:points at school with thumb: Writer's block 'n Finals… Nice.
Oh on the last chapter, that's an April Fools Joke, for those who couldn't quite figure it out…: sniggers and points at the subtle message at the bottom of her last chapter:
Note: About the disclaimer. The plot's 100 percent original. :grins:
Chains of Memories
By Dragon of Courage
Ice Thunder
Kopaka's face was scrunched up, wincing from the large hand mark across his cheek.
"Hell…what in the world was that for!" he barked at the girl.
"I dislike surprises." Zara put her hands on her hips. She had looks that can kill.
The albino grumbled. "Bitch…"
Zara's brown irises nearly changed to an intense golden color. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"
Realizing the hint of explosive anger rising, Kopaka coaxed her as he stood up, "Nothing! Nothing, really!"
She approached him aggressively. Once she reached him with her nose touching his, she declared a challenge.
"You. Me. Bionicle Battle. Now."
"But, I didn't say-"
"Come on, wimp," sneered the girl.
Kopaka lost his cool.
"Did you just call me a wimp?"
"Yes. I did. Are you gonna do something about it?" The girl walked towards the counter of the LEGO Store. On her way, she snatched up her parts near the racks.
"It's on, Zara," Kopaka grinned evilly.
"And I'm gonna kick your sorry little-"
"Kopaka!" Tahu tugged his shirt hard. Kopaka glared at his friend who interrupted his loud-mouthed speech. Tahu only pointed at some staring toddlers who are very limited on the vocabulary to understand what had happened between Kopaka and Zara.
"There are kids around you." Tahu said in-a-matter-of-factly.
Kopaka looked at them, realized his actions, and whispered.
"Oh. Sorry."
At the distance, Gali just stared as Onua merely nodded his head. Pohatu and Lewa returned from heaven, puzzled at just what happened.
"What happened?" Pohatu looked onward towards Zara and a salesclerk.
"Kopaka scared Zara. Zara challenged him." Onua summarized.
"A Bionicle Battle?" queried the brown haired kid.
"Yep."
Pohatu and Lewa looked at each other. They grinned.
"Sweet!"
They followed Kopaka like hyenas following a lion and its prey. Sighing, Onua followed.
"Hoi!" Tahu sighed, stretching his back.
Gali looked at him in concern, "Is something the matter?"
"Yes, indeed. Kopaka's fighting against a very good player."
Gali looked at him in confusion, "Um, how good is Zara?"
Tahu looked around the Lego store, seeing that the activity has mellowed out. He then whispered into her ear. Gali's eyes widen.
"No way."
"Well, then," he laughed heartily, "Let's just see the outcome. Are you ready?"
His red eyes showed a flash of excitement. Gali eyes lit up in curiosity.
The Lego employer, dressed in his usual bright yellow attire, brought out a card. On one side there was a crimson Kanohi Hau mask with the letters "BBA" intersecting each other in bold silver font.
Approaching a door, he swiped the card into a card sloth next to him. The red light blinked three times before a green light turned on. Opening the door knob, he presented the awaiting teenagers a different world.
"Welcome to the Bionicle Arena. I believe lot three is not taken yet," he smiled heartily.
"Haww, sweet!" Pohatu skipped in with glee, clutching his shopping bag. Lewa, Kopaka, and Zara followed after.
Gali peered into what seemed to be the inside of a very large dome, big enough to fit a huge metal platform, with a large symbol engrave on it, surrounded by six other small platforms, used for other players. Studying the silvery symbol on the large, oval platform, suspended in the air by superconductors, Gali gasped.
"Unity…" An image of Onua's carcass flashed in her mind.
"Duty…" There was Kopaka, curled up into a ball, shaking like mad.
"Destiny…" She felt herself dying again, in the arms of the other Tahu, the Tahu she knew from Mata-Nui.
"Come again?" Tahu looked at her strangely, which snapped her out of her guilty conscious.
"Did you say something?"
"Oh." She looked into his eyes for comfort. His warm eyes soothed her pain from the terrible past. She smiled weakly, shaking her head. "Nothing."
"Hmm," Tahu studied her closely. Then he shrugged, his face showed no care, "Okay."
As the group waited for Kopaka and Zara to return from the storage room where all the models were kept for good conditioning, Tahu felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Mr. Tahu, Son of Kouji Nubava?" a suave voice whispered.
"Yeah?" He turned around and was surprised to see the manager. The man was in a black polo shirt with khaki slacks.
The man pointed at the entrance. Tahu gave a quick nod and left the others waiting.
"Nice to see that you've returned from Hawaii." The manager commented as they strode casually from the arena.
"Well sir, I sure miss the big waves," the teenager chuckled.
"What? The ones in California aren't big enough?"
"Tiny compared to the ones I've seen."
"Well anyways, we've got a portable arena disk prototype from PITI. Sadly, it is doing strange things."
"Such as?"
"It sings the Hamster Dance."
"… What the-?" His red eyes widened in shock.
"I know," the other replied, "Strange things."
"Ready, Kopaka?" Zara grinned, holding a silver canister in her hand.
"Bring it on, girl," Kopaka snarled, jamming his container into the side of the arena.
As both of them donned silvery visors that shielded their field of vision, the countdown clock appeared in a white hologram from the middle circle of the famous Bionicle symbol.
"3…2…1…Launch…Launch…"
The clock dispersed as the other two dots opened. The figures were curled into a ball as they were launched into the air. The white figure spun in the air before it unfolded. On its face was a white original Akaku, holding the power to see many things on different spectrums. It was slightly armored, holding a sword with separated blade sides and a lightweight shield. The other figure was a deep purple color, with neon green here and there. Silver armor donned its body. On its face was the deep-grooved Kewarana, a newly released mask, the power of teleportation. It landed hard, snapping off its weapons, two automatic plasma guns, from the sides of its lower legs.
"Name's White Knight," Kopaka spoke.
"Raijinuva," answered the girl.
They circled each other, both ready to attack one another.
"Let's go, White Knight," Kopaka mutter under his breath as he sat on the player's chair.
The White Knight took its great white sword and impaled the ground beneath him, freezing it completely. Lifting the blade up, he slammed it again onto the hard, icy ground, shattering the ice into a thousand shards. They flew towards Raijinuva.
BAM! BAM! BAM! One by one, the shards were shot down by electric bullets ejected from Raijinuva's plasma guns. She quickly leapt to the side as the sharp ice crystals embedded the area where she once stood.
Gali sat in-between Pohatu and Lewa as they were seated on a high-rise bench. Onua sat behind her, anticipating the battle in the arena. Gali asked Pohatu, "So, what makes Bionicle Battle Arena so popular?"
"Well, besides that fact that it's such a cool game, it's a joint project from two companies: LEGO and PITI."
"PITI?" Gali looked at him oddly.
"Psychic Imagination Technologies Incorporated," answered the brown-haired soccer player.
"Their businesses were starting to plummet into the red. Workers were laid-off. Stocks were almost useless. It was almost the end for them until a bio-electronic engineer from PITI miraculously designed the first movable model using Technic parts. Not only does it move without a bulky battery cell, it is able to be controlled by the controller's mind, a technology first discovered by PITI."
Pohatu pointed at Kopaka's metal visor.
"Inside those visors are special nodes that can detect specific brainwaves emitted by thought. Those nodes then convert the brainwaves into microwaves, which is then picked up by the receivers inside the Kanohi of the model. With that technology, you can command the model to run around in circles, jump, attack, and probably execute a victory dance."
"Wow, no wonder it's really popular." Gali gazed over at the flame-haired boy and realized that he was not anywhere near her.
"Hey, guys? Where's Tahu?"
Pohatu looked around his surroundings and shrugged.
"Probably a bathroom break."
Tahu's head rested gently on the palm of his hand. He sighed, examining the code of prototype disk.
"Class… Output ff… bleh," he murmured to himself, listening to Linkin' Park on his MP3 player.
The disk rested close to one of the LEGO store's computers. A dark USB cable was connected to the faulty disk.
His optical mouse rolled quickly as he skimmed the text for any unusual code.
His red eyes looked upwards, sighing with such boredom that it can lull a demon to sleep.
Her metallic guns blocked the strong blow of the dual-bladed sword. It nearly missed her Kanohi by a millimeter. Cool-headed as she always was, Raijinuva kicked out in front of her. White Knight jumped back and the purple toa fired a quick shot at his Kanohi.
Zing! The shot missed by a millimeter as it hit the force field and dissipated. The White Knight knew his sight's advantage to see the angle of the gun and calculated where the bullet would hit. As the Kanohi's eye piece whirled magically into another different spectrum, the White Knight ran.
"So, erm. How does this battle end?" Gali asked.
"Well, it's easy to be said, but harder to be done," Pohatu replied.
"Why?" she questioned his expanded knowledge of the Battle Arena.
"You see. The first model to knock off its opponent's Kanohi, the masks, off, it wins. PITI specially designed the Kanohi with a transceiver so that once it falls off, the model would no longer function. Of course, if one can pass its opponent's defense though… I remembered this long-limbed toa that gave Raiju, the international champion, a hard time. Then she actually walked on the arms, and knocked the Kanohi off. The player was such a genius."
"Oh. Wait. Kanohi!" Her eyes widen. She swore she saw the mask of Takanuva shattering to pieces passing through her mind. Her pupils shrank at the horror of the mangled figure in the trees. Bounded by the vines of the forest, Takanuva's wasted body hung there in the open…
"Err, yeah Gali. Their masks are called Kanohi. It's been called like that ever since the first model came out…" Pohatu looked at her, but he was surprised to see her in a state of shock.
"Err…hello? Earth ta Gali! You there?" Pohatu waves his hand in front of her. She gave no response. A hand gripped his shoulder. Pohatu turned to see Onua's black shades.
"I'll take her outside."
"Okay, mister." Tahu's red eyes glared evilly at the malfunctioned battle disk.
"I've rescanned the code and took off some bugs. Let's see what you can do to me now."
He pushed a button on the side of the disk. One second there was complete silence. Then…
WHAM! "HALLELUIAH! Halleluiah! Halleluiah!" sang the disk as if hovered a few inches off the table. The disk's surface area grew substantially, but a bit too fast for Tahu's curious face.
"ARGH! MY EYE!" Tahu clutched his right eye. He stumbled backwards, tripped on his rolling chair and fell hard on the speckled linoleum floor.
"KISAMA!"
"Kisama!" echoed the door as Onua passed it. The black-clothed boy paused for a second near the door.
"Huh. That sounds familiar…" Shrugging off the thought, he continued to escort Gali outside the store.
Gali felt a slight sting in her right eye. She felt her mind snapping back to reality from her past.
"What? Where? Ah…" She looked around and saw Onua behind her.
"You were not feeling well, Gali."
"But, I'm okay right now. Really!"
"Say that to Pohatu when you blanked out when he mentions Kanohi," retorted the dark figure as he sat on a plastic bench.
"I…err…" Gali sighed and followed suit. She really wished to tell him that she is not …well human. She doubted the fact that Onua would listen, because he does not look like the Onua she used to know. It weighed heavily in her mind. Suddenly, she had an idea. Sadly, it was a lie, but she hoped that it would not hurt her friend.
"I was troubled by a dream…" she started to weave the truth in her lie.
"And it was about me and six other people…"
White Knight's blade glowed furiously as he slashed Rajinuva numerous times, hoping to freeze her. However, Raijinuva also activated her teleportation powers, enabling her to dodge the swift attacks.
"Just don't move," Kopaka gritted his teeth, frustrated by Raijinuva's taunting reflexes. He felt his mind being drain, as if the concentration of the battle had cause his head to swim.
"Die, dammit," Zara furiously thought.
Rajinuva took the initiative as she sprint full speed toward White Knight. It only took the ice figure a blink of an eye when she gave a flying kick towards the head. However, the impact resonated with a loud clang as White Knight barely blocked with his ice shield. Energy sparked at the holes of his shield. Given an opportunity, White Knight slammed Raijinuva with the flat of his blade. The blade only hit her arm guards as she tried to protect her Kanohi.
There was a sound of a crack as she flew to the other side of the dorm.
The arena disk hovered inches from the table. Energy surged around it; the force field was functional.
There was no sound except the hum of the miniscule electric generators, which helped power up the disk.
Tahu grinned triumphantly at his success. Though his body ached from the fall, he gave a whoop of jubilee.
"…" Onua said nothing as Gali finished her so-called-dream. For a moment, he moved his sunglasses off the bridge of his nose as his dark green eyes looked upwards towards the skylight of the mall.
"I speculate that this dream you had was completely random?"
Gali shrugged. Onua adjusted his shades to its normal position.
"Things that you did were tack to someone's book and that's how all of your people died?"
"I guess. But I don't exactly know the thing that I would do everyday that would lead to their deaths."
"Huh." Onua raised his eyebrows in skepticism.
"Well, sin is something people commit everyday…"
"What? Sin?" Gali looked at him, as if the word 'sin' was an entirely new word for her.
"You don't read the Bible, don't you?"
Gali looked at him, as shook her head slowly.
Onua sighed. "Sin is an ominous word, really. Whatever I do might be a sin to others. Wearing sunglasses might lead me to my death, for example. However, there's that myth of the seven deadly sins. Envy, Vanity, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, and Sloth. They are the things that people tried to avoid, but they can't really."
"Seven deadly sins" echoed in Gali's memory. She heard that coined word somewhere, but after being confined in hell for sixteen years, she hadn't had a clue.
"Why not?"
"Because we're human." Onua almost answered in a wise man's voice.
"You see, Gali. The human mind is unpredictable. It can be good, evil, or both. Of course, you know that, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"You bastard," Zara mumbled, examining her armor. Her arm guards were cracked and were barely holding on.
She staggered to her feet and grabbed her plasma guns. Raijinuva began to sway, in an attempt to excite electrons on the ground. White Knight stood guard, ice formed steadily around his feet.
Electricity sparked throughout her body. Cackling energy danced as she gathered her power.
White Knight prepared what might be an explosive conclusion.
Raijunuva stopped abruptly. The insides of her armor glowed an intense golden light, darkening her purple and neon green features.
The plasma guns turned blue as hot energy entered the round chambers. She brought them forward with her shoulders hunched and the barrels cocked, ready to fire.
"It's time for you to eat a can of whoop-ass!"
A blinding light filled the arena.
Tahu walked out of the lab, with the portable disk underneath his arm. He looked out of the store and saw the backs of Gali and Onua.
Setting the disk on the countertop opposite the cash register, he strode out, approaching the two.
"Heyoo!"
Gali turned around to see the flaming blonde smiling at her. She felt a tinge of warmth in her cheeks and she smiled.
Onua had withdrawn to his pacifist self.
"What are you doing outside the store? Isn't Kopaka and Zara-"
"We're here!" Zara's voice interrupted happily.
Tahu turned around and saw the beaming face of the girl, a sulking face of Kopaka, and dazed looks of Pohatu and Lewa.
"How'd it go?" Gali asked her friend.
"Kopaka got his ass whooped…" sang Zara, proud to have her toa pull through the energy discharge and successfully knocked White Knight's Kanohi with a final flying kick to the head.
Kopaka glared as he mumbled to himself.
Tahu chuckled. "Was it good?"
"Good! You weren't there the whole time! Did you lost yer way to the bathroom or did you have constipation?" Pohatu blurted out.
The rest of the group snickered. Tahu was flabbergasted.
"I um… went window-shopping." He sweatdropped.
Gali rolled her eyes. What a lousy liar…
"It's true! I was…" Tahu looked frantically around, and Kopaka saw him lay eyes on Victoria Secret that was across the LEGO store for five seconds.
"You perv," joked the albino.
Pohatu looked in Kopaka's direction and slapped his hand over his own eyes. Gali looked at Tahu with a playful glint in her eyes.
"Tahu, have you been thinking dirty thoughts?"
His face was crestfallen as he went bright red. The rest of the group burst in laughter. Even Onua had to a few huffs at the boy's dilemma.
"Bye guys! I'll see ya around!" Lewa's face disappeared into a van and it drove off. Onua and Pohatu were gone. Zara took a bike home, leaving Tahu, Kopaka, and Gali all alone.
"You have a ride?" Kopaka casually leaned against a brick wall, looking down at the blue haired girl.
"Yes, Tanui should pick me up at any minute now."
"Tanui?" His mouth twitched.
"Yes, umm, he's my boyfriend."
Kopaka looked down into her eyes, giving her a sense of insecurity for saying that.
"Oh." That was all he could say.
Tahu nudged Kopaka, "You shouldn't be so up-tight about Tanui. He's really nice."
Kopaka moved his mouth into a small snarl, but it disappeared a moment after.
"I think Gali picked a good guy to protect her right?"
Tahu looked over at the girl. Gali only looked down at the cement.
"I guess…" She wasn't so sure about Tanui. Lately, he had been preoccupied at his house, and it was rare to give her a kiss or two a week.
Suddenly, her train of thought was broken by a car horn. Tanui approached the curb in a black BMW Z3.
Kopaka gave a low growl. Tahu perked an eye at his friend's strange behavior.
"I guess that's my ride." Gali laughed nervously. She opened the door and saw the two boy standing together with the roller blades and gear over their shoulders. "Do you guys need a ride home?" she asked quizically.
"No need, Gali-chan. Makuta's already arrived fifteen minutes ago." Tahu smiled warmly.
Gali eyes opened in surprise. The boys were waiting for me…such nice gentlemen…
She shook her head and went inside the car. They are different. They can't be my comrades.
"Thanks for waiting for me!" hollered the girl as she slammed the door.
"No problem!" Tahu yelled back.
And off she went.
Tahu gave a faint smile before he looked at Kopaka. "Now, Kopaka. Spill it."
"HE'S GOT A FUCKING Z3! I'M SO GODDAMN JEALOUS! AND ZARA! I DON'T EVEN DESERVED TO BE PWN AND HAVE MY ASS HANDED TO ME ON A PLATTER!" His hands curled into a claw-like position.
"ARGH! God hates me so..."
Tanui looked behind and glimpsed at the flame haired teen.
"Hey, isn't that the new kid?" His brown eyes then looked at the road ahead.
"Yeah, his name is Tahu. He's really nice and all…I'll introduce to hi-"
"No," Tanui snapped, and Gali flinched. His eyes glinted with jealousy.
"I'll see to him soon."
- Ayumi Miyazaki
…neh, a bit of a rush…
It's seems that I was offered a staff position from someone I am not familiar with. So, please, for anyone who manages a Bionicle C2 community, ask me at Dragon.Brave (at) gmail (dot) com or I will reject the offer. Tell me what you're intentions are and I'll think about it. Sorry mate, but I have a certain degree of 'eliteness' that you must impress.
...I'll stop ranting now. Enjoy.