Kessen

90% of my experience has been doing stupid things, DP'ing, and all around being an unintentional thorn in the Staff's side. I don't really have much time to hang around here anymore, but thankfully I've largely gotten past my noob stage. Still do stupid stuff, but I try not to. Also, to the staff who's had to deal with my stupidity over the years, I really apologize. For all the flak you get, you still do one heck of a lot of work around here cleaning up messes and keeping the place nice.

Get hype, this looks great. Better than BS01 just dying, and BIONICLE with it. Also, still waiting for that step by step of the Makuta Titan. Will you be making instructions for buildable sets rather than just sets?

I was interested in getting involved with expanded Multiverse, but every one of the episodes except 5 are link unavailable. Could you repost them? I was interested in getting involved with expanded multiverse, but all but the 5th episode is not available (I.E. link is dead). Can you perhaps repost them so that I can read them?

You have a reasonable point, I'll grant you that. But consider this: Gen 1 existed for 10 years, I mean, 10 fricking years! That's ten years of storyline to establish multiple themes, to well establish the characters, and to flesh out different things about the storyline. Now, I won't disagree with you. At this current point, Gen 2 has no theme. But if you take a look back at Gen 1, and see where it was by its second season (the Bohrok), then I doubt you'll find a theme there either. It wasn't really until the Books that the Toa became good understandable characters, and only in the latter part of Season 3 and the Rahkshi was there anything close to a theme. Also, another point. When you read a book or book series, do you stop halfway through and think about what the theme of the book is? Perhaps. Will it be easy to find? If you're a decent author, I'd say no. The theme is the culmination of the entire series or book. BIONICLE Gen 2 is still on its first legs, and the arc is incomplete. I would say that, of course there's no theme yet, because the story hasn't ended. We only know that Gen 1 has a theme because hindsight is 20-20. A final reminder. I will admit, Gen 2 isn't quite as good as Gen 1. Yet. I'm sure, however, that if you could go back in time and look at Gen 1 during its second year, you probably wouldn't think it was too hot. There was a lot of special things about Gen 1, but it wasn't like everyone thought it was the most amazing thing on planet earth when it was out. It was only when everything began to come together that people suddenly realized, "Hey, that was actually pretty cool. I like it." As far as I see it, we can complain about Gen 2 until the LEGO Company shuts down, but the fact remains that Gen 2 is incomplete. Many of the things that people loved about Gen 1--Greg's personal involvment, the online serials, the books like Time Trap that deviated from the storyline being sold on shelves, and even the depth and complication of story--didn't come until 4 to 5 years after BIONICLE started. We're only on the 2nd year. If we're patient with the story (and LEGO doesn't end it in 2017), I am confident that Gen 2 will be an amazing tale. Also, why so much negativity? It's not as if LEGO has completely ruined BIONICLE. While right now it's not Gen 1, that's a matter of perspective. We begged LEGO for years to bring back BIONICLE, and they did. Let's give them a chance, buy the sets, and enjoy what we've been given.

Well, the big issue is time limit, but, as a great man once said, "Time limits are the root of all evil." My biggest issue with Gen-2 as a whole is the lack of characterization. I didn't feel like I knew any of the characters well for ages, and now(after reading the graphic novel), I still feel like I've only gotten a good glimpse of Pohatu's character. With Classic BIONICLE, the plot was impeccable, but for the most part, so is this one. What both the webisodes and story in general need is deeper characters. I feel like this is where LEGO went wrong by choosing Wyndham as an author. He was used to doing histories for Star Wars, not stories. The difference is, a history tells you what the characters did, and a story tells you who the characters are. Also, I have to agree that the fights were way too easy-short(to use Chute-Speak). Characterization is my biggest beef with 2015, but heck, I like the sets 20x more than Hero Factory, so I'll keep buying(including the graphic novels and books, should they get better).

For a collective stories topic, I would want to link all my stories to a topic titled something like, "Kessen's Story Collection," or some amalgam of that, correct? Or is there a more specific format I need to use?

Please post your comments, and tell me what you like! Thanks! Destiny of the Lost Continued from Greg Farshtey's, ‘The Powers That Be’ Prologue THE SHADOWED ONE WAS DYING. Or, perhaps, he was simply living new life. It had been those three vials he had found on Xia, and from there, it had gotten worse. One of the vials had broken on one of his ships, releasing its deadly poison. Everyone had died. Except for one. And somehow, in his discrete dwelling on Xia, the Shadowed One had been found, and had contracted the disease. However, death was not right to describe the sensation. It was pain, yes, but pain that led to an end. It was overtaking him like a swarm of ants, but also like a bath of Energized Protodermis, recreating them. He had seen no one for days, and he was surprised his aged form had survived this long. Then, he felt the end nearing. There it was, around the corner, and then . . . A voice spoke in his head. You have been chosen. It was a dark, and ancient tone. Chosen? Chosen to be what? I am not the chosen, but the chooser. You have been chosen, the voice said, To rule the universe. The Shadowed One smiled. What must I do? Suddenly, the Shadowed One felt a powerful feeling wash over him, and he felt new, young, and strong. He stood up from his deathbed, and looked at the metal wall which acted as his mirror. He was astonished. “You have healed me of Voporak's curse,” he said, astounded. That is not all. You have more power than ever. But there is a price. “What is that?” You must find the other two vials, it said. Then we'll talk. <><><><> THE KESTORA IN THEIR MIGHTY red star fumed as the ice melted off of their being. Fool intruders. The Kestora were only here to fulfil Mata-Nui's will, and to do it in silence. It would be unfortunate to be forced to destroy the Toa, but if the Toa would not listen to reason, then they would have to be destroyed. “We”, said one of the Kestora, “must shatter these Toas' arrogance and grand delusions.” “Yes,” said another, “we must make quick work of them. The Great Being commanded it.” However, the final, obviously the one in command, denied the suggestion. “We were created by the Great Beings, and hold respect for them. But why does this one seek the destruction of Toa? For his own atonement. Death is not the proper were-gild to right an action. We shall find these Toa, attempt to explain to them the reason in our actions. Then, if still they refuse to listen. . .” The leader's eyes gleamed. “Then we shall destroy them.” <><><><> SLOWLY, A SENSE OF AWE warmed Kopaka's memory. Mavrah? This could not be. The same one who rested calmly as a cold, dead memory in the Turaga's tales. Surely not. However, another fact reminded him that, although Mavrah's death was very likely, it was not fact, nor could it be proven wrong. Until now, at least. “I, um, I don't believe we've met,” Kopaka said, easing into a diplomatic introduction. However, as usual, Pohatu blundered into things. Eyebrow raised, Pohatu looked carefully at Mavrah. “You're supposed to be dead.” “The Kestora could say the same of you. None of us are supposed to be here, you know. And how do you know me.” “Two words,” Kopaka answered, “those being Turaga and Whenua.” Mavrah raised his eyebrows. “Not Whenua of Metru-Nui?” Kopaka nodded. “Indeed.” Mavrah sat down, shaking his head, mumbling something about, “He told the truth. It was no lie.” After about five minutes of mumbling to himself, he stood. “You must excuse me,” he said, “you understand, ever since I was lost from Mata-Nui my memory has been. . . not what it used to be. I must tell you my tale to explain, and then perhaps you will understand. To begin with, I assume that you know of the Tales of The Underwater attacks and civil war. Your knowledge of my name says as much. But I would have you know that I did not believe that Toa to be Whenua. I cannot explain why, but when I was absorbed into the water, I was swallowed by something that. . . changed me. Now” – he struck his two hands together. To the Nuva's surprise, the second hand passed easily through the first, as if immaterial – “parts of me are immaterial at random times. This was one of the side effects of my being launched across the universe, for you see, this strange creature does not digest food. Instead, it transports them to another place, and gains energy from the use of the portals in its gullet. “So, a thousand years ago, I landed on this barren wasteland, Bara Magna, though I knew it not to be called that at the time. However, soon I found a city, and that city was filled with beings. Beings who shunned me because my armour was black. Skrall they called me, and denied me entrance into their cities. The only place that would take me was a place called Roxtus, filled with these Skrall. All the while I mourned the loss of my creatures, but also, I feared, the loss of an ancient friend. In time, the Skrall discovered what was different about me, and cast me out, but, in a fit of revenge I sought to destroy their palisades. “In the dead of night, I snuck into their compound. I had thought to remain entirely quiet, but instead a Skrall guard found me. He aimed one of those Thornax-fruit launchers at me and fired. “It should have killed me. It should have gone right through me, and it did, only to disappear.” Kopaka thought he was beginning to understand. “Inside of that stomach your energies reacted with the portal energies. So, you became part Protodermis, and part portal. This results partly in your being immaterial, but also partly. . . well, it seems odd, but partly you being a sentient portal?” “Indeed it is,” Mavrah agreed, “though I did not know that to be true at the time. Back to Roxtus, though. The guard was astounded, and I made my escape. However, through the next year, I found that there was no place to go. Vorox, Bone Hunters, Skrall and other exiles. . . so I fled to the only place of safety, the Black Spine Mountains. I found a building there, in it was a mad Great Being, and other things. But most of all what I found was information. I learned of things like the Core War, the creation of Mata-Nui. All of it impossible to believe. Yet I remembered the last time I had refused to believe something. It was in that cave where I should have died. So I did believe. “I rummaged for months in that Great Being's library, and came upon many things, including something in a language I didn't understand, though I would later understand. It was on a small carving, and I don't know what possessed me to do so, but I kept it. All the while, the Great Being was oblivious to my presence, so for some reason, I was free to roam about. I also learned of the creature who had caused my condition, and how they had once been prevalent on my old world, Aqua Magna, when it had been part of Spherus Magna. “So, with this knowledge, I consented to wander as an exile for the rest of my days. And then, Mata-Nui returned, but with Makuta's mind. And as Makuta fell from the heavens to die, I suddenly, inexplicably knew what the words from the other tongue meant. They meant that this was not according to plan. That something was wrong, and someone would try to fix it in the only way they could. Months ago I began to follow after an Air Toa named Lesovikk, because I knew who he really was: a Great Being in disguise. And the carving I carried was the plan of the Great Beings, as he had formed it. “You – all of you who lived in Mata-Nui – should not be alive, for it was not part of the plan the plan. The Great Beings, all but the two who are here, are gone from this universe, and the only sane one remaining wishes to redeem his plan in the only manner he can. The destruction of Spherus Magna, the death of his brothers, and the death of this universe.” Needless to say, Kopaka and Pohatu were astounded by Mavrah's tale. A wreath of silence hung. “It is so hard to believe,” Kopaka said. “But we will believe anyway,” Pohatu said in the way that he always said these sorts of things. “Now we must work together, and, though you are from another time that I never knew and from tales that speak ill of your name, I will be proud to call you brother.” As Mavrah and Pohatu clanked fists, Kopaka smiled on the inside. This was what made Pohatu such a unique Toa. But inside, Kopaka was also worried, for what made Pohatu such a great ally and friend also made him a fool. <><><><> GAARDUS SNUCK THROUGH THE RED Star ever so quietly. Unfortunately, quietly was apparently not silent enough. “You never were very silent,” said the Kestora. Gaardus wheeled round and snarled, bearing his filed teeth. “I will not return. Nor will you destroy me.” The Kestora frowned, and then raised his hand, paralysing Gaardus with an effortless thought. “You were never meant to come here, nor were you ever meant to find out so much. It was the Great Being's idea. However, you still serve a purpose, lucky you. Now, it is time for you to find out why you were never supposed to know, and what the price for knowing is.” <><><><> THE PLAN WAS SIMPLE. Of course, recalled Kopaka, many 'simple' plans had turned into horrid disasters. But, when surrounded by optimists like Po-Matoran, or in this case, Po-Toa, talking about dark histories of failure is not open for consideration. “You needed Gaardus to come up here,” explained Mavrah, “but there is another way to get back down. It's the way I got here. The Kestora have some form of control room, and it is from that control room that the Great Being has come and gone, the Kestora granting him power and strength. It also leads directly to the Black Spine Mountains, or anywhere else you wish to go. I will remain here and attempt to convince the Kestora of what must be, what has been prophesied before. You however, will take the portal Old Atero and find exactly what I just described to you. Otherwise, this Great Being's plans may come to fruition.” Kopaka looked directly at the Onu-Matoran. “What exactly are these plans?” “You don't want to know,” Mavrah said. “Knowing is enough reason.” “Enough reason for what?” “The Kestora to destroy you.” Mavrah gestured for the two Toa to follow him, and they did so. He led them down a long corridor, and the Toa could only hope he was not leading them into a trap. Finally, they reached the corridor into which Gaardus had teleported. “We will follow it all the way down,” explained Mavrah. “You must the break down the door and stand on the red pad. I will handle the rest from there. Start running on three. One. Two.” Even before Mavrah had said three, the Toa were running. They ran with all their might down the corridor, and ran until the door was in sight. Even as Pohatu was beginning to grab the door, Kopaka realised something. “Do not destroy it. We may have to close it.” Pohatu ripped off the doorknob, and continued to claw at the metal. “What do you mean?” Kopaka turned, and his eyes widened. “I meant Kestora!” Pohatu shoved through the door even as the Kestora spotted the three. Kopaka and Mavrah were dragged in and the door was shut. Kopaka froze it shut. He dashed with Pohatu to the only red pad in the room. Mavrah started to mess with some controls on a panel, and suddenly, an explosion rocked the door. “Hurry Mavrah!” Kopaka exclaimed. <><><><> GAARDUS DID NOT KNOW, BUT he rested in a sort of chair inside of the Red Star. The room was organic in nature, but it was made of black vines like the Morbuzahk's. Two of the brittle vines had weaved into Gaardus' Membrain, and began to make him loose control of his thoughts. The vines began to inject thoughts, like poison, into his subconscious, so that he could not help but think the thoughts it gave him. And so, he thought of a time long past, when he had still been a Matoran. Gaardus' Memories Gaardus had been born many thousands of years ago on the Southern Continent. He had been born a Le-Matoran, but had never really felt that way. But then, for those living in the cold realm of Makuta Gorast, it was hard to feel anything but despair. Gaardus had been 'one of the lucky ones', or rather, someone who had been chosen for an experiment which would allow escape from Gorast's nightmarish kingdom. Gaardus had thought he would never be picked, for even his friend Vican had gone before him. When he was picked, however, he had not been picked for the normal tests of Makuta Mutran. Instead, he had been picked for those experiments of the Nynrah. After that. . . well, after that he would rather not remember. But he came out as a living weapon, winged and all. Unfortunately, he had not been what the Nynrah wanted. Thus, like so many subjects of Mutran, he had been cast out. He had wandered for centuries, before the Brotherhood of Makuta during the Makuta-Dark Hunter war, had decided to use him as their own weapon. However, he had managed to escape, although such escape was through a dark portal into a strange, black room. It took him centuries to discover that this, 'black room' was in fact the mind of a madman. This madman also happened to be a Great Being. And Gaardus had learned secrets, and learned that, while his mind rested side-by-side with the Great Being, his own body had been separated from his mind in the portal. At the time, the Great Being – who lived and worked with the only other of his kind on whatever planet they resided on – had not known of Gaardus' presence, for Gaardus hid himself easily in the vast, mostly empty, confounds of the Great Being's mind. Then, one day, he had heard a plan uttered, a plan so dark it frightened even him, a scarred weapon of evil tests. And suddenly, he revealed himself, and was cast out and back into his own body, which now rested in another strange, dark room. For what seemed like years Gaardus had sat in the darkness, pondering the dark plan. For the other Great Being's plan had failed, and its success meant the destruction of all the Matoran and Agori and their whole universe. All of a sudden, he had found himself among the Kestora. How he had gotten there, he did not know. They had tried to remove the memories from him but their attempts were without success. He simply had to remember. Eventually, he escaped the star and returned to Bara Magna's surface where he had waited until the coming of the two Nuva. And now he sat where he should have so many years before, as he forgot what he had fought so hard to keep. . . <><><><> GAARDUS REAWOKE. “There,” the Kestora said, “now you have forgotten.” Gaardus shook his head. Slowly, words entered his mind, and then thoughts became words. “Forgotten what?” “Everything that was necessary to forget.” The mutant shook his head faster now. “No,” he said, “no, no. NO!!! It's not there! What've I forgotten?” He snarled at the Kestora. “You'll pay for this! If you're going to make me forget that you might as well kill me and make me forget everything!” “Make you forget everything? How . . . interesting.” Suddenly, the black vines began to weave through the paths in Gaardus' Membrain. He screamed in pain as his mind was torn to pieces and reformed again and again. Unconsciousness, when it came, was merciful. <><><><> GAARDUS LOOKED UP FROM HIS WORK. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly. He was working on his latest carving of the noble Lady Gorast. Noble? Something in his mind skittered like a Rahi in the shadows of a Visorak kingdom. Lady Gorast noble? Well, of course. He could not believe he hadn't though of it before. She was the most noble ruler a Matoran could have. No one was better. Gaardus set to work on his carving, putting his heart and soul into it. It was odd, it seemed, that he did not have wings over-shadowing his work. Wings? Ah, alas, he had spent too much time in the sun. But who would finish the wonderful carving of Lady Gorast if he did not? Lady Gorast? Ah, yes, what more lovely a cause could he serve? From outside the dark and twisted dream world of Gaardus, the Kestora looking on the mutant's real, winged body from the door. “Lucky Matoran,” mused the Kestora, “he'll never know that he escaped the horrors of the world.” The Kestora closed the door, which he would never open again. Now to deal with the Toa. <><><><> MAVRAH FLIPPED THE SWITCH JUST in time. The Toa disappeared just as the door was blown to pieces. The furious Kestora entered. “Foolish Matoran,” said the leader of the Kestora, “your time is up. Too long have you walked our fortress, foiled our plans. Your destruction is nigh at hand.” “No!” said Mavrah in a strong and defiant voice. “You were meant for another destiny. I know that now! If you destroy me you will only achieve a destiny of destruction and evil rivalling that of the Makuta of Metru-Nui!” Mavrah's breath slowed, and he stared into the eyes of the leader of the Kestora. In a low, meek voice, he said the words he knew he had to say. “You will be silent and you will hear, for this is what must be.” “Who do you think you are?” said the other Kestora, hurling a deadly bolt of energy at Mavrah. As his body absorbed the blast, Mavrah said, “I am Mavrah, Onu-Matoran of Metru-Nui. I know your destiny and I am here to tell you what that is. But for what you want to know, those on the world of Bara-Magna call me the Archivist.” The Kestora stared into Mavrah's strange and wandering eyes, which had seen so much. He laughed, for he knew of the Great Metru-Nui Archivists, and that they were now no more. “What then is our destiny, you, the last of the Archivists?” “Quite simple. The Great Being wants to destroy the universe. You have given him the power to do so, but it doesn't have to be this way. I want you simply to return our home to us.” “The Mata-Nui Robot is beyond repair. We cannot change that truth.” “Something I well know,” responded Mavrah. “The Mata-Nui robot is certainly beyond repair. That is one truth. I know another. You'll have to listen to me very closely, but I've got something special in mind. In fact, it might just save the Matorans' lives.” <><><><> THE GREAT BEING RESTED OUTSIDE the palisade, smiling. Everyone was inside. Miserix, Helryx, Axonn, Brutaka, Tuyet, Vezon, and Artakha were trapped within the building, and, in time a Toa Nuva would be on his way. He needed only one. But then, there was the other. It was odd, because this one seemed old, yet new. However, he still wielded great power, and, to Angonce's mad delight, he was heading into the fortress. All the more strength to me, he thought, after all it takes a lot of power to crush the universe. <><><><> IT WAS STRANGE. One minute Kopaka and Pohatu were in the Red Star, the next they were in the ruins of Old Atero. They had only experienced something like that once before, when they had gone from Artakha to Karda-Nui. Slowly, Kopaka looked about the monolithic ruins. “I've heard of this place before but. . .” His voice trailed off. Pohatu, also enraptured, mumbled, “It's supposed to be the oldest city in the universe. . .” Old Atero was truly the most amazing thing they'd ever seen, even in ruins. Only one of the once-tall crown-like spires remained, its eroded shadow cast high over everything. All of the other crown-spikes had fallen inwards, which, over the brief course of time, had simply become large mountains of rubble. The sun-scorched stone was rough and sharp, and the heat radiating off of it seemed to distort the air, releasing strange illusions into sight. “Mata-Nui,” Pohatu exclaimed, “it'll take an eternity to search through all of this.” “Or,” Kopaka responded, his Kanohi Akaku Nuva doing its work, “just a second or two.” His eye-scope extended, and he looked briefly around. They were looking for a small cubic box, one made of dark metal and 'smooth as unbroken water,' or so Mavrah had said. For a normal Akaku, finding such a thing might be a job, but the Akaku Nuva could pierce even the very atoms which bound together the universe. It could find a small metal box. He glanced around, up and down, through pillars, and into the fabric of the earth. Suddenly, almost out of the corner of his eyes, he glimpsed something. Turning towards it, a blindingly bright blast of black lightning lanced out. It tore out of the earth, slamming into Kopaka, and blowing the Toa of Ice off his feet and across the old arena Magna, where he came to a less than peaceful rest on the earth. Horrified, Pohatu looked around, observing the black lightning continued to pour out of the crack in the earth. It flowed out like a sharp geyser of water, and it slowly formed into a gaseous entity. Strange-shaped and speaking through a single white spot in its being, it began to hiss and to Pohatu it spoke “Who seeks the secrets locked inside my shadow keep? Him that dares to read them both reward and curse he shall reap. Beware the shadows made to rest in the earth till the end of time. Who dares to read them? Enter me! Know the secrets that are mine!” Pohatu faced the creature, holding out his climbing claws in defence. He took a brief look back at Kopaka. The Ice Toa was not moving. His armour was cracked in several places. Pohatu's brother might well be dead. Pohatu tended to be an optimist, but he was not a fool. “Who are you?” Pohatu said to the entity. “Are you from the box that my friend was looking for?” The entity only repeated its rhyming poem. Pohatu grumbled, but then he realized it was not simply a rhyme. Kopaka had found the black box, somehow releasing its contents by looking at them. He had opened its contents. Now, the contents were asking it Pohatu wanted to know its secrets. “Are you asking a question?” The rhyme was repeated. “Fine. You say that you have secrets?” Pohatu said. “Speak your secrets, and let me hear. The curse of knowledge is a noble one to bear.” “Your brother already knows these secrets,” answered the strange Atero Entity, “ Even now he pays the price. The price has been paid. See now the visions of your brother, and know the truth.” Then, another lightning bolt, black as Makuta's soul, emerged from the Entity. Pohatu did not see it strike. He simply saw what followed, and what dark secrets would be revealed: Pohatu's and Kopaka's Vision of the Truth THE GREAT BEINGS HAVE NO beginning. Neither do they have an end. They are both many, and one, sharing the same mighty mind, but each confined to a single body. However, the time comes when parts of the body become too independent, and must be cut off. Such was the case with Angonce and his followers. It had long been the plan of the Great Beings to destroy the Mata-Nui Robot when it returned to Bara-Magna, healing the destruction of the Core War. That was its purpose. The plan had been created by Angonce. However, when Makuta rose up, striking down Mata-Nui with a dark sickness. There was a flaw in the plan. For a thousand years, which, to a Great Being is ever so short a time, Angonce planned. When Makuta came to Bara-Magna, and the Matoran survived, Angonce's brothers abandoned him. All but one. Long since cut off from the hive-mind of the Great Beings, his name lost in time, there was one so powerful, he had been imprisoned for the sake of others. His power was uncertain, lost to the past, but it was a mighty power. Angonce would take it. Angonce revealed his plan to the Kestora, long the keepers of mighty powers, and they agreed, not knowing that the Great Beings had long abandoned the madman. He, like he dead branch, had been cut off. Angonce's plan was simple, and yet complex. Much like Makuta had, he would resurrect Mata-Nui's body, with his mind. However, it would take much energy. He would have to slay the greatest and most powerful leaders of the Matoran, take their power, and then, awake the Mata-Nui robot with his mind. The Kestora would supply the power for Mata-Nui's resurrection, a feat that had once taken the power of several Great Beings. This was how Helryx, Miserix, Artakha, the Great Being, Vezon, and the others had become part of his grand plan. Their power, plus that of one Toa Mata, he would need, but it would be enough. Now, they were trapped. If Angonce's plan came to pass and he took over the Mata-Nui robot, then he would do two things. First, he would seeks revenge on his brothers who had denied his wisdom. Then, in the way only a madman can, he would destroy the universe. <><><><> POHATU STAGGERED OUT OF THE vision, cradling his head as if a mighty headache had come over him. Kopaka simply groaned louder, rolled over, and then slumped into apparent unconsciousness. Pohatu shook his head, and looked around as his vision cleared. He searched for the strange, black-lightning entity, but found it had disappeared. The Toa of Stone shook his head as reality sunk in, and mumbled, “No . . . if this is true . . . no . . . no . . .” He looked towards the Toa of Ice, and then, using a quick burst from the Mask of Speed, shot over to where Kopaka laid. “Brother!” he called, and grabbed Kopaka. Most of his brother's armour was horribly cracked, and the Ice Toa's heartlight only flashed sporadically. “Mata-Nui,” mumbled Pohatu, “you're in rather bad shape, eh?” Gingerly, he picked up his fallen brother. Calling upon the Mask of Speed, he raced off towards New Atero. I need the other Toa, he thought. But even with their power, it might be too late. Besides, if they come along then Angonce's mad plan will come to fruition. I must do this myself. He was too quick to follow as he crossed the streets of New Atero, and went to the medical centre, dropping his brother on a bed, and then racing towards the Black Spike Mountains. It was all within that building, intertwined into many-layered deceits, that this plan was centred. Mavrah had been there, so had Angonce, and so also the other Great Being. Pohatu had the power to end it. However, even he found this statement hard to believe. Everything was fallen into place. The end of the universe was soon to occur. Could a single thorn in Angonce's side be enough to halt a plan as vast as Makuta's? Pohatu was not sure, so he simply kept running, and trying not to think of probabilities. <><><><> THE GREAT BEING WAS FREE. Helryx was not sure how, but he was. Lewa was gone, who knew where, they were trapped in this dark room, with a Great Being who was totally mad. “Which of you fools broke him out?” Helryx demanded. Vezon frowned, pitifully. “Fools? Is that all we are to you?” Tuyet looked at the Great Being, who advanced towards them. Something was wrong about him, something was alive more than life, it seemed. “Come on,” the Ga-Toa said, “Several of the most powerful beings in the universe against a being who made the universe. I like those odds.” Miserix laughed in that cold Makuta way. “You aren't known for you good judgement, Tuyet, now are you?” Axonn looked at the Great Being. “We did not free him,” he suddenly realised, “His prison is simply far larger than we thought. His chains: an illusion.” “So remind me why we aren't running?” Brutaka asked, backing up against the wall. Suddenly, he fell back into it as it opened like a gaping maw, trapping him. “Brutaka!” Axonn cried, but already he saw that the particles in the wall were becoming one with Brutaka. “Don't worry,” said the Great Being, smiling, “when Angonce comes, his body won't matter any more.” “Who are you?” asked Artakha, shortly. “Who am I? You would not know my name, but you know my tale, perhaps. I touched the Mask of Life. Everything around me turned alive. I went mad.” the great being laughed in the most chilling way. Frost began to cover the floor, freezing Vezon's feet and running up his body, until his form was fully covered. That little, mad smile still covered his face. “Eventually,” the Great Being continued, “I learned to control my power, the power of life. And soon, it will resurrect your beloved Mata-Nui, to the regret of your kind.” Artakha made a fierce expression. “What are you? A coward, surely. Will you fight us with a power we cannot defend?” Suddenly, the room flashed with black lightning, plunging the room into blackness for an instant. When the light returned, Artakha was white as death, frozen and unmoving. “A power you cannot defend against?” asked the Great Being. “We made you. It is by out will that you live.” Tuyet, Axonn, Miserix, and Helryx stood back, and the cold touch of death caressed their souls. “So,” the Great Being said with a smirk. “Die.” <><><><> THE SHADOWED ONE LOOKED AROUND the room, staring at the door he had just blown in. He looked into his hand, where the final of the three vials laid. They were not a sickness, after all, he had found, but a way to communicate. The being's instructions to find the vials had been the last ones spoken, or at least the last ones spoken into the Shadowed One's mind. The vials were on his island, under research in underground labs which had survived Pohatu's rampage, so it was not hard to retrieve them. Of course, he had not anticipated the fact that his months of sickness would result in the fall of his organization. He had given no back up plans, no nothing to anyone. During that time, Makuta had also fallen. However, he had a new plan now. Strange journey had followed strange journey, following the crushing of the second virus. He had contracted it to the being's command, and it began to guide him. It guided him from the Makuta robot, all the way to here, on Spherus Magna. He looked at the second vial again. Should he contract it also? “I will take that, thank you.” The Shadowed One jumped in surprise. It was the same voice he had first heard so long ago. He whirled around and faced the voice. When he saw Angonce, two words flowed through his mind and out his mouth. “Great Being.” Suddenly, Angonce raised his hand, and the Shadowed One felt the life seeping from him. He fell to the ground, reaching out to try and crush the vial, but finding it to late. “You have. . . betrayed me!” he gasped out. Angonce knelt and picked up the vial. “No, I did not betray you. You simply don't understand the depths of my plan.” He walked away, towards the Great Being's prison, and gave the barest push of his mind. The Shadowed one saw blackness. “Trust me,” Angonce said, but the Shadowed One could not hear him. <><><><> IT WAS NEARING THEIR LAST moments. Helryx had imagined what it my be like in her mind, how it might feel, what she might say and do, but she did none of it. All of it sounded too poetic. “Stop!” came a cry form somewhere behind the four. They felt their life force flowing back into them. All four gasped and fell to the floor. “Who knew what power is within you?” came a the voice. Helryx looked up, and almost passed out as she saw Angonce coming towards her, “And what power is in you is my trouble this day. I have come, you see, to finish the plan as I see fit. I will reawaken Mata-Nui with my spirit, but first I need your spirits, and what power there is within them.” Helryx groaned, and stood as best as she could. She only came to her knees. “Is there no hope for the universe?” Angonce laughed, and with a savage kick shoved her down. “The universe, yes. Your universe, no.” Suddenly, the room darkened, and began to reform, though none could see. “This fortress appears how you see it, or rather, how I wish it to be viewed,” came Angonce's voice through the darkness. “In ways that you cannot imagine, I am shaping your actions.” Then, the room stopped forming. Lightstones along the walls began to glow, illuminating all eight of the beings, including the Great Being, trapped within cylinders, suddenly. Brutaka, Artakha, and Vezon all appeared equally dead, but they were in the capsules no less. The room was now short, dark, and circular, boasting only the seven transparent cylinders line up against the wall, and a single control panel in the centre of the room. “You have betrayed me!” cried the Great Being. “I have used you,” corrected Angonce, “and soon, I will use your power of creation to remake Mata-Nui.” “It all began hundreds of thousands of years ago, with a universe in Our image. Now, it ends, and I will crush every star, see every being gone, and reform the universe in My image. I will crush my brothers and sisters, and they will regret having not followed my plan. But there is one missing.” Suddenly, a blur lit up the room, and Pohatu suddenly was behind Angonce, holding his climbing claws to the Great Being's throat. “Don't move,” he commanded, “don't breath, don't even think. If you do, I'll make sure you don't ever do those things again.” Tuyet rolled here eyes. Axonn and Helryx both shook their heads wildly, screaming out warnings unheard. Miserix simply looked on, amused. “Fools!” Angonce laughed. “You are all fools beyond imagining! You have stepped right into my hands!” Angonce opened his fist, and the contents of the third vial fell from it, leaking onto the floor. The effect was instant. Angonce began to howl with noises of pain, screaming like all the Matoran in Karzahni. Before everyone's eyes, he dissolved into pure energy. Then, the effect spread. Suddenly, everyone in the room felt the life seeping from them. They cried out in anguish, and began to black out. Then, their bodies dissolved into Angonce's form, soul and all. The room was silent. Then, a voice came. It was Angonce. “Thank you, for ending your universe.” Then, the voice was gone. <><><><> WHAT IS DEATH LIKE? What is life like to a person who had yet to live it? All of them did die, to be certain, but after they did, it was not all so bad. Suddenly, bodiless spirits, they were on the other side of the universe. Helryx's face contorted in fury. “Fool!” her fist slammed forwards, ready to send a pile-driver fist of water strong enough to shatter Pohatu. But no water came. Instead, her fist simply stopped in mid-air. She blinked. Then, a voice came, one which some actually recognized. “You have no power here, Helryx,” it said, and Tuyet gasped. “It is the one who worked against me underwater!” she exclaimed. The reaction was instant. “Matoro!” they exclaimed. The response came softly, in the voice of Matoro that Pohatu knew well. “Indeed, there is life after death, the spirit realm, wherein Mata-Nui resides. But your time in the universe is not over. Not yet. Mata-Nui has seen fit to return your spirits, for you have yet to fulfil your destiny in full. The first job belongs to Vezon, who is hiding much.” Coyly, Vezon smiled. “Me? Little old me? What do I have to hide?” Matoro scoffed. “I used to hate you for being a lying sea-slime. Now it's just funny. Your power was not taken by the Great Being, somehow. You kept yours, because it comes from across dimensions. You can defeat Angonce if only you dare, though it will cost you your life.” “In that case, I do believe I'll opt out. I'm rather fond of me. After all, no one else is. Also, if you're going to bring me back, why make me return?” The room darkened. “This was not a choice Vezon, it is what you will do. You are like an anchor between a billion dimensions. How would you like to be scattered across them? The spirit realm is not the residing place of the unrighteous. Makuta does not reside here. There is a Dark Realm.” Again, Vezon smiled. “Then again, I do have the unnatural compulsion to . . . help others now and again. Altruism has always been a . . . pet hobby of mine.” “Good. Now, I restore your powers and bodies to you. Mata-Nui has seen it fit to do so. Stand, all.” They all stood. “Good, stand, and rebuild when Angonce is overthrown. Bear well Mata-Nui's name.” Then, from the ethereal Spirit Realm, their bodies faded. Only Vezon remained. “I have communicated with the Kestora, and they will take you. Any last words, Vezon? For the carvings?” “Who me? Die? How common! You wouldn't think of it! I once held the Mask of Life, you know! But I am already dead, I supposed” Suddenly, a liquid light shone down upon Vezon, and his energy was dissolved. Mata-Nui's spirit stood next to Matoro's, and they looked where the figures' spirits had just been. “It is not over,” the Great Spirit said. Had Matoro been in physical form, he would have frowned. “I know” <><><><> THEY HAD FOUND LEWA. Or perhaps, he had found them. They were all transported, with the exceptions of Tuyet and Miserix, back to New Atero. Lewa and Pohatu embraced. Pohatu smiled at his now-found brother. “I've missed you, brother. Spending time around Kopaka isn't nearly as funny.” “What does Matoro expect us to do?” asked Artakha. Helryx shrugged. “I can't say, but that worries me more than I will tell.” <><><><> ANGONCE HAD NEVER FELT SUCH POWER. He felt an entire universe within him, and one still left to destroy. It would be so nice. One simple tap on this planet, and it would shatter. But something skittered unbidden in the back of his mind. He looked up to the sky, and saw the Red Star crackling with energy. Using his sixth sense, he knew that the Kestora were intent on betraying him. He crouched down, and launched himself into the sky, heading for the Red Star First the Star, and then the universe. My universe. He was in space now, reaching out to grab the Star, ready to crush it. He was so close, so ready to destroy it. Then, he touched it. His body suddenly blazed red, jolts of lightning blasting across forty-million feet. The pain was so great that Angonce lost control. Then, the star began to move away from him, growing smaller and smaller. They were leaving? How strange. Then, he realized that he was falling. He struck the earth with impact great enough to drive his body into the earth. Angonce waited for a second before gaining control. Then, he lifted his arm, and began to push himself up. When he saw his arm, however, his heart thumped. It was melting, dissolving into water. He tried to move, but then realized that he could not. The Kestora, he realized. Curse them. “Do not curse them, for they have done what is right,” said a voice in his head. “Who speaks to Angonce?” “I am your great scourge,” came the cold reply. “When your plans were about to succeed, I raise the Great Spirit back to life. I am Matoro.” “You are dead!” “What is death? It is a category. There is not end to the spirit, only places they inhabit. The living do not cease to exist in death, they simply exist apart from the living. And you shall join the dead soon.” “I cannot be slain!” Angonce howled as the Mata-Nui Robot continued to dissolve. Matoro laughed in a cold way, a way far more like a Makuta than a Toa. “I beg to differ.” Suddenly, everything went black. Everything was still black when Angonce could see again. He could see that there was no light here. “Where have you brought me, Scourge of Ice?” he called, but to no reply. Then, he felt a burning sensation in his arm. He saw that his entire left arm was melting, his Existence dying. He cried out in pain, and the world erupted into fire, fire that burnt but did not consume. Unmerciful fire, whose pain would neither destroy or let up. And so would Angonce live the rest of his eternity, lonely, in pain beyond the galaxies, and alone. <><><><> MAVRAH LOOKED DOWN. It was amazing, startling. He could barely believe it. The Mata-Nui robot was turning into an ocean. And every island, city, and plain which had ever existed within the Robot existed like it had. “We could not rebuild their universe,” Mavrah said, “but we could make it whole.” “Perhaps,” said the Kestora leader, “it is time that you join them?” But Mavrah shook his head. “No,” he said, “forever am I alienated from my people. Who can except one like me? One who is so at one with every universe.” “Perhaps one like him,” the Kestora said, pointing over to the wall. Vezon was enchained there, looking weak and unhappy. He looked up at the Matoran, but was unlike anything that Mavrah had ever seen. Those eyes, which had only ever known insanity, were now as sane as anything. “Indeed,” he said, “I am the window across dimensions. I did not die as the spirit said, only a part of me did. I have seen the truth, and know that we are alone in this universe. But perhaps elsewhere . . .” Vezon's chains disappeared. “Come now,” he said, “it's time that we're leaving, eh?” The Kestora nodded. “Wait,” said Mavrah, “I have one last stop to make.” <><><><> AND SO, OVER THE NEXT few weeks, months, and years, the Toa rebuilt, returning to their homes. With the Shadowed One dead, and his island discovered, the Dark Hunters dissolved and began to help rebuild. The Matoran returned to their homes, and began to live in peace, even knowing that a thousand years or more it would take to rebuild from the destruction. Little did they know that, have a century later, one of their own sat down to watch them. “Are you sure that you can't take me any farther?” Mavrah asked. “You would not be satisfied if I did,” Vezon said. In their brief conversation, the Piraka had explained that the Kestora had taken the energy from within him, and sapped him almost to the point of death. It was in this that he had become sane. “I just want to know,” Mavrah mused, “if everything will turn alright.” “Maybe everything is all right. Not on the outside, but maybe on the inside.” Mavrah looked out and saw the Archives. He saw Whenua moving some crates. Mavrah burst out of his hiding place and ran towards the Turaga. “No!” cried Vezon. “Don't do that! If you take one more step I'll give you a . . .” He then noticed the Toa watching him. “I'll give you a great big hug!” he finished, awkwardly. Mavrah ran up to Whenua. “Turaga,” he asked, “may I help you?” Whenua smiled, and handed Mavrah a box. “Of course you may. Take this to the Archives door. It's right down by the-” “I know where it is.” Mavrah snatched the box and ran off. Whenua frowned. Something was familiar about that Matoran, though he could not place it. Oh well, he was getting more foolish in his old age, he supposed. The Matoran returned a minute later, and bowed again before the Turaga. “I have done as you have requested. It is a relief to my soul to meet you again, Great Turaga.” “Forgive me for not remembering, but who are you?” “Who me? Oh, just a Matoran, one happy to see that the world is right, finally. Aren't you?” Whenua nodded, and Mavrah began to walk away. “Wait!” the Turaga called out. “What is your name, that I may remember you?” As his footfalls picked up speed, Mavrah turned his head and yelled, “You know me well! And I am sorry for what happened beyond the Great Barrier so many years ago!” Whenua's eyes widened. “I beg your pardon?” But the Matoran was gone. Standing besides Vezon again, hidden in the shadows, Mavrah watched as Whenua shrugged and continued to work. “Are you happy?” Vezon asked. “Content,” Mavrah answered. “But they aren't the same thing, you know.” The ex-Piraka nodded. “Where do you want to go?” “I've seen the place before, in a vision. It is a place where the six Toa fell from the sky in comets, and Makuta sleeps rather than Mata-Nui. Will you join me?” Vezon nodded, and the two travellers set off, ready for adventures that knew no end. But he did not hear the voice in a quiet corner of the universe. It was a dead voice, for sure, but a substantial one, no less. The voice belonged to a Great Being once known as Angonce, now known as dead. And his last words, yet unheard by any, chilled the soul. “My plan has not failed, for there is a fail-safe. And when all is over, though I am dead, this universe shall die!” The Mercenary Saga Coming Soon!

Here is my entry: The Assassin of Okoto Basic Mugshot pose Side view "Hey, what are you lookin' at?" Attack ready position Weapons Curved Electro-dagger Crossbow sword-staff "LEGO leg" wrist mounted elemental pulse ray Swinging spike pulverizer That is my entry.

I beg to differ. If BIONICLEs seemingly inevitable return gets screwed up, I'll be seriously mad. Madder then the fact TLG discontinued BIONICLE in the first place.

I broke your face and took the mask. THE MASK IS MINE!!!!

IC:Drogen Drogen stopped walking and turned rightwise. He then took a bit of a detour in the jungle so as to watch his distasteful friends walk away. If ever he met up with them again under different circumstances, the green one would not be so lucky. He turned when they were out of sight, and he stumbled into the jungle. He walked about for a bit before a loud buzzing sound came from behind him. He turned, taking out his sword-saw and readying his Rahkshi staff. He glanced at the silver Rahkshi head hanging from his belt. If he could find a Ta-Koro forger, he would use the skull as a shoulderpad. Yes, Ta-Koro was definitely next. After checking twice, and hearing the buzzing sound subside, he turned. He would regret this. Just then, a stinger lodged itself in the place between his left arm and left shoulder. That was crippled. He pulled out the stinger and turned. A huge wasp-like bug was heading towards him. He tried to summon earth, but all that there was was liquid mud, which would only do a Toa of Water good. So, with his sword-saw in hand, he faced the Rahi. He saw his one elemental option to be taking the earthen support out from under a tree, but before he could make a move, the Rahi did. With the second stinger, it struck deep into Drogen's lower chest. "Argh!" Drogen cried out in pain. The Rahi grabbed Drogen like a bundle and took off, flying up into the trees. Drogen had time to sheathe his sword before the poison within the stinger knocked him out. All he knew, was that he was far up in a tree.

IC:Drogen No problem here it seems, then. "Okay then, you should be fine. Sorry for perhaps jumping upon you too soon. You don't know where there might be a forger do you. I have a piece I want used as a shoulder-pad."

OOC:In a way yes. Actually completely yes. Welcome to the real world. IC:Drogen "This isn't about an insult. This is about what you do, scumbag."

OOC:If you want to understand, read his profile. He has this sense if someone might be bad. It's a species thing. Also, let it be known I have nothing against you, but my character must. He would act this way to a skakdi also. "Why do you care? I can be hostile if I want to. And I can protect myself if you want to be hostile back."

IC:Drogen So, a wiseguy eh? "Don't think of getting into any trouble scumbag. Or I'll cause you a lot. Got it?"