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TNTOS

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  1. Maybe. I'm not sure. I didn't give that part very much thought. -TNTOS-
  2. We're now at the fifteenth chapter of In the End, meaning that there are only five chapters left until the end. As I always do whenever I am about to finish posting an epic, I feel a strong sense of excitement and dread. Excited that I will have more time to focus on other things when this is done; dread that I will no longer have that dependable routine I've developed over the past fifteen weeks of a chapter a week. In any case, here's an excerpt from this week's chapter: Read the rest of Chapter XV here. -TNTOS-
  3. TNTOS

    In the End

    Chapter XV Kiriah was absolutely certain she was going to die. She could feel the poison in her system eating her from the inside, burning through her veins, turning her organs inside out. It was like being ripped in half, except she was aware of it the entire time. She knew it was only a matter of time before her life finally ended, yet she stubbornly held on anyway. I . . . must . . . live, Kiriah thought. Of course, that was much easier said than done. Her limbs had locked up and her chest was on fire. She could barely think, much less concentrate on her will to live. It would be easier, far easier, to let the darkness claim her. But she knew she couldn't. She had a world to save. Her world. Her friends. She still had so much to live for, so much to do. She had to keep going. The only question was, how? That was when she remembered the red potion. If the green potion was poison, could the red potion be a cure? There was no way to know. Possibly both potions were poisonous. Maybe death only came when you drank both poisons. Maybe this entire scenario was designed as a no-win situation, in which the only possible outcomes were a quick death or a slow death. But she had to try. She had to get the red potion, had to at least try it. At this point, she had nothing to lose. Kiriah used all of her willpower to force her limbs to move, to let her sit up. Whatever the poison was, it seemed to be trying to paralyze her nervous system. Moving her limbs was like trying to move ten ton blocks of protosteel and just as fun. Then something miraculous happened. She managed to move one finger on her right hand, then another, and soon (although it felt agonizingly slow to her) her entire right hand and arm could move. The same happened to her left arm, allowing her to push herself into a precarious sitting position, bringing her face level with the table. The red potion sat there on the table, exactly opposite the green potion. She reached over with one hand and wrapped her fingers around the potion's cool glass vial. She slowly brought the red potion up to her mouth, but her arm was erratic. Sometimes it froze up, sometimes it jerked around (almost causing her to drop it once), and every time it acted up, Kiriah was afraid her time had come. Once her vision even went totally dark, almost causing her to panic. But then her vision cleared a second later and she succeeded in bringing the red potion up to her lips. She allowed the bitter-tasting potion to enter her system, to cleanse her. Or she hoped it would, anyway. After all, she didn't know for sure that this potion could cure her. When she emptied the entire thing, she dropped the vial. It shattered into countless pieces upon contact with the floor, while Kiriah herself leaned against the table. Her every continued heartbeat both scared and excited her. Please . . . please let it work . . . I don't want to die, not yet. . . . Then a sensation passed over her body like a fresh autumnal breeze. She blinked and yawned, suddenly feeling quite sleepy, but she didn't allow herself the luxury of sleep. She could feel the warmth inside her body growing stronger and stronger, slowly relaxing her previously paralyzed limbs and making her feel much stronger. Carefully, Kiriah stood up, using the table for support. Her body seemed to want to work again. Her legs were stiff, but were quickly becoming looser and soon she was swinging them back and forth to test them. Even her chest felt better; in fact, it was no longer bleeding. That potion really had been a cure. She leaned against the table for several seconds, letting the potion do its work. When she felt good enough to walk more than a few feet, she made her way to the end of the hall. As she had thought, the exit was no longer blocked and she soon passed through it, walking down the stairs to the next floor. As she walked down the winding staircase, her audio receptors picked up sounds from up ahead. They grew louder and louder the further she walked until all she could hear was the blowing of trumpets, the banging of drums, and the sonorous noise of a piano. The music instantly put Kiriah on her guard, not because she distrusted music, but because she knew that Mendos most likely had a sinister reason for having a band playing. Then Kiriah emerged onto the next floor and looked around at her new surroundings. She stood on a long metal spoke that jutted out over what appeared to be an arena below, with two similar spokes about a couple dozen feet away from hers. A long metal slide stretched from the tip of her spoke to the sandy floor of the arena. The room itself was large and wide open, but for the life of her she could not spot any bands, even though the music was as loud as ever (if not louder). That was when she noticed a pair of loudspeakers hanging from the ceiling. She instantly recognized them for what they were because they had similar loudspeakers back in the Temple of the Time Stone back home in New Tanjo Nui. The music was blasting from the loudspeakers, but for the life of her Kiriah could not figure out what the music was supposed to accomplish. As far as she could tell, there was no way forward except to go down the slide. Maybe she'd reached the end already. If so, that made her wonder where Jet and Night were. If she was the first here, then maybe that meant she would be the only one here. Just as depression began creeping up Kiriah's spine, a being in black armor emerged from the doorway on the right spoke. It was Jetrupi, who despite the splash of blood his chest (which didn't appear to be his own, because he didn't look wounded) seemed just fine. He was looking around the wide-open room in astonishment, but as soon as he spotted Kiriah he waved at her and she waved back. Neither of them said anything because the music drowned out every other noise in the room. On her left, Night emerged from the left spoke. Like Jet, he looked like he'd gotten into a fight, with dented armor and cuts across his face and arms. Still, at least he was alive and, while Kiriah didn't like him as much as Jet, she was quite grateful for that. Much to her surprise, however, Night wasn't alone. A being in white robes stepped out of the doorway after him, a being who Kiriah instantly recognized as Masqouth. Like Night, he too, appeared to have been in battle, but she didn't spend a lot of time looking at him in any great detail. Instead, she pointed at him and shouted, as loudly as she could, “Night, watch out! Masqouth's-” Her voice was drowned out by the sudden blaring of the speakers, causing all four of them to cringe at the noise. The next moment, a portion of the ceiling slid away and a being sitting in a chair attached to a small platform slowly descended from the hole until she was at a level where they could all see her. The being was tall and lanky, with a large round head like a boulder. She wore a loose-fitting black poncho that covered her whole body except for her spidery hands and thin legs. Her eyes were as bright and eery as lanterns on a foggy night and her entire form was shivering with excitement. The being pressed a button on the chair's arms and the music suddenly shut off. “How amazing,” the being said, rubbing her hands together eagerly. “All four of you made it out of the Maze alive. I cannot believe it. This is a first. I have even recorded this in my diary for posterity.” Though the being's appearance was unfamiliar to Kiriah, she had no trouble recognizing the voice, even though it was no longer filtered through a speaker. “Mendos,” Night said, brandishing his sword. “I see you've finally decided to stop hiding behind a speaker and show yourself. Come down from your dumb chair and fight us like a true warrior.” Mendos laughed. “Why should I? Look at this frail excuse for a body. If I tried to fight you, I'd probably crumble to dust if you poked me hard enough. No, I'm quite happy where I am, thank you very much.” “Then why show yourself at all?” Night said. “If you are not going to give us an opportunity to fight you, then what's your game?” Mendos put the tips of her fingers together, as if considering his question. A smile slowly spread across her face as she said, “Well, perhaps I can reward you with that knowledge. After all, you are the first entrants to have made it out of the Maze with all members of your party alive. If I were you, I would be planning a celebration.” “A celebration?” Masqouth said. “What kind of celebration?” “We're not celebrating anything, Masqouth,” Night said. “Mendos is just trying to throw us off.” “How rude,” said Mendos. “I am not trying to throw anyone off. After everything you've been through, I would be a horrible being to trick you.” Kiriah couldn't trust anyone who named herself after a trickster goddess. At this point, it would be better to take Mendos's thoughts straight from her head, rather than letting her speak them aloud. It would violate Kiriah's own policy of not reading other peoples' minds without their permission, but at this point she was pretty certain that blindly following that policy would not help her or her friends. She reached out with her mind to touch Mendos's, but without warning a wall shot up on the platform, blocking Kiriah's view of the trickster. “Now, now, Kiriah,” said Mendos's voice from behind the wall, “there's no need to try to read my mind. If I understand it correctly, you can't read the minds of other beings if something is standing between you and that individual, yes? I believe this wall should do the trick just fine.” “What are you trying to hide, Mendos?” Kiriah said. “I simply value my privacy,” said Mendos. “Is that such a difficult concept for you to understand, Kiriah? I suppose for a Toa of Psionics it would be. Toa like you simply have no sense of boundaries, but I digress.” Kiriah bit her lower lip, but didn't look away. “Now that we've established some boundaries, let's begin the story, shall we?” said Mendos. “Where to start, where to start . . . ah, I know.” Mendos clapped her hands and a telescreen lowered from the ceiling. Its blank screen flickered on, revealing the image of a large city that sprawled in every direction for miles. The words 'City of Nenas' were captioned below it in large print. “This is my home,” said Mendos. “Nenas. The capital of the Skrall Empire.” “Skrall Empire?” Jetrupi said. “That's impossible. There's no such thing.” “Of course there is,” said Mendos. “It was established eons ago when the Skrall conquered the Bara Magna region, many years after the Shattering. Admittedly, it did run into some troubles when the Great Giants came from the sky and reformed Spherus Magna, but it recovered from those problems quickly and lasted for a great many years afterward. Those were the days.” Mendos sounded so wistful that Kiriah almost felt sorry for her. Almost. “Unfortunately, a variety of factors – including corruption and incompetence on the part of our leaders – caused the Empire to weaken,” Mendos continued. “Then a new empire arose in the south, one comprised of the few Agori and Gadarian nations that had not yet been conquered by the Empire. Our enemies did not have enough manpower to mount a full-scale invasion of the Empire, so they instead unleashed a virus discovered in a hidden Great Beings lab onto us.” “So everyone died?” Night said. “Not everyone,” Mendos said. “Some of us mutated. Take me, for example. Once I was the most beautiful member of the Sisters of the Skrall throughout the entire Empire. But now, I look like this . . . this thing. Ugh.” “Then what about the Maze?” said Jet, pointing back at the doorway from which he had emerged. “Who built it? Seems like an odd thing to have in a skyscraper.” “It was originally the most popular show in the Empire,” Mendos said. “Every week, three Skrall volunteers would enter the Maze and try to escape alive. It was broadcast on all Skrall telescreen stations across the entire Empire. I myself worked as a producer on it for the entirety of its run.” “Death as a form of entertainment,” said Jetrupi, shaking his head. “Why am I not surprised that a Skrall society would make something like this?” “What's that supposed to mean?” Night said, glaring at Jet from his spoke. “It clearly means he never saw an episode of 'Enter the Maze,' as the show was called during its run,” Mendos said. “Each episode was as thrilling as the last. Take the third season's seventh episode, for example, which featured the hardy Stronius, who made it through the entire Maze with a broken arm and half a rusted sword. The best episode of the series, if I do say so myself.” “So what, were we on your twisted show?” said Night. “Were people sitting in their homes, watching with bated breath as we all nearly died in a dozen horrible ways?” “Of course not,” Mendos said. “I mean, that's a good idea, but didn't you hear what I said earlier? Everyone is either dead or horribly mutated, like me. There's not much of an audience for this show anymore. Even the Agori and Gadarians do not care much for it. Alas, the only person watching this episode was me, although I am certain that if the Skrall Empire was still going strong, the ratings for this episode would have gone through the roof.” “Then why did you put us through the maze at all?” Jet said. “If not for the entertainment of millions of Skrall, then what was the point?” “I was bored,” said Mendos simply. “Bored straight out of my abnormally large head. When I saw three new people – including, to my surprise, a Skrall – turn up on my rooftop and enter my Maze, well, I couldn't just let you all go. It was even better when Masqouth here entered. If the show was still on air, why, I think this might just be the best episode of the entire series, topping Stronius's episode by far. You'd all be celebrities and would attain great honor for your bravery and wits in navigating the Maze.” “Honor?” Night said. “There's nothing honorable about it. It's a forced situation. True honor is attained only from battle. This is not battle. This is bad entertainment.” Mendos shrugged. “Whatever you say. I like to think positive, myself.” “Okay, then,” said Jet, folding his arms. “Well, we won. All of us survived. Will you let us go now?” “Don't be silly,” said Mendos with a laugh. “I still have one last trick up my sleeve. Because of this unprecedented event, I have decided that you all deserve one last game. Have fun playing in the sand. Without warning, the spokes inclined and all four of the participants slid uncontrollably down the metal slides. They shot out from the bottom of the slide and rolled across the sand, but soon everyone recovered and was back on their feet. Kiriah looked back just in time to see the slides rise out of the pit, which didn't make her feel any better about their current situation. “This is the best one yet,” said Mendos's voice above them. “It will be so fun.” “Fun?” said Masqouth. “I like fun. When does the fun start?” Mendos's voice took on a more gleeful tone. “It starts . . . now.” Something like ants started crawling up Kiriah's legs. At least, she thought it might be ants. But when she looked down at her legs, she was shocked to see the sand itself dragging her into it. She struggled to pull her legs out of it, but the sand was too strong. A quick glanced at her friends told her that they, too, were being dragged into the sand and having about as much luck as she was in escaping. “This is the Pit of Living Sand,” said Mendos. “Only one person has ever successfully escaped the Pit of Living Sand. And he is not any of you.” Review Topic
  4. Thanks . You can find the sequel here. It's currently still being posted, but there are plenty of chapters for you to read already. -TNTOS-
  5. TNTOS

    I accidently

    I spent the last eight years crafting my own Bionicle fanfic universe one fic at a time (though it adheres far more closely to canon than yours does, from what you've said). Definitely a lot of fun, even though keeping track of the details and such is a bit of a pain at times. -TNTOS-
  6. Monday. Again. Weird how it seems to come every week. Just like how it's weird that my birthday is once a year. I suspect a conspiracy involving the Illuminati, gummy bears, and Luigi's mustache. Oh, and George Takei is in on it, too. Probably the mastermind now that I think about it. Anyway, here's an excerpt from this week's chapter: Read the rest of Chapter XIV here. -TNTOS-
  7. TNTOS

    In the End

    Chapter XIV Ten years ago. . . . After the burning Gadarian incident, the Bunker was never quite the same. Even when a repair crew came down into the Bunker to fix the damage caused by the burning Gadarian (which, from what little Night Vision had seen, was quite extensive), there was always this lingering feeling of ominousness, as though the ghost of that Gadarian still haunted the Bunker. The official story the elementalists received was that the burning man had been a new recruit for Project Elementalist whose body reacted negatively to the elementalist serum. The new recruit was also revealed to have been a spy from a rival company seeking to shut down the Project, which none of the elementalists could confirm because the burning Gadarian's body was disposed of and his name withheld for 'security reasons,' as the II scientists put it. That story raised a lot of questions in Night Vision's mind, the first and foremost being why II had tried to make another fire elementalist. They already had Blaze. For what purpose could another fire elementalist have served? When he brought up this concern to Blaze and Heavyweight during lunch, a week after the burning man's attack, he found that they agreed with him. Heavyweight in particular seemed convinced that there was more to this story than met the eye. She explained that she had heard stories about the II scientists performing gruesome experiments on certain subjects and disposing of the evidence before anyone could find it. Blaze was a bit less paranoid, suggesting that the scientists may have been trying to see how Gadarian reacted to the fire version of the serum. Nonetheless, she also shared her confusion at the scientists' secrecy, even though she warned them about the dangers of speaking these thoughts aloud. Her warnings were based in fact. A couple of days after the burning Gadarian incident, Mute tried to ask Sorox about it. That simple question earned her a week in the Room and when she came out, she was far less chatty than usual and never brought up the subject again. That was not necessarily a bad thing, as Night Vision had just barely managed to tolerate her constant talk. At first, the other elementalists seemed less disturbed by that punishment than he, Blaze, and Heavyweight were. Then at mealtimes, Night Vision heard the others muttering and whispering about the unfairness of Mute's punishment, which was always quickly hushed whenever a scientist or guard was within earshot. But it wasn't until a week after that that the scientists tried to quell the discontent. And it wasn't even the scientists but Mr. Gray himself. It was at lunchtime, when all the elementalists were gathered in the dining room. As usual, Night Vision sat with Heavyweight and Blaze, the Skrall trying to explain to them what chewing food was like because Vortixx and Matoran apparently did not eat with their mouths (which he found strange, to say the least). With the clinking of silverware against plates and bowls, the slurping of water, and the general din of sixteen beings of various species all talking at once, none of them noticed the arrival of Mr. Gray until a loud bullhorn directed their attention to the Turaga. Mr. Gray stood in front of the door on the left side of the room. On either side of him stood two guards, a couple of Toa of Ice based on their white armor. One of them held a bullhorn, looking quite satisfied at having drawn everyone's attention to his boss. “Hello, elementalists,” said Mr. Gray, smiling just like Grandfather. “I see you're enjoying lunch. After all of the strenuous physical tests you undergo, it is important that you keep your energy up with the well-balanced, scientifically sound meals provided by the scientists working on the Project. I wish I could join you, but as a busy Turaga I unfortunately don't have the time for it, you understand.” His light and conversational tone made Night Vision suspicious. He exchanged looks with Heavyweight and Blaze. Heavyweight looked as suspicious as he felt, while Blaze's expression was unreadable. “I have heard about the burning Gadarian's attack on the Bunker,” Mr. Gray said. “A terrible tragedy, one that no doubt has left many of you questioning your own safety in the Bunker. After all, the burning man did kill five scientists and nearly killed two elementalists. In addition, he caused millions of widgets worth of property damage that is still under repair even two weeks after the fact. I can understand why some of you wish to leave the Project and find someplace safer to work.” Heavyweight was nodding. So were several other elementalists. These were common concerns that many elementalists had spoken about, so it was nice to hear Mr. Gray acknowledging them. That also made Night Vision wonder what Mr. Gray was going to say next. “But I implore you all to remain with Ignika Industries,” Mr. Gray said. “The safety of our employees is our paramount concern. We have done everything in our power to ensure that another burning Gadarian incident never happens again. All that we ask is that you do not ask questions whose answers you do not need to know. That is all.” Night Vision felt someone tugging at his arm and look to his right. It was Heavyweight, who wore an expression that quite plainly said, Uh oh. “I know many of you have questions and concerns about the Project, but rest assured that you have nothing to worry about,” Mr. Gray said. “Your job is not to worry about things like security and safety, but to help us understand the full effects that the elementalist serum has on the average person's body. We will handle the rest.” Again, people were nodding. Again, Night Vision was not convinced. “If any of you have any more concerns, feel free to speak with the scientists about them,” said Mr. Gray. “If for any reason they cannot address your concerns themselves, then they will take them directly to me and I will make sure to take a little time out of my busy schedule to address them personally. Good day to you all and enjoy your lunch.” With that, Mr. Gray and his two bodyguards left. As soon as they did, the elementalists returned to their eating and talking. Night Vision turned back to Heavyweight and Blaze and said, “What do you two think?” “What is there to say?” said Blaze with a shrug. “He just said that they were going to make things safer and that we don't have to worry about it. What's to think about that?” “Then you were clearly not listening,” said Heavyweight, tapping the table with her fingers. “He's worried we'll stumble onto the truth. The truth being, of course, that Project Elementalist has a deeper purpose than merely democratizing elemental powers.” “I don't know,” said Blaze. “Are you sure you weren't reading things into his speech that he didn't intend?” “Come on, Blaze,” said Heavyweight. “Surely you've noticed how the scientists and guards have been treating us like we're all ticking time bombs. That Mr. Gray explicitly told us not to ask questions is proof enough that they're doing something they don't want us to know about.” “I'm with Heavyweight on this one,” said Night Vision as he picked at his food with his fork. “The entire thing is still fishy to me. There's more going on than we know and Mr. Gray isn't telling us what.” “Well . . .” Blaze looked around conspiratorially for a moment before leaning in close. “A couple of days ago, after one of those tests they put us through, I overheard the two scientists who had been tracking my progress talking to each other. I didn't catch the whole conversation, but I did hear one of them say that he was glad that I was 'not like Burner,' while the other guy said that he thought the whole Project was 'doomed to begin with.'” “Who's Burner?” Heavyweight said. Blaze shrugged. “No idea. All I can figure is that they were afraid I might lose control of my powers.” “They think we all might,” said Night Vision. “It's why security is tightened. Their safety is their top priority. The rest of us . . . well, I think you know where they think we should go.” “You know what we need to do?” said Heavyweight. “We need to start investigating.” “None of us are detectives, though,” said Night Vision. Heavyweight punched his shoulder and said, “You know what I mean. We have to find out what the real purpose behind Project Elementalist is.” “How do we do that?” Blaze said. Heavyweight leaned forward, like she didn't want anyone else to hear what she was about to say, and said, in a low voice, “We break into the scientists' main office, of course. Where they keep all their records about the Project and, more importantly, us.” Night Vision put his fork down and looked at her. “And we do that, how? Elementalists aren't allowed to go into the main office. We aren't even allowed to walk around the Bunker wherever we please.” Heavyweight smiled a wicked grin. “I've already got a plan. If it works, we'll know for sure just what the Project is really for and what's really going on here. You in?” Night Vision exchanged a look with Blaze. The Ta-Matoran looked very much like she wanted to not get into trouble, but she nodded anyway and so did Night Vision. “All right,” said Heavyweight. She lowered her voice again and said, “Now listen, here's what we're going to have to do. . . .” - Present day. . . . Teaming up with Masqouth seemed like a smart move at the time. After all, Night lacked the ability to dimension-hop, whereas Masqouth did. And Night had to admit (with great reluctance) that Masqouth was a good fighter and his knowledge of Atuje's powers and abilities would surely come in handy soon. As a Skrall, Night had been taught that having allies was the key to success in any battle, which meant his alliance with Masqouth was a smart move on his part. What made Night regret their alliance was not the knowledge that Masqouth had played a direct role in manipulating his species into starting a war they couldn't win, nor that one of Masqouth's friends had murdered Heavyweight with Masqouth's tacit approval. He wasn't even upset about Masqouth's naivety, necessarily. What caused him to wonder if he could get away with stabbing Masqouth in the face was Masqouth's unrelenting chatter. For such a powerful and influential figure, Masqouth seemed incapable of controlling his mouth. He droned on and on about subjects Night didn't really care about, such as a play he had seen recently, while occasionally dropping an insult (often a childish one that he seemed to think was scathing) toward Atuje. In particular, Masqouth was describing in detail an encounter he had had with a small homeless Ussal crab, who he of course returned to its rightful master. “. . . And then he said, 'You know what, Masqouth? You're a pretty cool guy,'” Masqouth said, his voice taking on a slightly deeper tone in imitation of the Skakdi. “He were so happy to have his pet Ussal back that he tried to give me all his money as a reward. He was a rather poor Skakdi, of course, so I had to decline, but I did tell my followers – I have many, if you didn't know – to give him some money. And my how charitable my followers are. I bet they must have thrown him a hundred widgets, maybe even more, and I don't doubt that he's right now living in a nice apartment and eating out at fancy restaurants even as we speak.” “Or,” said Night, unable to keep his thoughts to himself any longer, “he's fighting and dying in a war that you started. Just a possibility.” That wiped the smile off Masqouth's face real quick. A cross frown appeared on his face before it was replaced by a sad frown. “Oh. Right. I was just trying to make conversation.” Night glanced at Masqouth in amazement. “You were trying to kill me five minutes ago. What makes you think I'd want to talk?” “I don't like silence,” Masqouth said. “I like talking to people. Or being in wide open places with lots of people. If I don't have someone to talk to I go crazy.” Night shook his head. “Going on and on about pointless subjects makes you look crazier than if you'd kept silent, you know.” Masqouth folded his arms across his chest and pouted. “Hey, that's not-” He never got to finish that sentence because the floor fell out beneath them. The two fell screaming until they landed on the bottom of the pit, which, being as smooth and hard as the floor, was not a particularly soft place to fall on. Night rubbed his behind as he looked around at the pit they had fallen into, wondering what happened. “Ow,” said Masqouth, sitting up and shaking his head. “What happened?” “Looks like we walked straight into a trap,” said Night. “The walls are too smooth to climb, but with your mask we ought to get out of here easily.” “Of course,” said Masqouth, hopping to his feet. “If this is the best that Mendos can come up with, then we'll be out of here in no time.” Masqouth's Kanohi changed shape once again, this time into the Mask of Flight. “Hold on tight. We're going to go fast, so I don't want you falling off or anything.” Reluctantly, Night grabbed onto Masqouth's shoulders. As soon as the Skrall was certain he was secure, Masqouth shot into the air toward the pit's opening. Night took this moment to think about how easy this particular death trap was. He found that he was actually disappointed. It looked like Mendos had merely exaggerated the dangerousness of this floor because he and Masqouth were certainly not in any- The only warning he got of the barrier was the low hum of electricity that buzzed in his ears. Before he had time to realize what that meant, an electrical jolt shocked him and Masqouth. Masqouth cried out in surprise as the two fell back to the bottom of the pit, where they crashed in a confused heap of limbs. Night managed to untangle himself from Masqouth and looked up at the top of the pit just in time to see the faint outline of an electrical net fading fast. “What was that?” said Masqouth, rubbing the top of his head. “There must be an electrical barrier covering the pit's opening,” said Night. “It's invisible, but it's obviously there.” Masqouth scrambled to his feet and glared at the top of the pit. “Then how do we get out of here?” “Easy,” said Night. “We find a way to discharge the electric net. Surely you must have some kind of mask power that can do that, right?” Masqouth's answer was drowned out by the sound grinding gears from somewhere underneath their feet. The next moment, a portion of the wall on the other end of the pit slid aside and a creature crawled out of it. The creature resembled a rock steed, although it appeared to lack back legs. Not that inhibited its movement much, however, because its muscular forelegs allowed it to move easily across the smooth stone floor. Then Night noticed that the lizard did in fact have back legs. Or, rather, back wheels. The wheels rolled along the floor, making clicking and clattering sounds like the wheeled vehicles that could be found on the streets of New Atero. That was how Night knew what the beast was and how he knew that Mendos hadn't been exaggerating the deadliness of this level of the Maze. “Ooo, what is that?” said Masqouth, pointing at the Rahi with interest. “I've never seen something like that before.” “It's a roller lizard,” said Night as he held up his sword and shield defensively. “They're not particularly common, but they are extremely effective hunters. I've faced a few in the past and let me tell you that they are not something you can scare with bright lights and sounds.” “So it's not friendly?” Masqouth said. Night shot him an irritable look. “Of course it's not. They hunt Kikanalo for fun. They're actually known for torturing their prey before finishing them off.” “Okay,” said Masqouth. “What are we going to do about it?” “I'll distract it, while you use your powers to get rid of that electric net,” said Night, pointing at the pit's opening with his sword. “I have experience fighting these things, so I should be able to keep it busy for a while.” Masqouth gave him the thumbs up. “I can already think of a mask that should do the trick. I just need time.” Night nodded and stepped forward to face the roller lizard. The Rahi had not moved from its position at the other end of the pit. Like most roller lizards, its beady eyes were analyzing its opponents before moving into battle. Not that analyzing him would help the roller lizard one bit. This would be a quick fight. To make it quicker, Night pulled the trigger on his sword, causing it to burst into flames. He swung it back and forth menacingly, but to the roller lizard's credit it did not seem disturbed by this. It simply let out a deep growl that sent shivers up Night's spine and jumped into the air. It tried to land on Night, but he jumped out of the way just in time and the roller lizard simply crashed onto the floor and rolled away with the impact before turning around to face Night again. “Ooo!” said Masqouth from somewhere nearby. “I didn't know roller lizards could jump.” “They can't,” said Night, swinging his sword back and forth. “Normally, at least. This one is different.” The roller lizard dashed forward and Night ran at it. He swung his flaming sword at the Rahi, but it swerved out of the way just in time and slammed his abdomen with its tail as it passed, knocking him flat off his feet. He landed on his back with a crash, but managed to roll back to his feet instantly, though he had to turn off his sword's fire briefly due to the heat getting to him. The roller lizard turned around and charged at him again. This time, Night fired off a couple of shadow bolts at it. It managed to avoid the first one, but the second shadow bolt hit it directly in the face, causing it to let out an angry roar. That didn't stop it completely, though, so Night was force to leap over the incoming Rahi as it barreled past him. Landing on his feet, Night whirled around and fired off a dozen shadow bolts at the roller lizard's back. The roller lizard dodged them, however, and jumped again. This time, it was fast enough to land near Night and tackle him. He tried to shove it off, but the lizard held him tight despite its lack of back legs and it was all he could do to keep the roller lizard from ripping his face off his head. “Masqouth,” Night said, holding back the roller lizard's head with both of his hands. “What's taking you so long to-” An explosion of electricity above him answered his question. The sudden explosion caused the roller lizard to look up in astonishment, giving Night the opportunity to shove the Rahi off his body. Then he jumped to his feet and slammed the flat of his still-hot blade against the roller lizard's face, causing it to screech in pain and retreat to the other side of the pit in the blink of an eye. A second later, Masqouth appeared and said, “Destroyed the net. Let's go before Mendos tries to fix it.” Night nodded and grabbed onto Masqouth's shoulders and the next moment they were flying again. As they flew, however, the roller lizard let out a screech and launched itself into the air at them. It almost succeeded in grabbing them, but Night lashed out with a kick, knocking the Rahi out of the air and back into the pit, where it crashed with a screech of pain. A moment later, Night and Masqouth landed on the edge of the pit's mouth. Night let go of Masqouth's shoulders and glanced down into the pit. The roller lizard didn't look any worse the wear for having fallen so far. It was glaring at him like it thought it could kill him with mean looks alone. Masqouth was dusting off his robes, saying as he did so, “Well, that was random. Wonder why the roller lizard attacked us like that.” Night gave Masqouth an incredulous look. “It was probably trained that way by Mendos. Remember, this floor is the death floor.” “Oh yeah,” said Masqouth, snapping his fingers. “Right, right. I bet it gets hungry down there, though, and lonely.” “It's not our problem,” said Night, turning away from the pit. “By the way, how did you destroy the electrical net?” Masqouth tapped his mask and grinned. “Mask of Lightning. A simple lightning bolt in the right place completely short-circuited it. Simple, but fun.” “Handy,” Night said. “Anyway, let's keep going. If Mendos was telling the truth earlier, then we won't have to be inside this Mata-Nui-forsaken Maze anymore. Finally.” Review Topic
  8. I think I made one poll once, many year ago, but what the poll was about, I don't remember. And I think I may have made it because someone asked me to, not because I wanted to. All I know is that polls are probably my least favorite and least used PM perk. I've never really enjoyed or used them much. -TNTOS-
  9. Thanks . *Shrugs* If Greg's not sure, then I don't see any reason to worry about it. Nor would I change it if Greg ever does give a final answer on the question. Although I tried to adhere as strictly to canon in this series as I could, I'm not interested in going back and doing a lot of rewriting or editing if it turns out I got something wrong. Yeah, I could definitely write more flash fics like these, but right now I don't want to. Currently I'm focusing entirely on my original fiction; but hey, flash fics don't take very much time to write at all, so maybe I'll do another series like this at some point. Not sure what the theme would be, though, or if there would any sort of theme to it at all. Maybe I could do a series based on the Dark Hunters or Order of Mata Nui or the Brotherhood of Makuta or just continue this series somehow. Lots of different options. Thanks for enjoying the series, though. Really appreciate it. -TNTOS-
  10. Welcome to the tenth and final installment of my new series of Bionicle flash fics, The Biological Chronicle. If you want to read the other stories in this series, you can find links to them in my signature at the end of this post. If you don't know what this is, allow me to quote from the first fic's introduction: With that out of the way, enjoy: 2010 “What do we do if the Makuta go astray?” The Great Being known as Angonce looked up from his workbench at his fellow Great Being, Velika. A half-finished mask lay on the table before him, but Angonce didn't pay much attention to it, distracted as he was by his brother's question. “Why would that ever happen, Velika?” said Angonce. “The Makuta are supposed to aid Mata Nui. They would never even think of rebelling against him.” “You said the same thing about the Element Lords,” Velika pointed out. “And we both know how well that turned out.” Angonce sighed and put down his mask-making tools. “All right. What do you suggest we do?” “We need to design a weapon that can combat the Makuta,” said Velika. “Something that can destroy solid antidermis quickly and efficiently.” Angonce quirked an eyebrow. “A bomb of some sort?” “No,” said Velika, shaking his head. He was clearly deep in thought now, like he always got whenever he was on a roll. “There would always be the danger of the bomb being set off too early and thus failing to destroy any antidermis at all. We need something better. But what?” Angonce thought about that for a moment. He glanced at the mask on his table, which was colored gold, and an idea occurred to him. “Maybe a set of golden armor?” Velika looked at Angonce in surprise. “Golden armor?” “Yes,” said Angonce, nodding. “Golden armor that can instantly destroy all solid antidermis within its vicinity. Not only that, but it could also absorb all the powers of the Makuta that are killed.” Now it was Velika's turn to quirk an eyebrow. “And why would that be necessary? It sounds to me like it would only make the user go mad with power.” “Not if the user is a Toa,” said Angonce. “One of the Toa Mata, perhaps the leader, Toa Tahu. As for why it would be necessary . . . well, I just thought what a shame it would be to lose all of our work if the user of the golden armor managed to destroy all the Makuta. At least we can save the powers, if nothing else.” “Yes,” said Velika, though he did not sound entirely convinced by that. “Yes, of course. But where would we keep the golden armor? After all, while it may never be used, we don't want to put it where anyone could get their hands on it, at least not easily.” Angonce stroked his chin and looked at the half-finished mask before him. Then an idea struck him like lightning. “I know,” said Angonce. “We can put it inside the Mask of Life. After all, we already plan to put the Ignika out of the reach of most beings. Not even the Makuta will be able to get it if we do that.” Velika smiled. “I like your way of thinking, brother. Let's get to it.” - And that's a wrap (unless Bionicle comes back next year, in which case I might write The Biological Chronicle: 2015 as the real finale, but we'll see what will happen, I suppose). Comments, criticism, questions, etc. are all welcome . -TNTOS-
  11. Once again, it's Monday, and once again, I have posted a new chapter of In the End. Here's an excerpt: Read the rest of Chapter XIII here. -TNTOS-
  12. TNTOS

    In the End

    Chapter XIII For Kiriah, every step was like walking through a waist-deep muddy swamp. She took a step forward, stopped to catch her breath, and then took another step down the staircase that led to the next floor of the Maze. Her chest wound was still burning, still bleeding, and droplets of blood covered the stairs behind her, but she kept going. The thought of reuniting with Jet and Night at the end of the maze was all that kept her going. Otherwise, she would have collapsed by now. She finally reached the bottom of the staircase, but accidentally tripped and fell flat on her face and on her chest. Her wound exploded with pain, causing her to cry out. When she pushed herself up, she saw a large splotch of blood on the floor where her chest had fallen. The metallic scent of blood made her feel sick, but she stood up anyway and resumed walking down the hallway. Every time she wanted to give up, she remembered her late friend, Isarot. He had been tough, much tougher than Kiriah would ever be, and he would never have tolerated any kind of quitting on her part. Especially when so much rode on her getting out of here alive. The only way to stop the war on Spherus Magna would be to get Masqouth and hand him over to the New Atero government. Without warning, Mendos's voice rang through the hallway like a gong. Kiriah stopped and leaned against a wall, less out of a desire to listen and more because she was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. “Well, well,” said Mendos in her usual chirpy voice. “A new participant has entered the Maze. He's quite the stud, if I do say so myself. I have no idea who he is, but his involvement has already made the game much more interesting, especially with that strange mask of his.” Kiriah's audio receptors perked up at that. A new participant? Who could that be? “I also have a couple of announcements to make,” said Mendos. “First off, congratulations, all of you, for making it past the first floor. The first leg is always the hardest, but now that you are all making your way to the next floor, I am certain we'll see the game become even more exciting.” Kiriah let out a sigh of relief that hurt her chest. Night and Jet are both still alive. Thank the Great Spirit. “The second floor is a bit different from the first floor,” Mendos said. “Whereas the first floor contained three passages – one leading to death, one to treasure, and another to life – the second floor has nothing in it but death.” “No!” Kiriah said. “No!” “It's not that bad,” Mendos said, almost as if she had heard Kiriah's cries of anguish. “You still have a chance of survival. And if you do, guess what? You get to meet me. Won't that be wonderful?” Kiriah could think of many reasons why that wasn't wonderful, but she didn't voice any of them. She did imagine punching out Mendos, though without knowing what Mendos looked like, she was forced to imagine punching out Kafor instead. That may have been mean, but Kiriah was not very fond of the Skakdi and so didn't feel that guilty about it. “Also, keep in mind that death will not always look like how you think it will,” Mendos said. “Sometimes, death will look like life and life like death. Which is which? You can figure that out for yourself. Have fun!” With that, the speaker turned off with a 'click.' Kiriah pushed herself off the wall and started down the hall again. It might have been smarter to stay put, but that would have meant bleeding to death or dying by infection. Besides, the situation apparently wasn't hopeless, if Mendos was telling the truth. There was indeed a way to win, but in her current wounded state, Kiriah wondered if that was nothing more than a false hope destined to let her down. Soon, Kiriah saw something up ahead. The closer she came, the clearer the object became. It was a simple wooden table, looking like something that had been picked out of a dump, with two glass vials on it. Kiriah stopped briefly and examined the area around it, but she could see no hints of traps or danger. She did find, however, that it was impossible to continue on because when she walked around the table she found the exit locked. Kiriah was far too weak to use her telekinesis to break the lock, so she returned to the table and examined the two glasses. One contained a green liquid; the other, a red one. A small piece of paper lay between them, which Kiriah snatched up in her hand and read: One of these vials will give you life. The other will give you death. Choose wisely. Kiriah crumpled the paper in her hands and threw it on the ground in frustration. That was an unwise move, however, because the sudden movement caused her chest to ache again and she let loose a string of curse words that even she didn't know she knew. She carefully picked up both vials and examined them from every angle. In appearance and texture, the two felt exactly the same. They had no labels, no hints that pointed toward whether one was poison and one not. Yet if the paper was correct, Kiriah had to choose one, and only one. She was not an expert on poison and potions, but she did understand that one would probably kill her instantly, while the other wouldn't. She wished she could figure out what these vials contained, but it was impossible to know. She set them down and thought about it hard. Not that there was much to think about. With so few facts to help her, it was clear that Kiriah was going to rely entirely on destiny to pick the right one. That her chest was still hurting gave her even less time to think carefully about the dilemma. She scooped up the crumple paper and flattened it out on the table. She read it over a dozen times, hoping there might be a clue within the text itself, but she found nothing that could even be construed as a clue. It was two simple sentences. And as far as she could tell, there was no code in it. She wished Horic, the Tagiki guardian of the Time Stone and her friend, was here. He loved cracking codes and if anyone could discover a code hidden within these words, it would be him. This was the worst dilemma Kiriah had ever faced in her life. Either she risked her life and chose the wrong potion (which would be far more likely to kill her than to help her) or she did nothing at all and died of the wound Izoz had inflicted on her. More than ever before, Kiriah felt a deep, burning hatred for Mendos in her heart, one she didn't even try to repress. “All right,” said Kiriah aloud. “You win, Mendos. I'll take your potions. I'll pick one and if I die, at least it will probably be instant and painless.” Kiriah had always liked the color green better than red. That was the sole basis for choosing the green over the red potion. That may have seemed flippant, but considering that she had no other facts to base her decision off of, it really was the best way to determine which potion to drink. She held the green potion in her hand. It splashed around in its vial in her shaky hand. It felt warm, but not burning hot. She really didn't want to drink something without knowing what was inside it. Her instincts warned her to put it down and walk away, but then she reminded her instincts that walking away now would be just as useful as drinking the wrong potion, if not more painful. Without further ado, Kiriah popped open the green potion and downed it in one gulp. It smelled like Mado fruit and tasted like sewer water. She almost choked on it, but she swallowed it all. She felt it go down her throat into her system. It burned her mouth, so as soon as she felt the last drop hit her tongue, she slammed the vial back on the table and hacked loudly. Then Kiriah felt her stomach. She didn't feel anything at first, but then without warning, her entire body shuddered with pain. She fell to her knees, her breathing rapidly becoming ragged, as the potion raced through her entire body. It felt like someone was raking her body with a giant, burning claw. It was the poison. It had to be. It was killing her. And there was nothing she could do about it. - Ruby was really starting to get tired of the Wyokan countryside. Or, rather, the darkness that completely shrouded it. More than once she had tripped over something she couldn't see – a tree root, an abandoned tool, a rock – and more than once she wanted to burn the whole place to the ground as a result. That may have been extreme and it was, but it was hard to convince her of that when it seemed like everything in Wyoko was out to trip her up. Oddly enough, the trio did not face any wild animals on their way through Wyoko. Ruby wondered aloud why that was. Cina speculated that the animals may be afraid of their lightstones and possibly Wanderer as well, who as a ghost always gave off a small glow. After all, Cina continued, the vast majority of Rahi in Wyoko lived in complete darkness. It was unlikely they would like or appreciate light. Occasionally, they would hear the noises of things in the darkness. Sometimes, it was obviously the sound of the wind, but every now and then Ruby's ears would catch the sound of some kind of animal prowling nearby. Once she even caught a glimpse of a giant bat-like creature, but every time she tried to shine her light on it, the Rahi would always run away with a screech and a snarl. To her credit, Wanderer kept her mouth shut unless necessary. Unfortunately, she floated far too close to Ruby for her comfort. Ruby was used to this behavior. She did not interact with her fans too often, but whenever she did, they always treated her like she was the Great Spirit himself. It was flattering, to be sure, but also creepy. She appreciated how Cina at least knew to give her some space. Due to the silence, Ruby began worrying about Niham again. She wondered if Niham was getting enough food, if she was warm, if she had a bed to sleep in, if she was injured or not. She had no idea how Masqouth treated his prisoners. She hoped he showed the same benevolence toward them that he showed in his speeches to the Skakdi and Skrall, but if he was willing to start a world war for reasons no one knew or understood, then she bet he wasn't even half as kind as he made himself out to be. She wondered what the other team was doing. If Cina was telling the truth, then there was another team of Will agents in Wyoko making their way to Castle Kra. She wondered if they were farther along than her party was and how much luck they were having in reaching the castle. She also wondered if it would have been wiser for her and Cina to travel with that group than on their own, but when she remembered that that would go against the plan, she stopped thinking about it. Just as they crossed a wooden bridge, they heard rustling in a nearby clump of trees. Both Cina and Ruby shone their lightstones in that direction, while Wanderer unlimbered her spear and shield from her back. How a ghost was going to help them battle a physical foe, Ruby had no idea. She suspected Wanderer did it out of habit. The next moment, five hooded beings walked out of the clump of trees, beings whom Ruby had never seen before. They walked in perfect unison, almost as if they were one mind, but it was a weak walk with a lot of limping and staggering. Despite that, Ruby could sense they were not weaklings, simply badly wounded. “Who are you?” Cina said as the hooded ones approached. “Are you Kra-Matoran? Echoes? Or allies of either group?” The hooded beings stopped. One of these beings stepped forward and spoke. Yet when it spoke, it sounded as though multiple voices were speaking as one, which freaked out Ruby far more than their sudden, unexplained appearance. “We are allies of neither,” said the hooded being. “We are the Almighty Ones. And we are in desperate need of help.” “Almighty Ones?” Ruby said, glancing at Cina and Wanderer. “Either of you guys heard of 'em before?” Cina shrugged. “No.” “Same here,” said Wanderer. Ruby turned to ask the strangers more questions about their identity, but then she saw all five of them collapse as one. Shocked, Ruby ran over to the lead one and turned him over on his back. She put a hand on his chest and felt a heart beat. The others still seemed to be living, too, but perhaps just barely. “What happened to you?” said Ruby. “Hello? Are you awake?” The Almighty One stirred and looked up at her. Blue eyes shone out of the dark hood which shrouded his face. “We were nearly slain by our enemy. We just barely managed to escape.” “Who is your enemy?” Ruby asked. “Are you talking about Masqouth?” “No,” said the Almighty One, shaking his head. “We are talking about the King . . . the King of Life.” Ruby looked up at Cina, but much to her surprise, the Toa of Water looked like she understood completely. “Makuta Teridax and Toa Oggak reported a being known as the King freeing Wavica and Asroth on the Soaring Titan,” said Cina. “I wonder if this King of Life is the same being or not.” “He is,” the Almighty One said with a cough. “He's the true enemy. Not Masqouth.” “What does that even mean?” said Ruby. “Masqouth is the leader, isn't he?” “No,” said the Almighty One. “The King of Life, Atuje, he is behind it all. He only cares about himself. He will destroy anyone who gets in his way.” “But where is he?” said Ruby. “If he's so dangerous and powerful, how come we haven't met him yet?” “Likely he doesn't even know of your existence yet,” said the Almighty One. “But be warned. If he finds out what you are trying to do, he will not hesitate to snuff out your life like an insect.” “Is he the one responsible for kidnapping Niham and the other Toa?” Ruby said. The Almighty One nodded slowly. “He masterminded the entire plan. From beginning to end, it has all been his doing. Masqouth and the Echoes have merely been his pawns.” “All right,” said Ruby. “Then we still have to go on.” The Almighty One reached up with a shaky hand and grabbed her wrist, as if to stop her. “Do not go. His power is beyond even your wildest dreams. You must leave while you can.” “Thanks for the encouragement,” said Ruby. “But no. Niham is my girlfriend. I am not going to abandon her just because there is some guy out there with powers stronger than his conscience. I've already come this far, anyway. Might as well keep going.” The Almighty One let go of her wrist. “You are truly a noble soul, Glatorian. Truly noble.” “Perhaps she is,” said a new voice, one like the sea, from somewhere in the darkness, “although in my time I've never seen nobility save somebody's life.” Ruby, Cina, and Wanderer looked around before someone walked into the light of their lightstones. The newcomer was a Gadarian, just like Ruby, but he looked different. he wore blue armor that looked very old and wore a rounded helmet studded with spikes. He walked with an air of royalty, as if he expected everyone to bow before him in order to acknowledge his greatness. “Who are you?” Cina said. “Friend or enemy?” The newcomer spread his arms. “I am King Atuje, the King of Life and Ruler of Wyoko. I imagine those titles mean little to you, however, but it does not matter. All I ask is that you step aside and let me finish the job I started in another universe.” Ruby stood up and held up her shield. “The Almighty Ones told us that you were the one who planned the kidnappings of Niham and the other Toa. Is that true?” “It is the truth,” said Atuje. “I presume you are Rubella the Red Star, Niham's girlfriend and lover? I do not recognize the other two, but I know you because Masqouth used to watch your arena matches on the telescreen. He is a big fan.” Ruby didn't let her guard down. “Yes, I am. And I'm here to save Niham from your dirty hands. Even if that means sacrificing my own life.” Atuje tilted his head side to side before returning its to its normal position. “Interesting. I had not factored any of you three into my plan. Then again, I probably should have seen this coming, knowing as I do how strong a motivation love is.” Ruby hurled her shield at Atuje, aiming directly for his head. The King merely deflected it with his arm, sending the shield flying away somewhere into the darkness out of sight. “I take it you have no idea just how powerful I am,” said Atuje. “I suppose that's to be expected, seeing as we have never met before. Allow me to show you just why I am called the King of Life.” Atuje closed his eyes and raised his hands. Ruby at first wondered what he was doing until she fell to her knees, completely unable to control her body. The next second, Ruby felt body rapidly growing weaker, almost like she was dying. Nearby, Cina and the Almighty Ones were in a similar position, while Wanderer floated above them, looking at the scene in horror. “What are you doing to them?” Wanderer asked Atuje. “Controlling their nerves and draining their bodies of life, of course,” said Atuje, without opening his eyes. “I regret having to kill your two friends in addition to the Almighty Ones, but even the King of Life cannot always avoid death. If I were you, ghost, I'd take this moment to say good bye to them one last time, as I doubt you will ever see them again.” - Kafor sat against the left wall of her cell, tapping her foot against the floor. Licking the food off the floor had taken the better part of the morning and now she was hungry again, although Jeran had not yet returned with more food for her and the other prisoners. She was under the impression that Jeran was punishing her for her getting under his skin earlier. He could have simply been forgetful, but he didn't seem like the absentminded type. The Toa prisoners were talking, but she didn't participate in their conversations. They were talking about friends, about what the war in Spherus Magna was like, whether they would ever see the light of day again, and similar sentimental subjects. Kafor was too concerned with figuring out a method of escape to worry about the outside world, probably because she didn't have anything waiting for her on the outside. The other prisoners had friends, jobs, and social positions. They had houses, money, food, and water. Even the poorer ones, like Toa Laomos the artist, had things to look forward to. Kafor had almost nothing. She didn't own a house or even an apartment. She didn't have any friends, except perhaps Barc (although he could be dead now for all she knew). While the Dark Hunters might not be after her anymore, she nonetheless had many enemies that would love to gut her. She belonged to no groups. She lived a life mostly beneath the surface of acceptable society. Even her fellow Skakdi would probably not accept her. Being a Seer meant most people thought she was crazy. Nonetheless, Kafor could not deny her desire to escape. She wanted to get to the outside world, wanted to leave Wyoko and the Echoes behind. Yet no matter how hard she wracked her brain, she could not come up with a way to escape. It seemed far more likely that she was going to die alone in this cell. There was no happy ending, for her or for any of the others. Just then, she heard the door to the dungeons swing open, followed by the scraping of several sets of feet against the floor. A strong feminine voice, probably Asroth's, shouted, “Wakey, wakey, prisoners! It's time to get up and go!” “Go?” said Niham's voice, slightly muffled by the walls separating her cell from Kafor's. “Go where? Why?” “King Atuje's orders,” said another female voice, this one sounding like Wavica. “He expects all of his prisoners to be in his throne room within the hour to witness his arrival.” “But that doesn't explain why,” Niham said. “Aren't we 'safer' in the dungeons?” “We are not to question the King's orders,” said Wavica. “Only obey. Now everybody get up. We aren't going to drag you out of here when your own two feet can support you.” The sounds of jail cell doors flying open and chains clanking together and people walking about filled the dungeon. Kafor scrambled to her feet as her cell door swung open and someone walked in. The being grabbed her roughly, dragged her out of the cell, and then chained her up to someone in front of her, all without saying a word. Which is how Kafor knew it was Jeran. Above the sounds of clanking chains and talking Toa, Wavica's voice rang out, saying, “All right, prisoners. We're walking out of here single file. If anyone tries to escape, we will beat you senseless and drag you all the way up to the throne room ourselves. Now march.” Kafor was suddenly jerked forward by whoever was ahead of her, but soon recovered and kept pace with the others. Walking up the winding stairs with the others was an awkward, time-consuming process, but they eventually managed to reach the courtyard. At least, Kafor assumed it was the courtyard. With her reflectors on, it was difficult to see anything. Then they were walking up another set of stairs and entered the castle itself again. Again, that was what Kafor only assumed based on what she heard and felt. She could hear the sounds of the prisoners' feet echoing off the walls, which told her they were inside a building at any rate. No one spoke. They had climbed only a handful of floors, however, before the sound of a door slamming shut nearby caused the entire chain gang to come to a halt. A light flared ahead of Kafor, but it looked very dim through her dark reflectors. “What was that?” said Niham. Based on the proximity of her voice, she was directly in front of Kafor. “I thought I heard-” “Quiet, Toa,” said Asroth with more than a hint of nervousness. “It's nothing. Just the wind blowing a window shut.” For as long as Kafor could recall, she'd always had a sarcastic tongue. She had not chosen to be this way. It was just that whenever someone said something stupid or obviously false, her first reaction was always to belittle it in some way. Even if she knew it would get her in trouble, she'd still spit it out like a poison she desperately needed to get out of her system right away. That was why she said, “Did you have a bad experience with windows when you were younger, Asroth? Because you sound awfully nervous about it.” She fully expected to get a beating for that and indeed she heard someone stomping over to her. But then Jeran's voice behind her said, “We have company.” “Company?” said Wavica from the head of the chain-gang. “What-” A hot, sizzling burst of energy (that was what Kafor assumed it was, even though she could not see it) flew past Kafor's head and struck something. This was followed by Wavica cursing in pain and Asroth saying, “Who's there?” That was when all Karzahni broke loose. Kafor was knocked to the ground with her fellow prisoners as energy blasts flew through the air, as metal clanged against metal, and as people shouted and screamed. It sounded like a fight had broken out, but it was impossible to tell who was fighting who. Not that she cared. Right now she was more concerned with not getting hit by a stray energy blast than with finding out the identities of their assailants. The fight ended as quickly as it began, however, when someone (probably Jeran, by the sound of his voice) shouted, “Retreat!” which was followed by the sounds of feet running up the corridor. A moment later, several other sets of feet followed the first sets, with shouts and cries from the second sets demanding that the first get back here right away so they could apprehend them. Kafor had little time to rest, however, because the next moment sharp, claw-like fingers dug into her arms and hauled her to her feet. At the same time, she felt the energy chains around her wrists dissipate, prompting her to immediately remove her reflectors and toss them to the ground. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the sudden bright light that had enveloped them all. And when they did, she got to see the results of the battle for herself. Though she could not say how it had looked before, Kafor figured the holes and cracks that scarred the floor and ceiling were not part of the hallway's original decor. A nearby tapestry had been burned its half, its lower half lying on the floor underneath, with smoke weakly rising from both halves like steam from a freshly-cooked loaf of bread. A discarded knife stood a few feet away from her, handle up, the blade lodged into the floor, though how that happened, she couldn't say. When Kafor looked around her, she realized that she and her fellow ex-prisoners were not alone. Six beings – none of whom Kafor had ever seen before – stood around them, each belonging to a different species. The two that stood out to her, however, were the black-armored Toa wielding a long sword and the large, yellow-armored being that stood next to her, knife-like fingers wrapped around the lightstone that illuminated the area. The Toa of Lightning (who Kafor figured had to be Akuna, although she could not be certain because she had spent the last week blind) ran over to and hugged the black-armored Toa, saying, “Oggak, thank the Great Beings you're here. I thought we were all dead. How did you even know where to find us?” “And who are these other people?” the Toa of Iron, probably Chimoy based on his voice, said. “I'm glad to see you, Oggak, but I've never seen any of these people before.” The black-armored Toa named Oggak gently pushed Akuna off her and said to the former prisoners, “It's a long story, one we don't have time for right now. Just know that you guys are no longer under the Echoes' power and never will be again.” While the Toa thanked their rescuers, Kafor stood a little to the side, scratching the back of her head. She knew she should thank them, but her mind was already devising a way to slip away unnoticed. It was more out of habit than anything, as she actually didn't distrust their rescuers, even though, like Chimoy, she had no idea who any of them were. Before Kafor could depart, however, the yellow-armored being holding the lightstone noticed her and said, “Hey, who is that?” “I can talk, you know,” Kafor said. “But for your information, my name is Kafor. I, too, was kidnapped by the Echoes, which is the second time I've been kidnapped in a week.” “Strange,” the yellow-armored being said. “We knew the Echoes had kidnapped five Toa, but a Skakdi, too? Why-” “It doesn't matter why,” Kafor said, cutting her off. “The real question is, who are you people and where the Karzahni did you come from? We had no idea you were coming.” “We'll tell you later,” said Oggak. “The important thing is, you six are now officially rescued. The mission, therefore, is accomplished.” Kafor looked around the hallway and said, “Where did the Echoes go?” “They ran off because they were outnumbered,” said the yellow-armored being. “We sent a few agents after them. Our mission isn't only about rescuing you guys. We're also going to arrest the Echoes and bring them to justice.” “Exactly,” said Oggak. “That's why we shouldn't be celebrating too soon. Masqouth and the Echoes are still at large. Half of us will escort the six of you out of Wyoko, while the rest of us will go join our comrades who went after the Echoes.” This was all too good to be true to Kafor. Not only had she been rescued, but she was also going to leave Wyoko forever. It was like Mata Nui had heard her wishes and decided to grant them to her as an early Naming Day present. And yet, something tugged at Kafor's conscience. She remembered her earlier woes, about not having anyone waiting for her, about having nowhere to go, and that made her depressed. And angry. What else was she supposed to do if she was not going to leave? Set up home in Wyoko, which was a rather depressing place? While these thoughts swirled in Kafor's mind, Niham stepped up to Oggak and said, “What about Ruby? Did Masqouth get her? Is she safe?” “Rubella is fine,” said Oggak, patting Niham on the shoulder gently. “In fact, she's more than fine. She's here in Wyoko, too, trying to rescue you like we were.” Niham looked around the hall excitedly, as though thinking Ruby (whoever that was) would pop out from some hiding place, but Oggak shook her head and said, “She's not with us. She was with someone else. They were supposed to act as a distraction while we got you guys out of here, but I guess we got here first.” “Then where is she?” Niham said. “Do you think she ran into some kind of trouble? You don't think-” “Ruby's probably fine, Niham,” said Akuna. “She's tough. She can handle whatever Wyoko throws at her, I'm sure.” Niham didn't look exactly comforted by those words, but she nodded anyway and said, “Yeah, you're probably right.” “All right, then,” said Oggak, putting her hands on her hips. “Reyou, Iknor, Eronus, you three escort the Toa and Kafor out of Wyoko. The rest of us are going after the Echoes. We aren't going to let them escape this time.” “Hold it,” said Kafor, holding up a hand. “May I come with you, Toa Oggak?” Oggak looked at Kafor in surprise, as did everyone else. “Why? Don't you want to be free?” “Freedom is great and all, but I'd like to teach those darn Echoes a lesson for treating me like garbage,” said Kafor. “How did that one line by Zarsk go? 'I desire freedom in order to get my revenge'? Something like that, I'm sure.” “You're not a Will agent,” the yellow-armored being said, folding her arms across her chest. “The plan was to get you guys out of Wyoko, not let you fight with us. The boss will be angry if we get you guys in trouble.” “Hello, you guys didn't even know I existed until ten minutes ago,” Kafor said. “Are you going to beat me up if I refuse to leave? I doubt it.” “She has a point,” Oggak said. “We really don't have time to debate this, anyway. Can you fight, Kafor?” “Of course I can,” said Kafor. “It's not my area of expertise, but I know a couple of tricks that those Echoes won't see coming.” “All right, then,” said Oggak. “Does anyone else wish to come with us?” The other ex-prisoners shook their heads. Privately, Kafor found it hilarious how these so-called 'heroic' Toa were running away from the Echoes, rather than staying to fight them. “Okay,” said Oggak. “Now let's split up and get going. We can't let the Echoes escape, not this time, not when they're practically within our grasp.” Review Topic
  13. TNTOS

    Life goes on

    He was 81-years-old. And thanks for the condolences. -TNTOS-
  14. Welcome to the nineth installment of my new series of Bionicle flash fics, The Biological Chronicle. If you want to read the other stories in this series, you can find links to them in my signature at the end of this post. If you don't know what this is, allow me to quote from the first fic's introduction: With that out of the way, enjoy: 2009 Surel limped across the snowy, uneven ground of the White Quartz Mountains, his pack of Iron Wolves not far behind him. He thought about the three Agori he had met yesterday, about them and their journey to the Valley of the Maze. They had seemed like tough villagers, much tougher than he remembered Agori being during the Core War. He supposed that was the result of living in the Bara Magnan desert for thousands of years. A cold wind blew in just then; not an unusual occurrence in the White Quartz Mountains by any means, but this one was different. It not only made him shiver, but caused his Iron Wolves to shiver as well, and he sensed that the cold wind was not merely an act of nature. Someone was causing it. Drawing his cape more tightly around his body, Surel looked up in time to see the Element Lord of Ice standing before him. Behind him, his Iron Wolves growled, a gesture Surel appreciated, even though he knew they could not harm the Element Lord of Ice. The Element Lord of Ice smiled. “Surel. That is your name, isn't it?” Surel put one hand on the hilt of his dagger, hidden underneath his cape. “Yes, it is. I don't need to ask your name, seeing as I already know it and hate it.” The Element Lord of Ice chuckled. “No doubt you do.” “What do you want?” said Surel. “Are you going to kill me for abandoning the Ice Army during the Core War? Perhaps I'll be the first of your new collection of organic ice sculptures.” “No,” said the Element Lord of Ice, shaking his head. “Instead, I am offering you a job. Submit to my leadership once again and I will grant you your own kingdom to rule, once I defeat my fellow Lords and gain the power hidden within the Maze. You can even keep your Iron Wolves, if you wish.” “Why do you need my help?” said Surel. “There is little I can do against an Element Lord in combat. Throw in my limp and I am certain that I would be more of a liability than help.” The Element Lord of Ice shook his head. “You misunderstand. I do not want you to fight my fellow Lords. I want you to go into the Bara Magnan desert and gather up an army in my name. You will be the general of this army, second only to me in terms of authority, and I will grant you half of this army to defend your personal kingdom. How does that sound?” Surel glanced over his shoulder at his Iron Wolves, then looked back at his former ruler and said, in his sharpest voice, “No.” The temperature dropped even lower as the Element Lord of Ice frowned. “No?” “No,” said Surel. “I know what you Element Lords are really like. I would rather spend the rest of my days at the bottom of a cramped, cold pit than in a palace built on the bodies of your enemies.” For a moment, Surel was certain that the Element Lord of Ice would freeze him where he stood. During the Core War, the Element Lord of Ice had frozen many disobedient or traitorous soldiers, adding their bodies to his collection of frozen statues in his castle. It was a gruesome fate, one Surel didn't intend to be his, even though there was nothing he could do to stop his former ruler if the Element Lord of Ice decided to do that. Then the Element Lord of Ice turned around. “Very well. I have better things to do anyway than bargain with a useless cripple. Just be warned, though, that when I rise again, you will be the first to perish.” With that, the Element Lord of Ice dissolved into snow that was carried by a sudden gust of cold wind. Surel watched the snow go and then continued walking, now absolutely certain that those three Agori from before were going to die on this quest of theirs. He should have stopped them when he had the chance. - Comments, criticism, questions, etc. are all welcome . -TNTOS-
  15. TNTOS

    Life goes on

    Earlier today, my grandfather died in a hospital a few states away. This wasn't unexpected, mind you. See, when I was on vacation at the beginning of this month, it was an out-of-state family reunion thrown by my grandparents to celebrate their 60th anniversary. My grandfather caught pneumonia early on, however, and had to be taken to the nearest hospital. He was there throughout the whole weeklong reunion and remained there even after everyone went home. My grandmother stayed to take care of him, with some of my other family members going there to be with her and support her during that time. He had other health problems far worse than pneumonia, however, which is partly why we didn't expect him to survive. So when one of my aunts called earlier and told us he passed away . . . well, like I said, it wasn't unexpected. But it does hurt. Not sure when the funeral is going to be. My grandfather is getting a military funeral because he was in the Air Force, but again don't know when that funeral will be, exactly. All I know is that life, as usual, goes on and will go on even after the funeral is done. My grandfather was one of the toughest and kindest people I knew. Always quick with a smile and a joke. He was always supportive of me and my brothers and was a great person all around. I'll miss him terribly. -TNTOS-
  16. It's that time of week again, when the demons arise from the bowels of the earth and the sky rains blood on all. . . . wait, you mean that's Tuesday? Oh, never mind. I guess that means that today is Monday. Here's an excerpt from the latest chapter: Read the rest of Chapter XII here. -TNTOS-
  17. TNTOS

    In the End

    Chapter XII Ten years ago. . . . After his first match with Heavyweight, Night Vision spent most of his time training. He trained with a wide variety of beings, mostly other elementalists, such as the Roffican codenamed Aqua, who could control water, and the bone hunter codenamed Mute, who despite her name was far too chatty for Night's tastes, although that didn't stop her from wiping the floor with him in their first training session a week after he came to the Bunker. As the days turned into weeks, a schedule soon became apparent to Night Vision. Every day early in the morning, an alarm that sounded like glass being broken against metal rang throughout the entire Bunker, awaking him and his fellow elementalists. They were then summoned to the cafeteria, where they would eat a breakfast composed of food carefully chosen by Ignika Industries scientists for its nutritional value, as well as the effects it had on elementalists. This meant that all elementalists received the same meal every day: Toast, with some jelly and butter to give it flavor (although not too much), a bowl of Thornax stew (which only Night Vision seemed to appreciate), cooked sand bat, and a tall glass of water or sometimes arang juice. There was rarely any variation in the meal and eventually Night Vision joined the other elementalists in calling it 'sand food,' a term that was usually only applied to tasteless food but which could also describe food you ate day in and day out that lacked variety. After breakfast, the elementalists would be split up. Some would go into training, others would undergo experiments by II scientists designed to test their abilities in non-combat-related situations, and still others . . . well, Night Vision was unsure what happened to the last group. He knew for certain, at least, that they weren't given free rein of the Bunker. None of the elementalists were allowed to wander the Bunker as they pleased, apparently for security reasons, as one scientist told Night Vision. At lunch, they would once again have the same meal from breakfast, although they sometimes changed it up a bit by allowing the elementalists to have cake and the like. Still, the puritanical way they were given their food made Night Vision wistfully recall the homemade meals Grandfather had always prepared for him back home. Speaking of Grandfather, Night Vision had been unable to write to him because of the strict schedule. He had not been given any ink or paper. The elementalists apparently were not allowed to do any writing at all, if Heavyweight was telling him the truth. She explained that the II scientists were uncertain how paper and ink might react to the elementalists' new powers, which sounded like to Night Vision but he didn't say that aloud. After lunch, they would do another round of testing and training and then have dinner. After dinner, all of the elementalists were required to return to their rooms and sleep for the night, after which they would get up the next day at the same time as the last and begin the cycle all over again. There was so little variation that Night figured he could have set his watch, if he had one, to the schedule. This schedule quickly became impractical for him. Night Vision had never been a night owl before, but suddenly he found himself staying up all night when the elementalists were supposed to be sleeping. He would only crawl into bed just as the alarm went off announcing the new day. He tried to catch naps during mealtimes, but mealtimes were so short and noisy that he could only catch maybe a few minutes of sleep a day, if even that. As a result, during the first few weeks of his time in the Bunker, Night was even more irritable and grouchy than usual. He lashed out at the tiniest mistakes or annoyances and more than once found himself on the receiving end of a beat down from one of the other elementalists during mealtimes due to a sarcastic or rude comment he made. It became so bad that the II scientists had to ask him what was wrong and when he explained that he was not getting enough sleep, they took him out of his normal room and placed him in a special lab where they monitored his sleeping patterns for a week. At the end of that week, the scientists reported to him that they believed his newly-found darkness powers were disrupting his usual sleep patterns. They explained that his body wanted to sleep during the day and become active at night when it was darkest. That meant in order for Night Vision to act with his full strength, he would need to be on a different schedule from the others. Not that Night Vision minded that. He could barely tolerate his fellow elementalists, who ranged from the drama queen Gadarian codenamed Bright to the perpetually chatty Mute. The only two he really got along with were Taniru – whose codename, she told him, was 'Blaze' – and, much to his own surprise, Heavyweight. Befriending Heavyweight was something he had not seen coming. After their first training session, during which she had defeated him and treated his culture with disrespect (although as he soon found out, most of the people in the Bunker thought even less of the Skrall than she did), the two spent nearly all of their mealtimes together, talking about their pasts, sharing stories, and discovering each other's interests. Blaze had joined them and soon the three became friends . . . or as close as a Matoran, Vortixx, and Skrall could ever hope to be, anyway. Heavyweight revealed to Night Vision that prior to volunteering for Project Elementalist, she lived in a small Vortixx mining town in New Xia. She apparently tried to take over the mining company she worked for, failed, was fired, and subsequently lost all of her property. She signed up for Project Elementalist because it afforded her a chance to make some money, not starve to death (her words, not Night Vision's), and have a place to sleep. She also told him that her real name was Hamate. As for Blaze, she had originally been a student at the New Atero Academy for Future Toa, where she had been in training to become a Toa. Apparently, her love of science had earned her quite a bit of bullying from her classmates, which got so bad that she actually dropped out and applied for Project Elementalist because she desperately needed the money and shelter, now that she no longer had a place to stay in the city. And much to Night Vision's surprise, he found himself genuinely enjoying these mealtimes with Heavyweight and Blaze. Sure, sometimes he and Heavyweight would get into big arguments and he got frustrated with Blaze's sometimes astonishing ignorance of Skrall customs (for example, she apparently believed that Skrall glorified murder until Night Vision corrected her), but he looked forward to those mealtimes nonetheless, even when he was tired. They made the Bunker seem a little less confining. So when the scientists told him that his new schedule would make it impossible for him to eat with his fellow elementalists, he asked if it was possible for him to at least eat with Heavyweight and Blaze, if nothing else. The scientists were confused by the response, not to mention a little indignant that he would dare question their neat little schedule they had set up for him, but nonetheless they complied. Thus, Night Vision's schedule changed. He now did all of his training and testing at night, while the others slept, but he was awoken at breakfast, lunch, and dinner so he could dine with his fellow elementalists. It was an awkward schedule, to say the least, but as Night Vision was allowed to spend time with his friends, he didn't mind it. What he did mind, however, was the strange testing exercises he was forced to undergo most days. Such as the time he was dumped into a lightless, muddy pit whose walls were too steep and slimy to climb out of. He was given the task of collecting the various bits and pieces of a ladder that were in the mud and then put them together himself and use the ladder to escape the pit. The lack of light wasn't a problem thanks to his night vision, but digging through the mud for every last piece was. He spent the rest of the day in a bad mood after that. Nonetheless, Night Vision was assured that half of his earnings were indeed going back to his grandfather in Nenas, as he had arranged when they first hired him. That was the main reason he was here, after all. All Project Elementalist volunteers were paid a little money in exchange for their services. So long as Night Vision got his pay, he was willing to put up with some of the crazier crud he had to deal with day in and day out. The only non-elementalists who lived in the bunker were the II scientists and guards. In particular, the head scientist, a Ba-Matoran named Sorox, seemed to take a special interest in Night Vision. Sorox was present at almost all of his training and testing sessions, taking notes and sometimes even coming down to talk to the Skrall. Night Vision learned from another scientist that Sorox was something of a workaholic and that he treated every elementalist this way. At first, Night Vision was self-conscious about being watched by other people so intently. The scientists rarely interacted with the elementalists during their training and testing sessions, but it was easy to feel their eyes following the elementalists' every movement. Night Vision was not normally self-conscious, but for some reason it took him a month to get used to the idea of being watched so intently by a bunch of people whose names he didn't even know. Soon, though, Night Vision grew used to his schedule. He slept during the day, except during mealtimes, and trained at night. Most days he would return to his room exhausted and doing his best to forget that he now had control over his elemental powers equivalent to that of a Toa. For most of his life, Night Vision had always looked upon elemental powers as a strange thing, a curiosity, one that should be treated with fear and caution. His father had been frozen to death by a Toa of Ice during a riot started by Skrall Imperialists when Night Vision was a child. In addition, Grandfather suffered from an old burn he had sustained during the war from a Toa of Fire. It never occurred to Night Vision – not even in his wildest dreams – that he would ever get control over elemental powers someday himself. Indeed, if Night Vision had not been forced to train every day, he probably would never use his powers at all. Watching shadow bolts fire from his hands awoke a primal fear in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't explain. Whereas Heavyweight, for example, often used her gravity powers even outside of training for basic needs, Night Vision didn't use his powers at all and tried to forget about them. It just seemed unnatural to him that a Skrall could use elemental powers, a thought he confessed to Heavyweight and Blaze one day a month after he had joined Project Elementalist, while they were eating lunch in the cafeteria. “Most of us were unused to it,” Blaze said in agreement, nodding as she ate her toast. “At first. But now, well, it comes second nature to me.” “That's because you're a Matoran,” Night Vision said, pointing his spoon at her. “You might become a Toa someday. It's no wonder you find elemental powers natural.” “I don't see any reason to get upset over them,” said Heavyweight, sipping her water. “I've always been annoyed by Toa and other beings who use elemental powers. They've always acted like they're better than us. When the elementalist serum is finished, this will surely equalize our society, wouldn't you say?” “Maybe,” said Night Vision. He glanced down the table at the other elementalists. None of them seemed disturbed by their powers. Day in particular was something of a show-off. Out of all the elementalists, she seemed to take to her light powers like a fish to water. Right now, she was using her light powers to make herself invisible and visible again, much to the amusement of the other elementalists, who were watching her with glee. (Day had apparently been a famous actress before signing up for Project Elementalist, which certainly explained her attention-seeking behavior.) “It's probably just the serum,” said Heavyweight. “Everyone has to deal with these bizarre mood swings. For example, at night I became extremely happy-go-lucky. No idea why. It just happens.” “I fall into a deep depression at night,” said Blaze. “So deep that I usually can't get out of bed in the morning unless someone drags me out. After that, I'm usually good for the rest of the day.” “I haven't noticed any extreme mood swings in myself,” Night Vision said, scratching his head. “Maybe I'm different or something.” “Maybe,” said Heavyweight. “Or maybe you just haven't had enough time to develop some. If you start acting like Day over there, I'll blame it on the serum.” That conversation stayed with Night Vision afterward. Yet he didn't realize just how relevant it was to him until two months later, during a training session with Aqua. Outside of Heavyweight and Blaze, Aqua was the only other elementalist Night Vision respected. Respected, but not liked. The Roffican was a retired soldier of the New Atero Army who had signed up for Project Elementalist because he saw it as a way to help his society now that his service was done. Thus, Aqua and Night Vision understood one another on a level different from that of the other elementalists. Whatever differences there might be between races, Night Vision discovered that those who had been trained in the art of war were much more alike than they were different. This particular session had been rather brutal. Whereas Aqua had more experience, both in combat and in using his water elemental powers, Night Vision's youth gave him more stamina, energy, and speed than the old Roffican. And despite his instinctive reservations, Night Vision was becoming more comfortable with his powers. The two faced each other, sweating and panting. Aqua held two large spheres of water in his hands, while Night Vision's arms were cloaked in shadow energy. This fight may have been a training session, but that hadn't stopped either of them from going all out and doing their best to take down the other. “You're quick and young, Skrall,” said Aqua. “Yet speed and youth can only take you so far.” Night Vision felt the sweat trickle down the side of his face as he smirked. “You're right, elder. It just needs to take me far enough to beat you.” Aqua laughed a great, booming laugh. “You are absolutely correct, Skrall. A tool that can only be used once is useful if it is used wisely.” That was another thing Night Vision respected Aqua for. Out of all of the people in the Bunker – scientists and elementalists alike – Aqua was the only one who did not call him by his codename. Whether he did it because he respected Night Vision's culture or for some other reason, the Skrall appreciated it and wished the others would follow Aqua's example. Before the next blows could be traded, the alarm blared suddenly. It startled both of them, causing their manifested powers to dissipate into thin air. Night Vision and Aqua looked up at the box where the scientists had been observing the fight and taking notes. All of them were gone. “What's going on?” Night Vision said, looking back at Aqua. He had to speak loudly to be heard over the alarm. “Where did they-” A voice blared from the speaker in the top right corner of the room, booming, “Alert, alert! All elementalists must return to their rooms immediately! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!” Night Vision and Aqua exchanged a puzzled look. Why did all of the elementalists have to return to their rooms? What was the problem? The two tried to leave the arena, but for some reason the door was locked. They took turns trying to bash it down with their elemental powers, but it stood strong. So they retreated to the other end of the arena, deciding that they would simply wait in here until the problem was solved. After all, whatever the problem was, it clearly wasn't happening in the training arena. Indeed, Night Vision speculated that the arena might be safer than other places, as its walls and door were made out of protosteel, which was the strongest metal on the planet. Just as Night Vision was beginning to relax, Aqua pointed at the door and said, “Skrall, look!” Night peered at the door, but at first saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then he noticed that the door was sweating. No, it wasn't sweating. It was melting. The metal was beginning to pool at the door's feet, dripping off its surface in huge drops. Night Vision had no idea what the heck was going on, but if there was something on the other side of that door trying to get in, he wasn't going to be taken unprepared. Shadow began arcing up and down his arms like lightning. Next to him, Aqua had summoned two spheres of water again, except these two were much larger than the last ones. The two exchanged one last glance as the door finally melted into a puddle of liquid metal. And then the scariest thing Night Vision saw in his entire life stepped through the door. It was a walking fire. At least, that was the only way Night Vision could describe it. A hissing, burning noise arose from the puddle of liquid metal at its feet, but the walking fire did not appear to take notice. It strode slowly into the room and as it did so, the temperature skyrocketed in a minute. Night Vision let out a gasp for air. So did Aqua, who looked close to fainting from the sheer heat. The newcomer stopped and looked around, as if confused. Night Vision realized it was not a walking fire at all. Rather, it was a humanoid being who was on fire. Why the being wasn't screaming for dear life, Night Vision didn't know, but he occasionally caught sight of a Gadarian's face through the flames that shrouded its body. “Who is that?” said Night Vision. “Have you ever seen him before, Aqua?” Aqua shook his head. “Never. But whoever he is, he's clearly a threat. A little water ought to cool him off.” The Roffican hurled both water spheres at the newcomer. The walking fire did not attempt to dodge them. When the spheres collided with the newcomer's flaming body, they exploded into steam that briefly obscured the flaming Gadarian from view. The next moment, however, a stream of flames flew out of the steam and probably would have totally roasted Aqua had not Night Vision tackled him to the ground in time. As it was, the stream of fire struck the wall behind them, scorching a deep hole in the rock face. Night Vision and Aqua scrambled back to their feet as the fiery Gadarian waved both arms and dissipated the steam. Though it was impossible to tell what the Gadarian was thinking, Night Vision nonetheless believed their enemy was probably quite unhappy with Aqua's attempt to put out his flames. This was confirmed when the Gadarian raised both arms and unleashed two streams of flames at the elementalists. This moved forced Night Vision and Aqua to scatter. Night Vision hurled twin bolts of shadow at the Gadarian, which hit him directly in the face, but that did nothing except cause the flaming Gadarian to turn toward him and raise its arms yet again. Before he could fire his flames, however, a huge burst of water struck him in the back. This created yet another steam cloud, this one much larger than the last, not only obscuring the Gadarian from view, but also making the entire room difficult to see. Consequently, the room became nearly impossible to breathe in because of the combination of heat and steam, which made Night Vision feel like he stood in the center of a boiling cauldron. Then he heard someone running nearby and out of the steam came Aqua, who grabbed Night Vision's arm and started dragging him away. “Hey!” Night Vision protested. “Where are you taking me? The fire-” “We can't beat him,” said Aqua in a strained voice. “He's too powerful. We should retreat and alert the rest of the Bunker of his-” Aqua never got a chance to finish his sentence because at that moment a stream of fire broke through the steam. He only noticed it just enough to twist his body out of the way, but it was too late. The fire stream struck his left shoulder, knocking him flat off his feet as he let go of Night Vision, who jumped back in shock. “Aqua,” said Night Vision in horror. “Are you-” He heard a blast of fire, like the sound of cannon fire, and ducked and rolled away as yet another stream of flames flew out of the steam. He stopped, kneeling on one knee, and watched as the flaming Gadarian stepped out of the steam cloud. Again, it was impossible to read his face, but Night Vision realized that the Gadarian wanted him dead, for reasons the Skrall was not entirely certain of but which he realized were unimportant in the face of almost guaranteed death by fire. Once again, the Gadarian raised his arms and unleashed another trail of fire. Night created a shield of shadow, but when the flames hit, it was with such force that he felt like he was trying to hold back the tide. And in the end, he failed. His shadow shield shattered and the flames got through, but not before Night Vision rolled out of the way. He rolled to a stop and stood up, panting. In addition to the fire, smoke now arose from the Gadarian's body. Combined with the steam, Night Vision knew he only had a few minutes before the toxic air killed him. That meant he had to end this quickly, but his mind offered no immediate solution to his problem, which meant he was as good as dead. So he decided to be desperate. He raised his hands and concentrated hard, harder than he ever had before, on summoning a deep ball of shadow around the fiery Gadarian. He had no idea if it would work. He was hoping to cut off the Gadarian's oxygen, thus rendering his flames inert, but he had never tried something like this before, so he had no idea if it would actually work. Yet it was the only thing he could think of doing, because otherwise he'd never live to see Grandfather ever again. Thankfully, the Gadarian seemed confused by Night Vision's newfound courage because he just stood there for a moment watching the Skrall. Then he raised his arms, but it was too late for him. A huge ball of shadow immediately appeared around the Gadarian and, with it, the temperature dropped to a more reasonable degree. Night Vision let out a gasp, allowing the rapidly cooling air to enter his lungs, but he didn't let up. He kept the ball, kept deepening its shadow, forcing it to hold the flames inside it, to kill them, even. Yet the strain of sustaining the ball was too much for Night Vision and he soon fell to his hands and knees, panting, sweating, and coughing loudly. He looked up just in time to see his shadow ball disappear, but the Gadarian was no longer on fire. He stood there, wearing completely charred black armor, with unblinking eyes, before falling flat on his face. He did not rise again, nor even so much as twitch. Night Vision weakly looked over at Aqua. The Roffican was lying in a ball on the floor, his right hand gripping his left shoulder, muttering curses under his breath that the Skrall failed to catch. Nonetheless, he looked all right, despite his badly burned shoulder. As for Night Vision, he felt so weak that he could barely keep his eyes open. A few seconds later, however, a group of scientists and guards entered the room. Most of them gathered around the formerly flaming Gadarian, but some came over to Aqua and Night Vision and started asking them all kinds of questions. To Night Vision's mind, their questions sounded like little more than strange noises that held no meaning and his answers (which ranged from a meaningless grunt to something that sounded like “ugh”) sounded the same. When the scientists saw that Aqua was badly burned, however, they focused almost all of their attention on him and his shoulder. This allowed Night Vision to see the guards carry off the charred Gadarian. He caught only a brief glimpse of the Gadarian's face as his body was hauled out of the room, but that one glimpse was certain to stay with him for the rest of his life: The Gadarian's mouth was stitched closed. And he did not have any eyelids. - Present day. . . . The squid's saliva dripped onto his face and into his eyes, yet that didn't stop Night from struggling to break free with all of his might. Unfortunately, it rapidly became clear that pure physical strength alone was not enough to escape. The squid's tentacles were slimy, yet strong. It was like he being held down by extremely thick ropes. Its beak was coming closer and closer. He could feel its putrid breath flowing over him. It smelled horrible, like blood and guts, and still he failed to break free. He tried to summon a shadow ball in his hand, but the squid squeezed extra hard on his limbs, breaking his concentration and causing what little shadow he had managed to summon to dissipate into thin air. His mind ran over the various ways he had escaped from death traps during his Dark Hunter years, but unfortunately all of the methods had always involved him working with Heavyweight. Remembering Heavyweight caused him to remember her death, which released an influx of grief into his body that he had not even realized he had been repressing, which in turn paralyzed him completely. Guess this is it, then, Night thought as he looked up at the squid's beak, which was a mere inches away from his face now. This is how I die. At least I will join Heavyweight in the afterlife. Then again, do Skrall and Vortixx go to the same place when they die? And then a burst of sound – so loud it actually hurt Night's ears – blared suddenly, like the Bunker's alarm system. It was so loud that the squid screeched in pain and actually let him go. The Skrall fell to the floor hard, landing on his feet and then falling to his knees because his legs were too weak to support him. The sound grew louder and louder, however, and the squid still screeched and flailed its tentacles, forcing Night to roll out of the way to avoid being hit. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see a figure in white robes walking down the hall, hands up and palms outward. With a shock, he realized that the figure was Masqouth. There was no mistaking those robes or that childish grin, but for the life of him Night could not figure out what that moron was doing here or how he'd even known Night was here. The squid didn't seem to share Night's surprise. When it noticed the source of the sound, its tentacles flew out toward Masqouth and wrapped around his arms. The noise stopped abruptly, but Masqouth didn't look alarmed. His mask shape-shifted into the traditional shape of the Mask of Life and it glowed briefly. The next moment, the squid's tentacles dried up. Not only that, but the dryness traveled up the squid's tentacles to the squid itself. The Rahi had just enough time to let out one final screech of terror before its whole body became as dry as dust. Masqouth pulled back and the giant squid fell from the ceiling, exploding into dust when it collided with the floor. Night stood up, wiping the slime off his face, but said nothing. Instead, he dashed at Masqouth. He didn't know what Masqouth was doing here, but it was irrelevant. He was going to kill that moron, just as he said he would. He knew that the Almighty Ones wouldn't like that, but right now the Almighty Ones weren't here and besides what did he care for what they thought? He raised his sword and slashed at Masqouth with it. Masqouth slid out of the way, however, like he was skating, and his mask shape-shifted yet again, this time turning into the Mask of Repulsion. Night knew what was coming this time and so jumped out of the way to avoid being blasted back. To his surprise, however, Masqouth used the mask to fly into the air over the Skrall's head. Masqouth landed on the ground behind Night and lashed out with a punch. The blow sent Night staggering. It was much stronger than he had anticipated, but no matter. He recovered quickly and activated his wrist shield, which spiraled out just in time to block a kick from Masqouth. That blow, too, was strong, sending Night skittering backwards across the floor and creating a dent in the shield. Looking at his opponent, Night realized that Masqouth was wearing the Mask of Strength. That certainly explained why Masqouth's blows had been stronger than usual. All that meant was that Night would need to keep his distance for now. That was easy. Night raised his sword and fired a couple of shadow bolts from it. Masqouth's mask shape-shifted yet again, however, this time into the Mask of Shielding. Night's shadow bolts struck the shield with impressive force, but they did little to crack it. As soon as the shadow bolts disappeared, the shield dropped because Masqouth's mask had shape-shifted once again, this time into the Mask of Speed. Before Night could move, Masqouth ran at him with super speed and pinned him to the wall. Night didn't drop his weapons. He lashed out with a kick, striking Masqouth in the abdomen and forcing the Echo to let go of him. Night followed this up with a blow from his sword, slicing across Masqouth's chest. Masqouth's mask immediately change once more, but before Night could get a good look at it, his enemy vanished. Surprised, Night looked around, wondering where Masqouth had gone, before he felt two strong hands grab him from behind and lift him up in the air. It took him a second to realize that Masqouth had somehow grabbed him and he last out with his arms and legs, but that did nothing to stop Masqouth from hurling him through the air. Night crashed on the floor painfully, but he rolled with the momentum and was back on his feet instantly. He looked up in time to see Masqouth's mask shape-shift again, this time into yet another unfamiliar shape. When it glowed, however, Night found himself facing four Masqouth's instead of one. “Illusions?” Night said, holding up his sword and shield. “Is that what you're trying to scare me with now, Masqouth?” “We are not illusions,” said one of the Masqouths. He tapped his Kanohi and said, “Great Mask of Time Duplication. Let's me summon as many of my past selves as needed. I think four should be enough to take care of you, wouldn't you say?” All four of the Masqouths charged. Night swung his sword, unleashing a wave of shadow that struck all four of the Masqouths. Then they all disappeared, save for one, the original, who was staggering from the shadow wave. Night dashed forward and slashed at Masqouth again. The Echo raised his arms just in time, however, and blocked the sword. The blade clanged off his arms and he lashed out, but Night raised his shield just in time to block the blow. Like before, Masqouth wore the Mask of Strength, so when Night's shield took the blow, he not only went skittering backwards across the floor, but his shield shattered, too. “Oops,” said Masqouth. “Looks like I broke your toy. Just like how you broke my parents.” Night had no idea what Masqouth meant, but he didn't get the opportunity to ask because for the nth time, Masqouth's Kanohi transformed. For the second time, it took on the shape of the Mask of Speed. Masqouth shot forward, but Night was ready. He pulled the trigger on his sword and it burst into flames and he slashed at Masqouth. The Echo just barely managed to move out of the way in time to avoid it, but he went too fast and slammed into the wall hard enough to crack it. Dazed, Masqouth staggered backward, but Night didn't give him a chance to recover. The Skrall ran up to Masqouth, grabbed him by the back of his head, slammed him against the wall again for good measure, and shoved him to the ground. He pinned the still-dazed Masqouth to ground with one foot and pointed the tip of his still-flaming at Masqouth's face. “This is where it ends, Masqouth,” said Night, panting and sweating hard. “This is for Heavyweight!” He raised his sword, but before he could bring it down, Masqouth's mask transformed into a shape he did not recognize. Twin lasers fired from the Echo's eyes and struck Night's hand, sending his sword flying out of his grip. Taken by surprise, Night accidentally took the pressure off Masqouth's chest, allowing the Echo to roll out from underneath the Skrall's foot and get to his feet. Not to be taken by surprise again, Night charged shadow energy through his hands. At the same time, Masqouth's mask changed shape again and twin balls of fire appear in his palms. The two stood with their hands aimed at each other. “Looks like we're at a stalemate,” said Night through gritted teeth. “Why makes you say that?” Masqouth asked, his teeth equally clenched. “Because if we both blast each other, then I doubt either of us will be able to dodge it,” said Night. “It doesn't matter,” said Masqouth with a snarl. “You killed my parents. If I must die in order to kill you, so be it.” “What the heck are you going on about?” Night asked in annoyance. “I've never even so much as touched the Almighty Ones. Are you trying to confuse me or something? Because if so, it's working.” “Don't lie to me,” Masqouth said. “Atuje told me the whole story. He told me you and your two friends killed my parents. I saw the warehouse. You are a deceitful liar of the highest order.” Night shook his head. “And you're the biggest moron I've ever met if you believe that obviously false lie.” “You're the liar,” Masqouth said. “I always knew you weren't perfect, but this? This is beyond redemption.” “Did you see your parents' bodies?” Night asked. “Did Atuje show you their graves?” A flicker of doubt crossed Masqouth's face. “Well, no, he didn't show me the bodies, but-” “Did he offer you any proof at all that I or Jet or Kiriah killed them?” Night asked. “Did you even think to ask?” Masqouth's doubtful expression quickly turned into a scowl. “Are you saying I'm stupid?” “I'm saying you're naïve,” Night said. “Think about it. You and I are clear equals in battle. The Almighty Ones dwarf us both. Even with the help of Jet and Kiriah, do you think I could possibly even hurt the Almighty Ones? Ask yourself that.” For a moment, Night was certain Masqouth was going to ignore him. Instead, the Echo said, “Now that you mention it . . . no. I don't believe you could kill my parents. It's impossible.” “So now you know who the real liar is,” said Night. “Atuje. He lied to you. He's the king of liars.” Masqouth pursed his lips, but didn't get rid of his fire balls. “But . . . he's never lied to me before. Why would he lie to me about something as serious as this?” Night looked at Masqouth suspiciously. “So you really have no idea what Atuje is actually trying to accomplish? You have no idea how he has manipulated you from the start?” To Night's surprise, Masqouth's fire balls dissipated and he put both hands over his ears. “Stop it. Stop saying those words. You're wrong. You're lying. Atuje would never manipulate me. Never.” Night, of course, didn't let his guard down. “Then maybe it's time you learned the truth. The Almighty Ones told me and the others your story. I know your origin. Will you at least listen to that?” Masqouth seemed like he was going to say no. Then he nodded slowly as he said, “Don't expect me to believe you, though.” “All right,” said Night. “Then listen.” Night told Masqouth all about the vision the Almighty Ones had shown him. He told Masqouth about Wyoko, about how Atuje had originally tried to kill him, about how Atuje had fought the Almighty Ones over Masqouth's murderous deeds. He spared no detail. Even when Masqouth began looking more and more upset, Night did not attempt to sugarcoat this story. Masqouth needed to know the truth. The whole truth. When Night finished, Masqouth was silent for several moments. Night wished he had telepathy so he could figure out what Masqouth was thinking. As it was, Night kept his guard up, just in case Masqouth decided that he didn't believe him. Then Masqouth looked up and said, “I . . . I believe you, Night. What you say, all of it, is true. I don't want to admit it, but I can't ignore it any longer. That would be dishonest of me.” Night critically looked at Masqouth. The Echo wore an expression of solemnity and child-like sincerity. His mask resembled the Ignika again, but Masqouth didn't look like he was going to use its power. His arms hung at his sides and his shoulders sagged. Finally, Night nodded and said, “Good. I was hoping I'd get to punch you out, but I guess this works, too.” “We should leave immediately,” said Masqouth. “Go after Atuje. I am starting to think that he was the one who really killed my parents or did something else equally horrible to them. I am not going to tolerate his lies anymore, no sir.” “I understand, but not yet,” said Night, shaking his head. “Kiriah and Jetrupi are stuck in this maze. We can't leave without them.” Masqouth bit his lip. “But I want to go now. I don't want to waste any time here.” “I don't like wasting time, either, but if we're going to take on Atuje, it makes sense to get as many allies as we can,” said Night. “And Kiriah and Jet are both allies. Besides, they cannot leave on their own because Atuje took our dimension-hopping powers away from us when he banished us here.” “Oh,” said Masqouth, snapping his fingers. “That's why you are wandering around in this maze. I was confused about that.” Night folded his arms. “How did you even find me, anyway? It's not like I left a trail for you to follow.” “I followed the open paths,” Masqouth said. “There were a couple of other paths, but they were completely blocked off.” Night looked up at the ceiling and muttered, “So Mendos is herding me and the others in one direction. That can't be good.” “Who's Mendos?” Masqouth asked. “I'll explain on the way out of here,” said Night. “For now, we gotta go. The only way we'll find Kiriah and Jet is if we keep moving forward. We have no time to waste.” Review Topic
  18. True dat about the low activity. That has certainly affected all kinds of fics, not just songfics. Same here. I just thought I remembered there being so many and then realizing there are now zero songfics on BZP just came as a shock for some reason. Not sure why. That's pretty much why I never wrote or read many of them. It's one thing to say, "This song inspired me to write this story." It's quite another to say, "This song is (part of) my story." I suppose I never had enough confidence in my own abilities as a writer to naturally integrate the lyrics of a song written by someone else with my own prose (still don't, actually). That contest sounds extremely familiar, even though I don't think I entered it (I was too busy writing awful newbie comedies at the time, assuming your time frame is accurate). I must have joined around the same time that contest was going on, which might explain why I seem to remember the SS forum being full of songfics at one point. -TNTOS-
  19. Back in the old days, the Short Stories forum used to be home to many songfics, which, for those who may not know, is the name for stories based on/inspired by certain songs, with the lyrics of those songs usually inserted in between the paragraphs of the story at certain points. An example would be if I wrote a story about 2006 with the lyrics from Move Along inserted between the story paragraphs (though the song doesn't actually have to be related to Bionicle to be used, obviously). Maybe my memory is clunky, but it seemed like songfics were all the rage back then. I didn't write any (always seemed like a silly concept to me, even if the songfic in question was very serious and well-written), but I always saw some in the Short Stories forum. At any given time, there were at least a few songfics among the regular fics, and they weren't just by new writers, either, but by some very good and very experienced writers (think Lady Kopaka may have written one, but not sure). As far as I know, there has not been a single new songfic posted on BZP within the last few years. None. Not even one. Nor have there been any reposts of older ones, to my knowledge.* So what happened to them? When did they disappear? Why did they suddenly lose their popularity? Why did BZP fanfic writers just stop writing (or at least posting) them? Were they just a fad? Were they too hard for most writers to do and so they just gave up doing them at all? It's not a huge thing to worry about. Certainly I don't spend all my free time obsessing over it. Still, the subject has been on my mind recently and I just thought I would blog about it here to see if anyone knows anything or has any idea about it. At least by blogging I can get this thought out of my head, anyway. *Note I said "as far as I know" and "to my knowledge." If there have been any new songfics posted recently or any old ones reposted, feel free to say so in the comments. -TNTOS-
  20. Welcome to the eighth installment of my new series of Bionicle flash fics, The Biological Chronicle. If you want to read the other stories in this series, you can find links to them in my signature at the end of this post. If you don't know what this is, allow me to quote from the first fic's introduction: With that out of the way, enjoy: 2008 Though Gavla sat in the stands of the Metru Nui Coliseum alongside hundreds of other Matoran, she never felt more alone in her entire life. Turaga Dume, the head elder of the city, was giving some speech about how great it was that Mata Nui was awakened, how the darkness had finally been defeated, and other cliches that Gavla found extremely tiring. So tiring, in fact, that Gavla slipped out of the stands without anyone noticing, without anyone even stopping her to inquire where she was going on this momentous day. That was not surprising in the least. She had no friends, whether among the Av-Matoran or the others, so why would anyone care where she was? Gavla soon found herself just outside the Coliseum exit, trying to decide where she should go next. The cries of joy from the other Matoran were muffled out here, but she could still hear them plainly. She looked over her shoulder at the massive Coliseum, wishing the entire structure would just collapse on top of everyone inside there. Especially on Takanuva. “You're sick of it, too?” said a voice nearby, one she didn't recognize. Gavla looked around before spotting a Po-Matoran leaning against a streetlamp not far from the Coliseum's entrance. She had not seen him when she exited; in fact, unless she was mistaken, it seemed like he had just appeared out of thin air. She dismissed that as her imagination, though, because this Po-Matoran didn't look much different from the other Po-Matoran she had seen. “Who are you?” said Gavla, folding her arms and glaring at him. “And why aren't you in the Coliseum celebrating Mata Nui's awakening with everyone else?” The Po-Matoran shrugged. “I guess you must be one of those Av-Matoran. My name is Ahkmou. Let's just say that I'm not particularly popular among my fellow Metru Nuians. Hence why I'm out here alone.” Gavla eyed him carefully. “Why do they hate you? I thought all you Metru Nuians were best friends. The Three Virtues and all that.” Ahkmou chuckled. “They hate me because I used to serve Makuta Teridax himself.” Gavla shook her head in astonishment. “Wait, you, too, served the Makuta? I thought you Metru Nuians hated them.” “Not all of us,” said Ahkmou. “And besides, it was a while ago. I'm clean, but the other Matoran and even the Turaga still don't trust me much.” Gavla's shoulders sagged. “I know what you mean. Life was so much better when I was a servant of the Makuta.” She expected Ahkmou to react with horror at the statement, but to her relief, he nodded. “I agree. The power . . . oh, how powerful I felt when I was Teridax's servant. When you get a taste of that power, nothing ever seems to quite match up afterward, does it?” Gavla wasn't sure that she agreed. The only reason she had liked the Makuta, after all, was because they had accepted her. She never felt particularly powerful among them, but she nodded nonetheless, as she didn't want to cause any rifts between the two of them so soon. “Were you a—?” “Not a Shadow Matoran, no,” said Ahkmou, shaking his head. “Still, I know what it feels like. Darkness is a seductive force and I love it for that.” Gavla nodded, feeling happy that she had found someone who understood her. She was even starting to think that maybe she had finally found a friend, even though she had just met Ahkmou and did not know him very well. Then Ahkmou looked up at the sky and started. “What the—?” Frowning, Gavla followed his gaze. She was shocked to see that the stars had rearranged themselves into the shape of Makuta Icarax's Mask of Shadows. That made no sense, though. What was going on? She looked back at Ahkmou, who was now smiling in a way that reminded Gavla of the way Makuta Vamprah had sometimes smiled right when he was about to get his prey. “What's going on?” said Gavla. “Ahkmou, why are you smiling?” “Because if that mask is what I think it is,” said Ahkmou, his voice triumphant, “then I think life is about to get better for the both of us very enough. Very soon, indeed.” - Comments, criticism, questions, etc. are all welcome . -TNTOS-
  21. It's Monday again. Here's an excerpt from this week's chapter: Read the rest of Chapter XI here. -TNTOS-
  22. TNTOS

    In the End

    Chapter XI Masqouth did not know for certain where Atuje was. When he left earlier, the King of Life had not mentioned where he was going. He had simply said he was going to go see the Almighty Ones. It would certainly make Masqouth look foolish if he went dimension-hopping with no idea of where he should go. On a whim, he decided to start with the Almighty Ones' warehouse. He had many good memories of the place, of times past when he and his parents were a happy family, of playing with them and having fun. It might help him figure out where to look next, at least. When Masqouth stepped out of the dimensional portal and into the warehouse, however, he was completely unprepared for what he saw. The entire place looked like a war zone and a garbage dump combined. Hundreds shelves, boxes, and crates had been knocked over. Their contents were scattered everywhere in large piles. Many of the Almighty Ones' property had been destroyed, some of it crushed into a fine powder. He stumbled onto a pile and almost fell off head-first before catching himself. He saw no sign of anyone, not even Atuje. “Parents!” Masqouth called out, cupping his hands over my his mouth. “Hello? Almighty Ones? Is anyone there? Hello?” His calls echoed throughout the empty, silent warehouse unanswered. Masqouth tried to reassure himself that nothing bad had happened here, but when he saw a bloody sword sticking out from a nearby pile of rubble and debris, his mind immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion: His parents were dead. Stay calm, Masqouth told himself. Don't jump to conclusions. Jeran is always saying you're jumping to conclusions. First, look for evidence that they are dead. If you can't find any, then they probably aren't dead. See if there is anyone here. So Masqouth spent the next ten or fifteen minutes using his Kanohi, which had transformed into a Mask of Vision, to peer through the piles of rubble for any bodies. His search was unsuccessful until he spotted Atuje lying underneath a pile of rubble nearby. The King's body was still. Panicky, Masqouth ran over to the pile and started throwing rubble this way and that in an attempt to save Atuje. After removing the last piece of rubble, Masqouth looked at Atuje. The King did not look as terrible as he first thought. His armor, however, was dirty and dented and his face was bruised in several places. Masqouth put his hands on the King's chest, hoping to feel Atuje breathing. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt Atuje's chest rise and fall, although he was clearly still unconscious. “Atuje!” Masqouth cried out, shaking the unconscious King. “Wake up, Atuje! What happened to you? Where are my parents?” For a moment, Masqouth wondered for a moment if the King had in fact died. And then Atuje stirred and his eyes flickered open. Almost as soon as they did, Atuje's eyes lit up with alarm and he immediately punched Masqouth in the face. The blow sent Masqouth stumbling down the hill of debris until he crashed into another pile at the bottom. His head was spinning and it took him a few seconds to recover completely. By the time Masqouth did, Atuje was sitting up, a hand on his head as he looked around, as if waking from a long nap. “Sorry, Masqouth. I was under the impression that you were . . . someone else.” Masqouth stood up and brushed the dirt off his white robes. “Who did you think I was, sir? What happened here? Are my parents okay?” Atuje put a hand on his chest, as if to make sure his heart was still beating. “I wish I didn't have to be the one to tell you this, Masqouth, but your parents . . . are dead.” Time literally stopped. At least, for Masqouth, it did. His head started spinning again and he could no longer think straight. “What?” said Masqouth. “My parents . . . dead? You must be mistaken.” “Sadly, Masqouth, I am not,” said Atuje, shaking his head as he looked down at Masqouth. “I saw them die with my own eyes. I tried my very best to save them, but alas, I was unable to keep their lives from slipping into the oblivion. They are gone.” “No, no, no, no,” said Masqouth, his fists shaking in rage. “No, no, no! They are all still alive. You're making some kind of bad joke. It's not funny.” “This is no joke,” Atuje said. “I would never joke about something as serious as the deaths of some of my very good friends. I am not a child.” Masqouth could not comprehend that idea. He'd always thought his parents were there for him, waiting for him, but if what Atuje said was true. . . . “Who did it?” said Masqouth. “Who killed them? Tell me!” Atuje raised a hand as if to protect himself. “Understand that when I got here, I was too late. It was a tragic fate for a fine group of beings.” Masqouth climbed up the pile, actually grabbed Atuje by the shoulders and shouted, “Stop babbling! I want to know who killed my parents. Who killed them? Who?” Atuje growled and pushed Masqouth away. “Don't manhandle me. I am your King and I expected to be treated as such.” “I don't care,” Masqouth said, and he meant it. “I just want to know who killed my parents.” “It was Night, Jetrupi, and Toa Kiriah,” said Atuje, looking down at his lap in misery. “I got here just in time to see them slay your parents. They even disposed of the bodies, so there's no point in searching for them among the rubble.” A second was all the time it took for Masqouth to register what Atuje said. “How . . .? My parents are the strongest ever. There's no way they could have been killed by those weaklings. I mean, I beat Night once and I'm not even half as strong as the Almighty Ones, so how could he have killed my parents?” “Alas, I am not sure,” Atuje said, putting his hand on his forehead. “I imagine they must have fooled your parents somehow, got them to lower their guard long enough to finish them off. I did try to stop them, but, well, they knocked me out, as you can see, and wrecked the place before they fled.” Masqouth looked around at the destroyed warehouse again and let out a deep growl that actually made Atuje look uneasy. “Where did they go?” “To another dimension,” Atuje said as he rose to his feet. “I probably could have beat them, but they got in a lucky shot and I ended up being buried under all that debris. Lucky thing you came by and found me.” “What dimension did they go to?” Masqouth said. “Tell me so I can go there and show them what happens when they make me angry.” “Allow me to send you there, Masqouth,” said Atuje as he raised a hand. “I-” The King ceased speaking, put his hand on his chest, and staggered backwards. He staggered back so far that he accidentally fell off the pile of smashed boxes and destroyed crates and stumbled head over heels until he reached the floor. Concerned for him, Masqouth jumped down beside him and said, “My King, are you safe?” Atuje looked down at his leg – which Masqouth noticed had a shard of metal sticking out of it – and muttered, “It's all right. My spirit still isn't quite used to my body just yet.” “Let me remove that,” said Masqouth as he grabbed the shard and pulled it out of Atuje's leg. Atuje cursed loudly as the now-open wound started bleeding, but with a wave of his hand, the wound closed. Then Masqouth helped Atuje up, who now looked even weaker than before. “Thank you for your assistance, Masqouth,” said Atuje. “But you mustn't waste time here. You should go after your parents' killers. They are still at large and I have no doubt they will come after you next if you do not get them yourself.” “You're absolutely right, Atuje,” said Masqouth, nodding. “Just point me in their direction and I'll be on my way.” Atuje snapped his fingers and a portal appeared not far away. “Step through that portal and it will take you to where you need to be. There you will find Night, Jetrupi, and Kiriah.” Masqouth didn't jump through the portal immediately, however. He looked at Atuje and said, “Aren't you coming with me?” “Why should I?” said Atuje. “Because my parents were your friends too, weren't they?” said Masqouth. “Don't you also want to avenge them?” A look of alarm passed over Atuje's face for but a moment before it was replaced with his usual calm face. “Oh, I am in no shape to fight them, as you can clearly see. I would love to help, but alas, I need to take some time to rest. Perhaps later I will join you, when I feel better.” Masqouth smiled. “Okay, sir. I understand. I wish you could come, but if you really need to rest, I won't pressure. Bye.” With that, Masqouth ran through the portal, ready to avenge his parents against those who had dared take their lives from him. - Atuje watched Masqouth disappear through the portal. As soon as the portal closed with a tiny pop, Atuje sighed and sat down on one of the few still-intact boxes in the warehouse. He placed his hand on his chest and cursed whoever had designed the entire soul-splitting process. At least I fooled Masqouth, Atuje thought. The fool didn't even bother to ask about the obvious holes in my story. Bless him and his naïve little heart. It will probably get him killed. Of course Atuje's story wasn't true. It was a complete fabrication. There was no logical way Night, Kiriah, and Jetrupi could have killed the Almighty Ones. Even if they had the element of surprise on their side, the Almighty Ones still wielded almost unimaginable power and could erase those three fools from existence as easily as Atuje could crush an insect beneath his feet. In reality, after banishing Night, Jetrupi, and Kiriah to another dimension (while of course stripping them of their dimension-hopping powers simultaneously), Atuje went on to fight the Almighty Ones. He nearly succeeded in killing them. Although powerful, the Almighty Ones quickly proved themselves to be out of practice, whereas Atuje had been preparing for this fight for a long time. Their battle had utterly wrecked the warehouse and everything within it. Unfortunately, before he could strike the killing blow, his body had decided to act up. Though he appreciated the soul-splitting technique for its ability to allow the user to cheat death, the problem was that acclimating the soul to its new body was not an instantaneous process. The body would more than once attempt to eject the foreign soul out of itself, which he found out the hard way when it interrupted him during his battle with the Almighty Ones. In addition, despite his preparations, Atuje was almost as out of practice as the Almighty Ones because he was still adjusting to a physical body after spending so many years as a mere spirit tied to the land. That moment of hesitation had given the Almighty Ones the opportunity to strike him down, which they did. They thankfully had failed to kill him, but now he had no idea where they were. He suspected they might have returned to their real home (the warehouse was simply where they kept their things) or possibly went to find Night, Kiriah, and Jet, although he couldn't be certain. A new thought crossed his mind just then: What if the Almighty Ones had gone to Wyoko? Perhaps they thought they could tell Masqouth the truth. Little do they realize just how foolish that is, Atuje thought. Nonetheless, returning to Wyoko is probably the wisest option at the moment. I must check in on the other Echoes. Masqouth didn't tell me if they were running into any troubles, but he was in such a hurry to leave that even if they were, he might have forgotten to tell me about them. Time to go. Cautiously, Atuje stood up. His body seemed to be okay with his soul right now. He wished he knew for certain how long it would take for his body to accept his soul, but based on his previous research on the subject, he knew it could take as soon as a few days or as long as a month. And frankly, he was beginning to reconsider fighting the Almighty Ones if his body was not going to cooperate. I must stabilize my body, Atuje thought. This means I must put the next – and final – phase of my plan into action. Once I return to Wyoko, I'll order the Echoes to bring the prisoners to my throne room. I can no longer afford to put it off, although if I sense the Almighty Ones are in my kingdom, I will slay them, no matter what my body is like. Before Atuje left, however, he realized that the Almighty Ones' warehouse still stood, even though most of its contents were wrecked beyond repair. He raised his hands and brought them down on the floor, sending a fissure throughout the building's foundations that would cause the entire thing to crumble. He was not going to give the Almighty Ones a place to retreat to in the event that he ran into them again. Review Topic
  23. Good point. Guess I'm just feeling nostalgic for Colosseum and XD. -TNTOS-
  24. It would be cool if Nintendo would do another Pokémon game similar to Coliseum or XD for the Wii-U. Those were fun games, despite the limited number of Pokémon you could catch. Obviously, such a game would not be exactly the same as Coliseum/XD, but it would be cool if they did that sort of thing anyway. Anyone else agree? -TNTOS-
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