Grey Snow

Review for The Bara Magna Chronicles

The first three books can be found here.I don't know why it took me so long to post this. I've been sitting on it for a bit over a year, I think. Well, no more. Here it is.I should note, the final seven chapters are missing. Lost/stolen flashdrive, no will to rewrite those chapters, which I literally wrote in about one day (I marathoned through it). Instead, there are descriptions of what happened in each chapter. Anyway, here it is.Legacy 1: The Shadow Approaches—Teridax Comes! “What is it?” He heard being questioned of him by a soft voice in his ear. He turned, catching a fleeting glimpse of a robed figure. This figure turned towards him, hood up, darkness swirling around his body, obscuring his form. He held a hand out to Mata Nui, the golden figure as he saw staring at the dark night sky above. The figure flickered as his robe continued in constant movement around him. Mata Nui almost reached out to touch the hand. He didn’t know why. He didn’t know who or what this was, but he had a strong feeling he did, that deep down, he knew and wanted to make contact, as if his life depended on it. Who was this? Who or what could make Mata Nui feel this way? How could Mata Nui feel so…alien, even on a world that accepted him? A world that he now had control over the civilizations of? He made this world for the better by conquering it. Was this specter trying to tell him something? Trying to use a connection to tell him something? No. How could that be? What he had done was righteous. He had no sins. By conquering Bara Magna he wasn’t creating evil. He wasn’t being evil. On the contrary, he was bringing hope to a world that had none to begin with. This world was only thriving, living, because of him. If he hadn’t done what he had done, then Tuma would have won. He would have the entire infrastructure of Bara Magna under his control. Or maybe not. Maybe he would have thrown men at the Elemental Lords and the Holy Spherus Magna Empire until either he was out of an army, or, he had won. Mata Nui had no doubts that Tuma could have crushed the Empire, if he planned properly. He knew that Tuma was a powerful combatant, and a good general in the ways of strategy. He could have easily won, especially with Branar’s help, since Branar was gifted with the powers over rock, making him an invaluable asset to any battle. But the Lords were in a far different class. Mata Nui only defeated them because of the Ignika’s power of Life, and any powers he was given in absence of those that were stripped from him. Only through Life had he ended the lives of the Lords and brought any enemy forces to their knees before him, before his unified people. Was this vision trying to tell him something? Tell him he was wrong? He didn’t know why he felt that way. He didn’t even know who or what this specter was. For all he knew, it could have nothing to do with what Mata Nui was currently feeling, but for all he knew, it had everything to do with it. This specter could have been a vision of death, claiming that Mata Nui’s way was wrong, and he should accept death. As he stared at the figure, unsure of whom had spoken to him in that feminine voice, he watched. The figure lifted its hands to the hood, and pulled back, revealing its face to him. Before his mind could recognize the face, it was gone. It was blank before him. He knew there were features there, but his brain couldn’t remember them fast enough, thus making the face appear blank before him. What could this be? Was it a real vision, or was he just overworking himself, or something like that? Mata Nui had no idea at all. “Great Being!” Mata Nui shouted, throwing himself to his feet, “That’s what you are! You are a Great Being!” “I’m a Great Being? I think you’re tired, Mata Nui.” The feminine voice said. The voice had come from right behind the Great Being image before Mata Nui. He blinked, clearing his eyes, and the image was gone, replaced by the sleek armored woman who was standing there, trying to get his attention. He offered up a weak smile to her, “Oh, Fracta. Good to see you.” She shook her head, “So, you think of me as a Great Being?” She questioned, “Am I that good? Am I that superior of a guardian that you would attribute me to being some otherworldly being of great power and reverence?” He shook his head, “I’m sorry, Fracta. I was just tired, I think, and I started to think about the Great Beings, and…” “You thought about them?” She questioned, “Do you have any idea how you can contact them yet?” She had a childlike glee about her at the subject of the Great Beings. Despite being a stoic, a deadpan snarker from time to time, she had a childlike innocence about her whenever the Great Beings were brought up, because of Mata Nui’s promise to help her and all of the Sisters of the Skrall to find the Great Being Angonce, the one who supposedly gave the Sisters their telekinetic powers. “No, I’m no closer to figuring that out. I’m sorry.” He said. She shrugged it off, having heard it many times when she had questioned him in the past. Denial seemed to fit her. Acceptance of denial, however, didn’t. He knew that even if she appeared to accept the fact that he was no closer to his promise, she didn’t like that. She tried to be supportive, but just couldn’t be. It wasn’t in her nature. Her nature was to get answers, get to the truth of the matter, and hopefully, get to Angonce and gain even greater powers, as well as get off of the world of Bara Magna. Life was hard on the planet. He didn’t look down on her for wanting to leave. Many would probably want to leave, had they the chance. He too wanted to leave. He had to get back to his true home, to a giant robot that was probably currently in space, potentially conquering other planets, with millions of beings inside of its body. His people were trapped all because of him. He had failed them. Makuta now controlled his world. Makuta, his greatest enemy, had taken over his body and was causing as much havoc as he probably could, Mata Nui was sure. He was probably taking pleasure in hurting his new subjects, crushing any hopes of survival, of rebellion. There was no doubt about that. He was a tyrant. He would live to crush hopes and dreams, even if those dreams were of surviving until the next day. “You lost in thought again?” Fracta questioned. She bent over, looking up into his eyes. They were staring into nothing. They even looked blanched, almost white. His blue eyes, now white, made him look like he had gone blind. “Mata Nui?” She questioned, reaching out to touch him. Before her hand touched him, she felt a static sensation around his body. She didn’t know what it was, but she didn’t like it. She pulled back, and looked up, but his eyes were the same. He was still completely unresponsive. She supposed she could give him a nudge by using her powers, but feared for what they could do to him, even if she did regulate them. Instead, she put her hand up again, feeling that same static sensation. This time, she ignored it and pressed closer to his body. The sensation grew as she moved her hand, and when she actually touched him, she felt a shock erupt down her spine. Her mouth hung open in shock. Her eyes were wide open, also blanched to a nearly white appearance, almost looking blind, just as Mata Nui did. She saw what he saw. She saw what the Mask of Life, the Kanohi Ignika, was showing. While Mata Nui had overridden its mind, it still had some control deep down inside of it, hidden in places Mata Nui couldn’t get at. These hidden locations of the Ignika preserved a protocol, not actual will or power. It only allowed for protocols to be followed. When the Elemental Lords had attacked, and Mata Nui was without all of the Life based powers of the Ignika, the protocol had activated and given him some new powers. When the Life powers came back after the Lords were defeated and killed, the protocol activated once more, stripping him of those new powers. The protocols were there to help the wearer of the Ignika in any way it could help. In this case, it was sending a warning to Mata Nui, one that would need to be followed if he wanted to live. What she saw startled her, and also excited her at the same time. She saw space, hoping for a way off of the planet. Then, she saw the point of the vision. She saw something that made her skin beneath her armor crawl. She saw a massive robot hurtling through space at breakneck speeds, heading towards the barren planet of Bara Magna. It had been two years since Mata Nui had known this figure, she knew. She could feel a sense of nostalgia through the Kanohi. Two years ago. What had happened then? She pulled away and fell to the ground. She looked up as Mata Nui was coming back around. He looked down and extended a hand. She took it gratefully and came back to her feet with his help. “What was that?” She questioned softly. The silence of the cold, dark desert night only added a sense of eeriness to the entire situation. It almost scared Fracta. “That was my old body.” He told her, “The body that the Great Beings gave me.” “That was it?” She asked, “That looked amazing!” “I don’t know how I’ll get it back.” He told her, ignoring her comment, “I need to, and soon. I know that he’s coming here…” “Who? The person in control of your body?” She asked. He nodded, “Makuta Teridax. He’s coming here for me. He banished me two years ago. Now he’s coming here. I suspect he’s finally started to crush all rebellions, and learned to use his powers. Maybe he’s conquered planets and has just happened across Bara Magna. I don’t know what’s happening, all I can promise is it’s not a good thing that he’s coming.” “How will we stop him?” Fracta asked, “My Sisters and I will do whatever we can to help you! Maybe we could attack his mind…” “He’s too large of a machine.” Mata Nui said, “You would have to be right up there to even consider getting at his mind.” “We’ll find a way…” “If he sees people coming at him, no matter how small they are compared to him, he will crush them. You will lose your lives.” “We are willing to sacrifice our lives for you! You know that!” Fracta said. “I know, but I won’t allow you to do it for nothing!” Mata Nui said, walking towards the throne room of Roxtus. “Where are you going?” She called. “To compose a message.” He replied simply. As daybreak struck, the sunlight flittered down on everyone. Having ridden hard through the entire night, all of the leaders of Bara Magna were present. Mata Nui looked up to the sky. He wondered if this was the last sunrise that they would see before the violence, the combat, began. He hoped they would have more before he would have to own up to his own mistakes, to his mistakes of allowing Teridax take control, of losing his own world and causing such strife to fall on such good people. He looked from his raised position down on everyone else. He saw Crotesius of Vulcanus, Congelo of Iconox, Folium of Tesara, Egil of Tajun, and Malum as the representative of the Sand Tribe. Among these men were others, warriors of the Tribes. He glanced slightly to the side, looking at Fracta and her Sisters of the Skrall. He also saw the assembled generals of his army standing nearby, consisting of Tarix, Ackar, the Special Corp. Skrall Vires, and the named Skrall, Validus. Looking out at the entire crowd as a whole, Mata Nui took a deep breath, and let out his explanation. “I summoned all of you on such short notice because of some dire news I discovered last night.” He started simply. “What sort of dire news?” Crotesius questioned, “What is the nature of it?” “I’m getting to it.” Mata Nui said. “Before you tell us, what I mean is, what does it concern?” The Fire Agori asked, “Do we really need to have so many of our representatives here?” “It’s war.” Mata Nui said grimly. Crotesius stopped his questioning and nodded slightly, but spoke up again, “But war against whom? Who else is there left?” “An otherworldly threat.” Mata Nui simply said. There were whispers going through the ranks of men before him. He waited for them to die down, and then continued. “My old body comes here. It will be here today at the earliest, a week from now at the latest. My greatest enemy is in control of the body and is coming to kill us or enslave us all. He’s after me, specifically, I’m sure. And because I’m here, none of you are safe.” “I heard the stories.” Ackar said, “You told me them. How are we to fight a massive machine such as that?” “Forty million feet.” Mata Nui told everyone, giving them the scale, “And we can’t. None of us can fight such a monstrous machination of the Great Beings.” “Then are we to submit?” Malum shouted, lifting a fist in gesture, “My people will not surrender, no matter the size!” “Listen to me.” Mata Nui said calmly, “If you want to fight, you can. No doubt he’ll send out his own army to overrun us on the ground, rather than waste his time stepping on the ants we are to him. There is one thing, however.” “And that is?” Malum demanded. “While you all fight his ground forces, I won’t be.” “What?” Malum shouted, “You would abandon us and flee?” “No, I will not abandon you. I will not leave you. I would never flee this fight.” Mata Nui said, “I want my old people back. I want to give them their lives back. That requires me to defeat Makuta Teridax and reclaim my body.” “But you just said…” Malum started. Mata Nui shook his head, cutting Malum off, “No. You see, what I must do is something different from all of you. As of today, there is only one rule when the day comes that Teridax arrives. That rule is to survive. Survive by any means. Kill whatever you must to survive. Just survive and make sure everyone you can see survives. Destroy anything trying to kill you, kill any of Teridax’s forces as they come for you. Just survive. “While you do that, and I know I can count on you to do so, I shall be fighting Teridax myself.” “How will you do that?” Congelo asked, “Does your Ignika have that much power?” Mata Nui shrugged, “I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that there is something on this planet that can even the struggle.” “There is?” He heard someone from the ranks of the warriors shout. He nodded, “Yes.” He gestured to the main structure of Roxtus, beyond the city walls. From the distance, it looked like a giant head in the sand. “That.” He said, “That, and every other structure in this area like it.” “We’ve seen those before, but never knew what they were.” Congelo said, “Could you fill us in on what you mean exactly?” “Certainly.” Mata Nui said, “I’ve been checking around, those pieces that look like body pieces are just that. Another giant machine was being constructed here, and it is now in ruins. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, I just know it is. I shall see to it that it is rebuilt, and I shall use it to fight Teridax until I can reclaim my old body and end the threat to you, my new people, and to my old people trapped inside of the Great Spirit body.” “How will you reconstruct the new body?” Ackar asked, stepping forward. “I shall get as many volunteers as I can, and I will join them in dragging it back together.” Mata Nui said, “But we must hurry, time is of the essence.” He looked to the sky, “five months ago the Lords were defeated. I only wish I realized this body was here back then. I fear it’ll take that long to get it all together…”Mata Nui faces a darkness in his path as Teridax draws ever closer. Next time, Legacy 2: The Shadow Falls—Mata Nui vs. Teridax!Review

Chapter 14: Magical Eri “What can we do about Cesare?” Rei pondered with Hoji. “I don’t know.” The Toa of Fire replied, “He’s strong. Even when all five of us fought him, nothing. The four of us couldn’t do much better. If anything, we have to get him to abandon fighting for Bandiaca. We might not be able to defeat him to drive sense to him.” “You mean, he may be too strong to defeat in outright battle due to that Rouze Blade?” Rei questioned, shaking her head, “He’s strong…but not invincible.” “You know how good our team is.” Hoji said, “Yet we couldn’t kill Abare. He could do it so quickly with those powers. Even without them, he’s a powerful swordsman and fighter. We can’t defeat him while he uses his Rouze Blade; that’s a given. We might stand a chance if we can separate him from it.” “You used the word ‘might’.” Rei pointed out, “Where’s the Hoji that believes we could win any battle? Who always shows confidence in combat? Who leads us to victory?” “I’m being practical.” Hoji replied. “There’s a difference between being practical and being confident.” Rei asserted, “You need to be confident in the team; that we can win. Hoji; can you do that?” Hoji looked away, thinking about his response. Did he want to say that he wasn’t confident in being able to win? He wasn’t too confident that they could win a group battle against him. One-on-one, perhaps? That could work, Hoji figured, but who would be the one who could win such a fight against someone like Cesare? “Forget it.” Rei said, “He’s here.” She pointed outside the temple to the approaching Gorma, nodding solemnly to the two Toa. Eri was alone, with the exception of her opponent. He had gotten to the island without being noticed. That was likely because he didn’t have a squad of Anaroids with him. She pondered why it was becoming less common for these warriors to bring their mechanical footsoldiers along, but put it out of mind. Her opponent was a dangerous one, she knew that. She knew of the Junkers and the Eruo. This man was a Junker; clad in lime green and dark green armor. He had a black and lime green Kanohi that ended in fangs, while his chest was dark green. His lower legs and upper arms were dark green in armor, while his upper legs and lower arms were lime green. On his right arm he wore a large triple bladed green claw weapon coming up past his hand, while in his left hand, he held an upsidedown scythe. “As a Junker, you have the powers of Water; right?” Eri questioned. The man nodded, “Toa of Water against a Junker. This will be fun.” He said, gesturing with his right arm, pointing the claws at her, “But I will win. I am a Junker, after all.” “You really think that you can win just because of that?” She questioned, drawing her blade up. He nodded, “I do. We Junkers are a persecuted people; we have had so many hardships in our lives; had to fight for survival so many times. We have been forced to relocate our homes many times, and have been thrust into revolution against our brethren by our masters, the Rges. You, as a Toa, have had none of this.” “I was a Dark Hunter.” Eri replied, “My morals were compromised long ago; it was only recently that they became proper; a Toa’s. You see, I would have fought you, years ago, and just utterly destroyed you without caring. Now, I care, and I fight more cautiously.” She threw her weapon forward, landing it right next to him, the point in the ground, “But that doesn’t mean I don’t carry the burdens of the past with me, and use the anger at myself as a way to fight people like you.” “My name is Gosei.” He introduced, lifting his scythe in challenge, “I wanted you to know the name of your executioner. As decreed by ‘Forte’; your head is mine!” “You were sent by ‘Forte’?” Eri muttered, standing and waiting. Gosei nodded, “He dispatched me to kill you Toa in place of Cesare; though Cesare is here as well.” Gosei looked out to the ocean at Eri’s back, “Presumably fighting away from us. ‘Forte’ told me to not bother with Cesare, but do what damage I could before joining him and eliminating him as well. It may go against Mistress Bandiaca’s original wishes, but I’ll do it anyway, for ‘Forte’’s word.” Eri was shocked, “Cesare is here…?” Gosei nodded, “Now, your name, Toa.” “Eri.” She said, “Where is he?” “He’s at the quarry, most likely.” Gosei answered, “Why?” “Because the others cannot defeat him.” Eri said, “We as a team cannot defeat Cesare. You wouldn’t be able to, either.” “What? You haven’t even seen my abilities yet!” Gosei snapped. “I don’t need to.” She replied, “I know how good he is; I know you’re not good enough.” “Take that back!” Gosei snapped. “Look, Cesare’s strength comes from that sword of his; the Rouze Blade. He can draw many various powers from it and use them in new combinations, meaning almost anything can fall to him with relative ease, if he knows the combo to use. However, we’ve tried him twice. Both times have ended in failure. He’s just too good without those powers, and those powers make him even stronger. “There is no way for you or the five of us Toa to defeat Cesare. The only real way we can do anything is to change him.” “Change him?” Gosei questioned. Eri nodded, “And I’m the one who will have to do it. As a former Dark Hunter, I’m going to have to be the one to see Cesare and change him.” She threw her hand forward, “I don’t have time to waste on you. Come and get me so I can take you down!” Gosei’s eyes drifted to Eri’s sword right next to him. He ignored it and ran forward, drawing his claw up to strike. Eri stood there, waiting for him to get closer and closer, and then flicked her wrist. Out of the corner of Gosei’s eye, he could see the sword flying past him, hilt first. Eri grabbed it, and it was only then that he could see the Water wrapped around the hilt. By exerting her powers, she was able to draw it to herself due to that pre-placed element. It was a good plan; one that Gosei hadn’t expected to see. She shouted and drove her sword forward, impaling Gosei as he neared her. He opened his mouth in a silent scream of anguish, and then collapsed to his knees before Eri. She drew her sword from his chest and looked down at him, “Did you enjoy my trick?” She asked, “I knew you would fall for it. That’s the same reason you wouldn’t be able to defeat Cesare; you overlook things. You aren’t smart enough to plan ahead like this. You may have been a good Junker, but being Bandiaca’s slave robbed you of your intelligence, it seems.” “Curse you…” He muttered, barely alive. She shook her head, “I don’t have any more time to waste on you.” She said, “Now please, die with dignity and be silent.” She turned her weapon upside down, holding the hilt in both hands as she prepared to thrust it down. Gosei didn’t do anything; nor did Eri thrust. He was already dead. She hooked her weapon on her right hip, opposite of her Blade Blaster, and ran towards the quarry, where Cesare was believed to be. She would head to the temple first and get information from Gorma, if he was present, and also get her Anverius X3 for faster transport. Only I can stop Cesare. She thought as she ran. The others are all skilled; all very good combatants. But only I can get through to him. Only I can actually stop him and make him see his errors, as Helsrok showed me mine. Only I have gone through this and can make Cesare become a proper Toa again. It’s the only chance any of us have. We have to defeat him some way, or this island won’t survive against Bandiaca, with him as her enforcer. I must get there before the others fall; before he kills them. I have to show what I can do! Cesare looked at the wounded Toa around him. Fighting at the bottom of the quarry worked out; it was a good arena. There was nothing in the way. He was able, thus far, to defeat the four of them as they came at him. They were now attempting to fight him one at a time. One would attack, be defeated, fall back, and another would strike. Agri and Hoji were putting up the best fights so far with their swordsmanship, but Cesare was still better. “I should end this.” Cesare said, reaching his hand over to open his Rouze Blade, “Or…should I use my swordsmanship here?” “Just shut up.” Hoji hissed, resting his Blade Blaster on his shoulder. Agri ran forward, jumping at Cesare. He slammed his Blade Blaster down, but Cesare lifted his blade to parry. He kicked Agri back and span around, parrying the Topgaler, Magis’s scythe. He slid his blade up the scythe and slashed Magis across the chest, causing him to cry out, sparks flying from his chest, his armor darkening as he hit the ground. “My turn!” Cesare span around, the end of the Blade Blaster in his chest. He looked up into Hoji’s eyes. The Toa of Fire opened fire, blasting Cesare back, sparks flying off of his shield. He managed to lift his sword and parried the blasts into the ground. He ducked, rolled, and opened his blade, slashing two of the Rouze Cards. “Scope” “Blast” Cesare’s blade was glowing; energy focused at the tip. He drew his weapon back, a flash appearing over his Kanohi. A scope appeared over his right eye, giving him extra sight and details as he watched Hoji. An energy bolt flew forward from his blade, slamming it into Hoji, sending him flying back, sparks constantly flying from his armor from the blast. Cesare span around, parrying the strike from Rei’s Blade Blaster. He kicked Rei back and span around, parrying Agri’s strike and kicking him away. Soon, Eri was sliding down the quarry, running towards the combat. She drew her Blade Blaster and fired, towards Cesare’s feet. She didn’t want to harm him; she just wanted to keep him on edge, keep him ready and unharmed. She slid forward, putting her weapon on her hip. She looked at Cesare, who was looking back at her. Neither were striking; none of the other Toa were making any moves. “Cesare.” She said. “Eri, right?” He questioned. She nodded, “Yes; Toa Eri.” She replied, “Now…Cesare…why are you doing this? Why would you be fighting us? Why are you fighting for Bandiaca?” She demanded. “I joined Bandiaca so that I could gain more strength.” “More strength?” “By fighting you Toa Cyril.” Cesare answered. “You want to become stronger by fighting us?” Eri demanded, “Why? You could fight Bandiaca! She has many warriors; great strength! Some of her warriors were so difficult to kill, to defeat, they would have given you enough of a challenge!” “No.” Cesare said, “I didn’t want to fight them.” “Mindless as they are?” Eri questioned. “Mindless?” He hissed. “Bandiaca has a way of controlling her men, it seems.” Eri said, “They seem to lose control of themselves and become her puppets; her personal servants. Only some of them seem to have their free will. You do too. You know what’s going to happen to you, right?” “You think I’ll fall prey to Bandiaca?” He questioned. “Eventually.” “That will never happen.” “How do you know?” Eri questioned, “You don’t know how she does this! You don’t know how she bends people to her will! You’ll fall prey to her, eventually. You’ll fall prey to her since you don’t know what she does!” Cesare actually started to show some doubt in his own beliefs. He shook his head, “No. That won’t happen!” “Look, Cesare, I used to be a Dark Hunter.” Eri confessed, to the surprise of her team, who remained silent, “I had my morals compromised. Eventually, I found my way. I became a proper Toa again and am serving here as my repentance. Cesare; your morals are compromised right now; I can tell. You fight for Bandiaca so that you can grow stronger; fight for us! Fight against Bandiaca, at the least! Please, Cesare!” Cesare remained silent. He lifted his sword and raced forward, shouting as he ran. Eri ran forward, drawing her main sword. She slashed, meeting his blade, and spinning around behind him. They both span to face each other; slashing again, multiple times, but both parried each slash. The other Toa just watched as this battle occurred; somehow, Eri was keeping up against Cesare. She wasn’t faltering; she wasn’t slowing. They were both keeping up with each other. Eri was even getting faster, but forcing herself to slow down so as not to go faster and lose pace, for some reason. Maybe she believed that she couldn’t get a proper strike off. They both slashed again, stepping forward at each other. Eri lost her grip of her weapon. It flipped around, landing on the ground, blade in the ground at Cesare’s side. He span around to slash, but she leapt forward, rolled and drew her Blade Blaster, deploying the blade. She ran forward, slashing rapidly again, but neither got close enough to strike the other. They crossed swords, struggling to break through the other. They both drew their weapons back and slashed again and again, constantly parrying each other. Cesare kicked her back and leapt forward, causing Eri, off balance, to throw her weapon to her left hand and slash up to parry his strike. “Cesare, consider what I’ve said.” “I’m working for Bandiaca. That’s all. I will grow strong, and then move on before I lose myself to her.” He hissed. “You really think you will lose yourself?” Eri questioned, “Isn’t that a good enough reason to cut your ties with her now?” He was silent, giving her all the answers she needed. “I’m sorry, Cesare. Either learn what I’m trying to teach you…or else.” “What?” He demanded. She flexed her right hand, flicking her wrist. Her blade flew into her grip, with the spiked inside resting against Cesare’s left side. She held her weapon tightly in her grip, looking into his eyes. “You…” He hissed. “I warned you.” She said, pulling back as hard as she could. He cried out, sparks flying rapidly from his armor from the multiple points of impact striking his armor, digging into him, leaving jagged, black marks across his armor. He screamed out and fell to his knees. She flipped her blade back into her Blade Blaster, resting it at his forehead. The others stood, dumbfounded by this development. Did they want to cry out to Eri to shoot him? To kill him? Or were they in absolute shock that Eri had actually managed to bring down and best Cesare? Cesare muttered, “Are you going to kill me? You’ve beat me today, Eri.” “No.” She said, putting her Blade Blaster back to her hip. She hooked her blade to her other hip and walked away, leaving the others, “He’s going to leave.” She told them, “He’s been bested; he won’t attack again right now.” The others looked unsure, but followed Eri. After all, she had to have some good sense in her, seeing as they had pretty much the same morals, even if Cesare’s were now, and hers were in the past. Cesare remained on his knees for some time before finally getting up and leaving the island.“The most dangerous enemy? Is it Cesare? Is it ‘Forte’? I don’t know. This man; this foe, could easily be the most powerful, the most dangerous…the most deadly. Next time: “Chapter 15: Time and Again, Part 1” My turn!”Review

On the subject of making the entire season two parters, as Danska said, Moffat stated that two parters are actually the most expensive to do, not the least, as you would expect. That's one reason, if I recall correctly.

Along with that news, we got news of no two part episodes in Series 7. That actually makes me very happy to hear.

Start, fine. Middle. Terrible. End? Fantastic.Hit or miss season, more hit, I'd say.

Chapter 13: Strong Agri “You know what Bandiaca told you.” A warrior in green and red armor told ‘Forte’. This warrior had crimson feet, crimson armor on his ankles over his green leg armor. Above that he had crimson armor, a green body with crimson overlay. He had crimson armored arms with green armored hands and green armor over his upper arms. He had sloped, green spiked armor coming down off of his shoulders. He wore a sleek green Kanohi or helmet, and was armed with a weapon on his left arm. He wore a large shield, with a large blade coming up and back up his arm. The blade was attached to the shield, but he could take the hilt in his right hand and draw it off as his primary weapon, if need be. He was one of Bandiaca’s greatest warriors. Much like Dai, he was his own warrior, someone who hadn’t fallen to her Kanohi Zeyat. He was fighting for Bandiaca of his own free will, and was arguably the strongest warrior that she had. He didn’t rely on powers, as far as anyone knew; only relying on his weaponry. Unlike Dai, who relied on swordsmanship, Mirai relied on speed and the abilities of his weapons, which allowed him multiple attacks from his sword. His swordsmanship was topnotch, however, equal to Dai’s, most likely. But Mirai was arguably more powerful. Arguably the most powerful warrior of Bandiaca’s, even over ‘Forte’ himself, who acted as Bandiaca’s bodyguard and right hand, or former right hand, now that Cesare had taken that position. But was Mirai stronger than Cesare? ‘Forte’ assumed so; otherwise he wouldn’t be coming to him now. “I know what Bandiaca told me.” ‘Forte’ told Mirai, “I know she said she would banish me if I intervened again. Likely I would die. That accursed Toa would probably be the one to kill me, too.” “Yet you come to me to fight the Toa, rather than try to save you?” Mirai questioned, “You certainly are interesting, cyborg.” “Don’t call me that.” ‘Forte’ hissed. “Right, right. Sorry.” Mirai said, “Well then, what do I call you? I refuse to call you by your new given name, considering the sword is supposed to be your forte, yet you are outmatched in the art of the blade by myself. As such, I refuse to name you as such.” “I understand.” ‘Forte’ told Mirai, “But, will you do it for me?” “Will I kill the Toa?” Mirai questioned, “I shall.” He replied, “But remember, that means I won’t be here to protect you from Bandiaca’s wrath.” “I don’t need protecting.” ‘Forte’ said, “Now, would you do your job?” He questioned. “Certainly.” Mirai said, “It’s been some time since I’ve been let out to fight.” “Bandiaca fears your powers, is that not correct?” ‘Forte’ questioned. He nodded, “It is correct.” He said, “I’m off.” He turned to walk away, but ‘Forte’ called to him to stop him. “If you see Cesare on the island…” “I’ll eliminate him.” Mirai said, heading out. ‘Forte’ felt pleased with himself. Now all he had to do was manipulate Bandiaca into sending Cesare out, ordering him to the island. Then he would find his death at the hands of Mirai, and the entire situation would be dealt with. It didn’t matter if Mirai lived or not. He and ‘Forte’ were on good terms, so he would prefer Mirai to live, if possible. But if he died, then he died. That was it. ‘Forte’ headed into the main chamber, “Mistress, perhaps you should send someone to deal with the Toa.” ‘Forte’ said. “I told you, it is Cesare who will eliminate them.” Bandiaca said. “I’m sorry, I forgot the new terms.” He replied, “Well then, should Cesare go? I don’t like the idea of giving the Toa any breather room.” Bandiaca nodded, “Yes, you’re quite right, ‘Forte’. Cesare, I want you to go and eliminate the Toa.” “I’m not ready to go right now.” The Toa of Ice replied. “You’re going.” Bandiaca hissed, “That’s an order.” “Fine, understood.” Cesare said, “Anaroids. A small squadron will suffice. Five Batsuroids.” He requested. M’hou, who was never far away, bowed, “I understand. I will see to it.” He said, running off to get his machines ready. “I’m off, then.” Cesare said, heading out, certain that the machines would be dispatched after him. “I have confidence in Cesare.” Bandiaca said, “I think today is the day we claim this island as our own.” “I certainly hope so.” ‘Forte’ replied. Mirai walked calmly through the streets. Matoran, as they were heading to and from their job sights fled in fear of him, calling out in panic for the Toa to arrive and save them. Mirai stopped when he encountered the black armored Toa of Earth, Agri. Agri drew up his iron knuckle weapons, motioning for Mirai to strike. “You want to fight me alone?” Mirai questioned, “I am the greatest warrior of Bandiaca’s.” “I could hold my own against Dai.” Agri said, “I think I can handle you.” “I am superior to Dai.” Mirai said, “I am also of free will. I am superior to him in my ways of combat.” He drew his left arm up, showing his shield and sword, “Come and face me, if you want to die.” His right hand gripped the extended hilt of his weapon. Agri drew up his form tighter, waiting. “Well then, it will be a duel after all.” Mirai said, drawing his sword with the sound of steel ringing against steel. He pointed the tip of his weapon forward, “Come and face me, Toa!” Agri rushed forward, keeping his fists close, keeping his body guarded. He was an excellent swordsman, and an excellent hand-to-hand fighter. He was settling on the latter right now, as he was sure it would lead him to victory. On the other side of the island, Cesare walked through the streets, waiting for the Toa to appear. He listened to the screams of Matoran as he moved through, hoping that they would alert the Toa. Soon he could hear the sounds of engines. He stopped as four vehicles surrounded him and the Toa dismounted. The only one missing was Agri, the Toa of Earth. “Where’s number five?” Cesare questioned in his simple tone. “We’re all you’ll get.” Hoji said, “Are we not enough?” “No. You should know that after our last duel.” Cesare said, turning to look at them all, “But this will suffice for now. After I claim your heads, I will find the Toa of Earth and claim his last.” “This time things will be different.” Hoji said.Hoji threw his right arm forward, snapping his fingers, “The burning heart of passion! Toa Hoji!” Eri held her right arm out, spinning her weapon around her hand. As she did this, she brought her other arm up, bending it underneath her outstretched right arm, bracing it as she lowered the weapon down, pointing the tip at the enemy forces, “The serene and soothing waves! Toa Eri!” Magis span around, throwing his arms out to the side, using his powers to send some leaves at his feet around his body. He reached his right hand up as he lowered his left, brushing his fingers across the forehead of his Kanohi. He cast his arm sideways after that, “The magnificent gale! Toa Magis!” Rei went last, sending both arms forward and making a circle with them in the air in front of her body, stopping when they reached each other again. A small spark danced between her hands, “The sizzling sensation of lightning! Toa Rei!” Cesare had to turn at each Toa’s voice. Hoji was in front of him, but Eri and Magis were behind, and Rei was in front again. To see it all, he had to keep moving.“Five Toa destined to rid this island of the accursed witch! We are the Toa Cyril!” Hoji shouted on instinct, despite Agri’s absence. “You call roll?” Cesare questioned, smiling a little, “It reminds me of Yuna.” “What?” Hoji questioned. “Nothing, forget it.” He said, drawing his Rouze Blade, “Now…” The Anaroids and Batsuroids were fast approaching from behind, where Magis and Eri stood. The two Toa turned to face the machines, as Rei and Hoji prepared to take on Cesare. “You two can handle them, right?” Hoji questioned. “Yeah, we’ve got them.” Eri replied, “We’ll help you as soon as we take them down.” “Got it.” Hoji replied, nodding to Rei. Both rushed forward with their Blade Blasters extended, ready to take on Cesare. Agri slid back. As Mirai leapt forward, he slammed his sword down. Agri forced the sword aside with one of his knuckles while sending a punch forward with the other, hoping to make contact. Mirai was fast. He shot his arm up, parrying with his shield. He kneed Agri in the chest, knocking him back, and then span around, slapping him with the flat of his sword, throwing Agri to the ground. Agri pushed himself to his feet and threw his weapons aside, drawing his Blade Blaster and extending the blade. He held the tip away from his body, “Well, here comes Agri the swordsman!” He shouted, racing forward. “Finally, a proper duel.” Mirai said, “Let’s see just how good you are.” He slid his left foot forward, drew his left arm up, and sheathed his blade. As Agri got closer, Mirai didn’t move to redraw. He just waited. At the last moment, he drew and stepped through, slashing to the side. Agri cried out and fell forward to his knees. A large gash was in his chest armor from the blow. “You’re…” “Fast.” Mirai finished, spinning around and sheathing his sword once more, “Get up.” He said, “You’re strong, aren’t you? You’re Dai’s apprentice! Rise and fight me!” Agri pushed his sword into the ground and swayed to his feet. He drew his weapon out of the ground and held it out, “Ok, come on!” “That’s what I’ve been waiting to see.” Mirai said, ready to draw again. Agri leapt forward with a shout, slashing down with a hard slash. Mirai slashed up, Lightning coursing around his sword. Agri was surprised, and then took the slash, causing him to cry out and fly back. Shocks rippled around his armor, which continued to show minor damage appearing at a steady rate through sparks and darkening. “My blade can use such attacks.” Mirai said, “It makes me very dangerous.” “It makes you weak!” Agri shouted, swaying to his feet, “A real swordsman relies on his own strength alone!” “I have my own strength.” Mirai said, “But I was told to eliminate you and your team. Dueling you would take too long with swordsmanship alone, no matter how good I am. Your skills are from Dai. It would take too long. But if I use such measures as my elemental attacks, then I can win without taking too long and save my strength for the rest of the Toa.” Agri stifled some laughter, “I’m the one you have to be worried about! Not the others! I know Rei is fast, Magis is agile, Eri is fluid and graceful, and Hoji is a pro. But I’m the greatest swordsman!” He pointed the tip of the sword at his foe, “So use all of that pent up strength against me!” Mirai nodded, “As you wish, Toa.” “Agri.” Agri said. “Mirai.” Mirai said. The two dashed forward, slashing multiple times, but each one meeting with a parry. They both drew their weapons back and slashed again, but again, a parry. “You are good.” Mirai said. “As are you, but you know that already.” Agri said. Mirai nodded and kicked Agri back. He leapt forward, thrusting, but Agri parried down. He span around, slashing at Mirai’s back, but Mirai ducked and span around, parrying with his shield. He rammed his knee forward, knocking Agri back, and then followed up with a jab from his shield to Agri’s face, knocking the Toa Cyril of Earth to the ground. Agri rolled and came back to his feet, rushing forward with a shout. He slashed down as hard as he could, forcing Mirai’s sword to the ground. He slid his sword up the length of Mirai’s and slashed his foe across the chest, causing Mirai to skid back. “You’re strong.” Mirai said, holding his wound in his free hand. “I’m the strongest of the Toa Cyril in physical strength.” Agri hissed, “I’m also the best swordsman. I’m superior here!” “You think that, don’t you?” Mirai questioned, sheathing and drawing again, generating his sword with Lightning again, “Well, come face me!” They slashed again, but the Lightning surged up Agri’s blade, causing him to cry out and fall to his knees. He rolled away, managing to control his limbs by the time the sword came down to behead him. He span around, slashing his sword, sending a shockwave of Earth forward, knocking Mirai back. “If you can use your powers like that, so can I!” Agri shouted, racing forward. He sheathed and drew again, drawing his normal blade out. He pointed the tip forward, rather than run at Agri, “Let’s do this.” Mirai said, “The last slash.” He slid, drawing his right arm back, and then ran forward. They both shouted as they neared each other. The somewhat honorable and cocky Mirai, and the strong Toa, Agri. As they met, they slashed forward, their blades meeting. They slid past each other, both of them waiting to see the results of the other’s strength on their blades. Agri’s Blade Blaster wasn’t built to withstand as powerful of attacks, unfortunately, so the blade cracked all over the length of it. Mirai’s blade also cracked, despite being able to hold up better against such attacks. “I underestimated your strength, Toa.” Mirai said. “I could tell the moment our blades met.” Agri said. “You really are Dai’s apprentice.” Mirai said, sheathing his damaged blade, “Until we meet again, Toa Agri. Strong Agri.” “Yes, until that day, swordsman Mirai. After Dai, I’m coming for you!” Mirai smiled as he walked away, “I’m looking forward to dueling you again, and seeing your entire team fight me, Agri.” As Mirai departed, Agri could hear the engines of the Anverius X3 vehicles approaching. He turned around to see the entire team coming on their vehicles, dismounting and rushing over to him, covered in wounds. “What happened to you guys?” He questioned. “Cesare and some Anaroids and Batsuroids.” Hoji said, “We forced Cesare to flee, though. But what was that?” “A swordsman.” Agri replied, “It doesn’t really matter right now. All that matters is that we’re all alive and we stopped the attack.” “I guess so.” Rei said, “But we should have tried to win. Now they can return…” “Mirai won’t. He’s not like that.” Agri said. “Mirai?” Magis questioned. “The man I just fought. He’ll be waiting for the final battle. After Dai, I must fight him. As two swordsmen meeting in battle.” He looked at his shattered Blade Blaster sword, “After all, he’s strong just like I am. I can’t afford not to fight him again.”“I was a Dark Hunter. I was a woman with complicated morals, fighting against being a Toa. Now I’ve returned to my calling and have returned to being a proper Toa; keeping up with my beliefs from years ago, when I did change. Now, it’s time for me to do what only I can do. Next time: “Chapter 14: Magical Eri” The waves crash!”Review

Stryker; watch W. It is either the best or second best, depending on if I can count Hibiki as a half season.ET; well, let me correct myself. Depends on who the writer is. If this is anything like Decade proper...yeah, not looking forward to more mess like that. And Den-O. I needn't say more.

I'm not looking forward to it...

Sister is looking for a Totodile for her National Dex on SoulSilver. If anyone can be of help, and assist with common human decency and just be of assistance for nothing extremely rare/difficult in return (I know some people would...), it would be much appreciated. I mean, what does it cost? A few hundred for the daycare? That's all, really, and some time walking.If anyone can help, please PM me.

Chapter 15: 50 B.G.C.: Sion cut down another Striever. They were in broken units, just lashing out anywhere, doing as much damage as possible with seemingly no target in sight. The rest of Island Defense fought hard with him. Their leader had commanded them to fight first and get paid later. Because in this case, if they didn’t fight, they were going to die. It was for their own self-preservation rather than saving the Matoran of the village. The Matoran fled as they fought. They attempted to reach safety in villages that sat farther away, in the taller buildings, hoping to use height to escape the Strievers and Sliths as they came. The Sliths were the problem that couldn’t be dealt with. Island Defense couldn’t kill them with their blades. It was down to them to slow them down while the Toa would have to kill them. As the Toa fled from the bridge, they would turn and attack Strievers as they approached. They were becoming faster, gaining on them. The group descended into a small valley and ran through a stream and foliage, hoping to get to the village. Hark span around, throwing out his arm. Vines and plants erupted from the banks, lashing out at the Strievers and Sliths. They weren’t going down easily, but they were going down. “Hark!” Seig screamed. “Forget them!” Veran shouted to him, “Villages! Now!” Hark turned to join them, since he had fallen behind. Even with his wounds he was keeping up; he was too determined to fall behind. He had to help save the Matoran. As he was about to run, a Striever slashed him, taking him down. He span around, kicking it away. He scrambled through the water, clawing at the dirt to pull himself away. Seig turned to run back to help, but Veran stopped him. “He’s our ally!” Seig screamed, “We can’t let him die!” “Can you stop all those Strievers and Sliths?” Veran questioned, “Hark can handle himself! He’s in his element, essentially! He can do this!” “You’re lying.” Clasis hissed, throwing a Magma blast back for good measure. “I know.” Veran muttered, “I just don’t want to admit it; that we’re going to lose another ally no matter what we do!” “We can fight and save him!” Seig snapped. Raiz walked back towards Hark, “Fight?” He grinned, “Let’s.” Hark shouted to them, “Keep moving!” He pushed himself up and ran, but took a slash. Sparks flew upon the steel striking his armor. He hit the ground and rolled, crying out in anguish and pain. “Go!” He screamed, coming up to his feet. He unleashed as much power as he could, sending the plants all around him and from his body out, lashing out at the enemies. He was doing all he could to slow them and let the others protect the Matoran. As they ran, Hark turned to join them, but took another blow. He screamed in pain, but only Seig looked back. Only Seig saw him grab a rock and pour his Toa Powers into it, creating a Toa Stone. And then Hark turned into a Turaga, but the swarm of enemies overtook him before Seig could see his form. Seig screwed his eyes shut, turned his head to the front, and continued to run, hoping that Hark’s sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain. 999 A.G.C.: The Toa used the rooftops with Seig’s Air powers. They leapt, were propelled by Air, and landed, and continued forward. They were soon coming upon a building that was untouched by Strievers and Sliths, other than the occasional one patrolling. “Not very subtle.” Yuli commented. “I think she wants us to know where she is.” Seig said, “Then she could kill us herself.” “But what’s the point of that army, then?” Ryza questioned. “If we got past, maybe she wanted us to come to her.” Seig suggested, “I don’t know.” They landed on the building next to it, “But regardless, let’s move in.” He propelled them down, all of them smashed through windows and landed inside, shards of glass around their feet. They saw Shalax walking towards them to greet them, smiling a vicious smile. “I’m glad you found me. But what happens when Island Defense fails to protect the Matoran from my army? Will you flee and help? Or will you stay and try to fight me, all while knowing that those you are sworn to protect are being butchered?” “You’re asking us if we will walk away when the fire gets hot, or fight another day.” Seig said, “I think you know the answer.” “I really don’t.” Shalax said. “We will kill you.” “It won’t stop my army. You learned that when you killed Xalcak in the past.” “I know. But we’ll make sure you’re dead, and that the threat is completely gone. Then we’ll go to the aid of the Matoran.” “They’ll all be dead.” “I believe in Sion.” Seig said, “He’s changed; he won’t let them die!” Seig lifted his sword, “Here we come, Shalax! Prepare yourself!” 50 B.G.C.: As Veran, Raiz, Clasis and Seig reached the first villages, they could see Island Defense fighting off Strievers. They saw corpses, and men dying as they fought Sliths. They were unable to deal with Xalcak’s elite warriors. “Spread out and save them.” Veran said, running at the nearest Slith, delivering a blow from his powered brace. The other three spread out. Raiz was delighted, leaping at different Sliths and Strievers, cutting them down with his arm claw weapons, while Clasis threw out Magma blasts on occasion, and Seig threw out Air bursts to cut them down with razor winds. More continued to come. They all seemed to center on this village instead of spreading out to other ones. This meant the entire invasion would fall here, if it would fall. Sion saw the Toa’s arrival and ran towards Seig, cutting a Striever down in two moves, “What happened?” He demanded, “What’s going on?” “Xalcak is dead.” Seig answered, unleashing a blast of Air, “So are Sigil, Atel, Hark and Rakis. This is his last attempt at a victory.” “Are there many left?” “I doubt it.” Seig answered, continuing to unleash small, precise Air blades to cut them down. Sion protected Seig’s back with his blades. “This is a onetime thing.” He said. “What is?” “Having your back like this; helping you out for free as an ally. We’ll be associates any other time, for pay.” “I see how you are.” Seig said, “I don’t plan on working with you again. Ever. No need to think about that.” Sion smiled, “You’ll need me someday.” “I don’t think so.” 999 A.G.C.: “We needed Sion to kill Xalcak.” Yuli muttered as Shalax vanished into the walls and floor again, “We may need him again.” “We’ll deal with her without Sion.” Raiz said, glancing around, “She’ll come out somewhere. We just have to be swift and we can cut her down.” “Are you sure?” Yuli asked. “I think what Yuli means is, can we be fast enough?” Ryza asked. “We can be.” Seig said, “I know that.” Raiz nodded, “We’ll do this, no problem.” They continued to watch the walls and floor, going back-to-back, facing out four directions. There was minimal space between them, but no doubt she could come out there. Seig had it covered; pressure on the floor to prevent it. They continued to watch and wait, and soon, they saw Shalax rising out of the floor and simply walking towards them. She lifted her claw weapons, “You’re no fun.” She said, running forward, slashing rapidly. Seig and Raiz took up the defense, parrying every blow with their blades. Yuli and Ryza span around, getting behind her. They both slashed at her back, but she kicked them both quickly, landing one kick on Yuli’s chest, then swiftly sending it to Ryza’s. They both fell back, unleashing electrical attacks from their respective Elements. The shocks struck Shalax from behind. She cried out and stumbled forward, her body actually convulsing as she attempted to morph her mass away. The two other Toa nodded, slashing at the same time, cutting her across both sides of her chest in one move. She cried out as Seig and Raiz span around; Seig using an Air powered slash and Raiz using his claw. They tore through her chest, causing her chest to ripple and rip open. She screamed out in pain, her chest exploding outward. “Yuli!” Seig shouted. She unleashed her powers of Weather, surrounding Shalax with a high pressure wall of air along with Seig’s Air powers to back them up. The pressurized wall closed in on Shalax. Combining that with her large wounds, she stood no chance as she was torn apart. “Now we should deal with the remnants.” Raiz said, “And fast.” The Toa ran away from the chamber, towards the windows. The Strievers and Sliths in the streets continued to move as a thick swarm, only to be cut down by the lines of Island Defense soldiers led by Sion, who had flames tearing through their inner ranks. The Toa went from the rooftops, unleashing their attacks down, causing damage with high pressure Air attacks from Seig and Yuli. The attacks tore the ranks down, but there was still a long fight ahead, with Ishiza likely still not caring about the situation, as long as she and her elite class were safe. As the battle continued to wage through the streets, change would be coming to the island. Change would need to come to the island, even Sion saw that now. Island Defense now belonged to him; they would fight against Ishiza now, if they had to. Change that Sion desired could finally come to the island, if he lived to see it. The four Toa were there to help. It would be long and hard, but the island would eventually recover and change; that was certain. There was no way that the civil unrest wouldn’t overthrow Ishiza at this point. Ishiza’s reign was going to end, that’s all there was to it.ReviewThat's all. That was the final chapter, despite the open end.

Chapter 14: 999 A.G.C.: Sion and Island Defense moved in quick militaristic manners. They went to knees upon his snap and opened fire straight ahead, cutting down Strievers as they progressed on various Matoran who were fleeing from them. The Matoran safely got behind the line of soldiers, and continued to run. What could they do but run? The Island Defense continued to open fire, cutting down more and more of Shalax’s warriors. Soon the other four Toa had arrived and joined the battle. Seig would launch Air blasts while Yuli and Ryza would unleash electrical attacks. More Strievers were popping up all around them, however. The need for melee combat soon became apparent, and the Toa switched attack means. They started to cut down their enemies all around them, while Sion ordered his men to do the same; using their bayonets while he used his along with other melee strikes. As they fought through the ranks of Strievers, one leapt forward at Sion. He span around, delivering a kick which flipped it to the ground. He shot his left hand down, burning it alive until it vanished. He span around, cutting another one down. There were few left now that everyone was concentrating on dealing with the increasing threat; the urgency made them fight faster and harder. Soon only a handful remained, which were cleaned up by Island Defense. Now three, who still fought hard. One rushed Sion. He caught the blades against his bayonet and shook his head, “Die.” He said, ramming his left hand into the other creature’s face, burning it, causing it to stumble back and run forward blindly. Sion span around, giving it a kick. It only stumbled, and then fell forward. Another tackled him from behind, taking Sion down with the body. He pushed it away and rolled onto his back. It leapt back onto him, slashing at him, but he kept the blades at bay and rammed his blaster into the creature’s chest. He opened fire until it started to stop moving. It hissed and thrashed its head around. Sion saw the head blade go up, and kneed the creature. He started to come up, but it span around, slashing him across the neck with the blade. Sion fell to his knees, gasping in pain, clutching his neck. “Sir!” His men were screaming frantically, racing to his side, trying to help him. The other four Toa rushed to his aid. He was alive, but in pretty bad condition. He limped away with his team’s help, swearing softly, “I refuse to die…I won’t die from some petty little Striever’s head blade…” The four watched him go, with only Seig hoping he would live. Raiz had his problems that were apparent to all. But even Yuli and Ryza hated him after talking to him. Only Seig had hope of him turning around. 50 B.G.C.: Hark looked down his shaft, looking at the tip of his spear protruding through Xalcak’s chest. Xalcak hadn’t saved himself; he was impaled. Xalcak said nothing. But they could feel the bridge vibrating. They looked over the sides, watching many Strievers and Sliths come up, borne just now of Xalcak’s power. Xalcak split his body away from the spear and span around, slashing Hark three times, throwing him aside. Atel leapt forward, shouting and plunging her weapon. He span around, quickly reformed, and slashed, cutting the weapon. He plunged his other arm forward, missing. The spike of bridge didn’t. She was impaled in the air, hanging there dead on the spike. “Atel!” Veran screamed, leaping forward, delivering a flying knee. Xalcak dodged back, but couldn’t move anymore. He was lifted into the air. The survivors looked to Seig, who shook his head. “It’s me.” Sigil said, walking towards them, holding his hand out, “I’ve got him.” As the warriors below began to mobilize to attempt to help Xalcak, Sigil brought him down, readying a powerful punch. Veran was beside him, readying a kick. Both struck as soon as Sigil dropped the Gravity bubble around Xalcak, striking him, throwing him down the length of the bridge. “We have to kill him. Now!” Veran shouted to them, rushing at him. As the Toa ran at him, he rose again. Hark struggled up and joined the charge. He was going to do his best to avenge Atel, since she had healed him and helped him so much with his plants. But he couldn’t honor her by not using the remaining ones. He leapt at Xalcak, letting the remaining plants erupt from his armor, overwhelming Xalcak with them. They began to strangle his armor, holding him down, using different qualities to actually sap his energy away if he attempted to shift his mass. He was stuck, and there were other angry Toa upon him, while Hark remained at his side, not attacking. A punch and brace strike, then Clasis’s slash along with Seig’s. The attacks sent Hark and Xalcak back, with Hark staying close to keep the plants in effect. Xalcak may not have been able to manipulate his own mass, but he could still work on the bridge; the environment. A fist smashed into Hark, throwing him aside. He had the vines torn from his body, the plants torn free. He hit the end of the bridge, just about to fall over if it wasn’t for the railing. Sigil ran ahead, leaping up and delivering punch after punch. Xalcak continued to dodge each blow and then parried with his bladed arms. A hand erupted up, grabbing Sigil. Sigil countered with his Gravity powers, tearing the hand away. He threw a punch with a shout, but Xalcak parried with blades. He plunged his blades forward a lot faster, tearing through the gauntlet and Sigil’s arm. Sigil screamed out in unrivaled pain. Then the other blade through his throat silenced him. Three Toa dead. Veran shouted and leapt forward, delivering a series of bicycle kicks to Xalcak, throwing him back. As he rose, Seig sent him flying forward with a blast of Air. The Toa readied their attacks, but Veran ran ahead, leaping forward, leading with his Plasma powered brace. The attack collided with Xalcak. Veran screamed, pouring as much power as he could into his attack. That attack, combined with the air pressure behind him thanks to Seig was enough to smash Xalcak’s face and chest – the impact points – effectively mortally wounding if not killing him. As Veran stumbled back, Xalcak continued to move. He was mortally wounded by the look of it, though. “Now!” Veran screamed, for a rare instance taking the Plasma into his hands and firing it forward. Seig summoned winds to propel Xalcak forward and keep him pinned. Clasis added his Magma to the attack, and Hark tried to rise, but couldn’t. The two attacks smashed into Xalcak, who was unable to stop them or dodge them. He cried out in an ungodly scream of pain; his body melting from the combined burning attacks. And then, Xalcak’s body was no more. “He’s dead.” Veran muttered with distaste, “We finally got him…but at what cost?” Hark glanced over the side, “Guys! They’re coming!” “Let’s move!” Veran shouted to the survivors, “Everyone, we have to go! Protect the Matoran at all costs, mourn later. We have to get to the villages before these things do!” Hark nodded, “They’re not coming for the bridge anymore; they’re going in the direction of a village!” “Move!” Veran screamed, running off. Raiz got up and ran after him while Clasis and Seig helped Hark up and ran after them. 999 A.G.C.: “Rise!” Shalax screamed from atop a tall structure; her voice booming into the streets below. Matoran looked up in surprise and shock as they went about their days. Power began to flow through the streets, offsetting the Matoran. They began to flee for their lives, for it was all they could do. The energy was too offsetting, too evil feeling for them to do anything else. As they ran, thousands of Strievers rose up all around. The streets soon became flooded by Strievers and Sliths, all of them causing damage, killing whoever they could. They were a terrible sight that would bring pure destruction to the island. Shalax stepped through the rooftop she was on, descending into the building. This would be her base until it was over; this would be where she would wait for the heads of the Toa. “Two days ago Sion gets that wound, then two days of peace.” Seig said, “And now this invasion? I have to think that the wound was intentional; I’ve never seen them use those head blades before!” “Good point.” Raiz agreed, “Well, let’s go. If we can repel this attack, I think Shalax will be pretty weakened. We could probably eliminate her then.” “Yeah.” Yuli agreed, “If her powers are tied to these things, as we think, then it’ll be over.” “But Xalcak’s still persisted even after his death.” Seig muttered, “I don’t know how tied in they are.” “Whatever. Let’s just go and take care of this.” Ryza interrupted. “Yeah. Let’s move.” Seig said, heading to the streets with the others. They weren’t sure what they could do, where to start exactly. They would figure it out, though. They had to if they wanted to keep the Matoran alive. As they entered the streets, thick and alive with Strievers and Sliths, they started to attack and shout. Seig slashed rapidly, adding Air to his attacks, sending blasts down the streets with each blow, scattering and mortally wounding with bladed winds. Raiz was calling on hawk Rahi to assist in the battle. They would swoop down and attack from the air while he would slash with his sword and claw. Yuli was throwing out as much as she could; clouds, winds, electrical activity. Ryza was adding, throwing out harder Electricity bolts, hoping that the denser quality would disperse through the enemy ranks. After an hour of combat, continuing to use the same strategies to clear many out, there was still no signs of a stop. “How many are there?” Ryza screamed out, spinning her arm propeller, unleashing a cyclonic Electricity burst, taking out at least a dozen or two. “Too many.” Seig muttered, propelling himself into the air. His wings snapped out. He drew his sword up, focusing as much Air as he could around it, and slashed down. The massive blow scattered hundreds of them, but it was still not enough. Seig hit the ground and started to run and slash through them again. They fell with ease as usual, if not more ease than ever before. The Sliths as always were hard to fight, but the urgency of the Toa made them think faster and more creatively due to their time constraints, kicking their brains into overdrive, making them find ways around the thick armor. As they continued to fight, they noticed more attacks coming in. Island Defense raced in, shouting, “Move!” Gattling guns opened fire down the streets, cutting down many of the enemies. The light grenades were thrown, stunning and burning many away. The Island Defense attempted to live up to their name and defend the island from this onslaught, which seemed centered here, going down this specific way. They weren’t on any other parts of the island, as far as Seig could tell from his trip into the air. Then he was surprised when a hand was on his shoulder. “Sion! You shouldn’t be here!” Seig told him. The Toa of Fire shook his head, “I’m the commander of this unit. I have to be here, no matter what.” He lifted his weapon, “This wound…it’s bad, but I will persist. I won’t die. I can’t leave my men alone to fight this, and I’m a Toa. I can’t let this happen without getting involved. “Shalax used me. I’m going to burn through her minions. I’m going to burn you guys a path so that you can deal with her. On a single condition: bring me her head. I want to know that the witch who used me is dead. Can you do that?” “Thank you, Sion.” Seig said, “We will bring you her head for this.” Sion smiled and nodded, “Thank you.” He lifted his weapon, opening fire. Fire erupted from his weapon, burning down scores of them at once. Island Defense ran towards him, unleashing as much firepower as they could, mowing down as many as they could possibly kill. “Don’t let up!” Sion screamed, holding his neck in his free hand. He threw it out, unleashing blasts of Fire into the air. They came crashing down into the clusters, burning through from the center. “Sir?” One of them questioned. “What?” Sion questioned as the other Toa pushed through. “What about Princess Ishiza?” “What of her?” “She didn’t authorize us to mobilize. Does that mean she’s working with the enemy?” “No. It means she’ll let the citizens die as long as she remains safe.” He said, considering the creatures were attacking away from the elite section, only in the working class section, “She cares only for herself; if these kill the civil unrest, then so be it for her.”Review

Chapter 13: 999 A.G.C.: “How could you be the one to kill him?” Raiz shouted. “I had superior technology aiding me.” Sion gave a self-absorbed grin, “And I had my latent talents of marksmanship and combat skills. You see, you Toa are good, but I had years of combat as a Matoran; professional training as a Soldaat. I had more than you ever had. I had superior skills with which to deal with Xalcak.” He shrugged, “I’m sure if you guys had had my training in the past, things would have gone more smoothly.” Raiz couldn’t hold his anger back any longer. He threw a punch, striking Sion, throwing him to the ground. Sion picked himself up, touching the spot on the side of his face where he was struck, “You want to fight?” He shouted. “Raiz, let it go.” Seig said. “He disrespected the lives we lost!” Raiz shouted, “The way he talks, he disrespected the sacrifices of our comrades! Our friends! How can I let that stand?” “I meant no disrespect, know that.” Sion said, shaking his head as he walked past them, “Come on, men, let’s go.” The Island Defense units followed him as they left. Seig and Raiz watched them go, and were soon joined by Yuli and Ryza. “At least Xalcak is dead.” Yuli said, “It doesn’t matter who killed him.” “No, it doesn’t.” Seig agreed. “What matters is his disrespect of our deceased comrades!” Raiz shouted after Sion. He shook his head, “I’m going. It took years, but I lost my bloodlust. I’m afraid that this man is bringing it back by angering me so much.” Seig nodded, “Yeah, its best if we just go and forget about this for now.” 50 B.G.C.: The Toa assembled at the bridge, where Clasis was already cutting down Strievers and Sliths. The Strievers exploded with sparks as he slashed, clashing steel against steel. They fell and would evaporate into smoke. The Sliths would get strikes back into Clasis, causing him to spark as well, causing damage to him. He would only retaliate with Magma to burn the stronger creatures, using his sword only on the smaller warriors. Veran led the charge up the bridge. He leapt, giving a flying knee to one Slith. He span around, giving it rapid kicks to the head before infusing his brace with Plasma for the finishing blow. Sigil ran up, giving quick jabs to one of the larger creatures. He ducked the swing of one of its swords. He drew his right fist back, infusing it with his Gravity powers. He threw a punch into the Slith’s face, bringing it down by crushing the head. Raiz leapt into a group of Strievers on all fours. He whipped around, digging his weapons on both arms into their ranks. He threw his head back and shouted, using his powers. A large hawk Rahi flew down, slashing and pecking at the creatures, bringing some of them down. Atel ran forward, spinning her large spear overhead, slashing down and parrying quickly. She may have been a Toa of Healing, but her combat skills with her spear made up for having a support Element, not an offensive one. She was swift in dealing with Strievers, and ended up with a Slith in front of her, parrying both swords. Hark leapt in, impaling the Slith in the side of the head by throwing all the strength he could behind a thrust of his double ended spear. He kicked it over the side of the bridge, watching it vanish into smoke before it hit bottom. Rakis slashed at Strievers with her claws, and then opened her mouth, unleashing a Power Scream pointblank into a Slith, smashing through the thick armor it wore and throwing it over the side, watching it vanish into smoke. Clasis regrouped with the others, slashing through Strievers to reach them. He span around, unleashing a burst of Magma into the face of a Slith, bringing it down. He kicked another one, sending it back, allowing Atel to ram her spear through the face. Seig leapt over the swing of a Striever’s sword, kicking the creature in the face. As he landed, he impaled it with his sword. He span around, parrying the slash of another. He sent a blast of Air into the warrior’s face, throwing it over the side, and then following up with a drilling tornado into the chest, destroying it. The Toa, finally regrouped, turned their entire attention ahead to the swarm approaching them. Veran lifted his right leg, infusing his brace with Plasma. Sigil drew his right fist back, infusing his weapon with Gravity. Raiz drew his arms back, getting ready for a savage strike with his hawk. Atel drew her spear back, getting ready for a double arm snap as fast as she could to deliver as much power as she could. Seig was supporting her by bending Air around her weapon. He himself was doing the same for his sword; an arm snap thrust. Hark was drawing his spear back, getting ready to use his own power to do damage, rather than depend on someone else’s powers to give his weapon strength. He was determined enough to make it work. Rakis was rearing her claws and head back, ready for a powerful Power Scream, and readying her claws to clean up any remainder. Clasis was drawing his sword back, infusing Magma into both ends, ready to unleash it in one burst. As the creatures rushed them, everyone acted. Veran leapt up, kicking his leg out, throwing the Plasma forward. Sigil punched, throwing his Gravity warping forward. Raiz leapt forward, his Hawk joining him as they were above the two attacks before them, coming down into an unaffected part of the offensive group they were attacking. Atel ran forward, going at a side that wasn’t in the way of the already flying Elemental attacks. Hark was running beside her, ready to join her in dealing with that flank. Seig was adding his Air powered thrust to the central column of men. Rakis and Clasis added the Power Scream and Magma to the same side that Atel and Hark were striking, but aimed wider to avoid hitting their comrades. The combined attacks of the eight Toa brought down all but a handful of the Strievers and Sliths. They backed away, hissing, readying for another strike no matter how futile it would be. The Toa stood ready, always ready to continue fighting and bring them down. Then Xalcak melted atop the bridge, coming out of the bottom. He walked towards his minions, who moved aside to allow him to pass. He said nothing. He lifted his right arm. The bridge began to reform around the Toa as spikes erupted on both sides of them, coming into impale their armor. “Move!” Sigil screamed, throwing Gravity powers around to attempt to help everyone. As they started to move and dodge Xalcak’s attack, they could see that Hark was impaled by one through the chest. “Hark!” Atel shouted, rushing to help the Toa of Jungle. “Everyone else, focus on Xalcak!” Veran shouted, “Bring him down!” Sigil and Veran ran forward first. Sigil leapt up as Veran went low, sending a kick up while Sigil brought a punch down. Xalcak manipulated the bridge once more. A wall of iron came up between the two Toa and himself, stopping their attacks from getting any closer to him. Clasis threw a blast of Magma forward, melting through the wall. The two leaders threw their attacks forward again; a punch and a kick. Xalcak lifted both arms, manipulating them into blades. He slashed at their oncoming attacks, wounding them. As the two leapt back, Xalcak walked after them, still never bending a limb. He lifted both arms up, showing the blades that were his arms. He ran as best as he could in such a situation, slashing as hard and fast as he could. The two leaders were still able to dodge the attacks. Veran parried one blade with his brace while Sigil parried one with his gauntlet. Raiz leapt forward, screaming and slashing. A wall shot up under him, throwing him back, leaving him unconscious from the blow to the head. Seig leapt over the wall, lifting his sword in both hands above his head. Air generated around his blade, and then he slashed down. The wall of Air came slamming down at Xalcak; no escape, no defense. Xalcak melted into the bridge at a very fast rate. As the wind smashed into the bridge, it tore a hole through it. Seig landed beside the two leaders and looked ahead as he came out on the other end. Rakis unleashed a Power Scream, sending the attack flying forward. He split his body, allowing the attack to pass through him. Clasis followed up by throwing his arm forward, causing the bridge all around him to melt. The piece fell towards the dunes below, where Seig was generating a tornado, with the two leaders readying their Elemental strikes. As Xalcak came back up towards them, the two leaders leapt forward, actually landing a blow on Xalcak, throwing him to the other half of the bridge. They remained inside of Seig’s tornado. Seig sent them to the other side to continue their battle. He himself ran back to check on Hark. “How’s he doing?” He questioned Atel. She was slowly healing his wounds. She glanced to him, “He’ll be fine. It missed his major organs, it looks like. I should have him up again soon.” “He doesn’t deserve to die.” Seig said, “He’s like me; a rookie, pretty much.” Atel nodded, “Yeah. You two are our youngest warriors. You two need to live through this and be better for it. You two are probably the future of this team, of the defense of this island.” Rakis and Clasis were getting to the end of the bridge. They started to throw attacks across; a Power Scream and a blast of Magma, hoping to strike Xalcak. Xalcak warped the bridge to block both attacks, and then warped it some more, spreading material thin to fix the bridge. He pushed both opponents away by moving faster than they had seen him do before. He didn’t use blades, which could have killed them. He just pushed and walked towards the other Toa. “Kill him!” Veran screamed, running after him, getting a Plasma attack ready on his brace. Sigil ran beside him, a Gravity punch ready. On the other end, Clasis was running forward with Magma infused blades while Rakis had her claws ready. As they all rushed Xalcak – walking once more – he made a move. Bladed arms once more. He span around, parrying the two attacks from behind. This seemingly left him open from behind once more. He started to sink into the bridge, giving some of his mass to it, allowing two fists to emerge from the other end from his own mass and the bridge’s mass, blocking the attacks, even keeping the Magma at bay. “How hard is it to kill this guy?” Rakis screamed. Xalcak quickly shot himself back up, using the quick pressure from releasing all of his mass back into himself to land behind Rakis and Clasis. He impaled Rakis from behind, causing her to scream out in pain, leaving her powers unchecked, sending a Power Scream right into Sigil, smashing his body down the length of the bridge. Xalcak withdrew his arm and walked away. Seig ran at him, throwing Air blades from his left hand. Xalcak split his body to avoid each one. “Atel! Watch Hark!” Seig shouted, drawing his sword into both hands and sliding forward. He slashed as hard as he could, but Xalcak parried with no problem. He slashed Seig across the chest with his other blade, causing sparks to fly out and a dark spot to remain on his armor. As Seig hit the ground, he noticed Atel rise to fight. She ran forward, slashing her spear and spinning around to gain momentum as he dodged back. Hark was fine, it looked like. Atel could leave him to heal on his own while she rejoined the fight. Veran ran forward, crouching to check on Rakis, who was already dead. He cursed and ran forward with Clasis, only hoping that Sigil had also survived. But this was a war. A war against one man, but a war none the less. Even in this situation there were expected to be casualties. As the two reached him from behind, Seig also rose and plunged his blade forward. The attacks all came at him from behind while Atel plunged from the front. He warped his body, creating a hole in his chest. The weapons struck each other, and his mass split off, connected only under the weapons. His body stepped away, allowing him to reform all of his mass at the sides of the Toa. He slashed, but Raiz was back up, parrying. He shouted and slashed wildly, throwing the occasional kick in. His hawk had flown away when he was rendered unconscious and lost control of his power over it. He slashed and slashed, but could never land a concrete blow, as Xalcak always parried. Raiz leapt up, slashing his weapons down at Xalcak’s head. The stiff warrior shot a wall out of the ground, parrying, and then a fist, smashing it into Raiz, taking him down. When it fell, Atel, Seig, Veran and Clasis stood to oppose him. They all focused power around their weapons; with Seig providing Air for Atel to use a pressurized strike. Everyone launched their weapons forward at once. Xalcak melted his body into the ground, coming out behind all of them. He slashed both arms to his sides, cutting all of them down, causing them all to cry out in pain; sparks flying form their backs. “Got ya!” Hark impaled Xalcak from behind.Review

I watched Decade, got to Hibiki's World (Decade was my first alongside Dragon Knight; I only started since DK was on), and I remember going, "I will never watch that." But as I went through, I saw conversations of how Hibiki is all about characters. Not even music themes; just characters. It's a coming of age story, and it's beautiful...for the first 29 episodes. I gave it a chance, and couldn't stop watching my downloads. Kabuto, I watched the first one, gave up for a bit, watched the second, and kept going slowly. Blade, same, basically, and I loved Blade more than Kabuto. Hibiki I just could not stop watching.Granted, I'll say what I tell everyone; if you like shows about characters, then watch Hibiki. Just force yourself through the start of episode 1 with the music, don't take any misconceptions along that it's about music, and you should enjoy it.

I want a Nazca Figuart, but it's too expensive. All I have right now is a ShinkenRed from Toys R Us. There are some beautiful ones from Rider.ET; the suit designs are the best part of Kabuto. It has the potential to be amazing...but it's just not, unfortunately.DJ; I recommend Hibiki. It's my favorite season (outside of W, if only because of the staff changes that ruined the last 18 or so Hibiki episodes). Kiva is amazing as well, but not as good. Basically, if you want a character driven season, one of those (Hibiki moreso). I personally don't care for OOO in retrospect, if only because of the cast and characters not feeling as good as W had (as I already mentioned).

Oh, sorry Tohkann. I can remove the link. I completely forgot it might be a spoiler.

I enjoy Fourze only because it fixes what OOO was terrible at; setting. W was beautifully done with Fuuto basically feeling like a real place; recurring characters, just a good setting...OOO had nothing. We don't even know the city's name! With Fourze, we have recurring characters and a good setting that feels real again, like Fuuto again, but to a lesser extent.ET; Kabuto is decent, but you'll probably hate Tendou immediately. It's not a bad season, Tendou makes it bad. Along with so many unresolved plots...

Chapter 12: Swift Rei “Where have you been?” ‘Forte’ demanded. Cesare looked at the mechanical warrior, “What, I can’t spend a day on the island, getting to know the area?” “You should immediately report back to us.” ‘Forte’ hissed. “I’m not Bandiaca’s lapdog.” Cesare said, “I don’t need to constantly report in.” ‘Forte’ drew his sword up, “You had better. We need your information. We’re letting you go around and collect it for a reason. We let you kill Abare, a trump card of ours for a reason. Now, you had better come and give us information as soon as you get it instead of running around like this!” Cesare flashed a smile at ‘Forte’, “You’re really very serious, you know that?” “What?” ‘Forte’ hissed, “Are you screwing with me?” “Quiet, you two.” Bandiaca hissed, walking into the chamber, “I don’t want my two hands fighting each other. If the hands are at conflict, what work will get done?” “You consider me your right hand?” Cesare questioned. ‘Forte’ growled at him, “I am her right hand!” He snapped. Cesare smiled to ‘Forte’, “You really think that?” “Quiet!” Bandiaca snapped, “Now, Cesare, what have you learned?” “I’ll tell you.” He said, walking towards her, “But I believe you should send a warrior out to the island.” “Why?” She questioned. “It’s important.” Cesare replied, “If you want to win, you should.” “You came here to get stronger, you said.” Bandiaca told Cesare, “So, why would you want me sending one of my warriors out there like this?” “I want to see what the Toa can do.” Cesare said, “I got a feel for them in our battle. I want to see what they can do against another one of you warriors. It helps me to learn, to gauge their skills. And, it also helps me to gauge the skills of your people, Bandiaca.” “Fine.” She said, “I need you to get someone for me, ‘Forte’. Anyone will suffice, but you know the type of warrior that Cesare should desire, do you not?” “Someone capable.” ‘Forte’ answered, bowing and leaving the chamber. “Now, Cesare, what is it that you have learned?” Bandiaca questioned, taking her seat at her throne. Cesare turned as she walked past him, and as she sat, he prepared to answer, showing a sly and grim smile as he divulged his information. “You want me to fight?” A female warrior in lime green and black questioned ‘Forte’. She had clawed armor on her arms as well as her legs, and wore little armor overall, besides her main armored body. She was a swift warrior named Nin. In her left hand, she carried a pointdown shaft-like object, small and compressed, like a coil, almost. In her right, holding it against her arm, she had an object that came out in a point, thick, some sort of weapon. “I do want you to fight.” ‘Forte’ replied, “Nin, you are a fast warrior. I’m sure you can get out there and kill the Toa Cyril for us before they can react fast enough.” She nodded, “I know that to be true.” She said, “But…” She scratched her chin with her left hand, hooking her object on her hip, “Won’t Mistress Bandiaca be angry?” She questioned, “After all, we aren’t supposed to be killing the Toa Cyril, are we?” “What are you trying to say?” ‘Forte’ questioned. “Mistress said that the job was now the new Toa’s.” Nin replied, “At least, that’s what she said the other day, when he arrived. She said that he was capable enough of doing it, and that we were to test the Toa and wear them down when we could, where we could, but the kills would likely go to that new Toa.” “Are you saying you’re willing to go out there and die?” ‘Forte’ hissed, “Because that’s what will happen if you don’t fight to kill. The Toa will kill you!” “But Mistress Bandiaca said…” “Forget her orders!” ‘Forte’ hissed, “This new Toa, Cesare, is nothing! You are superior to him, Nin! You are to kill the Toa if you can! Those are my orders!” “You aren’t Mistress Bandiaca.” Nin pointed out. “I am her right hand.” ‘Forte’ said, “What I say on her behalf is good enough! It always has been in the past, it is now as well.” “I don’t know…” “Do it.” ‘Forte’ hissed in a quiet order. Nin slowly nodded, “Understood.” She said, heading out. She wouldn’t have Bandiaca’s power to give her a path to the island, but she would get there on her own. ‘Forte’ watched Nin go, and smiled to himself as he walked back to Bandiaca and Cesare. As Agri escorted Turaga Gorma from the political meeting ground to the temple, Nin watched, waiting for her chance from atop a roof. She held both weapons down, against her arms. She leapt off of the roof, firing off her left hand weapon, securing a line to a rooftop so she could swing. They never saw it coming. She swung down, flipping her other weapon around and slashing them both in the backs as she swept past them, performing a flip and landing in front of them, spinning around as her line retracted. “Fall and never rise again.” She told them in a near whisper. Both Agri and Turaga Gorma collapsed to the ground, deep, dark lines across their backs from where Nin’s blade had cut through them. She walked away. There were four other Toa to eliminate, after all. Magis stood among the trees, collecting leaves again, since Kyuu had interrupted him on his last attempt to do so. He hoped to collect enough on this trip to last for a while, as well as spend enough time here in order to apologize to the trees for the damage that had been caused in the fight with Kyuu. But, as he walked among the trees, speaking silently to the things that he loved – only because they helped him with his vanity – Nin was watching, waiting. As he walked out of the trees, she span around, getting behind him, pressing her bladed weapon to his back. But Magis was faster than Agri and Gorma. He leapt forward, flipped off of his hand and span around, drawing his Blade Blaster up. Nin was gone. “What? Where are you?” He shouted. He felt the blade in his back again, “Here I am.” She said. “You’re fast.” Magis muttered. “I know.” She replied, using the function of her weapon. Energy arrows smashed into Magis’s back, causing him to cry out and be thrown forward by each blast. He hit a tree hard and went down while trying to hold himself up. He span around, trying to fire, but three shots to the chest put him to the ground. He didn’t get back up. Eri was sitting, looking down into the ocean. Nin walked up behind her, taking aim with her weapon. “I know you’re there.” Eri said. “Good instincts.” Nin admitted. “I was a Dark Hunter. I need these instincts.” Eri replied. “A Dark Hunter? A Toa like you?” Eri muffled a laugh, “You think lowly of us Toa, don’t you?” Water surrounded Nin’s feet, circling up around her body, poising itself as blades, pointed at her throat. “Your control is admirable.” Nin said, “But, you’re not good enough.” She tilted her left hand, aiming her grappling weapon up. She fired it. The liquid was never touched as the weight and line were shot up, hooking around one of the spires on the island which sat nearby. “Die, whoever you are.” Eri said, “Bandiaca will have one less minion.” The Water crashed in, impaling the blades into where Nin’s neck would have been. But Eri glanced back, seeing Nin flipping through the air, aiming her weapon at the Toa of Water. She rose to her feet, hand going for the Blade Blaster, but Nin was faster, opening fire. The energy arrows found their mark in Eri’s chest, throwing her back and into the ocean below. The height, along with the positions of the arrows would surely kill the Toa of Water. Nin landed and walked away. Two targets remained. Hoji sat in the temple, mediating alone and in peace. Nin snuck in easily, lifting her weapon as she got closer. Hoji never noticed. Not even in his focused meditative state did he hear her or notice her presence. She fired three shots and Hoji fell to the ground. Nin walked out, but ran into her final target, Toa Rei. Rei and Nin were just as fast. As Nin’s weapon was raised, she had a knife to her throat at the same time from Rei. “Who are you?” Rei demanded. “Nin. One of Mistress Bandiaca’s warriors.” Nin answered. “You know who I am, no doubt.” Rei said. “Toa Rei. Second in command.” Nin said, “I’m glad I ran into you this quickly. You’re the last survivor of your team.” “You really think I’d believe that?” Rei questioned. “I’ll tell you where to find the corpses of your three other teammates.” Nin said, “And even the Turaga.” “I’m not amused.” Rei said, kicking Nin back. As Nin fired, Rei ducked, span, and threw a dagger forward. The weapon missed as Nin leapt into the air, kicked off of the entrance of the temple, and went into the air, shooting her weapon out and getting away, swinging into a street. Rei rushed forward and reclaimed her dagger. She rushed after Nin, trying to follow the female assailant’s path as best as she could, but Nin was nowhere to be seen after a few moments. Nin came around a building in a circle, swinging and aiming low. She fired a shot at the back of Rei’s head for a sure kill. Rei span around, unleashing a blast of Lightning into the air. It crackled forward, overrunning the arrow and rushing up at Nin herself. Nin flipped around in the air, released her line, and fired it out again, running along a rooftop or two before jumping off and swinging away. Rei cursed and raced after her. She was fast, whoever she was. Rei wasn’t sure how easily she would be able to pursue, or how easily this fight would go. Easily for either of them. While Rei had more power, Nin seemed to be faster, but Rei couldn’t give up. She couldn’t let this woman escape, or kill her. She had to avenge her friends, if she was speaking the truth and had eliminated the others. Rei doubted that. How could she have killed them all? Rei slid into a crossroads, looking around above her. She saw a low rooftop to her right and ran for it, jumping and grabbing the ledge. She pulled herself to the rooftop and leapt to another, getting onto a more level surface before running, searching for Nin. Rei slid to a stop and span around, parrying with two daggers as the weapon came down in a slash. She kicked Nin back and flipped off of the roof, landing on the streets and running. She was the assailant’s target now. Nin would pursue, since she had no other targets remaining. Rei slid down a street, jumped and kicked off of a wall, onto the other wall, and then up and out of the alley as Nin ran into it. She span around, surprised, and lifted her weapon to fire an arrow. Rei was faster, unleashing a blast of Lightning into Nin. The powerful surge smashed into Nin, throwing her back as if she were a ragdoll. She hit the ground hard, cracking the foundation. She struggled up to her feet and gave chase, despite the massive scorch marks on her chest from the attack. As she shot her line up, Rei threw a dagger, severing it. Nin cursed and looked around, but was unable to see the Toa of Lightning, despite knowing where the throw of the dagger had come from. “What, not fast enough anymore?” Rei mocked. “Show yourself!” Nin snapped. Rei flipped out of her hiding place, landing behind Nin and thrusting a dagger up at the back of her opponent’s neck. Just as quickly, however, Nin had spun her weapon around and pointed it right back at Rei, ready to shoot arrows into the Toa. “Stalemate.” Nin said. “I think not.” Rei replied. “How so?” Nin demanded to know. Rei performed a backflip from her spot just as Nin fired. She span around, twisting in the air, and threw her weapon, rushing it through the back of Nin’s neck, dropping the female warrior. Rei landed and walked towards the corpse, “Because I’m that good. You’re fast, but I’m faster.” She crouched to reclaim her weapon and then rose and sheathed it. Where would she begin to search for the others? Were they really dead? But Nin hadn’t been too certain about her orders. She had thought she killed the other Toa, but her orders from Bandiaca ran too deeply. She had spared them, despite being in the position to kill every one of them. The blows looked like mortal wounds or fatal wounds, but they weren’t. The Toa and Gorma would recover quickly, as long as someone treated them. Even Eri, who had fallen into the ocean. As long as she hadn’t lost consciousness, she would have avoided having her body smashed. As Rei searched and found every Toa in turn, and Turaga Gorma with Agri, she wondered about Nin, and what the woman’s goals actually were. Was she trying to kill them all? Or was she just trying to provoke Rei for some reason? Did she think she had killed them? What had happened exactly? “You sent someone already?” Bandiaca questioned ‘Forte’. “I sent Nin.” ‘Forte’ answered. “Nin?” The witch hissed, “She’s one of my best!” “And she’ll have killed all of the Toa as such.” ‘Forte’ said. Cesare shot him a glare, “They are mine to kill.” He drew his blade, “I wanted to become stronger off of them.” “It’s too late.” ‘Forte’ said, “By this point, she would have killed them all.” Cesare walked towards ‘Forte’, sword ready, “I’ll kill you instead, then. How will you enjoy that, ‘Forte’?” “Stop it you two.” Bandiaca hissed, projecting images of Cyril Nui from the crystal in her staff, “As you can see, Nin failed. Everyone is still alive.” She looked to ‘Forte’, “You told her to kill them, didn’t you?” “I did.” ‘Forte’ answered. “One more mistake, and I’ll banish you.” Bandiaca threatened, “You know I promised those kills to Cesare. One more mistake, ‘Forte’, and you’re gone.”“Ever since joining Dai, I’ve grown stronger in the art of the sword. I’m strong, I’m good. This opponent’s swordsmanship and power exceeds Dai’s, somehow…but how? Next time: “Chapter 13: Strong Agri” Stand tall or fall!”Review

Chapter 12: 50 B.G.C.: “How foolish are you?” Atel demanded as she slowly pulled the roots of the seeds out of Hark’s organics. “It seemed a good idea at the time, is that it?” Sigil questioned him, “It wasn’t.” “Think next time.” Atel agreed, continuing on her slow and tedious work. “How else was I supposed to fight against Xalcak with you guys?” He questioned, “I’m useless in the desert! This was my way of helping!” “We don’t want your help if it means you die!” Sigil snapped, “Remember that.” “I will…” Hark said, surprised that Sigil was actually showing him that he was an important member of the team; more important alive than killing Xalcak. It meant a lot to him. All of them wanted Xalcak so badly, but none more than Veran. As his partner, Hark figured Sigil would be just as committed; but he wasn’t willing to sacrifice a comrade’s life. The three Toa were currently alone in a hut in the village closest to the Dunes of Sorrow. They weren’t sure where the others were at the moment, however. Clasis had gone out to survey the damage he did to the bridge along with some Matoran, so he was accounted for. The others were patrolling, no doubt. Probably trying to reduce dependency on Island Defense. “It’s strange, you know.” Hark said. “What?” Sigil questioned. “We wear ourselves out and thin trying to cover the villages to reduce dependency on Island Defense. But, the more we do, the more tired we get. We can’t break as long between, or Island Defense will continue to take money from the people when we could do it for free… But the more we try to stop them, the more we help them later on, when we aren’t able to get there first.” “Island Defense does seem to have an edge in that regard.” Sigil agreed, “That’s why we diverted some of our manpower to the Dunes; the sooner we find and eliminate Xalcak, the sooner things get back to normal.” As Atel continued to tend to Hark’s body, Rakis ran inside. She nodded to them, “We found him.” She said, “At the Dunes. We have to go! Now!” The four Toa ran out, with Atel’s job of removing the seeds only partially done. Hark vowed that he would only use them if he really had to. But this was shaping up to be their final battle against their greatest enemy; he may need to do it. 999 A.G.C.: “What do we do about Sion and Island Defense?” Yuli asked. The four Toa stood in the midst of burning corpses of Strievers and a few Sliths. They were vanishing slowly, for some reason, but they were dead. “Is it just me…or are these taking longer?” Ryza asked them. “It’s all of us seeing it.” Seig answered, “I wonder if the enemy is weakening.” He crouched, “Look; these are mostly Shalax’s. Only hers, actually.” He rose, “Did Xalcak not send any? Or are they fine, and already gone?” “Could this mean that Shalax is weakening?” Raiz wondered aloud. “It means something.” Seig replied. “Could you try to answer my question?” Yuli asked. “Right. What was it?” Seig asked. “What do we do about Sion and Island Defense?” “They did this, obviously.” Ryza agreed, “But isn’t this a good thing?” “They were a mercenary unit that we tried to stop in the past.” Raiz said, “We had to stop them from bleeding the Matoran dry of money. We have no such problem this time around. They’re a public force. But if they try to break free, overthrow Ishiza? Then we have to worry about them rogue, and about the Matoran and money situations.” “But they won’t betray her.” Yuli said, “Sion strikes me as a loyal man.” “Loyal to his own ideals, maybe.” Ryza muttered. “We just have to watch and be careful. That’s all we can really do.” Seig commented, “For now, let’s go.” He ran through the corpses, towards the sound of fighting up ahead. The others quickly followed, stopping with him when they saw the Island Defense troop in defensive positions, firing tactically on the Strievers, while diverting stronger weaponry against Sliths where Sion was fighting, using melee attacks – kicks and slashes from his bayonet – along with Fire to bring down the stronger creatures. Sion span around, snapping his fingers and blasting a Striever pointblank in the chest as it came at him. It fell, slowly vanishing. He span back around, snapping again, slashing a Slith easily through the throat, dropping it without a thought. “Back them up!” Seig ordered, running into the battle, slashing at a Slith, knocking it back. He generated a small sphere of Air into his hand, ready to release it, when Sion shot a small, compressed blast of Fire from his weapon, dropping it. “This is our fight!” Sion shouted. “No! As Toa, it is our duty to do this!” Seig shouted at him, unleashing the wind attack on another Slith, knocking it back into Yuli’s Weather powers as she released as much rain as she could, attempting to drown the creature as it came face first into the liquid. Ryza unleashed a blast of Electricity, dropping it. “Fine. Just stay out of our way!” Sion shouted, launching Fire bolts from his bayonet and blaster at the same time, dropping as many as he could, “Heavy Unit!” He shouted. Four gattling gun users and four shotgun users approached. Three Sliths were coming. Sion nodded, running off to fight other creatures. The Matoran alone fought against the stronger creatures, opening fire with their heavy weaponry, actually succeeding in dropping the creatures, killing them even. The four Toa continued to fight alongside Island Defense, until the creatures were gone. All of Shalax and Xalcak’s forces were gone now, but hers still vanished later. Was this a sign she was weakening, or possibly, growing stronger? “Sion, any idea about those corpses?” Yuli asked, nodding to his scope. “I checked. I didn’t get anything.” He said, “No readings on the body; nothing worthwhile.” “What do you think?” She asked him. “She’s getting weaker, somehow.” He replied, “She is very powerful, I imagine, but somehow…she should be weakening.” “How do you know that she’s very powerful?” Raiz questioned, walking over, “You’ve never fought her. You’ve encountered her, but you haven’t seen anything.” “I said that I imagined she was powerful.” He told Raiz. “I get that, but I don’t believe you.” “You don’t like me; you’re grasping at straws to try to attack me somehow.” Sion said. “I may be biased against you, but I’m not grasping at anything.” Raiz told him. “Oh, really?” “Yes.” “Then where’s proof that I know of Shalax and her power?” “I don’t quite know.” Seig walked over, “I heard you two talking when I fought Xalcak.” He said, “When Yuli and Ryza were seeing to Raiz’s wounds. You two do know each other. I didn’t catch it all, but I heard some.” “It’s nothing.” Sion muttered. “Tell me!” Raiz shouted. “He used to be my puppet.” They all turned around to see Shalax approaching, with Xalcak in tow. The two stopped before Island Defense and the five Toa. Sion snapped his fingers, all of them taking to a knee and aiming their weapons on the two newcomers. “Puppet?” Raiz questioned. “When he was a Matoran…when my predecessor was still active.” She said, “I encouraged him from the shadows. I got him to build this island into what it now is. I gave him the ideas, and he gave them to the populace. They listened, for some reason, and then I waited.” “Waited for what?” Seig demanded. She glanced to Xalcak, “Him to die, so I could have his power.” Xalcak lashed out at her, his arms permanently straight, never bending at the elbow or wrist, as usual. His right arm melted into a sword, slashing at her. She leapt back, evading the strike, landing away from them. “I believed a city would be more advantageous for me to take his powers in.” She said, “More places to hide, even if the desert was so large. I hated that place, so I stayed away. I didn’t want to go there to absorb him; I wouldn’t have actually found him. But traversing a city is so much easier than traversing endless dunes…” “I will kill you.” Xalcak said, “Plotting my demise…I’ve plotted yours since you brought me back.” “You’ll have to wait to claim that revenge.” She said, melting away into the ground, vanishing from them. “Fall back!” Seig ordered, “Neither of you are ready to fight him!” He told Yuli and Ryza, then glanced to Raiz, “We can hold him off.” Raiz nodded, lifting his sword, “Revenge for my poor performance last time.” “If you two are fighting, then so are we!” Ryza asserted. “No!” Seig snapped, “As leader, this is my order!” “Too bad.” Yuli said, “If you’re fighting, then Ryza and I will too.” “Fire!” Sion snapped at his men. The Island Defense soldiers opened fire alongside their leader. Blasts scorched the ground with their high rates of fire, but none could hit Xalcak as he manipulated his body to avoid each blow. “You fools are out of your league.” Xalcak hissed to the Island Defense. Seig and Raiz rushed towards Sion, “We’ll help you.” Seig said, “But only if you get your team out.” “No concern for my safety?” Sion questioned mockingly. “No matter what we say, you won’t leave this fight. We all know that.” Raiz told him. “That’s right.” Sion said, “Now…you two leave.” “What?” Raiz hissed. “Are you a fool? You’ll die fighting him alone!” Seig snapped. “No. Alone, I will win. You two will die if you stay.” “What?” Raiz demanded, ready to strike, “You think that you alone – a rookie – can fare better than the two of us? Who have fought him before?” “Because I’m better.” Sion said. “You really think you’re better?” The Toa of Rahi was starting to get very angry. “I don’t think so…I know so.” Sion lifted his gun and started to rapidly fire. Xalcak dodged each blow, walking slowly forward, bending his body out of the way to evade. “Go!” Sion snapped at them. “Let’s watch him fail.” Raiz muttered, pulling Seig away with him. Sion continued to attack, and then unleashed a bolt of Fire from his left hand. Island Defense was pulling back. Xalcak melted into the ground to evade Sion’s strike. Sion smiled, snapping his fingers as he usually did now that he had become a Toa. He looked at the ground, no doubt tracing Xalcak’s movements with his scope. He whipped around, lifted his weapon, and fired. As Xalcak came up, he took each energy bullet and Fire bolt that Sion fired; some of the flames being doubled as he fired another shot out of his bayonet for good measure. The onslaught lasted only a few moments. He continued to fall back, body covered in serious burns and scorches. He vanished underground once more. Sion smiled, tracing him again. Instead of firing, he ran forward and slid as Xalcak emerged, evading this time by splitting himself so that the bayonet couldn’t pierce him. The blade sat in the gap created by his body. Sion rammed his left palm into the spot where his foe’s head was, stunning him. He then grabbed the head and unleashed his Fire powers, burning Xalcak to the point where he could no longer hold his shifted form. And then the bayonet was within him, cutting through as his organs reformed. He screamed even as his face was burning. He stumbled back, pulling the bayonet free, causing serious internal injuries to himself. Sion turned his right side to his foe and lifted his weapon. He charged Fire into the blaster and the bayonet, and then, fully charged with energy as well, he pulled the trigger. His energy blast and twin lancing Fire attacks tore through Xalcak. The former scourge of the island burned, stumbling away, still never bending his limbs, even in such pain. He threw his head back, screaming as he melted into the ground, rather than fall to his knees – which he couldn’t. But as he melted partway into the ground, he stopped. “He’s dead.” Sion reported, “No life signs. I killed him.”Review

Chapter 11: 999 A.G.C.: Sion slashed the Slith away. It roared and raced at him, swinging both of the massive swords it held up. It slashed both down at the figure of the Toa of Fire. Sion leapt back, span around, and went to a knee, ramming his weapon forward, digging the blade into the Slith’s chest, opening fire, switching between energy blasts and Fire attacks with every shot, continuing to smash attacks into the monstrous creature. His bayonet held it firmly in place, so it couldn’t get away. Sion tore his weapon free, causing the creature to scream and hiss in pain. He span around, delivering a kick to the side of the Slith’s head, causing it to stumble aside. It ran at him, now free of his weapon. He slashed the first blade down, which he dodged with ease. He gave a quick kick to the Slith’s chest wound, causing it to cry in pain. Sion turned his left side towards the creature, throwing his arm out and snapping his fingers, “You’re done.” He span around as it rushed him, turning his right towards the creature, opening fire on it, causing it to hiss and cry out in pain again. “Sion!” Seig shouted. “I’m good, aren’t I?” Sion questioned, “With this power, I shall do what I always wanted! I shall lead this island to a prosperity that it will always hold!” “Are you talking about using your Toa powers to usurp power?” Raiz hissed. “No. I’m talking about using my Toa powers to lead the people to safety with Island Defense.” He simply replied, “With a Toa leading these soldiers, we will be unstoppable!” “Tell me.” Seig said. “What?” “Why did you become a Toa?” He questioned. “I was destined.” Sion said, spinning around to deliver a kick, sending the Slith into the water. He held up his hand, “One moment, please.” He told Seig, turning and firing rapidly into the downed creature’s chest, using Fire to kill it. He turned up to the Toa of Air, “Ok, now, what were you saying?” “Why did you become a Toa?” Seig hissed. “Because I was destined of course.” Sion said, “I found the Toa Stone; destiny. I felt power within it; destiny. I was able to transform; destiny. What would you rather have had me do? Forgo destiny?” “You’re not destined!” Seig snapped. “Of course I am!” Sion said, “Or how did I become a Toa, then?” “When we killed Xalcak all those years ago…destiny was distorted!” Raiz snapped in Seig’s place, “Anyone could have transformed after finding that Toa Stone! You just happened to find it…” “I don’t believe you.” Sion said, “It was destiny!” “No! Coincidence!” Raiz snapped. Sion shrugged, “If it makes you feel better, it was destiny that led me to the Toa Stone, and whatever you said that caused me to transform. Is that a fair tradeoff?” “No! You found it by chance and greed!” Raiz snapped. “Greed?” “You wanted power. You desired power beyond that of a Matoran!” Raiz shouted, “You didn’t just want the Soldaat and Island Defense skills…in the past, you wanted to rule this island! You laid the groundwork for these monstrosities of buildings to rise up! “Physical power is something you may not admit to wanting. You may not want it. But you do want power! You want people to remember you! You want a legacy attached to your name, so you had this city built like this! What did you ever do to be remembered? And now you’re a Toa; one of few. You think you can go down in history for this, now, as one of the last Toa of this time period?” “I wanted this city to rise for other reasons.” Sion said, “It was the best for everyone, can’t you see that?” “No!” Raiz shouted, “In the past…the basics, weren’t they enough?” “For some. But if this island wanted to continue to strive, to live on, they needed this so that they could match up with other economies! Other traders! Other islands!” “What if they didn’t care?” Raiz questioned. “Why wouldn’t they care?” Sion questioned, “Everyone wants more! It’s the natural order of things!” “Do you know how miserable the Matoran are?” The Toa of Rahi hissed, “They’ve begun to revolt in the streets at times! They live in a dystopia! If this island never became like this, then there would be no rulers like Ishiza! It would run autonomously like in the past! But I guess that just wasn’t enough, was it, Sion? You had to delve into your greed and make everyone else pay for it!” He lifted his blade, “I’m going to stop that from happening again!” He leapt down, landing near the stream. He lifted his blade towards the new Toa of Fire, “Come on! I’m going to make sure your greed doesn’t cost anyone else anything anymore!” “So, you would fight me?” Sion questioned. “Yes.” Raiz hissed, “A duel; just us.” “I decline.” “What?” Sion gestured to the few Island Defense members around the area, “I have a duty to my men; I must not die. I must go to see Ishiza, be reinstated properly, and then we can continue our glorious mission on this island! As for your duel, you bloodthirsty Toa, you’re on your own there. I won’t fight you.” He turned on his heel and walked towards the ledge. “Coward!” Raiz screamed at him. “I’m not going to let you make me fight by responding to such insults.” He said, too smart to fall for it. Raiz screamed out, despite his newfound composure that had been built over hundreds of years. Seig, Yuli and Ryza leapt down to go to him, with Yuli and Ryza stopping near Sion. “I’ve become like the two of you.” He said, glancing to Yuli, “I know you were always interested in my ways.” “I want to know what you’re going to do now that you have power.” She replied. “I’m going to do just what I always said I would do. I’m going to bring peace to this island, bring stability, make it a better place. Can you really stand against me? We fight for the same beliefs.” “I don’t appreciate the way you seem to be going about this.” “I haven’t done anything yet.” “Your words.” “What of them?” “I don’t know much about Xalcak or his death, but I have to believe my team. Destiny was damaged on this island, and you are no Toa.” She said, “No true Toa. A false Toa here to give us your views of guidance that nobody desires.” “I’m sorry you feel that way, but that’s just the way it is.” He said, walking away towards the ledge. Before he could climb, Ryza turned to him. “You false prophet!” “Oh? Is that how you have to compare me to get the point across?” He questioned, “By all means, use those words if they make you feel better. I am who I am; I am no false prophet, or a false Toa. I am only a Toa.” “You dare to show yourself?” Ishiza questioned Sion, unimpressed by the fact that he was now a Toa. She was in disgust that he still wore the body armor and the scope indicating the leader of Island Defense, but other than that, didn’t care much. “I’ve changed, clearly.” He said. “On the outside. I never liked Toa.” She said, “Did you not know that? Did you think I did, and coming here as one would fix things?” He went to a knee, “I am your loyal soldiers, Princess Ishiza. Allow me to continue to serve as leader to Island Defense, with my new position as a Toa. I can now assure you of peace more than I ever could have in the past. Please, allow me.” “And if I refuse to allow you to reclaim your position?” “Do what you will.” He said, “Kill me, if you must. Do what you feel to be the best.” “You’re sure of yourself and my decision.” “I don’t fear death. I fear failure.” He said simply and nobly. “Very well, then.” She said, “Use your new powers as you will; continue to lead Island Defense. You had better not fail again.” “I will not. If I do, my head is yours.” He told her. “I expect nothing less to come from your failure.” She told him, “I will accept your head as a trophy.”50 B.G.C.: The bridge spanning the Dunes of Sorrow was massive. The Toa would often walk across it rather than go around. It was convenient, despite not being completed yet. It wasn’t permanent, due to how shoddy it looked. It was only there for the time being, until the desert could be wiped out and a city built atop it. “Anything?” Hark asked Clasis, switching shifts. “Nothing.” The Toa of Magma told the Toa of Jungle, “I’m starting to think Xalcak moved his base.” “It’s possible.” Hark said, leaning against the railing, looking down into the sands, “After all, with this development going on, he may have felt it best to cut his losses. I would have.” “Hark, be careful.” “What? Is there a problem here or something?” “You can’t fight well in these conditions, remember?” “Yeah, I know.” Hark muttered distastefully. He hated the fact that he couldn’t fight in the desert. He was working on it, but it irked him to no end. As Clasis was walking away, he gave a shout to Hark. Hark turned, seeing a horde of Strievers and a few Sliths standing, blocking their way. Hark glanced back, not surprised to see the other end blocked as well. “Guess we have to fight.” Clasis said. Hark nodded, “I’ve been looking forward to a fight in the desert, actually.” He lifted his spear, “Let’s test my new strategy.” “New strategy?” Clasis questioned. Hark nodded, “You can handle that side, right?” “Of course.” “Deal with them, then be sure to watch me…if you somehow finish first.” Hark said. “Let’s make this a competition, then.” Clasis said. “I didn’t take you for a betting man.” Hark said. “Trust me, I love it.” Clasis told him. “Whoever finishes last has to do double patrol shifts for the other person?” Hark questioned. “Sounds good.” Clasis agreed, lifting his double bladed sword. As the creatures on his side approached, he swung his sword arm out, sending a wave of Magma forward, cutting down the first wave, melting them quickly. He ran forward, parrying and slashing quickly, cutting down the stragglers who avoided his Magma strike. He span around, running one of them through. He kicked one away and span around, blasting it in the face with a ball of Magma. Clasis span around, watching Hark slash and parry with his large double sided spear weapon. He was quick at handling such an awkward weapon, to Clasis’s surprise. Hark may actually win, he figured. Though Clasis was too good to give up. He span around, cutting a Striever down with a quick slash. He parried the Slith’s attack when it reached him and smashed a ball of Magma into the chest of the large creature, melting and killing it. He span around, watching Hark. Hark was winning, somehow. “What are you doing?” Clasis shouted to him. “Winning!” Hark shouted. Vines tore out of his armor, strangling Strievers around him. Some of the spiked, larger plants were impaling Sliths, or strangling them just the same. They writhed around, acting almost independently, just thrashing about like snakes, while Hark used his spear to fight other creatures. “What are you doing?” Clasis shouted again, burning down a chunk of them, damaging the structure of the bridge at the same time. But it couldn’t be helped; he was already running towards Hark. He grabbed Hark, shaking him, “Have you lost it, Hark?” He demanded. Hark lashed out at the unseen creatures behind him, still using his vines to fight, even without having to watch. He pushed Clasis away, “What do you think you’re doing? Grabbing me like that…” “What did you do? Seed seeds into your armor? Your organics?” “Yeah!” “Do you know how dangerous that is?” Clasis demanded. “Dangerous? I’m a Toa of Jungle! It’s not dangerous!” “Where do they draw nutrients from? Energy to grow?” Clasis questioned, “From your life force, you unbelievable fool! Those things may let you fight in the desert, but they’re going to kill you!”Review

For anyone interested, I still have the file on Brickshelf.http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Sir-Koji-of-Ice/Voice/lines_1_europish.wmaIt honestly seemed to fit.

Yes. You have sent me Ryu's part from this episode. But for some reason... you gave Ryu a british accent >.> so um.. could ya resend that line again with his normal voice. X) lol.I got bored, thought it might be good, and I think you had no problem with it. I actually sent you two copies; one with his normal voice, one accented. I'll see if I can dig it up, but if not, I'm going to need the lines PMed to me; different computer, so I don't have the original file anymore.

Chapter 10: 999 A.G.C.: “Your position as leader of Island Defense, as well as your position on Island Defense at all, is abolished.” Ishiza told Sion, before a group of his peers, his highest ranking subordinates. She held her hand out, “Turn in that eye piece; it goes to the next deserving warrior so that he can lead the force.” “On what grounds are you doing this?” He hissed. “Conspiracy; treason. Failure to protect the Matoran.” “We were supposed to keep down revolts!” “Protecting them also helps to show that they are considered important; it keeps down revolts as well. Now, hand it over, or you’ll lose your head.” Ishiza said. “I refuse.” He hissed. “What?” “You heard me!” Sion shouted defiantly, “I refuse, Ishiza!” He kicked the guard next to him and ran, taking up his blaster from a table. As his peers drew their weapons, he fired, keeping them at bay. He turned and fired at the guards as they came after him, and then one shot at Ishiza – a wide shot, to avoid her, but enough to make her guards worry – for good measure to insure his escape. “Capture him.” Ishiza hissed to her guards and the Island Defense members in the chamber, “I don’t care what it takes. Capture that man and bring me his head!” “Understood.” One of them said. The highest ranking Island Defense man began to shout orders to the other members as well as members of Ishiza’s guard who were in the room. They all followed him out, obeying his orders as he gave them. Sion continued to run. He ran as hard and as fast as he could, heading towards an area that he knew he could try to escape from. Not all of the island was covered in city; there was one small location that hadn’t been converted. As he ran through the rest of the city, he could hear shouts after him; he could see the Island Defense firing on him, but missing. He was nearly to where he needed to be, with the only pursuers still being the seven men from Island Defense. He reached the end of the city, stopping short at an area that dropped down into a small forested area with a stream running through it, along with a waterfall that provided hydroelectric energy to the island. This area was left unchanged for the sake of powering the island, and nothing more. Sion leapt down, landing in the brush below. He didn’t have much time to think about what he could do, what he needed to do. He turned to his left, looking at a series of boulders that were tightly packed together. They were against the wall that rose up behind him. He ran that way, pushing away the tall grass and weeds. They sprang back up behind him, fortunately, or he would be quickly found. Sion crouched and pulled the weeds away, looking at the gap between the boulders and rock wall behind him. It was small; but that was an understatement. Very, very small. He doubted that he could fit inside to hide himself. But he heard the others approaching, and had to try. He pushed himself in feet first, but then crawled out. He tossed his weapon inside, into a larger area that he could fit his arm into. He got back down and pushed himself inside, turning onto his right side so as to better fit. If he was found, there was no escape. He would die. As soon as he had himself almost completely inside, with the weeds and grass covering his head down to parts of his shoulders, he waited, holding his breath, remaining as silent as possible as his optical eyepiece recorded data for him through the thick brush. He saw the seven of them land after jumping down. They spoke, but he couldn’t tell what they were saying. He was just focused on remaining perfectly silent. He saw them speaking, and one walked over. The darkness of the shadows created by the boulders must have hidden Sion too well, though, for he wasn’t detected when the man looked at an angle, as if expecting to see Sion’s crimson body there. The man moved away, saying he wasn’t there. They began to speak, and headed into the small riverbed, which went up to about their ankles. They ran through the water, away from the boulders and towards the waterfall, since the other way fed back into the city and a sewer drain that was too small to get through. If he went that way, he was cornered, so clearly he had to have gone towards the fall, where he could climb, seeing as the other way was too high – impossible to climb up. Sion watched, wanting them to give up so he could get out. It was uncomfortable, and he started to doubt whether he could actually get out. But he was a soldier. He put up with it. As they started towards the falls, they all started to cry out in panic. Sion tilted his head to look in that direction; it craned his neck, but he saw. It was a Slith; the deadliest creation of Shalax or Xalcak. It moved down the stream at the Island Defense commanders. They weren’t just weak bureaucratic men, however. They were soldiers, fully capable of defending themselves and killing the Strievers. A Striever and a Slith were a lot different, though. They opened fire, concentrating their seven bursts on the creature’s head, but to no success. It continued forward, unfazed. It never went down, no matter how many times they fought one. They had to use other weaponry in order to even think about standing a chance against a Slith. Now, without any benefits of other weapons, it approached, ready to butcher them. Should Sion go out and fight? He wouldn’t do any better. But what choice did he have? He may be wanted, but these were his men. He had to do something! Sion pulled himself out of hiding and reached back in, pulling his firearm back out. He took grip of the central piece that separated the blaster from the bayonet; that had the trigger under the right pointer finger. He ran forward, falling to a knee, opening fire on the head. “One of you join me! Fire on the head! Two of you, take higher positions and fire! Two of you; behind it! The last two, whoever is brave enough, use your bayonets and attempt to bring it down!” “We aren’t your soldiers anymore, Sion!” One snapped, but continued to fire. “Does it matter right now?” Sion questioned, “Right now, we clearly have bigger problems! This thing needs to die! Got that?” “R…right!” He shouted, “Follow Sion’s orders!” He shouted to the others, “We need to do this!” The men began to take up positions and fire on the Slith. It wasn’t working. The two who used their bayonets didn’t get anywhere, but it was too distracted with the headshots to think about killing them. “Fall back!” Sion screamed out, “Retrieve others! Someone! Backup, now!” One of the bayonet users ran for the wall and started to climb. The other user fell back, firing alongside Sion and the other man. As the Slith continued to move in, the men continued to fall back. Reinforcements still hadn’t arrived. The man who just joined Sion’s side began to shout in defiance. “Forget this! You’re a traitor!” He lowered his weapon, “I may be a proud Island Defense member…but I will not serve with a traitor! Even if it means letting this thing get closer to the people I am to protect! Besides, we can’t stop it!” “We can and will stop it!” Sion shouted, “Just focus your efforts on it!” “We’ve tried!” The other man said, “I have to agree…we can’t do this! We can’t win! Sion…if you want to try, then go ahead…alone. We’re done here.” “You can’t abandon me!” Sion shouted, “This has to be done! We have to kill this thing!” “You’re a traitor; that’s all there really is to it.” He said, “Sorry, Sion.” He lowered his weapon, “If you want to die fighting this, then go ahead.” “No!” Sion shouted. He ran forward, slashing the Slith with his bayonet. He shouted at every slash, but nothing worked. He took a backhand to the face, being thrown aside, into the bank. It continued to approach. The man who had just abandoned Sion’s side was attacked; slashed across the chest, but alive, if barely. Because of how far Sion was knocked back, and how far the other man was knocked back by the slash, they were in alignment with each other. Sion turned to him, calling out for him to run, to get medical attention. “I can’t move!” “You aren’t trying hard enough!” Sion shouted, “Pour all of your willpower into this! Remember that lesson? Put all of your will into something and make it happen! Put your willpower into moving and getting out alive!” “Sion…I can’t…” Sion shouted in frustration. His world was falling apart around him. Betrayed by his own people, marked for death no doubt by Ishiza, his own men coming after him to execute him… What could he do? Nothing they had could stop this Slith, and it was highly unlikely that that soldier had actually left to get reinforcements. At this point, it would be a miracle if anyone trusted Sion enough to listen to him and his orders. If they wanted to save him with reinforcements, they would have to be the most devoted soldiers to live. Sion wouldn’t trust himself if the positions were reversed. How could he expect anyone else to? To take his orders anymore? He shouted in frustration and dropped his weapon. He grabbed a handful of mud and threw it, splashing it into the eyes of the approaching Slith. It hissed and reached up in an attempt to clear the mud away, but it couldn’t with the stocky arms it had. Sion picked his weapon back up and opened fire, but still, not much damage. “Run!” Sion screamed. “I can’t!” “Force yourself to! You have to!” The man tried to move, but he couldn’t. He could crawl a little, but not far enough away. The Slith cleared the mud away and moved forward, ready to end the two lives. Sion shouted and threw more mud, catching one eye. The Slith stopped to clear it away, but continued to take blasts from Sion’s weapon to the head at the same time. It turned to Sion and decided to kill him first. Sion continued to throw mud, but the Slith was blocking with the flats of the large swords it carried. It continued to come closer, slowly. Sion could feel his life slipping away with every step it took. There was no getting out of this alive. He continued to grab and throw. Finally, his fingers closed around a stone. He figured he could throw it, maybe use the blunt impact to his advantage, since it would likely confuse the Slith. But how long? Was it worth putting up the struggle? He decided it was. He was about to throw it, and then stopped. He looked at the stone in his hand. It was longer than his hand, smooth, with no markings that he could find. But yet, he felt something different, something off. He looked up. The Toa had come with the soldier he sent off for reinforcements. Seig noticed the stone in his hand and shouted at him. Sion swayed to his feet, almost doubled over from exhaustion. He held his left hand out, letting mud drip off of the stone and into the water around his feet. He looked up, smiling a grim smile as he held tight to the stone. “Sion! No!” Seig was screaming at him. “But why not?” Sion questioned him. “You aren’t destined to become a Toa!” Raiz shouted at him. “That’s a Toa Stone?” Ryza questioned in shock. Raiz nodded, “Hark’s Toa Stone.” He said, “I thought it would be lost; not found again by someone like him.” “But he won’t transform, will he?” Yuli questioned. “When Xalcak died…destiny was distorted.” Seig muttered in response. Sion couldn’t hear them anymore. He was panting, holding it out, feeling the pure power within the Toa Stone. He knew that since he could feel it, he had to be destined to become a Toa. There was nothing else he could think of that feeling the power meant. “Come face me!” He screamed as the Slith. It ran forward at him, lifting the two large blades back. Sion screamed, throwing his left arm to his side and back as he ran forward. The Stone erupted into an orangish red haze, and then, exploded with power which washed over Sion’s body. As he ran out of the explosion of energy that had washed over him, he was changed. He was a tall, powerful Toa. He had crimson armor over his feet and legs, with a little gray above his knees and around his ankles. He had a crimson and gray armored torso with his silver chestplate over the top. He had gray and red armored arms, with gray armored gauntlets. His elongated Kanohi still had the scope on it; still indicating his status. He still carried the same weapon as he neared the Slith. He swung his arm up, ready to use the blade. And impact.Review

Even just a short piece, that's awesome and mesmerizing.

I had forgotten about that; it was amazing.Someone needs to make a looping Gif of it.