Tales of Darkness 									The Discovery
9

Alex looked up. Something was coming. The silver being glanced around, and sighed.
“Nothing’s coming, boy. We’re safe.”
Alex looked around. It didn’t feel like that. Something was coming. He looked at his friends.
“You feel that?”
“Feel what?”
“Something, Kale. Something.”
“I feel like an idiot.”
“Something other than that.”
“Happy that I’m alive?”
“No.”
“I don’t know Alex.”
Alex stood still, and then pushed Kale onto the floor. At the same moment, the wall exploded. Three dark beings still in the hole that had been made, their forms waving in the wind. Alex raised a hand full of fire, and he looked at the beings.
“Who are you?”
One of the beings stepped forward. He rasped something Alex didn’t understand.
“What?”
“Wi eri thi sheduw drunis.”
“I have a feeling that means something bad.”
The being snatched Alex by the neck, and held him up to the wall.
“Elix . . . ”
“What?”
The being looked at him with a disgusted look, and threw him to the ground. Alex looked up to see Derek and Joey approaching the being.
“We can’t understand you.” Joey stated, and tried pinning the being to the wall, only to find his bonds go right through the being. The being smiled, and the two others came next to it.
“Uh carsi . . . ”
Alex looked at it, and tried in vain to figure out what it was saying. Then it hit him.
“They’ve got the vowels mixed up. He said, “Elix.”  Alex. You see?”
Joey looked at Alex, and then looked at the three beings.
“Yua undirstend?” He said shakily
The beings looked at him puzzled.
“Yuo fuond uot su fest?”
Alex smiled.
“Yis.”
The being shook, and the shadows stretched out. Joey looked around, then fell to the ground.
“What the?” 
Alex turned, and put his arm up in time to block a blow from the second being. He raised his hand, and sighed.
“Here we go again. . .”

Alex held one of the beings being still, and looked around. All of his friends were being defeated already. The beings seemed to be able to turn physical and solid for a moment, then turned un-solid, and let any blows pass through them. Alex looked at the being he was holding in a deadlock. Why wasn’t it going un-solid? Then it dawned on him. Even un-solid, the beings still had to follow the laws of physics. And if it went un-solid, it would fly right through the air, and go through the floor. It couldn’t break Alex’s grip, so it couldn’t do anything but kick. But it seemed that the beings weren’t that strong, so Alex just shook the blows off. Alex sent fire from his hands into the being’s body, but it didn’t seem to affect it any. Alex looked behind him to see the other two beings flanking him. He braced himself, and felt two painful kicks slam into him. He fell, and thankfully, sleep came quickly.

*Earth, Basic.*

Jaller Mahri blocked another blow. These beings were strange. Most of the time, they muttered things in a dialect Jaller didn’t understand, but even now and then they would curse, and Jaller could understand that. And then something that made them stranger was how they could let your blow pass though them, and then they would turn solid and punch you into the air. Of course, Jaller had encountered things that did the same thing, but he still didn’t have much training in fighting them. But Jaller thought of something else in the mist of battle. Where these things native to Earth? If so, what else strange things lurked here? Those questions would have to wait, Jaller realized, because at the moment there was a group of humans coming into the area, and those weapons they were carrying didn’t make Jaller any less worried. He unleashed a blast of fire so quickly that the being didn’t even have time to blink, nor less dodge. It was blasted back a good twenty feet or so, and when its friends saw what happened, they fell back, and collected him. Then they blinked out of sight.

Jaller turned to see the humans, and looked them over. They were like Alex, but bigger. A lot bigger. And they didn’t look like they were here for a party.
“Who are you?” Asked one.
“Jaller, Toa-“ Then Jaller stopped. From what he heard from Alex, here he was some over priced toy. These humans would kill or knock him out just the same if he said nothing or his name. So he did a little test. He forced fire through his feet(Not that easy a task as it may seem to the simple eye, as Jaller found out.), and watched as it heated up the ground. Then he slowly moved it to under the mens feet. The effect was immediate. The men started shooting glances to each over, then their steel-plated reinforced boots leeched up the heat. And as one may guess, they began running. 

These men in question were a squad of Marines. They went through some of the toughest training, and came out with more skill than most people would gain in three lifetimes. They had just been assigned to protect runners for Office, and so far, they were enjoying themselves. After all, they didn’t get worked to death, nor did they do nothing. So far, the biggest threat they came upon was some drunken fool that had a gun. But it all changed today. They were enjoying themselves, sucking on some mints. Then there was a big flash, and next thing they knew, they were under ten feet of rock. Thankfully, there has a good sized hole, and they crawled out. Then they did what they were meant to do, protect the runner. But then some CIA creep came through, and before they knew it, the runner was gone. So they decided to go check out the crash site, because the runner was gone, and their orders were to search the area should the runner be gone. And then they came to this group of . . .  Something. The group didn’t look like anything they’d seen before. And then when they tried to work out an answer out of the things, their boots got hot. Very hot. They had no idea what to do now, and they were running away. Something they normally would shun. So, well running, the lead man pulled out a cell-phone. He speed-dialed a number, and wished for the best.

The man that answered it wasn’t the man whom the Marine wanted. No, it was someone else.
“Hello?” Said the man.
“We have a level Delta problem.”
The man chuckled.
“Really? What would be this ‘problem?’”
“Sir, if I told you, you won’t believe me.” 
The man sighed, and was tempted to hang up right there. But he knew he had to keep the Marine talking. That was the best plan, after all.
“Try me.”
“An unknown vehicle has landed next to the runner. Unknown life forms have came out, and engaged us. We need backup. ASAP.”
The man winced. Then he smiled. The Mahri had engaged humans. Now they could be considered hostile, and thus be killed off faster. He set his hand on a symbol on his desk.
“Will do. Protect the runner, and keep the area secure.”

*Metru Nui, Ta-Metru.*

Turaga Vakama stared over the sea. It had been days since the Toa Mahri left. Since then, he had been reading over the blueprints of the craft that sent them on their way, the math that predicted they could reach Earth. He didn’t know why he did it. After all, if he found an error, it would be no good now. He lowered his head onto his hand. He shifted, and then his body disappeared. It reappeared ten feet away, with Vakama waving his staff.
“Who is out there?” He asked loudly, and some sparks flew off of his staff. Nothing came, and Vakama slowly went back to the cliff overlooking the beach. He looked around again, and then turned his head. So when the fist slammed into him, he never saw anything. Nothing but black, that is.

*Location unknown.*

Alex opened his eyes to see black ground. He got up, coughed, and rubbed his ribs. They felt pretty bad, but he could stand. He looked around. There was never ending black dirt, and the sun has hidden. Plus, it was hazy, much like a dream.
“Joy.” He mumbled. “I can’t even have a dream that isn’t bad.”
Then Alex saw something coming out of the haze. He readied himself, and watched as the being came closer.
“Who are you?” 
The being raised a hand to his mouth, and Alex looked around. Everything was getting... Smashed. The ground was being upturned, and the light itself seemed to be zigzagging now. Alex looked at the being wildly, and then the background changed. It was much like space, as it was black with white dots. The being turned, and looked at him.
“I am the Aura Stone. Or that is the name my creators gave me.” Said the being, soundly like he had just learned how to talk, but let soundly like his voice was thousands of years old. “I, from what I see, am part of your future.”
Alex, should he have not seen so many strange things today, would of happily gone back to a dreamless-sleep. 
“Hold it. You mean... You don’t exist yet?”
“No. My body may not be made yet, but I still exist.”
“So what do you mean by your in my future?”
The Aura Stone sighed.
“I sense great... danger. All I can see is that I will play a key role in the remaking of the universe.”
Alex was stunned. He didn’t know what to make with this information. After all, the remaking of the universe?
“The remaking of the universe! What the heck does that mean? What-“ 
His questions never got answered. The Aura Stone faded out of view, and the world went upside down. Everything went white, blinding Alex. Then it went black.

Alex awoke to see a large sword by his neck. Instantly, he pulled back, and lashed out. There was a small muffle of pain, and then a shadow fell over Alex. He turned his head to see a large being.
“Forgive me . . .  Human. I would use my human form to talk to you, but I don’t think I would give an impression.”
Alex looked around, and saw no one else in the room. He stood up, and faced the being.
“And just what would be your name, creature?”
“You have a spark, Alex.” He said, chuckling. “You will soon see what you could do with that spark. But, my name happens to be Teridax. Ring a bell?”
Alex reeled. He wasn’t expecting this. The last time he met up with a Makuta, it wasn’t pretty. But meeting up with their leader . . .  That was something else.
“Teridax, eh?” He said, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice. “Just what would I do to get you talking to me?”
“I feel your fear and surprise. As for the second statement, you can give me that answer. You are a key part of my plan. I need you, and I suggest you don’t say no.”
Alex held his hand out, and a sword appeared in it. Teridax smiled.
“Ah. Something else you have not done yet. Making your element into a weapon. I was hoping that I could get you to do it.”
“More than you can say.” Alex said, slinging his sword through the air. He brought it down, and sparks erupted from it. Teridax drew his staff in the blink of an eye, and parried it. 
“Really, a sword fight?” He said, smiling, which this time it wasn’t that pretty of a sight. “Very well. Hope that you live.”
Alex, at the moment, didn’t care if he died or not. All he wanted was to make sure Teridax went down with him. He flipped his sword to where its point was facing away from Alex. Alex shook his head slowly, and brought the sword up.
“Really, did you never hear the saying, ‘Always hold knifes upside down.’?” He said, jumping. He brought the sword down, and fire rippled across the floor. Teridax stood unnerved, and shook his hand. Alex felt his self lift up, and be tossed across the room. Teridax came over, and looked at Alex.
“Human, it is futile. In then end, you will always be weaker. Now, maybe you should watch what is happening to you.”

Alex looked down, and gasped. His skin was moving around like a living thing, and it was growing tougher. He fell down on the floor as pain took over, and emitted a low scream. He writhed in anguish as his skin turned red, and then popped in some places. After a few minutes, the pain stopped, and Alex lifted his blood filled face. His body had changed. Where soft skin once was, tough armor was. It was a strange mix of both, though. Skin weaving into armor. Not all of his body was covered in armor, but still covered a large amount. He looked at Teridax with a look of disbelief, but Teridax smiled.
“Rise . . .  Humva. You are now what you named yourself.”

Everywhere, the shadows grew longer. People looked up to see the sun growing even darker, and the shadows growing more. Many couldn’t under stand. But a rare few knew what was happening. Why? Maybe because they were the ones that felt the pain of things not human. Their senses were open. But even though they felt the end coming closer, they couldn’t do anything. After all, what could they do? So they dismissed it. But that could not change the fact it was coming. But even as the sun grew darker, it fought. For it knew that hope was on its way. The Humva would return to fight the last fight.