Bionicle: Into the Unknown - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Darkness Rises

RUINS OF THE GREAT SPIRIT, SPHERUS MAGNA

Darkness. That was the last thing he remembered.
No, there was something else. He remembered pain. Incredible pain, as if something was crushing his head…
He felt the final memory flow slowly through him. He was fighting his…brother? No, not his real brother, but someone he considered enough to call him that. They were on a desert planet. The brother was trying to defend the inhabitants from my power while he intended to enslave them.
Yes, it was all coming back to him. He was on the verge of becoming the god of three planets.
The first planet, Aqua Magna, was his home planet. He originally grew up in a species designed to create creatures and enforce peace and stability 100,000 years ago. But there was no respect for heroes. No, he was wrong by thinking that. There was no respect for his kind. The Matoran chose beings called the Toa as their true protectors, leaving him and his species in the dark.
His former leader, a being known as Miserix, insisted that they try harder. 80,000 years ago, he had sent me to stop a takeover of the island city of Metru Nui and back there to end a war that had broken out between its citizens. Miserix then decided that we would all watch over certain parts of the universe. I was able to receive Metru Nui as my sector. he thought now that he could finally claim the thoughts as his own. We watched over the realms as honorably as ever.
But the Matoran did not praise us anymore than they had. We were still left in the shadows. So, I decided to embrace them.
79,000 years ago, I took Miserix out of his leadership, took over the Brotherhood, and sentenced Miserix and his followers to death. I don’t know how Miserix lived after he tried to attack me less than a year ago, but I assume that the traitors responsible have been destroyed…along with the rest of the Brotherhood.
1,000 years ago, I struck our Great Spirit, Mata Nui, and put him into a deep sleep. It was a glorious victory that started dark times all over the planet. Everyone now feared us, but now everyone attacked us. Toa, the thieving Dark Hunters, the brutal Skakdi, all feared out power. Well, minus the Vortixx. That species remained neutral to all that occurred, as in they were eager to sell their weapons to the highest bidder.
Then a year and a half ago, ‘obstacles’ began to emerge in my plans. Six Toa, the Toa Mata, resurfaced and began to hinder his progress, bringing hope to an island he was inhabiting. Things became more interesting when a Toa of Light, one of the few beings that posed an extreme threat to me, appeared as well. The Toa of Light destroyed his body; however I was far from dead. Long ago, I had found a way to discard my organic parts and become pure energy, able to take control over any robotic system without a soul. It was my greatest back-up plan.
Yes, he thought with a chuckle, I was fond of back-up plans. I still am. I always have schemes within schemes that will bring me to victory. Even my setbacks are planned for, and so I shall win in the end. I cannot be defeated.
The greatest obstacle in the plan had come into play eventually. Mata Nui, stuck in eternal sleep, was discovered to be dying not too long after his own disappearance. Two teams of Toa were sent to bring him back to life and re-awaken him. And I helped them…in my own way, of course. I took the control of another robot and kept old enemies at bay while the Toa retrieved a powerful mask known as the Ignika, the Legendary Mask of Life, so that they could keep Mata Nui from dying.
When they did, I began the final stage of my plan.  I discovered the location of Mata Nui’s body and took control of it before Mata Nui’s spirit could. So by the time that ‘Mata Nui’ was re-awakened, I was in control of the body. I was one of the most powerful beings in existence. I was the Great Spirit.
But then...I may have made a mistake. As hard as it is to say, I may have celebrated my victory…too quickly. I had sent the spirit of my enemy into the Mask of Life and sent it to another planet, where he apparently created a new body worthy enough to challenge my own. So I found him. I offered him a chance to join me or die, but he chose death. My strength should have been enough, but Mata Nui had somehow gained the advantage. He had sent a blast of power my way, but missed. Or so I thought. The last thing I knew was that he had his hand on my throat, lifted me into the air, and something, probably another planet, smashed into my head from behind…destroying it…
But, as I always did, I had a back-up plan.
The being smiled. During my time as the Great Spirit, I was shocked at what information Mata Nui’s mind held. He not only had vast knowledge of the universe, but of many more, almost as if the Great Beings used his mind as their safe guard. Not so safe anymore…now the knowledge is mine.
Now, unknown to most, his species had held onto a second Kanohi Olmak, which was used to transport their island, from one part of the oceans to another. It was the perfect defence to keep the searching eyes of his enemies unaware of their island’s location. And when his island wasn’t  teleporting, they observed the other universes, even kidnapping Toa of Light and preparing them for their own dark purposes. It was only a theory that there were other universes that had nothing to do with theirs.
Unfortunately, a group known as the Order of Mata Nui had been following his island’s movements for quite some time and destroyed the island. The Olmak his species had was taken by a thieving Skakdi named Vezon, who ended up fused to the mask and teleported to those very dimensions. Thankfully, the bearer of the first Olmak had found his way to his new body, where he ‘destroyed’ the mask and sent the bearer elsewhere. With the intruder gone, he revealed the Olmak to himself and began to fix it for his own, personal use.
He looked down at his old suit. It is satisfactory to see that my armor could be restored, he thought. And modified for a more grander purpose. But my mask…
The being felt his face, remembering that he still needed to put a mask on to complete his form. My mask needs much more concentration to repair. Makuta Icarax was foolish enough to take my mask for himself. He even dared to defy my plan and try to kill those loyal to me before it was their time. At the very least, fellow Makuta Gorast and Vamprah were able to bring him to a fitting end. The only problem was that my mask was destroyed in the process.
He looked around to a certain compartment in the area of the space around him he had created three months ago to house his repaired armor. It resembled that of a mad doctor’s laboratory. Gears could be seen all around. Robotic arms hung from above to place pieces or forge something into armor. An exit could be seen to his right and a compartment in the wall with a twisted lever could be seen to his left. He went to the lever and pulled it to open up the compartment.
Inside were two masks. One was his Kanohi Kraahkan, the Mask of Shadows, the mask that he had worn for millions of years. This black mask was particularly hard to repair since it required the reformation of all its atoms. The second one was a golden mask he was able to repair more easily for it had shattered, not completely disintegrated. That was the Olmak, the Mask of Dimensional Gates, and no doubt his way out of the suit and off the planet as well as tie up some loose ends before he left.
I do amaze myself at how well I’ve been able to plan for my setbacks, he thought, although I am more amazed that I needed one after achieving my goal. I do suppose that I have done this for so long that I can’t shake it off, and that ended up being for the betterment of myself.
He placed the remains of the Kraahkan into the back-compartment of his suit before grabbing the Olmak and putting it on his head.
Almost immediately, he could feel a surge of power swarm his system. Maskless, a being of any stature as his own could only reach partial strength, a setback to the designs of the Great Beings. But wearing any mask would increase one’s strength to its full potential. Well, almost full potential. He made sure that some of his powers were spared into another being just in case his suit wasn’t ready in time.
And now, he thought, I should test what strength I have.
He walked to the back of the room to the wall. Clenching his fists, he drew his right hand back and punched the wall, causing a huge hole to appear.
It appears that I at least have most of my strength back, he observed, smiling. I suppose I should retrieve the rest of my power. Now where would he have gone…
Makuta noticed a crack in a second wall he had created. He had forgotten how close this room was to the outside of the titan’s body. He crept to the crack and peered outside to see the world around him.
A jungle could be found not too far off, but between him and the jungle was a huge desert where he could see a civilization of some sort. He recognized the Matoran, the Toa, Vortixx, and more from his home; however there were some that he could not recognize. There were beings just over the size of the Matoran who seemed stronger and had been through wars. Others looked like Toa, but they were using their hands more than the Toa.
Perhaps they do not have powers? he thought, trying to gather what he could about these beings. There is more to this planet than I realized. I also could have sworn that this jungle wasn’t there when I arrived. It must be the effects of Mata Nui’s victory. Or…perhaps…
He turned to remember something else he had discovered in Mata Nui’s old body. Before he had come into being, a planet known as Spherus Magna existed. It lasted long…until a war broke out for control over a once-unknown substance known as Energized Protodermis. He knew all too well that Energized Protodermis ended up being a liquid that could create or destroy depending on the destiny of the one using the substance, making it extremely unpredictable. Few even knew that it was a sentient liquid that could take any form it wished while still showing its liquid exterior. The war for the Energized Protodermis literally cracked the planet into three parts, each one becoming their own planet. The one known as Aqua Magna was where he had come from. The surface was 100% water, but they lived in the body of Mata Nui, so they could never tell. Bara Magna was the biggest and was the least bit affected by the split. It was mostly deserts and mountains. The final one was called Bota Magna. It was a largely unknown jungle planet with strange creatures and inhabitants.
Mata Nui’s primary objective was to reunite the three planets as one. And it looked like he had succeeded.
But with Mata Nui’s destiny finally complete, he thought with a chuckle, then that means that he will leave and no longer interfere with my plans. And without their precious ‘Great Spirit’ to aide them, how can they handle me now?

BARA MAGNA DESERT, SPHERUS MAGNA

“So how are we going to handle him?”
Pohatu Nuva, Toa of Stone, wondered the question aloud for his brother Kopaka Nuva, Toa of Ice, to hear. The two had been riding their Sand Stalkers through the desert for a couple hours now, and the question popped into his head.
“What do you mean?” asked Kopaka. The white and silver armored Toa was used to Pohatu’s talkative nature. In fact, he was surprised that he had been quiet for so long.
“Look,” the brown and silver armored Toa started, “We fought Tahu back on the island when that Rahkshi poison in him. And other Toa have gone bad in the past and had to be stopped. But…he’s still one of us, and there aren’t too many of ‘us’ left these days. Besides, from what I hear…if he did kill Karzahni…he had good reason.”
Kopaka thought about what he said. The two were out on a mission to capture a Toa of Air known as Toa Lesovikk for the possible murder of the insane being known as Karzahni. While Karzahni did definitely deserve to be punished for his crimes against the Matoran he was supposed to fix, death shouldn’t have been an option. It was against the Toa Code to kill.
“Maybe that’s the problem,” said Kopaka. “He felt he was justified. Karzahni was an abomination, after all. But fighting is what we do. If we start thinking we have good reason to kill them, and we do it, then we become no better than they are. We’re meant to be defenders, not executioners.”
“I’m just saying…”
“I know what you’re saying…believe me, I do,” said Kopaka. “But there’s a fine line between being a hero and being a monster. If Lesovikk crossed it, we stop him. Cold.”
Pohatu looked down at his mount. These creatures were not from Aqua Magna, where he and Kopaka came from. These red-armored creatures were native to Bara Magna, used as mounts by the Agori and Glatorians. They looked like they had seen many things.
But it’s who I don’t see that troubles me, he thought. For one question goes through my mind. Brother Lewa disappeared at a bad time. Where he is now?

TRIBAL VILLAGE, BOTA MAGNA, SPHERUS MAGNA

Oh, thought the green and silver armored Toa of Air as he was being captured by native warriors. It’s going to be this kind of day.
Lewa wasn’t quite expecting countless spears being held by the natives of this strange land to be pointing at him. Then again, he didn’t expect the creatures in this world to be as big as they were and shoot huge blasts of energy. He also didn’t expect to be teleported to this strange world of Bota Magna along with a bunch of powerful characters into a room with a Great Being. But he might have wished to stay there…or at least tell them that he’d be going.

Making the wise choice to surrender, the natives were now bringing him to their village, which reminded him of Le-Koro, which was where he spent most of his time when he was awakened about a year and a half ago. But there were some changes. Shelters were in the bases of the huge trees instead of in the branches and they had what appeared to be an alter with a huge fireplace in the center of the village.
I have a hunch-guess that I might be over there soon, he thought. Still, this is a good time for some answer-finding about this place.
All around him, other natives were staring at him. None of them seemed sure of what to think of him. Lewa was more than positive that they had never seen a Toa. One of them, an aged native, walked to the leader of the group that captured him, striking up a conversation that was no doubt about him.
They sound like they speak-talk the bird language, Lewa thought. If only Matoro was around to translate…
Lewa suddenly spaced out for a second to think about Matoro. It was a sad thought process. Matoro had been a Matoran who lived on both the island of Metru Nui and the island of Mata Nui. He was also a translator for Turaga Nuju, who had chosen to speak in the language of the birds when he became the Turaga of Ko-Koro, the Ice Village. Matoro probably knew everything that the Turaga knew and was forced to keep all of their secrets.
Then, destiny called and he and five of his friends became Toa destined to find the Mask of Life in order to save the Great Spirit. Their chase for it traveled from the island of Voya Nui to the undersea village of Mahri Nui. And when Matoro wore the mask and used its powers…
No, not ‘it’, Lewa thought. The Mask of Life decided that ‘it’ was a ‘he’.
But there was nothing much after wearing the mask. Matoro sacrificed himself and used his life force to bring the Great Spirit back to life. It was one of the most noble moves and probably the most honorable thing one could do, making Matoro one of the greatest heroes ever known.
It was a shame we were never able to speak-tell him our good-byes, he continued. We were even in the same place when he died. But we didn’t even know he was there until it was too late.
The chief native had signaled the natives to bring him to one of the trunks. Lewa had no idea what would be in there as they drew closer…and then he realized that ‘what’ was inside was a ‘who’ instead.
It was another Toa of Air.
The natives threw him into the ‘room’ before blocking the entrance. A couple of glowstones dimly lit the room while a hole in the ceiling spotlighted the center, where the other Toa was sitting. Lewa looked back at the entrance before speaking.
“So,” he began, “how did you get here?”
The other Toa looked up at Lewa, a little shocked to see another Toa here. But he then hung his head in shame.
“I simply wandered,” the defeated Toa stated. “I was hunting down one of my enemies only to find him defeated. I was so angry that I was unable to take down the tyrant myself that I left my weapon there and just wandered off into the forest.”
“A tyrant?” Lewa asked, curious. He sat down with the stranger. “Anyone I know?”
“Have you heard of Karzahni?” the other asked.
“Which one?” the Toa Nuva responded.
“There’s more than one?” the other gasped.
“Well, the other one killed itself accidentally with Energized Protodermis…”
“As long as it’s dead, I’m fine,” the other stated, looking at the ground.
Lewa was shocked to hear another Toa say that.
“Toa-brother,” he began.
“Toa-brother,” the stranger said sadly before chuckling, almost as if he hadn’t been called that in centuries. He also forgot that those involved with the embodiment of Air after him spoke ‘treespeak’ or something like that, which was as version of the Matoran language that either simplified certain Matoran words and extended others. It wasn’t necessarily something he was willing to pick up.
“I’m not a Toa,” he said again. “Not anymore. I may have been a member of the first team, but it was because of me that I’m the last surviving member. I failed to make a choice in time, and now my team is dead. My brothers and sisters…Nikila…all dead…”
The stranger then hung his head in shame once more, causing Lewa to pause.
Wow, he thought. I wasn’t expecting that.
“Well,” he said, trying to lighten the mood, “you’re still alive, so you have plenty of time to redeem yourself, right?”
“I’ve been trying to,” the stranger stated. “But I still don’t feel like it’s enough. I freed an island from Visorak, helped capture prisoners in the Pit, but that’s pretty much it. It’s not necessarily enough to redeem the death of seven brothers and sisters.”
The Pit. Lewa barely remembered what that was. If he recalled correctly, it was some sort of prison used by a group of heroes known as the Order of Mata Nui.
“Well,” Lewa said as he tried to cheer the stranger up, “there’s got to be at least somebody that you can fight-win for. Don’t you have any friend-companions?”
The stranger thought for a moment. “Well,” he began, “there are two Matoran who I consider my friends. Sarda and Idris.”
“And you’ve had good-fun with them, right?” Lewa continued.
“…I guess,” he said, thinking about it. “We had fun when my team had first met them, and then when I found them in the Pit, we took out Karzahni.”
“And they’re still here-around, right?” Lewa asked.
“Well, yes,” the stranger said.
“And you would do nothing but make sure that they were safe.”
“Of course –”
“Then you’ve already proven yourself, Toa-brother,” Lewa cut off. “As long as you have friends you fight-win for, and you fight for good, then you’re already a Toa-brother.”
The stranger looked at Lewa in confusion. Could I?
“I have no doubt in it, Toa-brother,” Lewa said as if he read his mind. “You have fought more than enough to prove-redeem yourself. It’s time you fought the good fight as a new Toa-hero.”
The stranger looked at Lewa for the longest time, trying to accept accept his words. Have I truly done enough? he thought. Has the time come to finally put my past actions to rest?
Lewa looked at the stranger in hope. The stranger finally let out a sigh.
“You’re right,” he said. “I do believe that I can…I at least hope I can move on.”
Lewa smiled in triumph before realizing something.
“I don’t think we’ve introduced each other,” Lewa stated. “I’m Lewa, Toa-hero of Air.”
The stranger chuckled for the first time in a while.
“I’m Toa Lesovikk.”

TEMPORARY NEW ATERO, SPHERUS MAGNA

“Toa Lesovikk might have done what?” Ackar asked the two Toa in front of him, trying not to attract too much attention.
Ackar was a Glatorian, one of the best in the business. His red and orange armor gleamed like the sun, but still seemed batter and scratched from all the fighting he used to do. Truth be told, he hated the fighting after a time, but now the peace was slowly getting on his nerves. Still, Ackar was no fool. He was probably one of the more wiser beings to come from Bara Magna, the Desert Planet.
Beside him was another Glatorian, Kiina. Her armor was similar to his outside of the fact that her armor consisted of different shades of blue and she was more skinny and agile compared to him.
Before them were Tahu, Toa Nuva of Fire, and Gali, Toa Nuva of Water. There were a little smaller than Ackar, but still showed that they had been through as much as Kiina and himself and donned silver armor along with their red or blue.
The four of them were on a mission to help integrate their two populations.
“We can’t know for sure,” Tahu stated. “Brothers Kopaka and Pohatu are looking into it.”
“We understand that the tension between our two cultures isn’t at the best right now,” Gali added, trying to ignore the fact that the four of them hadn’t really gotten too far in getting the two cultures to trust each other enough, “and that this news may not help our cause. But we knew that we should at least tell the two of you.”
“And no one else right now,” Tahu added, giving a bit of a look at Kiina’s direction. Kiina was definitely not the best at keeping her mouth shut from what he had seen so far.
“Hey, come on, flame man,” Kiina retorted. “There’s no need for any attitude.”
“Trust me,” Gali cut in, “you haven’t seen his attitude yet.”
“Look,” Ackar cut in, trying to get back on the subject before it left, “I thank you two for telling us this. We’ll definitely keep it to ourselves. I’m sure that this Lesovikk isn’t responsible for this...Karzahni’s death.”
Ackar wasn’t sure of his words, and both Toa knew it. Kiina probably didn’t, but that was for the best.
Suddenly, another Toa came running at them, sporting black and silver armor. The calm but concerned expressions of Tahu and Gali made Ackar relax and know he wasn’t going to attack, which was an instinct Ackar and Kiina had to learn before Mata Nui showed up on their planet.
“Onua,” Gali called to her brother, still a little surprised. “What brings you here? Surely that team we set up hasn’t already found a way to contact the Great Beings.”
Onua, Toa of Earth, shook his head as he gave a couple gasps of air. “No, brother,” Onua said, a little breathless. “They still travel. But the news I have might be worse.”
Tahu gave a bit of a chuckle. “Worse? Why would you say that?”
“Because patrols spotted a Makuta making his way here,” Onua finished, knowing he didn’t have to say anymore.
The other four took a step back in shop, gasping at the news. A Makuta was bad news no matter what the circumstances were.
“Are you sure about this?” Tahu asked, pretty much demanding an explanation then and there.
“I saw him myself,” Onua replied. “It’s a Makuta, alright.”
“But, I thought you said they were all dead,” Kiina wondered, really confused by all this.
“That’s what we thought,” Onua told her, “but we were apparently wrong.”
Tahu gave a bit of a grunt as he took his Magma Blades from his pack.
“Get your weapons out,” Tahu said, looking towards where Onua had come from. “We have a big threat to deal with. Onua, lead the way.”
Onua gave a nod as he took out his Quake Breakers. Gali took out her Hydro Blades to prepare for battle. Ackar readied his flame sword while Kiina took out her Vapor Trident. The five then went to face what they believed would be a dangerous foe.
Unknown to them, there were others dangerous like the Makuta at work here...

OUTSIDE THE FORGOTTEN FORTRESS, BARA MAGNA

Baleful eyes started up at an imposing edifice of rock and mortar. Here, in the wooded region of Spherus Magna, the Great Beings had plied their trade many years ago. Now one remained inside that fortress, quite mad, but still brilliant and dangerous nonetheless.
For the watcher’s purposes, he hardly mattered. No, what was important about that building was who else was inside it now. Axonn, Brutaka, and Toa Helryx, veteran; Makuta Miserix, with all the power that title implied; Artakha, wearer of the Mask of Creation; Toa Tuyet, who was mightier than any of the others knew; and Vezon, gifted with the ability to move through dimensions the ways others move through air. So many beings of power, all in one spot…it was quite delicious.
So far, he had killed Tren Krom and Karzahni…one a madman, the other a gelatinous mass of hot air. Neither proved to be much of a challenge. The Toa were keeping the whole thing quiet, as they often did. Although the two heroes investigating the murders, Kopaka and Pohatu, had recently vanished after leaving the desert, he was not overly concerned. They would turn up eventually. The plan required it.
In the same way, the sight of Toa Lewa being dragged off by nature-loving Agori was at best a minor obstacle. If need be, he would effect a rescue in some indirect way before the Toa of Air, nor his new companion Toa Lesovikk, could get into any real jeopardy. The Toa Nuva were too important to have their lives sacrificed needlessly. Oh, they would die, eventually, but it would be at a time of his choosing.
No one would ever suspect him, of course. No one ever had. As time passed and things had become clear to him, he had known this time would come. The most powerful would need to be eliminated individually – no point in risking the grand plan because he had missed one, after all – and the rest could be dealt with at leisure. He had expected it to be time-consuming, if amusing, exercise, a sort of living strategy game in which only he knew the rules.
Now, though, fate seemed to have altered the circumstances. So many of his targets, all in the same place, offered the opportunity to accelerate his timetable – much too good of an opportunity to miss. A little of this, a little of that, and the fortress would be so much rubble…and the universe far better off.
With a smile, a complicated and delicate job was done. At the proper signal, the Great Beings’ fortress and its occupants would be so much ash.
Their would-be murdered looked at his work and pronounced it good. He sat down on the ground and picked up a stone. Humming to himself, he finished carving a memorial marker from it for those about to die…
But wait. Something has happened. There is a disturbance in the air. Something didn’t seem right. Something he couldn’t shove it off like a hunch. No, no. This was far too important to ignore. There was power…magnificent and feared power back in the deserts. It intrigued him, but not enough to stop him from ending the lives of all the powerful beings in the fortress.
Farewell, my prey, the watcher thought as he set the trap off. He then disappeared into the forest, not even waiting to see if his plan would succeed…

THE FORGOTTEN FORTRESS, BOTA MAGNA

Artakha stood on the side of the cell he had been dragged into. Oh, Artakha wasn’t put there for crimes. He had done nothing wrong. He was just dragged from space into someone else’s cell.
For most of his life, the grey-green, artistic Titan-like known as Artakha had been cut off from the rest of the world by choice. The Brotherhood of Makuta raided his home island for the Kanohi Avohkii, the Great Mask of Light, and he didn’t want that to happen again. He had his island erased from all maps and made sure that all that knew the location of his island were killed. The Order of Mata Nui saw to that, following it so well that they even sacrificed their own in order to do so. He knew he could trust on them.
And now, after revealing himself only to be banished by Teridax, he was now with three members of the Order, two Matoran, a Makuta, a Toa, and a partial Skakdi clone. He knew that another Toa, Toa Lewa, had left silently, not wanting to take part in something so boring. All of those still around were now debating on whether or not they should release the Great Being before them. So far, the Skakdi Clone, the Makuta, and one of the Order’s members were for freeing the Great Being while the other two Order members and the remaining Toa weren’t so keen on it. As was his way, he ended up sitting in the middle, the two Matoran taking his side.
And then there was the Great Being himself. This Titan-like Great Being had been put here on his own terms, chained to the ground for a curse he bestowed on himself. He had accidentally touched the Kanohi Ignika, the Great Mask of Life, when he wasn’t destined to use it. Now, unlike other masks, the Ignika was sentient, and knowing that information, immediately cursed him. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, and everything else near him came to life. The Great Being went mad from hearing the voices of the inanimate objects he could bring to life, and was sealed away on Bota Magna for his own protection.
Now the Great Being wanted out of his prison.
Artakha and the Matoran watched as Vezon, the partial Skakdi clone whose black and silver armored showed how he was far thinner than his original and donning a black cape, spoke next.
“Oh come on,” Vezon told one of the Order, who happened to be its leader. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with insanity.”
The leader of the Order of Mata Nui was Toa Helryx, who was also the first Toa in existence. She was a Toa of Water and had formed more than one team in her life devoted to the good cause.
“To you, perhaps,” Toa Helryx quickly responded, “but to those that actually care for others, there is a great danger that comes with it.”
“Not to mention we have no idea if he would really help us at all when he’s freed,” the other Toa, Toa Tuyet, added.
Tuyet was a tragic case of a Toa going down the wrong path. Long before Mata Nui was struck down by Teridax a thousand years ago, Toa Tuyet secretly went on a killing spree in Metru Nui, the Great City that resided in the most northern reaches of the Matoran Universe. She tried to blame the murders on the Dark Hunters, a group of ruthless thugs and killers who would do any job for the right price, but two other Toa from her team, Toa Lhikan and Toa Nidhiki, found out about her involvement when the Dark Hunters they found had no clue about the murders. It turned out she was using the murders to distract everyone while she found a powerful artifact that could take the strength of any nearby Toa and use that strength to her will, the Nui Stone. She was stopped and imprisoned by the Order. It is unknown how she escaped, but it didn’t matter now. But Artakha made sure to keep an eye on her...especially since she had the Nui Stone in her hand once more.
Suddenly, the largest being in the room gave a grunt of disappointment in the Toa, particularly Helryx. The being was Makuta Miserix, sporting a dragon-like form that took almost half the room. Unlike Teridax, Miserix had no intention of taking over the world and only wanted to follow Mata Nui’s will. He was also disappointed by the lack of appreciation the Brotherhood received, but that didn’t matter to him. He was shocked at Teridax’s defiance and will stop at nothing to defeat him. It was a shame that none of them were able to sense Teridax’s destruction. Well, everyone minus Artakha.
“I helped you when you freed me,” Makuta Miserix snorted. “What makes you think that a Great Being won’t?”
“And a Great Being is exactly what we need if we want to defeat Teridax,” Axxon, a red and silver brute with an axe, added.
Axxon was once a brutal warlord in the southern islands until the Order of Mata Nui changed his mind. He quickly became a valuable asset in the Order, trusted enough to even guard the Mask of Life for over a thousand years.
His double-bladed partner, Brutaka, had been in the Order longer than Axxon, but things took a darker turn after Mata Nui was struck. The blue and gold titan-like being turned to the dark side during his time protecting the Mask of Light, so much that he helped a group of thieves in an attempt to retrieve the mask himself. He was knocked to his senses in the Pit, where he reformed himself and even re-joined the Order. His senses enhanced as one of his missions after his return caused him to make contact with a substance that made him aware of the Shattering of the three planets, something very few beings in his universe remembered, and give him enough cause to even hurt his friends in order to bring the planets together. It was Brutaka’s turn to speak next.
“There is a reason why the Great Beings did this to him,” he exclaimed, “and that is something we cannot alter.”
“Oh, come on,” Vezon said with a smile. “He’ll be a good Great Being when we free him. Trust me.”
“Vezon,” Helryx began, “trusting you is like trusting a Kanohi Dragon won’t burn you to ash at first sight.”
“But a Kanohi Dragon would burn you to - oh,” Vezon realized what she did there. “I see. You don’t even trust someone that works for your organization?”
“You’re not a real member,” Helryx told him, stepping forward to be almost mask to face with the smiling lune. “We only let you work with us because we were on the same side.”
The Great Being watched with a mixture of impatience and amusement at his company. It was hard to think how creations that had been searching for his kind to help save their universe was now split in actually needing his help. Then again, it was hard for him to think anything these days. So much whining and complaining from the floor, the walls, the ceiling, and the chains that held him had been enough to push him beyond his sanity that his brains soon followed. He didn’t know if any of his thoughts were his own. But, perhaps, he could finally begin thinking again since many of the voices had died down when company showed up.
Artakha shook his head as the argument continued and looked at the two Matoran, unsure of how they ever got here in the first place. He sighed in sorrow for them. The two were following Tuyet when they found the center of the mind of the Great Spirit. But Makuta had taken over when they got there and teleported all of them out of his mind and into space. If it wasn’t for the quick thinking of Toa Lewa of creating air-bubbles and the dimensional gate created by Vezon, they would have all been dead.
The two Matoran were originally from the island of Metru Nui, working either in Po-Metru as a carver or Ta-Metru as a Vat Controller. Hafu, the Po-Matoran that sported the brown armor, was a proud Matoran that boasted about his abilities all while creating amazing sculptures to prove his bold claims while Kapura, the red Ta-Matoran, was one whose slow and deliberate way proved to set him apart from many Matoran, but this helped him to be insightful, purposeful, and careful. Both Matoran made a point not to be around the walls seeing how they grabbed them as soon as they got there.
So zoned out he was by the rising arguments before him that he never noticed the work being done to weaken the very building they were standing in until -
“Does anyone else smell smoke?”
Kapura’s question caught everyone’s attention. When they took the time to notice, they could all smell it. At first, they thought that there was someone else inside this building...but a look at the Great Being who had finally caught on to the smell made them all realise that something was very wrong.
Then the first explosion rocked the fortress. Everyone hit the ground in shock as a second explosion occurred.
“What in Mata Nui’s name is going on?” Tuyet shouted in surprise, trying to keep the Nui Stone in her hand.
“How am I supposed to know?” Helryx responded in a shout. “I’m in the same room as you!”
A third explosion destroyed the room’s entrance. A quick forcefield by Miserix kept them from being injured, but they were still being battered around by the explosions.
“We’re going to die and no one’s going to notice,” Hafu huffed in disappointment. “Great.”
“What do we do now?” Kapura asked.
“Can’t you use those powers of yours to get us out of here?” Brutaka asked Vezon. He was the teleporter, after all.
“I can only use my powers when the Great Being with us allows me to have them,” Vezon stated, smiling even in the immediate danger.
Everyone suddenly realized what they had to do. Artakha was glad that the decision had been taken from them.
“We’re freeing the Great Being,” Artakha stated. “Now!”
Everyone gave a nod. The Great Being did what he could to keep his power from effecting everyone as they got closer. Axxon swung at one of the chains with his axe, looking away as soon as the chains wailed in pain as they snapped. Miserix used his powers to launch a blast at the farthest chain. Brutaka reluctantly swung his blade at another chain while Helryx did the same with her spiked mace at the final chain.
Everyone hoped while a fourth, fifth, and sixth explosion rocked the building that the Great Being would help them.
And he did. The Great Being gave a smile as he granted Vezon his power back. In return, Vezon offered his hands for others to join. Axxon and the Great Being took his hands while everyone else chained from Axxon. Even parts of the ground and the remaining parts of the chains tried to grab hold of them. Vezon concentrated hard and summoned a huge hole to take them right outside of the fortress...just as one final explosion destroyed it.

THE FOREST, BOTA MAGNA

Zaria and Chiara took up positions. Orde and Gelu stayed out in the open, even slowing their pace to make sure Kabrua could spot them. Within a few moments, the first Vorox tracker broke through the brush behind them and shouted that he had spotted the prey.
Gelu was the only Glatorian of the group and was even appointed leader of the group by Onua, and he wasn’t happy to be involved with this. He was usually a loner, guarding caravans from Skralls or Bone Hunters. But things changed with the merge of the Bara Magna colonies and they changed even more when the planets reformed into one. His white armor didn’t necessarily hide well in the jungle, either, and that was exactly what he was doing.
Orde was an interesting case. He was the first and only male Toa of Psionics, sporting the blue and gold that his type of being wore. A mission involving the extremely violent Zyglak race caused the Great Beings to make the rest of the species female due to their more gentler ways.
Something that made Gelu second guess that decision when he thought about Chiara. She was an unusual Toa of Electricity. Not only was she a loner, unlike other beings of her blue and white sisters, but also a bit...violent, to say the least. She definitely liked to zap whatever she felt like.
The only he seemed to trust here was Zaria. He was one of the last Toa of Iron, seeing how most of his kind was almost wiped out by the Brotherhood of Makuta. He did what he could to survive, even killing one of the members of the Brotherhood. But that death did plague the metallic grey and bronze one due to the fact that it was against their code to kill.
Kabrua and the rest of the hunting party were there in an instant. Ah yes, Kabrua. A Vorox with a brain. Most of the Vorox he knew were dull beasts that roamed the deserts of his old home. But, apparently, the Vorox used to be an intelligent race and those that survived in Bota Magna’s forests kept that intelligence to balance their savagery. He had somehow learned about his southern brethren and blamed Gelu and his race for mistreating their kind, and he made sure the Toa with him retrieved the same treatment. Now Kabrua was hunting them down like Glatorians did with Vorox back home.
Gelu and Orde started running, with the trackers right behind them. Gelu waited for the sounds of the Toa’s attack … but it never came.
“I see only two of you,” Kabrua shouted. “The other two are in hiding, waiting to launch an ambush. Oh, yes, I know all about Toa power and how it works. As your friends have discovered, I also know how to shut it off.”
“Shut it off?” said Orde, incredulous. “You can’t shut off a Toa’s power. That’s like shutting off the ability to breathe!”
“Don’t look now, but that trick is next on the program,” Gelu replied. “Is your power still working?”
Orde reached out with his mind to try to read the thoughts of the Vorox. All he got back was dead silence. “No,” he answered, desolation in his voice.
“That settles it then,” said Gelu. “Kabrua must have information on the Great Beings. Who else would know how to turn off a Toa?”
Orde picked up a heavy branch. “Then let’s go beat it out of him.”
“No. We run,” Gelu decided. “He hasn’t found Zaria and Chiara. We have to lead the trackers away from them.”
The two started running east, directly away from where the other two Toa were in hiding. Something had been bothering Gelu. If Kabrua could shut down Toa power, why not do it from the start of the hunt? Why was Chiara able to use her power before? The only answer he could think of was that whatever Kabrua was using, it didn’t work at long range.
He looked behind. Kabrua and two of the trackers were following, but the other two had stayed behind. That clinched it. He couldn’t afford to leave the two Toa behind and risk their powers coming back, so he had left some of his soldiers behind, no doubt with the power-dampener.
Orde heard the sound of water rushing up ahead. “River – I think I have an idea.”
The two had managed to get far enough ahead of the trackers that they were nowhere in sight. They ran into the river, but Orde stopped Gelu from crossing all the way. “They’ll spot our tracks on the opposite bank,” the Toa said. “But not if we go up.”
Gelu smiled. With a boost from Orde, he reached a tree branch up above the water. Then he helped the Toa up. The two of them scrambled higher up into the tree where they could not be easily seen from the ground.
“Orde, I want you to do something for me,” said Gelu. “When Kabrua goes by, use your power. He got his information on Bara Magna and you Toa from someone. We need to find out who.”
“He might sense the probe,” warned Orde.
“It’s your mission,” said Gelu. “You can make the call. We can go back and rescue Chiara and Zaria and get out of this valley, just keep searching, if you like. Or we can take a chance and maybe learn something.”
“All right,” said Orde. “But be prepared. This can be a two-way street. He might wind up knowing exactly where we are.”
After a few moments, Kabrua and his trackers appeared. They saw the tracks leading into the river, but couldn’t spot any leaving. “They probably swam,” said Kabrua. “But they have to come out somewhere. We’ll search the banks going upriver and down.”
Up above, Orde closed his eyes. His mind brushed against Kabrua’s and encountered no resistance. He pushed a little harder, peeling away layers as quickly as he could to find the information he sought. Finally, he got a glimpse, no more than that, of the truth. But before he could fully explore it, he could feel Kabrua sensing the intrusion. Orde pulled back swiftly, hoping to escape detection.
He and Gelu waited. The Vorox shook his head, but did not look up in their direction. The Vorox no doubt knew they were somewhere in the area, but didn’t know where.
“What did you learn?” Gelu whispered.
Orde gestured for him to wait. Kabrua was looking around. Then, frowning, the Vorox crossed the river and started to search the opposite bank.
“All right,” said Gelu. “We’ll give it a minute and then head back for the others. What did you find out?”
That was when Gelu noticed the look in Orde’s eyes. Even though they were mechanical receptors of visual stimuli, somehow they still managed to reflect emotion – in this case, shock.
“It’s insane,” Orde muttered. “It’s…more than I can believe.”
The Toa turned to Gelu. “When the Great Beings made Mata Nui...one of them wanted to see, to know, exactly how their creation would function. So, without the knowledge of the others, he … I guess the best word is ‘transferred’ his spirit, his intellect, into one of the bio-mechanical beings they had made to inhabit the Great Spirit.”
Gelu looked puzzled.
“Don’t you see?” Orde said in a harsh whisper. “One of the beings from my universe…one who is on your world now…is really a Great Being. He’s been living among us all this time, hidden, fooling us all.”
“And he gave the information to Kabrua,” Gelu said. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” said Orde. “I had to break contact before I learned who he was. But he’s been waiting over 100,000 years to return here, concealed in another body…and I saw flashes of what he has planned for this world. He has to be stopped, Gelu…if there’s still time.”

THE RED STAR, SPACE

Kopaka was not happy to hear about Gaardus’ disappearance, but he wasn’t surprised either. The odds were the teleporter was gone for good, at least if he had any sense.
How he got here didn’t necessarily made him happy either. Their journey to find Toa Lesovikk had brought him and Pohatu to another death of a powerful being: Tren Krom. Unknown to most, Tren Krom was put in charge of protecting and keeping their world in order before Mata Nui was completed, only to be trapped by the Great Beings when Mata Nui was fully functional.
Still, the death of Tren Krom wasn’t a total loss. They got a witness: a strange, sentient Rahi beast known as Gaardus who had been hunting for a decent meal. The news they got from him didn’t help, but it also ruled out Toa Lesovikk as the murderer. A Toa of Air, Lesovikk was. A Toa of Sonics as well, he was not.
But when they thought Gaardus was done, Gaardus mentioned the Red Star in his...witness report, to say the least. The Red Star was used as a jet-pack by Teridax to get from Aqua Magna to Bara Magna and fight Mata Nui, but from what he heard from his sister, it was far more than that. It also didn’t help that, just as Tren Krom died, a mental image of the Red Star ‘screamed’ through their minds.
Garrdus, having actually been there before, was able to teleport them into the Red Star, but only to be found by three Kestora, black and purple beings that inhabited the place. They informed them that they would not be able to leave the Red Star and began to capture the intruders, but Kopaka froze them before they could make a move. When Kopaka looked around, Gaardus was nowhere to be found.
Bringing him to his current situation.
“We better hope the Kestora were wrong and there is way off of here,” said the Toa of Ice. “Otherwise …”
“Otherwise, we are going to get very tired of each other’s company,” agreed Pohatu. “Want me to scout ahead?”
“No, I --” Kopaka began, even as Pohatu winked out of existence and then back again.
“Too late,” said Pohatu. “Already did it. Not much to see. Lots of labs. Some old machinery, looks like it’s been jury-rigged a few hundred times. And I thought I saw someone moving, but I can’t be sure.”
“More Kestora?”
“Maybe. About the same height.”
“Let’s find them.”
The two Toa had gone about a hundred yards when the lights suddenly went out. Now they could hear movement from all around them. There were whispers, too, but they couldn’t make out the words. Kopaka triggered his Akaku Nuva, the Great Mask of X-Ray Vision, piercing the walls around him with x-ray vision. In one direction, there was nothing to see but outer space. In the other, he saw things – a lot of things – he could have lived without seeing. When he spoke, his voice was raw.
“We need to move,” said Kopaka. “Now.”
“What’s the matter?”
“You don’t want to know. Grab my hand. We’re finding a way out of this.”
The sounds were coming closer now. Some sounded like rodents skittering, others like bodies being dragged across a metal floor. At one point, they saw a lighted corridor up ahead, but as they approached, the lights went off there too. Worse, the noises were starting to come from up ahead as well as behind.
“I think we are surrounded,” said Kopaka.
“We’re never surrounded,” Pohatu answered. “We just prefer to be right in the center of the action.”
A sliver of light opened up off to the right. It revealed a small figure, beckoning to the two Toa. “Here, this way.”
Kopaka used the Akaku and saw that there were no other figures in the room beyond. If it was a trap, it probably wasn’t a very good one. The two Toa headed for the door and slipped inside. The figure closed it behind them.
“It’s not safe out there,” their rescuer said. “But then you probably figured that out. A lot of very unhappy people up here, you know.”
The Toa saw to their surprise that their “host” was not a Kestora, but a Matoran. An Onu-Matoran, to be exact, sporting a black exterior. But he was not a Matoran that either recognized.
“Who are you?” asked Pohatu. “What are you doing here?”
“As far as the second question goes, I presume the same thing you are,” said the Matoran. “As for who I am – my name is Mavrah.”