Sanctus Epitaph

"But don’t worry, we’ve all had sins in our pasts. We run and run, but we can’t escape forever. Someday your sins will catch up to you, and we’ll all be good enough by then to go along with you, despite those flaws. We’re all flawed, after all."

- Thete, Sanctus Epitaph

Sanctus Epitaph is an Epic written by BZPower and C.I.R.C.L.E. member Koji.

1: Sins
The ceiling shook. The ground shook. The walls shook. Everything shook.

Rubble started to rain down over their heads. It wasn’t enough to warrant them to cover their heads, but it was unsettling. It appeared that their entire bunker may start to come down.

A bunker. A bunker was made to protect from quakes, or from bombings, or something like that. This bunker was more of a base, given to them by the will of Turaga Otoka. Her will had granted it upon them to use as a base. She respected the Toa of Angelus Nui, but even though she did, the bunker – base, rather – wasn’t a very good chamber for a situation such as this.

A situation that no one thought would come. Someone entering into Niveau Trois.

The dark base was obscured only more by the fact that no light was shining on the island. It was day, but the being was able to eclipse the solar cycle of the island, plunging the entire dome into night. A night they may not come out of.

“We have to come up with a different plan!” the leader of the team – a Toa of Water, Gaila – shouted.

“You’re not listening!” a Toa of Technology, in silver and gray armor, bellowed.

“Thete is right!” a yellow and orange armored Toa of Energy exclaimed. “You have to listen to us, Gaila! To your team!”

“The plan won’t work!” Gaila snapped, folding her arms over her chest. She carried a bow on her right arm, able to focus elemental arrows of water for her disposal, to manipulate through the blade that sat on her arm between the two pieces of the bow.

“It has to!” Thete shouted. He motioned to the Toa of Energy, “Seles agrees!”

“I don’t care what you and Seles think, Thete. It won’t work!” Gaila snapped.

A Toa of Fire spoke up, “I’m with them as well!”

She glared at him. “Of course you are, Tala... of course you are...” she muttered, mocking him more than anything.

Then there was a Toa of Air. He wore only green armor, and had a strange Kanohi. It had pieces snaking out, looking like serpents. There was an opening at the mouth, instead of being fully covered. He carried a double-bladed weapon in his left hand, both edges curving in opposite directions, creating a zigzag shape.

“You have to listen to your team, Gaila,” he said, pressing the argument forward. He motioned to the ceiling, “If we don’t get out there and do something now, then the Matoran will be slain by that monster!”

“You actually want to agree with their plan, Lewin?” she demanded. “That’s just like you, to side with the plan of the three greenhorns...”

“They’re not green,” Lewin hissed. “They’ve grown considerably!”

“You may be second-in-command, but you have no authority here,” Gaila said. “My word is law, even over the four of yours combined!”

She was about to continue to speak, but they were running out of time. There was nothing they could do, except try to stop the monster roaming the streets above. It was on a rampage, destroying everything it could, and Gaila had stopped working on a plan to argue, instead of using a perfectly good plan, albeit, one she didn’t agree with.

Lewin was losing his temper. He threw his right arm forward, triggering his elemental powers. The wind picked up around them, but Gaila didn’t seem to notice Lewin using his powers. She just wanted to keep yelling, trying to find a new plan while not finding one.

“I’m sorry,” Lewin whispered.

“What?” Gaila demanded.

He threw his powers forward, sending the wind at her. While the wind was floating around them, it was picking up shrapnel from the ceiling. The shrapnel was carried by the wind, and impaled the Toa of Water, bringing her down, ending her life.

The leader of the team was dead, making Lewin the new leader.

He quickly turned to Tala, “You’re second-in-command now, Tala.” He motioned towards the entrance, “We have to go topside. We must end this!”

“Are you sure, Lewin?” Tala questioned. “Are you really...”

“I am,” he replied, running out, pushing past them as he went.

They ran after him into the dark streets made of light-colored stones. The majestic-looking structures spread out on either side of them, all of them looking to be at least two stories tall. They were made from beautiful stone into exquisite works, just by the way they were stacked, by the way the buildings stood, all of it matching perfectly, with arches and crosses adorning walls.

Standing in the center of the city was a gigantic monster. It roared down at them. It had horns sticking from its’ head, going parallel to its’ eyes, claws on its’ hands and feet, and more on its’ arms and legs as armor, or something. It had dark gray armor along its’ stomach, giving it a very different look.

It stood taller than any structure on the island. By the estimate of the world-traveling Lewin, it was half the height of the Coliseum of Metru Nui, the tallest building all the City of Legends.

“I need to end this,” he said, running through the streets towards the massive beast. He could hear the other three Toa shouting to him, but he didn’t answer. He didn’t want to say anything to them about what he was going to do next.

As soon as he got within three blocks of one of its’ feet, he triggered the power of his Miru. He shot up, using his powers to help with his liftoff. He floated before the creature’s stomach, but it didn’t notice the emerald warrior.

“Bad mistake, monster,” Lewin hissed. His body began to pulsate green. “Very bad mistake, not noticing me.”

It roared and started swinging around at the buildings, ripping some apart, claiming Matoran lives. Innocent lives.

“Die!” Lewin screamed.

His voice seemed to draw the attention of the monster. It looked down at him, only to see too late what he was doing.

Emerald shockwaves erupted from his body, slicing into the monster’s stomach. It roared as the attacks continued. Then he put his arms together and focused his power.

His Nova Blast was high enough above the city, and focused well enough that he wasn’t going to do much collateral damage. He was going to give his life for this attack, but he wouldn’t be wiping the island out in the process.

A flash of power tore from his body, incinerating him in the process. It cut into the monster, making it unleash an unearthly scream as its’ body started to collapse with a giant hole in its’ chest.

Lewin was gone, and the creature was falling. Then, the body was gone...

Six months later...

“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice questioned a fleeing Ko-Matoran. The Ko-Matoran backed away nervously, watching the alley between two magnificent buildings. A silver and gray armored figure emerged, carrying a blaster in his right hand, wearing a Tryna.

The Matoran turned to run the other way, but stopped in his tracks when he saw a Toa of Energy step into his path. He wore orange and yellow armor and a yellow Kanohi Kiril. He carried no weapons, only clenched fists.

“Yeah, where are you going?” the second Toa questioned.

“Why are you doing this?” the Matoran shouted, finding another alley. He backed into it, prepared to turn and run if he had to. He was sure that two Toa could catch him, but he hoped that the tight confines of the alley would keep them from being able to actually secure his capture.

Or they could shoot him... but he didn’t think about that.

“Answer my friend,” a third voice said, this one softer, young, youthful, energetic, but filled with a twist of darkness at some past incident.

He looked behind him, seeing a Toa of Fire standing there, a large sword in hand with a hooked hilt. This Toa bore two shades of red, and wore a Kanohi Hau.

The Matoran stepped forward, cursing. He reached into the pouch he carried on his belt and withdrew a stone. It was about as wide as his thumb was long, and about as tall as his hand with his fingers stretched up. It had no marks on it, it was just ovular and plain.

“Stop him!” the Toa of Fire shouted.

Too late. The Matoran drew the stone to his chest. His chest armor began to ripple around the stone. Power surged around his feet, spiraling up around him. The energy extended far beyond his head, reaching up to about a bio-and-a-half tall. It was also wider than it needed to be.

There was brilliant, white, blinding energy inside, obscuring what was happening. As it faded, where a Matoran of Ice had once stood, now a Toa of Ice waited, with a weapon in hand, the small dagger glinting in the light.

“He’s used it,” the Toa of Fire hissed. “Eliminate him.”

The Toa of Technology lifted his firearm and opened fire. Energy bolts tore out of the barrel of the weapon, firing down the short distance to the new Toa of Ice.

He threw his arm up, creating a wall of ice to protect himself. He motioned the dagger towards the Toa of Fire. “Okay, just the two of us. Now, come on!” he shouted.

“The Corps Stone really changes people,” the Toa of Fire muttered. “You’re cocky, just as I would have expected it to have made you.”

He lifted his sword in his right hand and left his left hand by his body. He held the sword out at an angle before his torso. He looked on either side of the blade with his eyes at the strange new Toa who opposed him.

“What is the draw to those things?” the Toa demanded of the Matoran turned Toa.

“It gives us power!” he laughed. “Who can turn down power?”

“Anyone who’s sensible will turn it down.” the Toa answered.

The Toa of Ice was about to attack. Then he heard the ice splintering and saw the barrier come smashing to the ground. He saw the Toa of Energy standing where the wall had once stood. His right fist was still out, and power still flowed around both of his fists. He had used potential energy to increase his kinetic energy and smash through it.

“You’re finished,” the Toa of Fire said. “You’re outmatched.”

“No!” the Toa of Ice shouted. “I won’t lose!” he leapt behind the second Toa, bringing the knife up. He slammed it down at the Toa of Energy, who showed no worries.

He flicked his finger out. The Toa flew back, hitting the ground hard from the simple flick of a finger on his chest.

“Your kinetic energy turned against you,” he said, walking slowly closer. “Want to think of a new plan?”

He hissed and rose, spinning to the side and unleashing a torrent of ice at the Toa of Technology, who fired, sending a continual stream from his firearm, easily stopping the attack.

The Toa of Fire leveled the tip of his sword at the Toa’s face. “Let’s settle this, you and me.”

The Toa of Ice used his knife to drive the sword down. He lunged forward, drawing his arm back for a punch.

The punch made contact with a barrier. The Toa of Fire didn’t look amused by the foolish Toa of Ice who had forgotten that he wore a Hau. That a punch would be easily stopped.

“You’re a fool,” the Toa of Fire said, kicking the Toa of Ice, taking him down. He leveled the tip of his sword at his foe’s throat once more. “Surrender and give us the Corps Stone.”

It wasn’t an option. It was a threat and an order.

“Never!” the Toa of Ice screamed out. His body began to flash as he changed. He rose to his feet, which were now clawed. His hands were claws as well. His elbows elongated into blades behind his body. His torso became tighter, more condensed, especially around the chest. His face began to change as well, the Kanohi no longer being a mask, but now simply a monstrous face, complete with fangs for teeth and scaly features.

“Niveau Deux,” the Toa of Fire gasped, stepping back. “Everyone ready?”

“Ready, Tala,” the Toa of Energy said.

“And you, Thete?” Tala questioned.

The Toa of Technology nodded, “Like Seles, I’m ready.”

“Then let’s end this guy’s threat. Now,” Tala hissed.

As the beast-like form of the former Toa rose up and roared, the three Toa acted quickly. Thete threw his arm out, taking command of the mechanical systems in the monster’s body for a few moments. Meanwhile, Seles was using his power to turn the kinetic energy in his opponent’s body into potential energy, in essence, making him lazy.

Tala threw his free hand forward. He focused, sending a blast of fire rippling through the air, smashing into the monstrosity, bringing him crying in pain to his knees.

“Even in this form you’re weak-willed,” Tala hissed. “You can’t handle the pain. Now, surrender the Corps Stone!”

The creature hissed, slowly reverting back to the normal Toa form, where he screamed. Then as the flames stopped, he reverted again to a Matoran form and put his hand by his chest. The armor rippled again, but this time, the Corps Stone fell from his breast to his hand. He rolled it towards Tala’s feet. “Take it,” he sobbed. “I can’t take the pain...”

“You won’t be hurt again,” Tala assured him. “You’ve surrendered the stone.”

He picked up the evil item and looked it over. He threw it into the air, and as it came to the ground, spinning, Tala slashed once, cutting the Corps Stone in half, rendering it useless.

“Mission complete, let’s go,” Tala said, walking past the defeated, pained Matoran. The other two Toa walked by his side, leaving the scene to head back towards the underground bunker/base that they still utilized, even six months after they had lost their leader, and their second-in-command.

Now they were alone. Tala was the leader, instead of third-in-command, and Seles and Thete now fought as warriors instead of coveting titles of position.

The mission of the Toa of Angelus Nui was still the same as it had been in the past. To defend the Matoran of this holy island. But now, things were getting dangerous.

“We have to find the distributor of the Corps Stones,” Seles brought up.

“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Tala simply replied. He finally smiled instead of keeping his stoic act up, “And besides, not every Matoran will take the offer. Not every Matoran will want the powers of a Toa...”

“If we’re right, though, then only certain Matoran can use them,” Thete said. “Only Matoran of the proper elements can use them.”

“You don’t think all elements have stones?” Tala questioned.

Thete shook his head, “No, I really don’t think so. Probably only the primary sixteen elements or so do.”

Tala looked to his two partners. They weren’t primary elements. He nodded, “I hope so. I hope we only have sixteen of all of the types of enemies we could have to deal with.”

“That would be far too simple,” Seles said, putting his hands on his hips as they walked, and then he decided to hook his thumbs behind the belt he wore. He carried nothing on it at the moment, but it at least gave him a place for his hands.

“You think there are more,” Tala asked.

Seles nodded, “Whoever made them had a buyer. Why stop at the easiest six if the buyer was, say, raising an army?”

“Good point,” Tala said. He stopped and reached into the stone wall, pulling on the large iron, dull blue door. Darkness welcomed them beyond.

The other two entered first. Tala was about to enter when he stopped and looked back. The sunlight was flittering down on the island, making it a beautiful sight. There were birds flying through the light and sounds of peace.

Even though there were weak-willed Matoran about them, Matoran who would become addicted to the power of the Corps Stones, those items of evil, he knew there was peace, at least for now.

He told himself what he always told himself, just for a calming effect. His mantra.

“Ascend from the depths of the pain of memories...”


 * -“Outer beauty has no meaning. At least, it doesn’t for me. It crushes your conviction; it forces you to create an obsession. Next time: “Beauty”. True beauty, and true ugliness, is in the heart.”

2: Beauty
A Le-Matoran with craggy armor walked through the streets, alone. He had a piece of steel as a walking stick, and was hunched over. To those who passed by, he appeared to be aged, very aged. The age where respect is given for almost nothing in return.

His Kanohi was damaged. His right half was somewhat sleek, fine. The left was craggy, damaged. He was missing left armor by his shoulder, making his body thinner, his organics having rotted away at that point. His right had armor, but it was patched on from somewhere else. It didn’t fit properly, nor did it look proper.

His left arm had a patched piece of armor on it to make it a bit thicker, while the right was thin and a bit gnarled from the ages. His torso armor was fine, sleek and fine. His right upper leg was missing some armor as well, and his left, once again, had patched armor that was out of place.

He had once been a beautiful Matoran. He had once had fully custom armor, sleek and seamless. His armor sparkled and shone brilliantly in the light. His Kanohi was one of a kind, and nothing was so much as scratched. He bore himself upright, proud with his appearance, his beauty.

His Kanohi was no longer one-of-a-kind in design; the mold was used all over. His armor was battered, missing pieces, salvaged from other armor. He looked pathetic, a shell of who he once was.

And he wasn’t even old. His hunch was from the years of work, the years of misery he had had from one piece of bad luck after another. He had come to Angelus Nui, hoping that the Turaga and Four Seraphim would look out for him, but it didn’t do much to raise his spirits.

He tripped and fell from a pothole in the sidewalk. He picked himself up and looked down at his foot. His armor was cracked from where his foot had struck.

The armor had become brittle over the years as well as rusted and damaged. He stood and leaned on his piece of steel. He looked into the window of the shop he was passing, admiring the beautiful things inside. The art, the jewels, the custom armor.

He lowered his head as he walked, unable to look at it. Unable to look at what he had once been by looking at the things of beauty, and then again at what he was now, by seeing his own reflection in the glass.

Tala, Toa of Fire, walked past the bent over Le-Matoran and looked in the window of the shop. He glanced down, catching sight of something that caught his eye.

It was a scarf. Pale blue and white in color. The fabric looked amazing, no damage, no seam at the ends from the stitching, no cross stitches or anything, just one seamless, flawless stretch of scarf.

He walked into the store and picked it up, held it. It was amazing, beautiful.

“You can’t handle the merchandise. That’s policy, even for a Toa.”

Tala turned and looked at a Ga-Matoran who worked there. He smiled, “Well, what would you say if I was telling you I was buying it?”

“Then it’s fine,” she said. “This way, please,” she continued, leading him away from the window. He still held the scarf as he followed her. She stood behind a counter, and brought out a piece of bark that looked like the front cover of a book. She opened it, showing more sheets of such bark, making it light, but able to have writing inside. She found the price, and looked up, “Fifty widgets.”

Tala let out a low whistle. “High price,” he said.

“It’s a fine scarf,” she told him. “Now, are you going to purchase it?”

He looked at it. “I’m a Toa. I’m afraid it might catch fire...” he said.

“Not to worry,” she told him, “It’s made out of Fusha, a plant that is immune to fire. It won’t catch. If you ignite this scarf, nothing will happen. It won’t even darken from the flames. It’s perfectly fine to be used by a Toa of Fire,” she told him.

“Mind if I test that theory?” he asked, holding a hand up to it.

“If it fails, you have to buy it,” she warned.

“I know,” he sighed, unleashing his power. Flames danced around his hand, and he touched it to the scarf. The material remained as it was. No catching on fire, no burns, nothing. He pulled his hand back and looked up. He reached to the pouch he wore on his side and removed a handful of widgets. It was his coin purse.

He dropped the widgets and started to count them out. He grabbed more, and then another handful, and another, and then dropped the whole pouch with a sigh.

“That should either be fifty, or more than fifty,” he said, admiring the scarf. “I hate to pay my entire supply... but I want this.”

She counted the money out and handed the pouch with two widgets back. He nodded his thanks and clipped it to his belt as he walked out, wrapping the scarf around his neck. One tail trailed down his back, one down his front, on his right side.

“High price to pay for beauty, isn’t it, Tala?”

He looked towards the source of the voice, seeing a Turaga of Air standing next to him. He had a mix of lime green and dark green armor, with a Kanohi that curved back and went up. It too was lime green. He had a black cloak on as a symbol of office. The other Turaga, Otoka, also wore one. He carried a staff with a silver-tipped end, and a red crystal atop it.

“Turaga Rekona!” Tala exclaimed, looking to his friend. “I’m glad to see you. It’s been a while.”

The Turaga smiled as they walked down the street. “It’s a high price for beauty, as I was saying,” he told Tala. “Are the others going to be happy with that purchase?”

“I am, and that’s what counts to me,” he said.

“Talking like that could get you in trouble,” he replied. “It’s rather selfish. Sounds like Gaila all over again...”

Tala glared at the Turaga, “I told you never to compare me to Gaila or Lewin. None of us want that, Turaga Rekona.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” the Turaga said. “Really, I am.”

“It’s okay,” Tala said. “Now, I have to get going. I’ll see you another time,” he finished, rushing off, the back tail of his new scarf flowing behind him as he ran, leaving the Turaga behind.

The Le-Matoran stumbled around, having fallen again. He pushed himself up, but this time felt even more pain running through his body. He cried out in pain, and then in anguish, smashing his fist into the wall beside him.

He was so hideous. He had once been so beautiful, but now he was hideous. No one cared, no one even bothered to ask if he was old or young, if he required help or not. He drove everyone away with his appearance.

He was about to cry. He wanted to cry.

He heard something, and then looked to his side. It was a stone. It was about as wide as his thumb was long, and about as tall as his hand with his fingers stretched up. It had no markings on it and it was just ovular and plain.

The Matoran took it and looked at it. He took hold of it and held it to him, feeling power inside of it.

As he brought it closer, feeling the warmth of it, it slowly sank into his body. He felt the warmth resonating within him, feeling power coming to his limbs. He rose to his feet, new strength in his muscles, but something was off. Something was different.

He walked a few steps and looked into the window of a shop. He was as he used to be. Beautiful. A finely armored body, ruby heartlight that looked like a crystal of some sort, a sleek Kanohi, properly armored arms and legs, and he no longer carried the useless piece of steel as a walking stick, as now it had become a small, curved axe for some reason.

''Why? Why has it become a weapon?''

Then it hit him. It was a feeling in the back of his head. If he didn’t kill, he would become ugly again.

Thete, Toa of Technology, and Seles, Toa of Energy, stood at the harbor, watching ships come and go. They were supposed to meet Tala here soon.

“I wonder where he is...” Seles muttered. He rested against the fence between the harbor and the sidewalk they stood on. “It’s not like him to be late.”

“He got sidetracked, I guess,” Thete said. “He may not be late, but he can get sidetracked. We both know that.”

Seles nodded, “Sounds about right.”

They both saw an emerald armored Matoran walking towards the harbor. He looked amazing in his armor. More than an ordinary Matoran would. There was something about the way he carried himself.

Finally, they saw Tala running towards them, a variegated blue and white scarf around his neck. He slowed down as he got closer. Thete carried his firearm, and since Seles fought with his fists, Tala didn’t want to feel left out. He had gone to the bunker, the base, to retrieve his blade.

“That scarf...” Seles muttered. He held back his laughter, at how it looked on him.

Thete shook his head, “I never thought you’d be the type to want to try to improve your appearance, Tala. It... it looks ridiculous, knowing who you are and seeing you now with that scarf on.”

Matoran were getting off of the boat, heading into the City Island of Angelus Nui. One Ga-Matoran, with blue and some gray as her armor, wearing a Faxon, stopped. She looked to Tala, “That fits you perfectly.”

“Thank you,” Tala said with a smile. “That’s very kind of you to say.”

“I’m not much of one for caring about beauty, but I must say, it does look amazing,” She told him. “I think beauty, personally, is a waste of time. But you wear it well.”

“Thank you again,” Tala said. He held his hand down, “Toa Tala, Toa of Fire. I’m the leader of the trio of Toa that defend this island.”

She shook his hand, “My name is Eiran. I just arrived. I’ve relocated here for now.”

“Nice to meet you, Eiran,” Tala said. He looked up, seeing the Le-Matoran that the others had been watching earlier. He was carrying something on his back, wrapped up so it couldn’t be seen. Something just didn’t feel right.

“Sir!” Tala called to him. He looked up. “Yes, you,” Tala said. “Please, could you come here for a moment?”

The Matoran walked forward. He knew that something was wrong. The Toa were on to him, he believed.

He needed to keep his beauty. He couldn’t give it up. Not yet. Not ever.

As soon as he got close, he grabbed Eiran by the throat with one arm, and with his right hand, drew the axe, holding it out. “If you come closer, I’ll kill her!” he shouted, backing away.

The three Toa were all on their feet, watching him back away. Then, Thete had it.

“That’s what feels off about him...” he muttered, “I feel it inside his body. I feel it through his mechanical body, that is.”

Seles nodded. “Yeah, I feel the energy that’s off with him too,” he confirmed. “He has a Corps Stone. I’m sure of it!”

“Then if it’s in him, why isn’t he a Toa?” Tala hissed.

The Matoran answered, “Oh, is that what this stone is called? Whatever it is, it made me beautiful again.”

“What do you mean?” Tala demanded.

“I saw you, by the shop,” the Matoran said. “Didn’t you notice me? Bent over, damaged, decrepit?”

Tala closed his eyes, trying to think of the various people he had seen on the streets. Then, he saw the Le-Matoran in his mind’s eye.

“You...” Tala muttered. “What happened to you? I don’t get it.”

“I’m not old, even when I looked like that,” the Matoran answered. “You see, my armor was aged. I was in terrible condition. I was young, however. I was once one of the most beautiful Matoran in the universe, one of the most beautiful beings. This is how I once looked,” he said, showing off his form with his right arm, sweeping it and the axe down his body. “But over time, my body became weak. My armor shattered, my armor and mask became worse and worse, and so did my body, until I looked like a Turaga. Then, when I fell, I found this stone beside me. I touched it to my chest for the warmth, and I was in my proper form again!” He put the tip of the axe to Eiran’s throat. “And I have to kill to keep it up. I have to take lives to keep myself looking good, to keep myself beautiful! Would you stand in my way? The way of beauty?” he demanded. He waved his arm forward, at Tala, “You wear such a beautiful scarf! You know what I’m talking about. How beauty drives things. It would be a crime for you to kill me, you know that, right?”

“Beauty means nothing!” Thete snapped. He was ready, along with Seles, to stop the Matoran. To use their powers to stop his body. Thete would start attacking the mechanical portions, while Seles would convert all kinetic energy into potential energy, effectively stopping his bodily movements.

But Tala wasn’t ready to do anything. He just stood, watching the Matoran.

“If you believe so much in beauty, then what are you doing? Combat and violence don’t befit beauty,” Tala said.

“Then why have the scarf?” the Matoran questioned.

“It’s resistant to flames. It’s a special plant.” he said. He lit the scarf on fire, but it didn’t catch. “See? It’s fine.”

“Then why wear it always? It could be useful in combat, I guess, but why constantly wear it? You’re displaying pride and beauty, just like me. You understand me, Toa of Fire,” the Le-Matoran said.

“No,” Tala said. “You can fight this! If you really believe in beauty, you wouldn’t be trying to murder someone.”

“I need to kill to keep my beauty,” the Matoran said. He lifted the axe blade. “Now she dies!” he shouted.

Eiran tensed, ready to die. Before that happened, the kinetic energy of the swing became potential energy, stopping his arm. He tried to move it, but couldn’t. He looked up, and Thete had his blaster raised. A blast found its’ mark in his head, dropping him to the ground, ending his life.

“I didn’t want to have to do that. But he could have crushed Eiran’s throat with his other arm.” Thete explained to Seles. Tala wasn’t listening. He was thinking about the conversation he was having with the now deceased Matoran. “It was justified.”

Tala walked away from them, looking down, lost in thought. He stumbled into a small alley between two boating houses. As soon as he passed through, he could hear his partners shouting for him, unsure of where he had wandered off to.

He looked ahead, seeing Turaga Rekona leaning on his staff, watching as Tala approached. Tala stopped and walked down a short flight of stairs to the dock, looking at his reflection in the water, looking at the scarf he wore. He grabbed a handful of it and just stopped.

“What are you going to do?” the Turaga asked.

“I saw what beauty can do,” Tala said softly. “That Matoran was driven to murder innocent people just to keep his beauty. That Ga-Matoran, Eiran, and the Le-Matoran both commented that I believe in beauty. I don’t want to become like that Le-Matoran was. I want to get rid of this scarf,” he hissed, ready to pull it off, to let it take in water and sink to the bottom of the sea.

“No,” Rekona said, resting his hand on Tala’s arm. “Don’t get rid of it. Keep it and wear it.”

“But why?” Tala asked.

“To remember,” Rekona replied. “To remember the Le-Matoran. And to remember what beauty can do to someone.”

Tala slowly nodded, releasing his grip on the scarf. He looked at his reflection. “I will continue to wear it. I will keep it. It will be a testament to my resolve not to become twisted, not like that Matoran,” he said. “I will remain myself, nothing more, nothing less. Beauty won’t overcome me."


 * -“Hey, Tala, what would you want for your last meal? You mean you don’t enjoy your energy intakes? You don’t even call them meals?! Anything is a meal, if you want it to be. Next time: “Hunger”. Me? Well I would...”

3: Hunger
A Matoran looked with greed to an energy cell sitting before him. This cell was the usual meal he had every time he needed an energy intake to continue to function. However, he needed a lot in order to function, many would say.

He absorbed two or three of these meals a day. Sometimes these cells, sometimes they would be Rahi, sometimes any other energy sources. As long as he could get a meal of energy out of it, he would absorb it.

He was the embodiment of gluttony, some said. He was always eating, always trying to get more energy. He was always being mocked.

Being a Vo-Matoran from Irp-Ţuat Nui, he was unique among the inhabitants of Angelus Nui. He was probably the only Matoran of Hunger on the island.

His insatiable appetite was a result of his elemental affiliation. He couldn’t help it, no more than the Le-Matoran could help being obnoxious, the Ga-Matoran being kind and studious, or the Ko-Matoran being withdrawn and silent.

But the people mocked him so much. Too much. He couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to run, to go to another island, to possibly even return home. But he couldn’t. He was stuck on Angelus Nui.

And what would it say about him if he left? Everything. He would be looked down upon by his people when he returned home. He and his people would be mocked by the Matoran of Angelus Nui. He was in a lose-lose situation.

He wanted to scream. He wanted any sort of release that could help him to express his emotions, to help get them out of his body. He then looked back to the energy sample. He reached out and grabbed it in his greedy hands, taking deep breaths as the energy flowed into him, helping to keep his appetite at bay, not that it wasn’t already. As always, he was overdoing it.

He pushed the dead cell to the ground and walked outside. He needed to go to the market and purchase more meals for himself.

He had his money pouch strapped to his side as he walked. He stopped at a store and walked inside the stone building. He immediately grabbed a basket and started to pile items into it. From more energy cells to smaller Rahi, like fish-types, he walked towards the counter.

Then, he nearly stopped and dropped his basket there. The man at the counter was a Matoran of Stone who constantly mocked him for his food habits. He didn’t want to have to face the man, but swallowed hard, finding the courage. He walked towards the counter and put his items on it.

“If it isn’t Oba the Glutton,” he mocked, looking at the basket. “How much food is in here? A day’s worth?”

The amount of food would last any other Matoran weeks to go through. For Oba, days.

“Please, can I just leave here in dignity? Without all this?” Oba asked in his husky voice.

“Dignity? With all this food?” the Po-Matoran questioned, shaking his head. “Dignity doesn’t apply for you, Oba. Not when you refuse to change your ways.”

“Why can’t we be friends again?” Oba questioned. “You were my first friend when I arrived...”

“Then I realized what a gluttonous pig you were,” the Po-Matoran muttered. “I hate thinking of the past, to our friendship. Now, buy or get out.”

Oba reached for his money pouch, and started to pull out widgets. Then, a Ta-Matoran walked behind the counter to relieve the Po-Matoran of duty. They switched without a word, and when Oba looked up, he realized that this Matoran was even worse on him.

“Well, Oba,” the Matoran said, pulling the basket across the counter. “Let’s look at what you have here.” He started to throw the items out and onto the counter, looking at them all in turn. He looked up to Oba. “I can’t sell you these,” he said.

“Why not?” Oba asked.

“If I let you buy them, you’ll only come back for more food later. And then, what will the others of this island buy? I’m afraid I can’t let them starve for the gluttony of a single Matoran. Oba, shape-up or get off this island. I don’t think it can support your body much longer!” he laughed.

The mockery. The laughter. It always got to Oba in the worst way. He dropped his widgets on the ground, even dropped the pouch, which had been partially undone from his belt. He turned and ran, seeking any comfort anywhere he could find it. He felt at his worst at this moment, at rock bottom. He couldn’t stand those people.

Angelus Nui was supposed to be a holy island. A place without mockery, without pain, without people picking on you. At least, that was a reason Oba chose Angelus Nui. To escape the mocks, and all of the people who would bully him for his eating habits.

He ran outside, and then into an alley. He slid to the ground, putting his hands over his eyes. He wanted to scream, to release himself, but couldn’t without attracting more attention. The attention of no doubt people who would continue to mock him.

He saw a small rat crawling around the ground in front of him. He looked around, but there was nobody nearby. His hand shot out, taking grip of it. The thing squirmed, trying to get out, but couldn’t. He drew it to his body, prepared to snap its’ neck and then devour its’ energy.

To use the energy of a lesser Rahi, like a rat, was always looked down upon. Nobody wanted to have to. Nobody with dignity, anyway. But some had to.

Oba didn’t have to. He wanted the energy, so he was going to.

Something hit his hand, and the rat escaped. He looked to his side, towards the street. He could see the Po-Matoran in the back, the Ta-Matoran in front of him, and a gang of about four other Matoran crowding around the entrance. Oba pushed himself up and backed away in fear as they approached him.

“What are you doing?” Oba wanted to know, questioning with no authority, no power in his voice. Only quavering fear.

“If you’re so hungry, then why didn’t you take the rat’s energy?” a Matoran called out. “I thought you had no dignity!”

“You knocked it away!” Oba cried.

“So you do have no dignity. You were going to eat it!” one laughed.

Two came forward and grabbed him. They pushed him to the ground, and then grabbed the rat. They shoved it into his face. “Devour it!” they laughed, trying to shove it into his audio transmitter. One called out, “Do it the way animals do! You’re no different from one!”

Oba cried out, trying to call for any help he could. He couldn’t get anything out. And the laughs of these men blocked anything he would do.

Something rolled out of the darkness of the alley. Oba looked up, along with everyone else. It was a stone, roughly as wide as his thumb was long, about as tall as his hand with the fingers spread up. It was plain, no marks.

He grabbed it and looked at it in wonder. He had heard of these, but had never actually seen one. He looked to the bullying Matoran, who still sneered and jested at his expense.

Enough was enough.

Oba pushed it to his chest. A burst of blinding light erupted from his chest as the Corps Stone sank into it. Blinding light overtook his form, completely obscuring him.

He rose, a full Toa now. His armor was black, silver and gray. He had a gray and silver mask, and primarily black armor, with the exceptions of his arms and legs.

As the Matoran panicked and started to flee, he threw his arm forward. They all started to drop to the ground, their energy being sucked right from their bodies and into Oba.

Oba walked out of the alley, now a Matoran once again. He smiled with greed as he walked away, leaving the drained corpses behind.

Seles walked down the street. He was content being alone, but then again, he knew that he wouldn’t be alone. Not since the Ga-Matoran Eiran had become friends of the three of them. She often followed the Toa around, hoping to learn about the island.

She had chosen to follow Seles around for the day. The Toa of Energy and the Matoran of Water made an odd pair, and all eyes that looked upon them told Seles that it was true. Seles also felt it was true. Eiran, apparently, did not.

“So, what’s that place?” She asked, pointing to a tall building with a spire reaching into the sky.

“That’s Turaga Otoka’s home and where she holds meetings from. Well, not meetings, but rather, congregations of the masses of Matoran, to preach.” He told her, “You’ll have to go in about a week when the next congregation is.”

“About a week?” she asked. “You don’t know? Is it moved around, or something?”

“No, always the same day. I think,” he said.

“Then why don’t you know?”

“I don’t go. I find those things boring. I went once, when our team was first brought together. From then on, only Gaila and Lewin went. Ever since they died...” he trailed off, obviously not wanting to go into details other than the fact that both of them were dead, “Ever since Tala became leader...” he corrected, trying to avoid the negative connotation of the deaths of the two former Toa of their team. “He’s gone.”

“So the leader goes?” she asked.

He nodded. “And since I have no plans leading the team, ever, I won’t have to go,” he replied. “Ever.”

“That boring?” she asked flatly.

He nodded. “Yeah...”

“So, Seles...what are you like?” she asked.

“Kind of random, isn’t it?” he replied.

“I want to know what type of person you are.”

He sighed. “Well... I’m an active person. I like to move, to be in the action. I like direct confrontation, feeling things for myself, seeing with my own eyes – the reason I carry no weapons, but rather use my fists. I have best interests at heart... but I usually would rather let the others handle such situations and just do things my way, if they cause damage or not. I believe in swift justice, in that way.”

“The end justifies the means?” she asked him.

He nodded. “I guess you could say that.”

“Same with me,” she smiled. “I believe in that as well.”

He nodded again. “So, what are you like?” He just wanted to stop talking about himself. He had omitted the fact that he hated to talk to people. That he was anti-social.

“I’m just a peace-loving person. Kind of quiet, keep to myself. I like to know about my surroundings. I like adventures...”

“Good thing you got thrown into one right away, then,” he said.

She nodded, recalling the memory of the Le-Matoran who had tried to kill her as soon as she arrived on the island. “One of the reasons I hang around with you Toa,” she said, smiling at Seles.

“I don’t buy that,” he said.

“It’s the truth.”

“I don’t believe you’re that shallow,” he said.

“I’m touched.”

He ignored her. He didn’t want to keep talking to her. As they rounded a corner, something caught Seles’s eye. He ran down the street, and slowed to a stop, looking at what he had seen.

It was a hand. A limp hand, belonging to a Matoran who was lying in an alley. He wasn’t moving. He was dead, dead of energy exhaustion.

“Eiran, you should go,” Seles hissed, rising. “Get the others.”

“But...”

“Go!” Seles shouted, clenching his fists and looking around.

Within a few minutes time, Tala and Thete ran down the street towards him. Tala held his sword, his scarf tails flowing behind him as he ran. Thete carried his energy blaster as always.

“What is it?” Tala questioned upon arrival.

Seles gestured to the corpses.

The other two gasped when they saw the multiple dead Matoran, all of them without wounds across their bodies. It was as if they had just dropped dead.

“Energy exhaustion,” Seles said. He looked up and down the street. “Not many Vo-Matoran on the island...”

“You think it was a Vo-Matoran with a Corps Stone?” Tala questioned.

“I do,” Seles replied.

Pressed up against the wall at the opposite end of the alley was Oba. He clutched his Corps Stone hard in his hand. He had heard enough. He spun out of the alley, pushing the item to his chest, erupting into brilliant light, and walking out as a Toa.

“Toa of Hunger,” Seles hissed. “As I said.”

Thete, in one swift instant, lifted his firearm up and opened fire, using energy bolts to pepper the enemy Toa, who laughed, walking forward, unfazed. He was absorbing the energy as it came into contact with his body.

“You’re weak,” he simply said. “And I’m hungry.”

His outstretched hand found its’ mark. Trails of energy began to leave Thete’s body, and flow into his opponent’s hand, into Oba’s body. He grinned as he took the delicious energy meals. He watched in delight as the Toa fell to his knees, only to be replaced by a Toa of Fire, hoping to use flames to offset the energy trails.

As a fireball raced towards him, he triggered his Kanohi for the first time. A shield was thrown up around his body, protecting him from the attack. Just like that Toa, he wore a Hau and was ready to use it. He threw his arm out again, making the Toa of Fire drop to his knees, shouting orders as his energy was sucked out of his body.

“Tala! Thete!” the Toa of Energy shouted. He ran forward, ignoring Oba’s presence. Oba grinned at this, and aimed his hand at this new Toa now.

Energy began to be sucked from his body, right into Oba’s awaiting hand, to his body. He grinned with relief as he took the energy, but then, was confused.

Why was he getting so much energy? How could one Toa have so much?

A punch to the face sent him into the wall at the end of the alley. He slid to the ground and looked up, and then took another punch to the face. He hit the ground, trying to push himself up. He was grabbed by the back of the neck, and hauled to his feet.

“Do you know who I am?” the Toa demanded.

“Who?” Oba hissed. The power of the corrupted Corps Stone was starting to change him. He was no longer the desperate, well-intentioned Vo-Matoran. Now he was a vicious, greedy Toa of Hunger.

“My name is Seles. I’m a Toa of Energy. The best type of Toa who could go against you,” Seles sneered, throwing a punch into his gut. Oba groaned in pain and slid to his knees. He took another punch to the face, and went to the ground.

Seles pointed his finger at the downed Oba. Oba screamed as a small explosion rocked his body. He screamed, and then, another small explosion, only this one was slightly larger.

“I’ll keep going until you die,” Seles hissed. “I’m simply exploiting your potential energy. You can’t take enough of my energy to keep me down, so I’ll keep using my powers to blast you with your own laziness, your own lack of combat experience, your lack of being able to push through the threshold of pain. This is where you die, Matoran.”

Oba screamed as more explosions rocked his body. Finally, as one more blast hit, he was reverted to Matoran form. He lay there, dying. In moments, he would be gone from this life.

And to think, all he wanted was a meal. That broke his own heart just thinking about it. How he would never have another meal again. That was the worst part of dying.


 * -“You can run and run, but you can never run fast enough. You can chase those who flee you, but their feet are lighter. Next time: “Speed”. How would I run fast enough?”

4: Speed
Thete stood up from his work. He put a hand to the small of his back and stretched, exhausted from the night’s work. As a Toa of Technology, at least he could keep his systems operating through force of will, through use of his own powers.

“What are you making?” he heard a soft voice ask him.

He glanced to the side. He saw the Ga-Matoran who wore a Faxon that they had met the other day. He couldn’t quite remember her name offhand, not after spending so much time working.

“Um...” he said.

“Eiran,” she told him. “So... what are you doing?”

“I’m building something,” he replied. “Have been for a while now. It was one of the last orders of our leader, Gaila, before...”

He went quiet. By the look in his red eyes, she knew better than to press the issue. Being new on Angelus Nui, an island of faith and majesty, she didn’t know the entire story behind the fall of its’ Toa team, behind the deaths of both its’ leader and second-in-command. She had heard some of the story from various individuals, but never the entire thing.

She didn’t wish to question him at all on the subject.

“What is it?” she asked him.

“I’d rather not say,” he answered. He looked to the curious Matoran, “Not until it’s done.”

She nodded. “I understand,” she replied. She stood up, “So, Thete... what are you going to do now? It looks like you’re done working, since Tala said you work straight on that. A break would imply something...”

“I’m going to the city,” he said. “I need some materials.”

“Would you mind if I joined you?” she asked him, not quite pleading or begging, but it was obvious she wanted to come with him.

“Yeah, sure,” he replied. “Let’s go.”

She smiled and followed him from the bunker to the staircase, and up into the streets above, out of the main entrance into the city itself, instead of the path to the city.

After spending nearly an hour in the city, the two started back towards the closest entrance, a path that would lead away from the city, but to a wider entrance into the bunker. One meant for larger transports, rather than individuals. But it was faster, making it the easier path for these two to enter through.

Thete had two packs strapped to him, slung over his shoulders. One pack was on each hip. They jingled with parts as he walked. Eiran beside him carried nothing with her, except for a pouch of widgets at her belt, like many carried.

They all wore money like that. There was no need to worry about pickpockets. Or any sort of thief, for that matter. Criminals were rare on the island. Not many actually committed crimes like that.

Most of the crimes unfolding across the island consisted of Matoran using the Corps Stones. These crimes were mysterious, and mostly consisted of murder, or at least, attempted murder. They weren’t crimes like the powerless would try, such as thievery. Just pure murder.

There was something about the mysterious Corps Stones that caused murder. It was like a rage that built in the user, forcing them to expel it somehow. Through pain. Through murder.

Thete desperately desired to know the origin of the Corps Stones. None of the Toa – no one else, for that matter – actually knew where they were coming from. Who could possibly be distributing them, or for what purpose, if there actually was one.

Thete stopped. He motioned down a small hill with a rough cobblestone path. “That’s the entrance,” he said, pointing to a steel door grafted into the side of a small hill, “And the bunker. Let’s go.”

Before the two actually stepped onto the path, someone bumped into them. It was a white and blue armored Ki-Matoran. He wore a Kakama, designed to be sleeker than the normal mold. It looked more like a Faxon in all honesty.

He quickly stuttered an apology, and walked along, keeping his head down. As the two watched him, Eiran’s hands went to her sides, and then she felt her belt.

She looked down, shocked to see her pouch missing. Her belt felt lighter, causing her to touch it. Her touch revealed the lack of her widget pouch. She looked in shock to the Ki-Matoran up ahead, and then let out a shout to Thete.

“Looks like normal crime for a change,” he said, throwing his arm out, trying to get at the Matoran’s systems. He went after his technological functions, rather than his biological functions. He started to slow the Matoran’s systems, attempting to bring him to a stop before he got too far away.

As soon as the Matoran felt himself slowing, he took off running. Thete looked to Eiran, and dropped his packs on the ground. “Get them to the bunker,” he said, rushing off. He drew his firearm off of his back, in case something was about to go wrong.

As he turned the corner in pursuit of the Matoran, he was shocked to see the Matoran had stopped running. He smiled and stepped forward. “Okay, release the pouch,” Thete ordered.

“Make me,” the thief chuckled.

“I have a weapon,” Thete said, lifting his firearm slightly. “You should really obey me.”

“No,” he said. He smiled grimly, lifting something up. It was a Corps Stone.

“No!” Thete shouted, lifting his weapon. He opened fire, unleashing a single energy bolt from the weapon, aiming it at the stone.

The Matoran dropped with amazing speed, making the shots go overhead. He pressed the stone to his chest, and it slowly melded into him. He leapt forward as energy shot around his body, making him grow, making his body explode with elemental powers.

“Niveau Un,” Thete muttered, opening fire on the new Toa of Crystal.

The Toa was suddenly gone. He appeared behind Thete, a dagger in hand. He drove it forward, stabbing the Toa of Technology in the back. He laughed, plunging it farther, and even twisting it once to make his point.

He was fast, and he was strong.

“I’ll get you...” Thete muttered, trying to reach out with his powers, trying to get at the enemy Toa. Anything that could even be considered an attempt at stopping him would be worth the pain that was filling him.

“You can’t get me,” the assailant sneered. He pulled the dagger out, making Thete arch his back and scream in pain. The Toa was in front of him then, really taking advantage of his Kakama and his subsequent speed. He spun around, kicking Thete in the face, driving him into the wall. He threw his right arm forward, firing a diamond dagger outward, driving it into Thete’s gut. He opened his mouth, but no sound escaped.

The Toa walked forward and lifted his chin, lifting his head. He looked into Thete’s eyes, and showed off his normal dagger. He pressed it against the Tryna that Thete wore, and smiled grimly.

“I could kill you right now,” he hissed. He drew his dagger back and shook his head, taking a step back. “But I won’t.”

“You... I’ll get you...” Thete hissed, lifting his firearm, making an attempt to at least get one shot off. He knew it was unlikely that he would even hit his foe, or even lift his weapon, but he had to try.

“I’m going to kill you if you lift it any higher,” the other Toa threatened. “And you know I have the speed to back my statement up.”

Thete knew it was true. He lowered his weapon and just stood, watching his opponent.

The Toa of Crystal turned around. He smiled and took two steps forward. He delivered a brutal kick to the side of Thete’s head, and watched the Toa of Technology slump down. He chuckled and walked away.

Thete watched him from the corner of his eye, and shut himself down. He used his own powers on himself, forcing him into a “sleeping” state, so to speak. He had to trust the others to be able to deal with this problem. If he tried, he would die from his wounds.

Eiran dumped the two sacks by the rest of the technology that was scattered around the room. She looked around, but saw nobody.

Then she heard someone open the door from the street, and saw Seles walking down. He looked up. “Eiran... what are you doing in Thete’s workshop?” he questioned.

“Thete wanted me to deliver parts for him,” she said. “He’s chasing a Matoran who stole my money.”

“A Matoran stole from you?” Seles questioned. “Kind of odd... no crimes like that usually happen here.”

“I think something’s wrong. I just feel it,” she said.

Seles nodded, “I know what you mean. No crimes like that typically happen, and it just happened to someone with a Toa. I think it was planned. But Thete is smart, I’m sure if something bad was happening, he was smart enough to avoid it.”

“What if he wasn’t?” she questioned.

He glanced to her, “I’ll go look. You can just wait here.”

She nodded slowly as he walked past her, rushing out to the streets above through the larger exit, rushing up the path towards the city.

What could she do to pass the time? To wait? She looked at the mostly completed machine that Thete was building, and then at the parts. She found a set of blueprints, and then started pulling pieces out of the packs.

She may not have been a Mi-Matoran, but she figured she could figure out what to do. If she was right, and something was wrong with Thete, she would have to do it in his place.

Seles looked around, but couldn’t see anyone. He knew that if the streets were empty, there was a good reason for it.

He spun around, seeing a blur coming at him. He took a slash to the chest and went down. He cursed as he grabbed the wound in one hand, and pressed his other to the ground as he pushed himself back to his feet. He looked around. “Where are you?” he screamed.

The Toa of Crystal stopped running and stood right in front of him. “Right here,” he mocked, toying with his dagger. He vanished, running a circle around Seles, becoming nothing more than a blur around the yellow, orange, and gray armored Toa.

He watched, knowing that he could affect his momentum. If he could stop his momentum, he would take very damaging results. If he could keep him down long enough, he could use an explosive outburst of potential energy to keep his foe down.

He clenched his fists, waiting for the attack to come. He was best suited for a fistfight, and wanted one, rather than having to use his powers.

He screamed as a dagger was plunged into his back. He stumbled forward a few steps, and then cursed, falling to the ground as the Toa tore the dagger from his back.

He laughed, “Two down, one to go!” He walked towards the city, and then, became a blur as he sped away.

Tala walked around the city. He knew that his partners had failed. He didn’t know what had happened, but the mere fact that they hadn’t been at the base when he had, and the fact that he had seen Eiran working on Thete’s project told him a lot.

He had intuition. He needed a lot of it to be a leader.

He stopped. He held his sword tight, and spun around, putting the blade out. He could see a blur rushing him, but couldn’t figure out what to do. His mind went blank, so blank he couldn’t throw a shield up.

''What is happening? What was that blur?''

As it slowed, some features became recognizable. It was then obvious what this was.

Niveau Deux. The second stage of the Corps Stone powers. The form of a beast, with a mind slowly going to become one of them. It was like a monster.

Not quite the monster that had claimed the lives of Gaila and Lewin, but close.

“Such speed...” Tala muttered.

He heard something behind him. He saw something racing forward. He turned and ran towards it, realizing it was his only chance to win.

More intuition told him that. It also told him this strange thing was Thete’s project.

Tala leapt up, grabbing the handlebars of the machine. He set himself down, bending his legs back. Armor came down over his shoulders. He loaded his sword onto the right side, keeping it latched onto the machine. The silver, gray, and black vehicle hovered over the ground with the use of jets and boosters spread across the frame of the machine. A blaster was present on the nose of the machine, with a claw mounted beneath it for grappling, as well as two blades above it for ramming.

It was a motorcycle vehicle. Thete had delivered what was needed the most in this battle. He had pretty good hindsight for someone who didn’t build for occasions, but built rather for the freedom of building.

As the two sped towards each other, they clashed. The blades atop the cycle clashed with the bladed claws of his foe. That’s when he got a good look at him. He was mostly the same, in his humanoid form of white and blue. He had blades coming down over his shoulders, as well as blades spreading out at his wrists. He had a tail with a long bladed end. He had blades covering a piece of his chest for close quarters combat, as well as blades running up his legs.

He had a wild, vicious look in his eyes as they met. The speedy Toa of Crystal was used to cutting his foes down with a quick slash, a quick swing, a quick stab. His speed was unmatched, and by changing, he believed that even more.

Tala was here to challenge that belief. He sped up, ramming past his opponent. He spun his cycle around, and drove at him again, unleashing a blast of flames from the cannon mounted beneath the nose.

The creature spun around, using his tail for support at such a high speed. He rushed forward, creating a shield of crystal on his left arm. He threw it up, parrying the blast of flames as he got closer, drawing his right arm back for the slash that would end it.

Tala pulled quickly aside. He grabbed his sword in his right hand, tore it free, and slashed out, cutting his opponent down the side.

The monstrous Toa shouted, stumbling past him. He spun around, speeding forward with the use of his Kakama, lifting his arm again. The crystal shield was aimed at Tala. It started to fracture, and then, split apart, becoming a series of deadly crystalline projectiles.

Tala spun around, unleashing the power of his Hau. He drove at the oncoming attacks. His vehicle took damage, but it would survive. He took hits, but was completely shielded thanks to the powers of his Kanohi mask.

He slashed the enemy Toa in the chest. The Toa gave out a shout and stumbled forward. He lashed his tail back, slashing at the back engines with his blade. He gave out a grunt when he made contact.

Tala leapt off of the vehicle, letting it spin out. He twisted around in the air, throwing his sword arm out as he spun, unleashing a hurricane of flames, sending them rippling and spinning at the Toa.

He looked back and let out a shout as he was burned. He stumbled out of the flames and looked up, coming face-to-face with a fist and an energy bolt to the face. He stumbled back, taking another slash down the back.

The three real Toa stood above him as he collapsed on the ground, simply a Matoran now.

Tala looked up to Thete, “I think I... kind of trashed that cycle,” he apologized.


 * -“The falling pitter-patter of the rain makes everyone come to ease. But what? This rain is different? How is it different, Tala? What does it actually mean when you come to understand it? Next time: “Rain”. The meaning in the falling drops...”

5: Rain
Rain pattered down onto the bunker, onto the entire city, onto the entire Isle of Angelus Nui. The rain was calming as Tala sat below a low roof outside of the larger exit of the bunker, looking outside. The rain dripped off of the roof onto the ground before him, but never touched him.

For a Toa of Fire, he actually did like the rain. It made him think back, think to the past.

Thete, who was repairing the vehicle inside – which he had dubbed the &quot;Flame Cycle&quot;, since it was designed for use by Tala – didn’t care about the rain. He was still recovering from his wounds from the Toa of Crystal, and only wanted to finish his repairs.

The rain also held deep meaning for him.

Seles was lounging around. For a Toa of Energy, he had a lazy side to him. He just laid back, looking at a small skylight that was in the roof of the bunker, looking at the rain as it collected on the glass above.

The rain also meant a great deal to Seles.

Tala looked up. He watched as Eiran ran, covering herself with a large pouch. She got under the roof and lowered the empty pack, laying it on the ground. She looked to Tala and smiled, “I don’t like the rain.”

At the look of disbelief, in his eyes, and his open mouthed expression, she quickly said, “I know, I know. I’m a Ga-Matoran; I should like the water, but...”

“No, not that,” he muttered. “How can you not like the rain?” he shouted, throwing his arm up to the overcast sky, to the wet landscape. “The rain is glorious! The rain is amazing! The rain is...”

“An inconvenience,” Eiran said.

“How?” Tala demanded.

She shrugged. “To me... it just is,” she said, walking inside to see what was happening indoors.

Tala sat in the corner, shaking his head in disbelief of her words. It was like she had spoken blasphemy to him.

“Tala, not everyone likes the rain.,” he heard the voice of Turaga Rekona tell him.

He glanced to his side. He could see the Turaga of Air, soaked, walking under the small roof and sitting down, leaning heavily on his staff. He looked to the Toa of Fire, “I don’t hate the rain, but I don’t love it, either.”

“What’s wrong with the rain?” Tala demanded. “I’d like that explained to me.”

“It’s wet. It’s an inconvenience,” Rekona said, shrugging. “Just face it, not everyone likes it. They have different reasons.”

Tala muttered to himself and looked back out at the rain. “The rain is beautiful. It carries... no, never mind.”

“What?” Rekona questioned. “What were you getting at?”

“It carries a lot of meaning,” Tala said, looking out at the continual rain, “It... it reminds me of the past. I’ll explain...”

“Why does Tala love the rain so much?” Eiran questioned to Thete and Seles as she sat down.

“Because it holds a lot of meaning to him,” Seles said from his spot above her.

She turned to look up at the raised platform on which he lay on his couch, “What sort of meaning?”

“It means unity,” Thete said, finishing the repairs to the Flame Cycle. He looked to Eiran again, “For all of us. It means unity.”

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“Then let me explain it,” Thete told her, opening his mouth to continue.

Darkness overhead. Rain fell around the gathered group of people.

A Toa of Water and a Toa of Air stood in the street, their weapons aimed at the three strangers, all of them wearing rags, appearing like some sort of criminals. Each of them carried a form of blade at their waist, but none of them had their weapons drawn.

“Who are you three?” the Toa of Water shouted. “Are you a threat to this island? Answer truthfully, and meet your end swiftly!”

“We came here for a better chance at life,” the Toa of Fire said, stepping forward. At his advance, the Toa of Water lifted her arm up straighter, focusing the tip of the arrow at his face. He backed away. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “But we do mean you no harm.”

“And just who are you lot?” the Toa of Air questioned.

“Just travelers,” the Toa of Fire said. “My name is Tala.” He cast his weapon aside as a show of good faith. “I came here to look for a life. These two came with me as we met as we all traveled, looking for the same end result.”

The other two Toa cast their weapons aside as well. They lowered their hoods, revealing that they were a Toa of Energy, and a Toa of Technology.

“So, a better life is your goal,” the Toa of Water said. She turned away, the rain gliding down her back. “Then come with us.”

“You mean it?” the Toa of Fire exclaimed with glee. “We can come?”

“Of course,” the Toa of Water said. “We could use more men.”

The Toa of Air sheathed his weapon on his back and stepped towards them, holding his hand out. “Lewin,” he said. “She’s Gaila, the leader. I’m second-in-command.”

The Toa of Fire took the hand, “I’m Tala.” He gestured to the Toa of Energy. “Seles, and Thete,” he finished as he gestured to the Toa of Technology last.

“Seles, Thete, Tala, please, come with me,” Lewin said, leading them out of the rain, towards a path down near a small hill with a steel door. The four Toa entered behind Gaila, who turned to face them. Lewin stepped forward to stand by her, and turned around just the same.

“From today forth, you three shall be our team,” Gaila said. “I can sense no ill-will in any of you.” She looked at them one-by-one, “I am your leader, Lewin is my second-in-command. From today forth, we’ll all work together. You’ll be trained in various ways, and, you shall help us to defend his island we love.”

The rain poured harder, pounding on the roof of the bunker. It had an almost peaceful effect on the assembled group of Toa.

“Now, let’s get to work,” Gaila said. “Your training begins immediately. Now, enjoy yourselves here. Being Toa for Angelus Nui is an honor. Being able to help defend this city of faith, and knowing that we are not revered, but rather, admired, is a great change of pace. We are to wear that fact well, and appreciate all the Matoran do for us. Any questions?”

No one spoke.

“Very well. Tala?”

He stepped forward, “Yes?”

“Why are you staring at the rain?” she demanded.

He offered her a smile, “I wanted to look out and remember this specific rain. The rain that was coming down when we became a team. When myself, Seles and Thete became Toa for your team, Gaila.”

The Toa of Water smiled, “Very well then. You’re the sentimental type, aren’t you?”

“In a manner, yes,” he said.

“I can feel you’re a good man,” she said. “You’ll be the third-in-command. You had better pay very close attention to how we do things here, Tala, or else...”

He nodded. “I understand. And thank you for taking such interest in me,” he said, quickly bowing. “I won’t fail you!”

“You had better not,” Gaila said, offering him a smile. She turned to Lewin, “Let us begin their training.”

The three new Toa all looked out once more to the rain behind them as the door came down. The rain that had created their unity, all because three Toa were looking for shelter, and had found the two others.

“I understand,” Eiran said. “You came together because of the rain. You’re a team because of the rain.”

Thete nodded, “If we hadn’t arrived on that day, looking for shelter, we’d have probably moved on. As we searched for shelter, Matoran reported us as looking like intruders, as roughians. The other two stopped us, and saw us for what we were. If we had been even a day late, we would have missed them, since they left the next day on a trip, and didn’t return for nearly a week’s time. We would have moved on, and who knows where we would have ended up at.”

Eiran nodded in amazement at the story. She smiled. “I’m going to go and enjoy the rain, then,” she said, walking out. She exited past Tala and Rekona without a word, and stepped into the rain. She smiled, feeling it running down her armor. Then, she let out a cry and stumbled back.

“What is it?” Tala called, grabbing her. He looked to Rekona, but the Turaga had left. He looked back to Eiran, “What?”

“It burns!” she cried.

He set her down as the other two rushed over. He put his hand into the rain, and quickly retracted it. He cursed and looked to the others. He nodded, “It does hurt. It burns.”

Thete and Seles each put a hand out, but quickly retracted them as well.

“Acid rain. Has to be,” Thete said. He looked to Tala, “What do we do?”

“There has to be a cause. We’ll find and eliminate it,” he said, rising. He looked to Eiran. “Stay here, where it’s safe,” he said.

She nodded and scurried inside. He looked to the others, “We have to be fast about it. Find any Toa who could do this, and take care of it.”

They bumped fists, and ran off in various directions, armed with only their normal weaponry. Tala had even abandoned his scarf for this, only his crimson armor shining as he ran through the streets. They all hoped that their weapons – in Seles’s case, his fists – would be fine from the acid rain as they ran along, looking for whoever was causing it.

“Stay inside!” Thete warned as he ran. Some Matoran decided to come out and see what was happening, only to be burned by the falling acid rain. He knew it was just curiosity, but hated it anyway.

He stopped. “Stay inside!” he shouted at another group. He continued to run, but soon, came out of the rain. He looked back, realizing he was at the edge of the site of the rain. It didn’t cover the entire island.

“Maybe whoever it is is outside of range,” he muttered, rushing off through the dry streets, searching for any suspicious activity.

Seles was tired of warning Matoran. He just shouted at them with no specific orders. If they didn’t listen to the urgency and withdraw indoors, the pain would make them. He slowed down and looked up two streets. One led to an end of the rain, one led to more rain. To the heart of where they assumed the rain was.

“Which one?” he muttered, looking back and forth. “Out, or the heart?”

Whoever was doing this couldn’t be stupid enough to stand in their own acid rain, he judged. He ran out of the rain, heading towards drier streets up ahead.

Tala wasn’t foolish enough to leave. He had enough intuition to realize he had to stay in range, and the others were probably checking out of range.

The rain meant the most to him, after all. He would be the one to stay inside of it to hunt down the twisted person who was doing this to the precious, glorious rain.

He walked down the street, entering the heart of the rainfall. One of the large, empty city squares.

He stopped when he saw a Toa of Water standing there, holding a sickly green spear high in the air. She turned to look at him, and smiled. She lowered the spear, “Oh, a Toa. How unplanned.” She pointed the spear at him. “Come at me and die,” she hissed.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Making the rain into acid rain,” she said. “My acid spear here is seeing to that.”

“Why would you do such a thing?” he demanded. “As a Toa of Water, why? Isn’t the rain glorious?”

“I created this rain,” she said. “I can do what I wish with it.”

“No, you can’t,” he said. “The rain means something to people.”

“What loser would find meaning in rain?” she laughed. “Better off to suffer!”

“I find meaning,” he hissed, lifting his sword. He raced forward, sliding ahead and slashing her across her chest. She let out a scream and stumbled back, lowering her weapon, facing it at him now. She hissed, watching him move around her.

“I’m doing this because I should,” she said, answering his question.

“The Corps Stones really do corrupt,” Tala muttered.

“Corrupt? No! I feel great!” she shouted at him. She lunged, plunging her sickly green spear forward. The blade just missed as he dodged to the side. He lunged forward himself, thrusting at her. She parried with the shaft of her weapon.

She spun around, slashing as far at him as she could. He threw up a shield, protecting himself at the last moment from taking a poisoned slash. He threw his left arm forward, unleashing a torrent of fire into her face, making her stumble away from him.

“You brat!” she cried, throwing her spear forward.

He waved his sword in front of her weapon, burning it to ashes. As the ashes fell, or were scattered by the wind, they stood staring at each other, at the former spear between them.

“You know how much I paid for that thing?” she screamed in question, rushing at him. She drew water up her right arm, creating a blade running down it, past her fist. She drew her arm back, slid at him, and threw it forward.

He generated enough flames around his left hand to throw an open palm forward, catching her fist, reducing the water to steam. He shook his head, “No. You won’t get me like that.”

“Let go of my fist!” she shouted, trying to pull away to no avail.

He shook his head. “No,” he said, kneeing her in the chest. She stumbled back as he then released her. He spun around, sending a wave of flames from his sword right into her chest, throwing her to the ground.

“Who are you?” she demanded. “Some wannabe Toa with a stone?”

“Like you? No. I’m the real deal,” he said, walking towards her, pressing the tip of his sword to her throat.

“I’m real as well,” she hissed.

“I can feel your power. It’s pulsating in such a way that it can only be a result of the Corps Stone,” he told her. “You’re a fake, trying to disrupt the rain for those like me and my partners, those of us who love the rain with all our hearts, because it means the world to us.”

“Rain actually matters?” she laughed, reducing back to her Matoran form. “How can rain matter?”

“It’s where my partners and I all met,” he hissed.

“Sentimental Koryl,” she insulted.

Rage flashed to life in his eyes. He drove his sword through her throat, ending her life in one thrust. He glared down the blade of the weapon, into her corpse. He withdrew the weapon and walked away, shaking his head.

“You insulted me too many times. You insulted the rain too many times,” he said, shaking his head for what he had just done. He repeated his mantra, trying to calm himself, “Ascend from the depths of the pain of memories...”


 * -“A decree of divinity, of order, of religion. Is this what my counterpart, Otoka, stands for? I don’t doubt these beliefs, but Tala... are you actually listening to this? This is so boring... Next time: “Divine”. While some believe, others don’t.”

6: Divine
Turaga of Psionics, Otoka, stood high in her balcony. She held her blue, sleeked-down staff in her right hand, and a tablet in her left. She slowly read the tablet to all gathered in the grounds before her home, and the spire in which she was positioned.

Tala shifted weight from one foot to the other. He had never been one for these gatherings, being preached to by the Turaga. He wished Rekona would be the Turaga who was in charge, but that didn’t seem to be the case, and probably never would be.

As he looked around, he caught no signs of Rekona. He wished that the Turaga of Air were there, if for nothing else than to have such a friendly face nearby.

With everyone being bowed, it was hard to see specific people. It was hard for even the larger Toa to see the other Toa over the smaller Matoran. If he would rise to look, then Otoka would notice and question him on what he was doing.

He really didn’t want to have to talk to her. She was too strict, too uptight with rules. That’s why she held these decrees, these sermons, of sorts. She would often speak on divinity, faith, and things of that manner. After all, a holy island like Angelus Nui needed to keep things like this in mind in everyday life for the good of the people of the island.

Everyone rose as Otoka finished reading off of her tablet. This was the first time Tala was able to see his partners off in different directions, both of them just as bored as he was.

Normally Otoka didn’t require such an audience. She would be holding four of the same speeches today, to get the entire population of the island there eventually. The Toa were all in the first batch, which was the longest, unfortunately.

He noticed that Eiran was also there. He felt for her, having to be new to the island and having her first speech being such a long one, one that was almost depressing to listen to as the Turaga started to crack down.

Tala was about to stifle a yawn, no matter how disrespectful that would be, to yawn, but then, he felt a chill shoot through his body.

He glanced up at the spire. He could see four figures flanking Turaga Otoka. One of them was clad in blue armor. One was in red armor. One was in green armor. One was in black armor.

Each one of them had wings sprouting from their backs, wings of different styles. Each carried the same basic shaped weapon, just in different styles.

It was like a staff of sorts, with the end being a cross. That was the weapon: the cross-piece of it. Longer bottom, shorter top and sides. It was supposed to represent faith and order, what they upheld.

They were the four Seraphim, the four watchers of the island. They were looked up to by the Matoran populace, and they were the true protectors of the island. The Toa weren’t really needed, but it helped some Matoran to cope by having the traditional Toa there to assist them, since the Seraphim didn’t help them in lesser matters that the Toa would help with.

Tala always hated to see these four. They always gave him a bad sensation just looking at them. He realized it was because of the power they didn’t try to restrain, that they always had flowing out of their bodies, to appear as an intimidating force, even though they were a holy one, in actuality. He could never try to understand such power, nor even want to.

He knew that Gaila had, however, learned to cope. She could walk right up to a Seraphim who exerted his power and stand, speak, no weakness overcoming her. Tala knew of no other who could, except for Otoka, who was with them so much that she must not feel it anymore. Whenever anyone needed to see a Seraphim, they always dropped that burst of power radiating from them, to allow for the person to approach without problems.

Tala looked down, back at the ground. He couldn’t stand looking at the Seraphim. He believed in what they stood for, just not how they did – or rather, didn’t – do their job as guardians.

Tala guessed that the Seraphim protected Otoka just right. She was never in any danger, since they were always within eyeshot of her. Instead of protecting the populace, they protected her, leaving the Toa to the populace.

Even if that were the case, the problem Tala had with them was that they never brought it up. They never told the Toa that that was their plan, if it even was, and not just a guess on Tala’s part. He shook his head, trying to clear the thought of the Seraphim away.

“Toa Tala. Is something the matter?” he heard an older voice question of him.

He looked up at the spire. Turaga Otoka, high up and ahead, was looking down at him, speaking directly to him.

He rose, “No, Turaga Otoka. Nothing is wrong. Please, continue.”

Otoka regarded him for a moment. She nodded, “Bow again.”

“Of course,” he said, taking to a knee and staying crouched with everyone else. Otoka continued, but the words didn’t really come to Tala. He heard them, but didn’t process them.

Most people were like that. Especially at these types of speeches.

Tala closed his eyes, trying to think, trying to focus on something else. He wanted his mind to be anywhere but here. He just wanted some peace.

He got it. So did everyone else.

Ice covered everyone in the square beneath the Turaga’s home. Even the spire wasn’t safe as it was also frozen over in a deep freeze of ice.

A Toa stumbled out of an alley, laughing. He started to violently cough and collapsed to his knees. He held his chest in one hand, coughing harder and harder, shaking his head.

“This... this power! This power is amazing!” he exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet. He was a crimson armored Toa of Fire, yet he wore the Kanohi Toltac, Great Mask of Deep Freeze. He was able to hit a radius of one-hundred bio with this power, and had done just that, essentially putting everyone in the square into a form of stasis within his ice confinement.

He walked towards the ice, climbing up it, heading towards the spire up ahead. He was there for one reason and one reason only.

Kill Turaga Otoka.

He stopped. His legs wouldn’t respond properly.

“Why won’t my legs work?” he muttered, hitting them with one hand. He focused some heat into his hand and pressed his hand over his leg, trying to warm his muscles, trying to make them work. Nothing happened.

Then he lost his heat. He looked at his hand, trying to focus more heat into it.

Sure, he had just obtained the Corps Stone that allowed him to transform, but that shouldn’t mean he was this limited with his powers. Why wouldn’t they work?

Was it the Toltac? He half-remembered someone telling him about his Kanohi once before, about its’ powers, but also, the downside it had.

“Weakness of body and mind...” he muttered. He looked at his legs, “Body...” He looked at his hand, “Mind...”

He fell to the ice. Maybe if he removed the Corps Stone he would be able to move. But then he realized that the energy transfer upon returning to Matoran form wouldn’t help him. He would still be just as weak, if not weaker, as a result.

He muttered to himself, pushing himself to his feet. His legs remained sturdy, but didn’t want to move. He looked ahead, at Turaga Otoka, his target.

He had to have her. He had to kill her. That was the only reason he had taken the Corps Stone instead of destroying it.

He had found it sitting on his table in his home. He was about to get rid of it, when he remembered what his Kanohi was, what it could do. It was only because of that, and the knowledge that Otoka was holding such a speech today that had prompted him to take the powers lying on the table before him.

He hadn’t known who had left the Corps Stone for him, nor did he care. All that he cared about was that he had the power to make things right. To take revenge on Otoka.

As he started to walk forward again, sacrificing power in the Corps Stone to power his body again, taking the time limit down, he heard something. He stopped and turned around, looking at the ice below him.

He saw a Toa of Fire down there. He doubted that he had seen this attack coming. He doubted that the resident Toa of Fire would free himself. He knew that the ice came too fast for even an experienced Toa to react, especially with their mind on something like whatever it was Otoka was going on and on about.

No, the Toa was secured down there. This new Toa was fine.

Seles pushed himself out of the ice. He was near the edge of the radius, and thus, was able to force his way through. Fortunately he had seen it coming at the last moment, and was able to unleash his power at that moment, slamming it into the kinetic energy of the ice. That had created enough of a gap for him to keep himself conscious instead of being completely frozen over.

He then used a burst of his power again. He took the potential energy of the ice in front of him, and made it explosive, blowing his way open. He pushed the last pieces of ice away as he walked out. He glanced up at the roof of this dome of ice, seeing a Toa of Fire atop.

He looked inside, seeing Tala’s scarf flowing up, caught in the ice. He followed the scarf down to a crimson, frozen body. He knew that Tala was still inside. This second Toa of Fire could only be a Matoran using a Corps Stone, or a new Toa of Fire.

He preferred the prior.

Seles shook his head, trying to think of what to do. He could try to free everyone else, and then deal with this Toa. He liked that plan.

Then he looked up and saw the Toa moving at the Turaga and Seraphim, trapped inside of the ice.

“No. My duty is to protect,” he hissed. “You’re mine,” he muttered, rushing up the side of the ice where the slope was most gradual, rushing after the criminal Toa.

As he ran, he shook his head. He muttered to himself, “Being the one to save the others when their energy won’t help them... I hate this element...” He thought about the Toa of Hunger, how he had defeated Oba by continually using his element of Energy. Now, Energy was the only thing that allowed him to be able to function, to be safe from the ice prison.

He really hated being the one to continue to have to fight. To be the one who was going to have to constantly save the others.

“I hope Turaga Otoka lets me leave early,” he said to himself as he reached the top. He stood a good distance behind the Toa of Fire. The Toa had no weapons and didn’t seem to notice him.

“How is it that a Toa of Fire can unleash that much ice?” Seles shouted.

The Toa spun around. He glared at the yellow, gray, and orange armored Toa who stood opposite of him. He shook his head, “How did you get free?”

“You didn’t attack as fast as you should have,” Seles said. “I felt it coming. I protected myself.”

“So be it,” the Toa hissed. “I’ll just kill you, after I deal with the Turaga over there.”

“Again, answer my question. How did you use this ice?”

The Toa pointed his right thumb back, at his Kanohi, “Toltac, Great Mask of Deep Freeze.”

“Powerful,” Seles said. “Now, answer another question. Why do you want to kill Turaga Otoka?”

“Why not?” he shouted. He threw his arms out, “Look at all of this! Look at all of these people, listening mindlessly, obeying whatever she has to say, no matter how foolish it is! I’m sick of it! I’m sick of listening to her, of people losing their wills because of her... I’m putting an end to it!”

“You’re trying to kill the Turaga because you simply don’t agree with what she preaches?” Seles said.

“Exactly,” the Toa answered.

Seles shook his head, “That’s weak.”

“What did you say?” he hissed back.

“I said, ‘That’s weak’,” Seles told him, walking forward. “You want to kill someone just because you got bored from them.”

“Everyone hates her,” the Toa of Fire said. “No one likes coming to these speeches! Why should I let her live? Why not do this for the people of this island?”

“Because her life isn’t worth so little that you can do this,” Seles said. “You’re still a Matoran at heart. I’m sure you can’t kill her.”

“You don’t think I can?” he shouted.

“Try it,” Seles urged. “Go ahead. Try to kill her. You can’t do it.”

The Toa turned away from him, walking towards the spire balcony. He reached his hand out, focusing heat. He was about to burn it through the ice, right through her face.

As soon as the ice turned wet from the heat, he drew his hand back. He shook his head, “No... I can’t do it. I thought I could... but I can’t. I just can’t...”

“See?” Seles questioned, walking towards him. “Now, just surrender the Corps Stone...” He held his hand out.

The Toa of Fire turned around. “I said I can’t kill her. But this can,” he said, closing his eyes.

“No!” Seles screamed, lunging forward, drawing his fist back for an attack.

The Toa’s body erupted into power, changing into a bestial form. The power of this form would start to decay his mind, making him more willing to commit this act of murder. His mind was already weakened from the use of the Toltac, no doubt this would let him kill the Turaga.

As he spun around, his tail, claws, pincers, and bladed arm all faced Seles. Seles punched, throwing all of his might into the single blow to his foe’s face.

The Toa, now in the form of Niveau Deux, spun around, slamming his tail into Seles, throwing him at the side of the ice. Seles managed to change his momentum to nearly nothing, thanks to his powers.

He pushed himself forward, throwing his hand out. He focused on the ice right beneath his foe’s feet, unleashing the potential energy of the ice, with devastating results.

Because of how thick the ice was, how high up it went, he had a lot to work with before he started to damage the structural integrity of the thick dome. Thanks to use of his Kiril in the past, he knew structure. He knew how much potential energy to use before the explosion or lack of ice started to damage the structure itself.

The explosion threw the Toa back, making him scream as his body was scorched by the blast. This pain, this large explosion, could probably be seen or at least, heard, over most of the island. The Toa slid down the ice, going towards the ground.

Seles leapt after him, taking grip of his opponent’s mask as they fell. As they hit the ground, Seles rolled away, tearing his Kanohi off.

The creature screamed. He started to thrash his arms and tail around, trying to get up, trying to move. But because of how weak he was from the Toltac itself, and now without a Kanohi, he was going to be even weaker, he was in no condition to rise. He was stuck.

Seles set the mask on the ground and focused his powers. He transferred all of the potential energy of the mask, blowing it to pieces.

He turned to the bestial Toa. “No one should have the power of that thing,” he said, walking towards the weakened opponent. He looked down, “Now, surrender your Corps Stone.”

Even with his slipping mind, he was able to understand what he had to do. He put his hand to his chest and activated the Corps Stone inside of himself. The stone slipped through his armor, into his hand. His body reverted back to that of a Matoran. He handed the Corps Stone up to Seles.

Seles looked at it, and forced it to explode in his hand. He cast the fragments aside and continued to walk towards the ice.

He looked to Otoka and the Seraphim. “You owe me,” he said, putting his hand to the ice to ready his powers.


 * -“Hey, Tala, what do you think of women? What about a woman fighting alongside a man? Would you be able to stop them? Next time: “Love”. In hearts, there is love.”

7: Love
Tala raced down the street, dodging past Matoran as he skittered into an alley in pursuit of a thief. All he knew was that a Ta-Matoran had stolen some things from a store. He didn’t take time to get an inventory. All he needed to know was that there was a thief and something had been stolen.

He slid past another corner, slowly walking towards his now cornered prey. He held his right hand out, “Give whatever you stole back, and you’ll be fine.”

“I think not,” the Ta-Matoran answered. He grinned evilly, reaching for his pouch on his side. Before he could get to it, Tala’s fist was on fire, ready to be unleashed.

“I wouldn’t try anything. If you even touch that Corps Stone, I’ll burn you,” Tala threatened. “You won’t be able to use it through the pain I’ll inflict.”

“Even on an innocent Matoran?” the Ta-Matoran questioned.

“You’re the ones we have to watch out for,” Tala hissed. “The ones who become corrupted enough to become Toa for evil. I’ll stop you, even if I have to hurt you like this.”

“You wouldn’t,” the Matoran said.

“I will,” Tala threatened.

The Matoran smiled, “Tell me, do you know about love?”

“What kind of love?” Tala demanded. “Love of comrades? Of home? Of friends?”

“Of another,” the Matoran said. “Of a woman.”

“Loving a woman?” Tala questioned. “What? Like a comrade or a friend?”

“No. Just having overwhelming feelings for her. Just desiring to be by her side, to be with her,” the Matoran specified.

“I’ve never heard of love like that,” Tala said.

“I guess I’m just different,” the Matoran said. He glanced down the alley, “So, Toa of Fire...”

“Tala,” Tala said.

“So, Tala, do you really think that I would be foolish enough to use a Corps Stone and potentially lose the woman I love?” the Matoran questioned.

“I don’t understand the type of love you speak of. Maybe?” Tala said.

The Matoran chuckled, shaking his head, “No, Tala. I wouldn’t. That’s why this isn’t a Corps Stone.”

“Then what is it?” Tala demanded.

“Let me pull it out, and you’ll see,” he said.

Tala nodded, “Fine. As soon as I see a weapon, you’re done.”

“It’s not a weapon,” the Matoran assured him. He pulled out one half of a stone. It was about the size of a Corps Stone, but cut in half, with a jagged edge running down one side, where it appeared that it would connect to another half.

“What is that?” Tala demanded, holding back his powers.

“This, my friend, is a Duos Stone. One half of one, anyway,” he said. He glanced down the alley at his side, “Bye!”

He dashed down the alley, escaping Tala. Tala cursed under his breath for letting his target escape. He raced down the alley and turned, his scarf whipping out around his face from the force of his turn. Before he could take a step forward, he saw the Matoran standing next to a Ga-Matoran. She held the other half of the stone. They faced the broken halves towards each other, as if they were going to combine it into one full stone.

Before Tala could open his mouth, or even get his foot halfway down, energy erupted around their bodies, swirling around them in a maelstrom of uncontrolled force. Tala was thrown back by his proximity to it.

He managed to dig his feet into the ground, slowing himself. As the energy retracted, forming a tighter circle around the two Matoran, Tala raced forward again, drawing his sword from his back as he ran, unsure of what was happening.

When the energy broke, there was a single figure standing there. The right side of the body was feminine, petite, and with the form of a woman. It was blue armored. The left was crimson, thicker and more muscular, like a man. Down the exact center was a gray line, separating the colors and body types. The mask was a combination of both the sleek mask of the Ta-Matoran, and the blockier mask of the Ga-Matoran.

Before Tala could open his mouth to question it, he was bombarded by snow. He threw his arms up, attempting to shield himself. He was failing, and fast. He saw that the mask was glowing, using the powers of snow, somehow.

“My Bli,” the figure said in a woman’s voice.

As Tala finally saw through the near blinding snow, a stone smashed into his face, throwing him down the alley. He rolled, losing his sword along the way. He reached for it, but it skittered too far away from him.

“My Spen,” the Toa said in a man’s voice, the voice of the Ta-Matoran. That’s when he looked up, realizing just how close the Toa was, and he realized it wasn’t a rock thrown at him, but rather, a fist covered in stone.

The Bli was the Mask of Blizzards. It allowed the user to summon blizzards to bombard the enemy, cover them in snow. It was perfect for a Toa of Ice.

The Spen was the Mask of Stone Armor. It allowed the user to coat his or her body in armor of stone. It was perfect for a Toa of Stone, who could then manipulate their armor as a weapon. This Toa had just punched him with it, however.

“I don’t understand,” Tala hissed, pushing himself up. His scarf was falling in front of his body. He threw it back around to his back.

“A Duos Stone merges two individuals,” the male voice said. “As long as two people in synch each have half of it.”

“We love each other,” the woman’s voice said, despite the lips still moving, not missing anything, “We’re in synch. We have this power to merge into one. A Toa of Water and Fire. A dimporphic Toa.”

“You’re merging into one?” Tala shouted. He came to his feet, but stumbled back. He braced himself against the wall behind him for support, “You’re not using a Corps Stone, but this is just as bad! You’re becoming Toa for selfish and wrong reasons!”

“You don’t know why we use this power,” the man said. “We use it to be together.”

“Forever,” the woman added, making the lips smile.

“You’re doing this for each other...” Tala hissed. “That’s still selfish.”

“Call it what you will, but we’ll do what we must to be together,” the woman said. She raised her stone covered arm. Water was focusing around the inside and outside of the stone. As the water raced forward from the stone, Tala was blasted into the wall behind him. Then, the water that was built up beneath the stone sent the stone crashing forward, carried by the force of the water pressure.

The stone smashed into Tala’s chest, making him scream in pain. He started to see spots in his vision. His breath began to come in labored periods. His mind started to blank.

The Toa walked forward, grabbing him by the throat, lifting him with the strength that came with the use of the Spen. The eyes of the Matoran looked into the Toa’s eyes.

As Tala looked at both eyes, he realized they were different. One was noticeably the same as the Ta-Matoran’s, the other was different, gentler, obviously the Ga-Matoran’s.

“You’re still the same people,” he said. “I see it in your eyes. You aren’t truly one. Just two beings merged temporarily.”

“We’ll be together forever,” the man hissed. “Even if we aren’t in one body, even if we are two forms in one mold, we’ll still be together!”

“As long as we love each other,” the woman said. They threw him down the alley, smashing him into the walls by the angle of their throw.

Tala moaned as he stopped. He sat up, his head was spinning. He had no way of defeating these two. They had four elements between them, technically. While he could only use flames and no doubt the Fire-half of the Toa would stop him.

The two laughed as they picked up his sword and walked towards him. Tala backed away, shaking his head as they approached.

“No... no...” Tala said.

“Yes... yes...” they mocked in one voice.

They lifted his sword high, and slashed it down, making Tala scream.

“Where are you?” Seles called.

“Tala?” Thete shouted.

The two Toa walked through the streets, searching for their missing leader. He had been gone for too long. They had to find him.

As they walked into an alley, they saw the hallmarks of a battle. They rushed over, but were unable to identify what had done the damage.

Two Matoran were walking out in the street nearby. Thete rushed towards them, “Have either of you seen Toa Tala?”

The Ta-Matoran shook his head, “The Toa of Fire? Nope.”

His Ga-Matoran companion nodded, “Yeah, I saw him.” She pointed back the way they had just come from, “He was going that way, fighting against someone. A Toa I think, but I couldn’t tell what element.”

“Thanks,” Thete said. He looked back to Seles, “Come on!”

The two raced away, rushing in the direction of their tip. As soon as they were out of view, the two Matoran smiled to each other, drawing their Duos Stones from their pouches and continuing on down the street.

“Come out!” the Ta-Matoran shouted. “It’s not too painful to die. I think...”

“If you promise not to get involved again, you can live!” the woman assured.

Tala was pressed against another alley, farther down. He was heavily wounded by his own blade. He had no idea where his sword was now, other than that his foe’s had it somewhere.

They were dangerous. Sadistic, powerful, and dangerous. Their love for each other was too strong to break. It became strength.

“I don’t know what to do...” Tala muttered.

“Allow me to help.”

He looked to his side. He could see Turaga Rekona coming in from another street to enter the alley. He was shocked to see the Turaga was here.

“Rekona...” Tala said.

Rekona shook his head, “Tala, no time for that. We have to find a way to defeat those Matoran and their combination.”

“I know...but what?” Tala questioned.

“I don’t know. Only you can truly make that decision,” Rekona said. “I’m no longer a warrior.”

“But in your time, what had you done to fight an enemy stronger than you?” Tala questioned. “Please! I need to know!”

“I can’t tell you,” Rekona said. “That’s the burden of being a Toa. You must figure things out for yourself.”

“But Turaga help Toa...” Tala said.

“Not me,” Rekona replied. “I don’t help in the conventional sense. I help you by making you think it out yourself.”

“But please!” Tala pleaded.

“I’m sorry. I can’t help,” Rekona said. “Just do what you can. What you must.”

They could hear the voices of the two Matoran drawing nearer and nearer.

“Okay, Turaga. I understand,” Tala sighed.

“Good,” Rekona said. He walked out the way he had entered. “I don’t want to be here when they come. Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Tala said, rising. “I’ll do my best.”

The dual-toned Toa walked into the alley, looking around. Sword clutched tight, after retrieving it from its’ hiding place in another alley.

“Where are you?” the male voice questioned, ringing out through the alley.

“We won’t do too much damage,” the female promised, chuckling.

They stopped. The wind was blowing. There was an alley adjacent to the road up ahead. They saw a little bit of a scarf peeking out, being blown by the wind.

They moved towards it, and stopped. They held the sword tighter, had their minds ready for an attack, and spun around the corner, slashing down at where the body would be.

They stopped when the realized nobody was there. The scarf had been tied to a pole in the ground, allowing it to give the illusion that Tala was getting sloppy in his hiding.

Tala dropped down behind them from a roof. He threw his hand forward, resting it on the small of their back.

Before they could react, he unleashed a massive blaze of fire into them. They screamed in both voices, reaching for the scarf for support, pulling themselves away from Tala’s touch. They fell into the alley and rolled a bit, trying to get the fire off.

“Not so tough, are you?” he questioned, walking forward. He glared at the Ta-Matoran’s side, “You couldn’t even absorb it!”

“You surprised me,” he hissed.

“It was you who surprised me with that fusion when we first started,” Tala said. “And then with four powers being thrown at me. Let’s call it even,” he said. He crouched down, grabbing the sword by the blade. He yanked it from their grip, taking it back in his.

The Toa rose. They panted, trying to formulate a plan against Tala.

Tala watched them. He was cocky, and decided to show them that. He grabbed his scarf and pulled it on, tying it tight around his neck, letting the tails flow down his back.

“Come on,” he said, trying to encourage their attack.

“We’ll finish it,” the woman said.

“Finish...” the man said, nodding.

“What?” Tala muttered, not understanding the meaning in the words.

They put their hands together, facing them at Tala. Power erupted through both arms, focusing into the place where their palms met. In an instant, a blast of steam erupted out, using every ounce of energy in the Toa’s body as a weapon, trying to use steam that would disintegrate Tala’s body, attempting to kill him in one last-ditch effort.

Tala stumbled back, his shield thrown up. As soon as the worst of it faded, he leapt forward, driving his sword blindly into the lethal attack.

“I just don’t understand,” Tala said, shaking his head.

His two partners and Eiran were in the bunker with him. After seeing the corpses off, Tala had found his friends and they had returned to the bunker to discuss things.

“What don’t you understand?” Eiran questioned.

“Their love,” Tala said.

“They loved each other in a way we don’t understand. You said that, right? That’s the gist of it, anyway...” Eiran muttered.

Tala nodded, “Yeah. I don’t get it. How is it possible?”

“A glitch in their bodies?” Thete suggested. “In their minds?”

“Maybe...” Tala said, shaking his head. “I don’t know...”

“Maybe it was them. Maybe it really was their will. Maybe... maybe one day we’ll all be that way,” Eiran said. “Maybe someday, we’ll all feel love like that.”


 * -“Tala, what do you think of the past? What? You try not to remember it? But why? Next time: “Nightmare”. There is a shadow spread over your heart.”

8: Nightmare
Tala sat in the cold of night, atop the tallest building he could find and climb in this sort of darkness. The night was black as pitch, which was unusual for Angelus Nui. Not even the moon of the island cast any light down. It was gone, leaving no source of illumination.

The night was colder than it should have been too, thanks to the darkness. It was thick, all encompassing for Tala. As a Toa of Fire, he liked the heat, he liked to be warm.

He hated nights like these.

He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, Turaga Rekona was sitting beside him, his staff spread over his crossed legs.

“Turaga, why are you here?” Tala asked.

The Turaga of Air smiled at him, “What? I can’t visit with my favorite Toa?”

“Did you ever say that to Gaila?” he questioned.

“I didn’t know her very well. I wasn’t around that often when Gaila and Lewin were... still with us,” Rekona replied.

“Right... I forgot,” Tala said, looking down.

“What’s wrong?” Rekona asked.

“The fact that those two aren’t with us anymore,” he sighed. He looked up at the inky blackness of night. The black reminded him of the darkness of some people, of the Matoran who used the Corps Stones, of whoever had the evil will to be distributing them as they were in the first place.

The darkness made him go inside his own heart. His dark place in his heart where his worst memories were stored. The place that made him even fear himself, and fear what he might someday become if he embraced it.

“What is it, Tala?” Rekona inquired.

Tala smiled grimly, showing Rekona a smile that he had never showed anyone before. A smile that even made him afraid of himself, for both his own well being and his very sanity. If he were to embrace what that smile stood for, he wasn’t sure he would want to live on.

The night was black, but at least there was a silver sliver of moon in the sky, casting some minuscule light down onto the street.

A Toa of Water fled down a street, sliding and smashing into a wall. She cursed in pain as she ran down the alley, only to find it blocked.

As she spun around, she heard something behind her. The wall erupted into stone fragments, smashing into the Toa’s back, sending her flying forward. Her right arm was twisted all the way around, completely wrenched out of place, dangling useless at her side.

She screamed in pain as she landed facedown on the hard pavement. She turned onto her back, backing away as the figure in yellow, orange, and gray armor approached her.

“Who... who are you?” she demanded in fear.

“I’m a Toa. A real one, unlike you,” the Toa of Energy said. “Seles is my name. I don’t care about yours, since you’re not going to be around very much longer.”

“You plan on killing me?” she questioned.

He chuckled, shaking his head. “No. I mean, we aren’t going to tolerate you on our island much longer,” he explained. “We’re going to get that Corps Stone, and then, we’re going to banish you into the arms of proper authorities elsewhere.”

“Why would you do that?” the Niveau Un gasped in question.

“Because you’re a criminal. You’re evil,” Seles accused.

“I am not!” she cried.

“Owning a Corps Stone qualifies you in that category,” Seles said.

“You’re labeling me as a criminal because of the Corps Stone?” she questioned.

“As far as we know, the distributor, or distributors, only give the Corps Stones to people with nothing to lose. People who will instantly turn to some form of crime, because of the dark influence over the Corps Stones. Now, that means that chances are, you’ve committed crimes somewhere along the way.”

“You have no proof!” she cried.

“The Corps Stone is all the proof we need,” a new voice said.

She looked behind her. Water hit her face as rain started to pick up. It wasn’t natural rain, however, but rather rain summoned by this Toa of Water who now stood by her head.

“Gaila,” Seles said. “Glad to see you.”

Gaila looked none too pleased with Seles. She pointed at the downed Toa. “What are you doing?” she demanded of the Toa of Energy.

“Apprehending a Corps Stone user!” he said, defending himself from any accusations.

“A Corps Stone makes one evil,” Gaila said. “But until we have proof, we don’t do this.”

“But you just said it makes one evil!” he said.

“Some can fight it,” she said. “I’m certain of that. Do you think all Matoran are of the same constitution? Ones we’ve encountered have had terrible lives, struggling to get by for one reason or another. That means that they were more susceptible to the evils of the Corps Stone. How hard has your life been?” she asked the downed Toa.

“I’ve had a good life,” she whimpered. “No problems, nothing. I’m doing above average, working at a retailer market that sells supplies to travelers and for everyday life,” she said. “A little extra work on the side at a bank, hoping to eventually become a full-time worker there...”

Gaila shot a look to Seles, and then crouched by the Toa. “Let me see your arm,” she said, holding her arms out, focusing her powers around her hands. Her power poured into the wounded arm, tending to it.

“But Gaila!” Seles complained.

She shot him another look, and then looked behind her. “About time,” she snapped. “Tala, Thete, get Seles away from here before he causes more trouble,” she hissed.

Another figure started to walk towards them. Lewin climbed over the rubble that Seles had created, and then looked at the downed Toa.

He let out a low whistle. “You get her, Seles? Good job.”

“No, it’s not a good job,” Gaila hissed. “This Matoran has done nothing wrong.”

“I haven’t...” the downed Toa whined to Lewin.

“I don’t know what to believe,” Lewin said, looking to Gaila. “What about her as a person?”

“That’s your job to find out,” Gaila reminded.

He shrugged. “You were here first. You get anything?”

“She’s not a criminal,” Gaila said.

“Well then, that’s settled. What should we do with her?” Lewin asked.

“You still have to investigate,” Gaila told him.

“Fine, I will,” he said, walking away. He snapped his fingers. “Seles, Thete, Tala, you’re with me.”

“Good,” Gaila muttered. “Take the rash fool with you.”

Seles shot Gaila a look, and then stomped towards her. “Do you have something to say to me?” he shouted at her.

Gaila looked up. “Yes. You’re a fool. You’re rash. You’re a rash fool. What part didn’t you understand?”

He clenched his fist, ready to attack. Before he could even think to lift his arm, her blade arrow was in his face, ready to launch and rip his head open.

“I wouldn’t even think about it,” Gaila warned.

“I wasn’t!” he snapped.

“You forget how good I am,” Gaila said. “Composure went hard and stiff, tensing your muscles. Then went fluid as you clenched your fist, getting ready to do something, to move. The clenched fist tells me you’d like to attack, which is why you would have loosened up, so as to get ready for the follow-through of your punch. Your look in your eyes right now tells me that you realize I’m right, you’ve been read, and you’re considering using your powers to blow me up. Am I right?” she asked.

He stayed quiet.

“Your silence means ‘yes’,” she said. “Oh, and don’t think about using your powers. I’m flowing enough water around my body, inside of my body, anywhere, so that if you try to blow me up with my own potential energy, the kinetic energy of the flowing water will be your problem. Your attack will first strike that, or, strike me, with the water inside of me, essentially confusing and canceling your powers out. I’m no fool. I know what my team can do, and just how to counteract their powers.”

“What are you?” Seles hissed.

“Someone who doesn’t want to die,” she hissed. “And someone who doesn’t trust the people she’s around.”

The other three Toa all heard her. They kept their silence, despite anger in various forms bottling up inside of them, rising and getting ready to release in the form of rage.

Lewin kept his composure. He had been with Gaila long enough to know how to deal with her. He knew not to provoke her, and he knew that she trusted him.

Thete was just as prone to anger as Seles was. He wanted to do something, anything to Gaila. Her words hurt him, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like being hurt by his own comrades. He defended all of them, had their backs, created weapons and equipment for them, and he was repaid in such a way. It pained him.

Tala screwed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to think about it. He was trying to block it out, but it wasn’t working. He personally was taken in to be third-in-command, to become second, or leader, someday. How could she say that about him? She personally trained him, taught him what he needed to know. How could she not trust him?

She was just lashing out. That was no problem, except that she did it all the time now. She had patience, but she was losing it. Over time, not knowing who to trust, not knowing who was an enemy waiting for their chance, not knowing who could potentially become very dangerous by obtaining a Corps Stone... she was too angry.

She said in the past that they had a clear-cut enemy. Whatever it was, Rahi or otherwise, they knew what it was. This way, with the Corps Stones, they had no idea who their enemies were, who to trust, who not to.

This wasn’t the way she knew how to be a Toa. She was compensating the only way she knew how to, by being ruthless, aggressive, cold, and angry.

Tala walked away first, leaving them. He had better things to do than to watch this unfold. As Thete saw him go, so too did the Toa of Technology.

Lewin stayed behind, watching the standoff between Seles and Gaila. He walked towards them, resting his hand on the Toa of Energy’s shoulder, “Come, Seles. Let’s go. We have matters to attend to.”

Seles glared into Gaila’s eyes, and then turned to Lewin, “Okay. I’m good now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

The two Toa walked away, leaving Gaila and the downed Toa of Water alone. Gaila stayed standing until she was sure they had left, and then crouched down, healing the Toa’s arm again.

“I’m sorry about that,” Gaila said.

“Why are you so kind to me? Someone you don’t know? Why are you so cruel to your team, if you do know them? Trust your lives to them?”

“Because you’re a Toa of Water, like myself. That and the evidence doesn’t fit what they believe you to be,” Gaila said.

“I could by lying.”

“You’re not. I know you’re not. I can feel it.”

“Thank you,” the Toa said, lying still as her arm was tended.

“Where are they going?” the Toa asked.

“To look into you, into evidence,” Gaila said. “We’ll determine if you are who you say you are, and the evidence behind it. If you’re lying... we’ll have you.”

“I’m not,” she said.

“Again, I know,” Gaila said.

“I hate her!” Seles shouted, punching a wall.

“Calm down, Seles,” Lewin said, resting a hand on his shoulder again. “Get past it.”

“How can I?” he shouted. “She doesn’t trust any of us! Not even you!”

“She was just lashing out. She’s stressed, recently,” Lewin told him.

“Are you sure she should be leader?” Thete questioned. “This stress might not be good.”

“I could never be leader,” Lewin said. “Not with her around. What would I do? Bump her down so I could go up? I can’t do that. I would never be able to harm her in any way, physically or emotionally, as it would do if I told her I wanted leadership in her place. I just can’t do it.”

“Someday, you might have to,” Tala warned, putting his first bit into the conversation at hand as they started to walk again.

“I know. I pray that day never comes,” Lewin said.

There was a scream, and then a shout. Lewin turned and ran back the way they had come, with the others following closely behind. It took them about a minute at their pace to reach the turn into the broken wall, sliding down on the wet stones from Gaila’s rain.

They saw the Toa, sitting up, claws around Gaila’s throat. Gaila had the blade of her wrist-mounted arrow in the Niveau Deux’s chest, but it wasn’t deep enough to be lethal, or even stop the monster.

“I told her!” Seles shouted, rushing forward. He began to generate his power, getting ready to release it into the sitting opponent, to use her potential energy against her.

“No!” Gaila snapped.

“But Gaila! Look at her! She’s killing you!”

“No. I’ll handle this,” Gaila said.

“But...”

“I’ll handle it!” Gaila shouted.

The arrow couldn’t go any farther; it was at its’ limit. It could still be the focus of her attack, however, as she let loose her powers into the blade.

Water smashed into the innards of the Toa of Water in her monster form, throwing her back. She screamed as she smashed into a wall, slumping to the ground for only a moment, only to shoot back to her feet.

“I told you!” Seles shouted at Gaila.

“Not now,” Gaila said softly, walking towards her target. She threw her arm aside, generating a fist of water from the moisture in the air, smashing it into the Toa, dazing her, throwing her off-step.

She threw another fist of water through the same means into her chest, throwing her towards the other Toa. Lewin pushed them aside as he himself sidestepped to allow the body to sail past.

Gaila walked past them all, throwing a surge of water into her opponent, keeping her pinned down as armor started to peel off from the force. Then, she drew her arm back once more, and threw another fist of water in, ending the threat.

“I told you,” Seles said.

She turned to Seles, backhanding him. She glared down at him, “And I told you that she was good. She begged not to change, for the powers of darkness in that Corps Stone not to take her! You weren’t here, you don’t know anything!”

She stormed away from the downed Seles and the rest of the team, going off to vent.

Tala opened his eyes, remembering that dark day. The day that had changed everything for them, and had lead to Lewin’s forced killing of Gaila, and the start of their new team dynamic. That was when everything changed.


 * -“Immortalization. That is art. What could be more immortal than stone – a statue? Next time: “Statue”. Immortalization should never be desired.”

9: Statue
“I’m almost done,” he said, shaping the clay with his adept, nimble fingers. He looked over the mass at the Hi-Matoran posing for him, and then gazed back down, looking at the clay, and then back up once more, making sure he had things right.

“How does it look?” she asked from her pose.

“Great! One of my best!” the Po-Matoran exclaimed.

“I’m looking forward to seeing it,” she said.

“You came to the right place,” the Po-Matoran said. “I’m one of the best you’ll find.”

“I haven’t seen any of your work,” the Matoran of Lightning told him. “I really don’t know how good you are.”

“Just have faith in me. I am great,” the Po-Matoran boasted. “I’m one of the best you’ll find outside of Doppel Nui.”

She chuckled, “Did you work there before?”

“As an artist? No. I studied art there, but never worked there. I’m afraid that those artists are on a whole other league than I am.”

“I’m sure you’ll still do great,” she said.

He finished shaping the clay, and then looked up. He walked around his small station, looking at the back, at the sides, the top and bottom, lifting the limbs where he could. It was life-sized, but not fully articulate, only partially, before the clay would dry enough.

“I’m done!” he announced. “Please, get up. Come take a look.”

“I can look already?” she asked, walking over.

He nodded, wringing his hands, “I’ll still need to do a little detail work, fire it, but then, it’ll be done. I’d say you’ll have it at your home within a week.”

She looked at it, not saying anything. She walked around it, still looking, still saying nothing. As he looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction to it, he couldn’t get anything.

Finally she looked up, glaring at him.

“What sort of sick joke is this?!” she shouted.

“What? What do you mean?” he questioned.

She walked forward, slapping him as hard as she could, offsetting him so he fell to the floor. He looked up at her as she stood over him.

“I want my money back,” she said. “I expect it back in my account by the end of the day! I’m not paying for this... this... this thing!”

“But what’s wrong with it?” he questioned, sitting up. He watched her leave in a huff. He turned to look at his art, looking it over.

He saw nothing wrong with it. It had a misshapen head, four arms, branching off slightly between the shoulders and elbows. The same with the legs, between the hips and the knees, making it look like a spider of some sort.

The body itself was also misshapen, not sleek and defined as a torso, but rather, a lump of clay with little detail spread across it.

“I don’t get it,” he said, looking at the sculpture. “What’s wrong with it?!” he screamed, grabbing the table and throwing it to the ground, smashing the clay statue. He looked to the door, shouting at it, shouting at her, though she was already gone.

What was wrong with his work? Did people not appreciate the abstract? Did they want perfect work?

That wasn’t what he wanted to give. There were enough artists giving actual displays of the Matoran figure. He wanted to do something else, to display something else in his work.

No one liked it.

He walked to a small statue in the corner of his room. He shouted, grabbing the pedestal, throwing it down, smashing it on the floor. He grabbed another statue, smashing it on the floor as well.

These were some of his non-abstract works. Works people actually complimented him on. Work he did on Doppel Nui as an art student.

They meant nothing to him anymore. He didn’t want anything to have to do with it, either. If people didn’t like his work, then that was their problem, not his.

But he hadn’t sold anything in months. He had no income. He had little left in his savings. He was going to be on the streets soon if he couldn’t sell something and quick.

He walked towards the door when he heard a knock. In his anger, he threw the door open, rattling the hinges. He looked outside, but saw nobody.

He looked at the ground. He saw a stone sitting there.

He crouched down, picking it up. He looked it over, feeling the raw power surging through it. He felt it make contact with his body.

It excited him to have this power. He didn’t know what it was, but it excited him.

There was a knock at the door. He opened it again, “Welcome.” He said, offering the Ga-Matoran a smile, “I’m glad you’re here. My last client just left.”

The Matoran looked around. “Did you have some damage here?” she asked.

“It was an accident,” he told her.

“Okay,” she said, sitting down on a small bed where the models would lie down, or do their pose. “Should we begin?”

He drew a few large lumps of clay from the floor onto the table. He looked at her, and nodded, “Okay, get into your position.”

As she got into the position she desired, he looked at the Corps Stone in his hand. He pressed it into his chest, feeling the power rush into his body.

Before she knew what was happening, he unleashed his powers, sending the clay forward, engulfing her body. She cried out, but was silenced by the thick clay.

He drew the clay back to the table. She was silent, but not dead.

He snapped her arm off of her body, and then, her leg, and then attached them to other spots on her body, creating more abstract work. If his work didn’t sell, he would do anything he could to make it work.

He would murder anyone who didn’t appreciate his work.

Eiran walked alongside Tala down the street. “So, where are you going?” Tala asked her.

“I’m going to see a sculptor,” she said. “He’s going to do a sculpture of me as I model for him.” She smiled, “It’ll be fun.”

“Doesn’t sound fun, having to sit there for hours, waiting...” Tala said.

“It’ll be worth it,” She told him.

“Are you sure you’re not throwing money away?” he asked.

“I’m sure,” she said.

They arrived at a building, two stories tall. It had a small fence encircling it, and sat atop a small plateau. She walked up the steps and looked back to Tala.

“I’ll see you later... unless you want to come inside and watch,” Eiran said.

He shook his head, “No, I’m sure. You have fun.”

She smiled, “I will.”

As she walked inside, Tala continued to walk down the street. He looked back at her once, and then continued on, wondering about such a waste of money.

“Why didn’t you go?” he heard someone ask.

He looked to see Turaga Rekona standing beside him. He smiled, “Not my thing.”

“What? Art?”

“A waste of money like that,” he said. “Purely for aesthetics.”

“You bought the scarf for that reason,” he reminded Tala.

“The scarf is...” he said, trying to think of a way to defend his choice to purchase it.

“It’s what?” Rekona asked.

“It’s different,” he said.

“Is that the best excuse you have?” Rekona asked as they walked along. He shook his head, “As a Toa, I even knew that I couldn’t get out of something like you’re in. Just admit it, Tala. Buying that scarf, and modeling for a sculpture like Eiran is doing, are the same thing in two different perspectives. In the eye of the beholder, they are either worth it, or, a waste of money.”

Tala sighed, “Fine, Turaga. I know when I’ve lost in a conversation.”

“Good,” Rekona said, smiling that he had won. “Now, why not go back? You might enjoy yourself, you know.”

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“Why don’t you go and get yourself a sculpture?” he asked.

“I don’t have the money,” Tala said. “And what would I do with it? I think the other two would laugh at me for doing it.”

“The same as with that scarf?” Rekona questioned.

Tala sighed. “When you’re right, you’re right,” he said. He stopped in the middle of the street and looked back. “Yeah, I think I’ll go back. I’ll at least keep Eiran company and see how it’s done.” He looked down. “Turaga, would you like to join me?”

Rekona was gone.

“Okay then. I guess that’s your answer,” Tala said. “The same as what I would want to give you...” he muttered. “Why is it when I wanted to give the same answer, you vanish, when I can’t get away from you?”

He started towards the building again.

Eiran laid down on the bed, finding her pose, resting her right elbow on the bunk, propping her head up with her right hand. She rested her left hand on the bed in front of her chest, keeping he left elbow up. Her right leg, on the bottom, was spread out straight, her left was slightly bent up.

“Is this good?” she asked.

“It’ll work,” the Matoran of Stone replied.

“What’s your name?” Eiran asked. “I would like to have a name to call you by.”

“My name is Jeun,” he said.

“Jeun,” she said. “Okay. So, how long have you done this?”

“Not long enough,” he said.

“What?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing,” he replied.

She looked around the room. “So... do you do abstract work?” she asked, looking at a sculpture that was lacking an arm and leg, but had them in other locations.

“Yeah, I do,” Jeun replied. “My main area of study was abstract. It’s what I do when I don’t know what else to do.”

“Are you going to do abstract with me?” Eiran asked.

“Depends,” Jeun said, feeling excitement inside of him, both from the stone, which felt the prospect of murder, and from himself, which felt the possibility that she would want abstract. “Do you want it to be abstract?” he asked as he prayed she would.

“No,” she said. “I like it... but no.”

“Well, how much do you like it?” he asked.

“Why?”

“Oh, I’m just curious.”

“It’s okay. I have no problems with it.” Her gaze went to his newest sculpture. “It’s fine. But art like that, with body distortion... not so much.”

“That’s a shame,” Jeun said.

“How so?” Eiran asked.

“It’s my favorite,” Jeun hissed.

He held the Corps Stone to his chest. He was about to use its’ power, to kill Eiran and make her into a statue that he would desire, when he heard the door opening.

“Tala!” Eiran exclaimed.

Jeun turned towards the door. He saw a Toa of Fire walking inside. He recognized him as one of the Toa Angelus, the current leader, if he wasn’t mistaken.

“I’m sorry, but this is a closed studio,” Jeun said. “I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Eiran is a friend of mine. I was hoping I could see her work get finished,” Tala said.

“I’m sorry... but you can’t,” Jeun said.

“Please?” Tala asked, not that he actually wanted to be there. Just that he had to try.

“No,” Jeun said more firmly.

“Please?” Eiran asked this time.

“No!” Jeun screamed out, pushing the Corps Stone to his chest. As he grew in size, evolving to his Niveau Un form, he threw a hand at Tala, throwing a blast of stone from the ground at him.

Tala, in shock, couldn’t go for the sword on his back in time. He triggered the powers of his Hau, throwing a shield up to defend himself as the rock splintered upon impact with his chest.

He stumbled back from the absolute force. Before Eiran could do anything, Jeun spun towards her, throwing his arm towards her this time, sending the clay out at her.

The clay clung to her body, forming around it, molding up and down her form, almost as if it were becoming part of her.

“What are you doing?” Eiran screamed.

“You’ll be just like her!” Jeun screamed, directing at the other abstract murder. “I’ll kill you, just like I did to her!” He dropped his voice to a chilling hiss. “And you’ll be alive as I tear your limbs off and force them to mold to other parts of your body. You’ll be distorted abstract yet...”

“You won’t do anything of the sort,” Tala hissed, throwing his arm forward. An eruption of fire spiraled from his palm, smashing into the Toa of Stone, throwing him into the far wall, breaking his control on the clay.

He walked towards Jeun, and then looked to Eiran. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She picked the clay off of him and nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine.... look, I’m glad you came back to help me.”

“No problem,” he replied. He drew his sword from his back and rushed at Jeun, slamming his blade down.

Jeun rolled away. He came to his knees, throwing his arms forward, tearing the stones from the ground, and smashing them into Tala’s chest.

Tala rolled across the ground, his body skipping. He moaned, pushing himself up. He swayed back and forth, driving his sword into the floor as he tried to stay up, but couldn’t.

Jeun walked forward, laughing as he approached Tala. He pointed at the clay, “I’ll make you into a sculpture, too.”

“No,” Tala hissed. He threw his hands forward, unleashing a wave of heat in the face of the rising clay. He instantly hardened the clay before Jeun could figure out how to change his control as fast. He was used to the free flowing clay, but now that it had hardened that quickly, he didn’t know what to do with it.

He shattered it in his confusion. Shards crashed into his body, offsetting him. As he screamed, stumbling back, Tala took his sword up and lunged forward, running Jeun through.

Jeun slumped forward on his blade. He looked up into Tala’s Hau, opening his mouth as if to question why.

“You earned death,” Tala hissed. “You committed murder. You attempted another murder. One of a dear friend. Death is the best for you,” he said, pulling the sword free.

Jeun crumpled to the floor, back in his Matoran form. The Corps Stone was lying in front of his head, cracked in half.

“Tala...” Eiran said.

He smiled to her as he turned, “Please, don’t mention it.” He put his sword on his back. “Now, let’s go,” he said, offering her his hand to comfort her.

She took his hand, the comfort of safety, and departed the room, leaving the scene of the crime.


 * -“How I long for the days of my powers. Being a Toa – being even more empowered – is such a rush. Next time: “Ring”. But, for every rush, there must be another to cancel it.”

10: Ring
The reflection of a ring shone in the darkness. The man walked through the crowd, completely unsuspected by his fellow people as a killer, as an assassin.

He was a Matoran, just like all the others. He looked around, searching for his mark.

He stopped, spinning around as he saw two people walking towards him, armed with spears. They pointed their weapons at the Matoran.

“You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of our great leader, Epee,” they hissed, moving closer to him. “You’ll be lucky to survive. If you sit still and let us take you to justice, then you might be spared.”

“I did what I was ordered to do,” the Matoran said. “Doppel Nui has one being with power. And that is Epee. He must die so that we can change the future of this universe!”

“Your kind are long dead,” one of the police told him.

“No. We will rise again!” the Matoran shouted, snatching a knife from the small of his back, under his traveling cloak. He rushed forward, giving a battle cry.

He was shown no mercy as the two police thrust their spears into his chest, bringing him to his knees, ending his life.

“I thought these people were long dead,” one of them said.

“Evidently not,” the other said, looking at the ring on his finger. “I fear that this society isn’t as dead as the world believes it to be.”

“Have you heard?” Thete asked, sitting down to join the other two Toa in a ring of five chairs. Two of them were empty, now that Gaila and Lewin were gone. Eiran would occasionally sit there and join them, but she wasn’t there at the moment, leaving both open.

“Heard about what?” Tala asked, leaning closer.

“The Illuminati,” Thete said.

“Illuminati?” Seles asked.

“Yes, a secret society, an ancient order,” Thete said. “Or at least, that’s what I know about them. That’s what was released from Doppel Nui.”

“Doppel Nui?” Tala asked.

He nodded. “Yes, Doppel Nui. Two of their officers confronted a man trying to assassinate their leader, Epee. The man apparently died claiming that Epee had to die, being the only powered being on the island, and that his kind weren’t dead.”

“His kind?” Tala asked. “What does that mean?”

“He was a Matoran, so not species,” Thete said. “His organization?”

“Are they supposed to be gone?” Tala asked.

Thete nodded. “They were supposed to have been wiped out many years ago. That any of them are alive is... just impossible to believe. They must have really laid low.”

“How can they be sure he wasn’t a pretender?” Seles questioned.

“The ring he wore,” Thete said.

“So? It could be a replica, or he could have found it,” Tala suggested.

“No,” Thete said. “As I understand it, the rings can only be worn by those who are members of the Illuminati. Also, they can’t be replicated. Not even copies can be made, since the materials are so... hard to come across, if possible at all.”

“Then how did this person get a ring?” Seles questioned.

“Could it be that he was an original member?” Tala asked.

Thete shook his head. “Impossible. The Illuminati died out so long ago... there could be no survivors of that group.”

“What if there were?” Seles questioned.

Tala nodded. “He claimed his people would rise again, didn’t he?”

“He could mean a new group,” Seles said.

“I don’t think so,” Thete said. “The Illuminati can’t recruit new members. There’s something specific about their membership, and their rings. No new members can join them.”

“Then more have to be out there,” Tala said.

“I guess so,” Thete replied. “If what he said is even true.”

“So... why did you bring this up, anyway?” Tala asked.

“I believe that there’s a chance that any island could now be targeted,” Thete said. “I want us to be ready.”

“No, there has to be more,” Tala said, using the intuition that made him leader. “You wouldn’t be bringing it up if there were only a chance. Also, Doppel Nui wouldn’t have reported it if there wasn’t a reason. They must truly believe that the Illuminati are going to rise again, or that the islands they contacted are in danger.”

“So they didn’t contact all islands?” Seles questioned Thete, based on Tala’s observation.

“No. They didn’t,” Thete admitted. “That’s why I wanted to bring it up. There were only about five or six islands that were mentioned, that could be targets of them, if they are rising again.”

“What do we do?” Seles asked.

“There’s no certainty that we are a target,” Thete admitted. “Just the possibility.”

“You must believe it, if you thought enough to mention it,” Tala said. “So, tell us, what do you know?”

“I don’t know anything,” he implored. “I honestly don’t.”

“Of course you do,” Tala said. “Now tell us.”

Thete kept his silence. He looked at the ground, and then back up to the other two Toa.

“We believe we already know where they are.”

“Who are ‘We’?” Seles questioned.

“The Seraphim,” Thete replied. “They told Turaga Otoka, who told me. The Turaga has gone into hiding already, defended by her Seraphim guardians. With us three being the only three Toa on this island... we’re supposed to deal with it.”

“Just like the Seraphim, right in Otoka’s hand,” Seles muttered.

“Otoka needs the protection,” Thete said. “She’s one of the only other powered beings on this island, other than us. We can defend ourselves, at the least.”

“So, why does this society kill those with powers?” Tala asked, changing the subject.

“Simple,” Thete replied. “They believe that we have an unfair advantage in life, and that we bring nothing but strife and death to those around us. They claim they want to set that straight by giving all an equal chance.”

“That makes sense,” Seles admitted. “But why such a radical way of going about it?”

“What other way is there other than murder?” Tala questioned.

“They could try to accept the differences we have,” Seles replied.

“Would you, knowing that someone could easily show you up just because of powers, not by skill?” Tala asked.

“I guess not,” Seles muttered.

“So it’s not hard to believe a mob mentality in that vein would develop. It’s very easy to believe that, actually. I’m surprised that we haven’t heard about them before,” Tala said. “But then again, I guess we’re not important enough to be a prime target of such assassinations.”

“No, we’re not,” Thete said. “But with the Illuminati so weak at the moment, they probably think taking out weaker islands is in their best interest.”

“Doppel Nui only has Epee,” Tala said. “That is a good plan.”

“And with three Toa Angeles, one Turaga, and the Seraphim here, that makes only eight targets. Easy pickings,” Thete said.

“Except for Corps Stones,” Seles added.

Tala listened to them as they went on without his contributions. He thought about their words, their math.

They had left Rekona out. Did the Turaga of Air not matter, or something?

He ignored it. He was new to the island, newer, anyway. He probably didn’t make it a high priority for everyone to know him. And he probably decided that Tala was one of the best to entrust his identity, his friendship, to.

Tala stood up from his chair and looked to the others. He walked to his table, picking up his sword. “Well, should we get hunting?”

“What?” Thete asked.

“The ring will identify him,” Tala said. “So let’s hunt.”

Seles rose. “I’ve heard crazier ideas. Fine.”

Thete sighed. “Fine. Let’s go hunting.”

Tala drove his Flame Cycle through the streets. He looked around the emptier streets he used, glancing out at the Matoran in the next streets beside him. He looked at their fingers, looking for any signs of a ring on them.

He looked ahead. He saw a turn coming up, one he didn’t remember being there before. He quickly turned his Flame Cycle aside, slowing to a stop with his slide.

He looked at the streets beside him, but couldn’t see any way out. He dismounted, taking the armor off of his shoulders and the rest of his body, unlatching himself from the Flame Cycle. He took his sword from the vehicle and walked towards the nearest street.

“Where are you going?”

He stopped. He looked at the wall, but it was suddenly gone.

“What are you?” Tala questioned. “Some hypocrite to your people with powers?”

“Powers?” the man behind him laughed. “No, it’s my weapon.”

Tala turned around to look at the figure. He wasn’t a Matoran, he wasn’t a Toa. He was somewhere in-between in appearance, as well as size. What he was, he had no idea.

“What are you?” Tala demanded.

“I am a being of my people,” the man in crimson and black armor said. “I was once a Matoran. I was experimented on by my own people in the last days of frantic combat against your kind. We started to experiment on our own people, trying to create weaponized men. I was one of them.”

“What can you do? Use powers?” Tala bantered. “Then you’d be a mockery to your own kind!”

“No,” he said, touching his left arm, between his elbow and shoulder. He drew his arm away from it, spawning a large ring weapon into his hand. It spun around on the balls of his feet, pulling his chakram along with him. He spun forward, releasing his load.

It sliced through the air, going for Tala, who slashed it aside, deflecting it into a wall. It sliced through the wall, as if it were a blade, and returned to its’ owner.

“What can you do?” Tala demanded. “You claim that this isn’t a power you have, but it looks like it to me.”

“I told you, I’m a living weapon,” the man said. He held his hand up. “This ring is me!”

“What?” Tala questioned.

“I am my weapon,” he said. “I am a living weapon in more than one way.” He reset the chakram back into his arm. He drew a dagger out of his left leg, holding it point down in his right hand. He ran forward, slashing wildly for Tala’s throat.

Tala spun around, throwing his left arm forward, unleashing a blast of fire.

He touched his chest, this time drawing a shield out. He held the shield forward in his left hand, bracing against it as the flames crashed into him.

As the shield melted back into his arm, into his body, he threw the dagger forward again, spinning it through the air toward his foe’s throat.

Tala ducked, but felt someone grab him from behind. He saw a right hand holding the dagger to his throat, a distinctive plain crimson stone set into a ring on the right ring finger. This man was a member of the Illuminati, all right.

“I told you, I’m a living weapon,” he told Tala. “I can even spawn myself from myself.”

“You threw your weapon; you spawned your body out of the weapon, since it was part of you,” Tala gasped.

“Very observant,” he replied.

Tala smiled. “I pride myself on my intelligence.”

“Pride yourself on intelligence? Not power?” the man questioned, shaking his head. “You are a fool.”

“You think I should pride myself on my power?” Tala asked. “What? Then it’s easier for you to find the will to kill me?”

“No,” the man said. “It makes me understand you more before I kill you.”

“Too bad. I’ll remain an enigma to you,” Tala said.

“Then die,” he hissed.

“Before I die, I have one question,” Tala said, trying to buy himself some time.

“What is it?” the man demanded, tightening his grip on the dagger.

“How many of you are left in the world?” Tala questioned.

“What? How many beings like me, weaponized beings? Or, members of this society?” he demanded.

“Society,” Tala identified.

The man smiled. “I’m the last. And I’m pleased about that. I can show my abilities off to others and get them to join, showing them that I use my body, not an actual power. I can sway a new generation.”

“You can’t recruit anew. I know how you work,” Tala said.

“We’ll scrap the rings,” he said.

“The rings identify you,” Tala said. “You don’t want people to know who you are?”

“We’ll find a new method of membership,” the being said. “And then I’ll weaponize new warriors for us.”

“But even weaponized, using your own bodies as weapons, you’re relying on outside powers. That’s against your belief. But, doesn’t it still put you above the ordinary people of this world? Doesn’t that still make you a hypocrite?”

“I never saw it as a method of being above everyone, but rather, that those with powers were unnatural. I don’t care if people do view me as above them, because of what I can do with my body. What I care about is eradicating those who believe themselves to be superior due to power alone, not having to have the skill to prove it.”

“You think I have no skill?” Tala questioned.

“I think you have to work for nothing,” he hissed.

Tala laughed. “I have to work for more than you think. To get to where I am today, I had to do the hardest thing I ever had to. I could only do it by working hard.”

“What was it?” he demanded.

He heard the footsteps of his partners, but they were slow. They didn’t want to get into the open and expose themselves.

“The lesson I had to learn was that when even your leader has a failure in judgment, and lives are at stake, they must be stopped. That means they must be killed, and you must accept it. Because of me, our leader is dead, and I had to succeed both her, and the second-in-command. I saw my two superiors die, because of me! Because of my own opinions which sparked so much in-fighting!”

Before the Illuminati member could do anything, His body exploded from his potential energy. Seles and Thete ran out, grabbing Tala, getting him away from the death.

“You did great,” Thete said. “Come on, let’s go home and let the Turaga know.”

Tala nodded. “Yeah... let’s go.”

“What you said...” Seles interejected. “It takes a big man to admit it.”

“Thanks,” Tala said as they walked away.

Had anyone turned around for longer than the moments it took to get the Flame Cycle, they would have noticed a hand reaching down, taking up the ring, and putting it on.


 * -“What do you think of pomp? Don’t like it, eh? How could anyone think that being pompous is actually good? Next time: “Princess”. I guess for some, it’s more natural than others...”

11: Princess
The three Toa stood nearby as a procession moved through the streets, heading towards the main plaza, towards an apparent meeting with Turaga Otoka.

“What is this?” Seles leaned over, asking the others.

“I don’t know,” Tala replied. “I was never told anything.”

“Did you actually expect Otoka to tell you anything, though?” Seles questioned. “She never even gave Gaila a proper base here. She couldn’t care less if we Toa Angelus were here. Why would she tell us anything?”

“You know, he has a point,” Thete said, agreeing with what Seles had to say on the subject of the Turaga.

“I know,” Tala sighed. He looked ahead. “Straighten up,” he said as they approached.

They could see the procession was smaller than it had actually looked. It was three Matoran, all of them wearing leather armor and armed with weaponry, ranging from swords on their hips, to daggers on the smalls of their backs, and a mace hanging on each of their other hips.

Why these men were heavily armed, they had no idea.

Then, they saw someone walking in the center, draped in long, flowing robes that touched to the ground. She was a Ce-Matoran, and apparently, a very important person.

Tala looked back at the hall, and then at the frightened Matoran around them. They didn’t like the weapons that these men carried.

Tala stepped in front of their procession, stopping them. He looked at them, and then looked to the woman.

“May I ask who you are and what you’re doing here?” he questioned.

“Who are you?” she replied quietly.

“Toa Tala. Leader of the Toa Angelus,” he responded.

“Step aside,” she hissed.

“What?” Tala questioned.

“You heard me,” she said simply, motioning to the closest of her guards. In a flash, he had his sword in his right hand, his mace in his left. “Move aside,” she said again.

Tala looked at the Matoran. He thought that the Matoran wasn’t going to be able to kill him as fast as he could burn the Matoran to death, but this Matoran was fast enough to draw in an instant. If he was equally as fast using the weapons, Tala would probably be killed before he could burn the Matoran in self defense.

“Toa Tala. Do as she says.”

He turned around and saw Turaga Otoka flanked by the four Seraphim walking towards him. He looked to her, at the look in her eyes.

“Are you waiting for an order?” she hissed. “Move aside.”

Tala looked to the four Matoran and then back to the Turaga. He stepped aside, rejoining the other two Toa.

Otoka reached the newcomers, and glanced to the three Toa. “Please excuse them, Princess Ishiza,” Otoka said to the Ce-Matoran. “They have been nothing but problems since the day I allowed them to protect us.”

The “Princess” looked away from them, offering a quick sneer. She looked to Otoka. “I can see that they are trouble, if they can’t even tell when someone is special and deserves respect.” She glared at the Toa. “My men could discipline them, if you wish.”

“No,” Otoka said. She motioned to the Matoran with his weapons drawn. “Please, sheath those weapons. We don’t want Matoran to get frightened.”

“Understood,” he said simply in a militaristic style, sheathing his sword and hooking his mace to his belt, all in one swift motion.

Otoka looked to the three Toa. “Now, if you have this much trouble staying away from a simple arrival, I want you three far away, on the other side of the island, so I don’t have to see you again for the rest of the day. I don’t want you to come and cause any more trouble for the Princess.”

“Turaga, if I may ask, what is the point of this?” Tala asked. “It would help if you would inform us of what you plan on doing. We would like to know what to do, how to act, according to what you tell us is planned.”

“It’s a matter of politics,” Otoka said.

“If you could tell us more, we would have an easier time staying away,” Tala implored.

“I never told Gaila anything either.”

“I’m not Gaila,” Tala said. “Now, could you please tell us what’s happening?”

“Like I said, it’s politics,” Otoka said.

“Could you keep a better grip on your guardians, if you could even call them that?” Ishiza questioned. “They seem rather unruly. I much prefer those personal guards of yours. They remind me of mine, that they don’t question things, they’re just silent and vigilant.” She waved a hand towards the four Seraphim.

“Come. Let us discuss the trade routes,” Otoka said, directing the four Matoran towards her tower. She took a sidelong glance to Tala. “Happy?” she questioned, walking away.

As the small procession passed them by, towards the tower, Seles looked to Tala, then he looked to Thete, and finally pointed at the “Princess”.

“What sort of pompous person is that?” he questioned. “Have you ever heard of her?”

“No,” Thete said.

“No,” Tala agreed, shaking his head. “I just don’t understand how someone can actually act that way.”

“Think she might have a Corps Stone?” Seles questioned.

“You want an excuse to attack her?” Thete questioned. “Attack a Matoran?”

“It could be affecting her,” Seles suggested.

“Yeah, I don’t think som” Tala said, walking away, heading away from the tower, attempting to follow Otoka’s orders.

“Tala!” Seles shouted, running after him. When the three Toa were walking together again, Seles once more started to talk. “I mean, what sort of person acts that way unless they have something wrong? Like a stone?”

“Someone who was raised to act that way by a predecessor who was the same way,” Tala replied.

“How can we be sure?” Seles questioned.

Tala stopped and turned to look at the Toa of Energy. “Are you looking for permission to attack a probably innocent Matoran just because she made you mad? That’s an abuse of power and authority. You can’t be doing that. We’re Toa. Heroes, not monsters.”

“Fine,” Seles said. “Now what?”

“We go to the other side of the island, as ordered,” Tala said, walking away again, down the street.

“So, trade routes,” Thete said. “Why would someone so important be sent to deal with trade route issues?” he questioned.

“Maybe that’s how wherever she’s from works,” Tala suggested. “We don’t know the chain of command from... wherever. Maybe this is how it works.”

“I guess so,” Thete said.

As they walked away, they passed a fourth Matoran in armor. Seles stuck his arm out, stopping the Matoran from continuing on.

“You looking for Princess Ishiza?” Seles questioned.

“I am,” he replied. “Can’t you tell that from my armor? Or haven’t you seen the others?”

“They left you because you were late, or something?” Seles questioned.

“The Princess doesn’t like tardiness,” he said. “She left me behind, thinking three guards would be enough.”

“Enough? For an escort?” Tala questioned.

The guard muttered under his breath. He looked up at the Tala. “There’s an assassin after her, and she only brought three guards. I need to get there and help her!”

“She has seven guards,” Tala said. “Our Turaga has four personal guards, the four Seraphim. They can protect your Princess just fine. If you walk in there, late, she’ll probably react terribly, from the little time we’ve spent with her.”

“I’ll take that chance,” he said. “Which way?”

“The tower,” Seles said, pointing towards it. “Just go there and you should be able to get inside and find them.”

“Thank you,” he said, rushing off towards the spire.

The three Toa continued to walk away, talking amongst themselves.

“Would you ever want to befriend or even protect someone who acts that pompous?” Seles questioned.

“No,” Thete said, shaking his head. “I’d probably lash out and strike or kill that person.”

Tala nodded in agreement. “I wouldn’t be able to stand that. I wouldn’t be able to even look at that person.”

“Then how can those people possibly protect that Princess?” Seles questioned. “For that matter, how can the people even put up with her?”

“They could be used to it,” Tala suggested.

“How can they put up with it in the first place?” Seles modified his question.

“Who knows,” Tala said.

They all heard a blade being drawn. The unique sound of steel sliding across a scabbard rang out around them, filling the mostly empty street.

The three Toa stopped, prepping themselves for battle. Tala drew his sword from his back, Thete drew his firearm from his side, and Seles clenched his fists.

They saw another man in armor running towards them. He was badly beaten, and missing his mace. He stumbled to a stop in front of the three Toa, using his sword as support as he slumped down.

“Where is he?” he hissed.

“Who?” Tala demanded.

“The Matoran in this armor! The assassin!”

“That Matoran was an assassin?” Seles questioned, leaning down. “How do we know that you’re not that assassin, trying to get us to stop the real guard?”

He looked up, “Would I do this to myself?” he questioned. “No! The man ambushed me, took my mace, since he couldn’t find one to make himself blend in, and then left me for dead. If I was the real assassin, he would have mentioned fighting me! Wouldn’t he have?”

“He makes a pretty good point,” Thete said. He looked to Tala. “I think we did let the assassin get through...”

“That means that the Princess and Turaga Otoka are in danger,” Tala said. He looked to the downed Matoran. “Stay here with these two,” he ordered, motioning to the other two Toa. “I’ll protect your Princess for you.”

“You will?” he asked.

Tala nodded, and looked to Thete. “Summon my vehicle.”

Thete nodded, throwing his arm out, triggering the mechanical systems inside of the Flame Cycle. In moments, the vehicle came speeding down at full speed.

Tala leapt into it as it sped past, barely landing. He crouched over, his armor affixing itself to the armor of the vehicle. He hooked his sword to the vehicle as well, and sped up, traveling as fast as he could towards the tower.

The fourth guard walked into the meeting in progress. The four Seraphim looked to him, and raised their weapons. He motioned towards the Princess and her group. “I’m sorry, I got here late,” he apologized. “May I come in?”

The Princess, her men, and the Turaga were away from the Seraphim and the new man. They never noticed him enter.

“Go in,” the blue-armored Seraphim said, stepping aside, allowing the Matoran entrance.

As the two important women spoke, the assassin slipped behind the Princess’ side. He walked towards a seat open behind and to the Princess’ right, by one other guard. The spot was empty, since one guard was missing.

As he walked by, his hand slipped to his back, drawing one of his daggers. He fingered it, running his finger up and down the blade, feeling the edge of it. He looked at the Princess’ back, ready to plunge his blade home.

The Turaga rose. “What?” she shouted.

They all turned around, seeing the black vehicle in the air, coming down towards the window. Tala disengaged the armor outside, and threw his arms up in front of his face.

He crashed through the window as glass exploded into the room. Tala tackled the Matoran, throwing the knife out of the assassin’s reach, skidding across the floor.

He pressed the Matoran’s face into the ground and looked up.

“Toa Tala! What is the meaning of this?” Otoka hissed.

In a flash, three blades were leveled at his throat, thanks to the Princess’ other guards. The Seraphim stepped towards him, getting ready to reinforce his downed position with their weapons as well.

“Release that guard!” Otoka ordered.

“I met the real guard on the side of the road,” Tala hissed. “That was after I accidently told this one where to go. I just realized now that we were fools. A guard would probably know where the meeting was likely to be,” he pleaded. “This man didn’t. This man is an assassin!”

He glanced back to the men who held their blades to his neck. “Look at him. How many of you are there?”

“A handful,” one of them said.

“Look at this man. Is he one of yours?” he questioned, easing off of the Matoran.

“He could be,” another said.

The other two were indecisive.

“Well, why did he have a knife drawn?” Tala questioned. “He was going to assassinate your Princess!”

The Princess turned and looked at the man. She looked to Turaga Otoka, “Use your powers, let me know if he’s an assassin, if you would.”

The Turaga looked away from the Princess and down at the possible assassin. She closed her eyes, focusing her now diminished powers of Psionics. She probed his mind, and shook her head.

“He has nothing but ill will in his mind,” she said. “If he is a real guard, or not, regardless he wants your life, Princess.”

The Princess looked to Tala. The Toa of Fire expected her thanks, but she looked away with cold indignation.

“If you had been smart, this assassin would never have made it this close,” she said as she motioned for her men. “Take him away and kill him.”

“Of course, Princess,” one of them said. The three grabbed him, disarmed him, and dragged him away, kicking and screaming of revolution.

“Toa,” Otoka said as Tala started away.

Tala looked back. “Yes?”

“You failed your mission today. Remember that,” she said. “And remember, that’s why I trust the Seraphim more than the lot of you. They don’t fail. They would have had that assassin down the moment you burst in. Your entrance confused them, cutting their reaction time down by one second. Remember that. You are, and always will be, second choice.”


 * -“You have no equal? You sound like Gaila. But be careful of what you wish for, and don’t grow too cocky. Next time: “Blood”. Power is earned through necessity.”

12: Blood
A man in a dusty cloak walked along the edge of the Isle of Angelus Nui. His gaze went into the island, towards the city itself.

He said nothing, but his eyes burned with hate.

Tala swung his sword in front of his body, cutting down his imaginary opponent. He spun around, swinging his sword behind his body, flicking his wrist to put the sword up across his back at an angle, as if parrying someone from behind.

He spun around again, lifting his sword and spinning, cutting that foe down as well.

He rose to his full height and looked around, looking for anything that could make this more interesting. He then started to think through scenarios, hoping to find an interesting one, but he just couldn’t find one.

Ever since the incident with Princess Ishiza, Tala had been on edge. Everything that Turaga Otoka had told him on that day had burned him, had burned into his mind. He continued to replay that day over and over, about her words, and how they stung him.

How could the could be so cruel?

“What’s wrong, Tala?”

He looked to his side, right before he swung his sword and stopped when he saw the Turaga of Air. He smiled and sheathed his sword on his back. “Oh, Rekona. I’m glad you’re here, actually.”

“Of course you are,” Rekona said. “Everybody is pleased when I appear.”

“Let me guess,” Tala said. “That’s because everybody also hates Turaga Otoka.”

Rekona shrugged. “That could be it. Why? Is that your opinion?”

“Yeah, it is,” Tala admitted.

“What has she done this time?” he asked.

“Didn’t you hear about that Princess coming to the island to discuss trade routes?” Tala questioned.

Rekona nodded. “I did. I saw them and heard someone mention something. Why? What do you need me to know?”

“Just the gist of it,” he replied. “Now, Otoka never told us anything. When we saw them coming down the street, we stopped them to inquire about their intentions. They never told us anything, and the Princess herself came off as uncaring, pompous, and cold. We never got anything. Then, Otoka told us we never needed to know anything. She wants to keep we three in the dark, just like she did when Gaila was in charge.”

“She said she never had to tell Gaila anything, and referred to that. She implied that a good Toa should follow orders blindly, without inquiring for information. Then, when the three of us left to follow her orders to stay away, we passed another one of the Princess’ guards. Only it turns out, he wasn’t. He was an assassin.”

“How did you find that out?” Rekona asked.

“We met a battered and wounded guard. He managed to persuade us into believing that the other man was the assassin. We believed him, so I went off on my vehicle. I managed to get in and save the Princess just in time, but they didn’t believe me right away, of course. They held swords to my throat, trying to kill me.

“When I finally showed them the Matoran, they still weren’t sure. They then had Turaga Otoka use her powers to read him, and found nothing aside from the fact that he was full of dark intentions towards the Princess. They never said a word of thanks to me. They only said I shouldn’t have screwed up and told the assassin where they were to begin with. Seems they’d rather have the assassin out there to begin with than have him taken care of through means like this.”

“Then Otoka told me that she doesn’t trust us Toa to do the job properly. That’s why she believes more strongly in the Seraphim. She says they don’t make mistakes like that, and were about to cut him down, before I intruded. In the confusion, I had him down before they could react, it seems. She said that the Seraphim are all she ever needs.”

“So you’re down because of Otoka?” Rekona asked.

“Because we get no respect,” Tala replied.

“You want Otoka’s respect?” Rekona chuckled, “Good luck. You’re better off trying to tame a Muaka and teach it to roll over without it eating you.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Tala sighed.

“So just go on without her approval. You’ll never get it, you know.”

“I know,” Tala said. “That’s what I’ll have to do, just like Gaila before me. As long as I have your approval, that’s all that matters to me.”

“Thank you, Tala. I’m pleased that you see it that way,” Rekona told him. He leaned heavily on his staff. “Well, I’m tired, Tala. I’ll see you again later. Go back to those invisible people,” he said, smiling. “I think they’re sneaking up on you.”

“Thanks, Rekona,” Tala said, drawing his sword once more, getting back to training again, his anger release. He started to swing in a wild dance of fury, yet of grace and elegance as well. He continued to parry and strike back against anyone who could possibly come at him, dancing his deadly dance between the invisible enemies, cutting them down.

It was all therapeutic to him. He loved it, but he hated how it made him look to anyone who came inside.

He heard someone else walk in and stopped for the second time. He looked to the blue armored figure of Eiran.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said.

“Who were you expecting?” Eiran asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he replied. He panted and sat down, resting his blade on his knees. “What brings you here?”

She sat down in a seat beside him. “I actually came here on behalf of someone else.”

“On whose behalf?” he asked.

“A friend,” she answered. “He told me that he saw someone strange up towards the mountains to the north. He wore a cloak, and that was it. All you could see were his eyes. My friend said he was coming towards the city and he looked dangerous.”

“Sounds like it,” Tala replied. “How long ago was this?”

“Ten minutes ago, maybe,” she replied.

“Then he should be here soon,” Tala said, rising to his feet, hooking his sword on his back. He looked to the Flame Cycle, and then to Eiran. “I’m going to go and check it out. If something goes wrong and I don’t come back, please, inform the others.”

“I will. Please, be careful,” Eiran said.

“I will,” he replied, rushing towards his bike. He got on and hooked his sword to the handlebar. He triggered the systems and it started to rise up on its’ thrusters, as he turned it around to face the exit to the street. He looked back to Eiran and nodded to her, then took off as the door opened wide enough for him, shooting out into the street.

Eiran watched him go and whispered a silent prayer for his safety.

The cloaked man walked around the outskirts between the mountains and the city. He didn’t want to enter the city, not yet.

It wasn’t his time to enter. No, he had the feeling that he shouldn’t enter yet.

Finally he saw something coming. He figured that this is what he was waiting for. What he had come to the island for. A challenge.

Tala pulled his Flame Cycle to the side of a tree. He leapt off, pulling his sword with him, and attaching it to his back. He walked over the rough terrain of rocks and trees, towards the man in the dusty brown cloak.

“My name is Tala, Toa of Fire,” he introduced. “I’m the leader of this team of Toa, the Toa Angelus. And who might you be?”

The man didn’t answer.

“Are you here for something? Someone?” Tala asked, trying to pin down why a man, who could be a Toa, was here. If he were a Corps Stone-using Matoran, he would be attacking, no doubt. Why hide in the north, after all?

“I’m here for a challenge,” the man said in a raspy, yet strong voice. The raspy aspect to his voice was probably from lack of water, judging from how his cloak looked. The strength of his voice was a reflection of himself.

“What sort of challenge?” Tala asked.

The man didn’t answer. Instead, he asked a different question. “Where is the team leader I’ve heard about? Where is Gaila?” he inquired.

“Your information seems outdated,” Tala said. “She’s dead.”

“Dead?” he questioned.

“Mutiny, you could call it,” Tala said. “I prefer to call it a consensus, something she didn’t believe in.”

“So you and your team killed her,” the man said. “Very well. And you’re the new leader?”

“I am,” Tala answered.

“Then you will have to do,” he said, grabbing the left shoulder of his cloak with his right hand. He pulled his cloak away, tossing it aside. He revealed his body to Tala, displaying white and red armor. He had a red armored chest with splashes of white across it, as well as a red Kanohi on his face, a strongly carved version of the Hau it seemed. His right arm was white armored, and his left was red. His upper legs had red armor, while his lower legs had white armor, and his feet were red. His hands were gray in contrast to the scheme of the rest of his armor.

He reached behind a boulder, pulling a weapon free. It was a blade in the center, white with splashes of red, and spikes lining it, with secondary blades on each side of it, sticking out farther, running up and down, rising higher and lower than the center, creating an imposing sight. All of the parts of the blade were primarily white with the red splashes and spikes.

Tala drew his sword on instinct to a threat. He pointed the tip of his blade out at this new challenger. “Who are you?” Tala hissed.

“They call me the ‘Blood Swordsman’. I go by the name of Ucen,” he responded. He put his blade on his right shoulder. “Now, my name means something.”

“What?” Tala questioned.

“They call me the ‘Blood Swordsman’ because that’s what I am. I am a swordsman who seeks nothing more than one challenge after another. I seek only the strongest, and when they disappoint me, I cut them down, cut them to pieces as a testament to my strength. I seek only the strongest, and when I find them, I slay them.”

“Quite a job you have,” Tala said. “You sought Gaila so you could cut her down as well then?”

“I did,” Ucen answered.

“Who told you about her?”

“Word spreads around.”

Tala shook his head. “So you just decided that some random Toa team leader would be worth the trip to fight?” Tala questioned.

“Of course. My life is fighting, which means my life is also traveling,” Ucen said, leveling his blade at Tala, mimicking the Toa of Fire. “Now, come. Come and face my steel.”

Tala looked his opponent over. He didn’t seem to be a Toa, nor anything special, for that matter. He had a Kanohi Hau, but that was it. If he could use it, Tala had no idea.

If this man was about strength and finding the strongest, then Tala believed his sword would be nothing special either. Why hide his own strength behind a weapon’s hidden powers?

“Let’s do this,” Tala said, running at Ucen. Ucen rushed forward, lifting his sword high. He slashed down as hard as he could.

Tala danced back with his superior agility. The sword smashed into the ground in front of him, sending a spray of rocks up and around. Tala was shocked by the strength that this man possessed.

Tala leapt forward, elbowing him in the face. As he stumbled back, Tala spun around, driving a kick into his chest.

Ucen stumbled backward, but soon leapt forward, taking a side chop for Tala. Tala threw his shield up, parrying the blow with his Kanohi’s power.

“That’s cheating,” Ucen hissed.

Tala threw a fireball forward. Ucen blocked it with his own Hau.

“That’s cheating as well,” Ucen said. “We fight like men. With our swords and the strength of our bodies and will. No Kanohi, no powers, agreed?” he demanded.

“Do you even have power?” Tala questioned.

“No, that’s what makes my job even more enjoyable,” Ucen said. He punched Tala in the face, staggering him back. Ucen spun around, slashing Tala across the chest, flipping him to the ground.

Ucen lifted his sword high again, and slammed it down once more.

Tala rolled aside. He grabbed his scarf with his left hand, and undid it quickly, throwing it aside. He didn’t need it potentially blocking his vision from time to time if the front tail fluttered up into his face. He also didn’t need Ucen stepping on it to stop him from moving, or grabbing it, or anything like that.

Tala leapt forward, slashing Ucen across the chest. Ucen stumbled back and lifted his sword high once again. This time, he changed his grip, taking it with two hands instead.

“What?” Tala breathed.

He slashed his sword down much faster, with greater control, and additional power. If it hit him, Tala had no doubt he would be split in half.

Tala dodged back, avoiding the strike. When he looked at the impact sight, there was nothing but a giant crater sitting there. The attack had created a wound in the ground larger than both of them combined.

Ucen truly had strength on his side. He was a frightening opponent.

“Are you going to give up after seeing my strength?” Ucen questioned.

“Never,” Tala said. “As a Toa, I can’t give up against you.”

“Good, a fight to the death then,” Ucen said, leaping forward. He lifted his sword high, slashing down at Tala once more.

Tala threw his arm up, parrying with his sword. He slid back, and his arm started to hurt. He looked at the ground behind him. Ucen didn’t see it, but a boulder was coming up.

As he was pushed back even farther, he finally reached it, slamming his feet into it, holding himself steadfast, at least as long as Ucen didn’t have the strength to push him through the boulder, to destroy it from where he was.

Ucen continued to apply force, but couldn’t make Tala move. Tala withdrew his sword and rolled to the side, forcing Ucen to stumble forward.

Tala spun around, getting behind the “Blood Swordsman”. He slashed him across the back, making Ucen cry out and fall to his knees. He glared at Tala, who stood at his side, sword leveled at the side of his face.

“You’re finished,” Tala said.

“You think so?” Ucen hissed.

“I know so,” Tala said.

“Are you going to kill me, then?”

“No,” Tala said. “Toa aren’t killers.”

“Then you haven’t won,” Ucen said, cutting to Tala’s very heart with his words.


 * -“Thete hides something in his past? I wonder what that could be... Next time: “Bullet”. The stains of our pasts wear on us all.”

13: Bullet
“What’s wrong with Tala?” Seles asked, leaning over to Thete.

“I don’t know,” Thete replied, leaning back, looking across the bunker to the Toa of Fire, who sat alone, quietly, looking at his sword lying in his lap.

Tala had been quiet ever since returning from the north of the island. Whatever he had seen there had shaken him considerably, his partners knew, but that was all that they knew, nothing else.

Eiran had told them where he had gone, but not why. When he returned, he neglected to tell them why, and seemed rather, to ignore them.

“What do you think it could have been?” Seles asked.

“I really don’t know,” Thete replied. “I’m not a mind reader.”

As Tala sat alone, he thought about what Ucen had told him when he had the man at the tip of his blade. Ucen told him that he never truly would win until he killed him. That he could only achieve victory by killing his opponent.

It was against the Toa Code to kill. How could he kill someone? How could he even kill someone like Ucen, who admitted to killing anyone who would prove to be a challenge, who had come to kill Gaila, if she had been alive?

He just wasn’t sure. He knew the Toa Code, as well as its’ importance to the Toa. It kept them in line, kept the Matoran from fearing them and hating them. It held their respect by not being judge, jury, and executioner. It kept the powerhouses, that Toa could be, restrained, at least, if they weren’t rogue.

Ucen was right, though. If a Toa would defeat someone and imprison them, what would stop them from breaking free and continuing to cause destruction? Nothing. What would stop a Corps Stone-user from getting their hands on another Corps Stone and causing even more damage? Nothing.

Why didn’t the Toa just kill the Matoran, then? Because they were still Matoran, even if they had become monsters in a sense.

Why couldn’t Tala bring himself to kill Ucen? Because Ucen was a person, just like him. He was a monster, sure, but he was still a man. Tala couldn’t bring himself to kill anyone like that. He could only kill them if he knew that they fully deserved it.

And he didn’t know if Ucen deserved it.

For all he knew, Ucen was doing good for the universe. The people who provided him challenges could easily have been criminals, or other such scum. They might not have been people who deserved to live over anyone else. If they had been Toa, proper Toa, defenders, and others like them, then he probably should have died. But for all Tala knew, they were on the same page.

He clenched his fist. Next time they would meet, he swore that he would find out. He would fight Ucen again, and do it in such a way that he would utterly defeat Ucen in a crushing victory.

Suddenly Tala’s head came up for the first time that day. The other two also looked in shock to the large crack and thud they heard. It had come from above, through the ceiling, and had smashed around, crashing into a wall, leaving a large indentation, as well as evidence.

The three Toa rushed to the spot and looked at the hole. Thete was running his hand across it, feeling out for mechanical components.

“Nothing,” he said, moving his hand away, having not actually touched anything.

Seles put his hand over, again not touching anything but the wall. “Heat, no kinetic energy. Some potential, but not much. Whatever it is, it’s spent. No more possible uses, meaning, no real potential energy remaining.”

Tala put his hand over it, sucking the heat out of the spot, allowing them to reach in safely. He reached inside, pulling out a small steel item.

It looked like the rounded end of something. It was small, smaller than his finger, and honestly it was confusing to him.

“What is this thing?” he muttered, passing it around. Seles took it, and shook his head at the sight of it. He passed it to Thete.

Thete’s heart skipped a beat when he saw it. He looked up in shock at the other two.

“Well?” Seles questioned.

“It’s a bullet,” he said.

“What’s a bullet?” Tala asked.

“A small steel projectile,” he replied. “Fired from a gun of some sort, like mine,” he said, motioning toward the weapon on his hip. “Mine fires energy blasts, however. Someone using one as a projectile launcher... that’s different.”

“What else can a bullet do? Anything?” Tala asked.

He motioned towards the ceiling, and then the wall in response to Tala’s question. “Force. A lot of it. And a destructive impact, sometimes.”

“Okay. Do you know anything else?” Tala asked.

He nodded. “There’s only one person I know of who could be here, using a bullet. Only one person who could want to attack a Toa fortification.”

“And who would that be?” Tala questioned.

“An old friend,” Thete replied. “We parted company long ago. He and I were marksmen. I used energy blasts and he used bullets. He’s the only man I ever heard of using bullets.”

“So, who is he?” Seles questioned. “Cut the suspense.”

“His name is Marcko,” Thete replied. “He’s here. He has to be.”

“Why would he do this?” Tala questioned. “It this how he says ‘Hello’ or something?”

“No,” Thete answered, shaking his head. “We didn’t part on the best of terms.”

“What do you mean?” Tala asked.

“He and I... split apart instead of leaving each other’s partnership peacefully,” he replied.

“What happened to you two?” Tala asked.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Thete said, running towards the upper door. He looked down. “I’m going to go and find Marcko! I need to find him!”

“It’s a trap! Isn’t that obvious?” Tala called.

“I need to go,” Thete hissed, rushing out the door.

Tala looked to Seles. “Follow him,” the Toa of Fire ordered.

“Okay,” Seles said.

“Not complaining?” Tala questioned.

“No need,” Seles replied. “I’ve nothing better to do anyway.”

Seles waited for a minute or two and then ran up the stairs and out the door, hoping to be able to keep some distance on Thete by using this time as a buffer.

As they left, Tala sat down, thankful to be alone. He leaned against a wall and looked at the ceiling above him, thinking once more about Ucen, about how he was right.

“A proper Toa can’t beat him,” Tala said, shaking his head.

Thete looked around the city as he walked between buildings. He ran into a street, but only saw Matoran walking around, going about their routines.

He saw a small red dot on the back of one of the Matoran. He let out a shout and ran towards the Matoran, tackling him, knocking him away, just as a bullet exploded into the ground where he had been standing a moment earlier.

Thete said nothing else to the Matoran, and simply looked to where the laser sight would have had to have come from. He raced in that direction, and climbed up the nearest fire escape that he could find, heading to the rooftops.

Seles, following behind, stopped and ducked behind a wall. He glanced up atop the nearby buildings, and saw Thete running around. Seles waited, and then ran when Thete wasn’t looking, heading for the nearest fire escape as well.

As Thete looked around the roofs, he let out a shout. “Marcko!” he screamed out.

No answer.

“Marcko! Show yourself!” he screamed.

He heard footsteps in response and looked to a house, two buildings over. He saw a silver-and-green-armored man rising. He looked like a Toa, but wasn’t. He was a Voeren who had decided to leave his home and join with a Toa. He traded in his blades for a handgun instead, deciding to use that in his assassinations.

“Thete, you remember me,” the man said, shaking his head. “Well, mate.” He lifted his weapon at Thete. “It’s over for you.”

His weapon had a large top to it, with a smaller nozzle protruding out underneath. Then there was his grip, and beneath that, was a bayonet with a laser sight on it. He wore a green Kanohi mask with a scope built in, hooking around the right side and ending at his eye, giving him crosshairs with a small sight affixed to it, giving him a second laser sight, and the ability to switch back and forth at will.

“Are you still in the game, mate?” Marcko questioned.

“No,” Thete said.

Marcko pulled the trigger. Thete rolled aside, spun around, drawing his own firearm in his spin. He leveled it at Marcko as he stopped, and returned fire, sending an energy blast through the air.

Marcko dodged to the side, easily evading. He aimed his firearm at Thete again. Instead of firing though, he continued to talk to his old friend.

“What? The assassin game get tiring?” he questioned.

“I got tired of making hits for money,” Thete answered. “I’m a Toa! How could I be a bounty hunter? A mercenary? An assassin? I needed to be a hero! A protector! A champion! That’s what I’m here to be.”

“How noble,” Marcko said. “Embracing your roots, just like me.”

“Your people are assassins by nature. I’m sure you never had a problem, nor will you ever have a problem, with your job,” Thete said.

“You’re right,” Marcko replied. “I won’t have a problem.”

“Then you’ll understand why I need to embrace my job. Are you here for revenge, or for a hit?” Thete demanded.

“I’m here for revenge,” Marcko answered.

“Okay, why now? Why not years ago?” Thete questioned.

“With you gone, I’ve had a harder time tracking down targets,” Marcko admitted. “So I was alone, mate. I also had to repair my weapon on my own. You know, when you were with me, mate, you could repair my weapon in no time. It took me years to properly rebuild it, since I lack your mechanical prowess, mate.”

“I forgot how annoying your accent was,” Thete said.

“Trying to provoke me?” Marcko questioned.

The two exchanged fire again, but both managed to dodge their opponent’s attacks, and rolled around, coming to face one another again, but on different sides of the roof, moving over one wall.

“No, not really,” Thete answered. “I’m just stating a point.”

“That you find my accent annoying?” Marcko questioned.

“That you anger easily,” Thete said.

Marcko laughed. “No. I just hate it when people disrespect my accent,” he replied. “I’m actually very calm. Have to be if you’re going to be an assassin.”

“Yeah, I know,” Thete replied.

“Testing me?”

“Of course.”

“I respect that,” Marcko said. “But soon, it won’t matter, because you’re going to be dead,” he finished, aiming with his firearm’s sight. He activated the sight of his crosshair eyepiece, adding a second sight onto Thete’s body. He moved his head and his arm, crossing the lines, making one appear on Thete’s throat, one on the ground beside Thete.

“Which is which?” Marcko questioned.

“Easy,” Thete replied, taking control of his power. He targeted the eyepiece, and disabled the sight on it, making the sight on the ground remain.

“Very good,” he said. He whipped his arm up, firing.

The bullet just missed Thete’s arm as he rolled aside. Thete returned fire with an energy blast from his firearm, but Marcko was just as fast in dodging as he was in firing.

“C’mon mate,” Marcko said. “Fire again.”

Thete complied, opening fire. But Marcko was faster, rolling under the blasts. He came up right before Thete, plunging his weapon forward, leveling his bayonet at the Toa of Technology's throat.

“It’s over, mate,” Marcko said.

“I know,” Thete admitted.

“Good fight. You’ve still got it,” Marcko complimented.

“We’re not alone, you know,” Thete said.

“I’ve known before I even saw you running trying to find me,” he replied. “Come out, Toa of Energy!” he shouted.

Seles climbed the rest of the way up the fire escape. He walked towards the rooftop, and leapt across; landing on the same one the two gunners were on.

“How much did you see and hear?” Marcko questioned.

“All of it,” Seles replied.

“You know what I was?” Thete questioned.

Seles glared at him. “How could you go about killing people for money?!” he shouted. “How could you, Thete?”

“I was a different man back then,” Thete hissed. “You don’t understand!”

“You were greedy, is that it?” Seles demanded.

“No,” Thete hissed.

At that moment, both Toa let loose their powers. Targeting the mechanical body of Marcko, Thete threw him back. As he was thrown back, Seles threw his hand out, focusing his powers into the kinetic energy of Marcko, taking it all away, and dropping him to the ground below.

The two Toa leapt down in pursuit and Thete looked to Seles. “Do you really have a problem with me?”

“Yeah,” Seles simply said. “But first, we’ll deal with this guy before we talk about it.”

Marcko was rising, holding his firearm out. He was aiming at either one of the Toa, going back and forth between his targets.

“Goodbye, mates,” he said, opening fire on both of them rapidly.

The two Toa managed to roll into alleys, evading the gunshots. When the bullets stopped flying, they rolled back out, only to discover Marcko holding a Matoran hostage at the tip of his bayonet.

“Make one move against me, and he dies,” Marcko threatened.

Both Toa held up their hands. They looked to each other, and Thete aimed his weapon at the Matoran.

“Are you going to kill a hostage?” Marcko questioned.

“We’ll see,” Thete replied, opening fire, releasing a rain of energy blasts through the air. The Matoran shouted in fear, begging to be released, begging to live.

Marcko didn’t release him. He wasn’t going to lose his shield.

Seles took control of the situation, using his powers of Energy. He took control of the energy blasts, bending them through the air, around the assassin and Matoran, plowing them into Marcko’s back, propelling him forward.

He let go of the Matoran as he stumbled. When he looked up, a fist smashed into his face, shattering his eyepiece. He stumbled back and Thete followed him, following up the punch by thrusting his weapon into Marcko’s gut.

“You wouldn’t kill me, would you, mate?” Marcko asked. “Or are you jealous that you couldn’t pull off bullets like me? Is it your weakness that makes you want to kill me?”

Thete looked into his eyes. He recalled the Toa Code, but then recalled the damage this man was attempting to do. He ignored the mockery of bullets over energy, or energy over bullets, or whatever.

It wasn’t worth it.

“No. You live,” Thete said.


 * -“A game. That’s all life is. A game of life and death. But, what happens when you must play a game to continue to play the game of life? Eh, Tala? Next time: “Game”. When reality and play mix, it all becomes life, or it becomes death.”

14: Game
As night began to fall, Thete and Seles were back, but they weren’t speaking. All three Toa were silent for various reasons.

Tala was silent because of Ucen.

Seles was silent because of what he learned about Thete.

Thete was silent because of Marcko, and what Seles now knew about the sins of his past.

A knock rang out at the door to the streets. Thete rose, walking to the door. He opened it, and saw a tablet lying, having come by messenger.

He picked it up, and looked it over. He looked inside, “Tala! It’s for you!”

“What is it?” Tala questioned.

“Summons.” He replied.

“What? Otoka want my head?” Tala questioned.

“It’s not from Otoka.” Thete said, walking towards him, handing him the tablet.

Tala read it over a total of three times before he looked up.

“Who is it from?” Seles questioned.

“It’s from Gyoku.” Tala said.

“Gyoku? The Fe-Matoran who was Gaila's mentor?” Thete questioned.

Tala nodded, “Yeah, the very same.”

“What could he possibly want?” Seles questioned, “You know, that he hasn’t already not said? I mean, six months go by, and not a word from him about his student’s death. Everyone knows, so why hasn’t he demanded information about Gaila’s death? He seems like the kind who would want to know more.”

“I’ll find out when I go.” Tala said, walking towards the door.

“You actually plan on going to see the old man?” Seles questioned.

“Of course.” Tala said, “It could be important.”

“Ok, don’t let him waste your time.” Seles said.

Tala nodded, “Thete, Seles, watch the place for now. If I’m not back by morning…come and find me.”

“Got it.” Thete said, “The bunker will be in our capable hands.”

“Glad to hear it.” Tala said, walking away and closing the door behind him.

Seles looked to Thete, “Now, about your past…”

Thete walked to a chair and sighed, slumping down heavily in it. He looked up to Seles, “I knew that this day would come eventually, when my partners learned about my past.”

“Partner.” Seles corrected, “Just me, for now. I don’t plan on telling Tala, but he might find out someday, for all we know.”

“Ok, fine.” Thete said, “Where do you want me to start in my explanations?”

“The absolute beginning.” Seles replied, “I want to know everything.”

Tala walked along the countryside of the island, towards a small stone hut. There was a single light on in the window, but it didn’t seem very inviting. He walked towards it, and knocked on the door. Thankfully it was large enough on the outside, so he wouldn’t have troubles, if he needed to go inside the place.

The wooden door came open. A small gray armored Matoran stood on the other side, staring at him.

“Tala?” He questioned, “The current leader?”

Tala nodded, “Yes. And you would be Gyoku, correct?”

“I am.” He replied, “Please, come in.”

Tala walked inside. Gyoku closed the door behind him.

Tala looked around, looking at the sparse materials. There were two small tables, two chairs at one of the tables, and a larger chair in a corner. He assumed that chairs would be transported table to table, with the lack of them.

There was the single candle in the window. Not even a lightstone was around to provide light anywhere.

Gyoku picked up the candle and moved it to the table with the two chairs. He looked to Tala, “I’ve been meaning to see you.”

“About what?” Tala asked.

“Ever since Gaila died, I’ve been wondering what to do with myself.” He said, “She was my friend, not only my apprentice.”

“What did you teach her, anyway?” Tala asked, “I don’t wish to be rude, but I’m curious.”

“Of course.” Gyoku replied, “I taught her how to fight, how to act around certain people, manners, repairing weapons, things like that. A lot, actually.”

“So…why take so long? What were you wondering about doing for six months?” Tala asked.

“If it would be worth summoning you.” He replied, “I never planned on asking about her death. I know she would have died as she lived. That’s all I need to know. What I want to know, now, is if you are a capable replacement.”

“How will you find that out?” Tala asked.

He gestured to the table. Sitting atop it was a square gameboard with a grid pattern along it. It had black and white tiles laid out on it already, with all of them arranged in an orderly pattern. White on the left side, black on the right.

“We shall play this game.” Gyoku said, taking his eat behind the white panels.

Tala took the seat behind the black. He looked to the Fe-Matoran, “I’m not familiar with this. What is it?”

“It’s called Uuk-Koi. Gyoku replied, “It’s dangerous, so it’s illegal on many islands, including Angelus Nui.”

“Then why and how do you have it?” Tala asked.

“I have it so I can test people.” Gyoku replied, “And so I can play them. Now, I have it because I paid for it to be smuggled across, of course.”

“Illegal actions?” Tala questioned, “Good thing Gaila isn’t here to hear this.”

“She knew.”

“What? And she didn’t destroy it?” Tala questioned.

“She played against me many times, despite knowing it was illegal and dangerous.” Gyoku replied, “The problem is that we never finished a game.”

“Why not?” Tala asked.

“You really don’t know much, do you?” He asked, “The game wears so much on the minds of the players, almost certain death awaits the loser. We’d play until one of us was about to lose consciousness, and then quit so no one got too hurt.” Gyoku told him.

“So you want me to play this?” Tala questioned, “Despite the fact it could kill me?”

“We won’t play that long.” Gyoku assured him, “We’ll only play for so long, and quit before it comes close to ending.”

Tala nodded nervously, “Ok then…but why?”

“I want to see how good you are as a man, like I said, as a leader. I want to test your merit to the team, to Angelus Nui. That’s why we must do this.” He told Tala.

“To see how good I am, you want to try to kill me in a game?” Tala asked.

Gyoku extended his arms, placing his right fist below his left open palm. He nodded, “Yes, I do. Now, get into the stance.

Tala put his hands out in the same way that Gyoku had them. He focused on the board just like the Fe-Matoran.

“I’ll begin.” Gyoku said, flipping his first tile.

“I was young, and had no people around me.” Thete told Seles, “One day, an assassin came to my homeland. I was supposed to protect them, you know, being a Toa and all. I couldn’t stop him. I tried to use my powers to slow his body down, but it didn’t work. I had no real weapon that I was good with, so I got beat pretty badly.

“Before he killed me, he went down. When he was down, someone walked over him. That person was Marcko. He told me that it was his job to come and eliminate that man before he could do too much damage, and before the Dark Hunters arrived to do the same, since they would cause just as much damage as the man in the attempt to capture him.

“So I owed Marcko.” Thete said, “I went along with him on a mission. We worked together. I used my powers to find his target by feeling his mechanical body. Then he shot the man and killed him. He split his payment with me, and it felt good to have a friend, to have someone with me. I returned the payment, and just went along with him to have someone.”

“You killed just to have a friend?” Seles questioned.

“As crazy as that sounds, yes.” Thete said.

Seles shook his head, “Wow…that’s strange.” He said, “But you started to kill after that, then?”

“Yes.” Thete said, looking down in shame at what he was admitting, “I built this weapon for myself.” He touched his firearm at his side, “I started to go on missions with him more and more often, repairing his weapon when it was damaged. We started to become marksmen, some of the best. We continued for so long…until I saw a Toa was our target.”

“Targeting a Toa changed you?” Seles asked.

“The Toa was defending his people when we came. We started to attack him, but he wouldn’t surrender. He said he couldn’t, he had to stay alive and save his people. After he said that…I left in the middle of the mission, leaving Marcko. I went to the first island I could, and inquired about where I could go for training, where I could go to become a better warrior, and learn to be a Toa. That’s when I met you two, and we came here to Angelus Nui.” Thete finished.

Seles nodded at the completed story, “So, you were young and didn’t know what you were actually doing, really. Then a Toa turned you around in the middle of a job?”

“That’s about it.” Thete said.

“I can either take that as fact, or, as completely fake.” Seles admitted. Thete looked disappointed when he said that. “I’ll take it as fact. I know you. I know that that would be all it would take to turn you around, Thete.”

Thete sighed with relief, “Thank you for believing me, Seles. That means a lot to me, to have you believe me, and approve of me.”

“You’re welcome, then.” Seles said. He looked outside, into the dark of night, “I wonder how Tala is doing…”

Tala’s mind was aching. His head was pounding.

He always hated mind games. This was the worst kind of mind game. It was literally a mind game.

Instead of moving the pieces by hand, and doing whatever was supposed to happen, the players would exert their minds, flipping pieces around the grid. They would try to land their piece atop one of their opponent’s pieces, and then would exert their mental energy, fighting against the mental pressure that their opponent was unleashing to fight them with.

The two minds would struggle for a bit, trying to find the smallest gap in their foe’s concentration, and then wedge the gap to splinter the concentration and shatter the stone tile to win the match. The game would continue on as such.

Tala had lost two tiles, while Gyoku had lost none.

“Are you ready to continue?” The Fe-Matoran questioned, “It’s your move.”

Tala skimmed the board. He flipped one of his unmoved tiles onto the closest tile of his foe’s. He had just lost the tile right next to the one he was moving, placing his foe’s white tile there. He attacked the white tile, hoping to at least win once.

As the black tile landed on the white tile, both players exerted a mental pressure. While Gyoku was a Matoran, he possessed a powerful mind. Tala, as a Toa, possessed a powerful mind as well, but not one that was used to such strain, such a concept as this game.

The two exerted their minds. It felt as though two walls were plowing into each other, each one the same in strength. One wall started to gain more strength, and started to push the other one over. Not wanting to be outdone, Tala pushed more strength into his mental wall, keeping a stalemate. He didn’t risk put too much strength in, only to fall prey to a trap of some sort.

“You have a strong mind. It’s not refined.” Gyoku simply said.

Tala didn’t understand how he could speak. Tala couldn’t speak while exerting pressure like this. That showed Tala the two different sets of abilities they had, the two different levels they were at.

“Do you know the point of this game?” Gyoku asked, pushing more strength into his tile.

Tala countered with the same amount of strength, and then shook his head.

“To kill the other.” Gyoku said, “And to gamble. But my point is a different one. I’m seeing how powerful you are. You are only as powerful as your mind is strong, after all. That’s what I say, anyway.” Gyoku told him.

As they continued their tug-of-war of power, neither was coming any closer to victory.

Tala overpowered his foe’s wall, pushing as much power as he could in in a vain attempt to win at least once. In retaliation, Gyoku slipped his wall down, and attacked the base of Tala’s wall, striking the foundation with a hit that revealed a crack.

The more power you put into the wall, the more likely the wall was to crack. Gyoku just found Tala’s crack.

Before the wall came down and won this match, Gyoku spread a thin piece of his mental energy into the crack, and expanded it rapidly, blowing it open.

The tile flew into the air, and shattered, leaving the white tile where it was, as small black pieces rained down around the two players.

“Gaila would have had me matched tile-for-tile by now.” Gyoku said.

“I’m not Gaila.” Tala panted.

The game was tiring. Seeing as it was also night, Tala was amazed he hadn’t yet lost consciousness or fallen asleep, or some combination of the two.

“Look, there is something I must tell you.” The Matoran said.

“What is it?” Tala asked.

“You lack the proper mental conditioning.” Gyoku told him, “I can feel in your attacks that you are focusing on something. What is it?”

“A rival, of sorts.” Tala said vaguely. He didn’t mention Gaila at all. He didn’t want to possibly make Gyoku go after Ucen for trying to murder Gaila, should she have still been living.

“Ok.” Gyoku said simply, “I see your problem.”

“What is it?” Tala asked.

“You don’t have the resolve to end things.” Gyoku told him.

“I don’t follow.” Tala responded.

“When we clashed, I felt it.” Gyoku said, “You had the resolve to fight, I could feel that as our minds fought. You never had the resolve to end things. You feared to make the killing blow, and your hesitation cost you.”

“It’s against the Toa Code to kill.” Tala hissed.

“So you’re thinking about killing this rival of yours.” Gyoku said, “Is that it?”

Tala nodded, “But the Code forbids me. I’ve thought it over on my own, but I don’t know what to do. I can’t just kill him.”

“Then be pleased you played this game with me.” Gyoku said, rising, “I’m sure this match told you what you must do.”

“It did.” Tala said, rising. He looked to the Matoran, “Thank you so much. I know what to do.”

''-“What does it take to be a leader of Toa. Why do you ask me? A Turaga has no need to try to prove his worth as leader of Toa anymore. Next time: “Leader”. Tala…why do you want advice on what a leader should do?”''

15: Leader
“This blasted city…”

Ucen watched from a low peak, watching over the vast expanse of the city that covered the island of Angelus Nui.

“This blasted city, hiding the one who killed the person I was after…” He hissed, “Where are you? Who are you? I want to kill you…”

He held his sword tight in his right hand. He let out a shout, lifted his blade high in one hand, and slammed it into a boulder at his side. The boulder was effectively cleaved in half from the single swing of his might blade.

He tore the sword out of the remains of the boulder, and then looked back out at the city, shaking his head.

“Tala…I know you can tell me who did it.” He hissed, thinking about the Toa of Fire he had fought not long ago, “I know you can tell me who the killer of Gaila is. I know you can give me a fight, if you would be a man and own up to whatever it is that’s keeping your blade from touching me.”

Ucen shook his head, “Whatever you’re hiding, Toa of Fire, I want to know. I want to see you overcome it, so I won’t have any trouble cutting you down as a worthy opponent.”

“I need to know what made Gaila tick.” Tala told Gyoku.

Gyoku looked up from his work, from the wood he was whittling. He was surprised to see Tala back at all, not that he had just walked right inside of his house.

“What do you mean?” The Fe-Matoran asked.

“I want to know what made her who she was.” Tala said, “If anyone would know, it would be you. Please, can you tell me?”

“I’m not quite sure what you want exactly.” He admitted to Tala.

“I want to know what made her the sort of leader she was.” Tala came out and said, “I need to know what made her the leader she was. What sort of motivation she had to be the leader she was. Why she was the leader she was. I need to know, so I can try to do the same for my own team. For we remnants of her reign.”

“I understand.” Gyoku said, “You want to try to be a better leader, so you want to know what Gaila did.”

“Exactly. I want to know as much about her as I can so I can figure out how to lead the others properly.” Tala said.

Gyoku ignored him, going back to his work.

“Why are you ignoring me?” Tala questioned, “I’m asking a legitimate question! Please, just tell me.”

“I won’t tell you.” Gyoku said, “Now leave my home, or I will call on the Seraphim to enforce the law. You broke in, after all.”

“You wouldn’t.” Tala said.

“I would.” Gyoku said, “I want to have peace.”

“Ok, I’ll leave, but first tell me. What is it that made Gaila the leader she was? How can I become like that?”

“I won’t tell you.” Gyoku said.

“Can you give me a reason other than just refusing to tell me?” Tala questioned, “Or don’t you have a reason? Do you just want to say “no”?” He shook his head, “Is it because I’m the person who replaced Gaila? Is it because you hold me as accountable for her death in some way?”

“No.” Gyoku said, “It’s because you’re the leader now that I won’t tell you what made her tick, as you put it.”

“Why not?” Tala questioned, “Answer that question, please!”

“Because you’re the new leader.” Gyoku said, “As the leader, you have to find your own way. When I first met Gaila, she wasn’t the woman she was when her life ended, when I last saw her. During the years we were together as mentor and protégé, she looked deep within herself and started to change based on what she saw. I didn’t teach her what to do, I didn’t help her along. She did it all on her own, while I offered support in other manners. I didn’t teach her to be a leader. She learned it all from reflecting inwards on herself.”

“You’re telling me that I need to look within myself.” Tala said.

Gyoku nodded, “Yes. That is the only advice I can give you on being a leader.” He told the Toa of Fire, “Now, is there anything else? Or are you leaving?”

“I’m going.” Tala said. He walked outside, his hand on the door. He looked back in, “Thanks for the help.” He said softly, closing the door.

The truth of the matter was, however, that he had already reflected inwards on himself. He had already done everything he could to look inside of his own heart, to try to find out what he could do. He remembered his past with Gaila and Lewin as his superiors, looking at that time, wondering what they could have done better, what he had wanted them to do better, what he had wanted them to do, period.

He couldn’t really remember anything, though. As they were, they were good leaders, with the exception of Gaila’s occasional outbursts of anger and her rage. But other than that, it was fine.

All he really knew was not to be an angry person who didn’t listen to reason time to time as it presented itself. That was all he could recall from the leadership of Gaila, and Lewin as deputy leader of the Toa Angelus.

“I would reflect, and learn what I had to do…if I just knew anything that was wrong.” He muttered to himself, taking the long, slow walk back towards the main city, leaving the countryside. He knew he couldn’t ask his partners for any help on the matter, they wouldn’t understand.

He could always go to someone else who might know. That left him with two remaining options as he saw it.

Turaga Otoka. He didn’t want to have to go to her, however. He hated her, hated her reaction towards the Toa. He didn’t want to go and have to ask her for help in any way. He didn’t want to have to ask her for advice on leadership, or on what he could do to help his team along. Or, even, to help himself along through a hard time like this.

He could go to Turaga Rekona. That was his only other true option.

Now all that he could think about was finding the Turaga of Air. He didn’t have any idea about where to even begin his search. That was Tala’s main problem with having to find Turaga Rekona.

Rekona didn’t have a proper home, as far as Tala knew. If he did, he didn’t know it. He had no idea where Rekona put himself up at. He just moved around, as far as Tala knew. Moved around, and came and went as needed.

Whenever Tala needed guidance, he was always there.

And of all the times he needed it, Rekona wasn’t around. And without anywhere to know to look into, there was little hope for Tala to find him.

“I could ask around.” He muttered, “But I don’t know if that would help very much.” He didn’t like the idea of having to ask around. He hated to have to ask Matoran for help. He knew that it was the Matoran who should be asking the Toa for help, not the other way around, even if it was just to question if they knew the location of a man.

It just never felt right to Tala. And having to ask about Rekona’s location also didn’t feel right. He felt as though Rekona wouldn’t want him to have to ask around. He felt like he should just find his friend and mentor-of-sorts on his own.

Tala sat down, resting on a fallen log. He looked around. The countryside was sparsely populated. He could see houses spread out, here and there, but no Matoran around. They were probably in fields, working on their crops or whatever it was they were doing in the country. That, or they were in the city, working at stores, at other buildings, or possibly selling their things.

“Mind if I have a seat?”

He looked to his side. He could see Turaga Rekona taking a seat beside him, laying his staff across his legs. His cloak fluttered down around the other side of the log, hanging down, just as the two tales of Tala’s scarf hang down, creating almost a symmetry between them with the cape and scarf, despite the cloak’s cape being longer than the scarf.

“I was about to search for you, Rekona.” Tala admitted, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Rekona smiled, “I have a sixth sense for when you need my help, Tala.” Rekona said, “How else would I always come when you needed me?”

Tala shrugged, “I don’t know. I’m just happy you do that that sixth sense, as you put it. I don’t know what I would do otherwise.”

“Neither do I.” Rekona said.

“You should tell me where I can find you. It would help me a lot.” Tala said.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Tala questioned.

“It would take away from my sage-like appearance.” Rekona said, “Appearing in your need, acting like a man of great wisdom, is what I prefer.”

“Are you telling me you’re not a man of great wisdom, or something?” Tala asked.

“No, I just minced words.” The Turaga answered, “My own mistake.”

“I make mistakes like that sometimes when I talk to others.” Tala said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Ever ruin a conversation for you?” Rekona asked.

“No. You?”

“No.” Rekona said, “Now, what was it you wanted to talk to me about? That was why you were about to look for me, was it not?”

“It was.” Tala said, “I need to ask you about your days as a Toa.”

“What about those days?” Rekona asked.

“Who was the leader of your team?” Tala asked.

“I was.” Rekona simply stated, “Why?”

“Good, then my question will be a lot more effective on you.” Tala replied, “I need advice on being a good leader. Can you help me?”

“You want advice on leadership?” Rekona asked, “As a Turaga, I don’t have to prove my leadership at the drop of a hat anymore. It’s been earned through years of hard work on behalf of the people.”

“You’re not the reigning Turaga.” Tala said, “That makes me wonder if it truly has been earned, at least on Angelus Nui.” Tala said, “But no. I don’t want to know about you as a Turaga, I want to know of your leadership as a Toa. Please, I need to grow in the leadership area. I need help to become a better leader.”

“Where is this coming from all of a sudden?” Rekona questioned.

“An incident the other day.” Tala told him simply.

“I’ll need to know more if I’m to help you.” Rekona told Tala.

“I met a warrior in the north.” Tala replied, “He said he was called the "Blood Swordsman". His name is Ucen. He told me he’s always looking for the next challenger, and he only lives to find powerful opponents and fight them to the death. He came here to look for Gaila, but I fought him in her place, for obvious reasons. I couldn’t bring myself to kill him, which would have been for the good of the people, I’m sure. But…I just couldn’t. I feel that if I had a better grip on the team, as a better leader, finding the resolve would have been easier.”

“That’s quite an interesting way to think about it.” Rekona said.

“You don’t agree?” Tala questioned.

“I don’t believe that the reason to kill, the resolve for it, comes from being a leader. I don’t think leadership has anything to do with it.” Rekona told him, “I never killed anyone as a Toa. I fought many times, but never killed. I don’t believe that a leader in any capacity needs leadership as a reason to kill. I don’t think leadership is a sword to wield against a foe in order to drive it home.”

“You think I can find the resolve on my own?” Tala asked.

“That’s not what you’re asking.” Rekona said, “You’re actually asking me for advice so you can know what to do next time, isn’t it? Death is just one option.”

“You read me pretty well.” Tala said.

“My specialty, reading people, especially you.” Rekona said, “Now, that’s right, isn’t it? You want to know about how to be a good leader so you can know what to do to this man, Ucen, next time, right?”

Tala nodded, “That’s exactly right. I need to know.”

“Leadership has nothing to do with it.” Rekona said, “I think you’re confusing the fact of what your team and others will look upon you with when it’s all over. Fear? Hate? Contempt? Joy? Happiness? I think you’re using leadership as a cloak to cover yourself for the reactions of the people to fall upon. Don’t. Cast that cloak aside, and don’t worry about being leader. Just do what you must in order to meet the outcome you desire, the one you think is best for everyone. I’m not saying to make the end justify the means, I’m only telling you to do what you must for the people, what you believe is the best. And then stick with it, go along with it. Don’t fear how others may react. Just do what you know you must.”

“Thank you, Rekona.” Tala said, rising to his feet. He looked at the Turaga on the log, “I’m going to remember that.”

As Tala began to walk down the dusty road, Rekona called to him, “Where are you going?”

Tala looked back, “To do my job as the leader of the Toa Angelus.” He said, walking away towards his duty.

“Unity has forsaken you.” Ucen said, his back turned. He looked out towards the city, focusing all of his interest in it.

“Duty means I am here to fight.” Tala said, looking at Ucen’s back, looking around him at the city as well.

“Destiny will dictate your defeat.” Ucen said, smiling at the joke of the Three Virtues, and how it would play into Tala’s death. He turned around, holding his sword towards Tala.

Tala drew his sword into his hand, pointing it at Ucen. Both only held their swords with their right hand. Both of them stared at each other, neither one making a move.

To Ucen’s surprise, Tala made the first move. He leapt forward, lifting his sword high. His scarf’s tails fluttered out behind him as he pushed off of a boulder to get at the "Blood Swordsman".

Ucen slashed to the side, catching Tala’s blade, redirecting it away. Tala continued forward with nothing to stop him. He tackled Ucen. The two of them started to roll down the small rocky hill, towards the boulders below.

Ucen kicked him away. He slammed his sword into one of the boulders, catching himself thanks to the spikes lining his blade.

Tala grabbed the limb of a tree, and hang there. He dropped down and walked around the boulders in his way, walking towards Ucen.

Ucen drew his sword out of the boulder and walked towards Tala, ready to engage his new target.

“Where is Tala?” Seles demanded of Thete.

“How should I know?” Thete questioned, “I thought you knew.”

“No.” Seles hissed, “And that’s what’s wrong, here. I don’t know, and apparently, you don’t know either. He never leaves without telling one of us. That’s his own rule! We should all know where the others are, or something like that.” Seles said, revealing his lack of knowledge of the rules.

Thete nodded in agreement, “This isn’t like Tala. We may not always follow the rules, but we’re never gone for this long.”

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Seles said, “We should find him.”

Thete nodded, “I have that same feeling. If we don’t hurry, I fear we might be too late.” He admitted.

''-“Rage. Rage builds in us all, and becomes hate. But, not everyone succumbs to it. Next time: “Hate”. Tala, are you succumbing to your hate?”''

16: Hate
Ucen and Tala rushed at each other, clashing their blades. They crossed their swords, each one trying to use the remains of their momentum to take care of the other one. They looked into each other’s eyes.

Both men’s eyes were filled with hate. That much was apparent for both parties involved in the battle at hand.

“What do you have to hate?” Ucen questioned.

“You.” Tala hissed, “And you?”

“The fact that I’m going to have to kill you.” Ucen said softly, in a deadly whisper, “I always hate having to kill anyone, simply because the fights are usually fun. Without them…then what? Eventually all worthy opponents will be gone. I must savor every moment of every fight. I’m savoring this fight, but fearing your death, for it will bring the end of this fight.”

“I see.” Tala said, “You’re concerned for my wellbeing, just so I can continue to fight against you. That’s so typical of the man I assume you are.”

“Are you characterizing me?” Ucen questioned, “Do you have a character type picked out for me, despite us not having fought for very long? Do you already think you know that much about me?” He laughed, “Well, that’s funny and interesting. Very interesting. It helps me read into who you are, Tala.”

“And who am I?” Tala questioned.

“Once our blades clashed, I could feel who you were. The heart of a warrior is in their blade, or at least, that’s what I always think.” Ucen said, “From your blade, and from the things you’ve said already, I believe that you’re the young idealist. You’re a man who wants everything to go perfectly, blinded to the true darkness of the world. That’s why you’re here, on a “holy island”. You want to stay in as much light as you can, to hide the truth of the world away.

“You’re not a very competent person, either. At least, not in the way you’re trying to be right now. That’s what your sword tells me at this moment. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but like I said, you’re not very competent at it. What is it?”

“Leadership.” Tala hissed.

“Leadership?” Ucen questioned, “So, you don’t think you’re a very good leader, do you?”

“I asked for help to become a better leader.” Tala said, “I needed to become a better leader so I could deal with you.”

“What does leadership have to do with fighting me?” Ucen questioned.

“It’ll give me the resolve to do what I must. To help carry me through this fight.” Tala said.

“You don’t believe that.” Ucen said, “I can tell. You’re just speaking of half truths, at least, half truths that you would like to think of as true in any way. I’ve never been part of a team, and I know that leadership isn’t like that.”

“You think I’m clouding my own judgment with what I want to see?” Tala questioned.

“Exactly.” Ucen replied.

He punched Tala in the face with his left hand. He pulled his sword back and lifted it high, ready to bring it down on Tala.

Tala’s hate-filled eyes burned. He shouted, slashing as fast as he could, cutting his foe across his chest.

Ucen cried out as he stumbled back. He put his hand to the chest wound he had. He cursed a few times, and then cleaned up his language as he spoke to Tala.

“What was that?” He hissed.

“I’m fighting without restraint.” Tala said, “That wasn’t very Toa-like of me, but I can’t afford to be too much of a Toa right now, not against you.”

“You wish to be a monster fighter, or something? Like me?” Ucen questioned, “Someone fighting without proper morals?”

“Just against you.” Tala said, walking forward, “Until I bring you down, I will fight like you. It’s the only way I have to defeat you!”

Ucen laughed, “Well, it looks like you’ll be an interesting foe. You’re not going to be weighed down by your own beliefs. You’ll be fun.”

“This won’t be fun for me, but your corpse will be all I need to come out of my depression after the fact.” Tala said.

“Cocky.” Ucen said, shaking his head, “Don’t get cocky.” He warned. He ran forward and leapt off of a boulder. As he came down, he slashed his sword with one hand on the hilt. Tala threw his arm up, blocking with his sword.

Tala slid back, plowing a foot into a boulder for support. He threw all of his weight into his rotation, and tossed Ucen away. Ucen landed on a boulder and leapt off of it, plowing an elbow into Tala’s face, knocking him off balance.

Tala crouched, using his left hand to support himself against a boulder. He looked forward, where he had just been standing. He couldn’t see Ucen.

He looked to his side, watching Ucen run up his flank. He held his sword in two hands as Ucen did in one. Ucen lifted his sword high, while Tala span around, throwing a rotation in there for good measure against the "Blood Swordsman".

As their blades clashed, it was a stalemate.

“You’re very strong.” Tala said, “Even with one hand.”

“You only kept your head because of the spin.” Ucen told him.

Tala shook his head and laughed in a condescending manner at Ucen, mocking him, insulting him, “You don’t think I knew that? That’s why I did the spin.” He said, “And I didn’t rely on my Hau. If the spin didn’t work, I’d be dead. I’m like you. I won’t rely on the Hau, not unless you start cheating with an outside means first.”

“Just our swords and bodies, then.” Ucen said, “Oh, how I hate looking forward to your death. I’m sure this will be one of my best fights in a long time!”

“We’ll see.” Tala said, leaping away. He landed by a tree, and took quick stock of the limbs on it. When Ucen charged him, holding his sword on his shoulder with one hand on the hilt, Tala leapt up, grabbing the branch above his head. He pulled himself into the tree, and continued to climb.

Ucen landed at the base of the tree. He looked up and shouted at Tala. He took one step back, and swung once, slicing the tree down in one move.

As the tree began to fall, Tala moved quickly, trying to stay on the side that would be the top of the new log. He ran along it as it became horizontal before impact. He leapt at the moment before it would strike, not wanting that energy hitting him. He leapt for Ucen’s side, swinging down in both hands.

Ucen nearly missed him. He span around, holding his sword’s hilt in one hand, and pressing his other hand against the flat of the blade as Tala’s blade struck. He pushed back as much as he could, sliding across the ground as Tala pushed harder and harder.

“Good move.” Ucen muttered, “You’re really coming along nicely, if you’re trying to copy what you believe my style is about.”

Tala said nothing in defiance to Ucen. He didn’t want to try to prompt Ucen to continue speaking, or to try to create a conversation with him.

“You know, I feel like you’ve done this before.” Ucen said, trying to get Tala to respond to him, “Have you?”

“What? Fought with hate?” Tala questioned.

“Funny how you jump right to that.” Ucen replied, “It says a lot about you, like that’s what you’ve done before. So, tell me the story behind that one.”

“We all have sins in our pasts.” Tala hissed, “That is mine. I’m not planning on reliving it again.”

“You will, if you want to live.” Ucen said, “You’ve piqued my interest. Tell me!” He shouted, kicking Tala into a boulder. As Tala slid to the ground, Ucen slammed his blade in. He used the two side blades on the outside to plow into the boulder around Tala’s head, while the central blade, sitting farther back, was a hair away from Tala’s head. “Tell me, or die. Your choice.”

“I want to live.” Tala hissed.

“That’s the answer, then.” Ucen said, “Now, talk!” He ordered, leaving his right hand on the hilt of his sword, as if waiting to use it, as if planning on murdering the Toa of Fire.

“It was when I was young.” Tala began, “When I was a Matoran.” His voice carried a forlorn tone, as well as contempt and anger. He didn’t want to relive this in any way, “It was back on my home island, which you don’t need to know. It’s not relevant. Nowadays I always tell myself, aloud, to others, and aloud to myself, as well as in my mind to myself, that I’ve never taken a life. I always say I’ve never killed. That’s a lie. It’s not the sin of my past, but everything surrounding it is.

“When I was a Matoran, I was a fighter. A young punk fighter. I was always looking for a challenge.” A grim smile came to his face, not that Ucen could see it, “I was like you, Ucen. But I never left home. There were always Matoran thinking they were stronger than me. Some were. Some weren’t. I won. I lost. That’s how things went. I continued to fight with my fists, fighting anyone who would dare to fight me. I once fought the police of the island, and managed to flee after beating them. I ran and I ran, but never escaped them for good. I would continue to fight and fight, hoping to find a great challenge one day, hoping to find someone who could be worth the fight, worth the effort.

“On multiple occasions I wondered why police were really after me. Then it dawned on me. What I had done in one fight.

“I killed my opponent. In that street fight, I killed another Matoran. He wasn’t moving when I was done with him, but I never thought about it then that I had killed him. It just seemed too impossible for me to have killed someone. I just…never thought I could do it. I didn’t care that I did it, either. I wondered why the police did. Like me, he was just a punk, someone who was up to no good on a constant basis, almost.

“I met a man. A Toa. He had come to the island for some reason. I don’t remember why. There were other Toa around, but none that cared enough to get involved in these lesser manners that police dealt with. The defense forces, or as I keep calling them, police, were supposed to be able to handle things like this. Like thugs, like street fights. Like a murder or two…or four.

“I killed four people during my time as a street fighter. All of them were accidents. While I looked for the challenge of others, I never once wanted to have to kill. I always just wanted to show them I was better. To get better by defeating them. To attempt to defeat anyone who had defeated me by picking up more skills by fighting others. I hoped that I could eventually be the best on the island, and then leave before the police got me, since it would only be a matter of time with that much renown.

“Then I met that Toa that I mentioned. He walked into the fight one day, and watched. He didn’t do anything. My opponent and I never noticed him. Others did, but they were too caught up in the fight to realize that he was a Toa, an enforcer of justice.

“When I won, people started to flee as they realized it was a Toa. I turned my back on the downed man I just defeated, and then realized a Toa was there. I was about to do whatever came to mind first, fight or flight. I wasn’t sure which it would be, but hoped it would be right.

“It turns out that after all that time, it was fight. I tried to fight the Toa, I attacked him, but he stopped me. He stopped me and then told me the error of my ways. He told me that I couldn’t be doing these things. He told me to reform my life, to become a proper man, one that people would look up to for the proper reasons, not through fear by fighting.

“All the things he told me never sank in. I was about to go, to ignore him, when he saved my life. The man I had just defeated had a knife on him. He was going to kill me for winning. The Toa saved my life. That’s when I began listening to him.

“I turned my life around, left the island to start a new life for myself with new people, and lived properly, as he told me to do. In time, I was given a Toa Stone. I became a Toa, and a lone protector from time to time. Then I left to find a new place, a permanent place. I never told my two allies about my sins, as we traveled, or even up to today. I never told the two Toa I met here who became my superiors. I just kept it all to myself.

“You’re the first person I have ever told since I turned my life around. Does that satisfy you, Ucen?”

“I’m satisfied.” Ucen said, pulling his blade away from the boulder, freeing Tala to move again. He rested his weapon on his shoulder and looked to the sky, a blank expression underneath his Kanohi, as far as Tala could tell by looking at his eyes.

“What now?” Tala questioned.

Ucen looked back to Tala, “We end this.” He said. He swung his sword down, smashing the boulder to pieces as Tala rolled aside. Tala brought his sword up, and rushed at Ucen. He leapt forward, tackling him. The two rolled, unable to use their longer swords against each other.

“I bet you wish you could use your power!” Ucen shouted.

“If I could fairly, you’d be burnt to a crisp right now.” Tala confirmed, “But I won’t. I won’t do that. I’ll fight like you do.”

“That pleases me.” Ucen hissed.

“I do have a way, though.” Tala said, pulling the hooked end off of the hilt of his sword. He had popped it off with his right hand, while holding the hilt as well. He threw the blade aside, holding the upside down hook designed dagger in his right hand.

“You…” Ucen hissed, trying to get at Tala with his sword, but was unable to.

“Should probably invest in a dagger of some sort. Perfect for close quarters like this.” Tala hissed, driving the hook underneath Ucen’s heartlight.

Ucen cried out, elbowing Tala in the face. Tala rolled off of him, still clutching his dagger tight in hand.

Ucen rose, holding his sword up in his right hand. He added his left hand, switching to the strongest way of fighting he had.

“I don’t like using two hands.” Ucen said, “It ends fights too quickly for my taste.”

Tala stayed in his partial crouch, holding his hook dagger down in his right hand, resting his left hand over the top of his closed hand. He waited for Ucen to move first. His entire plan was to parry with the dagger, and use his left hand to hopefully take Ucen down by either using a choke or a punch.

Ucen leapt at him, swinging down with more speed than Tala had anticipated. He knew he couldn’t stop this attack in time, not without his power or his shield.

He couldn’t bring himself to use either, even to save his own life. His conviction was to fight without them. He had always had problems controlling his conviction. Now was not the time for it to be too strong.

His conviction was going to kill him.

Ucen stopped in the air as he came crashing down. He just stopped.

Seles and Thete emerged from behind some trees, walking into the battlefield, having just arrived from the city. Tala looked back, panting with effort from his battle, from what his story had done to himself.

He smiled with joy as he saw them. He ran for his sword, and rolled as he slammed the hilt back into place. He used the roll to simultaneously get away, knowing what was coming next.

“You had a lot of momentum.” Seles said, holding his hand out at Ucen, “A lot for me to just stop and absorb. Now you’re stuck. No kinetic energy, just potential energy. Transferring all of your momentum like that, while killing any kinetic, froze you in place, for now.”

“What are you going to do? Execute me?” Ucen demanded.

Before Tala could tell Seles what he wanted done with the "Blood Swordsman", Seles released his restraint on his powers, letting them loose.

Ucen screamed as his armor started to explode. Just as Seles always did when fighting an opponent, and releasing their explosive potential energy, he targeted the armor, believing they could later be useful, and besides that, not wanting to kill a target

This time, he missed his mark somehow. Ucen’s screams were that of his entire body being blown apart, it sounded like. Those screams reflected death.

''-“We all have a second side to us. It’s what makes us who we are—complex. Next time: “Mirror”. Tala, what do you have as your other side?”''

17: Mirror
Nobody wanted to see another corpse that had been caused by Seles's power. They had all seen one once, from where Seles had accidently released the potential energy of the body, not the armor, when the other two Toa were still alive. All five had never wanted to see another corpse like that again, the pure mutilation of the scene would even cause the most seasoned Toa to be disgusted and turn off killing forever.

That time was also Seles’s first kill. Ucen was only the second time he had attacked the body with his explosion. It was probably his fourth overall kill, but he wasn’t really counting. They had ignored the corpse and moved on; knowing a scream like Ucen’s would mean death.

Now the Toa rested. Tala rested after having to fight Ucen, after having to succumb to his inner hate and rage. After having to retell his story to the "Blood Swordsman". He hated what he had once been, and even speaking of it had drained him emotionally to such a degree that he was weak physically on top of that.

Seles hated having to kill Ucen, but he knew he had to. He rested because of what he had been forced to do.

Thete watched the two of them. He was empathetic to their situations. He had no other reason to be around, or awake, so he too decided to rest, to succumb to sleep for the night.

Matoran laughed and talked as they walked through the streets of Angelus Nui. One of them stopped to talk to another Matoran. After a few moments, the Matoran walked away, ending with “It was great to see you!” He really meant it. There was no reason not to.

As he turned to speak with his companion, something changed.

The street was getting empty for the time of night that it was. Standing behind him and the Matoran he walked with, there was a tall figure in a robe, holding a mirror out in both hands. The hands of the figure were light blue. That was the only thing that could be seen of this figure, other than the mirror, of course.

The large, rounded mirror was about as wide as the figure’s chest, and consisted of that diameter all the way around. It had a golden ring around it, encrusted with jewels that made it look like a precious treasure of great value.

It wasn’t in the conventional sense.

As the figure aimed the mirror at the Matoran who had left his friend, something happened on the surface of the mirror.

The Le-Matoran's green armor became black in color. As the mirror was still aimed at the Matoran, the black image of the Matoran—a perfect copy in every physical way, except for color—started to claw at the glass, as if it were trapped within the mirror’s confinement.

The Le-Matoran spoke to his companion, “I hate him!” He shouted, “That guy…he’s so condescending! So strict! So… Ah! I just hate him!”

His Ta-Matoran companion turned to him, “Is something wrong?” He called.

The Le-Matoran looked to him, giving him a vile grin, “No, nothing’s wrong.” He said, “I feel so much better! I feel…”

He stopped. His eyes started to lose their crazed look, and went back to normal. He looked at the Ta-Matoran, “Was I saying something?”

“What? You don’t remember?” The crimson armored Matoran questioned, “You just were saying that you hate that Matoran you just talked to. You started to tell me what you hated about him.”

“Hate him?” The Le-Matoran questioned, “How could I hate him…? Are you making things up?”

“No!” The Ta-Matoran shouted, “I’m serious! You were so…different. Almost like an exact opposite…”

The robed figure looked at the mirror. The black image of the Le-Matoran was gone. The figure knew that the mirror couldn’t get enough out of the Matoran to produce a proper vezon. Their inner, reverse side that the mirror saw was too weak, as were the Matoran.

The Le-Matoran collapsed, never to rise again. Such was the price of being a target of the mirror. Either their inner side would arrive as a vezon, or, they would die if they didn’t have the strength.

The Ta-Matoran started to scream for help, but his cries fell on deaf ears. In an attempt to at least try, the figure turned the mirror on the Ta-Matoran as he cried for help. A black version of the Matoran appeared on the mirror’s surface, attempting to break free, symbolically trying to break out of the Ta-Matoran, causing him to act the reverse of what he was. He was now shouting not for help, but at the world, at people who weren’t around, revealing his hate, his anger, everything that was wrong with him and those around him at the world.

He too fell to the ground, dead. The mirror was too much for his weak body.

The figure disappeared into the alley, searching out more potential vezon sources.

Thete and Seles crouched by the corpses of the Matoran of Fire and Air. There was nothing wrong with them that anyone could tell, so these two were brought in to check on them.

Thete shook his head, “Their systems weren’t damaged, or anything that would lead to death.” He informed the Matoran who had brought him to the grisly sight.

Seles shrugged, “I’m not really the type of guy who could tell you much with my element, but I don’t feel anything wrong. Nothing in my department could have caused these deaths. Sorry to disappoint.”

The two Toa walked away from the corpses. They would soon be taken care of. That wasn’t important to the Toa, to oversee such a job being done. They had another mission.

To find a killer.

“What do you think it was?” Thete asked.

“A poison.” Seles suggested.

“I think one of us would have felt it.” Thete said, “If it had damaged any of their systems, I could have found that. You could have probably felt something off, like some heat or something of the poison still inside of them.”

“You’re right on your part, not mine.” Seles said, “I don’t think I could have told you anything if it was a poison.”

“So, what else other than poison?” Thete questioned, “Any ideas?”

“Not really.” Seles said, “No wounds leaves it pretty limited. Unless…”

“What?” Thete asked.

“You know, their souls were just sucked out, or something.” Seles suggested.

“Do you mean they were just…snuffed out?” Thete asked.

“Why? Do you know of a way that it would be possible?” Seles questioned.

“There are various ways. Ways that leave no wounds…no.” Thete told him, “And we wouldn’t have missed any wounds. We were thorough enough.”

Seles nodded in agreement, “Yeah. Then do you think they were just snuffed out?” He questioned.

Thete shrugged, “Potentially.”

“You should have tried to raise their bodies with your Tryna.” Seles said, “See if something was off.”

“I should have.” Thete agreed, “But at this point we won’t have access to the bodies for something like that. Wouldn’t have from the start, not with friends there to stop us.” He told Seles.

Seles nodded in agreement, “I’m sure you’re right.”

Thete stopped. Seles turned to him, “Something the matter?”

Thete ran down the alley. Seles ran after him, going through twists and turns until they were at the street that ran adjacent to them. They stopped as they saw a group of Matoran standing together, apparently in fear, and a robed figure holding a mirror not too far away, reflecting the group image in said mirror. The figure occasionally moved the mirror around to capture specific Matoran’s images.

“What is that?” Seles questioned.

Thete held his hand out, feeling out with his powers. “No tech.” He informed Seles. He looked to the Matoran, “Something feels…off inside of them.” He said.

“Could that be the murder weapon?” Seles questioned.

“Whatever it is, it looks like it.” Thete said. He drew his firearm from his side and raised it at the robed figure.

“Stop! Whoever you are!” Thete ordered, “By order of the Toa Angelus! Surrender yourself!”

“Do you think I would stop now?” The figure questioned in a chilling feminine voice.

“Who are you?” Seles shouted, throwing his hand forward, “I’ll blow you apart if you don’t answer!”

“I’m sure you will, Toa of Energy.” The woman said. She held her mirror out yet, but removed her left hand. Her light blue hand reached up, unclasping the button on the cloak, casting it to the ground.

The two Toa saw her body. She wore sleek light blue and white armor across her body, creating an icy appearance about her. She wore a black mask over her face, but it didn’t look like a conventional mask. It looked more like she was just trying to hide her face for whatever reason. Only her eyes were visible through the darkness.

“Who are you?” Thete demanded, aiming now at the mirror, “Answer or I’ll destroy that mirror of yours!”

“Will you now?” She asked, “My name is Lyala of the Mirror.” She told them. She looked at the group of Matoran, “It looks like I’m done here. My vezon will finally come out with this many bodies to draw power from.”

“What are you talking about?” Seles demanded.

“See for yourself.” The mysterious Lyala said, lowering the mirror. The group of Matoran seemed to be split in half. The normal bodies collapsed, and black versions of them appeared. Mirror opposites of the Matoran.

She held the mirror at them. The mirror started to shine in their direction, forming the dark shapes into one massive compilation.

It looked like a lizard with multiple arms lining the center of the body. It was massive, made up of the group, but also, of something else to give it the mass it had. It had the faces of Matoran coming out of the body and the neck, screaming for help, while some shouted complaints and agitations. Some were the normal Matoran, some were their vezon counterparts.

The head was like that of a lizard, with large snapping teeth. It lashed its tail out and stalked towards the Toa, spinning to use its tail.

“Thete?” Seles shouted.

Thete threw his arm out. In his shock, he shouted, “No mechanical parts! It’s organic!”

Lyala laughed as the tail smashed into the two Toa, sending them flying. They both crumpled to the ground, unable to get back up after such a powerful blow.

Lyala walked towards the Toa, ignoring her chimera behind her. She stood before the two of them, holding onto her mirror in her right hand.

“Do you know why I wear this black mask?” She asked.

“To hide your ugly face?” Seles questioned.

She kicked him in the throat, applying pressure on it, “No.” She said, not amused by his guess, “I wear it to reflect who I am. That I am the bearer of the Mirror of Souls. It reflects what is in all of us. It reflects our true selves. I wear the black mask to hide myself to show that I am not perfect, nor do I wish to be. I also have another side inside of me. The black mask is signifying that I am afraid to look inside, but also, curious. Yet, I won’t.”

“Sounds like an excuse to cover weakness.” Thete hissed.

She kicked him next, shaking her head at them, “Shall my pet deal with you two again?” She asked.

Seles tried to reach out, but as soon as he started to use his powers, she kicked him, breaking his concentration. “I won’t let you attack me.” She hissed.

The chimera behind her screamed in pain. It hit the ground, landing on its side. She span around and saw that a vehicle had crashed into it at high speed, slicing its side open and throwing it to the ground. She watched as the rider, a Toa of Fire, approached her, sword in hand.

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but I won’t permit it to happen.” Tala told her. He raised his sword, “Who are you?”

“Lyala of the Mirror.” She said, turning around to face him, lifting her mirror, “Do you wish to see what you have within you?”

“No.” Tala said, drawing his left hand up to his right shoulder. He threw his arm to his side, unleashing fire darts.

Lyala didn’t see it coming. She ducked the attacks, which sailed over her head. As she came back up, Tala was upon her, slashing down.

She rolled to the side, easily evading him, and keeping the mirror safe at the same time. She rose and span around, kicking him in the back, sending him stumbling forward.

He span around, throwing a fireball at her. She rolled again, easily evading his attack. She ended up right before him, kicking up, striking him in the throat.

As Tala hit the ground, his vision started to blur. The attack was painful enough to make him start to lose consciousness. He fought to stay awake, but just couldn’t. Not for very long, anyway.

Lyala laughed, “Well, let’s see what you three have inside of you.” She said, aiming the mirror at Seles.

A black version of Seles appeared on the reflection. Seles began to speak, “I’m so happy that I killed Ucen! The thrill of murder…it’s so…amazing!” He laughed and laughed, “I need to kill again!” He looked to Lyala, “You’ll do.”

Lyala aimed the mirror at Thete. He started to laugh sadistically, and looked to Seles, “Want to partner up? We’ll kill her together, and then we’ll go out on our own, as a team, and become mercenaries, just like I used to be! Think of the money, the fear…we’ll be amazing together!”

Seles looked to him, giving him a vicious smile, “I work alone.” He said, punching Thete in the face, taking him down. Thete shot back up, grabbing him, forcing him to the ground.

Lyala watched the two of them fighting. She shook her head, and then turned to Tala.

“Let’s find out about you before you go under.” She said, raising the Mirror of Souls. As Tala’s black image appeared, his vision started to blur.

“Oh, I won’t get to see what you act like.” She complained. She looked back to the other two fighting, no longer caring about Tala, since he wouldn’t entertain her.

As his vision started to blur, right before it was lost, he looked at the mirror. He didn’t know what people had seen in it before, but he saw himself clawing at the mirror, trying to escape. He thought. His vision was so blurred that he couldn’t really tell.

He saw something green, and then passed out.

Lyala ignored him and walked back towards the two fighting Toa. She looked to the downed chimera, hoping it would soon rise again and help her. That was what she was after, after all, a functional vezon. Even if it was a monster, it would still work due to the Matoran heads and minds still trapped inside of it, speaking through the heads on the sides of the body.

“I work alone!” Seles shouted, throwing his fist into Thete’s body, throwing him off. Thete stumbled back, and aimed down.

“I don’t! We should join up!” He shouted, opening fire.

Seles released his power, catching the energy blasts with his powers of Energy. He redirected them, aiming at Thete.

“I told you, I work alone!” He shouted, releasing the blasts back at their owner.

Thete dodged to the side. Before Seles could make them follow him, one of them crashed into Lyala and her Mirror of Souls. She cried out as the powerful artifact shattered before her. When she looked up, the Toa were back to normal, Thete’s gun aimed at her, and Seles’s fist aimed at her.

“I think you’ve just lost, Lyala.” Thete said, “Now, the next choice is yours for what becomes of you.” He put his finger on the trigger, “Choose wisely.” He threatened.

''-“We were given unity by the Great Spirit. A moral to keep for eternity as long as he lives. What? Your unity is unstable, Tala? Ever since… Next time: “Team”. Will you become a true team again, or will you be cut down?”''

18: Team
“What happened?” Tala asked groggily.

“You should have killed her!” Seles shouted at Thete, ignoring the awakening Toa of Fire. He hadn’t even noticed that Tala had awoken.

Thete had a large gash across his chest. He was clutching it in his right hand, his left hand held a piece of his firearm, the end piece. At his hip hang the rest of it. It had somehow been damaged and broken.

“Toa aren’t killers.” Thete hissed.

“You’ve killed for money.” Seles told him, “What’s the difference?” He shouted.

Thete averted his eyes. Tala didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that it was a sore spot for Thete. But why wasn’t he realizing what Seles was saying? Why couldn’t he focus? Had he taken that bad of a head injury in the fight with Lyala? Could he not understand a word that his partners were saying anymore?

He hit the side of his own head. His audio receptors weren’t properly working. They started to focus a bit more, but couldn’t start working perfectly, not yet, anyway.

“There’s a large difference.” Thete hissed, “These men needed to die!”

“And Lyala didn’t?” Seles hissed in rebuttal.

“We don’t know anything about Lyala.” Thete told him, “All we know is that she attempted to do something this one time. She might have done more, she might not have. We don’t know. We need to know what pushed her to this edge before we go about executing her!”

“Remember, it ended with you threatening her.” Seles reminded, “You were ready to kill her.”

“Only if she tried something stupid.” Thete replied, “She didn’t.”

“She attacked you.” Seles reminded, “I think that was grounds for killing her.”

“She called my bluff, ok?” Thete said.

“If it was a bluff, you should have thought of something better.” Seles told him, “What happened to you from the past? I’m sure you would have just killed her if she was a mark. Why not do it now?” Seles demanded, “What’s different about this woman? Why wouldn’t you kill her? Do you know something I don’t?”

“No.” Thete hissed, “But you’re really pressing this issue. I thought you and Tala admitted to never killing when we first joined this team.”

“I haven’t killed.” Seles hissed, “Not on purpose, anyway.”

“Then why do you want her dead so badly?”

“Because she needed to die!”

“No, you just want her to die.” Thete told him, “Now, what is your deal with this woman? Did you know her? Is there something personal involved?”

“No!” Seles snapped, “I just believe she should have died!”

“She didn’t.” Thete said, “We can’t go around executing people.” He looked hard into the Toa of Energy's eyes, “Don’t decide death unless you’re ready to do the killing yourself.”

“I’m ready.” Seles hissed, “And I would have killed her. I’ve killed those other two before…”

“You lost control of your power.” Thete reminded, “It doesn’t entirely count, you know.”

Tala’s audio receptors finally started to work properly. He raced towards them, grabbing their shoulders, “What happened?”

“Lyala got away since Thete refused to kill her.” Seles simply said.

“She didn’t deserve to die. I’m not a killer.” Thete asserted.

Tala nodded, “Right, right. You’re right, you know.” His head was spinning. He felt sick to his stomach. He wasn’t even sure how he was still standing.

Tala looked on ahead. He saw a building, and then, after he blinked and opened his eyes again, it was gone.

“I must be seeing things.” He muttered.

“What was that?” Thete asked.

“I just saw a building, the next instant, it was gone.” He blinked a few more times, “I guess it wasn’t there to begin with.”

Thete looked ahead. He looked back, “There was a building there. You’re right…it’s gone…”

Seles looked to the open spot in the skyline, “Yeah…I just saw it when we chased down Lyala.” He told them, “I recognize it…what could have happened?”

“Something bad.” Tala said, rushing off ahead.

“Tala!” Thete shouted, chasing after him.

Seles looked around. He heard a buzzing sound somewhere. He ignored it, and ran after the other two Toa. Then, the buzzing got louder and louder. He stopped and looked around, noticing a small black cloud floating behind him. Each one was an insect, waiting to sting.

He backed away, keeping his eyes on the swarm of insects. He span around, and saw another swarm behind him. He was trapped on two sides by clouds of insects.

“Guys!” Seles shouted, but nobody was there to hear him.

He looked at the insects, and then looked down one of his side paths. He saw a man approaching him, clad in white and orange armor. He had a lanky build to him, wore primarily white armor, but the splashes of orange were enough to make it a primary color on his body. He carried a large, flat sword in his right hand.

“Who are you?” Seles hissed, drawing his fists up to his chest.

“I am your foe.” The Toa of Insects simply said. He pointed his sword at the Toa of Energy, “Now, come on!”

“I have a team waiting.” Seles said, “Something happens to me, they’ll find you!”

“You think a team can stop me?” The Toa mused, “Of course, but I’m smart.”

“What? You think you have a plan of some sort?” Seles questioned, “I’d like to see you try! Better Toa have tried, but they’ve all lost.”

“I’m smarter.” The Toa said, “Because I also have a team.”

“You have a team?” Seles questioned, “What? How can a Corps Stone user possibly collect a team? They shouldn’t be stable enough to find a team! The Stones should drive such anger into the users that they wouldn’t be able to react to such a proposal. How did you get a team? Or are you bluffing?”

“I’m not bluffing.” He said. He motioned off towards where the others had gone, “That building? My Toa of Disintegration partner.” He told Seles, “I also have a Toa of Elasticity. Our unity will crush you three!”

“Unity?” Seles hissed.

“What? Have a problem with your unity?” The Toa questioned, “I like psychology. By questioning about unity in such a way, it sounds like something is off.”

Seles kept his silence.

“You just proved my point.” The Toa answered, shaking his head. He lifted his sword, “Ok, here I come!” He shouted, racing into the swarm of insects for the Toa of Energy.

Thete and Tala looked around. They could see a few Matoran on the ground, lying in a daze as a result of their falls as the building they were in went down.

“Check on them.” Tala said, motioning at the bodies, “Check their systems. Let me know if all of them are unconscious.”

“Understood.” Thete said, rushing over towards the bodies as Tala looked around. He looked at the nearby buildings, but none of them had any damage or marks on them. It looked like it had been done from the streets, on that building specifically.

Tala walked around the corner, leaving Thete with the unconscious Matoran. As he spread his hand over each Matoran in turn, checking their systems, he came across a Matoran in primarily gray armor, with some black, blue and silver across his body.

Thete put his body over the Matoran, and then picked the Matoran up, pushing him so he sat against a nearby wall. He looked at the Matoran, who wasn’t moving, despite being conscious.

“Wake up!” Thete hissed, shaking him. Then it hit him.

“Wait…”

The Matoran opened his eyes and pulled a Corps Stone from his small pouch. He pushed it into his chest before Thete could react. He was thrown back from a slice of the scythe by his Toa of Disintegration opponent.

“The trick worked.” He said, shaking his head, “You Toa are fools!”

Thete reached for his firearm on instinct, but forgot it was damaged. He could try to repair it in the field with his powers, but decided against it.

He threw his hand out, targeting his opponent’s internal systems, trying to force them to shut down. It would take him too long to get it to work, and on such a dangerous element, he had no time to attack.

The Toa ran forward, slashing down. Thete dodged back, evading the downward swing of the curved blade of the scythe. He lunged forward, punching the Toa in the face, making him stumble back.

Thete shook his fist after the punch. He lunged forward again, uppercutting his opponent, making him stumble back again.

The Toa shook his head. He threw his scythe aside and threw his arms out. He threw his head up, which was clad in a Volitak, and started to shout with anger. As energy erupted around him, Thete knew he was in over his head, considering he had no weapon.

When the light faded, the second form of his opponent was revealed. He had clawed feet, blades coming off of his legs, going up, blades coming off his upper legs, peeling back, and blades coming out of his back, spreading out and up. He had a claw based blade on his chest, going down. He had similar claws on his back, behind his head on his shoulders. He had large claws on his arms, and held a curved weapon in each hand.

He stalked towards Thete, laughing, shaking his head at how pathetic Thete seemed. He threw his right arm forward.

“Die.” He hissed, unleashing a blast of disintegration energy.

Tala was silent. There was a long orange arm wrapped around his chest, and his foe was behind him somewhere.

“Elasticity, right?” Tala questioned.

The Toa, in orange, gray and lime green armor, had long, lanky arms, double jointed without even having to use his powers. He had a lime green Kanohi Faxon, and carried no weaponry.

“Of course.” He said, constricting his grip on Tala, starting to crush him, “Now, it’s time for you to die!”

“You couldn’t have brought that building down alone.” Tala said simply.

“I have a team.” He told Tala.

“A team? Of Corps Stone users?” Tala asked in shock.

“Of course. Who else?” The Toa questioned.

Tala shook his head, “I thought that you would have the least unity out of any team I would ever meet.” He admitted to the Toa, “But after today, after the argument my team was having, I guess it’s nice to see that at least people like you can get along long enough to form a successful team dynamic.” He looked back the way he came, “I assume that Thete and Seles are both stuck in a situation, so you’ve really done well for yourselves, trapping three Toa like this.”

The Toa chuckled, “Well, at least you admire us. That’s a surprise.”

“I admire you for your unity, but that’s all.” Tala said. He started to raise his body temperature with his powers, until his armor began to glow a blazing, flickering crimson color. The Toa cried out, withdrawing his arm to stop from being burned.

Tala turned towards him, throwing his fist forward. A fist of flames appeared in the air, smashing into the Toa of Elasticity, throwing him to the ground.

“You’re done.” Tala said, walking towards him.

“No!” He screamed. His body erupted into light, and when it faded, he appeared in his Niveau Deux form.

He had lime green legs with orange feet, and snake-like protrusions on his legs, going upwards. He had gray arms with claws instead of hands, and claws on the insides of his arms, making him dangerous if he would constrict again. He had blades behind his shoulders, and behind his head, but carried no actual weapons.

Tala shook his head, “Again, it’s over for you.” He said.

Seles rolled away from the slash from the Toa of Insects. As the Toa jumped at him, Seles threw his hand forward, shifting momentum away from his opponent, and throwing it into his own left fist as he threw it forward. The extra force smashed into the Toa, throwing him to the ground.

The Toa shouted and cursed in pain. He came to his feet, “I didn’t want to do this…” He hissed, throwing his arms to his sides. His body erupted into light as he transformed into his second form.

He became a beast. He had an orange and white body, but now his legs and arms were legs, as if he were a beast of some sort, ending in claws. He had a long, white tail ending in a blade, and now even had wings coming from his back.

He fluttered above Seles, watching him for a moment. He swooped down, slashing with all four arms. Seles continued to dodge back, and span around as a slash just missed his face.

Seles threw his fist into the Toa’s face, making it fly back as a result. It hissed and flew forward, whipping around and throwing its tail in for Seles.

Seles ducked and rolled forward, getting away. As the insect creature flew at him, he span around, throwing a kick into the side of his face, throwing him to the ground, crushing his left wing under him.

He screeched, preparing to unleash the third form. The form that had changed everything in the past.

“No!” Seles screamed, throwing his hand forward. He targeted the ground beneath the thrashing Toa, making it explode. The shards of cement shot up, smashing his body, taking him down.

As he stopped thrashing, he became a Matoran again, and stayed on the ground.

Thete rolled away from the swing of the bladed forearm of his foe. He rolled forward, throwing both feet into his opponent’s chest, knocking him back.

Thete unclipped his firearm remains, and threw the piece forward, landing it on his opponent’s chest. He threw his hand out, unleashing his power on the weapon.

It blew up, smashing into the Toa with its power. As he stumbled back and collapsed, Thete ran forward, putting both hands on his opponent’s chest, forcefully shutting his systems down, bringing the Matoran to the ground, and the Stone rolled out, under Thete’s foot, where it was smashed.

Tala rolled away from a long arm, dodging the claw. He shouted and ran forward, rolling under another such attack. He came up, spinning, and kicked his opponent in the throat, knocking him back.

Tala drew his arms back, and lunged forward, grabbing his shoulders. He drove his foe to the ground, unleashing blades of fire into his opponent, searing his nerves. As the Toa screamed, Tala slammed his head into his, silencing him.

Tala stepped off of the Matoran and looked to the sky.

“These men found unity…” He muttered, looking at the unconscious Matoran. He reached down, snatching the Corps Stone, crushing it in his grip, “Can we restore ours?”

''-“There are those who can even manipulate a powerful Toa. You try to challenge them, but in the end, as long as they make you angry, they win. As long as you can’t control emotion, they win. Next time: “Anger”. They would beat me too…”''

19: Anger
Thete looked at his repaired firearm. He held it out, testing the weight of the weapon. He hooked it to his belt, feeling the same, familiar weight as before. The new weapon was the same as his old in every way.

“Are you going to fire it?” Eiran asked him.

He looked to the Ga-Matoran. He drew the firearm and pointed it across the room. He pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession, striking the same spot every time, but not bringing down the wall.

“Moderated energy, proper aiming.” He said. He span it around his finger and then clipped it to his belt. He looked again to the Ga-Matoran, “Everything works properly.”

Eiran leapt down from her chair and walked towards Seles, who was punching a hanging, weighted punching bag. He dodged side to side, keeping his arms up in front of his body. He threw rapid jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts into the bag, watching it swing around. He span around, giving it a hard kick. The hook on the ceiling started to shake as the power of the blow got to it.

Seles span around, giving it an elbow. He came around again, giving it a rapid series of cross punches, and then stopped to rest. He panted, and looked to the Matoran.

“Yeah?” He questioned.

“Why is it you don’t fight with a weapon, anyway?” She asked him.

He shook his head, “What sort of question is that? Why not have asked me long ago? Does it even matter anymore?”

“But…”

“Look.” He said calmly, “You never asked me from the start. I assumed you didn’t care, so I never bothered to tell you. You never asked the others about their weapons, after all.” He informed her, pointing at the truth, “So I wonder why you’re asking me about my hand-to-hand combat.”

“I’m just…interested.” She said, shaking her head to try to forget what he had told her, that it had kind of hurt her, “I mean…you get right in there. The others have protection, you don’t.”

“I like feeling my opponent.” He said, “I like knowing the pain I’m dealing, the pain I’m receiving. It helps me to be able to fight. And besides, I’m much faster with no weapons weighing me down.”

“I guess that makes sense.” She admitted, walking away from him. He watched her go, and then turned back to the bag, and started to hammer it again with more combinations.

Finally, she reached Tala, who was working on the Flame Cycle. He was putting his hand on the central console, and pouring small traces of his power into it.

“What are you doing?” She asked, noticing the red glow.

“I’m infusing some of my power into the Flame Cycle.” He replied.

“Why?”

“I’m hoping that I’ll be able to use the powers that I have stored inside.” He told her, “You know, in case I need a burst of fire or something to clear the way for me.”

She looked at a gap in the machine, between the cannon and sight, and the blades above it that also acted as support structures.

“There’s the blaster already on.” She said, “You sure you need to infuse your power?”

“That’s the only way it would work.” He replied, “And by slowly stockpiling power, I can have my actual power ready at any time. Using stored power makes it less strenuous on me in the heat of the battle.”

She nodded, “Ok, that makes sense to me.” She said. She looked at the vehicle, “How is this thing? Is it amazing?”

“It is.” He said, giving her a smile. It was the only genuine smile that any of the Toa had given her that day, “Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious, that’s all.” She told him.

He patted the machine, “Ok, I understand that.”

“The others…” She said.

“What about them?”

“I don’t think either are very happy about me being here.” She said, “Did something happen recently between you there?”

“We had a little problem with our unity.” Tala explained, “But we solved it, we’re fine.”

“Ok, that’s good, at least.” Eiran said.

Tala sat down, “Do you want to talk about something? Is that why you’re here?”

“I’m just bored.” She told him, sitting beside him.

“You can’t always come here.” He told her, “This place could easily be targeted by an enemy at any point. We might not be able to protect you, if that happens.”

“Where else do I have to go?” She asked.

“You could make Matoran friends here.” He suggested, “That would be what I would do, if I were you.”

“I don’t need Matoran friends.” She said, as if the idea of befriending another Matoran were sickening to her, “I like you three! I don’t want to have to go! You’re the only friends I need.”

“We can’t always be here for you.” Tala said, “You might want to consider making other friends.”

“But…”

“Please, consider it.” He said, patting her on the back. He stood up and walked away, towards the other two Toa.

Eiran watched them go, and walked out the door. She walked up the path towards the streets, passing a Matoran in black and white armor, along with other Matoran in the crowds. This one didn’t stand out, but he certainly noticed her as she left.

He broke off the path, walking down towards the bunker. It wasn’t too uncommon for a Matoran to go down that way, but this one stopped at the bunker instead of continuing on, like most would have.

He, like most, had a pouch or two on his belt. He reached inside, pulling a Corps Stone free. He pressed it to his chest, and a burst of light came from his body. Now, as a Toa, he walked a little closer, poking his head in, looking inside.

He held his hand out, facing it at the three Toa. He unleashed his powers. Energy that looked like black and white lightning flashed out, lancing into the three Toa. He withdrew his arm and walked away quickly, reverting back to his Matoran form as he returned to the path above.

He passed Eiran, who was heading back towards the bunker. He watched as she went down the path, but said nothing, did nothing. It wasn’t his problem.

“I’m back!” Eiran announced, rushing down into the lower part of the room, “Guys?”

The three Toa were standing together, shouting at each other about things that she couldn’t pick out, since they all shouted at once. The three turned to look at her when she spoke.

“Great!” Seles shouted, “What are you doing back?” He shouted as a demand, “I thought you were finally gone!”

Thete shook his head, “I can’t believe we haven’t done anything to keep her out.”

Seles shot her a look, “Toa of Technology, you should have built a defense system of some sort! That would keep her out!”

“Shut up!” Tala shouted, throwing an arm at her, “Shouting at each other about it will do no good! We’ll shout at her to leave!”

The other two saw the reason in his words, which were just as angry as their own. The three Toa turned on Eiran.

“Why do you have to keep coming back?” Tala screamed, “Don’t you know that none of us like you?”

“What?” Eiran breathed, stepping back, “What happened to you three?”

“What happened?” Seles laughed, “You happened! Nothing actually happened, except that you came here. All you see is our anger at you! At the little, annoying Matoran who never leaves!”

Eiran backed away, shaken by their admittance towards her.

“Let’s throw her out.” Tala said, shaking his head, “Then we’ll find a way to keep her locked out.” He put his hand on his forehead, “On Doppel Nui, the police would have come by now, and locked her up. All we have are those cursed Seraphim who are Otoka's pawns! Guess we’ll have to do this ourselves.” He said, looking at the other two, “Up for it?”

Thete drew his firearm, “Yeah. If she runs, maybe I can test it out again.”

Tala slapped his wrist down, “If we kill her, then the Seraphim will come after us. We don’t want that, do we?”

Eiran looked between the three Toa. She continued to back away. She knew that they may actually murder her, for whatever reason. Something was making them act this way. They may very well make good on their threats.

“Something isn’t right here.” Eiran told them.

“Yeah, you.” Seles said, “Now run!” He shouted.

In fear, Eiran started to run as fast as she could towards the door, only to find that she could barely move. She heard Seles laughing maniacally behind her. She looked over her shoulder, and saw his outstretched hand.

He was using his powers to slow her down, to drain the momentum away from her. He may very well decide to make her explode through her potential energy. She was genuinely scared for her life at this point.

New laughter broke the moment. Eiran looked towards the door, seeing a black and white armored Matoran walking in, clapping, throwing his head up in laughter. He wore a black and silver Kanohi with what looked like fangs on it.

“Who are you?” Eiran screamed in fear.

He looked down, smiling, “I’m the one who did this!” He laughed, throwing his arms out wide, “And of course, I had to come back and see how things were going! I couldn’t resist seeing this! Seeing my powers working on Toa themselves!”

“Your powers?” Eiran questioned, “You’re a Toa?”

He drew a Corps Stone from his pouch at his side. He held it up, shaking it in her direction, “Of course.” He said, “The name’s Ainer. Toa of Anger.” He said, putting the Stone to his chest. It melded into him, and light spiraled around him, hiding his transformation into the taller, more muscular Toa.

He had a white body with black armor on part of it. He had white legs with black feet, and black arms with gray hands. He had his larger, Great version of his black and silver, fanged Kanohi mask. He carried a crimson and white double sided blade, with the top part being larger and more brutal looking, and the bottom being thinner and more elegant. Spikes still protruded from both blades, but to varying lengths and thickness.

The three Toa, under the influence of his Anger powers, ignored him. Instead, they focused their rage on Eiran, just as Ainer had planned.

He stepped towards the Ga-Matoran, and crouched to come down to her height, “You know what the plan is?”

“What?” She asked, extremely frightened.

“I see some determination in you.” He said, “No matter how scared you look, you also have determination set into your features.”

“If you try anything against me, you will regret it.” She threatened.

“You think you could stand a chance against a Toa?” He laughed. He stopped, becoming serious again, “Now, the plan is for them to become preoccupied with you, while I slowly go through them.” He lifted his sword, “One by one.”

“They won’t stand there and let you kill them!” She snapped. She looked to the others, “He’s going to kill you three!”

They didn’t listen. They were too focused on Eiran, and what they were going to do to her.

“Now, it’s time.” Ainer said, standing up. He walked behind Eiran, towards the Toa. He kept his sword clutched tightly in his right hand, preparing to use it to quickly clear one of the Toa. He expected a fight out of the other two.

Seles lowered his hand, “Now.” He said.

Eiran was free, but they were about to get her. She started to run, and then saw the Flame Cycle. She ran as fast as she could, but the Toa were faster. But she was almost there.

She slid under a table, which tripped them up. She rose quickly and climbed into the seat of the Flame Cycle. She was too small to use it properly, but she didn’t need to be able to properly use it by any means. She just needed it.

As Tala and Thete got to their feet, Seles was rushing to join them. By then she had already turned the vehicle, and aimed it at the three Toa.

“What are you going to do with it?” Thete laughed, “You can’t control it!” He lifted his firearm, “I’m just going to kill you!” He shouted.

Before he could do anything, she pressed a button on the control console before her. Fire charged underneath her, between the blaster and the blades. A ball of fire rippled forward, shocking the four Toa. The flames smashed into the three Toa Angelus, throwing them aside. Ainer was out of the way, safe from the attack.

He looked in shock at Eiran, and threw his hand forward, “You’re going to get angry too!” He shouted, charging his power.

She couldn’t get another shot off, not in time. She leapt off, rolling away as he fired his Anger powers at the Flame Cycle.

She got to her feet and backed away, towards the door. Her only hope now was to get the Seraphim to help, if she could get to them and explain it first.

As Ainer approached her, Tala put the tip of his sword to the Toa of Anger’s back. Ainer stopped when he felt the blade.

“What are you doing?” Tala hissed, “Going after Eiran? We’ll be sure to stop you for that.”

“And for using your powers on us.” Thete said, walking around to the front of the Toa, his firearm trained on the man’s head.

Seles came up on one side, “I have burns covering my body.” He put a fist out at Ainer, ready to throw some punches, “I expect someone to pay for that.”

Ainer looked down, laughing to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Tala demanded.

A flash of light overtook Ainer as he transformed to the next level. When the light faded, he had clawed feet, with claws on his legs as well, facing down and curving back. He had claws farther up on his legs, facing upwards, as well as claws on his wrists, which overshadowed his actual hands. He still held his same sword, and now had a black chest plate, with fangs facing back. He had wings protruding from his back upper arms, but they didn’t appear very functional, not the way they stuck out of him.

“That isn’t impressive enough.” Tala said, unleashing a torrent of flames through the tip of his sword. Ainer cried out, stumbling forward, right into a blast from Thete’s firearm, making him go back into the flames, and so on.

Seles broke the cycle by lunging forward, throwing his fist into the side of Ainer’s head, throwing enough force into his blow to knock the Toa of Anger to the ground, smashing his head into the ground, and leaving a crack. The man reverted back to a Matoran after that punch, and stayed on the ground.

“That was easy.” Seles said, cracking his knuckles, “Little disappointed I didn’t get another shot at him.”

“Be thankful Eiran isn’t hurt.” Tala said, ignoring Seles. He looked to Eiran, “Sorry about what we almost did to you.”

She looked at the others, “They were already annoyed with me. Guess that brought it out even more…”

“It did.” Thete said, “But…we’re sorry.” Seles nodded in agreement, begrudgingly.

She looked to the three of them collectively, “I’ll try to find other friends.” She said, “I don’t want to have to anger you too much. I want to stay on good terms with all of you. After today…I really learned that lesson. Thank you for being my teachers.” She even looked to Ainer, giving him silent thanks.

''-“A wish for people gone to return. A wish for your old allies to return. A wish is always good…but be careful. Don’t let it get in your way. The truth of the world can appear like a storm of negative emotions. Next time: “Storm”. Don’t allow your wish for unity to crush you.”''

20: Storm
Electricity crackled through the air. A storm was approaching.

Tala quickly raced through the streets on his way back to the bunker. He loved the rain. It made him feel nostalgic. It reminded him of happier times. It was very peaceful, in the constant splatter of drops of life bringing water on the ground, on his armor. It was how the team first came together to protect Angelus Nui as a whole five man group.

But a storm was different. It was a perverse version of rain. It was something that Tala hated. It took something beautiful like the rain, and made it into something deadly.

When Gaila and Lewin were still around, he had seem them combine powers more than once. He had seen them use their powers of Water and Air to create a storm, but that was always for combat purposes, never for the sake of creating a storm, unlike Gaila when she would occasionally make rain for no reason.

The storm attacks they could produce were very useful in subduing Corps Stone users. The destructive power they had was unmatched by almost any opponent, easily bringing them down. On top of that, they had three partners to do the main work while they maintained and controlled their storm and lightning strikes.

That was the only good thing about the storms. They were easily able to apprehend criminals and take their Corps Stones. A few times people got hurt in the crossfire, but it was never their fault. It was always the fault of the criminal, using something to deflect lightning, or running into crowded areas, forcing the damaging winds to follow into them.

Gaila and Lewin were never to be at fault. They took responsibility sometimes, but Tala knew that they were never truly to blame. It was always the fault of the enemy Corps Stone users, obsessed with their own power, their attempt to act like Toa, which always cost people.

Lightning struck. It was time to get inside as fast as he could.

Tala raced down the small hill, towards one of the entrances. He grabbed the handle of the door and pushed, but it wouldn’t open. He pulled, just to try. Nothing.

It was locked.

He pounded on the door, but there was no answer from the other side. He backed away and ran back up, heading around towards the other door. He pushed on it, and then pulled and knocked, but there was still nothing.

“Why would they lock it?” He muttered. He looked around the street, but it was empty. If he could find Eiran's house, at least he could possibly get some answers, and a dry place for the time being, if she would be kind enough to give him some space in her home.

He ran down the street, splashing through the forming puddles. He stopped and looked around. He could have sworn he felt Turaga Rekona's presence, but when he saw nothing, he decided he was wrong. After all, why would the Turaga be out in the storm like this?

He rounded the first corner, believing it to be the way to Eiran’s home. He stopped when up ahead, he saw both Thete and Seles, rushing his direction.

“Tala!” Thete called, running faster to get to Tala. He stopped in front of him, while Seles ran harder to catch up.

“What are you two doing out here?” Tala asked. Thunder boomed around them, “Why aren’t you at the bunker? Why are the doors even locked?”

“No one’s there.” Seles answered, “That’s why. We locked them when we left.”

“You didn’t think about me?” Tala asked.

“If you couldn’t get in, you’d leave.” Thete explained, “We figured we’d run into you.”

Tala nodded, “Well, seems you were right about that. Now, why are you two out here in this storm?” He questioned.

“Don’t you feel it?” Thete asked, looking around.

“Feel what?” Tala questioned.

“Something is wrong.” Seles simply told him, “Something is wrong in the air.”

“I don’t get it.” Tala said, looking at the dark sky. A flash of lightning illuminated the streets around them. After his vision cleared up, he continued to look up.

“There’s something unnatural here.” Thete told him, “About the electricity.”

“The thunder and lightning?” Tala asked.

Thete nodded, “Yeah. I don’t believe that it’s natural.”

“What is it, then?” Tala asked.

“As far as we can tell, it could be a Toa of Lightning.” Seles told him, “Though that doesn’t explain the thunder.”

Thete nodded, “He’s right. We have to assume this is a natural storm, and the electricity is coming from something else. The storm could be adapting to the electrical pressure inside of it, and thus is creating thunder.”

“It sounds plausible to me.” Tala said, “So, what’s the unnatural part, then?”

“I don’t know.” Thete admitted, “We were out searching. I plan on heading back to the bunker and making a machine to help us.” He said.

“You have a key?” Tala asked.

He held up a small key, “Yeah, I do.”

The key was very small, with almost impossible detail on it to work in the lock. That made it hard to copy, and hard to get in without force. Whoever made it was probably long gone, but was truly a master at what they had done in the past for Gaila.

The three ran back through the rain towards the bunker. Thunder and lightning continued overhead, but it stopped bothering them after some time.

As soon as they reached the bunker, Thete pushed the small key into the lock located at the upper left of the door. He slid it in, and turned it, opening the complex lock that he had updated it with. The door pushed open, allowing the three dripping wet Toa inside, into the dark room.

When lightning flashed behind them, it illumined the bunker for a moment, and then it went dark again. The three moved inside, activating the lightstones spread around the room.

“How soon can you make it?” Tala asked.

“Twenty minutes?” Thete said, “Just be glad you have a Toa of Technology here to help you out.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re thankful.” Seles said, “Can you just start building?”

“Already started.” Thete replied, taking mechanical pieces and putting them together. He started to use his powers to fuse them into working components, working objects. He started to use his innate powers to figure out what needed to go where, and how the device would function.

It was like art, watching Thete work. He just knew what he was doing. When he had something in mind, and his powers helped to guide him, he could just work constantly without stopping except to find the next piece. It was amazing, but it also drained him of his energy by using it to such a degree.

Tala walked to the door and opened it. He looked outside, into the rain and the storm. He noticed that there were a few Matoran in the streets, hurrying to get to their destinations. They could have been workers who were now rushing home, or they were possibly out shopping when the storm had hit, so they were now rushing home. Some carried bags of items to support that idea, while some carried nothing. The only sane thing Tala could think was that they were getting off of work.

He saw someone walking slowly, as if they were enjoying the rain. He smiled, but when thunder and lightning came, and the Matoran threw his arms up, as if to rejoice and bathe in the storm elements, Tala frowned.

“I’ll be back.” Tala said over his shoulder to the other two Toa. He walked out, looking at the Matoran as he walked.

The Matoran, clad in black, silver, red, yellow, gray and gold armor, looked completely odd, having so many colors to his armor. He had black legs, silver feet with some red, gray arms, a red and black torso, silver over the top, yellow hands, and golden shoulder armor. His mask was feral looking, and red and black.

“Is something wrong?” Tala called to him.

“Why would anything be wrong?” The Matoran asked, holding his hands out, shaking slightly, as if in the presence of something truly powerful.

“You seem to be in no hurry to get out of this storm.” Tala replied, “Any sane person would be getting out.”

“Are you insulting me?” The Matoran questioned.

“By no means.” Tala said, shaking his head, “I just think something is wrong since you haven’t gotten out yet.”

“Nothing is wrong.” The Matoran said, “Now, may I be left to go about my business?”

“Of course.” Tala said, turning his back. He walked back inside. He pulled the two tails of his scarf off of his back. Because of the rain, it was getting stuck to him. He pulled it off and held it in his hands, running heat through it. Because of the Fusha fibers that it was made of, it didn’t burn. It put the scarf on a table, not wanting to have to keep wearing it wet, if he would go back out.

He looked to Thete and Seles, who were sitting around, Thete of course was working, however. He walked towards them, but looked to the door. Lightning struck again, illuminating the door for him. He saw the Matoran glancing inside from around the corner.

Tala pretended not to see him. He could identify that this was a Matoran of Electricity, based on his odd armor colors. As he walked towards the others, he sat down by them and leaned in, as if he were interested in Thete’s work.

“Matoran of Electricity at the door.” He whispered.

“Could be him.” Thete whispered back, “Could be taking advantage of the storm to create damage under the guise of the elements and nature.”

“Should I deal with him” Seles asked.

“No.” Tala said quickly.

Seles glanced covertly at the door. He could make out the Matoran’s mask. The Matoran was starting to move. Run, actually.

Seles threw himself up, throwing his arm out. The Matoran stopped, stuck where he was as Seles transferred his momentum into himself, moving faster than he should have been as he made his way towards the door.

“You won’t escape.” Seles said, soon arriving at the Matoran’s side. He pulled the Matoran into the bunker, but was careful not to manhandle him, for fear of being held accountable if this Matoran was just curious, or something.

Thete held up the piece of the device he had. He attached the flat surface to his firearm, covering the end nozzle with it. He aimed it at the Matoran, and pulled the trigger, making both the Matoran and Seles flinch.

“It’s just waves.” Thete told them, “It’s just doing some readings.” He assured them. He focused the waves into his body, working the mechanical information from the body of the Matoran into his own mind, decoding it from there.

“Seles…” He hissed.

Seles knew exactly what he meant. The Matoran struggled at that moment, getting a hand free. He rolled away, shooting a hand under his right shoulder armor, since his shoulders had extra armor on them. He pulled a Corps Stone out and pressed it to his chest.

“No!” Seles shouted, lunging at him.

As the energy erupted around him, Seles got inside of it. He was thrown back, his body scorched from the power of the transformation. When the power faded, a Toa of Electricity stood there in place of the Matoran.

He had black legs with some red armor by his feet, and silver feet. He had yellow arms and hands, with gray armor above them, with his gold shoulder armor on as well, but on his arms, projecting out. He had silver, red and black on his torso, and still wore the same, feral red and black Kanohi mask. He held a curved claw weapon in each hand, which looked very vicious.

He kicked Seles in the chest, knocking him to the ground. He span around as Thete took the device from his firearm so he could fire. The Toa threw his right arm forward, holding tight to his weapon. Electricity charged around his claw, and erupted forward, striking Thete, bringing him down.

Tala ran for him, picking up his sword on the way. He lunged forward, slashing his blade down on the Toa.

The Toa parried with his other blade. He stumbled back, slashing down, making Tala pass him by. Tala span around, throwing his left hand forward, unleashing a stream of fire.

The lanky Toa rolled aside. He crossed his blades and slashed them down, using the heavy, blunt sides to bring Tala to his knees.

Tala watched as he drew the weapons back, charging them again. As he let loose with the electricity, Tala threw his shield up, protecting himself, to the foe’s surprise.

He lunged forward, grabbing him by the shoulders. He span around, kicking him in the chest, throwing him outside, into his element, more or less.

He laughed as he was getting rained on. He could just amplify his powers in the rain, making him even more dangerous.

Tala shook his head at the Toa’s cockiness.

“What was that for?” The Toa shouted, lifting his arms. Hs shouted, transforming again instead of attacking first.

“You transform so you’ll get a stronger attack.” Tala hissed in mock surprise, hoping that the Toa would believe it as actual surprise and potentially, fear.

When the light faded, he was bulkier and more dangerous looking. He had black legs with slashes of red, and silver, two toed feet. He had a crimson, black and silver torso, but with claws erupting upwards. His arms were more muscular, still gray, gold and yellow. He had pincers on each wrist, made up of a large blade, and a small blade. He had blades coming up by his shoulders, protecting him from behind.

He had two extra arms coming off from his chest. Both arms were smaller, clad in yellow armor, and were tipped with black claws. He threw his feral masked head back and let out a roar, charging with more and more power.

He threw all four arms forward, letting loose with his power.

Tala watched the attack come. He knew that his opponent was finished. By going to Niveau Deux, he had doomed his intellect, and by extension, himself.

The rain was coming down harder, making the electricity arc all over the place. He was soaked, bringing some of the electricity back to himself. Some of it only left a short distance as a small discharge, and followed the drops back to him.

He screamed in unbelievable agony at the pain that he was feeling from his own power. His knees buckled, bringing him down. His screams filled the empty, dark sky, until thunder pounded, drowning out his screams.

Tala walked towards him, “I wanted to warn you.” He said.

The hate filled eyes of a Toa who were nothing more than a Rahi looked up at him. He hissed, coming to his feet, swaying back and forth. Both pincers opened, his extra claws started to flex. He was getting ready to attack.

Tala leapt back, avoiding a swipe of a pincer combined with a claw swipe. He lunged forward, slashing his opponent across the chest, taking him down.

“You don’t have the strength to even take one blow. That should tell you something about giving up while you can.” Tala said.

He wasn’t moving very much. He was still alive, though.

As he tried to rise, lightning struck him. He screamed, and then, stopped. His voice died along with him.

“What was that?” Tala shouted. He looked back, noticing his two partners were coming out of the bunker. They all watched in shock as the lightning had struck his body.

They all saw two figures approaching them from an alley. They were both Toa.

''-“Memories? Me? Too old, too many. I have no need for too many memories anymore, Tala. Why do you ask? Next time: “Memories”. Let the current become the past.”''

21: Memories
The two new Toa approached slowly through the rain, through the darkness that hid their features. Whoever they were, it was Tala's assumption that they had just struck down this Toa of Electricity in cold blood.

As they came closer, more lightning flashed, but well away from them this time. The flash was still enough to give the three Toa light enough to see who these two were.

One was clad in green armor, carrying a dagger. One was in blue armor, carrying an axe. The green one wore a Mask of Illusion, while the blue one wore a Mask of Kindred.

A Toa of Air and a Toa of Water.

“They caused the storm.” Seles hissed, “I’m sure of it.”

“And this Toa of Electricity was their accomplice?” Thete questioned, “And they just offed him for no reason?”

Seles nodded, “That’s what I’m thinking.”

“It makes no sense.”

“It makes perfect sense! He failed, they killed him. They just needed him to kick-start enough electricity in the air for them to play around with. Remember Lewin and Gaila's powers over the storms they created? They didn’t have this range of powers.”

“You’re right.” Thete said, “I forgot about that. They couldn’t do thunder, they couldn’t create this much lightning. They could direct it, like these two just did…”

Tala was unmoving. His sword was still tight in his hand. He was just standing where he had been, staring, eyes transfixed on these two approaching Toa.

Something had drawn him to them. It wasn’t hard to figure out what it was.

“Tala, they aren’t Gaila and Lewin.” Seles hissed, “Get over it! We have to do something, or they might kill us!”

“I…I know.” Tala said, “But the fact…”

“The fact is they have the same elements. So what?” Seles questioned, “Would you do the same if you fought another Toa of Energy, or Technology? Or even Fire?” He demanded, shaking his head in outrage, “No, you wouldn’t! You feel some connection to the deaths of those two. Fact is, it wasn’t your fault! Get over it, and get ready!”

“I…I can’t.” Tala said, shaking his head. He looked at the wet ground, and collapsed to his knees, splashing water up as he dropped his weight down, “I…it was my fault that they died. It was partially my fault, partially our fault. But I took leadership from them in their deaths. I blame…I have to blame myself!” He dropped his sword.

“Tala, get up!” Seles shouted.

Thete lifted his firearm, “Stop you two!” He ordered, aiming at one, and then the other. The Toa hadn’t said a word, nor lifted a weapon. As far as he knew, they weren’t even using their powers on the storm, not yet.

Surely Thete would have time enough to disable their bodies with his power, but he didn’t want to try. What if they would feel his intrusion in their systems and let loose the storm to destroy so much of the island? He had no real choice other than to use his firearm, so he kept it trained on them.

“Who do you think you are?” The Toa of Air demanded, lifting his dagger.

“You raise it any farther, I shoot.” Thete threatened.

“What can a dagger do against you?” The Toa questioned, “And from this range?”

“Plenty, with your powers.” Thete answered, “Now, keep it down, or I fire.”

“Fine.” He said, sheathing it at his waist, on his belt. He looked to his partner, “What about her axe?”

“Same!” Thete shouted, though he knew it went without saying. He knew they were trying to provoke him for some reason. He just hoped that Seles would hurry and get through to Tala. He knew that Tala had issues about the deaths of Lewin and Gaila, but he didn’t know that Tala would collapse like this in the presence of two Toa of the same elements as they were. This was just unacceptable for Tala. He shouldn’t be acting this sway. He was their leader now, he needed to toughen up and accept the past for what it was.

Something done. Something that couldn’t be reversed.

“The past is the past.” Seles hissed, “Get over it and press on into the future!”

“I can’t…” Tala said, “The memories of the rain, of us all meeting, of our team coming together…and even of their deaths. It’s all mixed together, just from what these two were doing.”

“So what?” Seles demanded, throwing his arms out, “Are you going to get like this the next time it rains? The next time a storm comes in, because it reminds you of the powers that Gaila and Lewin used in tandem? Are you going to freak out every time you meet a Toa of Water, or a Toa of Air? Are you going to be down on yourself forever? Something had to be done, since Gaila couldn’t see reason. Lewin gave his life to save everyone else’s on the island. They went out how they had to. Get over it!” Seles screamed.

“But the memories…” Tala said. He looked at the two new Toa. He knew that they weren’t Gaila and Lewin, but when he looked at them, he thought he was seeing the ghosts of his former leaders standing as apparitions, as if they had come back from the dead so they could judge him, and take revenge on him for what he was partially responsible for.

“Get over the memories!” Seles shouted, “Don’t let them bring you down!”

“I need to ascend from the depths of the pain of memories.” Tala said, twisting his mantra a bit. He rose and looked at the two, “But…”

“They aren’t our former leaders, our old partners.” Seles assured Tala. He put a hand on Tala’s shoulder, “I know what they did hit you hard, but get over it and realize what’s real, what isn’t.

The Toa of Air looked in his direction. Before Tala or Seles could do anything, his hand shot down to his dagger. He threw it up at them, releasing it, letting it sail through the air for the two of them.

“Dodge!” Seles shouted, pushing Tala aside. He rolled the other way, making room for the dagger.

“I warned you!” Thete shouted, opening fire on the Toa of Air.

He threw his arm in front of himself, manipulating his element to control the flight path of his dagger. He maneuvered the dagger for Thete’s side, digging the weapon deep inside of his opponent, up to the hilt.

Thete cried out and collapsed to the ground, losing his grip on his weapon.

As his vision started to go, he imagined the presence of both Lewin and Gaila. He knew that these two Toa weren’t them, but he was being tricked by his mind to believe that they were the two lost members of the Toa Angelus.

He smiled slightly. He knew that they weren’t the people he knew, but rather, twisted and perverse memories coming to light in the middle of a battle. He accepted it as what it was, but smiled none the less.

At least the last thing he would remember before slipping into unconsciousness, or possibly death, was his old team.

“I’ll get them.” The Toa of Water said, walking towards Tala and Seles.

Seles pushed Tala away, “Go. I’ll make sure Thete’s alive, and handle them, if I can. If either come after you, know that I failed, and do whatever you can to stop them.” Seles said, “Will you do that?”

“I will.” Tala assured him. He reached down and picked up his sword. He ran down the street, getting away from the bunker and the fight at hand.

Seles drew his arms up in front of his body. He glanced to the downed Thete, praying that he was still alive. He looked to the two Toa, and motioned for them to come forward.

The Toa of Water rushed him. She swung her heavy axe down, but he dodged back. He lunged forward, giving her a quick jab to the gut. She stumbled back, and took a hook to the face, and then an uppercut to the gut.

As she stumbled back, she threw her right arm forward, aiming the end of the axe at her opponent. A stream of water shot forward, but Seles managed to roll out of the way. He threw his hand out, and then swung his other arm out, and again and again, until he couldn’t move his arm anymore, until he had transferred all of the momentum into the proper amount, and targeted her axe.

The heavy axe hit the ground with great force from the momentum. She struggled to pull it out of the ground, not noticing him until the Toa of Air gave a shout to her.

She looked up as he threw a punch for her face. Before he could make contact, and possibly kill her, or at the least, stop her, the Toa of Air threw his arm out.

A blast of wind struck him in the chest. He cried out as the Toa curved the wind, making it into blades. It was a rounded, ridged bladed ball of wind, driving into his chest.

He chocked and cried out at the same time, and then fell to the ground, large gashes running through most of his body. He was lucky that he wasn’t cut into slices by the power of the wind blades that the Toa had unleashed upon him.

“Go after the leader.” The Toa of Air said, walking towards Thete. He crouched down and pulled the dagger out of his side. It took a sizeable exertion of strength to pull it that far out from the Toa of Technology’s body.

The Toa of Water nodded and pulled her axe out of the ground. She started to walk forward, and then stepped on Seles’s body as she walked, making a point to the unconscious Toa of Energy that they were not to be trifled with.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She heard Seles question.

He rose up behind her, his arms hanging down, swinging as he rose. He had next to no strength in his body, but knew he had to do something to try to stop her.

A grim smile spread across her face, “I love it when someone doesn’t know when to stay down.” She told him.

“I know when to stay down.” He told her, “I know this isn’t one those times.”

She span around, lifting the axe high, and then swung it down.

Tala leaned against a building, and then slid to the ground. He knew that he shouldn’t be thinking about it, but he couldn’t stop.

What were the chances of a Toa of Water and a Toa of Air with Corps Stones teaming up like this? Using a storm to mark their arrival? While it was a common combination, it only made Tala think of Gaila and Lewin, the only real Toa of Water and Toa of Air he had ever known in his life.

He shook his head, trying to clear himself of the memories. He didn’t need them right now. What he needed was to survive. To run, to get as far away as possible, and to hope that Seles could take care of them on his own, since he could pick up on Tala’s mental condition.

Tala heard someone coming. He rose, picking up his sword. He looked down every street, expecting it to come out of anywhere, despite hearing the footsteps of whoever it was coming from the way he had just come. A way that he had no access to from the side of the building he was on.

He stepped out of the shadows and looked down the street. He saw the Toa of Water approaching, her large axe resting on her shoulder.

“Oh, look. The Toa of Fire.” She said. She threw her left arm forward, “How will you like some water?” She questioned.

Tala lowered his sword, “Try me.” He hissed.

The Toa of Air appeared next to her. Tala was shocked, then realized he had probably transformed into something small with his Mask of Illusion, so he could hide and be nearby at the same time.

They put their dagger and axe together, and lifted them to the sky. Tala backed away as a smaller funnel of clouds appeared over their heads. They were focusing their powers directly together, and generating lightning.

“Time to die.” The Toa of Air said.

The lightning erupted through the sky, right for Tala. Tala was sure that his shield could protect him, but for some reason, he couldn’t trigger his Hau at that moment. Something was wrong.

Tala saw the lightning coming at him, but he couldn’t react to save himself. He screwed his eyes shut, and slashed his sword aside, just as he had seen criminals do when being pursued by Lewin and Gaila’s storms.

The lightning struck his sword. The lightning was reflected, going off at an angle that would miss both of them, but possibly skim the Toa of Water, who was on his right, the Toa of Air’s left.

She cried out as the lightning grazed her left arm. She dropped her axe so she could hold it in her right hand, focusing her powers through it in an attempt to heal herself.

Tala raced forward. He only had to deal with the Toa of Air, and it would be as good as over, with the Toa of Water wounded.

He shook his head at Tala, and threw his left fist forward. He opened his hand, and flicked one finger forward. A burst of air smashed into Tala’s chest, throwing him to the ground on his back. He rolled over, unsure of what had actually hit him. He ran forward again.

Again, the Toa of Air flicked his finger, sending a blast of wind from the single finger again and again, hitting Tala again and again as he rose.

“Don’t you stop?” He questioned, almost sorry for Tala as he rose for at least the tenth time to try to attack.

Tala raced forward again. And again, the Toa flicked his finger.

Tala threw his shield up. He felt a dull thud on the shield, but he continued to run, and lifted his sword high.

The Toa of Air drew his dagger and slashed up to protect himself. He struck the blade hard, and threw his left hand forward, blasting the blade with wind, throwing it aside, leaving Tala apparently weaponless.

He looked down, realizing Tala held a curved hook dagger, which was also the handle of his sword. He drove the weapon up, driving the hook into the Toa of Air’s chest. He drove the Toa back, and then kicked him to the ground before standing over him.

“You lose.” He said.

He leapt aside as the Toa of Water swung her axe in a wild attempt to bifurcate him. He backed away, watching her carefully as she approached.

He held the hooked dagger and that alone as she rushed him, holding her weapon in both hands. He noticed the scorch mark on her upper left arm where the lightning had struck her.

As much as he hated to, that was his only target with how she carried the axe. She may not have chosen evil, it may have been the dark powers within the Corps Stone that made her act like this, but he would have to do the damage anyway.

Tala lunged forward, spinning around to get to her side, confusing her, and he thrust his dagger in. The hooked blade plunged into her arm, right on the mark.

He tore the blade through, making her cry out in absolute agony as she collapsed to her knees. Tala span around, flipping the dagger around his fingers. He put it at her throat, leaving the tip ready to tear into her.

“You lost.” Tala told her, “You’re no Gaila.” He looked to the Toa of Air, “And he’s no Lewin. Lewin was selfless, and died a hero. Gaila was stubborn, but a good woman. You two are nothing like them. I don’t know if you planned no being a psychological weapon against me…but it didn’t work quite as well as you probably thought, did it?”

Both were silent as they hand their heads. As their Corps Stones fell out of their chests, Tala made them erupt into flames, melting and destroying them.

He walked towards his sword and put his weapon back together before slinging it across his back. He looked at the two Matoran, “Well, come on. You two have prison to rot in, and my friends to help me find.”

As they walked in front of him, he shook his head, wondering how he could possibly have fallen prey to his own memories. Then he remembered his mantra, and how powerful memories really were.

''-“Tala, do you like to sleep? Stupid question? How is it a stupid question? I'm serious here…oh, never mind… Next time: “Slumber”. Awake from your deep slumber or lose your life!”''

22: Slumber
A gray blue Matoran yawned. He leaned lazily against a wall in the street, content with just sitting in the middle of passing crowds, not caring for anyone else having to get past him, or being inconvenienced, with this being the busiest part of the day.

He just didn’t care.

People would call him rude; they would call him lazy, inconsiderate, any combination of words that would address his disinterest in the passing people, and his own lazy attitude.

But he didn’t care. He was lazy, he was tired. He just wanted to sit and sleep.

He leaned his head against the wall he sat against, “Why can’t everyone just sleep for once?” He muttered, “Everyone could sleep at once, and then things would be much more manageable, if only everyone were rested.” He looked through the streets, “Then at least no one would be rude like they are now, trying to disturb me.”

A passing Matoran heard his monologue. He stopped and looked at the lazy Matoran, “You know, you’re the rude one, stopping there like that.”

“They’re rude.” The Matoran defended, gesturing to the people around him, “They won’t let me just sit and sleep.”

“Why would you want to sleep here? In the middle of the street?” The other Matoran argued, trying to back the blue and gray armored Matoran into a corner.

The Matoran shrugged, “I’m just tired.”

“No sleep last night?” He questioned.

“I got plenty. I’m still tired.” He replied, “And the fresh air would do me good.”

“Then why not find an isolated place?” The Matoran demanded, “Why do you have to be obnoxious like this?”

“I swear, if people keep insulting me…” He muttered, then shook his head, “No, too lazy and tired to act on anything.”

The Matoran laughed, “You get mad, but don’t have the resolve to follow through! You’re pathetic, you know that?”

The Matoran looked at his rude guest, “I said I would make you pay if you insulted me…”

“You also said you were too lazy to act.” The Matoran replied, “Or is your mind so slow that you already forgot what you yourself just said?”

The blue and gray armored Matoran shot to his feet and grabbed the Po-Matoran by the shoulders. He was about to do something, when he took a knee to the gut. He stumbled back, smashing into the building.

In self-defense, the Po-Matoran punched him in the face, taking him to the ground. The Matoran of Sleep tried to rise, but couldn’t get back up.

He took another kick to the chest before the Po-Matoran walked away, deciding he was done. The lazy Matoran looked up from his spot on the ground, groaning and moaning in pain. He watched the Po-Matoran leave, and vanish into the crowd.

He pushed himself up and stumbled away, trying to find a quieter, more peaceful spot to stop, rest and sleep. He couldn’t find anything as he continued to walk.

He was so tired. He couldn’t keep going and searching. He needed to sleep, now. That was fact. He needed rest.

He always needed rest. He didn’t know why, he just did.

It didn’t pain him. It didn’t inconvenience him. He liked to sleep. He had grown to love it, to be slothful and simply want to sleep all day if he could. If possible, he would sleep his life away, literally. But he had to awaken and work, or he would be arrested, or something, he wasn’t quite sure. He knew that Matoran had to work for the sake of Mata Nui, but he would rather have the world go to blazes than have to actually work, because work interrupted sleep.

Sleep came before life for this Matoran.

He heard a voice hissing in an alleyway. The voice knew his name.

“Feran, come here.”

He looked into the black alley. He couldn’t see the owner of the slithering, dark hiss of a voice. He walked inside without thinking twice.

He was tired. His mind was working slowly.

He could very well have been walking into his death, but he had gotten a few minutes of sleep earlier, in the street. Those few minutes were enough to make give him enjoyment. Those few minutes were all he needed, if he were to die.

“Who are you?” Feran questioned.

He looked at the ground. He saw a stone lying at his feet. He crouched down, picking it up. When he looked up, he saw two eyes staring back at him. The two green eyes looked out of place. He thought that such a shadowy stranger would have red eyes.

“I am nobody important. But if you must know, you are sleep, you are laziness embodied. I am hate embodied.”

“Ok…hate.” Feran said, looking at the stone in his hand, “What is this thing?”

The voice chuckled, “Well, you don’t know?” He laughed, “You really don’t know? You really are next to worthless. At least others had an idea of what it was.”

“I sleep. I don’t know much of what’s going on. Is Otoka still Turaga?” Feran questioned. He wasn’t joking. He really didn’t know.

“She is still Turaga.” The voice said. It rose a little. The tone itself changed, as if the man were now lecturing a child, “That is a Corps Stone. Have you heard of them?”

“No.” Feran said, shaking his head. He looked at the item in his hand, “What does it do?”

“This particular Corps Stone is infused with the powers of the element of Sleep.” The voice said. The eyes narrowed into two emerald slits, “When a Corps Stone finds an owner of the same element, the owner can infuse the Stone into their own body, gaining enhanced powers, and a very powerful ability along with it.”

“What ability?” Feran questioned.

“The ability to become a Toa, and so much more.” The voice said, “You can become unmatched if you use it.”

Feran looked at it, and then shook his head, “I have no interest. Becoming a Toa would involve work. I don’t like work.”

“You wish to let the entire island sleep, don’t you?” The figure in the shadows questioned, “I know you do. With that power, you can make it a reality.”

“I can?” Feran asked, “My powers will let me?”

“The power of a Toa, no, a Corps Stone, will allow you to do as you please. You will be unmatched as you put the island into a deep slumber. If that is your uttermost wish, then take the Stone upon yourself, within yourself, and see it come as a reality!”

Feran couldn’t argue with the logic laid out before him. He indeed wished for the entire island to sleep, so they could all be like him. Now, clutched into his right hand, he had the powers to do as he wished. To put the entire island to sleep.

“Why do you want to help me get my wish?” Feran asked.

The figure seemed to grin, but Feran couldn’t see in the darkness.

“Let’s just say…helping Matoran by giving them a Corps Stone is what we distributors do with our days, with our lives. We wish to see how Matoran react, what they do. We want knowledge. We crave it.”

“What sort of knowledge?” Feran asked.

“That’s not important. What’s important is that you take the chance while you have it. If you don’t, then I’ll kill you.”

“If I had the choice between dying, and putting the entire island to sleep, and then sleeping myself, I’d rather go with the latter.” Feran said, pushing the Corps Stone to his chest. A flash of light enveloped him, but he still couldn’t see the figure. It was as if the figure had draped himself in permanent shadows, that not even light could dispel. It was odd, but he ignored it.

As the light faded, Feran stood as a tall Toa. His legs were gray. His arms were a combination of blue and gray. His body was blue, with gray armor overlaying it. He had a blue Kanohi mask in an odd mold, with the left eye being covered and riddled with small holes, instead of an actual eyehole, unlike his right eye.

To his surprise, he held a weapon in his right hand. It was a single blade, facing back, with the points of the blade coming out of the center, not the edge. There was a blade just off the hilt, where he held it, pointing up, creating an adjacent angle, making it ninety degrees. This was the same type of blade, with the center also being bladed, and the outside not.

“This power!” Feran exclaimed, “I love it!” He looked out into the street, and threw his arm out. The weapon remained open as he focused his powers.

He let loose his powers of Sleep. He could see Matoran falling where they stood, collapsing to the ground in a deep slumber.

His influence started to spread as he walked among the downed bodies. The power continued to spread across the island as he walked, hoping to make his dream a reality.

He wanted everyone to sleep.

Tala yawned. He rubbed his eyes, and then looked up at Seles, whom he was sparring with. He barely dodged a punch from Seles, to his surprise.

“You tired?” The Toa of Energy questioned. He span around, throwing a kick at Tala’s head. Tala ducked and threw himself forward, driving a fist into Seles’s chest, knocking him back.

“No.” Tala replied, “Just a yawn. Nothing to worry about.” He said, drawing his arms up to his chest, clenching his fists. He knew without a doubt that Seles was a better hand-to-hand fighter, but he hoped to hold his own against a more skilled opponent. He was great with his sword, but he needed to learn to fight properly with his hands, just in case.

Seles lunged for him, snapping a jab forward. Tala ducked and threw a fist for Seles, striking him in the middle of the chest, taking him down.

“It wasn’t that hard!” Tala complained at the downed Toa.

Seles didn’t move.

“Seles?” Tala asked, crouching down. Before he could check to make sure the other Toa was still breathing, still ok, he too fell, in a deep slumber.

Thete looked over at them, having been working on amplifying the engines of the Flame Cycle. He rushed over at the first sign of trouble.

He could feel his systems slowly shutting down as he got close. He yawned, and then backed away as fast as he could.

“No…” He muttered, sending his own power through his body, trying to restart his own systems, “No. I can’t let this happen!”

All Thete was sure about was that he was about to fall to sleep. He knew that the other two were sleeping, somehow, and now, sleep was coming for Thete.

Thete ran into the streets, barging out of the bunker. He looked around, but every Matoran within eyeshot was also asleep, lying on the ground in a heap.

“What is this?” He muttered, running to the nearest Matoran. He hovered his hand over the fallen Ta-Matoran, and then realized that his systems were down. He was asleep as well.

He didn’t need to check any other Matoran. He was sure they were all the same. Everyone was asleep. Everyone would be impossible to awaken, unless he took power away from himself to reboot a system or two.

That would put him to sleep in the process. That was the problem.

Thete looked to the sky. He could faintly detect a power running through the air. It felt like Elemental Energy, like that of a Toa. A Toa of Sleep.

Thete cursed and started to run towards the source. It wasn’t hard. He just had to reach out and find a working body system. When he found it, he ran harder and faster, before sliding around a corner to confront his foe.

“Of course.” Thete muttered, “Covering the entire island would require more than a Toa.” He said, looking over his foe, who had entered Niveau Deux form.

The warrior had gray legs and claws, with blue claws erupting from his knees and going up. He had bladed blue armor higher up on his legs, and a blue and gray armored chest. He had gray arms, with claws erupting up off of his upper arms, and blue arms beneath that, with two small blades coming off of each wrist. His right hand held a claw weapon, with two blades coming out of each other, curling down. He had wings erupting from his back, just next to more blades that came off of him. The wings appeared useless.

He had a blue tail, with a blade erupting from the end. It wasn’t long, but looked muscular and powerful. His head was an oddly shaped Kanohi mask, with a horn erupting from each side, curling up into the air above and to the sides of his eyes.

Thete leveled his blaster at the Toa. He watched as the enraged eyes located him, and then roared. It let out a halfway intelligent question.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” It hissed. It lifted its claw weapon and stalked forward.

Thete was barely keeping his systems running as it was. If he had to fight, he would lose control and fall to sleep himself. He was in no condition to fight or win.

He fired one shot, blasting the Toa in the chest. He stumbled back, roaring. Apparently he wasn’t very good, or he would have dodged such a central shot by easily sidestepping.

“You’re not a fighter, are you?” Thete questioned.

The Toa roared in response and raced forward, lifting the claw weapon again. Thete rolled to the side as it came down, smashing into the cement ground. He struggled, but couldn’t pull the claw free.

Thete lifted his blaster and fired three rapid shots. His vision blurred, but he was able to get them all off in rapid succession without succumbing to sleep.

The three shots smashed into the Toa’s side, throwing him away from Thete. The Toa roared and pushed himself to his feet. He raced forward and span around, turning the hook blade he had for a tail, trying to swipe Thete’s throat.

Thete dropped to the ground. In one last ditch effort, he fired a volley of shots straight up, into the Toa’s face, dropping him.

“You’re not a fighter.” Thete panted, “You’re just a man who was manipulated, I’m sure. I’m sure that’s your defense, anyway. I can tell for a fact you’re not a fighter.”

He looked up. He didn’t see the beast, but instead, saw the Toa. He had only partially reverted after those painful attacks.

The Toa lifted his odd double blades. He shouted and slammed them down. Thete managed to roll aside and lift his blaster just enough to land three shots into his foe’s chest, knocking him to the ground.

“Tell me. Are you a fighter at all?” Thete demanded.

“No.” The Toa of Sleep replied, rising, “I just want everyone to sleep! It would make people less angry!”

“No, it won’t.” Thete said, keeping his weapon trained, “It won’t make the people less angry. I think your view of things is twisted. People here aren’t angry. Not enough to warrant handing the island over to whoever gave you that Corps Stone!”

“You mean…I’m manipulated?” He asked.

“Probably.” Thete replied.

The Toa shook his head, questioning himself, questioning his own motives. He walked around, shaking his head, talking to himself. Thete lifted his blaster and said a short prayer of forgiveness, and then fired at the Toa’s head, dropping him and the Stone, which shattered on impact with the ground.

''-“There are those of weak constitution, those who depend on an outside stimulus to get themselves through the day. But does using that make you weak? Next time: “Drug”. Or, does it make you dangerous?”''

23: Drug
Turaga Otoka, flanked by her four Seraphim, the holy protectors and watchers of the island—one clad in blue, one in black, one in green, and one in red, each with wings and a cross shaped blade weapon—walked through the open street. The Turaga of Psionics led the way, leaning heavily on her staff as she walked ahead of the four protectors that she had.

A man was in the crowd, watching them along with the ordinary Matoran. He was far from ordinary. He was the man who was going to make things right.

He held a Corps Stone to his chest. It sank into him without anyone noticing. The next thing that happened was easily noticed. Light erupted from the middle of the crowd of Matoran, and a Toa rose out, shocking everyone.

Otoka turned to see what was happening. She cried out to the Seraphim as the Toa of Disintegration, in black, blue, gray and silver armor, rose up. He took aim with his hand, charging power into his palm.

“This is for everyone!” The Toa screamed, “But most importantly, this is for my friend!”

The Turaga tried to look unimpressed, trying to get rid of any appearance of shock that might be on her face. The Seraphim tensed, getting ready to attack. She simply lifted her staff to stop them from moving.

“And who are you, now?” She demanded.

“You don’t know me, but you killed my friend!” The Toa screamed, “So I’m going to get back at you! I’m going to take your life as a trade!”

“I took the life of your friend?” The Turaga questioned, chuckling, “I’m no killer. I’m not loose with my minimal powers. I’m not the type to murder.”

“You did!” He shouted, “You killed her!”

The Seraphim were ready. They were all ready to act, for one of them to take the shot, and for the rest to subdue the attacker. At the slightest sign of violence, or Otoka’s signal, they were going to spring into action.

“Why don’t you tell me a little more?” Otoka questioned.

“No! You can learn in the next life!” The Toa screamed, unleashing his powers.

Otoka braced herself, even as the black armored Seraphim leapt in front of her, lifting his cross blade weapon as a form of minimal protection from a deadly shot.

Someone pushed the Seraphim aside. It was a shock, to see a Seraphim even being touched by another person, let alone being shoved aside. The Seraphim turned to attack, but saw Tala there, throwing his arms out, throwing his shield up.

The blast of disintegration energy smashed into his shield. Surprisingly, his shield stayed up. Tala continued to exert mental pressure, attempting to keep it up indefinitely.

As the power faded, so did the shield, as Tala dropped it from energy loss. The Seraphim quickly strode towards him, grabbing him by the shoulder in his left hand.

Without emotion, the Seraphim gave him a warning.

“Don’t touch any of us, Toa.” He hissed, “We are above you. We don’t need to be protected or saved by you.”

“I’ll remember that.” Tala hissed.

“Good.” The Seraphim said, pushing him aside. Tala stumbled, but kept his footing. He looked towards the assailant, but the three other Seraphim were already there, but minus the attacker. He had gotten away.

Tala looked to Otoka, “Now, do you have some explaining to do? You may be Turaga, but if you murdered someone…then as a Toa, you’ll have to answer to me.”

Tala and Otoka sat alone in one of Otoka’s innermost chambers. The Seraphim were positioned outside, not to enter the room unless it was an emergency.

Tala looked over his shoulder, outside of the room at the four warriors. It was unnerving to see them unmoving, just standing there like that. Tala looked back to the Turaga.

“So, what do you know?” Tala questioned.

“Are you currently doing anything proactive to catch this man?” Otoka questioned.

“Thete and Seles are out there hunting for him as we speak.” Tala told her, “Now, what do you know? He claims you killed his friend.”

“I don’t even know who he is.” Otoka said.

“But if you killed someone, Turaga, then it shouldn’t be hard to remember. I doubt you have a very high body count that would be following you around. Now, what happened?” Tala questioned.

“Years ago…before you came to this island, something happened.” Otoka admitted to Tala, “Gaila and Lewin helped to deal with it, but kept quiet, it seems.”

“Tell me about it.” Tala said.

“A Matoran of Disintegration, I believe it was that assailant, and a Matoran of Water came here together, traveling as friends. They found refuge here, on Angelus Nui, and decided to stay. The man decided to work for a local blacksmith, and work on equipment. The woman worked for me, as one of my aides.

“One day, while we discussed things that were currently happening on the island, and what my sermon would be on, my aides and I came across a Rahi that had descended from the mountains of the north. It attacked us, but I was able to get away. She wasn’t so lucky, and was smashed by the Nui Jaga's stinger. She died instantly. Luckily, Gaila and Lewin managed to drive it away, since the Seraphim had yet to become such guardians to me.

“I tried to tell him what happened to her. I believe his name is Ilyos. I tried to have it explained by an aide, but he took the sign of me not showing up to tell him myself as a message that I had killed her. He took it as guilt, that I wouldn’t see him face-to-face. I guess he never got over it, and still blames me. And now he got a Corps Stone…”

Tala sat, listening to the brief story. He nodded time to time. He looked Otoka in the eyes after she finished.

“I don’t believe a word of it.” He said, rising, “Well, I don’t believe how she died.”

“It’s the truth!” Otoka insisted.

“You’re hiding something.” Tala said, turning around, “But that’s one of your past sins. I don’t care. I just need to know what we’re up against. I’ll be back later, Turaga, to learn more.” He said, walking out. He walked past the four silent, unmoving Seraphim. They were eerie to pass by, especially acting like this. He couldn’t understand how Otoka could deal with them at all hours of the day.

He walked out of sight, heading towards the streets. Otoka emerged from her chamber and walked out. She looked at the Four Seraphim, “He can never know what happened.” She told them.

“What are we looking for?” Seles questioned.

“Any Matoran of Disintegration.” Thete replied, “It’s not like they’re common. If we find one, we should have a lead.”

They walked into the dark alleys. This particular area of the island city was particularly bad for having some bad business going on at night, and parts of the day. They weren’t sure, but they thought he could try to hide in such an area.

Thete held his arm out, stopping Seles. He pointed ahead, making a signal that there was at least one person ahead that he could detect with his powers.

“Is it him?” Seles questioned.

Thete shrugged. He drew his firearm and moved on ahead, pointing it down the alley. Seles came out behind him.

They saw a Matoran of Disintegration sitting there, absorbing an amber colored substance into his own body. It was a form of Ethanum, a drug that was prohibited across most of the Matoran Universe, as far as they knew. They didn’t know much, so they didn’t know what this particular type was called. All they knew was that he was doing something illegal, and making himself more dangerous by using such a stimulant.

He saw the two Toa, and started to back away. He shook his head as they approached him. He drew his Corps Stone out of a pouch at his waist, and held it to his chest. He gave no warning as he absorbed it into himself, transforming into his Toa form, which had black legs, silver arms, a gray body, and a blue Kanohi mask. He carried no visible weapons, but his element was dangerous enough as it was.

“We’re only here to help.” Thete said, keeping his weapon trained on the man, “We want to help you.”

“Help?” He asked. He shook, and appeared jittery, “You can help by getting rid of Otoka!” He shouted.

“We heard.” Thete said, doing all the talking for the two of them, “She killed your friend. You want to tell us about it?”

“No!” He shouted, throwing his arm forward. He let loose a burst of power, going right in for the kill at Thete.

Seles tackled Thete to the ground. The blast of disintegration energy crashed into the wall behind them, cutting right through it. They both looked up as the man fled the area, escaping from sight.

“We really need to find out what Tala learned.” Seles said, helping Thete up, “Maybe we could stop him if we knew. Or maybe we could get rid of Otoka and all be happy.”

“One or the other.” Thete said, shaking his head, “He’s unstable. We have to stop him as soon as we can before people get hurt or killed.”

“How do you plan on stopping him?” Seles questioned, “That power is very dangerous.”

“I can kill his systems with enough time.” Thete said, “You can keep him from fleeing by taking his momentum.”

“Or I can just blow him up when he stops moving.” Seles said.

“He’s moving too much from the drugs.” Thete told him, “I don’t know if you’ll be able to do anything.”

Seles sighed, realizing that his powers in the offensive ways were going to be useless. He shook his head in defeat, “Ok, what do we do, then?”

“Get Tala.” Thete replied, “Figure out what he knows.”

The three Toa met in the bunker, alone. They made a point to look around, to make sure that no Seraphim were anywhere nearby. They were sure Otoka might want to know what was happening, since this was personal. She was a target by a drug crazed Toa with a very deadly power.

“I heard she was attacked again.” Tala said, “They managed to dodge the attack and the Seraphim returned the attack, but Ilyos fled.”

“Ilyos, that’s his name?” Thete asked. “Well, we found him, but he got away.”

“I don’t know what we can do against him.” Tala said, “Because we don’t know for a fact what happened with his Ga-Matoran friend.”

“You don’t believe Otoka?” Seles asked.

“Do you?” He questioned, having told the story.

“No.” Seles said, “But maybe he will. That could stop him.”

“He hates her with a passion. We can’t change his mind.” Thete said, “It would be next to impossible with him this enraged, not to mention his anger being amplified because of the dark power of the Corps Stone.”

“Thete is right.” Tala said, “We need a way to subdue him.”

Thete snapped his fingers as an idea came to him, “I’ve got it!”

“What?” Tala questioned.

“If we don’t know what happened, and he’s too dangerous to bring in easily, we make a trap.” Thete said, “We just need the proper bait.”

“What will we use?” Seles questioned.

Thete smiled, “You’ll see.”

A smoke generating machine made by Thete, a little heat and smoke from Tala, and Seles drawing his own energy out as he jogged in place, made the bait perfect.

Ilyos was coming this way. They had spread false information around that Otoka would be coming through this way. Ilyos was sure to come and try to assassinate her once more.

With the drugs, he was too dangerous to try to fight normally. Even a Seraphim would have little chance against someone with nothing to lose using such potent drugs.

This trap was their only true chance to stop him, especially since Otoka wouldn’t tell them anything.

Finally, they saw the Toa approaching. He was jittery, looking around all over the place, as if he were walking into a trap.

It was just ahead of him, that was all.

“Now!” Thete hissed, activating his own machine.

As Ilyos looked ahead, he saw smoke rising up, as if some apparition were presenting itself. He saw a mirage from the heat, the bending of the air, and then, on the other side, saw something taking form. It was a Ga-Matoran, wearing a Kanohi Kakama, his friend.

Otoka had given them enough information to attempt to recreate the image. Using the heat mirage, they were able to bend the air, giving it a ghostly look. The smoke added to the ghostly appearance, as did Seles’s energy, which gave it a wavy outline as he focused his own potential energy into a humanoid form.

The form was almost perfect, which surprised all of them. They didn’t question it, but went along with it.

“I…I’m almost done.” Ilyos said, walking towards it. He fell to his knees before the “spirit” of his lost friend, “Soon I shall make Otoka pay for what she did to you! I swear it.”

Seles flicked his finger at the Toa of Disintegration. Ilyos flew back, landing hard on the ground. He cried out, but his cries were soon drowned out by the explosion of the ground around him. Splinters of cement smashed into his body as he rolled around in the air, before hitting again.

“You’re done.” Tala said, putting the tip of his blade to Ilyos’s throat, “I don’t know what happened between you, your friend, and Otoka, but we will get justice.” Tala promised, “The proper way, unlike you.”

They drew the Toa to his feet, dragging him along. Thete was slowly cutting his systems down, until he found where the Corps Stone was. He removed the Stone with a forceful shove to his systems, returning Ilyos to his Matoran form.

Thete crushed the Corps Stone beneath his foot. The group moved Ilyos away, taking him to face justice for what he had attempted to do.

Otoka shook her head as she paced around the chamber. She looked at a ceremonial weapon from her days as a Toa, hanging on the wall above the mantle.

It was a war hammer. It was something that people knew about, but now, she had to dispose of it.

She snapped her fingers. The Four Seraphim entered. She looked to them, “Destroy that hammer for me. And be covert about it.”

The four bowed, and got to work.

On the edge of town, watching down at the “spirit” manifesting to distract Ilyos, a person stood, their white hand sticking out. The hand retracted, and the person spoke, clearly in a woman’s voice, to herself.

“You’re not the only Toa on this island…” She claimed, watching the Toa Angelus haul Ilyos away.

''-“Tala, do you believe in fate? Do you believe in the past heralding the future? Do you think that your team could return once again? Next time: “Spirits”. Do you believe that you will ever be whole again?”''

24: Spirits
“Do you think that Otoka is guilty?” Thete asked, sitting across from Tala. He interlaced his fingers, gazing over his knuckles as he looked to the Toa of Fire.

“It’s a serious problem if you accuse her…and nothing can be proven.” Seles agreed, “We’ll need proof first.”

“Ilyos's word isn’t proof enough.” Tala said simply, “I know that. We can find more proof, though. We can find other aides, that she claims to have had, and question them about the death of Viyon.” He said, referencing the Ga-Matoran whom Ilyos had attempted to kill Otoka to learn the truth about. How he even got the idea that it was Otoka was a mystery. Maybe he was just guessing, lashing out. Maybe he knew something they didn’t. The Toa didn’t know, and couldn’t question him, with him locked up.

“This is what we do.” Tala suggested, “We can confront Otoka about it, claim it as fact, gauge her reaction. We bring her in based on that, while we get a concrete answer from another aide.”

“Won’t work.” Seles said.

Thete nodded, “She has the power of Psionics. She might be able to look into your mind, or figure out what’s happening. Maybe she’ll catch you in the lie you’re trying to instigate to force the truth out.”

“I’ll take that chance.” Tala said, standing up, “You two try to find former aides. I’ll go to Otoka. If you can, bring Ilyos along with the former aide or aides, and we’ll all take care of Otoka.” He thrust his right fist into his left palm, holding his fist as he closed his hand, “We’ll depose her. I’m sure of it. She has gone too long as a figure of both respect, and hate. That is a very fine line, and the fact she walks it should be enough.”

“We’re really doing this?” Seles asked.

Tala nodded, “Yeah. Are you in or out?”

Thete and Seles looked to each other. They looked towards Tala.

Seles sighed, “We’re in.”

Tala nodded approvingly as he rose to his feet. He looked up towards the door, “Let’s get going, then. We’ve made our choice: let’s not back out before we get going.”

The two other Toa followed him up towards the door. Tala was about to reach for it, when it swung open on them.

Standing on the other side was a Toa, clad in pale blue and white armor. She had traditional armor, but had spikes coming over the front of her upper arms, going out to her sides, over the top of normal armor once more. She wore a sleek, white Kanohi mask, but carried no weaponry.

She held her hands up, trying to indicate she was no threat. Regardless, the three Toa were ready for a fight. Tala’s sword sprang to hand, Thete’s firearm was trained on her, and Seles had his hands up, ready to get into a fistfight.

“I mean none of you any harm.” She simply said in a smooth, lyrical voice, devoid of any negative context. She really did seem to mean them no harm, based on how she sounded before them.

“Who are you?” Tala demanded, “A Corps Stone user who thinks they can overcome the evils of the Stone?”

“What’s a Corps Stone?” She asked, backing away, “That thing that fell out of the Toa of Disintegration you fought earlier?”

“Ilyos?” Tala hissed, “You saw us fight him?”

“I’m the one who made that spirit illusion.” She admitted, “You three were struggling…so I helped you along.”

“You helped?” Thete questioned, “How?”

“I’m a Toa of Spirits. I can create that illusion easily, especially with what you three had ready for me to work with as well.”

“You’re a real Toa?” Tala questioned.

She nodded quickly, “Yes, I am. I just came here…looking for Toa Gaila, hoping that I could join under her leadership.”

Tala stared into her eyes, trying to judge whatever he could from her. He couldn’t read her. Her spirit was closed to him; her mind was closed to him. She hid her real self too well, thanks to her powers, he assumed. He didn’t like it.

“Gaila’s dead.” Tala said.

“What?” She questioned, leaning forward, “What happened? How long ago did it happen?”

“Six months ago. A little more.” Tala said, “We had to kill her ourselves.”

“You three killed Gaila?” She shouted, backing away.

Tala shook his head, “Our second in command, Lewin, did it. She wouldn’t listen, we almost lost the entire island…Lewin acted to save everyone, which included having to kill her so she couldn’t stop him from doing what he had to. I’m our leader, now. And if you’re wondering, I hate every moment of it.” Tala told her.

The Toa of Spirits was staring into his eyes, trying to read him. She slowly nodded to him, “I…I actually believe you.”

“Good.” Tala said, “Now, are you serious? You’re a real Toa?”

“I am.” She replied, “My name is Rien.”

“Well, Rien, I don’t quite believe you.” Seles said, walking past the other two, pushing himself between Tala and Rien, “I want to see if you are who you say you are.” He said, drawing a fist up, “I want to feel you with my fists, I want to read your spirit as we clash. I believe that in such a fight, we can realize who our opponents are.”

“You intend to fight me so you can figure out if I’m telling the truth?” Rien questioned, “I don’t even have a weapon!”

Seles snatched the sword from Tala’s grip, despite his protests. He tossed the blade to Rien. She caught it, but barely. She looked at the worn grip of the sword, and then up to Seles, “You expect me to use his sword?” She directed to Tala.

Seles simply spoke, “Why do you think I threw it to you?”

She muttered under her breath at his attitude. She took the sword in her right hand, feeling the weight of it. She held it out in front of her body, and then looked nervously from the blade, up to Seles himself.

“I don’t want to fight…”

“You have to.” He hissed, leaping forward. He landed with his right foot, right in front of her, and span to the side. He backhanded her in the side of the head, knocking her to the ground with a cry escaping her lips.

“Seles!” Tala shouted.

Rien stabbed the sword into the ground, and pushed her weight up onto it. She rose onto unsteady feet, glaring at Seles. She glanced to her side, to the two other Toa, “I’m fine.” She assured Tala.

“So…where do you come from?” Seles questioned, cracking his knuckles.

“Small talk? Really?” She asked, drawing the sword out of the ground.

He lunged forward, snapping his left arm forward. She brought the sword up and turned the blade, attempting to use the flat as a shield. The fist smashed into it, throwing Rien onto her back. She looked up, seeing him pounce down on her, his fists drawn back for the attack.

She let out a cry and rolled aside, evading him. He span around and leapt at her, grabbing her forearm so she couldn’t use the sword. He grabbed her throat in his right hand, holding her to the ground so she couldn’t move.

“I asked a question.” He hissed.

“Seles! Stop this!” Tala shouted.

“I’ll stop him.” Thete said, lifting his hand.

“No!” Rien cried, “I’ll do it!” She shouted, ramming her knee into Seles’s chest. She used momentum to throw him off of her, and rolled up to her feet. She drew the sword back, getting ready to use momentum as her friend once again, as she drove her sword down.

“Fool! You must not realize what I am!” Seles shouted, throwing his right hand forward, splaying his fingers out.

Her arm stopped. He had absorbed her kinetic energy right from her. She struggled, trying to move it, but just couldn’t.

Seles was suddenly in front of her, redirecting her momentum into himself. He threw a punch into her midriff, throwing her to the ground with a cry. Before she could get up, he had a fist to her face, ending it.

“Stop.” Tala said, anger filling his voice. He walked towards them and pushed Seles away, “You can see that she’s a real Toa. Your beating would have released the Corps Stone by now!” He shouted, “No need to do something you’ll regret.”

Seles nodded, “Fine.” He said, shaking his head as he walked towards Thete, “Well, we’ll go ahead and start our job.”

“No.” Tala said.

“What?” Seles questioned, turning to the Toa of Fire, “Why not?”

“We have a better way.” Tala said, helping Rien to her feet. He took his sword back and slung it across his back. He looked to Rien, “Will you join the three of us?”

“I’d be honored.” She said, “Joining this team…it’s why I came here.”

Tala nodded approvingly, “Ok then. First off, you need to help us with a slight problem we have, that we can’t seem to figure out what to do with. If you can help us, we’ll allow you to join us as a true fourth member of our team.”

“What problem is that?” She asked, eager to actually become a Toa Angelus.

“Deposing the Turaga.” Tala said.

Briefed on the walk to the tower, Rien knew what she had to do. Seles and Thete were to now simply get Ilyos free, and join them at the top of the tower, in the Turaga’s quarters.

Tala spared a glance to Rien, and then looked on ahead. They were at the top level, standing outside of the expanse chambers that Otoka enjoyed as the ruling Turaga of the island.

Tala knocked on the door, and simply waited.

“Five people within.” Rien said, using her powers to feel those within.

Tala nodded, “Otoka and the Seraphim.” He told her.

“Seraphim?”

“The protectors of the Turaga. They’re supposed to watch the entire island…but Otoka likes them as personal guardians. She trusts them more than she ever trusted Toa on this island, even Gaila.” He told her.

Finally, the door opened. The blue armored Seraphim stood there, looking at them. He spoke in an even voice, “What do you want?” He ignored the fact that he didn’t know who Rien was, and for all he knew, was a Corps Stone user, not a real Toa.

“We wish to see the Turaga.” Tala said.

“Turaga Otoka wishes not to be disturbed.” The Seraphim responded, “She isn’t even here. She and the other three are out.”

“I feel five presences inside.” Rien said, “I assume it’s you, the other three, and the Turaga. Am I wrong?”

The Seraphim glared at Rien. He turned around and walked inside. Looking to each other, the Toa followed him inside, seeing the Turaga sitting at a chair before a mantle that held a roaring fire underneath it.

There was a noticeably bare spot on the wall above it. Rien closed her eyes, feeling the location out with her powers.

“There was something containing powerful memories there. Something with great sentential value, it feels.” She whispered to Tala.

She hadn’t spoken quietly enough, since Otoka heard, “I had an old weapon from my Toa days sitting there. It became damaged, so I had it sent for repair.” She said.

“How?” Tala questioned.

“It fell.”

“No marks to indicate it.”

Otoka cut to the chase, “Why are you here?”

“Did you kill Viyon?” Tala questioned.

“Who?”

“Ilyos’s friend. He attempted to murder you, believing you were the one to kill her. Now…did you do it?”

“I told you the story already. A Nui Jaga did it.” Otoka asserted.

Rien waved her hand in the air. She focused on Otoka’s aura, feeling it out with the wave of her hand. Listening to her words, and reading her spirit at the same time, Rien was capable of gaining a great deal of insight into the Turaga.

“She has a dark attitude about that person.” Rien said to Tala, loud enough for all to hear.

“Who is this woman?” Otoka demanded.

“Rien, Toa of Spirits.” Tala introduced, “She’s here to prove that you killed Viyon!”

“I did no such thing!” Otoka shouted, “Seraphim! Please, remove them.”

“See, your aura is now normal. You’re doing something you’re comfortable with, something you would always do. Your aura turns dark at mention of Viyon, since it was something you wouldn’t want to do. Something you hated. Strong negative emotions. By reading deeper…you killed her, didn’t you?”

The Seraphim grabbed the two Toa and started to push them out of the room. Tala broke free of their grip and smashed into the two holding Rien. She stumbled out and threw her hand at Otoka, “Now, did you kill her?” She shouted.

“No!”

“I wear the Rode.” She hissed, “You’re lying! Your aura and your lies are enough to tell me that you killed her. Was it that weapon?” She questioned, directing at the empty spot.

“No…” Otoka hissed.

“It was.” She told Tala, “Why?”

Otoka shouted, “She was going to destroy my image!” She screamed, “I had to keep the people under my rule! I had to kill her!”

Footsteps from behind indicated that Thete, Seles and Ilyos, broken free of his cell, were standing in the doorway. After hearing the confession, Ilyos tried to enter, but the Toa restrained him.

“No revenge.” Tala said, looking back at Ilyos, “Instead, she’ll be put into a cell for the murder of Viyon.”

“What?” Otoka hissed.

“As a Toa, I have the right.” Tala said, looking at the Seraphim, “She murdered someone. Will you stop me?”

None of the Seraphim made a move.

“What? Help me!” Otoka screamed as Tala grabbed her and started to drag her towards the door. She kicked, trying to drag her feet. She looked back at the four faces of the Seraphim, “Watch over the island for me! Watch it as I would have! I will be back!”

“No, you won’t.” Tala said, dragging her out. The others followed. Ilyos walked, happy to return to his cell, knowing that Otoka was taken care of, finally, after so many years of his silent hate. She was finally being taken care of.

The Four Seraphim watched as Otoka was removed. They bowed in silent resolve to be the ruling body of the island in her absence, not that they believed she would be back for some time, not with the confession she gave.

The door closed on the four of them, leaving them alone as the Toa deposed the Turaga.

''-“Boundaries are set to stop people from proceeding. They are used to defend others. They are used to keep out, or, keep in. Tala, what do you think? Next time: “Wall”. It goes either way, there is no wrong answer.”''

25: Wall
“You really threw the island into disarray, you know that?” Rekona asked Tala as they sat alone on top of the bunker, looking down at the streets a few feet below.

“I know.” Tala replied simply.

“Why did you do it?” He asked.

“I believed that Otoka had to be removed. We all did.” Tala said, “She was nothing but problems. She believed in herself over the people, she used the Seraphim as her own guardians rather than their true purpose…and a lot more.”

Rekona sighed, “I know, I know. I don’t need you to tell it all.”

“Why don’t you take power?” Tala asked.

“Me? Take power over Angelus Nui?” Rekona chuckled, “The people wouldn’t have me, there’s no way they would want me.”

“How do you know?” Tala questioned, “We’d be lucky to have you.”

“What about you taking power?” Rekona questioned.

“Are you just turning this around, or, are you serious?” Tala questioned.

“Up to you to interpret.” Rekona said.

“Do you really think I would make a good leader?” Tala asked, a little more quietly this time.

“I do.” Rekona replied, “Better than me, at least.” He said, “You lead this team so well as it is. I’m sure you’d do amazing at leading the city.”

“Because I could come and take a proper job at leading, even after Gaila and Lewin died?” Tala questioned, “Because I was able to figure it out and take the respect I needed on my own?”

“Something like that.” Rekona said.

Tala looked back out to what he could see of the street. He looked to his friend, “What do you think about Rien?”

“The Toa of Spirits?” He asked.

Tala looked even more curiously at the Turaga, “I never told you her element. I only told you she helped get rid of Otoka and get the confession.”

“I heard it on the streets.” Rekona said.

Tala nodded, “Ok. So yeah, what do you think of her from what you know?”

“She helped to get rid of Otoka, so I like her.” Rekona said, “I didn’t really like Otoka either. I felt the same way you did.”

“What about the people?” Tala asked, “Do you know anything?”

“Not really.” He replied, “I could tell some were pleased, some hated you.” He replied, shrugging, “But I really haven’t heard much.”

“Pretty much the same that I heard.” Tala replied, “I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer before we get any real information from them.”

“Do you think the Seraphim can even lead in her place?” Rekona asked, “In my time here, I’ve never seen them do anything other than walk beside Otoka as her bodyguards.”

“Same here.” Tala replied, “I really don’t know.”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Rekona replied, “You know, if they even do anything. They might just sit around in that tower of theirs…”

“Hopefully not. Hopefully we’ll actually learn something about them.” Tala said, “Do you even know where they come from? What species they are?” Tala asked.

Rekona shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Do they even have individual names? Or identities? Anything?” Tala questioned, “I’ve always seen them silent and act as sort of a hive mind.”

Rekona shrugged again, “Same as before, I don’t know.”

Tala shook his head, “They really are mysterious, aren’t they?”

“I don’t like it.” Rekona said, “Enigmatic as they are, it’ll be hard to judge if they’ll do better or worse than Otoka did.”

Tala nodded, “You’ve got that right.” He said, dropping to the ground. He looked up, “I’ve got to get going.”

“Where to?” Rekona asked.

“Into town.” He replied, “I’m going to mingle around, see what I can learn.” He pointed at a street behind him, “Rien left a while ago, to read auras. We’ll find out how they feel soon.” He told Rekona, walking away.

Without his sword, the only thing he wore of any use was his Hau, and potentially, his scarf, which could be of use, due to the strong fibers it was made of. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to fight, he hoped that he could just walk in without encountering an enemy of any sort.

Of course, he had his powers. He had fended off a Niveau Deux opponent with his powers alone, but he preferred not to have to.

As he walked, he smashed into something. Dazed, he walked back. He looked ahead at what it was, but couldn’t see anything.

Curious, he walked forward, only to hit something again. He backed away, and put his hands out. He felt a wall of thin air, it seemed, in front of him. He looked around, and then realized something was off in the air around him. He could see specks of dirt floating around at spots, but couldn’t touch it, because of the invisible walls.

He backed away and threw his hand out. He unleashed a torrent of fire, but the flames just peeled off on impact, not doing any damage. He kicked the wall, and then ran his hand along it, trying to find a way around whatever it was.

“Could this be a Toa’s doing?” He muttered. He smashed into another wall. Once more, it was invisible to him. He ran a hand along that wall as well, finding a gap between the two walls. He moved into it and continued onwards. As he turned the corner around a building, he saw Matoran struggling and shouting, trying to get through similar invisible walls.

“Anyone know what’s happening?” Tala shouted.

The Matoran started to shout at him in no unified voice, no voice that held any information. He didn’t expect any. He didn’t expect anyone to have any idea about what this could possibly be, but he had to ask anyway.

He continued to walk, eventually finding that he was boxed in at the end. He turned around, smashing into Rien.

The two stumbled back from each other. Tala rubbed his chest and looked back up at her, “What are you doing here?” He questioned, “You get stuck in this…this…maze?” He couldn’t find a better word to use.

She shook her head, “I followed you.” She waved a hand in front of her body, looking past it at Tala. She could see a red aura surrounding him. She moved her hand down to the ground, now able to see a trail where he had been, outlined in the same red aura.

“Why?” He questioned.

“I followed you to help you.” She replied, “I’m trying to find the cause of these walls.” She said. She put her hands on the two invisible walls at her sides, and spread her energy through them. They seemed to light up, just as Tala had when she read his aura.

The walls lit up, leaving a lit pathway away. Any wall touching the two walls she had touched were now lit up with a faint blue glow. She looked to Tala, “I’m spreading some of my influence, some of my powers of Spirit, of aura.” She explained, “This will lead us out, hopefully.”

“And then what?” He questioned.

“I find the aura of whoever did this.” She replied, “I was trying to when I felt yours.” She motioned behind her, “I had to follow a long path to get to you, and I didn’t want to light the path, for fear of our foe learning what I could do.”

“What do you think did this? Any idea?” Tala asked, walking behind her as they followed the lit trail.

“A Toa.” She replied simply, “That is what you three have been fighting, right?”

“Yeah…but what sort of Toa could possibly do a thing like this?” He questioned.

She stopped at a wall, as if to answer his question. She spread her hand out, cutting off the aura that spread through the walls. She crouched down, pointing to a spot on the wall. It was a speck of dust, just as Tala had been seeing from time to time.

“This is a higher concentration in one spot.” She informed him vaguely.

“Of what? Dust?” He asked.

“Precisely.” She replied, “You know, I’m smarter than you give me credit for.”

“I don’t get it.” Tala said.

“Of course not.” She replied, hitting the wall. She motioned for the dust again, “This had to be done by a Toa of Density. He probably raised a thin, yet very dense wall up, made of dust particles, or something. Spots like these,” she hit the wall at the dust, “would be where there was a higher concentration. Simple as that.” She swept her hand out, returning the aura to the walls, “Simple when you think about it.”

Tala nodded, “Very simple.” He replied, walking behind her as she led him out, “Do you know where you’re going?”

“No.” She replied, “You’re the one who knows this island, not me. I’m just walking until we find a way out, or, I find the aura I seek.”

“You know the aura?” He asked.

She nodded, “The aura I need will be reminiscent of the walls.” She said, “These walls, since they contain powers of this man, contain trace amounts of his aura. I’m not bringing out my own power into the walls, but rather, displaying his aura from his own handiwork.”

Tala looked around, “Will I see anything?” He asked.

She shook her head, “Only I will. This aura is just displayed because I’m using my powers to maintain it. The aura of this man will be something only I can see, unless I spend more power on him, trying to maintain the image of the aura for your eyes.”

They found themselves following walls that wrapped around, away from the bunker, and back towards the center of the city. Hopefully this time, it wouldn’t be a dead end.

As they walked, they found Matoran, trapped in these areas of walls. This maze of invisible walls was making some Matoran break down in panic, forcing them to be evacuated as Rien lit the ways, evacuated by sane minded friends.

As the two Toa continued, it dawned on Tala that they had no weaponry between them. They had his powers over Fire, and that was about it. He wasn’t sure if her powers would be of any practical combat use, after all.

“What can you do in a fight anyway?” He decided to ask her.

She looked back, “I can launch mental attacks.” She replied, “If we encounter the Toa who’s doing this, I’ll show you.”

“Not very practical, is it?” Tala asked.

She stopped and turned to him in outrage, “My powers are practical! They work amazingly well!” She shouted at him, “You just prefer direct confrontation, don’t you?” She questioned.

“I’ll admit, I do.” He replied. They started to walk again. Rien continued to look on ahead instead of looking back to him, “But I can see that your powers would be good, if that was how I acted in battle.”

“If you could act that way.” She said.

They found the edge of a wall, and then, the aura ended. She cast another bit of her power out, allowing them to continue to see where they were going.

“Do you think Seles and Thete are stuck?” he asked.

“Probably.” She simply replied.

“Are you mad at me?” He questioned, using the one word response as a staging ground for his question.

“No, I’m focusing.” She replied, “I’m sending out miniscule amounts of power all over, trying to get a read on anyone who could match.”

A silver, green and black Matoran shouldn’t have been too hard to locate. A Toa even less so. Matoran of Density were rare on the island, but then again, so were Disintegration, and they already found at least two. Disintegration were rare anywhere, native to only a few places in the entire universe.

Rien stopped. She saw a Matoran following in a group, trying to make it through the lit walls. She eyed him, and he collapsed, screaming in pain.

“Rien!” Tala shouted.

“He’s the man!” She shouted.

He sneered at her, “You!” He screamed at Rien. He rose, staggering around, his head in a fog. He drew a Corp. Stone from a pouch he wore, and put it to his chest. To Rien’s surprise, it absorbed into his chest, spiraling light around him, forming him into a Toa, a Toa who held two hooked blades in his right hand, one on top, one on bottom of his fist.

He lunged at her, but collapsed as she attacked him with another mental attack. He rolled around on the ground, screaming out in pain.

“Too bad your mind is advanced.” She told him, “Toa or Matoran, you can’t get me.”

“What about this?” He hissed, erupting into light.

“Rien! You just told him how to win!” Tala shouted, reprimanding her for her foolishness. Though he realized that she didn’t know what the powers of the Corp. Stone were, he was still shocked that she could give him such an idea without ever asking prior.

As the man rose, he was changed into his beast form. Along with the form that was reminiscent of a Hordika beast, his mind was the same. It was slipping, pretty much the only way he could even attempt to fight a warrior like her.

He had green armor spread out over his silver, like blades on his legs. He had slicked back black armor higher up. He had claws coming off of his shoulders, off to his sides and his front as well. He had his claw weapons now melded into his wrists, peeling off like weapons extending on the outsides of his hands. He had a blade sticking out of the back of his head as well, running down his back.

“This is the power of the Corps Stone?” Rien hissed, blasting him with a mental bolt, only to realize it didn’t work.

“Mind and body like a beast.” Tala confirmed, putting his arm out in front of her, keeping her back. He lifted his fist, lighting it ablaze. He threw it forward, throwing the flaming fist at his foe. The warrior batted it aside with his right blade arm and continued forward.

“How about this?” Tala shouted, throwing his fist forward again. A giant version of his fist appeared, made out of flames, and smashed into him. He didn’t move any more than last time, and continued through the flames, even though this one did make contact.

“What is he?” He heard Rien breath.

“I don’t know.” Tala replied, backing away with her.

Explosions riddled the ground around him. He stumbled back, and then his blades blew apart as he remained stiff as a board.

Tala looked up. He could see Thete on a rooftop, out of the way of the walls. He had rained down the initial blasts, creating the initial explosions.

He looked to another rooftop, seeing Seles. He had taken his foe’s kinetic energy, leaving him with only potential, which he then exploited by destroying his melee weapons.

“Now!” Seles shouted. The fact that it was Seles telling Tala to act said a lot about what he had to do.

Tala lunged forward, jabbing his opponent in the face. The Toa smashed into the wall he had created, and then took an uppercut. Even though he had to be in this form to spread that many walls around the island, he couldn’t drop even this single wall to get away from Tala, who continued to punch him, and smash him into his own wall, which hurt every time.

It was a never ending cycle. Tala would attack, he would bounce back, Tala would attack, and so on. Only when his vision went black did the relief come, until he would awaken to find himself in a prison cell.

''-“You strive to wipe your pasts clean. To start anew. You can’t do that, not until you complete your mission. Not until it’s all over, Tala. Next time: “Repentance”. What? What do you mean they don’t believe in me?”''

26: Repentance
A Toa of Energy, clad in gray armor with yellow feet, orange armor near his thighs, gray arms, yellow fists, yellow armor above his elbows, a yellow chest plate, a yellow Kanohi going down his face, with orange behind his head, wrapping around, ran from the four pursuing Toa. He held only a shortsword as a weapon.

He wasn’t fast enough to escape. He turned around, catching sight of his pursuers. He started to jog in place, getting ready to unleash his powers by building up energy before they even arrived to meet him.

Seles saw what he was doing, and threw his arm out. He used his superior control over the element of Energy to stop his movement, and gradually slow him until he wasn’t moving. Redirecting all of that kinetic energy, Seles launched himself forward, driving a flying knee into the enemy Toa’s face, bringing him to the ground.

His body slammed hard and started to smash around the ground at various points as he bounced. He rolled away, and when he stopped, he stayed down.

“I think you got him.” Rien told Seles.

“Thete.” Tala said.

The Toa of Technology nodded in compliance. He threw his arm out, targeting his foe’s internal systems, attempting to shut them down. Before he could get far, the Toa rose, throwing his blade at them.

Tala drew his sword, and in one swift motion, slashed the sword out of the air, reflecting it aside while drawing his left fist up and unleashing a bolt of fire from it, sending it flying through the air on a crash course for the Toa’s face.

The Toa dodged back, triggering his Kanohi mask. His body became covered in stones, protecting him as the blast of flames struck him. He was wearing the Kanohi Spen.

As he hit the ground, he rolled to his feet, still wearing the full suit of rock armor. He rushed forward, somehow able to run in such a heavy rock based suit. He slid towards them, punching Tala in the chest.

Tala flew back. He had heard some of his armor crack under the fist. He smashed into the ground, and stayed down.

“Tala!” Rien cried. She span to face the Toa of Energy. She let loose her powers, targeting his mind with a mental assault.

The Toa cried out and stumbled back. When he looked up, Thete was firing into his chest, opening a small hole in the rock armor.

“What are you trying to do?” He shouted at his attackers.

“This!” Seles shouted, lunging forward. He had his right fist drawn back, ready for a punch. His left hand was behind him, fingers splayed open. He was drawing power from someone behind him to boost his own momentum.

Thete was actually using his own power to speed up some of his own internal systems, since he knew what he could play with without doing any damage to himself. Seles was simply drawing away from these systems as they moved, as pistons moved, or as something else moved in a similar manner. Seles’s momentum continued to increase, until he reached his opponent and threw a single punch in at the small opening.

The opening wasn’t for his fist to enter. It was for the weakness of the rock to be shown as he punched, and to also give him a target.

The rock cracked around his fist. It erupted into an explosion as it showered the sky, raining down as rubble. The enemy Toa fell back, shocked. He saw Seles spin around, driving an elbow into his face. He hit the ground, and blacked out.

His Corps Stone emerged from his chest and rolled aside. Seles crouched down and picked it up. He looked back as Rien helped Tala to his feet and helped him over.

“I woke him by intruding on his mind.” Rien admitted, “Astral projection combined with reading his mind and projecting my own thoughts in to force him to awaken.”

Tala looked at Seles, “Did you get it?”

Seles nodded, “The final Corps Stone on this island.” He said, tossing it up and down. He threw it at the ground, watching it explode into a shower of shards on impact with the hard ground.

They looked at the downed Matoran. He still wore the strange yellow and orange Kanohi that came around the back of his head, appearing almost like horns. He had orange armor on his legs, and yellow on his arms, as before. He even had the yellow chest plate yet.

“Imprison him.” Tala told Rien simply.

“Why me?” She asked, “It’s not like I’ll need the practice, if this was the last of the Corps Stones. How do you even know that, by the way?”

“We had a number, back when this all started.” Tala said, “We’ve been counting ever since.” He told her, walking away with the others.

“Why do you want me to go, though?” She asked.

“I’m glad you’re not intruding on our minds.” Tala said. He turned to face her, “We have some things we must attend to. We’ll meet you at the bunker later.”

“I’ll be alone?” She asked.

Tala nodded, “Sorry, but yeah.” He waved her off and started back along with the other three, walking away from her.

She looked at the downed body of the Matoran. She sighed and picked him up, walking towards the holding cells while the Toa walked the other way, off to whatever it was they were up to.

The three Toa kneeled on the top of the hill, looking at the tree growing at the top, reaching out into the sky. They all sat in silence for a few moments, before clapping their hands together before their chests, as if they were praying.

They bowed their heads for a few moments as they sat in the silence before the tree. After a minute of this, they all looked up, bringing their hands to their knees, since they sat on their feet, their legs folded under them, but the knees out enough for their hands.

Tala didn’t bring his hands back. He flicked his wrists forward, and then drew them back. Two candles lit ablaze with his powers. As soon as the candles sitting atop the steel plates lit, the plates lifted to the sides, displaying what was within.

Two carvings. One on each. One was a carving of Gaila; one was a carving of Lewin. Thete had rigged this up long ago, so that the ignition of the wicks on the candles would bring the images up for them all to see. Still using their rehearsed movements, they bowed before the pictures, touching their foreheads to the ground.

“We did it. After so long, we did it.” Tala said to the pictures before the tree. In the ground beneath them was buried the bodies of Lewin and Gaila. They had been given a burial as an honor for their duty and all they had accomplished in their time alive. “You fought for so many years, trying to stop this threat of five hundred Corps Stones.” Tala continued, “Today, eight months after you two died…we finished the mission. We destroyed the final Corps Stone on Angelus Nui. We finally have brought freedom and peace to this island.”

“Gaila…we are sorry.” Thete said, “We are sorry for everything. We did hold you responsible at the moment, but after so long…we realize you weren’t to blame. It was the moment. You just wanted to keep us all alive. You cared about us, as your team, you really cared about us, our safety. That’s why you didn’t want us to just rush right into fighting a Niveau Trois, wasn’t it? We thank you for that sentiment, but you were blinded.

“It was only by fighting it head on, by using our power, that we could have defeated it. Lewin did what he knew he would have to do, what you didn’t want to see. He killed himself with that Nova Blast to kill it. I just wish that you could have seen how heroic Lewin really was, and what he did for the people of the island.”

“Lewin…we thank you every day for helping us.” Seles said, “You stood up to Gaila and exerted our opinions when she wouldn’t listen. You may have killed her, but you saved so many lives that day. Through Gaila’s death came another chance at life for everyone on this island. You may have murdered…but you stopped an even worse threat.

“Your death was the only way to stop such a beast. You saved them twice over. Once by allowing an idea to come through by killing Gaila. Twice by using your powers to end the threat, and yourself. I wouldn’t have been able to make such a sacrifice. Thank you, Lewin. Thank you for doing what none of us would have done.”

The three clasped their hands together again before their chests as they rose up, sitting once again. They looked at the pictures and the tree again, just sitting in the silence, with the small flames of the candles providing them some ethereal comfort. They knew the flames had nothing to do with the lives of their deceased comrades, but they knew that it helped.

“We found a fourth member.” Tala said, “We found someone to join the fight with. Her name is Rien, she’s a Toa of Spirits.” He said to the tree, to the pictures, “We hope that you two will approve of her from the next life, if you are watching us.” Tala smiled, “I wish we had met you before, or we had finished this threat before you both died…we don’t know what to do anymore. What threats remain on this island that we must handle?”

“We deposed Otoka.” Thete said to the pictures, “We ended her reign for the benefit of the people, and because she was a criminal.”

“The Seraphim rule, but have yet to do anything.” Seles said, “We don’t know the point of anything currently. If you two were here…that would really help us out.”

The three heard someone approach. Tala looked back, and saw Rien approaching them.

“I…I used astral projection first.” She admitted, “I heard you talking to them.” She motioned at the pictures, “I had to come…come and give my regrets, my words to them as well.”

“You didn’t know them.” Seles said.

“I came here to partner with them.” She said, “I know enough. And they helped bring you three into being actual, proper Toa. I have to thank them for that, for being able to raise warriors like you who would have me.”

“You can, in a few minutes.” Tala said, “First…we must repent.”

“Repent?”

“We’ve done many bad things in our time.” Tala explained, “We must repent for those actions. Deposing Otoka, killing the few times we have, their deaths…Gaila’s because we couldn’t get along with her, and Lewin’s because none of us would act first.”

“None of your Nova Blasts would have worked as well.” She said, “Tala…you would have killed so many people.” She looked to the others, “I don’t even know what you two could have done…”

“It doesn’t excuse the fact.” Tala said, “We three must repent for our sins. We all have sins in our pasts. Some have greater sins, some don’t. We must simply repent now that this is over. It’s what they would have wanted us to do.”

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“Yes.” He replied, turning back to the pictures. They all put their hands in front of their chests once more and began to speak softly to the pictures, to their partners.

“If you grant me forgiveness from the next life…” Tala said, “I shall never kill again. I shall only fight in self defense, never for myself, but always for another.”

Thete spoke next, “If you forgive me…I shall work myself to my breaking point.” He said, “I shall exhaust myself for the benefit of the Matoran on this island. It will make their lives easier, and potentially, save lives.”

Now it was Seles’s turn. He looked ahead as he spoke, “If I can gain your forgiveness, I shall allow Rien into our team with open arms, for she can help us save lives. I shall also change my ways. I’ll become a better man when we can fully embrace peace in the aftermath of the final Stone being destroyed. I shall become a man easier to get along with, one whom the people will like more than they do now.”

Rien stepped forward, speaking over their backs.

“If you two would think of me as one of your own, I would be greatly appreciative.” She said to the deceased Toa, “I would like to become part of this team. I need your approval, your silent approval from beyond this life, first. Please, may I have it?”

“I think you’ve earned it.”

Tala turned around, taking a look at Turaga Rekona standing behind them. He looked to Rien, but she said nothing back.

“Aren’t you going to respond?” Tala asked her.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

He motioned behind her, “Didn’t you hear him?”

“Who?” Rien asked, looking back. The blank stares she shared with Thete and Seles told them that she, like them, could see nothing.

“Turaga Rekona!” Tala exclaimed, “My friend! The Turaga of Air, right behind you. Don’t you see him?”

“Tala…no one is there.” Thete told him.

“What do you mean?” He questioned. He walked over, standing right beside Rekona. He pointed down, “See?”

Rekona looked up at him, “I don’t know what’s wrong with them…”

“No, nothing is there!” Seles snapped. He held his hand out, “Is he moving?”

“No.” Tala replied.

“I’ll make him explode.” Seles hissed, releasing his powers.

“No! You fool, don’t!” Tala screamed. He looked at Rekona, but nothing happened to him, confusing him, but making him sick with relief.

Rien closed her eyes as Thete reached out, unable to feel anything, just like how Seles was unable to manipulate anything. As she reached into Tala’s mind, she found something greatly disturbing inside of his head.

“Tala…you’re not well.” She told him.

“You’re not well!” He said, motioning to the Turaga of Air, “None of you can see him! Something is wrong with all of you…”

“Tala, you’re seeing something that doesn’t exist.” She told him, “I read your mind…you do believe you are seeing him.” She waved her hand out. She could see his aura, but no second aura to belong to the Turaga, “Look at yourself.” She instructed. He looked at his hand, seeing his aura. He looked to Rekona, seeing nothing.

“Why doesn’t he have aura?” Tala asked.

“The same reason our powers didn’t work.” Thete said, taking over, “He doesn’t exist!”

“I’ve been speaking to him ever since we lost Gaila and Lewin!” Tala snapped, “He’s kept me sane! He has to exist!”

“No…he hasn’t kept you sane.” Rien said, “You’ve snapped. I have to believe that when you saw the deaths of your friends…you snapped, and created him as a figment of your imagination, I’m sure of that, Tala.”

“What? That can’t be!” Tala screamed.

“Think about it.” Rien asserted, “He appeared to you after their deaths. Has he been here long?”

“No…” Tala said.

“Do you know where he lives? Have you talked to anyone else about him in the past?” Rien questioned.

“No…” Tala said.

“He’s a figment of your imagination.” She rested a hand on his shoulder, “I know you believe he exists, my Rode tells me that. But please…don’t hurt yourself. It’s your head, tricking you because you need someone there. But you have us, Tala. Please…believe in us. Believe in what I’m saying…”

Tala looked to his side, but Rekona wasn’t there. She was right.

He collapsed to his knees, coming to his wits end, and to an emotional breaking point.

''-“Tala leads us. He accepted me into the team. Now it’s my turn to prove myself to him. We all have moments of weakness, is this one of his? Next time: “Requiem”. Tala, I’m here for you.”''

27: Requiem
The day was silent and empty. Without having Turaga Rekona to speak to, Tala's life was going to be empty. He would have to face that reality.

Rekona had never actually existed. As far as Rien was able to tell, Rekona was part of his own mind. Rekona only knew what Tala knew. He was another side to Tala, simple as that.

Tala wondered why Rekona always seemed to be able to specifically help him. He was always intoned to the specific situation, and never anything more. He was always able to give proper guidance, and have an insight that Tala always wondered about, with how accurate and insightful it truly was to the situation.

Tala was walking alone along the western edge of the island, lost in his own thoughts. He believed that spending some time by the ocean would do him some good, and the west had the best places for that. Plenty of beach, next to no Matoran around.

This was the only place he could have peace, peace in both body and mind. He sat against a rock and looked down the small cliff, down into the pounding waters.

“Been a while.”

Tala shot to his feet. He span around, his hand instinctively going for the hilt of his sword sticking out from his back. He looked on ahead, taking notice of the person whom had spoken to him in that familiar voice.

Crimson and red armor, wielding a savage looking broadsword. There was no way to believe this was anyone other than a specific man, but that was impossible.

Ucen was dead.

“I’m not quite dead.” Ucen said, shrugging, “Hate to break it to you.”

“How did you survive?” Tala hissed.

“I faked it.” He simply replied.

“What? I don’t understand.” Tala answered, holding his sword steady in both hands in front of his body.

“Simple. I let out a scream that would make you think I was blown apart, which is what your Toa of Energy could have done to me, but didn’t. He hit my armor, but I managed to fix it up.” He hit a few pieces with the back of his fist, showing the patchwork that he had done to himself, to his own armor, “That scream kept you from looking to see if I was alive…”

“We all saw a corpse once from when Seles used his power on a body, instead of armor.” Tala answered, “We didn’t want to see another corpse like that. I admit, it was foolish, but that scream kept us all away.”

Ucen shook his head, putting his weapon onto his shoulder, “Then you’re a fool, you know that?”

“I know.” Tala hissed, “I had a lot of things to work through, as it turns out. I took care of all of them. I’m ready for you, now.” Tala said.

Then it hit him. He realized what it was that he had promised to his dead comrades, along with the other two Toa. They had all promised different things. This was his promise.

He would not fight, except in self defense. He couldn’t take the initiative in this fight. He had to let his opponent attack first, and then he would have to fight for his life, as opposed to taking a direct approach to the battle.

He was a fool for making this promise to the deceased. He realized how foolish he was, but had no idea of it at the time. He didn’t know Ucen was alive, after all.

“Well?” Ucen questioned.

“Come at me.” Tala said.

“Trying to bait me?” Ucen demanded.

“I can’t fight you.” Tala said, “I can’t take the initiative in this fight, anyway.” He admitted.

“Why not?” Ucen demanded, “I want a proper fight!”

“I made an oath to my dead partners. My former leaders.” Tala said, “I won’t fight for myself. I will only fight defensively from this day on.”

“Then you need me to attack first.” Ucen said. He leapt forward, slamming his sword down. As it made contact with the ground, it sent shards of stone flying around in the air. Tala rolled away, rolling towards the edge of the cliff.

Ucen let out a shout and leapt at him. He slammed his sword down as hard as he could, not attacking Tala, but rather, attacking the ground, trying to cut off Tala’s section and take him down to the ground below.

It was too late by the time that Tala actually realized it. The ground shook, and splintered around him. He fell to the ground, landing at least three times his own height down. He laid on his back, his scarf spread out on the rocks and sand around him. His sword was out of reach.

Ucen leapt down, giving a battle cry as he fell. He lifted his sword as high as he could, and then span it around, getting ready to plunge his weapon right into Tala for the kill.

Tala wondered if his shield would hold. He didn’t want to risk it, but tried to move, only to find that he couldn’t. He shook his head, trying to find the resolve to move. He couldn’t. He feared that his body was too battered from the fall.

He threw up his shield in an attempt to protect himself. As the tips of the sword struck his shield, he sighed with relief that it held up against the force being driven at him.

Ucen pulled back, readying for a slash to attempt to split Tala in half. Tala dropped his shield and rolled aside, letting the sword smash into the ground, kicking up sand and pebbles into the air.

Tala leapt for Ucen, kicking him in the side. Ucen rolled and came up onto a single knee. He threw his sword with a shout at Tala.

Tala dodged to the side and threw his left arm out. Fire erupted from his fingertips, acting like a flamethrower, washing over Ucen.

Ucen cried out as he stumbled out of the flames, his arms in front of his face to attempt to protect himself. He dropped his arms so he could see Tala, only to see him rolling for both swords. Once he had them, he rushed in at Ucen, crossing them over his chest.

The "Blood Swordsman" dodged back, avoiding the twin slashes out. Tala twisted his wrists, slashing inwards to bring the X back to his chest in an attempt to catch Ucen on the way back.

Ucen rolled away and came up, standing in ankle deep water. He reached his hand down, taking a handful of mud. As Tala approached, he threw the mud into Tala’s eyes, staining some of his Hau black around the eyes, and blinding Tala for the time being.

Tala cried out and stumbled back. He threw his swords forward and unleashed his power, letting loose a stream of flames in an attempt to catch Ucen before he moved to the side, if he would go right in for the attack.

He didn’t hear Ucen cry out at all. He dodged back and forth, hoping to avoid Ucen. He smashed into the cliff, unable to move back any farther. He rolled one way, hoping that his opponent was unable to get to him fast enough. He span around, swinging the swords out around him, hoping to catch Ucen.

He heard the man’s laughter. “You fool. You can’t get me like that!” Ucen shouted. He leapt forward, ramming his elbow into Tala’s chest, smashing him into the cliff. Tala dodged under the next swing, anticipating its location. He drove his elbow into Ucen’s side, able to find him through experience, and having known his last attack location.

Ucen stumbled back. He was about to attack again, when he realized that Tala had wiped the mud out of his eyes. He span his swords around and rushed forward, sending flames whirling around the spinning swords.

He span around, lifting the swords up as Ucen dodged low. Tala slashed down, catching Ucen across both shoulders and down across his body, throwing him into the sand. Tala continued to whirl around and then whipped his arms forward. The flames danced forward, glazing over the sand into glass. The wave of heat and glass rushed for Ucen.

Ucen muttered something and rolled aside, evading the wave of fire. He came up onto his knees and pushed himself to his feet. He raced forward, tackling Tala into the cliff. He put his fists together and smashed them both into the back of Tala’s head, bringing the Toa of Fire down. He span around, kicking him hard in the chest, taking him back into the cliff, making him drop both swords.

Ucen crouched down, reclaiming his blade. He drew it back, taking aim for the left blade to pierce Tala’s throat. He shouted and plunged it forward.

Tala threw his right hand out, catching the blade, redirecting it, at the cost of a gash across his hand. He sent a wave of heat rippling through the sword, scorching Ucen’s hand, but the warrior didn’t release the blade.

Tala took his sword up and rolled away. He looked around the cliff, and saw a path leading up. He ran for it, stumbling a few times, weak from the fight. He climbed up the small hill and raced towards the top. As he looked down, he could see Ucen rushing after him.

There was a forest up ahead. Tala could use it to his advantage.

Tala ran into the rows of trees, disappearing from sight. Soon, Ucen arrived at the edge of the forest. He raced headlong in, smashing trees with his sword as he ran.

Tala hid behind a tree, out of sight. He held his hand out as Ucen passed, unleashing a jet of fire into the warrior’s side.

Ucen let out a shout and rolled forward. He came to his knees and lunged forward. He took the tree out with one swing of his sword, bringing it crashing into another tree, making it lean.

Tala raced onto the leaning tree, rushing up, clawing at the minimal branches. He tried to reach the safety of the next tree so he could form a plan for the time being.

He looked back and watched as Ucen rushed up in pursuit. He had a plan.

He leapt off of the tree, landing on a branch of the next tree. He span around, throwing his hand out. As Ucen came near the top, Tala unleashed his powers.

Fire erupted around Ucen. The fire came up onto Ucen’s legs, threatening to consume him if he stayed on the flammable tree for too long.

Ucen cursed at Tala. Tala smiled and leapt off of the tree. He slammed both feet into the flaming Ucen, throwing him off and to the ground.

“Are you done yet?” Tala hissed.

“Not by a long shot.” Ucen said, rising. He ignored the flames dancing around his body. He lifted his sword high, like he always did, even though Tala’s sword was ready for a plunge already.

As Tala threw his sword forward, Ucen drew his hand up. He caught the sword in his hand, and yanked it forward. Tala’s footing was taken out by the yank. He stumbled towards Ucen, who backhanded him with his left hand, throwing him to the hard ground.

Ucen stomped on his throat. Tala cried out, gasping for breath. He glared into Ucen’s unmerciful eyes, looking for any redemption, anything that could tell him that Ucen wasn’t a true man of evil, but rather, someone with a past of sin, like they all had.

His eyes showed only hate, rage, and the will to murder. Nothing redeemable.

Tala screamed. Fire erupted around his body, flowing into Ucen. The flames which were starting to die down on his body were reignited. He screamed anew as he stumbled back.

Tala shouted with rage and ran forward. He tackled Ucen into a tree, lighting it ablaze. More trees quickly caught fire, spreading quickly into a burning path of forest.

Tala threw his hands towards the forest. He had to stop it before it reached the edges of the city. He let loose his powers, attempting to control it all at once.

Ucen saw his concentration. He took up his sword and rushed forward, drawing it back, lining it up with Tala’s side.

Tala was too busy taking care of the forest fire he had started. He turned to see Ucen racing down his flank. Tala had only one option left.

Drawing all the fire he could away from the trees, he slammed the fire into Ucen, as if it were a massive sword made of fire.

Ucen cried out and stumbled around. His hands threw up to his face, attempting to keep his eyes from being burned out. He threw his arms to his sides in anger, watching his opponent as the flames danced around him, matching the rage in his eyes.

Tala threw his arm to the sky. He closed his eyes, focusing. Thete had implanted a device in his arm that would allow him to summon the Flame Cycle when he needed it. He needed it, and fast.

It would take a minute for it to arrive, since thankfully it ran at full speed. Tala looked back to Ucen, who was racing for him, drawing his sword back.

“You won’t win.” Tala hissed. He threw his hand forward, raising a wall of fire to deter him. When Ucen dodged around the side, Tala leapt through the flames, unharmed by his own element. He span around, spreading the flames, leaving a gap so he could see his foe. He created a swirl of fire in his palm and let it loose, smashing it into his foe’s chest.

Ucen went down. He struggled to get back up, but fell to one knee. He looked up at Tala, who was mocking him silently.

Tala leapt up. He landed on the Flame Cycle, the armor folding down around him. He drove hard and fast for Ucen. He smashed it into the "Blood Swordsman’s" body, tossing it aside.

Tala span his vehicle around quickly. He drove in at Ucen, letting loose a blast of fire from the underside of the vehicle, burning Ucen once more, throwing him around like a ragdoll.

Tala stopped the vehicle. He looked down at Ucen, looking down in unbridled rage. He knew that Ucen would have the same look to return to him, but he didn’t care. That’s why he gave the look in the first place.

“Tala!”

He turned around. He saw Rien racing forward. She stopped at the edge of the burnt trees, watching Tala and Ucen go at it. She had heard of Ucen, but that was all. She knew nothing else.

Tala leapt out of the vehicle and rushed for Rien. He stood in front of her, panting, in excruciating pain. He looked back to Ucen, and then to Rien.

“Please, can you help me?” He pleaded, “Can you at least tell me what he’s thinking? If I knew his mindset, I know I could have a better time fighting him.”

“Do you want me to give him a mental attack?” She asked.

He shook his head, “No. Just let me know what he’s thinking.”

She closed his eyes, using her mental powers. Her eyes opened wide in shock. Fear filled her eyes. Her legs trembled. She stumbled forward, and then fell to her knees.

“Such rage…” She breathed. She looked up with watery eyes to Tala, “He’s so evil…he has such rage. He’s…he’s a monster…”

Tala looked up from the broken down Rien to Ucen. The "Blood Swordsman" was rising again, panting. He was hunched over, his sword still held tightly in his hand.

“His body is weak…but he still holds that sword so tightly in his hand.” Tala observed, telling Rien, “He lives only to fight…”

Rien slowly nodded her head, “That’s right…”

“This man is a monster. He truly is.” Tala said. He held no weapon. His sword was still on his Flame Cycle. He didn’t need a sword. He would use his powers to end the fight, most likely.

He clenched his fist, generating flames around it. He drew his fist back and threw it forward, unleashing a stream of fire, impacting into Ucen. Tala knew that he had won, finally. Ucen had to be dead.

Tala walked towards his Flame Cycle. As soon as he reached for his sword, something bad happened. The Flame Cycle started to leak fuel. He saw a cut in the fuel line. All the heat around wasn’t helping.

The Cycle blew up, throwing Tala back. He hit the ground hard. His sword flew around in the air, slamming into the ground next to his head.

As Tala rose, he saw Ucen rushing out, racing for Rien in his blind confusion, his eyes closed to protect himself from the soot and shrapnel of the explosion. He slammed the sword out in a shout.

Rien screwed her eyes closed. She opened them to Tala’s screams. Tala had taken the mortal wound for her.

As Ucen pulled his sword free from Tala’s body, the Toa of Fire let loose an explosion of his powers. His entire body began to melt away. Just like Lewin before him, he was becoming one with his element in a blaze of death to save the lives of others.

''-“Death is permanent. It is everlasting. What is beyond the gates of darkness that await as we die? Even as a Toa of Spirits, I don’t know. But, what we can all hope for as we die is that our wishes are carried out. Next time: “Ordeal”. Please Tala; be ready to pass on for us to prove ourselves.”''

28: Ordeal
Rien stood in a moment of absolute shock. The sky above her was gray, but not in the twilight. Being mid day, and having such a dark sky, she saw it as a bad omen. She was a Toa of Spirits, it was the first place she went to.

She collapsed to her knees. There was almost nothing left of Tala. She reached into the darkened remains of his armor. She found a few pieces that she knew. She found a chunk of his Hau. She found some of his shoulder armor, some of his leg armor, a chunk of a hand.

His outburst of power had destroyed his body. He had done as he said that Lewin had done only eight months ago.

He had “become one” with his element, unleashing it all in one massive outburst of destructive power, setting out to destroy anything in his path.

Lewin had floated above Angelus Nui and had unleashed it on a larger scale. He had destroyed the Corps Stone that the beast opponent of Niveau Trios had been using, attempting to wipe out the island in a mad rage.

The massive outburst of wind had severed the body of the beast, and had relieved him of the Corps Stone, wiping the Stone out in a slicing blast of wind.

Tala had to be careful. He had Rien behind him. He had trees all around him. He had released it all in one massive outburst straight forward, like Lewin, but weaker as a result of the potential damage that he could have caused all around him.

Rien clawed through the remains. She found a piece of his scarf, the scarf of Fusha fibers. The Fusha was a fireproof plant. He had purchased a scarf made of it so he could have something to improve his look, to make him his own man. He also said it made him look dashing.

That particular scarf was purchased because of the fireproof nature.

It was ashes, more or less, in her hands. As she picked up a remain, it crumpled in her hands. Apparently the plant wasn’t completely fireproof. Such a massive attack could still burn it apart.

She found his sword lying among the ashes of his self-cremation. She took up the sword. It had miraculously survived, only covered in soot and debris of the armor and the rest of the body. She took it up and held it close to her body, the only real thing left of Tala.

She heard footsteps behind her. She turned around, taking a look at the approaching Thete and Seles. From the look on her face, reflected on their faces, she knew that her look had betrayed what had happened.

They rushed past her and looked down at the ashes. Thete looked to the side, his element getting the best of him. He saw the remains of the Flame Cycle. It was destroyed in the attack that Tala had unleashed.

“What happened?” Seles breathed.

She looked up at him. She rose to her feet, swaying, still not sure she could comprehend what had happened here.

“That man…Ucen…he came back.” She whispered.

“He survived?” Seles hissed.

“I don’t know…apparently.” She replied. She motioned at the burnt trees all around, “I…I guess Tala tried to fight him off…”

“Bad move.” Thete muttered.

“How so?” She asked, “Was he out of Tala’s league?”

“Tala fought him before. He could fight him.” Thete informed her, “His word to our deceased partners was that he would fight in self defense. If Ucen attacked him, he would have had to fight in self defense, for his own honor and his word to the deceased. He stood no chance at that point.”

Seles nodded, “Ucen lives…or lived, only to fight. He wouldn’t have stopped until he was dead, or Tala was dead, and then he would have moved onto a new target.” Seles told her, “Tala did the only thing he could. Kill or die. He did both, it seems.”

“He was a good man.” Thete said softly, shaking his head at the sight, “He was one of the best men I knew.”

Rien looked among the ashes. She crouched down, moving a piece of armor. She saw a rounded, dark brown stone. The ashes had stained it darker, she could tell by certain coloration that the stone had once been lighter.

It was round, and fit easily into the palm of her hand. She rose and looked at the others.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Tala’s Soul Stone.” Seles told her.

“His what?” She asked.

“His Soul Stone.” Thete said, explaining it, “We all carry one somewhere on our body. When you die…your mind records a message onto the stone. Once the spirit has passed through the body, the stone can be picked up, and the mental message will be projected. It’s a sort of way that you can give a last word to those you care about, those who you fight beside…on that stone is Tala’s last memory, his last words that he would want us to know.”

“How do you use it?” She asked.

“We’ll trigger it.” Thete said, holding his hand out. Seles stood on the other side of Thete, holding his hand out as well.

“Rien, he trusted you as a fourth member of our team.” Thete said, “You’ll need to focus your power into the stone as well for it to activate.”

She nodded, closing her eyes, getting ready to release her powers in conjunction with the others, to allow the powers of Tala’s teammates to unlock his final memory, his final thoughts, so they could all rest a bit easier knowing his fated message.

They heard something. Before they unlocked the stone, they all turned. Stalking towards them, in pitch black, shattered armor, dragging a fragmented sword, was Ucen.

His armor was no longer red and white. It was black. Pitch black, from the overwhelming heat burning his entire armor over.

His sword was no longer made of multiple blades, but now was only the central blade. There were a few spikes of the outer blades hanging tight, but they would break in one swing, it appeared.

His left arm hang lame at his side. He wasn’t dragging a foot, though, so his legs were fine. He was panting and coughing as he walked. It seemed he might be having lung problems, potentially from breathing in dust or soot or ash from the flames.

“He’s alive?” Thete breathed.

“What does it take to kill this guy?” Seles shouted. “He survived an explosion by me, he survived Tala’s cremation attack! What is this guy? Immortal?”

“I only had to survive the one attack.” Ucen breathed as he approached, “Your explosion only hit my armor. It was a ruse…”

“I get it.” Thete said. He drew his handgun and aimed it at the blackened foe, “Let’s make this quick. Seles?”

Seles stood next to him, bringing his fists up. He nodded, “Yeah, let’s take him down.”

Rien walked forward, shaking her head. She held her right arm out, with her sword, keeping them back. She looked into their eyes with a dead seriousness that Tala had once had, as well as Gaila before him.

“He’s mine.” She hissed.

“What? You can’t fight him!” Seles said.

“He came after Gaila.” Rien said, “He fought Tala. He was the death of Tala. It’s my turn to fight him! I was only here because of Gaila’s reputation. I stayed because of Tala. Too much was taken. This man has to die!”

“The Toa of Spirits will be the spirit of death for me?” Ucen laughed. He drew his damaged sword up, but no longer rested it on his shoulder. He held it out at an angle in front of him, going past his left shoulder.

She drew the sword up across her body in a similar manner. They both faced each other, neither one making the first move.

As soon as she saw Ucen’s leg moving, she unleashed her power, hammering his mind with a mental bolt. He cried out and stumbled back.

She wasn’t going to press her advantage. She leapt over the ashes, deciding not to desecrate Tala’s remains with a fight. She just needed him to back up. She wanted to deal with him personally, and allow Tala’s blade—now hers—to face Ucen head to head, and hopefully, be the death of him. The blade thirsted for Ucen’s death.

So did Rien, and she was sure that Tala’s soul did as well.

She rolled forward, spinning around and smashed him across the face with the hook blade. As soon as he stumbled aside, she drew her right foot back, and smashed it into his chest, throwing him to the ground.

He rolled as she slammed the sword into the ground, running the blade down. She drew the blade up, kicking up grass and dirt with it. He rolled to one knee, and then launched himself forward, driving it in for the kill.

He was cocky. He thought he could win that fast. It made Rien almost laugh.

She batted his sword down. She drew hers along his, and slashed it back, cutting him across the chest. He stumbled back, twisting and falling to the ground. He rolled, coming back to his knees. He swung his sword around as he rose, and rushed forward, his blade point down.

Rien threw her left hand forward. He stopped in his step, falling to his knees. She decided that he didn’t deserve death by the blade, a death that he would want.

No. He deserved to be taken out all because of her mental attacks. The mental attack would keep him down, and then, she could run him through without him being able to put up a fight.

It would be what he would deserve, but not what he would desire.

She ran for him and slashed twice, knocking him back. She span around, driving a knee into his side. He hit the ground and rolled away. As soon as he came back up, he threw his sword at her.

The blade whistled by her head. It missed.

She threw her hand forward again, pounding his head. She ran at him and drove a knee to his face, throwing him onto his back.

He rolled aside and kicked her in the side, able to overcome the pounding in his head. She hit the ground and rolled, keeping a tight grip on the sword that was now hers.

As Ucen rushed forward, she noticed that he hadn’t retrieved his blade. He kicked her in the stomach while she was on the ground, making her cry out.

He crouched, grabbing her in both hands by the throat. His left arm felt lame, but it had a lot of strength behind it, to her surprise.

“How…?”

“I played you for a fool.” He hissed. He kicked her and released her throat. She rolled away, unable to get back up.

“Just like with the Toa of Energy's attack.” He hissed, walking towards her. He circled his left arm around, looking for feeling, “It does hurt, and it’s not as strong, but it’s good enough!”

He pounced for her. She rolled back and kicked him in the chest, propelling him back. He landed on his back and rolled, but couldn’t come up.

He held his right hand to his chest. He started to have violent convulsions as he coughed and coughed, unable to get a breath.

“Damage to your lungs?” She questioned.

“His attack was more powerful…” He hissed.

“Dying does that to a person.” She said, “It makes them desperate. He wanted to see you die. He won’t get his wish, but I will!”

“You’re a Toa. You won’t kill me.” He hissed.

She lifted the sword up. She glared down the length of the blade, right at his head. The dark sky opened up, letting down rain.

Tala had spoken of the rain. It was where the team of five had first met. Rien had no good memories of the rain, not like Tala.

At least the day of Tala’s death had rain. That would make him smile from the next world, she was sure of that.

“I will kill you.” She hissed, “Your death will be of great value to the rest of the universe. You’re a monster. You’re a murderer. I am judge, jury and executioner today! I am at one with the spirits, I may not be able to see the spirits of the dead, but I can see nothing but evil in yours, in your aura. I know that this is what Tala would want me to do.”

“How can you know that?” He hissed.

“Because he would want justice to reign.” She hissed, taking three quick strides towards him, leaving the tip of the blade at the crown of his head.

“Will you do it?” He hissed. He could look at the blade, which was between his eyes. All she had to do was thrust it. She kept him far enough away that he couldn’t reach her.

He could dodge to the side, but the sword would probably cut his throat in one swift swing. He was going nowhere.

“I will.” She said.

She felt a tingle take over her. It was warm, like a shaft of light opening from the sky. She knew the sky was overcast, and there was no light as the rain pounded down around them.

She felt content that this was Tala’s spirit, telling her what he would want. Telling her to save other lives, telling her to kill this man.

She felt warmth around her hand on the hilt. It was as though he were wielding his sword from the next life.

The sword found its mark. Ucen said no more as he slumped forward on the blade. She looked down, in shock, at the murder she had committed.

She drew the sword back and walked away, leaving the corpse lying on the ground. She had no interest in looking at what she had done, or at who had ended up taking Tala’s life in the long run.

She approached the other two Toa. She looked at them, giving them a weak smile, “It’s over…”

Wishing to return to the matter at hand, Seles cut away from what she had said, “Any idea on who will be the next leader?” He asked Thete, “You think he left that for us on his Soul Stone?”

Thete shrugged, “Let’s find out.”

The three held their hands out. The stone was once more in Rien’s palm. She focused her power through her hand, as the other two unleashed a thin stream of theirs into the stone sitting in her palm.

As the energy made contact, the stone lit up. Words began to appear in the air, and on the surface of the stone itself.

Tala’s voice spoke to them, like a ghost from beyond returning to give one last message to his allies, to his friends, to his comrades.

“Everyone…I am doing what I must. Ucen’s death must come, and I know my life must be given in exchange for his death to occur. I am breaking the Toa Code, but for good reason. A monster like this can not live.

“Everyone…I am sorry to have to leave you. It’s very hard, to have to have three comrades die in front of you. But this one is necessary. I will be with the others at least. I know you three will be fine, now that Rien is here. Now that there are three of you.

“I know you need a new leader. I am naming my successor from among you. I know that Rien will be a great leader. My time with her has shown me that. Rien, good luck leading the others. Please, everyone, move on, and continue our mission as the Toa Angelus.”

''-“I’ve heard it said that a legacy will continue on forever, just like the waxing and waning of the moon in the darkness of the sky. I wonder if a legacy will outlive the moon… Next time: “Beast”. The oral and written word, or, the ongoing light of the dark?”''

29: Beast
A boat drew itself into the harbor of Angelus Nui. It was a small skiff designed only for minimal passengers.

This skiff had two.

One was a Ta-Matoran. He looked ordinary, completely ordinary. He had a heavy pack on his back, and looked around with wonder at the city island of Angelus Nui. He drew a tablet out of his pack and started to write on it, acting as a Chronicler.

Behind him came another person. This man was tall and lean, clad in gray and brown armor. A Toa of Stone. He was wearing a Kanohi Kakama and carried a large mace of some sort, with blades protruding from all angles, in all manners. Straight, curved, and so on. He looked very deadly. His entire complexion and demeanor was one of a Toa, but also, one who knew that the Toa Code wasn’t something that he needed to follow. He had the look of a killer about him, but one who killed for justice.

“The hunt brings us to Angelus Nui.” He told the Ta-Matoran, walking down onto the dock. He looked back as the Matoran quickly jotted it down, and followed him.

“Excuse me!”

Rien ran down the dock. She had Tala's sword strapped to her back, just as he had always worn it. The other two were following, but at a slower pace.

“Who are you?” The Toa questioned, “I don’t recall there being a Toa of Spirits on this island.”

“I’m the leader of the Toa Angelus.” She told him.

“What happened to that Toa of Water?” He questioned.

“Dead. Her successor also died about a week ago, fighting an insane warrior, Ucen. He died in that battle, sacrificing himself, but failing to take out the man. There, that should take care of future questions.” She told him.

“Ucen?” He questioned, “The "Blood Swordsman"?”

She looked back to the other two Toa. They nodded as they approached, confirming the title that Ucen had given them.

She nodded, “Yeah, that would be him.”

The Toa shook his head, “And is Ucen dead?”

“I killed him.” Rien replied, “Why?”

“I fought him once. He swore to come back for me. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him that day.” The Toa of Stone mused, “A shame he’s dead.”

“Yeah, a shame.” She said sarcastically, “Now, who are you?” She questioned.

“His name is Sewin!” The Ta-Matoran said, rushing forward.

“Sewin?” She asked.

The Matoran nodded, “You’ve heard of him, haven’t you? The legend himself!”

“Legend?” She asked.

“You haven’t heard of him?” The Matoran shouted in outrage, as if she had spoken blasphemy, “He’s a legend! How…”

“I’m not a legend as you state.” Sewin told his Matoran ward, “You can think of me as one, but I’m not a real legend by any means.”

“Of course you are!”

“No.” Sewin said, cutting him off, “Now, please be quiet Fata. I need to conduct some business here.”

The Matoran, Fata, nodded and remained silent.

“Good.” Sewin said, looking back to Rien, “My quest has been long, but I have finally arrived here. I’m hunting down a beast. I heard rumors that it was sighted here, so I came to find it.”

“A beast?” She asked.

He nodded, “Some sort of feral creature. Not a Rahi, according to the rumors, but some monster that sought only to bring death. Or seeks it. Depends if you count it as Ucen.” He shrugged, “Some have. I don’t.”

“I haven’t heard of anything.” She told him.

“I’ll have to have my look around.” He told her, walking by. He motioned for Fata, who quickly picked up the pace to follow him.

She looked to her comrades as the two visitors walked by. She waved her hand out, reading the aura of the two.

Fata was full of excitement and respect. A stable aura.

Sewin on the other hand was just…off. He wasn’t evil, he wasn’t holding any deep darkness. He was just…off.

“Ever heard of him?” She asked them.

Both Toa shook their heads.

“I didn’t think so.” Rien replied.

“Have either of you seen Eiran?” Thete asked in the bunker hours later, taking a seat.

“Who?” Rien asked.

“A Ga-Matoran who became friends with Tala.” Seles said, “She’s usually around here. I haven’t seen her in a while, though.”

“Me neither.” Thete said.

“I’ve never seen her.” Rien said. “Why do you want to find her? Worried about her?”

“We should tell her that Tala is dead.” Thete said, “Not many know it yet, since the Seraphim haven’t made an announcement after we told them…or ever…so I don’t think many actually know.” He said, “I don’t think she does either.”

“We really need to find her.” Rien said, “She deserves to know.”

Changing the subject, Seles spoke, “So…get anything off his aura?” He asked her.

She nodded nervously, “Yeah…I did.”

“What was it?” Seles asked.

“His aura was just…off. That was it.” She told him, “Just off. That simple.”

“Any more specifics?” Seles questioned.

She shook her head, “Sadly, no.”

Thete walked towards the door and looked to the sky. The moon was starting to shine down. He looked down to them, “I found Fata earlier. He said that the beast comes out during the night. The moon helps, if there is a moon, that is.”

“We have a moon here.” Rien said, rising. She looked to Thete, “So, should we go hunting?”

Seles laughed, “You serious?” He rose to his feet, shaking his head, “I’m going to stand, since I know you’ll make me come. I’m just going on record right now in saying that I don’t think such a thing exists, especially not here. I think we’re wasting our time.”

“We’ll see.” Rien said, rushing towards the door. She looked to Seles, who was slowly making his way up. She impatiently waited until he arrived, and then left the bunker with the other two behind her.

“Where do we even begin?” Seles questioned.

A scream pierced the night.

“I guess something’s wrong.” Thete said, “Beast or no beast.”

“Let’s move!” Rien ordered, racing away.

The other two followed on her heels. They twisted through the streets, going through alleys, turning down any street that would bring them closer faster. It was hard to tell exactly where the scream came from, but they were getting close, that was for sure.

Finally, they stopped. They saw it up ahead.

It turned to them. It roared, showing an arm in its mouth. It backed away, dropping the arm on the ground, beside the screaming Matoran, who had since passed out, or died of the shock or pain. It was hard to tell.

A blip of the heartlight. Alive, at least, if not in excruciating pain.

“Guess Sewin was right.” Thete said, lifting his firearm. He shot at the beast. As it backed away, into the open street, they could see it under the moonlight.

It was about the size of a cross between a Matoran and a Toa, if it were to rise onto its hind legs. It had a whip-like tail swinging out behind it. It was covered in silver fur and armor. The fur stuck out in tufts between gaps of the steel plating. It had a vicious mouth and a gaping black maw. Now that it backed farther away, they could see more black across its body as a whole.

It had razor sharp claws that looked like they had torn through the ground as it had run. They could see claw marks all over, including on the sides of buildings.

Rien drew the blade out at it. She watched it, waiting for it to move. She hissed to Thete, “Cover me. Just fire if it gets close.”

He nodded, “Got it.” He replied, “What are you going to do?”

“Read its mind.” She hissed, unleashing her powers. She started to attempt to probe the thing’s mind, but couldn’t. She was blocked out somehow.

The beast leapt forward. Seles threw his arm out faster than Thete could pull his trigger. Sucking away its momentum, Seles propelled himself forward, driving his other fist into its chin, throwing it down the street. Thete never pulled the trigger.

“Good work.” Thete said.

He nodded, “Better than you could do.” He told Thete.

Thete shrugged, and then looked to Rien, “Get anything?”

“No. The mind is blocked to me.” She said.

“That’s very interesting.” Thete said. He raced forward, keeping his weapon trained on it, “What could it be?”

The beast was rising up again. It hissed violently at the two approaching Toa as Rien stayed back. She crouched by the wounded Matoran, and pulled the body into the moonlight.

She gasped.

It was Fata.

She looked out at the others and the beast. She hoped that Sewin was around to help them. If Fata was, he was sure Sewin would be as well.

She cried out his name, but nothing happened.

“Sewin…” She heard Fata breathe.

She looked down at the Matoran she had in her arms. She probed his mind rather than ask him to speak. His mind was in a chaotic jumble as a result of the pain he was in. She found fragments of things, like “beast” and “Sewin” and “monster”, “claw”, “death”, “vanish”, “hiatus”.

It didn’t make much sense. She found his pack nearby and pulled it out. She looked at the tablets, finally finding one that looked right.

She skimmed it, finding something on it about Sewin. About spending time in Metru Nui, fighting off Visorak after the Great Cataclysm, alone, and then, having a hiatus for some time. Then, she understood what Fata was thinking.

“Seles! Thete!” She screamed.

Thete opened fire. The beast reared back, taking blasts along its chest and head. Seles leapt forward, driving a fist to the spot between its eyes, throwing it to the ground.

“Stop!” She screamed.

The two looked back. The beast rose up and tackled them. A claw slashed Thete across the chest, throwing him aside. It bit Seles, throwing him back with the powerful snap of its mighty jaws.

“This thing! This thing isn’t a monster!” She screamed.

“What?” Thete demanded, rising. He fired a few times, but the beast was able to evade most of the shots. Seles span around, backhanding it with all the momentum he could, throwing it back.

“What are you talking about?” Seles demanded.

“That thing is Sewin!” She shouted, “He must have been infected by Visorak venom in such an obscure way that his transformation is sporadic and at night, rather than constant! He had a long hiatus, according to Fata’s notes…this explains things!”

“No it doesn’t.” Seles hissed, “It makes no sense how this thing is Sewin. How venom would mutate him into a creature like this that would only transform time to time.”

“Too little, or in an obscure location.” She suggested, “There’s an explanation somewhere.”

Fata was trying to speak again. His voice came out weakly, “She’s right…”

“What?” Thete questioned, looking back. He looked to the wolf-like creature, shocked that Fata was confirming that the creature was Sewin.

It roared and raced forward. Rien stepped forward, standing by her team, sword in hand.

“We’re going to take him down.” She said, lifting the blade.

“You sure?” Seles asked.

She nodded, “Yeah. Let’s take him down for his own benefit.”

The beast leapt up and lunged for them. Thete fired as Rien and Seles lunged forward. Rien slashed down while Seles threw a punch forward with all the energy he could muster.

The three attacks struck the beast, throwing it back. It smashed into the ground, flipped over its back, and continued back. It stayed down.

“Is it over?” Seles questioned.

The thing began to shimmer. In a ghastly light, it started to revert to normal. It rose onto its hind legs, which were now normal legs in brown armor. It moved back, slashing a wall. The claw remained there, becoming a hand. That explained where the claw marks on the walls came from.

Sewin cried out as he fell to his knees, reverting back to normal. He looked up, panting. He fell to his hands and knees, looking up at them.

“Kill me!” He pleaded, “Please! While I remember!”

“What are you talking about?” Rien questioned.

“I was experimented on by the ones ruling the Visorak on Metru Nui.” He said, “A Rhotuka Spinner mutated me, but only at certain times. My memory is also keyed into those times. I knew of the beast, but I didn’t know I was the beast…because I only knew during the transformation. No one ever broke me out of it through force.” He said, trying to say everything quickly, before his memory would fail him from the mutations.

“I was doomed to kill forever. I was also hunting myself, hoping to find the beast that I was somewhere, so I could save people.” He looked to Fata, “And Fata…I can’t believe what I did to him…”

“Please, continue.” Rien pleaded, “We’re taking care of him.”

“I’ve killed so many.” He went on, “I only want to embrace death as well, now.” He said, “Kill me so I won’t kill again. I beg of you! Kill me!” He screamed.

Fata looked up in shock, seeing his hero, his idol, screaming and begging for death in such a way. It shocked him and pained him to no end with him acting like this.

Rien shook her head, “No. I won’t kill you. I saw my former leader kill himself a week ago. I won’t see another senseless Toa death!”

“I’m begging you!” He shouted, “Kill me!”

“You kill yourself.” She said.

“I won’t remember when I have that capability!” He shouted, “Kill me! Please! After what I did to Fata…”

Fata rose, clutching his hand to his empty shoulder, “Sewin…I don’t blame you. You’re a hero. You did what heroes do, which ended up putting you in this situation. Please, don’t blame yourself for this.”

“Will you remind me to kill myself?” He asked, pleading, “Will you tell me everything?”

Fata nodded, “I will tell you in the morning. I promise.”

Sewin nodded in relief, “Thank you.” He said. He looked up at the three Toa, “Please, let us be.”

“I can’t.” Rien said, “I’ve seen too much death to let you die.”

''-“Challenge is natural in the world. The water challenges the fire. The light challenges the dark. It’s the natural law of things. What can challenge a Toa? I don’t know… Next time: “Angel”. Even the brightest of beings has a challenge.”''

30: Angel
Rien walked to the upper section of the bunker, to where Fata had been all night, and where Thete had repaired his arm and reattached it mechanically, now only waiting for the muscles to grow back to hold it all together again.

She looked down on the two guests. She took a step back in shock, feeling an overwhelming feeling of dread welling up in her. Her element was too much for her at this moment.

She saw Fata, his throat slit, a dagger in his own hand. She looked beside him, to Sewin. Sewin wasn’t alive either. He could have continued to be a hero to people, but the exchange—becoming a beast and killing so many—was too heavy a price to pay. He had also slit his own throat, a dagger was in his hand.

She had a feeling they would die, or at least, Sewin would. She was shocked to see that Fata had killed himself as well.

But he was Sewin’s Chronicler. She wondered if he would continue to chronicle Sewin even after death.

She walked towards where the others would be, waiting to tell them of the discovery, and that they had bodies to take care of. She discovered that they weren’t around.

“Seles? Thete?” She called.

No one. It was just her and the bodies.

The door opened above her. She looked up at the two as they descended back into the bunker. They paid no heed to the corpses. They had already know, it seemed, and had allowed Rien to sleep instead of disturbing her.

“When?” She questioned, motioning at the corpses, “When?”

“I have to assume it was shortly after we all went to sleep.” Thete said, “They would have waited, and then done the deed.” He guessed.

“Why would they do it?” She questioned.

“We know Sewin’s reason already.” Seles said, “He told us last night. Fata would follow him anywhere…even to death.”

“You two just left the bodies?” She asked.

“We thought we could lie, tell you that they left in the morning before you awoke, but we decided to let you see the truth for yourself.” Seles said, “We’ve all faced hard sins of our pasts, we all have grown stronger. This is just something you had to see.”

“I understand.” She said, taking a sidelong glance at the bodies, “I understand completely.”

“We were out.” Thete said, taking hold of the conversation while it was down, “You won’t believe what happened.”

“What?” She asked, not reading his mind for the quick answer. Then again, it might be long, since his mind could be on another subject and make it more difficult to get her answer.

“The Four Seraphim finally made a decree.” Thete told her. He motioned for her, “Come on. We can deal with the bodies later. For now, this is important.”

She didn’t feel right about leaving the bodies behind, but knew that a decree couldn’t wait. Bodies could. She followed them up, and into the street. They raced through the streets, dodging Matoran as they ran, rushing for the square so they could hear the Seraphim decree.

“You could have sent me a message somehow.” She said, “I could have projected myself there.” She said, referencing her astral projection powers.

“The Seraphim want to see the three of us personally.” Thete said.

“Oh, why?”

“Don’t know.” Seles said, “Probably isn’t good.”

“What makes you say that?” She asked.

“They don’t seem like the kind to deliver good news of any sort.” He told her, then shrugged, “But we barely know anything about them. Could be wrong.”

“Hopefully.” She said.

“What? Don’t like some bad news to brighten your day?” He joked.

She shook her head, “Two bodies are in the bunker. I’m not interested in jokes right now, Seles.” She hissed.

“Got it.” He sighed, giving her a shrug.

Soon, the three arrived in the square. There were Matoran around, but they stuck out due to their size, obviously.

The four winged warriors stood in the balcony of the tower, looking down on everyone. More Matoran were coming time to time, catching word of what was going on, and that they needed to be there to hear the decree.

The four specifically looked at the three Toa. Before they could speak, something happened.

An explosion rocked the square. Matoran were sent flying around. Some were impaled by stone shrapnel, some were killed in the actual explosion, some died on impact from the momentum of their bodies.

“What?” Rien screamed over the explosion, sending her mind out, trying to locate any answers. She projected herself out, her body falling to the ground. She looked around in her astral form, hoping to find anything. When she couldn’t, she returned to her body.

She was looking up, since she was on the ground. She saw a shadow pass over her briefly. She wondered if it was the Seraphim.

She looked to the balcony. They were all still there.

What was the shadow?

“Do you know what it was?” She heard Seles asking Thete.

He shook his head, “I don’t know bombs very well.” He said, “If it even was one, that is.”

“I don’t know anything about the energy.” Seles said, “I wasn’t feeling out. If it fell, it had momentum. I don’t know if it was, though. I know the same as you.”

“I couldn’t tell anything from my mental search.” Rien informed them, “Whatever this was, no one seems to have any ideas.” She span around, looking at the balcony, “Maybe they do.” She said, attempting to intrude on their minds.

As soon as her mind found theirs, she was blocked. Their minds were protected, or, overpowered her abilities. It was hard to tell.

She looked at the others. They could see that she was clearly shaken, even though she never got into their minds. She looked around.

“A shadow passed over me when I returned to my body.” She said.

“Bird?” Seles suggested.

“The shadow was too big.” She said, “The shape didn’t look right, either.” She motioned at the Seraphim, “It wasn’t one of them. They were all in the balcony when I came back. And the shadow was going the other way.”

She pointed off towards the east. She looked at the others, “Should we go after it?”

“You don’t know about it.” Thete simply said, “I don’t know if it’s worth looking into.”

“You’re leader. You make the choices.” Seles said.

Thete nodded in agreement, “Do you want to look for it?”

She thought for a moment, and then shook her head, “Yes.” She looked back, looking up at the Seraphim, “We’ll return! We need to find whatever did this first, then you can decree unto us!”

The Seraphim didn’t acknowledge her. They stood still and silent.

The three Toa ran away, heading towards the east, where Rien had seen the shadow flying. Hopefully the shadow would yield them some answers.

“What did it look like?” Thete asked as they ran.

“I don’t know.” She replied.

“Bird? Man?” Seles asked.

Again, she said, “I don’t know!”

“Maybe we could jog your memory by narrowing it down.” Thete suggested, claiming why Seles had asked.

“Doubt it.” She muttered.

The shadow flew over them. They all looked up, knowing that this was it. The thing wasn’t visible anymore.

“Ok, not a bird.” Seles muttered.

“Next time you see it, hit it with your power.” Rien ordered, “Try to slow it down. I’ll hit its mind.”

“Understood.” He replied.

“And me?” Thete asked.

“Shoot.” She replied.

He drew his handgun and looked towards the sky, waiting for it to come back.

They heard a swoosh sound. They all span around. Thete aimed his firearm at it, Rien drew her sword in response, and Seles brought his fists up.

The being walked forward. He had wings spreading out from his back. He was no Rahi, no bird. He was a man with wings.

“A Seraphim?” Seles hissed.

The being, in gray, black and silver armor, shook his head. He stepped forward, revealing no weaponry, “I am no Seraphim.” He said, “I don’t know of their species. I know I am not one of them.”

“How can you be sure?” Rien questioned, attempting to read his mind, but was blocked from his as well, “You share attributes.”

“I am one-of-a-kind.” He said.

“Well, aren’t we special?” Seles mocked.

The angelic being shot a glare at him. He brought his right arm up, and made it into a fist. He looked away, but kept his arm up.

“What are you…”

Before Seles could finish his question, a bolt of power rippled off of his fist, smashing into the Toa of Energy. He screamed in pain as he was sent flying back. He smashed into the hard ground, bringing up shards of stone. He rolled around, and stayed down.

“I think we know what our explosion was from.” Thete muttered.

The being nodded, looking at his fist, “Very observant.” He told the Toa. He walked forward, “Now, do you want to know why I’m here?”

“That would be nice to know.” Rien hissed, keeping her blade’s tip at him.

“I am here in order to claim this island as my own.” He said, “You Toa stand in my way of that goal!”

“Why this place?” Rien demanded, “Why now?”

“This island is a holy island, or so all of you say.” The angelic warrior said, shrugging, “I am an angel. I came here to take what should be mine by nature.”

“Yours by nature? Divine right?” She asked him, shaking his head, “Nothing here is yours! You are in no part entitled to this island!”

“I am.” The angel said, “I will have it. I will kill all three of you if you stand in my way.”

“Will you kill the Seraphim?” Thete questioned.

“If they stand in my way.” The angel repeated, “Anyone in my way dies. That is the hard truth of this.”

“What do you intend on doing with this island under your control?” Rien demanded.

The angel threw his arms out, “I shall simply rule over it. Life will go on, under the beliefs that I bring with me. I shall decree them all, and all shall obey!”

“You have no way to make them obey.” Rien hissed.

“I will.” The angel said, “My way is obviously the right way. They will see reason and follow me without question.”

“You wish.” Rien said, “I bet you’re just a tyrant!”

“I take offense to that.” The angel said. He floated above the ground, his wings spread wide. He threw his right fist out, facing it at Rien, ready to blow her apart with a bolt of power.

On instinct, Thete’s gun shot up and fired three quick bolts of power. The angel span around in the air, evading them, always keeping his fist directed at Rien. He let loose the nearly clear bolt of power, sending it whistling through the air at her with unbelievable speed and power.

Seles came to his knees. He shot both hands out. His left was for Thete’s blasts, manipulating them and twisting them to home in at the angel’s back. His right arm was attempting to manipulate the momentum of the angel’s attack, hoping to slow it down enough to save Rien. It was too large for him to twist. The small size allowed him to manipulate the momentum of Thete’s blasts, however.

The large blast slowed down. Rien dropped to the ground, and the shot went over her head, careening down the street. Her body rose back up as she returned her spirit to it, after having used her astral projection powers.

“We won't let you win!” She shouted, “You can see that we’re all here, to work together, and stop you!” She told the angel.

He threw his arms to his sides, “You can’t stop divinity! You can’t stop me! An angel! I am a man sent here to claim this island under divine right for the rule of divinity!”

“You’re twisted.” Rien hissed, sending a mental bolt into his mind.

The angel showed no pain. He was untouched by the mental attack. She couldn’t read his mind, so it must have been blocked off. That must also have included mental attacks as well.

Thete fired a few more shots. The angel flew through the air, going in at them. He clenched both fists, getting ready for his double attack to kill both Toa at once.

He picked up his speed, and then abruptly stopped. He was in pain from the rough and abrupt stop. He cried out, and then, fell to the ground.

Seles walked over, holding his hand out, shaking his head, “No. I control momentum.” He said. He pointed a finger at the downed angel. The angel cried out as his armor started to blow up on his body, throwing him back. His wings were still functional, and still carried him into the air.

Seles could see the damage to the wings revealed what they actually were. They were organic wings, with armor plating over them. They were biomechanical as well, just like the entire body. He spread his wings out, flexing them a lot more easily this time since he didn’t have the thicker armor protecting them.

“His wings!” Seles shouted.

Thete came up, firing at them. While they were missing most of the time, Seles was able to manipulate them as well, trying to get the target of the wing down. It wasn’t working very well, however. None of the redirected shots would meet their marks.

In the confusion, Rien raced forward. She leapt for the angel, slashing him down the chest. He went down, but not before throwing a fist up at her. The punch struck her in the chest, throwing her off. She hit the ground as an energy bolt was shot to the sky. The punch was stronger than he had planned, and had knocked her off before the bolt could rip her apart.

The angel cursed as he came to his feet.

“I didn’t think an angel would use language like that.” Rien told him.

The angel cursed some more. He spread his wings out, “I may be an angel, but I will do what I must to win. That includes me showing my anger and rage as it comes. I can use whatever language I want, as an extent.”

Rien nodded, not really paying attention. She was attempting to find a way to stop him quickly.

He leveled his fist at her again. As she could just see the energy building up, she leapt forward, plunging her sword forward.

The sword met the fist. His concentration was shattered. He couldn’t unleash it now, and the blade continued into his fist, up into his wrist.

He shouted in pain. He twisted around in the air, and slammed a kick into her side, throwing her to the ground. She rolled away from him, and then got an idea.

She waved her hand out, checking his aura.

It was pure.

''-“Do you depend on them? I don’t. I know Matoran do, but we do the real work. And now with this angel…are they even needed? Next time: “Seraphim”. Will I depend on them? I don’t know…”''

31: Seraphim
“Guys!” Rien shouted.

“What?” Thete questioned, coming closer, his firearm trained on the angel.

Seles was sneaking around the back, hoping to get the angel from behind. He wasn’t sure what he was going to end up doing, but he knew he had to come up with a plan of some sort while the others hopefully distracted it. He just wanted this thing gone.

“His aura…is pure!” Rien exclaimed, “He’s not of evil will!”

“What?” Seles shouted, betraying his position to the angel, “He probably killed some Matoran, tried to kill us, is trying to take over this island....how can his motives be pure?”

“Does your aura tell you if they are pure, or if he believes his motives are pure?” Thete asked, trying to clarify.

“My aura tells me that he is pure.” She told him, “That’s the part that I don’t like about this whole mess. He’s not our enemy…”

“Then what are you trying to accomplish here if you’re not our enemy, yet you cause so much damage and mayhem?” Thete demanded, stepping closer, getting ready to fire.

The angel held his hands up, to keep Thete from shooting.

“I’m simply here too…”

Something erupted through the back of the angel. His mouth opened into a silent scream. Nothing escaped his mouth.

His eyes shot wide open in absolute shock and terror. He looked down, his armor was splayed out, cracked and bent at what seemed impossible angles for such tempered and powerful armor. His organics were torn open. He could see that the weapon in his chest was smaller than the hole it punched through him, which was about the size of a head. He could see his shredded lungs. He fought for breath, but of course, they wouldn’t comply with him.

The Toa were in shock. Seles was on the ground, having been thrown aside by the force of the impalement and whatever it was that had impaled the angel. The angel tried to turn around, but couldn’t. He tried to spread his wings, but couldn’t flap them or get off the ground.

He was stuck in the statue of fright and of pain.

By the time the Toa recovered their senses, they looked, seeing who it was that had impaled the angel.

It was the red Seraphim. He held his cross shaped weapon tightly in his right hand, his red and black wings were spread out behind him. He was the picture of concentration as he clutched the weapon in his single hand, his left hand hanging loosely at his side. He looked past the angel, at Rien and Thete, paying the man he had impaled no heed, as if here were nothing.

The angel tried to speak, but couldn’t. He clenched his right fist, and put it to his chest. Since the blade was smaller than the opening, there was room for him to fit his fist in and not have to touch the blade that was probably the end of his life.

Energy erupted around his fist. A burst of power, and a sizzle of the air around him, signified that he had unleashed his power from his fist, plunging it through his own body right into the Seraphim, at least attempting to kill the man before his own life slipped away.

The Seraphim pulled back and floated away, staying a scant few inches in front of the blast the entire time. He span around in the air, flipping above the blast. His chest armor was scraped, but that was the extent of the blast, from a simple miss-timing of it.

The Seraphim landed and walked towards the angel. He shook his head as he approached.

“You were a fool, whatever you are.” The Seraphim hissed with hate filling his voice, as if here were a snake with venom dripping from his fangs.

The angel finally found a way to speak. He turned, stumbled, and collapsed to a single knee, “You, Seraphim, are a monster!”

“You are a murderer.” The Seraphim said, “I was doing my duty and protecting the Matoran from future threats. That means killing you.” He motioned for the Toa, “I also had to protect the Toa that were fighting you, as is their duty. I wasn’t going to let three more lives, three significant lives, be lost because of you.”

“From what I heard told, you Seraphim never acted like this before.” The angel hissed, gasping in pain every few seconds, “You always were the lapdogs of the Turaga!”

“Turaga Otoka is gone.” The Seraphim said, resuming his face and composure of indifference and without any emotion, “We are here to protect all, now.”

“The Turaga was keeping you down?” Seles questioned from beside the Seraphim.

“She wished for her life to be kept safe.” He simply replied, leaving it at that.

“Why not help in any other way, then?” Seles shouted, “There were plenty of times you could have helped! That monster that attacked eight months ago! What about then?”

“What could we have done?” He asked back.

“I don’t know what sort of power you four have.” Seles replied, “You tell me. Was it worth the lives of two Toa?”

The Seraphim said nothing. He continued to pay attention to the angel.

“Your life is over.” He said with his cold indifference that all Seraphim carried themselves with, as part of their strange habits that made them all seem the same, except for their outward appearances, “Repent.”

“I have nothing to repent for…”

“Those lives you took?” The Seraphim questioned, “Or did murder mean nothing to you? I’d like to know what type of person I’m dealing with here.”

“I didn’t take lives on purpose.” The angel replied. He gasped with pain, screaming. He fell to the ground, trying to cover the front of the wound so that it wouldn’t get infected with anything, like rock or fragments of armor, that could be hazardous if they got in, if he wanted to keep living and fighting for his purposes.

“Those murders were on accident? Doesn’t that make it all the more reason you should repent?” The Seraphim questioned.

“You should repent!” The angel shouted, “Because I know more than you think!”

“What is it you know?” The Seraphim asked, walking forward, still holding his cross blade weapon, intending on using it if the angel didn’t die soon.

“I know what you four are. I know what your purpose is.” The angel hissed.

“What would that be?” The Seraphim asked. He motioned at the angel, “Are you going to tell me that we are of the same species? That we have the same goal?”

“You are not of my species.” The angel hissed, “I would know. No, you carry yourselves with such a different air…I don’t know what you are, exactly. What I do know about your nature is that you are the ones who are evil!” He screamed.

“Is that true?” Thete shouted at the Seraphim, “Or is he delusional in death? We deserve answers, Seraphim!”

“No, it is not true.” The Seraphim said.

“How can we believe you?” Seles hissed.

He motioned for Rien, “You have a Toa of Spirits among you. Have her read my aura, if you wish to know for certain.”

“I’ve read the auras of the Seraphim once before.” Rien admitted, “Nothing was really wrong. They were…odd, but the Seraphim are strange beings. I knew that before I ever read them. It could have been I was biasing myself.” She said.

“Check anyway.” Thete told her.

She nodded, “I intend to.” She held her hand out and waved it out in front of her body. She closed her eyes, and then opened them, looking with new eyes at the Seraphim as he glowed a faint greenish color with his aura.

She shook her head, looking at the new aura displayed before her, “No. Nothing is wrong here. That strange sensation, but that was there before.” She moved to the angel, looking at his aura as he lay dying. She always hated to read the aura of someone dying, but she had to compare it against an aura she knew to be pure.

She could feel intense pain and anguish coming from the angel, thanks to his mortal wound. She hated to feel it. She wanted to retract her hand, to retract her power, but she knew she had something more important to do than care about her own well being. She had to keep reading.

She read into him. She read once more that he had pure intentions. His light teal aura provided her information about him, that he not only believed what he did was right, but that it was right, in the nature of the world that Rien knew. She was reading it as something proper, since her mental and spiritual abilities were so closely intertwined. She knew that this man did things as she knew they should be done.

Comparing once more with the Seraphim, she knew that the Seraphim also did things properly. Then, she felt a small twinge within her as she probed deeper.

It was a small prick. It was as though something miniscule were off. So miniscule she had to read very deeply into him in order to even detect it. Still, that was nothing. It was only a small blemish on the otherwise pure aura.

All of them had such imperfections. Sins of their pasts. Nobody was perfect.

The odd sensation still bugged her, though.

“Seraphim, please, tell me something.” Rien said.

“What?” He asked.

“What was it you were going to tell the three of us?” She asked, “I would like to know.”

“You want to read my aura as I tell you.” He said, “Why is that?”

“I want to test something.” She replied, “Now, please?”

The Seraphim didn’t object. He simply began to speak, “We wished to tell you three that with the threat of the Corps Stones gone, and with the "Blood Swordsman" disposed of, you had no more need being here, if you didn’t wish to be. We also wanted to congratulate you on your success so far, even if it cost three members of your team. We wished to tell you this.”

She continued to read his aura as he had spoken. She looked up, and nodded, lowering her hand, “Nothing is wrong. You’re truthful. You would like us to leave, if we wished to, in the aftermath of the defeat of the major threat this island faced.”

The Seraphim nodded, “What else would it mean?”

“I don’t know.” She replied, looking to the angel, “You know more. Please, can you tell us?”

“He’ll tell you nothing.” The Seraphim said, “He’s too wounded to be of much use to you. I’m honestly surprised he still lives.”

“He has a strong will.” Rien commented.

“For one of evil.” The Seraphim said.

“He’s not evil.” Rien replied, “He’s of pure will.”

“I still don’t believe that.” The Seraphim told her.

“It’s the truth.” She asserted, “My ability of aura works by reading the aura, and putting it against my beliefs of right and wrong. In my beliefs, this man is of pure will. Unless we have drastically different beliefs, he’s good.”

“He came to take the island.” The Seraphim said, “He can’t be of good will in his entirety.”

“I was here to save this island from you!” The angel shouted.

“Angelus Nui needs no saving from us.” The crimson Seraphim said, “We are the proper rulers and watchers of this island. Now, can you just die?”

Rien shot him a look. She looked back to the angel, “I have something I need to tell you, angel. I need you to tell me if this is against your beliefs, or if they fit in.”

He nodded, “Hurry.” He hissed.

She took a moment to gather her strength. What she was about to say was going to take strength to do, strength she wasn’t sure if she had.

“When I was a Matoran, I found myself on Stelt at one point in my life.” She began, “I had no money, nothing to offer. I tried to travel, to move onto another island, any island. The Steltians wouldn’t allow me to leave without paying for a boat, obviously. And since I had no money…I was stuck.

“I couldn’t find work to do anywhere to gain money. I couldn’t do anything to obtain funds for a trip. I was essentially deemed one of the lowest on the island, not only because I was a Matoran, but because I had nothing to my name.

“I met a Ki-Matoran. I asked if he would help me. He told me he would. Then, everything went wrong. I was bought into his slavery. I became his serf. You see, Stelt has twisted laws and regulations, allowing such things to happen. I became a slave to him, a servant to work his land and find results for him as he did whatever he did. I don’t even know what he did. He always had me in fields, digging for any natural resources, or doing other such things like that.

“I know his name…but I don’t remember it. I would remember if I heard it again, saw him again. He was twisted and sadistic, the worst man I ever knew. I pleaded and begged to die, rather than live as his serf, as his slave. I begged Mata Nui to kill me. I survived.

“I eventually had worked for three hundred years. After that, he let me go and gave me a miniscule amount of money in exchange for everything I did. I was abused on a daily basis, barely given enough food to sustain myself. I was at my end, mentally and physically. There was nothing I could do. And after three hundred years of this, he finally got bored of me, gave me little money, all that I would need to cross to another island, and then had me leave.

“I couldn’t do anything about it. Stelt wouldn’t care. That was their regulation, their law, anyway. They wouldn’t care if it was being abused by one Matoran onto another, or any species, for that matter. All they would care was it was being used, and even made better. I had no contract. I was just taken off the street, essentially, when you think about it. Some get contracts to specify how long they work. I wasn’t lucky.

“Now, angel, do you agree with what happened to me? Are you on the side of Stelt, of that Ki-Matoran who abused me daily, who almost killed me, or, are you on the side that I believe, that I’m sure everyone on this island believes: that it was wrong. Choose.”

The angel shook his head, “I don’t even have to think about that.” He told Rien, “Your side is the right one. That is terrible, what happened to you.”

She looked to the Seraphim, “He’s a good man, like I said. I don’t know why you tried to kill him without allowing us to show you.”

“Because he is evil.” The Seraphim said.

Rien stared at him, “Which side are you on?”

He said nothing.

The angel threw himself to his feet. He clutched at his insides. It was a wonder he was alive. Then, Rien and the Seraphim both noticed.

While on the ground, he had done his best to patch himself up. He had used his powers in some form to fix his lungs, to at least make them complete again, and to partially repair his chest with the bent armor, bending it back over the wound, and even used some of the shattered cement of the ground to reinforce himself.

He spread his wings out wide and drew an arm back. Power crackled around his fist as he leapt and flew for the Seraphim, unleashing his power.

The Seraphim didn’t change appearance, but it was obvious he was in shock, just by the rigid way he stood. He shook it off, taking on the stance of someone wanting to fight, someone who absolutely hated the angel.

He took to the air, evading the blast. The angel whirled around in the air and followed him, unleashing bolts of power from his fist in an attempt to get at the Seraphim, but all of them failed.

The Seraphim span around, blocking a bolt with his cross blade weapon. He bashed it aside and flew in.

As the angel drew up his defenses to counter the attack, the other three Seraphim appeared, flying at his sides, weapons all trained on the angel.

The four were about to make sure he died, to cover up everything, and conclude the crimson Seraphim’s answer on Rien’s moral question.

-“Dark pasts flare! True histories revealed! Would I believe it? Next time: “Makuta”. In all hearts, there is darkness. But in all pasts, the darkness may or may not rule us.”

32: Makuta
The angel shouted, unleashing as many energy bolts as he could through the air. The air was thick with heat, sizzling as he unleashed each attack at the four winged adversaries around him.

He whirled around and drove himself towards the ground, spinning faster and faster. He stopped, span around, and threw both fists forward, unleashing two concussive blasts of power.

Two of the Seraphim held their weapons out, blocking the attacks. They threw their weapons down, returning the blasts at their owner.

The angel span to the side, evading his own power. He landed atop a building and pushed off, flying into their midst.

The three Toa stood together, watching, unsure of what they had to do.

“We protect the angel; attack the Four Seraphim, right?” Seles questioned.

Rien nodded, “You got the same out of the question and his answer?” She asked him.

Both Seles and Thete nodded.

“It was obvious that the Seraphim wouldn’t answer.” Thete said, “As good as he may try to act, along with the others, there’s something very, very wrong there.”

“This is the first I’m ever seeing of it.” Rien said, waving her hand out. Five auras displayed in the sky above them. She manifested the auras for the other two to see, believing it would help if they could all see the auras that would tell them who was on their side, and who wasn’t.

All of the auras looked the same. The angel’s was teal, but pure. The Seraphim each had a green aura, but those were all pure as well, except with a tingle of something odd within it, as always.

The Four Seraphim flew around the angel. One was on top, one was below his chest, one was at each side. The angel looked around, clenching his fists. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He charged his power, getting ready to attack, but then, they all wheeled around in the sky, turning their cross weapons on him.

The angel screamed as each one cut into his body, almost shredding him to death. His body plummeted to the ground, smashing into the cement.

The four angelic beings landed beside each other. Their wings folded in as they approached the downed angel. They all kept a firm grip on their weapons, but also, lowered them to their sides.

The angel pushed himself onto his elbows as he glared at them, trying to get enough power to launch at least one more attack. He looked back at the Toa, “Now is where you make your choice!” He screamed, “Help me, or help them! Which will it be?”

“Should we remain neutral?” Seles asked.

Rien shook her head, “We can’t.”

“What do we do?” Thete asked.

“We all know what the angel’s response was, and what his aura says. We all know what the Seraphim’s response was, and what his aura said. The aura lied when we looked at the Seraphim, but we know who to trust.”

“We need to trust the angel.” Thete said.

Rien nodded, “Yeah. So, let’s do it.” She said, lifting her sword.

“You really want us to fight those four?” Seles asked, “Are you crazy?”

“We must!” She shouted at him, rushing forward into battle.

“You realize Tala would have done the same.” Thete told Seles.

“I know. Just thinking about what Gaila would do.” He replied.

“If it were Gaila, the angel would probably be dead by now.” Thete told him.

“I know.” Seles replied, “I can dream though, can’t I?”

The two rushed in behind Rien. Thete lifted his firearm while Seles brought his arms up. He wasn’t sure what good a sword, blasts of energy, or fists would do against the Seraphim and their unknown, vast powers.

Even if they did win, what would that mean? They would have deposed the Turaga, and removed those who protected the entire island, the figureheads of faith. They would be hated.

It was a lose-lose right here, but they had to choose a loss.

As the Four Seraphim saw the Toa approaching, they backed away. The three Toa stood at the angel’s sides, trying to help him. If they could buy him some time, he could rise and help them win this fight that would seem impossible otherwise.

“Thank you.” The angel said. He pushed himself up. He seemed to be recovered, surprisingly. He wasn’t in vast pain, for some reason.

“What can you do to help?” Rien asked.

“I can use my energy blasts, which you’ve already seen.” The angel said, “And I can modify their power, their form, and the element they are used in.” He said, “Though pure power and air are the best.”

“And you were using those two forms.” Rien said.

He nodded, “Yes, I have been.”

“Any other ideas?”

“No.” He replied.

“Any hopes of winning?”

“I doubt it.”

The four stood watching the angel and Toa. They looked to each other, and nodded their heads simultaneously.

“What does that mean?” Seles muttered.

Rien waved her hand in the air, reading their auras. She was shocked, and crumpled to her knees when she read them.

“What is it?” Thete asked, “Show us!”

She exerted a little more power. The auras became visible, but also, all of them could feel it.

The knees of the other Toa buckled. The angel swayed a little longer, but he too collapsed to the ground in reaction to this sheer power.

The auras had become black as night, as if they were sucking the light right out of the sky, out of the area around them. It was like a vortex, a vacuum where no light could exist. It was as if looking into the heart of the underworld itself, that the living dead might rise up from them.

What was this? Why did the Seraphim, holy guardians of Angelus Nui, have such black auras? Such evil power radiating within them?

It was unsettling, to say the least, that these men had watched over the island for so long, that they had been charged with protecting the populace, to protect the Turaga, to protect all life on the island and to help with matters of decrees.

Were the Seraphim living monsters? Living representations of the underworld itself?

The glaring black auras that seemed to suck away life also radiated unimaginable power, unimaginable evil.

The pure power, the pure evil, had brought them all to their knees. They couldn’t stand in the face of this feeling, this dark power. It would rip them apart if they even took a step closer, it felt like.

The angel had managed to rise enough, and garner enough power to charge his fist. He let out a cry of exertion as he fired a bolt of energy through the air.

The bolt carried towards the Seraphim, but became smaller and smaller every second, until there was nothing left of it.

He fired again, this time making an attack out of light. The power carried farther, but stopped just the same, eaten away by these black auras as black as the heart of the ruler of the underworld.

“What are they?” The angel shouted. He rose to his feet against the odds and started to fire everything he could. Fire bolts, energy bolts, the deadliest air bolts, light bolts, anything. Nothing even came close.

“We are your true guardians.” The blue Seraphim said, “Just like we told you.”

“We are the guardians of this island.” The black one said, “Rather, the guardian. Singular.”

“I don’t understand!” Rien cried at them.

“You shall.” They said at once. Then, before it was over, the green one spoke.

“So, do you like the auras we display just for you?” He asked.

“Just for us?” Rien questioned.

“Our true auras.” The red one said, “We repress them until we do this. This was saved just to show you a lesson that we wish to teach you.”

“What lesson would that be?” Rien demanded.

“That as the guardian and true ruler of Angelus Nui, I don’t like to be trifled with.” The four said at once. They pointed in unison to the angel, “You will die first, however.”

The darkness flashed around the four of them. Something was happening. Something very dark, very evil, something that seemed like the laws of nature were being twisted and corrupted occurred. What it was, none of them saw coming.

When the darkness regressed into the spot the Seraphim had been standing upon, there was a single, tall, muscular being standing there instead.

He was clad in black armor with flashes of red across himself, as if to show a little more personality, as well as violence. He had wings spreading out of his back, but they appeared skeletal, taking away from his muscular body. He carried no weapons that they could see, and wore an unidentified Kanohi mask.

“My name,” he said, his voice dark, deep and also somewhat majestic, like the voices of the Seraphim had been time to time, yet he radiated pure evil, “is Makuta Seraph. I am the Makuta who watches over this island. I was also the Four Seraphim.”

“How is that even possible?” The angel shouted, “Makuta can’t do that!”

“You’re familiar with us? With our powers?” Seraph questioned, “Well then, I’ll tell you before I kill you. I wear the Kanohi Dividos. It allows me to split my personality into four individual beings. I just had to make each body carry a different personality trait. My blue form was coldness, my red form was hate, my black form was stoicism, and my green form was contempt. In those individual forms, I had some power. Some energy attacks, and my bladework.” He said, grasping with his right hand, as if he wished to hold a weapon, “Those cross shaped blades worked nicely to make myselves look like we were guardians of faith, like we were trying to appear to be.

“I was nothing more than four men trying to gather data.” Seraph said.

“Data?” Rien questioned, “What sort of data?”

A grim smile spread across his face, and his black fanged Kanohi Dividos, “Who do you think was spreading the Corps Stones across this island? Who do you think corrupted them with the powers of anger, of shadow?”

“You?” Rien hissed, “You tested your own island subjects for what? To see if they could kill us?” She shouted.

He shook his head, “It was a test for something else, actually. I won’t spoil the surprise, though.” Seraph told them. He spread his wings out a few times and then retracted them to his back. He took a few steps towards them, “Now, let’s make this interesting.” He turned to the angel, “You know about Makuta, about our powers, it sounds like. I want you to choose which power I use to kill you with. I’ll use that power, and that power alone.”

The angel said nothing. He had a defiant look in his eyes as he faced the Makuta towering above him as he was again on his knees. He struggled to rise, to find power to attack, but couldn’t. This Makuta was far too powerful for him to challenge.

“Well?” Seraph questioned.

“I won’t give you the satisfaction.” The angel hissed, “Kill me with whatever you want. I’ll not name my own death!”

“A pity.” Makuta Seraph said. He lifted his left hand and grabbed the angel by his neck and shoulders in his large hand. He lifted the angel up. The angel was unable to do anything, to launch an attack, or even try to escape. He couldn’t even move his wings.

The Toa wanted to help him, but how could they? They had no weapons, no powers, that could even help them to stop a Makuta, let alone one who made them even frightened to move with the dark aura he displayed.

Rien hadn’t released her hold on her active power. The power shattered, freeing them all from the fear of reading his aura, only to plunge them into the power he radiated from himself. He seemed to like their fear, and used his power to make them fear, rather than use his powers of fear.

“Kill me with…” The angel muttered.

“What was that?” Seraph hissed, “Did you have a request for death?”

“I do.” The angel said.

“You changed your mind? Excellent! How do you wish to die?” He asked, drawing the angel closer to his face.

The angel looked into the eyes of darkness, the eyes of piercing crimson, of evil, that the Makuta had, displaying his soul through them to frighten the angel.

The angel showed no emotion, no fear of death. It was a calm, blank face.

“Kill me with your power of plasma.” The angel said.

“Plasma you say?” Seraph asked, “Wish pleasure.”

He drew his arm back and threw the angel into the air. Even out, high above the Makuta, he was unable to escape the fear that his eyes, his aura, had left in him.

The Makuta drew his right arm back. Power flickered around his hand. Superheated, ionized gasses formed into a colorless mass of power. He threw it forward. The air sizzled and crackled around it as it flew in at the waiting angel.

The blast of power tore into his chest. The gasses tore away at him with their heat, melting his armor, melting his organics. He cried out, but the gasses filled his lungs, his throat, making even drawing a breath impossible without choking on it. The wound, still open, was filled with heat, damaging his lungs from both the inside and the outside. He couldn’t even scream, but his body’s shuddering was enough to show the Toa and the Makuta how much pain he was in.

His body slammed to the ground, no longer moving. The damage had been minimal, but the pain intense. It had gotten the job done.

The Toa backed away as Seraph came closer. They didn’t want to fight him. They didn’t know how to fight him.

Thete could have tried to shut him down, but with being gas in armor, that wasn’t an option. Rien could have attacked his mind, but it would crush hers. Seles could try to explode his armor, but that wouldn’t even slow him.

Any Nova Blast would be useless as well. Their powers weren’t ready for fighting against a Makuta. They had no way to fight him.

The Makuta stopped and looked over all of them. He offered them a smile.

“Well, now that the annoying angel is done, I’ll be on my way.” He said. He turned his back and started to walk away.

“Wait!” Rien shouted, “Is it that easy?”

“Yes. I am leaving. It is that easy.” Seraph said, “I have business elsewhere to attend to, actually.”

“Why did you want us gone?” Rien questioned.

“Because you gave me the necessary data.” He replied, “I don’t care if you stay or go. These people mean nothing to me. I can’t tell you to stay and protect them, or go. I don’t know what dangers could come, but it’s not my concern anymore.” He said. His wings spread wide. Somehow, his skeletal wings supported him as he flew into the air.

Using his powers, he vanished with teleportation, leaving the Toa as the only guardians of Angelus Nui. Potentially against no threats.

''-“Evil is in the heart. That’s what I believed. But now…evil is manifested. With my powers, I’m overwhelmed. This darkness is too much… Next time: “Scourge”. Evil, not in the heart, but embodied.”''

33: Scourge
“Where can we even go from here?” Seles questioned.

Their worlds had been rocked. The Seraphim were gone, were revealed to actually be a Makuta, the Makuta watcher of the island, and now, was gone himself. They were the only guardians of an island that had no real threats.

The main threat had been caused by Seraph himself for an unexplained reason. To gather data, or something. But data for what? What could his goal have been?

“I can’t believe evil like that can exist.” Rien said to no one in particular. She shook her head and shuddered at the thought of the aura that she had felt in the Four Seraphim right before they had merged back into Makuta Seraph, and then the aura of Seraph himself that he had given off just to discourage them.

“I think we have an important question we need to ask ourselves.” Seles said.

“What question would that be?” Thete asked.

“What do we do if he returns?” Seles questioned, “We can’t exactly fight him. We have no weapon to use against him.”

“Your powers are all we have.” Thete admitted, “We could use explosive power…but that would be limited.”

“Very limited.” Seles agreed, “That’s why I’m scared. I’m thinking about abandoning the island.” He revealed.

“Abandoning the island?” Rien shouted, “How can you be so selfish? Your life isn’t more important than the lives of all these Matoran! You heard him, he doesn’t care what becomes of them.” She said.

“I know…but really, we could do better on other islands, and possibly warn others to come here and help stop the Makuta. The Makuta is too powerful for the three of us! At least if Tala, Lewin or Gaila were here, I would stay without considering anything otherwise. At least those powers would be of use to us, since they can be offensive in nature, unlike ours, for the most part.”

“But even if you do leave to find help, what happens if something goes wrong?” She asked him.

“Like what?” He questioned.

“A threat here that two of us alone can’t handle.” She suggested.

“What sort of threat could possibly come?” He questioned, “We stopped the Corps Stones. Seraph isn’t here to do anything. There are Rahi, but not too many. We’re fine!”

“Marcko.” Thete said, “Lyala.”

“Why would they return?” Seles questioned, “Besides, you two could handle them.”

“But what if something worse comes?” Thete asked, “Another individual like them, but much more dangerous?”

“I don’t know.” Seles said, “You’ll find a way to deal with it.”

“Are you actually going to go?” Rien questioned.

“I think I will.” He replied. He looked to Thete, “Can you create me a vehicle for a faster trip? Like the…what did Tala call his vehicle?”

“I think he called it the Flame Cycle.” Thete said, shrugging, “I’m not sure if he stuck to that as a name he used, or not. I know we might have used it a few times, but that vehicle model is called the Anverius X3.” He thought about the technological aspect of it, of his love for having built that vehicle, and Tala’s love of using it. He thought of its destruction, which sent shivers down his spine, “Anyway, no, I won’t build you a vehicle like that for a faster trip.”

“I’d be back sooner.” Seles said.

“I’m not going to allow you to leave, period.” Thete said. He stood up, “Now, let’s take care of the corpses and just figure out what we’re going to do next. We do need a Makuta countermeasure.”

Rien and Seles also rose to their feet and towards the bodies of Fata and Sewin. They removed the bodies from the bunker and carried them out, finding a building where a mortician would be waiting to take care of the bodies. It wasn’t far, fortunately.

It took a few minutes for them to get the bodies there and to return. By the time they returned, Rien and Seles sat down, while Thete ran to his workbenches. He began to work on something, but it only looked like details for a weapon of some sort, or something.

“What are you working on?” Seles questioned.

“I think I found a way for us to defeat the Makuta.” He replied simply, nodding to himself as he looked at parts he held in his hand. He put them down, moving things around, organizing piles of items and making new blueprints.

“You have?” Rein questioned, rushing forward, “Do you think it’ll work?” She asked.

“I’m sure that it’ll at least punch a hole in a Makuta.” Thete replied.

“What is it?” Seles questioned.

“A blaster.” He replied. He looked to Seles, “One of us will have to be the one to use it, however.”

“Why’s that?” Rien questioned.

“It would require either my powers of Technology to activate, or for Seles to activate some sort of power inside of it, to trigger a reaction from the inside. Rien, you don’t have that ability.”

“Can’t you make a switch or something?” She asked.

He shook his head, “It’ll be too buried inside for a switch to be able to reach it properly.” He replied.

“Too deep?” She asked.

“The weapon will be too large.” He replied, “That mechanism will be surrounded by components and parts for the weapon’s power to work effectively for the switch to be useful. Sorry to break it to you.” He told Rien.

“And what will it do, exactly?” She asked.

“Fire what should essentially be energized protosteel.” He replied, “That would punch a hole right through a Makuta’s armor!”

“Do you know how to do this?” Rien asked.

He nodded, “Simple. Protosteel can be melted to gas and then reformed into plasma by means of…”

A large crash erupted topside. The three Toa looked up and saw a wall was dented by something. They rushed towards the upper exit and out into the street.

They looked around, seeing hordes of beings. They were all the same, down to the last detail. All of them were yellow and red in color, with insectoid heads with pincers on their chests, eyes glaring out mindlessly. They all had large, muscular arms, capable of ripping apart any enemy, it appeared. They had spines and points lining their bodies. They may have been stout in stature, but the damage they had caused with pure muscle and the bladed weapons they carried, which looked like thick swords curved down to act like claws or hammers, if reversed, had caused mass destruction.

“What are these things?” Rien shouted.

“I don’t know!” Thete shouted, firing on a few of them. They each took a hit or two before they fell to the ground. He continued to fire, opening any paths he could in the swarms that were in the streets. As they fell, the survivors didn’t focus on Thete, they focused on destruction. Close ones, though, did attack the Toa.

Seles ducked the swing of one’s blade and drove an uppercut into its gut. It took two steps back, but came forward again, swinging down.

Seles ducked and span around, sweeping the legs out. As soon as it hit the ground, he caused its armor to explode.

He looked at another which was approaching him. He leapt forward, throwing a punch into its face, above the pinchers on the chest, but yet, connected to the head. He span around, kicking it in the side of the head, and then drove in for it, sending a powerful punch right into its gut, throwing it to the ground.

“These things are stronger than me!” He shouted.

Rien slashed through one, which fell in one move. Another came at her, forcing her to parry with her blade up. She drew back and assaulted its mind, only to find herself lost in a maze of twists and turns.

“These things are like a hive mind!” She shouted, “I can’t attack its mind!”

“You mean an individual’s, or the entire thing?” Seles questioned.

“An individual.” She said, “I doubt I could hit the entire thing, anyway.”

She span around, slashing one across the chest. It didn’t stop. It attacked her, punching her, since it had no weapons in hand. The punch sent her reeling, throwing her to the ground.

She rolled to the side as another slashed its weapon to the ground. She span around, slashing it across the chest. It cried out and stumbled back, but didn’t fall.

“It takes more than a single slash.” She muttered. She dove forward, driving her blade home in it, killing the thing.

She kicked it off of her sword and rushed into the street. She started to cut down whatever creatures she could with single slashes, leaving as many as she could wounded. She took more than a few blows herself, but continued on.

She found herself in the center of the street. She looked down every street, but it was all the same. The area was thick with this swarm species of insectoid warriors.

She waved her hand out, feeling for auras. Miniscule auras came up from each one she looked at, as if they were hardly people, hardly their own beings.

They were all evil. Not the same evil that she had felt from the Four Seraphim when they came together, or from Seraph, but rather, a different type of evil.

A choice to be evil. But not really.

It was as though it were a choice, but not theirs to make. She knew what they did was evil, so it reflected as such. Deeper down, however, it was evident that these things had not made individual choices to be evil of their own will, but for some reason, where, as if ordered.

She looked around all over. She spread her mind out, trying to read the mind of a specific creature. It was blank, except with a single order.

“Destroy anything in your way destroy anything in your way destroy anything in your way destroy anything in your way…” It was never ending.

“What are these?” She breathed. Shock was getting to her from her mind reading, from her aura displays.

These things were too strange. Too evil in a different sense of the word. They were…almost unnatural to her, almost foreign and alien.

She saw that Thete and Seles were making their way to her, having defended the bunker area, despite a few trickling around back there yet. Some came after them, some didn’t.

When they reached the intersection, they saw the overwhelming numbers that Rien had seen. They were all shocked when they looked around at these insectoid warriors.

“Any ideas what they are?” Thete asked Rien.

“I did some checking.” She told him, “Their auras are evil, but not of their own choice. It’s like they were ordered into this.” She said, “But they have no problem with it, as if they don’t know what they’re doing is good or bad. Also, I tried to read the mind of a single one. Not attack it, and get lost in that maze of the hive mind, but rather, read a single mind.”

“Did that work any better than the attack?” Thete asked.

She nodded, “It did.”

“What did you find out?” He asked.

“It was a single order, repeating endlessly.” She told them, “It said ‘destroy anything in your way’.”

“So they’re here to simply destroy?” Seles questioned.

“Possibly.” Rien replied.

“No real mission…just destroy…” Seles muttered. He looked up at the tallest nearby building, “I’m going to go up there, and do what I can.”

“I should go and rain down my blasts.” Thete said, following Seles towards what seemed to be a fire escape on the side of a building. They climbed up, leaving Rien on the ground to slash a few of them as they approached.

From up top, Thete rained down energy bolts into the crowds. He tried to use his powers over a wide area to at least slow them down or shut their systems down, but to no real avail.

“You’re slowing them.” Seles said.

“No I’m not.” Thete replied, continuing to fire.

“I felt a momentum shift.” Seles said, “You did something.”

“Should I again?” He asked.

Seles nodded, “More explosions.” He said.

Thete nodded, spreading his power out again. A large group within the few blocks they could get at started to slow down, just enough for Seles to take advantage of the potential energy, blowing their armor apart, killing them.

He didn’t care if he was killing them. If he didn’t, these things would murder every Matoran nearby, as well as the three of them. These weren’t individuals who had lives. These were swarms who lived to destroy, by the sound of it.

“At least we’re making some progress.” Thete said. He was actually having a hard time finding targets.

“We’re only attacking one area.” Seles said, “What if the entire island is overrun?”

“I don’t think so.” Thete replied, leaping to another rooftop. He started to run, and then stopped, “No! It’s just our area!” He shouted back.

“Maybe they were testing!” Seles shouted over the distance. As Thete rejoined him, they saw Rien also climbing up.

“Any news?” She said.

“We figured out that these things are likely only attacking in this few block area.” Thete replied, “And most of them look pretty dead to us.”

Rien nodded, agreeing, “I’m going to unleash my spirit.” She said, collapsing her body as she let looser her spirit. With astral projection, she flew around, looking down and around at the streets nearby. She couldn’t see a single living insectoid creature.

She returned to her body and rose, shaking her head, “No. Just here.”

“Could you follow survivors back?” Thete asked.

“I don’t see survivors.” She replied.

The three climbed down to the ground again. They saw a Matoran running out, looking for them. The Ga-Matoran rushed towards them in a panic, holding a tablet.

“Do you have something for us?” Rien asked her.

She nodded, passing the tablet forward. The three Toa looked at it as Rien took it. The Matoran caught her breath, and then explained it.

“This is something that will explain today…I think.” She said, “I know what theses things were, thanks to that tablet.”

As they looked it over, Seles looked up, “You a student?” She nodded, “Ok, where did you get the tablet?”

“Another island.” She replied, “Not sure which.” She said, shrugging, “I can tell you a little about those things.”

“Like what?” Rien asked.

“People call them the Scourge Army.” She replied, “Their proper, species name, however, is Eruo. They are a species of a hierarchy. Those are the lowest level, also known as Eruo. I fear that they have come here under leadership of their superiors.”

“Superiors?” Rien asked.

She nodded, “Junkers and Rges. If they’re here…then they want a new home, and we’ll probably all die.”

''-“Power against power? What hypocrite could this be? We strive for peace, but with our brethren in arms—in powers—against us…then what? Next time: “Illuminati”. Power works both ways.”''

34: Illuminati
A being walked through the silent, dark streets of Angelus Nui. Looking around, he wasn’t noticed. After all, that would put a damper on things. His plan would be ruined. It would unfold like a tapestry of the prophecy he had foretold about what would happen on this day.

The Toa of Angelus Nui would fall.

Once they fell, the Seraphim would be next, if they dared to show themselves. Then, Turaga Otoka in prison would die, and then…

Well, that far out wasn’t planned. After all, it would be a big step to go elsewhere, especially alone. He wasn’t sure how well he would fare in this situation.

He was the last. He was the last of his people.

A people who desired to level the playing field in the world. A people determined to help the rest of the universe live without having to contest with beings like Toa, who could flaunt their powers. Beings like that who wouldn’t require skill, but rather, had an innate ability that put them above everyone else.

Now was the time for the Illuminati to rise again. He looked at the ring on his finger, the ring he had taken off the dead member whom had made his way to Angelus Nui, and had fought the Toa of Fire. He had died, and left his ring in the world of the living.

He didn’t need it anymore. Why shouldn’t it be put to good use? Like adorning the finger of another surviving member who no longer had his ring?

He had lost his ring long ago in the battles that had leveled them. Now he was having problems. He wanted people to know. He wanted to proudly display his allegiance. He had no ring to do so with. Not until he had taken the dead man’s ring. Now, he was like a true member once more. After so many years, he was once more able to show who he was, and what his goal was.

He stood proudly as he walked into the city, stepping over the corpses of the insectoid soldiers lying around.

“These poor, powerless beings…” He said to himself, shaking his head, swearing to get revenge for them.

After all, they needed to be avenged. They hadn’t any power, and were murdered by the Toa of the island.

They deserved justice, as did all equally underpowered beings.

Rien looked at the tablet she had borrowed from the Ga-Matoran. She wasn’t able to make anything out of it.

“Any luck?” Seles questioned.

She shook her head, “No…nothing.” She turned the tablet side to side and then upside-down. She tried to make out what she could, but it wasn’t much.

There was almost nothing on this tablet that helped her—helped them against the potential threat lying in wait somewhere, waiting for them to slip up.

“Well, what do you think of it?” She asked, handing him the tablet.

He shook his head, “Sorry, not my thing.”

“You won’t even look at it?” She questioned.

He shook his head, holding his hands up, “No, sorry. Like I said, not my thing. I really don’t like looking at that.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Rien asked.

“When I was a Matoran…no, never mind.”

“What?” She questioned, “Please, tell me.”

He shook his head and came to his feet. He walked away, “Sorry, I don’t want to look at it.”

“What’s wrong with it?” She questioned.

“No, sorry.” He said, walking away.

She shook her head, wondering if he would have told Tala had their positions been reversed. She sometimes wondered how the Toa of Fire would have handled things differently. She wondered if Seles and Thete even had the respect for her that Tala had probably thought she would deserve as leader in the wake of his death.

Was this how they acted around him? Like three people, until something happened, and then they became more of a team?

She walked away from her spot, walking across the bunker. She sat down beside Thete, who was working on something that she wasn’t sure about. She put the tablet on the table, and without looking to him, asked him, “Would you mind taking a look?”

“What, no luck?” He asked, not taking a break to look up from his work.

“Exactly.” She replied, “I have no idea what this means, other than the names on the tablet that that Matoran showed us.” She pointed to a spot and read, “Here’s ‘Junker’.” She moved her finger to another spot, “And ‘Rges’.”

“I’ve never heard of them.” Thete told her, “If you’re wondering, of course.”

She shook her head, “Actually, I’m not. I’m just confused.”

“By what?”

“There are other words here, but I can’t make out any of them. There are symbols here, but I have no idea what they mean.” She told him.

He took a break from his work and looked at the tablet. It was hard resisting the urge to work, but he had to focus on the tablet. That was the most important thing at this very moment.

Looking at the picture, he saw an insect of some sort. That was at the very bottom. Above that picture, there were three other images. One was a Toa, by the look of it, or at least something similar in appearance. Next to it was a titan, covered in spikes.

The third image was that of an insect, or rather, half of one. The other half was missing. It was intentionally carved that way, however, based on how the stone was beside that carving. It wasn’t as if it had been covered in, but rather, as if the half image was intentional.

The word ‘Junker’ and then ‘Rges’ were at the top, in no particular order. Next to them was the word ‘Eruo’. They knew that the species they had encountered, as well as the class in that species, were both called Eruo. They also knew that the other two names were higher ranks in the species, with the Rges being the lead class, but that was about all they knew.

He shook his head, “I have no idea. Sorry.” He said, going back to his own work.

She sighed, taking the tablet back into her hands. She stood up, “Well, I should take this back to its proper owner. I’ll be back later.” She said, walking towards the door.

“Any word on the bodies?” Thete called up before she left.

Rien looked back down, “Last I saw, they’re still in the streets. The Matoran are supposed to be cleaning them within the next two days. Without any leaders, though, it’s harder to organize them. No Turaga, no Seraphim anymore…”

Thete nodded, “Yeah, I can see how that would cause disorder.” He told her.

Rien nodded in agreement, “Yeah.” She started back towards the door and walked out, looking at the corpses littering the streets. She walked away, heading down the street to find the Matoran’s home.

The being watched her. He showed no emotion on his face. No glee that there was a Toa, alone, with only a sword as a weapon. No glee that he was sure he could kill her.

Nothing. Just an empty, emotionless expression in his eyes, which were all that could be seen because of the helmet he wore. He wore no Kanohi, but a helmet instead. He could have worn a powerless Kanohi, but a helmet was better for him.

He moved to follow her, keeping behind corners, glancing out covertly from behind walls, waiting for her to notice him and attack, or, to lose herself in her task, and then he could kill her in her distraction.

Either way, he would have her head.

He moved silently along the walls, slinking about like a shadow. He was an expert at tracking, and at stealth. He was sure that she wouldn’t find him unless she specifically looked.

Then, she stopped. She span around, her hand rushing for the hilt of her sword at the same instant. Something was wrong.

“Who are you?” She shouted.

What happened? What element was she, even? How was she able to know he was there?

Then he realized what she was. A Toa of Spirits. It wasn’t often that he saw a Ka-Matoran, but now that he thought about it, he realized it had to be a Toa of Spirits he was trailing, and a Toa of Spirits could read minds.

She had evidently caught his mind.

He stayed in the shadows, just around the corner. As long as he didn’t move, his shadow wouldn’t move out around the corner as he pushed himself away. He would be completely hidden, completely safe where he was.

“Come out I said!” She shouted at him.

He still remained hidden.

“I can read your mind, you know.” She said, “Hiding won’t work. And I won’t let you kill me.” She hissed.

He could hear her walking down the street towards him. He could move, but that would betray his position. Better to stay and fight after he was discovered.

She turned the corner, weapon still not drawn. She saw him whipping a dagger at her throat with full force, clutched too tightly in his left hand that even cutting his hand off wouldn’t have freed the weapon from his deathgrip.

She rolled back, setting down the stone tablet she carried. She came up, holding her sword in hand. She looked him over, taking in his body.

He was stout, in emerald armor. He looked ordinary, except that he was taller than a Matoran and yet shorter than a Toa. His size would give him away as someone who probably didn’t belong. The ring on his right ring finger proved that.

“Well now…” He said in a very common voice that could have belonged to any man she would ever have met, “This is a surprise. A fight already? I thought I could assassinate you.” He said, putting his right finger on the tip of his blade. He ran his finger down the side, feeling the razor edge of his weapon. He started towards Rien, weapon point down.

“Who are you?” Rien demanded.

“You didn’t get enough from reading my mind?” He questioned.

“No. No identity.” She told him.

He shrugged, “My name isn’t important. What is important, however, is my mission.”

“What mission?” She questioned.

He held up his right hand, displaying his ring, “Do you know what this is? What it means?” He questioned.

“Illuminati.” She hissed.

“You know of me?”

“I was informed by the previous leader of this team.” She hissed.

“Previous?”

“He’s dead.” Rien said bluntly.

“Oh, I see.” He shrugged, “I wanted to kill him. Oh well.”

He raced forward. He drove his knife in, twisting his wrist at an awkward angle. As Rien dodged back, she slashed down, forcing him to sidestep. He drew his arm back and brought it whipping around at a high speed, going for the throat.

Rien dodged back and unleashed a mental assault. The man dropped to the ground, screaming, as she kicked him onto his back. She pressed the tip of her sword to his throat.

“You have such a weak constitution.” She said, “Can you really kill with it?”

He hissed at her.

“Your loss.” She said, “I don’t care if you die in silence, without any last words.”

“You won’t kill me.” He hissed.

“Why not?”

“You need me.” He replied.

“For what?”

He gestured at the tablet, “What’s that about?”

“The Eruo.” She simply said.

He looked at the corpses around him, “I know of them.” He said.

“Do you now?” She questioned.

He nodded, “I do. I really do.”

“What do you know?”

“I saw them come from the north.” He replied, “Now, remove your sword.”

“So you can attack me?” She questioned, “I think not!”

“Fine.” He said, dropping his weapon. He grabbed her blade, and before she could think, before she would react, he plunged the sword into his throat himself, lying on the ground, dying a fairly quick death.

Before he died, he smiled and hissed, “I’d rather die by my own hand, Toa. I know for a fact that the Eruo will kill you. They can accomplish what our Illuminati is failing to do.”

“Do you know more?” She questioned, trying to read his mind. His thoughts were jumbled in a last moment effort to cycle through his own life; it was hard to find anything of use to her.

“I do…” He hissed, but died of his wound.

Rien looked down at him. She removed the ring from his finger, and stomped it into the ground, into dust. She took up the tablet and walked away, looking north.

If he was right, then the threat had only just begun…

The dark, dank caves were filled with Eruo. The soldiers simply stood around, not standing guard, but rather, awaiting orders. There were a few moving about, but those had orders for simple tasks to complete. Then, there were two different shadows, walking behind them, speaking to them, giving them more orders on top of that. A few more of the insectoid soldiers followed as they too were ordered to follow.

A massive throne of rock stood in the center of an opening, a few torches flickering around on the walls. Only a few Eruo were in the chamber, standing guard over their leader. He was a larger being, clad in crimson and black armor, with horns and spikes. He was terrifying beyond belief. Terror seemed to be as effective a weapon as muscle, to this man.

There was a shadow coming into the room. It was a small shadow, a being of small stature, obviously.

Who could this have been? If this being hadn’t been stopped by now, then this was someone important to the cause of the Eruo.

Then, the large being—a Rges, the Rges in charge of this army, Czar Everto—smiled a grim smile, and spoke to the being in the shadows, standing just beyond the doorway.

His voice was deep and terrifying, but with a smooth, quieter tone that was absolutely offsetting when compared to his deeper voice.

“I wondered where you’ve been…Eiran.” He said.

The Ga-Matoran stepped out of the shadows, walking into the room. She took a few steps forward, and nodded her head.

Light erupted around her body. It was as if she were unraveling. In a sense, she was. The identity she had used as an advance scout was coming away.

When the light faded, she stood before him, tall, clad in white and yellow armor, wearing a new, white Kanohi, a Mahiki, Mask of Illusion. The form of a Junker.

She bowed, “My Lord…what do you wish for me to do now?”

''-“We run, and we fight, but we get nowhere. They run, and they fight, and they get everywhere. Next time: “Junker”. Are they…”''

35: Junker
Rien walked back into the bunker. Seles was waiting by the door. As soon as she walked in, he followed her, trying to talk to her.

“Ok, I should tell you…” He said.

“About what?”

“Why I didn’t want to read that tablet.” He said.

“Oh…what brought this on?” She questioned.

“Does everything need to have a reason?” He questioned.

“I won’t press. So?” She asked.

“When I was a Matoran…I was believed to be somewhat lucky since where I was, not many Ne-Matoran were around. I was a rarity. Matoran scholars who believed in getting prophecy from things like the stars came to me and had me interpret what I could. I guess…after all those years, that stuck with me. That duty I hated, since the possibility of war hung on my shoulders if I said something wrong…or right…or…”

“I understand.” She told him, resting a hand on his shoulder, “I really do.”

“Thank you.” He said.

She nodded and walked deeper inside, “Seles, Thete! You won’t believe what I just ran into up there…”

“More Eruo?” Seles questioned, following her down.

She shook her head, “No. It was an Illuminati member.” She said, looking at their shocked faces, at their eyes which revealed their emotions, “I killed him…or rather, he killed himself with my sword. He’s dead, is what matters.”

“I thought Tala got the last one with us.” Thete said.

“One of the last, apparently.” Rein said, “His thoughts were pretty scattered, but there should be a few of them around the universe, yet. Not many, but a few.”

“Well, good job taking care of it.” Thete told Rien, “Now, any news on the tablet?”

She shook her head, “The member I fought knew something about them, though.” Rien told them.

“He did? What was it?” Seles questioned.

“He said they came from the north.” She said.

“The mountains?” Thete questioned.

Seles shrugged, “Large enough, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, they are.” Thete said, “If there are a lot of them, anyway.”

“Based on what we know about this species from what we were told, there should be a decent amount of them.” Rien said, “Now, what do we do next? Do you want to go north and check?”

“Didn’t you use your Rode on him?” Seles questioned, “Do you know for a fact if they’re in the north or not?”

“I was too focused on reading his mind to use my Rode on his words.” Rien said, “Sorry…”

“No, it’s fine.” Thete said, standing up, “Well, should we head north and take a look, then?”

Seles shrugged, “Might as well.”

Rien nodded, “Yeah, let’s get going.”

The terrain was rugged as they climbed over the lower extremities of the mountain around them. It covered a decent portion of the northern edge of the island, so exploring all of it would be a problem. At least Rien could search out minds to make things easier, or use astral projection.

“Why didn’t you just send your spirit instead?” Seles questioned, searching for a handhold.

“I preferred the idea of seeing it in the flesh.” She told him.

“What? You don’t like scouting?” He questioned, pulling himself up to the next ridge. He looked down. They couldn’t walk any farther, so they had to climb. It wasn’t very high up—they had been on taller buildings—but Seles didn’t like to climb like this. He wished there was more of a path that would lead them up.

Thete came to rest on the same ledge. He looked up and around, but couldn’t see anything yet. Rien came up after him, and also looked around, but pointed to something he hadn’t seen.

“There.” She said, pointing to a small cave entrance above them and to their right.

“As good a place to start as any.” Seles said with a shrug, starting his climb again. The others started up after him, and soon came to the next platform which would lead them to the path.

The three Toa started towards the cave entrance. As soon as they got close, something came out.

It was an Eruo soldier.

It lifted its blade in its right hand and rushed forward. Thete stepped forward, lifted his weapon, and fired one shot into its chest, dropping it to the ground.

“Well, do you think they know we’re here?” Seles asked.

“Could be a scout.” Rien suggested. She drew her sword from her back and moved ahead, glancing into the cave. She saw a few figures approaching. She leapt back, but wasn’t fast enough.

Water erupted from the cave, smashing into her midsection, throwing her towards the edge, and to the ground about two body lengths below. The other two Toa backed away, glancing down, and back to whatever was coming out.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” A man asked in a calm, sophisticated voice with an air of snootiness to it.

He was clad in green and blue armor. He had some strange, feral armor to him, on his legs and his chest, as well as some sloped back, spiked armor on his upper arms. He had a sleek helmet on his head, but it was a helmet, not a mask. He appeared completely like a Toa, or could pass as one, except for his manipulation of water.

In his right hand he carried a weapon that looked to be a shield with a blade coming off the back, and two blades coming off the front, converging into a single tip and curved down, or rather, up, since he held the shield so the bulk of it was down.

He shook his head as he walked closer to the Toa, “It’s rude to have uninvited guests. Especially female ones.” He said, adding an acidic tone to ‘female’.

“Who are you?” Thete demanded, keeping his weapon trained on the man.

He looked between the two other Toa, nodding, “Good. Both of you are men.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Seles shouted.

He looked up, “My name is Lio.” He lifted his weapon up, facing the bulk of the shield at the two of them, “I am a Junker.”

Water slammed through the rock walls to their sides, smashing both rubble and water into them. They slid towards the edge, but managed to keep their footing. They looked up, watching another figure emerge.

This one was clad in white and green armor, with a hunched back. He had a sleek green helmet on his face, and carried twin knuckle weapons. Something was obviously wrong with him, and it was obvious this wasn’t his normal form.

“Another Junker?” Seles questioned.

The man nodded, “My name is Lord Durham!” He announced, coming closer to them. His voice wasn’t deep, as it seemed it should have been. Rather, it was softer, more refined. He lifted his right knuckle weapon up, “Now Toa, it’s your time to die!”

“Are you the leaders in the invasion force that has to be here?” Thete demanded.

“Of course not.” A woman said.

They looked up to the ridge above them. They could see a woman standing there, clad in white and yellow armor, holding an axe in her right hand. She had a yellow and white body, with yellow armor on her legs, overlaid with white, and white below, but with yellow feet. She had yellow arms, with thicker armor above her elbows, slicked back. She had a sleek white Kanohi on her face. It was a Kanohi, not a helmet, noticeably.

There was something familiar with the gentle, yet slightly rough natured tone of voice she had. The commanding presence, as if she had used it for the first time in a long time, after using a subservient voice.

“And you would be?” Thete shouted up.

Rien had climbed back up, and now stood beside the two other Toa. They looked between the three Junkers, waiting to make a move.

“I am the leader.” She simply said, “Not the leader of this entire invasion force, of course. I am the leader of we three Junkers, and also, the advanced scout.”

“Advanced scout?” Rien questioned, “What does that mean?” She shouted, attempting to probe into her mind, but with no success. The minds of all three Junkers were blocked to her.

“Do you wish to know my name?” She questioned.

“Tell us!” Seles shouted.

She smiled, “My name is Eiran.”

The two men froze after hearing her name. It took Rien a moment, but then, she realized where she had heard the name before.

“Eiran?” She shouted, “The name of the Ga-Matoran you were looking for after Tala died?” She shouted.

“Tala died?” She questioned, and then laughed, “Guess that’s why he’s not with you then!” She leapt down, walking towards them, “My scouting mission didn’t continue past the time of his death, I assume. I stayed low, collecting all of the data at once with my old guises, rather than go and find new information from you lot. That’s when my men attacked.”

“Tell me.” Rien hissed, “Were you even Tala’s friend?”

“Friend? A Junker? Of course not!” She laughed, “He was just a way to find information.” She said, lifting her axe.

Rien rushed at her. She slid forward, slamming her sword down. Eiran lifted her axe, using the curved blade to parry.

“You use his sword now, I see.” Eiran said. She ducked back and kicked her opponent in the midriff, throwing Rien to the ground. Eiran span her weapon overhead and started to charge water into it, summoning moisture from the air.

“So, Junkers attack with Water elemental powers?” Rien hissed. She drove her sword forward, forcing Eiran to jump back to avoid being impaled. She slammed the axe down, sending a wave of water crashing at Rien.

Rien rolled aside, but saw the rockface spit in half at the spot where the water surged forward. She picked herself up and rushed for the Junker. She slid forward, span around, and slashed downwards.

Eiran lifted the axe, parrying with it. She stumbled back, overcome by Rien’s sudden strength increase. Rien kicked her in the chest, making her stumble back.

“No one opposes a Junker like that.” She hissed.

“I just did.” Rien said, lowering her sword.

While the two women fought, Seles rushed at the Junker who identified himself as Lord Durham, clad in the white and green armor, hunched over.

Seles leapt forward, throwing a punch. Durham dodged back. Seles threw another punch forward, but Durham again backed away to avoid it.

“Why won’t you stay still?” Seles shouted, leaping forward, driving a punch down.

Durham sidestepped and threw a fist into Seles’s side. The weapon he held did massive damage to Seles’s side and his armor, throwing him around like he was a ragdoll.

“You lack my strength.” Durham said, walking towards Seles, “You may also fight with your fists, but you lack the strength to back it up!”

“Excuse me for not being some freak bruiser like you.” Seles said.

Durham stopped.

“Freak…bruiser…?” He hissed in outrage. He roared and raced forward, smashing his weapon into Seles’s face. He continued to pummel the downed Seles with punches until Seles stopped moving.

“I was once a beautiful warrior! A handsome, powerful Junker! My people gave me the title of ‘Lord’ because of that, and because of that, and my appearance, I was able to draw more and more followers! How dare you call me a freak! Or a bruiser! I am neither!”

“You may not have been…but you are now…” Seles’s breath was labored. His words barely came out. He knew he was provoking his opponent, but that was the point.

Durham shouted and drew his fist back. As he sent it crashing down with all the force he could, Seles unleashed his powers.

The fist stopped. The momentum and kinetic energy was sucked from it. Seles pushed himself up and put his fist out, just touching Durham in the chest.

The minimal touch had been laced with all of the kinetic energy and momentum of Durham’s blow. Durham was sent flying back, crashing into Eiran and throwing her aside, saving Rien from being killed by the axe.

Seles panted, and collapsed, his job done.

Rien raced to his side, ignoring Thete, who was holding his own.

Thete ducked and fired at Lio. The Junker drew his shield up to defend himself, able to parry the blasts. He raced forward, keeping his shield up to protect himself.

He drew it up, and plunged it down, using the two curved blades to go in for Thete’s face. Thete rolled aside and span around, firing into Lio’s side.

“Like that would work!” Lio shouted, throwing his arm up. Water sprang up as a shield, drawn from the moisture all around him. The water absorbed the shots, and then dropped.

Lio plunged the blades forward. They split open, creating a gap. The blades pinched into Thete’s sides, holding him tight between them.

Lio span around, using all of his strength. He threw Thete over the side, and listened to him crash into the boulders below.

He stalked towards Rien and Thete. He looked to Rien, his only real opponent with Seles being out of commission.

He lifted his blades forward, and plunged them in.

Rien turned her sword sideways, parrying with the flat. She glared into Lio’s eyes as he glared into hers.

“Why won’t you die?” He shouted.

“What? You came after me and only removed Thete for a few minutes at most?” She asked, “Why?”

“Because you’re a woman.” He hissed.

“Is that how it is?” She questioned. She slashed to the side and span around, removing the dagger hilt in the spin, throwing it to her left hand. She lifted her sword, and slammed it down, only for Lio to parry.

She drove the hook up, catching it into his chest, and tearing up, ripping some organics. He didn’t give her the satisfaction of crying out in pain. He remained silent, despite his eyes showing the pain he was in.

Rien gave him a wicked smile, “I’m more powerful than you think.” She said, twisting.

He cried out. He drew a leg back and slammed it into her, throwing her back. She stumbled, and looked up, taking a blast of water to the face which dropped her.

He came towards her and lifted his weapon up, preparing to use the single blade on the back to stab through her throat. He stopped at the feeling of something in his back.

“Try and die.” Thete hissed.

“I’ll kill her.” Lio hissed, “But I’ll have to surrender this day. I’m sure you will kill me. I can’t afford to die killing a woman until I remove another…” His eyes wandered to Eiran, who was approaching with Durham.

Thete removed his weapon as Lio walked towards the other Junkers. They all looked to the Toa, with Eiran being the one to address them.

“We leave you alive with a warning.” She said, “We are more powerful than you. We are deadlier than you, or the Corps Stone users you fought in the past. Oppose us at your own risk.” She said, returning to the caves with the other Junkers.

''-“We fight the good fight on our own. We’ve lost lives, lost comrades, but taken down our enemies for the most part. How long can we keep it up? Next time: “Ally”. Even with past sins and experiences, it can be turned to good.''

36: Ally
A Matoran clad in blue and white armor stood looking out into the majestic island city of Angelus Nui. It had been a long trip, but he had finally arrived on the island that he had so desired to be a part of. He wanted life here. He wanted purpose.

He stepped off of the boat and started walking towards shore. He looked around, and caught sight of a Toa standing, watching the people getting off of the boat. This Toa was clad in white and pale blue armor.

The Toa watched most of the people, and then settled on him. She looked at him, and at the sight of his armor, fear entered her eyes. But why would fear enter the eyes of a Toa when it was a Matoran she was seeing?

To find out, he approached. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked towards that spot. He stood on the other side of the low fence as she stared at him.

“Can…can I help you?” Rien asked softly, almost meekly. She was visibly afraid for some reason. Her eyes betrayed her fear. She shook slightly every so often, as if shivering.

The Matoran motioned behind himself with his right thumb, “Yeah, I saw that you were watching us get off the boat. You looked afraid of me.” He simply said, “Why is that, if I may ask?”

He was polite. He wasn’t the person she was looking for.

She shook her head, “It’s nothing.” Rien replied, “I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

“Someone else?” He asked, “Like who?” He looked up in thought, and then looked back down, “It’s not a friend or something like that, because you wouldn’t be afraid. You were looking for a Ki-Matoran whom you fear, and for some reason, you do fear a Ki-Matoran, even though you’re a Toa and shouldn’t be fearing a lowly Matoran.”

She smiled, “You’re pretty smart.”

“Thanks for that compliment.” He replied, “Now, how right am I?”

“Pretty right.” She told him, “I’m just…it’s just habit to look for this Matoran…”

“What did he do to you?” The Matoran asked.

“I was on Stelt once, and well…it’s a long story.” She said, shaking her head, “I don’t want to bother you. Let’s just say that I’m afraid of him after all of that. I fear for my life, even with Toa powers…”

He nodded, “I think I understand.” He scratched the chin of his Kanohi with the left eye which had a scope on it, “Stelt…it has the serfdom laws, right?”

She simply nodded.

“I think I get it.” He said, “So, he was a Ki-Matoran?”

“You shouldn’t worry.” Rien said, “I don’t hate all Ki-Matoran, just that man.”

“Who was he?” The Matoran questioned, “I might know the name, or something, if you could give me anything to go on.”

“I don’t know his name.” Rien admitted, “It was long ago, I try not to remember…I know I would know if I heard it again, though.

“Speaking of names, I’m Rien.” She said, holding her hand out to him, “And you would be?”

“My name is Meon.” He replied, shaking her hand, “Could you take me to the leader of the Toa on this island?” Meon asked.

She nodded, and giving him a smile, told him, “I am the leader.” He noticed that the smile wasn’t a good smile, but rather, a smile of sorrow.

“There’s a story there.” He said.

“Again, a long story.” Rien told Meon.

“I have time. And I needed to see you and your team anyway.”

“What did you want to see my team about?” Rien asked.

“I’d rather say before your entire team, not just you.” Meon said, “If that would be possible, of course.”

“It is. Please, follow me.” Rien said, leading the way through the streets towards the bunker.

“So, what happened to make you leader?” Meon asked.

She sighed, “The original leader was a Toa of Water named Gaila. She had a second in command, a Toa of Air named Lewin. Do you know of the Corps Stones?”

“Of course.” He simply replied.

She nodded, “About eight months ago, a Corps Stone user was raging across the island, using the powers of Niveau Trois. The Toa attempted to stop the creature, but Gaila was too obstinate to listen to reason that Lewin and the other three were presenting to her.

“She was attempting to come up with a plan, and not even hearing out the plan the others had come up with. So…Lewin was forced to kill her so they could use their plan and save so many lives. Gaila’s life was worth the Matoran lives that were saved that day.

“Lewin flew up to face the beast at its chest. He unleashed what was essentially a compressed Nova Blast on the beast, ripping its chest open and destroying the Corps Stone within, ending the threat, but at the cost of his own life. It was a sacrifice, again, that saved so many lives.

“Then their third in command, a Toa of Fire named Tala, took charge. He led the team for the last eight months or so…and eventually, came to meet an enemy named Ucen, the "Blood Swordsman".”

“I’ve heard of him.” Meon said, “What happened then?”

“The team fought him, and they thought they killed him. Seles, a Toa of Energy on the team, thought he detonated his entire body’s worth of potential energy. It turns out it was a trick by Ucen. So, they continued on, dealing with Corps Stones, and then, I came.

“I was welcomed into the team because of Tala. I bonded quickly with him, and we were great partners. Eventually, Tala was on his own, resolving only to fight in self defense after this island’s Corps Stone incident was finished, and ran into Ucen again.

“Ucen fought Tala with all of his might. In the end, Tala ended up doing the same thing that Lewin did. He gave himself over to a compressed Nova Blast and killed himself in an attempt to kill the enemy standing before him.

“It didn’t work. We arrived, but Ucen was still alive. I took Tala’s sword.” She rested a hand on the hilt of the sword on her back, “I’ve carried it ever since. I used it to defeat and end Ucen personally. He’s no longer a threat to anyone.

“Since then, I’ve led us. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but our Four Seraphim were really a Makuta, we have no actual leadership anymore, we’re kind of…done. We’re just going about the motions of life without a leader to guide us.

“And now, to complicate things even more, we have an insectoid army on our tail, hounding us, led by three very powerful warriors.”

“Insectoid army?” Meon questioned, “Could you tell me more about that?”

Rien nodded, “They’re called the Eruo, or the Scourge Army. They’re insectoid soldiers who have a hive mind and try to destroy anything. They have three commanders called Junkers, who are much more powerful and have powers over Water. We fought them, and we didn’t do very well. We were just beaten around. We stood really no chance, not knowing how many there were, or that they even existed in the first place.

“We found out that one of them, the leader of that lot, was once a friend of the other’s, mainly of Tala’s. She was a spy the entire time. They’re hiding in the mountains to the north currently. We’re just waiting, trying to make the best plan we can, because we really don’t know what we can do against them.” Rien admitted.

“Wow…” Meon said, shaking his head, “I got here just in time, then.”

“Why do you say that?” Rien asked, “Do you have a death wish or something? Because with that many enemies…”

“You don’t think you can protect everyone.” Meon said, as if reading her mind, “It’s not hard to assume you feel that way.” He shook his head, “No, you’ll see what I mean when we meet with the others.”

Rien stopped, “Well, it won’t be long.” She motioned for a steel building built partially into the ground, “We’re here.”

She walked up to the door and pulled it open. She walked inside and looked around. Noticing Thete and Seles, she walked in towards them, “Guys!”

Thete and Seles both looked up. They both stopped whatever it was they were doing and went to meet her. They noticed Meon in tow, about to question her about it.

“Who’s that?” Seles bluntly questioned.

Before Rien could answer, Meon answered the question himself, “My name is Meon. I came here to see you three.”

“Why?” Seles questioned bluntly once more.

Thete looked to him, “That’s against your repentance.” He said.

Seles shook his head, “Forgot about that…I have to try to make people like me. I can’t act like this anymore…”

“Repentance?” Meon asked.

“The three Toa repented after we got the last Corps Stone.” Rien explained, “That’s all. I told you Tala wasn’t going to fight for himself, only self defense and others. Seles here said he would try to be liked by more people, not be as blunt or anything.”

Meon nodded, “Ok, I see.”

“Do you?” Seles questioned, “I really hate acting this way. I hope you do see, so you know to get on with it fast.”

He nodded quickly, “Yeah, yeah, I get it.” He said, “Well, the reason I’m here is because I think I can offer you four something.”

“Offer us something?” Thete asked, “What could you offer us? And for what purpose?”

“Rien here told me about the Eruo and everything else that’s happened.” Meon explained, “I figure you three could use help against an army.”

“That would be good, to have help.” Thete said, “Now, how can you help us?”

Meon set his pack down. The Toa watched him, curious about what he was doing. He looked up and pulled a smaller pack out.

He undid the single clasp and dropped the pack. He held up an ovular stone in his hand. There was no mistaking it.

It was a Corps Stone.

The two male Toa quickly backed away. Thete pulled his firearm on Meon while Seles brought his fists up, ready for trouble. Rien took a quick step farther to his side, reaching for her sword as a precaution.

Meon looked to all of them, “Please, hear me out.”

“Talk fast.” Seles hissed.

Meon nodded quickly, “You guys were fighting Corps Stone users who had corrupted Corps Stones I believe. Isn’t that right?”

Rien nodded, “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then why draw weapons on me?” Meon asked.

“You could very well also be using a corrupted Stone.” Thete told him, “We have no way of knowing. You could be here to off us.”

“I’m not. I’m here to help you!” Meon said. He shook the Corps Stone he held, “Look, I got this on a trip to Xia. I was assured that a Makuta had purchased a large quantity of Stones, and then had done something to them that they weren’t sure about. I, however, was assured that this was one of the last in their possession after finding the hidden cache. Please, I’ve used it multiple times without anything ever happening to me! I’ve never gone into Niveau Deux even! Only Un. I’ve only fought for justice whenever I’ve needed to.” He tried to assure the Toa in the room.

“I don’t trust you.” Seles said, “Now, if you really want to show us, then transform until you can no longer hold it. I want to see that you can keep in check your emotions. If you’re using a corrupted Stone, then you’ll try to kill us before you time out.”

He nodded, “Yeah, that sounds fair.” Meon told Seles. He held the Stone to his chest, “Shall I?” He asked.

Seles gestured, “Be my guest.”

Meon set it to his chest. It melded into his chest and light rippled around his body. He threw his arms out as his body grew. His legs extended, his body became larger, his arms extended, and armor below his shoulders appeared like blades, coming down in three blades. He lowered his arms and head, looking at the others.

He was a powerful looking Toa of Crystal because of the blades on his arms extending down. He held no weaponry. Most Toa would spawn weapons upon their “birth”, but this one didn’t. Meon wasn’t summoning a weapon for some reason.

It was believed by the three Toa, and the three deceased Toa before them, that the first fusion would give the user a weapon if they held something during that initial transformation. Sometimes they had fought Matoran on their first transformation, and yet, no weapons. Sometimes, they would have nothing, but yet have weapons. It wasn’t understood if they would always have weaponry or not, or if it was tied into element or Stone, or something else entirely.

Meon had nothing. He looked at the others, waiting for the ten or so minutes to pass so he would run out of power in his Corps Stone.

“No weapons?” Seles questioned.

He shook his head, “No.” He lifted his left hand slightly, just showing the others, not fast enough to raise an alarm, “I could show you what I do, though, if you wanted to see…”

Rien nodded, “Go ahead.”

“Are you sure?” Seles questioned.

She nodded, “Yeah, I’m sure. Let’s see this.”

He flicked his wrist, focusing his powers through his left hand. Crystal power came out as a stream of pure energy, rather than anything physical. It started to take a physical edge, appearing as a sword in his hand. A guard sloped down his hand, and a blade came up, sloping up at the end of the blade.

He held the crystalline blade in his hand. It sparkled in the light with how thin it looked, however, it looked very powerful, being made of crystal.

“That’s how I fight.” Meon said. He slammed the tip of the sword into the ground, “With my own powers.”

Rien nodded. She approached him, standing before him and in front of her own partners. She waved her hand in the air, using her powers to display his aura.

The aura was fine. It looked like a light blue or a teal, which was a proper aura, fortunately. She focused a little more power into the display, allowing the others to see.

“His aura is fine.” She said. She closed her eyes, probing his mind with her mental powers. She returned her mind to her own body and looked back, shaking her head, “He’s fine. He has no evil thoughts, no thoughts of doing damage or betraying us or anything…just pure thoughts of actually joining us, of helping us to stop the Eruo armies and to defend the island.”

“Are you sure?” Thete asked, “If you’re sure, then I’ll believe you, I’ll side with you on this one.”

Seles looked at them, not making his opinion known.

Rien nodded, “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Seles looked to Meon, “After the limit is up.”

In a few minutes, the spot where the Stone would be in Meon’s chest started to glow. The Stone fell into his waiting hand, and a new burst of light came around his body, returning him to his Matoran stature.

“There, satisfied?” He asked.

Seles reluctantly nodded, “Yeah, I’m satisfied.

Rien looked to the three men in the room, “Ok then. It looks like we have a new ally.” She said, giving Meon a smile, “Welcome to the team.”

''-“Four Toa against an army. Anyone would see these odds as unwinnable. We’re not optimists by any means, but we know we can win. Next time: “Gear”. Unleash the inner strength and outer devices!”''

37: Gear
The battle was long and hard. There were corpses littering the street when it was over.

The four Toa panted as they looked around at the death they had wrought upon the Eruo soldiers that had come to attempt to claim their heads. Rien's arm shook and she dropped her sword.

“Is something wrong?” Meon asked her, driving his crystalline sword into the ground for the time being.

She shook her head, “No. I’m just tired from all this fighting.” She said.

Seles nodded as he walked over, “I know what you mean.” He shook out his fists, “At least you use a blade, though. I have to make contact with my fists each time. It gets a lot worse that way.”

“Then use a weapon.” Meon said bluntly.

“I don’t like swords, or any weapon for that matter.” Seles replied, “Out of the question.”

“Then don’t complain.” Meon simply said.

Thete stood back, looking around at the death. He had done as much as he could to hold them off, but they were getting better this time. They had targets and went after them.

What could he possibly do to help? Using a firearm had been effective, but there had to be something else that could be done to make the job easier.

He looked around, and then walked over to the others. He holstered his weapon on his side, “Guys, we need to talk.”

“About what?” Rien asked.

“We need a more effective method of dispatching these things.” Thete answered, “There are just too many of them. We know we can’t fight them for too long at this rate.”

“Do you have a suggestion?” Meon asked.

Meon. He was already acting like a full member of the team with that last question he asked. He was cocky and too good for his own good. His skill made him an ally. His attitude didn’t. That his skills were so good gave him a false sense of authority, of what he could or could not do or say, or even, act around the others, the actual members of the team.

Thete pushed it aside. He felt like Seles, thinking about someone else in such a manner. He didn’t like thinking that way. He didn’t want to think that way.

“I do.” Thete said, “It’s going to take some time. I just need to ask you, Rien, if I have permission to take a short leave to complete the newest machine I’m working on. It’ll be able to help us immensely.”

Rien nodded, “Yeah, of course. Take all the time you would need in order to get this done, if you really think it could help us, that is.”

“I know it can help.” Thete assured her, “I just need the time to complete it.”

“Materials?” She asked.

He shook his head, “No, I’ve got everything I’ll need.” He told her, “I’ve made sure of that for a long time.”

“A long time?” Seles questioned, walking forward, “Did you have this planned already, and we’re only hearing of it now?”

Now it was Seles who was getting on his nerves. He was being attacked in different ways by different Toa, if they knew it or not. He hated being attacked like that.

“I came up with the idea when we were repenting.” Thete said, “It’s part of my repentance. I will exhaust myself for the safety and the sake of the citizens of our fine island. I will do this for their sake, and for our own, so we can win this fight against the Eruo!”

Rien nodded, “Go ahead then. And please, hurry. We’ll need whatever you can give us as fast as we can.”

“I know.” Thete replied, “I’ll do my best to get it all working as fast as I can.” He started to walk away, “I’ll see you soon with the finished product. Maybe a day or two.” He admitted.

“Just please, hurry.” Rien pleaded.

He nodded, “Don’t worry. Just defend the city in my absence.” He looked at his weapon, and unhooked it. He threw it to the group, “Use that for me!” He pointed at Seles, “I’m looking at you!” He shouted at the Toa of Energy.

Seles took the weapon, getting a taste for its weight. He nodded, “Ok, fine then. I’ll use it for you.”

“Thanks.” Thete said, taking off running, busy to get to work.

Rien looked at the scattered corpses lying around, and then looked to the others, “Well, we should start getting these bodies taken care of.” She said, holstering her sword on her back. She started to crouch down, picking up and dragging bodies around in her weakness.

Seles holstered the firearm on his side and crouched down, picking a body up and pulling it away. He looked back, but Meon had returned to Matoran form. He wasn’t doing anything to help, because with his Matoran strength, he couldn’t.

Seles wanted to say something, but he knew he couldn’t. He would have no right to say anything about it. He didn’t like Meon, but it was clear that Rien did. He wasn’t going to speak out against their leader. He knew that would be foolish to do in such a case. They had a willing ally, one who was unexpected. They would want this man’s help.

He wasn’t going to look the gift-Rahi in the mouth. He was also fortunate that they had another partner with them, though this partner wasn’t one that he actually liked that much, that didn’t change the significance of it.

They had four Toa fighting for the island that had no guardian, no hero anymore. Three Toa were lost, a horde of fake Toa were defeated, and the Seraphim were gone, but not anyone they would have wanted there in the first place, so that wasn’t a big loss.

He struggled to carry corpses away, piling them into larger piles. They were going to stack as many bodies as they could, and then burn them all. They were making multiple piles as large as they could, and then they would wait for Matoran to return with torches.

Rien looked down, but Meon was gone. She was going to ask for his assistance in something other than the lifting, but their Matoran comrade had disappeared.

“He’s not really working out.” Seles said now that he was gone.

Rien shot him a look, “Of course he is! It’s because of him we were able to take down all of these things without too much resistance!”

Seles sighed and fingered a shard of crystal in the head of the corpse he was currently carrying. He hated to admit it, but she was right. It was because of his powers that they were able to take out so many of the enemy.

He looked at the crystalline sword in the ground. He walked over and took grip of the hilt. He pulled it free, feeling it effortlessly slice through the ground on the way up. He waved the sword around, getting a feel for it.

“Don’t tell me, you’re abandoning your fists for a blade and a gun?” She questioned.

He didn’t care for the joke. He swung it around, just feeling how Meon fought. He didn’t like the fact that the sword was so light, but so dense and able to cut so easily. He felt like Meon was taking an easy way out of this.

“Hey, Rien, you ever hear of the Kanohi Trard? The Mask of Skill?” He questioned.

She nodded, “Yeah, I have. Why?”

“Don’t you feel it’s a bit of a cheat?” He questioned. He plunged the sword into the ground again, as if to make a point, “I mean, a novice Toa doesn’t even have to learn because of it! Just put it on, and instant skill!”

“It’s good for them to at least learn some possibilities, which they can later decide to use on their own, without the aid of the Trard.” Rien said.

“Well, the mask is a cheat.” Seles said, “There are few reasons why it can be used without it being a cheat, but a majority of the uses use it as such: a cheater’s method. An easy way out of the situation.”

“What are you getting at?” Rien questioned.

“This sword.” Seles said, motioning at it, “It’s so light, so easy to handle, but cuts through about anything. It’s good, when we have so many opponents to take care of, like this, but it’s not teaching Meon much about being a Toa.

“Being a Toa, after all, is a struggle. We struggle with our bodies, with our minds. We don’t need to use such a weapon, or even, a Trard, for that matter, while I’m on the subject. We need to prove ourselves as stronger. I’m sure even a Matoran could use this thing proficiently!”

Rien shook her head, “Seles, drop it, ok? Please.”

“Fine.” He said, leaving it at that. He started to crouch down and pick up bodies again, dragging them into piles once more.

It would take them hours to clean the streets, but it would be worth it to have the sights of carnage gone from their beautiful city.

It had been two days, and yet, no sign of Thete. For that matter, no sign of any danger, either.

“Thete said two days, right?” Seles questioned, leaning back in the chair he sat in, flipping the firearm around his finger. He stopped, taking grip of the handle. He looked towards the others, “I really want to use this thing before Thete gets back.”

“Then go do target practice.” Rien told him.

He shook his head, “I want a live target.”

“Are you actually implying you want the Eruo to attack?” Meon questioned, “That’s terrible!”

“I’m not implying that.” Seles hissed, “I’m just saying…”

“That an attack that could claim innocent lives would be better than taking target practice?” He questioned, “You’re sickening, you know that, Seles?”

“One more word!” Seles shouted, aiming the weapon at Meon.

“Seles! Meon!” Rien shouted at them, “Stop this!”

“He started it.” Seles said, acting immature and pointing to Meon.

“He did.” Meon simply said with much more seriousness.

“How? By saying I wanted a live target?” Seles questioned.

“Yes, because of the implications involved!” Meon shouted.

“Enough!” Thete’s voice boomed through the room. They all looked up at him as he walked down, “I’m back. Enough bickering. I’ll not stand for it!”

“Here.” Seles simply said, throwing the weapon into the air, taking it by the nose, and throwing it again through the air. Thete grabbed the handle of it and slipped it to his waist, securing it tightly for himself.

“Did you finish?” Rien questioned.

“Of course.” Thete replied.

“Where is it, then?” Rien asked.

“Elsewhere.” Thete said, “I didn’t want to bring it yet.”

“Why not?” She questioned.

He shrugged, “We don’t need it yet.”

Meon walked past and opened the door. He gazed outside into the failing light, “We have problems!” He shouted back.

The others raced to the door and looked outside. They saw about five of the insectoid soldiers moving around the streets. Not many, but an invasion force could be behind them.

“This is a great time to test it.” Thete said, rushing outside. The others followed him out, looking at the oncoming soldiers, which were greater in number than the initial handful.

He looked to Rien, “Ok, let’s see how it works.”

“How what works?” Rien questioned, “The machine?”

He nodded, “It’s called the First Gear.” He said. He threw his arm out, using his element to call to it.

What looked like a bird flew through the air. It had a cylindrical body with an optical crimson eye in the center. It had two small flap-like wings on the sides, aiming down, and another under the eye, aiming down, like a beak of some sort.

It flapped around with the side “wings”, until it came to rest in Rien’s hands. She looked to Thete, who simply nodded, “Do what feels natural.” He said.

For some reason, she had a natural feeling all of a sudden. It was as if this machine had been imbued with some way of leaving memories in her, leaving behind a method of operation for her.

Thete had thought of everything. She liked that about him. She was also very pleased with that fact, since he wasn’t going to tell her what to do with this Gear of hers.

She reached down, taking hold of the bracket that held the two side “wings” on and pulled it off. She flipped it around, so that the “wings” would aim upwards this time. She had a mounted handle in her hand as she drew it to her chest, and then, threw her arm out, holding tight to the First Gear now in its operational mode.

The thing started to fly out in front of her, getting out of her grip. It started to sizzle with electricity as it started to activate. It flashed, and then, seemed to be growing.

“I made it capable of two forms.” Thete said, “The small, bird based form for traveling to the user, and, the larger, vehicle form.”

As the light around it was gone, it was revealed as the larger vehicle form. It had a large black base, coming out the bottom. It had two wing-like protrusions coming up off of that, and then, tipping down slightly. There was a blade, like the beak, coming down off the front yet, as well as a few jets placed around it to help maintain flight.

Rien leapt onto the back, turning her body sideways so she could properly stand on it. She held onto the back of one wing, and the front of the other, because of how she was forced to stand.

The First Gear flew into the air, allowing her to cover ground much faster. From here she was able to see the advancing forces of the Eruo. There were maybe fifty to one hundred. Not nearly as many as had attacked in the past.

She whirled it around in the air, flying back towards the ground. She leapt off of it and strode towards Thete, holding her fist out.

He bumped it with his, nodding in their silent, shared sentiment that it was great. That it worked, and would be an asset in the future.

“What, nothing for me?” Seles questioned, slapping Thete on the back.

Thete flipped his weapon into hand and passed it to Seles, “Here, you can test it on live targets.” He told Seles.

Seles took the weapon with a nod, “Very good, then.” He said. He lifted it and took aim, picking off a few of the advancing Eruo, getting a feel for the weapon. He flipped it around and passed it back, clenching his fists, “I think I prefer my fists.” He admitted, rushing into the battle.

Rien ran forward into battle. The First Gear wasn’t made for combat, so it wouldn’t be of much use to her in this situation.

Behind her came Thete rushing in, holding the firearm. He opened fire as he ran to join with the other two, who used their blade and fists to cut down advancing soldiers.

Meon raced forward, drawing his Corps Stone up to his chest. He drew it into himself, melding it into his armor, into his being. He erupted with light, and emerged as the taller, more powerful Toa of Crystal. He flicked his wrist to create his crystalline sword in his left hand.

The battle was going to be swift, but it wouldn’t get a point across to the Eruo. The message the Toa wanted them to know was that they were not to be trifled with. That no matter how many soldiers they sent at the Toa, they would always fall, and the Toa would always be victorious.

There was no getting around that fact.

“How many of these men have to die before they understand?” Rien pondered, pondering their numbers as well, as well as what motive they could possibly have, and also trying to think of what their next move could possibly be.

''-“Wishing back from the dead is something we all wish we could do. We wish Tala was here. They wish their former leaders were here. Why can’t we wish back to life? Next time: “Revival”. Wishing to life causes chaos amongst the dead.”''

38: Revival
Lio swung his blades down, driving them in for Meon's skull. Meon used the flat of his sword to defend himself, but he was losing strength that Lio seemed to have precious more of. He was going to lose his head if he weren’t careful around the green and blue armored chauvinistic warrior, and presumably, second in command Junker, by the way he acted around the other two.

He drew back his weapon and span around, trying to use the pike at the back to cut through Meon. Meon dodged back and span around, throwing his right arm out. He unleashed a small flurry of crystal fragments, but none of them seemed to reach him, thanks to his weapon’s primary use as a shield, as well as his unleashing water from the moisture in the air to act as a shield.

“You can use the element of Water?” Meon shouted.

Lio said nothing. He lunged forward, spinning his weapon around. He drove the pike in, but it missed as Meon dodged back and span around. He whipped a leg up, kicking the Junker in the side of the head, taking him to the ground.

Lio rolled, but he said nothing. He drew his left hand back and threw it forward, unleashing a surge of his power into Meon, throwing him to the ground, completely soaked.

Meon was just happy that the Junkers didn’t have Lightning or Electricity to go with their Water powers. Then he would be in danger. A little water wouldn’t hurt him, through.

He rose and lunged forward, swinging his weapon down. His foe drew his weapon up, parrying. The shield seemed to be stronger than the crystal blade, which Meon had previously believed to be able to cut anything.

“You’re surprised.” Lio said simply, no emotion in his words, “Why is that?”

“You have a weapon stronger than my blade.” Meon simply said.

Lio looked at the sword, and then at his shield. He shrugged and span around, ducking down, and he kicked his foe in the gut, throwing him to the ground.

He put the blades to Meon’s throat, and looked into the man’s eyes. “One move, and I liberate you of your head. Do you want that?”

“Yeah…” Meon hissed.

“Good.” Lio said, “Now, do you believe me to keep up my end of this bargain? That you stay still, you live?”

“No.” Meon said.

“Very good. You know not to trust me.” Lio said, smiling grimly, “It’s time for you to die, little Toa-wannabe.”

Before he could finish his plunge, and end Meon’s life, his muscles stopped. No, he felt that they were still working, but rather, something else had stopped.

His armor wouldn’t move in conjunction with his muscles.

He looked to his side, watching the Toa of Technology approach, firearm trained at him in his right hand, left hand out, manipulating his mechanical portions of his body.

“I’ll get you for this!” Lio shouted. He still had control of his left arm. He generated a flow of his Water powers around it, getting ready for another attack, to attack Thete this time instead, so he could get at Meon as well with his thrust.

“We won’t allow you to kill one of our number.” Thete said.

“So, did Durham not keep you busy enough?” Lio questioned.

“He’s busy with Seles.” Thete answered, “Fists against iron knuckles. What could be a better match?”

“There really isn’t one among the lot of us.” Lio said.

Thete span around, but wasn’t fast enough. The blunt end of Eiran's axe struck him in the side of the head, taking him down.

He maintained control over Lio, but not much. Lio could very well break himself free if he desired to. No doubt he did desire to.

Rien leapt over, swinging her sword down. She slashed the ground, however, as Eiran dodged back. The yellow and white armored Junker had once been a friend to Tala, Thete and Seles, but now, her true allegiance was revealed, revealed to be a Junker, and to be their leader.

She span her axe around and lifted it high. She took it on both hands as she swung it down on Rien. Rien drew her sword up just in time to parry, and then rushed forward, forcing her opponent to keep rushing back to keep up and not lose her footing. Losing your footing here would likely be a fatal mistake.

In the background, as Thete rose and looked past the battling women, he could see Seles ducking and dodging as the hunched over bruiser, Durham, or Lord Durham, as some called him, took swings at the Toa of Energy.

Seles span around and threw a kick into the side of Durham’s head. Durham stumbled back, only dazed. He lunged forward, smashing both weapons into the ground.

Seles span to the side and whipped his right arm out, smashing a backhanded fist into the side of Durham’s head. Durham stumbled and threw both of his arms out, sending a surge of water into Seles’s chest.

Seles was smashed against the ground as the force of the water washed him away from the Junker. He struggled, but couldn’t get free of the surge.

Thete let out a cry, and with a force of energy, he unleashed his powers on all of Lio’s body. Lio cried out as his armor started to slowly convulse on him, crushing his organics. He cried out as he stumbled around, fighting for control of his own body, when it was clear he didn’t have that control that he was entitled to.

Meon pushed himself up and rushed over. He stopped beside Thete, nodding his thanks to the Toa of Technology.

“You can thank me by helping us to drive them away from here.” Thete said.

Meon nodded, “Who should I handle?”

“Lio, with me.” Thete said, bringing his weapon to his shoulder as he rushed alongside Meon towards the stumbling Junker.

Lio was about to attack, when he shot his left hand to his head. He wore a helmet, as did Durham, whereas Eiran wore her Mask of Illusions from her time as a spy. Whatever was coming to him was something basic and biological, not a result of a Kanohi. It wasn’t pain, however, like Rien’s attacks on someone’s mind. And they couldn’t feel her entering, so what could it be?

Lio looked up and motioned to the others. He took off running, fleeing from the Toa, or so it appeared. For good measure, Thete started to fire into his foe’s back, and Meon threw crystal shards at him as well, hoping to cut down at least one of the Junkers in their flight.

The four Toa stood together as the Junkers vanished from sight. Meon erupted into light, returning to his Matoran form when he ran out of time on his Corps Stone. He looked to the others, “What do you think that was about?”

“I don’t know.” Rien said, “I could follow…”

“If they detect your spirit somehow, we’re done.” Thete said.

“You think they could detect me?” Rien asked.

“Potentially.” He replied, “I’d rather send something that won’t end up potentially getting one of us killed.”

“What do you have in mind?” Seles asked.

He threw his arm out, using his power to call to a machine. In came flying a sleek, somewhat flat machine, like the First Gear. This one, however, looked more like a beetle of some sort, complete with hooks for hooking and latching to something so it could hang around.

It fit between both of Thete’s hands. It was large, but it was also stealthy due to its silence and its silver color, able to hide in the darkness if it was plunged into it. The silver was such a color that it would blend in.

“Completely silent, able to fold wings in, it could fit in a crack in the caves, if it needed to. When it returns, it can play out what it saw through the optical eye.” Thete said, tapping the crimson eye, “This is Second Gear.”

“Let’s deploy it, then.” Rien said.

He nodded, throwing it into the air. The wings started to flutter all at once, and flew off into the north, in an attempt to spy on the Junkers.

The three Junkers met in a large, dark chamber. The Second Gear slipped in and hung to the ceiling with its hook, hiding around stalactites. It was perfectly hidden. Someone would have to be looking in order to find it.

The three Junkers looked around, and then, they saw a shadow emerge in the doorway. It was a shadow that was larger than any of them. It was their leader, the Rges, Czar Everto.

“I have not called you back.” His deep voice hissed, “What are you doing back here?”

“We were summoned.” Eiran explained, walking towards him, “If not by you, then whom?”

“Could there be another Junker here?” Lio questioned.

The larger Rges shook his head. His shadow moved accordingly to the Junkers, “No. No other Junker nor Rges knows we took to hiding here. We have the largest of the Eruo armies, but even with this many men, they shouldn’t know. Hive minds are linked through the Rges or Junker commander, after all.”

Durham looked up at the mention of a Junker commander. He ached to know what had happened to him in his prime…

“Who could have done it, then?” Eiran questioned.

“It was me…” A voice hissed. It was soft and sly, carrying malice with it, yet it had a sturdy enough foundation to it.

All eyes went to the dark corner of the room. Indeed, this stranger was also wearing silver armor, like the Second Gear, and blended in as such. He walked out, revealing his form to the others.

He had a gray and silver chest, with silver arms and legs, and accompanying armor, as well. He wore a silver helmet to go along with his motif.

His extra armor, however, was different. His right shoulder armor was sleeked up, and larger at the tops. His left shoulder had a large, scythe-like blade coming down over the front, with a small blade kicking back up the back. His left leg, above the knee, had oval armor with a spike on it, while his right had sleek armor on the side, like the arm, but in a different style.

His chest was gray, with silver towards the throat, and silver again towards the bottom, towards his legs. Silver seemed to be his motif, as well as disunity, despite his silver on his chest being the same model of armor. On his back he had a long, ovular piece of gray armor running up and down for some reason, potentially just to add to his look.

In his right hand he carried a twin bladed weapon. The blades curved up and had what looked like teeth lining the insides. The man snapped them open and closed as he walked forward. They acted like a scissors, that much was obvious.

“Raxa!” Everto shouted from his shadowed position.

The Junker smiled a grim smile, “Yes, I’m back from the dead. Is that what you think?” This Junker, Raxa, questioned.

“You never died.” Everto hissed, “I don’t believe in ghosts.”

Raxa shrugged, walking towards the others, “Well, I want my position as Junker leader back.” He said, looking to Eiran, and then to Everto, “I deserve it. I served so faithfully under you for all those years.”

“I had you killed.” Everto hissed, “You know that means I don’t want you back.”

“But the assassination attempt failed.” He gestured to Durham, “I’m sure our friend Lord Durham knows about failed assassination attempts.”

“What are you talking about?” Durham questioned.

Raxa smiled a smile that made him look like a snake, “You want to know what happened to you? Why you were disfigured?”

Durham caught his drift and looked to their Rges commander. Everto did nothing.

“It was you!” Durham shouted, “Wasn’t it?”

“It was.” Everto hissed, “I had a Visorak swarm attack you so that you would learn not to break away.” The Rges told him, shrugging, “You, like other Junkers, were rebelling against we Rges. We needed to keep a firm hold on you lot. You already gained the title of “Lord”, so I knew that you were going to be trouble. I wanted trouble close to me so I could use it. Disfiguring you was the best way to do that. It made sure you would be compliant and work for me, as well as destroy your dignity.” He glared at Raxa, “The difference here is I wanted Raxa dead for everything he knew.”

“Everything he knew?” Eiran questioned, looking to him, “What did you have him doing prior to his leading us?” She questioned.

“I was an interrogator.” Raxa said, walking forward, shrugging to her, “It seems that our Czar didn’t want me running around with the information extracted from those traitor Junkers I put to death as well as interrogated.” He glared at Everto, “Isn’t that right?”

Everto nodded, “That knowledge was not for you to know.” The Czar told Raxa. He looked at Raxa’s armor, but said nothing.

Lio was the first to come out with it, “What happened to your body?” He questioned.

Raxa looked up and down himself, at his mismatched armor. He looked up, giving a sly, reptilian smile, “Why, I embraced who I was.”

“Someone in disarray? Disharmony?” Everto guessed.

“No.” Raxa said, “But you’ll see what I mean soon enough, when I go out and do battle with the Toa.” He said, walking around the room. He cast a look to Everto, “They are the obstacles in your way, are they not?”

“They are.” Everto hissed.

“Then I’ll do it for you.” Raxa said.

“You are not welcome here on Angelus Nui.” Everto hissed.

“Neither are you.” Raxa said, “You invaded this place, you didn’t come due to a welcome party. You’re like me. I’ll be like you.”

“If you don’t leave on your own will, then I’ll make you leave.” Everto hissed, clenching his fist, “And you won’t like it.”

“Will absorbing my lifeforce really make things better for you, Everto?” Raxa questioned, “I know the reason you haven’t gone out there and crushed the resistance yet.”

“And why would that be?” Everto hissed.

“You’re dying.” Raxa simply said, “Isn’t that right?”

Everto said nothing. The other Junkers said nothing. It was pretty much a taboo subject to bring up in Everto’s presence, or at all.

“You’re right.” Everto hissed, admitting it, “I am dying. Absorbing underlings does nothing to help me.”

“Is that why you came here, to Angelus Nui?” Raxa questioned, “To find a cure?”

He nodded, “The Four Seraphim have left the island. I hope that now, I can find a cure for myself among the people.”

“The Toa stand in your way.” Raxa said, shaking his head, “If it’s not the Seraphim, it’s the Toa. I’ll remove them for you so you can go find your cure.”

“Why would you do that?” Everto demanded.

“I have no ulterior motive, if that’s what you think.” Raxa said, lifting his scissors blades, “I just want to kill something. I could make it you and your Junkers, but I’d prefer not to have to kill my own people.”

Everto’s crimson eyes regarded him. They lowered into a glare, “Deal struck.”

''-“We all have secrets. We all have powers. And, we all have powers that we keep hidden, waiting for the right moment to use. Next time: “1”. Hidden powers flare!”''

39: 1
Raxa walked around the edge of the city that made up the bulk of Angelus Nui. He gazed around, standing proudly in his mismatched silver and gray armor. He hefted his scissors blade to his shoulder as he walked in towards the heart of the island.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Eiran hissed.

He looked to the former Junker leader. He knew she hated him, since he had taken her position as leader, until Everto would grow tired of him and have him eliminated.

That was obviously going to happen. He hated Raxa with a passion. That would have to be the reason why he was supposed to have been killed by Everto’s men.

He knew too much. Information was dangerous, especially for a Junker as skilled and sinister, not to mention unstable, as Raxa was. He was too dangerous. He had to be eliminated.

Durham was to be eliminated as well, but that wasn’t fully taken care of. Rather, scarring him with venom and mutations were enough to give him a reason to join Everto’s army. Raxa hadn’t learned, and was to be killed.

That didn’t work. Raxa thought too much of himself. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be killed like that. He wasn’t going to be eliminated by someone he felt was below him.

He hated Everto. He believed that even though he was a Rges, he was nothing compared to the silver armored Junker.

After all, Rges had power of Fire and Shadow, they were commanders. Junkers were below with Water. However, Raxa was different. He was much more dangerous.

“Do you know why Everto wished me dead?” Raxa asked his companion.

“No.” She simply replied, “I just enjoyed the chance to be leader.” She simply told him.

“Do you want to know why?” He questioned, looking back at her, hoping that she would ask him, hoping she would want to know his story.

“No.” She replied simply.

“You really don’t want to know my story?” He questioned, putting his left hand to his heart in mock pain, “That hurts me you know!”

“Fine.” Eiran muttered, shaking her head, “Tell me, then.”

“You really want to know?” He questioned, smiling, “I’m surprised.”

“Raxa, I can see why Everto would want you dead. You’re making me want to strangle you myself!”

Raxa shook his head, “No. That’s not it.” He said, “I didn’t annoy him like I’m annoying you.” His voice took on a darker tone, less of a fun tone, like he was having when he was annoying her. He looked up and down her body, smiling at her, “You don’t have what I had.”

“What do you mean?” She questioned.

“I had to learn this even after I was ‘killed’.” Raxa said, shaking his head, “You don’t have what I do.”

“What is it?” She questioned.

He turned back, looking out at the city, “Tell me, have you heard of a Fang Dagger before? Have you ever used one?”

She shrugged, “Heard of them, never used one.”

“Do you know what it can do?” He asked her.

She nodded, “Yeah, it can be stabbed into an opponent, and suck their soul into the crystal at the end of the hilt.”

He nodded, “It can then return the soul to the body before the blade is removed, or, it can steal the soul and kill the target.” Raxa said, “Three uses per day, that’s all.”

“Why did you bring this up?” She asked.

“I was an interrogator, you know that.” He replied.

She nodded, “Why is that important to know?”

He smiled and span around. He stabbed his blade into the ground and gestured at his mismatched armor, “Well, you see, I had a great way of taking care of insurrectionists, mostly Junkers.”

She nodded, “The Junker rebellions. You were the one killing Junkers?”

He nodded, “Everto and a few others had me killing Junkers. We interrogated them, and then, I had my own fun, getting any more information out.”

“What sort of information?” She questioned.

“When Everto was there, we got information, like enemy encampments, how many men were there, where they were stationed, things like that.” He told her.

“And what else could possibly be relevant if they gave away their information on their encampments? I remember that we butchered them after receiving these reports.”

“That was only part of it.” He answered, shaking his head, chuckling to himself, “You see, then I would ask them personal questions, learn about them. I would start to learn their weaknesses, and then, force them to…learn.”

“Learn?” She questioned.

He nodded, clenching his right hand, as if he were carrying his Fang Dagger like he used to, “I had my Dagger, and I would force them to learn about certain Rahi.”

“For what purpose?” She questioned.

“Well, I would give them a Faxon, and force them to learn about a specific Rahi, making them learn literally everything there was to learn. Then, I would have that Junker copy the ability of the Rahi, or they would die. They believed that making me happy, I would spare them.

“They were fools. When they learned and copied the Rahi I made them, I would stab them with the Fang Dagger, and drain their soul away. Because they were copying the Rahi when I drained their soul, I would have that power.”

“What are you getting at?” She questioned, taking a step back in fear. This man was dangerous, partially insane, and sadistic. He was someone she didn’t want to mess with. She feared fighting him, she wouldn’t want to have to duel him. She was sure she would die, and it would be a very long, drawn out, painful death at that.

“Well, when I had them copying the Rahi, I would stab myself. I would use the Fang Dagger to send their soul into my body. However, since they were using the Faxon, it felt like it was the soul of a Rahi being inserted within me.”

“What good does having the soul of a Rahi inside of you do?” She asked him, afraid of the answer and how this could help Raxa.

He gave a wicked smile, “I did that to four different Junkers. Some resisted and died. These were compliant enough to listen to me. I simply inserted these souls into my body, and then, after I had them all, drained them out of myself. I first combined two, then returned the new soul to myself. I did it to the other two, and then, returned it to myself. Feeling these two bestial souls within myself, I withdrew both at once, and then, drew them both back out and combined them.”

“You were combining Rahi souls?” She questioned.

“They were equivalent to Rahi souls.” He replied, “Then, what I did was embrace the souls.” He gestured to the four different pieces of armor he had, “You see, this is the result.”

“Mismatched armor?” She questioned, unimpressed from his seemingly perfect explanation that would make her fear him even more.

“You’ll see.” He said, pulling the weapon out of the ground and walking into the city, “You shall see soon enough, Eiran. Soon enough.”

Rien ran and dodged around the corners of the city. She slid to a stop, finally reaching the spot where Second Gear told them that they would be.

She stopped, drawing her sword. She looked out, seeing Eiran standing there, arms folded over her chest, and the axe imbedded in one of the walls next to her.

“You came.” Eiran said.

She nodded, “Is it just you?” She questioned.

Eiran shook her head, “I wouldn’t make it that easy.” She replied, snapping her fingers.

Her eyes widened in shock as two blades slammed into her, one in front, one in back, scissoring her. She cried out, and was thrown aside, smashing into another wall. She slid to the ground and looked shocked at where the blade had come from.

“You don’t get to snap.” A silver armored Junker hissed. He shook his head, “I’m in charge, I get to snap.” He reached up, snapping his left hand’s fingers. He looked to Eiran, smiling, “See?”

“What point did that serve?” Eiran hissed.

“Nothing. I just wanted to prove a point.” He replied. He looked towards Rien and lifted his scissors blades. He lifted them up, “Leader? Come!”

Rien lifted her sword, careful of this new opponent. She leapt forward, pressing the attack. She lifted her sword high and slammed it down. He lifted his blades up, parrying the attack with ease. He stepped back and span around, getting behind Rien and slamming her in the back with the closed scissors. She stumbled forward and span around, throwing her arm forward.

He looked to her, and then cried out, falling to the ground. He gripped his pounding head and then rose. He shook his head, “No! I won’t allow this!”

Suddenly, she could no longer assault his mind, or even read it. He had thrown up a mental defense of some sort.

When she tried to read him, she only saw some sort of Rahi. A lizard covered in blades along its back and limbs, with vicious fangs.

“What is that?” She breathed.

Eiran pushed herself up, “What is what?” She questioned.

Raxa smiled towards her, “She saw 1.” He said.

“1?” Eiran questioned.

He looked to Rien, “You wanted to know what purpose my mismatched armor, the Rahi knowledge, served.” He said, shrugging, “Here is where you find out!”

He threw his arms out. His body erupted into silver light. He threw his head back, releasing a bestial scream. It wasn’t a scream of pain, but rather, of triumph combined with rage. It was truly frightening.

When the light faded, he walked forward, no longer what he once was. He had changed forms into a mockery of the Rahi that Rien had seen while reading his mind.

“1.” He hissed, “This is my first special form. I call it Blade Lizard.”

He had a silver piece of armor sliding down his chest, over his gray armor. He still retained his sleek silver helmet and normal bodily appearance. The difference was the armor he wore.

His upper legs had the oval, spiked armor, as did his upper arms. Behind the armor on his arms came claw blades out, facing away from his body on both sides. He had a few small pieces of silver armor on his back, but it seemed only as armor.

His feet were no longer sleek and normal, but rather, bestial now. They were large, each with two blade-like toes emerging and gripping the ground. He held his scissors blade as he walked forward, crushing the ground as his toes dug in.

“Blade Lizard?” Rien questioned, pushing herself up and backing away. She watched him warily, wondering what she could even do anymore.

He nodded, “I had a Junker I killed copy a bladed lizard type Rahi with a Faxon, I stole his soul with a Fang Dagger, and I copied him.” He hissed, “I melded it with my own soul! I am much more than a simple Junker. I am the strongest Junker alive!”

She drew her blade up and glanced to Eiran, who made no move to stop her, or to help Raxa. She glanced back to Raxa.

“Who are you exactly?” Rien questioned.

“My name is Raxa.” He hissed, lifting his weapon up, opening and closing it a few time, “I am the lead Junker currently. I was to be killed long ago, but I survived. I am the strongest Junker! I am the leader of the Junkers here! I will be the one to kill you all, then I shall kill Czar Everto!”

“That’s the leader’s name, is it?” She hissed, shaking her head, “I saw his shadow on the images we received from our mechanical spy. The problem is, I saw you, but we had no audio. Something was interfering with it.”

“That machine was yours?” He questioned, laughing, “I saw it and sent some moisture into the air, doing some damage. I thought I might fry it completely.”

He leapt forward, slamming his weapon down. Rien rolled to the side and span around, slashing Raxa in the side.

He glared at her out of the corner of his eye. He slid forward and span around, backhanding Rien in the face, throwing her to the ground.

He pointed his blades at her, “This form allows me more strength, and much sharper armor. I also become more agile.” He opened his blades and closed them, “I also have a lot more power to throw into my weapon as a result of the strength. I can easily slice you open.”

Rien pushed herself to her feet. She pointed her sword forward, motioning up with it, waiting for her foe to make the first move.

“Relinquishing your offensive?” He laughed, leaping at her, lifting his sword high.

She waited for just the right moment, and then sidestepped and span around, slashing him in the side. She stepped forward, turning to face him again.

He touched his side and looked back, giving a reptilian smile to her, “You actually cut me with that one.” He lifted his blades, motioning her to approach, “Come. We’ll try again.”

“You come first.” Rien said.

He shook his head, “I know what you’ll do. You’ll counter. If you want to get at me, you’ll have to come at me!”

“No.” She simply said.

“Fine.” He hissed, lifting his left hand. He generated power around it, and unleashed a surge of his Water powers.

Water smashed into Rien, throwing her into a building. She rolled aside and ran forward, leaping up and pushing herself off of a wall. She span around in the air, slamming her blade down at him.

He lifted his blade up, opened it, and caught the blade. He glared up at her, giving a vicious smile. He drew his arm back, and slammed it down, smashing her body into the ground.

“Get up.” He grunted, kicking her hard in the chest. She rolled over, but made no sounds.

“Dead?” He questioned, crouching down.

Her eyes suddenly flashed to life. He noticed that they were open, but before, they were lifeless. He opened his mouth to speak, but she plunged her sword up.

He dodged back, but took a large slash across his chest. He stumbled back, putting a hand to the wound. He glared up, “You’re a Toa of Spirits.” He hissed, “You removed your soul from your body and just waited for me.”

She nodded, “And it worked perfectly.”

“So, you remove your soul, let me hit you, return the soul, and get a sneak attack off on me.” He said, nodding, “Good move.”

She leapt forward, throwing her sword at him. Raxa span around, dodging it easily. He noticed something off.

She still held a weapon.

She slid forward, drawing her arm up, slashing in an upward arc. He caught her wrist and plunged his blades forward, intent on killing her in that single move.

He stopped, realizing that the hilt of her sword had been a secret dagger. The curved blade was leveled at his throat. His weapon was at her throat.

“I could kill you and make it out alive.” He hissed.

“No.” She said, “I’d get you first.” She blinked a few times, “I can see your aura. As soon as you decide to attack, I’ll realize it and end you first.”

“Are you that fast?” He questioned.

“Of course.”

“Let’s test that.”

''-“Darkness in our pasts haunts us all. We all run from our sins, but we can’t escape. Some embrace their sins of the past, however. Next time: “Serf”. Embracing evils of our past? I don’t understand why…”''

40: Serf
As soon as Raxa tried to attack, she slashed, but mimicked him.

He wasn’t going for her throat, he went down to bifurcate her. She went down, ramming the curved blade into his organics along his chest. She tore out, ripping some of his organics as well.

The pain was more than he had expected. In that lax moment, she was able to dodge back, getting away from him. She leapt forward, slamming a foot into Raxa’s chest, throwing him to the ground.

Rien rolled forward, taking up her sword. She combined the hilt of the dagger into the sword, allowing her to have her full weapon back. She span around, watching him, waiting for him.

“No.” He hissed, “We’re done here.” He said, rising to his feet. He slammed his blades into the ground and threw his arms out to his sides. He threw his head back, letting out another primal scream. The scream chilled her to her soul, making her suddenly afraid. She feared what this man could do. But this wasn’t natural fear, it were as if fear was a power he possessed, allowing him to instill fear with his transformations alone. Something that scared her even more.

As soon as his armor was normal again—mismatched—he took up his sword and started to walk away, ignoring her. He walked towards Eiran and picked her up by the throat. He threw her towards the axe imbedded in the wall opposite of her.

“Take your weapon and let’s go.” He said, walking away.

She looked back, “This isn’t over, Toa.” She hissed, rushing after Raxa.

Rien panted as soon as they left sight. She fell to her knees, panting in even more pain. He had been a more powerful opponent than she had anticipated. She couldn’t have revealed her pain while they were fighting, it would have made him realize he would kill her with ease.

Showing weakness would have signed her death.

She sheathed her sword on her back and started to walk away, back towards the bunker. She needed to get back and get to the others.

The most important thing she had learned was the identity of this new Junker, and his power. They would need a way to fight him and fast.

There were four Junkers. Now there were four Toa. At least with Meon, things were even. She just had to come up with the opponents for each Toa so they could have the most success.

Raxa was a variable. He had four types of armor, and the Blade Lizard form was designated a number, and it had the elements of one of his types of armor. That meant to Rien that he had potentially three more forms waiting, three more Rahi based forms.

That would make him all too dangerous. No doubt the most dangerous of the Junkers.

When she returned to the bunker, she looked around. She saw Seles was gone, and when she looked farther around, she saw Meon was also missing.

Only Thete was there, hunched over his tables. He was working on something.

“What are you making?” She asked, walking down to him, trying to hide her pain for now.

He looked up, simply stating, “You’re wounded.”

She gave a weak smile, “That obvious, huh?”

He nodded, “What happened?”

“A fourth Junker. I’ll leave it at that until the others arrive.” She said.

“Actually, Seles isn’t going to be back for a while. He said something about going to the southern tip and practicing.”

“Practicing?”

“I guess learning how to use his power much more accurately.” Thete shrugged, “My guess would be transference of momentum, things like that, his lesser used attacks. If he can master it, like he has his potential energy explosion…”

“I see the use.” She said, sitting down, “And Meon?”

“He left you a note.” Thete said, directing to a slab sitting on one of the tables, “Now, did you want to know what I was making?”

“Yeah, sure.” She said, “I’ll see this, then read the note.”

“So I won’t have your company long, I assume.” Thete said, doing a few more things. “I’ll just finish quick…”

In about a minute, he fastened the last plate onto the machine. He turned, showing it to Rien. It was obviously a relative machine to the First and Second Gears.

“Third Gear?” She guessed.

He nodded, “Yes, this is the Third Gear.” He replied.

It had a silver body on it, with what looked like a few teeth underneath, running one on top of the other, going up and down. It had six legs, three on each side, and a hook on the back of both sides, giving it eight legs.

“A spider?” She asked.

He nodded, “It gives you extra armor when you use it.” He told her.

“Extra armor?” She questioned.

He nodded, “Like First Gear, it has a larger size to it. That size is only in the armor, though. It’s not a functional upsized model.”

“What does it do?” She asked.

“It doesn’t cover you very much, but it allows you to shoot webs and use small thrusters based around the legs.” He replied, “So you can move around with more agility in a battle.” He told her, “It should work well.”

“Maybe.” She said, turning it over in her hand, “I don’t know how this will work against Raxa.” She said.

“The new Junker?” He asked.

She nodded, setting it down, “Yeah, that’s his name.” She rose, “Well, like I said, I’ll tell the rest of it when all of us are here.” She walked towards the stone tablet and lifted it up, reading it over.

“What does it say?” He asked.

“I need to meet him in the east.” She replied, setting it down. She walked up towards the door and opened it, “I’ll be back later to inform you all.”

He nodded, “Ok.” He turned the machine over, “I’ll work on a few things since you don’t want to use it yet.”

“Upgrade already?” She asked.

“Mostly double checking the corresponding armor.” He replied, “You go, I’ve got this.”

She nodded and walked out, leaving him alone.

It took some time, but Rien arrived in the east, walking around the sparse trees towards the coast. She stopped, looking out at the beach, at Meon standing on it, staring out to the ocean.

“Meon!” She called, coming down the slope.

He turned around, giving her a smile. He turned back out towards the ocean. He only wore his pouch as anything additional, holding his Corps Stone safely inside.

“What did you call me here for?” She asked.

“I needed to tell you something.” He simply replied.

“In this much privacy?” She asked.

He nodded, “About the past…”

She quickly turned to him, “The past?” She whispered.

He turned towards her, lifting his Corps Stone, “My name means nothing to you, but it’s only an alias. It would mean something to you if I told you my true name, or wore my real Kanohi.” He said, putting his Corps Stone to his chest. Light erupted around it as he absorbed it into his body, growing taller, more muscular, more powerful.

She backed away, drawing her sword. Her vision was flickering a bit from the wounds she sustained from Raxa. She was shocked by what he had told her. Putting it all together, she knew who he was. He had hidden his identity, but she knew, finally, she knew.

“I’ll make you pay for getting out from under me.” He hissed, flicking his left wrist to summon his crystalline sword. He pointed it forward, “This time, I’ll discipline you some more, and then I’ll kill you.” He hissed.

“You were my master on Stelt.” She said, lifting her sword up, “I won’t allow you to control me like you once did!” She screamed at him.

She looked at his aura through her own eyes, seeing it was now black. She tried to probe his mind, but found only hateful thoughts that deterred her from continuing.

He ran at her, swinging his sword down with all the strength he could. The sword could already cut through most things, but the use of his strength on top of that would make him all the more dangerous.

“You don’t know how long I’ve searched for you!” He shouted, kicking her in the chest. She grabbed the spot with her free left hand and cried out in pain. She fell to one knee as she looked up at him approaching her. He put his sword forward, “I will make you pay for leaving my servitude!”

“I thought you were a good man.” She hissed, “I never thought you could be the monster who enslaved me!” She screamed at him.

“A convincing act, wasn’t it?” He questioned, shaking his head, “But that act is over, I can finally kill you.”

“I could get my soul out and warn the others.” She said.

“They can’t read your soul.” He told her, smiling, “I know the limitations involving your powers. You can use astral projection, but they can’t read your soul if it would come. They wouldn’t know you were there!”

“I’ll find a way.” She hissed.

“Your body would be destroyed by then. You’d have nowhere to go. And if you found a vessel, I would find it and kill you again!”

“You won’t win, Meon.” She said, changing the subject.

“I will win. I will end your life.” He hissed, drawing his sword back. He turned the blade and swung it back with all his strength, smashing the flat across her face, throwing her to the ground. Her entire head was throbbing from the Kanohi smashing around her head from the blow. She felt sick and disoriented from that blow, and the entire fight with Raxa.

How long could she go? How long could she survive this fight with Meon? How long until he tired of her and killed her?

Seles was watching bird Rahi flying around. He threw his arm out, taking one’s momentum, and returning it to another bird, watching it fly faster. He did it again, but this time, sent the momentum to himself, figuring out how fast he could travel, and making sure he knew the rush, the feeling of it, so he wouldn’t be taken by surprise by his own power.

After learning how much momentum that bird could give him, he was determined to move up, to slowly figure out momentum based on the size of his target. If he knew that much, he would be able to defeat anyone, he was sure. He could turn their power against them.

Maybe if Seraph returned, he could even go through the Makuta's armor.

Maybe.

He stopped when he heard something. He turned around, but saw nothing. He kept his guard up, but went back to working, looking for something larger, whether it be on land or in the air.

He heard something and span around. He saw a bolt of energy flying for him with deadly speed and accuracy. He jumped and rolled aside, coming up to one knee and one foot.

“That wasn’t Thete…” He muttered, knowing Thete’s weapon to fire different types of blasts from this one.

He saw Eiran walking out of the brush, holding a weapon in hand. It was a weapon that was somewhat wide, and a little longer. It curled out towards the end, like a crossbow. It had a rounded section missing at the head of it, and had a silver, two pronged section atop it, covering the top, providing a method of energy gathering.

“Like my bowgun?” She questioned, taking aim again. She fired a few more blasts, but he was able to run and doge them. He rolled and threw his arm forward, targeting a tree next to her.

Blowing into the trunk, he brought the heavy tree down. She rolled forward, quickly coming to a knee and foot and firing with expert accuracy.

Shocked that she was so fast and agile with a weapon that seemed to be new, Seles jumped and rolled. He lunged forward and rolled out of range of her attacks.

He had to close the gap, that was his only real choice. That was the only opening he could see to defeating her.

She watched him, and continued to fire. He dodged and continued to run. He leapt forward, kicking her in the chest, but it didn’t do much.

She span around, kicking him hard in the side, taking him down. He rolled away as she opened fire, firing rows of energy blasts into the ground after him.

He came to his knees and hid behind a series of boulders. He panted, trying to come up with a plan, quickly.

As Meon swung his sword back, this time going for her chest, she rolled away, dodging the blade that would have sliced her torso open.

Meon liked to alternate. Sometimes he would bluntly strike; sometimes he would use his fine blade to make small cuts across her body.

He was sadistic. He enjoyed this far too much. It was a miracle he could even pull off his act to get close enough, if this was how he acted.

She stumbled up, trying to come up with a plan. Between the wounds from Raxa, and the wounds from Meon, she wasn’t going to have many attacks left. Her next move may very well be the last she could muster.

She rushed him and swung, going for his head. He span around, getting away. He threw his right arm up, firing a crystal dart into her chest.

She cried out as the weapon plunged partway through her chest. She stumbled forward and fell to her knees. She touched it with her left hand’s fingers, caressing it, but she didn’t remove it. Removing it could be more dangerous than leaving it in.

“Succumb already!” He shouted, lifting his sword high above his head.

Rien wondered if Tala ever felt like this when he fought Ucen. She looked up at him, trying to think as fast as she could.

She unleashed an assault on his mind. He cried out and stumbled back, his arm wavering.

She wasn’t going to release a mental assault unless she had no other options. She could have earlier, but feared that in blind rage, he would kill her. Now, it was either attack and risk his sword coming down, or have the sword come down.

She preferred to take the initiative, the chance at life. And it seemed to work. He stumbled away from her, dropping his sword into the sand.

It didn’t mean much. He could spawn another blade if he needed to.

She ran for him and leapt forward, spinning around. She kicked him in the chest, throwing him towards the water. As soon as he splashed into it, she leapt forward, hitting him again, throwing him farther towards the water.

As the water came up to his knees, she unleashed one last mental attack. This time she wasn’t going to let up.

He collapsed into the water, and then fell onto his back. His head was covered. He tried to sit up, but she kept up the pressure, keeping his head under the water with how much pain she was inflicting.

Was this what it was like for Meon when she was his serf? Was this the pain he enjoyed inflicting?

That was the difference. He enjoyed inflicting the pain. It hurt Rien to do this. But this was only fair. After so many years of abuse at his hands, she was killing him in just as painful a method.

''-“New powers continue to appear before us, and before our opponents. Will this escalating arms race of power ever cease? Next time: “2”. Or will we destroy each other, or ourselves?”''

41: 2
Seles ran from the boulders as she finally blasted through them. Her aim was fast and accurate. She was going to kill him if he didn’t think of something and fast.

He could attack her armor, or her, with his powers. He wasn’t sure how effective that would be, though. He had at least formed a partial bond with this woman, but that had all been a trick.

Could he really get past that bond, however, and attempt to kill her?

He could have targeted her armor, but he felt that being under continuous fire kept him from being able to focus and get her. Even one direct hit could potentially kill him. Anything around the upper chest would blow his vital organs away as well, based on how large the impact results were.

Even if it was more of a blunt impact from the bowgun, and it didn’t cut through him, he felt that he would take severe internal injuries from being battered like that. Either way, he would probably be dead at the end of the day.

He slid behind set of trees, hoping for at least a moment to catch his breath. She had stopped firing, for some reason. If he would pop out and attack with his powers, she would resume fire before he could do anything.

She was very attentive. She wouldn’t allow him to get a single attack off.

A shot went off. He peered between the smallest gap between the tightly packed trees, realizing she hadn’t fired.

It had to be Thete. Thete had come to save him!

He ran out, taking a look. He saw Eiran backing away, returning fire to the trees, from the way she had originally come from. Then he saw Thete coming out from around another way, out of Eiran’s line of sight.

Thete took aim and fired. Eiran span around, matching the blast with one of her own. She started to fire on the now open Thete, but Thete was able to get behind the trees faster.

“Did she get you?” Thete asked Seles.

“No.” Seles replied, “I have no idea what would happen if she did.”

“Unfortunate. I’d like to know if they were fatal shots.” He knew she was firing, he could feel the blasts shaking the trees they were against. “I’m going to try something. Can you get a shot off in her general area with your powers?”

“How close?” He asked.

“Close enough to be noticed.” Thete told him.

He nodded, “Yeah, I can do that.” He replied, rolling out one way. He threw his arm out, blowing up the ground within arm’s reach of Eiran. It was easy to make such a rash attack like that one. Taking the time to aim at a proper target, like Eiran herself, would take more time. Time he didn’t have, unless he wanted to get himself shot.

The attack distracted Eiran for a precious moment. Thete went out the other way and threw his arm out, reaching out with his powers of Technology.

“These aren’t very powerful attacks I can use, but in a situation like this, I’m probably one of the best Toa for the job.” He said, releasing his attack at Eiran’s bowgun.

The attack struck. He used his mechanical abilities to rip the bowgun apart internally, making it useless.

She would have thought it intact, however, so Seles made sure to make a point. He threw his arm out, detonating its potential energy.

The weapon exploded in Eiran’s hands. She dropped the charred remains and looked at her hands. She looked up at the two Toa and backed away, no weapons, only Water powers against them. She knew she was outmatched here, even as the former Junker leader.

She turned and fled into the woods, getting as far away as she could. Thete kept his weapon trained on her until she was out of sight.

“Why did you come?” Seles asked.

He motioned towards the trees. Second Gear came flying out and landed in front of them, “My spy.” He said, “I have a relay system set up now. I could see. I still can’t hear, but I could see, so I came as fast as I could.”

Seles crouched down, running his hand over the inanimate machine, “Well, thank you, Second Gear.” He said, patting it, mocking the action someone would take with a pet. He rose and looked to Thete, “Where are the others?”

“The east.” He replied, “Let’s go to see them.” He said, hooking his firearm to his side. He started off with Seles following closely behind.

Raxa once more stood, watching out into the city that covered Angelus Nui. As Eiran approached, he ignored her, as she did him.

She didn’t know if he was just watching, or if he planned to go out. She really didn’t care what he did.

As soon as she passed, and not a moment later, he started to walk towards the city, obviously intent on an attack.

She turned to look back, about to speak to him, but then she shut her mouth and walked away, saving her advice for someone she liked more than him. If he died, she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to question him about his wounds, just as he wouldn’t ask her about hers.

They hated each other in different ways. She didn’t care about him if he would survive whatever he was going to do, or if it would mean the end of him.

Rien stumbled towards the bunker. It was still a decent distance away, but she was making progress. Another few minutes at her stumbling pace would bring her home.

“Poor little Toa…”

She stopped and turned, looking at Raxa standing there, leaning against the wall of a building. He had plunged his closed scissors blades into the wall next to him.

“Raxa…” She hissed.

He walked forward, “Who did all that to you?” He questioned, “Looks like some amateur work for a wannabe interrogator or torturer.”

“He was.” She hissed, “But he didn’t need me alive. He just wanted to inflict pain for a while.”

“A sadist.”

“You are too.”

He shrugged, “So I am.” He touched his blades impaled in the wall, “Well, do you think you’re up for this?”

“You’re not going to give me a choice.” She simply said.

“You’re right.” He said, “I’m not.”

He heard something off towards his side. He glanced over, seeing both Thete and Seles. Thete had his weapon trained on Raxa, and Seles had his arms up, fists ready.

“We sent Second Gear to the bunker. You weren’t there.” Thete said, “We decided you must still be east. What happened to Meon?”

“Did this…Junker do this to you, Rien?” Seles questioned, looking to Raxa.

She shook her head, “It was Meon.” She replied, “He was the man who enslaved me on Stelt all those years ago. He attempted to kill me…I got him first, but not without a fight.”

“How’d you kill this guy?” Raxa asked, interested in the conversation, since he wasn’t attacking any of them.

“He used a Corps Stone.” She said, trying to buy time, “He became a Toa of Crystal.”

He nodded, “Strong. I fought one or two before. I hate them. That element is annoying to fight.”

She nodded, “He had a crystal sword which gave me these cuts.” She told him, “So, when I was about to die, I attacked his mind with my mental powers, and he fell into the ocean. I made him drown by not letting up to allow him to sit up and breathe.”

“Interesting way of killing.” Raxa said, nodding. He smiled viciously, “I’ll remember it.”

“You don’t have mental powers.” She said.

“Fair enough.” He shrugged, “I could knock someone in and force such a strong current around them they couldn’t rise.” He cracked his neck, “Enough talk, let’s do this.”

He threw his arms to his sides and threw his head back. He let out another bestial scream, enough to chill all three Toa to their very cores.

Rien read his mind as fast as she could. This time the image of the Rahi in his mind was that of a large cat of some sort. A sleek, powerful cat Rahi of some sort.

When the light around Raxa faded, he had his sleek armor with the ovular endings on for all four pieces of armor. He had two smaller silver pieces of armor on his chest, his normal, sleek and small feet, and a large piece of armor on his back that split into two points, one above each shoulder.

He touched his sword, which had another piece on it this time. He took hold of the new piece and opened the sword. The piece allowed him to hold the sword sideways, up and over farther. It allowed him to more movement with the blade, and a slightly longer reach and more control over his motions.

“2.” He said, “Speed Lion.”

“So, a fast form.” Rien guessed.

Seles smiled. He hadn’t had time to test a being that large, but he could guess the momentum involved. His speed was another matter, however, but as soon as he started to move, he was all Seles’s. There would be no way for him to win.

He was gone, and suddenly, he was in front of both Thete and Seles. Thete fired, but he wasn’t fast enough, and Raxa was gone.

He was behind them now. He backhanded Seles in the back of the head with his left hand, throwing Seles aside. With his right hand, he crashed the sword closed, crushing Thete between the blades. He lifted up, lifting Thete above him into the air.

He threw Thete aside, leaving him lay on the ground, unconscious, just like Seles.

“And it leaves only us.” He hissed to Rien. He lifted his sword, “Round two.” He said.

“Befitting that this is also your second form.” Rien told him, drawing her sword. Despite how weak she was, she had to continue. She couldn’t let him take her down. She had to give it her all. Even if she would die, she had to do at least some serious damage to him.

He was suddenly in front of her, swinging his arm inwards, and then out, aiming for her head with the back end of his open scissor blades.

Rien rolled aside and span around, sweeping his legs out with hers. She span her sword around and plunged it down, going in for a quick kill.

He rolled away from her, sliding his free hand and his feet into the ground to keep himself stable. He propelled himself forward and leapt into the air, coming down at her with his blades open, ready to snap shut on her.

She stumbled around, trying to think of something. At that speed, a mental assault would do nicely to trip him up, but with his mind shielded to her, it wouldn’t do her any good.

She had to come up with a plan and quick.

Then a thought struck her.

She closed her eyes, calling out. She hoped that using a small sliver of her Spirit powers would summon the First Gear to her. She hoped she could summon it, not only Thete.

In moments, the bird-like machine flew towards her. She rolled away from Raxa’s attack and took hold of it. She flipped the wings around and threw it forward. She leapt after it, landing on it after it became its full size.

She flew into the air above Raxa and looked down at him, thinking of a plan. First Gear had no weaponry, unfortunately, so it wouldn’t help her in an attack.

He looked up, and pointed the palm of his left hand at her.

A blast of water erupted from the moisture in the air, all of it being drawn together in one instant. It slammed into her machine, throwing her towards the ground below.

She had to act fast. She sent out another sliver of her power, calling out to Third Gear.

The spider machine was there in moments, swinging on an artificial web it could produce. Her fall was from a fairly high height, above any of the nearby buildings, but shorter than the tower. She was about ten seconds away from impact.

She caught the spider as it jumped into her hands. She drew it in, and then like she did with First Gear, she threw her arm out with it.

It glowed, and then, was gone. She felt something tingling around her, and then realized what it had done. It had become her armor.

She had a large black rounded piece on her back, and under each wrist there was a jet-like protrusion which should have acted as web shooters. She had the same in the back of her calves, but those were probably the jets Thete had mentioned.

The black piece on her back was probably for holding the webbing, or a means of producing it. As she was about to crash, she activated the boosters, hovering for a few moments as Raxa dashed for her, opening his blades.

She shot her right arm up and aimed at the tallest building. A web shot out, attaching to it, and it pulled her away from him. She shot higher than the building and flipped around in the air, feeling freedom among the buildings.

She shot webs from each arm, onto two buildings across from each other. She came down, kicking Raxa in the face. He stumbled back, and in moments, regained his composure for one more attack.

Using the webs, she slingshotted herself back into the air, and released the webbing. She span around, firing a web from her left into Raxa, and one from her right to another building.

Realizing there was a winch of some sort in the black piece, she activated it, drawing Raxa into the air, swinging him towards her. She pushed off from the building, releasing that web, as well as Raxa’s. She span around, kicking him with both feet in the face, and activating the thrusters for good measure to burn his chest.

As they both fell, Rien fired a web at the building they were next to, stopping herself. With her free right hand, she drew her sword and span it around. She dropped down, going as fast as her dead weight would carry her.

Raxa looked up, shocked to see her coming. He rolled aside, just missing the stab that would have been fatal. He rolled away from her and was gone in a flash.

She looked around, making certain he had actually left, and he wasn’t planning another attack of some sort. Satisfied, she sheathed the sword and walked towards the two downed Toa.

Her spider armor vanished as the Third Gear walked around her feet. She didn’t let it leave. She wanted it in case it would be of help.

The Second Gear flew around her. She motioned for it to go and check on the First Gear, if it could be salvaged, anyway. It flew off, searching the streets nearby for the wreckage—big or small.

She lifted Thete up partially and looked down at him. He was only unconscious, not in any serious condition. He would pull through, no problem.

Now she checked Seles. He was also fine. No serious wounds, just unconscious.

She wasn’t sure how she could get them both back without having to leave one unprotected. She leaned them both against a nearby building and joined them, sitting next to both of them.

She put her sword on her legs, as if waiting for something bad to happen. Third Gear sat in front of her, waiting for further orders as Second Gear returned, sending out a small holographic display through its optical eye, showing her the damage to the First Gear. The image displayed the shattered small version, but no wreckage of the vehicle version.

She sighed and leaned back, unsure of what that actually meant. She closed her eyes, desiring sleep, wanting to rest, but she couldn’t, not while the others could be attacked at any time. Even with her own wounds to worry about, she just couldn’t abandon the others.

Unlike Raxa, she cared about her comrades. That was their difference, and why she was alive. She had something he didn’t: compassion. Even a battle between commanders had passion make the difference.

''-“Comrades fight together as one. That’s what I was always taught, that we should fight as one, and fight with that determination of all lives in the balance. But…there is another way. Next time: “Kaita”. Bodies and souls combined!”''

42: Kaita
“How bad is the damage to First Gear?” Rien asked, leaning over Thete's shoulder.

It had been two days since the battle with Raxa's Speed Lion form. It was only now that Thete was getting to checking on the condition of First Gear, even though the last two days had been uneventful. The two downed Toa had awoken by the first day’s end, and had spent the next day resting and doing a little training when they were feeling better.

“The small model is pretty damaged. When it was taken down, the sensors inside caused it to revert.” He explained, “The larger body, when I checked it, wasn’t totaled. I can fix it pretty quickly.” He told her, pushing the small model around, “The systems in this are fried, though. No summoning of the vehicle until I fix it.”

“How long do you expect that to take?” She asked him, leaning back, keeping her arms at her sides.

He shrugged, “It’s small and complicated.” He replied, “A day?”

“Ok, that sounds fine.” She said, “It’s not like any of us need it immediately.”

“You’re right about that.” Thete replied, leaning over and examining the inner components of the damaged machine.

Rien leaned back against a table behind him, a table that anyone used, not his work tables. She rested her hands on it as well as she leaned, “So, Thete…any more Gears coming?”

He shook his head, “Just the first three.” He replied, “I have no ideas for other ones.” He admitted, “And I need to plan that protosteel energy weapon, just in case Seraph returns.”

“Do you think that can honesty work?” She asked.

He shrugged, “I’m hoping it can. If not…then what can we do?” He asked her.

“I think Seles said something about momentum…” She said.

He almost laughed, but managed to hold it in. A small sound escaped from him, however, and caused Rien to get the intention, even if it had been mostly muted.

“What’s so funny about that?” She questioned.

“Do you know how hard he would have to hit Seraph?” Thete questioned.

“Very hard.” She said.

“The being he was drawing momentum from would have to be moving about as fast as the Flame Cycle's fastest speeds.” He replied, “That’s faster than probably anything on this island can move, even the First Gear in vehicle form.”

“So Seraph would have to be moving that fast.” She said, “Or he could draw it from various smaller things and add the speeds.”

“First, why would Seraph be moving that fast?” He questioned, “Second, adding all those individual speeds would take too much time. If Seraph were serious, Seles would be dead before he could even get half of the required speed. And even if he did make contact, chances are the impact would tear Seles’s arm apart.”

“You know the density?” She asked him.

“Yeah, it’s protosteel. I’ve worked with it a few times.” He replied, “And taking into consideration he’s a Makuta, who would have thicker armor than a few sheets of protosteel, the odds of Seles doing any considerable damage are very small.”

“Your weapon is the only hope?” She asked.

“The only one I see.” He replied. He leaned back, “Rien, I need some parts. Can you go and look around the shops for them?”

“Yeah, sure.” She said, “What do you require?”

He shoved a tablet towards the edge of the table, “Anything not crossed off.” He told her, going back to examining the machine.

She took up the tablet and nodded, “Ok, I’ll get going.” She said, walking away from him. She passed a monitor on the way, “This set up to Second Gear?” She asked.

“Yeah. I have it sitting around the city right now.” He told her, “This will show us anything it sees.”

“Where is it?” She muttered, looking for anything she could see, “How can nobody see a large mechanical beetle hanging around?” She muttered to herself, walking away.

Had someone else looked, they would have seen a very familiar Matoran walking by. Eiran's Ga-Matoran disguise, heading off the screen. If they had orientation, they would have known she was going to the north.

After returning, Eiran shed her disguise, returning to normal in her powerful, tall white and yellow armored form. She walked among the other three Junkers, and looked to the shadowed throne of Czar Everto.

“What have you learned?” He questioned.

“The people are still going about their normal schedules.” She replied, “That’s good. So I found a few healers and started looking for what we believe to be the cure.”

“And?”

“They had some of the materials, some of them were mixed, but not all of them were mixed together. I went to every healer or medic I could find. Between them all, most of the items required are on this island. We just need to find the proper way to mix them, and coerce someone into doing it for us. I don’t think any of us have the talent at medicine.”

Everto shook his shadowed head, “No, I don’t believe any of us could make the working potion.” He said. He looked to Raxa, “Raxa, any progress?”

“I used my first two forms to attack.” He hissed, “But no. They all live.”

It was rare to have an audience with Everto, due to his weaknesses and his oncoming death. Raxa had returned after the fight, two days ago, but this was the first that Everto would hear of the battles.

“First two forms?” He questioned.

Raxa smiled, “The reason I got so much knowledge was a side effect of pounding knowledge into those about to die.” He said.

“What do you mean?” Everto hissed.

“The short version is anyone about to die was given all the information on specific Rahi, I had them use a Faxon, killed them with the Fang Dagger, mixed their souls into one, and then mixed it with mine. I have four Rahi based forms now.” He motioned to his mismatched armor, “Four different types of armor.”

“I see…” Everto hissed.

“I’m more dangerous than you think.” Raxa said, “I am the strongest Junker.”

“If you really want to believe so.” Everto said.

“It’s fact. No other Junker can do this!” He shouted.

“Other Junkers could have come up with their own methods.” Everto said simply.

“I’ll prove that I am the strongest.” Raxa hissed.

“How will you do that?” Everto questioned.

“I will overcome every other Junker I can find as long as I live!” Raxa claimed.

“How will you do that?” Everto questioned.

Raxa walked towards him and looked back at the other three Junkers in the room. He looked to Everto once more, “We’ll crush the Toa.”

“What do you mean by ‘we’?” Everto questioned, “It proves nothing of you if you use the other three.”

“Oh, but it does.” Raxa said, “The mind is the greatest power the body has, or so I believe.” Raxa told him, shaking his head, “Three minds cannot overcome mine.”

The three Junkers looked to each other in silent question of what he was talking about. Raxa continued on.

“If I can overcome their minds and take them, then that means I am stronger than all of them combined.”

“Makes sense.” Everto said gruffly, “What are you going to do?”

“A Kaita.” He hissed, “And I shall retain control.”

The three Junkers all shot to their feet and backed away from him, having no intentions of combining with Raxa.

“You touch me and I’ll…!” Lio shouted, drawing his weapon up.

Durham drew his knuckle weapons up, “We’ll kill you if you so much as try.” He grunted.

Eiran lifted her axe, holding it tight in both hands before her body, “Try to take our powers and we’ll shred you!”

Raxa smiled as he approached. He threw his arms out, “Come to me!” He shouted in a sort of pleading voice. The three cried out as power engulfed them, and they were unable to stop it.

Seles was walking down towards Thete. As he passed the monitor, he took a look, but noticed nothing unusual. He continued towards Thete and sat next to him, “How’s it coming?”

Rien walked down from the door, having just returned. She held up a satchel, “I have the parts.” She told Thete, walking down to join the other two.

“We’ll be done shortly.” Thete told Seles, taking the bag from Rien. He took the parts out carefully and started to sort through them.

Rien walked towards the monitor and took a look. She saw Matoran running, presumably screaming. She span around, “We have trouble!” She shouted at them.

The other two rushed towards her, ignoring the damaged First Gear. They too noticed what was happening. Thete tried to control the Second Gear, but he couldn’t get it to move with his powers, not from the range.

“We’ll have to go for ourselves.” He said, taking his firearm into hand.

“I’ll bet its Raxa come back for another shot.” Seles said, punching his right fist into his left hand, “This time I’ll get him.”

The three Toa rushed towards the door and raced out, heading towards the market district of the city.

Thete pressed his back to a wall. Seles was next to him. Rien rolled out, hiding behind a vendor’s stall on each side of the street during her roll. She pressed her back against the building opposite of the others.

They waited, and then span around. Thete lifted his firearm while Seles brought his arms up. Rien drew her sword up, holding it in both hands.

They waited, but saw nothing.

“Guys…where is he…or she…or it…?” Seles questioned, glancing around. He moved slowly closer to the next street, looking down both ways, but finding nothing.

“This just got a bit scary.” Thete muttered, turning around, looking down the street behind them.

Rien watched around. She backed towards Thete and released her spirit. She flew it into the air, getting a look. Then, she saw it and returned.

She pointed down the street, “Two streets up! It’s coming!”

Seles leapt back, rolling back to join the others, putting himself one more street back, so it would be the two streets away. Then, it emerged and he was all too happy he had rolled away.

They all saw the being approaching. It looked like a cross between a beast and a normal being. It was obviously made from the four Junkers, but how was unclear.

“Kaita?” Thete whispered.

“Yes.” Raxa’s voice rang out clearly, “We are a Kaita. I control it.” He said proudly, “Against their will, of course.”

The body was partially crouched, and appeared gray, but it was hard to tell. In the center of the chest was Eiran’s white Kanohi clad head. Above to the right was Durham’s helmeted head, and opposite was Lio’s. The right leg had sleek white armor with a rounded top on, and then a silver leg ending with a yellow piece of armor and white foot. The left leg was the same, except the white armor was replaced with a green oval piece with a spike.

The arms had the same sleek, small and partially rounded armor on both. The right arm was green, however, with a green hand wielding Raxa’s scissors blade, and the left was yellow with a yellow hand, wielding both knuckles, bent so one was proper, and the other was more of a scything blade, bent back, like the left shoulder armor from Raxa.

Raxa’s head was atop them, in control. The back had his gray armor, like on his normal default form. On the backs, next to the shoulders, were two more arms. They both had small, sleek white armor on, and then bent at elbows, with both of the arms now being green. The hands were gray armored. The right held Lio’s weapon, with the twin converging blades towards the heads, the pike down. The left held Eiran’s axe.

This Kaita was like something out of a nightmare for the three Toa. It was some of their biggest threats, combined into one, controlled by an insane and powerful monster.

Raxa laughed as he charged the body forward. He span around, slamming a kick into Seles, throwing him aside. He slid to the ground, struggling for a breath.

Thete leapt back, opening fire. The back right arm lowered, using Lio’s shield to block the shots. The Kaita charged forward, drawing the knuckle weapon up. Rien leapt over, slashing it away, but met the axe on the way down, and she herself went down.

Thete attempted to lash out with his powers, to attempt to cut off the control that Raxa had over the body by controlling the mechanical parts. That was going to take too long, and it was clear by their pace that Raxa was going to reach him first.

He drew his scissors back and slammed them forward, slashing Thete across the chest. Thete rolled way, but wasn’t down yet.

He came to his knees and fired. Raxa was very fast for his size, and managed to dodge away. He rushed forward and span around, slamming the axe into Thete’s chest, throwing him into a wall.

Raxa laughed, “I am the greatest Junker! Not even you three can stand against me together!”

“You are not the greatest.” Rien hissed, “If you were, then that would mean we wouldn’t have a ghost of a chance against you. I refuse to accept that!”

Raxa smiled at her, “Persistent.” He said, turning to face her. He lifted Lio’s weapon and charged forward. He started to slam it down repeatedly, attempting to use the converging blades to impale Rien.

She was able to continually dodge and spin around. She leapt forward, slashing. He lifted the knuckle weapon and used the lower, scything blade to stop her attack.

He gave a grim smile and threw his scissors forward, closed. The two points struck her in the chest, throwing her back. Her head slammed into the ground, keeping her out.

Seles pushed himself to his feet and rushed forward. He leapt up, throwing a punch at Raxa’s head. The converging blades came down, opened slightly, and caught his wrist.

Before Raxa could see the bounty he sought from Seles’s face—surprise—he saw something else on his face.

Satisfaction.

Before Raxa realized what was happening, Seles had gained the upperhand. In a moment he would release his power and take the Kaita down.

“I won’t allow it!” Raxa screamed, bringing the axe crashing down. It smashed into the back of Seles’s head, taking him down. He continued to slam it until the shaft broke and the blade was left by Seles’s body.

Seles was alive, but barely. Raxa lifted a foot, ready to crush him, when he felt his body constricting him. He looked up at Thete, who was now in control.

“Is that so?” Raxa questioned. Water slammed into Thete, encompassing his entire vision, crushing him with a burst of pressure of the water.

“Now, it’s over.” Raxa hissed.

''-“The power of speed is not to be underestimated. Tala learned that lesson when he first became leader, and then lost it in his death. Now that I have learned to overcome speed…what else comes? Next time: “3”. Speed pales in comparison to this power.”''

43: 3
As Thete started to pass out, he heard something. It wasn’t anything loud enough for Raxa to hear, unless he was specifically listening.

Thete was on the verge of death. He had to listen for anything that could help.

He saw Raxa’s Kaita form slump forward, falling to a single knee. He saw a sword erupting from under Eiran's head from behind. He could see Raxa’s mouth opening in a silent scream as he tried to shout, but couldn’t. He couldn’t move his back arms either to attack Rien, who was striking from behind in one last attempt to kill him.

“You really don’t give up, do you?” Raxa hissed.

“No, I don’t.” Rien answered, “Not until I kill you!”

“Kill me?” Raxa laughed, “You can’t kill me! In this Kaita form, I am immortal!”

“So tell me.” Rien said, “What’s stronger? This form, or, your last two forms?”

She was attempting to bait him to lose the Kaita form in favor of taking on one of his remaining two special forms. She needed a new edge. This form was far too much, at least another one of his Rahi based forms would potentially give her an edge.

“I know what you’re trying to do.” Raxa admitted, “And I won’t fall for it. I’ll accept it!” He laughed.

“Same thing.” Rien said, giving a shrug, not that he could see it.

Raxa threw his arms to his sides. The back arms didn’t move, however. They were crippled, probably from the stab through his chest.

In a burst of light, the three other Junkers were thrown clear of him, smashing into buildings, crumpling to the ground, all of them unconscious. Raxa was the only one standing. The shattered axe was near his feet, but the others kept their weapons in their hands, even though they were no longer conscious.

Raxa turned to face her and lifted his scissors sword. He regarded Rien, looking her over, looking at her eyes, trying to find her will to fight.

“Can you kill me?” He questioned.

“Can you kill me?” She mocked, questioning him back.

His eyes betrayed nothing. She couldn’t anger him in any way, unfortunately, if a mocking repeat of his question didn’t work, she wasn’t sure what could buy her time, since it would take some time to think of something else.

She needed a momentary diversion at the least. She couldn’t fight him head to head, that, she knew, would be suicide. She had no intention of dying against Raxa. She had successfully fought off his Blade Lizard and Speed Lion forms, she could defeat his next.

“You used blades first.” She told him, “Then speed. What’s next?”

He smiled grimly, “Read my mind and tell me.”

She used her powers, probing his blocked mind. Like always, all that she could see was what was on the surface. All that she could see was the picture of the Rahi he was about to mimic the powers of.

It was a large, powerfully built gorilla type Rahi of some sort. The difference here, however, was that its thick arms were covered in blades running on the sides, top and bottom. It also had a sharp gleam to its shoulders, elbows, and knees.

“Razor Ape.” He hissed, throwing his arms to his sides. Like always, he let out his primal scream, and light erupted around him, nearly blinding Rien.

She backed away, afraid of what this new form could bring forth. She had no idea what to even begin to expect his form to look like after this. She knew he had two armor options remaining, but wasn’t sure what it would look like with those options remaining.

“Tell me.” His voice said from the light, “Attribute?”

“Strength?” She guessed.

“Correct!”

As his laughter faded, the light faded as well. He stepped forward, revealing his third form to her, laughing anew at the power he felt rushing through him.

“3.” He said, “My form is called Razor Ape, but you know that.”

He had his two spiked toed feet again, and a sleek silver piece running down his chest, as well as another sheet of armor similar to his feet, with two spikes, on his back, coming up on both sides of his head from behind. On his upper legs he had claws coming down, and behind them, large scythe-like blades arced down. The upper parts of his arms also had the scything blades coming down over the sides. He still retained his familiar sleek, silver helmet, and his ever present scissors sword.

“This form has the most strength.” He grunted, stepping forward, crushing some of the ground beneath the strength in his legs, just to make a point.

“I could guess from the Rahi image.” She said, pointing the sword at him, looking him up and down, “The wound is gone. Does another have it?”

“That chest wound?” He questioned, “It was lost in the transference when the Kaita was broken.” He said, shrugging it off, “That’s the beauty of a Kaita when someone competent is in control—it can be manipulated.”

He walked towards her, forcing her to back away in fear of him. He laughed and leapt forward, lifting his blade high and slamming the closed weapon down.

She rolled aside and span around, slashing him across his back. He hardly seemed to notice the cut. He whipped around, backhanding her with his left hand, sending her sprawling on the hard ground.

She sat up, dazed. She looked, but he was gone.

She felt the blades of the scissors closing in around her neck. She let out a cough as she tried to breathe, but couldn’t pull in a breath.

“Your head is about to be used as a display.” He whispered to her.

She span around with all her might, ignoring the burning sensation in her neck from the friction. She managed to slam a foot into his chest, knocking him back. She slipped free of his scissors and leapt forward, driving her sword at his chest.

He stumbled back after the blade made contact. It hadn’t cut him, but it had done damage.

He slammed his left hand to the wound and looked up, letting out a shout and a curse directly at her. He leapt forward, throwing a punch, but she gracefully dodged to the side and rolled away.

She span around, throwing her sword forward. The blade slammed into his side, making him stumble, and also giving him a cut. She kept a tight grip on the dagger, however, lest she be without a weapon.

She had found her second wind. She could do this, if it remained one-on-one, of course. If the other Junkers wanted to get involved, she would probably get herself killed.

She ran for him and rolled under the sweep of his powerful backhand. She drove the dagger up, hooking it in the same wound the sword throw had left. She wrenched the dagger forward, driving into his soft organics, making him scream and curse in pain.

He threw his knee up, smashing it into her chest. She slammed into the cement and looked up, taking a punch to the gut to keep her down.

He grinned viciously at her as he stepped on her throat, his toes bending around, keeping her pinned down. He lowered himself, looking directly into her eyes.

“Do you have any last words?” He questioned, leveling the open blade at her throat.

“More like a question.” She said.

“Oh, really?” He laughed, “That’s new!”

“Yeah, my question is this. How many times do you have an opponent in a place where you can kill them, only to lose them at the last instant?” She mocked.

“You’re not getting out.” He said.

With all her strength, she drove the hooked dagger up, driving it into the back of his left ankle, since it was his left foot on her chest and throat.

Wrenching it to the side on the moment of penetration, she heard him scream even more. He tried to stumble back, but his left leg wasn’t working properly as a result of her attack.

She span around, getting to her feet. She leapt forward, driving the curve of the hook into his face, throwing him back another few steps.

She span around, driving a kick into his chest, knocking him flat on his back. She pounced, landing on his chest, leaving the tip of the curve at his throat.

“Unlike you, I won’t waste my chance.” She said.

“You’re a Toa. Will you kill me?” He hissed.

“Yes.” She said with a steely determination.

Water slammed into her chest like a fist, throwing her across the street, smashing her into a vendor’s stall. She slid down among the wooden fragments and looked up at the laughing Raxa as he walked over, favoring his right leg over his left.

“Remember, we control Water.” He hissed, “Did you forget?”

She had forgotten. She didn’t see them using it enough to make her remember instantly. That, and his silver armor was offsetting. She didn’t expect that color to be able to use such an attack. Elements correlated to armor color in her mind. Silver and Water didn’t mix to her.

As he came closer, a few blasts came around his feet, making him dance foot to foot. He span around, watching the approaching Thete, his firearm trained on the Junker. Thete had a deadly determination in his eyes.

If Rien wouldn’t be the one to make the kill, he would gladly do it.

He span around, lunging for Rien, to make the kill on the leader before he could deal with an underling, when he saw Seles standing in front of him. Seles lunged forward, hooking the crook of his right arm around Raxa’s throat, using enough momentum to drive him back and slam him into the ground, face first.

Seles smashed his foot into the back of Raxa’s head, keeping him down. When Raxa exerted the slightest force to rise again, Seles stopped him, taking the momentum that would have been and making it his own, driving more weight down onto Raxa’s head, making Raxa exert more strength, and again, drain it, making an endless cycle.

Thete looked around, certain that Raxa was for the moment, at least, detained. He saw the downed Durham slumped against a building, and Lio sprawled in an awkward position that he wouldn’t be faking. He couldn’t see Eiran.

“I think we have a problem.” He said. For good measure, he reached out with his Tryna, but no one in the area was dead, meaning the other two Junkers lived. He looked to Rien, “I think Eiran escaped.”

“No matter.” She said, shaking her head, “It really doesn’t matter. We have the other three here, ready for death.”

“Are you really going to kill two unconscious enemies?” He questioned.

She looked at the Toa of Technology, “Of course.” She said, “If they rise, they would cause untold pain and damage. If we were to kill them now, we could stop that.”

“And be murderers.” Thete told her.

“We have to!”

“Not this way!” He shouted at her, shaking his head, “Not this way.”

Something blindsided Thete, taking him down without even a cry escaping his lips. Rien rushed to his side and looked down the street, making out the white and yellow figure of Eiran, approaching the battle.

“I became a bird.” She said, touching her Kanohi, “I became a bird and flew back to the caves. I retrieved this, and walked back.” She hoisted the weapon she held with pride, as if it were a trophy of some conquest.

It very well may have been.

It was a rounded end, like a crossbow, with a hole in the center of it, as if to hold something. It had a sleeked back design, the entire thing looking like a bow of some sort.

It was a bowgun, just like the last one she used, except this time, she had a new top piece to it. It was smaller, and dark gray. It was raised slightly higher, creating a larger gap between it and the weapon itself. It was a U in shape, but it had teeth lining the inside sides. It barely reached the halfway point of the weapon’s main body, coming up very short, but it provided a powerful punch.

Rien checked the wound on Thete. It was a large indentation, a large impact wound. Armor was cracked around the sight, and she could feel some of his organics. She had punctured a decent chunk of armor in the single blast. A headshot would certainly be fatal.

Rien backed away, leveling her dagger at Eiran.

“Do you want to fight me?” Eiran questioned of her, taking aim.

“Find a melee weapon, and I shall.” Rien said.

Eiran shook her head, “Oh no. I’m not getting drawn into close quarters. I’m going to shoot you down before you can even get close to me!”

“Fighting like a coward.” Rien simply said.

“The end justifies the means.” Eiran responded.

“I guess if you want to go that way.” Rien replied.

She glanced around. She didn’t want to leave Thete alone, but had to make a move, and fast.

She lunged into another street, hiding as she heard the sounds of energy bolts flying. She ran down the street and slid, rushing past the building, trying to get two streets up, to where Eiran would be standing.

She was sure Eiran would have moved by then, but she had to check.

She reached the street and slid forward, looking around, but Eiran of course, was not there. She looked up, but couldn’t see her on the rooftops above.

She had to check, just in case.

Rien ran into the street, to the spot where Eiran had been standing, but saw nothing. She ran back towards the scene of the conflict, just catching a glimpse of Eiran out of the corner of her eye, at a side street next to where Rien had started, right next to Thete.

A blast came at the side of Rien’s head. Surely if it made contact, it would be fatal. Rien lunged forward, rolling, dodging it. As soon as she rolled to her feet, she span around, throwing her curved dagger with all her might, driving the curve of it into Eiran’s throat, knocking her back a few steps.

Rien rolled forward, claiming Thete’s firearm. She ran back and dove forward, dropping to the ground as she opened fire on Eiran. The blasts started to get closer and closer until she finally found the proper spot to aim.

Eiran cried out as a barrage of energy bullets struck her. She backed away and fled down the side street, hiding behind a wall, finding at least momentary safety.

Rien ran forward, claiming her dagger. She backed away, keeping her eyes and firearm trained on the street, waiting for Eiran. If Eiran wanted to go one street down, to try to sneak up on Rien, she would have to go past Rien’s line of sight.

If she went up a street, then Rien wouldn’t see her, but she could see out of the corner of her eye, since her right eye wasn’t as obstructed as her left was, with the bodies of the Junkers and Toa, and the mess from broken carts and shops around.

Rien ran towards the others, crouching by Thete to check on him. When she was certain that he wasn’t going to die, she looked up at Seles, only to hear him choking.

She saw that Raxa had found a way to rise, and now had his muscular grip around Seles’s throat, with his left hand. He glanced back at Rien, giving her a grim smile as he continued to strangle the Toa of Energy.

“Rien…run!” Seles screamed and gasped at the same time.

Rien raced forward, hooking the firearm to her side. She rolled, picking up her sword and putting her full blade back together. She leapt forward, going in for an attack at Raxa, hoping to hit him hard and fast before he would kill Seles.

She didn’t see it, but Eiran had emerged, and had taken aim, waiting for Rien to pass that certain spot, and an energy blast was flying for her side, while Raxa’s blade was drawn back, waiting for the plunge to kill Rien.

''-“All of us have our trump cards hidden. That’s what makes them our trump cards. Only when we’re completely desperate do we need to use them. Next time: “4”. Trump cards are meant to end a battle…”''

44: 4
Rien just barely saw the glint of energy off of her sword. She span around, managing to deflect Eiran's blast with her sword. Using the rotation, she released her dagger and whipped it forward with a flick of her left hand, deflecting Raxa's sword.

She landed and rolled forward, spinning around, slashing out to her side. She caught Raxa in the side, throwing him to the ground, forcing his grip to release Seles. She took grip of the dagger and put her weapon back together as she span again, putting the tip of her weapon to his throat.

“I think Razor Ape is over.” She told him.

He smiled at her, “Then I guess it’s time for the big guns.” He said.

“What?”

“Do you know why I numbered my forms?” He questioned.

“Why?” She questioned.

“Let me ask another question.” He said, “Why would I use them in order so far?”

“I don’t know. You’re insane, but like to keep things ordered?” She guessed.

“That’s a fairly good guess, but no.” He said, shaking his head, “My forms are numbered in order of my preference of their abilities. Blades, speed, strength. Those main attributes, combined with the rest, like defensive abilities, endurance, things like that, are all put into the equation, and I decide which is best and which is worst, then fill in the gaps.”

“So Blade Lizard, ranked as 1, would be your weakest, in your opinion.” Rien said, “And then, Speed Lion, and Razor Ape, being 2 and 3 respectively, right?” She questioned.

He nodded, “Oh yes. That’s how it works.”

“Why are you telling me this?” She demanded.

“I’m about to release my trump card.” He hissed, “I have this default form of mine, let’s call it 0 for fun. Now, it’s time for my greatest power!”

“4…” She hissed.

“Correct.” He replied.

Using all of the strength in his powerful body, he slammed a foot into her chest, throwing her clear of him. She slammed into the ground, chipping the cement as she rolled away. He could see a small hole where he had made her land. He rose to his feet and slammed his sword into the ground next to him, driving it up to nearly its hilt in the ground, using his immense strength just for show.

He threw his arms to his sides and let out his primal scream. When the light that always came up faded, he was in his normal form. He laughed at her, and pointed to the armor of his left leg, the sleek armor that was small.

“This is the final form.” He hissed, “Now, what do you see?”

Rien released her power of Spirits, probing into the insane warrior’s mind. She saw a snake covered in glistening scales.

“I…I don’t know.” She said.

“It’s a serpent.” He answered, “What’s it about?”

“It’s shining.” She said.

“What does that mean?” He questioned.

“I don’t know.” She said, getting sick of this game he was playing with her.

“Ok, let me modify my mental image.” He said, thinking of something else.

When she checked again, she saw the snake—or serpent, as he had put it—slithering up towards a wall. It smashed into the wall, cutting through it with ease and slithering through the hole it made, cutting more as it went through with the length of its body.

The look on her face when she looked to him meant that she still didn’t fully understand. He shook his head in disappointment, but spoke anyway, clearing it up for her.

“This, my final form, is called Diamond Serpent.” He said, “It is my strongest form, and it will be the end of you.”

“Let me ask something.” Rien said, “Is it stronger than your Kaita form?”

“Oh yes, it is.” He hissed, throwing his arms out, his head back. He let out his primal scream as light exploded around his body.

Every other time, it had been a sphere of light encompassing him, or a column of light, one or the other, sometimes a mix of both. This time, light exploded from his body in an uncommon fashion. Something was very different about this final form of his.

When the light faded, he floated slightly above the ground, revealing his form to her. He bent at his hips, taking hold of his sword, which now had an extension on it again, like his Speed Lion form had used on it. He used the extension to pull it up and opened and closed it a few times, getting a feel for the new grip.

His form was like that of a snake. He had the two pointed toed feet, it looked like, but something was off. They seemed almost to be one foot. His legs went down normally, partially sliding inwards, and then, his ankles bent in and his feet melded into one at that point. Above the knees, he had no armor, just the blank, gray legs, armor-less. Between his legs he had a silver, smooth rounded piece, like the armor he had pointed to, coming down for some protection of his legs, but it was minimal.

His chest had a small piece of silver armor above that, and over the top, coming from the neck down, was a sleek piece of silver armor with the larger, rounded end. His arms had lighter gray, and over the top, the same small, sleek silver armor. From the backs of his arms he had the scything blades coming down, and connected, he had what looked like broken, damaged wings coming out.

His sleek silver helmet was the same as always, filled with a misty blue covering that seemed to obscure his eyes. He held his scissors sword in his left hand, taking hold of the grip instead of one of the sides, able to use it for more mobility like this.

His back had the large gray piece of armor running up and down, like his default form had. Below that, just behind his hips, he had two wings emerging. These were sleek, almost machine-like wings. One came out on each side, pivoting as he shifted, slithering forward upright, with only his legs bending back to act as some sort of upright snake.

He laughed, snapping his blades open, drawing them back. He looked to Rien, “Like my form?” He shouted.

She took a step back. He lowered himself, going up to his knees on the ground, and shot forward, slithering. He lunged into the air, using the broken, damaged wings, combined with the solid, machine looking wings, to glide through the air.

He slammed down behind her and whipped around, backhanding her in the back of the head. She went down and rolled forward, getting away from him as best as she could.

As he shot forward at her, drawing his sword back, she lifted her sword up with both hands, looking down the blade directly into his eyes, waiting for her chance to strike.

She prayed that she had Tala's will in this. She needed his resolve in order to get this attack off, and to make it count.

If it didn’t, then he would have her, and she would be dead. She needed a fatal, vital strike on him if she wanted to get out alive.

She lunged forward, driving her sword forward and up. As soon as it touched his chest armor, it stopped.

He laughed, “My armor is thicker than you think, isn’t it?” He shouted, closing his blades. He rammed the tips into her chest, throwing her back. She landed hard on her back, the wind escaping her lungs as she gasped in pain.

She rolled, coming up onto unsteady legs. She pointed her sword at him again, waiting for him to make the move against her first.

“I’m not falling for it.” He said.

He pushed himself forward. Before his words even registered for her, he was shooting at her, gliding with incredible speeds. He whipped around in the air, smashing his tail into her, throwing her to the ground.

She rolled aside as he opened and plunged the scissors down. The open blades caught her sword and wrenched it out of her grip, however, leaving her with only Thete's blaster.

She came up to both knees and took his weapon in both hands. She leveled it at Raxa’s head and opened fire, watching energy bolts fly through the air at him.

He turned to them, and span quickly, using a rotation with his tail as the mount to knock every blast away. As soon as his spin stopped, he lunged forward, floating over the ground after her.

She dropped onto her back, allowing him to sail over her. As soon as he was overtop, she aimed the gun straight up and opened fire, lining his chest with wounds.

He slammed into the ground on the other side and whipped around, throwing his sword for her with all the strength and rage he could muster up, all of his determination to kill was being unleashed at once.

She span around, watching it come at her. She dropped quickly to the ground as she released her spirit with her powers, floating in the air, watching events transpire as a spirit instead of a physical being. She lowered herself back into the body and shot forward, firing into his chest some more.

He flew back and span around, bringing his tail up to block the attacks. He could feel pain through the tail, but it wasn’t going to be as sharp, which was the entire point of blocking with his tail over anything else.

She rolled forward and stopped. He heard her grunt, and then lowered his tail to get a look at what was happening.

He saw Thete in the air, above and in front of her, firearm in hands, firing on his head. Raxa realized what had happened right before the blasts slammed into his face.

Thete must have risen up and leapt off of Rien’s shoulders, throwing himself forward, taking his weapon in the jump. As the shots slammed into his face, Raxa fell to the ground, rolling away, slithering once more as he shot forward.

Rien rolled away, taking up her sword. Thete rolled out of range as Raxa shot past him, and then opened fire on Raxa’s side. Even the spray of energy bolts didn’t slow the Diamond Serpent down, however, as he went in at his intended target of Rien.

Before he could reach her, he stopped. He struggled, but couldn’t get anywhere.

Seles walked forward, holding his hand out. He looked to the other two Toa, and then at Raxa himself. He smiled briefly, and vanished, using the momentum on himself.

Raxa was prepared to be struck, but he wasn’t. Instead, he heard a woman cry out.

He glanced down the street, watching Eiran hit the ground hard, cracking it on impact. He smiled to himself, realizing that Seles had been more worried about Eiran than he was about Raxa.

That would be a mistake he wouldn’t live after.

Seles span around to face Raxa, and threw his arm forward. To Raxa’s surprise, nothing happened.

Then he felt the ground heat up.

He looked down, and then the ground exploded. Shards of cement flew up, smashing into Raxa, some of them impaling his armor, cutting slightly into him and lodging in. Some larger chunks smashed into him and broke into smaller pieces, doing damage twice, the initial impact, and the lasting sting of the impalement.

The next thing he realized, after blinking, was the firearm trained at one side of his face, a sword at the other, and a fist in front.

“You’re done, Raxa.” Rien hissed in his left ear.

He smiled, “No, I’m not done.”

“Going to die defiantly?” Thete hissed.

“I won’t die.” He said.

“Why not?” Seles demanded.

He let out a primal scream, taking the three Toa by surprise. In an instant, the Diamond Serpent was normal again, in his default form.

Raxa span around, kicking Thete in the gut. He threw his left fist into Seles’s face, throwing him down, and then span towards Rien, slamming his sword down at her.

She managed to meet his parry and drop back. She leapt back, and then lunged forward, driving a knee into his chest, making him go back this time.

The two directed their swords at each other and waited. Neither one wanted to make the first move, not in this duel of theirs.

Raxa nervously opened and closed his scissor swords with only his right hand, while he gripped the hilt. She wasn’t sure if it was a nervous habit, as she guessed, or a plan of some sort. Maybe he was trying to figure out the best way to kill her.

Without warning, he lunged for her. He span around, swinging his arm back, using the closed blades to go for the throat.

Rien dropped and span around. She drove her left knee into his chest, knocking him back. He held his wound with his left hand, and hefted his sword up with his right.

He let out a shout as he threw his sword with expert accuracy, with immense strength behind it. It cut through the air, and even opened as it reached her.

She drew her sword up, stopping the blade as it reached her, using her blade to keep the blade open, and inches away from her.

She cast her sword down, knocking his to the broken ground below. She ran across the cement, dodging over the holes the battle had caused, and leapt forward, reading his mind at the same time.

He had nothing displayed for her. He was either going to transform without her knowing which form he was going to, or, he was going to fight like this.

She hoped for the latter.

As she slashed down, he dodged back. He let out a shout and lunged forward, tackling her. He had a grip on her shoulders and moved for her head, attempting to slam it into the ground. She managed to keep his arms at bay as she struggled, dropping her sword, and tried to use her knees to her advantage as a weapon.

Raxa and Rien rolled around, locked in combat for a survivor. Finally, he pushed himself away, rolling towards the area where he had been as a Kaita, towards the broken pieces of axe.

He took up a piece of the blade and ran forward. Rien lifted her sword from the ground and ran forward to meet him. She slammed the sword forward from her side, while he slammed down.

The two blades met, but with Raxa’s being smaller, he could put more strength into it. However, Rien’s had a proper grip, allowing her to keep a hold of her weapon.

Raxa could feel his grip slipping. He tried desperately to keep his grip, but couldn’t. The sword followed through, and he lost the axe fragment.

She span around, drawing the tip of her sword to rest on his shoulder, at his throat. The dark look in her eyes seemed to be telling him, daring him, to try something.

He looked down the length of the blade. They had talked about killing him, so would they? He was sure that this look in her eyes would mean the answer was a ‘yes’, and he would soon die.

“So…am I going to die now?” He hissed.

Her tone was flat, “No.” She said, withdrawing her sword.

“I got ready to die for nothing?” He complained, trying to provoke her, “You said you would kill me! You backing out even though you won?”

“I’m not going to kill you.” She said, sheathing her sword on her back.

He looked to the other two Toa, but neither of them were making moves to kill him, or any of the other Junkers for that matter.

“We won today.” Rien said, turning around, “Remember that. You came at us with Speed Lion, I fought an assassin, they fought Eiran, and then you came at us with a Kaita, Razor Ape, Diamond Serpent, and then your normal form, and lost. Remember that feeling. Remember our power.”

With that, the three Toa walked away, leaving the broken street and the Junkers behind them.

''-“When you find a disturbing situation, can you just walk away from it? Can a king leave his men to suffer? Can a leader leave his team behind in agony? Can a ruler leave his kingdom to be taken by another? Next time: “Vengeance”. Once claimed, you cannot afford to lose.”''

45: Vengeance
“So, Raxa, even though you used everything you had, you still could not claim at least one life?” Everto questioned.

Raxa shook his head as he paced back and forth. He occasionally cast a glance towards his leader, but not often. It wasn’t that he wanted to look with failure, but rather, he didn’t care to look at his enemy. He wanted solitude to think, rather than look at the Rges, as if he would read Raxa’s mind with a look, or something.

“No, I didn’t…” He hissed, “I almost had them…”

“They gave you the grace of life.” Everto said, “You owe them for not killing you.”

“I would have killed them…” Raxa hissed, unable to discern why he and the others were spared from death by the Toa.

“Toa aren’t killers.” Eiran said, sitting in the corner, “Especially not these Toa. Not after Tala…”

“Separate your lives, woman.” Lio muttered, leaning against the wall nearby. Despite hating her, and all women, he stood nearby, as a shadowy sign of his allegiance to the one who was leader of the Junkers, before Raxa’s arrival. Lio believed Raxa’s life was at its end, thus his position next to Eiran. He wasn’t trying to earn good graces with her, it was just habitual.

She glared at him, “I was sent as a spy. The information is what I came for.” She reminded him.

“It isn’t that important in this matter.” Lio told her.

“Oh, but it is.” Durham said, standing on the other side of the room. He walked a little closer, “If we know they won’t kill, then that can be used to our advantage.”

“How?” Lio questioned, “I certainly can’t think of anything, can you?”

“Not now…” Durham said.

“Think of something before you speak, or don’t speak.” Lio hissed.

“Lio!” Raxa snapped, exerting his authority, as if his life were to end at any moment.

Lio glared at him, “I’m done taking orders from you, Raxa.” He hissed, “You were once a great warrior, now you’re nothing! Do you know why you keep losing to them? You could have won the first time you appeared, but you blew it. You lose every other time now because they’ve become too familiar with you, even if you do change up forms and powers. You let this happen, Raxa.”

“Take that back.” Raxa hissed, stepping forward, lifting his scissors blade, “This isn’t my fault! Stop trying to pin this on me!”

“We were doing fine before you showed up.” Lio said, taking a step closer, no weapon in his hand, “You are the one slowing us down.”

“I’m the one who will lead you to victory!” Raxa declared.

“No.” Lio said, shaking his head, pointing a finger at Raxa, “You will be the first of the four of us to die. However it happens, you will be first. Maybe the Czar will kill you, maybe the Toa. I don’t know.” He pointed to Eiran, “She’ll be second, taking up the position as leader again. No telling right now how her end will come about, but I’m sure it will.”

“Then what?” Everto questioned, leaning forward in his massive throne, interested in what Lio was believing.

“Then I shall become leader.” Lio explained, “And I shall lead us to victory!”

“You really think so?” Everto questioned, “Even those two, as leaders, had and have to come to me first before making decisions.” Everto told Lio, “I am still in charge of all of you.”

Lio smiled as he looked to Everto, “Who’s to say you still live at this point?”

It wasn’t explicitly said, but covertly, it was meant as more than a threat, much more. It was meant as a meaning that put everyone in the room on edge.

“Is that your final decision?” Everto hissed.

The Junkers around him tensed. Only Raxa had his weapon. That would make this a little more difficult, depending on Lio’s answer.

“That is my decision.” Lio hissed with deadly seriousness.

The words he said were meant as a signal, a symbol, a sign. It meant that, when a Junker said it, they were done with their Rges, with their comrades. They were striking out on their own.

For some time, the Eruo species had been in a sort of civil war. Junkers were rebelling all over against their Rges leaders, trying to act like the Rges, but without their Fire or Shadow abilities, or being able to drain the lifeforces of those who had failed them. Instead, they had Water powers.

The Junker rebellions were mostly put down. The Rges had crushed them, using their soldiers, their Junkers, and their own powers. Junkers were put to death then, and interrogated on some occasions. Raxa was one such specialist, gaining his supply of information and men to torture and gain his powers from by taking prisoners of war from the rebellions.

By saying those words, Lio had cut ties to Raxa, Eiran, Durham, and Everto. In their eyes, he was a dead man. He was someone they would no longer recognize as a Junker, as an Eruo, as even alive anymore.

He was marked for death from that moment on.

“You’ve made your choice.” Everto hissed, “Draining your lifeforce will give me some more time.”

“You think you can drain me?” Lio laughed, “I won’t allow it!”

Raxa leapt forward, opening his scissor blade. Lio dodged back and span around, driving a roundhouse kick into the back of Raxa’s head, driving it into the rock wall of the cavern, taking the leader down.

Durham pounced, hoping to use the weight and muscle of his form to drive Lio down. No matter what, those words changed everything. Alliances, friendships, anything, were changed from the moment those words were said, no matter what.

Lio lunged forward, driving a fist into his foe’s face. Durham stumbled back, holding his helmeted head. He looked up and took a swift kick to the chin, rattling him. He stumbled back and fell to the ground, his vision going black, his strength coming out of his muscles.

Eiran was the only Junker left standing to oppose Lio. She circled him, waiting for him to make the first move.

“Just you and I, as I always knew it would be.” Lio said.

“Your chauvinistic ways don’t change, even on death row, do they?” She questioned.

“Of course not.” He hissed.

A fist of water slammed into Eiran’s gut, doubling her over. She looked up as he lunged at her. She tried to collect all the power she could in an attempt to stop him with her powers of Water, but couldn’t find the strength.

An elbow to the face dropped her. She struggled to rise, but couldn’t.

Lio turned to Everto. He waited for the Rges to rise, but he didn’t.

“I’m not going to kill you.” The Rges hissed.

“Then what are you going to do?” Lio questioned, “Let me live? A Rges would never let a rebelling Junker live!”

“I’m going to let you walk out, see what you do, and figure out how to deal with you after, should you even live.” He hissed to Lio.

“Of course I’ll live.” Lio told him, throwing his arm to his side to make a gesture, to make a point, “I’ll crush this island! I’ll claim it in my name, and make sure you never get that cure that you need from here!”

He smiled grimly at Lio, “How will you conquer this island alone?”

“Eruo.” He said.

“Do you think they would follow you?” Everto hissed.

“I’m sure they will.” Lio replied.

“It’s a gamble, you know.” Everto told him, “They’ll know you’re a traitor and should die. The hive mind would already know. So, are you going to risk it?”

“Of course.” Lio replied, turning around, “I’ll make them join me.”

“I have the most Eruo around.” Everto said, “I have more than any other Rges or Junker. I have over half of the entire species here, on this island, under my control!” He boasted, “Do you really think one won’t get close enough, knowing to kill you, if you manage to sway some? Do you think you can live for long?”

“We’ll find out soon, I guess.” He said, challenging Everto. He turned on his heel and walked out of the cave chamber.

Everto sat back, leaning against the backrest, watching, waiting to hear Lio’s screams of agony and death as the Eruo would rip him apart.

He heard none.

A familiar wind carried through the air. It was an air of danger, of rage, of necessity driving will.

He liked it, and even smiled.

Standing powerfully, straight backed, arms folded over his chest, Makuta Seraph looked out over the city, standing on the tip of the spire of the tower where he once ruled as the Four Seraphim, where as the Seraphim, he had defended Turaga Otoka in that very same building.

Now he was back. He had work to see to before he was going to leave again.

His work had been completed on this, his assigned island, and he would have left it, for all he cared, but he couldn’t let things get too suspicious, too lax around here. If Teridax found out…

No, he couldn’t let Teridax find out. They wouldn’t be too happy if Teridax found out that something was wrong.

The test data was something Teridax would never know about. The use of Corps Stones, for all Teridax would know, was simply Seraph’s own fun, amusement with his own people, using them as living weapons and pitting them against themselves, and real Toa.

Nothing would be suspicious there. There would be no need to call Seraph into question.

They would not be in danger of being discovered by the Brotherhood of Makuta. No, they would continue to keep to the shadows, to stay hidden.

Just like the Brotherhood. That prospect made a grim smile creep to Seraph’s lips.

What was this in the wind? What evil was carried to Seraph?

He looked down at what looked like a river of yellow and red. He wasn’t sure entirely what they were, but he knew they weren’t something he wanted to be involved with.

If it was on his island, he would deal with it. The Toa wouldn’t be able to deal with those numbers very easily, so it would be left to him, to a Makuta with far more power.

Seraph sighed, having to get involved like this. At least as the Seraphim he had that as his cover. Now, he was doing it as a Makuta.

He could potentially bend the will of the people to believe him as their savior, but they had had Otoka, the Seraphim, the Toa, the angel, would they believe this new being to also be there to help them, to save them, when all that remained were the Toa?

It didn’t matter. He would have to see to it.

As he flew down to a lower building, he recognized the creatures, realizing they were a species he believed to be extinct. They were fully alive.

That brought a smile to his face.

The Eruo weren’t dead after all. They were on his island on top of that.

Perhaps he could kill some and study them, cut them open. He wasn’t much of a scientist, but he knew enough to make a dissection mostly worthwhile.

He saw that the Eruo were simply doing damage as they moved as a swarm. They were being led by a being in green and blue armor, apparently what was known as a Junker, Seraph assumed.

They were destroying his island, an island he had spent so many years on, watching over, being a spiritual guardian of, and occasionally, a real guardian of.

He had helped these people with spiritual matters as the Seraphim. He had been a spiritual guardian as the Makuta, when the Makuta weren’t looked upon as potentially evil beings. He had been many things.

Lazy was not one of them. Proactive was.

Spreading his wings, he flew down, flying over the ranks of the Eruo. He had returned home to his island, and he was not happy. A visitor didn’t come into your home and live there without invitation.

They had no invitiation, no right, to be on his island.

Before the being he believed was a Junker noticed, Seraph unleashed his powers. Using his Makuta powers, he had forty-two to pick from, as well as his powers of Shadows, and the weaker Darkness powers which were in the forty-two.

He had the Dividos, but didn’t want to split his personality into four beings again. If the Seraphim were to suddenly return, it could make things rather…difficult.

Besides, one death would kill Seraph as well.

Seraph threw his arms out to his sides, focusing his power. Winds started to generate between the gaps of his arms, right under his chest. The wind began to grow more violent as it grew, and then, it shot down, slamming into the ground around the Eruo.

His powers to create a cyclone were working. Eruo were being ripped into the air, torn apart by the strength of the wind. Some corpses were thrown so hard, so fast, that they killed others on impact. Some large pieces of stone from damaged buildings were taken up, and slammed into more Eruo, killing them.

Their own destruction and numbers could easily become their undoing.

The Junker looked up. He carried a bladed shield weapon of some sort. He threw his left hand up, unleashing a high powered blast of water into Seraph.

Seraph wasn’t deterred. He felt some pain, but he wasn’t deterred by this man’s attempt on his life.

He was a Makuta. No mere Junker could kill him.

He looked at the crowds again, his eyes burning with power. Laser vision flew to the ground, burning through more of the Eruo. When his sweep finished, he used the similar heat vision powers, this time not only burning men down, but also, setting some ablaze, creating fires in certain areas around the crowded streets.

As the Eruo scrambled, trying to figure out a method of attack, Seraph continued to pick them off at his leisure, using his powers of plasma to burn some to death, while using anger to turn some against each other. He liked that especially.

He turned one some more, using his powers of fear. Some fled, while some of the closer ones started to drop dead with fright, having heart attacks.

Shattering and fragmentation powers flew down, blowing various Eruo into pieces, mostly gooey, organic pieces with scraps of armor. That was messy, but it worked.

He heard the Junker giving orders, and was growing tired of this game.

Seraph flew high into the air and looked down. The Eruo were all in a single street, not spread out. Apparently they were trying, but couldn’t. Seraph contributed it to a stasis field he threw up, and they weren’t smart enough to spread out prior to the orders, nor was the Junker smart enough to spread them out from the start.

A single street was thick with men. This was going to be easy.

“One more move.” Seraph hissed, putting his hands together. His wings spread out farther, keeping him hanging in the air where he floated.

Power erupted into his hands. Darkness swirled around them as he charged his signature powers of Shadows. He looked down, at the lead Junker, and started there.

The man screamed in agony as the powerful blast struck him first, wiping him into oblivion. The blast continued down the line of men, killing them all in a very painful, burning, freezing, impacting death.

There was a line of destruction, a trail of corpses, when it was over. Most of the bodies were destroyed from the force that Seraph had released, but not all.

He floated there, smugly watching down. Whoever was in charge, they were down a lot of Eruo and a Junker. If the Junker was in charge, well then, he was dead before he could accomplish much.

''-“We all have something to bring us back. Duty brings us back to our roots, to our origins. And the lack of competency can bring back still others. Next time: “Archangel”. Divinity returns!”''

46: Archangel
“Seraph…”

“Don’t speak.” He was warned sternly.

“Seraph…”

“I told you, don’t speak!” This time, more sternly, adding a threatening undertone to it.

“I must kill Seraph!” The voice screamed.

“The subject is resisting.” The second voice said, “Administer the required shock treatment. Not enough to do too much damage, but enough to make him obey.”

A third person spoke, “Understood.” A few buttons were pressed, and then, the first voice let out a scream of pain.

“Good. Now, obey or get that again.” The second voice said. A sound rang off of a tube as he tapped a finger against it, “I think we can up the voltage next time, if we want to.”

“I must find Seraph!”

“Administer more shocks?” The third voice questioned.

There was no gap, no pause to take remorse into consideration. The only thing present was anger at the first person, and a sense of duty in the voice as he spoke to the third person, confirming what to do to the first.

“Yes.”

“Up the dosage, as suggested?”

“Yes.”

A few buttons were pressed, and then, the first voice let out a bloodcurdling scream of absolute agony. It was clear that this being could very well die, but was being kept on the brink of death for the purpose of torture and little more.

There was an absolute goal in the end. A true purpose for all of this to be happening to him. There was no remorse because there was none to be shown to someone who was nothing more than a simple test subject.

“Seraph!” The voice screamed.

“Again.”

Again, the voice who continued to scream Seraph’s name cried out in absolute agony as he was being shocked relentlessly. The liquid of the tube he was suspended in carried the current, making it all the worse. The agony felt as though it would kill him in moments, but he knew it wouldn’t. It was low enough to keep him alive, just in a constant state of agony and rage.

They liked his rage. They didn’t like it when he disobeyed orders. Though, oddly enough, they liked giving out torture, since it gave out more rage, in such a way they weren’t pleased about, to give more torture, and so on in a never ending cycle of pain and rage.

This was what they strived for. They strived to break him. They wanted him to suffer so much that he would be theirs to control.

He was nothing more than a puppet. A pawn in their game.

All beings were their pawns. That was their absolute belief in the world. No one was superior, not even the Brotherhood of Makuta, or Mata Nui himself.

They were on top. They were the ones who would rule the world if done properly. They would have no opposition, if things were done properly.

Working for years behind the scenes, they were seeing to that. This was but one method they were employing.

Among others, this one was being resistant. All were at the start, if they were test subjects. This one was no different.

This one served a much greater purpose, however. It wasn’t in the grand scheme of things, this was a variable, and they hated variables.

This variable could work well, they decided. It could be one that could help them to attain their absolute goal of dominance.

This variable could lead them to victory.

“Anything to say?” The second voice questioned.

The being remained silent.

“Nothing?”

“Kill…”

“Kill who?” The second voice asked the defeated first voice.

“Kill…those who oppose our rule.” He said, gaining confidence in his voice, gaining strength back, gaining purpose.

“Who stands in the way?”

“Whoever you say does.”

“Very good.” The second being said, “Release him.”

The tank hissed open. Liquid ran to the floor in puddles. The being stepped out as wires pulled at him, and snapped off, falling to the back of the tube.

“Go.” The voice said, throwing an arm out in gesture, “Go and do your duty.”

“Those who oppose our rule?” He questioned.

“Eruo.”

“With the loss of our Junker, Lio…” Everto said, trailing off, lost in thought.

“What is it you want to say?” Raxa questioned, walking closer to him, clasping his hands behind his back. He leaned in closer, looking into Everto’s eyes.

Everto ignored him, and instead, he looked past him, to Durham, “Durham, come here.”

“Yes.” Durham said, walking forward. He was the largest Junker; mutated, hunched over, disfigured…all of these statements were accurate. Bruiser was also one, but he wasn’t dim witted. He was actually very smart, despite being the classic bruiser, and the muscle of the Junkers.

“I have something I wish for you to do.” He told Durham.

“What would that be?” Durham asked him.

“I need you to be Lord Durham.” Everto said.

The statement struck Durham as odd. He began to wonder what he had meant, and simply came out and asked.

“You wish for me to become an enemy to you, Czar?” He questioned, “You wish for me to be like Lio?”

His title of ‘Lord’ came from the fact that he was once a rogue Junker, like Lio had recently become a few days ago. That had cost him dearly when the Makuta of the island—Makuta Seraph—had returned. He had razed the entire squad of Eruo, and Lio along with them, ending the upstart’s life abruptly, without entering a single battle with his forces.

Did Everto wish for Durham to also go rogue? To become an enemy to the standings of the Rges? To be like other Junkers, and become a variable that could lead to the extinction of the Rges clan of the Eruo?

“No.” Everto said, shaking his head, “That would be foolish. What I want you to do is this.” He said, leaning closer, whispering instructions to his Junker.

Durham took a step back and swept an arm under his chest, bowing slightly, as much as his form would allow him to.

“It would be my pleasure.” He said.

“Then get to it.” The Czar hissed.

Durham rose and walked out. As he walked, Raxa put an arm out, impeding his progress.

“What was that about?” He hissed.

Durham shot him a look, “That’s not for you to know, Raxa.”

“I am leader.” Raxa hissed, “I order you to tell me!”

“Raxa!” Everto’s voice boomed.

Raxa looked to him, “Yes?”

“Pester him and die.” Everto said.

“I like living.” Raxa said, shrugging, “The last time you promised me death, I survived, however…”

“This time, I will do it personally.” Everto hissed.

Raxa stepped aside, allowing Durham to leave the cave on his own. He watched the other Junker leave, wanting to follow, but he couldn’t.

Rien walked slowly across the street. She watched as Matoran went about their daily lives, unaware that they were being watched, and that she was also being watched. Her slow nature that she had adopted at that moment was to allow her to take everything in, and hopefully, figure out where the man watching them was hiding.

She knew that Thete was nearby, and no doubt he also felt it. He was also the careful type, he would certainly know that someone was watching them.

Seles was running towards Rien, rushing around Matoran as he raced to meet her. Apparently he didn’t notice, or he didn’t care.

“Rien!” He shouted.

“Seles, no!” She hissed.

“What?”

“Someone is watching.” She hissed, glancing around now that Seles would have drawn the attention to the two of them.

“I know.” He simply replied.

A rooftop exploded. They both turned, with Seles giving a smile, signifying that he had caused the explosion. They saw something take to flight and crash to the ground before them, creating a small impact crater in the ground.

There he was. He had black feet, silver legs, black above his knees, with sleek silver armor going down. He had a black body, with a silver chest plate. His arms were black with spiked silver armor going in a circle on them. Below his elbow he had silver armor once more. His head was covered by a silver piece of armor, his eyes set to the sides of the shortest point. He had two wings protruding from his back, but they weren’t armored, nor were they leathery of fleshy.

They were mechanical and skeletal looking. They were black, with silver bladed, skeletal looking pieces coming down. Two were on each side, and each wing ended with a hooked blade curling in, though it was small compared to the rest. It could be assumed that the wings actually couldn’t allow for flight, but rather, the illusion of it while something else on his clearly mechanical body provided the propulsion.

He was at least ninety five percent mechanical. Rien had no idea how much could possibly be organic anymore, other than probably his brain. He could still feel pain, she was sure, by the way he moved. He didn’t move like some unstoppable juggernaut, but moved like everyone else who could feel pain, wary of things around them.

In his right hand he held a sword. A silver guard came out and curled down around his fist. A single, small blade, thin and not too long, curled up from the spot above the guard.

He looked like a monster, a shell of what he had once been. There was no mistaking this man’s identity.

“The angel…” Rien breathed.

“That’s him?” Seles shouted, backing away, shaking his head, “How can that be him?”

The mechanical angel started to walk towards them, his wings spread wide as he walked, as if an act of intimidation. He held his sword forward. His eyes, mechanical looking to the sides of the face piece, seemed to regard both of them with cold indignation, and new understanding, as if first laying eyes on Toa, or them, for that matter.

“Angel!” Rien shouted, “What happened to you?”

She released her power, attempting to read his mind, but she wasn’t successful. There was nothing in his mind that she could read. It was a vast emptiness.

“I think it’s blocked.”

“You think?” Seles questioned.

“Either it is…or he has nothing in his mind.” Rien told the Toa of Energy, “I’m thinking he has his mind blocked in such a way to make it look like nothing. I hate to consider the alternative, that he has no mind anymore.”

Thete came running behind the angel. He lifted his weapon and fired, unsure of who or what it was. The blasts bounced harmlessly off of the back armor of the new angel.

He turned to look at Thete, and regarded him without attacking. He shook his head, as if Thete weren’t a target, or a threat to him.

“What happened to you?” Rien questioned, lifting her sword to him. She closed her eyes, and then opened them, trying to read his aura.

There was nothing to read.

“No aura…” She breathed.

In a mechanical tone, he spoke to them, “I am the archangel.” He directed his sword forward, “I have been sent to destroy those in our way!”

“Your way?” Rien questioned, “Who are you with?” She demanded, “Who stands in your way?”

“Eruo.”

He walked past Rien and Seles, starting down the street. The two Toa looked to each other, and then to the archangel as he walked away. Thete ran to join them, watching him without knowing what to do.

“I could reach out…” Thete suggested.

Rien shook her head, “No, let’s watch him for a bit. It could help us to know what he’s thinking…or planning…or programmed to do…”

Durham walked through the street alone. He was scouting out ahead while the rest of his forces hang back, waiting for him to give them a signal to approach.

He heard something and span around. He saw nothing, and continued forward.

Again, he heard it and span around, but again, saw nothing.

He continued ahead one more time, and when he heard the same sound again, he started back, about to get to the bottom of things. When he turned the corner to take a look, he saw the head of one of his men rolling at his feet.

He looked up, seeing a silver and black armored avenging angel stalking towards him. The angel lifted its sword as if the spirit of death, waiting to take the life of Durham for his crimes against the people of Angelus Nui and the world.

Durham quickly pulled his iron knuckles up, getting ready for a fight. His body was more muscular than this foe’s, he was sure of that.

The eyes of the angel regarded him for a few moments, and then it spoke to him.

“You are an Eruo.” It said in a mechanical tone as it approached, lifting its sword, “You are to be eliminated.”

“Just try it.” Durham hissed, lifting his fists.

The three Toa managed to hide behind buildings, watching as the archangel opposed the Junker they knew as Lord Durham. They were waiting for a spectacular battle to unfold, and hopefully, for a Junker to finally die.

Durham lunged forward, throwing a fist into the angel’s chest. He grinned at the sound of impact, but then looked up, only to see the blank look on the angel’s face.

The angel punched him with his unarmed hand, throwing Durham a few steps back. The angel stepped forward and span around, slashing Durham across the chest, spinning him to the ground.

“It is time for you to pay for your crimes.” The archangel said, pointing the tip of his sword to Durham’s throat.

''-“True overwhelming power. All power can be matched in some degree, some way, shape or form. It can be measured by yet others. Next time: “Czar”. I fear this power has no equal, no measure.”''

47: Czar
“My crimes?” Durham questioned.

“Your crimes.” The "Archangel" confirmed.

“What crimes would those be?” He hissed.

“Crimes of being against my people.” The "Archangel" replied.

“Your people? Who would your people be?” Durham demanded, attempting to buy time.

The "Archangel" didn’t answer. He was about to plunge, that was evident from the look in his eyes.

“More of you angels?” He hissed.

“No.” The "Archangel" responded.

“Then who?”

“Those who you conspire against.”

“We conspire against many!” Durham shouted, “We are Eruo! We kill those who oppose us, who reject our ways of life! We have been outcasts from day one, we are only attempting to find our way back into life!”

“By opposing us.”

“Who are you people?”

“We are the end of Eruo.” The "Archangel" said, “And all others who oppose us.”

“Angel, wait!” Rien screamed at him, stepping out, unable to watch this execution.

He paid her no heed. Durham looked to her, hoping to be saved. He glanced away once he realized it was a Toa, not Eiran who had spoken. He glanced up at a building behind the angel, in the distance. He saw a reflection of silver, with arms thrown to his sides, head thrown back.

It was Raxa.

He only hoped and prayed that Raxa could and would save him before it was too late. He knew that this angel couldn’t be stopped if a single punch hadn’t even phased it. Nothing Durham could do would work at all here.

“Angel, I’m begging you not to murder…” Rien pleaded.

“I am "Archangel".” The angel spoke in the mechanical tone again. He lifted his arm back, raising his sword high. He slammed it down as the Toa of Spirits ran to him, attempting to stop him. Durham raised both arms, getting ready to crush the "Archangel"’s arm in his two fists.

It didn’t work. Rien wasn’t close enough, Durham wasn’t fast enough. The sword plunged into Durham’s throat, nearly cutting his entire head off. By the time Rien arrived, the "Archangel" was pulling his sword out of the deceased’s throat.

He turned to look to Rien, “One is dead, and many followers are also dead.” He reported, “Stay out of my way while I deal with the others.”

“Angel, what happened to you?” She questioned, pleading to him, “You used to want to help this island! You had nothing but good intentions! What has happened to you?”

“I found purpose.” He said in his mechanical voice. He turned to walk towards the north, when something hit him.

It was Raxa, using his Diamond Serpent form. His head was plunged into the "Archangel"’s chest. In an instant, his head cut through the "Archangel"’s chest, and his body followed, cutting the mechanical warrior in half at the waist. The "Archangel" hadn’t even seen it coming.

The Diamond Serpent slithered past and rose up onto its "leg". He looked around, and grinned viciously.

“You couldn’t have saved your own comrade?” Rien screamed at him.

“What would that have accomplished?” Raxa questioned.

“You don’t care about your people, do you?” She demanded.

He shook his head, “Of course not!”

She lifted her sword, “We’ll stop you, Raxa.”

“Really?” He questioned, “I saw something following me out here. Something you might be interested in.”

“What?” She demanded.

A cold dread washed over her. Her two comrades came running, evidently feeling the same and seeking out protection in numbers.

“That.” Raxa grinned.

They all turned to look towards the north. They saw something approaching. This being was at least nine feet tall, clad in black and blood red armor. He was massive, muscled from head to foot. He looked like a beast out of legend, but man at the same time. He looked actually like some cross between both, with the horns adorning his head, and the spikes lining his armor.

Crossed between a beast due to the spikes and horns, and man, due to his body, he looked like some strange mix of Rahi and demon, or Makuta. There was no doubting the powerful aura that radiated around his body.

He was in charge. He was the leader. He was the one they would have to defeat to properly end the threat of the Eruo.

“Who are you?” Rien shouted, turning herself and her sword so she could face him.

He grinned viciously, “Your bringer of death, of course.” He hissed, “My name is Everto. Czar Everto!”

“Czar Everto?” Rien hissed.

“That’s right.” Everto replied, holding his hands up, showing he had no weapons, “I am the leader of the Eruo. I am the master of the Junkers. I am the Rges in charge of it all!”

“Rges?” Rien hissed, “The lead class?”

“Exactly.” He replied gruffly. He lifted his left arm, pointing a single finger at her. Black power generated around that fingertip, and in a vision of darkness, erupted forward, slamming into the three Toa with a cold impact.

They were sent sprawling, laying around on the ground in absolute pain. They struggled to get back to their feet, to put up any sort of defense against such a monster.

“I am the one who can end your lives in a mere instant.” Everto said, walking closer, hands clasped behind his back, “I grant you life through my grace alone. Any time I could have come here and killed you personally, but I decided to sit back and see what those foolish Matoran could do. After that, there was the Blood Swordsman. I heard of his murder of your leader, and loved it. I had also seen the massive monster eight months ago rampaging, and the death of another of you Toa.

“I waited in the back, waited in the caves with my men, waiting for the chance to strike. All the while, I planned and plotted. I had Eiran join life on this island eventually in hopes of learning any weaknesses I could exploit. I had her also learn what she could of medicine.

“You see, I am dying.

“I have a disease killing me. I believe this island can offer me the medicine I need. After all, I must live. If I died, then who would command my massive legion of Eruo? I control almost all of the Eruo in this world! There are few Junkers left, and fewer Rges. They control miniscule armies compared to mine. If I died, then what would happen? The power would start to go into flux between the combat between Rges and Junkers, and the likes of them.”

“Why are you telling us all of this?” Rien demanded.

“I wanted you to know what was happening before you decided to attempt to fight me.” He said, shaking his head, “I know you’ll eventually try to kill me, now that you know I am here. I know you’ll try to be heroes and eliminate me.

“I wanted to let you know why it’s impossible for you to kill me. I wanted to save you time, and make you surrender once you grasped the scale of the threat against you.”

“Why would we surrender?” Seles shouted.

“Because you know you shouldn’t waste your energy in a losing battle.” Everto replied matter-of-factly.

“We’ll do whatever we must to defend this island.” Thete said, “Even if it is a losing cause! We will never lose our faith in what we can do here. We are the last line of defense for this holy island. We will not surrender!”

Rien lifted her sword towards Everto, “We shall be like avenging angels and come to take your life! We shall be the angel of death for you, and take what you have left. We will be scourges among your people, your Scourge Army. We shall not rest until we have killed you to a man!”

Everto threw his head back and laughed. A booming laugh filled the air around them. It was disturbing to realize the scope of what they would have to accomplish.

They would have to kill this titan of a man. This man who could crush them all by grabbing them in his hand, if he so chose. He may not have been much larger, but the sheer aura of power he gave off was enough to keep them all back, Rien especially.

She threw her hand out, bringing his aura to the forefront for them all to see. His aura was brownish in color.

“He’s not good…but not evil.” She hissed, “He believes what he’s doing is good, but at the same time, knows it isn’t.”

“I know I must do what’s good for my people.” He told her, “I also know that it isn’t considered good by the other people of this world.”

“So, your good is for your people. Your evil is for everyone else.” Rien analyzed.

He nodded, “Exactly.”

She glanced to the side, to Raxa. He wasn’t making a single move against them. He was just standing and watching them.

“Seles, Thete…let’s take care of him.” She hissed, lunging for Everto, swinging her sword to her side.

As she closed the gap, she swung the sword out with all her might, attempting to bifurcate the larger warrior. Everto let out a gruff laugh and threw his right hand forward.

His hand caught the blade. There was no way she could break it free. He had her stuck where she was.

She struggled, but couldn’t break his grip on her sword.

Seles let out a cry and leapt forward, pushing his feet onto Rien’s shoulders. He pushed himself forward and threw a fist at Everto’s face.

Everto barely paid any heed to the Toa of Energy. He lifted his left hand up and caught the fist. He glanced to his left, to Thete, who was taking aim and opening fire.

Everto span around, throwing the two Toa clear. He made sure to keep them away from friendly fire, for his own amusement that their lives were his to control.

He threw his left hand forward. Fire erupted forward, smashing into the energy bolts, stopping each one as it came into the full field of flames.

He drew his right fist back and clenched it. Darkness sizzled around the fist as he threw it forward, sending a blast of Shadow elemental energy forward.

Thete never saw it coming. It slammed into him and sent him flying back, smashing him into a building. He slid to the ground and stayed down.

Everto glanced to Raxa. The silver armored Junker stood, smiling grimly as he watched the fight unfold. Everto was able to read between the lines, however.

He saw the hate in Raxa’s eyes. He saw the hate that the Toa were falling not to him, but rather, to Everto himself. The leader had taken to the battlefield, and was winning.

It destroyed the need for the leader of the hierarchy to remain out of the battle. If he could send underlings who would die to keep himself safe, while he was strong enough to crush the enemies himself, then why bother sending the weaklings out?

By sending out Eruo and Junkers, Everto was showing that he was following the idea, that the leader stayed behind to keep safe, no matter how strong that leader was.

When the weaker warriors fell? Send more.

When boredom kicked in, the leader takes to the field and starts to take everyone down. That was what Raxa hated, that Everto was doing that.

It infuriated Raxa that someone would follow such an archetype to begin with, but now that Everto had seemingly decided to follow it, and now had broken it, infuriated him even more.

“Do you see now my strength?” Everto hissed, “You cannot defeat me! Give it up!”

Rien pushed herself to her feet. She drove the tip of her sword into the ground to support herself. She looked into his eyes of evil, and shook her head.

“You aren’t the most evil we’ve seen.” She said, “You can be redeemed! You can stop this now! You said you were dying. We can help you. We can get you the cure you need, if you’ll just stop all of this!”

“Getting the cure and my life is one thing.” Everto said, “But finding a place for myself and my people to be respected, to live in peace? That’s quite another. We’re tired of fighting, of continuing to be displaced, of being removed and sent to new home after new home, until none remain and we must fight to find a place to carve out life for ourselves.

“No! Just as an insect nags at you, despite doing nothing to harm you, you are the insects to us! You nag at us, despite not being able to crush us, to do anything to our number. We can leave you be, let you live, and continue to annoy us time to time, or, we can crush you and end the annoyance right now! This island of Angelus Nui will be our new home. After I get myself healed and cured, then, oh yes, then this island will be ours.

“We shall make this island from a holy one of peace and security to one of aggression, of the Eruo! This shall be the staging ground for my empire of the Eruo!” Everto shouted, throwing his arms up, “Under the reign of the Rges, Czar Everto, the Eruo shall conquer and live in peace! We shall be unopposed due to our numbers, due to the fear our reputations shall spread. We shall be untouched, and finally have our own home! And you Toa want us to live in peace with you. We could, but sooner or later, it would end with you betraying us! We will not allow that to happen. As the leader of the Eruo here, I shall not allow that to happen to my people!”

“Then you’ll leave us no other choice.” Rien said.

“What will you do?”

“I declare war against you!” She shouted at him.

“War? Against me?” He laughed, “You can’t even touch me! I am the immortal ruler of the Eruo, and soon, of the Eruo of this entire universe! Soon, very soon, every Eruo shall bow to me as they would to their actual leaders. And then, those leaders shall also bow to me. Everyone shall bow, even the Makuta!”

“Your dreams of grandeur end here.” Rien said.

Everto laughed at her. Suddenly, he clutched a hand to his gut. He covered his mouth with his left hand then, covering up as he coughed. He fell to his knees, hanging his head as he coughed violently from the disease that was raging within him, killing him.

He rose to his feet, shaking his head. He glanced back to Raxa, making sure the Junker was in line and wasn’t going to attack. Satisfied, he actually turned to Raxa, ignoring the Toa in general.

“We must get my cure.” He hissed.

Raxa nodded, “I agree.”

“See to it.” Everto growled.

Raxa bowed and walked away. He wasn’t heading in any specific direction. It looked as though he chose one and just started walking. Everto didn’t seem to notice that part, however.

He turned back to the three Toa and lifted a hand. Fire burned around his palm. He looked through the blaze, watching the disfigured forms of the Toa as they stood out against the colors of the fire of his hand.

“If I see you three again, I shall not hesitate to end your lives.” He said. He let loose the fire, burning the buildings around the Toa. They all backed away, surprised at his target. They immediately started to act, attempting to put the fires out.

Everto laughed and turned towards the mountains of the north, walking away from them.

His message had been delivered clearly to the fools.

''-“All journeys draw to an end. Some end for the better, some for the worse. Some lives end for the better, some for the worse. Some lose friends for the better, some for the worse. Next time: “End”. Will this be for the better, or worse?”''

48: End
“The herbs and medicines from every healer have been raided.” Thete reported, walking into the bunker. He threw the Second Gear remains to the ground. The machine was destroyed, and had been set to watch a specific building, “They were very through as well. No one should have been able to find Second Gear. We should have had eyes, but now, we have nothing.”

“What about the security video from when they entered, before it was destroyed?” Seles questioned.

Thete shook his head, “It didn’t last long enough. It was destroyed in literally two minutes flat.” Thete sighed, “We don’t even know who did it. It was in the room with the medical supplies, and when the door was burst open; something shot out and destroyed the machine before they came inside.”

“So they knew?” Rien questioned.

“Possibly. That, or they were very lucky.” Thete said, “I don’t believe in that amount of luck, though. It was so well hidden…only we and the Matoran owner knew where it was.”

“They could have tortured it out of him.” Seles suggested.

Thete shook his head, “According to the video, and what I saw there, they instantly killed the owner and sacked the main room before going to the storage. No interrogation. Just walk in, kill him, raid, and then go into the back room.”

“What could it be then?” Rien questioned.

Thete sighed, “I wish I knew. Then we could potentially plan…not that there are any medical locations left on the island.”

Seles looked around. He looked back to Thete, “I think we have a spy here.”

“A spy?” Thete questioned, shaking his head, “At least once a day I sweep the bunker, looking for anything mechanical that doesn’t belong. We have no bugs in here.”

“I never said a mechanical bug, or anything like that.” Seles said, “I just said, I think we have a spy.”

He didn’t understand, and said nothing.

“How do we know who’s a spy?” Seles questioned.

“Eiran.” Rien simply said.

Seles nodded, “Why was she a spy?”

“She has a Mask of Illusions.” Thete said, looking around, “She could be anything, then, even an insect that we wouldn’t pay any attention to.”

“That’s what makes her a good spy.” Seles said, “And how we possibly lost the Second Gear to a raid.”

“And with the Gear, we lost all intelligence we would have otherwise gained.” Rien muttered, shaking her head, “I just don’t understand this.”

“There’s nothing else we can do.” Thete said, “We have no other known targets of theirs.”

“We do know something, though.” Rien said.

“What’s that?” Thete questioned.

“They have two Junkers, and one Rges.” She said, “We all saw the corpses of the Eruo lying around, burned to death by something, murdered by…something monstrously powerful. We saw the remains of the helmet and shield of Lio. And we all saw Durham die…”

“So what?” Seles questioned.

“We know our enemies.” She said, “If we can come up with a way to defeat Everto, I say we come up with it now and go and attack them directly!”

“You’re telling us to commit suicide.” Seles simply told their leader.

“That is a possibility.” She said, “I think we should do it, though.”

“Why?” Thete asked, shaking his head, “I have to go with Seles. This would be suicide. Why would we do it?”

“Because it could be the only way to purge ourselves of these enemies.” Rien told them, “If we don’t, then they could kill all of us. We would be in absolute danger. We would all be killed along with the Matoran if we wait for them. They have such a massive army, apparently, that they could kill us all so quickly…even with only two Junkers and one Rges. We’re doomed if we don’t take the initiative and attack! Will you two follow me?”

“You’re asking us to follow you to the grave.” Seles said.

She nodded, “That is a very real possibility here. I won’t lie about that.”

“I would have followed Lewin to Karzahni and back.” Seles admitted, “Gaila, not so much. Tala? Maybe. Though, Tala wouldn’t have gone there in the first place, because he would have cared too much for us to risk us like that. He was the type of leader who would have gone alone without telling us, without wanting to risk us.”

Seles looked into Rien’s eyes, “What sort of leader are you?”

“You’re asking me about your own opinion, when I don’t know it?” She questioned.

He nodded, “Yes. Tell me, what type of leader do I see you as?”

She knew she could read his mind, but that wouldn’t be in the spirit of what he was asking of her. He was asking a very specific question that would have to be answered in a very specific manner. There was no other way to it.

She had to answer truthfully, without reading his mind. She had to answer what she believed, how good of a leader she believed herself to be.

A good leader had to be watching their partners, their subordinates, their friends, whatever they referred to their team as. If she was a good leader, she would know what the other two thought of her by watching them.

She opened her mouth to finally speak, and said a mouthful, “You believe I am a great leader. You may not follow me to Karzahni and back…but you would follow me there, to defend me. We know, Seles, that you are our greatest combatant in hand-to-hand combat.” She touched the hilt of the sword that had once been Tala’s, “You are the best one in combat. You would be the one to come and help stave off Karzahni and his forces while the rest of us moved on through. You would die for us, to protect us; to do what you believed was your duty. You believe your duty is to see us through the fire, to see us to Karzahni, but not necessarily back, since you wouldn’t make it back, but would make it possible for us to return.

“Is that right?”

He simply nodded, “You have me pegged exactly right, Rien.”

She looked to Thete, “Can I count on you as well?”

He smiled, “You’ll need someone to watch your front.” He said, motioning to his firearm, “You’ll need someone to cut down anyone in front of you.”

“That’s my job.” Seles said.

Thete looked to him, “Your job is to protect. You’d be covering the back as enemies came that way, which they would believe was tactically the best way to attack.”

Rien smiled as she watched the two comrades talk about a serious manner in such a light hearted approach. She knew they were trying to take their minds off of how life-threatening this was about to become, how dangerous, how deadly, this entire ordeal would soon become.

She commended them for their bravery, for their dedication. She knew that neither could return, she knew that she might not return.

All of them would willingly sacrifice themselves, however, to end the threat of the Eruo, to kill Czar Everto, if only the Matoran of the island would go on in peace.

There would always be Toa coming and going. There would always be other Toa to come to the island, to possibly defend it in their place. There would always be that legacy of the majesty that Angelus Nui represented, and those who wanted to be a part of it, those who became the Toa Angelus in the wake of the deceased, just to be a part of that.

She knew that the future of the island would be fine, as long as they did their duty. If they came out alive or not wouldn’t matter. Their duty was all that would matter.

“The man is nothing, the work is all.” She said simply, summing up what they all knew.

“We are nothing.” Seles said.

“The job we have means everything.” Thete finished.

The three Toa nodded to each other, showing their conviction.

“Two days ago we were brutally defeated by Everto. Today, we fix that, and we kill him!” She declared.

“How will we carry that out?” Seles questioned.

“We’ll find a way.” Rien said, “Nothing special. We’ll go in as we are, and we’ll find a way.” She said, walking up towards the door. She looked back to the others, “Shall we go?”

The other two nodded, and rushed up to stand beside her. They all put a hand to the door in symbolism that they may not return; that this may be the final time they opened the door. They all pushed it open, and strolled out into the afternoon light, walking north, towards the end of their battle with the insectoid army of the Eruo.

“If the Toa were smart, they would stay away.” Raxa said to himself.

A bird fluttered around him, and then started to shift, taking on the form of Eiran. She touched down next to him, nodding in agreement.

“Your return so soon tells me they decided to come to us.” Raxa said.

She nodded, “I figured as much.”

“What are they doing?” He questioned, “Bringing some powerful weapon for their attempt on Everto’s life?”

“No.” She said simply.

He looked to her in confusion, “They’re coming with no special weapons? Just…as they are?”

She nodded, “Yeah, it sounds like that, unless they knew I was there, spying. They were sure someone was spying, since the machine spy they had was broken instantly.” She glanced to her bowgun in the corner of the room, “They were right. I was there, saw its location being placed, and blew it up instantly.”

“So…no weaponry designed just for this event?” Raxa questioned, shrugging, “That is very strange.” He said.

“They didn’t have time, nor the desire.” She said.

“No desire?” He asked.

“They believe that they can do it. That’s enough for them.” She told him.

“Did all that time you spent with them get to you?” He questioned, “You sound as though you are still their friend, as if you believe that they could win, just because they will it, because you believe that they can, despite the fact that a spy is to bring hard evidence.”

“I have seen them pull things off that shouldn’t have happened in the past.” She told Raxa, “I believe by no means that I still am so attached that I can believe that they can win through sheer force of will alone. I do believe that they need another way to be able to win. I think their will is their weapon in this situation.”

“You really believe that?” Raxa questioned.

“I do.” She admitted, “If their will wasn’t powerful, they wouldn’t have made it this far.” She told him, “They wouldn’t have made it through countless attacks.”

“I guess you’re right.” He said, “Especially my forms.”

She nodded, “See? You’ve experienced it firsthand. Their will is dangerous.”

He nodded, glancing out, down the cliff at the approaching Toa. Raxa smiled, looking to her, “Where did you stop after spying on them? They shouldn’t be here yet.”

“I stopped at the place Tala died.” She said.

“Why?” He questioned.

“To tell him that his friends would soon join him.” She replied, walking over and crouching to pick up her bowgun.

“I don’t believe you.” Raxa said, resting his scissor sword on her shoulder in a silent threat.

“You think I still have an attachment?” She questioned.

He nodded, “I do believe that.”

“I don’t.” She replied, rising, throwing the sword aside. He drew it back to his side and regarded her silently, looking at the steely resolve in her eyes.

“I’ll believe you…for now.” He said. He pointed the sword at her again, “But I was an interrogator and one of the best.” He told her, “I know when people are lying. I can tell.”

“You could tell through pain.” She said.

He smiled grimly, “Sometimes the best pain is fear of pain.” He told her, “Sometimes they give up information when they see the tools, before they even get used. I can see the truth because of those who did give up that easily.”

“You can’t see the truth on me?” She questioned.

“Not entirely…but I will believe you, for now.” He said, walking towards the opening of the cave. He looked down as the Toa started to climb up. He looked back to Eiran, “Be ready. I fear that we’ll be alone for this.”

“You? Fear?” She laughed.

He showed grim determination, “You said it already. Their will can cause the unexpected. It can cause…miracles. This island has given them the ability to cause miracles!” He shouted, “It has given strength to their will, making them able to keep going. We will have to be very careful.”

She nodded, “I know.” She said, walking towards the back of the room with him. They weren’t going to blindside the Toa. They were going to wait.

When the Toa finally arrived, they had their weapons already drawn, and were sure that their foes, if any, would be in the back.

Raxa smiled when they walked in. He took a single step forward, “Welcome, Toa.” He said. He pointed his closed blades at them, “Is this place suitable for death?”

“We should be asking you.” Rien said with deadly determination. It was as if she were a thundercloud, waiting to give off an explosive sound and flash of deadly lightning. She seemed to have her emotions bottled up, her rage building blindly inside of her, waiting for a release that would attempt to claim the lives of the two Junkers.

“This will be our final battle.” Raxa simply said.

“We all know that.” Rien replied.

“At least one side dies here today.” Eiran said, walking forward, claiming the voice of strength that had been hers prior to Raxa’s return. She was the previous leader; she would act like the leader at least once more, in case this room became her eternal resting place, “We’ll make sure you Toa join your fallen in the next life.”

“Acting like leader over the leader?” Raxa questioned, ignoring the serious nature of the room.

She glared at him, but said nothing.

Rien lowered her sword, facing it at the two Junkers, “We’ll end your lives here in this room. You can join the other Junkers, if you want. We don’t care what you do. You live for destruction, so for all we care, you can be given to the underworld for eternal pain and suffering!”

“What, like Lio got when he fought a demon?” Raxa questioned.

“What are you talking about?” Rien demanded.

Raxa smiled, “You mean you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“About Lio’s death? The deaths of all those men?” He questioned, “I thought you would be keeping tabs on the subject.”

“What subject?” Rien demanded.

“A demon’s subject.” He replied.

“Make sense!” She screamed at him.

Raxa’s smile broadened as he contemplated how to say it. Finally, he found the words to use, “Lio was a fool. He fought a demon in this life. That demon killed him and his men, and also fought you before. That demon is Makuta Seraph. He’s back!”

''-“Two guardians remain. The Junkers shall fall, fall like Tala, like Gaila, like Lewin. Now the enemy shall know what it feels like! Next time: “Showdown”. It’s time to end it all…”''

49: Showdown
The news that Seraph was on the island was shocking to the Toa, but they had ignored it, had overcome it. They would deal with Seraph later.

Right now, their primary goal was the elimination of the Junkers.

The battle had been going for at least ten minutes. Raxa was fighting both Seles and Rien, while Thete fought against Eiran alone.

She would roll away from him and fire. He would do the same and return fire, making her dodge as well. This cycle would continue on and on again with neither hitting the other more than once or twice in that entire period.

Raxa dodged and span at every blow from Rien’s sword. She shouted in frustration and lunged forward, snapping her arm at him with her blade. He threw his sword forward, opened it, and caught the blade as he snapped it shut.

He glanced to his side, taking a punch in the side of the face from Seles’s fist. He hit the ground hard and rolled away as the two Toa regrouped and rushed at him again.

He came to his feet, ready to attack, when he found his sword missing. He saw it was on the ground, knocked away when he rolled across the ground. He took a step forward to get it, when Rien lunged past him, slashing him with a side slash.

He stumbled forward a few more steps, mouth open in a silent scream of pain. He looked up at Seles, who slid forward, throwing three rapid punches into his gut, and then, the fourth punch into his face. He stumbled back and looked up at the ceiling above him, for some reason or another.

He saw a circle of energy on the spot above him. Seles had his hand up, and then, dropped it in a symbolic manner.

The ring of energy exploded. The potential energy of a ring of stone went off, dropping a large section of rock down. The cut was clean, and the rubble was nothing. The large boulder coming down, which made it evident that the ring had gone up into the ceiling even deeper to provide for the entire cut, was what was the problem.

Raxa wasn’t able to move fast enough. It smashed into his head, taking him down. He struggled up, finding Rien’s sword at his face.

“It ends here.” She said.

His helmet was cracked. He could try to transform into one of his other forms, but his head was in such a daze, he wasn’t sure if he could.

He punched her in the chest, knocking her back a single step. She rocked forward, thrusting at the same time. Raxa expected it, though, and rolled aside, coming up to his feet.

He threw his arms out and threw his head back, unleashing his primal scream. His head was swimming as he tried to select a form to take on.

He let out another scream as light exploded from his body. He hadn’t made a proper choice, despite having made a choice.

His head, swimming as it was, was unable to comprehend a single form. They all mixed together for him, and his body couldn’t handle the desired form, which he knew couldn’t last. He had to go with it, because in his mind, he saw a complete form.

He saw Diamond Serpent.

Deep down, he knew it wasn’t right, but it should be close enough.

That was wrong. The light hid the grotesque changes coming to his body as he was being killed by his own powers. He crumpled to the ground, screaming in agony.

A hand shot out of the light, but fell, mutated into both scales and fins. More forms were taking over the hand at the same time, even after death, but they were unidentifiable.

The body would keep going, even with Raxa dead, until the biological code he had started would be complete. It would be grotesque, especially with no light to hide it, but it would be done.

Seles pointed at the corpse, and it exploded, rather than make them watch the transformations. He looked to Rien, who nodded to him.

Thete rolled out of the way as Eiran span her weapon around, using it almost like a tonfa, swinging the back end of the weapon as a club of some sort. She span around, throwing a kick, which he rolled under.

He came up to a knee and opened fire, blasting her in the chest. She flew back across the room, towards a rock wall near the entrance.

Seles span around, giving her a powerful punch to speed the process along as she flew past him. As soon as she crashed into the wall, Rien knew it was over, but didn’t get involved.

Eiran was someone that Thete and Seles would need to deal with. She was someone from their past, not hers. As much as she wanted to be a part of it, she couldn’t be.

She had never known the woman as anything more than an enemy, and from Tala's stories. She looked to her sword, and threw it towards the woman, landing the blade in the rock right next to her head, allowing Tala to be there in some capacity as it was done, as justice was delivered, and as any last words were shared.

“We always trusted in you.” Thete told Eiran, pressing his gun to her chest, preventing her escape, “We always believed in you as a friend, as someone who could help to make Tala happy, even in the wake of such tragedy that forced him into leadership.”

“You broke that trust by trying to kill us.” Seles said flatly, stating the obvious, “And by breaking what we knew about you, what made Tala want to befriend you. You destroyed a part of the end of Tala’s life.” Seles put his hand on the hilt of the sword, “If Tala were here…”

“He’s not.” She said. She didn’t try to say it in a hurtful way, but rather, as a sympathetic way, “I visited his grave after spying on you to learn you were coming here.”

“What did you do there?” Thete demanded.

“I paid respects to a warrior who could have helped us.” Eiran admitted, “We gave you three a chance to join us, to step aside and allow us to do as we wished, to save Czar Everto's life. If Tala were alive, he would have put the lives and safety ahead of his view of justice, and would have allowed us to do what we wished on this island.”

“No, he wouldn’t have.” Seles hissed, “He would have done the same! He would have attacked you! He would have attempted to stop all of you, just as we are!”

“You don’t know what he would do.” Thete hissed to the woman, “You were always a spy, collecting hard facts, weren’t you? You assumed Tala, and since your job is hard facts, you tried to twist what you believed into being factual, when in reality, it isn’t. You don’t know anything about Tala other than any facts laid out before you! His mind, his spirit, the decisions he would have made…only we know, because we knew him, we knew of his ideals, not just the material facts.”

“You’re trying to buy yourself a little more time, aren’t you?” Seles hissed, “By invoking the name of a dead friend, you try to buy more time. You’re despicable.”

She grinned viciously, “I do what I must!” She shouted, starting to glow as she triggered the power of her Kanohi.

Thete fired, smashing her body into the rock wall, stopping her. Seles, in his rage, drew the sword from the wall and slammed it forward, running Eiran through her chest with it.

She slumped forward on Tala’s blade. She looked up at only Seles and Thete. She could have sworn she saw a red hand holding the hilt of the sword that stuck through her chest, but she knew that there wasn’t. She knew she was just seeing things.

A small smile came to her lips. It was the same kind smile that she had displayed as a Matoran, as a friend to the three of them, but mostly, to Tala.

This was a real smile, not an act in death, but a real smile as her death came to her.

It held all the meaning in the world to the Toa as they saw it, and then, as they saw the last bits of life escape the Junker who had once been their friend.

Seles drew the sword out of her chest and watched her fall to the ground. He looked to Rien, and handed her the sword.

She took the hilt and nodded to him, “I know what you had to say came from the heart.” She said, “I admire what you did there, even though she tried to stop you.”

“We knew Tala better.” Thete said, “Of course we could stop her.”

“Let’s go.” Seles simply said, walking ahead of them, keeping his fists clenched tightly, ready for anything. Thete looked back to Rien, and drew his weapon as he went after Seles. Rien went after them, sword held tightly in hand as she too followed.

Finding themselves in a massive chamber with a raised ceiling, they saw a large stone throne in the center of the room. Sitting slumped over in it they saw the red and black nightmarish figure of Czar Everto. As soon as he noticed them, he pushed himself to his feet, shaking his head.

“They failed me.” He hissed.

Rien stepped forward, pointing the tip of her sword at him, “You’re going to join them shortly, Everto.”

He smiled up at her, “I think not.” He said. He threw his right fist forward, unleashing a blast of Shadow at them, but specifically, at Rien.

She rolled aside, evading the blast that could have killed her. A spray of rocks smashed into her back, but not with enough force to be painful. Just enough to be noticeable.

Thete lifted his weapon and opened fire. The blasts ran up and down Everto’s body, but did nothing to stop him as he approached.

Seles threw his arm out, drawing all momentum way from Everto, drawing all kinetic energy away. Everto couldn’t take a step. He literally couldn’t, thanks to Seles.

He glanced to the Toa of Energy, and let out a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Seles hissed, fists up.

“You!” His laughter boomed around the chamber, “You honestly think you can use your powers in such a manner so as to literally stop me?” He lifted his left arm at Seles, to the Toa of Energy’s shock, “I have more will than you do.” He hissed, “My will can exceed your ability to stop me! To use your powers against me!”

“That’s not possible!” Seles shouted, “Will can’t beat this power!”

“It just did.” Everto hissed, unleashing a blast of Fire.

The fire smashed into Seles like a massive fist, sending him flying across the room, smashing him into a wall. He slid down, but flicked a finger out, taking a quick aim that would surely miss.

The throne behind Everto exploded with all of the potential energy it had. A fairly large fragment smashed Everto in the back, making him stumble two steps forward, but otherwise, seemed to do no damage to him.

At the moment of his steps, damage or not, Thete fired into his head. The five quick shots did nothing to him that Thete could tell, even though they all had been spot on.

“What is this guy made of?” Thete shouted, firing all across his foe’s body, looking for a weakness.

Rien drew her sword up, “I don’t know. Can you stop him with your powers?”

“I can try.” He replied.

“Try then.” She said, running forward. She leapt at him and slashed down, but the blade stopped on impact. It couldn’t go through his armor.

“You’ll have to do better.” He said, grabbing her wrist in one of his larger hands. He span around, throwing her into the wall opposite of Seles.

He looked to Thete and threw an arm up, getting ready to take down the last Toa as well. As a blast of Shadows flew through the air, Thete rolled under it and threw his arm out.

“I…can’t move!” Everto shouted.

“Full control.” Thete hissed.

Everto struggled, but unlike when Seles had attacked with his powers, this was different. He couldn’t break out.

“I control your armor. You can’t escape me.” Thete mocked.

Everto glared at him, “I will find a way out, believe that.”

He let out a whistle. Before Thete realized it, three Eruo were rushing in from behind him, towards their leader. He looked to Thete, “Attack him!” He shouted.

The three soldiers ran forward at Thete. Now, the Toa of Technology had an option of what he could do. Keep Everto trapped, or defend himself.

If he kept Everto trapped, he would die from the wounds these Eruo would give him. If he released Everto, he could kill Thete.

Keeping his left arm out, Thete went for his weapon with his right. He pointed it under his extended left arm, firing once. He kept enough focus on both killing and on keeping Everto trapped. The first Eruo dropped, dead, to the ground.

A second slammed into Thete from behind, slashing him from behind. Thete cried out, but kept his power up. He span around, firing once into the Eruo’s head, dropping it, but keeping his prisoner in check.

“You’re pretty good.” Everto hissed.

“I need to be.” Thete said. The last came for him, and slashed. Thete dodged back, but lost his balance and fell, losing control on Everto’s prison.

Before Everto took a step forward, or did anything, his armor exploded. He cried out as he fell to the ground, stumbling forward. He glared at Seles, who was pushing himself to his feet and swaying as he walked. He had been able to get a single attack that worked off.

That would be the only working attack he would get off.

Everto reached out, grabbing the Eruo by the arm. He drew the insect soldier to him, and then, threw both arms out to his sides. The Eruo, standing before him, stood still.

Energy erupted from Everto’s chest, wrapping around the Eruo, sucking him into Everto’s body. Everto’s wounds from Seles’s attack started to instantly heal, and some of Everto’s spent strength returned.

He turned to face Seles, and lifted a finger. Fire and Shadow charged together at his fingertip, both powers ready to kill the Toa of Energy.

“Time for the meddler to die.” He hissed, unleashing his combination attack.

A twisting elemental column flew through the air for Seles. He came quickly to his feet and pointed at the ceiling above him.

The ceiling exploded, bringing down nearly one ton of rock, covering the path between the elemental attack and the Toa of Energy.

He could hear the attack strike the rocks, and even go through it, but it was deluded enough not to blast a large enough hole through to kill Seles by simply ducking. Seles rolled out from behind the wall and pointed at the floor next to Everto.

The floor exploded, bringing up mostly dust. The explosion wasn’t meant to damage Everto, but simply to blind him for the moment.

“What purpose could you possibly have for wasting such an attack?” Everto shouted, “You just wasted your last chance to wound me!” Everto cried out at Seles, drawing a fist back, getting ready to use his Shadow power to kill Seles.

“I didn’t waste anything.” Seles simply said.

“What?” Everto hissed.

Rien dashed out of the smoke, swinging her sword down at the back of Everto’s head, right for the helmet he wore.

If Everto were turned around, the slash would be centered for right between the eyes. From the back of the head, she was still correct, and it should still have been just as fatal, if enough power were thrown into it.

“And no, that wasn’t my last attack.” Seles hissed.

Thete was running back and forth in a slow pace as Seles drew his momentum away. Thete was also powering his internal systems, making them beat faster, while Seles also drew on them.

All of the momentum was thrown into Rien’s body, giving her truly a fatal attack on Everto as she swung down.

''-“It all comes down to hope and faith. This island we love, we protect, is all about faith, is all about divinity, religion…and sins. Sins are in our pasts to be overcome; above all else, that’s what we must do to win. Next time: “…”. Shadows close in…”''

50: ...
Everto span around, getting one glance in as Rien came down. His speed wasn’t accounted on. They all figured he would be killed from behind, from a slash down the back of his skull.

That didn’t happen as the blade crashed down the front of his face.

He stumbled back, his helmet cracking. He let out a shout as it fell from his face, his horns still proudly displayed from his head, even without his helmet. He span to look at Seles, the one causing the trouble for him.

Lifting a finger for a blast of Shadow, he never realized the other two Toa were still ready, still waiting there to attack him.

As the blast of darkness flew through the air, Seles stopped moving. He knew it was over, and there was no point in dodging or attempting to block.

He took the shot to his chest and flew into the wall, crashing through it into the next chamber beyond. He stayed down from all the pain that it had caused him, from how thick that wall had been and from the force of Everto’s attack.

Everto span around, but took a blast from Thete to the head. He stumbled back in pain, and only then realized that his head was open.

Rien walked towards him, her sword pointed at his chest for no reason, “We know your armor is protecting you now.” She said, then motioned up to his head, “You just became open, though.”

“I may have, but you can’t get at my head.” He told them. He leapt forward, kicking Rien as hard as he could, sending her flying across the room.

She crashed into the far wall and slid to the ground. Thete rolled forward, opening fire. The blasts danced around the ground, going up his body in a similar, snaking pattern. Once they reached his head, Everto put his arms up to block.

As soon as Thete stopped firing, he threw his arms down and drew them back. He pushed both forward as fists, sending two fists of Fire forward, smashing them right into Thete, throwing him into the wall beside Rien.

“It’s done.” He hissed. He walked towards the spot his throne had been sitting, and looked with forlorn at the rubble. He shook his head, disappointed that there was no throne for him anymore.

He sighed and walked to the rubble pile that Seles had brought down. He found a good spot and sat down, making do with it.

He looked at the bodies of the two Toa he could see. From the angle, he couldn’t see Seles, but knew that room was swarming with Eruo. He was dead for sure.

“My potion!” Everto shouted.

An Eruo walked into the room from the opening Seles’s body had made. It carried a phial of green, bubbling liquid with it.

Crouching before Everto, it held the phial out to him. He nodded, dismissing the insectoid soldier. It walked through the same opening to get out of the room and back to its other people, to the hive mind that it had with them.

Everto held the phial up in the air, swirling the liquid around. He smiled, “Ah…life.” He said, looking at the deep green color of it.

He swirled it around once more for good measure and drew it up to himself. He put the phial to his lips and drew his head back to drink.

The phial exploded, sending the shards into his face and the precious liquid to the ground. He cried out in rage and stalked towards the opening, only to see Seles walking out first.

Seles shook his head, “We can’t let you have life now, can we?”

Everto shouted in outrage and threw a punch forward.

Seles triggered his powers quickly, taking the momentum and giving it himself. He was quickly on Everto’s slowly moving arm, and throwing a rapid punch into the Rges's face, throwing him into the rubble.

“Isn’t that all of the liquid?” Seles questioned, “I could have sworn I saw them use the last of one of the items in that room.” Seles said, pointing over his shoulder at the room he had just come from, which was also where the potion had been mixed up in.

Everto shouted in outrage, unable to even make proper words anymore. He was a mindless bruiser at this point as he charged forward.

Seles leapt at him and span around, pushing off of his chest, throwing him back. The effect also was like a springboard for Seles, throwing him across the room.

Seles span around as soon as he landed and Everto crashed into the rubble. He threw his hand forward, targeting the rubble.

It exploded, causing a massive explosion, not to mention seismic activity inside of the cave structure. Everto’s burnt body came stumbling out, crying in outrage, throwing whatever powers he could wherever he could in a blind attempt to get at the Toa who had done this to him.

Seles rolled across the room, crouching by his downed comrades. He pulled them both up, quickly shaking them awake. They both looked back to realize what was happening, and all three of them ran as the cave shook.

The exit wasn’t far. They were able to rush past the corpses of the two Junkers and leap outside, down the fairly large drop, and then roll on impact to distribute the force. They all rose and looked back as the entire cave system went down, blowing apart and imploding on itself, caving in and killing everyone and everything inside.

“You did that?” Rien questioned.

“Not intentionally…” Seles replied, “Though taking out Everto like that was intentional…without the entire cave going in, of course.”

“Well, it worked.” Thete said, patting Seles on the shoulder.

Rien had to nod in agreement, “Everto is dead…as are his Junkers and his Eruo soldiers.” She looked to Seles, “Did he ever get the potion?”

“I blew it up in his face.” Seles admitted.

Rien smiled, “Good job with that one.”

The three all stood in silence for a few moments, watching as the cave went in on itself, until they were sure it was over, and there would be no survivors. They all started back towards the bunker, their mission over.

“Seraph is still missing.” Thete said.

“What else is new?” Rien questioned.

It had been one month since the death of Everto and his Eruo forces. Ever since, they had been scouting the island, using Second Gear en masse to search for the Makuta of Angelus Nui, who they knew was there around the time of the death of the Czar.

So far, they couldn’t find any trace of him.

“He could have hidden himself by changing his appearance.” Seles said, “Or he’s gone.”

“Wherever he is, whatever he is, I don’t think we’ll find him.” Rien agreed.

Thete nodded, “Ok then. I’ll stop with this search.”

The ten Second Gear models floated down to a table and landed, shutting down. He looked to them, and then looked to the others.

“Is it time?”

Rien nodded, “Yes, it’s time.”

The three Toa stood at the same spot where Tala, Seles and Thete had stood to pay their respects to Gaila and Lewin. Only this time, Tala’s remains were there as well, buried.

The three Toa kneeled to the ground, facing the tree. They all lowered their heads, thinking silently, praying for the Toa who had been lost.

“Tala…you brought me in as leader.” Rien said, “I believe I have made you proud. I only wish I could know for certain. As a Toa of Spirits, death is a boundary I cannot pass with my powers of Spirit.” She said, “I hope I have led as you would have, as you did, and I hope we always made the proper decisions, such as engaging the Eruo.

“I know that was a good decision, since it ended in our favor, with our victory. We have made this island safe for everyone again. The only loose end we have left is that of Makuta Seraph, and that we have no one to lead the people here.

“I am also sorry that we had to eliminate Eiran. I am very sorry that you were deceived by her, but I would have been as well, without looking at an aura. She was a tricky one…but it’s all understandable. Don’t blame yourself in death if you can hear this and know you were tricked. Please, for us, just be at peace until we can follow you.”

“Tala…” Seles said, shaking his head, stopping.

Thete took up instead, “Tala, I continued to make new machines, new devices, in your absence. I fulfilled my end of the repentance. I created devices for the good of the Matoran. Just like your Flame Cycle, but on a smaller scale for other purposes. They served us well.

“Thanks to these devices, lives were saved, and enemies were defeated. If only you could have seen them…I know you would have appreciated the work I did, the work we accomplished thanks to them.

“On the matter of Eiran…forgive us for killing her, please. I don’t know what you would have done if you were there with us, but our choice was to kill her, our decision was final. We had to do so because of what she did, what she said, invoking your name to save herself. We had to. Though…were you there with us? In spirit? I felt something…Tala…”

Finally, Seles found words for himself to say, “Tala…were you there with us, in the room, when we killed Eiran? Were you there? As a Toa of Energy, I can feel some energy types. I could feel something off in that room that had nothing to do with energy, though there was a little extra potential energy at one point, and a little extra kinetic, but not in the proper sense, more like it was half there, half not. Were you there in spirit with us?

“I hope you were proud of us, of the choices we made in fighting the Eruo, in fighting Everto. I hope you won’t be displeased at what I ended up doing. I ended up killing so many people. I was responsible for Raxa's death, for plunging the sword into Eiran, for bringing the caves down on Everto and all of his men.

“I don’t know if you approve of doing whatever it would take to win, for the sake of the Matoran, but I did it. I did it, and I don’t care if you approve or not. I know I did right. If you do hate what I did though…I’ll find out, when we meet again in the next life. But Tala…please…approve of my actions. Approve of the end results, and how we got there.”

The three Toa raised their heads and looked to the tree that stood there. The remains of Gaila, Lewin and Tala all were buried beneath it, and it felt like all six Toa were there together, in corporeal form or in spirit.

Rien rose and took her sword from her back. She looked to the tree, “Tala…I will continue to use this blade of yours. I know I should leave it here, but I have something else for you. I want to keep this so I can feel like you are guiding me in battle, guiding me to help me do the right things in life, and in bringing death.”

She set the sword before the tree and crouched down, taking up a pack that she had brought with her. She opened it and withdrew a pale blue or white scarf of Fusha fibers, just like the one Tala had once worn before his death.

She wrapped it around the trunk of the tree. The gentle wind carried it up a bit, the two tails sticking out and blowing, like they would have had Tala been wearing it.

“You’re the only one who could pull the style off.” She said to the tree, to Tala, “I hope you’ll like this, and allow me to keep the blade in place.”

She rose, hooking the sword to her back. She looked at the other two, who were standing at her sides. The three of them started down the hill, back towards the main city below.

As they walked, Thete stopped and looked out at the port. He pointed, causing Rien to cast her spirit out with astral projection, using the speed of it to send her spirit down to check what was happening down there.

Returning her spirit to her body, she rose from Seles’s grip. She looked to the others, smiling and nodding, “Yeah, you’re right, Thete.”

“Well, let’s go.” Thete said.

Seles took a look, and realized what they had to be talking about. He ran after the two of them, following them down the hill and through the streets, through crowds of Matoran as they went about their day, about business and commerce and personal lives.

It took a few minutes, but when the three arrived at the harbor, they weren’t too late. They saw two figures walking towards them, both of them smiling when they saw the Toa.

One of them was a Toa of Plasma, and one was a Toa of Gravity. They both bowed in front of the three Toa, and looked specifically to Rien.

“You’re the leader here, right?” The Toa of Plasma asked.

Rien nodded, “I am. Why?”

“We’re both new to being Toa.” The Toa of Gravity said, “We both just became Toa recently. We didn’t know where else to go…so we came here. We hoped that you could allow us into your team, Gaila.”

“I’m not Gaila.” Rien said.

“Oh…” Plasma said, disappointed. The two of them rose to walk away, sure that this new leader wouldn’t be up to Gaila’s caliber or allow them in.

“Where are you two going?” Rien questioned.

“You mean…you’ll let us stay?” Gravity questioned.

She nodded, “Of course. After Gaila’s death…we had a Toa of Fire as our leader. His name was Tala. I arrived here, much the same as you, looking for Gaila. He allowed me in with open arms, despite not being who I came searching to work under. He allowed me to become a fast friend and ally…and upon his death, leader.

“I will carry that tradition. I have no reason to turn you two away.” Rien said, extending a hand as a symbolic gesture, “My name is Rien, Toa of Spirits. I hope you two will join us, and make our team five now, instead of three. Like it was before I came around, before men were lost to this island.”

“This island?” Gravity asked, “It’s so peaceful.”

“We made it that way.” Seles said, stepping forward, “It takes a lot of work to keep this island in peace. A lot of work…and sacrifice.”

“We can do that.” Plasma said eagerly.

Seles again spoke, “Running away from sins of your pasts, are you?”

“What makes you say that?” The Toa of Plasma questioned.

“Eagerness to be accepted.” Thete said, interrupting, “But don’t worry, we’ve all had sins in our pasts. We run and run, but we can’t escape forever. Someday your sins will catch up to you, and we’ll all be good enough by then to go along with you, despite those flaws. We’re all flawed, after all.”

Rien nodded, “So, sins or not, will you two still join us? We will accept you with all open arms; with all the gratitude we can give you, and the graciousness.”

“Are you professionals?” Gravity questioned, “Or are we better off receiving training on Recla Nui?”

“We’re professionals; especially after all we’ve gone through.” Rien said, “And you won’t find as interesting a team as we are.” She said, “Based on our powers. You’ll learn plenty of new things from us, from our specialties.”

The two new Toa looked to each other and nodded. Plasma spoke, “We’ll join, no problem.”

“Good.” Rien said, “We’ll begin soon.”

As they started to follow the three other Toa, Gravity stopped and pointed up at a tree on a hill, “What’s that? It’s fluttering.”

Rien smiled, “That? It’s for a friend.” She simply said.

Characters

 * Gaila
 * Thete
 * Seles
 * Tala
 * Lewin
 * &quot;Beauty&quot; (Not Mentioned By Name)
 * Rekona
 * Eiran
 * Oba
 * Otoka
 * Jeun
 * Ishiza
 * Ucen
 * Marcko
 * Gyoku
 * Lyala
 * Ainer
 * Feran
 * Ilyos
 * Mata Nui (Mentioned Only)
 * Viyon (Mentioned Only)
 * Rien
 * Sewin
 * Fata
 * &quot;Angel&quot;  (Not Mentioned By Name)
 * Seraph
 * Everto
 * Lio
 * Durham
 * Meon
 * Raxa

Trivia

 * Like the previous Epic Series by Koji, this epic focuses on powered Matoran, this time reflecting their evil choices.
 * The comments at the end of each chapter, previewing the next, were narrated by Turaga Rekona. Upon the revelation that he was a hallucination, Rien took over.