Grey Snow

Chapter 5: 50 B.G.C.: “We’re splitting up.” Veran said, looking out from atop the rock wall into the Dunes of Sorrow. “Why?” Seig asked, “I mean, we can cover more ground, but…” “We’re not covering more ground this way.” Sigil told the rookie, “This is so that Xalcak will be more likely to make an appearance.” “I don’t follow.” Seig admitted. “Let me tell the rookie.” Rakis said, looking at him, “He’s more likely to attack a small group; that’s how he seems to work. He won’t take on our entire team, so he’ll attack little by little. Got that?” “Yeah, I do.” He replied. Veran spoke up, “Atel, Clasis, you’re with me.” Sigil pointed, “Raiz. You and I.” “That leaves us.” Hark told Rakis and Seig, “Interesting.” “What’s so interesting about it?” Rakis hissed as they split up. “Well, my powers are useless here, so I have…you know what, I wasn’t going anywhere with that.” “Stop talking you bumbling fool.” Rakis muttered. “What did you just call me?” Hark demanded, hefting his spear up. “Stop you two!” Seig snapped at them. “She started it!” Hark accused, “Wait, that makes me sound like a man younger than myself. And wait! You’re the rookie!” “I know. But I’m the only sane man on this trio of ours, it seems.” Seig pointed out. “I’m the oldest of the three of us, I’ve been a Toa the longest. I’ve been on the team the longest.” Rakis said, “I’ll give orders. I order silence. Got that?” “Yeah.” Seig said. “I said silence.” She hissed. Hark nodded. “See? He gets it.” “You’re breaking your own rule.” Seig told her. “What?” “Could we just abolish this? We’re not getting anywhere.” Hark pointed out. “Fine.” The others said at the same time. They continued to walk through the vast, empty desert. It was called the Dunes of Despair for a reason; the dunes towered high in every direction. There was no practical sense of direction, either. It was incredibly hard to climb up a dune, which was the only way to navigate. Otherwise, unless someone could get up to navigate, everyone was stuck walking in the paths that were there between two dunes, just wandering seemingly aimlessly. They didn’t know where they were going, or where the others were. Seig could always float himself up with Air, but he didn’t. They just continued to walk, hoping to find some sign of Xalcak. “I can see why he might be hiding here.” Hark said, “You can’t find anything here! It’s the perfect hiding place.” “But how does he find his way around?” Seig questioned Hark. “He can warp locations and composition.” Rakis said, “Didn’t you get briefed? We know he can do that, so you should have been told at some point.” “No, I was never told about that.” Seig told her. “Well, he can do that. He could warp these dunes as he saw fit. Effectively, he could trap us here by making us go in a circle, and we would never know.” She looked down, “Our footprints? He could warp the sand to wash over them every time we go around. He could trap us here and wait for us to die.” “I could escape, though.” Seig said. “Yeah, you and I could escape.” Rakis said. “What about me?” Hark questioned. “If you were alone, you would die.” She told him, “You can’t do anything out here. Now, Seig could float out. I could blast my way out. But you…you would have to form plants out of nothing. Even if you started, you would have to force them to stay alive, with no nutrients for them to draw from. You’d die, Hark.” “Glad I’m with you two, then.” He muttered. They continued to walk, passing through passages between the dunes. After about an hour, they heard some stealthy, sliding sounds. “I don’t like that.” Hark said, readying his spear. “Be ready.” Rakis hissed. Strievers poured over the sides of the dunes, coming down into the narrow path to fight the three Toa. Escape up a dune was no option, as the dunes would swallow them if they tried to climb. That made escape even more difficult. Seig slashed his sword into one, but it parried. He was at the back, covering the way they had just come, with Hark in the middle, taking stabs at both the front and back when he could. Rakis was in front, using her claws to parry the blades of the Strievers and get some blows in. The small path through the dunes was too narrow for the Strievers to attack on the sides; only the front and back. They would be swallowed if they tried to fight on the side of a dune. “Can’t you guys end this faster?” Hark questioned, plunging his spear forward, killing one who fought Rakis. “Fine.” Seig said, slashing his sword from high on down, sending a blade of narrow Air out, cutting them down. Rakis kicked one and opened her mouth, unleashing a Power Scream, blowing them away, doing enough damage to kill them. “Is that better?” She questioned Hark. “Much.” He replied as they pressed forward. 999 A.G.C.: “Raiz, what happened?” Seig questioned. Raiz realized that they were inside of a building. His wounds were still present. He hadn’t been healed. No wonder he was in so much pain right now. He groaned and tried to sit up, but Yuli pressed him down. “No.” She said, “Not until you get healed. A healer is coming.” “I…I fought…” He said, “I don’t know who she was…she had Xalcak’s powers…” “Xalcak’s powers?” Seig asked, “Are you certain?” “She warped the roof we fought on…yeah…I’m sure.” He replied. “I see.” Seig replied, “We don’t need to go to the place that was the Dunes of Sorrow anymore. It’s not Xalcak, and we have a lead on who this was.” “A lead…?” He questioned. “Your memory.” Seig replied, “Once you heal up, we’ll go looking for this person. We need to find her. There’s no doubt that she’s learned Xalcak’s powers and abilities. She might go back to his source, but I doubt it. I’m sure that once started, the powers aren’t needed to finish.” “So, since she already shows some signs of his powers, we can figure that she’ll learn the rest without his remaining power from his death?” Yuli asked. Seig nodded in confirmation, “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.” “Then what do we do next?” Ryza questioned. “We head back. The attacks from the Strievers have all been in our area. She was in our area, considering where we found your body, Raiz.” He informed the Toa of Rahi of where his body had been, and answered Ryza’s question at the same time, “I think she’s following us. That’s why Strievers have yet to attack any other areas. That’s why she was nearby that you found and fought her.” “So, we just look around here?” Yuli asked. Seig nodded, “Yeah.” “But what do we do when or if we find her?” Yuli questioned him. “We fight.” Ryza said. “But how do we fight someone like that?” Yuli amended her question, “Raiz is the most experienced of all of us, and look what happened to him!” “We’ll be fine.” Seig said, “Strength in numbers, and our Elemental Powers.” The door to the building opened and a Ga-Matoran entered. She crouched down and without a word, began to tend to Raiz’s wounds. “How much will it cost?” Seig asked her. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.” She replied, “Now please, leave this to me and me alone. Leave the room.” “He’s our comrade!” Ryza said, “And how can you charge us? We’ve defended you people!” “Everyone needs money on this island. Including me.” The medic said, “Unfortunately, goodwill doesn’t pay for life.” “It’s fine.” Seig told Ryza, “We’ll be outside.” He told the medic, pulling the other two out the door with him. “I can’t believe this island!” Ryza shouted when they left the building, “I mean, we do so much for the people! We’ve saved them many times! You guys saved them before Yuli and I were Toa! Yet they still charge us. How can they do that?” “It’s natural.” Seig replied, “They need money to live. Even if we keep saving their lives, that only makes sure they live. They need money in order to live the lives we give them by saving them. It’s the natural way of things.” “The natural way was the old way.” Ryza muttered, “Long before Ishiza and her predecessors came into power…” “It’s too bad that Sion never made it to power.” Yuli said. “You still think he could have done a good job?” Ryza questioned. “I do, actually.” Yuli said, “The more I think about the issue, the more I think he would have been good!” Seig skimmed the rooftops, “Just put it aside, you two. I don’t want to listen to this arguing again.” “But it’s true!” Yuli said. “No, it’s not.” Ryza said back. 50 B.G.C.: The Island Defense members walked into the village that Yuli and Ryza lived in. The two came out of their homes, watching the members stroll through, questioning various Matoran about work, trying to get set up. “What’s going on?” Yuli asked one Ta-Matoran whom had just been spoken to. “They want to have us pay them to stay for a week.” He replied, shaking his head, “They say that if anything happens in that time, they’d be here to help us.” “I can’t believe these guys.” Ryza said, “And what would happen if an attack happened somewhere else? We’d lose the money of them staying here as they go off. No doubt they would give the same offer to the place just attacked, and we lose out! These guys are just in it for the money; they wouldn’t do it properly.” “We don’t have enough as it is.” The Ta-Matoran said. “What?” Ryza questioned. “While you two were gone, we gathered together and pooled our resources into one, just to get an estimate. Based on the rates we’ve heard before from the Island Defense, we don’t have enough to pay them to repel an attack, if one would come.” “That’s what the Toa are for.” Ryza said. “They’re not here.” Yuli reminded. The Ta-Matoran nodded, “That’s the problem. There are many villages, only eight Toa, and about thirty or forty of those Island Defense guys. The numbers don’t quite work here.” “I have an idea.” Ryza said. “What?” He asked. “We tell them our money situation, and they leave our village to go to one that can pay. We get the word out faster to lie. Then, when they realize they can’t get paid for their prices, they’ll leave.” “We’ll adjust.” Someone said. Sion walked towards them, his hands on the hilts of his swords at his waist. “What?” Ryza questioned, “You were listening?” “I’m going to rule this island someday and lead it to prosperity.” He said, “I need to know things.” “What did you say about prices?” Yuli asked. “We want our money.” Sion said, “We would drop prices, take what we could get, and leave when that price has run dry, because it would probably cause all of the villages to lose the rest of their money. If not, another drop.” “You lose money, though.” Yuli said. “But we gain the trust of the people, showing them that we would do what we could for them.” He said, “And that would eventually make them trust me enough for when I lead.” Review

The bodies, I would assume, would be stored and kept safe. Or if Red Eyed man is ruthless enough, the bodies are no more, as he has no use for humans, just Zodiarts. The theory is Red Eyes is Ophiuchus, and the Big Bad of the season. I support that one.

I've heard that he didn't like the environment (not a fan of the show from his youth), and was overworked, or something. Granted, I think the overworked comment was a mis-attributed one from the rumors. I think I love you for finding that.

Too many quotes to list. Sword of Destiny and the episodes around there are probably my favorites, along with the one towards the start where Buster lives with them, and they all start badmouthing Lucille, causing him to go into a bleeped speech, leading into one quote I will give, something along the lines of "Nobody's beating that." Also, the Banana Stand episode, the second episode, I think?

Chapter 4: 999 A.G.C.: “My police force is no more!” Ishiza decreed to the gathered police, “Go back to your lives.” She said in disgust, “You are disbanded.” There were shouts of protest from the ranks of the police, but she ignored them. She had four of her heavily armed personal guards standing nearby. Two former police rushed after her as she left, but they were cut down in swift moves from the guards. One group stood separated from the other. The former members of Island Defense stood as one, watching this transpire. They left in silence without commotion. “Where are we going?” Ryza questioned Seig. “We’re going to go to the Dunes of Sorrow.” He replied. “The Dunes?” Yuli asked, “It’s just city now…you know that. Everything is just city now…” “I know.” He replied, “That doesn’t mean we won’t find answers there.” He said. “What answers are you guys looking for?” Ryza questioned, sure that Raiz was in on this, whatever the meaning of it was. “You don’t know much, do you?” Raiz asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryza demanded. Yuli put her hand on Ryza’s shoulder, “Come on, just take it and be calm.” Ryza put up with it while Seig explained it to them from the lead. “You guys need to brush up on your history; read some records when we get back to the main part of the city. The Dunes are where Xalcak fell.” 50 B.G.C.: “The Dunes of Sorrow?” Hark moaned as the Toa – without their two Matoran companions, who had since returned home – pressed forward. “Yes. The Dunes.” Clasis said, “Why?” “I’m a Toa of Jungle.” Hark said, “Nothing grows in the Dunes; it’s all desert!” Clasis shook his head, “Look, I’ll cover you if anything happens. After all, Magma is good anywhere.” “Stop rubbing it in!” Hark complained. “Would you two be quiet?” Rakis demanded. “Sorry.” Clasis apologized. “But come on! All of you can still use yours powers so efficiently in the Dunes!” He cast a sidelong glance towards the hunched over Toa of Rahi, “Except for maybe Raiz…but I’m sure he’ll find some lizard Rahi or something! Can’t I stay back in the villages? Deal with Island Defense?” “No.” Veran said firmly, “We’re nearly there, anyway.” They all stopped when Veran stopped. They were walking along a path lined with large rocks going through a plain with sparse tree coverage on their sides. They could see a rock wall rising up in the distance, which covered parts of the Dunes, cutting some of them off from society, but not completely trapping the Dunes. “We’re nearly there. Why stop?” Seig asked. “Because of this.” Sigil muttered, throwing his arm to the side, and then pulling it back. Three Strievers flew out towards them, smashing into the ground as he released his Gravity control. “Strievers?” Seig questioned, “But how…?” “I’m that good.” Sigil said, flicking his right wrist as one of them rose. He delivered a powerful punch, causing the Striever to smoke and vanish. Veran span around, wrapping the inside of his left leg around one’s neck, standing firmly on his right leg. He applied continual pressure until the creature vanished. The third one went down swiftly as Raiz leapt forward, running his arm mounted weapons through it, tearing it apart. “That was too easy.” Raiz hissed, “I want more!” “You’ve got more.” Clasis said, drawing up his double sided sword. He threw his arm out towards the trees, firing concentrated bursts of Magma from the two ends. As Strievers raced out, they were cut down, burning to death. He span around, cutting one down that tried to sneak up on him. The Toa began to scatter as they flooded out of the trees towards them. With this many around, it was evident that they were near something important to Xalcak. They began to cut them down however they could. Hark took full advantage of the trees and used them to strangle or impale Strievers with branches while he could. He span around, cutting one down with his double ended spear. He span it around, running the other end behind him to impale the one coming at him. His spear made contact but stopped. “What?” He hissed, spinning around, spinning his weapon overhead, and slashing down, but it stopped. Then he saw it. It was no Striever. It was larger, covered in thick black and white armor. It had clawed feet, thick white armor overlaying black on its legs, with white chest armor with thick black overlay. It had spikes coming from its arms before the elbow, wrapping around to its own back. Short muscular arms were tipped with claws, wielding large blades in each hand that it might take two hands to otherwise wield. It had a snaking neck, albeit short, with a crimson and white head that ran back and ended in a spike, with many spikes sticking out of it along the way. It kicked Hark, knocking him back. He looked up, taking two slashes from the creature, going down. His armor was darkened from the impact marks. Veran leapt into a Striever, smashing his brace into it, taking it down. He span around, “Hark!” He cast his eyes to Sigil, “Cover me!” Sigil smashed his covered fist into one enemy, taking it down. He span around and nodded, “Got it!” Veran ran forward, slapping his brace with his palm. He leapt up, shouting, swinging his leg out at the thing’s neck. Sigil ran in and leapt forward, sliding and throwing a punch covered in Gravity energy. The creature span around, using one sword to block each attack. It slid back from the power surging from the Toa, but it took no damage. “Someone!” Veran shouted as he landed and threw another kick, only for another parry. Rakis grabbed a Striever in her claw and threw it. She ran forward and opened her mouth, unleashing a Power Scream which rippled over the ground, smashing into the creature from behind. As it slid forward, Sigil and Veran drew their weapon covered limbs back and threw another strike, smashing the kick and punch into the creature’s chest at the same point, causing the armor to crack. “Now!” They shouted in unison. Clasis ran up behind them and put his blades out, right above his leader’s shoulders. Magma energy generated into them and shot out, slicing the creature through. It roared as it reduced into smoke as it died. “What was that?” Clasis questioned. “A new toy for Xalcak, I’ll bet.” Veran said, “Now, let’s move!” As the Strievers were finished off, the eight Toa moved on, towards the Dunes of Sorrow, where they were sure that Xalcak would be hiding from them. 999 A.G.C.: “What do you hope to find there anyway?” Yuli asked. “Energy.” Seig replied. “Energy?” “Yeah. I’m hoping that some of Xalcak’s leftover energy is still there and can at least give us an indication of whether someone was siphoning off of it or something. Or if he somehow returned and the energy is altogether gone.” “Are we looking for a corpse?” Ryza asked. “No.” Seig replied, “There was no corpse.” “We utterly destroyed him.” Raiz clarified, “We do know that he died. We destroyed his body in the fight to be sure of that.” “Ah, got it.” Ryza said, having thought they may have done a lethal blow or something and he had just vanished, such as into a dune. As they continued on through the streets, they got the vague idea that someone was watching them. Raiz let out a whistle, summoning a winged Rahi to his side. He got onto the creature’s back and flew up into the sky as they continued. Despite Ryza and Yuli wanting to question it, they didn’t. Raiz looked around the tops of buildings as he flew around, and then saw a figure. He leapt down, landing behind the blue and white armored being who watched the Toa. “Who are you?” He questioned, lowering his sword from his shoulder in preparation. The figure turned to face him. He could tell that she was a woman, but a volatile one, if the blades and fangs were any indication. “You’re Toa Raiz, Toa of Rahi.” She said, “You see, I know you. You don’t know me. I like that. I’m going to keep it that way.” “What?” He questioned, “Just who are you?” “I’m nobody.” She replied, lifting her claw weapons up, “Come and face me, Toa.” He lifted his blade to his shoulder once more, “With pleasure.” He said, running forward. He slid across the rooftop, swinging his weapon down at her. She made no moves to stop him. As his blade touched her, she warped. The blade had reached her left shoulder. Her left shoulder had now dropped down to her waist, with a large ‘V’ gash missing in her side. The other side shot back up to her arm, which was still where it should have been, just connected now by a loose piece of body rising from her hip. She had just warped her body to avoid being struck. “You have Xalcak’s power!” Raiz hissed in shock. “I do.” She replied, taking a step back. Her arm reset into the proper location. She drew her blades up and ran forward, slashing him three times with each weapon before delivering a kick, throwing him down. He moaned in pain and rolled over. He came up to his feet, remaining crouched. He drew his left claw up and ran forward, spinning his sword so it was pointdown. He slammed the weapon into the ground and vaulted it, slashing at her with his claw. She lifted her claw weapon to parry. She slashed it out, throwing his arm aside, and then followed up with a knee to knock him back. He shook his head and shouted, taking a wild swing with his right fist, and then an uppercut with his left claw. She dodged both by just dodging her head to the side. She rammed her knee into him, knocking him back, and then the other knee, again, knocking him back. She backhanded him with one of her claw weapons, sending him staggering aside. He shouted and plunged his claw forward, but she fell back, bending her knees and leaving her body running parallel with the rooftop in a very skilful and possibly nearly impossible dodge. He drew his arm back and plunged it down. She plowed her claw weapons into the rooftop and quickly performed a flip, twisting around so that she was now facing Raiz. She had been fast enough to avoid his claw coming down at her. “Just what are you?” He shouted, whistling. The large avian Rahi returned and flew down, talons ready. She cast her arm to the side, causing the rooftop to warp, sending a spike up to impale the bird. As she glanced to her side, Raiz was upon her, sending his claw in for the kill. “Too easy.” She muttered. The rooftop warped again, sending a small burst of its composition up, just directing his claw in the air now, instead of straight. She whipped around, delivering a powerful kick to his side, knocking him towards the edge of the roof. She walked towards him, “Toa Raiz. Toa of Rahi. I expected you to put up a better fight. But then again, you didn’t put up a very good one against Xalcak.” “What’s that?” He shouted, coming to his feet. He swayed. He ran forward, shouting. She flicked her arm out, sending another spike to rise. He leapt over it with an impossibly powerful and high jump. He landed over her, his legs almost shot from throwing that much into his muscles. He slid, grabbed his sword, and ran forward at her back. He drew his pointdown blade to his side and screamed, swinging it forward at her spine. She span around, deflecting it with one claw, and using her other to stop his claw. She rammed a knee into him, sending him staggering back, and then span around, backhanding him towards the ledge. This time he fell. She walked towards it and looked down. She watched him fall, and then waved her hand out, sending a pillar made of the composition of the building out of the side, smashing it into him, throwing him even faster down, and in much more pain now. “That’ll kill him.” She said, walking away. The spike morphed around the avian Rahi, absorbing it, and then settling back into the building as it was before. She walked to the ledge, finding the others out of sight. So she leapt, hovering off after them. Review

Series 1 is by far the greatest of the revived years. Eccleston brought something that 10 and 11 have yet to bring (11's had shades of it, at least).

We know he's not Scorpio/Scorpion. He's obviously Alternative Zero. But seriously, in the preview for episode 8, the subs state something along the lines of having lost humanity, and Scorpio is shown as being talked to, or implied to be. This seems to imply that Scorpio/the elite Zodiarts have all gone Last One, and are only Zodiarts now. At least, I believe that theory. As for States, it's rumored he'll obtain a water powered State...but aside from that, no idea. Probably Base, Elek, Fire, Water (?) - Mid Season (FangJoker, Tajador), final (Xtreme, Putotyra). One final note; in episode 7, it's hilarious that the teacher made them write "reflection", considering.

Ditch the bowtie for a scarf; equal, if not greater tradeoff.

Scarves are cool. Period. This is fact. Eleven or Twelve needs a scarf...

So, I found some people and a camera finally. Tomorrow, depending on how long out of my four hour break my Wednesday homework takes, I'm starting to hammer out the finer points of my plot. My project is finally starting to move forward.

Accel is awesome, probably better than Eternal's movie. Anyway, if you're trying to link continuity, ignore Core. It does not fit. No matter what. Nobunaga as Birth could be explained away, along with it taking place throughout the series, ending when Date leaves, hence the ending. However, the Medal count, and every Greeed alive at the end negates it. It's less of a headache to ignore it. Just like the OOO Wonderful, it isn't canon. There is no way for the Medal count to work (that's the most glaring point of discontinuity). Fourze new stuff: Movie Wars stuff (confirming X's return):

Last fifteen minutes, I kept expecting him to pop up in the house. What better way to make those last fifteen memorable/scar for life (whatever they claimed)? Besides, in 2, it opened everything at once. Slendy? Tentacles to open everything? Makes perfect sense.

Chapter 3: 999 A.G.C.: Ishiza’s hate grew as she watched the Island Defense - or rather, former Island Defense – fight through the Strievers, while her other police, who had no background in Island Defense, were losing quickly and pathetically, most being killed by the slow, lumbering Strievers. How was this happening? She had abolished Island Defense because she couldn’t control them. That was a few hundred years ago. Now here they were; back again! They may have been under a different name and organization, but as she lost anyone who wasn’t Island Defense, she realized that the survivors would be only Island Defense. Therefore, Island Defense would be alive again. She cursed them. Cursed the weak, pitiful fools who tried to become police for the island. She cursed them all. What good were they? And what could she do? 50 B.G.C.: “This Island Defense could be a real problem.” Atel said as Seig recounted what he had heard in the village. Veran nodded, “Yes. If they continue to exist here as they do, they could bleed the Matoran citizens out of all of their money; there could be no life left as they know it if this persists. We should deal with it.” “We’re Toa; how do you propose we deal with wily Matoran?” Sigil questioned, “We can’t harm them, that goes against being a Toa!” “Why can’t we?” Rakis questioned, “They have no issues with acting against the natural order of this island. I say we can do what we want to them, as long as it’s for the benefit of the island. That includes harming them.” “Rakis, how could you say something like that?” Hark questioned, leaning against a tree, the firelight flickering across his armor. He had his spear rested between his bent knees, lying against his shoulder and then the tree in turn. He almost looked like a man of wisdom greater than his years, due to the atmosphere. Hark was one of the younger members of the team, with only Seig below him. “If they want to act tough, then why don’t we?” She questioned. “There’s a different between being tough on them and killing them, or even harming them.” Clasis, Toa of Magma, said. “Not much.” She muttered. “I’m with Rakis.” Raiz, the crouched berserker Toa of Rahi said. “Rakis, Raiz, there is no way that we will come to harming these Island Defense members.” Veran said, “That is my order as leader. Now, in the morning we have to set out and find Xalcak, if we can. Rest now; first watch is mine.” The other Toa would settle their differences at another time. They settled down for the night, using the heat of the fire as their comfort in the darkness. Yuli and Ryza also settled down for the night, but couldn’t sleep very well. They saw someone approaching, but recognized the figure as a Matoran, motioning to them. The others, trying to sleep, wouldn’t notice. Veran was looking another way. The two got up and walked away, towards the shadowy Matoran. They followed in silence as the Matoran headed away. As they followed, they realized something. Movement at their side; a Striever. It rushed them, quickly attacking. The Matoran attempted to attack it, but was cut down by the creature’s blade. Another Matoran ran out of the trees nearby and kicked the Striever. He drew his two blades up. Sion ran into battle to protect Yuli and Ryza. 999 A.G.C.: “So, the Island Defense members became the police, for the most part.” Yuli said, “But why would they sell themselves like that? That was completely against their beliefs! They were fighters for money!” Ryza nodded in agreement, “They weren’t even from this island; they just were passing through. I don’t even understand how Ishiza could disband them in the first place…” “Simple; she had the power to keep them from leaving this island in any way.” Raiz said, “She could have had them executed with her well trained personal guardians. They had to submit to her if they wanted to live. I guess they just figured this island would be fine; or they were forced to stay, for whatever reason.” “But why wouldn’t they fight harder?” Ryza questioned. “There were only about thirty to forty of them, right?” Yuli asked, “I don’t think they could have handled a fight against Ishiza’s personal guardians, with how heavily armed they are, how skilled they are.” “I guess you’re right.” Ryza agreed. “Whatever the reason, we have to be wary.” Seig said, “We didn’t trust them very much back then; we can’t trust them now. If they even try to reclaim power by being the only viable police force on this island, then the Matoran are going to be in trouble.” 50 B.G.C.: Sion kicked the Striever multiple times, keeping it at bay. He looked back, “Run!” He hissed to Yuli and Ryza. “Not until we get some answers!” Ryza snapped impatiently, “Who was that Matoran who had us come here? Why did he suddenly get killed? Why were you here? Answer me! Is this a trap of some sort?” “I don’t know any of what you’re talking about.” Sion said, “I was on patrol. I’m a soldier, that’s what I do. Now, go!” He turned back to the Striever, parrying the slashes from both blades. He pushed back and kicked it again before stepping through and stabbing it. It hissed and swung its arm, backhanding Sion, knocking him to the ground. He quickly came back to his feet, not showing any signs of pain. He was a soldier; he was better than that. He drew his blades up and rushed forward, slashing twice quickly, cutting the Striever’s arms. It cried out as it stumbled back, then taking a sword to the chest. Sion dropped the Striever. It reduced into smoke, vanishing upon its death. “Answers.” Ryza hissed. Yuli grabbed her shoulder, “Ryza, we should go. There’s no point to questioning him.” “Yes there is.” Ryza said, “Was this a trap to lure us out here for some reason? What’s going on, Sion?” She demanded. “You remember my name…?” He questioned, then walked towards the corpse. He crouched by the Matoran, looking him over. He rose, “He wasn’t one of ours. He looks like one of the people from the village over there, most likely.” He kicked the body, rolling it over, “He had a knife; he was going to kill you two, it looks like.” Sion sheathed his weapons and crouched, taking the knife up, looking it over. “Or this was all part of an elaborate trap of some sort.” Ryza said skeptically. “What point would there be to that?” Sion questioned, hooking the knife and sheath onto his waist, to use as an additional weapon, “Go back to your camp before I charge you for saving your lives.” Sion said, walking away from them to continue his patrol. “Didn’t he say he would lead this island someday, or something?” Yuli questioned. Ryza nodded, “I think he claimed he would be a good leader and lead us to prosperity. Seems to conflict with what Island Defense is about, don’t you think?” “Yeah, but that’s not it.” Yuli said, “I want to know what his point is. Why does he think this island needs a leader? Or someone to lead us? Aren’t we doing fine as we are?” “Maybe someday he thinks we’ll descend into chaos without one. He’s a soldier, after all. I think he could be raised to think that way.” Ryza said, “Come on…let’s go back to the Toa.” Yuli nodded, “Yeah. We can talk about this later.” “We’re done talking about this.” Ryza said, heading off. 999 A.G.C.: The next day, the four Toa walked through the streets of the city, watching as police walked by on patrol. Some they knew as Island Defense, from the past. Some were recognizable; some they just knew had to be Island Defense, and knew they could only be from the past. “So, about these Strievers…” Yuli said, looking at some slashes in walls from the previous fighting. “What about them?” Raiz questioned. “Well…where did they come from exactly?” Yuli asked. “She raises a good point.” Ryza said, “One we really need to talk about. Have you two been holding out on us? Is Xalcak still alive, or something? Have you just been lying?” “No.” Seig said, “Xalcak is dead. We all saw to that. The Strievers and Slith died with him. And these Strievers being back is a rather new occurrence.” “You think someone else is using them?” Raiz questioned Seig. When the Toa of Air nodded, Raiz added, “I’ve wondered that myself. I also think the same.” “But who could do something like that?” Yuli questioned, “Who would have the power to do what Xalcak could?” “Well, so far we’ve only seen his minions; not any other signs of his powers.” Seig replied. “If it were any more, we would know. Xalcak’s powers weren’t always low key, exactly. Trust me; we’d know.” “Ok.” Yuli said, “But bear with me; why would someone try to learn Xalcak’s powers that allowed him to create the Strievers, but not learn anything else? But granted, the Strievers have just been appearing recently, whoever it is could still be learning.” “We have to hope that that’s not the case.” Seig said. “Why?” Ryza questioned, “The four of us could do it!” Seig and Raiz both stopped walking. They turned to her with anger, with pain and rage in their eyes. Ryza took a step back, just to escape from the looks in their eyes. “How dare you say that?” Seig shouted. “Do you realize what you just said, Ryza?” Raiz demanded. “What…what did I say?” She stuttered. “You think that four of us could defeat another Xalcak? It took eight of us in the past! And three of us didn’t make it out alive!” Seig shouted at her, “You’re a Toa! Don’t take this lightly! Even if it is the past, don’t take things lightly! Do you think you’re better than the others? Than Veran, Sigil, Atel, Hark, Rakis or Clasis? Do you think that the four of us could do it, just because two of us have already? “No! Don’t you dare talk like that, Ryza! Don’t you dare think that the four of us are better than the eight of us were! Ever! Do you understand me?” Ryza was almost trembling in shock at Seig’s words. She clenched her fists and slowly nodded. “What?” Raiz hissed. “I understand.” She muttered. “Good.” Raiz said, grabbing Seig’s shoulder, “Come on; let’s get going. I think they get it.” He nodded back, “If there is another Xalcak, then we can’t handle the problem alone. We need to keep an eye out. If anyone is exhibiting signs of Xalcak’s powers, that we can assume another Xalcak has appeared, or Xalcak is somehow back to the world of life, then we need help. We need help very badly.” The four Toa continued on through the streets. Tall buildings were all around them, cutting off parts of the sky around them, some of the tops keeping out of view with their heights so high. If they could have seen towards the top, they would have seen a figure standing there, watching not only them, but everything else; the entire island that the figure could see. In contrast to the almost decaying, white look of Xalcak, this new figure stood as a lithe, lively figure. Standing in white and blue armor, she watched, looking down at the Toa specifically at this point, having heard them speaking of Xalcak. She had white leg armor, with blue claw-like armor overlaying. She had clawed blue feet, sleek blue armor above her knees to her white chest with some blue. She had a white blade overlying her chest, curling down her front. She had blades running up the tops of her blue arms, which had minimal armor on otherwise. She had white hands which were clutching two blue weapons; one in each hand. They were like her leg armor; curved, with three blades coming out. To conceal her face she wore a blue and silver sleek Kanohi mask. Fangs lined the mouth area, giving her a look of intimidation. She crossed her arms over her chest as she stood on the edge of the roof. She flipped down, her claws digging in as she dropped. As she hand out, horizontal over the streets, she pushed off, vanishing; simply vanishing. Review

So, I watched Paranormal Activity 3 last night (and 2 for recap before we went). Is it wrong of me to have been looking for Slendy any time they used handhelds? I don't think so.

I did look into one, not sure if that was it. If it was that one I saw, it was out of my area.

The worlds are linked, based on W and OOO appearing in movies (debatable, but whatever) together, and OOO ending scenes with Fourze characters. That, and W appears in Megamax, linking it all for good. And Foundation X appears in the movie as well. I can't tell from your post, Ultra, if you know that and are hoping it will be good, or don't know that, so I'm just covering the bases. I saw Eternal again today, an edited version to change the story, the Takenoko cut. I like his cuts; I have The Next burned on DVD with his cut. It removes Chiharu's subplot (for the better). Eternal was done as "What if W wasn't the hero, but Eternal was? What if NEVER fought Museum and Foundation X in Fuuto?" and it turned out well. Cutting out all the W scenes, except Mina talking about Heaven's Hall for exposition purposes. It also removes Katsumi going insane when she dies, and gives a text screen about how he went to Fuuto, not wanting to revive her as a monster, etc. I liked the edit, because I hate Katsumi going insane, after the beautiful moment he had with Mina dying. Though in this version, she stays dead (the Heaven's Hall scene is thus confusing).

I thought tonight would be better. Looked better, but it wasn't bad. I quite liked it. I love it when they have those types of situations that are just...you know, I can't describe it.

Caught up on Dark Harvest. Towards the end it got good; too bad it's been so long since an update from them. Though the last (two weeks ago) Kinder (?) video was interesting.

No architecture, unfortunately. When it gets warm enough, I'm heading to the park I had in mind anyway (training a friend, basically, who asked me to help her get in better shape), so jogging there, and I'll work on stuff there, as I intended on. But that's all.

There's literally only a park that I can think of in town. That's about it. A few parks and playground equipment. Can't do some stuff on them, but can do other stuff that falls under Parkour.

I'd love to see Davos as a man of power, but not King. I don't think he'd be a good King, personally. Hand; yes, King, no. I can only see Stannis as a good King without Rh'llor. Otherwise I'm hoping for Dany.

Oh yes, I had forgotten about that, honestly. That was freaky. Though do remind me; where/when was that? It was at his house, right? After he had left it?

I have searched for nearby places, but there's no point with the distance, and because I'm a college student. I do do some stuff where I can, but it's not much, due to limitations. There's just no place to do it, really. Besides, I'd rather not do anything with a lot of people who are lacking and just interested. I'm going into criminal justice, and I wouldn't want to hurt myself because of someone who isn't at my athletic level is trying something that gets me screwed up too.

Chapter 2: 50 B.G.C.: “You plan on making an island that will be prosperous?” Atel questioned the Ta-Matoran with the two swords. Before he could speak, the Onu-Matoran in charge barked an order, “We have our payment; Sion! Stop talking and come along!” The Ta-Matoran nodded, “Understood.” He muttered, following the Onu-Matoran and the rest of this troop from the Island Defense off. “A Matoran mercenary force…” Veran muttered, shaking his head, “What are things coming to?” “What do you mean?” Seig questioned. “It just seems…useless.” Veran said, “Here we are, a team of eight Toa, and we’re supposed to be protecting the Matoran. But then, they go out and form a group like that. It makes me feel like we aren’t doing our jobs!” “We’re doing our jobs.” Sigil assured Veran, “But part of our job involves tracking down and defeating Xalcak. Until that is done, the Island Defense is a good idea. It helps to keep them safe while we cannot.” “But can they actually be trusted to do their jobs?” Atel questioned, “I mean, they fight for money. What if someone can’t pay?” “Can they fight Strievers?” Hark questioned. “Look, right now, we should rest.” Veran said, “We’ve had a long day, and we have to continue after Xalcak in the morning. Shifts as always. Yuli, Ryza, what are your plans? You’re going back to the village in the morning, I trust?” “We came out here for a reason!” Ryza said, “We’re here to help you guys navigate and find Xalcak!” “That won’t be necessary. You’re only Matoran, and this is our greatest enemy. Please, for your own sakes, leave in the morning.” Veran said. “But…!” Ryza started, but Yuli grabbed her shoulder. “He’s right, you know.” She told her Matoran of Electricity friend. “But…” “No.” Clasis, Toa of Magma, said, “Veran is right. You’re better off being safely away in the village. Go.” “If you were Toa, it would be different, of course.” Rakis, the female Toa of Power Scream said, “Come back then!” She laughed. 999 A.G.C.: “Too bad about Island Defense. That guy, Sion, sounded useful.” Yuli brought up. “Sion? That Ta-Matoran soldier?” Ryza questioned. “Yeah. He sounded like he could be a good leader.” Yuli said. “There’s a difference.” Raiz said. “What difference?” Yuli questioned. “Between sounding like a good leader and being one.” The Toa of Rahi clarified, “You see, I remember him. He was obnoxious, cocky, and always ready to fight. He had good qualities, too, and he was a good fighter, but there’s more to being a leader than that. He had no reservation. He always found attacking and defeating the foe to be the best thing he could do. Even though he was just a soldier every time I met him, he always wanted the money. He was only in it for that. He wouldn’t be much better than our current rulers.” Seig nodded, “I always got that feeling from him, now that you mention it.” There were shouts down below. The Toa glanced out the window, watching as Strievers moved in slowly at the new police force. The way the Strievers moved was offsetting, with a sickening swaying or lurching, constantly. They lifted their blades as they moved in. The police Matoran only had staffs. How would they win, especially as afraid as they were right now? “We have to go.” Seig said, stepping onto the ledge of the window. He pushed out, manipulating the sky around him with his powers of Air, creating enough wind to carry him on his small wings. He shot down, redirecting all of the wind down at the ground. He drew his blade up and slashed one Striever as he skidded to a stop on the ground. It instantly vanished into smoke. Raiz leapt down, unleashing his powers. A large hawk-like Rahi swooped down, landing beneath him, helping his descent. He released his powers of control and leapt off, slashing a Striever on his right with his sword, while one on his left was plunged through by his claw, both vanishing. Ryza and Yuli ran down the building from the inside, getting into the street and rushing out, finding some of the police fighting back, and fighting very well. Some were clearly former Island Defense members, with their levels of skill. Some even defeated their Strievers. Yuli lifted her weapon – a large shield-like weapon with a blade inset along each side, as well as the top and bottom – and Ryza lifted her sword, while preparing to use her arm mounted propeller weapon to store Electricity for a burst release. As they cut down Strievers on all sides, Ryza span around, spinning her propeller. A large burst of Electricity flew through, leveling three of them and wounding four more, which the police quickly overtook. Former Island Defense members. Ishiza watched and clenched her fist. Things weren’t going as well as she had planned. She wanted these police to remove the dependency on the Toa, and yet most of the police could do nothing! The Toa were doing most of the fighting, while only a few members of her police force were actually fighting back, and winning.She knew those were former Island Defense. She cursed. She had disbanded Island Defense for a reason. Anyone still fighting as it would be put to death, she had declared. They had disbanded under her promise of death, and she had allowed them to be recruited into her police. But that they were the most skilled disgusted her. The normal citizens, who were to be the bulk of this wide force, would be useless. They were to maintain order between the classes who would likely revolt at some point, yet these foolish police could do nothing! What happened to the promise they had shown? And what would happen if they ever actually faced against groups of angry Matoran? They would be useless! 50 B.G.C.: Strievers stood in the way of the eight Toa, Yuli and Ryza, whom had refused to leave after some consideration. They were going to lead the Toa through, and that was all they would settle for, after some discussion between each other. “Let’s make this quick.” Veran said, igniting his brace with some Plasma. He ran forward and threw a kick into one before spinning and striking another with his brace.Hark unleashed his powers of Jungle, constricting a few of them with snaking vines. While he held them down and killed them, the ones who wouldn’t die were burned to death by Clasis and his Magma powers. The two Matoran were staying back, while Seig and Rakis remained back, using their powers from a distance. They were tasked with defending the Matoran at this point. Raiz leapt onto a Striever, using his clawed feet to tear into its body. As it vanished, he leapt at another, slashing wildly with both of his claw weapons; ripping it apart and making it vanish in smoke. As the battle continued, Sigil and Veran both struck the last one, dispersing it. But as they were about to move on, more appeared, and then screams were heard not too far away in the distance. “There’s a village up there!” Yuli realized. “Protect it! Seig, Rakis!” Sigil shouted back at the two Toa. He leapt forward, punching one repeatedly until it was destroyed. The two Toa nodded, and with the Matoran in tow, ran up the hill, through the trees, and into the small village. Some Matoran were being killed, some were running from the Strievers, which moved quickly towards them, running. Always at a fast pace, these things moved. “I’ll fire from here.” Rakis said. Seig nodded, “I’ll move in, then.” He ran down the slope towards the village, leaping off and slashing at a Striever from behind, cutting it down. As he ran into the village, he could see some more falling in front of him. But when he looked back to Rakis, she was attacking them on another side of the village. “What…?” He muttered. He saw more fall and disperse into smoke. Then he saw the Island Defense, the same squad from the night before, fighting the Strievers. They used spears, impaling these creatures, while some used swords and cut them down. A few used shields, sometimes for defense, sometimes switching and using them as bludgeoning tools.Seig knew it was the entire force. He even saw Sion, parrying against one with one sword, while using his other to slash at another, then reverse, parry and slash the other ways. He was good, but too overconfident. Another blade came at him from behind. Seig threw his hand out, smashing the Striever with a concentrated hurricane from his hand, using his vortex of air to smash it around. “What did you do?” Sion hissed, turning towards him. “Saved you!” Seig shouted at him, slashing one down. “Saved me?” Sion muttered, “I won’t thank you.” “I didn’t think you would.” Seig replied, running off and parrying a blade as it nearly killed an innocent Matoran. He kicked it back, but two Island Defense members came upon it, stabbing it through both sides, killing it. “Stop getting in our way, Toa.” One of them hissed at him. “In your way?” Seig questioned, “I’m a Toa. It’s my job to help the Matoran!” “It was your job.” He countered, “Now it’s our jobs. They pay, we defend them. Stop trying to cut in on our business!” “Your business?” Seig was disgusted, “Do you really think that life and death is a business venture for you lot?” “It is, because we’re skilled enough.” The other one told Seig, “Former Soldaat members. All of us. It’s a business venture to the Soldaat, fighting for money, defending for money. Why not us?” “You’re all in the wrong, here!” Seig shouted, “This is a Toa’s job! A Toa’s duty! And exploiting people, making them pay for defense…you just sicken me!” “If they can defend themselves, then let them.” The second one said, “But oh, wait, they can’t. So what’s the problem with them paying for some protection?” “You’ll bleed this island dry; you know that, don’t you?” Seig demanded, “Then what? When they need help, and are low on funds, you’ll refuse, right?” “No. We’ll kill as many as they can pay us to.” He replied, “Then we’ll leave. We do our jobs, even if we can’t get all the money we want. We just work for that much. Simple as that, rookie Toa. Now, stand aside; you’re interfering.” “We are not to be taken lightly!” Seig shouted, “You do this for greed, we do it for what is right!” Sion slashed one down and rushed over. He stopped in front of the two comrades of his and Seig, “Toa, there are eight of you, and many villages. We do this for a reason other than money.” “Money is only the primary reason.” One said. “You’re not helping.” Sion hissed. “You three!” The commander shouted, “We’re done here!” The Onu-Matoran commander shouted. He headed over and glared at Seig, “Get out of our way, Toa. We do a job here, one that you can’t comprehend.” “I may be a rookie, but I know when the people are being used!” Seig shouted at him. “Are we using the Matoran? Is that what you think? For greed? Money? No. We protect them because you Toa can’t be everywhere.” “And what happens when they run out of money? Then what? Will you protect them out of the kindness of your hearts?” Seig demanded. “That’s their problem, then.” The Onu-Matoran said. More men gathered behind him. He threw his arms out, “As you can see, Toa, we’re very capable. How many wounds do you see on my men right now? How many losses? “Few minor wounds, no losses. Look at how good we are, Toa.” Seig watched as they left. He clenched his fists in anger. He swore that he would never allow people like that to return to the island. He swore to do something about them. 999 A.G.C.: “Island Defense members.” Seig muttered, watching as the group fought through Strievers. He went back to the fight, helping to cut down more of them, alongside his Toa comrades. “What is it, Seig?” Yuli questioned their leader. “They’re Island Defense.” He hissed. “I swore I would never allow these people back. And now, here they are…back in some semblance of their former selves…” He hissed in hate. Review

I need to find a place to teach this. I have a self-taught friend, but unfortunately, there's no real good place in town, or I'd be doing stuff to teach myself.