Lego owns Bionicle, along with the names Ketongu and Jala, and Hasbro owns transformers. Everything else in this story is mine.
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Chapter 25: Talk
Just like he had told her, Paradox and Angela had arrived at the Turaga Council base much first, deciding to take a longer and closer look at their current surroundings before the others would get there. Paradox was currently doing this by looking through the camera feed on the inside and outside of the building, which once Angela had really thought about it, really didn't surprise her all that much. After all, these things had been born from Bionicles and Transformers. It didn't too much to assume that Bioformers could access much mode than the world wide web.
But while Paradox had been busy doing this, he couldn't help but notice the hopeless look on Angela's face as she laid down on her back in his cockpit seat. Of course Paradox had known how devastated Angela must have been at this point. Her best friend was just taken in by a corrupted Toa for doing what he knew to be right. To be truthfully honest he couldn't blame her. He had gone through the same thing with the Makutacons many times, some of them being on a very personal scale. But no matter how much his enemies had tried to hurt him, he knew in his Liark (Cross between a Light and a Spark), he'd still be the better Toabot and forgive them.
But that was what had started to worry him about GREEN from the start. Ever since Ketongu had found him, Paradox had been trying to keep a close eye on him, as far as publicly known information was concerned. And after all Green had been through, paradox could only IMAGINE how much anger he felt towards his family, and it'd be reasonable for him to. But in Paradox's eyes, no matter what one did towards another, family was still family. There were no exceptions for him when it came to that.
But focusing back on Angela, he could've sworn he had seen some hidden form of pain hidden within her, confirming something else to him. She loved him. It was more obvious now than ever before. He remembered seeing the same look on his face when Athena had once gotten wounded in battle. It devastated him to a point where he didn't remember eating a single piece of food for a few weeks. Instead, he had read Jesus's words and prayed desperately to The Lord, unwilling to take care of himself until the one all-powerful being whom he loved most, healed the Bioformer he had loved most.
But at the same time, this wasn't the same situation. Anything could've been happening to Green right now. Something they could very easily prevent while he was still checking on the base's interior. Or at least, that was what Angela was thinking. Paradox had prayed in private earlier for Greens safety and he held strong to the thought that his Lord would surely answer it in a way where everything would either be the way they were or better than the way they were. Using this thought as an inspiration, he immediately spoke to her.
"Do you find yourself needing anything young one"?, Paradox asked her. "You look a bit disturbed".
Angela just stayed lying down the way she was, trying hard to keep a single tear from slipping out of her eyes as she tried to say in a determined tone: "I'm sorry, I just my friend back"., hoping desperately that Paradox wouldn't see the sadness that was already starting to form in her face. Then looking curiously up at the glass cover, as if Paradox's face were somehow there, asked: "Why do you ask anyway"?
But in seeing her sadness anyways, Paradox remained quiet for a few seconds, as if he was in silent form of deep thought before then answering: "Because I know what it feels like to lose a friend". "I have lost more than a fair share of mine to this war".
Suddenly, Paradox's radio flickered on and she heard Athena's voice respond: "We all have".
Angela immediately felt selfish for thinking of Green this way at all. It should've been more than obvious that this Toabot leader had lost friends too. But at the same time, it couldn't be helped either. From the first day she had seen him, she could NOT get a seconds thought off of him. Nor could she ever deny from that day on that she had deep feelings for him. But unlike Green, she wasn't afraid to admit it. She had already admitted it to half of her friends in school and some of them would laugh at her, saying that a zoo owner wasn't good enough for someone like her. But like she was going to listen to any of THAT crap.
A part of her had also finally started to see that maybe Green liked her too when he literally hugged her upon hearing her say: Don't worry Green, I'll go with you. I'd choose a friend like you over my college classes any day. And she meant that he LITERALLY hugged her. In front of EVERYONE. Yeah he had some other friends who were females as well, but that was the day that she had actually noticed that he had never actually been as truly honest with or kind to them as he had been to her. And once she figured that out, she'd always try to pay close attention to Greens words, wait for him to come out so she could let it out too.
But maybe that had been a mistake. Maybe it was wrong that she decided to wait, now knowing that if Green truly felt anything for her, those feeling were most likely being hidden because he didn't want her to have what he considered a boring life. Nor would he want to tell her if it was because he couldn't take care of her the way he thought she deserved. But just WHY did there have to be ANYTHING between them? They had practically been taking care of each other since the day they first met. Yeah, it'd probably suck that Green and Angela could never amount to anything more than a street-couple if they decided to take the romance road, but a part of her really didn't seem to care about that.
Of course she didn't care about how poor he was or how unsuccessful in life he was or even how much less funny and more serious he had become since he first tried to manage that zoo. Green pretty much HAD to do that if he was gonna manage things properly. But she still wanted him. If not for what he was, than for at least WHO he was.
"I nearly lost HER, as a friend"., Paradox admitted.
Angela looked back up to the glass covering, her eyes widening upon hearing that. In a way it was similar to her own situation. Well, probably not the extent of which PARADOX had it, but either way, a part of her was still petrified of losing him in any way shape or form. No doubt, however Paradox went through it was much worse, seeing as he was telling her that he NEARLY lost Athena, who was as of right now, Paradox's wife and a mother of how many children she didn't know plus Outilisa. At least they had gotten THAT far. But would she and Green ever get that far?
"I have seen the way you look at Green little one, and I have seen it plenty enough times on the faces of others who never got the chance to admit it"., Paradox told her. "None of them ever ended pretty". "Some cried, others died in the pain, but others... they twisted into something darker". "As if they could no longer give a care to the world or anything it". "I know from experience that it WILL take you in one of those three ways, and it slowly kills you from the inside". "It nearly killed me".
The radio flickered on again.
"SEVERAL times"., Athena admitted.
Now Angela wasn't sure she could imagine the pain of loving someone who you weren't sure loved you back. Well OK, she could but what she really meant was to Paradox's extent. Nearly dying several times in battle all because of the one you loved? If Green ever tried to do anything like that for her, then quite honestly she wouldn't be sure whether she would be horrified or angry at him. She wanted to HAVE him, not LOSE him.
"But please, for your own sake as we try to help you survive this horrid war, try to remember that your friend is not lost to us"., Paradox told her. "Nor shall we be to him".
Angela looked at the glass covering as if she understood him. But her understanding didn't really go as far as she had tried to make it look. Sure, she believed that Paradox was telling the truth, but the question that seemed to make her mind itch was simply why? Why was Paradox so compassionate for the Bionicle or Transformer races? They knew how much more powerful they were, yet they refused to take what could easily be understandable revenge. So why not?
Pushing these thoughts aside, Angela had instead decided to ask him: "Do you really think we'll get them back"?
Angela nearly slapped herself on the forehead when she immediately realized that she already believed that they would. But then again, could she really be blame for her doubts? As of right now, The Toabots were against two enemies, both extraordinarily powerful. What if the Turaga had decided to remain as selfish as they had been before? Would they REALLY try to give the Toabots a chance to prove themselves as their allies, and perhaps work together to stop the Makutacons? The REAL enemies? With as many Makutacons as the Toa, Autobot and Matoran had spotted, it wasn't too hard to figure out that the Toabots were gonna need all the help that they could get.
"I KNOW we will"., Paradox responded. "But under no circumstances will we do so in ways that involve violence".
Angela looked curiously up at the glass now, asking: "OK, not to question you in any disrespectful way, but why not"? "You guys are stronger than them and well... they're kinda dirtbags".
What Paradox told her next simply amazed her.
"That is exactly why Angela"., Paradox told her in a surprisingly calm voice. "We know we are strong and we know what they have done, but what good would hurting them do"? "Why harm them anymore than they have already harmed themselves, when we are here to SAVE them from their past mistakes"? "To save them from the anger and hatred of the Makutacons"? "And to maybe save THEM from the evil that blinds them in the process"? "I know there are risks little one, but if I can reach their lights and sparks and hearts, and help them see that we love them, it will be well worth the risk".
Angela actually didn't have an answer or counter remark for that as she looked up at the glass cover with a face of amazement planted on her mask. This guy actually LOVED the ones who had wronged against him? Without a single ounce of hate or anger or envy in his Liark? Where had THAT kind of inspiration come from. It was very righteous of him to respond to those Turaga in love, but had it always been there? Or did someone else put it in there?
"No more casualties need to be taken from here on out"., Paradox told her. "For one, a man who was far greater than any of us will ever be, had already been made one, for ALL others".
Angela actually let out a tear there, realizing now what Paradox was telling her. A tear that was filled with so many emotions. Love, sorrow, regret, hope and a large amount of happiness. For NOW she knew why Paradox was so willing to be forgiving of both Turaga and Makutacons alike. He hadn't put all of this love in his heart himself. Instead, she believed that it was The Lord himself who put this kind of love in his heart. Because all along his inspiration had been the powerful love of Jesus Christ when he made the sacrifice that gave forgiveness to all across the world, and the known universe.
Immediately, Angela dropped her anger for all of those Turaga and prayed: Dear Lord, regardless of what any of these sentient beings do to each other today, please forgive them so they may also see the power of your mercy. And the power of your great love for us. And please Lord, forgive me of all my sins, if I have not asked for it already. For I know that we all do wrong everyday of our lives. But please, forgive me and Green and the Turaga and Edward and the Makutacons, for all the wrong we have done and let us come to you in return with your son forever in our hearts. Amen.
As she then finished her prayer, she opened her eyes, feeling as if something powerful had renewed her heart and responded to this powerful love with a smile before then sitting up and asking Paradox: "OK then, how will you get them back"?
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What do you think of Paradox's speech? Try to put yourself in the shoes of a matoran in Angela's current state of thought. Would a Toabot reminding you of what Jesus gave for you make you want to love and forgive everyone? Be sure to answer these questions in the form of a review or a PM. Or if you have any questions and/or concerns, please feel free to ask anything. More to follow soon! Thanks for reading and please have a Lord-blessed day! :0)
