-The stage is set, the pieces are placed, now all they must do is fall into their rightful spots. Read on…

-So…tired…stayed…up…way…to…late…writing…this. Please…enjoy.

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Chapter 2

Cosmic Cruise

Through the endless blackness, The Mask of life was completely in awe at how big it was. It had never expected the place beyond the universe to be this big. Then again, the Mask thought, nothingness has no limit in size. That had been the Mask's first disappointment. When it had gotten far enough from the universe to the point it was nothing but a dot in the vastness it had concentrated on stretching its consciousness to see what lay beyond. Unfortunately, all that seemed to be out there was nothing. Nothing except the stars in the distance, dust and a few small pieces of rock. If that is all that is out there, I am going to have to find some new ways of entertaining myself, the Mask thought.

Roughly one week later,

1,562...1,563...1,564... That was how many rocks that the Mask had now passed. It had become a hobby of sorts for the mask to count how many rocks it passed over the last week. At least, it thought it was a week. Without the sun overhead to act as a beacon to tell the time it was impossible to know for sure. Sending the signal out every few minutes, counting rocks, and attempting to strike up conversations with the Great Spirit were the few things the Mask did to pass the monotony. The conversations with the Great Spirit turned out to be the most difficult to do. Mata-Nui had not spoken since he told it to send the signal, and the Mask was worried that he would not say anything else.

The Mask was about to give conversation another go when it sensed something in the distance. Something big. Once the Mask got closer it extended its mind to see this new development. At first it seemed to be nothing more than a very, very big rock. Then the Mask sensed something alive on it. Though not so much on it, as in it. The Mask soon saw that it was not a creature that was in this planet but what looked like a large quantity of magma spinning at incredible speeds and giving off enormous amounts of energy. That must be what powers the thing. It is not living but it provides life, the Mask thought. Soon the mask figured out that what it was looking at was another universe. However, except for the magma, it had no life in it except some volcanoes erupting every once and awhile. The Mask desperately wanted to land and be rid of the nothingness but the universe had no life in it and the mask wanted even more to be among the precious life that was its source of energy. If there is one there is bound to be more, the Mask thought, If I an to make a new home in a new universe, I will make it on one that is in the prime of its age. I will wait. And so it did.

Roughly 100 years later,

Time itself seemed to have melded together completely. The Mask had been speeding through the nothingness for more days than it could easily or care to count. Over the years it had seen more universes. Some like the first one were young and might have life in a few million years, and some were truly dead and would never sprout life again. The Mask now traveled through the blackness covered with a thick coating of ice. A sign of its long journey. The Mask had given up counting rocks since it had lost count at around 546,000,000 and it didn't bother to start again. And still during all this time the Great Spirit had never spoken. The Mask began to wonder if the message to send the signal had been Mata-Nui's dying words and that his spirit had perished into nothingness. Was this what Brutaka felt like, thought the Mask, is this what it feels like to lose the being you once devoted your entire life and soul to?

Before the Mask could ponder that thought any more, something appeared. It was another universe but it was unlike the others. The others that had barely a flicker of life paled in comparison to this one. It was literally glowing with life of every kind and form. There was life that was big and small, intelligent and unintelligent, simple and complex, and everything in between. The Mask didn't even think about it. It yearned to be on this universe more than anything it ever wanted before. Concentrating hard, the mask released a small jet of pure life energy to alter its course towards the universe.

The jet of energy only changed the Mask's trajectory a tiny amount. But that was all the Mask needed. Soon the Mask felt an unseen force pulling him toward the universe. It had sensed this force on other universes and decided that all universes wanted to keep what was on their surface close to them. As the force pulled the Mask down it got a chance to see the surface of its new home. The Mask couldn't see colors or shapes since it didn't have true eyes, but it could see life energy and the universe was aglow with it. After what the Mask thought was a painfully long amount of time the Mask began to accelerate as it got closer. Eventually the Mask could discern different substances. Water, earth, and plant life. Good, this will suit me and my purposes, the Mask thought. Suddenly the Mask felt heat. It seamed to be coming from all around it. Something is trying to keep me out, the Mask thought. Already the layer of ice that had coated the Mask had melted off. Before it could make a barrier of energy the heat subsided. However, the Mask's speed didn't slow and the surface was about to greet him. Maybe I should make a cushion of… SPLASH!

The Mask's thought was cut off by the impact of water. The Mask was grateful that it wasn't truly alive because if it was, the impact would surely have killed it. Spreading its consciousness, the Mask attempted to get a better grasp of the environment. It was underwater (that was certain), it was about to hit the sandy ground of the seabed and it sensed life. Lots of it. Then the Mask remembered something. The last time it had been in an underwater environment it had almost been destroyed. The Mask was scared for a moment but once it got a better grasp of what the water was like the fear subsided. The Mask thought, the waters of the Pit were tainted and sickly. This water is not poisoned and much more soothing. When the Mask felt the soft impact of the seabed it got a better look at the life. When the Mask saw the life forms it did a mental double-take. All the life was completely organic. The Mask was confused. As far as it knew for something to be alive it needed mechanical armor to protect its inner organs. Then the Mask remembered the creatures of the Pit. The sea squid the Barraki bred as weapons were completely organic and were still alive. There will be time to ponder such thoughts later, the Mask thought, right now, it is time to explore. Molecules of matter began to condense and take form into something larger that adorned the Mask of Life on its face. Toa Ignika looked down at his new body, glad to have one again.

Toa Ignika's body was almost the same as the body it had in Karda-Nui. However it had two major differences. One, the normally yellow armor was now colored a royal blue (an effective means of camouflage in the water). And two, along with the lungs used to breathe air the body now also had an accompaniment of gills to take in water. Toa Ignika gave himself these modifications for one reason, to hide. I am an alien on an alien world, he thought, until they are ready for me it would be best to keep myself hidden from prying eyes. Now that he had proper eyes Toa Ignika looked around at the landscape. There were several schools of fish observing him at a distance. Spreading his mind he sensed something more intelligent on the surface. Like everything else in this universe it was completely organic, but the build and structure of it was similar to that of a matoran. Very gently probing the creature's mind as not to let his presence be known, Toa Ignika searched for some information. Two words surfaced, humans and Earth. Not sure what this might mean he decided not to worry about it right now. He soon realized that he may have a new home but, it was imperative to get back to his own universe. That, even in the form of Toa Ignika, was something he couldn't do on his own. He needed help. The signal he sent was probably something to send help but it was impossible to guess when it would follow him here. It could be one day, one week, one year or who knows how long. Toa Ignika needed definite help soon. Then a thought came to him. Toa…what if I were to make my own team of toa on my new home? They would be able to help.

During the battle of Karda-Nui, the Toa had shared some stories of the past with Toa Ignika. And one was the coming of the Toa Metru. Six matoran had been given stones containing toa energy and had been transformed into toa. That idea appealed to Toa Ignika. If he were to have toa to help him he would be able to find a means to get back to his own universe. Yes, he thought, that is what I will do. I will use toa stones to make my own team of toa using these creatures that inhabit this universe, these…humans. Toa Ignika wasn't sure why he called them humans. It just seamed to fit. Then a discouraging thought came to him. He had no true toa energy. How was he supposed to make toa stones without the key ingredient? Then a voice that Toa Ignika hadn't expected to hear spoke, "If you need toa energy, I have it in abundance. Just leave the creation of toa stones to me." Toa Ignika took almost a minute to recover form the shock of the Great Spirit speaking to him again. Once he recovered he soon realized he had solved his toa energy problem. The only problem still remaining was the humans. Toa Ignika didn't know how the toa energy would affect them. It could make then into a new kind of toa, mutate them into something that could only be found in a Makuta's nightmares, or lust outright kill them. Unfortunately, desperate times call for desperate measures, he thought to himself. Swimming off slowly, he began to search for six small stones, the stones that would be found only by the most worthy of these creatures.

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On a calm August afternoon, somewhere in the Atlantic ocean ,slightly south of Iceland, something breaks the surface. The enormous mass is huge, muscular and famed as the worlds largest fish (at least on Earth). The creature was a whale-shark, and it wasn't uncommon for one to break the surface every once and a while. The odd thing was fact that this particular whale-shark had six small parcels wrapped up in what looked like paper made of pressed sea-weed. The large creature sat on the surface for quite a while. As if it was waiting for someone or something to relieve it of its small but important burdens. After about two minutes, five shapes could be seen on the horizon of the sky. Once they got closer, they could be recognized as large sea birds. Two pelicans, and three seagulls. They circled around for a few seconds then landed on the large fish's back. Each of them took one stone (some with their beaks and the others holding them with their feet) and left the last one with the great fish. Grasping tight to their small loads, the sea-birds flew away, each one heading in a different direction. Soon after, the fish slowly dived back underwater to take its own package to its resting place.

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-Ignika to GS…Ignika to GS…the torch has been passed. Now we will turn our attention to the human side of things. If you're wondering about anything (particularly, how Toa Ignika was able to control the local wildlife) don't worry, all will be revealed in the proper time.

-Spreading the truth,

Anonymous