Beginning Editor's Note: I do not claim to own the Bionicle characters or the majority of these plot points. The material here is simply an edited and compiled version of original Bionicle material. Decanonized series, books, guide books, novels, comics, story serials, blogs, etc. have been transcribed in novel form and fully integrated into one chronological read. The poetic liberties of novelization and editing are all I can claim.
Feel free to discuss any questions and feedback on this project, and be sure to keep following/favoriting so you know when a new story or chapter is posted. Reviews are always welcome for reactions, questions, concerns, or general feedback.
These parts constitute material from the story year of 2008, constituting what I've called "Phase 07: Ignition." Please enjoy.
Sequel to "Bionicle - Phase 07: Ignition - Part IV: Righteous Contention"
Axonn was drowning. The greenish-black fluid filled his mouth and lungs before he could react. His mighty arms flailed about, trying to find something to grab onto, and failing. As he sank further toward the bottom, Axonn knew that here, in the birthplace of the Makuta species, he was going to die. Then he was suddenly rising rapidly up through the murky liquid. A strong hand had a hold of him and was yanking him away from his fate. A moment later he felt the hard stone of the floor beneath him. He choked and gasped. When the colors finally stopped swirling in front of his eyes, he looked up at his rescuer.
Brutaka floated three feet off the floor. Green fire crackled from his eyes and the tips of his fingers. His armor had cracked in numerous places as the tissue it covered expanded. An aura of pure power surrounded him, so bright that Axonn had to raise a hand to protect his sight.
"Axonn," said Brutaka, "we are glad to see you have survived."
"We? Brutaka, what's happened to you?"
"I…we are the essence of the Makuta species. We know what they were meant to know, but have forgotten. We see the error. The flaws. So much to repair; but it cannot be done."
Axonn stood, axe at the ready. He knew the effects the Makuta Antidermis had on Brutaka. Absorbing it somehow made him stronger, but he had never seen or heard anything like this. It was Brutaka's body and Brutaka's voice, but the words had not come from his old friend.
"Spherus Magna, the Shattering," Brutaka muttered, seemingly more to himself than to Axonn. "The three that must be one; the two that must make them one."
Brutaka abruptly reached out and seized Axonn's arm in a grip of iron. His touch burned, but Axonn fought back the urge to scream.
"He must remember, he must be made to see, or the journey of 100,000 years will be for nothing. He hides beneath, preparing to meet his destiny. We must go there, we must right the wrong. So many wrongs before the Shattering can end."
X X X
Ancient climbed a low-rise, stepping carefully to avoid tripping over the rubble that was once a Xian factory. He had been searching for The Shadowed One for the better part of an hour. They were supposed to be discussing the defense of the city, but the Dark Hunter leader was nowhere to be found. He was concerned. Toa Helryx had asked Ancient, her spy within the Dark Hunters, for regular reports on the state of things at Xia and The Shadowed One's actions. She fully expected a Brotherhood of Makuta attack on the island, and he was already overdue with his latest dispatch.
Ancient reached the top of the rise. The first thing he saw was The Shadowed One, standing amid a pile of debris. He was holding a small chest, which was open, and staring at the contents with a nasty smile on his face. As Ancient drew closer, he noticed two other things: a dead Vortixx on the ground, his face encased in crystalline protodermis; and just what was in the chest: three vials.
"What have you found?" asked Ancient. "And why would a Vortixx be foolish enough to challenge you for it?"
The Shadowed One looked up, surprised. Then seeing it was Ancient, he visibly relaxed. "A most amazing thing," he said, "Have you ever heard of Makuta Kojol?"
Ancient nodded. He knew the story from the Order of Mata Nui, the agency where his true loyalties lied: Kojol had been visiting Xia to discuss having a virus added into a weapon the Vortixx were building for the Makuta. During his visit, he was "accidentally" killed by a different virus. Except it was no accident, but an Order operation to remove him.
"He brought a number of viruses with him when he came to Xia," The Shadowed One continued, "some were never found. The story was they were incinerated along with his armor. But they weren't, and I have found them."
Ancient tried not to look as worried as he felt. Weapons like this in the hands of the Dark Hunters was a disaster in the making. "Excellent," he said. "We could ransom these for a good price."
"Ransom them?" said The Shadowed One. "No, no, I intend to make use of them. I will learn what they are and what they do, and then Helryx and the Makuta will answer to me! But I will need time…a great deal of time and privacy to work. No one must know I have them. That is why the Vortixx here had to die. And it's why…" Two beams of power lanced out of The Shadowed One's' eyes, striking Ancient. The veteran Dark Hunter vanished, disintegrated by the force of the blast. "…you have to die," the Shadowed One finished. "Apologies, old friend. But you know the old saying: 'A secret shared is no longer a secret.'"
X X X
Vezon stalked through the halls of the fortress of Destral, following Makuta Tridax and doing his best to remain unseen. The walls of the ancient structure shook from a ferocious pounding: the Order of Mata Nui had launched its attack on the Makuta base at last. His mission was simple, purposely so that even his deranged mind could keep it straight: he was to follow Tridax, find the means the Makuta use to teleport their island from place to place, and then disable it. He would then be most likely killed by Tridax, but then no plan was perfect.
At first it seemed as if all was proceeding as expected: Tridax made his way to a sub-basement, seemingly oblivious to being followed. At the bottom of the basement was a massive chamber. What waited within that chamber staggered even the deeply disturbed Vezon. The walls towered forty feet, all around. Lining them were stasis tubes, close to one-hundred. And each tube was occupied by an identical figure. A few had armor of jet-black, most white-and-gold, but it was obvious they were all the same being. They were in some kind of stasis. Tridax walked to the center of the room, where a small table sat. On the table was a Kanohi mask. Tridax reached for it, then suddenly whirled and hurled a blast of shadow at Vezon. Before he could dodge, the shadow had pinned him to the wall.
"Did you think I could not hear your clumsy attempt to follow me?" said Tridax. "Very well, Skakdi trash. You want to learn the most powerful secret of Destral? You want the satisfaction of knowing what hides here before you die? Look around."
Vezon did, but he didn't learn anything more by doing that. "Quite a collection," he said. "I prefer sea-shells, myself. Sometimes leaves. Oh, and the heads of my enemies, though those take up so much space."
Tridax smiled and held up the mask. "Do you know what this is? A Kanohi Olmak, the Mask of Dimensional Gates. One of only two known to be in existence. Not long ago, my fellow Makuta, Mutran, and I began experiments to develop a creature called a shadow leech: a creature that could drain the light of others and turn them into beings of shadow. That was what sparked my idea. I knew the mask could not only reach other places of this dimension, but other realities as well. And so I have begun traveling to those realities and collecting the Toa Takanuva of each, bringing him back here, and feeding his light to my pets. When I am done, I will have an army of Shadow Toa, all made from the most dangerous enemy of the Makuta."
The walls shook again. "I think you'd better hurry and finish then," suggested Vezon.
"No need," said Tridax. "I have only to release the Shadow Takanuva I have already made, and they will dispose of the attackers. And then I can go back to work in earnest. And then I can…"
Tridax stopped at the sound of crystal shattering. Startled, he let his shadow power lapse. Vezon slumped to the ground, but not before he saw the Makuta looking at his arm in horror. Something was dissolving his armored gauntlet before his eyes, and his Antidermis was leaking out into the air. Two beings stepped out of the shadows. One was a Matoran, the other another species, very tall and very dangerous in appearance. He looked at the Makuta and laughed—a harsh and malicious sound.
"The most dangerous enemy of the Makuta?" said Tobduk, the senior Order of Mata Nui assassin. "Get ready, you're just about to meet him."
X X X
Toa Jaller stood on the beach of Artidax, his body locked rigid by Takadox's hypnotic trance. Next to him, Hahli and Nuparu stood, similarly paralyzed. None of the three were aware of what was going on around them, which was probably for the best.
Artidax was about to be the scene of a disaster. Its volcano was mere moments away from exploding, raining fire and ash on anything unfortunate enough to be around. Not knowing this, the Toa Mahri had brought the Heart of the Visorak here, a beacon that would summon the entire Visorak horde to this spot. The idea had been to strand them here. What no one knew was that Takadox was hiding on this island, and he hypnotized the three Toa and stole their ship, intending to make his escape.
Worse, the Visorak had arrived, and were even now scuttling across the beach toward the Toa Mahri.
All in all, not the best day the Toa Mahri ever had…
X X X
Visorak, it is said, never forget.
The specimens now approaching the Toa Mahri had seen Toa before, 1,000 years or so ago in Metru Nui. It had been a different team, of course, but to Visorak, one Toa looks much like another. They could remember, if dimly, the pain the Toa had caused them, and they could remember the hate.
But they recalled one thing more. Toa might appear weak, beaten, or defeated, and then suddenly lash out with devastating effectiveness. It wouldn't do to rush up to their apparently helpless foes and possibly walk into a trap. So they hung back a bit, cautiously probing to see if the Toa would react. Others began to scout—if these Toa really were frozen, as they seemed to be, something had done it to them. Could that something still be on the island, waiting to do it to the Visorak?
X X X
Jaller had a thought. This was very strange, as he wasn't capable of thinking at the moment. But some tiny part of his consciousness that was still active realized the answer: the thought was not his.
This is no way for a Toa to die.
That little spark of awareness was followed by a slightly larger one of recognition. He had heard that voice before. It belonged to Makuta. Although it had sounded different when it came from the mouth of the robotic Maxilos, the arrogant one was the same.
The voice continued. Paralyzed on a beach, about to be slain by Visorak or incinerated by lava? Is that the stuff of which legends are made? I think not. No, don't bother looking around for me…not that you could, in your condition. I am not on Artidax, but somewhere far away. Still, my powers have increased, so I can see and speak to you just the same. Jaller, oh Jaller…Vakama had such hopes for you, and look at you now. As a Toa, you make a good statue.
Of course, I should object to what you had planned for my Visorak…you and whoever set the volcano to erupt. But you didn't know about that, did you? And it would be such a shame to miss seeing your expression when you find out the truth…
Jaller felt a sudden jolt of pain, sharp and agonizing. It cut through the fog caused by Takadox's hypnosis. In that moment, he awakened, his mind reeling. Someone had been talking to him…but who? What had they said? What had just happened?
There wasn't time to puzzle it out, not with Nuparu and Hahli in trances and Visorak now closing in. With no other choice, Jaller hurled small fireballs at his two partners, just enough to singe them. As he hoped, the pain shocked them awake.
"Hey!" snapped Nuparu. "What's the idea?"
"Not dying, that's the idea," said Jaller. "We need to get off this island."
Hahli was already at work, summoning a wall of water to smash into the oncoming Visorak. Jaller threw up a wall of flame to block those coming from behind. Both Toa and Visorak alike froze at the sound of a rumble like thunder, coming from the volcano.
"Uh oh," said Nuparu. "I may not be the lava fan you are, Jaller, but I know enough about volcanoes to know what that sound means. It's going to blow!"
"Mata Nui," whispered Hahli. "Do you think that was why we were supposed to bring the Visorak here? So they could be killed?"
Something was nagging at Jaller, a memory of something he had heard, but he couldn't put his finger on what. But somehow he knew he was speaking the truth when he said, "Yes. I think someone planned this…and I'm not sure they cared if we got caught in the middle."
"Our ship is gone!" said Nuparu. A half dozen Visorak moved on them. A shot from his Cordak blaster convinced them to back off.
"Then we swim," said Jaller.
"To where? We're in the middle of nowhere," Nuparu pointed out.
"It's swim, fry, or be a Visorak's lunch," said Jaller. "Take your pick."
"Did I ever tell you how much I love the water?" queried Nuparu. Triggering his elemental power, he churned up the ground in front of the Toa, creating a path temporarily free of Visorak leading to the water.
"Go!" yelled Jaller.
The three broke into a run and dove into the ocean. Behind them, the Visorak milled about for a moment, confused. Their prey was getting away, but the Heart of the Visorak was here. They had to stay where the Heart was, didn't they?
Out in the water, the Toa were battling their way through more of the Visorak horde, all headed inexorably for the island. Jaller looked over his shoulder. For a moment, he was tempted to destroy the Heart, but that would mean having a horde of Visorak on he and his friends in a moment.
It's what a Toa should do, he thought. Toa don't kill, after all…or help someone else do it. But maybe this is a new world—one where you can't trust your friends or your enemies. Maybe all we can do is try to stay alive.
The Toa were still too close when the Artidax volcano exploded. Hahli grabbed her two friends and pulled them underwater just as flaming chunks of rock started landing all around them. On the beach, the assembled Visorak found themselves too close to the disaster to escape. The horde, which had brought pain and death to so many, now reaped the reward for their acts.
"Now what?" said Nuparu, when the Toa had surfaced again. "We're a long way from home."
"We'll get there, one way or the other," said Jaller. "And then we're going to have a little talk with a certain black-armored female and get some answers…or we're going to start a war of our own."
X X X
Mazeka grabbed Vezon's arm and yanked him away from where Makuta Tridax and Tobduk were fighting. "Come on, you fool," the Matoran said. "You want to get killed?"
"Well…." Vezon said, as if he were seriously debating the question. "Anyway, I want to see the end."
"Trust me, there will be plenty of endings to see," Mazeka said, with some bitterness in his voice. "Everything ends eventually…and sometimes, you're not sure why."
"How profound. How deep," said Vezon. Then he added, "How boring. Who are you and why are you here?"
"I'm a Ko-Matoran named Mazeka. And I'm here to kill you," replied Mazeka.
"Oh," brightened Vezon. "I knew there was something about you I liked."