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- Spoiler:
- The Grand Creation
Chapter Nine
"Watch out!"
A bolt of lightning almost hit Avarus; he dodged it, cursing in advance.
"What in the name of the Great Beings was that?!" shouted Ferveon. Silex, Avarus and Robur, holding hostage Galintin and Rohkea could barely hear her.
"It's that… stupid robot!" screamed Avarus. "We have got to get out of here! The whole complex is coming down!"
Avarus, followed by Silex and Ferveon exited the complex through a small crack in the wall. It was already half-destroyed; the earthquakes caused by the colossal robot had given it the final kick it needed to collapse into the ground. Robur, holding in his back the other two Glatorian, unconscious, charged at the wall, bringing it down. The Magma complex shivered, collapsing on itself, only to be sunken within the ground.
They hardly made it at a safe distance from the complex's falling debris. "Where in the Great Barren are we going to go now?" asked Silex.
Avarus didn't reply. He pointed towards the giant mechanoid in the background, reaching all the way up to the clouds. The sky was magma red; ash, lighting, and overcharged energy bolts dominated the cloudy sky. While Avarus couldn't interpret the actual physics behind, he was smart enough to realize the robot's power source had created a worldwide energy storm phenomenon.
"Looks like the end of the world, to me, Silex."* * *
“How—”
Galintin gathered his strength. He was still recovering from the blow. “How does it feel to know you’ve played a part in this, idiots?” he spitted out, pointing at the robot’s current state.
“Played a part in this? This was just a job, Galintin. I couldn’t care less if the robot destroys Renata, as we’ll all be thousands of miles away by that time anyway! If you want to point the finger to someone, do it on that idiot Invidior, and the others!” Avarus grinned angrily towards Galintin. He ordered Robur to throw the tied up Glatorian in the ground. Galintin cried sharply as Robur threw him down, and sat on him. Rohkea was still unconscious.
“Oh, please shut up. You blabbering idiots never lose a chance to brag about that useless scrap of metal,” said Silex.
“Oh, yeah? You want to come down and say that to me here, Silex?” Galintin reserved himself from showing pain and fear — even when he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time, there’s never enough time to waste in fighting, he thought. “If you ask me, it looks like you’re just hiding behind the big brute, trying to keep your hands clean. And if I’m not mistaken, you are the mighty assassin around here… or not?"
“Oh, shut up, Galintin—" Avarus kicked Galintin once more "—it's painful hearing your comebacks."
“What’s that? We can’t even handle a small joke? You know, there’s always time for jokes—” Galintin yelled and rolled around as the unaffordable pain of Avarus’ kick had knocked him unconscious. Avarus came closer to the body, and whispered in Galintin’s ear:
“Yeah… there always is, Galintin. Even after all these years.”* * *
"T—this just isn’t possible! Where’s all this power coming from?” Protasious screamed out, and smashed another control panel with his bare hands.
"What’s going on?”
"I..."
“What’s wrong with the robot’s systems? And… what’s wrong with the sky?”
"That’s just a magnetic storm, a simple yet deadly reaction between the overcharged ions and the atmosphere’s gases.”
“Just…?!”
“Yes, Ackar, it’s a minor detail. The actual problem here is the robot’s A.I.; all testing programs have been executed at once, frying every single circuit in process. I. can’t. CONTROL. IT!”
“Oh, no. Just please[/]I, tell me you can shut this thing off!” Panicking, Ackar looked down at the city — the robot’s laser beams were cutting through buildings like paper; the magnetic storm had created a powerful rain of energy blasts, crushing the city and destroying any mass they touched, accompanied by large lightning storm.
“I can’t.”
“What?”
“I said I can’t! Is it really that hard to understand? There’s [i]nothing to shut off. The robot shouldn’t even be working at this point.”
"How's that possible?"
Ackar, feeling a little calmer, was left standing, waiting for Protasious’ reply. He was hoping that a ‘Great Being’ of ‘his majesty’ would at least know how to stop the robot. After all, he had spent ten years developing it. However, Protasious’ silence could mean only one thing: He was as clueless as Ackar was. Ackar’s worst fears had come true.
Slowly losing hope for salvation, Ackar reached for the comm. device again. It was pointless, Ackar, knew it, but he called the only person that he could still trust — Galintin. As he tried to established contact, the robot shook again, making him fall on his knees, and hitting his head against the desk.
He cursed, grabbing the desk even tighter, and spoke at the microphone. None replied. He kicked the control panel.
“C’mon!”
A screen finally came up with a small reading:
Establishing connection...
Please wait...
Connection successful.
Ackar, hesitating at first, asked: “Galintin? Can you read me?”
Heh... check this out boss.
"…what? Who's this?"
You know who it is, Ackar.
Only one Glatorian in Spherus Magna could have had such a sick voice — Avarus. "What have you done with them?!"
Oh, they are here, alright, and more importantly — still alive, but not in the best mood to talk right now. You’ve got to hurry, Ackar. I sincerely doubt they will continue to be alive at this rate.”
"You idiots! Not now! ANY TIME BUT NOW! Look around you, idiots! Spherus Magna is on the edge of destruction, and you want money? Why don’t you actually help me out?” Ackar nearly crushed the microphone with his hand.
[i]I don’t care for Spherus Magna. I care about myself… uh, us. Now, to our business: bring me anything of value you can swoop of that little Tower of yours, no matter the cost.
"Are you braindead? I can't! I'm trapped inside the creation-forsaken robot! You know the one’s that’s going to destroy the whole planet from moment to moment!"
Well, then, forget your friends. Kill ‘em boys.
"Hello?" The transmission was lost. Distorted voices could be heard; screaming, shouting... nothing else. Ackar shivered on the thought of Galintin and Rohkea’s deaths.
No! It’s his fault. All of it. His fault. The Elder. Protasious.
Ackar let out a scream of terror, fear, and frustration. At least, at least, he wouldn’t go down knowing that Protasious didn’t die by his hand. Not until Protasious was begging for his life would Ackar accept it was the time of his death.
“It ends here, old man.”
Protasious wasn't even given time to react. The Fire Glatorian, his blade drawn, attacked the Great Being. Taken by surprise, Protasious was barely able to dodge the attack; Ackar’s sword smashed the control panel where Protasious’ head was mere seconds ago.
Ackar didn’t scruple to deliver a second blow; again, taken by surprise, the Great Being felt the blade on his stomach. Thinking that he had delivered the final blow on Protasious, Ackar backed away, declaring himself victorious.
"Ugh… You really, really shouldn't have done that..." Protasious stood back. Psionic energy was humming around his silhouette, protecting him from all physical damage. “…I’ve already told you. You’re useless, a pawn. This time around, I won’t let you live much longer.”
He violently grabbed Ackar from the neck, choking him in the process. The Great Being wasn’t going to back down this time, and Ackar knew it. He had to act quickly, or die by his hand. Still, he groaned from the intense pain, letting out a cry for help.
A pillar close to the Great Being and the Glatorian loosened up from the explosions, and fell near Protasious. The tremble it made as it struck the ground forced Protasious to back away, throwing Ackar down in the process.
Protasious sent out a psionic blast, thrusting Ackar in the air. A large thump of metal was followed by the attack, as gravity smashed Ackar against the ground, which shook. Both of them knew the room wasn't going to last much longer; the heat was rising, the power source was expanding with each minute passing, would eventually lead to their demise.
Before Protasious used his telekinetic powers, Ackar had already found his way through the falling debris, standing next to him. Not wanting to lose time, Ackar used his blade to slash Protasious’ hand off. Protasious, abiding the hit, fell on the floor, screaming. Ackar pressured his blade on Protasious' neck. He almost cut it. "I. want. ANSWERS!"
Protasious coughed up a few words “Answers? About what?”
“About this! I don’t know! I just need — need an explanation!”
“I see. I see in your mind. The secrets you don’t know. The salvation you seek through truth. You believe that by knowing the truth, you can save something of this. How noble, Glatorian.” Protasious kept groaning from the pain, as he was answering him. His hand, now exploding with bright energy reformed, thus ending his pain.
"What don’t you get? I don’t care about philosophy! I want answers! Who are you, why is this robot here, what have you done, why are things as they are!” his tenacity was almost fascinating to Protasious. He jammed his blade in the ground, pushing himself upwards. Ackar’s blade followed the lead, going upwards as Protasious rose.
"I need... I need... the whole truth," said Ackar.
"Ah — but that is the ultimate question, is it? What happened to this world? Who am I? Where did the original Elder come from? Who are the Great Beings? What do they want from this world? Tell you what — I’ll reveal to you this knowledge, and then kill you on the spot. Surprisingly, your will for the truth has convinced me. The Order of the Hidden,” Protasious, now free of Ackar’s blade walked close to the colossal eye of the robot, staring at the valley. “…it's more to it than that, Ackar. I’ll try to say this as clear as I can: A corrupted role model that died long ago, still influences the minds of my people, the Great Beings," explained Protasious.
"And that's—" Ackar, now in less pain, raised his sword, always ready for a fight, "—why you tried to seize control?!"
"No no no. You see, Ackar, we Great Beings are elites. We traverse the Universe, in groups, discovering and uncovering the deepest secrets of existence and life. It's as much as fun as a Great Being can have in his endless lifespan."
"I’ll pass. It sounds boring," he remarked.
"Of course," Protasious grimaced, "how would a lower life form ever understand a Great Being’s way of life, or cherish such knowledge?"
"Maybe—"
"But, — believe it or not — inside the very Great Being society, some are born superior than others. They contain higher understanding of… the fabric of reality. They can predict, learn, and perform tasks much more efficiently than any of us. The Elders: Born to lead our kind in across the Universe."
"And let guess — ‘your majesty’ is of that one clan?”
“Actually, no. But this is where my story begins. The Elder is not a given title. It's a birth right, granted to only a few. The Elder of a Great Beings clan is always their true leader, and none — none ever dares to disobey him. The first Elder of the Great Beings on Spherus Magna is the very same man that struck a deal with the legendary Glatorian, Celurm, and organized the Seven Tribes. He who could foresee the future better than any of us — and lead us to Spherus Magna, knowing of what was to come."
“Isn’t there a story about him? That he disappeared one night? He was never found, and then... you stepped into power, out of nowhere…" at first, Ackar figured Protasious was just trying to slide his way out of the situation, but then again — something — very peculiar started to click with him too.
"He was an idiot. He was supposed to lead us into the unknown, a journey to discover and bend the laws of the Universe beyond any imagination, pledge us to solve the world's most hardest puzzles, yet he derailed from the Great Beings’ true purpose — he turned us into leaders, inventors and politicians. How stupid of him was to focus our projects solely on helping you little miserable life forms? What was the point of practicing already acknowledged facts? Our work and effort was being wasted! With no purpose but to improve Spherus Magna’s lower life forms! We became your gods — like we needed to prove to you that we indeed are! — and then... he just wouldn't listen. I talked to him, over, and over, and over about. I talked to all of my brothers back then, Raeir, Angonce, Invidior, Osavus, Morkoth, Heremus, Nolumn, and many others. He. just. WOULDN'T. LISTEN!" Protasious was clenching his fists harder with every word.
“You… talked with him?”
“YOU JUST DON'T GET IT ACKAR! I always was held back, talking to people, allowing them to do as they wish with me… a pushover; all that useless and stupid ‘noble’ things. Always acting like it was appropriate for a Great Being of my class. I showed him how he betrayed the Great Beings, how he had CORRUPTED us! But he, he, just would listen to reason!"
As he finished, the robot shivered again. Time was running out.
"I showed him reason. In our last talk, as I was speaking to him, I realized — that the world is stupid. Idiotic. Intelligence creatures are blind. They forget their true purpose, as so did the Great Beings. The Elder had betrayed us, and so I had to take a decision. I would take matters on my hands when it needed to. I had to guide the Great Beings. I owned them as much."
Ackar's mind was being drawn the most obvious conclusion. A thought his mind wanted to reject so badly, he almost could swore he closed his eyes for a second. The idea—
"He rejected me that day. Again, and again, and again. I broke. My behavior changed so rapidly, he didn't even predict it. Well, he did, seconds before—"
"You… killed him?!"
"—I run my sword through his body.” Protasious pulled out of his cloak a spherical, glowing ball. “In fact, he is in this very room — his consciousness was easy to trap. The aftershock of a physical death does that to Great Beings.”
The Fire Glatorian trembled. "You’re more than a killer… murder… you’re mad."
"That’s what he kept saying. How ironic. Maybe you will join what’s left of him in here — as did many others.”
“Others?”
“But let’s not forget, of course, that getting rid of his body by dumping it into the power plant was nothing — assuming control over the Great Beings and studying his essence was the hardest task of all."
"You... studied his essence?"
“You see, I was no Elder. But he was. All I had to do was feed off his consciousness. Now, all that is left in sphere is remains of his thoughts — at least for my mind. Everyone see different things. And that’s how I developed his psionic powers into… an elemental form. But let's not fool ourselves here, the Great Beings — after accepting the Elder was gone — wouldn't just give in so easily into making me Elder," quite ironically, Protasious' looked exactly the same as Invidior to Ackar. He lowered his blade, staring at the void, hearing Protasious ramble on and on.
"And here comes the best part. I had to kill. So many! Then trap them… and feed of them. Around a hundred came into Spherus Magna, and I had to take out around thirty of them. Most of them either didn't support the new Elder, or just got too... nitpicky. I took them out in the same fashion as the Elder. I had time, and when I made my council and announced my rule, I did all I had to keep the Great Beings focused on actual projects, and not on trivial tasks. The Order of the Hidden was simply something I had to do, because of the people's lack of faith in me... fear was my best tool."
He's mad. He did all. Just finish him.
"But finally, this troubled era will end at last. This robot we stand on — I am beginning to realize it full power!"
He can die.
"Don't you see it? Just… the immersive power that can be contained within it… if it can be tamed, controlled, I shall no longer require to rely on fear, or scams. I will return the Great Beings to their true glory!"
He must die.
"You wanted truth. I gave you truth. Considering you are something that will turn to dust once I wish it to, now, my dear Ackar, comes the end for you. Well, not quite. Your mind is interesting to me. Your consciousness will be quite something to feed of — um, study. Haha." Protasious raised his hand, slowly turning into a fist. Lava, energy, and electricity started hitting them from the ground, frying control panels and destroying anything that touched them. Ackar, too tired, too shocked to react, stood there, withstanding Protasious’ attacks as trivial.
He fell to the ground, his energy and mind being drained; Protasious froze Ackar’s body in place using his Psionic powers.
"You should be thanking me, really. Part of your mind will see the glory of my new world order, you know. The Great Begins — reborn!” jokingly giggled Protasious. Ackar felt his head blanking out of thoughts — memories, ideas. But one thought remained. And that thought was all he needed to gain enough willpower to live.
Kill him!
Suddenly, Ackar's hand clenched into a fist; he could almost crush his own hand using his own power. Forcing his very body, using his weapon, to absorb heat and energy from the power source directly , and feeling mentally renewed, Ackar’s thoughts and consciousness returned into his physical body. The energy should have destroyed him, but Ackar’s will to destroy Protasious was enough for the energy to be tamed, charging his weapon.
His hand burned, the outer armor melting. His tissue burned as well, but he didn't care; all that was important for him was for Protasious to die. Using his newly found power, Ackar broke with ease Protasious' mental shield.
"What? What is this? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
He rose off, untouched by Protasious powers, flames surrounding both. His blade kept being flooded with pure magma energy, generated by the immersive heat of the power source. As he walked, swinging the blade in the air, he sliced through Protasious' psionic barriers and in an extension, his mind. The energy, combined with the psionic energies showed him Protasious' mind, projected through psionic energy in the air. He came to the obvious conclusion: this was his chance to tear apart Protasious’ mind and this madness once and for all.
"My... HEAD! NO! ACK—ACKAR!"
Ackar had no mercy left for Protasious. He was given the chance to end his life, and that’s exactly what he did. Uncertain what was going on, Ackar kept using his blade to tear apart Protasious’ elemental energy. His mind, unable to sustain the knowledge he had gained over the years without the support of his psionic powers, started dissolving. First, he went mad, then, he started losing his thoughts. Ackar slowed down the slashing, making Protasious’ death painful. His mind, now burning, broke. Protasious shook; his body unleashed several blasts of energy. The blasts, touching every corner of Spherus Magna released thousands of trapped Glatorian from his control. The remains of the Order of the Hidden had just been disbanded.
Freedom, at last.
"THAT’S JUST… WHAT! I CAN'T! THINK?"
Protasious' essence kept burning. Ackar had to make sure Protasious would never return, in any form. A scenario deemed into his mind: his blade, cutting through his body. And, in a moment of ecstasy, Ackar felt his hyper charged sword flying out of his hand, passing through Protasious body. He didn't know if the power source and the energy within it have created such a powerful bond they had to be become one, or if he threw it himself.
It didn't matter.
"YOU! WILL! PAY!"
Protasious’ physical body was slashed in half by the blade, consumed by the fires of the robot. As Ackar unleashed the last bits of the energy within his body, every single atom of Protasious’ essence and body was converted into pure energy.
His screams faded out of existence.
It was done.
The Second Elder of the Great Beings, Protasious, a power-hungry madman, a brilliant leader, an inventor, and the greatest dictator of all times, was dead both mentally and physically. Consumed by the flames of the robot, the world was liberated by his cancerous existence.
Spherus Magna felt it. The world knew that Protasious had been destroyed. Angonce, Morkoth, Raeir and Heremus felt it as well.
Ackar grumbled himself into the nearest piece of melted metal he could see. The floor collapsed, Ackar falling into the flames.
"He's gone. He's gone."
Ackar was okay with dying.
He let himself go.* * *
Invidior looked at the sky. It was finally done. Protasious is dead. All that remained for is—
—he raised his arm towards the room, telepathically sending signals to it. A small metal sphere flew out, landing on the ground, coming from the robots' core. He grabbed it, putting off the flames that were burning it.
“Finally.” Invidior’s body shook, as if he was having a seizure.* * *
"Where are they?!" shouted Raanu out loud.
"I don't know!" replied the Water Agori.
"We’ve got to find them, right now! We need extra help to get all these people out of here, before—" Raanu paused, looking at the robot again. Something was wrong. Everyone felt that time was running out. The robot would explode sooner or later.
"Let's just try and—"
Pomerax felt something touching his back. Raanu made a leap forward, pushing Pomerax out of his way. The shadowy Great Being made no movement. It was, of course Invidior, acting more erratic than ever before. His form had shrunk, taking the height of an Agori.
"I can see, now," he mumbled.
"Excuse me, but — what?” asked Raanu. Pomerax watched from behind.
"I can see into eternity itself."
Pomerax, puzzled, gently pushed aside Raanu, telling him to keep quiet. "What can you see?"
"Oh, Pomerax, oh Pomerax. I can see everything. I can see your friends dying in the hands of a bunch of idiots. It’s ironic, you know, they are just around the corner," he said coldly, looking them both straight in their eyes without even one twitch.
"Did you see them while you were outside…?" asked Raanu suspiciously.
"No, no, I didn’t. But I can see them now. They are telling me where they are, showing me.”
“Who is telling you?” restated Pomerax.
“They are not meant to die here. Not now. At least one of them has a destiny to fulfill," he said, and pointed the two Agori into a secret backdoor used to enter and exit the city quietly. Raanu, as a guard, remembered these small entrances. They were used for quick escapes.
"We’ll have time to deal with him later,” said Raanu. He wasn’t planning to take on Invidior anytime soon, for he was, after all a Great Being.
"You’re leaving him here?”
"Think, Pomerax, he's less important than Rohkea and Galintin,” Raanu came closer to Pomerax, looking back to see if Invidior could hear them, “He’s a Great Being. Do you want to go for it? Because I don’t.” Pomerax, shrugging, decided to follow Raanu's lead.
"Give me your shield. We’ve got a door to take down," Raanu said.
“Don’t you have the key?” Pomerax tossed his shield to Raanu.
“I did. But the lock’s broken.”
Pomerax and Raanu grabbed the shield, and started bashing against the door. Behind them, Invidior cracked up a smile, as he knew that just a few meters away from the door's other side, the henchmen, still waiting for Ackar were about to execute the two Glatorian.
Raanu and Pomerax used all of the strength to break the stone door. The stone door plummeted into the ground. Pomerax gazed at the giant masses of Glatorian and Agori that were leaving the city in a state of panic, screaming and wreaking havoc as the magnetic storm electrocuted most of them.
“Fantastic.”
“How are we supposed to find them?” said Raanu.
Pomerax carefully looked around. The storm was reducing his visibility, but Pomerax’s helmet enchantments granted him X-ray vision. His helmet was designed by the Great Beings; it was a large, almost spherical helmet-like-mask, with one enchanted eye slot. Pomerax was able to analyze and observe data better than a common Agori.
He located several heat signatures below the ground; three small figures, a bigger one, and two closely unconscious Glatorian. It was definitely them. Avarus, Silex, Ferveon and Robur were keeping Rohkea and Galintin unconscious. The henchmen were apparently hidden inside a recently opened small crack in the ground. Smart move, Pomerax thought. They were too well hidden, so neither lightning nor any other outside force could reach them in there. The perfect hideout, he reckoned.
“At least that is, unless I am out to find them.”
“What?”
“They are in there,” Pomerax replied. He turned around, using his bionic eye to observe the city’s walls. The endless earthquakes had created large cracks along the diameter of the city’s walls. A small hit would cause them to collapse like domino.
“That works,” Raanu cut in his thought, “if you can distract them, I’ll untie Rohkea and Galintin. Once they are free, we’ll attack them together," said Raanu.
"Oh, I've got a better idea," replied Pomerax, and run off towards the small crack in the ground. Avarus’ sharp eye immediately spotted him, and ordered the others to jump out and take care of him.
"You got the money?" spitted out Ferveon. Robur, and Silex jumped out, but not Avarus.
Dangit. He has to come out too in order for Raanu to save the others, Pomerax thought.
"Do I look like I've got any money?" he taunted Ferveon.
"You little bastard! Who do you think you are?!"
"Calm down, Ferv," stepped in Silex. "He doesn't have the money. That means we get to kill him and the others," both of them smiled in a villainous way.
"Robur: smash the little idiot," ordered Silex. After hearing his orders, Robur charged at Pomerax, who leaped off to avoid Robur hits. He run as quickly as he could, towards the city's wall, a few meters away.
"COME HERE YOU LITTLE SCARABAX!"
He didn't look back. He couldn’t look back. All he had to do was—
Pomerax, running faster than he ever thought he could, using his element-tied trident, sent out a small water wave towards the wall. The last blow needed to knock off the wall had been done. Pomerax escaped quickly through the broken down door. Unfortunately for Robur, lacking in brain power was his demise. Unable to react quickly enough, combined with the collapsing wall, Robur was caught below it.
As the wall collapsed, it smashed Robur’s outer armor; his body was reduced into pieces. Avarus — who finally came out of the small crack — Ferveon, and Silex watched in shock as Pomerax had managed to kill Robur in less than two seconds. Pomerax, triumphing over his victory, walked out of the rumble — holding Robur’s smashed helmet.
Raanu, literally collapsing inside the crack, used his dagger to cut Rohkea's and Galintin's handcuffs.
"Thank you, Raanu! What's happening out there?" asked Galintin.
Rohkea, still feel dizzy, restated Galintin’s questions, "The robot, Raanu, is it going to... y’ know, explode?"
"I don't know."
"But—"
"I don’t know. I don't know if we are all going to die. What I do know is that the Agori which helped me save you, is going to end being chopped in pieces if we don't hurry up. Pomerax's out there, wake up!" Rohkea and Galintin exchanged sights, then jumped off the crack. Raanu followed.
None of the group exchanged a word; they hadn’t come here for to chat. If they stood took long in one spot, either falling debris or lightning would kill them. Galintin attacked Silex, Rohkea tried to stab Avarus, Raanu and Pomerax both took battle stances against Ferveon. Galintin deflected Silex's smaller hand blades as better as he could, but Silex's experience and agility with a blade overwhelmed Ackar, even if he didn't want to admit it. He ducked again, using his sword to deflect a hit...
Silex's blade scratched Galintin's helmet, almost cracking it beyond repair. He proceeded with repetitive hits on the back and the front of his armor.
"Ugh!" Galintin fell down, having lost his strength.
Rohkea jumped on place, trying to avoid another lightning strike. The lightning was making the fight much more difficult, especially because Avarus was an unquestionable fighter.
"You aren’t winning this one, Rohkea. You'll die sooner or later, here."
No. Casiria gave her life for mine. I won't disappoint her. Not again—
“—wait! That’s it — the lightning.”
It was the only answer. Rohkea taunted Avarus back; he charged at her. She raised her sword, hoping this would work. The magnetic storm's violent lightning collisions on the sky could create an electric discharge at any object that was higher than a normal sized Glatorian.
And it worked.
The lightning struck — Rohkea threw herself backwards, throwing her sword in the ground. Avarus, who was chagrining at her had seconds to react; the lightning was faster. It hit him, burning every single circuit in his body. Rohkea, safe and sound, run next to him.
"Are you alright?"
"I— I'm... fine."
"Um—"
"No, really. I'm just totally fine," Avarus eyes closed; his system shut down. He was gone for good.
Galintin, inspired by Rohkea's line of thinking, focused his Iron elemental energy on Silex. He was right on time too, as Silex was about to execute him. The high magnetic concentration around Silex send him flying thousands of meters into the air. Zapped repeatedly by the magnetic storm, his body was torn into pieces by the electricity and sucked into the storm. His remains were launched into space, as the magnetic field around him exhausted.
"Galintin!" cried out Rohkea, after Silex was gone. He stood up, looking at her. “We aren’t done yet. Raanu and Pomerax still need help!” Raanu and Pomerax were joined by Galintin and Rohkea seconds thereafter. Ferveon, forced to face four foes, took a step backwards.
"I—" She knew she couldn't win. Her only logical option was to run as fast as she could.
"Leave her," said Galintin with a serious tone.
"She could harm others, you know, Galintin," replied Pomerax.
"Thousands could die right now. Let's go find the Great Beings."
The four of them run back inside the city, heading straight for the Tower.* * *
Everything was blurry.
It was a remarkable sight. Ackar couldn’t deny it; the Afterlife looked pretty. Something itched him, though. He didn't feel — or more like, he could feel. How could someone feel without his natural body?
Ackar.
"Yes?"
"Ackar."
"Hello?"
"You're not dead. Not yet."
Ackar's eyes opened wide; he started waving his hands aimlessly around, as he was floating inside one of the many eyes of the magnet storm. He could see the robot preparing to explode thousands of feet below him. He looked above, and saw the stars. So peaceful was the sky. And below him, madness was being unleashed. His attention shifted towards the origin of the voice. Therein stood Raeir, Angonce, Morkoth, and Heremus.
"How could you have possible saved me? I died with Protasious in there."
"The robot's security systems were shut off for a millisecond when Protasious died. It was all we needed to teleport in and take you out of there. We also repaired some of your burnings in the process. By the time we return to the ground, you will not have a scratch. Well, maybe a few, perhaps."
"Forget me, Raeir. How do we stop all this?"
"We have two options," replied Angonce.
"Osavus' sacrifice was not pointless. He did it. The loop is breaking apart, most handsomely. The robot’s systems are breaking apart, and the control board is gone. It’s slowly being destroyed as we speak. However, the final bang will not be as peaceful. The explosion will result into a 'small' catastrophic eruption, ending the storm as well. However, nothing guarantees that survival of the people within the entire valley, or the well being of the city."
"…that's option one? Leaving it run its course?"
"Yes," answered Morkoth.
"Let’s focus on option two."
Heremus nodded to himself, as if he had just spoken mentally with the others. "It's simple. We can overheat our Tower's power source to ‘pull’ all the energy from the robot into our Tower. The Tower’s exterior can withstand the combined power of the robot and the tower. It’s also sixty five percent possible we’ll regain control of the robot.”
"Great, now—"
"…however, it would fry every system and database in our Tower. It would destroy our only vessel, and home. All of our creations will be lost in time," cut in Angonce.
"I doesn't matter. I'm sorry for your Tower, but Glatorian's and Agori's lives are much more important, we'll—"
"Ackar."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, but we've already chosen," said Raeir.***
“He’s trapped!”
“We’ve got to find the Great Beings, Pomerax!”
“There’s an Agori trapped in that half-collapsed building — I’m curious about it. He could still be alive, Raanu! I’m going with, or without you guys!” Pomerax, knowing what Angonce had showed him yesterday, followed his path towards destiny. Raanu, screaming, Galintin and Rohkea watched, hoping Pomerax would get out with the Agori safely, without the building collapsing. Half of the building was gone, and it didn’t exactly look habitable.
Curiosity.
Pomerax saw the Agori, he saw him raising his hand to reach his. The energy blast struck. Light poured into Pomerax’s eyes; such light, with such a power, it burned in his brain, and his whole body. He felt the immersive weight of stones crushing his body like a paper. A fading scream could be heard in the background. It was Raanu’s; he was being dragged away by the two Glatorian, crying for him to come out.
“Farewell, Raanu.”
Raanu could have later sworn he heard Pomerax talking to him.***
Tremble.
The world shook.
Everyone's eyes concentrated on the mechanoid; spiraling out of control, the robot fell forwards. His high was so great, his upper torso reached out into the Great Barren, a vastly populated desert with thousands of oasis and rivers, the Sand Tribe's home and the heart of all southern civilization, located below the "Great Being's" valley, location of Magnacus Renata. It is the same area that later will be known as Bara Magna, when the whole planet will turn into a desert.
As the robot was falling in the ground, the magnetic storm slowed down its fall, the tons of metal being pulled towards the sky. As the robot was caught into a small orbit, it was also captured by the magnetic storm. The reaction of the energy and the magnetic waves in the sky created several smaller explosion on the legs, "pushing" the mechanoid over the Great Barren; thus, liberating the valley and Renata of any harm, at least directly. An unpredictable side-effect the Great Beings didn’t foresee. Such was the nature of this power.
With a sound unlike one Ackar had ever heard, the power source's unlimited energy found its way into the only weak point; the joints. Blasting off the connection points of the robot, the immersive energy was finally unleashed into the world, in the process cleansing the magnetic storm. As it sent powerful energy waves into space, most of the energy was blasted away, preventing a larger scale event. Still, the consequences would be fatal.
Solis Magna’s light struck the world again, night turning into day.
BANG!
In second, the pressure was relieved. The robot was torn apart into pieces; legs, hands, head, torso, all flying into the Great Barren.
Bang. Crash. BOOM!
The remains of the once great ‘prototype robot’ of the later to be Matoran Universe crashed landed from space — onto the Great Barren. Thousands of settlements were destroyed, as its leg — the later famous “Knee Island” — fell on the Sand Tribe's city, cutting off all liquid water from the expansion below, forming a wasteland. The destruction brought to the Great Barren would rid it off its glory, sending the Sand Glatorian and Sand Agori into a nomad life, forcing them to join Vorox and Zesk teams, turning them into beasts.
Millions of people suffered on the Great Barren; the robot's upper torso fell close to Tesara; his head on the ancient city of Roxtus, the long lost Stone Kingdom of the infamous King Pior.
Nevertheless, it had been done.
The Grand Creation had been destroyed, with a blast so powerful; the whole planet's orbit was altered by miles. While the orbit’s change remains insignificant to the climate, the great destructive impacts on the world do not. Tsunamis, huge earthquakes, and similar phenomena destroyed thousands of settlements, and to an extent almost the entire planet. The breathtaking earthquakes broke the powerful inner crust of Spherus Magna, perhaps allowing one day in the very far future for a powerful liquid to reach the surface of the world.
Energized Protodermis.* * *
Ackar felt the world around him distorting into a blur; the ground pushing on his feet, as he was being teleported back to the ground. He found himself again in the Tower's entrance on the main road, observing the rest of the Great Beings warping in place in front of his eyes.
"What did you do?!"
"Ackar, I hope you understand we couldn't possibly let the Tower be destroyed. It would—"
"You idiots!" Ackar turned around at the sound of footsteps. Rohkea and Galintin, looking exhausted and dirty walked up the stairs. Galintin was holding Raanu, who was in a state of shock.
"What happened?!" screamed out Ackar.
“Pomerax. He… didn’t make it.”
"No. No. No. No," Ackar let out a small laugh, "It can't be."
“Ackar… what happened?” asked Rohkea?
“Oh, what happened? Oh, please, I’ll explain wholeheartedly.”
"This is what you are, isn't it?” Ackar turned towards the Great Beings. Rohkea, Galintin and a shocked Raanu watched from three step small stairs that lead to the Tower’s entrance.
“You call yourselves “Great Beings” and ask for our respect, when you have done nothing to gain ours. Because you just have to be mad scientists who mess with people’s mind, deceive and act only on “purity of facts”. Who do you think you are?! Do you even know how many thousands of people died today? All these lives were the price, the gold, the money to save your precious Tower! You think of us as so minor, that sparing the lives of thousands is just trivial!" Ackar spat out at the Great Beings. They didn't reply. What is worth noting, however, is the group of people that begun to gather. Agori and Glatorian started taking notice of Ackar and the Great Beings; they gathered around the site.
"You came here, declaring yourself gods. We agreed to grant you that right... now I know better. Now I know we were wrong! You didn't even pay the slightest attention when one of your own killed your precious Elder, then took control, and played around with all of us for 500 YEARS!"
The crowd let out a small cry of shock. Ackar turned around, looking at them.
"Yes! Yes! That’s right! Protasious! The so-called "Elder of the Great Beings" was the true mastermind behind this crime! He was the true killer of the Elder of the Great Begins; he constructed this robot, just so he could keep the people under his control by fear! He even wanted to use it later to enslave our race, and define a new ‘golden age” of the Great Beings! Well, too bad he's dead, eh?
"Ackar!"
"And not by their hand — BY MINE! Thousands of people died today because of HIS TREASON!"
"Ackar!"
"Oh, no. No. Shut up. I will not accept any kind of forgiveness now. And if you want me to shut up, you will have to go ahead and kill. me. where. I. stand!" surging with emotion, Ackar stared at the Great Beings. They could almost feel the hate floating in the air.
"As if that wasn't enough—" now facing the crowd again, which was growing all the time; now most citizens of Magnacus Renata were hearing Ackar's hateful outburst "—we all know the legend of "Order of the Hidden", don’t we? Well, guess what — it’s true! It was, again, Protasious’ first plan for power. When things went downhill, he’d cry for help on them. That’s what he was. A total coward.”
"And this is what the Great Beings are! If they hadn't come here, the Kingdoms wouldn’t even have collapsed! You all know the tales of Altum Bellum, Celurm, blah, blah, blah. Pitiful stories. Who knows? Maybe we are just another experiment!"
"Listen to me, Ackar!"
Repeating his previous behavior, Ackar turned at the Great Beings. "No. I won't. You will listen to me and answer me. Can you name me all those Agori and Glatorian that died today?"
"What?" replied Raeir.
"You're Great Beings. Name me each and every living thing that died today because of this construction! Name it," he demanded.
"I don't understand," added Angonce.
"Exactly. You don't understand. You don't even know all those people that died today. You couldn’t have. And thus, they had granted you no right to remove their lives. You have been so absorbed into that Tower, fearing that the Elder might expel you, or that "people might lose their trust in us" that you took the worse action possible. Forgot it. And just guess where this lead us,” he explained.
"I swear... one day... you're going to destroy it all. You're going to burn the planet all together, and then, out of shame for yourselves, you will again make up the most bizarre construction of all time, trying to save us. When in reality, you were the catalyst all along. Who knows what will happen to it? And who knows what will happen to us altogether?"
Rohkea, Galintin and Raanu — who had been staring at Angonce the whole time, giving the Great Being a brand new feeling; a chill down his spine — walked next to Ackar. The Great Being didn't have to read their minds top see they were agreeing.
"I will not rest," Ackar just kept on going. "I shall not. Not until every single one of your species has been rid off my creation-forsaken planet. Torn apart in pieces and sent to whenever you came from. You can consider me out of the bloody team!"
Ackar took out his badge, equipment and threw them on the ground. Galintin, enraged by this development, followed, saying one sentence.
"My brother and I help fight your master's order 400 years ago. You betrayed us, and now you betrayed me. Twice. Know this: I never forget traitors," Raeir, Angonce, Heremus and Morkoth's eyes open wide, looking at the Iron Glatorian, shocked as they realized his true identity.
Raanu, staring at Angonce, threw his badge as well. “He would be alive. He would be here if it wasn’t of your idiocy.”
Rohkea walked up the last stair, throwing her equipment as well, "Well, that's that. Thank you for nothing."
The two groups took opposite paths; the four beings walked away from the Tower, while the Great Beings entered it, before the enraged crowd started banging on the doors angrily. It was quite remarkable watching the people making room for Ackar, Galintin, Rohkea and Raanu to pass. Some clapped, other kept on trying to break in the Tower. It didn’t matter.
Spherus Magna's night was darker and more silent than it had been in a long time. Civilization would recover, but nothing would prepare everyone for what would come. In just thousands of years, the Core War would destroy the planet, only to see it being reconstructed by a great spirit. A spirit that would come to be known as Mata Nui, he would be bringing back “home” with him a dozen new species on a reformed Spherus Magna; the Great Beings' ultimate achievement. And even then, peace would not last for long.
But for now, finally, a proper night sky came to pass.
Two frankin' years and TGC is complete. Rejoice, a new era is coming. It's well-written, that's what I'd like to believe, but it also might be rushed at some points. As always, editing is welcomed. Some elements not featured on the storyboard are part of TPJ plot.
