Author's Notes: Sudden burst of inspiration yesterday afternoon, and before you know it, this came out. Yay.

Disclaimer: Don't own Bionicle. Or W.I.T.C.H. Yet. (insert insane grin)

They stepped out of the portal into the Hall of the Congregation. Jaller had told them to come back in exactly nine days, which was all it would take for them to prepare for the assault on the Piraka Stronghold. Though just exactly how long that was in Earth terms, in their dimension where time ran at a different pace, they had no idea, but surely the Oracle knew.

"Back so soon?"

Will nodded. "You know what happened, you were watching."

The Oracle smiled slightly. "Indeed I was. You have a question on your mind, don't you? Ask."

"Well, you know, the Inika obviously need the mask-type thing. Why do you want it?"

Himerish nodded. "A perfectly reasonable question, Guardian. It is clear you do not yet fully understand the power of the Ignika. It's not safe on Voya Nui. It's not safe with anyone besides the chosen one. He alone may touch it. And it is your duty to ensure that no one else may lay hands on it until he is ready, by bringing it here."

"Okay…" began Irma. "But who's this 'chosen one'?"

His smile reappeared. "You'll know when the time comes," he said, his eyes twinkling.

Irma groaned. "That seems to be your favorite phrase of all time."

Will cut in. "We're supposed to meet them in nine days. How much time does that give us at home?"

"Just about a month," answered the Oracle.

Irma whooped. "A whole month? Great!"

Himerish nodded in agreement, though measurements of time meant little to the immortal being of the ethereal realm of Kandrakar.

&&&

Zaktan nodded. "You're getting all excited because you've found some other world to mess around with?"

Brutaka sighed. "Well, let's see what you've found," he challenged.

The Air Piraka snarled but fell silent.

The Titan smirked. Clasping his hands together, he asked with false cheer, "Who wants to experiment?"

Thok frowned. "What?"

"There's no way I'm trying to jump into that dimension. Who knows what might happen. So I'm looking for a volunteer." Brutaka had an unnaturally large grin on his Olmak as he said this.

The Piraka all backed away uncertainly. And then exchanged shifty glances.

"I vote Zaktan," said Thok.

"Avak would be a better choice," protested Zaktan.

Avak looked appalled. "Me? Why no, Vezok would do a much better job."

The blue Piraka in question growled. "What? No! Um… Reidak!" he exclaimed, gesturing towards the Earth Piraka with his dual weapon.

The Earth Piraka started to protest, but Brutaka cut him off.

"Great! Thank you so very much for volunteering, Reidak!"

"What? But-but I never… " stammered Reidak.

Brutaka put an amicable arm around the Piraka and smiled warmly. "Just think about it, Reidak! You'll be able to see something no one else has seen before! Doesn't that thought excite you?"

"Not really…" muttered Reidak under his breath.

The door burst open and a panting Hakann barged into the room. "Argh!"

Brutaka raised an eyebrow, but then his smile grew bigger. "Don't worry Reidak, Hakann will accompany you."

Hakann stopped his growling. Perplexed, he asked, "What?"

Brutaka left Reidak to shake hands with the confused Fire Piraka. "Congratulations, Hakann! You've been chosen for a most interesting expedition!"

Hakann watched his arm carefully as Brutaka shook it up and down. "Uh-hun…" He squinted suspiciously. "What's the catch?" he asked warily.

"None at all, my friend!" exclaimed the Titan, patting the smaller Piraka on the back.

"O-kay… where are we going?"

Brutaka laughed. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe… and if something does happen, and you're wiped out of existence, you'll be remembered for your sacrifice. Now, get over here and stand with Reidak." He used his powerful arms to usher the dazed Piraka to Reidak's side. Turning to the others, he said, "You'd better stand back."

The other Piraka moved to the corner of the room.

"Think we'll ever see them again?" Zaktan asked casually.

"Nope," replied Thok.

Avak sniggered.

Hakann frowned. "You still haven't answered my question! Where are we going?"

The Titan stopped smiling. "Get Reidak to explain it to you." His mask began to glow.

"Hey-" Hakann wanted to protest, but a blast of energy came from the glowing Olmak and hit both him and Reidak.

"-where are we… going?" He suddenly found himself in and enclosed space between two walls. Reidak was nowhere in sight. Little did he know, he was in an alleyway in Heatherfield in the dead of the night. A small creature jumped out from a cardboard box. It approached him carefully. As it got closer, Hakann saw it was completely black, with green eyes. It stood on four paws, and had a tail. It made a mewing noise similar to a baby Muaka.

A slow smile crept to his face. He raised his Lava Launcher. The burst of molten lava missed. The creature hissed, and darted away quickly, out of the alley and into the street. Disappointed because he missed, but also slightly curious, he poked his head out of the alley. It was dark, but there were things that looked like lightstones on metal poles. He approached one of them carefully. They looked too fragile to be lightstones, and their light was far more intense than any lightstone he ever saw.

There was a path with funny looking yellow and white lines on it. He cocked his head. Wonder what that's for… His question was answered as a red hunk of metal on wheels suddenly sped past him. Startled, he utilized his heat vision, and left a scorch mark on the road where the speeding car had been a split second before. What was that?

He looked up to gaze at the buildings. They were several stories high, and were rectangular-shaped. He saw a form on the building move. It flapped its wings twice and took flight before Hakann realized it was some sort of bird. Rahi. A target. Grinning with glee and delighted to find that wherever Brutaka had teleported him to contained some form of amusement, he raised his Lava Launcher again.

But gravity pulled down on his ammunition before it came anywhere near the bird, and it melted through a third-floor window instead.

Not to sure what he had done, but knowing it was bad made Hakann happy. He shot some more windows, until he inevitably ran out of ammunition. At the moment, he began cursing loudly, then finally remembered Reidak. He flipped over his weapon, and walked on down the street.

&&&

Taranee slapped her palm down on the button on the alarm clock. The red digits displayed six forty-five. Rubbing her eyes, she took her glasses out of their case and rested them on top her nose. …Wait a minute, it's Saturday! Why in the world did I set my alarm yesterday? She smiled slightly at her absentminded mistake.

Stretching her arms, she plopped out of bed and stuck her feet into her warm cozy slippers. She stood up and walked over to her wardrobe as she picked out her outfit for the day.

Minutes later, she descended the stairs to the kitchen. No one else was awake yet. In the mood for something simple, she inserted some bread into the toaster. As she pushed down on the lever-type mechanism, her thoughts strayed to the events of the previous night.

While she fetched the jam, she spotted the TV remote someone had carelessly left on the kitchen counter. She grabbed it, walked to the family room where their television was located, and turned it on. She slowly moved back to fetch her toast.

Seconds later, she was running back to the television.

"…the windows were suspiciously melted somewhere around four in the morning, just three hours ago. The authorities were alerted when the smoke alarm went off and and anonymous caller dialed for the firefighters. No one saw the culprit, and police cannot name a suspect nor even find a possible motive for this act of vandalism to the apartment building. They have questioned all the residents, but none could provide and answer."

Taranee took a bite out of her breakfast. Crime wasn't unheard of in Heatherfield, but this was just queer.

"Anything interesting on the tube, sis?"

Taranee whirled around to see her brother leaning casually against the wall, looking tired. "Oh, Peter. Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nah, I have to go over to Joel's anyways," he reassured her. Then he saw the image of the damaged apartment complex over her shoulder. "Whoa. What on Earth happened?"

"I don't know. They just said the windows melted…"

"Hmm." Peter squinted at the address on the screen. "Hey, I might be mistaken, but having driven you there numerous times, isn't that just one block away from the Silver Dragon?"

Taranee turned. "Oh my gosh, you're right! Say, Peter, you wouldn't mind dropping me off on your way to Joel's, would you?"

&&&

Reidak had landed not too far from Heatherfield, in Fadden Hills. Or at least that's what the large sign said.

There was an area of Fadden Hills where unemployed people with special talents could come and entertain the crowd for cash. Amongst the various dressed-up magicians, acrobats, and actors, Reidak's biomechanical appearance didn't strike anyone as out of the ordinary. So he sat on the edge of the fountain.

Passersby muttered comments such as about his 'costume', and someone tossed a nickel at Reidak's clawed feet. He eyed it curiously, and after observing the way people handled the round bits of metal, concluded that they were sort of like Widgets. Though the reason why they came in a variety of shapes and sizes, not to mention were made from different material, escaped him. Nevertheless, he felt kind of proud with himself for figuring out their currency.

He couldn't help noticing how unbelievably weak they all looked. Their unarmored bodies were vulnerable to the slightest attempt to harm them. He saw a kid get a pretty deep paper cut and watched as the blood, a bright red, began flowing out of the thumb.

He bet he could take them on, but being in a new, different environment, he didn't feel like taking chances. Sure, back on Voya Nui he was always ready to fight without a plan, but back then he always sort of knew what he was in for. And causing a riot wasn't really going to solve anything. And he couldn't enslave them either, not having brought any Zamors with him.

And then someone tapped his shoulder. His head turned. Whoa, that guy's tall. Even standing up, Reidak would only have reached his chin. The man was completely bald, and well-built. He was dressed in mostly black leather and had numerous peircings on his face. He lifted one leg and propped it up on the edge of the fountain. Resting his elbow on his thigh, he declared, "This is my spot."

Reidak growled. "Make me leave."

The dark green eyes narrowed and observed Reidak thoroughly for a moment. "You look new here."

"Yeah…" Reidak frowned.

"Do you know who I am?"

Whoops. Dangerous question, this one. Reidak was used to being in this situation, being a former Dark Hunter. Problem was, even after all this time, he was never able to find a safe answer to it.

Better to stay honest if you can't find an adequate lie. "Uh… no?"

The man set his foot on the ground. Cracking his knuckles, he asked in a mocking voice, "Oh, yeah? Well, then today's the day when I teach you who I am, and make sure you never forget it."

And now he's going to pound me. Sure enough, right after that thought crossed Reidak's mind, the fist came at his face. Reidak jumped back, effectively dodging it.

By then, people had noticed the brewing fight, and there was no one within a five meter radius of the two.

The man growled at Reidak. "Oh, so you've got some moves, huh? You just come and sit at my usual place with that weird costume of yours. You are so asking for it, dude."

Reidak flipped his weapon, and scratched the tip of the buzzsaw across the surface of the fountain. Seeing the ugly gash it left, people came to the conclusion that he wasn't joking, and that the dual weapon was in no way a simple accessory to his 'costume'.

The man hesitated. "Hey, no fair, you're armed…"

It was Reidak's turn to sneer menacingly. "Do you know who I am?"

&&&

"Thanks Peter! Oh, I'll take the bus home, don't worry!"

Taranee said goodbye to her brother as he drove off. When his car was out of sight, she opened the door to the Silver Dragon.

Normally crowded, the restaurant was deserted. Everything was in place, except the missing customers.

"Taranee! What are you doing here?" asked Hay Lin, bouncing across the room to meet her.

The Fire Guardian smiled and took off her coat. Hanging it up, she said, "Well, to be frank, I saw the news report about the window thing…"

The Chinese girl gave a long melodramatic sigh. "Yeah. That's why no one's here. I mean, how do you eat when the media's right outside the window of the restaurant?"

"Oh. Well any idea what happened to the windows?"

Hay Lin shrugged. "I don't know. I was asleep when it happened," she said, sitting down at one of the tables of the restaurant.

Taranee sat down opposite her. "I was thinking it looked a lot like the work of that…"

"Hakann? It looked like him to me too."

Taranee bit her lip. "But that's impossible. How could Hakann get here? And why?"

&&&

Unable to concentrate on her algebra, Will doodled on the margins of the page. That is, until she remembered that the sheet of paper she was doodling on was one of the few her teacher was going to pick up and mark personally. Oops. She sighed, and got busy erasing. Good thing I wasn't using a pen.

When the doodles were taken care of, she tried to read the instructions again. Now not only was the writing tiny, but it purposely used really big words she was sure her math teacher never mentioned before, as if forcing her to crack open a dictionary.

She stood up to go sharpen her pencil. Her hand casually flicked on the radio. Her mom paid extra to get a Fadden Hills radio station, just because she liked to keep up to date. Will never listened to it, and was just about to switch stations when a certain word caught her attention.

"…biomechanical was the word used to describe the unknown person who earlier today handicapped the leader of the much-feared street gang, Dark Destiny. He was said to have injured many other members of the gang who tried to intervene, and left only after police arrived at the scene. And now for the weather."

The reportage on the mystery biomechanical being over, she turned off the radio. Her algebra homework was already forgotten. She ran over to the phone. "Call Irma, now."

While the phone dialed, she pondered the possibilities. Just because eyewitnesses called him biomechanical didn't necessarily mean… but still, she had this feeling. Could it have been one of the Inika? No, they wouldn't cause so much trouble… So-

"Hello? Will?"

Her phone was on speaker-mode. "Hey Irma. You know a place where we can all meet? I just heard something rather important I'd like to discuss…"

Author's Notes: Um……………………. yea. Review please. :D