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catsafari25 · 5 months

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A/N: Hello! This is my first foray into bionicle fic, where I wanted to explore a possible line of reasoning that Roodaka might have used to turn Vakama against the Rahaga specifically... and then this became a Roodaka-POV fic because villainous POVs are so muxh fun to write (plus it makes it distinct from the book version).

Please forgive any glaring inaccuracies; until a week ago, I'd only ever seen the films and am still familiarising myself with the lore/other content!

Roodaka almost doesn't recognise the creature her Visorak bring to her.

Almost.

There is more the monster than the Matoran, more the Rahi than the Toa, about the once-warrior now, and the two sides war in odd ways across the ensuing form. The limbs are elongated, but erratically; one side might almost be called Toa-like if one was feeling generous, while the other ends in a wicked-looking blazer claw. The mask bears the least resemblance to its former shape, a mockery of the Great Kanohi it had once been.

"Alone, you say?" she asks the Visorak.

It bows its head in the best approximation its spidery form can muster, and chitters in its gnashing tongue a tale of a single Toa Hordika wandering far from its pack. Then, after a dubious pause, it asks if it should send word to the King.

"No."

More chittering, nervous now.

Roodaka snaps her head away from the unconscious Toa. "Do you doubt me?" she hisses.

The Visorak shakes, as if knowing all too well that any alternative answer will lead to a rapid drop in its quality of life, followed by the abrupt cessation of it. It instinctively lowers itself to the ground, reassuring her it knows exactly how far down it hangs in the pecking order.

Roodaka is mollified enough to let the infraction pass. "Why bring Sidorak back for one captured Toa when he is still in pursuit of the other five?" she croons. Fear works wonders, but a pinch of reason never does any harm. "Better to let him focus on the task at hand, and have this as a pleasant surprise upon his return."

The Visorak doesn't respond immediately. Then, in as careful tones as its speech will allow, asks what is to be done with the Toa.

What to be done, indeed?

A more cautious Vortixx than she might harvest the elemental power now – one fewer strand in her web to tie up later – but, then again... he is only one Toa, and she needs all six for her scheme to succeed.

"Keep him somewhere he won't cause trouble," she orders. And then, "No cocoons. I want him to be able to wake eventually."

After all, live bait is always a better lure.

The Toa returns to consciousness the same way he left it: alone.

So much for their precious unity, Roodaka scorns. The reports from the Visorak tell of the other Toa moving across Ga-Metru, with apparently no looking back for their missing companion. Is it confidence in his capabilities that leaves them unaffected, or something more... fractured?

Either way, she is left with a Toa on her hands, alive and kicking and doing precious little to serve as the bait he should have been.

That's fine. She can work with this.

Awake, the Toa's reaction to the Hordika venom is ever more marked; his movements are capricious, tarnished with that feral fear of a caged Rahi, and there is little left of the tactician leader the Toa had once been.

So she leaves him to it. Sidorak is not due back yet – not unless he captures the other Toa, and the whispers that reach Roodaka tell of a merry chase – so she has time. Let the Toa wallow in his fear and his desperation for a little while longer. Let him descend further into his rage.

She can wait.

It is only once the howls begin that Roodaka makes her approach.

She has heard the like before, when an ash bear had fallen into a freshly-made crevice, courtesy of the quakes, and broken a limb. It had howled all through the night, calling for its kin and only summoning the Visorak instead.

The howls hadn't lasted long after that.

The howls of the Toa are similarly primal, gutteral with a wordless rage that sends him reeling in its wake. Only when she hears his horrified, "What is happening to me?" that she realises she is surprised to hear speech still remains. If the venom keeps up its course, it may not be long before even that is gone.

An idea takes root, insidious and brutal if she can pull it off. After all even a beast, if it retains some semblence of language, can be reasoned with.

Or manipulated.

He was found alone, her Visorak had told her. And alone he still was. A strange state of affairs for a Toa... but perhaps not so much for a Hordika.

"You are becoming," she rattles.

The Toa scoffs, ire curdling the sound. "Yeah, but what?"

She steps into the light. The Toa keeps his gaze averted as she nears, evidence enough that the Hordika in him knows not to challenge with a stare. She crouches before him, one claw catching the base of his mask and tilting his eyes to meet hers. The eyes, she sees, still carry a Toa spark. The rest is Hordika. "A friend," she offers.

He snarls and tears his gaze away.

"Or a foe," she adds. She rises back to her full height. "That's for you to decide, and why I invited you here."

"Some invitation."

She surveys her captive. Hordika venom is such a messy process, Roodaka can't help but judge. It lacks the finesse, the cruel creativity of her own power, changing at random what would be better done with intent.

Still, she cannot fault its effectiveness. It might be a sledgehammer to her chisel, but in a matter of days it has reduced the Toa responsible for trapping the Makuta into something belonging to a Matoran's nightmare.

"Then perhaps this one will be more to your liking," she says. "I have a... proposal for you."

"And if I don't want to hear it?"

Roodaka smiles, and approaches the Toa once more. From this proximity, she can appreciate the subtler touches of the Hordika venom – the joints that fit at odd angles, the crude connection between the Rhotuka spinner and armour – and as she brings his gaze to meet hers once more, she sees rust-flecked spots across his mask. A side effect of the mask losing its powers? Or a consequence alone of the Hordika venom?

"Be reasonable, Vakama," she croons.

"How do you know my name?"

Her hand dips from the mask and lingers before his heartlight. It's green, she notes; a far cry from the burnished red that had once matched his eyes. A sign, perhaps, that her plan has merit. After all, if the venom has already taken root there, it's only a matter of time before it spreads further.

"I know a great deal about you," she says, and cleaves a claw through the webbing that binds him. "What harm could come from listening?"

And when she tips his gaze again, he does not look away.

While fools might prattle on about the power of love or loyalty as a driving force, Roodaka knows power itself is the strongest motivator of all. And so she speaks to the fragmented Toa of strength and fear and authority; things she knows the once-leader has fought with himself. As a show of her own confidence, she allows him to trail behind, and only once does she hear the whirr of his spinner warming up.

("I wouldn't do that, if I were you, Vakama," she had warned without even glancing to him.)

("Then perhaps you should know better than to turn your back on someone," he had replied. "What's to stop me blasting you off the face of Metru Nui?")

(She had gestured almost lazily to the Visorak guard trailing them. "You can try, if you so wish. But how far do you think you'll get before you're trapped in another web?" She had waited for this thought to sink in before adding, "Who knows what another round of Hordika venom would do the second time? That is, assuming you ever wake.")

The Rhotuka spinner quietened after that, and Roodaka hasn't heard it since. Just enough sense left in him, then, to listen to reason. And listen he does, albeit not without complaint.

She wasn't lying when she said she knew about him – from the whispers of Makuta, from the reports of the Visorak, she knows enough to know where the Toa's insecurities lie. She brings him to a balcony that overlooks his old home.

Ta-Metru still glows with the light of fires and molten protodermis, but rather than forges and foundries hard at work, it is the result of cracked furnaces and flooded lava that raises such smoke. Still, there is enough to leave the Toa scrambling to the edge to catch just a glimpse of his metru.

In better times, it would have been his to protect, the same way the Toa of Fire before had, but now it is only a place to be fled. So she offers him the chance to change that, talks of leading the Visorak to rule rather than ruin.

And when she orders her own guard plummeting over the edge and they follow – not because they trust her, not because they think she has a plan, but purely because not following is a worse fate than an almost-certain death – she knows she has his attention. "Obediance," she proclaims. "This is but the first of many lessons I can teach you."

The Toa hesitates. But not as much as he ought to. "And this is something your king would allow?"

"There is a way," she purrs. "Six ways."

She senses something shift then, the balance of the conversation tipping in her favour as a wall, somewhere, comes tumbling down.

And when Vakama looks to her, it isn't the gaze of a Toa, but of a Hordika.

"I'm listening."

"Good." Roodaka starts towards the main body of the tower, and only hears the slightest falter before Vakama follows after her. His shambling gait is still the noisy thing it was before, but now there is a pattern to it. A natural rhythm.

"If you wish to gain Sidorak's trust, you must prove yourself," she says. "The Rahaga have been a thorn in Sidorak's side for too long; deliver them, and he will surely see your worth."

The Toa stills. "The... Rahaga?" There is hesitation in his voice, as if even he is surprised that his response is not the outright refusal it once would have been. "What have they done?"

"They are meddlesome creatures, as I'm sure you've discovered, too fond of interfering where they don't belong."

"Like saving your captives from certain death?" he asks.

Roodaka smiles, and ignores the bite in the question. "Do you think they rescued you for anything but their own purposes?" she returns. "Or are you blind enough to think it was purely an act of selfless generosity?"

A growl rises through the Toa, and she hears him continue behind her. "What are you saying?"

"Only that if they were rescuing you solely from an untainted sense of duty, then where are they now?" Roodaka glances back and reads the defensive hitch of the Toa's shoulders. "Where are any of your friends, Vakama?"

"Like I would tell you–"

"You don't need to. I know where they are. The question is: Do you?"

Vakama doesn't meet her gaze. "If you're thinking that I'm expecting any sort of great rescue–"

"I never said anything of the sort," Roodaka croons. She doesn't need to. By the sound of things, his mind is already doing it for her, wondering when the other Toa will realise he's not coming back. Wondering if they will even care. "Only, how sure are you that they will follow their duty without you to guide them?"

"Toa are bound to their duty," Vakama begins.

"Of course. As they are to their unity." Roodaka gives this a moment to sink in to the lone Hordika Toa. "And their destiny."

The once-Toa of Fire has no reply to that, and that is all Roodaka needs to know the truth of their origins have come to light. She steps out onto a neighbouring balcony, but Vakama lingers in the archway.

She motions to him. "Come along."

He begrudgingly does so, and his gaze finds little of interest in the waterway metru below. "Why have you brought me here?"

"Because this is where your friends are."

Vakama takes a second look at Ga-Metru, overrun with webs but presumably still recognisable from its better days. His head tilts, his eyes narrow. "Ga-Metru? Why...?"

"My Visorak say the Rahaga are leading them to the Great Temple," Roodaka relays, and this indeed is true enough. "They say the Rahaga are seeking an ancient Rahi, the next steps of which they hope to find within the temple."

"Keetongu," Vakama mutters.

"Yes."

Vakama wars with this knowledge, the conflict clear in his silence and his mask. Then, in a halting, hating tone, "The Matoran–"

"Are not the Rahaga's priority," Roodaka finishes. "Don't you see that, now? Why else would they turn the other Toa away from their duty the moment you weren't there to remind them? All they want is to chase after a Rahi myth, and with the help of Toa, they finally have the strength to do so." She sets a clawed hand upon his shoulder, anchoring him. "The Rahaga are not all they appear, Vakama."

A scoff rises through the Toa. "They are old and weak."

"They were not always so," she says. "Once, they were Toa like you, until their meddling left them as the malformed creatures they are now. That is why they truly seek Keetongu; they believe he has the power to undo their change."

It is a half truth, but one supported by enough that the Toa has no reason to doubt her. He has no way to know Roodaka's powers were the catalyst of the Rahaga's transformation, nor that nothing – no mythical Rahi, no Kanohi power – can unravel their altered forms.

Her hand tightens. "Or perhaps you've already begun to suspect the truth?"

A tremor in his breathing betrays that questions of the Rahagas' origins have crossed his mind before, but only now is he realising the possible ramifications of it. "They want to find Keetongu for themselves," he snarls.

"And they need the support of the other Toa to do it," Roodaka says. "Now do you understand? They are not your allies, Vakama; they are parasites. And you know what should be done with parasites."

"Yes," he growls. "I do."

#bionicle #lego bionicle #cat writes #also written in present tense because i find that easier for some reason w/ emotions #this was mostly fuelled by 'what if roodaka revealled part of the rahaga's origins and convinced vakama they were using the toa?'#thus making his first step down this path one that isn't inherently lashing out at his team #but will make returning to the light that much more difficult #also discovering that roodaka's power is mutation really put fuel on the fire for this #i love the idea of her seeing the toa hordika not just as mutated toa #but as a variation on her abilities #part of her dissecting the changes and judging them #i also like writing scheming characters who have a pov with an aggressively agendaed take #anyway idk if ill post this elsewhere #i also want to explore the idea that roodaka sent vakama to the great temple for not just kidnapping the rahaga #but also to drive another wedge between him and his destiny #since entering the great temple will feel Wrong to him #and if nokama hasnt shared her experience then he might just take it personally #okay enough rambling in the tags #if you got this far: congrats!#feel free to shout at me about bionicle

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supermarine-silvally · 1 month

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Could I pretty pretty please ask for 💗 for my beloved Portada, Hadley love? 💜

Here you go, my dear Dolly!! <3 tysm for the request; it got long af but I always underestimate how much I enjoy writing Ace Angst heheh

No direct spoilers, but written in such a way that anyone who Knows can read between the lines lol hope you enjoy!! <3

💗 slow kiss / gentle kiss / inevitable / soft

Ace hated Loguetown.

It wasn’t the shops; those were objectively fine. Maybe a bit pricey at times, but there were enough of them around that he could easily take his business elsewhere if he felt he was getting a raw deal. Nor was it the pubs (well, save for one notable exception), nor the tourists, nor even the occasional increased presence of Marines. No, what he hated about Loguetown was that he couldn’t exactly tell anyone that he hated Loguetown.

Because that would always lead to the follow-up question he really didn’t want to answer: Why?

And sure, he could lie, and blame it on pricey shops or low-quality pubs or loud, annoying tourists or having to outrun a determined Marine captain once in a while. But anyone who knew Ace knew that he didn’t have a problem with any of those things on any other island they ever visited. Which would lead him back to the infernal question of why. Why Loguetown? What could possibly be there that turned an otherwise cheerful, fun-loving guy into a broody, angry young man?

There were three people in the entirety of Whitebeard’s fleet who knew Ace’s secret. The first to find out was Deuce, his vice-captain from his Spade Pirates days and who now served on Whitebeard’s massive medical division. The masked man had learned of it back when the two had found themselves stranded on Sixis Island at the same time. Ace hadn’t admitted it so much as Deuce had sort of managed to guess it. His initial negative reaction had been what Ace always feared, but Deuce had fortunately come around shortly before luck would bestow them with the Mera Mera no Mi, and Ace had gained the powers he would become infamous for.

The second who knew was Whitebeard. What sort of ‘son’ would Ace be if he kept such a massive secret from the man he called Pops? Ace had feared the worst when the words left his lips, but Whitebeard had merely chuckled in response. “We are all children of the sea,” he had said, and Ace had felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, if only for a moment.

And the third, of course, was Yara. His Yara; Yara who had shared her secret in turn, removing her eyepatch to reveal the most beautiful heterochromatic eyes he had ever seen-- and boy, did he want to punch anyone who had ever made her feel otherwise. He could have kissed her that night, underneath the stars, but it would take him much, much longer before he finally surrendered to a love he had no chance of ever winning against. As far as Ace was concerned, those were the three people who would ever get to know. Even his other closest friends would have to be kept in the dark. It was better that way.

All of those things floated around Ace’s mind as he returned to the small ship Whitebeard had ordered him to take for his mission. It was a simple enough task; all he had to do was meet with a supplier who had promised the Whitebeard Pirates a new supply line running from the East Blue into the Grand Line. Fairly standard pirate stuff, especially for an Emperor’s crew. Usually it would be something that First Division would handle, but Marco was away dealing with a distress call from an allied fleet who had encountered an unknown illness and required the support of a skilled doctor. So Ace, as Second Division Commander, gladly stepped up to the plate.

Until he heard that the site of his mission was fucking Loguetown. And by then, it was too late to back out.

So he had gone to Loguetown with his men, and he had hated every second of it, determinedly keeping his eyes on anything but the town square and the ghastly tourist attraction located there. He had done his best to keep up with the jokes and the good humour that he was known for, but by the end of the day, he was exhausted and absolutely determined to go somewhere he wouldn’t be reminded of that man. The navigators, however, had decided against trying to tackle Reverse Mountain in the dark, meaning that he had to wait until daybreak before he could finally be out of there. It was such a pain.

The port they were anchored in was fortunately far enough from the main town that Ace at least wasn’t confronted with too many reminders of the answer as to why he hated Loguetown so much. He could try his best to forget about it for a few hours, at least.

Or that’s what he hoped, anyways.

Sighing, he leaned against the edge of the anchored ship, staring out at the open ocean, the tiny glints of stars reflecting off the water’s calm surface. Everyone he had met in town had been so pleasant. He thought of the old lady who had given him a discount on three bags of rice to take on their journey back to the Grand Line because he was just ‘such a nice young man.’ Would she still say the same thing if she knew about the blood that flowed through his veins?

Do I deserve to be alive?

Ace had asked himself that question many times before. It was only fitting it would return to the forefront of his mind in this place, of all places. And it was all the fault of that man.

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” a familiar voice spoke.

Ace sighed again. “Am I really that obvious?”

“To me, you are.” Yara perched herself on the gunwale. She was wearing the new sundress that she had purchased for herself back in town, her long violet hair swept over her shoulder in a loose ponytail. “I should’ve insisted Pops find someone else for this mission. It wasn’t fair to send you.”

“Eh, I can cope.” He tried to shrug it off. “And besides, you look gorgeous in that dress, so it was worth it in the end.”

Yara frowned. She clearly wasn’t buying it. “Alright, now tell me how you really feel.”

“I said I’m--”

“Ace. Please. Don’t bullshit me.”

He let out a heavy sigh, his gaze resting on a buoy that bobbed a few metres away from their ship. “I hate it here. Everywhere I looked, it was like he was tormenting me from beyond the grave. Him and his damn legacy.”

The look in Yara’s eyes was sympathetic as she reached out, smoothing a strand of raven hair behind his ear. She kept silent, allowing him to continue rambling.

“I know it’s bad to say, but I wish I could torch this whole place to the ground. Then maybe the world could move on.” Maybe I could finally find a shred of peace from it all.

“You know the World Government would never let that happen, Loguetown or no Loguetown.” She laughed bitterly. “They certainly love their bogeymen.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I know. It’s never gonna end. I’m just… cursed forever, doomed for the entire world to hate me because of him and his stupid treasure. Maybe there’s no way out, except…”

Yara gently tilted his head, bringing their eyes to meet. “Now you listen to me, Portgas D. Ace.” She cupped her hands around his face, thumbs brushing tenderly against his freckled cheeks. “You are not your father. None of his deeds are your deeds. None of his sins are your sins. Anyone who can’t see that is an idiot of the highest order, blinded by World Government propaganda or their own ignorant grudges.”

Ace blinked, feeling the conviction behind her words. Yara leaned closer to him, her breath ghosting against his face as she pressed her forehead to his. Ace’s arms wrapped protectively around her waist, his fingers tracing the zipper at the back of her dress.

“You are the most wonderful man in the world, and the best thing that has ever happened to me,” she whispered, her lips hovering only centimetres away from his. “Fuck your father. Fuck Loguetown. Fuck the world. You deserve to be alive, and you deserve to be loved.”

He swallowed, emotion gathering as a hot lump in his throat. “Yara…”

She pressed her lips to his with such adamant tenderness that it stole the air from his lungs. He kissed her back with the devotion of a prayer whispered in an empty cathedral, the softness between them melding together in slow, careful movements. Ace’s tension ebbed away, leaving him with the sensation of floating among a sea of stars, anchored to Earth only by the honeyed taste of Yara’s lips.

“I love you,” she breathed as she pulled away ever so slightly, fingers stroking the side of his face. “Never forget that.”

“You really don’t think he was a monster, huh?” he whispered.

She shook her head. “The biggest monsters in my life have all carried the World Government’s flag. I can’t see how a man who opposed that could be so evil.”

Ace stared at her for a moment before letting out a small laugh. “I can’t wait to introduce you to Luffy. I have a feeling the two of you are gonna get along great.”

Yara smiled as she slid down from the gunwale. “I’m very much looking forward to meeting your brother someday.”

“Just to warn you, he’s a handful.”

“So are you, my dearest fireboy.”

Pulling her close, Ace pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “…Thank you, Yara. I shouldn’t think too much about my old man; not when I have the perfect family right here. You, Luffy, Pops… You’re everything I could ever want.” Everything I never dreamed I could have.

“C’mon.” She offered him a hand, and he took it. “Let’s get some rest before we depart.”

Nodding in agreement, Ace allowed her to lead him towards the captain’s quarters. Soon, Loguetown would be behind him. And while he could never truly escape his bloodline, he could at least take solace in those who loved him despite it.

One Piece OC friends taglist: @auxiliarydetective @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @box-of-bats @starcrossedjedis

#oc: bravada yara #ship: portada #otp: i'd burn the world for you #portgas d ace x oc #one piece oc #my ocs #my writing #asked and answered #did this turn into an ace character study? yeah sorry #idk i just saw someone refer to him as 'just a plot device' and i'm lowkey still mad about it #so i think that's what fuelled this lol #i love ace a Normal Amount #he is a great character and my most special boy #not sure if ace ever visited loguetown in canon but he would just. really fucking hate it there i'm sure #good thing he brought yara i guess

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revshanks · 10 days

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I've been browsing a lot of Scott & Rivers content and I found this one concert where Brian just randomly shows up and I'm like-

#weezer #scott & rivers #scott murphy #rivers cuomo #brian bell #Rev's Rad Ramble #Rev Talks Weezy #Who invited my man blud 😭🙏#Like he's so out of place there and they're all speaking Japanese like bro you're not part of the team 😭😭😭#I love Scott & Rivers so much y'all it's fuelling my Asian brain like crazy

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ilkkawhat · 1 year

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3.18 Precious Metal

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xilamoc · 1 year

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In an alternate time, S3 still has Emma on the show and Cleo still gets the same character arc of maturing and becoming more responsible, something that Emma initially approves of (while Rikki sarcasticly makes jokes out of the fact that Cleo is no longer her "Sloth buddy" and is now a "Study bee" like Emma of course), however, over time as Cleo's grades improve and it becomes easier for her to grasp concepts, Emma starts feeling Jealous and threathened by Cleo, and starts studying obsessively in order to ensure she is number one, her jeaulosy reaches a breaking point when Cleo gets better grades than her at a SCIENCE- related subject (subject that cleo historically was always bad at) at which point she does active recall (flashcards) obsessively thinking that way she will be able to "win" Cleo, whilst Cleo has developed better study methods by using more than one in order to learn better (i'm aware this doesn't happen in S3 and Cleo is still sloppy at study methods but we need Emma to be interesting ok?), Emma's jeaulosy makes her eventually despise Cleo as she views her as everything she wants to be and is not, causing her (and not Rikki) to keep the Water tentacle encounter in S3E16 a secret.

Emma's (and Cleo's) arc reaches full circle in S3E26, as Cleo receives her dux in science, Emma is visibly upset but tries to hide her discomfort as the trials and tribulations of S3 made her realize she can't always be number 1.

(Rikki can be the person that shows Emma how to be comfortable not being numer 1 i guess, she was always the more laid-back person of the bunch)

TL; DR:

Emma:

Want: To be perfect, number 1 at everything in life using the same study methods that have historically worked for her.

Need: To understand that she won't always be number 1 in life, and that she needs to step out of her comfort zone if she wants to be better in life.

#h2o just add water #h2o season 3 #emma gilbert #cleo sertori #i just need emma to not be a boring character with predictable arcs and decisions #letting her make a mistake this big would be REFRESHING and can you imagine the beef that would follow between her and Rikki?#E17 and E18 of S3 are (structuraly speaking) some of the best of the series #i bet they would be ICONIC had the decision made by Rikki of hiding the tentacle encounter from Cleo and Bella been fuelled by idk #actual reasons instead of “drama”#the first time i watched the episodes i thought Rikki was brainwashed by the water tentacle of smthing #returing to emma #her jealousy at cleo makes her want to beef with her while Rikki protects Cleo causing a *gasp* ROLE REVERSAL #Zane takes Will's place and is the one that makes Emma come to her senses #he could call back to their time as kids while we're at it #Ash could even take S3 Zane's place and reveal the asshole he really is #not only would that make more sense but it would make Emma even more interesting and fuel her insecurities even more #S3 had POTENTIAL i tell you #i still love season 3 but my god it needed more time in the oven #recycling hashtags

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