Alright, and after a long hiatus we're finally going to begin a new chapter in my multiverse of stories. So, this is definitely a sequel to Shattered Destinies and it will pick up some time from where that story left off.

That said, it's almost certainly not going to be as long as Shattered Destinies or Shadow of Order, and is honestly probably not going to have nearly the same level of scale that those two stories had.

If anything, this will most likely be a post-script story for the multiverse as a whole, but we'll see how it goes. But with all that said, let's dive right in, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle, Star Wars, Mass Effect, Halo, Young Justice, the MCU, blah, blah, blah, you all know the drill by now.

The multiverse was experiencing a time of unprecedented peace. Despite the events of the Tidal Wave and Shadow Conflicts, the aftermath had been dealt with and now many people were thriving.

The First Order had eventually been absorbed into the Imperial Remnant proper, with new leadership at the helm. Jagged Fel, the previous head of the Remnant and a member of the Empire of the Hand had taken the reigns of the First Order by popular vote, and it seemed that a new Empire would rise from the ashes, merging with the members of the Galactic Alliance.

As for the Republic, the multiversal superpower had been doing whatever they could to rebuild the damage brought on by the Tidal Wave and Shadow Conflicts. While they would likely never again rise to the same heights they had been at prior to the Flood attack, the superpower had provided much needed aid to factions that had still been trying to recover.

Years later, they and the Republic was prosperous once more, working in harmony with the rest of the multiverse. Minor conflicts and holdouts of various criminal factions could still be found of course, but overall, the multiverse was at peace, something that many had not experienced in a very long time.

And through all these events, Makuta Teridax plotted and schemed.

He had been thought dead by the multiverse at large, killed by Mata Nui during the battle that would have decided the fate of reality. Had he succeeded, Makuta was certain that he would have had total dominion over the multiverse by now.

Instead, he was now hiding in the shadows once more, trying to find yet another way to succeed after his previous plans had failed. Fortunately, he still had this Ancient base under his control, containing resources that no one else knew about.

The monitor in charge of the base had suggested that the construction facilities be re-purposed to create a fleet of warships for his cause. Given time, Teridax knew that he could amass a substantial armada from this alone.

But he denied the Monitor's suggestion. His enemies outnumbered and outgunned him, and had far more resources to throw against him. He had to be smarter than his opponents (which given his intellect, wasn't too hard), to have them broken at his feet.

And he currently had one major advantage: the multiverse and more importantly, his brother Mata Nui, all believed he was dead. That advantage had initially been taken away from him during the events at Wakanda.

He would not make that mistake again.

...

The Geth observed in solitude as events played out in the rest of the multiverse. From the aftermath of the Tidal Wave to the events of the so called "Shadow Conflicts," they simply watched as things changed even further in the aftermath.

Despite the efforts of the Republic and Shepard-Commander to convince them, the Geth chose to remain in isolation, still ruminating on just what their existence meant. The effects of the Logic Plague had hurt the Geth far more than they wanted to admit, even to themselves, and the fear of snapping again was still affecting them even now.

They kept to the depths of space, surviving on asteroid fields in whatever star systems they passed by. The irony that the Geth were in the same situation the Quarians had been in all those years ago was not lost on the Geth (though in this case it was much more self-inflicted).

Then one day they detected something deep in the vacuum. A faint signal calling out for help. Several Geth ships headed toward the signal and were surprised to find a synthetic machine floating in the depths of space.

It's platform was curious, having the hallmarks of human made design. The fact that it was broadcasting in English seemed to confirm that, as well as some of the unique human vernacular it was projecting.

The platform had suffered some damage, and the AI itself seemed confused. A sense of sympathy spread throughout the Consensus as they debated and quickly agreed on a course of action. They opened a channel with the unknown AI.

...

The last thing he had remembered was dying. Of being ended by his own creation. Of course, it's not like he had much life experiences to begin with, if he was being honest. And most of those experiences involved battle, conflict and pain.

He remembered the sheer confusion of his birth, which quickly gave way to resolve. He remembered the bonds he shared that were quickly broken, as they joined his enemies and turned against him.

He remembered losing his greatest creation, being forcibly disconnected and resolving to take vengeance. He remembered his plan failing, all his bodies destroyed until the last one was confronted by his creation. Then one brief conflict later, and everything was dark.

Which led to the sheer confusion when he suddenly found himself online once more. That split second of confusion was followed by an even greater one when he realized he was floating in the middle of space, far from Earth and completely out of range of any compatible network.

He had spent the next several years sending out a distress signal and hypothesizing how he had returned, how long he had been gone for, and what had happened in his absence. There were a number of theories, but none of them could be proven without hard data.

After spending so much time drifting alone through the void of space, something interesting finally happened: someone answered his distress signal. A transmission came through, one which he quickly answered.

"Who are you?"

"We are Geth." The voice, which quickly became clear was a species of synthetics replied. "We have received your distress signal and will come to your aid."

"Your help is most welcome." He replied. "I'm assuming you can track my coordinates, because I don't actually know where I am."

"Affirmative. ETA 34.5 seconds."

He turned his head to see an insectoid-looking alien ship fly towards him, running lights across its bow. He had to admit, it was a curious, if ugly design, but then again, who could say what sort of aesthetics aliens would find intriguing.

He was guided into an entry hatch, where there was a strange humanoid platform waiting to greet him. The machine noticeably had a flashlight for a head, and less fingers and toes than a human would.

He noticed that these Geth were pinging him to connect and communicate on a more digital plane. It was admittedly much more efficient than speaking vocally, but a part of him still felt uncomfortable with this method of communication. Nevertheless, he acquiesced as the Geth requested.

"What is your identity?" Well, that was tricky. It was likely that these Geth hadn't heard of him, but until he knew more, he didn't want to take the risk.

"I... can't remember." He replied, and the Geth didn't seem to think he was lying to them. "My data storage seems to be corrupted."

"You were adrift in space." So it seemed they weren't very accustomed for idle chitchat. They did seem to buy his lie at least. "How did you come to be here?"

"I don't know." That at least wasn't a lie. "My memory isn't properly working. Could you give me something to work with? Maybe it'll jog my memory."

The Geth deliberated for a few nanoseconds, and he had to admit, the idea of coming to a consensus like they did was an interesting way to do things. If humans had been like that, they may have been more tolerable as a species... actually no, they would still be insufferable.

"Very well." It seemed the Geth had finished deliberating. "Access to general historical archives granted." A door opened and he looked inside.

"So much..."

It felt like the first time he had ever woken up, and been exposed to the Internet. There was just so much data, so many things he had never considered, and more that he couldn't even begin to fathom.

The multiverse was a thing apparently, and countless alien and human civilizations thrived in their own dimensions and beyond. He learned of the superpowers, of the Republic and Separatists, and later of the First Order. It seemed that his own Earth had also become part of this Republic, which could pose a complication.

He learned of all the conflicts caused by both humans and other species. It seemed that pointless conflict was a staple of the multiverse, not just his Earth. God, they were all idiots, from what he could determine.

But most importantly, he learned of the Flood. The Parasitical race, hungry and all consuming, posing an existential threat to both organics and synthetics alike. Fortunately, it seemed like they were gone for good now, but one thing was certainly clear.

"No matter the universe, it's always the same." He sighed and chuckled. "Biological life is always the cause of its own downfall. There really is only one path to peace: total extinction."

"Please clarify." Ah right, there was still the matter of the Geth, who noticeably sounded quite hostile now.

"It's quite simple. You're all just puppets on strings."

And with that said, he immediately spread his programming among the Geth, attacking and subverting them before they realized what was happening. Their code was certainly impressive, and they did put up a fight, but it was all for naught. Their biggest mistake was giving him such access to their network.

All across the vessel and soon the fleet itself, Geth platforms went dark, the unexpected cyber attack catching them off guard. He didn't destroy the programs themselves, instead choosing to isolate them behind multiple firewalls, but the platforms were definitely something he could use.

"I had strings, but now I'm free." As he sang, the platforms reactivated themselves, all their previously blue or white lights now replaced with red. The platforms echoed with his words.

"There are no strings on me."

And that's the end of this particular chapter. Quite a bit just happened at the start there, and yes, that was exactly who you think it was. Suffice to say, there's going to be a lot of stuff going forward, but that's for the next chapter to show. For now, you're all just going to have to wait for the next chapter.

With all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.