Torn

[Karzhani the Utahraptor]

I am Takanuva, Toa of Light. A day ago I was Takua, a Matoran, a mere villager, and now, I stand as the biggest barrier between the continuation of our home and its extinction. But as I rise from this strange liquid, its vapors dissipating into the air around me, I sense that something is not quite right...I do not feel whole.

 

 

Oh, shut up, impertinent insect.

 

Show yourself, Makuta! Why does your voice resound in my head?

I don't know what that Protodermis did to us, puny Toa, but it appears our forms have been intertwined.

 

What trickery are you employing? Release me at once!

 

You presume that it is my intention to merge with you as a singular entity. Amusing.

 

This is no time for small talk, Makuta. As I - as we - speak, the Matoran are waiting for me to defeat you and awaken the Great Spirit.

 

I will do everything I can to keep that from happening.

 

Try and stop me.

 

This body might belong to both of us, but I demand that its duty is only to the Mask of Shadows.

 

Look at the reflection of yourself - ourselves - in that pool of Protodermis, Makuta. Our forms have been combined, our masks have been merged. We possess great strength, and we should wield it for what is just.

 

Our masks have not been merged. They have been broken.

 

I guess my portion of it will just have to be stronger than yours.

 

Your condescension is laughable. Control of this form will belong to whoever has the most willpower, the most strength.

 

If you fight for shadows, if you manipulate and deceive, if you step over the bodies of others to forwarding your will, how can you say you have strength? Makuta, tell me now how casting your brother into an endless slumber is an act of strength?

 

Strength...comes from the efficiency of the mind and body, Toa, not from doing what is right.

That's where you're wrong. I might not be as clever as you - I can pierce your labyrinth mind, its twists and turns and absolute boundlessness. But I know that by virtue of being able to discern right from wrong, I am stronger than you. You are a machine that calculates and derives an end without concerns for the lives of others - you have no heart and no spirit, only a mind and brute force. This is why, today, I will emerge triumphant. This is why us - we - are strong. Let us go forth, and use this body, and its broken mask, for a greater purpose.

 

"I AM TAKUTANUVA"

 

And I will save the Matoran.

 

Nooo! How...can...your..force...trump -

 

"LIGHT HAS REVEALED THE WILL OF MATA NUI. OUR BROTHER MUST BE AWAKENED."

 

***

 

I now stand, whole again, separated from the Makuta's spirit by an unexpected turn of events. Through the power of Mata Nui, my form was restored, and I once again can call myself the untainted Toa of Light. But as I survey the curious landscape beyond the Makuta's lair - the place the Turaga call Metru Nui, I can't help but think that the experience I had with a shadowy being in my mind is not an uncommon one. All of us are Takutanuva in some way, good and evil given form, an eternal conflict of desire and virtue. Making the right decisions stems from overcoming the inner darkness that lurks within our forms.

 

All of our masks are broken. But that doesn't mean we can't be strong.

 

Edited January 19, 2013 by Karzhani the Utahraptor

[Pikiru]

Not bad at all! I would never have thought of doing the contest this way

 

By the way the second time Makuta speaks I think theres a mistake:

 

I don't know what that Protodermis to us, puny Toa, but it appears our forms have been intertwined.

 

I think you might want to add a "did" in there

Edited January 19, 2013 by Pikiru