The Seeds of Doom

So I’ve decided ima also goin’ to post the first part of my epic Bonkle saga here. I’ll upload chapters daily until I get to where I’m trying to get mah heroes out of trouble. It’d be helpful if you’d point out any inconsistencies so I may fix them in the future (or right now since I can edit :smiley: ). Now, be entertained :stuck_out_tongue:

In the span of time allotted, which we call life, I have experienced many things. Things that are ordinary, and things that would be enough to make the insane seem sane. My name is Arxtann by the way, and I tell you this because all I have told you has been experienced by me. I used to be a simple Ta-matoran who lived on the island of Mata-Nui, or so I thought. I was one of the Ta-Koro guard but was a stargazer with a Ko-matoran named Korxann in my spare time. Now fire and ice hanging out might seem strange, but we were the best of friends. When the Toa Nuva came arrived on Mata-Nui, I was overjoyed. They would finally free us from Makuta’s iron grip! They defeated the rahi under Makuta’s control, overcame the bohrok, and even the Bohrok-Kal! Finally, a friend of mine named Takua became the seventh toa and defeated Makuta! It was then that our elders, the Turaga, told us of the land of Metru-Nui. Turns out we had lived there once upon a time. The reason none of us had remembered it was due to Makuta’s actions (big surprise). So we returned to Metru-Nui and the Toa Nuva went off once more to fulfill their quest. That was the beginning of the nightmare.
Bionicle:
Chronicles of the End Time: Seeds of Doom

2 Likes

That was a pretty nice setup.

My only complaint is that the story isn’t broken up.

Other than that, this was a nice read. :smiley:

Prologue:

Metru Nui, once gleaming like a coveted jewel. Now the atmosphere was shrouded by the hand of Makuta Teridax. Matoran bustled about their daily duties with a quick glance over the shoulder. Fear now ruled this city, fear enforced by Rahkshi and Exo-Toa. Hope was a fleeting feeling amongst the populace, especially one which had believed their oppressor dead, for they had seen him defeated by the Toa of Light, the mightiest of their champions. Yet, the Master of Shadows had plans within plans, this plan leading to his ultimate victory. Now he was the universe, now he watched everyone, now he was supreme. But the Matoran of Mata Nui were not ones to cower in fear, they were beings of action. The Turaga were in hiding, building a resistance in the archives, but they knew it could not last. With the Toa Nuva and Toa Mahri scattered, their options were disappearing rapidly, they needed power quickly. A group of Matoran decided to take it upon themselves to take power, to create Toa. However they had to work without the benefit of free movement or equipment. Utilizing a rundown, Ga-Metru lab, the six Matoran slowly gathered parts to create a machine that would split Protodermis into its elemental components. None of them knew whether the experiment would work, or if it was all for naught. But they were willing to try. The future of the Matoran could very well depend on it.

Chapter 1

“Why won’t you relax?” Arxtann said, trying to comfort his friend. The hum of the chutes made for an eerie atmosphere to talk in. “We’ve almost finished the project.”
“It’s not the project I’m worried about,” he replied tentatively, “It’s what if we got the wrong equation? What if this is the completely wrong tablet? What if the process doesn’t even exist and we’re just chasing fantasies?”
“We won’t know until we meet that translator Natru talked about,” the crimson matoran replied. “She says he’s the best of the archivers when it comes to languages.” They slowed as a junction approached, Korxann staring into space before sighing.
The two Matoran eventually reached the Ga-Metru chute station, only to be greeted by a smug Le-Matoran.
“You’re late fire-spitter,” he said.
Arxtann glanced quizzically at him for a while. “Better to be late and get here than to not be here at all.” He stepped aside to allow Korxann to exit the chute. “This is our friend from the knowledge towers. Korxann, allow me to introduce you to Luatu, Le-Matoran of know-nothingness.”
Luatu shook hands with Korxann and chuckled. “Ah Arxtann. You always did have a way with words… But where are my manners!” He motioned for them to follow. “Come, fire and ice brothers, Natru awaits!”

Luatu led them along the canals and through back-alleys Arxtann had never thought to have existed. The suns had reached their zenith by the time they arrived at a small structure that looked as though a Kikanola herd had trampled it. Korxann gave Arxtann a nervous glance. He motioned for him to go inside. The room they entered was dimly lit, shadows cast by the lightstones dancing along the walls. Luatu gave a hurried motion with his hand to follow him into a small alcove. Inside it, he pulled off one of the lightstones. Instantly we plummeted. The crude transport zipped around like a nui-rama, and made about as much noise. It was over soon though, and the group came to rest in an alcove resembling the one back where they had begun. They stepped out into a room filled with buzzing equipment, flashing lights, and massive computers. Wires flooded the floor. In the middle of the room sat a chunk of Protodermis on a pedestal, surrounded by a small glass dome. Six tubes came out just below it, and hooked up to six individual machines. Inside each of those machines was an empty Toa stone. At a consol just in front of the group, a flustered Po-Matoran pressed buttons, pulled levers, and muttered incessantly. He didn’t seem to notice them until Korxann tapped him on the shoulder.
“What!? Oh. It’s you three.” The Po-Matoran glared at Korxann and then turned to Luatu.
“Are you sure you picked up the right Matoran? They could be spies!”
Luatu chuckled. “Don’t go getting your head in a twist stone carver. They’re on our side all right. Arxtann, Korxann, allow me to introduce you to Marnd, our all-round wise-crackin jump-startin technician. He’s the one who built the devices you see before you.”
Marnd puffed his chest out and smiled at the pair.
“Well, I wouldn’t flatter myself that much–” A siren cut him off. “Blast! It’s overheating!”
Marnd immediately grabbed a hammer and banged mercilessly on the console. Then he ran around in a frenzy, pulling levers at random and spraying the computers with a cooling agent. When he was done, Marnd dusted himself off and grinned sheepishly. Korxann twirled his finger around his mask at Marnd’s behavior. Arxtann nodded in agreement. Marnd then led the group down a hall filled with ancient Matoran markings. Arxtann soon realized that they must be underneath the silver sea. If he listened carefully, he could hear the sound of Protodermis flowing gently above. The hall led into a smaller room that had to be a library. Tablets lined the shelves, and computers were in every other alcove. Displays of statues and paintings were everywhere, but we were drawn to two Matoran in the center of the room, a grumpy-looking Onu-Matoran and an exasperated Ga-Matoran. I recognized the latter as Natru. She turned and smiled at me and then motioned for us to come over. “Arxtann, Korxann! Wonderful of you to join us.”
Luatu nudged me over to where Natru was sitting with the Onu-Matoran.
Natru glanced at Korxann. “Do you have the tablet?”
Korxann took a small tablet, with carvings of ancient Matoran scripts written all over it, out of his pack.
“I wouldn’t leave home without it.”
He handed it to Natru who in turn handed it to the Onu-Matoran. The Onu-Matoran took it and sat, staring at it intently, almost as if he expected it to jump out of his hands. Slowly, a smile crept along his face. He glanced up at the group, staring steadily at each face. Finally, he said, "Gentlemen, and lady, we’re in business.
***
Later that day, Arxtann found himself holding a lightstone for Marnd as he shuffled between a wall and several bios worth of equipment, fixing the fuse to the lighting system. He held his lightstone out more, hopefully allowing the Po-Matoran to see what he was doing. There was a flash of energy sparked as he put two wires together and the lights finally came back on. With that, he struggled out of the small space and set down his tools.
Turning to Marnd, Arxtann smiled, “Next time we activate our Protodermis divisor, make sure all our power is not routed to it.”
Marnd simply shrugged, “I wasn’t able to calculate how much energy it would need.”
Arxtann rolled his eyes and followed the engineer.
Meanwhile, Korxann, Natru, and Luatu were busy resetting the Protodermis divisor after it had shut down several power grids when they had initially activated it. Marnd, Arxtann, and the Onu-Matoran named Terhetti walked in.
“Now that we’ve fixed our energy problem,” Terhetti said, “let’s see if the machine will finally work.”
Marnd took a seat in his “command chair” and began flipping switches and running a diagnostic on the device’s systems. Finally, a chunk of raw, unrefined Protodermis was lowered into the device.
“Cross your fingers,” Marnd said nervously as he threw the final switch. The machine rumbled and then glowed with a bright, searing light. In theory, the machine was designed to break raw Protodermis back into its six component elements, safely, but as the divisor’s hum got louder, Arxtann was unsure that this would be anything but that. It was then that a warning light flashed on Marnd’s console.
“No no no!” Marnd’s eyes raced across that panel, desperately searching as to what the problem was. His eyes widened when he saw the results of his diagnostic.
“The divisor,” Marnd exclaimed, “its energy output is causing our system to overheat!”
“No no no!!!” Arxtann rushed to help Marnd just as the divisor exploded.

Updated as of 11/8/15

2 Likes

I like how the plot is progressing. Lots of nice nods to the canon and great introduction to characters, but it would still be easier to read if this was broken into paragraphs and such.

I don’t mean to sound mean, but it’s just a little harder to read.

This is still a nice read :smiley:

I’m working on that. What I’m doing is copying and pasting it from my word document, so my indents might not survive. I can’t catch everything. Thanks though.

Chapter 2
If it was one thing Arxtann liked to avoid, it was small spaces. He simply could not stand shuffling around in a cramped alcove, fixing the fuse to the lighting system. Marnd was shining a lightstone down, hopefully allowing Arxtann to see what he was doing. The wires sparked as Arxtann put two together and the lights finally came back on. With that, he struggled out of the small space and set down his tools.
Turning to Marnd, he said, “Next time we activate our protodermis divisor, make sure all our power is not routed to it.”
Marnd simply shrugged, “I wasn’t able to calculate how much energy it would need.”
Arxtann rolled his eyes and went to stretch his legs out.
Meanwhile, Korxann, Natru, and Luatu were busy resetting the protodermis divisor after it had shut down several power grids when they had initially activated it. Marnd, Arxtann, and the Onu-Matoran named Terhetti walked in.
“Now that weve fixed our energy problem,” Terhetti said, “let’s see if the machine will finally work.”
Marnd took a seat in his “command chair” and began flipping switches and running a diagnostic on the device’s systems. Finally, a chunk of raw, unrefined protodermis was lowered into the device.
“Cross your fingers,” Marnd said nervously as he threw the final switch. The machine rumbled and then glowed with a bright, searing light. In theory, the machine was designed to break raw protodermis back into its six component elements, safely, but as the divisor’s hum got louder, Arxtann was unsure that this would be anything but that. It was then that a warning light flashed on Marnd’s console.
“No no no!” Marnd’s eyes raced across that panel, desperatly searching as to what the problem was. His eyes widened when he saw the results of his diagnostic.
“The divisor,” Marnd exclaimed, “it’s energy output is causing our system to overheat!”
“No no no!!!” Arxtann rushed to help Marnd just as the divisor exploded.
It didn’t feel so bad as Arxtann thought it would. There was a glow, then a warm feeling as though you were lying on a beach as the suns shone down, then nothing after that. Is this it? Arxtann thought. I thought it would be more painful. He felt powerful, bursting with energy and life. Wait. How am I still thinking if I’m dead? The answer to this was given when he opened his eyes. “Oh,” he said and sat up. Looking behind, he saw a crater in the earth where he rested. The impression his body had made looked nothing like Arxtann. It was all tall, armored, and… wait. Arxtann paused his train of thought for a moment and examined his own hands. They were well protected, fiery red, almost claw-like. He then moved his gaze towards his legs. They too were well armored and much longer than they should be. He stood up to better examine himself, his hands moving across his body 'till finally touching the Great Kanohi he now wore. It actually worked! The elements extracted from the protodermis actually turned me into a toa! Just, not as expected. Arxtann began walking, each step a shaky endeavor. Then it came to him. What happened to the others!? He immediately began searching the rubble of the lab for any sign of the other Matoran. He almost gave up in despair when he heard a groan from behind. A white armored hand jutted out, with an arm attatched. Hopefully the rest of the body still was. Arxtann rushed over and began removing most of the rubble to reveal a toa that he instantly recognized as Korxann.
“Korxann!” he shouted. “Speak to me. Say something!”
“Something,” Korxann mumbled and spat out a wad of dirt. “Remind me not to do that again.”
Arxtann laughed with delight and helped his friend to his feet.
“Hang in there old friend. Let’s see if the others are in as good a shape as we are.”

2 Likes

Interesting theory on artificial Toa, so how long have you been working on this (project)?

@Kretta
A little more than a year unfortunately. There’re supposed to be two more books after this and a film that comes before the story. Although I do have a somewhat definitive idea of where I’m going to take it.

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It didn’t take long to locate all the Matoran turned Toa. Terhetti was so stunned that he still couldn’t speak, Natru kept on tripping over her own feet, Luatu wouldn’t shut up, and Marnd was to busy calculating and recalculating how this could have happened without a Toa stone. Their lab was totaled, nothing they could find was salvageable. Korxann picked his way through the rubble towards Arxtann.

“We should move quickly,” he said, “it will not take long for the Rahkshi or Exo-Toa to turn up, and I don’t want to stick around for that.”

“I agree,” Arxtann replied, “But we do not have any Toa tools. So we need to stay a little longer, see if we can find something.”

Marnd walked over, shaking the dust of his hands in clouds.

“Nothing over there. You guys find anything?”

Arxtann shook his head. Marnd cursed and turned around to gather the others.

Terhetti was investigating where the walls had been when he spotted several dots across the sky. A closer look revealed them to be dagger-like beings. Just the way a Rahkshi looked when it flew! he stumbled back and dashed towards the other Toa. They understood his meaning instantly. Arxtann went into action.

“All right, we need to split up. Let’s meet at the Great Temple and go from there. Luatu, Natru, you go together. Terhetti and Korxann will pair up and I will go with Marnd.”

They clanked fists together and went their seperate ways. Arxtann beckond Marnd forward. The Rahkshi Guurahk landed amongst the rubble and began searching for who caused the disturbance. Now more than ever they had to get out of there. The two Toa took back-alleys and rooftops, anything to avoid the more populated streets. By now the vahki have probably figured out what happened and are now on our trail. Arxtann’s lack of focus led him right to the middle of the busiest street in Ga-Metru. Azure Matoran stared at the crimson Toa, followed by a brown one. Rahkshi Guurahk flew down from the sky and surrounded the two Toa, staffs raised.
Arxtann glanced warily at the vahki that surrounded them. He knew that they could not be reasoned with and he assessed that they would take both Marnd and him down before they could escape.

“On my mark,” he whispered to Marnd. The Stone Toa looked eager for a fight. “Go,” Arxtann mumbled as he raised his hands in the air. Marnd was astonished.

“What are you doing?” he hissed.

“Surrendering,” Arxtann replied naturally. “Take me to Ahkmou!” he said to the enforcers. This certainly confused the order sons of Makuta. These were the mighty Toa, they were not meant to surrendur. This hesitation cost them.

“Now!” Arxtann yelled and unleashed a wall of flame at the unlucky Bordakh, frying most of them. Marnd caught on and caused the ground underneath them to become soupy, allowing the Rahkshi to sink to their midsection. With that they dashed back the way they came. A buzz above them gave away the fact they were being pursued. Marnd sent up several fists of stone, knocking some of the Rahkshi out of the sky. Arxtann felt exhilarated as they led the Guurahk on this wild chase, bolts of energy flying from the sky and landing just in front of the two Toa. Arxtann turned his head to check on Marnd and stopped suddenly. The Toa of Stone was surrounded by about ten Guurahk, staffs of Disintegration about to turn his brother into a pile of atoms. Time seemed to slow as Arxtann ran back to help, the currents of the air and movement of the earth seeming to show themselves. He knew exactly where to jump, where to run, and where to land. He leaped and ran along the wall and pounced amongst the Rahkshi, executing a split-kick that disabled two Rahkshi. Angered, they turned their fury upon Arxtann, loosing bolt after bolt at the acrobatic Toa. Arxtann knew exactly where to role, duck, weave, and loose a burst of fire. Soon only five remained standing. Arxtann and Marnd stood back-to-back, the Rahkshi hissing furiously.
“Wanna try to make waves?” Marnd whispered nervously.
“What do you mean?” Arxtann replied. The Guurahk looked like they wouldn’t wait much longer before they began slagging the two rookies.
“Can’t we make lava again?” Marnd asked, his voice tinged with impatience. A light-bulb dawned over Arxtann’s head and he nodded.
“Now!” Marnd shouted as he raised a wave of stone from the ground. Arxtann fired a burst of heat that instantly turned the stone to molten magma, the wave sweeping over the Rahkshi, entrapping them as it cooled. Arxtann grabbed his brother’s arm and pulled him into a nearby alleyway.

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The two Toa finally came to the final walkway to the Great Temple, their brothers gathering around them.
“Good to see you still with us!” Terhetti panted as they ran the last few legs to the Great Temple.
“I’m a perennial,” Arxtann replied.
“I hate to tell you this,” Korxann started, “but we’re going to have to take care of these Rahkshi before we enter the temple.”
“He’s right!” Marnd groaned.
“Very well. Toa, give them Karzahni!”
That was the voice of Natru who had joined them at the last minute along with Luatu. The Toa struck as one, Arxtann melting them for scrap, Marnd and Terhetti combining their power to make an undulating landscape, Korxann freezing the bots, and Luatu made a hurricane with Natru. When all was done, naught but a heap of scrap lay on the ground.
“Well, that was fun,” Luatu said, a large grin on his face. “I didn’t know that Ga-Matoran could be so violent!” Natru’s frown threw off the Toa of Air’s smile.
“They were only suits of armor, so we should deal with them thusly.”
“Guys,” Korxann said, “let’s remember why we’re here.” They all nodded their consent and made their way down the walkway to the Great Temple. The entrance to the Temple was not hard to find, it was locating the Toa Suva inside that was the problem. Despite everyone knowing it was in there, no one actually knew where it was. Several hours passed before an exhausted Marnd stumbled upon a lever that opened the entrance to the Suva. He practically stumbled in and promptly landed on his face.
Luatu stepped through next and remarked quite sarcastically, “You need to work-out more brother.” Marnd’s only reply was a grunt. Terhetti pushed Luatu aside and helped the dazed Toa of Stone to his feet.
“C’mon brother,” he said, “this is no time for a nap.”
“I beg to differ,” Marnd slurred as he tried to jostle his mask back into place. Arxtann raised a questioning brow at Natru who answered with a shrug. Meanwhile, Luatu had been oohing and ahhing at everything inside the Suva. He was spouting some gibberish about having his statue placed at the entrance and everyone kissing its toes to get inside until he received a swift smack in the back of the head by Korxann.
“Hey!” Luatu grunted in indignation. “Who are you to strike–?” Korxann’s icy glare cut off the rest of his sentence. “Zip it Luatu,” Arxtann warned as he scanned the Suga itself for anything of use. “Natru, Terhetti, you’re the ones most familiar with places such as these. Any idea where Toa-weapons would be held?” Terhetti only shrugged as Natru began searching the walls.
“Perhaps we are missing the obvious brothers,” she finally remarked after combing the entire room. “Perhaps the start of our journey does not begin here…”
The room went silent instantly, except for Luatu tapping his toes. Korxann looked at Natru quizzically, and she stared back at him, like she had just commented about the weather.
“Sister,” Korxann began, “just what do you mean?” Natru sighed and pointed to the Suva.
“We came here expecting guidance, since the Turaga are currently imprisoned.”
“And supercool Toa-weapons!” Luatu interrupted. This got him a glare from the others. Natru continued.
“The Suva should be giving us weapons, as Luatu pointed out, but is not the Suva controled by the Great Spirit? Like it or not, I do not believe we shall find help here since Makuta is now our “Great Spirit””. Terhetti and Korxann instantly broke into conversation about the possibility of this while Marnd tried to look like he knew this the whole time. Luatu wasn’t paying attention as usual. Arxtann rolled his eyes and clapped his hands, creating a short burst of fire. This got their attention. Luatu threw his mask off and bounced it around in both hands, trying to cool it off.
“Carefull fire-spitter!” Luatu snapped. “We’re all on the same side here!”
“You’ve probably just alerted the Makuta to our presence if he didn’t already notice it!” Marnd yelled. Arxtann just shrugged.
“Then we had better figure out a plan before his minions get here, now that I have your attention.” He motioned to Natru, but the Toa of Water dismissed him, and said, “You lead them.” Arxtann nodded and turned back to his brothers.
“Here’s what I think. The Toa Nuva seperated because to many Toa in one spot will eventually attract unwanted attention. But their purpose was twofold: to distract the Makuta and raise resistance against him.”
“And you’re point is?” This of course was Luatu.
“Let us do the same, but we’ll need to meet up with other Toa, as well as anyone else who is against the Makuta, be they a friend or past enemy.”
Terhetti nodded. “Good idea fire-spitter. But what–?” He was cut off when the temple rumbled.
Chapter 3
The floor broke open and smoke flooded the room. With a dramatic hiss, a gun-metal leg stepped through, followed by a bright yellow rahkshi. Upon seeing the six Toa, it opened its faceplate and let losse a terrible screech. Arxtann stepped back as memories from Ta-Koro hit him. True, that was the first time any of them had seen the “sons” of Makuta, but it still struck a chord within his mind. His thoughts were broken by Marnd’s smack-talk.
“He’s only one rahkshi and there’s six of us! We can-- oh…”
The whole began spewing forth yellow rahkshi, each snarling and eyes glowing crimson. It was truely terrifying. In a matter of seconds, the team was surrounded.
“What do we do now fire-spitter,” Luatu whispered to Arxtann. The Toa of Fire was at a loss as to what to do.
Terhetti broke the silence. “I’ll tell you what we do. We SMASH!!!” At this, the Toa of Earth slammed his foot into the ground and created an earthquake that knocked all the combatants off their feet, or claws in the rahkshis’ case. Marnd saw what his brother was going at and summoned pillars of stone from the ceiling to crush their foes, but he got a little carried away and a few of the pillars almost crushed Luatu, with a scathing remark from his brother.
“What is this? Squash the air Toahero?”
“Might not be a bad thing,” Marnd mutters. The yellow rahkshi were not to be so dettered though. Four ganged up on Marnd and began blasting him with their laser vision. Marnd only had time to erect barriers of stone around himself, but the others were still exposed. Luatu summoned a windstorm that swept away the attackers, and Marnd.
“Hey!” the unfortunate Toa of Stone shouted. Luatu only smiled and blew him into a wall.
Despite our antics, we seemed to be winning, until Natru got careless and accidentally flooded the Suva area. Control over the elements was greatly lacking, Arxtann thought to himself as water surged over him. It was then that he realized he couldn’t swim and began panicking. He saw Luatu desperately wasting air and energy by struggling to the surface, as Terhetti sank like his element. Natru swam about with an alarmed look on her face at the water she summoned. The yellow rahkshi weren’t to happy either, but their laser vision began slowly evaporating the water. In a last-ditch attempt, Natru commanded the waters to flow out of the temple and into the sea of protodermis, taking the rahkshi with it. Unfortunately, her lack of control almost sent Korxann to share his enemies fates, until he froze himself to the ceiling. Marnd coughed and took his mask off in order get all the water out.
“Well,” he coughed, “I wouldn’t want to go through that again.”
For once brother," Luatu choked, “I concurragree with you.”
Natru only looked sheepish as Korxann struggled to remove himself from his own ice. Arxtann walked over to help by evaporating the ice with an overdose of fire, which cause Korxann to throw his mask off because if the heat. Terhetti raised a brow at this.
“Seems that we all are trying to remove our masks these days,” he commented. Marnd turned his around and tried to recognize the design. “My armor is silver and brown, and my Kanohi has a spike on it to match.”
“Seems like it’s the Kanohi, Spikio!” Luatu quipped. “The great mask of fashion!”
“Shut up!” Marnd snapped.
“Let me see it,” Korxann requested. Marnd handed his Kanohi to the scholar, who fiddled with it, turning it around and around in his hands before finally saying, “I don’t know what Kanohi this is. Guess we’ll find out.”
Marnd just grumbled and put if back on, but Luatu just wouldn’t stop about Marnd’s mask.
“Perhaps it’s a pathwayfinding mask of getting lost? Or maybe it–”
“Shaddap already!!” Marnd demanded and launched himself at his antagonist, who promptly flew into the air and hit the temple ceiling.
“Ouch!!! Now that hurtsmarts everbad!!”
“Kanohi Kadin, the Mask of Flight,” Kroxann murmured. “How fitting.”
“Enough,” Arxtann commanded. “Your arguing has given me a plan. We split into three groups to exit Metru Nui, and than track down any leads as to where the Toa Nuva are hiding out. Perhaps from there we can figure out how to stop the Makuta.”
“Stop the universe?” Terhetti questioned. “We all know that is what he did.”
Natru put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Whether he is or not, there must be a way to stop him. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
“Or the bigger they are, the more bones they break,” Terhetti replied. “Sounds like a good plan. Who’re we splitting up with?”

It took a while, and a great deal of bickering (Marnd refused to partner with Luatu, who of course feigned to be hurt), but three groups were created within the six of them. Terhetti and Marnd were to escape by “borrowing” a small airship. Luatu and Natru would escape via and underwater chutes. While Arxtann and Korxann would “commandeer” a boat. All six of them would meet up on the strip of land that lead to Karzahni, and then seek out the heroes they knew could save them.
Ahkmou paced the halls of the Coliseum nervously, awaiting his audience with the Makuta. His overlord has summoned him right after the news had come that Toa had been seen on the streets of Ga-Metru. Ahkmou had thought nothing of it, since stories tend to be exaggerated by the witnesses. But his master’s summons caused him to rethink this. Of course, the Makuta wouldn’t appear in person, that was impossible. Instead, he would likely speak through a rahkshi, or some other fierce beast. There was no telling with Teridax. Ahkmou’s thoughts were interrupted adruptly when a deep, purple rahkshi barged through the doors at the other end of the hall. It advanced menacingly towards the frightened Matoran, each step taken deliberately and with power. It’s eyes glowed a sinister shade of crimson, revealing its possession by the ruler of the universe. Ahkmou gulped and tried to control his shaking hands. The rahkshi faceplate opened as a hideous voice scratched upon his ears.
“There is a disturbance in my city. Six new Toa have been created, under your very nose.”
Ahkmou tried not to stutter. “That should be impossible. Where could they ever get Toa stones with the security I have in place–”
“They made them,” the rahkshi hissed, towering over the Matoran, growling. “These Matoran succeeded in creating Toa, somehow.”
This disturbed Ahkmou. If his master had no idea how this astonishing feat was achieved, then it seemed that anything was possible for this group of Matoran.
“What of the Toa?” he questioned. “Shall I arrange for the Vahki to–”
“Your Vahki fail in every task! No. I shall have Nord deal with them. They have exited the city, under your very nose, and are making their way south to join the Toa Nuva. I shall see to it that this is properly dealt with.”
Now Ahkmou was worried. He had only heard of Nord by what his few witnesses called him: the plague of the shadows. His victims were found alone, terminated without a trace of unnatural causes. The only clue that it was done by his hand was the scar branded upon the mask-less faces. The Makuta would certainly receive the best of service, Ahkmou thought. But if he was all powerful, why would Teridax, he who now wielded the power of the universe, stoop to hire underlings to do his own job? Perhaps he wasn’t as strong as he made himself out to be. The rahkshi chuckled (a truly horrible sound) as though it could read his mind.
“Oh Ahkmou. Have you no faith in my abilities? This power takes some, getting used to. At my current rate of control, I would eradicate the Northern Continent when I merely meant to break a bit off. No. This job requires finesse, not a sledgehammer.”
With that, the rahkshi shuddered and fell to the side. The Makuta had left him. Ahkmou began pondering all that had been told. Teridax had left him much to think about.

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Good story in with an interesting prologue, and well done chapters. 10/10

I forgot about this :stuck_out_tongue: I guess I’ll have to update it.

Hello “Leoxandar.” Nice to see you here. :wink: You should at least update this to the point that it’s at in the LMB’s. And then update it farther, 'cause it’s really good.

Glad you think so :smiley:

The wonderful @Political_Slime just updated the first part which I extensively rewrote. So here is the next chapter (finally).

Chapter 4
Macku carefully steered her way through a field of boats in the port of Ga-Metru. Though her craft was sturdy enough, it could still take damage from even a light hit from the much larger boats surrounding her. Arxtann and Korxann were huddled underneath several nags of fish, trying to maintain some semblance of stealth as Maku navigated her boat towards their prize, a large fishing skiff. It had been easy enough for the two Toa to convince Maku to help them, since Arxtann had saved her as a Matoran during the battle of the Kini Nui, but it would take some convincing to get her to stay. Maku nudged them with her foot.
“Quiet. We’re here,” she whispered as she pulled her boat up alongside the skiff. It was large enough for seafaring in mild weather, and looked to be strong enough to sail all the way to the land outside of Karzahni. Maku helped the two Toa onto the skiff and then began untying the ropes holding it to the dockside. Korxann’s telescopic eyepiece detected a lone rahkshi patrolling the harbour near them.
“Hurry,” he whispered to both. Arxtann nodded and took Maku aside.
“Once we leave, get a message to Kopeke. Tell him to gather a few of his friends and try to save the remnants of our lab.”
The Ga-Matoran nodded. “What about you two? How will you get past the security?”
“Trust us,” Arxtann assured. 'We can handle a few rahkshi." Korxann walked up.
“Ready to cast off?” he asked. Arxtann nodded and helped Maku back into her boat.
“Be safe,” he said as she rowed away. Korxann started the motor and pushed the skiff away from the dock. Their adventure was finally getting underway.
At the same time that Arxtann and Korxann were “borrowing” their fishing skiff, Luatu and Natru were combing the back-alleys of Ga-Metru, searching for an entrance to the archives. Luatu’s patience was running thin.
“Go deep wayfind underwater chutepath the firespitter speaksay. We must split up to not be seekfound by rahkshi. An evergreat plan if you know where to lookfind for the underwater chutes!”
“Quiet Luatu!” Natru hissed. “Trust me, they’re around this area. Somewhere.”
Luatu crossed his arms and huffed. “Well I’d prefer them to be herenow instead of therethen.” Natru rolled her eyes.
“Apparently silence and stealth are two concepts foreign to Le-Matoran. Otherwise we might be there already. I’m sure Marnd and Terhetti have already found that airship.”

Meanwhile, Marnd and Terhetti had indeed found the airship, to be in an airfield swarming with rahkshi guards. They had sneaked through Ga-Metru and into Le-Metru easily enough, but this would be a problem. But at least they had Tamaru to help, right? The Le-Matoran had found the two Toa tramping across the cables and tools that littered the streets of Le-Metru, and decided that it would be better for them to climb across rooftops than be caught. Well that had led to here.
“I estimate about ten rahkshi,” Terhetti reported. His night vision allowed him to see a but better than either the Toa of Stone or Le-Matoran could. “Probably fragmentation power.”
Marnd cursed. “We’ll never get past that many!”
Tamaru tapped Marnd on his shoulder.
“In Le-Wahi upland on Mata Nui, we Le-Matoran were expert vineclingers and treeswingers.”
“Yes, we know,” Marnd huffed. “Your traders never let us forget that.”
Tamaru ignored this. “Here in Le-Metru, it not so differentstrange as up there. Here, cablewires serve as clingtwiners and the buildstructure makes for excellent tree.”
“Your point?” Marnd questioned. “We don’t have a lot of–”
“Hold it Marnd,” Terhetti interrupted. I think I know what he’s talking about."

“No! Absolutely not.”
“Quiet!” Terhetti hissed as he secured a cable around Marnd’s waist.
Marnd was getting desperate. “You know that rocks don’t fly. They fall! Don’t do this to me!”
The Toa of Earth just rolled his eyes. “You got a better idea? We could always ask the rahkshi nicely if we may steal their aircraft.”
Tamaru brought down another cable and began tying it around Terhetti’s midsection.
“Be everalertcareful vineswinging up there. Airship about quarter distance that the dermis turtle walk in third a day.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marnd questioned.
“He means it’s close,” Terhetti clarified. “Though he could’ve just said that.”
“I don’t care if it’s close,” Marnd protested. “You’re not getting me to swing and risk life and limb! I won’t-- Waaugghh!” Tired of his complaining, Terhetti had just pushed Marnd off before following himself. The Toa of Stone screamed like an angry Kiwa, which is to say loudly, attracting each and every rahkshi in the airfield. They touched down on the aircraft with a thud. Terhetti opened the hatch before hearing the thud of Marnd collapsing. Rolling his eyes, he dragged his brother in even as laser fire was shooting over his head. He sat himself in the cockpit to meet unfamiliar controls.
“Ummm…” He pressed a button and heard the spare-parts eject. Resounding cracks were heard as the yellow rahkshi began blasting the ship and tearing the hull with their staffs. Terhetti pressed another button, this time hearing the engines start. He pulled a switch as the levitation disks were activated, yellow rahkshi flying off every direction.
“Hold on Manrd,” he cautioned.
Marnd looked up sleepily. ‘What? Hold-- Augh!" The ship rocketed forward, throwing the Toa of Stone into the hold.
Natru pushed the hatch open and entered into the brilliant sun-light of tomorrow. Above her head, sea birds called to each other a throaty good morning. She just lay there for a while at the exit of the underwater chutes, taking in the fresh air and the sound of the distant Protodermis Sea.
“Hey!” a voice sounded from behind. “Quick move up sister! I don’t like being kept here anymore than I need.” Natru sighed, her moment broken, and climbed all the way out to allow her brother room to do the same. Luatu scrambled onto the sand with little difficulty and then stood up, only to promptly slip and fall into the Toa of Water’s arms.
“Whoops, careful air brother, or you might damage that silver mask of yours.” Luatu chuckled and used Natru’s shoulder to balance himself.
“Guess my legwalkers just aren’t stablesturdy as they should be after those everdark chutes and tunnels. Le-Matoran are meant to highfly in air, not groundwalk in darkwater.” Natru rolled her eyes and smiled. A deep rumble was heard behind them. Both looked up to see a Le-Metru airship hover over the sand and land with a soft crunch. The boarding ramp opened and Marnd stumbled out.
“Next time Terhetti, you’ll leave the driving to me.”
"Oh quit yer complainin’ carver," came the booming voice of their earth brother. His ebon form strode forth with the same gait as Marnd’s. “Besides, I wasn’t that bad. Was I?”
“Oh brothers and sister, have we a tale to tell of yellow rahkshi and bad driving.”

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From what I’ve read this is quite enjoyable. Your translation of chute-speak is very good. As a fellow writer, I look forward to the future of this story!

(If you want, you could check out my story serial here on the message boards, called “Lest We Forget.” It’d be good to get feedback from a fellow writer.)

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About time I update the next chapter :stuck_out_tongue:

Chapter 5

The sea of protodermis tossed about with miniscule waves which frothed upon the side of the Toa’s boat. Korxann peered into the mist, his telescopic eyepiece scanning the horizon for the strip of land between Metru Nui and Karzahni. Unable to see anything, he sat back down and stared at the hull. Arxtann started whistling as he steered.
“Arxtann,” Korxann began, “what is the meaning of life?”
The Toa of Fire stopped his melody abruptly. “Why so philosophical?”
“When I get bored I tend to think a bit too much.”
“Ah.” Arxtann kept silent until his thoughts collected themselves. “Well-- Ooh!”
The boat grinded to a halt with a groan. Korxann leaped out and landed on soft gravel with a crunch.
“We’re here brother.”
Arxtann nodded and disembarked.
“We seem to have been knocked off-course a wee bit,” he sighed. The fog began thickening, tendrils seeming to wrap around both Toa.
“Well,” Korxann began, “maybeee…” He drifted off and collapsed onto the ground.
“Brother!” Arxtann exclaimed as he bent to check on Korxann. Then he felt nothing.
The rahkshi of elasticity unwound itself from around Korxann’s body and gave a screech into the mist. The fog billowed as the rahkshi of stasis-fields stalked forward. They both silently stared at each other before entwining into one being. Thunder rumbled as this new, darker form towered over the bodies of the two Toa. It let out a long, low chuckle.
“Well Toa, this may be easier than the Makuta let on.”

Natru tapped her foot impatiently and stared out at the wave-tossed Protodermis sea. A thick fog was beginning to set in and neither Arxtann nor Korxann had showed up at the rendezvous. She sighed and skipped a rock over the still glassy surface. Glass, she thought. Even unsettled, Protodermis retains that shiny sheen it keeps when calm. Her thoughts were interrupted when Luatu landed, his power over wind affording him some flight. He walked over to her and shook his head.
“No sign of our toabrothers from the air watersister. The fog’s causing some flighthard difficulties.” Natru cursed and kicked another rock into the sea.
“What happened? They both knew the coordinates of where we planned to meet! How do-- uuhhh!!” Natru doubled over as a vision hit her. She saw both her brothers, in danger. Luatu bent to steady her.
“Sister, what happened?”
Natru blinked. “A… a vision. I know why they’re not here.”
Luatu stammered on his words a moment. “Why? W, w, w-- how? You have visions?”
The Toa of Water shook her head. “Maybe my mask had a hand in this. Get Marnd and Terhetti.”

Meanwhile, Arxtann and Korxann were indeed in trouble, but neither could really see just what kind of trouble it was. Arxtann regained consciousness slowly, his eyes adjusting to what little light filtered through, his blindfold? Arxtann tried to rip it off and found that his arms were bound. He tried to access his mask power and failed. Then realized he had no mask, and that he was upside down.
“Where…?” he croaked.
“On a Mata Nui forsaken rock in-between Metru Nui and the rest of creation,” a voice like cold steel replied.
Arxtann shook his head to clear it. His eyesight gone for the moment and his whole body bound, he was at this villain’s mercy.
“Where’s my brother?” he asked tentatively.
The voice replied back. “I don’t believe you’re in any position to ask questions. But I might as well tell you. You’re tied next to him.”
The Toa of Fire couldn’t sense Korxann, so he was either still unconscious or their captor was lying. He tried his bonds again and felt a wave of weakness overtake him.
“You’ll make quite the prize Toa. I look forward to hanging both your Kanohi on my wall.”

Later that night, the remaining Toa were searching this cavern they had found due to Natru’s vision. Marnd had found evidence of habitation while Terhetti had discovered a tablet in an odd dialect of Matoran. Natru and Terhetti were sitting on a stump muttering to each other about what the tablet said. Luatu and Marnd just sat on the side, kicking rocks. Luatu started whistling. Marnd kicked him.
“Quiet!” he hissed and folded his arms. Luatu glared at his brother and folded his own arms in imitation. Before their skirmish could escalate to full-scale war, Natru rose and motioned them over.
“It took a while before Terhetti realized that this was simply Matoran letters, but written in hexagons. Never seen anything like it…”
“Tell them what it says,” Terhetti interjected.
“Right,” Natru replied squinting to look at the tablet. “Greetings Toa. My name is of no concern to you, but just know that I possess your brothers. If you wish to ever see them again, then you will come to the island where the very land itself seeks to devour you. Come with just the four of you, or bring friends, it matters not to me. Just come, and come soon.”
Natru looked up, a worried expression under her mask.
Terhetti spoke. “We assume that their captor means Xia, the island that Roodaka comes from.”
“And how far away is it?” Marnd asked in a growl.
“Just south of where we are,” Terhetti replied. “Nothing but protodermis keeps us from our brothers.”
Luatu leaped upon a boulder and struck a heroic pose, his power over wind being activated for dramatic effect.
“Then we shall windfly to Xia, use our heropowers to free our brothers! We shall crush our enemies, see them driven from before us, and here the lamentation of the Ga-Matoran! OW!” Marnd caused the rock his brother stood on to fracture.
“Let’s go before he really starts speeching.”
Terhetti led them out of the cave and back to the aircraft.

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