M.I.A.: Ch 13

M.I.A. Ch 13

    Daniel cringed his teeth and groaned while he shifted his body around to find a more comfortable position for his leg. All it did was make the pain worse and brought him to the point of screaming.
    Josh covered his mouth. “Keep it down,” he whispered harshly.
    “Here,” Oscar pulled out another needle and stuck it in Daniel’s side.
    In a few moments, he transitioned back to quiet moans. Oscar brought his attention back to another wounded Marine; he only had a long scratch on his back. It wasn’t deep, and certainly isn’t fatal, yet for some reason his breathing was faint.
    “Come on, Richard, stay up.” He lightly slapped the Marine’s face.
    He stirred a bit, before slumping his head back over.
    “I don’t get it. What’s killing him?”
    Saber took a look and sniffed the air near his wound. “Poison,” she whimpered quietly. “He must have been hit by a Lerahk.”
    “Is there a cure?”
    “There are plants that will help, but I fear we’re too late.” Her ears and spikes went down. “I can’t hear his heart.”
    Oscar checked his pulse. She was right.
    “That’s three now.” he sighed and took his helmet off.
    For the next hour, the Marines paddled though the thick fog, barely seeing anything twenty feet out. Then, Saber’s ears went up.
    “Guys,” she whispered. “I hear the shore.”
    The water slowly became choppy and the crashing sound of waves rang all around them. Suddenly they found themselves leaving the dense cloud of fog and into the view of a very cloudy sky. The light of dawn revealed the island to be less than a hundred yards away. Excited, the Marines paddled harder until the raft nearly crashed onto the sand. Saber and Xipher jumped out and pushed it onto shore. A few hundred yards to their left was the cliff the abandoned village sat on.
    Scott jumped off the raft. He and Sam pulled Takara’s body off, while Josh and another Marine carried Richard’s, and Saber carried Mike. They took them to the edge of the forest, where they laid their bodies down and piled sand over them. The Matoran gathered what rocks they could and placed them on top, and when done they stepped back. The Marines removed their helmets and placed them over their heart. No one spoke.
    This went on for over a minute until Scott placed his helmet back on and walked back to the raft. One by one they followed. He tied a rope to the raft and Saber pushed it back into the water. She, the Matoran and Scott pulled it along, while Daniel rested on the raft. Everyone followed, Xipher being in the back of the group, staying close enough for the beach waves to remove their tracks. The Marines were surprised Xipher wasn’t taking lead, but their concerns were interrupted when Josh broke the silence.
    “So what happened to Mike?”
    Nobody answered.
    “Well?”
    Everyone then noticed Scott give Xipher a loathsome glare. They then looked over to him. All the curious stares made his ears and spikes face downwards. He let out a small whine and pulled his cloak tightly around him. As he did everyone saw his bloodstained fingers.
    “You did this?” gasped Daniel.
    Xipher rubbed his hands over each other. “It-it was an accident.”
    Scott clutched his fist and spun around. “That was no accident,” he hissed. “You intentionally tried to kill Saber as well. You almost killed me and Sam!”
    “Just let me explain-”
    Scott raised his tone. “What’s there to explain? You lied to us! This whole time you had us believe you were some kind of hero, but you’re really a monster. I don’t even want to know what you did to that village.”
    Xipher’s eyes went wide. “You were there?”
    “Yes, and we found your claw mark on one of the huts.”
    Xipher was almost speechless. “It’s not what it looks like.”
    “Oh it’s exactly what it looks like.” Scott growled, “I can’t believe you would do such a thing!”
    Xipher took a step back appalled. “I didn’t kill anyone there!”
    “Then where is everyone huh? What happened to them?!”
    Xipher froze, while his lips quivered for the right words. He then let out a soft, yet deep sigh and slumped his head down.
    “They left to make this place my prison.”
    Scott was now silent, yet he didn’t change his harsh stare.
    “But you don’t understand. None of you do.” He let out an awkward broken chuckle. “Then again you don’t really know me.” He then turned and walked to the forest.
    “And where are you going?” Scott asked suspiciously.
    “Back to my cave,” he snorted, “where I can’t hurt anyone.”
    When he was gone there was a period of silence between the Humans and Matoran.
    Then Tiranu spoke out. “So, the legends are true.”
    “What do you mean?” asked Daniel.
    The Matoran stuttered a bit as he spoke, “I’ve heard stories of a Toa who was turned into a monstrous version of himself. No one knows how it happened, not even the Toa, but eventually he broke the Toa code: He killed someone, and was banished for it.”
    “Yeah, that sounds a lot like Xipher alright,” sighed Saber.
    “Wait, you mean he actually was a Toa?” asked Scott.
    Saber nodded.
   “And all Toa start out as us.”
    Everyone stared at the Tiranu and the Matoran.
    “That’s quite the growth spurt,” commented Josh.
    Saber didn’t seem to hear him. “Please try to understand, he does his best to keep his emotions under control. Sometimes he slips and… well… moments like that on Destral happen.”
    Sam stared out into the ocean and thought about it until she was in a trance-like state.
   “Sam?”
    She jumped and looked at Oscar.
    “Everyone’s moving. You coming?”
    She paused for a moment. “Yeah,” she said quietly and followed.


    They could barely tell it was morning with the dark clouds over them. Soon they had reached the cliff side. Saber got in the water and pushed the raft onto shore. She then gently pulled Daniel off and carried him up the hill, where she led the way to the abandoned village. Once there, the Matoran searched each hut for anything useful, while the Humans decided to use the old beds for rest. Saber took Daniel into the center of the village and into the Turaga’s hut. She placed him on a bed and walked out; Oscar soon came in.
    “Alright, let’s see how its doing.” He slowly removed the bandage and cleaned up the wound.
    Soon however, Daniel noticed he had a dreaded look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
    “I-I need to see Scott about this first.”
    “About what?” Scott asked as he ducked to enter the hut.
    “He… can’t keep it.”
    “What do you mean?” asked Scott.
    Daniel also had the same question in his expression as he sat himself up.
    “It’s too damaged for me to fix. If we were back home we could just air lift him to a hospital and he’d have a better chance. But I have to take it off.”
    Both men were speechless, but Daniel showed more denial as he shook his head.
    “No… no please! There has to be some other way!”
    “There is no other way.”
    “Can’t we just wait a bit for it to heal-“
    Oscar faced him. “Your leg is almost blown off Daniel! The tissue is either already badly infected or at risk of decaying. There’s nothing that can save you, but cutting it off!”
    Daniel became silent, but the fear in his eyes never left.
    Oscar sighed. “I’m sorry.”
    Scott then spoke up. “Do you need anything?”
    “Yeah, have someone gather a bowl, several clean clothes or rags and get Saber to find that Sestra fern.”
    He nodded and left. Sam and the others saw him come out and hurried over to him.
    “What’s going on in there?” she asked.
    He took off his helmet and rubbed his head. “He- he’s going to cut his leg off.”
    “What?! Why?”
    “It’s too injured to repair.”
    Saber was near the edge of the village, when her ears went up and heard the commotion. She then walked over. “Surely Xipher and I might have something that could help?”
    Scott gave her an uninviting look. “I think he’s ‘helped’ enough.”
    Her ears flattened out. “You know he never meant any harm. He fought Ruunaja to buy you time to get out.”
    He stared at the ground in silence.
    Then Sam muttered under her breath. “Then why did he turn on us?”
    Saber looked at her with a guilty face and her spikes went down. “I’ll explain latter on. After we help Daniel.”
    “Very well,” Scott sighed, “Oscar needs some of that fern stuff.”
    She nodded slightly and left.


    The thunder that rolled over the island complimented the mood everyone was in. While Oscar made preparations, Daniel felt the morphine wear off and did his best not to groan. He soon he gave up and made his pain known to everyone outside who was close enough to hear. He rolled his upper body to the side and stared at the medic with a worried look, soon glancing over at the entrance when Saber entered the hut with a large handful of ferns.
    “Perfect,” thanked Oscar.
    He then dug through his medical kit and pulled out the tools he needed: Bandages, needle and thread, various vials of medicine, and a knife. Then a surprised look came across his face. He checked every pocket of his kit and then checked again. After three thorough searches he sighed in frustration and then handed a large cloth to Daniel.
    “I need you to wad it up and bite down, while Saber holds you.”
    “Wait, don’t you have morphine?”
    “Used it all up. You’ll just have to grit and bear it.”
    His eyes widened. He was about to fight back in protest, but Saber pushed him down on his back.
    “I’m sorry,” she said with full sincerity and remorse.
    His breathing picked up and he tried to pull her hand off. He unwittingly moved his injured leg and yelled. She immediately shifted herself so that her left elbow rested on his stomach, while her hands held his legs down. It proved to be effective.
    Oscar looked over her body and at Daniel. “You ready?”
    He chocked on his tears and nodded before placing the cloth in his mouth.
    “Good now take slow, deep breaths.”
    His breathing was far from slow, but he did his best to stay ‘calm’. He saw Saber close her eyes and turn her head away and knew it was about to begin.

    From inside their shelters the Marines and Matoran heard Daniel screaming. The Matoran seemed mortified, as if haunted memories were replaying themselves. Another roll of thunder crashed, this time closer. The growing storm was another blow to their attempt to sleep.
    Realizing he wasn’t going to doze off any time soon, Scott walked out of his hut and went to the edge of the village. Sam was there too, sitting against a house with arms folded and legs crossed. She stared at the mark on the house across from her with deep thought, but the sound of his approach snapped her out of it.
    “Are you okay?”
    “Yeah,” she said heavily.
    “You don’t seem fine.” He leaned his back against the same house and folded his arms. “What’s on your mind?”
    She paused for a moment before answering. “It’s all of… this. What happened to Mike in the base, what happened when we tried to escape, and what’s happening now.” She rubbed her head.
    They heard another scream from Daniel. A flash lit up the scene as he screamed, trailed soon by the rolling echo of thunder. She shook her head and stood up.
    She choked up. “I-I need some time to myself.” As she started to walk into the forest Scott stopped her.
    “Wait, take this.” He handed her a pistol. “Just don’t go too far.”
    She acknowledged by taking it and left.


    Sam didn’t let the darkness deter herself from going deeper into the forest. She knew it had to be around mid afternoon, but there was no way to truly know. It started to sprinkle. She didn’t notice until it turned to a light shower, then it jumped to a heavy down pour. Another bolt of lightning flashed with thunder immediately clamoring overhead. She jumped and spun around, expecting Rahkshi to be present. There was none. But it didn’t satisfy her. She shook her head at herself and turned back around.
    With the fear of Rahkshi tossed aside, she went back to her own thoughts. While the last few days were heartbreaking and horrifying, something troubled her. She kept shuffling between questions, each one more unsettling than the last. But it wasn’t the lack of answers that had her bothered, it was figuring out the right question.
    The questions raced and clashed in her mind, leaving her with a migraine. The lack of sleep and the noise around her didn’t help. She rubbed her forehead, but could not relieve the pain. Another clash of thunder and the constant bombardment took its toll. She fell on her knees crying. She held herself tightly as pure emotion overwhelmed her.
    “How did it all go wrong?” she choked.
    There was a moment where that question repeated itself in her mind. The question churned until she was mouthing it out over and over. Slowly it donned on her and a flurry of epiphanies cluttered her mind. But instead of taking time to sort through and comprehend it all she ran. She ran up the slope and continued on after reaching the top. She didn’t stop until she reached her destination.
    The cave was far darker than she remembered. Slowly she came to the entrance. At the mouth of the cave she stopped and looked inside. It was pitch black.
    “Xipher?”
    Soon she made out a single blue orb staring shamefully back at her.
    “What do you want?” he asked in a soft, yet uninviting tone.
    “I want the truth.” she choked and wiped her cheeks.
    He stared at her for a moment. She then saw the soft glow of his eyes disappear as he turned his head away.
    “You got the truth.” he spat. “I’m a murderer.”
    “I want the truth from you,” she said more forcefully.
    She cautiously walked towards him, using her feet to feel around. When she felt she was near, she stared at him and clutched her fist. “Ruunaja knew about it didn’t he?” She saw his eyes again and continued. “And he exploited it.”
    He was silent at first. “I-I don’t really remember.”
    “How can you not remember?!”
    “It’s complicated.” His tone told her he didn’t want to talk about it.
    She sat down and crossed her legs. “I have time.”
    At first she saw surprise in his eyes, followed by objection. But she knew he could see her face as clear as daylight and used it to tell him she was serious. He soon looked downwards in defeat. He then stood up and walked a little farther into the cave, where his pupils shifted to red cross hairs. She smelled smoke and soon a small flame appeared and crackled as it grew into a good-sized fire. He took a few steps back and laid on his side, hissing and standing back up as he remembered the bullet in his arm. He tried again, more carefully. She then got up and sat back down on the opposite side. She noticed Xipher staring at the ground and fiddling his hands along the ground.
    “To understand it, it’s best we go to where things went downhill. It all started during a rescue mission on an island called Xia.”

*       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    “Well it sure looks like a cheer-happy place.” the Toa or air joked sarcastically.
    From the top of a cliff face, three Toa peered down at the fortress-like laboratory.
    The Toa of air continued, “I’ve heard-listened rumors of this place. Strange things happen in this area, and stranger-secret things happen inside.”
    Xipher wasn’t interested in anything he said, but he asked anyway. “Like what?”
    “I don’t know. No one knows, but if our brother is in there it can’t be good.”
    The Toa of fire spoke up. “Looks like it’s well guarded. I’m open for ideas.”
    He looked to Xipher.
    “Follow me.”
    They sneaked through the forest and by nightfall they were feet away from the walls. When a Vortixx guard looked away they sprinted to the wall and lay flat against it. Xipher focused his power and pulled out several large stones from the base as if they were playing blocks. He made a hole big enough for them to crawl through and as he took his turn he moved the stone blocks back into place. The hallways were tall and immense, most notably open and exposed. They ran to a nearby vent, where the Toa of fire then grabbed the bars and within seconds they melted. Inside, it was more than tall enough for a Matoran, but the Toa were left to squat as they crept down the vents.
    “Do we even know where we’re going?” wined Xipher.
    “Not really.” replied the Toa of fire. “But based on my experiences with fortresses they probably keep the prisons nearby and the more classified objects underground.”
    “Then I suggest we split up. You find your brother and I’ll find what I’m looking for.”
    “I don’t know. I’ve got a worry-bad feeling about this.”
    “Just blow a strong gust of air through the vents if something happens okay?”
    Before they could object, Xipher slipped into another duct and was gone.  

    Xipher’s search had been fruitless. He had no idea how far underground he was, but nothing he found seemed to relate to the vial. Instead, he found several Vortixx workers along his route, all appearing to be doing similar jobs. Finally he passed another opening and overlooked two Vortixx talking as they passed.
    “Is it ready? She’s been waiting very patiently… and I’m saying that loosely.”
    “She just picked it up.”
    “And?”
   “She needs a test subject.”
    “Use that Toa of ice. That’s why we brought him here.”
    Xipher’s eyes widened.
    “She will and I’m sure she will be very pleased with the results.”
    “But we’ve been unsuccessful at duplicating the key component.”
    “She knows it. But she’s willing to take what we’ve got anyway. Besides, she’ll deal with the Toa of stone personally.”
    “And what about her?”
    “She’s a lost cause. Keep her chained up until we figure out how to dispose of her.”
    Soon they walked away and Xipher continued his search. He traveled farther down the vents, looking for anything that would shed more light on what he overheard. Instead he found that the vent was getting smaller to the point that he had to crawl on his belly to keep going. He decided it was too inefficient, he used his blades to cut a hole at the base and jumped out.
    Staying close to the walls and crates, he made his way down the hallways. As he approached a corner, he heard light conversation and two shadows on the ground moving towards him. He backtracked and entered the first room he came in. He quietly closed the door and placed an ear and listened. Instead of conversation, he heard whining. Puzzled, he turned around and jumped back.
    In the center of the room was a large, white creature with light blue organic tissue. It had two rows of spikes along its back, a long slender, black tail, and a Rahkshi-like head with sharp teeth at the front. Its mouth was muzzled shut and its hands and feet were chained up, kept far apart. He understood why. They were tipped with long claws, yet the links themselves were unusually thick for such a thin creature. The creature had its ears and spikes down as it whined. It pulled against the chain in its attempt to take off the muzzle, but the chains wouldn’t permit it.
    It gave up and whined some more, staring at Xipher with heartbreaking eyes. He on the other hand was shocked at the sight. He kept his back against the door.
    “Uh, nice Rahkshi-monster thing.”
    It whined as if hurt by the comment. He heard talking on the other side of the door, and he started to sift through his options. There’s no sneaking out, and fighting would make too much noise. The creature whined again. He looked at it and an idea began to turn. Slowly he walked up to it.
    He was uncertain if the creature was going to be hostile and for a moment he thought it was wondering the same thing about him. He stretched forth his hand. Within a few inches it pulled its head back, but soon brought up the courage and lightly rubbed its head against it. It left him puzzled that they would chain and muzzle a seemingly harmless creature. Either they were torturing it or it’s a very good actor. He took a step back and drew out his blades. The creature whined again in panic and closed its eyes tightly in response.
    He swung the blade, whooshing through the air before striking the chain and slicing through it, just barely missing its hand. The creature jumped in surprise and stared at its free hand. He cut through the other chains and it was able to stand and move around. Only the muzzle remained, but when it stood to its real height of over nine feet he mentally vetoed the idea. He went back to the door and listened for anymore chatter. He heard nothing.
    “Great,” he spat, “Now I’m stuck with this thing.” He opened the door and peeked his head out.
    There was no sign of anyone coming and he sneaked out. The creature was more hesitant as it followed, peering it ears up and sniffing the air. It looked over behind its shoulder and accidentally walked into Xipher.
    “Hey!” he barked. “Watch it.”
    It crouched down and whimpered, toying with the straps. “Why don’t you run off like Rahi do and be a diversion?”
    It brought its head forward and rubbed him on the arm. He stepped away.
    “I didn’t break you out because I was pet shopping. Go find your way out. I have other things to worry about.” He marched off, leaving it to whine to itself.
    The halls he went down became more quiet and empty. There were noticeably fewer rooms to look into as well. He soon found himself at a dead end with one door to the right; next to it was a lock pad. Aside from the guards, it was the most security he’s come across, but it was no problem for him. He placed his hands against the stone and imagined a door. With a good push a whole block of stone moved. When inside he pushed it back in place.
    The room was a mess of tools, chemicals and an unnecessary number of Rohtuka launchers scattered and pilled everywhere. He walked to a nearby desk and shuffled some things around. Soon he found a tablet labeled ‘Project White Saber’ he was about to dismiss it, when he noticed a carving on it with a very familiar being. It was similar in appearance to the creature he just broke out. The door swung open and he spun around and froze.
    The Vortixx who entered was stunned at his presence. “What in Karzahni!?”
    A Rohtuka launcher came up form behind her back and glowed red. Xipher jumped out of the way as a spinner whizzed past him. He then summoned a hand of stone that grabbed her. She hissed and tried to wriggle her way out. He drew out his blades and brought them lose to her neck.
    “I want answers,” he hissed.
    “Fat chance, Toa.” she spat. “There’s nothing of interest here.”
    He growled. “I disagree. A while back I intercepted a little ‘package’. A vial containing a green concoction and apparently this was its final destination. So care to tell me what it does?”
    Her eyes widened. “You? You’re the one who got it?”
    “Don’t get off topic!” he snarled “What is it?!”
    Reluctantly she answered. “It’s a serum, extracted from hostile Rahi to make the host more aggressive.”
    “I noticed.” he hissed to himself.
    “The growling and hissing is merely a desired side effect. It was intended to be the final component to a weapon. Only one sample was made and its creator was killed. We thought we could duplicate it, but you came along and-“
    “I know.” he growled. “How to I reverse it?”
    “Reverse?” She then broke into a half laugh. “You can’t ‘reverse’ it. You can only continue forward. You’re only half complete.”
    “What’s that suppose to mean?”
    She kept babbling. “Fuse with it Xipher, and you’ll become more than you could ever imagine.”
    “And what would that be?”
    “Destruction.”
    Xipher paused. The word sent chills down his neck as he tried to figure out what that meant. Not wanting to hear anymore of it, he ran out of the room and back down the hall. He traced back his steps and passed a guard approaching from an adjacent hall. She saw him and immediately called the alarm.
    He found the vents and made a staircase out of stone. He hurried up and made it though the hole before a Rohtuka spinner struck it. A strong breeze flowed through the ducts. He followed the current until he heard heavy footsteps approaching.
    “Hey,” said the Toa of air. “How’d the sneak-search go?”
    Xipher rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, it was informative… and ‘enlightening’. What about you?”
    “No sign of him at all,” replied the Toa of fire.
    “Odd, I heard one of them talk about him. He has to be here.”
    “Unfortunately we can’t stay. A guard sound-raised the alarm.”
    Suddenly the metal below their feet sunk down a bit, making a loud metallic creek that bellowed through the vents. They all froze. The Toa of air was the first to say it:
    “Uh, oh.”
    The vent gave way and they all fell through, screaming.
    “There they are!” shouted a guard.
    Xipher got up and summoned a wall of stone between them. The other Toa moaned as they stood on their feet.
    “I don’t think we need to sneak our way out,” said the Toa of fire.
    A spinner flew over them and they flinched.
    “Yeah, lets just run.” suggested Xipher.
    They began to sprint down the hallways, blowing guards out of the way and summoning walls of stone and fire to stop followers. The exit was in sight. The Toa of air blew another gust of wind behind them, while they ran for it. Xipher had a strong lead, but none of them noticed a yellow spinner silently traveling through the air. When Xipher made it out, the spinner hit the door lintel and exploded. The Toa of stone found himself flying several yards before landing stomach first on the ground.
    When he got up he turned around and saw large rocks and debris everywhere. The entrance itself was on fire and inside he could hear smaller explosions along with the other Toa inside screaming. He had to go back and save them. And he planned to do just that. He began to summon his powers to clear a path for them, when something struck him form behind. He staggered back and screamed to the top of his lungs. His whole body felt like it was being torn apart and rearranged, only to be torn apart again as metal and innards moved and twisted into new shapes. What felt like hours to him only lasted mere seconds, and when over the pain was gone, yet he still had the sensation of throbbing pain throughout his body. His legs wobbled and he fell onto his knees, and then collapsed onto his stomach.
    Everything became blurry and his ears tuned out all noise. He got on his hands and pushed himself up, only to fall again halfway. He panted and as the world around him went black he cried out softly.
    “Mata Nui, help us.”