//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Villainous Smackdown // Story: Playing The Villain // by Northern Desert //------------------------------//         Lights flashed in the sky and puff of smoke filled the air as explosions shook the earth itself. The snowy and barren place was used to nothing but darkness and silence, both of which were interrupted by the loud blasts and clangs as three unknown forces collided with one another. Such a cold wasteland was not used to such powers coming together and battling with abilities that could annihilate miles of land and armies of creatures. Shadows stretched and screamed as they acted against each other; the simple sight their malevolent intents would cause any sane mortal to fear their masters. While the silhouettes of anything that could cast darkness on this full-mooned night raged against each other, those who commanded them slammed steel against steel, the hissing of metal cracking and breaking urged the shadows to continue their assault on one another. Both physical and intangible bodies were participating in the seemingly endless war between creatures beyond mortal comprehension.   White snow was illuminated as flashes of red and yellow bounced around and exploded upon impact with anything it touched. The air was filled with death and ash, screams howling in the night, accompanying the terrifying battle as it raged on, seemingly without end.Through the swirling snow and flaring darkness, one could glimpse the sight of two beings attempting to tackle one larger foe. An equine with a horn as red as blood swung his scythe with great precision, catching and delivering blow after blow as he and his ally attempted to take down this powerful foe.         The other, nowhere near as proficient with physical attacks as his partner, instead used his magic to attack their foe. His two ram’s horn lit up and the sound of a single bell rung in the night as those who passed long ago rose to assist their master. While most were decapitated by the sole fighter’s shadows, which were on the verge of outplaying the other two’s combined might, some of the zombified creatures joined in the assault.         A metallic hand reached out and shot red blasts of energy at the incoming shards of dark crystals, while in the other hand he swung his staff to eliminate multiple zombies and counter the magical blasts of his foes. Two red eyes peered through the dark night as the coldly observed and calculated each and every move his opponents made or would make. His wings flapped in delight at the challenge presented to him, while his foes bore grim expressions as they faced off again this metal terror that had presented itself to triumph over both previous lords of fear and darkness.         While they had shifted and sprung about to dodge his blows, the dark machine had remained still and fired off a variety of attacks, although they stuck to around six specific abilities which seemed to be his limit. The pure aura of fear that resonated from these three beings could drive even the most powerful of immortals to near insanity. These three completed one another in strength, power, and dark machinations that exceeded the comprehension of any power other than their own.         Not even the eyes of the Void Dweller, Eris the Draconequus, who was an odd hodgepodge of many animals, or Celestia, the solar monarch of ponies, whose comprehension of both dark and light had aided her with dealing against two of those that fought, could fully grasp what was taking place. Both awe and horror riddled their faces as they watched their allies collided against one another, sitting off in the sidelines to prevent one another from interfering. Not that they could do much to change the tide of the battle; they would only aid in the continuation of it.         “I don’t know whether I should be giddy at such an exciting dual, or be terrified of who comes out on top...such fun!” Eris pondered. She wasn’t feeling too threatened by the outcome of this fight, for she was sure of her allies victory.         “I will go with the latter,” Celestia grimaced, watching the battle continue on as her metallic ally effortlessly fought the goat and dark unicorn. She hoped for his victory so that the playing field would be evened, but even he had limits. “Whoever is victorious will be on par with us; all I hope is that Grogar remains dead.”         The draconequus snorted at such a ridiculous statement, not sure whether to be offended that Celestia assumed her to not prepare the two before-hand or that she honestly thought her metal pet stood a chance to begin with. “Don’t sound so confident, Celly. Teridax hardly has a chance against both of them- especially since I informed them of his weakness and powers!” “You underestimate him too much,” the princess of the sun retorted, knowing full well of the danger the Makuta presented to both of them. “I know when to play my cards right, and making Teridax an enemy with little to no way to predicate what he will do next or what plans he has in store would be incompetent at best.” “I made him,” Eris growled at her counterpart’s comment, her eyes flashing somewhat red. She was not pleased with her little ‘Displaced experiment’ becoming such a danger to what she had put centuries into building. “And that means I can break him. I know all of his powers, weaknesses, what his original was able to conjure up through his intellect. I have predicted every move he would make and have the best solution to defeating him!”         More lights flashed in front of them as they sat on warm cushions with a fire roaring next to them. Teridax had started unleashing the full potential of some of his powers as the fight roared on, the darkness that Sombra was so used to commanding now betraying him and instead directing their assault upon the magical goat. With Grogar distracted, Teridax turned and brought his protosteel staff onto the crystallized scythe of the unicorn tyrant, breaking it in two and leaving nothing but rubble for the dark king to use.         “Another one!” Sombra grumbled as he conjured another crystal weapon to use, this being his fifth item.         “I don’t know whether you assumed that this brawl would end in any other way besides your defeat,” Teridax said coldly, his voice echoing across the cold valley as the shadows whispered his words, “or if you have some other plot afoot… some ace that you have yet to reveal?”         “Heh, and you’re suppose to be the smart one?” Sombra chuckled, his horning giving off a sickly red glow as he fired a magic missile at the Makuta.         As a cloud of dust overtook the view of Teridax, Sombra was quick enough to use his full power to assume control back over the machine’s shadows. His crystal sword cut through what were suppose to be intangible darkness with ease and caused the shadows around them to tremble in surprise. Grogar himself was fuming with anger when he realized Teridax’s metallic shell had negated almost all of his magical attacks.         “I’ll keep up a barrage of magic projectiles to keep him on the defense,” the blue ram growled, charging up a set of magic spells that would weaken the robot. “You go in and see if you can find any parts of his body which are weaker. Arms, legs, even his head, find something to dismember!”         Sombra gave a nod before getting ready to charge forward, but as the dust cloud settled the Makuta was nowhere to be seen. Grogar, taking this as a warning, quickly made himself intangible, while the unicorn turned his body into dark mist. Teridax’s clawed hand phased through Grogar’s chest, instead hitting the shadowy tyrant. What occurred next was something none of them had expected. Teridax delivering a sickening punch to the cloud of darkness, using his own shadow powers to nullify and bring Sombra back to his physical form.         “Urk!” Sombra coughed as blood flew from his mouth. His chest compressed as the metal hand made contact with the force of a freight train. The unicorn was sent flying back and crumpled on the ground due to the pain he was experiencing.         Grogar leapt back to make distance from the Makuta, but the machine simply fired lasers from his eyes onto the ground under the airborne goat. As he crashed into the newly made crater, Grogar recovered quickly, and formed a shield of black and blue aura which stopped the large staff of Teridax from crushing him. “Dammit!” Grogar hissed as Teridax slammed onto the shield and nearly crushed it.         “I’m afraid we’ve reached the finale of this little show, Grogar,” Teridax gloated, his brilliant red eyes lighting up the darkness around him. He would enjoy defeating the goat, who relied on fear to win his battles, as the irony of such powers betraying their master delighted the Bionicle. “It is time that you give our audience your glorious final ploy; what shall this act be that will cause your name to be sung through the ages?”         Grogar became irritated at the snark that Teridax’s tone irradiated with, growling at the Makuta’s mocking behavior. And yet a smile crept on his face as his ally and loyal servant got up behind the unsuspecting machine and soon performed his part of their two-way spell. His magic flared up and he teleported outside of the shield, much to the supposed confusion of Teridax.         “Well..since you asked so nicely!” Grogar spat, casting his part of the spell and summoning ten orbs of blue and black, which surrounded the Makuta.         “What ever are you planning?” Teridax mused, taking a step forward to walk up to the now-confident necromancer. But as he tried to make his way past the orbs, he was suddenly warped back into the middle of the circle.         “...Time entrapment,” Teridax sighed. By the look of things, all of his projectiles as well as his shadows would be trapped. And yet they both need to hold up the spell in order for it to stay in effect. “So, what’s the plan here fellas?”                  “Send you through space and time to be lost forever,” Sombra replied, wheezing as each rise and fall of his chest sparked pain throughout his body. “It’ll either scatter your molecules throughout time, or send you in some random point of existence.”          “As I said already, Celestia,” Eris commented as the two watched the entrapped Makuta try and think his way out of this situation. “You played your cards wrong, which is a shame for you.”         Celestia looked at Eris and then back at the two former tyrants, seeing an obvious flaw in their plan. It was mononymously horrid that surely even Teridax, egomaniac that he is, would be able to see past this sheer arrogant play. Of course, she wasn’t wrong about him seeing the problem.         “Right...I’ll pass!” Teridax said, holding a hand up to Sombra and using his Magnetism to crush the armor that the unicorn wore. The metal impaled the dark tyranny and effectively cutting off his part of the spell.         A magic eruption came into play as all the feedback of the large source of energy that was being used to entrap Teridax came back and blasted Grogar. The blue goat went flying and crashing into one of the nearby rocky surfaces of the ruins around them. Unfortunately for Grogar, shadowy spikes erupted from the ground and impaled him.         With Grogar incapacitated, Teridax chose to finally ensure that Sombra, the stubborn villain that he was, would never make a comeback. He raised his hand and let loose a furious bolt of energy at the wobbling tyrant. The Laser of Disintegration caught Sombra in the chest, and with a grin, Teridax vaporized all matter that composed Sombra, ensuring his eternal death. With the annoying unicorn now out of the way, darkness swirled around his chest and a shadowy hand shot out to grab the body of Grogar.         The two disappeared for only a moment, both Eris and Celestia watching with dropped jaws at the sheer brutal attack that had incapacitated and killed the two formidable foes. When the dark mist cleared, Teridax proudly walked out stronger than ever, although he seemed strained. This was something that Celestia would take in account later, seeing that the energy expended meant he was possibly weak from absorbing Grogar.         “You two seem cozy,” Teridax chuckled, his voice echoing as his laughter rang through the silent place. Eris jumped in surprise by his sudden teleportation while Celestia remained silent, hoping not to express any sign of weakness. “Mind if I stay and have a chat with the both of you?”         “Uh...no, feel free!” Celestia said, regaining her warm composer and summoning a cushion for Teridax to sit on by the fire.         “Oh no, I won’t be staying long.  I have a little trip I have to make!” Teridax said civilly, giving a wave of thanks to Celestia with one of his hands.         Eris gave a false sigh of sadness while looking at her watch. “You know, I actually have somewhere to be too...well see ya later---”         Before the Draconequus could make her escape, however, the metal terror grabbed her by the tail and sat her down right under him. Giving the shocked patchwork creature a pat on the head, the Makuta took a fancy wine glass, filled with an unknown liquid, and poured it on his cold mask. As the purple liquid spilt on the ground, Eris flinch as Teridax tried to sip the drink with his none-existent mouth.         “While eating and drinking are no longer need with this form...well, I do miss it sometimes,” he sighed, as he tapped the draconequus shoulder with one of his claws. “Did Eris here ever tell you her little plan, or anything else about me, Celestia?”         “Wait...what does Eris have to do with you?” Celestia asked in general confusion, for her theories on the strange robot had many considerations… but the draconequus was not one of them.         “Well, she had this swell idea to bring me here in a state of insanity,” Teridax mused, somewhat angry concerning the plans that the Draconequus had for him. “And go on a rampage, causing mass panic and eliminating you and any others who could prove to be… troublesome. Not really the best plan considering that none of this happened and that she is at the end of her ropes.”         Eris fully vanished from view as she teleported away right before a fireball from Celestia hit the place the draconequus sat. Pure rage over took the alicorn of the sun at the sheer recklessness and thoughtlessness that she had learned was a part of Eris’s plan. She could understand the desire of control that Eris had sought, the need to be in charge. Maybe Celestia even understood the reasoning behind the draconequus’s decision to erase her from the equation… but to endanger everyone by creating some insane-driven killing machine was beyond stupid.         “Calm yourself, Princess,” Teridax soothed, his voice somewhat calming to the alicorn. “It’s clear that Eris’s intentions are less than noble- not that it would shock you that much. No, her methods are what seems to have crossed the line.”         “Oh shove it!” Celestia snorted angrily at the Makuta, waving her horn threateningly at him. “I don’t what you’re playing at, but you’re just as bad as her. If anything, you’re worse.” “Oh ,definitely,” Teridax nodded in agreement, being completely truthful with his words. “I’m a ruthless sociopath who’s bent on world domination and will eliminate any obstacle--” “Gee, you sure are a sweet talker,” the monarch of Equestria snarked, turning her back to leave the cold machine to his own devices. “The only reason that I’ve cooperated with you is because I know that I have a chance against you…” She had prepared a spell that would take care of Teridax while he was still weakened from absorbing Grogar... but to take his life no matter his actions or his mechanical form still felt wrong to Celestia and left a dark pit in her stomach.           “--but I’m also not an idiot,” Teridax commented, momentarily catching Celestia off guard. “My schemes are complex, tailored to encounter every challenge and setback and taking them into account. I have planned my victory in many forms and the mere elaborateness of them would drive you insane.” Teridax walked around the solar monarch until he stood in front of her; his metal armor dwarfed even her. While she refused to be intimidated by Teridax, she was no fool as to assume that he was merely some large bully. He was complex and intelligent, not giving up one inch of territory when it came to the battle for the very fate of her world. They had constantly outmaneuvered each other countless times, each avoiding battle until they felt ready to do so.         “So please Celestia. While my methods may seem ruthless to you, my intentions for this world are far from malevolent,” Teridax growled somewhat as he read the princesses thoughts, attempting to unlock the door she had set up long ago and only finding that her attempts to understand him were lacking key factors. “I seek to preserve this world according to my own designs. The time of those who consider themselves ‘villains’ on this planet has come to an end, those whose goals are driven only through emotions and diluted perspectives. Even those who could consider themselves similar to me lack the foresight and planning to pull off anything even comparable to what I have planned.”         “And in your quest for victory, your lust to control and become better than all others...you have become a being with little to no care for those around you,” Celestia said mournfully. A bitter taste flooded her mouth, for had she met Teridax sooner… well he may be far different that what he is now. “How do you suppose that either of us will be able to come together once Eris is dealt with? We are two materials that should never touch, for if we did then both of us would implode.”         “And in your desire to keep your people and the greater good of this world safe, you have locked yourself away from those you value most,” Teridax replied coldly, knowing full to well the bridges Celestia had burned and would still burn. “It is interesting however, when a Displaced has such a relationship with their version of Celestia. Most simply bow to their will or die, or act as some form of tyrant… it does the Multiverse good to see some noble characteristics exist.”         “Well then… what do you want to do now?” Celestia sighed, realizing that at this point… their relationship would remain as two forces working towards a common goal, only to betray each other in the end.         Teridax looked around the area and at the small pastries that the alicorn and draconequus had enjoyed during his battle with the unicorn and goat. As the gears in that mechanical head of his turned, Celestia was mentally berating herself for asking such a question and insisting on spending time with the Makuta.         “Oh… Idea!” Teridax said suddenly, grabbing Celestia by the hoof and earning a surprised blush from her. “Let me show you the ropes, kid! It’s time you learned first hand how to be a villain!”         “Why would I want to be a villain!?!” Celestia cried, questioning the unfathomably strange logic that her ally seemed to posses.         “It’ll be a promising career once I overthrow the rulers of this universe,” Teridax laughed playfully, causing a rift to open up with his shadows. “And this will be funnnnn!” his last words echoed as he pulled her into the vortex and sent the spiraling to an unknown location.