Chapter Interlude- Death Rising

The Dark Spirit Makuta bore into the darkness, a reflection of himself—pure, absolute nothingness.

The shadows, he mused, are not separate. They are one… me. His power was absolute, and unfathomable, even stronger than that of the three Spherus Magnan Gods. He remembered how it all began. After he fell before his brother in the ultimate struggle, his little slave workers were freed from the grip of fear. The matoran, the Great Spirit's chosen race... was, after 1,100 years, free. But it was not the end of Destruction like they believed it was. The Makuta told the Toa Mata that he could not be destroyed, for he was nothing. Over the course of the next 400,000 years, the Dark Spirit's powers had increased greatly, to the point where completely obliterating a galaxy was a small task. He had also rebuilt and revamped Mata Nui's old body into something larger, more menacing, and better armored. Using the weapons at his disposal, he had accomplished much, nearing his ultimate goal… his destiny. But to break his brother, such was not an easy task. He had tried threatening his friends on Bara Magna, but it only angered the Great Spirit, which almost got him killed. He could easily break the children's sanity, but he preferred toying with his victims. Little by little, he would erode the princess' sanity, and in effect, Link will break because of sadness and extreme guilt. As for Mata Nui? Makuta would have to fight him one-on-one—but not yet. First, he had to serve his purpose. Then may he be led to Mangaia for a grand battle, but not the final one. Report had returned from Aboda, and everything was proceeding as he had forseen… now, all he had to do was get there first, and order his minion to take the stone there and await his brother.

Then his thoughts turned to his servants. Getting the Decepticons and the Space Pirates to work together was not easy. But there's nothing that a little threatening cannot do. He simply told each side that when he was in control of the entire universe, anyone who defied him could consider themselves a dead man. They agreed faster than a heartflash. But, in the end, they were both expendable in their own right. The Space Pirates were competent bunch, but at every turn they find themselves against Mata Nui. When that happens, they always fail somehow. But otherwise, they were decent soldiers. As for the Decepticons, they were easy to manipulate using promises of power, but their leader was troublesome in the fact that Mata Nui always comes close to killing him. The Makuta had wasted enough resources reviving Megatron. The one reason the fool was alive was to prevent Starscream from taking control. Sure, Makuta's powers were absolute, and so was his dictatorship, he gave the orders, along with the precaution of telling them how to do their task. But he knew Starscream would fail, and at least Megatron does not fail consistently. And then, naturally, the Dark Spirit would punish him horribly for his errors, but that wastes precious time, and time is power. Megatron got punishment enough when he is rebuilt, the Spirit of Death always sends out the order to make his revival as painful and as mentally distressing as possible. But if Megatron died again…

I shall not waste any time or resources bringing him back… but it does not matter. With or without their help, the universe will be under my control. Then it shall be filled with nothing but shadows, misery, and death. The next sound that came felt like distant thunder. It rumbled like an earthquake. The sound… was the Dark Spirit's evil laughter.

Author's notes- This no filler, it's quite integral to the plot. Makuta does not need character development, he got plenty of that. But the history behind all this was required. Eventually I will begin drafting the story of the Battle of Bara Magna's aftermath, but that's after my spring break in April.