Linke

"But you forget, I'm brilliant."

- Linke, Double: Crime and the City

Linke is a Ta-Matoran on the Isle of Doppel Nui.

Biography
Linke's early years are kept to himself, however, in the year 998 A.G.C. Linke appeared on Doppel Nui alongside the enigmatic Recht. Forced into a dangerous situation, Recht provided him with one half of a Duos Stone, and the two merged together into a single "Toa", wiping out a city block in the process.

Double
One year later, Linke settled into life on the island, working as a master carver under the name "Recht", and many considered him the best carver on the island. He soon met a Ga-Matoran Detective, by the name of Gahla, who arrested him pursuant to an accusation that he committed the murder of a Fe-Matoran named Kornek. Linke was taken in for questioning and soon had his shop investigated. While sitting in prison, Linke's Le-Matoran partner, the real Recht, convinced Gahla to free the Ta-Matoran. Linke then met up with them, and was given his part of the Duos Stone, after being cleared of the crime. He and Recht merged into one, and in a quick battle, slew the Dark Hunter who had really murdered the Matoran of Iron. Linke then told Gahla that they were simply Matoran, and departed with his partner in tow.

Double: Crime and the City
The day after the death of the Dark Hunter, Linke decided to try his hand at whittling. Gahla soon arrived, demanding to know about his partnership with Recht and the Duos Stone, as well as demanding to know why she shouldn't haul him off to prison right then and there. He replied that if they were put into prison, then the island would fall if anyone or anything tried to take it over, and that despite being an illegal Toa, they were the guardians of the people.

Gahla didn't take what he said well, and again threatened him with going to prison, but he continued to express his point until he seemingly won out. He asked her if she had ever killed someone, after he had supposedly "threatened" her. He said that he didn't like to kill anyone, and that he presumed that Recht probably did most of the kills, or at least, that's what he liked to tell himself. Gahla replied that she had never killed, which Linke completely believed.

Upon the arrival of Senior Detective Derr, Linke expressed interest in joining the two on their case. He was shot down, but soon brought up a favor he did for Derr, which the Onu-Matoran desired to keep hidden from the Chief. He agreed to have Linke tag along, ignoring Gahla as she questioned him on what was being hidden.

The trio arrived at the scene of a murder of a De-Matoran whom had presumably died from blunt force trauma to the back of his head. Linke debunked this by saying the Kanohi would have been damaged from the fall, and that there was one murderer, not two. He pointed to a small cut on the upper left breast of the armor, expressing that as the kill point, a wound larger inside than outside, referring to it as being similar to what his insignia on his work was to him. He convinced the two detectives to believe in his theory, and soon departed out of boredom.

The next day he watched as Recht sculpted a new piece of work in the morning. Recht questioned him about his involvement with the police, saying that they had a job to do on the island, and it would be bad for the police to find out about them. Linke replied that he was working with Gahla, who already knew about them, because of Recht, claiming Recht to be partially at fault. He then informed Recht that they had been marked by the Dark Hunters, in a manner of speaking. Recht wasn't concerned, claiming they only had to improve, even with only two elements on their side. He told Linke he had a plan, which would take about a week to complete. Linke departed to go in search of Gahla, heading upstairs. He was informed not to forget who he was, to which Linke replied that he was a Toa and fugitive.

Upon leaving the underground, he found Gahla waiting for him by his desk. She informed him that he shouldn't leave the door unlocked, lest someone, such as a client, find he and Recht together. He scoffed at it, claiming clients didn't come in when making requests, and only occasionally when picking up their sculptures. He cut to the chase, questioning if there were any leads on the murder, which was clearly why Gahla was there. The two departed toward the scene of the crime.

They arrived in the midst of other officers and detectives, surrounding a gallery where a Ga-Matoran named Halen was being held hostage by a crazed Ko-Matoran, holding wires that would slit her throat if she tried to move. The detectives weren't sure exactly what to do, so they were waiting on a psychologist to arrive and meet the Ko-Matoran's demands for a game. Linke and Gahla found Derr, prompting Linke to question how the game got through customs. Derr assumed it was snuck through.

Linke left the others, claiming that he didn't want someone else's life in the balance. He barged into the building, causing the criminal to nearly kill the woman. Linke was about to say who he was, but the Ko-Matoran already knew him, telling him his name was Unik. Linke sat down to play him in his game: Uuk-Koi.

The two played their "game of wits" for some time, until Linke was starting to lose. He had no idea how hard the game was on the mind, and couldn't win. Before he was killed by either Unik or the mental pressure of the game, Derr managed to sneak in and stab Unik in the shoulder, disabling him and allowing Derr to bring him in, saving Linke's sanity and his life.

After waking up in a hospital bed the next morning, he saw Halen waiting for him. She was relieved to see him awaken, and thanked him multiple times for saving her life. Linke told her it was his job, which she denied, claiming he wasn't involved with the police in any way, insisting that he was brave for being just a sculptor and yet risking his life like an officer would. Halen questioned him about how he had survived the game, to which he dodged and questioned her about Unik's condition. He wasn't brain damaged in any way, which she joked about, despite the serious nature.

Gahla came into the room, asking him if he was ready to go. When he tried to get out of the bed though, he collapsed, worrying both of the women, who helped him back up. He asked Gahla if he was still going to be working with them even after this. She told him that he had earned a place with them, if he did work this well. Before Halen left, she gave him her name, leaving the two alone in the room.

Gahla soon left Linke in the bed, hoping that he would stay down and recover. After they left, Linke stumbled towards the window, watching down to the street, two stories below. He saw the two Ga-Matoran speak, and then saw Gahla head back to the Doppel Nui Police Station. After a moment, Halen followed, which looked suspicious to Linke. He made his way out of the hospital to follow.

By the time he arrived at the station, he had managed to get enough strength back into his body to fight. He discovered that Unik had been assassinated, and Halen revealed herself as the killer, as well as being responsible for the murder of the De-Matoran. She had tentacles sprouting from her back, each tipped with a blade that had perpetrated the kills. She claimed that she was the perfect Dark Hunter, covert and capable of massive damage, thanks to the mutations she was given through mutagen. As she tried to kill Derr and Gahla, Linke burst in to save them, attacking Halen.

He managed to hold her back for some time, and then took the knives from the two detectives. He fought Halen off, stabbing her shoulders with the weapons. He continued to hammer her with his hand-to-hand combat skills, seeing as they were above that of a normal Matoran's, and eventually managed to throw Halen out of the station, knocking her into the small, nearby lake. When she didn't resurface, he was sure she was finished.

As Linke was about to tell the two detectives that it was finished, bubbles began to come up from the water. A gigantic mutant crab-like monster rose up, revealing itself as the fully mutated form of Halen. Linke was thrown aside, becoming lodged beneath some rubble. Before the detectives could even try to get to him, Recht managed to come to his aide with both halves of the Duos Stone in his possession, merging with Linke so they could fight.

The Toa tried to fight off Halen in her monstrous form, but they were unable to do much damage. For every elemental attack they threw at her, she was able to deflect the attacks with her body, not to mention that the attacks weren't actually wounding her. As they questioned her, she said she was about to complete her mission, which was to kill the Toa, and also claimed that when she won, the entirety of the Dark Hunters would use the mutagen that she had been tested with, to destroy the Brotherhood of Makuta.

They continued whatever they could do against her, including their finishing attack, with limited to zero success. Finally they decided to unleash all of their power in a single blow, using the entire power of the Duos Stone. They propelled themselves into range of Halen, and unleashed all of their Fire and Air powers at once, in a devastating melee attack, ripping her armor apart and mortally wounding her.

As they ran out of power, they split back into two Matoran. Linke grabbed Halen as they fell, hoping to hide behind her body from the on-lookers. As they hit the water, he swam for the rubble, getting beneath it as Recht departed. The two detectives "rescued" him, and Gahla told him they would talk later.

The next night they spoke while Linke and Recht examined their empty Duos Stone. Gahla explained that they took Halen into custody, but their attempts to heal her didn't work, and she died of her wounds. Linke was devastated to learn this, claiming he had saved her, and that he had killed her with his own fist, not alongside Recht, but alone. He told Gahla that she wouldn't understand how he felt. She left, but told them that their secret was safe.

As Linke rejoined Recht, he asked him a vague question of how much time was left for something, and got the answer of "five days". He was then asked if he felt the power inside of his half of the stone, but he said he couldn't, unlike Recht, who believed he could because he'd held them longer. Recht left him to go and sculpt, confirming that he didn't believe Linke deserved to be his partner.

Five days later, Gahla and Derr met with Linke, telling him about an attempted murder involving a Dark Hunter. Linke told them he had to "lock up", and vanished to do so, when in actuality, he and Recht went to meet up with the Dark Hunter and try to stop him as soon as possible. When they met the lanky Dark Hunter - Ekiro - they engaged him immediately, and were able to use their finishing attack quickly.

While on the cusp of victory, Ekiro used his belt to give himself "invincible" armor, stopping their attack. He proceeded to beat the Toa around, unable to be stopped. Even as Linke unleashed all of his Fire power into one punch, nothing worked to even slow the Dark Hunter down. He slashed them with his axe, thinking that he had split the Toa to atoms since he saw no parts of a body around. He spoke to the two detectives when they found him, giving them the Dark Hunter's name. Derr made it clear that when the Toa was captured, he was sure the Dark Hunters would leave their island.

As the day progressed, Recht threw his Duos Stone into a hot spring on the island, claiming the heat would give the Stone its power back at a higher rate. While it seemed successful, Linke was able to use it regardless later when they engaged Ekiro again. Their Toa form, before even engaging him, was given a Duos Stone by Gahla. Recht claimed he had created an artificial Duos Stone with a new power inside of it, replacing his real Duos Stone with the new one, which had the powers of Stone. Using his new powers, he bashed the Dark Hunter around this time, and broke through his armor, allowing for them to use their normal form and use their normal finishing move of a flaming cyclone to kill Ekiro. As they departed, Recht reminded Linke that he was a master carver, and of course he was able to create an artificial Duos Stone.

The next day, as the Toa, Linke and Recht pursued a being moving as a blur through the streets. Using their powers, they were unable to even slow the being they chased. They discussed what options they had, which were limited to Stone, which wouldn't be fast enough. They split when they heard someone coming, but it was only Gahla, carrying the artificial Duos Stone with her. They told her they didn't need it, and questioned her about what it could possibly be. The police believed it to be a Dark Hunter, as she told them, but they weren't sure.

Linke questioned if there were any cases open. She told him that there were two open cases, currently. Linke suggested to Recht that they could have a race, but he simply walked away, ignoring Linke. Linke persisted, but Recht told him he was a Toa, not a cop, the same with Linke, and he should remember that. They parted ways, with Recht heading off to sculpt, and Linke going off to do something else before going to help her.

An hour later, Linke arrived at the station, only to find Derr. He informed her that he wasn't sure where she was, and then, they realized that her case may have gone over her head, and she was possibly in danger. They rushed to check on her case, quickly deducing what they could. Derr gave Linke his case, and took Gahla's himself so he could find her and try to save her, much to Linke's chagrin, he was left out.

Linke looked over Derr's case, which was the hunt for a serial arsonist. Linke had the perfect plan in mind, and then went to see Recht, to ask him to carve something amazing and nothing like he had ever carved before. After some discussion on the matter, Recht finally agreed to do it. Linke left to spread the word of a reward for anyone with information on the arsons, and within the hour, had a sizeable group of Matoran informants at the station.

After retrieving the sculpture, which appeared like Recht's symbol and pure rapture together, he began to speak to the informants. He used the statue, claiming that anyone with information on a Matoran named "Linke" and his connections to the arsons should step forward. He instantly eliminated those forty, knowing that they were only in it for the reward, not to help. He then asked the others to swear on Mata Nui that they had correct information, but some left, not wanting to risk claiming such a thing in blasphemy. There were fifteen Matoran remaining, who followed him into the station itself.

Derr questioned him when they entered the station, but Linke assured him he was nearly done, and the case would be over soon, so he could help. Derr questioned how he had done it, so Linke explained his entire method. Derr told him he liked the way he worked, and got back to work while Linke interrogated the fifteen Matoran.

By reading their body language and gauging the Matoran, Linke was able to find two Matoran who were sources of information. He took their information and would later decide which one would get the sculpture. He took a group of a few Matoran police, and made his way for where the informants said the arsonist would be located. He and the officers entered the man's home, and soon arrested the man, a Turaga of Sonics, who admitted to the arsons.

Abilities & Traits
Linke comes off as a sly fellow when under the persona of "Recht", but as Linke, he tries to act serious, despite being easily caught off guard in conversation. In combat he's very skilled, and can hold his own even against an armed opponent, or one larger than him. He prefers not to kill, and tells himself every time that Recht was the killer of the duo, not him. This is the only thing he could think to tell himself in order to keep himself able to fight. When merged with Recht, Linke has access to his innate Elemental Powers over Fire.

Mask & Tools
Linke wears the Kanohi Trard, Great Mask of Skill, giving him heightened fighting prowess while merged with Recht.

Trivia

 * This character was created by BZPower and C.I.R.C.L.E. member Koji.

Appearances

 * Double
 * Double: Crime and the City