 

Finbarr, who had been in a slight daze the whole time, blinked and looked back at the giant.

“What?”

“Speak, why are you here?”

“I am here because I have a few questions.”

“Ask.”

“Well...first of all, why are you like what you are?”

“What do you mean?”

“You are...fused. Both T1S, Ghidora, and the Kanohi Flashbaki. Tell me how it happened.” 

GhidoraT1S leaned back in his seat. 

“Well, that is a very strange and bizarre tale. It started long ago in the twilight days of the Kanohi Force. It was the eve before the second convocation and T1S was slumbering in his quarters. He was awakened by the sound of footsteps outside his door. He exited his room and heard someone running down the starwell. He followed it and was lead down to the outside of the tower. There he saw Ghidora. 

‘Was that you that passed by my room?’ asked T1S.

‘No, I was about to ask you the same question,’ replied Ghidora. 

T1S used the Flashbaki to activate the Kanohi Rode.

‘Check my mind if you like, but I never passed your room,’ said Ghidora. 

It was then that both of them heard a rustling in the bushes. T1S and Ghidora activated their Akaku masks and they saw a robed being hiding behind them. He held a staff and a blue mask with three eyes and a mouth on his face. He emerged from the shrubberies and held aloft his staff. It gleamed with a blue gem that was enrooted to the end and it bathed the entire area in light. A wave of night black energy radiated from the gem and hovered around the two of them. But then the light around them faltered and the blue gem exploded off of the saff, shattering to millions of pieces. The waves of dark energy shimmered and wrapped and twisted around Ghidora and T1S, drawing the beings closer and closer together until the energy fused the mind, body, and spirits of T1S, Ghidora, and the Kanohi Flashbaki together. Such was the birth of me.”

Finbarr nodded his head. 

“Thank you. But I have many more questions for you.”

“Ask. There is time to do such things now while we still live in secret.”

“Very well then. The person that held the staff, you said that his mask was blue and had three eyes, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Did he have a crown of skulls?”

GhidoraT1S leaned forward. 

“Have you met this person before?”

“Yes, only a few days ago. I was inside the abandoned Krana storage tower when he confronted me. He warned me against seeking out the rest of the Kanohi Force. He then threatened me against doing it on my life.”

GhidoraT1S slowly shook his head. 

“I have not encountered him since that day many decades ago. But Arzaki has told me that while waiting within the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead he confronted the same person. He attempted to take control over the minds and bodies of his soldiers to turn them against him, but Arzaki’s will was stronger and he commanded his warriors to drive him out of the valley.”

“How long ago was this?”

“A few years.”

“Does anyone within the Kanohi Force know about his whereabouts?”

“No. But he seems to know more than he should about the nature of the BZPower universe. Long have I worried about his intentions and the sooner we find him the better.”

“Alright, now I have another question that I must ask. Was there anything of…an interdimensional aspect involved with the building of the Kanohi Force tower?”

“What do you mean?”

“I have found a remnant of the tower. After doing analyses of it, I have found several things off about it.”

“I can assure you that there is nothing ‘interdimensional’ about the tower.”

“Oh...well, okay then.”

“Any further inquiries?”

“Well...is there anything I can do to help out?”

The giant motioned his hand to Aerixx. 

“Actually there is, both of you,” he said as he walked toward Finbarr. “We are planning on launching a raid on the Kaiapu Prison in the Creative Archipelago. We didn’t intend on either of you coming here, but we can still use the assistance.”

“Really? How can we help?”

“For most offensive missions like this we will need capable, dispensable soldiers such as Arzaki’s. However they are better suited for combat where two opposing forces meet in a battlefield rather than a retrieval operation like this one. So we have decided to hire some mercenaries.”

“Mercenaries?”

“Yes, follow me.”

Aerixx lead Finbarr and Kovika out of the chamber and back down the sloped cave to the pebbly beach. He walked along the side of the cliff and put his hand on a stone that was jutting out of it. He pulled it down like a lever and the sound of gears turning emitted from behind the stone surface. A small square shaped section of the cliff that was below the lever slid out of the surrounding stone and fell on the ground. Aerixx bent over and reached his hand inside the hole, grabbing a rolled up parchment. He unraveled it and sat down on the ground. He placed the paper on top of the square block of stone and placed pebbles on the four corners to keep it from blowing away. 

Finbarr and Kovika saw that it was a map of a building and the surrounding area.

“This is Kaiapu Prision. It’s situation on a small spit of land in the middle of a lake on the Grand Library island. Here is our plan of operation,” he said as he picked up a stick and placed it on one side of the lake. 

“Arzaki will send three companies of soldiers here. They will be armed with several siege engines that we will receive from the SplitEar Rangers.”

Kovika raised his eyebrows.

“The siege engines will launch boulders coated in a flammable substance that will ignite when it reaches a certain speed. This will send flaming boulders crashing into the walls of the Kaiapu Prision, obviously distracting the majority of the Vahki. One of the companies will then enter into boats and sail across the lake to the island. Each of the boats will have a built-in engine as well as a paste-like substance that will be launched. Like the boulders, the paste will ignite upon reaching a specific speed. 

“The boulders will be used to take out the walls and the paste will remove the Vahki. Since it has adhesive properties, it will cling to their metallic armor and melt them down on the spot. 

“However that is just the distraction. The real operation will occur on the other side of the lake. There is a small blind spot in the guard towers, and it will be used by a group of SplitEar Ranger mercenaries will slip across in their boats. With the Vahki guard distracted, they will split up and go to each of the cells that contain a former Kanohi Force member. They will return to their boats and flee with the individuals and take them back to here.” 

“And what of Arzaki’s soldiers?” asked Finbarr.

“They will continue assaulting the prison. If we tell them to withdraw, the Vahki will follow them and will find the massive storage of soldiers in the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead, so it’s vital that they stay there fighting. They will either be slain by the defenders or will succeed in destroying the prison.”

“And what will happen if they win?”

“They will probably guard the ruins of the prison until the Vahki eventually manage to defeat them when they bring reinforcements.” 

“So we’ll be destroying a prison?”

“Yes. Right now, the BZPower government is our enemy and this will be a big blow to them since they will lose one of their top prisons as well as many of their primary soldiers. It’ll also put a big dent in their money supply since they’ll have to pay for the repairs and building of new Vahki.”

“Won’t they eventually trace it back to us?”

“If this was back in the days of old when BZPower’s reach spread throughout the land, maybe. But ever since the Great Sleep, the BZPower government has been struggling to rebuild their monetary funds and they’ll be more focused on paying for the damages than hiring people to track us down. And by the time their attention does shift to doing that, we will have already built up an army of our own.”

“Why exactly are we waging war against the moderators again?” asked Finbarr.

“The Kanohi Force has been labeled as a danger to public safety. If we were to rebuild ourselves, we need an army to protect ourselves. Arzaki’s soldiers are good pawns, but lack certain decision-making abilities without their spirits. The SplitEar Rangers are very skilled at stealth, however they are more loyal to their pay than to us, and we can’t keep hiring them off to aid us. We need our own Vahki.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“We must first reunite the Kanohi Force. I have some plans, but we require the presence of our other members and their ingenuity to make it happen.”

Kovika shook his head. 

“The SplitEar Rangers,” he muttered, “I’ve encountered them a few times before. They’re certainly a shady group of folk.”

“It’s good that you’ve done negotiations with them before,” replied Aerixx, “because we’re going to pay a visit to their camp. I’ve already sent a messenger to them to tell them of our coming, so we’ve got to be off soon before they lose patience with us.”

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Finbarr held on tight to Aerixx’s shoulders as the gukko bird soared into the air. Down behind him he spotted the white figure of Kovika atop his Kahgarak.

He ran over the plan in his head. He and Aerixx were to go to the camp of the SplitEar Rangers and tell them of their intentions for their assistance in battle. Their leader informed them that they were already prepared for a possible conflict and ready to mobilize after they were informed of their orders. Meanwhile, Kovika was to return to the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead and fetch the three soldier companies and lead them back to the cliffside cave where they would assemble in their boats and sail off to the Creative Archipelago. 

They soared together through the clouds, moving with such speed that the land below them was but a green blur. The wind stung through Finbarr’s mask like a chilled wip. The bird rose up higher and higher until they were scores and leagues above the ground and even the low hanging clouds were far below them. He looked up and saw the sun beating down on them from up above like an orb of fire that never went out. He wondered if the world beyond the sky was like it was back on his distant home of Earth. Were there other planets? Was this one even a planet, or was it a flat sheet of endless land? And what of the stars, were they really like suns only more distant, or were they like tiny gems gleaming in the sky? Or how about the- 

Finbarr’s thoughts halted as he felt the gukko’s back below him give way to air. He had fallen off. Wind surged upward and around him as he spun around and around in the sky. He looked around madly for sight of the gukko bird but saw none. Nay, the only thing he could do was fall. And fall. And keep falling. 

He felt a thud below him as the upward wind suddenly stopped and was replaced by that coming from the back. He looked around wildly and saw that he had been caught in the claws of the gukko bird. The rahi tossed him into the air once more and was caught by Aerixx’s arm, who hauled him down to the gukko’s back.

“Hold on tighter next time,” he said over the noise of the air. The gukko suddenly tilted its body downward as they began to descend into the clouds once more. Down, down they went, further and further away from the sky and closer to the solid ground.

The land below them was not that of a flat plain like Finbarr had seen for the majority of his expedition. No, it was mountainous. Scores upon scores of ancient, rounded mountains were present. They expanded all around them, into the horizon and beyond even that. 

“Let me tell you a little something about the Splitear Rangers before we land,” said Aerixx. “They’re not like most people in this world. They were transported to the BZPower universe like all the other users, but there was something that happened to them that caused them to separate from the main settlement back when the foundations of the cities of BZ Nui were first laid. They fled to the mountains and lived a primitive life away from civilization. But there was something about the mountain forests that made them forget their memories of their past life on Earth and even that they once lived with the rest of the inhabitants of BZ Nui.”

“How’d that happen?”

“Nobody’s quite sure. There have been theories thrown around but none of them have had any firm evidence behind them. Anyway, just be mindful when interacting with them. If any of them asks you to do something odd, just go ahead and do it because it might have some cultural significance to it.” 

“M’kay.”

They flew down to one of the mountains. It and the mountain next to it were the largest in the area and they both had distinctive bare patches on their peaks. They soared down to around the middle of the mountain slope where there were several rocky outcrops jutting out from the land. Finbarr squinted and saw that there were tiny black dots moving about the trees. When they got closer, he saw that they were Toa and Matoran clad in black armor. Slowly the gukko lowered itself down below the tree level and came to a rest on the forest floor. 

What Finbarr first saw was a large cave that stuck out of the land. He also saw houses constructed out of stones that were rolled together that were located almost everywhere. Many of the people there looked up at them. They did not wear Kanohi or any sort of mask, but had black blindfolds that covered their eyes. 

When the gukko landed, one of the Rangers walked forward and greeted them.

“Welcome, my lords to Atana’gardolay, the capital and heartland of the glorious Distulyah’gatlayanee nation, or Splitear in your people’s tongue. My name is Noiyah, lieutenant of the armed forces,” he said as he bowed to them. 

“Thank you, lieutenant Noiyah,” replied Aerixx, “I presume that you have received word from our messenger of our coming?”

“Indeed, we have. We gave him our hospitality for the night and he is currently returning to your base of operation.”

“Splendid. Now, may we have audience with your leader?”

“Certainly.”

He turned around and motioned for them to follow him into the large cave before them. The guards in front stood aside and they bowed as they passed. 

Inside the cave it was damp and somewhat cold. Light trickled in from several gaps in the stone above. After they turned a sharp corner they saw a tall and powerful Toa standing in the middle of the passageway. He held a stone tablet in his hand and was carving into it with a knife. Unlike the rest of the Rangers, he had a white cloth covering his eyes.

“Sire, our guests have arrived,” said Noiyah. 

“I see,” he replied, “allow me to introduce myself to you, Lord Aerixx and Lord Finbarr. I am Potentate Ookabanui, leader of my people. I assume that you would like to begin talks as quickly as you can? I was told that times are urgent in your case.”

“That is correct,” replied Aerixx.

“Very well. Let us start,” he said while putting down the tablet. “Tell me, what will the Rangers benefit from helping you?”

“We have connections to large quantities of food. We are aware of your situation with your crops running low, so we could easily import food to you in exchange for your assistance in battle.”

Ookabanui nodded his head.

“This sounds promising. Not all of our people are warriors, some are gatherers, some are trappers, some are trackers, and others are storytellers. But there is little time for storytelling nowadays as few berry bushes bloom and fewer game wanders the area. My people are growing sad without their stories, as many of us love to listen to the voice of a storyteller after a long day of labor. But nay, many of our storytellers have to become gatherers, trappers, or trackers due to the scarcity of food. As Potentate of the Distulyah’gatlayanee Rangers, I accept your offer.”

Aerixx bowed. 

“Thank you. Cooperation between the Kanohi Force and the Splitear Rangers will hopefully grant us all a brighter future.”

“First, I must inquire you on a matter,” said Ookabanui.

“What is that?”

“Will you be participating with us in the battle?”

“Yes.”

“All combatants who enter battle under the banner of the Distulyah’gatlayanee Rangers recieve a name from the Spirit Speaker. He is a hermit that dwells on the peak of this mountain. He has the deepest connection with the spiritual world of all our people. He will seek the spirit within you and call upon the deities to grant you a name through his tongue. Then you will be fit to enter battle with us.”

“It would be a great honor for us to receive names from the Spirit Seeker,” replied Aerixx. 

“Excellent. I am too busy to go to the peak myself, however Noiyah will escort you there. He will also explain to you our beliefs and why we find the land so important to us so that you will have a clear understanding of the etymological meaning behind your names,” he said with a nod to his lieutenant. Noiyah motioned for Aerixx and Finbarr to follow him as he left the cave. They returned to the clearing with the many houses and they turned onto a small pathway that lead up the mountain. 

“I am told the people of BZPower are not well learned in our deities?” asked Noiyah.

“That is correct,” replied Aerixx.

“Then allow me to tell you the tale of my people’s ancestors. Be warned, it is a long one, but hopefully it will allow you to find an awakening within you even if you do not believe in it in the same way that we do. 

“It began with the first sunrise upon the world. Udanyah’late was the name of the sun, and it was the he that created the world that we live in. In the beginning the land was flat and dull. Udanyah’late was not satisfied with this, so he created another deity, Nuh’yah, to shape that land. It was the work of Nuh’yah that created the first two mountains, the sister mountains that you stand on today. He then built the countless ridges that stretch on for as far as the horizon can see. 

“But Nuh’yah was not satisfied with his work. He wanted something to dwell on his mountains. And so from the soil and dirt of the land he built a new deity named Oletito’yah. He tasked him with creating life for the world. After spending many years perfecting his experimentations, he created the first tree. He planted it at the base of the mountains and as time passed they began to spread and spread until the towering hills were coated in them. Then Oletito’yah made the first beasts. He made them to run wild and he made us to care for them. 

“Nuh’yah was proud of Oletito’yah’s work. And so he created for him two assistants named Ses’day and A’hesta to help him populate the land as a reward. Their combined efforts brought into existence countless species of plant and animal alike. From the tiniest mushroom to the grandest of oaks, all were birthed by their brilliance.

“However the sun, Udanyah’late, was growing sad. He was disconnected from his beloved world by the endless sky, so he created two friends for himself. They were named Oohyo’nn and Uso’naugh’ee, the two secondary suns. They were smaller and did not burn as bright as Udanyah’late, but they kept him company in the sky. But they soon realized that they were not worshiped by the people of the land like their creator was. So the two suns plotted to overthrow the greater, as they fantasized of being the hailed leaders of the world. They were about to kill him by knife, but Udanyah’late was more powerful than they expected. He banished them to the night realm, far away from his day. And there they dimmed and became the two moons. 

“Oohyo’nn was furious at Uso’naugh’ee for convincing him to overthrow Udanyah’late, as it had resulted in his banishment to the night realm. In his fury he tried to attack his brother, but Uso’naugh’ee was too fast for him, and he used his spear to stab his maddened friend in the heart. Oohyo’nn burst into millions of fragments that light up the night realm, now known as the stars. 

“However those on the ground were not ignorant of these actions. Ses’day and A’hesta worked together to overthrow Oletito’yah, for they wanted to be the rulers of the living things after being inspired by Oohyo’nn and Uso’naugh’ee. They tried to kill their master, however he discovered their ruse before they had planned to put it into action. He took away their ability to create life, and replaced it with the power to end it. This was a way to punish them by making their only power the ability to end what they had spent so long creation. Furious at Oletito’yah, Ses’day and A’hesta began claiming the lives of sick and dying plants and rahi, ignoring the fact that they had devoted their lives to their creation. 

“But Nuh’yah saw what Ses’day and A’hesta were doing and he observed that the spirits and minds of living things were being stolen by the two fiends. He then created Nuh’don’egahnenee. Nuh’don’eganhenenee was made to be a corrier. Whenever a living thing died, he would catch its spirit before it fell into the clutches of Ses’day and A’hesta. He then carried them off into the sky where they would dine in the golden halls of Udanyah’late for the rest of eternity. 

“Nuh’yah then banished Ses’day and A’hesta to the Bleak Lands, where they sapped the life from all the things there, turning it into a dead place. And so Ses’day became the deity of peaceful death, and A’hesta became the deity of painful death, in accordance to their methods of claiming a life, only to have their spirit be intercepted by Nuh’don’eganhenenee. 

“However the gods of death then built a deity by the name of Unesdala, the god of slumber. They told him to cast Nuh’yah into an eternal sleep, and he obeyed because the newly created deity did not know any better. He approached Nuh’yah in the dead of night and put him into a deep and almost unending sleep. The god of the mountains fell down and landed into the side of this very ridge, waiting for the day that he would reawaken at the world’s end. It was then that Unesdala saw the error in his ways and he ran to the sky where he pleaded to Udanyah’late for forgiveness, for he was an honorable and truthful deity. The sun god saw the wholeness in his heart and how he was mislead by the gods of death, so he pardoned the god of slumber. He then gave him an abode positioned on the highest and sturdiest cloud that roams the sky.

“I could go on for hours about what happened next, including the gods of war, the conflict between the god of the rains and the god of the wildfire, the rise of the god of time, and more. There are countless stories that our storytellers have forged on their anvils of creativity and spiritual awareness. However I cannot, for we are reaching our first destination.”

The pathway lead them to an overlook. It was a gap in the trees where the dirt became stone. 

“This is the face of Nuh’yah,” he explained. “He rests here until the end of days, when he will be reawakened for the final conflict between good and evil.”

Finbarr noticed that the rocky slope did look like a face if you saw it at the right angle. 

“If you don’t mind me inquiring, lieutenant Noiyah,” said Finbarr, “but why do you and your people wear blindfolds?”

“We have all traversed the land so many times that we know it by heart. By blocking our sight, we become more keen in our other senses. However we often remove our blindfolds before battle or other tasks that require our eyes to aid us.”

“And why do you not wear Kanohi?”

“What is Kanohi?”

“Masks?”

“Oh, yes. The air of the forest gives us strength, it empowers us. We have evolved beyond needing to wear a mask to stay strong. It is a way to better connect with the world.” 

They continued walking up the pathway. Noiyah pointed out several plants and their medicinal and practical uses. But one of the intriguing things that he explained was a plant called Adagah’tiyah, which he said translated to “guardian weed.” It was a small shrub-like plant with rounded leaves. The surface of the leaves is coated in a thin layer of thorns that can eject from the plant when an animal or person comes in close proximity with it. The Splitear Rangers called it the guardian weed because it protected areas that would have otherwise been intruded on by the beasts of the land. 

At last they came to a region where the trees gave way to grass. And there was an uphill slope that lead to a rocky peak of the mountain. They scrambled up the rocky slopes and onto the top of the mountain. 

The first thing they saw were hundreds, maybe even thousands of mountains on the horizon, the rows of them slowly fading into a paler shade of blue as they grew further away. The peak itself was flat and rocky. It had several grass patches with bushes in them as well as several pools of stagnant water. However the most interesting feature was the Miru wearing man sitting in the middle of the area. 

It was Dragon. 

 

***

 

Kovika nudged his Kahgarak to go faster, however it could not. It was tired after many long days of walking and could not run for very long. 

Little did anyone know, but Kovika knew the name of the Visorak, as he was called Yulduz. 

“Come on, Yulduz. Let’s go to the zone of darkness and find a portal that’ll open us closer to the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead.” 

The Visorak snapped its mandibles in response and it then charged its rhotuka. It flew into the air and struck the ground nearby, where it opened into a portal. They proceeded to walk into it. 

When they entered the zone of darkness they began heading in the direction that Yulduz sensed the nearest portal was. In the next few minutes they found a circular shape forming in front of them, of which they entered into. 

They stepped out into a desert. 

“Hm. Looks like we didn’t make it to the Valley, but rather the bleak lands.”

Kovika took a minute to look around him. He expected to see nothing but cracked and dried mud for as far as the eye could see, but that was not the case. On the distant horizon, he saw what looked like a building.

“Yulduz, I know that Arzaki’s expecting me...but I’m curious about this. Let’s go see what it is.”

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Kovika and Yulduz rode toward the strange buildings in the distance. As they got closer they saw that it was but one building surrounded by a vast wall. They then noticed that it was white with golden accents on the top and middle of the wall. 

After about thirty minutes of walking, they approached the towering wall. Twin knockers were positioned on either side of the two doors. Kovika reached out his hand and rapped one of them. The sound echoed throughout the area. 

Then one of the doors opened with a slow groan. Inside there were many small houses built from dried clay. Statues of various beings were positioned around the area, but did not move. When Kovika rode closer, he recognized some of them.

“That’s a statue of Rahaga Bomonga. And there’s Gadunka...and the Exo-Toa...and Onua Mistika...wait a minute, there’s a statue of every Bionicle set here.” 

He found this to be a very strange sight. He dismounted Yulduz and walked through the winding streets of stone figures. The city was positioned on a small hill with the giant building positioned at the peak. The street wound around the rise in circles, slowly increasing in elevation as it progressed. As he walked up the circling pathway, he eventually found himself standing at the door of the building. 

The structure had two giant columns supporting it that were painted purple at the top and base.  The doors were lined with gold markings, depicting outlines of people performing various deeds. Although he was not aware of this, the markings depicted various events in the Kanohi Force’s history. 

When he opened the door, he saw a long hallway that had columns positioned on either side. Torches were mounted on them that gave the chamber an orange glow. The bricks that formed the interior had a yellow hue to them, indicating that they were ancient and laid there ages ago. But the most significant feature of the room was the figure sitting upon the throne in the center, flanked by a statue of Umbra on his right and the Vahki Nuurakh on his left. 

“Irrie!”

 

***

 

“Dragon, what are you doing here?!” demanded Aerixx, taking a step forward. 

Noiyah stepped between him and Dragon. 

“Do not disrespect the Spirit Speaker by addressing him with any other title!” he exclaimed. 

“Do not worry, lieutenant Noiyah,” said Dragon. “I know him from before I joined you and your kin. I allow him a pardon.”

Noiyah bowed his head and stepped aside. Dragon stood up from where he was seated. 

“I presume you are here to receive your battle names?” inquired Dragon.

“Tell me what you’re doing here first,” said Aerixx.

“All questions and comments must be withheld until after the event. Now, is it your desire to receive a name?” 

“Yes,” said Finbarr. 

Aerixx grumbled and then said yes. 

“Good.”

He turned around and gazed at the sky. 

“I, the Spirit Seaker, call upon my ancestors to look down on these two beings. May they work hard to understand your noble code after I commend them to warriors in their turn. Aerixx, Finbarr, do you promise to uphold the ranger’s code and to protect and defend the rangers, even at the cost of your own life?”

Finbarr and Aerixx exchanged uneasy glances. Aerixx was worried about the ‘cost of your own life’ part, and Finbarr was wondering how he knew his name. 

“I do,” they both said. 

“Then by the powers of the Golden Halls of Udanyah’late, I give you your warrior names: Aerixx, from this moment on, you will be known as Ugi’dali. And Finbarr, from this moment on, you will be known as Esti’yusdi.”

Noiyah bowed his head.

“Ugi’dali and Esti’yusdi, it is a great honor for a foreigner to be recognized as men of war like yourselves.” 

Aerixx glanced at him, slightly annoyed.

“Then how come you let Dra...I mean Spirit Speaker to be your spiritual interpreter?” 

“Only he and our leader are the ones allowed to speak on that matter, and only to privileged individuals.”

Aerixx glared at Dragon, who took a brief moment to shoot him a smug smile, before returning to his regal facial complexion that he held for Noiyah. 

“Please,” said the lieutenant, “let us return to the city while there is still daylight.” 

The three of them turned and walked back down the trail, leaving Dragon alone atop the mountain. 

 

***

 

“Irrie!” exclaimed Kovika as he saw the Onu-Toa sitting upon a throne. 

“Kovika,” he replied flatly. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Sitting.”

Kovika’s face began to fluster.

“A mighty long chase I put up for you, spending decades wandering about the wild lands! And here I find you sitting here on a throne…with statues...and...and buildings!”

“Is this a problem?”

“Wh...what are you going here?!” 

“I’m sitting.”

Kovika began spouting some colorful language that even the most skilled of world filter dodgers could not top.

“Now, now. No need to get angry, right ol’ frosty?”

Kovika sighed, trying to control his anger.

“We’re not finished yet,” he seethed. 

“Finished with what?”

“You know what I’m talking about, don’t play dumb with me!”

Irrie folded his hands. 

“Sorry, I’m still not getting at this.”

Kovika roared in anger and summoned a ball of ice. He blasted it at Irrie, however it never hit him. The statue of Umbra came to life and jumped in the way of the orb, using his staff to smash it to bits. 

“You will behave in an orderly fashion or be escorted out of here,” said Irrie. 

“You smug little...wh...why is that statue alive?”

“Alive? No, these are not alive. But rather they are controlled by my mind.”

Kovika began to subtly use his power to lower Irrie’s body temperature, hoping to weaken his mental control of the statues. But the Toa of Earth noticed what his old rival was doing long before Kovika intended it, and the Vahki Nuurakh sprang at the Toa of Ice, smashing him to the ground and allowing Irrie’s body to stabilize. 

“That wasn’t very polite,” said Irrie. “It’d be a shame if my statues were all ordered to maul you for your disrespectful behavior.”

At that moment, there was a knocking at the door. 

“Come in,” said Irrie. 

The doors swung open and in walked Tahu. 

“Tahu?” said Kovika. 

“Tahu,” said Irrie.

“That’s me,” said Tahu. 

“Wh...what are you doing here?” asked Kovika.

“I could say the same for you,” replied Tahu. 

“Well...I’m here because I got lost, I haven’t any idea why you’re here.”

“I’m here because I’m about to go on an espionage raid with Irrie.”

“What?”

Irrie stood up from his throne. 

“Kovika, I think it’s time that we let you in on our operations. Tahu and I have been able to make amends after our...conflict back in the twilight days of the Kanohi Force. I recommend that you do the same.”

“You say that as if it’s an easy thing to do! How could I possibly forgive you after you almost destroyed the Force!”

“Petewa, Dane, and I did not commit the coup to destroy the Force, only to preserve it!”

“Preserve it? How? The only thing you three did was try to take it over!”

“Whatever quarrels we had back then, we must drop them now! More is at stake than our rivalry, Kovika.”

“What are you talking about?”

Irrie walked down and stood next to Tahu and Kovika.

“Tahu and I have been conspiring together for some time now, and are planning on freeing our imprisoned Kanohi Force comrades. We will do so using these statues that I have created out of compacted earth. I have spent these past decades honing my mental and elemental skills to the point in which I can control all of them at once.”

“Irrie?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you aware of the other raid that’s going to take place on the prison?”

“There’s another one?”

“Yeah, tomorrow morning.”

“But...that’s when we were going to do our raid tomorrow morning too!”

“Yeah, well T1G, Aerixx, and Arzaki think otherwise.”

“They’re raiding too?”

“Yep. They’re attacking with the help of some wild men and zombies.”

“Oh.”

“But we could probably use your statues too. I suppose that every bit of help counts.”

“Hon hon hon, excellent!”

 

 

***

 

 

Far away, a being sat cross-legged in a stone room, the only light coming from a barred window near the ceiling. 

He concentrated, trying to reach out his mind and find the one who was trying to contact him. It was difficult, but he eventually locked onto the signal. 

“We are almost ready,” said a voice in his head.

“Good,” he replied. “I shall notify the others. Tomorrow will bring three victories, the defeat of this prison, the escaping of us, and the reuniting of the Force,” he replied. 

The being looked up and stared at one of the bricks in the cobblestone wall. He walked over to it and pulled it out. Inside was a small compartment. He reached in and pulled out a fez, which he placed atop his Pakari. 

“Tomorrow, the Force joins as once once more,” he said.

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They all stood on the rocky shoreline next to the cliff. GhidoraT1S, Aerixx, Kovika, Irrie, Tahu, Finbarr, lieutenant Noiyah, and Arzaki. They were in a circle, gazing down at Aerixx’s map of the prison. The armies of the Splitear Rangers, Arzaki’s soldiers, and Irrie’s statues were already in their boats, waiting for their leaders to finish discussing their plans. 

“Alright, so here’s what we’ll do,” said Aerixx. He pointed to the westward side of the Kaiapu Prison. 

“Arzaki’s soldiers will be the main distraction. They will use their siege engines, supplied by the Splitear Rangers, to launch flaming boulders into the wall. This will hopefully cause enough chaos to distract the bulk of the Vahki guard. 

“Once the majority of the guardsmen have arrived at the eastern side to attend to the problem, Irrie’s statues will then come into play. They, along with Arzaki’s soldiers, will attack the wall in boats. Once they make it there, they will continue destroying Vahki until the operation has been completed. 

“Meanwhile, myself, Finbarr, and lieutenant Noiyah will slip the Splitear Rangers in from the back once the fighting has begun on the other side. They will sneak into the citadel and make their way to the locations of the various imprisoned Kanohi Force members. After their mission has been completed, they will withdraw and meet Arzaki and Irrie on the other side. We’ll then retreat back to here, leaving the soldiers to finish the fight. Understand?”

They all nodded their heads. 

“GhidoraT1S, are you going to participate?” asked Finbarr.

“No,” the titan replied, “I cannot afford to have the BZPower administration to be aware of my current state. However there will come a time in the future when I will need to enter the battlefield myself.”

“So it’s decided,” said Aerixx. “Let’s go. I’ve already spoken with the Splitear Rangers, so they know where to look to find the members.”

With that, Aerixx rolled up the map and stuck it into his knapsack. They then proceeded to step into the ships. They were long and narrow with points on the bow and stern. These vessels were created by the Splitear Rangers as fishing boats, however were fitted with siege engines for the invasion. Finbarr sat in one with Aerixx and several other Splitear Rangers that he did not know. 

They then departed. They watched GhidoraT1S waving to them as they sailed away, each of the Kanohi Force members wondering if they would ever see their two leaders again, even in their bizarre fusion. 

The boats sailed out to sea, bound for the Creative Archipelago. Their destination, Kaiapu Prison, was situated on an island in the center of a large lake near near the Great Library. By the time they came to the Archipelago, a great mist had descended upon them. The morning sun was obscured by the clouds which made it even more difficult to see in the fog. 

The boats formed single file and sailed up a small canal that jutted into the Library island. Towering cliffs were on either side of them that reached up about seventy feet into the sky. Wooden houses were built on the cliffsides, which were occupied by residents of the Library such as authors, loremasters, and facility janitors. However those settlements were positioned far up near the top of the cliff, and the fog allowed them to move through the canal without being spotted. 

They came to a point where the high walls along the sides of the channel lowered down into gentle hills. Eventually they came to the mouth of the stream, and the beginning of the lake. They lowered their anchors and walked to shore. 

Finbarr, Aerixx, and Noiyah stood together as the soldiers unloaded the siege engines from the boats. Arzaki hobbled over to join them. 

“Gentlemen,” he said, “today is the day that we reunite with our own after so long. Are you all ready?”

Each of them nodded. They then milled about for thirty minutes or so before Noiyah called Finbarr and Aerixx over to him. 

“We’re ready,” the Ranger said. He turned around and faced his hundred or so men. At the same time, they removed their blindfolds and placed them in their packs. Noiyah nodded to Aerixx and Finbarr and turned around and walked into the crowd. Immediately the Rangers began to sprint across the fields, the two Kanohi Force members running shortly behind them. They sped over the landscape like a blanket that was as dark as night, the only noise coming from the grass squishing below their feet. 

They advanced around the edge of the lake, the dim outline of the prison barely visible through the fog. When they reached the north side of the lake, they stopped and crouched down against the grass, waiting for the moment to strike. 

There they sat, motionless and silent. The only indication that they were there was their black armor, which could hardly be seen through the fog. They waited. And they waited. And then they saw it. A black object flew up into the sky from the western side of the lake. Halfway through its trajectory, it burst into flames. The fireball streaked down in a graceful arc and smashed into the wall of the prison. 

Immediately the Rangers dashed into a sprint and dove into the lake. They swam with quick, powerful strokes through the water, only surfacing once every three minutes or so to take a fast breath. They rushed through the sea like a swarm of swordfish, cutting through the liquid with grim accuracy. 

They sprung onto the shore of the island. One of them ran toward the side of the wall and placed a small spherical object next to it. It began to make a rapid clicking noise when he dropped it on the ground. He then ran back to where the rest of the group was. 

The object exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. The Rangers sprung into it and began dashing down the hallway. Bewildered expressions sprang onto the various inmates’ faces as they saw strange black-armored Toa running through the corridors. As expected, the Vahki guards were busy dealing with the attack from the outside. 

Their first stop was Pohatu’s cell. They ran down several stairwells until they came to an area marked ‘Sublevel D’. As they entered it, they turned several corners until they came to a cell block where they found the Master of Stone in slumber. Noiyah knocked on the cell door.

“Wake up. We’re getting you out.”

Pohatu’s head immediately jerked up.

“About time,” he said as he jumped up from his steel cot. Noiyah placed a cube-shaped device next to the door and it automatically unlocked. 

“Try to keep up,” he said as he and the Rangers turned and ran back to the stairwell. He and Aerixx would have wanted to have spoken with each other, however they were too busy keeping pace with the swift Rangers. 

Their next destination was Sublevel H. They found another block, this time they found Dallior waiting patiently at the door, his fez perched on the top of his head. He nodded to Noiyah as he unlocked his cell and he joined the sprint. 

Finally they descended to the very bottom of the staircase, to Sublevel V. This was not a maze of corridors like the other levels, no, it was just a dark room with two beings slumped over in the corner, tied together. 

Dane and Petewa. 

Noiyah grabbed the two of them and threw them over his shoulder, for they did not have time to untie them. The party ran back up the stairs with their prize. 

 

 

***

 

 

Irrie, Arzaki, Tahu, and Kovika stood on the top of a hill, watching the soldiers and statues arrange the various siege engines into the proper position. 

“Is it hard to control so many statues at once?” asked Arzaki.

“Nah, not really. It took a while at the beginning, but it’s gotten easier now.”

One of the soldiers came running up the hill and saluted to Arzaki.

“My leader, we are ready to begin the attack.”

“Wunderbar, tell all engines to fire when ready.”

The expressionless soldier nodded and turned around.

“Fire at will!” he shouted. Immediately one of the boulders was sent flying into the sky by an engine. Halfway in its arc it exploded into flames and crashed into the prison wall. It was soon followed by a wave of other fireballs, destroying the outer wall of the building. Immediately the statues hopped into their boats and began rowing across the lake to the island. The soldiers reloaded their engines and launched another wave into the sky. By this time a gaping hole stretched across the prison. 

Kovika turned to Arzaki. 

“May I assist?”

“How?”

“I’m a Toa of Ice, remember? Once the Vahki begin to emerge I can help dismantle some of them.”

“If you can still utilize your ice powers in this inferno, go ahead. Just don’t get yourself broken.”

“Of course,” he said. He summoned a block of ice into the air and then flattened it into what looked like a surfboard of some kind. He hopped onto it and slid down the hillside and into the lake. As he moved across the water he froze it behind him, creating an ice bridge for the statues that had not gotten into their boats yet. 

“May I help also?” asked Tahu.

Arzaki nodded. 

The Toa of fire jumped into the air and created two jets of flame that shot out of his feet, propelling him forward like a rocket. 

 

 

***

 

Kovika jumped off of his surfboard and onto the island. He sprinted into the gap in the wall and into the wreckage of the prison. He immediately saw the silhouettes of Vahki approaching him. 

“Come at me, you mechanical fools,” he muttered with a grin. The Toa of Ice shot two blasts of snow from his hands, reaching almost absolute zero temperatures. They struck two of the approaching Vahki and shattered them to bits on impact. He whirled around and created a wall of ice to block a Rorzakh that had jumped at him. He then morphed the wall of ice into a sphere around the robot. He tightened his fists, which caused the sphere to compress, crushing the Vahki in the process. 

He turned around and saw Tahu landing nearby. 

“Need help?” he asked.

“Let’s show these tools not to mess with the combined power of fire and ice!” 

The two friends spun around and bumped fists before returning to the scene of combat. 

 

***

 

Meanwhile, far away, GhidoraT1S sat on his throne, gazing into a large spherical stone that he held in his hand. In it, he saw the progression of the battle. He smiled and nodded his head in approval. 

“Good, good. The Vahki are dwindling and our members have been retrieved. All is going according to plan.”

Suddenly, he felt a searing pain in his mind. He flinched for a moment, but then regained his composure. 

“Curses, I thought that I had blocked out his insanity long ago! Now is not the time for you to try to regain control, return to your slumber!” he said to nobody in particular. The pain in his mind began to ebb away.

“Good, good. Now, let’s...wait, a minute…” he saw something in his globe. From the distance came something walking over the hills, toward Kaiapu Prision. 

“Oh no…” he breathed, “no, this is not good at all.”

 

***

 

Finbarr followed the Rangers as they quickly ascended the staircase, Aerixx, Dallior, Pohatu, following quickly behind. They soon emerged on the ground level where they returned down the twisted maze of hallways. And then they felt the ground begin to shake and tremor. It was not from the impact of the fireballs outside, no this was something much more sinister. It seemed to come as if it was something walking. Something gigantic and dangerous. 

 

 

***

 

 

Arzaki watched approvingly as the soldiers began to load into the boats with their siege engines. The wall was now completely destroyed, and the blazing fire had consumed almost half of the building. Suddenly, Irrie flinched next to him.

“I feel something is wrong,” he said.

“What?”

“In the earth, I can sense vibrations coming near us.”

“What are they like?”

“Like...something that’s walking.”

Arzaki knew that the Toa of Earth knew what he was talking about a few minutes later when he himself began to shake. He turned around and gazed into the horizon. The fog was dense, however through the mist he saw it. The outline of a massive being coming toward them. He tugged at Irrie’s ankle and he turned around and saw it too. 

The two commanders ran down the hillside and stood on the shore of the lake. Arzaki told one of his soldiers that had not yet loaded into the boats, “tell the others to hurry up the attack. We’re encountering some issues here.”

The soldier obediently nodded and sprung into his tiny vessel and began rowing, off to inform the others of the problem at hand. 

 

 

***

 

 

Kovika shot a blast of chilled energy into the heart of a Bordakh, shattering the interior of its frame. He ducked as a Kanoka disk flew past his head, and retaliated with a shot of elemental power toward the Vahki that had sent it. Tahu was on the other side of the space, incinerating his enemies left and right. 

Both of them were aware of the trembles in the ground, however they did not have time to tell the other about it as they were busy destroying the Vahki. Kovika narrowly missed a swipe of a Zadakh’s staff when he shot a beam of white hot fire into its body, melting it on the stop. He then heard the monotone voice of a soldier behind him.

“Hurry up!” it said, “we’re encountering problems!”

Neither Tahu nor Kovika knew what this meant, but they frantically began to destroy more and more incoming robots. Both of them were now worrying at what this meant. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

Finbarr’s head emerged from the water as the Rangers and rescued prisoners came to the other side of the lake. They ran onto the shore in the direction of where Irrie and Arzaki were to be waiting. However as they began to sprint, they saw the thing that would burn its image into their memories until the end of their days. 

Before them stood a colossal robot, about thirty feet in height. It was painted with white and gold armor and held two gun-like devices attached to its arms. It has a gold-tinted glass dome over its torso, which told them that it was piloted by someone inside. 

“A mech suit,” muttered Dane, who had been untied before they had begun their swim across the lake. 

“Attention arsonists,” boomed a voice from the mech, “cease your attack on Kaiapu Prision immediately or your will be destroyed.”

“It hasn’t noticed us yet,” said Noiyah, “it’s only paying attention to the soldiers and siege engines. Come, let’s join them before we’re seen under its radar,” he said as he ran off, his fellow Rangers in pursuit. Finbarr, Aerixx, Petewa, Dane, Pohatu, and Dallior came quickly behind. 

Like shadows, they moved across the shoreline and to where Irrie and Arzaki were stationed. Finbarr stopped as he saw something sticking out of the grass. When he walked toward it, he saw it was a sword. He didn’t bother to question why it was there, but he rather picked it up and continued in the pursuit. They saw that the soldiers and statues were now leaving the prison and had their siege engines trained on the mech. Kovika sped back across the lake on his board, while Tahu flew overhead. 

They stood together on the hillside, facing the mech. 

“Surrender now or you will be destroyed,” repeated the mech suit. “These weapons are infused with the same energies that are found in banhammers. Unless you wish to be permanently banned on spot, come forward and surrender yourselves now.”

Arzaki snapped his fingers. The soldiers immediately fired off several flaming boulders from their siege engines. They crashed into the mech’s torso, causing it to step back, however it did not fall down completely. The Splitear Rangers scattered and pulled out small handheld guns from their packs. They ran around the mech’s feet like a swarm of angry ants, shooting at its metal hull, trying to find a weak spot in its armor. Tahu shot into the air, firing off blasts of flame at their enemy.

The mech raised its arm and shot a blast of energy from its canon. It hit the ground and disintegrated several of Arzaki’s soldiers, banning them. Dane used his powers to make the grass form a platform under his feet. He then commanded them to raise him into the air, where he tried to ensnare the robot with the vine-like blades of grass. The mech fired another shot, which destroyed Dane’s platform, but narrowly missed him. He fell back to the ground, where he was caught by Pohatu. 

 

 

***

 

 

GhidoraT1S watched these events unfold nervously from his throne. 

“Maybe it is time that I returned to the battlefront,” he said. Placing the spherical stone on the ground, he rose from his seat. His face morphed from that of a golden Agori head to a Kualsi.

 

 

***

 

 

Tahu flew around the mech, dodging blasts from its weapon. The soldiers launched flaming boulders from their siege engines, however at this point they seemed to have little to no effect on their enemy. The Splitear Rangers were now climbing up the legs of the mech, trying to find a place to penetrate its armor. 

Pohatu and Petewa were creating boulders from the ground and began throwing them at their advisory, however they only bounced off and posed a danger to the Rangers below them. Irrie’s statues were now hurling themselves into the air on the siege engines, becoming ammunition themselves. Once they were all destroyed, Irrie used his elemental control of earth to attack as well. Kovika slid across the ground on his ice board and was firing blasts of cold elemental energy at the robot, attempting to find a gap in its armor.  

Aerixx summoned his gukko bird from the shores of the library island. He and Finbarr hopped onto his steed and they soared into the sky, launching small vortexes of air at the mech. Dane communicated with the grass below him once again and caused them to grow and twist themselves around him. More and more grass flew to his aid. Eventually Dane had created his own mech out of plant matter. 

 

It was now the enemy mech’s turn. It fired off shots at the new grass-being, blowing two holes into it. The damage was instantly undone, as the grass had regrown where it was destroyed. 

The mech turned its attention to those attacking it from below. It shook its leg, sending Rangers flying off to the ground. It then proceeded to try to step on them, but it was struck by something on its windshield. Inside the cockpit, the mech pilot saw a white Toa with a Miru and a scarf standing on top of the domed windshield. In his hand was a stone sword. He slashed it against the glass, shattering it to bits. 

When Finbarr saw who was behind the gold tinted windshield, he almost gasped. It was GSR. The pilot grabbed a pistol that was positioned in his holster and began to fire at his attacker, however Finbarr was too swift. He leaped inside the cockpit, narrowly missing the gun’s plasma bullets. He landed a punch across GSR’s face, knocking him out of his seat. He grabbed the pilot and hauled him out of the cockpit, but GSR did not go passively. He held up his blaster again and shot, hitting Finbarr in the shoulder. He then jumped back into the cockpit and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying into the dashboard. GSR held the gun to Finbarr’s head. 

“Don’t move,” he hissed as he grabbed Finbarr by the shoulders and threw him out of the cockpit. Finbarr fell down the side of the mech, jabbing his sword into its side to slow his fall. 

GSR returned to piloting the gigantic robot. He fired off several shots at the plant mech that was now approaching him.

Finbarr saw Aerixx and his gukko land next to him. 

“Try again?” he asked.

“Certainly,” replied Finbarr as he jumped onto the bird’s back. The two of them soared upward among the chaos of the battle. He jumped off the gukko with his sword blade facing downward. As he fell through the sky, he landed in the cockpit once again, almost on top of GSR. 

“You again!” he shouted as he reached for his pistol. But Finbarr was too fast and landed a kick to his thigh while following up with a punch to the ribs. GSR grabbed his gun and fired another shot, hitting Finbarr in the chest. He shrieked and fell to the ground, clutching where he had been shot. He looked up and saw GSR standing in front of him, his gun pointed at his face. He head his finger pull the trigger, but never felt the bullet on his face. Nay, for he saw a figure that had just appeared standing between them. It was GhidoraT1S. 

GhidoraT1S’s face morphed from a Kualsi to a Pakari. He punched GSR to the ground, and then transformed into a Garai, which he used to launch GSR into the air. As he fell down, he activated a Pakari once more. He punched him just as he fell down, sending him out of the cockpit and plummeting to the ground. GhidoraT1S and Finbarr watched him as he pulled out a device from his pocket and he disappeared just before he hit the ground. 

GhidoraT1S turned to Finbarr.

“The battle has been won,” he said.

Edited by The Irrational Rock
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  • 3 weeks later...
“Well, this’ll be a nice piece of machinery to have on our hands,” said Dane, admiring the mech. They were now in their ships, sailing home. The mech was tall enough to stand up in the waters, so it was piloted by Finbarr with the rest of the boats along with it. They were currently passing over a depression in the underwater landscape, and thus the water came up to right below the cockpit on the mech. 

Noiyah’s boat moved next to the cockpit. The lieutenant faced Finbarr and spoke.

“Esti’yusdi?”

“Please, just call me Finbarr.”

“Doing that would go against my people’s code.”

Finbarr smiled.

“Alright, Esti’yusdi it is, then. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’d just like to congratulate you on your victory today. I saw from below how you raided the piloting seat of the machine, and your skill and finesse was amazing.”

“Thank you.”

They continued going across the sea. It was now late afternoon and the sun was beginning to sink into the sky. 

“Noiyah?”

“Yes?”

“What is your first memory?”

“Oh. Well, that’s quite an odd question. But, uh...I’d say that my first memory was on one of my border patrols back when I was just a normal Ranger.”

“Hm.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Just curious.”

“Oh, okay then. What about you?”

“Well, it would have to be when I was back on Earth in the days of my early youth.”

“Earth?”

“Oh...right...well, forget I said that. My first memory was probably walking down the street in BZNui after it was first assembled.”

“What is Earth?”

“It’s nothing. Just an...imaginary place that I had dreamt up when I was younger.”

The shore was now in sight. Minutes later they were upon it, unloading the siege engines from the various vessels. Noiyah and GhidoraT1S met within its throne room.

“You and your people’s assistance was valued greatly in this raid,” said the titan. “We shall forever be in your debt.”

“Hopefully not,” replied Noiyah, “because I believe that your offer to supply us with food will come through, correct?”

“Indeed it will.”

That night, the Kanohi Force members said their goodbyes to the Splitear Rangers, and they took their boats and siege engines and departed into the night. They had to dig three new rooms into the side of the cliff, one to house Irrie’s statues, one of Arzaki’s soldiers, and one to store the Spirit Walker, the name given to the Force’s new mech. 

Finbarr was also introduced to the rescued members that night, and they agreed to let Finbarr be the one to pilot the Spirit Walker.

“You’ve earned it,” said Aerixx, “after all, the only thing I did was pick you up after you fell.”

The Kanohi Force ate and drank many helpings of food that night, for they took a stop by the prison's kitchen, before they left. Prison food was surprisingly tasty. 

After he was finished with his dinner, Finbarr saw that Petewa was sitting in the corner of the room listening to a small radio.

“What’cha listening to?” asked Finbarr.

Petewa looked up at him. 

“It’s the news. I picked up this radio when we were doing that last-minute sweep of the prison.”

“Hey, guys!” shouted Finbarr to the others, who were across the room. “Petewa’s got the news on his radio!”

The rest of the group gathered around to listen.

“...and that is why reading too many German short stories can cause an incresed risk of lawnmower-related fatalities. Now for the main headlines. 

“Thanks for the weather report, Jim. First off, I’d like to inform you that our anchorman, Meyres, will no longer appear on our news program due to a mandate of the law enforcement.”

GhidoraT1S and Dallior exchanged an uneasy glance. 

“Now for the news. Kaiapu Prison has been attacked today, resulting in the escape of hundreds of dangerous inmates. The perpetrators of this crime have yet to be pinpointed, however many believe that the attack was related to a thought to be disbanded terrorist group, the Kanohi Force. The damage was severe, an estimated one third of the building has been destroyed, as well as our own GSR’s personal vehicle being stolen. If you see a white and golden mech, or any other suspicious activities, please report them to a local law enforcement Vahki right now.”

Petewa cut off the radio.

“Terrorists, eh?” said Pohatu, “Well I suppose that’s a close enough label for us.”

“How do you think that they knew that it was us?” asked Kovika, “and what makes them so sure of it?”

“Do you think that they might have interrogated Meyres?” said Irrie.

“Meyres is a loyal and trustworthy agent,” said GhidoraT1S, “he would not give them information willingly. Of course, the kind of torture that the administration has at their disposal can make anyone spill the beans.”

“But let’s not forget, we encountered GSR, one of the forum leaders at the battle,” said Aerixx. “He probably recognized us.”

“Yeah, it was most likely him. Meyres getting fired is probably a result of that, not a cause,” replied Dallior. 

They spent the rest of the night catching up and exchanging stories of what happened to everyone in the time that they were away from each other after so long. They eventually went off to bed and slept in the cots that Aerixx had built before the invasion. 

Early the next morning, Finbarr awoke to a sound. It was a strange noise, like a low bass echoing throughout their underground cave. It repeated itself over and over again. He sat up in his cot and shook his head, trying to get the haze of sleep out of his mind. Fully alert, he listened again. 

Those were footsteps. Very similar to the steps of the Spirit Walker that they heard back at the prison. He looked over and saw that Dallior was also upright in his cot. 

“You hear that too?” he said.

“Yeah,” replied Dallior. “It’s a mech.”

Finbarr got out of his cot and walked out of the sleeping room while Dallior roused the others. He entered into the central room, the hall that contained GhidoraT1S’ throne. He turned and entered another passageway that lead to a tall, circular room. Inside of it was the Spirit Walker. Finbarr climbed up the side of the mech using a rope that they had tied from the edge of the cockpit. Once he was inside, he realized something.

“Dallior?”

“Yeah?” he called from the other room.

“We never built a pathway for the Spirit Walker to exit from.”

“Oh.”

A few minutes later, the rest of the force arrived. Pohatu and Irrie created a larger hole in the throne room that stretched to the Spirit Walker’s storage room so that it could walk out. 

“Dane, Petewa!” said Dallior.

“Eh?” they replied together. 

“Go outside and see what’s out there.” 

“Gotchya.” 

The two Toa sped out of the underground chamber and climbed up the stairs on the side of the cliff that connected the beach to the plainsland. 

Pohatu retrieved a wooden trunk from the storage closet.

“I’m sure that you gentlemen will profit from my exploits,” he said as he dropped it onto the ground. “I was not idle while I was in prison, not at all.”

He unhooked the latch and swung open the lid. Everyone’s eyes widened when they saw its contents. They were rifles. 

“How did you make these?” said Tahu.

“Every so often I’d attack a Vahki that came to my cell to bring my dinner. Overnight I’d take it apart and rebuild it into a gun. I also took the battery juice inside of them and solidified them into acid bullets.”

“How?”

“The same way Aerixx escaped, with a spoon.”

Each of the members took a rifle for himself. Petewa and Dane returned from the outside with their report. 

“Vahki! At least a couple thousand of them, if not more!”

“What?” exclaimed everyone. 

“I don’t know the exact number,” said Petewa, “but there were so many that we couldn’t see any green grass past the first lines of Vahki.”

“And a mech,” said Dane, “but not a mech like the Spirit Walker, it has four limbs and moves like a spider.” 

“Then let us not delay,” said GhidoraT1S, “Kanohi Force, to arms!” 

The nine sped out of the hallway and onto the beach shore. They scaled the staircase that was carved into the side of the cliff by GhidoraT1S himself when he first took up residence in the cave decades ago. They emerged onto the plains and what they beheld stunned them all. 

An entire army of Vahki was waiting for them. There were so many that the end of the line could not be seen on the horizon. 

“W...where did they get so many…” stammered Kovika. 

“Who knows what nefarious methods they used to find the enormous amount of metal required to build them all,” muttered Dane. 

Dallior on the other hand did not want to ponder the mystery of this.

“For Jakura!” he bellowed as he charged forward, unloading a barrage of acid bullets. The other Force members fell in line after their comrade. 

The first reaction that the Vahki had was confusion. But when they saw that about three of their own had been incinerated by the weapons, they sprung into action. Almost instantaneously the Force was surrounded by a mob of mechanical beings.

“Screw this!” said Kovika as he threw his weapon at one of the Vahki. He then summoned a wall of ice that encircled the group. He then split it into sections and sent them flying at the Vahki, creating robot kebabs. 

Tahu then summoned a ring of fire that encircled the group. 

“This’ll keep them back, shoot at them from here!” he said. That worked for a little while, but the Vahki then began to climb on top of each other and get above the flames. 

“Tahu, we need more!” said Petewa. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” replied Irrie. He slammed his Jō into the ground in front of them and created a ripple of earth that spread outward from tip of his staff in a fan-shape. It churned up the ground as it went, burying countless Vahki as it progressed. However this opened up a chance for the others to attack from the sides. Pohatu summoned two walls of stone on their flanks and sent them sailing outward, smashing all the robots in the way. 

The Spirit Walker then emerged onto the plain with them.

“What took you so long?” said Kovika.

“My head got stuck on the top of the exit,” said Finbarr. “I eventually had to blast my way through it.”

Finbarr immediately saw the screen on the dashboard flash red. He looked up and saw a strange mech approaching from over the horizon. It had four legs that jutted out from a central point like a spider. It had three green-tinted domes connected to the central point, and each had a turret sticking out of it. 

“Right,” grunted Finbarr. He aimed his cannon at the mech and fired. An orb of white energy flew out of the barrel and smashed into the body of the robotic enemy. It staggered backward, but continued advancing after it recovered its balance. 

“Hey, wait a minute,” said Petewa, “where’s Arzaki?”

At that moment, the hunchback appeared on the side of the cliff. And advancing up the staircase was his army of soldiers, each equipped with a blaster. 

“Dang son, where’d you find this?” said Pohatu, who managed to fall back to get within hearing range of Arzaki.

“Remember when I accidentally got the power to clone objects during the Great Tinfoil Epidemic? Yeah, we now have enough rifles to supply my entire army.”

He turned around to his hollow men. 

“Advance!” he croaked, waving his staff in the air. The soldiers immediately sprang forth, charging past the Kanohi Force and confronting the Vahki head on. 

Meanwhile, Tahu was flying in the air using his power of fire to propel him forward. He shot a fireball out of his palm and at one of the Vahki below. It struck its head and incinerated it. But at that moment, he also noticed something odd. The fireball lost its shape upon impacting with the head, which was as expected, but the ground below the Vahki was also charred.

“But the fireball never hit the ground,” he muttered. Suddenly his eyes widened. 

“Guys!” he shouted as he flew down to the group. “These Vahki, they’re just illusions!”

“What?” said Petewa. 

“They don’t exist, we’re just fighting thin air! Illusions!” 

One by one, each Kanohi Force member saw the Vahki legions before them begin to fade away, the enemy mech as well. Now it was just them, the soldiers, the Spirit Walker, and a very bruised landscape. 

“Who did this,” muttered Dallior. Finbarr climbed down from the mech cockpit.

“Well that was weird,” he remarked, “I wonder if-” 

His speech was cut off as he lost consciousness and blacked out onto the ground. 

 

***

 

A darkness engulfed his vision. Nothing but sheer blackness, devoid of any sign of light, not a single photon was present. 

“Where am I?” said Finbarr. But as he tried to vocalize, he noticed that he could not speak.

“A dream?” he mused. 

 

***

 

Finbarr’s body convulsed and spasmed on the ground. 

“What’s wrong with him?” exclaimed Kovika. 

“A seizure maybe,” said Tahu.

“You’re a doctor right, can you help him?” said Aerixx.

“No, I am but a lowly pharmacist. I might be able to make him a nice herbal tea that will clear his sinuses, or give him a prescription for a tablet that will help control his cholesterol, but nothing like stopping a seizure.” 

“Um, I kind of doubt that’s a seizure,” said Dane. Finbarr’s head suddenly jerked upward and stared at them. His eyes, which were once a soft blue color, were now piercing red. 

“You!” he seethed as his eyes locked onto GhidoraT1S. “You three!” 

He jumped forward on all fours like a dog and tackled the gigantic titan to the ground. 

“You must not be the undoing of us all!” he roared as he clawed at him. Immediately GhidoraT1S’ face morphed into that of a mask of intangibility. He passed upward into the air and turned around, facing the possessed body of Finbarr.

“Why have you come?” he said. 

Finbarr growled and bared his teeth. 

“Speak to me!” 

Finbarr’s body suddenly fell limp on the ground, the red light dimming from his eyes.

“Very well,” said a voice. They all turned around and saw a cloaked figure with a strange blue mask on his face. It has three eyes and a hideous mouth. 

GhidoraT1S floated back to the ground and deactivated the mask of intangibility. 

“So, you have come to me again. Why?”

“The Kanohi Force has been reformed against my wishes,” he said. 

“And?”

“Your ignorance will be the demise of all who live here, Flashbaki! Do you not realize the danger that this realm poses to our existence?”

“How so?”

“This place is too unstable, it’s dependent on one man,” he grumbled. “It is necessary for this realm to be destroyed to preserve the lives of those who came here!” 

“And how do you plan to accomplish that?” said GhidoraT1S, folding his arms. 

“By killing Shadow.”

“By killing him? Heh. That’s too bad because he is dormant right now, along with Ghidora.”

“Ah, but he is part of your body. If I kill you, I could then kill Shadow.”

“And what will happen after that? If Shadow departs, then this realm is destroyed, the people along with it. Do you plan to kill those that you want to save?” 

“No. There will be a short lag after his death, which will allow for ample time to  evacuate the population.”

“Ah, but do you have the power to ban someone? And what about me, how would you end my life here? I am not a member, but at the same time I am both sentient and sapient.”

“Something that’s called magic in layman’s terms,” he said with a grin. 

He held out his hand and a blue orb emerged from his fingertips. 

“You do not know the power that I possess.”

“What’s your name?” shouted Pohatu.

“My name? Why would I tell you that? That would just allow you to track me outside of this identity and I cannot afford for that to happen.

“Now, please. Listen to my request. You must turn yourself into the staff and demand that this realm be evacuated at once.”

“Why would we do that?” said Dallior, “I spent the last few decades rotting away in a cell with only my fez to keep me company, I’m not going back there again!”

“It is the only choice. The stability of this realm has never been strong, it’s a surprise that it’s lasted this long.”

“In what way is it unstable?” asked GhidoraT1S.

“You fool,” sneered the masked stranger, “it’s unstable because its very existence is reliant on a single person. It would only take one swipe of a moderator’s arm and we’re all done for.”

“So what you’re doing is that you want to kill Shadow so that he isn’t killed in the future? I’m sorry, but that is self-contradiction in its purest form.” 

“No, not at all my dear Kanohi friend. You see, there is something very unordinary about Shadow, both in this realm and the Other World. His very existence is a danger, we cannot allow for him to lead humans into the world of interdimensional exploration prematurely. He must be killed both here and on Earth. It’s vital to-”

A gunshot rang out, followed by the masked stranger falling to the ground. Behind him stood lieutenant Noiyah, flanked by Dragon and Meyres. He held a pistol in his hand.

The blindfolded Toa walked next to the stranger and pointed his weapon at him. 

“Remove your mask,” he said. 

“You...you ignorant fools,” hissed the stranger. Out of nowhere, his body suddenly disappeared in a spectacle of light.

“Noiyah? What are you, Dragon, and Meyres doing here?” asked Dallior. 

“I was told by my leader to come here and act as a representative of my tribe among your ranks. When he learned that Dragon used to be one of your members, he allowed for him to come with me. We met Meyres along the way and he told us that he was going to join you as well.”

 

 

***

 

 

That night, they gathered together and informed Finbarr, Meyres, Noiyah, and Dragon of all that had happened since the siege of Kaiapu Prision. 

“GhidoraT1S?” asked Petewa. 

“Yes?”

“What did the stranger mean when he addressed you as the Kanohi Flashbaki and not by your name?”

The titan sighed.

“Well lads, I think I’ve got some explaining to tell all of you.” 

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  • 2 weeks later...
“I am not a being created from Ghidora and Shadow. Well, I am in body. But in mind I am not. Shadow and Ghidora are dormant right now, their consciousnesses trapped in a deep slumber.”

“Then who are you?” asked Kovika. The assembled Kanohi Force was now marching down the staircase from the cliffside.

“I am the Kanohi Flashbaki.” 

There was a brief silence as everyone took this in. 

“Allow for me to explain.”

The Flashbaki then told them the tale that he had already said to Finbarr about how Shadow and Ghidora were fused together by the strange masked being. 

 

The next three weeks were spent within the Kanohi Force cave. The Force had regained their friendships and bonds of old and now ate and drank merrily together as if the downfall of the Force had never happened. 

Pohatu had engineered several new weapons for Arzaki’s soldiers, Dane and Finbarr worked together to repair and modify the Spirit Walker, and Noiyah had introduced to the Force some methods that he had learned while he was a Splitear Ranger. 

“A lesser known aspect of rocks is that they can be used as explosives,” he said. 

“Wait, really?” inquired Pohatu. 

“Indeed. But only rocks that are found in riverbeds. Those stones have absorbed water over their prolonged exposure to the running water. When they’re heated past the boiling point, they explode with about the same intensity of a fragmentation grenade.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. A less conventional method of hunting rahi that the Rangers would use is building a campfire and putting a few rocks in it. Just before they exploded they would swiftly grab them and throw them at any nearby game. However this isn’t used very much anymore because it’s hard to predict when it will explode and making the fire is more trouble than it’s worth.”

All was bliss for Finbarr until the third day of the second week. He was awakened in his cot by a sound. It was footsteps. Not the mechanical footfalls of Vahki. No, these were the feet of Toa. And there were several of them, about three. Finbarr rose up from his cot and looked around. Three silhouettes were standing in the doorway to the sleeping chamber. 

Finbarr got out of his cot. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the three figures stiffened and looked at him. He walked forward. 

Once he was closer he identified who they were. Dane, Petewa, Irrie, and Pohatu. 

“What-”

He stopped speaking as the three of them raised their fingers to their mouths. Pohatu motioned for him to follow them as they slowly slipped out of the room. They silently walked down the corridor and into the main chamber. 

“What are you guys doing?” said Finbarr. 

“Nothing of importance. The only reason why we brought you out here was to knock you out because we knew you’d follow us if we left you in your room,” said Petewa. The next thing Finbarr felt was a strike to the back of his head, and he then fell to the ground. 

He awoke the next morning with an aching pain in his skull. He looked around. All the other cots were empty, so he must have been the last to awaken. He climbed out and began to walk to the corridor. 

“What were they doing?” he muttered to himself as he recalled the events from the previous night. He walked down the stone hallway and into the throne room.

It was ravaged. The entire area was filled with charred and fallen rubble as if an entire warzone had been compressed into one area. However that was not what captured Finbarr’s attention. No, it was the people that were in the room. They were Toa that were clad in black leather vestments. They each had reflective silver helmets on their heads that resembled Sahmad’s helm, however they had black visors covering their faces. In their hands they held rifles that were long and sleek, like a piece of modern art. There were about six of them. 

“You!” said one, “raise your arms, don’t move!”

Finbarr complied. 

The six Toa ran over to him. One of them stood directly behind him and trained his firearm at his back.

“Don’t even think about running. We’ve already got all the information we need without you staying alive,” he said. 

“Let’s get him back to the crawler,” said another one. This one’s voice was of a female. 

“Walk,” said the one behind him. 

Finbarr obliged. They marched him out of the chamber and onto the beach. There was a strange vehicle there waiting for them. 

It had the body of a black armored tank. Hover instead of having tracks it had four legs with long, pointed claws. The Toa marched him around back to where there was a ramp that lead to an opening in the hull. He walked up it and into the vehicle.

The Toa pressed a button on the side of the wall, which opened a door. Before Finbarr could see what was inside, the Toa behind him kicked him in the back. He fell over into the room, the door closing behind him almost immediately. 

When he looked up he saw that the room was illuminated by green tinted lights at the top. Sitting on the floor were Dallior, Kovika, Arzaki, and Irrie. 

“What’s going on?” he said. 

Kovika looked up at him. 

“We’ve been caught,” he said. “This craft was built by the BZPower government, I’ve seen it before. They’ve tracked us down and now they’re going to haul us all to the slammer.” 

Finbarr took a few moments to soak all of the information in. Then he sighed and closed his eyes. 

“I’m sorry that we had to drag you into this,” said Irrie. “We should have told you that it was too dangerous to stay with us before something like this happened.”

“No. I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” said Finbarr. “It was my curiosity that drove me onto this pathway, and this is the road that I intend to stay on. Had I never found Kovika and his Kahgarak that day when I left the old krana storage tower, I would have spent the rest of my life wondering and questioning, but without any answers. I’m happier now than I could have ever been back in the city.”

Arzaki chuckled.

“A wise man once told me that some people draw their happiness from their trade or profession. Others draw it from their friends and companions. Others find it in the beauty of nature. However some find it in the thrill of crime. I think you fall into the latter category, Finbarr.”

“Who was the man that told you that?” asked Dallior.

“Oh, I don’t know. I never caught his name before I sucked the spirit out of him and made him one of my soldiers.” 

The others in the room took that moment to ponder the insanity that had had become of Arzaki after spending so much time in the Valley of the Shadow of the Dead. 

“So, what do we do now?” asked Finbarr. 

“We wait,” said Irrie. “Back on Earth, other organizations that were criminalized and labeled as terrorists by their governments did one of two things: they jumped the gun and tried to make their move too quickly and were thwarted. Or they waited for the right time to strike. And then they were successful. The way we broke them out of Kaiapu prison is by waiting for our time, and we were victorious. This is no different. We wait until they think we won’t strike, and we do.”

“So we need to be patient?” asked Finbarr.

“Precisely,” replied Irrie. “Back on Earth, there was a saying that the Native Americans had. ‘He who builds his fire tall and bright is warm half of the night and cold the other. However he who builds his fire low and humble is warm for all the night.’” 

“Then when will we strike after we wait?” 

“Right now, listen,” he said. There were footsteps coming toward them in the hallway. “The BZPower government knows us. They’ll expect us to wait for a long time before attacking. But this is our moment to strike, because now is when they least expect it.” 

The door opened. Immediately, Kovika sprang to his feet and fired two blasts of ice elemental energy from his hands. They knocked the Toa in the doorway to the ground. He grabbed him by the neck and began to sap the body heat from him. He quickly went limp. 

Kovika tossed the body back into the cell while the rest of the occupants scrambled out. 

“I’ve taken a tour of one of these in a museum,” said Kovika, “follow me.” 

He lead them down the hallway and up a metal staircase. He then turned two corners and stopped at a circular doorway. He pushed the button and it slid open. 

Inside were Pohatu, Tahu, Noiyah, Meyres, and Aerixx. They gathered them up and continued to the next cell. Then they made a stop by a closet that contained all of the group’s weapons. Eventually they gathered the entirety of the Kanohi Force. All but GhidoraT1S.

“Where could he be?” said Tahu.

“Well, I’ve an idea,” replied Kovika. “But I sure hope this isn’t the case.” 

The group walked down various levels until they reached the very base of the vehicle. The hallway dead-ended into a locked door.

“This is the torture chamber,” said Kovika. 

“Allow me,” muttered Dallior as he shouldered his way to the front of the group. He adjusted his shoulder-mounted blaster and then trained it on the door. He then  let forth a barrage of elemental energy that incinerated the barrier on the spot. The Force ran into the room. 

It was a massive chamber, empty except for a canon-like contraption that was positioned in the center of the room. It was firing a constant beam of bright white light at a figure that was chained to the wall, undoubtedly GhidoraT1S. Behind it was one of the Toa. 

Immediately a tidal wave of elemental attacks were let loose from the Kanohi Force. The Toa and the machine were pulverized within mere fractions of a second. They ran to where GhidoraT1S’ body was chained. 

Just before they came within five feet of it, the figure began to shake and quiver, which developed into spasms. A light beam exploded from the being’s heartlight that burned a hole in the opposite wall. 

And then it exploded. A wave of flames followed by smoke. Finbarr, who was a Toa of air, created a gust of wind that blew the fire sout and the smoke away. When everything had cleared, they saw it.

Two beings and a mask lay on the ground. Dallior rushed to Shadow’s side, while Arzaki ran to Ghidora’s. 

Shadow’s eyes slowly opened. For the first time in almost a century, he saw the world through his own vision. 

“I know your face,” he whispered as he gazed upward. A smile slowly broke out from him. 

“Dallior,” he said. 

Pohatu and Aerixx walked over from where the rest of the force stood. 

“Pohatu? Aerixx?”

“Breathe the free air again, my friend,” said Pohatu. 

And then, Shadow sat up. With the help of Dallior, he got to his feet once more. No longer a subordinate of another power he stood for the first time as a free being. 

“Dark have been my dreams of late,” he said. He raised his hand and felt his face, for there was no mask on it. 

“Your face might remember its strength better if it wore your mask,” said Aerixx with a smile. He walked over to where the Kanohi Flashbaki lay on the ground and picked it up. He handed it to Shadow. The Matoran’s hands trembled as they took the mask from Aerixx. He breathed in deeply and placed the Flashbaki on his face.

“This feels incredibly familiar somehow,” remarked Irrie. 

“Yes. I can feel the power once again,” said Shadow. 

Ghidora’s head suddenly jerked upward, his eyes blazing.

“Do I smell chili dogs?” he said. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
“Alright, let’s get going,” said Bahargul. 

“Right,” replied his sister, Mergen. “Hey Firuz, will you turn on the engine?”

“Sure thing,” replied the Toa sitting at the chair in front of the main computer. He typed in several passcodes, followed by a few different commands into the command prompt. The entire vehicle began to rumble as he ignited the engine.

“Hey,” said Firuz, “I haven’t seen Rustam or Abdullo in a while. Will one of you go check on them?”

“Sure,” said Bahargul as he walked toward the door. “I think Abdullo was doing his rounds around level three. Abdullo should be in the base-”

Bahargul didn’t get to finish his sentence. As he reached out his hand to open the door, he saw it was smashed apart by an incredibly powerful beam of light. 

“What…” he stammered. 

Through the doorway walked a tall green and black armored Matoran. He was flanked by several other beings. 

“Rule number one of this world: don’t mess with it’s creator,” he said. His Kakama transformed into a Garai. 

“You cocky little…” said Bahargul. He reached into his holster and drew an energy pistol. Just before he pulled the trigger he felt his body grow excruciatingly heavy, and then collapse onto the ground. The same happened to Firuz and Mergen. 

The Matoran’s kanohi morphed into a Pakari, however it somewhat retained the shape of the Garai. He picked up the three Toa and slung them over his shoulder. He walked over to the corner of the room and laid them down. 

“Make sure they don’t do anything funny,” he said to Dane and Petewa as he walked back to the middle of the room. The Bo-Toa and Po-Toa nodded and stood next to the incapacitated pile of Toa. 

Shadow sat down in a chair in front of a computer that was located at the front of the room. He spent a good two or so minutes trying and retrying various commands and codes into the machine. 

“Alright, I think I’ve got it,” he said. “Make sure you all look presentable.”

Arzaki brushed some dust off his mask. 

A thin hatch behind the keyboard opened and a black screen slid out. Shadow entered one last command and the screen flashed to life. 

It was Black Six. At first the moderator was surprised to have been contacted, however he regained his composure when he saw who it was. 

“Ah, Shadow,” he said. “I’m glad that you’ve finally decided to step out of your cowardly hiding after all these years.”

“Not that it was exactly my choice.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m demanding that you stop your harassment of the Kanohi Force.”

“Our harassment of you? And what about your harassment of BZ Nui?”

“What harassment?”

“Are you really going to play the ignorant card at a time like this? You laid waste to Kaiapu Prison, resulting in tremendous expenses in damages as well as enabling countless criminals to escape! You have been endangering the safety and wellbeing of those who live here, and I we will not stop until we have ensured that justice has been done.”

“It was necessary!” retorted Shadow.

“Necessary? Do you realize the tremendous expenses you’ve caused us? From here on out, you and every man associated with the Kanohi Force is an enemy of the state of BZPower. We know where you are located and we are currently mustering a force to march eastward to arrest you. Your refusal will-”

The transmission cut off as Shadow abruptly entered a command to end the call.

“I’ve had enough of his talk,” he muttered. He then began to enter several more codes into the computer system. 

“There, that’ll make sure that they won’t be able to track us,” he said. He turned around in his chair and stood up, addressing them all. 

“Gentlemen, we must say goodbye to the cave. How badly damaged was the structure?” he asked Finbarr. 

“Pretty bad, almost all of it was reduced to rubble when I first got up. The only place that wasn’t affected was the sleeping quarters and the chambers beyond it.”

“Was the Spirit Walker damaged?” 

“The entrance to the chamber had collapsed, so I suppose that it can be assumed that it was crushed by a cave-in.”

“Then we’ll have to leave it.”

Finbarr’s face was downcast. He had really gotten attached to the mech after he stole it from the moderators. 

“Irrie, Aerix, and Kovika, take the prisoners to one of the lower chambers and guard it.”

“Sure thing.”

“On it.”

“K, b0ss.”

The three Toa picked up the limp bodies of Bahargul, Mergen, and Firuz and exited the room. 

“Alright, let’s get this going,” said Shadow as he began to enter several codes into the computer. 

“While we’re waiting here, I might as well inform you all on the nature of this machine,” he said. “This is a GT Enforcer, a transportation vehicle operated by the BZ Metru Guard. It’s purpose is to transport dangerous individuals from place to place.”

“It’s somewhat flattering to know that they consider us a threat,” remarked Arzaki.

“It is armed with two turrets on either side of the machine that can be operated from either the central computer or command ports that are next to them. It is a relatively speedy craft, and also has somewhat decent armor integrity. It should serve us well where we’re going.”

“And where is that?” asked Dallior. 

“The mountains. To be honest, I don’t really have a solid plan right now. We just need to get to a place that will make it more difficult for their forces to enter and track us. Then we’ll regroup and decide on a plan.”

“Which mountains?” questioned Noiyah. 

“Not the ones that the Splitear Rangers dwell in, the taller ones to the west of them. We don’t need to trouble your folk with allowing the government to realize you’re there.”

With that, Shadow entered a final command into the computer, and the machine roared to life. It began to roll forward over the grass. It started off moving slowly, but its pace picked up the further they went. Eventually they stopped at a cruising pace of fifty kios per hour. 

“That’ll do,” said Shadow as he leaned back in his chair. “You all are free to roam the machine, just don’t break anything.” 

 

A day of travel passed and four vital components of the machine were broken. Luckily Shadow had access to a Kiril via the Flashbaki. Kovika, Arzaki, Dallior, and Finbarr also called a game of hearts. 

“We’re playing with real money, right?” 

“Yup. My bet’s on Finbarr.” 

“Who’s got the 2?” asked Kovika.

Arzaki lay down the 2 of clubs. Dallior answered with the 5 of clubs, followed by Finbarr with the 6 of clubs and Kovika with the jack. 

“Take it, frosty.”

Kovika took the cards and then lay down the 3 of diamonds. They were about to continue the round when they heard the sound of the engine slow down and cut off.

“This sounds important,” said Dallior, getting up from his seat. “Let’s go see what’s going on.” 

The four of them left the storage closet, which was where they were playing their game, and took the stairs to the command room. 

Shadow, Ghidora, Tahu, and Dragon were all peering out of the side windshield on the room. 

“What are y’all looking at?” asked Arzaki as they approached them.

“Over there,” said Dragon, pointing out the window. “Ghidora spotted a Vahki out there, so Noiyah went to go get it.”

The Ranger was kneeling down next to a battered and torn Vahki that was lying inactive on the ground. Noiyah picked it up and slung it over his shoulder and then walked back to the transport. He ascended a small metal staircase that was built into the side of the craft and entered into the command room through the emergency door. 

“A Rorzahk,” he said as he dropped it on the ground. “Pretty beat up, too. From the way the armor felt, it was crushed by something.”

Dallior examined the Vahki’s head. 

“Interesting. While the rest of its body is maimed, only minimal damage has been done to the head.”

“If that’s the case, why is it deactivated?” asked Kovika.

“I said minimal damage, not no damage. The back of the head seems to have taken a pretty powerful blow.”

He pulled out an odd-looking screwdriver and used it to remove the translucent casing over its circuitry. 

“Its B section of the neuro circuitry has been damaged.”

“What’s the B section?” said Ghidora. “Some kind of honeycomb hive?”

*studio laughter*

“Comedy gold, Ghidora. No, the B section is the portion of a Vahki’s circuitry that’s equivalent to a human’s motor cortex. It also seems that the C section has taken a hard hit as well.”

“But none of us are pregnant.”

*studio laughter*

“Ghidora, don’t you have a space roleplay to defend on the RPG planning topic or something?”

“Maybe.”

“Well go do that, I’m explaining how a Vahki’s brain works. Anyway, the C section is the Vahki’s equivalent to a sensory cortex, which explains why this thing is essentially deactivated.”

“I don’t see why deactivation is so essential.”

*studio laughter*

“That’s it Ghidora, you’re done.”

Ghidora was then hauled out of the room by Kovika.

“Shadow, would you like for me to try to repair it?”

The Av-Matoran thoughtfully scratched his chin.

“I’d rather you see if you can upload all of its memories onto the transport’s computer. Was its storage damaged?”

“No, that’s located in the E section, which is completely unscathed.”

“Good. I want to see why this unit is all the way out here and not in BZ Metru.”

“Sure thing,” said Dallior as he hauled the robot over his shoulders. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He exited the room and walked down the hallway, passing Kovika attempting to restrain Ghidora who was shouting puns at a rate of fifty corny jokes per second. 

 

An hour later, Dallior returned to the command room with a sheet of paper on a clipboard. Only Noiyah and Shadow were in there. 

“Excuse me, I’ve got the information you wanted,” he said. 

“Ah, excellent. Don’t mind us, Noiyah was just telling me some hunting techniques he learned in the mountains. Fascinating stuff this guy knows.”

“Well, the information isn’t exactly what I, or anyone, expected.”

“What is it?”

“The Rorzakh achieved sapience and defected from the rest of the Vahki.”  

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“My name is Captain Bahargul. Myself, Lieutenant Mergen, Sergeant Major Rustam, and Corporals Abdullo, and Firuz have had our craft raided by the terrorist group, the Kanohi Force. I don’t know if this transmission will make it through, but if it does, please send help immediately. Thank you.”

The message cut off.

“Well, what do you think? Is it worth it?”

“The fastest time we could get a rescue party out there is two days, maybe more depending on where their transport goes.”

“So should I do it?”

“No. They aren’t worth it.”

“What if they try to extract information out of them?”

“I doubt it. Shadow isn’t one to institute torture, however who knows if any of those under him try to do it on their own accord. They aren’t graced with any knowledge of our operations that they don’t already know. Loss of a perfectly good transport, but we can still make another one.”

“Then how will we capture the Kanohi Force?”

“We wait for them to enter into the mountains. And then we send in air strike and destroy their transport and the nearby landscape. Those ridges are unforgiving, they’ll come crawling back to civilization to turn themselves in when they remember that they’ll have a roof over their heads in prison.”

“Very well, I’ll contact the air marshall.” 

 

 

***

 

 

“Let me see the report,” said Shadow. Dallior passed him the clipboard. 

In short, the paper said this: the Rorzakh unit was part of a general purpose patrol squad for the S&T district, however it developed sapience. 

“It developed sapience?”

“Correct.”

“Dallior, Vahki don’t just develop sapience on the spot. How did it happen?”

“I don’t know. Just one day, it became self-aware.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes.

“Interesting.”

After realizing where it was, the Vahki attempted to escape from the city by following in line with a border patrol. When the other Vahki on the patrol saw him trying to make a run for it, they chased him. He made it all the way to the eastern coast through nonstop running, which was very taxing on his robotic body. However it wasn’t his former Vahki comrades that got him. No, he was crushed by a boulder that was perched precariously on a cliffside that he was running beside. Fortune was what claimed him, as he was just in the right place when the chunk of rock was sent hurtling down, smashing him in the process. His head just barely made it out of the impact. When the other Vahki found him, they removed the boulder and left him there to rot. 

Shadow nodded his head when he finished reading the report. 

“Would it be possible to reactivate him?” 

“I’d have to do some circuitry repair to his brain, but I think it could work. We would also need to do some serious repairs to his body, which might take a while.”

“Do it. I want to see what this thing is.”

“Alright, if you say so.”

Dallior departed the room.

“Artificial intelligence, eh?” asked Noiyah. 

“Indeed. The Vahki have intelligence, but not sapience as in self-awareness. Or at least they should.”

“There’s a story in Splitear mythology about a rock that spoke to a Toa once.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Nobody really knows why the storytellers keep this tale alive, but they do. Sort of an in-joke if you will.” 

“It’s just a Toa talking to a rock?”

“Yep.”

“Interesting.” 

That night, the transport began to venture into the mountains. They were steep and craggy, a formidable sight just to look at. The vehicle even stalled in a few places because it was too steep to enter into. 

Pohatu was headed off to bed long after everyone else had turned in. He was walking down the hallway to his sleeping quarters, but he saw that a light was on in one of the rooms. He knocked.

“Come in.”

He entered and found Dallior puzzling over a tangle of wires in that connected a deactivated Rorzakh to a large computer. 

“Now what on earth are you doing here, Dal?”

“Science,” he said as he connected two wires together. The Vahki’s eyes flashed open.”

“Nice, you can work the lights.”

The computer’s speakers gave static for a moment before a voice came on. It sounded plain and robotic. 

“Where am I?” 

“Hello. I’m Dallior.”

“I...why can’t I move?”

“Your body was crushed, it can’t. But you can speak to me.”

“How did I get here?”

“We found you lying in the grass, so we brought you inside.” 

“Oh. How long have I been asleep?”

“We don’t know, sorry. Do you have a name?”

“No, I was never given one.”

“Well what if-”

“Wait,” interjected Pohatu. “Do you hear that?”

Dallior paused and tilted his head. There were footsteps in the hallways.

“Everyone should be asleep,” whispered Pohatu. “It might be one of the prisoners escaping.”

“Sorry about this, Mr. Vahki. But I’ve got to put you back to sleep for a moment, I promise I’ll wake you up when you’ve got a new body,” said Dallior as he deactivated the Rorzakh. 

The two of them slowly crept out of the room and into the hallway. The footsteps sounded unnervingly close to their position, like they were only a hallway over. The noise echoed louder and louder. They saw a figure turn the corner ahead of them. It was hunched over and clad in long, sweeping robes. And on its face was a disfigured blue mask with three eyes. 

Dallior didn’t hesitate for a second. He trained his blaster on the figure and let loose a barrage of elemental blasts. But the stranger somehow formed a force field around himself, deflecting the attacks. Pohatu sprinted forward and was about to body slam him, but a red beam of energy shot out from the stranger’s eye and struck Pohatu, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Dallior was about to turn and flee to try to awaken the other Kanohi Force members, but the same beam of energy curved around from Pohatu and struck him as well. The being walked forward and stood over their bodies.

“Oh, you may be wiser, but the moment that you forget that I am a threat to you will also be the moment that you meet your demise.”

He raised up his cloak and lo, there was a sheath on his belt. He drew a sword, long and broad in its design. It gave off a bright radiant glow as he held it into the air, and thrusted it downward to his victims.

 

 

***

 

 

“Quick, get them to the medical room!”

“How quickly can we hook them up to life support?”

“Do we even know how to work those machines?”

“We’ll find a way, just be glad that this transport includes a sick bay!” 

The next morning was but a blur to Finbarr. People running about, screaming, panicking. 

 

“Shadow, can’t you use your mask to fix them?”

“I’m straining it enough with the mask of healing working constantly. I don’t know what on earth happened to them, but their wounds are resistant to my Kanohi!”

“Well, keep trying! Arzaki, hook them up with some more blood plasma!” 

“Sure thing, Tahu.”

Tahu had taken control over the situation after they moved Dallior and Pohatu to the sick bay. Shadow, Arzaki, Dragon, and Meyres were in the room with him. 

“Dragon, I need a blood sample from the infected area.”

“Here you go.”

“Thanks, hook it up to the main computer and see what it is. In the meantime, Meyres, fetch me a retractor.” 

Dragon took the vial of blood that he had taken from Pohatu and put it under the computer’s scanner. After several seconds of analysis, some reports flashed on the screen.

“Dragon, read them out to me,” said Tahu, “I can’t leave them now.”

“Alright, the majority of the substance is regular blood, however there’s one alien substance within it.”

“What’s the alien?”

“It’s a sedative, which explains why they’re out cold.”

“Give me more info, what kind of alien substance is it?”

“Bacteria.”

“Bacteria? Alright then, what are some more properties?”

“They’re eating away at the nearby muscle tissue from the point of impact. They’re also somehow corroding the metal frames that contain the organic material.”

“Great, just what we needed. Meyres, more plasma.” 

“Guys!” shouted Petewa as he exploded into the room.

“What?” 

“Dane, Irrie, and I reviewed the security camera footage.”

“Did you find out what caused this?” asked Shadow.

“Yep, but you probably won’t like it.”

“Well, spit it out already.”

“Him.”

“Who?”

“Mask guy.”

Everyone froze. 

“He did this?” asked Arzaki.

“Yep.”

“Tahu!”

“What, Dragon?”

“I’ve got a reading on the DNA of the Bacteria.”

“Anything noteworthy?”

“No...but the chromosomes are arranged in a very odd manner within the cells.”

“How so?”

“Almost as if it’s in a specific pattern. Hang on, let me adjust the camera angle…”

“Does that do anything?”

“Look.”

“What?”

“Turn around Tahu, look at the screen.”

Tahu briefly turned his head to look at the computer. His eyes widened.

The chromosomes were arranged in a way that they spelled out ‘I’m still here.’ 

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  • 2 weeks later...
“Mergen, don’t do it!”

“You can’t stop me, Bahargul! I’ve already activated it, get out of my way or else you’ll get caught in it too.”

“Mergen, you’re my sister! I can’t let this happen to you!”

“Don’t try me. Besides, it’s not like I can die from this.”

“But your body will be obliterated!”

“I’ll find a way to come back. Don’t worry, I promise you.”

“But…”

“Now get out of my way,” she said as she shoved him aside. Mergen crawled out of the hole that they made in the wall and ran down the hallway. Bahargul stared after her as she climbed up the staircase and out of view. 

“Don’t worry about her,” said Rustam. “She always finds a way.” 

“Yeah. But I’m having my doubts now.”

 

 

***

 

 

Shadow changed his Kanohi to a Komau and used it to send a message to all the Kanohi Force members that weren’t in the medical room. He told them to report to his location so that they would all be gathered in one place, with the masked stranger wandering about. Within a few minutes the remaining members started to file in. 

“Alright, I think I’m pretty much done for now. I’ll close ‘em up,” said Tahu. “Meyres, get me a retractor.” 

Once everybody was in the room, Shadow closed the door and addressed them. 

“Alright ladies and gentle...uh…I mean, alright gentlemen. We’ve a situation to deal with. Our good old pal, blue face man, is loose in the transport.”

Everybody began to shift around nervously. 

“We’ve got to come up with a plan. The last thing we should do is split up, he could easily manipulate us that way, since he does seem to have a habit of toying with his prey before he strikes. However we can’t leave this room, not until Tahu has finished operating on Pohatu and Dallior.” 

“So all we can do is wait?” asked Noiyah.

“Pretty much.”

And so they waited. 

“Hey guys?” said Meyres.

“Yeah?” 

“You hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Those footsteps.”

Sure enough there were footsteps. But they weren’t heavy and slow like the ones of the blue-masked man. They were running quickly. 

“You think it’s a trick?”

“We don’t know. Should we open the door?”

“Maybe. But what if-”

The door was kicked down with amazing force, sending it flying across the room, almost taking out Tahu, who had to duck. In the doorway was not the masked stranger, but one of the prisoners. 

“Don’t even try to lay a finger on me,” she said. “My vest has a built in time bomb that’s been activated. When it detonates it’ll take out everyone in this area.” 

Tahu and Shadow activated their Haus and everyone else crowded behind them.

“Don’t think that a mere Kanohi can block this explosion. If the blast doesn’t get you, the shrapnel will.”

“You’re willing to let yourself explode just to destroy us?” said Shadow. 

“This will take you all out as well as open up a hole in the vehicle for my comrades to escape. You only have a little bit of time-”

She stopped as she tilted her head upward at the ceiling. A screeching roar was coming closer. 

“Bombers!” said Shadow. “Everybody get down!” 

The Kanohi Force dogpiled onto the ground, with Tahu and Shadow on top. Mergen frantically tried to deactivate the bomb.

How is this possible?’ she thought. ‘They’d rather destroy all of us to remove the Kanohi Force than keep us alive!’

She heard the sound of a bomb falling from the sky. She looked angrily at the pile of Kanohi Force members.

‘They caused this. None of this nonsense would have happened because of them! That pathetic group of no-good wannabe terrorists!’ 

She screamed at the top of her lungs and charged toward them. Leaping into the air, she landed on top of Tahu’s Hau’s force field just as the bomb from the sky landed and her suit detonated. Both explosions happened at once, destroying the side of the mountain that the transport was positioned on. More bombs kept falling from the planes, until the entire mountain was leveled. 

 

 

Finbarr slowly awoke, but his eyes didn’t open until much later. When they did, he saw clouds of smoke floating through the air. He sat up and felt a searing pain from his gut. He looked down and saw bits of shrapnel had penetrated his armor and were lodged inside of his organs. When he gazed around, he saw nothing but a rocky and charred landscape. The smoke stung his eyes, but he didn’t feel strong enough to use his elemental air powers to clear it. 

Ignoring the intense pain in his abdomen, he rose to his feet and uneasily stood there. He saw chunks of metal lying about on the ground, undoubtedly the remains of the transport. 

“Hey! You!”

Finbarr spun around and saw a being approaching him. It was a Toa, clad in black armor. He squinted his eyes and recognized it as one of the prisoners. 

“You!” sputtered the Toa as he stumbled down a hill of rubble and stood before him. “Explain!” 

Finbarr looked up at the sky. 

“It seems that we were bombed,” he said. 

“By whom?” 

“Well, my first guess would be the BZPower government. Which is strange, considering that Shadow disabled the location tracker on the transport.”

“The government did this? But they would never attack us, knowing that we were on it!”

“I take it that you were one of the prisoners?”

“Yeah.”

“How would they have known that you were in the transport?”

“Because we sent them a message.”

“You sent them a message?”

“Yeah, a distress call. You know...because you and your little group kidnapped us.”

“Well pal, I hate to tell you this, but they tracked your distress call, which they used to bomb us.”

“What? You mean-”

“Yes, they used you to find us out.”

The Toa looked rather taken aback. Flabbergasted, almost. 

“What’s your name?”

“Huh?”

“Name, what is it?”

“Oh, I’m Rustam.”

“Finbarr.”

They paused for a moment and observed everything around them. They could just barely see the sun through the fog that formed from the smoke and dust. 

“If it’s still in the morning, which I hope it is, then east is that way, north is there, west is there, and south is there,” said Finbarr. “Do you want to stay with me or go off and find your comrades?” 

Rustam shifted uncomfortably. 

“I’ll go with you.”

“Excellent. In that case, we’ll be heading south.”

“Why south?”

“Remember the cave that myself and my friends were hiding in?”

“Yeah, the one on the beach.”

“There’s a mech suit in there. We call it the Spiritwalker.”

“There was an entire mech suit in there? But I thought that we checked everything.”

“The entrance must have been blocked by the time you got there. I noticed that there was a lot of debris covering the entrance.”

“What are we going to do then?”

“To be honest...I don’t know. I certainly can’t return to the city, nor any of the other places that are run by the staff, like the Koros or the archipelago. I might be able to make a life with the Splitear Rangers, but who knows how long that will last until the administrations learns of their existence. I could join some other criminal alliance that operates on the outskirts of the Metru,  but that’s the life I’m tired of.”

Finbarr heaved a great sigh. 

“To be honest...I just wish that none of this happened. That I was back in BZ-Metru, living my life normally, without having to worry about being caught every day.”

“Then why’d you join them?”

“Because I was curious. I had questions that I wanted to answer, and my inquisitivity lead me to my fate, here. Standing in the middle of a charred mountainside with nowhere to go.”

Rustam shifted uncomfortably. 

“You know, we could always go back to Earth.”

“I lost my BZPad ages ago. Fell into a sewer drain, was taken away by the current before I could get down there.” 

“Well I’m sure there’s a different way. I mean, you could go back to the city and turn yourself in. They’ll probably give you a shorter sentence if you’re honest.” 

“That’s what they want us to do. They know that most of us survived the attack, and they’re waiting for us to crack in the wilderness. To come back one by one, and then they’ll throw us in prison for a good long time, or even go so far as to ban us.”

Rustam felt pity for the Le-Toa. This person clearly never had any intent of causing terrorism, or if he did, that wasn’t what he signed up for. 

“Well...if it makes you feel any better, I can’t see myself returning to the city either. The administration risked my life just to endanger yours, and I don’t want to live in any city governed by them if I can help it.”

Finbarr smiled.

“Well Rustam, it looks like we’re stuck with each other.”

The two Toa lumbered along, trying their hardest to ignore the wounds that they sustained from the explosion. They got to know each other, talked, laughed, and despite their situation, had a merry time. 

“Rustam, I’ve a question for you.”

“What’s that?”

“Just moments before the airstrike, somebody ran into the room that we were hiding in. She said that she was about to explode, and she looked like one of your teammates.” 

Rustam’s eyes fell. 

“That was Mergen,” he said. “She was the sister to Captain Bahargul, our leader. None of us know why or how, but a while back she installed grenades on the inside of her uniform that could be mentally activated. She said that she was going to use the explosion to render you and your friends out of commission so that we could take over the transport.”

“That was brave of her.”

“Yes, it was. Also foolish. But she was always the reckless one out of us, so I guess that it was nothing shy of characteristic.” 

They continued walking, until they heard a yell from behind them. Both of them spun around and saw Irrie walking down the slope. 

“Irrie! You’re alive?”

“Hardly. Who’s this?”

“I’m Rustam.”

Irrie was now in front of him. He brushed off some of the dust on his armor and shook Rustam’s hand. 

“Where are you two heading?”

“We dunno.”

“Well I’m en route to my old shack that’s just about a half mile from here.”

“A shack?”

“Yep. That was where I lived back before I joined the Kanohi Force. I’d spend my days out here peacefully writing on the mountainside. Come on, I can show you guys it.” 

Irrie led them down a slightly different path. Instead of going down the mountainside, it wrapped around it, and then went back up. It followed a ridgeline and then went down to an outcrop on the side of the hill. 

“Here it is!”

It was a small building made from grayish wood. It was clear that nobody had lived there for many a year, as it was shrouded in ferns and covered in ivy. When they entered it, they saw that plants were springing up and growing through the floorboards, while gaps were in the ceiling, allowing light to trickle in. There was a small desk and a chair, but nothing else. Irrie immediately opened the desk and pulled out a pile of papers.

“Ah, I remember this. My very first epic, Foundations of War. Interesting how this simple story is what changed my life here. Through this I got to know Dallior, who introduced me into the Kanohi Force.”

“May I read it?” asked Finbarr.

“Sure, go ahead. Just don’t mix up the pages, and remember that I never went back to check the grammar.”

The three of them spent the night there. They woke up the next morning to a rap of the door. Irrie immediately motioned for the both of them to keep quiet while he crept up to the door. They knew that it could just as easily be a Vahki as a Kanohi Force member. Of course, Vahki did have a habit of kicking down doors, but sometimes they knocked just to trick you. Irrie pressed his mask up against a hole in the door. 

“Shadow!” he said, flinging the door open. Sure enough, the Av-Matoran was standing at the doorway, beside him was Arzaki. 

“Ah, great to see that you are all here,” he said, entering swiftly. “Irrie, do you remember that time that I gave you that dull yellow crystal?”

“Uh...oh yes, I remember. Yeah, you told me to keep it here until further notice. In fact, you gave it to me on the night that you and Ghiddy disappeared.” 

“Yes, that one. Is it still here?”

“Um, it should be. Let me check.” 

Irrie opened and closed several drawers in the desk until he reached his hand into the bottom left one. He pulled out a long jewel, about a foot in length. 

“Here you go. What do you need it for?”

Shadow took it and held it up to the ceiling. As the light passed through it, it shimmered and glowed brightly. 

“This crystal is a key.”

“A key?” asked Finbarr. 

“Yes. You see, there is an entire pocket universe inside this thing.”

“What?” said Arzaki, speaking up for the first time.  

“Yes. Borrowing some of the energy from the wellspring, I made this crystal as a failsafe back when we first moved into the Kanohi Force tower. The universe inside this crystal is empty except for one thing. And that is our tower.”

Everyone was shocked to hear this statement. 

“On the night before my encounter with the blue-masked man, I activated a function which scanned a copy of the tower and sent it into the crystal. Now it is time that we brought it back. Irrie, are there any flat spaces nearby?”

“There’s a small plateau over on the other side of the ridge.”

“That’ll do. Take us there.”

“k, b0ss.” 

The Toa of Earth lead the out of his shack and over the ridgeline. He then zigzagged back down the slippery slope, until they landed on a flat plain, with rock walls encompassing the two sides of it. 

“This’ll be perfect,” said Shadow. He walked to the center of the area and pulled out the crystal. He dug a small hole and placed it in. He quickly jogged back to the group.

“Shadow?” asked Finbarr.

“Yeah?”

“Is this why there were strange properties to that pebble that I found? From the original tower?”

“Exactly.”

Finbarr sighed. The question that had dragged him into this entire situation, a question that had forced him into a life of crime, had been answered. It was both satisfying and odd at the same time. 

The crystal began to shake and rattle inside of the hole. It exploded, sending shards flying out everywhere. 

“As if I’m not loaded with enough shrapnel already,” grumbled Rustam.  A beam of yellow light shone from where the crystal once was. It flew into the air and spiraled back down to the ground, leaving a wake of energy behind it. Slowly, the image of the Kanohi Force tower began to emerge. At first it was transparent, but then it became more and more solid, until it finally became wholly present. 

The Kanohi Force tower was reformed.

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  • 2 weeks later...
“Has it been completed?”

“Yes, but we still haven’t tested it yet.”

“Good. Now fetch the prisoner, this is when the testing begins.”

“But he doesn’t have the endurance that the rest of us have, he could be severely injured.”  

“And therefore we can see the raw effects of this contraption without it having hindered by excess armor or mechanics. Now go get him.”

“As you wish.” 

Black Six reclined in his throne as Tufi Piyufi left the room to go collect the individual in question. 

“Oh, the Kanohi Force. It’s such a shame that it came to this, it really is. But we kept telling them to halt their actions, and they never listened. They brought this upon themselves.” 

“The enforcement of the law is a responsibility that all of us have as the Staff. They had it coming for them.”

Black Six smiled as he recognized that all too familiar voice. 

“Dimensioneer, fancy that you should drop by at a time like this.”

The being nodded back at him. He was clothed in bright gold garments with silver linings and engravings on them. He had a black visor that covered his eyes. 

Tufi Piyufi returned, this time followed by a handcuffed man. 

“IcarusBen,” said Black Six as he rose from his seat. “Follow me, I have something that needs your attention.”

The man scowled as he was prodded forward by Tufi Piyufi. Dimensioneer followed as well. They left the throne room through a side door that took them down a spiral staircase and into the sub levels. They proceeded to go down a long and twisting passageway before arriving at their destination. Black Six opened the door and then entered into a massive chamber, almost forty feet high. Along the sides of it were pillars, leading up to a set of double doors. They were just as tall as the ceiling, and they were made from dark iron. Intricate engravings covered their surfaces, and they were opened by two rings that dangled down to eye level from a chain. On either side of it were statues of Kikanalo. 

“Behold, the Gates of the Void,” said Black Six. “Behind these doors is a portal to interdimensional space, a land without anything at all, bare of both life and inanimate objects.”

He walked forward to the door. He grabbed one of the rings and pulled it with surprising strength. As he walked back, the door slowly began to open. Beyond it was a black field, blacker than anything that they had seen before. Emptiness, not a single atom present. 

He turned around and faced IcarusBen. Tufi Piyufi prodded him forward and his arm was grabbed by Black Six. He removed his handcuffs. Pulling him forward, he held his arm forward and slowly moved it closer and closer to the void. 

Suddenly, IcarusBen twisted around and kicked Black Six in the stomach. Immediately, Vahki stepped out from behind the stone pillars. A Zadakh fired a bolt from its staff of suggestion, striking the man in the back. Black Six stood back up and brushed the dust off from his garmets. 

“Put your hand through the door,” said Black Six. 

IcarusBen nodded and reached out his palm, placing it into the darkness. As soon as he did, it vanished. 

“Pull it back.”

When he did, his hand was blackened and swollen, encased by a frostbite more severe than any case known to earth. 

“Good, it works just as planned. Tufi, take him for medical treatment and then back to his cell.”

After the puffin left with IcarusBen, Dimensioneer stepped forward and addressed Black Six. 

“What purpose do the Gates of the Void serve?”

“I plan on banning all of the Kanohi Force, save The 1st Shadow. He is too vital to the stability of the stability of this universe to have him leave.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

“The 1st Shadow’s greatest weapon is the Kanohi Flashbaki. Without it, he’s as weak as any regular Av-Matoran. The Flashbaki cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands, so rather than confiscating it, banishing it to the void is a much more practical answer.” 

 

Later that day, Black Six was filling out paperwork at his throne, when there was a knock at the door. 

“Come.”

It flung open, and in ran a Toa with a purple Kakama. 

“Black Six,” he said as he entered, out of breath. “The Kanohi Force tower, it has been rebuilt!” 

Immediately, Black Six threw his papers aside and stood.

“Explain.”

“I received word from one of our scouts. One moment it was just regular mountains, the next there was a tower there!”

The staffer clenched his fists. 

“Shadow…” he seethed. Looking up at the messenger, he spoke.

“Send in the ECDR and two Kranua. The Kanohi Force will rue the day that they tampered with us!” 

 

 

***

 

 

Arzaki, Shadow, Irrie, Finbarr, and Rustam entered the Kanohi Force tower. 

“Sure has been a while since I’ve seen this,” commented Arzaki. 

The five of them began to explore the many levels of the KF tower once again. Their first stop was the third floor, the medic room, to help fix up Rustam and Finbarr. 

“Hold on...I’ve a question,” commented Finbarr.

‘What’s that?” asked Shadow as he was using his Mask of Healing on Rustam. 

“Tahu didn’t get a chance to close up Pohatu and Dallior before the explosion.”

Shadow froze. 

“Karz, there’s no way they could have survived that! They’ve probably been transported back to Earth by now. It’ll take about a month before we can see them again.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

Kovika stumbled through the underbrush, clutching his shoulder, trying to ignore the throbbing pain that came from it. A chunk of metal had lodged itself under his armor and into his muscular tissue as a result of the explosion. He tried not to think about the possibility that the metal had once been part of the prisoner that had exploded on top of them. 

As he shambled forward, he arrived at a small overlook on the mountains that displayed the valley between two of the hills. 

“Ah, this is a nice view. I wonder-” he froze in mid sentence when he saw the Kanohi Force tower on the other side of the gap. 

“I’ve got to be hallucinating,” he said. “I wonder-” 

He felt a strike to his back. He turned around swiftly, but couldn’t get any glimpse of who was there before he was sent plummeting down into the ravine. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

Noiyah sat down in the shade of a large willow tree. Following the explosion, he had descended into a small depression in the land that had been cut out of the mountain by a creek. Using a large array of medicinal herbs and bandaging techniques, he had stopped the bleeding from the injuries he had sustained from the explosion. 

This had been the first time in a while that he had gotten time to think by himself without any distractions. It didn’t take long before his mind began to wander to thinking about the before time. 

The before time was what the Splitear Rangers called that vague recollection of events that occurred before they lived in the mountains.  They all shared it, but could not discuss it with each other due to it being too blurry to have any specific memories. 

He stared into the creek. Although he was still wearing his blindfold, his mind had developed a way to “see” things without needing any light to perceive them. 

“Idle hands lead to nothing good,” said a voice. Noiyah immediately sat up and turned around.

A being stood a couple of feet behind the willow. His body was similar to that of a Turaga’s, only it was as tall as a Toa. He  was draped in a dark green cloak, and wore a circular mask with no markings on it except for its eye holes. 

“Who are you?”

The stranger walked to the side of the creek. He held out his hand and the water suddenly spiraled up into the air. As he moved his fingers about, the liquid began to form the shape of a Visorak. He retracted his hand and the image shattered, the water returning to the creek. 

“I am the builder.” 

“The builder?”

“The power to manipulate and create is a strong force indeed. It is the force of progress, the force of innovation.”

Noiyah tilted his head. The builder turned around and walked toward him. He reached out his arm, and his fingers brushed the ranger’s forehead. 

Immediately, Noiyah felt a passageway open in his head. A barrier that had lasted for decades on end was now destroyed, and light was shining through. He finally remembered it. The exodus to the mountains, BZ-Metru, his arrival in the dimension, his life on Earth. 

“I...I remember.”

The Builder nodded. 

As his memories came flooding back to him, he began to sort through them and try to piece them together. 

“Do you remember who erased your memories?” asked the Builder.

Noiyah paused and nodded.

“The blue-masked man.”

“As I thought.”

“You know of him?” 

“I am the force of building, and he is the force of removing.” 

Noiyah stood up. 

“Who are you, really?”

The builder chuckled.

“You’ll find out soon enough, my friend.”

 

 

***

 

 

“Did you sense that, my liege?”

“Yes, I did. An entire mountainside was destroyed. I heard the shrieking and wailing of both plant and animal alike as they were incinerated by the wave of fire. However there was something else about it.”

“What’s that, my liege?”

“I sensed that one of our own was in the explosion.”

“Really?”

“Yes. That was the work of the Kanohi Force, and Noiyah is in danger. Send a group of rangers out to ensure his safety.” 

“As you wish, Ookabauni.” 

 

 

 

***

 

 

Tahu scrambled up the side of a mountain. He tried to find his footing in the gap between two rocks, but when he pressed his weight against it, he was sent tumbling back down. He cursed as he hit the ground awkwardly on his elbow. 

He stood up and planted his feet on the ground. Breathing in deeply, he exerted his elemental energy from out of his feet, sending him rocketing up into the air. He landed on the top of the ridge and gazed outward, seeing nothing but more mountains upon more mountains. He sighed as he flew back into the air again. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Dane and Aerixx walked up the banks of a river that came tumbling down one of the mountains. When they looked up, they saw that the very top of the peak was covered in snow, so it was safe to assume that this was melted ice water.

“There’s probably some caves at the top, I doubt that amount of snow could produce this much water,” commented Aerixx. 

They kept heading up the sides of the pouring stream of water. 

“You feel that?” asked Dane.

“Feel what?” 

“That pounding? Listen.”

“You’re right, I do hear something. It’s like some big heavy footsteps.”

“Odd.” 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Shadow opened the door to his old workshop. Irrie, Finbarr, Rustam, and Arzaki were currently going throughout the tower, rediscovering its many functions and abilities. 

As he walked into the room, he saw varieties of unfinished projects laying about on the desks and floor. However he ignored them, and proceeded to walk to the back of the room. He knelt down next to a storage trunk and placed his finger on the ID registration pad, unlocking it. As he opened it, he pulled out a small purple box. 

“I’m back,” he whispered as he removed the lid. Inside of it was his creation. It was about four inches in all of its dimensions, making it a perfect cube. It was a dull green color, and the cube was without any markings. The glow from within the object seemed to shine a little brighter when he held it in his hands. 

“Very good. Very good indeed,” he said. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Arzaki walked down to the basement level, where he found Rustam standing in the middle of the room. He was gazing intently into a corner in the wall. 

“You okay there?” asked the old warrior. 

“No.”

“Why not?”

Rustam turned around and faced him. 

“What’s the problem, buddy? Are you still hurt, I can take you up to the medic floor if you’ve still got some wounds or something.” 

“Because. I’m in the household of the very organization that caught me up in this mess.”

“Hm? What’s all that about?”

“None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for the Kanohi Force. Had I not been sent on that mission in the transport to arrest you lot, I would be back in BZ-Metru, serving in the army reserves and living with my girlfriend. But no, you lot had to come into play.”

“Look, I appologize if-”

“I don’t need your apology,” he said as he slid a pistol out of his vest and trained it on Arzaki. 

“You know what this’ll do?”

“Do I want to know?”

“It isn’t a regular pistol that fires bullets, it’s a specially made one that fires needles laced with a venom that comes from the pores of a rare rahi native to a tiny island to the north. And when it hits you, it will send said venom coursing through your veins, and will paralyze you, as well as cause internal bleeding in the majority of your vital organs, and erase a good portion of your memories.”

Arzaki didn’t make a snide remark after hearing this. Rather he spotted an object in the far corner of the room, laying on its side in the shadows.

A urn. 

“Do you know who I am?” he said to Rustam, chuckling. 

“You are Arzaki, a Turaga.”

“Not even close.”

Immediately, the Toa of fire summoned an explosion of flames from the urn, forming the shape of a flaming phoenix as it flew it. While Rustam was distracted by this, Arzaki drew back his cloak and, for the first time in decades, stood up to his fullest extent. No longer was he a hunched over and weakened being, but a strong and powerful Toa. He drew his twin blades from their sheaths on his belt. 

“Oh Rustam. You see yourself as a skilled deceiver, as you were able to trick Finbarr into trusting you earlier. But little do you know, I am Arzaki, the master of deception. You came to this confrontation armed with enough to take out a withered old being, but not a skilled Toa of fire.”

Flamewing, the phoenix, flew over to its master and hovered next to him. Rustam, shocked, fired his blaster repeatedly, however Arzaki formed a shield of fire around him, incinerating the darts before they came close to him. 

“S...stay away, you fiend!” he stammered as he stepped backward. 

“I am Arzaki. I adhere to no command.” 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Ghidora walked around the charred landscape, where the mountain once was. Of all those who were affected by the explosion, he was now closest to the original crash site. 

“Bumbaty, bumbaty, bumbaty, dum ditilly squat! Oh I’m a pretty pretty little daisy! How I love to eat pie! Ooh, what’s this?”

He looked down and saw the charred remnants of a Vahki. He bent down and examined it.

“Hm, a Rorzakh. Interesting indeed.” 

He tried to pick it up, but its parts were too damaged to properly move without falling apart. He just pulled off the head, the least damaged part, and left.

“Bumbaty, bumbaty, bumbaty, dum ditilly squat!” 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Finbarr rushed down to the lobby as soon as he heard the doorbell. It was hopefully one of the Kanohi Force members that had seen the tower and gone toward it. 

He looked through the clear glass door and saw Kovika on the other side. 

“Kovika!” he said as he opened it. “Welcome!”

“Thank you, Finbarr, it’s good to be back. How on earth did you guys build the entire Kanohi Force tower here?” 

“Shadow used one of his inventions to do it, pretty cool stuff. Are you injured?”

“Nope, I feel great actually.”

“Great, come inside!”

“Thanks.”

They entered into the Kanohi Force tower and went back up to the lounge, which is where Finbarr was before he heard the doorbell. 

“I wonder where Arzaki and Rustam went.”

“Who’s Rustam?”

“One of the prisoners. We let him come with us when we found him in the mountains.”

“Ah, that was nice.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“Aerixx!”

“What?”

“Look!”

Dane pointed out from the side of the mountain. Aerixx followed his gaze. 

“Oh no.”

It was a giant being striding over the top of a ridge on the other side of a valley. It was covered in silver armor, and walked well over the tops of the trees. An eerie green light pulsed from its face. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Petewa stumbled around on the slopes of one of the mountains. It had approximately been a day since the initial destruction of the transport. He had been to these mountains before, but that was a time long ago. Remembering the errand that had brought him to this place so long ago, he took a small detour. 

When he arrived at his destination, it was exactly as he remembered it from the first time. Two huge shrubs sprouted from a rocky cliffside, and two boulders were propped up against each other on either side of a small gap in the earth. Beyond that gap was a wall of stone. He stood in front of it and reached out his hand. Summoning his control over the element, he lowered the rock down to the ground. 

He stepped inside the cave. It was clearly not naturally formed, but had cleanly-cut walls and edges to it. It was completely empty except for a coffin at the far end. Petewa walked over to it and signed. He placed his hands under the stone cover and lifted it off, then casting it aside. 

Inside was a set of black and gray armor. 

“D1,” he whispered. 

Indeed, this was the armor of D1 Petewa, the Toa of Shadow of whom he had slain many ages ago. His gaze slowly traveled up his body and to where his mask lay. 

“What?”

Petewa was confused. He had taken D1’s mask of mutation after his demise and laid him to rest in here without it. Where did this new mask come from?

It was a strangely-shaped one. It had a large, slanted forehead and narrow slits for eyes. It had a gaping hole around the mouth area, and was a beautiful glossy black color.

“Wow.” 

He picked it up and removed his Kaukari. When he placed it on his face, he felt a surge of amazing power rushing through his body. A new energy that he had never felt before, almost alien in design. The power was almost too much. He held his hand out and sent a bolt of energy flying at the wall. It disintegrated it, leaving a scorching gap where the once cleanly cut stone had been. 

Petewa removed the mask and put his Kaukari back on. He snuck it into his backpack and left the tomb. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“Tahu, welcome back!” 

“Thank you Aerixx, it’s been an eventful traveling.” 

The Kanohi Force greeted Tahu as he entered into the reformed tower for the first time. 

“How did you find us?”

“Oh, it was simple. I just-”

He paused as everyone turned around at the sound of footsteps coming up from the basement. A broad-shouldered and powerful warrior slowly walked out of the stairwell, carrying a limp body over his shoulder.

“Arzaki!” 

He nodded as he slid the body off. It was Rustam.

“This little bugger tried to take me out down there. Gave ‘em the ‘ol intimidation followed by a moderately inhumane mauling.” 

 

 

 

***

 

 

Petewa felt a strange tingling in his feet while he was walking down the mountain. He shrugged it off and kept on going. 

But the he realized that he had stopped. And he was rummaging through his bag, taking out the black mask again holding it in his hands. 

It was beautiful. Completely flawless in all ways, without blemish or fractures. It was smooth and silky, almost like a fabric but hardened. 

He put his bag back on and continued walking, but still held the mask in his hands. He wanted to keep admiring it. He loved its elegant design, its deep dark color, black as night. 

“I will carry you forever,” he muttered. Entranced by the shiny, object he didn’t notice the strange rahi climbing down from a tree until it howled at him. Whirling around, he saw an ape-like rahi with an elongated snout and a tail.

“No! Get back, it’s mine!” he screamed as he put the mask on his face. He shot a blast of energy at the rahi, reducing it and the tree to mere vapors. 

“My lovely mask, he wanted to hurt you! But don’t worry, I’ll keep you nice and safe from spooky thing like it.” 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Tahu was with Arzaki in the medical bay while they were treating the wounds of the unconscious Rustam. 

“Wow, that’s quite the tale.” 

“Indeed.” 

The elevator door dinged, and Irrie walked into the room.

“Hey guys, Aerixx and Dane just BAGUETTE got back.”

“Ah, that’s good that they’re safe,” said Tahu.

“Yep. But Tahu, remember that scope that you found in the park a while back?”

“You mean the one that was discarded from an Akaku? Yeah.”

“Well I need it.”

“It should be in my room. I think it’s on one of the shelves.”

“Thanks.”

Irrie left them and went up the elevator to the dormitories, where he opened Tahu’s door and did some nosing around in his room. After drawing the French flag on his door in markers, he found the mask scope and affixed it to his own. He left and went up to the rooftop level, where he found Aerixx in the cockpit of his Gukkocopter. 

“Whatcha doing?” 

“I was about to take her out for a ride, see if it still works as well as it did. Nice eyepiece.”

“Thanks. Can I come too?”

“Sure thing.”

“Let’s head that way,” Irrie said, pointing to the west. 

“Alright, hop in.” 

With the pull of a level and a twist of his keys, the copter roared to life. The wing blades began to spin around in dizzying circles, while the levitation Kanoka glowed as they were activated after decades of waiting. They were raised off the ground slowly, and then flew off the roof, headed westward. 

As they flew over the various cliffs, ravines, ranges, and plateaus, Irrie used the scope on his mask to zoom in at various places around the area.

“So, why do you want to go for a ride today?”

“Well after you and Dane got back, I heard about the strange giant that you saw in the mountains, so I figure I’d check it out.”

“It was a pretty interesting sight. Mostly silver, but it has a pulsing green eye.”

“Just one eye?”

“Just one.”

“Good, little to no depth perception.”

“How do you know that it’s hostile?”

“Well, it’s got a weapon on its arm that’s trained on us right now.”

Aerixx followed Irrie’s gaze and saw the robot standing on one of the ridgelines. He immediately banked the aircraft to the side, narrowly avoiding the energy blast sent by the robot. 

“What’s it doing now?”

“It’s...it’s...it’s flying! Quick, turn around!”

Aerixx whirled the craft around and slammed on the accelerator. The copter’s speed quadrupled as they flew through the air like a bullet. Irrie looked in the mirrior. 

“He’s right behind us!”

“What?”

“And gaining!”

Aerixx got out of his seat.

“Irrie, keep the copter steady. I’m going to see if I can fend it off.”

Irrie got out of the copilot seat and sat down at the commands after Aerixx got up. He then opened the cockpit hatch, and the Gukko Lord climbed out. 

Standing on the roof of the Gukkocopter, Aerixx had to hold on with both of his hands to keep him from flying off from the wind. The robot was about twenty feet back and was still getting closer. Aerixx raised his left hand and formed a ball of hot liquid silver. He threw it at the giant, but it blasted it out of the air with its gun. It then trained it at the left set of propellers on the copter. 

“Irrie! Bank to the right!” 

However he couldn’t shout loud enough over the roar of the wind around them. Irrie did notice that the robot had locked onto them, so he did bank without hearing Aerixx. And he banked a lot. He banked so much that the Gukkocopter was flying upside down. 

And it was then that Aerixx remembered that Irrie didn’t know how to fly a helicopter. The robot fired, and then fired again. Its first shot missed, but its second struck the plane in its engine. He saw the entire back side of the vehicle fly loose from the front, sending an enormous fireball of metal plummeting down to the ground. 

The Gukkocopter, without its engines, was just a piece of broken machinery in the sky. And things that can't’ fly tend to fall, which the copter promptly did. 

“Irrie! Eject! Irrie, push the eject button!” 

“k, b0ss!”

Aerixx saw the cockpit of the vehicle separate from the main body, and then deployed its parachutes. That left Aerixx dangling on the edge of the soon to be destroyed Gukkocopter. He was now drawing closer to the ground, and he mentally calculated that it would hit a mountainside that was just in front of them. Wasting no time, he let go and went into a freefall. 

Now Aerixx had been in many situations, but none quite like this. He didn’t know how to form any sort of parachute, since making one out of silver would just cause him to fall faster. Using his Mask of Jungle to cause a plant branch to catch him would be impossible, since at the speed he was moving he’d just get sliced in two by the branch. He could call his Gukko bird, but there’s no way he could have gotten there fast enough. Out of options, he just decided to watch the scenery while he fell. 

But then he noticed something. He was falling slower. Very gradually, his speed began to diminish until he landed gently on the top of a tree. 

“One of the great mysteries of life, I suppose.” 

 

 

 

***

 

 

By that point, almost the entire Kanohi Force had made it back to the Tower. Everyone except for Petewa, that is. 

While Irrie and Aerixx were out, Ghidora and some of the others had been able to scrape together a new body for the Rorzakh head. When they were finally done, it resembled something like an Agori with a Vahki head. They then reactivated it. 

“Where am I?” it said. 

“Why, you’re in the Kanohi Force tower,” replied Ghidora. 

“The Kanohi Force. What’s that?”

“Oh. Well, I suppose that the real question here is why is the Kanohi Force.”

“What?”

“No, I said why.”

“Oh. Where am I?”

“In the Kanohi Force Tower.”

“No, I mean, where am I on BZ-Nui?”

“Uh, we’re in the mountains somewhere. Not quite sure of the exact place, tho.”

“Good, this’ll mean they will have a hard time finding me,” he said as he stood up. When he did so, he looked down and realized that he was no longer in a Vahki body.

“How did this happen?”

“Well, I just found your head, so we needed to get you a new body. Won’t be able to spin your head around on your Vahki neck anymore, I’m afraid.”

“Meh, I don’t really need that ability. What’s your name, anyway?”

“I’m Ghidora.”

“Well met. I’m...um...well, I don’t really know what my name is.”

“I’ll call you Rorzy!” 

“Rorzy? Well, that’s interesting, I suppose.” 

 

 

***

 

 

Dragon was walking around the outside perimeter of the Kanohi Force Tower. Ghidora had told him to do so since the Staffers probably had scouts and probes in the area. Eventually he tired of the monotonous pacing, so he sat down and propped himself up against its front wall.

He was going to go to sleep, but then he noticed something in the grass. It was sand, moving like liquid, slowly creeping toward him. 

When he realized what it was, he sprang up and sent a gust of wind ripping through the undergrowth. The sand flew into the air in a whirlwind, but it quickly condensed together and formed the shape of a Kranua. 

It landed on the ground with an audible thud, however no fall damage could stun a Vahki of its level. It quickly regained its composure and attacked again. Dragon tried to blow it away, but when it was reformed into a solid being its mass made it too heavy to even be shifted by the gust. Thinking quickly, he activated his Miru and unfolded his retractable wings, and leapt up, soaring into the air. He spun around and drew his blaster, firing off rounds at the Kranua. When they struck the machine it sent it toppling backwards onto the ground, but it leapt back up within a heartbeat. 

But while Dragon was focused on shooting the Vahki on the ground, he didn’t notice the cloud of flying sand forming behind him. When he felt the arms of a second Kranua wrap themselves around his torso, it was too late. He was sent into a freefall to the ground by the sheer bulk of the robot. He braced for impact, which came with a near stunning blow. He heard the sound of his rib frame snap and splinter from within his own body.

He turned around and saw the two robots looming over him. One of them raised its staff, ready to deliver the final blow. He braced, but the force never came. He looked up and saw a dull golden figure speeding past him, landing a strike to the Kranua which sent it flying into a tree. He also saw a green figure subsequently attack the next one, wrestling it to the ground and pinning it. 

“Geha! Bonkle!” 

The two Kanohi Force members turned around and spared Dragon a brief nod before launching into the fray again. 

The battle was long and fierce. The three Toa quickly began to tire, and soon they found themselves being beaten by the Vahki. Exhausted and out of breath, they stood side by side with their weapons drawn, waiting for the final onslaught by the two Kranua. 

But just when it seemed that they were done for, two figures emerged from the foliage, Irrie and Aerixx. Neither of them needed an explanation for what was happening. Aerixx immediately formed a dome of liquid silver around the Vahki. He cooled it down, solidifying the Kranua inside. 

“That should immobilize them for now. But who knows, maybe they’re strong enough to break through solid silver. But for now, we’ve got to warn everyone.”

“About what?” said Bonkle.

“Wait, Bonkle and Geha are here?” asked Irrie.

“Yep,” replied Bonkle. “We heard that the Kanohi Force had been reformed, so we both left the city to find you guys. Looks like we came just in time.”

“Like I was saying,” said Aerixx. “We’ve got to warn everyone. There’s a giant robot coming this way, it destroyed the Gukkocopter while Irrie and I were out.”

The five of them ran into the tower and split up, alerting everyone of the events. Aerixx went to Shadow’s workshop.

“Shadow!” he said, banging on the door. “Shadow, open up!”

He saw the doorknob turn, followed by Shadow exiting the workshop.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a giant flying robot that’s coming for us.”

“What’s it look like? When did you see it?”

“Irrie and I found it while we were out in the GukkoCopter. It’s tall, silver, and has one eye.”

Shadow suddenly stiffened. He ran into the elevator and set it for the top floor. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

Petewa was now walking through the woods, unaware of what was going on around him. He had his new mask on his face, which he kept talking to. But then through the cloud of madness that had encased his mind, he noticed something: his armor had become darker. And then, he realized it was all too late to stop it. 

“You...how are you…no...D5 is no more. D1 lives again, and D5’s body is his tool.” 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Shadow stood on the roof of the Kanohi Force, gazing intently at the spec in the distance that was the approaching giant. Finbarr was standing next to him. 

“What is that thing?” he asked.

“It’s a thing of my own creation that the staff is trying to use against me. Little do they know, I’m the one that built that thing, so I am the one that can tame it.” 
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Shadow’s Flashbaki shifted into the shape of a Kanohi Kaldin shortly after he leapt off the edge of the Kanohi Force Tower. He flew through the air to confront the ECDR, using his Hau to block the energy blasts that the robot shot at him. Once he was within hearing range of it he activated a mask of intangibility, which he used to fly up next to the robot while being safe from its claws. He uttered a phrase in a strange and muddle language, and the robot seemed to respond to it somehow. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Finbarr hurriedly walked down a pathway near the Kanohi Force Tower. There were a plethora of different routes and passageways that carved through the forested mountains, but he was sent out by Ghidora to find a pathway that would allow for the Kanohi Force to evacuate the tower and go unnoticed, should Shadow fail to tame the ECDR. 

“Hm. This one’s got plenty of foliage. It’d make a lot of noise having to stomp through it all, but we might be able to make it. I wonder…”

He stopped when he heard a twig snap. He turned his head in the direction that he heard it coming from. Normally he’d assume it was just some woodland rahi, but he couldn’t be too careful at a time like this. He scanned the ground, and saw a strange shadow coming from behind one of the trees.

“Show yourself.”

No response. Finbarr breathed in deeply and used his mastery over air to create a small ball of wind energy between his palms. He sent it flying outward and around the tree trunk. He heard it strike something, sending it staggering out from behind the tree. 

It was a Toa, clad in black armor and holding a pistol.

“State your intentions,” he said. 

“Death,” said the figure as he looked him in the eye. Finbarr instantly remembered him as the leader of the Toa they had held hostage in the transport.

“I am Captain Bahargul of the BZPower military. You killed my sister. Prepare to die.” 

Finbarr would have reacted if he could, but Bahargul was too fast. In a blink of an eye, he had jumped to his feet and kicked Finbarr across the face, sending his mask flying off and him to the ground. The Toa of Air tried crawling toward it, but Bahargul stepped on his back and began to laugh triumphantly. 

“Let’s see how you Toa of Air like it when there is none,” he said as Finbarr felt the cold grasp of his hands wrap around his neck. His energy crippled without his mask, he could only pathetically struggle as he was suffocated by Bahargul. Second by second ticked by as he slowly felt the life within him disappear. He felt his eyes start to close for the last time. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

The ECDR turned its head around and gazed at Shadow. It nodded and slowed to a halt in the sky. The Av-Matoran nodded in satisfaction and then said some more sentences in the garbled language. 

The Kanohi Force, who were all on the roof of the tower, saw the ECDR approaching them with Shadow riding on its shoulder, waving. 

“I suppose that has a good connotation to it,” said Dragon. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Finbarr felt his eyes slide open again and the strangling grip around his neck was wrenched free. Gasping for breath, he immediately crawled to where his mask lay and placed it on his face. Empowered again, he stood up and observed what had just happened. 

He saw the body of Bahargul become more and more transparent until all that remained was his mask and armor. He spun around and beheld his savior. When he did, his eyes widened and a smile stretched across his face.

“You came back!” he shouted as he ran forward and hugged the ankle of the Spirit Walker. He activated his Miru and flew up to the cockpit, and it automatically opened when he landed on the edge. 

He noticed that the mech had been set on auto-pilot, and was running on commands sent from the machine’s computer. 

“Wow, so you can think for yourself. Clever.” 

He deactivated the auto-pilot and took the controls into hand. He and the Spirit Walker were finally reunited. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

That night, all of the Kanohi Force was gathered in the dining hall.

“Gentlemen,” said Ghidora, “I believe that the hour is upon us to make our final move. The Staff have thrown almost all they’ve got at us. Vahki, special operations, and finally their own commander of their legions, the ECDR.”

“...and two Kranua,” added Bonkle.

“Yes, and them. As I was saying, it’s only a matter of time before they marshall the entire BZ-Nui guard and send them to wipe us off the face of the island. Many of us are skilled fighters, but I doubt that even we can resist an onslaught of that magnitude. Thus I believe that it is time that we returned to BZ-Metru to confront the staff one on one.”

“How will we do that?” asked Kovika.”BZ-Metru is crawling with Vahki.”

“Don’t forget, the ECDR is the chief of the Vahki hives. Under its orders all of the Vahki on this island can deactivate at once. In fact, Shadow has already informed it to do so once we come within the outskirts of the city.”

“And what of Petewa and Noiyah?” said Dane. “We haven’t seen them since the transport’s destruction.”

“We can only hope that they’re in good hands,” replied Ghidora. “Also, I’d like to introduce you all to the Force’s newest member, Rorzy.”

Everybody clapped as the Vahki nodded to Ghidora. 

“And now for something completely different, please welcome The 1st Shadow to the floor.”

Shadow stood up from his chair and joined Ghidora. He pulled out a small object from his coat pocket. It was a cube-shaped device that he placed onto the center of the table. He picked up another device that was on the table that had a keypad on it. After typing in several digits, the device fired a beam of light at the cube. The box began to tremble and shake as visible cracks were spreading across its surface. At last it exploded into a cloud of multicolored dust. Bonkle wooshed the smoke aside, and standing where the box once was was a human. His body began to glow as he was transformed into a Toa with a Hau Nuva.

“Jakura!” they all gasped when they recognized who it was. The Toa of Fire adjusted the collar on his jacket and said.

“Jackman’s back, mah boys,” he said with a smile. 

 

That night, the Kanohi Force began its expedition westward. The ECDR was ordered to guard the tower while they were away. Under the cloud of darkness they walked silently in single file down the long hallway and to the door. Shadow snapped his fingers and the door opened, allowing for them to exit into the cloud and fog of the night. Finbarr went to the parking deck where he fetched the Spirit Walker. 

They walked down the ridgeline and into a small valley that cut through the mountain range. By the middle of the night they had reached the point where the mountains slowly gave way to foothills. They even found the site of the destruction of the transport. 

“Ghidora,” said Geha. “Who are those people?” 

Ghidora followed his gaze and saw two limp figures laying awkwardly next to a boulder. The company went to investigate. 

“Dallior! Pohatu!” cried Aerixx. 

“Dallior’s fez must have activated its life support system,” said Ghidora. He knelt down and deactivated the fez. Shadow immediately activated his mask of healing and began to repair their injuries. An hour of tedious work passed by, but he had eventually returned the two of them to a healthy enough condition to walk. They were then roused and given a brief explanation of what had happened. They followed along with them as they went. 

By the end of the night they stopped and slept until noon. By this point they had reached the point where the mountains, the bleak lands, and the plains joined together. They continued on westward, hiking until midnight when they rested again. 

On the third day they rose and passed by the Krana Storage Tower. 

“Hey Ghidora?” said Finbarr as he climbed out of the cockpit of the Spirit Walker.

“Yep?”

“Is it alright if I go look around in the tower again?”

“Sure, don’t see why not. We could use a rest break anyway.”

“Thanks.”

The Toa of Air slid down the body of the Spirit Walker and climbed up the hill that the tower was situated on. He entered inside and recollected on all that had happened since he had last been there. 

Exactly one month ago, Finbarr entered the tower for the first time and found the discarded Krana, as well as encountering the masked stranger. He sat down on one of the steps and began to think about everything that had happened in such a seemingly short period of time. 

He paused from his musings when he heard a scuffling noise from up above. It was probably a rodent rahi, but curiosity was probably Finbarr’s most defining trait, and so he activated his Miru and flew up to where he heard it. 

Problem is, it wasn’t a rodent rahi. No, when he saw it he almost screamed out of shock. It was a figure with a pair of gigantic black wings and dark gray armor. It had long, sharpened claws and a solid black mask with two red glowing eyes piercing him from behind it. He immediately propelled himself downward, but he saw that the creature was following him. It blasted a ball of dark energy, barely missing him. When he saw the energy strike the ground, the grass below it shriveled and died almost instantly. 

Finbarr landed on the bottom floor and ran out of the storage tower. 

“Help!” he shouted, alerting the rest of the Force as he flailed down the hillside. Everybody at the bottom scrambled for their weapons as they saw the twisted thing fly out from a window in the tower. It held its hands over its head and conjured a ball of shadow energy and hurled it down at the ground. It split into several different balls, each targeting a different member. Shadow managed to erect a wall of solid light for a brief moment, dissipating the blasts before they reached them. 

Finbarr ran for the Spirit Walker, while Dane summoned the grass around him and formed his walking plant titan once again. The four fire-based heroes combined their powers and sent a beam of flame soaring into the sky toward the beast. It managed to dodge it, but they brought the beam back around and it struck it from behind, incinerating its wings. Dane then reached out his grass arm and grabbed it before it hit the ground. 

But the creature was not done yet. Its body glowed with a dark red color as it emitted shadow energy from its skin. The grass arm withered and crumbled, allowing for it to escape. Kovika shot a beam of energy from his fingertips. Upon hitting the monster, it retracted it back to him, where Irrie swiped it across its face with his staff. The mask was sent flying off, landing nearby. All the grass around it immediately died. 

“Where’d you learn that trick?” asked Irrie.

“Oh, you know. Around.” 

The beast collapsed to the ground. Its claws began to shrink and its armor started to turn more brownish than black. They also recognized the mask on its face.

“Petewa?” asked Irrie. 

The restored Toa of Stone looked up at them with weak eyes. He reached out his hand and pointed at the mask.

“D1…” he croaked. 

The mask began to shake and rattle. It morphed into a long, spindly figure that was completely back. Its mouth opened to reveal a row of twisted and gnarled teeth, and a disgusting tongue lolled out of it, wagging around in the air like a snake’s. 

Shadow raised his drillstaff. 

“You’re not going anywhere,” he said. 

The dark figure smiled. 

“Dimension 3 is mine. Using D6’s body I’ve already contacted my brethren in Dimension 1. Your tiny island will soon be besieged by the forces of the shadows, even if you do kill me now.”

“Do you know who I am, D1 Petewa?”

“Why should I? You’ll all be converted to the shadows sooner or later.”

“How can I convert, for I am The 1st Shadow.”

He fired a thin beam of light from his staff, which struck D1 Petewa in the back. The creature of darkness fell to the ground and screamed as its body slowly dissipated into light. 

“Did you kill him?” asked Bonkle.

“No, but I converted him into a light-based being. His mind is now a scattering cloud of photons, he can do no more harm to anyone.”

“What about the others from Dimension 1?” asked Irrie. 

“After we do this we can seal off all dimensional exits from D1, as well as enter there to destroy all of the Olmaks that may be located there. But that’s not a priority right now, we must continue westward.”

Petewa slowly regained his strength as they traveled. He was soon able to walk by himself, and he explained all that had happened to the others. 

“When I killed D1 for the first time, I thought that he was done for. But his armor must have evolved to the point that it gained sapience, which allowed it to channel all of the leftover dark energy from D1 into that mask, which he used to control me.” 

They soon found themselves standing on the very hill that Finbarr stood on when he first left the city, the pebble of the Kanohi Force Tower in his palm. Shadow confirmed that the ECDR had remotely shut down all of the Vahki hives, so they proceeded to enter the city gates unharmed. They entered into the Bionicle Discussion district and passed through the various walls of the city. Many of the people on the street stopped and gazed at them with wonder, as they had not seen such a group of powerful heroes walking together before. A few of them even recognized them from before they had left the city, and fled in terror. 

They entered into the central ring of the city, where the most respected members lived, as well as the most active discussion topics were located. However what the didn’t notice was that Rorzy had snuck off, away from the rest of the group. 

 

The Rorzakh-Agori hybrid ran through the streets, searching among the limp bodies of the Vahki guard. 

“Let’s see...it was a Nuurakh. Ah ha.” 

He found one particular unit lying on the ground. Its serial number was 1337, the unit that had been the one that lead the pursuit of him as he fled from the city after gaining sapience.

“Destroyed my body, will yah? Let’s see how you like it the other way around.”

Rorzy tore apart the unit limb from limb, throwing its circuitry and wires around like a mad rahi. 

“This is what you get for ruining me!” he screeched as he smashed its head plate against the ground, destroying any chance of it being restored. For the first time in his sapient life, he felt good.

 

Jakura crashed into the opening gates of the Coliseum.

“Man, it feels good to have my old strength back!” 

They passed through the courtyard and into the front doors of the building. Finbarr set the Spirit Walker to autopilot and exited it so that he could follow the rest of the Force inside. 

They ran through the front entrance and piled into the central elevator of the building. They went to the throne room level, and waited for a good three minutes before arriving. However the throne did not have Black Six waiting for them in it, nor did it have anyone that they expected to be there. The room was was completely empty, except for the person seated on Black Six’s throne. Dimensioneer.

“So, Kanohi Force. You believe that this is what it takes to defeat the well-oiled machine known a the BZPower administration? I am the almighty creator of this community, my powers are endless,” he said. He hands began to glow with golden energy. “You think that your leader is more powerful than us just because this realm is his handiwork? Nay, for none of this would have happened without me. I am the - AARRUUUUG”

Ghidora ripped off his Akaku and activated his Kanohi Karzahni. He destroyed the mind of Dimensioneer, sending him sprawling onto the ground, limp. The Toa soon collapsed to his knees, his brain reeling. 

Aerixx created a hollow dome of silver to encase Ghidora. “That should protect him until he recovers,” he said.  

Shadow nodded when he saw this, and switched his mask to the Iden. His body fell limp while his spirit explored the various levels of the building. 

While the Force waited for Shadow to be revived, they heard the elevator door ding. They spun around and saw a human with a robotic arm walk out of it.

“Icarus Ben!” they all shouted.

“Yes, ‘tis I. Myself indeed. Who knew escaping prison was so easy when the Vahki suddenly deactivate?”

While they caught up with their former comrade, Rorzy also came to join them.

“Sorry about that, I was taking care of some old business,” he said as he wiped oil stains off of his hands.  

Shadow’s body soon stirred once again and he got to his feet.

“Alright, Black Six and Tufi Piyufi are in one of the sublevels. I’ve remotely activated the Marendar to enter the streets. Currently the two of them are trying to reboot the Vahki hives, so it’s out there to keep them at bay just in case they succeed.” 

The group got into the elevator and zoomed down to the basement levels of the Coliseum. They then walked down a long and twisting corridor that had various screens displaying images of all sorts on them. The hallway ended in a small doorway that was made of a blackened protosteel. Jakura kicked it down, and the group entered the room.  

It was a vast chamber that was supported by columns with elaborate designs carved into them. At the end was a pair of double doors that were the size of the walls. Standing in front of them were Black Six and Tiyufi Pufi.

“I welcome you all to my humble abode,” he said with a grim smile. 

Shadow walked to the front of the group. 

“This ends now, Black Six. The hostilities between us have gone on for too long, and I’m tired of it all.”

“How can you be tired of it if you’ve continued them for so long, Shadow?” sneered Black Six. “I will not rest until you are imprisoned and that mask of yours is out of anyone’s reach. Tiyufi!”

The Puffin nodded as she grabbed on of the chains and pulled them back, slowly opening the door. Everyone could “hear” a silence creeping out of it, for beyond it was a void of emptiness. 

“Behold, the final resting place of the Kanohi Flashbaki.”

Black Six drew a sword from his sheath. 

“I don’t want to fight you,” said Shadow. “Do you remember back when I first told you of this place? We were the best of friends back then.”

“That was before I knew of how big of a threat you were to our society.”

“Black Six, if you attack me then you don’t realize the danger you’re putting yourself in by doing so.”

“Why should I?”

The Staffer sprung forward with his sword at the ready. He brought it down onto Shadow’s body, however the Av-Matoran activated his Kanohi Hau, blocking it. But the blade began to glow red and it sent energy crackling off of the tips. With a final heave, he broke through the forcefield of the Hau. 

“Enough of this!” said Jakura. He ran forward holding a ball of fire in his hand, the rest of the Force following him. Bombarded by elemental energy, Black Six was flung backward onto the ground. 

“We are the Kanohi Force. We are the strongest warriors in the land, do not test us,” said Shadow as he walked past where the Administrator lay on the ground. Tiyufi was too shocked to do anything about it.

Shadow gazed into the void that lay beyond the doors. “So, this is your plan? To banish the Flashbaki to the void? I shudder to think why you would want to remove this Dimension’s most powerful relic. After all, it’s in safe hands, is it not?”

Black Six climbed to his feet. In one last act of boiling hatred, he roared at the top of his lungs and lunged for Shadow. However the Matoran was too quick and stepped aside before he could reach him. Black Six, propelled by his own momentum, was sent flying into the interdimensional void through the doors and disappeared into the icy blackness in the blink of an eye. 

“No!” screamed Tiyufi Pufi, but Shadow closed the doors before she could dive in after him.

“One person to fall victim to this creation is one too many,” he said. “Let’s not make it two.” 

“So is this it?” asked Finbarr. “Have we won?”

“It seems so,” remarked Tahu.

“Actually, I beg to differ,” said Kovika.

“Why is that?”

“Because you’ve forgotten about me. And that was your most critical mistake.”

“What are you talking about?” said Pohatu. 

Kovika began to chuckle maniacally. His body began to glow white and he morphed from the Toa of Ice into a figure clad in blue robes with a hideous three-eyed mask. 

“No…” said Shadow. 

“Yes,” sneered the stranger. “I’m still here, indeed. The real Kovika is lying unconscious next to a tree stump in the mountains. Such a shame that you couldn’t have seen through my ruse by then.”

The stranger lifted his staff into the air and dark clouds began to gather around it, despite that they were indoors. With his other hand he drew a sword from a sheath on his belt. Its hilt was made from silver and onyx, however its blade was a deep shade of black. The air around it looked distorted, almost as if the sword itself as destroying the molecules around it. 

“For too long now this universe has existed, defying the natural order of things. But no more. The chaos and disarray that this dimension brings will soon return to the quiet slumber of nothingness. It was from nothing that this place came, and into nothing that it will go.”

Shadow stepped forward and stared into the eyes of the stranger.

“What are your real intentions? Why have you terrorized us for so long?”

“You once had the spirit of creation in you. I am the spirit of destruction. It is my goal to destroy all that exists, so that the universe can revert to the way it was in the before time, when there was no universe.”

“And he will soon have that spirit in him again,” said a familiar voice. Everybody turned around and saw Noiyah standing in the doorway with another masked figure. They were flanked by several Splitear Rangers. 

“You!” hissed the masked stranger at the other one. “Your meddling with my affairs will end this day!”

“Yes, they will. For I shall not need to meddle with you once you’re dead,” it replied as it removed its mask. Behind it was a Kakama Nuva. “Shadow, hear me! Come to me once again for the battle at the end of the world!” 

“If it is a fight that you want, it is a fight that you will get,” said Shadow as the stranger with a Kakama Nuva walked over and stood next to him. 

“This is between me and you,” said the stranger. He raised an arm and created a forcefield around them. “Not between me and your men.”

“Very well then,” he replied as he drew his Drillstaff. 

The masked being lunged forward and slashed his sword at Shadow, which he blocked with his staff. He then kicked his leg upward, sending a wave of light energy at his advisary. A miniature black hole was created in front of him, sucking the light into it. Shadow then twisted his staff around and lunged forward with the blunt end, but the stranger struck him in the side with his staff. This sent him staggering, which was the opportunity that he needed.

The masked being drove his sword into Shadow’s heartlight, sending it piercing through his organs and out the other end. He then raised his sword into the air, Shadow limply dangling from it. 

“It ends now,” he said. “It’s over. The void will claim all of creation.” 

"I am not a god. The creation of this world was a privilege, one I'm glad I could take part in. But I never wanted it. They all feared me, and I couldn't take that. They feared me as much as they relied on me to keep this world alive. I could never want that. That's why I gave it up. That's why I made HIM."

The stranger with the Kakama Nuva suddenly began to dissipate and was entwined into Shadow's being. Suddenly green creative energy flowed through the once black blade. It was shattered into millions of fragments as the Av-Matoran lowered himself to the ground. His body was sparkling with power and he seethed with rage. 

“You are the force of destruction, I am the force of creation. You try to undo the hard work of others, you try to stop anything from happening. But no, that’s not how the world works. You cannot halt the forward march of time, for it and space are what makes us who we are. I have creation fighting with me. Creation is everything. It is time. And you are nothing.” 

The masked being held his staff aloft and fired a beam of destructive energy, however it was no good. It merely bounded off Shadow’s armor as he slowly walked toward him. His body then began to rattle and shake. After a mere couple of seconds, Shadow was a cloud of pure creative energy. 

“No. This is not how it should be!” said the spirit of destruction. He removed his mask and cloak, revealing a cloud of red energy. 

“You are weak. For there is nothing to fight for when you fight for nothing, but when you fight for something, you fight with passion and purpose. I am the 1st Shadow, he who speaks for the force of creation in this world of ours. And you are nothing.”

The could of energy formed into a humanoid figure that walked forward and stood before the other cloud. He extended his hand into the sky and formed a ball of power, consisting of every conceivable color swirling around inside of it with precise rhythm. He threw it into the red cloud and the entire room was blinded by the flash of bright light. 

 

Shadow awoke when he was shaken by Ghidora.

“Hey. Wake up!” 

The Av-Matoran sat up and looked around him. He was still in the chamber of the doors of the void, and everybody was crowded around him. 

“Hey Shadow,” said Petewa. “Where did the nothingness being go?”

“Well if I’m correct,” he said as he climbed to his feet, “he simply became nothing. In a way I gave him the very thing that he strove to achieve, which was nothingness.”

“Then if he’s nothing, where did he come from?” asked Finbarr. 

“Well, I was fused with a wellspring of creation, so we can assume that he had somehow fused himself with a wellspring of destruction in another dimension. But come, his origins are nothing to worry about now. Let us celebrate, for the Kanohi Force has reigned victorious this day.” 

They exited the room and marched back up the hallway. Finbarr was the only one who spoke. 

“So many questions in this world, not all of them can be answered. But the excitement is in trying to solve the ones that can be.”

 

And that is how it always was. And that is how it always will be.  

Edited by Irrie: The Loremaster
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EPILOGUE:

 

Black Six felt himself awaken in a bed. Standing over him was a Toa with a Hau Nuva.

“Welcome back, Blacky,” said the Toa. “I’m Tahu the pharmacist.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re on the BZNS Mukau, currently sailing through interdimensional space en route to the gates of Dimension 1. Our goal is to seal off their dimension to protect ours from invasion.”

Another Toa entered the room.

“Oh, and this is our fearless leader, Ghidora. Also on board is Arzaki, Kovika, Finbarr, and Rorzy.”

“Black Six,” said Ghidora. “We found you floating around here while we were headed to the gates.”

The former administrator leaned back against his pillow.

“How could I have been so wrong?” he said.

“About what?”

“About everything. Although I had disappeared into the void, I saw the battle between creation and destruction. And I realized the mistakes I had made.”

“You made none.”

“What?”

“You made no mistakes. You were trying to preserve order and care for your people. And that is what separates the cowardly from the strong.”

Black Six didn’t respond.

“Now come. Let’s not think about the past, for the future is at hand. Come on, I’ll show you around. This guy over here is Rorzy, and he has quite an interesting history. Oh, and there’s Arzaki, he’s a nice guy to be around when he’s in an agreeable mood. You already met Tahu, and there’s Kovika and Finbarr…”


AUTHOR'S NOTE:
 

I cannot even begin to describe how much I have enjoyed writing this epic. I’ve always wanted to write about Bionicles from the very first day I was on this forum, which was about two months and a year ago. And now that I’ve finally reached my dream of completing a story, I can reflect on how far I’ve come. Not only is this an accomplishment for me as a member of the BZPower community, but it is also an accomplishment for me as a writer. This is my very first work of literature, among both Bionicle and non-Bionicle works, to be completed in its entirety. And that is simply great.

One of the things that I loved so much about writing this was that I wasn’t writing just as a pastime, but I was doing it in conjunction with the work of the other Kanohi Force guys, which is probably what will make this work very special to me when I look back on it years from now.

I would like to give a huge thanks to The 1st Shadow. It was through his mentoring, correcting, and advice-giving that helped this epic to become the reality that it has. When I first started writing this on a sunny June afternoon, I could not possibly fathom the level of complexity and intricacy that this story would reach. And looking back, I am so glad that I’ve had Shadow to assist and instruct me through the writing of this chronicle and I can’t wait to see what we can work on together in the future.   

Secondly, I’d like to thank the guys down at the rant square. If it wasn’t for your humorous (and sometimes disturbing) conversations and conflicts I would probably have taken to using BZPower with a much more serious tone than I do now.

Finally, I would like to thank Jakura for having to put up with being dead for the entire series.

Working with the Kanohi Force is probably what has made being on BZPower such a great experience for me, and I cannot wait to see where our savage horde of artists, writers, madmen, and reprobates goes in the future. As for my writing, I am already planning my next KF epic and I hope that you all enjoy that one as much as you have this.

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