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Welcome to the seventh 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: 2007 Normally, Kalmah avoided getting into direct confrontations with his fellow Barraki. It was not that he was a peace-lover or that he was afraid of any of them. He simply knew the value of having allies on the ocean floor and so saw no reason to risk his good relations with the rest of them. But today, as Kalmah stood among the broken shells and half-eaten corpses of his brood of sea squid, his tentacle wrapped tightly around Mantax's throat, he care little about maintaining good relations with anyone. He saw blood and, though he did not intend to kill Mantax, he was not going to let his fellow warlord get off that easily. “Tell me, Mantax,” said Kalmah, not even bothering to hide his anger. “What made you think you could eat from my brood of squid? How did you think you would ever get away with it, knowing as you do how much I value these potential weapons?” Mantax said nothing, perhaps because Kalmah's tentacle was constricted around his throat. He did, however, slash at Kalmah's tentacle, cutting it with his pincer and making the red Barraki let go with a low curse. Unlike the other warlords, Kalmah's tentacle was a part of him and so harming it harmed him. Rubbing his neck, Mantax said, “I was hungry and I didn't feel like waiting for the next safe hour to go hunting. Besides, you never seem to have trouble breeding them again anyway, so what's he big deal?” Kalmah pointed at the egg shells floating in the water around them. “It's not nearly as easy as it looks, Mantax. It took me months to breed this many and now it will take me many more just to get the numbers back up to their original levels. Do you know how difficult it is to get these naturally aggressive creatures to even tolerate each other's presences, much less mate?” Mantax folded his arms. “And? What do I care? I got my lunch. I'm satisfied.” “Fool,” said Kalmah. “I'm planning to weaponize these squids. For all of us.” Mantax didn't look convinced. “All of us? Or just you?” “I have given Pridak my word that all of us will have a chance at using them,” said Kalmah. “That's why I am spending most of my time designing the launchers that will fire them, or here making sure that certain hungry warlords aren't devouring half the ammunition.” Mantax shrugged. “Whatever. I have better things to do than stand around listening to your abuse.” Mantax tried to swim around Kalmah, but the red Barraki blocked his way. “One last thing,” said Kalmah, his tone as low as a doom viper's hiss. “If you step foot in here again without my permission, I'll do more than just make your neck sore.” Mantax didn't back down. “I would like to see you try.” Kalmah and Mantax glared at each other for several seconds before Mantax broke the psuedo-staring contest and swam over Kalmah's head out of the cave. Kalmah, meanwhile, returned his attention to the remaining sea squid, already dreading what the next several months of breeding would require of him. It was not a happy thought. - Comments, criticism, questions, etc. are all welcome . -TNTOS-

Yes, Wanderer first appeared in Tapestry of Evil, the second book in the Shika Trilogy (she basically sums up her role in that epic when she tells Ruby and Cina about her past experiences in Wyoko). Glad you like her. I always enjoyed writing her myself. -TNTOS-

Probably Epics, just to check on my stories. -TNTOS-

Fun fact: In some Greek versions of the Book of Revelation, 616 -- today's month and day -- is the number of the beast. I have no idea what that has to do with In the End or Mondays, but I thought I'd share this with y'all anyway. Anyway, here's an excerpt from this week's chapter: Read the rest of Chapter X here. -TNTOS-

Chapter X Before they passed through the Door, Cina warned Ruby that Wyoko was probably going to be far more dangerous than Shika Nui. The Toa of Water repeatedly emphasized that Wyoko was darker, that Masqouth and his Echoes likely had set up all sorts of traps and guards to keep out anyone they didn't want, and that even if Masqouth had not set up any traps or guards, there were likely all kinds of dangerous Rahi at every turn. Ruby listened to all of this impatiently, but none of it changed her determination to go in and save Niham. She saw no reason why it should and told Cina so in no uncertain terms. That shut up the Toa, who simply shrugged and followed Ruby inside Wyoko, beyond the Door. When they actually entered, Ruby shivered. While Shika Nui had been warm and damp, Wyoko was just cold. It was like stepping into a dark freezer. She could barely see anything. Even her lightstone barely penetrated the darkness, as if the darkness was greedily swallowing the light from it. And when her eyes adjusted to the darkness as best as they could, Ruby noticed all the logs and stumps scattered around the area. It appeared that at one point a forest had surrounded the base of the Door. Evidently it had all been cut down and quite recently, too, if the fresh scent of the logs was any indication. Cina theorized that the Kra-Matoran had required lots of room to move all of their people out of Wyoko, so they probably cut down the forest to make that room. They faced no traps or enemies as they walked through the fallen forest, as Cina had feared. More than once Ruby thought she saw something following them just out of the corner of her eye, but it usually turned out either to be a harmless Rahi or a tree whose branches were swaying harmlessly in the wind. The darkness of Wyoko was a different kind of darkness from Shika Nui. Whereas Shika Nui felt lifeless, Wyoko felt like it pulsed with life. Even the earth seemed to crawl with life, like the entire land was a living being. She briefly wondered if Wyoko was a giant robot like the old universe had been, but dismissed the thought immediately because she had little evidence to support that speculation. Cina said that Castle Kra was most likely north, based on the Will's records of Wyoko, so that was the direction they headed in. It was hard to tell where they were going, however, because Wyoko lacked a sun of any kind. Cina had a compass, which served them well, but even that got a little wonky at times, forcing them to adjust their course every so often to keep on track. As they walked, Ruby remembered what they had been talking about earlier and said, “So, about my theory earlier. When I said you were part of a plan to let us escape easily.” Cina became a stiff as board, which was impressive, seeing as she walked with long, natural strides. “What of it?” “I just wanted to know if I was right,” said Ruby. “That there is more to our situation than meets the eye.” “Ruby, I didn't plan any of it,” said Cina. “We just got lucky. Or maybe it was our destiny to escape. You ever think of that?” “I'm not much of a believer in destiny,” Ruby said. “But I do believe people like to deceive other people sometimes for their own reasons. So what are your reasons for lying to me this whole time, Cina?” “I am not lying,” Cina said. “You're just getting paranoid because you've been away from Niham for so long. Everything is absolutely fine.” “Then what happened back there?” said Ruby, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. “Did 'destiny' decide to save us? No, we were followed. I bet they were some of your fellow Will agents, keeping an eye on us to make sure we got in here.” “No one followed us,” said Cina. “Even if the other agents know of our escape by now, there's nothing they can do about it. By the time they get here, we'll have rescued Niham and the others and will be long gone.” “Then what was that?” Ruby said. “If that had been a Glatorian match, I'd have said it was the producers playing favorites. No, what's happening here is something bigger.” “I can assure you that nothing 'bigger' is happening,” Cina said. “Your imagination is just running wild.” “No, I'm pretty sure it's not,” Ruby said. “I know what your plan is, but I don't know the end game. What's your goal? Why manipulate me? You guys must have something in mind. Otherwise, it's all for nothing, isn't it?” Cina didn't respond to that, prompting Ruby to continue. “I mean, if your sole goal here was to arrest Masqouth and free the prisoners, then you could have sent an elite team of your best agents out here to do that. Instead, you manipulated a Glatorian who doesn't know a thing about Wyoko into doing it for you. Why? What do you guys have to gain from all of this?” “All right,” said Cina, throwing up her hands in exasperation. “You're right. Our great, daring escape was not nearly as dangerous as I led you to believe. It was all part of a plan that the Will came up with. You have indeed been manipulated the entire time.” “Really?” said Ruby, in honest surprise. “I didn't think you'd be so frank about it, considering all the slippery-sliding you've been doing since I brought it up.” “At this point, it no longer hurts to tell,” said Cina. She gestured back with her head and said, “It's too late for you to turn tail and head home. I was told not to speak with you about this, but I see no reason to play this game any more.” “All right, then,” said Ruby as they walked around a log. “Tell me about the plan, then.” Cina scratched the back of her head and said, “The plan was simple. We would send you into Wyoko as a distraction. While Masqouth and the Echoes would spend time trying to stop you from reaching the castle, another group of agents would sneak in through the back, free the prisoners, and then lead an all-out attack on the Echoes. This would have resulted in the swift defeat of the Echoes and maybe even end the war once the news of Masqouth's defeat reached the general public.” “Why did you come with me, then?” said Ruby. “Weren't they afraid you'd spill the beans at some point?” “They needed someone to get you here,” said Cina. “We knew you could never find Wyoko on your own. We needed someone who had a plausible excuse for breaking you out, someone who also knew Wyoko's location and could get you there safely and quickly. I was chosen because I had already been involved in the Masqouth case and had known Niham. It would seem like I was trying to help a friend.” “Was I supposed to get killed?” Ruby said. “Let the Echoes have at me?” “No,” said Cina, shaking her head. “In fact, if the plan works out perfectly, then no one will die except maybe the Echoes. That's why we came up with this plan in the first place: to minimize the number of deaths that could result. We knew the Echoes were probably waiting for someone to show up on their doorstep and try to break in, but we doubted they'd be able to take on two different assaults at the same time, especially if one of those assaults was performed in secret.” Ruby shook her head. “This just gets crazier and crazier. Why didn't you just tell me I was supposed to be a distraction? Did you think I'd refuse or that I ever had a choice of refusing?” “We needed your motivation to save Niham to be as genuine as possible,” Cina said. “If you went in knowing everything was going to be all right, it might have tipped off the Echoes that something was wrong. And in order for the plan to work, the Echoes have to be completely and totally ignorant about the rescue team's very existence.” “So not only have I been afraid of being captured by your people for no reason, but you also lied to me the entire time? What the heck, Cina?” Cina opened her mouth to answer, but then a voice nearby said, “Sounds like you two have a bright future ahead of you.” The voice was totally unfamiliar, causing both Ruby and Cina to look around, jerking their lightstones this way and that to find the speaker. Yet no matter how hard they looked, they could not find the owner of the voice. Fear gripped Ruby's heart as she realized that the speaker might be one of the Echoes, but that didn't stop her from taking her usual battle stance with her shield out and her legs planted firmly on the ground. “Jumpy, aren't we?” said the voice. “And possibly very violent. I'm getting too old for this.” “Who's there?” said Cina as a water sphere materialized in her hand. “Whoever you are, come out and show yourself.” “Fine, fine,” said the voice. “I suppose I have to. I'm probably here to help you, after all, even though I have no idea who either of you are.” Just then, a white light glowed nearby. It wasn't terribly bright, but in the darkness of Wyoko, it appeared much brighter than it normally would. Ruby was forced to hold her hand over her eyes as the light grew to a crescendo and suddenly dimmed. She slowly lowered her hand and looked at the newcomer. The being had tall, thin legs, with short arms that carried a spear. She was completely white and transparent, floating several feet above the ground like a ghost. She seemed to have a turtle shell on her back, although it looked like it might actually be a shield of some sort. Her face was deeply lined, like a canyon, making her look older than her voice suggested she was. “What the heck are you?” Ruby demanded, pointing at the newcomer. “A ghost?” “I am a Doromas,” said the being, holding the spear at her side. She gestured at her appearance and said, “And I'm here to help.” “Still don't get it,” said Ruby. “I've fought Doromas people in the arena, but I've never seen one like you. You look like a ghost.” The Doromas shrugged. “Can't expect everyone to know about me, I suppose. Very well. My name is Ayhira, but I prefer to go by my title 'Spirit Wanderer,' or 'Wanderer' for short.” “Wanderer?” Cina said. “That term sounds vaguely familiar. Where have I heard it before?” “Probably from that play, The Tragedy of the Ghost King,” said Wanderer with obvious disgust. “Even though the playwright completely botched what real Spirit Wanderers are like. We're not mischievous tricksters who need to be put in our place by society, darn it, nor are we alcoholics with gambling addictions.” “But what is a Spirit Wanderer?” Ruby said. “I've never even heard of the concept until now. What does it mean?” “It means I'm here to help,” said Wanderer, holding out a hand. “You see, among we Doromas, we have a special ability given only to one person in our species per generation. That is the ability to spirit wander. Our spirits can leave our bodies and go to almost anywhere in the universe . . . and sometimes even beyond the universe's walls, as I am doing here in Wyoko.” “Guess that's not the craziest thing I've heard so far,” said Ruby with a shrug. “But how did you get here? We didn't even know you existed and we definitely didn't ask for your help.” Wanderer attached her spear to her back, yawned, and put her hands behind her head. “And I didn't even know you guys were here, either. I was just sitting in my home watching the Kra-Matoran army's progress on the telescreen when I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, I was here. See, as Spirit Wanderer, I have no choice in where I go or who I help. I just go to sleep and wake up wherever I am destined to be. Since I'm here, I guess that means I have to help you two with whatever problems you're dealing with.” Ruby looked at Cina incredulously. “Do you believe her? How do we know she's not an Echo?” “I think she's legitimate,” said Cina. “The Will knows who all of the Echoes are and none of them look even remotely like her. So she's not an enemy.” “You can trust me,” Wanderer said. “I have a long track record of helping people with their problems. Admittedly, it usually takes a while for me to figure out what their problems are, but when I do I always help fix 'em.” “What if we told you to go home?” Ruby said. “We didn't sign any agreement with you or anything. We're not obligated to accept your help.” “I still have to be with you,” Wanderer said with a yawn. “Even if you decline my help, I can't go back until I help you deal with your problem. That's just the way it is. I didn't write the rules. Mata Nui probably did. Or maybe the Great Beings.” Ruby sighed heavily and looked at Cina. As much as she was unsure where she stood with the Toa of Water, she really didn't want Wanderer to travel with them and hoped Cina would agree with her. The idea of having a ghost following them around freaked her out, primarily because, whatever she might say to the contrary, she really was quite afraid of ghosts. Cina scratched her chin and looked at Wanderer. “So you really can't go home yet.” “Right,” said Wanderer, nodding. “It's a pain in the butt, but what are you going to do, am I right?” “What can you do, exactly?” Cina said. “Like, what abilities do you have? Any elemental powers, for example?” “None,” said Wanderer. “I'm just a spirit. I mean, sure I can enter people's bodies and such, but if you guys are intending to get into a fight with someone sometime soon, well, I wouldn't be able to do much other than play cheerleader. Unless that person happens to be a ghost, too. Are you fighting any ghosts?” Cina shook her head. “No. And we don't need a cheerleader, either. You're not selling yourself very well.” “Did I mention I've been here before, in Wyoko?” Wanderer said, looking around. “That's where we are, right?” “What?” said Ruby. “You mean you have been here before? When?” “A long time ago,” Wanderer said. “Fifty thousand years ago, in fact. I was helping a Toa team that had somehow gotten trapped here. One of the Toa had been turned evil and it was I, in the end, who turned him good again. Good times, despite the volcanic eruption that nearly killed everyone.” “Neither of us are evil,” Ruby said. “Still have a hard time seeing why we should let you tag along.” “How many times do I got to repeat it?” said Wanderer with a grunt of annoyance. “I. Can't. Go. Home. Right. Now. Even if I can't help you right away, what if you run into a problem later on that requires my help? Wouldn't it be better to have me around, just in case?” “Having more allies is always helpful,” said Cina. “But not even you know why you're here and honestly I can't think of any situations in which we'll need the help of a ghost.” “Then tell me what you two are doing here,” said Wanderer. “I've been involved in many crazy stories in my life. Whatever you two are up to is probably nowhere near as crazy as some of the stuff I've been involved with.” “All right,” said Ruby. “If you really can't go, then I guess we'd better tell what we're doing here, just so you don't make any dumb mistakes.” So Ruby gave Wanderer a brief account of recent events and what she and Cina were up to. To her credit, Wanderer was a good listener. She retained eye contact with Ruby (which required all of Ruby's self-control to maintain, as she was still terrified of ghosts despite Wanderer's lack of hostility), asked questions when she didn't understand, and nodded and made noises of understanding at the spots where she did. Cina looked a bit upset at Ruby telling Wanderer about the Will, but after learning how the Toa had been deceiving her this entire time, Ruby didn't see any reason to consider Cina's feelings. When Ruby finished, Wanderer tapped her chin thoughtfully. “A false messiah, a kidnapped lover, a mad king . . . why, I wouldn't believe it if you weren't so earnest.” “I know,” said Ruby. “It's hard to believe, but it's true. I'm not going to let Masqouth have Niham.” “It sounds noble, too,” said Wanderer. “All right. Let me help and I'll see what I can do.” “Hold on,” said Cina. “You aren't part of the plan.” “Who cares about the plan?” said Wanderer. “If Ruby here is telling the truth, then I think you'll need all the help you can get. Besides, helping people is my job. I am a professional at it. My efforts to help have only resulted in the deaths of people who deserved it.” “That's not very reassuring,” said Cina. Turning away from Cina, Wanderer floated up close to Ruby and said, “Besides, have I told you what a big fan I am of your work? I watch all your matches in the arena, Ruby, even the reruns on the telescreen. Your match against Loven the Strong Arm was fantastic. There's a reason they call you the Red Star, after all.” Ruby involuntarily stepped back from the ghost. “Uh, thank you very much. I appreciate praise from a fan.” Wanderer rubbed her hands together in excitement. “You have to give me an autograph so I can take it back to my friends as proof that I helped THE Rubella the Red Star. They won't believe me otherwise.” “But you're a ghost,” Ruby said, pointing at Wanderer's transparent body. “You can't interact with the physical world, so how can I give you an autograph?” “We could figure something out,” Wanderer said. “Oh, I know. We could-” “Enough,” Cina said. “Look, Wanderer, if you want to come along, I suppose you can, but for the love of Mata Nui how's about you think about ways in which you can actually help us, rather than ways in which you can get Ruby's autograph?” “Okay, okay, sorry,” said Wanderer, floating away from Ruby sheepishly. “It's just so exciting that I get to meet one of my idols. Not just meet, but actually help, too. It's so excited I feel like I could die happy.” “That's an odd way of putting it,” Ruby said. “I know, but who cares?” said Wanderer. “After this, Ruby, you and I should get together for lunch sometime. It would be so awesome.” “Um, maybe,” said Ruby, even though she was actually thinking, Never. Not in a million years. “I know this really nice place where they serve the best agora soup,” said Wanderer. “The owner is also a fan, by the way. In fact, he's the president of the Rubella Fan Club, of which I am a member. We should so totally hang out.” Ruby looked at Cina, hoping to develop telepathy for that moment to ask the Toa for help. Cina briefly smirked at Ruby before saying to Wanderer, “Well, Wanderer, if you will talk less and think more, then I think this partnership of ours will work swimmingly.” “Oh, I will, I will,” Wanderer said, nodding eagerly. “Like I said, I am a professional. I would never act in a way that would compromise our safety and security. Especially Ruby's safety and security. Doubt I could live with myself if I did something that would harm her.” “Good,” said Cina. “Now let's keep going. Time is of the essence.” Review Topic

Yeah, the Kra-Matoran aren't super important in this fic. I just couldn't figure out a way to make them more prominent without making the story way too long *shrug*. But I'm happy to see you're excited for it anyway. -TNTOS-

Thanks for the compliment . As for TSO's name, yeah, I guess it does sound rather Latin. Oh well. Also, I don't know if you know this, but this story's sequel, In the End, is currently being posted. You can find it here, if you aren't already reading it. -TNTOS-

Welcome to the sixth 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: 2006 “T-Toa Zaktan?” Zaktan, standing on a ridge that allowed him to overlook the construction of the Piraka Stronghold, glanced to his left. A Le-Matoran armed with shredder claws was standing there, obviously trembling despite his just as obvious efforts to seem natural. Zaktan vaguely recalled the Matoran as the first villager he had met when he first arrived on Voya Nui. What was his name? Piruk, maybe? “Yes, villager?” said Zaktan, using his friendliest voice (or voices, as the case was). The Le-Matoran seemed to shrink under Zaktan's gaze. Nonetheless, he managed to say, “I just came to, um, to, well, uh—“ “Spit it out,” Zaktan snapped. He caught himself, remembering that Toa were supposed to be kind to Matoran, and then said, again straining to be friendly, “What are you trying to tell me, villager? Has something happened that requires my attention?” The Le-Matoran looked down at his feet, digging his toe into the dirt. “It's just . . . well, one of the workers on Mount Valmai's slopes was . . . well, he was killed in a lava flow just a few hours ago. Balta sent me to tell you that.” The Le-Matoran looked up at Zaktan when he finished, as if expecting the Piraka to say something. It took Zaktan a moment to remember that Matoran dying was supposed to be a bad thing and that therefore he should console the Le-Matoran. The idea sickened him to his core, but the Pirakas' relationship with the Voya Nuians was already getting rocky and he could not afford to make them more suspicious. So Zaktan bent down, putting one hand on the Le-Matoran's shoulder. The villager cringed at the touch, most likely not used to the feel of Zaktan's hand. Still, Zaktan tried to give off an aura of concern, the kind he thought a Toa would show in this situation, and so looked the Le-Matoran in the eyes. “I am very sorry to hear about that,” said Zaktan, forcing every word out of his mouth. “What was his name?” “I . . . I don't know,” said the Le-Matoran, who much to Zaktan's frustration was still trembling. “I didn't know him very well.” Zaktan sighed. “Well, I'm sure his soul will join with the Great Spirit in the next life. He was probably a fine worker and I am sure his friends will remember him always.” “Some of his friends want to hold a funeral for him,” said the Le-Matoran. “Even though his body wasn't—“ “No,” said Zaktan, shaking his head. “What?” Realizing how un-Toa-like that sounded, Zaktan said in a gentler voice, “I mean, I understand what it feels like to lose a friend, but perhaps, instead of a funeral, it would be better for everyone to work a little harder. Surely he would have liked that better than everyone interrupting their normal work schedule just to mourn his death, wouldn't you say?” The Le-Matoran scratched the back of his head. “Uh, I don't know—“ “And without a body, what is there to bury?” said Zaktan as he straightened up. “Work away your sorrows, I say. It is what we Toa do whenever we lose a comrade, after all.” The Le-Matoran nodded, though whether because of fear or because he agreed, Zaktan couldn't tell. “Yes, Toa Zaktan. I'll g-go tell the others to get back to work.” The Le-Matoran scrambled away while Zaktan returned his attention to the builders of the Stronghold. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up this charade, though once the villagers finished their work here, he knew it would not be long before he and the other Piraka could show their true colors. - Comments, criticism, questions, etc. are all welcome . -TNTOS-

Good lordy it's Monday already. Feels like last Monday was only yesterday. Anyway, that means it's time for the next chapter of In the End. Here's an excerpt from this week's chapter: Read the rest of Chapter IX here. -TNTOS-

Chapter IX Masqouth stood on the balcony of what had once been the room of Toa Rhatara, one of the leaders of the Kra-Matoran. He leaned on the railing, overlooking the entirety of Caste Kra's courtyard and a good chunk of the nearby town of Dirf. Of course, because of Wyoko's darkness, it was nearly impossible to see things normally, but thanks to his Mask of Night Vision, Masqouth could see the world around him as bright as day. After Atuje left to see Masqouth's parents (which Masqouth still felt a little angry about, as he had wanted to tag along), Masqouth split up the Echoes so they could evenly cover the entire castle. While it seemed unlikely that anyone would attack Castle Kra or attempt to get inside, King Atuje had told them to protect the prisoners at all times, so Masqouth figured the best way to do that was to protect the castle itself. Masqouth took the top towers of the castle. There was no strategic reason for this, other than Masqouth enjoyed being high up in the air. Back in Spherus Magna, Masqouth had loved the skyscrapers of the mega cities. It was like standing on top of the world. If there was one thing Masqouth could change about Wyoko, it was the lack of magnificent structures to stand on top of. From what he had seen of it, Wyoko was a very bare land and most of the buildings were one or two stories, except for Castle Kra, obviously. Despite the view, Masqouth found himself growing restless. He tapped the railing that he leaned against, tested a variety of different Kanohi powers, but none of it staved off his boredom for very long. Just as he was wondering how the others were doing, he heard the sound of metal feet scraping against stone behind him. Masqouth looked over his shoulder and saw Wavica, carrying a lightstone, stepping out onto the balcony. “Why, hello there, Wavica,” said Masqouth, waving at her. “I thought you were patrolling the grounds. What are you doing up here?” Wavica shrugged. “I'm going around collecting reports from everyone, remember? You told me to come check in with you every now and then to report on any unusual or suspicious behavior we might see.” “Oh, that's right,” said Masqouth. He felt a bit deflated that she wasn't here to socialize. “So how are things going?” “They're going all right,” said Wavica. “Neither Asroth nor Jeran have reported any strange happenings. I myself have not seen any unusual activity on my patrol route.” Masqouth's shoulders slumped. “Really? No spies sneaking around or anything?” “Nothing,” Wavica said. “The entire castle is safe. Asroth has reported that no one has tried to break into the dungeons. The prisoners have been pretty quiet, too, and have stopped trying to break free. Everything is going swimmingly.” Masqouth bowed his head and sighed. “Thank you for the report, Wavica.” “You sound less-than-satisfied with my report,” Wavica said. “I did not leave out any facts, if that is what you are thinking.” “Has nothing to do with you, Wavica,” said Masqouth, shaking his head without looking at her. “I'm just thinking about how boring everything is. I need excitement and stimulation. And I'm not getting any of that in this castle. I just wish Atuje would have brought me along to see my parents.” “In my opinion, Masqouth, no news is good news,” said Wavica. “After getting captured by the Will of Angonce once, I am quite content with our current situation.” “I'm not,” Masqouth said, gripping the railing hard enough to crack it. “I mean, the only possible threats I can think of are Kiriah, Jet and Night. And all three of them are probably not going to come here. After all, if they're working for my parents, I bet Atuje managed to convince them to leave us alone, too.” Wavica shrugged. “You forgot about the Will of Angonce. You know, that secretive organization we didn't know about until just a week ago? I wouldn't be surprised if they had sent some of their agents here.” Masqouth turned and leaned against the railing, a smile on his face. “No one has shown up yet, right? Besides, I bet my mask they're dealing with the war on Spherus Magna right now. Probably can't afford to send even one agent out here to deal with us.” “Don't be so cocky,” Wavica said. “Asroth and I didn't think we'd get kidnapped by the Will and yet look what happened. We should be as cautious and sly as a doom viper.” “But I want to be cuddly and fun,” said Masqouth. “Like an Ussal crab. You ever seen those things? They're so adorable. Tuggles are, too.” “Cuddly and fun won't make the Will spare you,” Wavica said. “If anything, I imagine that will make them hate you more. Trust me when I say that the Will is not a particularly cuddly or fun organization.” Masqouth sighed. “I suppose you're right. Not that it matters, of course. I'm confident that it will be smooth sailing from here on out.” “Perhaps,” said Wavica, a hint of doubt in her voice. “Anyway, I've got to go check on the prisoners. So-” “But I want you to stay,” said Masqouth, turning back to her. “I appreciate the company. It gets so boring up here. Besides, we've been so busy over the past month or two that I don't think we've had a chance to really catch up.” “What's there to catch up on?” Wavica said, folding her arms. “Only reason we know each other at all is because we both work for King Atuje.” “And that's the point,” said Masqouth. “I think, in order to be a more effective team, we need to know each other better. Like, what do you plan to do after all of this is over? Do you have any plans for your future at all?” Wavica looked down at her feet. “I . . . have not thought that through very much. I've been considering staying here in Wyoko and helping Atuje rebuild his kingdom. I mean, it's not like I have anything else to do, right?” “Don't you have a home you can go back to?” Masqouth asked. Wavica laughed bitterly. “I guess Atuje never told you my past, did he?” “Nope,” said Masqouth, shaking his head. “Never thought to ask.” Wavica started to toss the lightstone from hand to hand. “Back in my universe, I was a performer. Adored by thousands of beings all across the universe for my daring acts of devilry and imagination. Once, for example, I spent an entire week on Artidax, one of the southern islands, all by myself, with only half a rusted knife to defend myself with, only occasionally sending out messages to my manager to deliver to the rest of the universe. I even got to perform in front of the Barraki at one point, I was that famous.” Masqouth did a double-take. “Wait, you were a dare devil? No way.” “Find that hard to believe?” “Yes,” said Masqouth, nodding. “You've always seemed so mature, especially in comparison to Niralo and Asroth. Thought for sure you were something like a secretary or something.” “I was young and restless,” said Wavica. “I couldn't be happy with mediocrity. I kept pushing my limits until . . . well, until the day my biggest stunt yet resulted in the deaths of a hundred people and earned me the highest bounty in the universe at the time.” “What did you do?” Masqouth asked. “It was at the acid falls,” said Wavica. “In the Tren Krom Peninsula. The stunt itself was simple. I would row a boat across the falls without any protective armor on to protect my body from the acid. The boat itself was made of an acid-resistant material, but I was not. So if my boat were to capsize, I would fall in and melt away into nothingness, you see.” “Sounds exciting,” said Masqouth. “How did it result in the deaths of a hundred people?” “That's the thing,” said Wavica. “You could buy tickets to watch from the shore as I rowed my boat. My manager came up with it. He considered it a brilliant way to add excitement to the show and make money all at the same time. Unfortunately, my manager also decided it would be more exciting if we set up the stands near the edge of the acid falls, close to where I was going to be.” “And then . . .?” Masqouth asked, almost holding his breath in anticipation. Wavica rubbed her arm with her other hand. She still wasn't looking at Masqouth. “The cliffs around the acid falls are notorious for their instability. Even Barraki Pridak didn't dare build anything important near the falls. So when the hundred guests we invited came and sat down in the seats – after we assured them that they had been designed by expert engineers and were designed to hold the weight of a thousand people should that prove necessary – the entire thing collapsed and all of the attendees fell to their deaths. Not a single one survived.” Masqouth gasped. “But if it was designed to hold the weight of a thousand people, how did it collapse?” “The acid falls ate away at the support beams,” Wavica said. “We had assumed that the Po-Matoran construction company that built it had coated it with the same acid-resistant material that kept my boat safe, but they had evidently forgotten to do that. I was about halfway to the other side of the falls when that occurred and probably would have go over the edge, too, if my survival instincts hadn't kicked in and got me safely to the other side. “When news of the tragedy spread, I was hated by everyone. Everyone seemed to think that I had intentionally sabotaged the stands, like I'd gone crazy and killed them all. My manager was arrested and executed only a week later because he was considered a co-conspirator, while I managed to escape on the run for years until Atuje found and recruited me one day. You know the rest.” “That's . . . horrible,” said Masqouth. “I mean . . . I don't know what to say.” “It's fine,” said Wavica. “I've since gotten over it. Don't like talking about it, but it doesn't bother me anymore because I know I didn't have anything to do with it. I gotta tell you, though, that when I signed up for this, I didn't think I'd become a convict in yet another universe. Guess I just attract trouble wherever I go.” “I wonder what Asroth's story is,” said Masqouth, stroking his chin. “And Niralo's. It's weird how we've all been working together for a while now and we don't even know each other's histories. What kind of friends are we?” Wavica looked back up at him, her expression slightly skeptical. “Friends? We're allies, partners in crime, perhaps, but friends? I don't know about that.” “What do you mean?” Masqouth said. “We're always looking out for one another. We've got each other's backs. Isn't that what friends do?” “I guess it's not surprising you haven't been paying attention to the goings on in our group,” said Wavica. “You've been so busy playing messiah and starting revolutions that you never noticed how strained all our relationships actually are.” “Strained?” Masqouth said. “How so?” “For one, none of us liked Niralo,” Wavica said, tossing the lightstone from side to side. “And I mean none of us. When he still lived, we considered him a rude, psychotic maniac whose only redeeming feature was that he hadn't turned his sights on any of us. Even Asroth didn't like him and she is far from what I'd call a saint.” Masqouth ripped off a part of the railing and hurled it at Wavica. The Tetakian just barely managed to dodge the chunk of stone, which smashed against the door behind her. She cast a glance over her shoulder at the debris, looking more than a little alarmed at the near miss. “How dare you talk that way of Niralo,” said Masqouth. “He's not even alive to defend himself. That's low.” “Are you defending Niralo because you actually liked him and considered him a friend,” Wavica asked, “or are you defending him because you think you need to?” Masqouth wanted to confirm the first part of her question, that of course Niralo was a friend, just like she and Asroth and Jeran were and how dare she question his loyalty to his friends didn't she know that he would die for any of them and defend their honor if they were dead? Then Masqouth's doubtful side – which he rarely listen to because it was generally boring – spoke up. Had he ever really known Niralo? He and the speedster had never spoken much one-on-one. Sure, they had worked together to achieve Atuje's goals, but for the life of him Masqouth could not remember even one joke he shared with Niralo. It was like they hadn't known each other at all, like they had merely been coworkers and nothing else. For the first time in his life, Masqouth was unable to answer a question. He could not think of why he so vigorously defended Niralo. And now that he thought about it, Niralo had always been very curt with everyone. He never said thank you or please. He never showed even the slightest bit of concern for another person's well-being. He really did seem like an unrepentant psycho, one that the universe was better off without. The uncertainty gnawed at him like a gadunka. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but to his surprise the words that came out were, “I don't know.” Wavica sighed. “You see, Masqouth? That's your problem. You're just like a little kid. You don't think. You confuse your ideas about someone with how they actually are. Niralo was not a saint. None of us are.” Masqouth staggered against the railing. His hand missed it, going through the gap he had made, before other hand wrapped around the rest of the railing. It felt like the only real thing in the world right now. “I am not a little kid,” Masqouth said. “Atuje would never hired Niralo if he were as bad as you said.” Wavica looked at him with the kind of condescension Masqouth had seen Skrall parents look upon their children with back in New Roxtus. “So you think Atuje is a saint, too?” “I don't think Atuje is perfect, if that's what you mean,” said Masqouth. “But he's a good guy, isn't he? He just wants what's best for us all. He can be uncompromising, but that's because he's the King. Of course he has the authority to act however he likes.” “The rest of us don't care much for him, to be honest,” said Wavica. “I know Asroth chafes under his every order, Jeran has severe doubts about the entire scheme, and I myself am only here because the alternative is life on the run from the law again. Notice how all the people Atuje hired all have nothing to lose if the plan goes haywire. It's what makes us special.” “Are you saying we're disposable?” Masqouth said. “That Atuje chose us specifically because we could all die and he could just replace us if he had to?” “More or less,” said Wavica. “Haven't you noticed how little he seems to care for us? He's hardly a benevolent monarch.” “You're wrong,” said Masqouth, though his hands trembled. “Atuje cares about us all. He just shows us tough love sometimes.” “Is that why, every time he talks to us, he is always rude and condescending?” Wavica said, rolling her eyes. “I'm not saying we should try anything against him. I'm just saying it's better to serve knowing who your master is, rather than who you want him to be.” Every word that Wavica said rang true in Masqouth's mind, but he had to prove it wrong. “I'm leaving. You're in charge while I'm gone.” “What?” said Wavica. “Where are you going? Didn't Atuje say we're supposed to stay here?” “I'm going to find Atuje,” said Masqouth. “I don't know where he went, but I'm going to find him and have him prove you wrong. Good day.” A dimensional portal opened in front of Masqouth and he hopped into it. He didn't bother to see whatever Wavica's expression was. There was no need, especially when he was absolutely certain that he was about to prove her wrong. Review Topic

'Sup, everybody. I just got home from my trip out of town and man was it fun. Kind of tired, but it's a good tired and I imagine I will sleep well tonight. So I'll be back to my usual level of BZP activity now that I am home. Just thought y'all should know that. -TNTOS-

[hype intensifies] -TNTOS-

Noted and noted. Thanks. 2006 is my favorite year, too. -TNTOS-

Welcome to the fifth 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 it is, allow me to quote from the first fic's introduction: With that out of the way, enjoy: 2005 On the day the Visorak hordes descended upon the city of Metru Nui, Rahaga Norik found himself alone and surrounded on all sides by the stealers of life. This was not entirely an accident on his part. He and the other Rahaga had emerged from the Archives a few days ago, shortly after the Toa Metru left the City of Legends. They had been debating whether to stay on the uninhabited island themselves in search of the legendary Keetongu or to leave and search elsewhere for a way to combat the Visorak when their decision was made for them by a group of Vohtarak that ambushed them suddenly. To save his fellow Rahaga, Norik managed to lure the Vohtarak away deeper into the Archives. Norik intended on circling back to rejoin the others later, but unfortunately he lured the Vohtarak into a dead end. This had been an accident on his part. He could just imagine what Iruini might say about this particular mistake of his, if he lived long enough to see Iruini again. The Vohtarak were snapping their jaws, spitting and growling at him. So far, they had not tried to shoot their Rhotuka spinners at him, but it wouldn't be long, he knew, before they figured out that he was not a dumb Rahi like their usual prey. Until they did, that gave Norik a few minutes at most to figure out his plan of action against them. The nearest Vohtarak snapped at him, forcing Norik to step back. He swiped at it with his staff, but all he managed to do was make the Vohtarak fire a Rhotuka, which he managed to dodge. The other Vohtarak were now charging their spinners, so Norik knew that he didn't have any other choice but to act. He fired his own Rhotuka at the nearest Vohtarak, the one that had tried to hit him with its spinner. A direct hit. The Vohtarak was instantly snared in an energy net, causing its brothers to shift their attention to their captured ally. They even stopped charging their spinners, giving Norik an opportunity he could not ignore. Taking advantage of their distraction, Norik flew over them, using his Rhotuka spinner to do so, and landed on the ground behind them. While the Visorak struggled to free their brother, Norik ran for it. While he was no coward, he knew there was no way he could defeat six Vohtarak on his own. He needed to find the others. Because if the Visorak were here, the time to find Keetongu was now. - Comments, criticisms, questions, etc. are all welcome . -TNTOS-

Looks like I managed to find the time to post this new chapter after all. Here's an excerpt from it: Read the rest of Chapter VIII here. -TNTOS-

Chapter VIII Ten years ago. . . . The Skrall known as Night Vision stood in the Bunker's training arena. The sandy pit reminded him of the Glatorian arenas Grandfather had told him about. Supposedly, the sand had been used because it had offered better traction on the floor than smooth stone did, but Night Vision had been told that that was just an excuse. The real reason the old-style arenas had sand-covered floors was because it had been too much trouble to sweep away the sand that the Bara Magnan desert blew in every day. Whatever the reason, Night Vision was annoyed that he had simply been dumped in here with little explanation. After his talk with Mr. Gray, Night Vision had been escorted by two large Roffican guards to this chamber. The trip gave a glimpse to Night Vision of just how large the Bunker was. It had taken them at least five minutes to reach the arena and that had been after they used several shortcuts to save time. When they got here, Night Vision was told he was going to train with another elementalist – whose name and element they had for some reason forgotten to tell him – and had handed him a bowl of Thornax stew to eat. It was the only thing he had had to eat in several hours and he ate it heartily, as Thornax stew was his favorite food. That had been several minutes ago. Now Night Vision simply stood by himself in the arena, his arms folded, impatiently tapping one foot against the sand. While he had plenty of light to see by – not that it was necessary, seeing as he apparently had night vision now – there wasn't much to look at. Aside from the sand and the doors at either end, the arena was empty. It didn't even have any windows; then again, considering they were underground, windows would probably have been useless. I wonder when my opponent will show up, Night Vision thought. Then again, maybe it's a test. They told me I would fight someone, but in reality it's merely a way to test my patience. Night Vision hurled a shadow bolt at the wall. The bolt struck the wall and created a smoking burnt spot. Guess I failed the test, Night Vision thought as he looked at the wisps of shadow escaping from the tips of his fingers. Now when do I- The door at the other end of the arena opened and a Vortixx entered. She walked with the kind of inflated self-importance Night Vision had always associated with female Vortixx and wore dark gray armor as though it were the finest ever made. On her left arm was a strange tri-claw weapon that, to Night Vision, looked too heavy to be practical in combat. The Vortixx stopped about two dozen yards away from Night Vision. She looked at him for a moment before saying, “You must be Night Vision. The newbie.” Night Vision kept his arms folded. “And who might you be?” “My codename is Heavyweight,” said the Vortixx. “We're supposed to train together, right?” “I guess so,” said Night Vision. “Unless you happen to know another Skrall named Night Vision who can shoot shadow out of his hands.” “Ah, so you can control shadow?” said Heavyweight with a playful smirk. “Interesting. I thought your name might be indicative of your power, but I wasn't sure if Mr. Gray was playing another one of his weird tricks.” “Wait, you mean you didn't know what my element was at all?” Night Vision said. “Before I got here? Nope,” said Heavyweight, shaking her head. “The point of this training exercise was to determine how and what kind of training you'll need. Our powers were kept secret from each other to make it more interesting. Thanks for telling me what yours is, although I'm afraid you're going to have to play detective to find out what mine is.” “No one told me that,” Night Vision said. “They just dumped me in here and told me to wait for you.” Heavyweight chuckled. “They do that with everyone. The only one who has ever gotten lucky is Blaze, who managed to beat Aqua with her fire on her very first try. Everyone else lost their first battles, including me. So if I hand your behind to you on a silver platter, don't feel too bad about yourself.” Night Vision raised his hands and said, “There is no room for pity among the Skrall. Only victory and defeat.” Heavyweight shrugged. “Then I guess you don't mind being defeated.” Before Night Vision act, Heavyweight snapped her fingers and he went flying. The Skrall landed on his head on the sand several feet away, the blow dizzying him even as he instinctively rolled to a crouch. His skull burned with pain, but he ignored it as Heavyweight approached him, still smirking. “So you can control air,” said Night Vision. “Big deal.” Heavyweight shook her head. “Did you feel any wind? Try again.” With a growl, Night Vision launched a couple of shadow bursts at her. To his disappointment, they were rather small and weak and dissipated halfway between him and Heavyweight. The Vortixx froze when he'd shot those bursts, but laughed as soon as they disappeared. “Oh, I see. The learning curve. Always the worst part of being a beginner.” “Stop mocking me,” Night Vision said. “I don't need my shadow powers to beat you. As a Skrall, I was-” Once again, Heavyweight snapped her fingers. This time, Night Vision slammed into the wall and fell to the floor, more stunned than hurt. Spitting the sand out of his mouth, Night Vision got to his hands and feet and asked, “Psionics?” “Wrong,” said Heavyweight. “Close, though. But still wrong.” This time, Night Vision rolled forward. He planned to roll between her legs, come up behind her, and then strike her lower back with his fists. An easy enough technique, especially in his situation. Even if she somehow managed to block his attack, at least it would give him time to come up with something else. Then, Heavyweight flew. She went straight up into the air just as Night Vision rolled between her legs. The Skrall stopped and looked up at her, his mouth gaping, as Heavyweight looked down at him with a triumphant smile on her face. “And the answer is . . .” Heavyweight said, like she was announcing the winner of a contest. “Gravity!” Without warning, she fell like a rock. She kicked Night Vision directly in the face with her foot, causing him to stagger backward from the blow. Heavyweight landed gracefully and dusted off her armor, like she did that sort of thing every day. Night Vision's head rang and his vision blurred. Something hot trailed down the side of his face, which turned out to be blood. Through his blurry eyes, he saw Heavyweight, looking like she was on the verge of laughing at him. “Did I hurt the widdle Skrall?” asked Heavyweight. “I was just trying to knock you out. Guess you Skrall really are rockheads.” The anger that had been slowly building up inside Night Vision over the course of the day finally broke like a dam. He shook his arms, which became covered with darkness, and dashed at Heavyweight faster than he ever had before, faster than even Heavyweight could react. He began slashing at her so quickly that she barely managed to dodge his blows. “I . . . am . . . done . . . with . . . YOU!” Night Vision shouted as his attacks became more frantic and messy. Heavyweight's smirk had disappeared off her lips, replaced by a look of intense concentration as she attempted to keep Night Vision from stabbing her in the chest. Despite his rage, Night Vision was impressed by how collected Heavyweight was even with him going all out on her like this. But that didn't mean he let up. Not at all. He was trying to keep her off-balance. If she got even a moment to think, she'd use her gravity powers to turn the fight in her favor. That mean she was probably too weak to take a direct hit from him. All Night Vision had to do was get one good hit in and she would be down for the count. Then Heavyweight ducked, causing Night Vision to overreach his punches and stagger forward. Heavyweight somehow grabbed his arm and lifted him over her shoulder. She then slammed him onto the floor with surprising strength, causing Night Vision to gasp in pain as the shadow dissipated around his arms. Before he could get back up, Heavyweight snapped her fingers again and a sudden force weighed down on him painfully. “What did you do to me?” Night Vision said as he fought against the force holding him down. “Are you really that dumb?” Heavyweight said. “It's my gravity at work. I've increased your gravity, making it impossible for you to stand up. So no matter how much you struggle, you can't get back up. In other words, I win.” Night Vision was going to disprove that statement, but then he remembered that gravity was a force of nature that he had no control over at all. So he merely lay there, feeling extremely disgruntled, and said, “All right. You win.” A voice blared from an intercom hanging in the corner of the room, saying, “All right, that's a wrap. Number 16 Night Vision and Number 13 Heavyweight, you will be escorted from the arena back to your rooms.” Then the intercom clicked off and Night Vision felt the pressure leave him. He was on his feet instantly, glaring at Heavyweight, who merely appeared bored. “Well, I'd say you put up a good fight,” said Heavyweight. “But you just lost your cool there. I thought you Skrall would know that you should never lose your cool in the middle of a fight, especially against an opponent like me.” “What would a Vortixx like you know about battle?” Night Vision said. “Your people may make weapons, but just because you've made a weapon doesn't mean you know how to use it in battle.” “Knowing how to use the weapon really didn't help you here, did it?” Heavyweight said. “Also, I don't really like your codename. Night Vision? It's too long.” “You're right,” said Night Vision. “My name should be the shortest name ever.” “And what would that be?” “No name,” Night Vision replied. “I have not done anything to earn this name; therefore, I should discard it, but until Mr. Gray lets me go, I have to keep it.” “Hmm,” said Heavyweight, scratching her chin. “Have you thought about going by 'Night'? Less of a mouthful.” “I prefer no name,” Night Vision said. “If you truly want to show me respect-” “Who said anything about respect?” Heavyweight said. “If you don't have a name, it would get really confusing and I'd have to call you something like 'bucket-head' to make up for it. On the other hand, 'Night Vision' is too long. Maybe you should talk to Mr. Gray about getting your name changed.” Before Night Vision could tell her how wrong she was, the doors opened and four Roffican guards entered. They then escorted Night Vision and Heavyweight out of the arena through different exits. Night was thankful for this, as he never wanted to see Heavyweight again, not if she was going to treat him flippantly anyway. - Present day. . . . Night examined the treasure box he had stumbled upon. When he entered the Maze earlier, he fully expected to have to fight some monster or evade a death trap of some kind (or possibly both). Instead, he'd had a simple, safe walk down a surprisingly clean hallway and at the end had found this purple treasure box with the word 'TREASURE' written on it in Skrall. I must have gone down the treasure path, Night thought. I wonder what's inside. He flipped open the box's lid – which he had expected to be locked – and spotted a tiny gold ring sitting on top of a small plush pillow. He picked the ring out and turned it over several times, but as far as he could tell, there was nothing special about it at all. Another dead end, Night thought as he slipped his finger into the ring. Then again, why else should I expect from someone named Mendos? In Night's younger days, Mendos had always been his least favorite deity. Always goofing off, getting into trouble, and acting like an idiot . . . more than once Night had wondered how she ever got into the pantheon. Surely the gods did not need a trickster among themselves, wrecking their carefully laid plans or disrupting their training. Especially one as chaotic as Mendos. As Night tossed the treasure box aside, he wondered about this Mendos. She was clearly insane. That much was obvious. Night had known insane people before. When you work as a Dark Hunter, insanity is basically a requirement for the job. He never spent much time with the more obviously insane Hunters, however, because they always made him uncomfortable in ways the less insane ones didn't. Despite that, he thought it practical to take some time to figure out what Mendos was trying to accomplish here. Maybe it would even help him figure out how to escape the Maze or at least survive it. He tried to recall any stories about Mendos the deity that might tell him what this Mendos was trying to do. Unfortunately, due to his lack of interest in that goddess, he could only recall a handful of stories, none of which were relevant to his current situation (although the tale where the deity Mendos accidentally crossed paths with the Slumbering Giants was one of his favorites, if only because it was one of the few stories where Mendos got her comeuppance in the end). As Night opened the door at the end of the hall and peered inside to make sure there were no surprises waiting for him, his old temper flared again. In the last five hours, he had seen his best friend killed, learned that his entire species had been manipulated by a being who saw them as a means to an end, got crushed beneath tons of rock, and was stranded in a universe he could not currently escape. And now he was being forced to travel, alone, through a maze that a being who named herself after his least favorite god had created for reasons he didn't know. Heavyweight's death especially weighed heavy on his heart, even though he tried not to think about her too much. She had been his only constant since leaving Ignika Industries. The two of them had joined the Dark Hunters together and had been an inseparable team since. There were rumors that they were together in a relationship, but Night's lack of interest in females kept their friendship from becoming anything deeper than that. As he walked down the short spiral staircase to the next floor, Night had to keep his emotions under control. As a Skrall, it would be inappropriate for him to break down and cry. Besides, Heavyweight had died in battle. Among the Skrall, it was considered inappropriate for a warrior to grieve friends who died in combat. In fact, you were supposed to envy them and hope that you would someday be slayed in battle by a mighty opponent, rather than dying of old age or disease or in some other, far less honorable way. Of course, Night had been a lone wolf ever since he had left Ignika Industries. His powers made him a freak, even among his people. There was a reason that only the Dark Hunters had accepted him and Heavyweight. At the time, he had believed it to be the only way he could avoid capture by Ignika Industries, though looking back now, Night was surprised he hadn't ditched the Dark Hunters sooner than he had. The Dark Hunters were about the antithesis of Skrall ideals. They cared little about honor, honesty, integrity, fairness, or any of the other virtues that were commonly upheld in Skrall society. Every Dark Hunter was, without exception, insane, murderous, megalomaniacal, thieving, and selfish. Lying and deceiving were the two most powerful weapons any Dark Hunter could hope to have. As a matter of fact, Night was pretty sure that the reason the Shadowed One had maintained his rule over the organization for as long as he did was because of his ability to lie, manipulate, and intimidate his men. In fact, Night figured that the original reason that the Shadowed One had taken in him and Heavyweight was because they were unique. Whatever else the Shadowed One had been, he was a collector. He loved collecting unique things, which is why he had owned a large vault of various artifacts from every corner of Spherus Magna. And what could be more unique than a Skrall with who could control shadow or a Vortixx capable of manipulating gravity? If they were not unique, the Shadowed One undoubtedly would have sold them back to Ignika Industries for a hefty price. He may have been a collector, but he also liked money and was known to sell pieces of his collection if he thought he could get a good deal off it. Night stopped and shook his head. What was he doing, reflecting on his life? He knew all of this stuff already. He had lived it for the past ten years. What he needed to think about now was how he was going to get out of here and punch out Masqouth. Or Atuje. Or maybe both. He found himself standing before another three-pronged path. As before, the paths all looked the same. They probably had the same distribution before – death, escape, and treasure – because Mendos had not said otherwise. That meant Night would have to pick his path randomly. So he chose the middle path and walked down it. He wondered what Mendos was doing right now. Was she watching them all on her cameras? Was she making sure that she could activate her death traps when they least expected it? For that matter, were Jet and Kiriah even still alive anymore? These questions swirled through his mind as he walked. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the tentacles slowly lowering down from the ceiling until they wrapped around his limbs. When they did, Night looked up and saw a squid-like monster – its beak wide open – as it pulled him toward the ceiling. Dang it, Night thought as he was drawn closer and closer to the open beak. I chose the death path, didn't I? Review Topic

Tomorrow I will be out of town for a week and may or may not have Internet access during that time. So I might not post the next chapter of In the End on Monday or the next story in The Biological Chronicle series, nor will I be on BZP in general during that time. Just thought y'all should know so nobody thinks I dropped off the face of the earth or anything, heh. -TNTOS-

Welcome to the fourth 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 it is, allow me to quote from the first fic's introduction: With that out of the way, please enjoy: 2004 When Krekka awoke, his head hurt. That was surprising. Nidhiki always chided him for having a thick skull. Maybe it wasn't thick enough to protect his head from a fall from that height. Even worse, Krekka could not remember exactly where he had fallen from. He recalled helping Nidhiki trying to capture three Toa in an airship. After that, his memory got fuzzy, probably the fault of the fall. His skull felt like it had been stampeded by a herd of Kikanalo. He sat up, putting his hands on his head to try to soothe it, and then realized that he was sitting in the middle of a street in a crater. He looked around and noticed dozens of Matoran nearby staring at him, almost as if they had never seen a Dark Hunter before. One Matoran's mouth hung open, which made him look silly. Then someone nearby shouted, “Hey, you!” Puzzled, Krekka turned his massive body and saw a Po-Matoran standing just outside his crater. The Po-Matoran looked angry, his hands planted firmly on his hips, reminding Krekka how Nidhiki had once looked before his transformation into that spider monster thingy. “Yes?” said Krekka. The Po-Matoran cowered a little at Krekka's voice, but didn't run away. “You crushed my statues. Which, I will have you know, are Hafu originals. I demand that you pay reparations for destroying my work.” Krekka looked under his behind. There were crushed bits of stone underneath him, stone that looked awfully common to him. He didn't see what the big deal was. So he said to the Po-Matoran, “No. I don't pay.” Now the Po-Matoran looked angry. “If you won't repay me, then I'll call the Vahki on you.” “Vahki not scary,” said Krekka. “Vahki don't scare me.” “Oh really?” said the Po-Matoran. “I bet this does, though.” The Po-Matoran pulled a disk launcher off his back and aimed it at Krekka. The sight of the disk launcher reminded Krekka just how he had ended up in the sky in the first place. He did not intend to go through that again. He reached over and snatched the disk launcher out of the Po-Matoran's hands. He crushed it beneath his massive fist and then dropped the disk launcher—now little more than a chunk of twisted metal—at the Po-Matoran's feet. The Po-Matoran took a step back, holding up his hands as if trying to seem less threatening. “You know what? Never mind. I didn't really like those statues anyway. Weren't my best work. I can always make more; make better ones, in fact. Sorry for bothering you.” Krekka stood up, ready to smash the stupid Po-Matoran, but then a voice from above called, “Krekka! There are you. What are you doing?” Krekka looked up in time to see Nidhiki, who flew in and landed next to him. Nidhiki's armor was dirty and flattened in several places, like he had been crushed beneath a ton of metal. “Going to smash Matoran,” said Krekka, pointing at the Po-Matoran, who stood paralyzed with fear. “No time for that,” said Nidhiki. “The Toa got away and we still have to track them down.” “But—“ “I said, no time,” Nidhiki snapped. “Now are you coming with me or not?” Krekka frowned, but nodded and soon was soaring through the sky with Nidhiki. He decided he would smash the Po-Matoran later. - Comments, criticism, questions, etc. are all welcome . -TNTOS-

Once again, it's Monday, and that means it's time for another chapter of In the End. Here's an excerpt from this week's chapter: Read the rest of Chapter VII here. -TNTOS-

Chapter VII “Wake up, Ruby. We're here.” Ruby yawned and stretched. Unfortunately, she couldn't stretch very much in the tiny cockpit and so had to bend her limbs in all kinds of strange ways to compensate. When she felt better, she asked Cina, “Where are we?” “The dome of Shika Nui,” Cina said without looking at her. “You can probably see it out the windshield if you look.” Interested, Ruby peered out the window. Through the darkness of the night and the clouds, it was hard for Ruby to see anything. Then a cloud passed away and a gigantic round mountain appeared. The dome stood thousands of feet high, so tall that Ruby was certain it towered over even the tallest building in New Atero. In the distance, only a handful of smaller domes rose from the earth, but nonetheless it was easy to tell that they were gigantic even from Ruby's current position. The dome had clearly been salvaged more than once for parts. A gigantic hole stood out, ugly and scarred, across the front of it, while another, wider gap had been opened closer to ground level. Despite the scars it bore, it was clear that the dome would last another fifty-thousand years before it ever broke down on its own. “Why are we going to Shika Nui?” Ruby asked, looking at the back of Cina's head. “I thought we were going to Wyoko.” Cina sighed. “In order to reach Wyoko, we have to go through Shika Nui. It's the only way.” “I don't understand,” said Ruby. “Why? Is Wyoko underneath Shika Nui? Like underground?” “Wyoko is a pocket dimension,” said Cina. “While it is possible to get there via dimension-hopping, the easiest method is using the Door that connects it to Shika Nui.” “Back up,” said Ruby, holding up a hand. “I don't get it. What Door? Why is it under Shika Nui?” “The full history is far too long and convoluted to get into right now,” said Cina as the airship shook slightly from wind turbulence. “Basically, all you need to know is that the Kra-Matoran were defeated once, a long time ago, and banished to Wyoko via a portal that someone discovered underneath Shika Nui. To keep the Kra-Matoran from escaping, Artakha crafted a gigantic door that was locked with a Toa seal.” “Huh,” said Ruby. “I thought all the domes were torn down after Teridax's death and the materials used to make New Atero and the other mega cities.” “Not all of them were,” said Cina. “Shika Nui is one of the few that was spared because of the Door, although it's sometimes raided for materials by certain construction companies that shall remain nameless. Metru Nui is another dome that was spared, although it's not in as good condition as Shika Nui's dome is.” Ruby put her hands on the glass. “And the Kra-Matoran just marched out of here? Didn't anyone know about the Door to Wyoko that lay underneath Shika Nui? How come no one was keeping an eye on it?” “There was no need to, for a while there,” said Cina. “Most people don't know about Wyoko, except for the Shika Nuians, who made sure to bury the tunnel leading to the Door before leaving the old universe. It was buried deep underground, nearly impossible to reach unless you want to spend years digging through tonnes of dirt and setting up the support system necessary to keep the tunnel from caving in on you.” “But Masqouth did it,” Ruby said. “Evidently, he succeeded,” said Cina. “Somehow, he managed to dig out the Door and captured the six Toa necessary to break the Toa seal.” “And he did it all without anybody even realizing it?” Ruby said, raising an eyebrow. “Why weren't you Will guys keeping an eye on Shika Nui? Did it never occur to you guys that something like this might happen at some point?” “We didn't think anybody would put in the time and effort necessary to open the Door,” Cina admitted. “Like I said, most people don't even know it exists. We're not even sure how Masqouth learned of it. For that matter, we don't know why he's even tried to unleash the Kra-Matoran. It's all madness so far, that's what it is.” “You mean you really don't know why he's doing this?” said Ruby in astonishment. “You mean with all your vast spy networks and secret information on everything, you have no idea why Masqouth started a world war?” Again, Cina shrugged. “Keeping an eye on Masqouth is a Karzahni of a lot harder than it seems. Whenever he's not in the public eye, sometimes it seems like he disappears into thin air, even when we know where he's staying. Maybe if we find Masqouth, it will all make sense.” Ruby nodded, but she could honestly care less about Masqouth's motives. What mattered to her was rescuing Niham. Whether Masqouth had good or bad reasons (probably bad reasons, but she didn't think about that too deeply) for doing what he was doing, there was no way in heck that Ruby was going to let him keep Niham. If he didn't give her up quickly, Ruby was going to show Masqouth just why she was a professional Glatorian. “What's the plan?” said Ruby. “Wait, I know. We land in Shika Nui, enter the Door, find Masqouth, and rescue Niham. Easy, right?” “I don't think it will be quite that simple,” said Cina. “Do you know what it's like down there, in Shika Nui? Have you done any study on the domes at all?” Ruby scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “Um, it's dark? “Yes, it's dark,” said Cina in exasperation. “But it's also uninhabitable. Without the Mata Nui robot's life support systems, it's now uninhabitable to all but the most unkillable of creatures. The only reason it has air in it at all is due to the holes in the dome and even then, the air is most likely not very clean or easy to breathe. We'll probably survive when we get in, but I just want you to be prepared when we go in.” “Polluted air?” Ruby snorted. “Cina, I've lived in New Atero all my life. I think I know a thing or two about polluted air.” “We have to remember that Masqouth may have set up guards or traps to keep outsiders away,” Cina said. “Maybe there are even a few Kra-Matoran, hanging back to keep people from entering Wyoko. I tend to doubt it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Masqouth made a deal with the Kra-Matoran leaders to have a few of their minions stay behind to act as gatekeepers or guards.” “We can beat a few Matoran,” said Ruby. “Even if they're evil Matoran, I doubt they'll be able to stand against us in direct combat.” “That's right,” said Cina, glancing at Ruby. “I forgot. The Kra-Matoran can shoot shadow blasts from their hands, similar to Av-Matoran. They are also stronger than your average Matoran and are far better trained in combat. Didn't you wonder why the Kra-Matoran army hasn't been beaten yet?” Ruby folded her arms and leaned back in her seat. “Doesn't make any sense. If the Kra-Matoran have been locked up for thousands of years, how have they been able to chart a course for New Atero? How could they possibly know Spherus Magna's geography if they've never been here before?” “Good question,” said Cina. “Based on the evidence, we've decided that Masqouth must have sent them maps, videos, books, carvings, and other forms of information to update the Kra-Matoran on recent events. So far, it has obviously worked well, if the continuing rampage of the Kra-Matoran army is an indication.” “Even if what you say is true, we can still take them by surprise, can't we?” said Ruby. “I mean, you're a Toa of Water for the Great Spirit's sake. Surely you can handle a couple of Matoran, even well-trained Matoran.” “Yes, but it will be dark and hard to breathe in there, which will make things that much more difficult,” Cina said. “In addition, I doubt they will ignore the arrival of an airship, even one as small as mine. I could shut off all the lights and dim the sound of the engines, but that would make it much harder to find a good landing spot, which is absolutely crucial if you don't want to die a very horrible death.” “Isn't your airship armed with lasers or missiles or anything?” Ruby asked, peering over Cina's shoulder to look for any war buttons. “Any way to defend itself?” “The Smooth Wind was designed for speed and travel, not combat,” said Cina, shrugging Ruby's face off her shoulder. “So unless I open the cockpit and start chucking things at people on the ground, The Smooth Wind is basically harmless.” Ruby cursed. “And here I was hoping we could go in guns a-blazing on Masqouth and his cronies.” “We won't be able to take The Smooth Wind into Wyoko itself, I think,” said Cina as they drew closer to the gaping hole in Shika Nui's dome. “I am not sure it will fit in the tunnel.” “You just like crushing my expectations, don't you?” said Ruby. “Are you saying we're going to have to walk into Wyoko?” “Probably,” said Cina. “Thankfully, I do have an idea of where Castle Kra is. You see, Oggak gave us some info on the castle's location, as she is familiar with Wyoko's geography. It's located somewhere in the center of the land, several miles north of the Door, so we're just going to head north until we come upon a giant, probably evil-looking castle.” “Giant, evil-looking castle,” Ruby said, nodding. “Gotcha.” “All right,” said Cina. “We're just about to enter. It's going to get very dark, very quickly because the sun in the dome doesn't work anymore.” “I'm not afraid of the dark,” said Ruby with a snort, folding her arms and looking out the window. “No need to warn me.” Cina shrugged as The Smooth Wind passed through the opening and into what could best be described as complete and utter blackness. The sudden change from the darkness of the night to the darkness of the dome made Ruby grab the back of Cina's seat. Thankfully, the Toa of Water didn't seem to notice. She kept staring straight ahead, the airship soaring through the emptiness, its engine louder than usual, or so it seemed to Ruby. Relaxing her grip on Cina's seat, the Glatorian peered out the windshield. It was a solid black outside. Aside from a few pinpricks of light from the holes in the ceiling of the dome – which seemed a million bio away inside – and the lights from The Smooth Wind, it was completely and utterly dark. A primal sense of fear arose in Ruby's chest, choking her and making speech impossible. Ruby had been telling the truth when she said she was not afraid of the dark. She was perfectly content to go walking the streets of New Atero at midnight in the middle of a blackout and sometimes even forgot to turn on the lights in a room when she entered it. While she did not necessarily have an affinity for darkness, it didn't scare her (which made for some very funny pranks on Niham, who by contrast was absolutely terrified by it). But this darkness . . . somehow, it was different. She grasped the difference almost immediately: The lack of life. In other dark parts, Ruby could usually be assured that there was someone nearby, even if that someone was a complete and total stranger. Or perhaps a Rahi, a pet, would be around. If she was in a city, at the very least, she knew that the city's inhabitants were around her and that brought her comfort. Here, though . . . when she thought about it, she realized just how alone she and Cina were. Shika Nui had been abandoned for fifty-thousand years. It had been uninhabitable for just as long. As far as Ruby knew, not even the aquatic life in the sea had survived. There was nothing in this place but Ruby, Cina, and the endless blackness. The Smooth Wind flew for a long time. Occasionally Cina would press a few buttons or flip a couple of switches, but other than that and the sound of the engine, it was like they were flying through the void. Ruby had never been in the void before, but she had heard tales about how Toa Lewa had once ended up in the void between worlds. Even that wasn't quite an accurate comparison, however, because at least there were stars up there. Here, there wasn't even that. After perhaps a half hour of flight, Cina said, “Radar says something big is coming up. I bet it's Shika Nui.” “So we're finally going to land?” Ruby asked. She was starting to think there was no land in this place at all, that it was an empty void you just flew through for eternity. “Not yet,” said Cina. “Once we're far enough inland, then we'll find a place to land. Should only take a few minutes.” The fearful part of Ruby wanted to shout, “No! Land now and let me out of here!” but she kept her mouth shut and sat back. Despite her silence, she wrapped her arms around her body, feeling very, very small against the infinite blackness of the dome. As they flew over the rocky, lifeless surface of Shika Nui, Ruby realized that if Shika Nui was dark, Wyoko was going to be much, much worse. Cina had described it as a land of shadow. How that even worked, Ruby didn't know, as she was no scientist. Unless Cina was being poetic – which she hoped with all her might that the Toa was – Ruby had a feeling that Shika Nui was going to look like a sunny summer afternoon in comparison to Wyoko. The primal fear that had been building inside Ruby ever since The Smooth Wind had enter the dome was near its breaking point. Her heart was beating against her chest like a drum and her forehead was sweaty. She wanted to grab Cina's shoulders and tell the pilot to turn back, to head home, that they didn't need to brave the darkness, that she could wait for the Will to send a team to rescue Niham, that Niham was probably okay and really didn't need their help anyway because she could take care of themselves so could they please please please please go home now please? But Ruby's rational mind stubbornly kept her hands on her lap. No. Niham needed her. Abandoning Niham because Ruby was afraid would be the worst decision she could possibly make in this situation, worse even than the time she drank too much arang juice and somehow ended up hanging from her feet from the New Atero Council Building (the details of that particular adventure were still fuzzy to her, even after Niham performed a thorough investigation that lasted several weeks). She had come this far. There was no turning back now. Still, even that steely resolve failed to translate totally into action. Her hands gripped her thighs tightly. She tried to distract herself by looking out the cockpit, but the utter blackness of Shika Nui simply made her more anxious. Then Cina said, “All right, I think we're close to the entrance now. We're going in for a landing, so prepare yourself. It might be rough because I can't see the ground very well.” Ruby wasn't sure how she was supposed to prepare herself for the landing, seeing as she was already strapped in. So she just sat as still as possible until she felt The Smooth Wind land on the ground. Cina quickly hit a variety of buttons and then turned and handed Ruby something. “Here. Take this.” Ruby took the object and looked at it. “A lightstone?” “It's very dark out,” said Cina. “Both in Shika Nui and in Wyoko. We're going to need all the light we can get.” Ruby clicked the light on and shone it around the cockpit. “Seems pretty pathetic.” “It's all we've got,” said Cina as she held up her own lightstone. “Now I'm going to open the cockpit. Are you ready?” Every part of Ruby wanted to scream, 'No, I'm not ready! Let's go home and forget this ever happened. I'm pretty sure I have a match in New Tajun scheduled today anyway!' But she nodded and said, “Yes.” “Here we go, then,” said Cina as she pressed a button on the control panel. Then the cockpit slowly lifted up. As soon as it did, a stale, dead air rushed to fill the cockpit. Ruby hacked and cough several times as her lungs adjusted to the change in air cleanliness, while Cina simply stood up when the cockpit was open and looked down at her companion with concern. “Are you all right, Ruby?” Cina asked. “Because if it's that bad, we can always leave.” The idea of running away made Ruby stop hacking. She stood up, looking as determined as she could, and said, “No way. Niham would hate me for the rest of my life if I went back now.” Cina chuckled. “All right. Let's go.” Cina jumped over the edge of The Smooth Wind and landed on the ground. Ruby followed, but landed much less gracefully. She was still adjusting to the dome's less-than-clean-air, so she was a lot clumsier than she usually was. This disturbed her because if they had to fight someone, she wouldn't be at full strength. She just had to hope the rest of the trip was smooth sailing from here on out. Cina clicked on her own lightstone and shone it into the darkness. “Used The Smooth Wind's guidance system and located the entrance to the Door. Should be straight ahead.” “And that is . . .?” “The ruins of a fortress,” said Cina. “You see, Shika Nui was originally ruled by the Dark Hunters for 25,000 years. The Dark Hunters built a fortress on top of the entrance to Wyoko. Considering that the Kra-Matoran army had to go through it to leave, though, I kind of doubt that the fortress is still standing. We might be able to find the ruins, at least.” The duo began walking forward through the darkness. Every step sounded magnified in Shika Nui, although so far no one seemed to have noticed them. Assuming, of course, that there was anyone here at all. There was a good chance the entire place was completely abandoned. At least, if Ruby had been a Kra-Matoran, she certainly would not have wanted to stay in a gloomy place like this all by herself. The lightstones revealed interesting bits and pieces every now then. For example, the road they were on was covered in thousands of footprints, with the occasional rut from wheeled vehicles obscuring them. They also came across discarded weapons, usually broken or damaged in some way to make them impractical, but Ruby did find a shield that was practically new, which she took because she was currently weaponless and needed something to defend herself with. In addition, more than once they came upon strange drilling machines, abandoned and forgotten in the darkness. Cina identified them as Onu-Drillers, a popular drilling machine popular among Onu-Matoran miners. The Toa of Water speculated that they had been used to clear the path to the Door, although if that was the case, there must have been an entire fleet of them (where Masqouth could have gotten the fleet was a question neither of them knew the answer to). They found only one, although due to the intense darkness around them it was impossible to tell if there were more nearby. The rest of the trip passed in absolute silence. There were no Rahi here. Not even tiny insects to buzz in Ruby's ear. There was no plant life, either. Cina informed Ruby that without the nutrients provided by the Mata Nui robot, the plant life had probably all died and shriveled up years ago. So, although they couldn't see it, Shika Nui was probably nothing more than a barren wasteland now. Still, the fact that they were walking and that they had found some biomech-manufactured artifacts made Ruby feel much more at ease than she had in the air. Not that that it totally did away with her feelings of fear and despair, but it did temper them, made it easier to ignore them. Yet the feelings continued to hover in the back of her mind, as if waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Their lightstones also revealed chunks of stone strewn along the path. Cina inspected them and informed Ruby that the stone chunks had at one point been part of the fortress they were looking for, which meant they were close to finding Wyoko's entrance. They kept on their path, Cina occasionally stopping to touch random objects they passed, explaining that her Mask of Psychometry was giving her important information on the objects that they normally would not have found out on their own. Watching Cina do that reminded Ruby of Niham, whose habit of using her own Mask of Psychometry to discover the history of random objects – sometimes to look for clues concerning a case she was working on, more often simply for curiosity's sake – often drove Ruby up the wall. It also reminded her of something Cina said earlier, something that puzzled her at the time but which had slipped her mind until this moment. “Say, Cina,” said Ruby as the Toa and Glatorian walked down the dark road. “Back on the Soaring Titan, you said you had met Niham once before. When was that, exactly? Niham never mentioned you to me.” Cina shrugged. “About a week ago, on the day she was kidnapped. The Will had sent me to investigate the kidnapping of Toa Laomos. When I got to his apartment, Niham was already there. We talk a bit, traded information, and then went our separate ways. Wasn't anything special.” Ruby nodded as Cina said, “But don't get me wrong. She's not a bad person or anything. It's just that the meeting was brief and uneventful. We're just acquaintances.” Ruby raised an eyebrow. “An acquaintance who is risking her job and her life to save another acquaintance? Seems like something only a a really good friend would do.” “It's nothing,” Cina said. “I'm just like you: impulsive, reckless, and impatient. I want to stop Masqouth more than anyone else and I don't want to wait to do it. Teaming up with you simply gave me the opportunity to get out and do something for a change.” While Ruby's ability to detect lies was nowhere near Niham's level, she could still sense that the Toa of Water was not being entirely truthful. “Okay. But it sure seemed easy for us to escape the Soaring Titan. Yeah, I know no one knew we were escaping, but geez I would have thought their security systems would be a lot better than that, what with you guys being a super secret organization and all.” Cina shrugged again, although this time it was less convincing. “We just got lucky. Or if you prefer, it was our destiny to escape.” “Destiny, or a setup?” “What do you mean?” Ruby rubbed her forehead. “I mean that someone let us get away. Maybe even your leaders. They knew we would escape, knew we were escaping, but decided to let us go anyway. Why?” “I think you're a bit paranoid, Ruby,” said Cina, scratching the back of her neck with her free hand. “Like I said, it was luck, pure and simple.” “Sure was lucky that you managed to have the controls to open the hanger door automatically,” Ruby said. “Which you could have only gotten before 'impulsively' deciding to team up with me to get out of there.” “What are you saying?” “Nothing,” said Ruby. “Just observing how conveniently it worked out for me.” “Every Will airship is equipped with a portable hanger door opener,” said Cina. “It's standard regulation. Ask anyone who regularly flies our airships and they'll confirm it.” Ruby looked around and said, “Well, you're the only Will member around, so. . . .” “Just get on with it,” Cina said, with more than a hint of irritation. “What are you trying to say? Speak plainly. Isn't that what you Glatorian are best at?” Ruby met Cina's intense glare and said, “I am saying that someone in the Will wanted us to escape, perhaps had even planned for it, which is why we didn't face many difficulties on our way out. And I am really starting to think that that person was you.” Cina stopped. “Me? You think I planned all of this out?” “Not all of it,” said Ruby, stopping, too. “Just the basic gist of it. Or maybe someone smarter than you gave you the plan. Either way, it seems obvious to me that something is up and you are the one who probably knows what.” For a moment, Ruby was sure Cina was going to run. In her time in the arena, Ruby had seen what cornered fighters looked like. They always were scared, even if they would never admit it themselves. They looked like their mind had run through every possible scenario, every plan they could think of, and their face revealed that no matter what they did, there was no way they could win. Cina looked a lot like that now. Then the Toa of Water said, “Ruby, you're-” Something cold flew past them, grazing Ruby's arm and causing her to jump in response. She looked at her arm, which was bleeding slightly now, as Cina hurled a water blast in the direction the cold thing had come from. The splash of water hitting something echoed from the darkness, followed quickly by another cold thing Cina dodged by jumping to the side. “What's going on?” said Ruby, holding up her shield. “Who's attacking us?” Cina aimed her lightstone in the direction of their assailants and something small, black, and dangerous-looking quickly leaped out of its range before Ruby could see what it was. “Kra-Matoran,” said Cina. “Not sure how many, but at least one, probably more. Knew we'd run into some.” Ruby heard movement behind her and whirled around just in time to block a spear with her shield. She raised her lightstone and saw the lizard-like face of a Zyglak snarling at her, its strength pressing down on her hard. “What in the he-” Ruby said, struggling to hold back the Zyglak. “You Toa and Matoran will fall,” the Zyglak said. “For taking our home, you must perish.” Ruby certainly would have collapsed under the weight of the Zyglak had Cina not blasted the Great Beings' mistake with water, sending him staggering somewhere into the shadows. The Toa and the Glatorian went back to back, Ruby holding her shield up to her chest and Cina carrying an arm blade. All around them, it sounded like a battle was already in progress, which was strange because it had been completely silent up until this point. “What's going on?” Ruby asked, raising her voice over all the fighting. “And why didn't you tell me there were Zyglak living here?” “The Kra-Matoran and Zyglak are fighting each other,” Cina said. “I thought the Kra-Matoran army or Masqouth's minions had driven them off already, which is why I didn't mention them before. Guess I was wrong.” “What are the Zyglak even doing here?” Ruby said. “This place is lifeless.” “Exactly,” said Cina. “The Zyglak hide out in places no one lives. The domes have been positively infested with them since Teridax's demise, which is another reason why some of the domes were left untouched.” The screeching of a Zyglak and the sound of metal slamming against metal drowned out Ruby's next question. “What was that?” Cina asked. “I said,” Ruby repeated, grimacing, “what do we do now? Fight?” “Hardly,” said Cina. “We make a break for the Door. With both the Zyglak and Kra-Matoran distracted, it should be easy for us to make a break for it.” “But it's dark,” Ruby said. “And there is fighting everywhere. How are we going to get through? Do we even know where we're going?” “Just follow me,” said Cina. “And don't even hesitate to take down anything that jumps out of the darkness, whether Zyglak or Kra-Matoran.” Before Ruby could say anything else, Cina ran off into the darkness. The Glatorian followed quickly, her heart racing as shadow blasts flew overheard, Zyglak screeched and growled, and Kra-Matoran screamed obscenities at their enemies. Every now and then something would grab at her from the shadows, but she always beat it back with her shield. Once a shadow blast grazed her leg, but she ignored the wound and continued to run. Running in the dark, unable to see much besides what little their lightstones revealed, and having to avoid the Zyglak and Kra-Matoran was a nightmare. More than once Ruby tripped, but thankfully Cina always seemed to make time to help her up. Still, they never stopped for long because they did not want to be drawn into the fighting going on all around them. How Cina knew where to go, Ruby didn't understand. The Toa of Water seemed certain about their destination, but Ruby felt that Cina was simply guessing at this point. How could either of them know where the Door was? Neither of them had ever been to Shika Nui before, after all, and the darkness and sounds of battle made things more confusing to Ruby. Finally, Cina said, “I think I see a hole up ahead!” and flashed her lightstone. Ruby followed it and spotted what appeared to be a massive tunnel, easily big enough for an entire army to fit through. She couldn't see much of it, but she knew that that had to be their destination. Just as Cina and Ruby reached the entrance, a sudden flash of red, white, and blue movement brought them to a halt. Their lightstones revealed more Zyglak, standing in front of the tunnel with their spears drawn. There was at least half a dozen, maybe more, and they were snapping and snarling like mad Muaka cats. “Okay, Cina, Plan B,” said Ruby, glancing at her companion as they stepped back from the Zyglak. “What's Plan B?” Cina looked at Ruby like she was crazy. “There is no Plan B.” Ruby was just about to yell at Cina for not thinking ahead when one of the Zyglak launched itself at her. The Glatorian just narrowly managed to dodge the mistake of the Great Beings, which landed on the ground on all fours before rising to its feet and turning to face her. A vicious snarl escaped its lips as the monster stepped toward her, Ruby holding her shield up in defense. “You don't want to kill me,” Ruby said, keeping her tone cool despite her heart racing. “I'm not one of those Kra-Matoran who drove you out of your home. I'm a Glatorian. Big difference.” “There is no difference in our eyes,” the Zyglak said. “Whether you are a Matoran, a Glatorian, or something else, you must die.” Before the Zyglak could tackle her, it screeched in pain and fell face first onto the ground. Ruby flashed her lightstone over its body and saw that three long, bloody cuts ran along its back. She looked up just in time to see a flash of yellow disappear into the darkness. The next moment, all around her Zyglak began screeching and running, the Kra-Matoran cursed and shouted in shock, and then someone grabbed Ruby's arm and shouted, “Ruby, we've got to go. This is the perfect chance.” It was Cina, who was now dragging Ruby along into the tunnel. Ruby just barely managed to keep up, but she kept glancing over her shoulder, asking, “What just happened? Who saved us?” “It's not important right now,” Cina said. “You want to save Niham, don't you? Then we have to keep going. Standing around will only get us killed.” Ruby wrenched her arm out of Cina's grasp, but continued following the Toa. Still, she glanced over her shoulder every now and then, because the sounds of Zyglak dying and Kra-Matoran screaming in pain were impossible to ignore fully. Review Topic

Hey, Lady K! So awesome to see you again. I wondered how you were doing. It's been a while. I hope your graphic novel/webcomic series goes well. That reminds me. I know I started reading A Glitch in the System a while ago, but I unfortunately never got around to finishing it. I probably should, heh. -TNTOS-

Good job, man. Especially on the no debt thing. That's awesome. -TNTOS-

The blogs were the main reason I bought Premier Membership. Having a blog of my own to talk about my fanfics and other things that don't fit neatly into the forums always struck me as cool (and still does, in fact). Gotta admit, though, that the increased PM space is pretty good, too, and the shortened time between name changes (even though I've changed my name maybe once since I went Premier, if even that). -TNTOS-

Welcome to the third installment of my new series of Bionicle flash fics, The Biological Chronicle. For those who don't know what this is, allow me to quote myself from the first fic's introduction: With that out of the way, please enjoy: 2003 Six Rahkshi. One Toa. Kopaka knew he was outnumbered. He had come to this clearing in order to meet with his fellow Toa Nuva, only to make the unpleasant discovery that the Rahkshi had arrived instead. He didn't know where his teammates were or, Mata Nui forbid, whether they were even still alive. In either case, he was forced to conclude that he was on his own for the moment. And for once, that thought didn't make him comfortable. The green Rahkshi—whose name Kopaka didn't know, though he supposed it was unimportant—was the first to move, hissing like a snake, aiming its staff at his mask. It was also the first to be frozen. He supposed it wasn't quite as bright as its brothers. Before Kopaka could strike again, however, the red Rahkshi aimed its staff at the Toa of Ice. A blast of energy fired from the staff's tip and struck Kopaka before he could raise his shield to block it. It didn't hurt when it hit; however, it then occurred to Kopaka just how badly outnumbered and overwhelmed he was. Three of these Rahkshi destroyed Ta-Koro by themselves, Kopaka thought, fear creeping up his spine. And that was when both Tahu and Gali were present to defend it. There's no way I can beat five Rahkshi on my own. The odds are clearly against me. Then, in his mind's eye, Kopaka saw his fellow Toa Nuva laughing at him, mocking him for his failure. It wasn't just the Toa Nuva, though. He saw the Matoran, too, pointing at him, calling him a failure for being unable to defeat the Rahkshi. And even the Turaga, with Nuju at the head, were shaking their heads in disappointment at his failure. We thought you were stronger than that, Kopaka, said Nuju in Matoran. But I guess you really are the weakest Toa Nuva, aren't you? Kopaka tried to ignore the taunts and jeers of his friends, but it was like trying to ignore a hurricane. Everywhere he looked, the Toa, Matoran, and Turaga were laughing at him. Those who were not laughing were nonetheless pointing at him, whispering among themselves that maybe the great Kopaka wasn't so great after all, that maybe he was nothing more than a freakish, fake loner who relied too much on the strength of others to survive. No! Kopaka thought, shaking his head. I'm not weak. I can defeat the Rahkshi. I can! He returned to reality just in time to see the red Rahkshi charging at him. Kopaka raised his ice blades and froze the Rahkshi before it could get any closer. The sight of two frozen Rahkshi encouraged him, making him think that perhaps he could defeat them after all. The black Rahkshi came next, swinging its staff at his head. Kopaka blocked it with his ice blades, but then felt very weak all of a sudden. He managed to hold back the black Rahkshi for a few seconds before it overpowered him and knocked him over, causing Kopaka to realize (far too late) that the black Rahkshi was stealing his energy and there was nothing he could do about it. “No,” Kopaka muttered. “I can't . . .” “Brother!” called out a familiar voice above. Kopaka looked and saw Tahu, Lewa, and Gali standing on a ledge above the scene of the battle. And, though the black Rahkshi continued to absorb his energy, Kopaka knew the tide was about to turn. - Comments, criticism, questions, etc. are all welcomed . -TNTOS-