Lego owns Bionicle and the name Ketongu. Hasbro owns Transformers, and the name Xanthium. Galem owns the characters: Tali, Ava, Amber, Iris, Diego, Alyan, Adhira, Valera, and Kasar.
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Chapter 14: TATF Base
Athena couldn't help the quickening in the beat of her liark as worry filled her for her husband, brother-in-law, son-in-law, and her three children. After Paradox had left, she had woken up that morning to find the rest of her family gone. Sure, Athena understood why Paradox had left. He had to leave in order to find and stop Xanthium. But her three children, Billy, and War Machine as well? Even if they WERE all with him, Orange was not yet fully trained, and therefore was not ready to set foot on the battlefield.
There was also the fact that none of them had returned home yet. Sure, Athena didn't think that fighting Xanthium was going to be a piece of cake, but surely they would've won and brought him in by now. 'Maybe if Paradox was thinking clearly'. Angela thought. Not to say that she didn't have faith in her husband, but Athena had known Paradox for long enough to know whether or not he was in a calm state of mind, even if he were faking it. It gave her another reason to wish she had gone with him to get Xanthium. The reason why she hadn't was because she knew that he would've said no and she was very loyal to him as a subordinate, friend, and wife. 'Then again, Slash, Orange, Outilisa, and War Machine had probably gone with him'. Tears began to swell up into her optics as another thought was birthed from that one: 'Does that make me a bad wife and mother'?
Angela stopped dead in her tracks as the sound of muffed shouting from the door a distance to her left caught her attention, breaking her away from the depressing train of thought she was about to have. A second later, she recognized the voice immediately. 'Diego'! Concerned, she dashed in front of the door and knocked loudly, worried that he was hurt or that a Makutacon had snuck into his dorm room.
"Go away!" Diego's voice was muffled through the door but it still sounded sharp and angry.
Athena backed away, stunned for a bit at the Toabots disrespectful tone. Athena glared at the door then, feeling the stress from the disappearance of her family return and mix with the stress from Xanthiums betrayal, filling out the obituary ports from said betrayal, and Diego's unreasonable outburst towards her concern, mix together in anger.
"Diego, you are not the only one who feels pain for Xanthiums betrayal, so shut up"! Athena shouted, nearly at the top of her lungs.
Athena's expression changed to one of sadness as she took a deep and calming breath, realizing that she had practically just taken all of her anger out on an innocent mech. 'Why did I just shout at him like that'? Athena wondered sadly. Sure Diego's tone was very disrespectful, but she had had no idea what he was going though. Diego was probably having a bad enough day as it was, and her yelling might have just made it worse. Athena quickly wiped away some tears from her optics.
"I'm sorry". Athena told him through the door, before turning on her heel and beginning to walk away.
Before she took three steps, the door flew open and a panicked Diego stepped out. "Athena! I'm sorry. I...I didn't know it was you." 'Oh, snap! I snapped at Paradox's wife! If he finds out, I'm done for!'
Athena turned to Diego with a sweet and forgiving smile. "It's fine, really". Her smile turned into an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for telling you to shut up. I've just been a mess since everything happened". Angela looked at the floor then, concern written all over her mask. "And Paradox isn't picking up when I call him. Neither are the kids, or Billy, or War machine. I'm starting to worry that something has happened to them".
"Oh. I'm sure they're okay." Diego wanted to slap himself. That was wishful thinking and he knew it. With Xanthium (that blasted traitor) out there, there was little chance that the others were okay. But he knew, deep in his spark, that they would be okay because they were the best.
But Athena saw the slight doubt in Diego's face and felt a tear fall from her optic as her fears returned. "What if Killer has them"?
"Please." Diego smiled. "After their last battle in Maya, I doubt Killer would want to come even thirty feet of Paradox."
Athena smiled and chuckled a bit at that statement. Her smile then turned into a saddened expression as another thought came to mind. "It makes me sick though, having to fight against Killer". She noticed Diego raising an eyebrow at that statement, obviously wondering why she would feel bad about fighting an enemy like Killer. Noticing this confusion, Athena told the Toabot: "Believe it or not, Killer wasn't always like that".
"Really?" Diego knew that a lot of bad people were not born bad, but still he couldn't see Killer smiling nicely, picking flowers and cuddling puppies. 'Ugh, I'll need brain bleach to get that image out of my head.'
Athena nodded. "Yeah. He used to be a Toabot and when he was, he was kind and merciful, much like Paradox".
Sure, Killer was still a bit hard headed, but he did hold compassion for life in general before he and Paradox fought in the war. Killer had even been very great friends with his siblings and the other Toabots, always talking with them when they had problems and lending a helping hand to those in need. Such was why it pained Athena and Paradox deeply when Killer had betrayed them to join the Makutacon cause. It was why they had always hesitated on killing him on the battlefield. Even after the Makutacon General had murdered Gahu, a part of her knew that there was still good in him.
Diego frowned. "Let me guess, he became so so of hate after the exile that he turned into a Makutacon, right?"
Athena sadly shook her head. "No, it was after he was captured". She explained. "From what we know, Killer was convinced the Makutacons were fighting for everything he believed in and joined them".
Athena had a pained look on her mask as she thought back on it. Athena had remembered it like it was yesterday. It was their first battle against the Makutacons, whom were led by another Prime Traitor. After they had finished, they had noticed that Killer was missing. For days they had sent out squadrines of Toabot soldiers looking for their friend. One day, Killer had returned on his own and informed Paradox and Athena that he was joining the Makutacon cause. Their liarks had shattered when Killer had said this, and they had felt betrayed on a very personal level. But because they still loved him very much, they let him go, the three sharing a final hug before returning to their bases, aware that the next day, one of their best friends would be their enemy. Some nights, Paradox and Athena still laid awake at night crying over that memory.
Diego optics widened as he read between the lines of her words. "So he was lied to? By whom?"
Any and all anger that he had against Killer vanished as he realized that Killer was very dear to Athena and Paradox and that the Killer he had been fighting was some kind of brainwashed puppet. Diego wondered if the real Killer was crying, locked away deep in his liark. That thought almost brought Diego to tears as his spark was filled with a strong wave of love and the desire to try and help Killer back to the light.
"By A large majority of other Makutacons who also had a strong belief in their cause". Athena responded. "That's when Killer had told us when he informed us he was switching sides". Athena fought hard to not let anymore tears fall from her optics as she said that, as she had enough reasons to cry as it was. If she started crying now, she may never stop. Plus as the second in command of the Toabots, she needed to look strong for her subordinates. Especially now in a difficult time like this.
"Whoa." Diego let out a breath. Talk about being put between a rock and a hard place.
Athena nodded. "Yep, and ever since then he's been in my prayers". Suddenly another thought occurred to her as she lifted her head to face Diego. "Hey, there's been some talk about Alyan recently, do you know what's going on"? Athena asked curiously.
Ever since she had gotten up that morning, she had been hearing Alyan's name everywhere. At first she just ignored it and figured that it was regular Toabot gossip. But then she started hearing everyone talking about him. Even the Toa and Autobot rookies who had been coming in almost every Friday. Whatever Alyan had done, must've had a big affect on everyone here, and in case it was something rather unpleasant, Angela figured that she would need to get to the bottom of it. Plus, since Diego was a good friend of Alyan's, she figured that he would be the best one to ask on the matter.
Diego winced when she brought up Alyan's name. 'And here I thought I could avoid this.' "Yeah. Iris told me that Amber overheard him giving Z the green light to kill his father."
Athena raised an optic ridge. "He what"?
'Alyan is a Toa, he should NOT be setting up assassinations'! Athena thought angrily. Last she checked, that was what criminals did. If she was as by the book as the Autobot Prowl, she definitely would've been escorting him to a jail cell right about now. 'Alyan should just consider himself lucky that he doesn't live in Tommyville after a stunt like this'. Athena thought. Sure, Alyan was skilled with a sword, but what she had heard of the vigilante there, Fireman didn't play easy either.
Diego sighed and braced himself. "Alyan's blind. He has been since he was twelve. His father attacked him and poured chlorine on his face, damaging his eyes permanently." Sometimes, Diego could still hear Alyan's sobs from the moment the doctors told him the bad news. Sighing sadly, he looked down at his pedes. "Alyan's never been able to bring himself to forgive his father for that."
Athena sighed at the explanation she was given. Though this news did make her want to find and beat up Alyan's dad, it still did not excuse murder. Sure, the Toabots practically killed for a living, but at least when they did it it was actually necessary. On the battlefield it was kill or be killed. Alyan was just doing this out of revenge. Athena felt another tear fall down her cheek as she thought about how lost the Toa of stone truly was. Them, and the Makutacons. 'If only they would all see reason, we wouldn't have to kill anymore'. Athena thought.
"If only the Makutacons could bring themselves to forgive everyone". Athena said. "Alyan doesn't even realize how close he is to one right now". The Makutacons and Alyan were both acting out in revenge. If Athena just stood back and allowed this assassination to happen, soon there would be no difference between Alyan and the Makutacons. True, when his dad had done was wrong, but there was still a better way to deal with it.
Diego closed his optics at his best friend being called a Makutacon. It hurt him to even think that his friend was even going down that path after everything they had shown and taught him. "I don't understand it, Athena." The young Praxian cried. "None of us do. We spent most of Uni showing and teaching him about God's love. Why would he throw all that away for something that happened in the past?"
Athena shrugged. "Maybe because he doesn't want to let go. Maybe he's afraid he'll be weak if he lets it go. I don't know, there could be a hundred reasons". Athena gave the Toabot a kind smile as she placed a servo on Diego's shoulder. "But remember something for us, OK? Regardless of what the Devil tries to do or use to convince our hearts of lies, Jesus will never let evil win, not in the end".
Ever since Xanthium had betrayed the Toabots, Athena had seen the devil install much fear and doubt into the group over whether or not they would win this war now that Paradox's master had joined the Makutacons. But Athena had refused to lose hope. She believed that deep down, no matter what would befall them next, in the end they would still win. After all, they fought because of Jesus's sacrifice to redeem all life of their sins, and he defeated the grave. With him on their side, surely nothing was impossible. No matter what, Athena would continue praying to God, asking him for help, faith, and courage. Even to this present day, she prayed that Killer would change back to the good mech that he was before fighting in this war, even though many Toabots still doubted that it would happen. Still, as long as life had remained within Killer, and as long as she kept requesting for Jesus to open Killers optics to the truth, maybe one day Killer would prove them wrong.
Looking up at Athena's kind smile, Diego felt a little hope shine in his spark. "I'll remember." He nodded. "I promise." 'And I hope Alyan remembers too, before it's too late.'
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Biomarvel740: Prowl is owned by Hasbro. I would also like inform all Bionicle fans of a YouTuber under the name of Joe Smith who makes great Bionicle animations and recently posted a video of me voicing Teridax. If you're ever on YouTube, be sure to subscribe to him and give him some likes.
Galem: (chuckles)
Biomarvel740: (looks to Galem) What?
Galem: just remembering how excited you were about that.
Biomarvel740: (Chuckles) Indeed I was. (To the readers) What did you all think of the chapter?
Galem: please leave a review or pm either of us if you have any questions.
Biomarvel740: We thank you all for reading-
Galem: and please...
Biomarvel740 and Galem: Have a God-blessed day! XD :D
