The way the world ends

[Ria]

At last I've gotten around to making my epic. Enjoy.


Prologue

Verta had hung in this dungeon for three days; at least he thought it was three days. He had very little way to judge the passage of time. He could tell morning by a meal arriving, usually stale bread and rotten fruit. And evening by the same meal. He welcomed these meals no matter how meagre they were, it was the only time they let him out of his chains.

On the evening of what he believed was his third day, he heard a commotion out side his cell. At first he thought it was a rakshi, come to take him away for torture. But as he listened he began to pick out familiar sounds, the clash of metal on metal and the crackle of electricity. Verta only knew two beings in the universe that used that element. His heart-light quickened at the thought. No sooner had the thought gone through his head than an ice-blue Rakshi came flying through the door and hit the wall next to him. The foul creature let out a pitiful whine and died, its chest had been torn and was now bleeding ichors. As it died a large being stepped into the light of the door way. The light was behind him but Verta knew the silhouette well enough. The new comer lowered his gore soaked sword unleashed two bolts of lightning that destroyed the chains that bound Verta. The being caught Verta as he fell and whispered in his ear.
“It's okay little one, you’re safe now.”

Ria carried the wounded matoran from his cell and started to navigate the warren of corridors and tunnels to the surface.
“Are the others safe Ria?” croaked the matoran
“Yes they are. Maverick and Thero saw to that.”
They continued in silence the rest of the way up and eventually they reached the place Ria and the search party had entered. It was a small hall that had been torn apart by the particle gun on board the Karazanhi airship. Two beings stood at the far end of the hall. The first was a snow white Vortrixx about the same size as Ria, she had a midak sky-cannon slung over her back and a knife in her fully mechanical left arm. The second was much taller and clad in black and silver armour. He wore a kanohi avokii shaped pikari on his face and held a large hammer in his right hand and wore a large vambrace on his left arm.
“You found him then.” said the taller being to Ria.
“Of course I did Maroo.” replied Ria

As the group started to head to the airship they heard laughter from behind them.
“Well done on finding my lair, but do really think I’m going to let you get away with this.” called the new being.
“Makuta Torix I presume.” answered Ria.
The Makuta was in an interesting guise. She had taken a form similar to a Toa with a noble Ruru. In fact she would pass for one if it were not for the cruelty and malice showing in her eyes. When she spoke it was with a soft honeyed voice, all the better to lead you to your doom with. She made a motion with her hands and two powerfully built rakshi stepped from the shadows.
“You will not leave this place.” she said calmly as she drew a pair of chakrams. Ria and his companions reacted immediately. The Vortrixx, Lariska, dropped her sky-cannon and tackled the rakshi on the right and quickly rammed her knife through its neck killing it instantly. At the same instant Ria and Maroo leapt in to action as Verta scuttled behind a rock. Maroo attacked the rakshi on the left. He first punched it in the guts, winding it. He then brought his hammer down in a two handed blow to the head. There was a sickening crack as the rakshi’s neck broke and it crumpled to the floor. As this happened Ria charged Torix with his sword drawn. They traded blows for a minute before being locked in a stalemate.
“Who are you?” hissed Torix as they struggled against one another.
Ria smirked and said “Good question.” he reacted faster than Torix thought possible for a being of his size. First he kicked her in the shins to distract her, and then he forced her against the wall with the flat of his blade.
“I am Ria, and you, Makuta, will learn to fear me!” Ria then withdrew and with all his strength, rammed his fist in to Torix’s mask. The blow shattered her mask and left her slumped against the wall. Ria merely sheathed his sword left with the others to the air ship.

[Ria]

Chapter one


Ria woke groggily from his sleep. He had been up late again doing paper work and had fallen asleep at his desk, again.
“So at last you decide to wake.” said Lariska from some where above him. Ria twisted his head to the left and was confronted by a white armoured leg; his gaze went up and into the eyes of the Vortrixx. She was smiling and had her arms folded across her chest.
“Enjoy your sleep, or did I wake you too soon.” she said sarcastically.
“Too soon.” Groaned Ria as he brought him self up and leaned back in his chair. Ria’s office was quite small. When Ria had first accepted his post as guardian of Sona Nui the Matoran had offered him the chambers of the old tyrant, he refused and instead had taken a room in the east wing of the fortress with a view over Ga Sona bay. Every square inch was covered with shelves which in turn were covered with scrolls, tablets and artefacts from all corners of the known universe. Lariska perched her self on the edge of the desk beside Ria.
“You wanted to see me.” Lariska reminded Ria.
“Oh yeah, your orders from the order arrived”
“Oh great,” Lariska rolled her eyes. “Where am I getting shunted to this time.”
“It's just a quick mission. You're being sent to meet with Brutaka and his team on Stelt. They didn’t say much.” said Ria.
Lariska hung her head, “When am I to leave?”
“ASAP, I’m sorry Lariska. I tried to get them to send someone else but Helryx wouldn’t have any of it.” Ria took Lariska’s hand and squeezed it.
“You’ll be back before you know it”. he smiled reassuringly. Lariska stood and turned to leave.
“I’ll visit Maroo and have breakfast before I leave.” she said, “See you at the table.”
Ria smiled as she left and started to get ready for his own trip to Metru Nui.

[Ria]

Chapter 2

Lariska pushed open the door to the hospital wing of Ria’s fortress. She scanned the room and found only a few matoran and the one she was looking for. At the far end of the ward, in a titan sized bed sat Maroo. He was Ria’s oldest and greatest friend, they had met barely 10 minutes after Ria came to earth. From the shores of Sona Nui to Xia they had fought together, and it was at Xia Maroo lost his leg. It was Roodaka who took it from him. Ria would have had his revenge for all the hurt she had caused were it not for Botar. As Ria was about to strike Roodaka down he appeared and took her away. Lariska could still remember what Ria almost screamed at him, “You’ll hang for this Botar! One day I’ll look down at your corpse and smile!”

Maroo looked up and smiled at her as she walked towards him, he gestured to the chair beside his bed.
“At last you come. Got anything to eat, all she gives me is soup and water.” said the titan as he threw a dirty look and a curse in his own language at the old Turaga of water in charge of the hospital.
“It’s good to see your on the mend.” commented Lariska.
“Yeah, Avak did a good job on the leg. Thankfully he didn’t put anything in it like electro rockets or piston driven knives.” this earned him a giggle from Lariska.
“So when are you leaving on your mission?” asked the ex dark hunter.
“Who told you?” inquired the Vortrixx.
“A matoran who was told by a Toa of plant life, who was told by a Wyvern who heard it from a cave dragon.” he answered.
“Damn Rahi, I wish Ria would let me shoot some as a warning.”
“Ha, like that will ever happen! So when are you leaving?” He asked again
“Today, after breakfast.” said Lariska bluntly.
“Oh. Well you’d better run you're ten minutes late.” said Maroo. At that Lariska jumped up and hurriedly said her good byes before sprinting out the hospital.
Maroo called after her.
“Don’t forget my present!”

The main hall of Ria’s fortress was massive. At one point it had been open to the air. That was when the old tyrant of the island had been in control. He used it as an arena was he fought the most dangerous Rahi and prisoners. Anything from massive Sona Nuian Wyverns, to captured Dark Hunters. Ria challenged him in this place and defeated him. When Ria helped rebuild the island, the arena was converted in to the great hall to wash away the horror of what it had once been. Large wooden tables stretched from the huge double doors at one end to the raised dais where Ria and the other leaders sat. At the tables there was a mottely collection of warrior Matoran, Toa, Turaga and numerous other races all chatting and eating together. Sona Nuian Matoran had long been considered the oddballs of Matoran society. Where most Matoran prefer to charge themselves from power terminals or by drinking from energy wells, the Sona Nuians prefer to eat to gain energy. Whether it is from their diet or something else, the Matoran of Sona Nui are faster and stronger than average.

At the table on the dais in the hall Ria sat eating his usual breakfast of fish and fruit pastries. Beside him sat a young Toa by the name of Takal.
“So who are you leaving in charge when you're gone Ria?” asked the Toa.
Ria chewed a bit of fish and replied. “I’m leaving Maroo in charge, the Turaga says he can walk know. Anyway, Takal I was wondering if you would like to tag along.”
The white and gold Toa stared at Ria slack jawed.
“Are you serious?” asked Takal surprised.
“Yes, anyway we need some one to keep Avak and Vorsis in line.” said Ria as he smirked.
“Okay then. When do we leave?” asked Takal.
“Today as soon as everything is sorted out.”
As Ria finished speaking Lariska jogged in to the hall.
“So you grace us with your presence o’ daughter of darkness.” joked Ria.
“How many times. I hate that title.” said Lariska with a scowl on her face. She took a drop of water on the end of her finger and flicked it at Ria who made a mock dive for cover. Satisfied, she sat down and took food from the bowls at the centre of the table and filled her plate.

[Ria]

Chapter 3


“I’ll beat you this time master!” cried out Thero.
“You keep telling yourself that youngling.” replied Toa Maverick.
The two Toa of fire stared at each other from across the training field. On one side stood Toa Thero, a young and confident Toa of fire. In place of his left hand there was a mechanical fist that the Toa constantly clenched and unclenched. In his right hand he held his sword that he slashed through the air. The second being, Thero’s master and leader of the city Toa Metru, Toa Maverick stood almost motionless. He slowly drew his twin magma katanas. The one he held in his left hand was shorter than the other, but both had fangs from a wyvern on the inside edge of the blade. Maverick stood as he had before except now he held his iconic weapons.

“Ready?” called a Matoran from the edge of the ring. He looked at both Toa in turn, both nodded.
“Fight!” shouted the Matoran.
Both Toa charged at each other, Thero was bellowing a war cry; Maverick was as quiet as ever. The two met in the middle and clashed blades for the first time. Thero rapidly tried to land blows on the venerable Toa, but every time one of Maverick's toothed blades was there to deflect the blow. Thero the changed tactics. He broke away from the clash and started to circle Maverick occasionally feinting or send tongues of flame towards him. Eventually he grew bold and went for Maverick's legs.
The old Toa of fire responded by doing a back flip to avoid him. But as he was about to land he crossed his blades and flicked them outwards. This created twin tornadoes of flame which distracted Thero. Activating his mask of shielding, Maverick rammed Thero to the ground with his shield. He crossed his blades at Thero’s throat and said.
“You were saying Thero?”

“My turn!” called Ria from the top of the stairs that lead to the doors of the fortress. Ria grabbed a levitation disk from a nearby pile and activated it so he was able to leap from the stairs into combat with Maverick. Ria drew his large glaive and attacked Maverick. They struggled in a lock in till Ria spun around, charged his glaive with electricity and used it to bat Maverick aside. The Toa barely managed to raise his shield in time but still ended up on the floor meters away. Ria came and stood over him.
“You were saying Maverick?”

[Ria]

Chapter 4

Ria came to stand over Maverick and offer him a hand up. Maverick looked Ria up and down. He was wearing parts of his external armour, just his greaves, vambraces and pauldrons. The pauldron on Ria’s right arm was larger than the one on his left. It displayed his crest, A stylised wyvern’s wing. The pauldrons were just plain silver. But the greaves and vambraces were bronze with swirling patterns etched in silver.
“Where is the rest of your armour, and your wings for that matter?” Asked Maverick.
“I had the crew put it aboard the airship.” Ria then grabbed Maverick in a hug.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had arrived?”
“Thero was desperate for a duel, and I had hoped to slip away.” replied the venerable old Toa.
“Why?” Asked Ria.
“I’m sorry my friend but something has come up, I can’t come to Metru Nui. I have to get to Toa Metru as soon as possible. Thero will take my place.” said Maverick with a sigh.
“Dume would most likely be more inclined to listen if you were there.”
“I know Ria but it can’t be helped. I’m sorry but I have to leave now. Say good bye to Lariska for me.” said Maverick. He quickly departed, leaving Ria in a foul mood. Thero walked cautiously up to Ria.
“Are you okay Ria?” asked the young Toa.
“Maverick always made theses trips more bearable.” he sighed. “Oh well, it can’t be helped. If you want Thero, you’ve got time to go visit your friends before we go.” Thero smiled and jogged out of the fortress gates. Ria sheathed his glaive and headed out in to the city of Ga Sona.

As he came to the gates, Ria noticed something. A shadow, but it was out of place as there was no large warrior casting it. Ria folded his arms and called out…
“Nice try Vorsis, but it will take more than that to trick me.” as the words left Ria’s mouth the shadow reared up. It gathered more shadows to it and solidified into the black and silver form of Makuta Vorsis.
“Damn. I thought I had you at last.” said the Makuta in his voice that had often been compared to rusty metal. Now Vorsis wasn’t your average Makuta. Where most had given in to the shadow, Vorsis still fought for the Great Spirit. He and Sorrowix had been sent to find Ria when he had arrived and also helped him save Sona Nui from it’s tyrant. On his back he had his large battle axe. Wailing Doom. It was incredibly old, nobody except maybe Mata Nui himself knew were it had actually come from.
“Have you rounded everyone up?” asked Ria.
“The airship is fuelled and ready to leave and Avak is saying good bye to Lariska.” replied the Makuta. Without needing further encouragement Ria started walking towards the city docks. As he was walking Ria tried exercising his psychic powers. Ever since he could remember, Ria had had very limited psychic abilities. He was never able to do anything major, all he could really do with any skill was sense the presence of other beings and read emotions. He tried the latter now. He let his ability wander to find anything of interest, that was when he noticed the Vortrixx. He was at a stall, up against one of the white houses that lined the street down to the dock. Ria focused his ability on him and got waves of greed and anger. The trader was trying to sell something to an Onu Matoran. Ria couldn’t see what so he moved closer. At two meters away Ria saw what the Vortrixx was trying to sell, energy pistols, particularly cheap and damaged looking pistols. The Vortrixx had his back to Ria so the ruler of Sona Nui crept closer. Vorsis caught his mood and beckoned over a squad of four bohrok and two matoran. Ria was now close enough to hear snippets of the conversation between the corrupt trader and his customer.
“I assure you young matoran; the power cells are perfectly insulated.”
“I don’t know. The exhaust looks corroded”
Ria now walked casually up to the stall and grabbed a pistol from the pile. He racked the slide and the weapon gave a low whine as it charged. The Vortrixx jumped at the sound and was confronted by the golden mask of Ria.
“Lord Ria I…I…” started the trader but he was cut off by Ria.
“Interesting craftsmanship. Light weight and brittle. Maybe that’s because…” Ria grunted as he tore of the casing to reveal the power cell. “… There’s no insulation around the core!” shouted Ria as he waved the ravaged insides of the pistol in the traders face. The trader backed away as the heat from the cell got to him.
“If you want to trade on this island you obey the laws. And, by law, all weaponry must be safe for the user. Your entire stock is hereby confiscated and you are banned from trading for the rest of the month.” Said Ria with a steely edge to his voice. The Bohrok and Matoran then proceeded to gather armfuls of the Vortrixx’s stock and take it to the fortress. The trader wouldn’t meet Ria’s gaze, so Ria threw the damaged pistol at his feet and walked off.
“Nice one.” growled Vorsis. “I always had a suspicion he was corrupt.”

Fifteen more minutes of walking brought Ria and Vorsis to a small dock. Standing there where Maroo, a brown skakdii and Lariska. The brown skakdii was called Avak. Months ago Ria had presented Avak with a choice, life in a fish tank on Daxia or the chance to build things that go boom under Ria. Naturally Avak chose the latter and had reformed under Ria’s leadership. He was deep in conversation with Maroo and Lariska. Maroo was leaning on a titan sized crutch. The two newly arrived titans joined the group.
“You lot ready to leave yet?” asked Maroo “I’m freezing my armour off here.”
Maroo was right; it was unusually cold for the time of year.
“Fine then if you want rid of me that badly.” joked Lariska.
“Aye, I do, and take the skakdii with you.” This earned Maroo a mixture of laughs and scowls from the rest of the group.
“Good bye then Maroo.” said the Vortrixx with mock annoyance.
“Bye bye Lariska, don’t come back to quickly, we could use the peace.”
Vorsis bowed respectfully to Lariska and dragged Avak to the side. Ria and Lariska walked down the steps of the port and went round a corner were they thought they would be alone. Unfortunately they were in plain sight of Avak and Vorsis.
“Bet you twenty widgets she kisses him.” said the Makuta to the Skakdii.
“You’re on!” came the reply from Avak.

[Ria]

Chapter 5

“I’m going to miss you.” said Ria to Lariska.
“I know Ria. But as you said it will only be for a week at most.” came the reply from the pearly white Vortrixx.
“Would you do me a favour?” asked the crimson titan.
“Anything.”
“Push Roodaka overboard into a shoal of Takae sharks.”
“It’s a given.” she said laughing. The two then hugged. As the came apart, Lariska kissed Ria on the cheek. This caused the startled titan’s mask to flare up the same colour as his natural armour. Lariska laughed at his reaction.
“See ya!” called the ex-dark hunter as she hopped on to her little boat. She waved as she grew smaller and smaller. Ria was still stunned from the kiss and only managed a meek wave.

“Twenty widgets Avak.” said Vorsis to the diminutive Skakdii. Avak grumbled as he handed a small pouch of coins to the black and silver Makuta. Ria emerged from the dock looking slightly dazed and confused. Avak and Vorsis both suppressed giggles but he ignored them and went to talk to Maroo.
“You ready to take the reins then big guy?” asked Ria as he looked up into the silver Avokhii of his best friend.
“More ready than you were when they offered you the job.” Ria merely laughed off the comment and punched fists with his best friend. Maroo started up the road to the centre of Ga Sona. The three left behind, Ria, Vorsis, and Avak, turned around and headed to the outskirts of the city.

On the outskirts of Ga Sona, as with most settlements on Sona Nui, or in places where his armies had a large presence there was an airship field. Though mostly built for trading ships, the Ga Sonian air field had docking bays for some of the sky titans that made up Ria’s fleet. One of the greatest of these was here now. “The light of Sona Nui”, Ria’s flag ship. Concealed within her gold and silver armoured hull was enough weaponry to make an artillery company envious. The three misfits boarded her with Toa Thero now in tow, and soon they were off. As they drifted over the island of Sona Nui a pair of Wyverns in full harness joined them as escorts. As they cleared the island they set a course into the sun set, bound for Metru Nui.

[Ria]

Chapter 6

It was late afternoon by the time the airship and wyverns came into sight of Metru Nui. They had flown almost non stop. Only touching down once to let the wyverns feed and to drink. As the airship drew ever closer to Metru Nui, the suns began to set and illuminate the skyline.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.” called out Takal in awe of the city of legends.
“Agreed. Dume knows how to run a good city.” said Ria.
“Not very prepared though are they. If the city was ever invaded they wouldn’t stand much of a chance.” said Avak as he scanned the skyline for anything with a large barrel.
“You’d be surprised with what these northners can do.” commented Thero.
“Captain, contact the Moto hub. Ask for permission to dock.” said Ria to the Le-matoran captain. The matoran walked over to console and activated it. He brought a microphone to his mouth and began speaking.
“This is the airship “Light of Sona Nui” requesting permission to dock.” there was no reply. The captain looked to Ria who nodded to him to continue.
“I repeat. This is the “Light of Sona Nui” requesting permission to dock.” again, no reply. The captain was about to try again when a scrabbling noise came from the speakers. A nervous sounding Le-matoran on the other end started speaking.
“Um… yes who is this?”
“This is captain Duray asking for permission to dock.”
“Um… um… go to docking bay one. Moto hub out.” said the matoran as he hurriedly ended the transmission.
“Okay that was odd.” Said the captain.

Fifteen minutes later the airship touched down outside the Moto hub. As Takal walked past Ria’s quarters, Ria called him in.
“Would you mind helping me get my wings on?” asked the titan. He was wearing his full armour now. Greaves, vambraces, pauldrons and small plates that reinforced his natural, silver breast plate. Ria’s wings were a different matter. They had been forged in Arthaka by the lands namesake just like the rest of his armour and weapons. What made them special was the fact that even though they were completely mechanical they acted like a perfect bio-mechanical pair of wings. Ria gripped the end of his bed and tensed. A pair of holes opened up in his back. If one looked into them, they could see the nerve bundles and tissue of his spinal column. Ria looked round to Takal.
“You may want to stand back when you get them in.” Takal nodded. He hefted the great mechanical limbs and inserted the artificial nerve endings into Ria’s back, and stood back as Ria screamed. It was a horrible sound but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Takal took Ria by the shoulder and sat him down on the bed.
“Are you okay Ria?” He asked.
“Yeah, it’s a normal reaction.” said Ria as he breathed in deeply.
“You call that normal?”
“Ha. You should have heard me the first time. Apparently I roused one of the crystal serpents.”

All of the airships passengers who were leaving to visit Dume gathered in the airship’s hangar. Vorsis looked around. In racks in the roof he could see about twenty Phoenixes. They were small, one man aircraft for use by matoran. They were only lightly armed and relied on their speed and weaponry for defence. Vorsis heard a rumbling sound and turned to investigate. The two wyverns that had flow escort during the trip were fast asleep, curled up beside one another in the corner.
“At least someone can get sleep.” he said then smiled as the male yawned and snuggled closer to his mate. Vorsis then heard the whine of the lift and turned around in time to see the rest of the party appear. First out was Avak, with that horrible grin on his face. Second was Takal, the young Toa. Vorsis didn’t usually think much of Toa but Takal had proved himself on many an occasion. Thirdly was Thero. The Toa had a temper similar to his master, and Ria him self for that matter. Both Toa stopped and talked to Avak as they exited the lift, and both slapped him over the back of the head for saying something stupid. Vorsis had to admit though that Avak had his uses, even if most of those uses involved something that went boom. Avak frowned, the only thing worse than his smile and started walking towards the Makuta flanked by the white and gold Toa of electricity and the red and gold Toa of fire.
“So where’s Ria then?” asked Takal.
“Up here!” shouted Ria from the Phoenix racks. He let go and used the thrusters in his wings to slow his decent. He landed lightly in front of the group and said.
“We ready then?”

There was a mechanical groan as the hangar started to drop away from the ship. The system had been designed to allow Ria’s airships to quickly deploy anything from ground troops to machinery. The wyverns raised their heads slightly to investigate the noises, but they just as quickly went back to sleep when they realised what was going on. The pair had flown escort for years and knew all the odd things that the ground dwellers busied themselves with. In a few seconds the hangar hit the ground and the doors slid open as the party exited the airship into Le-metru. They were soon confronted by a group of nervous looking Le-matoran, some even clutched improvised weapons. Thankfully they seemed to relax a bit when they saw the Toa, but most of them looked at the grinning idiot with unease. It was only then that they noticed the devastation. The Metru had seen better days, a lot better days. There were piles of rubble everywhere. It was more of a mess than in its heyday.
“What happened here? I knew the city suffered from a bioquake but…” said Ria as he gazed at the destruction all around him.
“Visorahk, that’s what happened to our ever-loved city.” said a green Turaga who emerged from the group of Matoran.
“Who are you? What happened to Turaga Dume?” growled Vorsis.
“Oh he is still in charge. He just got help. I’m Turaga Matau.” said the Turaga.
“Matau, Matau. I remember the name I just ca… Oh I remember know. You were the one who tested the first Phoenix.” said Thero.
“And if I remember correctly. You crashed it.” said Ria as he gave the Turaga a withering look. Matau blushed.
“It was fast. If you would like to talk to Dume, quick-come to the coliseum. It will be ever-dark soon.”
At that the Turaga lead them to a chute heading to the coliseum.

From a tower in Ta-metru, two pairs of eyes followed the group as they headed to the centre of the city.
“When do we attack?” asked the red and black being.
“When I tell you to idiot!” hissed the second, female being.
“Soon, Ria.” she whispered the name with such venom. “Soon I will have my revenge!”
This being was one of Ria’s greatest foes. And she would spark the first engagement of the destiny war. She was Makuta Torix.