Wheua Mīti [Dark Data]

[Skeletor]

Skeletor sat crouched, watching from one of the remaining cliffs as Kopaka extracted himself from the detritus of his avalanche. The Warlock was unable to deny the impressiveness of the Bionicle’s raw power. Perhaps it was time for him to begin recruiting a team of lackeys to assist him in his plans of conquest. That was a thought for another time though, the Skeletal mage mused, there was still much to be done. The Toa had rushed ahead, using his powers to traverse the ice much more swiftly than Skeletor had been able to keep up with. The Warlock had not been terribly concerned, there was only one target that the Bio-mech could have been heading towards. Besides Skeletor had been more interested in learning just how this new power of his worked. Normally, he would have been perfectly happy with Kopaka’s ruthless destruction, the pathetic darklings had never stood a chance, from start to finish. However, given the circumstances, the Bio-mech had made some impermissible mistakes.

It was time that Skeletor rectified that fact.

Rising from a crouch, Skeletor slid down the loose snow of the slope, Panthor following as lazily as ever. Kopaka whirled to assess the Skeletal being’s arrival, and Skeletor prepared to lecture the Bio-mech but upon his arrival the warlock noticed a newcomer that interrupted his ranting before it even began.

The Young girl had a definite air of propriety, a smug self-assurance that was came hand in hand with pampered living, Skeletor had seen plenty of that from Randor’s brat. Yet her manner was far too hesitant for a simple socialite, and the fact that the girl was clearly learning meant that it would be wise to watch himself around this one. Mentally checking that his illusory face was still intact, Skeletor approached the two other primes.

The Bionicle’s pale blue eyes narrowed as Skeletor approached with his usual hunched stride. “Where have you been, Mage?” the Toa demanded. The Tone was not aggressive, but it did have the slightest hint of irritation that Skeletor was wary to note. The Warlock was careful to answer his icy companion without too much contempt, after watching such a display of force it would be imprudent to challenge the Toa directly.

“I saw quite enough chaos without my involvement, you bucket of bolts! You’ve gone and buried their Dark Chips!” the Warlock complained as he began to excavate the snow with the help of his eldritch magic. Kopaka did not choose to respond to this jab, instead refocusing his attention on the newly arrived ally.

“We have pursued Nebula’s signal into this verse, though they seem ignorant of our efforts.” The Toa gestured to the remains of the outpost on which they stood, “That will likely change soon.” The Bio-mech’s tone was matter of fact as always, though Skeletor though he could detect a twinge of satisfaction in the Toa’s words.

The young girl with the scar glanced around with a look of slight apprehension. “This doesn’t look large enough to have been their stronghold.” She said with the ease of a practiced tracker. The girl had clearly seen some action in the field, "You attacked an outpost this openly without knowing what your up against?" she said in surprise, but Kopaka made no response. 

Skeletor continued to search aimlessly, there had been several of those power-containing chips in the vehicle, he had seen them before that pesky avalanche scattered the whole campsite. There was no chance of finding them in this blasted snow! A plume of loose powder flew into the air as Skeletor slammed his Havoc staff into the ground in frustration “Gone! They are all gone!” The necromancer shouted, startling Wiess and causing Kopaka to turn back to face him. Skeletor whirled to face the two of them, his pretenses of civility falling away as his rage mounted, “That entire truck of Darkchips! Lost to this insufferable powder!”

The Warlock stalked about the remains of the camp, pacing to deal with his frustration. Panthor lounged on a nearby outcropping of rock, watching the three primes disinterestedly. Wiess glanced nervously at Kopaka, “Uhm, if there was a truck, they must have been taking the Darkchips somewhere nearby…” She said, choosing to ignore the strange man’s outburst.

Kopaka nodded “We are agreed in this. We must find the source of the Darklings with haste.” Turning back to the sulking Skeletor, he spoke a little louder, “We are moving on, mage. Follow or stay behind, it is your decision.” With that the Bio-mech began trudging onwards, deeper into the tundra. Wiess waited for a second, watching to see Skeletor’s reaction, then followed.

The Warlock watched them go with chagrin. “These meddlesome fools will prevent me from getting anything out of this Panthor!” he muttered to his  pet as he made to follow, “And they aren’t even trying to stop me!”