A New Duty

[ToaMakuta]

Matoro surrendered himself gratefully and completely to his destiny, putting the Mask of Life on. He felt his body lighten as his body dissolved into pure energy, the merged energies of Toa and Kanohi mask exploding in the core of the universe and flooding it with light...

Matoro’s mouth opened up to let out a gasp as he sat up, the familiar feeling of his heartlight pulsing now back in his body. It took him only a few seconds to realize that not only could he make a sound, but there was nothing but darkness around him. Matoro tried to remember what happened, the last thing he remembered was putting the Mask of Life on, Looking around, he tried to figure out where he was, but only seeing nothing but darkness around him. Is this what the afterlife is like?, he wondered, looking left and right in an attempt to find out where he was. A sound behind him caused for him to whip around, coming to face to face with a white silhouette, grinning at the Toa Mahri. Despite having no weapons, the Toa of Ice got in a fighting stance, causing for the silhouette to grin wider before speaking.

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it.” The being said, and Matoro frowned at this statement. He didn’t mind bringing brought back, but who did this being think he was to play with life and death? A Great Being? If the being understood what he was thinking, it didn’t show it as it held out its left hand to Matoro. Matoro started in surprise as a shimmering orb with all the colors in it was formed in Omni’s hand. Perhaps he is a Great Being, Matoro thought, looking at the being with some interest because of this, albeit still wary.

”This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing," Omni told him, and threw the orb to the Toa of Ice. Matoro caught the offered ball of colors, and his mask seemed to almost… react[i]... to the orb of rainbow energy before he absorbed the sphere into himself. [i]That energy felt similar to what I felt from the Mask of Life, he observed, and with thought, could it be that the Mask is powered by Omnilium?

"With the Omnilium, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most," Omni continued to explain, and Matoro blinked in surprise at this statement. What exactly did he mean by ‘anything’? Did he mean just weapons and equipment, or did he mean something more? Matoro’s attention was drawn back to Omni speaking, catching the last words the white silhouette said to him; “-As long as you interest me, you’ll be reborn."

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.” Omni finished, and flickered out of Matoro’s sight. The Toa of Ice had barely time to blink before the darkness faded away, leaving Matoro in a vast plain like before. However, where there had been nothing but darkness beforehand, there was now a vast plain of white. In addition to this, there was also, for some reason, a copy of the Kini-Nui in front of him.

[ToaMakuta]

"Well, this is interesting," He said as he looked around, then blinked in surprise as he realized that he was able to speak again. Thinking about the situation he was now facing, he remembered what 'Omni' had said about the Omnilium being capable of making 'anything' he desired. "Perhaps this 'Omnilium' should be put to the test," He muttered to himself, then focused on the feeling from when he had absorbed the Omnilium, the image of his twin cutters and his Cordak blaster clearly in his head. After a few minutes, he finally felt the feeling he had felt beforehand travel down to his hands. From there, the energy expanded to surround his hands before finally dissapating, leaving behind the weapons exactly as he remembered them. "Well, that worked well," Matoro said as he appraised the newly created weapons, then stopped as he realized something: How did he know how to use Omnilium? Was it something that came with using Omnilium? Did Omni put the information in his head?I'll have to ask Omni about this the next time I see him, he thought, mentally filing the thought for later consideration. With that, a second concern came to him: Transport.

A steed should help me move across the area quickly, he thought as he put his hands out, so as not to have the Rahi he summoned be right on top of him. Focusing again on the feeling, he then thought of the first rideable Rahi that came into his head; in this case, it was a giant Ussal Crab, with the size and shape of the Rahi taken into consideration so that he wouldn't crush it with his weight. Once again, a Zamor-sphere-sized orb of Omnilium drifted out of Matoro after a few minutes and, after flying out a few meters, expanded rapidly before fading away. In its place was a giant Ussal crab that, as if automatically recognizing Matoro as its master, lowered itself to let Matoro be able to get on. "I hope this will at least lead to somewhere else," Matoro muttered to himself as he got on the back of the Rahi, he clicked his tongue a few times, and the Rahi turned to what Matoro vaguely felt was westwards before rising back up and scuttling forwards at a steady 40 MPH.

[ToaMakuta]

Matoro let out a sigh as he counted off the tenth minute that had . Already ten minutes had passed, and while he had travelled quite the distance, there had been nothing yet to be seen other than the plain, unyielding white nothingness. Is there truly an end or even an exit to this place?Matoro thought as he subconsciously counted off the eleventh minute. Matoro was brought out of his thoughts as he noticed a metal structure in the distance. At last, signs of civilization!, he thought with a tinge of joy, and patted the Ussal Crab on its shell. Taking this as a sign to speed up, the shellfish Rahi sped up to 60 MPH as it rushed towards the now-distinguishable arc.

As the Toa Mahri got closer to the arch, he saw that there were several beings standing around the arch. The beings were roughly the same size as himself, back when he was a Toa Inika, but were entirely white with black highlights at the joints, all of them holding some sort of a black stick-like apparatus not dissimilar to Vezok's Water Harpoon (Perhaps the weapons were a form of launcher?, Matoro pondered.). The strangest part, however, was that they all have the same mask. Due to there being a shortage of masks back on Mata Nui, Matoro was familiar with seeing several Matoran wearing the same kind of mask, but an enitre squad of them? Something didn't seem right...

As the Toa of Ice drew closer to the arch, the beings finally seemed to notice that he was approaching, and the majority prepared to fire while a few of them ran into the arch, shimmering for a few seconds before disappearing. A portal, perhaps? Matoro thought as the remaining beings formed a line in front of the arch. "Hold it right there!", one of the white Matoran-like beings shouted at Matoro, the rest of the squad still pointing their launchers at his chest. Matoro quickly leaned back on the Ussal Crab's shell, the Rahi near-instantly coming to a halt. "Identify yourself!" The lead being said, and Matoro lifted his hands up to show he wasn't hostile.

"Matoro, Toa of Ice," He quickly answered, and the squad looked at one another before lowering the weapons. The being that was closest to him looked at the Ko-Toa, then eventually turned back to the portal. "Apologies for that, sir, but we've had some difficulty with some more malevolent Primes," The lead being said, and Matoro looked at the being with confusion. Primes? Was that what people who were summoned by Omni were called? "All the same, sir, we'll need for you to come with us to get registered as a Prime," The white being said, and Matoro nodded in agreement. After all, it'd make sense that any person who'd come through to be registered so that they'd keep track.

"Understood, sir," Matoro said, then tapped the shell of the Ussal Crab once, making the metallic crustacean start to scuttle forwards, following the being as they walked through the portal, four of the other beings following shortly behind him.

To be continued in Coruscant...