BIONICLE Legends: Invasion

Epilogue

Written by Jeff Douglas

Metru Nui

He emerged from the mouth of a tunnel in the Great Barrier to the sight of the glistening city of Metru Nui. Rising into the air, he began flying along the rock wall.

His name was Icarax. Like Teridax, he belonged to the mighty race of Makuta. If he’d so chosen, he could devastate the city on a whim.

But he had been ordered not to. Teridax had told him the Matoran were not to be harmed — ironic, given the fact his desire for vengeance against Mata Nui’s universe had been driven by the Matoran themselves. Even Teridax’s predecessor, Miserix had grown to despise them, although he had never made any obvious move to oppose them. Perhaps it was the Brotherhood’s secret impatience with his inaction that had been responsible for his swift deposition. Regardless, one day the Matoran would pay in full for their ingratitude.

Deep along the Great Barrier, hidden to all except the untrained or greedy eye, a terrace of rock that blended into the surrounding stone wall jutted out slightly, providing a landing above the Silver Sea. Icarax touched down and stepped forward. The mighty stone door that had once secured Makuta’s sanctuary had been shattered into rubble. Most of what remained had been tossed aside and thrown into the ocean leaving only the gateway itself.

But buried under some of the remaining debris, black and crimson shells of armor recognizable as belonging to Teridax could be perceived, minus the emblematic mask. The armor had seen better days, Icarax knew. Once he himself had given Teridax and his shell a pounding that would make this seem like mere scratches. The self-proclaimed lord of the Makuta might be down now, but he was hardly out.

Icarax turned his attention back to the task at hand — he did not have long to spend here. Battles far to the south required his attention, a war with the Dark Hunters in particular. Not long ago, he had run into Kraata-Kal and a few other Dark Hunters on their way back to Odina, and right as he’d been about to put them out of their misery, Teridax sent him a telepathic order to retrieve the mask.

But he could not waste time on this task. His “grand leader” had given him a role to play.

Although he hated being Teridax’s errand servant, he had little choice in the matter… for now.

Icarax stepped further inside the cavern. Most of the rubble had been shoved aside already, by the six “Piraka”. As he moved through the ruined lair, he could see the rumors were true. Dark spots amid the gray dust marked missing trophies. The forms of Rahkshi, Bohrok, and Vahki were scattered about in varying degrees of disarray, as well as the corpses of Rahi Icarax wasn’t familiar with. Teridax had kept quite busy, it seemed. In a distant tunnel, the Makuta could make out two Mana Ko waiting near a passage to the surface, waiting for prey that would never return. If Mangaia had been a wreck after the Toa of Light had been here, the presence of the Piraka certainly hadn’t helped.

Icarax closed his eyes and reached out with his powers, seeking with his mind’s eye a source of black shadow power.

The Silver Sea!

Icarax hurried to the entrance to the Great Barrier and stared at the ocean. So this was where the Kanohi had fallen. Was this the fault of the Piraka, or was Teridax really this clumsy?

Taking a deep breath, he stepped a few paces back, ran, and dove in. Although the massive void in his armor worked against him, the weight of the metallic protosteel balanced it out and he easily kicked down to the ocean floor. Mentally he cursed the Piraka, the most likely culprits for losing the mask beneath the seas. From what he understood, they had been doing quite a bit of that lately. And while there were no Barraki here necessarily, he was admittedly concerned about some of the marine life known to live within the Great Barrier.

Fortunately, he did not have to look hard to find the mask. The Kraahkan emanated shadow energies, and the darkness called to him. Reaching down Icarax’s fingers brushed a Kanohi wedged between two rocks. Pulling it free, he kicked upward.

Icarax surfaced, basking in his victory. Returning to land, he held the Kraahkan aloft. The glorious emblem of the Brotherhood, the mask of its destined leader. For a very long time, he had dreamed of claiming this mask — albeit with the head it normally belonged to. But at this moment, Icarax was not too picky about the details of the triumph. Reaching up, he removed his own Mask of Scavenging and replaced it with the Kraahkan. As he did so, a wave of power seeped through his energies. This was meant to be. Teridax had beaten him once, but Icarax had grown far stronger since then. As the most powerful member of the Brotherhood, Icarax knew this was his right.

The right of the lord of Makuta.

For a moment, Icarax was afraid that Teridax could be monitoring him, even now. But then he dismissed the thought.

Let him observe… and tremble.

His exaltation was cut short. Out of the corner of his eye, Icarax noticed a blur of movement, and as he threw a glance in that direction, he saw gold and white Toa rapidly closing on him.

A gold Toa?

Icarax remembered what he had been informed about the triumph of a Toa of Light. While he’d long dreamed of putting one such Toa in his place, this task was to return the Mask safely to Destral, the fortress of the Makuta. But they would meet again, Icarax vowed. One way or another, the Toa of Light would suffer greatly at his hands. One way or another, he would finish what Teridax could not.

✴        ✴        ✴

Takanuva ran at full tilt. A Matoran had reported spotting someone moving along the Great Barrier, and as he set sail to investigate, he saw a black and crimson form dive into the ocean. An instant later, his quarry emerged from the sea with an all too familiar mask, replacing his own with it.

The Kraahkan, Great Mask of Shadows.

As the Toa of Light raced along the bank, a painful reality hit home, and although he had half-expected it, it still fell with a pang.

Makuta is alive.

The crimson figure threw a glance at him, his lip curling into a smile, before turning his back to Takanuva. Then he winked out of existence, teleporting to some unknown region.

Leaving behind only Takanuva… and the truth that his only triumph as a Toa had been a lie.