Dark Mirror: Part Ii

[a goose]

Okay, the Time-Keeper trilogy is nearing its completion. But this time, instead of a prologue, I have a short first chapter. Enjoy, people, as a new epic begins (and, if you want, you can read this before the other ones, because it's kinda like reading The Magician's Nephew before The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). The review topic is here.Banner made by EredarChapter 1:The five Matoran stood around a Suva. Each had his or her own story, but one thing remained the same: none of them would ever be missed.One, who claimed that he no longer remembered his name, had been lost in the Sea of Protodermis. He was a Ta-Matoran, and the others would grow to consider him a sort of leader. Another, Vorex, was a Ko-Matoran who had failed to leave Ta-Koro before it sank. Strave was a Le-Matoran. He ‘died’ when a Vorzakh flattened a building he was in. The only female in the group, a Matoran of Lightning named Nikarra, had disappeared while trying to escape Karzahni. The last one, Incommodo, was a Ge-Matoran, and was lost in a Morbuzakh attack after travelling to Metru-Nui.Each of them stared at the Suva as a golden object materialised above it. Another shock came as a voice filled the room. It was neutral, no emotion or gender was made clear by it, although they assumed it to be male.“You have been given a great task,” said the voice; “The object before you is the Key of Time. He who holds the Key controls time itself. You have each been given a sort of... power, to help you.“You,” it said to the Ta-Matoran; “You can see all of time. Your knowledge of the universe knows no limits.“Vorex, you have the ability to alter time, in order to cause a being or object to become a paradox. This should only be used to eliminate those who threaten the timeline or the Key. Once you have changed it, you must then devour its essence, completely destroying its presence. All memory of the paradox will be taken away.“Strave, you have the ability to enter the dreams of others. This way, you can communicate with the other Time-Keepers, no matter how far separated you are. Nikarra, you can freeze time in any given area. Incommodo, You are given the power of sight.”“Can’t I see already?” The grey and black Matoran asked.“Yes, but now you can see better.” The voice explained, calmly.“I dunno, that doesn’t seem like much of a power to me...” Incommodo was interrupted by the voice addressing another Matoran, who had been lurking in the corner. It was a De-Matoran, wearing a Mahiki.“Come forth.” The voice ordered. The Matoran stepped forward, casting a suspicious glance towards the others. “You have the ability to travel into the past. You cannot go forwards; however, you may return to the present day.“You are the Six, the Time-Keepers, tasked with the protection of the Key of Time. And now, you will be given an appearance unlike the others of your kind, to set you apart from them.”“Eh... if it’s alright with you, mate, Ah like meself the way Ah am, thanks anyway.” Strave said. The Ta-Matoran also spoke up, showing similar sentiments. The voice gave no answer, but beams of light came from the Suva, hitting the other four Matoran.Vorex’s mask changed in shape, becoming unlike any mask the others had ever seen, and he became taller, and thinner, although he was affected by very few changes. The black in Incommodo changed to become dark blue, and his Kualsi took on the shape of a Mahiki.Nikarra became black and purple, her mask changing to look like an Iden.The De-Matoran’s transformation was by far the strangest, and the most disturbing: his armour became a deep black, with traces of silver, and his black Mahiki warped and twisted, silver fangs emerging from the mouth.“Protect the key.” And, like that, the voice was gone.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Vorex: Keeper of Time

[a goose]

Chapter 2: Their location extended far beyond the room with the Suva, which eventually became called ‘The Key Room’. Some exploration told them that their location was called ‘Va-Metru’, which was Matoran for ‘City of Time’. A few of them found it funny.The Ta-Matoran found out that the Key Room was part of a large, golden tower. Upon reaching the top, he saw that they were on a sort of floating, artificial island. The border was circular, with spikes protecting it. The Matoran could not help but wonder what they protected it from. He eventually decided that it protected them from whatever resided in another tower, just outside the border, on an island of its own. He could see no-one inside it, but he had a strange feeling that it was watching him. The window which faced towards Va-Metru was a dark, blood-red. Only another unnerving factor.The main part of the city, not including the Watch-Tower (which is what they called the tower the Ta-Matoran saw), or the golden tower, was a brilliant, emerald green. It was dangerous to venture outside structures, however. The island did float, and whatever was outside was undoubtedly unsafe. There were four main sections: the golden tower, and three large buildings. One was a library, another was a place of residence, and the third – very strangely – was locked off. The buildings were all connected to the golden tower by a tunnel system. The tunnel system was below the tower, and the Time-Keepers could use strange, spherical pods to travel through the tunnels, so none of them had actually seen what the tunnels looked like.Most of the members of the group were rather antisocial, but Incommodo was unlike the others. He talked incessantly, never failing to irritate the group yet more. Most could stand him, but Vorex had a tendency to end up arguing with him. Vorex was... strange, even compared to the others. Every day, when they saw him, he was a little stranger.But I am not here to tell you the surroundings of the Time-Keepers. I am here to tell you their story, and tell it I will...- - -“Hello there, Mr Dark-And-Creepy...” Incommodo whispered as he stalked the fanged Matoran. “What are you up to...”He didn’t get to see much, as the fanged Matoran reached a pod, and went to a location Incommodo could not determine. “Now, that is interesting.”- - -Vorex sat in the residence building, not far from Nikarra and the Ta-Matoran. He lived in his own thoughts, and he thought in his journal.“What are you doing?” The Ta-Matoran asked.“Writing.” Vorex replied, simply. Ko-Matoran were not known for their social skills.“What are you writing?” It was Nikarra who spoke this time.“An autobiography. I write my life, as it happens to me. These pages are precious to me.” Vorex didn’t look up from his writing as he spoke.“I wrote an autobiography once.” The Ta-Matoran said. “Well, I wrote it in my thoughts, but still. What do you call it?”“Whispers.”“That’s funny. I remember hearing whispers,” said Nikarra; “I don’t suppose that’s where you got your title from?”“I did not realise that others heard them.” If Vorex was surprised, he didn’t show it.“I’ve heard them too.” The Ta-Matoran added.“Well, that’s interesting.” Vorex set down his journal. He was finished his entry.- - -Strave wasn’t with the others.He was in the library.Libraries, in general, didn’t appeal to Strave. But, there wasn’t anywhere else he could go. It was strange, he had to admit.He was lured to his death. The whispers...All his life, as long as he could remember, he had heard whispers in his head. They had guided him, they had told him what to do, they had helped him along the way. Their help was appreciated.Strave was unusual. He couldn’t help but wonder why he had been picked for this job. In his previous life, his profession had not been entirely legal. In fact, that was likely an understatement. He made ‘deals’ with people. They needed something, he got them it. For a price, of course. Unfortunately, Strave’s prices were often paid in blood.He wouldn’t tell them what he wanted. He would give them what they needed, and then, if they couldn’t pay up... well, let’s just say an accident was arranged.Strave sat in the library because he needed peace, and quiet. He needed to think about this. It was unlikely that he could make deals with anyone here, and the whispers had become silent.His train of thought was broken when he saw a movement, in the corner of his eye. He turned around, slowly. There was nothing there. Perhaps his eyes had tricked him...But his eyes didn’t trick him. In his line of work, he couldn’t afford to miss anything. There are – there were – a lot of people who wanted him dead.One thing was for certain: They were not alone in Va-Metru...

[a goose]

Chapter 3:It is a strange thing, destiny. It picks and it chooses, whether you like it or not. That was what went through the De-Matoran’s mind as he walked through.A funny fact about Matoran of Sonics was that they had brilliant hearing. Almost any sound was practically painful to them. He had learned to tune the painful sounds out, but he always listened for the important ones. Like footsteps.Footsteps were a funny thing. They could tell you a lot about a person, from their height, to their ego, to the emotions they felt. They could also be used to recognise a person.He had taught himself to recognise footsteps. He could tell who someone was from their footsteps. And he knew Incommodo was following him.Oh, yes, destiny was a funny thing indeed.He climbed into the sphere. He was headed to the library. He thought it funny, all of this, that none of these people had any idea why they were here. They accepted it anyhow.But Incommodo didn’t. The De-Matoran knew more than Incommodo, but that little Matoran of Magnetism was convinced that he was up to something. Probably because the De-Matoran had the ‘best’ power. A sign of favouritism. But he was wrong. It wasn’t favouritism. It was destiny. Destiny controlled all.He despised destiny.He wished there was a way to avoid destiny, to get around it, to-He stopped. The pod had a window, and something had moved outside it. Someone?The being made no sound. That was impossible. Everyone made sound, right? Right?It was disturbing. They weren’t alone. That wasn’t a good thing. That was a Very Bad Thing.- - -Incommodo couldn’t be bothered following the De-Matoran any further. He got into a sphere, and went to the Residence building, only to stumble upon a little meeting of his peers. “’Sup, people?”Vorex looked up. “Why do you all seek to disturb me?”“Not the most cheerful fella, is he?” Incommodo chuckled, sitting down. He then noticed Nikarra. “Hel-lo.”Nikarra sighed, stood up, and walked away.“What’s her problem?” asked Incommodo.The Ta-Matoran simply glared at Incommodo, not giving an answer.“Tough crowd…”- - -In the library, a small camera’s lens shifted as it zoomed in on them. It was hidden in a bookcase, and someone was looking through it. The group wasn’t getting suspicious. Good. That would be a bad thing. There were some, however, who were more intelligent than the others. They would realise soon enough.The being behind the cameras did not yet wish to reveal himself. They would find him, in good time. All in good time...- - -The De-Matoran sat in the library, looking curiously at Strave. Strave returned the look. Eventually, the De-Matoran spoke. “What is that around your neck?”“This?” Strave looked down at his neck. “It’s a medallion.”“If you don’t mind me asking, how exactly did you get it?”“I got it when...” Strave thought back. Or, he tried to. There was something, in his head, blocking out the memory. He couldn’t get to it, but he knew it was there. “I... I can’t remember...”“I didn’t think you could. There’s only one who can remember.”“Who? Who knows how I got this?”“Hm? Oh, not the medallion. Look at the others. They all have one.”“One what?”“Now that is the question, isn’t it?”- - -Vorex walked along the corridors, to his room. He was... he was angry, with all of them. It was obvious. They hated him. They were trying to avoid him. None of them liked him. They all thought he was insane. Were the right? Were they?Vorex punched a hole in the wall.Wait, a hole? But... the walls were made of metal, weren’t they?There was something in the wall. It was hollow. The thing was marble white, and shaped like some kind of dome. He began opening the wall further, until he saw what it was.In the wall, before Vorex’s eyes, was a gleaming, grinning, skull.- - -A scream made Incommodo stand up. “What was that?”The group ran to where it came from, only to find Vorex crouched in a foetal position, in the corner of his room. “They’re in the walls... they’re in the walls...”They looked at the wall. There was nothing there. The Ta-Matoran looked at him. “Are you okay, Vorex?”“I am fine.” Vorex hissed. For a few seconds, he seemed... different. “Leave me alone!”“Oh... okay...” The three stepped out, but Incommodo noticed something as he left. On the floor, peaking out of the wall, was a single, white finger. Edited May 9, 2012 by Vorex: Shadow Master

[a goose]

Chapter 4: The next day, Vorex was a lot more antisocial. However, the others hardly noticed him. They were all locked in their own little worlds, with their own little memories, barely ever interacting. Except when Incommodo got in the way.Incommodo couldn’t be more unlike the others. They were intelligent, yes, but very antisocial in nature. Incommodo compared it to Ko-Metru, except with less icicles.He held a small, golden object in his hand. He remembered how he had died, why he had died. From what he’d heard from the others, their deaths couldn’t have been more different either.Suddenly, he tripped over, landing flat on his face. He picked himself up, and looked down to see what he’d tripped on. It looked like a funny little marble. He got down on his knees and bent over it. He blew it, and it rolled over. He moved back in shock.There was an eye, sitting on the floor.There were a lot of things to wonder about in Va-Metru, but Incommodo couldn’t help but wonder about the hygiene rating.- - -Vorex sat in his room. He knew what he’d seen.He picked up his journal, and tried to write it down, but he couldn’t. The words just wouldn’t come to him.Each room had a mirror. Vorex’s lay shattered in the corner. He had broken it himself. He wasn’t sure why.One of the fragments lay near him. Looking into it, he saw a thing, a creature that had no place in nightmares and yet was undoubtedly him.He needed help...- - -The De-Matoran walked through the residence building. He stopped when he heard something. It sounded like... crying?He walked towards where it was, and ended up in the corridor with all the rooms. Strangely, there was a seventh door at the end which he hadn’t noticed before. He walked over to it, and opened it. There was a small, white Matoran sitting there. Perhaps that was what he had seen in the tunnels? “Uh... hello?”The Matoran just continued sobbing.“Are you okay?” He realised only a little too late that what he’d seen in the tunnels was bigger than a Matoran. This wasn’t it. This was something else.Before he could say anything else, the Matoran had grabbed his arm. He tried to struggle, but it was too strong. His fears were realised when it looked up.The mask was a white Pakari, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was the empty, black eye sockets. The problem was the fact that black, oily tears streamed down it’s face.The mask began to change. The mouth cracked open, leaving a jagged hole with a burning green light within it. The eyes began to burn with the same light.Its legs and arms became longer, and it released him as it stood up, spikes ripping through the armour on its back. It was a monster. It was an abomination. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.He turned around and darted out of the room, not looking back as he slammed the door shut and lay against it for a few moments.Once he had calmed himself, he looked around at the door. Except there wasn’t a door. It was just a wall. “What in the...?”- - -There was no denying that something strange was happening. A dark shadow fell across the Watch-Tower. The being residing within was not happy.It seemed something had been triggered. Something had gone wrong...He knew that it was risky, keeping him. He knew something may have gone wrong. But not THIS badly wrong. He had unleashed that virus to prevent this from happening again. And yet, they were as bloodthirsty as ever, even in death.He gave a sigh. This would not end well.- - -Nikarra stood in the golden tower. She was walking through it. She thought it strange, to have a city this big, but no-one but them in it.Of course, that was assuming they were alone. Vorex’s comment echoed in her mind...They’re in the walls...But what were they? What had been so mind-numbingly terrifying that it had left the cold and heartless Ko-Matoran in that state?It wouldn’t be long before she found out.She turned to walk back out of the corridor, only to find that the door had disappeared. It was just a wall.Nikarra turned, slowly, as she heard slow footsteps approaching from behind...- - -When Nikarra awoke, she was lying in her room.It had been a dream. She was asleep. It couldn’t have been anything else.She stood up, and looked in her mirror. She moved back in terror as she saw the reflection. Her room was in pieces. And there were messages scratched into the walls.Perhaps she was going insane. Perhaps she had written in her sleep.But that didn’t explain why they weren’t in her own handwriting.

[a goose]

Chapter 5: It had become too much.The Ta-Matoran sighed as he looked at the other four Time-Keepers. They were bordering on insane. In fact, Vorex was insane. Sanity’s event horizon was within sight for all of them, and something had to be done. Incommodo wasn’t here. But then, he was Incommodo.He himself was the only one who hadn’t had some kind of encounter, and he dreaded the day it would come. “We were summoned here by an unknown entity. We thought we were alone. We were wrong. None of us know what we face here...”“I do...” Vorex whispered.“Then speak up.” The Ta-Matoran sighed.“Have you ever wondered why you were afraid of the dark? Have you ever wondered what it was that made it so terrible? Have you ever thought someone was with you, when you knew you were alone? The Makuta uses the shadows to his advantage, and we fear him for it. But who created the shadows? What hides in the darkness? What lurks in mirrors when you turn your back, what flits past in the corner of your eye? I know not their names; but I know what they are. They are our doom.”“That has to be the longest ye’ve spoken since we got ‘ere.” Strave chuckled. “But Ah think ye’re goin’ a bit emo there. Lighten up.”“This is no time for jokes, Strave.” Nikarra said. “Whatever we have seen, we got off lightly compared to him. There are things here, things they don’t want us to find out about...”“Skeletons in the closet.” Incommodo added. The others in the room turned to look at him; they hadn’t noticed him walk in.“Well, yes, exactly.” Nikarra was slightly surprised that Incommodo had said something so... sensible.“No, I mean, there are literally skeletons in the closet. That are real. And dead. And skeleton-y. Did I mention they were skeletons?”“I think ya did, yeah.” Whatever surprise anyone had felt had now completely vanished.- - -There was a closet in Incommodo’s room. Strave could have sworn it rattled slightly as they walked in. “And this is the closet yer skeletons are in, right?”“Yup.” Incommodo said. He stood unusually bravely. Mainly because he was frozen in place in terror.All of the males were standing far back, so Nikarra took it upon herself to open the closet.The door gave a strange creak as it was opened, revealing...Absolutely nothing.The closet was completely empty, apart from a scrap of paper. “But there was something in there! And it was... bigger!”Nikarra tapped the wall. Solid. “Looks like you’re just as insane as the rest of us. Welcome to Va-Metru, sane population: nil.”- - -The De-Matoran had taken the slip of paper. He was in the library, and noticed Vorex walk in. “What are you doing here?”“Researching.” Vorex said, simply. The De-Matoran had an idea of what he meant. Earlier that day, he had heard Vorex talking to Nikarra about something, and Nikarra suggested that he went to the library.“I can help you,” suggested the De-Matoran; “I know this place pretty well.”“Uh... thanks?”- - -It didn’t take the De-Matoran long to find what he was looking for.The sheet had one word written on it: Sanarax.It obviously wasn’t Matoran, but it had to mean something. Soon enough, he found a dusty book with that title, and what looked like a dictionary beside it. “Hey, weren’t you writing an... autobiography or something? What was it called again?”“Whispers.”The De-Matoran looked down at the dictionary.Sanaras – Whisper (plural is ‘Sanarax’)Score, he thought.

[a goose]

Chapter 6: The seed had been planted.The De-Matoran thought it funny that his decision could have broken time itself. However, Va-Metru seemed separate from normal time. He was still grinning when he reached his room.That was when the frown came.There were scraps of paper lying all around his room; they were old, and yellow. They lay all over the place, but one stood out. It had been pinned to the wall directly opposite the door, and the De-Matoran couldn’t help but read it.ReichenbachThe Reichenbach was a mythical creature, whose appearance was said to herald the apocalypse. Heartless and cruel, the Reichenbach would go to great lengths in order to take revenge on those who caused it pain.Reichenbach. It had a nice ring to it.Through the corner of his eye, he saw something move. It looked like it was heading towards the exit...- - -You see, the shifty one, he offered to help me, and it was him who found this book.Vorex looked at the book. It wasn’t in Matoran, but according to that De-Matoran, it said all that he needed to know.Apparently, there is one thing that can reverse the mutation.Vorex sighed and looked at himself in a shard of the mirror. His eyes were sunken, and their glow was almost gone. He was in a sad, sad state.He heard a creak from outside – someone was out there.More on that next entry. Someone’s nearby.He waited, holding his breath. Whatever was outside knew it had been heard; after what felt like an hour, it relaxed, and started moving again. Vorex breathed a sigh of relief.- - -The Ta-Matoran had been having headaches. They were so, so annoying. It was like there was something hidden in his mind.He was sitting in the library, but he looked up as the De-Matoran walked in. “Hello.”“I’m not here to have a conversation.” The De-Matoran sighed.“Why, then?”“Vorex.” The De-Matoran looked around, suspiciously, as though he thought he would be overheard.“What about him?” The Ta-Matoran was slightly worried.“He’s planning to steal the Key.”“What?!” It was impossible. It was idiotic. It was suicidal!“It’s true. He’s going to try and go in tonight... you have to stop him.”“But... how?”“There is a way,” muttered the De-Matoran; “But you’d have to be very quick.”“What is it?”“On the Suva, you will find a small, red button. If you press it, the key will be split into six – one piece will automatically be implanted in each Time-Keeper. That way, no-one can ever steal the key.”“That... that just might work...”- - -Incommodo stood inside the tunnel system. Well, kneeled, really. He had hacked into the program controlling what buildings you could enter, and was trying to unlock the third building. He started trying passwords.vametruPassword Denied. Two Attempts Left.He sighed, and typed in another password.timekeyPassword Denied. One Attempt Left.Then, he remembered the piece of paper.sanaraxPassword Accepted.The sphere’s door slid open unusually slowly. It was almost like it was smirking at him. It was obviously a trap, but he couldn’t help but walk into it.He climbed into the pod, and the door slid shut. It sped off through the tunnels. Once it had gone into the tunnel leading to the third building, the lights outside disappeared. He was in complete darkness.The pod door opened when it reached the building. Incommodo did his very best not to gasp as he saw the building.There was only one room; the walls were blank, and there was a small stage in the middle, with a mirror sitting on it. The mirror was creepy enough in its own right, seeing as it reflected an empty room.Of course, all mirrors in empty rooms reflect empty rooms. There isn’t anything at all creepy about that.The thing that made it creepy was that the room most definitely was not empty.

[a goose]

Chapter 7: “Okay,” whispered Incommodo; “This is ever-so-slightly unnerving…”He tried to walk back and return to the pod, only to find that the pod had left without him. Karz.Now, skeletons in the closet were one thing. People hiding in the background were bearable.But this? This was a bit too much for anyone to look at and remain sane.He was completely surrounded. There was no way out. To put it lightly, he was screwed.The first to move was a small, white Matoran wearing a Pakari. Its eyes were dark and empty, and dried black tears had left marks on its face. Although Incommodo didn’t know it, the De-Matoran had seen the same Matoran before.After that, they all began to move as one. It was difficult to describe it; there were Matoran, there were Toa, Skakdi, Vortixx, Steltians – pretty much every kind of being Incommodo had ever seen, and more. They moved just like the living, but they were definitely dead. The white Matoran’s eyes were probably forced from their sockets. There was a Steltian with a torn noose still hanging around its neck. These were the dead, but walking…It was unusual, but it reminded Incommodo of the situation of the Time-Keepers – each of them dead, but brought back to guard the Key of Time.Except these beings obviously had different intentions. The white Matoran was so close to him now, it sounded like it was saying something. In fact, when he looked around, all of their mouths were moving. Their words were hushed – like whispers. In fact, exactly like whispers. They were whispering.And then it hit him. The others had all heard whispering – funnily enough, he couldn’t recall any whispers – but there was a chance that it was these beings who were whispering. Whatever they heard, it was coming from here. The whispers had stopped when they arrived in Va-Metru, and it was because the whisperers were already here.All these beings whispering – but what were the words? The more he listened, the clearer it became.Leave, Incommodo. Leave now. You don’t belong here. You don’t belong with them.They weren’t the first. They won’t be the last.They were telling him to leave.But he couldn’t leave.Right?He turned and looked back. The pod may have been gone, but the tunnels were still there.You have to run. Run now.Incommodo ran.- - -I am Vorex. And I will fight, I will fight until my last breath, to keep it that way.Vorex sat his journal down. Some day, someone might read it. And if he didn’t succeed, at least they would know his reasoning.He summoned a pod, and got to the Golden Tower. Everything was going fine, right until he made it into the Key Room.- - -The Ta-Matoran stood, waiting for Vorex, and smirked as he walked in. “Well, well.”“What do you want?” Vorex hissed.“Oh, I don’t want anything. It’s what you want that matters.”“The Key…”“I know you want to steal it, and I know why.”“Then you understand why I must take it!”“Oh, I understand alright. No-one would want to become a monster. But, do you know what? I’m not letting you take it.”“But… but why?”“Because I don’t like you.” The sneering Matoran set his hand on the Suva, right next to the red button. “And, anyway, it’s not like they’re going to miss you.”“You… you are a monster.”“No, I’m afraid it’s you that’s the monster.” He chuckled. “Or, at least, it’s you that’s going to be the monster. I’m the one who’ll be praised for saving the Key of Time from you, the pitiful traitor.”“We were chosen to protect the Key from people like you!”“No. We were chosen to be the heroes no-one ever got to see. We died, right before coming here. Really convenient, right? That voice, whoever he is, he killed us. Why? To send us to this little city of horrors and broadcast us on live television for the enjoyment of all.”“What are you talking about?”“They have cameras. All over the place. They are giving us ultimate power, and they can’t even trust us enough not to watch our every move. Well, I’m about to show them that I, for one, can be trusted.”“You are a puppet. You are being manipulated.”“I AM NO-ONE’S PUPPET!” The Matoran screamed, slamming his hand down on the button.

[a goose]

Chapter 8: Incommodo moved carefully through the tunnels. One wrong step, one moment’s lapse of concentration, could get him killed. And, to be honest, he quite liked being alive. Or re-alive, anyway.He soon made it out of the tunnel, but there was someone standing in his way.“Well, well, well. Look who it is.” The De-Matoran chuckled. “I’m so glad you could make it.”“What are you talking about? I mean, seriously, I don’t need an evil villain monologue right now.”“I am not the villain.” He spat in reply.“Alright, calm down, I’m sure we can talk this over.”“It’s too late for talking. Vorex is already trying to steal the Key.”“But that’s not the whole story, is it?”“Of course not. Right about now, every Time-Keeper should have a sixth of the Key. And I’m going to bring those pieces together.”“Ah, so that’s your villainous plot.”“What? I am not the villain here!”“Overcoming denial is the first hurdle.” Incommodo explained, with mock wisdom.“Were you born a moron, or are you just doing this to annoy me?”“A bit of both, really.”“Whatever. You’re coming with me.”“Why?”“Once the Time-Keepers are united, the Key will form once more.”“And then you can take it for yourself.”“Well, yes.”“And you still claim not to be the villain?”The De-Matoran facepalmed and sighed. “I don’t have time for this...”- - -Vorex leapt at the Ta-Matoran, who only just made it out of the way. “Go to Karzahni.”“Haven’t you noticed? We’re already there.” The Ta-Matoran kicked Vorex square in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards.“What do you have to gain from this?” Vorex threw a punch at the Ta-Matoran, hitting him in the jaw.“A quiet sense of satisfaction?” The Ta-Matoran hurled himself into Vorex, sending them both crashing into the wall. A crack was heard. And then another.The two Matoran stood and watched as the wall crumbled away before them, revealing a small, dark rom. They stepped back, slowly, as something inside it began to move...- - -Strave stood in the library, searching through the books. He became curious when he noticed a blue one, with no title on the spine. He tried to pull it out, but it became stuck halfway. He heard a soft click, followed by a sound like gears whirring, and the bookcase slid aside, revealing what seemed to be a room. As he looked into it, trying to figure out what was in it, he failed to notice the lights in the library going out, one by one.- - -Nikarra was in her room. The messages were written backwards, almost as though whoever wrote them had known that she would see them first in the mirror. She had managed to write down what they said:They are in the walls.It seemed Vorex wasn’t the only one suspicious about the walls.She pulled the bed forwards, so that she could get a better look at the wall, and noticed that a bit shaped kind of like a brick was sticking out. When she pushed it in, another part stuck out. Obviously, that wouldn’t work.So, this time, Nikarra pulled it, and it came out with a strange popping sound.It was empty behind the wall. That was strange.Suddenly, more parts of the wall began popping out – one flew across the room, and very nearly hit her – until that whole part of the wall opened up, allowing her to see a room. She heard creaking, then snapping, and something began to move in the darkness. It was too tall, and too thin.She let out an audible gasp as the light from her room fell on its head: a grinning, marble-white skull.

[a goose]

Chapter 9: He was unhappy.Well, that was one way of putting it.He had made the tiniest little mistake, and this was where it had gotten him. The dead were rising from their graves. Well, their small rooms concealed by walls, but still, the point remained that the dead were intended to stay dead.- - -The skeleton moved forwards. It was unlike any corpse Nikarra had seen before – nothing metallic, just plain bone. And then there was the head: long, and insect-like. In fact, looking at it, it rather resembled some sort of oversized, bipedal insect. A soft glow could be seen in the sockets of its eyes.It reached out its arm towards her, but Nikarra leapt back, and, in a feat of unusual strength, pushed the bed over, causing it to land on the creature. However, she could hear a strange clicking, like many things being reassembled, and ran from her room. Once she had reached the ground floor, she was transported to below the Golden Tower.- - -The De-Matoran stopped and turned as he heard Nikarra’s pod approaching. “Alright, Incommodo, let’s settle this quickly...”However, once he turned, he found that Incommodo had already left, and swore under his breath.- - -Incommodo ran up the spiral staircase leading to the top of the Golden Tower. He noticed a door off to the side, leading to the Key Room, but payed it no attention. Soon, the stairs ended and there was a door in front of him. He opened it, and ran in, before turning as he heard the De-Matoran enter behind him.This room, strangely, was all dark grey, looking like it was made of stone. Swords, axes, knives and various other weapons hung from the walls.The De-Matoran grabbed a long, sharp sword, and spun it in his left hand.Incommodo picked out a sword of his own, tried to spin it, and dropped it to the floor. The De-Matoran took this opportunity to leap at his opponent, who only just saved himself in time, using the sword to block an attack which would otherwise have decapitated him.Incommodo gave a small bow. “En garde.”The De-Matoran tried to bow himself, but doubled over in pain as Incommodo kicked him while he was bending over.“Sorry, mate, maybe next time!” Incommodo called back, swapping his sword out for two small blades, and dashing out of the room.- - -A clicking sound was heard with every step the creature took towards Vorex and the Ta-Matoran.“On the count of three.” The Ta-Matoran whispered, glancing at Vorex, who nodded back. “One...”“Two...” Vorex prepared to run on a moment’s notice.“THREE!” The two Matoran ran out of the room as fast as their legs could carry them, colliding with Incommodo and crashing down several flights of stairs. Incommodo did his best to keep running, tripping and falling repeatedly as he did so, until they finally hit the bottom. From the clicking, it was obvious that the creatures weren’t far behind them.Nikarra watched with some amusement as the three Matoran crashed into the wall. “If you’re quite done, I would suggest getting the Karz out of here.”- - -Strave did his best to look around in the darkness. He was surrounded by clicking sounds. He heard one very close to him, and turned around slowly, to see two faintly glowing lights trained on him. He felt something on his shoulder, and cried out.The lights in the room flicked back on, illuminating the now-empty library.

[a goose]

Chapter 10:The group sat in the library. Strave and the De-Matoran had disappeared, and they were on their own.Had the De-Matoran been there, he may have heard a strange, mechanical sound as a camera zoomed in on the faces of all of those present, one by one.One of the greatest mysteries of Va-Metru was the identity of the being controlling the cameras.He was one of the last of his species, banished for his rash actions – but he could not truly be stopped.They had called his kind ‘the Great Beings’ (a pathetic and worthless title, in his own opinion). They thought he was too radical, that he went too far. They were wrong. He wasn’t radical, he was efficient.They became suspicious of him after realising that his ‘Baterra’, designed to end the Core War, could not be deactivated. He managed to convince them that he had thought they could be stopped, that it was a simple mistake which would not be repeated. The truth, however, was that he had intended this – why just end one war when wiping out everyone would prevent any more?They finally decided that he was ‘an insane, psychotic lunatic’ when he created Marendar. Oh, how magnificent it was! Despite a few AI glitches, once Marendar detected the Toa there would be almost nothing that could stop it.But that ‘almost’ was the difficulty. That ‘almost’ was the reason that four Matoran now sat, discussing an escape plan...- - -“We have to get out of here.” Nikarra explained.“But why? The library’s empty apart from us. We’re safe here!” Incommodo seemed confused.“Not ‘the library’ here, ‘Va-Metru’ here.” Nikarra sighed.“Oh, right. Got it.” Incommodo chuckled. “So, anyone got any bright ideas?”“I have one.” The De-Matoran said, walking into the room with his arms folded behind his back. “I suggest that we die.”“That’s ridiculous!” The Ta-Matoran exclaimed.“Actually, it’s not. In fact, if you took the time to think about it, you’d all come to the same conclusion.”“And how can you be so sure of that?” Incommodo asked.“Incommodo, I know you’ve formed a bad opinion of me, but you must believe me when I tell you that mine are noble intentions.”“Uh-huh. That’s not the idea you gave me earlier...”- - -“I can’t believe we’re doing this...” Vorex hissed.“Hey, I’m not exactly enjoying the company myself.” The Ta-Matoran sighed as he led the group through the residence building.According to the De-Matoran, there were ‘weak points’ in the fabric of the universe at various points in Va-Metru. They usually appeared as doors, which either immediately or after a short space of time ceased to exist. Nikarra and the De-Matoran had both seen them, and both said that there were things inside them. They had split up into two groups – Incommodo and the De-Matoran searching for the one in the Golden Tower, and the others searching the residence building.Nikarra put her arm out in front of the Ta-Matoran. There was a seventh door at the end of the corridor – it must have been what the De-Matoran had been talking about.Warning the others to stay back, she walked slowly towards the door, and grabbed the handle. It had no feeling, no texture, and yet it was definitely there.She turned it and pulled the door open as quickly as she could, and raised an eyebrow as she saw what was behind it: an image of the tunnel system. An image that was changing, almost as though whatever was taking it was moving forward. She reached out her hand, and touched it. Glass. “Vorex, go get me something heavy.”Vorex returned a few seconds later with the broken mirror from his room, and handed it to Nikarra, who proceeded to throw it. The mirror shattered the image into a thousand pieces, which spread all over the corridor and revealed the blank wall that had been behind them. A terrible screeching sound echoed through the building, and had the three Matoran waited, they would have witnessed a very strange phenomenon as the fragments disintegrated...

Edited June 14, 2012 by Using Less Vorex

[a goose]

Chapter 11:“Aren’t you going to go upstairs?” Incommodo asked.“No.” The De-Matoran replied.“Why not?”“Because I have to show you something.” The De-Matoran handed Incommodo the sheet from his room.“Rake-in-back.” Incommodo read aloud. “What’s a ‘Rake-in-back’?”“It’s Reichenbach, and it’s my name.”“So, what? You named yourself after it?”“No, it was my name before I came here, although I couldn’t remember it then. It’s the reason that all of this is happening.”“So, basically, you’re miffed because you were named after the monster that’ll end the world?”“I am not named after it – on the contrary, it is named after me. Also, it – I – will not end the world; I will herald the end.”“Who will end the world, then?” Incommodo asked.“You will.”“What?” Incommodo almost laughed at this ridiculous proposal.“You’re going to kill the world, Incommodo. I don’t know when, I don’t know why, I only know that something will push you over the edge and trigger the apocalypse.”“So, what you’re saying is that I’m a walking, talking time-bomb counting down to Armageddon?” Incommodo raised an eyebrow.“Not for much longer you aren’t.” In a flash, the De-Matoran had darted round behind Incommodo, and hit him in the back of the head with a metal object, sending him stumbling into the tunnels. “Goodbye, Incommodo.”Since he and Incommodo had already returned in the Golden Tower, he was able to simply walk to the door’s location. As he opened it and the image was revealed, he used the same golden compass he had assaulted Incommodo with to smash the mirror that displayed it.- - -Incommodo lay on his back in the darkness. He could see something moving towards him, illuminating by a flickering light. It looked like... it looked like a Toa.“Don’t panic.” The Toa said, slowly. The light danced across his blue armour, and there was a deep sadness in his eyes. “It’s a funny thing, I kept worrying I’d forget what to say, even though this is my third time hearing this. For you, it’s either your first or your second. Although one of you has heard and forgotten this.”- - -The group of three got a transport and starting heading back towards the library, but Nikarra screamed out as she saw what was up ahead through the small window:The tunnel had been blocked off.They were going to die.- - -The De-Matoran sighed. He had to find a method of death without causing too much physical damage to himself in order for this to work.In the roof of the Golden Tower, there was a small hole. He climbed out through it, and gave a small wave to the Watch-Tower, before dropping off it, his arms spread out and his eyes closed.- - -“My time is almost here.” He sighed, sitting down. A frown crossed his face behind his Kanohi, which looked like a Mahiki. “As is yours. Not quite as close, perhaps, but close nonetheless. Heh. I think I’d have preferred to have been killed by the bullet.“But that’s not what I’m here to say. I’m here to warn you: he was right. Reichenbach was right. The world is going to end, and all the blame will be solely on your shoulders. You can’t prevent it. Sometimes, the heroes don’t win. Sometimes even the good guys have no choice but to sit back as the world burns around them.” He stopped for a second, and looked behind him. “Well, that’s my time up. Close your eyes, Incommodo. It’s time to wake up.”- - -When the tunnel system was built, everything was taken into account.Everything except a crash.Instead of stopping the explosion of flames which blasted from the pod, the tunnels actually assisted them in their journey. The Toa standing in front of Incommodo was incinerated by the flames, but Incommodo himself disappeared right before they reached him.- - -In the main universe:As Incommodo realised he was falling, a stream of thoughts flew through his head. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t do anything, he couldn’t –His Kualsi.The thought occurred to him just in time, and he teleported away less than a second before he would have hit the foam. Luckily for him, he hit a few branches on the trees, which slowed him down – if he his plan had worked as he had hoped and he had simply landed on the ground, it would have killed him.He coughed as all the colours around him started changing to different shades of red, and then brightened to a bright white, before everything turned dark.Then the memories came...

Edited June 14, 2012 by Using Less Vorex

[a goose]

Epilogue: Incommodo’s eyes opened. Everything was spinning. He tried repeatedly to get up, and eventually propped himself against a tree. He saw a black figure walking towards him, and it became clearer after a few seconds. “You.”“You’re too late.” Reichenbach chuckled.“No,” Incommodo said; “I can still stop you.”“You really can’t. The Dark Mirror will be broken, and the Shadows will escape.”“Well, the ‘new hero’ can still save the world.”“Wrong.”“What?”“WRONG!” Reichenbach shouted, his voice echoing through their surroundings. “That, my dear Incommodo, was what those of us who actually have brains call a ‘mistranslation’. Not a new hero. A new Marendar.”“No.”“Any second now, the Shadows will begin building their master a new form for his return.”“But... but the bell hasn’t tolled eleven yet! I still have time!”Dun.“One.” Reichenbach smirked.- - -With every toll, Nikarra took another step towards the Mirror. She held a mallet in her hand, and sighed with resignation as she began to move towards the mirror.- - -Dun.“Two.”Dun.“Three.”“Stop, Reichenbach!” Incommodo pleaded.Dun.“Four.”“You don’t have to do this!”Dun.“Five.”Incommodo sighed as he realised he didn’t have a chance.Dun.“Six.”Dun.“Seven.”Dun.“Eight.”Dun.“Nine.”Dun.“Te-en!” Reichenbach’s eyes narrowed.Dun.- - -Nikarra raised the mallet over her head, and brought it down. Then she brought the mallet down again, and again, until the cracks in the mirror broke outwards. A flood of blackness swept her backwards, and she hit the wall. One of the Shadows stopped, and became an almost humanoid figure, standing up. Its red eyes gleamed. “Hello, darling.”The Shadow chuckled, and instead of flying out windows or through cracks below the door like the other Shadows, he simply turned the handle and walked out, giving Nikarra a little wave as he did so. “I hope you regain consciousness soon enough that I can see you again before the Apocalypse.”TO BE CONCLUDED IN THE ELEVENTH HOUR...