fishers64

What I want to know is what happened to the Vahi. It was stolen, and then it was forgotten....

Probably in the hands of the evil Shadowed One at present. We haven't seen what GregF has planned for the him (which probably included the mask) because the serials haven't been updated for months.

Well, the Vahi disappeared before the sets were done, so you'd think that he would have mentioned what happened to it before the serials stopped being updated...

The serials not being updated is completely out of GregF's hands at this point. He didn't know that his new child was going to stifle his Bionicle serial writing time, and cause the serial updates to not exist.

Doesn't really matter, since Bionicle ended.

What gives you the right to say what does and doesn't matter? Open question.

I really doubt Spherus Magna creatures are Rahi, so the power of Rahi control will not work on them.

QUOTE Hi Alyska,The last info I got is that I am allowed to dialogue with BZPers who I "know" to be over 13, and I "know" you are, so I am trying to respond to your movie questions.There have been two aspects to the whole BIONICLE in theaters thing that I know of. The first bunch of offers that we got I know got deep-sixed because they were insisting on adding real kids, and because the studio(s) would have wanted control of the story, as opposed to LEGO controlling it. And we weren't interested in that.I know there was also another overture (from which studio I forget) and I did dialogue with those guys. But they lost interest at the time because we already had a DVD deal with Tinseltown Toons -- which would mean they couldn't put out a DVD of their theatrical movie, so the deal made no sense for them. There may well have been other contacts beside this, but these are the ones I know of.Couple other points:1) The odds are I would not be writing the movie. Outside of doing the story for the 2009 film, I have never gotten the chance to be involved, and even that one I didn't do the actual script for. Movie studios prefer to use people they have worked with before who have screen credits, which I do not have.2) LEGO's financial picture never has and most likely never would have an impact on whether movies get done or not, simply because we do not finance the films. The studios do. We are not in the movie business, we license them out same as we do the video games.3) I really know nothing about LEGO's position as far as selling rights to franchises go. But I can speak to a company I worked for in the past, which had franchises that 1) were nowhere near as successful as BIONICLE and 2) were dead, dead, dead. And they wanted an arm and a leg to sell anything they had, because they figured if someone wanted to buy it, it must be valuable. (There would be no real need to buy the rights to the entire line anyway -- if you just want to get a movie made, then you license the movie rights and pay LEGO a royalty, same way Tinseltown Toons did. But you would probably have to be able to show that you have some knowledge/experience at making films and a reasonable chance of getting a major studio to distribute it.)4) The reason no theatrical movie was made when BIONICLE first came out is that it was an unproven commodity. BIONICLE was created in 2000 and came out in 2001. To have a theatrical movie out in, say, 2002, work would have had to have started in 2000, before the concept was even finished (and you would have wound up with a "Boneheads of Voodoo Island" movie). And no one knew if BIONICLE would sell or not. By the time they knew, it was 2002, and we had the DVD deal for the 2003 movie. Thing with toys or that sort of thing is they can be a fad -- if something is hot its first year, doesn't mean by the time the movie comes out it is off the shelves completely. That is why Scholastic is only interested in lines expected to run at least three years, so they don't wind up putting out a lot of books when there are no toys to support sales.GregThere is GregF's words on the subject, sent to Alyska in the final days of the archive. There was a request for a movie deal in 2009. (Sorry, Gata)I have had an idea to put all the web animations, games, movies, comics, story serials in one place to make this backstory problem easier to solve - but have been derailed by other projects. The first thing I would do, if I were to bring Bionicle back, would be to place all the backstory material online, including the DVD movies and the books. All of it.

^There is the factor of older kids telling their younger siblings "That's boring."Story line depth has been limited: characters have been sliced in and out, that kind of thing. The story is not really creative; I could argue that it even repeats some of the Bionicle situations, the difference mostly the characters and lack of continuity. Eventually, they may run out of character types and situations. It may take them a long time to do that, but it will still happen.

I would think Hero Factory would benefit the most from the inclusion...maybe some system parts? IDK, but is there a line that wouldn't benefit from more purple and teal?

*nods in agreement* Just what I ordered.I know, bad pun...still, very good chapter. I particularly liked the math.

Back in the primordial days of the archive, I created this topic, which I am considering reposting, albeit vastly improved. The question is where. Digital Discussion is for official Lego digital stuff, but this isn't official, since I am making the browser themes, but the images used to create the themes are Bionicle wallpaper images released by Lego. In an effort to avoid a mess for the staff, where should I repost this topic? Can I?

Hats off to you, this is good. Where is the link to the original Thanksgiving special? It seems to be missing, and I would like to read it.

*shivers* Okay...that was *Sidorak impression* Exe-cell-ent.A little repetitive and shallow on the detail, but definitely creepy. You know how to get inside Makuta's head, and it is close enough to his personality to unnerve me a bit. If that was what you were going for, congratulations

Good to see this topic back, and I like the improvements, especially on the last chapter. Keep up the good work.

I like the effect with the water, and the really neat looking sheild. Is it just me, or can you see the human-looking arms in this picture? Not sure Helryx would have those. Is splashing water out of a weapon (I'm guessing) in mid-leap wrathful? Still looks like a good picture, however.

Like everyone else said, what causes HF's demise will probably influence what comes after it. If it fails because of poor sales, then it won't be replaced. If it runs for about ten years and gets old, then we will likely see another contraction figure line or Bionicle.It also depends on the technological advances between now and when HF ends. Lego is still adapting to new technologies - they may choose to adapt something novel storywise or setwise between now and then, and adapt whatever line they use to Bionicle's return or whatever line they are currently using.

I'm curious what you mean by "gets old". Since a lot of what made BIONICLE end was that it couldn't draw in new fans, how long it had been around wasn't that much of a factor. New fans probably wouldn't know or care how long it had been around if not for the fact that its dense backstory made it so that you had to understand a lot of what had gone on in those years to understand the current story.Hero Factory is a bit different in that to understand Savage Planet, for example, you really don't need to understand a thing about Ordeal of Fire or Rise of the Rookies. One reason is that Rise of the Rookies itself started out in media res. There could have been five years of Hero Factory sets before it and the story would have been about the same to a new fan. Each wave's status quo is the same, besides how the characters look.So potentially, if Hero Factory continues to have good sets and a story at least as tolerable as its first wave, then there's no reason future waves should do any worse than the first wave just because of age.

People still get tired of stuff if it stays around for too long. There are other reasons why HF may no longer work, since I doubt it is like City in theme structure. It may be that the HF narrow story line may eventually choke it out from the top down - the Lego designers might get bored of it, or the public may get bored of it, or Lego may make a mistake and doom the line - whatever.Eventually, HF will lose its appeal. People like novelty, and some of us like depth. HF's story is shallow, and creativity has been limited to try to avoid Bionicle. Eventually, the designers on top and the people that buy the sets are going to get bored. Then Lego will have to try something new to keep its audience, and it will have to be better than HF, and probably will have something more fascinating, like an in-depth storyline, to try to boost sales.It may not have to be as in-depth as Bionicle, but it will have to be better. That's why some of us are eagerly looking forward to HF's natural demise, the one where it last for a little while longer and allows the target audience to reach the point of boredom.

What I want to know is what happened to the Vahi. It was stolen, and then it was forgotten....

Probably in the hands of the evil Shadowed One at present. We haven't seen what GregF has planned for the him (which probably included the mask) because the serials haven't been updated for months.

All I know is, when I go to Phoenix, I'm taking a Hero Factory set and stopping by with a camera.

If there are any plans right now to have a BZPower get-together/Lego convention in the Phoenix area, then we definately need to get catering by The Hero Factory.-don't touch my pocket protector

When you find out, let me know when it is. I will be moving back into that neck of the woods soon.I wonder if the food is any good...

I forgot to posta chapter Saturday andTwas the second time.

This comedy is updated on Sunday, not Saturday. Patience. We can't expect comedians to abandon their lives and completely devote every waking moment to this site.

I think the purpose of this topic is to ask where Makuta got that memory erasure power so he could incorporate it into the spheres. The only other instances of that happening(that I can think of) is the Toa canisters of the Mata malfunctioning and causing memory loss and the time slip and Mata Nui losing his memory.Mata Nui had the power to erase memory, but how did Makuta get it to place it into the Spheres? Does placing a MU inhabitant asleep in a confined space for a long time erase memory? It would seem so. GB design flaw? If their memory were merely mechanical I could imagine it would be like erasing a hard drive. Maybe it is both mechanical and organic, and that is why it takes time to erase - it gets erased on the mechanical side, and there is still information in the organic side that cycles into the mechanical side and gets removed...And now I'm speculating.

Makuta made all Rahi beasts, so they might have used the same blueprint for both the Manas and the Ussal. Besides, other than that, all MU inhabitants cannot be related like earth species anyway, due to their method of reproduction, which is not like ours.

Tren Krom? Polite?... Is this the same gelatinous mass of hot air we're talking about?

I always got the impression he was a nice chap :PBut in all seriousness, he was fairly courteous towards Lewa, aside from the body hijacking thing. I wouldn't call him polite, but he isn't what you would call evil. The way he let Brutaka's team leave in Federation of Fear because the universe was apparently far worse than anything he could do shows that he has a moral view on the world, that he has principles. I think he looked into Lewa's mind and saw how Lewa wasn't a bad person, was trying to make the world a better place. Tren Krom cares about the world, as he was in control of it way back. So he asked Lewa.I feel I might be going overboard on Tren Kroms moral righteousness, I'm making him sound better than he is. I just meant to get across the fact he's actually not evil, from the point of view of someone who's actually evil at least...

He's just tired and bitter from not getting to rule the universe and being cooped up in an island for so long. He's not really evil at heart; I'm not even sure he wants his former power back, I think he just wanted out of that island prison. He was bored.

Like everyone else said, what causes HF's demise will probably influence what comes after it. If it fails because of poor sales, then it won't be replaced. If it runs for about ten years and gets old, then we will likely see another contraction figure line or Bionicle.It also depends on the technological advances between now and when HF ends. Lego is still adapting to new technologies - they may choose to adapt something novel storywise or setwise between now and then, and adapt whatever line they use to Bionicle's return or whatever line they are currently using.

Fear of declining sales among young people, which is Lego's main target audience. Most of the hardcore Bionicle fans were teenagers that had invested years in the story, and the story had grown up to fit with them, making it unrelatable and hard to follow for a younger audience.

Whoa! You posted the next chapter!So, no one knows who Whenua is? Depressing, actually. Must be because of his infamous "'Cause that's what friends are for" line... There's not much plot going on in here, mostly just literal air mail. Even THAT'S getting a tad bit repetitive. Try to decrease its use, if you can.

Oh, please. I think that is a running gag.

I can imagine Makuta singing that very song and all the befuddled Matoran looking about...Great job.

I yell: I CAN'T GROW A BEARD! I'M A LADY!You place your hands over your ears to stop the sound, drop the mask, stumble about woozily, and trip over the 320 page post still spread on the floor. I grab the mask and continue on my way. My mask.

I write an extermely long post, about 320 pages long, and hit you over the head with it. I snatch the mask, leaving you to read my 320 pages. My mask.

Chapter 4
The Keelerak

One month later…

The Keelerak wandered aimlessly throughout the new village. Roodaka had told him that he had a few hours to amuse himself. No doubt the Vortixx was seeking her own form of amusement, which the Keelerak wanted no part in and doubted he could stop.

Because of this, the spider’s mind, the mind of the jailer of Roodaka, was bored and distraught. So far, he had not been able to contain the dangerous criminal Roodaka. More like he had been contained by Roodaka in his current state, which meant there was little he could do, and whether Roodaka was causing trouble was, at the moment, debatable. She had defeated a rogue team of Skrall, in some self-defense, and helped take the Mask of Time out of enemy hands.

The Visorak’s internal debate was interrupted by the voices of two Ko-Matoran drifting over the ridge.

“Impressive” said Mazeka, handing some stone tablets back to his fellow Matoran of Ice. “I finished reading these, and I would like to thank you.”

Kopeke said nothing. He just took the tablets and put them in his pack, climbing back down the other side without another word.

The Visorak casually decided to follow Mazeka. He had nowhere better to go.

* * *

Mazeka and Vakama stood on the high ridge, looking down over the ridge of the new Ta-Koro.“I finished reading the tales” said Mazeka. “I thought you should know.”

“I suppose” said Vakama. Several Matoran stood alert at watch on the ridge. No doubt, if they had turned, they would have seen the Visorak. But even if Vakama or Mazeka noted his presence, they paid him no mind as he skittered past - or so it appeared.

That was mostly the reason Roodaka had reduced him to this form – not many beings would pay attention to him. True, a Keelerak that spoke Matoran would certainly draw attention – but then Roodaka would grow tired of her pet and turn him into something far worse. The thought was not a pleasant one.

The Keelerak had little belief that Roodaka would reverse the mutation. He simply stayed around to carry out his mission – to stop Roodaka from causing major trouble. Even in this form, he was thrice as powerful as your average Visorak, and the mutation had not reduced his intelligence. Of the former beings of the Matoran Universe, only Roodaka knew how much danger truly lurked in that spider shell.

Roodaka looked up from her seat in the hut. “Any news?” she crooned in Visorak language.

“Nothing important.” said the Keelerak, shooting the former Visorak viceroy a wicked glare.

“What’s not important?”

“Mazeka finished reading Vakama’s tales, and he’s not leaving to join Nuju.”

“Vakama’s Tales” growled Roodaka. “What a load of rubbish.” She slapped her hand on the table in disgust, sending its contents rattling. Irritated, Roodaka lifted two daggers off the table, inspected them, and put them down.“Two of these” said Roodaka, lifting a slightly heavier knife of black steel, “will get us a lightstone.”

The swords were lined with red lines in an unusual pattern – the same pattern as the armor of the beings they had defeated earlier. Roodaka’s cache of their weapons and baggage had been brought up. “I should have sent some of those scrawny Matoran to do it” said Roodaka at the time. “They should answer to me.”

“They probably would drop it and ruin it” said the Keelerak. “And besides, they would turn on you as soon as you let them out of your sight. Not to mention - ”

“They do it for Vakama, the fool.”

“No, they only do it for themselves.”

“And what dictates their desires, Rahi? Who brainwashed them, made them weak?”

“And that was because Makuta mind-wiped them.”

“And because I failed” said Roodaka.

They walked in silence for a bit. “If the Matoran hadn’t been ‘brainwashed’ then they wouldn’t have sent messengers to save the Great Spirit” said the Keelerak. “We would all be dead.”

“Don’t try to trick me, you foul creature! We would have found a way to save the universe. Me and Teridax, together.”

“You sound more like Vakama all the time. Unity, duty, destiny – as long you control them all.”

“There is no use for philandering virtues when you control all.”

“But even if you won, back then, you would have been subordinate to Teridax. Did you ever think that he would treat you as an equal? That you could control all? That you and Teridax could work together as one?”

Roodaka shivered.

“You did.” said the Keelerak. “Unity. You wanted it, didn’t you? Unity with Teridax, unity of command over the Visorak. You would have embraced the duty of saving the universe. Duty. You believed that you had control over your own destiny. You were wrong.”

Roodaka shrugged. “Thanks for the information. And I still have control over my destiny, you twit. I have control over what I do, until you brainwash me.”

“Virtue is not a foreign concept to you, Roodaka. You don’t have to be…opposed to everything Vakama does. You can do good and… right. And you’re proving it more every day!”

“Shut up!” snarled Roodaka. “If you don’t keep your clap shut, I’ll throw you into the lava!”

“If you can’t face the truth, I can.” said the Keelerak. “Return me to my original form, and I will never bother you again. You deserve to go free, Roodaka.”

Roodaka laughed. “I am not dependent on your mercies, you wretched thing. I find you useful, and you better be glad of it, because you know what I do with useless things.”

The Keelerak snapped out of his memory. Roodaka sauntered past, carrying a handful of knives. “Come on, beast. You wouldn’t know anything about trade, would you?”

* * *

“I’ll take two for a lightstone.” said the Matoran.

“One” said Roodaka.

“Two” said the Matoran. A nasty-looking Rahi growled, chained to a loop in the rock.

 

Roodaka set a plain-steel dagger and set it beside the red-and-black Skrall blade.

 

“Deal” said the trader, handing Roodaka the lightstone.

 

“Keeps things quiet.” whispered Roodaka.

 

The Keelerak nodded. Stealing the lightstone would only draw attention to themselves – it was safer to give a Matoran to unneeded blades than to fight the entire village – or worse, lead them to where they were going.It seemed that convenience often put Roodaka on the path of right.Sometimes, thought the Keelerak, it is more efficient to do right to win other’s favor than to subdue them by fear. The spider knew that Roodaka knew that the quickest way to win authority on Spherus Magna was by doing right. This fact made Roodaka more and more uncomfortable every day, as her desire to rule waged war with her years of training with the Dark Hunters and the Brotherhood. It is unfortunate that Vakama cannot understand me, or he might learn a thing or two about his old enemy.

 

The Visorak scrambled up the crater, its legs gripping the chasm walls.

 

Roodaka climbed up beside him before he turned towards the lava vent. She extended her arm towards the lava stream, her arm passing between the thin lava-fall and the rocky edge.“Figured” whispered Roodaka. She maneuvered herself into the narrow space, gesturing for the beast to follow.

 

It wasn’t the first time the Visorak wished he was a Vohtarak. Needless to say, he didn’t escape without some scorch marks on his outer shell.It was a narrow space at first, so narrow that Roodaka and the spider had to go through single file. But gradually, the tunnel widened, and stopped, leaving nothing but a blank wall.Surprise, thought the Keelerak.

 

Roodaka, however, began examining the wall with her lightstone, tapping as she went.

 

After a few minutes with no result, the mutated jailer lost patience. It fired an acidic spinner, sending rock crashing down…on Roodaka’s foot.

 

Irritated, the Vortixx yanked it free, but the rock had made a sizeable dent in the metal, and from the way Roodaka winced, the spider knew it was painful, much worse than the wound the Skrall had inflicted, now healed.“You insane fool!” Roodaka sputtered. “Anymore of that and I’ll turn you into a Scarabax Beetle. You’re becoming more trouble than…” She reached forward, scraping at the weakened stone, revealing metal beneath.

 

The center of the door was raised – Roodaka scraped off the dust to reveal a symbol of two curves and three dots.“Matoran” said Roodaka. “I found this in Metru Nui in places.”

 

The Keelerak did not respond. He remembered that the Order of Mata Nui had thrown that particular symbol around a good deal, but that wasn’t the point.As it turned out, neither reference mattered. The symbol glowed orange, and a voice spoke: “Matoran. Do you know of the Matoran?”

 

“Yes” said Roodaka.“Do the Matoran regard you with honor as a friend?”

 

“No” said Roodaka. “They treat me with indifference.”Well, I guess there is no good reason for Roodaka to lie. Or maybe she figured the truth would be harder to believe.

 

“What do you seek?”Roodaka considered this question for a bit. “I am not certain.”

 

“Something brought you here.”

 

“Power, of course.”

 

“You know little if you seek to find it here.”

 

“Something of this mountain resists elemental attacks. What is it?”

 

“That is not force. That is rock.”

 

“Ordinary rock crumbles under elemental blasts.”

 

“This is not ordinary rock. The blue mineral holds the crater together; regenerating the dull rock that partly hides it.”

 

“And who are you?”

 

“I am a Great Being. Angonce is my name. And you are Roodaka, queen of the Visorak, spy, and future ruler of the world.” The last line dripped with sarcasm.

 

“We should leave.” interjected the Keelerak. “Give the guy some space.”

 

“I welcome you” said Angonce. “I believe a Vortixx might be useful against a being that hunts Toa.” The door opened, dust swirling, revealing a tall, lithe, pale figure with black at the joints. He stood in front of a polished table, lights blinking from its depths.“You didn’t mention knowledge as one of the things you sought, but I think you will find this helpful.” He gestured to the table, on which a map of Spherus Magna was displayed. A red, blinking light moved across what was obviously the map of Bara Magna. Caption: Marendar.

 

“What is Marendar?”

 

“A robot bent on killing Toa.”

 

“Interesting” said Roodaka

 

.Angonce nodded, the Keelerak reading the bitter expression on his face. “I want it gone. We have been so misguided…”

 

Roodaka considered. The spider watched as she cogitated the possibilities, the chances, and the opportunities.“Prove the thing exists” said Roodaka, “and we’ll talk.”

* * *

The metal power cradle with a huge, gaping hole. The ripped, jagged wires, and the torn-earth tunnel to the surface.“It escaped” said Angonce.

 

“Something definitely did” agreed Roodaka.

 

“I would consider it a robot” said the Keelerak.

 

Roodaka said nothing to that. The Keelerak saw her mind weighing the options, the effort required, influence gained or lost, and the possible pleasure of a world without Toa.“About this robot…” said Roodaka.“It can turn invisible or intangible or both at will. It shuts off Toa power and drains their life force. The more life it drains, the stronger it is. That is all I know.”

 

“I am a Vortixx, from the island of Xia. There, the strongest rule and the weak are slaves. The services of the strong come at a price.”

 

“You did rule Xia. But that was not enough for you, and it led to your doom.”Pain flashed across Roodaka’s face. “How dare you insult me!” Her hands lurched towards the Great Being’s neck, only to find themselves frozen in midair.

 

Angonce waved a hand and she sunk to the floor, weakened. He held out his hand to help her up, but Roodaka scrambled to her feet of her own power and walked weakly towards the end of the corridor. The Great Being followed her, placing a hand into the middle of Roodaka’s back.

 

“Curse you!” the Vortixx sputtered. “You will have no authority over me or my people!” She spun and smashed her fist into Angonce’s face, then turned around and ran, drawing her spinner launcher as she went, firing it at the room without caring who it hit. Instead of Angonce, the spinner hit the Visorak spider who was trying to catch up. And that was the last thing that particular spider saw…

* * *

Botar’s replacement stood next to Angonce, looking befuddled, which would have been rather unusual for him. After nearly two months of a lower vantage point, the newfound hero nearly lost his balance.

 

“I believe you have learned your lesson, friend” said Angonce. “It is time to resume your former nature. I have a duty for you.”

 

“Living or dying at your whim is hardly a pleasant idea, Great Being.” said Botar’s Replacement. “She knew. Don’t push her.”

 

“She asked for it.” Angonce smiled. “But she is no longer a dangerous criminal, as some of your colleagues may think. The only danger Roodaka poses is to herself.” This turned his face into a frown. “She must choose her destiny – ruler or destroyer. But I digress. I am afraid –“ He turned back to the map, where Marendar rapidly approached the new village of Ta-Koro. “I am afraid that I must leave the life of Toa Tahu in your hands.”

 

To be continued…

 

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