#makuta of stelt
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What if we reimagined all of the other non-Teridax Makuta as eldritch horrors, just as Teridax was initially presented in the early years of Bionicle? What if we used each Makuta as a prompt of sorts; What if THEY were the big villain terrorizing an island, their individual name unknown so they’re just THE Makuta to the local Toa and Matoran? Make each one feel worthy of the title of Makuta, with their depictions in Karda Nui being akin to physical, humanoid avatars meant to interact with others, just as the scheming Teridax is like for the vortex from MNOG?
Like for example, Chirox! You have this swarm of spiders known as the Visorak, led by one massive spider, known as Makuta. The Visorak mutate their victims, before dragging them back to their master.
Makuta is a spider-like entity that emerges from a cave, using his spindly limbs to grapple with and analyze his victims... Potentially drawing upon them for inspiration, before tearing and prying them apart into their base pieces, adding them to his massive collection. From these recycled parts, Makuta creates more Visorak, or dreaded Rahi creatures that wreak havoc on the ecosystem. Like Makuta, they are poison, destruction incarnate; They always inherit his twisted spirit that destroys.
That’s all Makuta does, even when he does create; He inevitably just destroys. Instead of coming up with new things on his own, he relies on Fate to mutate the living into something random, hoping chance will eventually grant him a working design for Makuta to copy. You could say Makuta has no real ideas of his own, and is a gambler, a parasite, betting something will come along for him to take.
But isn’t destruction the same as creation, isn’t destroying his victims necessary to make things? That’s where the imagery of the spider comes into play; Its long, spindly limbs? They’re fingers. Makuta is not just a spider, he is a hand; The same hand that reaches into the parts bin to make new creations, plays with MoCs before tearing them apart to make something new. Just as Teridax represents the parts bin, Chirox is the builder’s hand, like in the Lego Movie, or Super Smash Bros.
Each Visorak is like a hand of its own, grabbing victims, reassembling them randomly with mutation. Dragging them back to Chirox, whose hand motif is also inspired from the fact that he is the only Makuta who can fully control his Shadow Hand. And Makuta’s spider-like form? It’s attached to something much, MUCH bigger... It is not just a hand metaphorically, it is a literal hand and when Makuta’s lair collapses around him, it reveals the massive figure he is attached to; His whole, true self, a titan more resembling the Chirox we are familiar with.
The others are different angles and facets to approach the myth, the legend of the Makuta; Different re-imaginings, just as people came up with their own G3 and their own take on Makuta. Just like the Makuta contest we had for G2. Vamprah can represent the animalistic side of Makuta; The raging, kicking, screaming beast he was once described as by Vakama. The apex predator, for if his minions are the Rahi beasts, he is the greatest of them all.
Or Bitil! A temporal entity, haunted by his past selves, constantly summoned by his future self. Always going through different iterations, just as a MoC is frequently edited, redone, rebuilt; You can track his transformation, his evolution across his many selves; Makuta represents the existential horror of the timeline, of the way things change. A ghost of the past, and also a vision of the future. If the Vahi is central to the tale of Bionicle as the Mask of Time, what about Makuta as someone who constantly exploits and distorts this force?
Those are some of my initial ideas. Makuta needn’t always be this faceless force of nature, they can be a humanized figure, like Krika, who can be a sympathetic, tragic villain doomed by the narrative, consigned to his role and aware of it as part of a meta discussion; Miserix is the mighty dragon our knights must slay; The Makuta of Stelt, a land of merchants and commerce, the all-consuming force of corporatism that stifles creativity, or a bargaining devil. Gorast is a fanatical priestess hoping to bring in a new age, Mutran the quintessential mad scientist who played god and flew too close to the sun in his obsession.
Spiriah is a corrupt lord seething over his failures, who transformed and resents his people the Skakdi and must be rebelled against; Tridax is a multiversal collector providing commentary on adaptations; The Vortixx hope to harness the ultimate weapon that is Antroz; Kojol is the arcane keeper of knowledge like Lucifer, who stole the Light of enlightenment from the land of thinkers and is burned for it; And Icarax? A completely straightforward dark lord to conquer, as he always intended to be. Each plays the role of Makuta, as the final villain, the ultimate evil who started this conflict, whom our protagonists must rise to eventually vanquish.
#bionicle#makuta#brotherhood of makuta#chirox#vamprah#bitil#krika#miserix#makuta of stelt#gorast#mutran#spiriah#Tridax#antroz#kojol#icarax
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Some BIONICLE heads
[Ko-Fi]
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The Makuta of Stelt
Credit to @karyot for the rib/lower body design and edit!
#bionicle#bionicle moc#lego#lego moc#makuta#digital art#magenta parts selection sucks#but it looks so gooooood
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Makuta time
A Makuta whose talents laid in open ocean ecosystems, creating many of the fish and aquatic mammals seen in the Matoran Universe's waters, like the Takea and Razor Whale. Their domain was Ehlek's undersea homeland. Slain in the Dark Hunter war.
A Makuta that created rahi species for more urban environments as they began to pop up more and more throughout the universe, specifically rahi that could help filter out and negate the excess waste and pollution created by those societies cough cough Xia cough cough Stelt cough cough. Eventually cannibalized by GSR Teridax.
A Makuta who specialized in the field of camouflage, creating rahi that could disguise themselves as other species, plants, and even objects. They excelled at their own shapeshifting abilities for a similar effect. Their domain was a vibrant rainforest teeming with their rahi creations which eventually gained the title "The Jungle of Illusions". The order viewed this Makuta and their proficiencies as especially dangerous and sent operatives to take them out. After several close saves and the target in question and their rahi taking out multiple operatives, the deed was done.
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Miserix for the ask game!
This was one I really wanted so thank you so so much for asking it ;A;
First impression
I always liked Miserix. I discovered his charater via browsing on the wiki and reading about him made me interested in him. Since my language doesn't have pronouns I thought he was female for the longest time though lmao.
Impression now
My beloved strawberry dragon ;A;!!!! I love Miserix so much, he's easily one of my favorite characters and by far the most underrated in the series. In my opinion Miserix is one of the most interesting and intriguing characters in the series with by far one of the most compelling character journeys (even if we don't see much of it on-screen). Miserix is a tragedy, someone who was ousted from his position and ended up going mad as a result of his exile and isolation for thousands upon thousands years. He lost everything: his purpose, his identity and people to trust and was left with nothing but rage and vengeance! I find characters who lose themselves in their anger and vengeance such fascinating lost souls and Miserix is no exception! He's one of those characters I love to rotate in my head and dissect from all angles, trying to understand his psyche and mindset. And it's so much fun: Miserix is so fascinating to think about both with how he was in the past and how he is in the present. Not to mention how well Miserix fits thematically to the franchises themes, in particular on it's commentary of duty, identity and authority! He's an interesting character on his own and as a part of a larger world/narrative
In addition of finding Miserix's character so fascinating, I also love him for thow badass he is. And this isn't because of his powers and feats in story: The core of Miserix's badassness (at least for me) is his indimitation factor alone.Every time Miserix is on screen he brings so much tension to the scene he is in by his mere presence, he just has that type of charisma (for lack of a better term). Like Miserix doesn't have to do anything substantial, just by being present and saying somethign (even if it's just one line) is enough to get chills. Helps that he has easily some of the best lines in the series.
But god I love Miserix so so so much. I know that people dislike the Makuta as a species/faction retcon but I think it was worth it just for Miserix's character alone. His character does so much good for the series by introducing a fascinating major player into the series mythos who reflects some of the larger themes and ideas of the series really well!
Also the funny realization that Miserix is really similar to a favorite character of mine from another fandom but said character would hate him because he hates dragons and wants them all dead and...well..Miserix is a dragon so.
Favorite moment
This is hard since I like so many Miserix's scenes but none of them stand out as his absolutely best scene...probably his "official" introduction when The Federation of Fear freed him. It did a great job establishing his character that's also a great example of the intimidation factor I talked about earlier, while also giving him some really badass lines. Also him just telling Roodaka how she shouldn't puppet him is simutaneously funny and badass.
Honorable mention to that scene he arrived to Stelt and threatens a Steltian trader due to him not telling him Teridax's location. Mainly due to it having his best line in the entire series:
“I don’t have time for this. I have places to be, and bodies to break. I want you to send out a message to all your friends, to everyone who sails in and out of this island. Tell them Miserix is back, and when I find him, Teridax is dead!”
Like man, this line is such a perfect example of what I mean when I say Miserix gets the best lines! Its just raw unadulatered badassery and I love it!
Idea for a story
Post-canon/post-reformation where he gets to heal and rehabilate himself. I'm very much of the mind tht Miserix should have a chance at redemption: Yeah sure the guy was an angry vengeful dragon fueled by murderous rage against Teridax but he wasn't really a bad person himself nor did he bad things and thus shouldn't really be punished. I don't really like how some people in the fandom treat him like a rabid animal that needs to be put down when he isn't that far gone. He deserves to live and recover! Which is what I want: him slowly recovering from his trauma and pain, and him finding a community that will support and help him. Also get this dragon therapy or anger mangment at least he needs it so badly!
I'd also like to see a story about how Miserix was like before his exile. Miserix pre-exile self fascinates me to no end and getting to see what kind of person and leader he was before Teri ousted him would be great! Just to learn more about Miserix's values, how he saw his and the brotherhoods purpose in the larger MU and what his relation was to Mata Nui would be so cool! I need character studies on this guy and I need them now!
Unpopular opinion
Miserix is not boring! It annoys me so much when so many people in the fandom dismiss him, calling him a boring and unnecessary filler character that's an example of why the serials focus on superfulous new characters was bad.. when he's not. Yes, the serials have problem of ignoring the already established characters we already know and love, instead focusing on new players or bit characters fans weren't that attached to all because they wanted to focus on the grander world and have larger stakes...but this doesn't mean the new characters the serials revolved around weren't bad, and Miserix certainly wasn't! He is a geniunely compelling character with solid characterization and people ignoring him makes me so sad :C. Especially when they say he's just a violent angry dragon with nothing else going on for him. Sure he is a violent angry dragon, but he wasn't always like that and the story how he became who he is today is geniunely one of the better character stories in the series. Not to mention how he has a bit more going on with him than just angry murder dragon, even if you ignore his past self and focus on the Miserix we see in the story. Killing Teridax is his priority for sure, but there are times when he's able to prioritize on other things and thus doesn't mention his objective. See the scene where he interacts with the Hagah for a prime example.
Another thing that bothers me about peoples takes on Miserix is how people try to categorize Miserix on whether he was a "good" or "bad" person. One of the reasons Miserix is such a fascinating character to me is due to him being one of the few characters in the series that isn't really good or evil but somewhere in between. He was someone who was rigidly loyal to his duty and purpose in the universe, but he was willing to do some shady shit for accomplishing it. And when he became an angry murder dragon he only realy wanted to kill Teridax! He didn't care about hurting anyone else, only hurt them if they came to his way.
Also on a related note, I dislike Greg saying Miserix didn't care for his duty and was just happy of the power it gave him. Miserix is a much more interesting character if he geniunely cares about his job as the guardian of the universe, if he geiunely wants to protect the world and take good care of it to the point he sees it as his entire being rather than if he was as selfish and power hungry as other Makuta and was just content of his positiion of power so didn't try to take over anything.
Favorite relationship
Tbh none of Miserixs relationships are that "developed" in canon as I wish they were (curse for lategame Bionicle prioritizing over plot over character relationships) but I find his relationship with Takadox so fascinating. The little we know is that Miserix hired Takadox to act as a brotherhood spy due to him being "corruptible" and that Takadox most likely cared of Miserix based on how he looked at him when Barraki left that meeting with BoM. And that's just so fascinating. Miserix essentially taking advantage of Takadox is a concrete example of how he did some really fucked up stuff for the greater good. It makes me wonder how much Miserix affected Takadox becoming what we see in the story proper or if he was already a slimeball and Miserix just took advantage of that. Meanwhile Takadox seems to at least somewhat genuinely care about Miserix based on his reaction, which gives an interesting layer to his character. The idea that Takadox, someone who mainly sees others as toys or obstacles, would have had someone he actually loved and cared about is soo compelling to me and for that person to be someone as powerful and menacing as Miserix makes it even better. Their relationship has so much potential and I wish we had gotten to see them interact in canon. Oh well, at least we have fancontent and headcanons to satisfy those needs!
Favorite headcanon
His voice has an incredible vocal range and as such can vary his voice to sound between extremely feminine and masculine. His "regular" speaking voice he defaults to is either androgynous or does that weird thing where he manages to sound both feminine and masculine at once. It's hard to explain what I mean but basically speaking in a way that sounds like two people speaking at once.
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Savi, Toa of Lightning
Once a Matoran laborer on Stelt, Savi was eventually contracted as a crafter by Xian arms dealers. She served in this capacity for a few centuries until she joined the island’s Toa team as their resident weapon expert. Eventually, she joined the Toa Kra-Karda in their fight against the Brotherhood of Makuta, evacuating to Spherus Magna after Teridax’s defeat.
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Makuta Eilrux, Makuta of Stelt (ver. Mirai)
Eilrux doing the Sonic pose
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A1, A20, B13, C6 for the BIONICLE asks?
A1. Favourite character?
Kopaka. Simple as.
A20. Favourite Bohrok?
Pretty big on Nuhvok and Gahlok, as well as Lehvak-Kal. I'd like the Bahrag more if they weren't as... useless in-story. Kinda same for the Kal.
B13. Favourite analog game?
I only have ever played Bionicle: The Quest Game and that Thornax game (both by myself) so. I'd probably have to vote for Quest for the Masks because all the trading cards had good art, even if it was all pilfered from other material.
C6. What character do you think is underrated?
Guardian, Tyrant, all the MNOGII matoran, the Makuta of Stelt, Johmak, Botar's replacement
Thanks for the ask!
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2020 continues to surprise me: yesterday, I found myself compelled to revise this Bionicle fanfic I wrote six years ago. I'm still proud of the premise, but some of the original phrasing and punctuation was more than a little clumsy. I've significantly reworked the conversation between the Makuta of Stelt and Voporak, leading to a new twist in this little side story to the saga. Check it out if you want a small dose of Bionicle to stave off boredom like me!
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So, I got around to making the Makuta of Stelt aka that one nameless Makuta who created Voporak, was forced into an Exo-Toa, and was eventually killed off by Miserix. Credit goes to Underscored Double for helping out with making the moc, KhingK for 3D-modelling the Brotherhood variant of the Mask of Aging (render is from him), and @nicrophorus-americanus for inspiring me to make this in the first place.
If you haven’t already, I suggest checking out Nicrophorus’ short story An Even Exchange, which will help shed some light as to why the Vahi and Voporak are featured. I hope you all enjoy this interpretation of the Makuta of Stelt.
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Since I gave Rorik Toa-Powers, I figured he needed a worthy nemesis to go with them. Enter Kravahk—the treacherous, muderous Makuta of Stelt.
Though I built a version of Kravahk for MOCtober (see last photo), I was never really happy with it, so here’s a revamp. I wanted to show how he could be seen both as a benevolent overlord and terrifying creature of darkness, so I gave him the ability to easily-shapeshift between forms. When he appears to the Matoran in his domain, he appears as a bipedal, friendly, almost portly titan wearing a harmless Kanohi Ruru. In his true form, he’s a faceless, spiderish form wearing a twisted version of the Kanohi Icron, the great mask of conjuring, allows him access to any mask power he can describe along with the 42 other Makuta powers. Virtually unstoppable, the only thing he really fears is Rorik—a Toa of Iron sworn to exact his revenge on the Makuta who destroyed his life and haunted his nightmares.
#bonkles#moc#lego#g1#technic#build#survivors#moctober#makuta#red#yellow#black#fire#ruru#flames#demon#toa#stelt#fanon#revamp#transforming#alternate form#bionicle#matoran
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In 2008, all of the Makuta released as sets were given Matoran companions, with some sharing. Even Spiriah got that weird little… thing. And while Teridax didn’t get a set past 2007, would Ahkmou technically count for him? Could we assign Takua from another timeline to Tridax? Hafu and Kapura to Miserix? I guess this leaves just Kojol and the Makuta of Stelt missing…
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For funsies imma just post all of Federation of Fear here
https://biosector01.com/wiki/Federation_of_Fear
Chapter 1
Vezon opened his eyes, astonished to still be alive. The last thing he remembered, he was surrounded by Zyglak, who seemed immune to his wit and charm. Then there was a flash, the sensation of being grabbed by someone far stronger than he, a weird sensation of travel, and darkness.
He looked around. The room he occupied was a large cell and he wasn’t in it alone. Vezon didn’t recognize any of the other four occupants, all of whom stood well away from the others. By reflex, he started calculating how long it would take to disable them and how quickly he could pick the lock of the cell door.
Vezon’s musings were interrupted by the appearance of a sixth figure outside the cell. He was tall, lean and strong, wore a domed helmet, and carried a wicked double-bladed sword. The newcomer looked over the five prisoners as if they were cargo-hauling Ussal crabs up for auction.
“My name is Brutaka,” the visitor said. “I know you have questions – I’m not here to answer them. Where you are, who I work for, what this place is – you don’t need to know. What you do need to know is that there are two, and only two, ways you can get out of here.”
A Xian female stepped up to the bars and said in a dangerously soft voice, “And they are?”
“You can walk out, Roodaka, under your own power, and carry out a mission for some friends of mine,” Brutaka replied. “Or I can carry you out, plant you in a hole outside, and we’ll see if anything grows.”
Brutaka turned his attention to the others. “All of you have something in common – you have all had dealings with the Brotherhood of Makuta. Roodaka, here, betrayed them to the Dark Hunters, then betrayed the Dark Hunters as well – now both sides want her dead. Takadox and Carapar over there are Barraki, whose armies were crushed 80,000 years ago by the Brotherhood. The Makuta in the corner is Spiriah, who fouled up an experiment on the island of Zakaz so badly that his own people marked him for death.”
Vezon timidly raised a hand. “Excuse me, oh brutal, blade-wielding, lover of gardening. I have never met any Makuta face to mask and wouldn’t know one if he stepped on me and ground me into the dirt. I think maybe you wanted someone else … I’m Vezon with an ‘n,’ you see, not Vezok with a ‘k,’ and --”
The crab-like Carapar loped over, picked up Vezon by the neck, and bounced him off the back wall. “You talk too much,” the Barraki growled.
“Oh, yes,” Brutaka muttered, shaking his head. “This is going to work out just fine.”
Chapter 2
Roodaka was furious. As she walked along the waterfront, clad in a cloak made of plant fibre, she imagined over and over again all the disgusting things she would someday turn Brutaka into with her Rhotuka spinner. One way or the other, he was going to pay for this.
Brutaka and his team – Roodaka, Vezon, Carapar, Takadox, and Makuta Spiriah – had arrived on the shores of the island of Stelt in a small boat. As soon as Roodaka recognized the skyline, she began to protest. Stelt was the home of the late Sidorak, her former comrade, and his people. Worse, Roodaka had set Sidorak up to be killed, and it was likely everyone on Stelt knew that. She would be about as welcome there as a Kikanalo stampede.
But Brutaka had insisted they would need a bigger boat to get where they were going, and this was the easiest place to get one. The only other team member to voice an objection was Spiriah, who believed Brotherhood of Makuta agents were waiting in every village to grab him.
“And just how are we going to purchase this boat?” Roodaka hissed. “We have no equipment, no arms other than yours, not even those ridiculous Matoran widgets. We have nothing of value to offer in exchange.”
“Of course we do,” Brutaka answered, as he pushed open the doors of a trading house. “We have you.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Carapar had seized her from behind. The team, along with the struggling Roodaka, stepped inside the dimly lit and foul smelling shack. The proprietor was one of Sidorak’s species.
“We’re here to make a purchase,” said Brutaka. “Your fastest ship, outfitted with supplies for a long voyage to the south.”
“To the south?” snorted the trader. “Meaning I will never see my ship, or you, again? Unless you can make me rich --”
Brutaka took the hood off Roodaka, who glared at him with murder in her eyes. “Would the reward you’ll get for capturing the killer of Sidorak be payment enough?”
The trader smiled and invited the party out to view his prize craft. So excited was he by visions of the wealth that would soon be his that he never noticed Takadox had slipped away. The boat turned out to be good-sized, well armed with disk launchers, and large enough to accommodate at least a dozen beings. A crew of large, blue and gray armored bruisers were at work on it now.
“We’ll take it,” said Brutaka. There was a loud splash from the ocean side of the ship, but no one paid much mind to it.
“And I’ll take the murderer,” the trader said. “Sidorak was no prize, but we can’t let Vortixx and Rahi kill our kind and get away with it, now can we?”
There was another splash, then another, and another. Brutaka ignored them. “Of course not. But if you want people to believe you caught this dangerous criminal, you will need to look like you’ve been in a fight. A light tap to your head would do the trick, perhaps. My colleague, Vezon, can handle it – you won’t feel a thing.”
“Ever again,” Vezon chimed in, smiling.
Splash. Splash. Splash.
The trader looked over Vezon, who was nowhere near as physically imposing as the rest of the team. How much damage could he do? “All right,” said the trader. “One blow – a light one! – just to look convincing.”
Vezon’s grin grew wider. Roodaka struggled against Carapar’s grip. Brutaka walked casually away from the scene, surveying the boat. Vezon drew his fist back. Then, in one smooth motion, Brutaka whirled and whacked the trader in the back of the head. The trader crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
“Hey!” said Vezon. “He was mine! I woudn’t have hurt him … much … and I only would have needed three or four hours and the right tools, just to make sure he would be no trouble.”
“That’s the point,” Brutaka replied. “You enjoy your work a little too much. Now everyone on board – that includes you, Roodaka.”
They climbed on the ship to find Takadox standing alone. The Barraki took a little bow, pointed to his hypnotic eyes, and said, “The crew decided to go for a swim, all at once. Imagine that.”
“Why all the trouble?” muttered Carapar. “We could have just stormed in and stolen the ship.”
“And had all of Stelt after us?” asked Brutaka. “Not to mention every Dark Hunter and Brotherhood member around, as soon as they heard Roodaka was here?”
“But what about the trader, you fool?” said Roodaka. “He saw me!”
Brutaka laughed as the ship moved slowly away from shore. “Who’s going to believe anyone stupid enough to stand still and get hit?”
Chapter 3
Brutaka and his bizarre crew had been at sea for three days when he called them all together. “It’s time to let you know our mission. And before you ask, you were all chosen for this trip for one very good reason: You’re expendable. No one is going to care if any of you live or die, which makes you ideal for this job.”
Carapar grumbled something unspeakably foul. Brutaka chose to ignore it.
“We are going to an island far south of anything on any chart,” Brutaka continued. “But it’s not uninhabited. In fact, it has one very special resident: a Makuta named Miserix.”
Now it was Spiriah’s turn to mutter something, though his words were more in shock than in anger.
“Miserix, for those of you who don’t know, was the leader of the Brotherhood of Makuta before the current holder of that title,” said Brutaka. “He was overthrown and wound up imprisoned on a volcanic island. He’s guarded by Rahi and the Great Beings know what else – things someone figured would be able to kill an escaping Makuta. And it’s our job to break him out.”
At first, none of the team members said anything. Then Takadox spoke up. “And what do we get out of this? Money? Power? Our freedom?”
Brutaka smiled. “You get to live another day.”
“And what do we do with him after we have him?” asked Roodaka. “Hold him for ransom?”
“That’s not your concern,” Brutaka replied. “All of you have a role to play in this mission. When we get close to the island, you will be given weapons and equipment. Try to run, at any time, and friends of mine will hunt you down – friends who make me look like a big, cuddly Ussal crab.”
It was Vezon who spotted them first. A small fleet of ragtag vessels was approaching from the west. They were about the ugliest boats one could imagine, slapped together from remnants and wreckage and barely sea-worthy. But he wasn’t focused on the look of the ships, but rather the identity of their crews.
“Zyglak!” he shouted.
The others rushed to the rail to look. Sure enough, the reptilian beings known as “the Great Beings’ mistakes” were manning the ships. Notoriously violent and destructive, Zyglak hated the Great Spirit Mata Nui and anything associated with him. It was doubtful they were paying a social call.
Brutaka tried to steer the ship away from them, but the wind and waves were not cooperating. After a few minutes, he realized why: Makuta Spiriah was using his power over weather to keep the ship in place.
“Did you really think it would be this easy?” said Spiriah. “I deduced our goal days ago and passed a message to my Zyglak friends through channels on Stelt.”
Vezon looked horrified. He had spent many days a captive of the Zyglak not so long ago. It wasn’t an experience he was anxious to repeat. “Friends? Zyglak don’t have friends... just meals they haven’t eaten yet.”
“They are outcasts,” said Spiriah. “And so am I. Now, Brutaka, I am taking command of this ship. We will be setting a new course, for the island of Zakaz. It was there that I met defeat and disgrace – there that my grand experiment failed, because the inhabitants were too savage to know what to do with my gifts. It is their fault I was cast out of the Brotherhood – and now they are going to pay!”
Chapter 4
It had been three days since Spiriah’s takeover of the team’s vessel. Since then, they had steered a course for the island of Zakaz, surrounded on every size by boats filled with murderous Zyglak. Spiriah had been acting every inch the captain of the ship, ordering the others about and being particularly hard on Brutaka. Through it all, Brutaka said nothing and made no attempt to strike at Spiriah.
“To think, we were beginning to feel a little afraid of him,” Takadox said, gesturing toward Brutaka.
“Speak for yourself,” Carapar replied.
“Home,” beamed Vezon. “True, I’ve never been to Zakaz... I’m not even really one of the native species... in fact, they’ll probably kill me on sight... or worse, tie me upside down over a spiked dagger plant... but at least I’ll die at home.”
Roodaka had abandoned any hope that Brutaka was going to act and concentrated instead on Spiriah. “The Brotherhood has overextended itself in recent years,” she assured him. “Warring with Dark Hunters and Toa... they are weak. If you struck at them now with your army, you could take over Destral and rule the universe. Of course, you would need someone by your side who knows all the factions and how best to use them...”
Spiriah looked at her as if she were something stuck to his boot. “I would sooner offer my neck to a dull axe blade than trust you, female. Your name has become another word for ‘treachery.’”
“Better that than being another word for ‘failure,’” Roodaka muttered.
The conversation was ended by the appearance of land off the port bow. It was the island of Zakaz, in all its ruined “glory.” A handful of Dark Hunter vessels could be seen in the waters nearby, on patrol. At a word from Spiriah, the Zyglak vessels attacked. Taken by surprise, three of the Dark Hunter ships were sunk immediately. The others beached on the shores of the island, only for the crews to be slain by a mob of Skakdi natives.
Spiriah laughed at the sight. “The Skakdi believe they know what savagery is,” he said. “But they have never met the Zyglak. And the Makuta believe they know all the colors and shapes of revenge... but I will introduce them to a shade darker than even they could imagine.”
The mini-armada surged forward, Zyglak already preparing to storm the beaches. They were still 500 yards from shore when the first Zyglak ship suddenly lurched and began to sink. This was followed by another and still another. Soon, Zyglak vessels on every side were taking on water, gaping holes torn in their hulls below the water line.
Takadox rushed to the rail. He caught a glimpse of beings just under the water, attacking the Zyglak craft. From a distance, they almost looked like his old ally, Ehlek. Whatever they were, they moved like fish underwater and the ships were no match for their claws.
Shocked by the abrupt annihilation of his force, Spiriah was unprepared for Brutaka’s attack. An energy blast knocked him off his feet, a well-placed kick kept him on the ground, and then Brutaka’s blade was pressed against his chest armor.
“Go ahead,” Brutaka said, coldly. “Use one of your powers. Think you can do it before I rip open your armor? And how long do you think your energy will last out here, with no body to occupy? Or maybe I should just throw you overboard right now.”
“How... ?” Spiriah began.
“How did I deal with the Zyglak?” said Brutaka. “Simple. You have friends; so do I. Mine are an species of water dwellers who were specially modified by my employers to kill Makuta. They live off the coast of Zakaz, and right now they are practicing their skills on your Zyglak. You don’t want to look... it’s messy.”
“Wait a minute,” said Takadox. “Not that I am complaining, but how did you manage to get in touch with these ‘friends’ of yours? You never left the ship.”
Brutaka hauled Spiriah to his feet. All around, the ocean was littered with wrecked ships and dead Zyglak. “Spiriah had his friends following us. And I had someone following us since we left Stelt, just in case of emergency... and here she comes now.”
The others turned to see a small skiff approaching from the east. Its lone pilot was a female, lithe and well-armed. As she came alongside and clambered above the ship, Roodaka noticed that her left arm was completely mechanical. For a moment, she almost felt sorry for Spiriah.
“This is the last member of our team,” said Brutaka. “Treat her as you would me... and be sure she will treat you even worse than I do. Her name’s Lariska.”
Chapter 5
Lariska stood at the bow with Brutaka, watching the ship cleave through the water. Behind them, the other members of the team were keeping a careful eye on Makuta Spiriah – not that they could have done much to stop him if he tried to make a break. But Brutaka had done a little math and explained to Spiriah how many hours he was likely to survive once the Brotherhood of Makuta knew where he was. Then he assured Spiriah that if the ship and its occupants were all destroyed, the Brotherhood would be notified immediately where to start looking.
That was a bluff, of course. But Spiriah had spent a lot of his life fleeing from his former comrades, and running and hiding get to be habits after a while. As Brutaka expected, Spiriah bought it and backed off.
The ship had veered away from Zakaz and was on its way south. There was one more stop to make before they headed for their ultimate target. This was the one Brutaka dreaded – it was time to arm the team.
The island that came into view was little more than a piece of barren rock. It was not the original site for this meeting, but plans had changed. Two Order of Mata Nui members, Botar and the nine-foot tall warrior named Trinuma, had been dispatched with a cache of weapons for a rendezvous on a small, wooded island just off the mainland. But a Makuta named Icarax had spotted their appearance and attacked. The fight was furious, but brief. Botar was slain, crushed by the Makuta’s magnetic power, and Trinuma barely escaped to tell the tale. In desperation, he stored the weapons at the first place he came to before returning to Daxia with the tragic news.
The ship dropped anchor just off the coast. Brutaka warned Takadox and Carapar he would be keeping a careful eye on them on the swim over, just in case they got any funny ideas about diving deep and escaping. Vezon was the first to react when they set foot on the rocky shore.
“There is something... wrong here,” he said, his tone unusually serious. “Something beyond even my powers to cope with.”
“You don’t have any powers, freak,” Carapar roughly reminded him.
“I don’t?” Vezon said, seemingly confused. “Where was I when they were being handed out? Let me see... Makuta’s lair... Voya Nui... tunnels... prison... how could I have missed the meeting, I was always where the action was.”
“Quiet,” said Lariska, dagger drawn. “There is one true statement in your babble. There is something not right in this place.”
Brutaka approached, carrying the weapons. Takadox took a long, thin blade, while Carapar grabbed a broadsword. Roodaka pounced on a Rhotuka launcher. Brutaka handed Spiriah a projectile weapon and warned him with a cold smile not to point it at himself... or anyone else. Vezon got a spear, which he turned over in his hands with no real enthusiasm.
“What’s it do?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Brutaka answered. “But with your powers, you don’t need it, right?”
Vezon brightened. “Right,” he agreed, having forgotten once again that he had no powers. Carapar growled in frustration and stalked away.
“We have what we came for,” Takadox said nervously. “Let’s go.”
“There’s something in that cave up ahead,” said Lariska. “I can hear what sounds like breathing, but it’s a... wet sound, as if the being were inhaling through mud. And there’s something else... it almost sounds like... something slithering.”
Spiriah took a step back. “I know where we are,” he said, his eyes darting from side to side as if expecting an attack. “Mutran told me of this place, though it didn’t look like this ages ago. We have to go. We have to go now!”
But it was already too late. Vast walls of rock suddenly sprang up from the shore line, forming a 200-foot high wall around the island and cutting the team off from their boat. “Blast it down,” Brutaka ordered. But even the power of his blade was not enough to penetrate the stone.
Spiriah had shapeshifted himself some wings and was trying to fly over the top. A sharp spear of stone erupted out of the top of the wall and impaled one of his wings, sending him spiraling toward the ground. Lariska ran, leapt, hit the wall feet first, and propelled herself into mid-air to catch the falling Makuta.
There was no time to marvel at her athletic feat or make other attempts to escape. For now a voice was coming from the cave, but not a voice like anyone present had ever heard before. It sounded like the slimy, repulsive sound that comes when a nest of feeder worms is disturbed. Even Brutaka had to suppress a shudder.
“Visitors,” said the voice. “At last.”
“Who are you?” said Brutaka. “Did you imprison us here? I warn you, you don’t know the power you face.”
A massive tentacle shot out of the cave, wrapping itself around Brutaka and pulling him inside. The next moment, he was in the presence of something so horrible, so alien, that it took all his willpower just to hold on to his sanity.
“Now,” said the entity that held him in its grip. “Now tell Tren Krom of your power.”
Chapter 6
Brutaka tried to close his eyes. It didn’t help. He couldn’t get the image of Tren Krom out of his mind – a writhing, crimson mass of tentacles emerging from a gelatinous central core, with two dead yellow eyes that somehow followed every movement without ever moving themselves. At least, that was what he had seen at a glance – somehow, Brutaka knew to gaze for long at Tren Krom would be to invite madness.
The entity seemed over time to have merged with the stone floor and walls of its cave, so that lurker and place of concealment were one. The acrid stench of decay hung over everything. In vain, Brutaka tried to break free of the grip of Tren Krom’s tentacle. He could feel the strange being trying to probe his mind, but so far, Brutaka’s mental training had allowed him to resist. If that should fail, he knew, the secrets of the Order of Mata Nui would be exposed to this monster.
“What wonders have come into my universe in the millennia since my exile?” Tren Krom said softly, his voice as revolting as his form. “I must know!”
Hesitantly, the other members of Brutaka’s team had entered the cave, only to wish they hadn’t. It was only Lariska, protosteel dagger in hand, who kept them from fleeing.
“You think me an alien... an ‘other’...” Tren Krom continued. “But I am of the substance of this universe, and I walked here long before you or even Mata Nui himself. Have you not heard the tales?”
“There is a Tren Krom in legend,” said Brutaka. “But... the tales obviously left some parts out.”
Tren Krom laughed. The sound made the team wish death would come for them right now. “Before the Great Spirit Mata Nui was born, the Great Beings created one being who was purely organic. They taught me the ways of the universe they were creating and they placed me in its core. There I was to remain, maintaining the heat, the light, all the forces that made their creation whole...”
Brutaka had managed to work an arm partway loose. With a little luck, he would be able to get his hand on a dagger and cut himself free... all he needed was time. “So what happened? How did you end up here?”
“My time was always to be short,” Tren Krom replied. “I was to shepherd this universe until Mata Nui was prepared to take power. A Matoran of Light came to me and said the hour had come for me to move on... a crafter of canisters he was, whose sanity did not survive our encounter. I surrendered myself to my fate, only to be exiled here by the Great Beings and bound to this rock.” His voice tuned heavy with bitterness. “The universe, it seems, did not need two entities supreme.”
“What... what do you want with us?” whispered Vezon. “And please don’t say someone to hold your mirror for you.”
“I would know what has gone on in the universe in the last 100 millennia,” Tren Krom answered. “My visitors have been few in number. You seven will remain here and I will gain the knowledge I need from your minds... of course, sadly, you may have no minds left when I am done.”
“Why ask us?” said Lariska. “You obviously don’t really care.”
“Would you shut up?” hissed Carapar. “Rule number one: don’t annoy the giant, tentacled monster, or don’t they teach that one in The Shadowed One’s school?”
“Be quiet,” snapped Lariska. “Tren Krom... your universe is in danger. It’s our job to help save it. If you keep us here, you’ll be hurting the one thing you helped bring into being.”
Carapar edged slowly to the side, sword in hand. No one paid any attention – all eyes were on Lariska, who had been grabbed by one of Tren Krom’s many arms. Without the discipline Brutaka possessed, her mind was an open book to the entity. She screamed as a lifetime of memories were sifted through in an instant, screamed as she saw glimpses of the ancient mind of Tren Krom. When he finally released her, she collapsed on the stone floor.
“Mutran,” Tren Krom muttered to himself. “So long ago now, I entered his mind … and he mine … and so he learned how best to strike at Mata Nui. He and his kind have dared reach for power that fate chose to deny them. How... intriguing.”
“It’s more than that,” Brutaka said. “Tell him, Spiriah – tell him what will happen to him if the Makuta succeed in their plans.”
“If the Plan succeeds...” Spiriah began. He glanced around as if one of his former comrades might be somewhere nearby, listening. “A shadow will fall... Makuta will rule the universe, their will enforced by Rahkshi. Anyone with the power to threaten that rule will die... and that means anyone.”
“Impossible,” said Tren Krom. Suddenly, the minds of every team member were filled with nightmarish images projected by the tentacled entity, visions that would sicken even the mad. “No one can approach without my assent. No one can fight me. No one can kill me. I am eternal!”
Brutaka had his dagger in hand now. “Maybe not,” he said. “But I’m betting there was a time you said no one could bind you... and look what happened.”
Tren Krom paused in thought. Brutaka started to make his move, then caught Carapar out of the corner of his eye. The Barraki was raising his sword to strike the entity. It was too late to shout, too late to stop him.
Carapar brought his blade down, confident he had taken his enemy by surprise. Then a third eye suddenly appeared on Tren Krom, one gazing right at Carapar. The Barraki froze in mid-blow. A shaft of energy shot out from the eye, bathing him in its glow. The next instant, Carapar shattered into fragments as if he had been made of crystal. Then there was nothing left of him but a pile of glittering dust on the stone floor.
“I helped to birth a world of order,” Tren Krom whispered. “But from what I have seen in the female’s mind... you have turned it into a universe of madness and fear. It is not worth saving. But it is the universe you and your kind deserve.”
Tren Krom hurled Brutaka at his team. Spiriah used his magnetic powers to catch him before he could slam into the wall. The tentacles withdrew then, wrapping themselves around the core of Tren Krom’s being.
“Go,” the entity said. “Take yourselves from my prison... take your memories and plans with you... for the horrors already in your minds are worse than any I could visit upon you. I condemn you to your fate – life in the universe you and your kind have made.”
No one was going to take the time to argue. Gathering up Brutaka and Lariska, they fled the cave even as the stone walls that surrounded the island receded into the sand. Only Takadox paused to look back at the cavern where Carapar had died, wondering for a moment just what it would take to end the life of a being older than the stars.
Chapter 7
Brutaka and Lariska stood together, watching Takadox standing silently by the rail of the ship. “I worry about that one,” said Lariska. “He has not spoken a word since we left Tren Krom’s island, after the death of his friend Carapar.”
“Friend?” snorted Brutaka. “Barraki don’t have friends, just people they use – and Carapar was Takadox’s favorite puppet. Besides, don’t waste your worry on him – save it for us.” He pointed off the bow. “We’ve arrived.”
Looming out of the mist was an island of black sand and jagged rock, volcanic peaks and strange Rahi arcing and wheeling through the sky. Despite the bright light that played off the waters around it, the island seemed to be in perpetual shadow.
“Welcome to Artidax,” said Brutaka.
Vezon approached, chuckling. “Hope we survive our stay.”
Brutaka looked around at his team – a Barraki, half a Skakdi, a Makuta, a former queen of the Visorak, a Dark Hunter, and himself. “Well, if we don’t, who knows? The world might be better off without us.”
Brutaka and Spiriah, being the two most powerful team members, led the way to shore. As they trod on the ebon sands, all seemed quiet. “So you know nothing about the defenses here?” asked Brutaka.
“Only what Krika sometimes talked about. Ideas he had,” said Spiriah. “You realize this whole thing is a terrible idea.”
“What?”
“Freeing Miserix,” said Spiriah. “He can’t stop the Plan. All we will find here is an early death. Listen, we -- ”
What happened next was startlingly fast. The black sands began to swirl around Spiriah, forming a hand which grabbed the Makuta and started dragging him down. Brutaka grabbed Spiriah’s hand, calling to the others, “Help me!”
Lariska, Vezon and Roodaka rushed to his aid. Takadox hung back, occasionally glancing toward the ship as if contemplating escape. The pull of the sand was too strong and Spiriah’s mask had almost disappeared beneath it. Then Roodaka fired her Rhotuka launcher, the spinner striking the living sand and mutating the grains into a swarm of fireflyers. Unable to maintain its grip in this new form, it freed Spiriah. The Makuta crawled back onto the beach, cursing.
“I’m an idiot,” Brutaka said. “I should have realized – Krika rigged this place to sense the presence of a Makuta and react. He didn’t want Miserix escaping, or any other Brotherhood member finding him and finishing him off.”
“Then I would be insane to go any further,” said Spiriah. “I brought you here – you don’t need me anymore.”
“On the contrary,” said Lariska. “I think you would be very useful. Anyone ever hear of a stalking kinloka?”
Surprisingly, Vezon was the only one who nodded. When everyone turned to look at him, he shrugged. “Vezok. He saw lots of things, and since I came from him, I saw them too. Say, when we are done here, who’s up for killing him? I’ll even clean up after.”
Lariska turned back to Brutaka, ignoring their lunatic companion. “Kinloka are rodents, found in many places, among them Zakaz. When the Skakdi need to cross land that might be booby-trapped, they send the kinloka through first. The creatures set off the traps and the Skakdi can cross safely.”
“And the traps here are sensitive to Makuta,” said Roodaka, smiling. “I see, I see. And come to think of it, Spiriah is somewhat rodent-like.”
Spiriah, back on his feet, looked right at Brutaka. “No. Not even if you threw in the chance to eviscerate that Vortixx --”
“Watch your mouth,” Roodaka spat, aiming her launcher at him, “while you still have only one.”
Brutaka put his arm around Spiriah and led him away. “You’re not looking at the big picture here. When all this is over, the Brotherhood could still be a powerful creature, only without a head. It’s going to need a new leader... and the beings I work for will remember who helped them... and who didn’t. Trust me, they have long memories.”
It only took a few more minutes of whispered conversation before Spiriah turned back to the group and announced that he would be their guide to Artidax. He immediately set off inland, with the rest following. Lariska fell in beside Brutaka, saying, “You know full well he could never be leader of the Brotherhood.”
“Let him think he might get to be the head,” Brutaka replied. “It will distract him from the fact that he might well lose his own here.”
Their path took them right up to the slope of a volcano. A tunnel had been bored through the mountain at some point, the only way to directly traverse the island. Spiriah was striding on ahead when Vezon leapt in front of him, holding up his hands. Then he pointed downward, at a razor-thin vine stretched across the path. It led up to a pile of boulders poised precariously on the slope.
Spiriah stepped carefully over the vine, followed by the others, and went into the tunnel. It was only when they were already inside that Brutaka noticed someone was missing. “Where’s Takadox?”
Lariska turned. “There! Look out!”
Brutaka turned to see Takadox bringing his blade down on the vine. In the moment before an avalanche of rocks cut them off from the Barraki and trapped them in the tunnel, they all could see his evil smile.
Chapter 8
Brutaka pushed aside a pile of rubble and struggled to his feet. Around him, Spiriah and Roodaka were using shadow energy to blast themselves free. Vezon and Lariska were nowhere to be seen.
He glanced back toward the now blocked tunnel entrance. A few blasts of power would no doubt clear away the pile of rocks and stones, but Takadox would be long gone by now. There would be time to settle with him later.
“I’ve got him!”
Brutaka turned to see Lariska holding a squirming Vezon by the throat. “I caught him sneaking down a side tunnel,” the Dark Hunter said.
“Let us track down that traitor,” snarled Roodaka. “I want his shattered body beneath my heel.”
“We’re here to do a job,” Brutaka replied. “We keep moving. All of us,” he added, looking hard at Vezon.
The tunnel proved to be far more than a mere pathway. It opened upon a vast underground cavern spanned by a narrow bridge made of fibrous protodermis. Down below, the floor was littered with a massive tangle of what looked like dead branches intertwined with each other. Deep channels had been carved into the walls by lava flows over the centuries. Strange flying Rahi hung from the ceiling, their six eyes blinking slowly at the sight of intruders into their realm.
“Remind me not to let Makuta Krika arrange for my next pleasure trip,” muttered Spiriah.
“This whole island is volcanic,” said Brutaka. “Minor eruptions over the years, but nothing major. Tahu and Kopaka are supposed to have taken care of the problem. Otherwise, we would probably be flash fried by now.”
“No Carapar, no Takadox,” said Vezon in a sing-song voice. “Who will go next? Spiriah the Sullen? Brutaka the Boorish? Vezon the Vanquisher? Or Lariska --”
The Dark Hunter whipped out a dagger and flung it into the stone right at Vezon’s feet. The mad half-Skakdi turned to her, smiling, and said, “Or Lariska, the wise, wonderful, and gloriously homicidal.”
Brutaka led the way across the bridge. At the far side, light spilled through a narrow opening. The symbol of the Brotherhood of Makuta was seared into the stone beside that portal. Someone – maybe Krika, maybe Miserix – had marked their path, so long ago.
“What are we going to do with this legendary Makuta when we find him?” asked Roodaka. “What makes you think he will help the likes of you?”
“Miserix hates the Brotherhood for turning on him,” Brutaka replied. “He would ally with three Matoran and an Ussal crab if it would get him revenge on his fellow Makuta.”
“And so what will he be for you?” Roodaka pressed. “A general? A hero? A symbol around which to rally resistance to the Brotherhood?”
Brutaka shook his head. “Nothing quite so grand. He’ll be a weapon, like a Rhotuka launcher or a ghost blaster. And we’re going to aim him right at the Makuta fortress on Destral.”
Roodaka smiled. “And who, might I ask... are ‘we’?”
Brutaka smiled back, the grin of a Kavinika about to feast. “Now, now … what you don’t know won’t cut you in two and dump you off this bridge.”
“I hear something,” said Lariska. “Up ahead... it might be a voice... or the rumble of the volcano.”
“I hear something too,” said Vezon.
“Shut up,” replied Roodaka.
“And I see something as well,” Vezon continued. “But since you aren’t interested...”
“We’re not,” Roodaka snapped.
“Personally, I always find my comments and observations most interesting,” Vezon rambled on. “You haven’t truly lived until you have seen the world through the eyes of madness. Why, half the time I don’t know if what I see is what’s really there, or what I wish was there … or what I pray, I beg, I plead is not.”
“Why did we bring him again?” said Spiriah.
“He breaks up the monotony,” said Lariska.
“I’d like to break something much more satisfying,” hissed Roodaka. “I hear Skakdi make a most appealing sound when you snap them into pieces.”
“But, since you seem to have no interest,” Vezon continued, utterly disregarding his teammates’ comments. “Well, then, I won’t tell you that the floor is moving. You can find out on your own.”
“The floor is...?” Brutaka repeated. He looked down. Far below, the tangled growth of dead branches had indeed begun to shift. The reason why rapidly became clear: they weren’t branches at all, but the twisted limbs of thousands of crimson insects, now disentangling themselves from each other. Apparently, it was time to wake up and they were ready for their morning meal.
Swifter than anyone could have predicted, they began to swarm up the walls of the canyon on every side. In an instant, they had blocked the openings on both ends of the bridge. The surrounding rock was now gone, buried beneath a skittering sea of red and thousands of unblinking, predatory eyes.
“No, no, no,” said Vezon, shaking his head. “Too late to apologize. Much, much too late.”
Chapter 9
Brutaka scanned the cavern with narrowed eyes. The glowing eyes of the insects all around made it feel as if he were trapped in some lunatic starfield. Behind him, he could hear Vezon humming softly to himself, as if out for an afternoon stroll.
“Do we fight our way out of here?” asked Lariska, hand on the hilt of her dagger.
Brutaka’s answer was to turn to Spiriah. “Okay. You control Rahi. Make them clear a path.”
“On one condition,” said Spiriah. “Once I do, I go free. I turn right around and march out, take the boat – if Takadox hasn’t already – and leave. And I never see or hear from any of you, or anyone associated with you, again.”
“I wasn’t asking you,” replied Brutaka. “I was telling you.”
“I am a Makuta,” said Spiriah. “Disgraced, perhaps; a victim of jealousy and prejudice, most definitely. But I will not be dictated to by some obnoxious, insane --”
Brutaka hit Spiriah a solid blow in the mask, knocking the Makuta over the side of the narrow bridge. Spiriah caught on to the span, just barely, and hung in space.
“I think this is what they call ‘in no position to deal,’” said Brutaka. He triggered his mask power, opening a dimensional portal in space just below Spiriah’s feet. “If I move that opening just a little bit further toward you, you’ll find yourself in a dimension full of beings made of solid light. Know what they eat there? Shadow. You’ll be a food bank for them, Spiriah, but I have to warn you – they’re always hungry. And they don’t close their mouths when they chew.”
Spiriah said nothing. Instead, he reduced his density and floated up and away from Brutaka’s portal. Then he drifted back down to the bridge and turned solid once more. “I’ll do it,” he said. “Then I leave. I advise you not to try and stop me.”
The Makuta concentrated, triggering his power to control Rahi beasts. Nothing happened, other than restless stirring among the insects. After a few moments, Spiriah gave up in frustration. “They’re already under the control of a more powerful will. It must be Miserix.”
Brutaka gestured toward the wall of insect life that blocked the way they had come. “Then I guess you’re not leaving.” He turned to Lariska. “And we’re fighting. You stay back with Vezon. Roodaka, Spiriah and I will lead the way.”
On Brutaka’s signal, he and his two powerful allies unleashed their powers at the insects who blocked the passage way up ahead. As quickly as the crimson creatures fell, more came to replace them. Worse, the ones behind were now skittering across the bridge, closing in on Vezon and Lariska.
“I have an idea,” said Roodaka, summoning a Rhotuka disk into her launcher. She fired at the insects up ahead, the power of her disk mutating them into unrecognizable creatures. An instant later, the other insects fell upon the unfortunate victims of her attack. The mutated insects were dead in seconds, killed for being different than the rest of the species.
Seeing that her ploy had worked, Roodaka repeated the process, this time focusing on the insects blocking the end of the bridge. As the mutations took hold and their former allies turned on them, an opening appeared in the wall of living creatures. With a roar of triumph, she led a charge across the bridge and into the tunnel beyond. The team didn’t stop running until they were well away from the cavern.
“Are they following?” asked Brutaka.
“They don’t seem to be,” Lariska answered. “Maybe they don’t like to leave their nest.”
“”Or maybe they just know we have to go back out that way, so they can eat us then,” Vezon offered, cheerfully.
“Maybe there’s another way out up ahead,” said Brutaka.
“Or maybe we’ll get to like it here,” said Vezon. “A few grass mats, some cave drawings, the heads of my enemies mounted on the wall … it could be quite pleasant.”
“Brutaka!” Roodaka called from up ahead. “I think you had best see this.”
The team rushed through the tunnel to join Roodaka. She was standing at the tunnel’s end, looking out at another vast chamber. More specifically, she was looking at the largest occupant of the chamber, a massive dragon-like beast chained to the stone floor. All around it flew much smaller Rahi, darting and dodging the shadow hand that occasionally shot out from the creature’s chest.
“What … is that?” asked Lariska.
Brutaka shook his head in amazement. “Well, it’s about 40 feet tall, red and silver, with four legs, a tail, and a nasty disposition – and it’s who we’re here to rescue.”
“Miserix,” whispered Spiriah.
“All right, we can take him home,” said Vezon, “but don’t expect me to clean up after him.”
Chapter 10
Vezon looked from the massive, chained form of the dragon-like beast to his partners, then back at the dragon, then over to Brutaka. He opened his mouth to speak, but Brutaka cut him off.
“Don’t say it,” said Brutaka.
“We’re going to need --” Vezon began.
“A bigger boat. I know,” Brutaka said. “Anybody know what those... things... are flying all around?”
Small, winged creatures were indeed flitting all around the dragon. Now and then, one would let out a scream that shattered rock. “They’re called klakk,” said Makuta Spiriah. “Something Mutran created a long time back – their sonic scream is formidable. They must be meant as guardians.”
Brutaka frowned. Guardians, all right, but against whom? He knew the dragon was in fact Makuta Miserix, ex-leader of the Brotherhood. He had been ordered executed, but Makuta Krika had instead chained him up here on the island of Artidax. It was Brutaka’s job to rescue him so the Order of Mata Nui could use him against his former organization.
At that moment, Miserix suddenly took notice of them. His great eyes narrowed as he spoke and his voice rumbled like a distant avalanche. “Who... are... you?”
Brutaka started to say, “Friends,” then decided he didn’t really want to be considered a friend of that thing. “We’re here to free you,” he said instead. “Can you shapeshift to a smaller form?”
“Why would I wish to do that?” asked Miserix. “Do you know how many of these creatures I had to absorb to reach a size where their screams no longer pain me?”
“See, the size is a problem, your immenseness,” Vezon cut in. “We only have a small boat, hardly more than a raft, really, and if it sinks we have to swim. Personally, I am not big on swimming – some friends of mine went for a swim, I heard, and now they look like sea snakes, just a head and a spine. And I have no spine, so I would be just a head, and --”
Miserix’s eyes glowed red. A burst of laser vision struck Vezon, sending him tumbling backwards. “Gnat,” muttered the Makuta.
Turning to check on Vezon, Brutaka saw that Spiriah had backed way up into the shadows. Miserix noticed too and bellowed, “Tell that one to come forth.”
Spiriah took a reluctant step forward. At the sight of another Makuta, the dragon smiled. “Spiriah. I do remember you. When Teridax rose against me, you were one of the first to be by his side. I have so looked forward to meeting you again.” Brutaka tightened his grip on his weapon. He did not like Miserix’s tone at all.
“Do you know I have not seen one of my species since Krika left me here?” Miserix continued.
“We all meant to come,” Spiriah said hurriedly. “Teridax wouldn’t let us. We all knew we would benefit by your experience, your power, your very presence.”
“But you did not come,” rumbled Miserix. “So now I shall benefit from yours.”
A hand made of living shadow erupted from the dragon’s chest, grabbed Spiriah, and pulled him into Miserix’s body. There wasn’t even time for a scream.
Vezon, back on his feet, stopped dead when he saw the Makuta consumed. “I thought we were here to rescue him from captivity,” he whispered. “Not from that mid-day empty feeling.”
“You know, we could just leave you here to rot,” Brutaka said to Miserix. “Or wait for the next volcanic eruption to rain lava down on your oversized head. Or... you could have your chance to take revenge on your brothers. What’s it going to be?”
Miserix considered. Then he leaned forward as far as his chains would allow him and said, “Make your attempt, for what good it will do.”
“I have seen those kind of chains before,” said Lariska. “They grow and shrink with him. They feed on his own power and use it to hold him.”
Brutaka hefted his weapon. “Can they be broken?”
“Not without causing him great pain.”
Brutaka gave a grim smile. “I’ll cry tomorrow. Find me a weak link. Roodaka, we are going to need your help.”
The Vortixx had been silent since they had entered Miserix’s presence. Brutaka had no doubt she was planning something. But she dutifully stepped forward and stood beside him, her eyes never leaving the chained Makuta.
“There,” said Lariska, pointing to a segment of the chain that held Miserix’s right arm. “We concentrate our fire there.”
Brutaka and Roodaka took aim, he with his blade, she with her outstretched hand. Energy and shadow bolts struck the weak segment of chain, bathing it in a continuous stream of power. After several minutes, the substance of the chain began to flake off. After a few more, it began to crack. Then the link shattered to pieces. Miserix screamed, loud enough to crack the mountain itself.
The klakk reacted instantly, flying toward the rescue team and unleashing their sonic screams. Vezon and Lariska fought them off, while Brutaka used his blade to parry the streams of sound. Meanwhile, Miserix raised his arm tentatively. Seeing that it was indeed free of its bonds, he reached over with it and tore the other chain from the ground. This time, he did not scream, but only smiled.
The klakk were gaining ground now, driving the team back toward where the insects were still lurking. Miserix watched the battle for a moment in silence. Then he opened his mouth and unleashed a power scream that felled the klakk, along with Vezon and Lariska. Brutaka and Roodaka barely remained conscious. Crawling over, Brutaka checked on his two team members – both were still living.
“Now, then,” said Miserix. “Where is Teridax?”
Brutaka laughed. “And if I tell you, you have no reason to keep us alive. Gratitude is not high on the list of Makuta emotions. I’ll show you. But you are going to need to shrink down to make it out the way we came.”
“Your lack of imagination is disappointing,” said Miserix, in as close to good spirits as a Makuta ever got. He reared back and struck the side of the mountain with all his might, once, twice, again. The rock cracked and began to crumble. Miserix followed up with his fragmentation power, reducing the entire side of the volcano to shards of stone. Beyond it, Brutaka could see the sky and the sea.
“At last!” said Miserix. “After so many millennia – I am free!”
Before Brutaka’s startled eyes, the dragon grew wings. Then Miserix turned his crimson-scaled head to Brutaka and said, “Come. Show me where my enemy hides, so I may grind his armor to dust and feed on his energies.”
“No!” shouted Roodaka. “They want to lead you into a trap! Listen to me, I too am an enemy of the Brotherhood. Brutaka wants to use you, to sacrifice you as a pawn in a war against the Makuta. I want you for an ally!”
Miserix lowered his lead and leaned in so that his massive face was up against Roodaka’s. When he spoke, it was in a whisper. “Little one, I am Makuta Miserix. I am no one’s pawn. I am no one’s ally.” His next words came in a roar that drove Roodaka back into the rock wall. “And I am no one’s fool!!”
Brutaka watched, looking unimpressed. “Are you done?”
Miserix nodded slowly. “Let us go. I have a universe to rediscover.”
Brutaka loaded the stunned Roodaka and the now semi-conscious Lariska and Vezon onto the dragon’s back. Then he climbed on himself. Miserix unfurled his wings and stepped out into the open air. They soared high above the island, pausing only long enough for Miserix to make a muttered vow to come back and destroy the place one day. Brutaka noted that the team’s boat was gone – Takadox had gotten away after all, then.
Let him run. It doesn’t matter, thought Brutaka. A storm is coming to this universe, and when it hits, there will be nowhere for anyone to hide.
Miserix spread his wings and turned toward the north, carrying his passengers into the unknown.
The End
#bionicle#federation of fear#brutaka#barraki#takadox#carapar#lariska#vezon#roodaka#spiriah#tren krom#miserix#makuta
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Visorak Horde
The Visorak are a species of arachnine war Rahi created by the Makuta to serve as a covert military force. For centuries they stalked the Matoran Universe reducing islands to wastelands haunted by Hordika mutants. They were routed in their invasion of Metru Nui, and from there were reorganised and began to serve openly in the Brotherhood army.
The Visorak were the invention of Makuta Chirox, slowly tested and experimented with in the wilds of the island of Lilirum. Multiple breeds of specific roles in the army, with specialised combat powers, and to top it all off the latest in command and control crystals, dubbed the Heart of the Visorak. He worked until the species was hideously perfected, and unleashed them upon the island’s populace as a trial run. The event immediately brought the creatures to notoriety in the universe. Lilirum was renamed to Visorak after the creatures by Chirox to gloat, though the publicised reason was as a warning of what lay on the island. The blame for the Visorak’s creation was pinned on a Makuta that was purged though whose death was not publicised.
Chirox created the Heart of the Visorak, a telepathic crystal, to rule the Horde, but he couldn’t get them to obey him. Makuta Gorast had to intervene and rally them to the Brotherhood’s service in a display of immense violence, which would henceforth be known as the “Conquest of the Visorak.” Their service was kept a secret, and was placed under the command of a subcontracted King. Those few Visorak that openly served the Brotherhood were accompanied by Rahkshi of Rahi Control as an excuse and a guarantee. War Rahi were ubiquitous to the Brotherhood Army, so very few questions were raised and even then only about taste.
The Visorak Horde would serve as plausibly deniable superweapon to destroy islands they didn’t like. This would be the way of the Visorak for the next thousand years. The leadership would occasionally change with promotions, demotions, and coups by the Visorak themselves. Rule of the Horde was based purely on how brutally the leader could strike fear into the spider’s hearts. Eventually after an incident with an insurgent Toa Hagah team, the Horde was brought under the command of Sidorak as King and Roodaka as a viceroy. The Toa Hagah had been mutated by Roodaka into the “Rahaga” which began to stalk the Horde and aid escapees, all while seeking a mythical cure in the form of Keetongu, master of cures.
The final action of the original horde was the attack on Metru Nui after the Great Cataclysm to rescue Makuta Teridax from a Toa seal. This was the most significant and metropolitan area ever hit by the horde prior to their open servitude of the Brotherhood, though Metru Nui was nearly abandoned by that point. They did require a major battle with the remaining Vahki, but the city was occupied.
The occupation of Metru Nui proved their final unravelling. They mutated the Toa Metru into Hordika but ended up having to fight a guerrilla war with them across the city. They pressured one of the Hordika into defecting, promising them a leadership position over the horde. When the rest of the Toa Hordika, the Rahaga, and the legendary Keetongu came to rescue them, a battle was fought in which Sidorak was killed, Roodaka’s strength brought into severe question, and an explicit order was given to disband. Given the fear of punishment for disobedience, the Horde dutifully disbanded.
Visorak became widespread and nowhere near the threat they used to be, though their infamy lived on. A tiny Visorak nest was enough to cause evacuations, and many wanted to see if they could weaponise the spiders. Clan Umoth on Stelt notable managed to gather up a sizeable little army that promptly rampaged across Stelt and caused great damage to the island. The Brotherhood too began slowly regathering the Horde, not using the Heart of the Visorak due to a desire for subtlety.
The Dark Hunters, at this point at war with the Brotherhood, chose to publicly reveal that the Makuta created and controlled the Visorak Horde. They proved this with documents supplied to them by Roodaka. The Brotherhood took a massive public relations loss, but were now able to use the Horde openly as their weapon. The Brotherhood’s military capacity increased immensely. Visorak were a pillar of their army which needed to be smashed.
During their own war with the Brotherhood, the Order of Mata Nui had the Toa Nuva steal the Heart of the Visorak, which they used (under orders they didn’t fully understand) to have the Horde commit mass suicide in a volcanic eruption. The Brotherhood took a military blow that was the first in a long stream of military defeats.
Despite the Brotherhood’s defeat by the Order, Makuta Teridax was able to take over the universe and enact his will. To help enforce his reign, he recreated the Visorak from the GSR’s species synthesisers. He specifically sent Visorak against those that had spent so much effort in defeating the Horde in the first place, as a major morale blow and demonstration that Makuta was unstoppable.
Makuta was stopped, fatally, and his armies disbanded. The Visorak Horde once again disbanded and attempted to escape the universe. Many have escaped into the wilds of the Spherus Magna, while many others were culled by vengeful victims as they tried to leave.
...
Visorak were quadrupedal spider rahi roughly the size of a Toa; a size that balanced fighting potential and cheap production. Each of them have the ability to produce extremely durable webbing which they can use to move around and restrain victims. Each Visorak also can secret hordika venom from their mandibles, can use a rhotuka spinner with two different powers (paralysis and a second species specific power), and have a tertiary power unique to the species. Visorak are a sapient species of Rahi, which the Makuta regretted as it ended up with too many questioned orders. However, their brains were wired to obey the directives of the Heart of the Visorak without question.
There were nine breeds of Visorak:
Keelerak: Green armoured. They have retractable razors in their feet, and their rhotuka creates a globule of highly potent acid. Noted as the most violent Visorak breed.
Suukorak: White and blue armoured. They have an ability to slow their life processes down to near zero, being nearly undetected and undistinguishable from the dead. Their rhotuka has a powerful electric charge. Noted as natural tacticians amongst the Visorak.
Boggarak: Blue armoured. They have the ability to emit sonic screams and their rhotuka causes a debilitating bloating effect in their victims. Can skate across water on their legs. Technically all Visorak can do this; the Boggark are the only ones that bother to. When a leader is weak they are the first to scheme overthrow, but when a leader is strong they are the most blindly obedient.
Vohtarak: Red and orange armoured. Their horns have invulnerability powers when charging fast enough, and their rhotuka have a burning agoniser power. Noted as the most loyal breed to the Brotherhood’s cause.
Oohnorak: Black and yellow armoured. Have the ability to mimic voices stolen from memories via telepathy, and their rhotuka have a numbing effect. Follow the horde loyally due to a lack of leadership skills or imagination. The Brotherhood has considered culling all Visorak Breeds except for the Oohnorak, but decided against it.
Roporak: Brown and red armoured. Have the ability to blend in with their surroundings, and their rhotuka have an energy drain ability. Noted as the most cautious fighters amongst the Visorak.
Kahgarak: Gold and blue armoured, and twice the size of a regular Visorak. Their rhotuka have the ability to open portals to or suck victims into the Field of Shadows. Rare amongst the breeds due to the resources needed to synthesise them, and operate as special forces for the Horde.
Mothurak: Grey and sand green armoured, and only slightly larger than a Matoran’s head. They have elasticity powers and their rhotuka have a magnetising effect. Used mostly to scout out tunnels and crevases too narrow for regular Visorak.
Zypherak: Silver and copper armoured, and have a pair of wings to fly with. Their powers are odd. Flight is considered their tertiary power despite is being an anatomical feature, and only have paralysis rhotuka. However, their rhotuka differ from the others in which they burst in mid air and bath the entire area in paralytic energy. Obviously used to hunt aerial prey.
Three other species are dragged along in service of the Horde:
Colony Drones: Simple creatures in reptilian faces and Turaga like stature. Kept as cattle for the Horde; their rhotuka are mere low-yield energy projectors that can be fed on.
Gate Guardians: Larger bipeds used as guards for important installations. They can turn invisible, and their rhotuka project tiny illusions of themselves.
Zivon: An enormous destructive scorpion beast, normally residing in the Field of Shadows, and used as a last resort superweapon by the Horde. Its rhotuka rob targets of their senses. Has a fondness for the taste of Visorak and tends to kill as many of them as their enemy.
Two major pieces of military hardware saw frequent use by the Horde:
Battle Ram: Giant siege engines prominently featuring a battering ram carved in the likeness of a Visorak. The platform is also a mobile fortress that can house a division of Visorak and features a powerful catapult.
Transport Ships: Giant carrier submarines used to discreetly move the Horde from island to island. The Visorak originally crawled along the outer shell of the domes, but after being granted non-spidery officers and proper military equipment they required better transport.
The Horde answered to the Makuta, but due to the need to remain dissociated the Makuta subcontracted rule of the Horde to an officer that became Visorak King, whose rule was theoretically absolute. The King tended to leave day-to-day operations to a Viceroy. Beyond them there were occasionally other officers serving under the Viceroy, usually captaining the transport ships. Beyond that there was no structure to the Horde. An attempt was made to install Kahgarak as platoon captains, but the King found it easier to just let the Visorak organise themselves.
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Makuta Rahi Analysis-Miserix
Okay so a good while back I went on bso1 and looked at which rahi were confirmed to be created by which makuta, and let’s just say the list was very...incomplete, which is a shame, because I think its a very interesting topic
So I'm going to try and fill in the gaps as best as I can, since the list of rahi we do know about is most certainly not complete, and of the 100 makuta, we only know 14 of them, and we didn’t even get a name for the stelt one, so I'll try my best, starting with the original leader of the brotherhood, Miserix
Now Miserix is one of the makuta we actually do have some information on rahi-making wise, it’s not a lot, but context clues can actually give us a lot more to work with
Miserix is stated to have had a preference for reptilian rahi, and his only confirmed creation is the infamous Tahtorak, with that we can infer that the reptiles Miserix was making weren’t just your average little lizards, Miserix was making behemoths
And this makes sense, Miserix was the brotherhood’s leader before the betrayal and he was prideful of his position, he even took on a draconic form, it’s understandable that his creations would mirror that
So in a general sense the rahi Miserix created where usually dinosaur and dragon analogues, big, powerful, and mighty, just like their creator
For specifics, the kanohi dragon and the phase dragon where definitely both his, as well as the red serpent, as while not saurian or draconic, it was still a massive reptile that kind of shared his color scheme
Feel free to tell me any things or details I didn’t mention
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Since Im on Makuta mood Im going to list my prefence of Makuta from the order of who I like the most to least. Meldirax isnt here becausr he isnt from the main-verse so he doesnt really count (also I dont care for him and that one meta post on why he is a bad character affected my opinion on a chacracter Im otherwise amblivaent to and really soured me on him ngl). Also Tridax or Makuta of Stelt aren't here as I do not have any opinions or headcanons on them beyond loving the hc of Tridax having a dynamic with Chirox and enjoying the fanon interpretations of the Makuta of Stelt.
So in order from favorite to least favorite my preference if Makuta goes something like this: Miserix > Kojol >> Vamprah > Teridax > Krika > Mutran > Antroz >> Icarax > Gorast = Bitil >> Chirox >>>> Spiriah. That said I like everyone but Spiriah tbh. Also some of these are in flux and tend to change on who I prefer (I cannot choose if I like Icarax or Gorast more tbh, same goes to if I like Teridax or Krika more). This is just based onhow I feel atm.
If anyone is curious why I feel the way I do I'd happily respond and clarify my opinions. Im aware that there are a few controversial takes here so I will happily elaborate further.
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