Chapter 9

Nightwatcher's shining green eyes reflected the yellow light of the fire that tore through the forest around him. A volcanic eruption was a simple thing to defend against, at least if you had powers like him, and fire was terribly easy to walk through. Of course, the same could not be said for everyone: he watched, his face twisted into a half-smile, as numerous beings around him screamed, entering their death throes.

They, he reflected, were the lucky ones. After the night was over, all the others would wish that they had died earlier. Antidax had disappeared, and Nightwatcher didn't care where he was. All that mattered was that he was out of the way.

Now, only Brominax and Maserix remained. He was certain that he could take them on himself, and he would most certainly do so after he... tied up the loose ends.

He finally reached his destination, and continued his leisurely pace, approaching his goal. A once-great being stood before him, even taller than he was. It was the Kodax named Tetrack, but he no longer deserved to be called a leader. He limped, his leg having been damaged heavily, his shoulders hunched. His body was heavily scarred by the flames, and his face was completely unrecognizable. Only one of his eyes remained, there were several teeth missing, and he looked to Nightwatcher like he was scared.

"Nightwatcher?" Tetrack croaked. "Please... heal me."

"I would love to," said the ex-bounty hunter, his smile widening. "That is, if it were my home universe and you had enough widgets to pay me for it. Here, however, you're nothing but an empty shell."

"Please..." gasped Tetrack looking down at him. "Together... we can escape this accursed game... Then you can have as many widgets as you want..."

Nightwatcher returned his gaze, his smile widening even more, until it covered his entire face in a terrifying expression. "Oh, please. You know as well as I do that you planned to betray me once we had defeated all our foes. Sadly, you never considered the possibility that I was planning the same thing. Foolish you."

With surprising speed given his injuries, Tetrack attempted to use his enormous size to bring Nightwatcher down with one thrust of his flaming sword, but Nightwatcher dodged it easily.

"You have no chance against me," grinned the Toa. "No one here does. And they will all die. Starting with you."

With that, Nightwatcher flicked his sword lightly, spearing the massive being in the heart. Tetrack screamed, but Nightwatcher telekinetically blasted his dying form into a tree, knocking the fallen being into the ground, where his body began to burn. Still alive, Tetrack screamed loudly, each scream conveying a powerful hatred towards Nightwatcher, but no one came to aid him, and Nightwatcher remained there until the screams ended.

Good, Nightwatcher thought. Only two of my foes remain. The rest can be easily dealt with. It is time for this "game" to end.

Zaeron moved stealthily through the caves, pursuing his quarry. He knew enough about them now to understand that they had no chance against him. But if he wished to win the game, then that meant that all his foes had to be exterminated. Including Treknerrok, the Element Lord, and his Baterra. So perhaps, just perhaps, he could make a temporary alliance with Speewaa and Blast to bring their foes down.

Yes, that would make a very fine plan.

The cave opened up into the air, and Zaeron watched Blast ready his weapons. The Element Lord had departed already to battle, and the Baterra were following him in even lines. He felt his sword again, and gently stroked it with his remaining hand.

Then a dark hand grabbed him tightly around the neck. He managed to hang on to his sword, but moments later, before he could attack his unseen opponent with it, in was knocked out of his hand. He thrashed around like a Vandrox in a Muaka's jaws, but a long, pointed, three-pronged blade which Zaeron recognized as Dredzek's claw came to his throat.

"Make one noise and you're dead," hissed the Makuta.

"Kill him now," said the voice, which Zaeron realized belonged to the entity Millennium. "He's of no use to us."

"No," said Benjarmin, coming around to look the Toa of Shadow in the face. "He is of use to us. He can help us kill the Baterra."

So I'm not the only one who had the idea of using other people to take the Baterra out for you, thought Zaeron bitterly.

"He's weak!" argued Dredzek, who had apparently sided with Millennium. "Let me kill him!"

"No," Benjarmin answered. "For the moment, at least, we need allies."

"Really? And who would 'we' be?"

Zaeron fell to the ground, gasping, as Dredzek ended his chokehold and spun around to face the new speaker, Blast. "What do you want?" said Dredzek, who appeared ready to pounce onto his Toa prey. His claws gleamed wickedly in the moonlight, and he gestured menacingly at the black Toa that had appeared before them.

"The same thing you do, apparently," said Speewaa.

"An alliance, you say?" said Millennium, amused. "Look at them, Benjarmin. What could we possibly want with two Toa and a Matoran? I say kill them now and get this over with."

"They're expendable, yes," said Benjarmin, "but not at all useless."

Who are you calling expendable? thought Zaeron, and he suddenly had a powerful urge to shove his sword into Benjarmin's throat.

"Very well, then," said Millennium. "We go to fight the Baterra. Bear in mind that if any of you die, I'm not going to miss you much."

The six of them tramped out of the cave and onto the side of the small mountain. Millennium and the two Makuta simply levitated themselves to the bottom; Blast, Zaeron, and Speewaa watched enviously as they climbed down arduously.

I am going to kill them all, Zaeron decided. And then I shall look upon their rotting corpses and proclaim myself the master of this universe.

He thought about that for a moment, wondering at how he could have changed so much in this short time in the Eternal Game.

And then he smiled.