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Prologue-
“You know your mission well; we cannot afford a loss in these dark times,”
“Defend the great mask of time, the Kanohi Vahi,”
“Your elemental powers are limited, do not forget that, it is your one weakness Mikerahk, you forget that you are but a mere mortal, without your gravity powers you will have nothing to rely on but skill, there will be others out there searching for the mask,”
“Which is why I am being placed on assignment there…”
“Correct, we know the Brotherhood is behind some of it, but there must be others,”
”Dark Hunters.”
“Yes, but the two are still at war, they will have their fare share of conflicts, now go, chaos is coming and we must make sure that destiny plays the proper role, no interference,”
“For Mata Nui…”
”Indeed…”
===
The creature roamed the desolate city, that was now swarming with activity, the weary people trying to rebuild what the city had once been a millennia ago. It had been sited by the people, who called themselves Matoran, the name was not unfamiliar, he knew it well, somehow…
He had allowed himself to be seen by the Matoran just for their reaction, most ran away, others stared in awe, doing a double take, only to find that he had disappeared back into the darkness. Lightning storms had grown ferocious lately, a hint of things to come? The creatures inert instinct was raging with worry and hesitation, something was terribly wrong. There was also a great power still hidden in the city though, the beast itself contained a great power within itself, but he refused to unleash it. He would leave, but with the raging seas…it wasn’t worth it, even with his skillful swimming abilities, and the serpent and fish Rahi that dwelled beneath the unforgiving waves made the option all the less attractive. For now, he would have to wait.
===
Kranais walked along the coast, the dark and massive waves that crashed onto the coast with destructive force were but mere feet away from him. The intricate system of tubules that were supporting his body pumped fluids and liquid protodermis to his entire body. He looked like a Rahi that had decided to walk on two legs, making him more Toa like, and the life support system just added to his complexity. His appearance struck fear into the Matoran that he had the pleasure of meeting before. He was here on assignment, looking for non other than the Kanohi Vahi. Getting it should be easy, if he didn’t run into any thing else that was looking for it. His biggest fear on this journey was the possibility that Voporak had returned to the city. The creature they had loaned to the Dark Hunters for “obedience” training had remained with the hunters since the war began. More Dark Hunters were not a good possibility either, neither was the thought of having the Order of Mata Nui on his tail. He only knew they were sending an agent of their own, most likely to counter him, no matter. He would deal with it the way he always did. Ravage his opponent into submission, wait for them to beg forgiveness, and have them shipped back to the fortress for torture. If they didn’t beg…well, he just killed them, it was no fun if the weaklings thought they were honorable, or that they could take him in combat. He smiled at the thought of ripping a Matoran up with his claws, and then batting the rest aside as he made his way for the mask, then replaced his own mask with it. He had been warned severely NOT to use it, but a little test couldn’t hurt? Kranais grinned and continued his walk along the coast.

more to come tomorow
DtM

This post has been edited by Dinobot The Maximal: Jul 24 2006, 02:58 PM

Chapter 1- Frayed Teamwork

The four Dark Hunters continued their track across what was once the Le-Metru hub, careful to avoid the Matoran, already hard at work repairing the city whose destruction had gathered dust for one thousand years, only disturbed by Rahi, and Dark Hunter agents in the area.
“I still don’t see WHY we’re on this mission, I mean, Ancient and his “little pet” Voporak are looking for the same mask!” the large water elemental, Poseidon complained.
“Maybe The Shadowed One should’ve left you two back at the fortress and set you up against Prototype for another round of skull bashing, you’re obviously not ready for something like this Poseidon, all you’ve done is complain, and your buddy Redeemer here hasn’t done much to keep you quiet,” another Dark Hunter, Krieg, replied.
“I’m thinking,” Redeemer snapped. “At least I’m mature enough to ignore his bickering,”
“Are you insulting me?” Krieg stopped abruptly and pointed one of his oddly fashioned blades at Redeemer’s throat.
“You just think you can outdo us with your higher success rate,” Redeemer said calmly, blinking his eleven eyes. “I’m still trying to figure out how we’re going to get this mask without the possibility of being killed by Voporak, if he catches the scent as soon as its in our hands, he’ll be all over us,”
“Which is why we hurry, there’s only ONE Toa on this island, seven Turaga, and what, a couple thousand Matoran spread out across the city?” Krieg pointed towards the looming figure of the decaying Coliseum. “Dweller has the Toa taken care of, the rest of us need to get a move on,”
“Hm, I like the idea of beating Voporak to the thing he was designed to go after,” Poseidon pondered the idea. “I mean, he can sense it, but who says he’s not somewhere else far away still looking for it?”
“That’s the whole idea,” Redeemer continued his scheming “We get it before him, make our escape, and the glory is ours, and oh the pay! The pay!”
“The pay is nothing,” Krieg muttered, for him it never was about the pay, it was just the satisfaction of completing a mission without any complications. Blitz, Krieg’s Rahi tiger mount gave a deep guttural growl of satisfaction. “Alright, if you agree on the idea,” Krieg hopped on his mount and the party of four Dark Hunters rode off into the storm.
---
Mikerahk made his way up the last of a series of wet craggy cliffs on the Great Border. Monitoring the outlook of the city, there was activity, a first in a very very long time. He would’ve floated himself up the cliffs, but his limited amount of elemental energy would have to be used. He would rather try his luck at climbing and then use his powers if he fell, instead of just using the lazy way out and using his powers unnecessarily. That’s when he heard the talking. Mikerahk peered over the cliff edge to see two hulking beings, one just stared at the city, while the other was talking to some sort of serpent Rahi. He recognized the former almost immediately, the creature known as Voporak. No wonder they had sent him here! It all made sense now, but why him!? What made them think he could take out this engine of time manipulation? He had no other choice no, if he made his way down the cliffs he’d be noticed and probably taken out by the two. Mikerahk assumed that the being accompanying Voporak was a Dark Hunter, and the possibility of getting into a struggle with them was not to appealing. He drew his two scimitars , after this he’d need at least a week for his powers to recharge, but there was no other option of escape. Putting himself in battle stance he launched himself off the cliff, and unleashed the raging gravity energy. Voporak was the first to be caught off guard, focusing on the city, he was pounded by the increased weight, and he stumbled for a moment, trying to regain his balance. Mikerahk let loose one more powerful blast and launched Voporak back into the cliffs, imbedding him so far into the Great Barrier that he couldn’t even see him anymore. The serpent Rahi was swimming off now, and the other Dark Hunter looked up, anger could be seen in his piercing eyes. The Order of Mata Nui member landed feet first on the Dark Hunter’s face, he then relinquished him of his weight, causing the Dark Hunter to float higher and higher, with another blast he shot the blue and brown being into the “sky”, good luck getting down from up there, his powers would last for quite some time on the two, giving him plenty of time to recharge if they came back. He had just enough power to float himself across the sea at a safe distance from the water, and its lately aggressive waves. Still, Mikerahk couldn’t quite get rid of the over bearing feeling of worry that not everything was as it appeared, something else was wrong in the city…and something else was wrong period, it was like the world was going to end, but nobody at the Order had told him anything about it, the higher-ups were silent on the issue. And silence never meant a good thing either…

see you next week
DtM

Chapter 2- Dark Kingdom

Zanrahk stared into the nothingness. He had become accustomed to the looming darkness in his present dwelling, his two kinsmen, Hanrahk and Vodak, were meditated on either side of him as well. It had been a long while since their master had left to retrieve more crippled of their kind. He expected his liege back at any moment, but until then, he was left to meditate in their dark prison.
Zanrahk never questioned his master’s motives, he relinquished his free will to him a long time ago, and now this prison of darkness was where he would reside until he was called upon again. His mind suddenly flew back to the way things used to be, he found some sort of…comfort, in these thoughts. Afterall, he had nothing better to do but meditate.
---
It had been a long time, Zanrahk had lost count of the years, a revolution on his island, a stupid incessant brawl brought about by the dumb fool known as Reidak, an earth based of his people, closer related to Vodak then he was to Zanrahk. Times were not always so great on their land, but that’s they way his people went along, they were savage, cruel, and unusual, striking fear into beings with a degraded power. But with the battles and skirmishes that ravaged their land for so long, many were killed, many fled and many were hurt beyond “repair”. Zanrahk and his fellow Knights were the last of those three. Beaten and broken, they were left for dead in the wasteland they once called home. When one day a familiar, but different figure arrived, he took Zanrahk into his new layer he had built below ground. Zanrahk had blacked out after he had been laid down on some sort of slab of protodermis, when he awoke, he was a powerful new being, Pirakuta introduced him to two others he had retrieved and “fixed”. He had given them new tools, taught them how to channel their enhanced powers through them, but Zanrahk always felt that the shadow of Pirakuta was being channeled through him as well. Given his state, Zanrahk couldn’t do anything about it, he owed Pirakuta his life, he had agreed to it when Pirakuta had restored him. Pirakuta assured Zanrahk, the self proclaimed leader of the knights, that they would see some action very, very soon. Whatever Pirkuta’s definition of soon was…
---
Pirakuta reached down and scooped up one last crippled body, the sixth he had found to complete his sextuplet of knights. He had been repairing near dead beings from this island for nearly a week now, the first three had been met with perfect success, the rest would hopefully achieve the same result. Using his complex control over the power of shadow and an access to a small store of energized protodermis, he had been able to modify and heal their wounds. What couldn’t be repaired was replaced with a new limb or functioning system.
Only a select few beings really knew where Pirakuta had come from to begin with, so his presence was more of a mystery to anybody who saw him and didn’t mistake him for his “brother” Makuta.
Pirakuta, was, at one point, Makuta, part of him at least. Something happened during what is assumed to have been a routine experiment, resulting in Makuta being severly weakened for a couple of days, one thing serving Matoran do remember is the part of Makuta's essence that still lingered after the master of shadows was removed from the situation. The mass of shadow was able to be contained for some time, but it was never properly studied. While Makuta was still recovering, the stronger Makuta became, the stronger the shadowy mass became, some thought that once released it would return to Makuta, and might even bring him back to full strength. The mass was released, and it attacked everything living in the room, strangling them to death, it then made its way to a store of energized protodermis. Thus creating the dark being Pirakuta, the shadow energy, combined with energized protodermis resulted in a being not much different than Makuta. As soon as the new born being was making his way down a hallway in the fortress, non other than Makuta blocked his exit. The two fought their way into an arena like room, their dark dance of combat seeming to go on forever. But Pirakuta had the upper hand, and struck Makuta down with one fell swoop. Makuta was pleased with his 'brother's' newfound power, and offered him a position. Pirakuta quickly declined the offer and left the fortress, unchallenged.
Since then he had been wandering the many lands, gathering subjects here and there for his up and rising kingdom. But by some weird side affect, Pirakuta still had a connection to Makuta, being able to sense his brother’s most powerful emotions and thoughts, including the lust for two masks of power. The Kanohi Ignika, mask of life, and the Kanohi Vahi, mask of time. And Pirakuta only knew the location of one, by luck, a Dark Hunter had been on the island as well. He saw it speaking to a sea serpent Rahi. Pirakuta stalked the Dark Hunter for a day while Hanrahk, Zanrahk and Vodak recovered from their treatment. The Dark Hunter was not hard to torture, Pirakuta knew their ways, he knew others would be sent to silence him soon enough. Acting quickly he nearly killed the Dark Hunter in the same fashion that he had restored his knights, the Pirahkshi. The Dark Hunter was now sitting in a corner in Pirakuta’s makeshift layer, half dead, and protected by his knights. He knew other Dark Hunters had been to the island, but thanks to his clever use of shadow power, he had tricked them into walking right past the entrance to his lair. They would have to remain clueless for now, the King of Shadows had work to do…

DtM
(I'm with KoP!)

Slightly behind schedule-

Chapter 3- Transgressions

The beast had been walking on the now regrowing city for quite some time now. Its mental capacity far outranked the inhabiting people who called themselves “The Matoran”, sensing their thoughts and planting ideas in their heads that he was a harbinger of destruction, that he was a warning sign to some impending doom as was the horrible storm that was ravaging the city, so as to keep the curious ones away from him. He liked to be solitary, aloneness was the only thing he had left now in his life that he could take claim too. On the contrary the storm gave the being known as the Schizosaur a very bad vibe of darkness and chaos in the coming months. But he did not feel inclined to figure any of it out, just to wander the city, looking for something, he didn’t know what. The Schizosaur had come to this island as he had many others, wandering with no purpose. He had been created by the dark and destructive organization called the Brotherhood of Makuta, he despised them, he despised the other two organizations, The Order of Mata Nui and The Dark Hunters, as well. They all had agendas wrapped up in plots and schemes and lightly decorated with things such as valor, wisdom, destiny, and self centeredness. He did not have to be where he was today, he could be with his people if it weren’t for the war raging between two of the organizations, and the third trying to make their claim in the middle of it all.
The Visorak horde had arrived on his island, taking prisoners, killing the rest, mutating some with their venom, and leaving others to their commanding officers. Schizosaur was one of the unlucky ones, experimented upon for years he finally broke free of the shadowy clutches of the Brotherhood. They had done many things to him, he was a simple grazing Rahi at heart, but bent, broken and changed into something none of his people, if any still existed, would be able to comprehend without feeling fear and fleeing to their burrows.
The last time he had actually communicated with anything face to face, was a Dark Hunter, bent on capturing the beast for the prize of a large some of monetary gain. That’s what it was always about with them, most of the time, others just wanted to fight, while others wanted an escape. In the end Schizosaur was forced to use his mechanical arm, something he had never done before. A brilliant blast of energized protodermis erupted out of the cannon. The Dark Hunter’s destiny had been to burn, slowly, painfully, and that’s what the cannon had accomplished. The Schizosaur watched as the hunter’s armor melted off into slag, then his muscle tissue, nerves, everything smoked slowly, charring into gristle and crumbling into ash. He had screamed until the last moment of his existence. Since then Schizosaur had refused to seek console, help, or company, and most of all the use of his cannon. The power it contained, he did not consider himself worthy.
Now, more Dark Hunters were on this island, a team of four bent on stealing the powerful Kanohi Vahi. A fifth was to busy to help the other four on their mission with trailing a Toa of Light. Two more beings, both from the other two organizations were also active on this island. One sought to protect the mask, the other sought to steal it as well. All of them had thought about the temptation of using the mask for their own gain. Some dwelled on the idea, others ignored it for their own betterment, a wise choice. And there was another…close by…a Matoran…Brandr. The Matoran had heard the myths about the beast, and he was tracking him, hoping to be proclaimed a hero like others…Hahli, Jaller, Hafu, Takua. The Schizosaur would not intervene with any of the parties though, for what he carried determined destiny, so he would only join in on anything if it was to be, otherwise, he would continue avoiding all things living…
---
“Say hello to the rest of the Knights,” Pirakuta grinned.
“Hello,” the three responded in unison.
“Now, sound off and fall in!” Pirakuta snapped as the other three were released from their darkness prison to join the other three.
“Zanrahk,” held his two double edged staffs proudly.
“Hanrahk,” hoisted his bladed flamethrower into the air.
“Thorak,” clenched his lightning claws together.
“Avrahk,” flared up his shield generators.
“…GUUVOK!” the fifth Pirahkshi lashed out, twitching and screaming.
“…ah yes, I figured something like this would happen…a side effect to your repair Guuvok,” Pirakuta sighed. “No matter, Zanrahk, use your mind reading power to get in his head and keep him under control,” Zanrahk turned and stared at the raving Guuvok with a deathly stare. Guuvok immediately stopped ranting and stood at attention.
“Good…now Zanrahk, does Vodak comply?” Pirakuta asked.
“M’lord, he is at your service, as are the rest of my company,” Zanrahk spoke for the sixth Pirahkshi, a mute, and himself.
“Excellent,” Pirakuta chuckled. “You are to go to the ruined city of Metru Nui, my…brother has an amountable advesary for you there with the same goal as yours, to claim the Kanohi Vahi for our kingdom, there will be others after the mask, deny all who do not bow before our might,”
“Yes m’lord, we will not fail you,” Zanrahk and the others bowed.
“Good now be off,”
“But who will protect your in your time away from us?” Avrahks unquestionably loyalty showed.
“I have a servant, weak of mind, strong in body, he will suffice, and I can take care of myself otherwise,” Pirakuta pulled a darkness shroud around the back end of the lair, he wanted his privacy now, the Pirahkshi fell behind Zanrahk and departed to the surface.
---
Pirakuta used the power of magnetism to pull the bars of the iron prison apart, allowing his minion to be freed once more. The Dark Hunter had stood up well to his rehabilitation, sadly, nothing of usefulness would be left in his mind, the process of his conversion had taken to much of a tole on his puny brain.
“Rise Megurahk.” Pirakuta raised a hand in front of the behemoth.
“…yes...master…” Megurahk rose out of the remains of his cell and bowed.
“You will accompany me on our journey to Metru Nui, are you ready?”
“Yes…” the ex-Dark Hunter said in a drowsy voice.
“Then lets get going, once I have the mask, time will no longer be of the essence to me,”
Megurahk just stared into the darkness.

Will be back on time next week...hopefully
DtM

Once again, slightly behind schedule-

Chapter 4- Compromised

Krieg shot his hand into the air in front of the other hunters and his mount, a signal to remain still, and above all, silent. Poseidon on the other hand seemed like he was about to explode, he had something to say to the warrior, but their mission depended on it, Redeemer saw it as just another test to the elemental’s patience. Krieg flipped his blades around and around slowly, as if looking for something unseen, he lowered his hand in quietness and pointed behind a rubbled building.
“Now what is it?” Poseidon whispered.
“Trouble,” Redeemer scoffed. As if sensing Redeemer’s thoughts, the building exploded into a pile of mortar. Standing where the building once stood were six beings, clad in all sorts of armor and wielding what seemed like a random assortment of weapons.
“…is that who I think it is?” Poseidon said peering over the rubble, crossbow in hand.
“No, the ‘Piraka’ are still on Voya Nui, no way they could’ve got back here this fast, and besides, they barely even look like Piraka!” Redeemer pointed out their unique body shapes, trying to explain to Poseidon, when he fell over on the ground, clutching his head and screaming. “ARGHHHHH!!!”
“You!” Krieg pointed at the green being. “You are doing this to him!”
“Good obersvation,” Zanrahk grinned, clinging his staffs together. “Dark Hunters, such a waste of our resources, who wants the yellow one?”
“I’ll take him,” Avrahk licked his chops like a starving Rahi.
“You wield no weapons, you are a fool!” Krieg laughed.
“You still sure this guy is an observer?” Avrahk chuckled to Zanrahk.
“Go,” Zanrahk stared at the tan Pirahkshi. Avrahk flipped over the rubble and connected a kick to Krieg with lightning speed. Krieg quickly came up a double kick of his own to Avrahk’s jaw, the tackled the newcomer to the ground, raising his blades in the air in an X shape he was ready to finish the job, a nice clean cut end…but something was wrong. Avrahk was laughing.
“What is your problem?” Krieg snapped. “You are no warrior!”
“True,” Avrahk tried to speak through his insane laughter. “But I am a knight,” the laughter stopped abruptly, a bubble formed around Avrahk, and sent Krieg flying back into the ground.
“Argh…what the…”
“Disruptor shields,” Avrahk got up, collapsing the shield to a form fit around his armor, causing all the dust on his armor to poof of in a small cloud. “I prefer them to melee weapons, sorry you had to find out the hard way Hunter,” Avrahk stared at Kriegs feet, the rubble immediately disintegrated into dust, causing Krieg to loose his footing. Avrahk shot another look at a semi collapsed building behind Krieg, the rubble collapsed and fell right on top of Krieg as he started to get up, within moments he was buried. “It was fun while it lasted,” Avrahk yawned and returned to his group. Blitz snarled and started digging Krieg out, when one of his blades sliced through a slab of rock. Krieg lept out of the pit and crosshatched his blades across Avrahk’s back armor. Caught by surprise, he couldn’t prevent the attack with his shields.
“GAH!” Avrahk fell to his knees, hands on his burning back.
“Yield, foul Knight,” Krieg snapped, kicking Avrahk in the head, knocking him to the ground. Avrahk spun around and kicked Krieg out from under his feet. Krieg quickly smacked Avrahk upside his chin with the blunt side of his blades, keeping the knight disoriented would prevent him from being able to channel his powers, or so Krieg hoped. “I said YIELD!” Krieg yelled louder this time, throwing his blades into the air and throwing a punch at the Pirahkshi’s gut. Avrahk bent in two, looked up at Krieg as he caught his blades and ignited his shield. Krieg flew back even farther this time. But no matter where he went, the dirt beneath his feet disrupted making it impossible to walk or run. He jumped out of the ground for a brief moment, but Avrahk was to quick, disrupting the molecules in another slab of rock, it exploded, the chunks of rock flew everywhere, Krieg took the brunt of the blast head on, while the Pirahkshi remained safe with the help of Avrahk’s shields. Krieg fell into the dust, not moving, just to make his point, Avrahk pulled the Hunter up by his neck, channeling his shield into a lance like shape that formed around his arm, Avrahk forced the disruption field at Krieg’s chest, sending him crashing into the ground, with one final move, Avrahk dissolved the rubble around Krieg into dust, only leaving Krieg’s head exposed.
Blitz was on the rampage now, quickly trying to dig the rest of his master out of the ground.
“There, I did what you asked in the name of Pirakuta, now, can we get to the coliseum!”
“No,” Zanrahk snarled and shot a mental blast at Avrahk, causing him to fall over in pain. “We continue this fight, which one of you Dark Hunters wants to take on Hanrahk?” Zanrahk pointed at the now battle poised Poseidon and Redeemer. “Surely you wouldn’t just give up, you are Dark Hunters, giving up is punishable by death!”
“Shutup!” Poseidon yelled out in a fit of rage. From seemingly nowhere an explosive pump of water burst out of the ground, pummeling Zanrahk straight up into the air. “Which one of you wants to take us on then?” Poseidon fired his crossbow at the charging Hanrahk, flamethrower spewing heat and setting the area on fire. The bolt hit him dead on in his forehead, the force knocked him flat on his back as a powerful stream of water pounded him into the ground. The ivory colored Pirahkshi seemed to sense their immediate defeat at this rate. The tiger Rahi had taken Krieg to shelter and was now seeking revenge on Avrahk with fearsome force.
“Vodak, secure Guuvok, with Zanrahk focused he will go crazy again, I’ll take care of the Hunters,” Thorak yelled, charging at the Dark Hunters, Vodak nodded and tackled the blue Pirahkshi, trying to hold Guuvok down in a struggle.
“You like water, well guess what else likes water!” Thorak yelled sending a chorus of lightning bolts at Poseidons next stream of water. The electricity seared through the Dark Hunter, his armor started to smoke.
“Lightning…” Poseidon coughed, and willed the stream of water he was currently using into three forks. One fork wrapped around Hanrahk, jolting his body and extinguishing his relit flamethrower, the second went straight for the falling Zanrahk, sending his twitching body straight into Guuvok and Vodak. The final fork, the one with most power, hit Thorak dead on. His electric armor conducted the energy and he soon felt the effects of his own power, screaming, he fell over, and the electric current was cut off. Poseidon in turn fell to the ground as well. Redeemer quickly rushed to the now confused black and blue Pirahkshi, with six quick punches the black one was swaying back and forth. Then the blue one came from behind and tackled Redeemer to the ground. With one swipe of his berserker claws, Guuvok had produced three deep gashes in the Dark Hunter’s body. Guuvok looked up just in time to see a flailing Avrahk flying at him, then the two collided, knocking Guuvok unconscious, Avrahk started to get up when he felt more burning in his back, he turned around to see Krieg wielding his blades, cutting into Avrahk’s armor. Avrahk started to say something but Blitz came from behind and pounced on the Pirakshi, knocking it unconscious.
“Grab the other two, Redeemer should be in the best shape, we’re headed into the archives,” Krieg muttered to his pet, kicking dust into Avrahk’s devious maw. If they were to face beings like this every time they got closer to the mask, they were in for a world of hurt. For the second time in his life, Krieg wondered if he was going to make it out alive.

DtM

Since I've been late twice, I've gone ahead and posted this one a day early

Chapter 5- Black on Black

Mikerahk’s gravity energy gave out about twenty feet from shore. Forcing him to swim the rest of the way, his armor slowed him down, but the powerful surging of the sea helped. Still, not being able to see what was going on in the water made him very uneasy, he had heard a many a story about the beasts of Mavrah, a Matoran archivist from 1000s of years ago. When he finally made it ashore he quickly figured out what he was up against, terrain wise. The city had its areas of rebuilding activity, but for the most part it was still desolate. He hefted his scimitars up and started walking, looking for trouble, of course.
---
Kranais had heard the struggle that had been going on, when he finally arrived on the scene, he saw that one party had left, a series of tracks gave away their position. The other six that had been involved in the fight lay scattered across the area. The beings all looked familiar, they appeared to be modified versions of a well known race of savage people that spanned several islands. Interestingly, they appeared to have been modified in several different ways. Kranais hopped over the rock he was using for cover and strode over to the emerald armored warrior. He knealt beside it , and turned its body face up, Kranais would get an even bigger reward for the intelligence he gathered here. They were obviously not from the Order, nor the Hunters.
“What are you?” Kranais muttered as his eyes scoured over the mysterious creature. Its eyes quickly opened to the sound of Kranais’s words. “What?” but the creature caught Kranais off guard. Slamming both of its staff ends on either side of Kranais’s inert mask a torrential storm of mental power surged through Kranais’s mind. Kranais used what strength he had left and let out a powerful scream, which reverberated in Zanrahk’s head for several minutes. Kranais raised his right arm and brought it down with a powerful swipe down Zanrahk’s face. Three bright red gashes now formed where the claws had sliced through the Pirahkshi’s face.
“We are Pirahkshi!” a voice from behind yelled. Kranais called upon his limited invulnerability power just in time, as a barrage of lightning and fire blasted against him. He had only a few moments before his power gave way to the attacks of these “Pirahkshi”. He quickly grabbed Zanrahk and tossed him in the way of the attacks. As he started to run back, seeking a vantage point, he noticed he was suddenly running through…quicksand?!
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” Avrahk laughed at Kranais and snapped his fingers. Vodak slammed both of his armored fists down on top of the quicksand, and it suddenly turned into solid stone, leaving only Kranais’s head and upper torso exposed.
“What in the name of Makuta is going on here!” Kranais yelled, letting loose a power scream upon Avrahk, knocking the Pirahkshi backwards.
“Makuta!” Zanrahk yelled at Kranais, still smoking, he appeared through the dust cloud with Thorak and Hanrahk at his sides. “We live to destroy all that is Makuta, and to serve the bidding of our great King!”
“And who might that be?” Kranais laughed at the thought that this semi challenging group of six followed orders from someone who challenged the will of the brotherhood and all it stood for.
“That…would be me,” a very familiar voice said calmly, with a hint of sarcasm and…was it pity? Kranais turned his head to see where the voice had come from.
“Makuta, but-“
“Wrong!” the being laughed, thrusting his staff at Kranais’s neck. “I am the ruler of my own Kingdom, I am, Pirakuta!”
“YOU!” Kranais gasped. “That piece of his essence, how have you survived so long…and intact!”
“Unlike Makuta, I don’t mess around with Rahi and foolish plots that involve Matoran worship, for you see, unlike my brother, I get down to business, I take what I need, whether it be supplies, or loyal followers ready to do my bidding, after I ‘help’ them along,” he waved his hand at the staring Pirahkshi. “You are an agent of my brother, sent here to reclaim the mask of time, give me one good reason I should spare your life and let you leave this place,” Pirakuta spun his staff at a very slow pace.
“NOW!” Kranais let out a power scream at Pirakuta. Gasping, mostly out of surprise, rather than pain, then he realized something was wrong, he couldn’t move…or breathe for that matter. Kranais grinned at Pirakuta with a sinister look. “I couldn’t catch your breathing rhythm well enough, but using my power scream ability I was given a quick second when you exhaled all of your air, collapsing your lungs, that’s when I induced my stasis field, targeted specifically at your chest area, but affecting you overall, I guess I’m just that good,” Kranais smiled. “Now, you have two options, sit here and suffocate, or let me go free and unharmed this time, if any of your goons try to hurt me I’ll use my limited invulnerability on them, or perhaps, another field to collapse their lungs too?”
Pirakuta managed a very painful looking nod of his Kraahkan bearing head to Zanrahk, who in turn nodded to Vodak. Vodak thrust his hands into the earth and quickly changed its density to that of water. Kranais jumped out of the pool of water like earth and brushed himself off. Walking away he kinked his neck and Pirakuta collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.
“Don’t get in my way again, kind King, sir” Kranais laughed and strolled off out of sight.

DtM

Right, so after being late twice, and revoking one tardy chapter with an early chapter, I'm going to post one more early-

Chapter 6- Temptation-

The Matoran did not know where he was, or better yet, where he had been. All he knew was the darkness around him, of course he had the nagging feeling in the back of his head that he should be working towards the betterment of…of…something! But no, he was stuck, he could not do anything for now… Wait? Was it? Noise? Was someone here to rescue him? Or were they here to kill him!? Fear gripped the Matoran and he tried to sink back into the field of shadow that encased him, hide his withering form from the intruders. He was to afraid to confront them…yes…sweet fear, the intruders liked the fear…
They were feeding off of his fear! Or was he just paranoid? Perhaps… Maybe he was just amusing them with his timidness. He didn’t care what they thought of him, he just wanted to live! Nothing was making any sense to him now! The field surrounding him started to spin, till its liquid like properties were swirling around like the unforgiving silver sea. He was going to drown! No! It was just darkness! They were testing him…
Dare he speak? Such a weak being in the company of so many more powerful creatures, one with a control over all of the ones in the room? It was an odd feeling indeed. Being intune with this darkness made him aware of minute things he could not see before. Though he could not see the creatures looking in at him, he was able to sense their power. There were eight. One differed greatly from the other seven, the rest seemed to have been created in the image of the most powerful being. They all had a powerful connection to this menacing source…a source of…was it…darkness? Something changed in the wavelength between the source and the leader of the followers. The leaders powers spiked for a moment, then he heard the voices.
“You are a Matoran,” the voice said.
“…yes…I am…a Matoran…” he replied uneasily.
“I am Zanrahk, a Pirahkshi, I was like you once…” the voice seemed to hold out an imaginary hand, was this Zanrahk trying to save him? “Do not fear us, you are broken, as we all once were, until the being you are referring to as ‘the source’ freed us from the shackles of impurities, and made us whole with his raw power, we all have a purpose now, you can have one too,”
“...”
“You are uneasy, the darkness and the matoran were never the best of friends, but we can unite the two…HE can unite the two, make you into a whole again, instead of the broken form you now exist in,”
“I-“
“You feel empty, you wish to serve, as do all your people, just simply accept the offer and you will be given the strength you need to carry out a job of great importance,”
“Importance? Me?”
“Yes, you will be a hero to all those under his kingdom, but the question is, will you take the job, or will you rot?” Zanrahk sneered.
“…I’ll do it!” the Matoran was tired of this hole anyway, maybe it was just his mind telling him to take the challenge, he didn’t know, but now he was set…even though everything seemed out of place, he felt like he fit snugly into his little place in the puzzle of existence.
---
The Matoran’s conversion into what had been dubbed a “Piratoran” was almost complete; Pirakuta had done all he could. Now all that was left was time, perhaps the thing would survive, or it might just die in the next few moments, he didn’t know, conversion was always a tricky subject. He looked around his new makeshift layer, place in an abandoned section of the archives, at the rest of his subjects. Six Pirahkshi, and one Dark Hunter, he figured that Megurahk had best get some work out of him before another conflict arose. He sent out a mental burst of energy to the ex-Dark Hunter, its dazed stare immediately became focused and the hulk walked over to his master’s side.
“Schizosaur, find it, question any Matoran you have to, knock over whatever you have to, find the beast, I want it,” Pirakuta said it in terms he hoped the brain drained servant could comprehend.
“Schizosaur…” Megurahk muttered in a guttural tone.
“Yes, now go, do not draw attention as you make your exit,”
Megurahk nodded and left the lair, good luck finding such an elusive beast. Again, Pirakuta owed it all to his brother for his latest discovery. Not only was Makuta full of rage, anger and anticipation to regain the Vahi in its barely uncontested situation, he also knew that a being of secret and deadly power was in the midst to. Pirakuta wondered if the lone Brotherhood agent knew of its existence as well, probably not, but it would be best to claim the thing and turn it into his own engine of destruction before someone else laid claim to it.
---
“Wow, for lack of a better term, we sucked,” Poseidon grumbled staring at the floor.
“This wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have tiger boy here-“
“Silence, everyone is at fault Redeemer,” Krieg snapped.
“No, I don’t have to keep quiet!” Redeemer got up, knocking over his makeshift seat. “Nobody placed you in command over both squads, YOU shouldn’t even be here, if I were in command we could’ve totally avoided that battle, just walk away, don’t say anything, run for the mask, then make sure nobody stops you on your way out,”
“Wow, has he always been this thick Poseidon?” Krieg laughed.
“Wha-uh…” the elemental looked up from the floor, his lack of attention span showing.
“You want to lead Redeemer, go ahead, you’re not a fighter anyway, you’re a tactician a planner, but getting the mask won’t be as easy as you think, so start thinking, me and the elemental will be ready whenever you are, just remember our lives are resting on the return of this mask,”
“…” Redeemer stared at Krieg spitefully; he hated being made an example. “Right…let’s get going,”
---
Megurahk lumbered silently through a debris field in southern Po-Metru. He had to be on his guard…for his savior’s plan to come through. Even the slightest of movement did not escape Megurahk’s senses. He was going to find this beast, his breath heavy in the dusty air, he continued his search. Determined, and focused, the brute continued walking till dawn came. But the ex-Dark Hunter didn’t stop, making sure no rock was left unturn, he had finally found the tracks of the beast. It was headed for a small pool in the desert…foolish Rahi. Megurahk thought he had this in the bag. Climbing over the hill he looked upon the oasis from which the creature was drinking, easy. There was also a Matoran, interesting, the Rahi didn’t react to the Matoran at all as it tried to mimic the Rahi’s movements from the other side of the oasis.
Megurahk, using all his strength, lept into the air and landed with a deafening force, quickly grabbing the beast. The Matoran tried to yell out, but he choked in mid drink, the foolish little imp. Megurahk slammed the Schizosaur into the ground. Raising his fist he prepared to beat it senseless when a swift crack exploded from behind.
“ARGH!” Megurahk yelled out in agony, turning to see the tail of the beast acting like a whip and a bludgeon at the same time. Letting go of the beast, he quickly grabbed its tail and threw the monstrosity across the oasis by the appendage. The Schizosaur remained silent, but it was now on its feet, charging with powerful force, he rammed Megurahk into the ground, stomping with all fours, its powerful hooves bending a near indestructible armor like it was foil. The Schizosaur made sure Megurahk was properly pinned down and grabbed him by the neck with his good arm. Squeezing till Megurahk started panicing, then letting go. As soon as the ex-Dark Hunter caught its breathe, thinking it had been spared, the Schizosaur let out a massive mental blast. It was similar to what Pirakuta had done to his brain before, but much more chaotic, opening all his memories, those hidden from his life as a Dark Hunter, and from before that time, jumbling everything out of sequence, taking every bit of knowledge his brain had to offer and arranging it randomly, and above all, the pain. The pain was unbareable! Megurahk flailed on the ground like a newborn Rahi, spazzing, choking, coughing up fluids, slamming his limbs on the ground. The Schizosaur, trotted off of the body, its piercing orange eyes showed a sign of empathy for the pain that Megurahk was experiencing, motor functions would soon become destroyed, but he had had no choice. The beast, giving one last sorrowful glance at Megurahk, galloped off into the morning.
Megurahk was free over all control, from what Pirakuta and The Shadowed One had done to him, he was FREE! But there was not much time to celebrate, he couldn’t make one thing from another. Soon he felt paralyzed, he couldn’t breathe! He tried to remember how to breathe, but the thought of breathing in responded with a kicking action in his right leg. Trying to blink, caused his stomach to flex, harder and harder, busting his gut, then it all went black. Lying back on the ground, it was all over.
---
Brandr looked over the corpse, and back at the trail the Schizosaur was leaving. The Matoran had left work, always being an adventurer, in search of this creature that everybody was up in arms about. He thought, maybe he could capture it, boy that was a dumb idea. After tracking the thing, succeeding where everybody else had failed, he had come to know more about the beast and its natures, this was a new one to him. It had done something to this, whatever the corpse used to be. Brandr decided to continue following the beast, it beat working in the dingy archives by far, to this day he still couldn’t believe that he used to love it back before Makuta had imprisoned all of the Matoran in the spheres. The bronze and black Matoran grabbed his staff and pack, making sure to refill his canteen one more time, and set off into rubble fields.

Now that I'm almost out of material that's prewritten, it might be a good idea to voice your opinions and suggestions the review topic. Also, be looking for another epic by me to start being posted within the next 48 hours
DtM

This post has been edited by Dinobot The Maximal: Aug 28 2006, 05:27 PM

Hey-o peoples, no I'm not compensating for being late this time...and I'm not trying to prevent it, in the words of Homestar Runner "Todabor day is a Labors Day", so I worked my tail off this past weekend, and if you're like me, you don't want to work today So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride (its a short one this time 'round).

Chapter 7-

Noises, lots of them. Very inconspicuous noises. Very suspicious noises. Poseidon noticed that what he was hearing was not natural, or at least not native to the archives…at least from what he knew. Redeemer had led them right to those things they had fought with earlier…that imbecile! Did he really think they could take those mutant freaks on again? They rounded the corner…and saw nothing but a pile of grunting Mahiki’s, festering over what looked like a corpse.
“What is it?” Poseidon asked scaring the toads out of the way.
“A Matoran…not from this island, it doesn’t look anything like the ones we know are living here,” Redeemer said, each of his eyes twitching over the corpse. Signs of abuse, starvation, and sickness all showed, but the internal damage was the worst…
“Pft, I can never keep track of what they look like, its like they make new kinds almost every year,” Poseidon said kicking one of the toads into an open grate, grinning as it tried to hang on before falling down ten sublevels.
Krieg bent over and helped the toad, letting it flee from the scene. He turned back to look at the Matoran, definitely not from Metru Nui, before or after the great cataclysm.
“I believe it was brought here…” Krieg knelt next to Redeemer to help analyze this puzzle piece. “It has a stench about it…not its own scent,” Blitz let out a guttural growl of agreement. “Shadow energy…” Krieg flipped the corpse on its back, a small cut in its tissue was seething a mixture of lime puss and shadow like essence. “He was doomed from the get go, obviously collected by something, and brought here by a shadow elemental…”
“Can’t be a Shadow breed Rahkshi or Kraata…” Redeemer looked at Krieg with a sight shine of fear in his face, knowing the only other thing it could be.
“Agreed…even a stage six or seven didn’t have the power to use its shadow energy as a sedative…this Matoran was forced into hibernation for something…and we only know of ONE shadow elemental…”
A loud crash echoed from above, stomping, and…screaming?
“Something with power scream, coming our way,”
“Another one of those pesky Rahkshi?” Poseidon grumbled grabbing his crossbow as the ceiling caved in around them in near perfection, leaving a circle of light where a massive being stood.
“Not entirely,” the figure laughed, jumping down into the sublevel below, extending his clawed fist, flexing his life support tubes that churned and gurgled with a fear invoking sound of machinery and biology meshed into something much worse. “The name is Kranais, and I have a proposition for the four of you,”
“We’re listening…” Krieg said, drawing his blades.
---
Mikerahk sat down for a rest. It had been extremely hard to hide from all the denizens of the city and still remain near the Vahi’s position. His gravity energy was slowly recharging, but he still didn’t have enough to put up a good fights worth. Apparently he wasn’t the only intervener on the island. Chatter was scattered through the Matoran crowds about a beast that represented the coming of the end, and all manner of vile beings in the outskirts of the city. He could only assume they were Matoran rumors and mongering, but he still had to take into account that the Dark Hunters and Brotherhood of Makuta might also be on the island, looking for the mask that he had been sent to protect.
Another issue that had presented itself was that a Matoran had gone missing, his name was Brandr, an Onu-Matoran. This was where he was stuck in decision making again, did he leave his post to look for the Matoran? After all, he could be being held prisoner by the hunters or brotherhood! So the decision was made, Mikerahk would leave the coliseum at sunrise, and seek out the Matoran. And wherever Matoran were missing, trouble was sure to follow.
---
Pirakuta was infuriated.
Megurahk was dead, completely thrashed by the beast known as the Schizosaur. Maybe the thoughts that it was planting into Matoran minds were actually true. A harbringer of death, destruction. No matter, he would still have the Pirahkshi, all ready to tackle the location of the Vahi very soon. The piratoran’s conversion had been completed just a short while ago, he had been one of two foreign Matoran he had captured on his way to Metru Nui. The other died on the way to the new lair, and that’s where it still laid, rotting in the archives.
“You are lucky,” Pirakuta said handing the Piratoran its new tool, a kniched blade.
“How so master?” Piratoran bowed in thanks.
“Your sister is dead, but you do not remember it, so you cannot feel the pain,”
“There is no pain master, only the darkness, the truth about the world,” Piratoran said in such an innocent voice, Pirakuta would’ve felt guilty, if he had the care to.
“There is always some pain, I can only hope that I am able to mask it from affecting my loyal followers,” Pirakuta grinned, resting a hand of the Piratoran’s shoulder. “Are you ready,”
“Yes master!” he rised and salulted.
“Good, now go, blend in with your fellows from the past, learn their ways again, and learn of the Vahi,”
“For the glory of the Kingdom!”
“Yes, for the Kingdom,”

Be sure to leave some feedback in the review topic, feedback is all kinds of awesome And yes, I'm currently writing two epics at once: This one, and Droids 3
DtM

This post has been edited by Dinobot The Maximal: Sep 4 2006, 07:03 PM

Of course its a day early...dedicated to those lost five years ago
Its another slightly short one, but I was multi managing, next one will be at least a page long

Chapter 8-Seven Eight Nine:

Ronahk was in twilight. The Pirahkshi was in between a state of unconsciousness and awareness. He was enjoying his meditation, it had been a while since he had been able to gather this much calm in his being. Then his calm state was shattered as he was awoken by his partner, Zovok.
“Brother, she is giving us problems again,” Zovok said through his mechanical mouth. His entire head was machine; they had both been severely damaged during the tribal wars. Both of their heads had been crushed together by a stronger enemy. Where they would usually use their powers of fire and earth to eliminate that enemy, a dispute had broken out before the battle. As a result, they couldn’t and wouldn’t cooperate, without their powers they were quickly beaten, and had their heads bashed into a large boulder till they fell over bleeding. Like so many of their kind, they were left for dead, when in reality they were just dieing; slow, painful, deaths.
That’s when they had been saved. Pirakuta had shown up and was able to quickly take what was left of Zovok’s brain and transmit it into a robotic memory crystal. Reoutfitting his brother’s body, Zovok’s old grin was gone, replaced by an emotionless face with unfeeling eyes.
Ronahk had also had his own share of problems. His skin was ripped from his head during his modification to a Pirahkshi. His eyeless skull was the only thing he had left for a head. So Pirakuta crafted him a helmet that wired right into his brain. His blindness was gone almost immediately. The helmet had given him the ability to see through sound, the echolocation had actually made him stronger than before. He would now no longer have issues with being caught off guard, he could see it all, the shapes, the movement, but the color from his life was gone. He would’ve missed it, had he had the time or reasoning to feel the emotion. Instead, Pirakuta had left the two of them in charge of his outpost on their homeland while he and the first six Pirahkshi went off to find some mask. But there was something else they were to take care of, the ninth one of their kind. Perhaps the biggest failure that had come out of all the knights, she was uncontrollable, independent, and extremely dangerous. Ronahk figured it was because she was female, not a warrior, and thus, did not deserve power. But he had to remember it was not his place to judge the decisions his master made.
He stood up and drew his long sword hilts, at his command two blades of fire ignited from the hilts. Zovok covered his eyes at the sudden change in light, but light was something Ronahk wasn’t able to see so he ignored his brother’s weakness and walked out of the room. Zovok quickly followed behind, flexing his claws, it had been a while sense he had fed.
The two ascended several levels, eventually coming out to the grim looking surface. Their location was in an area where no one ever came through, but that didn’t mean that they were out of the woods yet. There were plenty of living things in the area, even though they might not be giant monsters lumbering around, they were out there. Ronahk looked around, searching for movement, and then he saw her. Her body was covered in a thick growth of vines, that reached up from the ground, and curled around her, serving as a suit of armor. The vines kept her up in mid air and he flipped over to their position.
“So brother, you had to go and awake the other one, was I to much for you,” she laughed. “I just want to play boys, is that so bad?” her face went from sadistic grin to evil snarl. Ronahk was getting sick of her already, leaping into the air he cut the vines with his fire blades, as they tried to regrow to catch their falling master they just burned more.
Nakiran, the ninth Pirahkshi, a menace that had been given the kraata powers of plant, rahi, and insect control, Ronahk despised her.
“You remember what happened last time you got loose, surrender now!” Ronahk spoke for the first time in months.
“Must I?” she laughed some more “Last time you two spent hours battling me before you finally got me in a position of weakness, this time you won’t catch me so easily,” She raised her staff, energy crackling over it. She slammed it into the ground, and a green pulse shook the ruined area. That’s when the sounds started coming. Plants growing at an accelerated rate, creeping as fast as they could, Rahi trudging out of their burrows and nests like zombies, and the distant hum of hives of insects buzzing their way.
Zovok turned to see the living things surrounding him and his brother.
“What do we do now?”
“We fight…” Ronahk muttered.
“Have fun,” Nakiran sneered as a hawk Rahi dived out of the clouds and scooped her up in its talons. That’s when it hit Ronahk, she was escaping!
“She’s leaving the land!” Ronahk called out to Zovok, who was busy sucking the life force out of anything that approached him.
“We both know there’s only one place she’d go; she screams it in her sleep, she’s done playing brother,”
“Pirakuta,” they said in unison.


DtM

This post has been edited by Dinobot The Maximal: Sep 11 2006, 07:19 PM

Chapter 9: Arrival-

“Come on you monster, let me get closer to you…” Brandr muttered under his breath. The thing’s piercing orange eyes met his stare, it blinked once, and then they started to glow brighter…and brighter. Brandr wasn’t afraid like the others had been, they had fled in fear from the beast’s psychological attacks. Brandr would not though, he had been gone to long from his work to be tracking this thing just to be shooed away now by one menacing stair. He quickly reached for his staff and pulled himself over a wide wall that once belonged to skyscraper in the city. “Easy now, I think you would know by now that I’m not here to harm you…” Brandr laid his staff down in front of the beast as a token of peace, and raised his hands into the air slowly, showing that he could not defend himself, even if he wanted to. This was the closest the beast had allowed any being toward it eons. It was rampant with feeling, it heaved its head down close to the Matoran’s face and heaved loud, heavy breathes. The breathing was broken somehow, scarred, broken, full of pain and suffering.
Brandr found himself face first in the rubble in moments, his mind exploding, every though, feeling, memory, or otherwise, they were all being taken out, displayed in great detail and lost again. The Matoran would’ve screamed in agony, had he had the ability to control his muscles. The beast was reading his mind, not only what he thinking now, but everything in his mind. Then he heard the voice.
<BRANDR> it said, sounding tired, out of breath, like an elderly being on its last leg of life, Brandr immediately felt pain and sympathy for the creature, just by hearing its agony filled voice.
“Yes…”
<YOU ARE THE FIRST, IN A LONG, LONG, TIME> the beast reared up, presenting itself in all its majestic beauty, as a riveting bolt of lightning struck the moody sky, cutting the darkness of the crisp night.
“You never seemed like the social type…Beast,” Brandr chuckled, NOW the fear came, he cursed a silent curse to himself for being such a fool.
<YOU MAY CALL ME…SCHIZOSAUR>
“Schizosaur…hmm,” Brandr pondered over the name while examining the creature. “It does suit you,”
<INDEED> it said, kneeling on the ground, buckling its four legs, all latticed in a web of powerful sinewy tissue.
“So, why are you here?” Brandr finally asked the question he had been seeking the answer to all this time. “Everyone around here says you’re a chaos bringer, a bad omen to our people, when all but one of our Toa are gone, and the storms get worse every day,”
<I HAVE NO HOME BRANDR, I CAN BARELY REMEMBER MY BIRTHPLACE, MY PEOPLE, MY LIFE-UNTIL…UNTIL I BECAME THIS BEAST>
“So you haven’t always been like this?” Brandr asked another question.
<NO, I ESCAPED MY CAPTORS, I ESCAPED LIFE AND TIME ITSELF, FOR I AM OLD BRANDR, MY PEOPLE HAVE LONG SINCE GONE EXTINCT LEAVING ME TO THE WORLD AS A MONSTER THAT WANDERS WHEREVER THE TIDES TAKE HIM, DEATH IS THE ONLY PERSON I SEEK AND YET IT WILL NEVER COME TO ME, OR WHEN IT DOES, I AM TO MUCH A COWARD TO ACCEPT THAT MY SEARCH IS OVER AND THAT I, I MAY FINALLY REST>
Brandr almost found himself at tears. The Schizosaur’s words weren’t only full of emotion in their poetic essence, but because they were spoken through telepathy, Brandr felt every ounce of emotion as despair, longing, and anger all washed over him. During the sermon, he wondered if he would ever feel happiness again. The Schizosaur nodded and closed its eyes for the night. Brandr decided to do the same, building a makeshift hut out of protodermis chunks. The next few days would be very interesting he thought to himself before he smiled and drifted off into a deep, calming sleep.
---
“What do you want…Kranais?” Redeemer gazed at this menacing individual that had crashed into their location…almost too suddenly it seemed.
“…a partnership of sorts,” Kranais grinned from behind his shining mask, as the disturbing sounds of his life support system echoed through the hallway.
“Define partnership,” Redeemer said with an indefinite stare at the cyborg, emotion void from his eye filled face.
“Don’t play games with me,” Kranais’ grin went to a snarled expression. “You are Dark Hunters, after the ultimate prize, the Kanohi Vahi,” Kranais immediately found two blades at his throat, and the sound of a crossbow being loaded behind him. “…I see, so that’s how it is,” Kranais grinned. “Don’t trust me?”
“You’re not a Dark Hunter, and you’re not of the Order…only one possible explanation,” Krieg hissed.
“Brotherhood” the three chanted together. Blitz let out a long heavy snarl of agreement with the other three.
“Well, it seems my little plan is overwith,” Kranais muttered.
“Not entirely,” Redeemer grinned.
“What’re you up to Red?” Poseidon said, baffled at the idea of not taking the time to go ahead and slay this Brotherhood of Makuta member.
“We can use him, I take it you’ve met our other guests on this island already?” Redeemer let his grin escape his liquid metal face.
“The shadow spawn…” Kranais said, emotion filling his face. The mechanisms seemed to tense up like muscles in a body would. Sensing, was it fear? Or possibly anger, it didn’t matter though. Something about these vigilanties bothered Kranais, and the Dark Hunters didn’t know what it was.
“They have history,” Poseidon said quietly. Krieg nodded in agreement, looking at Redeemer to make the next move in this little game of chess they were having.
“How about we make a deal with YOU Kranais?” Redeemer’s dark humor showing in his expression.
“What do you propose, Hunter?” the last word with particular emotion attributed to it, it was meant as an insult, but the emotion was borderline enough to avoid imposing on them.
“You’re going to help US take care of those freaks; anything after that is fair game, and I do look forward to seeing us battle,”
“You Sir Hunter, have a deal,” Kranais crossed his huge fists across his chest, seeming contented by the deal.
“Excellent,”


DtM

Wow...longest hiatus for something I've written EVER...
Still, I'm working on trying to make the chapters longer, there's a about 8 more after this till its overwith, and I know pretty much how its all going to go down.
Chapter 10-

Ronahk and Zovok knew they would be to late by the time they reached the isle city of Metru Nui. Then again, did Pirakuta really expect them to take care of Nakiran forever? She was a powerhouse; they called her “the controller” behind her back because of her distinctive mix of the three kraata powers that had been given to her. She had to much control, and to much individualism, and that was exactly why Pirakuta had cast her out, disowning her as a worthless mistake. In a way, Zovok felt sorry for her, but it was not his place to judge her or his master and savior. That’s when they felt the unusual behavior rocking their boat. No, it was not the torrent of waves that was swirling across the shining surface of the silver sea. It was alive…
“I hope you’re ready for a feast,” Ronahk said with his emotionless voice. “My darkness powers have no effect on these monstrous beings that live in this sea, its their realm, their world,”
“Bah,” Zovok muttered, flustering as he flexed his claws. If one of these giant sea Rahi were to expose themselves to him, he would have to try to weaken them with his power as much as he could, before they destroyed his boat. “Rahi are my curse, there’s always one trying to harm me, whether it be a minute bug bite, or a giant crab punching me senseless, then again, they give me the energy I need, that is, if I can get a hold on one of them long enough,”
“You are to antonymic towards yourself brother,” Ronahk’s smooth shining skull forming a deathly grin. “But these Rahi are not after us, no, it is the ones that will be near her as always,”
“Whatever,” Zovok sighed.
Their boat neared the coast and they killed the motor just when a huge wave came up from behind them. Their boat crested the wave before crashing hard into the sands below. Ronahk and Zovok lept from their perches in the boat before it was too late, and both landed on their feet, weapons ready.
“She’s here…” Zovok’s heavy mechanical voice said.
“Then he must be here as well…” Ronahk tilted the unignited hilts of his swords towards the ground and started spinning them between his fingers.
The two Pirahkshi made their way off the ruined beach, and into the wreckage of Metru Nui. It was the perfect landscape for them. Nothing was laid out in order, nothing but random obstacles jutting out of the ground. A chaotic battlefield fit for the warriors who sought to create more chaos.
“Sheesh, that Makuta really tore the heck out of this place,” Zovok said scanning the disarray. Ronahk raised his hand in front of Zovok, motioning his brother to stop and be silent. The red and black Pirahkshi clipped his hilts to his sides and drew his hands together all in one liquid motion. Flexing his fingers to the point where they were shaking uncontrollably Ronahk started muttering something that Zovok couldn’t quite make out. A light blue smokey orb collected itself in between Ronahk’s shaking fists. The orb flexed and fluctuated before it shot out in a rail thin line, just fast enough so Ronahk could track it. Zovok was blind to it, he only saw shapes, and no fluctuation in light waves with his echolocation vision, Ronahk also possessed such vision, but could still “feel” the darkness rather than see it.
“Follow,” Ronahk said in a hushed voice and he sped off with incredible speed in the direction the trail of light blue darkness was shooting. Twisting and turning he and Zovok were following the path that the Pirahkshi and their master had taken in the past several days, at this pace they would soon be at there location, but would SHE be there as well? They would just have to wait and see. After about an hour of chasing the trail at top speed it stopped abruptly and shot itself into the ground, and dissipated.
“There’s a tunnel underneath,” Zovok said, his voice glitching out for a split second between words. “Stupid synthesizer,” he said clawing at his mechanical throat while stomping on the ground repeatedly till it cracked open to reveal a dimly lit tunnel below. “There’s our way in, after you brother,” Zovok would’ve grinned, had he had any mouth left, he had been denied so much that was natural to him before when he was rebuilt. Ronahk jumped down in, shortly thereafter followed by Zovok.
“Show us the path Lord Pirakuta!” Ronahk outstretched his arms, as if to embrace the tunnel and its unwelcoming charm. A side exit suddenly appeared one the left side of the tunnel, another hidden lair; Pirakuta was almost too good at creating these things.
The two Pirahkshi stepped inside as the entrance disappeared behind them.
”Welcome,” Pirakuta said, rising from his makeshift throne, Zovok attempted to explain the situation but Pirakuta raised one hand, and the Pirahkshi fell silent. “Don’t bother telling me why you two are here on our humble capital-to-be, there can only be one reason, she’s escaped, after all…was that not one of your main goals when I left you? No matter, I didn’t expect you to keep her as long as you did as is, you did well my knights, now, seeing as SHE beat you here its only a matter of time before she shows up…so-“and just like clockwork, a loud thud echoed from the ceiling of the makeshift lair. “Looks like she’s here,” Pirakuta grinned. “Go my knights, show her what it really means to be a Pirahkshi!” the eight knights nodded their heads and combined their powers, blasting a hole through the ceiling. They leapt out to face their new foe, their sister, their enemy. But their enemy wasn’t alone…
“Hello brothers,” Nakiran grinned sinisterly. “Its so nice to see all of you together in one place again, its just like old times isn’t it?” when she realized nobody else was sharing her evil smile she frowned and raised her staff, crackling with white lightning she sighed and said “Fine, I guess that’s all you puppets can do is follow orders, lets make this a fun slaughter though,” she laughed as the area filled itself with sounds. Howls, snarls, buzzing, and the creeping of thick vines along the soil like serpents of death, it was relentless, the air filled with insects, buzzing and fitting, a wall of forestry surrounded them in a dome with thick tentacle like vines outstretched, waiting for some unlucky, or idiotic being to step one step to close. The various beasts, eyes glowing in the poorly lit “arena” paced around the eight knights. Nakiran strolled backwards to the back wall as a thick coil of hundreds of vines shot out and scooped her up, placing her upon a throne of sorts to oversee the entire ordeal. “You might as well come out too,” she yelled towards the hole in the ground where Pirakuta still resided.
Pirakuta spat, then willed some shadow energy to allow him to hover out of the hole and above his knights. Surrounded by an aura of flowing shadow energy he stood on the empty air, staff in hand he stared Nakiran down, full of anger and spite, Pirakuta was not a happy being. To the average being he would’ve appeared to be a Great Being by the way he flashed his magnificence, hovering at the same height as where Nakiran was poised on her throne.
”Then let it begin!” Pirakuta yelled out at Nakiran, his knights poising themselves for battle.
“Yes, let it,” Nakiran laughed.
And with that, the slaughter began…

DtM

A LONG overdue update, I must apologize to all you readers There're only six more chapters left!

Chapter 11 Mother Nature-

“Leave nothing standing!” Pirakuta bellowed inside the dome as his knights went to work. He would wait…and take down the foul excuse for knight he had so much promise for in the olden days, Nakiran, when her forces were wiped out by his loyal and powerful instruments of destruction. Until then, he had to channel his shadow energy, nothing, even under the control of Nakiran, dare touch him. The ghastly aura that surrounded his figure was more menacing than any of the thorns, traps, teeth, claws, stingers, or pincers that Nakiran’s army of nature possessed. “But spare HER, she…she is MINE!” Pirakuta snarled his digits flexing in his unnatural armor. He would make certain that this particular failure ceased to exist, even if it meant he had to track down and vaporize every single molecule of her being and vaporize it whence he had turned her into dust. But for now, he would bide his time, and let his anger feed his power, while all chaos broke loose below him.
---
After fighting the Dark Hunters, Avrahk had come to a revelation; nothing stood a chance against him and or his fellow knights. He had hoped he would at least get a chance to fight a WORTHY opponent, but instead he now had to fight rank ol’ sister nature. His laid back grin quickly faded to a discouraged frown as he rolled his flaring orange eyes. This would be TOO easy. Quick, to his six, a pack of berserking Rahi were charging him. He made a slight shrug, to kick in his shield generators. Humming to life he collapsed the shield around his body, covering him in a dark purple shimmering surface. The Rahi pounced, one after the other, claws ready to sink into what flesh he had left, and teeth dripping with saliva at the thought of fresh meat. Avrahk sighed and raised a balled fist in front of his face, the shield flickered around his wrist, and a pointed discus assimilated, shielding him from the on-comers. The first Rahi hit it head on, pain shot through its body as the disruption field made contact with its body. It bounced off and flew several feet before skidding into the ground, unmoving. The rest of the Rahi fell into the discus one by one. Soon Avrahk grew bored of this constant, unentertaining fight. He made the movement to punch one of the Rahi charging him, which was still quite a ways away. At the end of the punch a huge lance of shield energy shot out from Avrahk’s fist, while the discus disappeared from existence. He always wondered why he was limited to only one tool of shield energy, maybe it taxed the generators to much…still, it didn’t matter. The lance shot out hit the Rahi square in its open mouth. The Rahi flipped backwards and Avrahk swung the lance, which batted the Rahi aside like a ragdoll, sending it flying through the air till it landed with a sickening thud by the unwelcoming edges of the dome of forestry that now surrounded him. Avrahk collapsed the lance and sat down, anything tried to touch him, it would just bounce off because of the disruption field, he had nothing to worry about…
---
Vodak didn’t speak. Then again, what was new? He had no need for such luxuries, speech was something that those who possessed it almost always abused. Saying things for no reason at all, speaking just to hear themselves. Vodak despised it, the sound of beings like Matoran, Dark Hunters, or even the ape of a comrade Avrahk speaking without any real meaning made him feel filthy. He hated the filth, oh, how he hated the dirty, grimy manner in which they spoke aloud. As if the ability to speak was nothing important. Something to be taken for granted! Vodak remembered his honorable past as the giant warrior on the battlefield. Even then, he only spoke when his voice had purpose and reason to it. His words might not have had much echo in the great canyons of the battle, but they held more substance than anything else said during that war…if he could see Reidak today, how he would love to rip off that brute’s jaw right from the very skull it was attached to. That would give the cool dude chaos starter something to bicker and brawl about, oh yes it would…
Vodak smirked slyly, he had let his relentless thought process impede his progress, and that wasn’t something to be proud of at all. Cracking his gauntlet covered knuckles, the ebony armored Pirakshi threw a hard right hook at an oncoming Rahi. Problem for this particular Rahi however, was that the punch that Vodak just threw at it, had stopped...inside the Rahi’s gut. The Rahi grunted in utter nausea, and started to stumble. Vodak’s eyes lit up crimson red as he turned to face another beast trying to tackle him. With another punch, that Rahi too found itself about to collapse from the liquefied hole in its side.
Now came the tricky, but oh so satisfying part. Vodak wrenched up both arms, quickly changing the density of the Rahi beasts on his fists until they were barely even gelatinous anymore. He smashed the two Rahi together, in a splash of protoplasm the blob fell to the ground and quickly solidified into a very jumbled Rahi, eight limbs, two heads, two tails, and nothing where it belonged. The two heads struggled to gain control of the assorted appendages but it was useless, they were stuck. Vodak’s smirk escalated into an enamored grin of relaxation. Oh how he enjoyed this carnage, it was what he was BUILT for!
---
Zanrahk moved with such liquid grace, his opponents should’ve mistaken him for a wave of wash coming to greet them on the silver shore. A green wave at that, his excellent performance looked more like an elegant dance than a biomechanical engineered warrior fighting for his survival. Twirling around in an endless array of flips and jumps, all he need do was let his staff ends hit the maniacal Rahi that followed Nakiran’s call. One touch to their skull armor, and the insanity inside them all would flesh out into something more bestial than themselves. The Rahi would frit and foam maniacally till they passed out from exhaustion. The chaos in their own minds that sentience had suppressed, unleashed in a deadly flow of permanently damaging mental activity. Lying upon their brethren in heaps, they were no match of the Green Knight.
You’ll have to do better than this sister, if this is the only thing you have to throw at us, you’re a more shameful being that I thought. . .
---
Hanrahk loved his job. Sure he was a lot more loyal than the others, and in some respects that made him seem more like a lap dog than anything else. But deep down, Hanrahk could care less what any of the other knights thought about him as a being. He didn’t have to try to appeal to them, because in the end, all he really craved for was success, and knowing that he had pleased his master in doing his bidding. Smirking at the thought of Pirakuta commending him for his efforts over the way the lazy Avrahk battled, Hanrahk made it clear that he, the master of flame wielding, would never purposefully fail the will of Pirakuta.
Albeit, Hanrahk had no real control over the flames that spouted forth from the mouth of his flame thrower, as he was no elemental like your average fire Toa from down the woods. No, Hanrahk didn’t need that much control, all he needed was his heat resistant protodermis armor, and he could do almost anything one could imagine with his weapon. Yes, a weapon, the thought of calling his flame spewing contraption of doom a “tool” as so many other Toa and Matoran referred to their equipment made him sick. To call that which you used to defend yourself and challenge your enemies or defend yourself with a “tool” was blasphemy, a disgrace to the very object that had stood beside its wielder for so many a battle. Then again, wasn’t Hanrahk just a mere tool? He certainly wasn’t an engine of destruction like Nakiran or Guuvok could be. And he wasn’t always being used to hack down the foes of Pirakuta…no… The realization that Hanrahk had become that which he despised infuriated him to the point of ravenous anger. Yelling out an inaudible battle cry, he charged a swarm of insects, covering himself in a veil of flame. Leaping into the air like a fireball, Hanrahk shot through the swarm, setting their wings ablaze, and sending them falling back to the earth. They tried to hurt him, stinging and biting, divebombing the firey being by the hundreds, but it was no use. His superheated armor set them to ablaze.
Hanrahk quickly relaxed again after gazing upon the scattered husks of the swarm under Nakiran’s control. They were burning with such beautiful grace, how the carnage calmed his hot tempered soul.
Let the other’s see this and think what they want, I am no tool! I am a weapon!
---
“Are you feeling it yet?” the cool voice of Thorak asked the mass of plant life that had been trying to crush him beneath its trunks, and constrict him within its vines. “No?” he asked sorrowfully, “How about now?” the white knight tilted his head in curiosity. “What curious lives you plants live,” he said solemnly examining his foes. They never gave up, always coming back for more, would they never run out of the will to regrow that which Thorak killed? He had killed so many of them…and there were no regrets in his peaceful heart light.
“You sit in the ground, absorbing what you need to live, catching what fair starlight still shines down upon this fallen city, you are the true survivors here,” Thorak acknowledged the pain he could sense from the distressed flora. “You are the true survivors of an era long gone, the Matoran fled, the Rahi feasted upon each other and yourself, you were able to endure the Visorak, and you still stand where so many unnatural constructions have fell, you are truly marvelous beings,” Thorak smiled happily. “And yet it shames me how you give up your determined will power so easily to this witch, I see you as better than this, and ultimately, above her, and the rest of us,” the plant life was behaving more erratic as time went on, could they sense Thorak’s sorrow for their loss? It didn’t matter anyway; Thorak would still have to harm them, such a waste. “I am truly sorrow my brethren, but you leave me no choice,” as the tendrils of green lashed out one last time, Thorak drew his twitching claws. How hard he had tried to conserve this urge, but it was who he was, a servant of the king. “Farewell friends,” Thorak lowered his head in dismay and threw his claws into the thick of the green. “It was fun while it lasted,” Thorak said as the chain lightning erupted out of him in a brilliant repeating flash of light. The electricity ran through the plants, all the way through their various structures. He didn’t stop until he had killed every last one of them.
---
This was Zovok’s time, he was unbeatable! The stampeding beast and insect Rahi had regrouped and come around the plant made Coliseum for another charge at the various knights scattered throughout the arena. But Zovok, as mechanical as he may seem, was also a beast now. Maybe it had something to do with the several dozen Rahi he had sucked dry, stealing their life force and absorbing into his own ever growing pool of energy. He didn’t need anymore energy, but that wouldn’t stop him from continuing to drain Nakiran’s troops of their will to live. He counter charged a pack of Rahi, batting two aside like flys, and punching one so hard that its skull halfway collapsed in on itself. It staggered over and collapsed on the ground with the other fallen beings of nature that were now covering the floor. The lead Rahi of the pack stepped towards Zovok and roared. Zovok turned his head and let out a mechanical scream, which seemed to dissuade the alpha of the pack a bit. But before it could get away, Zovok lashed out, wrapping his claws around the body of the Rahi, he heaved the leader up into the air, sending it crashing through the dead ceiling of plant life. Zovok reared around once more to face the remaining six beasts. Grabbing two, one’s head in each of his life sucking fists, he flicked them off in opposite directions with just a slight movement of his wrists. The other four pounced in unison, but Zovok was faster. Flipping backwards onto a hand stand, Zovok rotated his head around a full 180 degrees, and faced the Rahi who were still struggling to recover from their victimless pounce-fest. One kick to the ribs sent a third Rahi rolling away in the dust, its rib cage shattered. The other three started advancing, but weren’t rewarded with much time. Zovok pushed off his hands and slammed his thickly armored legs right into the necks of two of the Rahi, they lay unmoving as the third Rahi pointlessly tried one more last ditch effort of a charge at the Pirakshi. Zovok laughed and sank his claws into the shoulder joints of the Rahi as it howled in pain. He drained the beast dry before letting out his own bestial howl. How he loved the thrill of the hunt. . .
---
“Zovok get ahold of yourself!” Ronahk punched his brother and pointed at the newly formed hole in the ceiling, where hundreds of reinforcements for Nakiran’s little army of horrors. He knew that Zovok couldn’t help it, whatever life force he absorbed usually affected him somehow. In this case, the beast like nature of the Rahi’s life force was making him start to behave the same way. But it was no use, Zovok shrugged off the blow and went charging off through the stadium maniacally.
Ronahk quickly surrounded himself in an aura of shadow, the reinforcements had arrived, and they were hungry. He moved silently, and quickly, hacking up anything that moved and wasn’t a knight. His swords flipping wistfully around and around, striking pressure points and weak spots, and causing all around carnage in the ranks of the forces of nature. He didn’t need to see them to horribly mutilate their already nightmarish figures.
“When the day comes, and the true shadow conquers, you will all be reduced to scrap!” Ronahk yelled out religiously speaking of the day he knew was not to far off. Soon they would have the Vahi, and soon Pirakuta would rule over the universe, crushing anything and everything that was unworthy of his grace.
And that’s when Ronahk heard the screams…
Quickly looking back around the source of the distress, he was caught off guard almost too quickly… They were nocturnal Rahi…a mob of them had tackled him to the ground, seeing right through his veil. He couldn’t hear his swords, and his echolocation was being scrambled by the fists of brutish Rahi pounded him into the ground. He did recognize the screaming though; it was the lazy Avrahk…serves him right…
- - -
“AVRAHK!” Zanrahk yelled out furiously as he sent out shockwaves of mental force to knock the Rahi hordes out of the way. The sloth had actually fell asleep in the midst of this mess! Zanrahk had had no choice but to let go of his control over Guuvok and try to save his fellow knight. He could barely feel the others in this mess. Vodak was tired, but still fighting. Zovok had gone completely mental and his thoughts sounded exactly like the rest of the Rahi who he had drained. Ronahk was being beat to death, but if he felt any pain, his brain wasn’t making it known. Thorak was…depressed? But still the same calm and collected knight he could always count on. Hanrahk too was holding out for the time being but he would cave soon too. He had the mother of all headaches right now, his brain straining itself beyond normal limits to send the invading Rahi into permanent psychosis. He finally was able to see Avrahk and reached out an armored hand, pulling the brown Pirakshi out of the mess, he was badly beaten up, his generators sparking and smoking, limp muscle strands swelling outside of his armor, and mechanical prosthetics shorting out. It was then that he sensed it. . .Guuvok was dead.
---
FREE! HE WAS FREE AT LAST! A PUPPET OF A PUPPET!? Guuvok ran around the arena, no reason or instinct guiding him, just chaos. He killed anything and everything in his way, his claws moving faster than his legs, so many foes fell, SO MANY!. They would all die! Or better yet, they would be thrown into so much PAIN they would join him in his irreversible mental breakdown. They all tried to take him down, they all tried! But they were no much for him! He had the power of insanity! Nothing could stop him now, not even Pirakuta, not even Mata Nui himself! HE COULD NOT DIE---that’s when felt it. The warm pleasant feeling, he stopped running and looked down as an orange pike stuck out of his chest, crackling with raw energy.
“Sleep my brother, for you of all of our species do not deserve to be degraded so,” the female voice said as the pike withdrew, leaving a gaping hole. Guuvok knelt to the ground, perhaps a shred of his pre-Pirakshi consciousness returning to his ill fated brain. But it was to late even for that, Guuvok fell face first into the dust, the beasts and bugs and plants around him already trying to get their share of the kill. He was dead.
---
Pirakuta had retreated into a corner and finally landed, still fighting off the swarms that hounded him relentlessly. He knew Guuvok was dead, at the hands of the high and mighty self proclaimed queen no less. He had feared this loss, but Avrahk was more important than that tool. A battered Thorak and Hanrahk joined him, and started blasting a hole in the dead wall. They were retreating, and as much as the king regretted it, he knew they wouldn’t last much longer in this mess. Zanrahk lept out of the advancing hordes, with a badly damaged Avrahk over his left shoulder, excellent. His head darted to the other side of the mess, Zovok had actually been able to help free Ronahk and was helping him to get to the rest of the group as well. That just left one more, Vodak. The tan and black armored Pirakshi showed himself only once everybody else was ready to go out of the newly formed exit door. He turned to the rest and only hung his head in shame. What could he possibly be thinking? Pirakuta didn’t like the look of this, Vodak should’ve followed suit with the rest of the knights and prepared for the escape. Turning back around he raised his fists and plunged them into the ground with such force that the whole area was rocked with a mini-quake.
“GO, NOW!” Vodak's emotion filled face yelled out at his comrades. It suddenly hit Pirakuta…he couldn’t argue with his knight’s noble decision.
“You saw him, everybody get outside of the wall!” Pirakuta yelled. The knights scampered outside of the stadium as fast as they could, while Pirakuta shot himself into the air, activating his own gravity powers, it took every ounce of his remaining strength, but all the air born rahi and insects went crashing to the ground.
Vodak howled in agony as pure energy coursed out of his body, he was sacrificing his life force for an extra boost of power! The whole area quickly turned to liquid dirt, sending raving Rahi beneath the quicksand, no matter how hard they tried, none of them could escape, not even Nakiran. “NOW!” Pirakuta yelled down to Vodak. Vodak’s howl grew even louder as the whole area started to solidify. The dirt, the plant walls, the rahi, even Nakiran, the rock spread like a disease through her ranks, turning everything into solid stone.
“Well done master, you might be a worthy tyrant afterall,” she smirked before her breath was caught short as the rest of her body turned to stone.
And as the dust cleared, the true winner of the battle stood atop a pedestal made of the stone bodies of Rahi, insects and plants. Vodak, still kneeling in the ground with his fists thrust into the soil, as he too had shared Nakiran’s fate. His body solidified into pure stone, it knelt there like some sort of monument tributing a battle long past. Pirakuta landed in front of the statue form of his loyal knight, speechless not out of surprise, but out of sorrow. Now the other Pirakshi journeyed inside the reformatted stone structure, and knelt around their fallen brother in a circle, honoring his true hearted sacrifice. Pirakuta placed a hand on Vodak’s forehead and hung his own head low.
“Vodak, Knight of Solidity, you have not died in vain,”

This post has been edited by Dinobot The Maximal: Jan 13 2007, 06:06 PM

Omigosh its delayed over four weeks...but I wrote a five point five page long chapter!

Chapter 12- Powerless

Back inside the makeshift lair Pirakuta glared at his bowed knights. While they did not fall to the forces of Nakiran, they had indeed failed in his eyes. The Pirakshi had taken considerable losses in their fight. Yes, they had eliminated their greatest threat in the ruined city of legends, but the fact that they fought so sloppishly, and had to loose two of their comrades (three if you still count Nakiran as one of them) to gain such a victory was no commendable addendum to the hypothetical chronicle of their greatness. In essence, they sucked.
“Your performance was hardly satisfactory, some of you were especially dishonorable,” Pirakuta glared at the wheezing Avrahk and twitching Zovok. “Vodak sacrificed himself in a last ditch effort, that given current circumstances was to…how shall I say this, expensive,” Pirakuta stopped pacing and stood before the knights. “Time is short, get your act together, because if I fail, the rest of you will face a fate worse than death,”
That’s when something that should not have happened did, a knight stood up for himself and his comrades. This knight, was Thorak.
“How can you threaten us with such nuisances!?” Thorak cried out, showing the first sign of anger and confliction in his pained face in a long time. “We, who have all but died inside, we, who have all faced fates worse than death, experiencing pain beyond that which any mortal being should ever have to endure without hope, we were all REFUSED that which all other fear, and yet it was something we craved more than ANYTHING else,” Thorak was now face to face with Pirakuta, uttering one more word in a hushed whisper. “Death. . .”
Pirakuta hefted his staff up, pointing its blades at Thorak’s neck. Glaring at the disobedient knight who had spoken so much more truth than Pirakuta could bare to handle. Thorak was right, if the loyalty of the knights was lost, there was nothing Pirakuta could do to punish them and still expect them to come back like whimpering dogs. The Pirakshi had all gone through ordeals worse than death in some form or another, and they knew no true pain after that. He was powerless. . . Pirakuta leaned over to Thorak, staff crackling with energy, then vanished in a coiled whisp of shadow. He had more important things to attend to.
---
Mikerahk crested the next hill with ease. The journey had been a tiresome one, but most of his gravity energy had returned to him now, if need be, he was ready for a fight. That’s when he eyed his prize. The magnificently fearsome beast known as Schizosaurus to the Matoran of Metru Nui…and of course, the missing Matoran, Brandr were both just over the next hill. Mikerahk silently chuckled to himself.
“Mata Nui, am I good or what?” but he apparently wasn’t good enough. Schizosaur raised its head up towards Mikerahk’s position, hoisting Brandr onto his unnatural saddle back, he turned and started to flee. Mikerahk swore. “I don’t think so…” he said cueing up his gravity power, launching himself off the hill, landing softly in front of the beast’s escape path. The thing howled, its mysterious eyes flaring with energy. Mikerahk had heard tales of hypnosis before, specifically the Barraki had-been Takadox. Turning his back on the best he reflected its face into his massive scimitars and quickly turned the gravity up so high on the beast that the ground around it crumpled down into a crater.
“Now, tell me, “Schizosaurus”,” Mikerahk said still looking at the beast only through reflection. “Why do you enjoy running so much? I mean, you really do like to run don’t you?” Mikerahk chuckled cockily. “What’s the big deal, afraid of the dark?”
Whether or not Schizosaur really took the gravity titan’s bait or not was up to interpretation. But however somebody saw it, that somebody being Brandr, the Schizosaur was ticked.
<YOU AGENTS HAVE BEEN PURSEUING ME RELENTLESSLY FOR YEARS!!!> Mikerahk took a step back, the beast was now radiating energy, and it was…STANDING UP!?
“What the—how can you—“ Mikerahk was driven nigh speechless at the sight, this thing was resisting his power! Even Voporak and Ancient couldn’t fight against his power, how could this-this-Rahi stand up to oppose him!?
<I AM STRONGER THAN YOUR BROTHERHOOD GIVES ME CREDIT FOR!> the beast’s thought speech roared through Mikerahk’s mind.
“Brotherhood? ...awww—“ but Rahk’s swearing was cut off as two brilliant beams of orange narrowly missed him. “You cool dude!” Mikerahk shouted over the crater’s rim. “I’m not with the Brotherhood!”
<THEN…YOU ARE A HUNTER!> Schizosaur’s voice echoed through Mikerhak’s already throbbing head.
Mikerahk knew he was limited on power, and that he’d definitely need it later on if more beings came to claim the Vahi, which they could do at any time. At his point though, he couldn’t care less. He increased the gravity to an even greater level inside the crater, now the gravity energy was causing Schizosaur’s laster energy to sink and dissipate upon firing.
“Now, I know how much energy it takes to escape my regular hold that I had over you, but even you have to be in pain now that I’ve taken it up a notch, so why don’t you just hear me out? …Brandr, you can come out now by the way,”
The exotic Hau poked over the opposite rim of the crater, and the Matoran carefully made his way around to the navy titan, cautious so as to not tumble into he crater, where he would surely die if he was unlucky enough to turn slip down and join his “companion”.
The moment Brandr was within easy range, Mikerahk willed him into the air, releasing gravity’s hold on the Matoran and floated the squirming little guy over in front of him.
“Alright Brandr, relax and listen up, knowing you, you might’ve had your suspicions that something other then Schizosaur here was in your midst, hiding, watching, but never stalking like a predator would its prey,”
Brandr stopped struggling, upside down, he grinned.
“I knew it!” he laughed. “I’m so good at this stuff its not even funny!” and yet he still laughed.
“So tell your friend down there to stop shooting at me so we can talk peacefully,”
“Ahh, I gotcha,” Brandr wriggled himself around so he could meet Schizosaur’s pained stare. The Matoran’s ability to maneuver in zero gravity was amazing for a being that hadn’t had any previous experiences in that sort of environment.
“This day is just full of surprises,” Mikerahk quietly muttered to himself.
“Hey Schizo!” Brandr shouted. “Relax, he’s not with the Brotherhood or the Hunters, he’s here to protect the Matoran!”
“Sheesh is there anything he CAN’T figure out through suspicion alone?” Mikerahk thought aloud.
“Hey says he just want to talk, c’mon Schizo, what’s the worst that could happen?!”
<BRANDR!> Schizosaur’s voice rippled slowly out of the crater. <YOU HAVE ALLOWED ME TO RELEARN THE MEANING OF TRUST OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS, BUT IF YOU ARE WRONG AND YOU HAVE BROKEN OUR FRAIL BOND, DO NOT THINK THAT I WILL NOT HESITATE TO SHATTER YOUR PSYCHE INTO NOTHINGNESS!>
Brandr had every reason to be afraid after that comment, and yet he did not show it. Because deep inside, he knew he had nothing to fear.
---
Piratorn crept along the walls of the coliseum. Sticking to the shadows, his silhouette would only appear to be that of a Matoran to any who were quick enough to catch a good glimpse of it. Even then, these skeptical Matoran would probably just shrug it off.
Thunder exploded outside, and the sound of a torrential downpour echoed into the hallways. The storms had gotten progressively worse over the past couple of days, from what he had been able to gather from the grim Turaga Dume, all was doomed. The Toa Nuva had failed in their mission and the Mtoran rescue mission was a pointless waste of available resources. Yet, the other Turaga, Nokama and Vakama specifically, disagreed and still had faith that their twelve brethren would return with the legendary mask of life and save the universe as they knew it.
Piratoran didn’t believe a word of it. To him, it was just a bunch of old washed up has beens nagging and complaining at each other over if the world would cease to exist or not. No skin off his back, he’d done his time trying to serve in the name of the Great Spirit, without much avail. He served a new cause now, and he would actually get rewarded for his efforts this time around. Other Matoran would outcast him for what he had willingly and knowingly let himself become. A Matoran serving the shadows!? Yes, it was not unheard of, but it sure as Karzahni was not the norm. Considering most Matoran serving evil in this world were forced into serving as slaves, servants, or other unmentionable means of control.
Suddenly, a small spike of…a sensation he couldn’t describe, popped into the back of his mind. The spike quivered and melted into a puddle that reached up and encompassed his mind. Piratoran relaxed and collapsed into a kneeling pose on the cold, damp, stone floor.
“What is thy bidding my master?” Piratoran wheezed.
<Make your way to the back villa in the south western corridor, I will be waiting there for you, so that you may teach me all that you have learned over the passing days since you’ve joined me> Pirakuta’s welcoming voice calmed his heightened sense of awareness.
Just as soon as it had arrived, the feeling was gone, and Piratoran was off and running. Grabbing his spear he rushed towards his target. As silent as night and fluid as water, he made his way through the maze of hallways and ramps and entered the villa in mere moments.
An orange smoke so dark it could’ve been black snaked its way into the room from all sides and gathered before the bowing Piratoran. Gathering, the smoke started to condense and glow, as it materialized into bits of muscle and armor until its true form was unmistakable, Pirakuta.
“Rise,” Pirakuta raised his open fist at the servant, forcing him out of his position and into a standing one against his own will.
“Master, I did not mean to show you any disrespect,” Piratoran trembled.
“And you did no such thing, I require you to be on an equal level, or at least as close as possible, with me for our following conversation,”
“Conversation sir?” Piratoran asked, confused. “I though I was just going to answer your questions about the mask and its whereabouts,”
“Ah yes, what have you gathered?” Pirakuta looked around the villa. “I take it that it is located within the confines of this facility, seeing as how you’ve chosen it as your primary spying position,”
“Yes master, the Vahi is guarded by seven argumentative Turaga who seem more worried about another mask entirely,”
“Interesting, they possess the Great Mask of Time, and yet they quarrel over another Kanohi entirely…perhaps I can learn more about this mask when they become my loyal minions…”
“Of course, Master,” Piratoran grinned nervously. “The chamber of the Turaga is in the center tower of this coliseum, nothing guarding it but a couple of Matoran and locks, otherwise its fair game,”
“Excellent and what of our hunter and brotherhood friends?”
“Not so much as a peep out of any of them,” Piratoran commented proudly.
“Very well, now Piratoran, I have a question for you,”
“A question sir?”
“Yes, a question that’s been on my mind for these past few fleeting moments,”
“I don’t know what good it’ll do asking me master, but I’ll try my utmost to answer it,”
“The Pirakshi, who’re fighting amongst themselves as we speak, should I punish them now, or after they’ve claimed my prize for me?”
An evil grin escaped the Piratoran’s face.
“Hehehe, what better way to be on the brink of death than to know you willingly put the blade in the hand of your executioner?” Piratoran laughed deviously.
---
Zanrahk listened to the other Pirakshi argue over who was right and who was wrong about the least little thing. Their loyalty to their master and savior, Pirakuta, was failing, and as such, was their ability to work as a team, as a unit, as a brotherhood.
He thought he might just doze off when the calm and soothing voice of Pirakuta entered his mind. A feeling Zanrahk enjoyed more so than his brethren, for he knew that he was one step closer to the perfection of his master when the two’s minds were conjoined.
<Zanrahk>
“I am here m’lord,” Zanrahk whispered as he scuffled over into a corner to avoid his argumentative compatriots.
<Piratoran has served us well, he has located the Vahi, it is inside this Coliseum, make haste and join us here as soon as possible>
“At once m’lord,” Zanrahk rose and strolled over to the shouting circle of biomechanical beings, shoving Zovok and Ronahk back he made the announcement to the others.
“Pirakuta has found the location of the Kanohi Vahi, the great mask of time, it is inside the Coliseum, the hub of the city, we should move out immediately!”
“Leader!” Hanrahk shouted…enthusiastically. “The mission is almost over, and shall prevail,” the red Pirakshi saluted his superior.
“Indeed…now let’s move out,”
“Ehh, I don’t see what all the trouble is about, I mean we’re the strongest, and we shall prevail, Ima take my time,” Avrahk yawned.
“All you ever do is act LAZY!” Hanrahk exclaimed, shoving Avrahk back into the wall. “The mission is to retrieve the Kanohi Vahi in the name of Pirakuta, and you don’t seem to be taking this seriously enough!”
“I still say we should take our time,” Avrahk sighed.
“I’ve had enough of your lazy attitude!” Hanrahk screamed. “You’re always disregarding orders, and the LAST time you did Guuvok DIED because Zanrahk had to take his attention of him for a FEW moments just to keep your sorry ###### out of trouble!” Hanrahk’s temper was starting to get the best of him now. But Zanrahk knew if Avrahk continued this behavior he may very well tear the whole kingdom down with himself.
“Eh, I never liked Guuvok much anyway,” Avrahk mumbled. “Always yelling and screaming,” he blew off the comment.
“…Zanrahk?” Hanrahk asked.
“Do it,” Zanrahk didn’t see much of a choice anymore, let the disruptor and the temper solve their differences, maybe then some balance could be achieved.
Hanrahk’s scowl turned to a malicious grin as he flipped out his flame thrower, bathing Avrahk in its heat.
“Gahhhh, the heat!” Avrahk howled. “I-I thought your flamethrower couldn’t focus its power!”
“Maybe if you’d paid attention more in past battles you’d have known more about my powers!” Hanrahk cried out as his flame thrower recharged its battery.
“Then…I guess I’ll have to rob you of your flames!” purple energy sparked off of Avrahk’s fists, channeling from his generators. The Pirakshi thrust his fists in Hanrahk’s direction; the energy swept over Hanrahk and disintegrated all of his augmentations and even some of his natural armor.
Hanrahk fell to the ground, without his augmentations he was to weak to support his own weight, and without his flamethrower, he had no way of fighting back.
“I’ve disintegrated all of your mechanical enhancements, good luck trying to use your flame thrower NOW, without your ability to focus your flames, you’re NOTHING!” Avrahk laughed.
“Zanrahk, can you take control of Avrahk and return my armor to me!?” Hanrahk panted.
“This isn’t my fight, you have made a mistake and there’s only ONE way to win back your honor!”
“Aye…sir,” Hanrahk was growing increasingly weak without his life support systems, his body was just to weak from its past injuries to recuperate.
“You’ll never regain ANY of your armor, nor will my brothers have any left!” Avrahk laughed maniacally, the purple disruption energy flaring sporadically around him. Zanrahk suddenly lost the trail of Hanrahk’s conscious…he was dead, and Avrahk had the taste of murder in his mouth, and from his behavior it was certain that his appetite had yet to be filled. Having no choice now, he thrust his twin bladed staffs on either side of Avrahk’s oddly shaped head, and sent a wave of mental energy so powerful that Avrahk was down in a mere single second.
But he wasn’t dead…yet. Zanrahk would not be the one caught killing his fellow knights, he was the leader afterall, and he would only make sure that if one died, there was good enough reason.
“Thorak?” Zanrahk motioned towards Avrahk’s twitching body.
“Consider it done,” the glowing Pirakshi drew his claws and Avrahk’s body lit up with chain lightning. When the blinding flash was gone, it had been done; Avrahk’s body was nothing more than a smoldering pile of slag.
Zanrahk noticed the smoke trailing its way into the middle of their circle, the unmistakable black-orange of Pirakuta, but it wasn’t enough to be the true King of Shadows himself. It materialized as best it could to try and fit the form of Pirakuta and spoke out.
“I came as soon as I could, the Vahi is becoming increasingly hard to take, I need my knights! What happened?!” the shadow exclaimed as it looked down at the dead Hanrahk and pile of slag.
“There was a…dispute…Avrahk spoke in opposition to you, and Hanrahk upon this behavior and decided to fight Avrahk, rather than allow me to rob him of his mind,” Zanrahk lied.
Uncaringly, the shadow remarked.
“Then let us go to the Coliseum!” it exclaimed. “I will be waiting there for you, just because the other factions have not arrived yet, do not rely on the fact that you’ll beat them there, you’re all a day or so of constant walking away, I will try to defend the Coliseum from any other takers, but after the encounter with the Brotherhood member, you know I cannot do it on my own with one hundred percent certainty of coming out of it intact,”
“Understood,” Zanrahk bowed before the dissipating shadow. “For the third time, let’s MOVE!” Zanrahk yelled at the Pirakshi.
They were so close he could almost taste the glory…almost.

More like 8-ish more chapters left at this point
DtM

Chapter 13 Tribulations

Several hours had passed, and Schizosaur had finally relaxed…well, as relaxed as a being like him could get. Brandr couldn’t really see him being laid back for even a second, especially after the eternity he had spent suffering. At least now he had some good company, for what is was worth at least.
But introductions weren’t the only subject of the conversation. Mikerahk was here to secretly protect the Vahi in the Toa Nuva’s absence, in case if anyone decided to take advantage of the city’s complete lack of experienced Toa team. Takanuva was hardly a good enough defense, but the Matoran of Metru Nui didn’t really seem to have a choice. Mikerahk had been sent by the order member, whom he only referred to as “The Rectifier”, to stand guard no matter the cost. Knowing that other factions like the Brotherhood and the Dark Hunters could very well be involved on the island, he had found Brandr’s disappearance mysterious. The talk of this “doom-beast” Schizosaur also bothered him. After having to take down two Dark Hunters near the outer wall of the city’s dome, he suspected that more would come in their place. If they hadn’t already…
“But now that I figure I can trust you and what not, you can’t be after the Vahi,” Mikerahk shrugged. “At least that gets rid of my anxiety; I really wasn’t looking forward to tackling more Dark Hunters,”
Schizosaur only raised his armored fist in response, but the words still came, <WE ARE NOT ALONE> he paused, staring back in the direction he and Brandr had come from. <I HAVE ALREADY KILLED ONE, I DO NOT KNOW HOW MANY MORE THERE ARE>
“Killed one what?” Mikerahk got up, now he was curious.
<IT WAS A DARK HUNTER…YEARS AGO, NOW IT WAS TAINTED BY SHADOW, BUT IT WAS NOT THE BROTHERHOOD, SOMEBODY ELSE HAD MARKED THIS BEING> Schizosaur described the aura he felt while reading Megurahk’s shattered psyche.
“So you’re saying its NOT Brotherhood, but its NOT a Hunter either…but it still has fragments of both?”
<IT HAD BEEN MANIPULATED BEYOND THE NORM> Schizosaur shrugged. <THERE IS MUCH MORE GOING ON HERE THAN MEETS THE EYES>
“So what do you suggest we do?” Mikerahk asked.
<MAKE HASTE FOR THE COLISEUM…IF THEY’RE HERE FOR THIS MASK YOU SPEAK OF, THAT’S WHERE THEY SHOULD BE HEADING>
Grabbing his scimitars, Mikerahk nodded in agreement. Schizosaur grabbed Brandr and tossed him onto his “saddle”, and the oddball assembly made their way towards the shining spires of the Coliseum.
I just hope we’re not to late… Mikerahk thought silently to himself.
---
Inside the now crumbling stone dome on the outskirts of the city, not a living thing stirred. The only occasional movement was that of chips of the structure slowly caving in itself. But she…she was no longer a true living thing. In fact, she hadn’t been a living thing for quite some time…
Still posed over the stone formation that was once Guuvok, her eye’s flared to life, melting the rock out of the way, giving her sight again. She expected her rock chasis to crumble around her when she started to move. But the true extent of her transformation had not hit her until she was able to pry her feet out of the stone floor. In fact, none of the stone crumbled, it moved with her…it was part of her. It wasn’t a coating like one would receive if they were covered in lava that quickly cooled to form their own personal stone mold…instead it was infused with her very being. She made her over to the closest wall of the dome and punched it in the strongest spot she could find. The wall shattered, and her fist flew right through. She stared back at the monument like form of Vodak and grinned. What hurt her only made her stronger. . .
Nakiran was back.
---
Kranias, Blitz, Krieg, Poseidon and Redeemer emerged from the underground several blocks away from the Coliseum. They had been silently tracking these so called “Pirakshi” since they had agreed to make a collaborative effort to eliminate them once and for all. After all, you can really only have two great super powers in this world.
Now they were but mere moments away from taking their prizes, the heads of these Knights of Darkness.
It had been an interesting past few days, the Pirakshi and practically done what Kranais and the Dark Hunters had set out to do in the first place, and now only four of them, plus their leader Pirakuta and the mutant Piratoran stood in their way.
But, as only their verbal deal could explain, once the Pirakshi and company were out of the picture, it was every side of the Brotherhood/Dark Hunter war for themselves.
Pirakuta and Piratoran had shown themselves to the four approaching Pirakshi. They were making ready to enter the Coliseum through an abandoned highway route near a shutdown protodermis transport tube. If they were to strike, now was their best chance at getting them while their backs were turned.
Kranias turned back to the assembled hunters and gave a subtle nod to accompany his trademark sadistic grin.
“Hunters, make ready!” Redeemer whispered silently flexing and articulating his double jointed digits. Poseidon loaded his crossbow with the utmost caution as Krieg started to saddle up on Blitz, drawing his exotic blades. The Dark Hunters moved with the silence of a thousand pristine fields, not even their beating heart lights disturbed the sound waves.
“KHREEEE!” Krieg howled out in his native tongue, Blitz roaring with him in unison to produce a bestial roar, such a hellish roar, that even Kranais gave a slight shudder at the blood thirsty feeling and emotion poured into the mold of such a war cry. But the brotherhood member never lost his grin, it was just like back home at the fortress, just like the fortress…
Within moments, they were upon their prey, time slowed only for them. They had assembled from across the universe into a group whose soul purpose was the pinnacle of this very moment. They were unstoppable, they were gods, greater than The Shadowed One himself. The Pirakshi were slow, their recent battles with the forces of nature and shocking quarrels among their own ranks had shredded their unity, stripped them of their duty and stained their self assumed glorious destiny they were always preaching about. Point in case, they were weak, no longer the unnatural engines of destruction they all faced at the beginning of this whole hunt for the Vahi. They could be hurt, they could feel pain, they could scream, they could die! One with only stereotypes as their gathered conclusion of the Dark Hunters and Brotherhood of Makuta member-base as a whole, would only assume such behavior and feelings of supremacy to be the expected experiences of beasts not unlike Blitz. But oh how these misguided beings would rethink their whole understanding of not just these organizations, but the universe as a whole, if they could just see them as they launched from the underground, landing softly and striking their deadly blows upon their prey. For to be misguided by just simple stereotypes such as these, must surely mean that such beings could not comprehend more complicated happenings in their environment without taking a moment to look back and reanalyze all they had assumed and dictated to be true for their definite lives. For this hodge-podge assembly of members from some of the wickedest organizations in the world were far more than the stereotypes who defined their lives to those misguided many who inhabit this and other worlds. They shattered the limits to which word of mouth and lore bounded them, in short, they were now, if not forever, immortal.
---
They were like shadows, harbingers of death, and doom to what the Master had worked so hard to build over the passing centuries. True, these were the same previously lousy excuses for Dark Hunters and Brotherhood members they had met earlier, but now it seemed they could put up a decent, if not comparable fight to that of their own skill and will power. The Pirakshi, had a challenge on their plates. Unluckily enough for their assailants, they had worked up quite the appetite over the past few days. The fight was on. Pirakuta swore, what horrible timing, now was to be their moment of victory, and the unloyals’ of suffering! These warriors of another time were encroaching upon his one opportunity, and for that they would pay. Grasping his staff he called out.
“Pirakshi! Do what you were born, what you were BUILT to do!” and with that he whisked away in a miniature cyclone of shadow energy. No point in wasting his strength yet, afterall, that’s what minions were for, right?
---
Kranais lunged at Zanrahk, swinging is huge apelike arms wildly, and yet so elegantly, through the air like spiked hammers of misery. The brotherhood agent was fast for such a seemingly huge and lumbering cyborg. Zanrahk gave him credit for his obvious skill in battle, in fact he was the only one that had ever challenged Pirakuta and escaped remotely unscathed. Oh how Zanrahk wanted to avenge that stain on his master’s seemingly perfect and polished record. Dodging each of the beast-being’s blows Zanrahk figured he could tire Kranais out and then deliver the killing blow himself. But Kranais had different plans, faking with one mighty uppercut his other arm came around to fast and snagged on what was left of Zanrahk’s spines, sending the Pirakshi flying through the air and crashing through the wall of the nearest ruined building.
“Oh come on, is that all you have to offer me, FREAK!” Kranais howled out, unleashing one of his power scream blasts at Zanrahk’s location as soon as the rubble started to stir. More of the roof caved in, and Zanrahk was buried even farther under now. Not good for the Kingdom’s side of the battle. “I assume the rest of you can handle these Zakazian freaks, neh?” Kranis motioned towards the three remaining Pirakshi all doing battle with the Dark Hunters. His question went unanswered as their own private battles raged on, Poseidon was busy pummeling Ronahk with water bolts, where as Redeemer had his hands full with the still somewhat-under-the-influence-of-rahi-life-force Zovok. Krieg and Blitz where charging Thorak from behind, guess the Pirakshi had lost his target for to long a moment. Oh well, if he was lucky, they’d all destroy each other, even then, he still had that green one buried under the rubble in that building…may as well check it out.
Kranais lunged into the air, his claws grabbing the once windowed open square of protodermis mortar. Pulling himself up into the dusty third floor he looked around, Zanrahk had escaped his rubble prison yet again.
“I can’t take my eye off of you for two seconds can I?” Kranais spat on the ground, the dust making a muddy taste in his mouth as his life support systems pumped fluids through his head.
“By the time I’m done with you, you’d wish you could avert your sight from me!” Zanrahk’s voice echoed out from the hallway. Kranais snarled, preferring to make his own exit rather than using the already present doorway.
“You can run!” Kranais howled.
“And I can hide!” Zanrahk cut him off before he could finish the cliché. “You and I, we aren’t that different, each serving a Makuta, each nowhere near as a whole as we once were, and yet my Makuta has filled the emptiness inside of me, what has yours done but allow your emptiness, your pain, to grow and swell inside you?!” Zanrahk cackled. “You’re a tool, like all of us! At least my master is benevolent enough to compliment my losses with gains, whereas you’re slowly being driven into an insane state of madness by your pain. Face it! Soon enough you’ll be nothing more than a brute on the front lines, causing chaos and taking all of the enemy hits while your fellow members who still possess a full mind sit back and launch their own well thought out attacks based upon their own free will!”
“You think you’re getting to me eh?” Kranais chuckled, making his way through the hallway towards an abandoned conference room in the middle of the structure. It was big enough for Matoran to pitch ideas, etcetera to their superiors as well as show simulations, but right now, it was an arena. “Well, I’m not going to play your games,”
“Oh but my friend,” Zanrahk’s horrendous laugh roared out from the opposite end of the conference room. “We’ve only just begun!” At that, two crimson red eyes pierced the dimly lit room, and launched themselves at Kranais. What choice did he have but to launch himself in return?
Claws met spine, staffs met mask, webbing met tubing, all as the two collided in the middle of the room. Kranais instantly cued up his limited invulnerability, preventing Zanrahk from doing anything mental, or physical to him. Latching both of his dual bladed staff ends on either side of Kranais’s temples, Zanrahk grinned as Kranais held him above the floor, attempting to squeeze the life out of him.
“Such foolishness,” he muttered, and launched a mental barrage that destroyed what was left of Kranais’s defense. Invading the inner workings of his mind, he saw it all, EVERYTHING. The pain, it had taken root like some wicked seed, spreading throughout every known corner of his mental universe, it was a cancer that not even Zanrahk had tackled before. Kranais suddenly conjured in front of the Pirakshi, obviously in anger at this invader trying to come into his mind. “Oh please, what could you hope to do now!?” Zanrahk scoffed. “Its over Kranais, I’m in here now,” he said tapping the mask on his preys face. “There was nothing you could do in the physical world, and now that we’re here, you’re hopeless,” Zanrahk sneered, and launched a wave of psychic energy at the mental Kranais, it dissipated, and what reappeared was a very different being.
“Freedom,” it gasped, then stared up at Zanrahk. “You’ve done it now, you fool, you’ve damned yourself to this suffering, even as I speak, I’ve sent your body into a stasis field, you’re paralyzed, and before this is done, your mind will be as well,”
“Wh-what are you?” Zanrahk titled his head in slight curiosity, not seeming to give any concern over his current physical state, and the fate of his body as a whole.
“I am the real Kranais, how I will always envision myself, before that fateful battle where I was destroyed,” the elegantly armored, almost Toa-like being went on. “Someone-something attacked me on a routine mission, and ever since then this version of myself has been lost to time and space, but I intend to change that…”
“The mask…” Zanrahk said slyly. “Our master is kind, Kranais, he can restore you to your former glory, he can restore all of us to our former selves with the Vahi, all you need do is align yourself with us,”
“Ah yes, but you see, I am not the Kranais in control of this vessel, what’s left of my true mental status, how I behave in real life is but a mere fragment of this original consciousness you see me as here, the pain has changed the real Kranais, and I’m nothing more than an emotion, an idea, a desire, something you’re getting in the way of,” Kranais slowly floated around in the mental universe and motioned towards the aforementioned pain. “And the pain, well, it already has taken so much; I don’t think it wants all that stolen from it so easily, especially by the likes of you,”
“What-“ but the Pirakshi didn’t get to finish his sentence. A small root of the pain shuddered, and tendrils of black quick shot out of it, spawning from its mother root, they reached out viciously, latching onto the Zanrahk’s mental avatar, making him feel every iota of pain that Kranais was experiencing. And Zanrahk did something Pirakshi should never do, he screamed.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Chapter 14- Continuance

It was amazing, beautifully, tastefully, horribly, disgustingly, hideously…amazing. The pain latched onto the avatar Zanrahk, weaving in and out of him like a swarm of starving maggots who’ve already had their fill, but still squirm on for more sustenance. All the while, Zanrahk screamed. The older Kranais, how he looked before he was given surgery by the Brotherhood, stood back grinning at Zanrahk.
“You wanted to rob my mind?” Old Kranais laughed. “Well there you go, have it, have what I have every day, every night, every moment of existence!”
Eventually his screams died down, like the pain one felt when they placed their hand in searing water, the skin eventually adjusted to the temperature, and Zanrahk’s avatar tried to keep as much of the pain in check as he could, but it was taking a toll on his control of Kranais’s mind.
“Y-you are a fool to deny our master’s help!” Zanrahk gasped for “breathe”.
“I’m the fool?” Old Kranais laughed, floating over to Zanrahk’s position in the mental universe. “You’re the one who just bought yourself a one way ticket to insanity, tell me, who’s the bigger fool here now? By attacking the New Kranais avatar, you’ve given my essence, my power as a thought more leeway into influencing the real Kranais’s actions, he has definitely thought about using the Vahi for his own gain, but now we KNOWS he’s going to,”
“The pain…it should’ve destroyed any chance of a thought like you from manifesting!” Zanrahk choked, the tendrils were suffocating his avatar’s neck, metaphorically making it nigh impossible to produce full formed thoughts.
“And yet, the pain didn’t try to kill me like it does you,” Old Kranais pointed out. “I have no doubt in my mind, that the being that assaulted me was merely passing on this disease that had almost driven him to madness, still weak from residing in such a tattered mind, it slowly nursed itself back to health inside me to the point where Kranais and the pain were one in the same, but now, the scent of fresh prey has gotten it all excited again. Mind you, Kranais would’ve indeed gone insane at some point, as this ‘disease’ always destroys the mind of its host, no matter how slow of a pace its going,”
“Ghghggg—“ Zanrahk’s avatar was starting to rot, to decay.
“Ah yes, right on schedule, I guess you’d like to know what this spells out for you know, seeing as how the pain has obviously not all come after you, just a new seed…” Old Kranais pointed to the tendrils enveloping Zanrahk as they broke off from their mother root. “The pain will become part of you now, whether or not your master can save you from that has yet to be seen, just enjoy the madness while you can,” Kranais waved Zanrahk away and finally dissipated. Zanrahk screamed once more as his avatar was ripped apart atom by atom in Kranais’s mind by the pain before it all faded to black.
---
The battle with the Pirakshi had gone from good to bad to worse in a matter of moments. Kranais and his self appointed foe had disappeared into a complex a ways down the street from the Dark Hunters current position, and while they had made their advances towards the coliseum, the Pirakshi had done an incredible job of holding them off for so long.
“We can’t hold up here forever, “ Redeemer remarked, still flexing his fingers, the soreness wouldn’t set in for several more hours, until then he was ready to poke and jab his self sought out opponent Ronahk until he had hit and crushed every weak nerve in his body and cut off all major mechanical processes that willed the cripple to coexist with the whole.
Blitz too was eager to continue the hunt. Kireg had been busy trying to help Poseidon get a good shot off on Thorak by serving as a decent distraction. But THorak had two separate sets of shocker claws and as a result, he did a decent job himself taking down the two separate targets at once. So, what with this incessant bickering that had been translated into “battle” between the electrified Pirakshi and the two Dark Hunters, Blitz had been free to do his accord of acting out in the empty avenue.
Tackling and thrashing at the most Rahi like of all the Pirakshi, Zovok (though only a result of his previously mentioned absorption and overdose of Rahi life force), the two snarlers got their fare share of scrapes and bruises. Even still, Zovok was able to sap enough of Blitz’s energy to keep him treading on through the gruesome ordeal, but Blitz was one of those beasts he had plenty of raw strength to spare, even to the very prey he was trying to slay.
Now the two opposing forces were at a stand still stalemate, on opposite ends of the street, hid out behind chunks of eroded mortar from centuries of exposure to the torrential downpours that plagued Metru Nui every now and again. Redeemer had pulled somewhat of a ditch with his granted leadership that Krieg had bestowed upon him since the battle had commenced. Krieg was leading the pack now, as it should’ve been in his and his pets eyes, even Poseidon was starting to have more faith in the foreign tribesman than his meticulous insectoid cyborg partner.
“They can still bail at any time and snag the Vahi for themselves, they’ll have several thousand feet worth of a head start and a vantage point to prevent our entrance…” Krieg thought aloud.
“Interesting…how Pirakuta hasn’t just taken the Vahi himself yet, you would think if he could just have all that power, he wouldn’t bother screwing around the way he is, especially with enemy troops approaching the gates of his prize’s threshold,” Redeemer commented.
“He bestows to much faith upon his minions, when even we, the ‘the know nothing outsiders’, can tell they’ve failed at their purpose, if it was up to me, I’d have them all eliminated before they caused any more chaos and snags in my plan,”
“Heh, good thing us hunters don’t function like that eh?” Poseidon laughed. “Or we’d all be dead a long time ago,”
His two comrades turned and gave him a stare that was one part confusion and two parts disgust.
“So, the question is, how do we get around them?” Redeemer asked continuing on from before the interruption.
“You have the natural speed, I’m not to keen on using mine, the technology behind melting Kanoka into things OTHER than masks is still iffy at best,” Krieg referred to his goldenrod boots, “The reason why Matoran and other beings have preferred melting Kanoka into masks for so long is only because that’s as close as you can get to the brain,”
“What does the brain have to do with it?” Poseidon asked, clearly unaffected by the other hunter’s current exclusion of him. Krieg entertained his quandary anyway.
“Masks are objects that require you tap into their power and summon it before anything actually happens, its why rookie Toa are so clumsy when it comes to fighting, they’ve yet to master the ability to tap into the power…now FEET, or any other part of your body is something else entirely, its even FARTHER away from your brain, and requires more willpower to tap into any powered items of interest you may be equipped with…like these boots,” Krieg motioned towards his boots again, an item of power he was lucky enough to get as a reward for having eliminated some being who’s brain power was spread throughout his whole body. With no central brain, it was much easier for his species to use objects of power besides masks.
“I want another stab at Ronahk, if I can get to his helmet, I can make him practically useless,” Redeemer volunteered himself to lead the next charge.
“Fine, the rest of us will try to circle around as best we can whilst maintaining our own set of defenses, something tells me they won’t be so keen to let us around,”
“Then let’s do it,” Poseidon shouted, making a loud click as his water crossbow reloaded with more of his elemental energy.
Redeemer leapt over the mortar, his feet tearing up the pavement beneath him as he raced at an unnaturally high speed towards the Pirakshi, doing his usual dodge this way and that maneuver to avoid Thorak’s preliminary defensive counter strikes. He reached out and sank his right fist into their chunk of mortar and flipped himself over, slamming both of his boots into Ronahk’s armored chest, sending the red and black blended Pirakshi careening back into the nearest building. His comrades, brothers at arms, didn’t have a chance to seek out Ronahk’s pursuer, for as soon as he had landed, he had blurred out of view towards Ronahk’s location. They had bigger fish to fry anyway. Zovok lifted the mortar chunk, using his excess strength and was ready to chuck it at the oncoming Dark Hunters that were undoubtedly following their speedy friend. An orange and black blur rushed past him in a similar manner to Redeemer, before Zovok could register what he just saw, a blast of hydro power slammed into him like a speeding air ship, driving the Pirakshi into the ground and grinding his body against the protodermis concrete. The tiger Rahi Blitz was upon him in moments, sinking his teeth and claws into Zovok he ripped off Zovok’s right arm entirely, and crushed his left fist after shredding into to scrap metal. Pirakuta was a fool to make the machinery have “feeling” in the Pirakshis’ bodies, because Zovok was so in pain that he could do nothing more but twitch spastically. Pirakshi never screamed, never.
Krieg it seems though, had been a little to slow in his rush, sure he was using the power of his boots, which gave him the same speed boosts as that of a standard Great Kakama Kanohi mask, but Thorak need only see a blur to start shooting off his chain lightning. Still getting used to the speed, Krieg hurriedly tried to break and dodge and ended up skidding, running straight into a brick wall. By the time he had recovered, Poseidon was obviously out of his league. The Pirakshi’s bioluminescence had grown to a blinding brilliance of light as dozens of whip like bolts of electricity whipped around his form, to the casual Matoran’s passer by, he may appear to be some sort of giant multi-tentacled invertebrate not unlike the giant squid who thrived in the silver sea.
At least Poseidon was smart enough to not launch a water attack at the Pirakshi…that wouldn’t end well for the titan, even then, he was still wet from the back splash his trusty crossbow sent back at him bolt after bolt of hydro surge he shot out.
”Poseidon, GET DOWN!” Krieg yelled, charged Thorak, but he was to late. The tendrils focused into one chain of electricity and the lightning, whipping and chirping through the air, swung ‘round and slashed right through Poseidon. It take only a split second for the electricity to surge through the store of elemental water energy kept inside his modified chasis of protodermis armor for the shock to conduct and spread. Brain synapses went off, popped and fizzled out, nerves heated up and exploded like millions of little suns, muscles dehydrated, and his kanohi and crossbow were sent flying from his hands and face. Shattering upon hitting the ground, the crossbow served as a massive water balloon, spraying the stuff everywhere. Krieg took this chance to wheel around and away from Thorak. As he started to speed off towards the coliseum, the thought that practically stopped his heart light…BLITZ! Krieg skidded and pulled a u-turn as soon as the sound of the lightning returned, Blitz was still busy pulverizing a beaten Zovok into the ground. He was to late though, Blitz saw the blinding light and backed off, snarling at his oncoming foe.
”NOOO!” Krieg howled out, speeding faster and faster, but he knew he wouldn’t make it, and he knew there was no escape for his pet…his mount…his friend…his brother.
The tendrils of lightning reached out and latched their fangs down into Blitz from every angle, sending the fried Rahi flying back down the street in a smoldering heap, dead.
Krieg, now up to full speed, kicked off the ground, his blades still stored on his back served as wind foils and he sped up into the air like a great Kahu. And was headed straight back down onto the unsuspecting Thorak.
“You’re gonna pay…” Krieg said, shedding a single tear, Blitz was gone, and now he was incomplete once again. It was time to make that feeling whole again.
---
Pirakuta looked angrily out onto the ensuing battle atop the Coliseum gate the two factions were battling for the first entrance to. Zanrahk had gone flailing into a building on the north end, whereas Ronahk had on the south side. Zovok lay sparking in his own little crater of a bed in the middle of the street, and Thorak was making his way towards the Coliseum with an unnerving...slyness.
Wait…another uncertainty…another’s presence! -but who!? He wheeled around with Piratoran at his side to face the trio.
“By decree of the Order of Mata Nui, I hereby declare you under arrest for war crimes against the three virtues!” a navy and silver titan declared.
Pirakuta was sorely tempted to make a smart alec remark, just as the words formed upon his lips, his mind was assaulted by a psychic force comparable to that of Zanrahk’s.
“Wh-who—what?!” Pirakuta stumbled, trying to get his balance as the migraine blast invaded the crevices of his brain.
“Behind me master, I’ll protect you!” Piratoran shouted, brandishing his staff.
“Oh don’t be an cool dude!” the shortest of the trio, an Onu-Matoran, shouted. Charging towards the mutant, flipping out his double bladed staff, he thrust it at the lanky Matoran. Mere seconds before the blow could hit though, the mutant grinned, dissolved into nothingness and Brandr found himself stumbling towards Pirakuta.
“Ap-ap-ap,” Mikerahk shouted, floating Brandr back over behind Schizosaur and he, “You just sit back here and relax alright?” then the gravity titan turned towards the rahi monstrosity and the quirky pair exchanged their glances. It was time they ended this threat, once and for all.
<NOW THAT WE HAVE THINGS…SETTLED> Schizosaur motioned towards Mikerahk.
“Don’t start playing stupid with me,” Mikerahk pointed his scimitars at Pirakuta. “I know enough about you, your kind, and how you all like to get along, so let’s just let this one go quietly, neh?”
“Mmmm, Order of Mata Nui, and Brotherhood of Makuta agents,” Pirakuta said, seeming to savor the flavor of their presence, “How you always seem to have it wrong,”
“We know your games, you aren’t a real Makuta,” Mikerahk scoffed. “Just come clean now, this doesn’t have to get ugly,”
“Oh, but my big burly friend, it does!” Pirakuta drew his staff with lightning speed, “Piratoran, NOW!”
Schizosaur whipped around to see Piratoran fade back into visible light, obviously using an illusion power of some kind. The forest and aqua colored freak wrapped one muscular, skinny arm around Brandr’s neck and pointed his decently sized staff blade at the back of the Onu-Matoran’s skull.
“Now now, don’t want him hurt now do we?” Piratoran snickered.
“You see, I’ve always got a fail safe, not unlike the Makuta of this very city,” Pirakuta smirked, “Honestly, give it up now, we don’t want to make things any uglier for you than they already are,”
“Sheesh Schizo, I thought you could sense those kind of things!” the order member hissed.
<NOT MY FAULT, ILLUSION ABILITY CAN BEND BOTH VISIBLE LIGHT AS WELL AS HIS MIND, HE CAN’T BE SEEN OR…THOUGHT?>
“Fair enough,” Mikerahk whispered back.
“I’ll spare your little Matoran friend here, which knowing your Order types is exactly what you want me to do, if you surrender now, rather than droll this ordeal out with a big fight scene, you really don’t want to do that now do you?”
“On the contrary!” another voice interrupted the private conversation. A loud bang erupted along the gates upper walkway, and a green blur flew past Mikerahk, landing at Pirakuta’s feet. It was one of Pirakuta’s Pirakshi knights, Zanrahk. He lay twitching, his eyes wide open as if he’d seen horrors that not even his sick mind could comprehend.
“WHAT!?” Pirakuta erupted at this sight. “Who-WHO could’ve done THIS!?” Another loud bang, dust and smoke poured out of the hole from which Zanrahk had flown, and a hulking silhouette could be seen advancing through the murk and haze.
“I think we have every right to stand here and fight,” the voice laughed. The smoke cleared to reveal a black and gold figure.
“YOU!” Pirakuta jabbed a single finger of disgust.
It was Kranais.

...I think I can...
DtM

Getting somebody I wish I could've worked with more out of the way here-

Chapter 15: Reckoning

The two continued their sparring match in the basement of the building they had crashed into, one unwillingly, and the other willfully. One Dark Hunter, one Pirakshi Knight, the two danced the night away with their display of various martial arts and sword stances. These two were none other than Redeemer, the eleven eyed, meticulous, speed freak, and Ronahk, the blind, fire sword wielding, loyal knight.
Redeemer was doing a pretty good job so far, even when Ronahk absorbed the light, several of his eyes adjusted to the pitch black emptiness and he could tell exactly where Ronahk was hiding. It was rather interesting, one was blind, and the other had more sight than the norm. And yet, the two were quite evenly matched, thus far that is…
“You…uhh…should be giving up right about now, eh?” Redeemer gasped at the end of another long scuffle.
“You are a formidable foe, it is a shame we’ll never serve together,” Ronahk nodded.
“You’d make a decent Dark Hunter yourself buddy,” Redeemer’s eyes fluctuated, staring around the room, soaking in all the details, including Ronahk.
“So, shall we continue our scuffle?”
“It’s all up to you, we’re decently even right now, and that’s saying something for someone with my speed,” Redeemer bragged.
“Oh you Hunters, always so full of you and yourselves,” Ronahk spat. “You have no honor,”
“Who needs honor when you can have treasure?” Redeemer sneered, thrusting out an open fisted arm, Ronahk was narrowly able to dodge the blow, and subsequently he ignited his long swords, sending two concentrated jets of flame searing through the air.
“I guess this means its time we start back up,” Ronahk grinned.
“Have at it, freak,” Redeemer’s grin turned to a glare of battle hardiness.
The two recommenced their dance, flipping, flopping, striking, and blocking for all they were worth. And when your subjects are a Pirakshi and a Dark Hunter, both usually consider themselves worth plenty.
Redeemer back flipped, and spun kick Ronahk in the chin repeatedly, embedding the Pirakshi into the wall. Two more quick open fisted jabs, and Ronahk’s body went flying into the next room as the protodermis holding up was shattered.
“Come on!” Redeemer taunted, “Get up and, FIGHT!” throwing one more jab at the Pirakshi’s neck, it was stopped by a block from Ronahk’s foot. Using his arms to launch himself up, he forced his armored boots into Redeemer’s face, and their combined weights, place the force from the attack sent the pair down into the second basement. Landing on a hard table, the two foes separated, resuming their battle stances they charged back at each once more. Ronahk had all but given up trying to force shadow energy of any kind into the battle. Physical blows of the stuff in condensed form just flew past the Dark Hunter as he hurriedly dodged the wimpy blows. And not even the darkest of dark that Ronahk was capable of summoning could obscure Redeemer’s constantly shifting vision.
Redeemer charged back again, knicking his steely fingers into either of Ronahk’s shoulders, causing the Pirakshi to recoil in a surprising numbness, his arms went limp as his flame swords clattered to the ground. Their fires spreading like coiling snakes, stretching out to bathe in the darkness that dominated the sub basement, they ate it all up, and they become engorged, giant flickering flames of unbearable heat. Redeemer retreated to the one corner the fire had yet to spread to and took up a defensive stance. Ronahk, now obviously enraged, charged. Using his upper body strength, he twisted his abdomen, flinging his lifeless arms around like clubs, batting aside furniture and rubble. Redeemer would’ve run, but the fire had cornered him.
“Your turn,” Ronahk muttered, mere feet away from his target, he howled, inhaling all the light, turning the room pitch black. Of course, Redeemer’s eyes first switched to heat vision. Bad move.
The fire’s brightness had blinded him, sending him crashing into the flames, in an uncontrollable tantrum, his retinas scorched by the heat.
“ARGH, my EYEEEEES, what’ve you done!?” he screamed and howled. Ronahk took another step forward towards his swords, feeling and control returning to his limbs, he reclaimed the two blades and approached the agonized Dark Hunter.
“That’s what happens when you form habits, if you had switched to Night Vision instead, this wouldn’t have happened,” Ronahk said with a certain hint of disappointment in his heaving voice. Redeemer made his way out the fires’ grasps and started to stand, another mistake on his part. The fires had weakened the flooring beneath them, and Ronahk seized the opportunity. Jamming both of his swords deep into the wood work, he unleashed a ripple effect of shadow energy, shattering and splintering the flooring. Redeemer had finally started to walk, but it was to late, his burning body flipped, twisted and squirmed all the way down the pit that had once served as an underground elevator for the archives system. He was gone.
“Fool…” Ronahk lit the room up once more and stalked back out to the world away from Redeemer’s makeshift tomb.
---
Pirakuta looked into the deathly eyes of Kranais, and they themselves looked back.
“I thought I told you to stay out of my way?” Kranais said ponderingly, scratching the lower lip of his mask with his claws. “Its really a shame you had to show up now of all times, where my destiny is manifesting in front of all of us, I really didn’t want to encroach upon your earlier hospitality, but I suppose you leave me no….CHOICE!” Kranais unleashed a power scream burst, knocking Pirakuta off balance. The Brotherhood member peered over to the dumbfounded Piratoran, caught in the middle of all this chaos and referencing of past encounters and acquaintances he wasn’t knowledgeable of.
“Who-“ but the midget of a minion wasn’t granted a chance to finish his query.
“You must be one of them…you’ve got that stupid grin like the rest of those Pirakshi mutants,” Kranais snarled, and kicked the mutant with surprising force, sending him flailing over the gate and out into the street outside the coliseum. “Now…let’s finish our unsettled business,” Kranais turned towards the recovering Pirakuta.
“I have the right mind to destroy you now, just like before, but I suppose I’m to benevolent for that,” Pirakuta smirked, approaching Kranais, but he was cut off by Mikerahk and Schizosaur, who just now decided to enter the fray.
“HALT!” Mikerahk shouted, turning towards Kranais, “This is my prisoner,”
“You, hah!” Kranais laughed, “What do you think you could do, Dark Hunter,” Kranais muttered.
“Dark Hunter?” Mikerahk chuckled, not many knew of the Order’s existence, only the top members of the Brotherhood even suspected, and the Dark Hunters were barely on their trail at this point. Revelations of any sort, provided to the enemies by the likes of Mikerahk would certainly spell out his death, and most likely all who learned of their secret from his one miniscule, yet grandiose slip up. “Eh, I’m here on my own accord, if that explanation suits you,”
“That it does,” Kranais sneered, “I see you’ve become aquianted with our self titled King here,” the cyborg motioned towards the enraged Makuta spawn.
“Aw yeah, him?” Mikerahk scoffed, “Nothing but a fraction of the original’s power, no way he could hold up against my strength, let alone my friend’s here,” Mikerahk pointed a scimitar at the glaring Schizosaur as it sent him a private thought speech channel.
<I WILL NOT TOLERATE COOPERATION WITH THIS BROTHERHOOD MEMBER ONCE PIRAKUTA HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT OF COMMISION, HE MAY ASSIST OUR ARRESTING OF HIM THOUGH>
“Fair enough,” Mikerahk subvocalized so that Kranais didn’t notice.
“Aye, so are we going to sit here and talk all day, or are we going to get some meat and dirt under our claws and start summat!?” Kranais roared.
“You filthy excuse for a being…” Pirakuta muttered.
“I could say just the same for you, spawn,” Kranais curved his claws into balled fists as his machinery and muscular tissue tensed up in anticipation for the approaching carnage on the horizon.
“Well, since you seem SO tempted to actually fight, I suppose a I could let you join in,” Mikerahk cajoled.
“Very well,” Kranais nodded, “You never know what tricks this one has hidden between his claws, knowing him, he’d just as likely summon up body guards the second you approach him than rather fight honorably,”
“You speak of honor?!” Pirakuta laughed out loud, “What do you know of honor?”
“GRAGH!” Kranais’s patience had been capped, and his temper had taken over. Batting Mikerahk aside he charged the shadow master and connected a devastating punch to the spawn’s chest, fracturing several armor jointings.
Pirakuta was able to stave it off for the time being, and drew his v-bladed staff, thrusting it forward and catching Kranais in a fine neck-catch. Kranais was just as quick on his own retaliation. Grabbing the extra strength staff, he flipped it over behind him, taking its wielder with it. Pirakuta landed head first into the gate walkway, grunting in pain.
“Well, come on then!” Kranais gestured wildly, “Don’t make me do ALL the work now!”
Schizosaur galloped at his adversary, and used his cannon as a blunt edged lance, catching Pirakuta on its tip, he tossed his prey over to Mikerahk, who in turn called upon his gravity energy, slamming the spawn into the ground once more and holding him there.
Pirakuta wasn’t as weak as the others made him out to be though, he stood, his breath heaving, but he was still capable of breaking Mikerahk’s complete hold over him and fight under the extra weight. Swinging his staff back with surprising speed, he backlashed Schizosaur, causing the beast to stumble and trip, giving Pirakuta the perfect chance to drop kick the Rahi right over its modified back. Mikerahk and Kranais both approached from either side, but Pirakuta had other plans for them. Holding up one pulsing armored fist, he launched a shadow energy beam at Mikerahk, sending the titan into the ground. Flipping around as soon as the beam’s source dissipated from his palm he turned his crackling energized staff blades towards Kranais, and launched an even more powerful blast at his attacker.
“You can’t kill me!” Pirakuta challenged them, “I am IMMORTAL!”
---
Piratoran flailed all the way down the gate wall, he was smart enough though, to get his staff blade stuck in a crack just before he hit the ground. The inertia and gravity both ripped into his body, but aside from the pain he was still in one piece. Always a good thing when it comes to being a Matoran right? Only he wasn’t truly a Matoran anymore…
Climbing up onto his sturdy staff, he looked out upon the ensuing battlefield. Thorak’s glow had dimmed down, and an orange blur, that was slowly fading to a deep brilliant cartouche from the setting son behind the oncoming storm clouds. It would be a hard one tonight, approaching from the southern end. Any being with enough sense would retreat into any decent shelter on the island. But no, knowing the Matoran of Metru Nui, they would probably work up until the last possible moment, and then flee for their lives to their shelters. Oh what sick and twisted lives they all led…
Ah yes, another figure made itself present, approaching but keeping his distance at the same time, he seemed to be monitoring Thorak and the floating blur in the sky, watching, waiting. Of course, Piratoran had no way of telling who either of the two blurs were, he could only assume the one in the air was the enemy. For none of the Pirakshi knights were willfully capable of self powered flight. Thorak was obvious, his glows making him unable to blend in, just another side effect of your average everyday mutation by the saving of the master, Pirakuta.
In retrospect though, Pirakuta had done a decent job with Piratoran. He was bulkier and had a lot more height to him, his body evoked the shape of the script letter “T” without the obligatory circle or hexagon surrounding it in most Matoran scriptures. His whole body had a certain leanness about it though, the muscles were powerful engines of strength, but they didn’t get in the way of Piratoran’s skillful spying missions. The only bad side effect of the his surgery was his skull, made to look more like the Pirakshis’, probably some left over energy from their surgeries made its mark on him, influencing, evolving his skull to the point where it become less Matoran and more of that Zakazian blood line that his mentor knights hailed from.
The Pirakshi, they were his heroes, his protectors, his fathers, his brothers. He’d do anything for them in their noble work line, and they’d likely do anything for him. Overall, aside from Zanrahk, he’d had very little interaction with them though. They largely remained just figures of his imagination, he knew their names well, Avrahk, Guvok, Hanrahk, Thorak, Zanrahk, Vodak. He knew some had died along the way, and suspected more had joined the crusade since he had left for the Coliseum to spy upon the septuplet of Turaga who oversaw Metru Nui’s runnings and goings-abouts. They were old washed up has beens, stuck in the muck of their incessant arguing, whining, nagging, bickering, on and on and on. It had practically driven Piratoran insane!
Insanity, was that another side effect of his conversion to the benevolent shadow? Perhaps…
That’s when Piratoran realized it…there WAS something wrong with his mind, his train of thought… It was… Incoherent, random, sporadic even! What was wrong with him?! He had thus far been unable to focus on a single issue for more than a few seconds… Thinking about every little thing that came to mind, and developing upon those thoughts in an infinite expansion, his work would never be done…everything he thought about had to be thought about MORE. But those thoughts…they led to new thoughts, ideas, memories.
“What’s…wrong with me…” Piratoran held out his twitching hands to the sunset.
“EVERYTHING!” a familiar voice shouted from above. By the time Piratoran looked up, a duel bladed staff came crashing down into his deformed skull, causing him to fall over off his makeshift perch. He was just able to grasp his staff and unpluck it from its niche. Giving him a little extra time to land softly several feet below on the street in front of the gate. He looked up to ascertain as to where the voice had originated from, and sure enough the source made itself visible. Planting its staff where he had previously stuck his, was the Onu-Matoran he had quarreled with earlier.
“I see, I see,” Piratoran twitched, putting his staff in a defensive state, “You want to finish our little brawl is that it?”
“I’ve got to do something to stop you freaks!” Brandr shouted, dropping down in front of Piratoran, “And if I can even INJURE one of you, then I’ll have done my part, so…DEFEND YOURSELF!”

Its spring break, so I'm trying to write on chapter a day now...I have two more days' worth of chapters to make up for. To the Microsoft Word cave!
DtM

A little on the short side, but hey, the story's moving right along now eh? Heck, a sequel is pretty much confirmed at this point!

Chapter 16: Fight or Flight

Krieg flew through the air like one of the great thunderbirds of his homeland. His speed, combined with the support from his thick foiled blades were both the exact factors required to throw his armored form up into the air. Thorak had lost his trail, and maybe even his train of thought. Puzzling, idiotic beings these Pirakshi were, to bad they wouldn’t last much longer, if he had anything to do with it that is. Angling himself down like the oranged Flare-Bat Rahi he had grown up hunting with Blitz, he divebombed towards his target. The glowing white figure of Thorak stood out like a signal flare in the murky twilight of Metru Nui, there was no way he could miss, and he didn’t.
Hitting his target dead on, he pounding the Pirakshi straight into the ground. Emerging from the crater he drew this blades and looked down at the broken Pirakshi.
“You mess with my mission,” Krieg snarled, hitting Thorak upside the head with his blade once, “You mess with my future,” twice, “You mess with my goals,” thrice, “You mess with my ambitions,” four times through, “You mess with my pet,” five times, “You mess with my BROTHER!” the sixth time did it, Thorak didn’t move, his body lay still, his ambient glow faded to a dull sickly gray as the symbiotic bacteria that had roosted inside his spine and flesh died and started to rot as other microbes moved in and feasted upon the smorgasbord of food that Krieg had presented to them. But the stillness didn’t last long, Thorak shuddered and managed to push himself up with one dieing fist, rolling his broken body over, he looked up at Krieg, spitting out chips of armor, tooth and fluid, he coughed for a moment before he was able to vocalize his thoughts.
“You don’t know what you’ve done…” Thorak sighed, “We’ve become free, each and every one of us, always one at a time,” he hacked a moment more, “You just did me the favor of setting me free yourself,”
“What do you mean?” Krieg questioned Thorak.
“We never really signed up for this whole knight in shining armor business,” Thorak spit up more fluid, “He just saved us, and for that we were grateful, but you know my species, we’re only about war, and loyalties to others are things we cannot afford, when we quarrel over who has the most stones still standing in their town, Pirakuta tries to convert victims of these wars over to his sides, enveloping us in his power,”
“So…why don’t you fight back?”
“Some of us can’t,” Thorak wheezed, “Some of us won’t, and yet some of us still are constantly fighting back against this fake instinct planted inside of us to make us view Pirakuta as the unsurpassable everyman who we couldn’t and shouldn’t even comprehend upheaving,”
“And now you’re dieing, not much you can do to avenge these stolen years from your existence,” Krieg muttered.
“Stolen, never, these were extra years granted upon us by him, if not, all of us would’ve surely died form our own fights and disputes on Zakaz, now if I were you, I’d go, there’s a storm brewing, and a tyrant who needs crushing,”
“I am the only one left, Kranais has up and left, and you…” Krieg held back the pain.
“Hurts doesn’t it, oh that sickly feeling that somebody close to you, so very close, has died in agony!” Thorak chuckled, “Such is creed on our land, and should be on yours, but noooo, you were foolish enough to make a bond, that’ll be your undoing, just like it will be ours, even though Pirakuta forced those bonds upon us, they’ll still fail us like natural ones always do—ARGHHH!” Thorak shot up more fluid, his eyes lit up, shooting out laser beams, an innate ability from his time as a whole being. Krieg turned around to see one last hulking Pirakshi hovering above him, it had jabbed a beam of solidified shadow energy into Thoraks chest, and now it was enveloping the limp ivory armored figure in a cocoon of sorts. Preserving him?
“I am Ronahk, harbinger of the shadows, and you have killed MY brother,” Ronahk referenced Zovok’s defeat at the hands of the Dark Hunters, “How do you plead?” the sickly grin of his species drooled and loomed over Krieg.
“Guilty as charged…” Krieg stared into the eyeless helmet of the black and red Pirakshi.
“Noted, any last words?” Ronahk said, pulling out two long bladed flame swords with his free fist, and grasping his shadow blade he had used to silence and capture Thorak with, with the other.
“Only one…” Krieg said looking off at the storm clouds, it was true night now, the occasional lightning clash among the fast approaching storm clouds were the only real source of light. “DIE!”
Krieg lashed out, sinking both blades into Ronahk’s technorganic chest, fluids of both mechanical and biological origin sprayed out. Ronahk howled in pain and sank both long swords into Krieg’s right shoulder, missing his neck by mere inches, they sank through his armor, melting it into slag and lighting up his insides into unbearable pain. Krieg shrieked his war cry and pulled his blades out as Ronahk collapsed upon him, jabbing another one through the Pirakshi’s skull, and another through his abdomen. But Ronahk still functioned, and sank his shadow energy blade into his free fist, willingly let it pass through as the hilt caught on bone and piston, he slammed his open palm into Krieg’s chest, silencing both their cries as they were too were enveloped in a shadow cocoon. And then all was still, nothing stirred, save for the clouds, and the ensuing battles at the Coliseum gates.
---
The rain had started to pour, and Pirakuta’s confidence was just now starting to slip in the slick mud atop the gate. Centuries had passed, and soil had collected on the undisturbed masonry, now mixed with this drizzle, it became a goopy mess of quick, making any traction on the slick pathway nigh impossible.
His three foes, the anonymous Order member Mikerahk, the grouchy Brotherhood agent Kranais, and the mutated Rahi Schizosaur had all done their fair share of trying to hold him down over the past few fleeted moments. But he had persevered. We wasn’t the spawn they made him out to be, he had EVOLVED! Springing forth from the womb of the Makuta of Metru Nui like so many other Kraata had before, he took form, he took shape, and attempted to kill his father. Oh what a sight it would have been, maybe a victory would’ve inspired the rest of the Makutas’ in the vicinity inner demons to burst forth and kill their hosts as well. Or maybe Pirakuta was one of a kind, either way, he was here, now, alive, and very much in charge.
“You are all slow, your pleasantries of true freedom holding you down,” Pirakuta taunted, knowing very well what each of these three had sacrificed to get where they were today. In reality, Pirakuta was the only free one, the others were all binded to something else. Their pain, their duty, their past, the list went on, they were slaves to fragments of existence that tied and bound them, hanging them from mental gallows that prevented their escape to leave these dreary lives behind and seek out a utopian future. The fighting could and would go on for days if they so wished. Pirakuta would pull upon all his reserves that he had been holding back over the eons, the titan would loose his store elemental power, the beast would tire and break down, and the life support system of the agent would short out from over exertion for such a long period of time.
Of course, all of them knew this, but they were hoping privately that they could get off a quick and lucky shot at Pirakuta, ending the confrontation once and for all. Then Mikerahk and Schizosaur would likely gang up on the tired Kranais, and eventually send him to his death.
Pirakuta turned his staff around, and jabbed it at Kranais on one end, and double jabbed back at Mikerahk all while sending another beam of shadow energy at the oncoming Pirakuta. But he missed, and Schizosaur ran…right past him?
That’s when he realized his mistake, Schizosaur’s tail came like a deadly whip from out of nowhere, lashing Pirakuta up into the air. Mikerahk seized this opportunity and sent the shadow wielder into an extreme vertigo, sending him floating into antigravity and heaving into the ground every other second, Pirakuta lost grip of his staff and it landed several feet away, stuck in the mud. Kranais entered the fray now, belching out power screams at an incessant pace, causing even more confusion and chaos in Pirakuta’s feeble brain. He couldn’t keep this up, and didn’t. Instinct set in as he flailed around wildly, now being twirled into a whirlpool like cyclone of gravity energy by Mikerahk, he blasted random shadow bolts, but Kranais was able to absorb them with his thick claws using his limited invulnerability. But even still that wasn’t all, Schizosaur was picking apart Pirakuta on the mental field too, the beasts avatar rampaging through Pirakuta’s brain, using its “eye beams” to fry thoughts before they could become coherent ideas, and crippling any chance of a counter attack, they had their prey.
Mikerahk slammed Pirakuta into the ground once more, and Kranais put all of the beings body, save his head, into a powerful stasis lock. Pirakuta was now tied up like some sickly beast escaped from a zoo, finally tranquilized and sedated; no more harm could come from him.
“Its over Pirakuta,” Mikerahk stated in the usual honorable tone of the Order’s member base, “You’ll be coming with-“
“ME!” Kranais batted Mikerahk aside, “You had your fun nice guy, but now he’s mine, to think, I’ll have scored doubly on this vendetta!”
<DOUBLY> Schizosaur assaulted Kranais mentally, <BROTHERHOOD FILTH!> the Rahi shouted through everybody’s thoughts, blasting laser beams at Kranais from his glowing eyes, make trails of steam in the rainy night.
“Ah, I recognize this’n…from records at least,” Kranais licked the mud out from under his left claws, “Schizosaur you call yourself now eh?” Kranais spat the wet soil back from whence it came on the ground and sighed, “Such a stubborn beast…should’ve died years ago!”
<DIE!> Schizosaurs private thought speech channel to Kranais was so loud that its echoes were loud enough to be heard by even Mikerahk and the unconscious Pirakuta.
“Alright, alright, STOP!” Mikerahk yelled, slamming both of them into the ground, “Its my duty to take BOTH of you into custody, but I might be willing to let you walk if you quit fighting so much Schizo!”
<I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU DO TO ME!> the beast howled louder still, <I WILL KILL HIM!>
“The heck you will!” Kranais shouted, breaking free of Mikerahk’s gravity bonds, and throwing the paralyzed Pirakuta like a giant boulder at the Rahi. Even if it had been on guard, there was no way it could’ve caught the shadow spawn without falling over the edge, and so he did. Kranais ran, and slid the rest of the way over to the railing and flipped over off the wall himself. Mikerahk tried to get over fast enough to prevent Schizosaur from hitting the ground to hard, but he was to late. By the time he came to a stop himself, he had already slid to the rail, flipped full over, hit his head, and found himself tumbling down towards the ground behind the rest of the assembly.
---
Brandr ducked and thrusted his spear towards the rail thin body of Piratoran. It was a fetal attempt that, as Piratoran only had to disappear and dodge out of the way. But it was raining, and the water was just pouring off of the mutant’s shape, showing exactly where he was, even when concealed.
“You’d think,” Brandr panted, their blades clanging together, “If they were going to give you illusion powers, they’d be a little bit better at blending IN!” Brandr threw his staff like a javelin then back flipped and double kicked Piratoran as he reappeared behind the Onu-Matoran, sending the freak careening backwards into the gate walls.
“Quite the fighting spirit you have in you, for such a week and feeble Matoran,” Piratoran laughed, wiping the mud from his face.
“I’ll show you weak!” Brandr shouted. But he didn’t get to throw his planned out attack into action. As soon as he reached for his spear, which was firmly stuck in the mud, another cold and smooth hand grabbed his.
“Hello little one,” the female voice said in a soft tone, “You should run along now, this isn’t your fight,”
“What the-“ Brandr stuttered, looking up at the mutated ex-Pirakshi. A being that was made of cold articulate stone with amazing orange eyes, her voice, as comforting as it sounded, was quickly cancelled out as pleasing by her grotesque appearance.
“YOU!” Piratoran shrieked, starting to retreat, “Pirakuta warned me about you…”
“Ah yes, where is our master now anyway?” she smiled, batting Brandr off through the air like a fly, “I’d like to have a word or two with him,”

DtM

Chapter 17: Blight

Brandr got up as fast as he could. Which, after going through what he just did, was a pretty long time. He approached the position where the stone Pirakshi had taken him out before. Neither she nor Piratoran were anywhere to be seen. But the sounds of a distant battle could be heard going on around the curve of the Coliseum. He had no choice now but to walk. So, he grabbed his spear, and ran in the direction of the chaos. It beckoned to him, and he, possessing the Matoran will power to fight on for a brighter day, sought to extinguish it once and for all.
---
The three, now four beings from the far corners of the universe were duking it out in all holds no barred insane fight to the death. They were lucky they were nowhere near any Matoran settlements, makeshift or reconstructed. For if they were, to many secrets would be spilled out to their scribes. And then many of them would have to pay, especially themselves, for making themselves so…visible to the public eye!
Mikerhak, sent by the elusive Order of Mata Nui to protect the Vahi from any who tried to take advantage of its poor security in such desperate times, was growing weary from all the incessant fighting and traveling from over the past few days. His gravity energy wasn’t holding up that well either, and he was forced by his own will to reserve using it at this point. Giving him only two weapons, and his brute strength in this battle. Kranais was the kind of being who he had been sent to block from obtaining his prize mask. Vile and disgusting, cruel and all around unusual, there was no way Mikerahk would allow him to get anywhere near the mask. Then there was Schizosaur…the beast of pain and suffering who he had allied himself with, now turned into a vengeance seeking maniac bent on killing Kranais. Mikerahk wanted to stop the fight, and preserve Schizosaur’s status as a reliable ally, he even had plans of taking him through the trials and ordeals that all potentials went through to become Order members themselves. But now it seems, Schizosaur would never get that chance, he had let his beast nature get the best of him, and now he had shown it to the whole world, for there was always somebody important watching. Or somebody who answered to somebody else that was important that is… Oh, and how could he forget Pirakuta? An insane chunk of one of the Order’s greatest foes, turned wicked and benevolent at the same time. He certainly had the Makuta way of thinking about him, with sinister plots and sub plots, but he was more of a religious crusader, serving as a prophet at the same time. All he wanted was the world to rest at peace, under is vision of course. And that involved the Vahi, what exactly Pirakuta would use it for was anybody’s guess, but Mikerahk knew his intentions were sick, and wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Schizosaur’s temper was heated to a violent boil itself at this point in the quarrel. The disgusting excuse of a being that called itself Kranais had broken what sturdy reserves of patience he had developed over the millennia. He didn’t care though, what was intelligence to all these beings who cast him out anyway? Schizosaur had nothing to prove, and he need not hesitate in making his points known however he must! Kranais deserved to die, and maybe before he did, he could give Schizosaur some links to other Brotherhood affiliates…and then he could kill them. He would not rest until they were all dead! And this Pirakuta being…spawned from the very source of all his hatred… He would crush it too with all his power. If one was to prevent the disease from spreading, he must first catch the spores in the air before they could take root. This spore had taken root, and already started tearing through the soil of the universe. It was Schizosaur’s destiny to uproot him, and cast him into fire! What of his “friend”, this…Mikerahk? He had seemed kind at first, but Schizosaur knew that was to good to be true. He had betrayed Schizosaur. Prevented…or tried to prevent him from destroying Kranais while he had the chance. Then Kranais threw the paralyzed Pirakuta at him, and before Schizosaur knew it, they were all in pain, and fighting to what would be the death. The death of all of them but him that is…
Kranais, ah yes, Kranais… He had so much more to gain from this fight than things like self sacrifice, revenge, and honorable service like Mikerahk and Schizosaur. Mikerahk was an interesting subject, claiming no allegiance to the Dark Hunters, and he surely wasn’t a Brotherhood member, he was to noble. He had also referred to “custody”, which meant he served SOMEBODY…but who? Kranais had no doubt in his mind that he may be able to uncover something much bigger than this little thread in a huge cloth of conspiracy. Mikerahk would lead to discovers, and could give Kranais leverage in the Brotherhood, exactly what he needed to excel to higher seats of power. Pirakuta was another particularly interesting foe. A sort of dumbed down version of the rest of the Makuta species, he had superb skills in battle and off the field. When combined, these two factors are what made him such an evil genius. It was just fate and yearning for something greater that morphed him into this religious persecutor. He wasn’t that high up on the Brotherhood’s wanted list…mostly because they hadn’t seen or heard from him much after his initial conflict with Makuta. If the organization knew or even pondered what he might’ve been up to over the past few millennia, they would definitely be a lot more worried. If Kranais was able to silence him right here and now, he would have even more bounty to take into the Brotherhood on his ship back to the fortress island. Of course, Schizosaur was high on the Brotherhood’s “list”, it possessed an impressive, if not suppressed, power inside of it, and being the last one from that batch of experiments that was still breathing, it was definitely an important piece that the Brotherhood would value very highly. All three of these fools would serve Kranais perfectly in one way or another in his commitment to the Brotherhood. But that commitment was quickly fading, the temptation and assurance that he, and he alone would take sole control over the Vahi was dominating his consciousness. In the end, what were their heads worth, when he could just reclaim the mask instead and make himself the ruler of all of space and time? His goal had evolved so much from the original plan of reversing his attack…after that he would destroy the Brotherhood bit by bit, savoring every moment. All up until he had reassembled the whole world’s puzzle like pieces into his own view of perfection. It would be a grand and enlightening experience to say the least.
That only left Pirakuta. Who was dead set on getting that mask one way or another at this point. His original plan of letting the more and more less reliable Pirakshi knights reclaim it for him, so he could punish them using the prize they claimed in his name had failed when the last of his Pirakshi’s mental connection to his mind was lost. Zanrahk was still stirring atop the gate, slowly regaining consciousness, but Zanrahk was the last of his kind Pirakuta craved to punish. As he was always the most loyal, albeit that loyalty was just a side effect of his surgery, but it was a good and very fortunate one at that. This Mikerahk being, from what he suspected to be the Order of Mata Nui, an organization the Brotherhood had barely just begun to fathom’s existence was acting under orders to arrest and dispose of Pirakuta in one way, shape or form or another. Pirakuta would enjoy the screams this honorable being made when he crushed every last ounce of spirit out of the titan. There was the beast Schizosaur too… It was not only set on bringing Pirakuta to justice, but it also craved killing him. It had invaded Pirakuta’s perverse and warped mind once already, and their thoughts were able to overlap for a long enough period of time so that Pirakuta could ascertain what the Rahi’s true motifs were. Pirakuta was related to the Brotherhood in enough ways that Schizosaur wanted him dead. And now that Kranais had driven the Rahi to the point of unquenchable, fiery rage, Pirakuta would likely have to kill this beast before it could do any more harm to his kingdom. Kranais…what a similar being to his minions. He walked with a purpose, and sported a very similar tehcnorganic make up to his minions and followers throughout the universe. But there was no room for self absorbed creatures like Kranais in his religion, and he would make sure of it that Kranais was taken out of the picture.
The battle between the four continued on. The sounds of their fighting echoed through the corridors of Metru Nui’s coliseum, and yet they were left undisturbed, what luck they had. Then the battle seemed to reach a stalemate of sorts, they were all tiring, and at about even intervals of stamina. Claws clanged upon scimitar, scimitar clanged upon staff, gauntlet clanged upon fist, cannon clanged upon claws, all as the four stood in a circle of sorts, all pushing and pulling in the stand still. They were all…even!
Another voice joined the mess of things that these four had turned everything into though, and their peace wouldn’t last. It was Piratoran, he sounded tired, beaten, and desperate.
“H-help!” he panted, and the next thing he knew, he was flying through the air, landing hardly in the middle of the four titans. He tried to stand, but he had no more strength left in his slender body. His powerful muscles had relinquished their strength to the growing mass of fatigue that surrounded the mutant Matoran. He was out for the count, beaten. Now they all stopped, out of concern, curiosity and other hidden emotions they dare not show to the others. Who could’ve done this? Their question would not go unanswered, as Mikerahk quickly flipped around to face the source of Piratoran’s flight. But there was nothing there…
“ARGH!” he screamed in pain, barely holding onto his scimitars, he flew through the air, assaulted by…a cold…liquid? It was stone?! But how?! Now the others turned to see the true attacker, it looked not unlike the Pirakshi, but it was different… It appeared to be made out of pure stone that moved with the grace of liquid lava, and yet was cool as solid ice.
“Hello, Master,” she grinned, “I almost thought you’d forgotten about me!”
“It can’t be!” Pirakuta was dumbfounded, “Vodak sacrificed himself to ensure your demise!”
“Well, seems like he did something alright,” she muttered, wiping dust off her stone form, “I see you have guests, allow me to introduce myself,” she cackled, pointing her staff at Kranais, launching an orange bolt of energy at the Brotherhood member, sending him crashing back into Mikerahk’s position. “Oh, and what’s this?” she laughed, “A present, for me? You really shouldn’t have!” her laughter quickly turned into an evil smile of black hatred, as her eyes pierced into Schizosaur. Then all went black for the beast.
---
Schizosaur was wandering, lost, she had come in and…and…destroyed everything! Reordered it all so he could have no control…only she knew where she placed things in his mind now, she had complete telepathic control, and he may as well have been tied down to the floor of his mental universe, he was completely powerless. Mikerahk called out to him to fight it…but he couldn’t, he tried to so hard, to break the bonds and find some way, anyway! Just to stop her from unleashing that power… Schizosaur had had run ins with a many a Rahi control powered Rahkshi and Kraata that the Brotherhood had sent against him, in some hope that they could bring the beast back. But Schizosaur was a mental genius, levels above the Rahkshi and Kraata who seeked him with nothing but instinct and the will power of the Makuta that guided them. Then she came…and eliminated him, all in his mind of course. He was gone, formless, barely a thought, his body was hers to command now…
---
A lot had transpired in the past few moments, Mikerahk and Kranais both slammed into a building. Pirakuta batted aside by the now possessed Schizosaur, under the control of the stone ex-Pirakshi, Nakiran. Piratoran was just now regaining consciousness as Schizosaur slowly galloped over towards Mikerahk and Kranais. Mikerahk tried to reach his scimitars, but a block of mortar was crushing his wrists and lap. Kranais was in a similar scuffle, a protodermis beam was jutting through his life support system, there was no telling how much damage it had done, and if the brute would make it through the ordeal.
“Schizosaur, FIGHT IT!” Mikerahk beckoned, knowing it wouldn’t do any good, he was gone.
“Its no use,” Nakiran echoed his thoughts, “Now, let’s see what this Schizosaur’s true secret power is!” she laughed maniacally. She was definitely mentally unstable, and putting this much power in someone’s hands, especially hands like hers, was a really bad idea.
Her staff crackled with power that shout out and linked her to her new toy. Schizosaur spewed orange light from his eyes, it was practically blinding, forcing Mikerahk and Kranais to squint as their own personal emissary of death approached. Raising his cannon arm, Schizosaur let out a verbal and mental guttural growl that reverberated through the stone and their minds. This was it, they’d figure out why Schizosaur was so important, and why he was so secretive. The growl became a cry of agony, as the cannon started absorbing energy from the air in little orange blobs, the entire thing lighting up like the engines of an airship. And the cannon fired in a brilliant ejaculation of color and sound, out shot a streamline blast of a silvery liquid that reflected the rainbow gradient of energy that surrounded it. It first splashed over Piratoran, smothering the poor soul; he didn’t even get a chance to scream.
The blast continued its way towards its targets, burning through all matter in its path, it splashed over Mikerahk and Kranais, covering them from head to toe. It was energized protodermis, or some variation of it. The liquid burned and soothed at the same time, it escaped into every pore of their body, soaking in and becoming one with every iota of their existence, every atom interweaved with it, mutating, changing, dieing, multiplying! It was to intense for Mikerahk to handle, his yelling was muffled into nothing by the power of the protodermis, and he had no way of knowing if he would ever see the real world again, or if the energized liquid would eat away at him until he was nothing more than a pool of protoplasm and ash.
Only time could tell now…

DtM

Chapter 18- Raw Wounds

Something was wrong…Schizosaur should’ve stopped blasting energized protodermis from his unnatural cannon arm moments ago…but the blast continued, and now a considerable amount of the stuff had collected on the ground, forming puddles of silvery goop.
“STOP!” Nakiran commanded, sending more energy through her staff at Schizosaur. It went through Schizosaur, straight through! Landing in the puddle which exploded from the added foreign power. The wash of energized protodermis flew down and enveloped Schizosaurs body, which quickly fell limp as the last of its ammo was expended through the cannon barrel. The putrid smell of burning tissue filled Nakiran’s nostrils as the energized slime ate through Schizosaur’s body. Now that she looked back on it, she didn’t get much use out of Schizosaur. True, she had taken out four foes at once, being Schizosaur himself, Mikerahk, Kranais and Piratoran. Which only left…Pirakuta? She turned around, half expecting to see a blast of his shadow energy shooting at him. But there was nothing there…or was there?
Two warm hands reached around and grabbed her by the mouth, but the hands melted, and formed a perfect mold over her entire face, encasing her from the neck up.
“You should’ve used more caution,” the cool voice echoed into her ears, so familiar! The next thing she knew, her face was being pounded into solid ground, as the mold’s source flipped her up into the air and slammed her head first back into the stone flooring, “Now you have me to deal with!” the mold slipped back like rain pouring down the side of a building, and she was able to see her assailant.
“What—who—how?” she muttered, the slightest trickle of fear running through her spine.
“Call me Schizosaur if you need to place a name to this face,” the ice cold voice stated, emotionless like before, “but I’m long past the point of requiring such physical necessities like identity,” the beings formless lower body recollected, forming two impressive looking legs and a thickly armored lower torso to match the rest of his body, which looked suspiciously like that of the Makuta’s armored frame, except in place of the Kraahkan, was a new face, molded to look like Schizosaur’s head in one to many respects.
“I don’t understand; you were vaporized!” she panicked, scrambling to get on her feet. Schizosaurs right arm morphed into a liquid state, and launched out at Nakiran, slamming her back into the ground and solidifying around her.
“I needed a way to escape, so I used all of my mental power, and migrated my mind into my cannon, launching myself into the energized protodermis that was left, I was given new life, and I escaped,”
Nakiran snarled at him, trying to budge from her protodermis cage.
“Let…me…go!” she shrieked.
“I don’t think so,” Pirakuta called out from behind, bringing his staff down out of the blue black he shot Nakiran point blank with a shadow blast, sending her crumpled down into the ground. “You’re such a FOOL Nakiran!” Pirakuta shouted down into her new tomb, “I’ve always had control, now more than ever!” he pounded his staff end into the ground, surrounding himself in a vortex of shadow energy, coils of shadow reached down in, and extracted Nakiran. Her solid stone form was starting to sag, to erode into a collection of dust. “JOIN ME!” Pirakuta shouted.
“NEVER!” the dust shrieked back, forming into Nakiran once again, and sending blasts of orange lightning back at her master.
“Very well,” he scoffed, “if it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you have!”
---
Piratoran burned! It was glorious, the fires burned for all that he had sinned and worked for, they were hideous, and yet ugly. He knew this couldn’t be real…he was really smothering under molten energized protodermis. But he was…changing? His mind, all of the puzzle pieces inside all jumbled up from his conversion rearranged themselves into perfect order. He could think clearly! Pirakuta might’ve hoped this little flaw would’ve protected Piratoran from certain ways of thinking that plagued the other Matoran. They were always seeking to work and work till they dropped dead, always seeking, and seeking what? Seeking a better life, seeking freedom from oppression of some form or another. They wanted freedom in a world that wanted them to be slaves. But Piratoran wasn’t thinking like that now. Instead, he saw Pirakuta and his goals for his Kingdom clearer than ever. Piratoran was enlightened, he could see it all, all the empty spaces of questions filled in with brick and mortar answers, he was truly free, for he knew all that one need to know in a position like his.
Bursting forth from his protodermis death bed, he breathed air into his newly reformed lungs. At first it burned from first use, but it was such a great relief. Looking down at his new body several interesting changes had occurred. He had become…a Toa? He knew it was possible that Matoran could be converted to Toa through a variety of means, and whatever was mixed into Schizosaur’s variation of energized protodermis might’ve had some of that specific energy that converted Matoran into elemental beings. He stood proudly, clad in aqua, forest and silver colored armor, the light of the burning energized protodermis washing past his feet reflecting off his gleaming figure. He had grown a sort of spine like the Pirakshi’s species donned, probably a side effect of his mutation by Pirakuta to be more like a Pirakshi/Matoran hybrid. Looking down at his arm, he noticed something else that was new to his transformed body. A sword! But not just any sword. A blade twice the width of the average Toa-sword sprung forth from the hilt, electricity crackling straight through a chamber in the center of the blade. Two additional curved blades elongated themselves out from either side of the hilt, sporting several razor edged spikes themselves. His hands crackled with…was it burning protodermis? No! It was electricity! He had an elemental power!
“BWAHAHAHA!” he rejoiced with a maniac laugh, shooting a bolt of expanding electricity off into the night sky. He was no longer Piratoran…no…he was…PIRATOA!
---
Zanrahk shot one eye open, standing up and brushing himself off he wondered how long he had been out…and what all that racket behind him was about. He soon received his answer. An all out battle was ensuing several hundred feet away on the outer side of the Coliseum wall. Who or what were involved he couldn’t tell, but he knew that Pirakuta must be mixed in that chaos somewhere, which meant it was his duty to pursue the fight, and assist his master in any means necessary. He got up and started to run, but the pain didn’t allow him to take even two steps.
“ARGHHH!” Zanrahk screamed, falling on one knee he held his head with one head and his stomach with the other. He had been infected by the disease that had plagued the Brotherhood of Makuta member Kranais for centuries now. And he was the first victim of a new seed that would eventually sprout into a mind enveloping tree. It was still getting used to his body, poking its tendrils where they didn’t belong, testing its puppet. How hard can I make you scream? It must be thinking. Zanrahk shrugged off the pain, Pirakuta could fix it, he was such a holy being, he could fix anything…and yet the pain created suspicion and doubt. Or at least that’s who Zanrahk blamed these feelings that nagged him in the back of his mind on. He already had enough of a mental war going on fighting the pain, and these emotions were just dragging him down. Dropping his weary arms, he picked his staffs back up and started running again along the wall. The pain be damned, he would fight on!
A glint of dark gold shininess caught the corner of his evil eye, and he glanced over to see another being running towards the same fight. It was a Matoran…Onu-Matoran to be specific. Had they finally been discovered after nearly a week of hidden privacy from Metru Nui’s denizens? Maybe the fight was attracting the inkle little fool, but that wasn’t logical either. It was a storm, and nightfall in the mysterious city, he should be back in the makeshift village in the canyons of Po-Metru. No, this Matoran had to know what was going on. Zanrahk wouldn’t risk the chance of trying to rob its mind at this distance, he was lacking in spare energy, better he question the imp with his own physical methods.
Picking up speed, he leapt off his personal runway, landing swiftly with only a minute thud in front of the Matoran. His eyes cutting through the night and rain, picking out the Matoran bit by bit, he had his prey cornered. Licking his white teeth he took a step forward, the Matoran took a step back. The Matoran took a step to the left, Zanrahk to the left, it to the right, he to the right.
“There’s no running for you now,” Zanrahk snarled, “you know to much about what’s going on now don’t you?”
“I know only what Mikerahk and Schizosaur have allowed me to hear,” the matoran barely trembled, staff in hand he stared down Zanrahk pitifully, “Let me pass!”
“Aw, what do you think you could do?” Zanrahk cackled “Maybe poke an eye out?” at this Zanrahk grabbed the staff’s blade with his hand, allowing it to cut into his flesh. It was a refreshing kind of pain compared to what he had been feeling since his little run in with Kranais. Tossing the spear aside, it disappeared into the night with a clang and a clatter. “Now what’re you going to do? No more staff, no more friends, no more Matoran, nothing left around to help you now!”
“GRAH!” the Matoran shouted, jumping into the air and latching onto Zanrahk’s face, grabbing at his spines, he pulled and tugged, punching, scratching, biting, and etcetera.
“Errr, you Matoran never learn what your place is!” Zanrahk shouted, grabbing the Matoran and slamming him into the ground, “Who are you?! You shouldn’t be here!”
“My name is Brandr!” he shouted woozily, trying to get his balance after the last blow.
“Well Brandr,” Zanrahk sighed, “…not much else to say at this point, you won’t cooperate, and I can’t get in your head as easily as I used to so…” Zanrahk slammed both of the flat ends of his staffs into Brandr’s head, knocking the Onu-Matoran out cold. Flipping the limp little midget over his back, Zanrahk started running towards the ensuing battle.
---
Mikerahk awoke…PAIN!
“ARGHHH!” he screamed in agony. A being…gold and black…an enemy! It approached him with weapons from the front. Mikerahk bellowed back, but the enemy continued to advance. It was a familiar enemy…yet…different…unfamiliar! That was the word he was trying to remember. Forget about words! He howled once more, louder and longer then drew his scimitars…which were considerably longer than the last time he saw them. But that didn’t matter! He would destroy this enemy if it took another…STEP! The enemy did take another step, it would be sorry for that. He could hear voices, shouting things at each other, calling out to him, and mumbling, he could hear it all, the pain in his head was too much to bear. He would end it all once and for all! Searching deep within the chasms of his inner self, he searched for the power, it was deeper now…but vaster! Something had happened…he didn’t remember how or why yet…but he wasn’t even sure he needed let alone wanted to remember. It had to be horrendous for this much agony to course through him.
Forget all that! He cleared his mind and let the rage and pain swell over again, taking charge over all other anxieties dwelling in his subconscious. The power surged through him as he called upon it. So, so much more than before, than any other time in his existence. Bringing his swords together like opposite poles of a magnet, the air became thick and heavy around him, making it highly toxic to any air breathing fiends who thought they could sneak up on him. He sank into a small crater, debris collecting around him; he launched his thick muscular arms forward blasting a condensed beam of gravity energy that spiraled erratically towards his enemy. Blasting the gold and black freak off hundreds of feet away into a solid protodermis slab, it continued on, narrowly missing a liquid being and shooting right between a scuffle between two more. The final being looked back in slow motion, a grimace of uncertainty filled his face as he looked at the oncoming beam of destruction. The being dived out of the way, loosing what he was carrying…a bundle of sorts. But this was no ordinary bundle, it was a Matoran! By the time it had absorbed the brunt of the blast, it had ceased to exist; only its heavily damaged mask lay where it once stood.
Then all was calm, the gravity energy died down and Mikerahk got a hold on his perception of reality. Able to see clearly again, he found an odd assembly of creatures looking at him. All faces he recognized…for the most part. One particular face lay on the ground, broken and warped. It was that of Brandr’s! Then the past few moments of time came back to Mikerahk in flashes. The blast from Schizosaur, the burning sensation, fear of death with the Brotherhood member Kranais by his side, the awakening to nothing but burning pain, and then attacking Kranais, who was attempting to calm him. He hadn’t seen much of anything before, the anger clouding his vision. Then, he screamed. Scampering over to the unnatural crater he had helped create, he reached down past the lip, falling into its basin, he crawled over to the Hau, beyond repair. It was hideously warped, disfigured, like that of a Hordika’s mask. Brandr was dead… Then the complete realization hit him.
Mikerahk had killed Brandr.

DtM (is brain dead at this point)

It'll be winding down even more now...

Chapter 19- Slaughter

“Ungghh,” Kranais had had a rough passing of days as it was, but the past hour or so topped all of that and blew it out of the water at the same time.
The encounters and fights with Mikerahk, Schizosaur and Pirakuta were nothing when compared to what had just happened. The witch Nakiran showing up out of the blue, complete with new body and abilities. What a mess of things she’d made, putting kinks in all of his plans. She’d suffer for that, oh yes she would. If not at his hands, then maybe her former master/savior/king’s claws could do the trick. She had come in, and taken control of the Rahi beast Schizosaur, using his “hidden power”, which was really nothing more than an energized protodermis cannon engineered into his body, she tried to terminate them all. She must’ve figured since she was so self righteous, powerful and important, that they would die at her hands. But that just wasn’t how this batch of energized protodermis worked…or so he thought. Maybe it was his destiny to transform! Either way, Kranais would figure it out one way or another. The only downside to this increase in power…had to be that it was apparently the pain’s destiny to endure on another day with him. The tumor had nearly doubled in size, but Kranais functioned on. He was the first to rise out of the energized slime that had washed over him. What a painful endeavor that had been.
But it turned out that all that suffering and sheer volume of pain had been worth it. Looking down at his new body, he had changed to…well it was a more pleasing form than his last at least. His legs had grown into better proportion, his arms grew thick with muscle and armor tissue, enormous shoulder pads stretched out over from his collar. Two gauntlets were built into his hands, and at his command massive long swords would erupt out from them. His original Kraata powers had mutated as well, he could now spread his limited invulnerability and stasis field abilities and use them to affect other beings, and his power scream had practically doubled in strength. All in all, he was at the top of his game now, and the added power would serve his purposes well. At this rate, the Mask of Time would be his in a matter of hours. After getting a chance to figure out what was going on, he realized that the Mikerahk being had suffered a similar fate. He couldn’t seem to get control over his new power; it swirled inside him, driving him mad. Kranais attempted to settle his feelings of rage, whilst pondering if he should just go ahead and kill the thing or not. Mikerahk retaliated at last, like a cornered Rahi, it did the only thing it thought logical. It attacked.
Next thing Kranais knew was that he was flying through the air, and the ground came back to greet him all too soon. Thankfully, this new power had made him a bit more acrobatic. As his life support system had become less of a hassle, it meshed inside his body now, his thick armor hide protecting it. It still pumped and gurgled fluids, but the true biomechanical side of Kranais was a lot more whole than it had been. At least he was more whole than before his surgery, though he was only slightly disappointed that it didn’t completely heal him. Not much he could do about that, but be grateful for what changes did occur. What kind of being are you if you neglect power gain?
---
Pirakuta and Nakiran’s brief pause in battle was very, very minute. A concentrated blast of gravity energy had narrowly missed crushing both of them. And after the mutated Mikerahk had scampered over to realize the deed that he had done, they’re stares of surprise and curiosity was ended. Cut short by their urge to slay each other, they resumed their dance of destruction. Nakiran’s liquid stone meshed body twisting in unnatural patterns, and her staff launching orange bolts of energy every which way Pirakuta stood. Pirakuta was surprisingly enough, keeping up with this monstrosity. His shadow beams barely clipping, but still hitting Nakiran, whilst his staff got some decent cracks into her stone form.
The fought on and on for what would seem like an eternity to them. But they were moving at such high speeds, that only minutes passed as their epic battle carried itself out. Then Pirakuta found his escape card, the crater that the new Mikerahk had formed. If he could force her down in there, then his minions and he could blast her that cornered position. Clearly she couldn’t control any more stone besides what made her up, otherwise, knowing Nakiran, she would’ve gathered up as much stone as she could and clobbered them into dust. Something Pirakuta was glad for, she already had way to much power, and he seriously regretted creating her at this point.
Flipping around in mid air, and hovering right behind her, in what seemed like slow motion to the duo, he unleashed all the energy he could from the end of his staff. Nakiran flailed down towards the crater, where Mikerahk was just now escaping at the sight of the falling mutant. She slammed down into the crater, unable to solidify in her still formless liquid state, she tried to reach out and blast him with his staff but she didn’t have the angle to. There was still heavy gravity energy residue surrounding the innards of the crater, and it glued her blobbed form down.
“NOW!” Pirakuta pointed at Nakiran’s location, “Zanrahk, Pirator-Piratoa!” the shadow wielder corrected himself, sensing the change in identity of his minion. A very interesting occurrence, he had sense a power increase, but had yet to look upon Piratoa’s new form. The mix of Matoran, Zakazian and technological genetics made for an impressive hybrid. He made a quick mental note in the vast brain of his to look into more experimentation and augmentation with the Matoran species…they obviously had potential, and if one could mutate such an army into Toa…well, he just wondered why the Makuta had yet to turn their brain dead Matoran slaves into willing Toa.
His mind came fluttering back downwards to the reality he knew and loved, and the site of Nakiran’s muddy body being assaulted by a barrage of lightning bolts. Zanrahk stood concentrated, like a statue, he too must be fighting Nakiran on the mental-scape of her hideous mind.
She was frying, both mentally and physically; Pirakuta saw fit to end this now. Treading over to her little hole that she seemed to fit so comfortably in, he brought his staff out in front of him. Swinging its full length across, he batted her staff out of her loosely formed hand that was barely poking out of the crater. The staff itself went careening off into the distance, clattering softly in the damp soil. Her last obvious bit of “form”, being her fist, melted and dissolved back into her liquid mass. Now only two orange eyes swirled around staring up at Pirakuta and company with nothing but contempt. Flipping his staff around so the blades pointed down, he slammed it forth into her pit, energy erupting from all over his self at the action. He channeled this reserve of power down into the very core of Nakiran’s being, eradicating any last chance for her to ever return to life, she was finished! Pirakuta released the surge and removed his staff from the now solid obsidian. It was done, she was dead.
“Good riddance,” he muttered.
---
Piratoa rejoiced, he had aided in the elimination of the perhaps the greatest foe the Kingdom of Pirakuta had ever faced. He truly was a warrior now, he could only hope Pirakuta would grant upon him the status of “knight” when all was said and done. He wondered still, how Pirakuta plotted to use the Vahi, now that but only one of the Pirakshi usurpers still functioned within his ranks. Piratoa did not openly or mentally voice the question any more though, his King would do what he saw fit with the Vahi when they reclaimed it here soon, and he had no room to question his divine magnificence.
“Piratoa!” Pirakuta approached the newly reborn member of his legions.
“My liege,” Piratoa did not dare meet Pirakuta’s gaze, not out of fear, but out of sheer respect. The obedient hybrid bowed before his savior, resting on his sword hilts, “I kneel no longer the eager young spy I started this journey as, but a faithful warrior to command at your every whim,”
“You’ve done good, and see how my blind gestures of faith and fate have intertwined themselves to bring you here today, no longer your weak, frail self, no longer the quick and discrepant spy, but a true warrior our two virtues have molded you into,”
“I bode ill news m’lord,” Zanrahk fell in line next to his bowing cousin.
“Speak!” Pirakuta said in a surprisingly upbeat tone, as if nothing could slow him down now.
“I’ve lost contact with the rest of the Pirakshi’s mental connections, only Zovok’s is still functioning, but at the bare minimum, I fear the worst,”
“Ah yes, I’ve sensed their disconnection for quite some time, but I had no idea they were…lost,” Pirakuta rubbed his chin, “they seem to have died serving their purpose though Zanrahk, be proud of your dysfunctional clan of brothers, they prevented the Dark Hunters from setting foot here,”
“And yet I failed m’lord,” Zanrahk clenched his teeth, “even now, the Brotherhood being known as Kranais lies yonder,” had Pirakuta noticed the tenseness in his pained voice?
“Mmm, he will be bit of an obstacle to over come, but it can be done,” Pirakuta nodded towards the brute’s direction.
“Then let’s finish it,” Zanrahk could barely speak through the pain, though not obviously injured in any physical fashion.
“Let’s,”
---
Mikerahk cowered in a corner, the fear gripping him with its cold dry hands, stripping him of all life. He felt so...
“GUILTY!” he cried out, slamming the mask into the ground. He reached back up and wiped off his disfigured face. What had he done?! He was so… “RECKLESS!” he cried out once more, channeling gravity energy, only by accident, through one of his scimitars. A small crevice indented itself in the mud across the landscape for several feet before collapsing a part of the Coliseum wall ever so slightly.
“Mikerahk,” a cold voice whispered to him. He flipped around to see…another one!? The wall of liquid protodermis that had done this to him, it came again!?
“What do you want!?” his voice ravaged the calm night.
“SERENITY!” the cold voice harkened back, the protodermis wave assimilated into the form of a Makuta with the head of Schizosaur…what was it?
“…Schizosaur?” Mikerahk relaxed his grip on his scimitars for a brief moment before bringing up his guard once more, he didn’t know if he could trust this thing or not. He couldn’t even trust himself!
“In a sense,” the being was busy looking at the shape of its liquid hand, turning it around three hundred sixty degrees and back again, all the while changing its shape.
“But…how?!”
“You need only look at yourself for the answer to that question,” Schizosaur chimed in his answer, allowing his hand to take the shape of a polished surface, allowing Mikerahk to view his own altered reflection for the first time. While hideous in his own appearance, he didn’t seem that uncommon when he compared himself to some of the odd jobs who dwelled in the ranks of the Order.
“Well put,” Mikerahk relaxed, obviously calmer; maybe Schizosaur had some mystic powers now that Mikerahk wasn’t aware of. Perhaps he was working inside Mikerahk’s mind in such a discreet method that he didn’t even notice someone altering his thoughts. The idea was bitter sweet; it almost perturbed Mikerahk more than it aided him, “so now what?”
“You still have your duty to the task you were given,” Schizosaur reminded him quietly.
“Come with me, we can protect them from the chamber gates, we can’t hold this position,”
“No, I must stay here and buy you more time, knowing Kranais, he will undoubtedly sell his deeds out to Pirakuta for some price and join forces with the Makuta spawn, I will stay here and fight my own battle, you must go on and protect that which is in good hands already,”
“You’re right,” Mikerahk admitted, he clanged his fist with the seeming liquid form of Schizosaur as it turned solid to meet the gesture, “Good hunting,”
“For both our sakes,”

DtM

Well I tried posting this -several- times yesterday, but the server just didn't wanna let me through >.>

Chapter 20- Mercy

Synapses fired off at random. What will power that still existed was scattered; spaced out between the still live sectors of his network. No, not a normal brain, a cybernetic crystal, that’s where his consciousness existed nowadays. He was more machine than Skakdi. Surprisingly enough though, he considered himself more whole than before now that he had been exposed to the mechanical side of existence, he was truly one of a kind, a Pirakshi who felt more complete even without Pirakuta’s warm guidance…
“I…still…function,” his metallic voice whispered raspily, his lungs clawing for air. His one twitching hand raised itself off the ground, then pounded its claws into the ground, using every iota of strength he had left, he pushed himself up out of the hole, and he stood hunched over his potential grave. He looked down where he had laid for so many hours before, his missing arm lay sparking, wiring and conduits giving off little shrieks of life before dieing out again. Shreds and shards of the rest of his body lay scattered around the scene as well, but he lived on without all that. He held his scrapped hand in front of his face. The armor had been clawed off in several places, and entire sections of his hand were missing, but he could still somewhat use it, even channel a bit of his hunger power through the claws that were still active.
Turning around, he saw the bright and dark flares of energy blasts, loud clangs and stomps echoed down the moist concrete streets and made their way through Zovok’s audio receptors. More being functioned on with him, but were they friend or foe?
All he need do was look around to answer that question, a giant amorphous blob that could easily have held three or four Pirakshi stood undisturbed several feet from his position. Zovok knew the power well, it was how Ronahk threw himself or any Rahi he caught into hibernation, and if that many were in hibernation together, something must have gone seriously wrong in the fight. The Rahi that had practically beaten him to a pulp so suddenly lay singed behind him; at least Thorak was doing his fair share. And the only other body in the vicinity was the fried corpse of one of the Dark Hunters. Interesting…
Picking up his feet, he started to walk towards the battle outside the Coliseum wall, he would fight if the chance presented itself, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to make much of a mark on his foes in the shape he was in. But he treaded on, through the haze of the night, almost zombified, his machine nature had set in, and nothing would get between him and his objective of reaching his allies.
---
Kranais drew his wrist mounted swords, they shot out full length from inside of him, the energized protodermis had done a good job of arming him, and these would have to suffice against the advancing Matoran, Makuta, and Skakdi mutations that plagued him.
“Surely there’s no reason we can’t come to an agreement?” Kranais shrugged.
“No,” the deep velvet like voice of Pirakuta responded, “You’ve proven that you’re to much of a burden to keep around, I wouldn’t even consider letting you join my ranks if you were the last willing being on this planet,” Pirakuta spat some green slime onto the ground. “Make your move,”
“Oh by all means, you go first,” Kranais motioned to Pirakuta’s minions, “Afterall, that’s what henchman are for right?”
“How dare you!” Zanrahk shouted, unleashing a psychic bubble around his form, he channeled the power and launched it at Kranais, but when the static cleared Kranais stood unscathed.
“We’ve been over this before greeny,” Kranais laughed sadistically and pointed at his left temple, “I’m already too messed up for you to have any effect!” at that Kranais swung his fist towards the Pirakshi, his wrist blade extending out and shanking the mutant in the side, sending Zanrahk howling back into the ground. Turning to his left, he watched as Piratoa was leaping into the air after him, exotic sword and lightning bolts in tow. Kranais let out an immense power scream, stopping Piratoa’s mid-air advance, and blasting the freak back from whence it came. All this had transpired in so little time, Pirakuta had barely any chance to react. But Kranais’s senses were heightened from his transformation and the thrill of the fight. Throwing himself up in the air, Kranais double kicked Pirakuta into the mud, tossing the Makuta spawn’s staff aside he drew in his blades. Kranais proceeded to pound his clawed fists into Pirakuta’s pinned form for what seemed like an eternity. This was how he vented his feeling! All the emotions that weighed him down, the pain, the disease!
“DIE!” Kranais howled incessantly, “DIE-DIE-DIEEE!”
“You’re the epitome of foolishness!” Zanrahk stood up, launching himself at Kranais, unleashing all the psychic power he had, but what Zanrahk had not bargained for was the fact that the power would travel through Kranais and into Pirakuta as well. Their three minds binded, an expansive network of thoughts, desires, and knowledge, three mental avatars summoned themselves and attacked the others, just to get their free minds back. Then the next thing they knew, they felt cold…warmth? How was that possible? Their thoughts would go unanswered as the three minds separated and blacked out.
---
Schizosaur had had no choice, Kranais would’ve rampaged on after that outbreak until nothing in the area was left standing. Fancy thing, reading minds like he did, he could sense Kranais’s urge to destroy as soon as the fight started, and the rage only swelled up greater as the scuffle ensued. The ascended Rahi re-assimilated into his “solid” form again and watched as Kranais, Pirakuta, and his minions started to stir again.
“Ungh, Zanrahk, Piratoa, take care of that…THING,” Pirakuta heaved himself up, looking around for his staff. The two grinning freaks approached Schizosaur from either side, flanking him. One let out tendrils of electricity, binding his solidified form, fusing it for a set amount of time; the other unleashed mental mind-wiping attacks, trying to discourage a counter attack.
“I can only hope I bought him time…”
“Time is something none of us can afford,” the Pirakshi Zanrahk sneered, shoving his staff half length into Schizosaur’s crumbling form, psychic energy rippling out, thrashing at the rock being’s very being.
“GRAH!” a voice from behind growled and lumbered towards Schizosaur.
“You freaks can’t do ANYTHING right can you?!” Kranais swung his left fist around and punched Schizosaur’s head clear off, it chipped and crumbled as it bounced onto the pavement. His consciousness was everywhere now, separated from itself, his thoughts were to far spaced to make a decent collective anymore. Without the linking of his collective consciousness, Schizosaur’s life force would quickly fade, and he would die.
Kranais was doing a good job of speeding that along now, ripping the statue-esque form of Schizosaurs body apart and chucking chunks of it at the Kingdom of Pirakuta members. Schizosaur struggled, using what energy he had left, he reformed the last whole part of his body, his lower legs. Quickly melting to liquid, he attacked Kranais repeatedly, thrashing and harassing the Brotherhood agent until Kranais found himself pinned in a corner between two buildings.
“ENOUGH!” Kranais let out a power scream, and the blast dissolved what was left of Schizosaurs form into silver dust.
I can only hope, I bought enough…time….
---
Kranais swung and batted at the Kingdom of Pirakuta minions, ######-bent on eradicating any trace of their existence from this plane. They dodged, like flies avoiding the inevitable swat. It was coming, and soon they’d be finished, squashed, eliminated—
“ARGH!” Kranais shrieked in agony as a pure beam of shadow shot straight through his chest, making a perfectly circular hole through his biomechanical body, good thing he still had his life support system.
“You’re DONE!” Pirakuta yelled ominously from behind Kranais, staff smoking from the unleashed energy. Kranais turned slowly to meet Pirakuta’s dark gaze, snarling as saliva dripped between his clenched fangs, sliming down onto the lower lip of his mask. “FALL!” Pirakuta commanded, shoving a clenched fist towards the swaying mutant. The fingers sprang open, and the tendrils of black relinquished themselves, blasting Kranais back even farther.
“You…” Kranais wheezed, the fluid dripping from his mouth was more than just saliva now, the wounds seemed fatal, “Iiiiii….myyy dessstinnyyy—HREAGHH!” Kranais was blasted in the face by another powerful throb of shadow power by Pirakuta.
“I said FALL!” Pirakuta bellowed at the still standing Titan, “FALL! FALL! FALLLL!” the shadow energy escalated into an almost electric form and attacked every iota of Kranais’s being. The gold and black titan stretched his arms out, and fell to his knees, the powers of darkness flowing through him, killing all the impure evil of his existence. And yet, he did not fall any farther, his howl was loud and heavy, powerful enough to even rip the uneasiness of the night away. The bestial growl escalated into a power scream that echoed out and struck all those in Kranais’s vicinity.
“Iiiii---BOW TO NONE!” Kranais stood one last time and unleashed all his power through his vocal cords. Pirakuta retaliated with shadow bolts ten times as powerful, pelting the brotherhood agent relentlessly. Zanrahk came up behind his masters left flank, and unleashed a purple charged blast of concentrated psychic energy, slamming Kranais with even more power. Piratoa stood proud on the right flank of Pirakuta and channeled a massive forked attack of electricity at the agent.
Kranais’s armor started to melt, to warp, his life support system ran over time, shorting out, containers of precious substances to keep his old form alive exploded under the pressurization of the heat. His biological components shriveled and exploded into goopy messes, his exoskeletal framing bent and broke, his mask tarnished and his face and eyes blistered over. But they were not done with him yet, loosing their weapons in unison they lashed out in one combined punch. Shadow, psychic, and electric energies combined into one catastrophic force and slammed Kranais down into the ground. His body imprinting itself into the buckling flooring, Kranais’s consciousness ceased to be. The three separated and became independent once more, staring down at their hard fought for kill with contentedness. All that remain of Kranais was a very corpse like shattered form of his old and new self. His mask fused to half his face, and his jaw lay bent over flaccidly, his tongue and fangs still dripping fluids. A gruesome figure to behold, the remnants of a titan such as he, stripped of everything but pain. For now, the pain was the only thing that greeted him.
---
“Was there not one more?” Piratoa asked aloud.
“The gravity titan, I figure he has shown himself out, what his insane rampage and what not,” Zanrahk did a quick mental scan of the vicinity, not sensing anything out of the ordinary…save Kranais’s corpse. Could it be that the pain was still clinging to his muddled brain? Perhaps, trying to feed for one last time, consuming every bit of Kranais before its food had all but rotted away.
“Very well Zanrahk,” Pirakuta nodded any other notable anomalies in the vicinity?”
“None that I can detect within our range—wait…that’s impossible…” Zanrahk knelt down closing his eyes and tried to focus.
“What, what is it?” Piraktua queried.
“Z-z-zovok?” Zanrahk stood once again and opened his dead eyes into the night, “He’s still alive, and close by,”
“Interesting,” Pirakuta pondered his options, “What’s his status?”
“Weak, barely alive, I assume that whatever’s pulling his dead weight must be his mechanical side,”
“Looks like we’ll be making a little detour then,” Pirakuta decided, “Afterall, the city is empty of any resistance now,” Pirakuta stared down at what used to be Kranais and spat at it, “Let’s move out,”

DtM

Chapter 21-Escalation

Mikerahk’s breathing was heavy, he had made it to the inner gates to the chamber that Turaga Vakama had placed the Vahi inside. Taking position behind a large monument on the west side of the gate to some long dead Toa of fire, he gave himself a chance to catch his breath. His last ally on this rock, Schizosaur, or whatever he had become, had undoubtedly sacrificed himself to buy Mikerahk some more time. He remembered The Rectifier’s orders before he finally set out. The Vahi, under no circumstances, will fall into the wrong hands. Now it seemed even he may be the wrong hands. How tempting it was for him to warp the chamber into dust with his powers and take the Vahi. To harness its power, to reverse what had happened on his Mata Nui forsaken city, oh how he craved to do it. But his duty…he could not contradict that, for doing so would tarnish his destiny, and abolish his unity. He was a sinner, and he would most certainly pay for what he had done. If he was going to crumble into nothingness though, he would do everything in his power to take the true evil with him. Yes. . .
---
“Zovok; stand!” Pirakuta commanded the crawling husk that used to be a Pirakshi.
“Ronahk, Thorak…in…hibernation…need…help,” Zovok raised himself as high as he could with his one arm before collapsing again into the mud. Piratoa raised his foot and kicked the weakling over.
“What would you have us do with him?” Piratoa pointed the flat side of his blade at the cyborg’s neck.
“You Piratoa, will help him to his feet, and return to where your comrades lie, do what you can while you wait for us…Zanrahk!” Pirakuta snapped at the green knight, who had been acting very peculiar as of late.
“O-oh, sorry m’lord, it’s just a flesh wound,” Zanrahk turned to face his master, “What is it sire?’
“Let’s go, I’ve had enough of this nonsense, it is time to claim that Kanohi…”
“Of course…” Zanrahk made a quick motion to clutch his side, but checked the action before he could complete it. Something was hurting the Pirakshi, and he was trying to hide it. Question was, was it something Pirakuta should really be worried about? Or was it nothing more than a wound dealt by one of their foes in the passing hours? No matter, he would deal with it once the Vahi was in his hands.
“Take my hand,” Pirakuta outstretched one of his gauntlets for Zanrahk to grasp. When their palms met Pirakuta transformed the two into wisp like smoke and the two disappeared into nothingness.
“Well,” Piratoa heaved his ally, “Let’s get going then, no need to be lazy,”
---
The pair, king and knight, teleported into the outer hallway before the ominous gates.
“Toa Lhikan,” Pirakuta rested his gauntlet upon the pedestal of the newly sculpted statue dedicated to the Toa’s role in Metru Nui’s history, “Such a pity he had to sacrifice himself like that…”
“Sir?” Zanrahk looked up, confused.
“Ah, tis nothing, remnant memories from my source,” Pirakuta waved Zanrahk’s concern away. Pirakuta still marveled at how much of an impact this Toa had had on the Makuta of Metru Nui’s life…very, very interesting. Most beings didn’t accomplish much, but Lhikan was the only one who suspected treachery in the seat held by Dume. If he had failed at silencing the Toa, he may very well have lost Metru Nui sooner rather than later, “Now, let us reclaim that mask,” Pirakuta raised his staff and slammed it into the gate. Shadow energy echoed across the doors and they crumbled to dust beneath their feet. The chamber was of medium build, hexagonal in shape. In the middle was a small podium, on which the rusted mask lay. A single hole stretched out to the night sky, where if the light still shone down on Metru Nui, would focus down on the Vahi during the day.
“Yesss, it’s all come to this!” Pirakuta walked with arms spread wide to the pitted Kanohi, “And now, Zanrahk, witness the creation of a new universe!”
“ARGHH!” Zanrahk howled in agony, a loud crash quickly followed his scream. Pirakuta turned back towards the darkness, nothingness…
“Show yourself!” Pirakuta gripped his staff as energy ripped across it.
“Lower your staff!” the voice cried back, the voice of a pained beast, the voice of the gravity titan.
“Hah!” Pirakuta laughed, “So you’re still here after all!”
“I…” the voice wheezed, “Never…turn my back…”
“Prove it!” Pirakuta slammed the butt of his staff into the ground, illuminating the room in a sickly green glow.
“I don’t need to!” the hulking figure rose from behind the podium and scooped up the Vahi, clanking it onto its face, “I call upon the power of the Kanohi Vahi!” Mikerahk roared.
“NO!” Pirakuta dove towards the exit, even he stood no chance against a being who possessed such a mask. The shadow being had but no choice to teleport out of the coliseum before it was to late. As he transformed into his shadowy form, Mikerahk hurled himself over the podium and slammed the still semi-solid Pirakuta into the ground. Grabbing Pirakuta’s wrists he unleashed a vortex of gravity and time energy. Pirakuta wavered in and out of dimensions, skewed, stretched, warped beyond relief. The two cried out in unison, for that brief second, they were one.
“ZANRAHKKK!” the garbled voice emanated from the vortex.
“PIRAKUTA!” Zanrahk limped over, his body battered from Mikerahk’s earlier assault.
“Take this!” a hand of pure energy outstretched towards Zanrahk and opened up its crudely formed fist to reveal Pirakuta’s Kraahkan and staff.
“But…” Zanrahk looked at the vortex as it grew more and more violent. Tendrils of broken time stream whipped around, tarnishing the balance of everything they came into contact with.
“NOW!” the voice commanded. Zanrahk clipped the mask on his belt and combined his own staffs into one, carrying his gear in one hand and Pirakuta’s in the other he made a run for it. At least, as fast as he could run in the condition he was in.
---
Mikerahk awake with a start, pain coursed through him more violently then ever before. At once he was battling himself for control over his feeling. It was insane, ridiculous, over bearing, and then it quickly faded away. Was it all a bad dream? He reached up to his face…it was still changed…but the mask…it was gone.
“Mikerahk,” a haunting voice stated from behind. Mikerahk stood up and turned to face the source. It was…
“B-botar?!” Mikerahk staggered back, dropping his scimitars to the ground.
“You’ve committed one to many crimes this time, we’ve been afraid you might snap for sometime, and it seems, this transformation has drawn the line for you,”
“No-no, I fought it, I still was geared towards my mission and the virtues!”
“You let the beast take over, both mentally and physically,” Botar pointed a thick sinewy finger at the navy titan, “You and the Brotherhood agent have already received sentencing,”
“NO!” Mikerahk stepped back into the wall.
“The pit,” Botar’s dead eyes pierced Mikerahk as he stalked over and grabbed the titan and his weaponry.
Then…nothingness…then…water and he blacked out.
---
The boat ride was long and quiet. The three surviving members of the Kingdom of Pirakuta’s crusade to Metru Nui said nigh nothing the whole way home with their preserved comrades, plus two Dark Hunters. The one called Krieg was in the same shadow cocoon as Thorak and Ronahk, so they had no choice but to include him. Zanrahk ordered them to retrieve the war tiger’s body as well, for reasons they were not told. In fact, over the whole trek to Zakaz, Zanrahk had been acting eerily quiet. Only staring into the eye slits of Pirakuta’s Kraahkan, in perhaps some hope that it would give him answers. They landed on the same shore they had set out from, and set themselves in the same underground layer they (save Piratoa) were “born” in. That’s when Zanrahk decided it was time.
“Gather,” Zanrahk wheezed as he stalked past his duo of comrades. They followed him into Pirakuta’s former chamber. Zanrahk sat upon the throne on the far wall and lifted the Kraahkan up to his face, “May he live forever,” Zanrahk nodded at Zovok and Piratoa, and he slammed the mask onto his face. Gripping the staff with both hands now, energy flowed out in a chorus of sounds and colors as Zanrahk floated into the air above the throne.
“What’s happening to him?” Piratoa shielded his eyes from the brilliant light.
“Transformation,” Zovok’s mechanical voice responded.
The light faded to normal radiance once more, and the newly transformed Zanrahk stood before the two in his newfound glory. His body had been rebuilt completely, to resemble a more regal looking form. His face, no longer that of a Skakdi now resembled Pirakuta’s completely, the only change was the fact that the Kraahkan had been energized so much from the transformation that it now shone a bright copper color to match Zanrahk’s armor plating. Two tubes winded and twisted from his neck and arched back into his back, and just below two wings sprouted out in a sheen of warm gold color. Flexing his left hand he looked up at Zovok and Piratoa.
“It is time,” Zanrahk commanded, “for our second birth!”

The End?



DtM