Alright everybody, here's chapter 36, this one was typed by both me and Galem, so just expect this story to get... even better. ;0) Lego owns Bionicle, along with the names Ketongu and Jala, Hasbro owns transformers and Galem owns Tali, Ava, Diego, Amber, Alyan and Iris.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Chapter 36: Oh no...
Back somewhere in the street, completely crowded in ash and rubble, Solar Scream was still getting nowhere in his fight against Paradox's wife. Even now, as he fell to the ground and quickly picked up a long shard of metal, swinging it at her, Athena had just moved aside, dodging it and then kicking him hard in the chin, knocking him on his back again for what felt like the eight hundredth time. Then attempting a grab for the shard as it landed to his right, Athena stomped on it, quickly aiming it at Solar Screams head.
At first, Solar Scream wanted to give her a glare, impress his master by dying in an honorable way. But he decided against this upon then seeing Zera perched just nearby, and she was coming fast. Solar Scream mentally grinned, then looking up at Athena, then at the pointed end of the shard that was still pointed at his forehead. Time for a little distraction., Solar Scream happily thought, then giving her the best fearful face he could.
"No, NO"!, Solar Scream shouted in an even more fear-filled tone. "Please"! "Spare my life"! "I BEG OF YOU"!
Athena just glared down at him, wanting so badly right now to kill him for the way he had reacted to the death of that brave Toa of Lava, but... how could she? And over THIS? As much as she didn't want to, she knew she had to spare him. And not just because this guy looked more than terrified at the sight of the weapon probably about to take his life, but also because of what Paradox had in his heart, something given to him by the teachings of The Lord, mercy. And as she looked back at it, Gahu had had mercy in his heart too. If someone lesser than her, someone of her race, AND Jesus all had that kind of mercy in their hearts, why was it so hard for her to do the same?
Immediately, Athena reached down with her left hand, picking Solar Scream up by his throat and squeezing a bit, still struggling with the anger she felt against this sick Makutacon. Just calm yourself and think of what the Prince of Peace would do in your shoes., she desperately thought, then closing her eyes and taking a few short breaths before dropping the shard and throwing him forward, causing him to the side of a wooden building, back-first.
As Solar Scream then looked up at her, Athena responded: "Consider yourself lucky that we are the ones who offer mercy".
"I dunno-, Zera said as she flipped off the top of a building and landed just a few feet behind her:-I'd consider him more gifted than lucky if he was really able to trick you".
Athena quickly turned to the source of the voice, glaring at the grinning face of the female Makutacon general.
"Oh I'm sorry, hello Athena"., Zera then said.
Athena gave a sarcastic nod then, replying: "With Killer being here as well, should've expected YOU to show up as well".
Zera's grin grew as she then took out a two-bladed sword with a handle the size of the blades themselves, and replied: "Oh of course I would". "I'm faithful to my husband, surely you understand". Then looking to Solar Scream, she said: "Hey Scream, get up, let's finish her together". "You distracted her, you might as well help out".
Athena turned quickly then to a grinning Solar Scream as he got back up onto his feet, then crackling his knuckles as he slowly approached Athena.
"All in pleasure, my queen"., Solar Scream responded.
Athena was now forced to look quickly from one side to the other as they both started a slow approach. This war was becoming both hard and unfair. With not enough Toabots on the battlefield to help them, they were still outnumbered. Sure, it was only a matter of time until War Machine showed the Makutacons his true colors, but seeing as Athena probably wasn't the only one fighting somebody one on two, she was still sure that chances of them winning without The Lords help, was not at all likely. And in knowing that nothing was impossible with her Lord on high, she made a quick prayer before then deciding to continue this fight.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Back in an alley made loud with the sound of gunfire, Green was struggling with his own thoughts as he watched Pow and Maze fire shots at the black cobra-like Makutacon who hissed loudly and fired back with his codak tail. As of right now, Green was filled with quite a bit of fear, being in a do or die situation. But over this fear, he felt a compassion and a will to fight for those the Makutacons refused to forgive. And this same courage encouraged him to rise up immediately, shooting his pistol at Savage.
Each bullet just bounced off of the Makutacon, seeming to just make him angrier as he glare over in Greens direction, then aiming his tail at the Le-matoran. Edward saw this about to happen, and rolled his eyes at himself before then tackling Green to the ground, just barely dodging the shots fired. The other Toa ducked as well, deciding to be wise and not get killed just yet. Especially not while this war was more than likely taking a turn for the worse.
Green got up off the ground, staying on his knees as he looked to a glaring Edward, giving him a nod in thanks. Edward eased his glare then, looking to every one else and almost wishing he wasn't a Toa. Or at least not a Toa surrounded by others who were filled with much fear. But regardless of how irritating it was to only have ONE brave person with them (coughGreen(IM NOT ADMITTING IT AGAIN)cough), he guessed he couldn't exactly blame them either. These things were stronger than them in every single way so of course this was going to be a fearful situation for them.
Edward let out a sigh then, asking: "Well, what do you genius's suppose we should do now"? "And i'd be comfortable with something that doesn't nearly get us all killed".
Green turned then, taking a quick peek over the dumpster they all hid behind, seeing Savage simply readjusting setting on his gun with a hand that came out of his side. Literally, not an arm, a HAND. Green shook his head for a second. He swore, these things were getting more and more strange with each passing second. Just then, Green looked closer at the codak blaster on Savage's tail. It was clearer now that the gun was actually a part of his tail, but even more clearly he was able to see that it had been put there with a surgical process.
Green grinned humorously to himself, thinking that if this was a less serious situation, he'd probably make a wise crack over a Newton law, instead calling it, Greens first law of surgery: Everything that goes on can also come off. Well OK, Green would admit that it wasn't all that funny, but it was all that came into mind at that point. He rolled his eyes then as he ducked down, becoming amused that he was actually thinking of comedious things in a BATTLEFIELD of all places.
Then looking seriously to the others, Green responded: "We need to try and blow that cannon off of his tail somehow". "If we get it, we can use it against him and not be at risk of getting shot at".
Pow tilted his head in confusion, asking: "As good as that would be for us, especially now, just HOW are we going to manage that"?
Green and everyone else became silent, trying now to think of how to accomplish the task of getting that codak blaster off of that Makuta-serpents tail. They could try shooting at it, but that was WAY too risky. What if they damaged the weapon in the process. Well actually, that wasn't even likely considering the metal they wore was stronger than both Transformer and Autobot metal. But then, how would they GET to it if all they did was stay behind a dumpster and shoot the darned thing off?
Green had already made a plan though. Just as he was looking at the weapon, he noticed what looked like a weak spot in the armor of his tail. Something connecting the codak blaster and the end of the tail together. Like a short series of wires connected to veins. If he could just get close enough, he could probably tear it off... with the possible risk of getting thrown off and then shot at unless he decided to grab it, letting his hands burn against the hot metal of the said gun for dear life.
Deciding to just not waste anymore time then, Green just replied: "Give me a blade, then I'm going for it".
Everyone just widened their eyes in surprise. Now don't get them wrong, they had done literally thousands of risky things whenever they had come across situations like this. But that was only in NORMAL war-like situations. And what Green was proposing, that was crazier than ANYTHING they had EVER decided to try. Just give me a sword and let me charge at someone who could easily rival the Terminator? That was more like suicide than anything else!
Angela was first to offer a rejection: "Green, no". "You're not that good with a sword, and regardless, you can't fight a CANNON like that"!
"I agree with the Ga-matoran"., Maze told him. "You'll actually have more of a chance getting shot in the head, the very second he sees you".
Green looked to Maze then, responding: "I know, and that's why I need someone to distract him while I make my charge and WHEN I make my swing". "All I need to know now is, can you manage it"?
Edward actually widened his eyes a little more and nearly laughed when he thought about how much more of a leader this boy was starting to sound like than Billy. To see a matoran with more leadership skills than one of the best lead-toa, that was just embarrassing to the point of hilarious to him. But seeing as now wasn't really the time for any laughs, Edward just decided to ease his expression and give Green a nod in agreement before then giving an answer demanding look to Maze.
Maze spoke instantly: "Well, statistically speaking, you'll only have a few short seconds to pull this off". "So whatever you plan to do here, be sure to do it quick".
Green gave Maze a nod in assurance before everyone then turned to Pow, who had decided to ask: "What about that Sphere thing"? "Couldn't we just use THAT against him"?
"Not likely"., Maze responded. "Neither one of us knows how to manipulate this things power, and even if we did, it's only priority is making planets".
Edward eventually became impatient and asked: "WELL, isn't someone going to give this boy a sword or what"?
"Here"., Goldens voice responded, shocking everyone as Golden immediately walked up to Green, offering the handle of a silver sword to him.
"Whoa"., Pow said, then joking: "Elmo's got a gun moment"?
Green looked wide eyed at Golden as he immediately took the handle of the sword, then looking at it as he gripped it tightly in his right hand. Green almost jumped then as a whirring sound was made and the blade started glowing a searing orange. Green widened his eyes even more once he realized that this was the exact same sword used by Glatorian Ackar. It had been twenty two thousand years since this thing was actually used, and it actually still worked? Better yet...
Green gave a concerned look to his younger brother, asking: "Golden, where did you get this from"?
"I...", was all Golden could manage as he thought about how bad it was for him to just pick that thing up and put it into his back slot.
It was in the same place the Sphere and Golden hadn't really thought about what it was or what it could do, but surely the Turaga were going to be OK if he gave it back? Was it stealing if he took something like this with the full intention of putting it back where he found it later? He knew the Vault wasn't a daycare, where you were given toys that you had to put back, but he still didn't have any intentions of actually KEEPING this thing. Only to use it if it was needed.
Angela immediately knew the answer, giving him a scolding look as she said: "GOLDEN".
"Yes, it's from our vault, but I think we can all agree with each other for once when I say that whatever reason the child took it is an utmost extreme unimportance at this point"., Edward told them, then notioning to the sound of bullets hitting the dumpster.
"Agreed"., Green said, then making a silent prayer for his well being before looking confidentially at Edward and saying: "You ready"?
Edward grinned, responding: "Go".
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
As Blocker then came rushing towards him, Ketongu jumped over his head and sliced at his neck. Blocker quickly ducked and twirled around, clashing his sword with Ketongu's, using his kanohi pakari so the impact would knock him back down. His plan succeeded, sending Ketongu flying backwards, his back eventually hitting and denting the dumpster. As Ketongu had then quickly got up on feet, Blocker started to slowly re-aproach him, cranking his chain sword and twirling it until he looked back at the blade and realizing nothing was happening.
Blocker immediately raised his chain-blade and realized a part of it was missing. Specifically one of the parts that had actually helped it operate.
"Hey"!, Ketongu shouted, getting Blockers attention. Ketongu grinned at Blocker, then revealing said piece in his hand and getting back up on his feet, pointing his golden katanna upwards as he shoved the mechanism on the long blade, then asking: "You call that thing a chainsword"?
Then letting go of the mechanism, it sunk into the blade like a rock would in water and the sword changed almost instantly, parts making a swift movement to form a Katanna-shaped Chain-sword. With a grin, Ketongu then played the radio in his chest that played a dubstep-like tune followed by the words:
Yeah...
They like the way I do this
When I crank it like a CHAINSAW.
Then cranking his Katanna-saw via handle-trigger, and aiming it at Blocker in a normal katanna-wielding stance. Instead of then charging in a storm of rage like Ketongu had expected him to, Blocker simply threw his old Chainsaw to the ground, then taking out another one from the slot in his back, wielding in his left hand and squeezing the handle, activating it. Ketongu's smile grew wider as he pressed the trigger on his Katannasaw a second time, this time the sword activated, functioning like a chainsaw.
Blocker charged then, Ketongu doing the same. Upon getting close enough, Blocker ran halfway across the wall to Ketongu's left, then spinning in the air. Ketongu spun himself as he stopped dead in his tracks, swinging his Katannasaw in the direction of Blockers Chainsword. Both made a hard impact, sending orange and yellow sparks flying. Both drew back and Ketongu swung again at Blockers right side. Blocker managed to swiftly block this with his Chain-sword, then spinning around and punching Ketongu in the face with a backhand fist.
Ketongu quickly recovered from this attack, then leaning back to dodge a swing from Blocker. Ketongu swung his Katannasaw at Blocker's left side. Blocker twirled over this swing, then landing to Ketongus right and swinging the active blade at his neck so quick, Ketongu was almost unable to block it with his Kattanasaw. But once he did, Blocker started to push his blade against Ketongu's, positioning the sword safely under his right arm as he activated his Kanohi pakari, already starting to force Ketongu down.
Ketongu look wide eyed at Blocker then, realizing that he practically just trapped himself upon then hearing Blocker say: "What's the matter Ketongu, you can't outmatch a Pakari"?
Ketongu was forced lower now, trying hard to push against the force of the pakari supported Makutacon. Up to the point where his knees were almost too close to the ground for him top keep pushing. Indeed this Makutacon was much stronger than him, and now there was no way for him to use Blockers strength against him. Ketongu tightly closed his eyes then, silently praying: Please Lord in Heaven, please give me SOMETHING... that I can use against him.
"You're never gonna stop us Key, you AND your friends are weak"., Blocker scolded. "To weak to comprehend the truth: they don't deserve your forgiveness". "Nor do they deserve ANY form of it"!
"None of us did"!, Ketongu countered. "But then Jesus was sent for us"!
"Oh I agree, but does that give any of them the right to KEEP sinning"?, Blocker asked.
Ketongu opened his eyes then, realizing that if he kept fighting with words, he was only going to get no where. So instead he started focusing on images that had started popping up in his head. First, Green, then his friends, then the Turaga, then the other people across the world, before seeing an image that broke his liark, an image he had always imagined when he read about the crucifixion of Jesus, and like the Bible described it, he was bleeding out on the cross, shouting: Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!
Ketongu looked up at Blocker in the eyes then, feeling much stronger than before in both his spirit and his body as he pushed back. This time, Ketongu had seemed to rise with ease and reached eye level with Blocker who started to push a little harder. But instead of Ketongu being forced back down. Ketongu pushed his feet down onto the concrete ground, then using his new-found strength to start pushing Blocker down to the ground.
Blocker widened his eyes as he pushed harder and harder with his pakari, doing so now in great sense of fear. Why wasn't this Toabot losing!? He had no mask, and his muscle mass was not even CLOSE to the size of his own. Just WHAT was giving him all of this strength? He took his mind off of it, quickly trying harder and harder to keep himself where he was now, his knees nearly to the concrete ground. Then, giving Blocker a final, menacing look into his fear-filled eyes, he kicked his left foot hard into Blockers legs, causing him to fall to the ground as Ketongu had then decided to end this fight, spinning quickly and slicing at the falling mass, cutting it in half and leaving two heaps on the ground, of which Ketongu turned his back to.
Ketongu chose not to look back at the now dead Makutacon as he then rubbed both of his arms. Truth was, he didn't really love violence, but he didn't really seem to have any other choice if he wanted to get out of that fight alive. Deciding to just take his attention off of this subject, Ketongu felt pain in both of his arms as the strength faded from them, no longer being needed.
"Man, now my arms feel like crap"!, Ketongu shouted.
Just as he said this, he heard something move in the left side of the alley, then quickly turning to see what looked like another Makutacon of red and green. As to where this Makutacon came from, Ketongu had no clue, but he knew for a FACT that this one was NOT on the battlefield earlier. So just how did this Makutacon get here? Better yet, WHY was he here. The Makutacon pointed a green rifle then and Ketongu shifted his sword back into his blasters, bracing for fire fight that he hoped would be easy.
Suddenly, a series of explosions erupted from the Makutacons neck, startling it in a storm of great confusion. None of this confusion holding any fear since these were just explosions to him, meaning it was either an Autobot or a Toa who did this. But Ketongu decided to push these concerns aside for a second, taking the chance he had been given to shoot this Makutacon in the body, hitting him several times in the body and causing him to collapse hard onto the ground with a clattering sound of metal on rocky surface.
Ketongu had first decided to let a sigh of relief come loudly from his mouth as he leaned against the wall nearest to him, calming himself down with a few relaxed breaths before then looking curriously around himself. Just who had fired that shot?, Ketongu immediately began to ponder. His eyes managed to find nothing as he continued looking around himself. This person might've been gone now for all he knew, but he decided not to give up just yet. Whoever had tried to distract that Makutacon clearly wasn't here to kill him, otherwise he would've been shot at as well. But again, who WAS that?
Still looking around in confusion, Ketongu asked aloud: "Who fired that blast"? Nothing. Ketongu tried again, humorously asking: "Michael Bay"?!
"Hey, mech, you OK"?, Ketongu heard suddenly.
It was a voice, a female voice. But as to who it really was, he was unsure. Ketongu turned quickly to the source, readying himself for a fight if necessary. He immediately came to the conclusion that this wouldn't become necessary once he saw the form standing in the shadows, structured like a female Toa of water. So, at least he was right about this mysterious figure being a Toa, seeing as they were actually slightly smaller in size than Toabots and structured much differently. But as of right now, Ketongu just decided to push these thoughts aside and get to more concerningly important questions. The fact that this female Toa was actually able to hide in the shadows for as long as she had, more than proved that she knew what she was doing.
"Well, I guess I am now, thanks to you"., Ketongu decided to kindly reply. "Name's Ketongu by the way".
Suddenly, something leaped over his head and slid down the side of the wall at his right, then landing with a silent 'thump'. Golden red eyes gaze up at him before the figure then steped out into the light. It was a Toa. Ga-Toa by the looks of it. Her armor was the hue of the sky at midday, though the armor on her lower arms and legs were the color of the Caribbean. On her back hung a black sniper rifle, while a silver quiver of arrows hung from her right hip. She held a silver re-curve bow in her left hand while her right rested on her hip. On her face, she wore a silver and blue kanohi Hua.
"I'm Tali." she offered him a friendly smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ketongu."
Now knowing that his rescuer wasn't at all a threat of any sort, Ketongu added a bit more friendliness to his own smile, replying: "Likewise"., and then holding out his right hand in greetings. "Did the other Turaga send you here"?
Tali grinned as she raised her right hand to meet his.
"Yes"., she replied. "They figured that you guys could use some help, so they sent my team and I to back you up." She took a step back then, making a half-turn to look in the direction of the fallen Makutacon with a smirk: "And it looks like we arrived just in the nick of time."
Ketongu followed her gaze, also looking at the fallen corpse of the unknown Makutacon as he replied in agreement: "Indeed you did". "If I wasn't quick enough I'd probably be scrap m..."
Ketongu looked away from the water-Toa then, pain in his single eye as he kept it tightly shut and resisted the powerful urge to shed a tear from the pain he still felt upon witnessing the murder of Gahu. Not that he didn't trust her or anything, she had already earned his trust in at least giving him a distraction. But even Ketongu hated to be the one to feel the burden of something like this and then share it with other strangers the very next second. It would just be too much for him to do all together, and seeing as he was still fighting this destructive war in what was now a war zone, that wasn't exactly an option right now.
"Never-mind"., Ketongu simply said, forcing a normal face as he then turned himself back to the Ga-Toa. "Anyway, who's on your team"?, he asked, wanting desperately not to focus on the brutal murder they had just witnessed moments ago.
Tali turned to face Ketongu then, replying: "My team consists of five members: Ava, Diego, Amber, Iris, and Alyan. Ava is a Toa of Air, Iris and Diego are Autobots, Amber is an Ice Toa and Alyan is a Stone Toa."
She smiled fondly as she recalled happy memories her best friends. She was happy to have them as her teammates and was honored that they had chosen her to be their leader, despite how many times she had insisted she was not the right choice. It hadn't been until her team was in danger that she realized how right they were. She gave her head a mental shake to keep her thoughts from going down that path.
"Cool"., Ketongu responded, finally starting to feel a little better in knowing that they were at least getting back up. Though Toa and Autobots couldn't do a single ounce worth of harm to them, at least these they knew how to handle themselves.
But Ketongu instantly started to feel a mixture of emotions as he looked closer at the female Toa of water. He couldn't quite explain it, but something about this Toa seemed very... familiar. This doesn't make any sense., Ketongu thought to himself. He KNEW he hadn't seen her before. He had never seen her a single previous day of his LIFE and yet she looked SO MUCH like someone he knew, and the worse part was, he couldn't even figure out WHO she looked like.
Then deciding not to let his curiosity wait any longer, ketongu said: "You know, I'm not fully sure why but you look really familiar. Have I seen you from somewhere"?
Tali laughed softly as she shook her head, replying: "No, I don't think we've ever met." She thought then over why he would say such a thing, when finally a thought came to mind. "But if you've met my twin brother, Gahu, then maybe that's why.", she replied, rolling her eyes humorously. "People used to tell us we looked so much like each other that the only thing that kept anyone from being confused was our armor color." She falls into a small giggle fit as she remembers the few times their own family members would get their names mixed up.
It was always funny to see their confused faces before they realized who they were talking to. Not that they didn't use it to their advantage in their childhood, because they did. It had been, after all, one of their favorite pranks to play. She bit back a laugh when she remembered the day their father had gotten their names mixed up. The two had played along, claiming the others' name, and successfully confusing their parents. Once Tahu and Gali figured out what their kids were doing, well, let's just say the house was full of loud laughter for the rest of the evening.
Ketongu's eye immediately widened then as he took in everything Tali had just told him, along with the name she said. And the very fact that she had just confirmed Gahu was her twin brother horrified him beyond words. Killer had just murdered her brother a few minutes ago, and now he had a SISTER?! Not even the nearby gunfire could distract him from the pain he immediately felt upon remembering Gahu's death and looking into her Kanohi Hau, unsure of how to tell her.
But all that emerged from Ketongu's mouth was: "Oh no".
She immediately stoped laughing the second she saw the look on his face and felt the faint tendrils of dread wrap her light. "What do you mean 'oh no'? Did something happen to Gahu? Where is he? Is he alright?"
But Ketongu remained silent, starting to feel dread wrap around his own Liark. Tali's dread turned into a panic that clawed at her heartlight when he didn't respond. Gahu had to be alright, right? He had to be! He promised to go surfing with her after she got back. In fact, they had been planning on surprising their parents when they got home.
"Please, tell me he's alright!" Her voice cracked a bit at the end of her plea, desperation evident in her eyes.
But even now, Ketongu couldn't tell her. He couldn't even bear to look at the pain in her mask, it instantly became too much for his Liark to bear. Ketongu instantly had to force himself to look down at the concrete ground, an eye tightly closed in the pain that refused to leave. Even now, Ketongu felt saddened to the point where he didn't even notice Ops roll in, pointing his rifle down into the left alley. Not even noticing the two, Ops pressed a finger to his right ear with the intention of contacting ANY Toa or Autobot or even HUMAN who could help them in this fight.
"Billy, that thing is NOT going down"., Ops spoke, gazing ahead at the slowly approaching Makutacon of Earth, unsure of whether or not he could beat this thing alone.
Suddenly, a orchid purple car drove between the Makutacon's legs, its hood mounted pistol aiming for the legs as it roared past. The Makutacon glared at it with a growl then, firing a blaster mounted on his right arm. The shot came close, sending the car flying into the air. The car transformed in mid-air to reveal a young female Autobot. Almost immediately, two figures, Toa by the looks of it, ran to her side, helping her up. One had green and black armor and wore a grey kanohi Kadin while the other was white and orange and wore a red kanohi Huna. The Autobot turned to them. "Amber! Ava! Use your powers to slow that thing down!"
"On it!" They said in synch before then breaking away and charging the Makutacon. Ava, the Toa with the grey Kadin, whirled around a pair of wind katanas, shouting: "Wind Storm!"
At the same time, Amber, the Toa with the red Huna, pulled out an ice spear, shouting: "Arctic Blast!"
The elements of wind and ice combined to create a mini blizzard that almost immediately froze the Makutacon's legs and arms solid, causing him to fall onto his chest with a series of growls and roars in anger. Their work done, the girls rushed back to their teammates.
"We better get moving." Amber panted, brushing a strand of her ash blonde hair out of her face. "That ice will not hold him for long."
Ava nodded in agreement, then seeing the distraught look on her leader's face. "Tali?" She asked, wondering what could have possibly upset her friend.
A long moment passed, Ketongu still refusing to look at the worried Ga-Toa. No matter how hard he would try, there was no possible way he could have the strength to bring himself to tell Tali of the brave casualty they had just token. Instead, Ketongu looked up, his eye avoiding Tali's gaze and looking to Ops.
"You'd do a better job at explaining this to her". Then walking past her and reloading the blaster in his right arm, and walking towards the growl just around the corner, said: "I'm already too weak to do it myself".
Ops widened his own eyes upon then realizing what Ketongu had just asked him to do. Sure he thought he could do it, but even now he knew it would still be hard on his part to do so. And to make matters worse, his eyes widened more as he looked at her, feeling a tear fall down the metal plating of his face as he immediately saw the resemblance in her. But now he REALLY didn't know if he could. Not only did he not want to cause this Toa any pain, but something in his spark started to hurt, being unable to bear the sight of someone so beautiful in this much pain.
Deciding to do it anyways, Ops forced himself to approach Tali, circling around her and looking down into her eyes as he forced himself harder to tell her the spark and heartlight-breaking news.
"As much as it pains me to be the bearer of this kind of news... Gahu took three cannon wounds to the chest"., Ops told her, his voice starting to break as he continued. "We managed to get the body safely off the field but... When Billy checked his pulse, we came to a conclusion that I still don't want to admit". Another tear slid slowly down the left side of his face as he tried to look as strong as he could into her eyes, already starting to fail as he forced: "Gahu is dead".
Tali reeled back as if she had been physically punched in the gut. And she might as well have been as she found herself having a difficult time filling her lungs. Her stomach did flips and twisted in knots that she was sure she was going to lose last night's dinner.
"What"?, Tali asked him. "No. No, he..he can't be."
She looked up at the Autobot, hoping beyond hope that this was a cruel prank of some sort. But the sorrow in his eyes were enough to tell her, he was not fooling around. She fell to her knees, clutching at her chest in pain as her light broke. Hot tears that she had tried to hold back, now spilled down her face as she screamed: "No. NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!" Her screams turned into wails as her brother's name left her lips. "GAHU! GAHU!"
Her body shook with the strength of her cries and she wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to ease it. She soon became aware of another pair of arms wrapping around her and opened an eye to see the green armor. Tilting her head slightly to the side, she proceeded to weep into her friend's shoulder, unaware of the tears that fell from Ava's eyes.
Then, being unable to hold himself together any longer, Ops broke into tears as well, each tear seeming to add a hundred pounds more suffering to the pain he had already started to feel. He knew what it was like to be in this Ga-Toa's shoes, he knew it all too well, and the fact that she was feeling this pain right now seemed to make him hurt all the more. But no matter how much pain he felt in his spark, none of it could compare to the guilt he had already felt for being unable to stop Gahu from walking in-between the two warrior-leaders. But at the same time, he had felt an even bigger chance of hope for the peace between the Bioformers and the other races of this earth when Gahu had actually SMILED, right before he died. Almost instantly, he knew there was more to be said, and regardless of how much pain he already felt, he fought through it and continued as he looked sadly down at Tali's sorrow-filled form.
"Believe me, it took every last ounce of strength I had just to keep from crying the way you are now"., Ops told her. "Also believe me when I say I know how you feel". "I was a witness to the murder of seven of my best friends, All of them, brutally murdered right before my eyes". "And I was powerless to stop it". "But, I think it will at least make you feel a little better if you know WHY he died".
Suddenly, a Gunshot echoed down the alleyway Ketongu had entered moments ago, and a clattering of metal against concrete was heard as Ketongu immediately walked out from said alley, not saying a single word as he stood near Tali's other friends, watching both Ops and Tali carefully. Again, Ketongu knew he could never be the one to tell this young female Toa that her brother was just murdered by a revenge-hungry Makutacon, but he also couldn't bring himself to leave, already feeling a heavy burden for Gahu's death as well.
Tali turned her head in the direction of the gunshot, slightly thankful for the distraction. The sound of Ops' sobs had startled Tali out of her own grief. Removing her face from Ava's shoulder, she had looked to the weeping Autobot and felt an ache in her light as she took in what he had said. No one should go through that, especially someone as kind-sparked, handsome and loyal as him. Did she just seriously think he was handsome? She quickly shoved that thought to the back of her mind. She could see the grief and hurt that have been bottled up for who knows how long, and it made Tali's light long to go to him, to ease the pain. When Ketongu stepped back into view, she turned her attention back to Ops, remembering that he had mentioned something about why Gahu had died. Not trusting her voice at the moment, she nodded, gesturing with a hand for him to continue.
Still forcing himself to look into Tali's eyes, now filled with what he could only describe as both beauty and pain, Ops said: "Well, you see... Both the Toabot leader, Paradox, and the Makutacon leader, Killer, were arguing over whether or not we should trust each other as two different species, focusing only on how ours wronged theirs. Then Gahu did something that none of us had the light or spark or Liark to do. He stepped in between them and told Killer, the Makutacon leader, that we had changed. And he gave convincing word of the possibility of peace, and it truly amazed us. And lastly, he offered a hand to Killer, asking him to participate in the peace, promising him it was possible. Killer called him a Liar and... Then as he turned to us, his chest full of red, he said something..."
Ops tightly shut his eyes then, looking down and trying so hard to open them back up as his last words repeated in his head over and over again like a record. But the mere image itself was what kept them shut, refusing to leave his mind alone and forcing him to remember that gruesome image. But it seemed easier to gaze upon it then, as he focused on those last peaceful words... and that SMILE. That smile he had kept, even as his body had collapsed to the ground, dead... why did it seem now to give him happiness?
Tali waited a few minutes for him to continue. But upon then noticing his silence, she followed the urging in her light and removed herself from Ava's embrace. Standing to her feet, she ignored the noodle like feeling in her legs as she slowly approaches Ops. Laying a hand on his shoulder. She finally found her voice. "Ops?" She didn't move her hand nor shift her gaze from his bowed head as she waited for him to react. Finally, he looked up at her and she gave him a gentle smile, asking: "What did he say?"
Ops felt something powerful come into him then as he looked deeper into Tali's eyes and said: "He said what I believe now was meant for you, as much as it was the rest of us". "His last words were: Please don't mourn for me... I'm going home".
Ketongu shut his eye then, simply listening as a tear silently slid down his face, thinking to himself, even now of those last words from the Toa of Lava. They were words without fear or anger, words he knew were not simply thought up, but put into his mid by the Holy Spirit as a reward for his unfailing faith in The Lords love. And in a greater sense, it was astoundingly beautiful that Gahu had been this brave for both the Toabots, and for Jesus.
Iris turned her head away to hide the silent tear running down her face. She had known Gahu very well and had looked forward to seeing him again. When she had joined Tali's team, Gahu had made her promise that she would protect his sister, despite their past, and Iris would keep that promise more now than ever.
Amber held Ava as the wind Toa calmed down. She had never met Gahu but Tali and Ava spoke of him so often, it felt like she had known him her whole life. She was saddened that she would never get to meet him on Earth but she knew that one day, they would meet in Heaven.
Ava struggled to silence her sobs. She and Tali had been best friends since their childhood and she would always be by their house to hang. Gahu had always been like the brother she never had and Tali was the sister she always wanted. Gahu had always been there to support them through thick and thin and when the news came that they were going to be on the same team, Gahu practically threw a party to congratulate them. She had been so eager to see him again and it hurt her as badly as Tali to hear that he was dead. But, upon hearing Gahu's last words, she found the strength to smile through her tears, knowing that he was right.
"He had so much faith in the forgiveness the Toabots were fighting so hard for, that he decided to put his own life on the line, just to say the word that we all struggle with everyday: Forgiveness"., Ops told her, feeling a tear of mixed joy and sadness fall from his eyes. "Till death, he stood for the greatest sacrifice of all and he SMILED... even as he died. Like it was nothing to him. Like he KNEW for a fact that the word of the forgiveness Jesus gave for us, was more than worth dying for".
Ava and Amber smiled at this, sharing a knowing gaze. Then, they turned to Iris who was also smiling a bit. That sounded like Gahu alright. Tali looked down to the side as she wiped away her tears.
"Just like Stephen in the book of Acts.", Tali responded, chuckling softly before returning her gaze to Ops.
Her brother's final words were like a balm to her hurting heart and reminded her of what she had been taught long ago.
"And he's right, we should not mourn over him like those who have no hope., Tali agreed. Instead, we should be joyous that Gahu is now with our Lord." Then, turning her gaze to Heaven, she thought of her brother up there with all who had gone before them, looking down and cheering them on. The thought brought a smile to her lips as tears of joy fell down her face. "Gahu, I miss you, dear brother. But I know that one day soon, we will meet again." For one second, she thought she saw Gahu's face smiling back at her but she didn't linger on it.
A smile instantly grew on Ops's face as he saw the newly growing joy in Tali's, along with the feeling of fast spark-beats in his chest. But not just for Tali's joy, but also because in that moment, he realized that in death, Gahu clung tightly to the Holy Spirit The Lord had placed deeply within him. And he knew now how much Gahu knew Jesus cared for everyone on that cross, feeling a great sense of joy within his spark. And in this joy, he had suddenly hugged Tali, for a second thinking about breaking it, but refused this thought upon realizing that this was exactly what she needed.
Tali's eyes widened slightly in surprise at being hugged but she relaxed and hugged him back with a smile. Iris and Amber grinned at the two before Iris walked over to Ava who kept wiping at the tears in her eyes. She laid a hand on the Air Toa's shoulder with a concerned look. "Are you okay, Ava?"
Ava nodded, still wiping at her eyes. "Yeah. I was just thinking about the reception when Gahu arrived in Heaven. Can you just picture it?" She looked up at the purple femme with a smile.
Iris chuckled as she gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Are you kidding? That has to be quite the welcoming committee."
Amber also chuckled as she tried to imagine the scene and what Gahu must have be doing right now. "I bet Gahu is already chatting with King David right now."
"Nah, I bet he's walking with Father Abraham.",A white, black and blue Autobot stepped out of his place in the shadows, approaching Amber with a soft smile, his blue chevron and blue and white doorwings testifying to his Praxian heritage.
Ava grinned at the newcomer. "What?" she asked him in a teasing tone. "Come on, Diego, it has to be someone more recent, like George Washington!"
Amber raised an eyebrow at her friend. "And just how is General Washington "recent"?"
Laughing at her friends' little guessing game,Tali broke her hug with Ops and turned to them, a bright grin on her face. "Guys, guys, guys! As great as I'm sure meeting all of them might be, I have no doubt he is talking to Jesus. In fact, I would not be surprised if Jesus was the first person who greeted him."
Finally starting to feel better upon seeing the change in mood to everyone's current conversation, Ketongu gave a shrug and a smile, replying: "Well, either way, I just like to think Gahu put a pretty big smile on God's face when he did what he did"
Iris's smile turned thoughtful. "I wonder if he got the "Well done, my faithful servant"."
Tali grinned at the thought. Surely he had gotten it. She made a mental note to ask him when her time to go came. "I'm sure he did, Iris." She responded, then thinking more of the subject of Gahu entering the gates of Heaven, she felt her body fill with joy and excitement. Unable to control it for a single second longer, she let herself spin in a small circle, giggling wildly over the fact that her brother was home with Jesus! What could be better than that? As Ketongu and Ops both watched her, they felt a powerful sense of joy as well. Yes, Gahu had been taken from this earth, but it made them both just as happy as Tali was that Gahu was surely home now, in a place where there would be no more crying, pain or suffering. A place where they knew he was loved by The Lord.
Suddenly, the group heard a loud metallic sound of some sort, followed by a loud groan of pain. They immediately turned to the source of the voice, seeing a tipped dumpster and a human in a pair of brown pants and a green shirt, rubbing his forehead in pain. A few seconds later, this human looked up at the group with a widened pair of brown eyes through a pair of black and green glasses. He also had short brown hair with small strains of gold, a slowly growing beard, and just a bit wide in the body.
The human remained silent for a few long moments, keeping his wide eyed gaze as he slowly pointed a thumb behind himself and asked: "So...should I, like, go now"?
Diego gave the human a curious look, not exactly understanding the question but answering it anyways: "Uh, sure, I guess." He started to turn away, then quickly looking back at the human, his body suddenly tense. "Wait, who are you?"
An explosion was heard close by, causing the human to jump and let out a scream that probably would've made everyone laugh if they didn't instantly remember that they were still in the middle of a war.
The human let out a loud sigh then, responding: "Somebody who left Tommyville to get away from this".
Shaking his head, Ops approached him, turning to the others and telling them: "I'll drive him out of here. You guys think you can wait a second? I'd still kinda like to be a part of this fight".
Ketongu gave a grin and a nod, replying: "You know it".
Tali smiled as she gave him a thumbs up and responded: "No problem. See you soon."
Ops gave the pretty Ga-Toa a smile and a nod, before then reverting into truck mode and opening a right door next to the human who entered at a self quickened pace before then closing the door behind himself. In the next second, Ops drove out of the alley, then turning into a left corner and becoming completely hidden from view. As Ops had disappeared from sight, Ketongu tilted his head curiously in Tali's direction.
"You guys think he's talking about that thing with Fireman"?, Ketongu asked her.
Tali glanced up at Ketongu before leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "Possibility." she said as she looked back down the alley.
"What thing with Fireman?" Tali and the others turned to see another Toa with brown and tan armor and wearing a Glatorian helmet (like Ackar's) with a blue visor over his eyes. His head tilted up to meet Ketongu's gaze. "Are you talking about that bomb threat"?
"Yeah"., Ketongu responded. "The guy calls himself the spreading flame of justice too if anybody prefers nicknames"., Ketongu added in a somewhat humorous tone.
Suddenly, Ketongu thought of something with a widened eye. But was he right about this? Would he finally have a couple more people to pick on like he was Green? He hoped so. Just to confirm this to himself, he ran through a scan he had done on Ops a few moments earlier, then looking over at Tali with a grin. He had seen all he had needed to see in that one scan, and to him it was going to be a LOT of fun to mess with. And he continued to think that was as he tried then to resist the urge to laugh, almost hoping that wasn't evident in his face.
Sensing that she was being watched, Tali almost immediately looked up, seeing the humorous look on Ketongu's face. "What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
She knew that look. She had seen it plenty times before and knew Ketongu was trying not to laugh about something. And seeing as their previous conversation had been mildly humorous, she highly doubted that that was what he was snickering about.
"What's so funny?"
Ketongu's smile grew wider as he responded: "Oh come on, if you've seen what's been happening between Green and Angela, I think it's... An eventuality between you and-, then cupping a hand in front of his mouth and responding in a humorous, low voice: -I am the child of a Prime".
Tali's eyes widened and she nearly fell over from the shock. Her mind refused to give her anything to make a good comeback as she felt her face turn bright red.
"Wha...I...that..Ketongu!" she stuttered. "It's not like that!" Finally, her mind caught onto the last thing he said and she went for it, desperate for a change of subject. "And what do you mean, "child of a Prime?"
"He's the son of Optimus Prime"., Ketongu responded. "THE Optimus Prime". "Also, I was only laughing because I think.., A snicker. "No, I KNOW he likes you". "A lot of stuff rose in his biological levels when he was hugging you". Then adding with an even bigger grin: "A LOT, of STUFF".
This sent Ava into a giggling fit. "Oooo! Tali's gotta boyfriend! Tali's gotta boyfriend!" She taunted in a song-song voice.
Meanwhile, both Iris and Diego had started humming the first few notes of the wedding march which made Tali blush harder, if that was even possible.
"Guys! You're not helping!" she cried, hoping to make them stop, though she knew there was no chance of that once they all got started. A tap on her shoulder drew her attention to the brown Toa.
"Uh, Tali?", Alyan asked her.
Okay, she really didn't like how that sounded.
"Yeah, Alyan?", Tali asked him.
"This may not be the best time to mention this but," his face broke into a wide grin as he pointed to her face. "you're blushing!"
Despite Tali already knew that, she couldn't prevent a startled "What?" from escaping her lips.
Amber snickered behind her hand. "He's right. You're all red as a rose."
Tali could not believe this.
"Amber!" She looked to the rest of her team, eyes pleading. "Guys, seriously, cut it out!"
"We can't. It'll grow right back." Ava managed to say between gasps.
Tali recognized the line and facepalmed herself.
"Oi."
At this point, Ketongu couldn't help but grin widely at this new team of Toa and Autobots, nearly laughing in excitement. He had practically just met these guys and ALREADY he had another crush to pick on. In a mental storm of laughter, he thought to himself: I am going to have SO much fun with these people if we're all still alive by the end of this. Ketongu looked around at each of them, being unable to help himself with the smile that immediately grew on his face.
"I like this team"., Ketongu commented. Then looking to Tali: "But seriously, if you like him too, I really don't think it's anything to be embarrassed about".
Almost immediately, Ketongu looked back a few feet in front of himself and the others, seeing Ops revert into robot mode and start walking towards them, a curious look on his face. Another grin conquered Ketongu's face. This timing was absolutely PERFECT timing if nothing else. And what did that mean here and now? More fun for him, and at this point he honestly couldn't be any happier.
Once Ops got close enough to be sure they would hear him, he asked: "Embarrassed about what"?
Tali jumped slightly upon hearing Ops voice and quickly swallowed a yelp of surprise. Unfortunately, she ended up biting her lower lip enough to draw blood but she ignored it. She quickly waved her hands in front of herself.
"Nothing!" Tali said in the best calm voice she could muster at this point. "No one is embarrassed about anything."
She tried then to give Ops her best smile, but she just knew it wouldn't work. She just hoped he would fall for it enough to not ask further.
OK., Ops thought. There was no way that was nothing. That became evident enough to the young autobot when he heard Tali's yelp of surprise. And he KNEW how to tell when coming across these things. Ops looked curiously at Tali first, then at Ketongu, immediately noticing the grin Ketongu was giving him, along with a nod he gave afterwords. Immediately, he knew what must've transpired. He had always noticed Ketongu have that same grin whenever he decided to tease Green about his crush on Angela. That meant he knew he felt the same way for this beautiful Toa of water. Ops partially blushed, scratching the back of his head and acting like he was looking down at the Ion blaster he had just token out of the slot in his back.
"Alright then"., Ops nervously said, silently hoping that no one was noticing the blush that was starting to form on his faceplate. "Shouldn't we all try getting back to the fight at hand here"?
Diego caught sight of Ops' blush and just couldn't resist a bit more teasing. But, instead of simply blurting it, he turned to Amber and whispered pretty loudly in her ear in a low voice. "Oh, he's got it bad."
Amber clapped both her hands over her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her renewed snickers but it didn't help that Diego was shaking with silent laughter next to her.
Ketongu let out a long, extremely bored sigh upon seeing these two trying to change the current subject. Now this was aggravating him. Why couldn't everybody just be honest about this kind of thing? It was frustrating enough when he was trying to get GREEN to admit his feelings, and now THESE two?! THESE two were seriously going to pass the chance they had right now to just talk about this? Ketongu scoffed, thinking: Not on MY watch. Immediately, Ketongu pressed a button on his chest, turning on his radio and selecting the song he had just picked.
The song instantly blared loudly from his chest: CAN...you feel...the love...tonight!?
All of Tali's teammates fell over then, laughing their heads off at the song. They totally knew that one. In fact, how many times had they heard Tali play it on the radio since they had been a team? And now it was being used against her? Oh, the irony! It was too much! Diego leaned against the wall for support, Ava and Amber held on to each other to keep themselves standing, and Iris and Alyan were doubled over.
Ava managed to recover a bit first. "Nice choice, Ketongu!" She grinned up at the Toabot. "Did you know that that song is one of Tali's favorites?", she asked him, then proceeding to give him a high-five, Ketongu happily returning it.
Tali, whose face was now rivaling Amber's mask, gasped at her friend. "Ava!"
Ava looked over her shoulder with an innocent smile. "What? It's true."
Suddenly, an explosion shook the ground behind them, reminding everyone of their situation. Tali turned to look in the direction of the blast.
"Those shots are getting closer., Tali said. We need to get moving."
Wait., Ketongu warned as he thought he saw something move in a cloud of dust that had just erupted from the ground behind them.
With caution, Ketongu scanned the dust-cloud, trying to do so as quickly as he could. He KNEW he heard metal footsteps slowly approaching them, for all he knew, ANYTHING could've been in there. And he wasn't exactly sure if these footsteps were of Toabot or Makutacon relations. But as he then finished his scan, he widened his eye in horror. For he now knew that this wasn't a Toabot of any sort. It wasn't a soldier at ALL as a matter of fact.
All Ketongu could respond at that point was: "Those aren't shots".
Just then, the dust had started to show a bronze, robotic form moving towards them, barely able to stand on it's feet as it continued taking slow steps after steps, walking like a baby who was still learning. Ketongu kept his single eye widened as he saw the old and evidently battered Makutacon drone slowly approaching them. These things weren't really dangerous, that wasn't at all what Ketongu was immediately afraid of. But what he WAS afraid of at the moment, was whatever this thing had to say. That was all these things were built for back home, to deliver messages, and from the looks of it, this one's message wasn't going to bring any kind or uplifting emotions.
Tali immediately pulled out her bow and readied one of her arrows. She stood next to Ava who had her wind blades ready. Iris loaded her pistol while Diego aimed his blaster, leaving Alyan crouched between them, his blades crossed in front of him. All narrowed their eyes at the drone, ready to act at a second's notice.
Upon then looking slowly up at them with a screeching sound, it spoke with an evidently damaged voice box: "That shak- you feel... it- s nothing, com- what they truly have- sto- this planet"., then stopping dead in its tracks and looking up at both Ketongu, and his confused group of new found friends, finished in a deeper, and terrifyingly clearer voice: "This is just the beginning".
And with that, sparks violently erupted from the drones' head and neck, eyes flickering before then falling to the ground with a loud metal clang, and the sound of a dying power supply following in the sight of the light fading from it's eyes. Even now, Ketongu's eye remained widened, only now in a greater form of horror. He KNEW who that voice belonged to, and he didn't even WANT to think about the evil behind it. But in his head, as he tried to put those unfinished words and sentences together, there was no way he COULDN'T think about it.
Tali frowned as she put the missing sentences together. 'Great. Just great.' Ava glanced back at Diego with a confused look to which Diego simply shrugged. Alyan stood up and put away his blades but kept his glare on the offline drone, going over the broken words in his head. Iris was the only one who said anything.
"Translation, please?"
Ketongu looked worryingly to Iris and the other Toa, responding: "If we win this battle, there'll still be a bigger war to fight". "And it's about to get a LOT bigger".
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Biomarvel: WOOHOO! MAN, was that fun! (Looks to Galem) Wouldn't you say so?
Galem: Totally! I had a blast with this! :D
Biomarvel: (laughs) Yeah, you and me both!
Edward:...
Biomarvel: (looks to Edward) What?
Edward: Nothing. I was just wondering how I'm going do with more people.
Biomarvel: (shakes head) I swear he's a hermit.
Galem: (laughs at Biomarvel's comment)
Diego: (chuckles) Relax, Edward. We'll try not to overwhelm you.
Robert: Awww.
Galem: What's up, Robert?
Robert: Not-much author-spitter, We just great-like to annoy him.
Edward: (glares at Robert)
Biomarvel: (looks to readers) Anyways, expect more to come soon. Thank you all again for reading, and please have a Lord-blessed day! :0)
Galem: Thank you and God bless! :D