Preparation of Rites (a BIONICLE Generation 2 story)

I figured that I’d post this one, too, since it’s another story I’ve been focusing on. Basically, it’s a first in the series about the current storyline that I’ve been writing. It’s about the Protectors heading to the Temple of Time in order for them to summon the Toa, but we see a little more going on.

Without further ado, here is Preparation of Rites.

Prologue

Along time ago on the mythical island of Okoto, all lived in harmony. It was a place of wonders and beautiful landscapes.

From the island’s elemental forces, two brothers, known as the Mask Makers, created masks of power. Each brother had a special mask: Makuta owned the Mask of Control, and Ekimu the Mask of Creation. The brothers provided the islanders with many masks, but Ekimu’s were the most treasured. His brother became envious, and forged an evil plan.

It was a sacred law that a mask could not contain the power of more than one element, otherwise it could become too strong and dangerous. But Makuta wanted to create the strongest mask of all time: The Mask of Ultimate Power.

When Makuta put it on, it took control over him, and the island began to shake and crumble. Realizing what his brother had done, Ekimu managed to knock the mask off of Makuta’s face. A shockwave rolled across the land, and sent both brothers into an endless sleep. The masks were scattered all over the island, waiting for a time when someone would come looking for them…

Chapter 1

The Lord of the Skull Spiders gave a bunch of squeals and shrieks to the Skull Spiders while holding the Golden Mask of Skull Spiders. The Skull Spiders bowed to their lord in civil obedience, and squealed back to their leader. The Lord of Skull Spiders raised the sparkling, menacing, and grim mask further up, and gave a screech. The Skull Spiders screeched back. The Protector of Fire, Narmoto, watched all of this happening as he hid behind some bushes and steep rocks, hoping on going unseen.

He took some mental notes on the scene. The skull spiders obey the Lord of Skull Spiders while he used the mask only meant that he used the mask to control them. But why? asked the Narmoto. The Spider was supposed to be the guardian of the ancient city. Why has he turned to this evil scheme?

There was something evil going on; he knew it. But right now was not the time to figure that out exactly. Right now, he knew he should try to retrieve the golden Skull Spider Mask, and possibly try to control the horde. He watched the Lord of Skull Spiders put the mask on a pedestal, and then left the rocky mountainside he was on with the rest of the skull spiders. Now was the Narmoto’s chance.

He got up from his hiding spot, looking around to see if the coast was clear. Then he sprinted as quietly as he could to the pedestal, skidding a bit to stop when getting to the pedestal, forming dust clouds. He looked at the grim structure of the Golden Skull Spider mask. It was a bit frightening, looking just as detailed and organic as a real Skull Spider. His arms reached for the mask, but soon jerked back from it, as he felt a dark essence around it.

This couldn’t be the work of Makuta, could it? Could Makuta try to make such a mask in order to cause chaos to the villagers and take over the island? He did almost cause the destruction of the island with the Mask of Ultimate Power. But was he really trying to hurt his own people like this by constructing such a mask? And if he was, was it his own sins that caused him to make such plans, or was it the evil from the Mask of Ultimate Power that made him do this?

He reached for the mask again. The closer his arms got to the mask, the more he heard a sinister laugh from it. It was like the golden Toa masks Ekimu made that he heard from the prophecy, except this one wasn’t made by Ekimu. Nor was it as clean cut or smooth as Ekimu’s fine works. Truly, The Protector didn’t know who made this mask. All he knew was that something evil was behind it. And he was going to try and make sure he could find the truth in the darkness.

However, as The Protector of Fire was about to grab the mask, he heard a loud screech in the background. The protector quickly turned to see what it was. It was Lord of the Skull Spiders; he had returned for the mask. The great spider leaped from the top of the cliff, and landed a few yards away from the protector. The spider started drooling as it growled at the protector. The protector put the mask back on the pedestal as soon as he saw the Lord of the Skull Spiders, but that didn’t make the spider any less angry.

The Lord of the Skull Spiders was not a pretty sight. With six thick legs, glowing crimson eyes, orange splotched on it’s black body, the spider showed it’s dominance as it slowly crawled forward. It gnashed it’s mighty jowls at the protector during the former act. The spikes across the front half of his body wiggled like little hairs.

Narmoto took out his flame swords, and waving them in front of himself, to keep the spider back. He slowly advanced further as the spider stepped back. But as soon as the spider knew he was bluffing, it tackled him, knocking the protector to the ground. The protector bled on the back of his head and on parts of his ribs, but he didn’t care. Quickly, he ignited the flame swords again, and hit the Lord of Skull Spiders with it. The spider squealed as it retracted it’s burnt leg. The protector tried to scurry off, but it was no use. The spider shot a long web to the Protector’s foot, and pulled him back.

The protector tried to burn away the webbing, but it was like a thick rope; it took a little longer for the web to burn away. It was too late, anyways. The Lord of Skull Spiders wrapped it’s humongous legs around the protector’s body, and squeezed with all of it’s might. The protector began to suffocate. Eventually, he blacked out.

~~

The Protector of Fire woke up noticing he was in a carcass made by the Lord of Skull Spiders. He tried to break free as soon as he noticed, but the webbing was too strong. Quickly, he called out to the Lord of Skull Spiders.

“Untie me, guardian. You made a promise to Ekimu. You were to protect the city, and now you’ve left it unprotected. Besides, you promised to leave us alone.”

The spider’s red eyes darkened as it squinted at the protector. He said nothing, going back to work with it’s webs. It caught some pretty large bugs around the area, and began to dine on them. The protector quickly figured out he was one of the main courses for the spider’s meal.

Narmoto then resorted to using his own powers to get out, since the Lord of Skull Spiders obviously wasn’t going to listen. The protector focused on the nearest flow of lava he could. That wasn’t too far away, since he was closer to the Region of Fire than anywhere. Then, using the teraforming abilities of the mask, he made the lava come up to the web where he was, to burn away the webbing. It was risky, yes, but he had no other choice. Besides, perhaps he could bring down the Lord of Skull Spiders with it, too.

The lava did a miraculous performance by flowing uphill. The lava came directly under the web where the Protector was. Quickly, the Protector began feeling the heat. After about 30 seconds, the web caught aflame. The bindings of the Protector went on fire, and burned him a bit, but that didn’t matter. His bindings burned off, and he slipped through the holes. It was pure luck that made him have a web attached to his toe. He quickly used his mask again to let the lava leave, while he tried to untangle himself from the web.

All this commotion caught the attention of the Lord of Skull Spiders. His spikes twitched a bit as he heard the sound of his web snapping. His first reaction was the go over and fix the web. But when he saw all the lava underneath the web, he felt it would be better to abandon it because he was afraid to fall over. So it scurried off the web, stepping on the other side of the rock crevice in which it built the web over and letting the web fall.

The Protector of Fire finally came loose, falling to the ground on his back. It hurt a bit, but the relief of escaping the web overcame the pain immediately. The protector slowly rose back up and saw the Lord of Skull Spiders on the top of the rock crevice. The Skull Spider leader wasn’t happy, but he had no other choice. It turned around and went back the direction to where the Golden Mask was.

The Protector quickly made it down the crevice and further down the rocky slopes, where he came toward the Temple of Time. He sighed with relief. With the stuff he went through, the Protector knew for sure that he needed a “Toa” like the one Ekimu had foretold of. Surely a Toa could fix the the problems that a mere Protector could not.

The Protector of Fire took from his bag he carried his sacred robe, and put it on. He stepped inside the building to find the Protector of Jungle already there, clinging to one of the walls as exercise.

“Oh, now you show up,” said the Protector of Jungle, Vizuna, “I would have thought you’d been here first, since you made the call. Obviously you were not.”

“I had a little dilemma on the way here,” said Narmoto.

“Lemme guess, Skull Spiders?”

“Worse,” said the Protector of Fire, “The guardian of the ancient city is the Lord of the Skull Spiders. He has left his position at the gate to the Ancient City and now is extending the reaches of the Skull Spiders beyond the villages.”

“How do you know he’s controlling the horde?” asked Vizuna.

“He’s using a golden Skull Spider mask, one that could have only been forged by a Mask-Maker.”

“Well, duh. Question is, which one? Ekimu doesn’t make masks that control hordes of skull spiders to terrorize our villages. The only one I could imagine doing that is Makuta.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” said the Protector of Fire, lowering his head and eyes.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine once the Toa arrive. Besides, Ekimu had all this planned out just in case a situation like this came. Remember the golden masks he made for the Toa?”

“Yes, yes. I remember them. Hopefully we can keep the Toa on our side. They probably won’t know a thing once they come. And the dark force who’s doing all this is stronger than we. We must keep our eye out on everything.”

“You’re a bit cautious, friend. But I guess there’s a reason to be. As for myself, I don’t worry. I figure things out when they come. Perhaps that’s not common for some people, but at least I don’t have to live in worry.”

The Protector of Jungle got down from another high area of the temple she climbed up to while talking. Coming down, he grabbed his robe and put it on. “Now then, I guess we’ll have to wait for the other protectors to come here. Now, how did that summoning chant go again?”

“I’ll run through it with you again,” replied the Protector of Fire, with a smile on his face. Hope was finally coming.

Any thoughts/comments so far, guys?

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I am excite.

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Any HELPFUL comments? What parts of the story did you like?

I like this

especially the protector of fire getting himself untangled, that was intense

Really? I didn’t find that scene very intense when I wrote it. Good to know that caught your interest. :stuck_out_tongue:

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BTW, did you know I based that first chapter after the comic we see on the Lord of Skull Spiders box?

Chapter 2

The shadow of night was creeping forward in the Region of Ice. The Protector of Ice, Izotor, knew night time was a dangerous time to travel alone, especially since Skull Spiders could ambush him easily. Still, the Protector of Fire’s call was urgent, and it would benefit the Region of Ice enormously if the Protector of Ice answered it. The Skull Spiders have become more and more of a issue, one that the villagers have been overwhelmed by. They needed the Toa.

Izotor wasn’t fond with dwelling in the darkness, though. He didn’t usually dwell at night; night was a time for sleeping, staying in a warm bed at home. Night wasn’t a time to be travelling along the slopes of Okoto. Of course, the Protector did make it easier on himself by stopping the blizzard with his mask. Now he didn’t need to worry about tumbling over some rocky cliff in the mountains if he slipped.

The Protector had traveled the mountains for a few days, and continually had to take breaks and rest. He used his ornamental cloak that he brought along and used it as a blanket to keep himself warm in the cold weather. He sat down in the snow, cloak over his body, arms crossed while his body shivered, and seeing his breath as he breathed. The planets and stars overhead provided a nice backdrop against he mountains, but if anything, the Protector wanted the sun to provide warmth.

His weapons laid beside him, and his arms where always near them, just in case Skull Spiders went to attack him. He knew what happened when villagers fell victim to skull spiders; he didn’t need that happening to him.

Yet, he felt a sense of being watched. His head sharply turned around as he heard rustling in the snow. His arm flinched, ready to attack. He squinted as the snow began to fall again. He wanted to take the snow out of his field of vision, but stopping it required concentration, and that would end up with him having a skull spider wrapping it’s sickly legs around his head, if it was a skull spider.

The rustling continued coming toward his direction. Izotor picked up his Ice Saw and planted it hard into the ground where the creature was. He heard a squeal, and it was over. He found the remains of the Skull Spider, split in the middle. He was right to be cautious. But he knew Skull Spiders usually didn’t travel alone. That could only mean…

The Protector swung his blade in the air after another skull spider tried to pounce onto him. He swiftly dodged another, and slid in the snow on his side, grabbing his Elemental Ice Blaster in the process. Turning around, he saw the full view of the Skull Spider horde. There wasn’t too many, but it was enough to cause some serious threats to him. He aimed his Ice Blaster and began shooting. The blasts hit many of the Skull Spiders mid-air, and some hit them while on the ground. Either way, he took them out pretty easily.

Judging from the Skull Spider horde that had found him, Izotor deduced that the Skull Spiders might have followed him. Or they could have stumbled upon me, the Protector thought, either way, they’re still gone. I just need to watch my back now.

He decided it would be better to continue and get to a safer slope then stay and wait for another horde of Skull Spiders. Besides, the skull spiders were slow. He could outrun them easily.

The Protector took his Ice Saw and laid it on the ground. He quickly laid on it, and pushed himself forward. He slid quickly down the mountainside, controlling the ice-blade like a sled, dodging rocks and trees. He came across a slope that acted like a ramp, however, and, before he could turn, he flew of the edge of the slope, going up into the air over the rest of the slope.

Suddenly, the ground started becoming closer and closer to him on his sled. The ground he was above was filled with rocks, and he knew falling on them would bring a painful outcome. The sudden pulse of adrenaline in him caused him to use his mask to make the snow cover up the rocks and make a flat surface to land on. He finally reached the ground, but not on his sled. He fell of it right before he made it to the ground. As such, his landing was quite painful, and he ended up with plenty of bruises.

At this point, he might have given up, but his heart was pumping. The adrenaline in him made him get up and receive his Ice Saw, which was driven into the ground. He pried it out of the ground, and put it back in his hand. Then, looking back up at the slope, he tried to spot out Skull Spiders. Well, if there where any other skull spiders, I had to have lost them now.

He looked onward in the opposite direction. In front of him was more mountains, but not ones covered with snow. These mountains where a brownish color, and signified the barrier of the Region of Ice and the Region of Stone. He was getting closer to the Temple of Time.

He eventually made it down to the bottom of the mountain, although it took a few hours. From there, all he would need to take is a simple road to get to the Temple of Time. How hard could that be?

Unfortunately, as he traveled even further down the road, he saw someone he thought he’d never see again: the Lord of the Skull Spiders. The Lord of Skull Spiders had a Golden Skull Spider mask attached to one of it’s legs. Under him where dozens of silver Skull Spiders, which he controlled with the mask. The Protector of Ice couldn’t believe the guardian of the ancient city decided to leave his place and use the Skull Spiders to terrorize the regions of Okoto. Now the ancient city, and the Mask of Creation, remained unprotected.

Izotor decided this would be a nice time to go and teach Lord of the Skull Spiders a lesson in obedience. The Protector of Ice quickly charged at the Lord of Skull Spiders, which led the spider to notice his presence. Quickly, the Lord of Skull Spiders shot a web, but the Protector sliced it with his saw. He shot ice through his blaster at the Lord of Skull Spiders, which led him to cower a bit at the blasts.

Of course, Izotor didn’t stop at that. Not when he overpowered the opponent. He slashed his Ice Blade at the Golden Skull Spider mask, and knocked it out of the Lord of Skull Spider’s reach. This enraged the Spider immensely. The Lord of Skull Spiders launched itself upon Izotor, and quickly wrapped it’s legs around him. He crushed the Protector with his strength, making him drop his weapons as he cried in agony.

Except the Lord of Skull Spiders didn’t want to deal with Izotor like he tried to with the Protector of Fire. He picked up the Golden Skull Spider mask, and called upon one of the silver Skull Spiders. He pointed his leg at the Protector of Ice’s face, giving a few screeches to signify a command. The silver Skull Spider, using it’s unique trait, quickly sped over to the Protector’s face.

It latched onto his face pretty easily. The Protector tried to pry it off, but soon, he came under the control of the Skull Spider. Going a bit limp now, the Protector of Ice stood on the road, looking onward into the nothingness. The Lord of Skull Spiders grinned with it’s mandibles, looking at his captured enemy. Now he used the Golden Skull Spider mask to take control of him. He quickly went his way toward the Temple of Time. The Protector followed, walking in a zombie-like fashion, with his weapons in hand. The Lord of the Skull Spiders now had one of the Protectors under his control. Perhaps now he could use him to annihilate the others.

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I figured that out as soon as the protector if fire ran towards the skull spider mask

interesting having the protector of ice get infected

He’s my favorite one of the bunch, so I figured to have my favorite become a “bad guy.”

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This is quite good, it’s nice to see more fanfiction here. I like the dynamic of LoSS.

Some other fanfics I have seen focused on Makuta being the villain. I figured since LoSS was the main villain of the Winter Wave, I might as well feature him as the villain in this story. Besides, who else could I have chosen?

I felt LoSS was lacking in terms of the story in the animations, so I hoped this made you guys appreciate him more (even though it’s all just fan-fiction).

Any more questions/comments? I don’t want to post the next chapter yet, because I want to see how you guys react to it.

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#this line :laughing:


No but seriously, this seems very well written! My favorite part is when the Protector of Ice slides down the slopes on his sled; it just seems like such a cool idea. I have a few issues, but they are largely grammatical in nature. Overall, this is a really cool story, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next! :slight_smile:

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Someone finally noticed that little reference. :smiley: (I had to throw in a Kopaka slipping reference. That was too good to pass up.)

Glad to see your liking this. That scene with the Protector of Ice with the sledding was fun to write, mostly because that came from the top of my head. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to fix some of the errors.

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So…Blood in bionicle? Cool…

Hey, nothing says against it in the new canon.

in that case, I’m all for it…Bring the violence!

I won’t go too violent or gory. Just a little bit for realism, that’s all.

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Chapter 3

The mask was right there, floating in the water on the pedestal, unprotected. It shimmered by reflecting the light that managed to get through the water. It did not rust or tarnish due to the magical powers that Ekimu had once given it. Besides, the mask was made to endure the element. It was practically made for hiding under the water.

What protected the mask was a series of currents, which only the fastest swimmer could fight against. Unfortunately for the Protector of Water, Kivoda, he was not fast enough to fight against the raging waters. And thankfully, neither were any skull spiders. The blue armor-clad Protector took a final look at the mask from a distance behind some coral before he made his way to the Temple of Time. You could still see the golden dot it made from miles away in the lake.

Kivoda came up to the surface for another breath, and delve further with the help of his Elemental Water Blaster. The turrets on the weapon allowed him to be propelled forward in the water, while the pikes in front of the blaster show opponents that he was not a force to be reckoned with. Of course, he was still trained in water combatants, and he was skilled with manipulating water with his elemental mask.

The world seemed like a blur in the deep blue waters as he was pulled along by his weapon with fascinating speeds. Occasionally a swimming skull spider got in his way, but he either dodged it or it was stabbed by the spears on the blaster. Eventually the Protector of Water reached his destination: the western-most shores of the Water Region. His body splashed out of the water as he propelled to the surface. While in the air, he took the spears and attached them to the cliff he needed to climb. Slowly but surely, he used the pikes to climb the cliff.

The elder protector grunted as he pulled the spears out of the rock to stab them higher up into the rock. Repeating such a process helped him scale the cliff, and he eventually made it to the top. He took the next moment to take a breather and shake his armor off of any water. After the short break, he had to continue his trek by foot.

Now his handy weapon wasn’t an advantage. It weighed him down, which concluded in him being slower. He took slow, cautious steps, careful of the slippery rocks. He hopped across a few at times, but the cliff didn’t show too much challenge. What was the challenge was the skull spider horde coming his way. They were all the silver kind.

Great. I just love the silver kind.

The protector couldn’t outrun them; they were faster than him if he kept his sacred weapon with him (which would slow him down). And he couldn’t discard it, as he’d be defenseless without it. So the Protector of Water raised the weapon and aimed. Round spheres of water blasted at the skull spiders, washing them out of his path. They bounced of the ground as each pellet of water blasted them into the air.

Once the wise Protector felt his path was clear, he tarried on. An old road connected the tribes of Okoto together, stretching hundreds of miles across the flattest parts of the island. However, the Protector felt the road was too obvious; he took the longer route. The woods may have been filled with terror, but he tarried on, persevering and walking without fear. It took a few days, but he finally came to the on-looking hill that showed the tall and mighty Temple of Time. He had made it.

~~

Lord of the Skull Spiders hid in the cave while Protector of Ice and the Skull Spiders stayed in it with him. He took the Golden Skull Spider mask off the top of his head and looked inside of it. A swirl of energy came from it and eventually Lord of Skull Spiders could see the image of a dark, skeletal figure.

"Lord of the Skull Spiders," the dark figure said in a distorted voice, "what is it this time."

The Lord of Skull Spiders gave a few squeals and squeaks as it voiced it’s updates with the mysterious figure.

"You got one of the protectors in your possession? Hm. Seems like I underestimated you after all. If you can capture the rest, our plan to stop Makuta’s awakening could succeed."

The Lord of Skull Spiders continued to communicate. What will I do if I fail to capture the rest and this protector of mine gets free?

"It’s obvious what we’ll do next, Lord of the Skull Spiders. We’ll further our search for the masks. Thankfully, the Protectors have guarded the masks for centuries, but I’m afraid once they summon the Toa they’ll head after those sacred masks. If the Toa do come, you need to find them and bring them to me. I’ll destroy them for you, like I said I would. We don’t need Makuta to take their masks and create another Mask of Ultimate Power. That would bring certain doom and destruction."

Very well, The Lord of Skull Spiders said in it’s awkward communication. It put the mask back on it’s head and marched straight for the Temple of Time.

Meanwhile, the mysterious figure stood over a forge in the ancient city. It was bubbling with molten masks that he had just melted after grinding it. He looked into the shiny, cooled metal on it’s sides. All he saw was the face of death. "Skull Grinder, is it?"

He backed away from the metal remains and touched his face. It was jagged and metallic, but because he was a bio-mechanical being, it was his bones. He looked at his bony arms and legs. He sighed.

"Yes, Skull Grinder. No longer am I Kulta like I once was called centuries ago. Now I am only known by my occupation as the destroyer of the masks."

Skull Grinder took some steps on his wobbly legs and jabbed his staff hard into the ground. From his view on top of the Forge of the Mask Maker, he could see the entire ancient city. It was taken over by plants that had grown on it. Some of the buildings were destroyed. Many of Skull Grinder’s friends from the past were long gone, buried in the ground. Now he was the only one left, besides the guardian of the ancient city, which he dubbed Lord of the Skull Spiders.

"Will I have to awaken my brothers from their peaceful sleep in order to stop the tyranny of Makuta?" Skull Grinder asked himself. Skull Grinder thought about his current status. "I’m talking to myself again. Who else do I talk to if nobody is here to accompany me?"

He looked again off into the distance. "Soon my brothers will awaken again. Lord of the Skull Spiders will fail, I’m sure of it. Once the Toa will arrive into this city, my brothers will lift up from their graves and pursue them. Perhaps I’ll be able to talk to one of them once they’re awake."

Skull Grinder sat down on a throne that once belonged to the great Mask Maker. “Question is if my brothers will also stop the Toa when the Lord of the Skull Spiders once again takes care of them.” Kulta thought further into this as he looked off into the distant mountains. "I’ll be destroyed along with them if the Toa do succeed. And then Makuta will initiate his tyrannical rule over Okoto."

He leaned to his left, supporting his head on his left arm. He focused his mental link to the Lord of Skull Spiders. The Lord of Skull Spiders was scurrying it’s way to the Temple of Time. He could see it in the distance. Following Lord of the Skull Spiders was the Protector of Ice. He listened into his thoughts through the Skull Spider mask.

There is no hope for me now. My body… Not my own… My mind… Why can’t it get out of my mind?

"So he’s fighting for control of his body." Skull Grinder chuckled, "As long as he has that forsaken Skull Spider squeezing his face, he can’t take it back. Now I only wonder if he’s powerful enough to keep his brothers from summoning the Toa."

The Skull Grinder wondered this as he looked onward into the ancient city. "If only those Protectors knew what Makuta has in store. And sadly, I am his slave."

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A most interesting take on the character of the Skull Grinder. I await more of this with the same anticipation that I have for the Summer sets (though this will almost assuredly arrive quicker).

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I like the way you wrote the chapters. It sounds like a G1 story, which I like, and it takes an interesting take on unknown characters. Do more of these, s’il vous plaît. (S’il vous plaît = Please)

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wow, interesting, making skull grinder kind of a tragic hero

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